Priest and Fennec, this is where you can have the phone conversation.  Please post in your respective game threads your side of the conversation.

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Priest's agent notifies him of an incoming call, unknown number.  He left his digits with the Vulpez in the hopes that they would put him in touch with someone related to the car, so ignoring unknown numbers right now is not wise.

Priest tried not to get his hopes up when an unknown number called him, but he was hoping still that it was news that would get their investigation moving in a good direction. So he stepped away from the others with a quiet, "'Scuse me."

Then he answered the call, "Hola, this is Priest."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:56, Tue 09 May 2023.

"Hehe, bonjour 'Priest'. I think I should spare you my confessions, no?" The female voice had a pleasant French twang. "News is you have been in contact with my family... the Nomad pack called Vulpez... you are interested in my car, so I am told?" The sound of clashing bangles could be heard over the line as Fennec twisted her hair.

A snapping sound could be heard in the background.

He smirked. "My apologies, but confessions are tomorrow. And in person." There was humor and light sarcasm heard in the voice, but there were undertones of tension as well. "Well, your car is very...interesting, if it is the one I saw. Very...eclectic and oddly beautiful." He turned serious, "But in truth, my interest lies less so in your car, and more so in recent cargo you carried. We need to deliver a message to said cargo, and it is time-sensitive."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:05, Tue 09 May 2023.

"Complimenting my ride won't win you any points, Prêtre," the voice cooed in response. The jangling sound had stopped. "What do you know of my "cargo"?"

Priest shook his head. "I wasn't trying to win points, just stating facts."

He paused a moment as he thought over what to say. When he spoke again, it was in a serious tone once more and he sounded earnest. "Myself and some others have been hired to reach out about arranging a meeting to discuss the cargo taken from the Sweet Life. You can pick the location and time, but sooner rather than later would be preferable."

He hadn't answered her question, which was annoying. She thought about how to move the conversation forward, internally wishing it was Tony making this call. He always had more confidence than he knew what to do with. She opted for a simple question, hoping this man would not evade her again.

"Hired by who?"

She could tell from the change in 'quality' that he had put his Agent on speaker. "I was trying to be discreet on this medium but as you wish. You cargo was Ai Hikage. My employer is Hajime Matsudaira."

"Oh, Soyez béni, you have seen my car, I don't really do discreet." Amusement was woven through tones of comprehension.

"So, as I understand... you wanna meet up in person to pass on a message to 'the cargo', and you wanna do this fast. What I am missing is some sort of incentive on my part. Seems like you're asking me to do you a big favour there."

"No, you misunderstand, but maybe that's my fault in not communicating properly. My message is to you. My current employer wants a meeting with you, your team, someone on your team, whatever, in order to discuss said incentive to release the woman safe and unharmed."

Well that made way more sense. Fennec attempted to hide a feeling of embarrassment.

"All right..." There was a sound of tapping as she pinged over some coordinates to Priest. "How about here, in 1 hour."

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OOC: Co-ordinates are for a chop-shop owned by the Vulpez Nomad gang.

"An hour? Let me make sure that'll work. Also, just to be clear, the woman is still in your team's...care?"

"She is." Fennec confirmed. "But you will have to take my word on that, I'm afraid." She didn't like the way he said 'care', it implied they were just hostage takers.

"Okay, let me place you on hold for a moment while I check on the timing please." He put the call on hold.

A slight in-breath of shock was followed by a compliant silence.

Priest came back on the line and said, "Okay, thanks for holding. So we talked to our employer and he's willing to meet at that location provided that Ms. Hikage is present as well to meet face-to-face and negotiate terms directly."

Fennec straight up laughed at priest down the phone.

"Hahaha, ya ya, your turn to go on hold." She said, before the line went silent.

The line came live again.

"Alright. Face-to-face and with la cargaison. See you soon!"

Small hesitation at an unknown word, but then he said, "Looking forward to it." The call ended.