Episode 1: Chasin' the Wind

Shivering, Puck puts down her commlink. The brutal winters are especially heinous when all you have to your name is a drafty camper and whatever goodwill you can trick people out of. Taking one last long sip of her steaming hot tea, she puts the mug down, missing the warmth as soon as she lets go.

well, time to look the part. At least the meets is somewhere a hell of a lot warmer.

Puck rifles through the small wardrobe of the camper and picks out something fashionable but also warm. After adding on a few layers of thermals and her armored coat she can almost feel her extremities. After checking herself in the mirror and feeling satisfied she sends a message to Bill, a cab driver she befriended not too long after "moving" to chicago.

Hey Bill. yeah, it's me. look, I need a ride to Northside. How soon can you pick me up? oh, that's great! I'll be sure to give you something 'extra special' since it's such short notice. Just honk when you get here.

Strapping on her pistol, Puck realizes she should probably bring a little more firepower... just in case... So she clears out a spot on her dinette table (the tea is already ice cold when she touches it) and lights some incense and calls out to the spirits.Brother Wolf, I have need of your aid. Act as my protector and guardian for one night and in return I shall perform a task of your choosingFeeling the spirit that answered her call like an old familiar friend, she snaps back to reality when she heard the cabbie honking. looking around her RV quickly, she grabs a small can of sage from her pantry and quickly spoons a couple of teaspoons into a small plastic baggie. She leaves, locking the camper door behind her and directly into the heated interior of Bill's cab. Bill is already driving out of the trailer park before he asks where he's taking her.

Pizza place. I'll point it out when we get there.

Pulling the baggie out of her coat she presents it to him with a small flourish

And THIS, my friend, if the special something I mentioned. This is sage. powerful sage. Blessed by a Lakota warchief on his deathbed. You burn this inside a building, and every hostile spirit and malign spell placed on you clears right out. My tribe would use this before a major undertaking. We even gave a pinch of this stuff to Coyote before he did his Great Ghost Dance, and you know how that turned out. My gift to you for being such a great friend. I'd say that this would make us about even for the ride.

Once at the pizza place, Puck places her trode headband on and plugs it into her commlink. She steps outside of the cab and starts buzzing her team

ok, I'm here. anyone else make it here yet?

Ghost exchanges a glance and a nod with her friend, who is currently going by "Widget". She silently gathers her gear. Its just a meet, so she'll travel light: knives, sap, taser, and dart pistol, all hidden under her big black duster. The last step is applying her face: foundation, pencil in the eyebrows, a bit of blush...all to look a little more human. The she pulls up her ubiquitous hood and asks, "Your car or the van?"

Digit rubs her at her eyes as the commlink disconnects, letting out a slow, loud yawn. She stretches her arms above her head, groaning as she switches to AR with a twist of her hand. She surfs the Matrix for a time, checking any recent news, as well as waving away a few ARO pop-ups alerting her to sales on green hair dye. After fully waking, the gnome swings her legs off of the small bed and gets to her feet. Her sleep schedule has been a mess lately, something that she was prone to do when spending too much time jacked into her 'deck. There was something to fix that, though.

Being one to invest her nuyen wisely, Digit's apartment was rather quality; about as much as one can get in Chicago nowadays. Her high-rise was near O'Hare Airport, just outside of the occupation zone that Ares had set up around it. A bit pricey, sure, but with all the furnishings, the vehicle space in the garages below, and most importantly access to Ares' Global Grid, it was well worth the cost. Of course, it helped that she had a roommate, too.

Digit makes sure her commlink is broadcasting the right SIN. It always was, but she had a certain level of paranoia that made her check and recheck every time she thought about it. She tends to switch them around so often, it's best to make sure to know what your name is for the day. Digit hooks her survival knife onto her belt and tucks her cyberdeck into its protective sleeve and then into her backpack before shrugging it up onto her shoulders. Her datajack cord is slipped through a pocket in the backpack and hooked into her 'deck already, giving her access to all of the bothersome AROs that Ares assaults her with while on their Grid. She dismisses them from her field of view with only a thought. Lastly, Digit heads to the kitchen and pulls open one of the drawers. Within is a disorderly stack of Meta Link commlinks, all turned off. Digit grabs two of them to take with her.

Moments later, the gnome pops the caps down on her two disposable travel cups, steaming soykaf filled to the brim inside. She carries the cups toward the door, just as Ghost is coming out of her room and pulling up her hood. When asked about transportation, Digit smiles back and says, "Lets take yours." She hands one of the cups over to Ghost as she says offhandedly, "I'm on Isla today, by the way." Of course Digit is talking about her fake SIN, to make sure she and Ghost were on the same page. Then, as a thought comes to her, she adds, "Oh! And I decided to stick with Digit for one more Run, too. I'll change it next time. Probably."

She'll follow Ghost through the levels of the building and down the elevator, sipping her soykaf and swimming through the Matrix in her mind at the same time. Once in the garage and getting settled in Ghost's ride, an ARO for Puck's message pops up, and with a thought Digit accesses it to hear the message. She smiles brightly, excited that she'll see the Elf again; Puck was one of her favorite Runners she's worked with, after all. She sends a message in reply to Puck at the speed of thought:

Took me a minute to wake up. We're almost there, omae.

It was no secret that she and Ghost were roommates, or at least lived close by enough to carpool, since they were always arriving in the same vehicle. Luckily they didn't live far from the meet, so this drive wouldn't take long at all. "Going to slave your comm," Digit mentioned, grabbing up Ghost's commlink in her cyberdeck's PAN should Ghost not be opposed to her doing so.

Rush gasps for air, as he's woken from a deep, nearly dead, sleep. Loud bangs puncture the peaceful silence of his slumber. Gunshots? Rush throws the blanket off, unsealing the warm cocoon of his bed, and creeps toward the one window in his apartment that isn't boarded up. He slowly lifts two fingers to the blinds and gently separates them ever so slightly. He sees nothing out of the ordinary from his fourth story studio. The usual dealers on the corner. A couple of young kids poking fresh road kill with a stick. Old homeless Dwarves yelling at the boxes they sleep on. Nothing out of the ordinary. Maybe it was a truck backfiring. Rush backs away from the window, half relieved, half disappointed.

Rush clicks a button on his soykaf machine and notices a message on his comm. Alright Ophie old girl. He smiles deeply. Rush forages through the piles of clothing on his floor, and eventually finds a dark blue jumpsuit. Ah-ha! He slips it on and kneels beside his bed, sticking a hand underneath the box spring, and removing a machine pistol. He examines the pistol, makes sure it's loaded, and attaches a silencer to it. He stands and deposits it in a concealable holster in the jumpsuit. He pulls on a blue hoodie, over the jumpsuit and laces up his shoes. He does a few stretches, cracks his knuckles, and pops in some headphones. He shuffles through his music collection, finds the funkiest jam he can, and hits play. He bops and dances as he removes the multitude of locks on his front door, and begins to close it behind him. Right before the door shuts, he reaches through and grabs a set of mirrorshades from a table by the door, and dons them. He moonwalks out of the apartment and seals it shut before walking downstairs.

Rush puts his hood up, and walks briskly to the El. As he enters the train, he checks his comm, and sees a message from Puck. He responds. "On my way, chummer. Be there soon."

Puck settles into her seat comfortable and gives a little grin as the Johnson immediately jumps to business.

cutting right to the chase, I like that. However, going into the CZ isn't exactly a walk in the park, and 4 grand each seems like a pretty bare bones price. I think my team would appreciate a little more nuyen if we're putting our hoops on the line for signal repeaters. And I am assuming you will be providing the hardware for the job as well, yes?

Digit immediately begins complaining about being hungry when she steps into the pizzeria. She happily breathes in the delightful smell of fresh pizza with an excited look on her face. She pulls out a chair and hops in, putting on her best listening face when the Ms. Johnson starts speaking. Of course it was only a face, as her mind was distracted by AR, pouring through streams of data as she tried to search whatever she could on "Quantum Princess," or those very unique eyes, to find out what she could about their would-be employer.

When she has a moment, Digit sends a quick message to Puck's commlink:

I brought a burner with me that we can use in case she needs to get in touch with us. Commcode 6794049932.

Rush tries to stifle the deep growls from his stomach as soon as the aroma hits him, but is unable to resist. He grabs a slice of pepperoni and a large soda before joining his crew in the corner of the restaurant. He takes a seat with a good view of the door and surveys the area.

Coming in through the door, brushing snow off of him, comes for all intents and purposes an elf. Symbiote looks around and notices everyone gathered at a table in the corner. "I hope this is worth my time. I was up to my elbows rebuilding a Lynx. Costing me a lot of nuyen." He sits down and looks at all the others.

Puck gives Symbiote the "I'm in the middle of delicate negotiations" look

Puck smiles her practiced smile

oh, I prefer to eat after biz is finished. 4500 with the possibility of more after the job seems reasonable. After 1500 up front, of course. What exactly would be the details of this job? where are we installing the hardware? what kinds of trouble do you anticipate we'll have? how deep into the CZ are we talking? I hope you don't mind the questions, I'm just looking out for my team's well-being. You understand, I'm sure.

Puck discreetly takes the credstick and places the bag under her chair

and what time frame for completion are we looking at?

Puck nods, then looks at her team

ok guys, we have a job. any last words before we hit the road?

Ghost shakes her head.

Rush slurps down the rest of his drink.

"No ma'am."