Rocket Rides with the Runners. Shadowrunners, Inc. that is.

Not being given information on where Christian Vaughn's office is actually located, you first went through normal channels. When that pulled nothing up (as you expected it wouldn't), you started asking around discreetly. Unfortunately, though people have heard of him, all they could tell you was that he was one of several people that run an organization called Shadowrunners, Inc. When you asked how to find them, you were plainly told "If you're supposed to find them, you'd know where they are."

Time to go the roundabout way.

At this point, make a Computer roll.

Rocket has a Computer 5/Decking 7

Assuming it is just the Computer Skill, his results are:

Logan carried out 5 launched of one d6 :: 1 , 3 , 1 , 5 , 5

If it was specific for decking, it had two more dice

Logan carried out 2 launched of one d6 :: 2 , 4

Rocket has an Aptitude with Computers (-1 TN).

More than anything, the search takes time. After a day of searching and cross-referencing, you manage to find someone that happens to be a friend of a friend and knows how to find Christian Vaughn. It's too late to head over there tonight but your information shows that the offices of Professional Temps (an obvious front) will open at 6am.

Rocket arrives around 8am the next business day.

As you enter the offices of Professional Temps, nothing appears out of order in any way. Stepping through the double doors, you enter a waiting room with rows of hard plastic chairs filled with people hoping for the opportunity for some kind of work. Seperating the waiting room for the rest of the office is a receptionist's desk with an apparently overworked yet disgustingly cheery looking young woman speaking on the phone.

Behind the receptionist's desk are several rows of cubicles from which you can hear muted discussion, phones ringing, keyboard keys clacking away, and people seated speaking with career counselors who are working feverishly to find them work in this depressed economy. You can only imagine what it would have been like if you hadn't been born blessed with the abilities you have.

The receptionist hangs up the phone and looks to you, smiling.

"Good morning. How can I help you today?"

Feeling a bit out of place (elf with trendy facial tatooes in cloths more suited in Dante's Inferno), Rocket looks at her a bit confused for a second, and then shakes off the obvious nervousness. Knodding awkwardly, the elf comes closer, and offers with a smile, "Uh, hi. Is Mr. Vaughn in?"

The receptionist smiles at you in what is meant to be a disarming fashion. She seems to sense your nervousness.

"Your name, sir? Do you have an appointment?"

Smiling, Rocket says, "No ma'am, but we did discuss my visiting at my earliest convienence."

Etiquette roll

Logan carried out 3 launched of one d6 :: 3 , 6 , 5

Logan carried out 1 launched of one d6 :: 2

"If you'll give me your name, I'll check to see if Mr. Vaughn is available at them moment."

"Oh yes, of course, Mr.," starts the elf, clearing his throat, "Mr. Rocket." Then grins awkwardly.

Before she can reply to your statement, a cultured voice comes across the intercom.

"Mrs. Makato, would you kindly direct Mr. Rocket to our other waiting area. He's one of our special clients."

"Of course, Mr. Vaughn." Turning her attention back to you, she smiles and that's when it hits you. Her smile hits her lips but it never goes quite all the way up to her eyes. You don't recall if it was that way before but looking at it now makes you slightly uneasy. "If you'll go through the doors on your right and follow that down to the end of the hall, the last door on the left. Enter there and have a seat. Mr. Vaughn will be with you shortly."

As you walk to the door on the right, Mrs. Makato (who obviously does not look Japanese in any way, shape, or fashion) presses a button beneath her desk and the door buzzes, obviously allowing you entry.

Entering the door, you step into a white hallway, carpeted in a very thick, lush white carpet. Along the walls of this hallway are doors evenly spaced along it's thirty foot length; six doors, three on the left, three on the right. All are closed. As you pass them, you are sure you can hear muffled discussions going on behind several of them.

When you reach the last door on the left, you find the door closed and locked with what appears to be an electronic number lock.

Looking back in the direction he came, Rocket shifts his weight uneasily. Feeling slightly better at the feel of the pistol under his jacket, he tries the door.

Assuming it is locked, he knocks gently.

There is no answer from behind the door.

"A test?"
Rocket looks back down the hallway. Maybe I should go back and ask the lady behind the desk.
After several seconds he toys with the idea of blowing a hole in the door, but chuckles at the thought.
"hmmm," he says, looking at the keylock, interested to see if he knows anything about that specific type of security system.

Electronics (5) test

Logan carried out 5 launched of one d6 :: 1 , 2 , 3 , 6 , 6

Logan carried out 2 launched of one d6 :: 2 , 3

With deft hands, you pop the casing on the number pad. The lock seems simple enough at first. But closer examination reveals that a lot of the wiring has been dummied up. As a matter of fact, it appears that the wires that you would normally expect to cross in order to bypass the lock lead further into the door. Thinking it might be best to leave those wires alone, you find the wires you need and with a quick touch, the door lock goes green and the latch clicks.

As you enter the room, a gentleman in a tailored suit sits behind a desk typing onto desktop computer. To the right of the desk is another door.

"You may go in now. He's expecting you."

He motions to the door before returning to his work.

"You want me to put that back together?" realizing the question stupid as he asks it, and heads towards the other door. Glad I didn't blast it.

"It'll be taken care of." Once again, he motions you toward the door.

As you step through, you enter a nicely decorated room. The decor is expensive but tasteful. It's apparent that it isn't meant to flaunt wealth but rather an appreciation for fine goods. Sitting behind a black mahogony desk on the other side of the room is a gentleman in a tailored suit. His hair is immaculately styled and the hand that he waves you toward the chair with is obviously manicured. His demeanor is one of status and refinement. Not a cultured refinement like those you might see that went to some sort of 'charm school' but the kind of refinement only those raised to it might have.

"Mr. Rocket. Good to see you made it here. I assume you are here about the job? But, before we get into that, I'd like to tell you a little bit about what you'd be getting into. Would you care for a drink?"

Doing his best to not look out of place, he says, "thank you, no. Are you Mr. Vaughn?"

If you want a general etiquette check to get an idea of how out-of-place Rocket actually acts:

Logan carried out 3 launched of one d6 :: 6 , 3 , 1

Logan carried out 1 launched of one d6 :: 2

Heh. I didn't really need one based on how you were acting but the roll was still actually decent especially considering Vaughn expects nothing of you. He's used to dealing with americans at this point.

"As a matter of fact, I am. I run Professional Temps with a few partners. We actually do attempt to find people work and, since we charge much less for our temps than many other agencies, we're generally a little more successful at it. Of course, financially, Professional Temps barely manages to stay out of the red. Our real finances come from hiring people like yourself.

"The way we work is this. We'll find you work. You can choose to accept it or not. We'll even negotiate the price for you if you wish. There are many others in your general field that are uncomfortable handling those sorts of things so we take that off their hands. We'll provide you with support for your job, as much information as possible for your success, financial backing if needed, and, when things go bad as they sometimes do, help extracting and medical care. In addition, we have many people that can acquire many different types of equipment for all of your needs. It's agreed all around that members of Shadowrunners, Inc - that's what we call this aspect of this business - generally offer a 15% discount to other members. It's not policy. Just a friendly gesture. In return, we take 25% of your pay. Now, I realize that is just a tad higher than you might expect to pay a negotiator. Then again, most people that negotiate jobs for you have little care for your problems once they've gotten their cut.

"We feel differently about it here. We like to make sure our people stay happy and healthy.

"Now, the downside to all this. Because of the nature of our clientele - and that can range anywhere to a private client to a corporation - you won't generally know who exactly you are working for. There's a good side to that as well. You are not limited at all from taking jobs on your own. Work that you do shouldn't conflict with jobs you do for us. If they do, however, we would ask that you turn them down if possible. In addition, any jobs you take on your own won't receive our support unless you choose to include a fee to us off the top. Since we didn't find the job for you, the fee is only 15%. We, of course, reserve the right to dictate the level of our assistance on your personal job. After all, it would hardly be fair for us to shell out 25000 nuyen in support for a 2000 nuyen fee, would it?

"Of course, even that may change over time. As you do more work for us, we may find that shelling out that much money for little or no return on occasion suits us just fine in order to ensure your, shall we say?, continuance."

At this point, Vaughn walks over to a small bar set along the wall and pours himself a scotch. He pours another and places it in front of you on the desk.

"Just in case," he says. "I can be a bit long-winded at times.'

He moves back to his seat behind his desk and takes a small sip of his drink, obviously enjoying it very much.

"Of course, none of this really applies to you at the moment but I thought it best if you knew what we did around here. In point of fact, a fair amount of the money we receive goes to helping those poor souls you saw in the lobby. It's not altogether altruistic. It allows us to maintain a cover to keep doing what we're doing and it engenders good relations with the regular working stiff. But you're not here for that. What you're here for is an interview. Which we've already partially completed.

"You cracked the lock on my door. Not a difficult job but the fact is you did it. You'd be surprised how many people will just stand there waiting for someone to come by and help them. I'm not interested in those people. I'm interested in the ones that follow directions and do what it takes to complete them. As you did.

"The job is a simple one. You'll have a user account and password to a restricted corporate server that a team of ours has already planted in their mainframe. You will enter through the matrix and enter data into a client database. We'll give you all the information you need. Once that is done, you will observe comms traffic at a very specific point at a very specific time. You will also transmit any information we give you at the time. In addition, when not monitoring that channel, you will be watching their security alerts and abnormalities, especially relating to the client information we will give you. Your task is NOT to engage any opposing runners UNLESS you can take them out quickly and quietly. Make all possible attempts to keep your user ID secure. It is more important that we have the information you'll be collecting than you get caught up in a dust up.

"The job will take anywhere from four to eight days. You will be assisted in shifts by two other deckers who will also be on hand, as will you, if an emergency arises. From the start of the job, you will be transferred to a secure site where you will do your runs. You will not leave the site. If you need something, there will be a couple guards on hand to retrieve anything you might need. For all of this, you will receive 500 nuyen a day, four days guaranteed, of which the company will take no fee. The 500 a day is all yours."

He takes another sip of his scotch, studying your reaction.

"Any questions?"

Considering the man for a moment, Rocket replies, "Yeah, when do I start?"

Vaughn smiles at your acceptance.

"Good. In the interim," he says as he reaches into his desk, "take this half of your minimum payment. That's 1000 nuyen. Meet back here on the 18th, three days from now. Six AM."

He slides a credstick across the desk towards you.

"Bring enough clothing for a week as well as any gear you might need. If you have any special items you'll need, leave a list with my assistant. This is my card. You can contact me if any issues should arise. I believe you'll find the doors will be unlocked on your way out. Good day, Mr. Rocket."

He smiles as he walks you to the door and shows you out.

Here we go Rocket, making the big time at last