Glitch had remained quiet during most of the meeting with the Johnson. The others at the table had asked the important questions and this wasn’t necessarily a negotiation for future payment beyond the 1.5k. His role both on the job and off was to quietly observe until it was time to strike. Before the host was shutdown, he sent his contact information to the other runners. “I’ll make sure the meeting of the minds is private both in the Matrix and meatspace. See you then.”

His AR feed ended leaving him rubbing his eyes and stretching on the bed. He sat up on the bed and sent a mental command to his RCC. Eight wasp-like drones that had been positioned on overlook inside and just outside the room came and flew up his suit sleeves attaching to his arms. The Decker then made his way to the middle room to set up shop. With the other runners’ permission, mini drones would emerge from his sleeves to perch over the ceiling fan in their rooms to keep an eye out during the meeting.

Satisfied that the drones were in place, he sent the code for Cyberdeck for the others to hook up their links to. The bug scanner was then activated which covered the entirety of the room and even into the surrounding rooms. Next up was the white noise generator to scramble any devices he didn’t find with the scanner. Glitch produced three dagger-like objects from hidden pockets inside his suit and laid them on the table. Three spirits manifested with the appearance of being made of millions of lines of Matrix code that picked up the weapons and pressed the button on the handle. The weapons instantly elongated into spears revealing themselves to be Horizon Flying Pilum. The spirits faced outward from the group spears at the ready keeping overwatch on the astral.

Satisfied that the area was now secure from all angles, Glitch sat down at a small conference table and motioned for the others to join him. “Well then. Shall we get started with the planning? Who would like to go first? I’ll be digging up info on the main guests while the plan is being formulated.”The mystic adept then looks off into space, but the others can see his eyes rapidly moving as he sifts through piles of information on his AR from the publicly known tidbits to the more juicy details.

OOC: Rating 6 Bug Scanner and White Noise Generator going. Everyone’s links hooked up to his Renraku Kitsune on silent mode. Three Rating 6 task spirits present. 8 MCT Hornets armed with Narcojet positioned in the middle and adjacent rooms.

Once Tu Bahd bathed and dressed, she outfitted herself with just the right amount of gear, then pulled over the large fur coat that was provided with. It was real fur, of course, but cozy enough for her to never have guessed the difference. Besides, who would want real fur? The metahuman hunter thought this was ironic when her family kept the skulls of particularly proud kills.

She utilized an old AR makeup tutorial to do herself up - something she never cared to master - before piggybacking her own devices into Glitch's commlink. Of course she would give her team member permission to put a drone in her room. It would be foolish not to let the offer go unaccepted. Electronic surveillance tactics was not her forte.

When Tu Bahd stepped into the conference room, she paused to take in the war room like scene. She wore a black-and-white furcoat, maroon chiffon dress with an asymmetrical skirt, and heels in her own skin tone. Her stony mien betrayed no thought as she simply scanned and nodded as she reached up to primp her curls with a pat.

"Well, izn't zis some drek? Knew jyou vwere too good at zhose games."

The hashashin would gather matrix and meatspace were secure. Where can I find one of these deckheads back home?

“Well then. Shall we get started with the planning? Who would like to go first? I’ll be digging up info on the main guests while the plan is being formulated.”

"Hmf," Tu Bahd said around a cigarette, already lighting it as she crossed her legs in a chair opposite the decker. "Vwell, if vwe can speak freely..." She puffed smoke, held the silence. It seemed to be standard they way she held to the quiet spaces between words, a sort of ritualism in the way she did so.

"I can provide protection for...eh..." She squinted, adjusted her glasses, "Guh-litch here, as he does ze decking. And if any of jyou are of ze arcane arts...vwell...I can take jyou under my wing as vwell." It sounded like there was a grin in her tone, but her face remained as neutral as ever. "I can also...eh...see vwhat I can pick up. Per'aps leave some guezts wizh a few...bugs. Vwell, yes. I can try to plant zhem wizh bugs."

She took a drag again, this time her brow crinkled ever so gently. "My only concern iz at zhis gala, I don't know how eazy it vwill be to get my jewelry through ze checkpoint. I work bezt wizh my jewelry, jyou see." It was clear that by jewelry, she meant weapons. She wasn't speaking as freely as she could.

Xáays puts on a suit because why not? He doesn't get to wear a suit while hiding in shipping containers. Or, he could, he supposes... it just wouldn't benefit anybody. It's a nice Synergist Business Line combo - light grey, suitable for the spring - with a little added protection to make sure it doesn't get stained by the occasional acid rain that blows over the area courtesy of Seattle's industrial zones in Redmond and Puyallup. A little spritz of cologne, no jewelry beyond a classy pair of cufflinks. He'll wear his new clothes, the ones that Johnson sponsored, to the gala.

"Xáays," he says, introducing himself to the room. "With an X," he adds, to be helpful.

He's an elf with Amerind features and short black hair. Skinny, as you would expect of a dandelion eater, and obnoxiously handsome, as elves are wont to be. He looks about 25 years old, but so do most elves. He has an athletic build, a firm grip, and smells great.

"No, ah, jewelry at the gala," he reminds Tu Bahd apologetically. "Nor any need, I would imagine. Security will be tighter than a snare drum."

He walks around the room, eyes casually darting here and there. Xáays has a bug scanner but this Glitch fellow looks like he actually knows what he's doing. He leaves Glitch to his work.

"It sounds like we'll be responsible for marketing ourselves," he says. "There may even be the opportunity to select which faction - or factions - we choose to represent. An unusual opportunity, compared to our traditional take-it-or-leave-it circumstances."

He checks his nails casually. His manicure from the spa was still holding up, but it might be wise to get another before the gala.

"Eight primary dignitaries. If possible, we should get a sense of their high-level interests. With luck they will have some public statements on the matter. It would also be helpful to be aware of any biases they might have, especially in terms of metatypes.

"I'm comfortable approaching potential employers on our behalf. Due to racial and/or ethnic affiliations, I might have a foot in door with John Abernathy of the Salish-Shidhe Council, and Margaret Telestrian of Tir Tairngire. Some of my contacts may have insights on their dispositions as well."

He looks around the room.

"Any other obvious entry points?" he asks the team.

Glmanrok had arrived as Glitch finished setting up and politely declined his offer of linking behind his Renrak, "For now I'm running silent, on a run, or when we know one another enough to casually trust..." and then slides into jovial tones followed by an exaggerated wink, "but you haven't even bought me dinner an already tryin to get into my PANs?"

Despite having plenty of headroom, the minotuar still moved cautiously about the space and chose a large, more solid looking chair.  They let their Mortimer of London Greatcoat fall open, the 'concealed' holsters of the roomsweepers plainly visible, and the completely different lines and colour of the Vashon Island "WWII British bomber" suit.  Oddly, with the weapons, the two styles almost seem to go together.  Almost, but yeah, no, the colours and lines.  Again Glam pulled out the tiny over-ruggedized burner and set it aside to take notes on should it be needed.

After Tu and Xáays had spoken, "Sounds good.  Doubt I could work Abernathy any better, unless he has weird quirks, though I could probably work the room adequately.  I find the novelty of a well spoken Troll can draw people in and have them nodding along without even realizing it."  Glam pauses, "I have reached out to a few of my friends in the press pool to see if there is a more complete guest list circulating yet, and I'm trying to find out who among the press might be in attendance.  I doubt I'll have an 'in' there, but we'll at least talk the same lingo of scoop, scoop, scoop.  Of course if I recognize any of them and have dirt, that's a potentially leverageable source.  I doubt the Sea Dragon will show up themselves and no doubt their representative will be revealed at the most dramatically appropriate moment, leaving us scrambling to figure out who they are.  That just leaves the rest of the names on the list, and the only one I recognize immediately is Telestrian."  Glam tips the Metrolink to check the listed names, "If Margaret is anything like the rest of the family, perhaps you'd like to take that one as well, Xá-ays?"

"Yes, Margaret Telestrian," Xáays says, glancing around the room for the reactions of the others to see if he was going crazy or not. "That's what I just said."

Perhaps Glamnarok distract himself with the novelty of a well-spoken troll.

He is well-spoken, Xáays privately admits, although Mortimer of London mixed with The Ace of Clubs?? My god! I don't care if both designs are British!

"Hmm?  Oh, that's probably why I immediately thought you'd be perfect, you said it."  Glam smiles.  "Sorry, a bit distracted, I'm trying to think if there's anyone else it'd be safe to contact for info..."

Glam leans forward, "So, we have the sneaky muscle," nods to Tu Bahd, "a pair of talkers," the gesture takes in themself and Xáays, "I can also fight, I'm no street sam, but I can hold down my end of a bar brawl or firefight.  I suspect you're also sneaky muscle, Xáays, all you small fries are.  Glitch on matrix overwatch, and C-and-C?" Glam tries to aside, to Glitch, "You have a tacnet in there by chance?  'Cause that would be sweet," and then looks to Freemason, "and the silent, ahhh..." tries to glance quickly at the Metalink without making it look like they're checking notes, "...Freemason.  What you are bringing to the table and anything we need to think about that we aren't?"

Mason was the last to arrive at the meeting room, having taken the time to carry out a number of counter surveillance routines. He wore his Actioneer suit and carried his (fake) licenced pistol concealed beneath the jacket. "Sorry. Had to make sure I weren't bringin' in uninvited guests."



The mage thought for a moment before replying. "Well, I've no need for 'jewellery', so I can give cover if things go bad at th' gala. But that means security's probably gonna watch me closer than most others. I've a few tricks that can help wi' intel collection as well."

"And that brings us back around to intel.  I've put out some feelers on the guest list, acquiring a more complete list, and if media will be involved, and Glitch is combing the matrix for info on the guests.  Is there anything more we could be doing on that angle, or have we about covered it?"

"I know some people on that side of the fence. I'll make some calls."

He looks over Mason, eyeing the suit. Actioneer. Nice enough. Not exactly inspired. But there's something to be said for anonymous style. It's not flashy, but sometimes flashy gets you killed.

"Yes," Xáays agrees belated, "you are correct, Glamnarok: I am sneaky muscle, as most of us small fries are." There's a crack of smile that shows his amusement.

"If you're never armed, you're never disarmed."

Glitch stopped momentarily in his matrix search. He had his agent program continue in his stead. “I will not be at the gala. Not because I don’t want to be, but because I have to case this entire building for our competition. I have no doubt that once those doors close it will create a faraday cage as well as a high strength mana barrier. There will surely be more highly armed security outside the gala in other rooms than in the gala. I have to comb this hotel room by room to see what we are dealing with as well as creating backdoors in their security if we should go up against them. There’s also the act of setting up a temporary lodge here to cover our activities from astral recon. It will alert others that there is a mage in the area though.”

"Gettin' hold of the complete guest list wouldn't hurt. Could help us identify any undesirables at the gala. If we can see who talks to who, it might give us a leg up too." Unfortunately, all of Mason's intel sources tended to operate several rungs further down the ladder from where they currently were.

"Which brings us to who will be working where."  Glamnarok picks up the Metalink and begins tapping at it, "Glitch, before you set up a lodge, best check and see that it doesn't violate the hotel's guest agreement, be a shame for security to escort you from the premises right in the middle of the 'first run'.  And, do you think you'll need physical over-watch?  I can't imagine any other teams making a counter-run against you, but that can not be completely discounted."

"Glitch, that seems backwards to me.

"Combing through the hotel - and its security - for people who might be our competition seems like a needle-in-a-haystack approach. If you want to case our competition, it seems to me that the best place to do it would be at the gala, where they will be too.

"Plus, that way you can run overwatch on our devices and our astral selves. If you're snooping then someone else will be too, and we need to be on guard for that. Seems like you should be inside the fence, not outside."

Glitch listens to the responses and nods at certain points. “IF I can get my deck in then I can do overwatch. I have a couple of hidden pockets that could possibly stand up to a pat down. My deck isn’t in my head like some other deckers. I can give it a try and search outside the gala afterwards. I could possibly bring some mini drones in too to plant in certain rooms.”

"No, ah, jewelry at the gala. Nor any need, I would imagine. Security will be tighter than a snare drum."

Tu Bahd smirked. Mirthlessly. If that one thought she didn't know that, that she played by the rules...well, it certainly lowered her faith in his ability to run.

Yet perhaps he was cautious; Tu Bahd presumed he held the skittishly preparatory nature of most Runners she'd encountered. Hopefully they left room for improvisation; it was, after all, the glue that filled the gaps in strategy. At least they were relatively stylish, the lot of them.

---

"You know, zey say ze key to a man's heart is through zere stomach..."

It had been some time since Tu Bahd spoke. Even now her face was glacial, though her legs were now crossed as she leaned back in her seat.

"Per'aps some vwould take kindly to a...demonstration of skillz?" She leaned forward to put out her cigarette. "One of uz coming in as a...eh...kay-teh-rer. For ze meal. Vwould be a 'loud' prezentation of diz-cretion." A small grin, still cold.

"It could help rezolve our 'jewelry' problem, our deck problem, give us a better hand to play..." Her gaze moved from Glitch to Xaáys, hovering for longer than necessary.

Then, she shrugged, tucking her hands across her lap it a gesture that was surprisingly resigned.

"But at ze very least...vwe should get a map. A good vwone. Blueprints, even."

"Possibly... yes.  Hmmm.  We'd need to figure out what caterers are being hired on or if their using only hotel staff, probably the later, and then insert you as a employee who will be scheduled and on duty to serve the event, not a simple task, but not overly complex.  Though waitstaff are just as likely to be thoroughly searched before entering, but if we gain access to their equipment in advance, that does open up our opportunities for smuggling."

Glam waits what seems a few long drawn out minutes (probably only like thirty to forty seconds though) and says, "Okay, so no ideas there, we'll put a pin in it and come back to it later then?  Next order of business, ahhh, well, and this is why I wanted to meet somewhere I was more hundred percent sure Johnson couldn't spy in, but how far do we trust him, and how loyal do we remain.  Like, are we going to hold back any info or are we agreeing completely to his terms, and are we keeping everything in house?"

Glam straighten up a bit and reaches into a jacket pocket, and flips a battered press badge on a lanyard ontot he table, "The last I mean by which I'm a reporter.  Sure, sure, I know, 'but you're a fashion reporter Glam'," the minotaur waves their hands as though dispelling mere trifles, "I'm a reporter and I'm about to be in the gala event of this season, probably this whole frakkin year and several to come.  If Stumpy Johnson thinks I'm not by-lining this event, well...  so... yeah."  Glam pauses, and then continues in a quieter, not quite pleading voice, "Am I by-lining this?"

Glitch shrugs. “I don’t think so. As long as the major objective is being actively worked on, any side benefit is fine with me. As for info to the Johnson, he paid up front for all of this for some out of town runners. We should honor that with his main request. If he found out we were holding back, it would ruin our reputation with other fixers in town which as we know could be a slow death sentence.”

"Yes, dear," Tu Bahd says to Glam, "you are."

Tu Bahd affirms Glitch's insight with a nod. In her own experience, she found individuals were less likely to outright fuck you as much as take advantage of unseen opportunities. Anyone willing to shell out to strangers (talented as they might be) had little reason to double-cross them so easily. There was no matter of trust involved. Just good business sense and health insurance.

"So vwe are vwaiting for a map to plan wwith, contacts to a-ssist us, and a day for our own personal pla-nning. Sounds good."

Glitch nodded to Tu Bahd. “I’ll get to work on finding a blue print of the building. What might help is if we as a group walk the length of each floor to have a general idea of where security is usually posted and a physical overlay of what we walked versus the blueprint to try and find any inconsistencies.”

"I think going as a reporter is excellent cover," Xáays agrees. "And I see no reason not to by-line a fashion piece. Do you have cybereyes? I'm not sure the hosts or the attendees will want cameras there."

Then Xáays addresses the question of the Johnson's payment.

"It's a non-traditional arrangement, to be sure. And I certainly don't like that we found out the price of all this" - he gestures to the hotel room and their new clothes - "only after accepting the gig. From a professional etiquette standpoint, it feels wrong. But it also seems to be the price of admission. Of all the moral trade-offs this job requires, this one is pretty modest."

Xáays slips into his "I'm a successful corper giving a dynamic speech to the annual sales convention" impersonation for his big finale.

"Play the game, build some rep. Once we have some rep in our pockets, we can shop around for different representation. Until then, we pay to play."

"No, I do not have optical enhancements, alas.  I can pick up some recorder contacts to wear, and recording earbuds... hmmm. Maybe.  I'll still bring my gopro, just in case they let it slide."

Glam holds the Metalink at arms length, taps at the screen with the tiny stylus a few times, "Okay, that's it for my notes does anyone else have business to bring up now, before we dole out the tasks and split for the day to work on them?"

Mason's ears pricked up at the mention of Glamnarock being a reporter, fashion or otherwise. He made a mental not to avoid the Minotour's line of sight as much as possible. "Nothin' from me. I think the main thing for now is arrangin' contingencies an' escape routes from the gala."

"Okay, so we have some work to do over the next few days, part of which is figuring out how to get Miss Bahd onto the the caterer's staff and on duty that night."

Glitch looked into the matrix during his searches but paused long enough to add. “I can try to see who is listed on the staff and when the shifts start. Shouldn’t be too hard to get you past electronic security either.”