[Day: Tuesday, June 21st. Time: 1:00 p.m.] [You're outside a club! Not the beat-you-over-the-head type, but the hang-out-and-party type. A band called "Arcana" is playing inside, but they're not who you're here to see, nosiree! You're here to find the members of a gang so you can find their boss and then the triads and then the nightshade and then use that on Chie to keep her from being dead and stuff.] [Oh, yeah. Mini Start] * Rei drives up like the maniac she is, spots a parking spot, and somehow manages to parallel park without killing anyone in the car. Whiplash may be a different story. * Maria grins. Riding in Rei's car is fun! [Rei hits a milk truck. It explodes. You all die.] [Just kidding.] (No mustard was involved, I hope?) ( ;_; ) (With catfish?) * Makoto gently releases his deathgrip on the handle over the car's passenger side window. Had he known that this was called the "oh shit handle" in some countries, he would have agreed wholeheartedly with the name. He appears to be a Japanese man in his late twenties, with hair carefully groomed to appear slightly mussed. (Gwar! Oh shit handle!) * Maria is, in keeping with her adopted role of bodyguard for the evening, wearing a black trenchcoat and shades, with more black clothing underneath. Sadly, since she has not seen the Matrix, she would not get any 'trinity' jokes made in her presence. * Makoto has a streak of pale dye coloring his otherwise black hair, and he's wearing a collarless button-down that appears off-white under normal light, and brilliant purple under blacklight. His slacks are a charcoal gray, his shoes stylishly laceless, and his face the very picture of practiced indifference. He would have 'bishounen' written all over him, if it weren't for the fact that stating the obvious is so very unprofessional and uncool. ( MC2: We Are Well Dressed. ) ( Given how old the Matrix is, neither would anyone else :P ) ( Hee! ) ( Oh, I'm sure Rei and Chie have seen it, if nobody else. ;P ) * Rei unlocks the car and scoots out. She blinks up at the club. "Okay! Party crashing time. Translator Rei!" She's dressed the way she always is, with the addition of a leather jacket and the subtraction of a brown, foxish tail sticking out where anyone can see. And the jeans don't have oil stains this time, which means she must have put some effort into it. * Makoto extricates himself from the car very carefully and looks around the parking lot. "Is this the place, Rei? I couldn't read the roadsigns at a hundred and twenty kilometers an hour." [They only have grapefruit juice stains.] Of course it is! Don't you follow directions? ( Hehe. ) (They're high class.) You couldn't? Huh. Ah... right. Let's go find some thugs. Who I'm sure are very nice men, of course. And women, maybe. You never know. [Makoto is interrupted by a text box! Oh no! ... Just kidding.] Right. Thugs. * Rei grins madly. She moves forward to the club. "Yeah, I bet." She puts a hand to the doors and woozes for a moment, then blinks and shakes her head before opening them and stepping in. * Maria tries to look intimidating and un-cute. ( Dang text boxes! ) [Maria fails.] * Makoto smiles slightly, since he can't allow himself too much emotional display in this body, and follows Rei into the club. (He doesn't allow himself much emotional display anyhow. ;P) [You get into the club! Flashing lights, loud music, lots of dancers! It's hard to figure out how you're going to peg anyone for being a gang member.] * Rei squints and looks around. "Aww, shit!" * Makoto glances at Rei. "What is it?" * Maria follows, and does the Bodyguard Lookaround. * Makoto tries to get a good look at as many people as possible, as inconspicuously as possible. He's hoping that he'll know a gang member when he sees one--maybe they'll look like they own the place. We didn't get the name of that gang. Damnit! * Maria stands just to the side of Makoto, and glances around for anyone thuggish who seems to have noticed their enterance. ( Maria and Makoto: Urban tracking rolls! ) 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Makoto (2d6-2) and gets 6. ( underworld spec ) 2d6-3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Maria (2d6-3) and gets 4. [They both notice the same thing: a small group of people talking amongst themselves at they're own table in the corner. They're somewhat displaced from the rest of the crowd.] * Maria looks to Mako to see if he's noticed anything. * Makoto nods slightly to Maria. He lets his eyes rest on the group as he speaks to Rei. "Rei, could you go and ask them if they know where a man can buy some pharmaceuticals? But wait until I've had a seat first. It doesn't look good to stand around." [But not to Rei! That says something.] ( Rei's prolly not paying attention. ;P ) * Makoto picks out an empty table, assuming there is one, and sits there. In a chair. * Rei blinks. "Oh, it doesn't? Okay." [There's exactly one empty table.] * Makoto sits at that table, then. * Rei follows Makoto's gaze to the people. "Oh! What's your name here?" She grins. [There's so many people in this club that nobody can tell you're just standing around. There's a bar here, too. And the white-haired singer of the band is really handsome] (I'll say!) * Maria follows Makoto to the table, staying just to his side. When he sits, she does, too, but turns her chair ninety degrees so the table won't keep her from standing in a hurry. ] Hm? Oh, Mister Takeda will work for now. * Rei gives him a thumbs up and a wink before weaving her way to the suspicious characters. * Makoto suppresses a grin at Rei, though it does take some effort. [They talk suspiciously. They look like anyone else in the club, really.] (Hee.) ( Hehe. ) * Rei reaches them! And coughs. "" she says, rather loudly. Because loud environment. [They all stop talking at once!] * Rei nearly jumps, but grins instead, and keeps going, "" "" They laugh. * Makoto would have facefaulted at the gracelessness of these punks, had he been within earshot. Fortunately, he wasn't. * Rei doesn't seem particularly fazed. "" [That raises a few eyebrows. A spikey-haired kid in leather -- we'll call him the Leader so as to make this easier -- leans forwards. <"And what sort of 'stuff' is it he wants?">] [And in case I forget to note it: they're all speaking Chinese] * Rei shrugs. "" [""] "" <*He* wants the stuff. Fine.> * Rei eyes the leader for a moment longer before turning and making her way back through the crowd to Makoto and Maria's table. What did they say? Go to a drug store. ( "He said, 'hurry up and finish this session'" ) * Makoto quirks half a smile. It is the kind of smile that says "We are not amused." After that. You were there too long for just that. * Rei stumbles and uses a chair to steady herself. "And after that, he told us to go to a pay phone for ten minutes, so I think we should probably do that." Okay. Let's. The sooner we get this stuff, the sooner we can get Chie back to normal and the sooner you can get some slee--rest. * Rei grumbles something that might be an affirmative. * Makoto stands and, after waiting for Maria to assume the bodyguard position, heads for the door. * Rei follows after him, giving the gang another glance on her way out. * Makoto doesn't look at the gang again, for that would be uncool. * Maria follows, too, maintaining Bodyguard Distance. ( You know, if I were Lazar we would have flattened this club by now. ) [You go outside, where you find a payphone! Not much else happenin' out here.] ( Good thing you're not.) ( Why? That could be fun. ) * Rei manages to reach the payphone and leans against the outer wall. She glances at her watch. * Makoto waits by the payphone, as instructed. He keeps a careful distance from Rei, trying to convey that he is waiting by the phone while at the same time having many more sacks of cash than Rei ever could. [Time passes. Then, one day (the very same day, in fact), the payphone rings!] * Rei checks the time again, then steps into the booth and picks up the phone. "" * Maria doesn't do anything, expecting Chie to show up and get it. ( Hah! ) (*snicker*) [A deep movie-preview-like voice says: ""] "" "" * Rei puts her hand over the phone and looks over at Makoto. "He wants to know what you want the nightshade for, Takeda-san." ( He wants it for 'Toons, Games and E-mail. ) (*eyes Brett*) ( I can't help it. When you're this tired, it's like being drunk. ) (I know. ;P) * Makoto pauses, then says "Tell him my sister it ill, and needs nightshade to live. Tell him if he assists me in this I will be sure to look to him for future business transactions." * Rei nods and uncovers the phone. "" [There's a pause, and then <"He's aware of the difficulty of obtaining nightshade, I hope? It's a rather rare piece of merchandise, and cant be obtained easily. Therefore, it will be rather costly...>"] <"Ten million US dollars."> ( "I'd tell you the price in local currency, but I can't count that high." ) ( Probably like One-billion whatevers. ) * Rei lets out a sound of surprise. "" She covers the phone again and looks at Makoto. "Ten million US." (Actually, that'd be roughly 78 million Yuen.) (Assuming it's roughly the same exchange rate.) (As it is now, anyway. ;P) ( 40 years from now in Japan, 100 yen = 1 US dollar exactly. Yay! ) * Makoto draws his breath in sharply. "Tell him I do not have that kind of cash at the moment, and my sister's life is in peril. Ask him if there is any other way we can reach an agreement. A debt, so I can have time to pay him, or a service... many services in exchange." * Rei removes her hand. "" ( What are we getting *into*? ) ( Something that'll haunt us for the rest of our lives. ^^) ( Yes, well... I'll be comforted by the fact that this is yet one more thing I can hang over Chie's head for all time. ) ( Whoo! We should make a list!) ( Well, it *looks* like you're getting into a heap of debt. ) ( And why am I so calm? I live longer than all of you! I'll have to pay that much more! ) "" "" ( Surely we have SOME loot? Damn Interpol, for taking all of our shineys! ) ( shinies? ) ( Well, I've got a really cute bodyguard... Not anymore, you don't. ) * Rei covers the phone again. "He wants to know if you have anything of value that'll cover it." ( you've got a cursed sword o/~ ) (...) ( We still have that thing, really? ) ( Yu: Hah! ) (We'd need to ask Shig where it is, but we'd probably have access to it. (Still, horrible idea. ;P) ( Oh, yes. We really want to give a thug Ambition. Then we could have a super-thug!) Tell him that I... trade in exotic items. Ask him if he has any particular interests in the occult. * Makoto leans over and whispers to Maria "We may have to steal something from Interpol later to pay for this, you realize..." * Rei nods and speaks into the phone (hand off, of course). "" <"I've got interest in items worth $10 million US Dollars."> * Maria shrugs and whispers back. "Shouldn't be too hard." * Rei rolls her eyes, but it doesn't carry into her voice. "" * Makoto whispers back to Maria, "Then think of everything we can get our hands on. The Rosetta stone? A dead wyvern? A cursed sword? Any other ideas?" <"Maybe. Maybe not. But I intend to get as much as the nightshade is worth."> * Rei puts her hand over the phone again. "He wants ten million US dollars worth." * Maria whispers. "Dunno how much the dead wyvern'll fetch, we don't want to give away the sword, and I hope he doesn't want the stone. But Interpol's gotta have *lots* of stuff. Right?" * Makoto waits until Rei's hand is over the receiver before whispering urgently to her. "Rei! What are we going to give him? I can't think of anything we have that's worth that much unless we raid our employers." ( Honestly, Makoto probably doesn't give a flying flip about who gets the sword. The end of the world is typically happening to somebody ELSE as far as he's concerned. ) * Rei pulls the phone away and whispers back, "Yeah, I know. I think you should tell him we'll get it, then notify Interpol and ask them if they can spare ten million USD of leftovers. I mean, it's gotta be rotting somewhere." * Maria rubs her face, and whispers to Makoto. "I could maybe steal something 'priceless' from the museum. Or something." * Maria whispers more "Or maybe we could trace the call?" Okay, okay. Rei, ask him if he'll trade me the nightshade *now* for the guarantee of items worth his price as soon as I can gather them and prepare them for delivery. * Rei looks vaguely amused. "Why do you think they had us use a payphone? All right." * Rei puts the phone back to her ear. "" <"No. You'll get the nightshade when I get the items."> * Rei looks at Makoto and shakes her head. * Makoto puts his hand over his face and moans very quietly. "We are gonna get into so much trouble for this later, I just know it. Rei, ask him how we-- how I can get in touch with him later tonight. I need at least a little time to arrange this shipment." * Rei nods. "" "" * Makoto reaches into a pocket and pulls out his cell phone. Thank goodness for high-capacity address books. * Rei covers the phone again. "His gang's going to be here until six." Okay. Thank him for his time and patience, and tell him he'll be hearing from me again soon. Sure. * Rei speaks into the phone one more time. "" "" * Rei hangs up. Rei, can you figure out what kind of goods Interpol would keep stocked within an hour's drive of here? Or less? Yeah. But are you sure you don't wanna contact them about it? I just want to know who to talk to when I call them. And I want to call them now, so can we please hurry? * Rei gets out of the stupid confining booth and sits on the curb, pulling out BOX. She starts typing away. * Makoto dials the number for the Hong Kong office, as he puts great faith in Rei's ability to get information quickly. [Someone answers in English: <"Yes?">] * Makoto cringes and tries to speak English as best he can. "" [The voice switches to Japanese: "Yes, hello?"] Oh, thank goodness. Name's Makoto Imagawa, I'm a field agent and I'm in Shanghai right now, I'm trying to save the life of another agent and I need to get nightshade. The only place we could find any in time is with some... gentleman who's charging ten million US dollars, or their equivalent in goods. Do we have that? Some bauble from an ancient temple, maybe? A cursed totem of eternal aphrodisia? Anything? "Ten million USD?! I'm sorry, but I can't imagine we would be able to raise so much money so quickly." * Rei looks up to watch the conversation. * Makoto looks down at Rei, eyebrows raised questioningly. "I'll call the proper departments if you want, but the paperwork could take some time." Hm. Wonder if there's any gems in town worth ten mil. I got it. Ask to be patched to a Mr. Sum Gai. Augh! We don't have time! Look, can I please talk to Mister Sum Gai? "Certainly. One moment." [Makoto is on hold. The background music? Green Greens!] * Makoto grins at Maria when he's on hold as mouths the words "I wish." (Tasty.) ( Yay! Kirby rules! ) Rei, what am I going to ask him for? [Before long, the phone is picked up: "Accounting department. This is Sum Gai."] He's in charge of expenses. If anyone can speed up the paperwork, it's him. * Maria snickers. * Rei grins. Oh, good. Accounting. Mister Gai, I have an urgent request. We have an agent down in the field, and we need to find goods worth approximately ten million dollars US to barter for her life. Can you help us? "Ten million?! That's not an easy some to come up with." Make sure you tell him how long we have. If you need credentials and didn't get any, I'm Makoto Imagawa and I'm here with Rei Ueda and Maria... uhm. Maria. We're from the Tokyo office. Chieko Matsuda will die if we can't help her *soon*, Mister Gai. How long is it, Rei? I don't have a great sense of time. "I understand that, but it's not that simple." * Rei checks her watch. "Say we need them within five hours." No, make it four. We want a buffer and everyone's always late. * Makoto nods to Rei and says to the phone: "Okay, we have about four hours. What can we do to make it simple?" "Even with getting passed all the paperwork, there's still the matter of obtaining the money. Interpol doesn't just have millions of dollars lying around." ( "Yeah, we've been poor ever since James Bond was an operative and blew all our funding on cars and boats. ) Well, that makes sense. How about goods? Barter? Do you know of any items in the area we could trade? Surely we've got a warehouse or twenty somewhere with all the bizarre shit we steal from monsters and villains, don't we? "In your immediate area? It's doubtful, but you can check with the operatives there." Okay. Where are they? "Let me see." He's gone a second, then comes back. "Their names are Shigeru Ueda and Eoi Tabushi." Wait... they aren't Shigeru Ue--GAH! Thanks, sir. Rei, he's directing me to your DAD. "But I don't imagine they would have much. Most of the artifacts not in use are sent here to the vault." * Rei blinks, then laughs. It's a little hysterical. "Damn! At least I don't have to tell him it's urgent!" You've gotta let him know that they're also working on saving her life. They're not really easy to contact right now. Oh. The vault? Is there any way we can requisition something from this vault? Shigeru and Eoi are busy helping us save this same agent's life right now. * Rei shifts. Tail uncomfortable. "I can talk to the department manager, but it's out of my area.>" * Makoto mutters a curse. "Okay, do that. I'm going to pursue other options while I'm on hold. Thank you, sir." "Of course." * Rei turns her attention back to BOX. * Makoto puts his hand over the mic. "Rei! Miles and miles of red tape! Do we have another option?" * Maria fidgets. Mussn't sit on wall. Fuck if I know! We could steal something from them. I'm trying to make a list of harmless stuff that should be worth some cash. ( Harmless. Haw haw. ) Maybe if we convince 'em to take it now and work out the red tape later... (Some stuff is more decorative than others, I imagine. ^^) Okay. Get that list for me, cutie. * Rei blushes slightly, but keeps working. [Mini on pause/hold/stuff]