Scene 1

Prologue:
Some of you have been working together for a while, some are newer additions to the group. You have all worked together as a team at least once before. Your last job together went swimmingly. Some cheating company man got thrown out of his swanky apartment and hired your team to steal back all of the stuff that his wife was set to take in the divorce. Milk run.

That job came from Vinyl. He's an Ork that used to run the shadows as a face. Now he leverages the connections he made during that life to run his new business of being a fixer. He gets people in touch with other people... for a fee. He takes his clients and their needs very seriously, but once the business is done, he'll be the first one at the dance club living life to the fullest. He's warm, friendly, and rather flirtatious with the ladies. He loves to have a good time.

Scene 1:
It's a typical Spring Monday in Tacoma: Smoggy, drizzly, and generally unpleasant. Most of you have lived in the area your whole lives and are used to the weather. The "Tacoma Aroma" isn't particularly bad today, the wind is mostly from the North bringing with it a constant chill.

Throughout the early to mid afternoon you are all contacted by Vinyl. He knows you all at least well enough to know if you prefer voice or text, and always makes sure to use the right one. Staying on people's good side is his job and he's good at it. Vinyl tells you all that he has a client that he wants you to meet. They'll be at a sports bar/grill called Sideliners at 19:00 (7:00pm). They serve food there, but the Johnson won't be eating with you. Please wait until business is concluded to order food.

I'm assuming everybody is going to accept the invitation. Does anyone want to show up early to stake the place out? Does anyone want to intentionally arrive late? Is anyone going to carpool and arrive together? If you don't have a car and aren't carpooling, are you going to take a cab or the bus?

Vinyl talking to Rinse over comms:
"Come on, Rinse. You know the shadows don't work that way. The Johnson won't even give me the details until we all meet. What I can tell you is that it's some kind of a heist, but that you should be able to pull it off quietly if nobody frags it up."

Lo is easily the first one of the group there. Sideliners Sports Bar is in North Eastern Tacoma. It's a contrast to the places most runners are used to meeting. It's brightly lit, the staff is friendly (or at least they pretend to be) and the patrons don't spend most of their time scowling and looking over their shoulders.

There's a bar in the center of the public area with several large trideo screens hanging from the ceiling. Around the edges of the dining area are several booths and tables where couples, small groups, and families sit and eat dinner.On the trideo screen, you can tell that there is a Hockey game getting underway. At first glance, you don't see anything out of the ordinary. No one appears to be watching the restaurant or preparing for an ambush. Fully scouting the area will require a Perception + Intuition [Mental] test.

Does anyone else want to do anything to prepare before heading over to the meet?

F4d30ut, as you're the decker I assume you will also be looking in the Matrix (probably AR, though that's up to you) for suspicious activity as well as the the meat world. Matrix perception will be Computer + Intuition limited by the Data Processing stat of your deck. Which, I'm assuming will probably be the highest rating of your deck when you're making the test.

Lo finishes his third sweep of the perimeter, checking all the nearby alleyways and parking lots. He doesn't notice anything out of the ordinary. There are some local street gangers in the area, but that's to be expected. None of the gangers appear to be from any notable gangs.Almost as soon as Lo plops his rear on a bench to wait for the group, Rinse shows up.Rinse walks into the middle-class sports bar at 18:38. Just as he gets to the hostess stand the bar erupts in a round of cheers and groans from the other patrons. The place is packed. Rinse throws a quizzical look at the uniformed human girl behind the stand. "Flames just tied up the game at the end of the first period," she says by way of explanation. She starts to look at her chart to tell Rinse how long the wait will be when he tells her that there's a reservation. Vinyl thought ahead and made a reservation under "Vinyl Industries" to be sure you all got a table.

The hostess checks on the reservation and tells Rinse that the table won't be ready for at least 10 minutes. She invites you to browse the menu on your commlink while you wait.

Several minutes pass while the commentators on the trid talk about how the game is going and how the players have been performing that season. A few other diners come in while Rinse waits and they are all told that the wait will be at least 45 minutes. Eventually, Andy and F4d30ut get there. The pair takes a quick circuit around the lot to check things out, but don't see anything particularly suspicious. Actually, you lot are the most suspicious people in the area just now.

The Matrix doesn't really show anything either. A few of the gangers in the area, the ones that are much too full of themselves, have AROs showing their symbols and colors. For now, this neighborhood appears to be having a quiet evening. Of course, it's still early.

Inside, F4d30ut in particular notices how crowded and noisy the place is. There just seem to be a lot of bodies in there all rubbing shoulders and elbows together, especially by the bar. It's rather unsettling. There is also a large ARO above the bar indicating the current score:

Detroit Red Wings: 3
Calgary Flames: 3
End of First Period

The hostess is visibly relieved when Andy and F4d30ut join Rinse in the waiting area. Shortly after that the Game appears to be starting up again and the general hum of the restaurant raises noticeably. It isn't long before Vision walks in to join the group.

As soon as Vision steps out of the cab she unfocuses her physical eyes and begins to see the world of the Astral. She can see the astral forms of every patron and employee in the restaurant. She sees that there are a small number of magically active people in the establishment, but notices no evidence of spells, wards, or spirits in the area. She can tell, however, that someone was recently murdered in a nearby alley. The taint of the act is still splashed across the Astral plane, even over a day later.

Soon after Vision joins the part waiting in the restaurant, the hostess approaches the party and tells you all that the table is ready. She leads you through the restaurant to a booth in the corner of the dining area. This is as far as you can get from the din of the bar area. Once you are all seated, the hostess tells you that your server will be Whitney and she should be along shortly.

Even with the majority of his attention on the information coming from the Matrix, F4d30ut sees Vinyl as he parks his Lexus sedan in the parking lot of the restaurant. The familiar signal of Vinyl's PAN announces his presence to the skilled Decker.

Thanks to the heads-up from F4d30ut, the entire group looks up as the fixer steps into the restaurant and makes his way toward the table.

Vinyl is short for an Ork, standing at 163cm. His skin is cinnamon and his features look Mediterranean. Vinyl has short, dark brown hair and a cool demeanor. His cybereyes are designed to look innocuous, but are obviously artificial if you look closely. He is never afraid to meet anyone's gaze because he's always sure that he can get you something that you need. Vinyl dresses well for someone in the streets, preferring slacks and a blazer instead of leather, denim, and chains. Vinyl will sometimes wear a simple steel necklace, but otherwise wears no jewelry. His left leg is obviously a cyber replacement. It moves smoothly, but there is an audible whir whenever he walks.

"It's good to see everyone," Vinyl says as he gets to the table. The Ork slides into one edge of the curved bench seat, leaving the chair in the aisle open for the Johnson. Vinyl flashes a toothy smile at the group, "Thank you all for coming, the Johnson will be joining us shortly." Taking another look around, Vinyl cocks his head, "Where's F4d30ut? Too noisy in here for him?"

From the car, F4d30ut sees a message heading out from Vinyl's Pan heading into the Matrix. This message is likely signaling the Johnson to come in to meet the crew.

Moments after Vinyl takes his seat, F4d30ut sees a Black Eurocar sedan pull into the restaurant parking lot and park. A well-built white human man gets out of the driver's seat. He is accompanied by a slimmer man who exits the back of the car. After a look around the parking lot, the pair heads into Sideliners.

The first man through the door it the larger of the two. He pauses by the entrance and scans the room before stepping aside and allowing the smaller man in. The bodyguard stays by the door watching the room as you get your first good look at Mr. Johnson.

Johnson is a white human male in his mid to late twenties. His suit is clean and pressed, but not terribly expensive. It looks like a department store buy and is clearly not tailored. He looks somewhat nervous, like he doesn't really belong. He keeps looking around like he expects a fight to break out any second.

The bodyguard however does not look nervous. He is also wearing a suit, but it looks to fit him better despite his size. He makes little effort to conceal the bulge of a weapon under his suit jacket.

Vinyl glances up at the man as he approaches the table and pushed out the chair for the man. "Everyone," Vinyl begins, "this is Mr. Johnson."

Vision slowly leans back into her seat, crossing her arms. She carefully studies Mr. Johnson, trying to read as much information from his body language as possible. He seems nervous, he is probably not used to meeting with shadowrunners. Vision stars directly at Mr. Johnson trying to make him feel uneasy, if she can instill a healthy amount of fear in him than he will be less likely to attempt fragging us over when the job is done.

F4d30ut
Trying to concentrate on the meet and running your search at the same time clearly isn't the most productive way to go about things. You aren't able to glean much from your initial search. You do manage to find out that the bodyguard has a few counts of assault against him. But that's about it at this time.

Vision
You just can't seem to get much of a read on the two men. Maybe the commotion of the crowd is distracting you. Maybe the emotions of the area are clouding your astral sight. Whatever the reason, all that you can gather from your assensing is that Johnson is nervous, the bodyguard is slightly annoyed but mostly bored, and neither of them are magically active.

The calm, slightly friendly, but mostly professional demeanor of the group puts Mr. Johnson at ease and he visibly seems to calm down. At least he stops looking over his shoulder constantly. The man takes a moment to look at everyone then sits in the chair that Vinyl pushed out for him.

Seeing that the human isn't exactly sure how to start, Vinyl prompts him, "Mr. Johnson has an errand that he needs run. He asked me to find a few people that could do the job and I picked out you five." He turns to look at the man, "Mr. Johnson, why don't you tell us what we can do for you?"

Taking the prompt, Johnson begins speaking. His accent marks him as coming from this part of the world, though probably not "inner-city". He speaks smoothly, but he stops occasionally to swallow and look around the table. "The job is pretty simple. There is a package being delivered to this address." Anyone not viewing AR will get a notification from their commlink that they have a new message. Anyone viewing AR will immediately see a text message from Vinyl with an address in southern Tacoma. "The package is being shipped through a carrier called North American Freight. It should get to the Tacoma distribution center sometime Wednesday and is scheduled to be delivered Thursday. I need you to pick up the package before it is delivered, and bring it to me unopened."

Max is able to get the location of the North American Freight distribution center and the location of the address from publicly available data. Unfortunately the projected route between the two is only a direct route and assumes that there won't be any other deliveries made by that truck. Not exactly useful information.

Likewise, his search for demographic and crime statistics for the area also turn up nothing.

The Johnson swallows and seems to be reading something in his AR. "The package is coming from a company called 'Intelligent Supplies'," he says somewhat mechanically. "Unfortunately, the information that my sources were able to get did not include detailed shipping or tracking information." As he relays that information, he almost flinches as if he expects to be berated, but it only lasts a moment. "What I am able to tell you is that, based on the cost of shipping, the package should be between 35 and 50 kilos."

Johnson sits and listens to your questions, occasionally focussing his gaze on his AR view before responding. "The package is being shipped through a commercial carrier. I would not expect any heightened security for a simple delivery." He looks around the room, being sure to look back at the bodyguard by the door. Despite Rinse's attempts to calm him down, the man appears to be getting more agitated the more questions you ask him. "The uh," he stumbles over his words and looks around at the group. "The specific contents of the package are of no concern to you. However, it should be handled as if it is fairly delicate, but not hazardous."

At Andy's question, Vinyl speaks up, "You call me when the job's done. I'll contact Mr. Johnson here and set up a drop off. Once he verifies the package he'll wire payment to me and I'll hand it off to you."

As the meet begins to draw to a close, Vinyl clears his throat conspicuously. "Mr. Johnson has offered a fee of 25,000¥ for completion of this job." Johnson nods at Vinyl and then at the group as he rises from the table. The bodyguard by the door seems to have never let his attention waver as the meeting went on. With one final look around the room, the large man precedes his charge through the door and the pair are gone.

With the financiers of your job gone, Vinyl sighs and turns to address the group. "I know some of you haven't been in the shadows very long. Some free advice from an old runner: never forget to ask what you're being paid. You just might end up doing a job for free." His wisdom dispensed, Vinyl smiles showing off his long teeth. "How about we order some grub?"