August 5th, Wednesday, 5:07 pmA message pings on your comlink. The sender: Asrian Talshra. His claim to fame: being the local leader of the Ancient's home chapter. Someone that you know well.
QuoteAsrian: Hey Zephyr, I have a problem I need your help with. Do a buddy a favor? It pays. I'm at Anarchy's Reign in my usual private room in back.
He was referring to the bar that acts as one of the gang's money laundering operations and the big meetup point for the gangers. Asrian often uses it as one of his places to hold court when he isn't directly working business.
[info]> Zephyr: Hey brother, I'm headed over there now. Is this a problem where I should bring some extra muscle? [/info]
Zephyr hops in a cab and heads off to the bar getting out a little distance away for the sake of surveillance. He is armed but has the safety on as he walks into the bar with his usual smile beaming at the bouncer as he enters.
QuoteAsrian: Up to you. Things shoudn't get too hairy. Just make sure they don't cause a scene. I've had enough of bar fights for now. I'll explain when you get here.
The cab drops you off in front of the bar, leaving you to weave your way between the rows and rows of motorcycles. The sidewalk is packed with elven gangers, easily identified by the neon green anarchy 'A' symbol patches and lights on their jackets, smaller versions of the giant glowing one that makes the most distinctive component of the bar's sign, or by one of their many tattoos. Neon green being the gang's trademark color, it crops up on everything from hair color to motorcycle neons and despite the sun still being in full blaze, you feel like everything has the slightest green tint from all the glow.
No one hassles you as you make your way into the bar's crowded main room which houses a similar clientele to the sidewalk, all elves, all sporting neon green gang accessories. The noise of chatter and laughter practically drowns out the metal music undercurrent that plays while gangers in the back appear to be playing a game of darts using switchblades for substitutes, others crowd the bar, tables, and the lone pool table.
Zephyr goes up to the private back door and knocks with 3 long knocks. "A its Z," Assuming he gets confirmation he will enter the backroom.
Asrian call you in with a simple "Come in" and you enter the private room. The room is well insulated and the rowdy noise of the bar quickly turns to a low whisper as the door closes behind you. The room is furnished with couches, chairs, a coffee table and a trid display currently showing what looks like last night's combat biking match. Asrian is sitting on the couch with the coffee table in front of it and around which all the other furniture is organized, comlink in one hand and beer in the other as he watches the trid. As you come in he mutes the match and motions you to take a seat.
"Hey, glad you could make it. Drink?" He says as he leans back into the couch and pointing to the bowl of ice with beers chilling in it on the coffee table. "How's shit going? I heard you took a hit on your last job and that's why you were looking for work the other week. You know I could have loaned you the scratch right? Friends and family discount too."
"Anytime man," Zephyr said as he sat down across from Asiran waving off the offer for a drink as he did so. "Life's been good man, I did take a hit on a job, but you know that is always a risk when dealing with an unknown Johnson and a newish fixer. I didn't want to burn bridges so I took the hit."
At the mention of money, Zephyr waved the offer off even more vehemently than the offer for a drink. "I really appreciate the offer A, but there is the saying that borrowing money from family only breeds bad blood. You are like a brother to me man and I had everything I needed with a little extra effort for the month."
"Speaking about work, what can I help you with?"[/color]
"Whatever you say. I can at least pay you for this job, should go a ways to making rent." He replies as he takes a swig of beer before continuing. "I need you to find one of my boys. Last night some of my guys got in a bar fight and one of them died. It happens, we lose a lot of our new members that think the patch makes them invincible. Under normal circumstances I'd have a posse rounded up to go beat the shit out of the offending bar brawler and get enough money out of them for a funeral and ongoing reparations but the brawler in question is made with the Italians. I can't have beef with them so I ordered my boys to drop it and move on but one of them didn't. Now he's not at his apartment or answering his com and left pissed and looking for a fight. I need you to bring him in before he does something more stupid than refusing a direct order from me."
"Foward me his commlink code I might know a decker who can track it. Also, toss me any details you have about your boy. At the very least I should be able to find him using his astral signature if he is that pissed. Send me the bar address, and I can start from there." Zephyr paused for a moment as he made an inventory in his head.
"Does this hot rod know that his target is connected? If he does he may try to go for larger firepower to make a point. I would call your contacts to ask if he has stopped by for extra lead and try to blacklist him for the time being just to cover your ass."
"Do you think he knows where to hit the target personally or would he be stupid enough to step to an Italian outpost? "
Zephyr will send a note to Joe as they talk. "Oh, and what are you thinking for pay?"
[info]>Zephyr: Hey you got a few hours I have a job for you. Simple track and retrieve of a stupid kid with an itchy trigger finger. The goal is to grab him before he ends up geeked. [/info]
"His name's Sam Shaeun, here's his comcode and the bar." He says as he works his com to send you an ARO with the information. "He knows the guy is made from when I told him to drop it and I've told all my guys to bag him if he shows up anywhere we keep the guns. He's gone off the reservation so if he's going to get a gun he'll need to go outside the gang for it. I don't know how much he knows about the mafioso but his stupidity apparently knows no bounds if he dares to ignore me." He cracks his knuckles for emphasis. "As for pay, two grand is what I was thinking."
"The pay sounds good," Zephyr paused "When you told Sam to drop the matter where did you do it? And who was the poor fool who got geeked? I want to see if I can track him in the astral and knowing spirits I might be able to get some help if your chummer is still floating around."
"I called him on his com and he hung up on me. As for where I was: right here earlier today. Dunno where he was himself. As for the guy that died his name was Leo Vara."
[info] Flea > I can probably spare some time. We got any info to go on? [/info]
"I'll let you know how it goes and bring you back your boy in one piece." Zephyr smiled.
[info]> Zephyr: I've got a commlink code, the pup's name, who his target works for and a place to start looking. Mind picking me up? Just pull up a block away and don't get out of the van. I would split the 2000 nuyen with you to help me keep this clean.
[/info]
"Thanks, you can rough him up a little if he needs that kind of persuasion, he's got it coming, but make sure he gets here alive. I don't want anymore of my guys dead. Need anything else before you go?"
[info] Flea > Sure thing, chummer. I'll see ya in a bit, we can figure out some further details in the van. Lots of good things happen in vans.[/info]
"Not off the top of my head," Zephyr smiled. "If anything comes up I'll give you a call." He waves standing and will leave the bar and walk a block to wait for Joe.
It is not long before Flea arrives at the bar. The gangers outside eye the unmarked van as it pulls up to the bar and the atmosphere tenses up a little as some of them put a hand on their guns. The chatter takes a lower tone as more of them take notice and become curious of the new arrival.
[info]Rough time 6:15 pm[/info]
Zephyr opens the side door of the van and hops in the back with a smile. "Thanks for the pickup, we are headed for this bar as the first stop to see if we can get the scent."
He forwards the address to the commlink along with the number of the target. "Here is all the data I have on Sam Shaeun, elven pup going after someone working for the Italians. I'm going to go dead in the back here and see if I can't magically scope out the bar and get us some clues. That way, we can make this whole thing go faster. We should leave this neighborhood before someone gets itchy. Then it's your call if you want to park and dive to the digital or meet my soul at the bar. I'll wait to dive before we decide."
"This seems more like the physical type of job. Dude doesn't seem big enough to be posted about on the matrix so I'll have to get some boots on the ground. I'll park a bit away but not too far so that I can get back quickly if things take a turn for the worse." Jing was a bit nervous. He was decent enough in a fight if one broke out but he wasn't a fan of going it alone.
"I was hoping you could somehow ping his commlink and get a closer location? We need to find him first and foremost if my spirit walkabout fails. But regardless, we should get a move on before Sam has a chance to get himself killed and the Italians even more pissed off." Zephyr says sitting back in the van.
"Well, it is time to earn my pay." He smiles before leaving his body and speeding off as a spirit to the bar where the fight took place.
Zephyr
You arrive at the bar after a few minutes of astral flight. The evening is still young, yet despite that the bar appears to be doing good business. While it's physical features are difficulty to discern through the haze of the astral, you are at least aware that the neighborhood it is located in is of solidly upper middle class and the dinner rush of the civilian corporate types is just starting judging by the current occupancy of the bar.
[info]Make an astral perception check[/info]
[info]Assensing
int+assensing
[blockquote]Rolled 8d6 : 6, 1, 4, 4, 4, 1, 2, 2, total 24[/blockquote][/info]
The bar is awash with emotions: love, lust, stress, joy. This, coupled with the crowd of auras makes it difficult to get much of an idea of what imprints might have been left from the fight last night just at a glance of the main room as a whole.
[info]There is a single awakened in the bar though you are not sure if they are a worker or patron and they are not currently dual natured. There are no spirits in the astral space of the bar.[/info]
Jing parked a few blocks from the bar and began the walk over, he occasionally took a look at what devices were broadcasting, on the off chance that the kid they're looking for didn't go silent. When he arrived at the bar, he walked in casually and looked for a seat at the bar, before ordering a drink and taking in the gossip.
Flea is able to find space to squeeze in at the end of the crowded bar and the bartender gets him his drink. As they set the drink down on its coaster Flea sees their eye drift over to his gun. They visibly tense up at this. "Look, I don't know if we're like listed as a fighting bar or something as a joke but we really don't want any more trouble. Can you just take your drink and leave? After last night I really don't want to have to call in the cavalry again." He said as he looked over to Flea's neighbor: an elf in armored suit that screams more money than fashion sense and hands that say 'I punch stuff.'
The elf doesn't look up from his comlink while he responds. "Fuck, what's the point of free drinks if someone keeps killing your buzz?" The bartender gives him a pleading look. "Come on, isn't this the point of paying you protection money?" He hisses, trying to keep the other patrons from taking more notice than they already have. "Yeah but if this keeps up then so might our rates." Replies the elf before finally turning to look Flea up and down. "Piss off buddy, this establishment if for well-to-do folk. There, you happy?" He adds looking at the bartender.
[info]Rough time 6:45 pm[/info]
"Don't worry chummer, I'm not looking for trouble either, I'm looking to stop it. Did the events last night deal with a guy named Sam? If you can answer a couple questions for me, I'll gladly be on my way. Trouble is the last thing I'm after." Jing hoped that the men would be reasonable, and that the bouncer wouldn't try to do his bouncing before he got a few answers.
The bartender seems to look relieved at this. "I don't know their names if you're talking about the Ancient punks that crashed the bar. They came in and were making a mess, they were scaring the customers so I asked them to leave. Then one of them threatened me. Said 'do you even know who we are?' Then Ray stepped in and shit went sideways. I heard one of them died but they had it coming. First time I was glad I pay my protection money." The elf raises his empty glass. "... And free drinks. Speaking of?" He jingled the lone ice cube around and the bartender poured him another finger. The elf keeps an eye on the alcohol pouring into his glass while he speaks again. "So why're you here? You're not a cop, you're not an Ancient, and you're not one of my associates." He took a sip of his drink, keeping his eyes on Flea.
As Zephyr listened to the conversation at the bar he was happy that his body had remained in the van to avoid further issues. Turning back to the environment, in general, he did his best to focus on any clues that would appear in the astral. If he could find some leftover blood of the dead or wounded, or better yet a whisp of wrath, bravado, and loss then he might be able to track down Sam with it.
Sinking down to the floor he used his astral speed to scan every surface where blood could get after a brawl looking for the blacks and red of those dark emotions.
[info]Looking for clues in detail on the astral
[blockquote]Rolled 8d6 : 4, 1, 6, 6, 2, 4, 5, 5, total 33[/blockquote][/info]
It takes some work sifting through the emotional sea that is the bar but eventually you are able to find an imprint that might be the fight. It is weak at this point and likely to fade away by the end of the night but you are able to tease out a turbulent interweaving of emotions including anger, fear, pride, excitement, and jealousy. The imprint is around the middle of the bar and you do not notice any associated awakened astral signatures.
[info]Note: this psychic impression is not an astral signature of an individual but a communal imprint and you are not able to identify specific auras from it. Gaining further information from this imprint requires the Psychometry metamagic.[/info]
Zephyr takes a moment to take a mental snapshot of the aura before returning to his body in the back of the van. Gasping for breath, he takes a moment to center himself and then moves to send flea a message.
[info]
>Z: I found what evidence I could on the Astral. Assuming what your new drinking buddy said is true it looks like we found Sam's target. Think this area has cameras? Think it is worth acting as a guardian angel for this guy for a while?
If we can narrow down the search radius I can try to find Sam down in the astral maybe a block or two and I have a high chance to find our catch. I would prefer to not enter the bar in the real world, my colors make people assume things.[/info]
"I'm just a fellow that was asked to stop this kid from getting himself into more trouble. Honestly don't know the kid, but its a favor for a friend. Doubles as a good excuse to check out a new bar. Gotta say I like your stuff. You have any idea where I might be able to find the guys from yesterday?" Jing swirled the drink in his glass and took another sip.
"The morgue I guess. But something tells me the punk was SINless so I dunno, nearest ditch? And fuck if I know where his buddy went. As for Ray..." You notice the telltale glint of avarice in the elf's eye. "How much is it worth to you? You know, I can't just finger one of my associates for nothing." He grins slyly as he swirls the ice cubes around in his glass.
"Good question. Ray sounds like he can take care of himself, so I'm not so sure that I need to find him."
Jing responded to Zephyr's message.
[info] Flea>> You think we can find this guy without giving up some scratch?[/info]
[info]>Z: that's your call man, I am not in tune with the techno magics, but my method will require one to find the other. I only have a base imprint so if I know where Ray is it makes it easier to find sam assuming Sam is hunting Ray. I need something to shrink the search radius. Assuming my hunch is right.[/info]
[info] Flea >> If the kid isn't gonna listen to his own people, he probably wouldn't listen to us. Finding Ray might be our best bet, since we'll likely have to blind side the kid with some force to get him to go home, instead of washing up somewhere down river.[/info]
[info]>Z: Get us something to find Ray, and if Sam is as stupid as we think, I can find him with a bit of luck. I have his general signature memorized[/info]
Jing glanced over at Ray. "However, if I did want to talk to Ray, what do you think it would take to arrange a meeting?"
The elf leans back on his stool and strokes his chin pensively. "Well we're all friendly here, so how's about a favor? At a time and value of my choosing of course."
"Not the biggest fan of a owing favors, but it's not a bad deal. I'd prefer if whatever you need in the future isn't too messy, but can't control what you need help with." Jing wasn't too excited about owing someone, but at least he saved some money currently.
"Excellent, always good to have someone owe you." Said the elf as he put down his drink for once and stuck out his hand for a shake. "The name's Vincent Romano. You?"
Jing accepted the handshake. "Jing Yang. Some people call me Joe. Always happy to meet someone new. Glad we could see eye to eye."
"Oh, I'm sure we'll be good friends Joe. Ray is working guard duty at one of our establishments run out of the back of a deli." He pulled out his comlink and flicked up an ARO with his details and the name of the deli: Taste of Italy Delicatessen. He returns his glass to its rightful place in his hand and takes a sip. "Don't call me I'll call you. And don't try and jew me out of this favor. I've got a reputation to uphold."
"They might say a lot of things about me, but I never back out of a deal." Jing finished his drink and set the glass down on the bar. "I should be getting a move on, thanks for the info." He left the bar, heading back towards his van to meet with Zephyr and give him the new information.