[Aria]

[Sunday July 5th, 2076; Angel’s, West End Overplex, London]
 
Angel’s is the same depressing hole you met in before, except now it is even more empty, the dank air hinting at spilt alcohol and mould spores.  The brand spanking new atmospheric analyser looks very out of place sitting in the centre of the dilapidated room.
 
Running the diagnostics wand over yourselves it beeps and whistles for a bit before the holo display turns a grim orange and words you really didn’t want to see are projected in to the air
 
<Foreign Bacteria Detected, Recommend Quarantine and Urgent Medical Attention>
 
Well that’s just peachy!
 
Anyone exposed to the FAB, most of you (and Al2), please make Body+Willpower+Rt of any protective devices when exposed+Medkit Rt (antibiotics, although not sure they’ll work on Al2)…if enough time passes in game you are going to start feeling very crappy!
 
Mutated FAB III: [Vector Inhalation, Speed 12 hours (3), Penetration 1, Power 13S, Nature Bacterial, Effects: Stun Damage, Nausea, Disorientation]
 
The good news just keeps on coming when the holo projector flickers with static and suddenly the medical diagnostics information is replaced by an androgynous figure in some sort of silver plated armour.  Impossibly long anime esque white hair ruffles in an invisible breeze and then an effeminate but somehow threatening voice emanates from the tinny speaker
 
“Well excellent, I can see you have made it out with my artefact. Please don’t be upset with Findley, Mr Johnson, he is out of his depth and feeling the breath of his superiors on the back of his neck.  It is no matter, I dripped the intel on the site into his ear so you could say I am the original sponsor of your endeavour.  I will see that you are suitably compensated as soon as you hand the artefact to my operatives…”
 
***
 
#32

[DireRadiant]

[Yukika Karasu - Sunday July 5th, 2076; Angel's, West End, London]

I start to ask the Kami a favor. I pause. I change my mind. I ask a different favor.

FAB?

The Kami goes. The leprous rat dissappears into the building.

FAB?!

What a trick Iris has played on me!

FAB!

The leper rat finds nothing it knows to be dangerous. Of course it would have no idea what a bomb is. It is a Kami.

FAB...

They talk as if they do not know we are in working in a State that has the top counter terrorism operations and culture for centuries. They talk openly about what they have. The Lord Protector has an army of informants and a population willing to inform against threats. And then there are the Great Powers. They too will hold interests and act.

I hope they have not revealed this to anyone! They should not have even told me.

FAB... Iris shall pay for this. They will all pay.

"Please. I do not understand what you mean by 'clean'?"

[adamu]

Al saw the test result, but since he felt fine he figured it was just a load of crap like all the rest of what the Johnson had said.

He was more interested in the hologram. He recorded the image on his eyes, shot it to his Fairlight, and then attached it to a text to Silk. <<Hey girl, this here non-binary a-hole that Winter feller yer not friends with? That puts him in the bad guy category, right, your weird thoughts on gray morality notwithstanding? Good or bad, if that's him then don't reckon there's any way in hell he's working with Torrent, right?>>

[Jack_Spade]

I'll use the Valkyrie Module in Isaint's car for it's Rating 6 Autodoc)

Bod 5+Wil 5+Respirator 6+5 Edge+6 Medkit-1 Penetration
Resist disease w/edge: 26d6h5 11 [26d6h5=5, 2, [6, 5], 3, 2, 3, 2, 1, [6, 3], 3, [6, 6, 6, 4], 2, [6, 4], [6, 1], 3, 2, 4, 4, 4, 3, 3, 1, 3, [6, 3], 1, [6, 1]]
So 2 Stun Damage
Resist disease w/edge: 20d6t5 6
Cured after the second instance.



"Well, that explains probably why those people where locked in behind those steel doors. Fuck."
Isaint turned to Yukika: "You wouldn't happen to have a disease healing spell in your repertoire? Never mind. Clean would be too strong a word. Sick is now a more realistic assessment. I'll call in my med equipment."

Isaint didn't wait around: He sent a signal to his VTOL Drone and had Arthur deploy the Medkit
"Ok, I've two Valkyrie modules at the ready, one on my Morgan, the other will arrive within the next ten minutes. Arthur here will start with Antibiotics treatment. No time to bleed guys and gals..."

When the call came he answered: "Sorry, no can do. Our contract is with Mr. Findley/Johnson/whatever. He is the one who'll get the stuff. If he chooses to give it to you, that's his decision."

[Mercy Merchant]

Robyn picks up the diagnostic instrument and runs it across herself and the Hell Hound.  The news is completely disappointing.  Apparently she has gathered a heavy debt and the magic did not clean the disease away.  She uses the medkit to see what she can stave off and the result is again disappointing.  It appears that she can reduce the effect a bit, but not entirely.  Without turning her head, she says, "I am sorry to have brought a false sense of security to us.  I am unable to cure this and have no idea where to begin.  Do you wish me to re-establish contact with my medical acquaintance at the hospital?"

[obidancer]

Oh Drek, mumbled Deckard reading the scanner. They were pretty much all infected.
What a hell is that bacteria? is it lethal? are we contagious? Can't those fancy medkits get rid of it? How about those Mages from Below!? Talk about a job! Charlatans! 
Needless to say, Deckard was a bit panicky about the idea of having a Bacteria eating him from the inside.

"I am unable to cure this and have no idea where to begin."

Doc, you're not supposed to say that. You're supposed to absolutely give us that false sense of security. You know, the pat in the back: "Everything 's gonna be just fine". 


Bod 3+Wil 5+Respirator 6 +7 Edge+6 Medkit -1 Penetration:
Disease Resistance w/ Edge: 26d6h5 10
3 Stun.

[Mercy Merchant]

Robyn is petting her hound and looks up with a smile.  "You are right.  Everything is going to be alright.  I will find a cure in time.  I am going back to the Nexus for a bit to see what I can find.  Wake me in an hour if I am not back."  Robyn slips back into VR and glides back to the Nexus host to continue scanning for any information about the artifact or the mutated FABIII and a possible cure.

[Aria]

[Sunday July 5th, 2076; Angel’s, West End Overplex, London]
 

"Sorry, no can do. Our contract is with Mr. Findley/Johnson/whatever. He is the one who'll get the stuff. If he chooses to give it to you, that's his decision."

The laugh from the speaker grates on your nerves, the androgynous figure pirouetting in the holo display as (s)he surveys you all
 
“I don’t think Mr Findley wants the device any longer…he’s going to leave you twisting in the wind while the Security Forces quietly remove the bioterrorist threat, especially when he sees all that nice pathogen data that you just kindly uploaded for him.  I on the other hand am willing to pay your finder’s fee without worrying about any heavy handed corporate involvement.  You can try and verify with Findley if you want but I suspect that ‘link’s service has been suspended…you’ve only got a little time before the net closes over your pretty heads”
 

<<Hey girl, this here non-binary a-hole that Winter feller yer not friends with? That puts him in the bad guy category, right, your weird thoughts on gray morality notwithstanding? Good or bad, if that's him then don't reckon there's any way in hell he's working with Torrent, right?>>

The reply is not quite what you expected
 
<<Torrent?  You’re working for my father?  Aria neglected to mention that little nugget of intel.  I am sorry to disappoint you but my relationship with Dad isn’t strong enough to be able to tell you who he will and won’t work with.  That said, I find it doubtful that anyone would willingly work with someone as alien as a Dissonant Techno…you did know he was a Dissonant didn’t you?  I know he was involved in your business late last year.  LeFey thankfully managed to shake him loose and go off grid, I hope she has still evaded him but I don’t think we’ll ever know unless she or Mordred resurface.  So, bad guy, perhaps, someone not to be trifled with, certainly.
 
Let me know if I can do anything to help.  I am working on something I could do with your help on so you surviving the next few days would benefit us both!>>
 
***
 
#33

[DireRadiant]

[Yukika Karasu - Sunday July 5th, 2076; Angel's, West End, London]

FAB.

I listen. I watch. I sit quiet and still as this tragedy unfolds. I think.... FAB. They are sickening. There are opportunities here, but so dangerous. Another offer is made.

FAB.

I have some ideas, there are some obvious paths through this, but what do these people want. I am afraid to ask.

[adamu]

Torrent is Silk's father? This damned business got more incestuous every time he turned around.

<<Woman, I don't even know what a damned dissonant is, but reckon I'll take your word it's a bad thing. An' I'll take the not dying thing under advisement. Stay tuned, this looks like another one we may need help brokering a fresh deal on.>>

Along with her message, Silk had returned the attached image with an ID Confirmed flag on it. Putting away his commlink, Al went over and pulled the plug on the diagnostic device. The hologram winked out.

Keeping Silk's family business to himself, Al spoke before the freak could hack any other devices and resume his silly cavorting.

"Gender-bender there's a dissonant techno goes by Winter," he said, pretending he knew what it meant. "Reckon ol' Al's been up agin' 'im afore, an' more'n once. Since I'm still here ta relate the tale, well, I wouldn't worry 'bout 'im too damned much."

He lit a cigarette. "What I am worried about is stayin' here one minute longer. I won't pretend ta know who's lyin' an' who, if anyone, is playin' straight with us, but until we find out I'm fer movin'. An' now."

[Jack_Spade]

"True." Isaint nodded. "But first we'll go back to your first plan Al. Congratulations, now we have every reason to wrap old ugly face with det-cord."
Despite what the holo-Winter had said, he tried a final time to contact their Johnson. When the message returned as undeliverable he cursed.
"We need to go to ground somewhere where we can't infect anyone else with this stuff and we have to move now.
Try not to sneeze on anyone. If anyone of you starts to feel a fever pipe up. The last thing we need is someone here keeling over while we are on the run.
If we are up against a Technomancer we need to go dark now - and before someone asks: No we won't deal with that ladyboy. If someone purposefully bypasses Torrent to hire me for a job that means it's someone I'd rather see in the ground than as my employer."

Before he did switch of his matrix gear he called Torrent, including again the team: <<Don't know if you know, but your Johnson was an unwitting pawn for a dissonant Techno called Winter. He or she is after the artifact, we are infected by a mutated FAB strain and now for the second time we head towards an altercation with a security team. Please tell me you know a safe house where we can lay low for treatment. And if you say "Below" at any point in your answer I'll think some pretty mean curse words in your general direction.>>

[adamu]

Al's lips spread into a rictus grin around the cigarette clamped between his teeth.

He already pretty much lived wifi dark, so once he'd sent a priority-flagged text to Robyn - who was still deep in VR - telling her what they'd decided, he was fully dark with a flip of a switch. He figured Robyn would go dark or not - she knew what she was doing in there.

Then he gleefully set about wrapping the idol in a literal cocoon of high-yield det cord, hard-wiring the array to a manual pull detonator. He left himself plenty of play in the connecting cable and he set the thing as far from the team as he could while the rest of the group prepared to move out.

[DireRadiant]

[Yukika Karasu - Sunday July 5th, 2076; Angel's, West End, London]

I touch nothing. Even using the medical wand while the others busy themselves I use my spirit fingers. Discreetly of course. It is simple to make it appear to use my own flesh.

I will live!

I keep away from all of them. These people are a greater danger to me than anything ... FAB! I will need to appease the Kami with purification ceremonies for months. Possibly 6 moons. And special sacrifices on the New Year. It is cold bathing naked in the New year.

I stand near an exit. Perhaps there is a chance. I need to know more. So strange, they are so free with deadly secrets and so secretive about trivial things.

Missing little things will get us killed.

"Please. Is it possible to burn the sickness and sell the prize? Is it not reasonable to want to pay for something without sickness?"

[Mercy Merchant]

Robyn gets the message from Al and her avatar frowns.  Cutting short her time is VR, she slips back to her body and stirs.  Per guidance, she goes wireless dark.  Thankfully, her major sensor groups are not wireless dependent and she will still be able to see.  She looks around and sees people getting ready to leave.  "Alright.  I am out of the matrix and ready to move when you are.  I am now wireless dark as requested."

[obidancer]

Deckard's wife, Cora, was a Technomancer. It was no surprise he had heard about the Dissonance. He had at time compared that to Toxic shamans, but it only led to some argumentations. Nevertheless, Deckard could associate it with something Evil, and even though he was no angel - he had killed, has been the cause of it and other dismay, and had slept ok after, such was his profession - he was not willing to willfully aid anyone dealing in the Dissonance.
What was intriguing was her interest for the relic. Its ability to taint the ambient Mana, at such speed, meant some dark history.

Before he did switch of his matrix gear he called Torrent, including again the team: <<Don't know if you know, but your Johnson was an unwitting pawn for a dissonant Techno called Winter. He or she is after the artifact, we are infected by a mutated FAB strain and now for the second time we head towards an altercation with a security team. Please tell me you know a safe house where we can lay low for treatment. And if you say "Below" at any point in your answer I'll think some pretty mean curse words in your general direction.>>

You Guys are the ones behind the Chopper crash and the "terrorist activity" - as they put it - by the Motorway station, ain't you? Things never go too well around you it seems...


He watched Al decorating the Artefact like it was Christmas tree, with enough explosive to probably level the entire block.

That's a terrible idea... he said outloud. Don't get me wrong this Winter should probably not get her hand on this, but I have a very bad feeling about blowing it up. Who knows what will come out of it. It's already pretty dangerous as is. There are legends of powerful evil spirits locked up in ancient relics. The last thing we want is a demonic free spirit roaming around London. Maybe another reason we should all be as far from this artefact as possible... heck if we're not gonna get paid for bringing it, we might as well put it back where we found it!