Ping Time (IC)

[FROST]

As the city started to sink past it's day time rhythms and into the beat of its night life, Tom Frost's commlink made the tone of a single loud beep, the note streaching long and with an urgent tone. It was the sound that was assigned to his contacts when a message marked URGENT was sent to him.

The message was from St. Nougat, and its title was simple. "URGENT Frost, I have a job that needs to be done. URGENT"

The contents made the job clear.

"Frost, I recieved a message from a fixer in the local area. It seems she needs a group of Shadowrunners for a Mr. Johnson. The job is a rescue mission and, from the sounds of it, the Mr. Johnson is in deep trouble. She requested the people to meet at a "Orc with the Golden Tooth Tavern" in the Renton district. The pay looks like it might be good and, from the sounds of it, a child is involved somehow. The fixer's name is Miss Marble." The message listed the adress of the tavern, and the time that Miss Marble gave, dusk, not long from now.

---------------
[Axel]

As Axel drove the newest car in to recieve the chop shop service, a yell came from the open office door that was similar to that of what a mountain would sound like if it didn't erupt but yell. It was the voice of Flagg, the chain smoking orc who was a combination fixer and boss to the wheelman. And from the sounds of it, someone just forced him to make good on a favor. "Axel! Get over here!"

His tone didn't have the 'Your fired' rage or the 'Your getting a promotion' lit of grudgeing acceptance. His tone was more 'There is a job, and your going to do it', depending on how he had been chain smoking though, that might not be the actual tone.

Sure enough, when Axel entered the office, the more-than-middle-aged orc had his signature cigar(which seemed to only be one of many) lit and his own large nostrils were venting the smoke like a crazed bull.Thankfully he got to the point, meaning the job needed to be done now.Axel, I got a call from a good friend of mine and she says she needs help for a job. Her name is Miss Marble. Go to the Orc with the Golden Tooth Tavern, no detours, no delays." He put a piece of paper with an address in then Renton district.

"Get going!"
---------------------

[Blue Wave]

A single resounding bang echoed through the apartment, the sound dissimilar to that of a gunshot being fired in close quarters. In fact, it was closer to that of a hard plastic orb on top of a wood staff striking the thick quasi-wood door. The sound echoed once more before it was opened.

As the door opened, the staff started to swing once more before it resumed it's normal position at the respected old woman's side. The black hard plastic orb on the top of the staff towered over the Orc woman, whose head was just waist height, but it was said that she had humbled dragons. Even if those rumors were false, Old Lady Shin-La was to be respected, even feared.

"Two. Easy. I hope that you do not anticipate your debt to us easy to fill, Hworang Ko."

Shin-La walked into the room, her staff moving infront of her in the slow rhythm of her walking. "I have recieved a message from one of the fixers in this city. One Miss Marble. She needs a team and has been calling in favors. We return our favors. Now go to the Ork with the Golden Tooth tavern before dusk hits."

Old Lady Shin-La handed him a piece of paper before moving away, the click shuffle of her movements leading her away. The paper was the directions to the tavern which was almost an hour away. He would have to move fast to get there in time. Also included was a little death threat, or what ammounted to one.

Fail this, and you will be disowned by the family.

Frost, at home

Drek, the meet is in about an hour. That doesn't leave much time. Which means I'm going in cold. I'm going in cold but I'm still going in.
It's a simple matter to get ready, i just have to grab my hat and call a cab.
Message to Vanessa: "Got a job offer, going in cold to the meet, will call after. Got the job from Nougat, its at the Ork with the Golden Tooth Tavern. Wish me luck. I love you dear." I set the delay to deliver the message in a few hours, If all goes well I'll be able to tell her to disregard it before she even gets it.
Like a blind date of someone you meet on the Matrix, its best to let someone know where you are going when you go in cold.

In the cab.
Make a call to the Saint:
"Man Noug you didn't leave me much time, how 'bout a little warning next time so i can do some homework first? I hate going in cold. 'Solright my friend, I know you can't always Control such things. What can you tell me about Miss Marble, I've never heard of her? Do you know anything about the Johnson?"

Spoiler:

"Axel! Get over here!"

Axel stood with eyes slightly squinched against the noxious cigarette fumes being blown in his face with each of his boss's exhalations. And since the ork fixer smoked like a Canadian chimney in the dead of winter, there was a lot of exhalations blowing about.

Trying valiantly to catch the main points of Flagg's seeming tirade while at the same time dodging the heavier puffs of smoke, Axel kept a running mental note: Boss's Friend. Miss Marble. Ork With Gold Tooth Tavern.
With his implanted commlink, this kind of mental note was not only a helpful memory exercise, but an efficient way to keep tasks and information organized.

When the gaseous flood finally subsided and Axel felt it safe to venture a breath, he replied, "Got it, boss. On my way."

Thankful to have yet again survived what he and the other chummers in the chop shop called 'the Gas Chamber,' Axel wasted no time heading off. He stopped by the shop's locker room long enough to shrug out of his work overalls and into his own jumpsuit. Snagging his helmet and holster-packed Predator, he hurried out to his car, an unmarked, 'wiped' Chrysler-Nissan Patrol-1 cruiser.
The car was mostly designed to Seattle city patrol specs, but Axel planned to do extensive upgrades as soon as he had the cred. 'Hopefully,' he thought to himself, 'this job will get me the cred I need to get started.'

Some time later, at The Ork With the Gold Tooth, Axel flashed his fake detective license to the slot watching the front door, asked where he could find Miss Marble, and went inside

When the door bangs open, Hworang doesn't even pay attention. He's watching a movie, a trid version of Fist of Fury and his body moves with every hit and counterstrike Bruce Lee makes.

""Two. Easy. I hope that you do not anticipate your debt to us easy to fill, Hworang Ko."

Shin-La walked into the room, her staff moving infront of her in the slow rhythm of her walking. "I have recieved a message from one of the fixers in this city. One Miss Marble. She needs a team and has been calling in favors. We return our favors. Now go to the Ork with the Golden Tooth tavern before dusk hits."

The fact that Blue Wave watching his favorite movie (well, one of the many) cannot fool Shin-La, she knows he's listening, probably knew she's coming before the door opened.

[Chinese]

Aaaww, do I have to? I'm in the middle of the movie! - he knew from the following silence that the old lady is giving him the stinkeye again, but he also knew she couldn't hurt him, or wouldn't....well probably not. Hworang was her favorite after all. - OK, okay I'll go, but at least tell me something about this Miss Marble! What, 'she some bridge partner of yours in the twilight home and I have read novels to her until she falls asleep? - he asks Shin-La's back.

FROST

"I actually just got the message from Miss Marble, about five minutes before I contacted you. The reason that you haven't heard about Miss Marble is because you haven't strayed into her way in the jobs I gave you, and the fact that she is one of the top fixers in the area. Usually she deals with more experienced runners but she requires an assembly of runners fast and it seems she doesn't trust her usual group of runners. She's backing the payment of this run, which is something she does only when a child is directly involved.

"Frost, if you have Miss Marble in your pocket, then the search for your wife will be much easier. I sent a runner ahead to the Tavern. Her name is Lakshimi and she should have made contact with Miss Marble by now. Just look for a teenage indian girl and you will have some magical firepower on your side. Good luck Frost." St. Nougat closed the link shortly after that if no other questions were asked.

-------------------------
Axel

When the fake badge was flashed at the high eye slot, which was perfect for a troll sized person, the eyes narrowed and a clicking sound was heard. The clicking sound was not unlike that of an old handgun having its trigger get pulled back. There was a kind of killing look in the eyes.

The look, however, faded when Miss Marble's name was said. The eyes relaxed and there was another clicking sound, this one sounding like something being disengaged. "She isn't back here. Did you try up front? Always try the front." The troll closed the eye slot after giving that little piece of advice. He opened it again. "Oh, and don't flash that fake badge around. You ain't a cop." Again the slot was closed. Bouncers can tell the difference, that was for sure.

---------------------
Hworang


Hworang should have known better than to say those words as Shin-La stopped in her tracks and turned around. She had fury in her eyes and the insolence he had inflicted on her must be punished.

A switch was hidden in the floor, or atleast that is what it seemed as, when Shin-La tapped a part of the floor, the electricity in his room turned off completely. No power, no trid. No trid, no Bruce Lee.

"Neither I nor the ones you owe the debt enjoy telling anyone twice, nor do we tolerate insolance. You are to go to the Ork with the Golden Tooth Tavern in Renton and find Miss Marble. She has a job for you. Do you understand me?" She started to talk in clear, precise English, her tone threatening.

"You are to go to the tavern, find Miss Marble and do the job. If you do not, then your debt increases two fold. If you bring shame to me or to us, then your debt will be increased ten fold. I do not care that you can become a drake, if you do not suceed and do not have Miss Marble as an ally before the end of the week, then you will find walking imposible after that." She turned and walked out, staff taping the same calm rhythm as she walked. Hworang got the sence that he would best get going to the tavern. Now.

Frost [En route to the Tavern]

Frost frowns at the closed connection. "jeeze Noug, a little snippy. And I'll babysit the kid for you too."

He gets to the taver and stands on the curb across the street for some time. An Ork bar, Frost sighs, not the type of place an old elf would frequent. I remember a time before places like this existed. I know why they exist but thats doesn't mean they really should.

Frost takes a deep breath and crosses the street walking up to the bouncer, I'm here to see Miss Marble if you could direct me in the right direction. After getting direction Frost enters the tavern and heads straight to the meet. He remembers one to many bad experiences of violence between some of the metas to be comfortable in a place like this.

....................................................................................

Lakshmi [St. Nougat's bar]

Lakshmi walks into the bar and slides into the booth across from the elf.

"Sir, two beers I owe you now." The elf looks at the girl and smiles.

"I have work for you, so hopefully you can pay up soon," St. Nougat says to her. "Do good here and we can start getting things set up to get you back to India." He tells her all she needs to know. "There's a cab out front for you, and yea you'll owe me for that too" he says with a laugh."

Lakshmi thanks him and starts to leave.

"Oh, girl" St. Nougat adds, "Keep an eye out for Frost, Fraggin tall Elf in a white suit. He and I go back a ways, he'll help you out. Just keep him clean."

.........................................................................................

Lakshmi [The Tavern]

She is no stranger to orks and trolls, but she has never seen anything like this tavern before. It looks like a rough place, the type of place a woman doesn't belong. Taking a deep breath she opens her third eye and becomes one with her inner spirit, she then calls forth a spirit and asks it to watch over her and protect her.

She walks up to the bouncer.

".........Miss..... ummm Miss MMMMarble Please" She stutters., "Can show me someone Please?"

Okay, okay, I'm going, you know I am. When did I ever fail you? I'll go protect us from dishonor, bring glory for our house and yadayada whatever you say. You can count on me Zǔmǔ! - Hworang said while getting his armor jacket, the he raced past Shin-La. He rarely called her grandmother - technically, she was, but in the Family, they were superior and underling, not grandma' and grandson. Hworang just recently learned that he's related to Shin-La. His parents tried to protect him from the Mafia, but they couldn't argue with Shin-La - when she learned what Hworang had become, she made arrangements to bring him into the Family. He suspected that she's not only wanted her drake grandson in, to strengthen her position, but this way she could protect and guide him, so he wouldn't become a drunken circus attraction in some booze-hole. Shin-La was in a particularly bad mood today, so Blue Wave knew this job is important to her - and that was enough to get him straighten up. Whatever this is, he's going to take it seriously!

Axel grumbled as he moved away from the door. For the cred he'd laid out for the fake detective license, it should have been a little harder to spot as a fake. Shrugging to himself, maybe that bouncer troll was just good at noticing forgeries, he went back into the front room of the bar. Figuring the bartender would be his best bet, he stepped up and asked, "I'm here to see Miss Marble about a job. Where can I find her?"
Almost without his will, Axel's eyes strayed to a bottle of cheap synth-bourbon sitting in a tray of assorted mixers just below the edge of the bar.

'One little shot,' he thought to himself. 'Just one to grease the gears...'

As the bartender turned to see who had asked for Miss Marble, Axel added,

"And a shot of that synth-bourbon, please.'

[FROST, LAKSHIMI, AXEL]

The tavern seemed to be quite a bit like a cheap soy-egg and spam mixed bar and resturant, though it did look like it once was an orc bar. The bouncer of the tavern was a human who had the 'don't screw around' look on him, though it was repressed right now. The cliente in the tavern were behaved, perhaps by the bouncer, perhaps by an unwritten code of conduct. Respectable enough and it wasn't a complete and total cliche for shadow runners to meet at.

The bouncer looked at the runners as they entered and directed them to a booth where a middle aged female dwarf sat who looked like a school teacher, one that was slightly strict but very caring. "Hoi chummers..." She seemed a bit off put, like she expected more shadowrunners to get here.
------------

[Blue Wave]

Shin-La sighed as Hworang exited out in an excited fasion. Why she put up with him, besides the fact that he was a drake? "Family" love didn't cover the trouble that he was at times. It didn't cover it by far.

She only hoped he could bring profit to the Mafia before he died, as hotblooded orks tend to die. "Ik tuk tak." She muttered an old curse in an old ork dilect as she walked away, closing the door with her staff. Trouble Hworang was, trouble incarnate.

Frost is pleasantly surprised that this isn't a metahuman specific establishment and walks over to the booth and takes a seat. he will engage the others in meaningless chat till the meet formally begins.

Lakshmi approaches the booth and asks for permission to join, after thaat she says next to nothing

Blue Wave almost explodes into the tavern, says "hi" to the barkeep in a manner that indicates they know each other, fistbumps and shares a joke with the bouncer - both grinning suspiciously - and after a quick look-around, he joins the group with the aura of newly met people around them.

"Hi! Blue Wave, I am. If I wait with you, do you mind? For the same reason, we are here, I assume?"

He says with a chinese accent.

As Axel approached the booth he saw that others had arrived before him. Anticipation rose within him at the thought that this might be something bigger than the usual menial jobs he was sent on.

Looking over those present, he focused on the dwarven woman and said:

"Miss Marble? Flagg sent me to see you about a job?"

At her gesture of acknowledgement and invitation to sit, Axel slid into the booth and joined in the casual banter, introducing himself and relating some of his pertinent qualifications as a wheelman and, to a lesser degree, a rigger.
He was eager to find out about the job and what it would pay, but held his enthusiasm in check, in part thanks to the synth-bourbon that sat like a warm ember in his belly.

Frost looks at the chinese boy.

You may be assuming a bit much here kid.

The smiles on the bouncer and bartender when Hworang entered looked less like they were happy that he walked in and more like they were happy their paycheck just walked in. Their moods dampened when it became clear that he was here for a run but they quickly directed the orc to the booth.

When the startings of a conflict between the older elf gentleman and the headstrong orc seemed to develop, Miss Marble stepped in with all the experience that a school teacher possessed.

"Now now," she said with some measure of force," Wait until after the run to come to blows with each other. I'll be quick about this. I have a run that needs to be done and I don't trust my usual runners with this kind of run. I'm backing this run and there is five K up front, with thirty K if you bring the principle back alive and unharmed. There is nothing beyond the five K if he is harmed."

The dwarf paused for a moment before continuing, "Usually I wouldn't have to scrape the bottom of the favor can but I can't be picky right now. If you accept this, I want you to remember that this isn't a job that requires you to act like a person from a certain Chinese organization. It's just a search and extract run. Got it?"

Frost Nods to the kid after its clear that he is here for the meet as well

Well Miss Marble, Frost says, I thank you for honoring us with the job but we are going to need a lot more information before we accept. Why don't you start by telling us about the principle and anything else you can tell us, I'll jump in if I have any questions

"That would be true, however I'm just the fixer, not the Johnson. I'm just giving you the price and the job offer. If the price isn't right, you can also negotiate a new one, but its for a good cause. I can tell you that you most likly will not have to go into the lands of any of the corps. If you agree to the prelim then I'll give you the meeting place of the Johnson."

Frost

Ah, so I see. I misunderstood, in my experience I haven't normally met with the fixer prior to the meet with the Johnson. I'll tell you what Miss Marble, the price you are offering sounds good so i will not insult you by haggling with you and trying to get more. I don't speak for the others here but I will meet with your Johnson at least and decide from there on the job once I know more. Assuming I take the job then lets consider it a favor owed. Frost gives her a friendly smile, why dont you send me your contact info and show me to the J.

Spoiler:

Lakshmi

The young indian woman looks at Miss Marble and says, I will help to the best of my abilities.

Axel followed the rap between the dwarf fixer and the elf guy, then the Indian girl offered her 'two nuyen' before he piped up with:

"The boss sent me as a favor to you, Miss Marble, so I'm revved up and ready for the green light."

What the wheelman did not relate to the group was the not-so-comfortable thought of what Flagg might do to him if he didn't make good on his boss' gesture of repaying a favor owed to this dwarf woman.
Still, there was a decent payday riding shotgun on this job and Axel had no intention of letting the checkered flag go to someone else.

Wave listened quietly, his mind seemingly elsewhere, but when Marble glanced his way, he gave her a nod to indicate he's in. She must know her connections, so she understands he doesn't have much choice here. But Hworang didn't really care, this job is just like the others, there will be shooting, shouting, running and then he'll get home, ask Yip to patch him up and then he can finally finish his movie (for the hundredth time).

Miss Marble nodded at Frost at his asking that this would be a favor owed. "I might just owe you that favor if you can get the principle back safely." There was a ping from the commlinks of the runners who possessed them which declared that their share of the cut was placed in their accounts.

Wave looks from one person to another and shifts a little. It's obvious he already wants to get into the action, but he holds himself together and calmly asks (imagining Shin-La's reaction if he offended this connected fixer):

"Could we have the specifics now, please, ma'am?"

"If you would wait a moment then you will get the specifics." The dwarf woman looked crossly at Hworang before continuing. "You will have a bit of help in this by a hacker by the username of IQ. She already opened up a link between her and your commlinks, even yours Hworang." She pulled out a small disposable commlinks and placed it in front of Lakshimi. "This one is free of charge for now, can't have you left out can we dear?" She smiled at the Indian woman before setting a piece of quasi-paper on the table. "Here's the address of the meet. The Johnson will meet you there in ninety minutes. You will be given the specifics there. Any questions?"

Axel looked fixedly at the scrap of paper and copied the image with his cybereyes and filed it away in the memory storage area of his implanted commlink. This way he had the address for quick recovery as well as hands-free retrieval while driving.
There were downsides to having the hub of his PAN so 'intimately' connected to his nervous system, but for a rigger - even a rookie rigger such as he - being able to activate his subscribed systems with the speed of thought was practically a necessity.

"Well I'm in, so thanks Miss Marble, for giving me this chance. I won't let you down."

To the rest of the group, Axel added:

"Since I'll be your wheels, I can take three comfortably, or four if you don't mind a little hip-to-hip action. I also have access to a Bulldog but I don't have that ride with me now. Any takers?"

Of course! Let's roll!

The energy he held back almost explodes from Hworang when he jumps up and in a split second, he's fist bumping the bouncer and looks back:

Are you guys coming or what?