IC: Checkmate, Are you Pawn or King? Options

[Digital Heroin]

April 12th, 2063 Mid-Afternoon

In a world where conversations can be conducted through wire by thought alone, where appliances automatically order a dozen eggs for you when you run low, and where technology seeps into the very fabric of society, the method by which some messages are conveyed is strange indeed.

Mack

While visiting Lude Johnson's small Bellvue storefront to pick up a dress that had been in for alterations, Mack's attention is drawn to the door. There stands an elven teen clad in garish multicolored spandex, his hair in intricate dreadlocks. Under one arm he holds a bike helmet, and a satchel is slung as his side, bearing a Jam Pony messanger service logo.

`You Mackenzie Pet... Petrenko?`

His pronunciation's off. By grace of his accent it's obvious English isn't his first language. He reaches into the satchel, and after a few moments draws out a small envelope, bearing simply her name upon it in neat cursive.

`I've got a delivery for you. Can you sign here?`

He offers over the letter, and a datapad with a stylus for signing. Quaint and old fashioned.

Cougar

Cougar'd just stepped out of the Doc's place, having just undergone some after installation checks done on his most recent implants. The Doc may not be running out of one of the ultra slick clinics of Downtown, but he's thorough. When he steps into the sunlight, he notices a figure off to his left, a large Orc in streetwear chaining a mountain bike to a nearby parking meter. The Orc notices Cougar as well, and raises a hand to shade his eyes.

`Yous the one they calls Cougar? If so I's got a message for ya.`

He stands and pulls an envelope and datapad out, handing them over.

`Jus need you to sign fer it.`

Pili

Pili had spent the morning in the Ork Underground, checking in with Hugh, and running a few errands. After a long ride on a dirty bus, he finds himself a bit rattled, but not harmed. He steps off, and catches his breath, dusting off his coat before heading towards his apartment. There on the stoop is seated a lanky looking teen, bike helmet in his lap, bike lying by his feet, a bottle of sports drink in hand.

`Hey man, you seen some guy named Pili about? I'm supposed to be delivering this letter for him, but no one'll answer the buzzers.`

Most of them were broken, of course, but how's the kid to know?

`I need to get a signature for this or my boss'll have my hide.`

Manuel

It's a nice calm afternoon in Underworld; good music, plenty of the regulars about, and plenty of pool. Manny's in the middle of a real good game when the door opens to admit a slender elf in garish spandex. Definitly out of place in gangland, and he doesn't even seem to notice. The guy walks up to Oscar, and there's a quick exchange. The big ugly 'tender leans over the bar and calls out.

`Hey Manny, you've got some daisy eater here lookin' for ya. Says he's got a delivery or some drek. Want I should throw him to the curb?`

Tristan

After an afternoon of bubbly conversation and shopping with the neighbor girl, Tristan's pulling up to the gate of the Bellvue community where he lives, when he notices a small argument going on between the guard there and a bike messenger. When Tristan's vehicle pulls up, the messanger looks over and calls over.

`Oi chummer, care to tell this git to do his job and sign for this package? It's gotta get to some guy named Tristan in here, and I need a signature. I dun give a load of drek who signs for it really, either way I get paid.`

[Digital Heroin]

Stitch

After spending the morning with Will, who'd been pummelled by a group of Humanis members during a rally the day before, but is still in good spirits because he'd got three of 'em before they knocked him out, Stitch arrives back to his brownstone, and it immediatly conftronted by Mrs. Glenfich, his nosy neibour, who's got a letter in her hand.

`Some Jam Pony guy came with this. I signed for you... you expecting something?`

She holds the letter up in a liver spotted hand, but doesn't offer it over.

[Digital Heroin]

/Removed due to double post as a result of Server glitch/

[Glyph]

Nick raises a serene eyebrow. "Why no, Mrs. Glenfich, I wasn't expecting anything. It could be the office... they called earlier, and said they wanted me to take another look at those pap smears... " Nick gently takes the note from Mrs. Glenfich's hand; she doesn't seem that eager to hold onto it, all of a sudden. With a "Good afternoon," and an airy wave, Nick pads up to the elevator, and takes off his shoes as he enters his homey apartment. He scans the letter astrally, to see if any lingering emotions are clinging to it, then carefully opens it, and begins to read it.

[Bearclaw]

"No Oscar. I'll take the message. Maybe I've already won."
Manny looks the Elf over, and asks "So, where'd this message come from? I know about confidentiality and such, but I also know you picked it up from some where. There's an extra :nuyen: 50 in it for you."
"Sorry chummer" the elf says, "the boss handed it to me. I don't know where it came from. Could you sign here please?"
"OK, your loss". Manny signs the pad and takes the envelope.
Manny considers the envelope for a minute. It's too thin for a bomb. At least a big bomb. And they knew where to find him, which means they probably know what kind of bike he rides. They could bomb that, or just wait in the parking lot and get him quietly, if that's the plan.
After checking for anything identifying the sender, Manny shrugs his shoulders and tears off the end of the envelope. He peeks inside, then turns it on end to dump the contents into his hand.

[Dashifen]

Pili looks at the kid and the note for a second. In a soft voice speckled with a cajun accent he's never even tried to loose, he responds, "I'm Pili. I'll take your message." Taking the message and giving the kid an extra 5 :nuyen:, Pili briefly uses his magic to sterilize the note of any interesting inhabitants that may have come in with the kid. "Thanks for you service," he says to the kid before going back into his apartment.

Checking the door to his apartment, Pili looks for the small chit of white paper that he uses to see if anyone has gone inside while he was out. Seeing it in the same place he put it this morning, he enters his pad -- such as it is. Entering his 1 bed room apartment, Pili takes a deep breath. Moving to the corner where he has a small shrine to Legba and Obatala set up, he lights an inscence stick and settles down into his only chair to read his letter.

[Blitz]

:: Mack raises one expertly plucked eyebrow as she takes the datapad and signs her name in flowing script. Her mouth smiles absently, expertly hiding the mild surprise at the unexpected letter, yet her eyes have a definate mark of disapproval at the garish costume. With the subtly of a talented theif, she produces a 20¥ tip from seemingly nowhere. ::

"Thank you."

:: Stepping away from the messenger, she moves towards the valet booth and hands the young attendant her card. Moments later, her sleek Toyota Elite drives up, the jet black paint and windows absolutely denying the beautiful sunshine on this rare day in Seattle. Moving to the trunk, she smiles as the driver is apparantly paying attention as he exits her car and she hears the quiet click of the trunk latch disengaging. Setting her newly transformed purchases into the spotless trunk, she shuts the compartment with a soft thud and slides into the leather interior of her sedan. ::

:: With a simple command, she watches the car access it's databanks for her home and it pulls away smoothly meshing into the grid controlled traffic of downtown. She turns her attention towards the envelope and her curiosity piques. Opening it, she speaks "Vivaldi" and the high end stereo begins emminating the soft soothing melodies of the centuries dead composer. She then begins to read. ::

[Grey]

Cougar grunts and gives the orc a nod, "Yeah, that'd be me."

Signing the datapad, he takes the message and reads it over, wondering what is going on this time...

[kevyn668]

Drek. Looks like the DiscoverCard Corp people finally tracked me down. Guess I should send them a payment...

Tristan waves the messenger over. "Its okay, George," he says to the sec guard. "I'll sign for it," Tristan takes the envelope. "I'll make sure this gets to the right person. Here, this is for your inconvience. Have a nice day." He tips the messenger a 20 :nuyen: bill, waves to George and, after waiting for the gate to open, pulls through heading for the Bowan residence.

"Another party, Trist? You're quite popular when they hand deliver the invites, you know." The young lady in the passenger seat of the Landrover was teasing him and he knew it.

Please, Kaite, not now...

"Well, when you've got, you've got it." Tristan smiled, "Jealous?"

They bantered back and forth for the remainder of the short ride to her house about who was more jealous and who was more popular.

"....Whatever," Katie giggled. "Just let me know if you need an escort to your party." She waved good bye.

"Count on it!" He waved back, "say 'hi' to your folks for me"

Tristan drove back to his own home and parked the vehicle. Walking up the steps to the front door, he opened the letter and scanned the first few lines. No, Katie. I don't think this is the kind of party you want to go to...

[Digital Heroin]

The contents of each message is identical. Within is a small, blank business card. Blank save for three lines of text:

18:30
206-24-6423
e4e5f4d6Bc4c6Nf3Bg4fxe5dxe5Bxf7+Kxf7

The cards are blank aside from the simple, computer generated text. There is no strong emotion upon them, nor would futher investigation find fingerprints or DNA present.

[Blitz]

:: Mack reads the note twice, before deciding not to waste her time and flips open her pockSec. After inputing a short code into the device, a whirling avatar of numbers and symbols appear on the display screen. ::

Gigabyte: "Heya chicka, what can I do ya for?"

:: The girlish giggle that follows brings a subtle smile to Mack's lips. ::

Mack: "I got a strange note, and it's not from the usual sources. Looks like it's got some geek code at the bottom so, of course I called my favorite brain."

:: If numbers could blush, that's exactly what the avatar does. ::

Gigabyte: "Aw...Im your favorite? Does that mean you'll come to the club with me? You'd do wonders for my reputation, bringing in a drop dead hottie like you."

:: It's Mack's turn to laugh lightly, though she's incapable of an actual giggle. ::

"It's a date if you can figure out this code in the next 30 min."

:: Mack then scans the card through her pockSec and disconnects with a wink. She then takes out a silver lighter and burns the card, placing the smoldering item in the ashtray until it's crumbled completely. At the next stoplight, she opens the car door and empties the crumbled ashes into the street before heading towards her home. ::

[Grey]

Cougar waves the messenger off. "Get lost."

He then turns to his bike, throws his tree-trunk sized leg over the side, and starts the engine up. He lets it idle a bit, warming up, while he searches the area for anyone watching him. Satisfied that he's safe, he revs the motor of the Blitzen and takes off into the streets.

Arriving at home, he hulklish Orc throws the door open and starts getting his supplies put together. The message doesn't say a damn thing, so I may as well get ready for anything... He grabs his backpack and stuffs his Stealth Suit into it. Setting the pack aside, he then undresses, slides into the form fitting bodysuit, then puts his SecureTek clothing and coat back on. Rolling his shoulders around to make sure they have room to move inside the layers of armor, he picks up his prized possesion, the Ranger-X bow his father gave him so long ago, and put it into its carrying case, along with the arrows that go with it. Satisfied, he walks down to his Blitzen, lifts the seat up, and crams the two packs into the small storage area the bike has.

He then heads down to the local watering hole and spends a hour having a full dinner and enjoying a few games of pool with the locals. At 18:30, he excuses himself to the bathroom, takes the message out of his pocket, and makes the call...

[Bearclaw]

Manny ponders the LTG for a minute, pockets the card and finishes the game. After beating Syn for the third time in a row, he calls it quits.
He walks outside and down to the payphone on the corner. The camera has been broken as long as Manny's been using the phone, and no one is likely to fix it again. He slots his stick, and dials the LTG............

[Glyph]

Nick frowns thoughtfully. He considers booting up his Z-Term, but thinks better of it. After he has a relaxing cup of tea, he wanders out again, walking to the nearest park. Using certified cred, he boots up one of the public dataterms and enters the LTG. Can't be too careful, after all.

He'll be very annoyed if this is just porn or something, although he is equally disturbed at the thought of a potential employer delivering a missive to his address - the Johnson has the goons and the jobs, but the runner is the one who can fade into the shadows at will. A Johnson knowing his address tips that delicate balance of power, and he doesn't like it one bit.

[Dashifen]

Pili frowns at the note. Damn ... he thinks to himself ... an online meet and me with broken trodes.. Glancing at the insence that he just lit, he sighs and extiguishing it with a humble appology to the Loa. Dusting off his tan khakis and stragtening his white shirt, Pili throws his long coat over his normal cloths, coiling a long whip around a loop inside the jacket that he attached for just this purpose. Looking for a moment at the floorboard under which he stores his gun, he decides against it. It's a matrix meeting anyway.

Heading back out of the apartment and replacing the slip of paper, he heads out onto the streets and hails a taxi. "Manny's house of Matrix Marvels, please," he tells the driver. Arriving at the matrix goods wholesaler, he purchases a new trode rig and then heads toward the Seattle Public Library. Waving to the librarian, he heads towards the 20th Century American Literature section and chooses a novel that seems to interest him. Sitting down to pass the time until 6:30 for the meeting, Pili reads.

At about 6:15 he stands, and hangs onto the book. He walks to a bank of matrix terminals and chooses the one on the end in the corner where he probably won't be disturbed. There are a few other people use the terminals and he's careful not to disturb their work.

Sitting down at the terminal, he takes a moment to summon a watcher spirit and instructs it to alert him if anyone approaches him. He plugs the trode rig into the dataport and fits the netting over his head. It's a little tight, being fitted for a large-sized human makes it a little small for a normal sized ork, but it's not too bad. Leaning back and closing his eyes, he sees the Library's host come online before him. He quickly uses the matrix system to sign out the book he's been reading and then exits the library system for the Seattle public grid. Opening his eyes, he's assaulted by the multiple inputs of the virtual and the real worlds, but he makes out the LTG number on the card and enters it, interested to see where this goes.

[kevyn668]

Great. Another security conscious Johnson...how novel.

Tristan throws the card on the table w/ his credstick and goes to the bedroom. retrieving a box that was hidden in an air vent, he pulls out the business cellphone and places a call to Maggie [the fixer] from memory. There's no answer but after a series of beeps and clicks Tristan says, "Hey babe, don't know if this your voicemail but I just wanted to say I had a great time last night. How about we get together for a few drinks? Let me know before 1800h and I'll buy the first round. You can reach me at 206-24-6423"

That done, he drops the phone in the box and slides it back into the duct. Turning to the walk-in closet, Tristan selects a set of sweats from the extensive wardrobe and hits the local gym for a few hours.

After the work out, he returns, showers, checks his messages (hoping Maggie got back to him) and slides on a set of "shadowrunner" underwear. Over that he places the Sleeping Tiger Line shirt/pants/jacket set up complete w/ forearm guards and Hardliner gloves. He adjusts the color scheme according to the season and admires himself in the mirror. "You talkin to me, punk? Ya must be, 'cause I don' see nobody else here...." and gives himself a feral grin.

He checks the actions on his guns and slides them into the holsters under the jacket.

Patting himself down to make sure he has everything: work cellphone, guns, ammo...sunglasses. Perfect.

Tristan hops in his Landrover and sets the auto pilot to take a long circuit figuring it'll take longer to triagulate a moving target, hopefully. When the time comes he punches in the LTG and waits.

[Digital Heroin]

Mack

When Mack returns home, there is a message awaiting on her telecom for her. Seems like Gigabyte put the lead out on this one.

`Hey chika, took a peek at that code you sent me. The middle block's an LTG number, but there wasn't a host there when I took a peek. Dipped into my bag of tricks and pulled out a rabbit.`

The whirling avatar makes a flourish, as if it were performing a sleight of hand trick.

`The host is registered on the Seattle grid, just last night in fact. Seems like it's a vanisher, and I can't get a lead on the owner. Looks like you're invited when it appears girl. 'far as I can tell, those last numbers are an access code.`

The avatar pulses a touch, colors shifting within, numbers changing.

`Gotta jet, don't forget our date.`

The numbers spiral and disperse, and the message ends.

Cougar

The bathroom in a seedy dive, a time tested locale to gaurantee privacy. Mainly because they tend to smell funny. When Cougar dials up the LTG, there is a nearly instant response. He is greeted with an odd sight. Instead of a meat body on the other end of the line, a digital host has responded. The viewscreen on his phone displays a chessboard, from the bird's eye view. All of the well rendered pieces are in place, other than that, there seems to be no detail. After a brief moment, a simple text box appears in the middle of the board. Taking another look at the card, Cougar tries the text at the bottom, dialing it into the box. A moment later, the box disapears, and the view pans down, so that it's in a first person perspective, standing in the middle of the board.

Manny

It takes only a moment for a response to come when he dials up the LTG. A Seattle telecom logo fills the cracked video display of the phone, and an automated voice speaks to him

`The number you have dialed is registered to a matrix host. We appologize for the inconvinience, but the host is not online at this time. Please hang up and try again.`

The voice is a composite of many voices, meant to seem soothing. The effect never really did work though, it tended to creep people out. The phone company just doesn't want to spend good money replacing it. Checking the time readout, Manny notices he's got about half an hour to kill. Enough to catch something to eat, then try back.

When he does call back, he'll get the same chessboard top down at first. The passcode presents similar results, except standing just to the side of his view, there is a persona. The persona is that of an Amerind in black armor, in the veign of a medival knight. No, it doesn't look like Cougar, but it's still oddly symbolic.

Stitch

When Nick reaches the park, the only working phone terminal there's being occupied by a harried looking man who's also holding a cellphone to one ear, and seems to be speaking on another using a mic. The guy hogs the phone for about ten minutes, and finally after no small amount on throat clearing and annoyed looks, he gets the clue.

Nick dials up the LTG, and finds the top down view as well. This time, when the view shifts the first person, he's standing face to face with with a pair of knight personas. Each has a slightly different look to it, they're definitly not off the shelf deals.

Pili

Pili's watcher sets to it's task in the quiet recesses of the library, and when he leaves the library host, he is assailed by the neon glow of the Seattle RTG. Icons and personas of all shape and forms dot the virtual landscape, but a quick search brings up the host in question. The exterior seems to be a simple wooden box, with a chessboard pattern atop it. The box seems out of place in this virtual bizzare, both for it's unasuming size, and it's great detail. Even the grain of the wood has been painstakingly crafted, all for the entryway. When Pili plies the host for entry, a series of marble pieces appear upon the board, along with a small floating input box above all. The line of code entered into the box, it fades, and turn for turn, the sequence of moves play out upon the board. At their completion, the pieces fade, and the box opens, allowing Pili to enter. He appears off to the side of the board, and spies within two knights, and a strangely humanoid looking rook. The entryway, and the view of the Seattle RTG which it held, melds into the background of the forced reality of the host, giving way to a swirling mist beyond the borders of the board.

Tristan

The roads are quiet when Tristan takes to them, off in the distance there are clouds building. Looks like rain. Of course that's not odd for the Emerald City; the only question is whether it's going to be the type of rain that'll melt off your skin.

When confronted by the password box, Tristan enters the decipher code. He appears between a pair of rooks, facing a pair of knights. The others would see him as the black king. They've got quite the collection going, only one thing really missing. Well, no... the Queen just arrived.


And so the group is assembled in the virtual meeting hall, now that Mack has arrived.

[Blitz]

:: Chuckling to herself as she undresses and slips on a silk kimono styled robe, she then pads silently over thick plush carpet into a well concealed office. Activating the array of encryption and counter-surveillance gear, she pulls a one time use phone out from a small cabinet and rips open the packaging. ::

:: First she dials in to activate the phone's service, she then attaches a scrambler to the antena and dials up the LTG. ::

[Bearclaw]

Manny has a hard time restraining his laughter. Through clenced teeth, he says "God, doesn't anyone have a regular sit down any more? What's a meet without a thorough frisking?”
“Anyway, who am I here with? Is it anyone I know? I’m Manny.”

[kevyn668]

Tristan lets out a low wistle, Greeeat. Symbolism. I think I like it better when they tell us we're not pieces on a corporate chess board.

"Manny? That you? It Tristan. Help me out here, you guys all look like knights and rooks. Do I look like a pawn or what?"

'Cause if I do, my price just went up.

[Bearclaw]

"No, it appears some one thinks highly of you. You are the king. Judging by my location, I'll guess that I'm a knight? I guess that's cool. I hope the Queen's a girl."

[Dashifen]

"I'm called Pili. I'm on a trode hook-up so if I'm not clear, that's probably why. Anyone know why we're here?"

[Bearclaw]

"Hi Pili. Long time no see chummer. It appears that some one who knows just a little too much about me needs some work done.
And you're clear enough for me.
Put any more thought into getting some ink done? That big back or yours would make a great Sistine Chapel."

[Grey]

Cougar grunts and bring a man of few words, he simply says, "I am called Cougar. I do not know the reason we were called here."

[Dashifen]

"Your that Manny? My answer about your tatooing is still a no, my friend."