[Keita]

>>>>>[Haha! I doubt anyone would be stupid enough to accept the job of taking you out, Money.

Oh, don't worry about it, Ice. Nevermind me. Time heals all wounds...and the universe has ways to ensure you have the time to heal.

By the way...if anyone needs a high-force counterspelling focus, I have one available. The person who commished it from me didn't show with the dough, so its up for grabs.]<<<<<
     -- Madrecita (23:51:34/11-25-73)

[CanRay]

>>>>>[Don't be so sure.  It's often forgotten that the only people that have a shorter lifespan in the Shadows than Shadowrunners is Johnsons.  'Runners are deniable and don't know the whole story.  Johnsons, not so much.

And then there's the people that want me dead for personal reasons, or general principals.  And the Tir for some damned reason, but that's only if I enter the country.]<<<<<
     -- Money Johnson (15:54:42/11-25-73)

[Smiley]

>>>>>[Yeah if anyone think Johnsons are safe from harm, they're wrong. In the last 15 years I had to kill four Johnsons and one fixer. No one double cross me and live and I am sure I'm not the only runner who tries to make a point on not being fucked by the middleman. Only one has evaded me so far. On the other hand, a Johnson who gives me good business and don't hire someone to kill me after a few jobs can be assured I'll never turn on them. But I suspect my reputation has deterred people from hiring people to kill me because, with the exception of the fourth Johnson, it's been years since someone tried that on me.

The story of that fourth Johnson is an interesting one! I don't kiss and tell so I won't be giving any names but I can tell the big lines. So this guy hires me for a circuit, well that's what I call it when someone gives you a big list of people to kill and a big check to go with it. So I do the circuit and there's this amateur who tries to put a bullet in my head. To make it short, I beat this amateur assassin, interrogate him and finally kill him. After that I followed the trail until I discover it was my Johnson who hired the guy. So I discreetly ask a friend to do some legwork on him, to help me decide how I catch and end the guy. My friend sends me all the details necessary for the task but I ask him to keep digging before I go after him. As it turned out, the Johnson had the bad habit of hiring bad runners for jobs and also discovered that his employer was growing quite displeased. That got me curious. I go after the guy and beat him to an inch of his life. He tells me his employer asked him to terminate me before I finally end his suffering. It didn't really make sense, killing the only runner who actually did his job right and leaving all the others alive but unemployed? Then I finally pieced everything together. The Corp Exec hiring the Johnson was counting on the failed attempt for me to kill that incompetent bastard. Quite clever actually, you get one of the, I dare say, best wetwork artist on Seattle's market to take care of one of your problems for free. Well, I think he didn't count on the fact that I would piece it together and traced him down. You should have seen his face when I showed on his door step saying "You owe me money dude! I don't work for free!".]<<<<<
     -- Smiley (18:16:32/11-25-73)

[CanRay]

>>>>>[My Grandfather decided to grace me with a bit of wisdom right now.  The fact that he's on another continent allowed me to joke that it was all he probably had.  But it really fits with what's going on today.  Hell, he thought it was bad enough before the Crash of '29.  Now?  Well, he's got a big ol' file of quotations he keeps handy on various forms (Including old yellowed Dead Tree Format), and keeps adding onto.  Hope you folks mind it as things get even more hectic in this world...

“We are buried beneath the weight of information, which is being confused with knowledge; quantity is being confused with abundance and wealth with happiness.  We are monkeys with money and guns.” ― Tom Waits

Don't know who this "Waits" slot is, but damned if that doesn't sound like most of the drekheads we have to deal with today in almost every aspect of existing.]<<<<<
     -- Money Johnson (20:07:33/11-25-73)

[Keita]

>>>>>[I meant there are few runners who would dare to accept the job of ending you. After all, your rep precedes you. It would take serious cash and serious backup for a runner to take on that one.

Tom Waits. Jazz, Blues and Rock musician and composer in the previous century. Known for his distinctive, growly voice and lyrics that portrayed bad people and places...his music was almost prophetic in many ways. He still has a cult folowing even now. He died in the early '30's. ]<<<<<
     -- Madrecita (08:59:22/11-26-73)

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

>>>>>[ Don't be going and inflating egos.  Anyone can be gotten to, and in most cases, this is quite easy.  It is just whether it is worth the after-action annoyance. ]<<<<<
     -- Shivowtnoeh (17:10:42/11-26-73)

[CanRay]

>>>>>[Hm, interesting, surprised I haven't heard of Tom Waits, my kind of music.  'Course, there's a lot of music out there.  Luckily Grandpa has more than just quotes to give, a few digital items netted him quite a bit of cash after Crash 1.0 and 2.0 after all copies of them were lost in the chaos.

In addition, I know I'm touchable.  For original parts, I think I have a kidney and my spleen left to prove that point.  Also, I'm "Writing" this with a concussion from a Troll that didn't like the first price.  Actually a smart move on his part as we were in the Underground and no one would back me up in a fight.  He was a bit surprised when I broke the wooden table, so everything came too all right.  Now, if you excuse me, money bottle banana toque.]<<<<<
     -- Money Johnson (16:55:42/11-26-73)

[Keita]

>>>>>[ Exactly. After-action annoyance. When I look at his rep, what he survived, and his probably list of contacts...I'm betting on a lot of after-action annoyance. I'm old enough to know a bad bet when I see it. But you are correct. No one is invulnerable.

Mmm...I can't say I'm overly fond of Mr. Waits. Now Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald...those were the big names. They had their day a few decades before Tom Waits though. ]<<<<<
     -- Madrecita (10:14:22/11-27-73)

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

>>>>>[ ... what you are talking about?  I am speaking about police.  Always someone with good ears, official eye somewhere now.  These people is, you say, Wandering Knight, yes?  Now it is them, used to be cowboys.  Is annoying to have to avoid them afterwards, too often have to destroy tools.  Expensive, but then, you make that part of contract, yes?

Someone kill him, there is plenty of people who know who profits.  Reputation, contacts -- these matter only if person who handle is personal grudge.  If it is professional, only fools hunt handler; as they say, you never know when you want someone handled, and is always good that you know good handler.  Otherwise, is stupid, waste of resources.  Oh, maybe you find, ask questions, but you are polite, take tea, ask nice.

What, you think handler not know how to stay safe enough? ]<<<<<
     -- Shivowtnoeh (06:03/11-27-73)

[Mirikon]

>>>>>[Really, though, grudges are a bad thing to carry into the shadows. Not saying that there aren't perfectly legit times for vengeance. Tempo addict kills someone close to you, then show them the error of their ways. Someone gives you bad intel, gets one of your team killed for it, you get answers. Personal grudges, though, should always be approached like professional jobs. Do it cold, do it clean, make sure there aren't any witnesses, or if there are, that they see something different from what really happened.]<<<<<

--Iceblade (08:09:39/11-27-73)

[CanRay]

>>>>>[Grudges tend to make you pick fights you shouldn't have taken on to begin with.  Problem is, sometimes the fight picks you.]<<<<<
     -- Money Johnson (11:06:22/11-27-73)

[Mirikon]

>>>>>[Which is why you should always have a strong 'argument' within arm's reach. Nothing ends a fight better than pressing the business end of a loaded gun to someone's head. Or, if you prefer, a knife to the kidney works just as well. I always keep a weapon or two on my person, even when I'm out at a fancy club. Swordcanes are wonderful things, when you want to bring a blade into a fancy gala.]<<<<<

--Iceblade (12:14:03/11-27-73)

[CanRay]

>>>>>[There's also "The First Weapon" if you're skilled enough.  And no scanner detects your hands, feet, head, and so on.  Personally, I see weapons all around me no matter where I am.  As that troll last night demonstrated.  Still got a headache.  But, yeah, I'm a strong proponent of knives and other stabbing weapons, I find that in close quarters they're a more frightening thing than firearms at times.]<<<<<
     -- Money Johnson (11:21:09/11-27-73)

[Mirikon]

>>>>>[Oh sure, fists and feet are deadly, if you know how to use them right. But we're not talking about 'winning' the fight, but 'preventing' the fight. As I said, most people tend to stop causing trouble when you shove a gun in their face. An adept who can punch you from across the room is impressive, but for most people, a Predator between their eyes makes more of an impact.]<<<<<

--Iceblade (13:01:34/11-27-73)

[Teknodragon]

>>>>>[I heard a rumor once about some old-time ork hacker who had an assault rifle in every room of the house. Way I heard it, that paranoia saved him.]<<<<<
--TekDrake (15:52:23/11-27-73)