Duck grins, pulling out a comb and running it through his hair, changing its color from shockingly white to black as the tines run through it. He tucks a cigarette behind his ear and checks the fluid of his lighter. He adjusted his new suit- simple black with gold pinstripes, satisfied with the fit. He put on his gold-rimmed aviators, then checked his perfectly-somehow-white teeth in the elevator's panel. His whole getup made him look like some wealthy Asian businessman with possible Yakuza ties. Heck, he even had the tattoos to boot, but those were a story nobody had asked him about, so a story for another day.

"Floor 16 it is, my good man." he says with a smile, tipping the operator generously when he departs from the elevator.

"I's keepin an eye on ya"

Of course, she was still scanning the party too.  Watching a comatose decker in a dark tunnel wasn't exactly thrilling.  Besides, she was a good multitasker . . .

re: White Duck

The operator presses the unmarked button and steps out of the elevator as the door slides closed. As the doors open on 16, the music reaches into the elevator and shakes you. You are standing in a large entryway. Strobe lights flash as lasers bounce off mirrors on the floor, walls, and ceiling.

Across the room, a single doorway opens into a large apartment. More lights flash inside the room to the beat of the driving music. The few socialites standing in the hall look you up and down as you leave the elevator. Conversation is impossible; there is only the music.

You cross the entryway and enter the room. Inside, dozens of people dance in what must be the living room on a normal day. The kitchen, to your right, is filled with real food of every description. Across the dance floor, you spot a girl passing out
simsense disks to guests. To your left is a huge picture window overlooking the bay. The view, through the faint whispers of fog, is breathtaking. This is the lifestyle you could easily become accustomed to.

Duck smirks as he allows himself to be immersed in the vibe of the party, if only for just a moment. He double checks his invitation to verify that this is indeed the residence of a one Mr. Pengrave, then moves into the apartment. He lights up a smoke and checks out the dance floor, wondering if this party is bumping enough to have its own B-boys, or breakdancers for Duck to show up. He'd learned to breakdance from a very young age, and it in fact pre-dated his own ability to fight. Of course, it helped it along, too, as not many melee combatants expect to get double helicopter-kicked in the face, much to the chagrin of the now likely-to-be-late man who 'gave' him this party invitation.

Loud noises were easy enough for him to filter out, though. He honed the pulsing throb of the music down to a buzz in his inner ears, then began to search the sounds of the place outside of the bump and grind of the dance floor to see if he can pick up on anything interesting. He also watched for Pengrave, of course, who was from his understanding possibly accompanied by one third of his eventual payday.

After giving White Duck enough of a head start to make sure nobody would think they had arrived together, Caduceus made his way to the party as well.  With a swing in his step, the Brazilian shaman walked through the gate and up the path.  He consciously willed himself to stay at ease and enjoy himself a bit, even as he worked on a strategy for dealing with the elementals if they became hostile.  The music helped with that.

Once he was past the threshold and was within the building and its wards, his first instinct was to summon a hearth spirit and scan the room with his astral perception.  He did neither though.  He figured if anyone was watching for such things, the lobby would be a prime observation point.  Instead he meandered over to look at the pools and garden area through a window, taking in the scenery and people (and potential strategic positions).  After a couple moments he feigned boredom and strolled back over to the elevators.  He waved his ticket at the doorman.  "Suppose I should see what all the excitement's about, eh?" he said with a wink.

Noruas sits down next to the panel and begins his immersion into the Matrix.

Noruas slides into the Matrix. The connection is healthy and fast--better than he's enjoyed for a ... well, since 5pm. But he's using HIS computer this time, so it's definitely better. Go ahead and tell me where you're going. You can do that in the Matrix thread or here.

Caduceus walks up to the guards. Again, a flash of invite and he's in. As he's waiting by the lobby windows, a clearly inebriated party goer, his collar popped almost to his ears, stops him. "hey chummer, loved you in Swamp Beast! Awesome they have the sim actors here too..." Without waiting, he rejoins his friends, laughing far too loud. There are a few islands of relative peace; circles of chairs or suit-clad men holding court, sipping drinks, clearly discussing people and numbers next slated for uploading into their customer-base's collective heads. Through the window, Caduceus notes the pool has a definite mercenary feel to it. Beyond the joygirls, the pool-goers walk with the calm reserve of sec or ex-mil. Caduceus even recognizes a few 'discreet knives', the sorts of belt buckles and credit cards that hide a blade to pass through security checks. They do seem to be at ease though; laughing, swimming, and bearing skin to the cold Seattle night. When Caduceus enters the elevator, the doorman punches the button and sends him up.

The party upstairs has some professional dancers, but they're more in the 'sexy slither' style than breakdancing. White Duck probably realizes putting on a proper show here will attract more attention than he's looking for. Fortunately, people seem to be pretty liberal with their tongues;
"I'm telling you, I saw Elvis."
"Bet I can pull the tablecloth from under these plates."
"If you eat another thing, Norman, I'm going to be sick."
"Excuse me, sir, but you're standing on my foot."
"You're challenging me? Come on tough guy, hit me."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Pengrave. I mean, I didn't know. I mean, well, I'm leaving already."

Sure enough, watching the dance floor is Booker Pengrave, HSE exec whose name is clearly emblazoned on your invite. And on his arm is a woman in a long, silk evening gown, bedazzled with jewelry. While she holds herself with the poise of a queen, Duck notices a line of datajacks barely hidden behind her ear and neck.

Despite all of the sexy slithering and the liberal tongue usage, Duck indeed remembers he's here to do a job. His eyes snap to where his ears locate Pengrave, and he nods, almost to himself, well, okay, to himself, for a job-well-done. Immediately after spotting the highly-likely location of his first mark, he steps off the dance floor, using his phone to send a text-based comm message to Copperhead.

T1 located. Awaiting opportunity for acquisition. he types, hitting send as he leans his back against a wall near the two, taking a drag of his cigarette and focusing his ears closely on the couple's whereabouts and conversation, hoping the two make themselves separate from the party at large. If they leave, he follows, albeit sneakily, to see where they get off to.

Copperhead monitored Noruas occasionally to make sure he's not frothing at the mouth.  Though realistically, the best she'd be able to do to help would be to fire buckshot into his cable connection, hopefully making things better rather than worse.

She spent most of her time monitoring the party, trying to get a sense of where her teammates were and positioning her drone to best give cover if some were necessary.

I'm guessing I don't pick up anything more from my scans or eavesdropping than White Duck and Caduceus

Receiving the text, she briefly wonders which one T1 is, but supposes that it doesn't really matter much.  Acquisition here was going to be a challenge though.  Her read of the local security was that they wouldn't take too kindly to watching someone being bundled into a van, especially if it was a high-value target.

She texts back:
N's in.  Let us know if either of us can help

Duck smirks. Good ol' Nouras. Would probably have to thank the dwarf later on if the idea that just popped into his head worked. Knowing how useless the comms were, he continued to keep a reasonably close distance between the pair and himself, keeping his smoke's ashes burning long as he texts in.

Trigger fire alarm possible? Can swipe the chip during evac if close enough and escape in the chaos. See if Cad can help cover? Confirm if good idea?

15 right?  Sure right chip?  Intel on the others before we need to run?<blue>

The rigger speaks over the com as she's transmitting her text response.

<blue>Noruas, Ducky wants ta know if ya kin trigger da sprinklers on 15.  Snake, mebbe hav an 'lusion ready ta stract da security.  No action 'til Ducky says "go"

Sprinklers would be a more effective distraction than alarm.  Fire alarms tended to have people looking around trying to figure out if they should move or not.  The women in particular wouldn't be in a hurry to go tramping down a back stairway in their 6 inch heels, nor to soil their feet by walking barefoot.

On the other hand, a spray of water from above would have everyone scurrying fast and looking for nothing but cover.  And the team would have a good reason for going home "early" once their outfits were ruined.  Plus the spray of water would keep any cameras or bodyguards who *were* paying attention from getting a good look at what was happening unless they were very close.  Hopefully Duck would hold off on his "go" until the marks were well positioned to be clear of any close observation.

Plus, she had to admit that part of her was sort of looking forward to seeing Duck looking like a drowned rat . . .

She took another swig of coffee and returned to monitoring.

As the elevator doors closed to take him up to floor 16, Caduceus had to make a quick decision.  Conjure a hearth spirit here in privacy, with only security cameras watching him (presumably), or wait until he surveyed the area upstairs with his astral senses.  He wanted to scope out the place, but this moment alone was just too good to pass up.  He decided to do it.  Besides, once he made his mind link with White Duck it would be too difficult to conjure anything while sustaining his spell.

The shaman leaned against the wall as he went up.  He pulled out his phone and made a point to view the screen.  His eyes were not focused on what was there though.  They looked through the screen as he tranced out.  His other hand gripped the elevator's hand rail tightly as he pulled forth the place's hearth energies.  He pulled a spirit from the gaps between the walls, the spaces under the floorboards, and the unseen well of the elevator shaft around him.

13:39, Today: Caduceus rolled 5 successes using 5d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 4,4,(6+5)11,(6+4)10,(6+3)9.  Conjuring Force 4 Hearth Spirit (saving 3 dice for drain).
13:39, Today: Caduceus rolled 7 successes using 8d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 4,4,5,(6+4)10,5,(6+1)7,4,1.  Drain Test.
5 services, no drain.  Nice!

"Go back to where you came from and wait for further instruction," he mumbled to it as soon as it appeared.  He would call it back as soon as he got a look at the party's magical security.  "Snake, guide me."  Caduceus stood up from the wall and exited as the doors opened.

The loudness and lights were more than he had been expecting.  He stood for a moment,taking it in, before grinning at the party goers nearby and moving his shoulders to the beat.  With a slight rhythm to his step, caduceus made his way casually into the room and mingled with the crowd, dancing.  After about a minute or two, he began sneaking glimpses with his astral sight, looking for obvious astral/magical threats, and for White Duck's aura.

After locating Duck and being at least moderately confident he could discretely reestablish a connection to the group, Caduceus grabbed himself a beverage to recover from his musical exercise and went about establishing the Mind Link.

He breathed large steady breaths as he concentrated on White Duck's head.  With each exhale a mana whip lunged out from his own forehead like a viper.  Each strike bringing it closer to Duck.  Until, finally, its invisible fangs plunged painlessly into Duck's scalp.  <Testing. One, two,> Caduceus thought-spoke to his teammate.  <We get signal?>

Force 2 Mind Link.
Target is 4 and I need 1 success.  I'm still a bit sketchy on spell rules, but I believe I get 6 Sorcery dice to use, +2 for a detection spell, and 6 Spell Pool Dice.  Leftovers go to drain test.  Then I get 6 Willpower dice for drain test as well.  Target for the drain test is 1 2, and I need 6 successes for 0 drain.  I'll allocate 8 dice for the casting and 12 for the drain test.

14:27, Today: Caduceus rolled 4 successes using 8d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 4,4,2,(6+4)10,2,1,1,4.  Force 2 Mind Link.
14:27, Today: Caduceus rolled 4 (I mean 9) successes using 12d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 (I mean 2) with rolls of 5,(6+2)8,1,1,2,3,3,(6+1)7,4,1,3,3.  Drain Test.

PM

White Duck bides his time, keeping an eye on the duo. The woman quickly has an audience of handsome and wealthy men, competing for her ear or her arm. She quickly settles on one and he escorts her to the balcony, while she whispers little things into his ear now and again. Pengrave has a small audience of his own, but they seem to be interested mostly in business. A muscle-bound ork with gold tusk-caps says he has a script, an older fellow congratulates Pengrave on his stock up-tick, but asks if he's sure about a recent investment of his. For those who press their own interests, Pengrave is polite, but soon excuses himself; instead he gravitates towards a circle discussing new shows on the trid, and the importance of smell in simsense.

Caduceus summons his spirit, but the elevator is fast. The doors slide open as Caduceus gives his command. Watching the astral, he notices a small spirit in the room watching him. He is wary about holding it too long. Caduceus focuses a moment to establish the mindlink with WD, when a young woman touches him on the elbow; "Sarand, is that you? You have to watch this chip with me. Come on, honey." Judging by her lilt and unfocused eyes, you'd guess her mind is not totally in this world either.

"N kin trigger da 'larm, but e's gettin toasty.  Dunno how long 'e kin hang on, so confirm quick"

Copperhead examines those on the balcony to see if she can identify any of them or listen in to whatever they're saying.

From 1 k up, I'm equivalent to 20 meters away.  Can I see if she has anything jacked in

Duck seemed somewhat saddened when the squad of wealthy suitors narrowed down to one. With Pengrave distracted, however, now would be the time to make his move. Closing his eyes for a moment, he shifts an eye in color from both a blackish brown to one an almost metallic sheen of gold, the other a pure, almost white blue.

He steps out onto the balcony, attempting to steal "Cleo"'s attentions and make the other guy go away by talking an utterly embarrassing level of shit about the man's clothes, appearance, and demeanor, attempting to humiliate the man into leaving.

Verbal Intimidation check, dumping half CP:
07:29, Today: White Duck rolled 5 successes using 8d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of 1,3,5,4,4,5,(6+2)8,3.  Intimidation (Verbal.)

With "Cleo" now outside, Copperhead can get a clear reading on her. The discussion is perhaps a little too saccharine (and certainly not mission-related) to share with the team.

White Duck begins attacking the single suitor. He laughs and dismisses WD with a wave of his hands, "I suppose not everyone can afford 'derelict chic'. Please, you're embarrassing the lady." Cleo momentarily locks her gaze on White Duck. It's a look that is both alluring and yet, very mysterious. "We're in the middle of something, Rupert and I. Perhaps you could spare me a few moments to speak with him? Whatever this issue between the two of you, I know he will set things right as soon as he is able."

Can't use CP for non-combat actions. There's no pool to pull on for interpersonal skills except, I suppose, karma pool.

Can I get a line of sight on her from the van or just from the drone?  Is there visible security on the balcony?  What's the aerial environment like around the drone and the building - other drones nearby in stationary or orbit?

quote:

16:23, Today: Copperhead rolled 1 success using 6d6 with the Shadowrun system with a target of 4 with rolls of (6+4)10,2,3,1,2,1.  Perception - security situation.

"I kin drop'er when d' larm goes if ya wants.  But we gotta move quick.  Dunno what da s'curity is.  An mebbe astral o'rwatch I can't see"

The rigger was already examining the nearby roads, noting the location of law enforcement vehicles and plotting the best ways to get out of the area with back-up and back-up back-up plans.

PM

PM

Caduceus gently pulled the strange woman's hand off of his elbow.  "In a minute, Hon.  I need to make a pit stop in the little boy's room first.  How 'bout you go get started without me."  He excused himself from the woman as politely as possible and went to find a restroom, getting a better feel for the dwelling's layout as he went.  As soon as his attention had a chance to waver a bit, he attempted to fill in White Duck about what he had learned about their situation.  He just hoped his info-dump wouldn't throw the adept off his game.  (He will also inform Copperhead as well if he can find a secluded spot to do so, such as an unoccupied restroom.)

<There is a small spirit in the party area.  It noticed me, but I don't think it took any action yet.  There are three powerful elementals out in the gardens and pool outside, too.  Each roughly on par with my own power.>  He sent mental images to White Duck of all the conjured entities.  <There are lots of ex-mil mercs hanging out in the pool for some reason too.  Hidden weapons galore.>  He was going to leave it at that, but then added, <Oh, and apparently I look a lot like some trid star from Swamp Beast called Sarand.>

Duck laughs. "Derelict Chic? You're talking shit about my clothes, but your name is *Rupert*? Hoo, boy. Well, *Rupert*, turns out I have some important info to share with the lady here that isn't some veiled attempt to get laid. Perhaps, *Rupert*, you can piss off? I think I saw a conspicuously-dressed robber making off with a sack full of your daddy's money." Rupert would *probably* want to have Duck thrown out of the party for saying this, but that brief split is actually what he hoped for, as he would utilize this time to reach over and unslot "Cleo"'s chip.

Now that Cleo is on the porch, she can see her (as well as WD). However, the noise of the party is still interfering with her audio. It's tough to make out the physical security. With the flashing lights and Seattle fog, it's easy for drones to disappear into the background. However, given the security present, Copperhead is reasonably shore there will be drone support as well (and probably supported by multiple skilled riggers).

Caduceus finds the bathroom easily enough. It's expansive, and there are a few sim chips left casually by the sink basin. Caduceus can make the radio calls out (and can get up to whatever other mischief he cares to as well. Lavender-cucumber soap and jacuzzi tub? Would they really notice if you went offline for 15 minutes?)

Rupert addressed White Duck; "what is your problem, sir? Are you another drop-out actor sorry I passed you over? Drek off before I call security and have you escorted out."

"Pardon, chief, but I'm not here to sell you chips or scripts. I'd just like five minutes of the lady's time, then I'll leave you both alone to have a wonderful evening." He looks to the woman known as 'Cleo'

"I'm afraid it's very important, Rupert. My apologies for being unfamiliar with you and not paying you proper heed if you're some sort of celebrity, but my priorities currently transcend that. Can you please spare just these few moments?" he asks of them both, hoping Cleo herself might step in or get curious about what Duck has to say. Of course, he *could* probably chuck this guy off of the roof, but that would be too conspicuous, and it would actually be the second person this week he pushed from a roof. Not a good habit to start.

Cad, if this guy can't walk away, perhaps you can confuse him into doing it?
This message was last edited by the player at 13:13, Tue 27 Sept 2016.

Despite the odd drop in the audio, it wasn't hard to catch that things were definitely heating up.  She casually switched the ammo in both her drone and the van to gel rounds.

So can I target her (or, in the unlikely event it's necessary, him) from the van or just the drone?