[Kylen]

>>>>>[ Oi, Money, thanks for putting me in touch with the old man. He knew how to get exactly what I wanted, and this stuff is GREAT. Makes me wonder why Horizon keeps making those drek 'runner' movies and shows and doesn't go back to this. I mean, hell, merchandizing is practically built into the show. I know they could save on some effects if they could find an adept or two to hire.

Now, if you don't mind me, I'm going to go pretend to be a little kid in the comfort of my own home. A thought: These shows show you EXACTLY how NOT to live a double life style...at least the versions where they have to keep their super power a secret. Might be good to watch just on that alone.]<<<<<

     -- Card (19:07:48/01-21-74)

[CanRay]

>>>>>[No problem, Card.  Grandpa's glad to share those with folks.  But don't think there wasn't any merchandising in them back then.  It's just not as overt.  Subtle hints of old products with distinctive labels and such that you won't recognize today.  (Even stuff that's still around, you won't recognize.  This was actually the start of the Cola Wars-era, the cold period before Red and Blue started shooting it out with 'Runner teams over territory, production, and distribution when they both got AA-Status at the same time by the Corporate Court.  Honestly, I don't know why the CC allows that war to go on, as it's bad for business.  Then again, the AAA-Level Corps have their own Colas on the markets now, and anything that hurts the major front-runners helps them, so maybe it does make sense.

My favorite is still Q-Cola ("The Feathered Dragon's Choice"), even if it is an Aztechnology product.  They use real sugar cane in it, while the rest use refined sugar, and there aren't as many "Will give you cancer" additives.  (I know a chemist that gets bored and looks into things like that.).  Horizon's Unity Cola ("The cola for everyone") is also good for lack of additives, but they use raw sugar, which is better than refined sugar, but not as sweet as sugar cane.  For pure calories and punch, Ares Combat Cola is practically an energy drink, and most 'runners will have a six-pack in the back of their vehicles for quick energy.  I keep one in my Jackalopoe, in fact, for the same reason.  Along with water.]<<<<<
      --  Money Johnson (19:17:33/01-21-74)

[Mirikon]

>>>>>[I can honestly say I've never had cola before. Growing up, it was always what the peasants drank, while I had better choices available. And later, I decided why bother with cola, when there was whiskey? Or beer, if I'm in a dive. Then again, I never had soy until I went into the army.

And Card, there's two ways to live a double life. The first is to go with full on disguises (nanopaste, mask spells, whatever you have access to) in one or both of those lives. Makes for a lot of work, but the chances of someone recognizing you in both roles is remote. The other way is to do the hide in plain sight method. Cosmetic changes between the two roles, but you act differently as each persona. No one expects that a playboy noble turned high end male escort would be, as Madre once called me, a cold blooded killer. The key here is to make one part of your life a caricature, so that even if someone sees you playing criminal, they go "Nah, it couldn't be..." And if you can make it so your 'public' persona is well known, then a couple minor cosmetic changes for when you're running allows you to say that the person in the person in the mask was clearly using nanopaste, or was a copy. How many Nadja Daviars are there running around?]<<<<<

--Iceblade (19:43:23/01-21-74)

[Kylen]

>>>>>[Money: I ment the fact that, I mean, good gods, everything these guys use in the show could be a toy for a kid. Especially with the most recent advances, you could make stylized 'links that make the kid look like one of these sentai in AR. So many ways to make money.

Iceblade: I ment more the fact that it's SO OBVIOUS. Granted, in some of these, it seems masked heroes are a normal thing for the world, so if your best friend walks into an alley and the hero of hte area shows up, you just kinda shrug it off. I'll have to look into those two options though. Hell, likely doing one or the other unconsciously is a mark of someone who's just good at hiding stuff.]<<<<<

     --Card (20:02:50/01-21-74)

[CanRay]

>>>>>[Smart people look for caricatures that are trying too hard, however.  Use only some of it, and make it subtle for the rest.  There's a reason stereotypes were created, but they're an amalgamation of things, not just one person...  Usually.  Some folks just aim for it just to be, or because they think they have to be it.  *Emote:  Shrug*  I don't go in for that myself.  Well, OK, I did pull a bit of the "Great White Hunter" in Africa, but that was just to make the kids laugh, rather than to throw people off my trail, I was there legally.

I will say that Nanopaste has been the greatest boon to me in a long, long time!  Even just enough to throw off facial recognition is enough.  You still look like you, people will recognize you (Important as people in the light and dark know me by my real face), but footage can't be used against you in a court of law without being edited.  And if you have a good team behind you, you can show how it's been faked without screaming "I had nanopaste on, that's not real!" as we just saw in a recent case, which puts the rest of the evidence from the same lab in a bad view, even in other cases.  I also used an old comic book trick, I stand straight when in the light, and hunch down in the shadows.  Different heights, different walking styles, the works.  (That trick is so old it isn't even looked for any more except by people my age!  Or those taught by folks my age.).

Combat Helmets with built-in respirators are good too.  I have a few, ranging from anti-inhalant, to anti-chemical, to anti-viral.  I know a number of 'runners that use full-faced motorcycle helmets that have a lot of gadgets built into them.  Internal air supplies are very popular, tongue toggle the seal and you're good.  They're available at any bike shop legally, too.

Iceblade, if you're stuck in a dive with horrible beer and worse whiskey, try adding some Unity Cola or Q-Cola if you like things really sweet to the whiskey, and it'll make it more palatable.  It's a standard mix, so even that crappy a bartender can't screw it up, too.  Also, the carbonation gives you an endorphin rush from the pain sensors on your tongue going off.  It's why carbonated beverages are so popular.

Card, most of those WERE toys for kids.  Die-cast metal, and then plastic according to Grandpa.  And the shows sold the toys.  He remembers having some of them as a kid.  Might even still have some in the the attic.]<<<<<
      --  Money Johnson (20:02:41/01-21-74)

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

>>>>>[ Every high-end noble I've ever met was a cold-blooded killer in some manner, no matter how they acted. ]<<<<<
          -- The Wyrm Ouroboros (21:12:23/01-21-2074)

[Mirikon]

>>>>>[Oh, there's the political gamesmanship, of course, but that wasn't what I was talking about and you know it. Most nobles wouldn't deign to get their hands dirty with most things. No, they use proxies, and middlemen, and all the tricks your average Johnson would use, to keep from touching the subject, or even acknowledging that they had just signed someone's death warrant. There are some exceptions, of course, but they are not typical. And beyond that, there is the public perception, which I shouldn't have to tell you is often different from reality. The perception of most nobles is that they are schemers, who never get their own hands dirty, and certainly would never be seen in someplace like Aces out in Redmond. Sometimes the sheer absurdity of the notion means people automatically assume that it is a look-alike. If you saw someone who looked like Damien Knight chatting with some known runners in Club Penumbra, would you think that was actually Knight?]<<<<<

--Iceblade (21:34:43/01-21-74)

[CanRay]

>>>>>[Might explain why my Chummer who is some kind of Lord back in Old Blighty is in self-imposed exile.  He's just happy enjoying life, really.  Gotta see when he's back in town, I think.

Test with the radiation is done.  There was lots of, "Oh don't worry, this won't hurt.  And none of this type of radiation will bond to your body, you'll pee it all out.  And it has a half-life of something like six months.  And...  I should get out of here before you cripple me like Doctor >Redacted<...  How the hell he's able to stay a client I'll never know." and stuff like that.  Just pulled up my chart again, and it looks like I'll be out of the tank soon, as all I have left is a residual headache to worry about, and they're starting to get nervous over, one:  How I've been able to gnaw at my straps in the first place, and two:  Just how close I am to getting out of them.  Honestly, not even a magazine in here!  And I really want a soycream cone ever since I mentioned the Good Humor Ork!]<<<<<
      --  Money Johnson (23:14:52/01-21-74)

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

>>>>>[ I'd suspend judgement until proof was acquired, and plan for either one -- if I needed to plan. ]<<<<<
          -- The Wyrm Ouroboros (00:41:36/01-22-2074)

[Smiley]

>>>>>[Alright, not sure who were these guys, all I know is that these guys were cleaners, really really bad men and that my fixer told me they were linked in some way to the other guys. But it's done, they are no more and as promised...

// upload media file :: user Smiley :: 01/22/74 //
// TerrorScreamsMegaMix audio file standing by //]<<<<<
     -- Smiley (02:38:42/01-22-74)

[CanRay]

>>>>>[Ah, OK, that would explain it.  No, I went after some bad SINless in the Puyallup Barrens.  Rapists, sadists, fleshmongers, a few really bad pimps, one slumlord, and...  It gets a bit fuzzy why I hated some of them, but they were all good fighters and made the world better by no longer breathing, that sort of thing.  The folks that give SINless a bad name.  Hell, the folks that give "Breathing and Alive" a bad name!  No, the cleaners were bad men, yeah, but nothing compared to most professional Shadowrunners.  If I wasn't at a meet with the Fixer's security watching the place...  Well, I might have gotten shot in the back of the head anyhow because I couldn't see it coming.

As for the mix, that's a nice, soothing...  Mmmmmmmmmmm...]<<<<<  >>>User:  Money Johnson has disconnected at source<<<
      --  Money Johnson (02:54:55/01-22-74)

[Kylen]

>>>>>[Is that...dubstep screaming? I...I don't even know. It's awesome, but at the same time strikes something deep in my soul and freaks me out a little.]<<<<<

     -- Card (3:21:33/01-22-74)

[Keita]

>>>>>[ Mmm...I see a lot of traveling in my future. Two potential runs cropped up. One to South America and one to Africa. I may have to do both, in which case I won't be availible. I'll leave my good friend Sibongile to mind the store for me for those of you who get magical goods from me. Just thought I'd give you all a heads up ]<<<<<
      --  Madrecita (16:52:12/01-22-74)

[CanRay]

>>>>>[What part of Africa.  I know it's a big place, but I got a few contacts you can count on not to rip you off there if you're close.  PM me the details if you don't want them public.]<<<<<
      --  Money Johnson (16:55:15/01-22-74)

[Keita]

>>>>>[ Azanian confederation. It's a missing person I have to locate and smuggle out of the place.  ]<<<<<
      --  Madrecita (17:01:12/01-22-74)