First off

8 exp to catch you up some with the others.

Now will get you started.... waiting in a bar in the maintenance area, kinda seedy, waiting to meet some one that want's a pilot.

After sitting around waiting for a while, having a few drinks, watching a bar fight... Some one calls your name. "Sera I take it?"

The voice comes from a rather tall, and odd looking construct that appears to be in her mid 20s. She is about seven feet tall, blue, and has four arms... rather than hair she has several thin tentacles of flesh amongst a handful of larger ones. "You the pilot?"

Sera looks up at the creature through a haze of cigarette smoke. There hasn't been paying work in days, and while she wasn't broke, it was best to be preventative instead of getting too comfortable. She finishes the whiskey that she's been nursing for the better part of an hour, standing up and looking over her client for a moment.

"Let me just make sure you're clear on the ground rules. I'm being hired to fly; Not to fight, not to carry, not to salute, and not to fuck." She doesn't speak harshly, but working in the unlicensed channel put everyone at risk...which meant that she couldn't count on anyone coming to her rescue if she was in over her head. "If we have a deal, then yeah. I'm the pilot."

She laughs some taking a seat, she is careful doing so... she has a tail with 3 grasping claws at the end of it that she has to get out of the way. "Right to the point, and don't ask many questions hu? I am plenty able to fight on my own,  don't care to much for formalities, and I could give less a damn who you do or don't fuck. I am plenty happy in the girlfriend department." She smiles relaxing some and ordering a drink. "Now I hear you don't really care much what the job is, if that's correct I believe we will have a deal. I hope you will even consider a spot on the crew, as much as you can call it one.  You will get a reasonable cut of the pay out and a dram or two to spend, rather it's a short hop or staying on board."

"Well, I've been a part of less savory crews, so you'll have to excuse me. I prefer to be direct." Sera sat back down, taking another drag off of the cigarette and stubbing the end out into a tray on the table. She had been more anxious to get out of the station than anything, but that was from feeling stifled, and not from trouble.

She leans back in the chair, crossing her arms as she listened to the proposal. "Well, if you were told that I don't have any ethical hang-ups about my line of work, that would be right. Since I get paid to fly, the only thing I concern myself with is flying. What other members of the crew do doesn't bother me too much as long as it doesn't interfere with that." Sera took out the pack of cigarettes in her pocket and rapped the end against her knuckles, letting one slide out into her fingers. She didn't light it right away, as just holding it sated the edge. "I'm not opposed to steady work, but I'd have to meet the rest before I could say. If that's what they're looking for, however...well, I'm not opposed to it. I don't suppose the crew is too worried about what I do as long as I fly well, right?"

She nods some and relaxes. "Well so far it's just me and one other, and you can kick his ass if he bothers you too much... I could care less, he's a pain some times." She takes a nice long drink when she gets it. "Ships the Lucid Nonsense, it's currently registered as the CCS Nervous Energy and on docking arm 5. She's a real piece of work, if you love flying you will love her, monoverable as hell."
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:46, Wed 30 May 2012.

"Well, even if it wasn't maneuverable, I still would make a showing of it." The smirk on her mouth was infectious, but she simply nodded. It sounded like she would be out of here faster than she thought. "When do we leave, then?"

"2 to 3 days, tops. I was going to try and snag the rock, take it some where with enough juice we could turn it's quintessence back in on itself and purge the resonance. But they moved that thing to a secure quarantine vault in the science wing. The only conceivable way I can think of getting at it now is to hack the emergency system so you could use the quarantine breach purge systems to decouple the wing, and grab the whole section of the station... worry about it later. But I don't have anyone that can do that, nor do I have a ship big enough to hull something like that." She sighs. "Suppose it's for the best, the ship wasn't to happy about having that thing on board anyway... why you think it went with 'Nervous Energy' as a call sign. But I have some other deals and a plan in mind that will least make some money off this trip. I just need some more time to work them out. After that we are out of here, hopefully before something else goes terribly wrong here."

"Well, decoupling locks isn't an issue if you can make the system think it's an emergency, but you need someone who can run a deck to get something like that together." Sera set the cigarette in the corner of her mouth, the lighter slowly moving between her fingertips on one hand. "Unfortunate for you, I don't know if anyone on this end owes me any favors. If you're assembling a crew, though, you should probably find at least one person who can work keygens."

She leaned back in the chair, crossing one leg over the other as she took a more comfortable position. The talk of a "rock" was enough to raise a few flags, but true to her word, she didn't pay too much mind to the specifics. If they want her to know more, they will say more. "Sounds fantastic, then. I suppose I can try not to drink myself to death until you're ready to take that bird out...unless you're starting the payroll now, as I have nothing better to do..."

(read the first bit of the main chapter stuff... it's fairly well known that the auction is going on and what the rock is... if she hasn't hurd about it yet she would just listing to people talk)

"Oh disengaging the locks is easy.... disengaging them with out the whole segment vaporizing itself is a little harder. Like I said though... ships to small for that anyway." She lays down two credit chips "Here these are full, you will need around 150~180k or so to get all the star charts we need. You can get them from Norbit if the little rat hasn't jumped station after the bomb threat, the other 20k or so you can use to buy anything you might need yourself. Tell him I want ALL the charts he has... ALL... Including the ones with achorheads, dangerous routes, and restricted correspondence points, he might give you a hard time on it but just be presistant... let him know you know what he has and arn't leaving with out it."

(with credits 1k = about 10 US dollars)

"Huh. Okay, I can do that." She picked up the chips, pocketing them easily into her jacket pocket. Sera could have easily fallen back on her "you hired me to fly" bit, but the truth was that she was bored and the legwork would do her good. She could always go back to her squat and get high later instead of now. "There's something to be said for understanding being prepared. Guaranteed I've flown blind more than once, but I don't do it regularly...it's ugly."

She slides back the chair, ready to get on her way. "If you're going far out, you should probably think about a mechanic being on board. Pilot or not, I wasn't taught how to put them together, and I can't guarantee that I'm more comfortable with a socket in hand than you would be. I'm sure you have your basis covered, but you have no clue how many don't." Sera smirked, the cigarette shifting position.

"You have an idea of where I should be looking for Norbit at? If I were in his shoes, I doubt I'd be at home..."

"Yah, look for the big rock elemental at the stands in the promenade. And I don't need a mechanic... just more quintessence." She finishes her drink and gets up but stops to look Sera over, "Don't run off with those creds, I will find you if you try."

While talking, if you have any communication device or micro computer, you get an alert that you got mail.

"Well, I'm not a low-profile type of gal." Sera nodded, getting up as she spoke. She was used to sizing everyone up, so coming across someone who did the same to her wasn't any trouble. "I will see you in a few days, although if you need me earlier, this is the best place to start. That, or the boarded-up building south of the aeroplex...you know."

If there was nothing more to say, Sera left the bar in search of the Norbit. She had been doing her best to avoid all the hullabaloo that had been exploding down there, magick or not...crowds werent a strong suit, and neither was uncontrolled energy. Besides, she could just barely feel its presence when the pills kicked in.

She nods some setting a data chip down. "You will need this to access the ships dock. It has the proper access codes, try not to lose it... things could get messy and require a fast exit." After that she leaves with you going in her own way.

It don't take to long to find the stall it's the only one with a seven foot tall pile of rocks in the rough shape of a man standing beside it. The crowd is not as bad though as when you first arrived on the station, with news that the auction is being moved a lot of people are packing up to head moon side, while others just don't want to wonder around with all the chaos that's been going on lately.

Sera walked through the station to the pavilion, taking a more direct route than she intended. She didn't have the overwhelming rush to pick up what she needed, but there wasn't much else on her day plan...besides, getting paid and getting out into the black were on her short list. Combined with the less-packed station, she ended up arriving before she was even really aware of it. The ground just seemed to move under her feet like that sometimes.

When she spotted Norbit, she turned back around another stall to focus. Haggling wasn't really her strong suit, but having some extra money outside of these maps would save her from having to spend her own money. There was enough in her ba to get her through her trip, but that was assuming things didn't go awry at some point. Sera rubbed her eyes for a moment, sliding her sunglasses on letting her eyes adjust.

When her comm gave a small vibration in her jacket pocket, she fished it out with a raised eyebrow. Seeming as Norbit didn't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon, she flipped it open and scanned the contents to figure out what the alert was...

It's just some mail:

Dear Valued Customer,

   We received word from one of our many freelancers that you are from Waistland, have spent some time in the Free Lands, and lived in Magic Kingdom. This is quite interesting to us and could make both of us money. If you would be willing to submit memory scans of any unusual creatures, lifeforms, monsters, items, artifacts, locations, or the like you have encountered we would be willing to give you a fair compensation for anything that we use. As well as being paid any time we use one of your scans for making avatars, items, or to formatting a sector. We are looking for anything are designers haven't seen before and are willing to pay for information on the behavior and visuals of anything out of the ordinary. If your submission is used as inspiration you will receive modest credit and credits. Should your submission be used as a base then you will be credited in the products description and you will receive a much higher commission. If you are interested or would like more information please contact me.


                                                                         WYSIWYG,
                                                                         Savy Spice
                                                                         Astounding Avatars & Ect.

Sera smirked, closing the message but leaving it in her inbox. Her instinct to protect her identity and her her love of credits conflicted, and she decided it was best just to deal with it at a later time. Never shut a door. She finally closed her comm and cracked her knuckles, walking around the corner with her hands in her pockets and approaching the elemental.

"Norbit, right?" She peered over the glasses for a moment, giving him a nod in affirmation. "I was told to come see you about the backyards, then. Err, charts, that is. Maps."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:41, Sat 02 June 2012.

The large rock man shook his head and pointed to the counter. There on top of a data pad poking at some images of the solar system overlayed with that you recognition as lay lines or correspondence points is what looks rather like a flying squirrel. This one though was green and had what looked like a silver collar and a silver antenna with a little round sphere of silver on the tip. It turned looking over its shoulders blinking a pair of solid orange eyes to large for it's head. It turns back around poking at the pad closing the image and moves over closer sitting up on it's hind legs. The collar starts to drone out in a mechanical voice. <Giving the customer a pleasant greeting is useful.> The electric voice accommodated by a odd pressure on your mind, similar to a weak mental attack. An awkward silence passes... was that it's greeting?

"Uhh......right." Sera did her best to swallow back the surprise, turning her focus to the little green squirrel. "It is, and then showing the wares is usually the next step, because I'm going to need a lot." She could feel the edge of her mind trickling from something, but decided not to pay mind to it just yet...her mind had played tricks on her before, and might have even been right now. Sera re-crossed her arms, looking between the elemental and squirrel...well, now I'm just being wound up, aren't I?

Norbit nods <The purchase of quality self updating charts is useful.> The pressure on your mind is there again when he addresses you.

"I agree, but I'm going out pretty deep, and I can do my own calculations on shift." She compulsively scratched at the back of her head, the mental pressure causing the reaction. She didn't seem aware of it as she did it, setting the other hand on her hip. "I just need a comprehensive listing. Everything. Everything you have a draw on, at the least, or you can point me in the direction who has more in stock than you."

<Insults are counterproductive> Hard to read the emotionless drone of the translator collar or the facial expressions of a squirrel but you might have putt him off there a little. <Highest quality maps, free updates to changes, ability to purchase further data from afar taken when traveling in deep space is essential.> This thing is ether trying a subtle manipulation or the mental affect is something unintentional.

Sera bit her lower lip for a moment. It wasn't her intention to be insulting, but it didn't seem like she was getting as straight of an answer as she was seeking out. The problem with translation software was that it was more designed for words instead of context, however....maybe she was the only one really "playing the game," as she saw it. "Wasn't meaning to insult, naturally...it's a side effect. Can I see what we're talking about before we talk price?"

He nods to the rock man and he reaches down under the table handing you a data pad, it only has a map of the inner planets on it, but it's a very very good map. There are plenty of little known points, ones that you don't know of too, there even a few very weak lines to unstable correspondence points above/bellow the ecliptic. The pad itself is one of the newer ones.

Sera took the pad, turning it over and looking over the data on the screen. "Well, this is the tourist list. I'm looking for something that has a bit more local flavor...non-grid paths through off turf, correspondance listings...the full suite." She narrowed her eyes behind the glasses, using her thumb to flick the data through it's layers. "Not that this isn't useful as well...but I can't steer clear of an anchorhead if you don't have a map for them."

She set the pad down on the table in front of Norbit, shrugging. "I'm not questioning the....the legality of anything you have. I just need something much more comprehensive."

His ears lower some (daww lol =p) one giving a twitch. <The solicitation of non-gate travel through the nebula unadvised> The mental pressure much lighter as he glances about twitching his ear some.

"Then unadvise me." She took out a credit chip, tapping it on the edge of the table. "No one's paying you to turn away business, though. Keep that in mind. And while you're thinking it over, maybe there's more that you wouldn't mind showing me?"

Those orange eyes glow some as he looks at you. <Revealing ones intentions is useful.> As the translation comes through you find it hard to do anything but tell him why you are here.

"I've been contracted out to fly for the Lucid Nonsense. Personally, I don't make it a habit of digging into others personal pieces of business, I just fly." she leaned over the counter, placing a hand down alongside the datapad. There was a part of her that was aware of the information she was offering up, but was unable to compel herself to stop. "I was also told to be persistent when asking for every map you have available, which I'm trying to do. I'm sure you can see the predicament you're putting us in here."

He seamed to relax some, but did not seam to like your hand so close to him and eyed it. <Keeping such files for all to see is not thoughtful.> he looks up <Returning tomorrow with 175000 creditable units will be profitable.>  Well they where right that he talked funny but no one said the little bugger was psychic. However the bliss was kicking in and it made it hard to care to much, he only made you say what you would have anyway given time and prodding.

Sera grinned, the ease of the drug slipping into her system. If it had kicked in ten minutes earlier, she would have gotten nothing....and that's what timing is all about. She moved her hands, nodding and taking a step back. "Nothing but thanks, Norbit." Her smile was carefree, and it didn't much occur to her to haggle down the price. She continued back and away, turning and lighting the cigarette.

Bliss; it was unreal, man.

Withdrawing one of the credit chips and turning it over in her hands, Sera started wondering what else she should buy with her remaining money. There were few and far between the possessions that wouldn't fit into a single bag, and she would certainly buy a few different sets of clothing and a few cartons of cigarettes. On the other hand, she did have the whole night to kill as well as days until she had to pilot...

Sera noticed something odd though, even through the relaxing affects curiosity didn't fade to much...not always a good combination. She could see the update Norbit was working on did not include the station's node and he was moving the nodes and lay lines around to compensate for it's absence. He had also made a grade deal of changes to the lunar lay lines around Neo New York.

Message to GM
This message was last edited by the player at 04:37, Thu 07 June 2012.

ok

While she did notice the editing of the map, it wasn't hard to know that there would be a gap. Maybe to people not familiar with the area, but she'd flown through the Bayhead ports so many times that she practically paid rent there. The fact that Norbit seemed so insistent on changing them did seem strange, but as long as everything else was there, she wouldn't complain; they could be fixed later. What she couldn't add were new locations, because she wouldn't need them if they were already on the map.

Either way, it would work out. Sera continued down the station hallway, taking a long drag off the cigarette as she walked further into the shops of the station. What else could she possibly need for this trip?


(OOC not really sure what she would be doing other than killing time until Norbit's meeting, since they don't take off for a couple days. sorry.)

One day, the equivalent of 250 bucks to blow, and a large mix of shops. Legal drugs (including mage enhanced drugs or the service to enhance what you got), implants, splicing/body work, clothing, weapons/armor, portable computers, computer immersion suites (VR pretty much), and just about anything you could want for the trip. There is a dizzying amount of shopping options, or you could just go to a bar drug/drinks ether way that's one way to pass time.

There is also the letter you got.

Responsibilities first. Sera nodded to herself as she went through the market, passing through clothing and other bazaar items alike. A fresh set would be nice, but she had a lot of clothes already stashed away in her squat. Besides, this was money that didn't even include pay for the job, and that was enough to put a spring in her step. She purchased two cartons of decent cigarettes as well as a bottle of port, as well as a new pair of aviator shades to replace the slightly bent ones she had been wearing. With the addition of a new pair of boots that would hold together without tape, she was set for the night.

Sera returned to the squat in the empty office building, pulling her bag out if hiding and stuffing her new items in them. She didn't trust money in there, but everything else was safe enough. She sat down on the ground, grinding out a portion if the Olympus and loading it into a glass pipe as she looked over the message on get datapad. Before it started to burn, she opened the reply tag and typed a quick message.

How do you know who I am?

It takes some time for a reply but one shows up.

We have many scouts on Earth and in the CCG that get that also work off a commission. While I must admit some times it just based off rumors, even then some times things pan through. However being one of the top suppliers of the work we do lets us employ a good deal of such scouts. We also regularly check flight records.

Even artist need inspirations, and we get requests for accurate applications of real world creatures or locations. We know privacy is a concern, you need only share what you think we might be interested in and we will pay you for anything we are able to use.

Sera had been working on the pipe of Olympus, exhaling a cloud of smoke as her datapad chirped with reply. The spot she had set up had a view overlooking the pavilion, but people couldn't exactly see up into it without knowing what to look for; it was the perfect hiding spot, for the time being. She finally took up the electronic device, reading over the message quick enough to respond to it.

Then we can talk price when I find something. Don't make me regret agreeing to take your offer.

It was mostly bravado, but she didn't care enough to worry about repercussions. Sera set it back down and took another hit off of the pipe, letting the drugs seep further into her system through her lungs. She could have very well sat here all night, but eventually she found herself getting up after the bowl burned out and heading back out. The best place to start would be a place that she could get a stiff drink, and then from there who knew. Sera stepped back out into the streets, looking for the most interesting pub that she could find on this side of the station...

The most interesting bars are always near the docks or on maintenance levels, she would have seen a rather seedy one when she got off on the station, but it would be a bit further a walk to get to than the ones on the pavilion.

She did get another replay on the way.

I am afraid we can't pay anything up front unless your willing to submit to a full passive scan by a program that will sort out such useful sights. However you will get a commission for anything that is used, even if it's just used as inspiration. If it's the basis for a project then you will be paid a commission as well as a small amount for each purchase of the final product made. However i am sure if half of what we have hurd is true there are some sights you have seen our artists will be interested in.

Sera had stopped to lean against the wall of a textile stand, taking out her datapad and typing a message back to the sender.
Are you saying you're aware of where I currently am? This could happen pretty quickly, then. I suppose it goes unsaid that discretion of myself as the source of information is a caveat of our arrangement, correct?

Closing the datapad, Sera decided to forego the bar for the smell of frying food. She wasn't totally sold on selling her information, and she did have paying work, but a little more money in her pocket wouldn't be so bad. She bought a large piece of meat on a kebob, finding a place to eat it as she contemplated what else she would do before the night was over. The drugs had a strong hold on her, and it would not be hard to simply close her eyes and fi to sleep...and she had nothing but time, considering they weren't leaving for days...

Meat was a little more pricy in space if it was real and not lab grown meat, usaly coming from dinos hunted down on Venus, most tasted more along the lines of chicken... if you wanted something that tasted like beef you had to go lab grown or pay out the ass for it. A good real stake could cost 5~10k depending where you are, such a pitty. Vegetables and fish were far more common place, plants farmed on Mars with fish and seaweeds from Ganymede. (she may have smuggled cows or food before)

The reply comes quickly again, who ever it is likely is online now looking for your responses.

Oh, of course if you do not wish to be sited as the source we can keep such to ourselves, the statement that we would credit you is simply because most people wish to have there contribution recognized by the buyers. If you wish we simply can give a number or code name and only the computer will know it was you that submitted anything. There will be a record on the computer but that is unavoidable if you wish to be payed. All you have to do is holistically log into the info sphere and can go from there, if you don't have the rig yourself I'm sure where ever you are has public ones.

The lab-grown steak wasn't a generous portion, but sometimes it was worth the little bit extra when it was in her hand. If this was her payment for taking people into the black, then there was a whole other conversation that would happen aboard the ship...but there was something asking her about making some real money, and the sweetest parts of her mind couldn't say no to that.

The response came back even faster this time, which was surprising, but she didn't mind; there was no patience for playing a waiting game when it came to negotiations. She didn't play the game the way other people did, in the sense that she simply took what was offered and ran from there. Maybe growing up in the south had an effect on it, but it was also that her short-term memory left something to be desired.

She flipped open the datapad, quickly reading the message. Holding the kebob between her teeth, she wiped her thumbs off on the edges of her pants and began typing back.

I happen to be close to one. Do I need to let you know when I'm going online, or do I just let it scan and upload?

If you know how to run a program to store your memories, and only wish to send ones you have picked yourself, then you can do so at your own leisure and send them to me. I'll do all the paper work taken care of and send it through to the artists, after a week or so at the most you should get a reply about how your input is being used and what you can expect in compensation.

The responses seam a little to fast for some one typing or dictating it... but then again your judgment of time isn't so spot on if you don't considerate on it, and using time magics to keep tract of the flow of time down to the second can be a bit of a buzz kill. It could be there already holistically immersed and just thinking the message.

An announcement rings out over most speakers or screens, all music or other broadcasts stopping as the image of one of the bridge crew shows up and the voice echos from many sources. <Attention... Attention... Over the next 24 hours we will be instigating an organized evacuation of all non essential personal. There is no need to panic, this action is in response for a dangerous event predictive algerthims have pointed out. There is plenty of time to evacuate before this possible outcome, there will be messages sent out shortly giving details of the evacuation and what ship you will be on and when it leaves. If you do not get a message with in the next hour, please check the system at any terminal, from there you can look up your name. System terminals will also have information if you chose to stay, or if you are part of the core crew and do not wish to stay.....  I repeat, remain calm, the evacuation will take place over the next 24 hours. Please do not crowd the terminals, they will not have any information for one hour.> Despite the announcement you watch many of the terminals start attracting crowds.