Guns for Hire - Script Four

Cyber World, Pacifica 12.54am 28/02/2015

Hitting a cyber cafe a couple of minutes from Mo's Diner a quick search revealed that thier best shot for decent transport is via RentaRobo, making a side trip to boost the funds from the joint account Mariusz inserted first the forged debit card & then the Night City driving licence manufactured by Gonzales, several minutes later Mariusz was credited with a temporary Pacifica ID card allowing him to hire from RentaRobo, as he withdrew the card Gonzales stopped holding his breath, whistled & then grins at the others,

"Fuck me I'm good"

Feeding the address of the cafe into RentaRobo's system the site promptly told them that their vehicle would be with them in approximately twelve minutes & that it would, unless the hire period was extended go off line on 01/03/2015 at 1.17pm, the terminal then issued a receipt for $350 as well as the installation authorisation code to allow them access to the sedan, it also issued a warning that in no uncertain terms should they attempt to open the vehicle without first installing the access code it would trigger the anti personnel hijack sequence.

To almost the the second a four door bright red Ford Luxus silently pulled up out side Cyber World, bemoaning the colour Mariusz snatched the print out & using the touch sensitive panel in the corner of the windscreen tapped in the hire authorisation code, instead however of the anticipated green light the digital message behind the wind screen calmly informed him that he had incorrectly entered the code & the vehicle was now in full urban lock down & all personnel should step away from the vehicle. Cursing Mariusz contacted RentaRobo & after seemingly an endless litany of security checks was reissued with a fresh access code & a warning that failure to correctly enter the authorisation code will initiate the hijack sequence, grinning Mariusz passed the second print out to Gonzales.

With Gonzales behind the wheel they silently eased into the lunchtime traffic, while Gonzales familiarised himself with the vehicle, Skinpin quietly flicked through the Ford's manual, occasionally leaning forward to adjust a setting or flick a hidden switch, as he revealed the many functions of the Luxus it gradually dawned on the others why it was $175 a day. Apart from its anti hijack protocol, it came complete with a reinforced body shell, self sealing tyres, impact resistant windows, a wireless internet connection, a route finder & an exhaustive an varied assortment of entertainment chips, last but not least however it had a polychromatic paint job with nine settings, deftly Skinpin keyed in a new code & the vehicle gradually changed from pillar box red to canary yellow.

Heading in the general direction of the CGAFS embassy they eventually hit the old coast road running out of Pacifica.

As they crossed the city Mariusz & Gonzales finally concede to Vrasten's questioning regarding whether or not they could disable the vehicles inbuilt tracker system however Mariusz made clear that if they did this its "malfunction" will show up on RentaRobo's hotline.

Climbing through the foothills above Pacifica the cliff side road wound its way towards the embassies location, traffic along the coast road wa s relatively quiet being mainly sight seers, the majority of traffic taking the more direct & faster interstate towards San Luis Obispo, occasionally they passed isolated but opulent dwellings originally built to take advantage of the stunning views but now more frequently seeing nothing but smog.

Cyber World, Pacifica Heights 2.37pm 28/02/2015

Rounding the headland, the official residence of Joshua Ryan Motobasmi slipped into view, uninspiring, the seven storey flat roofed block stood atop a slight rise between the road & the cliff edge, nestled between the plant room & the stairwell, a helicopter, a Sikorski SR44A according to Gonzales, awaited the pleasure of the ambassadors staff. Driving as slowly as could be done without drawing to much attention to themselves they passed by the ambassadorial residence & stopped at a San Morro viewing point some three quarters of a mile further up the coast.

With Vrasten going through the motions of changing a tyre, Mariusz used the sight from the Giscard to give the embassy the once over, however from this range details were a little difficult to pick out other than general topography, camera positions etc & the heli pad on the embassy roof. With the others occupied Skinpin wandered around the dirt covered parking area talking, much to the concern of the one or two other sightseers, to his "dog". Some fifty minutes after stopping Mariusz reported that two suits had got into a limo parked outside the residence, a quarter of an hour later the saloon glided past the viewing point with Vrasten continuing to change the tyre, the limo's diplomatic plates were clearly visible to all.

Driving back towards Pacifica Central, Vrasten rattled of a great many more shots of the embassy perimeter before finally it disappeared from view, he couldn't however stop watching the road behind to ensure nobody tailed them back into town.

Cyber World, Pacifica 3.37pm 28/02/2015

Back in Pacifica & once again sat in Cyber World drinking something supposedly but failing miserably to taste like coffee, Vrasten tried, unsuccessfully, to tap into any state records relating to the construction of the embassy, unsurprisingly the public access details available held little of interest or use.

Frustrated, Vrasten slammed the keyboard down onto the table knocking several cold cups of crap onto the floor,,

"This is a complete waste of fuckin' time, lets just take a ride out thier & hit the fuckin' place hard, c'mon lets just do it"

Taken aback by Vrasten's outburst both Mariusz & Gonzales urged him to reconsider such rash action & forget the bonus payment, half apologising he feigned a lack of caffeine & ordered another cup of the same brown shit as he had before, Skinpin, at last apparently paying some attention, asked the dipstick behind the counter if he could have a saucer of hot chocolate, sugar free, for his dog.

Mariusz, shook his head in disgust muttering under his breath about the fruitcake, & keyed into the long range weather forecast, after a few minutes he announced that the PFFSN weather report predicted it would continue to be hot & smoggy until the weekend but would turn shitty on Saturday,

"Well, looks like Saturday it is then boys, lets hope our friend Joshua isn't going out to play"

Denny's, Pacifica, Cheapside 9.07am 01/03/2015

The next morning, having booked into Denny's, a cheap & cheerful motel, for a couple of nights, they took a drive to a surplus supplies unit & pick up a several sets of faded fatigues, bivwacks for two & a couple of bed rolls as well drinks & snacks from a 24/7, the rest of the day was spent somewhat at leisure whilst getting to know the various routes in & away from the Heights as well as making the occasional reconnaissance of the embassy itself.

Checking back into Denny's that night it was agreed that the following morning Gonzales & Mariusz would drop Vrasten & Skinpin of somewhere above the embassy in order to establish if Joshua was actually in residence, after a few quiet beers the four turned in for the night, Vrasten & Skinpin taking the better of the two shared rooms.

Denny's, Pacifica, Cheapside 4.10am 02/03/2015

Mariusz shook his head & rolled over pulling the limp pillow over his head, finally unable to ignore the ringing any longer he reached out a hand fumbling for the light switch & the phone,

"Urghh, yeah, we do have a hire vehicle in the carpark . . . . . . .fucked if I know what the registration is . . . . . . . . colour, er, black, I think, why . . . . . . er, police, right, ye', OK, I'll be down in a minute, just got to find some pants"

Rousing Vrasten & Skinpin on the way down to reception Mariusz quickly told them both that the desk clerk alerted the police to an incident in the carpark, it would appear a couple of scum bags had tried to liberate the Luxus, unfortunately for them, they ignored the anti hijack system.

Stood in the parking lot, one of Pacifica's finest quiz's Mariusz & Gonzales about thier reason for visiting Pacifica whilst a second looked over the short term driving licence obtained via Gonzales's reproductions, glancing past the officer Mariusz could see a body bag along side the Ford, a second spook was cuffed & spread eagled over the hood of the pig truck.

Apparently satisfied, the first officer made to head out apologising for any damaged the spooks may have caused, however the second officer seemed reluctant to call it a night & pushed Gonzales about thier activities, blatantly suggesting that maybe the spooks were pissed about a deal gone bad with with Mariusz & Gonzales, eventually he demanded they open the trunk of the Luxus,

"Cos yer never know what yer might just find do ya son"

When however Mariusz pointed out the lock down status on the touch screen key system the first officer berates his partner about pissing in the breeze, scowling the second officer pushed the cuffed spook into the back of thier truck but advised Gonzales not to leave town.

Under his breath Mariusz spat out,

"If Doctor Fruitcake sold some shit to those jerks I'll fuckin' shoot him myself"

At the second floor window above Vrasten calmly dropped the safety catch back on the MAC14 & suggested to Skinpin he stopped knocking on peoples doors looking for his fuckin' dog.

Denny's, Pacifica, Cheapside 5.32am 02/03/2015

Unable to get back to sleep in the stuffy un-airconditioned rooms they agreed to head back up towards the Heights, twenty or so minutes later & with the anti hijack released they cruised quietly past the embassy going a mile or so past before pulling onto dirt beside the road.

Vrasten accompanied by Skinpin walked up into the foothills above the ambassadorial residence promising to keep in contact as the day progressed, Mariusz & Gonzales with nothing particular to do, headed back into Pacifica intent on finding a mighty fine breakfast, good coffee & maybe, just maybe a couple of early morning beers.

The Heights, Pacifica foothills 5.41pm 02/03/2015

Hot, bored & seriously doubting the wisdom of bringing Skinpin along Vrasten listend for the thousandth time as Skinpin sang the same fuckin' line from the same fuckin' nursery rhyme, then again at least he'd redressed the stumps of the three missing fingers on his right hand, marvellous stuff that Realskin Skinpin had said &, well, you had to give him his due, he was dead right on that front.

Having spent a relatively fruitless day looking down on the embassy Vrasten dropped Mariusz another text to keep from falling asleep, however zeroing in on the embassy via his inbuilt cyberware he was startled to see two figures emerge from the wooded area towards the cliff side, one is a one hunfred percent suit wearing homeboy however the second is wearing a ludicrous pair of golfing trousers & pulling a golf trolley behind him, smiling Vrasten recognises Joshua from his photograph.

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