a new "game": Illicit Ghoul Hunting. "You see," he explains, "Hunters register for their day (well, night actually) of hunt, as well as their areas, at least a week in advance. Naturally, life goes on, and people can bet on the number of trophies - kills - that a given hunter will achieve on a given day in that given area, and there are bets on which hunter will bag the most for that day, or what the "point spread" will be between two hunters being compared. Lots of opportunity to make some great odds, but lots of places to blow your cash.
Take this, for example." He flips his commlink around - a NovaTech AirWare - and shows you what looks like a bio precis for --- a hunter --- his registered name appears to be "Spike" and he will apparently be hunting [tonight?] in an area (down in Brooklyn, right?) bordered by Atlantic Avenue on the North, Bergen Street on the South, Troy Avenue on the West, and Schenectady Avenue on the East, bracketing Pacific Street and Dean Street between them. It's a block west of the Brooklyn Sanitation Department. Hunt times are always 2000 to 0000; anything after midnight is forbidden and is cause for disqualification - otherwise it looks as if anything goes. Ah, yes, there is another clause that states disqualification if busted by law enforcement of any type. But his guy "Spike" appears to be favored, apparently expected to pull at least six trophies tonight. Interesting note - there don't appear to be any rules about spectating, but there are rules about being an official monitor. You can see the fingerprint of "Organized Crime" all over it, so you figure welching on a bet would probably be frowned upon - rather physically - so this probably *is* a lucrative racket... ...and you can bet that hunting *anything* in NYC is against the law, but when has that ever stopped anybody, right?
The bartender seems atypically pleased, and his schpiel goes a long way towards selling it. "So," he asks, finally, "you want in?" |
