|
GM: Koi
Players: Mr.Terrific
Synopsis:Mr. Terrific is hired by Brother to get a protection racket running smoothly again. Through charming and guile, Terrific manages to save the day and everyone goes home happy.
Date: Sat Dec 28 2073
The club is smokey, dingy, and very, very loud. Located in the CAS Sector, The Dancing Butterfly has a reputation for catering to the Japanese citizens, many of whom have flooded into Denver following the ongoing tension in California. Racism is still prevalent… but at least it is somewhat muted in Denver, from 'will shoot you on sight' to 'merely suspicious glances or shouting'.
Word has gone out through the usual underworld channels that there's work to be done, and the 'Johnson' in this case wants to meet here. With a brilliant blue mop of heavily spiked hair, a black leather studded jacket, and his boots firmly on the table, this Japanese Mr. Johnson and his bald, Yakuza-tattooed flunkies is both quite easy to spot… and goes somewhat against the expected norm. But hey, when money is tight, you take what you can get, right?
Mr.Terrific seems to recall working both for and against the Yakuza a time or two. He has no idea of which family does what or whatever; that is not his skill. Interestingly he's come somewhat appropriately dressed; urban cowboy style, with python-print cowboy boots that play off of but don't upstage the Johnson's classic yak leather style. He smiles, and gives a nod-bow kind of approach. "Mister Terrific, consulting magician. I do not claim to be awesome or even superior, but I am terrific."
The young Japanese man is wearing sunglasses, too, which makes it a little difficult to tell exactly where his attention is focused. He's all smiles as Terrific approaches, though, and sits up, offering his hand to shake. None of the usual Japanese concerns about touching here, it seems. "Hello, my friend! Of course, of course. Your reputation preceeds you. Which is good! If it preceeds you enough, perhaps this will be a very short job for you indeed, neh?" His grin pulls tighter, something predatory as he looks over the top of his glasses, and one can't quite escape the image of a shark…
But then he's leaning backwards. "Call me Brother, for we are all brothers here, neh? Please, can I get you a drink? It is the least I can do, the beer here is piss, but the sake is … acceptable."
Mr.Terrific clasps hands with a smile; sits on the edge of a chair if a chair is appropriate. He ponders what direction to go with this - smiling broadly, he says, "I never drink with brothers. Perhaps later, when we are friends. But it is good to know you, Brother. It would even be good to help you with your problems, if you have any."
Mr.Terrific is bantering, friendly, broadcasting that with his face and body, because what he just said could be taken the wrong way. In any case, he takes the moment, here, to do a quick astral perception scan, see if anything is not what he expects… if the guy and all his dudes all have some low to medium standard cyber, that is normal. If the dude is a mage and his flunkies are cyberzombies, that's odd.
Brother's expression is tough to read, but the refusal of the drink does at least seem to focus things on business. He rests his arms on the table, and leans in closer. From the inside of his jacket, a small white noise generator is produced, and laid on the table. The small device whines softly as it kicks into gear.
The extent to which Brother is a dissembler soon becomes obvious. The young hood has some minor cyberware, mostly around his brain, but it is his attitude which is worrying. His aura is stained with blood and violence, but it is cold, clinical. Avarice, tempered with a malicious cunning which is so rare in men his age; but might explain why he is in charge and the other two…
Well, they are just cybered thugs. More extensive than him, and throughout their bones, their nerves. They aren't creative with their hatred, nor subtle. They are bored, but they are also suspicious; professionally so.
"My life." Brother says, completely unaware of the magical interest, "Is blessed with problems my friend. You could say that were I to have no problems, that would itself be a very great problem, yes?" He laughs, but it doesn't touch his aura.
"The current problem of the moment is a … foolish old man. He runs a noodle shop in the Asian district, Happy Go Luck Noodle. His son has come back recently, from fighting some war for some corporation, and he doesn't think he has to make a … contribution for the protection of the community, because his son will take care of his shop for him. Well. We could solve this problem ourselves, of course…"
And he leans back in his chair, "But if we do, it will be very loud and very … extreme. We have a reputation, you see! So I think, it would be a pity if such a fine establishment were to be a casualty, perhaps, some terrific individual or other could, talk sense to the old man, neh?"
Mr.Terrific hmms. He considers it, closing his eyes slowly and opening them. In a way, it's a mission of mercy, because he knows that these fellows can engage. Of course, they must be afraid of the old man's capabilities, and his well-trained son's capabilities. That makes for questions. He steeples his fingers, villain-style - he does it to show the young fellow that he, too, can think like a villain. "How much? Your offer will tell me of what you expect I am to face."
That gets a bark of laughter from Brother which is, perhaps, the first thing out of his mouth which hasn't been carefully calculated in advance. "Oh no, my friend, the price is unrelated to the skills of the son, or of the father. No, in this game, it is all about profit and cost." He taps his fingers against the table as he considers.
"If we take care of the problem, the old man is dead, the business is no longer paying. We expend say…. two thousand nuyen, in 'cleaning costs' and we get nothing in return until the damages are paid and a new business is installed."
He waves his hand expansively, "You go in, you succeed, and we receive say… one thousand nuyen per week. We pay you five thousand nuyen, after six weeks we are making profit, so long as you have done your job well enough to save face and ensure we do not need to have another word with the old man. But you are a terrific man, yes? You'll do the job well, I am sure."
Mr.Terrific says, "Sadly, you place me in an interesting position. As we grow in skill, the price we expect to receive for missions also increases. Yet the tasks required of us may not; by our skills alone we may be priced out of the market. What you say is barely enough to pay for this meeting. Yet, you have interested me, because it is a mission of mercy. Let me ask two more questions. One. Has the old man and the son been peacefully contacted? Do they know what is expected of them, to whom they should show the proper respect? Two, and most important. Do they have what they need? I will not go to squeeze blood from a stone. If their business is failing they need help, not a demand."
Brother's eyebrow raises archly, though his smile remains as fixed as ever. "He has always paid before. He simply now believes that his son is … sufficient protection. Of course, you and I, we realize that such is a most unfortunate misconception. Accidents happen. The restaurant needs gas, after all."
And he looks over the top of his glasses. "As far as I am aware, it is quite a popular place. I am not an accountant though, friend, I do not know their books… and I do not care. I only care about getting my money. If you feel it is beneath you… then I will find another, and perhaps they will be good enough to do it mercifully, or perhaps they will put two bullets in the back of the son's head as he sleeps, who knows how hungry the shadows make the inexperienced, eh?"
Mr.Terrific considers raising his palm but does not. Instead he just speaks quietly. "Enough. If I discover that they cannot pay and they have good reason, I will contact you appropriately. Is that acceptable?" He has the look of awaiting either contact information; or to be dismissed.
Brother considers this for a couple of moments, and then he gives a nod of his head. "That would be fine." He says, and his smile redoubles, both arms held out from him, "We are all brothers! If they cannot afford to help their community, their community will help them! But if they can… well, they must, or they will find themselves in another home." He produces a small chip, with a flourish, from the inside of his sleeve, and slides it across the table. "My phone number. Let me know when you are done, and we shall upload the funds to an account of your choosing."
Mr.Terrific is glad he has made his point. Or at least gotten 'Brother' to mouth the correct words that an old-school Yakuza would mouth at these times. But nowadays, these young punks don't remember.. sigh. He wrist-flips over his pocsec to flash-capture the number with the camera, and tucks it away as he stands. Now his own smile is more relaxed, confident, friendly. "I hope that our further communication in this matter will be wonderfully brief."
"So do I, my friend, so do I." Brother says, as he rises, and collects his equipment back from the table. Slipping them away inside his jacket again, he gives a slight nod of his head, and a loose, somewhat flippant salute. "And hey! Perhaps, after easing these community tensions, we can find work more suitable for a man of your caliber, neh? Have a good evening!"
Mr.Terrific makes his departure with all friendly pleasantries, and heads to the restaurant. Neglect, his ally spirit, will take human form in his Land Rover, dressing appropriately while he drives around. They check the hours, they check the crowd, they check the parking, the sight lines, the windows, the doors, is it open air, where can you see in the place when the door opens, and so on. If it's open, or when it's open, that's when Neglect will go in, wearing a human shape that looks a little like Mr. Terrific - enough to wear the same clothes and be mistaken for him at a distance mostly due to the shaven head thing - and make a standard to go order for to pay with a certified credstick. That way he can look around in the real and astral planes, and Mr. Terrific can look through his eyes.
The restaurant is open from 11am until 2am, picking up most of its business during the lunch and dinner rushes, though stragglers come in fairly consistently. It is a cramped, rather small place, sandwiched between a laundromat and a coffin motel. The upstairs is an apartment, and an alleyway at the back contains a shared dumpster for the three buildings, a front entrance, and a back entrance. There's a fire escape from the top floor, too, though the ladder has rusted so badly it is doubtful it would support much weight if it could even be coaxed into working at all.
It is quite a busy little shop! Manned, mostly it seems, by an old Japanese man, hunched with age and years of hard work, who remains mostly in the kitchen, and a broad-shouldered, 30-something man who is, it soon becomes clear, an Adept. Closer inspection will likely reveal at the least that he is a Second Degree initiate, and that one of his eyes has been replaced cybernetically; though well enough that such a thing is near impossible to determine from mere physical looks. He handles the front of the shop, diverting and attending to customers with military precision.
There's two more members of staff on tonight; a young Japanese girl who bustles around cleaning tables and trying to keep people happy, and an Ork of uncertain ethnicity who hauls around ingredients at the behest of the old man.
Mr.Terrific huhs. He is probably a serious fellow. Might be very difficult to enspell. The girl and the ork, they will be easier. But the real problem is, how will he respond to pressure? Will he attack or defend or realize it is it hopeless? In any case, Neglect the ally spirit will make his purchase, take it out, and Mr. Terrific and Neglect will drive away to a place they can park and eat - and Meglect can go astral, in his little snake form, and zip back to go through the apartments. Seeing if any are Warded, which implies a mage; seeing if he can spot that mysterious son of his with the military skills, seeing if there is anyone set up to snipe in coming Yaks from the rooftop, and just generally abusing the whole 'being a spirit' thing. He keeps away from the old man, who might see him, though. That comes later.
«Auto-Judge[]» Koi (#11406) rolls 8:
1 1 3 3 3 7 11 15
There is absolutely no magical protection; no wards, no spirits, no lurking horrors in the walls. There's no sign of physical security set up to ward off ambush, either. There's a lock on the front and back door, but that's it.
The food, however, is truly fantastic and soon explains why the shop is so well-frequented. This is food prepared by a true master in the craft! Delicious to an extent that speaks of love and dedication to the art despite the cramped surroundings.
Mr.Terrific my mys. He does share the taste with his ally spirit, who can't eat normal human food this way. "Impressive. This IS a mission of mercy."
Mr.Terrific ponders his bastardy. Does he do the older man, or the son. Well, let's do both. On the next day:
He will drive to a place across the way where he can, from inside his car and thus behind tinted windows, get a look through the door when it opens and visually tag the young japanese girl. He will use 'surrepticious casting' from inside his car across the street/down the block to cast Influence F1 upon her, to, when she sees a bald-headed man wearing a snake bolo tie, write on a sheet of paper: "Brother has hired a crew to make it more cost-effective for you to pay him the proper respect than to resist. If you wish to speak, his crew is listening for the next few minutes." and show it to old man and son."
«OOC» Koi says, "Okay, make the requisite rolls. Willpower is 3, BG count is 1."
Mr.Terrific takes his time to bring the mental powers of Professor Xavier to mind to center himself and strike in cleanly. Neglect is with him, helping him channel the energy.
«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Centering vs TN 2 for "tn is 3, +1 bg, +2 for casting through a tinted mirrored window is 6, init grade 6 makes it tn 2. Every 2 successes reduces penalties by 1.":
1 2 3 4 10 17 = 5 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Sorcery + Sorcery Pool: 4 + 5 vs TN 4 for "tn 3 +1 bg +2 tinted window (visibility) -2 centering is tn 4, F1 Influence spell, threshhold of 1 from her willpower 3":
1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 11 = 6 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Sorcery + Sorcery Pool: 4 + 5 - 6 vs TN 4 for "tn 3 +1 bg +2 tinted window (visibility) -2 centering is tn 4, F1 Influence spell, threshhold of 1 from her willpower 3 kp1 (5 dice is from the ally spirit)":
1 1 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 5 7 = 4 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Willpower + Sorcery Pool: 3 vs TN 2 for "2s drain with trauma damper, on F1 spell":
1 2 2 3 3 4 5 14 22 = 8 Successes
«Plot» Mr.Terrific says, "No drain. Her difficulty is willpower tn 2 and she needs 10 successes to resist which she can only do with willpower 3 if she spends 7 karma for 7 extra dice. Using the surrepticious casting rules, the TN difficulty to spot/hear/etc my casting is tn 4 + magic rating (11) - force(1) or tn 13, plus whatever for trying to look into a closed car."
«Plot» Koi says, " Okay, the spell seems to go off without a hitch - now you just need to trigger it."
Neglect, of course, is the one who will go in. He'll have a pocsec that happens to be recording in his pocket, because, as you correctly say, he doesn't know Japanese. And he'll be wearing the snake bolo tie, and be able to show it to the japanese girl.
The waitress writes kanji onto a napkin, and shows it to the son. She's about to go past him, when he grabs her arm and she looks startled. "Yotsuke-san, y-you're hurting—" She starts, in English, and then there's some shouted Japanese from him. The ork rushes out from the back, and takes over from him on the till as he drags her into the back room.
Neglect can of course move to interfere; if he doesn't, there'll be loud, angry-sounding Japanese, and a very confused and upset young lady trying to defend herself in rather more hesitant and tearful Japanese.
Neglect doesn't interfere - he acts exactly like you would expect a gaijin at an excellent noodle house to act when someone drops a plate and the manager gets angry and starts shouting. However, shouting is great for picking it all up on tape. If the son is an initiate, he has to be able to figure out that the girl didn't do it on her own, that she was magically forced and has no idea why she did it. It's about at this time that Mr. Terrific uses neglect to get a better look at that ork. Japanese? Cultural refugee fleeing oppression? Appears to wince and understand the japanese and can handle the till? Looks that way.
If the son DOES understand what has happened… he's almost certainly overreacting. There's the sound of something very sharp hitting meat— an audible intake of breath from several of the customers— and then…
The girl bursts out through the front of the shop in floods of tears. The poor ork is very heavy-set and has terrible skin, protruding bones and an aura of absolute embarrassment at this moment. It is kind of hard to place his ethnicity, but he's certainly not an oni at least.
"A-apologies for the delay, Sir." He says to the man in line, who looks quite stunned. "I think we are having some staffing problems right now, but please, if you will be patient, I will get your order. What may I serve you?"
Neglect says, "Uh, no rush." He points to the udon that he wants, "This udon here," he says, indicating that he can say udon correctly, but doesn't want to risk the particular name of the particular type (which is actually a listing of the vegetables inside). This ork is totally japanese, speaks way too nice.
Neglect adds, "And to go, if you would."
"Yes, yes of course." The ork replies, and bows before he shuffles back to the kitchen.
The kitchen and restaurant are separated by a door, and though he would ordinarily shout the order back… perhaps wisely he is taking a more cautious approach. Neglect can see the duck with a cleaver carved directly through it, lodged in the countertop. The son with his hand around the handle, glowering, and the old man murmuring in softer, more controlled Japanese. His eyes closed and his tone regretful, if tense.
Neglect is still expecting them to figure out he was the trigger and kill him or something; but he's a spirit, either he'll be immune to the weapon, or fade into the spirit realm, or get killed for a month and then REALLY rake Mr. Terrific over the coals and make him spend magical energy to buff him up and teach him a new spell. So he's pretty relaxed in general. Mentally he asks Mr. Terrific, "Translating all that?" Mr. Terrific answers, "It'll have to wait till I get to a computer that can use a crappy skillsoft autotranslator."
It takes a few minutes, but soon the Ork returns with the requested Udon noodles, and hands them over. The girl's departure has cut down the line of customers somewhat, which is good, but impressively, despite the dramatic return, the old man can apparently keep his focus and the food is as good as it was the previous night.
"Thank you, please, come back again. I am sure Sakura will be back with us after she and the boss have, ah, calmed down."
Neglect takes his food and leaves, walking down two blocks, over one, and then around another block a couple of times, completely out of line of sight of the restaurant, to see if he's being followed. If not, then Mr. Terrific will drive around, pull up, he'll get in and they'll drive to where they can run the recording through a cheap autotranslator to see what the old man and son decided.
The translation is … horrible. Really horrible. Perhaps its because the voices were either raised in anger or quiet and muted, perhaps its the dialect, but in either case, it is far from an entirely clear picture.
The gist seems to be, however, that the son believed the waitress was seduced by the easy money and good looks of the Yakuza thugs, and had sold them out. The father counseled caution, but the son is a hothead and kept making accusations until she, distraught, fled the scene.
They have not been followed!
Mr.Terrific oh holy jeebuses. Now he's made trouble for the poor girl. Well, what can you do. At least he figured out that the ork, if he can manage the till, can read and write. If he doesn't get contact from Brother that night, which he probably won't, he will do the same thing tomorrow with a different message; this time he will try to tag the hotheaded son, likely to be much harder. But the son can't accuse anyone else of weakness, now can he? The message will be, "I am being forced to write this with a magic spell. Please do not blame Sakura for her weakness. Brother requests the respect that is his due." And this time, after he makes the tag with the Influence spell, he will wait at least an hour so that no other mages could spot the astral signature of it.
«Plot» Koi says, "Okay, willpower is 6!"
«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Centering vs TN 3 for "centering against penalties, tn 6 +1 bg +2 visibility -6 initgrade is 3, every 2 successes reduces penalties by 1":
2 2 3 4 4 11 = 4 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Sorcery + Sorcery Pool: 7 + 5 vs TN 7 for "tn 6, +1 bg +2 visibility -2 centering is tn 7, F1 Influence, threshhold is 3, here goes:":
1 1 1 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 7 11 = 2 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Sorcery + Sorcery Pool: 7 + 5 - 2 vs TN 7 for "(the 5 dice are from ally spirit) kp2":
1 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 8 9 10 14 16 = 5 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Sorcery + Sorcery Pool: 7 + 5 - 2 - 5 vs TN 7 for "(the 5 dice are from ally spirit) kp4":
1 1 1 1 2 3 3 3 3 4 5 8 9 10 = 3 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Sorcery + Sorcery Pool: 7 + 5 - 2 - 5 - 3 vs TN 7 for "(the 5 dice are from ally spirit) kp7":
1 1 3 3 4 4 5 5 7 8 17 = 3 Successes
«Plot» Mr.Terrific says, "Stand on 13 successes, he needs 11 successes on a willpower check tn 2 to beat it, which means he needs to spend at least 5 kp for 5 extra dice."
«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Willpower vs TN 2 for "2s stun drain with trauma damper":
1 3 3 3 5 8 = 5 Successes
«Plot» Koi says, "Yup, that's fine."
«Plot» Mr.Terrific says, "No drain, tn 13 perception + penalties to spot."
«Plot» Koi says, "Okay. What sort of time period are you going in to activate it?"
«Plot» Mr.Terrific says, "Let's say after the dinner rush when people have mostly departed, but when I know the son will be there. 10:30-11:30, later if it's still packed."
The restaurant is mostly empty; a pair of late-night office workers are seated in the window, but that's about it when Neglect goes in to activate the spell. Another waitress has been contacted by this time to help fill in, but she is slower than Sakura was and they have struggled through the day.
When the son returns backstage to hand the note to his father, there are a few moments of silence, and then he returns to the restaurant. "I am closing early." He announces, loudly. "If you have no further business here, you will leave immediately!"
His tone brooks little argument, and the two office workers shuffle off and away quickly…
Neglect oh hecks - in for a penny, in for a pound. If they recognize his face he'll just make Mr. Terrific change it, even though that takes a week and is not cheap. He can make Mr. Terrific upgrade him at the same time. So he stays, so he can relay-chatter and talk. And escape if he has to.
Neglect looks all mild and normal, human, shaven head, slightly prominent nose, wearing casual jeans and button up shirt with snake bolo tie.
After the workers have gone, the son flips the sign to closed and locks the door to prevent outsiders interfering in the business.
He then walks around in front of Neglect in what is, clearly, supposed to be an intimidating fashion. And proceeds to say, "Randomjapaneserandomjapaneserandomjapanese Brother-hmph?!"
Neglect says, "Sorry, it's horrible I know. I don't even speak Japanese. Brother wishes to know if your establishment is having problems? If the rent from the building people has been risen, if there has been a flood or breakdown or other emergency?"
This, obviously, upsets Yosuke even further, but just as he's about to start shouting, there's a meaningful harumph from behind him, and he turns around.
The old man takes a deep breath, and sighs. "Please, excuse my son's rashness." He says, "He is a proud warrior, and sometimes forgets that we are not all soldiers. Just as Brother sometimes forgets that there is more to this arrangement than money."
Neglect gives a deeper nod-bow at this. "It is nothing. When I was hired to help, I made sure to remind Brother of this. Again, do you have any such needs?"
Yosuke harumphs, and is about to speak again, but the old man cuts him off - and apparently, he does have a deep respect for his father, as his simmering resentment is held in check a little longer.
"Brother is an ill-mannered youth, but his men are even worse! They harrass my employees, and scare away the respectable business I rely on! The money does not flow easily at the best of times, but I will not allow my business to be treated like some mere fast-food joint. I will not pay them, and they are not welcome here until they clean up their act!"
Neglect nod-bows again. "Your complaint is wisely given. Am I to assume that they come at all hours and do not pay? It would be a standard thing."
"And they take liberties with the waitresses." Grouses the son, folding his arms across his chest.
In this time, the old man has shuffled close enough that he stands in front of his son. "That is correct. I do not mind them coming here for food, I do not mind cooking for them for free… but I do mind if they will not respect that I am … extending them hospitality, and they may not treat my business as their own home, or extend my employees any less courtesy than they would give their own family."
Neglect says, "I can send this complaint back to him. Would it be acceptable if they only came after a certain hour? And if I were to ask them to be respectful?"
The old man nods his head once, "Yes." He says, "That would be fine. If they respect me, then I shall respect them. When I was a young man, this was understood."
Neglect says, "One moment." Meanwhile, Mr. Terrific picks up the phone and calls Brother.
Neglect puts his hand to his ear, even though he doens't have a commlink in, to indicate that communication is taking place.
The other end of the line has pounding bass, and Brother has to raise his voice to be heard over the din. "Give me good news!" He declares, before he even knows for certain who it is.
Mr. Terrific says, "The old man would like to negotiate. He says he does not have a problem with paying you your respect; but he says that your men do not respect his establishment. They throw trash on the floor, they hit the waitresses, they act like children and frighten away his customers. They are the ones who are damaging his bottom line." See, this way Mr. Terrific is blaming Brother's underlings. Brother can shout at them and it's not Brother's fault.
Mr.Terrific doesn't say anything about the not paying bit. That's expected.
«Plot» Koi says, " Okay, give me a negotiation check - or make a case for another social skill if you prefer. :)"
«Plot» Mr.Terrific says, "His Int is?"
«OOC» Mr.Terrific says, "And how about a Psychology complementary?"
«OOC» Koi says, "I'll allow it, though I'd rather use Etiquette, or any kind of 'underworld dealing' knowskill… psychology is a harder sell, not being face to face to read cues, but you did get the aura read on him earlier. The modified TN after various social and situational factors comes out at a 5, 4 if your cha is 6, 3 if it is 7 or more."
«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Negotiation + 1 vs TN 4 for "kp9":
3 4 5 9 = 3 Successes
«Plot» Mr.Terrific says, "Stand on 3 successes, I'll try adding etiquette."
«Auto-Judge[]» Mr.Terrific (#7242) rolls Etiquette vs TN 4 for "complementary":
1 2 4 10 = 2 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Koi (#11406) rolls 6 vs TN 5:
3 4 5 7 9 10 = 4 Successes
There's a sucking of teeth from the other end of the line, and then…
"Alright, alright, I can see that my boys have behaved unreasonably." Brother says, cheerfully, "How about this, then. I will make sure they stop this disrespect - that goes without saying - but to apologize for making us go through all this… they will cater a banquet for me and my friends, in two weeks time."
Mr.Terrific passes this to Neglect, who transmits it. "Brother says he will put a stop this disrespect. He 'suggests' that you cater a banquet for he and his friends in two weeks time, so that all these minor matters can be smoothed over in good fellowship."
There's some murmurs in Japanese between the two men. The tension in the air is thick; it is a clear sign of weakness, but in the end, it seems that pride must give way to practicality. One large meal would be a pain, but for all his assurances, Yosuke had been bewitched by these devils… and they've driven poor Sakura to tears!
"Very well." The old man sighs, at last. "We shall do this thing."
Neglect makes as if to put his hand inside his shirt to reach for a billfold/credstick. "May I assist in the preparations?" It should be totally clear that he's offering to help pay for the banquet. And since he's obviously being paid by Brother to do this, it should be obvious after another second that he's offering to give up some of his fee to make sure everyone's happy.
That seems to surprise the old man, "That would be… very decent of you." He says, slowly. "Any contribution you would make, would be more than we have any right to expect."
That may be laying it on a bit thick for his son's tastes, if the snort of frustration is any indication, but the old man seems happy at least!
Mr.Terrific considers. Ten percent or twenty percent? The food here is really good, so let's go twenty percent, even though it's small and a hole in the wall. Neglect will swipe the credstick for a thousand nuyen. It'll be a hell of a banquet, and those bastards better not complain.
BE SURE TO PARENT THIS PAGE TO INDEX:LOGS
|
