"I believe your parameters are acceptable, Historia-7," says Dawn. The android's precise speech patterns are similar to those of the Dataphiles' leader. "We will make our way to the coordinates swiftly and stealthily."
"Aye, I feel we can manage that."
Thuldas turns to his companions. "Looks like time ain't on our side. Let's get movin' and we can put t'gether a plan o' action on th' way."
Iolas nods, "Alright, let's get going then. Can't say I'm too familiar with hacking, but I think we can manage."
"I am, as always, eager to help in any way that I can"
When Historia-7 mentions Drifter's End and the Bluerise Tower, Stell nods in recognition. "I used to play a regular gig in the Nebula Rasa lounge in the district and next door to the Bluerise. Saw all kinds in the lounge, mostly people on the station for a temporary assignment or visitors to the station. Never know what life forms will be in attendance. I had to learn a lot of new music to be able to play some of the requests I used to get there."
"We'll need to be careful when it comes to the Bluerise corporations. A lot of them are extraterritorial, meaning they play by their own sets of rules. If we run afoul of one of them, we might not be able to count on help from Absalom Station security or lawyers."
"Let's get on it. I'm not a super-hacker, but I've done some programming and I do a lot of Web-based work."
The Langston Field Apartments are a group of residences which theoretically are for medium- and long-term transients, who might be on-station for a few months or years. But despite this, many permanent station residents live here, taking advantage of the cheap accommodations.
The apartments are organized into "racks" of cube-shaped apartments made from Astrocrete*, that are stacked four-high from floor to ceiling of the deck; two such racks face each other forming an open chasm between them. At the far end is the upper wall of the station and long vertical windows let natural light into the gulf between the racks, and each apartment cube has windows only on the front face. Each apartment has a small "outdoor" porch leading to its entrance.
The coordinates that Historia-7 gives the PCs point to an apartment that like the others here resembles a cement cube, with several tomato plants in plastic barrels sitting on an otherwise barren porch. A young human man appears to be tending the plants, and looks up when you arrive. He is not wearing armor and is unarmed.
"Ah... hi. Who are you guys?"
__________________
Before the party comes within earshot of the address, Thuldas whispers to the rest of the group, "This may or may not be our hacker. If anyone is partic'rly good at bein' nonthreatenin'ly inquisitive, this is a sublime time t' exercise that talent. Personally, I'm a touch... gruff... so I'll stand in th' back and watch fo' coporate assassins."
Thuldas drops slightly behind the others, watching the surrounding buildings for any undue attention or aggressive demeanors.
Dawn tries to open her mind up and tap into her empathic abilities, but she is unable to get a good read on the young man's emotions. Nevertheless, she steps forward. "Greetings. We are looking for somebody who has had recent interactions with certain representatives of Bluerise Tower. Might you have any information about that individual?"
"Hi there. My name is Wint. Who are you? Don't worry, we're not here to cause anybody any trouble. In fact, we want to help!!"
"Greetings. We are looking for somebody who has had recent interactions with certain representatives of Bluerise Tower. Might you have any information about that individual?"
The man looks at Dawn and blinks. "Uhhh... what?" He looks genuinely confused.
"Hi there. My name is Wint. Who are you? Don't worry, we're not here to cause anybody any trouble. In fact, we want to help!!"
He blinks again, looking at the small creature. "Uh, Winnnt. Right... okay." He shakes his head. "Nobody from Bluerise ever comes around here though. Not that I ever heard of."
A voice can be heard from inside. "Jubair! Who is it?"
The man turns back to face the apartment. "Nobody, Grandma!"
"Would your grandmother mind if we spoke with her as well? We must explore all avenues of investigation," Dawn says gently, not wanting to frighten the young man.
While Stell and Wint are doing well on the diplomatic front, Stell scrutinizes the fellow for signs of subterfuge.
For some reason, this subject was particularly hard to read. Either he's not hiding anything or he's very good.
"We're sorry to interrupt your day like this. If you did nothing wrong, it's possible someone might think you did. If so, you should know what might be coming. May we come in and talk privately?"
Stell thinks that "Jubair" is willing to talk to the group, though the line of questions is making him more and more nervous.
"Wrong? Why would they think I've done something wrong? I didn't do anything! Investigation? Who are you guys, Stewards? You don't look like Stewards. Can I see your badges?"
As Jubair gets more and more edgy an elderly lady emerges from the apt.
"Who are your friends, dear? Are you going to make them stand outside?" she asks.
"Their not my friends, Grandma," Jubair answers over his shoulder. "They're investigating a crime or something. I told 'em I didn't do nothing."
"They don't look like police," says the elderly woman. She comes forward, and looks the group over. Though she is elderly she stands unaided and still seems fairly spry, though the is very thin.
"Hello," she says to the group. "I'm Ceren. Are you from the Stewards?"
[dice=Perception DC 20]Ceren has a datajack implant.[/spoiler]
As Sarenrae teaches, honesty is the best policy.
"No, ma'am. We are actually Starfinders. We are looking for somebody who recently hacked several corporations in Bluerise Tower. We tracked them to this location and believe the may be in danger. Do you know who this individual might be?"
"If it helps," Stell offers, "allies of ours erased evidence linking the hacker to this location. It should keep the corporation security forces from doing what we did, at least for a while. We'd like to help further in exchange for a peek at what was stolen. If you know who would be involved in this, assuming it's not you, then you can do this person a favor by putting us in touch." Stell shows her Starfinder ID badge as she talks.
Iolas nods and shows his ID badge, "I'm pleased to meet you ma'am. As my companions have said, we're Starfinders. Just between you and me, I've got no love for those goons at Bluerise. If you can help us we'd be grateful."
"Yes, we're just here to help!!!!"
Jubair eyebrows go up.
"Starfinders? Aren't you supposed to be out exploring the galaxy or something? Why do you care about hackers?"
Ceren frowns, and looks confused for a moment. She looks up at the group.
"I can't say I know anything about what you're talking about, but... why don't you come in for some tea? I just put some on. We can talk inside. I'm not going to make visitors stand outside my door!"
Jubair looks surprised and a bit annoyed, but doesn't object.
Once inside, Cerem begins bustling around, setting a table. "Jubair, get the nice teacups and saucers out, will you? And where's my green and blue tablecloth? The one with the lilies on it?"
She comes back to the table, and once the cups are laid she begins pouring tea. "Sorry, I wasn't expecting to have company. But it's nice to have visitors! Let's see... there's lots of sugar there. And I have some soy milk... wait, I know! We have some Castrovelian Rorbat milk. Very rich, if the soymilk is too thin for you."
Finally Ceren is done bustling around and sits down.
"So, you wanted to talk about some hacker. And you think the hacker was here? Why do you want to find them? And how will you recognize them when you do find them?"
"My grandson and I don't do that kind of thing, and I don't think there's been anyone else here for a while. Unless it's one of the bridge ladies... but why wouldn't they just do it from their house?"
Thuldas does his very best to look casual in his iridescent armor, kneeling on the porch to prune the tomato plants a bit while trying to keep an eye out for additional "unexpected visitors".
"Hmm. Rorbat milk. I like that. Its almost as thick and creamy as the milk we have at home. Thank you"
Stell lets the woman serve tea, watching her mannerisms for signs of someone with something to hide. She also looks around at the room and the two residents.
"Thank you for the tea, ma'am," she says. After taking a sip and hearing the woman say she doesn't do hacking, Stell asks, "If you don't mind my asking, why do you have a datajack?"
"If you don't mind my asking, why do you have a datajack?"
"Oh, I used to be a computer whiz in my younger days. I made quite a name for myself! But my memory started to go... when you get old there's some things you just can't do anymore. They call it Admunsen Syndrome. They rewired my cortical implant to stop any more damage, but there's some things that are just gone."
Ceren shakes her head.
"I admit that my memory isn't that great any more... but if I had forgotten about a house guest, I think Jubair would remember."
Jubair nods.
Dawn is familiar with the woman's condition. An idea occurs to her. "One of the symptoms of your condition is large lapses in memory. I do not mean to accuse you of any wrongdoing, but is it possible that you may have inadvertently hacked into Bluerise Tower's computer systems during one of your Admunsen episodes?"
After Ceren responds to Dawn's question, Stell asks, "Who did the rewiring? Is it possible they could have done something that would make you do things you wouldn't choose to do and then forget about it?"
"Oh, they did the upgrade to my implant at the hospital," Ceren says, nodding. "I can't imagine they did anything odd with it... and besides, that was years ago. It took a lot of my savings, but I have no complaints," Ceren says.
She thinks about Dawn's question.
"An inadvertent hack? That's rather silly... hacking takes a lot of deliberate effort. Planning, timing, skill, and..." Ceren stops, eyes adrift, seemingly lost in thought for a moment.
"I... that's strange. How... embarrassing."
Ceren looks up at the group.
"I do have an encrypted file in my headware memory. It's quite large. I can only assume it's the file you are talking about. I must have... slipped into an earlier mindset and thought I was still a hacker."
Jubair looks shocked.
"Grandma, what have you done?"
She chuckles, and shakes her head.
"It can't have been easy, hacking one of those Bluerise Tower nodes. I didn't think I still had it in me. You don't think the folks at Bluerise would let it go if I just deleted the file, do you?"
Based on her time at AbadarCorp, Dawn knows all too well the mindset of a megacorp.
"I do not think they would be willing to grant you leniency in this case. The punishment for hacking their systems, inadvertent or not, could be...severe. However, the Starfinder Society is quite interested in bringing an accomplished computer expert like yourself into their ranks. I am sure they would be able to protect you from any repercussions of your transgression if you decide to accept their offer."
Stell is not sure how something like this could happen. Anyone who could hack such a place ought to know how the owners will respond to theft of their property. But that can be sorted out later.
"Time to pack and come with us. Why are you here, by the way? This housing is for people who are just passing through. Sounds like you're retired and living on disability support."
Once she has an answer, Stell pokes her head out to inform Thuldas and get a report. "We think we've found what we came for. Any signs of trouble? We'll try to hustle and get away from here."
Back to the inside. "Take only what you need, but don't leave anything behind that could identify you, in case the corps come snooping, looking to follow."
"I am sure they would be able to protect you from any repercussions of your transgression if you decide to accept their offer."
"Oh? What offer is that?" Asks Ceren.
"Historia-7, the leader of the Dataphiles, has expressed interest in an individual with hacking skills like those you possess. She believes you would be an asset to the Starfinder Society, should you wish to join us."
"And we need access to the data that you recovered," Dawn adds.
"And we need access to the data that you recovered," Dawn adds.
"The file? Why do you want the file?" Ceren looks to one side, and her eyes lose focus. By now you realize that this indicates that she is accessing her headware memory.
"Oh! Well, yes, I suppose I could see why Starfinders would be interested. It seems like it is pretty valuable. Maybe that's why I took it."
She looks back at the group.
"I can't imagine that the corporation I took this from will be pleased. When they track me down..." Ceren shakes her head. "No, I'm going to have to lie low. Tell you what," she says, meeting the gaze of the Starfinders.
"The only way that Corporate Security will stop coming after me is if they think I'm dead. You want the file? I'll give it to you if you can fake my death. Do that, and make sure that Jubair here is out of harm's way, and I'll give the file to you."
Ceren stands up, and goes over to the counter and picks up her purse. She reaches in and pulls out a credstick.
"All my ID is on this stick. Use whatever you need to do whatever it is you plan to do. I'm going to go an lie low - I know a place that's kind of off-the-grid. Used to use it in the old days. Here's a comm code. Only call me on this line if it's absolutely necessary, and not from anywhere around here. Ask for Leddy. He can put you through to me. Tell him... ah, tell him that you want to speak to 'Mrs. Blurose.' got it?"
She throws the purse over her shoulder. "Meet me in six hours. There's a little bridge in Jatembe Park under the Eye. There's a little statue commemorating the workers who died trying to patch an explosive leak in the station a couple hundred years ago. I met my late husband there. We can meet there. Don't be late."
She turns to Jubair.
"Jubair, darling, gather up everything that you think is valuable, and then go with these folks. I'll meet you soon."
Ceren turns to leave. She turns back to the group with a smile.
"This is the most excitement I've had in years! Reminds me of when I was young. Good luck!"
The dwarf runs a rough hand over his beard as they walk to the nearest elevator, digesting this new imperative. "This whole plan sounds a bit foolhardy, but I can't think o' a better way t' get Bluerise goons off 'er back."
With a sigh, Thuldas takes the credstick with Ceren's ID and inserts it into a port on his computer tucked on the inside of his wrist. Bringing up holographic images of her identification documents, he slowly scrolls through them, studying the encrypted authentication insignias. "I've never made an'thin' like this before, but I 'ave spoofed manufacturer's marker encryption t' fix all sorts o' things. I can't imagine it's too diff'rent..."
"What'd'ya think, Jubair? Is your gran more o' an Amare, or a Sephia? What about Signi?
"Imma gonna make her a bit younger. She looks spry. Let's cut seven years off for 'er.
"Anyone got any lucky numbers? I gotta put a lot o' numbers in this thing."
"She looks like an Asaria to me. Numbers, hm, how about 16, 9, 18, 178. I can help out if you want, not too bad with computers myself."
"She looks like an Asaria to me. Numbers, hm, how about 16, 9, 18, 178. I can help out if you want, not too bad with computers myself."
"Asaria it is! Date o' birth 9/16... IDN 18178, ah, B29."
As he works away at fabricating the new ID documents, Thuldas weighs their options out loud. "Th' way I see it, we gotta tie up as many loose ends as possible. That means motivatin' Ceren's 'death' from th' perspective o' a Bluerise investigator. One way t' do that is makin' it appear that she was offed by someone who wanted the information she stole. Another might be t' make it appear that she died o' natural causes before th' heist an' someone used her address t' cover their tracks. She is old, after all - no one's gonna see an old lady dyin' o' natural causes as suspicious."
"The natural causes angle seems easier. If we try to make it look like someone killed her, then it's also possible station security will get wind of it and investigate.
"With the natural death scenario, we can locate someplace out of the way with no security cameras, put in a false report of an emergency, wait for the first responders to drive by looking for the emergency, where we inform them it was a false alarm. Once the team moves on, we hack into their dispatch record and change the information to look like they picked up our lady, add some details for the report that will indicate she was found with a packed suitcase, so when the corp security team investigates, they have a reason for her to be on the run, trying to get away with the data. Give the cause of death as a heart attack."
"We doctor the report to suggest her grandson was notified and he said she should be cremated as soon as possible. And then create a false report at the morgue to suggest the cremation took place already. That would destroy the data in her head. We could arrange for Jubair to pick up her belongings at the hospital."
"We can put my name down as the person who found her body. Let the security folks contact me and I'll give them a first hand account that confirms all the details in the report."
"We could figure out a way to get a suitcase somewhere linked to these hacked reports, then the corp security folks could locate it, take it, and satisfy themselves the data was not in the case."
"I can definitely make her house look like somebody broke in and searched it, looking for the data thingamabob. Make it look like it was done by a professional, just not a very GOOD professional.
Of course, I should clean up the house a little first. Wouldn't want people to think that Ceren was a poor housekeeper"
"Sarenrae is the goddess of honesty, but also of redemption. I believe she would approve of this deception if it means protecting Ceren. I will do what I can to make the medical reports appear legitimate."
"So if I'm understandin' correctly, Stell's plan is to
(1) Stage a medical false alarm.
(2) Hack th' medical system, indicatin' that they did indeed pick up a patient - Ceren - an' that she died b'fore they got there.
(3) Create a second false report for 'er cremation.
(4) Plant evidence somewhere t' prove she really was on th' run.
"Meanwhile, our li'l blue friend,"Thuldas smiles at Wint affectionately, "would like to first clean Ceren's house an' then trash it.
"I'm concerned about tryin' t' hack into the medical system 'ere - Absalom Station ain't a two-bit miner's stop, there's bound t' be some good security protectin' those files. An' without an example to work off of, forgin' documents gets to bein' more difficult."
The dwarf pauses for a moment. "What if... what if we made a ghost?"
"Here me out - let's say that Ceren died last week, peacefully an' in 'er sleep. She's lived a good life. Jubair ain't got a lotta cash, so he 'as her cremated somewhere in th' Spike that doesn't keep immac'late records and may be open t' some credits on the side. Jubair takes 'is belongings and moves. As of a week ago, th' apartment is vacant.
"So our ghost, y' see, uses the vacant apartment t' hack into Bluerise an' steal that data. Tryin' t' be clever an' cover her tracks. An' this ghost, she knows she's got limited time t' sell the data an' get off the station, so she makes a couple enquiries for buyers b'fore she gets cold feet an' buys a one-way ticket to a colony in the Vast, leavin' this afternoon.
"This way, we remove Ceren from th' investigation entirely, an' focus on creatin' a ghost to take all the heat be'fore disappearin' into the void."
"Wouldn't creating a ghost fail if investigators came and asked questions? The neighbours (or maybe those security cameras) would know she was alive very recently"
Stell nods as Thuldas spins out another option. "Fewer moving parts will be better. Wint is correct, however, that we need to have something that can't be easily falsified. Since Ceren just walked out and is probably on some security cameras, we can't take things back in time before she just left. We could have Jubair get a call allegedly from someone who is notifying him that his grandmother was just killed in an accident. He can leave in a hurry and we could leave by a back door, perhaps hack the security camera feeds to delete sections where we enter. That would keep us from being identified and create support for the idea that someone came too late and searched for the data. Anyone who notices the missing data would assume the perps of the search were just covering their tracks."
"We could then go to some place remote, where she supposedly was when she died and Jubair could report that her body was stolen. I've heard that people sometimes disappear from areas where the homeless reside, rumored to have been snatched for organ harvesting and other biogenetic underground research. Maybe we could plant something that would suggest such a black market effort was going on, maybe bribe some street people to claim they saw a van lurking around with dark tinted windows."
"Wouldn't creating a ghost fail if investigators came and asked questions? The neighbours (or maybe those security cameras) would know she was alive very recently"
"I... uh..." Thuldas taps his chin as he realizes this unfortunate weakness to his brilliant plan.
"Fewer moving parts will be better..."
"Alright, I think this is a plan I can get behind. Although it might be better t' actually get a suspicious-lookin' vehicle in the area. I suppose we could rent one, obscure th' identification, and move around real slow for a while...
An' just so we're all on th' same page - what's the full list o' things that Iolas an' myself will need to hack, erase, or otherwise dig'tally obfuscate?"
For a time, Thuldas and Iolas work on creating a set of new Identification papers for Ceren, and they seem pretty pleased with the results.
"Sarenrae is the goddess of honesty, but also of redemption. I believe she would approve of this deception if it means protecting Ceren. I will do what I can to make the medical reports appear legitimate."
Dawn considers the notion of filing false documents for a death certificate, but is not sure how to do it.
"We could then go to some place remote, where she supposedly was when she died and Jubair could report that her body was stolen...."
Naaaassssttttttyyyy GM :-) :-)
"If we wish to fake her death, we will likely have to acquire a cadaver. Though it is a sordid thought, we might be able to alter the body to resemble Ceren's."
Thuldas shudders slightly. "I'm good for hackin' computers an' blowin' holes in walls, but you're well outta my comfort zone 'ere."