I would say that he's technically correct that he didn't have anything to do with the abduction; the ransom note turns out to be a separate element that is piggybacking on the extraction.

Mato is detached enough that he doesn't really care about the fate of the decker. He's more concerned about Bobby going full Dark Side. A little Dark Side is an asset, but too much becomes a liability.

As for the traffic cameras, yes, but the issue with that was always the brute force needed to hack and scour them all. And even if we identify it, how are we going to track it down? It appears we're not on the clock as far as ransom is concerned, but we need to move quickly before the trail goes cold. We might be up for a bar brawl after all.

My main concern is securing the deck for AM - it's a neat upgrade and I'd hate for this guy to trace us back through his old hardware.

Yes, no objections there. Although AM always seemed emotionally attached to her Erika - perhaps due to the sacrifices she had to make to acquire it - so I would wonder if a purely mechanical upgrade would appeal to her or not.

@Gilga: The Hardpan observation was already mentioned here:

http://forums.dumpshock.com/index.php?s=&a...t&p=1369221

Bye
Thanee

Maybe those things also have a way to "reset to factory settings". (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Bye
Thanee

Well, sure, but canonically the "factory settings" would have the manufacturer as the owner until someone buys the device and ownership is transferred.

I don't mind the concept of Ownership and trying to discourage players from looting everything in sight, but how ownership works - both mechanically and narratively - is just so underbaked. I wonder if it got any better in 6E.

Oh, I see. I havn't really looked into that in detail.

Looks like this is the way then...



Bye
Thanee

That's what Bobby would have gone for - Using analyse device to gain enough bonus dice to crack the ownership

@gilga

Are you sure about that? That guy nearly fucked over a (relatively) innocent person - also his gear is worth over 100.000 Nuyen. That's pretty substantial considering we might miss our payday due to his interference.

Well let's be open to the possibility that AM's IC opinion may not perfectly align with Gilga's OOC opinion.

I would say that the decker's actions have been nothing personal (in terms of SIS). It would be poor form to execute anyone and everyone who inconveniences us, or who has a toy that we want.

Execution is already off the table - we are now talking about robbing him or letting him off without any repercussions.

Because if we are not taking his gear, Bobby will destroy it.

Wellsince SIS is a visible buissness with SINner employees... I dont think we want the notoriety of stealing gear or destroying it for that manner.

If we're trying to avoid this guy having a 10-year vendetta against us, like he does against Falcone, then not destroying the gear would be the way to go.

If there's a concern about him being an immediate complication due to his gear, then let's brick it with Matrix damage. The book's description of Matrix damage is fairly dramatic, but the mechanics of the rules make it relatively easy to repair. So we'd covering our departure, but not severely inconveniencing him. The broken window on the Phoenix might be a bigger hassle to fix.

Him warning the Black Cats is another problem - but yeah bricking his gear is the way to go.

Hmm...

If AM's concern is that the decker might come after you legally, if you take his deck away, what is the difference in destroying it for that purpose?

Might as well keep it. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Bye
Thanee

AM has offered to turn the decker and deck to Hafiz so that they can take legal action against a man that harmed them. I think her last suggestion is compatible with her idea of not getting us in troubles. It took me (as a player) a few days to have the attention to think what makes sense as we moved from murder to theft to vandalism.

AM brings up a point that I was thinking about over the weekend, which was, "Have the parameters of the job changed?"

The original task was to find the target and bring him back unharmed. Okay, that's still on the To Do list.

But one of Falcone's primary motivations was the ransom note that said that the victim would be executed and the results publicized if the ransom were not paid. That would obviously be a detriment to Falcone's reputation, so much so that he hired us to neutralize the threat. Now, that threat has been eliminated. So while the extraction is still embarrassing, it doesn't seem to be the existential threat that Falcone initially feared.

I'll be curious to hear what Hafiz and Falcone have to say.

AM thinks in similar lines, I mean I am not sure we have any lead how to find these cats right now.

The Hardpan is our lead right now. It's hard to imagine it resulting in anything but a bar brawl, but that's the job.

GM, do you need anything from us before we proceed? I think we're waiting on a response from Hafiz and/or Falcone before heading to the Hardpan.

Mato references AM's backstory. I don't know for sure that she's shared that with the rest of the team - I think she omits the Big Regret about her boyfriend - but I'm presuming it has come up over the last few months of working and living together.

If that's not the case, just let me know and I'll edit the reference. Mato's suggestion will be the same regardless.

I think AM shared her backstory with Mato, and I feel like I should buy that big regret given how much she changed since the beginning of the story and gained confidence and made peace with who she is.

I was thinking Physical Mask instead of Fashion, as Fashion would only affect AM's clothes. But thinking about it further, Fashion + Makeover would largely accomplish the same things, and perhaps be better as Permanent spells rather than a Sustained one.

Happy Holidays, everyone (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Hope you guys had some nice holidays.

AM is going inside trying to get the attention of the owner.

Is Mato still going to the bar? With Bobby accompanying him?

Bye
Thanee

Yes, all three are going in together