Session 2, Part 1: Infinity

 

Another day, another struggle for survival on the mean streets of the sprawl. It's raining, Lone Star's running a high-profile "serve and protect" visibility campaign lately, and the pickings have been a little lean for the team. Occupational hazard, they gotta make a rep before they get the good jobs, but they gotta get the good jobs before they can make a rep. 

Life isn't cheap, and while he’s managed to stow away a few extra creds for upcoming months, Howling Yumi knows it's not going to last forever. While pondering his future a familiar number pops up in his AR display. Zeven is on the line, and usually that means one thing- a job. Cred. For his team it’s a way to earn that next boost, or better cyberware, reputation, glory, or even just the next thrill.

"Yeah, I got a job for you," Zeven says, confirming Yumi’s thoughts. "Looks like something you guys should be able to handle. Meet Mr. Johnson at 21:00 at Infinity. The meet'll be in one of the private conference rooms- tell the elf bartender chica that you're with the Johnson party and she'll show you where to go. Oh, and dress like you know what you're doing, willya?”

***

A couple members of the team gathered up at the Infinity the night before the meet, taking the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the surroundings should anything go south. They found the club to bristling with those in the scene, an inferno of bass driven music mixed with everything tres chic and nova hot. 

The found the Infinity networked to the hilt, with everything from public safety AROs to augmented entertainment and social networking applications.  Menus and liquor lists for the bar, different music broadcasts on different AR channels, notices for upcoming events and ads for stores where the hottest clubwear.

It didn't take long until everyone began to get solicitations from members of both sexes to do everything from dance to go off in a private for for a little extracurricular activity. 


"Nice legs, what time do they open?" zipped a message across Lennies AR.

It didn't take long for her to hack his comm-link and have him buy half the place a round of drinks before he rushed the bar in attempt to stop the auto-pour behind the bartender. That would teach the bastard.

While the night began as a quick once over for business, it quickly divulged into a night on the town, the runners joining in on the scene and losing themselves on the hedonistic dance floor. 

Getting into Infinity went much easier than expected. It seemed Zimmer knew one of staff at the club and managed to get their group on the list. While some of them didn’t manage to fit the dress code to the T, the good referral meant they didn’t get the second glance from the boys out front.

The best thing was that Zimmer's contact was the female bartender on duty, Sarissa herself. Which meant that they didn't have to play the games they often had to get the info they needed. It usually just ended up handing over a few extra cred, but in Sarissa's case, maybe it would have been more fun to play the games.


Sarissa was the hot as drek bartender that mixed drinks though more importantly company from behind the counter. A controlled mix of mischievous and professional, she always got the job done but had you coming back for more. She and Zimmer seemed to have a comfortable rapport between them, though it was hard to tell how far that went.

While Zimmer caught up with Sarrisa, Joe sipped from his glass as his eyes surveyed the crowd dancing to the pulsing beats reverberating throughout the popular nightclub. Near center he found Yumi and Indira dancing, moving to the rhythm as holograms mimicked them above the dance floor. Being a club hopper, Indy was far better a dancer, but Yumi’s youth and enthusiasm made up for his inexperience as the couple mixed it in with the rest, melding into the crowd of gyrating bodies.

Spiders walked through the room astrally, trying to gauge any threat from anyone who might be using magic. There were a few others projecting and enjoying themselves here, but nothing flagged itself to him as a concern. That said, the place did have a couple mages watching over the place, combined with some spirits and elementals phasing in and out here and there, but it was expected when a club made as much as nuyen as this place. On top of that every wall and door had a barrier, to offer privacy to those who wanted or expected it.

Eventually Yumi pulled Indira out of the crowd, as they both made their way up to the bar to join the others. Lennie sat in a chair as she tested the buildings nodes in AR, staying out of a full VR immersion. She kept the public floor plan handy, it was far more detailed than the swill the buildings ARO displayed in everyone’s AR. She didn’t care where the bathrooms and sushi bar were, she needed the location of every window, exit and the access ways between floors.

She only caught the end of the conversation.

“The Blue Room,” Yumi repeated, nodding at Sarrisa. The room popped up on their AR right after and they followed the ramp to second floor. Spiders had to manifest to get through the door. 

Inside sat a Troll of medium height, no longer young but not quite middle-aged. He’s handsome in a rugged sort of way, wearing a purple and chartreuse suit in the latest style that somehow manages to stay on the tasteful side.

“Welcome,” he says, smiling. “Please sit down. I’m Mr. Johnson, and I trust that Zeven sent you.  Can I get you anything?”

Two of the serving staff, a young male and female quickly enter and leave the room, filling any orders or requests the group may have.

“Shall we get down to business, then?

“Someone has stolen an object from the people I represent. We would like to get it back quickly, as we have reason to believe that this person is trying to sell it. What you’re looking for is some music-related data that’s important to my employer’s business. I don’t know who stole it- my employer’s home was broken into a couple days ago, and the disk was taken along with some other items in which we have no particular interest. Your best bet is probably to keep your ears open to whatever channels you think might be appropriate- if the thief is going to sell it, word will have to get out that it’s available. The object storing the data is an old style optical disk. We want both disk and data returned, in the eventuality that the one no longer resides on the other. In case it’s not clear, my employers don’t want the disk’s data getting into the hands of anyone but themselves, so if the data gets out, we expect you to track down and eliminate any copies.

“Once you’ve located it, the second part of the job is to track down the person who’s offer it for sale- probably not the same person who’s offering the information, since the thief will probably be working through intermediaries- and get the disk back. You can do this in whatever way you see fit: if you can get it back by making an offer for it, my employer can cover the arrangement and take care of getting my money back later. If you’d prefer something a little more larcenous, that’s fine too. Just do it as quickly as possible and make sure the disk is not harmed.

“I’m authorized to offer your team 12,000 nuyen for the job, half up front and half upon the return of the disk to me. Do we have a deal?”

And that was it. The group accepted the job. Sat back after the troll left and took advantage of the free drinks that were being billed to the room. While some of them went to consider what contacts they were going to get a hold of, others took advantage of the opportunity and enjoyed themselves at the club until the late hours.