[Mercy Merchant]

After removing the cuffs you realize that you need to pee quite badly.  Looking about the living room, you spy five doors that might lead to a bathroom as well as a small kitchenette off to the right.  Going to the one most obvious you find a closet, but the second try is luckier.  Relieving yourself, you see that the bathroom is well appointed and that there is a toothbrush and mouthwash on the sink counter and clean bath and hand towels on racks near a large shower.  You can read a sign next to the shower that indicates you have a total of three hours of hot water ration per day.  Examining the toothbrush you see that it is apparently new and the mouthwash is unopened.  A bar of soap is still in its paper wrapper on the sink and body wash along shampoo and conditioner are stocked on a shelf in the shower.  The soap, shampoo, and conditioner are the brand you were using at home.

Home.  The word is ash in your mouth.  Where is home now?  You have been brutally betrayed and forced to sign a confession you have never even seen.  You had expected death but this does not seem like any sort of hell or purgatory you have ever heard about.  Something happened.  More, someone happened.  That someone is probably going to want a favor or ten for this.  Returning to the living room you do some exploring.  Door three leads to the bedroom.  A nice bedroom.  A queen size bed sits against one wall with a large bureau against another.  A nightstand abuts the bed and a set of double doors opens to a closet filled with clothes.  Clothes in your size, apparently.  On a hunch, you go to the bureau and find the drawers stocked with underwear, t-shirts, jeans, and socks.  All new.  All in your size or of the one-size-fits-all category.  The bed is comfortable and the pillows even more so.  Still curious, you return to the living room and the fourth door.  It opens to a smaller bedroom without any furniture other than a padded chair against one wall.  The fifth door opens to a small Zen meditation garden that fills most of the room.  A small stone bench would allow you to sit and examine your inner feelings.  Back in the living room, large glass doors open onto a small balcony.  It would appear that you are about seven floors up above the ground and can see a good bit of the Seattle sprawl from here, including the famed Space Needle.  Walking back into the main living room, you see a note on the back of the door that indicates that the common use pool is on the lobby level.  A lifeguard is apparently on duty from 1000 to 2200 hours every day.

[VegasRigged]

I spend a moment on the view, then on a whim, step out into the night. I take in the cool air, the sounds and sights and smells. I hold onto the feeling of freedom. The joy of having miraculously escaped death. I cling to it for as long as I can before the wheels begin to turn, the thoughts begin their march, and i begin to play the great game. I need to discern my security here. Am i still a prisoner or have I been released? Is anything expected of me? Is anyone looking for me?

I return to the small kitchenette and notice a commlink and ID waiting on the counter. It is bizarre to see my face beside someone else's name, Marisa Coulter, and with a jolt I remember the photo being taken during one of my 'sessions' with Wuxong security. Still, the ID looks real, and it is getting ads for things via the commlink. So much for the advantages of going off the grid. Further review of the link tells me the Apartment is rented to Ms Coulter till the end of the month. At least this answers one question: someone is looking for me, and someone doesn't want me found. I quietly thank whoever is behind this.

I pick out a casual suit, then shower away weeks of grime and misery. A few of my injuries will scar and though most will be easy to cover, it's unlikely I'll be sporting backless dresses anytime soon. At least the short hair I got on the inside is complaint and with a little work falls fairly well, though I make a note to get it cut on the commlink as I get out and dress.

Clean and refreshed I begin investigation in earnest, first casting detect enemies, then calling for a representative of the building to walk me through it's security procedures and while I wait assensing thoroughly for astral signatures and local laylines.

Casting 3 hits (p. 286 sr5)
Assensing 3 hits

[Mercy Merchant]

Your spell detects no enemies in the area of effect.  The lobby attendant tells you that he is very sorry, but there is no one on staff this evening that can assist you personally, but he gives you a quick rundown.  The key that was programmed to your commlink will grant access to the building and all of the services inside.  You can also use it to pay for food from the building restaurant and some other things that are listed on the concierge card on channel 1 of the trid screen.  At your silence, he tells you to push a button on the couch console to lower a panel in the wall and expose the trid screen.  Further buttons on the console will let you control the device.  He asks that you call him if you have any other questions that he can answer from his station.

Hanging up, your assensing reveals several nearby astral signatures in the building and the local leylines.

[VegasRigged]

I drop the spell and revert to normal sight then bring up and review the options on the Trideo, opting for a map of the area and all local businesses, then I run the new name through a search engine. I'm about to begin when an news article catches my eye and I bring it up: Discussion of the Wuxong HQ attack. The burned out tower is shown again in all it's high definition splendor. I suddenly want to see it. I want to slip into astral and go there, see with my own sight what has become of my beautiful tower. But the wheels turned and rationality wins out. Such a visit is impossible. I would be seen, leave traces, and as far as I knew i'm on the run. Best to keep it low key. Besides, returning to the seen of the crime would only affirm guilt for those who thought I was guilty, and now that rationality was back in charge The prospect of facing that loss first hand was daunting, even freighting.

But as the article reviews events before moving on to other Wuxong news, it mentions a team of Shadowrunners responsible for breaking into the facility. Shadowrunners. Skilled operatives outside the law. They'd pulled the trigger on this, but maybe their mercenary talents could be put to good use in the future.

For now it was time for the matrix to answer some questions: Who is Marisa Coulter, and what does she do? And while we are at it, what is the fate of Eva Shertell?

[Mercy Merchant]

The trideo turns out to be quite easy to operate and Chanel 1 does indeed list the services available to you as a tenant, to include the pool, sauna, a small gym, room service, laundry service, and more.  The list of concierge services includes arranging for tickets to sporting events, concerts, the opera, and ends with a category of "Special Services" that apparently requires you to call down to find out just what they are.  The news articles on the Wuxing Tower hits you like a hard fist to the stomach.  Someone ruined your life and someone has saved it.  The who for both questions bothers you, but you can put that aside for now.  You need to find out about yourself. 

Eva Shertell simply disappeared.  There is no matrix information on her after she was arrested for complicity in the destruction and sabotage of the Wuxing Tower in Hong Kong.  Such a void of information usually means extended questioning or death.  Or both, in no special order, as it is rumored that there are some necromancers have the power to speak with the dead and to force them to respond.  Suddenly, the importance of something you almost missed hits you.  The date on the scrolling news bar at the bottom of the screen lists the current date as 6 June, 2075.  The destruction of the tower had been over three months ago.  Had you really been a prisoner that long?  Even more questions, but apparently no answers from that source.

Marisa Coulter, on the other hand, had a long history on the matrix.  Born in Seattle of wage slave parents, she had risen to a bit of prominence as an interior decorator.  Schooled at the University of Washington, she was an established independent contractor with a store front in the Downtown District of Seattle.  The publicity still catches your eye.  It is you, but it is not you.  There are subtle changes to the cheek bones and other features that in the early fog of waking up you had not noticed.  Going to the bathroom, you look at yourself carefully.  You are not you.  You are someone else, presumably this Marisa Coulter.  There is so much that is barely a lie about the new persona that you might just be able to make it work.  But obviously, someone has spent a lot of nuyen on this new you.  What is the purpose and why you?

Your commlink goes off and you notice a text coming in from a Marie Padderborne.  You do not recognize the name.  >>Good evening, Miss Coulter.  You asked me to make sure to send you a reminder of the appointment with Mrs. Gale tomorrow at 3 PM here in the office.  All of the arrangements have been made and Mrs. Gale's file is on your desk as requested.  I hope that your vacation to Hong Kong went well.  See you tomorrow.<<

[VegasRigged]

I check the time and note with satisfaction that I have all of tonight and enough of tomorrow to get to my office and find out who Mrs. Gale is before I blow my cover by being bad at a job i'm actually good at.

I hail a cab and head down to meet it on the street. I haven't been outside properly in Seattle yet, though to nobodies surprise it's raining. I've heard of this city before and for a moment at the door of the cab, feeling the rain and casting my gave across a street I've never seen, and one I'll seemingly be seeing a lot.

I give the cabby the address from the link and watch with calm interest as Seattle slides by my window. Hong Kong, the parts I got to see between labs and the arcology, were mostly corporate, the private sector seemed to have a great deal more color and life to it.

We reach the office and I head inside to investigate and find this file I'm to study.

[Mercy Merchant]

Wednesday  6 June 2075  1948  Interiors by Coulter  Downtown  Seattle


Marisa is taken to an address in the Downtown district.  The cab stops at the curb outside a storefront with printing on the window that advertises "Interiors by Coulter".  Through the window, you can see that the shop appears to be quite small, with a few racks of catalogues and several chairs in the front and a desk just beyond that.  There are a few pictures of rooms in the window, presumable decorated by Marisa.  A woman is sitting at the desk.  The door has a sign indicating the hours of operation to be 1000 to 2000 Mon-Fri or by appointment.  There is a maglock on the door that looks to be of the voice recognition type. 

Entering the shop causes the middle-aged woman behind the desk to look up.  Her face lights up in a smile as she stands.  "Miss Coulter.  How nice to see you.  I did not really expect you to come in tonight, but I should have.  Oh, it is raining again.  Here, let me show you the Gale file.  I have also put two new files on your desk."  The woman is talking as she walks with you to a door that opens onto an office that is larger than the entire front room.   A large desk sits on the right and an even larger table to the left as you enter.  The walls are covered in pictures of decorated rooms.  The far wall contains cabinets containing many catalogues and some flat pull-out drawers.  Marie looks more closely at you as the two of you enter the office.  "The vacation certainly looks like it did you good.  I have been telling you for a couple of years that you should slow down.  Your pace was making you ill.  Anyway, here is the Gale file for tomorrow, and these are for, let me see, yes, a Miss Conrad and a Mr. Nelson.  I told them that you would be back tomorrow and would give them a call to set up an appointment.  But do try to not work yourself to death."

The woman smiles and walks to the door, where she turns and asks, "Now, do you need me to stay past closing, Miss Coulter?"

[VegasRigged]

"Thank you for the advice, the trip went well and has done wonders for me. No I don't need you to stay, I'll just take advantage of my jet lag and get caught up." I smile and when she turns to leave I assense her, then go the desk and search it carefully before turning to the files on my desk, which I've both had for some time and never seen before.

It's a strange feeling, sitting behind a desk that both is and isn't my own, as if I was here a few days ago, and am here now, but the two versions of myself just barely missed each other. I glance at my reflection in the cases across the room and wonder if I'll remember being Eva, or if I will Simply sink into this new life and disappear.

The gears say disappearing is best, become this new person who nobody wants to kill. She has a good job, a happy employee, a nice apartment and little to fear. Death came knocking and went away, why antagonize fate by trying to go back and be that vanished person?

The answer is on the desk. A plaque, made some time ago, with the new name. Someone created Ms. Merisa Coulter, or had supplanted her for their own ends. Someone was still playing a game. I order three coffees delivered and open the first file and begin to read, knowing that this life hangs in the balance just as much as the last one.

[Mercy Merchant]

Wednesday  6 June 2075  2339  Interiors by Coulter  Downtown  Seattle

The woman is not awakened or chromed.  Your search of the desk reveals little of your new personal life, but there are a number of files in the bottom right drawer of current clients and the dollar value of the accounts implies that you are in demand to a number of the rich and famous in Seattle.  Some of the folders are nearly empty except for a few pages of notes, but others are full of documents, drawings, and pictures of rooms decorated and the money grossed for each transaction.  It appears that some of these people have been clients for several years, beginning shortly after you finished at UW.  You order the coffee and have to go unlock the front door to take the delivery but are otherwise undisturbed as you turn to the file labeled GALE on the front. 

Inside is a detailed description of her family and household staff, with some pictures of the current interior decorations.  It is quite clear that practically everything is wrong for this woman, although there is a nice collection of what appears to be very old Chinese vases in a decorator cabinet.  The cabinet is all wrong, but the vases look amazing.  Your commlink buzzes that you have an incoming call.  Checking the time you are a bit surprised to see that it is past 2330.  The caller ID indicates that your caller is Ni Ni Xiaolu.  You do not recognize the name.

[VegasRigged]

I jot down a few notes on decorations and decide my research should be completed by looking up the history and value of those antiques.

Another spike of adrenaline comes on as I stare at the vibrating 'link. If they're calling my personal number then this is either a friend of Ms Coulter, or... connected. Neither of which is particularly good or bad, but both are potentially challenging.

I close the file, stand, and walk around the desk to pace before answering.

"Good evening, you've reached Marisa Coulter, how may I help you?"

[Mercy Merchant]

The voice on the other end of the call is cultured, with just a trace of a Chinese accent.  "Good evening, Miss Coulter.  I am surprised to catch you at work so soon after returning from Hong Kong.  I know that it is late, but I do need to talk to you about your appointment with Mrs. Gale tomorrow.  And other things.  Would you please come let me in."

[VegasRigged]

The final statement hits like a hammer, my stomach drops out and I nearly drop the phone before slowly turning to face the door. Whoever this is, he's right outside the office. This is happening now. I'm unprepared, time to fix that.

Fighting to keep my voice calm and even I reply 'Good, I have quiet a few questions for you.  I'll be out in  just a moment.'

I hang up and the moment my finger hits the button I extend my will into the astral and grasp the nearest Earth Spirit, pulling it momentarily into my service and ordering it to protect me.

Then, as it fades into back to await danger, I step into the lobby and open the door, inviting the mysterious stranger into a place I've never been before.

Summoning Force 6 Earth spirit, 5 hits.

[Mercy Merchant]

An elegantly dressed Chinese woman enters the shop as you open the door.  She holds out a manicured hand and says, "Good evening.  My name is Ni Ni Xiaolu.  I have Westernized the name for my clients, so for the time being you may call me Miss Xiaolu.  I know it is quite late and so will try to keep this visit as short as necessary.  I am sure that you have some questions and I will answer what I am allowed to.  May we please go to your office?"

Once there she will go to take a seat at one of the chairs around the large table and motion for you to do the same.  Her figure would probably fuel a man's wet dream and the gown a woman's.  She stands just over five feet tall and probably just about a hundred pounds.  Her short hair falls straight to the collar of her tailored gown.  She sits patiently, hands on the table until you are seated.  "So, let me begin.  I would ask that you please hold any questions until I have finished.  First, you are dead.  In fact both of you are dead.  As amazing as that might sound, it is perfectly true.  Second, you work for me.  In fact both of you work for me, or did until one of you came to a rather gruesome end in a narrow alley in Hong Kong and the other died an equally gruesome death at the hands of a man who executed you on the orders of a certain AAA corporation.  That part out of the way, let me start somewhere earlier than the end.  Marisa Coulter is an interior decorator of some skill and repute.  A repute mostly engineered by me.  I represent the Octagon Triad.  I am sure that you are familiar with us.  Miss Coulter was hired by me when she was deeply in debt and struggling at the university here.  Poor girl could never figure out that it is not wise to draw to an inside straight.  I paid off her debts and had her tutored in how to succeed in her classes.  She repaid my generosity by providing me with the interior layouts of the homes of the wealthy of Seattle.  I used that information to arrange the thefts of certain objects of value.  I was careful to not make it obvious that she was my source of information and even arranged for some of the items to be recovered and the thieves taken into custody.  Contrary to much public opinion, the KE are not all stupid and she was questioned several times and her activities were examined.  She came out clean every time, but the strain was beginning to get to her."

"The last one nearly broke her and her health began to fail.  Poor woman did not have a good constitution.  I arranged a buying trip to Hong Kong as a reward for her service and even allowed her to add an extended vacation to the trip so that she could relax and unwind.  Unfortunately, as so often happens, she unwound too much and started gambling again.  Those darned inside straights will get you nearly every time.  She lost a lot of money and borrowed heavily from certain undesirable elements.  She disappeared from a party one night and somehow wandered into a very nasty neighborhood.  Her body was found by the man who was supposed to be looking after her.  It turns out that she had seduced him into being less than careful.  The man has been disciplined.  But I am sure that you can see that all of this left me in a bad spot.  Fortunately for me, in another part of my great city, another woman was being quietly arrested for helping to engineer the destruction of the Wuxing Tower.  Of course, she was framed, but who would really want to believe that?  Certainly not the very people who had engineered the sabotage.  I say fortunately, but of course I meant for me.  Sadly, this woman was beaten almost beyond any recognition and then strangled and mutilated as a symbol and a warning of what would happen to anyone else implicated in the crime against Wuxing.  And that is where the fortunes changed for the woman.  Her figure and form were near copies of poor Marisa Coulter, thus requiring little surgery to create another Marisa.  Better yet, the woman has a greater sense of the Feng Shui and interior decorating than poor Marisa."

"Thus, another Marisa rose from the ashes of the first.  So now the second Marisa has a choice to make.  She can either continue to work for me in the capacity I have described or she can walk away and disappear.  I am carrying with me a ticket to Australia and sufficient funds in a bank account there to allow for a life of simple living as long as she does not breathe a word of this to anyone.  However, if she were to decide to continue working for me, she will keep this name and rather successful business and her apartment.  She will be paid for her work and will make her own payments on her lifestyle as if it were from the business.  This option comes with two bonuses.  The first is that I am not a harsh mistress and much of her work and its proceeds is hers to keep.  The second is that I will look for the names of those responsible for framing her and even aid as I can in bringing justice to those people.  I am hoping to leave here tonight with an answer one way or the other.  If she says yes to staying, I have some guidance that concerns some rather wonderful Chinese vases currently owned my the Gales and desired by someone else.  I do wish to state again that if she decides to say no, there is no repercussion to that decision other than moving to a far away foreign country and living quietly and comfortably."

With that, the woman stops talking and looks at you expectantly.

[VegasRigged]

OPTION B! I surge forward, ready to drop everything and run like hell. A modest life? Sure. Not being dead? Awesome. Foreign country? Great, always wanted to travel. But the gears turn, and truth comes forward. This women knows what I can do. She probably knows I've got a spirit waiting in the wings. She isn't remotely afraid of me, or it, and both of us are fairly formidable. Worse, she works for Triads, I only know what I see on the new, but not a bit of that is about their forgiving nature. Even if the offer was genuine either women could be recognized, or a hundred other bad things could happen. No, staying is the play, but we need to open strong.

I take a breath to settle my nerves and when I open my eyes the stress of what I haven't known is gone. I speak with a polite and even tone "That is a great deal to take in twenty odd hours after being in  prison. I thank you for saving my life, I can see that it was purely for your convenience but I thank you nonetheless. I'm also sorry to hear about the original Ms Coulter, it would seem you knew her, at least well enough to gamble with. I'm not much of a gambler myself, but that should work out in both our favors.

"As to your offer-" I sit forward in the chair, gleam in my eye and voice taking on a professional edge "I have a counter: I work for you. Here as Marisa, and elsewhere if need so long as it doesn't jeopardize the cover. However, while your free to find out who picked me to bring down, that's not what I want from your power and influence."

I lean forward even further, totally serious "I want to build another tower."

Well, the old Marisa liked an inside straight, looks like the new one favors doubling down.

[Mercy Merchant]

The woman's expression does not change at your words.  She probably does quite well at poker.  "You are a bold woman, Miss Coulter.  I like that.  However, I am afraid that I do not have the assets at my disposal to fund another Wuxing Tower, in Hong Kong or here.  I am hoping that your desire does not truly reach to that height.  After all, we are criminals, not a powerful AAA corporation.  Perhaps you have something a bit more modest in mind?"