Since Maji was one of 1dr0meda's clan, she starts the newscast off. "Ghiv, Kitsune, and Neon came into Phoenix another way but we were all together at a rooftop gathering back in Denver (well, except for Kitsune, whom we met later). Someone shot a plane out of the sky that was carrying someone who had hired us to make a run. It was a strange combination of gangs, including Bloods, Crips, Catorce, and people from Johny Po. One lived long enough to spill some things: they were hired by someone named Discordia, whom I think we may have met on the roof also. Anyway, they mentioned your name as well but it wasn't clear if they were part of your gang before Phoenix went dark or after."
"Anyway, while we were interviewing the survivor, he seemed to become possessed and began talking differently, mentioned the names of 3 of the group at that time and seemed to know our employer, a Mr. Royce. Then she contacted police and made sure we had to leave in great haste. I mention all this first because I want to know if you knew anything about any of that."
1dr0meda gives Moses a chance to reply. Eventually, she'll continue with the story of what happened with the Coyotes, unless Moses proves untrustworthy.
"Alanna and I made contact with the Coyotes. The others arrived, interested in the Coyotes for other reasons. We all had a powwow with their leader, a relative of the leader of the Apache people in the Badlands. She called herself Maji and behaved as a kind of Shaman. She kept her gang supplied with drugs and just enough foot and water to function. We also learned she was trying to find people called zeeks, people with psionic powers. Then she turned on us, attacked us with psionic attacks and apparently called in a couple of ghosts to attack us. I tried to fight the ghosts but was damaged. But we had enough fire power to put Maji down, after which she rose again and continued talking, now like that gang member we interviewed in Denver, apparently the same entity, Discordia. We put that incarnation down," 1dr0meda glances at Kitsune, "I believe the phrase is 'with extremem prejudice.' A man named Jasper assumed leadership and promised to try to keep the kids safe and not bother the other gangs. I believe he will try to do so. That is my tale. These others may have other news from other quarters, of which I know little. As I kept my part of the bargain, when we conclude this meeting, I'd like to try to procure a 2nd TAP and someone who can install it as well as to make some repairs of damage I sustained."
Expanding your consciousness out, you're able to get a low-level read of the surrounding area. It's beyond strange, being half-aware of your body in a seat inside the lion's den while the rest of your senses stand next to Neon outside as she reads some Nexxon file she must have taken before your escape. Pushing past her, you can see into one of the tents set up in the "plains" area outside and watch for a moment as a handful of gangers play craps, their hands twitchily reaching for weapons on bad rolls, stopping short as they glance up at a poster with the "Rules of Moses" on it, their eyes stopping on one reading "Nobody Dies Without a Sitdown."
As you let your focus wander from place to place, the rules seem constant, as a reminder to make sure people don't let their old grudges come to bear. It seems to work, for the most part, but you notice several people on edge just from being around each other. Making Crips and Bloods work together has to be a delicate balance at best.
"Discordia." Moses says, flatly, as 1dr0meda pauses. He holds up a hand. "Go watch the door, kids. Except you, Bigrig, you can stay." The Crip and the Blood give you all a long hard stare, but walk past you. The Catorce ganger covered in cyberware and tech stays. "So first off, I don't work with Johnny Po. He made it real clear that me, mine, and anyone who looks or smells like us should stay out of his way. Works for me, triads always gave me the g$+@~#n creeps anyway." He scratches his nose, checks his watch, and takes another pull on the hookah. "I don't know any Royce, either."
"Now, I'm puttin' some extra faith in all y'all letting you in on this," he says. "But seeing as your water shipment is a big load off my mind, and I'm hoping to deepen this relationship..." He still seems to hesitate, but his eyes glance over at Alanna and he takes a breath in. "Before the Mess, all the gangs in Phoenix started getting messages. Stuff that helped them out, let them dodge the cops, land big scores. They started trusting them, even though the only name tag was Five-Five-Five--except the Triads, I guess. They only follow whoever's at the top. Then the rest of us started getting orders. Steal this, cause a distraction here. Before long, the gangs weren't hardly fighting each other any more, they were fighting the cops. Organized, with a strategy, like a real war." He pulls on the hookah again, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Then came 5 PM on May 5th. Five-Five-Five, right? Somebody got orders to blow the Phoenix reservoir wall while the rest were rioting, fighting the cops. Pow, all the water's gone, the cops are tied up in a gang war, and then someone cuts all the power lines and all the private mesh connections in Phoenix."
"Chaos," says Moses. "Lotta people died, omae. Nobody was getting orders from the Five-Five-Five anymore, and the first ghosts started showing up. Somebody had to take charge. So I said it was me. A lot of the gangers picked up on it pretty quick, but they was used to taking orders by that point, and I have a good head on my shoulders. I took charge. Rebranded us into Solidarity." He glances out to the door and beyond. "I sent people out right at the start, trying to find a way out the city, more supplies... Anybody I send too far outta downtown doesn't come back. I thought they were just getting axed by the cops, but Kayla and Bigrig think otherwise. There's one ghost that's not like the others, some big blue thing that mercs people at weird times." He looks up, tossing his hair back over his shoulders. "We've heard that name a couple times, too. Discordia. We think she was the one behind the Five-Five-Five." He shakes his head again. "And it sounds like she was giving my people orders once they got past city limits. Sneaky c~#+."
"We were attacked by Johnny Po's people on our way to the data junction that apparently was the last connection into Phoenix from outside. Royce appears to have been with Nexxon. The Triads were after access to the same connection we were. It appears Discordia put the others on a mission to shut down that connection and eliminate Royce. I did a hack into Nexxon while I had the chance and encountered someone who likely was Discordia looking for Royce. As I had disguised myself as Royce to spook the system into giving me access, I jacked out at that point. The gang on the roof with the missile that took down the plane appear to have been organized by Discordia. One of those gang members mentioned this 5-5-5 as well."
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Alanna listens quietly as information is traded and divulged with a free hand. At one point she flat out climbs up the wall and sits on top of a bookcase, quietly listening and observing the proceedings of the room like a looming, quiet...ghostly, thing...whatever you would call that.
"Hey! They must've had a -really- wiz missile! I got 'em all tho..." she defends as dr0ma brings up the airplane.
"Alright, so we gots Triads, we gots Discordia, who we think is a SuperGhost Downtown.
Question: What does Jonny Po think of Discordia? Would we make peace if there was a mission to attack her?
Of course, it looks only like 'Dr0ma can do that. But maybe she an' Kayla together? Imma itchin' to go downtown now that I hear that it's a big spooky "Noooooo ooooone coooomes baaaaack muhahaha' kinda thing. Could be a recon in force, idunno, we'll meditate on it.
It sounds like taking her out is the way to take back the city, but first we gotta get 'Dr0ma upgraded, and maybe we can take out some normal not-SuperGhosts ghosts to see if a 2nd TAP works? Sounds like that could be a thing.
Oh, Moses, or can I call ya M? Anyway, M, our buddies what got Odysseus'd sez they work for some guy called 'Big Old Fat Derrick' on account of how big and old and fat he is. Ever heard of him?
What's your take? Could he help us take down either JPo or Disdis? I don't think he can help anyone take down anything that isn't a lunch buffet, but they seem to think otherwise, so I wanted to bring it up.
And who is this?" she asks, pointing at BigRig. "Is he a Kayla wannabe?"
Wraith's throat starts to tickle, so she takes a quick bolt from her hip flask, then goes back to meditating on her perch.
Moses takes a moment to reflect on 1dr0meda's breakdown. "Must have been my guys then, but those definitely weren't any orders I gave." He says. "How are things like on the outside? It sounds like nobody on the outside has any idea what's going on." He shakes his head again, his braids bouncing as he contemplates. "Maybe Discordia got a hold over some of Johnny Po's gangers on the outside. Same thing she did to my guys."
"I don't know much about Po," he says to Alanna. "But he doesn't seem like the kind of guy to give up his death grip on anything, so I imagine if he knows about Discordia, he don't like her." He shakes his head again. "It took a supercomputer to get the Crips and Bloods to work together," he muses. "Johnny Po was even more resistant to being a team player than the gangers with a hundred year blood feud."
"Kayla f++%ing wishes," says Bigrig. Their voice is strained and distorted from some bodymod lanced into their throat, but has a heavy hispanic accent. It doesn't really clear up the gender issue. "She a script kiddy and she good with the ghost s+##. She don't do anything else better than me, 'specially since she doesn't have a mainline to MeshHub to downlo--"
"Bigrig's another lieutenant," Moses says, cutting off the irate ganger. "Who's got some data we might find useful if you're willing to entertain the idea of doing some more work for me." He takes a pull on the hookah, then hands it off to Bigrig, who plugs it into a tube jutting out of their chest that looks like it spikes right into the lungs. "But first off, my thanks for taking care of our little Coyote issue. A promise is a promise. This Derrick boy you were after--he's the only one I know of around town. Spells it kind of weird, too. He's been getting together teams of runners, organizing at the Capitol building. Seems like he's been taking care of kids, the elderly, people who've been headf*~&ed by ghosts..." He glances at Bigrig as she lets out a stream of hookah smoke from what you're reasonably sure are her ears. "Your boy sounds like a real saint."
"He don't get in my way, and his folks seem like they're just scraping by," he says. "Hasn't been real worthwhile for me to talk to him. I think Kayla's said hi to him over ham radio before." He shrugs. "If there's a big ol' fat Derrick, this is the first I heard of him." His eyes slide over to Ghiv, who seems to be spacing out on one end of your couch. "He alright?"
"I was not clear about one thing. Johnny Po's people attacked us first. My sense was that they knew we had access to a node into Phoenix and wanted access so they could determine the situation inside. We were attacked by people who were apparently sent by Discordia at a different location, with a different modus operandi. It's not clear why they were on that particular rooftop but it happened to be close to the computer with the link to Phoenix, a link that Discordia closed just after we sent the message Royce wanted us to send."
While she talks, 1dr0med eyes Ghiv, looking to see if there was anything happening to him out of the ordinary.
Result = 10
Next she addresses the members of the group who went into Nexxon."We've seen evidence that one way to generate the ghosts is as Kayla did, which used a machine with Nexxon's logo on it. We were treated to a demonstration of the phenomenon which you may want to witness as well, if Kayla doesn't mind. If she does, maybe you can see the equipment and we can describe what we saw," 1dr0meda says, glancing at Alana. "They seem a likely source for Discordia's center of operations. What did you learn about them from your journey into their territory? Why was Derrick, fat or otherwise, attacking them?"
"Derrick merely blew out the first floor of some Nexxon building altho it originally appeared that he was trying to destroy their computer servers. We...never asked him *why* he was doing that."
Ghiv blinks a few times and says Oh. It's nothing. I was thinking about our situation is all. We seem to be in some... Ghiv trails off.
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"Ooo! You gots an d-line to MeshHub here? Nice! What do you use it mostly for?" says Alanna to LargeTruck, having no idea what the frag a MeshHub is, but knowing important things can slip when someone is trying to socially justify themselves to her, and that this might be important. Odd that 'dr0ma didn't bite, but she's got a lot going on so it's only fair she take up the sl--
Waitwut?
Organizing people. Overactive do-gooder. Unique spelling. Carried off a run against a MegaCorp with limited resources.
Still on her perch Wraith start flipping the safety of her g-punk in double-four time as her eyes slowly scan Kitsune and Ghiv and N3--
"Nahhhhhh," she finally giggles out, her hand coming away from the SMG. "You said you didn't know the guy, M, so he _could_ be eleventy billion pounds an' a nonagenarian, for all the butt you know.
Besides," she scoffs, "that's what my chummers -said- he was, an they actually met him, rather than just had a lacky say hoi on th' comms, so th' Derrick you're talking about is the same one. Duh! Jeepers, know your enemies, M. Do some basic research on drek. Y'know, like us professionals.
Anyway, ya, do we have any way of actually talking to J-Po? It seems like he's the big player, and if we want to bring all my customers, erm, ah, I mean, all the good people of this fine, fine city to, uh, safety, he might be a good one to rap at and get him behind a Kill Discordia Forever movement.
I mean, I know you guys wanted to talk to Ancient Derrick Belly-man, but do we have to? Sounds like he's too busy knocking down legitimate businesses and playing Mom Saint Terese to do us any good. I mean, we still can, jus' sayin'."
Outside, Neon squints in the harsh sunlight, reading the file she took from Nexxon.
Any who were watching, would notice that as her eyes quickly scanned the pages, going back and forth, as if she couldn't believe what she was reading, having to re-read entire sections to make sure she wasn't dreaming...or having a nightmare.
A cold sweat sprung on her spine as she reaches the conclusion , muttering , "F##+....f&!@...f&##. F~@~ing ROYCE!!" she screams, slamming her hand into a nearby container.
Those inside can hear her plainly.
She's sorely tempted to blow a whole clip into something inanimate, but restrains herself, standing tense....coiled, wanting very much to really , really wreck something.
Looking down, she can see the file clutched tightly in her other hand, the one not stinging from it's impact with the container.
Tucking the file into her belt, she safeties her rifle, pulls the mag, sliding it into her webbing and clears the action.
Walking over to the guard, she thrusts her now ammo-less rifle into his arms, along with Kit's sword and walks quickly into the exhibit...
Result = 10
1d0meda looked up and over at the others, to see if they noticed N30N's outburst. "Better see if she's all right," she said and headed toward the exit to locate N30N.
"What's wrong?" she asked when she saw her leaving her weapons at the checkpoint.
As Alanna's hand gravitates to her safety, Moses reaches behind his back, putting his other hand out in front of him. Bigrig's hand snaps down, and a blade slides from somewhere inside the mess of cybertech on her arm. When Alanna calms down, they seem to, although Moses' hand stays on whatever he's holding. "Ohhhhkay," Moses breathes out. "Let's all calm the f#@% down." That statement is immediately punctuated by a crumpling canister outside and Neon's scream.
Moses stands again, bringing a heavy pistol into a low ready. He seems to pointedly ignore Alanna's jab about professionalism, though he and Bigrig both share a long moment of eye contact. As Neon enters, four of the guards from outside follow her, a step behind her powerstride, coming to a stop as she meets 1dr0meda a few feet from the door."Hello muscle," Moses calls. "I'm Joseph Your Truth Moses Marshall, pleased to make your acquaintance." He looks up at Alanna where she's sitting at the top of his shelf. "And I don't lie, or b*!@~$#$. I check my facts. Truth is in my name. If this is how you act when they bring him up, then maybe your friends weren't being a hundred percent with you, Wraith." He lets that hang in the air for a moment as he casts his sight over the rest of you one by one.
"I've had a real long night," he says, with an air of finality. "You have my gratitude for dealing with the Coyotes. Nobody will hurt you if you need to crash in my camp. If you're after Discordia, feel free to swap info with Kayla Kortex. You come back in a couple days when you calm down and work out whatever your drama is, and I'm happy to talk trade or offer you some more work." The guards click off their safeties and beckon for you to leave. "Next time, the guards will take all of your weapons before you come in," Moses says, and heads to a door at the rear of the room.
Neon opens her mouth to answer 1dromeda, but Moses' entrance interupts her.
She waits, almost bouncing on her toes, as Moses makes his introduction. She waves away his concern about Alanna's reaction to Derrik, but allows him the opportunity to conintue his soliloqy.
Glancing at Alanna, then flashing a warning look at Alanna, she holds up the file in her hands, "This....this, she says her voice shaking, "is the truth. Our employer in Denver, Royce, has been in Nexxon's pocket from the start, working on duplicating me! and another. They've figured that out and have already sold a unit to some guy name Po! And now they've figured out how to use that process to create Zeeks....mass produced, mind-f$##ing-controlled...zeeks!"
Then she stops, breathing hard, staring at Moses, offering him the file...
Ghiv blinks at that last revelation by N3on. That cannot be allowed. he says once and then a little louder
That. Cannot. Be. Allowed. and everyone has a little tingle in the back of their mind.
I. I am one of those unfortunates. I know what they are capable of, and what anyone would do to harness and control that power. If anyone wants to smash this plan. I'm your guy.
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Alanna lets out a big breath she didn't know she'd been holding. She lets her legs drop down and hang across the bookcase, letting the tension slide out of her.
"Okay. No, you...you guys are right. This..this is getting big and I...I haven't been exactly straight you guys. You see, it's weird, 'cause the old guy that kidnapped, erm, rescued, whatever, you from Nexxon, he...he has the name of...of an old...old boyfriend of mine."
"Derrick. Yeah, we, we were tight. You could say he, he got me into the 'biz. I was in a dark place and his runs gave me an out. But that bastard, he's a perfectionist...I was never good enough. I got better," she waves one of her artificial hands, "But I was never l33t enough for him.
Then one day we got a job. -The- job. Massive payout, heavy lifting done by others, we just had to nab an unguarded, uh, bottle, and get out.
Then he walked in. Big'un, bull-hybrid I guess. Name was 'Borat' or some drek. RockOn, he had this big fragging canon, used it to level entire rival gangs. He socked him full-blast and it...just. didn't. do. anything. Everyone fired. Everyone died.
But me. I got out, with the bottle.
The whole damn paycheck was mine, and it went..." she waves her cybered arm.
"I was three weeks in hospital when he found me. Pistol to my nose. Had me dead to rights.
Didn't do it. Don't know why.
Royce said he was here, somewhere. I...I know he still loves me I just...just gotta make him see. But, if...if I ever found him, I...I don't know what he'd do. What -I- would do. Probably some shouting. Maybe some gunshots. Then more shouting."
She wipes her eyes and wipes her nose. "But your guy can't be him, so I guess we don't have to worry about for awhile, huh?" she says, putting on a plastic smile.
Moses hesitates, looking back from the doorway, then turning and striding back across the room, he takes the papers from Neon's hands. His eyes flit between giving her a hard stare and scanning rapidly across the pages as he reads. He gives Ghiv another hard, long look, rubbing the back of his head and processing it all as Alanna runs through some of her background. He nods his head to Bigrig, who scoffs, but snatches the bandana off of one of the Crips guarding the room and extends it up to Alanna.
Moses sits and thinks for a while, with another pull on the hookah, and then he quietly giggles to himself. His laugh grows in bass and timbre until it seems to shake the room. He sets down Neon's sheaf of papers and leans forward. "This all comes down to f*#$ing Nexxon. Again." He scratches at the roots of his hair underneath the braids. "They were running this place before the Mess, whether anyone wanted to admit it or not." He rustles through the papers. "And they're mass-producing zeeks by now if this is right. No wonder they're still trying to lock down the financial district. That's a hell of an investment to protect."
"Johnny Po's the first threat to me and mine. Discordia's the second. But if we don't clear Nexxon out of Phoenix, I'm talking permanently, then people like you, and me, and especially--" he looks to Ghiv. "--Zeeks like him aren't gonna be any better off when the power comes back on." He nods to Bigrig again and she reaches just between Alanna's ankles and grabs a rolled-up map, spreading it on the table in front of Moses.
"Right now we got Solidarity here," he says, marking the Phoenix Zoo on the map. "Your boy at the Capitol building. The Coyotes." He checks them off. "And on the other hand, we got Nexxon, the Sheriff, Discordia, the Queen of Scotsdale and Johnny F~$~ing Po." He sniffs, looking over the map. "I need you to extend an olive branch to Derrick--whoever the f+$$ he is--and make sure we can count on him for whatever he can bring to the table. I got foot soldiers, but it sounds like he's got runners and experience. We're gonna need that." He marks off a few more places on the map. "Arcosanti up to the northeast--they probably won't leave their bubble to help out, but it's worth a shot. Reggie's place, old Luke Air Force Base, they got heavy ordnance, I'll see if I can get someone an in to talk to 'em." He massages the bridge of his nose for a minute. "If we're gonna take back the city, we need to get as many people together as possible." He sniffs again, then rolls up the map and offers it across the table to whichever one of you will take it.
"Can I count on you? All five of you?" He asks. "I need people who aren't gangers to take care of diplomacy for me. And get us the supplies we need." He looks up at Alanna, then back across at each of you, his eyes lit up by the embers of the hookah as they settle on Kitsune. "After that, we go to war."
Neon looks sharply at Ghiv, her face hard, but then is softens, knowing only too well the hardship of concealing one's nature from others. She meets his eyes, and nods, letting out a large sigh, about to say something before Alanna cuts her off.
Neon is pleasantly surprised by Moses's return and recognition of the danger she'd presented, A real leader here... she thought as he brought out the map and revealed the breakdown on Phoenix's territories.
She looks thoughtfully down at the map, arms crossed, then sighs ,looking up to Moses, then to each of her companions, "Since Ghiv's provided an example of full disclosure..." she says, then pausing, " I'm the N30N mentioned in the Nexxon file, 'cause technically I'm Nexxon property, a..what do they call me?... a bioroid? Whatever, they cloned a war hero and created a squad... I escaped, thought I was the only one. But, there's another out there, the other mentioned in the file...Holly, my ....sister. I think she's Po's golem-pilot. But the file mentions a delivery...not sure what that means...." she trails off, embarrassed by the gush , realizing she started to sound a bit like Alanna there.
Straightening, she stands tall, "They created me, but I'm ME. I don't want them creating more of me. Or more of Ghiv...or anybody. Those f%&&ers think they can play God, well let's bring the wrath of God down on them!"
She stands there for a moment, breathing deep, then looks at Alanna, "Alanna, I don't give a s**@ what went down between you and Derrick...yes , he's the one and only. You're such a spaz, we didn't think you could handle the truth. Now you have to. Suck on that flask of yours all day, I don't care, just deal with it. "
She turns back to Moses, "Derrick shouldn't be a problem, he wanted peace with you and Maja. She's taken care of and you're good to go, so I believe he'll be the same. He promised to help us get into Yukosawa...their tech should help some, especially countering that Golem. We'll also talk to whomever we need to."
She stops, drained, but still standing erect , proud even, looking from Moses , to Alana, to Ghiv, to 1dromea, to Kit, hoping she hadn't just broken what she'd begun to consider a family.
Kitsune looks first at Neon, and says "Being a Hybrid, I know what's it's like to be...different...in a human world. I don't care *what* you are, only *who* you are. And you're my comrade-in-arms, and my friend."
Looking at Ghiv, she says "I understand you felt the need to hide your true nature, but I'm sorry that you felt that you had to hide it from us, your team-mates. I hope there won't be any more secrets between us in the future."
Then she looks at Alanna, and says "I'm sorry Alanna, but it's true. 'Our' Derrick is young and handsome, and when we mentioned your name, he described you very accurately. I'm afraid he's 'your' Derrick."
Turning to Moses, she says "I can't speak for the others, but my resources are at your disposal. What do you think is more important for us to do first, after meeting with Derrick? An attack on Johnny Po (or some other hostile group), or getting me into Yukosawa, my parent's corporate headquarters, to see what resources are available there? Perhaps if you and Derrick join forces, it would be easier to get in."
Ghiv shrugs noncommittally at Kitsune Secrets are part of the job. It's kinda what we do. I cannot promise no secrets, but I can guarantee loyalty until this job is done.
To Moses Ghiv says Does it matter who goes first? If not, point us at someone, anyone. We need to destroy Nexxon's research as soon as we can.
As 1dr0meda processed the new information about Nexxon, Royce, and the plots to mass produce sentient beings and use them as weapons, she felt both angered and frightened. N30N, Kitsune, Ghiv were oppressed but they still were, at their most fundamental level, linked through DNA to the other human beings on the planet. She could not help but reflect that her status did not have even that connection. Many considered her nothing more than a machine, something that could be owned without any moral dilemmas.
She wanted to flee this crazy place, live with the People, remain an anonymous hacker in the Deep, where no one could tell she was not human. But she knew, even as her processors of hypotheticals were beginning to work on such options, she could not escape the same fate as her comrades. Sooner or later, someone would want to replicate her and mass produce her, to mess with her programming and make her do what they wanted. She had to stand with the others now and not run away and leave them to fight alone.
"If Nexxon is willing to do such things, I can only assume they would do the same with me if they got their processors on my circuitry and design. Even if they aren't thinking of that now, they would obviously do it if they could, so I too must do what I can to stop them."
She glanced at Kitsune and thought about her desire for no secrets. "I too was created in a secret lab of a black operation in the NAC. They created me to be loyal to the NAC even though the government would never recognize me as one of them and would probably destroy me if they knew I existed. That was one reason I was created to be a spy. They knew no one who knew about the NAC's antipathy toward non-humans would trust one such as me to be a spy for them."
"While on a mission in Japan, I had to hide for a long time and found myself without my TAP and in an isolated mountain monastery of a religion called Zen. They taught me to meditate and through their strange process of trying to help all sentient beings to enlightenment, they also inadvertently corrupted my loyalty programming. When I was able to return to public and connected to the GDN, I discovered the lab that created me was discovered and dismantled. My creators destroyed all files referring to me and my design, and so I was free. I disguised my background, creating a fake trail leading to Indonesia. I wanted to find out if any of my parents, that is, my creators, had survived the shutdown, so I returned to Denver."
"It is on this path I met my current family, the People or the Apache as you would call them. I did get back to Denver, but could find no trace of my creators. Perhaps Royce suspected some aspect of my origin and wanted to get me into his companies holdings. But I have utmost sympathy for your situation and will do my best to aid you. If you are to succeed you will need someone to handle the ghosts and also to break through security and locate information. Once I have my second TAP and have secured needed repairs, I will do just that."
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Alanna's jaws hinges open and she stammers, "You lied to me?"
And then falls face-first to the ground.
She picks herself up and stumbles to the door. She waivers a bit too close to the one of the guards and shrieks, "GET THE FRAG AWAY FROM ME!" before bulldozing out the door.
She walks to the car and tries to find a bottle to crawl into.
Neon watches Alanna's antics , then turns back to Moses, "And that's why we didn't tell her about Derrick." . She lets out a big sigh, and looks to the others, "Well, we're quite the pack of misfits but I'm glad we have each other."
Turning back to Moses, "I think Derrick, then Yukosawa is our first stop. Then maybe your friend Reggie at the Air Force Base, " she says looking down at the map, "You'll let him know we're coming? "
1dr0meda follows Alanna to make sure she doesn't do anything self-destructive and approaches her where she's looking through the car for something to drink and says, "I know nothing about what you humans call love. But I have gotten to know you these past few weeks and I find it strange you can face off against a gang of hoodlums armed to the teeth but you melt at the prospect of reuniting with someone who ..."
She stops and steps back, worried Alanna might explode. Then she adds, "Come on. We'll face this together. Probably best to face it sober too. I've seen what alcohol does to you carbon based life forms. It does not improve your performance as much as some of you seem to think it does."
That sounds appropriate N3on. Let's get going
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Wraith had a bottle of some hooch attached to her mouth and tipped vertical, Cruiser nearby gazing on in impotence and worry. As 1dr0meda speaks she SPINS and tosses it to the ground shattering it, sending glass and booze scattering.
"You know nothing!" she shrieks, her hands clutching at her head like she's trying to claw out a bad memory. Or all the memories. "You don't...you don't understand what...what he's like. How he can, just get you to trust him, when he looks at you with those big, beautiful eyes that you just want to crawl in to and hug and never let go like nothing will ever be bad again. And YOU'RE JUST NEVER GOOD ENOUGH.
And...and does he still think I stole from him? I, I meant to pay it back, to pay it all back, but it's not enough time! And, and I thought he was dead! No one...nothing could've survived that. Okay, yeah, I did, but only because I ABANDONED EVERYONE. He...he wouldn't have done that.
Oh wait! Maybe that's it! Yeah he...he must've bailed too! That's it! I'll MAKE him SEE what a coward he is! That, that we're no different, since he must've ran to save his own well-toned by worthless ass just like me!"
Only now does she turns and look directly at 1dr0meda, a playful smile growing on her face as her eyes run red with tears and rage. "Oh thank you. You've shown me how I can get him back! How I can make him mine again! Whew."
She breathes easy for a bit and her facade of composure closes like the steel door on a battleship-class spaceship.
She roots around in the bottom of the car and comes out with another full bottle. "And chummer," she says, playfully winking at 1dr0meda, "you might've seen what the sauce does to normal humans.
...
But I ain't normal."
She winks again and starts to drink.
"A program of a billion lines, starts with a single statement," she muses. "Let's take it one step at a time. We'll find him. Then you can learn his side of the story."
You can almost see Moses making a mental checklist of everything you're telling him. It seems like a way for him to keep track of everything. As the man with all the irons in the fire, you can see him turning them over, rotating them, and deciding what he should and shouldn't trust you with. He withdraws the map from Neon for a moment, unfolding it and marking another spot on the map with a circle and a kanji inside. "Yukosawa place is here," Moses says. "From what I remember, nobody's been able to open up the building since the Mess, so the inside should be pretty pristine. Hard part's getting through the front door." He sighs, holding up two fingers and signalling for one of the Bloods to follow Alanna outside with 1dr0meda. "If you can, ask your 'droid friend for info on her "family". We might could dredge something up. NAC contractors used to run half of Luke AFB before the Mess."
"You do look a little like her," he says to Neon. "Give or take the hockey pucks in her ears. I don't know how much you know, but..." He leans in quietly. "People like you got a vulnerability. EMP waves, same as it is for bots. If I get you into Reggie's place in a couple days, they might be able to give you something so you can even the playing field 'tween you and her." He shakes his head to your question. "Reggie's not exactly a friend. I might have an in, but don't just roll over there." He looks to the side. "They uh, usually shell anybody they're not expecting."
"I ain't exactly gonna plan an itinerary for you," he says. "If your bot friend still wants her second TAP, have her check in with Kayla before you go. Then visit Derrick. Maybe put Wraith on a leash first." He smiles a little. "I don't know about the Yukosawa place, but it sounds like your friend already did a run on Nexxon and didn't bite it, so he knows more than anybody else at this point." His smile fades back into a grimace again. "I'm not gonna give you a contract, but you can promise Derrick whatever he needs for the sake of info on Nexxon. We'll hammer out the details later."
If you don't have any more questions for him, Moses retires to his back room. Bigrig and one of the Crips flank you out and keep an eye on you after you retrieve your weapons from the guard. Back at the car, Cruiser watches with mild frustration as Alanna pours an entire bottle down her throat and silently makes a gesture of almost fatherly concern as the rest of you approach.
1dr0meda wastes no time visiting Kayla. "You said a second TAP could improve ones defenses against ghosts. I'm told you can set me up with one. I also need some repairs from damage I took in a fight with them. I'll share my data on the things I observed, how they fight, anything you might want. I will do what I can to get you whatever you think is fair compensation for your help. It might have to wait until things normalize and I can sell some of this intel to interested parties back in the world that still works."
She also brings Syzygy along and asks Kayla, "Any ideas how a sprite could run interference and maybe hinder ghosts. Syzygy isn't much of a fighter and I don't want her in harm's way, but we're going to war and we need every advantage we can get."
When she has time, she'll prepare a data file with everything she can think of about the black operation that engineered her. She'll also detail the dead ends she ran down trying to locate them.
"Oh Jesus," mutters Cruiser. "She's a hugger." Fishing a piece of broken glass off the ground, with the label still attached, he says "Christ, it was strong too." He makes another shrugging gesture towards her, and seems to be willing to babysit for the time being if any of you want to accompany 1dr0meda.
Kayla is waiting in the reptile exhibit, having apparently been tipped off in advance. Along with her is a new face, a tall, but chubby ganger with a leather vest identifying him as one of the Grim Riders. "Monkey," he says, giving a wave by way of introduction. His fingers split as he waves, then fan out into an array of tools. Kayla Kortex--a not-quite-naturally curvy girl with a head of bouncy blond curls--introduces herself in a bubbly manner, giving hugs that faintly smell like tequila to anyone who came along for the ride.
"Hey you!" Kayla says to 1dr0meda, smiling, then seeming a little disappointed. "Where's your cyborg friend?" She shrugs it off and listens through 1dr0meda's requests. "For now, let's just say you owe me a favor, and we'll leave it at that. I'm just happy knowing there will be somebody besides me who can help with ghosts." She gestures to a table set up next to her jump chair. "Plus, Monkey's going to show me how to operate on androids--gynoid?--whatever." She steeples her fingers. "Point is, I'm gonna get all up in your headspace, chica."
Peeling open the back of 1dr0meda's neck is fairly easy. Monkey quietly points out a couple of trouble spots to Kayla, but otherwise installing the secondary TAP is quite straightforward and plug and play. They seal up the back of her neck after cleaning out some debris and loose contacts left over from her wounds, but otherwise she's already been fixed up fairly well. "For the sprite, I'm not as sure," she says. "I guess if you can, just have her spam a s#+&load of requests at a ghost. They're still programs. They deal with most of it automatically, but it might be good enough to slow them down."
1dr0meda submits to the repairs and installation of the new TAP, feeling uncertain but resigned to the necessity. She knows biologic persons face similar concerns when going "under the knife,"--or in her case, "under the wrench?"--but she feels a different set of concerns, knowing changes made could alter everything about the way she behaves, perceives, and her very experience of being. She dismisses those feelings by focusing on the moment, as her Zen master taught, and the next she was aware, she was looking back at Kayla and Monkey.
When asked how she felt, she answered with a series of tests of all her important motor and internal processes. Anyone watching might think she was doing a funky android dance, with her mechanical muscles flexing one after another, a wave of twitches and movements that flowed across her body. Then she accessed samples of memory and regarded all her senses for any problems. Finally, she smiled and gave a thumbs up. "Thank you. Favor owed. I'll work on some data spike that Syzygy and I can use as weapons. Now let's deal with that hyper-b%^ch." She didn't usually swear, but somehow, remembering what she did to Miley, it seems right. She bowed to her surgeons and gestured for Syzygy to follow her. She went out in search of her friends.
She paused and marveled at that statement. Her friends. She had never before possessed friends. The people, the Apache, she regarded as family, but as the saying went, you can choose your friends but you can't choose your family. In a way, she had done both, but it seemed more significant to have friends, particularly going into the uncertain future that was Phoenix.
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After chasing down and hugging everyone and everything that will let her, Alanna pours herself into the passenger's chair of her ride and falls into a deep, restful, and very, very loud nap.
About the time that 1dr0meda comes walking back from her surgery, she wakes up, rubs her eyes, and yawns immensely. She rinses her mouth out with water and looks around, sighing in dejection. "No, I'm not drunk. Hungover 'neither," she declares. "Advanced Nanoweave Organ system. Heart of Steel, Buns of Steel...liver of steel."
A moment passes as she fitfully looks around, trying to come to an awkward decision.
"So, you guys met Derrick, huh.
...
What's he like?"
Ghiv looks at Wraith with a serious face and says He's hideous. There's a wart, just here. the advanced human points to a spot near his right eyeball Big as an old style quarter. And discolored. It actually oozes a bit. He's got a few teeth left. Well, "parts" of teeth anyways.
Ghiv regards Wraith another moment and then adds Oh, and I didn't stand too close. The smell.... he finishes with a little shrug.
Kayla returns 1dr0meda's thumbs-up. "Diagnostics all okay? Good. Go git 'em tiger," she says, giving you a hug. "Thanks for letting me practice on you too." Monkey gives another awkward wave and nods along with her. They return your bow, though Monkey takes it notably more seriously.
Outside, Cruiser smokes a wood-tip cigar while Alanna sobers up. Once she's finished, he grounds out the stub on the ground. "We're here for you," he says to Alanna. "Whatever this guy's like."
The drive over is relatively uneventful. A few scrounging genemod animals bray at you in the area around the zoo. On the streets, you feel like a few of the cars have moved position, but it's hard to tell for sure. Occasionally, in high-rise windows or behind smashed-up storefronts, you think you might see stragglers eking out a living on their own, far from any of the major camps, but it's hard to know for sure.
The capitol building looms large, the barbed wire that runs along the marble fence rustling slightly in the wind, seeming to almost tense at your arrival. The sun beams down over head, and the makeshift camp in the courtyard is busy. The runners camped out outside are divided into little cliques, trading around ammo pieces and equipment--looking like they're getting decked out for something intense. A few of them stand guard at the edge of the courtyard, holding up your car, and up on the roof, you can see a little lean-to with the glint of a longarm. "Hey, it's the folks Derrick sent out for the Coyotes," one of the guards says, after tersely squinting through the windshield and recognizing Ghiv, Kitsune and Neon. "Somebody get Roomy."
Roomy is a homely, heroin-thin blasian boy with wire-bristle hair that sticks straight up in total defiance of gravity. "Hey," he says, his UrbanSoldier thredz swishing loosely around his body. You have an intuitive understanding of his name. "Derrick asked me to ask you about the Coyotes, and take you over to the Yukosawa place if you like. He's out doing some business." Roomy's eyes slide over to Alanna. "He said it would be better that way, for everyone."
During the trip, both 1dr0meda and Syzygy have their TAPs on and both continually scan the area for Ghosts and whatever else hyper-reality still provides. Once in Derrick's territory, she continues to operate this way, generally keeping quiet and observant. She eyes the activities of the camp trying to absorb what she can about how Derrick's people operate.
1dr0meda Notice Rolls
Result: 6+3 = 9
Syzygy Notice Rolls
Unskilled penalty: -2
Result: 4 + 1 - 2 = 3
1dr0meda asks N30N, Ghiv, and Kitsune some questions about their time at Nexxon.
To Kitsune: "What is your connection to the Yukosawa corporation or family? Why are you pursuing knowledge of their standing in Phoenix. What can they provide for use if we can work with them?"
To all three: "I need to get clarity on events involving Mr. Plant and the ghost. Is there any possibility that this Mr. Plant was a ghost all along? It seems when ghost-Plant activated, there was still a meat-Plant acting in the area. That would suggest someone like Kayla operating a jumpchair. Does that sound right?"
To Ghiv: "Now that we know you possess the talents of those called Zeeks, what can you tell us about attempts to use your powers on Mr. Plant and/or on Ghost-Plant or on Maji or the Ghosts she called down? Also, do your powers work on me? On Syzygy? Feel free to experiment if you haven't yet had the chance to attempt to read my thoughts or whatever else you do."
To everyone: "We might need to coordinate all our ghost-fighting activities for maximum effect, so anything anyone noticed about any of our interactions with ghosts, please share."
"I am the daughter of the people who founded the Yukosawa corporation many years ago. I seek to find out if they are still alive, and if not, take control of my company. Either way, the corporation *should* have significant resources to help us to achieve our goals.
I still do not fully understand this "ghosting" of which you speak. Perhaps Nexxon, being the creator of the jumpchair, has been able to miniaturize it to a size where it could be implanted in someone?"
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Alanna spends most the trip either nervously playing with her gutterpunk, or consciously ignoring that the gutterpunk exists.
As the bourgyboi approaches them, she gives him a tight smile. "Yeah, he would do that.
You tell 'im....
You tell that Clint Clavie banger Aces null-persp kroovy AMF'd angel hoop fetish, guardian now wiz johnson.
And Mentat his slotting chip-chromed bioroid neg checked said Bravo Delta on call out.
He'd like that.
Buzz buzz tick tock.
Plus ca change...."
Also advise of the important information that his girlfriend, who has very much modifications, some with combat applications, declined a chance to kill the aforementioned body guard, even though she was given ample and legitimate reason to do so.
Now move along because time is always short.
The more things change [the more they stay the same--implied].
Neon responds to 1dromeda, "Yeah, Mr Plant was full on meat and ghost. "
Then she turns to Derrick's man , "Lead on..."
Roomy's eyes glaze over as Alanna starts talking, but he finishes her statement for her. "...Plus c'est la meme chose? Yeah, you're one of Derrick's old runners alright." He coughs. "You're gonna have to update me on some of that chatter though. You dealt with the Coyote leader, there was a second one... Bravo, delta what?" He gives a half shrug and a surprisingly bright smile. "Well, good enough for me. Cosmo, Serpica," he says nodding to two runners who flank him abruptly--a real pretty 2.0 girl with what looks like a cheap, gutterware knockoff of a Gunslinger bodymod package, and a hulking snake hybrid with a K-tana that's long and sharp in precisely the way his nose isn't. "You're still good on transportation, right?" he asks as the hybrid hands him a cheap, cobbled-together little jumpboard.
Assuming no objections, he takes point, his runners flank the car, and they keep an eye on you as you head east and a little bit north. "Fuel's getting a little low," Cruiser remarks on the way over. "I'll siphon off something, while you're doing whatever you're doing." Those of you who came in with Plant realize that you're nearing the Nexxon building until Roomy gestures and takes you on a detour through a couple of alleyways that bring you into a set of mid-rise buildings almost literally in Nexxon's shadow.
The buildings form a rough ring, dotted with alleyways, but clearly leading to the largest of them. Roomy holds up a fist for you to stop and pulls his jump board up to the window of the car. "That's the building up ahead," he says, gesturing. The courtyard of the largest building is encircled by a large, heavy fence. A sign on one side is adorned with the kanji for Yukosawa Consolidated--the other side warns you that the property is guarded by genemods. Still a little ways off, you can see deep scratches and signs of struggle in the courtyard, but right now it seems still and silent. "The gate lets you in," Roomy says. "But the building itself is locked up tight."
For Kitsune, the place looks like she left it many years ago, with the addition of months of built-up grime and dirt. The surrounding buildings have gotten bigger and more numerous, and the streets themselves are a little unfamiliar, but the property is very much the same, right down to the torii that marks the entrance.
Ghiv responds to 1dr0meda I can "listen" to you, and those like you, but..its fuzzy. Sort of like if there were an interference. As for Plant, yeah I could "hear" him. I don't think I can "hear" Syzygy...shes too much a part of hyper reality. Too much machine. I don't understand how it works.
1dr0meda looks over the buildings from the entry point the group has reached. "Syzygy is now in a more versatile body," she says, pointing to a small ball the size of a large marble. It has a large wheel that has sticky treads capable of climbing walls and going along ceilings. "As long as it's safe to have our TAPS on, she can communicate what she is seeing and report on the situation. Shall I send her in to do reconnaissance?"
1dr0meda scans the buildings with her own sensors, seeing if she notices anything unusual from a distance.
Result = 14
"This new body is aces! Tots better than that wimpcat. Thanks mom. Now how about getting me one of those jumpboards? Imagine me cruising like a screamer!"
Anyone with TAP on can hear her chatter unless he/she chooses to mute the feed.
Neon takes in the scars in the road surface, then looks a Roomy, "So, Derrick's inside? He's close with the Yukosawa?"
"1dr0meda, since you have the two TAPS, why don't you stay in communication with Syzygy, and relay its...her...observations to us? I'm inclined to just walk up to the front door and see if my access code is still good, but from what I've heard, Nexxon has been trying to get into this place for a while - I'm surprised it's not surrounded by an army of Nexxon people."