Searching For Utopia

[Velvet LeChance]

The Canadian glanced across their blood-soaked persons, gaze lingering on Oni only a moment longer than the rest. "Take the rest of tonight to wash, rest and recover. The garage connects into the main building: You'll find the fridge stocked, two rooms made up, and as many shower units."

He looked at Rose next, confirming any suspicions of a prior relationship: "She can show you were things are, if you have any questions."

With that, he flickered and disappeared. Rose looked to Tejon, "And, yeah, I'll have the eye."

Hidden:

This is downtime. Have your character do whatever they want.

[BetaB17]

Oni took a few steps further before turning around, looking at Tejon and Rose. She pointed off to the nearest door "Shower?" clearly wanting her to show them were it was, after business was concluded

[Kerr]

"Keep a good eye on it." said Tejon, handing over the cybernetic to their handler. He made his way to the showers at the earliest convenience. Everything else could wait.

[The SheoDovah]

The Cipher's Rest

After being ignored by Téjon, Cipher decided to undertake a vital mission of his own. Probably wants to just deal with the [&@%!] [&@%!]. So much for trying to be decent. "If you need me, I'll be at the nearest bar." Without paying anyone any futher attention, he would make his way towards the medic to get the wound examined. If this stops me from relaxing with an ice cold scotch on the rocks and enjoying the local scenery, I will [&@%!] tear my head from my body. Idiotic to sneak up. Pfft, the corporate weapon taken down by a lone guard, what a waste of cash that would be. Provided that his wounded shoulder didn't pose any issues, he would undertake his urgent mission to visit the nearest bar. Damn tourists better leave me along or I will break their skulls.

[Velvet LeChance]

Tejon, Oni, Ren

"I won't let it out of my sight." Rose shook her head with that, a small whisper of a smirk reaching her lips at least. Next, she pointed out towards the only door connected to the garage. "Up the stairs, you'll come out into a large hall, turn right to the corridor, and the bedrooms both have en-suites." She nodded slowly with that. "Or I can show you, since I'm heading upstairs anyway

Rose began to move that direction, continuing: "Towels, etcetera, it will all be there. You might find clothes, too. Maybe they'll fit." Though, at this point, Tejon might have been minorly distracted by a message which appeared in his visor. It appeared to be from an old contact:

Dude, who the [&@%!] did you [&@%!] off? I'd almost cash in on this one it's so big.

Included was a link to KillThisMan.io, a darkweb site for hitpeople. It linked to a profile of Tejon, including a picture of himself taken in the executive's office just a few hours ago, estimates of his height and age, but no other revealing detail. There was a media link which when examined played a video of Tejon approaching a number of quivering executives. It was taken from an angle which suggested it was recorded by one of the executives:

"We can cut out your eye or cut off your head. Can only replace one of those." The video then panned in on Oni, drenched in blood, katana in hand. "And she has experience doing the second one. So, which is it?" He looked pretty [&@%!] scary honestly.

The price on his head was 500,000 dollars. He found links from his profile to similar contracts set out on Oni, Cipher and Ren. Only in the last case did they have a real name, Melissa Thomas. They all had their own little media bit he could check out.

Cipher

Heading up the stairs and into the large hall, and turning left, Cipher would find a woman sitting in the kitchen. She was black, early-40s, and smoking a cigarette. From a look at the ashtray, it was her fourth or fifth. She stood up before he could say anything. "Deary me, you must be the group they warned me about. Rose said you were pretty banged up." Her accent was South African. She had eyed his stomach wound immediately.

"I hope you're not in a rush, love."

She called him over with her hand, obviously wanting a closer look. Cipher didn't know it, but by stopping him from heading out to a bar to get drunk, clothing covered in blood and still carrying his shotgun, she saved him from near-certain arrest.

[The SheoDovah]

Cipher

Cipher headed upstairs in search of the medic and walked down the hall whilst whilsting a randomnly. He turned left into the kitchen and spotted a woman smoking. "That [&@%!] will kill you." He smiled as he removed his trenchcoat befre loking down at his stomach upon her remark. "Ah [&@%!]. How did that occur?" He looked down at it. "[&@%!]!" How the hell did I forget this? How the [&@%!] did this not set me off? He looked at the medic. "I was planning on going to the bar but that can wait." That and I am not dying because I didn't get it treated in favour of getting a bloody drink.

[Kerr]

Tejon began repeating curses under his breath once he got the messages. This was bad, very bad. He started by responding to his friend.

Shades in the vid went loco, blew away half a boardroom during a milk run. Nearly killed the big shot too. Guess he holds a grudge.

Thanks for this. And not turning me in. Gonna leave the city once this job I'm on wraps up. Take care of yourself, shame we never did get that drink together.

-T

Tejon made sure to check out all the links that were included before adding the links in a group message he sent to Oni and Ren. He left Cipher out of the group message, that man was on his own.

Check this: [links] We're corporate enemies number one.

I'm out of this city once we're done. Maybe the country, suggest you two do the same thing. Going to talk to our handlers, I'm not mentioning the contract, you don't either. But going to say this city's too hot, maybe they got work in Rio or something.

-T

He still had to shower first, he was coated in blood. But he was going to make it quick, once he was out and in fresh clothes he'd shave his beard to change his appearance somewhat and make his way to one of their handlers to talk passage out of the city and maybe, the country ASAP. But first he sent one last message to Oni.

We should have done it in the boardroom, there and then. Son of a [&@%!] ruined our lives.

You can keep all that cash Cipher's got up his sleeves. Do us all a favor. Shiv him in his sleep.

-T

[BetaB17]

Oni didnt seem to pace in her stride behind Tejon, even when for a moment it seemed he faulter, but she really wasnt paying much mind.

When she saw the heads up on the message, the only expressive response she gave was a small angle to her eyebrows. 500k is alot, especially for each and every one of them. She would be lying to herself if she didn't already calculate how much she could possible get. But that didnt really dwell on her mind, she just thought more so how much of a pain it's gonna be dealing with all the added attention, and just when this region has been being good for business too, some amateur with a shotgun ruined it all

Roger

She stopped and saw Tejon go into one of the two rooms for personal use, sort of just a quiet look on her face before progressing to the next room as well.
--
There she approached the shower, still in her bloody gear, and silently reached up to turn on the cold water. For a moment there, she just stood, letting the water hit the top of her head and body, washing away the grime from her fabric as her head tilted down in contemplation.

She also didnt say it, not to Tejon, it really didnt matter to her, but she saw the external wasn't posted with a bounty, which meant they probably caught her, in one state or another.

Zoning out for a bit and not realizing it, she stepped out fron the water, removing her damp gear before returning to it's rain. A small hand reached for the dial, turning it to hot
-------
She was now standing out in the open in the room. A neat pile of gear onthe side, and a the short quiet assassin, drying her hair with a towel while seemingly only dressed in a very large, oversized plain shirt. The entirety of her lower half of her legs and foreamrs/hands were in open display, metallic and fully prothetic, with what looked like a thin line of burn scars where metal met flesh.

Correction. Ruined your life

But sentiments shared

She folded the towel neatly beside her pile, before grabbing her scabbard and walking out of the room, looking for one of their handlers, or more importantly, the medic

[Pazzi]

Ren had been following the others towards the stares when she received Tejon's message. Her stomach turned when she saw that it didn't just have her picture, but also her real name. She sent a quick response back to Tejon:

Thanks for the heads up.

That [&@%!] [&@%!].

Ren

It took her a few seconds to decide what to do. They had her real name, and with a price as large as that, they might go after friends and family. She stopped walking, and with a sigh began to video-dial her father. She made sure that an image of herself wouldn't come up if he picked up, just a black screen.

[Velvet LeChance]

Ren

The line rang for a moment before she was automatically re-connected to another number. This one was answe3ered immediately. The vidfeed centred on a woman's face. Late twenties, perhaps the earlier part of her thirties, she certainly wasn't her father.

"You've reached Ambassador Thomas's office. He's away at a meeting for the moment, but I can take your message."

It was spoken in a distinct French accent. Which was to be expected, of course, her father is based in that country last time she remembered.

Tejon

Tejon found a mismatch of clothes in the wardrobes. He managed to pull out a garishly purple and yellow Hawaiian shirt, a nice loose fit, a pair of cream cotton pants and a brown fedora. Though, he also knew that if he was a Amazon Platinum Tier One subscriber, he could have other goods purchased and delivered in up to 6 hours. If he wasn't, a subscription was just 9 dollars a month (with a minimum 15 month contract, terms and conditions apply.)

Otherwise, on leaving the room, he would hear Rose;s voice coming from a third room along with their corridor. She was mumbling something lowly enough that Tejon couldn't keep up with the details. It ended with an "I love yous" as he entered the room, however.

Rose spun around at that, eying him up. "Is there something you need?" The room itself was not like the others rooms along the corridor. There was a white table in the middle, a 3D projector sat in its centres. Nothing was turned on.

Oni and Cipher

Oni strode out into the kitchen area, to find the medic inspecting some of Cipher's wounds.

"Not before this job does, love, I'd imagine." She smirked at Cipher's quip, shaking her head as she examined the wound. "Oh dear." Her head-shaking sped up some amount. "What happened? Had you no time to properly attend to this in the field? There's still about five bullets lodged in here, you're lucky not to be dead."

[BetaB17]

Oni squented her eyes slightly at Cipher, reminding herself of just how much trouble this amateur has gotten them into.

She looked around the room "Where. Doc?" She knew their team at least had a field medic, wherever he was. And she looked busy, dealing with, him

[Kerr]

Tejon loved his new garish outfit and had no intention to change out of it this night. Anyone who saw him would just write him off as an annoying tourist with poor taste. Tejon however would consider himself a cool resident with great taste. He still had the memory stick the internal was carrying in his pocket, it was becoming tempting to check it out but he continued to put it off. Arrangements he'd need to survive the week came first.

"Evening." said Tejon. He followed up by telling Rose the truth but being incredibly selective with what information he included. "Going to fix up my robots but, first... now I'm grateful for the follow up work, but once this next job is done, I'm out of the city. Maybe the country. The rest of the team feel the same way. With how the tonight's op went down, things are just too hot. Don't want to be nabbed off the street by a goon working for the widow of someone Shades killed in his rampage." said Tejon. He rubbed his smooth face. There was no need to mention the existence of the bounty, the fear was legitimate even without it. "I'm looking to book passage out of Sao Paulo with my upcoming pay, discrete like and as soon as possible. Wondering if yous can arrange that, any of us getting caught is bad for all of us. And if you got work in another city, Rio, Brasília, we might be interested. If we survive tomorrow, I think it shows we can handle it."

Tejon was speaking for himself, mostly, but said we just in case Ren and Oni wanted to come too. The doctor was in the clear, he probably had ties to this city he wouldn't give up. But Oni and especially Ren, were in as much trouble as he was. They were capable enough and neither of them would be able to collect payment, so he could trust them not to try and kill him.

[Pazzi]

It was probably better it had gone to his secretary. There would definitely be less should that way.

"Listen," she began, skipping the introduction. "Tell hiim that it's Mel, and that I got into a bit of trouble. There's people try to hurt me, and that he needs to take some extra precautions because they might hurt him, too. You got that?" She studied the women's expression to make sure she had.

"And, tell him I lo-.." She stopped herself from finishing and rapidly corrected. "Actually, no, just tell him to be safe."

She hung up, frowned, and began walking to the stairs. As she walked, she typed another message. The call had only made her angrier.

Is there a reason I shouldn' shoot that [&@%!] in his sleep?

[BetaB17]

Oni didnt really so much as hesitate

Won't stop you. Fair game

Looking at him right now. And medic

[Velvet LeChance]

Ren

The women hadn't managed a response before Ren had hung up, though her face suggested some amount of confusion about the strange turn of events her day had taken. She had only begun to stutter something before the line went dead.

Oni

There was a dining area situated next to the kitchen, and looking into it Oni could see Gabriel sitting on a long-chair. He seemed somewhat shell-shocked, now that the events of the night were setting in on him. Though the television was turned on--a newscasters reading the headlines: (1) India gaining more ground against China in the Himalayas, (2) a category 4 hurricane bearing down on Amapa, the two big ones--he seemed to be looking beyond it.

Tejon

Rose had nodded slowly as Tejon broached the topic, no flicker of emotion really reaching her features as she considered his words. Her lips eventually pursed into a deep frown. "You're right. Of course, you're [&@%!] right. We're--". She paused, as if not sure she should continue, but then did. "I don't know what the big plan is, I'm only kept enough in the loop to keep things managed, but you guys are [&@%!] radioactive. The assault will probably be on the local news tomorrow, getting anything done here will be impossible. So, I think, more likely than not, we'll be moving out anyways. But, if not, I can see about arranging a safe passage out soon as the job is finished. You guys did good, don't deserve the heat."

She shook her head as she finished. "I tr-" She stopped herself. "Is that OK then?" she extended instead.

[Kerr]

Tejon

Tejon nodded. "Thanks, it's appreciated. Shame it all went down like it did." said Tejon. He bit his lip, unsure of what to say. The pair existed in an awkward silence for a couple of seconds. "Take care."

He intended to make his way to a room where he could work on his drones. He was hopeful the building would have some regular t-shirt, something he could wear with his vest and coat tomorrow. Was usually better than the Hawaiian, as stylish as it was. He got to work, repairing and reloading the bots, as well as maintaining his own firearm. But he made sure to send a message to his co-conspirators as soon as his work started.

So we're all in agreement then? Shades dies? If we do nothing, he'll drag us down with him.

How are we doing this?

[BetaB17]

Oni approached, at first trying to figure out if he was preoccupied, or just staring off into space, but the fact that he was shell shocked wasnt really something she could sympathize with. She got closer, stepping between him and the tv, though there wasnt much of her to really block it.

"Busy?" Her general demeanor still lacking persuassion

[Pazzi]

Ren had begun to scale the stairs when Tejon's message arrived. She scanned it, almost smiling as she did.

He's too big to take head-on, I suggest we wait for him to sleep and then wake him up with a round to the face.

But I'm not really the international assassin of this conspiracy.

With that covered, she headed into the kitchen area, nodding to the new medic as she did.

[Velvet LeChance]

Tejon

Examining his drones, Tejon found that while Tucan had sustained some damage to his exterior hull, he was quite fine. However, the damage to Toro was more severe and concentrated on his interior mechanics; severe enough to prompt Toro's hideous accuracy rating during the previous fight, Tejon might have realised. Peaking inside, Tejon could see that some of the circuits were fried and would need replacement if he had the materials on hand. However, absent that he could still repair a significant amount of the damage. Though, if he decided to it would probably keep him up much of the night, meaning he was unlikely to get any sleep if the group decided to set off in the morning or afternoon.

Oni

The doctor looked passed her a moment before shaking his head. "Problem?" he inquired.

[BetaB17]

Oni looked at him with a straight face "Need medic" she first pointed at her leg and ear, before casually lifted her shirt up to show the two bullet holds. At least she had underwear on, though it's safe to say it probably didnt matter to her

[Kerr]

Tejon had plenty of spare parts and wires with him. He'd designed these drones and being able to fix them after combat was an important part of that design. He decided he'd fix up his drones and get some sleep afterwards, he could leave any murder to Ren and Oni. Or they could do it tomorrow.

[The SheoDovah]

Cipher

"It was treated but the same can't be said for the [&@%!] who did this." Cipher remarked as he spotted Oni and paid no attention to her. Should have shut down the entire security system first but [&@%!] it. Mission's over. next one will be commencing soon "How long will it take to get the [&@%!] out?"

[Velvet LeChance]

Oni

Gabriel was obviously a profession as despite his seemingly shellshocked he didn't even raise an eyebrow. "That's not good," he muttered, looking at them--seeming to jolt back into his role some amount. "Problem with subdermal armour is nothing is ever a clean shot." That seemed more said to himself than Oni. He sighed next. "Here, lie down and I'll pull these out--they're not gone very deep at least."

He'd wait for Oni to lie down, and start pulling them out if she did.

Cipher

"Honey, you got at least 6 bullets bouncing around inside your guts here. It's going to take more than a few moments." She shook her head, seeming to end a preliminary examination. "We're going to need to get you laying down, in one of the bedrooms and then I'll go in with sterile pliers." She shook her head again. "Just give me a moment to prepare some anaesthetic. Becuase, trust me, dear, this is going to hurt like a [&@%!]."

[BetaB17]

Oni layed down as requested, while doing so adding "Ear and leg?" Clearly a lack of concern in her voice about the bullets themselves

[Velvet LeChance]

Roughly sixty minutes passed as the various repairs were made.

Cipher was moved into one of the other rooms, and the doctor began the painful procedure of removing the bullets lodged in his stomach. It seemed to be successful, though she said she could not be certain as to whether she had claimed them all, and so moved to stitch the wound up. This sealed it better than the quickseal which had been implied on the mission, but it wasn't impervious to wear and tear. If the stress got too intense, the bounds would break and the wound would open. The doctor remained sitting within him afterwards, "Do you want some pain medication now, dear?" she asked, finally. "It'll dull your senses, but make it easier to move around."

Tejon continued with his mechanical works, only realising when he started how truly terrible the damage had been. It was going to require much of his repair supplies if he kept going.

Oni had each of the bullets pulled out by Gabriel. He was silent more-or-less the entire time, only broaching subjects related to fixing her wounds. Whether professionality or shellshock was not certain, though the latter seemed more likely. The news played in the background, she didn't hear anything to suggest their job had appeared on it. The world had enough going on to bother with a break-in. When Gabriel, finished, he didn't smile or offer anything very encouraging, just nodded and told her it was done.

Now hopefully beginning to throw on the rest of her clothes, Oni would have spotted Rose head down the stairs into the basement where the van was parked.

Locke and Loadgan

Their van pulled in alongside another one. They had been picked up off the street 90 minutes earlier, but the tedium of the journey made it feel longer than that. The back doors burst open on arrival. A woman in her mid-30s greeting them. Her features were soft, a contrast with her intense dark eyes. Alert with experience, they warned against any effort to underestimate her. When she spoke it was in a deep, Northern Irish accent.

"Good, you're here." She nodded. Then, a pause stretched for two, perhaps three, seconds. "I'm going to skip the [&@%!], nice-to-meet-you, good-to-have-you-on-the-team stuff. You're only here for the money and so am I--pleasantries are just profoundly cynical in that context, don't you think." It wasn't a question, she was back into speaking after the barest moments breath. "Now follow me, I'll introduce yous to the rest. As I'm sure you read in the brief we emailed, we're just out of a job, camping out here tonight, extra hands are going to be required moving forward--got it?" She didn't wait on the response, already walking past them and towards the staircase that would bring them up to the first floor, where the others were. She kept going. "Pay is non-negotiable, [&@%!] up we'll drop you like a rock, etcetera--usual rules, like."

She'd began to move up the staircase, leading them now, when they reached the top she broached her hand to the kitchen and living space.

Locke, Logan, Ren, Oni

Having reached the kitchen-living room area, Rose prompted first to her left. "That's where the bedrooms are, they're basically all taken--" and then to her right "--and that's a selection of some of the lovely people you're going to be working with." She nodded the direction of Oni, Ren and Gabriel. In the dining space sat a smallish Asian woman, ominously young, she could have been sixteen, an average sized white woman, and a brown-skinned man who was still covered in a non-trivial amount of blood and looked pretty shellshocked.

The brown-skinned man weakly raised a hand in a waving sort of gesture. "None of us are sociopaths," he nodded, regaining some sense of humour.

---

Tejon and Cipher heard the announcements from the living room.