Prologue
Seattle, Downtown
447 Cherry Street, Floor 11
10:30, February 8, 2073
Ryna paced the empty floors of her new, not-yet-renovated, office. Shared space with other small businesses. Sketchy security. She’d warned her employer about the difficulties, but her boss had insisted on the location. It was too close to the ACHE. The view was less than stellar, unless you liked staring at abject poverty from high above.
Ryna knew for a fact that her employer did indeed enjoy such pursuits.
The red haired gnome had finally come to the correct conclusion: this choice of office space was meant to mock her. Like so many other things. She’d been told the floor was turn-key ready, but framework covered the empty floor and fluorescent lights were hung without any real fixtures to speak of. Standing in the middle of the floor, she felt a little like she was trapped in a cage of aluminium. Alone. Her feelings were off; she was not alone.
Her burner buzzed. It was her employer. “Ryna Cer-” her cheerful greeting was interrupted by the voice on the other end. High above, clinging to a strand of wiring, a tiny bug’s microphone picked up volume levels exceeding its programmed threshold and began recording her side of the conversation.
“Yeah, I’ve got the keys and security passes, but you haven’t sent me the funds to furnish the place yet. No..No. Of course I did! No. Okay, no, I didn’t yet, but come on! Okay. Okay. No! I don’t want that!”
Her sky blue eyes tinged red and began to water.
“Please, boss, I swear this group will work out. You don’t have to do that. I know the last two were not, no, no, no, c’mon! Ma-” The bug nearly picked up the shouting from the other participant in the conversation, but it would take several attempts of scrubbing with several very powerful nexi to pick up what would still be mostly unintelligible swearing.
After a moment, “Tonight. The invitations are being sent today. Where? Yes, it is a simple question, its just that you had told me you were giving me full authority over this op and I don’t think you need to micro-manage...oh. Bean’s Beans. Yeah, no the manager is totally cool. We went out dancing after her shift last...oh. Yes, I remember. C’mon boss don’t make me. Fine,” she let out a heavy sigh, “I will remember not to provide you with any information that has no value to you at all. But you know that since you never listen anyway that you wouldn’t know it if I did have something of value!” There was a long pause. The bug nearly shut down its recording process.
“How would I have known that?” Ryna’s voice trembled through the question. “So what if he has an apprentice. I mean, its probably a female. She’s probably tall, most likely a human, and drop-dead gorgeous. Everything I’m not.” Ryna was exactly one of those things, drop-dead gorgeous, but she’d never let herself know it. Years of abuse had led her to having very low self-esteem. “She’d be lithe, agile, and active. I mean, magically, not that she runs.” Ryna hesitated before continuing. “She probably runs.”
“Hey! Maybe I should get an apprentice?” Ryna’s face went blank for a moment. “What’s a, ‘second fiddle?’” Click. “Hello?”
Ryna sighed melodramatically and pushed those thoughts out of her mind. They weren’t worth worrying about. She logged off the burner and pulled out her main commlink. In twenty minutes, her special invitations would be sent, bounced through multiple routers and scrubbers and whatever other term the kids were using these days. With luck they’d all respond and be at least as good as their meager reputations claimed they were. Hopefully better, but Ryna would settle for them just being as good as advertised. Ryna began to place another call, but she’d left the bug’s range by them. It shut down the microphone and went into power save mode. For another few days the bug would remain in position, picking up any further one-sided calls or in-person conversations, then it would crawl off to its rendezvous spot for pick-up later.
Ryna and her boss’ plans would already be in motion by then, but the information it had already recorded, and would soon add to its database, would still put those plans into jeopardy.
Seattle, UCAS
23:59, February 8, 2073
Message from: <UNKNOWN>
"Hello, a friend of a friend of a friend said you would fit well with some work we need done. We will reimburse for initial interview expenses up to five hundred nuyen. Meet me at the roast beef joint on the third floor of Center House at 13:00 on the 9th.
-RC"
"Unknown hey! Well it looks like I am going to be doing a little net running before this meeting!"
Cinder Block checks the message as it rings through, feet propped on an overturned wooden crate and a cigarette smoldering next to a tusk.
<Sounds wiz. I'll be there, with bells on, ya know?>
He thumbs through the matrix page for the area, as well as the proposed meeting spot itself, looking to get a handle on what he should wear (or not) and what kind of harware would be appropriate.
Shane Walsh stopped a second as a small chirp informed him of a message. Pulling his com out, he thumbed through to see what it was, the sight of promised pay bringing a smile to his lips. He takes but a second to plant the last of his future cabbage and broccoli crops before rising and brushing the dirt from his hands.
"Hey babe... " The loud troll voice carried back through the house's open door. "I'm going to be busy starting tomorrow. Gotta make some quid."
A few seconds pass and Shane looks down at his com.
"Nah I don't care, a job's a job and I can't be picky like. Just gonna have ta tell ya ma that we will see her some other time."
Another flash on the com.
"Because I want ta talk to you. If I wanted to just buzz ya all the time we wouldna be shacking."
Another chirp.
"Whist ya lass. I'm bout tapped an ya like playing the house wif, so I work."
Silence..
More silence...
Shane looks down at his com....
"Ah come on, it ain't worth gettin in a huff. You know you are my reason for life. Don't be robbing me breath now."
Silence continues.....
"All right, when this over we take your ma to that class joint you fancy so much."
Chirp......
A basic search on Center House pulls up lower-middle-class shopping mall contained within a ten-floor building. At one time it was likely a nice place to shop, but over the years has started to decay. There are scattered media reports of BTL-related accidents, drug overdoses, and random violence attributed to thrill gangs, but the mall is relatively safe.
Lyst was on-site at an Ares sub-contractor facility when his commlink pinged. But it was the wrong persona--his work account was clear. This had to be the other kind of work. Not a good thing to check out while on corporate duty.
That night he slouched into his favorite synthleather half-back chair and flipped on the trideo to a non-stop action stream. A short glass of hard tea made for his only company as he jumped into AR with his shadow matrix persona. He read the message and tapped his fingers on his glass contemplatively, wishing people would put more details in their messages so as to not waste his time while simultaneously realizing that was a bad idea. A moment later, with the barest realization, he was suddenly in cold sim VR walking around the mall.
The roast beef place up on 3rd was about what he expected. A banner above the mass-commercial counter read "We have the meats*" with a small disclaimer at the bottom. Lyst wondered if it was there in meatspace too; Sometimes that line got a little blurry. The menu was obviously an ARO flying in the air, displaying a cheap list of unenticing fare. He considered whether he should eat beforehand, but there weren't many great places in his neighborhood and not a long list in between. He frowned.
He spent the next hour wandering the space in VR and studying all the public information on the node, including floor plans, bathrooms and utility closets, and other icon traffic. Once he jacked out, he realized his tea was room temperature and he had a mild headache. Apparently his trideo had gotten quite loud since he jacked in. He muted it while he got up to get some ice for his tea. Good thing he didn't have any neighbors to complain about the noise.
Val wanders the data stream following the directions to the place the meet is to occur. Nothing at all out of the ordinary that she can see, and the neon Valkyrie swoops over the area, invisible to almost all the people there, riding her winged horse, Kitten.
Her meat body was curled up in the corner of the dive she called 'home', shivering. No money for heat and fear of calling her "friends" to direct power to her flat, kept the young woman in a dark, cold room. Noise from the other flats echoed throughout the building. The only furniture Eliza had was a secondhand futon and a folding chair and table. The lights from the bar across the road flashed into her one tiny window located in the cramped bathroom. Light flashed on and off as the sigh continues to advertise "Cold Beer" in azure and magenta. Only partly aware of her surroundings, Eliza continued to examine the matrix around the mall.
Matrix Perception: 3 Successes
The node operating as the mall's customer-facing side of the Matrix is a dizzying array of colors and sounds, sculpted to resemble the mall itself. Every shop has advertisements that assault the senses. A variety of shoppers fills the virtual space, though few of them look anything other than ordinary. None of the facility systems are connected to mall's public face.
User data suggests that the lunch rush ends just around 13:00 on a weekday. The reviews are exactly what one would expect for a fast-food place.
Computer + Track (10, Complex Action) Extended Test
4 hits
11 hits discovered source of message (I believe??)
Val uses her VK abilities to follow several trails of spoofed, redirected access. Following the thread brings her to a shadow-proxy, well known among the hacker community for instantly destroying client access logs. Finding the original sender from this point would be incredibly difficult, and would require hacking some of the most brutal IC available to the underworld with no guarantee of a payoff.
The sender spent a considerable amount of cash for that service, but at least that indicates he or she is security conscious.
Seeing the vast fortress that represents the shadow-proxy, she circles her winged steed around it. The siege weapons and troops, representing lethal IC swarm the battlements in a rather impressive array.
A challenge to be sure, but really was it worth it? She already knew that their employer must have some deep pockets and good connections to have all their communications routed through such a beastly portal. Best to conserve her strength for the actual meet and run!
Coming back from the semi-trace state she entered when doing serious work in the matrix, Eliza shivers and crawls over to her futon. She burrows into the pile of blankets heaped there and falls into a deep sleep. When she awakes, she washes and dresses then heads out the door. She leaves nothing of worth behind as she is not sure if she will be returning to this flat, or going somewhere else.
Once on the street she lets her matrix senses float over the street, looking for an automated cab she can take control of.
Control Device (Comm and)
You control a device through the Matrix, using your Command program
like a remote control or video game controller. The dice pool of
any test you make using this action uses the rating of your Command
program in place of the attribute you would use along with the appropriate skill as normal. For example, firing a drone-mounted rifle at a target would require a Longarms + Command test, and using
a remote underwater welder would call for a Nautical Mechanic +
Command test.
Note that if the action to be performed is normally a Simple
Action, performing it through the Control Device action is still a
Complex Action.
None of the facility systems are connected to mall's public face.
Thanks...the help is greatly appreciated! I think she would most likely hack-on-the-fly to gain access to the cab, so I will do that. Then once she "owns" it, she can give commands, correct...or does she need to roll command for that as well??
hacking-on-the-fly: 4 Successes
Do note that if you don't have a Command program (or the technomancer equivalent) then you can't issue commands at all, so you'd be SOL in that case.
Good to know...thanks again! Lucky Val has the command ability!!
Lyst had the day off, so he slept in and had a late breakfast of leftover Asian takeout. An hour passed by in front of the trid while he idly browsed new 'link software before he finally decided to get dressed. He put on his usual business attire and then, feeling inspired by his breakfast, he stared into the mirror until the sharp features of a Japanese man stared back at him. "Shall we, Mr. Black? It's not polite to keep a Johnson waiting." His accent was decent, but wouldn't fool any native Japanese speakers. He winked at himself for good measure before going down the lift and hailing a car from the matrix.
Shane trudges through the crowd on his way to the meet. Barely registering the people sliding around him, lost as he is in thought.
Ok lad, you got this. Your the bullet catcher.... no, you are BULLETCATCHER. You are the wall, the man, the last true feen. You got a brand to build, you step in and take this. Lain's counting on me to bring home some scratch.
Bulletcatcher pushes his way into the establishment, looking for all the world a Mr. Johnson in his own right.
That Roast Beef Joint, Seattle
~13:00, February 9, 2073
When the massive troll enters the fast food establishment on the third floor there are only a handful of customers in the dining area, and a few watching the bored manager watch the kitchen bots as they wait for their orders at the carry out counter.
A mother looks at Bullet Catcher and urges her children to hurry up in one both up front. At a large table behind a pillar sits a red-haired gnome reading a book. An actual book, made with paper. Hardbound with a dust cover. She nods her head as if she is listening to music. In AR above the table are the letters CR in blue.
Despite her distractions, the woman looks up from her book and mouths the words, "Order something," to the fomori.
CB rucks up to the meet fast, loud, and aggressive. He changed his bright orange prison jumpsuit top for an olive drab, army surplus BDU top, but wears his scarred synthleather armor jacket with its flaming jack-o-lantern patches all over it. He carries his pistols tucked away under the jacket, his knife behind the small of his back, and his 'belt' seems to be a length of heavy gauge steel chain.
A small nylon backpack with a helmet strapped finishes his outfit, except for the beat up black combat boots.
Walking up to the counter, he gives Bullet Catcher the once over and smacks a wide orkish hand down with a ¥5 note.
"Johnson. Where's he at?" he grumbles around his tusks. "An' gimme a sammich. All da fixins."
Catcher watches as the young orc barges his way in and orders.
"Roight, guess I should be getting a bit as well."
He quickly looks over the menu and sighs.
"I'll take a sandwich and a water. Myco, not soy. Lettuce, onion, tomato... and an order of spuds, even an ossified gimp can't hose those up."
After getting what he ordered, Catcher makes his way over to the wee gnomish one. Sitting next to her, he takes up most of the side of the table.
"Nice one for it."
Eliza..errr..Val walks into the beef joint and looks around. Everything seems pretty cool and normal, but she does notice the CR above the pretty red-head reading the book. An actual book!
She slides into the booth beside the chick and chills.
Her short skirt and tights with a crop top that reads "Bunnies do it for Fun" in Japanese are partly covered by the long, shiny black coat she wears. She has a comm in her hands and looks to be playing some AR game, occasionally popping a bubble from the gum she is chewing. Her pink and magenta hair is neatly split into pigtails with pom-pom ball hair elastics holding them in place. All in all she looks like someone's teenage kid sister.
Matrix Perception: 4 Successes
Lyst walks in and is disappointed to find a ganger and some metafreaks. "Johnson must be on his way." He thinks to himself, wincing at the prospect of tolerating the present company until his contact arrives. He sits in a corner booth and plays on his 'link, passively analyzing the icons around him in the matrix via AR.
The gnome sighs in an exaggerated fashion and drums on the table with her fingers. "Magicians," she shrugs.
"Well, thank you for coming. I am Ryna." She says in a cheerful voice, all frustration at the missing runner forgotten. "And I represent someone who needs a task handled. Well, more accurately, we need a number of tasks handled, and are hoping to find contractors worthy of handling a number of different situations. We are not looking for a permanent retainer, but we would like to be able to form a relationship with our contractors over the long-run, so that we use our resources properly. The overall project would occur over the course of a year, ideally, though I always find that deadlines are funny things, and projections of future events is impossible even with great-not important. Sorry. Where was I? Oh! Yes, so we would look to hire contractors a few times over the course of a year."
She looks around the table, "Honestly, the current crop of freshman runners in the Emerald City are...well, maybe the game is getting old." The last she says looking down at the table. "If only retirement were an option. Any way," she says the word as two, "This first gig, ideally, should be pretty straightforward, and fairly low risk. You can sit here and listen to a few details, or you can say, 'No, thank you, Miss Ryna, you have a pleasant day!'"
Lyst keeps his arms crossed in front of him and holds his chin in his hand. He stares blankly at the small woman, Ryna apparently, and listens to her rather unusual droning. When he speaks, his accent his noticeable. "The future is made one day at a time. Do you have a job for us or not?" He asks with mild boredom.
Lots of people who thought they were more important than they were liked to try to broker long-term relationships before extending a single offer, and usually nothing came out of it. At least that had been his experience. But this gnome did seem a bit out of sorts. "Maybe she's stoned." He thinks as he glances at his AR windows.
Additionally, Ryna's commlink is operating without any noticeable security, and is not constantly "talking" to other wireless devices the way a common person's comm does.
Ryna smirks. "Yes. A company called Ess-Sea-E-Ess-exclamation-point is preparing to release a new tutorsoft. My employer needs the source code and master. We need these items before the release date, the twentieth. My employer is not a fool, she understands that even the best plans will go wrong, but she hopes to keep this operation as low-key as possible. I will try and find a magician to provide backup. Everyone follow so far?"
"What's the payday? Talkin' 'bout low risk and straightforward jobs, that don' bode too well fer my trustiness towards ya. Dis place heavy Sec, out of town, underwater, run by killer robots, what?"
Val wants to take a closer look at her comm as well as the pillar. Would that just be a matrix perception roll again, or something else?
Val closes her eyes for a moment, as if a sudden pain had assaulted her, but it passes quickly and she goes back to tapping on her comm.
"Sounds wiz! Count me in!"
"You pay, I hang out in case things go tits up, if things fall apart I make sure people get out alive... that cover it?"
Lyst is relieved that at least someone is talking business, though a bit surprised it's the ganger. Nonetheless he remains silent and waits for Ryna to answer the question. He checks his eye recordings to make sure he's captured some good images of the Johnson and then pushes his AR window to the side.
"Tech company with their main office in Bellevue. So...yeah, the target itself is fairly low risk, but a screw-up that attracts any attention at all will result in Knight Errant showing up ready to take down a dragon," she tells Cinder Block.
"Opposition should be light. In fact, my employer wanted to save money on this operation." She makes a face and lowers her voice, obviously mocking her employer, "'Why are you spending my money when two can handle it...mimimimiRynashutupmimimimi...'" she pauses for a moment and laughs uncomfortably. "Opposition should be light, but as I said, response from law enforcement would be quick and severe. Eight grand. Each. And under the table is the other five hundred I promised. That's yours to forget this meeting ever happened, even if you decide to walk away now."
Lyst's eyes narrow as Ryna makes the offer. "Eight thousand? That's awfully high for a milk run. Either she's underselling this Knight Errant HTR team or there's something she's not telling us." He sits quietly and snoops the matrix for her icon ID. He probes for hidden icons just in case she's up to something fishy.
"Yeah, I know that look." She smirks. "I fought hard for that with the boss. I said, 'If we want to retain talent, we need to treat them like they are the best.' Perhaps this is where I should mention that negotiations on this op are strictly prohibited. Flat rate, take it or leave it." She pulls a credstick from beneath the table, covered in painter's tape and sticks it in her jacket. "Bad enough that I have to track down an alternate magician, I can't afford to leave five hundred bucks on the table. Under the table."
"Oh, literally under the table. I thought that was an expression." Lyst replies as Ryna produces the credstick. He pushes over his commlink with suspicion. "If that 500 clears, I'll take the job." Beneath the table, his hand rests on a Defiance taser; he's not in the mood to be played.
A man covered with scales walks I to the room... He looks to the others for a second... I'm guessing you all got the message too? I'm a bit late, sorry he says, smiling, his teeth pointed. He walks to the others and raises an eyebrow. Alternative magician? Isn't that what I'm for? he asks. The goggles around his neck flicker a little. or at least I can cast magics, mostly I'm just here for the job... he leans over and several different guns can be seen hanging at his waist, as well as a katana.
Ryna seems surprised. "My file said...well, no matter. Did not have enough intel on the alternate. Time for me to run." She places a scrap of paper with a commcode written in what can only be described as "excessively feminine handwriting." It might have helped if it was not written in purple ink. "At this point I'm assuming you're in. Do not use that number unless you are pulling out of the job or it is done." She hops out of the chair and grabs her book and commlink. "Here. Fill him in," she says while passing the credstick she had removed from the table to Venom.
"Later toots! Hey handsome, how about sending some of the milk-money my way!!"
Do I notice Lyst messing around on the matrix with my perception roll?
Venom looks at Val, Me? Or are you talking to someone in the matrix? he asks, leaning back against the table. I don't understand much about the system, just what runs on my smartlinks... he looks at the rest of the group, his yellow eyes flashing. oh... Yeah... Sorry, my name is venom. I'm late, parking is a @#$& and I had to stow my "Equipment" somewhere safe... he says, sliding his jacket to the side to show his holdster was empty... Although the katana was still there, if a bit hidden.
Other than that, I'm the magical member of this lovely group. Now, you may think that I'm strange, after all you'll only see me use a spell every now and then. I prefer to get personal with my targets... You know, face-to-face?
The more he talks the more it's easy to tell he has a somewhat British accent... With hints of something middle-eastern.
Who are you lovely folks? All these beautiful faces here at this... Place he looks to the bullet catcher as he says this.
Lyst feels under the table and immediately regrets it, pulling back his hand with something sticky yet clinging to his fingers. He grabs a napkin and wipes at it fruitlessly before using the same napkin to paw around under the table again. Finally he pulls out a stick and slots it into his 'link. The payment clears.
"Well, it seems our employer is serious. But I'd like to make one thing clear," He says, pausing to eye the rest of the team, "This is a data grab. If we do it right, nobody needs to get hurt. If we do it wrong and somebody gets hurt, I might be able to stabilize you, but the rest is between you and Doc Wagon. And if it all goes to drek and I catch someone like you--" He says, pointing to the scaled guy, "swinging that thing at someone's face, I'm out. The rest is between you and Knight Errant. We're not hitmen or soldiers; this job isn't wetwork or war. Remember it."
Lyst stands and moves for the door. "I've already sniffed some of your comm codes. I'll be in touch." And with that, he starts to walk out of the distasteful place with the distasteful company. But he pauses with a glance to the magician. "Hey spells, you wanna go anywhere without drawing a crowd, you need to cover up a little." Then he looks at the giant troll-thing. "And you?" Not finding anything good to say, he waves his hand dismissively and leaves.
Venom Scoffs, well... I am a hitman... he says. I don't see need to use spells when I can just not be seen... But yes, I can shapeshift, if the need arises. he stands up. Look... I'd actually like to get to know you guys... Gives me a reason not to leave you in the dirt if you go face down... Well... That and I like to know who I work with. First things first, though, if any of you ask if I'm cold blooded, you'll find out the hard way. he growls.
"Little breeder seems a but touchy. Don't seem ta like ya too much, big guy, nor you, tall dark an' scaly. But he ain'the wrong, ya know? We wanna sneak in, sneak out, be all ghost and what, makes da ammo bill and patches so much cheaper. I'm all about da sneak an' grab, figger I can bust most locks an' drop mos' any Sec Dude pretty darn quiet. I 'spect you, big guy, and you, Venom, can do the big hurt too if needs be. Dat means da little pink haired girl is either Matrix or Talky, but I'm guessing decker. Dat makes Mr. Cranky Breeder our talker, which is just great."
CB pings his work CommCode to the table, then grabs his credstick and hoofs it.
"Someone ping me da address, I'll roll by an' scope it, all casual style like. Oh, and ya can call me Cinder Block, or CB. Later, chummers. "
Catcher watches as lyst and block head out without saying a word. Then, after finishing the sandwich he had been working on, he looks pointedly at the two remaining runners while pocketing his new cred stick.
"Well they seem a right happy pair of halfer-drek. So, you can call me Catcher, short for bullet catcher, all nice and chummy like. Does exactly what it says on the tin. Hey, scales, ya sound like a tans ta me. Ya from the islands too?"
Val reaches under the table and retrieves her cred stick and, after checking that there are no strings attached (ie. tracer programs), she pockets the loot.
"Glad ta meetcha Catcher..and what was your name scales?? I'm Val...Val Kyrie...get it!! Well, anyways I am a bit of a hacker, so if you need anything in the matrix, just give me a shout!"
She holds up her comm as if to prove she is what she says.
Venom sighs... My name is Venom... That's what they call me. After all, it's from my habit of spitting poison on my blade. If course, get to know me and you'll know I do more than just magic. I'm an experienced Archer as well, and can navigate an aircraft as well. I also have my hands on some explosives... he smiles widely at mention of this
The main office for Super Cool Educational Software! (SCES!) is located in the small, gated Fairview Business Park. The outer-most fence and gate are basic and unmanned, twelve feet in height. No guard shack exists, and while the entire campus is well-lit, there is no sign of external cameras.
There is a more secure looking inner gate with several additional buildings, however SCES! is located in the less secure side.