Texas Hold'em 2078 [IP]
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Texas Hold'em 2078 [IP]
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Becky looked with a strange expression at Jazz. Assensing her, to her surprise the young ‘rigger’ did not even have a control rig. “How strange is that…?! ” she thought.
Not wanting to embarrass the girl in front of a Johnson she texted with a mental command. “>> It is strange to call yourself a rigger without a rig. Care to explain? “
“Or perhaps my assensing skills are rusty?” She doubted herself.
OOC: she had 3 hits assensing.
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“His name is… was Dr. Henry Walton and he died aproximately 36 hours ago. Vamps that ambushed him stole the wrong container.” Johnny pushed a button and the slightly blurry 2d image of a warehouse appeared, showing two very white men with red eyes and very long fangs attacking a slightly overweight, pasty, mid-40ies looking man wearing a terribly tasteless cardigan jacket, ripping from his hand a pilot brief case
“They stole a case full of the man’s dirty laundry, my source told me. He wore a button cam to the meeting, but the cheap sensor cam didn’t catch anything useful beyond that picture.”
He turned to Becky: “The world seal is supposed to act like some kind of mana void – but not in the negative way: It acts like a damper on both positive and negative mana levels, while also causing feedback effects on active spellcasting. No idea if that is actually true for this artifact.
As for credsticks: Sure, catch.”
With amazing agility he tossed in just one motion a credstick both at Becky and Preston.
“In the guitar case is the rest of my deposit for you. I should have more until you find the world seal. You may also keep the money the good Dr. carried on his person. By the way, that’s why I had to play poker in the first place as all my liquid funds had gone to the doc’s credstick.”The quick data search didn’t unearth anything useful with the search terms “world” “seal” and “artifact”.
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* Coleman: We are beginning to understand our resources. SHE is likely an adept, she doesn’t feel like the sort to have heavy ‘ware.
* Oleg: I don’t like it. She’s going to use magic to manipulate her way into being our leader, where she can sacrifice us all to her own ends.
* Eliza: She seemed friendly with the man disguised as an old drunk, that may be a control on her.
* Oleg: he’s probably another fragging magician of some sort. A pair of them can screw over the rest of us!
* Gamma: That ‘old drunk’ disguise was very well done. If the small woman is a rigger, her outfit may not be a disguise.
* Coleman: A rigger might be a control on mages, as they can’t influence the pilot programs so easily.
* Monkey: I like Ichante! She understands about real coffee.
* Gamma: She does feel like someone I could work with well. I shouldn’t let that make me lower my guard around her though.
* Coleman: Being likeable and liking coffee is not a team role. I need to identify why she is here.
* Gamma: Being likeable and liking coffee — isn’t that a decent description of a face?
* Monkey: Nah, she isn’t that sort of charming, just easy to get along with.
* Eliza: Perhaps she is another decker, and that is why I felt comfortable with her? She didn’t seem to have the arrogance that is typical with mages.As the others talked, Preston took some mental notes and tried to get a handle on the team he’d be working with. It didn’t look like they’d have the traditional chromed to the gills street samurai or huge troll to soak up attention and gunfire, so it was probably safe to start focusing on more clever or stealthy solutions to the challenges in front of them.
SHE had made a good point about looking to get some money up front for the work in the bar; the Johnson had been an ass about that and should pay for it. But also a useful sort of negotiating point, and he made a note of that for future reference. He may not be able to trust her, but she seemed to know what she was doing and be confident in her abilities.
Preston made sure to catch the cred-stick with his right hand. Maybe he could relax with this team eventually, but for now best to keep up pretenses. And that SHE had answers to her questions, it was his turn to dig for some more answers.
“Assuming that we gain possession of this magic rock, what would you like done with it? Do you expect field updates while we are looking, and if we provide them are you likely able to give us useful information in return? And maybe most important of all, can we trust you to stay out of trouble until after the job is done?”
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She catches the credstick effortlessly with a hint of supernatural agility and reflexes. “Pleasure! Doing business with you. “
She asks “so it makes magic predictable regardless of circumstances? lesser effect of positive or negative counts?” -
[Lunchtime, Wednesday February 2nd, 2078; Sleep Eazy Motel, San Angelo, CAS]
Feeling uncomfortable at being read, bloody mages, Jazz quickly responded hoping to nip this in the bud before anyone got too interested…
>I work through AR with my drones, I’m not one of those crazy idiots that goes VR in the middle of a firefight. I’ve got no need for a rig, I work through a control deck, and that’s in the van outside. My drones are tweaked enough that they operate autonomously and I oversee from the captain’s chair.
>Jazz#04
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She texted back >>Interesting… I am a great driver myself. Difficult to compete with control rigs. Would be nice if you could share a bit about remote control… I never actually tried it.
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* Gamma: some quick calculations show that the volume of a basketball is only 0.0075 cubic metres, at average obsidian density that is under 18kg
* Oleg: that can’t be right, the balls seemed far larger than that back in gym class
* Gamma: I was smaller then?
* Coleman: the tactical point is that I could carry it easily enough using Fisher’s arm.“Quick apology, apparently my memories of the size of a basketball were off, and they are not nearly as fearsomely large as I’d thought. If that is this things size, it should only way around 18kg, so while hardly convenient to carry, it isn’t that bad either.
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Ichante scrunches up her face at the 2D still. “Would the vampires really not realize that the briefcase was full of dirty clothes and not an 18kg ball of stone? Shouldn’t the weight have been a giveaway? And what kind of operatives don’t take five seconds to confirm the package?”
Ichante isn’t quite sure what to make of it. If things don’t add up or aren’t logical, then that’s a concerning hole in the Johnson’s story. If the vampires are retarded that that’s something of a relief, because retarded vampires aren’t nearly as formidable as non-retarded vampires.
“Do we have a dossier on Dr. Walton, or do we need to work one up ourselves?” She glances at the mundanes, reasoning that one of them is probably the Matrix jockey. “Given his age and metatype, we might be able to pass Lucky Strike here off as the dearly departed doctor’s brother, here to claim the man’s personal effects.” She indicates that she’s talking about Al. “Maybe even plant something in the morgue’s system to tell them that he’s coming.
“Or, if that doesn’t work, bribes, or B&E. Shouldn’t be too tough.”
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Becky replied to Peterson “18kg is nothing, I fight and run with more weight on to improve my leg muscles. I am an initiated fighting adept, and may be able to mask the artifact within my aura. “ She did not want to brag, but Becky was actually stronger than most orcs and trolls. Between pushing her body and genetics to their limits and in building up her QI to strengthen herself she was stronger than she looked. Well she looked strong, but lookers are usually distracted by her curves to observe her muscles, and Becky often wear lose clothes to hide her very mascular body as much as she can.
To Ichante she replied “Not all Jhonsons disclose all the information… The vampires may not have known what they were trying to steal. I mean… It happens more than you think… Mr. Jhonny is wise to let us know all he know about this gig as it increases the chances for success.”
She paused and then replied
“I like the way you think! We should definately stealth it. I can help with disguises, I find out that while there is no way to make myself not attract attention, trying to overcome that has taught me a lot about disguises. Given enough time, I can make a person look like anyone, providing the size and metatype are right. All mundane skills, nothing magical… Then again, given our oposition would be magical, mundane disguises seem like our best bet. ” -
* Oleg: she is horning in on my area — the hussy!
* Monkey: I wonder if I could get her to disguise herself as a stripper?
* Coleman: Disguise is not a competitive skill, we can work together.Preston offered “I’m also decent with disguises. We can probably combine forces and points of view and gear to do things even better than on our own, which should be a real strength for those areas where disguises can help. Some of the others may have skills there too?” He glances at Al, still convinced that the man is wearing a brilliant disguise.
* Oleg: there is such a think as staying too faithful to a role
“But I suppose we can talk about methods and details more after we are done talking with our Johnson — he presumably doesn’t need to know all of this, nobody can take from him what he doesn’t know. We still need to know about delivery and any other conditions on the job. What else do we need to establish before we move out?”
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The Johnson shrugged: “For one thing my commcode: 444-938279K-zzz
Rolls easy from the tongue, doesn’t it. The objective is to find the thing and bring it to me. I get the ball you a bunch of credsticks.
Beyond that, I’m probably more clueless than you. Details like that aren’t my forte – that’s why I hired specialists like you – that and the fact that you were the closest bona fide runner I could find at so short a notice.”To Becky he said: “Predictable isn’t the right word. As I said there is supposed to be a feedback, that increases the chances for something to go wrong catastrophically with active magic. “
To Inchante he replied: “You’ll have to ask my source that. His name is Garry Rabinowitz, a local fixer. He was the one to get in contact with the Doc and paving the way for this business opportunity. What I know is that Lonestar arrived very quickly after the attack.
If you want to talk to Garry personally, you can try the Bermuda Arcades. He usually hangs around there, hitting on teens, the creepy fragger.” -
Becky frowned “Buissness opertunity you say? Because I hear a lot of dangers which are not normally thrown out so lightly and a vouge promise for an unspecified amount of money. While normally I’d haggle about the sum, it seems redundant in this case as you can promise any number and you confessed that you lacked the liquidity. I don’t normally work for Jhonsons that cannot pay, these life are dangerous and unexpected as is, I normally want atleast my payday to be secured. In the Mafia, we would have taken this gig and break your bones if you could not pay the agreed upon price. I however, try to do things a bit differently as I lack their paitience, and manpower to collect on loans.
So this is how it is going to be, instead of haggling for the price now – we will do it once we secured the artifact. Your risk goes down, but the price would go up significantly since at that point we would also have other ways to liquidate it. At any case, you get the chance to match any offer, and what you paid in advance counts as double. Take it or leave it, this is the best and most flexible offer you are going to get tonight. “
While she had a reputation of never breaking her word as long as the Jhonson paid in time. Becky did not want to overly commit when the promise of reward was so vouge. She didn’t mind to sell the artifact at a discount to the man, but to promise to deliver something unconditionally to a person that may lack the funds to pay properly – it sounded like a rookie mistake.
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“Would you rather have me not mention the dangers? A bullet is a bullet, no matter who shoots it at your head.
And don’t get greedy. Money is like water, it want’s to flow. But if you pump the well dry all you get is sand in your mouth and teeth falling out.
I’d suggest taking a look at the sticks before you tell me you want more. Not to mention: I do have more creds – they just aren’t liquid right now. This is a time sensitive operation, otherwise I would have organized a more formal transfer of funds.
If you take this job you work for me – no-one else. Blackmailing me afterwards is not part of the agreement.
Take it or leave it, Honey.”
Johnny replied quite a bit of steel in his voice. -
Becky seemed amused “You see Jhonny as a woman I am used to people overestimating their… instruments”. She paused and hoped to lighten the atmosphere . She continoued “so you cleaned up some sucker wageslaves of their paycheck… but we expect more than wageslaves… You know Blood mages and vampires they sre a bit more than what these wagers handle.
So tell me yourself clearly how much can you pay for the Orb. Do you even know how much you have? I would never suggst to blackmail you, but you do not inspire much trust with this approach, and I have no idea what is the market price of black balls of obsidian. I am working with what you give me. “
She looks at Ichante and says “You seems like you can count… Can you please say how much money are we offered so that each of us can make up their mind if we bite or not?”
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“And those guys weren’t wage slaves – those were a bunch of oil-field engineers with a taste for high stakes games.
About 100k for each of you, so half a mil in total.
And that’s not what this artifact is worth.
It’s worth the life of one man so far. That man was too greedy to be satisfied with just one fair offer.”
Johnny replied, again with his easy tone. -
Ichante covertly squints at Becky; she’s not sure she likes the blonde. Pretty women are too accustomed to men of the world falling over for them, which can lead to entitlement and imperious behavior. Give me credsticks because I asked for them. There’s no way to make myself not attract attention. I would never blackmail you but I’m going to liquidate the asset if I don’t like your offer. Oh and then there’s the veiled threat, “I used to be Mafia and would break bones over broken contracts. I’m not like that anymore, but seriously I am.” Such behavior is one thing when you’re twisting the Johnson’s titties, but is quite another if it extends to the team after negotiations are complete. Ichante looks over to Lucky Strike, eager for the weathered rawhide to rein in the Lipizzaner before she bolts, or before she bucks the Johnson.
On the other hand, a loudmouth beauty helps keep the attention off Ichante, and she’s fine with that. Let someone else earn the notoriety. Becky might be fine if she’s tough and targeted, but Ichante doesn’t see the appeal in that.
Half a million is a respectable sum. Of course, the artifact could be worth ten times that, but at some point the shadowrunner risks the payday becoming so high that the Johnson has no intention to pay, or has an incentive to hire another team for ¥50k of wetwork to geek the original team – probably at the handoff – and pry the artifact out of their cold, dead hands for a steeply discounted sum. Shadowrunners are constantly balancing the Johnson’s ability to pay with his or her willingness to pay. Everything has a price, including the Johnson’s conscience.
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Becky used the time of Ichante’s counting to look at her new teammates and see how they feel. She already knew that Al was going to make a fuss about the pay, and she hoped for just a tad bit of discontent to help her squize a little bit more out of theJhonson. No it is not greed that kill people, it is lack of in a way. If they were going to put themselves out there – the least they could be paid enough so that they do not have to play so dangerously in a while.
Quietly texting with a mental command she asked the rest >> where are you standing guys? Shall we push a bit more? .
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She had a smile that made you think she was winking even when she wasn’t, and a pixie cut the color of root beer. Her white sleeveless dress was covered in multi-hued eight-inch polka dots and came to mid-thigh, just above the tops of ivory go-go boots. She was dancing to a tune of her own and reaching out to him. “Let’s go, daddy-o,” she chirped.
He reached for her, and she took his hand. Her other hand went to his waist, and her touch was electric, vibrating. He awoke to the thrum of his Fairlight in an inside pocket of his jacket.
He heard voices before he opened his eyes. Right. Plopping down onto the keeb’s bed, there’d been a warning about mold and he’d drifted off to thoughts of how someone must be a class-A pussy. The meet was always the boring part of any job (though a positive thrill ride next to the ensuing planning sessions), and he’d come here with four or five others, at least one of whom was certain to keep up with the boring details for him.
Reaching for his ‘link with his right hand and pinching his temple with the bandaged left, he glanced at the screen. Becky? Why was Becky texting him? She was right here with him. Then, reading the text, he realized with some chagrin that he’d almost slept right through the critical moment in his own plan.
Surging abruptly to his feet, he announced, “Well sheee-it, Spock, sounds like one way we’s dead an’ the other we git killed, an’ ain’t no amount o’ cred worth ol’ Al’s life. I’m outta here.” He started a broad wink at Becky, then realized the Johnson could see that side of his face so switched mid-wink to the other eye. Then he stormed to the door and flung it open, only to find the bathroom. “Dammit.” Whirled and started walking to the other door. “That’s right,” he added, rather loudly, “Jist…about…ta walk…right out’n this here…door…….That’s right….this’n right here….”
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Johnny followed Al’s display with a mixture of surprise and slack jawed incredulity. Finally he said:
“Mr. Guthry? Are you alright? Did you just have a stroke or something?” -
Becky said “He is an odd bird Mr. Johnny very skilled and experienced, but borderline insane with all sort of superstitions. Many people in this profession are broken one way or another, myself included. We just have to play on our strengths, plan and finish the job to be smarter than the other guys. Now, personally I hear ya, half a mill is a good price, but as we are not the first people you send in there. The previous one died, it complicates things, and many runners would avoid going into the death trap of a colleague. Perhaps you can offer a bit extra so that I have something to work with on calming down mr. Guthrie. If you want, I will come and play with you the next time you raise money. I can be the eye candy and or muscle. When I am there, your opponents will pay less attention to the game itself – and you are more likely to win, isn’t it so?”
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