A Time for Secrets

"Great! There's nothing useful going on inside. There are two other security cameras, but if they'd had useful information, Watashi would have found it already.
"Wait, did you say "ATM"? Who uses those any more?" Ashe asks, the humor in her voice clear and apparent. "Just give me a moment to check out, and I'll meet you two outside. LT, you get anything useful?" OOC: Ghostmaker: Perception Test, extended. Do 4-5 rolls.
In a few moments, Ashe casually strolls out the door holding a coconut water and a banana.
"Wow, it's amazing what they're willing to sell, at reasonable prices, in the "less desirable" areas sometimes!" She says, holding up her bounty. Obviously, the fruit is not hard to get, but the Coconut water is something else!

Kesslan turns to regard Ashe with a quizzical look. "You went shopping? And... what is coconut milk?" oh those crazy Metas, he would never really understand them but he was at least learning to put up with their strange, quirky ways. He gave Ashe a chance to respond to his questions before pointing out the two locations he'd spied, his comlink pining her's with a request to highlight the locations in question on her AR. "And what's so unusual about an ATM?" that was one he didn't understand as being 'odd' since at least in the outskirts of where he came from people still used hard currency. The matrix was prevalent almost everywhere, but there were still a few places on earth, such as the jungles of his home, where the matrix had not yet gone everywhere. And that in turn, had required that at least some basic form of hard currency continue to exist. That and it made a great way to pay all the mercs constantly at war down that way these days...

LT watched the block in Seattle. He'd been use to it. But this was different this was work... and he was not in the Seattle barrens now. No he was in Japan miles from home. "Screw it..." He thought to himself concentrate on the job. He looked up and down the scene, moving away from kess from time to time. He also tried not to look anyone in the eye directly not wanting to draw any unwanted attention to be honest any one who looked at him with his wired hair style for japan and his long black pleather trench coat, would most likely look twice at him though he was smaller then most trolls Lil'Tiamet was still imposing in stature and hard to miss compared to the average meta human...

Surveying the area looking for cameras, sensors, and locations taking com pictures as well locals that might have been in the area

perception 4 intuition 1 vis enhanc 2 = 7dice = 2,3,1,2,5 no glitches yeah baby!

After locating the stuff he was looking for, and even getting a couple snapshots of some of the people sitting on steps of buildings, and some standing on other corners, plus the locations of some cameras and sensors (i hope lol).... Yup he said in response to Ashe's query "I got a bunch o' stuff... Ikuzai(lets go...)" he grunted... He started He started to explain the particulars of liquid from the seeds of coconut trees, and how it was a tasty treat to some... Looking at the shape shifter though he figured it would take too much time... He let the matter pass...

Game Stuff:
Ok, Ghost: LT got 2 cameras, one of which actually looks to be old enough to have been there 10 years ago. The other, only if we're lucky.

"Oh, ah, you know what a coconut is, right? Well, the water inside: We call that "Milk". Don't ask me why." Ashe said, realizing that it might actually not be that self explanatory. It would be interesting afternoon in the library trying to figure out why the Coconut water was called "milk".
"And, yes, I had to buy something so that I wasn't too conspicuous hanging around in the store, you know?" She shrugged.
Ashe nods and smiles, stepping carefully in to the red car.
"Ok, see you guys back at the base then? Ashe said, smoothing her skirt over her legs. She started to cross the right leg over the left, but then seemed to think better of it, as she was in the car and it wouldn't be more comfortable. She smoothed her skirt out again, leaving it nicely flat and free of wrinkles across the tops of her legs. She finally smiled up at the guys.
Just as Ashe settled in, she pulled up her AR and, using her gloves, flickered a bit to put in a response to Kesslan's question.
- We just don't use that technology very much. Since no one needs Cash for purchases, why would we bother to keep ATMs handy? -

[OOC] Unless either of you have anything further to do, we can post in "caught up" on the timeline. Let me know.
@Kesslan: Go ahead and add your motorcycle armor to your character sheet.

The ATM question bugged at Kesslan for a little while. They hadn't been -too- uncommon where he'd initially grown up, at least not out on the fringes near the jungles. Sometimes the matrix was bad around certain areas in South America and one relied still on cash transactions. That and the huge influx of mercenaries in all the various little wars going on down there, not to mention the flourishing drug trade kept cash transactions well and alive. It was one of the few remaining untraceable manners to transfer cred around, though more and more the certified credstick had taken over even there. It hadn't really occurred to him to question it since it was just another 'metahuman thing'. Still, by the time he got back to his motorcycle it had nagged at him enough that he instead made his way over towards the ATM in question to take a better look at it. He wasn't sure what to really look for but at least it should have some sort of phone number to contact the owner/operator or.. well maybe some other information that wouldn't show up in the matrix.

The lack of response from Elanor was also a touch disturbing but for now he had to assume she was simply out of touch or busy with something else. They had after all tasked her to look into a lot of different things and even an AI could get overloaded with information he supposed. Especially when it was one initially designed to simply operate a car, no matter how advanced it was. As he looked it over he couldn't help sniffing at it, it was just.. well it was a species thing. You could tell a lot by smell, or at least his kind could, though perhaps less so in a large city like this.

Visual Perception: 7 Hits
Smell Perception: 3 Hits

Kesslan frowned at the results of his observations and he paused a moment to look around at the other potential sources they had all spotted. Damn. This one wouldn't serve them any good unless they wanted to try and haul the whole unit away and figure out where it had actually come from. That was still an option of course but what he'd found told him they were up against some seriously capable opposition. Well.. what could he expect if their target had been missing for ten years with almost no trace?

Well there was only one thing left to do, check the parking lot. He figured they wouldn't have bothered to replace the camera. It wouldn't have directly stored any footage on itself for that long a period of time. But some one had to have access to the security footage somehow. Usually parking lots indicated some sort of contact number for the owners somewhere, or at least for what ever security firm or maintenance group they had contracted to look over the place. Those however, were things he'd check to see if they were 'new'. Wouldn't take much to redirect such advertisement with a fake number, and there was no guarantee 10 years later it was the same company anyway.

Visual Perception: 3 Hits

With LT and Ashe already gone, Kesslan had the "run" of the street. There were few people out, as the "work-day" for the wage slaves had not yet ended, and this area didn't seem to be the place that the rest of society wanted to be spending their free time. Walking over toward the Parking Garage, Kesslan easilly spotted a large sign posted out front. It hadn't been immediately obvious from his previous vantage points, but as he approached the turn off from the road, the sign was clearly visible. It was flaked and old, but the name and number of the management company were still quite clear. The wear and tear of the weather on the sign indicated somewhere between 5 and 15 years since the last time it had seen a brush. On a distant examination, it looked like the automatic payment machinery also had not seen any maintenance in at least as long. Although, the products these days were of high enough quality that they could keep themselves up without much manual labor.

With little else to go off of, Kesslan made note of the company that was supposedly associated with this complex and then decided to give them a quick call from his 'public' comlink. He wasn't quite sure what he was going to say really, but he figured he could try and con his way through to some basic details and see if the number was actually 'legit' by posing as a security consultant trying to dig up some work. The building certainly had pretty dated security by appearances and well, hey it might just give him an 'in' on trying to get a hold of any security footage if he posed as some one wiling to do a 'free consultation'

A standardized Female operating voice responded to the comm call on the other line, in Japanese.

"Hello, and welcome to ..." The voice continued on, in Japanese, mentioning the name of the company and identifying the speaker. She didn't sound particularly interested in being on the phone, which wasn't surprising, as she likely would have preferred to be out to lunch at that moment. The company name was "Isobune Parking;" interestingly, that is not a translation. The girl's name was Hiroshi.

Kesslan kicked off on his pitch as soon as it was prudent to do so. Fortunately Japanese was a language he knew well. "Greetings. My name is Felix Black. I'm part of a security consultation firm and I just happened to be in the area of one of your parking lots. I've noticed the rather poor, dated state of your security systems here and would like to offer your employers a free consultation with my firm. Is there a supervisor I may speak to in regards to this?" he waits patiently to see what the rep says, while pulling the fake company website that had been set up for the group in his AR to quickly start reading it over and ensure he wasn't going to mess up his 'facts'. He decided to play the angle of having set up the security for executives taking part of the cruises as well as admitting his connection to the company as their 'head of security'. In this day and age branching out this way was hardly anything new as few companies, even small ones, stuck to just one market.

Negotiation Roll:2 Hits

End of "The Hunt".

"Ahh, welcome back." Watashi says, with his absurdly smooth multi-tonal voice practically humming through your soul. He smiles, his slanted Elven eyes crinkling slightly on the outsides showing his facial skin tightening with the muscles underneath. Strangely, everything about him seems vivid. Details that you wouldn't normally notice, or care about, are suddenly in bright contrast and color, drawing in your eyes.
Watashi sweeps his hand over the VTL Jet which had just settled behind him, taking in the three figures stepping out of it. Two of them were familiar: Ashe and Kesslan, though this was the first time any of you had seen Kesslan in motion. He moved with a feline-like grace, practically gliding across the ground. Ashe's movements were no less impressive, though in a strikingly different way. Side-by-side, you might compare Kesslan's movements to that of a Ninja, or some similarly peak-trained infiltration expert. When they move, you notice their stealth, and smooth grace. Ashe, by comparison, looked much more like a dancer. Someone who was trained as carefully, and well, but rather than being trained to avoid notice, she had been trained to attract it.
The third being was a small-ish Troll. As much, that is, as a Troll can be called small. His hair was immaculately cared for, kept in tight corn-rows down the back of his head. He had an impressive designer suit, and would fit in with the two of them nicely as a "bodyguard". Though, despite how well his image fit the title, his stature was somewhat outside the norm. He was standing even with Ashe and Kesslan, focused on the group, rather than any potential "threats" that may be coming forward. The Troll, from his posture, and placement, was much more likely an equal than an employee.

"These, Ashe, Kesslan, and LT, are all my employees. As, now, are you, it would appear." Watashi states, turning his gaze back on the new recruits. For any of you who looked over at Ashe and Kesslan at that moment, you would notice that Ashe's attention was back on Watashi, and that she was nodding absently. This was clearly no surprise to her, or to Kesslan and "LT". LT must be the name for the Troll, who was the third being standing there.
"There are a few more members of my team as well, though it seems that Kesslan has elected to leave them behind. For the most part, Kesslan is in charge of all tactical and battle decisions, while Ashe is carrying the Purse, and most of the strategic decisions. They have my full trust, as well as the full mission details. What ever details they have chosen to impart upon you, I trust that they have covered the information they feel you need to know in order to satisfy your contract with them. Any, and all, mission information, including payment information, should be filtered through Kesslan, as he and Ashe make just the team I was looking for when I hired them.
"Is that clear to all of you?" Watashi asks, finishing up his monologue. It hardly seemed fair to classify his little speech as a monologue, though. His voice modulation was captivating. The way that he "drew you in" was an interesting combination of entrancing and exciting. The combination was intoxicating, leaving each of you wishing that he had more to say, so that he would continue to speak.


Kesslan's phone conversation
"Uh, of course. This is highly unusual. Would you please furnish a website, as well as a resume for me to present to my supervisor before he takes this call?" The now-clearly metahuman receptionist stammers on the other line. This was a good way to test the automated responses, as they wouldn't have been capable of any sort of response like this one. It would have taken a metahuman, or perhaps an AI. Though, AI were somewhat more expensive than the metahuman who was likely manning this line.

Gala wrote:

"Is that clear to all of you?" Watashi asks

There was a Beatle crawling just under Vikings nose. why had he not seen it before? then there was the voice of Watashi, he turned his head in the direction and he saw the Tall grass he had layed down. Had he accidentaly turned his Flash-light this way? quick check, No it was still upright, but why did he see so well? it was just as he had regained his Low light vision. That's it, he had.

Now that he had a easier way to spot someone in his surroundings he did not insisted on staying hidden, even if his standing up would mean being the first one to lose, 1k is not that bad of a loser gift.

when he rose saw others had left their positions too and had moved to Watashi, looks like the game had ended.

After hearing the monologue Viking just simply replied.
"As clear as I can see them in front of me."

Args, gods! Just when I finally would have this little bouncy ball....

Greifer went to take his commlink back and shove it into his pocket as he walks to the center to listen to Wasabi's monologue.

After the little speech was finished, he holds up his hand: [Actually there is a question, who has won? Anything else is fine with me.
He didn't expect an answer, but nobody will forbid him to ask.

Gala wrote:

Kesslan's phone conversation
"Uh, of course. This is highly unusual. Would you please furnish a website, as well as a resume for me to present to my supervisor before he takes this call?" The now-clearly metahuman receptionist stammers on the other line. This was a good way to test the automated responses, as they wouldn't have been capable of any sort of response like this one. It would have taken a metahuman, or perhaps an AI. Though, AI were somewhat more expensive than the metahuman who was likely manning this line.

"Absolutely." Kesslan responded without missing a single beat and promptly forwarded the address for the fake website that had been created for their cover company. The very same he was looking at as the call unfolded. "As to a resume, I prefer to show potential clients hands on what we can do. You can claim anything you want on paper these days, and we are not interested in just tossing about the catch phrases of the day. If your supervisor doesn't like that, we are perfectly willing to financially compensate him for his valuable time."

________________________________

At the group gathering:

As Kesslan waited as Watashi made his introductions with absolute patience, and actually a little bit of curiosity. He still knew almost nothing about the individual whom they'd thrown in with for this particular, and highly elaborate job. Further more Kesslan constantly kept an ear out as it were when ever Watashi was directly involved in anything he knew of, such as this, to try and better gauge his character. Watashi had saved Kesslan from an untold amount of trouble down the line from Aztechnology and the Shifter didn't forget a favour like that lightly. At the same time, having worked for one of the more notorious corporations in the world, he knew a thing or two about not judging a book by it's cover so that little paranoid voice in his head always had him just a tiny bit on guard on the matter. Once the talk was done, he gestured everyone towards the waiting aircraft. "Those of you still wanting in, get on board. Otherwise your free to leave with the payment you've already been rendered, and will not see or hear from us again."

Greifer takes a look at the jet, I wonder who fly that baby? That could be an interesting trip.

To Kesslan: Hi there, mind if I bring my car with me. I will just go and get it, don't start without me.

Greifer went back to his car and parked it into the plane. Humming an old tune, while he checks for the security devices to
fix the car to the ground.

Kesslan wrote:

"Those of you still wanting in, get on board. Otherwise your free to leave with the payment you've already been rendered, and will not see or hear from us again."

There were different emotions rising in Viking, fear was the most potent off all. He had never met someone as powerful as watashi, the second one was curiosity.
the unknown, guess I will have to see what it has in store for me.
Viking started to move in the direction of the plane.

"Excellent. And, by the way, we had to end the game early, as our colleagues arrived. Your time, and theirs, is precious. I will sort out rewards with Kesslan." Watashi exclaimed happily as he watched the new recruits move toward the car. Finally turning to the three established team members.
"May I have a word with all of you?" Watashi asks politely, punctuating with a smile.

Phone call:
"Oh, ahm, well, then. Mr. - What did you say your name was again?" She asks, though Kesslan's answer came as though he were actually expecting this question.
"Of course. Mr. Black. I have my manager's schedule up right now, and am looking for an available slot. Give me just a moment..." Her voice trailed off in concentration. It might be difficult to imagine, but there did actually require concentration from some members of the population for this sort of thing. Likely she was employed for reasons other than her intellectual capacity.
"Huh. That's strange. It looks like he has just cancelled one of his appointments, in about 15 minutes. Mr. Black: if you are able to arrive here in the next 10 minutes, I would be able to show you in for a 15 minute appointment. If not then, then I unfortunately won't have another opportunity for you until next week." She stops, waiting expectantly.

Quote :

"May I have a word with all of you?" Watashi asks politely, punctuating with a smile.

Perception: 1 Hit
(OOC: Cant Assense with this char yet. No skill and you cant default)

Kesslan tilts his head slightly, wondering just what that was supposed to mean. Still, he certainly had no reason to be suspicious, nor any reason to say no so he simply nodded to Watashi before looking to the other two to see their reactions "But of course, you are our employer. Considering what your paying us I'd dare say you can have a word when ever you choose."

________________

Phone Call:
"15 Minutes? If it's not too far from where I am now, then yes I could certainly do that. Otherwise traffic would likely prevent me from getting there in time on such short notice." Kesslan responds smoothly. "May I have the address?" once it's given he'll uqickly pop it into his comlink's GPS and gauge the distance before offering up a reasonable ETA on when he could get there.

"It's nothing serious. I wanted to hand these off to you: they are the payment, and more, that was agreed upon for the mini-game that the group was playing." Watashi says, handing Kesslan 5 credsticks.
"Also, I want to commend you on your progress thus far. Given my past success," He grimaces slightly when the word "successes" comes out, "I had no reason to expect that you would be able to discover anything even remotely interesting, let alone useful, in such an impressively short time frame. You have proven, already, to be a useful asset. Is there anything that I can do for you in order to encourage your continued successes?"[/color] He finishes, his multi-tonal voice filling the small space the four of you create by huddling together with the now-familiar nearly musical sound of his speech.


Parking Garage
The woman promptly gives an address. When you enter it in your GPS, you find that you likely can walk there within the 10-minute time frame.

Kesslan tilts his head slightly at Watashi's explanation. "Sometimes, it only requires the aid of a new hunter, and those you are up against are very resourceful. It would not be so easy to replace old technology with such carefully doctored, yet genuine duplicates. They hide well in the shadows, yet seem to forget that there are more senses than sight than can find prey." he paused a moment before adding "As to encouraging? No, not for me. You have done more than I have come to expect from others in this world. Aztechnology was a particular.. problem. Even my own kind would not necessarily help in such a situation even if they were able. In that we are much like metahumans it would seem, yet our reasons are different." he glanced over then at the others gathered "If it is payment to the others that you offered, it shall go to them. It is not my way to deny others what they have rightfully earned. If such is the case?" his gaze turning back to Watashi as he frames that last bit into a question.

Parking Garage:
After checking the address Kesslan responds with a curt "Ah, that's not far at all. Please let your manager know I shall be there shortly." given that he could make it in 10 minutes walking, he simply instead walked back to his bike and drove it the rest of the way. In part it was a calculated move, his bike armour wasn't exactly the typical getup one would go to a meeting in, but the bike itself was suitably flashy when he wasn't hiding it with the chameleon coating. Indeed the stealth coating itself could help accent the bike and that's exactly what he did as he drove along to the meeting. It would also conveniently explain why he wasn't showing up in a business suit and offered him a polite way out of having a likely unexpected, less business like appearance.

"In that case, I will leave you to your new team. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me if you need my assistence." Watashi said, bowing deeply. His manners remained as astonishingly impeccable as the group had come to expect from him.


Parking Garage
Kesslan rode up to a non-descript office building. It's height was what he would expect from something in this area; no more than 10 floors tall. The bottom 2 levels were devoted to parking space, with a security terminal at the entrance/exit to the garage. Pulling up to the Security terminal, the guard looked over at Kesslan.

Perception test for details. If there is anything specific you are looking for, roll a separate test for that.

"What is your business?" The guard asked, his voice neither demanding nor apologetic.

Kesslan nodded to Watashi before turning to start handing out the credsticks to those who'd taken part in what ever little exercise it was the man? Had offered. Of course, by this point Kesslan highly doubted he was dealing with a man at all. None the less he lacked the experience necessary to really know what it was that he well.. was dealing with. In the end though, he figured it didn't matter much. One can put up with a lot of strange things for the sort of money Watashi had been paying out, and ultimately the Shifter owed him a favour as he saw it. Getting Aztechnology off his back like that couldn't have been easy, even if Watashi had made it seem that way. For all he knew it was a potential indicator his employer worked for the Azies to have that kind of pull, but he was none the less left alone to his own devices and that's all that he really cared about. He just didn't want to be some one's property anymore.

Parking Garage:
"I'm Felix Black, I've got an appointment in a few minutes." Kesslan explained to the guard with an entirely casual air. Just business as usual as far as he could tell, though he still thought it a touch surprising that this apparent and so far nameless manager was in such a hurry. To top it off it had occurred to him that it might be a trap but he felt confident he could deal with it if it was.

Perception roll to notice anything out of the ordinary: 2 hits

Viking Was getting bored, the game had been a different expierence for him, no magic, no natural abilities, just him and them on a plain field. that had to make some impresions on him.
But after a while he had the feeling that loosing his mind in this new expierence will not bring no new things, not now, he had to let it sink in first.
Turning his attention to others he saw Greifer geting his Van Ready for transport, he distracted himself watching him straping the tires to the plane. Kesslan, on the other hand, was thinking about somthing, the hand full of credsticks in his hand was intruiging, but not Vikings buissnes. Few minutes later he had to catch one of them, interesting how good things come to you. still the shifter had not moved from the spot where he had been standing.
In the End, his patience was wearing thin, kesslan had been there for more then 15 min after Watashi had left him, LT and Ashe (cutest on of the Bosses )as well, his patience broke.
"Hey will you wait until your feet root themselves to the ground or will we leave this place already?"
Might have been a bit out of place, but people who payed him to wait where either Dumb for not seeing his tallent or even Dumbber for not using it to it's fullest.
Might have been a bit much, but hey, they need me as much as i need them.

Kesslan had no idea what exactly Viking was talking about. He'd never heard the (to him) odd complaint and he briefly toyed with the idea of asking him how metahumans would grow roots. This was, as far as he knew, not an ability metahumanity possessed, though he eventually realized it was just a 'catch phrase' or 'saying'. Yet another odd metahuman concept he didn't entirely grasp. Kesslan had however, not simply been standing around doing nothing as Watashi left, and certainly not for an entire 15 minutes. In the end he ignored the complaint though filed it away. Impatience could cause problems down the road but time alone would tell. Besides, he'd come to learn that many metas were impatient on the whole. Always rushing somewhere. Always having to cut off just another minute or even just a few seconds in their rush to get something done and over with. He made sure everyone and their gear was properly stowed aboard and the credsticks were all handed out before simply asking aloud "Elanor? Would you please return us back to base now? We should be good to go."

Parking Garage
"Welcome Mr. Black. You're on the roster. Please look directly in to this Camera for your temporary entrance badge." The guard said blandly, after looking down at his list and locating Kesslan's name. Clearly this guard didn't have a datajack, and was using, likely, a handheld commlink.


"Of course Kesslan, liftoff will be in 30 seconds." Eleanor's voice stated over the speakers. Everyone in the plane was now well familiar with her voice, and the oddities of it.
Ashe smiled, stepping in to the plane and looking around at the group.
"We have an interesting collection of abilities here. I am looking forward to seeing what kinds of results we will be able to accumulate.
"As we move forward with this, please understand that haste, in this case, is not something we are particularly interested in. This mission will likely take weeks, and perhaps even months. Fortunately, we are being paid, even while we sleep. Further, the details of this case, as have been made available to us thus far, suggest that there is a significant opposition to success. What that means is: we need to be as careful in our advances as our opponents are in their defense. If they become aware of our presence, there is a good chance that further advancement will be significantly more difficult.
"In other words: we are working slowly and carefully. All of you are talent rich, which is why you were hired. Now we need to test a somewhat new dynamic of your talents. We will test your capacity to stretch your abilities to the limits, in a slow and careful way." Ashe smiled a knowing smile. She clearly had experienced some of the frustration of the "slow crawl" of their progression. And that, despite Watashi's words of encouragement this afternoon.
"I am going to head up to the front of the plane now, and leave you all in Kesslan's capable hands to give you a general layout of our operations, and the rules of our operation.
"Kesslan?" Ashe said, turning toward Kesslan. The look on her face was, interestingly, one of a question. Almost like she was asking his leave. The main door to the jet started to whine as it lifted, closing off the field behind the group.