1 - Bottled Up

It all starts with a message on your commlink.

I'm in need of some runners urgently and your name made the shortlist. Meet me in Bangkok at Quay Bar, Sukhumvit Soi 11, near Nana Station at 3pm two days from now. Your travel expenses will be covered upon arrival.
-Nicole Triumph

It's the tail end of summer which is almost as hot as the height of summer in most other places. The city is a dense multicultural melting pot, certainly one of the most diverse in Asia. The landscape is a pleasing blend of tradition and modern, with neon skyscrapers and holographic displays beside ancient temples and traditional houses. Tourists seem to make up at least a quarter of the population, with military and police occupying another quarter, and residents filling up the the rest.

Nana Station exits directly onto Sukhumvit Soi 11. The bar should be two blocks away on a side street leading directly off the Soi. Looking around you as you walk, you can see the nicer places do not open until evening, so it is mostly tourists shopping and drinking afternoons away in bars. A few girls wave to you and try to get you into their establishments. Curry and lamb from a dozen Middle Eastern restaurants scent the air, which would otherwise smell like stale beer. One persistent Ethiopian man tries to get you to come into his restaurant as you approach Quay Bar.

"Come, eat good food," he says. "Very clean. Very delicious."

Quay Bar’s door opens as you approach, and the Thai bouncer tells the Ethiopian man to get lost.

"Come on in," he says to you. "You’re right on time."

Cleaning staff and cooks scurry all over the place, trying to get the club ready for the evening. A DJ plays with the sound system, and a bartender practices his fire show. The bouncer takes you back to a private room near the kitchen and leaves you with the elf occupant.

"Nice to meet you," she says, shaking your hands. She’s blonde, tan, and speaks with a crisp English accent. "I’m Nicole Triumph. I hope you’re as good as I've heard, because I’ve got a crisis here." She gestures to the table. "Please have a seat."

Kla was on vacation in Ko He—the English call it Coral Island—when he got the call. He'd needed to get away from Bangkok for a while and mingling with the tourists didn't seem like such a bad idea. They were clueless and didn't probe his cover story. He spent the time lying in the shade of a palm tree, sipping some fruity drinks until he got hot. He'd get up and go for a swim, party til late at night and then sleep in. Some university girls were visiting for the week on Daddy's yen. They partied, got drunk, and Kla hooked up with one of them. The next week, it was rinse and repeat. It was nice. Relaxing. But Kla couldn't afford to stay here forever, so when the job offer came in, it seemed as good a time as any to pack his bags, take the next boat back to Phuket, and catch a flight to Bangkok.

Walking down the street to the Quay, he smiled and nodded at the girls. He'd had his fill while on vacation, so resisting their charms was easy to do. The Ethiopian food was actually more tempting; he'd had his fill of fish. Still, he didn't want to be late to the meeting.

Kla recognized the bouncer, a big guy who'd be too slow in a fight, but if he got a hold of you… Well, fortunately Kla was on his good side.

The patron was an elf, pretty hot too. Not that he dabbled in other races. Her accent inferred that she was all business, so Kla shut down his vacation brain and went to work. He shook her hand and took a seat, waiting for the others to arrive.

Sakchai Khadpo, aka Tadaoshi, steps off the bus and moves with the crowd, glad he is at least somewhat familiar with the location. Moving through the throng of people me wanders in the direction of the Quay Bar. Tadaoshi looks around for marks that identify corporate patronage and gang affiliation on any buildings or business, curious if any of his contacts might know more about who would set up meetings here.



Passing the bouncer with a brief exchange Tadaoushi moves through the interior and upon noticing Kla feels a slight easing of tension. Familiar with the soldier he moves to join the man and their employer. Giving a brief bow, rather than shaking hands, he takes the proffered seat. Looking around for the other members of the team he responds to the women's comment. I am sure we will do all we can to uphold you confidence in us.

Quan sat in a dingy changing room massaging out the pain in his neck. He had to find another way to earn his way back to the top. These underground fights made a lot of people very rich, but he was not one of them.

The commlink beeped and he looked down. Quan almost had to look around to see if anyone was around to read his mind from how opportune the message was.

Two days later he arrives at the Quay bar. Dressed in a white singlet under a black leather jacket. He greets the bouncer and heads into the meeting. He introduces himself. "Knockout, pleased to meet you. How may I..." he pauses and takes in the other runners. "..we help you?"

Kla looks up as first Tadaoshi then Knockout arrived. He offers each a smile and a nod, pleased to know he'd be working with both of them again.

Screws from the panel between her teeth, Aiko lay on her back fussing with one of the electrical connections in her truck. Hardware definitely wasn't her area of expertise, but sometimes you had to make do with what you had on hand. Or well, your hands. Either way, she growled in frustration and her stomach rumbled with hunger.

She barely registered the knock on the window the first time, and on the second she spat the screws out before yelling expletives. The police officer didn't take kindly to that, but then police officers rarely did take kindly to anything she did. That they came into this dingy alley to knock on her window instead of extorting some poor perpetual civilian spoke of how bored they must've been.

With effort, she reposition her vehicle an extra alley over and slammed the door shut. Her software locks clicked into place, and she slipped a bar lock over a wheel just in case. You never could be too careful with all your earthly belongings after all. Satisfied, she turned on her heel, jammed her hands into her pockets and ambled to the bar from the weird message she'd gotten the other day.

If she didn't need a mechanic she probably wouldn't have shown her face, but life had a way of going number 2 in your dinner every time you had a 5 star reservation. The bouncer intimidated her, because why wouldn't a large muscled man intimidate a barely 5'2 young lady, and she slipped inside.

"Sorry I'm late. Parking is fun." She chips, glancing over those already assembled with undisguised curiosity.

"I am Knockout," Quan repeats. "I guess I know kung fu. I can fight, and you pay right, I'll fight to hell and back for you. Also no stranger to getting the truth out of people."

You may call me Tadaoushi. I am a mage. I can heal, locate things, and compel others to do what I ask of them. I also have connections within the government and many neighborhoods of the city.

Kla nodded in agreement with Nicole's terms. When it's his turn, he introduces himself, "I'm Kla. I used to be a soldier for the government, but now I work for hire. The pay's better, and I don't have to worry about the politics behind my orders. I guess that makes me a bit of a mercenary." He shrugs.

Ryosuke tugged at the sleeves of his suit jacket, brushing a speck off of his lapel as he pushed the suitcase closed. Looking in the mirror, he saw something that had grown increasingly unfamiliar. The close haircut, thick-rimmed AR glasses, and well-cut but otherwise nondescript suit would have looked at home walking the middle floors of any number of the skyscrapers around.

He was just another salaryman.

He emerged from the convenience store restroom and walked out onto the street, past the vacant front counter. The man who had been watching the store was busy with the lunch he had delivered. He spared a glance for his scooter, locked in an adjacent alley. It was always a gamble, but he couldn't exactly show up to work on it. Not to this job.

Though he arrived on time, he remained at the back of the crowd as the bouncer took them into the building, looking almost like a straggler, as he cast about, taking in their surroundings.

The name did raise an eyebrow. Even if she did intend for them to dig around, it was a quiet breach of protocol.

He did not return the courtesty, offering a shallow bow. "Ryosuke," he introduced himself with his pseudonym. "I can only assume I am here to facilitate the meeting."

"Aiko." She gives a small nod, not bothering to shift her posture from where she kneels on a chair.

She doesn't bother using a handle or anything. Given she has no fixed address and basically no attachments its not like knowing who she is would give them any leverage over her. She pulls her mouth to one side, tapping a rhythm on her lap and unable to sit still. After everyone else gave their description of their skills, she tried to come up with a way to make herself sound cool.

"I do VR coding and stuff, freelance swimming in cyberspace. I have a meat space body too but don't expect it to do much."

Recalling the information he had collected beforehand on the potential employer Tadaoshi figured he would have heard of they were not to be trusted so nods. I accept. Where will the contact take place? curious at the mention of a "ride home".

"Yeah, I'm in."

"You've got my services," Knockout replies.

Ryosuke tried not to lean forward. That was a substantial sum. Either the client expected this job to be over quickly, or they were throwing real money at the problem.

Or they weren't expecting to pay at all.

"Room and board are included. Is there a budget for expenses? And what is our advance rate? An open-ended contract like this should pay a week in advance. at least, desu ne?"

"So about taking over accommodations." Aiko cocks her head to the side. "Can I just, like, have it all plussed to my total payment instead? See, I don't exactly do preem crib hopping. I have my own cot'n'go situation and I'm not gunning for an upgrade."