Purple Dino Bar. Redmond Barrens.

She took a long drink of her synthohol then looked back at Faust. " So, Faust, you're a Merc, or a 'Runner." She looked about the place, her eyes falling on numerous people before returning to him. "I'd say half the people in here are some of the same." She smirks a bit. She leans forward and looks him in the eyes. " What makes you stand out from the crowd?", she asks teasingly.

He cocks an eyebrow, "Well, if you really want to know more, I'm going to either need to know more about you, or know whether or not you're recruiting for something." He sips his drink. "After all, nothing's free, even to a lovely young lady."

She leans back still looking at him. " What's there to know? I'm a girl just lookin out for herself. You know I'm packin.. something." With that she grins. "There are a lotta wannabes around here. they're just lookin to make any name for themself that they can. That type of person just ain't no good to me. Like you said, professional, now that's the ticket." With a swing, she finishes her drink and waves the waitress over for another.

"A very valid point, very well," he says, and studies her closely, eyes seeming to unfocus slightly, "You are magically active, most likely an adept of some sort, there's a watcher spirit on both exits, and the large orc in the opposite corner is depressed, but not suicidally so." Eyes come back into focus, "Satisfied?"

She almost seems a bit taken aback by his words. She covers it up with a half smile, but her eyes give away that her caution level just jumped a notch. "Oh, you're a full mage, or an adept yourself?" She looks at the ork in the corner trying to make a bit more out about him. She then looks back at Faust. "Ok, you've impressed me slightly. You have any experience to back up the bravado?" She listens intently, though her attention is still open to the room.

Faust chuckles, "I'm an adept, and as far as experience goes, I'm not actually that sure." He shrugs uncomfortably, and continues, "Memory problems. But I think I might qualify as decent for close-quarters work. I might not be as fast as some, but I can certainly take more punishment than most."

Asha takes a moment to pay the waitress and get her drink. She then turns back to Faust. " Magical mystery man, eh?", she laughs a bit to herself as she takes a long drink. "Well, i hear that Old Edgar is hirin for jobs. Not sure what kinda jobs, but anythin that pays decent is good by me. Quick question... are you a greedy bastard, Faust? I had a partner once tried to screw me over for a couple hundred nuyen. That drek don't settle with me, not at all."

"I've never seen the point behind fragging over people you work with. Especially when it's a matter of a few hundred nuyen." He drains the last of his drink, "Besides, the amounts that would probably tempt me would make the entire exercise pointless. Frag, if you were getting 50 million, do you seriously think you could ever spend it in your lifetime?"

The ork's eyes widened slightly as he felt the mana in the room suddenly pulse, then focus on the two he'd noticed earlier then on himself then ease back to its normal state. He let his attention rise from his inner self and looked across to the table where the focus had been strongest. He couldn't read auras like magicians and some adepts, but he was nonetheless attuned to the ebb and flow of the power that suffused all things. It was what gave him his abilities, after all.
Aside from the occasional glance, the two didn't seem to be paying him much notice. That was all right. If they were 'reading' him, he pretty much knew his aura was none too bright of late. He wondered which one was awakened, or were they both?
Finding something of sufficient interest to bring him out of his dark interior study, the ork surrepticiously watched the pair. He didn't want to seem overly focused on their actions, but it might prove beneficial to keep an eye on things.

She smiles, " I doubt I could spend it all in my lifetime, but I wouldn't complain about it." She glances about, stretching a bit. She eyes hte bartender for a second or two, then glances about hte bar, her eyes coming in contact with the ork's for a moment. Her eyes narrow slightly as she analyzes him as best she can before turning back to Faust. "I know we're not gonna get rich sitting here. But two people doesn't make a team, of any kind really." She looks about again thinking.

"Then I suggest we at least find ourselves a third." Faust said, thoughtfully. "Why don't you ask our orc friend? It might Help his mood some, and the worst that could happen is he says no."

She nodded and then turned to face the ork directly. "Hey there big fella, you lookin for some action?" She grinned. "You look like a guy who can handle himself. We might have a use for you. Come one over and lets have us a chat." She grins to him and leans on the table, her eyes glancing at the door then back to him.

The ork hesitated, reluctant to expose these two to the drekstorm that dogged him wherever he went. For an instant he intended to refuse their offer - it would have been better if he had - then he thought, '...its a hard world any way you cut it.'

Rising from his chair, he drained off his drink, set the empty glass back down, then headed for the other table. It was a short walk, but he took it slow and easy. He looked each of them over as he made his way across the bar. The female was obviously packing, the male he wasn't sure of. As a sign of mutual respect, he arched back his shoulders, letting his jacket flare open; the butts of his pistols coming into clear view. Let them know up front that he recognized the stakes he was being invited into...and accepted them.

"Skraa, chummers," he said. "Name's Tull. Jericho Tull. What's on your minds?"

She kept that smirk on her face. "Well Tull, Jericho Tull. I'm Carolyn Chambers. Lyn, Chambers... whtever really. I'll let the flashy guy over here introduce himself before we talk business." She rested her ass against the table side as she folded her arms across her chest.

Faust stands up, and walks over to join them, "Call me Faust. Mind if we sit?"

"Foust, all right," Tull nodded in casual greeting, then turned his head to regard the woman, "and Lyn. Good then."
Grabbing a chair on the opposite side of the table from the door, the ork turned it around backwards and sat with his arms propped on the backrest. Though this may have seemed a somewhat adolescent display to the civilian population, the reality was more about survival in the shadows. While the chairback could only have provided a modicum of ballistic shielding, every little bit helped. In addition, from this position, Tull could snap to his feet and already be holding a decent, if somewhat unwieldy, club. All these things went through his mind without conscious thought - it was instinct, borne of necessity.

Once all were seated, or otherwise at leisure, Tull repeated his question. "What's on your minds...and what's in it for me?"

With a half spin, she sank into the seat across from Faust and next to Tull. She grinned a bit and glanced between them, ready to analyze their reaction to her proposition.
"Well, boys, here's the skinny. Like I said, I know an M.J. nearby who's lookin to put people to work. Now, I'll admit, I'm a bit low on cred and could use a job to boost my sums a bit." She leaned forward a bit and looked between the men. "I also won't drek you, I do a lot of loner work. Problem is, it just doesn't pay what a larger group can muster. So, I figure, if we put our collective skills together, we could pull off such a job."
She looked between them.

"So, what do you think?"

"Far be it from me to turn down work." He looks over at Tull. "But as the lady observed, two does not a functional team make."

She looks surprised as Tull looks between them, says "screw you guys." and gets up and leaves.

Asha turns to Faust. " Well, back to where we started from. It looks like it would just be two of us. That's gonna leave us in a bind, isn't it?"
She slumps in the chair, a bit put out that things didn't go her way ...yet. She folds her arms and continues to scan the room for another potential.

"Well, we could always try looking for work that just needs a talker and muscle." He thinks for a moment, then adds, "Or just Hood for a bit, but you need money, and the pay's drek."

She looks at him. "I don't mind hooding. But, yeah I need some cred. Let's see what the big ole Ork has for us anyhow."

With that she stands up and readies to head for the door. At this point the bulge in the bakc of her shirt seems to extend up her back, signifying a longer item. Maybe a melee weapon or a longer barrelled gun.

"there's GOT to be some fun to be had around her.e" She turns for hte door and starts walking.

He chuckles a bit, "Forgetting something Lyn?" He watches her for a moment, then stand to follow, saying something quietly as he follows.
"Give me, my God, what you still have;
give me what no one asks for.
I do not ask for wealth, nor success,
nor even health.

People ask you so often, God, for all that,
that you cannot have any left.

Give me, my God, what you still have.
Give me what people refuse to accept from you.
I want insecurity and disquietude;
I want turmoil and brawl.

And if you should give them to me,
my God, once and for all,
let me be sure to have them always,
for I will not always
Have the Courage to ask for them."

Faust melts into the shadows when he leaves the bar, still tailing Lyn. She might be offended if she caught him, but if there should be some trouble, nobody tends to mind backup.

After a while, Faust comes back in, chuckling and running through the money he got off of gangers and muggers that tried to jump Lyn, and heads to his seat, setting up a split for her to collect. Maybe it wasn't the most honest way to collect nuyen, but somehow the concept of robbing the robbers tickles his sense of humor. And Lyn did make excellent bait.

Just as the trio had been about to get down to discussing biz, the door to the parking lot opened and in stepped a guy Tull had not wanted to see. Rising to his feet, Tull spoke vehemently, "Screw you guys!" and left the table. He regretted the surprised look on Lyn's face, but he turned his own face away and hoped his ruse would prevent the newcomer from taking any interest in the pair at the table.

Keeping his back to his new partners - if they still were his partners - Tull strode to the bar and took one of the barstools.
The newcomer, his skinny, human frame draped in an ill-fitted long coat, his lank, unkempt hair laying greasily against his pale face and neck, glanced disinterestedly at Lyn and Foust, then crossed the floor to stand next to Tull at the bar.

"You're a hard slot to find," the newcomer said, speaking low to avoid eavesdroppers, his head tipped toward Tull.

Tull didn't move his head, but pitched his voice low as well, "Not hard enough apparently. What do you want, Ratman?"

"You know."

"I'm done with that. I fulfilled my side of the contract and your boss screwed me out of my pay. You tell him-"

The Ratman broke in, "Nobody walks away from da boss. You weren't hired part time, Tull, you knew that going in. Da contract's done when da boss says its done."

Tull spun to face the Ratman, one of his pistols seeming to simply materialize in his right fist from thin air. He grabbed the Ratman's coat collar with his free hand and jammed the barrel into the soft flesh just beneath the man's jaw.
"I could blow your fraggin head off and leave you right here. Nobody in this place would raise a hand or say a word." Tull wasn't absolutely certain of this, but he wagered that the Ratman didn't know either.

Stiff as a board, tilting his head back to glare down his nose at Tull, the Ratman spoke as though there was no gun pressed to his throat.
"Sure, you could do dat, but da boss'd still want ya." Despite his words, Tull thought he saw a hint of worry in the man's eyes.

Besides, he thought to himself, the Rat was right. Plugging the messenger - for that was all the Ratman really was, a messenger - would do nothing to improve Tull's situation; probably make things worse actually.
With a sigh of angry frustration, he released the man and reholstered the gun. Turning back to face across the bar, he said, "What's the gig?"

The Ratman tugged at the lapels of his long coat, failing to make the too-large garment look any better, gave Tull a glare that promised future retribution which Tull didn't see and would have ignored if he had, and said, "Piece of cake. An in&out job, break in, snatch some paydata, get out. You might need some backup on this one-" He turned to face the table where Lyn and Foust sat, and added, "Maybe your drinkin buddies would be innerested..."

Tull sighed again, his ploy hadn't worked and the Ratman had noticed the others. Without saying a word, he held out a hand towards the Ratman, palm up.

Ratman reached into a pocket and brought out a datachip. He placed the chip in Tull's hand, then took on a brisk air, "Well, I better take off. Got people to do an places to see and all dat. I'll tell da boss he can expect to hear from ya."
With that, the man turned and walked out of the bar, never glancing toward the table again.