Loose Ends

"Nope. My side o' thangs ain't got nothang I ain't seen wit' me own eyes." Begins Bruddah, cooly playing off the faux pas as if it were intentional. He's okay with english, but those twenty nuyen words still slip by him on occasion. "An' whut I seen ain't much, fo' de twin hours I wuz lookin'. Jes' dat dwarf I tells ya'll 'bout, drive up de back all stagger drunk, meet wit' our boy, den come back out solid assa rock, wit'out so much a tremmer. Dat shortie got hisself a damn fine scare, o' he pretendin' when he went in." Bruddah shrugs. "Outside dat lil' tang, not a whole hell lot mo'."

There is a pause, before Bruddah quietly pulls his hat off his head, running a hand upwards across his beaten up face and over his pulled back hair. Then reseats the hat, pulling the brim down low as he continues. "Speakin' o' spooks, what we doin' 'bout fenanglin' yon' watcha? Figgur, we had mo' time, we get dat wire rider..." A nod to Lin "... t' spoof up some fakery or other, let dat mage mother know he be fired, o' de company check bounce, o' somethang. By de time it all sort'd out, we be up and gone, and dat spook's watcha be out de pitture fo' a few hours."

"Ain't nevah had no trouble gettin' my way 'round dem smoother eyes, but ain't a damn thang I ken do 'bout spookie gaze."

"Well like i said my contact told me the boat came from the Black Ball Transport Inc." he thinks on the name Ellington and Wyatt... "nope but maybe my contact can come up with something"

Begin transmission

To: Sam
From: Colton

hey I got another name for ya... Ellington and Wyatt... I need info in like an hour if you can swing it.

End transmission

"alright hopefully ill get something back in an hour or so."

Kit sighs. "Well, it was worth a shot. As for the watcher, it should not be a big problem, if things go as I intend. Watchers are terribly inept and stupid creatures. Odds are they would not even be capable of telling if an aura is familiar or unfamiliar, much less sniff out our intentions." Kit smiles. "You see, I am capable of producing a physical mask. I can make any individual look like any other individual. It would be a simple matter, really, to simply wait for one of the other employees to leave and then send in one of us in the guise of said employee. People forget things all the time, after all. Our mole walks in, drops off the vials, snatches something valuable, and leaves as he or she came: through the front door." His grin grows, to the point of being manic. "If they investigate, it will look like a simple, straightforward heist. Nothing will connect back to our employer."
His voice sounds confident, but inwardly Kit is worried. The plan should work, but things go wrong so easily with such a plan. Whoever they sent in would not only have to be an excellent actor, but also need to be adaptable. And that was not even including other confounding factors. This could get complicated.

This time it takes a grand total of two minutes for Colton's comm to beep indignantly with a new message:

"Taylor... man... you're killing me. How high is this on the waiting list? Because if I have to choose between digging around for you and these girls... I'm tellin' ya man, don't push it!

Believe you me when I say these girls are like ice sculptures, man. I move too fast and they will melt, you get what I'm sayin'? This is high stakes table, playing for the big money, and the ante is waaay too high to back out now, so if this is a matter of you dying then you let me know, but if it's just a matter of losing a limb then I will get you the replacement myself... tomorrow."

"Well that sucks" looks at the group "we arent going to get any help from my contact tonight..."

Begin transmission

To: Sam
From: Colton

kk.. if i loose a limb i expect some good dreck for a replacement. have fun with the ice babes.

End transmission

"well all i got to help out this mission is some ok... sneaking skills... and my bow..."

Kit turns to Colton, fixing him with a steady gaze. Perhaps...no, there was no way they could undergo a heist from two vectors without making people look too closely. A backup plan? Yes, things may go bad quickly. A stealth asset would be useful for extraction and as a secondary attempt. His gaze turned to Bruddah. A brute. Useful, but no actor. He'd need the fellow for his guns, not his charisma. Leaving only the lovely Wandering Thespian. Hopefully, she'd have a female template to work with.

"Lin, what do you think? Is this possible? You may find yourself impersonating someone you are not completely familiar with. Or...." Kit trails off as a thought hit him. Such a simple possibility. Would it work? "would it...would it be better to simply impersonate a postal worker and deliver the item that way? It would certainly be a simpler plan, and people get packages all the time. Or perhaps a tax bureau member, come to speak to Mr. Cane. A stranger...with a legitimate purpose that is sufficiently common and trifling that there would be no cause whatsoever for concern or alarm."
He turns to Lin.
"But before we can decide on that, let's first have a look a those vials. If they are radioactive, magically active, or easily detectable in some way, we will need to consider how to circumvent security measures that may find it."

Lin nods. "Assuming that somebody in there is female, I can do a decent job of acting my way through. I just have to avoid doing any more talking than necessary."

At Kit's request, she lifts the case onto the table, sets it down flat, and clicks open the latch. slowly raising the case's lid, she displays the contents for the entire group to see. "Well... here they are."

"Dat postal thang ain't gonna work." States Bruddah, with a quiet glance towards both Kit and Lin. And Colten too, since the fellow's there and all. He takes a moment to gather his full objection, before working his jaw and grunting. "Iffin' dis Mistah Jay want dem pipes given ovah wit'out dem even realizin' dey was in de buildin', dey prob'bly dun know our boy'z in dere too. He probably be hidin' out near dey tanks fo' dat reason. Dem watchah don' care - dat boy he know. Work dere. But mebee not s'posed t' be dere aftah hours? Hell if I know. But, uh, dat utter plan... switchin' fo' somebody. Gotta know what dey usually do, fer ya'll go wanderin' 'round where ya'll ain't s'posed t' belong. Maybe wo'k bettah."

And then a glance towards Kit. "Ya'll find where dat spooker what hold de Spirit work out, mebee I ken go cause a lil' trubba, get hisself all sortsa distracted."

It almost seems like there should be some sort of ominous hiss or perhaps a cloud of smoke billowing from the suitcase. But it opens without any such dramatic presentation, revealing a thick layer of cushioning pads in egg crate pattern. In the middle sat four small containers, glass cylinders with metal reinforced ends arranged in a two-by-two square, with more thick foam between each vial. The substance inside the containers appears to be a liquid, although it could be a super dense gas or possibly a very fine powder. It's pure black in color, and the lack of air inside makes it difficult to determine exactly what the contents are, even when handling them.

"well that could have been more dramatic" he states with sarcasm then peers closer at the items "personally I would leave them in the case if they got that much padding it could be dangerous to bump them too hard." looks around to them all. "if a decent distraction could be made im pretty sure i could get this to our contact on the inside only problem is if there is any kind of uniform or office standard... anyone noticed if they come in or out of the building for a smoke break or what not?

"Uniferms?" Begins Bruddah, scratching at the wisps of beard beneath his heavy jaw. "S'pose I know dat one. Our boy wuz wearin' hisself a uniferm. Blue an' grey t'was, all fancified jump suit." He drops his hand for a moment, and grunts. "Huh. Whut iffin' we jes' hide dat thang out in de open, like? Lissen. Ya'll got ya'llself a wire jockey... so, has dat boy slip a lil' reservation in. Fo' us, de business folk. Wimmen dere.." A thumb flicker at LIn. "Ken act de part o' a business all fine. Ain't no'thang I do bettah dan stan' real quiet an' let dem smoothers jabber. Hell, we sit 'bout all day long wit' our thumb up our dreks tryin' t' figgur out evey lil' thang, but end o' de day, mo' hands we got on deck, easier it gonna be. I be de big dumb folk, Wimmen dere be de savvy bidness, den de utter one slip on ovah. Dat watcher ain't gonna throw a fit, iffin' we -s'posed- t'be dere. "

Kit smiles. "You have read my mind, Bruddah. However, I am concerned that the warehouse may not be open for business so late at night, an appointment may look strange. How about cleaning staff?" Kit hesitated. "Or perhaps multiple infiltrations of different roles? Maybe a building inspector of some kind? I confess I am not well-versed in mundane reasons for visiting a warehouse at night."

A familiar beeping on his commlink alerts Colton of a waiting message. No wait, it continues to indicate an incoming call.

"Hey... Thaylor! Guesh who!" If the number on the screen didn't give it away, Sam's indignant voice certainly did. It also gave away that he was completely hammered. "Didn' preeshate th' intrupshen, man. Thoshe gurlz 'ere sho inna me, then you's beepd me and shey asked me who's wash conactin' me. I hadta think fash, couldn' tellem a buddyomine needsome kweshable inveshgating! Shoooo... I may've toldem itsh my mom. Hey, I thought chicksh digat shtuff, yaknow? shenstive guysh? Who keep touch wisheir momsh? Yeah... they laugh'd too..."

He grunted a baleful sigh. "Turnsh out m' even' jush openethup. Sho I didsh a li'l digging- well, I did a liddle drinkig- okay, lotta dricking. But then I didshome driggin'- diggin' on th' name ya shent me... Ellingthon and Wymatt? Or Wyratt, o' wha'ever i' wash. Yeah, it'sh a liddle hardta rem'ber," he chuckled, hiccuped noisily, and then yelled out. "Sonabitch, burped up shome whiskey hotdamn! Ugh that burnsh! Ugh... Right. Elling and whaever ish a HVAC thing, compny. They oprate outta Tacom, shmallfry shtuff. They's gotsh like, three... four big guysh ash referent- reverance- ref... ash happy liddle cushmers on th'r shite. Heh... 'shite'. Sssssite." He chuckled once more and burped again, this time less sloppily. "Biggesht name'sh Eat-a-Engeerin'. Dunno if 'at'll mean nuthin' ta ya. Anthin' elsh wan' from m'? Yaknow, like m' shoshal life er a lisht of all th' worsht timesa call me?"

"Hey Man Im really sorry 'bout that. and all you gotta do is tell me its a bad time to ring and i wont ring next time i just figured id try to not walk into a dragons den. you know what i mean..." he sighs heavily "well i got to go thanks so much for the info maybe ill buy the rounds next time."

"wow he was drunk... maybe i got some good info maybe i dont. but i guess ellington and wyat are Hvac guys... and they work for some posh places like eat a Eat-a-Engeerin? i dont know the place. but thats what my friend could come up with." looks at the cat "any help?"

The cat's ears perk up, its eyes gleaming. "HVAC? So they are doing renovations on their ventilation systems? How...convenient. In that case it should be a simple matter to imitate Ellington and Wyatt employees. They are, after all, unfamiliar faces, expected to be there, and probably able to carry in and out all sorts of boxes and briefcases without comment."
Kit pauses, pondering.
"We would need to hack their comm lines, though. That way, if they call the HVAC company to verify our identity or presence, we can intercept the call." He glances at Lin. "Do you think it would be easier to imitate a face they haven't seen? Perhaps come to settle a bill or do a bit of work? Or would it be better to imitate one of the daytime workers, come to get something he had forgotten?"

Lin thinks for a moment, then says "I don't think I'd want to do something that would require extended communication with anybody in the warehouse - the more I have to keep an act up, the greater the chance of them noticing something wrong. Perhaps if I were to pose as a QA inspector, come to look over the work that has been done, to make sure that it's being done up to standard? That would explain why I didn't come during standard working hours, and would give me a good reason for wandering through the building without supervision, giving me an opportunity to make the drop. All that would be left would be to determine who will handle the call, if they contact E&W for confirmation." She glances at Colton, and says "Do you think you could do that?"

"Reckon I be de backup plan, den." Begins Bruddah, tilting his old beaten hat back with a thick thumb. "Ya'll folks blow it, o' dey start lookin' too close fer comfert, I'll come all rippin' anna snortin' through dat front door. Hell, ya'll smoother folk always thinkin' we 'bout t' tusk ya'll face off anyhow. Ain't get myself no problem stereotypin' a bit. Steal cash, steal pencils, do a lil' gun wavin' t' keep they attentions off ya'll. Ain't nobody gonna lookit no bad actin' when dey got theyselves a pissed off tusk in they face."

There is a brief, slight upward twist of the lips. Before Bruddah's face goes back to it's usual dour expression, and the hat brim is pulled back down.

Kit nods, looking from Lin to Bruddah. "I shall, for my part, keep an eye on proceedings as best I can. If necessary, I can help extract you two from a difficult situation, though I would need to hide my activities from the watcher. Choose a code word. If I hear you say it, I will arrange for a distraction as soon as possible."

The cat turns to Colton. "You mentioned that you have infiltration skills? Good. In the event that the con fails, Lin and Bruddah will withdraw and hand you the package. It will be your job to attempt to sneak it in unseen, in whatever fashion you are able. My shapechanging abilities are not limited to myself, so I will be able to grant you flight capability should you need it, though you would not be able to carry much with you."

"I warn you that my skills aren't the greatest but they are better than the average joe at least" he shifted uncomfortably "and I seriously think that as a last minute ditch effort... i have been known to do well under pressure."

"So is that our final plan if so we still need to get that hacker set up and i will definitely need some backup from him to make me disappear from the cameras if they have them"

"So's, jes' so we gettin' dis straight..."

Begins Bruddah, counting off on his big old fingers. "Lin dere gonna go on in, figgurin' herself up assa Hach Vack folk. How ya'll gettin' dat briefcase in, anyhow? Hide it in sum kinda Hach Vack backpack?" He grunts, considering the idea; But they're running out of time, and any plan's better than no plan. "Ya'll goin' in too?" A glance at the cat. "Fer to be keepin' wit' girl's disguise? An' iffin' dat dun work, or dey git t' questionin' t' much, I bust in de damn door an' act like I'm high offa dem Choo's, lookin' fer easy cash, while arrer boy here goes'a sneakin' in de back door while I gots folks busy up front?" He pauses, considering the implications of all that.

"Drekkin' busy plan. But when de clock shor' like dis, s'pose dat all we ken do. A'right. Anythang else fo' we break up dis tea party an' git down t' makin' paydirt?"

Kit looks at Bruddah. "I highly doubt that they would question why an inspector were holding a briefcase. As for me, I will indeed be there, concealed by a spirit so as to avoid their notice. I would simply sneak in that way, but I fear that if by some chance they were to somehow pierce the concealment, a cat with a briefcase would be a bit too obviously magical." He pauses, pondering. "It would be a worthy backup plan, at least. If you are forced to withdraw, I could conceal the briefcase along with myself and make the drop unseen. Colton sneaking in through the back door would be last resort only."

Kit glances around. He nods. "Well, then, if we are all clear on the plan, then I must excuse myself. I have...work to do." With that, he turns, preparing to step back into his body.

Lin nods as well. "As do I. Our hacker friend won't hire himself, after all. It may take me some time, but I'll be back before we need to go in."

Leaving the meeting point, she makes her way back to her motorcycle, and drives out to Renton, to buy the requested bottle of wine.

There's only so much talking can accomplish, and by this point it appears the group has reached that limit. Time to set everything into action, and hope it all unfolds without any major hitches. The weather conditions, on the other hand, appeared to be refusing to cooperate, and the dark sky above is opening up in hesitant wave of water, letting out a spattering of acidic, irritating rain before closing back up again for a few more minutes. The intermittent sprinkling is just a mere nuisance for now, but if the gray clouds are anything to go by, it won't stay so restrained for long.

On the bright side, prepared Seattle citizens are well-aware of what the boding sky represents, and any people bustling about to visit stores before they can get home do so under the cover of wide umbrellas or bright ponchos. Eyes are turned downwards, paces are hurried, and extraneous sounds are hushed by the almost oppressive mugginess weighing down the world... perfect situation for this line of work.

Unfortunately, it also contributes to a sense of uneasiness, some primordial dread that buzzes uncomfortably in the back of people's minds. As Lin makes her way to Renton from Tacoma, the highway is slick and treacherous, thanks to the wet layer of caked-on oil, and the dangerous driving of other motorists. In Seattle they have no excuse, it's not like they driving on wet roads is anything new, and with GridGuide the only remaining explanation is user error. Also known as user stupidity.

If one were a tech support fellow, one might even call it a ID 10T error. Which Bruddah isn't, you see. While everyone else is busy getting ready for the run to come, Bruddah is simply staying put. He'd nearly gotten himself in deep water once being sneaky; There was no need for a repeat performance, the way his luck was going.

Only smoothers need entertainment to pass the time.

The thick ork, once everyone has gone their seperate ways, quietly situates himself up against the wall, letting his thick shoulders absorb his weight. And then slides down with a grunt, rolling his thick neck to ease out the tense. Rain always made him nervous. Not that he was afraid of lightning or noise, or even the pollution of the water; It made him nervous because it hid things. Things bigger than he. That primordial moment when whatever you were hunting went from a paycheck on legs to teeth and pissed off panic. If you were lucky, all you lost was an ear.

Grey eyes half-lidded, Bruddah watching the crono on his wrist-comm count down as he rubs a finger along the torn off remains of his own ears. Working his tusked jaw, as if having a hard time swallowing that memory.

All he's gotta do is wait. Just a little bit. Then start heading for the warehouse when all the others are supposed to show up. Hanging around outside's just gonna get him noticed.

Kit slides back into his body, stirring and blinking in the light, his pupils having dilated in his absence. With a nod to Bruddah, Lin, and Colton, he slips out the door and into the street.

"i do not like this plan, little hunter. there are too many imponderables."
"tHEN WhAt wOUlD yOU SUGGEST, sANd? oUR reSoURCeS aNd TIMe aRE fINiTE."
"Sand has a point, Smolder. This plan is too complex. Too much can go wrong. That is why I intend to bring in a little additional assistance."
"yOU DARE imPLy tHAT wE ARe INSUFFICIENT!" Burning anger. Kit winces.
"I am not impugning your ability, Smolder, but you are a soldier, not an infiltrator. And Sand does not possess the raw force I require. If things get bad, as I am certain they will, then I will require total concealment."
"i am proud of you, little hunter. you have grown much since our first meeting in the fires of xi'an."
"hahAHahahahAHahAHHAhAHAHA!" Scald laughs, a hideous hissing of boiling steam. "RAIN! iT IS a GoOd dAY!"

Kit slinks into a secluded alley. The first scattered raindrops patter against his fur and he feels himself shiver slightly. Rain. Power to her. Danger to him. The flickering light of a streetlamp stutters behind as the clouds roil and gather. Golden eyes gleam in the lonely dark.
"Will you come to me, oh winedark lady?" The words are there, unspoken, but still expressed, singing into the smothering depths of the metaplanes. An echoing reply, the wrath of Charybdis, seethes back, whispers flaying at Kit's bones. His teeth clench, flesh and fur sizzling as mana burns its way through him. Storms thunder in Kits eyes, twin candles of commanding will. "Wąda. Sinnon. Mazu. Three names of many. You are here. Now."
A scream rips through the air as a massive water spirit appears, dragged before Kit via mana and will. On the astral plane, she towers above him, a flowing lady of crystalline water robed in an immense Klein Bottle of roaring white rapids. She looks down at the mage, her eyes glittering pearls of morning dew.

"It has been years since you last called me, human." she speaks, her voice clear as a bubbling spring, imperious as the ocean deeps. "You do not seem to have lost your touch in the intervening time, though your first attempt was sloppy."
Kit, absurdly tiny and vulnerable next to the gargantuan spirit, gives her a toothy grin. "I hope I have not pulled you away from anything important, my dear, but I could use your help."

The negotiation is brief, involving obscure prior contracts and the exchange of old favors. At the end, Kit curls up in the shelter of a nearby doorway to rest. That summoning hurt, but the pain was ephemeral. In an hour, the pain would be gone but he would still have five services from Styx. Now that is a real backup plan.