[raggedhalo]

OK, so I have a PC at my table (game set in early 2071, about to get stuck into Ghost Cartels) who has the Lost Loved One negative quality.  It's his mother, a smuggler.  She was in Chicago when it turned into Bug City, got out, and then went missing in late 2069/early 2070 after transmitting some heavily encrypted data (Mysterious Implant: Datalock).

The PC is investigating all leads he can, so I had a grainy picture of his mother show up on a Shotozumi assassin's commlink, along with a kill order from a Watada-rengo high-up.  I'm thinking that the mother got invested with a Mantis spirit way back in Chi-town and is hunting down members of a bug conspiracy (of which both the Shotozumi assassin and the Watada high-up are members).  What I'm asking really is - what else would you add to the plot to make it work?  What do you think the data she sent him for safe-keeping was?

Or should I not go the bug route and do something totally different?  Many heads are better than one, so all ideas gratefully accepted!

*: for context, the Shotozumi and Watada are basically enemies, following a split some years back

[Walks Through Walls]

It is a good start. The Mantis bug spirit on the hunt has a lot of nice possibilities. One thing to think about is how is the mother going to be hiding her true aura? If she can't then it becomes harder for her true nature to stay hidden. Being that she disappeared in Chicago the first thing I thought of was bug infested so you need a good way to throw the scent off.

For the data file one option could be a list of bug infested people who the mother is now hunting down. This could also work to help throw off the scent of her being a bug spirit.

Just a couple thoughts off the top of my head

[Black]

I like the idea that she isn't invested with a Mantis spirit, but is still herself.  She is either working with the Mantis (who appreciate her skills and she understands the cause), or because the hold a threat against her. eg she befriended some kids during her time in chicago and they threaten to invest them if she doesn't do what she's told)

The idea is that she remains herself rather then having a bug do a body snatcher routine on her.  Also adds a new level to the story in that the players now need to break the hold they have on her without alerting the Mantis bugs... and anyone could be a bug...

She never contacted her son, because she didn't know who she could trust and couldn't risk them going after her.  Bug City and since has made her very, very paranoid, to the point she may suspect that her son is actually a bug... which in turn may lead to suspicious behaviour which makes the runners suspect she is a bug or at least double crossing them...

I like the list and the other ideas.  A further complication is the that Yakuza is just a 'layer' in the conspiracy and they in turn work for a high level of bugs... an illuminating/high council of queens or something...

[Cass100199]

The first season of Supernatural has similar themes. I'd research that and see if any of it fits.

[RiggerBob]

One thing to think about is how is the mother going to be hiding her true aura? If she can't then it becomes harder for her true nature to stay hidden.

Thats an easy one...

A  flesh  form  spirit  is  a  dual-natured creature [...] and also gains the powers of Realistic Form (p. 102) and Aura Masking (p. 98).

[raggedhalo]

Thanks for this stuff, folks - please keep it coming!

As RiggerBob points out, a "good merge" flesh form has very few problems hiding their aura.

The mom's a smuggler, so I could have her linked to the Desolation Angels - given that they were active in Chicago in the 2050s, and are active in Seattle in the 2070s, it fits nicely.  They're known as bug hunters, amongst other things, and there are rumours that they're all mantis spirits*, so it works whether she's invested or still human.  I think I'll go with invested, though.

Using the file as a "hit list" of her research was something I'd considered, so it's likely a direction I'll go in.  Tying in the bug conspiracy stuff from Conspiracy Theories should put me onto a bit of a winner too.

This is what I've got as a first draft:

Anna “The Wildflower” Hanniver fell in with the Desolation Angels back in Chicago, where she joined up with them for protection and was invested as a Scout.  Since then, she has travelled the world as a smuggler.  As part of the UCAS Government’s efforts against bug spirits, she has been recruited as a CIA agent (the CIA know that she’s a bug) following the trail of the bug spirits that escaped from Ares Complexes 68G (Algonkian-Manitou Council), 93E (Shaanxi) and 211B (Indian Union).  In particular, she has a brief to investigate the potential mega-hives in Cairo, El Paso, Kuala Lumpur, Moscow, Neo-Tokyo, New Orleans, Rome and Tucson.

As part of her investigations in Neo-Tokyo, she discovered that several higher-ups of the Watada-rengo, including Kumicho Yamajima, wakagashira-hosa of the Mita-gumi.  Yamajima set an ambush for her, causing her to flee for her life, sending a copy of her research to her son in the hope of preventing him from coming to harm.  She has gone to ground in Manhattan, trying to investigate the possible hives there.

*: certainly, the ones we encounter in Burning Bright are!