As the bar settled back into the tense state of waiting, the doorway to a back room opened. From the newly formed breach, poured a veritable army of finely dressed Asians, all in black suits, each a large specimen of humanity, a well concealed handgun in their jacket pockets, and proudly displaying their clearly Yakuza tattoos. As the wave of men moved into the room, what few guests and employees remained, quietly stood and left - to quickly for it to be unexpected. For a moment, the fear of a trap fell over the rag-tag group of runners, until their prospective employer made his entrance.
The man himself was fairly underwhelming compared to the ensemble of men around him. He was easily the shortest man in the room and appeared to be free of weapons of any sort. Upon further inspection however, his eyes betrayed the calm and cunning man he was behind the facade. They had an edge to them that cut to the core. Combined with the asymmetrical smirk upon his face, he was easy to make out as perhaps the most dangerous person in the room. He wore an expensive business suit, causally displaying the obvious wealth at his disposal. For Chromad, it was the unbalanced smirk that gave him away as the man he had seen so few hours ago, the silhouette in his van. To Taylor, he seemed the same man she had met in Chicago. Behind him stood three figures, each appearing dangerous in their own right.
The first was the most obvious. Where as his employer's stature was miniscule, his own seemed unreal. He rivaled a troll in height and build, standing over 7 feet, topping even Nova in height. At his waste hung a katana of the finest make and like the men around them, he had significant ink work done, marking him as the highest ranking Yakuza in the room. In addition, several muscle and sensory augmentations had been introduced into his body, perfecting his inhuman presence as more machine than man. To Cross, Wulf, and Clay, the man was a familiar sight; the man who had offered them the job. Unlike how they had seen him before, he wore his shirt unbuttoned, proudly displaying his ink.
The second was somewhat less impressive and more for her inclusion in the group. her only obvious armaments were a pair of machete hanging behind her back, but the glow that came off them displayed her real power. She wore a slinky dress, barely covering her curves. She showed no signs of augmentation, not counting the significant tattoos running along her body. Unlike the other members of the group, she appeared more Chinese then Japanese - her dress and mannerisms giving her mixed origin away, and her strange combination of tattoos suggesting both Triad and Yakuza connections. To Charlie and Venaticus, the woman was the very same who had offered them their invitations. No one could help but notice the apparent resemblance between her and the so called Mr. Johnson.
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The final man was the strangest of the group for one reason - he was clearly not Asian, but Caucasian - his dirty blond hair like a spot of gold in the sea of dark colors. He, like the Yakuza leader, was augmented, though much less significantly. A honeycomb of metallic patches circled his neck. He wore an unadorned military-grade HUD on his head, but it was retracted, allowing him to sport a pair of sunglasses whoes only function seemed to be to hide the signs of drug addiction in his eyes, visible at the corners where the glasses could not quiet work. he carried a small arsenal of weapons, ranging from pistol side arm to a grenade launcher. He had a bandolier wrapped around his chest, each containing not ammo, but small glass vials filled with an orange liquid of unknown purpose. He also wore a long brown overcoat. Even from the distance between them, Doc and Avalanche could smell the same chemicals from the man they had sensed from the one who first offered them the job.
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The shorter man in the suit continued to smirk as he made his way to a large table in the center of the room. Displaying a sense of humility that was entirely unexpected, the man bowed deeply before the group then began to speak in somewhat broken english. [b/]"Thank you for... agreeing to meet me on such... short notice."[/b] he began, his accent only slightly harming the understanding. [b/]"I am Tanaka-san. You may call me... Johnson-san if that is more convenient... It is I who asked you here today. I have a... problem I need "taking care of" here in Seattle for which I believe you are each... uniquely skilled."[/b]
Taking a moment, a realization dawned on the man. [b/]"Please Excuse me, I have been rude. please become more comfortable while we discuss this further."[/b] The man pulled back a chair and offered the well-dressed woman behind him a seat before taking a seat of his own at the long table, next to the woman and toward the center. He then turned to the large yakuza and made a slight nod. The man reached into his coat pocket, withdrawing a small bottle of sake. The large man poured the shorter man a glass. The other yakuza and the mercenary remained still.
After taking a sip of the sake, the man continued. His smile had disappeared. [b/]"I need three things of you. First, I need you to break into a certain building and... acquire some information regarding the whereabouts of specific individual - along with any other information you deem valuable. I will pay handsomely for any data I find particularly valuable. My employer is... rather interested in information, and the power that goes with it."[/b] At that, the more experienced corp runners in the group understood the meaning of the statement - there was only one Japanese corp in the information trade - Renraku. While the realization set in, the Johnson continued. [b/]"The second objective is to... make this particular facility incapable of storing data again. You must understand, my employer does not like our competitors having high security data archives."[/b]
At this point, the job seemed easy enough. Break into a building, steal some data, destroy some data. It was as the Johnson said his final words that they understood the implications. [b/]"Finally, You must use the information gained to either capture or kill the person I will name. I cannot say much more until you agree to the job - for security reasons you understand - but I can tell you the man works for NeoNET's Novatech Seattle facility."[/b] Some of the group paled, others seemd not to care, others seemed delighted, but all knew one thing: Renraku wanted someone at NeoNET out of the picture for good - some one in the most secure compounds on the east coast.
NOW the 20K payday made sense.
