Humble Beginnings - 1.1

Everyone has to start somewhere - 1.1

The throbbing of music from the hipster dance club behind his shack began to pull him from his restless slumber.  Rain could not remember the last time he had had a decent night’s sleep, and sleeping during the day because of his chosen “profession” didn’t help.  Neither was the fact that he lived in an old re-purposed garage, in the alley behind a popular night club just added to the issue.  He glanced at his commlink, the display read 2101. 

‘Must have been tired,’ he thought to himself. ‘It took a whole minute to wake me up’.

Slowly the half-dressed elf sat up, and put his feet onto the cold cement floor.  The stark change in temperature helped him get the blood flowing.  For a few moments more, he sat, rubbing his right hand vigorously back and forth, through his hair.  It didn’t improve the unkempt condition, but it helped him focus his thoughts.

Once he was sufficiently conscious, he moved through his regular ‘morning’ routine; some reading, unarmed and sword katas, finishing up with a few minutes each of stretching and meditation.  Afterwards he cleaned himself up to get ready for the rest of the day, or, in this case, the rest of the night.  He needed to find something paying out decent Nuyen, or, despite the generosity of Samantha’s intervention, he would find himself back out on the streets.

He always started his night at the club.  Not because he enjoyed the pounding music, or the hipsters who frequented the place.  Actually, the atmosphere often left him in a bad mood, but it was loud enough that several “Johnsons” felt compelled to conduct business there, if for no other reason than it was virtually impossible to listen in on their conversations, even with audio enhancements.  They barely gave him notice though.  He was an unknown.  After all, he was still a stranger in a community that values its privacy, and trusts only in ‘known qualities’.

He waited until his head throbbed, but none of the “Johnsons” had even acknowledged his presence tonight.  ‘I think I’ll wander up into Queens again… maybe head over to the island’, Rain said to himself despondently.

“Hoi!  Rain!” The Ork bouncer at the door raised a clawed hand and motioned for him to come closer.

‘Wow… what’s his name? (1) You really got to work on that Rain’, he said to himself as he nodded his acknowledgement of the bouncer’s beckoning. 

“Sam’s lookin’ for ya!”  He had to shout just to be heard over the tumult of the club.  “She says she’s got something for ya!”

“Thanks chummer!” Rain yelled to be heard over the din.

Rain turned back into the crowd, and headed for the back of the club.  Samantha always took the bar by the dance floor.  It was always crowded with a throng of bodies, pulsating to the music, and thirsty from the exertions of the crowd.  Samantha seemed out of place.  Her emaciated appearance was a stark contrast to the healthy spectacle of metahumanity in its rawest and most sensual forms.  Often towered over, she was often looked down upon, both in reality, and figuratively.  Still – the tips back here were better than the ones closer to the front door, or so she said.  As he approached the bar, he had to look over, and around the mass in front of the counter, until he spotted her.  She was pouring drinks, and plugging credsticks, as fast as her two hands could manipulate the tools of her trade.  Despite her outward appearance, she was easily keeping pace with the demands of her clients.  When Sam spotted him, she smiled, and nodded for him to take the small gap at the end of the bar.  Rain liked it back there, close to the kitchen door.  The acoustics vented towards the floor, and he was outside the invisible cone of cacophony that passed for music here.  She motioned for one of the others to fill in on her end for a minute while she tended to some private business with Rain.

“Hoi pointy”, Sam said with a joking smile.  “I came by a piece of data that says a ‘Johnson’ over on the island is looking for a Street Sam.  Time is short, and his usual contacts are all out on runs.  If you’re interested you gotta slot and run now.”

Rain grimaced inwardly, but he needed the pay.  “You’re an Angel Sam.  Trans the data to my comm and I’ll buzz.”

Without further conversation, Rain headed back to the front of the club, hesitating for a brief obscure nod to the ork bouncer, he headed into the night, grateful for the relative peace and quiet of the streets of New York.

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Part 2

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(1)    Memory check [Logic (5) + Willpower (5) = DP 10] - [2,2,4,3,5,1,1,4,3,2 - 1 hit]

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