17918/And Don't Drink the Water

And Don't Drink the Water
Date of Scene:	18 May 2024
Location:	Tijuana, Mexico
Synopsis:	The Outsiders travel to Tijuana to find more about the cybernetic gangers and find them... in a church. To be continued soon!
Cast of Characters:	Conner Kent, Laura Kinney, Rose Wilson, Bart Allen, Kiden Nixon, Carrie Kelley

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Conner Kent has posed:
So, Tijuana. Yeah, it is so close to the US all you need to do is jump over a 10' tall fence. (You will get shot, of course). It is pretty much a continuation to San Diego with the fence in the way. Also, it is poorer than San Diego, obviously, and lets not talk about the traffic jams.

It has about a couple million inhabitants, few tall buildings, and a bad rep. It is a dangerous place, at least some areas of it are. Not the best place to go in Mexico, but still gets a lot of visitors because it is just a fence away from the US. And it has things that are harder to find in the US, like... well, things that get you in jail, and shot. Or both.

The Cartel of Tijuana is the main cause of the dangerousness, and the presence of those fun, not legal things. It is one of the main criminal groups in Northern Mexico, although currently in trouble due to the encroachment of the more powerful Sinaloa Cartel, Mexico's most powerful crime syndicate. In fact many of those 2000+ murders every year are due to the cartels fighting.

Big drug-trafficking nexus, big drug manufacturing nexus, big human trafficking nexus. It also has beaches, good food and sun. So, a lot like Gotham, except for the beaches and the sun. And a lack of skyscrapers.

Getting there is easy. 20 minutes to cross the border by walking (getting back? That is 2-3 hours). Not that it matters to people with private stealth bat-jets. It is nice to have Batman paying the bills. Normal shady people might be able to find a hideout in the area, Batman has a private landing strip where no one asks questions when a super-tech jet lands three hours before dawn. There is SUV waiting for the Outsiders, or they can use motorcycles, those fit the in the jet. Alas, no batmobile. Too big.

Laura Kinney has posed:
Jump a fence? Pfff X-23 can cut holes in a fence. Or sniff out the tunnels running under it. Or, and much easier, just get a fake ID that lets her cross the border. She wouldn't be much of an international woman of mystery (or freelance covert operative as she calls it) if she couldn't get past a border crossing or six.

Laura has dressed in tourist casual for todays mission. A one piece swimsuit with a sarong acting as a skirt plus matching T-shirt. Along with some sunglasses (the chunky kind that cover a lot of her face) and a floppy sun hat. Ideal for blending in with the crowds /and/ it covers enough of her face to fool facial recognition software. Plus if they have to lurk around on a beach she can easily get in a little relaxation time.

Or at least pretending to relax for mission related reasons. The closest Laura ever seems to get to relaxing without someone encouraging her...

While she's got a stash of weapons for todays outing she's only very lightly armed. A simple easy to conceal handgun with a silencer. Tucked away in a clutch bag. Just in case. Really she doesn't /need/ a gun. Goons tend to bring their own. But it's nice to have options.

Rose Wilson has posed:
There's the promise of drinks, of time at a beach, of getting violent (especially that part,) but Tijuana itself has a lot to offer besides the drugs, cartels, and trafficking. Not that Rose is expecting them to jump straight into the touristy side of things, but it's a colorful city and there's something about the way so many small buildings line the sides of hills which can be inspiring.

The flight is fortunately not a long one, just long enough to catch up on some rest then land and be presented with the offer of a /motorcycle?/ Aw hell yeah! Despite the eye patch she dons some sunglasses, puts her long hair into a simple tail, and it's off to the races! Nuts to helmets, she heals well.

The SUV can carry her swords though. Likely to draw a lot less unwanted attention that way.

"I almost forgot what the sky looked like" she idly remarks. Time spent in the major cities, Gotham primarily, you just don't get this kind of blue overhead glow. It also shows how little natural light she seems to get while running around in cut-off denim shorts and a tank top. She be pale alright, and still chose to pass on any sunblock.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen decided to find himself some clothes to wear when they get there. So while he got on the plane he was in normal clothes, once there he did a super speed recon of the area coming back with a rough description of the city, and wearing different clothes. All bought from local vendors, so counterfeit designer brand jeans. a Elvi's T-shirt with the levis symbol around it, Jordans where the little logo has a but crack, topped with a Red hat that says Magnets are Correct, and a pair of knock off raybands, He looks over to the others "Well did not see anything glaring at the outdoor market."

Kiden Nixon has posed:
Kiden is NOT missing a trip to Tijuana. It's not Hawaii, but it's closer than she's ever been before!

She has full tourist gear on, a pair of jean bermuda shorts, an oversized cropped t-shirt with a Tijuana Llama emblazoned on the front in rainbow silkscreening, a big straw bag over one shoulder, and an oversized pair of sunglasses, with some Converse high-tops in a bright lime green. She has her sunblock on, too! It smells like coconut and jasmine... unless you're Laura. Then it probably smells like chemicals.

Rather than acquiring a vehicle, Kiden just hoofs it to the meeting site, enjoying the views and stopping to get some tacos along the way. She may have gotten a few extra-hot for Laura that are being kept separate from the rest that she brought to share! Still, when Rose and Laura arrive, she steps out from under the shade she'd found and lifts the bag of food with a smile, "Hi! Took you guys long enough! I brought tacos!"

Bart, of course, being the exception. He likely beat Kiden there. But she has tacos for him too!

Carrie Kelley has posed:
Is one ever prepared to be in the big blue room? Perhaps people who are used to the big blue room. Gotham is a hackers delight because it's always overcast or rainy and that's the way Carrie likes it deep down in her soul. All this open skies and brightness? she'd never _choose_ to live here.

As she emerges from the plane so too does a suitcase of expensive gear. Drones, satellite uplinks, laptops, phones, hacking toolkits. She came prepared because in a team like this the the trouble gets complicated.

It's still dark when they leave the plane. "Alright. This isn't so bad." In three hours her tune will change when the sun rises. It feels hot here despite being night time. She is wearing a flowered t-shirt and shorts to blend in with the tourist aesthetic. "May be a little like traveling to Las Vegas but not so bad."

Conner Kent has posed:
Unsurprisingly Conner's role is driving the SUV. Because someone needs to haul the luggage, and for some odd reason it is always him. Aaaaand... Bart is back. "I don't expect they are flaunting it. There are areas in Tijuana that are very safe," he comments, "others that are not. Tim booked us in a good hotel downtown and I am heading there. You can go exploring on the streets, but I am going to do some online research and then take a look from the high. On the way here I saw there has been an uptick on violent crime in the past weeks, and they were already going at five or six murders per day. Maybe it is a coincidence, probably not."

He will drop whoever in front of the hotel and take the possibly fake luggage to the rooms to register with their very fake id-cards. Carrie might be able to find a spot there far from the sunlight, but Conner takes his tablet to the balcony. Sunlight is his thing.

Laura Kinney has posed:
Despite rumours to the contrary Laura does not bring fake luggage on trips. Her bags contain entirely real clothing and the sort of generally useful vacation items like shower gel and toothpaste anyone would bring. It's just that it also happens to be totally new. To avoid leaving any DNA traces. Purchased with cash in stores where it's near impossible to trace the goods. And things she'd happily leave behind at a moments notice.

Or if they'd been flying on an actual airline things she would be happy for the airline to mistakenly fly to Tennessee. Because that's the sort of thing airlines do with customers luggage.

"I've put together a list of places we can stop for drinks," she volunteers. Her nose picking out exactly which tacos Kiden got specially for her without having to ask. "But they're pretty touristy so I don't think many criminals, pickpockets aside, will be visiting them. The sort of places locals go are really what we want. Proper dive bars not the ones which simply look that way for the effect."

Rose Wilson has posed:
In a hot climate it's the early morning and late at night which Rose prefers as well, though not from the 'transforming into a lobster' angle which poor Carrie has to deal with. The idea of those times of day also meaning there's more trouble to be found may be a coincidence. By the time she rolls up to join the others it isn't anything approaching a tan she's picked up along the way so much as a fair amount of dust.

The rest can happen later.

First: Tacos!

The one-eyed little killer's bike zips up and skids to a halt in the loose dirt along the side of the road, only making a bad situation worse for herself as she hops to her feet and goes for the offered food. "Got any hot sauce that isn't of the atomic variety?" she asks. The 'Laura Special' tacos are potent enough to notice without a super olfactory perk.

Now, Laura talking about places to go for drinks has her attention in a hurry. "I say we hit them all. We can drink our way through this town."

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen nods and does help with the baggage. He looks to the ladies and says "Well I will follow you guys lead." He does make a call for room service in the hotel making sure to put in a huge order of food, before munching the tacos Kiden bought "Thanks." He says

Kiden Nixon has posed:
"Sorry, I didn't ask for any extras, I just put orders in and picked it up on my way here. If there's anything in the bag, you're welcome to poke around," Kiden offers a shrug and half-smile to Rose before looking back to Bart with a nod. "Welcome!"

She'll pull out her phonea nd takes a selfie with a wink and a stuck out tongue, then sends it to Conner with a 'Joining us soon?'.

Tucking the phone away again, she hooks her thumbs into her beltloops and leans back against a tree to let her teammates enjoy their tacos while she enjoys the sunlight and new atmosphere. "You know, I'm pretty sure next time we could find a reason to break up some crime ring in Vegas. I hear you can rent a TANK there."

Carrie Kelley has posed:
It's good to have a Conner. Heavy bags are a must when moving a hacking station to the other side of the continent. Once in the hotel she opens them up and lets the drones fly on out of the window. Satellites just don't do snooping justice compared to a few triangulating drones. In the early morning lack-of-light they can fly about unnoticed.

A few computers later and she has a command center open. Sitting on the bed cross legged she is tapping away merrily and then activates their mission comms. <<"Good morning everybody. Welcome to Ti-ju-anaaaaaa. I am DJ Deeeelphiiiii. I hope everyone gets an authentic taco and I don't miss out. Weather today will be hot hot Hot! so wear your sunscreen unless you're a solar battery.">>

<<"On today's menu we have cyberogified thuggeroonies,">> taptaptap she brings up little icons for the team on her 4d map. <<"Please remember to keep your identities secure at all times because Tijuanna is one of the most surveilled cities by the See.. Eye.. Aaaaaayyyeee.. And another friendly reminder. Don't drink the water folks.">>

A moment later she's mapped out the recent police response logs. Where-ever this gang is is where the police won't be. A new style of gang is going to make a splash big enough that the cops will wisely steer clear. A delicious combination of corruption and self preservation. "Now let's see where you're most likely hiding..."

Conner Kent has posed:
It is dawning in Tijuana (mid-morning in the Gotham) but the city seems already pretty active. Or actually it is the kind of place that doesn't stop during the night. Tacos for breakfast? Of course.

As Laura mentioned there are places and there are places. But Tijuana? Not a mayor touristic spot. In comparison with Cancun, Oaxaca or Merida, they have... well, they have Zona Norte. But that is not something you put in TV or the travel agencies mention often. It is the Red Light District, after all.

It is also pretty unsafe. Not the worst neighbourhood, but not great either.

Kiden receives a 'maybe for lunch, gotta check a couple leads before'. He also has to help Carrie set up her station and drones. "Did Harper build those?" Just curious.

His own research is much simpler, just a journalist approach starting with public databanks and news reports. But he is very fast.

There is information out there, although some reading-between-the-lines is needed. Journalism in Mexico is a high-risk profession. Doubly so for the honest ones. The police force is not very reliable, although that is also normal in Gotham. They take bribes, or look the other way out of reasonable fear. Sometimes they are as bad as the cartels.

Sometimes they try, and get killed. There has been an uptick of violent crime, as Conner commented. The Sinaloans are raiding the local cartel, but for the first time in ten years, it almost looks like they are getting the worse of it. Every week there are gang battles, and innocent citizens get killed along the gangsters. Most of the dead, though, are not local thugs. And the forensic reports hint the use of advanced weaponry the cartels don't generally have.

Laura Kinney has posed:
"We can always just roam around," Laura suggests. "And I'll keep my nose peeled for any of the cyborgs. They did have a pretty unique smell..."

She doesn't have a smartphone but there's a little notepad with a list of bars. Which gets handed over for people to pick where they'd like to try first. She's memorised all the locations as well as a city map. Just like she does whenever she goes anywhere really.

<< Evading the CIA would make things a little more fun. Not that it's very hard. Now if SHIELD was watching we might have to worry... >>

"I don't think many of the places on my list will still be open. Anywhere selling alcohol while the sun comes up should be a pretty good starting point for finding the local criminal element." She folds the list in half to cut off the irrelevant entries. Leaving a few rough and ready locations they can hit.

Rose Wilson has posed:
As Conner and Carrie get the central ops business sorted Rose takes her time to -- kidding, she utterly demolishes several tacos and does a fair bit of idle wandering. The information gathering stuff was always the hardest for her. There are people out there with heads in need of busting, darnit.

Carrie's news report is heard with a smirk and another idle remark of "Someone's enjoying herself."

As Laura hands out the list Rose is certainly going to take a look at it, though the act of it being handed over involves looking at the spiky black haired lady in turn. "Cute look" Rose says with a thin but crooked smile.

Shifting to more business-oriented concerns, "She's got a point. Everyone here is capable of handling themselves in a tough spot. We're more likely to scare something up by canvassing the area" and surely not use it as an excuse to get a head start on any drinking festivities.

"All I need to know... With all of this surveillance going on, we run the risk of being positively IDed regardless of being uniformed up or not. Some of us stand out a little." Not to mention if she finds some action she's not about to call for a time-out to change first.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen hmms and says "I could wonder around and try to get mugged, maybe we could find out something from the muggers, or maybe one of you ladies could try to be kidnapped. I am pretty sure it would end badly for the kidnapper, but it is an idea. He will say "I will start on the outer edge of town and wander inwards.

Carrie Kelley has posed:
"100% genuine Harper Drones," Carrie confirms for Conner. "This is how we take the world of Bat Crime Fighting on the road.." she motions to the array of technology strewn across the room. It took mere minutes to make this much organised mess. Even the cables are taped together to remain bundled.

"Oh this is interesting," she gestures to Conner. "See how gang activity moves the policing dead zones around over the year. It's like an ecosystem of crime. And there we are - we can see the disruption, the invasive new species of criminal with cybernetic implants."

She hmms softly and cross references what she has here with details from gang. "We have some old hangouts they used we could check out." She then focused on some known people. Mexico does not have the budget to keep up with cyber crime that forces the Bats to get creative and smarter. This is, in some respects, childs play. But on the same note there's far less information to be gotten online.

Shell corporations and their local fingers appear on a tablet to her left and she zooms and scrolls about it thoughtfully. <<"Okay crimefighterinos. Divide and conquer. Here are some old haunts and some new haunts that may or may not pan out. Be safe.">>

Conner Kent has posed:
"But if the CIA is here, they should be more careful," or maybe not, since what does the CIA care about cybernetics? They would watch for drugs and illegal immigrants and maybe communist plots.

SHIELD should. But this is not terrorism, just gangs. Right? He scratches his head. "You know, the guy behind these cyborgs also had a crazy bioengineering business, until he released a bunch of shark-based creatures on Gotham's elites. We might be missing something."

Still, the cyborgs have priority. And Carrie says they are here, based on criminal ecosystem models. Which sound very sci-fi and cool, in Conner's opinion. "Alright, I am going to check the places in the outskirts of the city. Impulse? Want to come? The ladies can get the ones in... uh oh, most are in Zona Norte."

Laura Kinney has posed:
"The sarong also functions as a garrotte in an emergency," Laura says solemnly to Rose. "And cheap sunglasses can be turned into improvised lockpicks. Admittedly I can just cut a lock out if we need to." Or indeed to snikt a person rather than garrotting them.. "You look pretty nice yourself."

Her head tilts to one side when Kiden mentions renting a tank. <<I do know a few people who sell tanks on the black market. But they're mostly based in Eastern Europe. And honestly arms dealers aren't really /fun/ to visit for social trips. They are however fully functional with live weapons systems.>>

With a list of locations Carrie has provided to cross reference against the bars. It drastically narrows down the places they need to visit. And thus X-23 sets off on the hunt! They do after all have some motorcycles to ride. So it shouldn't take all that long to get from A to B. As for it being in the red light district... Well she doesn't care. They'll just be mistaken for tourists. Lost or otherwise.

<< Missing something? Sunbathing on the beach as cover for checking out any biotech labs on the waterfront? >>

Rose Wilson has posed:
Rose gives Laura a 'really?' look about picking locks. "I don't know how you'd have the patience for that considering you already have a masterkey to most of the planet."

Everyone needs a hobby, right?

<< A better question would be, how come /we/ don't already have tanks? >> Maybe they do, there's some wild stuff coming out of the Batfam, but still! /Rose/ doesn't have a tank...

More patient minds converge to work out potential places to hit and zones are handed out. Being sent to the red light district is ...well, it should be interesting. But it means there's somewhere to go and she's so not done playing around with that motorcycle.

<< Shopping for bad guys we go. >>

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen nods, and says "Sounds like a plan, while we are here, I want to check on some things, heard a few animal smugglers in the area, I would like to deal with before we leave as well.

Carrie Kelley has posed:
Type type Carrie has to be sure they're not about to stir up the wrong kind of hornets nest after all. << "I'm not seeing any tell tale signs of SHIELD chatter in the area. I think we might be fine on that front." >> She grabs a pillow to prop up the laptop in front of her higher for ergonomics.

"This whole mission reminds me of that tv show from Miama. Burn Notice. And yes I know this isn't Miami" She looks up. Conner is gone. Then again he can probably still hear her right? She realises she's not quite sure how that works. May be Babs can enlighten her.

A look at the activity map she's made makes her consider grabbing the mobile headset for her command center and hitting the streets too - but this isn't Gotham and the Outsiders have their own way of solving issues. Usually with brute force and super powers.

<< "What we're missing is the source. But stopping the users here and now will save us a lot of trouble later. And it might lead us to the source." >>

Conner Kent has posed:
Empty place, casino now run by new guys, a drug den turned into a motel... looks like most of the business ran by the gang known in Brooklyn as the Latin Locos are gone, although Laura and Rose have to go through a couple purse-snatchers and like twenty invitations to have a drink, although most of them are from American tourists. Bart and Conner find don't have much luck either in their super-speed investigations.

It is the afternoon already when Laura finally finds something out of Carrie's list. In a church of all places, a building somehow shoehorned between a nameless motel and a 'Gentleman's Club' called 'Thongs and Tequilas'.

Santa Teresa's church probably shouldn't smell to fentanyl, gunpowder and rotten meat. Apparently this place belongs to one Nima Cruz, which was a prominent member of the Brooklyn gang.

Laura Kinney has posed:
"Sometimes you don't want people knowing you've broken in. Some contracts were for assassinations that no-one knew were assassinations. It's not all killing people openly and running away," X-23 explains to Rose between brawls. Thankfully they have super livers. So even after a whole day turning up at places, having a drink, and sticking around until the location is proven 'safe' they're probably still sober.

Well Laura is. Rose might be tipsy but it'll be the fighty kind of drunk.

<< Are we watching the place subtly first? >> She wonders. << I think between us we have some singles. But we'll draw plenty of attention if we're in a strip club for too long. >>

"It certainly smells right. And by right I mean. It smells bad enough I'm pretty sure if we go inside we'll find a dead body or two."

Rose Wilson has posed:
More talking, now with strangers. Just what every rage-happy sociopath dreams of! The attempted muggings were enjoyable interludes though, at least one of them ending up head-first in a garbage can once Rose was finished. Cleaning up the streets, one random thug at a time. They're doing good work around here, really!

She might have even stopped to take some pictures along the way, too. Almost like a real tourist.

After a less than successful start their efforts coalesce into one address, a setting which has Rose squinting her eye at and thinking "I've seen this in the first Wick flick. It always comes down to the churches. Either someone didn't choose their location well or they know their clientele a little /too/ well" she adds with a slow turn of head toward 'Thongs and Tequilas.' "Sin by night, repent by day. Typical business model."

<< Between the two buildings around it I'm counting on there being at least one hidden passage. We should try some of this 'subtlety' stuff Laura's been going on about, if we make a strong entrance we might lose them. >>

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen hmms and has tried quite a bit of the street food along the way. He will look over to Conner, and says "Ok, aint finding nothing here, we got any other places to check out or should we head over to check on the girls?

Carrie Kelley has posed:
<< "Hey guys. There might be something at this strip club slash church - zip on over." >> Carrie informs as she watches them converge and then talk about sneaky sneaks. She redirects her drones toward the place.

<< "Secret Tunneellll... secret tunneeelll..." >> She breaks in to song as she gets the drones to start doing ground penetrating scans. << "Hopefully not so secret for long. We don't want our bad guys to make an inconvenient get away." >>

Kiden Nixon has posed:
Kiden appears from out of No Time, just suddenly being there where she wasn't a moment ago. "Church-slash-strip-club sounds awesome, I'm in! Sorry, got sidetracked checking something out. Turned out to be a dud, but needed checking on." She flashes a grin at the others, "Dibs on riding with Laura!" She starts in one direction, then pauses, glancing back, "Unless we walked? Did we walk? In that case, anyone want to time jump? Also, there's a literal margarita vendor like.. right down the street. We should stop and get some. Dude has a refrigerated cart."