Thomas takes out his glasses and sends a message to the barkeep for a keycard. He pays for his glass, then enters the room.
also, as soon as i walk in, i find a corner that gives me best view of all the parties involved, planting my big frame against it and take a sip of my heady brew...
tarlane
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The ork tender moves along the bar to each of you but Winston, handing a keycard over. By the time he reaches Thomas, having already given one out to two other humans he shakes his head a bit, almost chuckling and mutters 'It figures.'
Once the three humans and their cards, there doesn't seem to be anyone else making their way towards the back room, so the large troll lifts his bulk from behind the table where he was sitting and moves to join them.
As you each enter the room, it seems very plain and surprisingly subdued for this club. There is a long wooden conference table and the walls are paneled with a similar synth-wood. Strangely, when the door closes behind you the sounds from the club are completely muted, the soundproofing must be quite impressive.
There are no other obvious doors out of this room, and currently there is only one occupant, the ork that most of you caught a glimpse of before. He has the look of a goblin rock fanboy about him, with several piercings, torn synth-leather, the whole nine yards.
His briefcase now sits on the table in front of him, and when the troll finally enters he nods his approval and pulls a small mushroom shaped device from it, setting it on the table. With a touch to turn on the device your commlinks begin to just spit static until you silence them, and likely more disturbing, for Spider the hum of the world seems suddenly muted.
With that out of the way he gives a tusk filled smile. "Hoi, there. Roach said you were the people I need, I suppose you certainly look the part. I need some people to conduct a simple snatch an grab. Just a small prototype and the data files behind it. Easy in, easy out, but I need some ghosts on this one. You can't do that and things will get more complicated. But you want the real details, we need to come to an agreement first."
He shrugs slightly and leans back in his chair, watching each of you. "Offer is one grand a piece now, one grand a piece when you get back if they don't know what hit them. If they don't even know they were hit? I'll throw in a bonus."
hmmmmmm...a grand huh? for a snatch and grab....hmmmmm, im intriqued.
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The ork considers Winston's words, tapping his fingers a bit impatiently as if what he said in the comm broadcast about wanting the meeting to go quickly so he could see the show was true.
"I suppose that I can give you some of the more generic details without compromising myself. The run will be against a small pharmacutical startup. They are low rent, a simple warehouse and low security. My employer would like to purchase this company in light of what looks to be a promising product they are developing. They wish to remain independent and have shown disregard for my employers offer. Your task will be to acquire a sample of this prototype as well as a copy of the research backing it up."
He smiles that tusky smile again. "As you can imagine, this will put my employer in a much more favorable position. They will either sell on our terms, or risk being beaten to market. This means that if they do not know if a sample was taken, all the better but it is extremely important that no trace of this can come back to my employer."
The Johnson motions briefly towards Skullcrusha. "Part of your team has been selected as a contingency. If the run is witnessed, you will be expected to cause some structural damage, so that the blame may be assigned to eco-terrorist."
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Frowning a bit at the continued questions, the ork resumes druming his fingers. "The sample need not be removed, but it will need to be fed through a chemical analyzer. This will give us the data we need to replicate it in our own labs. The run will need to be done in the next few days, as the negotiations are currently in the works."
Structual damage, huh? i ask with a vicious grin. hmm, havent had that much fun in a long, long time.
i pretend to think a moment about what the joker said, scratching jawline with left hand.
make it 1500 on both payments, and im in. i dont know about the rest of you ladies, but i say we do this job and get some easy cash. the quicker we get this guy out of here with all of the information, the faster we talk shop. time is of the essence here...
having said my peace, i finish the rest of my beer.
I ponder the Johnson's proposal, and the responses of my potential running mates. I also wonder how many of the bullet ridden and talent fried corpses he saw at crime scenes and in the morgue thought their run was "simple" and "easy"...
I stay silent for the moment, seeing how the Johnson takes Skullcrusha's counter offer.
Spider is unnerved by the static but leave it running, not ever able to fully shut it off anyway and after years of the noise the static beats the cold silence . He sits back in his chair thinking. Data steal he could do, sounds easy but easy also got one dead.
" One, five sounds good, should be easy. If the place is low key. You can count me in for one five. "
he still sits back, uneasy with the lack of noise , oh how he hated scramblers. He could use the nuyen so he was hoping the Johnson was low balling.
Thomas leans forward in his chair, thinking. Johnson says it's simple, but all that means these days is that he doesn't want us to know how hard it's going to be. Still, might as well wait to see whether the orc will go any higher.
i scowl a little at the new fish for re-arranging the deal, but changes to a thoughtful look hearing the kid wheel and deal.
mental note to self, the troll has a silver tongue. be aware of any fast talk from him.
The terms are agreeable. Now we need the details.
"Sounds good to me."
Spider looks over the older man, taking in his demeanor. "That one has had a few rodeo's before. He is a slick one have to keep an eye one em."
Hearing a few ok the money spider speaks up
"Sure, Now that's settled Jonhson what have you got for us?
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Showing his tusks in a smile when everyone agrees, the Johnson nods his head. "As I said, these guys are strictly low-rent. The small pharmacutical company is called 'MetaRX' and operates out of a converted warehouse in Tacoma. It sits on the docks, but I wouldn't try a sea entrance without a hazmat suit."
He pauses for a moment and reaches into his backpack for a moment and draws out what looks like a jet injector, one of those small gun like devices used to give shots. He sets it on the table and slides it over towards the team. "You will use this to take a sample of their prototype, allow it to be scanned, and then return the sample so they are unaware it is missing. The sample should be known as 'Isis'. I also need a copy of any research data that you can uncover on this Isis product, we need to know it works, so dig up their trials."
"Now, as I mentioned before, we want this to be a quiet job, the deal will go much more smoothly if they never know you are there. However, if you are sighted, make sure they do not know what you were actually there for, I believe the easiest way to do this is to cause a bit of property damage. Evoterrorist are always hounding such companies, their being bombed does not make them a more attractive sale so they will not hold us responsible, and perhaps will sell more easily because of it."
He considers and shrugs his shoulders slightly. "I think that covers it, chums. Thats all you need to know."
hold on there, sparky. before you just waltz out telling us what you think is enough information, how bout giving us 5 more minutes of your "precious" time and answer a couple more questions. what is ISIS? what does it do? i dont want to slip into a building that has poor containment protocols and next thing i know, im a carrier for the next "black plague". so, should i bring a hazmat suit or not?
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The ork frowns at Skullcrusha and then shakes his head. "I do not believe that knowledge of the product is important for your mission. As I said, the product will be valuable for my employer, but the less information there is among those who do not need to know, the better. A hazmat suit may be a good plan for Tacoma in general, but if you don't frag things up, you should never be in direct contact with the drug in any case. From our knowledge, however, it is not an inhalant and there should be no effects, adverse or beneficial unless the drug is injected or ingested."
"Alright, don't take random drugs, we got it. So, the rest of you have any questions or can we let the good Mister Johnson here get on his way?"
'I say we know what he is gonna tell us. And it's best for us and for him if we did our planning without him knowing it." Spider nods toward the Johnson
i look at the lil punk and give a growl alright kid, you better beat feet before i decide to help you out the door. us grown-ups have to go get paid.
i walk up to the table as i say this, reach over and turn off the scrambler, then toss it at the johnson.
now get out!
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The Johnson seems to lose his temper when Skullcrusha pushes him, snarling some. "Look, chum, you might be top dog in your neighborhood, but you are in a big pond now. You are deniable assets, and you better make sure you stay just that, an asset. Remember, we don't keep around liabilities. So you best be minding your manners and know who rights the checks around here."
He takes the jammer and puts it back in his briefcase, narrowing his eyes a bit at the party. He transfers the initial funds into Winston's account, looking to the others. "Give me a connection and I'll wire over your starting cred, then get out of here. I believe that I paid for the room."
i take on a sheepish look.
sorry ladies, when i get a sniff of potential landscape re-design, i get rather fired up...
i give a baleful stare at the johnson.
hope you got a credstick for me, young pup...
as the troll aproaches the threshold, i say
hold a moment. its quiet in here; easy place to think with no noise. i say we use this gracious gift that the johnson here has given us and make use of the room while the racket plays outside.
I accept the up-front nuyen and make my way towards the door. Looking back at my fellow runners I say:
We can meet at Leon's later his evening. they have a secure room and the bartender is a friend of mine. Much quieter there, as well.
"Sounds good to me." He stands up and smiles as the money is transfered to his account. He walks to the door, then pauses and turns to the rest of you. "Anyone else here going to be calling a taxi?"
wheres leons?
It's on Dexter, just down the street from that elven wannabe club. Icarus something...
i give the john a look, send him my account number, and mutter to myself..
big pond...please...
ok, so, when do we want to meet at this other bar? half hour? hour? not sure how far this place is...
i access the transit map on the public broadcast, and try to find icarus something...
Spider, gives his account , nods his agreement for the new meeting and leaves the dead room. As he walks though the bar he is greeted by the wash of the matrix all round him. It's like air, likeing being in the dark and seeing the sun. The very touch and humm and constant buzz fills him with joy. He reaches out and toggles up his account then routes the cred though 5 other accounts before moving it though 3 move over seas and routed though 2 more. It ends up in an unmarked shadow account somewhere off the grid. As he hits the street he thinks that should be safe he had seen to many people hack a accounts to just leave his cred in the open. He'll get it to a cred stick later but that should be safe. With that he goes off for a meal and to crash tomorrow is another day
ok, i take the info and shoot it out to the one who suggested the joint (rich), asking [b]this the place you had in mind? its not to far, roughly mile and half away, anybody up for walking there?
oh, forgot one thing....hey johnny, how we suppose to contact you when we got the info?" i ask the johnson...
Yeah, that's the place. I was planning on strolling down there anyway. Nice twenty minute walk to clear the mind and think about things, you know?
rolls eyes at the john...
*looks at rick*
hey man, want to walk together? two is better than one when walking these streets this time of day. anyone else wants to roll with us?
I would like that, an opportunity to get to know the chummer watching my six a bit better should never be passed up.
Thomas adjusts his glasses. "Didn't realize it was that close. No way I'm getting a taxi just to go a mile." "Hey, mind if I tag along with you two?"