Found Arcana – Chapter 4 IC
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Found Arcana – Chapter 4 IC
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“It actually worked, thanks Iktomi!” AM says loudly, and she swears that if she is going to survive this – she is going to actually study how to deal with explosives. She proceeds to the next two metal sculptures and tries to disarm them VERY carefully.
Spoiler: -
Mato almost slaps AM on the back out of celebration but at the last moment that it might turn her delicate bones into powder. He settles for a metallic clap instead.
“Nicely done.”
He looks around a bit helplessly, unsure of what some does to dispose of explosives. Dropping them in a garbage can didn’t seem prudent.
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The other bombs were solid workmanship but nothing too complicated to disarm: Once AM had discovered how to open the sculpures without blowing herself up, it was just a matter of removing the detonators.
Just as AM had finished with the last one, Janet came over, looking exasperated:
“What the frag are you doing with my merchandize?!” -
Jawsey drawled “I’m sure these art works will still make a bang, without being actual bombs.“. He paid careful attention to Jane’s reaction. He didn’t think she’d arrange bombs and then hire investigators, but people did all sorts of strange things.
Spoiler: -
AM grins and replies “I am a big fan of artistic freedom, but remote controlled bombs are too much. I also have photos of the person that broke in. Perhaps it is someone uou know.”
She shares a photo to Janet’s link.
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Janet’s face turned from angry red to panic white in just a second of horrified realization.
“Bombs? As in multiple bombs? Oh, no, no, no, no! This can’t be happening.
Who is this? This gallery is supposed to be neutral territory. They promised.
You have to find out who did this and stop them.” -
AM replies softly, “You are in good hands Janet. ” she says entirely at peace, “The bombs are disabled, I will remove the explosives and let you put things back the way they were. We will take the explosives far away, nobody will know. “
After a short pause, she says, “The painting – any potential buyer? Who are the rivals of the buyer, what about the other sculptures. It is your job to know – so help us help you. “
While Janet thinks she adds “Also, what do you know about the magical art pieces”
She watches Janet’s reaction carefully.
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“The painting is a self portrait of Michail Pjetrowitch, son of a Vory boss. It is… I’m offering it up tomorrow for 300k – the Italians have expressed their… interest. I don’t think there are any others who want to pay the Russians this amount.
The sculptures are miniature replicas of two 10m tall statues in Paris – and as it appears they were turned into bombs. Whoever exchanged them for the real sculptures not only left explosives but also stole about 7000 Nuyen worth of art.There are a few pieces made by genuine awakened artists – you’ll have to be a bit more specific.”
Janet replied. -
AM says “Interesting” without detailing much. It was a big transaction, likely the result of some other goods being traded. That was clear to her, but who wants them killed, and what is the deal with the other statues. AM sighs and says “The tarot card, it is a true item of power, and it is interacting somehow with the art pieces that were replaced by the bombs. These artifacts are very hot right now. By hot I mean desired, but also dangerous. We encountered similar cards in the past – and it always meant troubles. Has anyone expressed interest in the card?”
In the meanwhile she texts Jhonney >> Jhonney Hi, I was stupid enough to disarm some explosives and I need the plastics gone. Can you help me out here? She assumes that an arms dealer might be interested in buying the explosives, but AM would be happy if he just takes them away from her hands, and have a more professional look – considering that AM is not 100% certain that they are safe.
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<<Let’s figure out who benefits if the Russians and the Italians go up in a cloud of red mist together.>>
<<We also need to dispose of this stuff. Maybe we can get ready birds with one stone if the taker can tell us anything about the bomb maker. These things are as unique to their creators as fingerprints, right?>> Mato feels like he’s heard that somewhere.
<<We can also do some interviews with the list of people Janet provided. Anything else?>>
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AM texts >> I asked Jhonny if he minds picking these up for us. I want someone else to have a look before we fiddle with them too much. About who benefits, one of the statues was certainly handled by someone infected. Its aura is all wrong and unnatural.
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“The tarot card? It got send to me last week – no idea from whom. It hasn’t even been taken into the catalog yet. I didn’t think it was more than a neat gimmick…”
Janet replied.Johnny replied: <<Send me some photos of the devices. And in future, contact me first before you start poking around with bombs.>>
After the photos had been sent, he answered back:
<<As far as I can see, they are correctly disarmed. But I don’t want the stuff near me. Explosives of unknown origin are not a well regarded commodity.
But I tell you something: scrape the plastique together, clean the detonators very carefully and store them separately. I know some Gangers who would be mad enough to pay for that stuff.
I set up a meeting for you and you pay me 10% commission.>> -
AM says “This card is dangerous, violence and power struggles are attracted to it like flies to honey. It is no coincidence that you already have problems.”
Sher pauses for a moment and then continues “You say that the card is still off the catalog… Perhaps I can sell it for you? “ AM pauses briefly to let the implications sink. She is not explicit about it but AM actually suggests to sell the card to Janet (rather than for her employer). Or at least she allows Janet to consider such a transaction. “I have the proper connections, and you do not need this kind of attention with an important event tomorrow.”
To Jhonny AM texts >> Sure thing Jhonny, I’ll try not to defuse bombs before calling you. 10% is more than fair, how much money are we talking about?
She shares the conversation with the team, asking for their input.
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Janet replied: “I’m not a fool, if this thing is as rare as you say, I can find a buyer myself. But I might consider paying you a consultant fee for whatever info you can give me – and who would be interested in that thing.”
Johnny replied: <<Depends on the grade of the explosives. Looks like you have about two kilos here. Could be anything from 1000 to 5000¥ retail. Hard to get stuff like that can get you up to double that if you are selling directly to those gangers. Scrape a fingernale’s worth of the stuff, put it into a small container and send it over to me – carefully though. The stuff is mildly toxic. I’ll run a test and get back to you.>>
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AM asks “It is your card Janet, and I’d love to study it and help you sell it. I have a few leads as to who is interested, and I’ll do the networking for you for a standard10% commission. However, I am serious about the card being dangerous, don’t keep it here. Do you have somewhere safer to store it? You do not want your gallery to turn into a warzone. There are some dangerous mages after these artifacts.
Shortly after she empties her breath mints into a small nylon bag, and then places a small sample of the plastique in the small plastic box. She orders a delivery drone to ship it to Jhonny. She texts her black-market delivery contact Fagin >> Dude, I need you to deliver something – no questions asked. Do it now, and I may have some more work.
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Mato is pleased about the relatively modest 10% commission offered by Jhonney, but dismayed that AM proposes the same 10% commission to Janet.
<<Agreed with Jhonney helping us get rid of this stuff, but let’s figure out who his gangers are. Hopefully it’s not the Halloweeners or the Red Hot Nukes, otherwise we might find ourselves on the wrong side of it again in the future.>>
<<AM, I know Janet is your contact but we’re in danger of significant scope creep here. The deal was to “make sure nothing bad happens to the guests and find out what’s going on here” and now we’re at “find out who did this and stop them”. I grant that there’s some overlap between those two, but the job was to investigate a break in. I don’t want to find ourselves in the middle of a mob war, at least not without a much bigger payday.>>
Mato goes back and forth about how to handle the card.
<<We can buy the card from her. It’s not in the catalog yet; there’s no record of it. Straight cash into Janet’s pocket, then we turn around and flip it. Risk, but reward. But let’s find any records she has of the tarot card being delivered. It might be sent by the same person who’s looking to crash this party.>> Mato looks at the portrait, imagining ball bearings explosively shredding the faces of Michail and/or Igor Pjetrowitch.
<<Or just take it. Tell her it’s as dangerous as the bomb and needs to be disposed of accordingly. That, at least, would be true.>>
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>> Look we are going to make 8k this night, a bit more if we fetch the explosives. It is a good night for us – really. The card is worth a fortune – perhaps even 100k to the right buyer, it is way more impressive than the other cards we encountered. Taking it without cutting Janet in would reflect very poorly on our relationship. I don’t mind cutting people short now and then, but not the ones that pay the bills… and technically we did not agree to ‘find up who it is and stop them.’ There are just a few hours – and we do not even know who ‘them’ is. We may just need to play security for the event. About who the gangers are… alright if you want to. Though, gangers can make us very miserable if we piss them off even without explosives. I am not particularly concerned even if it is the Haloweeners or Nukes. They already have guns, and grenades and Iktomi know what else. Think of it as cultivating relationships. Bad people offer good jobs.
About buying the card – do you really want to carry it around? Risk our car, and home until we find a buyer? It is not like we can sell it in five minutes.
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<<Everything we do, we risk our lives, let alone our car and our home. You of all people know that we’re living under a guillotine blade, and this is a way out from underneath. How is Tom anyway? Does he apologize while he’s breaking your knees? Is it the same knee each time or does he alternate out of professional courtesy?>>
<<Look, as I said, it’s your contact. But I can tell by the way you talk that you and Janet aren’t chummers; it’s just biz. Leaving that card here will kill her as surely as leaving those bombs in place, so I say let’s do right by Janet’s life and get rich in the meantime.>>
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AM texts back >> Alright, hotshot you are the businessman, what do you suggest we do now?
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<<We should view the card the same as the Semtex: incredibly hazardous but valuable to the right people. And those people are experts, not Janet.>>
<<As you already told Janet, it’s dangerous and can’t be kept here. We can’t complete the job she’s commissioned while it’s here. She’s got no argument against that; as she said, to her the card is just a gimmick and hasn’t even been cataloged yet. Unless she’s lying, or unless the card is manipulating her, it has no value to her. She’s bluffing when she says she can find a buyer. She might as well try to sell the Semtex. In fact, we can make getting rid of the card a condition of us disposing of the Semtex for her.>>
<<Jawsey hasn’t spoken up yet. AM is the tech genius so Jawsey can position himself as the astral guru, overriding AM if necessary. He should insist that the card be removed at once and disposed of properly. He needs to come in hard with all the potential consequences, blah blah blah. He needs to put the fear of God into her.>>
<<You two are the experts so you tell me what we need to neutralize this thing. I get the sense that sticking it in a safe deposit box isn’t going to do the trick. Do we put it in a biofiber pocket? Bury it underground? Bury it underground in a biofiber pocket?>>
<<Once it’s neutralized, we have options. We know fixers. Five-Fingers will want it but will probably be too broke to pay a good price. We know Cheng Mu Chou will want it, will have the resources to pay for it, and he owes us a favor for getting his son back.>>
<<It has to go, I think we all agree on that. Let’s turn it to our advantage.>>
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