We all get three karma for survival, completing a job, an getting back to Seattle.
I get one for my web site
Kat gets one for humor
UNKNOWN: Bianca visits the sites with a visiting cousin. At the space needle there are cultists with single cybereyes warning of the end of days.
I catch up with Violet. We get lunch at a noodle stand. As we're eating, a pack of black, six foot long manta rays fly overhead. How odd. The old man who runs the stand says they've passed by several times. They're "night mantas", they go to and from the feeding grounds in the middle of the city. He thinks they eat rats. He heard this on "The Awakened World," a television show.
UNKNOWN: Jane heads out looking to join a magical order. She seeks access to their library.
UNKNOWN: Bert and Derek look for a new safe-house.
Bert invites me to exercise with him. I meet him at a nice health club. Afterward we head to a bar I know (Niklas's place). While there I get a call. An unknown voice speaks. The voice wants to speak with Ref. The voice is cryptic, but warns that someone I've done business with isn't good at keeping their mouths shut. It says that a friend of mine gave the voice my number. There phone doesn't give me identifying information, just a phone number.
Crud.
Gabel calls. He's been having problems getting in touch with our prior employer. He thinks we should lie low, or leave town. He offers us out of town employment. I agree that it sounds good. We're to meet him at 10:00am tomorrow at the Buffalo Jump.
I call Gabel back a bit later; we make small talk, Gabel suggests bringing only light equipment.
A post-it note directs us to the back. There we meet a tired looking Gabel meets us. Apparently he got one of the same cryptic calls. The call came from the same number I got, it's a public phone in the Barrens.
He has two choices, whichever we don't take is what he takes. The options are east or west coast. On the west coast is northern California Free State, on the east coast is Quebec. Gabel has friends in each place. Gabel trusts those friends implicitly; they'll look for work for us. After a bit discussion. Gabel would prefer to head to CalFree, his friend there is "cute." We agree to go to Quebec.
Bert agrees to let Gabel park Bert's car somewhere safe.
Gabel takes my phone, it might be compromised.
Gabel will handle getting our equipment there, it will meet us there. Bert loans me a SMG, I left mine at home based on Gabel's suggestion earlier. We give our illegal gear to Gabel. A limo pulls up.
As we drive, we talk to Gabel. Apparently the cryptic caller complained about "untrustworthy personal." Someone had contacted the cryptic voice who wasn't good at keeping their mouth shut. I explain what our package was.
Gabel's friend in Quebec is an old friend. We'll know him as Lupus. Lupus is doing "noble work" there. Lupus is fighting for the rights of Anglophiles in Quebec.
A bit of background: Quebec is strongly French. They don't recognize some meta-humans at sentient. For example, one variant of troll has a bounty. Until recently business was legally only conducted in French.
We reach the airport, we're whisked past security without a problem, Gabel's falsified papers get us through. Before we split up, he warns us that the papers he gave us are probably only good for another twelve or so hours. He's not too concerned about our personal credsticks being tapped.
We enjoy first class on a suborbital to Montreal. We're launched to the edge of orbit, then glide back to earth. Two hours after takeoff we arrive in Montreal. Immigration and customs is surprisingly quick, our paperwork is good. Two tall men in suits are waiting there. There is also a group of Japanese schoolgirls is hanging around giggling, but they're probably not our contact.
We head up to the two men. They introduce themselves as Mark and Aaron; they're here to take us into town. We get into a small limo.
Several team members notice that the limo has gas ports and discrete camera and microphone ports. Jane eyes our hosts up. Neither of our hosts are cybered up. Mark is magical. They're excited about an upcoming letter writing campaign.
We drive through a suburban area. It's very green. We arrive at a modern two story fake-brick house. We head in. Neon green fliers cover the floor. Several hippies are sleeping on the floor in the living room. In the kitchen we meet an older man. He has a long mane f grey hair pulled into a ponytail. He is wearing a bright red bowling shirt and black slacks. The man seems a bit crotchety about the letter writing campaign. He bitches about the Quebecois putting mayonnaise on everything, but at least they have good cigars. He offers us cigars. We enjoy cigars.
Lupus is trying to get in touch with a friend of a friend to sort something out. He assure us that we won't be writing letters. Lupus isn't terribly happy with his lot in life, he doesn't like "The Wonder Twins" (Mark and Aaron), he doesn't like the country, he doesn't like hippies. Apparently Quebec is heavily political, there isn't much Asian crime syndicates, instead there are lots of special interest groups. Apparently there is a group that might want an "extraction" for "fuzzy bunnies." Said "fuzzy bunnies" would be some sort of paranormal critters.
We're going to be set up in an apartment downtown. Our gear shows up tomorrow.
Lupus mentions that he is being paid to stop the group from sitting around high.
Lupus takes us downtown is in black, beater van. The apartment block is run down, barely above a ghetto.. At one point it was probably quite arty. We head to apartment 321. The apartment is a studio. There are basic furnishings accented by a really nice trid and speakers.
Lupus mentions that the suburban home is the party headquarters for the Anglo Speaking Peoples of Quebec for an Anglo Speaking Quebec.
Lupus asks that we don't do anything iffy from the local access point; Lupus likes the apartment. He heads off.
I take a walk. From the smell we're near a wharf; I can smell fish.
Bert discovers an economic zone jointly owned by Ares and Novatech nearby. (An economic zone relaxes local laws for corporations.)