Shadowrun
Shadowrun Play => Play-by-Post => Topic started by: Jayde Moon on <11-08-15/1451:31>
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[Sunday, 207506021422L]
The afternoon is the warmest part of the day and everyone seems to be taking the opportunity to enjoy it. So are you, except then you get a buzz on your commlink. Someone is setting up a meet and of course, it's virtual. Well... hopefully it won't take too long.
@ Divilian
<<Div [Manny] hey, Chummer. Got a job for you, if you're interested. It's a virtual meet. Log into the following following cafe in about thirty minutes: xxx-x.needlenet_mramp_xx.mcr
Good luck.>>
@ Ice
<<Ice [Red Rose] Something wiz for ya, in 30 minutes hit up xxx-x.needlenet_mramp_xx.mcr>>
@ Pennies
<<Pennies [XXXXX] Heard you are looking for something to do with your time? I've got something you can do with it and it pays. 30 minutes, join this cafe and see if you are interested: xxx-x.needlenet_mramp_xx.mcr>>
@ Requiem
<<Requiem [Silk] Hey, glad you are doing ok these days. I got a request from a friend to put someone who knows what he's doing onto a job. Can you meet her at this site: xxx-x.needlenet_mramp_xx.mcr The meet is in half an hour. Thanks!>>
@ Tiger Eye
<<Tiger Eye [Red Rose] Hey dummy. You still looking for something to shoot at? xxx-x.needlenet_mramp_xx.mcr <-- go to that matrix address in half an hour and see what the lady has to say. Maybe you'll get to pull that trigger, finally.>>
@ Xipe
<<Xipe [Silk] OK, hun. This is your ticket into the big time. I've pulled a few strings to put you here, so don't frag it up. This matrix cafe: xxx-x.needlenet_mramp_xx.mcr in 30 minutes. You'll do fine.>>
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Xipe stood back and enjoyed the image of the children playing in the water from the fire hydrant. He rested the large wrench on his shoulder that he had just used to provide the “Barrens waterpark” for the screaming throng. A small orc girl, pigtails flailing as she squealed from the cold water ran at him and slid up short.
“Tank joo Mista!” She called, her eyes squinting from the water pouring down across her face.
Xipe tossed her a wink from above his respirator, “Dats wiz kid, have fun” and slid back into the apartment building. He made his way through the entryway to the handyman’s supply closet and dropped the wrench there on the floor. To call it a supply closet was a stretch at best as the only tool that was kept there and could be relied upon not to disappear was that wrench.
Closing the door to the closet he took the stairs two at a time back to the roof where he was enjoying the day. At the top of the stairs he dodged two teens checking out bad porn trids on a portable comp and climbed the ladder the last few meters to the roof. “Couple more years those two will be running with the Spiders,” he mused as he passed.
A quick nudge from a shoulder gave him access to the pinnacle of the five story structure. Climbing out onto the roof he dodged the maze of hanging laundry and made his way back to his seat, an old rickety lawn chair overlooking the mayhem he had started in the street.
Xipe sat down heavily in the chair and watched the mass of metahumanity below as they frolicked in the water. After a few moments something started to buzz on his left hip. Then a quick shock, much like sticking a finger in a light socket caused him to yelp in pain and jab a hand into his pocket. He pulled out his comlink and dropped onto the roof as if it was a snake. “I fragging hate that drek” he thought as he rubbed one hand along his side where he had been shocked.
After a moment he noticed that the light was blinking with an unread message. With two fingers he reached down and picked up the comlink and placed it on the edge of the chair. Carefully he took a clothespin and tapped a button to display the message. “Take that fragger, shock dis” he said to himself as the message faded out and then reappeared on the screen. The com code made Xipe lean in close and take another look around on the roof to make sure no one was looking over his shoulder.
The message was from Silk, “<<[Silk] OK, hun. This is your ticket into the big time. I've pulled a few strings to put you here, so don't frag it up. This matrix cafe: xxx-x.needlenet_mramp_xx.mcr in 30 minutes. You'll do fine.>>
Xipe quickly pulled out a pen and scrawled the address down on a quickly stolen pair of Mr. Grank’s undershorts and tucked them into a pocket. In his hurry he almost forgot the com link, turning back he grabbed it with the boxer shorts and stuffed the whole wad back into a pocket on his hoodie. Yanking the roof access back he scared the bejezzsus out of the kids watching porn and took the stairs three at a time heading out of the building.
“Work at last, maybe I even get to eat more den once this week.” A slow grin appeared under the mask as he wound his way towards a coffee shop with private virtual setups. If he hurried he might just have time for a cup of soycaf to settle his stomach before the sure sickness of going virtual.
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It was a rare warm, non rainy day in Seattle and Pennies stood above an apartment complex nearby and pointed her rifle again at the Stuffer Shack sign, looking to get out some of her aggression towards the company at it. For close to 10 minutes she stared at the advertisement wishing hellfire to rain on it and stared through her scope wanting to hit the small cans she set up in front of the sign. Right about as she was about to take her first shot of many that perfect evening, a chirp comes into her ear warning her of a message.
<<Pennies [XXXXX] Heard you are looking for something to do with your time? I've got something you can do with it and it pays. 30 minutes, join this cafe and see if you are interested: xxx-x.needlenet_mramp_xx.mcr>>
For a moment she thought it was her father Ray, so she ignored it for the first few minutes and fired the shot across the way attempting to hit the small green bean can. "Rats!" she whispered to herself as she was off by a few inches. Her commlink went off a second time for unchecked messages, so she quickly crawled off of her hiding spot and checked it. Usually messages from her father didn't ring, she set it up like that. Anxiously she got out of her comfortable set up as fast as she could and checked the message on her deck. By that time a good minute or so had passed.
Woo hoo! Sending a message out to the boards got a hit!
The bad news soon dawned upon the stocky dwarf. She got a hit. And she was nowhere near her secure deck. Shit! Sprinting downstairs as fast as she could, she sprinted back to her apartment. Of course, it had to be when people were crowding the streets to and fro. Trying to squeeze her way between inconsiderate people soon became more trouble than it was worth at points as a couple made a point of intentionally elbowing the decker and trying to knock her over.
Eventually after a few almost miscues, Tasda makes it to her apartment and fumbles with her keyring..."Cmon damn it... Tasda finally finds the proper key and shuts the door behind her quickly. Ten minutes left until the meet.
Ahhhh sweet timing... No longer worried about the meet, Tasda slumped down into her brown genuine leather Lazyboy. Looking at her computer system one might think she was a rich noble, but clearly the rest of the apartment told a different story. Wallpaper was falling off the walls beyond any attempt to repair it. Her idea of furniture for company was quite literally 4 fake would legs supporting a fake wood of obviously a different material, patch worked together with some tape. "It works" Tasda frequently told herself as she never had company over. But her Matrix life was pimped out.
Stepping into the Matrix world she felt like a million bucks in her goggles and stepped out in to the virtual street. "Home sweet home" Brushing her short, formal pant legs off, she sauntered up to the meet location and looked around for some of the other chummers. In reality what she thought was a million bucks barely passed for clothed for most chummers. She didn't have a clue what the heck "formal" chummers wore so she just made sure her armor looked well...in one piece.
My first run!!! I can't believe it!!! She ran her hand through her hair, trying to "look cool", but on the inside, she could explode into nervous technobabble at any moment.
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Xipe slid past an ork that decided to use the doorway to the Stop Caf Café at the same time he did. With a mumbled apology he stepped from the heat of the street into the cool interior of the coffee shop. A quick look around confirmed that the regulars were all in place and nothing seemed amiss.
“Hoi Xipe!” called a voice from behind the counter. Heidi stood there and at the sight of her Xipe felt his cheeks flush. Heidi was all ork in the right places, just the right junk in the trunk one might say. For not the first time since laying eyes on her Xipe mused, “An girl like her and a guy like me….nah.” Xipe had had a crush on Heidi ever since he had first lain eyes on her. Thus far he had never felt he could ask her out. “Who wants to date nobody?” he mused.
Broken from his reverie Xipe returned the greeting and waved clumsily. “Hoi Heidi, what’s biz?” The attractive female behind the counter kept wiping the synthwood with a towel as she answered, “Null chummer, quiet as the grave.”
Xipe frowned at the reference and she quickly tried to cover, “You gonna hab da usual?” Xipe nodded and held up two slim fingers, “A double shot, got ta fill my stomach.” Heidi frowned, “You gonna go virtual again?” At his nod she added, “Take da bucket dis time, an when you hurl, you are cleanin dat up.”
Xipe nodded and waved off her protestations as he started towards the private virtual rooms in the back. He did pause to grab his soycaf and, at her insistence, a bucket to hold whatever was in his stomach after the session. “I fragging hate dis part. But, an elf’s got ta eat” he thought, heading back into the maze of small rooms sipping from his styrofoam cup.
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Ice was pacing around her room, nerves and fear gnawing at her as it had been since she'd asked Red Rose to keep an eye out for work. It went against all her instincts, but then where had those instincts lead her? Sure she was safe, at least from being discovered, but by every other measure she wasn't. Suddenly she heard her comlink chirping.
<<Ice [Red Rose] Something wiz for ya, in 30 minutes hit up xxx-x.needlenet_mramp_xx.mcr>>
Ice felt herself covered in cold sweat, almost shaking, She stopped her pacing and closed her eyes, her whirling mind going back to the training Overwatch had given her years ago. Gradually her breathing slowed, the tremors stopped, her mind focused.
It's alright... I can do this.
She crawls into her nest of a bed and relaxes, her mind slipping from her body, away from meatspace and its immutable laws, into the Matrix. Here she felt free, natural. It was something strange to her, she had never asked for her abilities, but here in VR she felt at home. She took a moment to examine her avatar, her albino features complemented by white and pale blue clothing, the type that makes one thing of a frost mage in many fantasy games... although the clothing was far more decent then many games such give their female characters.
Ice makes sure to take time to compose herself before entering the address provided.
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A few minutes before the meet and there is a formation of the meet room in question. Needle Net is sculpted to appear as the Space Needle, but with additional accoutrements that serve to give it a 'futuristic' look. At least futuristic as imagined by one of the best trog deckers in the Sprawl.
Entering the host is a cinch for those who have the right credentials. But it takes those credentials to even find the place, unless you are a wiz-bang decker who knows what he's looking for.
Three personas note the formation of room mramp_xx.mcr and notice each other as they make their way to it. One of the personas seems to wobble unsteadily but soon all three are in the room, sizing each other up and wondering if one of them is the host of this meeting.
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Divillian was nearly finished blessing his new sacred space when the message came in. Good. Another gig. Amazing how they just seem to roll in once you start getting your name back out there. Stamping his foot at the edge of the circle on the floor, he stepped away from his lodge and shut the door, trapping the clouds of incense and sage.
Stepping into the climate controlled living room, he slipped his specs on over his eyes and sent the request to enter the Cafe.
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Requiem was stripped to the waist, going through the kata with practised ease, the sweet sheening on the spare whipcord frame and the mass of scar tissue...his state of undress was mostly on the off chance that Silk dropped in to the dojo as she had been promising to for the last week, but the admiring looks on some of the other students didn't hurt either if he was honest with himself. Silk has been improving, she wasn't as fast as him but it was getting to the point where she was reading him and predicting the flow of combat without thought. He knew her gift was partly at work but she was also a credit to his training. Maybe Lady Tanya would also take the time to stop in...
His link buzzing dragged his mind off unattainable women...ah...
<<Requiem [Silk] Hey, glad you are doing ok these days. I got a request from a friend to put someone who knows what he's doing onto a job. Can you meet her at this site: xxx-x.needlenet_mramp_xx.mcr The meet is in half an hour. Thanks!>>
Well it looked like training would have to take a rest, it would seem that work beaconed once more. A swift and slightly chilly shower later and Requiem was heading out for one of the pre-arranged safe zones for VR communications. He trusted the work of Silk and Escapade on this one, this was a secure a location as server redirects and whatever tech trickery they could cobble together...he'd given up listening to the explanation years ago!
His persona materialised in the host once his 'link had gone through the relevant 'handshakes'...it was a tall figure clad in a billowing black longcoat buttoned high to the throat. The face was hidden behind a half skull visage that left his 'mouth' a black void...time to sing the hymns to the dead...
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The usual nausea greeted Xipe as he put on the headset and closed his meat eyes to enter the virtual world. Leaning quickly to one side he turned his head towards the trash can but only dry heaved for a moment before catching himself. “There has got to be a better way to do this drek” he thought.
The virtual world swirled again and after a moment where he turned the inside of the trash can a light soycaf brown, he was in the host set for the meet. His persona was the generic smiling face “everyman” that the generic hosts favored for their cheap price tag and anonymity.
Looking down at himself for a moment he smoothed the front of the pixelated suit and walked into the meeting room. Standing in the doorway for a moment he scanned the room, his persona flickering in and out due to his technological cooties. Noting each persona as best he could while keeping his breakfast down, he made his way to a seat.
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Jumping through the various digital hoops needed to access the host Ice finally managed to gain access and enters the host. Once inside she loks around, her avatar moving with the fluid grace of someone highly experienced with VR.
She takes note of the others in the room, but hangs back a little, unsure of who they are and what their intentions might be.
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[Sunday, 207506021500L]
The room is comfortable, with an elongated table and three seats on each side. The door through which you 'entered' is at the foot and at the head is some space and then a mirror. The walls are threaded with lines of pulsing blue, bringing to mind images of a ancient cult flatvid about what folks from a century ago imagined the matrix might be.
Right as the milliseconds push over into 1500 hours on the nose, there is a flicker in the center of the mirror which expands until it appears to be a portal. Through it steps a feminine form with a faceless mask. It appears to be dressed in a form fitting body suit and she has shoulder length blonde hair .
As she notes five of you in the room, she clucks her tongue (a nice touch, that bit of software) and then fashions a seat from code at the head of the table and sits in it, inviting the rest of the occupants to do the same, once they have, she speaks.
<Good afternoon. I am glad you could make it. It seems that not all could.> She indicates the empty seat. <I do not believe that will be an issue. Now, the five of you are probably wondering why I called you here. I am Michelle Rampling and I have been tasked with fixing a situation that I find intriguing. I am inclined to entrust this task to you and hope you will be willing to accept it. Of course there will be payment, in the sum of 10,000 nuyen. All you have to do is retrieve a prototype device and its accompanying data from an R&D facility. Before we negotiate and you accept, I consider it fair to warn that the R&D facility is a Big Ten location. I hope this will not be an issue?>
With that, she pauses, allowing each of you time to gather your thoughts and speak.
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Divillian looks at the empty seat and listens to the Johnson speak. Five out of six. Suddenly, this job looks a little more dangerous. Why did our associate bug out or are they dead already?
So, if you were planning on one more, than you have the funds to pay for that extra person. I see a job that's now a little more difficult to complete and a little more dangerous for those that remain. I do believe we could each use a little more in our personal compensation.
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Looking on silently Tasda begins to twitch nervously like she has a bit of a caffeine addiction and music in her head. Yayayayayayayayay!
Tasda's thoughts continue with how excited she is and she does all she can to not just start dancing. Five of us are here to paaaaaaaarty!!!
She barely heard the last bit from the Johnson when she finally calmed down after rubbing her gloved fingers together. Hitting a major corporation sure sounded hard but she had no clue how much money would be expected so she just looked around the room for others to speak.
I hope someone here is a wordsmith. I deck and shoot not much else.
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There where a lot of times Ice disliked being an albino, this was one time she was glad for it. Dreck, my first job is against a AAA?! If I wasn't already white as a sheet I would be now! What the frag has Red Rose gotten me into?!
She takes a couple of moments to keep her composure and remember the training she'd gotten years ago.
Alright, keep calm Ice, you're not on your own, and looks like you're not the only hacker here. No need for you to take point, just act as backup.
Her eyes flick over to their member who spoke up Right... negotiating a price, this will be different than my usual haggling. Think Ice, think.
There's also the issue of security, triple As mean elite security, both in meatspace and Matrix. The Matrix especially has a high chance of Black IC, something that should definitely count as hazard pay.
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<Honestly, I had taken into account the absence of the sixth member and added that portion to the amount I am paying each of you. However, what I am willing to do is offer an up front payment of, say, two thousand nuyen apiece? And then another 8000 upon completion.>
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Xipe’s avatar in the virtual world blinked as he sat back and tried to take note of everything the Johnson said. “Being one down could be an issue, especially against the top 10” he mused. As the others in the group started to talk price he started doing logistics in his head.
“Top 10 means A level security and possibly elite level corp sec guards.” This thought made Xipe’s avatar frown as well as his meat body back in the real world. Listening to the arguments for more pay made by his new cohorts he found himself nodding along.
Thinking more about what the Johnson had said he raises his hand, the image flickering from some sort of feedback. When the conversation paused he interjected, “Senorita Rampling, where is this facility and which of the 10 are we talking about. This would seem to be important to our determination of price. Also what is the rough size of the prototype you wish retrieved and what Intel do you have for us about the location and the target?”
Xipe’s avatar adjusted itself in the chair in an uncomfortable looking motion before he continued. “These details or lack thereof could vastly effect the success of this little joy ride.”
Xipes avatar shorts out of a moment and a trid show appears where his head goes. An older woman’s face drops in and says “Of course Archie, Ill get you another beer.” And then the face is gone and the usual every man face of the avatar returns, Xipe obviously oblivious to what just happened.
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<Of course, I understand that those answers will be key to your success. You are the one that Silk recommended, I believe? Somewhat new to the game. So I compliment you on your line of questioning but need to tell you that in the Shadows, you will often not receive these answers prior to accepting the job. These are answers that, should you decline, give you leverage over your Johnson. You might decline but in actuality act on the information or sell that information to another. Suffice to say that the nuyen and the talent match the task.>
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<Of course. You are the Johnson, if you believe the missing individual won't be a detriment to our ability to complete the task, than I accept. If you think of a way we could earn a bonus from you while on the job though, we'd be very interested.>
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Tasda looked over the others and instead of replying at first ordered a soy coke from the cafe. If she was going to make a stupid decision and open her mouth, she was going to do it hydrated. Coming back to the Johnson, they were still discussing money.
What are they hoping to gain by doing this?
Never really grown up around people much Tasda held in a sigh of frustration that she could not just be on the run already. In her young mind this wasn't a part of the run. So she just kept from bouncing off the walls by focusing on sipping her soy coke. Remembering she had to actually tell the Johnson she accepted a couple of gurgling sounds came from her straw. Thank you *garbled* Tasda coughs as she is given a bitter reminder of the soda she is drinking.
Thanks Ms. Johnson! I accept! She then beams with joy, like only a noob can.
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<Excellent. The location is the historic Cavilard Research Center in Bellevue. It is a NeoNET facility for side projects and the like. A place where researchers can wind down. One of the researchers, a fellow by the name of Gerald Watkins, has been there, working on a.. well... a decoder ring. That's what I want you to get for me. It should not be overly difficult, but preferable that you manage this without making your presence known or what it is specifically you are taking from the facility. If you can manage that, I'll throw another 1,000¥ on the back end as well as pay you for any payday or other prototypes you bring me. any questions?>[/orange]
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Ice looked around the host. Trying to gauge the reactions of the runners to see what they felt about the run, a white eyebrow arching slightly at Tasda's antics How does someone choke on something in VR? I didn't even know that was possible... As the Johnson gave the details she found herself nodding. Not sure how much help I can be with the prototype, but obscuring the paydata... I might be able to help with that, Chip could hide some of the files and make it less obvious what's been stolen.
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<The only question I have is, would you be interested in the man himself? Willingly of course.>
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Xipe's avatar in the virtual world nods his acceptance of the terms, " I accept as well." he says simply. His avatar shifts again, seeming to elongate at the neck in a comedic fashion before returning to its original shorting out appearance.
Xipe's mind was already starting to race with the implications of the job. They would definitely need someone on the ground to enter and take physical possession of the item. He started looking around the room, trying to determine from the avatars who might be best suited for that crucial part of the plan.
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<Hrm... an interesting notion. sadly, I don't have anything I could do with him. So, no. Just the parameters as described. When you are ready for turn in, contact this commcode.>[/orange]
With that, she fades from view, leaving the rest of you to... well, figure out where to meet in person.
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<Well, it would seem we have employment, can I suggest we meet in the flesh to discuss this further?>
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Xipe shifts in his virtual seat and nods his head towards Requiem. "Did you have a preference for location?" Watching Requiem's avatar for a moment he then turns to regard the other icons as he awaits an answer.
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<It's a nice day, how about one of the public parks on Lake Washington? The wind off the lake will serve as natural white noise>
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As various locations around Seattle are mentioned Ice feels her heart sink as her mind spins trying to think of how to get around the city with no vehicle or SIN.
"Would now be a bad time to mention I'm a barrens rat with no transportation? That said, I know a place near where I live with a Faraday cage setup to hire for private conversations."
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<I would prefer if we met somewhere near the target where we can ensure privacy, maybe for a small fee, and a plate of food. I know a spot in Bellevue, the Sleep and Eat there. They're not too picky on SINs. I'll call ahead and secure our room.>
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"Would now be a bad time to mention I'm a barrens rat with no transportation? That said, I know a place near where I live with a Faraday cage setup to hire for private conversations."
<If you are in Redmond I can provide you transportation. Let me know where I can pick you up, or if you prefer, make your way to the Silk Dragon dojo and ask for Requiem, they all know me there>
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"Would now be a bad time to mention I'm a barrens rat with no transportation? That said, I know a place near where I live with a Faraday cage setup to hire for private conversations."
<If you are in Redmond I can provide you transportation. Let me know where I can pick you up, or if you prefer, make your way to the Silk Dragon dojo and ask for Requiem, they all know me there>
<Do you know the Vacuum Tube? It's a bar/cafe favored by the local Matrix community.>
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Xipe's avatar swirled a bit in the middle section for a moment before stabilizing again. "Any of those is fine with me"
He turns towards Requiem. "If you dont mind the company I'll swing up to the dojo and snag that ride from you chummer."
Turning back to the group as a whole."Do we have a consensus?"
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[Sunday, 207506021711L]
Pennies actually offers to pick up Ice at the Vacuum Tube, having personal knowledge of the place.
Eventually, all five of you make it to the Sleep and Eat, Div having arrived first and opening the door for the others, freshly showered and dressed.
Pennies smiles as she pulls out a small device from her pack and places it by the door. A moment later, the air is filled with a gentle hum as the white noise generator kicks up.
Now that the group is all in place and together, the five Shadowrunners take a moment to get a read on one another and then determine how they might accomplish the task set forth for them.
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Let's take an assessment of our talents before starting on a plan. Shall we? Divillian takes a seat in the ratty chair in the corner. I play tricks on the mind, it's a clean way to get things done.
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Requiem settled himself in to a chair and studied the other runners around him. An eclectic bunch as ever... he wasn't completely sold on working with another team so soon after the last one but with Balefire more or less disbanded there had to be something to pay the rent, and Silk had recommended this gig.
"I guess that would make me weapons and tactics...I find that armour penetrator rounds are also a clean way to get things done, in the right circumstances..."
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Ice is leaning against the wall, not really trying to hide but still not really kicking the habitual survival instinct of not drawing attention to herself. As the others look around and start talking she realizes she'll need to speak up.
"I do Matrix stuff, although I'll admit to being better at information gathering than any kind of cybercombat."
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Pennies looks around the room as she waits to get a better idea of how the other, more experienced, runners act before responding. She notes that this place is certainly a few steps up from the dump she calls home; at least the wall paper sticks to the wall and there is furniture. Maybe she can move to this level of luxury after the run. There is a gap of silence after Ice speaks, so she clears her throat and in what she hopes is a mature manner, says, "Call me Pennies. I am pretty good with the trix and can do combat support as well with a sniper rifle."
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Xipe slowly unholsters his weapon and then hands it to Divilian. "You should... take this?" It's a combination statement and question.
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Pennies looks between Xipe and Divillian with an expression of puzzlement. Something just happened here but she is clearly not sure what. She shakes her head and says, "So what do we do about the mission? Any ideas?"
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Ice takes a deep breath to try and steady herself.
"I'm no expert in combat, I'm better at finding and manipulating data. If I can get into the Host, I should be able to hide some files, make it harder for them to sort out what we're really after."
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Pennies looks over at Ice with admiration in her eyes. "I have some skill in that as well, but probably not like you. Could we trade notes some time?"
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Frowning at the spellcaster, Requiem responded "I think introductions of a more conventional kind are needed first. As I mentioned before, you can call me Requiem"
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** sigh, the board timed out when I posted my reply the other day and unknown to me, it was lost...**
Divillian takes the weapon and looks it over. Ah yea, this is very nice. This should do the job perfectly. You should customize this when you get the chance, its solid chummer. He laughs while handing the weapon back. Sorry friends, but unlike those guns which are hanging off your belt, my skills are a bit harder to demonstrate. Div works when you need my attention, if there's other Elves around you should use my whole name, Divillian.
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Pipe takes the weapon back as it is handed to him. "I should... customize it," he sort of mumbles, then shakes his head as if to clear it. "Hunh, I wouldn't even know what I should do." He looks up and smiles.
"Anyway, I'm Xipe. I can swing a little bit of mojo, if the situation calls for it. Good enough that someone with a little bit of pull was willing to put her name on the line for me. A wiz-decker, goes by 'Silk.'" The casual name drop is meant to build a bit of cred up front.
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Pennies looks around at the name. "Hey, I know of her. If she recommends you, you must be good. I am hoping to work up to her list someday."
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"Fantastic! Well then, Ice, Pennies, do you think you could do us the honor of some data retrieval on our targets? See what you can find in regards to our target location, the Cavilard Research Center as well as the researcher behind the project, Mr. Gerald Watkins. Maybe we'll get lucky and an opportunity of approach will reveal itself."
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Pennies smiles as she pulls her deck from is case and turns it on. "I can start with the Cavilard Reasearch Center." She positions one of the chairs against a wall and sits in it before sliding to Hot SIM and going onto the trix. She is searching for anything and everything to do with the subject. She is running the search through her Browse software, so the time required is reduced.
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Ice nods to Pennies "Well, i guess I'll try and look into the doctor then." With that said she sprawls out onto the couch and seems to fall asleep, those used to hackers will however notice the tel-tail twitching of someone in full VR.
Inside the Matrix Ice sends feelers out, sort of, extending herself throughout the matrix, as much feeling for the information she wants as looking for it. She knows Chip could help with this sort of work, but it doesn't seem urgent enough to be using up tasks on him yet.
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Requiem studied the other runners and felt a little bit like a baby sitter...not because they were in VR, but because he was probably older than the combined ages of the deckers. But Silk had clearly recommended them and that was good enough for him...
"We seem to have the bases covered for now. Why don't I get us some food while the matrix wizards do their thing?"
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@ Pennies
Finding surface information on the Cavilard Research Center is simple enough, it's a public building, after all.
Located at 1302 118th Ave SE, the unassuming research park is located in Bellevue. It's private, fenced off and has a small campus, focused on the main research building, with two secondary buildings on the grounds. It used to belong to MCT but was mothballed after Crash 2.0. Neonate purchased it and it has assumed some of the overflow from NeoNET Labs in Bellevue.
Deeper searching shows two types of research occur at Cavilard... magical research deemed 'problematic' for their main facility and 'pet projects.' Security is pretty tight, but not abnormal for a corporate research center.
Pictures show a manned gate entry, one way in and one way out, a monowire topped cyclone fence about 3 meters tall, and ample parking for the facility. One of the two smaller buildings looks like a cafeteria.
Pictures don't seem to show any patrolling guards but they might have moved out of the way for the photos.
@ Ice
Dr. Gerald Watkins is a leading expert on Resonance Theory, as well as a respected programmer. Ice doesn't find anything to indicate that he, himself, is a technomancer. There is a story bout a time he was attacked by an unnamed group suspected to have ties to technomancers, but nothing to indicate that Dr Watkins is guilty of any sort of human rights violations or unethical experimentation.
Still, the idea of a 'Resonance Theory Expert' chills Ice to the core.
There is nothing to indicate what his current project is, though previous works have included IC development, spam filtering software, and more IC development.
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Pennies stores all of the information she has gathered so that she can pass it out to the rest of her team later. Satisfied that she has what she is going to get with this trip into the trix, she slides back to the meat world and opens her eyes, looking around. She looks over at Ice and sees the other decker still in VR so she begins to organize the data she has stored so that it makes some sort of sense.
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Once she has the data organized, Pennies looks around and sees that Ice is still on the couch in Hot Sim. She shrugs and hits the button to send out the data package to each team member. It looks like Ice has found more data than I have. Here is a package of what I found out about the company. As a quick recap, it seems the major projects are "magical research" and "pet projects". Security seems good for this sort of facility; three meter fence topped with monowire, manned gate, single entrance/exit, probably roaming guards. Two buildings; research facility and what looks like a cafeteria. The rest of the information I found is there in the package for everyone to peruse."
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As she receives the package Ice's eyes flutter before she wakes. She listens to the info from Pennies as the datapacket scrolls through an AR feed in her cybereyes.
"Well, I think we can perhaps narrow the field down to 'Pet Projects', Dr. Gerald Watkins is a programmer of some repute, as well as a... a-an expert on... on Resonance Theory." Although her face remains mostly blank her cybereyes flicker around the room as she visibly trembles, her voice shaking slightly before she gets it back under control. "He's seemed to have done a lot of work on IC so we should be careful around him in the Matrix, he may still have some unique off the books software." After that she closes her eyes, focusing a little to send on the rest of the data she has gathered, a large portion of it dedicated to checking for any research with technomancers or other links with technomancers.
With the package sent she settles back in the couch, resisting the urge to curl up into a featal position.
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Pennies receives the data from Ice and scrolls through it before nodding. She looks around to see if any of the more experienced runners will say anything, but it seems that they are looking to see what the newb thinks. "You are probably right about the pet projects and the IC. We will have to be wary about that." She finishes her viewing of the data and looks over at Ice to thank her, but notices that the woman appears a bit nervous. **Something is bothering her. Or maybe she is a first timer, too.** Pennies stands and walks over to the couch to sit next to the other hacker. "So, good job with the information. You are pretty wiz at this stuff. Have you been at this drek a long time? Is your deck implanted? I was going to do that, too, but then thought what if I wanted to upgrade the hardware once I got some creds, you know? Then I, like, would have to get cut just to fix the fragging thing. Ended that discussion. Maybe we should get together and share techniques some time?"
From where she is sitting, Pennies looks around at the others in the room. "So now that we have some information, what do we do next?"
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As Pennies moves over it takes Ice a moment to summon the control to not freak out. My deck implanted what is she talking about? ohh, right... with these eyes she must be thinking I'm a decker as well.. Do i tell them? No... no I don't know them, if they assume I'm a decker I'm safer that way, no need to reveal anything unless I have to. Ice smiles a little nervously "Yeah, it's implanted... about the only way to keep it safe in the barrens neh?"
At Pennies question to the rest of the runners she says quiet, she's done what she knows how to do, gather information, beyond that, she's had some training, but very little experience.
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Pennies nods at Ice and continues talking. "Say, I could not help but notice your eyes. I had mine done when I was about ten. How long have you had yours? Do they come with special features?" Suddenly realizing that she might be talking too much, Pennies blushes and goes silent. "Sorry. I did not mean to intrude. I guess I just got a bit excited. Sorry."
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Ice gives Pennies a quick look over, this close she can hear the irises adjusting. she looks as nervous as I feel... may not be the only one new to this here...
Knowing she's not the only newbie jeeps Ice relax a little and the albino smiles a little. "I've only had them a few years, not much special about them aside from the flare compensation for my condition... I needed them and I couldn't afford much in the way of special features."
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While the girls chattered Requiem studied the facility images they'd gleaned...
"We need to consider access, can either of you get us realtime images of the site? I've got a spy drone but we probably need something with better quality sensors or from local CCTV..."
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Pennies nods and sets back on the couch and slides back into Hot Sim to try to access the files for the cameras.
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The dwarf finds the host of the site easily enough, but as she tries to make heads or tails of the virtual structure, various ads from the local area business keep popping up. Also, the distance causes enough interference that after about 10 seconds, she reemerges, having found nothing.
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Pennies looks around, her face red with embarrassment. "Hey, guys. It looks like I need to get closer to the site and change some of the software out on my deck to compensate for some of the noise and distance issues I seem to be having. If this is important, I can go out there. Might need someone to watch over me while I go into the trix. Any volunteers?"
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"I'll watch your back. We can cruise past the site so you aren't stationary for too long..."
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With that, the two head out to Requiem's car, leaving the rest of the group in the hotel room for the time being.
The drive wasn't overly long from the hotel that Divillian chose but it did provide some opportunity for conversation.. or awkward silence.
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On the whole Requiem preferred the silence until they were close to the target
"Right, this is your gig, how close do you need to be?"
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Pennies leaves the room with Requiem, but takes a short detour to her small car to grab a bag from the trunk. During the ride, she prefers to remain silent, but would try to give an answer if asked something, so the quiet provided by the older man is welcome. The halfer is sure that she has stepped in it already so does not want to say too much at this juncture. She is taking the time to mentally go through her deck configuration to give her the best chance of doing something right. She almost misses the quiet question but manages to get an answer out. "Uh. Less than a hundred meters from the device would be best if I need to do this remotely, but can we make a drive by so I can see if it is possible to get to one of the cameras directly? Doing this from a distance is cool and all that, but everything is just so much easier if I can get a direct connection to the camera or any sort of data feed, like a feeder cable or box I can jack open." She pauses then adds, "Thank you for asking."
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"I don't want to get too close this time round, and I certainly don't want to stop and let you out so our mugs can get plastered over those same cameras you are trying to access. We'll swing past the approach road, slow but not too slow, see what we see. Traffic cams may be an option if they have a good vantage of the area. We can always come back and drop off a drone tonight if there isn't anything useful we can do now..."
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Pennies considers it a moment and then nods. A steady, inconspicuous drive past might be all the time that she'll need... a quick hack takes only seconds, after all.
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Pennies sets her deck's active slots for Virtual Machine, Signal Scrub, Armor, Biofeedback Filter, and Wrapper. She then examines the current configuration of 3 5 5 6 and nods, satisfied that this will work for this mission. When she is ready she sits back comfortable in the seat and alerts her partner that she is going under and slips from the bland meat world to the joy and excitement of the trix world. There are times when she really feels that she could indeed be in danger of just staying in too long. She sees the host ahead of her and sends out her feelers. The data is easier this time around, although there was still an issue of being on the wrong grid. Hopefully her effort will at least identify the grid so the next attempt will be easier after she jumps from the public to whatever the host is on.
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It takes a second to realize that the Host is on NeoNET's Grid. Pennies quickly and easily hops over to that grid and takes another look at the Host. What she sees makes her uneasy. The Host is about as beefy as she's ever seen... trying to get on board simply to try to take a peek through one of the cameras would probably be rather foolish.
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Pennies shudders at what she sees and pulls back out of VR to the meat world. She looks over at Requiem as she spends a few seconds readjusting. "This is one tough host. Rating 7 is a bit more than I am prepared to try, especially just to get a look through the cameras. She opens a channel to the team. >>Team. Pennies. This is not going to be easy. The cameras are slaved to a rating 7 host. Very beefy. I can try to do a walk by to see if I can make a direct connection to a data cable. It might be worth the risk of getting myself on camera. Any ideas for us while we are out here?<<
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"Well if this was going to be easy they wouldn't have hired us...right? Ok, so we'll need another intel source... I'll drop my spy drone off for a bit of discrete surveillance so we at least have a real time view of external movements around the likely target buildings... here, take it and I'll give you the marks to operate it, I'm sure you'll get more out of it than I can. The camera is 'out of the box' so don't expect great resolution but it will have to do for now. We need some sort of astral sweep to see what magic security is like, then perhaps we can get back together and decide just how the hell we are going to tackle this beast. I don't like the idea of going in blind, but if you can get a direct connection once inside you should be able to bypass some of the security right? I doubt we will be lucky enough for there to be camera dead zones within the fence so we'll need another approach..."
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Pennies nods. "All true, yes. Someone with enough pull to set up a R7 host here will not have skimped on the security." She puts the marks on the drone and sends it aloft, keeping it fairly remote from the building and setting it to run silently. She slaves it to her deck and moves it to a nearby building where it can look onto the compound. Satisfied that she has done the best she can, Pennies looks up at her companion. "All set, or as well as I can do right now. Got the drone on that building over there running silent. We should get back to the others."
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The drone is placed and Requiem is relatively certain that it will escape at least casual notice. It might be there best chance to get a look at the place over the next few hours, at least to gauge the level of activity on location.
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The ride back starts out quiet, but Pennies steals a look over at the older man. "Thank you for you advice and for driving me out here. I suppose it is pretty obvious that I have not been doing this much.......well, okay, maybe never. But I have skills that I know can be useful. So, what got you into this?"
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As Pennies and Requiem leave to scout out the location Ice finds herself sitting in the hotel room fidgeting nervously, looking around at the other runners trying to work out what the next move is going to be.
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"Thank you for you advice and for driving me out here. I suppose it is pretty obvious that I have not been doing this much.......well, okay, maybe never. But I have skills that I know can be useful. So, what got you into this?"
Requiem sighed, they all made him feel so old...
"I've been doing this probably since before you were born. A disagreement with my former employers about my fitness for duty...they thought I was, I disagreed, steered me in to the shadows, and the Crash helped of course. I've run with a few crews over the years but since the last one disbanded I've sort of hopped from job to job, team to team. I was a Gunnery Sergeant with Firewatch, then an instructor for a while. Now I train kids in a dojo in the barrens...not so different really.
So, you're new at this, that's ok...I'm not going to give you a pep talk, just keep your head down when the shit hits the fan, and it will do at some point on this merry misadventure, and know that I've got your back."
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Pennies smiles at the comments, already feeling better in a vague sort of way. The presence of the confident Elf seems to symbolize strength and safety. She remains quiet for the remainder of the trip back to where the rest of the team was waiting.
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Arriving back at the hotel room, the group is able to go over the feed being relayed by the drone. There doesn't seem to be anyone patrolling the campus. Honestly, it's not really that big and between the cameras and the guard at the gate (and being in Bellevue), the corp probably feels it's well enough protected.
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Pennies plops back into the chair next to Ice. "Well, not sure if that went as well as it could have. Gonna be tough to crack the trix on that place. Anything new here?"
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Xipe shrugs. "Honestly not much. Your feed came online, so we have been watching for any patrols type of thing, I suppose... but it looks pretty straight forward."
"Most likely," Div added, "They have minimal presence on site, but some decent alarms. Count on KE to get there in a hurry. It's Bellevue, after all."
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Pennies looks from one to the other. Her heart beat picks up and she licks her lips before speaking. "Right. So what is our next move?"
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Xipe shrugs once more. "Well senorita, I've been thinking that either me or this mind bending puta should probably take a look over the site in astral just so we have a full understanding of what we're going to be up against before we have to infiltrate. If there's not much in the way of astral security I should be able to help us go unnoticed."
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Divillian leans back in his chair, looking at the drone feed from a comfortable position and listening to the issues the deckers had with bypassing the security system.
"Here's what I'm thinking from what we've seen so far.
A single gate guard, they aren't expecting anything too drastic and if it happens KE can get a response there quickly enough, that's all that matters. If you'd like to take a look around, I can help with that in my own way but be quick about it. I'm thinking non-combat in-and-out on this one. We've got a solid team for that.
We drive up and I talk to the guard, one of our code wizards disables his comms while the other pulls the appointment list and feeds it to me so that I can arrange to get us some keys. Then we walk in and take what we need, and erase any footprints on our way out. We may need a distraction to allow us to slip out cleanly though.
If things go to hell, we switch to plan B(tm), but we'll be that much further inside.
Sometimes the best place to hide something is in plain sight."
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Pennies looks at Ice. "Which would you feel more comfortable doing? Silencing the commlink or getting the data?"
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Ice jumps slightly at suddenly being addressed, the frowns slightly before replying "My main strength lies in gathering and even altering information, I'm not that good at hacking into devices, so I'll try and get that appointment info."
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Pennies nods. "That's cool. I guess I can try to silence the 'link." She looks back to Divillian, "So is it your idea that we brick the device?"
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"Destroying the link will raise suspicion unless it looks like some kind of accident. Do you have a way of blocking a signal from a device so that the device looks normal but is unable to connect to the host for data? If not, its null sweat, I'm pretty sure I can get us what we need. I may ask you to brick the 'link at some point though, so if you don't think you can the task by yourself, what if you work together? Perhaps you two could do a quick test of your collaborative abilities on something unrelated nearby and work out a general plan for what to do to the host when we all get inside. Remember, we need the data on the prototype as well as the device itself. This means we need a building schematic with the prototypes location, we need security cameras to mysteriously decide to look into corners as we walk through the halls and we'll likely need to hit the target's office to get any physical, offline data on the device as well. We also need to determine a way to ensure they don't know the decoder ring was the target. Any thoughts on that?" Divillian says as he waits for the fresh faced runners to reflect and suggest something.
Give the kids something to contribute Div, they need the experience. he thought to himself.
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“I can’t say I’ve ever been entirely comfortable with an approach that exposes us to direct surveillance quite so much, particularly against a corp that is renowned for its electronic security. That said, I’m not dismissing your plan, it beats a ‘shock and awe’ approach. Without a way of accessing their surveillance grid, which I’m assuming will only be from the inside if the host is shit hot, then walking up to the front gate and letting your silver tongue do its work is probably our best approach. A way of concealing our faces might be worth investigating, in case we miss one of the camera feeds. I do not want NeoNet goons breathing down my neck for the next six months!
As to concealing the theft, I presume they will notice that their gizmo is missing with anything but the most casual observation, so the only way to do this is to liberate them of other projects so they see this as a random rather than targeted heist…?”
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Pennies nods her head. "That could work. You know, if Ice or I could get into the host we could do all sorts of things. That might be possible if we could get an ID badge from someone authorized to be there. Maybe we could follow one of the people home and take one?" The host would see me or Ice as belonging, at least for a while. It might give us time to weaken the security."
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Ice listens in and nods at Requiem's comments, "If I can get into the host I could do something similar there, not just getting the data we need, but either stealing or concealing other data as well. If things do start to go pear shaped, I... know some tricks that could buy us some time."
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Pennies smiles and nudges Ice, "Good thinking. I do not have much that can help, but maybe a little." She turns to Requiem, "So, can you get us a couple of ID badges that the host would recognize?"
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Ice tilts her head a little at Pennies' comment "I may not be an expert... but ID cards aren't going to get us into the Matrix systems. We could try forcing out way in, but it's not exactly my forte, especially if we have to brute force the Host directly. What we need is a weak link, a low level device connected to the Host we can plug into, we can bypass most of the security systems that way."
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"Whilst it is possible we might find something suitable in the guard booth I wouldn't want to count on it. As to getting the badges, that seems like a social engineering approach would be more appropriate. I tend towards the more violent sorts of negotiation which I'm not sure is what we need at this point...and of course the technicalities of a hack a more your areas of expertise.
If Divillian can get us on the appointment list and we can talk our way on to the site then there will surely be something inside that you can use to access the host. A single guard is unlikely to want to escort us around but there may be someone inside tasked with that, then my approach might be called for. Again, weapons detectors on the booth or at the main door might be an issue but we have a little time to source stealth gear along with the face masks."
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Pennies looks at Ice. "But wouldn't a badge have a chip of some kind that the host would recognize as authorizing access? Wrap our icons to disguise us on the trix and just go in. Well, probably not if you do not think so. I really need to come up with better ideas."
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"Well depending on their level of magic/astral security I may be able to help with the stealth side of things. Whilst we're putting our plan together I'll get an astral survey done"
Xipe slips over to one of the chairs and seems to drop into a deep sleep. Entering the astral plane is something Xipe live's for. Ahh, it feels like home here. No need for a bucket when I enter this reality. Xipe accelerates away from his body in the direction of the facility planning on doing a fly by to see what's there without triggering any alarms or response.
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Before you go Xipe, a little gift. Divillian says, his minds eye focusing on Xipe's astral form and releasing a flood of mana towards it. It bends and wraps itself around Xipe, making his astral form look like a naturally formed simple air spirit. This should at least hide your identity from their astral security. Be careful.
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On the astral plane, Xipe looks to his limbs in wonderment as Div's spell takes effect. He nods to himself and then zips out in the direction of the facility. It takes him a few minutes to find it, the astral topography is harder to read than the the geography of physical sight, but he manages it.
Immediately he notices that there is an air elemental that patrols the facility overhead. Unsurprising, that is a standard measure. other than that, there doesn't seem to be much in the way of magical defenses that he can read. The guards appear mundane. Seeing inside the buildings will be a bit trickier... he'd have to slip past the spirit of air and even looking like an innocuous air spirit himself, if he gets spotted, he will garner attention... the kind he doesn't want.
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Hmm, so nothing much more than an elemental patrol. Not worth risking being spotted at this point to get a closer peak. Better to keep the facility as unaware of the threat as possible. Xipe finishes scouting round the outskirts of the facility and flies back to his body. Working hard to keep the grin off his face that he always gets when going astral he reports his findings back to the team.
"Astral security seems to be the absolute minimum you'd expect at a corp facility. Patrolling elemental only. Didn't go inside as I didn't want to risk the elemental spotting something and raising the alert level but I wouldn't plan on much in the way of magic to hold us up."
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Ice nods slowly, absorbing the information. "Well, this does support what we know of this primarily being Matrix research facility...
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Taking everything into account, the group considers their next move.
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Pennies does not really understand the mojo part of this very well, but it seems the slinger is happy about the situation. She looks around and asks, "So when do we do this and what do you need from Ice and me?"
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"Well, the way I see it," Div says, taking the lead, "We hack ourselves in, maybe we're inspectors, or exterminators. If it's the former, we have to be from NeoNET, since UCAS has no authority to inspect the premises. If it's the latter, then we're contracted by NeoNET... anyhow, we get ourselves on, we mock up some id Badges with RFIDs that register our identity and company... then you guys hack us in to the schedule."
He looks around to see if everyone is with him so far. "Once we're in, we find what we're looking for, maybe some more payday, then we get out. I figure the ruse will buy us several minutes, but expect we'll be discovered once we make a step in the direction we want to go, so we'll have to be ready for it to go south."
He pauses to see what the others have to offer.
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Xipe cocks his head to one side as he listens to Div's suggestion. "As ruses go it's as good as any other and a lot better than trying to blast our way in. As there isn't much in the way of awakened security I should be able to help make us look the part as well."
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Pennies looks excited. Something is happening and she is involved. "What do you need us to do?"
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"Well, let's figure out what play we want to make... then you, Pennies, and Ice go nearer and insert the info we need into their schedule. I think Requiem should provide cover for you while you do that," he looks to Requiem, who nods, "and the rest of us get whatever we need to look the part when we make our move."
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Pennies just smiles even though inside she is doing numerous high-fives. **Yes! In the big leagues. If only Father could see me now.** On the outside, she nods and reaches for Ice's hand. "We can do that. Give us the code to insert."
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Xipe nods to give the plan his approval. "I will also provide you with some additional protection whilst you make the hack. That is, if you don't mind having a spirit watch over you as well senoritas. Perhaps you could pull up some images of exterminators so that I can familiarise myself with the uniforms before you go. I would do it myself but electronics and me don't seem to get on so well."
Turning to Div. "Do you have any contacts who could provide the required uniforms and equipment? I can always ask around but am not sure how much use my people would be for this."
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Pennies nods and immediately gets to work. This is an easy task, but she wants to do well at even this. She quickly looks up several extermination companies and browses their on-line brochures for pictures of their uniformed exterminators. Pulling several of the images together, she feeds them to Xipe. "There you go. I hope that will do?"
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Div shrugs. "I just thought we'd pick up some vanilla duds at a local uniform outlet."
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Pennies keeps the smile on her face but feels a bit miffed. Brightening, she tosses out a question, "Say. What about image link? If we can slave your image link devices to the decks we can all see what goes on. Might not be a bad idea to slave everything to Ice or me, unless you have a real good commlink."
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"Gracias señorita. These will be perfect as I can use them to help get the illusion correct when we make our entrance."
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Ice twitches a little at the comment of slaving devices. Ohh dreck... this'll probably blow things... "Not a bad idea Pennies but... You'll have to be the one to handle that, I'm not really able to handle slaving other devices."
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Pennies looks over to Ice with an unspoken question on her lips but decides to let it remain unspoken. She turns back to the others. "OK. That will limit me. I can slave nine devices to my deck, so we should decide what the most important things are."
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Pennies looks around and says, "Any takers? I can set a firewall of 6 to help us. If you have a device that needs to be protected and your own firewall is less, let's consider this option. I could use my link, too, but it is not very good.."
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Div points to Requiem. "Probably mostly from him?"
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Divillian looks around the room and a thought comes to him, struggling to suppress his laughter he saysHow 'bout we wait til he get's off the clock, follow him out a bit and I keep him distracted long enough for someone to knock him out. Then the next day, one of you code slingers goes in wearing his face and aura. The rest of us show up during your shift, when you've got a good feeling for their internal security, the location of the prototype, and whatever else you think we might need to know. We won't be too far outside the fence, so just go in, pretend you don't feel well enough to talk and take your station. I'll convince the guard you've replaced to be somewhere else at that time.
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If you want, I'll do it, I just can't get their systems to do what I want like you.
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Pennies looks at Requiem. "Looks like you are the guy. I only need to save one slot for myself, so what do you want to slave up?" As she is waiting for the Elf to decide what he wants to slave up, she looks at the others. "I do not think I need to slave the images links unless someone wants them protected. But we should be able to just share the images, which just requires the codes to our own devices that are of a similar nature. Who wants to set me up with codes so we can all share what we see?"
"In the meantime, it seems that we have two options on the table so far. One is to have Div replace the guard on duty and allow us entry. The other seems to be to gain entry as a crew of exterminators responding to a call. I rather like the first better, but what does everyone else think?"
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Requiem considered Pennies’ offer
“My Avalon has good matrix security but I’m not about to turn down the offer of additional protection. I’ll pass you a list from my PAN and we can determine which systems might best be slaved to you. I agree we should share image links but I would also prefer that our primary comms go through a microtransceiver net rather than directly over the matrix. Do you all have suitable systems? If not I am happy to bankroll that aspect.
As to the plan, I like the option Div has provided us with but to my mind there are too many variables, not least being the astral implications of running those spells…we can’t guarantee without access to their personnel roster when a particular guard will be stationed on the gate…and it wouldn’t do us much good to pick the wrong guy. That is unless their protocols are lax enough that it is the same person day in day out, we may be able to spare an additional day or two of recon to determine that.
The exterminators ruse should give us access to the facility with the proper matrix trickery at the gate. With a little prep we should be able to conceal weapons within the equipment we need to bring inside and reduce the need for someone to wait outside as emergency backup…”
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Ice frowns a little and slowly nods "I'm admittedly not very experienced at this, but I think something that gets everyone inside in one go has less problems than a multi-stage infiltration. And i'm afrail I will need to take you up on your offer Requiem, I've never really worked with others much... not since, well.. not for a long time."
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Pennies nods. "I also do not have one of those, but I can afford to help buy them for the team, especially if I am going to help be part of the team comms, along with Ice. Maybe we can get the Johnson to reimburse us?"
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Xipe give Pennies an odd look, almost like he's disturbed by the notion, before replying. Senorita, it's very kind of you to offer but I fear linking any of my gear would do more harm than good. Not that I really have anything that really needs to be linked."
Turning to Div, "No doubt it is a clever idea my friend. But I am not sure how getting one person inside will really help the rest of us gain access to the facility in the short term. Though if we are able to spend the time identifying a good target then this could work alongside the exterminator ruse allowing us all easy access to the facility."
Finally Xipe addresses both Ice and Requiem, "I too am new to this so we should all look after each other I feel. I'm afraid I don't have the correct equipment to work with a microtransceiver network, though if they are not too pricey to acquire quickly I'm happy to get one."
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Pennies is doing some searching while the others speak. "Hey, I found some. Not too spendy, either. Hmmmm, let's see. Yes. I can get up to eight of them for about 110 nuyen each. Someone can go get them at stuffer shack 47, which is about 15 minutes form here. Should I punch it in?"
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I hate to keep suggesting things, but my mentor keeps whispering fun ideas at me. How about instead of random security schmuck, we wait for our target to leave the office for the day and grab him. I take his form with a spell and mask my aura to look like his. The next day, we all go in. The two codeslingers as an intern, and Requiem as their boss. Won't need security uniforms this way, but we'll need to figure out their dress code and be sure to fit in. Can you conceal any of your gear Requiem? Divillian turns and asks before continuing on. When we've got the gear and the data, we leave, come back to our bound up target and I use my mojo to convince him that yesterday was a particularly great day. For the snatch and grab, I have a form in mind that can be rather ... convincing... Divillian chuckles.
-
Ice rubs the bridge of her nose "Look, I may not be an expert in all this... but how about we go for something that doesn't require magic to get in? You guys said there was a spirit or something on patrol? Wouldn't it be able to notice the spells or something?"
-
No, my false impression spell hides itself as part of the illusion. The spirit would have to beat the illusion first, then it would see a person with two spells on them, otherwise my aura looks like whatever the mana makes it look like. Regardless, it was just a thought I had about how we could get directly to what we wanted and how to cover the rest of the group while we did. But whatever, I'm not trying to tell the group what to do, merely throwing ideas on the table until we actually get moving. I'm fine with pretending to be a bug killer.
That being said, if I throw some magic once we get in there, there's a good chance the spirit would notice that too. So it'll go smoother if I don't have to use any against the guard outside.
What've you found in terms of a uniform? I'm ready to get this gig on the road. Anyone have a van and anything that can pass for equipment?
-
"I have a shopping list but I'm not sure we have the budget for vans unless anyone has one going spare? For verisimilitude it might be worth targeting a specific exterminator firm, preferably who have been used by NeoNet before, and inserting our details on their host and then liberating one of their vehicles and equipment for the job. Pennies, Ice, is that something you could identify and hack?
I will speak to one of my contacts about some facial disguises that we can prep ahead of time, as I mentioned I don't want our mugshots plastered over some corp wanted list once this is done."
With that Requiem penned a quick email to his handler
<<Ms Palmer [R]: I have an employment opportunity versus one of our competitors. Would you be able to furnish me with five sets of med range synthskin disguises? For the usual fee of course.>>
Synthskin face mask (HTp188) availability 8, max rt 6, 100nuyen/rt...do we need to pay a markup?
-
Ice nods and settles on the couch again. "I can certainly take a look."
once again her consciousness dives into the Matrix, gliding easily through the shifting sea of data she looks for communication in and out of the host, searching for paper trails elsewhere in the Matrix rather than attempting to access the information from the Host directly.
-
@ Requiem
<Requiem [Palmer] Standard 10% mark-up applies, but of course I can get this out to you.>
@ Ice
It doesn't take long but Ice is eventually able to find two exterminator companies that have serviced this facility in the past.
'Stop Bugging Me' Pest Control in Seattle and more recently, Eastside Exterminators (since 1969!) in Bellevue. The latter is closer.
-
Ice's eyelids flutter a little as she sends a Matrix Message to the group.
<<Ice here, I've located an Exterminator company that the facility has used recently. Eastside Exterminators which is a bit closer. {Location Attachment} I'm going to gently poke around their systems a little, see how easily we can gain access.>>
-
Ice putters around the exterior of the host and is able to get somewhat of a measure of it's strength as well as note that there are a few security cameras slaved to the host. The physical address is 227 Bellevue Way NE #442, in Bellevue, not far from the hotel the group is staying at.
-
Taking stock of the situation Ice decides it best to retreat for now and returns to her body, taking a moment to reset her persona after hacking onto the other Grid.
"Alright I've got the location, two hundred and twenty seven Bellvue Way NE number for hundred and forty two. I did notice some security cameras connected to their host, but that seems about it in that respect. The Host is fairly average, Rating four with a solid firewall. Pennies and I shouldn't have too much trouble getting in on-sight, but it's too much for me to crack on my own from here. If we get over there Pennies and I should be able to work together and break into the Host to insert the information we need, will be a good dry run of us working together on a more manageable Host."
-
Sounds good, who's driving and when are we going? Should we break in at night or do we go in the day and I keep the office staff distracted?
-
Pennies nods, 'I agree. Ice and I can get in if we get closer. If Requiem wants to drive us we can get in and stop the security to allow someone else to get the uniforms."
-
"We need to minimise the window between this and the next stage. I suggest we aim to arrive at the primary twenty minutes or so before the end of a security shift change. So backtrack from that...? If Ice and Pennies can do their matrix thing we should just be able to walk out with what we need. If things go south we may need to abort and regroup so we don't tip off the real target..."
-
Pennies nods. "We will do the best we can. I am ready to leave."
-
Div adjusts his outfit, "As am I."
-
Pennies stands and moves to the door. "OK. Ice and I are with Requiem. Anyone else need a ride there?"
-
i could use a ride as well.
-
Keen to be moving Requiem replied
"Ok, ride's on me. I'll meet you back here in an hour once I've had a chance to pick up the synth masks and some other gear we might need. Pennies, here's the funds for the mics..." pinging her link with the funds "you can give them back to me at the end of the run or reimburse me, I don't mind which. Once we have the exterminator's gear we are going to have to work extremely quickly to conceal any illegal kit within it that we might need. I don't want more than an hour or two to pass between that job and the main run..."
-
Pennies nods at the funds transfer and places the order for the transceivers. Looking back at Requiem, she says, "Order is good and the transceivers are waiting for us to pick up. Here is the GPS for the location. It looks close enough to our location that it is only a bit out of the way." She pauses and looks around at the others before licking her lips and adding, "Now, I know that I am probably the newest one here to this sort of thing, but are we ready to roll or do we need some additional planning time? We have only made a quick pass at the facility and the exterminator's. Are we moving too quickly? It seems to me that we are not on a definite time line and could take a couple more days to do a more thorough recon. Or am I looking at this wrong?"
-
"What else would you like to know before engaging?" Div asks, honestly looking to help.
-
"I too am new to this so am willing to follow the lead of those more experienced. If they feel we don't need any more prep then for now I will trust their judgement."
-
Ice gives a wry chuckle before shrugging into her armored duster "First for me too... but I don't know that there's much more we're capable of doing at this point. Seems to me we could try and study the place more and find a weakness, but we don't know how long that could take and we don't know how long our target is going to remain viable."
-
"This job is about half planning and half reacting to how the plan went wrong." Divillian laughs.
-
"It's a fine juggling act...too long planning and we might miss our window, not enough and when it all goes south we won't have any notion of what to do...but we improvise above and beyond all else, that's why they pay us after all, that and the fact that if we screw it up it can't bite them, at least in theory. We've got the basis of our plan, we know the roles we need to fulfil...until we know what we can snag from the exterminators the next stage of the plan will be vague at best so we've got enough to go on for now. So, see you in an hour!"
-
Pennies nods and walks to the car with Requiem. Although outwardly calm (she hopes), her heart is racing. She keeps telling herself to stay calm, keep alert, and be ready to improvise.
-
Once in the car, she looks at Ice. "So what do you want me to do to help us get into the extermination company?"
-
Ice thinks a minute before replying. "When we get there we'll need to hop over to the NeoNET grid, from there we'll need to work together at sleezing ongo their Host. My... deck is better suited to defence and processing than malicious code so I'll follow your lead."
-
Pennies nods and softly laughs. "Cool. We can do this." To herself, she is thinking, **But it may seem a lot like the blind leading the blind.**
Thinking out loud, she says, "So are we going to need to steal a van from the exterminator company as well?"
-
While waiting for an answer to her question about the van, Pennies turns to Ice and says, "Here is how I see it, but feel free to tell me if I am off. We drive to near to the exterminator's building to reduce the noise, then I, at least, will go into full Hot SIM. I know my limitations and will need that advantage. We hop grids to Neonet and mark the host. I think using teamwork here will help. After we get the mark we go in and look around for the file. We need to be quick but thorough. Once we find the file, check it for a data bomb and remove it if it is there. I am not sure why they would protect that sort of file with a bomb, but who knows and I would like to be careful instead of caught. Then we edit the file to show a call out was received and a team dispatched to deal with the problem at the facility. Good?"
-
Sounds good to me. Meanwhile I'll work my mojo and charm on the people inside so they can respond to any comm-calls the same. Divillian looks at Requiem, noting his age. Have you ever had one of those jobs where the retiree's couldn't help but come in and tell you all about their lives? Divillian asks, reflecting on his own experiences with older humans.
-
Requiem drove sedately with his passengers in tow, careful to not exceed grid guide limits...his car was set to view GG AROs but to disallow GG overrides (a gift from Silk)...of course once he got closer to Redmond that ceased to be a concern anyway. Pulling up at the Silk Dragon he said
"Be right back..." and slipped inside. Sure enough one of the guys behind the desk confirmed that a courier drone had dropped off a package some twenty minutes ago and that Jitan had put it in the safe. A trip there and to his locker and he was as set as he was going to be for this gig...short of returning home for the heavy armour and machine gun that is, hopefully this run wouldn't warrant that level of threat mitigation or they were all royally hosed!
"Ok, let's do this..." and once more they wove into the traffic streams heading towards central Bellevue...
-
The team passed through central Bellevue and to just a few blocks north of downtown park, where Requiem had just last month spent some time with a team on a tidy run the month prior. They eventually arrived and drove past the destination. Eastside Exterminators was about what one would imagine it to be, a decent sized business of its type with two vans currently parked out front and space for a few more.
-
Pennies says, "I think anywhere within 100 meters of the place should be good for us, right, Ice? OK, I think it is about time to go under, so any last ides or questions? Ice, so you can recognize me, I am changing my icon to look like one of the suits of this place. You?"
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Ice nods as she settles back. "Not a bad idea, still it would be best to run silently and avoid notice at all if possible." With that she closes her eyes and lets her mind dive back into the Matrix, this shifting data streams more familiar to her than the meat world.
This really is my home, and yet I keep running from it...
With a mental shake if her head Ice focuses on broadcasting as little as possible and gets ready to hack into the NeoNET Grid.
-
The Matrix is colorful and bright, almost too real. Ice thrives in the environment, despite what her brain tells her. Pennies has always been enthralled by the... 'magic' of it all.
Distant icons in far away cities dot the 'horizon' like stars. Nearby, they can make out the personas or others going about their business, agents doing the bidding of their masters, stationary icons representing devices in the 'real' world.
Ahead and just over them is the Host for Eastside Exterminators. Taking a look at it, they can see that it's a well built host, the business must be relatively successful.
-
Ice takes a moment to go over the information she can glean from the Host.
Ice to Pennies <<Looks like I was wrong about what Grid it was on. Lets get over onto Emerald Green and work from there, remember to run silent, not beeing seen will be easier than trying to blend in>>
With that Ice focuses laterally, her mind searching for the green hued Local Grid. Locating it she focuses on the data streams entering the grid, lines of code running throuh her mind as she spots one clearly and piggybacks on the grid hop, spoofing herself as a data attahcment.
-
Requiem sat back in his seat to watch the two hackers doing their thing. Apart from the occasional twitch all was quiet...just the way he liked it! He took the time to look over the synth masks as they'd have to apply them before hitting the exterminators, it was simple enough, pick a face from the library, mod it and then let the box scan your face for a good fit and let the tech do the rest...
-
Pennies also noted the host on the other grid and her matrix icon smiles. She waits for the right moment when no one is looking and blasts onto the Emerald City grid, quickly catching up to Ice and moving as a team to the host. Electrons sparkle as Pennies looks at Ice. "You lead and I will be the aid, then switch?"
-
Marking this particular host is straightforward enough and the two hackers enter nearly simultaneously. The interior of the host is sculpted to be a sterile environment with long hallways leading in circles. Small 'drones' scurry along the pristine, white floors.
-
Ice takes a slow look around Maintining her focus on not broadcasting anything she concentrates on the task at hand.
Ice to Pennies <<I'll start trying to track down their schedual, keep an eye out in case the Host starts acting up>>
-
Pennies nods, not wanting to broadcast more than necessary. If Ice thinks she is good enough to find the file, Pennies is comfortable keeping a watch.
-
After only a few moments, Ice nods and begins walking down the hallway. Both of them feel that their heels should be clicking loudly on the floors, but running silent keeps everything muffled. Most of the scurrying drones pay them no mind. After a moment, Ice stops before a door, clearly marked, "Schedule."
Opening the door, there are several filing cabinets, each with a name and address on them. Obviously clients, they take just a few moments to spot their mark. Now to put themselves on the schedule then leave the sterile host.
-
Pennies deftly opens the file and begins to edit it to indicate a scheduled maintenance visit to the facility.
-
The edit takes no time at all to make. Pennies closes the filing cabinet with a smile. There were a few noises back in the hall where the drones continued their routine duties, otherwise, all was quiet.
-
Pennies looks at Ice and nods, letting her partner know the deed was done. The two slip back through the host and then out of VR into their own bodies. The Dwarf looks at John and says, "All done here. Let's be off to join the others and get at this."
-
With the schedule placed into the host of the exterminators, the team prepares for the next step, infiltrating and recovering the equipment they need to pass at the facility.
Ice looks to Requiem, "I think the planning here is where you shine."
The others look to him with a nod. "Yeah, I can work some mojo, you tell me where you want it. Invisibility, you think? Or illusions? Hopefully we won't have to frag anyone here."
-
Pennies nods. "I have a schedule of other call outs. Perhaps we could intercept one of the trucks and take their gear and uniforms?"
-
“Right, so the breadcrumbs are in the exterminator’s host, now we need a ride and uniforms to complete the look. I’m assuming you can’t just assign us one of the two vans in the lot…?” he gave the two hackers a brief moment to respond, “so I guess if we can’t come up with a facsimile we need to borrow a work crew’s unit. I’m reluctant to get anyone else involved as it increases the risk of this going wrong but I’m not sure our upfront payment will cover the necessaries in the timeframe we require. Can you locate a crew that is just starting their shift? If we can delay them somewhere they hopefully won’t be missed before we’re done…if you send their original target an apology about a delay and wipe the record from the exterminators’ system that should give us the window we need.”
-
Pennies looks at Ice and nods. "Sure, we can try that. Here is a list of the day's appointments. Let's look at it. Hmmmm. Look here. Those two trucks still on the lot are scheduled for a routine maintenance check. We can slip one of your identities into the file as the guy picking up the van to take it to the maintenance garage. You could walk in and grab a couple of uniforms and drive away. Would that work?"
-
Ice shrugs. "It's worth a try, I suppose?"
"Doubt it would work," Div responds. "The company is small time, so the people probably know each other by face."
-
Divillian continues, "Instead of hitting it at the maintenance garage, how bout we grab it as it's returning from a job. I convince the crew to leave us the vehicle for the night, maybe even get them to corroborate the story if there's any inquiries later. Nuyen, some strong words, and a touch of magic go a long way for these people."
-
Pennies shrugs. I can go with that. What can Ice and I do to help make it work?"
-
Divillian shrugs and mentions a few ideas,
- Find a spot along their path which isolates them from traffic.
- Hack the vehicles personal gridguide and make it believe that it's been instructed by KE to come to a stop in that area. Force the vehicle to roll down its mirrored windows. As I approach the vehicle, I send a second spell their way to help ensure they cooperate and believe the illusion. Thats when I start talking to them in disguise.
- disable but don't destroy their links. If possible, set it up so that you can restore it after the job is done and over. Maybe encrypt their operating system so that they can't use it.
- Support the illusion with imitation police chatter, cut from a movie or public soundboard or something, which will be coming from my Link.
- I'll ask them to step out of their vehicle and while questioning them, casually guide them away from it.
- You guys steal the van.
- I pretend to call in the stolen vehicle and influence the two to hang out in a club nearby. I'll cover the cost and promise them the safe return of their van, then we go do the job.
- Once the job is done, I bring the vehicle back to them and alter their memories so that they think they did the extermination job. If possible, restore their commlinks functionality and plant any needed evidence without being seen. Then we leave.
I'm open to suggestions if there's something about this you'd like to change, but I suggest we get the job over and done with.
-
Pennies and Ice nod and set up a division of labor to make the idea work. Pennies gets a mark on the vehicle and is prepared to stop it if necessary while Ice sends a message to the two occupants that purports to be from their dispatcher and instructs them to pull over at a designated place and provide any assistance possible to the KE officer that will approach them. They are told not to contact the office or anyone else about the stop until after it was all over. The only information available at this time is that this is part of some sort of sting operation.
The guys in the van are more than willing to cooperate, especially if it means some paid time off in a bar.
-
After prepping the mini-job, the crew waits patiently for the van to stop. Divilian walks over and bids them to roll down their window.
"What can I do for you, Officer?" the driver asks.
-
Requiem waited in their own vehicle, outwardly calm, calculating the best angles of approach for maximum impact, should things go south. The silenced Lightfire in his lap was loaded with narcojet capsule rounds...he didn't want to kill these poor bastards that were simply wrong place wrong time...
The face mask felt odd but a quick check in the mirror confirmed it was in place and that he didn't look like himself...none of them did!
-
"I'm in pursuit of a pair of runners in the neighborhood who were broadcasting your SINs. Those bastards demoed my car. That's coming out of my year-end. I need you to step out of your vehicle so I can ask you some questions and take a brief look inside. They really didn't look like you, and runner's never use their real identities anyway, but I need to verify that you weren't involved. This should only take a few moments."
-
"Oh, uh," The man looks uncertain at first, then nods. "Sure thing, officer. I hope you're all right..."
The two men step out of the vehicle and give their undivided attention to Div.
-
Divilian nods and stands so that they are facing away from their vehicle. He's tinted his magic so that they are hyper focused on him. He looks past them to the others and indicates the vehicle with a quick nod of his head.
-
The mage convinces the men of the necessity of commandeering their vehicle and Pennies shakes her head, a bit envious of his skills. The pair are happy enough to have some paid time in the near-by bar and happily turn over the keys to the van. Pennies climbs in and waits for the mage to join her before driving off to meet the rest of the team and put the next phase into operation. "Sweet moves back there, Div. You probably could have talked them out of their underwear."
The ride to the rendezvous is short and the crew going into the site dresses in the spare uniforms in the truck and gets ready to move out.
-
Hmmm Divillian smiles. Maybe when we get back. He laughs. Let's try to keep the bullets out of this thing. It'll make things a bit easier later on.
-
At the rendezvous, Pennies dresses in the fourth set of overalls and looks around. "OK. Ice and I have given us the best chance to get in and out. She will stay outside to monitor the situation and try to help if things start to go south. I can try to find a direct connection once we get inside. I am thinking it will be easier inside than from the outside. Once connected, I can help guide the three of you through the area. but I will have to be left somewhere while I do that. Wow! We are really going to do this." She looks around a bit sheepishly. Guess I should not have said it quite like that. Way to easy to tell this is my first real run."
-
Divillian slides on his overalls. Bleh... gross. These colors. Noticing the new runners apprehension he turns to her and says "If things go south, focus on staying alive, the objective comes second. Can't finish a job if you're dead." Then he smiles his charming smile and laughs, repeating the last line in a sing-song manner over and over. "We'll be fine Omae. Just don't draw attention to yourself."
-
"Let's take a look and see what equipment we can conceal our weapons in, I have no intention of going in unarmed!"
-
Requiem begins looking through the equipment for places to hide his smaller weapons while Pennies drives. More than once, she takes the opportunity to curse at the penchant for humans to design cars as torture devices for short people. She pulls up alongside the other vehicle and lets Ice out to climb in with Xipe, who will be pulling security on her body while she is in VR. Last second plans are discussed and adopted or discarded. In the end, it is decided to go with the original plan. Looking at the chrono, Pennies sees that she has plenty of time to get to the appointment, but she wants to get started in case the road goes bad on her. "Hey, guys, we need to blow or risk not making the appointment time."
The van negotiates the streets to the building, where they are stopped by the security guys at the gate. Pennies presents a pad with the work order listed and they guys check. She knows the edit on the file is good, but holds her breath anyway. The few seconds the guard is gone pass like hours and almost convinces herself that something has gone wrong when the man returns. He is frowning and indicates that Pennies should turn the vehicle off. Pennies smiles on the outside but is running through her options on the inside.
-
"So, I see that you do have an appointment, per your records..." the guard begins. "But on ours, there doesn't seem to be anything there, so some sort of mismatch..."
<<DREK>> the message comes from Ice. <Keep him talking but away from checking again, I'm going to fix it... if I can...>>
-
"Yea we got the call about an hour ago. Apparently someone bought a CAS-Roach mama with their frozen catfish. You know, those giant flying roaches they have down there in the swamps. You know, the kind that send those sensitive researcher types jumping on their desks or hiding in closets. " Divillian chuckles and smiles at the guard, hoping he enjoys the mental image of the 'nerds' running from 6 inch long flying cockroaches. "You ever see those things? They aren't dangerous just huge. " Divillian does a quick matrix search on his link for images of cockroach infestations from Mississippi to Florida while continuing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BqxQhkVqao (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BqxQhkVqao)
"I had to knock out a nest of these things once. They'd only been in the house for a week, by that time the softball sized bastards had over 10,000 children. You know, like Roaches do. When I told ... what's his name...", Divillian waves his hand towards the facility, "about it over the comm, they decided an emergency call was probably the best option." Divillian hands the guard his Link which is pointing to an image gallery of CAS cockroaches. "Here, take a look at these things. You see any wandering around?" He asks, waiting for the guards attention to turn to the images.
-
Pennies turns her face from the guard for a moment to hide her blush. She knew it had been too easy and chides herself for not thinking of that. Now she forces herself to be patient as Ice does her magic, unable to slip into VR to help her friend.
-
the guard looks at the pictures presented by Div, his face crossed with skepticism. "that's a big fraggin' roach. I haven't seen one like that, though.
Ice calls out from the back, "Well, that's fine, I don't really care, rather get home early anyway, but you might want to double check before you send us on our way."
The guard shrugs and pulls out his commlink, tapping on the display, then frowning. Well, hell, that wasn't there a second, ago I swear."
He takes a few steps back and waves them through, "Alright, get to it, I suppose."
-
Pennies nods her thanks at the guard. So, any place in particular you want us to park?" She drives through the gate, heading to the parking spot the guard had indicated on an AR map of the area. Once in position, she looks at the others. "Ok. We are this far. Let's grab some of the gear and do some roach killing." She goes into the rear of the large van and grabs a tank of the insecticide and slips it onto her back by the straps, slips a pair of goggle on, and jumps down to the parking lot, looking every bit like a professional bug assassin..................or at least she hopes she gives off that impression.
-
There appear to be two buildings. A large complex and a smaller building near the wall. The larger building has a double door entrance, made of glass. You can see a reception area inside. The other building has a single, solid door, guarded by a maglock. Based on where the guard parked you, it's plain he expects you to enter the reception area first.
-
Pennies goes with the others to the reception area. Entering, she approaches the desk with the pretty woman behind it and shows her the pad with the work order on it. "Good morning. We are here about the roach problem. I think that you have the authorization form already?"
-
Requiem followed, feigned nonchalance written all over his considerably more human features...
-
Div keeps his mouth shut and heads into the reception area with everyone else.
-
The woman looks up and frowns. "I don't think we called in a service request..." She looks closely at the datapad and her face 'squinches.'
"Well, I guess that looks right. Let me get an escort for you." Her fingers splay before her and stab into the air and then she returns her full attention to you. "They'll be right with you."
-
Pennies smiles at the receptionist. "Thank you very much. I do not think this will take too long, but these critters need to be stopped before they can breed to much. They have an affinity for making nests close to electrical circuits, so I would ask that we be shown those. You definitely do not want these things crawling all over you wires and shorting anything out." She sends a short note to her companions. >>I hope someone has a way to separate the escorts from us. I might be able to make a direct connection from the power box and if the escort stays with me, that might allow the rest of you to move off.<<
-
Div sends a short note back to Pennies: Do you know where the prototype is? I'll try to get them to lead us to the general area, then I'll pull the escorts. Divillian smiles, anticipating mischief.They won't suspect a thing. He adds after the fact, reminding the team that he wants the silent bonus too.
-
Pennies keeps focused on the receptionist as she replies. >>Sadly, no. I know that the man who made the device is named Gerald Watkins and we can try to sniff out where he works.<<
-
>>Ask for the plant room and access to their ventilation monitoring, should give you a direct host connection and camera feeds. If D can deal with the escort then so much the better but I have a feeling we will need my particular skill set before long. Let's make it as long as possible!<<
-
Pennies steps up to the receptionist and says, "Is there any way that you can provide me with the diagrams of the plant room and ventilation system? It would help if I already have that when we go look for these things. The warm air of the ducts allows them to breed there. And you do not want these things to get into your power plant."
-
Divillian laughs "Oh man, I almost forgot that smell. Thousands of cockroaches and their drek liquefied then fried like SHAM(tm) when they switched their systems on that morning. When we opened it up..." Divillian laughs again. "Never thought I'd see an Ork turn that color. And of course, it's right next to the ventilation system which runs on its own backup right. So it just floods the place with the smell. Took 'em a week to get it out."
-
Pennies peers at the woman's blouse then turns to the mage. "Hey, no need to be trying to scare Sarah. She is doing the best she can. And that one WAS bad, but it might not get that bad here if they let us do our job." She turns back to Sarah. "Don't let him scare you. Some people are like that. But he is not really exaggerating the smell. Or the fact that it got into the entire building through the ventilation system. But he does not need to emphasize it so much."
-
"Right, let's get moving, sooner we get this sorted sooner I can get back to the game! Plantroom's this way right..." and without really waiting for their escort to lead the way Requiem set off...
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Pennies notices that Sarah is reaching for her com set and calls out. "Hey, Jake, don't go running off on your own. You know how some places get antsy when you do that. Besides, it looks like the escort is here."
A muscular guy wearing the uniform of the company and wearing a badge that says "Security" appears. Sarah tells him that he is to escort the exterminator team through the complex, making sure that they stop in the ventilation room of each building. Pennies nods and looks at the other members of the team before thanking Sarah for her patience and her assistance. The guide introduces himself. "OK. My name is Mike. The basic ground rule is no wandering off on your own. Once we go through the door there you will need an access badge like the one around my neck to get into various parts of the complex. The visitor's badges I am passing out will not get you into those areas without an escort. Any questions before I take you into the first building?"