The sarariman's voice was perfectly flat and monotonous as he outlined the first mission the Team would perform for Yoshiko. Rent a car, drive to Haneda airport, get a package addressed to Yagyu Juubei, get the package back to him.

He must have watched too much anime as a kid, probably because he was too irritating to have any friends. As a grownup, he was no less irritating - the smoke from his cigarette hanging in bluish sharp-smelling curtains all around the back room of this pachinko parlor buried deep in Shinjuku. His thin whiny voice echoed off bare concrete walls and styrofoam packing crates. The slim suitcase held a finance card for each member of the team, coded to the account that held 40,000 NewYen for your expenses. Also the card you'll use to identify yourself at the cargo terminal checkout, and a map of Tokyo with a large, friendly smiley face drawn on in in red marker pen. Also, a 4-pack of the latest Yoshiko cup noodles, in four great tastes: Beef, Chicken, Pork, and Hot Spicy. This was his idea of a joke.

"Remember," he said, "be discreet." His front teeth were rather too big, with a gap between them. The cigarette dangling from thin lips splotched with bluish spots shed tiny specks of ash as he spoke. Thick glasses distorted his eyes into halfmoons. A face only a mother could love. Yet, he had rank, money, and a place in one of the most powerful zaibatsu. And he was you boss at that moment.

"Questions?" What could you ask about such a simple task anyways?

     The use of a hire-car was significant, as was the triviality of the task for which they were hired at expense.  This was clearly a test.

     "Sir, where might Yagyu San be found?"

     Jenkins could faintly hear the pings and warbles of the slot-machines beyond.

OOC: Assuming this information wasn't outlined as part of the mission brief

"How big's this package we're getting anyway?"  Inuro asks with a lazy grin.  "Bigger than a bento box, smaller than an idol's suitcase?"

"Don't want to get stuck by the rental agency with a kei car if what we're picking up would be a tight fit in an MPV."

Kimihiko figured this was some sort of test, or else, a setup.  He nodded at the end of the sarariman's briefing.  The mission was straightforward and his unique skills would likely be superfluous unless things went bad.  The pachinko machines annoyed him.  He couldn't think of a worse way to waste time and money.  Pachinko was for suckers, the only way to really win was to rig them and the risk wasn't worth the payout.

The sarariman puffed a lazy cloud of smoke, ignoring Jenkins alltogether. Well, the man was not Japanese - so he would't know know who Yagyu was. The man should have learned to keep his mouth shut, too.

"The package is the size of a suitcase. I trust you won't forget it somewhere. I'll be waiting for it right here, at the mechine in the entrance."

Another puff of bluish smoke, filtered through his uneevn yellow teeth.

"Expected opposition?"

When 'on mission', Agent 19 rarely spoke beyond what was absolutely necessary. If she'd been called in, it couldn't be assumed to be a cake-walk.

"No opposition I know of. Go already." He looked at his digital watch (manufactured by the one and only true company). "Nighttime traffic is sparse. Two hours should be enough for the job."

You might have had delusions of grandeur, but for him you were just the newest recruits in his personal army. He probably wouldn't trust you with bringing him coffee right now. Trust was something to be built slowly - that is the way of the zaibatsu. Street samurai had to bend to that rule if they wished to do be accepted by the corporations.

Inuro got to his feet and slid into his knock-off designer suit jacket before straightening his collar while making sure his chromaflair tie was fashionably loose.

Stepping forward he slipped one of the finance cards and the identification card into a pocket before turning around and tossing a finance card to each of the others.  The map he tossed to Jenkins with a grin and a wink.

He turned one last time to the suitcase and grabbed the Hot Spicy noodles with a toss and a catch.  Ready to go Inuro gave the sarariman a perfunctory bow along with another lazy grin.  "Be seeing you soon senpai."

With that he began heading for the front of the parlor.

Agent 19 frowned. Either faulty intelligence, or her skills were not considered up to par. Either way, a bad mission.
She caught the card and tucked it into the small purse she carried with her, then turned to follow Rin out the door.

     These were the the usual conceits.  Nothing Jenkins hadn't encountered before.  All things being equal, Jenkins wouldn't be here, but that's life.  You pay your money and take your choice.  At least 'ugly' had answered his question: he wanted the package delivered to back here and not to some other place.

      Jenkins studied the map as he followed the others out.  He didn't really need a map to know that the airport was South-East of here, but it might contain some useful information, never the less.

OOC: Does the map have any useful information... other than the map itself e.g. what is the smiley face about?  It would seem sensible to take the expressway, perhaps?

Damn, I wanted the spicy one, he thought to himself as he grabbed the pork cup and followed Rin out.  He didn't try to emulate the man's easy manner though he wished he could.  Instead he settled for just pulling the brim of his baseball cap down as he walked through the pachinko parlor and tried not to look too suspicious.  He needn't worry, the pachinko players were obsessed with their games.  He was just an unwanted presence in their world of gambling, smoke, and cheap drinks.

The night air outside was cold and refreshing; the rain had just stopped, leaving pavement and street vendors wet and somewhat clean. It felt good to leave the dina and smoke of the pachinko parlor behind.

Jenkins' map showed no particular useful traits, and the smiley didn't seem to be significant in any other way. His sedan was parked nearby, of course, ready for use.

      Jenkins ushered the others to his black Toyota Taxi-cab.

      "Welcome aboard, folks!"

      He settled into the driving seat and put the map in the glove compartment.  "Where to?

Agent 19 slipped into the seat behind the driver and rolled down the window slightly. "We were given a map."

Inuro slid into the seat next to 19 and rolled his window all the way down before lighting a cigarette with a long drag and exhaling the smoke outside the car.

"Well, unless someone feels a need to do a little shopping on Yoshiko's dime, I'd say we beeline it for the airport."

Kimihiko took the passenger seat.  He could certainly use the 40,000 to augment his bag of tricks, but he decided to wait until he had a better idea of what the team would need.  It didn't make sense to buy more bugs if they instead needed some higher grade icebreakers.  "No, I'm good to leave."

       It was fairly pleasant, skipping along the (fairly) quiet streets with their high-rise appartment-blocks and everyday shops, giving way to the industrial plants that clustered around the Southern expressway heading to the airport.  The control towers stood out on the concrete horizon as Jenkins took the car off the main road and down into the car-parking for Terminal 1.

       "Well, we're here, folks.  Lets go and get that package."

Kimihiko jumped out of the taxi, shouldering his backpack full of gear and looking around while the other members of the team got out.  He tried to identify any suspicious people, other samurai or perhaps zaibatsu security forces looking for someone.

Apparently not self-electing for leadership, Agent 19 asked, "Who is securing the car?"

"Jenkins if he wants to.  It's his wheels."  Inuro replied as he flicked the butt of his cigarette out the window and rolled it up.  "Likewise his choice if he wants to leave it here and grab a rental as was suggested.  No idea what this package is or who might want it, and if Yoshiko will cover repairs for new hires over the cred on our expense cards if things get hot and this thing gets wrecked."

Turning towards 19 he favored her with his most charming and innuendo laced smile.  "However I'd certainly prefer you as close to me as possible."

Once outside Inuro straightened his jacket and fished out his pack of cigarettes again considering it for a moment before putting it back.

"Alright, stay sharp, let's do this, etcetera, etcetera."  He said with a grin as he set out for the entrance to the terminal.

       Jenkins smiles and sticks a thumb in the air.  "I'm going to park a few floors down, then go and get a hirecar and see you back here."

       Back into the car.  Ignition.  Jenkins pulls the car out and drives down and parks by the stairway a few floors down.  Leaving the car there, he proceeds to the terminal to hire a car.

(OOCly, those who haven't yet rolled those 20d6 please do so.)

The airport buildings were polished metal and mirror, smooth and efficient. The thunder of jet engines was omnipresent; even at night there was a river of people flowing in and out of the buildings.

Jenkins had no particular problem parking his car, nor finding a rental service. The pretty clerk looked up at him and asekd for his driver's license in a pleasant profeseional voice. In English. She probably thought him just another gaijin.

The rest of the team converged on the terminal. Kimihiko thought he spied a apir of black suits looking the little group over. Or not.

The passenger entrance had the usual ordnance scanners, but the cargo terminal had a separate, low-security entrance. That part of the building had considerably more rust, with iron mesh fence instead of glass, and almot rusted through steel girders in place of glimmering metal. The cargo office was a low hall with a concrete roof, large doors open to allow cargo crates to be deposited and picked up quickly. There is a single person at work there - an asthmatic overweight clerk puffing on a menthol cigarette, coughing up phlegm and busy filling in some reports.

      "Certainly, miss."

      Jenkins hands over his driving license and makes a start filling in the paperwork.

Inuro took a glance around the cargo terminal to see if anyone else besides the team and the clerk were present before walking up to the man.

"Good evening.  I'm here to pick up a package."  He stated politely as he held up the ID card he'd been given for the clerk's inspection.

Agent 19 stood just behind Inuro, her gaze steely, as if to indicate he was no one to be trifled with.

Kimihiko pretends to study a sign while looking at the men in suits out of the corner of his eye.  He addresses Agent 19 quietly, "Those two suits over there, do they look like they're watching us?"  It occurred to him that he wasn't armed and would need to run for cover if there was trouble.

There were times for subtlety. This really wasn't one of them.
Agent 19 turned and looked directly at the two men, then began walking towards them purposefully, her gaze unwavering.

Jenkins made good time with the car, and by the time one could have used to gulp down a hot cup of coffee he was already in the rental sedan. A sleek if not modern model, gasoline driven and well used. The engine came to life instantly as he fingered the ignition.

---

At the cargo terminal, Agent 19 went straight towards the two suits. They couldn't help but stare at her - the purposeful stride and iron gaze making them sem like deer caught in headlights of a truck a moment before a wet *splat*. One looked as if was about to wet his pants. These are surely just ocmmon people, not street samurai.

---

The cargo handler looked up at Inuro. The man's blank eyes betraying that he was high on some drug or the other. His hands were steady enough as he took the ID card and swiped it through the scanner. Its screen lit up in green codes and the man ponted to an unmarked black suitcase.

"That's the one you want. Be careful with it please."

The perspiration on his forehead thickened visibly.

Inuro took back the card from the clerk then offered a shallow bow.  "Thank you."

He walked over to the suitcase and picked it up while keeping an eye on the two businessmen about to be run over by the steamroller that was 19.

With a motion towards the exit with his head aimed at Nomura, Inuro began heading back out towards where they left Jenkins.

He completely ignored the two suits as he walked by and left it up to 19 to decided on whether she wanted to continue through with the purpose she was radiating which would inevitably lead to the men's eventual demise or cut the poor bastards loose and get with the going.

Agent 19 finally reached the businesspeople and said, sharply, "Move on. Continue staring and you lose one eye."

Unless the businessmen made hostile actions, she then turned and walked back to Inuro.

     Meanwhile, Jenkins had driven the hire-car back to the rendevous in the car-park.  He hoped that they hadn't seen him coming and bugged... or even bombed... the hire-car.  Or was that a little paranoid?  Jenkins parked in the same place as before and waited for the others to return, meanwhile doing a quick check of the car to spot for anything that might be a bug or a bomb.

10:16, Today: Jenkins rolled 3 using 2d6. spot.

(I'll handle all the hidden rolls - no need to roll on your own. If you still decide to roll, remember to check the "record each die" box since doubles score a critical in this system.)

Being paranoid doesn't mean they are not really after you. Jenkins spent a few minutes searching the obvious places in the car... then a few more checking the one a professional would use. Nothing appeared amiss. The car was well used but in top condition. Yet something was still bothering him, even if he couldn't quite put his finger on it... At least the air freshener gave off a fresh pine-y scent, hanging off the rear view mirror.

---

The two suits wasted no time in running away from 19's piercing eyes. One managed to slip and almost crack his head on a wall before regaining his balance and running after his companion.

For the moment, nobody else seemed to be bothering them. A hundred ton military heavy lifter thundered low over them on final approachto the runway, bathing the area in the sharp smell of half burnt kerosene.

Inuro continued on out the doors of the cargo terminal with the suitcase.

Once outside he spotted the rental where they'd left Jenkins and his taxi and adjusted his course towards it.

"Not sure what's in this thing, but let's assume its on the fragile side just in case."  He commented to Jenkins once they had arrived at the rental.

Kimihiko quietly groaned when Agent 19 managed to scare the two suits off.  Apparently they were just your average suits, to his chagrin.  He accompanied Rin to the rental car.

         Jenkins gets out of the car to greet the returning Samuria.  "I'm glad you got it safely," he commented, "but I've got a bad feeling about the rental car.  It's a good car and I haven't found anything suspicious but I think one of you might want to look it over, just to be on the safe side."

Inuro gently set the case down on the ground to free his hands for fishing out his cigarettes.  Lighting one, he replied to Jenkins "Unless you can get her to talk nice and dirty to me, any secrets she's holding are staying right where they are."

Looking towards Nomura and 19 he raised his eyebrows in the obvious question of whether they wanted to take a crack at it.

Kimihiko shrugged, "If you want me to take a look I will, but I don't think I'll find anything."

"I'd be very much obliged if you would," Jenkins says, offering Kimihiko san a pencil-torch.  "Its my own fault for not picking the third car they offered me rather than the first."

Kimihiko checked the car over, looking for explosives or bugs.

Kimihiko spent a few minutes looking at the car, but aside from a cunningly hidden chewing gum beneath the driver seat his search came up empty. So, the rental car seems reasonably safe. However, being completely certain that this car was not manipulated would mean taking it apart in a shop. This was one of those situations where gut feeling is more useful than deduction.

Another aircraft thunders overhead, this time a huge 6-engined Boeing passenger plane. It is so huge that it takes several seconds for its vast shadow to pass above them.

"...in that case, lets get going," Jenkins replied as Kimihiko san declares the car as clean of devices as he can immediately ascertain.  He enters the car, shuts the door and starts the engine.

Kimihiko gets into the back seat of the rental, satisfied with the car being clean.

Inuro reclaimed the same seat from the taxi and once again rolled the window down a bit for the benefit of his fellow passengers while he smoked.

He stayed quiet on the trip back to the pachinko parlor instead keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary in case this task was somehow not the very mundane waste of time it seemed to be.

Jenkins drives back to the Pachinko Parlour carefully: the last thing they wanted was to be stopped by the police or to otherwise attract attention.

Agent 19 sat behind the driver, window rolled down, her eyes taking in every driver and passenger they came near, looking for patterns or interest. A mixture of apophenia and paranoia.

Once on the largely deserted freeway connecting the airport to Tokyo propper, the engine of the rental started giving off an unhealthy whine. And it got worse, quickly. Jenkins' trained ear pinpointed the problem right away - a loose drive belt, or somesuch. Before there was time to stop there was a loud bang, the engine went out, and the car coasted to a stop. Not much else anz driver could do in that situation, right?

In the rear view mirror, Jenkins spotted a headlight... or two... or rather, a while horde of them. Motorcycles, approaching at a leisurely pace, about to arrive at the broken down car in half a minute.

Jenkins fires off a selection of curses, aimed at both himself and the unknown mastermind of the scheme.  With his piece in the other car, there wasn't much Jenkins could do in this sort of situation.

Inuro took a final drag off of his cigarette before he flicked it out the window.

"Alright, if this is what our luck probably means this is, everyone stay cool.  Jenkins, we need this car running.  Get that happening no matter what, but if this thing is toast let us know.  I'll try having a word with our new friends and see if I can work something out."  He said as he rolled the window back up.

"If they're honorable types, or we can't match the price they're getting paid for this, I'm sure what happens next goes without saying.  Besides 19, who'll be doing most of the work, I'm not sure who else is ready for that.  I'm not carrying, but I'll do what I can.  Nomura, you do the same.  Let's try and concentrate on getting Jenkins enough time to get our wheels back up and running if that's an option.  If it's not we'll just have to roll with it all once things start happening."

Inuro pulled out a pair of ¥100,000 knock-off sunglasses out of his pocket and slipped them on before opening up the door and stepping out onto the road.

As the bikers reached them he concentrated on lighting another cigarette while waiting to see what was going to happen.

Agent 19 stepped out of the car, walking alongside Inuro. Oddly, her demeanor changed drastically. Suddenly, she was vapid, brainless arm-candy.
"Can't we just gooooo?" She whined, semi-pathetically, as the riders came within earshot.

     Jenkins goes to the front of the car and lifts the bonnet.  If it was simply a belt coming off, there was a chance it might be fixed quickly.  However, was this likely?  Did the bikers simply arrive at the same time as they happened to break down?  Jenkins looked the engine over to see what the problem was and whether it could be fixed, or at least bodged, quickly.

A few heartbeats later, the bike gang was upon them. Or rather, the gang stopped a dozen feet short of Inuro, engines revving, air thick with the smell of gasoline and burnt rubber as well as the thunder of engines. The performance bikes they rode were painted in subdued, earthy tones; most had narrow banners flying high, displaying this or that personal seal the rider chose. Some even went so far to mount a sword scabbard on the bike.

The leader, a lean figure in bulky black leather with face hiddden by a reflective faceplate, spent a few seconds judging Inuro. With a small gesture of his hand,  the thunder of bike engines died down, and the scene was plunged in sudden silence.

"You have an unhealthy habit." The voice was muffled but audible enough, coming through the helmet.

Meanwhile, Jenkins dug around in the engine. And sure enough, it sems like the belt came off, just as he thought. Innocent enough. What are the chances of that, hmm? It would take him a few minutes to fix this with a proper tool.

Jenkins fishes around the car to find the right tool so that he can fix the belt quickly.  If he couldn't find it, he'd have to improvise, which would take longer.

"Relax babe,"  Inuro assured 19 immediately falling into the pretense and wrapping an arm around her waist in reassurance.  "Probably nothing too major."  He continued as his natural tendencies caused his hand to slide down lower to take the measure of her posterior while he continued to talk.  "Bob's a whiz at this sort of thing."

Inuro flashed her a smile before looking over the biker that had just addressed him.  "You have no idea.  But then that's what makes life worth living eh?"




OOC: May I get a Body Language skill test on the biker leader please?

Kimihiko is more than just a computer geek, he's also good at hardware too.  He grabs his bag and gets out of the rental, going around to the open hood.  He tries to figure out if it was sabotage, if it could be fixed, and whether he had the stuff with him to do so.

While Jenkins still searched feverishly in the trunk (under the eyes of the bikers, no less), Kimihiko had just the tool in his mini-kit to help. A few ratchets, a metallic whine as the belt was forced back into place, and the engine should run another few hours without problem. Probably.

Meanwhile, the lead biker took of his helmet. Icy blue eyes (Zeiss-Nikon lenses, mst probably) regarded Inuro cooly.

"Say, you wouldn't need any help with your car, would you? Me and my friends would be glad to help."

Several of the bikers seemed more interested in Agwent 19 than Inuro, however, but they held back ... for now.

Kimihiko peeks around from the front of the rental, "Fixed it.  We should be good to go."

"Way to work it G.". Inuro calls out giving Nomura a thumbs up.

Turning back to the biker leader he shakes his head.  "Nah, looks like we're good to go, thanks for the offer though."

"See babe, no sweat."  He reassures 19.  "C'mon, let's roll."

Inuro still wasn't sold on the bikers' intentions.  The suspicion the leader displayed of a possible trap could be interpreted in too many ways.  In an impulsive display of public affection as he begins to turn his back on the bikers and walk back towards the car Inuro flashes 19 a playful smile and grips her with both hands about the waist and lifts her up to straddle his waist in a reverse piggyback ride position.  He nuzzles into her neck as he walks them back towards the car giving her a clear line of site and reason to keep eyes on the bikers as they traverse the short distance.

     "Hot dog!"  Jenkins says with approval as the car was fixed in record time.  He gets into the car and starts the engine, ready for a get-away.

Agent gives a cool wave to the bikers and giggles as if half-drunk, "Maybe next time!"
Her hand then drifts down to her side, letting a single concealed knife slide into her grip.

Kimihiko got back into the car quickly without making eye contact with the biker gang.  He didn't want any trouble and there was still the chance these guys were just innocent bikers looking for trouble.  Yeah, and maybe they were rogue members of the motor club roving the highway looking for people whose dues were up.

The engine of the rental roared into life under Jenkins' ministration. In no time, the car was racing down the mostly deserted highway, the biker gang left far behind to contemplate the meaning of life.

Just when the team was about to congratulate eachother, flashing blue lights ahead signalled yet another interruption. Police cars were parked across the freeway, policemen peering from behind the vehicles. A short queue of cars forming already, each car in turn being checked by uniformed men and waved through once nothing suspicious was found.

     "Is it just me, or do you get the feeling that someone wants this package quite badly?"  Jenkins kept his eyes open for a slip-road or some other form of exit and, failing that, slows-down for the check-point.

Back to her normal voice and mannerisms, Agent said, "If they wanted it badly, they'd kill us."

"Exactly."  Inuro agrees.  "Pulling in the cops is a bit much for one little suitcase."

Kimihiko checked his bag quickly and didn't think anything there would be identified as illegal if it were searched.  He looked at the others, "Should we try to hide the package just in case?  Stick it under a seat at least?"  He didn't know how carefully the police were searching, or even what for.  And unless he could patch his deck into the matrix and access police communications he wasn't likely to find out.

"Don't think it would fit.  Besides, it's probably just a bunch of shampoo or teeth whitener or something."  Inuro replies.  "If they do decide they need to look inside it, I don't think they'll consider wanting silky smooth hair a crime."

"Options if they decide to take the merchandise. Kill. Grab and run. Surrender. What is the consensus?"

"Jenkins, you think this thing will hold up if we have to turn tail and try and outrun the cops?"  Inuro asks.

"If it's possible, that's probably our best option if it comes down to it.  I don't want to kill a cop, that never turns out well.  I also don't want to return to senpai empty handed."

        "Hard to say.  The belt could run for a week or it could fall-off after the first 20 minutes.  A car-chase wouldn't do it any good, either.  The best bet would be to evade them and lay-low.  Let's hope they aren't looking for us as well as the package.  After all, they might have had guys with cameras at the airport take our pictures."  Beads of sweat were beginning to appear on Jenkins' forehead and he didn't look certain of anything."

Agent nodded, "We are not yet within easy visual range of the block. I can sneak out of the car and create a necessary diversion when and if there is trouble. I would have to rendezvous with you later."

"It might be better if two of us were to get out of the car with the package then and meet up on the other side of the block somewhere.  The less interest the police take in us, the better."

"You could always walk somewhere and get a cab back to the Chief," Jenkins offered.

"You guys think you can hustle that case across without getting seen.  Go for it."  Inuro agrees.  "We can always meet up near whatever street the next exit leads to."

There was still ample time to decide on the course of action. The policemen didnćt seem to be in any hurry either, but the searches of the cars ahead didn't seem very thorough either.

Cyberdecks usually came equipped with cellular modems, so jacking in from the car was a non-issue.

Kimihiko then jacks into the matrix and tries to figure out what is going on with the cops.

Kimihiko pulled out his titanium reinforced sliml Ono-Senday cyberdeck. The manufacturer claimed the deck could withstand eevn small arms fire, with the electronics within completely solid state and proof to any environment. He slapped the trodes on his forehead and in a matter of seconds the consensual hallucination of cyberspace replaced his awareness of meatspace.

It was an addicting feeling. The sound of ICE cracking underneath the hammer of his icebreaker blanked out all other perception for a second.

The public police reports in the low security database were easy enough to find; the deeper layer of data glistened in a blue sheen that does not exist in the real world as he glanced over it. It seems the roadblock was waiting for several Sons of Oedo, suspected of planning "subversive acts". The vague wording and unlimited allowance given to the police could mean only that it was an action sponsored by someone else. The government, or one of the large zaibatsu, eve the yakuza clans.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:08, Wed 10 Aug 2011.

    Jenkins looked at Kimihiko as he inched the car forward.  With the trodes on his temples, he had that creepy, vacant look that they all got when they entered the system.  Jenkins remembered the last net-runner he'd known and couldn't help but feel gloomy.  He turned back to the road and focused his attention on the police ahead and what they were doing.

"Distraction, or play it cool?" Agent prompts to the hacker.

Kimihiko flips his conciousness back to the car and tells his associates what he found out about the roadblock.  In conclusion he says, "So they're not looking for us specifically.  I would say play it cool.  They aren't looking for us, but are on the lookout for troublemakers."  He looks at his companions, "Uh, specific troublemakers."

Kimihiko flips back in and does some research on the Sons of Oedo.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:34, Fri 12 Aug 2011.

Inuro nods and smiles.  "Good work Nomura.  We should be able to squeeze through this then with no one the wiser."

Kimihiko grunts a 'you're welcome' as he trawls the Matrix for information.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:17, Sat 13 Aug 2011.

The Matrix spun in and out of focus behind Kimihiko's eyes as is search routines changes his viewpoint. Finally, a short summary on the Sons scrolled in a neon green window in fornt of him. The information had the smell of ozone.



Jenkins' improved eyesight didn't help much with discerning additional information. The only really unusual sight was two policemen standing ready with LAWs, as if they expected th defend against a tank.

Then it was their turn to be inspected. A uniformed police officer knocked on the driver's window, bowed politely and requested Jenkins' drivers licence and the car papers. Two other policemen peered inside the car from the other side, also bowing politely, their eyes suspicious. One had a microcamera attached on the side of his hat, doubtlessly taking the pictures of the team. His focus lingered on Agent 19 twice as long as on the others. More policemen with various firearms ready, trying to not look too frigthening. The image of the police force was tarnished by recent scandals, and they had instructions to be at their best, most unobtrusive behaviour.

       Jenkins doesn't smile (as that would certainly give the game away) but merely hands over the requested papers for inspection.  The presence of heavy-weaponary was worrying, but at least helped to put them out of the frame.  Maybe they were after the terrorists and not the package.  Then again, wouldn't such hardware be necessary to keep up the cover of terrorist hunting, when the real target was a small package and three bozos in a hire-car?

When they were  a few cars back, Inuro straightened his clothes out, cinching up his tie and making his appearance less along the lines of a (attempting to be) stylish man about town and rather more like a sarariman blowing off steam after leaving the office.  He couldn't do much about the cut and style of this clothing, but even the little things helped.

When the officers ducked down to check them out through the windows he offered them a polite nod of greeting.

The officer taking his time staring at Agent was greeted with a goofy smile and a wave, Agent once again reprising her role from the biker encounter.

Kimihiko filed the information away for later use and flipped his consciousness back to meatspace.  He was surprised to see officers peeking in through the windows and gave them a nervous smile.

Obviously, they weren't looking for you. The documents got handed back to Jenkins, the policemen bowed politely (white gloves and a stiff artificial smile) and waved them through. You might feel relieved and disappointed at teh same time as the road block recedes into darkness behind the rental as Jenkins steps on the gas.

The road ahead is clear, and it doesn't seem like the car is going to give out again. The question now is, do you hurry back at once, and are you curious enough about the contents of your package?

"With luck, we'll be free and clear from here back to the arcade."  Inuro mused as they left the police behind them.

Kimihiko nodded, "The sooner we deliver this, the better.  As long as no one is trying to kill us over it I'm happy to just take my pay and call it done."

       Jenkins was obviously relieved that no funny-business had taken place at the police check-point.  He steered the car with the knowledge that it wasn't fully reliable.  "Sooner we get that package back to 'ugly' and his slot machines, the better."

       Thing is Jenkins thought to himself as he sailed past the airport traffic, I'll still be in the danger business, but just that little step closer to getting out with my head on my shoulders.  Terrific.

There were no more interruptions, and in les than half an hour they were back at the starting point of that evening.

"Ugly" was just visible throuhg the glass front of the pachinko parlor, seated at the outermost pachinko machine, wreathed in cigarette smoke. Judging by the heaps of small iron balls in big styrofoam cups, he was a master player. Then again, the parlor owner would probably have the sarariman seated at a machine that was rigged in favor of the player. Two bodyguards were next to him, eyes hidden by mirrorshades even at night, hands never far from their firearms.

It would be bad form to assume danger from the bodyguards, not to mention the beginning of what would be a pissing contest if the muscle got too close. Agent stationed herself by the door, alternating between keeping an eye on the package and the streets outside, waiting for trouble to approach.

Inuro followed in behind 19 lugging the suitcase with his swagger cranked as high as it could go while handling such an item.  He nodded to the two guards and offered them a smirk before setting the case down on the floor next to the sarariman's stool.

After taking a step back he gave a slight bow.  "We have returned with the package you requested senpai."

Kimihiko followed behind the two others, having put his deck and other tools back in his pack.  He remained silent and was more than a little intimidated by the bodyguards.

      Jenkins locked the car before following the other three in.  Jenkins silently hoped that his car was alright back at the airport.

"Ugly" waved his hand at Inuro in reply to the bow, a dismissive gesture of someone whose station was far above. His other hand busy with the control of the pachinko machine. He barely paid you any attention, the obligatory cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth as he spoke.

"Okay, you passed the test. That puts you at the level of a high schooler. Or thereabouts."

One of the guards bowed and handed Inuro a small optical disk to Inuro. He used both hands, in an almost archaic gesture of politeness. From close up, Inuro couldn't fail to notice that the guard was heavily modified.

"The rest of your instructions are on the disk. Take the suitcase too."

(OOC: The contents of the disk follow in another post later today. If you wish your characters to take care of anything else, you can do so here.)

OOC: Good show.  Jenkins will certainly exchange cell-phone numbers with everyone else and then go and return the hire-car before driving his own car back.  He'll do this at the next possible opportunity, either after viewing the orders or before, as things go.

OOC: Unless anyone suggests otherwise, Inuro will pass the disc off to Nomura to verify there's nothing tricky with it, and after seeing the contents he'll suggest everyone meet in a few hours at a 24 hour diner/"family restaurant" style establishment he knows of so they can sketch some initial plans and grab some food.

That should give Jenkins enough time to get his car back and anyone else to spend part of their ¥10,000 expenses advance from the first job.

He'll also check the suitcase with everyone still present, just in case there's anything useful in there and it is not just a bunch of generic Yoshiko products.



Inuro will use the spare time to see about picking himself up a gun.  After the bikers and everything else, he figures it might be better to have it just in case.

OOC: of course, there is nothing wrong with packing a gun at all times. The streets have dangerous shadows.

Kimihiko checks the disk and the bag once the boss is done with them, but while the group of street samurai are still together.

Going out, he spends some of his money on Self-Defense Spray.  It isn't lethal, but it would be easier to explain to the cops than a gun.  Though he does spend several minutes looking at a sai in the weapons shop display case.  He then heads to another shop to pick up an optic probe.  Once again, he's tempted to pick up a few more toys but decides to show some restraint.

He then heads to the diner to meet his teammates.

Money goes into The Account, just as money always goes into The Account. Afterwords, Agent hails a cab and heads for the diner, now dressed in a business suit jacket and skirt.

The suitcase contained more delicious products from your great company. Dehydrated miso, Ramen-in-a-cup, things like that. Also, a copy of the "Insider Weekly", concerning a smear job completed on Makita Genetics. No names were given, but the article was dripping with smugness, suggesting the author actually had something to do with the job. Also in the magazine, an update on the top men in the twelve highest grossing zaibatsu; promotional pages; and the reviews of the newest stimstims by both Makarov and Katsura punctuated by vividly coloured snapshots of both stars.

(OOC- you can wing the dinner and discuss your approach to the mission there. When erady, post in Mission Three. You can ask for more info, or create some yourself while the mission hasn't started yet.)

Kimihiko shows up at the diner.  Once everyone has arrived he speaks quietly, "The next job sounds troublesome.  Lots of unknown variables.  Any idea how we should do this?"

Inuro showed up changed into a more casual pair of slacks and silk shirt, along with a leather jacket to finish his "obvious knock off designer casual" look.

He had ordered a coffee and was flipping through a copy of the stack of info from the disc on his own deck.

"Well it would be easier to just grab her in town or somewhere else away from the school building rather than try sneaking in and bringing her back out."

After a moment he looked to Nomura and asked, "Think you could get into the student files at the school and get a copy of her schedule or something?  Might be she has some club or activity that would work, or maybe she's been disciplined for staying out past curfew on free days or sneaking out or something."

The student roster and hours plan was already provided. The young miss seemed to be a model student - no punishments on record. She was even credited with helping out at the local hospital once a month.

Then again, you were all too aware of how easily such records can be manipulated to taste.

      Jenkins slunk into the diner, his eyes casting around the place.  He had something bulky and flat under his arm, which, unfolding it as he sat on the plastic chair, turned out to be an old deck of retro design (from back when retro decks were 'in'), looking like a 20Cth 'lap-top', complete with attached, folding screen and realistic 'hum' sound.  He listened to Nomura and Rin as they began the meeting and ordered a sextuple-shot mocha-mocha-espressachino.

      "I was thinking about this stuff in the car.  This kidnap move being standard practice, this Hiro bloke is going to expect kidnap attempts.  Perhaps its even 'polite' for kidnap attempts to be made and to fail.

      The coffee arrives (a pint of frothing caffeinated madness in a glass).  Jenkins gulps down half in one unrefined chug.

      "Little Mai.  She's going to be heavily guarded if kidnaps are expected.  If she isn't heavily guarded, then maybe they want the kidnap to work and the girl isn't the girl, but a clone with a bomb, or one of those one-two-oh cyborgs, ready to get busy.  Makes me wonder whether we're actually meant to succeed here or if we're simply a polite gesture between two Zaibatsu, or the decoy, luring Oshima out into the open while a second team does the real work.  Still, 'ours is not to reason why'.  Certainly be worth being careful and checking some of those "unknown variables" on location."

      Jenkins picks-up the Insider Weekly and flicks through, turning the pages quickly.


OOC:

Some speculation, thoughts and questions.

     -  What has Munemori Hiro been doing before his promotion (or demotion) to branch director?  That might be useful to know: gives a sense of whether kidnapping will come as a surpise to him and whether he's been moved to this job as a punishment, or as a trouble-shooter in a stagnant branch of the corporation.
     - What's the security like at the hospital?  It might be an opportunity, if the report is correct.  The private school is likely to have pretty good security if kidnapping sons and daughters is standard business practice.  Then again, it might not.
     - Hmmm.  I wonder what the copy of 'insider weekly' in the suitcase signifies?  'Ugly' did tell us to take the suitcase with us, but that's ambiguous.  Maybe it was an insult left over from the last mission; maybe Makita had been after some other suitcase and we were running a dummy suitcase with this magazine inside to tell Makita (if they'd got it) that they'd got a dummy?  Perhaps the contents of the real suitcase were connected to the smear job?  Is this the latest issue, or a back-issue?  Then again, 'sometimes a cigar is just a cigar'.  Still, food for thought.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:05, Mon 29 Aug 2011.

Agent frowned slightly, "Over-thinking this is dangerous. We are given a job. We do the job."
A bacon-and-egg sandwich was procured, along with a thick sim-malted milk, and Agent sipped through a straw before speaking again, "A direct snatch will alert security. Attacking or disabling security will alert the target. Best option, assumedly, is to set up something to take out security the moment they're alerted. Gain information on security. Are they immune to drugging?"

Kimihiko ordered breakfast and a coffee.  "I agree with Agent 19, if we begin to suspect every job is a setup we'll quickly go crazy.  Or our boss will notice our suspicious behavior and think we are the ones betraying him.  I could look and see what there is on him, but if I get caught it would look very bad for us."

He stopped talking when his food and drink arrived, waited until the woman was out of earshot, then continued.

"Does the file say anything about the school's defenses?  Do we know if this girl is carrying a weapon?"

Inuro began checking for the info Nomura asked about and considered what Agent 19 said.  "Can you check and see if Oshima handles its own executive security or if it uses a service?"  He asked of the hacker.

"Might let us know more about what we're going to have to be dealing with."

Jenkins reached the last page of the magazine and popped it down on the table before chugging back the rest of his coffee and ordering another.

Kimihiko nodded, "I should be able to find that out pretty quickly.  Possibly it's a subsidiary of the parent company rather than an independent contractor, but you never know."

He wasn't sure if pulling his deck out right now would be acceptable.  In any case, he wanted to hear the rest of the conversation first.

Jenkins was a bit late to the meeting, owing to the fact that he triplechecked his car for unfair play. Be it as it may, once the insulated cup brimming with steaming coffee was in his hands he calmed considerably.

Munemori Hiro, being a veteran of the business world, was surely always prepared for business moves such as the one you've been ordered to make. This might make you wonder about the choice of school for his daughter (A small private campus not renowned for anything? Hmm.) Otherwise, his service record is mostly spotless; he climbed the corporate rungs at a slow but steady pace, and there were no major scandals associated with him.

The security at the town's general hospital was nothing special. A few watchmen, a centralized video surveillance system, fire alarms. The police station was a few blocks away. Nothing special about the plans or staff of the hospital. There were a dozen ambulances always parked in the driveway, stocked and ready to respond.

The security detailed in your report consists of two drivers, also trained as bodyguards, who take shifts hanging around near the girl. It seems she wasn't overly fond of having gorillas around her. The current pair has been driving her around for the last two months, but that was all you had on them. The car itself is an armored Maybach, two tonnes and five hundred horsepower of black metal.

Digging deeper into Oshima's security revealed that they mostly used their own black ops teams. It was considered a relatively safe job, and many took it when they need a breather from too many close shaves and near death experiences. It was probably safe to assume that the two bodyguards were probably cybered-up veterans.

Kimihiko whistles quietly, "I hope some of you are good fighters.  If she will be appearing at the hospital soon that seems to be the best way to get to her since the school seems suspiciously unimpressive.  I'm not sure how useful hacking the school's computer would be, the best I can think of is using it to summon the target to our location.  Otherwise we're looking at either infiltrating the campus and grabbing her, waiting until she goes off campus and grabbing her, or getting her at the hospital.  Each case we'll be dealing with at least one bodyguard and whatever tricks she might have up her sleeve."

Kimihiko could rig something up, perhaps set up an observation net, but they had her schedule.  He wasn't sure how much help hacking the matrix would be either.

         Jenkins was enjoying the buzz from the coffee and rested his chin on his hands and his elbows on the table.

         "The hospital is the key: a nice public building with low security and lots of people coming and going.  The police are nearby, so it would be better not to set off any alarms."

         He turns to Kimihiko and smiles.

         "Do you think you could hack Oshima's HR department and mess with the guards' schedule: invent two fake Oshima secuity personel and slip them into the system before assigning them to guard duty.  Then two of us can turn up as her security for the day and invent some sort of security threat to get her out of the building and into an ambulance or something before anyone gets wise.  Either that or they're waiting for us with extreme force."

Slipping into the security database of a big zaibatsu was difficult enough; actually changing something and having it seem legit was really, really hard. Then again, that's what deck cowboys were for, right? Taking their chances with black ICE and tracers...

"If 19 thinks she can take one of these guys, with a little help from us that is, we could always see about having the girl meet us for lunch.  Set up an unexpected  surprise visit from dear father.  Though we'd need some recorded clips of dad's voice to work off of."  Inuro suggested.

"Would help us avoid both the school security and the hospital's.  But depending on the relationship between father and daughter it might raise suspicion of it's too out of character.  But might also work like a charm."

"Give me accurate employment and background data on her security guards, and I will tell you whether I can 'take them'."

Kimihiko thinks that hacking the corporate infosphere would be extremely risky.  But, it would also help the team immensely if he could succeed.  On the other hand, it could tip off their target and her protectors.

"I will give it a try if you all think it's worth the risk.  Tough if I fail we might have a harder job ahead of us."

As for the guards' data, that might be a bit easier.  He was willing to give that a shot.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:31, Mon 05 Sept 2011.

A standard Go-to on the guards yielded... nothing. No social insurance, no driver's licence, nothing. It was as if they left no trail in the real world at all prior to this assignment. Not even their names were listed in the capsule hotel where they stayed - the capsules were listed as rented by the corporation.

    "The folks at Oshima don't want hackers to know about their black-ops people.  Never mind.  Likely a part of the contract for black-ops.  They do the dirty-work and Oshima gives them a low profile.  Either that or maybe they have no identity: maybe these are lab-grown thugs? ... Did you say 'Capsule Hotel'?  Did you say 'are they immune to drugging'?  Drugging.  Nice."

     Jenkins leaned back in his chair and rubbed his 5 O'clock shadow.  "Knowing where their hotel is is a useful piece of information.  Neutralising them before they get to work might be handy, but it may also give the game away too early in the day.  Would be a good opportunity to see whether they're 'immune to drugging': dose their morning coffee (or steroids) and see what happens.  An experiment: just see if they get sleepy.

     "The trap needs to be sprung just before the critical board-meeting: it gives Pappy no time to think it over or come looking for us.  We've got some good ideas.  What we need to do is spend the time we have watching and developing a water-tight plan based on good intelligence.  We need to figure out how to neutralise the heavies without raising the alarm, nab Mai at the right time and keep anyone from finding Mai until after the meeting (all that disguised voices down the phone and 'do you know where your children are' stuff).  Hang about..."

     Jenkins clicked his fingers.  "Here's one: we find some out-of-the-way room in the hospital and ask Mai to go there using the hospital tannoy (meanwhile, whoever is messing with hospital security switches the tape on that camera feed).  When she and the muscle arrive in the room, we gas them: knock them out, keep them knocked out.  We do ourselves up like doctors and Mai like a patient (checking for chips and tracers and stuff).  We get Mai to a get-away ambulance on a stretcher.  We leave the thug where he is with a big dose of nighty-night and a ranson-note in his pocket.  We drive off and switch cars a few times.  Get to the safe-house (one that's actually safe).  We wait for Daddy to make the right call and then arrange for Mai to turn up somewhere with a whole pack of scrummy noodles, compliments of our glorious employers."

Inuro nodded.

"We'd need to know how easy security at the hospital is, and if she has a set day she volunteers.  Still, since it's only once a month might put it too far down the road for that to work.  But it's a line worth pursuing."

"Let's just assume the bodyguard is going to be along the same lines as what Yoshiko uses.  Lets also assume we have to take one out, or at least slow them down enough for us to get away.  I've got some knock out shots for my pistol, might slow him or her down a bit, but might be a bit on the loud side.  If we do this in the hospital we'll need to be hush hush, or right next to an exit and the waiting car."

"We arrange a time and place where we know she and her yojimbo are going to be, we can set up an intercept, do a smash and grab.  Messy, but quick and more flexibility in case things go wrong."

"We do the hospital, might be tighter, less chance of things going badly, but requires more planning, and might get really messy if something doesn't go according to the plan."

"I say we check out and plan for both, see which one is more likely to work once we've gotten some details sorted out."  Inuro concluded, then looked to the others for their opinions.

      Jenkins nodded his approval.  "We see what's going on and choose the best plan.  Can't argue with that."

"Sounds good."  Kimihiko waited to see if anyone else wanted to say anything, then got up to leave.

Inuro nodded in reply to the two positive affirmations.

"Nomura, see what you can find out about the hospital, their security, floor plans, staff list, and what days our soon to be new friend volunteers there."

"Jenkins, see what you can come up with for an easy out from the hospital and see what sort of routes we can get between there and the safe house.  Also pick out a trendy cafe or something in town that has good escape routes from that Mr. Munemori  might invite his daughter to for an impromptu lunch or snack.  That will be the center location for our second plan."

"Nineteen, see what you can come up with to take out or disable the bodyguard if you think what we've got between us won't be enough.  Might be able to get a line on something from our dear employers if they want this job to actually succeed."

"I'm going to see what sorts of info I can pull on Mr. Munemori, see if I can get down a good impression of him to give us our second option."

"Good?"

Once everything passes muster, Inuro will begin making his own exit.

Kimihiko nodded and would get right on his task.  The plan(s) sounded solid, this girl was a valuable asset and their futures depending on not screwing this job up.  Killing the bodyguard might break some unspoken rule, but he doubted the bodyguard would've thought twice about neutralizing them.

Agent was lost in thought for a moment, then spoke. Oddly, her voice seemed... Like it wasn't hers. More as if some other voice had taken over for her.
"The security will be protected against drugging, but within a hospital they will need to obey protocol. If we can hack a file, as well as putting virus or radioactive trace-elements on their skin, via discrete spray, they can be locked down in quarantine. If they cause a fuss, hospital security will deal with them. If they barrel through hospital security, then Agent can confront them as a 'concerned citizen'. QED."