Comstock acknowledged Serenade's glance and sat quietly.  He did not want to make Vigilance a pariah by simply attacking and demolishing everyone and everything present.  There was enough power in the room that even with the people he'd brought there was no guarantee they would be able to accomplish anything anyway.  But there was a great deal at stake.

Comstock locked eyes with Juan and gave him a polite nod.  Solitaire was not going to be happy to see that man alive and well, but for now it paid to keep the peace.

After all, Totentanz was in the room.

He extended a hand to the computer.  Initial bids and funds had to be secured and confirmed in order to be accepted, payment in cash or bearer bonds acceptable, make an initial bid if you intend to make subsequent bids, et cetera et cetera.  "Show me something interesting," he said aloud, figuring that security or someone would pick up on it despite his sitting alone.  There were three objectives tonight: show his face and gather information on whoever else showed at the auction (done), sabotage or take possession of the auctioned goods (unlikely), and determine who was behind the auction in the first place (tricky).  Someone powerful, of course, but he doubted that the simple baseline name on the invitations to the auction had somehow managed to put together a few hundred million dollars in novatech and intelligence by chance.

He had one trump card.  He'd already called the Hell Kraken, inviting the man to gambling and refreshments.  But he'd been loathe to do so.  The Terat had already bankrolled so very much, and Vigilance could not be indebted to anyone or anything if it was to keep the peace.  And the Kraken could not be persuaded: if he did buy up anything tonight, it would be for some scheme of his own.

"Ser?" he flagged down one of the staff after he was finished reading.  "Please ask if payment may be accepted in goods and materials.  For some of these, I am willing to make an exception to my usual policies." He extended a finger and, with some effort, persuaded the zinc of the man's lapel pin to become gold.  "You understand me?"

Triton and Xenon were outside ... Wheelman and Serenade each had cover stories ... where were his other people?

While he waited for something to happen, Comstock decided to make himself quite visible.  He strolled over to Totentanz.  "You are a hard man to kill," he grunted.

The thing about Nova gambling was that after a certain point it became simultaneously trivially easy and utterly pointless to win.  The Mathematician could predict the likely outcome of a throw of the dice based on empirically observed deviations from truly random behavior; THE AMAZING RANDI™ could telekinetically manipulate the dice mid-throw; Totentanz could just grab the pot and who's going to stop him.  Really it made you feel kind of shabby to participate, especially when there were baselines at the table.  No one really remembered who had come up with the solution, but the breakthrough had been inspired.  When winning was trivial, the true challenge (in addition to a potent status symbol) was in losing in a spectacularly improbable, yet completely untraceable, fashion.  Thanks to the dice no longer being quite so square as they had been at the start of the game, Wilhelm was down thirty-two grand at the craps table, mainly to a red-faced, overly-loud energy executive in a Tom Mix hat.  This only put him in second place, unfortunately.  Some hip hop star from South London, a baseline no less, was more than a hundred grand in the hole.  Wilhelm couldn't figure out how he was doing it.  Maybe the lucky bastard was just that unlucky.

"Mister ... Boone was it?  What brings you to Krasnodar?  ...  Really?  How fascinating.  I guess there are advantages to not being recognized as a country by the UN."

Wilhelm chattered, mainly to fill the gaps in between the rolling of the dice.  He only caught about one word in five that was exchanged.  Eventually one of the words that came up was 'auction'.  He acted like the idea had never occurred to him before.

"An auction?  What a wonderful diversion.  I think I'll have a look at what they're offering for sale.  I don't think I'll be missing much action here.  The dice have turned decidedly against me it seems.  Gentlemen.  If you'll excuse me."

Wilhelm had scoped out the auction's offerings hours before, but it paid to see who was expressing an interest in making a purchase, if only because it might prove useful when some of this stuff wound up in a competitor's hands some time down the line.  Moreover, from the hastily filed-off serial numbers on the field disruptor, some of the stuff for sale was hot.  Wilhelm had an interest in who might put themselves forth as a middleman in an exchange of such stolen property.  A very personal interest.  One didn't run an auction such as this without a history of similar trades.  Who could tell what thieves this middleman had fenced for in the past?
This message was last edited by the player at 00:50, Wed 11 June 2014.

Phantasm took in Dragon's warning with minimal interest.  Baselines with guns weren't really worth the effort to deal with them. Though I suppose it's still worth shifting positions just to be safe and reduce energy expenditure deflecting the bullets.  A quick and silent sprint took her to the edge of the clearing, still concealed, behind a large tree.

The baselines in the clearing were marginally more interesting than the approaching soldiers, if only because of the clear nova influence.  While she had largely cut ties with her "human" self at the moment of chrysalis, Phantasm still felt baselines had rights, and Nova gods abusing their subjects upset her... and excited her darker instincts.  She liked killing "gods" and she'd gotten quite good at it over the years.

Over her headset, she spoke quickly and quietly, explaining what little she could translate.  "Praise, Mercy, Property, Durga.  A few more minutes of conversation and I'll have a better feel for the language, but we'll need some back and forth chatter first.  My guess so far is that a nova going by Durga is the problem here. And just an FYI, the title means "invincible" or "inaccessible".  It's also synonymous with the supreme goddess figure of Hinduism.  If anyone cares about that sort of stuff..."

Gale nodded in agreement with Phantasm. "That's what I'm getting too.  But what does this Durga have to gain here?"  The village didn't exactly seem like it would have much to offer a would-be god.  Unless all this god wanted was worship.  Perhaps this Durga was a local?

She paused to catch the attention of the boy who had discovered them and motioned for him to stand up.  One clawed hand pointed to the clearing, indicating that he should join his fellows there.  "That isn't necessary," she said, knowing that he probably wouldn't understand.  Then she held a finger to her lips.  "Keep quiet about us."  Dragon and Phantasm appeared to be trying to remain concealed.  Had the kid even seen them?

Exchanging a glance with Gravitas, she made no move to further cover.  Over the headset, she quietly asked "Dragon, any chance the nova is with the soldiers?"

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
Activating Linguistic Genius
 Gale rolled 4 successes using 8d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 ((9,8,5,2,2,5,5,2)). Plus 5 auto-successes for Linguistic Genius for a total of 9
 

---

Sean sighed inwardly, being a bodyguard and driver for baselines didn't rub him the wrong way, he made far more money than most humans could dream of making, and it offered him an excellent vantage point to learn about lucrative stock deals and investment opportunities.  being a pimp, on the other hand was not what he had signed on for.  That line in the dossier about his current client being special, and to be afforded every courtesy meant that he was going to have to at least attempt to convince Serenade to come over and talk to the lecherous pig.  Not that she couldn't take care of herself, of course.  A not so inconsiderable part of himself hoped that she put him so completely out of his head that she would be able to abscond with a sizeable chunk of his fortune.  He nodded briskly, "Of course, sir, I return promptly, starlet in tow."
He walked purposefully over to the bar, near where Comstock and Totentanz were making small talk.  Very small talk.  Near microscopic talk.  "A 3 Mile Island, please," he said with the cool politeness that was his trademark.  While he was waiting for his drink to arrive he tuned to Totentanz and briefly inclined his head, "Totentanz, a pleasure and privilege as always." A near imperceptible nod in return indicated that his greeting had been acknowledged, the Skull was nothing if not polite, and truth be told was one of Sean's role models.  Detached, observant, ruthlessly competent.  Other than the truly disturbing list of dead novas the man left behind Sean hoped one day to be as good at what he did as the Skull was.  "Mr. Amargosa, a pleasure, my name's Sean Callaghan.  I work for Devries and I have been authorized to inform you that we would be very happy to have you on our client list and would be able to provide you with any and all nova solutions to any situation, from transport to PR to finance to the things that the luminary to your left is famous for, at a moment's notice."  He extended a business card with both is personal and the company's contact information on it.  As he spoke he sent a tight beam signal to the Krakentech Nautilus that bulged in The Man of Titanium's jacket pocket.  "Devries is troubled by the contents of the auction and is willing to back any bid that you make to acquire the company's stolen data."
Contact made with the two titans in the room, and drink ready, Sean walked over to where Serenade was.  "Ma'am, an unexpected pleasure to see you here.  My current employer has requested the pleasure of your company.  As you may know, his excellency is planning the New Year's celebration for the Burj Al Arab, and it is perhaps about employing you to perform at that event that he wishes to speak to you. "

"I have no idea of the composition of the group," Dragón murmured, "all I know is that, based on the sound of their footsteps, there are at least ten of them, they've been firing guns and burning things, and they'll be here within the next minute or two.  If I had to make a guess, I'd say we were looking at the same group that's responsible for the attack on this place a few weeks ago.  But that's just a 'w.a.g.,' I want to play on the safe side, just in case.  Besides, I don't think I could stand by and watch as these people got attacked again."

He noted Phantasm's quick dart to cover nearer the clearing...barely...  Caramba, we'd make a heck of a covert ops team, he thought, idly.  One or two "training" missions to work out each other's rhythms and strengths and they'd be really tough to stop.  And if things got hot...well that would just be too bad for the bad guys.  He flashed her a tight grin before turning his full attention back to making sure there were no surprises coming.
This message was last updated by the player at 14:11, Sat 07 June 2014.

"I do not detect a nova in the immediate area," the scientist reported quietly over the comm unit. "But I do detect an unusual quantum signature from the statue. It is quite faint, but seems to be resonating with the villager's words." He focused his senses on the statue, though his mundane senses continue to register nothing out of the ordinary except, perhaps, its quality. "If the woman depicted here were some sort of nova, her tiger's head could be a manifestation of quantum signature imbalance. In fact thi-" he cut himself off, "Nevermind, not relevant."

He had just about launched into a comparative analysis with various deific figures around the world associated with animals - with particular emphasis on the frequently-animal-headed Egyptian pantheon and the anthropomorphic deities of Hindu and traditional Chinese mythologies - and how they and other mythical figures attributed with divine features, such as Jesus, might have been nova precursors. It wasn't an original theory, he knew, but he wasn't aware of any literature associating the animal-aspected figures with the sort of mutations that sometimes arose from aberrant quantum signatures. He began drafting the lecture anyway, in case it ever became useful - if not, he could throw it up on an OpNet blog or something for public consumption.

Daphne had been doing her best to stay quiet and out of the other nova's way, but she had never really trained or tried to be sneaky in her life.  She choose to watch them and see what she could learn from her fellow nova. She tried to stay close to Gale. Though Daphne had been getting to know some of her fellow Nova, she still did not feel entirely comfortable around the strange people she had found herself with and the situations she followed them into.

Daphne was in awe of the environment around her. She had grown up in a city and had never really been outside of an urban environment. Let alone trekking through a forest in East India. She didn't really notice the heat or feel the humidity. Nor did she feel the leaves and branches that brushed against her force field. Daphne's inattentiveness to her immediate surroundings had caused her to take a branch to the face more than once on this long trip, but like everything else it didn't really affect her.

Upon coming to the clearing Daphne choose to stay in the tree line and simple look into the clearing. Staying quiet, she looking back and forth between her companions as they took stock of the situation they were in and the groups of people that were near them. Daphne had understood that coming on this mission might involve fighting, but hearing Dragon's words Daphne couldn't help but get more nervous than she already had been. She knew she would have to be in combat at some point. She had hoped, perhaps unreasonably so, that today would not be that day.

Gambling
Comstock received a polite nod in return from Juan before line of sight was broken by the security personnel.  The staff was taken off guard by his payment question, but whoever was directing them had a quick reply. “Sir, I’ve been asked to inform you that arrangements can be made, though the difficulties in dealing with raw materials makes it unlikely that you’ll receive market value for the precious metals.  Unless you’re willing to work in more exotic materials that is…” Unspoken was the fact that “Exotic” either meant weaponizable materials, or rare metals used in a variety of expensive and dangerous nova-tech devices.  “A full list of metals and our exchange rate will be up on your menu in a few minutes.  Please take advantage of the facilities in the meantime.”  The security made a quick exit, moving on to another table with questions, leaving Dillon to explore the room.

Totentanz was aloof from the business at hand, and difficult to reach as he shifted around the recesses of the room.  The warrior responded to Wheelman’s nod, but managed to avoid most other contact before Comstock cornered him, mostly by being the only one willing to approach him directly.  The elite gave a light chuckle at the metal man’s remark before turning the butt end of his spear to lightly rap on Comstock’s nearly impervious skin.  “I’m not the only one.”  His voice was a whisper, faint through the mask, and something in his bearing was a bit… off from the last time they had met, but he was moving again before more comments could be exchanged.

As Comstock turned to look back at his table, he caught Juan staring at him again.  The man pointed at him, then toward himself, then to his own ear.  We should talk.

-

The Hell Kraken’s knowledge of finances, and both legitimate and illicit vendors of high-end tech, made it relatively easy to narrow down the field of potential sellers.  The major corporations and governments were out; this was simultaneously too small in profit and too large in repercussions to be worth their time.  A purposeful leak on the part of Utopia or a major government was not out of the question though, especially concerning the info on T2M:A since most of them were now with Vigilance.  It would be an easy way to complicate things for the young organization with limited potential for blowback.

The risk to reward ratio was also below the threshold for any of the existing purveyors of illicit tech, and the major crime syndicates that remained.  There was no reason to hold a high profile meeting like this when they had a booming customer base that was quite happy to throw money at them.  No, this was an organization or an individual that had a personal stake in the proceedings.  One of the smaller elite agencies could be behind it; both Devries and the former members of T2M:A had enemies in the elite community.  The more inconvenient option was that a lone individual, or small cadre, was pushing an agenda forward and attempting to cause chaos with the auction.   Such a group would be more difficult to deal with, unless they could be tracked down somehow.

-

Sean’s approach to the Bratva’s table was keenly observed by Nevsky’s men, even as the man himself was busy alternately arguing with and cajoling the offended Serenade.  “…is important you make me look strong here, things are more complicated than they seem, dangerous even… What?!  Who is this?  Why do you bother us?”  Noticing Wheelman, Nevsky bristled, and he flushed in anger when the elite had finished his request.  “Of course she won’t go.  She is with me tonight.”  What serenade had to say on the matter was another question entirely, but she was uncharacteristically silent.

Gods and Men
The boy responded immediately to Gale’s command, running to join the others in the clearing.  He said nothing, though his eyes wandered back towards the forest, as the men around him shifted positions.  Several of them moved closer to the statue, sidling over to it on hands and knees, refusing to stand and possibly offend whatever visiting gods had come.  Two others crawled towards the area of the forest where the boy had emerged, head hung low even as they scanned the treeline with their eyes.

Daphne felt her heart race as the two men crawled directly toward her and stopped only a few meters away, but she realized after a moment that it was coincidence, they did not actually see her.  They spoke to the forest in placating, pleading voices, first in Bodo, then in broken Assamese.  With the extra language to use as a guide, and more example words of their native language, the three linguists were quickly absorbing the new language.  Gale was especially adept, possibly because of her time spent in the region doing climatological work and bird studies.


“We praise you great ones, and offer you our worship.  But please show mercy on us, and pass us by.  Durga claims this place, and she will punish us for greeting you.  She will harm you for being here, even as she did our god, turned to stone by Durga's mighty Word.” 

As they spoke, the men in the forest came closer.  Dragon could see movement now, though they were attempting stealth as they crept closer and fanned out to surround the clearing.  Phantasm was not positioned as well as Dragon, but she could sense them now too: cracking branches, the smell of soldiers, whispered commands passed between one another.

Comstock suddenly began to doubt that the man in the mask was actually 'the' Totentanz.  He did not know the man well, granted, but Elites at the top of the kill-list usually had more ego.  And masks could be worn by anyone.

Annoyed, he let the man slip away and drifted to Juan's table.  "Turned to more humanitarian pursuits yet, El Jefe?"  He seated himself with an audible thud.  Juan was a villain, but today, after all this time and Utopia's betrayal of its ideals and everything else, Comstock could not muster up more than the most cursory loathing.  "Solitaire would want me to say hi, I'm sure.  She'll be sorry she missed you."

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
EDIT: for spelling.  And, Sol, if you need an intro to a scene, Comstock did just deliberately say your name.

---

This message was last edited by the player at 14:01, Tue 10 June 2014.

As the commands were passed to direct their movements, Dragón quickly sorted out which one of them was in charge.  He lifted a few inches off the ground and drifted silently toward him.  "Do we take these guys out?" he whispered into his comm.

Something didn't quite smell right to Wilhelm.  Perhaps it could be chalked up to Russians being Russians (after all, he could go just down the street from here and buy a diamond-encrusted, tungsten-plated SUV upholstered entirely in whale penis, off the lot no less), but everything seemed too flash for what the auction was actually providing for sale.  A sting, then?  An ambush?  Something more unfortunate and less predictable?  Turning 360-degrees in place, Wilhelm stopped to focus for a fraction of a second on every head he could spot, his carapace taking a photo and sending it off for facial recognition processing.  The technique was not infallible, especially in this day and age when everyone and their cousin wore masks or could alter their facial structure on whim, but most people (nova and baseline alike) didn't change their face too radically.  Who wanted to look in the mirror and not know who was staring back?  Bayesian inference would soon match everyone to what they came here to buy.  Anyone lacking an obvious target was probably the source of the auction's stink.

Wilhelm turned away from the auction and returned to the gambling tables as his computers churned through the masses of data needed to pattern match against all the faces on the Opnet.  He was no longer interested in the slightest in the games, but he did need some raw materials and the platinum plaques in use at the high-stakes baccarat table looked like just the thing.  With but a thought he appropriated a few micrograms of the metal from the plaques and reformed it into elegant Fraktur type embossed backwards on the surface of Comstock's left retina.

"Something peculiar is going on.  Who here are you bidding against?"

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
Edit:  Fixed the previous post as I had missed that a setting had already been established for the scene.  A year or so ago.  Really do need to look through everything in depth.  No substantive changes.  Hopefully Krasnodar is suitably Russian.

---

This message was last edited by the player at 01:40, Wed 11 June 2014.

Daphne let out a silent sigh as she realized that she had not been spotted. Her heart still racing from the slight scare, she closes her eyes and thinks soothing thoughts as she tries to still her beating heart.

After this brief pause to calm herself, unsuccessfully, she looks in the general direction of Dragon."Perhaps they are not going to be aggressive?" Daphne responds with a noticeable hint of hope in her voice. "Though, if they aren't I guess I will be ready. I am a little lost if this situation devolves to combat though, should I just go for the nearest one?" Daphne knows her naivete and freshness is showing in this situation. I hope this doesn't come to blows she repeats this to herself while she waits for what she feels is the inevitable fight to begin.

Sean was inwardly amused. A baseline viewing a nova as a possession, simply because she was female.  Somewhere in the back of his mind was a very quiet gibbering fear, these people had the power to kill him, his family, everyone he knew. One day soon he'd have to take them up on their not yet proffered offer to perform the first. It was just a matter of baiting them just right. That'd take some very careful maneuvering. He snapped back into focus, Serenade's uncharacteristic passivity was clearly a ruse designed to make the cretins in the room drop their guard. "I am terribly sorry, sir, for intruding on your conversation, but my employer has requested it. Indeed, acceding to his request would perhaps serve to further strengthen the respect that those gathered here no doubt feel towards you. A man so confident and powerful that he would allow a creature such as this to talk with another. I promise you that the lady will be entirely unharmed and will be free to return to you when she wishes."

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
5 sux on a manipulation subterfuge roll to convince the douche. Also, would Sean notice that something wasn't quite right about Totentanz? 5/5 perception/awareness 1 mega

---

"Easy Daphne," Dragón whispered into his comm, "remember that guns can't really hurt you.  These people here aren't so lucky.  If trouble starts, try to get between some of the guns and as many people as you can manage.  If you feel yourself getting nervous, try to focus on taking slow, even breaths."

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
12:17, Thu 12 June 2014: El Dragon rolled [3] 5 successes using 11d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 ((3,6,6,5,1,9,4,8,4,3,10))(+1 for Inspiration).  Charisma + Command to inspire confidence.

---

Gale moved and ducked down next to Daphne.  "He's right.  Either protect the civilians if you can, or stay close to one of us."  Her wings slowly opened, so she could have the advantage of a quick take off if necessary.  "They say Durga turned their god to stone, and that she will punish us," she translated for Daphne and Dragon's benefit.  "I think we should be ready for more than just baselines."  She disliked that the villagers were worshipping them as gods, but better to deal with one threat at a time.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:49, Fri 13 June 2014.

"Well," said Gravitas, "at least we have the advantage of numbers." His tight grin suggested that he thought any single individual, nova or not, was pretty unlikely to be a serious threat to their little task force. "Still, I wonder where this Durga figure is if not here subjugating the masses."

Comstock grunted and rubbed his eye, surprised though not actually in any pain.  The metal gradually dissolved, but the typeface left no doubts who sent the message.

With a few seconds and a bit of focus, he made a fractal antenna within his skin and tried to parse his thoughts on radio waves.  He was still rather clumsy, but had some favorite frequencies that Kraken would no doubt deduce.  "No one.  Everyone.  Haven't decided."  He wondered idly if anyone else would pick up on the signal, but had not yet mastered the trick of encrypting his own thoughts in real time.  Or being a telepath.  Half a conversation wouldn't help much.  "Just putting in an appearance to see what happens.  Glad you made it."  A slight lie, but he liked to think his radio voice was harder to read than his normal voice.

"What do you see?"

"...ahhh...that is right, how did I ever forget my place?  To make you look strong and powerful in public, and to make you feel masculine and satisfactory in the bed."    Serenade's voice carried to Nevsky's men and to Sean.  Her job with him was rather simple, keep him off balance, mess with his head.  She could have done this without offending his surprisingly fragile ego, but the minute he deigned to physically control her, the gloves came off.  She looked up at Sean, gave him a smile that reached her green eyes, and appeared grateful for the intrusion.  Before the Bratva boss could respond to her tactless attack, she has pulled away from him and walked around the table to hug and kiss Sean on both cheeks.  "But of course, I would enjoy discussing business with your employer...who is he?"   Turning to look at her "date" she spoke softly but by a trick of her abilities her words carried across the entire table, "The gentleman is right of course Malchik Moy* it would be rather unfortunate if you were to come across as impotent in your stewardship over such a delicate and vapid damsel such as myself.  Please, Sean, introduce me to your client."   With that she took Sean's offered arm and glided to the awaiting Sheik, all demure and inquisitive smiles.

...go ahead and chew on that you misogynistic asshole....

* My little boy in Russian

"Very good. Sir," Sean nodded to the mobster then handed Serenade the drink he'd brought with him and escorted her across to the Prince.  "An interesting person, ma'am, perhaps it would be wise to engage more security for the immediate future, or perhaps consider a more permanent solution if he doesn't back off," he whispered very quietly,  "He won't try anything here, of course, but after, who knows?" upon arriving back at the Prince's table he bowed smoothly, "Lady Serenade, allow me to introduce his Higness Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum,  supreme president of Hamdan bin Mohammed e-university, and hereditary prince of Dubai." Task accomplished, Sean moved to stand discretely behind his employer, keeping careful tabs on the Bratva.

Daphne listened to Dragon's advice and though it was probably good for people who needed to and could breath, Daphne hadn't needed to or been able to since her eruption. Though she decided it would be better to not point this out and simple try to focus on the rest of Dragon's advice. "thanks, I will do just that then.

Daphne attempts to adjust her position to be ready to step in front of the indigenous people.

Dragón ghosted up to the leader of the "raiders", his suit carefully matching the jungle shadows.  It was time to take some action.  Hopefully, if he took out the one giving the orders, the rest would be more inclined to just run away - or at least back down.  Aiming for the nerve cluster just below and behind the man's left ear, he delivered a carefully aimed and measured strike.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
10:07, Wed 18 June 2014: El Dragon rolled [8] 13 successes using 15d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 ((1,9,6,10 [Mega],10,9,4,10,2,5,6,3,7,9,10)).  If that doesn't knock this guy out, we may be in serious trouble :)

10:18, Wed 18 June 2014: El Dragon rolled [6] 9 successes using 14d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 ((10 [Mega],7,1,1,6,9,7,2,2,3,10,7,3,4)). For Stealth.

10:22, Wed 18 June 2014: El Dragon rolled [6] 10 successes using 11d10 with the Target Number system with a target of 7 ((5,4,10,9,2,8,10,5,10,2,10)).  For Weave, to remain a shadow.

Those are the best die rolls I've gotten since I started playing this game.  All those 10s just to take out a scrubby little merc...the dice are probably gonna choke me when things get really dangerous.

---

Hmm.  Guess we're doing this.  Phantasm was happy to sit and let things play out for a bit, but catching a hint of movement as Dragon ghosted by, she figured waiting wouldn't do much good at this point.  He'll be taking out the leader.  That leaves me to clean up any brave-but-stupid leftovers.

Phantasm made a sprint to the rough position of the group of approaching humans, made a leap to the lowest branches of a tall tree overlooking the group - easily quadruple her height - then watched as Dragon took down their leader with ease.  "Nice hits." she whispered through her earpiece to let him know she had his back. The first of the men to attempt to open fire on Dragon would be reduced to unconsciousness before they could pull the trigger. Ah, bonding time.

Rundstrahl?  Ehrlich...  Wilhelm didn't bother correcting Comstock's poor spycraft.  The channel he was using to communicate didn't have enough bandwidth to explain the relevant principles and fixing the problems would probably only succeed in directing attention his way.  Instead he just hoped that Comstock wouldn't transmit anything identifiable.  Comstock broadcasting in the clear wasn't so much of a problem if nobody knew who he was broadcasting to.

"Dreck, mainly.  Do you know how much money it takes to book Totentanz?  Selling half the stuff here wouldn't cover his fee.  And he'd be helping to burn the people that give him money.  I'll believe many things of the man, but not that he'd betray so cheaply.  Plus, if you were selling DeVries' files would you trust him enough to hire him?  Or would you want no one with any ties to DeVries within a hundred kilometers of your auction?"

As Wilhelm ran out of retina to type on the text started to reform from beginning to end.  Reading was difficult for a while.

"Then there's the matter of the information in question.  Rumor of its sale would be certain to draw all sorts of people out of the woodwork.  Perhaps people that one might want to catch in a compromising position.  Perhaps, if the auction is legit, dangerous people who wouldn't be of a mind to pay to get their information back and who would make it very difficult to realize a profit.  The safest way to make a profit wouldn't be an auction.  It would be selling the information back to its rightful owner."

Another retina wipe.

"None of this adds up."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:18, Wed 25 June 2014.

"Yeah.  That's what I thought."  He actually didn't know how much money it cost to book the Skull, but it didn't really matter.  Either this was a small, pointless auction for bad product, or just an expensive ruse to draw people out.  Either way, that wasn't the Skull.

His attention wandered between the conversation with Juan and the beautiful script that kept blocking his sight.  "I'll put in a bid.  I can live with buyer's remorse."  He wanted to see who wanted those lists.