"Din Eusidia?" the man's eyes lit up with recognition. "It is quite an honor to welcome you to my humble store, my lady!" The man inclined his head again, this time a little lower. "Hasan bin-Soleimani, at your service, and a pleasure to make your acquaintance." The owner turned his attention back to the ring. "The piece here is priced at 790 birr. But if you're looking for a matching set, I can show you something from a more recent collection. I think rose gold would look lovely with the color of your hair."

As she talked to the owner, Kira surreptitiously scanned the surroundings for security measures. The entry door, it seemed, had both a key-operated and an electronic lock. She couldn't see any obvious cameras or motion detectors, but given the immaculate design of the place, they could've been masterfully hidden from view. The security guard had a handgun in a holster, but she couldn't quite make out whether the weapon was of the lethal or non-lethal variety.

Kira nodded with appreciation at Hasan's suggestion. "Thank you, Hasan. Your attention to detail is impressive. However, I must admit that my heart is still drawn to that lovely sapphire ring. It holds a certain charm that resonates with me. So, I will invest in the ring."

As Hasan processed the transaction, Kira remained poised and engaged in polite conversation, while still discreetly monitoring every detail of the transaction process and the security measures in place. She was determined to gather as much information as possible without raising any suspicion.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:40, Sat 01 Apr 2023.

Farah looked up at the waitress while pretending not to know what to do with her hands. She was a skilled professional, but she recalled a shyer youth many years ago and brought that part of herself up to the surface.
"Just, uhm, water please"
She waited till the waitress had turned around before adding,
"Do you, uh, what's it like working here?"
She pitched her voice a bit higher than her norm. She wanted to sound unsure and out of her element. A facade of innocence to bring down barriers.

"Water?" the girl's voice betrayed her amusement. "Sure". She turned around only to be stopped by Farah's next question. Turning back to face the woman, she shrugged. "It's okay, I guess. Why d'you ask? Are you looking for a job?"

"Of course, it's an excellent choice," the owner conceded, removing the ring from the display. "Right this way!" He motioned for Kira to follow him to the counter at the back of the store. Opening a drawer, he took out a small box covered with dark purple velvet, with the gold letters H and S tastefully emblazoned on it in an ornamental script. As he fiddled around with the packaging, Kira had a chance to examine the counter more closely. Suddenly the nature of Hasan bin-Soleimani's bookkeeping became quite clear, as there was a large leather-bound tome lying open on the counter, customer names and transactions written in it in a calligraphic hand. Kira glanced around and saw the writing implements. By the Icons, the man had a real writing kit, with an inkpot and a real quill! Kira almost whistled out loud - the man certainly had class!

"That will be 790 birr," Hasan said, done with the wrapping. Given what she had just seen, Kira was glad that the man had a payment terminal, and not a good old abacus complete with payment in coinage. As she reached for her transactor, she bore witness to her own name gracing the milky-white page of the accounting tome, accompanied by the item sold, the price and the date of purchase.
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:26, Mon 03 Apr 2023.

Kira smiled warmly at Hasan, appreciating the elegant presentation and the old-fashioned charm of his establishment. She swiped her transactor, completing the payment with ease.

"Thank you, Hasan. Your store is truly a gem, and your dedication to craftsmanship and tradition is admirable. It's a rarity to find such attention to detail these days," she praised.

Hasan smiled at her words. "Thank you, Lady Cerise. It is always a pleasure to serve customers who appreciate the finer aspects of our work. Please don't hesitate to visit again should you desire any more unique and exquisite pieces."

With a gracious nod and a final smile, Kira bid Hasan farewell and exited the store. She spotted her friends, Asa and Aisha, waiting discreetly nearby.

Asa raised an eyebrow at Kira. "Well, habibi, how did it go?"

Kira's eyes sparkled with mischief. "The store is as we thought – a treasure trove of information. I managed to get a good look at the security measures in place, as well as how Hasan keeps his records. He uses a large, leather-bound ledger and records transactions by hand. As for security, there's a double-locked entry door, key-operated and electronic. I noticed a security guard near the back door, dressed in a suit and armed with a handgun, but I couldn't determine if it's lethal or non-lethal. As for cameras or motion detectors, I didn't see any obvious ones, but they could be well-hidden, given the store's immaculate design. We'll need to be cautious."

Asa listened intently, taking in the information. "That's excellent work, Kira. So, we'll proceed with the plan then. Aisha and I will go in after an hour or so, and one of us will distract Hasan while the other takes a peek at that ledger. Hopefully, we can find out who purchased the Geometry of the Senses earrings."

Kira nodded, fiddling with the wrapped ring. "I have no doubt you'll pull it off. Hasan seems to be quite taken by nobility, so I'm sure he'll be more than eager to assist you both. Just be careful not to arouse any suspicion."

Asa gave a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, we've got this. Aisha, do you want to try to sneak a peek at the ledger while I distract Mr. Hasan?"

As the owner of the store processed her payment, Kira tried to decipher the previous entries in the ledger. It was a difficult task, given that the book was upside down, and Hasan's handwriting, while quite a pleasure to look at, was harder to read than printed characters. She quickly gave up on trying to read the names, and focused instead on the column listing the items sold. It took her a couple of moments to scan the half a dozen entries on the page, but when she was done, she was quite certain that Geometry of the Senses wasn't listed on it.

"I just had a thought," interjected Kira. "Now that we know the name of the earrings, it probably couldn't hurt to have Adhan doublecheck that information and see if he can get a hit on a name that way. Might be better to do that before we try sneaking a peek at the ledger. I tried but it's difficult to read upside down."

Asa tapped her fingers on the table. "A sensible suggestion. Let me see what our dear friends are up to."

She turned on her comm and sent a text to Adhan; We found out the name of the earrings. Geometry of the Senses. Would that help in a data search?

Farah made eye contact with the waitress.
"I guess I'm not so much looking for a job so much as ... just looking to know how things are I guess"
Farah felt foolish all of a sudden. This was perhaps one of the most inane things she's ever done, but she had to follow through.
"My whole life I've been told that these places are sinkholes of sin that prey on people like you, I just want to know if that's true"
She softened her voice towards the end. She needed to sound sincere. She needed to find a way of creating an ongoing conversation that could lead to useful info.

Adhan glanced down in the direction of his comm, glancing at Kira's message, but he was mostly watching the room - not just the woman Farah was talking to, but anyone who might be taking an unusual interest in their conversation.

The girl stared at Farah with an incredulous expression. "Like, are you serious, lady?" She shook her head in disbelief, a smirk forming on her lips. She studied the older woman's face for any sign that it was some sort of practical joke, but Farah met her gaze with what she hoped was a mixture of sincerity and softness. "Oh, the girls will just flip when I tell them! Well, of course it's a sinkhole of sin, it's a strip club! But the work here is decent enough. I mean, the guys do get handsy from time to time, but can you really blame them?" The girl paused, her eyes running over Farah's attire. "Who are you, exactly?"

Adhan, meanwhile, watched the room, on the lookout for any unwanted attention. The pair of patrons sitting at a table closer to the bar seemed to mind their own business, while the barman had his eyes glued to his communicator, oblivious to his surroundings.

Farah put on an embarrassed smile. "Someone who's just figuring themselves out, I guess." She had passed the first hurdle, that was a start. The ice was broken and now she dived into frigid waters.

She toyed with her hands. "I just feel like I've been missing a lot of life and it's not like I'm getting any younger. Do you have wine? I don't know drinks and I want to drink something."

She needed to switch the conversation over to her and her life as it connected to the bar and its patrons, one in particular. Once she had her wine, she would say, "People I know, well knew, talked trash about places like this and the girls that work here. But you seem pretty alright. All that talk of sin, criminal scum, and underground whatever is all junk isn't it. This is just a normal place!" She hoped the waitress might guide her words to their intended goal in this small bit of reverse psychology.
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:46, Sun 30 Apr 2023.

"Sure thing, wine it is," the girl nodded. "After all, we live only once!"

Several minutes later she returned with a tray bearing a lowball glass with arrak and a glass of red for Farah. She first served Adhan with a surreptitious wink, then came to Farah's table and placed the wine in front of the woman. "There you go! If this is your first time, go slow!"

Farah nodded. "People I know, well knew, talked trash about places like this and the girls that work here," she said, "but you seem pretty alright. All that talk of sin, criminal scum, and underground whatever is all junk, isn't it. This is just a normal place!"

The girl shrugged. "I've seen worse places. And it helps me pay the bills. Not that I would want to work here for the rest of my life!" She glanced in the direction of the entrance. "Excuse me, here come some of the regulars. Enjoy the wine!"

Both Farah and Adhan followed the girl's gaze and saw three men at the establishment's entrance. They both recognized the hapless spy from the day before. The boy was wearing the same dark ill-fitting kurta and had the same mop of unbrushed hair. Adhan squinted, trying to make out the other two in the dim light, but he was having a hard time ascertaining whether one of them had any resemblance to the Zazu in the dated image he had found online. One seemed to be too broad-shouldered to be their quarry, but the other one...

The trio, together with the waitress, headed straight for the bar, laughing about something. As they passed Farah's and Adhan's tables, the boy casually scanned the room. His eyes lingered on Farah for a split second, but she couldn't quite understand whether there was recognition in the young hoodlum's eyes. Adhan, on the other hand, he ignored completely.
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:32, Tue 02 May 2023.

Once he recognized yesterday's observer, Adhan dropped his eyes to his tabula as though checking his messages, just in case the kid wound up being more perceptive than he looked. While his eyes were lowered, his ears were pricked up, trying to figure out exactly what the trio were discussing.

Casually, he tapped out a text to the rest of the crew. "This is the right place. Our spy is here, maybe Zazu too. We're just observing so far."

Farah accepted the drink with a smile and pretended to wince with her first sip. She had consumed many glasses in her time but channeled her remembrance of the first to keep her cover of innocence.
When the boy and his companions entered, Farah made sure to give the boy nothing but a casual glance. She assessed both with brevity and pulled up the communicator to see Adhan's message. She had her eyes on the device and her ears on the trio. With two people, one of them has got to hear something useful. She muddled in her mind when she would ask the waitress about them, knowing full well she couldn't go up to the trio herself without the serious threat of being recognized. She didn't know whether her entirely different demeanor prevented recognition already.
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:23, Thu 04 May 2023.

They heard snatches of conversation as the trio went to the bar, and it wasn't anything particularly enlightening, just regular chatter, interspersed with bits of laughter here and there. Farah continued to watch the group from the corner of her eye, trying to pick up anything of interest, but the conversation suddenly died down to a whisper. Yes, there's the head bob from their chance acquaintance in her direction. The other two not too discreet about it, turning their heads to look at her over their shoulders. A quiet back and forth, the broad-shouldered one reaching for his communicator.

Adhan rattled off a quick, simple follow-up message to the crew. "Trouble".

The elegant shoppers witnessed quite a spectacle as a red-headed young woman in a elegant dress gave a wolf-whistle to hail a passing hovertaxi. She swiftly herded her two equally well-dressed friends into the vehicle before jumping in herself and shouting instructions to the driver. The hovertaxi took off at high speed, sending pedestrians scurrying in all directions.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:42, Thu 04 May 2023.

Farah was partly annoyed she'd been recognized. More than annoyed, their chance for intel was slipping. Still, another part of her was glad that trouble might be brewing. She didn't mind a bar room brawl. She lifted up her wine glass to feel for its weight and possible fragility in case things got dicey and then motioned for the waitress.

"Those men over there look like their watching me. They're giving me the creeps to be honest. Do you know them?" She asked with a look of feigned concern.
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:29, Mon 08 May 2023.

The waitress stood near the bar, obviously privy to the trio's hush-hush conversation. When she saw Farah beckon to her, she looked at the newcomers. A couple of words were exchanged quietly, then the waitress headed in her direction.

Farah took an appraising look at her wine glass. It was a rather delicate thing, not very good for throwing or using as an added weight for a punch. Smashed against a hard surface, however, it would easily become an improvised knife.

"Those men over there look like they're watching me", she said, when the waitress finally reached her table. "They're giving me the creeps, to be honest. Do you know them?" she asked with a look of feigned concern.

The girl looked troubled. "I, uh..." she paused, weighing her next words. "Look, lady, I would leave, if I were you. They believe they know you, and not in a good way. I don't know what your deal is, but they could be trouble."

Out of the corner of her eye Farah saw the trio discuss something, then push off the bar and head in her direction in a slow, deliberate manner, the broad-shouldered man leading the way. Farah quickly calculated the distance - it was about fifteen yards from the bar to her table, with Adhan's table situated in between.

Farah calculated possible scenarios in her head. She didn't know what her odds were with a trio of combatants, but the kid didn't seem like her counted for much. She also had some surprise backup. She simultaneously thanked and cursed the Dancer that this little quest for info was ending in a fight. She sent a quick message to Adhan.
"I can take the big one in front if you want to take the one in back, I doubt the kid will do much"
Then she sipped her glass while pondering if she could use it to quickly blind the guy in a shower of glass before beating him into submission.

Adhan looked at his comm screen and blinked in panic - fighting was not his area of expertise, especially with his stun gun locked outside. What he could do, however, was distract.

"Hey!" he shouted, leaping up as if he'd only just noticed the trio approaching Farah's table. He pointed at the kid in the back accusingly, yelling, "You ripped me off! You said there was good evidence on this!" With his other hand, he brandished the remains of the kid's thoroughly hacked comm. "The Guard won't give me crap for this!"

Gambler, give us an opening... he prayed silently.

Farah appraised the approaching trio with a trained eye. The guy in front would be the most trouble, but his relaxed gait and posture revealed that he wasn't really expecting a fight. The two others didn't seem to be brawler types, although it was always hard to be certain, given the variety of fighting styles across the Horizon. Still, she could tell that the younger hoodlum did not look too comfortable about the whole situation.

Suddenly, as the trio passed Adhan's table, he leaped to his feet and pointed accusingly at the kid in the back, brandishing the remains of the boy's comm in his other hand. "You ripped me off!" he yelled. "You said there was good evidence on this!" The procession stopped in confusion and turned to face Adhan, as he finished his diatribe. "The Guard won't give me crap for this!"

The man in the middle looked at Adhan, then at his teenage cohort. "The fuck's he talking about, Naz? That your comm?" The young hoodlum, quite surprised at the turn of events, looked back and forth between Farah and Adhan, then pointed at the woman. "She the one took in from me, man, I swear! She said she break my hand if I don't give it to her!" He looked back at Adhan. "Maybe they together, these two!"

Suddenly Adhan found himself under rather intense scrutiny. The man in the middle, obviously the leader of the trio, walked up to Adhan's table. He looked to be in his late twenties, wearing dark clothes, quite well-dressed in comparison to his two companions. Given the close distance, Adhan could make out three tear-shaped tattoos forming a triangle under the man's left eye.

The man stood on the other side of the table, examining him appraisingly for several moments, no emotions evident on his face. "I don't like you," he finally said. "You and your lady friend over there. Your interest in the family business is becoming... a bit of an issue. And now here you are, on Izza territory." He glanced in Farah's direction for a second, then returned his gaze to Adhan's face. "I don't think things are looking good for you, akhi."

"Well, screw it", thought Farah, "at least I can have a proper bar room brawl."

None of them looked to be expecting a fight and she had been acting coy all evening. They wouldn't expect her to walk over to the biggest man and knock his lights out. As she crossed the distance between herself and the front man, she came to the realization that she wasn't as good at planning recon missions as she thought. But that didn't matter. She had always been good at punching things.

Even if none of them were believing a word out of Adhan's mouth, she hoped he was distracting enough to allow her a good solid blow to the back of the head with her fist before they had realized she'd gotten up.

Her last plan didn't work, but the simplicity of this next one might: Knock em' down, question them, leave.

For his part, Adhan straightened up and raised his hands into what he hoped was a convincing fighting stance, trying to keep the men's attention on him as Farah moved into position.

"Not looking good for me?" he mocked, with a confidence he didn't feel. "You have no idea what you're up against."