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Shadowrun Splintered State I

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Jason was briefly confused by her words, and his face showed it. It wasn't until he realized just how thoroughly she'd misunderstood his gestures that his features shifted to annoyance and disbelief. Really? They were standing in the middle of lockup and that's what she thought he would be concerned about?

Rather than respond to her apparent challenge he rolled his eyes, once more putting a finger up to his lips. Hopefully she at least understood that to mean that they should be quiet and careful. Very slowly he pointed to the wall. The walls. Watching her he repeated the earlier gesture, pointing to his ear and then back to the wall. The walls have ears. Come on.
 
The blond studdied the nervous young man's game of cherades curiosuly. One yellow brow arched elegantly like a certain TV alien became famous for a century ago.

Oh, I get it... The wallls have ears.

She gave a little sigh and leaned back. After a moment, she spoke up again. "So... This is the part where someone mentions a local sports team. 'How about them Lakers.' What are the sports teams around here, anyway?"
 
With a few even breaths to keep his calm, Dark Walker leaned back, determined to wait the imediate siuation out. He did, however, take this time to do a more in depth study of hte auras around him. Maybe he could find out more about his cell mates.
 
Seeing a conversation that did make passing the time at least plausible and wasn't trying to insult her, Firewire did look to Courtney. "Dunklezhan's Plasma Dragons are crossing Ares Thunderborne in the Vengeance Dome. Their sufferance at the hands of the Technocrats was all over the news dying in VR. Though SINner's Mass is playing the half-time show." Firewire was lightly animated, ignoring the man who had tried to insult her. "Did you see that crushing strike from The Interceptor? He is a God on the field. Losing their defense pylon early killed their game and took two of their bruisers off the line to cover the hole." Even as she spoke of the game, reliving a conversation she had heard yesterday on the corner as she waited for Scrimshaw, she reached for the ambient signals. Were there any she could field? Anything she could use?
 
~~~~~~~~Dark Walker~~~~~~~~​

Looking around your able to make out the auras of your cellmates, getting a feel for each of them. The type of people they are, and what they were feeling at that moment.
~~~~~~~~Firewire~~~~~~~~​

Reaching out your able to feel a strained connection to the matrix, it seems that the precinct has some kind of signal blockers to limit access. It not enough to block you out completely however, and your able to pop up a AR feed, screens forming in your vision. Taking a general look at the matrix you can see hundreds of PANs in your general area, but cannot make out details on their other icons and what they have. Your general connection to the matrix is also limited, taking far longer then it should to get anything done.
~~~~~~~~Everyone~~~~~~~~​

You've been sweating in lockup for a while without access to a phone call or a lawyer; in other words the world is still turning. Just as you're starting to seriously worry that, in the ultimate irony. you all might actually go down for a crime you didn't even commit. Its then that you hear the clang of security doors from the far side of the room, down one of the hallways. unfortunately you can't see anything yet, but the sudden noise surprises everyone. Soon a pair of voices reaches you, a baritone male, and a hothead female. You hear the phrases "warrant", "wrongful arrest", "probable cause", "Punitive Identification" and "Unlawful questioning without legal counsel". Its pretty clear that your attorney has arrived. A begrudging and bewildered KE uniformed officer comes up and opens the cell, ushering you out. He leads you to a over to a short, smiling woman in a grey pinstriped business suit. She strides past him, the officer flinching away as she comes close. he seems scared of the tiny norm chica. She's cute and slight with short neon-orange hair, and a dusting of freckles. She looks all of fourteen, but starts talking like a high-speed robot built for despising rapid-fire legal jargon. "Hey, just so you guys know, I just told them that they have to put you before a lineup, get the prosecutor to formally press charges, or let you go, or I'm gonna have their gonads for wrongful arrest and violation of your rights as UCAS citizens. though it was a little difficult because of a little thing of attempted bribery, but I took care of it. They really screwed the pooch on this one, and privatized rent-a-cops don't get blanket protection under Qualified Immunity statutes."

Your not sure you followed all of that, or any of it, when she presents you with her business card (an ARO naturally). It reads "Imaginary" Annie Goldsmith, Invisible Esquire.

Augmented Reality Object

and yes you all still have your contacts, glasses, or goggles that would allow you to see the object ^^

... Well most of you ^^,
 
Firewire seemed a bit distracted as she enjoyed the conversation. Anything to forget that the walls were not open to exit by choice. Her aura pulsed in the sight of the one who looked for it. Little digital icons seemed to spring and arc through her aura, and her image flickered periodically, seeming to distort into digital distortion.

Her image stabilized, though her aura still spilled the occasional icon, as she returned her full attention to their environment as the noise from down the hall and the associated conversation reached their cell. A suit, she never, never trusted a suit. The ARO card was comforting, though she gazed around to the others. She didn't have her comm or rig. She read the card quickly, then flipped it over in her hands a bit as if she couldn't. "Errr, thanks, and that bribery thing was trumped. They were spilling this lie and twisting everything."

She looked to the door, it was closed, though she was out of the cell. Perhaps they would return her stuff, she really wanted out of here and fully intended to bolt the first chance she got. Kylo Ren was burned, she would need a new face, but that was fine, the name had seemed weak, even to her.
 
Either she'd gotten the message or she was super into sports. Toon didn't particularly care either way, just so long as no one was talking about anything that would get them all thrown in an even darker hole. With a disinterested sigh he leaned against the wall again and shoved his hands back in his pockets, clearly uncomfortable.

At last something changed, the group of them being led out of the cell and into the "safety" of a lawyer that apparently had a rapid-fire brain and quite a bit of extra time on her hands. The ARO was a glowing logo and lines of text in his view, the cybernetic eyes implanted into his skull revealing the details that the physical card did not. He'd never heard of Annie Goldsmith or an Invisible Esquire, but from the sound she was someone that tended to deal with either the disenfranchised, or the criminal. Probably both at the same time.

As long as this meant he could go home, it didn't matter too much. All that mattered was whether the few grand he had in his accounts would be enough to pay her off.
 
Lubash

Lubash listened in to thesports conversation, having chuckled a bit at the miscommunication between the redhead and their other cellmate. He was rather shocked to see someone come in for him, especially the woman who entered their cell. She was so...tiny!

Taking one of the cards he gave the woman a toothy smile. "Well thanks for the save little lady," Lubash commented, turning it over in his hands without looking at it, "Heh, hope you put the screws to them," he continued.
 
The little woman smiled back at the orc "Oh I intend to" she says, before turning her gaze to the rest of you. "well, once we get your gear back what say you all to joining me from some soycaf?" she asks, giving you all a pleasant smile "After all, I just so happen to have a... client, that has a few positions open for a one time job" she says, winking at you all. Turning on her heal she leads you to a small side room, complete with tables and chairs where you could all wait in better comfort. Its not long before several other officers enter, carrying opaque containers. They drop them in-front of each of you, and after popping the lids seem to have given each of you the correct container as you recognize your personal effects. Smiling Annie looked around "so, how about that soycaf?" she asks.
 
A job offer? What the Hell! This was too much. Firewire knew she had no reputation that did not stem from her lineage. If they knew of her grandfather, mom or dad, then she was in real shit. Probably. If all they knew about her is what she herself had done, then she was being hired for the wrong skillset, she was not a wetworks specialist. What did they think she could do? She wished Mr. Johnson was here, or Scrimshaw, or Mom. That last one raced through her heart faster than bit feed. When the case was dropped before her, she quickly emptied the crate, as though they would take it back and keep whatever was left inside. She stowed the rest of her water bottle in her bag, and checked her comm and rig. Had they cracked the case on either? She was willing to agree to anything to get to street level. The soycaf only appealed to her as any free food did, but this had strings. As Face had advised her, any surprise generosity came with strings, make sure you hear them out so you know where and how deep to cut to sever the strings. Once she was certain that the rig and comm would power up and had not been further tampered with, she stowed everything and was ready to go. "Get me through those doors and I will hear you out, that is all you get."
 
Lace

Barely topping five feet tall, Courtney's light blue eyes went wide in surprise when the energetic lawyer proved to be slightly shorter than she was, and seemingly even younger!

She blinked, then blinked again then found herself giving a little giggle. “Well thank you for your help.”

Noticing the digital card passed around, she closed her index finger and thumb around the rihgt side of her glasses and settled them more easily on her nose. Taking the virtual card, the blond girl read it and blinked. She glanced at the Knight Errant detectives and found herself quite certain they hadn't seen the word imaginary.

Falling in next to the blind man, she glanced up at him with a smile—it was sincere enough that dark walker could feel her aura warm. “It says her name is Annie Goldsmith.”

When they got their things, Courtney tapped them open. She hesitated, then swallowed a little bit. No wonder the cops had been hesitant to accept her at face value. It was one thing to own some armored clothing, and she wasn't certain they'd noticed what was inside the cane, but her purse was in here...

Rather, Lace's purse was in here, with all manner of dubiously legal gadgets and gizmos.

The blond gave a little sigh. She stood up and looked around, then froze. “Um... You don't think they'll let me use the ladies room, do you?”

The blond gave a little whimper, glancing down at her slippers and pajamas. “Oh, fine...” she groaned.

Courtney rose and stepped out of her slippers. Cheeks flaming, she unbuttoned her pajama shirt. (Dark Walker could smell her embarrassment... but also a hint of excitement, even arousal... Surely that made it all the more embarrassing to the young blond. )

The petite girl god down to her bra and panties. She reached for her outfit, then gave a soft groan. “Fine,” she murmured. “Exactly how arrogant am I?”

The svelte girl reached behind her back and unhooked her bra, letting pert, round little breasts jiggle free. Cheeks aflame all the way down to the cleavage, she quickly stuffed her bra into her purse and got to work dressing. Stockings, a knee length skirt. White blouse with a scooped neck, a leather corset that turned her pert b-cup bosom into two shapely hills of silken with a nice valley between. A bombers jacket over the corset. A pocket watch on a golden chain around her neck. A bit more rather steam-punk jewelry and a clockwork case for her com link.

The blond girl settled her goggles on her brow, then a top hat with trodes over that.

With her eyes opened again to the virtual world overlapping the physical one, she sent a digital whisper directly to Dark Walker as a sort of private pseudo-telepathic text message. “Annie's card,” she explained, “Tells us she's imaginary. Would you like to hear about her job?”

The blond took her cane and planted it lightly on the floor. She took a few deep breaths. Her blush faded. 'Courtney's' meek nature drained away as the persona she was assuming released the iron strength at the core of the young woman's being. She looked relaxed, poised now, somehow even taller-though that might have been the boots. “Call me Lace,” she said softly. “It's nice to meet you, Annie. I'd love to hear about the job your friend has to offer.”
 
"I would," I reply with the same psuedo-telepathic messenger program.

"Call me Dark Walker," I add, slipping my peace bound katana throught my belt. "Count me in as well. I can see things will be... quite interesting."
 
As soon as the containers were brought into the room Toon's eyes lit up with recognition. Quickly popping his open he breathed a sigh of relief as he reached in an arm. There was a faint sound as something in the box moved. A small metal snake emerged, winding it's way up around the young man's arm to settle up on his shoulder, hundreds of tiny gecko grips on its underside keeping it firmly in place. Next came his comlink, secured back into place, and a handgun he didn't seem overly comfortable holding tucked under his jacket. He looked up just in time to see the petite girl in her underwear, his mouth falling open in disbelief.

Her bra came off, and a quiet voice emerged from the snake drone. "Holy shit." Instantly his cheeks flushed with embarrassment and he turned his head away, the drone silently looking at her for a few more moments before it to shifted its gaze.

"Sorry...I didn't...sorry," the drone said, it's words coming from its owner. "Is that how this works then?" He went on in a more suspicious tone, focusing on Annie. "We say no and end up back in the cell?" Silence for a moment, the drone not quite knowing how to handle a sigh. "Fine. What did you have in mind?"
 
Lubash

'Ah,' Lubash thought as the woman explained why they'd been released, 'And so the other shoe drops.' It seemed that someone had a job that needed doing and they would be the poor saps doing the dirty work for it. Well, it wasn't like this was the first time he'd done a job for someone he hadn't ever, and likely never would, meet.

The Ork's thoughts were interrupted however by the sudden removal of the shirt of one of his former cellmates. "Not bad," he commented, a grin on his face as the woman, who introduced herself as Lace, "You do that a lot though? Flash people who you were just in prison with?" Lubash's voice took on a teasing tone as he spoke, joking a bit before turning back to Annie.

"Alright, you got us out of that mess so I figure that gives you a chance to explain the job your...client wants us to do." Lubash reached into the container that held his own meagre belongings, taking them before turning his attention to Annie. "I could go for a soycaf while you wow us with your client's business proposal."
 
Annie gave the a wide smile as she heard the agreements from you, in particular she winks at Toon and his comment "I have no idea what your talking about" she says, still grinning. She watched Lace change and gives both the Ork and the young man a disapproving look, but says nothing. Turning on her heels she leads you out of the precinct, the cops giving the tiny woman a wide birth, and you get the distinct feeling that she's been here before. Passing the front doors your able to take a deep breath of slightly used and oily air, the same as its always been. Parked outside of the Knights Errant Office was what looked like an old school hummer, slightly stretched in the middle and painted bright gold with black highlights. the drivers side is facing the office which makes Annie's next action look rather impressive as she leaps up the monstrous vehicle and mounts it, popping the door and sliding into the drivers seat with practiced ease. She pops her head out the open window "hop in, there's plenty of room" she says, and the doors pop open on command, revealing a black leather interior, and stretched all around seating, much like a limo, but significantly smaller.
 
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Firewire watched the diminutive woman as she accepted their offer, and Lace as she changed, she blushed a hair, then batted the orc at his unnecessary comment. Rude. The woman made a choice, a choice does not make the woman. Firewire believed that with all her heart. She could do this, without becoming the runner.

She followed the little lady, amazed at how she caused such a wake in the waters of the police department here. She must have burned someone pretty bad for the others to stay off her bad side. Then she was outside, she scanned the concrete in both directions, no one seemed to be awaiting people to run. She could make it to the alley at least, so why was she still standing here, looking into the cavernous and leatherbound interior of the hummer. It was nice, but very enclosed, it would feel like that cell all over again, only this time there wasn't room to stand.

She decided that if she were going in, she was going to pick her spot, she dove in heading for the corner, a small cabinet was on her left, an only one seat to her right. She understood this cornered her, but it also only put one person beside her. The best she could do if she were getting into the vehicle at all. The cabinet opened as she sat next to it, and she could see bottled water, a decanter of something harder, glasses and ice. She grabbed a bottle and shoved it quickly into her bag.
 
The comments made Lace's cheeks heat up again, but she flashed toon a soft smile, a little shy, and then explained calmly to Lubash, “Notice that my corset doesn't cover my shoulders? A bra doesn't go with this outfit.”

Trying to pretend that explained everything, Lace scooped up her bag and her cane and followed the rest of them out to the car. She grinned at the energetic entry to the hummer, eyes dancing, then followed the others inside. Reflex started her moving to the back and sitting next to Firewire, but she decided the redhead would probably prefer to sit alone. She settled in next to Annie instead. Glancing at the boys still outside She blinked, then blinked again and started up to offer a hand to the blind man. “Walker... Did any one guide you here? How are you... You don't even have a cane?”
 
Secured safely in the hummers passenger section the vehicle is roomier then it first appeared. Seated comfortable in the plush leather seats its almost a crime when a few minutes later Annie stops outside of the local Soybucks and calls for everyone to pile out again. She leads you into the building and secures a table, gesturing at the barista and giving a quick gesture. A few minutes later the young elf arrives with a platter of drinks, complete with whipped cream and crushed chocolate on top. Her's also has a drizzle of caramel on top and a bendy straw. Taking a long sip of her drink she lets out a satisfied sigh "that's the stuff... Alright here's the rub, I've been contracted to find a group of individuals for a one time job... If your interested. Also if you do well, I might have other jobs for you in the future" she says. She reaches into one of her pockets and withdrew a small matchbook with the logo Banshee a bar located in the Barrens, with a commlink number scrawled across the bottom. "If you need me in the future, go ahead and give me a call" she said, smiling at you and giving you a wink.
 
Lubash

Lubash raised his arms placatingly at the dirty looks he was given as he stepped into the hummer. "Sheesh, tough crowd," he said, taking a seat as he listened to Annie. "Alright, so you need people for a job. What kind of job are we talking?" He wasn't necessarily opposed to picking up a job at the moment, especially since she'd gotten them out of a cell, but that didn't mean that he'd accept it without any thought. He'd known a few people who did things like that, and most of them ended up far worse than they'd been before the job.
 
"Yeah, thanks for the jailbreak and all, but I'm with the ork, I could really use a bit more in the way of details, not all I understand, but... I don't even know if I can do what you are needing?" She nestled in to her soycaf, the hot drink warmed her deep. She could get used to this. No, she shook herself. That kind of thinking will weaken her to what it takes to live on the streets. Soft living was a bane, though she did enjoy the drink, just as an indulgence.
 
"There's more than one way to see," I repleid with a smile. He accepted the offered hand as a way of being polite.

I pick up the match box and examine it. I read the number scrawled on thier as if it were in brail, running my fingers over the indentiations left by the pen.

"Around the turn of the century they had a machine called an Opticon. You moved a cameera across a printed page. Your index finger would rest in the machine, and electrical impulses would project the feel of the text to you finger. It kind of tickles a little. Com links are more effective these days, but I used an old one to help train my sense of touch."

I pass along the matchbox and say, "I'd like to know more about this job."
 
Lace arched an elegant yellow brow. "Okay..." She thought about that a bit as they traveled.

At the coffee shop, she took a few sips of the coffee, smiling.

Noticing Dark Walker's display of tactile excellence. She blinked a few times. "Dark Walker, you're an adept, aren't you? You train your body and mind like anyone would to do extraordinary things, but the magic makes it even more extraordinary."

The blond looked around. "I... Think this is a very extraordinary group, honestly." She took the match box and recorded an image of the address in the com link.

"I'd like to learn more about all of you, and i'd like to learn more about this job, too."
 
Toon's cheeks only flushed brighter when the half-naked girl smiled at him, the young man mostly remaining silent up until they were seated in the Soybucks with a black-as-sin soycaf sitting in front of him. "So this is what you do? Find people in trouble and fix something up for them?" the drone asked, both of them watching the 'lawyer' carefully. There was a bit of emphasis on the word 'fix,' just enough to quietly ask her if she was, in fact, a Fixer. It seemed unlikely he'd stumble upon someone so helpful right when he needed it, but stranger things had happened.

Taking the matchbook he glanced it over, one hand moving slightly. In moments he was searching the Matrix for the bar listed, as well as running a reverse-lookup on the comm number provided to see if there was a public record of her. An icon blinked briefly in the corner of his vision and he glanced at it, only for his cheeks to color quickly as he studiously avoided looking at Lace. Last week he'd forgotten to remove some demo photo software that came with an update, and the pervy machine had made a slideshow of her inadvertent stripping. He'd need to delete that asap.
 
Looking around at you she smiles "Smart, I like that... Alright, if you breath a word about this to anyone you'll find yourselves so deep in legal shit, and literal shit that you'll need a fracking nuke to get yourself out again" she said, Fixing each of you with a stare before taking another sip from her coffee. "I tend to do a little digging before I accept someones cred, and find them a team to work with. The Mr Johnson is working for someone else, he wants you guys to retrieve a com-link from an associate of his bosses, he neglected to share where your going or who your repoing, but given his social standing, the thug's not likely to be sending you after anyone important, or even all that threatening. And yes, this is what I do, and I'm good at it" she finishes, giving a wink to acknowledge Toon's question.
 
Lubash

Lubash drummed his fingers on the table as he listened to Annie describe their job. It sounded fairly standard, or at least not especially out of the ordinary for runners. "Sounds simple enough," he said before something the woman said caught his attention. "Commlinks..." the ork muttered, recalling why they'd all been brought in by the Knights. "This job wouldn't happen to have anything to do with the ones that were stolen last night would it?" It might just be a coincidence, but Lubash wasn't exactly a fan of those even when they were genuine. In his mind there was only so much that could be chalked up to random chance before you had to get suspicious.

And of course, in the long run those who weren't suspicious tended to end up face down in a ditch more often than not, a lesson to others about the importance of verifying before trusting.
 
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