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Mailing List Logs for ShadowRN

Message no. 1
From: Nightfox <DJWA@******.UCC.NAU.EDU>
Subject: Money
Date: Tue, 2 Nov 1993 13:51:21 -0700
>>>>>[ Commander Drake, Ah believe the reason the Price on Solitares head
went
up is because she probably raised it. Learned ah bit from Wyrm, didn't we
Solitare? As for ya, Dante, ya need ta get with reality. AJ was a criminal
only because of something he could not control. In all he was much better than
most of the Corperations that exist today. AJ HAD ta drink blood, but he
refused ta prey on humans. Corperations, on the other hand, have no care for
human life, yet they seem ta hardly ever be brought up on charges of murder.
Most Corperations are criminals, but they are above the law.]<<<<<
-- Circuit Breaker <a 'criminal' who cares>
Message no. 2
From: Brian Rogers <rogers@****.UIUC.EDU>
Subject: Money
Date: Thu, 6 Apr 1995 23:10:22 -0500
***** PRIVATE: Tunnel Rat
>>>>>[I was checking over some of my bank logs and I found that you had
made
a money transfer to one of my linked accounts. I couldnt quite figure out what
it was for until I checked my mail. I found a message from you asking me to
get you some weapons with a transfer of 3knY.

I am not a thief, and I didnt get you what you wanted (not that I could
have anyway. I would have just called down to the gun shop and asked
for what you wanted. I think most of it was legal for me) so I returned your
money. I did, however, keep the interest.]<<<<<
-- Kor <04:06:08 / 04-07-56>
Message no. 3
From: Andrew May <amay@****.UIUC.EDU>
Subject: Re: Money
Date: Fri, 7 Apr 1995 11:02:48 CDT
*****PRIVATE: Kor
>>>>>[Ok. When this is over, I'm taking Flute's and Jonesy's decks
away from them.]<<<<<
-- Tunnel-Rat (09:13:30 PST / 4-07-56)
Message no. 4
From: Thunder <Alamos20K@******.CLEANERS.CX>
Subject: Money
Date: Tue, 24 Dec 1996 03:12:52 +0000
>>>>>[You poor pathetic creatures. You offer money for my head. You
calim that hundreds of people will associate themselves with the yellow
bellied, back stabbing pisspot Edwin. Yet I see nothing but silence.
Nothing but a world filling with mutant scum.


You cannot catch the Hand of God. Humans are the only true sentient
lifeform on this planet, and the mutant meta trash must be cleansed from
this earth before they poison it with their foul seed.


Offer money while it still means something to you. It will not avail
you ought.


I will have a special gift for you all on Christmas Day. I have found a
nice juicy target. Figure it out if you can. What would be a tempting
target for the purifying fires of Thunda.


Metahuman? Yes.


Building? Yes.


Think about it morons. And may the fires of righteousness purify your
lives. I will kill every mutie piece of trash I find in this city. If
you wish to live, then leave. And leave this country.]<<<<<
-- Thunda <03:12:22/12-24-57>
Message no. 5
From: "Paul J. Adam" <shadowtk@********.DEMON.CO.UK>
Subject: Re: Money
Date: Tue, 24 Dec 1996 15:02:25 +0000
>>>>>[Oh, this guy's funny.

Like, dead people make me throw up? I don't think so.

And leave this country? I had this argument with Urbanus a while ago. I
can't emigrate to Tir Taingire or the NAN lands, the Confederacy's got
as many gung-ho good ole boys as the UCAS, Aztlan's too sunny and anyway
I like it here. I'm not changing continents just because a triggerhappy
burnout can't cope with metahumans.]<<<<<
-- Easy <15:00:43/12-24-57>
Message no. 6
From: Thunder <Alamos20K@******.CLEANERS.CX>
Subject: Money
Date: Tue, 24 Dec 1996 19:40:58 +0000
>>>>>[Not dead people Easy, dead kids. Kids with their guts hangin'
out, kids with their heads half missin and their faces blown off. You
deny you have a weak stomach, bitch? Do you really want me to post the
video of you puking your guts over your boots. I will if you ask real
nice.


And who or what is an Urbanus? Sounds like some new kind of hemeroids.
Oh, sorry, I didn't realise, it means you were talking out of your arse,
hah!


Who the fuck asked you to go to the tir, though it's where mutie shits
like you belong. I suggested you take a long walk off a short pier. Or
are you that fuckin' thick you can't understand simple directions?


I couldn't give a shit where you _like_ to live. You are living in
human territory, and that makes you an illegal immigrant, as well as
unwanted. So kindly fuck off into the toxic pit that gave birth to
you.]<<<<<
-- Thunda <19:40:12/12-24-57>
Message no. 7
From: Wes Nicholson <wes@********.COM.AU>
Subject: Re: Money
Date: Wed, 25 Dec 1996 11:13:09 +1100
>>>>>[You arrogant sonofabitch! YOU are living in lands the white
invaders
stole from the people of the land.

Don't crap on about the muties, they were here long before white man
came and fragged the land.

As for being worth 235k, you're right. So, I'm upping my contribution
from 55k to 180k, making you worth 360k.

Ah, what the hell, it's almost the end of the year, so lets make it
365k, one for each day in case you're too thick to work out the numbers.

Of course, you could just meet me someplace. Breeder and trog, and
we'll discuss this in the only way YOU'LL ever understand.]<<<<<
-- Lefty <11:12:46/12-25-57>
Message no. 8
From: "Paul J. Adam" <shadowtk@********.DEMON.CO.UK>
Subject: Re: Money
Date: Tue, 24 Dec 1996 22:58:08 +0000
>>>>>[Go ahead, Thunda, show everyone you don't even know what I look
like.

Sheesh.

Dumbass. He thinks I haven't seen what automatic weapons do to people up
close? Like, it's meant to be some sort of surprise?

I thought this guy was going to be a challenge. Guess he only goes after
children for a reason, like because he can't manage anything else.]<<<<<
-- Easy <22:57:54/12-24-57>
Message no. 9
From: Jaimie Nicholson <jaimie.nicholson@********.OTAGO.AC.NZ>
Subject: Money
Date: Mon, 1 Dec 1997 13:59:03 +0100
*****PRIVATE: Marlowe, Michael
>>>>>[Money's here. More than I've ever seen in my life, but less than my
cyberware cost, so I guess I can keep my head. Come and get it, I'll be at
the chocolate bomb from 1400 to 1500 tomorrow with your shares.]<<<<<
-- Ronin <17:53:09/11-30-58>
Message no. 10
From: Jeffrey Mach <mach@****.CALTECH.EDU>
Subject: Re: Money
Date: Sun, 30 Nov 1997 20:29:51 -0800
*****PRIVATE: Ronin, Marlowe
>>>>>[I'll be there. Um...you sure the payment method is secure? I'd
really hate to get my payoff, big as you say it is, and then have some
underworld art collector finding me and wanting his cred back.

Next question is, of course where to put it all. Unlike you guys, there's
no way in hell I'm going to go to the butchers and get any cyber put in.
Heard too many horror stories about that. Maybe I'll get that focus I
always wanted. Those things cost a bloody fortune.]<<<<<
-- Michael <20:30:12/11-30-58 PST>
Message no. 11
From: "Paul J. Adam" <shadowtk@********.DEMON.CO.UK>
Subject: Re: Money
Date: Mon, 1 Dec 1997 17:54:39 +0000
*****PRIVATE: Ronin, Michael
>>>>>[So this is what it feels like to be rich.

I admit, I like it. Now I need to decide what to spend it on.

Let's see... a new office. Everett sounds good, Auburn's got too many
PIs anyway, and if I can get the joint looking classier then I might get
a better class of customer. I like Everett. Get an apartment with a view
of the Sound... cool.

And a car. Oh, the choices! Westwind? Naaah, everyone drives Westwinds.
Maybe a Lupo for the stylish European look? Or go for that traditional
American musclecar feel, and get a Dodge Cobra?

Cobra's better on bad road. Is there any other sort in Seattle? Okay,
let's see the brochure. System busy? Oh, damn, I'm still online with
Shadowland. Sorry, guys...
+++++connection terminated]<<<<<
-- Marlowe <17:53:26/12-01-58>
Message no. 12
From: Jaimie Nicholson <jaimie.nicholson@********.OTAGO.AC.NZ>
Subject: Re: Money
Date: Tue, 2 Dec 1997 12:33:22 +1300
*****PRIVATE: Marlowe, Michael
>>>>>[Don't spend it all too fast, or someone might notice and wonder
where it came from. I know a pretty good launderer... he personally
guarantees you'll get 50% minimum of your money back, and he once made me a
profit. He takes 10% of anything over the 50% mark as his fee. I can give
you contact details if you like.]<<<<<
-- Ronin <16:31:33/12-01-58>
Message no. 13
From: Jeffrey Mach <mach@****.CALTECH.EDU>
Subject: Re: Money
Date: Mon, 1 Dec 1997 15:56:20 -0800
*****PRIVATE: Ronin, Marlowe
>>>>>[What the hell? Security is nice, but you only get _half_? What's
he do, convert the stuff to Yap islander chariot wheels? Okay, so I'm no
financial wizard, but Marlowe, you know a better deal than that? I mean,
I might as well play the monetary markets myself, or dig up somebody
around here, or better, fish it out to a few people.]<<<<<
-- Michael <16:54:34/12-01-58 PST>
Message no. 14
From: Jaimie Nicholson <jaimie.nicholson@********.OTAGO.AC.NZ>
Subject: Re: Money
Date: Tue, 2 Dec 1997 13:06:32 +1300
*****PRIVATE: Michael, Marlowe
>>>>>[Half is what he guarantees. He averages about 75% I think, and like
I say, he once made me a profit. And I doubt he takes it through Yap
islander chariot wheels, whatever the hell those are, but he does shuffle
it through a number of unusual transactions.]<<<<<
-- Ronin <17:04:14/12-01-58>
Message no. 15
From: "Paul J. Adam" <shadowtk@********.DEMON.CO.UK>
Subject: Re: Money
Date: Tue, 2 Dec 1997 00:19:14 +0000
*****PRIVATE: Ronin, Michael
>>>>>[This guy pays in dirty credit, that's _his_ problem and _your_
problem.

I get picked up because someone traced the money I got paid with, I blab
_everything_ I know in exchange for a plea bargain and early parole.
There aren't that many buyers for this sort of artwork: I've got footage
of what we took, I can ID you two, our employer is suddenly feeling real
heat. It's not as if we shot at anyone, the worst I can get is
burglary. _Prove_ I was carrying a weapon.

This guy wants to set a precedent by paying in traceable funds, that's
his problem. I'm not throwing half of it away unless I absolutely have
to, and if I do then our employer goes down the crapper with that wasted
funding.]<<<<<
-- Marlowe <00:19:34/12-02-58>
Message no. 16
From: Jeffrey Mach <mach@****.CALTECH.EDU>
Subject: Re: Money
Date: Mon, 1 Dec 1997 20:01:25 -0800
*****PRIVATE: Marlowe
>>>>>[I hope to hell you are kidding about giving our ID's to the cops if
you somehow get fingered for the job. The jerk who hired us, I don't give
a damn. Me...that's a different matter.

You know what they do to mages if they find out you used magic in the
commision of a crime? Do you really have any idea? You might get a stiff
slap on the wrist and maybe have to share a cell for a little while with a
guy who's just waiting for you to drop the soap in the showers. Me, I get
a one way trip to the burnout factory. That's if they aren't feeling
particularly thaumaphobic that day and tack on a nasty sentence to boot.
The burnout factory is where they pump you so full of nasty shit and work
you over hard enough that you're so traumatized you can't use magic ever
again! No spells, no astral, no spirits.

Lemme put it in words you might understand.... Imagine if you were to be
convicted even of some piss-ant little crime, the law says they can rip
any and all of your cyber out with a rusty spoon and no anesthetic and
then they cautarize the nerves so you can never get a replacement, then
they give you a nice little prefrontal lobotomy so you can't be a PI ever
again either. Pretty picture ain't it? Now, imagine if I told you if the
heat comes down on me, I'm going to rat you out. See why I hope you were
only saying it as a very _bad_ joke? I got a bunch of friends who don't
think it was very funny either.]<<<<<
-- Michael <19:48:12/12-01-58 PST>

*****PRIVATE: Ronin
>>>>>[Okay, 75% still sounds like highway robbery, but since this is more
money than I've ever seen in one place (other than my college loans...) I
don't suppose I'll miss it that much. Come by the warehouse some time
soon and I'll get it too you. I've got some things to be working on
there, anyway. Make it soon though. I don't care if I have a friends
that can win a fight with an enraged troll, I don't like hanging onto this
much cash.

Especially without it earning compound interest.]<<<<<
-- Michael <19:54:23/12-01-58 PST>
Message no. 17
From: "Paul J. Adam" <shadowtk@********.DEMON.CO.UK>
Subject: Re: Money
Date: Tue, 2 Dec 1997 22:15:54 +0000
*****PRIVATE: Michael
>>>>>[Sorry, pal, but singing's the difference between five years for
burglary with early parole, and fifteen to twenty of hard time in a
Federal pen.

Besides, take it from an ex-cop, just because a mindprobe violates your
Constitutional rights doesn't mean you don't rummage around a suspect's
head for any tasty titbits. There's always a way to "play a policeman's
hunch" and make use of it. They get me or Ronin, they get you. All you
can do is keep an ear to the ground and an escape route handy: if I hear
Van Holde gets grabbed, I'm someone else and somewhere else for a few
days until I know what's going on. As a consideration to my partners,
it's pretty damn obvious if the heavy mob grab me out of the office:
plus I have to negotiate the deal before I start talking.

I get grabbed, you've got twenty-four hours unless they go to mindrape
and thumbscrews right away. In that case you've got minutes. Either way,
it's time to become your backup ID for a while.

They grab you, believe me, the first question is "do we lobotomise you
or will you talk? You got a choice. Spill it _all_ and we miss the fact
that you're a magician. Clam up and we let you feel us burning your
talent out, one cell at a time. Yes or no? One chance." Now, you're
telling me you'll shake your head and say "do your worst"?


And try to get something straight... I don't have cyber apart from the
jack and the eyes. I carry a gun, but I've fired it in anger exactly
twice: once into a ceiling (deliberately!) and once at a car. Never
really needed to shoot people. I'm just a PI, okay? Before that I was a
Cincinnatti homicide detective. We don't need to shoot many people.

Anyway... I'm not joking, I'm informing you about the realities of life
in the shadows. This ain't the Mafia, and assuming your teammates work
under some sort of _omerta_ will get you killed or in the cabbage-and-
turnip ward. You and your friends don't like that? Too bad, 'cause
that's life, and life's a bitch, and then you marry one, and then you
die.]<<<<<
-- Marlowe <22:15:31/12-02-58>
Message no. 18
From: Jaimie Nicholson <jaimie.nicholson@********.OTAGO.AC.NZ>
Subject: Re: Money
Date: Wed, 3 Dec 1997 15:08:01 +1300
*****PRIVATE: Marlowe, Michael
>>>>>[The money is safe enough from the law, if that's what you're worried
about Marlowe, I think Michael's concern was that our employer might try
tracking us down, since he knows how he paid us. At least that's what it
sounded like.]<<<<<
-- Ronin <19:06:23/12-02-58>
Message no. 19
From: Jeffrey Mach <mach@****.CALTECH.EDU>
Subject: Re: Money
Date: Tue, 2 Dec 1997 19:41:39 -0800
*****PRIVATE: Marlowe
>>>>>[Okay.... Sure I know you can get off easier if you spill your guts
to the cops, but not that long ago you sounded damn right eager to do it.
And I quote: "that's _his_ problem and _your_ problem." That's what got
me hot under the collar. I agree with most of what you said in your last
message, though.

Sure, they bring a MindMelter (that's what me and my friends used to call
those psychos that were into mental manipulation magic) into your
interrogation cell, you might as well start talking, they're going to find
out everything anyway, right down to the time you were peeking at your
teenage sister in the shower. They drag me into a cell and threaten to
torch my magic unless I tell them about all the people I've worked with, I
probably would have to drop your name, doesn't mean I'd be happy about it.

That is if there weren't a convenient window, and we weren't at least five
stories up.... It's the Sixth World (tm), throw some of us off a cliff,
and we will sprout wings and fly. (j/k)

As for the money, I wasn't so much worried about the cops. I was worried
about the "patron of the arts" that was paying us. Nothing like funny
money, or having traceable cred so he can track us down and get what's left
of it back, to ruin a perfectly good payday. Somebody with a mad-on comes
looking for me and doesn't wear a LoneStar badge, you better believe I
don't plan on going quietly.

So your not cybered to the hilt (I already knew that) unlike a certain
other person that shall remain obvious. So what, I figure you'd still get
the idea picturing somebody trying to pluck those eyes out as being a
comparably unpleasant experience. And you don't like to shoot people.
Great. Terrific. I feel the same way. Doesn't mean I will go out of my
way to forget how to sling some mana in a particularly unpleasant way, and
I doubt you'll be tossing your piece into the bay. I don't see how this
has anything to do with anything. If I could pay my bills some way that's
nice and legit and didn't involve me throwing away my freedom, sure, I'd
take it in a minute. Until I find that job, though, I guess I'm stuck.

Back to the point: I never expected you to defend Ronin or I to your
dying breath. Just didn't like the picture of you handing my dossier to
the cops just to get out of a parking ticket.

By the way, I don't plan on marrying a bitch. I'm not much of a
dog-person.]<<<<<
-- Michael <19:40:23/12-02-58 PST>
Message no. 20
From: "Paul J. Adam" <shadowtk@********.DEMON.CO.UK>
Subject: Re: Money
Date: Wed, 3 Dec 1997 23:56:12 +0000
*****PRIVATE: Michael
>>>>>[Sorry if I came across a little vehement. No, I don't plan on
selling out any buddies unless there's a gun to my head or I'm looking
at prison time.

As to our employer... he wants to mess with us, I got enough friends in
the Star that (for this case, where we just stole stuff that was illegal
anyway and didn't kill anyone) I can get witness immunity for me, try
and stretch it to you and Ronin. He's suddenly got bigger problems than
trying to get his money back. He doesn't know that, he's too dumb to be
walking around free anyway.

The trick in most lines of work like this is to make it more expensive
to chase you, than it is to pay you and walk away. I try to make sure
that's the case.]<<<<<
-- Marlowe <23:55:41/12-03-58>
Message no. 21
From: Jaimie Nicholson <jaimie.nicholson@********.OTAGO.AC.NZ>
Subject: Money
Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 13:33:55 +1200
*****PRIVATE: Kirk
>>>>>[The heat is off, I'm available for any work you've got.

BTW, I'm supposed to be dead, so don't mention my name anywhere to anyone
(except the other shifters, they know I'm still alive). Thanks.]<<<<<
-- Faerie <19:21:16/05-11-59>
Message no. 22
From: Jaimie Nicholson <jaimie.nicholson@********.OTAGO.AC.NZ>
Subject: Re: Money
Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 13:38:45 +1200
*****PRIVATE: Faerie
>>>>>[I'll let you know.]<<<<<
-- Kirk <19:38:16/05-11-59>

Further Reading

If you enjoyed reading about Money, you may also be interested in:

Disclaimer

These messages were posted a long time ago on a mailing list far, far away. The copyright to their contents probably lies with the original authors of the individual messages, but since they were published in an electronic forum that anyone could subscribe to, and the logs were available to subscribers and most likely non-subscribers as well, it's felt that re-publishing them here is a kind of public service.

Thwap!