Seattle's late nights, it's often said, can be even more terrifying for those in-the-know than the harshest jungles of the Amazon. Toxic spirits at least could be destroyed or controlled, but the smog and toxic filth of the sprawl was simply there, and seemingly no amount of community chants or organization could stem the tide. At night, the Sprawl was truly a horror, though thankfully in the nicer areas, of which the Downtown was one of, things kept up the appearance of 'clean'. Knight Errant drones patrolled the streets dutifully scanning for anyone not in possession of an active PAN or commlink with attached SIN and profile, alerting nearby metroplex security forces if so much as a blip was detected in their wireless transmissions. The streets were lit by bright nova-hot street lamps, illuminating all but the darkest and most recessed corners of the street. This was not a place and time most Shadowrunners met, unless serious nuyen was on the line... which apparently, it was.<br/><br/><div align="center">(http://www.boredandsorcery.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/sr_seattle.jpeg)</div><br/>That's not to say that there was no crime nor deviance in Downtown, far from it. But what crime their was fell into corporate crime, or hidden crime or perhaps better phrased, 'swept under the rug' crime. With the formerly-Renraku Arcology pyramid close by (now the Arcology Commercial and Housing Enclave, or ACHE), the Space Needle towered above it's surroundings, a testament of an older age of the city's bygone years. Surviving well, the monument looked as if the corporate construction crews had only finished that week, leaving the entire 'needle' structure a gem in the heart of the emerald city. At precisely 10:00 a new message arrived in each fated runner's commlink, from the same source that had sent them there in the first place.<strong><em>"Invitation Code"</em></strong>was all it proclaimed, with a small data packet attached.<em>(Any who quickly pull this data packet apart find it contains what amounts to an invitation to the event taking place at the Space Needle, with a wicked bit of code embedded within that marks the invitation as belonging to the ID loaded into the commlink at the time of transfer or display, the whole thing marked with the symbols of Horizon Corporation.)</em><br/><br/>As the method of transport took each of them closer to their destination which rose up into the sky above them, illuminated by it's panning and waving spot lights, each felt a gnawing suspicion that something might be amiss, even Seattle Natives felt something different in the air this night... the streets leading to the Space Needle's base were brighter than usual, literally... and as the runners rounded the corner they finally could see why.<br/><br/>Surrounding the Space Needle for nearly a block in all directions were throngs of people, a crowd that quickly became deafening the closer they came. Shouting and cheering rose up occasionally, but none seem directed towards them. Flashes of cameras and commlinks came and went in bursts as cars approached, paused, and when waved through proceeded through a barricaded gate at the edge of the amassed crowd, easily a thousand people or more in number. Temporary fencing and what must be dozens of armed guards ringed the space needle, all dressed in what must be... tuxedos?<br/><br/>It suddenly became very clear what they were looking at as they drew closer... they had seen it countless times on the trid, in movies and in books... this appeared in all respects the entrance to a big-time Horizon corporation movie party. Simstars and directors, producers and talent, mingling with investors and those privileged enough to somehow get admission to the nova-hot party being thrown for fate-knows-what production. But judging from what they could see as they approached, this was a big... BIG production. Media was decidedly on hand, hordes of screaming fans held back from a red-carpeted entrance to the Space Needle by barricades and guards, not a single official or attendee dressed in anything less than the finest. Vehicles, it would seem, pulled through the barricade and up to the red carpet where they occupants would depart, wave to the screaming crowds as they signed a few autographs, said a few words before finally disappearing inside to no doubt be whisked up and away to the lap of luxury. In the span of a few moments several cars came and went, some vehicles driving away on their own, others taken by a nearby attendant.<br/><br/>It was a party fit for sim-stars, and the runners were in possession of a fleshly minted invitation with their name on it...<br/><br/><div align="center">(http://blog.privateislandparty.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/hollywood-red-carpet.jpg)</div><br/><em>((And have at it... try not to go too-far in your posts... there's a checkpoint up ahead before you or your vehicle of choice gets to the red-carpet area... or you could try and sneak in, of course. Whichever way you attempt to go about it, post your reactions and attempted actions and we'll go from there. ;) ))</em>