Limit of Infinity: A Shadowrun RP (Game thread)

[Floris2123]

Finwe was called back by his contact as he had already expected. Picking up he hears static.
A grade A protected line as usual.

Spoiler: phone call 1

Finwe= Snitch is this you?

Snitch= this is a pre recorded message press 1 fo

Finwe presses 1

Snitch= It is good to hear from you friend. I have accepted your job you will hear from me in 2 day's.

Finwe spends his next days training on his new skills and trying out his gadgets.

2 days later he is called again.
Static is all he hears on the other side.

Spoiler: phone call 2

Finwe= Snitch?

Snitch= Yes. Listen Finwe I don't have much time whatever this is it is big I mean really big. Listen I heard something about an project I have send you the details.
I have done some digging as well and I might have found a lead on this project and I also have found some low level codes. I have send them to you as well. You will hear back from me tomorrow.

Finwe= Thank you I have received them. But be careful.

Snitch= You know I am always careful.

Finwe waited for the call but there never came one.

Doing a matrix search of Snitch revealed that everything had been deleted.
His school everything he ever did that was placed online has been wiped like he never existed even his SIN is gone.

He tried calling him but got no answer.
Something is really wrong here. I have to find him!

Finwe grabbed his gear then left to visit for a few places he knows he would find him.
Looking at his watch reveald to him that the meeting with the others will be in an hour better hurry.
grabbing his car he drove off. And arrived at the location quick in 20 minutes. entering a special part of the sewer he goes to find his missing friend.

 

[3quency]

Spoiler: Correspondence With Contact Within NeoNET

Adam Strake: "Hello, this is NeoNET Security, Dete... Security Officer Strake speaking."

Nik: Hey there Strake, Lepechin here. How you been man?

Strake: "Lepechin? From the force Lepechin? Man, I haven't heard from you in ages! I'm doing great, got a nice desk job, good pay, and I even have a kid on the way. Can you imagine it? Me! A dad! Anyway, how bout you man? I haven't heard a word about you since you quit the force."

Nik: A kid? Congrats man, you and Lorrie did get hitched in the end I take it? Me? I been kept busy, I'm sorta into freelance consultancy work now, I mean, you know how I was never the happiest working the detective scene but when the Corporate Court are offering, you don't look a gift horse in the mouth know what I mean?

Strake: "I hear that. When the double-N offered me a job that payed more a quarter then Lonestar payed a year while I had a wedding to pay for, well you don't think twice. Anyway, it's great to hear from you man. What can ol'Strake do for you? If memory serves, I still owe you one or two from the Chinatown fiasco, and ain't nobody gonna say Strake don't keep his word or pay his debts."

Nik: Yeah, kinda why I called you actually. The CC have got me running some background checks on exec personnel for a few guys, and one of your boys is on the list. I just need the basic personnel file for some stuff, nothing NeoNET would be embarrassed about. And before you ask, I don't think he's in trouble or anything, just the Court reminding folks they're calling the shots. You know how they are for this shit.

Strake: "Damn man, you know how to milk your favors. I can't promise anything, NN keeps lots of their files on permanent-lockdown. It depends on who the the people on your list are."

Nik: [Sends name] There ya go. From what I can tell, he's just a run-of-the-mill suit, no real criminal record to speak of and the standard "friends higher up" waiving those few things he has done. I'd have just gone to Lonestar but you know how suits are for "opting out" of citizen watch.

Strake: "Yeah... and he also just closed the Kilmer deal that's been all over the news. I don't know man, this is a huge risk on my part... I can't just send you a file and be done with it. If NN catches word before the court releases their report, I'm out a job with a kid on the way. Hell, if this info lands in the hands of one of those damned runners, NN'll string me up from a lamp post."

Nik: I understand that completely man. Look, the CC just need his basic stuff from what I can tell, so maybe you can try getting what he would have given Lone Star? After all, no skin of NeoNET's nose either way, the guy's just being bitchy about his privacy. But obviously only if that's a can-do, I don't want you getting in trouble over this.

Strake: [long silence]

Strake: "Okay, I'll send you what I can... what do you want to know?"

Nik: Adam, you're a miracle. From what CC told me, any data is good data so just send me everything you can, I'll try t' make heads 'n' tails of it afterwards.

Strake: "Yeah yeah, just don't go spreading this around. [sends info]. So anything else you need that doesn't involve mild data theft."

Nik: That's great, thanks man. Sorry to call in my favour in such a shitty way, if you can get yourself down to the Down and Out on 5th sometime I can pay you back with beer. Other'n that, good luck with your kid and give Lorrie my best.

Strake cut the connection, and Nik could shake the feeling that he'd just burned another bridge to his old life.
But hey, he had the data. He'd head to the bar a couple of times on the off-chance that Adam changed his mind but optimism wasn't really Nik's style these days.

Well, no point letting the data just sit there. He pinged it Roberts' way, with a message:
A little birdie's told me some stuff. Enjoy.

He wandered to the kitchen and poured himself a drink. He was nearly out of juice. He looked out the window and awaited a response.

Spoiler: data

Contact: One of the judges that does traffic violations for Seattle is a friend of Vougner's from way back. Judge Masters lets the tickets slide and Vougner offers "financial support" to the good people of the Seattle traffic admin - judge masters included. We also know that Judge Masters doesn't have the power to let a VIP go without protection, so Vougner is breaking the law in that regard with no fall back plan.

Vougner Himself:
Mr. Vougner grew up in the FDC (Modern day Washington DC) area. He attended Harvard business school, achieving fair grades. He was hired by NeoNET after college and slowly worked his way up the ranks to his current position as VP of Novatech's Seattle Acquisitions Department. (Novatech is a major subsidiary of NeoNET)

He grew up in a wealth family, and therefore has expensive tastes. His love for things is directly proportional to its cost. He loves money above all things and between his inheritance and his earnings, he has no shortage of income. His most well known trait is his love for expensive vehicles - he has a collection of both modern and vintage sports cars at his Seattle estate valued at more then 2 million nuyen. He enjoys classical music - favoring the emotional pieces of composers like Mozart over the precise timed pieces of composers like Bach. He has a taste for alcohol of the finest varieties (favoring either strong alcohols such as stouts or fine wines depending on the situation) He also has a supply of real coffee - as expensive these days then the alcohol.

When he has time off, he tends to run with the upper-crust of Seattle - the snobby, old money kind. He has no one he socializes with on a constant basis, changing scenes as he chooses and on whims.

He is unmarried, but is known for having a different woman on his arm at every appearance. whether he hires them or is just that charismatic is not mentioned.

his work attitude is diligent: He knows that he needs the money and prestige the job provides and is smart enough not to waste it. What more, he works long hours because he enjoys his job. His job is to research companies in Seattle that are weakened and worth taking over, then passing the information up the chain so someone can make the purchase and do the negotiations. the Kilmer acquisition was his first job as negotiator. It went exceedingly well (it was not the first time NeoNET had tried to buy the company but Kilmer kept finding loop holes) As such, he is a NeoNET hero right now and a promotion is expected in the near future. He is expected to be made VP of Corporate Acquisitions (his bosses job) sometime this month, with his boss being moved up the chain as well.

He has no known medical conditions and stays in good shape despite his love for the finer things.

 

[Gabanuka]

A pinging in his ear woke Roberts up

Should probably of turned that off he thought groggily, then he remembered he was technically on a job and trudged into the kitchen. A quick glance at the clock showed 4:27am, he'd had about 2 hours sleep, more than enough. He quickly made a cup of coffee and sat down to read Niks message.

As he read a plan began to form, granted it wasn't the most complex of plans but it would probably work. Pose as the head of a failing business, catch Vougers eye, find a way to get alone with him, maybe through the car collection. He began to write his message:

Nik,

Here's what we do. We need to find what companies Vouger is working on, then we need to find when he's meeting one of them. Before the meeting we swap out their representative for me, I'm schmooze up to Vouger and find a way to get us alone. Knock the the head, we're done. Obviously we spend a few weeks tailing the guy so I can pick up his nature.

Sound good to you?

 

[Evrant-Knight]

Sebastian had been spending the rest of the day preparing his arms, and loading up some hacking programs to his wrist computer. He had also been retuning the heads up display on his armour, as the focus had been off center on recent contracts. To assist the HUD, he had acquired a smart link, which would not only provide better picture clarity, but also allow seamless weapons integration.

"Master Sebastian!" Lupo called out, sounding like there was an emergency.

"What is the problem Lupo? Did the kitchen catch fire?" Sebastian asked with a sarcastic tone.

"No sir, it seems you have a direct video call. Point of origin, 43°42'59.72"N 79°20'26.47"W."

"It's her, alright patch her through."

"Who sir?" Lupo asked, sounding confused as to the person's identity.

"My Mentor."

"Oh, I understand sir. I shall leave you two alone. Patching call through." Lupo said, realising the significance of such a call. Her voice soon went quiet, as the image on the apartment's TV screen changed, to that of the Wings of Shadow emblem, it slowly spinning. It soon changed again, this time to a woman of around fifty years of age, her long grey hair rested past her shoulders.

Spoiler: The Master and The Apprentice

Sebastian: Mentor Kristina, A pleasure it is to see you again.

Kristina: Dispense with the pleasantries Sebastian, I have some sad news. You see, I am retiring from the Wings. After thirty years of leading our order, I believe it is time I hanged up my blades. You understand what this means don't you?

Sebastian: I do. Since I am the next senior assassin after you, I am to take charge of the Wings pending either your death or retirement. Unfortunately, I am unable to complete this order, as there still something that I must do here in Seattle, before I take up such a position. However, this does lead me to an idea that has been in thought for the past few months. You have always talked about expansion. How about we set up a branch here in Seattle, and I become the Mentor of this branch.

Kristina: Hmm, a potential idea. But you must understand Sebastian, since you were raised in this branch, your loyalties rely here.

Sebastian:I know, I know. Think about it, the amount of new recruits we have received has waned over the past few years, and I sense potential here for our order to expand. Many of them could work as Shadowrunners, since the world would see our actions as less than reputable, it provides the perfect cover.

Kristina: You have a point, I shall discuss this matter with the Council, and report back to you in a weeks time.

Sebastian: Thank you.

*END TRANSMISSION* The screen said, before returning to whatever program he was watching beforehand.

"So, I guess its my time." He told himself, before he went back to work.

 

[hiei82]

Jason Hill, NeoNET weapons trader, hit his mattress with a resounding thud. His day had been hell; hell in business casual. Between the huge IT nightmare that was NeoNET's recent acquisition, the weapons testing for the UCAS military, the new Executive Submersible project, and all the extra shipments to help increase NeoNET's current security, the man wanted nothing more then to get some sleep. So, in keeping with karmic justice: his comm-link rang.

Jason glared at his comm, thinking [i/]"I hate you"[/i]. Believing it was someone from work, for apparently he was always on-call, he answered the phone. In his groggy voice he said [b/]"Hello?"[/b], ready for whatever task it happened to be

[spoiler="OOC"/]

snip

Ask away. Also, sorry for the delay[/spoiler]

 

[3quency]

Roberts sent a message back in good time. Nik read through it quickly and nodded to himself. It seemed like a sound enough plan. As long as they worked out the finer details carefully enough it'd probably work, too. He responded as soon as he'd finished reading.

Sounds fine to me. One problem - how the hell do we find out these companies? Can hardly just walk up to him in that fancy restaurant and ask.

Nik looked out the window. He'd barely caught any sleep, same as most nights. He didn't have too many bad memories, but those he did kept him up. Well there was no point in going back to sleep, especially with this job Roberts had cooked up. He settled in his chair, switched on the trid and decided to watch the sun rise.

 

[Terratina.]

Jason Hill was a complete gentleman in his greetings, as always. Marlowe laughed, desperately covering his mouth so that poor ol' Jason wouldn't hear him. He felt sorry for him though, his co-workers must have him up all night, judging from that response. NeoNET must have been busy.

"Jason!" Charlie said, "Grab some coffee, I have a proposal for you. I think you'll like it."

Spoiler: OOC

@hiei82, I don't mind. I've been busy with college anyway.

 

[Gabanuka]

Roberts glanced out the window at the slowly rising sun, his left ear bleeped

Sounds fine to me. One problem - how the hell do we find out these companies? Can hardly just walk up to him in that fancy restaurant and ask.

Hacking He sent back At the meeting tonight we can ask if anyone can get into their system, not sure about you but frankly computers aren't my strong point; I've got tec to deal with computer locks and such. I'm thinking Venaticus if he isnt busy, hes certainly the best suited for the job. I'm gonna spend today around town finding out what I can, with luck we wont need a hacker in the first place.

Spoiler: ooc

Meeting is "tonight" yes?

 

[drmigit2]

Venaticus had some time before his client would return. So, an early jump on the case seemed to be the correct move. The mortician was a young dwarf male, approximately five foot three and was good at what he did, but little else. He preserved the body and marked any lacerations, cuts or bruises found on the body. What they meant was unimportant to him, others handled that.

Venaticus didn't bother asking the elf's name as he had a record of who came in and from where. Not surprisingly, there were not that many elves in business suits being shot with sniper bullets. In fact, there was only one, a woman named Potraya Marote. Venaticus asked the front desk lady where he could find her, the lady was an elderly human who looked bored out of her mind, normally they would question him and ask for some identification but she was apathetic towards it all and just let him pass. She had pointed towards the west wing, which meant that the elf had only been killed within three days. The entire ward smelled of preserver and blood. Even though Venaticus was not an organic, he had been given sensors to sense air particles which made him able to appear more human. Inside the ward, there were names flashing above each doorway. Potraya showed up on the fifth to the right.

Potraya would have been pretty, but anything that would have gotten in the way, including her hair and clothes had been either cut off or removed. Her face was nigh unrecognizable aside from a singular eye which was hanging by a thread. The bullet was found inside the stone building and had been reconstructed next to her body. The shot was clean aside from the facial damage, her whole body was only spotted with the occasional bruise one would gain from a fall. Everything on her was pale, even for an elf and most organics would be unable to spend a second in the room with the blood buckets nearby. The bullet was a recognized model, a 678-35 60 caliber round. Brutally effective and causes a bit of a scene, allowing escape. This was a professional. The most important part however, was the back of the casing. Every rifle put the indentation slightly differently but were all consistent within each other. While organics are normally unable to detect these differences, even with a microscope unless the model was very special, Venaticus had a gift for this kind of analyzing. He took the measurements down to the exact nanometer and even then had a couple thousand decimals and began running that with his own database on rifles. Once he had his rifle, he would have his weapon. Which he could then back trace to all of the owners in the area. Of course, that would only be step one. He wanted both the killer and the person who most likely hired him. With such a professional shot, it was unlikely that someone went and did it themselves.

The Dwarf that ran the preservation part of the morgue was simply staring at the Latino analyzing a dead body. When he finally left, the Dwarf finally figured it out and yelled "Eh, Roberto! When you get done with this case, I have something for you to do for me!" Venaticus ignored him as always and went on with his own business.

 

[hiei82]

[b/]"Grab some coffee, I have a proposal for you. I think you'll like it."[/b] Jason heard over the phone in the distinctive voice of Charlie Marlowe. Jason groaned, pulling himself up from the bed. He honestly didn't want to do anything. His body was stiff and his brain was fuzzy. dragging himself into his kitchenette, he plopped down into a chair. He considered the idea of making coffee but decided the effort required was too great and instead grabbed a soda from the fridge, reaching the door from his seat with only minimal effort.

"Alright Charlie, I'm listening. This better be good or I'm hanging up." he offered, throwing down his ultimatum. The only reason he was still talking was because the last time he had a late night discussion with the ex-lawyer, he'd ended up on a double date with a pair of girls so far above of his league he'd not come down for months.

 

[Terratina.]

"Alright Charlie, I'm listening. This better be good or I'm hanging up."

"Jason hasn't changed a bit" Marlowe thought.

The gauntlet had been thrown, and Marlowe was ready. He knew Mr. Hill's vices and could easy link the two together. However, in his tired state, Jason wasn't really up to a good time at the moment. Maybe through the miasma of tiredness, the fire in his loins still glowed, maybe. Just maybe. Then again, Charlie's life had been a succession of compromises and coups with clients whose minds crawling with either rage, sadness, or tiredness. He knew what to do.

"Hey Jay, ever done a Siamese pair?" Marlowe presented his offer, "Acrobatic and can get into positions you wouldn't believe. Here's the terms - same as before - I want info on what guns your security squad is currently carrying. Gun names, capabilities,the works. An old friend has seen the shipments coming though and he's interested in the contents. If you accept, I give you the two Siamese and more..."

Lindsey and Lisa had just become great assets. He checked his notepad, their numbers were there. A nice romantic dinner aught to do the trick, or something a little more scandalous. Charlie prayed that Jason's tiredness would play to his advantage.

He swirled his coffee and waited.

Spoiler: OOC

Btw, by 'an old friend' he mean the Mob leaders.

 

[3quency]

Hacking. At the meeting tonight we can ask if anyone can get into their system, not sure about you but frankly computers aren't my strong point; I've got tec to deal with computer locks and such. I'm thinking Venaticus if he isnt busy, hes certainly the best suited for the job. I'm gonna spend today around town finding out what I can, with luck we wont need a hacker in the first place.

Hmm.
Made sense, Nik supposed. He couldn't really think of what he could do to further this whole thing though.
He replied.

Okay. If you got any suggestions on how I can help, don't be afraid to suggest them.

By now the alcohol had wound down in his head and he was sobering up. This wasn't really a problem, if anything it helped with the headache. It looked like it was going to be a regular Seattle day. Maybe he should check with Kodiak about the hacking stuff. Nik decided he'd consider it, and set about fixing a breakfast.

Spoiler: ooc

I believe it's tomorrow night from this point in the timeline. Double check that though.

 

[hiei82]

Jason laughed as the offer was made. He had the best end of the deal by far. All the weapon security was using was hardly confidential information, and the chance to score with a pair-o-girls...well, when else would he get a chance like that?



Jason activated his comm-link, calling the information he needed up. It was then that he realized the problem [i/]"Shit... that's right, we just brought on all that extra muscle to flesh out the security."[/i] Jason sat there, pretending to struggle with finding the information so as not to discourage his contact. Finally he made up his mind. [i/]"Well, I know most of the extra, hopefully he won't notice the rest"[/i] he thought then began giving him the data.



"Lets see here... Okay, well It looks like the Sec office just flipped over to those new NN-1240's - you know, the new model heavy pistols? Anyway, they are semi-auto, with a lot of power and a 12 shot clip, but they're a First-gen model, so the accuracy is shit. NeoNET also switched over to the M3-63's last year - they were having problems with hacking attacks on their guns, so they switched to Ares's more durable automatic. They have a smaller clip and lower power then the SK version we used to use, but I'll be damned if you can manage to break one of those guns. The longer ranged Sec's are still using the M-121 Barrett's" he said, giving an overview of the weapons.



"In terms of mods, they all used the standard Smart-links, while the auto-rifles also use Gyro-stabilizers and the snipers are using collapsible bipods. All are sticking to Standard rounds as far as I know, though I suppose some follow NeoNETS "BYOA" (Bring your own ammo) policy, so no telling on that." Jason said, finishing his talk of mods.

"The officers them selves have some basic augments - nothing more dangerous then a Wired Reflexes mod or two and some cyber eyes. The Snipers though, they tend to have full-body augs - ex-military as they are. In addition, most stick to NeoNET's standard light military grade armor." Jason continued, thinking about the good time he was going to have for this info.



"That's what I know when it comes to Sec. I'm not a magic guy so I couldn't begin to guess at what the mages have - I see a book, they see a rocket launcher." e said off handedly. That was most of the info he had, only two more bits left.



"The cyber-sec guys have been using the new H2-hover-drones for their local nodes, but they still stick to their server rooms - they hate being anywhere near the front line." he offered. Truth was, he didn't know much about NeoNET's computer sec, but he had to pretend he did - he worked for a bloody computer company after all. Still, he knew the info was accurate, just not what it really meant.



"One last thing; you may want to tell your friend to wait a few weeks to grab a shipment - NeoNET brought on a bunch of extra security after some buyout up at Novatech. They even brought on a handful of Ex-Military and Lonestar Mercs as well as some freelance hackers to help out with the extra demand." he said, finishing his talk. Truth was, he didn't know how many had been brought on at all; all he knew was some ex-Lonestar jerk who thought himself a cowboy was making his life hell when it came to getting in to work.

 

[Terratina.]

The promise of candy was working. Marlowe smiled as he watched the letters danced across the screen. Voice recognition software had truly come a long way. Charlie knew Hill saw this as an free lunch of sorts, however, he didn't know there is such a thing as a free lunch.

"Time to try and squeeze a little more honey outta you, busy bee."


This was negotiation. Knowing when to put the contact under pressure or have a light touch, knowing how to either rile or depress the contact to your advantage, knowing their vices and virtues. And most important of all - how to exploit all of these.

Marlowe's voice went from a tone of friendly banter to a friendly warning, "That's nice, Jay. Real nice."

Charlie leaned on the table, swirling the spoon in his coffee. He took a spit and screw his face in disgus - it had gone cold. He sighed, then waited for Jason to stop babbling about how he going to spent his time with the Siamese pair.

He then continued, "Anything else you're not telling me? Word is NeoNET has been busy lately. And my friend has watched the influx of muscle come through and all the rest. He's interested, real interested and he wants to know it all. Every single bit. You know, you could end up with only having the one Siamese to go to town on. And believe me, those two are better together. Your choice."

 

[hiei82]

Jason unconsciously scratched his head. [i/]"Was there anything else? I think I mentioned everything... damn it, I want the set![/i] Jason stayed quiet for a while, thinking the information over in his head, scraping the bottom of the barrel for anything else he might have heard.

[i/]Their Names![/i] he thought as the caffeine in the soda finally hit his brain. "Honestly, that's about all I've heard. I caught two of the aliases of the free lancers, maybe you can find out about them from there. How about this. You give me the names and numbers of some twins and set up the encounter, and I'll tell you the names I overheard yesterday." he said, the caffeine finally restoring his mental capacity. "Seeing as how I've been the one talking for the last half hour, you go first."

 

[Terratina.]

Charlie noted the change in Jason's voice. If he had drunk coffee, the caffeine was finally kicking in. Marlowe had to close this deal, fast. Aliases were a long shot but with enough promises and enough contacts he would find out how they are. Oh yes.

A deal was a deal. Mr. Hill would have his bones rocked by a duo of magnitude 8 earthquakes in the near future. Charlie didn't think that Jason's pelvis could take the shock.

He looked down at the notepad, at the names and at the numbers. Marlowe had already made the arrangements in advance - a reservation at Maximillion's. It was originally for himself, but to be honest, when Mr. Marlowe was on a 'run he was focused on the 'run. Not some of that. He quickly messaged Lindsey and Lisa that he wouldn't be able to make it and that there was a rather well off gentlemen going to the appointment in his stead.

But Charlie couldn't take that harsh tone out of his voice yet.

"By all means. However, if you hang up now the deal is completely, utterly off." Marlowe said, "Lindsey and Lisa are quite a pair, but with these digits easy to acquire."

Moving his hand from the spoon to the screen Charlie slowly typed out their numbers and sent them over to Jason.

"You should have received their numbers now. As I said, quite a pair." Charlie continued.

His hand then settled back on the spoon again. Back to the rhythm of stirring his coffee, now gone cold.

"Now, tell all."

Marlowe waited for Jason's reply.

 

[hiei82]

[b/]"Now, tell all."[/b]

A deal was a deal. "Alright. I mentioned the one that thought he was a cowboy right? Well, I heard him having a conversation on my way in the other day with a guy named "Maleficent"; seemed like he was working the tech side of security for the main Novatech compound. I heard him call the other guy, the one dressed like a cowboy, "Luckshot." Finally, I heard them mention they had two other people working another building... some data archive, didn't catch the name though - of the other two or the data safe." Jason finished, emptying his memory of useful information. "Now if you don't mind Chuck, I have some sleep to catch up on... this day has been hell."

 

[Terratina.]

"Now if you don't mind Chuck, I have some sleep to catch up on... this day has been hell."

'Chuck' chuckled, "I can imagine. Cowboys and you don't mix. Don't forget Maximillion's, at 8.30PM. The twins will be waiting for you at the entrance. Goodnight, have fun."

Marlowe ended the call and stretched his arms. Even he was struggling to keep his eyes open at this time of night. However, when times called for stamina, he hadn't failed to keep going in a while. Nevertheless, he needed to sleep and Charlie wasn't looking forward to be running on caffeine, tomorrow. Time to get it over with and type this information up. Marlowe's fingers slowly slid over the keyboard projected into his coffee table, eyes pinned on the end result. Charlie was a perfectionist when it came to formatting, a leftover from his lawyer days. To him, presenting evidence had to be in a way concise and understandable. After all, the jury had to understand it, and the jury could consist of anyone; from the corporate executive in his skyscraper office to the junkie down the road.

Satisfied with the result, he sent off the document to the group using Dvorak's little program, the message would be totally unreadable as it made its way through the Matrix due to its encryption. Charlie liked to protect his information, experience taught him to be careful about these things. The beauty of the little program though, was in the fact that the message would only be unencrypted when opened by the normal means. Open to exploitation there, but as least the program prevented remote hacking.

"Dvorak." Marlowe thought, "I'll have to give you a little 'greeting' sometime soon."

Spoiler: You have 1 New Message(s)

[HEADING=1]NeoNET Security Information[/HEADING]
[HEADING=3]Weapons Used:[/HEADING] NN-1240's - Heavy pistol, semi-auto, 12 shot clip and a lot of kick. But inaccurate. Have just been adopted by NeoNET security recently.
M3-63's - NeoNET switched over to these last year due to hacking problems. Has lower power and a smaller clip than the previously used SK version. Harder to hack into and more durable, though.
M-121 Barrett's - These are used by the longer-ranged security officers.
[HEADING=3]Mods Used:[/HEADING] Standard smart links. The auto-rifle officers use gyro-stablisers and the snipers use collapsible bipods. Standard ammo is used for the most part but some securicy officers go by NeoNET's BYOA (Bring Your Own Ammo.) policy. So for those, anything goes.
[HEADING=3]Augments Used:[/HEADING]

Officers have wired reflexes and some have cyber eyes. Standard stuff. The snipers however, are a different story. They are ex-military and have full-body augs. Most stick to NeoNEY's military grade light armour.
[HEADING=3]Cyber-Sec:[/HEADING]

New H2 hover drones for the local nodes, they mostly stick to guarding the server rooms.
[HEADING=3]Mercs:[/HEADING]

NeoNET has acquired extra security after a recent buyout at Novatech, ex-Military, ex-Lonestar and some freelance hackers to help with the extra demand. A merc called 'Maleficent' is working for the tech security at the Novatech compound and an ex-Lonestar guy called 'Luckshot' who dresses like a cowboy, apparently. There are two other unnamed mercs at a 'data safe' of some sort.

That's all I've got so far - C

That was it for tonight. Now was sleepy-time, even though Charlie would get about less than 4 hours of sleep or so. He changed into his silk pajamas and carefully folded his suit and put that away in his small, space-efficient wardrobe. A thought entered his head to message Jason again, a little step needed in the dance but he decided to bother Jason in the morning. He hoped that little message wouldn't ruin Mr. Hill's morning when he read it...

 

[hiei82]

[h2/][center/]Chapter 2: The Dragon's Lair[/center][/HEADING]

[b/]Three days later:[/b]

Time had passed in a flurry of motion for a number of the loose confederation of runners. Some trained, others called contacts, yet other scouted, and a few rested; all occurring before the appointed day arrived - the run meeting in the ancient bar.

The Dragon's Lair was a dive bar by any standard - filled with the lowest sort of people imaginable. There, villains of every make and model save the most "incorporated" of them, met and discussed deals not meant for the light of day. The dive itself was built around the bar: a semi-circular block of plasti-steel, colored and textured to appear as though a wooden bar of old. Behind the bar were dozens of bottles, each filled with a different drink for a different taste, and fed unendingly to feed the thirst of their particular clientele. Around the bar, were a number of booths and tables, all arranged to follow the invisible, expanded lines of the bar, creating a sort of concentric circular pattern when viewed from above. Ar screens dotted the walls, displaying games of every sport from baseball and golf to urban brawl and combat biking - whatever the viewer desired. The walls were decorated in faux-gold and jewels to keep "on theme" with the name of the unsightly dive. A single, massive, dragon head sculpture hung above the bar, it's eyes seemingly alive in a way that could only be described as unsettling.

For all it's problems, the building was secure - a pair of Troll bouncers and a reputation for violence saw to that, leaving only the strong, the smart and, most importantly, the discrete criminals with any desire to stay within the building proper. A number of large tables, each made of the same false-wood as the bar, had been placed together to fit the needs of a large party - the work of Wulf no doubt - and placed in a lonely corner where no one with any sense would travel uninvited.

The room was mostly empty, again most likely thanks to the former Ancient. The sole occupants were a pair of brutish bartenders, each of such dimensions as to double as bouncers if needed. A handful of random people sat about the bar - each looking as though they were there for one reason - excess security; the Ancients never took strange runners in their bars at their word - former leader among them or not. Only a single man, mildly buzzed, and dressed in an unbuttoned three piece suit, a bag of books beside him, sat in the bar. As the first of the group of scummy, villainous, runners entered, the bartenders kicked the poor man from the bar with resounding speed, but not before the man caught a quick glance at the first of the group to arrive.

As the group arrived, by themselves or in pairs, they were directed tot he long table by one of the trolls to await the others.

Spoiler: Edit

Images added because Terrratina made me feel the shame (jk)

I have added two picture in recompense

 

[Floris2123]

Finwe left the sewer as a broken man. His friend was probably dead in the best case captured and it was all his fault.
In anger Finwe hit the wall with all his might hurting his fist. Realizing that this wouldn't help his friend much.
He quickly healed the small wound then drove off to the meeting.
Those assholes just made this personal they shouldn't have done that. This was the last mistake they ever made.

Finwe cleaned himself up before entering.
Wouldn't want them to smell where I have just been. The sewer isn't such a great place.
Looking in the back he saw his new armor lying in a secure vault he had custom made.
He turned on the security and then activated a few traps that weren't hackable.
Thinking back to the hacker which had broken into his car only to have his throat slit open by one of his many traps.
That was allot of work to clean up. However I could sell his augmentations. So I didn't mind much.

Getting out of the car he looked at his watch.
20 minutes to go as usual. At least I haven't lost my touch.
Finwe regained his normal attitude not wanting to let anybody notice what he had just been through.
Should I tell my new colleagues? Well I will see what I am going to do as soon as I enter.

Walking over to the trolls he asked if he was allowed inside.
After confirming who he was he was let inside. Walking into the main hall he saw the table.
Maybe Wulf has some talent as a leader after all.
Finwe walked to the bathroom cleaning himself one more time to be sure.

He walked over to the table 12 minutes before the meeting was scheduled.
He sat down then looked around for Sebastian. Knowing he could at least trust him with this Intel.
He waited for his friend to arrive.