People were more than a handful of nervous ticks and details. But not much more...<br/><br/>This was more and more becoming a strange game of poker to Kim. She so rarely worked in a team, the experience was novel enough to be engaging. Normally she was the alluring woman across the room, with her appearance carefully tailored to suit the fetishes of her target. Stuck in a room with three other trouble contractors, she felt almost like how she assumed normal people did. Off script and raw.<br/><br/>One thing a mage friend had whispered in her ear during a snog in an uptown lavatory of Nutech R&D was that "The best opportunities are the ones you make for yourself. Coincidence and Destiny travel the road of life like eighty year old blue haired cunts that refuse to give up their licences." It was the weird short of shit a mage would say while balls deep, but she had liked it enough to remember it all these years later. She even claimed it as her own once while chatting an exec up, which was bad karma to be sure, but for the fact that she didn't believe in karma. Which was good, because in addition to stealing his line, she had beaten her mage friend to death with an ashtray years prior.<br/><br/>But the point, or at least what she had gleaned from it was that wit and charm and attraction happened in the real world by chance, but it was much easier to manufacture lust at first sight. It just took preparation, observational skills and edible lubricants.<br/><br/>As she was operating without preparation, she had moved down the list to observing her new friends. It always paid to take a little time to plan an exit strategy in the event things went squiffy. Their employer had money and resources beyond the pale, and had selected them all specifically for some purpose. That alone spoke of the abilities of her coworkers. She had begun making assessments of her new roomies, as they all wore their specialities on their sleeves. A wage mage, a wirehead and an attack dog. That made it unfortunately clear the part that she would play.<br/><br/>Infiltration and assassination was what the team was lacking. That meant their employer was looking to hire "Origami".<br/><br/>Even realizing this, it seemed prudent to be Kim a little while longer. Kim was pleasant and affable. And not a sociopath. Even thinking about it made Kim uneasy as she felt something stirring in the recesses of her skull. The bright side was that Origami statistically pulled in more Nuyen per job. While the money had long since ceased to matter to her from a standpoint of financial stability given how much cash she had ferreted away, she felt more appreciated the higher the ticket on her jobs.<br/><br/>As Sebastian made his entrance and Izumi took a tumble, Kim watched Maeve retreat back to the bathroom. Maeve didn't care for her. Kim ran the thought back around her head, having difficulty accepting it. Maeve most certainly did not like her. It had required absolutely none of her enhanced senses or well honed psychological observation skills to come to the conclusion.<br/><br/>It was that blatant.<br/><br/>It made no sense. Everyone liked Kim. She was so... likable! Kim was likable. It was one of her defining details. Of course, she knew and acknowledged beneath the mask that from what little she had observed, Maeve did not care for corporate personas or the excessively cheerful and friendly. Perhaps a bit of resentment as well. Clearly she did not want to be here. Was it blackmail of some sort?<br/><br/>It hardly mattered. What did matter was that Maeve did not like her. Despite the fact that she was able to rationalize the why of it, and she was well acquainted with her compulsion to be liked, being aware of psychosis did not mean she was in control of them. In the back of her mind, Kim had already begun putting together a facade tailored for the attack dog as Izumi played twenty questions with Sebastian.<br/><br/>The hacker seemed to keep largely to herself, which was common in Kim's experience. With a whole world behind her eyelids, the hotel room was just a place to store her meat. Information was treasure and power for them, so it was likely she would play the game close to the vest. And that was bad for Kim, if only because of all of them, Danni was the most likely to dig up something on their employer. It behooved her to stay on Danni's good side, though in all frankness, she preferred to stay on everyone's good side.<br/><br/>There was some significance to these quarters. The obvious scrutiny of the cameras, the strange accommodations, etc. If she didn't know any better, Kim would think she was being subjected to some sort of market research study.<br/><br/>She checked her hair again like clockwork, before deciding that at 3 in the morning, it was late and no answers would be forthcoming from their employer. Kim stepped past Izumi, removing the pins from her long black hair as she stepped behind the bar. As she shook out her tresses, she noticed a number of gaps in the rack where Maeve had helped herself. Following suit, she helped herself to a small glass of gin, more for a prop than any interest in the liquor.<br/><br/>It clattered audibly against the countertop as she set it down. With a wordlessly smile to Izumi as she began to unbutton her coat, Kim listened curiously to the rambling flow of the girl's train of thought. Eccentricity was common amongst magic users. It made sense to a degree that someone who had seen how mailliable the fabric of the real world was, would have a different perspective on things.<br/><br/>"Well it was nice to meet you, Sebastian. Likewise, Miss Nakahara. I think I am about ready to turn in..." She folded her coat gingerly, resting on the countertop next to her drink. Already the gin had begun to sweat as the ice melted, and she was mindful to move it away from her suit before she put herself to the task of unzipping her skirt, "I have always preferred soaking away my cares to backrubs, Sebastian, but thank you again."<br/><br/>Careful to avoid wrinkling the fabric, she stepped out the skirt while wearing heels with the controlled grace of a dancer. She had a momentary lapse of deja vu. Kim had a tendency to lie. It was not intentional so much as just a compulsion, but in this case, she had been entirely truthful when she implied she had stayed in the suite before.<br/><br/>With only her starched white button down and stockings to protect her modesty, she almost reverently set down her suit on the worktable in her room. Kim picked up her drink before taking her life into her hands and entering the bathroom. Gin still in hand, she gently tapped the glass against the door frame to announce her presence, as if Maeve had not already detected her on her way down the hallway, "I am sorry to bother you, Miss. I had almost forgotten you were still in here. Were you going to be much longer?"<br/><br/>Some made the mistake of thinking attraction was all about common interest and pleasant connections. Anyone who had been married for an extended period might admit that hate can also be a potent aphrodisiac. And Kim found it never hurt to lay some ground work early in a business relationship.