Scene #3973: McGuffin Technology Pass-Off

Owner	Pose
Nasrin	Slum Urbania. Nasrin bint Hadir al'Halabi had been tracking someone for the last week, following his movements, finding herself at the clubs he frequented, at the coffee houses he visited. She had switched out her normal gear for more modern kicks, a sweatshirt hiding her normal gear. She's three stories up, on a half-opened skybridge over an alleyway between buildings watching as Gerry Walters, a MacGuffin Tech employee was about to do a hand-off to a Nonya Buisiness tech spy. And Nasrin was waiting. She was patient, dark hair pulled back into a braid and covered with her hood. Her gloved hands toy against the broken, rusted rail as she lets a slow breath out. Every nerve was on alert. Every hair on her body felt electrified, and using her talented vision, she was watching her quarry with an intense interest.
Taro	Slum Urbania. And Nasrin bint Hadir al'Halabi is not alone. There are other trails that one can follow, and Taro has his own methods for tracking quarry. Even if Mr. Walters had been making payment transactions in cash, there are personal phones and security feeds to tap, and drones to watch at a distance. The android priest-engineer is likewise patient, and unlike the human assassin whose presence he has not yet noticed, he can sit in perfect stillness without getting stiff. His usual cassock has been discarded for matte-dark form fitting armor - more suitable attire for this occasion. From his position on a rooftop somewhere off to her right, he sits hunched and peering down at his objectives.
Nasrin	Nasrin hadn't noticed Taro's presence, but she did notice the new figure coming up the alleyway... it must be the Nonya spy. She watches as the two approach. Her body leaning over as she watches the two, switching her attention between them as she tilts her head, listening. She exhales, exhaling a breath as she readies for a leap -- as soon as the item is exchanged, she has reason. They cease being Innocent.
Taro	Taro's eyes likewise narrow when he notes the other figure approaching. True, he could have simply ambushed the turncoat with the item of interest already, but the spy is of interest as well. After all, if Nonya Buisiness has its fingers in one proverbial pie, then it's likely that they have their fingers in others as well...information from him would be of use, though failing that, the man can always carry back a warning to not meddle in Neo Arcadian corporate affairs. He has no reason to wait for any exchange of items, or even an exchange of pleasantries between the pair. As soon as they're within arm's reach of each other, he rises gracefully to his feet, then disappears in the indigo flash of a teleport... ...to reappear in a blink on the street below, between leaker and spy. The latter is who he lashes out at first, moving to grab at the front of his shirt or jacket, and then to slam him into the nearest convenient wall.
Nasrin	Nasrin had been braced to leap, but when she spots a third person enter the fray -- from seemingly nowhere! -- her eyes go wide, and she freezes, watching as the third person enter the fray. She leaps over the bar, collapsing the MacGuffin employee as he pulls a gun from his jacket to take aim at Taro. The shot goes off, the bullet richocheting against a wall as Nasrin brings her food down, breaking the bridge of the MacGuffin's nose as he gurgles, and then she drops from his shoulders, knocking him out with a blow from her arm in the process. And Nasrin tries to take a package, brown paper, tied with a strong.
Taro	And three become four as someone else drops in to ruin this little backalley meeting. Taro ducks to avoid the bullet, then turns smoothly on one heel to meet the tech...only to discover that the man has already been knocked to the ground by another uninvited guest. One who is currently trying to abscond with what he's rightfully trying to acquire. "That's mine!" he snaps at her, even as he's reching for the paper-wrapped package himself.
Nasrin	"On the contrary." Nasrin replies in a slithery sort of voice, her face obscured by a scarf and a hoodie as her attention switches to Taro. The Nonya Spy shakes off the blow, and tries to get the package himself as Nasrin brings an arm down and then up in an arc to push his arm away, her armored gauntlet holding that classic weapon -- the Assassin's hidden blade -- protecting her arm.
Taro	Obscured face, and that armband...! "Assassin!" The accusation delivered is delivered with a snarl. But Taro does no more than that against her for the moment. Since she's being useful by dealing with the spy that he thought he'd already downed, he moves to snatch up the package by its string binding - preferably before it gets crushed - and then to duck back and away.
Nasrin	Well, let it never be said that the enemies of the Brotherhood are unobservant. The teenage girl brings her arm up and brings her gauntlet down, smashing the spy's nose as well and narrowing the fight down to just her and the teleporter. She feels her gut stir in objection before she even calls upon... other gifts. "You have something of mine, sir." she states cooly as she draws out a dagger, and rushes Taro, bringing the blade up to slash at his back.
Taro	Taro has been up close and personal with their esteemed order before, even officiated the funeral of the father of one of them...not that it has any bearing on the here and now. His armor is intended to diffuse energy weapons and slow bullets, not necessarily stop knives. Still, there's some resistance when her blade slashes across his back, enough to keep it from biting so deep as to drop him on the spot. Though the lack of blood from that gash should in itself be noticable. A flick of the wrist drops one of his own knives into his free hand, and when he spins to face her, it's aimed at her torso. "It was his," he points out, though at this point who it really belongs to is merely a technicality.
Nasrin	She stretches her hand, and Nasrin feels the weight of her arm shift as the hidden blade comes out. She manages to duck the blow from Taro's knife -- seeing no blood on her blade. That was... odd. But not exactly the time to examine. She brings her knife-out blade down and tries to stab at Taro's stomach as the hand holding the dagger comes to a defensive move, her eyes settled on her enemy before her. "Technicality. I don't think he's going to want it now." she replies in her quiet tone. Also: Whatever funeral rites were given to atonhnhaké:ton's father were sorely lacking -- Nasrin claimed his hat.
Taro	Taro steps back as he brings his knife inward and down to parry the blade. "Petty thievery seems beneath your kind," he notes, never mind that by all appearances he's engaging in that very thing. He's not wincing per se, but the score on his back is a touch annoying. Another step, but this time forward as he brings his knife back up to slash at the inside of her knife arm.
Nasrin	"We all start somewhere." the Assassin fires back. Nas draws back -- a hair too late. The knife catches along the bracer on her right arm, sending the arm downwards as it slices through her sweatshirt's arm and bites into the leather. She gives a soft hiss -- and there is blood on his blade when he pulls back. She narrows her eyes at Taro, and she engages her gift from the Red Willow Tea. She moves quickly enough that a human eye would have seen only a blurr as she moves to leap against the wall, bouncing back and forth until she gets height and then /trops/ on Taro, bringing another blade out -- this one, a short sword, curved slightly with its guard set as a pair of wings, trying to separate Taro's arm from his body.
Taro	He's crossed blades with them enough times to expect any Assassin to be more than 'just' a human. Even so, the sudden burst of speed and grace is remarkable to behold...or will be when he has a chance to better review the catpured memory image. As she leaps away from him, he sends his knife tumbling after where she had just been, the blade embedding itself with a soft twang in the mortar of the brick wall. Another flick of the wrist drops another blade into his emptied hand. But she's already upon him before he can do more with it, and he meets the grimy concrete with a solid thud that suggests he weighs more than he looks. Preprogrammed reflexes bring his knife arm up to try and bash her head with his forearm even as she's trying to literally disarm the other. It's not a clean cut through, but deep enough to sever linkages and artificial musculature with a sound more like celery then flesh.
Nasrin	He's definately not human. Nasrin was going to try to spot for sparks, her feet grinding back against the pavement in the alleyway as his knife arm comes up and catches her in the head. She stumbles back, bringing her sword up in frnont of her, her knife in the other hand as she strikes a defensive position, stumbling slightly as she tries to force the stars out of her vision. It's not looking good for her; a small trickle of blood from a gash in her forehead starts down the side of her face, absorbed into the soft cloth of her scarf.
Taro	Not that he would admit as much to his opponent, but she's definitely left her mark on him as well. While he's not grimacing as such, his frown has deepend, and he's forced to shove himself up one handed for reasons that have nothing to do with the now slightly battered package still clenched by its wrapping strings in his right. Not exactly by choice, his fingers now stuck in that position, what's left of the arm dangling under the package's weight. He glares at her hard for a moment, trying to assess her damage and compare it to his own. And then, a moment later, he spins and kicks into a full run toward the mouth of the other end of the alleyway.
Nasrin	Nasrin teeters again, before she takes a breath, and she forces herself to run. She calls upon the gift a second time, feeling her stomach turn as she races after him, inhuman speed leaving her a blur in his wake as she tries to remove the package from his dangling hand, shealthing her sword in one smooth movement as she gives a grim smile at him, baring her teeth with her pupils dialated.
Taro	Thanks to her earlier handiwork, Taro's gloved fingers are stuck in that clenched position, stuck fast and unyielding. However, also thanks to her handiwork, that sharp twist and tug to try and wrest his arm free tears the remaining fibers that were still holding it to his elbow. Thus she comes away with a bit more than she may have expected. Now that does cause him to show something resembling pain, and he hisses through bared teeth as his arm is fully torn free. It's more 'reflex' than thought that moves him to try and stab her with the knife still clutched in his remaining hand - it's not well aimed, but they're close enough that that may not matter.
Nasrin	She rather admired her own hand-iwork, finding herself pretty hand-y to have around unless anyone recided to point fingers at her palming some of the glory (except in social situations, in which Nasrin was all thumbs). Now 'armed' with Taro's arm, she nimbly plucks the package from his fingers, and turns, her feet skidding on the pavement, the soles of her boots dragging against the asphault as she brings his arm up to counter his blows. "I'll have you know... this is the first time I've been so well armed."
Taro	This is the sort of underhanded tactic that Taro would expect of their ilk. For someone who's been so decisively disarmed like this, he's still relatively mobile. He's suffering for it, yes, but he seems to be taking it rather well. As in he's not screaming or howling in pain, just glowering at her, his lips curled in a snarl. With the blade now embedded in his lost arm, he moves to try and grab her by the wrist that's holding it with his remaining hand, and then to bring his armored boot up to kick her in the gut. "That was terrible."
Nasrin	OOF. Nasrin makes an uncomfortable sound, but she slides the package into her hippack as he kicks her, pulling her into the blow. "Got to hand it to me, though..." she replies, breathlessly -- and she activates her hidden blade of her other arm, and brings the blade up to try and slice away at the hand grabbing at her, just above his wrist!
Taro	He's wearing leather gloves, but that does little against a keen blade like that. There's more resistance, as his tendons and bones are made of studier stuff than humans', yet his grasp on her definitely loosens as his thumb goes slack. Taro doesn't bother with a retort this time, instead expressing his displeasure with another swift kick.
Nasrin	With Taro being displeased, the package in her possession, and a disappointed amount of people left alive after the encounter, Nasrin takes the blow to her stomach, the pain coupling with her calling on her speed a little too much makes her recoil, and she drawsbackwards, turns, and makes a run for it, looking to disappear into the streets of Slum Urbania with her prize!
Taro	Even if he were in top condition, the android would find it nearly impossible to keep up with the kind of speed the Willow Tea granted her. That he is far from top condition is painfully obvious, and though he does make the effort to pursue as far as the alley's end, his off-center gait makes it clear that he could not hope to catch up with her. Taro is not breathless, but he does allow himself a moment to lean against the inward corner of the building once he admits that she's escaped. Then, he turns back in. If the two humans are still where he and the Assassin left him, then perhaps this will not be a total loss.
Nasrin	THe spy has made his escape in the fight, but the MacGuffin employee is still there, groaning, a bloody mess with a broken nose, turning over and beginning to cough. Meanwhile, Nasrin is already making her way to the warp gate, breathless, doubled over and in pain, leaning against a doorway s she catches her breath, and quietly curses the price of her speed.
Taro	Taro is not gentle. Even if me had a mind to be, trying to grab a person from the ground by the back of their shirt one-handed, without arm to counterbalance, would make that difficult. "I'm afraid that your current employment has been terminated," he says as he moves to heft him up and over his shoulder to drag him off, dry tone somewhat ruined by the twinge of pained irriration. "However, you're about to be presented with another employment opportunity..." The man won't be reporting back to Macguffin on Monday if he has anything to say on the matter.
Nasrin	And thus MacGuffin puts out an open position announcement on Tuesday...