//File 2.1 - Clint, Hotaru, Gon//

Hotaru had plenty of exchange with Japanese riggers and racers in the past, but because of share interest and his expertise, the culture had never been an issue. This was something new that he wasnt sure he could get used too. In a few short sentence the lady Mr Johnson had managed to insult his judgment, manners, skills and intelligence while claiming some kind of moral high ground AND claiming ownership of him at the same time. She also expected to receive all the data without giving anything in return upfront and kept hiding the identity of the group she was working for, which did not stop her from claiming that working for them, whoever "they" were was the highest reward and value of all. Hotaru was not a violent person, but he really considered activating the Roto drone and unloading a burst of assault rifle into her abdomen just to see her smug expression turn into shocked surprise. Hey, maybe that would have proven his rigger skill and earned him a car!

Joking aside, Hotaru layed out his options in his quickened mind. There was indeed some shitty wind here, but the worst element was that he lost his own flow. He had to focus on something he could control, no matter how small. So, he swallowed his wounded pride and rebellious tendencies, then addressed the Mr. Johnson

"If we have some time before you share with us the layout of your plan, I'd like a moment to thank Mr Westwood properly and in private for rescuing me in the train station.

Hotaru never had any interest or skill in lying, but he had already understood that blatant lie and lie of omission were commonplace here : you just had to act insulted if somebody point them out and that was something he could do.

Amused by the kid's discovery of the pleasures of shadowrunning, Go ahead kid, I'm listening.

"The room is yours." The woman smiled calmly, and exited after her guard. "I shall return in half an hour."

"Alors, avec qui est-ce que je suis en train de m'embarquer exactement?

[ +- ] Translation

So, who am i getting in bed with here?

J'ai été engagé par Mr. Ozaka pour t'escorter toi et ton colis jusqu'à la Tengu corporation. Si ça peut te rassurer, mon employeur a payer pour ta sécurité autant que celle du colis...

Et qui est ce monsieur Ozaka? Et sérieusement, après tout ces délais, mon arrivé la bas va être louche. Dis moi, le colis devait arriver la bas avec ou sans son contenu?"

Clint had a chance to fill Hotaru in on his perspective. It seemed that the woman's mission for Clint was as she had described it. Clint was meant to rescue Hotaru and the package. Although Hotaru still suspected that, had it not been for the value of the package, the woman would not have been so altruistic. All the same, the woman was the first person who didn't try to coerce Hotaru into doing anything. She was prepared to let him walk away, once she found that the contents of the case was missing.

On Clint's part, he felt that his relationship with Ozaka was further strengthened by the completion of this mission. Ozaka was in his debt, and in Japan, debt and duty were important concepts, and he was prepared to fulfil his promise to help Ozaka get to the bottom of this mystery, both to find Ozaka's lost cargo from the plane, and Hotaru's stolen mutagen. These two were clearly linked in some way.

Arai said nothing throughout this affair so far, her thoughts focussed on what might happen next, now that she had agreed to the next mission.

The woman re-entered. "We have had a chance to run a brief search. The two runners are masked by some magic, which made the astral trace less reliable. However, word on the sprawl sighted a woman and a large humanoid in the vicinity of a known Watada-gumi front, Matsuyo Pachinko Parlour in Shinjuku. We know it is a contact point for black market simsense chips. Perhaps it is also the location for the handoff of the mutagen the runners stole. Your assignment is to head there now and verify that these are the runners we are looking for, and if so, intercept the trade deal by whatever means necessary. "

Turning to Hotaru, "Have you decided on a new name Mr Etienne? Speak here. Eiji will complete the retinal and fingerprint scan for you on this datachip, which you can then use to overwrite your internal commlink. You will use the car you arrived in. Hayasa will transfer the voice activation to you. I trust you are able to handle an upgraded Skyline.

Mr Westwood, I trust you are well enough to continue the mission. Ms Arai, you may requisition whatever supplies you need from the clinic."

For now everything is just fine. But if you could arrange later for a fake sin, mine was burned at the airport when I arrived....

"Jack Edwards"

And just like that, Hotaru registered his first fake identity in neo-Tokyo, to protect himself against the law and stay hidden in the shadows.

"Yes Mr Westwood, that would be wise to do. Consider that arranged when you return."

Hotaru found Hayasa waiting outside by the car. "I've kept it in one piece for six months. Don't wreck it on your first day." The satnav to all of neo-Tokyo was immediately available and overlaid in Hotaru's AR view.The journey from quiet street of the back alley clinic to the sprawling arcology of the Shinjuku district took only fifteen minutes in Hotaru's expert hands. The roads became wider, the buildings taller, more brightly lit, some over a hundred storeys tall, blotting out the night sky with their own constellations of neon. The main thoroughfare itself was still abuzz with traffic; it was a zone that did not sleep, with hovercars and drones above like electric sheep.

Matsuyo Pachinko Parlour wasn't difficult to find at all. It was one of the larger establishments occupying the main block along one of the five or six streets dedicated to leisure, entertainment and other such services. Brightly lit entrances led to VIP bars, darker ones to adult venues. Simsense virtual reality cinemas interspersed them. The stretch of bars alone was bustling in frenetic activity, drunken saraimen already spilling out on the road. Even in the Sixth World, the Japanese passion for pachinko outweighed many other forms of legalised gambling, watching little metal balls go round and round, giving it its distinctive onomatopoeic name, 'pachinko'. Sure, the machines now were louder, the neon lights flashier, even the balls were now holographic, but profits from these gambling parlours were through the roof. Many of them were fronts for other dealings in the back room, run by syndicates. And in Japan, there was only one kind of crime syndicate.

Hotaru will jack in the car to drive there, with the rotodrone in the car trunk and the hornet and dog in the car

Once there, he will drop people at the location and either let the car drive in circle in autopilot or park while he scan the area with the 2 drones discreetly.

Clint opens a comm line to Hotaru to stay connected and enters the bar, looking for the two runners described earlier...
Garde-moi informé si tu vois quelque chose d'inhabituel...

The pachinko parlour sat along a busy street of bars, entertainment centres and one or two eateries along a busy . Hotaru considered having his Skyline cruise on autopilot, but that would simply be making the car go in circles around the block over and over. There was street side parking further up, a couple of buildings away. No one batted an eyelid as he stood on the street with his anthrodrone next to him and his hornet weaving above. The technologically advanced areas of neo-Tokyo saw various drones going about their business overhead. At least two of the entertainment establishments had miniature camera drones projecting the name of the establishments as large advertisements.

Clint entered the parlour. He wasn't famliar with the game, but to him the hall he entered appeared like the many casinos he had sent before. Rows and rows of machines, like jackpot machines, and numerous players seated before them. A central area had even louder, bigger pachinko machines, which projected spinning hologaphic balls as they rolled around in a myriad of patterns, before clinking and chinking repeatedly. The place was a colourful kaleidescope of gaming. Of the two persons Hotaru described to him there was no sign. But Hotaru had reminded him that the woman was capable of illusion magic, and may not appear exactly as what Clint saw in Hotaru's recording.

Clint tries to stay focused and looks for strange behaviors...

On the street, surveying the gambling parlour from the outside, Hotaru could detect no immediate threat. There was a standard security man at the door, but he was discreet. Matsuyo's entrance after all was glitzy and meant to draw crowds, not turn them away. Of the duo they came to find there was no sign; it was more likely that they were still inside.

Inside, Clint strode in, surrounded by players who paid little attention to him, even dressed as he was in his cowboy gear. Evidently, along this entertainment street, there wasn't much to surprise the regulars. Standard casino security personnel manned the floor, that much was obvious. There was the main entrance which he came from, and side entrances leading back out to the street. To the rear of the gaming hall were doors leading out, presumably to the offices and other private areas. What was noteworthy was that, while Clint didn't see the duo they were looking for, he saw two security personnel respond to something they had heard over their headsets, and hurriedly rushing towards the door, disppearing into the back. That seemed to be where the action lay.