IC: Daughter of Deep Silence, Revenge is an act of passion... Options

[JxJxA]

"Ah," Zero says, visibly relieved by Fat Man's, "That is a much better plan. So...how should we do that? Should we leave a few malakhim---I mean, uh, watcher spirits here to let us know when someone that powerful leaves? I could tell them to mask their true purpose by spreading the Gospel..."

[Buddha72]

Breeze
You wait a moment before a small and quick three wheeled bright orange cab zips up towards you. You look down and see an obvious holographic driver in the front who turns and smiles in your general direction as the canopy pops open showing space for two people to sit. You climb in and see script flow by in AR in front of you but behind the driver - it seems to be translating whatever the driver is saying into multiple languages with a pulsing icon for you to slide and select the languages being offered.

"Welcome! Please fasten your seat belt - safety regulations require me to inform you that if you choose not to wear the provided safety harness then Quik Kab is not responsible or liable for any injuries you might sustain while in transit."

The dome closes over you and the voice is thin and tinny - it seems that one of the speakers is blown out on the right side. A new icon pops up asking you to select music for the drive as the holo-man turns to face you but it seems to be slightly off as he looks somewhere to the left of your shoulder and up.

"Where to?"

You give the address and the cab lurches forward and darts into traffic. The cabby keeps talking to you asking you where you're from, how long you plan in being in town and whether you saw last night's urban brawl match. It's clear the interface is malfunctioning as the holo-driver babbles at you and jumps topics left and right. You grip the seat as the cab weaves erratically through the traffic, you hear other cars honking horns and dodging out of the way of the cab. You finally arrive downtown as it slides into a curb nearly crushing a cyclist and lets you out.

"Thanks for using Quik Kab and think of us for all your transportation needs!"

[Strangeglove]

"We're looking for a building, Jon. Our mages trailed the ward caster to an around roughly here, so we're looking for the building the ward-caster lives in, so we're going to find him so they can fondle his nuts or whatever they have to do to bypass the ward."

Strangeglove guides the car in an attempt to recreate the path Fat Man took walking.

<<@All: Basic geography is the same, right? So if Fat Man took a left here on 5th street, our target has to be on the north side.>>

[Emilio]

<< @Team[Emilio]: Should I head downtown too? I am pretty good at Scavenger Hunts.>>

[BishopMcQ]

His icon's eyes narrowed as Cypher looks at the strange agent, matrix ghost, thing.

"Alright, I'll play along. Why do you need my help? And who is this Daimyo fella?"

The hacker double checks his program load, making sure that his Armor utility was active. If everything went south, he wanted to be able to get the hell out of here fast with his brain still solidly between his ears.

[Fenris]

<<@Team[Fleet]: If Emilio's headed downtown cuz he's the only one with the skill to decipher the mages Etch-A-Sketch™ map, then someone else needs to come babysit the brain dead bodies in the warded car while the mages are out and about. And yeah, basic geography is the same, but keep in mind the mages are responding to life and emotional context more than physical structures, so...>>

[Buddha72]

Cypher
The neo-geisha rises fluidly to her feet and withdraws a fan from her deep sleeves. She opens it smoothly and gestures for you to follow her into the room.

"The Daimyo is surrounded by enemies in the guise of allies. I failed to convince him of the danger here, the fault is mine. You are the first person outside of this realm to venture here and time grows short. I must get my lord to safety but can not do so on my own. I must ask you to take on my burdens and save him."

She moves into the pleasure palace - the inside of the room has a ridiculous bed in the center like something from a bad kung fu trid sprinkled with cheap porn accents. To one corner there is a large walk in tub - steam rising lazily into the air. The other side has a series of couches and cushions for massage and rest. She kneels with her legs folded beneath her at the foot of the bed holding her fan just in front of her mouth.

[BishopMcQ]

"Before I can help you, I need to know more about what is going on. Speak plainly please. Is the Daimyo here in the Matrix or out there? What are the dangers to him? Can you show him to me?"

Cypher felt a tidal rush of excitement about spreading the data he downloaded from the node far and wide, setting it free. He quashed the flood of memories and tried to focus on the neo-geisha doll.

[Buddha72]

Cypher
You see a look of hope mixed with uncertainty pass across her face as she looks into your eyes.

"I was created here and tasked with seeing to this place, as well as see to any of the Daimyo's needs when he visited. He is not here right now but does return frequently to see how I am doing in my duties. As to the dangers, I know the man who controls this place does not intend to allow my lord to retain his freedom. Some time ago I happened upon a conversation while looking over the vaults this place holds."

She slides languidly towards a corner of the bed platform where large metal braziers rest with thick and pungent incense burns. She runs her fan through the lines of smoke and they begin to swirl and form wispy insubstantial images. You see a thin and hard looking man enter the space shaped in the smoke - it looks like a small office of some sort. The smoke twists and turns to draw a young Ork boy maybe in his early teens sitting at a desk looking over a small drone. You see the thin man's mouth move but no sound follows but words begin to flow out of the smoke.

"Make sure that unit is back in place before tomorrow."

The image centers on the man as he exits the room with the boy, passing what looks like a restroom of some sort into a larger room with a troll in it. The troll has an open look of disgust on his face, he speaks after the thin man closes the door behind him. Once again the words form in the smoke above the scene playing out before you.

"I can't stand that kid or that fucktard of a friend of his."

The thin man laughs and gives the troll a conciliatory pat on the shoulder as he replies.

"Think of the money we pocket by having them around. We lucked out when we scooped them up. Just think of the extra money every month. As long they keep breathing and stay stupid we're golden. I am telling you now they are staying put until the boss lady dumps us then we're unload them for one big payout."

She snaps the fan shut sharply blowing the incense built scene away into the air. She gets to her feet and makes her way to a small chest near the massage area and withdraws a slim statuette. She turns and presents it to you.

"This is what I know of the lord I serve. He thinks he is safe here and these men are his boon companions. I fear that if I share what I know he will make a bold choice, as befits his spirit but may lead to his death. I am trapped and need your help to find any hope of an honorable solution."

[BishopMcQ]

<@ Team [Cypher] I stumbled across a small problem in my research. We have two non-combatants on the grid. Looking for more info now, but it seems no job is truly done until we save someone from the clutches of ruthless imprisonment. FML!>

"I'm going to begin looking into this, while we talk. That means I need to use some of this data. Don't hit me, okay?"

Cypher grabs the best images he can from the smoke and spools up data searches. Running pictures through facial recognition utilities and scanning the data about the warehouse and Zuzane for any records of the men and why they would be kidnapping teenagers. Especially freaky teenagers that make friends with scary pseudo-alive agent things in the Matrix.

He collects a data packet of info, with his scans of the weird agent, analysis of the node, and the smoky recording. Jotting a note to the only other hacker he's currently on speaking terms with, he launches it off.

<@Widget [Cypher] This crazy job you found for us, just got weirder. Have you ever seen Analyze patterns like this? Yes/No, I'll buy you a drink. More info, more drinks or nuyen.>

"Alright, while I work on that, I need more answers. I'm going to do everything in my power to get the Daimyo out of there. My friends like to hurt people who kidnap other people--it's kinda their thing. Our part is going to be getting my friends into the building with as little noise as possible. So, what can you tell me about the building, its networks, users, and all of the sentry drones wandering around the area?"

[Emilio]

<@ Team [Emilio]:FML? Frak my liver?>

[Buddha72]

Emilio
You begin to take all the data and feeds from the various team members working Downtown - you look over the source material from Fat Man and begin to sort the puzzle out. Walking the blocks and eliminating buildings as you go. You arrive at a tall and gleaming tower of glass and metal. The AR around it advertises the many amenities it boasts - heated pools, work out facilities, 24 hour security and state of the art technology throughout. Emblazoned along the outside is the name of the complex - Excelsior along with contact info to arrange tours of the few remaining units so hurry and book one now!

Cypher
You are startled to see a reply come back from Widget before remembering she's on the clock now with Management backing this side job.

<@Cypher[Widget] Yes I have - that's some sort of Sprite you looked at which means there is a technomancer somewhere in the mix. I'll take drinks on this one. What else can I do to help? >

You open up three windows and begin to run the protocols to start data searches, feeding the images you have of the thin man and the troll. Looking over the statuette you see its a data file that this Sprite just created for you. Taking the risk and extending the first show of trust you access the file and copy its contents. You see a series of captured images of a young human boy of Asian descent roughly the same age as the latino looking ork you saw earlier. The images are from odd angles - you think the Sprite must have used what it could find and was trying to be discreet. You add another window to the array and transfer the biometrics you can get from the data file and start another search. An alert flashes to let you know searches have concluded.

Looking over the results, you start with the troll and quickly find a record with Knight Errant for resisting arrest and assaulting their security personnel. His name is Robert Jones aka Hammer Hand Harry. He has worked a few extortion angles and "freelance security consultant" jobs that were grey at best. He had a brief career as a boxer, where he got his handle, until it was discovered he was throwing fights for money. As you look through the streams of data you see an image of the thin man pop up amongst his known associates. Dragging that over to the window for his search you see a positive recognition of the data so it seems you were on the right track. The file notes he has some light augmentation in the way of bone lacing and reaction enhancements when he was scanned for a brief stay in a holding cell with KE. Sliding the window to the side you bring the other up to center view.

It seems the thin man is Brian Braun aka Blink who is suspected of having worked several jobs with Harry. He has been charged numerous times but nothing seems to stick to him - either insufficient evidence or people change their stories when it comes time to go to court. He appears to be a confidence man of sorts with some minor magical talent - though it is unclear whether he is an adept or magician. He got his nickname from his ability to get in and out of situations - he just "blinks" to where he needs to be it seems. He works with Harry as muscle and he does all the talking and some suspect the thinking as well. He seems loyal though every time Harry has taken the fall for him he seems to get him out of the jam created by it. The last search registers as complete and you swap the windows again to see the results.

You see a picture of both boys pop up first in connection with a missing persons report. It seems the Daimyo is Ryan Shin and his friend is Louis Magana. They were corp brats attached to NeoNet that went missing about 6 months ago though the time seems uncertain since they went on a trip to Europe with classmates and some older chaperones. They weren't noticed missing until they failed to meet their group for their return trip back. The trip was 6 weeks long so there is no idea how soon they dropped out of the sight. Their last reported sighting was a week into the trip at a local eatery. There is a reward offered by the Shin's of 50,000 nuyen for any information leading to his safe return with a matching amount from NeoNet. There is nothing but a standard and flat statement from the Magana's about "wanting to see their son returned safely" and their "sorrow that such things still happen in this day and age". The Shin's have updated their offer over the course of the time - the reward initially started at 10,000 nuyen and has steadily rose with the recent offer of NeoNet to match their reward being the last change. You are pulled back to the feed from the node when the geisha speaks again.

"Promise me that you will help him, please...."

Her voice cracks with emotion and you see the naked need for her to secure your bond in this.

[Notsoevildm]

From his viewpoint on the roof, Eklipse curses. He had redirected Jon to more or less the right area, but realised that he had not brought any binoculars with him and had left his bike helmet with its vision enhancements with his Rapier.

He scans the area as best he can with his normal vision and coordinates the team's movements using the tacnet and the information Fleet had overlaid from the mage's recon.

<<@Team[Eklipse]: Recon team is in the right area now. However, there is not much I can add to the search from my current location. If Emilio thinks he can find the target, I'll switch with him to cover the mages.>>

[Emilio]

"Oh cool, this is just what Mandy wanted!"

<@ Team [Emilio]: I Found it. It's called Excelsior and here's my geo-location. I'm going to walk one block past and hit a coffee shop. Do the mages want to find me and make sure I'm one block north of the building they want? If not, let me know where to head next.>

Emilio heads a block north, hits a coffee shop, and starts surfing his comm unit while drinking coffee.

[Strangeglove]

Strangeglove parks the car a block from the Excelsior, tells the car to photograph visitors, and starts scanning the area himself for security.

[BishopMcQ]

<@Widget[Cypher] So, do sprites normally get all emotional and bent out of shape about people, or have sex with them? Also why would some no-neck muscle scoop up two runaways in Europe and have them working on hardware here? It's a long way to pull someone when we have local talent picked up cheaaper.>

<@Team [Cypher] FML is Fuck My Life...which seems to be the way of things. We have two stray runaways that got swept up from Eurotown and dropped in our backyard, courtesy of two thugs. We're gonna do the right thing and help them out, because we're nice people and fifty thousand other reasons I can think of. Here are the data packets on the thugs. [Hammer Hand Harry] and [Blink]. They are in the warehouse and I'm working on more complete access.>

"Ok, I'll help. I need to know thou how much reach you have inside their systems. This whole metaphor needs to be toned down too..."

The hacker sits down on the tatami mats cross-legged as he takes a casual posture. It was time to talk about the nuts and bolts of a rescue mission with overwatch.

[Hamagen]

Breeze gets out of the cabs and starts slowly making his way around the various blocks, weaving in and out of peoples way, he attempts to stay out of sight and out of mind but he is unsure if he was able to do so, a few times drawing some attention from people thinking he is being shifty and weird.

Every block he passes he sends a long a message attempting to aid in the navigation of this area of town, all the while keeping an eye out for the building they are looking for.

[Fenris]

<@Team[Fleet]: FML seems appropriate. Well, who am I to argue with fifty thousand reasons? We're busting in any way, I say we get paid twice. Eklipse?>

[Emilio]

<@Team[Emilio]: Paid twice? Cha-ching! Can we tell our grandkids?>

[Buddha72]

Downtown Recon Team
The group moves through the area being led by Emilio and coordinated by Eklipse they isolate the one building they think the magician is in. They set up surveillance and settle in for a wait with Fat Man and Zero joining them shortly after the stake out begins. They see the flow of people coming and going from the high rise structure - shiny and perfect specimens folding themselves into shiny and perfect cars. Your Awakened talent looks over each person looking for the individual that erected the ward.

The boredom settles in and threatens to numb you to the core until finally a blip emerges from the automated doors of the building in the form of a woman - her dress is strangely archaic looking hand sewn and straight out of the gothic romance trids down to the flowing raven locks and alabaster white skin. She is wearing jewelry that looks handmade and covered with obscure symbols and runes - raw gemstones are set into the pieces as well. Trailing behind her is a small Siamese cat - it's fur a soft cream color ending in dark chocolate tips on its ears, nose and paws. Fat Man and Zero quickly slide to the astral and doing their best to stay unseen and peer into her aura while she waits for her ride - vintage Rolls Royce. She opens the door and makes a grand gesture towards the cat to let it enter first - which it does with a great deal of dignity before she follows behind it. The magicians reanimate their bodies as they slide back into them and inform the rest of the team the have her signature and she was Awakened.

[Buddha72]

In the Node
Cypher begins a lengthy discussion with the Sprite in the node about the security. You learn that the building has embedded tracks or rails that drones can be deployed along. The neo-geisha tells you that they are autonomous - she can alert them to a threat with an actual yellow light pulsed through the lighting of the warehouse. Se thinks they are moderately skilled as far as drones go - they can see, identify and engage targets independently. She has access it the external door locks but she hacked them and if discovered they could remove her ability to control them. She has one maintenance drone under her control which is what she used to get access to the external doors. She does have control of the internal doors through the node. The roof has security measures as well - sensors are tied to this node to alert her if they are triggered but she doesn't know what they are. They are also sensors mounted along the exterior walls that she can access that monitor the outside.

While looking over the information from the Sprite - Widget continues her conversation with the hacker in another window. She reveals a level of familiarity with technomancers and is very certain this strange agent would not, could not act against her compiler in any way that would threaten his/her life. She goes on relating stories she has heard of Sprites having unique personalities and behaviors especially if complied or created numerous times by the same technomancer. She seems convinced that if he is really trying to help her maker and does so that this program will do what it promises and try to help in anyway it can. She cautions against betraying the Sprite - being a creature of the Resonance it could make his life very messy in the matrix if he betrays it. If the team decides not to help she recommends either bargaining with it for the safety of her maker or just pop the poor thing to put it out of its misery.

The neo-geisha provides a clear and current layout of the interior and knows that there is a computer in each storage room that contains a list of the current goods stored there. They are kept off line now since the Daimyo was discovered to be hacking into them. They are ten security people at any given time with the troll supervising the day shift and the thin man running the night shift. The overlap for exactly 1 hour at the beginning or ending of their shift with the other. They each cover a 13 hour shift with the rest of the security personnel dong 8 hour shifts. She has heard them mention magical security measures for the outside and inside the building but she has no idea what form it takes or what it responds to. She can show you where the Daimyo sleeps with his lone attendant.

The Daimyo comes to this node every 6 hours after stopping briefly at the Sanctuary to see what activity has happened. He remains here for about an hour before returning to the world beyond. She can hide your passage here and will do so since you have sworn to rescue him from these men and this place. She knows nothing else of the building or the people.

[Buddha72]

Q's Info Gathering
Q enters into a lively and barbed discussion with his female contact. She weaves words and innuendo with skill and finesse. They go back and forth playfully score hits against the other verbally as she tries to draw out more information about the current job he is working on. The game goes for awhile before she offers her information about Zuzane. She is a new Fixer trying to make a name for herself in the business. She had a solid reputation as a bodyguard before this with a angle of being able to go anywhere with no weapons and keep her client safe. She had a long term of employment with an asshat with magical connections but seems to have parted ways. She doesn't know much more than that though she has heard rumors she is working out of somewhere in Seattle. They talk for a bit more before she throws him out for real work that pays the bills.

As he makes his way through the city he receives a call from yet another friend in the shadows. Opening a quick window in AR he dives into yet another discussion. The man takes in the initial information while quickly pulling up small windows of his own for data searches and files. He quickly taps several icons well nodding and asking questions designed to narrow down his search. Q learns that there is a strong suspicion that the Shin boy is valuable in some way to the corporation. There are speculations that he is gene modded or a prototype clone or maybe even Awakened. With the rising reward and then NeoNet matching the amount just adds credence of the idea of him being special in some way. The Magana boy is unremarkable in almost every area except for his aptitude with machines and mechanical devices where he shows a great deal of natural talent but nothing approached savant - more like an aptitude.

Looking through what he can find from sources in Europe - it seems the kidnapping is not being seen as being done by professionals. It seems the two boys went to a party at an underground club run by the Vory. They were snatched there by it seems like security working the club. Though it seems the Vory are not responsible for it or at least clamping they didn't. Being a criminal organization they don't have employment records so he is not able to see who was working the club during the window the kidnapping could have occurred. He recommends asking very carefully and respectfully someone locally working for the Vory if you want to pursue that angle. The call ends with Q arriving at his home with his head spinning with information and angles to play in the upcoming job.

Fleet's Decrypted Capture
You feed the traffic you captured into several filters and decryption programs looking to see what happens near the site. You see the signals slowly get sorted into readable data. You see a steady flow of traffic from Federated Boeing - security check ins and clearances as vehicles and drones exit and enter their territory - it seems to be mostly automated with a template for requests and then followed by a standard all clear from their security. You section off those files and move on to the next set.

You see very light traffic from the actual warehouse. You see a few requests for units to be opened for work - mostly inventory and pulling upcoming purchases. You see shift changes happening every 8 hours and then a supervisor shift change every 13 hours but there is an hour overlap. You see very little traffic from anything else - there is a request to log into something called Sanctuary every 6 hours or so. You see no traffic from the outside world to the warehouse so you suspect the traffic is kept light to non-existent on purpose. You see only on incoming call to the warehouse which was a request for a unit to be cleaned out and prepped for cold storage.

[Buddha72]

At the Office
The team finds themselves back at the office - gear prepped and information shared from the various members. The day to act is today and all that's left is the last run through of the plan and then doing it.

[Strangeglove]

Strangeglove opens up an encrypted video chat with Aideen.

Aideen's genteel virtual assistant comes on the line. "Ah, Mr. H--"

Strangeglove, who has no patience for talking to software, interrupts: "I've got a bizop good for about three minutes, get her on."

The assistant barely has time to respond before being replaced by Aideen.

Strangeglove, clearly geared up on pre-raid adrenaline, lays the facts out quickly.

"We've got a good problem to have: We're looking at a run with way more loot than we can drag away, even including my mobile home. You got some goons and some trucks? We'll will do the heavy lifting, all your guys would have to do is load everything up and drive away. But security is never too far behind, so you'll need a crew that can move fast. Best case is kilotons of gear and six hours to shop, but no promises. If you're interested, I'll send you the coords and target, but keep the crew in the dark. Go time is a few hours. We'll take the usual cut."

[Fenris]

Fleet feeds the data about the traffic and shift changes out to the TacNet for assimilation in it's calculation algorithms, and to provide easy access to everyone else. AccessID's and message templates were filed away for future use...they could be useful if things went bad. Which they did. Often.

<<@Cypher[Fleet]: I'm assuming the Sanctuary hits was our boy doing his regular check-ins?>>

<<@Team[Fleet]: Alright, so, plans on the ground right now that Eklipse and I worked out based on all the recon - We know we've got a ward on the building, sensor's on the roof, and a series of semi-autonomous drones around the facility, as well as 10 security guards, a supervisor, and remote magical security. Fat Man and Zerone, do you guys have any bound spirits that you could put to baby sitting the mage? Something strong enough to smack her upside the head if she suddenly jumps completely into the astral while we're robbing the warehouse? Stop her, stun her, knock her out, at least give us a round or two of notice from them getting popped?

I didn't see any uniforms on anyone that left, so seems safe to assume they're all runners, so mileage is going to vary per individual. I didn't see any serious vehicles, so unless there's something stored in the actual warehouse, we may have the advantage there.

So, here's rosters:

Inside Team
Eklipse - Close Combat/Close Ranged
Zerone - Interior Magical Support
Strangeglove - Close/Medium Ranged
Breeze (if he ever shows up) - B/E
Jon - Close Ranged
Emilio - Close/Medium Ranged
Optional - Fleet - If Breeze doesn't show up, I'll do interior B/E as best I can.

Exterior Team
Fat Man - Exterior Magical Support
Cypher - Systems Control and Matrix Overwatch, Interior Hacking as necessary
Q - Exterior Overwatch, External Liaison
Optional - Fleet - If Breeze shows, Exterior Overwatch, Medium/Long Range Ranged/Fire Support

General Plan (Good for the first 12 seconds) - Cypher or his new mythical friend in the system loops the exterior feeds an hour or so after a shift changes at night. Interior Team gets up to the building, pops the lock on one of the doors, and we pile in. B/E/Cypher disables the yellow flashy lights inside and any other sensors possible while Zerone powers back up. Pop Area Smart Jammer inside, general jamming on signals in that area outside to prevent communications. Interior Team will sweep the building, clearing out security guards and drones. Once that's done, we locate and secure the Daimyo and his friend, and tap Cypher into each of the inventory computers. Once he's got a full list, we pick out what we want, move it, and signal Aideen to come pick up the rest. Clean up anything that would help identify us on the way out, and we leave quietly.

Any questions/mods/request for a warm blanket?>>