Prologue: The Dog Days of Summer

[archolewa]

“Oh,” the decker says, sobering a little. “You guys were worried about me? That’s sweet. But you didn’t need to be. I had – what? – two, three seconds left on the timer, neh?”

"Yes," said Baby Blue in a flat voice. "Only a long time in the Matrix, and when getting shot at."

[Charybdis Richelle]

{GM}

Pandora chuckles at Baby Blue’s tone. “Lighten up, BB,” she chides. “Honestly, I had another thirty seconds beyond the panic point I gave you. None of you have ever done meat watch for me before… I budgeted in a little wiggle room in case people forgot my directions… or panicked.” She shrugs.

“Really, baby Blue… Everybody. I’m fine,” the decker says. “I haven’t had this much fun in…” Her brow wrinkles and her grin slides into a straight line. “In a really long time.”

With that, she reaches for her jackstopper and fixes it back into her datajack, taking care that it sits just right before she pushes it hard enough to snap in place. “Ghost but I’ll be glad when I can take that out for good.”

“So, everybody’s heart back in their chests? None of you need CPR?” Pandora grins again. “You ready to hear what I dug up?”

[archolewa]

Baby Blue

"Someday I'll learn not to take you so literally," said Baby Blue in a flat voice. "And yes. Tell us."

[Charybdis Richelle]

{GM}

“That’ll be the day, BB,” Pandora says. “When that happens, remind me, Baby Blue. I’ll take you to dinner – my treat… anywhere in the city.”

“Okay, the rundown… Sorry, Boss,” Pandora says, turning roughly in Headstone’s direction. He hasn’t spoken since she jacked out, but he’s sweating enough that she can easily catch his scent in this confined space. “Shadowland came up cold, not even Cap Chaos could give me any leads. No one there could tell me jack about any Dashiell here. Best I can tell, there’s no fixer or Johnson in the Seattle shadow scene that’s using Dashiell as a streetname.”

“And fun as it was, Lone Star came up dry, too. They don’t have much more than the local shadow chat rooms,” the decker says, shaking her head. “And none of the sixty-seven willing to list on the Public Data Net have any real rap sheet. The only stuff the Star’s got on a Dashiell is a Daisy Dashiell with some petty shoplifting, Randal Dashiell with some parking tickets and a Brian Dashiell on the local sex offenders list – none of which sound like our host to me.”

“I did catch a lead from a chummer who said he thought he’d heard the name a long while back in Atlanta. Little 5 Points, he thought, maybe a decade back. It’s a long shot, but I have feelers out there with some skaters who know the Little 5 Points grid and havens better than me; Emory’s got a pretty solid grapevine. I hope to have an answer back before the meet tonight, but I can’t count on that. This is networking and gossip, really, not solid stating.”

With a sigh, Pandora sucks on her straw again, an automatic, unthinking reflex. When the straw fails her, she says, “Ghost, please tell me there’s soykaf already made in the kitchen!” She stands a little unsteadily. “And for Grud’s sake, please tell me Bone Biter made it.”

[Gremlin]

Skye

"I don't know, that Brian guy could be our Johnson. We're all pretty hot," Skye quips from the kitchen.

[Charybdis Richelle]

{GM}

Heading to the kitchen in search of soykaf herself, Pandora sweeps her cane ahead of her. “That’s why I always carry a Viper Slivergun,” she says. “At that moment, an assailant’s not wearing armor – at least not down there.”

Skye cannot tell from Pandora’s utterly dry tone whether the decker is serious or not.

[archolewa]

Baby Blue

"I'm gonna hit the local thrift stores. Both thrift and 'thrift.' See if I can find a not-terrible dress or two." Baby Blue swipes the cred stick that Headstone put down, and heads for the door.

[Charybdis Richelle]

{GM}

“BB! Wait a nano…” Pandora calls from the kitchen. Though a fair distance away, Pandora has honed her hearing quite well even without augmentation. “I might have something that would fit you. You’re not that much smaller than me. My folks take me out at least twice a year, even if I am a disgrace to them. They always buy me a new dress each time because they assume I will have lost or sold it. The years in the pen don’t count, but they’ve bought me 6 since I left home, and I’ve only worn any of them once. I can’t tell you drek about the color or the style, but you’re welcome to take your pick,”

[archolewa]

Baby Blue

{GM}

“BB! Wait a nano…” Pandora calls from the kitchen. Though a fair distance away, Pandora has honed her hearing quite well even without augmentation. “I might have something that would fit you. You’re not that much smaller than me.

Baby Blue's eyes widen, and her mouth opens in abject horror. Probably the most expressive the gang's ever seen her.

My folks take me out at least twice a year, even if I am a disgrace to them. They always buy me a new dress each time because they assume I will have lost or sold it. The years in the pen don’t count, but they’ve bought me 6 since I left home, and I’ve only worn any of them once. I can’t tell you drek about the color or the style, but you’re welcome to take your pick,”

She relaxes. "Oh. Yeah, that might not be a bad idea, if you don't mind."

[Gremlin]

Skye

Skye grabs some slices of bread from the pantry. They look a bit stale.

"If there's no other urgent magical things that need attention right now, I'm going for a walk," Skye says. "Stretch my legs before it gets too hot."


She heads back to her attic for a moment before reappearing wearing the same clothes, no topped off with her leather jacket. Not the best weather for it, but this isn't the best neighborhood. Besides, it has pockets. Pockets the shaman is making use of as she starts to tear each piece of bread into small bits she sticks into those pockets as she walks to the front door.

"Be back later. We've got plenty of time before the meet," she says as she departs.

[Stirling]

Five creds will get you to the observation deck, from there you can access the bars and restaurants. It's a tourist trap.

Tears in the Rain

"So , we got ¥10cr between us?"

She asks, figuring to use the afternoon then to be a tourist and figure out what traps they might be setting. Unless you think the astral projection and decking have given you all the information you need and we can just arrive at 7.00pm, tooled up to meet with Dashiel?

[shaidar]

{Revs}

Revs quietly takes in the stream of information. When it looks like the group is starting to split up he pipes up:

"I think using the drones in a wider scope is probably a bad idea. Downtown is a no fly area. When it came to the Needle I was expecting a little leeway because of the tourists. It depends on whether Lone Star have better things to do today than chase drones. I'd like a chance to visit the needle and check out it's layout before tonight, but I also need to hire a suit as well. Who else needs to do either of those? In fact who is going into the restaurant to meet the clients and who is going to be watching outside? " he looks to Headstone as he asks the last questions.

[CoyotesLuck]

{Revs}

Revs quietly takes in the stream of information. When it looks like the group is starting to split up he pipes up:

"I think using the drones in a wider scope is probably a bad idea. Downtown is a no fly area. When it came to the Needle I was expecting a little leeway because of the tourists. It depends on whether Lone Star have better things to do today than chase drones. I'd like a chance to visit the needle and check out it's layout before tonight, but I also need to hire a suit as well. Who else needs to do either of those? In fact who is going into the restaurant to meet the clients and who is going to be watching outside? " he looks to Headstone as he asks the last questions.

{Pacman}
"I will need to find a suit for tonight. I will do my best for all the social graces.. I think we covered them in school at some point."

[Juramenta]

"Seems we are in agreement of having enough information for now. "If anyone still wishes to visit the site, I'll accompany you.'' Headstone says as he takes back the credstick.

"I'll be doing maintenance on the gear in the meantime.
If you want me to do your weapons, leave them at the table. I'll let you know when they are done.''

[Charybdis Richelle]

GM}

Pandora dumps out her remaining ice, swirls some water in her Stuffer Shack cup to rinse it, and pours whatever is left in the coffee pot into her mug. Then she gets out the filters and soykaf. Placing a filter into the coffee pot, she then fills the filter completely to the top, barely leaving a nanometer for the lid to close. She fills the carafe with water, refills the reservoir, and hits the button to start it brewing.

“I don’t mind at all. I really have no other occasion, and sure as death and taxes, mom’s going to buy me a new one before Christopher’s birthday, so…” She says as she goes through the process of making soykaf.

Her unseeing eyes widen. “Unless the boss wants me to go to this thing,” she says, starting back to the conference room, mug in hand. “Do you want me to go, Boss? I mean, if I do, I am certainly going to raise a fuss over them being out of compliance with EAG – because they are.” Pandora shrugs. “Almost every restaurant in the city is… unless I have been there recently.” She chuckles.

“I can pretty much do my thing from here… or from home… assuming they have cameras in the private dining rooms. I didn’t go that deep when I scanned their well earlier. I can double check if it matters.”

The decker retakes her seat in the conference room.

To Tears in the Rain, she says, “I should have 10¥ in my pocket, Tez… I always keep cash for the laundry.” She reaches onto her pocket and throws a small, wadded up pile of loose bills onto the table – mostly ones, but a few fives stick out. Without counting, it’s hard to be sure, but the whole mass is probably about thirty or forty nuyen. “Take what you need.”

“BB, we’ll need to budget about two hours or so to go pick out a dress – due to the vagaries of the bus system and all. You’ll want to bring a flashlight… Oh, and maybe a jacket.” This is the first time Pandora has ever offered to let any of the team know where she lives.

When Headstone offers to clean gear, Pandora nods. “Thanks, Boss.” She reaches around into a holster in the small of her back, draws an Ares Viper Slivergun, and gently sets it on the table. Then she unzips one of the side pouches on her backpack, withdraws a Tiffany Self-Defender, and does the same.

[Juramenta]

{Headstone}

’’No need to come along, but I would prefer if you operate from here during runs.
Our med bay room isn’t fully kitted out yet, but we do have the basics in case you get hurt.’’ he responds.

[archolewa]

“BB, we’ll need to budget about two hours or so to go pick out a dress – due to the vagaries of the bus system and all. You’ll want to bring a flashlight… Oh, and maybe a jacket.” This is the first time Pandora has ever offered to let any of the team know where she lives.

When Headstone offers to clean gear, Pandora nods. “Thanks, Boss.” She reaches around into a holster in the small of her back, draws an Ares Viper Slivergun, and gently sets it on the table. Then she unzips one of the side pouches on her backpack, withdraws a Tiffany Self-Defender, and does the same.

"Sure." Baby Blue returns to her room, and pulls her flashlight out of the bedside table. She hesitates for a moment, then puts her armored vest on under her clothing, pulls up a false board under her bed, and pulls out her gun. She pulls the ammunition out from under a similar false board. She verifies the safety is on, loads the gun, and stashes it under her vest. Normally, she doesn't carry it except on a run. Gangers and thugs tend to be easier to evade than Lone Star after it's caught you with an illegal weapon. But running away would be a lot harder with Pandora, and all those weapons Pandora carried are making her twitchy. She returns to the living room. "Pandora, ready whenever you are."

[Charybdis Richelle]

{GM}

Pandora sighs. “If you insist, Boss,” she says. “But if this is going to be a regular thing, I need to get a second biofeedback unit and viewscreen for here. Having someone to watch my meat body is great and all, but if I’m going to go skating any glaciers, I’d like them to have an actual sense of what’s going on… Something more specific than a couple of blinking lights, neh? Maybe pick up a trode net or two while we’re at it, in case anyone wants to piggyback along for the ride.”

Nodding in Baby Blue’s direction, Pandora says, “I’m good to go, BB. The bus won’t be at the corner for another fifteen minutes, but that gives me time to pop into the Stuffer Shack up the way and get some Fizzy Goo to refill my tankard.” She raises her Stuffer Shack Extreme Cup. She takes a deep pull on her straw, slurping down coffee as though everyone chugs hot coffee through a straw. “That is if the Boss is done with me.”

She turns to Headstone. “You need anything else before I take Baby Blue to get a dress for tonight?”

Once Pandora’s sure that Headstone doesn’t have any immediate need for her talents, she stands, returns her deck to the backpack, fussing with it a little, seating it just so before zipping the pack closed again. She sets the backpack on her back with equal care. Now ready, she sweeps her can in front of her to be sure the area is clear and then stands.

“You got cash for the bus, BB?” the decker asks, “Or should I snag back one of those bills?”

[shaidar]

{Revs}

Revs nods at Pacman.

"Let's go and get kitted up then, do you of a good rental place? If nobody else is coming then we'll take my bike." he looks around the room

[shaidar]

{Revs}

You can almost see the light come on above Revs head. "Um, Pandora, would a decent Tux make it in this place, or are we talking a proper suit? Is there anywhere you'd recommend we go?"