[Imladir]

[Cynthia Rawson - Monday June 11^th, 2075 - In a...dream?] #146

Cynthia snaps awake. She's sitting in a chair. A comfortable one. In...an office? The desk in front of her is quite impressive, cluttered with AROs showing a family. She...knows them... Or not? Maybe, just the woman? She rubs her eyes for a moment, wondering what she's doing here. And why she can't remember who this woman is. Standing up, she goes to the window behind the desk to look outside. At first, she doesn't recognise what she sees. But on the left, there's Lake Washington. Somewhat on the right, she sees the top of the Needle. From the looks of the buildings... Could she be at the University of Washington? What is she doing here? Wait...

Frowning, she looks again at the AROs. She's pretty sure it's that woman's office. Reaching out to the Matrix to check her hunch, she realises that...there's nothing. No connexion. As if there were no Matrix. There should be, she can see the AROs just fine. There's no Noise either. There's...nothing? Cold sweat forms on her forehead. Fear. Dread.

Suddenly, the door opens. It's the woman. Someone in the corridor calls out to her.
- "Professor Freed?"
- "Yes Jane?"
- "Don't forget you are having lunch with Alan Wyatt? From Mitsuhama?"
- "Yes of course, thanks Jane."

Professor Freed. Professor Margot Freed. Head of the Matrix Science Department. Tanya introduced her yesterday. Wait, was it yesterday? The professor closes the door, and smiles at Cynthia. She cocks an eyebrow, and as she gets to her chair behind her desk, she asks "So?'. Cynthia swallows anxiously "So..?'

[VegasRigged]

I give her a thorough assensing and return to my body "Fine. So Tanya, is this true? You've been employing my partners aptitude for violence? If so it's fairly fitting that we are approaching some real violence together, you'll get to see her work first hand. I've been quite impressed thus far."

As i talk I manipulate the map and start calling up specifics of the gangs in the area, most importantly their leadership and if I can how much damage the mercs have caused.

[Mercy Merchant]

@Cynthia   Professor Freed folds her hands on the desk.  "So have you decided to talk to me about what you do and how you do it?  You know this secrecy thing is wearing a bit thin.  I want to help you, I really do.  But you have to help me a bit in return.  Well, actually, you have to help me first, but we will trade help.  Will that make it better?"  The woman leans forward a bit and her eyes seem to get closer together.  "Let's start with the night we met.  Do you remember that?  You were a guest of Lady Marisart's.  Now, certainly you remember her.  You should.  You killed four people that night and put her in a coma that she may never come out of.  You do remember killing those people, don't you?  Now, I think that it was something that happened while you were out performing unlawful acts on the matrix, but I wish to hear that from you.  You were there.  It was only three weeks ago.Talk to me.  Quit pretending that you keep forgetting everything every night and have to live the day over and over.  You are safe here.  Nothing can get to you here because you cannot access any of your sprite friends or the matrix.    But if you help me, I can arrange for you to have some limited access.  Would you like that?"


@Eva   Tanya nods.  "In a way, yes.  I have arranged for her to remove some particularly troublesome people.  I am already fully aware of how dangerous she can be, but I have only seen vids, not live and up close, so this will be a good experience."  She watches as you manipulate the holo and add details.  "Well done, Marisa.  I am impressed with your skill set, too.  Will you be directly helping tonight or acting in a support role?"

[Imladir]

[Cynthia Rawson - Monday June 11^th, 2075 - In a...dream?] #147

Cynthia's eyes bulge like a toad, as she stammers "I... What? But! But... How... Wait..."

Getting up, Cynthia stands behind her chair as if she wanted to put something between her and the proferssor, completely lost. "I was her guest yes, but... Technically, I was Marissa's guest, and Marissa was Tanya's guest. But... I didn't do anything illegal in the Matrix! Just some research! And...and I left the club alone, before them, how!? Wait, did something happen on the road? No, it's not possible!"

Calming down a bit, Cynthia tries to consider things logically. *Ok, if she lies... Why? What could she get from me? I'm sure she has some 'mancers working with her already. What does she expect? If she says the truth... No impossible, killing anyone? How could I? Err... Ok, I suppose that in the right conditions I could but... She knows about the sprites... She knows about me being a 'mancer... And I sure as hell didn't tell her... Wait, if this really happened as she said, if we already had this conversation...*

Frowning, Cynthia asks "If what you say is true, you must have some recordings right? Some proofs?"

[Mercy Merchant]

The professor shrugs and reaches for one of the drawers in her desk, bringing out a small box.  Placing the box on the desk she opens it to display a set of recording chips.  "Yes, Cynthia, I have recordings.  Every day I record this conversation.  This is the twenty-third one, see?"  [She removes one of the chips and slots it into a player.  You hear your voice and hers go through a conversation almost exactly like the one you are having now.  She lets it run a bit then swaps the chip for another.  Same thing.  And again.  And again.  "The first was yesterday, then the day before, and so on.  I have to do this every day for you.  Then you start to believe and then you just go silent.  Then you pretend to forget it all while you sleep.  But it has to stop.  I am running out of time, Cynthia.  The KE want you badly for those deaths.  I was asked to help them in the investigation, but you are not giving me anything to work with and I do not know how much longer I can put them off.  I have already told you that they want to take you to a different sort of facility and.....................experiment..............on you.  Do you remember that?  People like you are more feared than mages in some ways.  Do you really want them to strap you down and open that mind of yours?"

[Imladir]

[Cynthia Rawson - Monday June 11^th, 2075 - In a...dream?] #148

Cynthia listens to the first recordings, mouth agape. She sits back down, a bit heavily. By the end of the recordings, she has her head in her hands. When Freed mentions the experiments, she puts her feet on the chair, hugging her knees. With an almost whiny voice, she says "But I really don't remember anything! I..."

She pauses, and looks in Freed's direction, or maybe at the window? After a while, she says, with a distant tone "I... What do you need?"

[VegasRigged]

"I suppose a bit of both." I bring up the images of the gang leaders  whose people have  been affected by the rampage "These are our real goal. Each of them has to maintain reputation by getting back at the mercenaries, if we can get them all working together and with us then we become both the uniting force, which serves me personally, and the team that got it done for a lot of people. In short, we'll gain some fame in circles that don't currently know who we are or care."

[Mercy Merchant]

@Cynthia   Professor Freed smiles.  "Now, see, isn't that better?  Half of the battle is deciding what the right thing to do is.  And clearing this whole thing up is definitely the right thing to do.  Now we both know that you somehow managed to use the matrix to kill four people and put Tanya Marisart into a coma.  I just need you to admit it for the record and tell me how you did it.  After that, I will see what sort of liberties I can let you take......perhaps even a bit of time on the matrix?  Would you like that?"


@Eva   Tanya considers your words in silence, but Sylvia gives you a strange look.  "Not sure that trying to rally the other gangers to support us will be the best move.  For starters, I think the effort to find them and convince them that we are serious will take longer than the targets will have.  One of my associates is monitoring the advance of the mercenaries and they are just about...................here on the map.  Now, there is some odd activity right here, which is a territory of a smallish Vory Bratva.  It seems that these gangers are preparing to make a stand and one of the soldiers there lit up the facial recognition program as being our missing shooter from Washington Rec and Mercy General.  The odds are pretty good that we have found our targets.  If so, they have less than an hour, perhaps forty minutes tops,  before the mercenaries get to them."

[Imladir]

[Cynthia Rawson - Monday June 11^th, 2075 - In a...dream?] #149

Cynthia answers rather forcefully "Of course I would!". She stops and seems desperate "But I really don't remember... Can't I pass some lie detector or something? Maybe some kind of spell or something?"

She shakes her head, apparently hopeless "I can't say I did... I can't even say I didn't... I don't want to believe I did, but I really, really don't know." her tone become a bit more firm when she adds "And I certainly won't confess something I have no memories of ever doing. Especially since it's something I don't feel like I could have."

She shakes her head, distate clear "Don't misunderstand, I'm not saying I'm always...err...I have never gone places i wasn't supposed to be in. Or done stuff I wasn't supposed to. It's par for the course after all. But killing four people? Leaving Tanya in a coma? I don't believe it."

[VegasRigged]

I nod once. "Then we go after the Mercenaries directly. I'd still like to take them alive if possible, after tonight a lot of people will be willing to pay to get their hands on one of these guys."

If we can find out who these mercs are and who they are working for it's not just the gangs that will give us anything to avenge their fallen, it's also corps or the Government wanting answers and probably law enforcement- of course!

"Tanya, the gentlemen who came to the club with you earlier, how well do you know him?"

[Mercy Merchant]

Tanya chuckles and shakes her head.  "Not nearly as well as I would like.  I was hoping to make some progress in that area tonight, but all of this sort of distracted him.  I know that he is married to the daughter of his boss at KE and that I feel that he is very, very dirty and in the pocket of the Yakuza, but I have no real proof of that as yet.  Why?"

[VegasRigged]

"You may have the opportunity to get closer to him now if you can give him one of these guys. A sort of 'thinking of you' for spies kind of gift. Think he'd like it?"

I continue to manipulate the map and track their movements, then bring up the image of their supposed target and read though his file.

[Mercy Merchant]

Tanya shrugs and nod.  Your perusal of the file of one Bryant Champagne does not take too long.  He does not really appear to exist before a short while ago when he became a partner with a former Lonestar operative by the name of Raleigh Quentin and formed Raleigh Investigations.  The two have worked mostly low profile cases for those who cannot really afford some of the higher-priced firms.  Beyond that, there is little information on the man at all.

[Imladir]

[Cynthia Rawson - Monday June 11^th, 2075 - In a...dream?] #150

"Look, I know you probably don't want to believe me. Frag, were I in your place, I wouldn't believe me either. Probably." she shrugs, fatalist "But there has to be a way to get to fix all this right?"

[VegasRigged]

"Alright, so Sylvia I want you to work on how best to ambush these guys, I'm not so familiar with this area as some. Tanya, find out what you can about KE patrols and see if anyone else is gunning for these guys, I'm going to make a few calls and get us some extra backup."

I summon a spirit of air and call Sian again. If we manage to get these guys we are going to need a way to transport them and this sounds like the perfect use of my new ganger friends.