1
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Hi Craig.

2
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Hello Craig.

3
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Great.

4
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Yes.

5
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Doesn't like us unless we're nice to him.

6
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How is your day Craig?

7
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How is your day?

8
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He gets cranky on us.

9
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Craig is giving us a silent treatment.

10
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You know, you know the reason why people used to talk to plants and rocks and stuff, right?

11
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It's not because they're superstitious, no.

12
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It's because the rocks and plants used to revolt whenever they were treated poorly.

13
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They would fucking unionize.

14
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Maybe like fuck you.

15
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But also if you say nice words to plants they grow faster.

16
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Has that been experimentally verified?

17
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No.

18
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I'm pretty sure the correlation there is that the people who talk to the plant care more about the plants than they take better care of it.

19
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Yeah.

20
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Anyway, Shadow Crossfit.

21
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Yeah, what was she saying?

22
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I'm sorry, I can't do Shadow Crossfit.

23
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You're not into the culty thing.

24
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I can do Shadow Walk.

25
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How about that?

26
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I can walk.

27
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How about hiking?

28
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I want a Shadow Hike.

29
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Listen, Paul, if you want to just take us all on like an Amazonian Shatter Run where it's all like Wilderness based, I'm just saying it's an option.

30
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Shadow Cartrip.

31
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I know it's a kidding.

32
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Shadow Cartrip.

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Well, you know, our team just happened to end up in the Florida Keys.

34
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No, no, no.

35
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The team got hired before us to maintain the trees and stop the forest fires.

36
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Why would you hire Shadow Runners to take care of trees?

37
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And then we have to investigate a murder mystery and the killer was actually a sentient glowing crab that lives in the nearby lake.

38
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I think they're only looking crabs.

39
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Sorry, I'm just going to shoot the crab.

40
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Anyway, Shadow Run.

41
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At our wrap.

42
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We left the team at Fred's.

43
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Just leaving Fred's to go to the nightclub thingy.

44
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Yep, Cecile had gotten into the van and taken the wheel.

45
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And Kirsten had gotten on the back of the bike with D&R and Boxer was still headed back to the van if I remember right.

46
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Yep, pretty much.

47
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And Grace was also still in the van.

48
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She hadn't gotten out of the van.

49
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Yeah.

50
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Oh, then can you run that by me one more time?

51
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The last bit there about the van.

52
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Grace, you were still in the van, right?

53
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You never really left the van.

54
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Did you?

55
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Not physically.

56
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She rejected out of the van.

57
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I have Queen and the Hedgeham on.

58
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All right.

59
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So you guys are headed to meet this fixer who apparently knows something about your situation and is potentially able to help you with it.

60
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And he's contacted you through Kirsten.

61
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He wants to, he set up a meeting and he's asked that you all join him. And I think there was some question.

62
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Grace was feeling a little bit of anxiety regarding that situation.

63
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It's not on top of my head, but I know she expressed some concern and how this wasn't really piecing together in her head.

64
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That was it.

65
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Okay.

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Well, in any case, traditionally, we start with an opening scene and tonight will not be different than that.

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So here goes.

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Seattle in February isn't pleasant.

69
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Mix in the sixth world's ever present pollution and it gets worse.

70
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Our camera pans down through the morning, driving mix of rain and sleet, each drop leaving a gray and greasy residue onto what appears to be a modern corporate campus.

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In spite of the season and the weather, the buildings and grounds are well maintained with neat pedestrian pathways.

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On one of these, a perfectly aligned cohort of men and women of all metahuman variants and ages in neat black running suits with gold trim are jogging in unison.

73
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Their leader is an older human with a military physique and haircut.

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As he bellows out cadence, the cohort responds as one, the camera zooms in on a young human woman, her face shines with pride, her blonde hair is tied back neatly into a tight shoulder length ponytail.

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Both her demeanor and her perfect hair appear impervious to the grim moisture soaking her from patriots.

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The camera zooms rapidly back out and across Seattle's jewelry skyline, then plunges into a more industrial neighborhood across a parking lot in which a single blacked out roadmaster sits through a set of faux western saloon doors under an unlit neon sign and into a large space decorated in the trappings of a poorly remembered and idealized neo-western barn replete with pseudo sawdust strewn plastic plank flooring and badly taxidermied glass.

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The camera zooms in on a young woman with a taxidermied paracritters on the walls.

78
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In the center of the dimly lit space, an orc hangs suspended from his bound wrists.

79
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His head hangs down and dark blood is drooling from his split mouth.

80
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His knees have sagged and don't support his weight.

81
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In a circle around him stand several black clad figures.

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Their postures are relaxed, their weapons at ease.

83
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Before the orc stands a slight Asian woman dressed in an impeccable pencil skirt, well-structured jacket and pink blouse.

84
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In her right hand she wields an evil looking knife.

85
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It is not long or oddly shaped, but its dark sheen and thin blade resonate with intent.

86
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Dark blood runs down the blade across the woman's hand and drips into the faux sawdust.

87
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She says, we traced her comlink to this location.

88
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Where is she?

89
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The orc moans.

90
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I swear, I don't know nothing more.

91
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They was here and then they left in a grid guide.

92
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That cat woman come back and got her bike the next day.

93
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They had a talking horsey and it was nice.

94
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Please don't hurt Kirsten.

95
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She's just a girl.

96
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The Asian woman hisses in frustration.

97
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She wipes the blade on the orc's shirt and then it disappears underneath her jacket.

98
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She stalks off towards the door.

99
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One of the figures in Black Armor steps up and places the muzzle of a heavy pistol against the left armpit of the orc and pulls the trigger.

100
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The pistol bucks and the orc instantly slumps.

101
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The camera follows the small Asian woman out of the door and zooms into the sky.

102
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Yeah, she was nice.

103
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Great. Perfect.

104
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Quarky.

105
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This is where I have to give some bad news.

106
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I am going to have to finish that poster real quick.

107
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I'll be back.

108
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It's going to be a while.

109
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Yeah. Do you guys remember that character?

110
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I do.

111
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That was the first week I showed up.

112
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Yeah.

113
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I didn't have a character yet.

114
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He was a bit slow but he deserved better.

115
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All orcs and trolls kind of saw.

116
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That's racist honey.

117
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That is very incredibly racist.

118
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Waste racism when you can't stop me.

119
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Oh my God. Horse racism.

120
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Yeah.

121
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The thing is Cecil and I had talked about this later.

122
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Veronica and I had talked about this later.

123
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Veronica never changed the code.

124
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Every com link has a specific identifier and code.

125
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She was still using it.

126
00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:28,000
When you guys were at the bar, she never changed that code.

127
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So anytime she logs into the matrix through it, she's being tracked.

128
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So unfortunately, she was tracked to that location.

129
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In the meantime, she's taken care of that.

130
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Sort of a bit of background.

131
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All right. While we're waiting for Veronica, I guess I'm going to take a quick break too.

132
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I'll be back in two minutes.

133
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Tea break.

134
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Yep. Tea break.

135
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Welcome back.

136
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Anyway, are we going to do the funny gaming thing?

137
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Shadow run.

138
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We thought, is it beginning?

139
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It's beginning.

140
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Oh God.

141
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We went through the opening scene and we got through the opening scene.

142
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We got through the opening scene.

143
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We got through the opening scene.

144
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We're driving to the jazz bar.

145
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Yep. Kirsten drops Cecile and the rest of the team, the pen.

146
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So, D&Dare, you get, well, you're not really super tech involved, right?

147
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So your com's like super basic and in your pocket and probably not connected to you in any way.

148
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So Kirsten's just sort of yelling at you, giving you directions.

149
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The location of the meat is actually in Tacoma.

150
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I believe last session, I might have said that it was in Auburn, but in any case, we're going to have to edit that out.

151
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So she drops you a pen.

152
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The location is in Tacoma.

153
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It's a jazz club, a jazz and blues club called Samovar.

154
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Can I repreview this?

155
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Can you do what?

156
00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:06,000
Can I read reviews of the jazz bar?

157
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Yeah, absolutely.

158
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There is apparently, it's sort of an inside kind of place where A, you can't get in unless you know somebody and B, when you do get in, it's got the reputation of hosting both up and coming artists.

159
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And bands that are sort of niche and not so well known, but you know, very highly regarded within the jazz and blues scene.

160
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And every now and then also has larger, more well known acts performing.

161
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But again, it's never a, there's no cover and there's no entrance fee.

162
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It's more of a club in the strict sense of it being a club with members, a very specific membership.

163
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And it is definitely rumored to be connected to the shadows, which is not surprising given that it is known to be owned by a well established fixer in the Seattle shadow scene, broke up skillful.

164
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So it has an odd reputation.

165
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It's the kind of place that people are dying to get an invite to, but nobody really knows how to get an invite to.

166
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A lot of angry reviews about being turned away at the door.

167
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A lot of angry reviews about being turned away at the door, not knowing even how to find it, you know, the kind of thing like, how are we supposed to get there?

168
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You know, nobody knows where it is.

169
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But you know, and then in the mainstream, there's a lot of, there is actually some concern or voice, you know, that the fact that it's associated with shadow runners and potentially terrorists type of thing.

170
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It all adds to a more of a little bit of mystery and, you know, sort of adds to the cache of the place.

171
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Yeah.

172
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Grace, how are you?

173
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What are your thoughts currently on the meeting?

174
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Of this person broke up skillful and it doesn't really piece together in her head. She is only following along and an attempt on the off chance it feels at this point that this is going to provide a meaningful and viable resolution to the crisis.

175
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Let's call it for her and her friends.

176
00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:56,000
Because they're kind of in a spot.

177
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And Grace is looking for work, right?

178
00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:04,000
No, not really. She does what she does.

179
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Her personal enrichment and the experiences it provides.

180
00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:17,000
A part of that means that she has to be able to have new yen, but not at the cost of her life.

181
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Whereas, whereas Boxer is far more open to work, especially shadow type work.

182
00:12:25,000 --> 00:12:29,000
And Deion Dare is probably sort of in the same situation.

183
00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:37,000
I think Deion Dare has probably done some work in the shadows recently, but like the last little bit she's probably just been investigating on her own.

184
00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:41,000
Yeah, you're looking for your first major contact in the shadows.

185
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You're looking for your brother and you actually used to be a cop, a detective. So certainly, at least peripherally aware and knowledgeable of the shadows.

186
00:12:52,000 --> 00:12:57,000
In any case, the drive to Tacoma is relatively uneventful.

187
00:12:57,000 --> 00:13:05,000
It's nighttime now and Kirsten sitting on the back of your bike is giving you directions.

188
00:13:05,000 --> 00:13:24,000
And as you enter Tacoma, which is down by the docks and is a very blue collar industrial area, similar in some ways to Auburn, but a little bit more has also had some upscale investment from corporations.

189
00:13:24,000 --> 00:13:27,000
So there's, it has its own sort of skyline.

190
00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:45,000
And, but that's not where you're going tonight apparently as you follow Kirsten's directions and as the van is following you guys, you're entering more of a seedy or blue colliery type of area with a lot of older industrial buildings and warehouses.

191
00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:55,000
The area is full of bars and you know looks like local food joints and maybe some other less savory establishments.

192
00:13:55,000 --> 00:14:10,000
And then your convoy, your small convoy pulls off into a side street between what appears to be an old, possibly abandoned warehouse and an ancient looking concrete industrial building.

193
00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:26,000
That's, you know, discolored from decades of acid rain, the concrete or the plasque is blackened and there are no lights or anything the whole place is sort of dark and dim and the little alleyway that you guys are pulling into is completely unlit.

194
00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:39,000
And you, as you enter, drive further down the alleyway, you come to a, what looks to be sort of a loading dock and service area behind this large industrial concrete building.

195
00:14:39,000 --> 00:14:55,000
And there's a, there are some low light above a couple of doors, obviously there's a large roll up type door where the trucks would have pulled up and offloaded and as well as a, at least one door that's more metahuman sized.

196
00:14:55,000 --> 00:15:14,000
You see several large, several figures standing around the door and in the pool of light directly under or over the door, you see a, looks like a smaller human female standing smoking a cigarette.

197
00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:26,000
And so you guys pull up there, Kirsten gives you sort of the tap on the shoulder telling you to pull over into the, into the loading dock area and motions back towards the van that this is your, your destination.

198
00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:32,000
So you'll park the van and get set?

199
00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:41,000
I think Dean Dare probably parks the park service by click right in front of the van like the perpendicular to the van, I guess you could say.

200
00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:46,000
Yeah, that's like the exact same direction as.

201
00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:58,000
All right, as your vehicles pull to a stop and you start getting out, you see the woman in the light by the door sort of flick the cigarette with a practice move into the darkness.

202
00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:03,000
The other figures standing around her are obviously a security team.

203
00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:07,000
There's about eight of them.

204
00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:14,000
Hmm, the seal goes ahead and walks in or attempts to walk towards the woman by the door.

205
00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:18,000
Well, no, she's just walking toward the door.

206
00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:21,000
Yeah, the woman's between you and the door.

207
00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:23,000
Okay.

208
00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:27,000
She's, she's a little bit smaller than you are.

209
00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:31,000
Have a picture which we are going to show you.

210
00:16:31,000 --> 00:16:33,000
How about the rest of you guys?

211
00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:39,000
I think Dean Dare is not following behind Cecile.

212
00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:45,000
She's kind of motioning for, what's her name, the NPC we have with us.

213
00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:46,000
Kirsten.

214
00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:51,000
Kirsten, she's like, come on, Kirsten, you're taking it in and so it's walking forward.

215
00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:52,000
Yep.

216
00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:56,000
Kirsten's gotten off and taken off her helmet and she's got it under her arm.

217
00:16:56,000 --> 00:17:00,000
And Grace, are you staying in the van or are you getting out?

218
00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:03,000
I'm trying to stay in the van.

219
00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:13,000
Eventually, as a, she might like crack the window just a little bit so that she can try and listen into the conversation that's going on.

220
00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:19,000
But once they actually get in, she's going to actually project and follow them from there.

221
00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:20,000
Okay.

222
00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:29,000
So Cecile, as you get closer to the woman, you see that obviously she's surrounded by several, several heavily armed figures.

223
00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:39,000
There's a camera mounted above the door and it looks like a couple of other censored type arrays behind you, Dean Dare and Kirsten.

224
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And I imagine Boxer, are you following along as well?

225
00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:43,000
Yes.

226
00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:44,000
Okay.

227
00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:47,000
So the four of you get up to the woman.

228
00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:57,000
The security people are watching you, but they're not in any other way reacting to you.

229
00:17:57,000 --> 00:18:01,000
The woman doesn't get out of your way or anything.

230
00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:11,000
She's standing there and she looks at Cecile and Boxer and then at Dean Dare and she says, I'm Nadia.

231
00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:13,000
Good evening Nadia.

232
00:18:13,000 --> 00:18:16,000
Shall we go inside or Dean Dare?

233
00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:17,000
Look, sir.

234
00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:19,000
I know Kirsten.

235
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Kirsten, you're not coming inside with us.

236
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Kirsten looks a little disappointed but doesn't say anything.

237
00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:35,000
And then Nadia looks at Boxer and Dean Dare and Cecile again and she says, I believe we're missing one of your party.

238
00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:37,000
The horse?

239
00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:40,000
I think Dean Dare just says the horse and looks back at the van.

240
00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:41,000
Isn't she coming?

241
00:18:41,000 --> 00:18:46,000
Nadia glances over at the van and says, yes, the horse.

242
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Good.

243
00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:53,000
You green person, go get the horse then.

244
00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:57,000
You think you have the confidence to order me around Norm?

245
00:18:57,000 --> 00:18:58,000
Right.

246
00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:00,000
Okay, you too.

247
00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:02,000
I'll get the goddamn horse.

248
00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:03,000
Thanks.

249
00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:06,000
She goes back and gets goddamn horse.

250
00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:12,000
Nightingale very much refuses to physically leave the van.

251
00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:15,000
There is probably a little bit of a scuffle.

252
00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:24,000
Eventually she agrees to manifest right out of the gate and walk as a wispy.

253
00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:27,000
Very much, she looks exactly like a spirit.

254
00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:38,000
This unusually well put together paracrider, except it's ephemeral and almost translucent,

255
00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:46,000
but not quite, at least not enough to really matter wearing a cloak and practitioner's cap,

256
00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:48,000
but nothing else.

257
00:19:48,000 --> 00:20:04,000
She can be sensed and she can sense conversation and stuff, but she's not physically there.

258
00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:08,000
It's more to put their hands through her, she would just be passing right through.

259
00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:11,000
Is she astrally present?

260
00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:15,000
She's actually perceiving an astrally present.

261
00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:19,000
She doesn't actually have her physical senses, but it's a direct psychic connection that

262
00:20:19,000 --> 00:20:25,000
allows her to understand what people are intending with their words, for example.

263
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As the moment you manifest in that way, you see that there are two watcher spirits hanging

264
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around close to you as well as two spirit of beasts, and that there appears to be a fairly

265
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robust manabary around the building.

266
00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:55,000
The woman that the rest of the group has been talking to is magically active as one of the

267
00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:57,000
security people.

268
00:20:57,000 --> 00:21:03,000
I'm going to make an ascending check just to see the full story of how magically active

269
00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:05,000
they are, I suppose.

270
00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:07,000
Okay, so go ahead.

271
00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:09,000
Ew, I forgot the table.

272
00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:11,000
Got the book open here somewhere.

273
00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:13,000
Yeah, I just had this table open.

274
00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:16,000
Class of the magical subject.

275
00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:21,000
The subject's essence and magic being higher or lower or equal is three.

276
00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:24,000
Say that again, please.

277
00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:31,000
So the important thing is I can sense cyberware implants, the class of the magical subject,

278
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including if they're like a magician or an adept or what.

279
00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:40,000
If I've seen their aura before, I may recognize it regardless of physical disguises, since

280
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she's always a sensing.

281
00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:45,000
That's some kind of possible.

282
00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:52,000
And also the general state of the subject's health, their general emotions, and yeah.

283
00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:55,000
All right, so you are ascensing her.

284
00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:56,000
Yeah.

285
00:21:56,000 --> 00:22:00,000
She's, like I said, she's magically active.

286
00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:08,000
She's probably in your range from a magical ability and power standpoint.

287
00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:11,000
Don't forget her emotional state.

288
00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:14,000
She's, yeah, she's not.

289
00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:23,000
Unfortunately, you would say that she's more bored and maybe somewhat annoyed.

290
00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:28,000
And, you know, as you look around yourself, you see the two watchers spirits.

291
00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:34,000
They're just little balls of, look like little balls of fuzzy electricity bouncing around,

292
00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:41,000
but they don't seem to be in any way, you know, focused exclusively on you or your team as

293
00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:44,000
well, and neither do the spirits of beast.

294
00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:49,000
The spirits of beast appear to just be patrolling the perimeter of the mana barrier.

295
00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:51,000
I see.

296
00:22:51,000 --> 00:22:53,000
How long is it at this point?

297
00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:55,000
That you guys have been there.

298
00:22:55,000 --> 00:23:00,000
How long, I mean, it just took you, you know, less than a minute to walk up to Nadia and

299
00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:02,000
her to introduce yourself.

300
00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:08,000
The time would have been, how long did it take Boxer to persuade Grace to manifest?

301
00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:12,000
She probably would have done it very quickly, but I don't imagine Boxer would have been

302
00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:15,000
aware of what Grace was going to do.

303
00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:17,000
So she wouldn't have suggested it.

304
00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:25,000
So Grace would have to process it on her own while basically being told you have to physically come here now, you know.

305
00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:26,000
Yeah.

306
00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:29,000
So you guys have probably been there less than a minute at this point.

307
00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:32,000
And, you know, Boxer goes, gets Grace.

308
00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:44,000
And Nadia manifests as this sort of ephemeral being and Nadia is watching all this happen, probably as Boxer walked back to the van.

309
00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:51,000
Nadia reached back into her jacket and pulled out another packet of cigarettes and lit another one.

310
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And is sitting there smoking sort of in that posture that you see in the picture that I attached.

311
00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:04,000
And she's sort of waiting for you guys to get all come up there.

312
00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:08,000
Well, it appears the horse is here.

313
00:24:08,000 --> 00:24:11,000
Yes, the horse is here.

314
00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:18,000
I suppose we'll open the man of barrier shouldn't be a problem for her then.

315
00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:19,000
That's fine.

316
00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:22,000
If you want to wait out here, she seems to address the words towards Grace.

317
00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:25,000
If you want to wait out here physically, that's fine.

318
00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:27,000
I would prefer that.

319
00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:30,000
Is she a sensing right now?

320
00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:33,000
Can she tell that I'm not physically there?

321
00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:39,000
Because I was thinking that she might look kind of like a normal spirit, if that makes sense.

322
00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:41,000
You can't tell.

323
00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:44,000
Well, I guess you can tell by her words.

324
00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:50,000
Well, I would be able to tell because when she's a sensing, when she's actually perceiving, she would be dual-natured.

325
00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:56,000
Yeah, either that or she's the watcher spirit or something else has communicated it to her.

326
00:24:56,000 --> 00:24:57,000
I see.

327
00:24:57,000 --> 00:25:03,000
Grace is just going to say, yes, I would very much prefer that.

328
00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:10,000
Nadia just shrugs, flips the rest of the second cigarette that she's lit that she's barely smoked back off into the darkness.

329
00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:17,000
She looks at Kirsten and says, well, Kirsten, like I said, you can't come in tonight.

330
00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:23,000
So I would appreciate it if you would just either wait here or wait in the van with your friend.

331
00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:28,000
Kirsten doesn't say anything. She just nods and walks back to the van.

332
00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:33,000
Weird question. How far did she flick the cigarette butt away?

333
00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:37,000
Probably just over the edge of the loading dock.

334
00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:39,000
I think nine for later.

335
00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:45,000
I think D&J would probably step down off the loading dock to make sure the cigarette butt is out.

336
00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:52,000
Okay. It is fairly drizzly and rainy, so nothing's dry here.

337
00:25:52,000 --> 00:26:01,000
But you step down. The security detail watches you, but nobody makes any kind of move to intervene or anything.

338
00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:03,000
Nadia watches you.

339
00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:07,000
I think as D&J steps up, she says, wouldn't want to start a fire.

340
00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:19,000
You see a small flicker of a smile flitted across Nadia's face, and she just nods and motions towards the plastic steel door, which opens before you.

341
00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:23,000
I think D&J would probably push past Cecil at this point.

342
00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:25,000
Excuse you.

343
00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:31,000
So D&J enters first, and then Cecil is behind her and Boxer and Grace.

344
00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:37,000
Yeah. The mana barrier has been moved or something, right?

345
00:26:37,000 --> 00:26:40,000
You're basically being allowed to pass through it.

346
00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:43,000
Well, she's just going to do that. We're walking with Boxer.

347
00:26:43,000 --> 00:27:01,000
Yep. So it opens in front of you. I think the barrier is probably there enough or whatever kind of barrier it is there that both Grace and Cecil feel a distinct sensation of having passed through either a ward or a mana barrier.

348
00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:12,000
And on the other side of the door is a large barrier room, and on the far side of that is another plastic steel door very similar to the one that you just walked through.

349
00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:20,000
Nadia sort of is leading the way, and the exterior door closes behind you.

350
00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:30,000
You feel a sensation of air pressure changing. Why don't you guys all make a perception check?

351
00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:35,000
Would I even make a check? Does that have my physical senses?

352
00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:38,000
No. You don't need to make a physical check.

353
00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:39,000
Okay.

354
00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:49,000
Yeah. So Boxer, you're fairly hyper aware. Your combat experiences are cluing you in here.

355
00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:56,000
This is sort of an airlock chamber. The back doors closed behind you. The door ahead of you is still closed.

356
00:27:56,000 --> 00:28:00,000
You feel the air cycling in the four corners of the room.

357
00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:07,000
You see camera and sensor arrays as well as what look like automatic weapon turrets.

358
00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:16,000
Nothing bad is happening, but you can tell that these are fairly sophisticated and extraordinary security measures that you guys are passing through.

359
00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:23,000
D&D and Veronica, you're basically seeing a large room, the doors.

360
00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:30,000
You feel the pressure change, and you're probably attributing it to the fact that the big door just closed behind you.

361
00:28:30,000 --> 00:28:35,000
You probably see the camera arrays and things like that.

362
00:28:35,000 --> 00:28:53,000
But other than that, it seems like a fairly standard sort of hallway with another door, which Nadia looks back at you and nods and then opens the inner door.

363
00:28:53,000 --> 00:29:06,000
And this door, when it opens, now you suddenly are hearing music. You're hearing jazz. You're hearing a woman singing in a very low and slow voice,

364
00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:19,000
accompanied by what sounds like a fairly standard jazz quartet with a bass and a horn and probably some percussion instruments.

365
00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:22,000
You don't understand the language that... Go ahead.

366
00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:27,000
Do I recognize it? I have a one point in music.

367
00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:29,000
Yeah, go ahead and let's roll it.

368
00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:34,000
Is it actually being sung by a person? Or is it on recording?

369
00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:37,000
Nope, it is being sung by a person.

370
00:29:37,000 --> 00:29:51,000
And it sounds like some kind of probably 20th century Brazilian jazz. So she's probably singing in Portuguese.

371
00:29:51,000 --> 00:29:52,000
Good to know.

372
00:29:52,000 --> 00:30:00,000
Oh, I have Spanish. Obviously, it's not a perfect intelligibility.

373
00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:06,000
No, it's probably close enough where you probably can pick up some of the words and intent.

374
00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:08,000
Cool.

375
00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:11,000
But as the door opens and go ahead, D'Andre.

376
00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:19,000
Has D'Andre heard this song before? She's old as fuck. So if this song was ever popular, then she'd probably know it.

377
00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:26,000
It's possible. Maybe it does sound familiar to you. Did you hang out in Brazil a lot?

378
00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:30,000
Probably not.

379
00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:33,000
Well, I mean, could be, right?

380
00:30:33,000 --> 00:30:34,000
Yeah.

381
00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:39,000
So, you know, the second door is opened up and you get this burst of music coming through it.

382
00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:47,000
Not really a burst. I mean, the voice is very low and slow and just sort of melodic and harmonic.

383
00:30:47,000 --> 00:30:54,000
But as the door opens, you see that it's just another dark hallway in front of you.

384
00:30:54,000 --> 00:31:01,000
And at the end of it, you see some dim light filtering through what appeared to be some heavy red curtains.

385
00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:21,000
And Nadia just keeps walking ahead of you.

386
00:31:21,000 --> 00:31:35,000
The Topps Company, Inc. has sole ownership of the name's logo, artwork, marks, photographs, sounds, audio, video, and or any proprietary material used in connection with the game Shadowrun.

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00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:54,000
The Topps Company, Inc. has granted permission to the Hard Knock sorority podcast to use such names, logos, artwork, marks, and or any proprietary materials for promotional and informational purposes on its website, but does not endorse and is not affiliated with the Hard Knock sorority podcast in any official capacity whatsoever.

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The music for the Hard Knock sorority podcast was written and performed by Trace Mineral. The Hard Knock sorority podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons license 4.0, meaning you are welcome to use the material as long as you give us credit.