The old woman looks hopeful when Mustachio makes his suggestion, and says "If the society is willing to do so?" Moments later however, she seems to deflate and continues with "No, I know how these corps work, and I know how thin on the ground your Starfinder Society is. With that Scoured Stars incident they hardly have the resources to keep their coffers stocked, much less protect someone."
She sighs, and then after a few moments of introspection she seems to perk up and look at Breq "Ah, no! Your comment missy, reminds me of something. I did this once, a long time ago. When I was young I faked my own death to get some debtors off my tail." She grins "Those were the days! Hah! Fools getting duped by the great Ceren!"
"Now, I'm not sure if I could handle something like that right now. Even getting down the alleyway starts to get the old bones creaking. But, the lot of you might manage. If you could find a way to fake my death, by forging records or producing physical evidence, and then preparing a new identity for me, that should stall those corps until they lose interest." Her grin widens, looking oddly mischievous. "Would serve them right for going after me!" She's gradually getting more fired up.
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Breq nods and ponders out loud. "I wonder if we could fake a death scene and the proper symptoms... " Breq puts down her forms and begins taking Ceren's vitals.
After some inspection, she looks at the great Mustachio. "Do you think you could find some proper props to set the scene? I have an idea for how we could fake her murder. Preferably without running down any alleys. " The android winks awkwardly at the actor.
Ceren watches approvingly as Compucast and Breq get to work. She reclines in a chair while Breq takes her vitals, but answers Rynner's question "It seems the two of your allies here have the right idea. When I did it for myself, why, I simply hacked into the Station's records, as your vesk friend here is doing. The file system is remarkably basic, and years ago the security was lax. The more difficult part for me was putting together a new identity. The new identification papers were easy enough with my skills, but I had to pull a lot of favors to believably integrate myself in a new neighborhood with the new identity and new cover profession. Ah, that was exciting." Her eyes are distant, reminiscing on those turbulent times.
She pulls back to reality "I expect it will take you a good long while to finish your work. And since your Society worked out where I lived, I expect the corps are not too far behind." She begins gathering a few things around her house "While you work, I'll hide out in Jatembe Park. Its not too far away, and they wouldn't expect me there." She calls out louder "Jubair! I'm taking a little walk, come help me!"
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After some time working on it, Compucast's efforts are successful. His touch on them is almost invisible, but Ceren's death is clearly marked in.
Ceren submits to Mustachio's surprisingly expert ability to disguise people with makeup, and when he's done she's almost unrecognizable. She gets a hold of a confused Jubair and the two of them head slowly down the alleyway. She holds unsteadily to the young man's arm.
Hesperrio doesn't immediately locate any morgues, but it shouldn't be too hard to visit one in Drifter's End.
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Meanwhile Compucast checks out the various jobs-boards for something that it looks like Ceren could conceivably do .
"Acrobatic clown for Zo! enterprises entertainment?", he shakes his head. "Maybe not"
"Bodyguard... nope.".
Page after page scrolls past. "Ahh, how about this? Arborist? That is someone who looks after plants isn't it? She seems to like them. Hmm.. we need a cover identity for her too."
Looking round he calls out. "Get the details on the body you swap, and make sure it is a human female! I'll swap her identity over."
<- when the dead person's confirmed
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"Surprisingly enough, I have never worked on props before. Actually, it was always beneath me as the leading man, so maybe not so surprisingly. But, I have been about the business for a good number of years, so I have seen a lot. I might be able to whip up some good dried blood with some flour and food coloring, and we can create a disturbance in the kitchen, push some chairs around, and use this kitchen cleaver as the murder weapon. Unless you had some other ideas, friend Breq."
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" My dear, I am Detective Actorpants with Absalom Station Security. We have reason to believe that one of your corpses was involved in a robbery, but we don't have a name to go off of. If we could only get a look into your freezers, we can see if one of the corpses matches the witness description. The woman was highly injured when she left the scene of the crime, you see, and could have perished from her injuries."
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Breq smiles a cold smile at Compucast's suggestion. "Arborist, eh? I think we could make that work. With your forging skills and my knowledge of the law, we should be able to make am excellent false trail. " The android pulls our her data pad once again. "Hmmm... better business bureau, we'll need a few years of good reviews. And a business license, yes, that's important. Ooh, and a fine from ten years ago for raising a man-eating plant. "
Rynner discovers that the mortuary logs show quite a number of bodies of old human women have been brought in over the last week.
The two computer experts and the lawyer get to work and assemble a digital identity for Ceren. It turns out quite convincing! But, a digital footprint alone won't hold up to focused scrutiny. More social connections may be needed to properly integrate the new identity into the fabric of the station.
The lashunta mortician stares at Mustachio for a long moment before psychically uttering "Bah, I'm too busy for this. Detective, You're talking about the stabbing two days ago? We have her in the stacks right now." He clicks his fingers together to get the attention of a young vesk in a gray vest, and then turns away from you without wasting any more time.
The vesk mortician's tech nods at Hesperrio and Mustachio and rasps "Follow me detectives." He leads you through to a chilled storage area and heaves out one of the drawers to reveal a wrapped body. "Nassty work, this one. You need her for your investigation?"
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"Yes. For reasons of uttermost topmost priority A One, we would like you to unwrap the body so we may first examine the face and look for any physical identifiers like tatoos and birthmarks. Following that, my colleague Detective Fako would like to take the body back to the station for... fingerprinting and DNA analysis. Yes, I think that is what he said to me earlier. I can assure you, he does not plan on defiling the corpse in anyway. Pretty sure about that. I think. Then we will return with it in about 12 hours."
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Breq steps back and pats Compucast on the back. "Well, my scaly friend, we make an excellent team. Now, we must on a far harder task than hacking the government. Being social. "
The android steps back and freezes, for a good 30 seconds.
Suddenly, her eyes open once again. "Compucast, after a cursory search of the Social Medias, I have created a basic template we can use for her new persona. Can you please aid me in fleshing out the details? "
The vesk mortician shrugs at Mustachio's request. "If you need to take her for your... fingerprinting, take her. Director Ysspe won't care, its another one off our hands. I need to get back to work but I'll have a drone bring it out to your vehicle." Once he hears about Hesperrio's comment, he follows up with "Or check what you need to here. But I can't sstick around and wait on you. Call me if you need the drone." The vesk stretches tiredly and heads on out to continue working.
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Planning any corpse defiling..? Hesperrio says in a strangled voice. "I... me... you!"
He shakes his head and confirms that the woman looks close enough to Ceren. He reads the record number on the bag.
Once the vesk is out of the room, he signals Rynner on the comms. "Rynner. We need you to change the identification on corpse #5667AH1332 to Ceren's old details."
Breq deftly adjusts the mortuary records to incorporate Ceren's details into the chosen corpses' records (working from Compucast's earlier efforts to match the new corpse). With that final detail complete, you're fairly confident that Ceren's fake death is convincing to anyone who attempts either a digital or physical investigation.
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"I have over 250 social media accounts myself, so I know all there is to know about them. For an elderly human woman, who is perhaps looking for an elderly gent for long walks on the beach and candlelit romantic dinners, I suggest a overhead angle with her peering into the camera with "come get me eyes", one hand on a hip, pouting lips, just a hint of cleavage, and the hair flowing freely. For Facebook, a picture of her grandson is enough."
With Compucast and Mustachio's assistance, Ceren's new social media profile is set up successfully. It seems only a little more work will be enough to solidify her new identity.
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"I've got it! Yes, add in a criminal record, and find her a new apartment, indeed. But she also needs... an entirely new wardrobe! My speciality. Breq, get me on the interwebs because it is time for me to visit Ababdar.com and pick out the latest old lady fashions and we can ship them to her new place! And all of you doubted me. How DARE you, sir!" He points at Herperrio.
Breq and Mustachio work together to put together a wardrobe of new clothing for Ceren, eventually sending it forwards to her new address. With those details complete, you feel fairly confident that Ceren's new cover identity will hold up (at least for now).
Not long after Breq and Mustachio finish up, all of your communicators beep with an incoming call. Anyone who picks up the call hears Jubair's panicked and breathless voice "Gran Ceren told me 'ta call ya. We're in Ja-Jatembe Park. She spott'd some weird people. I think they're lookin' to catch her. I'm gonna distract 'em but Gran needs help!" His heavy breathing is loud through the communicator's speakers. After your call ends, your communicators receive a GPS signal showing Ceren's current location in the park. She seems to be in an isolated section of wooded land.
Your group quickly heads towards Jatembe Park. Ceren's GPS signal sends you far from the most popular sections of the park and into the wooded sections. You spot a bridge and stream up ahead, before suddenly hearing a snarled "You can't run for us, you old woman! Make this easy and come out with your hands up, nice and slow so we don't have to shoot ya."
You break out from a thicket and immediately spot Ceren hiding behind the trunk of a tree on the other side of the river. Flashes of fabric and the glint of metal reveal the locations of three other figures approaching slowly. The one out in the open (on the path) is suited up in combat gear, carries a baton on her hip, and has a pistol of some kind drawn in hand. The one out in the open calls out "Don't be stupid now, old lady. Our employers just want to have a chat with you. It'd be a much nicer chat if you weren't full of holes." A snigger from another of the figures can be heard from the trees.
|||||INITIATIVE:|||||
Storyn
Blue Goon
Rynner
Compucast
Hesperrio
Yellow Goon
Red Goon
Mustachio
Breq
Round 1; BOLD may go
Of course, if you let me know ahead of time that you'll be out for a number of days and won't be able to post, I'll just bot you as soon as you come up in turn order.
The heavy round from Storyn's reaction cannon takes the goon in the side. She hisses and yells "S~**! The old lady's got backup! Eyes on the bridge!"
The goon to the north lurches forward, the slow advance on Ceren discarded for the time being. She raises her pistol and takes a single shot at Storyn. A pulse of crackling energy impacts the side of the bridge, missing the vesk entirely!
Not having access to Storyn's superior range, Compucast moves up behind the vesk and draws his own pistol.
|||||INITIATIVE:|||||
Storyn
Blue Goon
Rynner
Compucast
Hesperrio
Yellow Goon
Red Goon
Mustachio
Breq
Round 1; BOLD may go