Log: The Lost Muffin

GM: Oz Players: Scurry, Abel, Miko, Lost Synopsis: A synopsis of what happened here. The Cat In The Tree: A spoiled Yak princess is missing her favorite cat! .. Her father has already written the thing off. Go find it. Twist: It's some sort of horrible paranormal creature, exceedingly expensive to keep. The father got rid of it for Reasons, to three potential locations. Location 1: Warrens, winds up in a dog fight ring. Location 2: Aztec sciLab, winds up in cybernetic experimentation Location 3: Sioux, winds up as potential dinner for Barghest pack. The Devil Rat's name is Muffins. She is tame for crackers, but is more than willing to chew the face on any male without one. She does not usually show aggression to females, unless they get too close without crackers. Or smelling like her owner. Creature B Quick S C I W E R Init Attacks Magical Powers Weaknesses Muffins 3 5 x 3 2 2/5 3 4Z 5 6+1d6 4M -1 Reach, Concealment (Personal), Immunity (Pathogen, Poison) Devil Rat 2 5 x 3 1 2/5 3 4Z 5 5+1d6 4L -1 Reach, Animal Control (Mundane Rats), Concealment (Personal), Immunity (Pathogen, Poison), 11 of 12 on 2d6 that they carry VITAS-3 Allergy (Sunlight, Mild) Dog, Large 3 4 x 5 3 2/4 2 6 4 4+1d6 6M Dog, Small 1 4 x 4 3 2/4 2 6 4 4+1d6 3L, -1 Reach Boar [5/1] 4 x 3 9 2/4 2 6 5 5+1d6 6S Crazy Lady McGee Contact Body Quick Strength Charisma Intelligence Willpower Reaction KP Race Talislegger 3 5 3 5 4 4 4 2 Elf Talislegger: Aura Reading 3, Enchanting 4 (Alchemy 6), Negotiation 4 (Bargain 6) Contact Body Quick Strength Charisma Intelligence Willpower Reaction KP Race Corporate Headhunter 3 5 3 6 5 5 4 4 Elf Corp Headhunter: Etiquette 4 (Corp 8), Negotiation 6 (Bargain 8) Contact Body Quick Strength Charisma Intelligence Willpower Reaction KP Race Reluctant Ganger 4 3 3 2 3 3 3 2 Human Reluctant Ganger: Bike 3, Clubs 3, Etiquette 2 (Street 4), Intimidation 2, Pistols 3, Stealth 3(Hiding 4, Sneaking 4), unarmed combat 3 EQ: Armor jacket [5/3], Colt American L36 (6 11(c) SA 6L) Combat Pool 4 Karma 2 3 + 1d6 init Contact Body Quick Strength Charisma Intelligence Willpower Reaction KP Race Corp Security 5 4 4 2 3 3 3 3 Human Corporate Security: Athletics 3, Clubs 3, Etiquette 2 (Corp 3),Pistols 4, SMG 3, (Unarmed Style) 4, Security Systems 3 Corp. Security: Boosted Reflexes 1, Headware Radio R3, Smartlink 2, Subvocal Microphone Init 3+2D6 Combat pull 5(3 w/security armor), karma 3 Gear: Light security 7/6, browning max-power, goggles w/ lowlight and thermo, medkit, keypass. Contact Body Quick Strength Charisma Intelligence Willpower Reaction KP Race Security Rigger 5 4 3 3 5 5 4 3 Dwarf Security Rigger: Car 5, Electronics 6 (Control Systems 8, Diagnostics 7, Security Systems 7), Gunnery 5, Launch Weapons 5, Pistols 3 Security Rigger: Datajack, Vehicle Control Rig 3, Cybereyes (Thermographics, Low Light, Flare Compensation) «Plot» Turk says, "Before we begin, let's go over the basics. This run MAY involve death, dismemberment, tears, loss of equipment, loss of rep, loss of sanity, general feelings of loss, tand other not-nice-things that come about when criminal scum do things for money. If consenting, please state so in the PLOT line." «Plot» Abel says, "I consent for any reamings I may get." «Plot» Scurry says, "I consent." «Plot» Lost says, "I consent." «Plot» Miko says, "consent given" SOMEONE LIT THE RUNNER SIGNAL! It illuminates the dark, overshadowed skies of- Yeah, not really. The message is out. There's a job, it pays nuyen, and it needs people of questionable morality, unquestionable skill, deniable existence or flat out 'will do bad things for money' cardboard signs. Whether it arrive by message, word, PocSec, trix, or sticky note on the side of the door, there it is. The meet? A small, shabby lotus temple just on the edge of the Asian District in UCAS. Not the Silver Leaf, no - this is a place where the monks have found the wisdom of a little more nuyen in return for a private sounding room. Outside of which stands a single stereotypical asian bodyguard, right down to short-cropped hair and shades. Do we mention he's human? He is. Were you expecting something else in the asian district? You weren't. If given the correct 'pass phrase', he'll let a person through to the darkened interior, with the nice round table. At the back end of which sits The Johnson. Scurry has an actual sticky note, which he fishes from a pocket while eyeing the contact. He says the passphrase, eyes the sticky note like he isn't quite certain what to do with it, and slips inside before approaching the Johnson. He gives a bow to the contact, introduces himself, and waits. Miko goes to the meet wearing her suit and tie as usual. She decides not to bother with her scooby dooby doo mystery mask this time. She opts for her gun instead if shit goes south. Not that she doesnt take the mask anyway. Just for making miko join another chat channel she does wear her magic mask and goes looking exactly like Burt Reynolds. Abel arrives with a motorcycle helmet on his head and wearing his usual heavy overcoat. It looks like he had just gotten off a motorcycle that doesn't actually exist and hasn't bothered to take off the helmet. He had a duffelbag slung back over his shoulder. He gives the passphrase, steps inside and gives a polite bow of his head to the Johnson before taking a seat at the table. Sadly, there is no runner signal. Unless a text message from your favorite fixer counts. Deciding to see what's up, Lost shows up in her normal street clothes, gives the passphrase to the doorman and steps inside. Quickly scanning the room, she notes the J, gives him a nod in greeting as well as a professional smile before taking a seat at the table as well. Both Abel and Miko get nods of greeting as well before she turns her attention more fully on the undoubtedly unscrupulous figure of the J. The Johnson - as each person enters and bows - does not move, or twitch. Wearing a traditional (and by traditional we mean 'saw it on a trid-vid about ancient jap traditions and decided it was appropriate) komono, with a large bascinet (Straw hat) covering his head and most of his face. Keeping him in MYSTERIOUS SHADOWS OOO. That or it makes him look itchy. And why do we think the Johnson is a 'he'? Because 'he' begins talking shortly afterwards, once more not moving an iota as he does. "Greetings. My time is short, and so is that of my client, so I will be brief. There is a particular animal, one may refer to it as a 'pet', that my client has 'misplaced' recently. Do to circumstances I will not get into until I have a commitment of task, we cannot turn to the usual venues to locate this animal. In return for assistance in this minor task.." A pause. ".. we are willing to disclose a temporary account number containing one hundred thousand nuyen. To be split as you four deem." Miko watches the meet go down 25k seems fine "Does this pet have a name? And is it bipedal and classify as human?" The Johnson pauses for a moment as Miko asks her question. And, once more remaining perfectly still, speaks to answer it. "There are currently no listed nations that classify my client's missing animal as 'human', or any meta variant there-of." It finally answers. "Does this pet require tranq-darts?" Scurry asks, his tone frank. He crosses his arms while considering The Johnson. Abel just nods his head a little bit. "Find and return a missing animal, very likely stolen and in the hands of some scary people, hrm?" He watches the Johnson closely as he says this, perhaps looking for a tell. "Sure. I'm in. Lost seems to think the vaguely familiar, mustachio'd man has asked a good question, as has Scurry. She decides to add one, "Is there anyone else looking for this 'pet', by any chance? Or is likely that this 'pet' may be discovered by a third party before we can track it down?" «Plot» Abel says, "Perception test to catch any change in body language." «Plot» Turk says, "Roll 'em, with any mods." «Auto-Judge[]» Abel (#13016) rolls Intelligence for "Low Light, Optical Mag": 1 2 3 4 4 4 «Auto-Judge[]» Abel (#13016) rolls Intelligence for "Low Light, Optical Mag 1/9kp": 3 4 5 5 9 10 To Scurry, the first answer comes. "My client insists that the animal - this specific individual animal - be brought back alive and in good health. This is vital to the pay-out. Whether that requires tranq-darts, I leave to your discretion. To Abel: "I am unable to disclose any specific information regarding my client's animal until I have a committment to the task. But your acquiescence is noted; I await the others." Finally, to Lost: ".. I am unable to disclose any specific information regarding my client's animal until I have a committment to the task, or all disintested parties depart." You paged Abel with 'As the Johnson speaks, you hunt for any clues as to body language; You get nothing. Not that you're failing to pick it up, there's -no motion-. Not even a shoulder shift to indicate breathing.'. "Oh, cool. Drone Johnson." Abel says with a hidden smirk behind his helmet. "I'm in." Lost sighs, a bit nonplussed. She looks off at nothing in particular for a moment, then crosses her arms and turns her attention back to the J, "Very well, I'm in." «Auto-Judge[]» Miko (#4425) rolls Intelligence for "all vision mods except ultrasound sorry for th wait": 2 2 4 5 9 9 You paged Miko with 'As the Johnson speaks, you hunt for any clues as to body language; You get nothing. Not that you're failing to pick it up, there's -no motion-. Not even a shoulder shift to indicate breathing.'. Miko shrugs "Fine ill help." "I'm in," Scurry says. here is a longer pause after every one agrees - and after Abel calls him a 'Drone Johnson'. There is a faint whirring, and the head tilts up. Faintly glowing optics peer out from beneath the straw hat, and above a high-priced voice modulator where a normal mouth would be. ".. I appreciate the acquiescence to my task." The Astin Jeeves model begins, before it lifts a mechanical grip-pad from the floor under the table and places a holo-deck for all to see. Which flickers to life - showing a Devil Rat. Yes, a devil rat. With a pretty pink bow on the tail. As if to remind the runners to maintain a professional demenaor, a '100K Nuyen Reward' flashes at the bottom beneath the bio-tag data and the name. "Muffins was my client's cherished household pet, raised from birth. Unfortunately, a falling out with her current father has meant a forced seperation. And potential relocation to.. unsavory places." A pause. "My client is not pleased by this, but cannot utilize any of her father's men. And the police are needlessly rude about attempts to prod some response, even for nuyen." Miko watches the johnson like hes abit odd but she doesnt comment really. Not her business what wierdness they get up to. "Muffins? Do you have an image and a location?" "That's the image," Scurry says to Miko. And to the man, he asks: "So… What exactly is a devil rat?" Abel looks down at the image of the rat on the holo-deck. He pulls out his poc-sec and plugs it into the imaging device, doing a quick download of the information displayed. "It is a dual natured being. Very, very big rat. They can be nasty, though this one might have a better temperament if it was domesticated." Miko quirks a brow "Well I guess were going to need a cage of some sort to catch the stupid thing." It's hard to say what Lost finds most surprising: That the Johnson is a robot, that the client's pet is a devil rat, or that said rat is affectionately named 'Muffins'. After blinking a few times, she manages to process this information before, "So… sounds like a wild goose chase. Or, more appropriately, a domesticated devil rat chase." Looking over to Scurry, she tilts her head a bit, "Annoying paracritters. Not all that dangerous on their own, but swarms of 'em can be nasty. They're like…" As Abel gives a good definition of the creature, she merely nods and points in his direction, "What he said." Looking to Miko/Burt Reynolds, she shrugs, "Cage could work, or tranq darts or something. Obviously we wanna capture the thing without hurting it. But…" Looking back to the J, she grins, "Any idea of its location would be helpful. Otherwise, slogging through alleys and sewers looking for a specific devil rat is going to be… time-consuming, to say the least." Jeeves the Johnson turns that unblinking, glowing gaze towards Scurry for a moment. There is a faint click, and a faintly feminine voice sounds out with bored tedium. "Rattus Norvegicus Supremis. Common name: Devil rat. A nocturnal awakened cousin of the common house hold rat, the 'Devil Rat' can grow up to a meter in length and weigh as much as four kilograms. They are often found hunting in packs up to thirty individuals. A prolific breeding rate, combined with innate immunity to most poisons, places them at the top most common problem of large metropolitan areas. See: Unnatural Death." Click, back to 'his' normal voice. And then it focuses on all four again. "Yes. I have three potential drop off points that my client's pet may have been removed too by her father's men. Of them all, the worse would be the street; Muffins is domesticated, and while sharing an innate temper of the species, does not know how to feed itself in the wild." A faint click, and a disk is ejected from the Johnson's chest. It takes this, and places it on the table. And then another, and another, and another, until four chip disks are laid out. "Muffins has an surgically modified spine, with built-in RFID identifier, in the event of escape by natural means. The RFID is taggable from within twenty meters, and will assist in pinpointing the location should you come close enough to read it." "If I may ask, who are her father's men?" Scurry asks, his tone polite but extremely suspicious. Abel takes the chip and inserts it into his pocsec before putting it in his pocket. Before the Johnson responds Abel says, "Scurry, not polite to try and get information about our employers unless it is directly relevant." That helmet looks back to the Johnson. "Where are the drop-off points, and where should we bring Muffins after capture?" "I didn't ask for names," Scurry murmurs. "But group or identity affiliation. That's simple common sense, Abel. Consider which gang we may be pissing off." "Twenty meters…" Lost muses, a bit crestfallen. After a quiet moment in thought, she brightens back up. "Better than nothing at least." She glances between Abel and Scurry briefly before looking back to the robot J. "Well, if you could give us the locations… I could be wrong, but it doesn't seem like there's much else for us to do but start searching." She grabs one of the disks and pops it into her own PocSec in preparation. Miko takes the chip and slots it to her pocsec and considers plans "We could talk to the KE and see if there have been devil rat sightings. or animal control." Abel chimes in quickly, "And just in case, is there any way we could get some fur or dropping samples? It would be of use if we could home in on Muffins magically if need be." The head turns to point towards Scurry, optics dimming slightly. "That data is not necessary to the task." It states firmly, after Abel speaks. It then adds, "Needless to say, they are devoted to my client's father, as they were to his brother before him. They will have performed what was asked of them admirably." The head swings to Lost, now, and another pause as the Pilot sifts for appropriate responses. "This is correct." It begins. "All three locations, plus edited internal footage of the event, are available on the disk. I have included gene-tags, bio-tags, and the RFID frequency. Included is also an account number; The account itself is for you to verify the money, but it is locked until completetion of task." Head turns, towards Abel. Pause. "… It may be possible. But it will take some time, during my cleaning cycle." «Auto-Judge[]» Scurry (#1304) rolls Intelligence for "Devoted to his brother before him? What does that mean?": 1 1 1 2 2 7 You paged Scurry with 'Got anything for criminal orgs?'. From afar, Scurry has… Etiquette, smuggling routes :) Long distance to Scurry: Turk grins. In that case, you're pretty sure it's what it says on the tin. Brother was in charge, and now this guy is. With all the luggage that entails. Abel nods once. "We will get back to you if we need the samples. Thank you." Abel moves to stand while at the same time plugging his helmet into his pocsec, likely to go over the data and video. "Anyone with a vehicle that can hold the whole team?" Miko nods "I have an SUV outside." Lost purses her lips thoughtfully, shifting in her seat. She looks around at the rest of the group in turn before shrugging, "Guess we'd better get started, then. We've got three locations to start with, at least. Might as well hit 'em, look around. If there's anyone around, we might ask if they'd seen any lone devil rats recently. I'm not sure if the wild ones would take too readily to a domesticated one. We could cover more ground if we split up, of course, but… might be more prudent to stick together. I don't know if we should involve law enforcement, but… talking to someone with Animal Control might be worth a shot." Scurry nods to Lost, and rises to follow Abel. "I somehow have a feeling that Animal Control would prefer to kill a rat than save it," Scurry says, looking regretful. "I'm more concerned with alerting Muffins' guardians." As the team gets ready to depart, the Jeeves Johnson finally stands to its full height. Which is roughly the same as a normal asian male; Grip pads split and - with slow, deliberate but curiously adept motions - ties the komono a bit tighter about itself to hide the metal chasis. And then pulls the straw hat further down, quietly moving to exit the room and leave the Runners to their plan. On exiting, they'll find the asian 'guard' outside gone as well. Info Drop: On the chip are all sorts of ways to verify Muffins is really Muffins. Bio-tags for the various 'thumb prints', such as tongue signs, ear markings, fur, etcetera. Gene-tags, for blood samples/skin samples. And a freqency marker for the RFID transmitter itself. There are also tri-v still images. A small girl (Face and identifying markers purposefully obscured) petting an ugly, wrinkled little monster of a devil rat that constantly seems to sneer. Feeding it crackers, rocking it, and then a still frame of her laughing as it latches onto some bodyguard's face. Video of the abduction: Same girl, older now, yelling and screaming as she's held back. Another man barking orders in japanese, as three others wrestle to contain the oversized Muffins. All from POV, likely Jeeves. All identifying markers removed. Video feed from a security camera, three vehicles leaving in three different directions. And then the locations themselves, via GPS and when teh vehicles slowed before turning back. A spot in the Warrens near the Dungeon, in Aztec near a science lab, and an unmarked spot up in Sioux territory. Miko quirks a brow at the videos and the spots mentioned "Lovely. Someone else can take azzie territory, Ill handle the sioux spot." Abel: "Alright then, old man. Bring up your SUV and we can get moving. I'm looking over the details now… Looks like there is a decent spread on the drop off points." Abel glances to Miko and says patiently, "Look old man, splitting up is never a good idea, and you are the one with the ride." He looks to everyone else and says, "I say we hit them in order. Go into the warrens, check out that place. Cut through the CAS into Aztlan and then head North into Sioux. Might want to loop around the FTZ. Security there is always annoyingly high, especially if anyone is packing any heat. Or we can drive up and hit Sioux first and head South from there. Hitting all three in a line is definately best. Splitting up just doesn't seem great. Wherever we go, I can turn into a crow and give the areas a bit of a fly-by and just hold the pocsec in my talons. I can cover a lot of ground quickly doing that, and check places that a vehicle wouldn't be within twenty meters of."" «Auto-Judge[]» Turk (#9565) rolls 1 for "Eenie Meenie Minie Moe, Take The Result And Divide By Deux": 1 «NOTE FOR LOG: Rat was dropped off at the warrens, and picked up by a fighting den.» "Oy vey," Scurry says, sitting in the back. "I hate the Warrens." "As someone who was born and raised in the warrens? Mee too. Suck it up, princess. Off we go." And the gang all pilled into the SUV to go to the Warrens, with Miko driving. The Scooby Gang putters off for the Warrens, soon leaving the clean (TOO clean) asian district behind. Time rolls like the buildings, from soaring megaliths to tall buildings to squat, stained slightly big shells - and then worse. The passage to the Warrens through the CAS checkpoint is fairly straight forward, since it's people coming the otherway that law enforcement will usually frown on. Still, the way is porous. The GPS locale given to the four pointed to the street just near the Dungeon - that is, a BDSM themed bar with more tits and bits than you can shake your money stick at. Lots of chains, lots of leather, but that's downstairs. Upstairs? It's a form of purgatory, with short lived lives and shorter tempers, homeless vagrants huddled near a bin fire with the occasional shrouded figure scurrying. No one wants to be in the open street for too long; AFter all, it's not uncommon to be gunned down for a fancy pair of sneakers. With lightning quick reflexes, Lost called shotgun upon sight of Miko's SUV. Well, she didn't call it so much as bolt toward the passenger side door. Either way, she's riding in the front, drumming her fingers on the nearest convenient surface. When the gang rolls up near the Dungeon, she glances around to get a feel of the area from the street level. She turns toward the back, looking briefly between Abel and Scurry, "Alright then. So you're gonna scan the area as a crow, yeah? How are we gonna communicate with you while you're flying around?" Abel begins undressing in the back seat as they get closer to the BDSM club. It takes a little bit to wiggle out of everything in the cramped space. Soon he was in nothing but a skin-tight bodysuit. That was coming fof next, it seemed. Abel was going to be very nude, very quickly. "Alright, I'm going to get a bird's eye view." And then, he was naked and completely apathetic to it. "If I find Muffin I'll fly over then lead you to her. If you find her first, just send me a text and I'll come to you." And after passing out his number he takes a moment to center himself, and if nobody stops him he will begin chanting softly in Latin. "Watch out for drones and planes, studmuffin," Scurry deadpans as Abel undresses. "And hurry back. This place is terrible." When he finally does give Abel a once-over, he adds: "And for god's sake, cut your toenails. That's disgusting." [Plot Room 1] Scooby Abel says, "Good sir, I do take offense to your powerposing comments on Abel's hygene!" «Auto-Judge[]» Abel (#13016) rolls Fashion: 2 5 [Plot Room 1] Scooby Abel says, "See? Totally showered at /least/ yesterday!" «Auto-Judge[]» Turk (#9565) rolls Conspiracy Theories: 2 5 7 16 [Plot Room 1] The Barnyard Haunt! Turk says, "OR DID YOU?!" Lost doesn't really look, "Good luck!" She says, rather a bit more cheerily, particularly in contrast to Scurry's deadpan tone. Looking to Scurry, she shrugs, "So, I guess we'll cruise around the area and see what's up while bird boy does his thing, yeah?" «Auto-Judge[]» Abel (#13016) rolls Centering vs TN 4: 3 3 = 0 Successes «Auto-Judge[]» Abel (#13016) rolls Sorcery + Sorcery Pool: 3 vs TN 4 for "F3. 0+3(difference in body)=3tn. +1 bg is 4": 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 5 5 = 5 Successes «Auto-Judge[]» Abel (#13016) rolls Willpower + Sorcery Pool: 3 vs TN 4 for "soaking M": 1 1 1 2 3 3 4 5 5 11 = 4 Successes «Plot» Abel says, "Full soak. Abel is now a crow." «Plot» Turk says, "Swallowed it easily." «Plot» Turk says, "Also. I need to know how high you'll be flitting with that PocSec, Abel. :D" Abel just gives a glance to Scurry before his entire body shrinks in on itself. In a blink, there was a fairly large crow hopping about on the seat, moving to grab the pocsec between it's talons, making sure the screen faced upwards. It would ruffle it's wings a bit while looking at Scurry. "Doooohhr!" While holding the bird's gaze with one that is extremely nonplussed, Scurry lifts a finger to push the "down" key on the window. «Plot» Abel says, "About 5-10m up." «Plot» Turk says, " ; nods. so well within a stone's throw for a crow with meat on the bones flying over a hungry Warrens. ;D" «Plot» Turk says, "Right. Toss me some perceptions, then, since you'll be keeping an eye out. Fast cruising or slow cruising?" «Plot» Lost says, "Are we assuming Miko is our chaffeur? Otherwise I guess I will take the wheel with my mighty 1 in Car. XD" circles'? «Plot» Turk says, "And Abel, any particular pattern to your flight, or just 'circles'?" «Plot» Abel says, "And is moving at about 15mph. :D But it will be more of a grid-based search in an outwards spiral starting at the BDSM club." «Plot» Turk nods. Perception checks for Lost and Scurry, por favor. And for Abel as well. Open. «Auto-Judge[]» Scurry (#1304) rolls Intelligence: 1 2 2 2 3 4 "Stay away from cats!" Lost calls out helpfully as the crow that is Abel flies away. Turning toward Burt Reynolds/Miko, "Alright, let's scan the streets. I don't know how good the GPS maps of streets in the Warrens are gonna be, so… landmarks. We'll try and scan as best as we can." With a bit of a nod, she looks to Scurry, "You look out the driver's side, I'll look out this side." That said, she faces the passenger side window and gazes out at the urban scene that stretches in front of her intently. «Auto-Judge[]» Lost (#4658) rolls Intelligence: 2 2 4 4 4 5 "My god this place is ugly," Scurry says, wrinkling his nose. "Who in their right mind keeps a rat for a pet? And is willing to pay this much money to have it back?" He glances to Lost for a moment before reassuming his observation. "I wonder what happens to be so special about the rat that a hundred grand is being placed on the line." The corvid hops a few times before flying out the window, perhaps accidentally hitting Scurry in the face, because that isn't a whole lot of room to take off in. He eventually does get airborne, however and begins a rapid search of the area, flying as fast as those little wings could take him as he began the search pattern. "I don't think there's anything special about the devil rat itself…" Lost says, a bit absent mindedly as she stares out the window, not seeing anything all that promising. Not much out there in the Warrens than, you know, despair and misery. Most places at least. There's hobos and barrel fires… not much worse than that. "I think it's the owner. I'm getting a sense that organized crime is involved here. From the info we were given, it looks like the rat is the pet of some budding young sadist, who herself is the offspring of some bigwig." She shrugs, "At least, that's what it seems like to me. Only child, if I had to guess. Heir apparent and all that. I dunno, maybe I'm seeing things that aren't there." Who'd keep a rat for a pet? A bit like asking 'who in their right mind would pay for bio-sculpt surgery to look like an anthromorphic fox'? The subcultures exist, my friends. As Miko cruises the streets with Lost and Scurry keeping a lookout, there isn't much to see. Mission Hills - to be honest - isn't the WORSE place in the Rens. No, there are far more dangerous places to be. Point of fact, money can be made here and there for those willing to barter in flesh or a cheap roof over the head. Still, it's cluttered with the refuse of humanity - and as the SUV turns a corner for one more pass, Lost just -happens- to spot it. And only because of the bright, out of place color; A pink ribbon, tied about the shopping cart of a wandering, muttering lunatic as she totters about her way. Everything else about her is the color mud or mold, save this bright, brand new ribbon. Abel will be flying for a bit in his search pattern, zipping between street lamps. His low flight does give the occasional startled glance from above, but - for the moment - no one takes a potshot at him. It's just south of his starting position, in fact - near Shenandoh - that the first weak 'blip' occurs. Only for a split second, the signal either being blocked or behind lots of solid material. Considering a simple transceiver can crank up to two hundred and fifty meters on flux zero, the RFID is probably not designed to penetrate. "I do the same thing," Scurry murmurs, his eyes on the streets. "Psychoanalysis is its own survival strategy. What struck me was the lack of decal on the rat except for the bow. Pets of the rich and famous are usually, you know, bedazzled in some way." He glances to the controls before looking out gain. "I was actually expecting some sort of giant Frankenstein monster." "Well, I don't know how many people keep devil rats as pets. That might have been enough of a distinguishing mark for our client, I suppose." Lost replies with a shrug. "Some kind of weird, stitched together thing would certainly be a… recognizable pet though." Blinking, she has to do a double take before pointing, "Look! There!" After calling attention to the ribbon on the poor street crazy's cart, she looks to the disguised driver, "Find somewhere to park nearby." Looking back to Scurry, "Might as well try and ask her where she found the ribbon." "Why don't we just pull up alongside her and talk to her through the safety of the window?" Scurry asks. "That would be a lot safer." "That's… a better idea. We'll do that." Lost replies, nodding to Scurry with a grin. She nods toward the driver and then rolls down the window. Abel does a wide bank to sweep back around to the blip he had gotten and doing some fly-bys to ocnfirm and maybe triangulate positions a little bit. The signal is weak, inconsistent, but definitely somewhere in the area. The problem is that it keeps going in and out; Where it shows in one pass, it may not show in a different pass on the same spot. At the very least, however, Abel has narrowed his one hundred thousand nuyen quarry down to a single street. The path between Mission Hills and Shenadoah runs against the walled off back of the CAS; Sewer drop off on one side, wrecks, ruins, and business of sin clinging like a barnacle on the other. The signal itself seems to be more towards the buildings than the sewer drop off. Which may or may not be a good thing. when the window rolls down, the crazy lady - doesn't seem to notice. Humming a little ditty to herself and occasionally murmuring syllables that mean nothing. As the SUV rolls up along side Crazy Lady, as she's unofficially been christened, Lost puts on her friendliest smile and calls out to the woman, "Excuse me?" She begins, "I was wondering where you got that ribbon? A friend of mine has a pet that wears one just like it, and… well, she's gone missing." Lost apparently decided it would be best to go with, at least, a /mostly/ sincere approach. "We'll give you a hundred nuYen," Scurry says, raising his voice to be heard. Scurry glances at Lost and shrugs, looking apologetic. Abel veers away and takes flight higher and higher, on the search for an expensively out of place SUV that would be cruising around. Once spotted the teen-turned-corvid would swoop down towards the vehicle and do the super fun thing and land on Lost's door. It would be a happy caw before giving a little hop into her lap before hopping it's way into the backseat. Crazy Lady McGee - now her unofficial name by decree - pauses her low voiced, sing song tirade to herself to look slightly above and to the left of Lost's face. And then swing to focus on Scurry, again slightly above and to the left. It's a bit disconcerting, as one never knows if she's talking to the thin air. "Oh, Carlisle, you'll never guess it!" She slurrs, through a mouth full of rotten teeth and cheap soyhol. "I found princess! Oh, she's so lovely, she is, my loverly princess. She brought mumsy home a ribbon." And then her face crumples like paper into crazy tears. "But they took her, sweetums! They took her!" And then? Someone mentions money. That sharpens the old broad's eyes up like nothing else, snapping out of their reverie as she licks old lips. "One hundred, Carl? One hundred? And we don't have to bend over?" And then there's a bird in the window. Shriek! "S'bad luck! S'bad luck!!" The crow suddenly landing in her lap puts Lost off her stride a bit. Although looking directly at the poor woman is off putting enough. In any case, Lost shifts in her seat, momentarily uncomfortable before nodding to the woman, working out exactly what it is she's saying. The woman's wildly shifting emotional state makes it difficult to pick an appropriate response, "Can you tell us where they took Princess? Or who took her?" The way she asks the question, she doesn't seem as if she's expecting a coherent response. "Two hundred if you tell us specifically who, and when," Scurry says, immediately after Lost speaks. "And you don't even have to bend over, but you do have to promise to stand right there and not move while you tell us. Simon says," Scurry says, tilting his head and arching his brow as if to impress upon Crazy Lady McGee the importance of this clause. Once Abel has made his way into the backseat, the black bird turns into a very naked teenager. "I got a hit over on between Mission Hills and Shenadoah." Though Scurry speaks fluent Crazy, Abel seems to live it. He begins trying to wriggle into his skintight bodysuit. "Signal was pretty faint, mind you." "Oh, princess, princess." Sings songs Crazy Lady McGee as she croons to herself, releasing her hold on her cart to dry wash her hands. "Coosh coosh, where are you sweetums?" She rocks a bit closer - and quite suddenly, one can see a crafty look cross her features as she glances left and right down the street. Lips splitting into a right naughty smile as she peeks towards the back of the expensive SUV, and a shapeshifting pretty boy. Her voice is no longer so sing-song, and Not-So-Crazy-Lady-McGee cackles softly. "I knew she was an odd sight, that little bitch of a rat. Out in broad daylight, snuffling for handouts and clawing the beggars. A few crackers calmed her right down." The quite suddenly sharp gaze focuses on Scurry. "Oh, two hundred is she? Is she worth anymore? That's an expensive pest you've gotten hold of." «Plot» Abel says, "I'm going to Assense her." «Auto-Judge[]» Abel (#13016) rolls Aura Reading vs TN 4: 3 3 5 = 1 Success «Auto-Judge[]» Abel (#13016) rolls Intelligence vs TN 4: 1 1 3 4 4 9 = 3 Successes You paged Abel with 'She's awakened. It's weak - her spirit's been drained by the poisons, toxins, and drugs she's swallowed, but it's there. She's a lot weaker than you in terms of raw magical strength. There are no implants, but she has quite a few minor cancers beginning to grow in her waters and along her stomach - She is, in essence, a perfect specimen of everything that can go wrong in the Rens.'. As the crazy act is shed, Lost seems a bit sheepish, perhaps a bit disappointed in herself for having bought the act without much questioning. "It might be worth more…" She begins noncomittally, "If you're able to tell us something that would…" She glances at the ribbon tied on Not-So-Crazy-Lady McGee's cat briefly before smiling at the woman, "Practically deliver her to us with a bow on, that'd be worth more, now wouldn't it?" Abel halts in his putting on of clothes to roll down his own window so he can get a good long look at the older woman, looking her over from head to toe. "Hey there. No trouble, yeah? Just takin' the cash and we go get our rat. Some bitch has a pet and we are just picking it up, ya know?" He lets himself fall into his slum-rat voice. He didn't need to fake it. "I know you nearly burned out. I can feel your magic. I feel you, Ah do. Living in this hole ain't good for no mage. So let's talk some shop, yo? Whatchya want for the info?" «Plot» Turk says, "TN's 4, BTW" — In regards to Influence target. «Auto-Judge[]» Scurry (#1304) rolls Sorcery + 4 vs TN 5: 2 3 3 4 4 4 4 5 9 10 = 3 Successes «Auto-Judge[]» Scurry (#1304) rolls Willpower + 2 vs TN 6: 1 2 2 3 4 8 8 11 = 3 Successes «Plot» Turk says, "Sorcery spell drains are half the force." «Plot» Turk says, "Still, that's five successes. Light." «Auto-Judge[]» Turk (#9565) rolls 4 vs TN 6 for "Magic Defense 1, needs one success to break the Influence hold.": 1 2 3 5 = 0 Successes "Madam!" Scurry says, looking shocked. "This is a poor, young creature clearly too beautiful for these mean streets. We are helping her because nothing so vulnerable should be left to such danger. Now don't tell me you don't want to help save this poor pet out of the goodness of your heart. Simon says," Scurry says, crossing his arms and frowning. Lady McGee smiles that nasty, black toothed smile at Lost. "She might just be, sweetie pie. Why don't you let me see what you're plucking at, and I'll see how much of it belongs to me?" It's the Warrens. Even the innocent old ladies are dangerous, to some degree - otherwise, they'd be dead. When Abel launches into his act, the sharp eyed old crone narrows her gaze, and puckers her lips to the talk. Finally, she murmurs. "Just give me the money and let me finish it, drek head. I just want to sleep for a while.." And then the attack comes from the unexpected direction - Scurry! He can feel his spell start to slip off a fluttering defense - but she's been burned for a long, long time, and barely has anything more than a spark left. It slides across her mind, her sharp eyes suddenly going dull once more. And it's not an act this time. "Oh.. oh, yes… took her to the fighting pits, with the dogs.. she's a big one, and fierce.. except for crackers. I don't.. know why but.. they.. should get a good.. show.. out of her…" «Auto-Judge[]» Abel (#13016) rolls Intelligence vs TN 4: 3 4 5 5 9 11 = 5 Successes Lost resists the urge to shudder at the poor state of the woman's dental hygiene. She's about ready to form some kind of response, but as the old woman's eyes go dull and she tells the gang what they want to know. Pursing her lips briefly, she glances between Abel and Scurry and just gives a shrug, "That works too, I guess. So. Better find Muffins before she's dogmeat, then. Lovely." Abel slowly turns his head to look at Scurry, raising his eyebrows a little bit at his use of magic on this poor old defenseless woman. He turns back to her quickly enough. "You know which building that's in?" He was digging into his duffel for an empty credstick, which he loads some money on. "Then we can get out of your hair and you can go get some sleep." Scurry merely nods at this revelation, seemingly unsurprised. He remains quiet while Abel asks his own questions. The woman's eyes clear up as the influence fades away, having given away the information she was holding for free. She then reaches up to faintly rub at her forehead, before glaring daggers at the whole Scooby crew. A hork and she literally -spits- through the SUV window. Before turning to push her cart off, stomping along. Before remembering to slow down and hum harmless little crazy ditties to herself. Apparently, Awakened folks - even burn outs - don't like having their brains scrambled. «Plot» Scurry says, "The spell description for Influence says that the suggestion is forgotten, as it is perceived to be the target's own idea." «Plot» Turk nods. Also true, but she had her magic defense up. She felt the spell coming. «Note for Log: To keep it fair, we decided to roll to see if she noticed the casting and could put 2 and 2 together for her 'own idea' to do things 'for the good of a rat'.» «Auto-Judge[]» Turk (#9565) rolls 4 vs TN 4 for "Here's to you, Misses Robinso-err, McGee": 1 2 4 11 = 2 Successes [Plot Room 1] The Barnyard Haunt! Turk nods. H'okay, plot stays. If felt like her own idea to do something for no nuyen, until she put 2 and 2 together between the crash of her magical defense and noticing the casting. [Plot Room 1] Scurry says, "Goodgood." Lost does her best to get out of the way of the crazy lady's loogey as it comes hurtling in through the window. "Charming…" She says… but then thinks about it a bit, "Though, I might be a bit pissed if I were her, too. So…" She shrugs, "Well at least we're not quite looking for a needle in a haystack anymore…" Turning, she glances toward Abel, "Don't suppose you know anyone in the 'Rens who might know where dog fights might be?" Abel holds the credstick with a thousand nuyen in it when a wad of old lady spit hits him in the face. Who knows exactly how many diseases were now dribbling from him. "Thank you, Scurry. Thanks a lot." Abel did not seem overwhelmingly happy with the elf. "Just… Just drive, old man. Just… Just drive." He goes about grabbing the t-shirt he had been wearing earlier to wipe off his face before jamming it into his duffelbag. He gets back fully dressed. "We can figure out where the dog fights are when we get to the road it's on. Shouldn't be too difficult at that point." "Abel, if the money is worth something to /us/, she would take your money and then run down and sell it," Scurry says, offering Abel a tissue. "And as pitiable as she looks, she's probably more desperate than we are most of the time." «Auto-Judge[]» Abel (#13016) has the Contact Lady with the following information: -----> Contact for Abel (#13016) <----- Contact Name: Lady Level: 2 Type: joygirl GM Note: Lady is an Elven Madam that works her trade primarily in the Warrens and the UCAS, but has prostitutes all over the city. She is flirty, beautiful and fun and sinless. She willing to part with secrets to Abel for the right price, using her girls and trade to find out dirty secrets from all over Denver. He has worked with her directly in the past, and has even helped push potential high-profile clients her way with a bit of magical Influence. They have spent time together, and have worked up a close friendship. GM Note: Etiquette 2 (Street 4), Negotiation 3, Stealth 3, Sexual Techniques 5, City Knowledge 4, Current Events 5 Abel says "We need to stop and get some crackers, too." "Ooh, good idea. There's gotta be a stuffer shack around her somewhere, right?" Lost replies, glancing around out the windows, "Let's hit one up on the way. That should help to placate Muffins. Might even be able to get her into the car without anyone getting bitten." "Yes, but how do we get her from the people who have already put money on her in tonight's fights?" Scurry asks, turning to ask Lost. "That is really my main concern at this point. I've never been to a rat fight, but security has to be pretty tight, right? Abel?" «Plot» Turk says, "TN 2. She's friendly, it doesn't put her off, and the nominal TN was 4." «Auto-Judge[]» Abel (#13016) rolls Etiquette vs TN 2: 3 5 5 = 3 Successes «Plot» Turk says, "Etiquette to sweet talk her." You paged Abel with 'The Lady is happy to hear from you again, although slightly 'distracted' for one reason or another. Still, she's willing to do the favor, and lets you know of a few clients of her girls. And her boys. They tend to hang around a new fight spot just south of mission hills, trying to get a little 'grunge' before heading back to the rich parts of Denver. There's a lot of money involved. A LOT. She then gives you the address.'. You paged Abel with 'My friend, you are about to be admist the GorePorn hounds who want to see things die for entertainment.'. At some point, while the gang makes a stop to get some crackers Abel pulls out his pocsec and hits 1 on his speed dial. His voice is soft as he begins talking to whomever is on the other end. "Hey girl. Yeah it's me. Yeah, I miss you too, love." A bit of quiet as he nods his head, despite being on the phone. "No, sure. Tomorrow evening sounds great, I could use a bit of destress time. Anyway, I'm doing a thing right now. You know of any dog fighting bullshit going on between Mission Hills and- yeah, Shenadoah. You know of it?" And then the teen si quiet for a fairly long moment. "You are awesome. Yeah, you know it. Yeah, I'll get back to you in a few hours. Yup. Yes I am. Oh, I'm sure it won't be pretty. Alright. Take care, and tell Ronnie I said hi. Bye." And he hangs up. "Alright kiddies, I got the address. Lotsa bigwigs coming to see some blood and gore and throwing lots of money around to see it. Most likely some decent security." "I'd say wait until the fight is over so no one has their money messed with. But… we can't really take the chance that Muffins loses. So." Lost sighs, pursing her lips thoughtfully before nodding to Scurry, "That is the problem. Getting a rat out of a dogfight without anyone taking exception." As Abel finishes his phone call, she grins, "Well. Now we know where we're going. We have a general idea of what we might find there. How do we get in and out with the rat without becoming dogmeat ourselves?" "Some well tossed mental spells from me and Scurry might help us get inside, if cash doesn't." Says Abel, "We get inside, say we are looking to buy. Buy the rat. If that doesn't go well? Then we are suddenly doing a smash-and-grab. Play it by ear. Maybe light the place on fire and grab the rat while the place evacuates?" "This was a punishment," Scurry says slowly, clearly considering some distant thought. "The rat was taken by its owners' father. So I think, tonight, the very purpose is to lose. I do not think Muffins is going to be up for sale, and any attempt to buy may very well alert security that there are runners on hand." "Hmm… if that's the case… Muffins is meant to lose." Lost replies, looking a big crestfallen, "Which means we gotta get her out of there before the fight starts, or break it up and bust out of there as quickly as possible." With a quick glance around, she shifts uncomfortably in her seat, "I don't like our odds if it comes to a fight. So it might be better to try and opt for a distraction." "Fire is always a good distraction," Abel chimes in. "We can always crash the SUV into one of the walls. That would be a good distraction." And after being no doubt told off by the old man says, "Any other suggestions? Cause my idea now is try to buy her." "I think the father wants Muffins dead," Scurry says in a flat tone. "I sincerely doubt she is going to be for sale, and the Johnson said nothing about covering our costs. If we buy her, we could very well end up spending more than this venture is worth." Lost seems to agree with Scurry on the subject of buying the rat, "Yeah, I don't think that's going to work. Crashing the SUV is likely right out…" She notes after a glance of confirmation toward the driver, "If we weren't in the Warrens, might be worth a shot to call law enforcement, try and make off with the rat in the confusion. So… that leaves fire. If there were a more subtle option, I'd be all for it, but I can't think of anything…" "Stupid, yet fun idea… I set the rat on fire and give her magical armor and she fights her way to freedom?" The teen was grinning a bit, but shrugged his shoulders. "But yeah, I think a smash-and-grab is becoming our best bet. Need a really, really good distraction though." He looks between the two, and when Lost also agrees on fire he nods once. "So, how do we set the place on fire? I mean… I can set myself on fire. I can also turn into a rat. Sneak in someplace nice and flammable and just… Hang out there." "If we light a fire, how will we know where the dogs are, where Muffins is bein gheld, and how to get there?" Scurry asks. "I don't want to run into a burning building without a layout. Wouldn't it be a lot easier to drop a rumor that the fight of the night is fixed?" Scurry looks between Lost and Abel. "Right?" He spreads his hands as if pleading. "That would be a pleasant way to start chaos, distract some people, and then get the rat." Lost blinks at Scurry, "All good points. Jeez and I was just about to go for it too. Calling on a fire elemental should give us a fire no problem if we need one. So, that can be a fall back option, if nothing else." It's her turn to hatch a sort of scheme, "I like that idea, though. If we can get people riled up to start with, a well placed spell might send the place into chaos… but chaos we can work with. As for scouting the place out, we can do it astrally, of course if there are any mages amongst them, that could be an issue." Abel looks thoughtful. "That could work. Go inside, get the thought in people's heads. Maybe try to start a bit of a riot if you think you can get people angry enough. The elemenal could definately help, too." He rubs at his chin. "We can scout the place out pretty decently by just going in, though astrally checking the place out is always a plan." DATELINE, WARRENS! Where our intrepid quadruple have tracked the rascallion Muffins to a street just south of Mission Hills, along the CAS border wall towards Shenadoah. A combination of luck, a bird with a pocsec, a madame prostitude and a not-so-crazy old lady with a spitting problem have helped narrow the confined location down to a single, inexplicably sticky situation - Muffins the Devil Rat is on for a dog fight to the death! Or some sort of fight or other. Money is on the line from some medium sized fish in this tiny pond, gore porn hounds who've come to see the death and wild dismemberment entertainment that only a place like the Warrens can provide. Can our heroes/villains/money hungry hooligans find a way to in? Can they save Muffins before she meets a fate as a pile of white dog doo? Can any one tell Abel to quit taking his pants off? Will the barnyard ghost be Mr. McHenry all along? Find out NOW, in the latest edition of the Scooby Do gang: Denver Adventures. Miko leans against the car "We could just have it look like they are cheating by doing it ourselves. We have someone who can do spells." "Eh…" Scurry winces. "I don't know if that is necessarily better. I mean, Muffins probably isn't even being bet upon; we would have to rig a fight before Muffins, and then in the ensuing chaos, steal Muffins." "They're pretty much already cheating," Lost replies, nodding to Scurry, "Pretty sure it's already set up that Muffins will lose. But that could work. Rig the preceeding fight, and if we're lucky that'll make enough of a ruckus for us to swoop in, grab Muffins, and get the hell out of there before anyone realizes what happened." Miko nods "That was kinda the plan." Miko looks at the others "or you could all distract the one who has muffins right now. And ill just walk in and get the thing "That means it's time to get there, scout out the locale, and put a plan into action!" Scurry says. "Let's go!" Miko nods "Point out the guy to me. I need to see him first." "Let's do it." Lost agrees, nodding, "If we spend any more time talking, we might miss the fight. And it'll be too late, then." Looking to Miko, she shrugs, "We don't know exactly who has her. Presumably she's in a cage or something inside somewhere." Miko hmms "Ok the pit boss then. You keep him busy ill handle the rest "Okay. We'll go there, we'll scout the area, and then we immediately act," Scurry says. "Although I don't have any chloral hydrate, so if we need to rig the fights, we'll need it there and then. Let's go." Miko puts on her mystery mask and transforms to look like the pit boss of the gambling den. Even her clothes and scent changes. In the mans voice "Go keep him busy. Ill get the stupid animal. Someone just needs to come with me who can stun the ugly rat." «Plot» Turk says, " Okay. So the plan is to drive over, and scout it physically?" «Plot» Turk says, "While Miko is disguising herself as a man again. I'm getting a pattern here. :D" «Auto-Judge[]» Miko (#4425)'s Daily Gear (#12185) has the Voucher Item 13 A Wooden mask with the following information: ----------—[ Shadowrun Denver ]- ===========================> Item 13 on Daily Gear <=========================== Item Name: A Wooden mask Item Type: ITEM Quantity: 1 Fractional OK: No Clonable: No Players Can Link: No Created For: Myth (#2142) Created By: Myth (#2142) IC Location: Carried -----> GM Notes for Item <-----— Jan 9 18:20 This item acts as an achored reusable foci for the spell 'Physical Mask'. Upon wearing the mask on their face the wearer may assume the phyiscal form, voice and scent of any individual they wish to imitate. (Auction Item) Jan 9 18:31 The spell is F10 The drive down towards Shenadoah from Mission Hills is relatively uneventful. The rot of the Warrens is ever present, of course; The huddled forms in darkened alleyways, the trash and refuse piled on the street corners. The occasional, ever present blam of a gun or distant echo of a screaming child. It's the drain at the bottom of a bathtub called Denver, where all the dirt and muck pile up before they get swept away forever. Which is a really fancy way of saying it sucks to be on the bottom. The place that Abel's contact had given as an address - at first - doesn't seem that special. A run-down, failed mill or warehouse or one of those big, dominating stained brick buildings that squat around denver like mushrooms on a rotting log. Whatever the sign used to say above is now washed away after years of a toxic rain bath. It faces the road between Mission Hills and Shenadoah, while on the other side is a drop-off for a sewer ditch before the CAS border wall. So parking is tenuous, at best, although there's a wide alley nearby with more than a couple of tire tracks. Around the entrance loaf more than a couple of minor gang bangers, colors muted to avoid drawing trouble off the Saints to the south. Miko takes the mask off since she doesnt know what the pit boss looks like. She just pockets it for now "Ok lets get yes on the target then we can go down and get the stupid rat." "Lead the way, Boss," Scurry says, smiling at Miko. "You're the point! Get us into the club. We're here to spend big money." Lost glances over to Miko as the mask comes off, "Oh." There's a quick moment in which she seems to work out what just happened, "Oh! That'll come in handy." She states, rather obviously, "Let's go bet on senseless animal violence, then. It'll be a real hoot." She deadpans, clearly not all that enthused with the idea. Miko sighs and puts her mask n taking the form of a middle ranked but well known ganger in denver…one she knows is in jail right now. She is suddenly a huge mexican guy "Ok you guys do the talking and ill do my best to look like a cloutish gangboss. Scurry can't help but look surprised, and then aghast, as Miko reveals herself… and then again, when she becomes an overly large Mexican gentleman. "I… Miko. That's a useful but unflattering look," he says finally. He gets out of the car and moves around to open the door for Miko. Miko shrugs "Not all forms are as perfect as my normal one I know. YOu must cry yourself to sleep every night because you dont look as good as me." Its not really sure if shes joking…then again she also sounds like a middle aged vato now the fatter man goes with his 'crew' to the door of the fight club. He just waits for lost to handle getting them in while He looks important. Lost plays along, sniffling as she appears to be fighting off the tears, "How did you /know/?" She asks, before her lips curl into a grin. Looking to Scurry, she continues, "And you never know, at a dog fight, Miko 's look may be a better one than what we're bringing to the table." Shrugging, she falls in behind Vato Miko and puts on a winning smile. Senor Montoya goes over to the door and just moves in past the doorman, important people dont wait in line. He just starts to move straight in unless the doorman decides to make something of it. He better hope hes important enough to piss off a capo though. The slouching gangers straighten up a bit when the big, expensive SUV pulls up the road. And begin looking at each other when some big fat vato strolls up with a crew of his own. There's a muttered conversation, two of the gangers slipping off to the side; The muscle. Arms crossed, or hands near guns, but never drawing. The third, meanwhile, does move to stand in front of the door. A glance at the 'big man', before his attention shifts to - Lost. He chews for a moment, before grunting. "Cover's fifty today, chummer. And you'll want to get that drek out of the sun before it gets ripped." A nod towards the expensive SUv, and a thumb flicked towards the alleyway beside the squat. «Auto-Judge[]» Scurry (#1304) rolls Intelligence: 2 3 3 5 5 11 «Auto-Judge[]» Miko (#4425) rolls Intelligence for "every kind of vision, improved hearing, improved scent, elvish awesomeness": 1 2 3 4 5 9 «Auto-Judge[]» Lost (#4658) rolls Intelligence for "Are these guys the legit door crew? Elven lowlight": 2 3 4 5 9 10 Scurry merely stares at the grunt. "We are with El Senor, and his money is already spent in tonight's fight," Scurry snaps off the words, sounding mildly annoyed. "Get the door open. We're expected." «Auto-Judge[]» Scurry (#1304) rolls Negotiation (Fast Talk): 2 3 5 5 9 You paged Miko with ''The gang bangers themselves are not of a color familiar to this area. They aren't Saints, and they aren't anything from Mission Hills. Out of area, or muscle brought in and camo'd for the work. Also, from here, you can hear the dull surrusses and the occasional raised voice of a crowd within.. With your improved hearing, you can even make out individual voices and bets being called. You can also smell blood, shit, and piss - the scents of fear.'. «Auto-Judge[]» Turk (#9565) rolls 2 vs TN 6 for "Counter": 3 4 = 0 Successes The ganger snarls at Scurry for a moment, flashing tusks - but this is just normal behavior to show he ain't taking the piss from no underling. He'll certainly take the piss from some rich guy, however. With a snort, he reaches back and hammers on the doors in a quick tempo. They are unlocked, and a wash of crowd noise spills out of the copper scented darkness within. Dull lights hanging from chains stretching far above, and the Gore Porn Hound pit awaits the three. Abel's hanging back to play chauffer, apparently, or doing something else. «Auto-Judge[]» Scurry (#1304) rolls Intelligence for "Where the hell are the cages?": 2 2 4 4 5 10 Miko just goes in past the guy ignoring the entire exchange. The whole time listening out for where the animals might be kept. He even smugly pats the doormans shoulder like well…most upper ranked smug pricks would Lost just looks vaguely bored while Scurry talks his way past the doormen. Which is easy enough. Once they're past the door, she murmurs to Scurry with a nod, "Nicely done." That said, she goes up onto her tiptoes for a slightly better vantage point, looking out over the crowd intently. «Auto-Judge[]» Lost (#4658) rolls Intelligence for "Looking for security, also astral perception.": 2 2 3 3 5 5 «Auto-Judge[]» Lost (#4658) rolls Aura Reading for "Astral perception comp.": 3 4 11 Scurry nods to the ganger. Grunts, right? Once inside, he smiles at Lost but his attention is on where things are in this new environment. You paged Lost with 'Security seems to come in the form of those same gangers, moving here and there behind the bleachers or slouching against the walls. On astral… on astral, it's a nightmare. Flashes and thunders of pain, blood lust and general agony. This is not a pleasant place to be. Small spirits, the astral equivalent of cockroaches, skitter here and there feeding on the negativity. Background count of 2.'. You paged Scurry with 'You can see stacks of cages off to the left and to the right of the main arena - there's a constant flurry of activity around them as dead animals are dragged off, cages cleaned, and new animals brought forward.'. Miko looks for the pit boss in charge and heads to the rich pricks area with the glass and the child slaves. he heads for the first guy who seems like in a suit but working there instead of relaxing "Senor? Would you be the floor boss on duty today?" «Auto-Judge[]» Scurry (#1304) rolls Intelligence for "Is there a schedule of fights for tonight? A sign, pamphlet, etc?": 3 3 3 3 5 8 You paged Scurry with 'You do spot -something- of the sort. One of the hawkers is carrying a small chalk placard as he takes bets, showing the odds; Unfortunately, most of the names are just numbers. Devil Rat 11, Devil Rat 23, Dog 45, Hez 3.. There are only a couple of actual names. One of them is Wejoto, who has a fairly high odds versus its opponent, FotrBitr'. Scurry follows Miko, but stays just far enough away to nudge someone. "Hey, who you got your money on tonight?" He asks. "The boss," he nods to indicate Miko, "He got his own plans, but I wanna spend a little cash of my own. Nyah," he adds with a wink. «Auto-Judge[]» Turk (#9565) rolls 1 vs TN 6 for "How Lucky Is Scurry?": 4 = 0 Successes Lost suppresses the urge to shudder after a quick glance around the Hound Pit. « Not a very nice place… » She notes over comms, « Looks like we've just got hired gangers for security, doesn't look like they're locals. I don't see anyone Awakened amongst them. Not the best place to do any spellcasting, though » For the time being, she sticks close to Miko and Scurry. A guy in the suit? Well, it's a cheap knockoff and makes him look like the type of guy who'd sale used cars out of his front lawn. In other words, precisely the type of scum one would expect in a hive of villainy like this. He looks over, then up, at the vato. And one can feel the oil slicking across his soul as he flashes teeth more metal and yellow than white. "That's me, chummer." He pulls a cheap flimsy out of his pocket, the screen pixelating and blitzing on occasion. "Name?" Obviously misunderstanding the intent. The man Scurry nudges, meanwhile, omfs and hangs onto his rat sausage by the tips of his fingers. He growls, but then smirks. "Hez three. Heard word it's rigged, yeah? Just put all your money on that one." He shakes his head, and begins shoving off, growling. "Jackass." Miko waves him off "Im not placing any bets until i see the goods. Your boss is usually very accomodating when my compatriots come. I would just like to see the animals so i know what to expect." Not a hugely unusual request just usually they say no if your not important. Scurry gets shoved off, although after seeing "rat sausage" the elf shudders and tries not to gag. He's composed when he approaches Miko, standing stoically behind her while s/he makes the request. Lost, again, looks a bit bored, content to play the part of the vato's eyecandy for the evening. For now, there's not much else for her to do, and Miko certainly fits in better in this situation than she does. The rich-side barker glances between the three, that yellow-and-metal smile never once fading. The vato's got the looks; But who brings a couple of elves as muscle? Especially off the taco side of things? Still, he shrugs. "Yeah, chummer, sure. Hey, your lady looks bored… " A lock on Lost, and that smile turns a bit more oily. "You want I should get you a new one? I've got girls who love this shit, omae. They'll be gagging on fragmeat while the show's going on, savvy?" He's already snapping his fingers, though, one of the kids unhooking a leash to run over. A pat on the head. "Charley here'll show you around the cages." Lost fixes a smile on the barker, "I doubt any of your girls could do the things I do for El Senor nearly as well as I." She says, ending the sentence with a wink and a coy smirk, letting the barker work out for himself exactly what she means. Maybe she's not all that interested in dog fighting but she /is/ at least paying attention. "You need to change your signs," Scurry says, not bothering to look at the man. "Your barker's got Hez3 mixed up with FotrBiter." Scurry may be the worst kind of muscle of all: numerically literate muscle. Miko chuckles softly "Dont worry about her, She might sulk in public but ah in the bedroom shes a screamer." He grins softly as he moves after charlie to go down to the cages making sure people see him doing it. Scurry actually pulls out his pocsec, tapping open the spreadsheet app as he begins to crunch numbers. The elf does not look amused. «Auto-Judge[]» Scurry (#1304) rolls Biology for "Mirror mirror on the wall, which demon rat is the healthiest of them all?": 1 2 3 5 «OOC» Scurry says, "Yeah." «OOC» Scurry says, "As they come into view. Let me know if/when/what you want me to roll." «Auto-Judge[]» Scurry (#1304) rolls Medicine for "Mirror mirror on the wall, which demon rat is the healthiest of them all?": 1 1 3 11 «Auto-Judge[]» Turk (#9565) rolls 1 vs TN 3 for "Are we lucky enough to be on the right side?": 3 = 1 Success "I only sulk in public cause I have to share you with the world…" Lost says to Vato Miko, with a fond rub of the man's arm, "And I don't /like/ sharing…" She states simply with another quick glance in the barker's direction before following behind group as they're lead off to inspect the animals. The smile slips at Scurry's word, the barker briefly frowning and swipping sideways on his own slightly broken flimsy for a moment. A flash of an oily smile for the Senor, which slides into concern as he rushes off to see to the barker's chalk boards on the POOR side of the field. Charley, meanwhile, doesn't say much. He simply sulks and begins leading the crew towards the cages on one side of the field; apparently it'll be another walk to get to the other side. Even as they travel, a cage is pushed past by a small crew. One pusher, one handler with shock stick, getting whatever's screaming and twisting worked up. Shortly afterwards, one can hear an announcement being sounded out on a bullhorn, for 'Devil rats ninety two, thirty six and twelve versus the reigning rat hunter, Hez three." Crowd noises get louder. The cages are stacked where once pallets of equipment may have gone, three tall and back to back, making rows to walk through. There is a constant flurry of activity as empty cages are cleaned, animals poked and shocked to keep them awake/pissed off, and survivors are stunned to unconsciousness to be dragged off. Either sewn up or chopped up, it's hard to tell from the savory smell and crackle of fire. There are placard loosely stapled to the cages, with numbers written and then scratched through. It's not unusual to see the word 'Devil Rat' followed by a string of numbers, scratched off one after another. The huge hairless vermin spinning and snarling at everything, much like their canine counterparts. Both kept right together to really wind each other up in panic, fear, and anger. A few of the cages are by themselves; One particularly large one is completely enclosed, about the right size for a human to fit in. It rattles as something inside thumps and snarls. The cardboard on the side says 'Wejoto'. There are no scratches. A few other odds and ends are situated about, larger cages or longer cages, all covered and all with 'unique' names. You paged Scurry with 'What you can see of the devil rats is generally bad news. Starved, weakened, or mad with panic/fear/hate. It takes a very stupid or a very hungry devil rat to get caught alive, after all.'. You paged Scurry with 'The other animals are in roughly the same state, starvation used as a motivation to prompt their ripping fights.'. <OOC» Turk nods. Wejoto sounds vaguely or'zet to you - or spanish. OR something. But without the language, it's hard to tell what it means. «OOC» Miko has orzet 1 «OOC» Turk says, "Oo, dang. It's time for lunch. I will return in about an hour. :D" Long distance to Miko: Turk nods. Wejoto - 'Rebellion', or 'against the way'. You paged Miko with 'It's a badass name, like 'spike' or 'killer'.'. Miko looks at the bigger rat with the fancy name. Then looks around for the one they are looking for trying to find the stupid thing quickly "Which one do you think we should put money on, Signor?" Scurry asks, his pocsec poised to receive data analysis. "You got any surprise contenders you want to look at?" Miko checks 'his' pocsec for the RFID chip they are looking for. 20 meters should cover most of this place so it might help. He just acts like hes checking odds or weights. This close, there is a definite ping; While still fuzzy, as it's basically an overpowered store theft prevention bit, Miko is getting a solid ping towards the back of the cages, among the 'uniques'. A stack of four placed together before it's too close to pinpoint further; 'FotrBitr', 'Teeth Knocker', 'Slit Bitch', 'Jaws'. Miko looks over at the stack of 4 long enough for the others to take notice before making a fake show of interest at the bigger cages. Hoping the others got the message Lost looks at the cages and reads the names on each, pursing her lips thoughtfully. « My money would be on FotrBitr or Slit Bitch » She subvocalizes over comms. With that said, she takes a slightly closer look at the four cages. «Auto-Judge[]» Lost (#4658) rolls Intelligence for "Astral Perception. Devil rats are dual natured!": 1 1 3 4 7 11 «Auto-Judge[]» Lost (#4658) rolls Aura Reading for "Complementary roll": 1 3 4 Scurry makes more of a show of punching numbers and building analysis, looking bored. He pays attention to what Miko pays attention to; that looks to be his job. Scurry sighs. «I am going to have a very hard time extrapolating» he says over comm, keeping his words deliberately coded. FotrBitr's cage is a slightly bigger version of the generics, fully covered. Teeth Knocker is longer but skinnier, fully covered as well. Slit Bitch's cage is actually quite large, being almost large enough for a child to fit inside comfortably. Occasionally, it shakes with rattles and snarls, and a deep bark. Jaws is silent, still, and small. After her more thorough surveying of the four cages, Lost seems to nod a bit to herself, « Gotta be FotrBitr, it's the only one that has something dual-natured inside. Unless they cut out Muffins' tags, that's gotta be her. » Commlink-Irae> Miko sends, « ask who owns them, say that I like to know the owners or something » Commlink-Scurry> Scurry sends, « On it. » "Sir? Excuse me!" Scurry snaps his fingers at the nearest grunt. "El Signor would like to know who has a play in this game before he puts his money down," He explains. His pocsec has an impressive amount of spreadsheet. "Can you tell me the owners of these four fighters? Bias is a bitch, you know," He adds with a grin. «Auto-Judge[]» Scurry (#1304) rolls Negotiation (Fast Talk): 3 5 5 5 7 Miko goes to examine the rat dogs then looks at scurry and the others so that they get the job dont without any issues. having a proper disguise realy does help. «Auto-Judge[]» Turk (#9565) rolls 1 vs TN 6 for "Bad Luck?": 5 = 0 Successes The grunt currently trying to slide the next pallet under Wejoto's cage blinks, and glances over as he's snapped at. The troll grumbles, a deep sound, before shrugging. "Pit ownsh 'em, I'unno. Ashk keeper." A nod towards the glow of a fire past the cages, and the smell of fresh 'sausages'. Wejoto's cage rattles hard, almost tipping over. The troll steadies it by leaning his body against it for a moment. Soon a jack comes to move the pallet away.. Meanwhile, Yellow-Metal-Tooth is approaching from afar, smiling that oily smile of his. Commlink-Scurry> Scurry sends, « Snaggletooth, ten o'clock. If you can sneak the rat out, I can run interception with him. » Commlink-Irae> Miko sends, « how am i supposed to do that? » Commlink-Scurry> Scurry sends, « I don't know. But you have about two minutes to figure it out. » Commlink-Irae> Miko sends, « just offer to buy the stupid things for a party where we want rat dog fighting for entertainment. » Commlink-Scurry> Scurry sends, « Can't do that. Money is already on this rat. » Commlink-Scurry> Scurry sends, « Big money. » «Auto-Judge[]» Turk (#9565) rolls 1 vs TN 3 for "Miserable Luck?": 5 = 1 Success Commlink-Irae> Miko sends, « drug its competition? » Metal-yellow-mouth - we'll call him Mim for right now (MYM, get it? HA) pulls up short when Scurry approaches, running a hand across his hair. "Charley's shown you around, has he, omae? Your boss likes what he sees?" A flash of those bad teeth and brutal grill. "He'd better hurry, though; Next fight's on soon." A sudden roar goes from the crowd as a scream of animal pain rips through the warehouse. One can hear the faint splat of arterial blood hitting plexiglass. "Ah. That'd be now, actually." Meanwhile, a new pallet jack is rolled up behind FotrBitr. And the cage begins rocking as the contents scrabble about. « I got nothing » Lost subvocalizes helplessly, « And we're out of time. Sounds like the last fight just ended. Only thing I can think of is to try and make Muffins invisible and silent. I don't know if I'll be able to pull it off in here, though. » "What I saw made me wonder who wants you dead," Scurry says, pocketing his pocsec and folding his arms. "Half the audience is going to be very angry when they find out that they put money on a doped-as-fuck rat. Looks like the competition is already dead," He says, nodding back to where Miko waits. "Listen, buddy, I get unfair fights. But this? This is bullshit. You been played." Commlink-Irae> Miko sends, « Could start a brawl and have them cancel the fight » Commlink-Scurry> Scurry sends, « Working on it. » Commlink-Scurry> Scurry sends, « If someone would like to make a scene, a loud and public scene, now would be the time. » «Auto-Judge[]» Scurry (#1304) rolls Negotiation (Fast Talk) vs TN 5: 1 2 2 4 5 = 1 Success «Auto-Judge[]» Turk (#9565) rolls 6 vs TN 6 for "Counter": 2 3 3 4 4 5 = 0 Successes Miko turns and heads out towards the floor of the main area. He just says as he walks by some random ganger and mutters "hit that guy" Wejoto is moved across the stage and around the cage, towards the otherside, disappearing into the fuss. Mim, meanwhile, slowly lets that smile fade as he stares at Scurry. A brief fume of anger crosses his face, before worry sneaks in as well. He looks back up at FotrBitr's cage, and whistles at the jackers to hold. "Grab the keeper!' He shouts, walking towards it as well. A few grunts run towards the smell of sausages. Meanwhile, in the background, one can hear the announcer talking up 'Wejoto - King of the Ring'. Sixty nine kills and still going strong. Over that one can occasionally hear the loud, bellowing squeal of -something-. It's actually a bit grating on the ears. «Plot» Miko says, "whats a random guys willpower?" «Plot» Turk says, "Default is 3 for Random Civvie." «Auto-Judge[]» Miko (#4425) rolls 8 vs TN 3 for "commanding voice, hit that guy": 1 1 2 2 4 4 5 14 = 4 Successes «Auto-Judge[]» Miko (#4425) has the Adept Power Commanding Voice with the following information: -----> Adept Power for Miko (#4425) <----— Power Name: Commanding Voice Category: Magical Power Points: 0.5 Installed: Yes im waves the jacks back for a moment, still hollaring for the 'keeper' - what comes over, but a staggeringly fat dwarf chewing down a bit of sausage, with gristle smeared into a wirey beard. He belches at the complaint, then pulls a small, thin shock-stick from his belt. A sharp zap and a rattish squeal of complaint later, and he's arguing with Mim about 'how the rat's fine, look at it'. The two are arguing; Not that Mim doesn't believe the Keeper, but that he wants to make sure there's an actual show to the slaughter. The random slob currently thinking about how he'd like to go home, start a better life, maybe give up smoking and see if his wife will take him back before he opens up an orphanage for kittens suddenly gets the urge to turn around and slug the ork behind him. And then that ork's friend slugs back. And then someone else slugs on the general idea that hitting people is fun, who needs reasons? There's soon about five or six of them hitting and kicking and yelling, while gangers peel off the walls to break it up. Miko walks off slowly as the fight starts. Yeah you can think about doing that all you want. Miko thinks about eating less bacon all the time too but its never gonna happen. Commlink-Irae> Miko sends, « Thats how you start a brawl by the way. » Commlink-Scurry> Scurry sends, « It would be much, much more useful if you were to shout something about the fight being fixed, or FotrBiter being dead? Money pisses people off way more than fights. » « Well, there's your distraction. » Lost says of the melee that suddenly breaks out for no real reason. « Yeah, I figure most of the crowd in here is gonna be worried more about their cred then maybe taking a shot on the jaw. But we gotta get Muffins out of that cage somehow. » Commlink-Irae> Miko sends, « cant bet safely with a brawl going on. The more chaos we have the easier our job is » «Auto-Judge[]» Turk (#9565) rolls 1 vs TN 6 for "Bad Luck?": 5 = 0 Successes «Auto-Judge[]» Turk (#9565) rolls 1 vs TN 6 for "Good Luck?": 7 = 1 Success Commlink-Scurry> Scurry sends, « The best way to increase our chaos is if they think Muffins is dead. I can't make it silent or invisible. And I have no teleportation spells. Lost? » Commlink-Irae> Miko sends, « then shoot its competition while they are stopping the fight? that should end it real fast » Commlink-Memory> Lost sends, « I can make her silent or invisible. Doing both is gonna be tough, but I can give it a try. Zapping the big bastard in that cage over there might be a bit easier. » Scurry turns around to eye the big bastard in the cage. He pulls out his pocsec. As the team is considering their options, the gangers begin laying into the fight. Which, ironically, only makes it twice as big as people are bounced in and out of the scuffle. Which is drawing more and more attention. Mim glances back, as does the fat dwarf keeper - we'll call him Fredrick - even rolls up a sleeve and begins run-waddling to the fray with a shout of glee. [Plot Room 2] Turk says, "You're on one side of the mighty distracting fracas. The killing field is on the other. You're going to have to find a way to get a clear view, or go around. Or try to elbow through. Miko leans against the wall figuring she earned her pay. Watching the brawl the vato chuckles and watches the show making sure no one gets close to him. if they do well…not too hard to deal with normal people "HE'S GETTING AWAY!" Scurry shouts, pointing at the Keeper. "HE KILLED THE COMPETITION AND HE'S GETTING AWAY!" He climbs atop one of the big vehicles used to pull the cages for a better vantage point, and if he can see the competition, points at it. "YOU'VE BEEN CHEATED!" While punches are being thrown, Lost carefully skirts the melee and tries to manuever into a better position while simultaneously avoiding getting punched in the face. Or anywhere else, for that matter. Scurry's already taken the high road, so the low road falls to her. <Auto-Judge[]» Turk (#9565) rolls 1 vs TN 6 for "Lucky Word?": 10 = 1 Success «Auto-Judge[]» Turk (#9565) rolls 1 vs TN 6 for "Unlucky Elbow?": 4 = 0 Successes «Plot» You can both see the killing field - as can Miko, because she got past. What's waiting for 'Muffins' - is a boar. Yes, a fullsized razor back. Lord only knows where they got it from. It's got scars, tears, and rips sewn back together - that only seems to have made it even more mad as it crashes and squeals at the bars keeping it out. THAT is Wejoto. «Plot» Scurry says, "F3 stunbolt." «NOTE FOR LOG» Deadly attempt «Auto-Judge[]» Scurry (#1304) rolls Sorcery + 4 vs TN 4: 1 2 4 4 4 5 5 5 7 8 = 8 Successes «Auto-Judge[]» Scurry (#1304) rolls Willpower + 2 vs TN 3: 1 1 2 2 4 8 9 10 = 4 Successes Scurry's screaming about the fight being rigged occurs - juuuust as Wejoto suddenly squeals and slumps over, unconscious. Pandamonium. People assume that the FotrBitr was a ringer; The odds were so stacked against her that the logic is just staring people in the face. The house had cheated in order to line their pockets, or perhaps the Keeper had put a bet on his own animals. What was a small brawl near the staging area is suddenly an out and out riot. Guns begin barking and going off, people yelling and screaming, and 'receipts' thrown up into the air. The blood lust has SPREAD. A few people here and there - notably the gangers - are forming knots and generally firing on any one who gets close. Mim's grabbed a few gangers to put in front of him as he cowers and tries to both crawl and run at the same time. Meanwhile, Muffins is now invisible in her covered carrier cage. Commlink-Irae> Miko sends, « Not to be negative but it will be amusing if we picked the wrong one » «Auto-Judge[]» Scurry (#1304) rolls Intelligence for "I need a way out of this madness.": 1 4 5 5 7 8 You paged Scurry with 'Well, there's always ditching the rat and running. Or following Mim and where ever he's running too. There's lots of ways out - just not as many that include taking the devil rat along.'. Commlink-Abel> Abel sends, « Lots of gunfire going on. Everything cool in there? » ommlink-Scurry> Scurry sends, « No. » Commlink-Scurry> Scurry sends, « This is the definition of "not cool". » Commlink-Abel> Abel sends, « Do you need a glowing tiger intervention? What can I do to help? » Commlink-Scurry> Scurry sends, « I'm running back to Lost. She has the rat. She'll need help. We need a path through this chaos to an exit. » Scurry runs back to Lost, then, to help maneuver the rat. Commlink-Irae> Miko sends, « You say its not cool but really this is fucking impressive. How often can you say you started a riot? » Commlink-Scurry> Scurry sends, « An exit, Miko. Get us an exit and cover. » Commlink-Abel> Abel sends, « On my way. » Lost has made a devil rat invisible. But the rat is not yet exactly in her possession. But since everyone is sort of focused on the riot that's broken out, Lost figures no one will be paying too much attention if she tries to get the rat out of the carrier, pulling a packet of crackers out of her jeans pocket. Commlink-Irae> Miko sends, « You want a way to stop the riot? ok… » Miko heads over towards the beast cages about to do something very very crazy Commlink-Abel> Abel sends, « Yeah, I don't think I can get in there to help without getting shot. A lot. » Commlink-Irae> Miko sends, « im gonna release a bunch of monstera into the riot » Commlink-Memory> Lost sends, « And then we'll have both the monsters /and/ the riot to deal with on the way out. Do you think that's wise? » Commlink-Abel> Abel sends, « A stampede out of the building means you can move with the crowd. » Commlink-Abel> Abel sends, « Just don't fall over. » Scurry heads over to help Lost, juuuust as Lost opens up the cage. And there in lies - Muffins. Muffins is BIG. Muffins is almost twice as big as another Devil Rat of the same age. Muffins is scratched and ripped from the fights its been through, but is otherwise healthy enough to leap at Lost's face with rabid hatred. At least, until it smells crackers. The massive, meter and a half long devil rat dives for those instead, suddenly calming down despite the chaos around it. «Plot» Turk says, "I need a bad luck roll from Lost and Miko, please. 1 dice, TN 6" «Auto-Judge[]» Lost (#4658) rolls 1 vs TN 6: 4 = 0 Successes «Auto-Judge[]» Miko (#4425) rolls 1 vs TN 6: 4 = 0 Successes «Plot» Turk has erased the part of the GM pose where Miko opens the cages. Commlink-Irae> Miko sends, « so are we causing a riot of animals too? because i very much want to do that. » Being able to see the astral makes it much easier to see Muffins, invisible as she is. Lost gives the devil rat what she hopes is a soothing scratch behind the ears before cooing to it softly, "Alright Muffins, we're gonna get the hell out of here." Carrying the beast doesn't look like an option, so she just hopes that, with a little help from her remaining crackers, Muffins will follow of her own accord. « Clear us some space somehow, there's no way I'm gonna be able to carry Muffins. Unless you wanna grab her, Miko. Either way, let's get out of here before someone takes a stray bullet. » Miko sighs depressed now but goes to help get muffin out of here. She wanted to cause a bigger riot. Thats like the shadowrunners dream. cause riots Abel steps away from the vehicle and begins to make his way towards the doorway. He was wearing his expensive greatcoat with the collars up high, and a gray flatcap on his head. He heads right towards the gangers. "What's going on in there? I have to get Mister <Blah> out!" Because he wa Mr Mexican Cartel Guys' driver, of course. He would move to step past them to go help guide his employer to safety. «PLOT» BAD LUCK ROLL TN 6 «Auto-Judge[]» Abel (#13016) rolls 1: 4 The gang guards at the front don't stop Abel - quite the opposite, they completely ignore him as they hear the noise and begin hammering on the locked doors. After a heartbeat they crack it open and rush in, guns drawn. Inside is CHAOS! Bodies and limbs moving and punching at each other, shadows deepend by one of the lights above being shot out, people screaming, guns going off occasionally, and a boar snoring just outside the arena in the cage meant to feed it into the fight. Abel is on one side of this, sillouetted by the sunlight as he steps into the chaos. People shoving to get past him and out. Lost, Miko and Scurry are ninety degrees away to the right, with a pile of shoving rioters between them and one hundred thousand nuyen payday. «Auto-Judge[]» Lost (#4658) rolls Intelligence for "Looking for an alternative exit.": 1 3 4 4 5 5 "Now where did /he/ go…" Lost murmurs, mostly to herself. If anyone knew another way out of the Hound Pit, it'd be that rotten-toothed slimy bastard. To no avail, Lost rises up on her tiptoes and cranes her neck to look over the mob of people, but doesn't find a promising route out of the place. With a sigh, she purses her lips and looks to Miko and Scurry, jerking her head in the direction /away/ from the obvious exit, "Let's try that way?" She says, a bit uncertainly before starting to move, carefully skirting pockets of battle whenever necessary. «Auto-Judge[]» Lost (#4658) rolls Intelligence for "Where did Mim go?": 1 2 3 3 3 4 «Auto-Judge[]» Lost (#4658) rolls Intelligence for "KP 1": 3 3 4 4 5 9 «Auto-Judge[]» Abel (#13016) rolls Intelligence: 2 2 3 4 8 10 You paged Lost with 'You glance back between the rows of cages, and see the fleeting glimpse of Mim running past them and off to the side of the facility.'. You paged Abel with 'Looking through the crowd, you can JUST spot Lost. Near a staging area with a bunch of cages, currently the calm eye in the storm. Scurry and some mexican vato guy are nearby.'. Lost seems to spot her quarry, and moves off in pursuit of Mim. Though that might not be the right word. She doesn't want to catch him as much as follow him, clearly banking on Mim leading her to another exit. Of course, she's still wary she might be walking into an ambush along with Miko, Scurry, and Muffins. Abel steps into the side of the doors once they open, very much not wanting to be bowled over from the tide of bodies trying to push through the newly opened doorway. He stays pinned up to the wall and watches for a moment, trying to figure out a strategy. «Plot» Scurry would like to know if that's the only exit. «Plot» Turk says, "Excellent question." Those who want to stay and fight, lost money, or generally just like a reason to shoot and/or hit people have stayed on to do just that. Abel gets a few toes trod on for his trouble at being a door stop, and can see Lost turning away from the obvious exit and moving deeper off to the side. Craddling some invisible thing in her arms. On astral, obviously, it lights up as a devil rat happily stuffing it's disgustingly wrinkled, snarled mouth full of crackers. Mim slips around another stack of rotting, rusted out equipment. There's a sudden hard creak, and greylight pours in from around the edge of that stack. Bullets are still pinging around, and the whole place is lousy with the sound of fists and guns. Scurry continues his task of following Lost who is following Mim, then. Abel slips back outside, moving with the crowd, getting no doubt bumped around a bit. Once outside he begins to quickly jog around to the South side of the building. The sound of a creak is promising. But Lost doesn't want to take any chances. She looks to Scurry, "What do you think, wait a tick for the poster boy for preventative dentistry to run away, or just rush out to deny them any chance to set up behind cover?" She asks, just loudly enough to be heard over the general din. «Auto-Judge[]» Lost (#4658) rolls Intelligence for "Any chance that Mim and his goons are loudly setting up for an ambush?": 1 2 3 3 5 10 You paged Lost with 'Hard to say; Who and why would he be ambushing? At the same time, it's the Warrens. If anyone is willing to make money out of blood, it'll be part of the crew that ran the Pit.'. You paged Lost with 'BUT! You don't hear any clacking racks of guns. Just the loud, rusted squeak.'. "I really, really like the idea of waiting and seeing," Scurry says, nodding to Lost. "I doubt they're ambushing, I think they're just escaping. Let's see if the crowd doesn't shoot at them first," He replies. "I don't want to be his shield." As Abel runs to the south - and it is QUITE the run - he'll come to the wide alleymouth. Down that path, he can see the tail end of a few cars. And see movement of people running by. It's not exactly well lit, though. Lost lifts her head, listening for the tell-tale sound of rounds being chambered, perhaps, "I don't hear anything." She says with a shake of her head, "But I think you're right. Just wanted to be sure." She holds up there for a moment or two before pulling open the door and taking a ctaious peek out. Abel slows down a bit but keeps moving forwards into the alleyway. Once he is out of direct line of sight with the street he takes a moment to reach into his bag and pull out his helmet, slapping it onto his head before continuing the forwards movement. "-them. Shoot anyone who follows, you got that?" Snarls Mim to a few reluctant gangers, who are gathered near the back door. The area is dark; Overshaded by touching roofs between this squat place and the one next door, making a perfect semi-parking garage. Mim, meanwhile, begins moving for his cheap Americar, a luxury in the Rens. Abel can spot the tail lights lit up as the door unlocks remotely. Scurry sees a bunch of violence behind him. Glorious, glorious violence. But none directed at HIS behind - yet. [Plot Room 2] The First Martyr, Abel says, "How close to the door are the gangers? Like, right on top of it?" [Plot Room 2] Turk says, "Nah. They're a few feet away, utterly exposed. Two of them, the two that Mim dragged after him." «Plot» Abel says, "Going to put a Physical Barrier around the two guards, leaving enough room for the door to open. A big bubble-shield." «Auto-Judge[]» Abel (#13016) rolls Sorcery + Sorcery Pool: 2 + 2 (totem) vs TN 7 for "F5 Barrier": 1 1 2 2 2 3 4 4 4 4 9 = 1 Success «Plot» Turk says, " Drain TN is 5S, unless you want to KP the sorcery roll." «Auto-Judge[]» Scurry (#1304) rolls Sorcery + 4 vs TN 4 for "F4 Stunbolt on one ganger": 1 1 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 10 = 5 Successes «Plot» Scurry had M stun before, and forgot. Single success. «Auto-Judge[]» Scurry (#1304) rolls Willpower + 2 vs TN 4: 1 2 4 4 5 9 9 10 = 6 Successes «Auto-Judge[]» Abel (#13016) rolls Willpower + Sorcery Pool: 4 + 2 (totem) vs TN 5 for "Soaking S": 1 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 5 5 5 9 13 = 5 Successes «Auto-Judge[]» Abel (#13016) rolls Willpower + Sorcery Pool: 4 + 2 (totem) vs TN 5 for "Soaking S 2/9k": 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 4 5 = 1 Success «Auto-Judge[]» Abel (#13016) rolls Willpower + Sorcery Pool: 4 + 2 (totem) - 5 vs TN 5 for "Soaking S 2/9k*(forgot to take away dice)": 1 2 2 2 3 3 4 8 = 1 Success Abel slows once he gets a good idea of what is going on. He takes a moment to focus before he wraps the guards in a big bubble of gently glowing force, going them enough room to move around in, but blocking them from getting to the door and leaving room for the team to escape. The bubble likely takes up a fair bit of the alleyway, about seven meters across. "Move it, people!" He shouts to Lost, Scurry and Miko. Lost might take the opportunity cast a stunbolt herself, if she wasn't already sustaining invisibility on Muffins. Instead she just nods to Abel and gets a move on, looking to avoid any other gangers while simultaneously getting back to Miko's SUV as soon as possible. Scurry casts his spell, a vertical slash of his hand in the same gesture used to take down the boar, and he runs after Lost. Mim has hardly finished speaking when someone cracks open the door; But before the gangers can get off a shot, a glowing bubble enshrouds them. They shout in alarm - at least, one does. The other suddenly slumps forward, banging his head against the bubble and sliding all the way to the earth. Mim, for his part, jumps behind his car in a classic survivalist technique. But, fortunately, the four aren't out for his blood! The run to the SUV is frantic, but successful - the four peeling out shortly afterwards, the devil rat munching away and occasionally snarling at both Scurry and Abel. For whatever reason, it doesn't seem to mind Lost. So long as there are crackers. Hours later, after the delivery to the 'Drone Johnson', the asian guard who had originally stood in front of the meet quietly unplugs the remote from the VCR in the back of his head, and smiles at the ugly little beast rattling in its cage, next to the deactivated Jeeves bot. The little face gnawer had cost his charge a lot of nuyen from her 'allowance'. Worth it.