Beyond the Veil

Game Master MCKhaos

Yeah! You want to wait for it to air?

I actually want to use it's airing as a deadline, implying that it contains smething vaguely compromising

LaChessa's episode only contains things that are blatantly falsified.
It'll be a fun recap though.

Ok! You tell me how long until it airs. I’ll retcon away the ratings.

Is until Na-Zo & Trophy's an concludes, or goes to pot an acceptable answer?

Sorry, I mean. "When you want it to air, just tell me." I'll hold it until you trigger it (or, I suppose, until you tell Rache NOT to air it)

Jealous? No, no. Nothing so mammalian as jealousy. Listen dear, it has been a pleasure, I'm sure, but perhaps you had best be going. Your ninja friend and the ill-tempered female . . .

She pauses to access information once more.

Rosto have completed their footage for tonight's opiod.

She smiles condescendingly. I'm sure they would love to hear of all the useful information you have acquired here.

She disappears from your digital space for a moment, and then pops back in.

If you do come back, please bring that charming ninja. I would love to talk to them about that trick.

She is gone and the mainline flow to the occupants of the room stops.

Lew grimaces for a moment, and an expression of fear flashes across his face.

How ...

He shakes his head violently and then looks Trophy directly in the eye. Help me LaChessa.

He grimaces again and the bots draw weapons and point them at your squad.

Lew turns and sprints towards a door that opens automatically and slams shut behind him.

The bots speak in unison. Thank you for visiting IA. We hope you enjoyed your stay. They gesture towards the door you entered.

ChLover immediately notices that the mainline flow to Lew and the bots has started again, but with a new security protocol that seems almost unfathomably complicated.

LaChessa, what do you do?

Jealous? No, no. Nothing so mammalian as jealousy. Listen dear, it has been a pleasure, I'm sure, but perhaps you had best be going. Your ninja friend and the ill-tempered female . . .

Ill tempered? Her defining emotion is "peaceful!"

Ill tempered? Her defining emotion is "peaceful!"

Dearie, all humans are ill-tempered.

I'll kill you for that!

Trophy smiles and leads the Dead Ringers away without further comment.

“This calls for a re-write...” LaChessa paces her cubicle, worrying the stiffness out of her joints and waiting for her recaff to cool.

~~~

Cold open. Sepia, vignette, dramatic time editing. Trophy sits before a large skein of customized fabric, greek patterns woven in gold thread in a white silk.

Trophy (casual): Hey there SnuffBox, TwitterVU, Gallows.hu, dARKnet, and last, but certainly not least, every one of you tuning in from Olympus Heights Municipal Home for Veteran and Infirmed Persons. I’m coming to you live and in consummate fidelity to read the day’s obitz. I’m feeling very nostalgic today. That’s right, old friend of the show Nosrettap has found a new position with IA. Now, some of you viewers are thinking to yourself maybe the old LaChessa could outsmart Lew, with his nerve wires and Optifine scopes, but Trophy can’t, not over satellite relay! Well, you just watch me. I’m coming for you, Lew. You’re at the end of your rope.

Cut to Lews in a dark room, lit from below, eyes hooded.

Lews (furious): Old P-partner! It has been too long. So good to see yo- G-goo-oo-ood to see you.

The feed skips a few times and the screen tears.

Lews (glitchy): I'm glad you are well. Listen, there is no need for these ... hostilities. Sure, you have always had the manners of a tramp from the hundreds, but people change. Maybe you can change. Here is a peace offering.

A notification in the corner of the screen reads “Mark 3 Datajack get!”

Cut back to Trophy, as if this were a conversation.

Trophy (to the audience): That sounded like an invitation to me, and I’m not going to any kind of party without party favors. You all know who’s got the best in town…

Cut to an anime-style intro. [music] Scenes include b-reel of Trophy cycling combat protocols, a large monochrome image of a younger LaChessa, sleeping, and ChLover dancing in shifting apparel. Gold, thread, and cloth are present themes.

Pan fade to stock footage of Chanor’s Chatou intercut with footage of Trophy’s arrival. Pause on bust view of Chanor, trace in sparkling gold, flash to rotoscope, Steaks in the shape of letters read Chanor: Fleshmonger. Unpause.

Chanor: LaChezza, darling, is that you? How can I help you today?

Trophy: Lookin for dead meat, per usual. Got a rerun planned.

Chanor: Of course darling. Standard discount for you, of course.
Enter today’s Dead Ringers, edited so that Quinoa appears to be their leader.

Gold trace. Rotoscope. Digital wiring spells out Quinoa: Amature Blackhat.

Quinoa: Quinoa. Like the grain. -look, I'm here cuz my moms is sick, and there ain't no other way to order her s#@* but through a datajack. If I live through this, the money's going toward a new one. Mine got back-doored by some corporate redhat, so I got blacklisted by the supplier.

Trophy (confessional): Dead ringers and I stormed IA. It wasn’t easy.

Heavily edited footage, captured in the elevator, of Trophy and the Dead Ringers fighting several robotic thugs (digital composite footage)
One of the Dead Ringers dies in the fight, and is edited out of future footage. The elevator trashed, lights out, the vidscreen flickers on to show Lews, leering out from hooded eyes.

Lews (sinister): What passes for pleasure in this see of physical desires? What can I do for you?

Trophy: Explain to me and my guests why you have armed guards in the elevator shafts. You're not afraid I'll wipe you out today are you?

Lews: A-afraid, my dear? Hardly. I only wish to see to your every desire, as I always have.

The door opens to twenty security bots.

Lews (voice over): You really did not need to bring these s-s-s-a-acrifices. It is a bit of waste.

Unprovoked, a robot guns down the female Dead Ringer.

Lews (voice over): My servants here will guide you to my office . . . assuming you still wish to meet in person.

Distorted b-reel of IA headquarters significantly less edited than the rest of the episode. The footage is data-locked and bears an IA watermark in the metadata. Care has been taken to make sure this footage is recognized as real.

Quinoa is dragged into a back room past Lews, seated at a throne, wires and tubes leading into and out of his clothes. He has two guards, larger than the two rows of ten robots that line the long, seatless hall to his throne. The two main guards stand behind him, and he moves only when they do. Lews is slowed down to make the effect more noticeable at organic speeds.

Trophy, alone, clenches her fists.

Lews (sinister): Hmm, I always did enjoy our awkward silences. Tell me, why did you kill me anyway? I truly thought there was something . . . m-more . . . between us.

Trophy (unsure): I had thought so too... What is this, Lews? What’s going on. What did they do to you?

Quinoa returns, and stops at the foot of Lews’ throne, eyes glowing a sick green. He taps his head.

Quinoa: They gave me e-everything I asked for. A piece of hardware I very much need, and know how to use. Up until now, I have been trudging through the detritus of a lower level life, stealing to eat, eating to live, and living to support my mother. -because where would any of us be without family? I'll tell you where you might be now: you might be in the room that you die in. You’re surrounded, outgunned, a frail human at the end of an insufficient stream. I see a woman before me who is uncertain. Trophy, I want to play a game…

Trophy (defiant): That’s my line.

Trophy falls back as if struck, her veil de-reses, plates of gold separate, and Chlover is thrust into a maze of glass and mirrors.
Trophy and Quinoa fight, shifting the glass walls, clashing, wand against obsidian sword. This footage is choreographed in post, as is evident to anyone with much skill with editing or scraping metadata.
The fight escalates as ChLover populates the maze with an exponentially growing army of adorable programs, and Quinoa is subdued. As his avatar is torn apart, the scene freezes.

??? (hollow): Hello ChLover. Welcome to IA.

Chlover jacks out, narrowly escaping the collapse of the environment. Cut to Lews’ throne room. Trophy springs to action, disabling three guards and jamming the door. Trophy leaves.

??? (echoing): Thank you for visiting IA. We hope you enjoyed your stay.

Roll credits.

Am I still holding my episode?

If our cold open for next session is us discussing Ms. Inverness, then no, go for it

The cold open can be whatever you like, I was just thinking about trying to get you all together.

"Here goes nothing" whispered Rache as she released a (heavily modified) version of the video she recorded earlier. She'd already recorded her narration (prefering to do any narriating into reflective surfaces during the job vs. recording after the fact.) The biggest change is the removal of the scuffle with the...Iconauts? Is that what Na-Zo called them?

Something was definitely going on. As the footage uploaded onto the best streams, she queued up a message to Na-zo.

<<We need to talk. Craving some German-Japanese fusion. Can you meet me at the Ramen-stein on my level in 30?>>

No problem Na-Zo typed back, really hoping Rache was paying.

@CHLover one of their people almost tore the Scrape apart due to a malfunction of their tech. Gonna go blackmail Nosrettap. any preference for location? they say, trying to find an unobserved location in Nosrettp's office.

@Na-Zo just caught the vod. Hot stuff. She'll be expecting you somehow. The queen bee. That's not me saying don't do it, just... don't let it catch you off guard. If you get a chance, work 'rock salt' into the conversation. Lews will know what I mean.

It's a safe word. Either she's admitting she's spooked to a Lews who's learned theatrics, or she's letting an imprisoned Lews know she's coming back for him.

Na-Zo goes to slip on their jacket, and is sad to discover it isn’t there. damn, there goes half my ninja cred right there.

"Umi, I have something I need to do. I’m going to leave you here. The kitchen, this room,a nd that bedroom" Na-Zo points to each in turn "are relatively safe. The rest has piles of expirimental tech, most of which is incomplete, or arcane, to the point I don’t understand it.. Please don’t mess with it. I could go through all the potential consequences, but lets just go with ‘just you and I dying’ is one of the nicer ones." they say. "By the way, I’m borrowing this. Promise I’ll give it back." They pick Umidiz’s grey-yellow coat up and twirl around as they don it before stepping through the portal.

They appear in a dark closet, deep inside IA. They slip outside and start to make a beeline for Nosrettap, eyes flitting around, looking for threats, dangers.

normally, I would roll assess, but I think, given what IA is, maybe Lift the veil is more appropriate + peacefull: 2d6 ⇒ (2, 2) = 4

Quarterlies: 2d6 + 0 ⇒ (2, 5) + 0 = 7
LaChessa doesn't wait for the other end of the call to resolve before she leans into the conversation. "I think we should show off the project's compatibility with existing tech. Given my performance thusfar, I humbly request resources to be allocated toward lux asset acquisition. I think I deserve some pampering."
Pursuing Luxury - acquire by entertaining means a rare and flashy upgrade for Trophy? Deadline: 2 weeks?

Na-Zo, as you move quietly through IA headquarters, a hologram appears next to you, matching your pace.

Thank you for coming. The data obtained by your arrival is absolutely fascinating. I wonder if you can even understand the complexities. Oh, but my manners! I am Ms. Inverness, but you may call me Allison. Can I be of assistance?

The hologram holds out a hand to you.

LaChessa:

The green skinned elven figure nods in agreement. Very well, but your other tasks remain a priority. Take 1 cred for this assignment.

You then receive a message notification:

@LaChessa Thank you for assisting in my study and analysis. We truly appreciate the gesture - A.I.

You receive a notification from your bank indicating two sizable deposits in quick succession. Add an additional 1 cred.

“Hmm, I like this one. She has manners, and a sense of drama. This is going to be a wonderful arc.” LaChessa takes the recaff from her dispenser and takes a sip. There is a pensive pause, and LaChessa’s expression sours as she works her tongue in her mouth. “ChLover, machine learning override: not so bitter.” Crossing the room to her chair, LaChessa sifts through arcane UI snap-ins until she finds the source of a system alert. The contact entries for the bounty hunter, Rache, and Lews were flashing even though there were no messages received, and Lews wasn’t even accepting incoming calls.

This reminded LaChessa of a small technicality she should likely clear up before making preparations to find something exorbitant and useless to weld onto Trophy.

ChLover floats into a private thread in Rache’s perception of the Veil, clipping through physical objects before coming to a stop over one shoulder.
@Rache: Watch out. o.o IA is doing some shady af business u should know about. >.> A friend is being controlled through a neurochip, and I’m not convinced the thing at the other end is human. Best guess? <.< A mollusk, or a foot fungus. >w< Anyway, she’s at least made him give something away, you know, rack up Giri, and I think you should maybe validate the transaction or something. Check for coercive business practices.

Rache shuddered. She hated that weird psudo-AI that LaChessa drove around.

I don't follow. A fungus made your friend give something away? I don't understand. Can we...your meat and I that is...have a face to face?

Ms. Inverness. I'm glad you arrived so promptly. but, all things considered, with issues as sensative as what I have Na-Zo holds up a datacard I rather think meeting in person is more appropriate

Na-Zo very much did not like this. If she wasn't bluffing, and SHe sounded fairly confident, then there was someone else who could understand Onomastic tech. maybe a traitor, or a mad genius.. or one of Them.

Analyze + spooked: 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (6, 5) + 2 = 13

How is Allison vulnerable to me?
What, if anything appears out of place?
What is my best way into her physical prescence/her revealing hse is AI
How close are the iconoclasts?

The avatar spins gracefully. Dear, this is as in-person as I get, but if you insist.

A door to your left opens and inside the lights turn on. She places her left hand gently on your shoulder, and you feel the weight of it. We can speak inside.

That trick you do. It suggests an alternative path. A small chance at least.

Suddenly a hologram of the entire Stack appears, with the current floor highlighted in yellow. She sits motionless while examining the Stack, as if lost in thought, although you realize this isn't possible.

She is not physically vulnerable to you at the moment. You could perhaps enter the digital realm and strike out at her.

Physically interacting with a hologram is impossible. Or, it certainly used to be.

Something tells you that Allison is certainly an AI, but she isn't hosted locally.

The iconoclasts cannot reach here.

@Rache: I can go get Trophy if you want. You wanna meet on one of your levels?

ChLover lists a range of levels where Rache hangs when avoiding her parents. At least the ones a program could scrape from public and semipublic record.

@Rache: Whatever's convenient to you. Someplace visible tho. ^.^

ChLover is pushing Rache to potentially open up 'personal' space to the public. To give LaChessa an 'inside scoop' or personal treatment.

Rache was so worked up about this fungus thing that she didn't notice CH's ploy to get her to expose her personal life. Yeah...yeah sure. I was going to meet Na-Zo but I think she stood me up. I'm sending my location now.

You... I don't mean offense, but you shouldn't exist. Na-Zo says not for 57 years, by the official timetable, and that's assuming the social engineering system doesn't have more schedule slip

they enter the room, examining the hologram. none of this is possible. no system could recreate the entire stack, hard-light holograms don't exist, and AI isn't possible. So, Allison, tell me what you are, and I'll tell you what I am.

We still playing this?

I posted in discussion. I’m going to read through the entire game so far the reinvigorate myself.