Scene #7522: Girls Frontline: Yellow Zone PI

Owner	Pose
Gideon Kaspar	This kind of assignment is something traditionally known in the business of extreme professionals as 'a milk run'. Elites of sufficient calibre generally don't spend their time on this kind of thing, excepting all that bill-paying downtime between big excitements and 'only being able to take so much lethal danger in one period'. It is, however, also kind of a weird one. Practically weird, but also kind of legally and existentially weird, despite its utter banality. Two people here are familiar with the name behind the itty bitty posting in the bronze section of a job board, though little else of the world in question; a PMC executive signing it G.Kaspar on behalf of G&K. The reading at first glance seems like a kind of banal bodyguard duty for some moneyed person's rich daughter, which even a fairly minor private military outfit should have no trouble with. Some terms beg a double take, and then some head-scratching reading. So, you're here in the city. A city of tall buildings, neon screens, deep streets, self-driving cars, tiny promenades, wind turbines, endless pipes and cables down layers of twisting stairs and alleys, and the blue shadow of an enormous, distant wall that rings the whole area, studded with bulky towers that manage to be the tallest thing here, with faintly visible glowing green beacons even in the middle of the day. Nothing here could be more than fifty years old, except maybe the cheap steel and rubber for bundled water lines and power cables nobody could find space underground for. Newer and shinier than an American suburb, yet tall and confusing as Tokyo downtown. You are to accompany a young girl, and by extension, three less-young women. The former looks to be maybe fourteen years old, somewhat conspicuously wearing an excessively elaborate pink sundress and faux-straw ribboned hat. One of the latter is very visibly a maid, following along with shopping bags on her arm. The other two are visibly armed and displaying G&K logo patches on their shoulders. One is of average height, with silver hair and orange-amber eyes, white and black clothes and a slung SMG. The other is taller, with rather cyberpunk-pink hair, though extremely long and half-stuffed under a military cap, wearing a lot of black and camo and with an excessively large rifle carried in two halves. Apart from the very frequent signs of heavily armed police at various corners, they are the only ones carrying. Oh, and all four of these women are androids.
Gideon Kaspar	An up and coming magnate of a rare earth metal business has definitely commissioned an affordable PMC to bodyguard his daughter on her way into town. The fact that his 'daughter' is an AI, properly termed a 'civilian A-Doll', or generically 'Doll', is something you're told quite emphatically by Gideon to ignore. The maid is of course a recent and trendy domestic model, following in her wake as if for a real human master. And the two from G&K are Dolls retrofitted for use in law enforcement, private military, search and rescue, peacekeeping, and similar applications, the 'T-Dolls' Gideon is more enthusiastic about. Their names in order are Karine and Annika, and Vivi and Autumn. Karine has been leading Annika around by the sleeve into every trendy storefront popular amongst young girls, obviously having a day out on the town, because the latter has the credit. Being very stiff, formal, and courteous, the advantage of this is that Annika is willing to pay for whatever coffee, lunch, and souvenirs anyone wants, given that it's an all-day job. Unfortunately, it seems that Gideon was right when he explained the nature of his request. 'Vivi and Autumn are two of my best, but I admit they're prone to being too serious, and prone to going off and trying to handle things alone.' You're stuck with two flavours of stoic and disinterested, unfortunately. The reason this requires the extra bodies, however, is because of his enterprising nature. Explained earlier, "The reason this guy wants a bodyguard detail is a bunch of talk about gang activity in the area. Outlaws from the Yellow Zone, allegedly. You have the media dismissing the idea of people like that coming into town and stealing away Dolls for formatting and resale as urban myths, but you'll notice the amount of police on station. My intuition says it's totally doable. And my business sense tells me that if you can track them down and bust them, it'll be a huge windfall for everyone involved, plus a good publicity win for G&K, and maybe even a daring rescue at the same time! So don't think of yourself like bodyguards. Think of yourself as private investigators! Or bounty hunters!" "Oh, and one thing. It's not just that I don't have enough hands for a full detail, but also that conventional programming prevents a Doll from assaulting a human, as part of the Artificial Intelligence Integration and Human Ethics Act. T-Dolls have only somewhat relaxed restrictions under that same act. I may or may not have a certain friend who does some programming work --but they can't exactly be seen using force in the city."
Kukuru	EARLIER "So if there's humans causing trouble, we'll be the ones to take care of it. Sounds easy enough." Kukuru ignores whatever flags she may be tripping while she replies to the explanation as to why Elite presence might be necessary for this beyond just throwing more T-Dolls at the problem. Although she's lacking in guns or visible weapons at the moment, the woman's violently green hair and generally floofy clothing might suggest that she's going along in some sort of disguise as though she's a guest of Karine's rather than a bodyguard like the better-armed and more tactically-dressed T-Dolls. NOW Kukuru's totally taking advantage of Karine's wallet on this trip. Having had a grand total of zero trips into the city in question, she's sampling a little bit of every kind of food it has to offer. The fact that Karine and Annika are androids goes completely ignored, of course, as she makes sure to get extra servings to try and get the two to indulge in as well. It's not all for fun and games, of course. No, she's making sure to offer those snacks only after sampling some herself, waiting between each one to make sure nothing's poisoned before passing the rest along. She's also keeping her nose on full alert, sniffing around quite literally to try and detect any oddly lingering smells that aren't coming from the group of Dolls, their bodyguards, and the food she keeps forcing on them.
Nova Terra	Nova is definitely here to pay the bills. Not that this particular job is actually likely to pay a whole lot. But sometimes it's just nice to take on something easy for a change. Especially if it helps keep the lights on, or the warp drive fueled, for another week. Nova is here alone though. Partly because more hands means more expenses. Partly because bringing heavily armed troops and vehicles into a populated city like this seems like a bad idea. Since stealth is her specialty, Nova is currently acting as a forward scout for the bodyguard detail. She's already finished scouting out the next place that their client is planning to head to and so has moved on further. In a population center like this, it's hard for Nova to rely on her psychic senses to pinpoint potential targets when she doesn't have a better idea of who, or what, she's looking for. So for now she's just relying on good ol' fashioned sight. The invisible Ghost walks through an empty lot, glancing around for signs of anything unusual. Nothing is found, of course. Nova radios to the rest of the security team, "Grid 5E is clear. Moving on." Nova starts walking, dodging around a few pedestrians on the sidewalks since they can't see her. Though a few might start looking around in confusion at a disembodied voice as Nova speaks over the radio again, "If a bunch of outlaws are going to try and steal Dolls off the street, in broad daylight, from a clearly armed escort... Then they're either crazy, desperate, or have an alterior motive. My vote is for the latter."
James Bond	Annika's loose grip on the finances hasn't gone unnoticed. "You're awfully generous with that pocketbook," teases a silk-smooth English baritone. Bond's dressed nicely, but not so much as to draw attention. A windbreaker, a nice polo, and a pressed pair of slacks. The jacket is weighted on both sides to keep it from revealing the shoulder holster he's wearing. He's got his own money, and naturally offered to pay for Annika to have a few things of her own. Formal though she might be, he isn't discouraged. She's not the VIP, nor is she another professional. That doesn't mean his mind isn't totally on the job. Just that there's a perk or two involved. Having already introduced himself with his characteristic Last Name, First Name Last Name routine, Bond offers his opinion. "Money is helpful, but it isn't what I'm after. We can discuss that later." When it comes to actually doing the guarding, he prefers to take a proactive approach. It's why he asked MI-6 to do a flyover in advance of coming here, scouting out potential places where these outlaws might have waystations or hideouts between here and the Yellow Zone--anywhere there's traffic at odd hours, or where there's an unusual concentration of Dolls. Armed with that knowledge, he tries to stay ahead of the party, keeping an eye out towards windows, roofs, and alleys, using his peripheral vision so as not to look too obvious in his scouting.
Tamamo	What a coincidence. Tamamo also has sundresses and straw hats, going for a baby blue that contrasts and accentuates the existing pink. It's a summery look, and she's a very Summer-acclimated individual. It would be... actually not all that much of a first, to find her effectively have gone out and found some bodies to guard, though responding to a direct request for just this is less usual. She doesn't look like she's 'on duty' so much as 'here as a tourist, on a shopping date,' having immediately introduced herself to Karine and Annika (while mostly leaving Vivi and Autumn alone) and shown what certainly appears to be genuine interest in the stores, if leaning toward a somewhat more mature aesthetic than that typical for a mid-teen's interests. It would be easily assumed, if no one does anything to mar the illusion, that she's on the escortee side of the party.
Tony Stark	Now why can Gideon Kaspar call Tony Stark in to personally inspect something? Even get an appearance at all? Novel topics, mostly. An AI walk-about is an important thing, and there's a good chance it won't go south with a high-profile escort. And because he needs something -- anything -- to do but try and micromanage the situation in upstate New York's unmarked holding areas. He's got a whoooole fleet of people and multiple specialized AIs for that. Which is why pulling away had been hard. Still - he had time for a little humor: "AIIHEA? It certainly sounds like someone with absolutely no soul named that bill. Find the moron who named that garbage and you'll find the real ghoul in the shell." ON SITE: Tony looks like some sort of spook with broad-framed glasses, a white collared shirt with the top two buttons and both cuffs open, with tan slacks and black shoes and belt. If this were America - South, Central, or North - he'd probably feature next to some profile for 'CIA Bastard'. He's enjoying the snacks. "It's incredible how people think up this stuff. Are you--" Kukuru snipes another snack. "Going to nibble on everything? I'm pretty sure they're not going to be poisoned that way." They're robots, Kukuru.
Tamamo	Tamamo can't presently see Bond or Nova, and may be pretending she isn't aware of them at all, having ended up with the same general idea as the unfamiliar green-haired girl, though perhaps for different reasons. Potentially (if probably not) believing she's also a guest of the sight-seeing portion of the trip, Tamamo likewise introduces herself to Kukuru. "Tamamo no Mae," she is rarely actually called, though the full name, even sans titles, can be useful as reference. Despite the offers, Tamamo demurs most food, suggesting, "Would we not rather, ahh, how is it said... 'walkaround food'? There are many places along these streets to reach, no?" She will, of course, accept crepes, even if Tony's comment causes her to stare a bit more intently at the snacks. "Such places as these are not commonly dangerous... are they? There are some pertinent questions she'd like to ask, that may be related to why she's here at all, but having been specifically told to ignore the matter of androids being involved, she's holding that curiosity, for now.
Gideon Kaspar	Kukuru taking on the role of the royal food taster is one that the maid Annika takes on with an air of indifferent professionalism, but Karine soon grows tired of her antics. "Hey, hey! It's not like those crepes in a completely random store are going to be poison! And besides, even if they were, only you'd get hurt!" she says, yanking on Kukuru's sleeve. "So stop hogging them!" It only helps that Karine wants to go into every single dessert cafe and candy store along the way though. All of the attendants are extremely sweet to her, and pleasant to assembled company in ways that retail workers never really are. Her nose confirms a lot of what Nova can tell from her reception of psychic burble. Workers, shoppers, grocers, the odd person relaxing on a park bench, or chatting on the sidewalk, or at an arcade, or handing out flyers. The subtle lack of the scent of sweat or shampoo or dinner fragrance on them strikes her an hour in like a magic eye puzzle suddenly making sense. The sweet lady who whips up the crepes, the girl who helps size Karine for her teen clothing binge, the middle-aged gentleman who makes a superb cappuccino, the cute kid on the corner advertising a concert; all of them represent a distinct, almost peaceful little gap in the babble of so many minds, where background thoughts feel more like the quiet whir and click of a working drive. If either of them had to guess, it might be something like forty percent of the people they pass. Karine thinks Bond's accent is the best and spends the better part of half an hour trying to get him to pronounce every word that catches her fancy. Everyone here speaks English, but with a kind of accent James is very familiar with, and which would certainly catch him by surprise. After a great deal of casual insistence, Annika eventually allows herself an 'adults are talking' smile and stops in for a moment to steal away with a pair of modest silver earrings for the trip, in a classical style. "You don't think they stand out too much, do you?" she asks for his opinion, brushing aside her hair for a moment, probably not wanting them to be noticed the instant she gets back through the door at home. Handling the radio, Gideon keeps a loose correspondence on a slight delay, clearly hammering out some heavy duty desk work from a tactical room somewhere while replying to Nova. ""It's not necessarily the case that they're targeting the VIP at all. So far, the group hasn't ransomed any Dolls back, so it's likely they have access to a fence. In this case though, Karine would be worth a lot of money to them, or something else they could extort. Some things come to mind, but if they don't come to you, you'll have to go to them." There's a pause for a cynical laugh with Tony. "You have the old NATO bloc to thank for that. Mainly the Americans and Asimov Most people just call it DIA now, since in reality it came out of the massive boom in Doll technology and A-Doll production to fill up missing manpower after the war. Lots of concerns about putting former military technology in population areas. If you want soul, the Rossartrists have been trying to get it replaced by something more contemporary for years." "Nowhere here is dangerous compared to outside." Autumn semi-uselessly informs Tamamo. "Though, you definitely stand out more as a Doll than a person. There are some people into that." Vivi drily observes. It can't quite be hidden that Autumn is doing much the same as Bond, while Vivi subtly takes every single corner first. "Don't we have a Fairy unit overhead?" "Yes. But I closed the non-emergency comm an hour ago." "Why?" "All it's done is complain about being bored." "I'll trade off with you." "That's some patience." "That's nothing compared to some of the stakeouts I've done."
Gideon Kaspar	The advance flyover from MI-6 has more or less gotten the shape of the city as a relatively isolated pocket of hilly oasis, adjacent to a hydroelectric dam, within miles of sandy yellow badlands, quickly becoming nothing but decayed highways and abandoned vehicles to the west, with mainly only metro lines to the east. The walls are both enormous and have few entrances and exits; the little doors sized for actual people to go in are all guarded, and the interior must be like the inside of a ship, so there's no way someone could be sneaking through there. The outermost districts to the west resemble something like grey, depressing, prefab slums, but nothing suggests terribly unusual traffic for gaggles of the unemployed. The Dolls are unfortunately impossible to tell apart from humans without enormous, tedious, blanket scans of everyone on the street. The metro and the river canal to the plant seem like the only plausible means of ingress and egress to shady types, but both would mark very different kinds of operation from the other. The most exciting thing that happens by midday, when the heat begins to get obnoxious and even Karine wants ice cream and a bench in the shade, is Bond having seen the exact same tan jeep about two dozen times, and Nova an old, refurbished harley parked up the street from them half that many. Oddly, their owners are never actually seen, nor are they ever moving at the same time as the group.
Kukuru	"Desperation makes people do all sorts of crazy stuff, but... Yeah, there'd be way easier places to steal from." Kukuru replies to Nova, yawning once as she glances around briefly without looking anywhere near the advancing ghost. "Like that store or that one, maybe... No, not that one. It'd be way easier to go after anyone anywhere else, that's for sure. Unles it's to send a message...?" James' forward role, meanwhile, has Kukuru keeping an eye on his movements. Not because she's particularly worried for him, of course, but because he's going to prove somewhat difficult to foist some snacks on getting so far ahead. She actually jogs ahead briefly to try and get him to munch on something, but the efforts are few and far between after the first two or three attempts. Jogging requires effort. Tony, meanwhile, gets a cheerful 'mmhm' in response and an offered food object in return. "They're pretty tasty, and you never know when you might be back here. Or if you might get..." She pauses for a while, falling behind for a moment as she tries to mull over how to word it subtly. "... Allergic reactions to... Food poisoning." Smooth. Tamamo's introduction, meanwhile, is returned with a light dip at the knees that's not quite a curtsey, but not quite a bow when Kukuru forgets to actually do anything with her arms or upper body at all. "Kukuru. It's good to meet you. Hmm... Yeah, I guess portable food would be easier. We can eat more different stuff that way! Like..." Thanks to Tamamo's logic, crepes have become the new target. She laughs lightly at Karine's tugging, even going as far as feeding her and Tamamo without one bit of hesitation given. What does have her puzzled, however, is the distinct lack of strong smells from so many people. At least, until things finally start clicking about the human and non-human distinction that Gideon brought up earlier. <<"If they're just grabbing Dolls at random, then... Hm. No, having so many people here already would make it too risky. If there's an easier target around, we might have a better chance watching for them to disappear.">> She suggests in between bites. With Dolls being as nigh-indistinguishable from humans outside of smell and little else to work with, Kukuru's actual security-focus lapses in favor of enjoying the day out. By midday, Kukuru too is complaining about the heat and rolling up her sleeves in a really crappy attempt to stave some of it off. At least the shade should help a little bit. The green-haired woman breaks off from the group after cooling down a little bit, in part to buy some extra cold drinks for everyone as well as taking a quick look around the area to see if she can't spot some overly suspicious activity herself. More specifically, she's keeping her eyes peeled for people looking towards the group too often to be mistaken for casual glances at weird tourists. With her enhanced eyesight, though, this goes as far as looking into open windows as well.
Tony Stark	Kukuru continues saying dumb-ass shit while the Dolls drone in his ear. In an odd mood, he gives her a 'a-are you serious' pan of his gaze, the clawed woman sniping another crepe. "You have no idea what's going on, don't you?" The air here is different for Tony. Things make sense around here, even if there's the drone of Tactical Operators: Operating Tactically in his ear. Kukuru picks it up eventually, leaving it off and figuring out that sneaking all the snacks isn't helping. The whole thing is a wonderful vacation! Wonderful enough Tony Stark starts expecting the worst - and he doesn't need to be a spook or a psi-spook to get anxious. What fresh way will this place be shattered? Is the white foam leaf in his espresso really the frappe of IMPENDING CATACLYSM? With G&K around, honestly, unlikely.
James Bond	Bond humors both Karine and Annika, pronouncing any word the former pleases with a wry smile and a lift of his brow. The accent... kind of Moscovite, the way everyone leans towards 'sh' instead of 'ch,' but with English instead of Russian. It's endearing, despite the fact that very soon there might soon be eyes of a less friendly sort on him. He can take his off of the mission for a moment, knowing Autumn is casing the same streets as he. And what do they do? His blue eyes twinkle with as-yet unseen warmth when Annika asks his opinion. "I think they stand out just enough," he says with a grin, after taking in the sight of her earrings. Sincerely, he adds, "They suit you." The smile is still on his face even as he flips through photos provided by the flyover. It's not hard to see why they call the badlands 'the yellow zone.' But it's not a naturally occurring desert. Or at least, if it is, something sure did a numberon the infrastructure within it. A note is scribbled on the back of one of the photos. 'Difficult to locate 'Dolls' without special equipment. Q reports android screener on assignment with 006. Sorry. -H' They're put away after he comes to the conclusion that the metro and the canal ought to be watched. Despite his furrowed brow, he reacts to Kukuru's attempts to foist snacks upon him with good humor. "Three is my limit on kielbasa," he says, gently turning the proffered snack away. "But I appreciate the drink--" He's in the process of accepting a cool bottled water when he lays eyes on that jeep. Again. That draws a subtle change in his demeanor. Bond looks over his shoulder at Autumn and Nova, silently communicating his suspicion with a glance. His eyes flick between the professionals and the jeep, as if to say, 'see that?' He checks his watch, his back to the jeep. For a moment, he uses the reflection to see if anyone approaches it while his back is turned. If no one does, then he turns around. Still fiddling with it. There is a 'zip' as if an angry stinging insect had suddenly flown past one's ear. A dart with a radio transceiver is now lodged into the inner hubcap of one of the wheels, relaying the vehicle's position. It doesn't seem to move at the same time as the party. So... "I'll be back soon." ...while Karine occupies herself finding some shade, Bond searches for a store with a rear exit. There, he'll lie in wait for that vehicle to start moving again, and if it does, he'll exit through the back and try to catch it in motion to see who the driver might be. Assuming there is one.
Nova Terra	It's midday. It's hot. And thankfully, Nova doesn't notice. Another advantage of her Hostile Environment Suit. Built in airconditioning. Though some of the chatter she's had to listen to for the past while has her rolling her eyes. But that's hardly a new experience for an escort mission. So far Nova hasn't noticed any obvious targets, whether from visual sighting or whatever she can pick out of the mess of minds she can sense and the thoughts they spew out over the area. Nova makes one more visual look before reporting, "Grid 8J is clear. Moving... Hmm..." Nova spots a bike that looks rather familiar. She's fairly certain she's checked out one like it before, though not in this place. Nova eyes it for a few moments, before radioing her ship, "Griffin, review my suit feed and check for matches on this vehicle." While waiting for her support personnel to going through the visual recordings from her visor, Nova moves up to examine the vehicle more closely. It could just be a coincidence. An innocent resident of the city making their own trip along a similar path to their own. Their route has hardly been unique and could easily fit into the category of 'rich girl shopping spree'. Finally a voice echoes in Nova's ear, "Confirmed, Agent. Ten positive matches. Three possibles. No signs of a rider." Nova frowns. While still not necessarily proof of something unusual, it's just a tad too many coincidences. Nova approaches the vehicle slowly, covertly. She kneels down beside it, pulling a small tracking device from a compartment in her suit. She attaches it to the vehicle, before backing off again and finding a spot to lie in wait. Hoping to catch sight of the rider, Nova radios a report to the rest of the security team, "Possible vehicle belonging to hostile elements. I'm investigating." As she waits, she focuses her mental attention on those in her more immediate vicinity, trying to pick out any thoughts that might be of interest.
Tamamo	"Ah, Kukuru, is it? A pleasure." Even if you hardly run out of opportunities, it's always nice to meet new people. Now that it's come up, Tamamo has to wonder if those other androids she's known would complain about the heat, the cold, or the hogging of food. She makes a mental note of the matter, for later investigation. In the meantime, appearing perfectly comfortable in the heat beneath her wide-brimmed shade and sleeveless ensemble, she asks Karine, "How do you like it?" Looking again toward the crepes on offer, "Oh, are there strawberries? Those would do nicely, as well." As indicated, she accepts an offering, though only in moderation. Eating everything within reach may be cute for children, but Tamamo is a young(?) woman. As the pair speak, Tamamo tilts an ear toward Vivi. "Do Dolls stand out? I have some difficulty in distinguishing them, by sight. Is there a trick to it, perhaps?" She may have misunderstood the comment. With this as her new area of momentary interest, Tamamo takes a few moments to focus, listening intently, and strikes a pose with one eye open, index and middle finger bracketing the vision of the other. Her eye might be glowing, if that's not just it catching the Sun's light. She sweeps that focused vision over the G&K Dolls and some of the pedestrians before releasing the sudden posture, and licking a spot of cream before it can fall onto her fingers. Actually finding any magical responses with this attempt does seem unlikely, if she understands the principles of robotics well enough.
Gideon Kaspar	Kukuru is not so conveniently lucky as to see anyone actually tailing them on the street. True to her original guess, most likely, being tackled out on the street in broad daylight, downtown and with armed police and PMC around, would probably be very stupid and very obvious. After all, the people they're looking for haven't been caught yet. "Having it scanned against the city database." Gideon says on the other end of the radio to Nova. Only a few seconds later, he says "Nope. No civil registration. Could be an antique --no RIF-- but it has plates, and they didn't come up either." With Tamamo and Karine, Vivi points to the top of her head and says "Humans don't usually have those. But some of them look for models like that." Autumn tunes in just long enough to say "Well, there's Persica. You can't forget her right?" "Yes, but her and cats . . . well Persica isn't a good example of humanity." "Out of curiosity, who is?" Vivi elects to ignore the extremely trap question, to instead say to Tamamo "Humans supposedly learn to pick up on the subtle differences, but with cutting edge models, usually they have to get really close, or hold a conversation, to get the idea, if at all. Of course, certain humans pride themselves on supposedly being able to spot a Doll the moment they see one, even a block away." "Is that actually true?" "All data suggests no. More ofen than not they accuse other humans of being Dolls." As expected, scanning for magic here is essentially useless. If she strains her fox ears, she can hear the subtle mechanical movements of some Dolls, but Vivi's explanation would suggest them to be older models. At the Jeep, Bond finds that the windows have been subtly tinted. If he had to take a guess, the spaced grilles and roomy chassis extensions would be good places to insert aftermarket armoured plates. Planting the tracker goes without incident, but once he leaves the area, pretty much as soon as he leaves sight, two men in cutoff shirts and hooded jackets shuffle out of the storefront the jeep is parked in front of, a young blonde lady still in an apron walking out with them, climbing into the back with a stupefied look on her face. Going looking for the rear entrance, he stumbles across a security camera obviously looping footage on standstill, whirring away in a glitched, static position, and an otherwise completely empty store. The engine revs outside and the jeep begins moving as he does. Nova at the bike, meanwhile, lies in wait long enough to also feel individuals leaving the cafe the bike is parked out front of. Nobody else accompanies two more men here, but their thoughts are pretty clear to her. Boredom. Impatience. The urge to call up someone else and nag about 'how many more they need'. And a certainly very intentional route around where her group is going, staying just ahead and behind, looking for an opportunity. One of them is bemoaning that his 'flash' is out of charge, and about to phone and ask to borrow someone else's. There's a recent argument on his mind about the likelihood of scooting with an expensive domestic model, some kind of top end cabaret model, and some rich guy's prized possession, with extreme confidence that a T-Doll guard would be completely useless at stopping them, perceiving the green hair as a useless weirdo and the two men to be little issue if they just distract them. She can catch the mental mirror of half a phoned debate as the bike drives off.
Kukuru	With the introductions completed and pre-break snacks distributed, Kukuru's redirected efforts of acquiring refreshments and looking for too-obvious observers soon bears... Actually, it doesn't really lead her anywhere but getting drinks for everyone. Unfortunately for Tony, the dumbassery doesn't look like it's going to cease anytime soon as she returns with a dozen bottles of water all precariously (but somehow) balanced on one giant claw. Still, if it helps maintain the image that she's a useless weirdo, all the better to catch their target's would-be captors off guard. <<"Just make sure you're eating enough after the job's done, okay?">> Kukuru not-quite-asks Bond over the radio, all too willing to split the extra snacks he didn't take with anyone else who will while they're waiting for the other shoe to drop. Between that food and the drinks, a food coma may be imminent for somebody! Or at least, it might not look too unexpected for Kukuru to start yawning as though one's coming on. <<"Be careful out there. If they're moving already... Hm. Maybe they'll need to think the coast is clear before they try anything.">> Yawning again, she takes a seat on one of the benches and unceremoniously slouches back with her head rolling from side to side lazily. One eye shuts, but she keeps the other half-lidded to let her keep watch. Thanks to Nova's and Bond's confirmation, she keeps her focus on the one on the bike in particular. There's no threats here. They're all harmless. Now's the time. She pushes that suggestion forward, trying to goad/force the biker to make his move prematurely. She's not particularly sure she can even reach him from here, but there's really only one way to find out. Plus, if it does work? She won't have to get up to try it again later.
Tony Stark	"A good example of humanity?" Tony picks up, hand clasped around drink cup that he slurururururups at. "Well, Karine is a decent example of one, isn't she?" If there's a way to reverse that trap, Tony will attack it relentlessly. He hides a smile behind his coffee badly as Kukuru returns with water bottles and then begins... to nod off? Huh.
James Bond	The face of his watch flips over to reveal a small monitor. A red blip appears near his position, moving as the jeep does. The whirring of the camera indicates it's clearly been tampered with. There's a cursory examination, his eyes flicking between the wires and the space where it's been mounted into the wall. It's recent. He's on the right track. Bond's out the back door like a bolt. He's following the blip on his watch, but not directly. Using the buildings as cover, he moves parallel to the motion of the vehicle, until he can find one tall enough to have need of a fire escape. Probably an office or residential affair. Some worlds don't have those. That's fine, too--if there are no rickety ladders to reach with Olympic verticals, then his versatile watch can come in clutch again, with a grappling wire to lift him up. Either way, once he finds something tall enough to be a vantage point, he's over the lip and on the roof with a practiced roll, to keep himself out of sight. He'd be looking up, if he were in their position. <<Anything for you,>> Bond teasingly replies to Kukuru, as he edges closer to the opposite end of the building's roof. An eye is kept on the watch's readout to track their position until he can peer over the edge at the jeep. He'd thought it was one. It's three. Two men, one woman. He ducks his head as they turn so as not to give himself away. The woman seemed... out of it, somehow. A Doll? Maybe. He can't risk using something with a lens to spy on them. Not with the sun as high as it is. But, the directional microphone built into his sunglasses case is a different story. Flipping it open and removing the facade, a tiny but powerful parabolic mic is pointed towards the jeep, using the watch's radar display to pinpoint its location without giving himself away. The earbuds are slipped in, and he listens for signs of what they're doing or where they might be going once they've stopped. As he listens, the Walther is pulled out. The handgun, that is. This one's not standard issue. It's been heavily modified to fire tranquilizers instead of bullets, and the effective range is much less, as a result. But he's betting those three are going to make their move soon, and when they do, he doubts they'll be expecting him to leap from the roof, much less zipline towards them with an assembly built into his belt. That's the plan, anyway.
Nova Terra	Nova watches as some apparent nobodies leave a nearby business and move to drive off. The bike Nova is staking out being used for such. And the thoughts that the guy is spewing out are all quite damning. Nova's pretty confident that this guy is part of the group that's grabbing Dolls. Though she has to wonder where he's getting the confidence to consider the armed T-Dolls a non-threat. Nova could probably keep up with the bike in traffic, utilizing a combination of speed provided by her suit and various shortcuts around or over buildings. But that would definitely give her away, even with her cloak. Plus, that's what the tracker is for. Since it seems like their prey is indeed intent on grabbing the prize they currently protect, Nova doesn't both chasing after the biker. She already knows he's staying relatively close to watch and wait for a good opportunity. So Nova just calmly makes her way back in the direction of where their ward is currently on a break from her shopping trip for a bit of food. On the HUD of her visor, Nova watches as a basic map of the area is displayed, along with location info of the tracker. It should be sufficient warning should the potential abductor make a move. In the meantime, the Ghost finds a nice elevated position where she can perch. Large canister rifle out and ready. While the intent is to take them alive and in for a reward, the very lethal weapon can still have its uses. Once she's ready, she reports over the radio, "I'm in position and ready to provide fire support."
Tamamo	Tamamo nods along to Vivi and Autumn's explanation. "Oh, yes, I see. It is like pottery." Not seeing a need to elaborate, she continues with, "Would they think, 'oh, she is not a human, and so, she is a Doll,' then, or would they think, 'she may be one, or neither?'"
Gideon Kaspar	"Doll. I'm sure." says Vivi to Tamamo. "People are inclined to think anyone who looks that good must be made that way." adds Autumn as well, very stoically. Karine is slouched on a park bench, done with a soggy waffle cone that has absorbed the now-vanished half-melted ice cream. She says "I wish Papa would get one. It would be fun to play with a big sister with fluffy ears!" On the road, the motorbike pulls out of formation and takes ahead, causing the jeep to pull into a small, shaded parking lot, and the men inside to get out. The four of them have a brief, heated debate, which Bond can hear over his microphone easily, amounting to more or less what Nova had picked up, but verbally and explicitly. Finally, a man in a motorbike helmet trades items with a man in cutoff sleeves and gloves, throwing him an old satellite phone-sized object and receiving an identical one in return. The driver returns to the jeep and plugs the device in, while the bikers saddle back up. Clearly, Kukuru's suggestion has worked, but they're making the smart move of actually readying up first. The jeep remains parked in the quiet lot. There are no signs of the woman who entered it, though with the doors temporarily open, Bond can see that where the middle seats should be is instead a tinted compartment divider. With the bike incoming, Autumn suddenly stiffens up. "Fairy recon reports our unregistered driver is swinging back around this way. I have footage of some kind of handoff. I'm uploading it now." "Any ideas what that is?" "Something illicit, no doubt." "Obviously. I shouldn't have even asked. You should move to a more distant position and ready for shooting. You're no use at this range, and they'll probably think it's a good chance with one guard away getting something." "You're right. Since Mister Stark and the green one look half asleep, and Mister Bond has left the group, now would be the ideal time to strike." Indeed, once Autumn leaves, this is what happens. The rumble of an old, gasoline-powered motorbike engine comes round the corner, and the driver pulls it up to the curb and stops it with one leg. His passenger dismounts, struts to the door of the shopping mall adjacent to the park bench, and then passing by Tamamo, pulls out that big blocky device and depresses a switch. There's a burst of noise that unfortunately exists inside of Tamamo's and Kukuru's range of hearing, and a short range blast of static that even more unfortunately causes Tamamo's fur to stand on end. Annika stands up just in time to hurriedly push Karine away, but it's Vivi who grabs the girl by the arm and pulls her out with substantially superhuman speed. The loyal maid suddenly locks up, staring off into the distance, stunned and vacant, but when there seems to be no similar effect on Tamamo, she can hear a helmet-muffled "Huh?" from the burly biker.
Gideon Kaspar	The moment's pause of confusion proves costly. The driver, equally confused, but eager to be gone, yells "Just take the fucking domestic and ride already! Just fucking go!" But it's too late to do anything about Vivi suddenly launching into a midsection tackle around him, and Bond swinging down and planting a tranquilizer right into the dismounted man's exposed back while he's stuck wrestling with her, causing him to wobble uselessly on his feet and collapse. The getaway driver swears, then kicks the bike back into gear, burning rubber and startling pedestrians when he tears ass around the corner. In the lot, the jeep begins moving a few seconds later, starting to pull out. Gideon calls it in with "I just picked up an attack on my girls' offensive firewalls on Level One, and an electrostatic pulse from Fairy Recon. That has to be black market! They're just casing for areas where nobody is around and cracking civilian Dolls security software to walk right off with them! Don't let them get out of range!" This may prove somewhat difficult without a split, because Vivi is busy overpowering a grown-ass man and wrestling cuffs onto him amidst a crowd of shocked pedestrians, whilst Karine is digging her heels in and trying to prevent a stunned Annika from walking off after the bike, yanking on her skirt and crying.
Kukuru	There's their targets. Kukuru continues to not-quite-feign grogginess as she yawns again, picking her head up right around when that burst of noise hits her ears. She buckles and grimaces painfully at that initial shock, recovering roughly when things start getting more blatantly physical all around. That gives her at least a few moments to consider her options. With Vivi on the biker, she's fairly confident that the biker's under control for the time being. Annika's still moving, though, and the jeep is on its way out with potentially useful tech and people on board! With Kukuru's options sorted out, she slaps her knees lightly as she gets up from the bench, stretches her arms out over her head, then gets to work! Luckily, she doesn't have to move very far. "Easy, Ka-rine. I've got her." She says in a resoundingly reassuring, yet still drowsy tone while popping those claws off and dropping them into her pocket (somehow). With her hands free and no longer covered in giant danger knives, she ducks forward with her arms outstretched, aiming to hoist Annika over her shoulder and keep the maid Doll's feet right off the ground. So what if she's an android? Kukuru has crazy dumbass strength and no concerns for her own spinal health. It's not like she can't fix it later, anyway.
Nova Terra	Nova watches the scene play out through the scope of her rifle. She's ready to intervene with a well placed shot if necessary. But as the Ghost expected, the T-Doll left behind to guard the android princess more than has it handled. With a little sleep juice support from Bond. So Nova sweeps her weapon around to focus on the others that are now retreating from the scene. She sights in on the jeep in particular, moving her finger to the trigger... But then Gideon raises a good point over the radio. They might have a base somewhere. And better to follow them back to it. Nova stands up, moving her rifle onto her back once more. She then leaps off her perch, falling down to land on street level once more. Since the one that got tranqed won't be answering any questions any time soon, Nova decides to go after the jeep. She was able to get a sense of the driver's psychic presence as he pulled out of there in a panic. Now that Nova knows who she is looking for, it'll be easier to pinpoint his rough location. The Ghost concetrates for several seconds, feeling out the numerous minds in her immediate area. None of them seem to be the right one. Nova expands her focus further... Nova is suddenly off and running, now a optical ripple in the air as she rushes down the street. She turns, leaping into the air to clear a tall fence, thanks to her psi-boosted suit. She runs down an alley as she plots out a shortcut using the HUD on her visor. As long as the jeep driver doesn't get too far from her to disappear into the more distant mass of minds, Nova should be able to keep track of him whether she can see him or not.
James Bond	Bond is solidly on his feet at ground level and already holstering the modified PPK when that bike takes off. <J-IC-Scene> James Bond says, "I'm on the bike. Jeep's in motion. Out of my range." He... means it. His wrist is leveled, and the last of the watch's strong steel cable is put to use when the grapnel is fired into the tail fender of the bike just as it rounds the corner. The result yanks him off of his feet, hurling him towards the wall of the building on the street corner. He angles his body just in time to keep from slamming into it, instead running awkwardly across the wall until he rounds the corner. A park bench with two startled civilians is hurtled over, his legs just barely clearing their heads. "Excuse me." His speed is just barely enough to keep him from being dragged across the asphalt and sidewalk by his wrist. Sweat trickles down the side of his face as he jukes right to avoid being slammed into a street food stall, the frustrated cry of the vendor rolling off of him like water as he plays the final trick up his sleeve. Leaping into the air, the heels of his loafers suddenly explode with jets of white hot flame, melting the rubber in an instant and turning his already impressive long leap into a rocket-assisted lunge. He passes above and ahead of the biker. His feet hid the ground, and despite his forward momentum he manages to remain planted on both. With precious seconds to spare, the slack is tied around the base of a fire hydrant, the tether snapping loose from the watch and magnetizing snugly into place. "Too tied up to talk?" asks Bond, as the bike passes and violently pulls the wire taut. He'll try to catch the biker--but it's probably a good thing he's wearing that helmet.
Tamamo	'People are inclined to think anyone who looks that good must be made that way.' "A somewhat low opinion of nature beyond man, is it not?" Tamamo is hit by noise and static. That causes its own sort of immediate distraction, a moment of shock not too unlike that of her confused assailant, as she reflexively shakes her head, knocking her hat off as she reaches up to cover her flattening her ears, wincing. She really can't do anything about her tails just now. They'll have to remain in that maximum overfluff state awhile yet. "Yes, please excuse me," she says, trotting up to Vivi and the assailaint. She pulls a talisman from the usual undisclosed location and, without another word, slaps it onto the biker's body. The effect is nothing too terribly cursed. It is, in fact, very precisely cursed, to trap the energies of an affected body into a uselessly diminished cycle that prolongs one's life at the cost of an immense and depressive lethargy. She'll remove it later. More importantly, she expects, there will be something or another on his person that was either given by his employer or shared among his comrades, and such shared items provide exactly the sort of sympathetic connection that her magic requires to scry upon those other persons. Tamamo is methodical in her search, briefly waving off any interruption, to sit and immediately begin the reading on what she finds.
Tony Stark	"I'm pretty sure the green one always looks sleepy. As for me -- not sleepy, just tired. I'm surprised at how worn out not doing things for a month made me, but..." Stark has been on the outside of things all afternoon, sleepy in his contribution, down-toned and almost restive for the futurist. He has a chance to breathe, strangely, surrounded by an active operation. But everyone's so capable that he can sip his coffee and wait. Well -- almost. Kukuru runs after Karine and Annika, which means there's no need to worry. Moving at a walking pace, Stark follows and leaves his cup in his wake. "Some sort of wide-area hack? If this sort of thing works in this world, it's a problem that needs to be fixed at the highest level. I suppose utopia was a bit early to call." Directing his attention to his glasses, he brings up a gesture menu and with a quick air-type, points a countersignal bounced off his extremely techbro watch towards the walking-off minder. "A bit easier than just holding them down."
Gideon Kaspar	Hauling Annika is far from the worst thing Kukuru has ever done. She's heavier than a human, but not by a huge amount. She's also stronger, but again, not by a huge amount. More importantly, that 'flash' has scrambled her neural cloud enough that she doesn't really have to coordination to properly struggle out of Kukuru's big danger grip. Karine defaults to hugging Kukuru's back and holding Annika's hands trying to talk to her instead. When Tony pings her, Annika briefly goes limp, and then 'regains consciousness' in a very believable way, looking around for several seconds, then slowly turning red, and asking Kukuru to please put her down. Vivi climbs off the biker when Tamamo talismans him, and then without Tamamo having to say anything, she begins rifling through his pockets and jacket, thankfully already wearing those trendy shooting gloves. It begs the question of what she did as a civilian Doll. She removes a very illegal machine pistol, a spare magazine, a fake ID, smart device, credit wedge, a pack of cigarettes, a switchblade, spare keys, and an electronic keycard. Her finger taps the trigger guard of her SMG several times as she stands back, as if visualizing shooting him in the back. "All yours." she says instead. Bond chasing after the bike is playing a dangerous game. The escaping gangster doesn't somehow fail to notice the agent after him. Driving one-handed, he takes a hand off the bars to pull a similar weapon from inside his jacket, flick the safety while yelling "EAT SHIT!", and unload rapid bursts of illegally modded automatic fire, causing pedestrians to scream and scatter. The pistol bucks wildly even against his strained arm, but managing to place half a dozen sprays of fire in Bond's general direction until the magazine runs dry. He's just begun trying to reload from the spare wedged into his belt by slamming it with the bottom of the well when the cable snaps taut, launching him free of the squealing bike, and crashing head first through a glass storefront, tumbling sideways across the floor and slamming against the base of the counter, bruised and blooded, with a cracked helmet. The bike falls on its side and begins doing rattling horizontal donuts. Nova is able to track the jeep without fail now that she has the mental impression of who's driving it. A tan hardtop that looks as if it could have been military surplus at some point long ago, its manual driving is very obvious amongst the number of self-driving cars on the road, which it exploits the automatic braking protocols on to cut curbs and switchback through lanes. She is able to track it all the way to the river canal, leading to the western exit where the water dumps out into the waste, before noticing the tiny black dot of a drone of some kind flying overhead, following her lead.
Gideon Kaspar	"Got it. Now we know how they get in and out. We can have the wall garrison search for compromised exits. Good work." Autumns voice crackles through the radio. A moment later, the engine block of the armoured jeep sparks, then erupts into flame. The hood tears inwards and burning oil spits out its bottom far side. The engine block dies instantly, coming to a sputtering, roaring halt, causing the entire heavy vehicle to skid. The crack-boom of the massive 20x118 round having been fired follows after. From fairly close, Nova can see all the doors open, and both men run from the wrecked vehicle, fleeing into the canal. The back doors open under weight against them, with the electronic emergency unlock engaged, and a significant number of what definitely looks like body bags tumble heavily from the rear compartment. Eight in total. Since there's no sign of the blonde Bond had seen, the question of storage is settled rather abruptly. "I see it from Fairy Recon. Terra, if you're going to let them run, I suggest sealing your suit before tracking them. I've already notified the police, and I'm sending Vivi to help with recovery of the hacked Dolls. The car's electric, so there's no danger of a secondary explosion, but I'd like it if Mister Stark is willing to take a look over them. Otherwise, they'll be considered stolen assets, and seized as part of a criminal investigation. I'd like to return them to their homes before that happens."
Tamamo	It's the device that had zapped her that Tamamo is most interested in reading, but she likewise has a number of other personal effects to go through. Perhaps the keycard will show her the door to which it belongs, or the one who had given it. She can't guess how such devices work, but important people or places are easier to glimpse, and more useful in sating her curiosity. It does seem as if their job may be finished, regardless, but if she were to take Tony's remark on 'examples' seriously, then there's enough reason to look into finding all the ones who were already taken.
James Bond	Bond steps through the broken glass. An unassuming signet ring on his finger hides a spooled-up ziptie, which he pulls out and fastens around the wrists of the biker. He's been shot. The sky blue polo darkens with blood at the lower left, stuck to his body. If the hole at the back of his windbreaker is any indication, it must've passed straight through. "One for pickup," says Bond into his earpiece, rattling off the street name. "Injured. Could use a field medic for him. And for me." There's a glance upwards. At the startled glances, of civilians around him, he acts on reflex. Identification perfectly appropriate for an authority of this world is procured; a badge of station briefly flashed before them. "It's over now," he says. "Sorry about the mess." The bike is still doing donuts outside. As an afterthought, he crunches his way back through the broken glass on partially burnt rubber soles, and kills the engine.