[Jack_Spade]

In the restaurant, Zola smiled and shook his head: "Nothing primitive about those instruments - primal maybe. From my perspective those instruments are - for the lack of a better word - perfect, just as the music. Neo-classical. The word alone is a contradiction if you apply it to the genius of Bach's works.
I'd never dare to bring a beautiful lady to anything but the pure and unadultered original.

Oh and an excellent choice. I think I'll have the Brandade too, but with sweet potatoes instead of potatoes."
The waiter nodded, filled the glasses and vanished again.

"So tell me a bit about you. What's your passion, what's your dreams?"
While Zola chatted, the spy drone and Anna became aware, that the smaller of the two body guards had begun to stare at Anna, narrowing his eyes.

In the limo, Flatline did as Krestov had advised. The doctor proved to be quite uncomfortable in his role, but the real Eve managed to put him at ease, chatting amiably with him until he finally made up his mind and said: "I hope you like musicals. There is a new-interpretation of cats with a full shapeshifter ensemble - or so they say."
To steady his nerves, Flatline had began to take a drink from the minibar.
Both Krestov and Eve watched with worry how quickly he downed the small whiskey bottle.

[gilga]

In the restaurant, Zola smiled and shook his head: "Nothing primitive about those instruments - primal maybe. From my perspective those instruments are - for the lack of a better word - perfect, just as the music. Neo-classical. The word alone is a contradiction if you apply it to the genius of Bach's works.
I'd never dare to bring a beautiful lady to anything but the pure and unadultered original.

“Well I admire anyone who can play an instrument without a computer making the micro adjustments for maximum precision. Though, as much as I admire it, Bach used the Organ which seems very complex and perhaps state of the art for his time.
Though I am a bit biased as I play a digital guitar, it makes countless little corrections as I play so I doubt that I am skilled enough to play classic.”

"So tell me a bit about you. What's your passion, what's your dreams?"

She giggled softly and raised the wine glass, smelling it and then tasting it with her eyes closed.
“Mm... “  she paused “This is indeed a good vintage, almost fruity. I feel happier already.” Grinning she lowers her glass and explains “As you can imagine, I am passionate about wine. My dream is to have a small boutique winyard of my own and to travel the world and market it.“ Smiling she said “Silly dream, I know,  it is a beautiful one, isn’t it?”

She plays with her glass, smells the wine, flirt with it a bit and then takes another sip. It is such a wonderful wine and even if she is busted - Anna intends to at least finish the glass and enjoy it completely. When she opens her eyes, she asks "Esteban, what is your passion in life? Do you have a dream of your own?"


Anna indeed plays the guitar, (has four levels in performance) and has 3 levels in alcohol and 1 in music, so she is genuinely interested in these topics.

[Volker]

Do we have an audio connection?

Don't do anything silly. Don't do anything silly. Don't - Just don't!
Growing increasingly nervous, bnc approaches the bodyguards' commlinks in silent mode. Besides, she enlarges the drone feed a bit, then duplicates the ARO, and increases the zoom of the copy so that she can see the bodyguard's face in large. If possible, she arranges the drone in a way that it catches both the guard and Anna, then loads a small app to trace his gaze more exactly, and mark it in her vis feed.

[Jack_Spade]

Kite controlled the drones as bnc commanded, providing both a life feed with audio and visual.

Both bodyguards carried expensive Transsys Avalon comlinks, but had their PAN switched to silent mode, so only the main icon was visible.
Whatever the Latino guard (looking it up, this had to be Ramirez, the adept) had seen, he had returned to his normal stance, but still kept a suspicious eye on Anna.


Ramirez has LOG 4, INT 5, WILL 5 and an R6 Commlink
Kynos has LOG 3, INT 6, WILL 5 and an R6 Commlink
Since they have no Sleaze active it's trivial to see their PAN
Ramirez has trodes, contact lenses, an Ares Predator as well as earbuds wireless active.

Kynos sports a datajack, wired reflexes+reaction enhancers, a Savalette Guardian, a taser, a bunch of RFID chips, contact lenses, glasses, earbuds, Smartlink and an Autoinjector




Meanwhile, Zola answered Anna:
"Fascinating. I used to play cello, but nowadays I find it hard to make time for more than the most fundamental practice. But it certainly helps to focus one's mind - and there are certain entities in this world who react favorably to melody and tact. But I digress.

Yes, the simple life of being a small entrepreneur - I most certainly feel the appeal myself. But alas, I took responsibility for many employees instead.
Oh, you like to ask the hard questions, don't you? Once upon a time I'd have said women, song and fine wine. Chalk it up to the inexperience of youth. And if age hasn't made me much wiser, it certainly has given me perspective. My passion is the arcane - the transcendental flow of energies, that keep this world together. Not a particularly good passion to keep you social life going, but I find it most rewarding nonetheless."

[gilga]

Anna smiled at Esteban, trying to mask her surprise. How can one likes the arcane more than he likes to slot?
If so, why don't he just rent a mage to study with? Perhaps he is just showing off the mage card to impress the ladies?
She felt so underwhelmed in comparison. Sure Anna knew a bit on the topic herself - but passionate about it?
No freaking way. Magic was difficult and she could not even commit to a specific a tradition.
She liked shamanic magic and did not understand the scientific approach to magic.  So she was not completely lost - but
as Anna saw it - some techniques worked for her and others not so. The entire thing was an exploration. Trying to understand it all seemed complex and unnecessary. Definitely more of a chore than a passion, "the man is probably 10 times the mage I'll ever be." she thought.

 "Women song and fine wine... I could understand. I mean you still seem to like these things but Arcane ?! How does a senior manager embraces such an unusual hobby?"


No we don't. Anna would not bring earbuds or anything technological other than the comlink.
So bnc is alone with her thoughts, Anna is just ignoring the guards and enjoying her convo with Zola.
Perhaps he'll tell us a bit of what kind of magic he does... give us some nice intel.

[Jack_Spade]

"You are mistaken to think a real passion can be a mere hobby. In my understanding a passion is the consuming central part of your life. Consequently I made the arcane part of my job. We still know so little about the rules and mechanics of magic. The possibilities are nearly endless and while mundane science has reached levels where only incredibly narrow focused specialists can find any meaningful secrets, the arcane still offers low hanging fruit for anyone who dares to venture on the path of knowledge.
Also I'm a magi myself in addition to being a senior manager. Evenings like this are treat for me - a way to ground myself in reality. Work - no matter if passion or not - oftentimes makes you lose sight of what you are in favor of what you do."
Zola sipped from his wine, after having spoken with such fiery intensity.

Despite the sunglasses, Anna could see the elf bodyguard roll his eyes behind his boss' back. The other guard gave him a withering look in response.


The spy drones have a audio feed - but obviously only one way.
That said, there is no reason not to wear trodes - they come after all in all possible fashion variants, including headbands, hats and wigs.



Meanwhile Krestov had maneuvered the large car through Seattle's traffic towards the theater. By now Flatline had downed two small bottles of vodka. True, he was less nervous now, but Eve did have a skeptical look on her face now and was eyeing the taxi stands outside.

[Volker]

bnc shifts some switches. An automatic voice-to-text-translation software now records everything Krestov's says and transfers it to text. This way, it's way easier to keep track of both situations simultaneously. She muted the thread to focus on Anna and Zola. She doublechecks that every word and every gesture is recorded, and waits, hoping her services would this time not be needed.

<@Krestov <take cre of flat. we dont want to have2be laesy>>

[gilga]

"They do not like him very much... " she thought and raised her glass to play with it again. Flirt with the wine and then drink a bit more. "You seem to have the perfect job. You are a remarkable man Estebane... I mean I can only imagine the things that you can actually do." she said and blinked, smiling a somewhat silly smile as the buzz of the alcohol begun to spread. "Who are you really Estebane? What do you truly desire? Do you have a bucket list? Or have you done it all already. She looked at him with admiration.

[Jack_Spade]

Zola smiled back: "A bucket list presupposes me dying. If there is anything on my list than to find the philosopher's stone and become immortal. I know it has been done before so it can be done again... But that is hardly a conversation topic fitting for an enjoyable evening with a beautiful woman..."
He was again interrupted as the food arrived and for the next minutes Zola was distracted by his hot meal.
Bodyguard Ramirez looked decidedly hungry, while the elf continued to look bored.
Finally, Zola swallowed his last bite and dipped his lips with his napkin: "So Eve, would you like to see some magic before we visit the Symphony?" From the inside of his coat pocket he produced a milky-greenish looking pill in a little clear plastic container. "Deepweed extract. It enables a mundane to astraly perceive."

In the limo, Flatline quickly replied: <<Tell me about your plan. I really don't know what's going on with me. I haven't been this nervous since my first date in high school - and I don't know why.>>

[gilga]

Anna ate her dish slowly, enjoying every bite of it. Chances to eat real food were few and far between.
Her heart raced when the deepweed offer came. "He knows..." she thought.  A momentarily thought was if bnc sharp enough to get the nuance of the suggestion, because her own knowledge about magic indicated that deepweed only worked on the awakened. Then another "There are multiple strands of deepweed, I am no botanist perhaps some of them work on mundanes two... Even if they know that I am awakened, I haven't done anything out of character... I can just come up with some mundane excuse for filling in for the real eve that overbooked... trying to help her keep her new job I mean we both are students... "

Anna shook her head and politely refused "Let's leave the arcane for work."  With her charming smile she added "Though, I am looking forward to hear the symphony.  I am excited about these incredible antiquated instruments that they are going to use."

[Volker]

bnc winces silently. Damn. Deepweed. Why can't I look like a hooker?

[Jack_Spade]

Zola took the refusal in stride and nodded: "Well than it's high time we got going."
He snapped his fingers and the Latino bodyguard went to fetch their coats while Elf continued to look bored.

When Anna had her coat he offered her his left arm and led her outside. His car - a comfortable Nightsky - had piloted itself already to the front of the restaurant.
Ramirez again took it upon himself to open the door for his boss and Anna, while Kynos kept an eye on the street, looking bored and irritated now.
Both bodyguard got into the front of the car and the whole party drove off.
Anna was amazed how silent it was inside the passenger compartment. That's why she missed the brief exchange between the bodyguards - but fortunately the drone was in a better position to get a snippet of it before the doors fully closed:
"...Puta, who do you think you are. Show more respect to Senior Zola."
"He pays me to bodyguard. I'm not his fragging manservant."
"You won't last long with..."
Then the doors were shut and the car sped off.

The conversation the back quickly came back to Bach and the different interpretations and arrangements that Zola had heard and experienced over the years. She had to admit, that the man certainly was passionate - and surprisingly easy to talk to. Very courteous, very civilized. Once could almost forget that a previous escort girl had reported beatings by one of the bodyguards...

[gilga]

"Is he left handed?" She thought, and accepted his arm. She entered the car, and took her mind off the uneasy thought of the previous escort girl. The risk of physical violence was real, and that girl did not try to rob him.  She enjoyed the discussion about music and was naturally attracted to passionate people. It was uneasy to understand that the man was more of a gentleman than most of her boyfriends.   "Perhaps he is old money." She thought.

During the ride Anna tried to pay attention to the man and figure out what that SOC thing might be, she better has some idea before the hotel room.

[SquirrelDude]

Slobber was sipping a soykaf when he saw Anna getting into the vehicle with Zola. He tossed the cup to the side and made sure he had all of his equipment while he texted bnc and the rest of the team an update.

@Team>> Zola and Anna are on the move.

@bnc>>Can you track that limo or the people in it? It would make it easier for me to tail them without getting noticed if I can do it a few blocks back.

Slobber finished the soykaf, through the cup in the trash and started following.

[Jack_Spade]

Zola noticed the intense gaze Anna laid on him and smiled: "A penny for your thoughts."


Perception test, visual, with Threshold 6, -6 dice to detect the SOK
Perception test, tactile, with Threshold 3, -3 dice to detect the SOK


Tracking the car proved quite easy: Kite had managed to land the small spy drone on the back of the car, providing a steady beacon. Unsurprisingly the car drove directly to the Seattle Symphony, shortly thereafter vanishing underground into the parking garage.