"Don't worry about it," he says to Cherry. "Don't meet with Frank, and don't go to the Black Bull Motel. Your life will be in danger if you do." He terminates the call.
"Yep, she's alive."
"What? How do..." Geezer doesn't hear anything else. The call is terminated before Cherry can utter another word. The pair are left in relative silence on the fourth floor of the Black Bull Motel.
"That's a start, I suppose," Chibiko muses, still leaning against the wall. "But we've still got no idea where to start looking for this Frank guy."
"We'll look in the Matrix," he states as he searches through it in his commlink. "If we don't turn up anything, I guess we'll bite the bullet and call her again to see if we can turn up any more information."
As Geezer sets about fiddling with his commlink to get more information, Chibiko slides down against the wall to wait. As the minutes tick by, he narrows his search down to a list of 'Frank Harris's across Miami. Eventually, he finds one that fits the type - an ork wageslave at a low-ranked Miami office. Geezer is about to narrow down the specifics of where to find the man when the staircase door opens up.
A tall woman with brilliant red hair came through. She wore a low-cut top and tight jeans, completing the look with some serious (but somehow alluring) boots. She stops abruptly and looks at the pair of shadowrunners loitering outside of 402. She does not look particularly pleased. "You looking for something?"
Taken aback by the surprise of the voice as he was completely zoned in on finding some dirt, he looks up to find the red haired lady, showing disapproval of a decrypt looking man standing in front of room 402. She looked the part of a golddigger, and with an amazing red highlight in her hair, it was almost no doubt in Geezer's mind the woman standing in front of them was in fact Cherry. Geezer muses for a moment, knowing that she might bring the cops into this if she sees the display of bloodshed in her room, an act that Geezer wouldn't want happening.
"By any chance, are you named Cherry?"
"Yeah, and you're in front of my room." Her eyes shift to Chibiko. Her lip curls in disapproval. "Is there going to be a problem here, creep?" She puts a hand on the bag at her side, twisting sideways away from Geezer and the little one.
"No. I am not going to mug you at all if that's why you're hiding your pocketbook away from us." he says to her as he privately sends a message to Chibkio.
<Should I show her the footage of the killings?>
He turns his full attention to the working girl after sending the message. "Listen, your life is in danger. This guy you're going to dock is going to kill you. He's been killing other girls in the most gruesome ways possible. We need all of the information to find this guy, otherwise he's going to be making a killing."
His lack of confidence in his persuasion causes him to think otherwise, and he turns to Chibiko. "I think you might need to handle this one out, Chibi..."
"Yeah? Sounds like bulldrek to me." Cherry wastes no time in pulling a taser from her bag and pointing it at Geezer. "Why don't you just back away while I get into my room, okay?"
Seeing no reason to further escalate the situation, Chibiko quickly steps past Geezer and walks a bit down the hall.
"Just let her see it for herself... it'll be easier to explain when she sees it with her own eyes."
Geezer holds his hands up as Cherry takes out her taser. He recieved the whispers from Chibiko and nods.
"Alright, well, sorry for bothering you, ma'am," he says to the working girl. "You may go to your room then. Take care of yourself."
"Pretend we're just walking away and just stay at these steps," he whispers to Chibiko.
The woman slides past Geezer, keeping one eye on him the whole time she pulls her keycard and slides it through the maglock reader. After it beeps and allows entry, she slides in through the door and slams it behind her.
A few muffled expletives slip out from behind the door.
After a minute or so, the door slides back open and Cherry peers out cautiously. "Wha- Did you do this??" In her trembling hand she still holds the taser, though she looks more likely to cower behind the door than actually use it.
Geezer smirks at Cherry's display of a colorful vocabulary. He looks to the working girl, cowering behind the door with the taser in hand. "Oh right I would totally cause that mess in there just so I can make a point for you to not show up." he mocks.
He walks up to her in a crawling speed, anticipating that she would panic and tase him. "I was the one that called you through Frank's commlink. You see those surgical tools on that endtable? That's where it was. We have likely proof that Frank is killing girls all around Miami, and now he's targeting you. I would rather for you to put your taser away, but seeing that I know you don't believe me, shoot me a suggestion of how I can show you the proof without me getting close to you."
He messages Chibiko: <Chibi, back me up here.>
"Frank did this? I... don't believe that! How do I know you didn't just frame him for it? I was just here and none of this was here! You'd better... I don't know, get in here and explain it or something! Before I call the cops!"
"I'm trying my damnest to help you, but you're making it hard on all of us with that stupid taser. Please put it away, and then I'll show you proof."
Chibiko takes a deep breath. Dealing with unstable civilians was not a typical part of her job. She usually liked to just avoid them entirely. It was a lot less... noisy.
"Whatever you think is best," she says in the calmest voice she can manage. "Maybe we should all just have a sit down and talk it out. If you'd like to put down the weapon, that'd be great... or not. We've got proof that Frank's behind it all, if you'll just let us show it to you... And probably not in that room. That room is a little messy. We've rented the room just beside yours."
The woman abruptly raises the taser and points it at Chibiko. "Why? So that you can murder me on your terms? I don't think so! You're just lucky I haven't already informed the authorities of this! I'm... this close to doing it though!" She steps out of the room, clearly feeling the effects of some adrenaline pumping through her system. Her weapon is held in both hands, her aim shifting between the two runners in front of her. "Go on in and get up against the far wall! Hands visible so I know you're not doing something tricky! Before I have to use this thing!"
Overwhelmed with stress, Geezer kicks logic to the curb and pulls out both of his pistols and shoots them in the ceiling to scare Cherry. They would have been deafening to the ear, but they have the silencers squeezed in in the event of a sneaking mission. They are still loud enough for people close up to understand the point.
Geezer yells at Cherry in a bloodcurdling demonic-like voice:
3 hits. 3 net hits. 12 Damage total.
Shocked, panicked, and high on adrenaline, Cherry does the only thing she could be expected to do in this situation. She fires. Geezer, so offended and caught up in the moment, doesn't even have a chance to react to the shot. The taser dart catches him square in the chest and sends 10,000 volts of electricity coursing through his body.
Pass 1: Chibiko, Cherry, Geezer.
Geezer takes the hit from the taser square in the chest. He seizes through the 10,000 volts coursing through his body, sprouting unintelligible words mixed in with bloodcurdling screams. This happens for a few seconds before Geezer regains his composure, now appearing even more pissed off than before.
As the scene erupts into violence, Chibiko springs into action. In an instant she closes the gap between herself and Cherry, bringing her hands down in a balled up fist to break the woman's grip on the taser.
Uhoh. Critical Glitch. 4 net hits. 9S damage + disarm.
3 hits. 6S dmg.
4 hits. DV 6P
2 hits. 2 Net hits. DV 8P
0/10P
6/10S -2
Gear: EX Shocker, Shock Hand, Hand Blades, Steyr TMP, Armor Clothing
Augs: Shock Hand, Hand Blades, Wired Ref 1, Datajack, Simrig, Skilljack R4, Imagelink, Alum Bone Lacing
Cherry raises the weapon with great haste as she sees Chibiko dashing in to strike her. Despite bringing it up to block the attack, all she ends up doing is taking a taser to the face as it goes flying out of her grip. The weapon slides along the floor several meters, ending up at the far end of the hallway.
Immediately Cherry turns on Chibiko, her eyes furious. "That's how it is then, huh?" She lets her purse fall to the floor as she brings both fists up. Two razor-sharp blade fly from her wrists, extending out nearly a full foot each. She slashes at Chibiko, aiming to take the girl's head off. Despite her best efforts to dodge, the blow connects with her across the chest!
Geezer shakes off the spasm he had with the taser, extending his left hand that holds an inhaler. "So you want to play that game, eh?"He takes a huge huff from his inhaler, his eyes become increasingly bloodshot, his smile extending beyond comprehension, and his volume of his voice escalating to new decibels. he screams with a maniacal laughter combined with hyperventilation.
He runs for cover behind room 403, shooting at Cherry without the slightest regard of where the bullets hit.
3 Hits. Miss.
1 Hit. 1 Net Hit, DV 9P
2 Hits. Geezer's Screaming Overheard!
5 hits, Damage = 4P
4/10P -1
6/10S -2
Gear: EX Shocker, Shock Hand, Hand Blades, Steyr TMP, Armor Clothing
Augs: Shock Hand, Hand Blades, Wired Ref 1, Datajack, Simrig, Skilljack R4, Imagelink, Alum Bone Lacing
Round 1, Pass 2
Geezer 9, Chibiko 7, Cherry 3
One of Geezer's bullets catches Cherry in the shoulder. She reels backward, steadying herself as she stares daggers down the hall at the retreating drug addict.
Pumped full of drugs, the tweaked-out Geezer's veins nearly pop out of his head as he readies his weapons for another volley of bullets...
He continues to fire his pistols at Cherry with a side of way over the top laughter, emptying the guns clips. He looks at the window and plans a death defying stunt if things went to drek.
1 hit. Graze.
4 hits, miss.
4/10P -1
6/10S -2
1/3 Edge
Gear: EX Shocker, Shock Hand, Hand Blades, Steyr TMP, Armor Clothing
Augs: Shock Hand, Hand Blades, Wired Ref 1, Datajack, Simrig, Skilljack R4, Imagelink, Alum Bone Lacing
Cherry dives for cover in room 402 as the bullets come flying her way. Through dumb luck or an act of fate, Geezer's hail of lead completely misses his target. The bullets embed themselves in the cheap walls of the motel, adding to the tacky decor.
The blade sinks deep into Chibiko's chest. She clutches her stomach and finds blood pouring from the wound. To her side, Geezer is belting out expletives like the drug-addled maniac he is. Part of her was telling her that this was all wrong; that they shouldn't be fighting the girl they're out to save. Another part of her was telling her that that girl shouldn't also have cyberweapons implanted into her wrists; nor should Chibiko herself be bleeding out.
Diving beneath the hail of bullets, Chibiko dashes through the door Geezer was firing out of. In her condition, it was best to get out of the line of fire as quickly as possible. She slumped down behind the bed and grabbed for her commlink, typing as fast as she could on the clumsy keypad. She only hoped they'd survive long enough for the message to mean something to their new German compatriots.
<Found Cherry. Not good.>
4/10P -1
6/10S -2
1/3 Edge
Gear: EX Shocker, Shock Hand, Hand Blades, Steyr TMP, Armor Clothing
Augs: Shock Hand, Hand Blades, Wired Ref 1, Datajack, Simrig, Skilljack R4, Imagelink, Alum Bone Lacing
The wildwoman taking cover behind the door of room 402 peeks out from her cover and grins madly at Geezer. "Your little fragbuddy ain't looking too good... tell you what? Giver her to me and I'll let you walk out of here in one piece!"
Despite being armed with only wrist-mounted blades, getting to the staircase meant going past the door she was behind... and getting in range of those blades. And so long as she stayed behind the door, getting a clean shot on her would be nearly impossible...
End Round 1.R2 Ini:
Geezer regains his composure and tries to remain quiet despite being drug induced. Getting past the wildwoman would mean becoming mince meat. He tries to find reasons as to why Chibiko should be saved, given that she did mock him on several occasions and disrespected him in almost every run. He is running on empty with them.
He goes through the plan of getting through to the window, speedwalking toward it while reloading both of his pistols with explosive rounds. He attempts to hang from a hand and foot holds again, four stories high.
Chibiko watches as Geezer leaves the door - leaving them completely and entirely uncovered - as he leaps out the window and hangs from the ledge. Again, like the drug-addled maniac he is.
"What the drek, Geez?"
These things should really stop surprising her.
She dug into her pack - it was half-ruined with blood, now - with as much haste as she could muster. She had the sinking feeling that a lot of her haste was flowing out of her chest and onto the floor. Still, with a few flicks of her wrist, the collapsible bow she's kept stored in her pack was fully assembled and ready for action. Unfortunately, it did nothing to numb the pain coursing through her body...
Billy could hear the pain in Chibikos voice as it poured out the commlink. Drek where are you both and what the hell is going on? Whos there fighting you? Is it Frank? Did he bring goons, what are the numbers we are facing? Billy gave Freddy a tap on the shoulder [Friedrich we have trouble, it sounds like our companions are in need of our help [b/] Billy waited to hear where Geezer and Chibiko were.
4/10P -1
6/10S -2
1/3 Edge
Gear: EX Shocker, Shock Hand, Hand Blades, Steyr TMP, Armor Clothing
Augs: Shock Hand, Hand Blades, Wired Ref 1, Datajack, Simrig, Skilljack R4, Imagelink, Alum Bone Lacing
"Take your time," Cherry coos. "I'll give you a minute to think my offer over. I'm sure whatever you're getting from the little one isn't as valuable as your life."
She laughs. It doesn't sound like the stable-minded kind of laugh. Actually, it kind of sounds like Geezer.
Round 2 Pass 2
Geezer 11, Chibiko 9, Cherry 2
Geezer shimmies next to the window of 402, hiding himself enough that a glance from it wouldn't give him out.
He taps on the window, hoping to get the madwoman's attention.
Wary of taking her eyes off the door, Chibiko speaks softly into her commlink.
"The Black Bull Motel, fourth floor. Cherry's hostile, shots fired."
2 hits.
4/10P -1
6/10S -2
1/3 Edge
Gear: EX Shocker, Shock Hand, Hand Blades, Steyr TMP, Armor Clothing
Augs: Shock Hand, Hand Blades, Wired Ref 1, Datajack, Simrig, Skilljack R4, Imagelink, Alum Bone Lacing
Cherry turns and glances in the direction of the tapping. Nothing to see there. "Aw, cute. Is that you out there? You can always come in the front door, baby."
Geezer can't see it from his vantage point, but she winks. At least someone was having fun with all of this.
Round 2, Pass 3
Geezer 1
Dissatisfied by the fact that the pimp's whore is not coming to the window, Geezer opts for Plan B. He accesses his commlink and tries to text the message using his jittery fingers.
<Chibiko. I'm clilmbing baack inside 4404. I wahnt yoiu to grab onto my back, and Il'l attmpt to scvale downt he building. This fiiite is loost, we need to reeegrrp>
Drek!, Friedrich we need to get there asap, they are at the ... Billy relays the information to Friedrich, give this motor everything shes got we haven't any time left, use any method you deem necessary to cut down the time!
4/10P -1
6/10S -2
1/3 Edge
Gear: EX Shocker, Shock Hand, Hand Blades, Steyr TMP, Armor Clothing
Augs: Shock Hand, Hand Blades, Wired Ref 1, Datajack, Simrig, Skilljack R4, Imagelink, Alum Bone Lacing
Round 3
Geezer attempts to see in what angle Cherry is hiding from, going for plan c. As he searches, he sends another message to Chibi.
<close the door and lokc it>
"Forget that," Chibiko spits into her comm. "Cherry tried to kill me. Going to return the favor."
With a deep breath, Chibiko pulled out one of her specialty arrows and flicked the switch. The arrowhead began to crackle and pop with the sound of electricity flowing through it. Carefully she nocked the arrow and darted up to the door frame. She breathed a sigh of relief for her small frame as she tucked herself around the corner and sent the arrow flying toward Cherry's cover.
2 hits, 1 net hit. 1 hit, graze. Graze = hit for tasers+sticknshock. 0 net hits, DV 12S, -5 AP
5 hits, DV 8S.
6/10P -2
10/10S -3
0/3 Edge
Gear: EX Shocker, Shock Hand, Hand Blades, Steyr TMP, Armor Clothing
Augs: Shock Hand, Hand Blades, Wired Ref 1, Datajack, Simrig, Skilljack R4, Imagelink, Alum Bone Lacing
Geezer peeks through the cracks in the curtains and sees Chibiko's arrow come flying down the hall and catch the very corner of Cherry's leg. The razor-sharp needles at the front of the arrowhead make contact with flesh through Cherry's legs and discharge the weapon's capacitors, returning the favor and sending a good ten thousand volts her way.
As the woman seizes uncontrollably and spittle flies from her mouth, several bullets are discharged from a gun he can't quite see. Cherry tumbles over and hits the dirt, still twitching. It is then that Geezer sees the source of the bullets - a machine pistol now laying at her side with a half-empty mag.
Geezer bursts into the window of room 402, seeing Cherry's unconscious body. He hovers over Cherry's body, and begins to pull out his combat blade, contemplating on whether or not he should cut off her arms along with the retractable blades, but not until he assures the condition of his comrade.
"Are you alright?" he says through his jitteriness and hyperventilation
"No." Chibiko shuffles up to the door of 402, staring down at the blood and charred body of Cherry. She was breathing, but barely. Kind of like herself. "But I'll live. Now what the hell do we do with her?"
Geezer breathes in heavily trying to maintain his professional composure through his maniac episode "I'd ask that same question in a different to you. 'What the hell would we do without her?' You surprise me with your stamina."
He looks at Cherry, and switches his focus on his blade. "I was thinking about amputating her arms and chaining her to the bed. When she wakes up, she will no longer be a threat to us and will tell us what we need to know, if her life depends on it."
He muses for a moment. "That finger under the bed? I think that might have been her doing. It's source might be of an ork's, could it be Frank's?"
Chibiko raises an eyebrow. "Are you getting sappy on me? Jeez, Geez. Go back to smoking. And no - let's try this without brutalizing her. It's called take all her stuff and bail before the cops show up. That had to get us the wrong kind of attention. Let her try to explain the illegal equipment to them."
She paused for a second and looked down at her clothes. Drek. She was going to need a new uniform.
"I could also probably use an ambulance before I pass out from blood loss. Probably."
"If that's how it's going to play out, then fine by me. I was trying to be nice. I'll radio the DocWagon to come by and take you in"
Geezer combs the floor finding anything worth taking to pin the whore at the mercy of a judge's gavel.
Among the things he sees at first glance, he has taken a fond of the machine pistol, and examines it to see if it is worth taking for himself.
The machine pistol is a Steyr TMP, complete with a top-mounted laser sight. It isn't very fancy, but it spits out bullets pretty damn fast. The holes in the wall just below where Cherry was standing are proof of that.
She also appears to be wearing the earpiece for a commlink. A quick pat-down finds it in her pocket. A decent model, too. As you search her, you notice that she has all the signs of recent cyber-surgery. Without knowing the field yourself its hard to say what piece went in where and when... but there was definitely some work done recently.
Surveying her bag turns up even more questions. A small case contains a set of four syringes with an unidentifiable clear liquid. An unmarked and entirely generic maglock passkey. A set of simchips, also unlabeled. A certified credstick, marked for values of 1000 nuyen and above. And, of course, a few magazines for the gun.
Friedrich's concentration phased when Billy's incessant tapping and eventual "FREDDY. THEY NEED HELP!" had gained his attention. Promptly reeling into the opposite lane, Freddy steered his bike between several sedans as he took a ramp off the highway back towards the direction where Geezer and Chibiko were.
"Mein freund, let them know we're on our way!" he said while breaking a gate and taking a faster route through the draining tunnels.
Guys if your still breathing we are on our way. Fredrichs taking a shortcut
Geezer accesses his commlink while he continues his search and pat-down of Cherry, hearing that the German bound folk are on their way as fast as humanly possible.
"Don't worry guys, we took care of the problem. Cherry's knocked out, but Chibi's badly wounded. I'm radioing a DocWagon to come and fix 'er up. Also Cherry is not as innocent as we initially believed before riling her up; found a lot of dirt on her that could land her behind bars."
Geezer picks up the pistol through his sleeves to prevent his fingerprints from getting on it. He gives a good look at the machine pistol and takes out the magazine. He knew the gun discharged as the result of Chibi's electric arrow, but there could be some bullets left in there, last thing he needs is more attention.
He pulls the trigger. Not a lot of resistance; seems like it is in a very much used condition. He moves the slide, which makes an unsatisfying grinding noise. It wasn't obnoxiously loud, but he could tell right away that the gun was cheaply made. It can contribute to a lot of recoil, which Geezer cannot afford to have in most firefights.
He muses for a moment before deciding it that it was not worthwhile to take for himself, and figured it might be best to use it as more evidence to frame Cherry for a possible illegal possession of the gun. I think I'm fine with what I have, besides I can always get myself a better model if I need one. He bags the gun along with the rest of the stuff to frame her, all while sneaking her credstick in his pocket.
Geezer takes the commlink from Cherry and plans on accessing it, but Chibiko catches his eye, still bleeding out and slipping away from life with every second counted. As he searches for a reason as to why she should live, he knew somehow that she had her own way of solving problems that he could really benefit for each run, even if she's a complete nightmare to deal with. He accesses his own commlink and calls the DocWagon to take her in.
"Hi, we need immediate medical treatment at the Black Bull Motel. Patient's stable but losing a lot of blood. RSVP ASAP."