[CanRay]

>>>>>[I know one Tir noble that's counting no more time, and won't be seeing even an Ork's age any longer, Mr. Iceblade.  Cleanest, if nastiest trick I ever saw someone perform to do it, too.  Mr. Money let the "Poncy Elven Noble" as he called him impale his hand, and then held onto the guard, slipped his own sword under the armoured jacket, and up through the kidney and heart.

Be careful tonight, Mr. Iceblade.  Not all people just try for pillow talk for intel.  Keep a blade handy, or some way to alert me.  I'll stay up until we're on the ground in Seattle.]<<<<<
      --  Murphy (22:00:00/01-16-74)

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

>>>>>[ Iceblade, your opinion -- anyone who has offered an opinion about this, honestly -- not only holds no water, it won't affect anything.  Not unless you go find the twitcher and try to help him out yourself -- good luck with that, because considering what he's said so far, Uhuru and White IC give you a 16.217% chance of a successful interaction -- and a 47.223% chance of fatal violence.
          Bloody cesspit hell, I didn't even make the call, why are you lot bitching at me?? ]<<<<<
          -- The Wyrm Ouroboros (10:24:33/01-16-2074)

[CanRay]

>>>>>[Same reason I screw at Tech Support when my feed to the International Stock Exchanges goes down.  You're here.  :-P  Anyhow, I'm stuck in a tank and am bored, what else can I...  No, no no!  SELL you stupid agent!  SELL!  I programmed you better than that!  OK, aside from check my stock portfolio while I'm constantly online.  There, finally, sold.  Honestly, why did I buy stocks in Amalgamated Amalgamations?]<<<<<
      --  Money Johnson (22:29:44/01-16-74)

[All4BigGuns]

>>>>>[Maybe you were drunk at the time?]<<<<<
      --  Predator (21:32:34/01-16-2074)

[CanRay]

>>>>>[Possible, the elections thing has been driving me to drink, that's for sure.]<<<<<
      --  Money Johnson (22:49:27/01-16-74)

[All4BigGuns]

>>>>>[Yeah, I can see politics doing that, but politics can bring good paying jobs.]<<<<<
      --  Predator (22:57:32/01-16-2074)

[CanRay]

>>>>>[Only later in the running.  The Prop23/Project Freedom thing, OTOH, has everyone jumping.  But it's mostly low-end jobs.  Well, maybe higher-end now that MacCallister is in the hospital and I'm in a tank.]<<<<<
      --  Money Johnson (23:08:00/01-16-74)

[Mirikon]

>>>>>[Murphy, you're making a classic blunder there. Not all Tir nobles are created equal. You've seen me use magic. You've seen me fight. Do you really think I'm anywhere near the level of the ones who were on the Council? I was a Count, which means I was still two ranks below Prince, and the Council was above them. There were Nobles, Chivalry, and then the Gentry below me. And not all nobles achieved their status through combat skills. So yes, there are plenty of nobles who are utterly useless in a fight. And like a lot of people who are useless in a fight, they think wealth and power makes them good fighters. Guppies and Sharks, kid. Both fish, but if you treat them all like guppies, you're going to wind up dead when you come face to face with the Shark.

Now me, I don't sleep with a blade under the pillow, like some people might. For one thing, that gives anyone you're sleeping with an opportunity to grab that blade, too. But if I was going to send an assassin after me, I wouldn't do it up close and personal. Sniper from an adjoining building is how I'd do it, either using a high power rifle or powerbolt. Anyone who's done a bit of wetwork will consider from time to time how they'd take out someone like themselves. Its a good exercise to spot your weaknesses, and start to develop countermeasures. I'm sure someone like Smiley has at least five or six different scenarios on how he'd take himself out, don't you, Smiley?

Wyrm, your group, and you're here. So we talk to you. And really, what would I do to help him out. Sometimes crazy is just what you need for a job. Personally, I like hiring a group of nutjobs as a decoy. Get some nanopaste, put on a suit, and play Mr. Johnson, and then my team gets an easy ride because someone started a major commotion on the other side of the facility. Don't bother trying to cure the crazy. There's always more where that came from. Instead, use it like you would any other asset.

OH GHOST! Damn, girl, where'd you learn to do that with your tongue? Oh, is this still transmitting? Yeah, I gotta go...]<<<<<

--Iceblade (23:39:40/01-16-74)

[Smiley]

>>>>>[She's going to be my first trainee. She still needs to survive her training, she most likely won't. The mental and physical ordeals she's about to go through will test her beyond her limits, but yes, my first trainee. Because I'm going to train her the only way I know, the way my, well, foster mom (since she did raised me) trained me. I still remember when she decided it was time for me to learn to swim when I was a kid. She dropped me in the deep part of a lake and watched if I'd learn and get myself to firm ground... Or drown.

As for her killing me, it's a possibility but a little bird tells me she won't. She'll start despising this world more than me soon enough. When I'm done with her, if she does kill me, it's not going to be for revenge and she's not going to take that decision lightly, since even in death, I'll bring destruction upon whoever kills me. It's not that hard to kill me, really. I'm not hiding and I'm not paranoid. Bombs, sniper rifles, any of this will do just fine. Even a kid could probably to it. But dealing with the aftermath is going to be more tricky. I put a contingency plan in place if I get killed by someone. Millions of nuyen is automatically placed on the head of whoever killed me and everyone close to that person. Others will be blackmailed into helping in the efforts. People who owes their lives to me may also want revenge. Even a cold blooded contract killer like me can have friends in very high places. I found that the best protection is making my murder as less appealing as possible, not harder. A little legwork and it's easy to discover all that. I'm that devious.

And Iceblade, my success depends on the total lack of evidence left behind. Sniper rifles leave bullets in people that can be traced, bodies to be recovered and analyzed. Not to mentioned the weapon itself, if found can lead back to you if you aren't careful enough. Same with bombs. No matter who it is, I fulfill all my contracts with my bare hands. I don't like laying low for months at a time, leaving my perfectly comfy condo. Prison is also not so appealing.]<<<<<
     -- Smiley (00:41:28/01-17-74)

[CanRay]

>>>>>[From what little snippets I remember, he was more than a little skilled in combat.  He was martial arts trained for sure, that elven martial art whose name is escaping me because it's painkiller time, but no magic.  Only my skills, experience (Much more valuable), and Wires allowed me to compensate, actually.  But you're very right about that kind of stuff.

But also take the place that Murphy came from.  Yeah, his Uncle and I showed him more of the world than most Barrens folks ever see, but, well, if not for our training he'd be gazing around Denver like a yokel.  Hell, I barely knew the difference between all the elven nobility even with the concept of lordships and such from a few friends in England that went to University with me.  People of wealth and position are fairy tales to him still, I'm afraid, which he just showed.  No guilt in that, Murphy, there's orks twice your age thinking the same thing.  Watch Iceblade, listen to him, learn.  That's how you rise up from where you came from, like your Uncle, Grandfather, and Great-Grandfather before you.  You're already literate, you already know to read and study, so you know these lessons well.  They never end, I still learn something every day, even when I'm in the tank.  More often because of the tank, actually, and I am more than twice your age.

As for people who think power, influence, and wealth will get you through anything, don't forget how I first appeared to you, Murphy.  Rude awakening when you found out far, far different, right?  Same type of people, just not able to break both arms of a gutterpunk because he splashed dirty water on my 10,000¥ suit.  That thing is dry-clean only!  They're untouchable in their world, so they think they're untouchable everywhere.  It only works out until they slot someone off enough that they're willing to go to ground for the time that KE is willing to put into an investigation into their disappearance.

Speaking of bombs that a kid could do, found out why Mr. Ambassador is here in the hospital with me.  Those "Freedom Fighters" got to his car (How the hell those idiots got to a secure car I'll never know!), put a bomb in it, and still screwed it up.  Just blew his legs off.  Hell, I know an...  Well, she'd be nine now.  9-year old elven girl that can set up a car bomb faster than drek through a devil rat, and no screw-ups.  Other than adding some additional items to "make the fire pretty."]<<<<<
      --  Money Johnson (03:40:59/01-17-74)

[Mirikon]

>>>>>[I know the girl you're talking about, Money. Sweet kid, really. I've brought her along on some jobs where I need demo done. Again, I know my strengths, and I know my weaknesses. I got no skill for demolitions, and that is always a job you get someone who knows what they're doing to handle, no ifs ands or buts. Her job is actually easier, because most of the ingredients of home made explosives are legal to get at the local Stuffer Shack. She just goes up to Security, and says, "Mommy asked me to go out to the store and get some things," and they let her through. I actually sent her some tutorsofts I 'acquired' on one of my runs, to try and help round out her education. For a kid, tutorsofts are better than skillsofts, because they got plenty of time to learn, and you don't learn when you're on skillwires.

You know, I'll have to look the kid up when I get back. She actually lives in my building, so that won't be too hard. Parents are nice people, don't have a clue what their kid does for her money when she's 'out with her friends'. I actually helped her set up a bank account in her name under a fake ID (bank made me cosign for her), so all the money she's saving up from runs is sitting there, earning interest while she is in school. Also means she's got a good sized war chest ready to go if anything ever happens to her parents.

And that martial art is carromeleg. And if he didn't have magic or ware, I'm not surprised he lost to you. It was probably overconfidence, thinking his training and standing made him better than someone trained in the art of 'make guys bleed'. Training in carromeleg doesn't make me any better than someone with training in a different style. Martial arts is half skill and half discipline. You see plenty of people who are wired to the gills and can punch a hole in a truck get taken down by someone half their size who has the agility and discipline to not go wildly swinging. Mental discipline is part of that, and assuming you are better than your opponent is a failure in mental discipline.

Murphy's doing all right. Besides learning lessons in cross-species dating, he's picking up on some of the clues about what to do (and what not to do) when he's out of the Barrens. Of course, subvocal mikes are good for giving instructions without people hearing you, so I've been coaching him on how to act in some of the high society places we've been. And when I was having my chat at the Church of the Dragon with Gray Arrow, he was chatting with her Wildcat guards. Anyone who can deal with the Sioux and their culture of threats to gain respect and not start a fight or show weakness is already a couple steps up from most Barrens kids.

Oh, and if anyone is curious, I already found and confiscated the trid cameras my date's friends had planted while we were out. They were hoping to use it as blackmail. Of course, there may be a copy off site, but after reviewing the tapes, I'm not sure I won't use it as advertising for my cover as an escort. Just edit the sound out, so you don't get the attempts at interrogation. The girl's sleeping, and all she got for her trouble was a good time, and the cover story.

Smiley, good to hear you're going to train the kid right. I'm trying to do the same with the kid I'm training (both of them, if you count Murphy) and it doesn't do them any good to coddle them. I think another month of training the kid to fight, and teaching him the basics of the spellslinging part of things, and I'll send him down to Wolfgar to learn to use his adept abilities.

Murphy! If you're reading this in real-time, get some sleep. We've got an early flight back to Seattle, and you're going to lose time on the trip, don't forget.]<<<<<

--Iceblade (05:49:04/01-17-74)

[CanRay]

>>>>>[As I have to keep reminding myself, I'm not actually a razorboy, I just play one on the 'trid.  My fighting style can be summed up as "Hurt people a lot", which as Murphy pointed out, includes myself apparently.  I was wondering why my hand was aching.  Having a few feet of steel shoved through it would certainly make sense.]<<<<<
      --  Money Johnson (09:40:32/01-17-74)

[Mirikon]

>>>>>[The whispers recede. I am at peace.

Those who would hunt us, they will not find us easy prey. We will not be rounded up. We will be free, and any who try to chain us will have to fight to do so. I am older now, but I have not lost the skills I had in the SCIRE. Any who would try to take the Angel will die by my blade.

We move. Hunters may come, but they will find nothing but death. Death and death, until they hunt us no more.

Shadows hide us, wherever we run. Hide us from the lives we've lived, and from those who wish us gone because of them.]<<<<<

--Faust (10:49:02/01-17-74)

[CanRay]

>>>>>[Why am I suddenly remembering something about an Angel...  Fraggin' stabilizers and sleepy juice.  And no access to my back-ups.  Oh well, nap time again.]<<<<<
      --  Money Johnson (12:48:50/01-17-74)

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

>>>>>[ Told you.
          Man, that girl can number crunch. ]<<<<<
          -- The Wyrm Ouroboros (17:40:54/01-17-2074)