Toombs slaps St. V on the back and lets him be first through the door. "Give'm a good impression. Show we mean business."

St. Velveteen fills the doorway as he lumbers in, Toombs and Eve close behind. The two fellows waiting inside stand a little straighter as the troll enters, holding their guns closer to their chests. One shouts out, "You St. Velveteen?"

Once introductions are made, a third man enters the light from a side passage; tall, sharp features, long, dark hair. He eyes each of you in turn.

"So you want Cavilard. You found the right person. I have the keys to the kingdom. Practically let you walk in the front door. But what have you brought to the table?"

Eve will slide in on this one; "We have cash. Ten thousand for the information. Twenty if it's really good."

Blood laughs, "cash? I'm rolling in cash. You going to pay me enough for me to notice? It'll be a hundred thousand. I'm willing to accept that. If not? Maybe you have something more interesting to offer me."

"Werll you seem to have us a' a disadvantage, Mistah Blake, cause most people come inta' negotiations wif th' assumption tha' we value th' same fings. As y' can tell, we value scratch an' inf'rmation, an' can offer services of a delicate nature. You have information, so y' obv'sly hold it in some regard, but I've not th' time ta prance about all day figgerin you out." He picks at his teeth with a roofing nail before continuing. "So I tells ya what. We c'n offer services of a delicate nature in return for th' information we need - expenses covered plus intel and a little extra - when we're done our own docket."
"Or y' can just spit out what ya want and we can sees about gettin' it for you."

While Toombs and Eve begin the negotiations, St. V stands at the front of the group with his arms crossed, nodding and grunting as appropriate.  He tries to give the impression of a sturdy wall.  A tough fortress that the other two are protected behind.  All the while scanning the three in front of him with a careful eye, both to search for any hidden weaponry they may have and to be ready in case they reach for any of that weaponry.

Do they have any weapons or armor other than their guns?  And is the equipment high enough quality that their claims to not need money sound valid?

The HKs are nice guns. You're pretty sure their jackets and coats are armored. No signs of any heavy equipment like battle rifles. Given the amount of cyber they're each sporting, they do have SOME money. Too bad money can't buy taste.

Toombs, go ahead and throw me an etiquette test to try and feel out what a man like this might be interested. Since it will come to negotiations, you can throw that out now or later.

Toombs cracks his best winning smirk as the fates rattle their bones.
Etiquette 6: 5,5,5,(6+1)7,4,(6+1)7; 6 successes vs a TN 4
Negotiation 3: 4,5,(6+4)10; 3 successes vs TN 4
Yes, his Negotiation is low, I ran out of skill points >_>

You get a few readings off the guy. Namely, his main headache is competition with other gangs, including Lone Star. If you could call in a favor to help his business in that regard, that would probably help. Secondly, he's still upset over his removal from Cavilard, and you're pretty sure offering to modify your run to fulfill some desires of his might get you the buy-in you need for him to share-all.

He also seems like the sort of guy who likes to be 'large and in charge', and is just looking for an excuse to slap down any of you, so treating him with appropriate deference may get you a lot of mileage.

"Now liss'n. As y' c'n prob'ly guess, we mean to do business t' yer old acquaintances. If ye've got a score ta' settle with 'em, helping us out can cut inta' their bottom line. If ya want us ta set up a dumpster fire 'r grab some other fun little data off th' site, maybe we c'n work somethin' out with you. We're goin for min'mal footprint, so blowin' the place ain't exactly on our itinerary, but if ye know where we can grab you some good blackmail, that's all yours - if y' can get us in."

unfortunately, Toombs is also an alpha personality, and not really prone to backing down from anyone who hasn't already proven themselves to him.

Blake frowns as he considers.

"If I wanted to walk into Cavilard, I could just walk in there, don't you think?"

Still, he stops to consider. "Still, it's a start, and it's worth something. I have a pair of small packages. Attach one to the inside of the biotech director's office, and the second to the director's desk.

"And another favor, to be pulled at my leisure. Information for information. Is that fair?"

I'm just curious here, but who's picking up the tab of the extra favor without getting paid?  Coz I'm certainly not gonna do it!

Dunno! You going to ask? You have radios.

Hahahaha, I think I'll stay inconspicuous for now.  Its just a thought.

St. V looks back over his shoulder to Toombs, then over his other shoulder at Eve, seeing how both of them react to the offer.  He shrugs and tilts his head toward Blood, signaling to Eve to add in her two cents.  He then casually picks at his teeth with a fingernail.  He didn't mind doing a bit of extra work if it was worth it, so long as the task was within reason.

"I'm willin ta meet ya halfway. Stipulations, though, devil's in th' details:
Th' packages we drop ain't gonna be CBRN, and anythin' explosive is tol' to us ahead a' time an' not armed 'til it gets there. Nonlethal's fine, but nothin' that'll get us pinched by sec scanners that wouldn't catch us otherwise.
2," he puts up two fingers knuckles out, "ye can call on us f'r favors, but we get to say no to a fav'r until ya find somethin we c'n agree on. On that job you cover expenses, palms greased, and a fair wage. I don't firebomb Lone Star fr free fr anybody, but I'm down ta give a gang a hotfoot if that's all ye had in mind." He drops his hand back to his side "Ya know we're gonna stick to you 'cause anyone with a rep for droppin out o' bargains don't work long in this burg or biz. 'Sides, even if we get greased, at least ya can sleep sound knowin ya got some property damage back on 'em."

If we're paying services for info, then the J pays us instead of the source, I'd say.  (Expect the J. to get antsy about anything that could make this run noisy/messy)

Eve visibly relaxes as Toombs presses the point.

Blood responds; "you ask a lot of questions."

He considers for a while, then nods. "The second one is an explosive charge. Set for two and a half weeks. Quiet is good, it means no one will be looking for it. If you fuck it up and the Star catches you with an explosives, all the more on your head. If you pull it off, it'll never be connected to you. So how about it?"

Eve discreetly nods her concurrence, but leaves it up to Toombs to manage the negotiations.

"Then I'd say we're agreed. Now let's get them details now tha' old scratch aired his drawers." He rubs his hands together, quite pleased with himself. Got the information and didn't even have to make someone's brain explode! Now he can focus on a booze hangover instead of a magical one.

He nods to himself, then says something to one of his two thugs. The guy separates and disappears into the darkness.

Blake goes on. "Your job is perhaps easier than you think. The place is a mess. They always cut corners. The camera system is out of date. The cameras static out regularly. The guards are expecting that. The SOP is for someone to check it in person, and they will, eventually. At least, they would have, under me.

"The doors all use maglock keypads. I'm sure they've changed the codes, but a passkey should be able to get past them all.

"I know something about the computer systems as well. There's a set of secondary data lines that connect into the heart of the computer system. The address you want is NA/UCAS-SEA-8206. There's also a purge system around the main data stores that can be activated from the Security Center. It's controlled by a Slave Module tied to the Security Subprocessor. That's if you want to give them some real trouble."

He stops. "Not quite the front door keys, but enough to make some real trouble."

"Much obliged, much obliged. 'sides, I mighta' been a little more suspicious if ye'd offered th' keys ta th' kingdom. Now, if ya'll excuse me tha hesitation, I'd appreciate if ya could deliver tha packages ya want delivered to a secure location of ours so we dannae have ta drive around town with at least one crate a' firecrackers." he claps St V on the shoulder thigh "If ye're comfortable airing out tha bolthole ta these enterprisin folks, we can get on with business."

"Now let me consult with my TECHNICAL EXPERTS" he hollers into the radio "ta see if they've got any more questions about the setup they have o'er there. I confess, I've got trouble with any gadget more delicate than a toaster, and ta play an old joke - it's all o'er me head." He wheezes halfheartedly. If Copperhead or Noruas want to talk to him directly, Toombs will pass his radio.

he turns and mutters to Eve "Now, this seems ta be a little less of tha convent'nal palm grease, which may turn to a slight refocusing on our contract. All in pursuit of upholding our new bargain, yeh? So whenever we get 'round ta repaying the debt, I would take it as a personal favor if ya could back us up should we need it." he murmurs respectful-like.

"How'd e know ta target?  Ya didna tell 'im wha we's after?  An mebe check if'n anyone else's been chattin' wit im.  An let us know if some'un else comes snoopin'.  Don' wan no 'un spillin 'is guts 'for we's done"

Where are the secondary data lines located?

Eve nods and whispers to Toombs, "agreed."

In response to Toomb's request, Blood nods, holds a hand up to someone in the shadows. "It will be there."

The secondary data line is available via the matrix. Without the address he already provided, you could spend years hunting for it. Now, you just get on the matrix, go to that matrix address, and you're in.

That's cool.  So that means I can check the place out without needing to plug into a camera?

Yes. Not only that, but it sounds like you'll be better positioned on the host. The cameras will presumably dump you into some security SPU, which likely will be way out on the fringes of the system.

"Y' said y' were involved with th' security. You know what mojo-sec they got on call? Spirits, wards, wizards? Even a poorly placed physad can be a nuisance."