On 10/16/2023 at 12:45 PM, Cairo said:"Depends," he responds to the Johnson's question. He nudges his head towards the man's jacket which is covering his left arm, then lowers his voice just enough so those at the table still hear him. "Are you still going to be alive to pay us when the job's done? I gather that's not a foodstain you're covering up."
He stares at Harry for a second before his eyes flick over towards the bar and the other patrons to make sure they weren't looking over or listening in. "No," he says in a lowered voice. "Definitely not a foodstain. I got a nasty bite from that cyberdog I told you about. Team I hired before you had one runner make it out of there. They sent me a message saying job went sideways and all that. I figured, the cyber dog probably got to Cormac so I could slip in there and get rid of those recordings myself. I go in the side door and manage to make it to the stairs leading up to Cormac's office, when that frikkin demon dog caught me. It had blood dripping from it's chrome jaws like some horror-trid drek. Got me on the left arm something bad, but I managed to get away and lock it back in there."
On 10/16/2023 at 9:51 PM, Aavarius said:"Um. So... you decided to screw about in the warehouse of the very Don whose name you just invoked at us."
...
"What's, uh, what's the state of the place now, Fort Knox? What about the other runners? And, uh, well, what sort of 'sick, twisted drek' are you looking at avoiding?"
She got another idea and asked him an additional question. "I keep backups of all my important data--how do you know ol' Cormac doesn't have one sitting someplace else? It's what I'd do if I were keeping you under my thumb. You're the inside man, so anything you can get us on the building network and security is going to help us out."
On 10/16/2023 at 11:36 PM, Landid said:"To piggy back off what she is saying... This isn't going to put us on the Don's bad side now is it? Also how long ago was the other team in this warehouse?" He starts to rattle off questions that haven't been asked yet. "When you say a lot more men were there than supposed to be, how many are we talking? Any access you can grant us that we wouldn't have otherwise? Don't hold back on us now, mess needs cleaning up and we need all the cards you can give us."
He bridles at Phantom's comment. He grits his teeth and says, "Listen little miss perfect, I know it was a dumb decision. But don't act like you never made a bad decision before and just went with it. I know I'm in deep now. I'm gonna have to pack my bags and get outta Dodge when all this is over."
He stopped himself, and squeezed his right hand tightly like he was squeezing a stress ball. He took a deep breath and ran a hand through his messy hair. "Sorry, I'm a little stressed out as you can see."
...
He listened to Phantom's and Wesley's questions. "Well," he said. "It was like a ghost town and a horror-trid rolled into one when I snuck in there. Saw bodies laying all over the place. Not a pretty sight. This was maybe, one or two hours ago, so I can't say it's still like that now."
"Like I said before, one of the runners made it out okay and flew the coop, I don't know where they are. The rest of the team probably either got geeked by Cormac and his guys or got geeked by the cyber dog."
"I couldn't exactly count every body that was lying there with that cyberdog attacking me, but I'd guess there were maybe 10-12 bodies that I could see? I don't know, honestly, like I said it was pretty empty when I got there except for the dog."
"As to networks and security? I can tell ya we got some preemo reinforced doors on the outside with some top notch Ares locks. Even LoneStar SWAT would have a hard time breaking down these doors without heavy machinery. It's probably the only reason that dog hasn't gotten out." He produces a key card out of his jacket pocket and slides it to the center of the table. "This'll get you inside the building."
"The entire network is on a closed circuit, no outside access anywhere. But you can control everything from Cormac's terminal in his office. Pretty sure he's got the backup server in there too. Don't know about any network security, cause I ain't a Decker and Cormac wouldn't let anyone use his computer for anything."
"I don't think Cormac is smart enough to keep a backup copy on a data stick somewhere. He's a meathead who made a name for himself smashing skulls together and this is his first shot at something that requires actual planning and smarts. So if anything, it might be on that backup server but I'd be surprised if the oaf thought making extra copies. And to answer your other question, I'd prefer not to talk about the kind of stuff I think he had planned for me."
"If you clean everything up, nice and tidy, the Don won't even know. Could've been Yakuza who hit the warehouse or some other drek who hired a team of runners. No recordings and no witnesses, means nobody knows anything and it coulda been anybody."
He slides a data chip in the center of the table. "This is the layout of the warehouse, I only have one chip so you'll have to share." He looks around the table. "Well, any other questions? Or can you guys go start the job, now? I really need this done pronto."