[IC] [SR4] What I want to do when I grow up, High School builds character Options

[Vegas]

"I could only dream of my parents being that cool and or having this much freedom."

A frown pulled at the corners of her mouth for an instant as a darker though clouded her current high. Instead of dwelling on it too long, she took another deep drag from the joint before offering it up to Hop as to not bogart the enjoyment.

"You know Zoé," Daiyu changed the topic from overbearing parental units, "This stuff is going to seriously give me the munchies." A soft giggle escaped her lips as she gave over to the high that started to worm its way into her brain.

[ShadowDragon8685]

"Awh... Sorry. I didn't mean to make you sad, Zoé answers from inside the 'trix.

"Munchies are no problem. My kitchen is stocked, and the food we ordered should arrive before too long," she replies, as she sifts the data.

"Me, when I get the munchies, I like cereal. Want me to cue some up?

[Happy Noodle Boy]

Todd was going to send out his inquires in batches. who to send to first was the question. After a minute he made his pick.

Zoe, not sure why I chose her first. who am I kidding? Of course a short blue elf-type girl would draw attention from the unremarkable Japanese boy.

Daiyu is also going on the list for much the same list. seriously both seem the type that won't take this lying down.


Todd checks his nose for to see if its bleeding. As expected there was no blood but the thought still amused him.

Graciana is a new student so why is she on this list? let's see if she knows or cares

Angelo I think is also new. let's see if mister cool red shades knows or cares

Tristan seem a bit upset about some thing, on a hunch I think I put him on the list

With that he composed his brief message

Hello If you are receiving this message we are on the same list and may be sharing the same destiny. If anyone might know more on what that destiny is please drop me a line. Thank you

Todd wasn't quite satisfied so he did one more thing then sent the message

[ Spoiler ]

with the help of his agent he put in a simple hidden message to see if any of them was really paying attention and if they had something talent they could bring to the table

[Ziathra]

Back in time, say while doing chores around the house, Graciana gets Todd's message and fires off a reply.

@Todd [Graciana]: Rumor has it that we are all about to be sent to juvenile hall to make the school look good. I want to look into this myself tomorrow. I have not yet decided what to do about it.

[Ziathra]

Graciana sighs. She sighs again after she checks the time on her comm link.

This is not going well and we need to leave soon. What to do?

After some thought, Graciana starts looking for the local street people. Instead of using normal sight, she looks for their auras. Those are pretty easy to find. She walks right up to them.

I wish we'd thought to go to Stuffer Shack and grab some food. This would go a lot better with a bribe.

“Hello,” she says to the street people, “would you please tell me about the fire and the guy who lived here?”

[RdMarquis]

Andrew couldn't help but frown at Todd referring to whatever plot was in motion as destiny. Not if I have anything to say about it. The hidden message gave him a better impression of his classmate. He replied, Lucky for you, I happen to be one. Ok, that sounded obnoxious. But I know my way around matrix security, and it looks like there are more than just two of us who have caught on.

His message to Zoe was along the same lines, Genuine psychopaths aside, we're not alone. But we still have to come up with a way to escape this mess. You know of any place we can meet without anyone listening in? Angelo replaced the commlink in his pocket with a resigned shrug. Whatever plans he'd made, this was his highest priority, now. Anyway, he wouldn't be able to search for his father once the school had finished with him.

[ShadowDragon8685]

Stop blowing up my commlink, people Zoé thinks to herself. She's had enough new people for one day, and at the moment, she just wants to crunch some numbers and watch a movie and curl up and feel safe.

She analyzed the hidden message the stranger sent to her commlink, of course - she analyzed that thing very thoroughly, but found no data bombs or other nasties.

"It looks like people are out and about tonight, getting super-paranoid about this Melinda Xavier thing. I don't blame them, but I don't know any of them and now they want to meet up somewhere we can't be overheard.

I don't know. I mean, I felt safe bringing you two and Graciana here, and inviting Rio - where is she? - but...

Zoé comes out of VR, reaffirming her grip around Daiyu's waist and snuggling tighter into the taller elf. "Well... Food will be here soon, and we need to pick a movie. Since you two are indecisive..." She looks towards the screen, and it lights up. The trid display fills the room forward of the couch with the opening of Sugar Rush 2070, bright, colorful pastels about the characters of a racing VR game set in a sugar-bowl candy-land.

Then she snuggles back into Daiyu, closing her eyes. Behind the asian elf, her hand drifts down, her fingertips stroking from the edge of Daiyu's heel to her toes.

"I'm on the trail of some old data infrastructure in the area. If there are fiber trunks in there, leading to civilization and unused, that will greatly simplify our plan. I'm also gonna try and see if I can reverse-analyze the study info we have, and see what it was that made them pick us. Assuming we weren't just handpicked for being weirdos."

She squeezes Daiyu's foot, briefly, inhaling the second-hand cannibas smoke for a moment; giggling, she closes her eyes, snuggling back up to Daiyu and heading back into full-sim VR. When the food arrives, she'll pop out of VR to take the elevator downstairs and get it from the desk, then she'll come back and tuck in.

[Koekepan]

“Hello,” she says to the street people, “would you please tell me about the fire and the guy who lived here?”

The woman Graciana is nearest to may or may not be surprised to be found, in the shadowed open end of a broken, choked passageway which opens onto the street, but she is alarmed. She scrambles back, hopelessly, among the broken bits of concrete, and with her back against the rubble and the wall, she whimpers a bit. Then she says: "Uh ... nothin'. Don't know nothin'!"

There are the sounds of running footsteps as others flee the area. The woman is panting a bit, half-sobbing. Her face is lined, sooty grey and she is wrapped in a collage of rags to protect her against the elements. She is maybe twenty-five, but the life out here is hard.

[Ziathra]

Graciana does not move forward as the woman backs away. Nor does she pursue whoever is fleeing. Frightened animals are dangerous.

“You must know something,” she says in a soothing tone of voice. “If you saw enough to be afraid of me, surely you saw something about the time of the fire. Was anyone around when the place burned? Was the place robbed first? Please tell me what I need to know.”

[Koekepan]

The squatter woman gulps, and starts to very quickly murmur: "It was the Red Riders.... the Redmond Riders came and took him away .... took everything ... burned it all ..."

Her face twists in terror and she babbles: "Oh frag, I don't know why, I just ... they just dragged him behind a bike till he fell apart, and burned it all! I swear, I don't know nuthin' more!" Her babbling breaks down into an open-throated wail, and tears pour down her face as she slams her torso against the ruined wall, over and over again.

[Ziathra]

“The Redmond Riders,” Graciana muses quietly, forcing herself to keep her voice and expression gentle. “Thank you. Please don't hurt yourself. Look, I'm going away now.”

Graciana backs up several steps, then turns and walks quickly back to the truck. Only when she is safely in the driver's seat does she let herself react to the news she just got, alternately hissing and shaking.

“Bad news, Tristan,” she says after a bit. “Your friend is going to be furious. Our stray puppy was grabbed by some gang called the Redmond Riders. They stole his press, towed him behind a bike until he fell apart and set the fire. There's no way we can recover a body. I can't even bring the witness with us. If I try, she'll die of a heart attack or stroke.

“Whatever your friend wants to do about this will have to wait until tomorrow. I am probably getting grounded anyway, but I should try to get home at a half-decent hour. We're not going to find this gang of putos tonight.”

Unless Tristan comes up with a brilliant idea in a hurry, Graciana will get the Toyota started and start driving back to Tacoma.

[Happy Noodle Boy]

Two replies so far. Todd complied and completed his assignments before checking his replies. Graciana's assessment was pretty close to his assessment.

@Graciana [Todd]: I have to agree, this is a drek sandwich I would rather not eat. I am also weighing my options. If you want you can contact me at lunch. If you can't find me, recognize me or do not want to be seen near me contact me by com. I am also trying to look for answers myself but I suspect the solution is going to require more than one person's efforts. Hope to hear from you later


So So Mr Cool thinks himself a decker, that would be cool if true. Any clues may need to be pulled from TEA computer records. .

Even if he is a drek-hot decker we made still need more infomation that may not be found on the net.

@Andrew [Todd]: Glad you have a clue you would be the second who has contacted me. unless you want to have at the dead spots behind some of the buildings the best time to talk would be outside the school. I will be outside the front twelve minutes before class. Look forward to finding a solution.

After Todd finished he realized he should have contacted his blogger friend "Ivan Annoying". Ivan said he wanted branch out into more than cyber-bulling. And If Ivan is on the list. I would expect fireworks to start soon. he left a message on the list and ask Ivan to get let him know what he thinks.

Well tomorrow looks to be busy. I going to have put some electronic toys and extra sweater and a couple extra sandwiches. After he finished his preparations Todd got ready to go to bed

[ShadowDragon8685]

Once curled up with Daiyu again, whilst watching the movie in her VR node, Zoé begins work on statistically analyzing the data she and Rio ripped from the school's servers. She also throws out a reply to some of those people who contacted her earlier whom she hadn't yet gotten around to replying to, after searching for some basic data on them.

@Todd [Liara]: Hi. Sorry, I didn't get around to you earlier. I've been busy. If by 'share the same destiny' you mean we're both on Ms. Xavier's shit-list... Then yeah, you're probably right.

Cute hidden message, by the way. And you're right... This does stink. It makes me nervous, and I don't like it, not at all. We're on a list with fucking Kittenburner and DrekBoy, for fuck's sake. I think they're thinking of shipping the genuine nutjobs, the freaks, weirdos, and new kids off the juvvie in a batch. I don't like it one bit, either. Do you have any info or ideas or plans to share about this big sticky mess?

She then took a digital breath, and composed another message to someone else.

@Andrew [Liara]: I dunno. I don't want to just go inviting strange boys to my place. Well, not any more than I already did. And if I do, the girls need to outnumber them by a lot. So... I dunno. It wouldn't be that hard to just let everyone route through my 'link and chat that way. If we need a physical space for some reason... I dunno, I'm kinda stumped. I'm new to Seattle-Tacoma.

Zoé gets to work crunching the numbers; it's a task she can easily put down and resume, can work on in AR or VR, and since she won't need to sleep for well over another day, she can work through the night in VR or AR.

It will take her Only two hours of analysis to fully crack the information she's looking fo; time enough for a movie to run to its end, food to be had, and another movie, maybe, or not. Either way, when Sugar Rush 2070 has reached its conclusion, she looks up and smiles.

"Hey, Daiyu? Do you want me to drive you back to Tacoma, call you a cab... Or would you like to stay here? And, um, Hop? What about you?"

[RdMarquis]

It was getting late, and there was nothing else he to be done at the moment. Angelo pulled the shades off his head and rubbed his eyes. He'd have to be satisfied with making contact with a few other people in the same situation. Be patient, he told himself. They had maybe a week. Do something risky, like trying to solve this problem on his own, and he'd end up giving this Xavier exactly what she wanted. A teenaged criminal.

Of course his uncle asked how his first day of school went. Andrew answered as truthfully as he could. "Could've been worse." He assured Shane he didn't get in trouble with a laugh that rang hollow. "But this is shaping up to be a tough year. Homework on the first day, even. I should get started."

"Been there." Shane gave him a hesitant pat on the shoulder. "Call you when dinner's ready."

"Thanks." No sooner had he entered his room did Angelo lock the door and toss himself on the bed. Was he just a magnet for trouble? He fired off a couple more replies.

@Todd [Andrew]: I can be at school early tomorrow. You know any non-students who can help us with this?

@Liara [Andrew]: Fair enough. He assumed she had strict parents. If need be, I can encrypt messages.

[Aria]

Hop frowned, paced, frowned and occasionally paid some attention to the gaudy cartoon that Zoe had pulled up.

"Sorry, just can't concentrate on this at the moment...and thanks but I'll pass on the weed, I don't like what it does to my head. I'll take something to keep me sharp but not to take the edge off. Thanks anyway.

So it looks like there are more of us on this damn list. It really doesn't make any fragging sense to me. Surely someone would notice a stat wrinkle if all the new kids for the semester suddenly disappear into lockdown? There's got to be more to this! Maybe they're recruiting their own army of obedient little shadowrunners..." the wry smile was supposed to indicate he was joking but the whole thing left a sour taste in his mouth. "All very Fagin! If I'm gonna follow my brother I'm damn well going to do it on my own terms!" he descended into muttering...

"I guess we're about done here for tonight. I'd better head home and make sure Kate got back from her dance class ok. My brother will be looking out for her and he hasn't called to let me know he's got work on so I'm sure it's all pure. I'm glad we've met now. I've got your backs ok! We are Not going to let those bastards walk all over us. Don't worry about the cab, I'll grab a bus, I'm a bit strapped at the moment. Would be good to have Papa's money floating in my account and it's not even illegal work! Lemme know if you need anything else otherwise I'll catch you at school tomorrow..."

[Koekepan]

It transpires from the intense scrutiny which Liara applies to the data at hand that Melinda's test was multifaceted. The first item was the most obvious: "Hey, kids, what career slot looks good for you?" but the trick is that there were more layers of assessment.

It also assessed for certain personality traits. Such as, for instance, a propensity to violence (low self control/anger issues) as well as problems with authority. But beyond that, it very specifically checked for criminal personality profile markers. Essentially, it's not merely an assessment and description, but highly sophisticated predictive testing. It's not a guarantee of a criminal outcome, or antisocial conduct, but a fair degree of certainty in the case of the adolescents who were marked for the special interview.

Predictive testing is controversial, but Liara already knows that that's an element of Melinda's research based on previous peering into Melinda's Matrix footprint. The outcome is quite subtle, and doesn't label the subjects as sociopaths, psychopaths or even borderline. It doesn't even call them criminal now (although surely the kitten burning ork boy would fit some or all of those descriptions) but merely assigns a high future probability of criminality, along with an assessment of the probable current degree of social marginalisation and maladjustment which the subjects might currently be experiencing.

Next stage: Tuesday Morning, 6 September 2072
RL DEADLINE: Friday, 22 November 2013

[Happy Noodle Boy]

Todd packed his toys in the hidden compartment in his backpack. He doubted that he would be using the lock picks and re sequencer, his plan was to probe to get a feel for the layout and the administration area as well looking for security strengths and weaknesses. He looked at the keycard copier, Unless he got lucky and someone got careless he probably wouldn't using that either. Todd decided to include the items in case he somehow got lucky on the first probe.

I am going see if I can wander to into administration in the student accessible areas to get a beginning layout, don't touch anything and blend with the students. mid morning during the staff meeting should be a little more productive.

Todd went through his extra clothes locker and pulled out an ugly pull-over shirt and a nondescript cap. He loosened treads on the shirt so If anyone spotted him as he leaving, as soon as he got out of their line of sight he could quickly rip off the shirt and ditch it along with the cap. Anyone looking for 'some kid with a ugly shirt' would be less likely to look for him.

Into his insulated lunchbox he put his sandwiches in. While one of them was for his consumption, the other were cut into quarters and carefully wrapped.

Todd sighed. My little test marketing project. I was getting some positive responses. I was planning to go the next step and see if my friends in maintenance would allow me to set up a second locker to expand my business to include a automated crock pot to prepare and warm noodle soup.. If this list issue isn't resolved all my planning will be for nothing.

As Todd finished packing it occurred to him he could use his sandwiches to make contact with some of the others on the list without attracting much attention.

As a quick afterthought Todd grabbed a small direct connect. We see if Andrew has a better encrypt program than me. so we can start communicating with less chances of eavesdropping. I think I have done everything I can think of. I better get some good rest tonight because I may not be getting much for a bit

[Vegas]

Between getting high, her commlink blowing up and snuggling with Zoé on the couch watching a movie, the next couple of hours drifted past in a bit of a blur.

@Todd [Daiyu]: Bad news travels fast I see. Not sure exactly what the whole drekstorm of this list actually means in the end, but it sure doesn’t seem good.

With the message sent back to Todd, Daiyu turned her attention back to Hop and Zoé and the offer to crash here tonight.

“I wish I could crash here tonight Zoé and not have to deal with family drama. I mean I’m all for the next day walk-of-shame and all, only not when I’m doing it. And since I don’t have a change of clothes handy and something tells me I can’t raid your closet…” The Asian Elf smirked at the thought of finding something of Zoé’s that not only fit, but wouldn’t get her kicked out of school on those grounds alone.

“But, if you’re seriously down for giving me a ride home, that would be wiz. If you want to swing through the area Papa Gotcha was talking about on the way, well make the detour really, I’m down for a little surveillance. The parentals won’t roll out the full-court press of concern unless I don’t come home before school tomorrow.”

[ShadowDragon8685]

Zoé giggles softly; after her number crunching was done, she just wound up snuggling into Daiyu's side.

"This building has an auto-laundry," she points out. "The clothes I dumped when I got home are already clean. Yours would be done in an hour or so." She squeezes Daiyu around the side, reaching down and stroking her fingertips down the taller elf's foot, from her heel to her toes, which she lightly tickles.

She sits up and slides into Daiyu's lap, hugging the taller elf. "I can take you home if you'd rather, though," she murmurs, her legs wrapping around Daiyu's waist. She places her heels carefully against the asian elf's, curling her toes into the span between the balls of Daiyu's feet and her toes. "I'm not sure I want to run through the barrens-lite at the time of night, though. So if you want to run through... I'd have to come pick you up early and we could run through before school - unless you'd rather just stay the night and risk the 'rent's wrath."

She pulls back, smiling; her irises change to question marks as the tiny, blue elf grins.

[Ziathra]

Graciana managed to drive safely home to Tacoma. She dropped Tristan off at his house, then drove home. After she parked her truck and before she went into her home, the survival knife went into the glove compartment, the earrings went back on and she spoke with the air spirit.

Do you remember this woman? (Image) Protect her until dawn and you will have served me well. I am glad I did not need to call on you for anything else. Thank you.

Then Graciana went to face the worst part of the evening – her mother.

“You ungrateful little slut, where have you been?”

“Mama, I am not - “

“I've been waiting here for hours, expecting - “

“You have not, it's only 10:30.”

“-Expecting the police to tell me you've been raped and murdered.”

“Mama! Tristan is a good boy!”

“There's no such thing as a good boy or a good ork!”

“Mama! What about Papi?”

“Don't you dare mention your father to me! If you were a good girl, you'd stay home and not scare me half to death!”

And so it went for a good twenty minutes. Señora Acosta only stopped at eleven o'clock because it was time for the news and time for Graciana to go to bed.

Graciana's last thought was I need to move out.

[RdMarquis]

Andrew pulled his toolbox out of the closet, removing a small cardboard box. Flying Eyes weren't illegal drones. But owning a couple of tiny, aerial, hard to notice cameras would have raised some annoying questions. Manually working its landing clamp so that it attached to his desk, he began cleaning it. Andrew's commlink display informed him that it was 2:01 AM.

He had gone to bed, or tried to with no success, at 11:15. Admittedly, he hadn't slept well for years. Not since the Twins. Tonight was a little worse than usual, however. It was the thought of having earned the emnity of yet another unknown group with a lot of pull. More than him and everyone else who caught on to their plot. And he'd actually been trying to keep out of trouble until he could find a fixer willing to work with him. Damn.

Carefully holding the drone so it didn't roll around his desk, Andrew began applying oil. After this, he would sneak downstairs for a snack, then give sleep another try.

[Happy Noodle Boy]

It’s another lovely day in freaking paradise.

Todd arose from his futon to start his Tuesday. For today Todd make sure that he had two items from his E & E (escape and evasion) Kit; a plastic bag filled with pachinko balls and game jacks sprinkled with graphite dust to make them more slippery. Todd checked the seals on the pair of shortened straws; since they contained particles soaked with pepper punch he didn't want the contents to get loose until he either blew then into a pursuer’s face or put in someone’s drink.

I will have find if I can get access to birthing gel, spreading that behind me will really make a potential pursuer’s day; Intrusion can be easy, it’s comedy that hard.

Todd loaded up on the latest updates for Miracle shooter and Maze Hunters. He use would them for a cover to compare encryption codes with Andrew. Since father lifted his ban on gaming he had played both over the last week. While he thought Miracle Shooter was okay as an AR shooter he starting to enjoy Maze Hunters for the puzzles and problem-solving scenarios. Strangely it was the janitorial lead of the night crew who recommended it. Egg Shen claimed that a diligent quest-er could find many of life’s answers playing the game. Todd found that funny coming from an old Ork, but still Egg was a great guy and source of many interesting insights

After Cleaning and gathering his gear he headed for the morning job. I better get a larger cup of soy-caf and have Wayne double up on the Sportzpresso I will need the Energy.

[Ziathra]

Graciana wakes from formless dreams at the usual time on Tuesday morning. What isn't usual is the speed at which she goes through her morning routines. She hurries into her armored charcoal gray cargo pants, barely taking the time to check the animal treat and chalk supplies. The front of her hair gets pulled back into a black and silver scrunchie, keeping the rest of it off her face. Today's long-sleeved top for school features a Julia set in black and grays on white. After some internal debate, the gray with green and pink iridescence feather earrings go on. The gray armored top goes into a bag, to be left in the truck.

Graciana still doesn't manage to evade a morning lecture from her mother. The topic is what kind of horrible, ungrateful slut would make her mother worry by not being home the instant school lets out. However, Mama does not specifically forbid anything.

Graciana manages to make it to the school parking lot early, so early that the marching band isn't practicing. With renewed motivation, she grabs her commlink and searches for programs that might help her renovate a property in the Dealers' territory.

Her first try changes the interface to Hmong. The commlink starts playing a French Canadian crooner singing about some war, as far as she can tell, while she sees pictures of Jimmy Carter hanging drywall. Graciana pays attention to the strange old man hanging drywall for as long as she can stand the crooner, which is not long at all. Then she reboots the commlink. The interface returns to Spanish, the crooner goes off the air and the pictures of Jimmy Carter vanish.

On the second try, Graciana is positively awash with data on various social programs relating to dwellings, development, purchases and improvements. She filters out anything that requires her to actually own the property, be of age, or be a business.

The remaining data tells her all sorts of things. There's a program to buy paint made in the UCAS for half price if she's restoring a property for sale. There's a program to help disadvantaged ESL youth enter apprenticeships. She learns that she could buy whatever property she picks if she undertakes to pay the back taxes of at least five thousand nuyen, or can prove it's been abandoned for ten years. There's a construction material recycling program which gives you old doors, windows and so on for the price of using your likeness in advertising. There's an urban renewal program which gives you access to flower seeds and organic fertilizer for free. There's a grant program which will be much easier to get if you first fall pregnant.

Graciana decides that she likes the apprenticeship program, the recycling program, and the urban renewal program.  That grant that requires a pregnancy gets deleted with prejudice. Graciana saves the data on the other programs for later.

I like the apprenticeship program. I need those skills and I may need that job. I don't want a photo of myself floating around, so I may not use the recycling program – wait! I can cast an illusion on myself that will photograph. For them, I'll make myself look better than I really am.

Feeling much better about life, Graciana goes into the school building, picks a classroom and settles down in a recliner.

[Koekepan]

Tuesday morning gradually becomes Tuesday, and as the day becomes slowly brighter, the day's news and activities gradually take shape.

Clouds drift overhead, blending thin blue with shadowy grey, while virtual forecasters in AR talk about how there may be a few more warm days (where warm is defined as flirting with 20C) to eke out of the season. The SINners and the SINless alike are reminded of how much shorter the days will be, and what the effects on power availability will be.

The Seattle Public Information Network reports that FullMatrix is working on a large scale giveaway, but is in need of funds to purchase equipment, even at the reduced rates which they get, so they are appealing to the community to pitch in an help them meet their targets. They point out that some equipment sized for metahumans costs more, and make veiled references to Humanis-sponsored groups trying to advance the position of humans with respect to metahumans by keeping equipment sizes to human scale only.

At school, there is less administrivia on Tuesday than Monday - basically inevitable. Just the usual reminders of how weaponry is banned on the school campus, and that breaking plastic to form sharp shards constitutes a violation of this rule.

Starling isn't anywhere to be seen at school. Rumour has it that she was forcibly institutionalised.

[Ziathra]

Graciana picked a recliner in a dimly-lit section of her chosen classroom, so she gets surrounded by her fellow Washouts as everyone arrives for another school day. The news about Starling scares her and she doesn't bother trying to hide it. After several rounds of “That's horrible,” “Whose life is it, anyway?” and comments on fates worse than death, Graciana settles down to her favorite class of the day, biology.

I don't want to miss today's lesson and the administrators need time to settle down. I need to settle down as well.

Once biology is over, Graciana switches off the VR net, but leaves it on her head. After a little stretch, she reaches out to the metaplane where the Watchers dwell.

[ Spoiler ]

Summoning+Magic = 7 dice

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4313219/

or 6,6,3,4,4,2,5 = 3 hits