[Mirikon]

>>>>>[Murphy, you're a young guy on your first trip out of the sprawl. You're pretty much expected to make a fool of yourself. And next time, you'll know what not to do when you're on the job. Don't sweat it about the MCT guys. Slotters were done before you could have even gotten here from the next room. Their clothes had enough armor to stop a round or two from a light pistol, but were absolute drek against a blade. Like I said, they didn't do their research. Thought I was just some noble from the Tir, trying to get in good with the locals. They had spotted me visiting the data haven, and thought they could 'persuade' me into doing some mischief. At least, that's what the MCT guy who was still breathing said before I 'accidentally' threw him over the railing.]<<<<<

--Iceblade (08:59:59/01-16-74)

[Lysanderz]

>>>>>[Those sudden stops at the bottom of the fall are killer.]<<<<<
--Specks (09:11:56/1-16-74)

[Mirikon]

>>>>>[Especially when it is a troll that breaks your fall. Never seen someone actually get impaled through the face with a troll's horns before. Then again, that might be part of the reason the ZDF showed up so quickly. I think the troll was an officer.

Anyways, I'm sitting outside a random office at the Liason Office, waiting on the meeting. Typical drek about showing you how busy they are by making you wait. Great fun.

While I have a bit of time on my hands, I gotta wonder, Wyrm, do you send goons after all crazy people, or just the ones that say they hear a dead AI whispering to them? Lots of crazy in the world, and I don't see as the Banded are any more dangerous than the other nutjobs you see anywhere you go in a sprawl. Hell, just look at the drekheads that actually choose to live in Glow City! Crazy as hell, but as long as you don't go near them, they're harmless, even though they probably glow in the dark.]<<<<<

--Iceblade (09:22:05/01-16-74)

[Chrona]

>>>>>[Laid low for a few days, back in Seattle now.]<<<<<
-- Chrona (14:48:56/1-16-74)

[Mirikon]

>>>>>[Wolf, why would I turn from the one who made me what I am, my Creator, and look to a god that does not exist in this world? The Lord lived in this world, and from my first memory, I was his to command. There is no changing that. Sometimes the program cannot be overwritten. My Lord once ruled many, and many believe him gone for good, though it could be He will return. It is strange. That thought fills me with both hope and with dread. I both want and don't want it to be.

The Redeemer is wise in the ways of magic. His mind remained when he emerged from the baths. Why mine did not I do not know. The Redeemer seeks ways to blend magic with technology, hoping for a way to overcome the damage the chrome he's received has done to his Art. He dances, and calls to Bear, seeking answers. We protected my Angel when the people rose up against the successors to the Otaku, and hunted them. The Angel helped, as well, for she had managed to get some of the old drones from the SCIRE, and bend them to her will. We fought where we had to, ran when we needed to.]<<<<<

--Faust (10:02:05/01-16-74)

[Smiley]

>>>>>[I don't know why, but I felt the need to share this. Some might find this informative. Taken yesterday, well today, when I came back from the Powerline.

// upload media file :: user Smiley :: 01/16/74 //
// RealTalk audio-to-text conversion engaged //

Smiley : Tsk, tsk. Come out, come out! I know you're here, little trout!
// sound recognized :: semi-automatic pistol slide //
Unidentified woman : Where's my father?
Smiley : You'll have to be more specific than that, pretty girl.
Woman : You really shouldn't be playing games with someone who's holding a gun to your head, in your own appartment!
Smiley : Indeed you are. So what's your father's name?
Woman : His name is // part removed // and I want to know what you did to him! Now!
Smiley : Oh, sure ma'am. But take a seat first, I wouldn't want you you to hurt yourself when you'll fall on your ass. I remember him. I killed him and destroyed his body.
Woman : I knew it, you heartless monster!
Smiley : That's harsh! So mean my heart is crushed!
Woman : I guess I just wanted, needed to hear you say it, you... Now you'll die for that!
Smiley : Go ahead, pull the trigger, pretty girl. See your vendetta through!
Woman : Uhn? What... What's going on? Why can't I pull the trigger?! Why am I now pointing the gun at my head?!
Smiley : You can't pull the trigger because you walked in the den of one of the most succesful assassins in the UCAS unprepared and ignorant of the threat you were really facing. I have complete control over your body and you are speaking only because I'm allowing you to.
Woman : If you really are that successful, you bastard, than why was I able to find you and connect the dots so easily? Is everyone that incompetant? That would explain why Lone Star never caught you! I hope your luck will run out now that Knight Errant is in town!
Smiley : Now, now. Who's playing games with someone holding a gun to your head? Wow, you really are that clueless, don't you? You found me because I'm not hiding, pretty girl. You, well as you put it, connected the dots because I'm telling everyone that I did it by leaving my business card behind. Why am I not worried about Knight Errant catching me? Because there is no crime to report. There's no bodies, no murder weapons, no forensic evidence and it's impossible to establish a timeline of events nor a crime scene. Everyone suspects, nobody can prove anything. And above all this, well, I was going to tell you but I'm gonna show you instead. Don't move, sit tight, I'm just getting something over there... Ah! There you go.
Woman : What's this?! An old-style paper photo album?
Smiley : Oh, maybe you are clever afterall, pretty girl! Maybe you'll get it faster than I thought. I'm gonna let you in some heart crushing secrets tonight. You search for truths and ask for answers. Always be mindful of what you wish for, pretty girl. Ever heard that before? Here's a picture of me and your father celebrating at a party. Here's one of me and the last Seattle's Lone Star Commander. This one is me with a bunch of Knight Errant boys having a beer. On this one, I'm with the CIA Assistant Director, well one of them. And this one with Chen Kwan-Ti of the Octagon Tong. This one I'm having champagne with Maria Mercurial, that was a long time ago. And on this one with the trid pornstar Lana Ex. That was a wild night, always is with her, I can tell you that. Or maybe this one will show you better. Me and yes, that's her, both laughing after a joke I made. I heard she doesn't laugh often but she always seems to laugh around me. I still have a few dozen more of these but I guess I made my point. Let me put this back.
Woman : This...
Smiley : The world you live in is corrupted and rotting from the inside. It's a big fraggin' joke and I'm just one of many punch lines. This drek goes deeper than even I can comprehend. Oh is that a tear? That's, well, revealing. Always thought I was a funny guy. Anyway, I get the feeling you understand why nobody caught on to me yet. They don't want to.
Woman : Disgusting...
Smiley : Ain't gonna lie, it kinda is. But now, I get myself invaded by one thought, one dilemma, one obvious question... What am I going to do with you, pretty girl.

// end media file // ]<<<<<
     -- Smiley (17:41:29/01-16-74)

[Kylen]

>>>>>[I knew you were cold blooded, Smiley, but gods be damned. I'm surprised you didn't save the picture of her father for last. What DID you do with her? Though, thanks for reminding me how I'm nowhere near cut out for wetwork. I'll stick to snatch and runs and deliveries, thanks.]<<<<<

     -- Card (18:18:45/01-16-74)

[CanRay]

>>>>>[Don't ask what happened to me recently, I feel violated, and am now in maximum security rather than VIP.  No more cute dwarf nurse, damnit.

As for what you just posted Smiley, people often wonder why I prefer the shadows to the light.  You pretty much nailed why.  Yeah, there's lying, cheating, stealing, and so on happening, but at least it's a hell of a lot more MORAL and HONEST than the bulldrek I see in the boardrooms and parties.  I can at least parry the knives in the shadows.  The ones in the light cut through any armor and are always in the back.

Frag I want a drink know.

But I am going to ask, what did you do with said girl, if you feel like sharing?]<<<<<
      --  Money Johnson (18:23:52/01-16-74)

[Smiley]

>>>>>[Although it does, maybe, show a little how cold blooded I can be, that wasn't really the goal of that post. Nor the fate of this naive girl. What was obvious to me with that conversation is more or less a rhetorical question... Are the masses really that ignorant, clueless and naive about what is really going on in this world? I mean, I knew they were digesting very well anything the media would feed them but... Really? That much?

And yes, Card. It does take a special breed of people to do what I do but... Well keep on reading this post.

As for the girl, since you're all curious, I shall oblige. My first thought was to snap her neck and be done with it. No muss, no fuss. But as I was placing my hands around her head and shoulders, she started laughing. Not crying but laughing! That's when understood what I really was going to do with her. She lived a wageslave life, content but as an empty vessel. I filled her with rage and purpose when I took away what she valued most. Then by offering the truth, I took away what she valued most again, her illusions, her rage and her newfound purpose. In a figurative sense, I had already killed her. She was again, an empty vessel. I may have killed her father, but I'm not the one who wanted him dead. She understood that if not me, someone else would have done it. In the end, on the threshold of imminent death, she suddenly understood and saw the world as I see it. I had decided to let her go but, yet again, she surprised me with a request that, even I, would never see coming. Tomorrow, I'll begin her training.]<<<<<
     -- Smiley (19:54:14/01-16-74)

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

>>>>>[ Iceblade, you just don't pay attention to the details.  That's going to get you into trouble some day ... ]<<<<<
          -- The Wyrm Ouroboros (20:16:58/01-16-2074)

[Kylen]

>>>>>[I may watch to many trids, or read too much, but is it bad that I may have seen that coming from a klick away? Good to see possible useful people aren't wasted. And yeah. The normal every day guy? I swear to god some of my co-workers at the front are nothing but idiots put there to help shore up the idea that it's just a normal delivery service.]<<<<<

     -- Card (20:20:20/01-16-74)

[Smiley]

>>>>>[Well, if see this like as trid script, yes it does kinda feel cliché.]<<<<<
     -- Smiley (20:27:31/01-16-74)

[Kontact]

>>>>>[FAUST G00D FR1END!  THE KEY T0 Y0UR REUN10N WITH THE CREAT0R 1S AT HAND!  THE SECRET 1S THE PATENTED T1ME ANTENNA!  THAT 1S C0RRECT - THE F0UR DAY S1MULTANE0US T1ME ANTENNA!  THE C0NSTRUCT10N 0F THE DEV1CE IS ACTUALLY QU1TE S1MPLE!  ALL THAT Y0U NEED 1S A TUBE 0F ADHES1VE, 3 METERS 0F CHEESE-W1RE AND A H1GH PLACE!  F1RST STEP 1S T0 T1E 0NE END 0F THE W1RE SECURELY AT THE H1GH PLACE AND THEN AR0UND Y0UR NECK 0N THE 0THER END T0 GR0UND 1T.  NEXT S1MPLY APPLY THE ADHES1VE T0 EACH 0F Y0UR HANDS AND GRIP THE SIDES 0F Y0UR HEAD T0 HELP Y0U TUNE THE SIGNAL.  FINALLY - T0 ESTABLISH THE TIME P0RTAL C0NNECT10N - LEAP FR0M 0N H1GH AND BACK THR0UGH T1ME!  1F Y0U D0 N0T LAND BACK 1N THE C0MF0RT1NG EMBRACE 0F Y0UR CREAT0R THEN Y0U SH0ULD TRY AGA1N FR0M A H1GHER SP0T!  PASS TH1S MESSAGE 0N T0 THREE 0F Y0UR FR1ENDS 0R THE CREAT0R W1LL BE VERY D1SAPP01NTED!]<<<<<
     -- ɹǝlppǝɯ‾ʇıq (18:27:43/01-16-74)

[CanRay]

>>>>>[MacCallister!  I know the code's old, but that's no reason not to let the spam filters slip.

Smiley, I figured it was either that or a slot and dump at the body farm.  Maybe I've been hanging around too many folks that shoot people in the face for money.  Glad to see another wageslave open their eyes.  Just remember that you did kill her father, however...  The killer you're training might be your own death.  Damn, that does sound like a cliche 'trid show.

It's the drugs in my system, yes, that's got to be it.  I wouldn't be spouting things like that if I were sober.  Stupid tank.]<<<<<
      --  Money Johnson (21:07:14/01-16-74)

[Mirikon]

>>>>>[It does take a certain detachment to carry out wetwork. Killing in the heat of battle is one thing. When it is your life or theirs, it becomes easy to kill. But to sit back and plan an assassination, not just the deed itself but planning how to clean up, how to get away, how to keep people from witnessing the kill... There aren't many people who can do that, and do it well, without going insane. Which is why in any army the group that gets the most intense psych screenings will be the sniper corps. I've known some snipers, and they say it gives them a sense of playing god, holding people's lives in their hand that I know I've felt when taking down people with manabolts from a distance.

Money, the shadows are certainly more honest than business and parties and politics. Though for sheer levels of intrigue, the UCAS has nothing on the Tir. The culture of almost medieval court politics has not gone away, despite the veneer of democracy. Much of the recent 'issues' have involved Prince Hestaby, of course, given her actions at the UN and in Dubai. But even before that, the intrigues were still circling. The Princes and other nobles forced into exile I do not doubt are plotting a way to return once the public's anger cools down. They are elves, afterall, so time is on their side.

Wyrm, been in trouble before. Honestly, without the AI or that Pax slitch that helped Winternight, I don't see Deus's old pawns as much more of a threat than any other crazy person. If they aren't trying to reunite under some new banner, then who cares what they're doing? Especially when there are real threats out there already that need to be dealt with, like the bugs.

Anyways, interesting meeting this morning. Can't say what it was about, or who it was with, but I got a pretty elf's number and a dinner date for tonight. We just finished dinner, and are heading up to my room for 'conversation'. Another person who thinks they can get me to spill all my secrets during pillow talk. One of the best things about this kind of work. And then I gotta head back to Seattle in the morning.]<<<<<

--Iceblade (21:28:35/01-16-74)