Tokyo in the Shadows, The story of Kambei Options

[Tabula Rasa]

Shibuya, Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1000

Kambei appreciates the quaint settings and open - if not fresh - air. Dressed in his usual manner he leans against the wall and watches the students go by. Flashes of recent memories play in his head everytime he sees a student go by with a similiar look or haircut to Ayake or Aoi.

I really need to clear my head. I can't be thinking about personal matters when I'm on business. Father would not have approved. "Professional life is first priority, saving for retirement comes secondary and last is personal fulfillment and you'll have enough time for that after your retirement." That was his father's mantra to live by.

He stands up straight at his full height when he sees the western dressed woman, "Good morning Ma'am. My name is Hiroshi Wanatabe. I am here on behalf of the Mori family."

[Fuchs]

Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1010

The woman presents herself as Miss Fukuda, vice-principal of the Cherry Maiden School. She is probably the "sourpussin' sadist cow" Ahiko Mori cursed about in one of the clips Kambei found earlier. She looks very strict indeed, and the girls passing bow respectfully, and fall silent at her sight. Fukuda leads Kambei to her office, and bids him to sit down.

After making some polite if subtly strained conversation about nothing - the runaway caused a small loss of face for the school as well as the family - she takes some more time to politely tell Kambei that the the girl, not the school, would be at fault. All the other girls would be growing up to become perfectly proper little ladies.

Kambei nods, even though he's sure there are some less than perfect students there. Finally he is led to Ahiko's room - when the students are at lunch, so no one sees him. Men are not allowed into the dorm, as Fukuda explains.

The room itself houses two students, separated into two halves. Kambei starts to look through the girls belongings, searching for more clues.

[ Spoiler ]

Searching Ahiko's room. (1d6=2, 1d6=2, 1d6=5, 1d6=4, 1d6=5, 1d6=1, 1d6=2, 1d6=2, 1d6=2, 1d6=4, 1d6=5, 1d6=6, 1d6=3)=4 hits

While it is not a pleasant task, looking around under the scrutinty of Fukuda, Kambei is good at this sort of things. Ahiko left a number of electronics, cosmetics, and clothes. Like the t-shirt with an old punk band - she wore on a number of the party pictures Kambei found, so it must have been a favorite. Yet she left it here? Either she did not plan her running away very well, suddenly got tired of the shirt, or she didn't run away... He also manages to find - and palm - a small music player hidden under the bed, taped to the frame. The player is encrypted, asking for a passcode. Something to crack later.

Fukuda is not really helping, she's trying to hurry him along. She obviously wants him to be gone before the lunch hour is over. But there are still Ahiko's two friends to talk to, Ami Kuonji and Mai Mizuno. Not that they are likely to give any useful information with the vice-principal present though...

[Tabula Rasa]

Cherry Maiden School, Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1155

Kambei places the items inside a kevlar messenger bag and secures the latch. Hopefully there is something useful on the music player.

He thanks Miss Fukuda, bowing politely, and says, "before I leave I would like to speak with Ami Kuonji and Mai Mizuno if I may. They may have information that could prove useful."

He hesitates for a moment before continuing in a lower voice, "I would also like to speak with them alone if I may. They will not be willing to tell me everything they know with you present, and I wish to bring this matter to a close as soon as possible to save face for all effected parties."

[Fuchs]

Cherry Maiden School, Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1205

Miss Fukada denies the request. Apparently, having a man meet a student without a chaperone is against school regulations. Although she words it like it's a sign of trust and support between teacher, students and parents. Of course, there are ways around that, mainly over the matrix - somehow Kambei doubts that the vice-principal is very well versed in electronic matters. But it might be tricky still.

Miss Fukada leads Kambei into her office - as austere as one expects from her - and has the two girls summoned. Ami Kuonji and Mai Mizuno look like all the students Kambei saw in the halls before, wearing the same sailor-style uniform, but there are some signs that they usually wear some slightly individualised versions. They must have removed some pins and other accessoires before coming to the office. They also stare curiously at Kambei, but when Miss Fukada mentions that he is there on behalf of the Mori family, they clamp up, claiming not to have noticed anything special about Ahiko lately.

[Tabula Rasa]

Cherry Maiden School, Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1235

Interesting, it’s not just Miss Fukada that silences them, but it’s knowing I’m here from the Mori family.

Kambei scans the classmates’ commlinks and stores the address for when he wanted to send them a message. After listening to Ami and Mai repeatedly deny knowing the answers to any of his questions, he does not bother asking his more sensitive questions which might indicate his early suspicions.

Finishing with his questions, Kambei thanks Miss Fukuda and takes his leave. Outside he sits on his bike and takes a moment to draft a message to Rattler, “Hey, buddy, been a few days. When you have a second I would appreciate a moment of your time. I got a device I need cracked and maybe a couple of comms tracked.�

I really need to get some of these programs. A good exploit program, a spoofing program, bah, I just need a lot of programs. I feel like an amateur asking for help with drek like this.

After another quick Matrix search, looking for any of the bands on her last playlist or any of her photos and personal effects in her dorm to see if any of them have shows coming up in Tokyo.

He saves the search list, starts his bike and tears off with a squeal of tires towards a nearby mall to buy a few pieces of clothing similar to Ahiko’s style.

[Fuchs]

Celestial Spring Mall, Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1300

The Celestial Spring Mall looks like every other high-tech mall in Neo-Tokyo, almost drowing Kambei in AROs and mails right after he entered and his commlink signed up to the node. The AR enviroment is saturated with flashy neon icons competing for his attention, and it takes him a bit to get his commlink's filters right so 90% of the traffic is blocked. The system will adapt soon though, and try to tailor the ads to what it perceives as his interests based upon his profile, and his actions inside the mall. A number of girls in the uniforms of the boarding school he just left populate the food corner.

Kambei's search has turned up two bands that Ahiko had t-shirts of, "Black Heaven" and "Panzer Strike", who have gigs coming up in Neo-Tokyo in the near future, both in the "Freefall" club. It also turned up a concert by "4 Ever After", another band he saw merchandise of in Ahiko's belongings, that happened on the evening the girl ran away from the boarding school at the nightclub "Fortune".

Rattler calls back just as Kambei manages to get rid of the last ARO trying to encite him to buy a high-tech shirt of the latest parisian design, asking for more details.

[Tabula Rasa]

Celestial Spring Mall, Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1300

Kambei perks up as he sees the stylized cobra pop up in his vision, “Hey thanks for getting back to me so fast. I've got a hell of a story to tell you later too. But for right now I have this music player that’s got what looks like encrypted access I wanted to see if you could open up for me. And I’ve got a couple comm ID’s I wanted you to snoop on the data trial for me. You got the time for that?�

[Fuchs]

Celestial Spring Mall, Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1300

Rattler's icon nods, despite being a snake, and his synthetic voice sounds slightly amused. Kambei is not sure what's amusing him.

"For you? Always. What comm IDs are those? Your old friends?"

[Tabula Rasa]

Celestial Spring Mall, Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1300

I wonder what he’s smiling about but not matter…

“Oh, no, nothing like that. This is business related. I’ve got two commlink IDs here,� he transfers the information to Rattler, “the first one I need tracked from two weeks back to now. This second one was stolen recently and I only need it tracked from yesterday to now. I’m looking to find the person carrying the commlinks so time is of the essence and I basically need to know where she’s been spending her time.�

Kambei activates the music player and attempts to connect to it wirelessly with his commlink and leaves the password screen open, “this device I just attempted to subscribe to my PAN is the encrypted player I need cracked.�

“I would really appreciate your help here and am of course willing to pay any reasonable fees.�

[Fuchs]

Celestial Spring Mall, Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1302

Rattler laughs.

"Of course, anything for a friend... for a reasonable fee."

500 credits for the whole search and trail seems reasonable indeed.

"So, pass me the data you have, and leave the player linked, and let me see what I can do. It might take a bit though."

[Tabula Rasa]

Celestial Spring Mall, Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1302

"Alright thanks," Kambei says as he uploads the information, "and here comes the info."

"I'm going to keep the music player linked to my PAN for you to play with, but try to resist the urge to frag with the other drek on my PAN like last time."

While Rattler is working on his request, Kambei heads over to a shop catering to Ahiko's lifestyle where he purchases a pair of jeans, a jacket and a "Panzer Strike" t-shirt and a few accessories - pretending its a birthday gift for his brother - so he doesn't stand out when he's around her people.

[Fuchs]

Celestial Spring Mall, Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1330

The saleswoman smiles understandingly at Kambei during his purchase - pretending she doesn't think Kambei is just using the "it's for my brother" excuse. Apparently, many people use such excuses when shopping for the "wilder" clothes. Those who do not prefer to make such purchases over the net, of course. A woman nearby talks about a theatre project about zoku while shopping for some daring leather outfit.

Rattler is as good as his word, and some time later Kambei receives the information he asked for. Rattler even shows enough courtesy to ask for the transfer of money, and doesn't just take it from Kambei's commlink. He did put some "Hacking encryption for dummies" video showing his icon at work on Kambei's commlink but that's more good-natured ribbing to motivate Kambei to improve his hacking skills than real mocking.

The trails of the commlinks are interesting. Ahiko's shows a number of trips at night, not just on the weekend, into Neo-Tokyo's night scene. Freefall and Fortune feature heavily among the locations she spent a lot of time in, but she also must have spent quite some time just cruising around on the highways. An since she doesn't own a vehicle, she must have been riding with someone. Her father's commlink wasn't used as extensively, it was taken from her family's home the night she ran away, and registered as logged out at close to the same time her own was last registered by the net - on the parking lot of a highway restaurant/gast station/shop. Before that, she had soent a few hours in "Fortune".

The data on the player wasn't heavily encrypted - as Rattler's video put it "even you could have hacked that" - but the player contains useful information as well. A few racy clips of Ahiko stripping out of her school uniform while adressing a "Kouki", several illegally downloaded clips of punk and rock bands, some yaoi material, and some poems about running away.

[Tabula Rasa]

Celestial Spring Mall, Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1330

"Thanks man, this will prove useful. I might need a little more help before this is all over. I hope you don't mind if I give you another ring then. Otherwise, we gotta catch up. Maybe at that Matrix joint, "Corrupted Cache," you are always telling me about."

Kambei peruses through the datatrials trying to pin down the place she likely slept for the night since she ran away. He also takes a moment to look up Freefall and Fortune. If either or both places are playing a punk-rock show tonight, Kambei purchases a ticket to the show.

I'm still not convinced that this is just a simple run away story. Maybe if I can dig up a little info on the family.

Before leaving the mall Kambei spends a bit of time doing another data seach. This time on Ahiko's family, their business and anything else I can dig up on them.

[Fuchs]

Celestial Spring Mall, Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1400

[ Spoiler ]

Data Search for Ahiko's family and their business. (7d6.hits(5)=2)
Data Search for Ahiko's family and their business. (7d6.hits(5)=1)
Data Search for Ahiko's family and their business. (7d6.hits(5)=6)

The search starts out with some difficulties, both the cop as well as the family seem very close-lipped about their affairs, but then Kambei makes a breakthrough going through some business networking site. The Mori family is tied closely to the Gensi Corporation, being a major shareholder there. Ahiko's father is not that big in the internal hierarchy, but his uncle is very influential.

The Mori family dates their ancestry back to the Meiji Restoration, where they, coming from merchant stock, managed to make their fortune. Their ancestral family home, burned down during the Second World War and rebuilt in a more modern style, is in what was once the outskirts of Tokyo, and is now a high-class residentual district domianted by old families. The old servant quarters were turned into more living space for the family when the number of servants shrunk.

The Gensi Corporation is a smaller corporation in Neo-Tokyo, mostly providing services in data management and consultations for municipal offices and other corporations. It is a family-owned corporation, the majority split between the Mori Family and the Hazuko Family. Flying under the radar of the bigger corporations, it has carved out a niche in Neo-Tokyo by adapting very well to what local specialities a client requires.
There are also rumors about difficulties between the Mori and the Hazuko family, who have traditionally used arranged marriages to strengthen their ties.

The Hazuko family has a similar origin, but rose to wealth after the Second World War, making a killing by landing several reconstruction contracts. Their family home is in a less prestigious district.

[Tabula Rasa]

Celestial Spring Mall, Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1400

So, there is indeed the possibility of intrigue, but isn't there always?

Kambei switches to another line of inquiry. He begins searching on information on "Freefall" and "Fortune." He wants to figure out exactly what kind of places these are, what kind of crowds they cater to, whether there is a lot of criminal activity in the area, their security and AR overlay maps of the area.

[Fuchs]

Celestial Spring Mall, Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1400

Kambei has no trouble finding out more about either club - both are well-known in Neo-Tokyo.

The Fortune is a nightclub in Shinjuku's less polished parts. Popular among punks and some zoku, it's a rough neighborhood for sararimen and other corp-looking people. Yakuza however pass without trouble ever since an "unfortunate accidental fire" happened to the club following a disagreement between the lokal kumi and a gang (which lost most members in said fire). The club remains popular for the numerous independent punk and metal bands that perform there.

Freefall is a modern nightclub, and has a state of the art sound and AR system. Its main appeal is that it features live music every evening, and with good bands of various styles. As the saying goes among Neo-Tokyo's musicians, if you make it to Freefall, you're halfway there on your way to stardom - the club always has talent scouts there, and pays well for gigs. Not many manage to become stars though, but a lot stay "in freefall", hoping for a contract while the gigs in the club pay their bills.

Not much information is available about their security though, other than pieces of blogs from guests which paint a picture of effective bouncers, with Fortune's being scarier and more brutal, and Freefall's very discrete, removing trouble cases without making waves in many cases - as a blogger put it "I turned around to see who shouted, and all I saw was a chair on the floor, which was being picked up, and a group of men heading for the exit".

[Tabula Rasa]

Celestial Spring Mall, Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1400

The loud growling of his stomach reminds Kambei that he still hadn't eaten. Putting his current line of inquiry aside he heads to the food court and orders himself a noodle bowl. He takes a seat at one of the tables with a good view of the surroundings and eats his food at his usual pace while going through his usual lunch routine.

Kambei's regular routine is constantly thrown off track by memories of last night and the constant urge to send Ayaka and Aoi a quick message. Despite evidence to the contrary, Kambei preferred to believe that AA were model students, Best wait till they are at least done with class. I don't want to interrupt their studies.

[Fuchs]

Celestial Spring Mall, Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1430

The bowl tastes as well as one could expect from a food court, although not comparable to some of the real good food stands in the city. Cheaper though. After the lunch rush fades out the mall quiets down a bit, now becoming the hunting grounds of local house wives out shopping and socialising. Peaceful, almost idyllic - Corporations portray life like this.

[Tabula Rasa]

Celestial Spring Mall, Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1430

Kambei gathers his shopping bag and heads to the garrage. He rides back to his place and lays out the clothes and dispenses with all the tags. He then throws the pants and shirt into the autowash and sets it to run for several cycles of washing and drying to get rid of the brand new look.

He carefully unlocks the wooden cabinet with his permitted weapon and grabs one of his Predators and its concealing holster and other accessories. A few minutes pass as he disassembles the gun, checks it for cleanliness and reassembles the weapon making sure all it's components are functional. He prepares his ammunition - just one clip, lays out a pair of shock gloves, a few plastic restraints, his B&E gear, a facemask, and a small packet of stealth tags. Never hurts to be prepared for the worse.

He isn't planning to go in his first time around - it would be too early for them to be open anyway - but he plans to scope out the area, get a feel for the surroundings and see if he can get a layout of the security in the area. He quickly undresses and puts on his form fitting armr minus the hood, throws on a pair of jeans, a non-descript gray t-shirt, a black riding jacket, a pair of riding boots. He gives himself a quick once over in the mirror, grabs both his commlinks, the gear he layed out and his helmet and heads out for the garage.

Kambei sets his SINless commlink on hidden mode and the other on passive mode and drives to "Fortune." I hope I don't need to use any of this shit but I can't help but think there is more to this than just a runaway brat.

[Fuchs]

Nightclub "Fortune", Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1630

The trip to Fortune is fast at this time of the day, before the evening's rush hour. Not many on the streets, neither cars nor people - not many for Neo-Toyko, that is.

From a bit away, "Fortune" doesn't look impressive at all. The entrance has a semi-broken kanji stating "Fortune" over the door, and is closed. Sturdy looking, if slightly rusty door, with an old-fashioned peephole. The walls sport grafitti and tags, and some discarded bottles and cigarettes are strewn around the entrance. A number of oil stains show that most of the sidewalk is used as parking space for bikes at night. The only sign of life is an outdated drone resting near the entrance. The drone becomes active as it notices you, tracking you with its sensor. No weapons show, and the drone is small anyway, so it is probably just a barker. The windows of the first and ground floor of the building are barred too, and some old isolation foam is sticking out the cracks. The whole building looks dead but for some signs of life in the upper three floors - satellite receivers, some clothing hung out to dry or air out, a few windows open.

AR-wise, the place looks only slightly more alive - a program, opening times, and a price list for the drinks show up on the node outside. The net is not spotty, good reception, but would probably not be able to handle downtown traffic.

The whole area looks similar - a bit run down, according to Neo-Toyko standards. A group of teenagers, all wearing the same green jacket, appear in a side street, watching Kambei, probably looking for gang signs. They do not look armed, but might be hiding knucklers or knives. Kambeis' commlink reports a hacking attempt.

[Tabula Rasa]

Nightclub "Fortune", Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1630

Kambei takes in the lay of the land, doing a few circuits around the area to determine a few optimal exit routes on the road just incase. He follows that up by parking his bike and doing another circuit on foot to determine a few alternative exit routes just incase. Never hurts to over-prepare.

After that he heads into a mostly empty kiosk with a human behind the counter and strikes up a casual conversation about the local area while buying a few basic items. He casually mentions that it looks like this might be a place that attracts a lot of go-gangers and zoku and try to get an idea for the specific ones that tend to hang around here.

[Fuchs]

Nightclub "Fortune", Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1650

[ Spoiler ]

Etiquette Test at the Kiosk near the Fortune (6d6.hits(5)=0)

The clerk in the kiosk is suspicious, and checks Kambei for gang signs or tatoos as he enters. He gets even more suspicious when Kambei mentions go-ganger and zoku, and clamps up, claiming he hasn't noticed any zoku or other criminals. He probably thinks Kambei is a cop.

[ Spoiler ]

Perception Check:
Perception test near the Fortune (13d6.hits(5)=0)

Kambei hasn't spotted any other signs of gang presence in the area either, but the area does attract zoku - the clips he saw while he looked on the matrix showed that, and there are older tags on the walls near the club. And the group of humans that watched him near the club did look like zoku. It could be neutral territory, but even so there would be some regulars that visit more frequently than others.

[Tabula Rasa]

Nightclub "Fortune", Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1650

Kambei wasn't at his best trying to get the specific information he was looking for. But at least it was fully confirmed that the zoku were frequently here even if it wasn't claimed by any one group. Looks like I'll have to come armed after all.

He heads back to his home in Shibuya to prepare for tonight. If I get lucky, I find her tonight, find out she really doesn't like her current situation and would love to find a way back home and I take her home. What are the chances of that...

Once back at his apartment Kambei begins preparing everything for the night and programs each one of the pre-determined escape routes into his AR overlay map of the area.

[Fuchs]

Shibuya, Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1930

Preparing doesn't take that much time, and Kambei can identify a few zoku from pictures of Fortune. The Suzuki Speedfreaks visited, but not too often. More regular guests seem to be the Falcons, the Mao-Tsukai and the Ghost Tantos - at least those he sees more than once on the pictures he has access to. Members of the Tokyo Motor Club were also around, but those are not really known to be a problem for anyone who does not mess with their vehicles.

An hour later, he's back at Fortune. This time, the club is open - and several bikes are parked outside, and the drone is actively patrolling. The bouncer doesn't look Kambei over more than a second, all he seems to care about is whether Kambei pays the admittance fee, probably rounded up for a newcomer, and if he looks like more trouble than the rest of the guests. Guests, as Kambei knows from his research, and confirms upon entering, who wear punk street style, tatoos and piercings, and dance like drunks to the music of the band on the small stage inside. The interiour is decorated in "early recycling" style, with lost of couches and tables that seem to have been thrown away by others, and restored or at least cleaned by the owners of the club. But the bar has a lot of cheap alcohol, and Kambei spots the bartender passing out not just drinks, but chips as well - even at this early hour.

[Tabula Rasa]

Shibuya, Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1930

Kambei grabs a drink and spends a little time getting the lay of the land. He wonders around the club as if checking out the crowd while he scopes out the securiy setup trying to get a good idea what the physical and digital security systems are like - no attempted hacking though - and getting an idea of how many bouncers there are and how capable they seem just incase of an altercation.

He places and image of Ahiko in the corner of his vision in AR and begins to mingle with the crowd - changing his location from time to time - striking up the occasional conversations - though not pursuing them too far - just so he doesn't stand out while scanning for Ahiko's comlink ID and her stolen comlink's ID and scanning the crowd for her face.

Hopefully she shows up tonight. I can't stand this drek music. He doesn't tune out the music - though he does lower the volume a considerable degree - as he bobs his head to the music pretending he is enjoying the atmosphere of this drek club.