"So first yer tellin me dat I tried ta use da dingus ta kill you and dat when I couldn't I got so pissed off dat I went after Sensei witout a gun?" Manny asked with incredulity, "I can't believe it. You an me been partners fer years, I owe ya too much.... "
Edge held up a hand to forestall the dwarf's apology. The look the two exchanged reflected the bond they had developed over the years of shadowrunning. Before they could move on, however, the dwarf blurted out, "And I musta been nuts ta take on da Sensei without some kinda gun...."
"Let me tell you, my friend," the phys ad responded, "You gave me all I could handle. Your speed was astounding and I had no doubt that your metal hand would have ripped apart anything you caught."
"I'm sorry, I....."
"We're not attempting to make you feel guilty, Manny. No apology is necessary. We're just trying to gauge what to do next. You were out of your head when you attacked us, we understand. We just want to make sure you are ok now and to try to figure out how this affect the rest of the operation. I wish Wolfman were here to examine you magically...." The phys ad glanced at his cron before continuing, "It's 3 am. If I know Wolfman, he won't be back much before dawn. Hmm...... Let's record the debrief now and we can play him the tape when he gets back. Are you up to it?" He asked the armorer.
"Yeah. I'm ok." The samurai said, "Just the damn aftertaste of olives from the DMSO and a headache. Where do we start?"
After having Speed Racer and Rook join them at the conference table, and activating the recorder Cloak asked "What did you do after we left?"
"I checked the security, ya know, made sure everything was locked up and then......I... I guess I took a nap."
"Dreams?" Edge asked.
After a moment the dwarf shuddered and said, "Yeah. Back where we first met. Over and over again."
Edge's expression became one of commiseration as he explained "Battle in hive. Costly. Changed us. Recurring nightmare."
Cloak nodded and was about to move away from this obviously painful and personal subject when a thought struck him. "Was it any different this time?"
There was a long pause before Manny responded "Sorta......tough to remember clearly but ......it, uh happened a couple a times and then......I.....uh.....won, I think. I don't remember exactly how, but..............."
"Ok. Do you remember what happened after the dream?"
"I woke up and ......I heard this clickin. I went ta check on it and........Bugs! Cockroaches! Thousands of em. Looked like a giant movin stain made up a da little fraggers. Disgustin......I....uh, I guess I...... I musta used the dingus ta kill dem all. I tried wit my Cobra but they were crawlin out of every........"
Edge returned the subgun to Manny, who seemed preoccupied with making sense of his memories. "You guys musta seen 'em." The dwarf continued, "A whole carpet of ........" The fact that his friends were embarrassedly refusing to meet his eye stopped him. He looked to the team's leader for an explanation..
"10, maybe 12, shriveled bugs." Cloak pronounced. Before the dwarf could object he asked "What happened next?"
After several moments, Many said "Devil Rats. 400, 450, maybe 500. Like dat time in da sewers where dey kept comin and comin at us........" The look on Edge's face stopped the armorer in mid memory. ".......How many?" He finally asked.
"Three." Edge replied.
Although Manny had dropped his head into his hands, Cloak knew they had to complete the discussion before his friend became too preoccupied to give a clear accounting. He said "And then what?" with enough command to refocus Manny on what had actually transpired.
"I......I heard something and I felt.....indignant, outraged, you know? I wanted ta test the power of da scourge an...... I was thinkin how big Edge is......how he'd make a good field test." Through his embarrassment, the dwarf plowed on. "I was pissed off that he wasn't giving me a clear shot and then..............Then nothin. That's it. I didn't care about anything but your size, Omae. I......."
"Wasn't you" Edge corrected. "That" he said pointing at the bag containing the artifact.
Manny shuddered as he looked at the bag. Somewhere in the dark recesses of his soul, he knew he wanted to handle it again and he heard the ghost of a laugh which he was sure came from item.
"I don't want to be alone with that thing again." The dwarf declared with conviction as he looked around at his team mates. "I don't any a you alone wit it either."
"No problem there." Speed Racer responded.
"Absofragginlutely" Rook agreed.
For what seemed liked the hundredth time, Nestor turned quickly to try to see what was following Madcap. Although the lunatic dwarf remained blissfully unaware, Nestor kept catching a glance, just from the corner of his eye, of SOMETHING which disappeared every time he looked at it directly. Could the damned dwarf be doing this to get even with me? The elf wondered. No, it's too subtle. If shit-for-brains were doing it, the illusion would be more obvious, more painful and he'd be enjoying it more. Hmmmmmm. That means he really doesn't sense anything out of the ordinary. Drek! That means 1) he's still trying to find a way to even the score for knocking him out before the flight AND 2) he's stepped in something that's gained him unwanted magical attention...... CRAP! Another fragging complication to this assignment.
".....I don't have the expertise with the type of spell required." Wolfman admitted with some frustration. The light hearted tone and banter of the elf mage's dawn entrance had, by this point, entirely evaporated. Prepared to rub his friend's noses in the tale of his night's escapades, the handsome elf had returned from Dante's Inferno to a very worried Monster squad. Instead of "reluctantly" revealing the number of beautiful women he had met while scouting the club, Wolfman returned to hear the details of Manny's delusion while under the artifact's influence. The team had immediately turned to him for guidance on this obviously magic related issue, making the situation entirely his problem. After a few minutes of frustrated sputtering and pacing, Wolfman took several deep breaths and asked, "Will you be leading the exercise this morning, Cloak?"
"What the hell kind of......"
".....not time....."
"......what about....."
"....of all the stupid....."
"No"
Somehow the single syllable from the team's leader was heard over the hubbub of objections that the Monster Squad had raised at Wolfman's seeming non-sequiter. As the group turned towards Cloak, he continued quietly, "Manny will lead this morning exercise." The phys ad then headed towards the door, signaling that discussion was over. Following their leader, albeit with much head shaking and shrugging, the team headed out to the broken tarmac of the parking lot in front of the building.
The Shadorat and shapcano. Together again for the first time! This serial continues at Winterhawk's Virtual Magespace. To read Chapter 26 click here.
This story is copyright of the author. Shadowrun is a Registered Trademark of FASA Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Used without permission. Any use of FASA Corporation's copyrighted material or trademarks in this file should not be viewed as a challenge to those copyrights or trademarks.
Edge held up a hand to forestall the dwarf's apology. The look the two exchanged reflected the bond they had developed over the years of shadowrunning. Before they could move on, however, the dwarf blurted out, "And I musta been nuts ta take on da Sensei without some kinda gun...."
"Let me tell you, my friend," the phys ad responded, "You gave me all I could handle. Your speed was astounding and I had no doubt that your metal hand would have ripped apart anything you caught."
"I'm sorry, I....."
"We're not attempting to make you feel guilty, Manny. No apology is necessary. We're just trying to gauge what to do next. You were out of your head when you attacked us, we understand. We just want to make sure you are ok now and to try to figure out how this affect the rest of the operation. I wish Wolfman were here to examine you magically...." The phys ad glanced at his cron before continuing, "It's 3 am. If I know Wolfman, he won't be back much before dawn. Hmm...... Let's record the debrief now and we can play him the tape when he gets back. Are you up to it?" He asked the armorer.
"Yeah. I'm ok." The samurai said, "Just the damn aftertaste of olives from the DMSO and a headache. Where do we start?"
After having Speed Racer and Rook join them at the conference table, and activating the recorder Cloak asked "What did you do after we left?"
"I checked the security, ya know, made sure everything was locked up and then......I... I guess I took a nap."
"Dreams?" Edge asked.
After a moment the dwarf shuddered and said, "Yeah. Back where we first met. Over and over again."
Edge's expression became one of commiseration as he explained "Battle in hive. Costly. Changed us. Recurring nightmare."
Cloak nodded and was about to move away from this obviously painful and personal subject when a thought struck him. "Was it any different this time?"
There was a long pause before Manny responded "Sorta......tough to remember clearly but ......it, uh happened a couple a times and then......I.....uh.....won, I think. I don't remember exactly how, but..............."
"Ok. Do you remember what happened after the dream?"
"I woke up and ......I heard this clickin. I went ta check on it and........Bugs! Cockroaches! Thousands of em. Looked like a giant movin stain made up a da little fraggers. Disgustin......I....uh, I guess I...... I musta used the dingus ta kill dem all. I tried wit my Cobra but they were crawlin out of every........"
Edge returned the subgun to Manny, who seemed preoccupied with making sense of his memories. "You guys musta seen 'em." The dwarf continued, "A whole carpet of ........" The fact that his friends were embarrassedly refusing to meet his eye stopped him. He looked to the team's leader for an explanation..
"10, maybe 12, shriveled bugs." Cloak pronounced. Before the dwarf could object he asked "What happened next?"
After several moments, Many said "Devil Rats. 400, 450, maybe 500. Like dat time in da sewers where dey kept comin and comin at us........" The look on Edge's face stopped the armorer in mid memory. ".......How many?" He finally asked.
"Three." Edge replied.
Although Manny had dropped his head into his hands, Cloak knew they had to complete the discussion before his friend became too preoccupied to give a clear accounting. He said "And then what?" with enough command to refocus Manny on what had actually transpired.
"I......I heard something and I felt.....indignant, outraged, you know? I wanted ta test the power of da scourge an...... I was thinkin how big Edge is......how he'd make a good field test." Through his embarrassment, the dwarf plowed on. "I was pissed off that he wasn't giving me a clear shot and then..............Then nothin. That's it. I didn't care about anything but your size, Omae. I......."
"Wasn't you" Edge corrected. "That" he said pointing at the bag containing the artifact.
Manny shuddered as he looked at the bag. Somewhere in the dark recesses of his soul, he knew he wanted to handle it again and he heard the ghost of a laugh which he was sure came from item.
"I don't want to be alone with that thing again." The dwarf declared with conviction as he looked around at his team mates. "I don't any a you alone wit it either."
"No problem there." Speed Racer responded.
"Absofragginlutely" Rook agreed.
For what seemed liked the hundredth time, Nestor turned quickly to try to see what was following Madcap. Although the lunatic dwarf remained blissfully unaware, Nestor kept catching a glance, just from the corner of his eye, of SOMETHING which disappeared every time he looked at it directly. Could the damned dwarf be doing this to get even with me? The elf wondered. No, it's too subtle. If shit-for-brains were doing it, the illusion would be more obvious, more painful and he'd be enjoying it more. Hmmmmmm. That means he really doesn't sense anything out of the ordinary. Drek! That means 1) he's still trying to find a way to even the score for knocking him out before the flight AND 2) he's stepped in something that's gained him unwanted magical attention...... CRAP! Another fragging complication to this assignment.
".....I don't have the expertise with the type of spell required." Wolfman admitted with some frustration. The light hearted tone and banter of the elf mage's dawn entrance had, by this point, entirely evaporated. Prepared to rub his friend's noses in the tale of his night's escapades, the handsome elf had returned from Dante's Inferno to a very worried Monster squad. Instead of "reluctantly" revealing the number of beautiful women he had met while scouting the club, Wolfman returned to hear the details of Manny's delusion while under the artifact's influence. The team had immediately turned to him for guidance on this obviously magic related issue, making the situation entirely his problem. After a few minutes of frustrated sputtering and pacing, Wolfman took several deep breaths and asked, "Will you be leading the exercise this morning, Cloak?"
"What the hell kind of......"
".....not time....."
"......what about....."
"....of all the stupid....."
"No"
Somehow the single syllable from the team's leader was heard over the hubbub of objections that the Monster Squad had raised at Wolfman's seeming non-sequiter. As the group turned towards Cloak, he continued quietly, "Manny will lead this morning exercise." The phys ad then headed towards the door, signaling that discussion was over. Following their leader, albeit with much head shaking and shrugging, the team headed out to the broken tarmac of the parking lot in front of the building.
********
Although his first instinct was to object to leading morning Tai-Chi, Manny had too much respect for his instructor to speak out. He felt sure that his lack of focus would be disastrous, particularly in leading the exercise (i.e. controlling the pace), but took the honor and responsibility too seriously to screw up everyone's centering because of his own instability. He took several deep breaths, saluted the class and began with "One Chi of Void". He moved through "Two aspects of Yin-Yang" and "Turning of Cosmos" before he started to feel the flow. By the time he had reached "Green Dragon presents Claw" the irritating pull of the scourge had all but disappeared.
The dwarf's ease became more apparent as he flowed from "Turn Round to Origin" to "Old Dragon Wags Tail" without any hesitation. Although he embraced the mental peace that the slow motion exercise inspired, at some level, Cloak smiled internally at both his long time student's choice of Wudang Tai-Chi forms and at his seamless transition from one section to the next in the 108 patterns. Without shifting his attention from the leader, the Phys Ad sensed that all of the team were centering themselves through the exercise. Mentally he tipped his hat to Wolfman for his subtle suggestion. The morning exercise might not solve the problem of the artifact's influence, but it lent some normality to the situation and would grant everyone a break in the tension by giving them a new focus. Manny was also finding the peace he so desperately needed.
Overlooking the dance floor confirmed the opinion that the Inferno was aptly named. Driving techno-beat pulsated at a bass overloaded 92 chest-vibrating thrums per minute. Strobe lighting intermittently illuminated a dark, packed floor of gyrating bodies whose "dance" consisted largely of a bouncing writhe. Bodies collided and rebounded with random disregard for any inspiration of Terpsichore while the air was thick with a miasma of smoke, expensive perfume, body odor and alcohol. Just the place to meet an important Johnson, or to spend an eternity in reparation for unforgiven sin.
Wolfman gestured for Cloak and Rook to join him in following the pair of muscular ork bouncers down the ramps of the Inferno and closer to "hell" itself. Where the level of private meeting rooms lacked the frenetic activity of the glassed dance floors, there was a quieter menace at work. Black light and occasional splashes of day-glow paint were the only illumination, the air had a whiff of the sickly sweet smell of corruption and the odd glimpse seen as a door closed hinted at unrepentant depravity. The muffled sounds (A child's cry? A gasp? Flesh being torn?) were just loud enough to infect nightmares.
All thoughts of subliminal influence disappeared as the trio was ushered into the presence of Corwin ip Theranj. The elf's indolent smile as he petted and stroked the children at his feet was precisely what Rook had expected.
******
"The elf is a nutbag." he had declared when he had briefed the team on his research. "According to some good sources in the Matrix, he does a competent job during the day, but when he parties he's....uh....weird. Likes girls, boys, barnyard animals, you name it, he'll do it. The crack of dawn has to be careful around him."
The ork gave the team a three count to react to his attempt at humor and when nobody did he blushed and plowed ahead. "Not only does he entertain a wide variety of sexual partners, but he likes to advertise the fact. I found a couple of references to some apparently pre-pubescent teenagers who have been set dressing for some past meetings. You know, sort of 'look how amoral I am, I'm doing kids, wanna join?' " Shaking his head, Rook continued, "I don't know if I buy this though. If the guy is good enough at his job to deal with heavyweights like the council, I can't see him working without a net. Real kids can pipe up at a just the wrong moment. I think it's probable that the kids are either an illusion or surgically altered adult bodyguards. He gets to shock his visitors and gauge their reactions while at the same time he's got surprise back-up."
"He always has magical cover and at least one combat monster. Everything I've found has mentioned them. They tend to be wallpaper for his performances, but I'm sure if there is any drek they jump right in. As to the elf himself, he works for Jenna Ni'Fairra. She's one of the council but I didn't have enough time to dig out much about her. My best guess is that if he convinces her, she can get us on the council's agenda."
******
Rook reflected on the other aspects of his scouting report and how his research on the nightclub and the neighborhood, combined with Wolfman's firsthand experience from the previous night had gone into their action plan. The squad had planned for all kinds of problems, but the decker wished that they had brought more muscle into the actual meeting. Wolfman and Cloak could handle most situations, he knew, but the young ork was unaccustomed to being treated as a sex object and was distinctly uncomfortable with the hungry looks he was getting from the sybaritic elf. More Monster Squad would have meant more bodies for Corwin ip Theranj to undress with his eyes.
"Sooooo" the elf droned indolently. "These are the bad boys who want something from poor Corwin. A very pretty elf spellworm, a hunky norm who moves like....ooooooh and an orky who is young and might be...taught? Delicious. And what will these gorgeous boys do for Corwin? How far will they go to get what Corwin has?"
"You're joking right?" Wolfman asked.
"Why do you ask if Corwin is joking?" The elf pouted. "You want to take what Corwin has for nothing? Do the BAAAD boys from the shadows want to hurt poor Corwin's feelings?"
"Not at all." Wolfman replied, "I simply meant to ascertain the level of farce to which we are likely to be subjected. Apparently this vague Marilyn Monroe meets Tim Curry meets Mae West approximates, in your estimation, the height of libertine excess. I found it just a tad on the campy side which prompted my question. Since you take umbrage, I will accept that you actually feel this persona embodies hedonistic excess-run-wild and that you intend to continue the Vamperella routine. I simply hoped we might get down to business."
"Hmmmmmm. Corwin should be quite cross for your remarks, Wolfman, but I keep picturing all sorts of things we can do and simply cannot remain angry." As he continued stroking the long hair of the moppet at his knees he winked at Rook and with a leer said "We're going to have lots and lots of fun."
"Not a chance" Rook found himself responding. Although he knew he should leave the negotiations to his teammates, the elf's smarmy smugness was just too annoying to let go. How dare this slot act as if he's gonna get his jollies in spite of anything we might feel. Fraggin creep.
"Aw, the orky is offended." Corwin observed, "Wait until you've spent some time with Corwin, my dear. You might find out something about yourself that you never suspected." Although the dare held no allure for the decker it did remind him of his role in the negotiation. He looked over at Cloak.
"And now you, my mysterious man." Corwin said as he followed the ork's attention to the phys ad. "Are you going to get comfortable now with Corwin or do you first want to pound on your chest to demonstrate your testosterone level?"
Cloak said nothing and before the silence could drag on too long a huge troll melted out of the shadows at the rear of the room and fluidly oozed up to the elf's right side. He whispered something into the elf's pointed ear which caused a look of consternation and reappraisal to pass across Corwin dissolute visage.
"Hmmmm. I've been told that you may be a bigger player than you seem." Corwin said with a raised eyebrow. "Puck thinks he recognizes you as someone who is.... known to the Tir's security force. He thinks you are too dangerous for Corwin to play with. You don't seem dangerous to Corwin......but...... well, let's do this. You tell Corwin why you want to meet the council, or, more to the point, why the council should want to meet you and if its amusing enough we'll move on from there."
"An artifact came in to our possession." Cloak explained. "When we consulted a free spirit we know it had a severe reaction of alarm and told us that only the council of princes had the experience to recognize the danger and the power to deal with it. We've come to get this matter before the council before certain.......collectors of antiquities lay hands upon it."
"Hmmmm, Collectors, you say........What is this artifact?"
"An ancient scourge" Wolfman supplied.
"Ooohh, kinky. Can I see the item?" Corwin asked.
"Are you a member of the council?" Cloak responded.
"Corwin doesn't like to be told no, mystery man. Are you sure you don't want to reconsider?"
Cloak said nothing as he stood waiting. After a full minute of silence Corwin ip Theranj sighed theatrically and said, "Oh very well. There happens to be a meeting in two days. The blood queen was furious the last time we lost an item to, what did you call them, collectors of antiquities? She will want to see this 'scourge' if its real and if it isn't.........well, lets not dwell on the unpleasant, shall we? I'll give you the location of the meeting in exchange for............"
BOOM
"What the frag?"
As the explosion was rocking the club and Corwin's security people were materializing out of the woodwork, Wolfman, Cloak and Rook were hearing Itami's voice over the button com links in their ears: "Boss! Get the frag outta there! We got major corp type firepower coming down on the place! Fraggers don't show any logo but they are fast roping outta an overhead blimp and we got three, no four personnel carriers moving in around the building. Estimate opposition strength at.....50. FIVE ZERO and HOLY SHIT! They've got a dracoform! Fraggin feathered serpent! Evac Beta! Evac plan Beta!"
Before Cloak could say a word several things happened simultaneously. Puck, the troll bodyguard, planted himself between Corwin ip Theranj and the door while a grotesquely overmuscled norm male appeared at the elf's side. The two "children" began gesturing and a distortion surrounded the group at Corwin's chair. Wolfman also was surrounded by a momentary distortion and Rook pulled out the only weapons which entry security had allowed him to keep, a narcojet pistol and a stun baton. Cloak drew his short staff from the lining of his cape and glided towards the door.
The Shadorat and shapcano. Together again for the first time! This serial continues at Winterhawk's Virtual Magespace. To read Chapter 26 click here.
This story is copyright of the author. Shadowrun is a Registered Trademark of FASA Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Used without permission. Any use of FASA Corporation's copyrighted material or trademarks in this file should not be viewed as a challenge to those copyrights or trademarks.
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