[Crossbow]

Melissa seems to take the advice in stride, but there is still a spring in her step as she walks the mages and her brother back to the car.

As the vehicle pulls onto the road, Matt starts thinking out loud.  “I guess the first thing we should do is try and find that chopper jockey I told you about.  You would be better off with him anyway, less chance of getting killed just making the trip, T-birds really aren’t the way to travel unless you are in a strapped down in a box.  Once we touch base with your friends, I got a real good idea about where I can find him.”

[Crossbow]

The Yakima Mall is barely worth the name, a cluster of mega retailers and a few restaurants that share a parking lot, it is more like where serious shopping trips go to die.  The locals seem energized by it, but for ‘cityfolk’ this place is a dud.  The Mega-mart is equally depressing, but it is the only place you have seen so far that is actually open 24 hours a day.

Doing a recon on the Electro-shack presents more problems.  Although the mall does technically close, the store is in close proximity to a peacekeeper substation and a bank.  Making a run on the place would be a cinch if you had your gear, but becomes quite dicey when your locking tools are limited to a borrowed paperclip.

[RHat]

Still dealing with the effects of the Zen, Fionn gave his head a bit of a shake and pulled up some information on the Mega-Mart and Electro-Shack as they reached the mall.  "Which place do you want to check first, Icarus?  Seems to me we've got the choice between a place that doesn't close, so there's always gonna be eyes, or a place next to the cop shop - I can reduce their staff a bit, but that just alleviates the risk rather than eliminating it.  What sort of abilities do you have, anyways?"

[HydroRaven]

"Damn" thought Clementine. "Being so close, KE's response time can't be that long. There's not much I can do here, it's all up to you guys."

[Novocrane]

"The Mega-mart sounds like a better choice if we tip anyone off," Ikari pondered, while looking at the shoes Blackeagle had let him take from the lodge. The change as his skin mimicked his clothes and surroundings was sudden, complete, and the lack of gradient was contrastingly unsubtle when compared with the final result.

"Could you pull up anything on their employee records or asset protection? Are we going to have to dry run on palming product onto someone to see what security response is? Can you do anything with the commlink RFID chips, or fool their systems into thinking stock has already been sold? Does either store employ trolls or awakened? As for what I can do ... it depends, no?"

[farothel]

Talk about an unremarkable entry in Seattle, Sammy thought, on the other hand, it might be our best option.  Well, first check with the rest of the group before I promise anything.
"Can you give me your commcode," Sammy said when they arrived at the diner, "I'll contact you, or have someone contact you, as soon as I know more."

[Thvor]

Walking around the grounds, Sam gestured to the security systems and said, "John, being greeted at the door with a shotgun by some overly-cautious person I can understand. But is all of this really necessary out here? Does everyone have this sort of setup, or is Mr. Martell just...more cautious than most?" He clearly wanted to say "paranoid", but suspected that his conversation might very well be actively monitored, and didn't want to risk upsetting their host. "We're talking about bringing a sizable crew out here, with a lot of really expensive gear. But if all this is necessary for security...well..."

[Necrogigas]

"Yeah, I'm in the same boat as Clem on this one. I can do smash-n-grabs, but I don't have much in the way of thief skills. Though, if you need a distraction, I can do wonders."

[irisheathen]

"This is an amazing collection Nick. If we end up filming here in town I'd love to bring a few people out here who would really appreciate it. Our firearms tech would lose it just looking at what you have in this room. Tell me though, why all the security way out here?" Johnny waved his arm around illustrating the compound.

[RHat]

"The Mega-mart sounds like a better choice if we tip anyone off," Ikari pondered, while looking at the shoes Blackeagle had let him take from the lodge. The change as his skin mimicked his clothes and surroundings was sudden, complete, and the lack of gradient was contrastingly unsubtle when compared with the final result.

"Could you pull up anything on their employee records or asset protection? Are we going to have to dry run on palming product onto someone to see what security response is? Can you do anything with the commlink RFID chips, or fool their systems into thinking stock has already been sold? Does either store employ trolls or awakened? As for what I can do ... it depends, no?"

"If it's on the Matrix, I can get it.  It's just a question of how much security I have to get through first, and how much time we want it to take."  Fionn took a moment to consider what sort of security a place like this was likely to have, and glanced at Icarus, having previously just been looking straight ahead.

"...  You know, from what I'd read, the effects of Zen aren't hallucinogenic.  Did you actually alter your skin color somehow, or was there something else cut into the Zen?"  He paused for a second, to see if what he was seeing would change, before continuing. "The more I know about what capabilities you have, exactly, the better I'll be able to plan.  It's important to know what I do and do not have to do, because while I can make myself pretty much invisible in the Matrix if I need to, hiding the fact that I've done a thing is a bit more difficult.  Don't tell me you have a vendetta against me having the information I need to do my job properly, too."


Knowledge Test: Matrix Security (7d6.hits(5)=3)

[Novocrane]

"You keep bringing that 'I need everything on you' thing up. I think it's distracting you - trees for the forest, or something like that." Ikari replied, nonplussed.

"And this," he continued, taking off his clothes, "I considered as good as telling you, if not better. Do you need to be in the shop to do your thing?"

[HydroRaven]

"No sooner did we find clothes" starts Clementine "that you already want to take them off? And what happened to your skin? Did you pay for that?"

[Novocrane]

"Would you prefer I do this with the clothes on? Next we'll be arguing over whether we need rope ...

[RHat]

"Which is not an argument I want to hear when at least one of you is naked."  Fionn arched an eyebrow.  "As for whether or not I need to be in the shop, I suppose I don't really know yet.  It's possible they have their security and inventory on an isolated system...  Not likely a place like this would go the the trouble; it's about as ciapadh as it gets.  Still, best to take a recon run before we actually try anything - so maybe put the clothes back on for now and help me sell our cover?"  At that, he decided to make something clear.

"And I'm not saying I need every piece of information ever.  But if I'm asking for it, you can damn well expect I have reason to think I need that particular information.  For example, being able to go for that whole skyclad camo is nice and all, but I can't tell if that lets you defeat thermal sensors.  Or if there's anything you can do about facial recognition software or biometric scanners - some of these things aren't all that expensive, especially for a chain operation.  If I'm to support you, I need to be aware, at the very least, of what you can't do.  If I simply proceed from the assumption that I have to deal with everything beyond mark 1 eyeball, the odds that the intrusion is detected will skyrocket - for the sake of comparison, your little chameleon trick probably doesn't do anything to conceal the signs that you've been somewhere, like footprints and such.  I'm only asking for what I need to deliver our best chance of success.  Does that really strike you as unwarranted?"

[Necrogigas]

"You know Red, you talk as if you're the mastermind of the group and we're the drooling idiots that'll do as you say, regardless of whether or not it's something we can pull off. During these planning stages, we'll let the group know what we can and can't due in given situations. You're the one that keeps going on about teamwork, yet you keep treating us like you're in charge. Its one or the other, Red. Oh, and Zen is very,very hallucinogenic. So, we got problems if all the shit you're seeing seems completely normal to you."