OOC: 06:15, Today: Vee rolled 19 using 1d10+11, rerolling max with rolls of 8.
Will try to get a post in today.

"Nah, I'm around," Andy answers, even with a shrug big enough to broadcast from behind the board on her shoulders. Her attention seemed to mostly be on the menu as well, scanning through the options before locking something in. Something that she knew would cost too much and probably be flat. A frown screwed up her lips.

"Hey. What if like... we didn't order?" she suggested, glancing over at Jai. "Like if we just, like, maybe skip the line?" she drops her board down next to her, leaning against it.

OOC:
11:10, Today: Andy rolled 19 using 1d10+11, rerolling max with rolls of 8.  Get a Clue.

Jai raised an eyebrow.

"Hostile takeover? Suits my accounts fine. But if we just grab and try to derezz, I don't like my chances, boardless as I may be. But... maybe go ahead and cancel yours."

He waited for a moment - just long enough for the food to start being prepped - before cancelling his own order. While he'd grab whatever if it was free, hopefully they'd finish warming up what he actually wanted and put it out regardless.

Reaching down, he untied the sleeves of his coveralls and put the top section back on his shoulders, only zipping up the front partially. Mall Brat legends told of making entire goboards and terminals disappear like this, so he wasn't concerned about some nachos and a soft drink.

"I think I can handle the grab, if you don't mind something in a can. You game?"

12:45, Today: Jai rolled 16 using 1d10+12, rerolling max with rolls of 4.  Get a Clue.

Tailgate slowed and frowned as the music changed. He wanted music to thrash to usually. It wasn't like he had a date to dance with. He shook his head but put it out of his mind for the moment. Dancing wasn't the item on the agenda at the moment.

The pause in his step, however, had caused someone else to nearly run in to him. He turned to look over at them and then a slow smile touched his lips. "Well, well, well, if it ain't THE Val. Long time no scan."

He thought about it for maybe a second and then gave a kind of small nod and half-shrug combo. "Sure. I'm thirsty." He eyed her for a second. "Maybe hungry too." He made an almost polite-looking gesture for her to lead the way. "Lead on."

19:33, Thu 28 Jan: Tailgate rolled 13 using 1d10+10, rerolling max with rolls of 3.  Get a Clue.

Well, well, well, if it ain't THE Val; she smiled at that and twirled around to be admired from all angles, causing a little whirl of chrome-tinged reflected light.

"The one and only. Been slaving away on a new record," she said in a laguid voice when she stopped, and gave him the same come-then finger as she had Stef before, as reply to his Lead on.

"I always do," she replied, and guided the Go-Ganger and the Golden Boy out into the bar. There she squeezed by, making headway towards the countertop proper with a combination of gentle pushing people aside with a smile and saying "valKyria coming through" in her stage voice. Once she reached her goal, she fixed the barman with her album-cover gaze.

"Vodka lemon," she purred, almost daring the man to ask for ID. She was valKyria, her voice was her passport.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:01, Sun 31 Jan 2021.

Jai, Andy, Vee made the Get a Clue and see the following scene:




Meanwhile, the bartender smiles at Valeriya, leans forward to be heard more clearly, and asks, "what's the pass code?"  He is an adult in his thirties and though he clearly knows who she is it seems he is well trained in his protocols.

From the Obelisk Description: 

"Yo," Andy provides her agreement with a nod. Turning away from Jai to let him get to work. It is, at this point, a solo operation. Best for her not to be nearby. At least, not so near that she's indicted. Maybe close enough to run a rescue op.

Andy walked to the entry to the restaurant, leaning against the low wall separating it from the dance floor. Instead of ordering, she uses the time to play with the settings on her board. The wheels would need more grip inside. The tensile on the board softened to give it more flexibility and improve performance in a crowd. Just in case.

Jai nodded back and headed towards the ready orders window. Noting Maria's entrance, he reminded himself to maybe check it out.

"Hey, my order's cancelled, right?"

Putting one arm forward to lean on the flat surface, he surreptitiously grabbed at whatever was hanging around with his other arm, tucking it into his coveralls.

"Chili con kibble and the Sprite. That's not still coming out, right? Don't wanna get charged for it."

He quickly made his exit, off to where Andy was working on her board.

14:23, Today: Jai rolled 20 using 1d10+16, rerolling max with rolls of 4.  Boost.

Val leaned in to look the man in the eye with her gunmetal grey contacts.

"The password is 'I am valkYria, get me that drink or start looking for another job'," she says point-blank. For a second she had considered spinning him a fairy tale about actually being twenty-one but the media keep lying about my age for marketing purposes, yadda-yadda, but at the last moment she decides in favor of a more blunt approach... in hindsight, probably not the best idea.

---

20:04, Today: Valeriya rolled 14 using 1d10+13 with rolls of 1.  Celeb + Cool (impressing the Obelisk barman).
This message was last edited by the player at 21:03, Sun 31 Jan 2021.

Nicola was looking at the Goths while wondering if they would welcome some of her ideas, then realized that Valeriya and some other ones she knew from school were talking to the barman, most likely to get booze or something, that turned out to be more interesting, not so much for the idea of having one of those drinks, which she did find interesting also, but mother earth was most important and she needed all the help she could get.. not that the group looked like the kind of group that might care that much for the planet.. but who knows, if they kept drinking they might want to misbehave later.. and that might lead somewhere useful..
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07:40, Fri 29 Jan: Nikola Net rolled 11 using 1d10+9 with rolls of 2.  Get a clue.

Vee notes the exchange between Maris and Peter with interest.  She watches the exchange for a bit trying to discern from body language what the argument is about.  "It's always good to keep abreast of the current gossip." she thinks to herself as she sips more of her milk, "At least I think that's what the other kids do." she chuckles at that and continues watching.

Tailgate grinned as he followed after the pretty girl. She was out of his league, but that didn't mean he couldn't enjoy the time with her anyway. Even if he did have to share.

An eyebrow raised at the password request. He almost let out a bark of laughter at Val's response to the bartender but quickly, mostly, smothered it. But even as he was amused he thought back to earlier, trying to remember if he'd overheard someone else mentioning the password or getting ready to go use it.

15:05, Today: Tailgate rolled 17 using 1d10+9, rerolling max with rolls of 8.  Streetsmarts for password.

The bartender smiles at Valeriya, a smile that says he's seen it all before.  "Young lady, I know who you are and therefore I know you are under age; complying with your 'request' is a felony, and I don't need that," he says politely, but firmly.

In the restaurant, the waiter waives him off, indicating that he understands the order was canceled.  Jai manages to swipe a to-go bag that was on the counter.  This is a sit-down restaurant, not a counter cafeteria after all.

Vee, straining to eavesdrop on Peter and Maria's conversation catches the end of it.  Peter yells over the music "it's not my problem!" throwing his arms wide.  Then he pushes his way past Maria and heads to the men's room; Trevor obviously heard the end of it also takes a sudden interest in his shoes.  Maria, looking more furious than anything else, watches Peter go, then turns on her heel as if to leave.

Meanwhile, Vee and Andy see another boy enter the club through the restaurant.  He is Euro-American with dark hair, wearing jeans, a hoodie and converse, and he appears nearly exhausted: sweating and panting, and there is panic in his expression.  He quickly moves through the crowd to the men's room.

Hunter follows him in giving Andy, and pretty much all the girls, his 'look' as he makes his way through the dance floor.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:05, Thu 04 Feb 2021.

Andy's attention quickly wanders from her getaway plans as Hunter momentarily catches eyes with her. Biting her lip as she watches him moving out to the dance floor. Both her suggestion for stealing some snacks and the paniced boy forgotten for a moment. But the look passes and a moment later the spell is broken. Andy returns to the world just in time to see the strange boy rush into the bathroom to do... Whatever it is boys do in there.

Tailgate rolled his eyes and then stepped in close to Valeriya. "Hey, Val? Y'didn't bring me along for my good looks, didja?" He gave her a wink and a small friendly shoulder nudge.

On the outside, he was certainly trying to look cool and impress her, maybe too hard. Inside, however, he was quivering and second-guessing himself. What was he DOING? And TOUCHING her? Was he INSANE?? He could handle if she sicced some goboys on him for a fight but...what if she just gave him the cold shoulder, brushed him off with rejection...or worse, lit him up like a firecracker for daring to invade her personal space! She used weapons as words and no one liked to be dressed down and yelled at in public.

He swallowed after he turned away from her and gestured to the bartender to come closer. He leaned in, getting up on his tiptoes, and whispered something that was washed away by the music - that day's password. He then stepped back and gestured towards Val. "Now, what say you serve the lady?"

Val's defiant smile compresses into a thin line of trembling frustration.

"What you don't need now, you little..." she started to say, voice rising into something that could have ended in a screamed threat or a sobbing cry, but she was mercifully interrupted by the Go-Ganger before it could resolve into either.

And then she was suddenly watching from the sidelines as Tailgate whispered into the ear of the zombieboy. Val wasn't sure which one stinged the most, being snubbed by the adult or sidelined by the 'ganger.

A couple of seconds too late, she felt that residual heat signature on her shoulder, like the faint afterglow of a laser puncture on a titanium hull, just like in the movies. And just like in an orbital strike, there was no pretending it had been an accident, a casual brush in some Kessler cascade. Not the first or the last time someone had tried to touch her, but unlike other times, she didn't have her usual detail of cybered bodyguards to professionally maim the miscreant. It was hard enough to give them the slip and sneak out to the Obelisk.

She opened her mouth again, ready to scream again, grateful for having someone else to direct her anger at. She didn't even remember the bartender any more, her sights locked on this new scapegoat, ready to make him pay - not for the casual touch or the snub, but for everything. The sum total of all her short life's frustrations, concentrated and taken out on Tailgate, just because he was there...

And then she stopped herself, remembering Stefan.

The Golden Boy was just a step behind her. He must have seen the whole thing. He was going to witness this too. He'd go to Theo and the rest of his clique with the tale. No, that ridicule she couldn't afford. She swallowed it with a disdainful smile.

"No, I totally didn't," she replied to Tailgate with as much nonchalance as she could muster. She turned her back on the bartender, propped her back against the bar and crossed her legs, affecting to not care at all for him, the place or the company, a studiedly bored look on her face - but her eyes were still burning with suppressed rage, a fire behind the chrome façade.

Jai swiped the bag nonchalantly, stopping on the way back to order whatever Andy had initially wanted, cursing the fact that no one had a drink order on the way out for him to pilfer. A quick check inside his prize revealed a large order of fries, so he grabbed some condiment packets as well.

"You catch whatever drama's going on? Usually Pete keeps a level head, wonder what's got him tuned up."

He tossed the soda can to Andy in an underhand lob.

"Couldn't pinch one of those, but I managed to grab a ton of fries, so I'm still in the black. You want some?"

"Um, not really," Andy answers the first question, brushing her bangs back to tuck them under the brim of her cap. "Maybe just like... An argument with his girlfriend or whatever?"

She shrugs, turning her attention fully back to Jai as she regains her faculties with one final glance toward the bathroom. "Fries sound good, yeah," as she pops the tab on the soda, striking it's virtual music cue to broadcast the ad jingle.

While holding in her hand the straw she was using to drink juice out of the cup Nicola got distraughted when she caught with the border of her eyes a Guy coming in all of the sudden.
He looked exhausted and raised her curiosity, making her to rotate on her chair to see if she could igure out where was he heading to...

________________________________________________________________________
Nikola Net rolled 12 using 1d10+9, rerolling max with rolls of 3.  Get a clue (2) + INT (7).

Tailgate was oblivious to what was happening behind him, and the aftermath of his attempt to impress Val. He grinned at the bartender, "So how 'bout, choom? Somethin' good an' tasty for me an' my friend back there?" He hooked a thumb towards Stefan standing behind him and Val, as if this totally wasn't a second drink that would go to Val.

"What's nova right now?" he asked the bartender. "Gimme two o'those."

Stefan smiles in a vague we, could be lamely could be knowingly, having kept his mouth shut up to this point.  It's pretty clear he didn't know the passcode and didn't want that known.  The bartender hands across two drinks and then moves down to deal with another customer.  As soon as the bartender turns his back, Stefan hands Valeriya the drink.  "How did you know the pass code?"  he asks Tailgate, somewhat incredulous.

Just outside the restaurant entrance Andy is suddenly aware of the Cyclones scattering as an armored police cruiser pulls up.  The markings are not NCPD, rather Federal police.  The two troopers exit the car armed with nasty looking weapons of a bullpup design and start making their way to the door.

[OOC Note:  Jai and anyone else in the restaurant section sees this also; singled Andy out because of the Cyclones' reaction.]

Val faked a smile for Stefan, and then for Tailgate as her eyes went from GoldenBoy to Go-Ganger. She raised the glass in a well-rehearsed toast gesture, then took a very long sip from it. The vodka hit her like a punch from a cyberarm.

She didn't want a fracking drink, she wanted to get it because of who she fracking was. The zombieboy had rudely put her back in her place - just a kid, very profitable for her parents, but a mere money-making device, after all was said and done. She could earn millions and still get only peanuts as her allowance. Her pictures and videos could be all over the world, selling records and designer lingerie with questionable imagery for a minor, but she couldn't get choo without knowing some stupid password.

Her burning chrome eyes fall on Tailgate again. She could tear him apart, but again, Stefan was there. She was mad, but not enough to ruin her reputation amongst Theo's clique, the only other thing she had. To all appearances, the biker had just bought her a drink, that was all.

"My goyboy T here knows all the rim stuff," she told Stefan, draining half of the drink with another long gulp. The alcohol was getting to her, rushing fast for her brain, as she was unusued to it. She was sticking to her original plan, for lack of a better strategy. "He's no boof, he's a real man," she emphasized, bringing her eyes theatrically from Tailgate to Stefan, and then back to the Go-Ganger. "Knows all the ways to stick it to Simba, ain't that word on the streets?"

She even managed a glittering wink at Tailgate. She was slowly getting back into her comfort zone.

Nikola could not see clearly where did the new guy went to, but was able to catch one of the guys going after him it seems so she stood up and moved out of the bar to see if she could figure what was that movemount all about, in order to avoid being so obvious about it she pretendet to go to the ladies room while trying to spot something while moving around.. she saw the several boys and girls turning their heads and pointing to the main door. That might be related...

Federal police? It was definitely time to keep one's head down... Or was it? Andy put the one and the two together quickly. Kid runs in, looking sweaty and desperate. Feds on the follow. Andy's jaw dropped in the middle of a fry.

"Yo, I think those guys are about to raid the bathroom..." Andy whispered to Jai. "We should, like... I dunno. Warn those guys?" She glanced back over her shoulder at the boy's room. Hand stretching out for her skateboard.

Jai nodded, divesting himself of a handful of fries and looking for somewhere to clean his hands.

"For sure."

He looked over to where he'd seen the Cyclones scatter.

"Let's get going. Your goboys okay out there?"