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GM: Kensai
Players: Kensai, Victor.
Synopsis: Victor and Kensai adopt disguises to deliver a mysterious chip to a person at a party - and find themselves increasingly surrounded by an increasingly dubious plot.
Date:3-3-83
Victor is at Stage Perilous having a spirited conversation with the bartender. Despite his peculiar talents, he's not able to produce an ID that satisfies their criteria for serving him booze, so he settles for a glass of fizzy water. "With a strawberry," he insists, with enough of a smile to squeeze at least that concession. He salutes the bartender with his drink anyway and turns to look over the dancefloor with interest.
Kensai is also at the bar, as fate would have it, just across it from his young friend. He is sipping a tall glass of something icy that glows blue-white as he taps his fingers against the glass in time with the retro 2060s club beat. He is wearing the same tres-chic tuxedo as earlier today, complete with a dark, almost metallic red shirt underneath the blazer. "I don't know," he tells the woman next to him, her dark hair pulled back and up in a severe updo pieced by a pair of jade hair sticks. "It's risky."
She smiles up at him. She is older than him, that is clear, despite the agelessness in her face. "Kitigawa-san," she says, practically purring. "Risk-averse is not your reputation. Or has Honda overstated it?"
Kensai shakes his head, straightening up. "It's not the same," he says. "I'm not…" His eyes fall on victor and he stops, suddenly thoughtful, and the beat kicks over to today's biggest top 40 hit.
Victor sips on his drink and keeps his eyes focused on the dancefloor. At least up here he can be away from the most deafening levels of the music, and at this distance from the others he can probably pick up some of their chatter in those pointy ears. But he politely doesn't look that way since he's not *trying* to eavesdrop; it's just there's not as much buzz around the bar to keep such conversations entirely private. On the other hand he appears oblivious as ever while he sips on his water.
When he feels eyes on him he turns a little, flashing a broad grin and waving to Kensai with his usual radioactive enthusiasm.
Kensai's eyes slip up to the cieling, beseeching the kami for deliverence - but none comes. "All right," he says, and looks back down at his drink. "I might know someone." He tilts his head to make sure he gets eye contact with Victor, and then gestures with his head for the man to come over. He looks back down at the woman, who is smugly sipping a glass of bubble wine. Portland Vintage, 2063, and her own eyes trace over to victor. They are beautiful, the kind of turqouise the carribean dreams of, but they're also… dead. Emotionless. Oh, they move like they should. They reflect the light like they should, but something about them fails to carry any semblence of real life.
Victor of course also looks up, even tilting his head to see what must be a truly exceptional ceiling decoration. But there's nothing.
He catches the signal eventually and approaches, bringing the glow of his luminous jewelry and chromatic body paint into range. "Konnichiwa, Kensai-san," he says before taking another gulp of his water. Then he looks to Ken's companion and quirks a brow up. The smile remains, though it's a touch more forced than he usually offers to people, and he greets the woman with a terse, "Hi," as if being this close to her puts him immediately on edge.
"Konnichiwa," the Japanese woman says, looking her up and down. She's wearing perfume - something floral, but not too heavy. Jasmine? No. Orchid. She takes him in with those empty eyes, staring right at him - into him : she's at the perfect angle at nearly exactly his height- and then at Kensai. "He'll do. If you vouch."
Kensai grunts. She smirks a laugh and looks back. "My friend here and I have been talking. There's a party uptown - I have a friend there, that's looking to see me. I've got another invitation that I just can't miss. I was hoping that some smart, clever friend could go to the party instead of me and deliver a message." She looks around, and wrinkles her nose. "The crowd's like… this one, but not quite as… boring? This place is so last ten minutes, if you know what I mean."
Victor stares back, bold as ever, quite visibly determined not to be intimidated by this… whatever she is. It's no wonder he gets himself into such trouble. When she finally looks away he does as well and asks, "Do? Do what?"
He listens closely to the evasive, pointedly vague description of the task, translating all the innocuous terms into their most likely true meanings. Or so he hopes. "Yes, yes, I can keep up with a modern crowd," he says, holding his hands out as if to indicate his own avant-garde… uh, style. "What kind of message? Nothing with too much metallic content."
"Nothing malignant," she says. "I have a chip. Right here." She flicks her wrist with a magician's flourish and there is a small datachip in her hand. "They're expecting it. It just needs to make it into their hands." She places it on the table. "There's a phrase to go with it, of course, so they know who the delivery's from… but there is a complication. And it's why big tall and dour here couldn't help me. See, they're expecting… me." She gestures down at herself. Smart little black dress with a slit from ankle to shoulder, a network of glittering thread lacing up the slit and glimmering in different colours as she walks, showcasing the long preying mantis tattooed across the long length of of her body. "And Jackie boy doesn't think he can talk them into accepting a proxy."
"I hate it when you call me that."
"Eat a dick, Jack," she says, witout taking her dead gaze off of the elf.
Victor eases somewhat once he's assured there won't be violence. Or, at least, that it's not a hit job. He eyes the chip as if he could visually inspect it for some sort of malice, then looks up again to take in the rest. The mention of 'complications' gets him to smirk toward Kensai briefly, a look that says 'Mondays, right?'.
"You?" he says with a lift of a brow. "Well, there's always, I dunno, holograms." But he's already pondering some possibilities, leaning to one side to give the conspicuous tattoo a longer examination. "That would take a while to replicate, too… maybe if it was covered up instead. That might work?"
"It might," she says, again casting her gaze at the elf. Matched with that smile, it's clearly meant to be ingratiating and charming- but with her eyes it just falls short. "I can provide you an invitation with a plus one, and an address, and a description. To make sure my friend gets what they need… oh, you know, it's so terribly important. I don't have much, but…" She glances down at the bar, where a freshly-minted gold certified credstick has appeared. "I suppose I could spare that."
Victor takes note of the exchange between the two. The disrespect this woman shows is irritating to him and he doesn't even try to conceal it. Still, if Kensai was that offended by her behavior, Victor must assume he wouldn't have been drafted to help out. "The eyes and the hair won't match," he allows. "I mean, the color's workable, but I don't have, like, a wig collection I carry around with me. I can brush it into another style at least, see what works. And I can grab an outfit along the way. A bit of padding in the right spots should be enough to get the job done." He keeps listening to her with his head tilted, taking in as much of her voice as he can to prepare to replicate it if needed.
He looks down as well and reaches over, tapping his fingers beside the offer. "That should cover it," he says.
Then he pauses and gets an idea. "One more thing this will cost you," he says in a fairly accurate mimicry of her own voice. "You never call him Jack again. Or Jackie boy. Or anything but the name he gives you. Deal?"
One of the woman's perfectly drawn eyebrows raises, and she looks back at Kensai.
"I told you," he says. "He's a friend. You made an offer, he countered.
She heaves an exasperated sigh, and then looks at Victor. "I like the cut of your jib," she says. "If you take that to Alfonse's Wig shop," she adds. "Show it to them and tell them Fleetwood sent you, they'll hook you up with whatever you might need. Might even let you use the back room there, too." She looks at the pair of them. "The party started an hour ago. I imagine it will be an hour longer before my friend arrives, and then… three after that, waiting for me?" She licks her lips. "Do we have a deal?"
Kensai looks to Victor for confirmation.
Victor's jaw is set and his gaze is fixed. It is a very *Elfish* look of utter intractability, deployed to utmost effect when they're confident in an unassailable position. Such as dealing with someone in desperate need of a courier on short notice.
The extra details and supplies meet with his approval at least, and he carries on speaking in her voice to practice. Also, maybe, to annoy the woman a little. "And you, of course, are the sort to be at least fashionably late," he concludes. "That's doable. We'll head to the shop now so I can get set up." He eyes the woman's form again, weighing just how much padding— and where— he'll need to pull of this look. "Yeah, we'll make it work," he answers as he collects the chip. "Same code for the drop? Fleetwood?"
«Auto-Judge[]» Victor (#14210) rolls Fashion:
2 3
The woman is slim as a blade. You might need padding in the shoulders, but… that might be it.
"Drop will be Nicks," she says, and orders another drink. "Good luck."
Victor pockets the package and the payment while he finishes his hasty analysis of the client, and he's already flexing his mouth a little as if to loosen his face up in anticipation of the upcoming task. He downs the rest of his water and munches down the strawberry to put his nerves at ease. With a casual salute to the woman, he tells Kensai, "Ikimashou, Plus-One," and makes to scamper out.
The detour through the wig shop is fairly quick. It takes longer for Victor to pick out a suitable wig and outfit than it does for him to get his face sorted out. The dress is more covering, obscuring the part where the large tattoo would have been visible.
When he emerges from the dressing room he's still tugging on the edges of the wig to get it settled, walking a little funny in the heels, and pausing by one of the shop's mirrors to try putting on just enough makeup to look plausible. "How the hell do they walk around in these things?" he grunts in her voice. "And the tucking! Ugh. You don't even want to know where I had to hide my gun…"
But after some practice and some slow laps around the store he finds an adequate stride, and tapes some of the padding into place to make sure it doesn't budge. Finally he struts toward Kensai, putting on that same condescending expression he saw on the woman, though he's unable to hide the glimmer of amusement in his eyes. "How do I look?" he asks in a jovial, breathy tone. "It'll have to do. C'mon, let's get this over with so I can get outta this ridiculous dress…"
The ride to the party is even more squirming and tugging, and getting out of a car in a outfit like that is something Victor has obviously never had to do before. But he manages well enough with a helping hand, and when he threatens to topple over he has to grab Kensai for support. But at last he steadies himself and starts heading inside with a confident strut.
«Auto-Judge[]» Victor (#14210) rolls Disguise:
1 4 5
«Auto-Judge[]» Victor (#14210) rolls Intelligence for "Voice Control, Opposed Intelligence test to convince others of the voice mimicry":
2 2 3 4 4 9
«Auto-Judge[]» Kensai (#8241) rolls 4:
1 2 3 5
Kensai also took the time to get something like a disguise put on, while in the shop and at the hands of their grateful hosts. He spends the rest of the drive fairly quiet after laughing with his friend, but as they're stepping out of the car they are… not quite accosted by an ork valet, but he is suddenly very close. "Miss Aki-niko?" He asks Not-Victor in hushed tones. "A word?"
Victor was just getting his footing settled when they're suddenly approached by a surprise ork. He looks to Kensai, no doubt wondering if this is their target, but he sighs in that way he saw the woman do. "Quickly," he answers the ork, keeping his speaking clipped and low in the hopes of concealing the voice even further. He turns to give Kensai a helpless shrug at the sudden turn in the situation.
The Ork's voice is hushed. "I had to warn you," he said. "Just like you asked." He leans close - close enough that not-victor can smell his cheap aftershave. "She's here. Your fiance. She got here earlier, and…" sweat beads on his head, and he looks at Kensai, then back at not-victor. "And she is very very drunk, ma'am. She swears if she sees you with yet another toyfriend…"
Victor makes a face. Then he shrugs, slumping a little. "Great," he replies softly, "Well done. I'll owe you a hundred next time I see you." He dismisses the ork with an imperious wave and a saccharine smile so he can moves closer to murmur to Kensai. "Sounds like we've got a pig in the truffle patch," he says. "At least now we know why your friend didn't want to come. You know what the target looks like? Let's get in and out before this turns into a thing." Then, smirking, he jokes, "Hey, my eyes are up here."
Kensai say "It was already a thing," with a low oath as the doorman opens the velvet rope for you and lets you up. "The games these people play," he adds, looking around with his currently-blue eyes that match his waist-length blue anime wig. "Corpo princes and princesses. Playing with sums many will never see, and…" he stops. The next doorman is ushering people into an elite looking private elevator. "Ah. A lift. This won't be a problem, will it?" He asks, looking down at Victor. "Elevators are fine, hai?"
Victor gives a smile to the doorman, more like himself than the person he's reshaped and padded to look like. Hopefully nobody spots his sincere expression before he restrains it. The remarks about 'corpo princes' is enough to make him glance sideways and flick a brow up. He even opens his mouth as if he's about to say something, but before he can he's faced with his boxy nemesis. "Dude," he mutters under his breath as he fixes Kensai with a glare. "Fuck you, and fuck her. Bullshit… elevator… nonsense…" But he gives the attendant a flawlessly sarcastic smile as he steps into the lift and just tries to breathe through the moment. The brief privacy gives him a chance to adjust his fake cleavage anyway.
And they're in, with only about three other guests, taking the elevator to the top top top top… on the way, they pass from interior to exterior denver, allowing an unparalleled view of the city below as they rise to one of its spires.
At last they arrive, the doors opening with a quiet -wush-, revealing a room all lit in red and violets with the ultra-chic engaged in all sorts of debauchery. An attendent clad in a red devil catsuit sashays by, offering a party-tray full of little glass vials, inhalers, and a few shot glasses of something green and immering.
"As to your question," Kensai says, his face back to impassive as he throws his blue hair back over his shoulder. "No. I do not know what the friend looks like. I only hope that they will find us before this… fiance… does."
Victor shifts slowly, pushing up one side of his bra, then the other, to make sure the padding is secure. He gives one of the other passengers a smirk, but doesn't say anything about it. The view is phenomenal but he doesn't marvel over it. Even when the doors open he reacts not with surprise, but with a sort of recognition. Annoyed recognition. "I should've guessed," he says with a sigh. "You need some new friends, Kensai-san."
He steps out of the elevator and into the party, putting on a fake smile like everyone else while he starts scanning the room. "Hope isn't a plan. Stick close, we're going to make a circuit. The valet said our hostile's drunk already, so she's probably within staggering distance of a bar…"
"Tell me about it," Kensai says with a disapproving shake of his head. "-Americans-," he adds… but as the circuit passes a set of low, circular couches where a pair of elves lie enjoying a pipe, the blue-white trail of opium smoke rising from it like a dragon's tail, his attention lingers.
There are people everywhere. For an exclusive party, it's packed. With not a few drunk people…
«OOC» Kensai says, "perception test!"
«Auto-Judge[]» Kensai (#8241) rolls Intelligence:
1 2 10 11
«Auto-Judge[]» Kensai (#8241) rolls 5 for "RANDO DICE":
1 2 2 2 9
«Auto-Judge[]» Kensai (#8241) rolls 5 for "RANDO DICE PART 2":
2 3 5 7 8
«Auto-Judge[]» Victor (#14210) rolls Intelligence:
3 4 5 5 9 10
Kensai puts a hand on Not-Victor's arm a hair before he sees it. There is… a woman, at the bar. A woman in a red dress that would put delilah to shame, but with powerfully packed arms that would make samson blush. Her blonde hair is the color of sunlight on a clear day, her blue eyes cold as the artic, her pointed ears are nearly eight inches long, and the -look- she's giving the bartender (obviously an android) would wreck a star system. "I know she's going to be here," she snaps in the very poshest of Tir Tangiere accents. "That slitch -dares- to think she can walk away. DARE! I did not come thirty third in the tests ONLY to be cast so EASILY aside…"
«Auto-Judge[]» Kensai (#8241) rolls Stealth for "ack hide in plain sight!":
1 1 14
Victor strolls casually, not too slowly, darting his gaze around everywhere to see if anyone makes eye contact. "Hey, we're not all bad. Some of us are trying to do better, anyway. Anyone look like a Nicks to you?" he asks. Along the way he starts humming lightly, then singing sotto voce, still in the client's voice, "Now here you go again, you say, you want your freedom…" He doesn't have any particular skill, but he sways with it anyway.
He halts and perks up at the touch, and an instant later he hears the familiar accent and starts changing direction to put his back to the woman. "Gonna call that, uh, contact, six o'clock," he says nervously. "Did you see the arms on her? She could bench press a train…" He has to control himself to keep his pace casual. Normal. Nothing going on here.
«Auto-Judge[]» Victor (#14210) rolls Stealth:
3 3 3 8
«Plot» Victor says, "Is there some visible security presence?"
Kensai whistles even as he backs the other way. "Yeah, I'd say," he says. "I wonder if she wants to train later…" and then you're out of sight, moving the other way, to different corner of the party. There are no visible drugs here in the sickly green-lit cushioned floors, but half a dozen twenty somethings just lying, strung out, two or three of them visibly attached to simdecks.
The security is not… obvious, but there are some there. Still in suits and tres chic, but their eyes are clean, and they are paying attention to… everything.
One, a human woman with long braids and a shimmering silk blue tuxedo, steps out of a hidden hallway right in front of you, looking you up and down, a curious look on her features… just in time for another woman to appear, putting a hand on her arm and walking toward you. "Aki!" The new one says, dressed in skintight leather and an actual animatronic tail. "You're late! Silly."
Victor relaxes a little once some distance is put between them and the hostile. He eyes the simzombies, leaning down a little to peer at one or two in case their contact might be in here somewhere blending in with the crowd sprawled on the couches.
On the way out of the zombie zone he spots the pair approaching them and he puts on his most sarcastic posture. "Always!" he replies with an airy laugh, seeming to have a lot of fun playing with the client's voice. "You see what happens when people show up with enough time to get themselves smashed before the real party even starts…"
After mulling it over for a moment he decides to try the direct route. "Don't suppose either of you are still waiting on a present from me?"
The cat-girl wanabe winks and gestures. "You know I am," she giggles. "After you did all that work on my Mac, I've got to see how things turned out," she adds, then casts a look over the shadowrunners' shoulders. "Oh no. SHE's here. How did i not notice?"
Victor waves a hand dismissively over his shoulder. "I've got a plan to deal with that whole… situation," he says with a roll of his eyes. The mention of a Mac gets him to look at the cat-girl again before he adds, "I just need to resolve this Nicks thing first." He keeps looking around to see if anyone else might be approaching, all the while trying to stay out of direct sight of the hostile at the bar. He looks to Kensai surreptitiously to see if his plus-one has any other ideas.
The girl's eyes light up again and then she totally insinuiates her self into victor's space. "You might say," she says. "It's got my nicks-ers in a twist," she says. "an' a chance for a little bit more scratch for your back, if you can help a girl out one more time aki."
Kensai gives Victor a reassuring nod, as if he thinks this girl is the contact, and takes a simple step to obscure them both from sight. He shifts as he does, clearly uncomfortable. Perhaps it's the whole party… perhaps its the lack of a weapon? Maybe it's the wig.
Victor is obviously a bit uncomfortable in such proximity. Maybe because some of the disguise will be more visible, or he's lacking some of the expensive perfume, or maybe he's not used to girls rubbing up against him like that. With Kensai's assent, he's finally convinced this is who they're supposed to contact. He reaches to extract the data chip from inside his bra and slip it to her. In a pocket if she's got one, or a palm otherwise.
The girl takes the chip with easy, feline grace, and then she's pressing another into aki's hands. "There's a work station, up there," she says, gesturing with her eyebrows. "Slot that chip into it and it'll double your money. You've done good work, Ari. Terra forever." And then she's dancing away, her eyes glinting like a cat's.
Victor nods to their departing contact, then the other human woman if she's still around. "Lovely to see you! We'll catch up in a bit!" he tells her as he guides Kensai toward the terminal. Then he quirks a brow up at Kensai. "This wasn't part of the plan," he says quietly. "What the fuck was she talking about? Any idea what this thing does?"
Kensai Shakes his head, watching her go, then looks down at the chip. "I've got no idea," he says. The terminal she's indicated is on the second floor of the penthouse, that can be seen wrapping around the room like an atrium. There are three different spiral staircases that lead up… the one closest to the pair is crowded, with three couples literally sitting on it and making out with various combinations of eachother. There are too more - one in the opposite corner of the room, and one that's very near the terminal. "A business associate put me in contact with our first friend tonight. I'm not…" he grits his teeth. "We're being played. Or she's being played. Somebody, somewhere, is being played. I could check out the chip on my pocsec, if you think it's safe…?"
Victor shakes his head firmly. "No… no, something's off about this. This is a setup. Or— something. I don't know. Plus this isn't even paying *us* anything. This is what's-her-tits getting a bonus from whoever." He straightens up, his pose looking much more himself than the client. "No. We did the job. Let's get out. Maybe our little friend can inspect this safely. Until then I'm not plugging it into anything."
Kensai nods. "You're right," he says. "Something's fishy here. We need to get out of here before… we catch something. Or we get caught. or…"
"THERE YOU ARE," comes the imperious cry. "YOU. LITTLE. TROLLOP." The crowd parts, as if the red sea, and herself is striding towards you like hera on the warpath. "Did you really think I wouldn't find you? Did you really think you'd get away with it?"
Victor starts moving as quickly as he can in those absurd heels, until the booming voice echoes out across the party and cleaves a silence out of the din. He halts and glances toward the bar. "Oh, there you are, darling!" he calls with his sweetest and most sarcastic smile. "I was just looking for you." He nudges Kensai onward in the direction of the elevator, taking slower steps in that direction himself.
"Did you get started without me?" he asks the yelling woman. "Oh, goodness, how drunk are you? You'd best watch your step or you'll trip and ~kiss the floor~!"
«Auto-Judge[]» Victor (#14210) rolls Charisma for "Commanding Voice, Opposed test Charisma vs Willpower":
2 2 3 3 4 4 4 5 11
«OOC» Kensai says, "oh nice. her willpower is 5, so you have 2!"
«Auto-Judge[]» Kensai (#8241) rolls 5 vs TN 9:
1 2 3 5 10 = 1 Success
"Drunk? Who are you calling drunk! You can barely stand up! WHERE IS MY DAMN CH" She is about to say more when suddenly, her head jerks down, and she's falling face first onto that probably really unsanitary floor!
Kensai is turning towards the elevator, beginning to make strides towards it. It DINGS open… revealing two human men in black business suits, still stylish but way too serious for this high-rise orgy. With them, looking over them, but no less well dressed, is an honest to bog minotaur, his long, curved horns capped with gleaming chrome points.
Victor hisses to Kensai, "Run for it," as he tries to keep up. On the way to the lift he points behind him and tells one of the guards, "I think she has a *grenade*!"
Just as he skitters to a stop in front of the elevator doors, he's about to jump in, when he sees the lift is… occupied. He just blinks a lot as he staggers backward. "What is going *on* with this party?" he grunts under his breath.
He tries to compose himself as he steps out of the way of the elevator's passengers and invites them out with a gesture and a bow, anything to convince them to hurry the hell up.
«Auto-Judge[]» Kensai (#8241) rolls 5 vs TN 7 for "hmm":
1 2 2 5 11 = 1 Success
One of the security guards screams GRENADE! in echo to Victor, and a girl screams, and people begin to swarm…
The three suits step out of the elevator, their eyes sweeping around as their bodies go taut with alarm at the sudden hubbub… but the minotaur's eyes fall on Kensai. "Say," he says, in a thick grecian accent, his beady eyes narrowing. "Don't I know you?"
"Toro," kensai hisses under his breath. "Fuck."
"Como?" He asks, lifting his hands. "I am sorry english no good. Where is the bathroom? Capsice?"
«Auto-Judge[]» Kensai (#8241) rolls Etiquette for "negotiation, -2 to high tn for default. fast talk!":
4 4
Victor looks back and forth between Kensai and the, uh, giant bull-person with rapidly expanding perplexity. He shakes his head clear as quickly as he can and starts making for the freshly-emptied elevator before the doors can close. He reaches to grab Kensai by the hand in the hopes of tugging him along. "Come along, Silvio, I don't want to have to reprimand you again! You know what happened after that incident with the muffins. Let's not have a repeat of that!"
«Auto-Judge[]» Victor (#14210) rolls Negotiation vs TN 5 for "Fast Talk":
1 1 1 2 3 5 = 1 Success
'Toro,' takes a step forward, searching Kensai's face, and then one of the humans grabs his sleeve. "Hey, bull. No time. We've got to find the chi…" His eyes fall on victor. "You. Have you seen a cat-girl anywhere? About yay feet tall with a fucking tail swishing around?"
Kensai waves Victor's hands off. "What have I told you about touching me?" He hisses, taking a step away - but NOW the man speaking is right in between kensai and victor as he starts his interrogation…
Victor looks properly exasperated and gives Kensai a bit of a glare. Still, he plants his foot against the door to keep it from closing yet, though the shoe taptaptaps with dwindling patience.
And now before they can make their getaway he's being quizzed. He just blinks a few times, then glances upward as if trying to recall. "Hmm… no, no, doesn't ring a bell. And that sounds like it would be memorable, inde— oh wait!" He snaps his fingers. "I did, yes, by that bar I think," he says, gesturing toward where their client's hulking fiancee had been getting sloshed.
Said fiance is even now rising to her feet, giving one of the security guards such a mighty wallop across the jaw that he lifts off the floor and spins around three times before landing again. "Aki!" She shouts, pointing toward the elevator. "Don't you even THINK about getting in that elevator!"
The confused suit looks back and forth, realization dawning on his face. "Wait. YOU'RE Aki…" And then kensai is grabbing victor by the shoulder and hauling him into the elevator, slamming the door-shut button and the escape is underway!
Victor looks across the party with widening eyes. Even at this distance that woman is *terrifying* and there's no telling where Victor put his gun. He's pinned on the spot, paralyzed for a critical instant, until he's suddenly pounced and tackled into the elevator. "Oh, so *now* you're okay with touching!" he snaps. "Does this stupid box have an express mode? Shit…" He's shaking, trying to get back to his feet, only to double over as he gasps for breath. "I think I'm gonna throw up. Holy fuck."
Kensai says, "Greek fucking mafia," taking a deep breath. "Goddamn greek mafia. What the -fuck- is toro doing here? I haven't seen him since '81. I wonder if he even knows…" His voice trails off. "You okay?" He asks. "Take a breath. They may come down after us. In which case… we may need to be sneaky.""
Kensai gestures at the elevator controls. "This thing -is- the express. VIP elevator: no stops between penthouses, the pool level, and the ground floor."
Victor plants his hand against the wall to keep from falling over while he catches his breath and steadies himself. "What… in the world have you been getting *into*? Who sends a giant bull-person to a corpo penthouse party? WHO DOES THAT?" Slowly he straightens up and starts to compose himself again, peering into the glass of the lift to fix his wig and his bra, puckering lips while he rakes off some smudged lipstick. "Sneaky, alright. I got this. We're almost out. Just don't get mad the next time I have to grab you to get us *out* of something, alright? I apologize in advance."
Victor plants his hand against the wall to keep from falling over while he catches his breath and steadies himself. "What… in the world have you been getting *into*? Who sends a giant bull-person to a corpo penthouse party? WHO DOES THAT?" Slowly he straightens up and starts to compose himself again, peering into the glass of the lift to fix his wig and his bra, puckering lips while he rakes off some smudged lipstick. "Sneaky, alright. I got this. We're almost out. Just don't get mad the next time I have to grab you to get us *out* of something, alright? I apologize in advance."
Kensai say "You did great," with an approving nod. "Excellent distraction. I used our tiff to get into position in case I needed to break his shoulder and kick him into Toro."
He glances around, searching for explanation. "I met Toro in the desert wars. His squad ran into mine once. We all made it out, and we had drinks in… crete? I think. Now he works for some greek mafioso… or I thought. Now I don't know. Fucking rich kids." He pulls himself together and waits for the bottom. "All set."
"They're called minotaurs, by the way," he adds as an aside, just before the door opens. "And they're people, too."
The door opens to reveal… nothing. The bottom level is just as peaceful as before, with people going around the hotel lobby, some drinking at the bar, all presumably unaware of the hubub above. The security staff, much more obvious than up above, are in place, doing their jobs, and aren't even paying you much attention.
Or are they? Eyes are on the pair as they exit the elevator… is this normal vigiliance? Or something more sinister?"
"Oh," Victor says. "Ohhhhh. Okay. Wow." He nods, clearly impressed by the convincing performance, and carries on tidying himself up after the frantic exit. The complex tale of international intrigue gets him to stare, mystified. "So is there any criminal organization on the planet you haven't worked for or pissed off? I don't normally ask, but after our past couple of jobs I… kinda feel like I need to ask." He smirks again before blowing out some of his remaining tension and putting his Aki expression back on. Sarcastic and haughty; easy enough for an Elf. "Minotaurs, sure, yes," he agrees. "I meant no offense, of course…"
He starts scampering out in some haste, the way one might do if they're trying to get away from a possible grenade situation. "I just hope those security guards are alright," he says just loudly enough to be overheard. "It looked like she nearly took that one guy's jaw clean off. Ugh."
Kensai shrugs and says "I don't think I've crossed blades with Vory," with a laugh, following after the not-victor. "Or Mossad. Or Wildc… no, wait. There was that time in Odessa." He shakes his head. "I keep telling Sakura I may need a new face. She thinks that may be going too far, but… I don't know." So far, nobody's coming out of the elevator. The guards aren't watching them.
They make it outside, moving toward the parking lot. Kensai's car is in sight!
«Auto-Judge[]» Kensai (#8241) rolls 3:
2 3 4
And out of the dark, another figure in a suit looms, leonine as a panther. It's an elven man, not any larger than normal, but his shadow stretches in nighttime neons like an eldritch necromancers. "You kids coming from the party upstairs?" He asks, directly in their way.
"I wouldn't know anything about that," Victor says. "I'd imagine it could come in handy, though. Even some prosthetics, perhaps? A little extra nose here, some jowl there…" He's almost relaxing on the way to the car when yet another interloper pops up. "Oh, for… What. What is this." He sighs and shakes his head, pinching his nose melodramatically. "It's been a long night already. We *tried* to get in, but they said we needed an *invitation*," said with the sneeriest tone he can muster, which is quite a lot. "And then the restaurant wouldn't move our reservation up. This is all just." He waves around at the guy. "It's a lot. Would you mind— not doing this?" he says.
«Auto-Judge[]» Victor (#14210) rolls Negotiation vs TN 5 for "Fast Talk":
1 2 2 2 5 8 = 2 Successes
The elf man studies Victor,his eyes boring into him. "You look like her," he says. "But you are not the escaped-one." His gaze shifts towards the hotel, and back to the pair. "Get out of here," he tells them, as if it was his idea. "Before things get ugly."
"Her? Who?" Victor says innocently. But he hurries past, turning to stick his tongue out just a little at the guy's back before diving into the car. "Drive drive drive please drive ugggggh," he rambles as he frantically starts to pull off the wig, get out of the shoes, and shake his face back to normal.
Kensai gets the car away, and once you're clear from the hotel he pulls off the damn wig. "Well," he says, looking in the rearview mirror at the Spire of the Hotel disappearing behind him. "Not the weirdest night I've had. At least there were no ghost peppers this time."
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