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[kv]

It's 3am on a cold Seattle winter morning. Even the stars are hidden behind clouds, although it's too cold to rain. You wake up and glance at the chronometer... it's been a while since your last job, and you're starving.

You check the fridge, but the only thing there is the lightbulb and some mustard packets. You suck on those while you try to find anything else to eat in your house... no luck.

Looks like you'll have to put on a coat and head down to the shack to grab something to eat.

((This is the intro run for Starhiker, who has been pretty patient thus far... anyone else can feel free to join in))

  -kv the GM

[AJStarhiker]

I slide on my snap blades and grab my favorite jacket--the black, armored motorcycle on with blue and grey trim.  I like it because the sleeves are long enough to hide my blades, and the lower part just wide and stiff they won't get sliced up.

I glance outside.  It's relatively quiet right now, but I've been in the neighborhood long enough to know just how fast that can change.

After some searching, I remember kicking my Predator under the couch yesterday when Dad made an unexpected visit.  I guess the freighter he works on made good time on the last shipment and they gave him the day off.

Anyway, I retrieve my gun, settle it into its concealed holster, and hunt down a few of my other 'toys'.  Namely, my throwing knives and a couple FlashPaks.  Hopefully, I won't have to waste them, but like I said.  It's not the best neighborhood around.

I grab my keys, lock up (not that it'd do any good if the merc upstairs comes home drunk and forgets which floor he lives on.  Again) and head out.

I shiver slightly in the chill air and, after a short debate, I decide to walk the few blocks to the nearest shack.  I'd prefer to ride, but my bike doesn't exactly have much in the way of cargo space.

I think I'll stock up on frozen pizzas.  And coffee.  And hot chocolate mix.

The cold hits you like a punch in the teeth as you step outside. Your face almost feels too numb to chatter, but your teeth do click a little bit as you step out into the cold. The motorcycle definitely sounds like a bad idea at the moment.

It isn't raining or snowing, but the stars and moon are all covered up with clouds, and only two streetlights on thei block are working- and neither are in front of your apartment.

[Ruski]

Raymond Theadore Lovelace.
3AM. standard stomping grounds: the Arcade.
there's just no way to perfect the ultimate combo for 'Super SNK Fighter Kombat' you just have to put in the hours. and hours. and hours.
He reaches down and sends a rush of voltage to his magneticly enhanced right arm.

"I have no idea how people you actually put coins in thease things pay to get good at this"

then it hits.
the throbbing migrane... the cold weight in the pit of your stomach.
oh God...
searching his bag he discovers that the worst thing possible has come true... he's out of caffeen.
he feels the dizzyness set in as he lunges for the door... it feels like the whole room is moving of it's own random accord... while stumbling for the entrance he idely wonders if there is a mathmatical algorythem for calculating the movement of a chemical-depemdant mind... he sets his math-co-processer to go work on it.
as he hits the front of the arcade he can see it through the frosted window like a dream...
Open 24/7.
The Shack.
Pushing open the door there is a cold blast that dosn't help with the throbbing migrane, but does wonders for the dizzyness... how many days has he been in the arcade? it's hard to tell... what time is it? oh yea. retinal clock. 3:00AM on the dot. he sometimes forgets that the clock can be used for things other than combos.
boy it's cold. no wonder he avoided going outside at all costs.
well, one cold dash acrost the street and he's there. caffeen heaven. there isn't a single product in that entire store that isn't laced to the brim with caffeen. even the sunglasses are soaked in caffeen for hours before being put on the plastic spinning stand...
Ray's mouth starts to water as he runs acrost the street, dodging traffic like he's a frog on a highway... even though there's no traffic to dodge. (it's best to practice)
the cold cathoed neon lights seem to provide a warmpth that cuts illogically through the cold of the sunless morning...
the windows are frosted... due to the light it's impossible to tell what's going on inside.
moving in range of the door sensor... and it opens...
a blast of hot air greets him.
even the air must be caffanated!

[AJStarhiker]

I shove my hands into my pockets and start walking.  The lighting's pretty bad, but the clouds reflect enough light from the city I don't have too many problems seeing.

As I walk, I start to warm up some.  By the time I get to the Shack, I'm almost comfortable.

I walk inside.  After the cold and the excercise, the warm air feels almost stifling.

Ok, food first. I think as I grab a basket and wander back to the freezer.

[kv]

The Stuffer Shack has three half-tall shelves, the first of which is loaded with different kinds of gum (pork flavor?), and candies. The second is loaded with cans of soy-processing meat substitute, and the last has soap, razors, bags of towels, little shampoo containers, and vaccum-sealed bags of bread that look like they could cause a concussion. At the very back of the store, there is a freezer next to the stock room door, where things like soy-milk and protein suppliments sit in the cooled environment that is nowhere as cold as the air outside.

As always, there is a rack of sunglasses near the cashier's stand, where hidden behind racks of soy-bacco cigarettes, cigars, and lottery ticket advertisement sits a bored orkish guy with acne. He looks to be about in his twenties, and he's reading some sort of pornographic magazine and looking very bored. He sits on a stool behind a counter of very scratched bullet-proof glass, under which are poorly lit zipguns and boxes of ammo.

The lighting in here is horrible- the florescent bulbs are a uniform color of 'dull' that seems to suck the color and life out of everything. The tile, dirty and covered with stains, reflects the dullness.

On the side across from the clerk and counter, there is a setup with a microwave and soy-cheese, and every type of foodstuff imaginable- Unless you happen to be capable of imagining something worth eating.

Next to the microwave, closer to the back of the store, is the drink machine, selling caffine-filled and nicotine-laced "C@F-P0W!" Drink. It also has several other alternatives, but the Caf-Pow is the only one that looks like it gets any use. As the clerk stops to sip from a cup, you understand why.

The place is empty except for you two and the bored clerk, who glances at each of you before returning to his magazine.

At the back of the store, a circular mirror allows the clerk to keep an eye on all customers, and a small poorly made security camera records each customer, so if the clerk is shot, the camera will (hopefully) record an image of his attacker.

[Ruski]

Okay. I run as fast as I can, to the C@F-P0W, and get the largest cup available, as I start to fill it up, I'll use my other hand to grab a handfull of straws, and without removing any of the wrapers, i'll shove it into the slowly filling cup, and begin to drink great huge swallows full.
I'm not big on the nicotine, but the nicotine free machine is always broken in thease places, and I need my fix now.
when i've drunk so much that I start to feel like i'll need to throw up soon, i'll let the cup fill to the rest of the way up, throw the used straws on the floor, and grab a new one. leaving the wrapper on. I'll attach a lid to the cup, and push the straw through, wraper and all.
"It's like a filter."
actually, seeing as how i'm here, I'm going to see if I can fix the nicotine free machine. I've got time, and I really should make up for the mess I left on the floor.

<Build Repair Electronics> 11, 7, 5, 4, 1, 1

"Crap... it's just unplugged... wait... thease come out of the same vat! "

From the front of the place, you hear the clerk look up from his nudie magazine. "Dude, leave the machine alone... they what?"

[AJStarhiker]

I stare at the guy chugging C@F-POW for a moment then shake my head and toss some of the frozen single meals into the basket.  At this point, I don't really care what I'm grabbing.  It all mostly tastes the same, anyway.

I stick one of the meals into the microwave and go look for something to drink.  On the way, I pick up some instant coffee and a box of hot chocolate mix.

I look over the display, debating whether I want caffene, alcohol, or something that was actually 'healthy'.

They have dispensers for cheap booze (soy-kahol), old fashioned Mountain Dew (with realistic old-time flavor), and C@F POW!, which is the only one working. There's a guy fiddling with the back of the machine, who suddenly notices that both the nicotine and the non-nicotine come out of the same vat, meaning every junkie on the planet who wanted non-nicotine cafpow was just as addicted.

[AJStarhiker]

"Crap... it's just unplugged... wait... these come out of the same vat! "

I look at the guy fiddling with the machine, relieved I'd always stuck to drinks with lower caffeine levels.  I'm not as much of a health nut as some Adepts, but I also don't like the idea of getting myself addicted.

"I...think I'll have something else." I mutter as I walk back to get some soy-milk.

As you walk to the back of the store, you look over the soymilk, trying to find one that isn't expired. Suddenly, without realizing it, you can hear a car approaching the Stuffer Shack. Or maybe just driving by. Isn't it amazing how sounds travel clearer on a cold day?

[Ruski]

"Look, here's the distribution line, It goes from here, in the main tank, and moves over to this one here, and splits. this other tank, is just empty pipe. it's a dead end. it dosn't go anywhere. That sucks. Want me to fix it? I'll do it for free... i'm starting to feel the energy rush, and It'll be a little bit before I can concentrate hard enough to play video games properly Hmm... I have an arc-whelder here in my bag I think that It'd work I coud just bypass this hosehereand starttogofrom heretothere and thenthemain solinoidwillactually bemovingfromthemaintanktotheother lookIgotallthepartsrighthereOkay?good.I'llstartnow. I'mgladyouagreethatweneedtohavethisfixedrightaway becausegivingpeoplechemicalsthattheydont'needisjustrude!"

with that, I immediatly start taking the machine apart and rewireing it. while i'm at it, i'll see if i can bump-up the caffeen content of the non-nicotine version. I'll also take off my shirt and tie it arround my head. don't want any hair to fall into this mixture, that would be un-healthy. I wonder if I should take off my shoes and pants for static safety? Hmm... this is a big job. I'm going to need lots and lots of cheetos-soy-snaps.

The clerk and other woman in the store don't seem the appreciate the service you're doing for them, and they seem more than a little disturbed that you're undressing. They must know nothing about static saftey. They'll appreciate it once you're done. The woman even stop to watch you for a second before deciding to get something else to drink. She mutters something about soymilk.

[Ruski]

That's it! The pants are coming off! this job is bigger than I thought!
Okay, I'll go get some metal parts and a glass bottle. I'm going to need something to build a distiller out of to make the caffeen stronger. some empty vodka bottles should work fine. I'll add the booze to the side that I don't want to drink. I'll tap my karma to re-roll any non-successes as I'm building this thing. I want it to be perfect!

"J00N33D70G374B1GG3RC0MPR3550RF0R7H3D157R1BU710NP4N3LR1GH74W4Y!!! "

[AJStarhiker]

I rummage through the cooler until I find a quart that's only a day past its expiration date (They always print it a week before it really goes bad, right?) and head back up to get my food from the microwave.

I stop short when I see the naked guy rerouting the tubing of the C@F-POW machine.

"Uh, oookay."  I look from the guy to the microwave.  My stomach growls and I carefully move past him to retrieve my food.

[Ruski]

"B3W4R3 7H3 M1CR0-W4V3! 17 15 N07 L337! 1 W1LL R3P41R 17 N3X7! "

Oh well. if she wants to eat food that's not cooked all the way, that's her perogative. I just hope she dosn't come to me when she gets salmenella poisoning. Once I finish fixing the machine, I'll put my pants back on and test it.

[kv]

A van pulls up in front of the stuffer shack, shining brights into the interior of the store. The ork sighs, and opens the register. After a moment, you understand why.

Four orks wearing masks and carrying sawed-off shotguns walk into the place, pointing thier very nasty weapons at each of you. They stop dead cold at the sight of the chubby decker with a shirt tied around his head and no pants fixing the C@FPOW! Machine, muttering something intelligible. but they point a shotgun at him anyway.

The clerk starts stuffing all the paper money from the register into a brown paper bag, not looking at the assailants. One of them approaches him, shotgun held ready.

The third ork points his gun at the lady with the hot meal and the groceries. He gestures with the gun for her to stand against the wall.

The fourth ork watches everyone else, shotgun held in one hand, pointed up at the ceiling and resting against his shoulder. He speaks up while you listen to the clerk stuff the money in the bag. "Listen up! Give us all your money and valuables... and pants, you wierdo, and we'll be on our way. No one gets hurt."

[Ruski]

Okay. easy-nuff. I'll jump down off of the machine, grab my pants and walk towards the guy pointing the shotgun at me. when I get close enough to hand them over, I'll use my carefully practiced Ninja-Gaden-master-death-strike-IV on him. I'll throw up my pants in the air so he's watching them when I move to strike.

"J00 D34D F00!"

Initive: 1D6+5 Roll: (6)11
Unarmed Combat 4 (+4 combat pool) 16, 9, 8, 5, 4, 2, 1, 1 (5 sucesses?)
Strength (4) +1 (5M Stun)

assuming that I do a decent amount of dammage to him, I'll take his shotgun and start shooting it (that defaults to quickness right?) while using his body as a meat shield. (I saw it once in Dead or Alive 16)

----

Even though the ork is expecting some kind of resistance, he's not expecting you to throw your pants in his face and kick him. Unluckily, you're fighting the ork who is golden gloves boxer locally, so his skill of 5 vs your skill of 4 makes things tougher for you.

Body Resist: 5D (minus leather jacket) 3's - using body of 5
8, 5, 5, 3, 2 - four successes (he takes a moderate wound)

He takes your hit to the side of the head, looks a little dazed, but very, very angry. You aren't fast enough to move out of the way as he pulls the gun away from you, and hits you with a hard right.

Boxing: 5 (tn 4 +2) 8, 5, 5, 4, 3, 1 (One success)
Str (5) +1 M Stun = 6M Stun

[AJStarhiker]

I groan to myself.  Looks like dinner'll have to wait.  I drop the basket I'd been carrrying and throw my dinner into the ork's face.  I then move in with a roundhouse kick.

Init 2D6+8 Rolls (4,5) 17
Thrown Weapons 4 (+2 combat pool) 8,5,4,4,2,1
Unarmed Combat 4 (+3 combat pool) 11,5,5,4,3,3,2
Strength of 4; Killing Hands M

"That's for wrecking my dinner!"

----

Let's say, for the sake of argument, that you go first before Ruski, cause you're way faster, and before the robbers, because they're not all that fast to begin with, although they are ork street toughs, so they have some meat on thier bones.

The ork isn't anything but distracted by your meal, and he trains his shotgun on you as you kick him.

Resisting: 4 Successes, Killing Hands Medium (5D)
(-2 for synth-leather jacket) 3D
Body (5): 6, 5, 4, 1, 1 (three successes- he is majorly fragged up)

They get to go at 7, so you get one more action before he's going to try to decide whether to shoot you or punch you in your pretty little elven face.