[b]Brown:[/b]

Here is what you learn from looking deeper into your missing lunch buddy:

Zang Ho is just a little bit taller than most women, with short, sweaty hair that makes her look like she’s come out of the rain. She’s not cybernetically enhanced, but she’s not vanilla. In the 2060s, Yggdrasil nailed a synthetic testosterone compound that made it easier for women to build the muscle mass of men without also growing facial hair. Subdermal armor under her skin flexes with the movements of her arms, a metamaterial weave that will limit bleeding and spread force around when she takes a hit. Her chest meets her neck at an odd angle, where her collarbones have been drawn in to a less vulnerable position. 

All of that is below the surface, though. She hides what she really is, what she’s ready for, so she doesn’t risk getting profiled for it. Her surface is so malleable that it probably doesn’t matter anyway..

Put her in a white pinstripe suit and heels and she’d pass for an executive, someone with a corporate gym card membership and who would walk through you rather than around you if you wandered into her path. Put her in a bomber jacket and surplus steel toed boots and she’d be a heartbreaker at a punk rock concert, bloody makeouts with broken lips and headbutts delivered with a wicked smile. Put her in sweatpants and a grey singlet, and she cracks beer bottles open by biting on the lid while she watches a hockey game. 

Zang doesn’t have a lawyer, she’s broke as shit.. She relies entirely on public defenders, comprehensive video evidence, and the fact that she’s always in the right - what windfalls Zang has gotten have gone into the augments that help her survive the next arrest. Which means if she’s being illegally detained in one of the black sites Marco’s leaks turned up, she’s [i]fucked[/i]. 

[b]Juan:[/b]

Juan looks at the vent nervously and whispers; “I guess this is it? I should probably go, I don’t want you getting caught because they’re looking for me.” 

He doesn’t say half of what he wants to - he’s trying too hard to look cool, and grown up. Cool guys don’t look back at android bombshells. 

The vents are clear, though. What’s your exit strategy from there? You have a feel of the place, now, but it’ll be a difficulty 6 to not get noticed getting outside after they stop looking for Juan. That’ll only get you [i]outside[/i] too, exfiltrating from there will be more complicated without Orange and Pink running interference.  

[b]Luis:[/b]

Not even a fleck of paint comes off the armor - He brightens that he’s out of his hole at least. “They’re all mine, too, if you can believe it. Not a cuckoo in the nest. No, this is just how it is. We’ve all made our peace with that.” 

Listen to how his voice changes. ‘Not a cuckoo in the nest’, he says bright and whimsical, it’s a joke he’s genuine about. Then ‘This is just how it is’, he doesn’t even sound like he’s talking to you, it sounds like an answering machine message. And ‘We’ve all made our peace with that’ is so performative that it must have been insincere from the first time he said it, a thousand times ago.

Pink doesn’t understand this, but Orange speaks Stepford Wife; Carmen must be work. They do love her, but she is [i]stressful[/i]. The limited time she spends here makes her attention and relationship special, but there is relief when she’s not here - honestly it explains a lot about the kids.

At least he doesn’t want to ask any more questions. One last bit of misdirection. “Sorry, thank you, I won’t take up any of your time. I’m sure you’re all eager to rest, and Lorenzo will be enough of a hassle as he is.” 

Now to be babysat in the exit depo and hope Barrera finding Juan is enough to stop looking for Green - Bondi’s not going to want to leave before Green gets out though.