[Paeniteo Azrael]

@Team I'm no enemy of cash, but she isn't the type of person to get on the bad side of. The favor thing looks good, might be useful having a favor from someone like Blue.

@Switch I ain't your chummer, bud.

[Psikerlord]

Jink half listens as the conversations unfold, noticing the similarity between his metal fingers and the edges of stool he's sitting on, the same way the light reflects off their rounded surfaces. A change in voice timbre brings him back to the present, and he refocuses his thoughts, dimly insightful that his concentration isn't what it was. Never had been, since his big accident.

Noticing Hiro's frown, Jink can't help but give him a cheesy wink, though he is careful not to let Angel see. What, it's just a compliment chummer! He is secretly very impressed that Hiro had even heard of Rat, he has his hooks in, that one. A massive smile breaks out across his tanned face when their Johnson mentions the payoff: 150,000 nuyen! Slotting drek!!! Treasure bath!! It's clear to all concerned just by his body language that Umberto is on board, and his smile remains plastered on his face till the end of the meet.

@team: I like the idea of trying to quietly locate Rat. Also maybe check out the corner the brother was shot on - maybe some kind of magical assensing clue, or other physical clues? Perhaps finding who shot the brother will lead us to Rat? Is it likely the same shooters are going after him now?

[benhatt]

".  If this turns out right, a lot of people are going to pay.  Let's say that, when this is over, I will owe you a favor.

At Alpha's words Johnny can't help but briefly flashback to his childhood.

Yakahama-san, one of his tutors, sat cross-legged on bamboo mat.  Masaru felt that this position, so old ways, was in sharp contrast to the multiple datajacks along the man's right temple and the expensive business suit he wore. "There is a limit on the number of ways a monetary debt can be collected," his teacher said, his chrome eyes giving away nothing. "A personal debt, on the hand, well, the possibilities are endless."

Johnny pressed the memory of his past life down.

"Your terms are acceptable.  Is there any other information that you think could aid us in our search. Also how can we contact you when the job is complete," he says.  Then, visibly softening, he adds, "Your family will have its vengeance, of this I promise."

@team "Let's cool it on the comm chatter until we can do it in person and in a less morbid place."

After this he'll fire off a message to his corporate/political blogger, @3M-CEE "Konichiwa, my favorite dirt digger, I have dirt that needs dug. What can you tell about the haps on Multitech, specifically a wageslave, drekhead by the name of Dutch Donovan? I need this info yesterday but dig carefully and furtively. I might be able to throw a big, AAA-scoop your way if things pan out like I think they will. Until then, here is something to wet your  appetite."  He'll send her 100 nuyen just for getting started. [OOC: Remaining cash on hand 5,400 nuyen).

Finally, he'll shoot a message to his girl. @RainbowBriteKoolAidBarbie "Hey sweets, I won't be able to make our outing tonight - work has come up.  You and your friends go onto Inferno without me.  There is a troll bouncer at the door, has two crooked horns (one pointing up, the other down).  Slip him fifty and tell it is from me, that should be good enough to get you all in  He'll send her 100 nuyen to cover the door and some drinks [OCC: Remaining cash on hand 5,300]

[Kontact]

"Yeah, we'd better get this moving.  Multitech sure as frag isn't playing this low and slow.  First off, here's some spending cash."  She flips Johnny a credstick.  "30,000 nuyen.  If something comes up and you need more cash, you can contact me at this dead drop." <link>  "Same goes if you run into some other kinda dead end.  You won't be able to reach me directly, but I'll check every now and then for updates.  As to where to start, you can skip Niel's house.  I already went through there with a comb before the cops arrived.  Nothing to be found.  I did pick up his spare lab key though, so you can use that to check out his place at Gibson Hall, downtown.  If you go there, I'd appreciate you picking up any sort of personal effects he might have had sitting around.  It would mean a lot to me.  You'll also want to check out Vanian fast.  I've got his address on this card I picked up from Neil."



"Don't have his home address though.  Did manage to dig up Donovan's home address and the Multitech office where he worked, but those two would probably risk revealing your involvement.  That happens and you'll have to go to ground too.  On that note, I might as well give you a copy of the blueprint."  <link> "Don't go trying to spread it around though.  If it goes public, there's not really enough there to pin them, and if they see it in the world, that's just all the faster that they're going to catch on to this operation.  As of now, it's best for them to think that they've got this under control."

[contact availability roll: 1d6.hits(3) → [2] = (0)  Looks like 3m-C33 isn't awake or around.  Her blog is still up though.]

@johnny: Digging through back logs of the Fragged Company blog, you get a pretty good view of what Multitech is and does.  It's their business to manufacture short runs of high-tech components for other companies.  Their biggest customers include Henderson Multicom, Transys and Magnuson, but they have dozens of other clients that they also work with on a regular basis.  The short-order, high-tech manufacturing business takes a lot of ruthlessness to succeed in, and Multitech has been succeeding in it for quite some time.  They build high-cost, high-performance computer chips for unique or proprietary systems used by some of the biggest megacorps around.

Public Info - Multitech International
Home Office: Shanghai
Presicent/CEO: Jonathon Ki Won
Principal Division, Seattle: Multitech Design
Division Head: Maximilian Stern
Chief Products/Services: Custom Chip design and production, primarily serving the microtronic industry.

[contact for the grilfriend 1d6.hits(2) → [2] = (1) she's there!  for now ]

<<RainbowBriteKoolAidBarbie@Johnny Hiro: Thanks Johnny babe!  I can get some triple-stacked tabs with that!  Gonna eXplore the Galak-seeeee!  lol!  You should let me know when you're all done with ur SRS BIZNS.>>

[funkytim]

"Alpha, my deepest condolences on your loss.  I do have one question though before we get started.  Does anyone known what this Vanian looks like, have a picture?"
Ghost assensed Alpha's mood and feels her grief.  He thinks back to his return from China has a somber tone to his voice.

Ghost waits for Alpha and her goons to leave.  "How do guys wanna proceed?  I can setup astral survailance on any or all three places.  I can also find search for Vanian
from the astral plane if I knew what he looked like.

[Paeniteo Azrael]

"You mage-types are useful... I'm gonna drop by my house and pick up some things. I'm willing to infiltrate Rat's address, see if I could pick something up that might tell us where he is or what he looks like."

"Oh, and if you give me a call while I'm at home.... well I have a ... 'peculiar'  gatekeeper, lets say. She's loyal, so don't freak out."

"I'm going to head home now so I can get ready, give me a call if y'all develop a wildly different plan."

Marlene left the building and returned to her Suzuki a few blocks away. "Slotted graveyards. She took one last look at the place, one last look at the rest of the team she'd be working with on this run, and said quietly to herself "This is gonna be interesting... Hope they don't glitch something up,"

There weren't many cars on the road, so she decided to turn off GridGuide and open the bike up a little on her way home.

Reaction + Pilot Groundcraft + Bike Specialization + Handling = 13d6.hits(5)=3[/purple]

[Kontact]

Blue sighs and seems to deflate a little, at the same time shedding some of the weight you've seen pressing down on her.  Another platitude followed immediately by talk of business.  She has come to accept the fact that you are all here, not to mourn with her, but to act in her stead and to be detached because she can not.  Still, a tear makes its way from her eye to pause on her cheek, not complete enough to make its full journey down.

"I don't have Vanian's pic.  Like I said, I've never met him.  He does run a legit front though, so you might have luck checking the nets.  He's not a shadowy figure.  I've just been a bit preoccupied with the corporate side of things.  I'm gonna be making sure that when you guys get me the rest of the blueprint, I know exactly how best to cram it up Multitech's hoop."

[benhatt]

Blue sighs and seems to deflate a little, at the same time shedding some of the weight you've seen pressing down on her.  Another platitude followed immediately by talk of business.  She has come to accept the fact that you are all here, not to mourn with her, but to act in her stead and to be detached because she can not.  Still, a tear makes its way from her eye to pause on her cheek, not complete enough to make its full journey down.

"I don't have Vanian's pic.  Like I said, I've never met him.  He does run a legit front though, so you might have luck checking the nets.  He's not a shadowy figure.  I've just been a bit preoccupied with the corporate side of things.  I'm gonna be making sure that when you guys get me the rest of the blueprint, I know exactly how best to cram it up Multitech's hoop."

I know someone who might be able to help with disseminating the information, their not bad at breaking a story.  Should you need it of course. We will be in contact

Then, sensing that the conversation is over, Johnny turns to leave. [OOC: or stays if they leave.]

Away from the stresses of negotiation, Johnny almost physically changes: his posture relaxes, his face breaks into a slight, smooth operator, Style's from Teen Wolf smile, its almost like he removed a corporate rod from up his ass. He is about to a bit of macho flexing, to let Razorgirl know not to question his side of the game and he won't question hers, when she takes off.

"She's a data chip worth of teamwork, isn't she," he says, shaking his head.

"Multitech is moving like a wildfire on this one, burning up whatever they can as quickly as they can. That puts us on the slot and run.  I would suggest holding off going after Donovan until the morning hours, or at least until this dammed hacker that Isherwood promised shows up.

He looks around the group for some sort of reaction, but only waits a moment before continuing.

"That leaves us with two places we can run down tonight and it should be tonight. I'm thinking we should split on this one, cover as many bases as possible because you know Multitech will be doing it.  A sniper shot through a car window isn't an easy shot, this corp isn't sending goons to do this job. Ghost, if you got some personal belongings of Vanian's, could you whip up a sympathetic link?  I know a magic ritual is never a "whip up" situation but its only been about five hours so you might be able to find something at his shop that still has his aura. That leaves the Gibson building, now I don't know about their security, but I think -

he pauses to scan the rest of the group: an obviously pugilistic Ork, a mage whose clothes suggest he has been sleeping on the ground somewhere, if not in car, and Don Juan de Keppa.

"I might have the easiest time talking my way in should there be some sort of night crew.  Although there is no way I think any of us should be on our own during this time.  What do you think, omae? If anyone has a better suggestion, throw it out now.

[Cato]

[OOC After Alpha Blue leaves/ the team leaves]:

Switchback nods at Ghost's suggestion.  "I like the idea of surveillance, and I think we should check out Gibson Hall while we work on tracking down Vanian.  Snatch up whatever's there before any other interested parties go snooping.  Not to mention, it'll put us up with Alpha if we get the personal effects quickly."

[benhatt]

While waiting for the rest of the team agree, disagree or change his suggested plan, Johnny will quickly do some data searching.  First he sets the Browse Agent on his slaved com searching for information on the Gibson Building, anything easily accessible on the Matrix


6d6.hits(5)=2
6d6.hits(5)=1
6d6.hits(5)=2
6d6.hits(5)=1
6d6.hits(5)=1
6d6.hits(5)=1

Total hits: 8

Johnny himself will try running down what he can on Vanian, specifically looking for photo of the guy or perhaps a home address for the guy


8d6.hits(5)=2
8d6.hits(5)=4
8d6.hits(5)=2
8d6.hits(5)=0
8d6.hits(5)=2
8d6.hits(5)=2
8d6.hits(5)=5
8d6.hits(5)=2)

Total hits - 21 [OOC: Holy cow!Only four 1's in the whole lot of dice.  I think those are the best rolls Invisible Castle has ever given me.  Wish it had been for something a bit more useful.  ]

[funkytim]

Okay,  I'll setup the astral surveillance on Gibson Hall and Vanian's place.

1st watcher

url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3115922/]summoning 4+ magic 5 (9d6.hits(5)=3)[/url]  3 hours of surveillance

resist 3 dv drain

intuition 4 + willpower 5 + focused concentration 2 (11d6.hits(5)=0)

Wow I feel tired!!!

second watcher

summoning 4 + magic 5 - 1 stun damage (8d6.hits(5)=2) 2 hours

2dv drain

intuition 4 + willpower 5 + focused concentration 2 (11d6.hits(5)=4)

whew!! no more drain

Ghost uses the sense link to convey the places to case.  [three hours on gibson hall and 2 hours on Rat's place of business]  He instructs the gibson hall watcher to follow anyone who
enters neil's office and for the watcher casing Rat's place to report back if anyone enters.

[Paeniteo Azrael]

Marlene gets home and hops off the Mirage. Faces. What we'd do without 'em. I prefer the jobs that need muscle, less of this sneaking around and waiting. I'll get prepared just the same.

She walks over to her closet and opens the secret compartment where she stores her less legal items. She decides to take a trauma patch, a stimulant patch, a couple of frag grenades and three extra clips for her pistol. She puts on her Chameleon suit underneath some flats, no need to waste her nice clothing, and attaches the pistol to her concealed holster and puts the rest of her stuff in her pocket.

Hmm.... I don't want to take the AK, but I'd rather have it than not...

Mary decides to load the AK-97 with a couple of explosive clips, and puts that along with her grapple gun in a nondescript bag that she can hide in the Suzuki. She makes sure her PAN is registered under the Traudl SIN, no use in getting stopped for unregistered weapons.

"I hate waiting.... And Isherwood said there'd be some other guy, a hacker or something. Coulda showed up in the Matrix if he didn't want to be there. Probably just watching the thing from one of our commlinks... Damn anxiety... I'll just calm the nerves a bit....
Marlene decides that she might like to take the edge off for a while, and decided to pop some Zen while waiting on the team to call her.

Duration = 1d6=1 x 10 minutes = 10 minutes

[Kontact]

A few minutes into searching for Vanian, Johnny's agent pops up with pictures of the Gibson Hall place.  It's kind of a dump.  An old high rise building slowly going to seed.  Rental agreements are available for open space, no questions asked.  A few minutes later Johnny finished scouring the nets for Vanion's home address, with nothing much to show for it.  Just chatter that confirmed what he already knew.  Knowing whether Vanion was a first name or a last name or even a pseudonym would've helped.  He did find a picture of the guy though. 



Ghost summoned a couple of watcher spirits and tried to send them out to scout their next possible destinations, but never having seen them before, much less on the astral, he couldn't really give them any sort of image that they could understand.

[funkytim]

Hey Johnny, can you send me those addresses to my comm?  Thanks  Ghost sits down and leans up against the fence as Bloody Mary drives off.  Keep an eye on me for a second chummers.
  Ghosts body suddenly goes limp as his essence starts streaking through the astral plane.  First he goes to the address we have for Vanian.  As he gets close he assenses the area to check for lifeforms or any magical barriers. 

assensing 3 + intuition 4 - stun damage 1 (6d6.hits(5)=1)

[OOC:  If I don't see anything I leave the watcher in place with the previous instructions I provided and proceed to Gibson hall.  If I see anyone I will dismiss the spirits and return immediately to my body and report to the team.]

Just in case.  Gibson hall assensing roll.

assensing 3 + intuition 4 - stun damage 1 (6d6.hits(5)=2)

[benhatt]

Johnny tosses Ghost the address for the Gibson building moments before the mage slumps against the wall. He also sends everyone's link, including Mary, the picture of Varian.

"That's Varian.  Also scratch my previous statement  about Gibson Hall, the place is a dump.  Any of us should be able to just walk in.  That being said, unless you have a good carry license and fake SIN, you might want to stay out of Downtown. Now as soon as Ghost gets back from cooking up his astral mojo, we need to get going.  Time is of the essence here. So ka? While standing here with our hands on our holsters, Multitech is out there cleaning up its mess. The clock was ticking on this thing before we even got hired.  Who wants to go where? Oh, and wherever I go, I'll need a ride."