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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Iron Sky" data-source="post: 5884130" data-attributes="member: 60965">Clubbed to Death<img src="http://th09.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2011/355/a/7/city_by_unidcolor-d4js0v5.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Serian Lucius Favorn sipped from his wine glass as he gripped the  seat-sphere with his knees. Across the expensively tiled table, Daliante  leaned back in his stylish dark-skinned Olympian morph to watch the  line slowly making their way towards the door of exclusive Club  Nocturnis, his cloth-of-gold suit glinting in the strobing club lights  shining in from the round doorway nearby."So, I just finished chatting with the owner," Daliante said, despite  the fact that he'd been sitting at the table inside a shimmering AR  energy field with Serian for the last half-hour. "You have a private  room and access to the conference room just inside and down the hall  from where we are now."Serian raised his glass of wine to Daliante and smiled his  million-credit smile. "To good friends - with contacts in expensive  places."Daliante nodded and raised his wine glass as well, taking a careful sip and trying  to not compress the flexible "glass" too much and spill wine  out into the microgravity of inner Extropia.A single pure white feather drifted down to the tabletop and Serian  virtually tapped it. "Excuse me, Daliante, I have some incoming messages  I need to take."Daliante waved him off in a manner that told Serian he was already off on another mesh conversation of his own.His muse, Archangel, danced about the edge of his vision and golden  letters appeared on the tabletop. "Message from: lillianRaikov982> Saw  your post looking for technical and security specialists on Extrolist,  offer still on the table?"Literally, Serian thought. He sent off a quick reply."I just posted that... 84 seconds ago, so yes, it's still open. I prefer to negotiate in person..." so I can get maximum use out of my Sylph, he thought... "meet at Club Nocturnis in an hour."">Affirmative, we're on our way."No sooner had he gotten the message than another reply to his post glittered into existence on the tabletop.Fast replies in this place, he thought as he motioned for Archangel to display it. I'll have to remember to come here next time I need some bodies to round out a contract...***Hacron was huge, like some ancient greek hero - a visage fitting his Olympian  morph. His suit was plain beige and the simple, battered briefcase he'd  entered the conference room with was tucked beneath his knees.Raikov/Lillian was an androgynous-yet-vaguely-feminine Sylph in a red  cocktail dress that left just enough to the imagination. The edge of the  dress fluttered up in the club's air circulation teasingly as she  daintily held onto the "chair" with her legs.Her companion, one Ishmael, made no effort to conceal his hard-edged  ceramic-alloy composite combat armor. His skin was perfect, the literally sculpted bones in  his skin pressing out sharp edges that made his face look almost alien in a "more human than human" way.AltecLansing(1), as Serian knew him since he'd only given him his  (obviously fake) MeshID, occupied a Swarmoid that had formed a hollow  cylinder around his chair and was slowly rotating around it."Thank you all for coming in person on such short notice," Serian began. "Your  main purpose will be as security personnel - both physical and digital -  during a contract negotiation that will transpire in the next several  days. The negotiation is... delicate and, as part of your contract, you  shall never speak of it after it transpires. The exact where, when, and  even who of the meeting and specifics of the other negotiating party are  unknowns. I know this isn't much information to go on, will relay you  more information when I receive it.""What is the negotiation for?" Ishmael said. He stared blankly at  Serian's sharp look, but looked vaguely abashed a moment later as  Serian's pheromones hit.Raikov/Lillian quickly spoke up in his stead, his/her voice a low  alto/soft tenor. "Will we be hauling something bulky around, protecting  other personnel - mission related info is what my companion is really asking, so we  know what provisions to account for.""Of course. It will be a small object, though the initial meeting will  be just that - first contact to determine if there is even something on the table worth  negotiating for. Keep in mind, if everything goes well, there will be no  need for you aside from your physical presence and the  credibility and threat it brings. War is a continuation of politics by  other means and all, but let's wait until all those other means have  been depleted. Deal?"The others nodded as they digitally signed the contracts Archangel had been preparing as Serian spoke, the Swarmoid even shifting to form an unnerving giant floating head so it could nod.Serian rolled his eyes inwardly as he "stood", letting go of his "chair"  with his legs and pushing towards the door. "Good. Consider yourselves  on-call, when I get the word, we may have as little as a couple hours to  be anywhere in Extropia, so be alert."Their strange array of extremely expensive morphs spoke to their  competence enough for Serian, but out here at the edge of the outer  system, an ego's politics and motivations were far less simple than the  dozens of hypercorp negotiations, takeovers, talk-downs, and the like  he'd handled in the inner system. The omnipresent inner-system corporate drive for power and profit was dangerous, but at least it was predictable. In the outer system, however, it could be a complete non-factor where freedom, ideals, ideas, and reputation were sometimes all an individual cared about. Hopefully everything would go  smoothly.As he'd soon find, smooth was relative...</blockquote>

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