Downtime 6 - Megumi, Misaki, Kuroi

During off time, Misaki did her usual activities, going to school, hanging out with friends, and going to work in the maid cafe. Her recent haul of cash made her question if she really wanted to continue working at the cafe, but at the very least, it provided some legitimacy to how she was getting money to buy all the gear that she had.

One day, Shohei Akihara, Misaki's fixer, called her up and asked the teenaged rigger to help her with a score. The goal was to stage the death of a VIP, so Shohei needed people to act both as security, and as the antagonist, in order to stage the event. The VIP's name was Mason Lam, a trideo celebrity who had been indicted on serious white collar crimes, and faced significant jail time. He posted bail, and some sympathetic wealthy fans decided to help stage his death to avoid trial.

Misaki called up Kuroi to help, and Shohei also introduced the two of them to Megumi.

Kuroi Hitsuji
Kuroi is spending his days off going out with Aiko Akako, as he owed her 20.000 Nuyen he had to pay her back also. they normally don't party that much but Kuroi is needing to get his head right, the mission was a lot harder than he had expected and he was nearly died.
At the time it didn't really bother him, as he was just in survival mode and honoring the job Misaki Yachi got him.
But now it is hitting him, maybe this place is too much a step up from Dagmar. But frag that he is in it now so he has got to deal with it, and on the bright side he is getting some friends now.

Well he is spending his days trying to forget, and trying to feel better, and Kuroi has always known that helping others definitely helps his mood. So he helps out in the local area by donating to the local community center, Kuroi donates a minibus worth 40.000 Nuyen, and spend most of the days playing some basketball with the youngsters at the community center.

At the community center Kuroi met a guy called Wujen, he had a beautiful Katana, and Kuroi bought it off of him. It cost him only 8.000 Nuyen

Kuroi gets a call from Misaki Ogawa, she needs some help with a score. Kuroi grabs his jacket and takes his Suzuki Mirage to the meet.

Umeda Megumi
A flurry of emotion rushes through Megumi as she ends that call, dismissing an opportunity to join the Dragons in the Urban Brawl league. What would Setsuko think if she was here? Would she be disappointed? Think of her a fool? Or would she believe Megumi's righteous heart won out in the end? While the league would prove as an opportunity to empower herself, as she has made her ultimate goal in life, she has overtly detested senseless violence.

Megumi needs someone to talk to: about Setsuko's death, about turning down her opportunity to become a professional athlete, about where to go from here. Miku? "NO!" She thinks out loud. "I already embarrassed myself enough at the bar talking to her, and I promised her I wouldn't be as negative while I am getting to know people anymore."

Thankfully her injuries have healed nicely, giving her an opportunity to continue her shifts on the force. "Maybe I should apply for twenty hours a week," she thinks on her time outside of dealing with greater emergencies. Staying active would keep her mind off of the recent drek her friends, and the city, have been finding themselves stepping in. The extra cash could go into building a proper social life, giving Miku a proper date, time spent making friends and actully living out of the wheel she made for herself.

Her thoughts are interruped one of those days as she notices a missed called from Misaki Ogawa. Thankfully something is determined in her life as she calls her back.

Misaki answers the call from Megumi and introduces herself: arguably the most awesome rigger in Mingmei, certainly the most stylish. She spills the details on the staged assassination that her fixer, Shohei had set up, and spelled out how Shohei stated that Megumi was perfect for the job.

"So, I have a buddy who is also going to help out with the job. A fella named Kuroi. Dresses a bit stuffy, but he's beach island level chill on the inside. Want to meet up at a bar and talk it over? If so, let's meet at Afterburner and hash things out." Afterburner was a famous club in Mingmei.

Megumi hardly gets a word in as this new Johnson seems to talk over her like she is on cram, is her assumption. "I'll meet you there...dumbass," is her rebuttal as the hears the phone click, and the conversation end. She immediately wonders if that braggart woman was on cram. She just called a cop, and asked her to take part in a staged assassination...which doesn't sound right in any context.

"Oh well, into the afterburner I go," she thinks, as she goes through her wardrobe to find something sexy, but not too revealing, for her meetup. It feels like yesterday since the Urban Brawl training helped her rediscover the sexy part of herself. "Not now," she thinks as she stuffs down the 'could have been' mentality of losing her friend during the championship match, and the opportunity she shrugged away to continue her life on the force.

As she calls her car to drive her to the Afterburner, she gives a quick call to her colleage Yuuna. When she picks up, she starts with, "Hey girl, you would not believe my luck."

At Afterburner, Misaki is able to sneak in on account of her fake SIN. It helps that she had an slightly older looking Oni accompanying her. Interestingly, she didn't dress the part, electing to wear a print t-shirt, skater skirt, and so forth.

She ordered a whiskey sour with her fake SIN, and chatted with Kuroi until Megumi arrived.

"I wonder what this Megumi is like," Misaki said as she sipped on her drink. "Shohei is a pretty good judge of character though. Resourceful. I don't get what part he wants me to play in this though. I suppose I could send in a cutesy little assassin drone, but botch the job? I hope none of my cuties get messed up in the work though, that would suck major balls."

Outside Afterburner Kuroi meets up with Misaki, they get in.
Kuroi is just wearing his fancy suit and longcoat, leaves the coat at the door.
Kuroi orders a tequila, and a coke.

"That Megumi is probably a stone cold killer" Kuroi downs his tequila shot.
"I think you will be overwatch, most likely"
"what about me, maybe they need someone to look like a criminal" Kuroi smiles and looks at Misaki.
"it would, let's try to keep this job clean, no wounds and no repairs needed"
"my ribs are still sore from the last job"
Kuroi massages his left side where he broke a few ribs.

Megumi arrives fashionably in a black half top and skinny jeans tye dyed in a mix of black and blues, all of which masterfully hugging her curves "This makes me look like i am here to party," she thinks to herself, "Miku is right, i really need to surround myself with better people."

She stuffs her badge in her top, hopefully out of sight and staying there for the rest of the night. Yet the earlier phone conversation tells her things probably won't be as easy as she hoped, as she scans the place for anyone fitting the description of her caller.

"Heya Misaki, do you know how this Megumi would look?"
"Or any way to know who is our contact? a description maybe"
Kuroi scans the room, and takes a sip from his coke.
"It is a nice place though"

Ah, the Afterburner, if shes seen one club, shes seen them all. Problem is, her contact had such a big mouth she didn't bother to describe herself, let alone send a pic.
She decides to sit at the front of the bar and order a coke, waiting for a supposed meet up. Not worth getting drunk this time if she is going to have to take someone down. She will at least let them talk before doing anything brash

"Shohei said that she was a red skinned Oni, but... that's not how I imagined her." She said, pointing to the woman that had just entered the bar.

"Lemme text her to make sure."

She sent a text to Megumi:
Hey, we're here. Have you arrived? Big Oni in a suit and an awesomesauce short girl, sitting over by the bar.

When Megumi looked her way, Misaki would do a model wave to her.

"Fuck...oni." She thinks to herself as she turns in their direction and gives a shy wave. She at least wants to be friendly as she hasn't heard the full story yet.

Before Megumi gets near enough to hear, she nudges Kuroi with her elbow. "Hay. She's a really cute Oni. Think she's your type?," Misaki says, teasing Kuroi.

"Hello," Misaki says to Megumi as she walks closer. "I'm Nebula, and this is my partner in crime, Kuroi."

As Kuroi gets nudged by Misaki, he nearly chokes on the coke he was drinking.
Kuroi looks in the direction Misaki points
"well, she doesn't LOOK like a stone cold killer, but looks can be deceiving"
Kuroi makes a slight bow.
"Heya, I guess you are our colleague?"
Kuroi extends his hand for a shake, as is the normal greeting in Dagmar.

"Please, call me Dragonfly," Megumi replies, acting as natural as possible, "I really don't do much in the way of killing. My job is based on service and protection."

Ah, Dragonfly, her alias, when she is going into more high risk situations. There are plenty of Megumi's in the world, and oni for that matter, and she doesn't want to put herself in hot water for her off duty work.

"alright Dragonfly it is then"
Kuroi empties his coke, and puts the bottle down.
"I can respect that. I am a freelancer, and I really enjoy the flexibility"
"So I guess I can say I work in service as well"
Kuroi points to a table
"Maybe we should sit down?"

"Service and protection huh? Like a bodyguard? That's totally legit, and perfect for the situation. But you probably want to use an alter ego of some sort so your rep still holds. We're supposed to fake an assassination to help this guy out somehow," Misaki says. She follows Kuroi and sits down at the table that he suggested.

"Anyways, getting ahead of ourselves. You want a drink?"

She waves at a waiter to get their attention.

"A coke sounds lovely," Megumi replies, astounded this woman doesn't suspect her actual identity, "although i have to wonder what one has to do to get themselves in a position where they practically have to disappear. I am not about wasting my time so corp brats can get off on bad behavior."

The only thought in her mind is how to bust him if he turns out to be what she suspects

Misaki shrugged.

"It really ain't my place to ask. I have a moral funny bone, but my runner buddy told me that if I listened to it too much, I mind as well go work at McDonalds."

"Shohei didn't really fill you in on any details though? That would be very uncharacteristic of him. The target is Mason Lam, and supposedly he got indicted on some white collar crimes. He's some celebrity, so he wanted to make a break to leave Desia to some non-extradition country where he could carry on his music career. My understanding is that his crimes are just extra-punitive for him pissing off some powerful District Attorney in Mingmei."

Misaki looked a little dismayed that Megumi was ordering a coke, but shrugged and flagged down a waiter to put in the order.

Everyone wants to be famous..." Megumi shrugs, "Yet that moral bone is more of an asset than you realize." She even finds herself surprised in her own cunning, "It could be the difference between building a lasting reputation, or finding yourself hunted down for cover up. So you are the hotshot hacker, can you pull up anything connecting the client to the current situation?"

It feels like all that time listening to the detectives has paid off.

Misaki points at her nose. "Me? No no no, I'm not a hacker. I'm a rigger. Drive hard, drive fast."

"If you want some second source intel, maybe we can shoot off some texts though."

She rubs her nose, and sends a text to a fence that she knows, Veit Adenauer.

Hey, buddy, do you have any info on what sort of trouble this character named Mason Lam got into? He's a mark that we're helping out with.

After the text is sent, she rubs her nose.

"So, what sorts of skills lead you to a life of 'serving and protecting'?" Something dawns on Misaki. "Wait, are you a cop?"

"Speed racer finally notices the boulder in the road," Megumi thinks in a credulous fashion. Her next moves will determine her course of action. "Maybe i am," she replies slyly, "will that be a problem?"

Kuroi looks from Misaki to Dragonfly
"I do not mind the police, they have their uses. but how do you handle being on both sides of the law?"
Kuroi, thinks, if she had intentions of turning them in, saying she is a cop is a weird way to get on the inside.
"But Nebula here,will be the deciding factor, I trust her judgment, has saved my hoop before"

"Valid," Megumi replies, taking a sip of her coke, impressed by the oni's intuition, "I rarely run to be honest. You could call this my dirty little secret," she continues, slowly licking her lips, "my job on the force helps, but not enough. I clean a lot of dangerous drek, but unfortunately not the ones causing the pollution. So i tend to some of the leftovers: human trafficking, organized crime syndicates, the types who sit behind a desk and watch the oppressed endure the consequences."

Only problem is, as she learned personally, the roots splinter out in all directions, shapes, and sizes. I lesson learned from her family experience.

Misaki shrugs.

"I don't know, is it going to be a problem? How do you even reconcile being a cop and working scores? This job doesn't seem to be the sort of feel good vigilante mop up work... more of the morally grey variety."

As she sipped her drink, she sent off a bunch of exasperated texts to Shohei, the fixer that recommended Megumi.