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IC 2076 Pt2
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“Can’t fault that thinkin’ neither. These megas, don’t need ta tell ya the subsidiaries o’ they subsidiaries got hunnerds o’ subsidiaries o’ they own. Some part or another of Evo no doubt done ya a good turn once upon a very different time, but creditin’ all of Evo fer that, all monolithic-like….It’s like havin’ a redhead do somethin’ nice for ya then trustin’ all redheads fer the rest o’ yer days.”
Al pulled in front of a waiting and somewhat perplexed valet at the Mayflower Park Hotel on 4th and Pine, just a few blocks from the Hilton. Flashed a shocking tip at the young ork, got out, and held the door for Alyce.
“‘Ceptin’ fer Aztechnology an’ Renraku, o’ course. They’s the good guys.”
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Alyce
Thursday November 5th, 2077, Al’s Truck, SeattleAlyce remains in the truck until Al comes to open her door then lets him assist her to the curb. She nods as she slips an arm through one of his. “Yes, Al, each of the corporations has good points and bad points.” She looks at the hotel entrance. “I have not ever eaten here, have you?”
5
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“Coupla times. Restaurant here’s one o’ the only real upscale places In Seattle actually specializes in American food, not some Asian fusion or other trendy glop.”
It was Seattle, so even in a place like this people weren’t overly fussy about attire. But they didn’t have to be overly fussy to object to Al. But then no one objected to the tips he kept tossing at them with every click of the commlink in the jacket of his bomber jacket.
The result was that the staff were all smiles all the way to the best table in the place.
Al ordered steak and mashed potatoes.
And beer.
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Alyce
Thursday November 5th, 2077, Mayflower Park Hotel, SeattleAlyce keeps her arm inside Al’s as they are led to what has to be the best table in the restaurant. The waiter looks to be about to seat Alyce, but Al steps in and pulls out her chair, flashing a tip. “Thanks, waiter Kemo-sabe, but this is a special girl and only I get to do this.”
Alyce smiles broadly as she takes her seat and waits for Al to push it in. She keeps her head facing forward, but a smile plays across her lips as she remembers another restaurant in another city on the other side of the world. She calls up the exact words Al had used on that occasion and not much has changed. She notices when Al looks her way and she gives a small nod to let him know that he may order for her. When the waiter nods and leaves the table, Alyce faces Al and smiles as she nods to him. “Thank you, Al. I am glad that you remembered.”
The waiter brings Alyce’s wine and offers the bottle to Al to inspect. He takes a cursory look at the bottle’s label then nods his approval. He spends far more time examining the beer bottle, making sure that the label is genuine and that the bottle is sealed. Satisfied, he smiles at the waiter and takes the bottle, opening it and savoring the first drink. A semi-loud burp announces that he is satisfied and he turns to wink at the waiter. “Keep bringing these, waiter Kemo-sabe.”
When they are alone, Alyce slides her hand across the table and places it on top of Al’s. “Thank you. So, I have got some of the schematics of the building, There are a couple of places where power fluctuations might indicate points of interest. Would you like me to slide my analysis to your ‘link?”
6
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Deckard had remained on the look out, throughout the entire deal. Kuddos to Torrent for being able to provide such equipment in so little time. the Magician was always amazed at one could find in Seattle. But the sooner they were gone, the better. Between the giant crane, and maze of containers, an ambush could easily be set. ISaint seemed casual enough but he knew the Ork had all his senses, and extra ones in alert too.
Nothing happened though. They filled the trunk and headed back toward civilization. I wasn’t planning on hitting the bars with enough firepower to rob a bank. Let’s just hope we don’t get bothered by a KE patrol anywhere.
Deckard turned on the engine and left the docks, knowing his friend was feeling much more at ease with all his toys. He chit chatted on the way to the bar.
So, let say you’re on a run, and it turns poorly. Let’s say even terrible. Your team get caught, and shot, and for whichever reason, you make it out alone and alive, possibly wounded, certainly compromised. What do you do?
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“That’s not enough to rob a bank – that’s barely enough to attempt to rob a bank. Anyway, don’t worry, I’ve got the correct licences right here – all registered as hunting weapons for critter extermination, besides the special ammo of course.
You mean what did I do. I went straight to the closest street doc to stop the pesky bleeding and got my guts stapled back inside, went to my emergency cache and holed up for two weeks in a shit hole with high background count until the heat died down as well as the pain. Then I found a ship that took me out of there.”
Isaint replied. -
“Hell yes, toots, shoot it on over. That’s what this trip’s all about. We gon’ git close enough fer yer drones ta have a look-see, I should be able to take what they show us an’ fill in some o’ the blanks in these files. It’s like a crossword – more ya git done, easier the rest gits ta suss.”
Al continued to eat his steak, using the fork in his left hand to spear the meat, and the knife in his right to pick up mashed potatoes and add that to the fork’s payload. He knew the files were already on his ‘link, ready for him to study once they were parked somewhere. The trickiest job would be Alyce’s, sending the drones in close enough to see without raising any alarms.
A delicate balance.
But then it always was with her.
Just looking at her across the table was making him think of things he shouldn’t ever. They should’ve gotten take-out at Nukit Burger. He looked out the window onto the hotel gardens as he ate.
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Alyce
Thursday November 5th, 2077, Mayflower Park Hotel, SeattleAlyce nods. “I have the drones with me and I have already worked out a contact source for more, as long as they are the small sort, anyway.”
She remains quiet for most of the rest of the meal but cannot resist saying something in a soft voice when he turns away to look out the restaurant windows. “You have a very nice profile, Al. That was the first thing I saw of you, back in that old warehouse. You had just walked into the building and were standing so that you were highlighted against the open cargo doors and my drone picked you up in profile, just before you turned. It was a very impressive sight.”
She shakes her head and goes quiet again as she allows her sensors and a small drone look at Al from several different angles. She loves every angle, but the one most sharply etched in her mind is him smiling at her, Luck Strike dangling from his lips as they worked on that old bus in the rain, trying to keep it from sliding off the road. They were both soaked to the bone and she had just handed him a 10mm adjustable spanner. Sighing, she brings herself back to the present. The man across from her can, and has, hurt her deeply on occasion, but nothing he can do or say will ever lesson one bit the love in her heart for him. Her own weakness is that she completely loses all sense and can barely say a word to him without sending him off to some place where he can ignore her, hurting her in the process. Still, it is all her fault and someday she may be able to get the right words across to him. Until then………………..well, yes, until then……………………
7
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Deckard let his new car drive itself to the selected address, and continued picking iSaint’s brain:
Exactly! street doc, bolthouse, escape routes. We’ll have some time before our failed runner attempt to leave the city. That’s leave us with finding out who patched him and where he may hide. And who that is of course. -
Finished with his meal, Al belched loudly, oblivious of the struggles of the grossly overtipped staff to pretend they hadn’t noticed. He flashed a payment without waiting for the bill and muttered “Let’s go.” to Alyce.
Retrieving his truck from the valet, Al took an indirect route to his destination, initially heading east to Lake Washington, then following its western shore north on Sand Point Way, he eventually broke west, ending up at the easternmost point of NE 107th Street. There, in a quiet residential area, a small, forested ridge forced the street to turn north, and in doing so it became 12th Avenue NE. There was a cozy place to park. Not five hundred meters to their west, but screened by the ridge, was the Evo facility. The forested ridgetop would provide the perfect initial cover for the drones’ first observations. After that depended on what they saw on the first go.
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Alyce
Thursday November 5th, 2077, Mayflower Park Hotel, SeattleWithout a sound, Alyce follows Al from the restaurant and back to his truck. She remains throughout the ride to where Al parks the vehicle then looks over at him. “I can send the drones in from here. They all have very good cameras, so I think that we can start from a good distance away. I will be running them silent to help avoid detection. I can send them off and monitor all of them, or I can jump into one, but that means leaving my body here.”
8
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“Yer drones, yer show, yer call. Ya know ol’ Al won’t let nothin’ happen to ya, ya wanna go all immersive an’ shit. Ain’t my cup o’ tea, but ta each his own. Or 十人十色, as our Nipponese friends’re fond o’ sayin’.”
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Isaint nodded at Rick’s words: “So let’s think strategic. Nowadays, I’d have my Dustoff drone in the vicinity for just such an occasion. Assuming our new friend didn’t have the resources to set something like that up, he’ll have taken the first available Street Doc to avoid drawing more attention to himself than necessary – and to stop dying.
You know Seattle better than me: Which back alley butchers are closest to the break in?” -
Alyce
Thursday November 5th, 2077, Near EVO Facility, SeattleAlyce nods. “Let’s keep the first look at a distance and me in my body, shall we? I go all in if it looks like it might make a difference. The magnification ability on these first two drones ought to at least give us a good idea of what we are looking at. I will also take the time to try to get a feel for the matrix in the area.”
She gives silent commands to two of the tiny drones secreted about her clothing, sending them off through the trees to the overlook. She patches the camera feeds to Al’s ‘link so he can see what she is. Settling back in her chair she begins to scour the matrix, getting a feel for the grid she may need to go to. The obvious choice would be the EVO global grid, which she has fell access to, but this place might be separate from that and it never pays to blindly assume.
9
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That’s where we’re going to find out. The bar we’re going is an old shadowrunner’s hangout, my dad used to frequent. The owner used to be a spy, he loves information. Someone in there will certainly have heard of the run. Someone else will surely know of a couple street docs in the places vicinity. With enough luck some info my recoup with other.
Fair warning, they don’t like mages much in there, so no need to parade we’re awaken.
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“With certain exceptions, I’m not too fond of them either – especially the big scaly kind. But I get you. Let me just adjust my appearance a bit.”
With a mental command the ruthenium polymer matrix of his suit and the electrochromic modification of his coat changed. What before had looked like an elegant business combo, now looked like an old, black trenchcoat over a cheap suit. You had to look very closely to see that the textures were only projections. Isaint completed the look by donning his usual glasses – now switched to mirror shade and a slightly anachronistic bowler hat. The whole look seemed to be inspired by a late 18th century London teamster. The glove with the iron plates on it went surprisingly well with the outfit.
Isaint nodded. “Alright, lead the way.” -
“Sounds like ya know what yer doin’, but that warn’t never in doubt. Sound like time fer ol’ Al ta make like a fridge an’ chill.”
Once he’d slid his seat back, the truck’s spacious cab easily allowed him to put his muddy boots on the dash. He began fiddling with his commlink and soon the sound of Lieutenant Ando putting his fellow Red Samurai through their paces resonated from the Fairlight’s high-end speakers. But while the legendary trid drama was indeed playing out on one tiny window in the corner of Al’s screen, most of the display was toggling between the feeds from the drones. Meanwhile, he had the partial schematics that Silky had sent him sprawled across the truck’s windscreen, and he was making notes on it whenever the drone view gave him anything he could extrapolate into the gaps in the plans.
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@Al & Alyce
[Thursday November 5th, 2076; EVO Research Park, North of Downtown, Seattle Metroplex]The drone feeds show that the place is hopping, with the usual mix of the mundane and the bizarre that is typical of an EVO extraterritorial area. The chances are that whilst it might get quieter overnight that this is going to be a twenty four seven kind of place. The architecture is a mix of complex curves, sky bridges and a great deal of greenery. That potentially will make infiltration easier in that it offers cover, but it also increases the number of places that EVO will have concealed sensors looking out for unwanted visitors. It may be better to brash it out rather than sneak in but there are obvious risks with that option too…
#04
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Alyce
Thursday November 5th, 2076; EVO Research Park, North of Downtown, Seattle MetroplexAlyce points out several locations on the feeds being sent in and swipes them over to Al’s ‘link. “Lots of places to hide, but lots more places to hide security devices. I do have good friends in EVO. Maybe I can use that to get us in and avoid the sneaking?” She gives silent commands to the drones and has them continue their exploration of the outer fringe of the complex.
10
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“World o’ pros an’ cons on that one, toots. An’ ol’ Al don’t pretend ta unnerstand the hearts o’ traitors enough ta guess what they might do. But a few key questions: If’n they’d betray Mother Evo fer you, what makes ya think they’d not betray you fer Mother Evo? Or, if they really was on the side o’ the angels, what’s gon’ become of ’em once we bust inta this place an’ raise hell after our false bonafides is traced back ta them? Social engineerin’ worked real nice gittin’ into that aquacology, but that was folks o’ questionable character we done blackmailed or turned somehow. Usin’ friends…well, they’s your friends. Maybe you can make it work.”
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