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What's The most important news of the day? the gorgoeus elf woman asks cheerfully. That's right! the snow! she jumps up and down on the screen, giggling in that typical, vague bimbo like style. CLad like a bimbo, blonde hair, large breasts, a dress that looked as if it was just painted on concealing her firm and tone frame. "Candi 'with an i'" was Seattle's most famous Weather babe, standing before her green screen and entertaining Seattle residents with her quirky, bimbo-esque voice inflection. Her slanted elven eyes, almont shape and forest green, sparkled with a vapid expression as the pronouncement of her latest news was something incredible to behold.
to be fair to Candi-with-an-I, the news was very impressive. It was snowing, in Seattle.
14 inches of snow has fallen these last three hours, making it virtually impossible for anything to happen in our great city! she giggles, her neon pink lips catching the light and twinkling while her teeth flash through her parted lips.
Winter storm Alix is here to stay with us for a bit. That's because we have a massive storm coming from off the Pacific Ocean. Add to that the jet stream being pulled from far to the north. With it, these super cold wind and air temperatures that is making our city into an impromptu igloo! i bet the eskimos are loving it! she giggles again. It's going to be cold, Seattle. with a high of 17 for today, and 15 for tomorrow, it's going to be cold, cold cold! And the storm isnt leaving anytime soon. its a slow mover. Sitting over us for the next couple days as well. We are expected to get anywhere from 48-62 inches of snow. The UCAS Flight Authority has grounded all flights. The snow plays havoc on drone traffic; the snow is thick and wet, and will immediately stick and weigh down any drones flying in this weather. If your delivering something by drone, dont expect it. The other good news is that ganger activity will be next to nothing, though, with it being so cold, no one should go outside for a walk. We-
the trid turns off. The sound of heavy electro dance music thumps, before the volume grows significantly for a moment, only to be muffled again. You look at the door, and see a man standing there, looking at all of you.
Ah, i am glad you all were able to make it. the man says simply. He presses several soft touch buttons set into the wall, and a gentle hum fills your ears as the already subtle thump of bass diminishes.
What i have to tell you is top secret. And your potential employer is willing to pay for that secrecy.
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"Fraggin Skinslot.... Candi with an I.... Drek she makes us look so bad."
Another obscenely gorgeous elven maiden with perfect blonde hair layered just right with fiery eyeshadow adn reddest lipstick created by mortal races painting on her lips said pounding her slim fist onto her own thigh making a slight face of pain when she did so.
Her breasts were no where near as bounteous as the weather girls also they weren't fake so there was that going her her. A light cackle of flames formed on one of her hands for a moment before it extinguished...
"My cousin Kaycenil banged her in the back of his hover limo once... she's had more lovers than I've had manicures.... and I've had a lot of manicures."
She almost started to protest when the screen cut off. There was nothing she liked more than talking trash about the elven elite.... especially since she was no longer one of the kin. Her blood we perfect enough, just well... sometimes there were lines you shouldn't cross... and she had did a double backflip with a two and half twist over a couple. Gnossimanthia Silverwind... or just Simply Gnossie to most folk was once a high tiered princess of Tir Tairngire... until she was disowned and thrown out.
"I bet those drekhead pixies in Tir' have some sort of magic wall up blowing this drek back up here into Seattle...... A&#%&+@."
She muttered as Mr.Johnson started his sales pitch. Her ears tingled as he activated the noise dampening in the room.... this was some serious biz. Most of the work they had received the employee trusted the loud music to cover any snoops to be distracted by... to have paid to turn on the noise cancellation.... before a deal was even agreed to? someone didn't mind spending the cred. She drained her fizzy ginger tonic screamer and set the glass down looking the fixer in the eye...
"You have us here... start the spiel."
Abyss sat sullenly as he usually did, he mentally agreed with Gnossie about the whether girl but also knew the girl was just playing a role to bring home the big creds. Of course, he also knew that selling ones spirit did come with an emotional price and her extracurriclar activities probably had to do a lot with trying to cope with that taint. Still she did, as Gnossie stated, make them collectively look bad, as it drug them down to almost a human level and there was really no lower form of life than them.
Still he could only shake his head in a sort of a mixed disagreement and disappointment in Gnossie's opinion about the Pixies or any Fae for that matter that were in the Tir as that was his home and they were mostly good folk. So, yeah maybe they were blowing the drek weather back but that would be their perrogative and if you did not want to deal with it you just needed to go there. Well that is unless you got tossed out for some reason.
Abyss traced an imaginary magical symbol upon the table to occupy his mind as he listened to the pitch of the Johnson. Top secret, yada, yada, yada. Not like anything they ever did was going to on anyone's record books as that was what being a Shadowrunner was all about. Covert operations and if you get caught you are on your own, no one is going to give you a second thought and you will be completley denied or dead depending on just how thorough your employer was about removing loose ends.
Seated, very unprofessionally, within arms reach from Abyss was a human. Compared to the others she looked the most unimpressive. She had completely inverted herself to chill in the room they had been given.
Her pale blonde hair was most held back by two buns except some overflowing on the left side which was now partly gracing the floor. Her left leg was laying over the back of the seat with the right leg casually crossed over it and her arms where casually resting upon her stomach.
Tatyana Solovey, known to the cyber community as only The White Queen, did not stand out in any means. A well worn if nice leather jacket drapped over a thin body covered by a simple dark green tank top. Pins of various kinds littered the right side of the jacket and few knew what any of them actually meant. The large multi pocketed black pants did the spindly frame of the young woman no flattering favors, and the heavy black boots thoroughly laced with neon blue laces almost looked a size too big.
Her eyes where closed and honestly the fact she wasn't moving save for shallow breath could have one mistaking her for being fast asleep if not dead.
"They're paying my in person rate, so it has to be with something." Tatyana said as she opened one eye to show ice blue coloring. Usually she'd remain behind, letting her allies get her back door code in through a drive and she'd go to town. Opening doors, downloading information, but that didn't always work... And every now and again a mission would come along in which the Queen must take the field. And she hated every moment of it.
"Gnossie, I know green is your colour and all but it's a weather girl. Even if she's an elf no one is going to remember her name when she's too old and her t### fall." Tatyana half heartedly said before she yawned and looked at Mr. Johnson. "Tak." She bluntly said with a nod.
Abyss does not choose to correct Taty as obviously that aspect of that lady's body was most definitely fake. Especially since no normal Elf was that endowed and being fake they would basically never fall. Heck depending on what they were made of they might never ever fall but she being an Elf meant, they would be around a very, very long time assuming something non-adverse happened to her.
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"She caused one of my favored cousins emotional pain... no less probably a game to her. She's lucky i haven't paid some desperate ganger to ruin her pretty face."
Gnossie sniffed. She had indeed caught Abyss's dig about her ... exile from her home. That was high court politics and she wouldn't diverge that information freely. Especially considering the why in which she fell from grace.
"Taty darling, do you know any other young deckers who would work tir taingir? The last one... that Beowulf fellow he told me the ball circuits security was tougher than he expected something about too much Ice for a ball. Wasn't worth getting brain dumped for fancy dresses."
That wasn't the reason she wanted the ball circuit film... she wanted to keep an track on Kaycenil her little naive brother. Those she harpy debutante elven maids would eat him alive. She was pretty sure her team knew she wants "That" vapid and vain.
"I can put out feelers, but you're going to owe me." Tatyana answered. "Why not just ask me to do it?" She quested as she shifted her head to look at Gnossie. "I'd even wave the in person fee."
"Wraith" was seated opposite Tatyana around their little table, facing away from the door when it had opened. He had let himself sink deeply into the soft chair he relaxed in, his trench-coat draping on the ground and spreading under the table some.
He rubs his face and sighs, knowing the voice at his back means it's time for business, whereas he'd sunken into a very relaxed mode, simply listening to the others gossip about the elf woman on the screen, or a private job or something. He was always the one to talk the least and let the others take up the air in the room. He's always content with this.
Stifling a subtle scoff at "top secret", he stands and steps to the side of the room to face Mr. Johnson and give his attention, without rudely standing in front of others.
He gives the man an expectant look.
Continue.
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Wraith has the rugged build of someone who's spent a lot of years in paid labor. His natural frame is not exactly bulky, so it's clearly earned. He constantly looks tired, with a bit of shadow in his face (and under his eyes), but his head of dark grey hair is still full, if unkempt. His confidants know that weapons are hidden under the long trenchcoat, which resides over his otherwise plain composition of rain-resistant hiking pants and synthetic shirt. Utility clothing like this is simpler under full body armor during missions.
The man frowns briefly at Tatyana, but otherwise gives no outward indication towards the appearance of your group.
12 hours ago, your employer lost contact with one of their... research facilities. Attempts were made via the matrix to reconnect, but all attempts failed. 9 hours ago, a team from Joint Fort Lewis was sent to the research facility. the man pauses, looking at everyone to ensure that all eyes were on him. 3 hours ago, that group went radio silent. Further communication attempts have failed. The employer's next available team is only 4 hours away, but the current weather situation is preventing all flights, sea and ground traffic from entering the greater Seattle area. Weather predictions are indicating that this is a storm that will last upwards of 48 to 72 hours.
You are being hired to enter into this facility, reestablish communications, and discover what happened with the team from Fort Lewis.
He reaches into a pocket as his waist and retrieves small, black sticks. He tosses one to each of you. small, red numbers appear on the equally small screen. 100,000 is displayed with subtle red lights.
You have 3 hours to get to the Bainbridge mansion before the route to the Hive becomes unusable.
Abyss's eyes narrow at that last sentence and he says, "Excuse me is there a reason you just called it a Hive? Were they perhaps doing bug research there? Also, it would be fairly essential that we know what this team consisted of and what they look like if we are to find them. Oh and fingerprints," he momentarily pauses before continuing with, "or better yet, biometric data might be needed for indentification purposes just in case they are no longer recognizeable."
"I'll see what I can do when we get back." Tatyana promised Gnossie with a sigh.
The frown from the man seemed to not even register to Tatyana. Honestly she didn't care. People didn't pay her for her manners or flowery words, it was her skills that coveted a price worth paying and she was sure he wouldn't be disappointed in that.
"Hesitation on the words research facility is never a good sign." Tatyana advised as she caught the stick before looking at the number.
"We need more gear." Tatyana pointed out to her team before she looked to the man. "If it is a research lab there could be a leak of any kind. Possible the first team wasn't given as much information as they should have been and thus left them at the mercy of whatever got loose inside. If the matrix isn't an option for connecting I'd have to assume this Hive, as you called it, is locked off to keep business secrets secure from my type. However if a team was unable to reestablish a connection in 6 hours then something within must be hostile. Also you've made no mention of the amount of staff that would be there, are you believing the worst or should we also look at this like a rescue slash recovery mission? Or could a scientist have gone all hatter?"
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"define team."
She didnt really seem to bother with the credstick or check its amount.
"are you expecting assets as in people to be saved or recovered or like most corps do you just wnat you precious facility back?
She hated sounding so cold. She had once held desires to be a doctor to help the less fortunate. Politics and family desires had gotten in the way of that.
Wraith felt the weight of the credstick. It sort of implies an immediate agreement and obligation.
When the litany of questions takes a break, he jumps in with his own question.
So... the team that went silent. How well equipped were they? We need to be at least as outfitted.
He figures the implication should be clear, but Tatyana had gone on ahead and said it. He glances at her.
Are you setting us up to fail as they have? Are we just the next set of bodies?
He considers the implications of his teammate's further questions.
You expected attempts to reconnect via the matrix to work... so that means your facility is not nominally air-gapped. Perhaps cut off by attackers though...
Wraith isn't really well-versed in networking, but he does know some of the basic terms, and the potential implications of a facility that's cut off.
The man purses his lips. He taps his forearm, and it illuminates.
two hours, fifty seven minutes....
He purses his lips in annoyance at the questions, but nods a moment later.
understandable.
He holds his hands up, open, and slowly reaches into his blazer breast pocket. he withdraws something slender, yet with a knot on the end.
Stay back, please he cautions. he begins to twirl the end of the thin line, slowly feeding more and more out, making the black knot slide out further from his hand. The line suddenly changes, from black, to yellow, to green, to blue, to red. it shifts in colors, and the the constant twirling forces the lights to form circles in midair. It starts to blink, and an image begins to form.
At first, you see a vague outline of something. piecemeal it grows into focus, revealing a long, narrow gray band that resolves into a floor.
the image pulls back, and another floor is revealed, though this second floor below the first is slightly narrower than the top floor.
below the second floor, a third floor. equally below, and slightly more narrow.
the image pulls back, revealing more floors, each one below, each one more narrow than the one above.
finally, a large structure is revealed in the twirling image. Eight main floors, with three sub levels that connect to more sublevels.
THe pictogram of a person obscures the entire image, only for it to rapidly decrease in size. It changes from pictogram to simple dot that gets smaller and smaller and smaller as it finally settles onto the top floor of this structure, providing scale.
You blink
This structure is massive!
Research center 06, colloquially known as 'The Hive', is a super massive research center and living facility. It provides a place for R&D departments to perform experiments in safe, secure location. It's current population, as of last contact 11 hours ago, was 6,300.
The image changes, the image of the hive disappearing, and a long tunnel running from the first level of the structure slowly ascends. to the left the image moves, more and more, revealing a long, long tunnel.
THis is the eight mile access tunnel that runs from the Hive to Bainbridge manor. the only access point that is still currently open to the Hive.
The man stops twirling his thread.
I do not know the equipment layout of the team that was sent from Fort Lewis. I can only assume that they were professionals, they had weapons upon them, and also brought along other safety gear as well. Their main goal was to establish communications with the Hive. I would assume that they brought with them some sort of radio relay system, or perhaps something else of their specialty that i know nothing about.
Now, the question about the staff... he slips his hands into his pockets. his tone changes, to used to addressing the news media It is truly terrible that this accident happened... we are doing everything we can to bring these valuable people back.
he taps his arm two hourse, fifty one minutes
Abyss looks at the cred stick as he listens to the exceeding lack of information and would, if he were in charge tell them no but he is not in charge so awaits to see what their team lead decides but makes to be sure to indicate his negative too the mission. He hoped that considering the situation they leader would see that this pay was rather paltry. The risks are very high, the circumstances extremely sketchy with far too many unknowns involved. So it is really impossible to gauge what this endeavor should cost, hopefully their leader or their face will negotiate for I higher pay out upon completion, otherwise he just does not see this being worth their time. You cannot spend creds if you dead.
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"So to wrap this up with a bow. You have no knowledge of what we are facing, its has killed two teams. and you want us to rescue anyone we can...."
She smiled the chilling sort of smile seen on apex predators when she spot a chicken, on playboys when they spot an innocent farm girl, and on any dragon in the news.... ANY Dragon really...
"your starting price is way to low and you already know that unless you are talking to other teams actively which is very bad form you will bump up the total by say 25 % There will be a bonus of 1000 credits per soul we rescue a paltry amount even if we save everyone for hte amount of tiem and effort you have probably put into recruiting and training them.... and finally so we remember to forget everything we see..... My crew will need new wheels when we get out.... say brand new Nodachi motorbike... the new ones with the postiron acceleration sleds in whatever color they desire... no bike for me im afraid i wan barely drice a car... which by they way the new convertable Sidewwinder... cherry read black leather interior...."
She paused buffing her laquiered nails on her top nonchelauntly.
"Times ticking darling as you said 2 hours 51 minutes remaining... and we can leave right now you would still have to try and gather another team."
Tatyana kicked herself forward and flipped off the couch. Doing a small spin, she crouched down, and she placed her arms on her legs. She studied the map they had been given extremely closely. One thing that actually made Tatyana so useful was her mind. Anything and everything she has seen she remembered. It made slinging code easier to her, and to remember each line she had ever written perfectly. Thus as Gnossie spoke with their possible employer she was taking in every piece of the map in excruciating detail.
Wraith sighs at the lack of detailed answers and leans in to inspect the map more closely. He's not going to necessarily memorize it like the others, but he's halfway paying attention to, and admiring, Gnossi's bullish negotiation. He has to stifle a chuckle that would probably undermine her.
3 hits
The man quirks an eyebrow at Gnoss's attempt at negotiations. those terms are... acceptable.
He lifts up his arm and a hazy, slim image appears overlaid upon it. he taps the air several times. a slight chirp and the haze disappears.
agreed. 1000 per soul rescued. and personalized rides. upon completion.
Tatyana, finished with her viewing got a little more curious. Taking a moment while he was distracted speaking with Gnossie, Tatyana set her programs and did what she does best. Using the link he had opened with the map, she swiftly found his comm.
Working through swiftly she was targeting the list of people who worked there, as well as any projects running.
"Great, however, you have not provided any data on exactly who we are looking for. So again, biometric data on all the individuals would be the best incase they are no longer recognizable but at least pictures of what they once looked like would be somewhat helpful. Also, by soul rescued are you meaning alive or at least dead but accounted for. As if they are all dead and you are only paying for living bodies, then that gesture was totally meaningless." Abyss says this all in a sort bored or depressed tone and rather matter-of-factly like he was reciting an inventory list of nuts and bolts or something equally as dull.
Wraith exhales in near-boredom as the negotiation continues. He makes a point of re-scanning the projection of the Hive, attempting to not let on that he's still listening.
Mr. Johnson agreed to additional terms a little too easily. Either they are already dead or... he doesn't expect us to survive. He could be sending us to a trap to be more bodies in some experiment! Wait wait... don't let your imagination run wild.
He shudders while continuing to inspect the map.
Still more: "negotiationRates", "potentials", "Contactslist".
The Johnson shrugs Surely you do not wish to get into a philosophical debate as to when a body has a soul, let alone if there is a soul at all? Or, are you implying that your friend here did rather poorly negotiating something of a greater financial gain for the lot of you, and instead YOU would like to try for a better deal? He pauses a moment, holding abyss' gaze. As for the rest, i do not have access to any biometric data of those that are found with the Hive. I would have to assume that such intel would be easily found on-site.
Tatyana worked away while the others talked.
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She frowned only for a moment. He had given in way too easily. Either they were that desperate or they didnt expect to have to make a payout cause of failure....Both were worrysome. She glanced to her team looking for any signals they werent ready for this or needed more time. particularly Tatyana. If she knew the decker she was doing all sorts of drek hot shiny preem things to get more infor than mister Johnson was putting forth....
"Abyss, Wraith? you boys good on this? Queen? The motorbike okay?"
She asked making sure to use their streetnames.
He looks up from the map again, shrugging at Gnoss.
Good as we can be for now.
He turns back towards Mr. Johnson, squinting.
This had better not be a trap...
Aybss expresses either boredom or disgust or both and with a slightly exaggerated sigh replies to the Johnson, "No, I think my words were pretty clear. I was asking for clarification which you did not provide, again. I also asked three times for information on those that we are supposed to be finding so we can tell if we found one or not but again you chose not to even bother to acknowledge let alone answer that. Lastly I am not even sure if it is all that important to you whether we find any of them alive or not but you obviously are not concerned if they are all dead or worse. So once more, are you even capable of supplying any information on who you are saying that you are hiring us to find."
To Gnossi's question he looks at her and then sighs, "Well does it really matter," he gestures uncommitedly, then makes a gesture with his right hand, "its a job," then gestures with his left hand, "we're gettin' paid," then he gestures with his right thumb in the direction of the Johnson, "and he ain't willin' ta give any quality info. Sooo... it is what it is or... is not. We'll just get it done like we usually do or we won't due to lack of info." He looks pointedly at the Johnson, "and at least we still got paid for our time and if it ain't cosher," again he looks pointedly at the Johnson, "we know exactly who to track down and make sure no other group gets drekked."
the johnson listens to Abyss intently, nodding. He blinks once and then redirects his gaze to Gnoss, completely ignoring abyss. We have agreement on terms of payment. 1000 nuyen for every soul, with a potential value of over 6,000,000 nuyen. add to this the 100,000 nuyen each for taking this meeting. Plus motorbikes of a color to be determined by you upon completion of this mission.
He nods to everyone (ignoring abyss), and walks to the door. He stops at it, his hand held over the knob.
Im not supposed to say this part, but i feel it is germane to our discussion. The Hive has a fail safe. A nuclear bomb, set to go off should contact with the outside world not be reestablished. a safety mechanism to prevent the absolute horrors being researched from reaching the greater Seattle area. the man swallows loudly. THe team from fort lewis was trying to connect the hive to the matrix to deactivate the bomb. The team had radio relays to run from the mansion, through the tunnel, to a single node in the hive to reconnect. he sighs heavily. Remember, the contract is 1000 nuyen per soul rescued. two hours, forty five minutes
he opens the door. the sound of heavy bass and loud electro blitz musik hammers into the walls, destroying any attempts at hearing anything. he looks back at each of you, and lifts a finger and runs it in a circle, seeming to encompass all of you. then, he points it down, down at his feet. he emphasizes his signal by jerking his hand up and down, pointing at his feet. Then he turns and walks away.
the door closes, cutting off all the sound
"Yeah, okay... so we are on a clock because we are heading into a ticking time bomb, literally." He says this as he stands up and moves towards the door. "So are any of you good with radio equipment and how much time should we say we will commit to this before bugging out there before the house blows up?" He waits by the door looking back to the others in case there are any words he should be aware of as to a plan of action and what not. He was simply the blade or gun of the group and he would follow their lead as usual. What nagged at the back of his mind was what had happend to the previous crew. He was guessing at least one of those absolute horrors being researched the guy mentioned but what form was it taking. He truly hoped it was not a bug problem they were about to blindly walk into.
Nuclear...? Oh he just had to drop it as a little detail as we walks out. No big.
He exhales loudly, irritated.
The moment he left Tatyana dropped out of the matrix. "He was telling the truth, he didn't have a list of people." She explained as she shifted to look at everyone. "However... I got everything else he did have." She said with a small shrug.
"I think we should grab some for of breathing masks, or something. And expect some form of violent resistances given the fact the last team went totally dark. On the way up there I will sift through the information I pulled from him and see if there is anything else I can learn that will help us."
"I also advised getting me in so that I can reconnect the matrix and stop the bomb... Because... Well you know, bomb."
When Taty mentioned going in Abyss pointed at her and nodded, basically indicating or reassuring her, as before, that he would be covering her. This is basically something he has been doing on the other few missions where she has went live versus total matrix and as before he tends to make good on that promise, regardless of what that might mean.
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"Alright Boys and girls lets get moving...times wasting. make sure we got ammo that has ammo... I mean take waht you think you need and triple it, we will leave a cache at our ingress point. Queen keep doing your think see if you can get anything at all about that research facility or the teams who wnt in missing. I do not trust this mr Johnson one bit. ButHes prepared part of our fee already so we may as get moving."
She took the credstick given to them by their employer and transferred it to a neutral credstick. which she took and transferred to her personal credstick. She was getting those pre-mission jitters.
Wraith thumbs the handle of his blade inside of his trench coat.
Regardless of the pay, I could use some activity. I don't trust the guy either... I kept thinking the whole thing could be a trap to collect more bodies. I'll certainly have my head on a swivel in there... Anyway, let's go stock up on supplies?
As they head out from their safehouse, Wraith looks at the currency display on his black cred stick. He slips it into an inner pocket where it'll be safe.
That will certainly buy some rounds. Whose favorite gunshop are you we stopping off at? Or just ye old 7-11?
"I prefer arrows to bullets." Tatyana said as she shifted from one leg to another. "But I do have someone I want to contact... someone who might be able to get us something useful." She added as she go on her commlink.
"So where do we meet up? As I could probably pick up a bit more ammo in anticipation of this upcoming situation we are heading into."
Wraith strolls into a 7/11 on 3rd. He greets the man behind the counter.
I can't believe how long your little hole in the wall has lasted! I need 150 rounds and...
He scans the impulse rack
a pack of gummy prawns.
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Sge followed Wraith because she simply didnt usually need or carry much on missions. Her skills lay in things that werent... purchasable. If they ever made a mana restroting rootbeer or something she was in. Adjusting her jacket she grabbed a pack of original flavored bubble yum and a grape slushpuppy.