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RP: The Wayward Action, Adventure, and Identity crisis (Ep. 2.1)

Syaoran

Syaoran

Retired Staff
Funky City

Matthew found himself in a small dive bar with some moody lighting. It had been a few weeks since he left his IT job to look for something more adventurous but even on the mercenary networks everything was dull, protect someone’s estate, deliver cargo, guard a parade, it was all just generic stuff.

The past hour at the bar had been relatively quiet, almost too quiet for a Nepleslian bar, but the door opened with a ring of the bell and several people walked in, and a man in a suit was in front of the group of thugs. The man looked around a moment and then spotted Matthew and headed over, sitting across from him.

“Good Good, you’re here, as you might have guessed, I have some business for you.” Matthew couldn’t remember coming in contact with this man, but based on the escorts he had, whatever he wanted, it was definitely something interesting.
 
Funky City


Well, this is sudden. Matt leaned back in his chair, sliding his right hand down into the pocket of his trench coat, the one containing his HHG pistol. How many of these idiots could I take out before they get me? Hmm…


"Well, you know me," he said, pointing at his self-incriminating cybernetic left eye, "I’m pretty easy to find. Now,” the Nepleslian asked, tilting his head and looking at the other man, “how about you introduce yourself?"
 
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The man looked around once more before he focused in on Matthew. "That my friend is not important. What's important is that we have something you might be interested in." He pulled a small disposable tablet on the table and pushed it forward to Matthew. "We'll get you five hundred upfront, but another three grand once you're done. You just have to bring us the data on this man's computer, that's all."

The tablet had personal data of a man, a John Thompson who lived just outside the city. It went into some details about his personal life, but nothing too deep. "Think of it as...debt collecting. He owes us and he hasn't paid his dues."
 
Why is it that whenever you put computer expert on your resume, do people assume that you’re a hacker? Matt sighed as he took his right hand out of his pocket, away from his gun and scrolled through the knock-off tablet. Still…three grand is three grand.

The Nepleslianlooked at the other man and said, “Let’s say I’m interested. What kind of security are we talking about for the target’s property?” He glanced at the lackeys and back at their boss. “It looks like you have all of the brute force you would ever need, so why can’t you use it?”
 
"This is the kind of thing that needs a more delicate touch to it. And there wont be that much security on the property, nothing that you can't handle." He pulled out a cigarette and put it in his mouth. "I'd like it if you finished the job within the week, the sooner the better though."

There was all kinds of data on the pad, even a map of the property but there was no map inside the house however, that where it looked like things would get really difficult.
 
Well, Matt. Are you going to take it? At this point it’s either this or that parade gig. He looked up at the smoking mobster, wondering what the other man was hiding. What do you expect, Matt? It’s the Funky City! The Nepleslian chuckled at that and when the older man looked at him, he shook his head, smiled and said, “I’ll take the job. How do I get in contact with you once I'm done?”
 
The man slid a business card across the table towards Matt "Contact this number, you'll get your instructions for afterwards from there." He then took out a stack of banknotes and placed them on the table "Here's the first five hundred, if you need to buy any equipment use it. But don't let me down. When you let me down, your life goes downhill, understand?"
 
Matt picked up the bank notes, leaned back in his chair and started flipping through them. “Yeah, yeah. Don’t you worry, Mister No Name. You’ll have your data in no time.”
 
The man gave a nod to Matt and then stood up and moved to leave, the thugs moving to encompass him as he walked. The man carried quite a bit of athourity, and he knew it and flaunted it with the way he went about with his entourage. This left Matt on his own in the bar, sitting at a table with possibly illegally acquired bills, a business card, and a datapad.
 
What have you gotten yourself into Matt? He shrugged and stuffed the bills and the business card into his wallet. If I wanted safety and consistency, I would have kept my job. The ex-Marine looked up the address of the target, John Thompson, and decided to make his way there as soon as possible. Let’s figure out what kind of security I’m up against.
 
The address was on the outskirts of the city in a maze of abandoned apartment buildings that looked like they had not been cared for for a decade. These buildings were part of an initial start up to try and get people moved in, but the apartments were so small and cheaply made that almost no one wanted to stay in them. They had become a 'city' of their own, one that kept out of the eye of the public and was very leery of visitors.

Matt could feel eyes on him from many directions, though the streets were clear it was obvious that there were people around. Based on the address though Matt would have to go deep into the the complex to get to the address he wanted. The question became how to go about doing that.
 
Hmm… I wonder what kind of gang politics I’ve gotten myself into. Matt sighed and started walking around the perimeter of the complex. He took out his DataJockey and started looking for unsecured data access points, illegal satellite uplinks, etc., while keeping an eye out for people who would want to ‘talk’ to him.
 
The sweep for access points gave Matt a few results, but they were just simple public wireless connection spots. If there was anything beyond that would take some serious looking. As he continued his walk the eyes on him continued to follow, but some people did turn up in the streets. An old man sitting on a crate, a group of thugs, and a kid that was skulking about the back allies and looking around nervously. None of these people were paying attention to him and were merely absorbed in their own business.
 
Matt looked between the groups, questioning whether he should get out of there while the getting was good. I haven’t learned anything yet. I need to get in there, learn what I’m up against. Despite his better judgement, he started towards the kid in the alleyway. He reminds me of me, if I didn’t have the ‘privilege’ of growing up as a ward of the state. Keeping an eye on the group of thugs, he sidled over to the kid, pulled out 20 DA, and said, “Hey, kid. Can I ask you some questions?” I swear I'm not a pedophile!
 
The kid turned to look at Matt, taking the DA rather quickly. "What do you want to know old man?" His gaze quickly returned to darting around the area, nervous about something.

THe gang of people had their eyes one Matt now as well, watching him closely, possibly even having marked him already.
 
Old man? Really? Matt couldn’t help but smile at the kid’s chutzpah. Might as well be direct as well. “First off, do you know a guy named John Thompson? And second,” he said, nodding at the thugs who were looking at him once the kid had answered his first question, “are those guys part of the main gang around here or are they small fry?”
 
The kid looked at the money in his hand and then looked back up at Matthew, thinking hard on his next move, one could almost see the gears spinning in his head. "Those guys are big fish you don't want to mess with them." He then held his hand out, not answering the first question yet, it looked like he was asking for more. "I know there are a lot of John's."
 
Well, here’s my ticket in. Good to see that entrepreneurship is still alive and well in the Funky City, Matt thought as he pulled out another 100 RA. “Maybe this will help jog your memory?” He still kept an eye on the gang in the distance, making sure they weren't getting any ideas of coming closer.
 
The kid looked at the money, playing with it in his hands before he nodded before lifting a hand and pointing further in. "He lives down that 2way in the white building, took the whole place for himself. You better be careful if you're going in though, he doesn't like visitors."
 
A whole apartment complex to himself? Hmm… “Thanks, kid,” Matt said, walking past the boy and down the alley. “I’ll keep that in mind.” Now the question is did I just waste 120 DA and I’m walking into a trap? The ex-Marine shrugged and held the grip of his HHG pistol in his pocket as made his way towards his target. I’ll just make sure I’m not an easy mark.
 
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