Zalis:
'Ok G-man we can use words now'.

Bakerfield grimaced when Zalis' voice came over his communicator. "Unprofessional," he muttered to himself before responding.

"Terribly sorry to interrupt whatever you're doing," he said, without a trace of the lie in his voice. "It seems I need to engage the services of a reliable hacker once again, and the other two candidates met unfortunate ends very recently. I need to acquire any of Deus Enterprises' top secret and proprietary designs before anyone else does. You will be paid handsomely for this service, in addition to the pittance that I already owe you."

He paused and scanned his newsfeed while waiting for a response. More explosions from elsewhere in the city...and it seemed that Drake was going on trial soon. Interesting.

In the Bottoms Up, talking with Zalis over the phone

"Drake? You mean that C addict on the list? You might want to take a glance at the TV above the bar then." Saren pointed, and Gremlin turned to watch the police taking down both Skee and Drake, though Drake was the only one being hauled in. As Gremlin swore, Saren continued to talk "The only lead I have left leads to far dangerous territory than that Postage Office I broke into.". Someone in the bar turned, and Saren swore that for a second it was the dead guard staring holes into her again. Shaking her head to rid the image, Saren then continued "I think that Cybernet Inc is involved in all this, and that they have hired someone to take us all down, but for what I can barely imagine...".

Sarens musings were interrupted as her phone gave out a loud beep. Saren frowned, and flipped it open motioning for Gremlin to wait. At first, the picture message was entirely black. Then a light flashed on, and Saren nearly screamed. It was her adopted daughter, Ashely, and she was being held up by the hair with a cybernetic arm. The arm was leaking fluids from a wound on its elbow, and Saren had a terrible forboading that this was the same bounty hunter that wanted to kill her. Ashely was unconcious as far as Saren could see and unharmed. Then the bounty hunter threw Ashely roughly out of the way, and the picture went dead.

Stunned, Saren continued to stare at the now black screen. She fumbled at her drink, and it went flying to smash to the ground as Saren threw it in a fit of rage.

Zalis turned a corner, the Bottoms Up was in sight. 'Gods cursed Deus Enterprises' Zalis said to himself. 'Hey Bakerfield whatever you're after your not likely to be first, the security of Dues is severely compromised, I was in it before and with plenty of others I might add'. Zalis stoped at the Bottoms up door to finish the call, 'Nobody's likely to destroy files, the backup system replaces them within 5 minuets, but in the end it just means somebody beat you to the punch, unless its in a different system then your good.

Zalis: Outside the Bottoms Up

Zalis:
'Hey Bakerfield whatever you're after your not likely to be first, the security of Dues is severely compromised, I was in it before and with plenty of others I might add'. ... 'Nobody's likely to destroy files, the backup system replaces them within 5 minuets, but in the end it just means somebody beat you to the punch, unless its in a different system then your good.

Bakerfield thought about this new bit of information. He didn't know much about the inner workings of the matrix--he was no spider after all; that was why he was contacting Zalis in the first place. What the hacker was saying didn't sound good for his chances of getting anything out of the situation. Now that Deus Enterprises was falling apart their computer systems would be vulnerable as IT and any remaining security staff were laid off. At least that's what Bakerfield had assumed. Apperantly Deus matrix security was less effective than he had assumed. Either that or Zalis was a far better hacker than he had thought.

"Any top secret designs would be in the most secure location that they have," Bakerfield mused into his phone. "Therefore it is possible that you would not have found them from your regular hacking. A system disconnected from the regular matrix, perhaps?" He waited to hear the hacker's thoughts on the subject.

In the Bottoms Up, at the corner table

OOC: Shadowrun, anybody?

Zalis snorted, 'The whole place is, matrix-wise anyway, cleaned out. If its on a diffrent system I'll need a hard line, so fuck that idea. Any and everybody who is dumb enough to go near that train wreck gets burned. Me, that lizzard if the TV is right, jimmy white, if I was you I'd just let it go whatever you want can't be worth your life. Their are most likely more ways in, but find somebody else.'

Zalis stoped to catch his breath, 'sorry but I won't help this time.'

Gremlin had gone very still, focused over Saren's shoulder at the vid. When she flew into her rage, he calmly plucked the phone out of her hand and watched it a few more times. As she began to calm down, he spoke. "Man, this guy's unprofessional for a cybernetic. Maybe he doesn't know the area, but hell. Look." he gestured to the picture. "That walling? Dead cheap, but thin. They only use that material in the cheaper apartments. Like mine, actually." he began to muse, then glanced at Saren, and continued "That doesn't narrow it down that much, I know, but he should know not to give something like that away." he handed the phone back, and settled down, and regarded Saren. "Three questions. Who's the girl, how come you've been pissing off cybernetics, and since Ruben is technically my employer and I can get brownie points for stopping you getting yourself killed... do you want some help?"

OOC: I love the cops in this city and the way everyone's portrayed them. So... unsociable.

4TH MURDER:

Vincent sat in his room twiddling a small rubber band around his fingers. Terrified, and yet bored with the situation, he decided to let the rest try and sort this out. He already had a hand in killing a man, so in a way he was no better then the killer. He went through all the knowledge he accumulated in his head and still to no prevail of finding any hint or clue that could lead to anyone's identity. Maybe the list was there to put people off? Who knew?

Vincent sat up to look at his screen. Galt was messaging him for some sort of 'important findings'. He sighed and messaged the AHAT back. 'Well, if he's the killer, at least I'll get an answer,' he thought to himself grabbing his hat.

Galt stood at the front doors of city hall, one leg perched on the wall.
"Mr Law," he greeted, "We haven't talked too much, but I'd rather be talking with then most others. People have gotten a tad paranoid of things lately, and sadly, I don't blame them."
"Come on, what information do you have for me?" Vincent replied in a huff.
"Alright, let us go, away from prying eyes."
"So what? You can put a bullet in my back? I don't even know why I'm on that list."
"Neither do I. An agent for AHAT wouldn't spend his time killing off a random assortment of individuals would he?"
"If I remember, you were looking to escape the government life. Perhaps setting yourself up for a more luxurious life?"
"Ha, I doubt a list would be enough for a 'luxurious' life. No, I'm leading you away because I would rather walk out these doors a retired man and not be dragged out to a cyroprison."

The two figures moved away from the clean and glistening City Hall. The fountains and gardens were merely concealing the cameras and watch patrols. The two talked as they lead each other to a more secure location. The bottom of a small, lifeless bar to which two other people were present. One was drowning his sorrows and the other was already passed out on the table.

"Ok, what is it?" Vincent said trying to hurry away from this hole.
"Zalis just recently sent me a secure transmission. It's basically what Saren recovered from some stolen tapes. It apparently had some great importance but all they found was a list of government officials and other trash uncovered from Cybernet inc."
"So? I knew they supported Patterson, so it wouldn't surprise me if they supported others. It doesn't seem to interesting to me."
"Nor does it to others. I thought it might have been a scapegoat to lead us to dead ends, but it would be foolish to overlook it."

Vincent looked down at his cracked glass filled with some form of brown water.
"Cybernet could have ticked a few people off? Or perhaps someone worked for them but lost their job when Deus popped up?"
"It would explain why he was so intent on destroying what was left of the company," Galt pondered. "I could look into that a bit more."

Galt stood up and shook Vincent's hand. It was good this meeting. There was a lot less violence then his last few and he could have a decent conversation with someone for a change. The AHAT agents had started to make him tired.

A slight ringing was heard. A distant buzz but it was quite annoying. Looking at Vincent to say his departures, he noticed a trickle of blood seeping from Vincent's nose.

"Shit!" Galt said removing his trench coat. His chest covered with armaments. He pulled two large rifles loose and hurled one at Vincent.
"Hey! No guns in my ba-" the bartender coughed up a spatter of blood and looked sickly at it.
The drunken man at the chair collapsed as the ringing intensified.
Galt and Vincent quickly ran towards the door. An escape was the only way of fighting for now. The mysterious ringing had become so loud, the bones in their bodies began to ache. The two dropped their guns and clutched their ears.

A dark figure walked down the stairs leading to the door with a small metallic object in their hand.
"Gentlemen, two great threats to me, gone in one foul move. A pity you both had to make a stupid judgment of entering a strange bar. What would your mother say?"

Galt and Vincent collapsed spewing blood from every oraphus. The figure turned off the object and pocketed it. "Such a waste."

The crowd at the Bottoms Up was lest then cheery this night. The news flashed on the screen, the sound drowned out by the other patrons. A picture of Galt flashed up on screen and another of Vincent. Three others were shown. Then a scene of a covered body being removed to an ambulance.
"Turn it up!" Jack shouted.
The tv reporters voice loomed over Jack, "...with the murder of five people in a local bar. Each had been killed by internal bleeding. Police have little clues at present."

(DEAD)Purple Rain - Patrick Rain - The Don
Fire Daemon - Jack Dupain
(DEAD)Alotak - Validus
Knight Templar - Zalis
Singing Gremlin
(DEAD)Easykill
(DEAD)Strafe Mcgee - Knot
The Sorrow - Maeror Hill
(DEAD) Spartan Bannana - Jacob Xerxes
(DEAD) Yron33
(DEAD)John Galt - Galt
Zemalac - William S. Bakerfield - Clock
Roo18 - Kid
(DEAD) Raikone
Kuneru - Ruben Alexander
Copter 400 - Eddie 'Ethereal' Willers
(DEAD)Anarchemitis - Tulkas
(DEAD)Stompy - Vincent Law
(DEAD)Larenxis - Alexis
Saskwach - Matthias Cormann
(DEAD) Pie - Marx
The_Toe_Bighter98 - Saren
(DEAD) Axerion - Jimmy White
Isaac Dodgson - Sean Isaac Kashaku - The Hatter
(DEAD)Whiskeyjakk - Jack Skee
7dollarbill - Johnny Drake
(DEAD) Dcarty745 - Darcy

Zalis:
'Sorry but I won't help this time.'

Bakerfield drummed his fingers on the tabletop. After a moment he said, "That is most unfourtunate. Thank you for your time anyway." He terminated the connection and sat staring at his computer screen. Someone accross the room shouted for the volume to be turned up on the TV and Bakerfield glanced up, not really seeing what he was looking at. What was on the TV took a moment to register.

Vincent Law. His coworker. Dead.

Bakerfield's hand trembled slightly. The seriousness of this matter finally hit home. Before this he had unconsiously assumed that the Cybernet businessmen were somehow above the bloody conflict raging about the strange death list. Nothing before this had really caused any emotions other than annoyance, from the death of Jimmy White onward. It was merely a matter to be sorted out within the space of a few days, reported, and then filed away. Not any longer. Now a fellow businessman had been killed. Now, perhaps, Bakerfield might be killed. He struggled with that thought, staring unseeing at the rest of the news report.

For the first time in decades, Bakerfield was afraid.

Zalis put his phone away as he entered the Bottoms Up, a a lump appeared in his throat at the sight on the TV. 'That list is getting too short for my liking'.

Jack turned his attention back to his drink.

"Jesus Christ" he said to no one in particular. This was getting bad and he needed to stop spending his time sitting at a bar, he was dead meat if he didn't try and find the killer...before he found him.

Jack checked the list once more, 12 people remained standing, Jack knew he was not the killer so he had a one in eleven chance of guessing who the killer was. Not being one for guessing Jack started to what he did best, police work.

He walked up to Zalis who was standing awe struck at the television set.

"Come here mate, let me buy you drink."

'Ah the man who gave us the heads up as to all this madness, seems I should buy you one' Zalis said turning away from the TV. 'Anyway I 'll get wasted on half a beer, lightweight that I am, so water and soda for me.'

Saren was quietly sitting in her corner when the new flash filled the screen. This managed to knock her out of her slump, and Saren groaned from the affects of too much to drink. Noticing that Gremlin had left, not recieving a response earlier, Saren decided that approaching him for some professional help was called for. Tapping him on his shoulder, she drew his attention as she sat opposite of him, holding her throbbing head in one cupped hand. "To answer your first question, her names Ashely. I found her on the streets, and decided to take her under my wing. Unluckily, this was before I realised how deadly this dammed list was.".

Saren ordered a cup of coffee, then continued. "When I dropped Ashely at my apartment, I decided to head to the Link to get some info on the situation. When I arrived... the place was burning to the ground, and I found them all dead in a side alley." visibilly shaking from the memory, Saren sipped at her hot coffee before continuing. "I noticed that I was being followed when I was riding a bus, so I decided to get the drop on him by surprising him at a stop. Though managed to hit this guy at least three times, two in each knee and one in his arm, it did nothing, worse it just made him angrier. Chasing me into some apartment building, he killed some female occupant and cut her head off.". She said this with another shake, and continued to sip at her coffee.

Saren looked the lizard over, wondering if he could actually help... or be trusted to. Deciding she didnt have a choice, she made her decision. "This guy isnt some amateur I think, for a guy his size he moves fast. Although he seems to have made several mistakes, it could all be some trap. He could really be luring us into some easy to kill spot, so... You know what? I think your the professional here, tell me what you think we should do." Saren said, leaning back with her mug of coffee.

Gremlin ran his tongue over his teeth. "I hate hosstage ssituations. Ssso complicated." he hissed, tapping a finger on the table. He cupped his chin in his hand, and looked Saren in the eyes. "He wants to kill you." he said "Either that or he's hoping for a ransom, but then it would make more sense to kidnap you and threaten Ruben. So we'll assume he wants your head on a plate. Your street rat is his bargaining chip, so it'll be safe until you've copped it, after which..." he drew a finger across his throat. "Course, if things are going badly he'll likely kill her and run to spite you. So, assuming you prefer your street rat warm and cuddly, we'll need to make sure he never thinks things are going awry. Which means for now we'll play by his rules. Now, if he was me, he'll be expecting you to either come in and rescue her, or, if you're particularly thick, to try and negotiate a ransom." he leant back and scratched his chin. "Course, if he was me, you'd be six feet under already, as would your pet be, but that's beside the point. Put simply, we're gonna have to play by his rules. Contact him, and play the distressed bimbo. Don't overdo it, just try and seem naive enough to believe he'll accept a ransom. He won't believe you'll have any help, so we can try and get an advantage here."

Drake thrashed about, a cold sweat beading down his face. It was becoming hard to breath and a large lump was forming in his throat. He knew this feeling, it was the sick; He hadn't had C in what seemed like ages and now he was paying for it. His stomach was painfully cramping, his head throbbed and he couldn't focus his vision any longer. Everything spun violently, and he only felt sicker when he tried to focus. A guard noticed him acting oddly and stepped forward, probing Drake with his nightstick.

"Hey! The fuck is wrong with you!?" The guard knelt down beside Drake, before nearly being vomitted on.
"Damnit! Somebody get in here, this fuckin' junkie is dyin here!" Medical personell rushed into the room and scanned Drake. Taking his pulse, his temperature and examining his pupils.
"It's just withdrawal" Said one of the medics, turning to the guard. He approached a small medical cabinet and produced a vial of a clear liquid. He slid it carefully into Drakes arm and injected the entire contents. His thrashing died down and he began to drool, a smile stretched across his face as he began to refocus on the room.

Bakerfield waited for a moment as his cybernetics flooded his system with the necessary chemicals to ensure calm. Then he refocused, and changed his priorities drastically.

Screw Deus Enterprises. The company was nothing more than a shell now, a shell that was going to collapse in on itself any day. He would leave it to the experts at Cybernet to pick through the ruins of their compeditor for anything of value.

No, what Bakerfield would now concentrate on was the killer. Pick over the evidence, analyze the avalible data, dispatch the necessary agents, and deal with the threat. Permenantly.

He took a drink of his scotch and went to work.

OOC: really not sure of who could be the killer now...I'll think on it while my character does the same.

Ruben seated himself next to Gremlin and his daughter Saren.
"I heard what happened and I'm willing to give you any money you might need but beyond that I have to focus on our killer. He handed Gremlin a blank cheque.
"Write in what you feel will keep you loyal Gremlin," he smiled as he said this before his face became coldly serious, "It is your job to keep Saren safe no matter what you do and I will hold you personally responsible should anything happen to her." He ordered a drink and sat there, listening to their plan.

Saren smiled at Ruben, and held his hand. "Thanks for the offer dad." she said warmly. He smiled back at her, and then Saren let go to turn back to Gremlin. Saren took a breath, and began with "Well, the only flaw in your plan would be that we dont have a trace on this guy. All we know is that his in some cheap apartment, and this city holds more condemmed buildings than hookers. So I think that the only thing we can do is just wait for him to contact me again.".

Saren took her phone out, and rested it on the table. "Maybe Zalis could attempt to trace the phone call, and find out where exactly it was made. Seems unlikely, as I really do think that this guy isnt prone to making mistakes but by now I'm willing to try anything." Saren finished as she reached for her coffee cup. Taking a long drink, Saren wondered just how this whole thing was going to end. 'Most likely with me dead, and the killer getting away again...' she thought. Glancing at everyone inside the bar, Saren had trouble in condemming one of them to death.

Sighing out loud, she began to hum to herself, while playing with peoples chances at life. Settling on a name, she decided that if anyone was going to be lynched it might as well be... Dammit, she couldnt decide. Noticing that Gremlin and Ruben were both staring in impatience, she cut her daydreams off and continued. "If we can find this guy, lets try to take him alive. Not necessarily fully alive, but just enough so we can extract some useful information from him. Then I want five minutes alone with him." Saren said entirely without warmth, her voice icy at the last syllable. She then suddenly stands and approaches Zalis. "If you dont mind, we could use your help in tracking this bounty hunter of ours." she asks nicely.

Gremlin winced as Saren walked off. He glanced at Ruben. "Alive?" he asked weakly "Why do they always want them alive?" he sighed, and shook his head, before leaning across and writing a satisfyingly large number in the cheque, which he then pocketed. "Well, you know I prefer to make people dead than keep them alive, but I like money and a certain degree employee loyalty can be a good thing... so consider her guarded." he grabbed his whisky "that, and she's got nice tits." he muttered into his drink, quickly taking a slug to stop himself from laughing. Wouldn't be professional. He put the drink down, still regarding Saren's back thoughtfully. "She does seem like the type to go through with a stupid plan for a moral cause no matter how much the professional tells her she's an idiot." he glanced at Ruben. "I'm right aren't I?"

Ok, for the game's sake, Ashely is Roo18 since she is a street 'kid' and Roo18 isn't exactly using her character too much. Just to let you know that Ashely's on the list too.

OOC: "GASP" I actually made an NPC character that made it on the list? Curses, wasnt planning on that. Oh well, guess she is as good as dead. =(

Just a note, I shall avenge her with the sniper/ninja/shadow/zombie/imaginery character, who may or may not have an acronym by then.

The_Toe_Bighter98:
OOC: "GASP" I actually made an NPC character that made it on the list? Curses, wasnt planning on that. Oh well, guess she is as good as dead. =(

Just a note, I shall avenge her with the sniper/ninja/shadow/zombie/imaginery character, who may or may not have an acronym by then.

OOC: She may live or die at my whim, but I have something special planned. It's just my way of ridding out the people who aren't playing not some way to jeprodise your game.

PurpleRain:
OOC: She may live or die at my whim, but I have something special planned. It's just my way of ridding out the people who aren't playing not some way to jeprodise your game.

OOC: Its not like I'm going to argue with you Rain, its your RP I'm in. Anyway, I'm sure you will have something great planned for this. =)

Jack ordered some drinks and handed Zalis his soda.

"Don't worry about me sending you that list, just doing my civil duty and all that jazz. Look mate I don't know you that well but you arent trying to kill me yet so I'll trust ya...for now. Anyway...seeing as how I trust ya I suppose that means you're not the killer so tell me, who do you think has done it."

OOC: Personally I have no idea who is in and who is out of this RP, most people don't post anymore

OOC: Just list the most active, and remind yourself who's on top I guess.

IC: Saren took her seat back, and sat calmly. She picked her cup up, and seeing that it was empty put it back down, then simply said "She's my daughter, you damn lizard. This isnt just for some moral cause, Gremlin, this is for me as well. If I ever had the chance to help someone in my identical postition when I was a kid, I used to spit on it, saying that I had to take care of myself and only myself. But with this whole realisation of immediate death, I realise that I'm not part of the scum of the Earth!" with this she thumped her hand down, her "right" hand.

She raised her synthetic arm, and saw her closed fists imprint on the wood. Realising she had lost control again, maybe due to her cravings and drunkeness, Saren realised she couldnt keep going like this. The stress from this kidnapping, the constant pushy, demanding cravings, and her head beginning to spike... She sighed, and cupped her head in her hands.

"Look, Gremlin, just do all you can to save my daughter. Plenty of money involved, along with... certain other favours" the last she whispered only to Gremlin. "Just find some way to save my daughter, and... get this bastard for me, will you? If you need me to act the bimbo in distress, just shake me awake as I'm going to rest my eyes.". She stood up, wandered over to a makeshift bed a.k.a. a long padded bench, and laid down. Her eyes didnt close easily, and she tossed and turned frequently.

OOC: Sorry if I pushed my character in the wrong direction, just trying to act the role here. Also, if you wont to progress the kidnapping story then feel free to use my character. You dont have to, but the options there for you to experiment with if you want. I'm off to bed, have a good night everyone.

Gremlin snorted, and then, suddenly seeming tired, or perhaps older, he rubbed his eyes. Glancing at Saren's sleeping form he shook his head, muttering something softly. "Well" he murmured "She's safe enough here." then stood up, and walked outside, sitting down on the curb. He fumbled in his pocket for a moment, and brought out a battered cigar. He'd bought a crate with the idea smoking a cigar was cool and mildly threatening. Unfortunately this didn't transfer so well onto a transgenic and some people just laughed, but it was calming. He lit it and stared onto the road, thinking. "Huh. "Certain other favours" eh? That's a first" he muttered to himself. Generally being a scaley, green skinned, murderous psychopath was something of a turn-off, and he was almost touched by the lengths Saren was willing to go to to protect the rat. Almost. Softening up now could be disastrous. That and it'd be horribly cliché.

Once again, he shook his head, his face unreadable. He turned his mind to the task at hand. Cybernetic assassins. Clearly either a stranger to the area or not the most professional of geezers, or both. That didn't exactly narrow down his options. Well, the best idea would be check the areas where the walling he'd seen would be likely to be found. He pulled out his phone and sent Saren a message.

Gone exploring. I'd ask you to stay in the Bottoms Up but I guess you're the type for action. Just don't do anything too stupid. Call me if anything happens. If he calls, remember to play naive.

-Gremlin

He stood up, and jogged into the dark.