Friday 8 June 2075 2334 Chinatown Barrens Seattle
From the alleyway, it is five blocks to Gong Xin's shop. You pass eight dive bars, three opium dens, four fronts for even worse drugs, and are propositioned for sex by eight women and six men. That does not count the people who offer to sell you everything from designer label clothing to expensive watches to the best virgins straight out of China for your personal use. Some of the girls offered for sale can be no older than thirteen or fourteen, ditto that for the boys. The merchandise is not hidden in long overcoats or down narrow, dark alleys, but right on the wider main street running through this part of Seattle that could rival the Redmond Barrens for its sense of despair and hopelessness, yet there are people striving to get by, to do more than get by. Survival here is not a given, a fact clearly obvious to you when you have to step around the bodies of two men on the ground near one of the bars. It seems that every spare inch of streetfront is a business of some sort, with two or more levels of tenement living space above. Most of the shops are open, but the customers are not tourists in fancy clothes and waiting in line to purchase something they can take home as a souvenir; these customers have little if any money and most goods are paid for in trade of some kind. The most obvious coin is sex and the second is drugs. You see lots of both trades taking place in the open as you walk those five blocks. You feel less safe and secure than when you were when walking with a fifteen year old girl and her dogs.
There are a number of awakened in the area, but no one seems to be a direct threat. By now, you know that the most direct route out of here is back along the street, but there is doubt in your mind that you would be allowed to leave that way if you were alone. From here, the "nicer part of town" is a myth, and you may be unable to get back to it. Your eyes have picked out several mundanes that seem to be inordinately interested in you. They seem to be following you on your journey and even Ling Sho seems to have seen them and is acting a bit nervous, even as he puts on a brave face.
Gong Xin's shop has nothing more than a small sigh out front to make it any different from the others on the street. Entering through the door sets a small bell to tinkling above your head and a young woman looks up from behind a counter. She looks to be perhaps in her late teens, but the sadness in her eyes adds years to her face. A beaded curtain hangs in a doorway behind her, from which soft oriental music can be heard. The girl looks at you and Ling Sho and looks over her shoulder to call out in Chinese. "Master, the woman is here with Ling Sho. But they have been followed."
An older voice comes from beyond the curtain. "By whom, my tender flower?"
"I can not see for sure......................"
She is interrupted by Ling Sho. "Coral Dragons. I recognize at least one, but there are five altogether."
The beds part to show an older oriental man. The girl bows low and moves away from him. His aura is bright with power. He frowns and looks at you. "I could not believe it when I was told that my friend had sent you out here with only one man as an escort. Ling Sho is indeed a highly skilled fighter, but he is only one man. No, this was a mistake. But we will worry about getting you back later. For now, you are here for something. Tell me what it is that has brought you here."
