Shadowrun 4E - Core - Rulebook.pdf - Core - annet.farren

Buzzkill

Someshadowrunnerssaythatthescariestwordsinthe

Englishlanguageare“Trustme.”Idon’tbuyit.Any‘run-

nerworththenamedoesn’thaveenoughtrustletinhimto

meethisgrandmotherforbreakfastwithoutlegworkand

backup.No—bymyreckoning ,thescariestwordsaroundare

“It’llbeeasy.”

hat’swhatFrankiesaidjustaterhiscallinterruptedme

atalittleclubinRedmond,rightinthemiddleoftheirst

pokergameinweekswhereIactuallyhadachancetocome

outahead.“Can’tthiswait,Frankie?”Iasked,staringglumly

throughhistranslucentARimageatmyace-hightwopairand

cuttinghurriedglancesoverthecardsatthethreesuspicious

slotsacrossthetable.Wehadn’tbeenworkingwithFrankie

long,buthe’dsetusupwithsomedecentjobssoitwasn’t

smarttoblowhimof.

“Youtellme,”theorksaidcheerfullyinhisvaguelyNoo

Yawkaccent.“Youwantthejobornot?Youguysain’texactly

beenlushlately—”

“Yeah,yeah.”Isighed.Hewasright.Me,Iwasn’tquite

wonderingifIwasgoingtohavetostartsellingcyberware

piecestomakerent,but—

“Don’tworry,”Frankiesoothed.“It’llbeeasy.Inand

out.Butyagottamakeupyermindnow—thejob’stonight

andifyoudon’twannameetwithJohnsonIgottaindsome-

bodyelse.”

hetwopairbeckonedme,andthebozosweremaking

noisesacrossthetable.Iheldupaplacatinghandandsighed

again.InoticedI’dbeensighingalotthesedays.“Okay,

Frankie,okay.Sendmethedetailsandgivemehalfanhourto

geteverybodytogether.”

Frankie’stusksroseinagrinashesignedof.Ilooked

atthecardsagain.SurelyIhadtimetoinishoutthehand.

“Okay,seeandraiseity,”Isaid,tossingchipsinthemiddle.

“Call,”saidoneoftheyahoos.Withasmilethatshowed

threekindsofteeth—bad,tobacco-stained,andmissing—he

droppedafullhouseonthetable.

Itwasgoingtobeoneofthosenights.

Igottothebartwentyminutesearly,automaticallysub-

scribingmyPANtotheplace’snettogetthelayout,specials,

andanymessagesthattheteammighthaveletforme—and

toslipthebartendersomecredandlethimknowwewere

meeting“Mr.Johnson”inthebackroomateight.Nobody

muchusedcashanymore—bribeswerehandledwirelessly,all

neatandtidy.heplacewasn’tquiteadive,despitethehuddle

ofdroolingchipheadsI’dhadtostepoveroutfront.Nowadays

evensomeofthenicebarshadtheirundesirables,atleastuntil

securitygotaroundtoroundingthemup.Itsmelledlikebeer,

sweat,andjustahintofvomit.

Ilookedaround.Lockewasalreadythere,slumped

moroselyintothecornerofaboothnearthebackwithwhat

lookedlikeahalf-emptyglassofwhiskeyinfrontofhim.

Isentanorderforabeertobedeliveredtothesameplace,

thenfoughtmywaytothebackanddroppedontothebench

acrossfromhim.Idecidednottomentionthewhiskey;

Lockewasanoddguy,allpointsandangles—andthatwas

justhispersonality.Wejustwroteitoftothefactthathe

Lockegrunted,runningahandoverthetwo-daystubble

onhischin.“Ilikeithere.Whereelsecanyougetproposi-

tionedandpukedoninthesameevening ?”

Johnson’sheaddippedabit;hiseyes,behindtheshades,

wereunreadable.“hat’strueindeed,”hesaid.“Iassureyouit’s

afairprice,butsincewe’reatanimpassehere,withoutgoing

intodetails,Icansaythatthesecurityisnothingthatateamof

yourcaliberwouldconsiderchallenging.Pleasemakeupyour

mindquickly,though,becauseifyouchoosenottotakethe

jobI’vestillgottoindanotherteam.”Heputhishandson

thetableandlookedlikehewasgettingreadytogetup.

“Bythesameperson?”Igrinned.Mybeerarrivedandwe

bothwentsilent,waiting.

herestoftheteamshowedupshortly,together.Zumi

withthatoddlyendearingcombinationoftroll-toughand

nervous—Istillhadn’tquitegottenmymindaroundaner-

voustroll,butIguesswhenyouusedtobeaJapanesecorp

princessandyourworldgotturnedassoverteakettleby

growingameterandsproutinghornsduringtheYearofthe

Comet,youwereentitledtoyourquirks.Desmowasalmost

asuncomfortable,aishoutofwaterwithoutthevanthat

waslikeanextensionofhisbody.Sinceourlastmemberwas

joiningusvirtuallyfromhiscaroutintheparkinglot,that

madeallofuspresent.“Okay,”Isaid,inishingmybeerand

rising ,“Lookslikeit’sshowtime.”

Damn him anyway. “Wait,”Isaidquickly,earningmea

smirkfromLocke.

hedwarfsettledback.“Yes?”

IcastasidewaysglanceatLockeandsaid,“Assuming

you’renotjackingusaroundandthejob’swhatyousayitis,

andassumingfurtherthatyou’relowballingbecauseevery-

bodylowballs,whatdoyousaytosixthousand?”

hebarestlickerofasmilecrossedJohnson’sfaceand

thenthemaskwasdownagain.Hewasgood,andheknew

thescore.Hepaused,forasecondtakingontheunfocused

stareofsomebodymentallyaccessinganARvisualdisplay,

andinallynodded.“Allright,then—sixthousand.Wehave

adeal.”Heiddledforamomentwithhiscommlink,stared

intospaceagain,andthenhitaakey.Ifeltmyown‘linkbuzz

incoming. “Youradvance,

andmycontactinforma-

tion.”henheindicated

theprissyhuman,adark-

haired,rat-facedlittle

manwholookedvaguely

annoyedwhenhisboss’s

attentionwasn’tonhim.

“Myassistantwillgiveyou

thedetailsofthejob.I’ll

beexpectingtohearfromyounolaterthantwoa.m.Please

don’tbelate.”

Johnsonwasadwarf,compactandbroad-beamedwith

ashort,neatly-cutbeardandmirrorshades.Everythingabout

himscreamed“mid-levelcorp,”fromhisnicemid-levelsuitto

thenicemid-levelprissyhumanassistantsittingnexttohim

iddlingwithacommlink.hedwarfglancedathiscommlink

andmotionedustosit

down.LockeandIdid;

Zumifadedbackand

hungoutnearthedoor.

hatwasine:shedidn’t

likenegotiationsandit

couldn’thurttohave

somebodywatchingthe

exit.Desmotookaseat

oftotheside—heliked

tolistentothespielbutstayoutoftheway.

Johnsonlookedusover,thengotrighttoit:“I’vegota

jobthatshouldn’ttakemuchefort,butit’sgottobedone

tonight.Doesthatworkforyourschedules?”

NexttomeIcouldalmostfeelLockerollinghiseyes,but

Idoubtthedwarfsawit.Heseemedtohavepeggedmeasthe

guytotalkto.“hatcouldbearranged,”Isaid,“dependingon

whatyou’vegotinmind.”

“Okay,”IsaidasweletthebarinDesmo’svan.“Let’sgo

overthisagaintomakesurewe’veallgotitdown.”Ididn’tlike

thatwedidn’thavemuchtimetocheckthingsoutthistime,

butthatwasthewayitwentsometimes.Youlivedwithitand

didthebestyoucould.

hedwarflookedlikeheexpectedthat.“Ofcourse.I’ll

giveyouthebasicsandthen,assumingwehaveanunderstand-

ing,we’llgofromthere.”Whennobodyobjected,hecontin-

ued:“hejobinvolvesgainingentrytoafacility,removing

someinformation,andplantingsomethingelse.hesecurityis

notextensive,andI’destimateyoucouldbeinandoutinless

thananhour.”

Lockeshrugged.“Easy.Webreakintoawarehouse,put

this—”hepulledadark-coloredbottlefromthepocketofhis

rumpledlongcoat“—inthestufinthetankertruckweind

inside,andthengetintotheoicesandstealsomeilesfrom

thecomputer.henwecollecttherestofourfee,gohomeand

celebratewithboozeandhookers.”

“Oh,sure,”Lockemutteredtomylet.“Withthemit’s

always easy.”

“Well,sure,”Lockesaid.“Ifwehadthecredforthebooze

andhookers,whywouldwebotherdoingthejob?”

Iignoredhim;thatwasusuallybest.“Where’sthefacility?”

Zumiswattedhimgently(forher)acrossthetopofthe

head.“He’sright—thestufinthetruckirst,thentheoice.

Johnson’sguywasprettyclearonthat.Weshouldindoutsome-

thingaboutthisplace,”sheadded,asalwaysalotlessnervous

whenitwasjustus.“Iknowwedon’thavemuchtime,but—”

“It’slocal,”thedwarfassuredme.“Ican’ttellyouany-

thingelseuntilyouagreetotakethejob,butI’mautho-

rizedtoofferyoufivethousandnuyen—halfupfrontand

halfoncompletion.”

Shadowrun, Fourth Edition

wasamage—withthoseguys,weirdwentwiththeterritory.

“You’reearly,”Isaid.

Yeah, yeah—now begins the dance .“Well,Mr.Johnson—

I’msureyouknowwecan’tmakeanydecisionsaboutcompen-

sationuntilweknowwhatwe’reupagainst,canwe?”

By my reckoning, the scariest words

around are “It’ll be easy.”

“Wegottadoitinthatorder,”Desmoremindedus.

Shadowrun 4E - Core - Rulebook.pdf

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