Wednesday, June 8.

The Incident at The Obelisk was last Friday.  Your parents, guardians, friends, etc., effectively lost track of you until yesterday, when each of you arrived "home" after a night in the safe house and at least two days in Minerva's bunker.  You are returning to school after suffering through whatever consequences you each had to go through for the disappearance and are operating under whatever penalty/restriction was imposed as a result.  It could be nothing, as it seems for Hunter, who rolls up on his plank as though nothing had happened...

Life at the school, on the surface at least, seems normal.  Passing by on the way to school (if you go that way) the Obelisk is still closed.

Shin-Ji wasn't a great liar, at least not to his mother. It didn't help that she thought that most of the people at school were weird criminal scum: she'd been raised in the pure corporate culture where the level of social stratification was more rigidly enforced.

He was "grounded" for three weeks and banned from attending his dojo ever again. Not that that mattered, because his claat was gone, his sifu was dead, and the dojo itself was closed. She'd suggested a McDojo that practiced a heavily bastardized corporate version of Gongkwon Yusul. He respected the marital art, but not this version of it, with senseis who were obviously picked for biosculpt attractiveness, and sparring that made him cringe. He kept to the heavy bags and katas. One good news was that the place didn't have gi of any kind, just gym clothes, so he was able to wear a body suit with gloves and slip ons for his feet. He obviously couldn't afford to let anyone grab or see his arms or legs.

Still, it was a workout at least. The gym was ok. He'd have to find a new claat when he had a little more freedom. He still had some contacts: not everyone had been grabbed or killed. A few had been let loose. He'd guessed that they'd tested negative for CP, or were immune, but Shin-Ji was very careful to avoid saying anything to them: he didn't think any of his Claat would go corp, but if the alternative was prison or death? Some might be weak.

Assuming he was being watched, he avoided the politos he'd been asking about. After vanishing, it would be too obvious. It might bring heat to him or them that weren't warranted. Besides, he already had a much better connection to the struggle now then he'd ever had before.

School was hard for him.

He'd never been a bad student, but he'd never been a great one either. It was something that had to be done, but he found it hard to concentrate on it with all the other stuff that was happening. His mind kept going back to his friends and that night and those frakkers with the Genius guns... he took a few tutoring sessions to help catch up, but he wasn't finding it easy.

Working out was one of his few stress relievers. He found a lot of his excercises no longer worked. How did you "work out" muscles that weren't there any more? And of course he was incredibly paranoid about his mom walking in on him morphing his arm and testing his abilities. Hell, who knows if she set up a camera...

While he hadn't been punished directly for the shell game he'd played with his own whereabouts over the last two days, neither parent seemed entirely satisfied with his rapid-fire explanations and were (to be fair, understandably) paranoid. His only saving grace is that they almost never spoke to one another unless it involved his younger brother.

He'd been to nervous to do anything but seek out transmissions with his... whatever it was in his head. Bio-antenna? Cyberdeck slash nanosludge slash brain? He knew he'd have to work harder at the applied stuff, but without the educational background in CompSci all he had to go on was the copy of the messenger daemon Minerva had lent him in case she needed to be contacted.

One had to hit the ground running, though. People who saw him at the now-closed club and noticed his disappearance would have an increased number of questions if he kept to himself and started zoning out on programming edutainment. So for the moment, he was trying to hock the never-used appliance cube that was currently taking up space on his bed at home, and generally keeping up the hustle. Work would be a great time to zone out and actually learn something.

Most kids get punished with expulsion from school.
Valeriya got punished with expulsion to school.

Two enormous 'security consultants' escorted Valeriya to school, making sure she got in before they left. Even then, Val suspected they might be surveilling some perimeter to ensure she didn't skip school. That hadn't been a problem before because Val had been privately tutored at home, but now her parents decided making her go to school was a better way to piss her off.

Mum had been in tears, a surprising development. Father had yelled his lungs out, not surprising at all. Between the two of them it was a cacophony of sound and feelings, threats and fear, suplications and disguised guilt, and Val had been barely able to stand there and mutter something. It was a good thing that they really didn't want the whole story, just the bits they cared about: had she signed anything or been recorded anywhere, had she done drugs or sex? As long as the answer was No To All Of The Above, they could skip to the punishment and fast-track her to the marketing guy.

The marketing guy had been pleased, of all things.

"Do not pull this shit on me ever again, you hear me? But, all things considered - we are exactly were we wanted, branding-positioning-wise. This is how we pivot from Vallie to valKer1a - the whole 'illegal party-police raid-lowkey homoerotic thingie' with Kat? Just what we needed to give you that bad girl cred, I told them we were being waaay too tame with your psychographic positioning. And now? Now we're frontpage news, we have a decent shot at the lace and leather Eiji collection, not to mention the music collab. I've been on the phone with Kat's marketing rep all morning, she was gushing. I don't care if you two release two hours of meowling cats or whatever, you gotta record something with that chick. But also - you pull this shit on me again, you kiss your allowance goodbye, capish?"

Val was back to school, Val was pissed off. Val was wearing the school uniform in the worst possible way that still didn't get her kicked out, because she knew they'd just send her back in with a new one: knee-highs mismatched, plaid skirt a bit too short, button-up shirt not quite buttoned-up. She went through the corridor with eyes almost closed, ignoring frothers left and right, until she found some of the others yoboys.

"What's up, losers?" she greeteed them casually.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:29, Thu 27 Jan 2022.

Going home was easy when it was a clubhouse hidden in a derelict building in a free-fire zone. Vamp had waited and watched and, when she was convinced it was safe to go inside, had made her way in to see if any of her friends had survived and made their way back.

Now she was back in school which, as long as she went, kept the foster system happy and off her back. They didn't ask where she was living and she didn't tell. The school sent her grades off to a case worker she never saw and that was the extent of government intrusion into her life.

She had, to the surprise of all, actually sought out some of the others from the Obelisk and was hanging with them when Val walked up. "Losers? That's a step up from you," she said to Val but this time her voice lacked the normal venom and her aura showed a streak of humour when she had said it as well as...happiness? when she saw her.

"Another day in paradise. I'd say you look like shite but I think I've told you that enough times that you know it already. I'm liking the rebel thing you have going on. The missing buttons really do a good job of telling the Man to piss off."

TTailgate had gone home and...well...his parents hadn't been happy with him. Granted, they had gotten used to him coming home late or sometimes not at all, even to the fact that he didn't always reach out to let them know if he'd be late or absent. But more than one night without any sign of him and no word? They were pretty pissed.

And they used the line he hated more than anything, that actually made him angry. They said they weren't 'angry, just disappointed'. He wasn't proud of it, but all he'd been through over the weekend, he lost his cool and blew up at them. Harsh words were said on both sides. Finally he stormed out of the room and slammed the door to his bedroom after he entered it.

He stared at the screen for a while, occasionally starting to type a message to Val before scrapping it each time. Finally he gave up and crashed out until morning.

After showering and dressing, he scarfed down like the equivalent of two breakfasts and then left. He'd gone back to school on Monday, expecting the worst, wondering if anything would be strange or weird - but the only weird thing was that nothing seemed different. He had a sour mood most of the day and a frown on his face.

He didn't reach out to any of the others yet, and he alternated between trying to listen in on conversations from a distance and desperately trying to shut out almost all noise for a while. He idly wondered how Val was doing. How Vamp was doing. How...well...the others were doing really. He didn't think he considered them friends, not yet at least, but they had gone through stuff together. He adopted a wait and see attitude for the moment.

"I've met garbage cans that were a step up from you," Val replies, no heat in her voice. Val bent to adjust one of her socks, pulling it over the knee.

"You doing Blue Lace again? I'm not trying to express fracking shit here, I just couldn't be bothered," she shrugs, meaning her very carefully calculated outfit, planned to perfection to look unprepared in a sexily chaotic way. "Wanna check my undies too, see if you find a trascendent message in them?"

She took a look around, trying to look casual.

"Any of the yoboys around today?"

"Last time I did Blue Lace I hallucinated that we did an album together. I was so sick I damn near threw myself off the nearest building," Vamp said with a grin. "I've seen your knickers and the only message there was 'Open 24 hours, parking in rear.'"

She nodded down the hall. "Thought I saw Tailgate but he didn't come by to say hi. Nikola is here doing whatever it is Nikola does and Shin-Ji was in the gym when I walked by."

As you move through the day two things becomes clear.  First, there are kids missing; it will take some asking around or other form of investigating to find out precisely who, but enough to make an impression: empty seats in classes, not enough to form two teams in gym class, etc.  Second, there is a related tension among the students, as though everyone senses it but no one wants to talk about it.  Most of the teachers ignore both and seem to try and carry on.  One of the guidance counselors, Mr. Mushingi, is the only one who seems concerned.

"You've been dreaming about my knickers? Ugh, get away from me, you perv," she waved in faux disgust and headed for English, which was as boring as expected. PE was boring and exhausting on top, and had the added charm of having to wear those stupid shorts. Recess couldn't come soon enough.

"So," she sighed, when it finally did, to whomever of the gang was haging close enough for conversation. "Are we gonna talk about the mutant mammooth in the room or what? Anyone knows if the missing kids where at the O-B-Leesk? Or do we pretend to give zero point zero fracks about it like the zombieguys?"

Nikola  finally showed up at school one day after her new "teammates" did, she approached them in the hallways as Valeriya was making her point "I agree with Val, We should get busy with the missing ones,  Hi again by the way guys. I hope things were not that hard on you these days"

When she came back home a couple of days ago, her parents got relieved that she was fine, they did complain about not letting them know of her whereabouts but the feeling of knowing she was fine surpassed their willing to ground her or anything. they were used to Nikola dissapearing for a few days, she would usually go away to take part on her Ecoraider activities, they respected the fact that she wanted to save the Planet.

The fact that Nikola told them that she went through the plague  also made her previous conduct less important, she decided to show them all of that because it would have been impossible to hide her new "body parts" to them. She told them the  whole plague process made difficult for her to notify them , which was not entirely the truth , but she was used to hide things from them plus she stated she "was affraid of transmitting somehow the plague, which would have been deadly to them"

Nikola's parents allowed her to miss school one more day to they could all find a way she could keep her "extentions" hidden while being outside, also they forged some papers to justify the fact that she missed clases.

Shin-Ji looked grim and kind of PO'ed. He had been on edge since he'd gotten back. The single largest source of tranquillity and meaning for him had been wiped out, and he had been unable to take revenge or act meaningfully against those who had taken his friends... and in some cases, his friend's lives.

Plus, without sparring, and acknowledging that discipline was the key to victory, he had to admit that he very badly wanted to take out his anger and frustration physically on something.


"I've noticed a lot of missing people: more than the ones who died in the dojo and on the way out. I'm guessing they got a list of the dojo attendees or if they sweated it out of someone they took.

Not that I blame any juveganger for not resisting when adults were gunning people down with genius guns, but I'm not sure if any of them flipped or not.

I took a brief hold from talking to the rads I was dealing with in case I was being tracked, but it doesn't look like I was. I might be able to get a bit of info off them, but that's not exactly my art.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:11, Fri 04 Feb 2022.

"What can I say - you are kind of hot. For a corporate slave, fashion victim who makes music to kill by," Vamp called after Val. She shook her head and laughed, feeling about three stone lighter since her breakdown and talk with Val.

She plopped her bag down and sat down next to Shin-Ji. "Half my band didn't come back to our squat. The three that did are pretty sure one was shot by the bloody corpses and no one knows anything about the other two. Definitely missing and all of us were at the club that night."

This message was deleted by the player at 23:11, Fri 04 Feb 2022.

Tailgate was 'lucky' in a way. His gang hadn't been at the obelisk for the most part, he hadn't been with them that night. He'd been out for some fun on his own - and if he hadn't been alone, he would have never been caught with Val. He'd never have heard the end of it from the others in the gang.

But at school...there were missing faces. Some he knew, most he didn't. It was...disturbing to see how 'easy' it was for a bunch of kids to be just 'gone' suddenly and not be that big of a deal for the school and news. It made him think of how quick life and freedom could be snatched away. It made his new...'gifts'...weigh heavily on him.

After a small hesitation, he moved to join the others outside. He glanced at them, their faces, and then looked down. "Uh. Hey." He rubbed his cheek for a moment absently. "We...gonna try an' find 'em? We could maybe, uh, ask...Minerva?" He got even quieter when he said her name.

Val crossed arms and legs, feeling a lit more upbeat now that her yogang had showed up, but not wanting to let it be too obvious. It was a good thing she was the team Scanner, and not someone else.

"Things haven't gotten any shittier than normal, Nikki. Which isn't much, but hey. We're still alive. Not everyone can say the same," she adds grimly, nodding to Shin-Ji and Vamp in turns. "They weren't exactly my friends, probably not even my fans? But still. I could have been randomly shot that night too, and I'd like someone to at least look into my death. The Simba sure ain't."

She made a brief pause to survey the others. She got readings of firm decision coming from the Eco Raider, barely suppressed anger from the Street Fighter; the Goth seemed to have her shit surprisingly together considering she had lost actual friends at the Obelisk, and the Go Ganger... She didn't even need her Scanner powers. For a bikeboi he was subdued, all cockiness gone, almost whispering when he did finally speak. And when he did, Val had to look down at her v-term to hide a flash of unexpected anger.

Minerva.

The way he had said it.

That little Bambi-eyed bitch in her underground bunker.

"Yeah, good point, T, I will ask her straight away," she said a bit too keenly, her fingers already moving in the empty air, pushing virtuality keys:

Minerva - we are looking for leads on the missing kids from you know where. Make yourself useful and give us a hand, huh?

"There. Any other ideas?"
This message was last edited by the player at 19:08, Mon 07 Feb 2022.

"I could ask some other dojos and some of the rads.

I've been trying to make sure I'm not being tracked before I did that. I don't know them to well.

Honestly, I'm about ready to try anything at this stage.

Those empty chairs and everyone going along like it was nothing just make me so fucking angry. No one is even talking bout them."

A lot of things were pissing him off. His dojo, and his claat, the friends in it, had helped keep him sane. He couldn't ask his sifu - they were dead. There was no way he was going to say anything of this to his mother.

Even the superficial releases of working out kind of sucked: core exercises still worked, but anything involving his arms or legs barely registered as effort, thanks to his new limbs. He didn't know if his new limbs would trigger CIRS or Cyberspychosis or if it was just body dysmorphia, but that wasn't exactly helping anyway.

His new yogang were the only people he could be reasonably honest with, and he was having enough trouble describing his feelings to them.

Doing something useful would probably help. It was past time they actually started working against the machine.

Jai walked up, catching the last bit of the conversation as he zipped his hooded sweatshirt back up.

"Obviously the mall crew didn't know much. They were stand up, for once, but by the way they reacted, they're as surprised by all this as we are."

Vamp nodded when Shin-Ji spoke. "You and me both, Karate Kid. One of my friends is all but confirmed dead and two others are missing. They're all the family I have left and to think that all three of them might be dead? That makes me very, very angry."

Her hands curled into fists. "We have these...gifts...we need to use them. If we don't then what was the point of surviving and going through what we went through?"

Tailgate, not being able to sense what was going on in Valeriya's head when she replied to him, took the words as spoken. He brightened a little at what he thought was praise for a good idea, though he immediately tried to play it off and act a bit cool again.

He didn't really care one or the other for Minerva, but she had helped them out and seemed to be pretty connected.

At Val's further quest for ideas, however, he frowned lightly. He ran a hand lightly through his mohawk unconsciously, causing it to stand up a bit better in the process. But in giving his mind something to ponder more proactively, his body language returned to a bit of it's former normality.

Val’s eyes were darting from one juve to the other, as they spoke and their auras shifted subtly in hue and intensity, some sparkling, some pulsing, some shimmering or fading. Shin-Ji was frustrated to the edge of violence, Jai was keeping his cool, Vamp was keeping it together but obviously the Street Fighter’s rage was starting to bleed into her. Tailgate… was happy. But not that way, and not about Minerva, Val thought, although she was pretty new to her powers and nuances like that were hard to read. But that little flare of pink in his aura? That had been when she had said “good point, T,” not at the mention of Minerva’s name, right?

So she thought.

And why does that matter all of a sudden? Fracking hell, V.

“I mean, someone should talk to Mr. Mushingi maybe,” she said in a tone of ‘someone who is a teacher’s pet, not me’. “Maybe he’s that one mythical zombie with the heart of gold, or maybe he’s just pretending so we like him and open up to him. Like shrinks do, whatever. One way or the other, maybe we can suss him out.”

The bell for last class/period rings and the knots of juvies that were hanging around (like you guys) start to break up.  Everyone can roll Get a Clue.

For a moment, Val sighed in relief: it was bliss to be spared all that emotional background noise. But then she frowned: was this normal, or was someone creating that aura silence...?

Valeriya rolled 14 using 1d10+10, rerolling max with rolls of 4.  Get a Clue+Int

22:52, Today: Shin-Ji Han rolled 17 using 1d10+9, rerolling max ((8)).

Jai paused as soon as the connection dropped. It was like his ears were popping.

"Why is the net down?" he hissed.

03:32, Today: Jai rolled 14 using 1d10+12, rerolling max with rolls of 2.  Get a Clue.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:34, Sat 12 Feb 2022.

Nikola meditated on the next course of action they could try..and an idea came to her and she said it out loud without too much analysis :

"What if we try to access the school records showing which students are not coming to school and if someone already gave an excuse to cover up the missing people? It might be a start. Do you know if the members of other Dojos also attended this school?"

OOC: 00:10, Today: Nikola Net rolled 13 using 1d10+9, rerolling max with rolls of 4.  Get a clue (2) + INT (7).
This message was last edited by the player at 14:37, Mon 14 Feb 2022.

Nikola, Jai, Shin-ji and Valeriya notice that as the group are breaking up a number of kids who were on their phones lost their signal, they are annoyed and, like "hello?!" to their phones as they make their way to class.

The static field passes quickly, however.

Shin-Ji was watching the crowd, though in truth he was looking at the pretty girl a bit more than the others.


"That girl? Diana I think?

She knew this was going to happen, and now she's leaving quickly. It may be a good idea to follow her."

Tailgate didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. He heard the bell and looked up as if to see if a big bell was above him in the air. He looked over at Val when she spoke - as he always seemed to. He gave a shrug and half a smirk. "I mean, he talks t'me every once in a while. 'parently, I need t'djust my attitude an' think more 'bout the future an' stuff beyond the next thrillride."

Plus - he hadn't had too much to offer thus far aside from reaching out to Minerva. Might be nice to feel useful.

"What do you mean 'she knew this was going to happen'? She knew what was going to happen? What's happening?" Vamp asked, looking around as she hadn't the slightest idea what Shin-Ji was talking about.

Shin-Ji rolled his eyes, and started walking to tail her.

"All you gonks need Zanshin.
Everyone started tapping their phones.
The phones just died.

Diana just walked off with a 'I just gave you the touch of death' grin.
Maybe she knows why it happened.
Maybe it's nothing. "

But something told him it was "something".
And Shin-Ji trusted his instincts.

He was already moving, trying to surreptitiously follow her.
Blending in wasn't his forte, but at least if he got caught he had a believable if puerile reason to follow her.

"Remaining mind" or 'the mind with no remainder'? What do you know of Zanshin? Did they teach that at your dojo? Can you teach me? I can street brawl but I never got to really study martial arts like my father did and, as far as I know, our family daishō were lost in the fire," Vamp said as she followed Shin-Ji.

"They were nine hundred years old; made by a legendary swordsmith: Amakuni Yasutsuna." 

The good news was that they weren't trying to stay out of sight, just not get tracked by Diana, so the conversation helped mask that.

The bad news was that, Shin-ji was no Zanshin expert. If the girl hadn't been ridiculously pretty, he might not have noticed her odd grin.

But his sensei would have beaten his ass if he'd missed the phones going out. He'd have been punching the boards for hours for something that gonk.


"Our teacher just called it a Russian word that just meant 'awareness'.
The students were the ones who called it Zanshin.

He said "The thing that is out of place may not be a threat to you, but if it is, and you do not notice, it is the thing that will most likely kill you."

Random things would be changed in the dojo, change posters, move decorations, weapons, make adjustments to his uniform. One time he concealed a handgun, unloaded of course, in his uniform. One exercise was to walk between rows of students, one of which who who would attack you. You never knew who.

The idea was, we'd start keeping our eyes open, consciously at first, trying to notice the things out of place, the little movements that indicated someone was committed to violence. Eventually, you become so used to it that the brain does it automatically. "

He got a pained look at the mention of the loss of her family and there heritage.
He wasn't sure how to process that. The death of his sensei and loss of his claat were still heavy in his mind. He wanted to bowing to her while they were walking, but that would have looked ridiculously conspicuous.

It was not an... easy subject. He'd lost his own father recently, and the loss of his dojo still weighed heavy on him. They'd been closer to him than his own mother, in many ways.

"I am so sorry for the loss of your family, and the loss of your blade.

My own father many years ago. I do not think I mentioned it, but I did not want you to think I was trying to compare our loss. I still have my mother at least.

Vamp, you are welcome to my mono-katana, and I will train you any way I can.
I know it is no replacement, but it is a start to continue your family's heritage.
"

He tried to rationalize giving it away with the idea that he really didn't "need' it more with his new arms and legs. But the truth was, every time he looked at the thing now, it just reminded him of his failure at the dojo, and blood.

"I am looking for a new dojo. I will also try and get you in, though we will need to work on the basics, first, to see where you are."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:25, Wed 16 Feb 2022.

“What the frack was that?” Val whispers, blinking away her puzzlement. “It wasn’t just an outage, it-I lost all readings for a moment.”

And it was almost a relief, phew.

Her eyes went from Shin-Ji to Tailgate, blinking again.

“She… knew? OK, I don’t like this, someone should check that she…”

But the Street Fighter was already gone, tailing that Diana, with Vamp in tow. She was miffed that they had just left, without the queen bee’s say-so.

“Like, whatever, see you later, Vamp and weird guy who speaks in haikus!” she said to their backs, turning to Tailgate. It was… strange, to be suddenly alone, the two of them. After all that had happened the other night, that unexpected privacy was…

What the frack are you on about? You are just, like, alone in a highschool corridor, not like, alone in his bedroom or anyth-

“So, T. Thanks for that drink, the other day at the Obelisk. That was rim of you. I just hope that bartender got shot.”

"Thank you," Vamp said, voice barely above a whisper. "That...that means a lot of you to offer. Those blades were a true family heirloom and the thought of them lost forever is terrible as the rest of that night was. If I had them that would mean I still had something left of my family."

She turned to look at Val and shrugged her shoulders. "Well, aren't you coming? You really want to go to class or actually find out what's going on? Move your bum, Vee!"

Darina moves through and with the crowds of juvies.  The way she wears her uniform attracts attention form most quarters and she is well-known for skirting the rules and the lines of decency.  She heads to a classroom, looks like an English class...

---

Nikola and Jai were with Val and Tailgate also.  Is anyone else following Shin-ji and Vamp?

Nikola paid attention at Shin-Ji's comments on the net going down and Darina noticing, so she started to move along him after Darina, she did not want to interrupt his conversation with Vamp but when she had a spot she mentioned to the group:

"Maybe I can spy on her with my probes and see if she says something, I mean if she comunicates or something that gives us a clue on what she might know "
This message was last edited by the player at 04:49, Sat 19 Feb 2022.

Tailgate hadn't been planning on followed after the 'girl who knew too much' anyway so he just watched as Shin-Ji and Vamp - and then Nikola as well apparently - left to do that. He was about to turn and go on his own part of the 'mission' to gather information when Val spoke to him.

His head and eyes immediately swung back to her, and then he looked away and then back at her. Luckily Jai was still with them as well so it wasn't too awkward. Until he made it awkward again, of course, as was his only talent apparently.

"Uh. Null persp, Val. Not like you need my help for things." Did his eye twitch or did he try to wink at her. He quickly spoke again and had to retrain himself from rubbing the eye. "Never thought I'd get a drink with you, if I'm honest. You're way outta my league." Wait, why did he say that? It made it sound like he was some fanboy who thought about her all the time or something. His face reddened a bit and he looked away from her again.

He swallowed. "uhhh...Anyway. I should go...I mean, t'talk t' the counselor person. Y'know, t'see...what I can find out....if anything." The awkwardness was palpable. Ohgodohgodjustwalkaway! He mechanically turned himself away from her and began walking, body stiff as a board.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:25, Sun 20 Feb 2022.

Shin-Ji spoke quietly to Vamp before getting back to the matter at hand. We should talk after school.

Once she went into the room, Shin-Ji frowned.

<red>"It'll be super obvious if we go in there. If you think you can scan her that way, cool, but remember, if we get caught doing that sort of thing here, that'll be it.

Does anyone know anything about her other than her fashion sense? She's hard to miss, but I got no idea which Yogang she runs with.
<red>

He looked down at his own phone very quickly, checking to see if the failure had dissipated. Was it a hack? Some kind of EMP device? Or did she have cyberevolved abilities? Night city infrastructure wasn't 100%, but they'd done a lot of rebuilding since the ISA had started their revitalization projects. Shin-Ji hadn't seen a net failure in school in his life: this was a solidly maintained area.

"I'm not a Scanner. I can hit her with lightning but that might be flashy and counterproductive. Val's the Scanner so if she would just walk her arse over here and join us, we might get an idea what's going on."

Vamp shot Val the hairy eyeball and made a motion that was very distinctly of the "get the hell over here" variety."

The number of juvies in the halls dwindled sharply as everyone reports to their final class of the day.  Whatever was disrupting the phones is no longer active.

We'd better get to our last class.

We can do some research on this later, maybe find out more about her after school.

We should probably meet up anyway and figure out our next move.

Assuming we don't have a free block for last class.

The group breaks up to go to class or otherwise, some of you may have class together, Jai gets a ping from Minerva's daemon.  It flies down virtually and drops a note onto his phone.

---

You may have a free block for class, though it more likely the higher the grade level.

We could lay out a rough class schedule for everyone, make it easier to figure out who is where at what time of the day (or at least, where they are supposed to be).

Also, the school virtuality system puts an image of a small biurd flying to/from whenever someone sends a message or email on the school network.  Originally it was to discourage passing of notes in class, and of course, you can only see them around the actual sender/recipient, not flying all over nor is any able to track a message in that manner. (they actually move very fast of course, it's just an animation.

Shin-Ji found it difficult to concentrate on his studies. He really needed to actually get moving on stuff that mattered, like finding the missing kids.

After school, maybe they could find out if Diana had been responsible. He had a weird feeling just from the grin she had, but that wasn't enough to potentially blow their cover on.

Hopefully, after school they could meet up and discuss a plan of attack. Also, he'd make good on his promise to teach Vamp and get her that katana. It didn't mean that much to him, but if it gave her peace, then she was welcome to it.

The school day ends not soon enough with the last bell.  This is the week of final exams and wrapping up the year.  Most of the after-school clubs are having their final meetings of the year this week and the day after tomorrow (Friday) is the last day of school.

Earlier:

"Huh. Update from our mysterious benefactor. According to her, maybe up to thirty kids are missing... that's like three percent. No empty halls, but likely each of us knows someone or knows someone who knows someone..."

Now:

Jai debated whether to call in to his job, wondering if he was needed for the search. He tried to catch up with Shin-Ji, the martial artist seemed to be pretty gung-ho.

“Mmm-huh,” Val says as sole answer, watching Tailgate leave while pretending to check her v-term. Boom, he’s said it loud and clear, in his own inimitably, charmingly awkward way. He’s out of her league. Well, yeah, I mean… yeah, it is true. And yet, isn’t it cute that he’s thinking that, which also means that he’s been thinking… whether he’s on her league or not. Which means, he’s into her.

Val blushes unexpectedly, pretending to be incensed at something she has just read in Virtuality.

Like, of course he’s into me! Every dude is, isn’t that the point? So why is it such a big deal? Eh, what are you on about, it is NOT a big deal. Yeah. Just, like. It’s funny. It’s… cute? But is it not a big deal. No. Sure not. Yeah. Carry on.

She walks to Vamp and the others, happy to slip back into her old can’t-be-assed-no-fucks-given routine.

“You called for the Big S? Yeah, I could scan that. But I’m late for French and that’s the one I’m not supposed to miss – going to be spewing some in my next video, so. Catch ya later, losers.”

After school, she decides to drop by the Drama & Dancing club, which she hasn’t attended much during the year for obvious reasons, but it’s a good way to go out with a bang: leaving half the club star-struck, and the other half with severe feelings of inadequacy.

She calls it self-care.

Vamp smirked at Val. "Spewing is right; that's what I do when I hear your music, 'Big S'. Scan it when you're done spewing, yeah? Might be we're not the only ones able to do what we do. The more we can get together means the more we can do."

She gave Tailgate a wink after Val walked off. "Don't sell yourself short, mate. You like her; she knows it, the rest of us know it. Maybe you're just what she needs: someone to keep her grounded. Treat her like a real person, like I do but...without the insults."

After experiencing some kind of mindblock or sort of thought traffic jam as a result of not finding out how her new powers could be useful in this context, while also struggling to catch up with the content of clases she decided to join the conversation, specially for Jai ans Shin Ji to hear

"The number of missing students is indeed interesting, unfortunately i find easier to handle concepts than social interactions, so far the only thing i can think of is using my "extensions" to try hearing conversations from some short distance if someone mentions the missing ones or to scout the girl that seemed to be aware of the network blackout, like if she has been seen with someone or anything that can lead somewhere"

There are knots of kids, as is expected, hanging about in the hallways - mostly kids cleaning out their lockers and chatting - or out front of the school, in that case exchanging contact and chatting before heading home.

One group of four guys cleaning out their lockers near the front of the school includes Trevor from the A/V club and Pete Moore.

Darina, elusive as she was previously, is now outside talking with three boys.  They are all rather large jock types making her look small by comparison and she seems delighted by the attention.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 01:56, Thu 05 May 2022.

Tailgate skidded to a stop and stiffened in to complete paralysis at Vamp's words even as he had been turning to head off. His eyes widened and he quickly turned away as he turned beet red. He desperately tried to keep his movement away steady and casual even though he wanted to run and hide - which made him look awkward for a second as he sort of tried to do both, stumbled slightly, avoided tripping by giving a small hop and then started walking.

He shoved everything else out of his brain to focus on going to see the school counselor. Counselor. Counselor. WHY am I goin' t'see the counselor again??

Vamp looked down and laughed softly at Tailgate's reaction to her comment. "He's cute in an awkward yet endearing way. He's also exactly what Val needs right now. She might not even know she does but I see the pain in her eyes now that I'm looking outwards."

She sighed and shook her head. "So much life has passed me by these past few years. Dying was easy; it;s living that's hard."

Tailgate arrives outside the counselor's office still a little frazzled by Vamp's advice.  The director of counseling is a man in his late thirties everyone calls Mr. Mushingi.  He is of West African descent, though where in West Africa is a bit of a mystery, and his reputation among the juvies is that he is chill, for an adult.  His hair is short and neat, he wears slacks and a button-down shirt, often with a sport coat, and comfortable loafers, often in primary colors.  Today the slacks are black, the jacket, shoes and belt blue, the shirt white.  He is packing up his bag to go at the end of the day when Tailgate arrives at the office.

---

It doesn't look like he's seen Tailgate yet.

Tailgate hesitated a moment. He tried to collect himself, reorder his mind after the...confusing hallway interaction. He definitely tried to not think about the 2 "V"s at all. And he didn't think talking about that situation would be a good idea with the counselor as it wasn't...technically...school related.

Finally, he knocked on the open door and while he hadn't planned on it, his face looked a bit on the hesitant and confused side. "Mr. Mushingi?" He pushed on. "Oh. You're about t'leave. Sorry. I..can come back tomorrow."

And adults thought they were the only ones that could use things like reverse psychology.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:24, Thu 12 May 2022.

Jai pointed at his head.

"I still have no idea how this is supposed to help. I thought not needing a deck would turn me into one of those bad guys from old netwar propaganda movies, waving my fingers and yanking data around, but I've done as much research as I can..."

He slumped his shoulders.

"I can keep trying, but I don't even know where to look."

Mr. Mushingi smiles at Tailgate.  "Mr. Pechman isn't it?" he asks, his voice is deeper than one might think from looking at him and his smile is warm and inviting.  "How can I help?"

In reply to Jai (msg # 55):

"Well .. i think you've done good enough with what you have been given, so thank you.. Im also kinda lost but i think that we can just stir things up, make some questions around.. if we dont get any answer at least  we might end up getting attention from whoever might be behind this."

Tailgate made a face at this last name, flinching and looking disgusted. He hated his real name. That's why he always went by Tailgate instead. "Aw, man, please, at least call me Mal instead."

He then looked down for a moment, trying to appear as if he was struggling with something. "Um. So." He let out a sigh. "I dunno if you know anythin', or if you do if you can tell anythin' but..." He scratched his forehead above one eye. "There...there seems t'be a buncha kids missin' from school. Is there like...somethin' goin' on? Like, I heard somethin' happened but not much else."

After talking to Jai she sees Daryna and she feels her revoltionary instincts compelling her to take action after feeling so suppressed lately, she turns back to Jai and  says "Speaking of the Devil, excuse me, it now or never" She walks towards her and makes an effort to not be rude to the 3 boys "Sorry to interrupt guys!, i'll be quick, Daryna might I talk to you for a second?"

Tailgate:

"There are several missing, yes," Mushingi says cautiously.  He puts down the book he was holding and sits on the edge of his desk.  "Any of your friends among them?  Someone you know?"  He asks, definite concern in his tone.

---

Nikola:

Darina looks at Nikola annoyed, but cuts off what was likely to be a sarcastic brush off.  Looking at Nikola intently for about five seconds she then turns to the guys with a promising smile.  "I'll be right back, guys," then she walks away from them until she is a good 20 feet away.  Turning to Nikola, she says, "Well?  What is it?"

"Hi, sorry about that by the way, so here's the thing: there was some kind of network blackout and im under the impression that you noticed it , at least to a greater extent than the other ones did, as if you have felt it..Can you tell more about it? To show you that im going full disclosure with you let me show you something, Please dont panic"

Nikola rolls her trenchcoat sleeves and shows her "extentions" to her

"Im sure the events of a few days ago are not completely unknown to you, i was changed in this way but i think that others were also changed, it's been said that some develop a special connection with networks after they get exposed to the carbon plague, maybe its your case or not, im just trying to know what exactly happened with many students that seem missing"

Tailgate hesitated, not just to try and keep up the 'appearance' he was using to try and get information. He genuinely wasn't sure how much to share. After a moment, he spoke again. "I mean...I'm nervous an' worried. I SAW the raid. I saw kids taken. Shot. An' it's all been covered up. An' I haven't heard about the kids who went missin'. Are they okay? Are they comin' back?"

He let out a sigh and shook his head. "Just...it's messed up, y'know? I don't know what t'think."

Tailgate:

Mushingi looks concerned, walks past Tailgate and closes the door.  "It looks like you have something to talk about.  I'm here for you, for all of the kids in this school.  Want to tell me about it?"  Tailgate may or may not have taken advantage of Mushingi's services before, but he is a psychologist and many of the kids do essentially get free mental health care by talking with him.  His style is very much a dialog and he shares his personal stories.

For Tailgate, roll Genspeak with INT.

---

Nikola:

Darina quickly moves close and pulls Nikola's sleeve back down to cover up the extensions.  "Are you crazy?!" she whispers in an alarmed near-panic.  She looks around then quickly regains her composure, returning to her 'detached and casual sexy' persona.  In a normal voice, she says, "look, why don't we talk where there are fewer prying eyes, especially yos in my circles; I don't want to lose my cred," she says and her 'prettier than you' arrogance is back.  "Celtic Knot, behind the school, 8:00 o'clock?"  Nikola has definitely heard of the place, and it is a bit of surprise that Darina has also, considering it is an old fashioned bookstore.

Tailgate didn't have to pretend to look worried or maybe even a little frightened as his mind flashed back to the raid on the Obelisk. The panic. The chaos. The...He looked down and his hands gripped one another tightly.

"Ha-have you heard anythin'? About the kids that're...gone? I h...have friends...that aren't at school." He closed his eyes. "Are they...still alive? Do you know?"

12:07, Today: Tailgate rolled 16 using 1d10+9, rerolling max with rolls of 7.  Genspeak with INT.

Nikola eyes open wide as she realizes both that Daryna is aware of the situation and also that she was not socially savy .. again "Sorry!.. you are right! and also i must say i might be a little Crazy, but i guess that you agree with me that this is serious, so lets do that, i mean lets meet in the Celtic Knot. Do you mind if someone else also affected by the carbon plague comes with me?"

Tailgate:

As the conversation proceeds Tailgate becomes aware that Mr. Mushingi is very well versed in streetslang and even the "juvie lingo" aoften called Genspeak.  He gives very good advice on handling tough things life throws at you, but interlaced in his therapy is another message: he is saying he knows about the carbon plague and assures that he is on your side.

---

Nikola

Darina rolls her eyes when Nikola mentions knowing people with the carbon plague, but simply nods and then turns her back on the other girl and returns to the boys, flirting shamelessly again and rather easily recapturing their attention.

Tailgate was a little afraid to take a chance. To let Mr. Mushingi know the truth. What if he did and then he too was 'disappeared'. What if Tailgate was then watched to lead the hunters to others with the Carbon Plague. And after what happened at the Obelisk, he had every right to be scared and cautious.

But hope. Hope was a powerful thing to. So he told Mr. Mushingi, slowly, carefully, hesitantly, that he knew the real reason that the raid happened. What they were looking for. What he'd 'overheard'. That he might have known someone who was sick and now was gone.

"...what should I do?"

Nikola smiles at her and decides to leave her alone for the moment, after all, she did press Daryna because of a hunch and it seemed to work, she wouldnt want to keep pressing on her luck. She goes back to whoever is still around of their group, willing to offer one of them to come with her to the celtic knot

Mushingi smiles in a manner clearly intended to be friendly and trustworthy.  "There's a focus group that gets together, for mutual support, you understand?"  He says writing something on one of his business cards.  "I recommend giving them a chance, it's the sort of thing that can help.  It is organized by a charity group I work with in my off time, something I'll be doing more of as the summer begins." He hands Tailgate the card, on the back is written "The Celtic Knot, 8 pm, Saturday."

Nikola looks at the group to locate Vamp, she seems to have enough motives to risk going with her, also she feels confident that a though girl like her could do something in case things go south, "So.. basically  Daryna seems to be involved in something similar to us and wants us to meet in the Celtic Knot, I asked for a plus one to come with me. What do you think Vamp? Wanna go?"

Tailgate listened quietly to the counselor speak, not interrupting throughout at all. He nodded at the question of whether he understood. He understood the 'concept' of a support group at least. He certainly hoped this was the real deal and not a trap or something weird.

After a long moment, after he looked over the card, he finally spoke. "...alright. Thanks. I'll...maybe check it out..."

He hesitated and then left the office, going to look for Val, and the others.

Mushingi smiles are Tailgate leaves in a clear attempt to be reassuring.

---

Across the road that runs behind the school there are several older buildings.  Originally low-rise housing now converted into multi-use, with businesses on the lower levels and apartments in the upper.  One such building, near the center of the road, stands out for appearing older than the rest, looking more like an East coast brownstone or urban town house, complete with red brick façade.  The sign out front features a Celtic dragon wrapping itself into a Celtic Knot, and those words are printed beneath.  There is a short flight of steps to the door, and it even has an old-fashioned bell that rings when opened.

Inside it is clear that renovations were done, and the bookstore covers the first and second floors.  In design, the upper floor is open in the center and the shelves surround a balcony looking down.  A metal spiral staircase grants access between floors.  There is a check out desk by the door with cash register and the usual assortment of bookmarks, keychains and desk knickknacks sold at such places.  They don’t publish too many paper magazines or newspapers anymore and so those aren’t available, but there are a lot of books for sale.  From the entrance you can see that the books on the lower level are all popular titles and there is even a terminal for ordering online, presumably connected to an on-demand printer somewhere in the store.

Behind the desk is an attractive older woman, her age indeterminate between 40 and 50, with fiery red hair in a modest bun, half-lens spectacles on her nose, and wearing clothes that accentuate her feminine curves.  She is, of course, reading a book – with a brown paper cover concealing the title.  The lights are bright enough to read, but not garish or bright, providing lots of shadowy corners and there are plenty of comfortable chairs for people to read.

Vamp thought for a moment then nodded. "I'll go. It's time we learned more of what happened to us and what we can do. If anyone has info on my missing friends I want to know. I'm in."

Tailgate hesitated but then let out a sigh and gave a reluctant nod. "Yeah. I'll go too. I was recommended by Mr. Mushingi, so I should show up." He said that but then realized it was unlikely that someone would tell his counselor if he showed up or not. Frag it. He'd already said he go in.

Nikola arrives together with Vamp, she looks at the Celtic designs and remembers how she was once fascinated with the concept of the Celts as “european noble savages” that worshipped sacred trees under the guide of Druids and Witches connected to mother earth.

She sighs and comments to Vamp  “Ok here we go, i think we can look for Daryna, she might be in some reading club somewhere here, maybe we can have some luck and get invited with some stout beer or something we can say ‘Slainthe’ to, i like te fact that is a public place, i mean it feels safer in case we are poking the wrong people ” and she proceeds to get inside

"I'll follow your lead," Vamp said, looking around at the various decorations. "This is not my scene at all. I won't say no to a nice stout, though. Come on, Tailgate. We can be out of our depth together."

The woman behind the desk looks up from her book, looking at the juvies over her reading glasses.  With a half smile and without standing, she asks, "Are you kids looking for something in particular?"

Tailgate looked uncomfortable, and he wasn't pretending. This wasn't his normal scene. He gave a weak smile that quickly vanished. "We...uh..." He looked down and scratched his chin. "We were told there was a support...meeting?" He then added another word lamely. "here?"

Nikola was checking behind the book shelves to see if she could spot Darina somewhere while she kept her hands inside her trenchcoat pockets when she heard Tailgate talking "Oh and sorry for interrupting tailgate, let me also add that at least one of them is supossed to be Juve, a girl that looks like having the same age as we do, they might all be juves actually"

The woman looks at the three kids for a few moments before smiling.  "The support group meets tomorrow, but I think someone is waiting for you, upstairs," she says, and her mild Irish accent becomes just a bit more noticeable.  She then goes back to her book.

"Yeah, thanks. Can I get a pint to take upstairs?" Vamp asked the woman before leaving to follow the others upstairs. She had a fake ID ready just in case.

Tailgate's eyebrows rose up a bit and his eyes widened slightly at that phrase, "someone is waiting for you, upstairs". It shouldn't be ominous, but after recent events he was a infused with a bit more than a 'healthy does' of skepticism. He scratched his chin for just a moment.

Then he shrugged, took a deep breath, and then slowly headed upstairs.

The woman behind the counter shakes her head at Vamps's order and returns to her book as the three juves head up the metal spiral stairs to the second floor.  The second floor looks more like a library than a book store.  The shelves reach the ceiling and are filled with real books, many of them seem quite old.  There are also big, comfortable chairs strategically place around for people to snuggle in and read.  The second floor is a balcony the wraps around the store, the center open to the first floor below.

Curled up in a chair thoroughly engaged with her phone is Darina.  As usual her shorts are very small and her t-shirt is cut to show her belly and also hangs off one shoulder.  Her shoes, black Vans, are on the floor in front of the chair, her ankle socks have an incongruous bit of lace along the top.

"What? I'm old enough," Vamp said, giving the woman a scowl before heading up the stairs with the others.

"What is this place, eh? Real olde-timey vibe here with all this knotwork and tapestries on the walls," she quipped as they walked up to the second floor. "Oh-"

The library was impressive. Despite her bluster and general bad attitude, she did appreciate old books so this was her kind of place though she'd never tell the other that. She wandered off to look at some of the titles before remembering why they were there and coming back to talk to the girl waiting for them.

Tailgate smirked slightly at the rebuff and refusal Vamp got - but only once his back was turned to her as he headed up the stairs. It had helped ease his tension a little bit for a moment at least, which was something. And if Vamp wasn't angry at someone or something, then they were in real trouble.

When he got to the second floor, his eyes widened. "preem." Books. Real books. A lot of them. It was...very cool. And cozy looking.

He noticed Darina then and blinked a few times. He cleared his throat and said, "Hoy, Darina. Lookin' chilled."

Darina looks up from her phone and then smiles.  "You brought friends!  Okay," she says turning in the chair to sit cross-legged and face the three of you.

"This is... quite a place.

Every bookstore I've seen were either third hand gomi or autofac produced." Normally, he'd have to commit an extreme act of will not to look at Darina, but the sheer antiquity of the place managed to hold his interest (even if he did have to force himself not to stare). The only books he was used to were ancient pulpy books in second hand stores you sometimes found.

It was the sort of scenery you'd see in some kind of AR.. only it was real. The odd smell of the books was the hardest to fake. AR goggles couldn't quite manage that, or the individual little creaks in the book cover, the verisimilitude that had always limited his enjoyment of AR.

He wasn't much of a reader, but he respected antiquity, tradition and the passed down heritage.. something other than the ubiquitous disposablility of the corporate world.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:44, Thu 06 Oct 2022.

Tailgate stopped in mid-step, looking hesitant, first at Darina, then over at the people with him. "Uh. Yeah. Sort of." He made a face and spread his hands. "Is that alright?"

He glanced at Shin-ji when they spoke up but then his attention went back to Darina for her reply.

Darina holds Shin-ji and Tailgate's looks for second each, holding the phone in two hand in her lap, but when she speaks again she directs it at Nikola.  "That depends on why," she asks the other girl.

---

Remember that she and Nikola spoke outside school and she told Nikola to come tonight.  No worries, you guys aren't messing anything up coming together.  She only knows that Nikola is evolved.

Hearing her name made Nikola go back to being present, as they walked through the shelves she had started to be distracted by some of the titles on the books while also wondering how many trees could have been cut down to make this material back in the day when this type of books, the ones made of paper were more common.

She decided to address Daryna."Hi daryna, well i think i mentioned i was bringing company,, lets say that at least one of them was affected by the carbon plague and we want to know what do you know about all of that and that weird thing that happened in the school with the connections"
This message was last edited by the player at 06:04, Mon 10 Oct 2022.

Darina watches you all intently, then she smiles in a devious, 'I've got a secret' sort of way.

"Alright then," she slips on her vans as she stands up and leans over the rail in a way that has a precarious effect on her modesty considering the shorts.  "Miz K, can I use the back room?" she calls down to the woman behind the counter.  The latter waves an assent without looking up from her book.  Darina then straightens out and points to a door between two stack at the back of the second floor.  "We can talk in there," and she leads the way.

Assuming everyone follows.

The backroom is set up with a table and comfy chairs, evidently for meetings or role-playing games.  Once the others are in she closes the door, then leans with her back against it, melodramatically.  "Okay, so I'm what we call a 'scanner.'  I can make out emotions and sort of read what people are thinking, though that is much harder.  Helps if I know them well, and I don't know any of you well, yet," she starts blurting it all out.  "This room is shielded, like a Faraday cage.  I don't know why Ms. Kavanaugh did that.  The static at school was me, I can do that too.  Short range, but I like to fuck with people and it was fun messing up everyone's cell service," she ends with a shrug.

"Called it." Shin-Ji couldn't help himself after Darina mentioned it.  Though I thought maybe you'd messed with the phones through the net or something.

Welp, no point in delaying the inevitable.

This whole plague thing is crazy. Makes no sense. Like something out out of those old holonovels with aliens and shit.

Though mind reading seems insanely preem, choom. Even if it'll takes you a while to get there.

I had my arms and legs basically get replaced by that weird carbon stuff. I can move it around, give myself some armor or turn it into a big knife. Takes a bit of mental effort though. I guess it'll save me a lot of eddies on chrome. I think they call it "Tinman" or something. "

He removed his gloves and showed off the weird carbon latice patterns that made up his arms. He didn't do anything with them. Nor did he volunteer the others abilities: it was up to them to do that if they wanted.

Anyway, we'd like to know what the hell is going on with some of the missing kids. Lost a lot of friends just in the raids: thing at my dojo got real ugly, hardly any senior members of my claat left.

Darina steps towards Shin-ji and reaches out hesitantly at first to touch his arm, then caresses it with fascination.  "Ooh, sexy," she purrs while she does so.  After a short while she seems to focus again and then steps back out of his personal space.

"I wasn't at the Obelisk that night, I was infected a couple weeks ago.  You may remember a rumor went around last month that I dropped out 'cause I was pregnant?  Yeah, not pregnant.  Carbon plague, and I didn't drop out," she says very matter-of-factly.  [ooc: up to you if you heard that rumor about her.]  "What I did learn is that the government is rounding up kids with the plague.  Some are being experimented on, some are being recruited to work for them and the corps, and most are sent to the camps in the burbs,"

Vamp leaned back against the wall and crossed her arms as the others talked. Show and tell was fun but she wanted something she could use to figure out what to do next. Maybe how to survive all of this.

But then Darina said something that caught her attention.

"Camps? Like concentration camps? What the actual hell? What are they doing with them there?"

"Huh?" Darian says taking her eyes off of Shin-ji's arms.  "Oh, that's where they sort 'em.  A boy told me they were given a choice, work for the government or the unknown.  At least some of them were.  He was," she says.

Shin-Ji was (arms and legs aside) human, and while he was trying to maintain a cool disaffected attitude, and above physical distractions it was clear Darian's attention had him thoroughly distracted (unsurprisingly).

At least until she mentioned concentration camps. That snapped him back to reality and anger like a punch to the face. He certainly looked like someone had hit him and he wanted to retaliate.

"Fucking zombies!"

He took a few deep breaths and tried to think, gather the implications. They were pretty damned horrifying. It took a few seconds for the initial desire to punch the wall to fade.

"Well.. that's just... fucked.  I'd thought I could at least trust anyone hit with the plague at least, but I guess there's no guarantees in this life.

He sighed, hoping he'd have the guts to die with some honor rather than do that sort of shit. He couldn't imagine anyone in his claat saying "yes" to that offer, though talk was cheap until someone was sticking a gun up your nose.

Whole camps though.. that's worse than I thought. Only question is what the hell do we do about it, chooms?

Han was ready to go risk a gunfight with the corp-goons, but he wasn't some dumb mega ready to go out in a blaze of glory. This needed some clever thinking, strategy.

Nikola had remained silent while processing all of the new information that Darina unleashed on them , so far it seemed to be that she was going full disclosure just as Nikola herself did  back in school, maybe her abilities as a scanner allowed Darina to her to sense their honesty : “Well I have to say that although at first I’m a little disappointed that the network glitch was not hiding something bigger ,I find your revelations more interesting Indeed, as you may have realized we got the plague at the obelisk incident”. She then stopped it ocurred to her that she might be to open about the whole thing, also found her interest in Shin ji a little curious. before she would continue disclosing about the people that helped them, she would like to check she was trustworthy for real

OOC: 09:11, Today: Nikola Net rolled 14 using 1d10+9, rerolling max with rolls of 5.  Get a clue (2) + INT (7).

This message was last edited by the player at 12:14, Fri 14 Oct 2022.

Tailgate had mostly stayed silent and frowning as he listened to the others talk. When the words 'concentration camps' came up, the frown deepened a little. He thought he had heard of that in history class. They were "very bad". If anything close to that was happening to kids with the Carbon Plague, that would be effed up.

He wished Val was there. He glanced at Vamp. She was being uncharacteristically quiet.

Vamp held up a hand and let lightning spark up and down her fingers. "Bolter," she told Darian. "Pretty brilliant, really. So what do we do with these new toys the Plague has given us? Can we go in and break the juves out of the camps? Organise some sort of resistance? We have these abilities and no bloody idea what to do with them."

Darina shrugs at Vamp's questions.  "I'm not a revolutionary, I'm just a few weeks ahead of you guys 'cause I got the plague earlier," she says.  "Breaking those kids out would be great, but dangerous and will take careful planning," she adds crossing her arms and leaning back against the wall.  "I know a couple of adults who know about this stuff and care: Kavanaugh downstairs, Mushingi also," she thumbs the door when referring the Ms. Kavanaugh, the owner of the Celtic Knot.  "I also know a couple of juvie groups organizing, doing this sort of thing on a small scale.  The Scooby Gang helped me out."

Tailgate looked at the others a moment. He looked down for a moment. Then he said, "Mine ain't flashy or visible really." He kept his mouth open and the sound of an electronic beeping emitted from his mouth. He gave a shrug. "Other, cool, things too, but harder to do on command an' make it worthwhile. But it's 'parently called a Jammer."

He listened to Darina as they responded to Vamp. He perked up when she mentioned Mr. Mushingi, and then nodded. He frowned. "Scooby Gang?"

After realizing that the information that Daryna is sharing with them could result compromising she decided to drop more information, Nikola was happy to start getting some anwsers and the idea of taking action made her revolutionary tendencies tingle. Still her body language like crossed arms conveyed caution..
She looked shortly at tailgate  "Well maybe she is refering to the same group that helped us, i do not now if you heard that already, a group of Juves helped us to escape and stay safe until we dealt with the plague in our bodies"
This message was last edited by the player at 04:28, Sun 23 Oct 2022.

Darina looks at Tailgate and says, "poser juves.  A Velma called Dink is a Wizard, clued me in to the safe-house back a here." She thumbs vaguely north, behind the Celtic Knot.

Shin-Ji tried to remember who the hell the scoobys were but came out blank. Rather than admit his ignorance, he just bushed it off and hoped it was unimportant.


"Lots of people gotta know about that camp. I mean, it's obvious it's public knowledge, but there's no way they hold a big camp holding a ton of juves without making at least a few waves, even if it's somewhere in the badlands.

They gotta be bringing in regular guards and food and supplies and stuff.

Sounds like we need to talk to both the adults and the Scooby Gang.

I hate to discuss this sort of stuff with adults, but if you think we can trust em, Darina, it's preem.

We need a place to start, drum up some info on this place, maybe come up with a strategy."

The confusion on Tailgate's face broke and faded at the explanation. "Ah." But even thought part of the explanation made sense, some didn't. He knew what a poser gang was, of course, but...he didn't really get it. Not the concept, but the willingness to do that sort of thing. He couldn't fathom that sort of...individuality removal. He repressed a shudder.

He glanced at Nikola and didn't say anything else, since she'd given him a look. He didn't want to mess up...whatever this was.

Nikola smiled at Tailgate, maybe they were all in the same page without realizing it , she also nodded when hearing Shin-Ji. so she adressed Daryna, “So it seems that we are all willing to accept the help of this adults and poser juves, and  if we can help to investigate the whole camp conspiracy we would gladly do it, as our martial arts expert just said , Logistics could be a clue we can look after”

Darina looked back and forth among the three of you for a moment, then said, "don't look at me.  I'm really not interested in getting involved.  I'm happy to give info and connect you to people."  She says it as though it struck her that the others were waiting for some sort of decision on her part.

Tailgate hesitated. He glanced at Nikola. He frowned, looking down for a moment. Then he gave a shrug and looked at Darina. "I guess...we're open to...being connected then? It sounds like?"

He glanced at his allies to make sure he wasn't blundering.

"Yup I vote for contacting them as well, by the way i am very grateful for all the info you are giving us Daryna, it is very helpful, I hope we can return you the favor sometime"

Vamp nodded but didn't say anything for fear something she said would alienate this new ally of theirs. She wanted to tell her it was time to shit or get off the pot but didn't think that would go over very well.

At all.

But it was a very close thing.

"Okay.  Mr. Mushingi runs a 'group therapy' every Saturday night here; it's cover for meeting with 'evolved' juvies who need or want to help.  If you want to talk sooner, like tonight or something, I can ask Ms. Kavanagh to call him," Darina says.  Then her expression turns mischievous and she adds, "I think she has the hots for him."  She does a repetitive twisting motion as she leans against the wall, watching you all carefully, though her attention tends to drift towards Shin-ji often.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:15, Sun 04 Dec 2022.

Nikola raises an eyebrow and then leans her head in the same direction to convey that she is interested in the the option Daryna has given of contacting Mushingi giht away , but she doesnt want to end up taking a desition for the whole group due to her impetuous nature, the others might have doubts about how safe it would be to proceed so fast.. specially Vamp and Shin Ji since they suffered losses, the name Mushingi might even ring a bell for them..

Tailgate shook his head. "I...think we should wait. I know, comin' from me, it's weird but...no need t'rush in to this."

He shrugged "Mr. Mushingi actually invited me t'the group therapy session already, so it won't look weird t'show up to it. An' I doubt he'd care about bringing along some more that might...need therapy." He grinned for a second at the last part.

Shin-Ji nodded after a moment. They needed to plan.

He hadn't visited the councilor, of course.

The thing about therapy was.. he hadn't gone to it. Minors getting into street fights and practicing with weapons was in the broad category of things that were, at best, quasi-legal. And unsurprisingly, there was no "official" line for the fucked up situation of minors being gunned down in a dojo, so officially, it hadn't happened.

Those who had died or been captured had "vanished". And Shin-Ji was far too busy to bother wanting to talk to anyone about his grief and rage. He certainly wasn't going to talk to an adult about this. "Why yes, adult who works for the corporate system, I am very sad because my mentor, a mercenary, and several members of my fighting place were gunned down by the law because of an outbreak of an infection which has a 100% fatality rate in adults." Seemed like a gonk idea.

Nor was he likely to talk to his fellow juves about it. The only ones he was closest with from his claat were flatlined or vanished. His new friends.. well.. there was one he was close enough to have this kind of discussion with, but he hadn't wanted to dump on her. She seemed to have enough to work through at the moment.

And Shin-Ji he was just young and dumb enough to think that he was fine.

"Alright.  I'll ask her, see if he can come," Darina says.  She turns around and opens the door, at which point any messages that were trying to reach you ping to your phones, and she exits the room heading for the spiral stairs down.

---

Anyone going with her?  Not necessary, just asking.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:18, Sun 04 Dec 2022.

After looking at Tailgate and Shin Ji , Nikola raises an eyebrow and goes after Daryna since she has the impression that the others would prefer not to call Mushingi right now

"Wait! i think one of our group would like to contact him later, after all he even has some kind of appointment with him"
This message was last edited by the player at 04:36, Fri 09 Dec 2022.

Vamp watched her leave then turned her attention to her mobile. She was hoping for any news on her missing friends - good or bad. With luck they were in one of the camps they had just learned about. That meant there was a chance to save them. If they were dead then it would be time to avenge them.

With great and terrible violence.

She snarled silently at the thought of her friends lying dead by the hands of the corpses or pigs. She had these new abilities and wanted to try them out on something besides a stationary target.

"Oh, right then," Darina says stopping her tracks and returning to the back room.  She does not close the door again, though; you may if you want to.  "So what do you want to do tonight?" she asks after a minute.

Tailgate looked from Darina to the others with a questioning look. "I dunno. If we don't have any more questions or anythin'...we can head home or whatever." He paused and tilted his head. "Unless you wanna go do somethin'?"

"I'd be up for that. Maybe grab a slice of za or somethin?"

Love of a decent slice seemed to be one of the very few things that every juve could agree on. Shin-Ji wasn't one of those people who was only up on natural food: avoiding soy or scop synthetics was functionally impossible in 2027 unless you were very, very rich, or had a lot of connections.

"Yeah, I'm hungry," Darina says with a look up and down at the boys.  "Pizza, sure, whatever."  She turns again to leave the bookstore, assuming the rest of you are following.

Fade to the New Harbor Mall...

Darina seems quite at home in the New Harbor Mall, not only familiar with the layout but comfortable among the crowds.  In the evening there are more adults than during the day, or better said, a different mix of them:  more business types who try to get some shopping in after work.  The juvies around this hour also seem of a different character:  there are more of the types that lean towards violence, junior booster gangers (mostly megaviolents) who don't like to get up early and generally skip school anyway.

The New Harbor Business Council a.k.a. Melinda Upton's gang, are out in force, but Tailgate, Shin-ji, Nikola and Vamp have an understanding with them and apparently so does Darina.  They don't bother you guys.

There is a Hot 'Za outlet of course, in the food court.  Darina orders a slice and diet soda, and it doesn't look like she is going to finis either.

Vamp nods to the people she knows and somewhat likes, glares at the ones she doesn't but keeps quiet as they walk to get the one food that almost everyone in the mall can agree on.

She orders a slice with meat, "add more meat then add more. If you see cheese there's not enough meat," and a Sugary Frosted Chocolate Bomb Soda^TM.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:04, Sat 24 Dec 2022.

Nikola had silently agreed to go to the mall with the others since she couldn't think of any other thing to do to advance their investigations. Nevertheless her mind was stuck in an idea : to explore the posibility of juves being taken into concentration camps, she ended up going along with her group while trying to keep things on good terms with the other groups.

She had ordered a vegan option and as she kept her eyes stuck in an unexisting horizon when an idea came to her mind, she decided that Vamp could provide an interesting opinion so she decided to start talking about her thoughts

"Now that i see this other groups here im beginning to think that if the government would want to kidnap and exploit those with the carbon plague , it would be easiear to do it with juves that belong to underdeveloped families or fringe gangs, so maybe we can ask some of the juves here if they have missing people in their gangs or something similar"

Tailgate walked along with the group to the mall. Food sounded good, actually. He found that he seemed to be a little hungrier since...everything had happened. He tried to push aside the ugly memories that threatened to bubble up at that. Just focus on food for now, he thought.

He noted Darina seemed to really be at home in the mall, or at least was very familiar with it. Which made sense. He also noted the more 'hardcore' juvies around and made a mental note to be on good - ie: not too noticed - behavior.

He ordered two slices of 'za and a soda, wanting a bit of caffeine to go with the 'fuel'.

He glanced at Nikola, a slice halfway to his mouth. He pondered a moment, then warily said, "So long s'we're careful. Some o'the gangs here later on are...less chatty."

"Gotta be careful how we put this, yeah.

We start asking questions dumb and they think we're working for zombies, and things are going to get real dicey.

Shin-Ji had gone with a very large iced herbal tea and a ZA WORLD combo.

As a streetfighter, Shin-Ji always knew the value of keeping yourself fueled, but since becoming a Tinman, hunger now officially rattled him. It was hard to describe, but you started to develop this weird growing sense of dread.

His brain seemed to know that going without food was now a very, very bad idea.

"Hmm you are right.. but since we can see many of them here, before going around making questions , maybe i can get my v trodes to help us do an online research, that way we could do some intel and check if any of the groups here have missing people, off course if you dont mind the fact that the others will see as we check some projected screens together"

While the group is chatting and eating two guys approach the table.  They are clearly in some sort of combat gang, megaviolents perhaps, dressed like heavy metal or chromer musicians: leather, spikes, chains, mohawks or long hair.  They are both of European ethnicity, though the artificial blues and greens in their hair obscures any specific ethnic designation.  Ignoring you for the moment, one of them leans on the bench seat near Darina.  "Hey D; looking hot," he says to her in a tone that is best described as "icky."  "Want to ditch these gonks and comes with us?"

Darina shrugs him off.  "No thanks, the bruises don't go with my style," she says.  His reaction mixes several emotions but settles on a predatory smile.  Her expression is more disgust than anything else.

Tailgate tried his best not to react too much to the two guys that approached - well, more that he tried not to react to what they said and they way they said it. He smirked when Darina blew them off immediately.

He looked over at Vamp, who was the most likely to start shi...wait. Actually...was it Shin-Ji? He normally seemed fairly chill, but it seemed like maybe certain things set him off.

Regardless, Tailgate discreetly put a hand on the grip of his pistol. Just in case things went sideways.

Shin-Ji was a Streetfighter.
Streetfighters didn't start fights, they finished them.

But, he really, really wanted to get in a brawl. It had been quite some time since he'd had a chance to blow off some steam, and Megaviolents were fair game. Survivors guilt, a lack of sparring, and an inability to having done anything useful yet had left him with a screaming voice in his head saying FIGHT SOMEONE DO SOMETHING.

Of course, they were here for a reason, and getting in a fight on Za (largely considered holy ground by violent Juves: you didn't fuck with the place that supplied you weapons or Pizza).

Then there was Darina, throwing hormones into the mix, was Darina, who immediately awakened ancient ape parts of his brain that wanted to impress her.

Her casual dismissal of them actually kind of made him back down though - it was clear she had this under control and wasn't terribly scared of these idiots.

So he left his hands on the table, and quietly intoned koans in his head and tried to avoid staring directly at the two assholes. He sure as hell wasn't going to start something, but if he opened his mouth, it would probably be inevitable.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:42, Thu 05 Jan 2023.

Vamp looked up when the two guys approached but said nothing to them given she was working through her slice of meat that looked pizza-shaped. None of it was real meat, of course, but one couldn't be choosy when one lived as she did. Kibble or soy was better than dumpster diving (for food, not fun).

If they were still around and didn't get the hint then she might say something to them but until then she had food and drink and was happy at both. Goths and Megaviolents tended to be good with one another so maybe they could find common ground and this wouldn't turn into a fight.

If it did...they'd find out this kitten had claws and fangs. For real.

"C'mon, do play hard to get.  What's it gonna cost us?" the blue-haired guy says reaching to grab her arm.  They both snicker at his 'joke'.  Darina pulls away and slaps him across the face, which just seems to get him more horny, and he grabs for her again.

"Just, no!  Forget it!" Darina cries out trying to pull away, unfortunately, the booth limits her movements.

---

Blue hair guy is grabbing her arm on the first round.

Review of Saturday Night Skuffle.  One person (first one to do it) rolls initiative (1d10) for your side.  In a turn you get one action.  If you perform two actions they are both at -3.  You can move your MOVE in meters for free.  Hand-to-Hand and Melee attacks use Streetfighting (or Kata) skill.  Skill + REF +1d10.  Roll the same skill to defend.

Some Rolls:  Blue-Hair Grabs Darina, her defense is insufficient.  Both Blue and Green rolled their defense below, they are not attacking you guys this round, but if you attack them, they are ready for a fight.
12:58, Today: Referee rolled 1 using 1d10 with rolls of 1.  Initiative.
2:54, Today: Referee rolled 13 using 1d10+9, rerolling max with rolls of 4.
Darina's Defense total is 13.
12:51, Today: Referee rolled 19 using 1d10+13, rerolling max with rolls of 6.
Blue Guy Grab Darina total is 19.
2:55, Today: Referee rolled 19 using 1d10+13, rerolling max with rolls of 6.
Green Guy Defense total is 19
12:55, Today: Referee rolled 29 using 1d10+13, rerolling max with rolls of (10+6)16.
Blue Guy Defense total is 29.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:58, Sat 28 Jan 2023.

11:44, Today: Shin-Ji Han rolled 7 using 1d10, rerolling max with rolls of 7.  Roll initiative.

Shin-Ji, brooding and feeling a combination of anger, guilt, and the simple desire to practice what he'd trained fighting with his promise not to start shit, had been right on the edge, and this was enough to push him over.

Still though, he wasn't about to punch the mega in the face.

A couple weeks ago, he might have, when his arms were.. well... arms. He legitimately didn't want to murder someone, and that was a distinct possibility with his new limbs. Thankfully, his sifu's first martial art was Sambo. So he grabbed the guy back by the arms. His carbon-fiber arms with near hydraulic levels of strength.


11:59, Today: Shin-Ji Han rolled 21 using 1d10+16, rerolling max ((5)).

The guy managed to slip out though, moving with surprising speed. Shin-Ji didn't want to grab his victim by mistake.

Oh what a charmer. Trying to resist? Playing hard to get? Let me hold your hand.

He went for another grab, fueled by rage, he grabbed the kid by the wrists.

Try and grab again. Hopefully he has to make another defense check? Add 3 luck to the roll.
13:34, Today: Shin-Ji Han rolled 32 using 1d10+19, rerolling max (((10+3)13)).


Then he began to squeeze unless he let go.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:35, Sat 28 Jan 2023.

Tailgate sometimes said or did things without thinking them through. This was one of those times.

"Just like some charfhounds to bring hands to a gun fight."

He had calmly, for the most part, pulled his heavy pistol out and pointed it right at the forehead of Mr. Grabby Hands.

"Remove hand and walk away or lose more than a lonely night."

OOC: Not sure what Intimidation would fall under, but he's drawing his gun, aiming it and then trying to get them to back down and flick off, lol.

17:02, Today: Tailgate rolled 12 using 1d10+9, rerolling max with rolls of 3.  Fearless Leader (Cool).
This message was last edited by the player at 00:02, Sun 29 Jan 2023.

Nikola observed how the scene started its development in front of her eyes as she had delayed to react due to still being inmerse inside her thoughts about the posible positive and negative consequences of the fight.

The view of tailgate pulling a gun made her go back to the situation at hand, it seemed that things could either escalate if one of those guys decided to pull a gun as well, it could also happen that they could be intimidated, but seemed unlikely, Either way if the fight kept moderate in duration and intensity the other juves could seem them and hopefully be willing to help them with their questions about missing members  after that.

So maybe she could signal somehow that the gun is just a warning to make sure no one escalates above that limit, she decided to quickly take the brass knuckle she had bought in the mall weeks ago and punch the green hair guy in the face to prevent him helping his partner inmobilized bt Shin Ji, while conveying that she wanted to keep the fight within the non lethal limits, just in case she had a hunting knife in her trenchcoat ready to  be used if they attemped something letal at short distance

OOC : 23:55, Today: Nikola Net rolled 10 using 1d10+9, rerolling max with rolls of 1.  Dice + 5 Ref and 4 Streetfighting.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:57, Sun 29 Jan 2023.

Summary of Round 1

Blue Hair guy grabbed Darina by the upper arm with his right hand.  Shin-ji jumped up and after some back and forth managed to grab the Blue Hair Guy's left wrist.  The three are now in a three-way tangle of sorts.

Nikola and Tailgate move after that, with Tailgate drawing a pistol and pointing it at the Blue Hair Guy, which at this point mean pointing it at Shin-ji and Darina as well since the three of them are in close proximity.  Blue Hair Guy hasn't noticed him or the gun yet, he is focused on Shin-ji and to a lesser extent the struggling Darina.

Nikola then jumped out of the booth and threw herself at the Green Hair Guy, brass knuckles in hand.  Unfortunately, her attack is uncoordinated and he easily side-steps her, smiling as though it is a game.

Round 2

---

Okay, you guys have Initiative since they rolled a 1 on the die.  Here are their defense rolls with Streetfighting.  If Tailgate is going to shoot at one of them the DV is 15.  REF + Streetfighting + WA of the weapon, if it has one.

Vamp is sitting at the booth/table and can react this round.

He had something of an evil smile.

"Let go of her or I'm going to tear apart your arm like a hot'za bread stick."

Shin Ji did more or less exactly as he promised. He began to increase the pressure until the mega let go or he reached maximum grip strength. As a streetfighter, he probably could have sprained the guy's wrist. As a Tin Man, things were probably about to get very ugly.

Basically, unless he if he lets go, I keep the grip. If he gets attacked by either of them, squeeze for full damage.

What's the damage a tin man does with a squeeze? 4d6 with martial arts added to the roll?

Tailgate let out an exasperated noise as his aim was ruined by multiple people - and he had been completely ignored anyway. He angrily put the gun back away and got up to his feet, exiting the booth. He wasn't sure how to help at that exact moment, but he was getting ready to.

Nikola should have felt relieved that the gun did not escalate things but she didnt, instead she was angry for the way in which her attempt ended up in a failure that resulting on the other guy’s condensending look. Out of fury she reacted by using the small momentum she gained to try kicking that arrogant brute in one of the heels

OOC: All right i dont know what did i do wrong but somehow it got rolled twice or somwthing as the d10 came up with 14 and then added those 9, so of you want you can take that 14 or i can roll again

21:36, Today: Nikola Net rolled 23 using 1d10+9, rerolling max with rolls of (10+4)14.  (+5 Ref + 4 Streetfighting). –
This message was last edited by the player at 00:43, Sun 05 Mar 2023.

Shin-ji squeezes Blue's arm and can hear the bones cracking and feel the muscle and other tissue give.  The guy lets out a very genuine scream and releases Darina, falling to his knees as his arm is shattered.

Meanwhile, Blue's unexpected scream distracts Green just enough for Nikola to clock him, and though it doesn't take him down or anything, he feels the punch.  However, for the moment he is far more concerned about is friend than he is about her.

Darina also looks concerned, and then she says apparently addressing Green and Blue, "Don't mess with the cybered up, boys."  She looks straight at Shin-ji and adds, "let him go, Bobby; let's get out of here." It's obvious that she is intentionally not using his real name.

Tailgate had done literally nothing in the encounter. He'd probably been not even noticed much, if at all, by the two meatheads. He stood up and moved next to Darina, or at least a bit closer.

Then he said quietly, "Delta 'n' go stuff yourselves, gonks, before things get really fun. An' stay away from Darina from now on."

Shin-Ji was not the brightest neon in the sky. He blinked, but after a second, even he picked it up she meant him. To be fair, he'd genuinely been horrified at what had happened to the poor gonk's arm. If he'd been alive, his sensei would have pummeled him for ridiculous over use of force, but at least he was still alive.

He let go of the juve's arm at Darina's request, and partially out of horror at what he'd just done. He did his best to look stoic, probably the only kind of acting he could manage other than "tough guy". "Your call."

It certainly had not been smart to do that, but he hadn't exactly had a lot of practice using the new limb. He'd certainly dislocated arms before: he'd had a literally killer grip with his sensei's Sanbo training.. now.. he'd have to keep that in check, even more.

Definitely time to bounce.

"C'mon, c'mon!" Darina says with growing insistence.  She pulls Shin-ji along hoping the others follow and leaves the pizza joint.  The two megas are huddled together as you leave and the store manager is moving through a growing crowd of adults watching.  It seems that most juvies are looking, and looking away, passing by curiously but not hanging around.  thankfully there aren't taht many adults anyway.

Darina leads the way down one level and a good way down the mall before relaxing her grip on Shin-ji and slowing down.  "I appreciate the defense, that guy's a real jerk; but you can't show off like that!  If the security cams caught it you could be in trouble.  that's why I fed them another name," she stands with her arms crossed.

---

Get a Clue rolls please.

Shin-Ji seemed a little out of it, possessed with a weird combination of guilt at what he'd done to the kid, his own stupidity at nearly getting everyone in trouble, and a weird mix of pride for having absolutely destroyed someone and a bit of awe at what he'd just done without even really thinking about it.

He ended up feeling apologetic, but not particularly guilty. The juve was a mega, after all.

"Yeah, my bad. Gonk move. I'm not used to these arms yet.
Just been wanting to hit something for a long time now.

23:27, Today: Shin-Ji Han rolled 17 using 1d10+9, rerolling max with rolls of 8.  Get a clue.

Tailgate was no stranger to having to delta from a fight scene pretty quick. He didn't need much urging to get his feet going. Especially since someone might report that he'd had a pistol.

He looked a little sheepish himself, even though Shin-ji was the 'target' of Darina's cautionary scathing/warning. That altercation...hadn't gone well even though no one on their side had gotten hurt. She was right, it hadn't been smart.

He let out a sigh and nodded, "You're right. We gotta be smarter."

13:16, Today: Tailgate rolled 19 using 1d10+10, rerolling max with rolls of 9.  Get a Clue.

"No, it's okay, you guys just got this and that idiot deserved to be out in his place," Darina says calming down, fanning herself ineffectually with her hand.  Shin-Ji and Tailgate see Melinda Upton and couple of the other New Harbor mall brats approaching.  Though Melinda is walking casually and in the open, it's clear that a good six or seven are surreptitiously congregating in the area.  Melinda stops and folds her arms across her chest.

"I remember you," she says pointing to the group, though it's not clear if Darina is included.  "What's the deal bringing violence to my backyard?  And yeah, that fuckin' Mega had it comin, but it attracts the wrong kind of attention," she is almost, but not quite scolding.

Tailgate couldn't help himself. He turned to face Shin-Ji as if siding with the mallbrats, folding his arms across his chest. He accusatorily asked, "Yeah, Shin-Ji! What's the deal with bringin' violence t'their backyard?"

He then glanced at Melinda, and quietly affirmed, "He really did have it comin' though."

Nikola felt a little better after letting some of her frustation go as the mega took the hit, but was then disapointed by the fact that even though they kicked those brutes out, that did not seem to make them more popular with the other Juves.. something that she hoped it could ease the task of finding out if any of the gangs had missing members.. she mumbled to herself "Had i known everyone would ignore us, then could have tried interrogating those megas... whatever" she then saw Darina being approached by some of the mall brats.. "could that be used?" she asked herself

OOC: 19:48, Today: Nikola Net rolled 20 using 1d10+9, rerolling max with rolls of (10+1)11.  Get a clue  (7 for int + 2 for get a clue).
This message was last edited by the player at 22:49, Thu 11 May 2023.