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(Setting) Lily Pad Cafe
| >To one side of the bar counter is a solid wooden door, marked with a sign saying "Staff Only". On the other side of the bar is a simple wooden door with a frosted glass window, and an old looking brass doorknob.
>There is currently a sign on the door that says "Closed"
| >A young girl stands behind the counter washing a dish, while an older, muscular man is brewing coffee. At one end of the bar, a man in a black leather jacket sits, sipping on a cup of coffee
| >The man in the leather jacket sips quietly while he texts on his phone, and the girl walks up to him.
"Waiting on someone, sir?"
>She seems to not really want to approach the man.
>He smiles anyways, through the strange atmosphere
"Yes Yes! Or maybe, no? I may be meeting someone here soon, or I might not! who knows if they'll show up, I rather enjoy leaving things to chance, myself!"
>The man grins a toothy, obnoxious grin
| >The man stands up and looks at his phone
"aaaaaaand send! Friend of yours should be here eventually, if he cares about your buddy Asher, that is! I'll be in the back office, come get me when he shows up!"
>The man strolls through the "Closed" door and disappears from view
| >the girl sighs
"I hate that guy..."
| >A tall, young man soon enters the cafe and looks around
| >The bartender girl sighs again, without looking up
"That you, CN?"
| >>271436
"Yeah, I'm fine. just that jerk who took Ash has been sitting here all day. Bought one cup of coffee and been leeching the free refills for hours. Anyways, I'll go grab him from the back."
>She gets up and walks over to the door, opening it slightly
"Hey, CN is here"
>She closes it and walks back to the counter
"Anything I can get you while you're here?"
| >She reaches under the counter and grabs a couple containers, pouring them gently into a mixer. after a quick few shakes she pours it out into a glass
"Here you are CN, Sugar Rush. No karmotrine, of course, much to our guest's displeasure"
>As if on cue, the side door opens and out strolls Dallas, the usual shit-eating grin on his face
"Hey there CN, buddy ol' pal, you ready to start getting this show on the road? I've got a bit of an idea to help you get Somnus server access!"
| >>271446
"In my case though it's perfectly fine."
>He takes a sip as Dallas enters
"Hey, what's the plan?"
| "Well, the best way to access it would be directly, correct? And what better way to get direct access than to get yourself into the facilities themselves?"
>He swings a stool around and sits in it backwards like some kind of high school delinquent character
"We're going to get you a job!"
| >>271452
"Hmm... alright. That's fine, I was thinking of doing something similar anyways when I saw the ad. Although how are you going to get access?"
| "Hm? Did you forget, your best friend Dallas already HAS access to Somnus Facilities. He did hire me to track down your buddy after all, and that comes with limited access to their resources. MY clearance isn't high enough to get to any of the juicy stuff at all though, so that's where you come in! But man, they really couldn't have made it any easier for you, I sure hope you find something good so I don't have to kill poor little Ash!"
| >The big man slams his hand on the counter
"That's enough, Dallas. I hear any more talk like that around my girl and you'll find yourself with more than a few broken bones, you got it?"
>The girl glares at him
| >>271461 >>271465
"Its fine."
>He grins and assures the man before turning back to Dallas, seemingly unfazed by his attitude
"Well I guess that means your offering to let me use you as a reference? I'm sure that would speed the process off quite a bit."
| >Dallas waves off the man without so much as looking in his direction
"Ooh, a reference? That could be interesting for sure!"
>He leans back in his chair
"Although that does mean that if you get caught, I'd be taking a risk in implicating myself, hm, what to do, what to do!"
>He laughs
"Of course, if they come after me I'll just have to kill the whole lot of them, won't I? But don't think we won't need to prove Asher's innocence in that case. You're his only salvation either way!"
| "Bah, obviously I'm saying I'll do it. You're such a buzzkill, you know?"
>He frowns, possibly for the first time since meeting the man
"Anyways, your best bet would be to try for R&D, they'd likely have the most access. If you do poorly on the applications I guess you could just hack yourself into the employee records. I'll do what I'm best at, besides killing of course! I'll distract your corporate overlord for long enough to give you a shot at this! Don't fuck up!"
| >>271483
"Yea I got it, I'll call right now."
>CN pulls out his phone and calls the number from the ad.
| >Meanwhile he looks up info on the corp online using his deck
| >The line picks immediately, and an automated message plays.
"Hello, thank you for calling the Somnus Pharmaceuticals hiring department! If you are calling to apply for a position, please press 5, followed by your full name, phone number, and date of birth. If you are calling to file a complaint about the hiring process, please press 9 now, and wait for an attendant. If you have reached this number in error, please hang up now."
>Dallas whispers
"You should probably press five"
| >>271488
>Research into the company shows the CEO started the company after getting some startup money from his father, a lucky lottery winner. The company's first major product was a highly effective sleeping pill, followed by several other medications for treating various illnesses and conditions. Many competitors of theirs have met with poor financial situations and shutdowns, and some have even collapsed after the sudden passing of important personnel.
| >>271495
>Some forums have brought up rumors of foul play, but all eventually end up locked by moderation for unknown reasons. Further research reveals that the CEO Anthony Gregson also has a teenage son by the name of Joshua. His records are especially difficult to find, and searching only seems to bring up that he exists and not much more.
| (*2060, forgot we cyberpunk for a minute lol)
| >>271509 "Thank you! If you have a work related reference, please state their name and reference ID number now!"
>Dallas whispers again
"It's under Alan Ramses, 8054916. A fake name."
| "Thank you! Your application has been submitted for review! A representative will contact you shortly!"
>The line goes dead.
| >>271528
>A gruff man's voice can be heard from the line
"Ah, hello? Is this Mr. Gonzales? My name is Aaron from the Hiring department at Somnus Pharmaceuticals. We just received your application and decided to bring you in for one of our group interviews we'll be doing. Are you possibly free tomorrow in the afternoon?"
| >>271532
"Oh yes it is! Uh, yes I should be free around then."
>He does his best to imitate restrained excitement.
"Where will the interview be happening?"
| >>271534
"We have an office building in uptown, just on the corner of fifth and johnson. Just wait in the lobby there with the other candidates and we'll be happy to see you! There will be free refreshments in the lobby for all candidates as well, so feel free to help yourself! See you there"
>The line goes dead again
| >Dallas smiles
"Looks like you at least got an interview! Shame, they hired a few people on the spot earlier, but they must be filling up at this point. You'll be on your own in there, so good luck with that. Hopefully you stand out from the other candidates, but not too much. It sounds like they'll be doing the interviews in the actual interim HQ though, so maybe we can get right to work."
>He stands up and glances back to Lily
"Thanks for the coffee, dear!"
>He begins to walk out
| >>271540
>He closes the phone
"Well geez aren't they pretty fast on these calls, this weird process gives me a bad feeling..."
| >>271543
"I'm sure I'll be able to blend in just fine... not that you care, this is probably just entertainment for you."
| >Dallas stops at the door
"No, I assure you it's not."
>His tone seems suddenly serious
"I want more than anything for our mutual friend to be innocent. Too many things don't add up, and I promised him I'd get to the bottom of it. If he's a killer, then the biggest gift I can give him is a swift, painless death. It's better than what these guys will do if they find him first. He's the only one who would be friends with a strange guy like me, after all."
>He steps through the door.
| >Lily breathes out a sigh of relief
"That creep makes me feel so on edge! and look at this place, it's been empty since he came in here! We've had no business all day because of that jerk! There's no way Ash would be friends with a guy like that!"
>She pouts and begins aggressively cleaning the countertops
| >>271556
"I don't know... if there's anything I've learned this past year is that you can end up making the weirdest friends in this area of work. Dallas may act some way but that doesn't necessarily mean we actually understand how he thinks. I mean just looking at my team alone I sort of get it..."
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| >The Lily Pad Café is a reworked BTC bar, spruced up with new decorations but keeping the mostly simple fixtures and furniture you'd normally see in one of the bars. The walls have been painted a light blue, and the stools have been furnished with green upholstery, giving off a nature feel. The counters have all sorts of equipment for brewing and making coffee and hot chocolates. A small glass case also displays a number of pastries.