[Imladir]

[Cynthia Rawson - Sunday June 10th, 2075 - In VR] #128

Cynthia doesn't expect a quick answer from Barbara, so she doesn't mind. In fact, she's not even sure she'll get an answer at this point. After a second spent reading the data collected by Sherlock, she resumes her conversation with Tanya.

<<Not to be an alarmist, but it looks like events are spiralling out of control... Your Yak friends are trying to crack down on all the small gangs in town. There's shooting everywhere, except in Downtown and Fort Lewis. Maybe Chinatown too, but I'm not sure, there's too much noise for me to be able to get much from here. And it's pretty damn hot in Bogotá too, except near Liston's offices. A suspicious mind would think that given the firepower there, they were expecting troubles like that. I wouldn't be surprised they're fanning the flames in fact.>>

She then sends a small message to Marissa <<The Yakuzas seem to be attacking all the other gangs in town. Mainly the small ones, but you may want to check your...interests.>>

[Mercy Merchant]

The crystalline avatar stands still then nods.  >>I am watching the news feeds but would like to get your impressions of what is happening.  I am not sure it is spiraling out of control as much as some one trying to control some violence.  Can you determine if anyone is behind this?<<

[Imladir]

[Cynthia Rawson - Sunday June 10th, 2075 - In VR] #129

<<I have a... an agent... looking for more, but I suppose I can go myself too.>> Cynthia seems to hesitate a moment<<Is that important? If you'd like quick results, I'd need to take some risks...>> Half-joking, she concludes <<If I faint, you'll have to carry me out...>>

[Mercy Merchant]

Tanya's avatar shakes its head.  >>No, I do not want you to take risks that might bring you into danger.  This is important, but not important for that......yet.  There may come a time, though.  Right now, I am still fishing for the answers and a bit in the dark.  I do not like being in the dark.  I appreciate what you are doing.  What sort of remuneration would suit you?  I know that money does not seem to be your driving force so is there anything else I might offer you?<<

[Imladir]

[Cynthia Rawson - Sunday June 10th, 2075 - In VR] #130

Cynthia smiles <<Oh I'm not talking about that kind of risks. Shouldn't be too bad, don't worry.>> in a whisper, she adds <<I hope...>>

She resumes in a normal tone <<And it's exciting. There's nothing I like more than knowing stuff anyway. As for "remuneration"...>> she pauses, considering, and resumes with a shrug <<Maybe I'd need that money for something that would make me much better at what I do. Not something I'm eager to do but... I don't know, we'll speak about it later, it's not urgent anyway. I'll let you know when I have more.>>

With a smile, she exits the room and the Host. She'll have to hope that her luck holds... Wait, as a good luck charm... Cynthia slips out of VR long enough to drink half her glass of juice, then goes back in. There, she grabs the latests finds of Sherlock. Once she has everything, she dismisses him, to compile him at a higher level. And... Well... Maybe taking this sip was a good idea. Maybe she should always have juice with her. Nah, probably too expensive... Anyway. Sherlock arrives once again, but this time, much more efficient, and eager to please to boot.

Accompanied and assisted by her sprite, Cynthia will roam the Matrix to look for information regarding the situation both here and in Bogotá: she wants to identify the players, the causes and initiators of the troubles and the real objectives. If she can, she'll want to get an idea for the possible evolutions of the situation in the following hours. Of course, she doesn't do all of this blindly, but takes advantage of what she knows of the situation up to now. In addition, despite the noise, she will try to find the 'links of some of the Yaks in the streets: hopefully some of them are engaged in a firefight somewhere which should help locate what she needs. And on their 'links, she hopes to find more direct information, especially on what are their instructions, and who gave those.


Data Sprite [6] (Compiling, Defense, Fade): 11d6t5 5 6d6t5 0 13d6t5 2
Yeah \o/
Juice powa! No Fade, and five services.

[Mercy Merchant]

Sadly, no matter how much you search on the matrix, you find no links between the Yaks and the violence in the city other than rumor and innuendo.  And even that is sketchy at best.  The most common rumor involves a highly placed Yak lieutenant, someone close to the Oyabun, who is spreading money and guns to some "favored" gangs to support a large-scale take over of the city's gangland at the expense of its competition in the triads and Mafia.  Surprisingly, the KE seems to be staying out of the fighting for the most part, focusing on maintaining calm in the Downtown District.  Appeals for help from the local populace are getting very little attention from the command structure, although some of the neighborhood commands are doing their best to keep the peace where they can.

You get slightly better luck in Bogota, where your sprite uncovers a message link between the Liston building and several of the country's lawmakers.  It seems that the Liston CEO, William Jennings,  is currently in the city and has taken direct control of his mercenary forces.  At a hurried press conference, he is asked about why these men are in Bogota in such numbers and why they seem to be better armed than the police or army.  Jennings' response is that he had been warned about possible FARC actions against his company and had hired specialists to protect his interests.  "It is entirely evident now that our preparedness is paying off big dividends for the company, but more importantly, for the law-abiding citizens of this great city and country.  We stand ready to assist the local and national authorities in any way."  When asked if there was any truth to the story that Liston men were guarding the President and his top advisors, Jennings affirmed only that his security staff were ready to help in any way asked.  When you examine the message traffic, it is pretty obvious that many of the top government officials were in the Liston compound and under close security.

[Imladir]

[Cynthia Rawson - Sunday June 10th, 2075 - In VR] #131

Cynthia is a bit disappointed she didn't find much regarding the violence in Seattle. Not to surprisingly if she went looking with wrong assertions, but still... This doesn't feel too important now. Sure, to the targeted gangs it is. Or innocents in between. But right now, gang activity doesn't really matter. The news regarding Bogotá are much more interesting however. She finds probable that while the officials are under the protection of Liston, it may not be exactly what they wanted...

Being immune to the distance component of noise, she will keep Sherlock there, with instructions to find which government officials aren't in Liston's custody. She considers for a moment asking him to look at the last messages sent by the officials in said custody, but feels it's too much of a long stretch: if he finds some, good, but it would take to much time and energy for probably nothing. She will however, in conjunction to the search for free officials, ask him to look at any real opposition Liston could face. Maybe this opposition could be useful later? Or maybe something could be done to organise this opposition?

As for her, she will concentrate on the local situation. By cross-referencing data about the targeted and aggressor gangs with maps and their known (or supposed) alliance, she will first refine her impression regarding the Yak lieutenant. If the data seem to support this first impression, she will dig deeper into the identity and activities of this lieutenant. She's particularly interested in finding links between him and the colonel: she doesn't think for one moment that KE would let this play out if someone high up in the chain of command wasn't involved. And given what Tanya said, the colonel seems the more likely culprit.

[VegasRigged]

I've been on this balcony watching the orgy below for a little while now. My party is scattered and I'm tipsy, more then I'd have preferred but it's already been a long night. Its a strange time to asses, but the gears in my mind have no interest in the undulating masses below me. They only care about winning.

I need to confide more in Sylvia, but before I can I need to know more about her background: who exactly does she work for? What agenda does her employer advance? Why does she find me so attractive? Does she really?

Then theirs Marie and Tom. His business will be useful if I can keep him safe, but I need some way to engender their undying gratitude. Perhaps I can arrange to have them attacked by gangers then rescue them, perhaps I can bring investors to him, perhaps inviting them here was enough? Unlikely, but it should contribute.

Tanya. I'm still not clear on her, she likes me, but she's got a wall between her and the world and I'm still on the 'everyone else' side. I won't be able to fix that until my little empire of crime becomes a fixture in the city.

Cynthia. I called it out of the gate. She has what she needs, she doesn't need the risk of my ambition, but won't risk my retribution just to screw me over. I dislike my safety relying on such a balance, so I'll have to either lay her low and be her only option, or prove I'm the 'good guy' and win her trust. I'll probably do both.

For now the music is getting in my head, but it has a place there now. A home and it can grow from my head out into my extremities. I'll head up to the less hedonistic floors and find Sylvia. I ow her a dance.

[VegasRigged]

I take a moment on my way up to call Ni Ni. If the Yakusa are making a move I need to know if I should be in the streets. I also need that better disguise before i start making a spectacle.

[Mercy Merchant]

@Eva   Perhaps not unsurprisingly, you get an almost immediate message back from Ni Ni.  >>Thank you, Marisa.  Yes, there is a lot of activity just now.  Gangs are on the verge of tearing each other apart, but for now, most of the violence seems to be in the minds of those reporting the events.  My direct information is that most of the smaller gangs are buttoning up, just in case.  Barricades are closing many streets, but little real violence is happening.  I have no idea where the vid shots are coming from.   My superiors are advising us to keep low.  I would offer the same advice to you.<<

You find Sylvia in a lounge on the first circle.  She is sitting by herself, nursing some kind of drink.  At first, you can observe her without being seen and you notice that she seems completely at ease, although her head keeps turning, never really looking in the same place for long.  While you are watching, she is approached twice by men and once by another woman.  You cannot make out what is said, but they all leave, apparently disappointed.


@Cynthia   You set your sprite on his missions and return to the Seattle matrix.  You are looking at the various gangs and their known turf areas and can overlay a map of known enemies and friends and where the fighting is taking place and you reach a startling realization.........all of it is wrong.  The overlays provided by the news feeds are wrong.  They are close enough that they ALMOST match the "official" KE data base.  Almost.  Once you tumble to one thing, you can find others.  The largest of the glaring errors include reports of gang violence between allied gangs or in areas that really do not have any sort of gang presence.  it is like someone is trying to blow this all out of proportion.

The Yak lieutenant shows up on your scans in several places, most notably as a "reliable confidential source" for the information being broadcast.

[Imladir]

[Cynthia Rawson - Sunday June 10th, 2075 - In VR] #132

Far from finding this "revelation" disappointing, Cynthia is excited by this new development. But first things first.

She sends a message to Marissa <<False alarm, sorry. At least concerning the violence side of things.>> and to Tanya <<No violence in the streets. I'm looking into it. Nothing important yet regarding Bogotá.>>

After that, with quite a bit anticipation, she goes back to her hunt to find the truth in all this scheme. All of this feels like a smoke screen, a diversion. Now that she knows it, she should be able to look past it. That, plus the identification of the lieutenant should hopefully allow her to get to the bottom of it. As long as she makes sure that the lieutenant's name isn't used as part of the smoke screen that is. Filtering all the reported violence that feels wrong, she looks at what's left with an eye on what the Yak could gain from all this, personally for the Yaks themselves, or for Sampson Industries. It could also be a way to hide mercenaries operation in town?

[Mercy Merchant]

@Cynthia   There is a lot of video and interview material to sift through, but you can clear the chaff from the wheat after a bit of digging,  There does seem to be a pattern to what you think to be the real evidence of violence.  It seems that the real incidents of gang violence start in one place and move out from there, almost like it is moving from neighborhood to neighborhood, leaving death in its wake.  You see one vid up on the feed for a few minutes before it is taken down.  It was purportedly shot by a resident of a neighborhood and shows a score of heavily armed men moving from building to building as if searching for something.  The vid catches a group of armed gangers approach the men, only to be gunned down.  People are dragged from buildings and questioned, although most of these are let go.  The vid is apparently from some sort of micro drone and it zooms in close to try to pick up some of what is being said.  Unfortunately, there is too much noise in the area to make out any details.  A good cleaner program might be able to handle that problem.

[Imladir]

[Cynthia Rawson - Sunday June 10th, 2075 - In VR] #133

When she gets the pattern, she performs a small victory dance. Then watches the footage *Woh, that's some serious drek... And I'd need a cleaner, frag. I don't have this decker drek. Wait maybe Roger? Hopefully he's not asleep yet.*

<<Hey, you awake?>> while she waits for the answer, she sends to Tanya <<Got it on the home front. Drek like yesterday I think. Want details?>>

After a bit of an hesitation, she sends to Barbara <<I hope for you that you're not in the vicinity of the attached points. You or anyone you care about. And do you ever answer your messages? I don't like monologues...>>

After that, she tries to follow what she supposes is a mercenary team to get more footage, she saves on her 'link for later treatment. If Roger answers, she sends <<Could you clean the files I send you? Like as soon as possible? Please?>>

[Mercy Merchant]

Monday  11 June 2075  0205  Dante's Inferno VIP Suite


You get a response from Tanya quickly.  >>You have to be kidding, right?  Who can sleep in this place?  What did you find?<<

And then from Roger, too.  >>Sure I am still awake.  I have been looking into the Bogota line and have found some oddities there.  Wow!  Where did you get this footage?  These guys look like professionals.  I can try to clean it up a bit.  Maybe have something by the time we meet at ten.  Still coming, right?<<

[VegasRigged]

Her romantic loyalty troubles me. We've know each other less than a week and already she's acting like we're monogamous. Perhaps its just a tonight thing, or those three weren't what she wanted. Makes no matter at the moment, I need to get the ball rolling on the Chinatown situation, and that means another call and then getting rid of this phone.

Sian. I need eyes and ears on the ground, and she will know whether backup is needed. Sylvia may prefer to stay and party, but I suspect that she will be more eager to get back into the fighting, where the real action is. I'd like to make an appearance of my own, but unless a matrix search can get me some custom armor in the next few minutes, I'll be going in my scarf again.

Never enough time in the day.