[8-bit]

Getting an IC post up in about an hour. Sorry for the massive delay. Papers got assigned with only a few days notice.

[rednblack]

Ace knows that it's a rating 10 data lock, and he shared that with the team. He's not going to want Doc poking around in there until he knows the probability for success.

I'd like to roll Security Tactics to see what Ace thinks will happen if Doc fails. Like, is the data lock likely to blow up and save the info, or what?

Security Tactics data locks: 9d6t5 2

I'd also like to roll the same skill to see if Ace has any idea what an operative should do if s/he was unable to check in on schedule and was also unable to come in physically.

Security Tactics Lost dog: 9d6t5 3

[Tecumseh]

I'll tackle this tonight.

FYI, the latest IC post refers to Katsina as Ivana. This is a deliberate choice to help draw attention to the fact that she looks, sounds, and smells totally different now than she did a little while ago. It can be easy to forget in a text-based game, but the naming can help draw attention to the difference.

[rednblack]

"Yeah, don't act all innocent, you slot. Mireille, elf, meter-and-a-half, long dark hair." They realize that he's describing APB perfectly. "I've seen you going in here with her." He points to the apartment building to your left. "Yeah, I seen you go in with her. Been waiting for you to come back.

"So, what, you're done with her already? You're on to the next one? Got a thing for dark-haired elves, I see. Think you got it where it counts, do you? Want to find out?" He pushes up his sleeves a bit.

His buddies chime in after looking around for witnesses.

Ork 1: "Gonna get wet around here, and we ain't talking about snow, chummer. You wanna be a cutter or a leaker?"

Ork 2: "Ever make idiot wine? Find a guy moving in on your girl and STOMP 'IM."

20:27
Another camera. Chino runs onto the scene and collides with Katsina, who was running from another direction with her claymore drawn. Chino, being much larger, is hardly fazed, but Katsina is knocked to the ground and drops her sword. Chino looks unsympathetic. "Ever make idiot wine?" he shouts at her as she rolls to her back, assuming a defensive posture. "Find a gang moving in on your turf and STOMP 'EM!"

So that's something, maybe. Would be interesting to post Chino where he might be seen by the Zed's crew on their way to pick up the car.

[Tecumseh]

Intuition 4 + Action Trid Stars 2 = 4 hits

Chino, if he sees the video, will recognize it as a catch phrase of Gary Cline - the popular ork movie-star-turned-Horizon-CEO - from one of his early simsense hits: Slade's Revenge: Night of Rage Undone

[Tecumseh]

Technically, the videos off APB's commlink are IC only for Doc until he shares them. He could choose to only share them with Blue Team, or even edit them before sharing. That's up to Zweiblumen.

I'd like to roll Security Tactics to see what Ace thinks will happen if Doc fails. Like, is the data lock likely to blow up and save the info, or what?
Security Tactics data locks: 9d6t5 2

The data lock is not going to blow up without an explosive component. A kink bomb could be used to disable just the data lock, but nobody with astral sight has mentioned seeing anything like that in Ace's head. Ace is reasonably sure that Katsina would have said something had she seen it, but there is, of course, the question of whether Katsina would recognize a kink bomb when she saw it. Even so, Katsina also has a cyberware scanner in her mask, and presumably that would have reported any sort of cortex bomb. So, in the end, Ace's best guess is no, the data lock is not likely to blow up. Maybe if Doc fails the data lock would release an intrusion countermeasure or something? Can they even put those in data locks? Ace doesn't really know.

I'd also like to roll the same skill to see if Ace has any idea what an operative should do if s/he was unable to check in on schedule and was also unable to come in physically.

Security Tactics Lost dog: 9d6t5 3

This can be very simple or very complex, depending on the organization. It can be as complicated as arranging a meet via a pre-arranged sign - anything from a gibberish ARO placed very specifically in public, to posting a dwarf-seeking-troll ad on a local forum for singles - or as straightforward as calling in and explaining the situation. Of course, who knows when Ace might have been scheduled to check in. Maybe he missed it last night, or maybe allowances are made for an operative to lay low for a few days to let the heat die down.

Ace feels like there must have been an extraction point for him to reach, which may or may not still be active, but who knows where that was. If he can't come in physically, then his two options are to either call in - which could either be a relief for the person at the other end of the line, or it could seriously piss them off as a breach of protocol - or to spend the rest of his life in the shadows.

So what kind of organization is Ares? Ace remembers that Ares is very meritocratic and doesn't care where it finds its talent. While many of its shadow operatives are recruited from military and security officers, they are not the straight-laced by-the-book types. They are flexible, crafty, and resourceful, and expect their assets to be the same. Given the amount of nuyen Ares has invested in Ace, he's guessing he's not an asset to be disposed of quickly, or written off hastily. He probably has a bit of leeway to work with.

[rednblack]

what are the team's thoughts for Ace contacting Rhodes?  If it's a "yes," I'd like to get on it before Ace has Doc go digging around in his head.  Even if OOC I feel fine with it, especially about hearing what Tecumseh has to say on the matter, I'm going to play Ace as exceptionally reticent -- it is his head, and he's been a bit paranoid on the subject so far.

[Zweiblumen]

Checking Doc's knowledge on Data locks:
Info on datalocks Hardware 5 + log 9 = 14: 14d6t5 6 (limit 9)
Info on datalocks cybertech 5 + log 9 = 14: 14d6t5 6 (limit 9)
Info on datalocks matrix security 4 + log 9 = 13: 13d6t5 5 (limit 9)

Doc is thinking about about how to break into one, how dangerous it is both physically and to the data inside.  Wether unlocking it is a physical action or a matrix one etc etc.

Then I'll get his repsonse to Ace posted.

[Tecumseh]

As interested as Katsina/Ivana is in reaching out to contacts, she's hesitant to do it at this exact moment. What if something goes wrong and they get tracked, or there's another encounter? Ohanzee's not at 100%, and she's slowing down too (at 5S from drain). She'd like to get to the safehouse, rest, and regroup before doing anything that might trigger another firestorm.

Her logic might actually be backwards. It could be better to poke your head out and make calls immediately before going into a safehouse, where you could lay low while any heat you generate (from making the calls) dies down.


Doc knows you break into a data lock by plugging the universal connecting cable from your cyberdeck into the data lock, and then either feeding it the password or hacking it. The lock is not dangerous in and of itself, although the person the lock is attached to often is dangerous (see: Ace). The fact that the lock is in his head and requires a physical connection means that you won't be able to access it unless you're within a meter of him (the length of the cable from your cyberdeck) which usually isn't an option unless he's either 1) willing and cooperative, or 2) dead (and therefore cooperative).

In theory, the process is straight forward enough. In practice, a Rating 10 data lock is tough, even for Doc.

[Malevolence]

or 2) dead (and therefore cooperative).

Dead or unconscious.


I'm fine with Ace reaching out. And basically I think that doing it while in Carbondale might be one of the best options - like Tec said, the safehouse presumably has countermeasures to shake any heat you might have, so doing so before heading there might help us manage any mistakes that we end up making. Hacking the data lock might best be done at the safehouse, after Doc has had a chance to fix is deck a little more. Though there is probably a policy that prohibits using any Matrix devices while there, again in order to keep the safehouse, well, safe.

[Zweiblumen]

We could do the lock completely offline, as it's a direct connection.  So I'm cool with doing this at the safe house.

It's got 20 dice (rating X2) to defend, I've got 17 dice (6 HotF + 9 logic + 2 VR) to attack plus edge.  It's a dicey situation, but with time I'll likely win.  Might take all of my edge to do it, but I'm either adding 7 dice and exploding before the roll, or I can re-roll misses.  In this case, I think getting a total of 24 dice + explodings vs. 20 dice might be the better option, but not 100% on the math.

Opening isn't going to hurt anything, but to access any locked data inside of it is another matter.... Edit file is an attack action, and so I'm risking matrix damage.  I'll need to repair the deck before trying that.  Especially if there's a data bomb on there.

[Tecumseh]

You guys are killing it on the RP. Great job dissecting the situation, the timeline, the sequence of events, underlying motives, all of it. This plot was designed specifically to produce conversations exactly like this.

I'm going to leave things in place for one more day just to make sure everyone has a chance to say their piece. If the conversation is still flowing then we'll continue it over the weekend. If people have wrapped it up then we'll advance to the next step.

[Tecumseh]

@Rednblack
Just to be clear, you are calling Rhodes' commcode with one of the hunter's commlinks, is that correct? Are you running silent or non-silent?

[rednblack]

@Rednblack
Just to be clear, you are calling Rhodes' commcode with one of the hunter's commlinks, is that correct? Are you running silent or non-silent?

Nobody spoke up that it would be better to use a commlink other than the hunter's, so yes, that's what Ace is going to use.  He'll be running silent, and shutting the thing back off as soon as the call is over.

If our matrix specialist has another idea, Ace will definitely have taken that advice, but I haven't heard anything to that effect, so fingers crossed and all that.

[Zweiblumen]

Honestly, we are pretty far away from where that happened in distance if not time.  Running silently should be safe especially for a single phone call.  You'd probably have been better off using one of the burners Sam bought, but looks like he used those for other purposes.

Have we split up into new groups now?  Seems like folks are scheming once again