[Kot]

"Oh, no. That's what they're paying you for. I'm not that good at the sweet-talk, but she told me they're going to deliver him back unharmed... I'd be willing to give those girls the benefit of a doubt. For now... We have to check out this HammerJack guy. And the most important question - do we inform our employer about this? My suspicions are that the ransom note was HammerJacks doing. He got wind of the action and he's going to attack Belinkiy somehow..."

[Chrona]

"Hand him back -when-. There's a deadline for our job too."

[Boer_Kommando]

"We can deal with HammerJack, see if your suspisions are correct about him behind the ransom and not the girls. But who are they going to deliver Belinkiy to?"

[Kot]

"She said they're going to bring him back from where they took him. Hmmm... I'd say if they didn't do the mess inside, and leave the knife, our employer isn't beyond suspicion himself. He could've done this to get the money from Ares. Or something else that we didn't quite get."

[Chrona]

"I say we head to Hammerjack, but not believe a damn word he says. Then drag him in front of Falcone. MT, call Falcone and say Belinkiy is safe and will be on his way back safely and quietly in his own time, we're going after the ransom-er so that no word gets out about this, as per Falcone's request."

[Boer_Kommando]

"I like your idea Cursor-san, but it was the Feathers that led us to the Cats, so that's one lie we know they've told us." Mata says looking between the two of them. "I think this hacker might have a piece of the puzzle we're missing, but the slitches still lied to us."

[Chrona]

"I've seen this before MT, it's a compulsion like your smoking. The other Black Cats probably didn't know she left calling cards."

I wonder how my sleuth's doing.

[Kot]

"She was furious, to be specific. I thought that was because someone left that as an insult, but now I get why. Anyway, I'd try being honest with our employer. That usually scores some points, and he might change the objective to get the ransom note author. And I'd give him Sandy's number, and the info on the Cats, if he wants proof, but not their safehouse... In case he's connected to the ransom, though I doubt it."
Stryker is obviously more experienced and smarter than he looks. This doesn't sound like an anguished teenager...

[Chrona]

"Right, to Union station!"

SIN 4 + Etiquette 1 + Charisma 3 - Night 2 (6d6.hits(5)=3)

[Sentinemodo]

You're closing to the Sioux - CAS border.

The time is 11:20 pm, 09:40 hours to the ransom deadline.

[Chrona]

"Wilco...do you.... my networks saying you've got no SIN!?"

Staring with disbelief, "Pull over before we're all arrested."

"Oh this is gonna hurt... Stryker keep an eye on me."

He forced a huge surge of Resonance to form in his mind.

Thread Spoof (10d6.hits(5)=0)

Not good enough, Help me Shooter.

Thread Spoof (10d6.hits(5)=2)

Come on! He strained harder.

Thread Spoof (10d6.hits(5)=2)

Damn, Damn...

Thread Spoof (10d6.hits(5)=3)

Nearly...

Thread Spoof (10d6.hits(5)=1)

Don't lose it...

Thread Spoof (10d6.hits(5)=2)

Shit... Don't fail on me, not now

Thread Spoof (10d6.hits(5)=0)

Still in VR he pounded the side of the van with his fake metal fist, "FRAG..."

Edge to reroll: Thread Spoof (10d6.hits(5)=4)

....and the code just fell into place.

Resisting 4P: Drain Resist (10d6.hits(5)=1)

He breathed heavily, blood trickled from one ear. His Machine sprite shifted focus to his Spoof.

"Someone fix my brain... Then let's do this."

{Health: 3 / 12P and 2 / 11S damage, -1 Wound penalty, No Dumpshock penalty, no Sustaining penalty} | {Edge: 0 / 2}
{Defense: 3; Initiative(VR): 8(11); IP's: 1(3)} | {Ballistic Armor: 6; Impact Armor: 6} | {Sustained threads: Stealth R6, by Machine Sprite.} | {Registered Sprites: Paladin 1/2 Tasks "Guard Eight Stone's node."  R3, Machine 3/5 Tasks. "Sustain Spoof 8." (1 Task per 8 Hours Sustained) R3 | {Compiled Sprite: Sleuth 0/1 Tasks "Traceroute power on ransom letter"  R4}

[Kot]

Stryker smiled again, and kneeling by Cursor he applied the proper pressure to the focal points of the Technomancer's Essence that were obviously affected by his actions. A few quick and almost painless jabs with two fingers of the Spellweaver's both hands, and Cursor felt the pain subside entirely, as the Mana infusion flowed into his body driven by the spellcaster's will and repairing any damage...
"It's all about the Purpose, and the Will behind it. If you feel how your patients bodily energies flow, it's easy. I think I know how yours work."

[JDA]

Sin "yea man. I should probbly get one of those" Wilco pops a beer. Checks in on his drones to see if they've picked up anything.

[Sentinemodo]

The time is 11:35 pm, 09:25 hours to the ransom deadline.

A quiet, insistent chirp calls out from Stryker's commlink as notification of an incoming call passes across your vision.
Answering the call you are met by a hollow sounding voice, carried across a huge chasm.

Greetings boy, we need to talk about how badly you’ve just been screwed by a man named Falcone….

Good, now that I have your attention, meet me in an hour. Room 3141 of the Hub’s Avatar Assassin Guild Hall-VR only.
The name’s Void, you’ll recognize me.

With that, the line goes dead.

[Kot]

Stryker chokes a bit and then bursts with laughter. "Ya right. I'm going to go VR. When the Ghouls go Full-Vegan." He pats Cursor on the arm, and the rest sees a hint of anger on his face. "That's your cue. I'm not going to be stupid enough to let some codemuncher fry my brain extra crispy... Can't you send some dummy in my place? He looks really annoyed when he sits down finally. "We need to know who that was. My call would be HammerJack. I don't think there would be more than two sides to this... If we can track the guy phisically... Well, you know what I can do. Go there and scare him shitless, so he makes a lot of mistakes."