One for the Road

Taurus was on late-night guard duty at Le Reve Noire. Not bouncing; that sort of thing was done by low-ranking sorts just hired off the street. But the upper levels, where the offices were? Only full-fledged members of the Black Star were used for that sort of duty. Security was simply too important to pawn off on some low-ranking newbie. And trust was a necessity.

The Black Star operated under the sort of cell structure typical for terrorist organizations. Small groups of four or five agents, with only one with a connection to another cell in the organization. It was an inefficient set-up, but it prevented the likelihood that the whole of the organization could be taken down through a single raid or failed mission. With a dispersed hierarchy, there was little chance that the authorities in a region could wipe out the whole of the organization, even if they managed to get one or two cells.

That's the way they worked. Most of the time. The group in the Joliet sub-sprawl of Chicago did things differently, however. The prevalence and size of the organization in the Border Communes outside Bug City's Wall had grown to such an extent that establishing semi-permanent headquarters here and there had become a necessity. In some parts of Chi-town the Black Star was the closest thing to an organized government around. A very unusual circumstance for the Neo-Anarchist organization.

So it was that Taurus was sitting back in a chair, his legs propped up on a box of papers and his arms crossed over his chest by the doorway that led to the office suite where Marie Nguyen took care of the countless minutiae that went with running the 'Star's affairs in Joliet when the word came down. Very nearly literally. One moment he's sitting there, as comfortable as he could make himself without risking falling asleep at his post, and the next Marie's door was swinging open and the petite Cantonese woman was shouting his name.

“Taurus! Send a runner to get Auburn, and another to get a replacement for yourself. The 'trix's acting up again, so make it quick. Time's a factor.” Nodding, the huge minotaur walked down the stairs to the raucous mixture of background chatter, shouted drink orders, and music that accompanied each evening's festivities in one of the sub-sprawl's most successful night clubs. There were plenty of bars and places to get a drink in Joliet, but there were only a handful of places dedicated to offering music and dancing. The odd mixture of constant danger from the all-too-close Wall, the ramshackle economy, and posturing between the powers-that-would-be in the Border Communes made for an environment where damned few entertainers were willing to work. Which made the experience Le Reve offered all the more valuable.

Taurus scanned the crowd through the haze of smoke (tobacco and assorted) which hung like a London Fog about the room. There were always a large number of 'Star men and freelancers who patronized the establishment about, for obvious reasons. Of those, there were always several of the organization's dedicated runners about- it was part of their job description. Taurus' eyes darted this way and that as he sortied into the crowd, hoping it wouldn't take him too long to find his quarry. Which it didn't. Through the haze, he spotted a young, red-headed human boy of about nine or ten carrying a tray of sim-cigs and jello shots, busy trying to offload his merchandise on the patrons. “Ahhh... drek. It would have to be Roger!” The minotaur paused, debating spending the time to hunt down another of the runners... but Marie's tone had been urgent, and for the 'Star's premier Chicago fixer, that meant things were critical. With a sigh, the ex-CorpSec Runner shouted for Roger, who came over with his usual abundance of energy.

Auburn was lounging on an old sofa in her apartment, a box of half-eat take-out Chinese vegetables on her low coffee table (who's produce may or may not have come from somewhere with a rad count sufficient to make them glow in the dark), her comm-set playing her favorite play-list of (pirated) songs, and a glass of middling grade synthahol in her hand when she heard the knock on her door. Sighing, the red-headed elf got up from her seat, setting the glass down next to the take-out box and walked over to the door, not bothering to grab anything to throw over her halter-top and jammies; this was her night off, fraggit!

When she'd jimmied the old, battered and scarred metal door open, her expression changed from one of mild curiousity and pique to one of slight alarm when she saw the runner in front of her. “Uhn... hoi-a, Rogah.” She grimaced when the boy took a deep breath before answering.

“Hi, Miss Auburn! I'm awfully sorry to come by so late but it's my job you know? They just tell me who to go find, and I go and find them, even if I don't know for sure where they are. When I don't know, I just have to run around and around and around, looking for whoever it is that they've asked me to go find. A lot of times I have to ask people, you know? I go up them and say, “Hi! I'm Roger. Have you seen the person I'm looking for?” And I'll tell them the name, or a tell them what the person's supposed to look like. I've had a lot of the guys I'm supposed to go get end getting mad about that. But what am I supposed to do? If I don't know them, how else am I supposed to find them? It's a big city! 'Sides, most of the time the person doesn't know anyway. But you don't know if they know until you ask, right? So I ask someone, and if they don't know, I'll go and ask another, and if they don't know I'll go and ask another and another and another until I find the person. I'm awfully good at it. I guess that's why I get the jobs, huh? Like tonight. I was at the night-club that all you guys are always at, and I was trying to sell some stuff, only I wasn't having any luck at it, you know? I bet it's because I can only get those fake cigarettes, not the real ones that are made from a plant, you know? But the jello shots were selling okay, I guess because no one can taste whether they're real or not, you know? I think it's because they're sweet. Not that I've ever had one, oh no. Too young. At least, that's what everyone tells me. 'Course, since I'm buying and selling them and all, it wouldn't be too awful if I was to try one... just out of curiosity, right? Just to know what it tastes like. In case anyone asks me what it tastes like, I can tell them. They taste like lime jello! Really good! Not that I've done that. Just saying. Totally hyper- hypa-... Imma just saying, right? Wouldn't be all that bad-”

“Rogah!” Auburn finally exclaimed, too exasperated to stomach any more of the boy's verbal dysentery. “Didja need somethin'?”

The boy stands for a minute, letting his mind reboot. “Oh, yeah! Mr. Taurus, you know, the big guy who looks kinda like a cow? The one that's always carrying that big rifle around? The one with the second tube at the bottom? Like the military guys have? He usually takes Thursday night shifts up at Marie's office? Well... I guess you'd know. I know you're not really a full-timer like some of the guys. Not that that's a bad thing. Or so they tell me. I wouldn't know. Too young, Marie said. Said it wasn't the sort of work for a kid. Everyone's always calling me that. A kid, I mean. But I'm not! I mean, I work at the club, and I do these running jobs, and lotsa other stuff, and I make money! I keep myself and my kid sister going, you know? And it's not easy, either! But I do it! And I tell Marie, if she'd just let me do some of the work you guys do, it'd be a lot easier! I hear you make lotsa money. And I could do it! I'm tough, you know? A Shy-ton, kid, know'ma saying? Like you. Or maybe not. You talk a little funny. Just a little, I mean. Not that that's a bad thing, it's just that it's a bit different than how most people talk, right? It's-”

“Rogahr!” Auburn was massaging her temples, trying to keep her cool. “What did they wan' downna tha club?”

“Oh, right! Like I was saying, Mr. Taurus told me to tell you that Marie told him that you was needed at the club, right-quick-pronto-asap. He-”

Auburn put a cred note in the kid's hand, and forestalled the verbal effusion with a quick. “Right, gotcha. Run back and tell 'em I'm comin', 'kay, kiddo?” She turned quickly and let the door close itself. Seems tonight wasn't going to be fore R&R after all...


Marie was pacing back and forth in front of the window in her office when Auburn walked in. Taurus was already sitting in one of the two chairs facing the desk the fixer wasn't currently using, and the former eco-terrorist took the open one, throwing a wink at the minotaur as she did so. The office was small. Some would say cozy... but that would be misleading. There wasn't anything truly inviting about the room. The desk was wood (real, since it was an antique) but was marred by innumerable scratches and condensation rings left by its owners over the years. It was cluttered with a mass of papers, pens, and data chips. An old radio head-set sat in a charger: a necessity in modern Chicago, although Joliet did have intermittent matrix access. You just couldn't rely on it though. At least, not if you needed to get in contact with someone in a hurry. A few holos hung on the walls: nothing particularly tasteful or poignant, just a few landscapes and still-lifes. A hundred thousand just like them could be found in waiting rooms across the globe. The old sheetrock walls were painted in an unassuming blue, and the carpet beneath was of a multi-colored pattern who's hues managed to blend together to just look... brown. All in all, it was the sort of office that said absolutely nothing about the person who worked within it. Which was, after all, the point. Or, at least, that's what everyone assumed.

Marie turned just as Auburn took her seat and said, “Finally.” Without waiting for a word, the fixer went over to a wall and pulled a sheet of hardcopy from a printer. She handed it to Taurus. “This man just left town. In a hurry. With roughly 100k in 'Star operating funds.” The Asian woman's face was smooth, devoid of any real expression, but her coal-black eyes were burning. “His handle's 'Crow,' but his real name's William Red-Deer. Mixed blood out of Salish. He came to Chicago around six years ago, fleeing authorities in Seattle, where he used to run with the Halloweeners go-gang.” She was leaning across the desk, one hand resting heavily on a stack of papers. The stack was slowly slipping from under her. Noticing the motion, she straightened up and the whole lot spilled down off the desk to land in a heap next to one leg.

Marie huffed a breath out, then collected herself. Reaching up she pushed her black, horn-rimmed glasses up the bridge of her nose, then ran it up to comb fingers through the brilliant red stripe at the front of her short hair. “As I was saying, Crow's fled the coop. He had been working with us as a free-lancer. Same sort of deal we have with you, Auburn.” Marie gestured at the pale elf girl. “He had managed to build up a degree of trust, and his contact recommended that he be considered for full-fellowship in the organization.” Marie grimaced. “I was even considering okay-ing it when I received a report from one of our storage facilities. About five hours ago, the devil broke in with a group of metal-men, killed or subdued the guards and staff, and made off with a drek-ton of credsticks.'

'Some of our sources caught sight of him leaving the city by groundcar, heading West on 290. I sent a chase team after him, and they trailed him on I88 and then to Davenport. They lost him at the airport there, but one of my net trolls believes he's fingered the flight the slot took. Marie frowns. “It looks like he's headed to Sioux City.'

'He worked as a sneak-thief and wheel-man for us. He knows us, know how we operate, and knows what he can expect in the way of retaliation. I don't know what made him think he could steal from us and expect to get away with it. Nor do I know what he plans to do now. I doubt he'll stay in SC for long: he know's we'll be able to track him there, at least. My bet is that he's going to switch trains, as it were. He'll stay only as long as it takes him to find a quiet way out, and then he'll keep running."

Marie took another deep breath. “The sum he took was not insubstantial. While cred's not a necessity here by the Wall, we do need it when we buy from the smugglers, contract outside labor, or need to grease some Feddy's palms.” He looked from one to the other of the runners. “So: Go. Find the sonuvaslitch. Alive's preferred, but dead's just as good. Recover the cred if you can, but above all the little lan yeung's gotta be put down. While the missing cred's not going to kill us, the blow to our rep could spell trouble, here and abroad.” Her lips, small and thin, compressed until her mouth seemed a mere gash across her face. “I know you've got questions. Make them quick. I've put word out for a rigger to transport you. Once he's here, I want you both gone.”

(OOC: Here's the way this run will work: I'll only call for rolls occasionally. Outside of that, when you take an action that you would normally roll for, I want you to just describe what you're doing and how. Anything that would be a threshold 2 or lower, you can assume a success. This run will be short, sweet, and emphasize RP over gameplay. It's also a system I've never tried before, so be aware that we'll more or less be making this up as we go. Thinking of it as collaborative fiction rather than pure SR math may help. Hope it's fun. Have at 'er )

Auburn doesn't even bother holding back her snort of derision. This was some mess, and just the kind of mess she enjoyed cleaning up! She put her feet flat on the floor and pushed back her chair, balancing it on the two back feet.
"Nice." She said, after enjoying her snort for a moment.- What kind of dumb-drek idiot would think he could get away with stealing from anyone with the kind of resources that Black Star had available to them? Let alone Black Star itself... Auburn mused for a moment about the situation, reflecting on her one, and as yet only rule of the game. Runner's Rule Number 1, in CAPS, was: NEVER FRAG YER FIXER. EVER.
"Marie, it will be my pleasure. I mean that.
"That said, how in the fraggin' drek did this moronic psychopath with a massive death wish manage to make it through your screening? Someone with a common sense in the negatives must've been stinkin' drek up so bad you could smell 'im comin' from a kilometer away!
"Ok, now that I gut that drek off muh chest, what's 'is deal? What's 'e got goin' fer 'im that we shudd be careful of? 'S he a good shot? 'S he some-kinda-smart? What's his gig?" She asks, letting the words spill out of her mouth without any particular sluice gate to pause the torrent. Marie was proving to be quite good at sorting through her smoke and getting right to the flame of the matter, and Auburn was learning to trust Marie's intelligence in this.

Marie sighs. "Auburn, not to sound flip, but no one's perfect. The guy kept his nose clean around us, and I suspect he managed to get chummy with his contact. We watch all our freelancers and new hires very closely. The government and corps have tried to slip agents in on us before... but we know how to spot them. There are signs when someone's a spook, if you know what to look for." A dangerous glint comes into her eyes for a moment. "But aside from that? It's harder to tell when someone's simply not trustworthy, and for the most part we judge it the same way anybody would. We give a little trust, and see if it's rewarded. Then a bit more, and so on. Eventually, when we're satisfied, and if the person in question is good enough, we'll offer them a permanent position with us."
Marie sighed. Tension was evident in her shoulders, and the way she stood, arms crossed, weight shifting front and back, only served to heighten the impression of agitation. "I don't know how or why things got slotted up this time. From everything I've seen and read, the man's kept his nose clean for six years. Why he would try this sort of clumsy and risky snatch and grab, I don't know." He stares hard at the floor just in front of her for a moment, then shakes her head. "I just don't know."
She straightens her posture a bit, then looks Auburn square in the eye again, and the gleam from a moment ago had hardened to steel. "But that's not important now. What's important is making certain Crow doesn't get away with it."

Auburn nods as Marie goes into her explanation, slowly allowing her chair to return to the floor. As Marie goes through the standard precautions (at least, Auburn assumed they were standard; she certainly would have that sort of thing if she were running the show) Auburn continues to nod and focus on Marie's words. No agent can truly be trusted. Worse than that, however, running the shadows was a particularly stressful lifestyle, and it could never be completely certain that an honest and trust worthy agent had, shall we say, all of his marbles.
"Yeah... I got'cha. Never can tell... And ya jes gotta put 'em in a tough spot ta say no ta. 'Hundred G's ain't easy ta pass up when it looks like it cudd be free money. I don' get it tho, if'ee's been with yall fer 6 years now, that totally shuddn't be the payout it wudd be for a junior. I'm with ya that it just don't make 'ny sense." She said. It IS puzzling, considering. Being as regular as he must have been, it doesn't add up that he would take such a small payout. Steal a mil, maybe. 100 Grand... That's not right.
"Now that Ahm thinkin' 'bout it, it makes even less sense. He shudda known better. Any chance he gut som'thin' good when he hit the warehouse?" Clearly Auburn's curiosity was being piqued by the situation. It really DOESN'T make sense...

Marie shrugs. "I don't know. It was easy to tell with the credsticks; he simply took all that we had on-site. If he's taken anything else, he didn't do so in bulk or we'd have noticed a crate missing. Whether he took individual items I simply can't say at the moment. I should know within a day or so, as soon as I get a complete inventory back from the site." Marie reaches up and hooks a finger around one of the arms of her glasses, adjusting the way they sat, even though they hadn't looked to be sitting crooked.

"Ok... You know how to reach us." Auburn nods to herself.
"The rest is going to be the fun part. I think I gut everythin' I need... T-Large, you need to add to this? Or we good?" She says, raising her eyebrow, but declining comment on Marie's eyeglasses. Auburn still considered contacts to be a major upgrade to glasses, even if these were good looking on Marie.

Taurus had been getting bored, but well, that just came with the job both here and back in his days with Ares which were honestly not that long ago, or so he kept telling himself. None the less he knew the drill and he'd always tried to keep things on a professional level. So it was now. That said he also often fit the stereotype of Trolls being a little slow, not that he really was mentally speaking, but the way he had of trying to soak in all the 'data' on a job before saying so much as a word most of the time tended to give that impression none the less with today being no different.

"Well.." he says starting off slowly as Auburn asks him for his opinion. "Reckon the slitch has some good reason fer doing what he did. May have taken the money just for a quick grab to get outta town. Be good to try n figure out why it was he did it iffn' we can. Might save our hoops down the road in case we start stepp'n on toes we didn't know bout. Still, I agree can't just let em run. Gives off a bad impression and even the corps don't like that none. Gonna be a little tricky though.." he muses "Pretty good and sneakn'n'such but I'm not so good at hunting people down like that."

"Juss sayn' course. But if you want me n' Aub to go we'll go." the large Minotaur rubs at the back of his neck as if something out before ultimately just giving a shrug of his large shoulders. "What kinda hardware we gonna be able to bring long though? If I can bring my whole kit bettin I could handle just bout anything he could throw at us or has after em. Not that I'd want to tangle with boys in milspec if he's gotten his hoop that deep into drek. But if he's got some one else's hitter after em... well we'll handle em just fine."

Marie nods, slowly. "I should have already told you to get your kit together, Taurus. Sorry, these past few hours I've been... a bit distracted. Take whatever you want. I've contracted a smuggler with an LAV to take you out of town, and provide support in any other way you see fit." She sighs. "You'd best go get whatever you need. Quickly, now; As I said before, when your ride gets here, I want you gone."

"MMM..." Auburn let's out a noise of agreement as Taurus comes to a finish. She agreed. "But, if the guys in the Milspec armour come out, lemme at 'em! Those are my specialty." Auburn says, letting a grin come to her face that would have raised hairs on just about anyone who didn't already know her. As it was, Taurus and Marie had probably imagined that look on her face before, if they hadn't yet seen it.

Taurus gave a simple nod before getting up to go to his assigned bunk space to start getting his kit together. "If anyone needs me, I'll be getting my drek together. Ping me if you need something." All in all it wasn't a process bound to take long. In a place like Chicago he always kept it ready to pack up and ship out at a moments notice in case of a raid. That said just like any other living space he still had a few things scattered about he had to make sure to pack for the trip ahead. Once that was all done and finished with he'd move on to meet up with Auburn and who ever this apparent contact was. In most cases people might want to ask a whole lot more questions of their fixer, but Taurus had been with the Black Star long enough to know they wouldn't screw him. They owed him too much, and in turn he owed them too much for that sort of thing to happen easily, not that he entirely discounted such an eventuality some day if the balance ever shifted too much. After all, Ares had cut him loose pretty damn fast.

"Hoi." Proudly, but not loudly, the Amerindian Ork spoke the word to the guard. He was wearing his leather jacket and some jeans; his cyber arm could be seen through the jacket clear as day. "Name's Old Bear," he spat more than said. He did not like English, but it seemed the guard did. "Here to see Marie".
"For what?" The guard asked, not about to let the heavily cybered ork in without being told to. Did he treat all orks this way, or was it the feather stuck in the ork's hair that slotted this guy off. Never mind. Even though he deeply hated Anglos he decided against striking the man. He had a better idea. "Did you see what i pulled up in?" pointing to the LAV half a block away. "I'm her fragging chauffeur for the night. So if you plan on working here long I suggest you call whomever you answer to and tell them I'm here! Not gonna wait ferever and you don't want me to get loud now do ya!"

(OOC: Still working on an accent for this guy, but i had fun with him being a sunovaslitch. i might have over stepped it with the guard being a slot, but he's an Amerindian and an Orc i figure most normal people don't like this guy off back. Again if i over stepped it T ill edit the whole thing kinda got carried away.)

(OOC: I like the scene, Ghost. Very much so. I did clean it up... Remember: while I'm not offended by profanity, the site does maintain a PG-13 standard. So if a particular word has an SR counterpart [frag, slot, slitch, drek, glitch, etc.] use it. I'm not going to be too concerned if you throw in some real ones here and there, especially if they don't have a counterpart, but it's best to stick to the stuff the site's approved. So... good job, omae. Keep it up.)

Cord, the street level bouncer for Le Reve this night, grimaced. Slottin' redskins, he thought. But he made the call, buzzing Marie with the intercom. Receiving the reply with an expression that could have curdled milk, he looked back to the ork on his doorstep. "Alright, chief. The lady says you can go on up. But, please: try something. I'd just love an excuse."

Marie's door swung open, and Old Bear walked in, a scowl on his features. The fixer preempted anything he might say. "'Bout fraggin' time." She moves around behind her desk and seats herself. She takes the time to straighten a few stacks of papers before raising her eyes to meet those of the ork. "I assume that you're the reason our windows were rattling a few moments ago? Given your occupation, I would have expected you to maintain a lower profile. Flying an LAV down the streets of Joliet? Even by the Wall, that sort of behavior's bound to get you noticed."

She narrows her eyes. "It's just the sort of thing I'd like to avoid with my hired hands. Especially on a mission as sensitive as this one. So, since I'm suddenly debating burning further time in searching for another driver for my operatives, tell me this; what assurances do I have that you will be able to get my people where they need to go, quickly, quietly, and above all, without drawing any undue attention?" Marie's face was smooth, but she stared at the Sioux native with deadly earnestness in her eyes.

"Hmph!" the Orc locked eyes on the women was this some kind of test or what? "First a all can't give Guarantees when i don't know the future. Niether can you, but i think my rep speaks for itself. Ill get your guys there. If Someone tries to stop us well the better bring the riot gear! Ill even back'em up when were there for the right price. But if your looking for stealthy well my ride is not built for that so you'll have to produce something more suitable to the task or let me take the LAV sup to you." he leaned back a bit then breathed and waited for the answer...

Marie's eyes narrow ever so slightly. "I did not ask for guarantees, Old Bear. I asked if you could do what it is I'm hiring you to do. I sent the job offer to you because of your background. I had assumed someone in your sort of business would be able to perform a simple transport run with at least a modicum of discretion." Marie leans back. "You say that you're willing to support my people if they find themselves in a firefight. Good. I'm glad. I would like to send them out with as many potential resources as I can. However," she pauses, reaching up to rest a long finger against her cheek, "your main duty on this run will be to get them where they need to be. I ask you, can you do this, yes or no?"

Auburn nods Taurus out of the room without much discussion. He didn't need her assent to go get his stuff. Since she travelled light, Auburn had little to pull together, and had been able to arrive ready to leave. Her lightly loaded canvas duffel bag was stashed in the corner of Marie's office, with her Combat Axe causing the gym-bag look to be slightly more suspicious. However, in this case, that wasn't a problem at all. Marie didn't much care, having seen Auburn show up like this plenty of other times.

After Taurus left, Marie got down to some of the work she needed to do, and basically ignored Auburn. That was fine, since Auburn, as usual, had plenty of things to work through in her head. She nearly lost track of time, and wasn't sure how long it was before the whole building started to lightly reverberate.
"Slotting LAV's!" Marie grumbled under her breath, glaring toward her covered window. This was alarming enough to bring Auburn out of her reverie, and back into the moment. Auburn chooses not to respond to Marie's curse, and keeps herself quiet as Marie first answers the phone, and then welcomes an Amerindia Orc into the office.
Auburn brightens visibly as the Amerindian comes in, and is identified by Marie as "Old Bear". - This is definitely going to be pleasant. Auburn thinks, smiling. It doesn't take more than a second or two, however, for the second to be replaced by the businesslike scowl she is so familiar with. As Auburn considers the situation, and sees the look on her face, it would have been an act of will to maintain the smile. Marie was clearly unhappy.
With the discussion that follows, however, Marie makes it abundantly clear why she is unhappy. Auburn tries to keep herself out of the discussion, and sticks to her chair for the moment. It's not like there is anyone who is disturbing to Auburn, but there is no reason to add to Marie's fire if it can be avoided. Auburn turns to her 'link, and punches out a quick message on the keypad in her pocket.

To: Taurus
From: Auburn

Hey T, ride's here.
Marie's not happy with him atm.
Suggest you don't give her 'ne reason to turn anger on you.
Get here quick.
<>

Taurus pauses in what he's doing to check the message and lets out a soft grunt, though fortunately he didn't have too much packing to do and was soon on his way back with the rest of his equipment. As he entered he gave the Ork a once over but otherwise kept his distance and his silence for the time being. Instead he idly wondered about the oddity that the person he was most often paired up with also carried a combat axe just like he did. Having some blade or the like was a common enough thing around here when ammo could get scarce and expensive, but not too many people used axes.

Lady meant business! So all Jokes aside and a slight grin that let nothing on, other then he was pleased with her
"I'll get er done all right. They'll be there faster then a hair can shake that lil bush it calls a tale. With that he spun on his heels and started out the door he came in. All the while waving his cyberd arm good bye Telling the two present runners "boats leaving in 5 min unless..." he stopped cold and turned his head so he could meet her eye with Marie "You got objections?"

Auburn noted Taurus' re-entry into the room. She conceals a grin as his behaviour matches her own. Not one to be quiet, or out of the way, Auburn knew that Marie appreciated her ability to keep her "personality" in check when it was required. This was one of the reasons Marie was so willing to keep bringing Auburn back for the important jobs. "Personality" was a nice thing in semi-polite friendly company, but there were plenty of situations out there which required you to be someone else. Sometimes literally. Being ex-corp., Auburn was aware of that, and perfectly capable of folding herself into someone else's perception of Auburn's intended persona, despite her disdain for the practice. And, the fact of the matter was, it works!
Her grin became even more difficult to conceal as the "driver" started to get... umm, shall we call it, frisky? He stood and started walking away, without even waiting for a dismissal. Well, Marie may well put up with it this once... but it is unlikely it will go un-noticed, nor un-punished. That is not quite the best way to manage Marie, if "manage" was a word which could be used at all in dealing with her. That kind of behaviour usually ended in pain. And not Marie's pain either.
With a hurculean effort, Auburn kept her humor off her face. There was nothing she could do to keep it from her eyes, and Marie would likely notice sooner or later. Likely sooner. But Auburn was not particularly concerned with that. Marie appreciated good behaviour, and was likely to share the un-spoken joke once the "driver" was out of earshot.

Marie's lips purse again, and her eyes narrow to slits. "Before you carry out this "take it or leave it" tactic, Old Bear, I would suggest you consider your own situation. The Black Crescent and Black Star together are responsible for a not inconsiderable portion of the smuggling contracts available here in Chicago. If you leave before we're finished, I will make certain that none of them ever come your way again. What's more, I will see to it that the other contractors in the area know that your name is officially mud. Do I make myself clear?" She pauses looking the man up and down.

"Or... you can step back in here and attempt to negotiate like a reasoning adult rather than a petulant child." Her face was stony and her body language carefully neutral, save for the tightening of the tendons in her neck.

Old bear was just that a guy did na like taking orders to curt. And yet this lil lady had commanded his rspect as a criminal and as a business man. He'd already stopped in his tracks. At that moment he caught sight of the bull headed troll. He'd not actually been paying any attention too. At first. He quickly considered the other runner so as not to spend to much time on the troll. She looked normal enough but that assumption meant very little to the ork. "Apologeeze did not mean to ruffle your feathers chief he said." Eying her carefully as she put her blade to his rep's throat. He conceded to the bigger fish. The Amerindian knew she could do it. So he stood with his back to the wall "Floors yours Nahmana" the Sioux word for sugar. Trying now to stem off some of her fury which he had on his own incurred!

Auburn does her best to conceal her humor. This was turning out to be more exciting than a full-contact "Troll-Takes-On!" match. Succeeding, Auburn pauses in her back-up measure of covering her face with a caugh. That can wait for a bit, save it for later if things get that much more interesting. Auburn keeps her facial features schooled carefully, looking back and forth between the two of them with business-like interest.

Marie nods once, curtly, when Old Bear resumes his seat. She gazes at him levelly, and one hand taps out a staccato rhythm on the arm of her chair. Finally, she gathers in the newly returned Taurus and Auburn with her eyes. "This man was recommended to me by a contact I trust. I've reviewed the information we have on him, and it seems he's capable, despite his... showy entrance earlier.'

'From my information, he's been smuggling for nearly ten years, running routes from Seattle to here in Chicago, as well as North and South in NAN lands. He's been arrested once, nearly 7 years ago, by the UCAS Office of Immigration and Naturalization, on the count of not having a national SIN or VISA while being within UCAS borders. Aside from that, he's never been caught, and I know for a certainty that he has been very active in the time following his incarceration." She shoots Old Bear a look intended to keep him from interrupting while she conversed with her runners.

"So, now that you know his record, I'll leave the choice to you two. This man hasn't impressed me, and given more time I would search out a suitable replacement for this mission. However, we are operating under severe time constraints. I won't, however, send you out with anyone you believe to be unsuitable. Even with the urgency of this mission, if either of you have a problem with allowing this man to be your transporter, I will find another to fill his role, time be damned."

Auburn takes a deep breath. She is trying to look like she is carefully considering the information laid out before her, but the truth was that she was trying to still the amusement that was threatening to bubble over into everyone's view. Letting the air out of her lungs very slowly, Auburn allows her eyes to roam across the Amerindian, taking in every detail of the Orc. She turns her business-like stare toward the 1000-kilometers away, and attempts to be "considering" the applicant.
"Well, his resume cert'nly seems t'be in order. Also, his recommendashuns are, uh, glowin'..." Auburn says, meeting Marie's eyes. "I guess that the real import'nt question is this: Think he can keep our hides from gettin' tossed in th'slammer? And, of course, by "Slammer" I'm not referrin' t'the gov'mint jails..." Auburn asks, all trace of her previous humur completely erased from her eyes. She was as serious as death. The same death, of course, that she was considering to be potentially waiting for her at the other end of the trip to Sioux City.
"This is personal, Marie. I need to know if you think we're genna make it. If so, Ahm good to go, right now." Auburn says. She knows, of course, that she had worked on some pretty hairy stuff with Marie in the past, and they had managed to do fairly well together so far. That said, this job was personal to Marie and the Black Star. And the more that Auburn got buckled in to their "go-to" list, the more that made this job personal to Auburn too, and she knew it.

Marie sighs, wearily. "If it were as simple as that, Auburn, I would have simply assigned him to you. The man is known to have the skill to accomplish what we need done. Everyone I've spoken to has confirmed this. They say he can do what we need done, and his record implies it to be true." She shifts her weight a bit in her chair. "As I said, he has not impressed me." She lets her eyes rest on the Amerindian. "I don't know why he felt it was best to fly a fragging LAV down the streets of town to arrive at this meeting. And his attitude is not the sort I usually look for in an operative."

She sighs again. "I suppose the only answer I can give you Auburn is that he's good enough on paper. That said, I would not hire him if we had more time to look for another runner."

Auburn sits up in her chair for a minute, finally kicking her brain somewhat into gear. She realized that Marie was not just unwilling, but unable to make a straight up judgement call. And that she had put the question to us, not in an attempt to deflect the responsibility, but because she was genuinely worried, and we were the only ones with the capacity to make the decision at this point.
After a moment's consideration, Auburn nods, relaxing back into her chair again and bringing her eyes back around from their thoughtful wandering to meet Marie's eyes. "Welp. Ain't never been one'ta put an honest grudge on hold, now have I" She allowed a humorless smile to slide across her lips. She followed the smile with a self-agreeing nod, turning her gaze from Marie to the driver being considered.
"Ok, that settles it then. S'long 's'I gut yer permishun to cut 'im if things get too hairy. I'm good. T? What's yer word?" She says, looking back to Marie before turning her gaze on Taurus. This was a team decision, afterall. Auburn needed Taurus to agree, or not, before any finality would exist. Of course, Marie and Taurus both understood that when Auburn said "cut," she wasn't referring to removing him from the team. Well, rather, she was, but in a slightly less-than-comfortable finality.
Auburn punctuated her statement by looking back to the Orc, and fixing him with one of those looks. You know the one, where she states, clearly, that she was not the least bit interested in funny business. Of course, Auburn hadn't needed to do that, the Orc was sufficiently impressed by Marie's earlier statements that he was unlikely to play any games with them. But Auburn wasn't really making "the look" for her own sake, or for his; she was really making it for Marie's sake.