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

[Koekepan]

@Graciana Acosta [Vaness Wilde]: You're not making any sense. The school is the problem? Why would you have to quit? Are you being expelled?

[Ziathra]

Graciana sighs and decides she'll have to trust someone sometime.

@Vaness Wilde [Graciana Acosta]: Not quite. The school wants to send a bunch of students, including me, to reform school. Rumor has it that they're doing this to improve the school's statistics. The vice principal says it's legal and the school's prepared to deal with angry parents. The only way out of this I can think of is to quit before they do it. I'll just have to go to community college, if I can earn enough money to go.

[Happy Noodle Boy]

At 8:56am Todd set for a bathroom to start his mid-morning run.

Looks like my original plan stands

1. Go to the camera blind spots
2. Check for security then climb into the crawlspace
3. climb down into offices
4. Check for useful information, and climb out.
5. Repeat this until 9:50am
6. Get out of admin area before staff meeting ends.

To this list refined the final points:

7. Keep an ear out in case they end the meeting early and prepare to leave quickly
8. Check Melinda’s Xavier office first, I just might get a lucky break
9. Check the crawlspace for exploitable communication access points
10. Check for the same in storage areas and recently vacated offices
11. Barring security measures peek into computer rooms to look for exploitable security lapses
12. Review emergency escape routes in case this mission goes pair-shaped.

In the bathroom he checked out his equipment including his disposable Comlink

Let see I can find a good home for you. If I can find a good place to stick this I could provide Andrew or another hacker a backdoor to their system.

With disguise and equipment ready Todd set out for the Administration area.

[Koekepan]

Dare manages to avoid particular notice on his quick step from the bathrooms to a nearby unsurveilled spot where he can stand on a chair, lift away a section of the drop ceiling, and then hoist himself up into the roof. A moment to replace the section of ceiling, and make a particular note of where it is, and then he can look around.

The ceiling spaces are open, in the sense that they reach from one exterior wall to the other, but cramped in the sense that there are many bits and pieces - air conditioning ductwork, conduits for electrical and other utility lines, cable trays and of course automated sprinkler systems for fire control. It's a cornucopia of utility access.

Dare hears a buzzing some distance off, and sees what looks like a maintenance drone crawling along a section of piping, obliquely away from him.

[Koekepan]

@Graciana Acosta [Vaness Wilde]: Reform school. That's crazy. You're a good kid. But you can't fight this within the system, but maybe community college will work for you, if they'll accept you with this hanging over your head. What does your mother think of community college?

[Happy Noodle Boy]

This just keep getting better

Todd did not recognize the drone model but it definitely not going to make his infiltration easy.

I could try sneaking around it, but would eat up my time and can’t guarantee that it wouldn’t make any sudden moves. I could try to jack into it, but I couldn’t guarantee that someone might not notice.

For some reason he almost sense the annoyance of his sensei at his hesitation.

Time to stop thinking like Todd and start letting Nobody (Dare Mo) is in the house

Dare Mo assessed the situation again

Okay We have ourselves a repair drone how do we get past it…it’s a repair drone if it was busy repairing something than It would stay in one place long enough for me to hopefully complete my mission

Staying in the drone’s blind spot Dare Mo went forward of the pipe that the drone was surveying and proceed to minor bits of damage to the pipe.

I need to do enough to keep it busy and not enough for it need to call for human assistance.

Dare Mo then waited to see if his plan worked

[Ziathra]

@Vaness Wilde [Graciana Acosta]: I haven't told my mother any of this yet. I'm afraid to.

[Koekepan]

Staying in the drone’s blind spot Dare Mo went forward of the pipe that the drone was surveying and proceed to minor bits of damage to the pipe.

I need to do enough to keep it busy and not enough for it need to call for human assistance.

Dare Mo then waited to see if his plan worked

Fortunately, laser cutters, held steady, have a decent bit of range for minor vandalism. Dare Mo can carefully steady his hands against a pipe brace, use the tell-tale guide laser to aim, and then put a couple of gouges in the pipe which the drone is following. It almost looks as if someone had been careless with a cutter somewhere else in the roof.

It doesn't take long for the drone to come up against Dare Mo's handiwork, and then it clamps onto the pipe and starts working. Yup, that'll take it at least ten minutes per gouge. Dare Mo has bought himself some time to do business.

A swift few steps, a double-check of the count, and he knows that he is above an office kept by one of the school's IT staff.

[Happy Noodle Boy]

That seem to work, time for me to work.

Dare Mo lowers himself into the IT room to look for clues. An unlocked computer would be perfect, if not a search could supply some useful thing left lying about.

1. Hardcopy left on the desk
2. Passcodes or passkeys
3. Schematics
4. The Red Candy like button that destroys the villain base
5. Data obtained from any electronic device left unattended

Let’s keep track of time and keep an ear for an early end to the meeting.

Dare Mo sighed I when I started this I thought forty three minutes would be plenty of time.

[Koekepan]

1. Hardcopy left on the desk

None in the sense of paper, but there are dozens of AROs lying around, including rewritable ones and read-only. There's also a box of storage chips to one side, some of which appear to have been labeled.

2. Passcodes or passkeys

No. The IT staff know better.

3. Schematics

Some of the AROs appear to have schematics, of one sort or another. Whether they reflect reality is largely unknowable at this moment.

5. Data obtained from any electronic device left unattended

The ARO data can be quickly copied by a commlink for later perusal. No terminal was left unlocked, so that is less helpful. The storage chips will take a minute or two to open and copy.

Let’s keep track of time and keep an ear for an early end to the meeting.

So far, it's clear.

[Ziathra]

Graciana decides to give up on her classes for a bit. She looks up the nearest branch of the Pentacles talismonger chain on her commlink. Then she settles herself into her recliner, puts the VR set on her head, but goes into astral space instead of VR.

After taking a moment to get her bearings, she goes to the Pentacles store. She arrives at nearly the speed of thought. A quick look confirms that the store is warded, but not completely warded. Graciana drifts through the unwarded front door and manifests in the front of the store, near the incense collection. She tries to sniff the frankincense and sighs.

A clerk walks over. “May I help you, miss?”

Graciana replies, “Yes, do you carry handcrafted telesma?”

“I'm sorry, miss. We don't. Handcrafted telesma usually don't meet our standards. Everything we do carry is carefully checked by our magical experts. You can rest assured that everything here is precisely what we say it is and meets the highest standards.”

Graciana asks, “Can you refer me to someone who does carry handcrafted telesma?”

“We have an excellent selection of telesma in stock, miss. No matter what kind of enchantment you have in mind, I'm sure we have at least two or three telesma that will suit your needs. For instance, we have a wide selection of virgin quartz points...”

Graciana is forced to explain that she in fact needs a handcrafted telesma because she is a Chaos Magician. At that point the clerk helpfully provides the name of Skunk Robinson.

Graciana smiles more brightly at the clerk than she has all week. “Thank you very much! You've been very kind and helpful!”

Graciana then stops manifesting, drifts through the door and flies back to her body in a hurry, hoping that she can continue to get away with playing astral hooky.

[RdMarquis]

@Todd [Andrew]: Where are you right now? Angelo realized he hadn't contacted Todd for a while. Plus, if there was anything else to be learned about the school, he wanted to know. Seating himself among the nearest group of VR goers, he pulled out his commlink and donned a baseball cap with trodes on the inner lining.

[Happy Noodle Boy]

Dare Mo wasted no time and started copy data giving priority to and labelled data take looked relevant or at least valuable.
planning to sort through the raw data later.

The IT people seem to be otherwise security savvy. I might have better luck with the vice principal, I recall he left his door open this morning.

After recording the ARO data he climbed up, still keeping track of time, to make his way to the vice principal's office

If I get lucky I might find a open computer or another exploitable link, if I do I may risk a encrypted burst or some other way to contact Andrew to see if he still wants to help.

[Ziathra]

Graciana returns to her body. So far, her running around seems to have gone undetected. I should probably try to look up Skunk Robinson before trying to talk to him.

[ Spoiler ]

Data Search + Logic = 4d6

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4324046/

or 6,6, 1, 2.

A little chibi-style elf with chrome eyes, a blonde forelock, a friendly smile and datajacks in his temples appears in the commlink interface.

In a husky baritone that should be used for crooning love songs, the elf announces, Hi, Graciana! I'm Maxwell, your personal secretary. Your very personal secretary. (eyebrow waggle) Please call me Max. About Skunk Robinson – touch here to learn more about skunks.

Graciana tries to get the interface back to normal. Nothing happens.

Are you sure you don't want to learn more about skunks? No?

Graciana manages to learn that Skunk Robinson does business in West Tacoma. The address seems to be in a nice part of town, near the harbor in a light industrial area. Graciana tries to get rid of Max again. Again, nothing happens.

...Touch here to get driving directions. Sure! Tell me your departure point. Okay, you can get there by driving out of the main parking lot, turning right....

Graciana tries to get rid of Max a third time after getting the directions. She fails yet again.

...Touch here to learn more about Tacoma. Skunk Robinson is a magician and talismonger. Touch here to read his resume. No? Sure? How about Yelp comments? Yes? One moment...

Oh my. There are fifteen comments here calling him a black magician. Want me to read them to you? No? Touch here to learn about the black path of magic. No? How about black magicians in fiction? No? Black magicians in history? It's a short entry! No?

There's one comment here that looks particularly juicy. Want to hear it? No? It's really good. Summarize? Yes? One moment... The writer says that Skunk Robinson eats the souls of unbaptized babies because he hates all that is pure and good. Touch here to learn about souls. Touch here to learn about baptism.

Graciana puts the commlink back into snooze mode. I might just go visit him before school gets out. I suppose I really should try to study some more.

[Happy Noodle Boy]

Before Dare Mo Dropped in on the vice principal's office he decided to risk a encrypted burst message to Andrew

@Andrew[Dare Mo]: You said were interested in helping. I currently hanging around interesting place. please contact me now, it could be a very educational experience"

I should able to find a good connection in the office if not I can hook up via a ceiling connection, either way between us we should be able to get some answers"

[RdMarquis]

@Dare Mo[Andrew]: Right. He frowned. Todd should have mentioned it earlier if he was going to go leaping into any lion's dens. I'm here and waiting. What do you need?

[Ziathra]

Graciana takes a few moments to calm down after her last session with Max. Then she goes back to her commlink after getting an idea.

Why hello, Graciana! I'm always happy to help you. Organizations of Chaos Magicians? One moment... My word, these are some very progressive, liberated magicians. Organizations that are accepting new members? One moment.... None of them are advertising that, Graciana. Organizations that are accepting apprentices? One moment.... None of them are advertising that, Graciana.

Graciana puts the commlink back in snooze mode and considers her options. I should probably stay put for a bit. I know! I'll send a watcher to Skunk Robinson's shop. It can tell me if he's in. Well, maybe I'll double-check the address first.

Why hello, Graciana! I'm always happy to help you. What's at that corner? One moment...

The answer turns out to be a cheap eatery for local workers, a place which does temporary office space leasing, a shipping office and an outlet mall.

Oh, you want to go back to the Yelp comments? One moment... Search the reviews for how they contacted him? One moment.... Skunk works out of his van, Graciana. He doesn't stay parked anywhere for very long. He also drags orphans and strays into his van for experiments, dissection, desecration, necrophilia and necromancy. Touch here to learn about dissection. Touch here to learn about desecration. Touch here to learn about necrophilia. Touch here to learn about necromancy. Photos of the van? Right here!

The van is done up with a stunning set of 3D overlays which make it look as if one is staring into infinity. Armed with the photos, Graciana concentrates and whispers the words of summoning.

[ Spoiler ]

Summoning+Magic = 7d6

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4326303/

or 1,5,5,6,2,3,6 – 4 hits or 4 hours of spideryspirit goodness

Graciana tells the new watcher, Find this van. If it is parked, come lead me to it.

The watcher scurries off. Several minutes and another astral trip later, Graciana is chatting with a rather wild-eyed, hairy human male with a somewhat feral look to him - almost paranoid. Graciana says hello and asks if he'd like a new source of handcrafted telesma. He doesn't seem too interested in a source of telesma, but thinks a bit on her offer and asks if she'd consider a few commissions.

“Certainly, although I'm not a very good enchantress. I'm a beginner in that Art.”

[Koekepan]

Skunk cackles softly.

He is human, but not much taller than most dwarves - and not much less broad, nor much less hairy. He also packs two visible guns - big, chunky automatics, one under each arm in a shoulder rig which isn't very well hidden by his open jacket. He also has a knife the length of his forearm in a sheath on his right thigh, and a tomahawk swinging from the left of his belt.

"OK, sweet manifestation, whatever you say, but enchanting I can do myself. I was gonna ask you for a little fetch-and-carry, if you're up to it. Payment on delivery."

He flips a splinter of wood off the workbench in the back of his panel van and starts picking his teeth with it. The splinter must be fine hardwood, because on every release from between his gleaming, rounded, big teeth it twangs softly but audibly.

[Ziathra]

Graciana smiles when called a sweet manifestation, even though all those weapons Skunk is lugging around worry her. I suppose he's got his stock with him and it's very valuable.

“I'll do my best for you. What did you have in mind?”

[Koekepan]

"I need twenty pigeons. Either alive, or very freshly killed, but alive is best. Adult pigeons, not fledgelings. I need fresh pelts, not too picky what they're from as long as it's a mammal, best is good, thick fur. At least three square meters in total. I need teeth. Canines or carnassials are best, but I'll accept premolars and pointed incisors."

Skunk Robinson is numbering things on his thick, stubby fingers.

"I need metal, both ferrous and non, as clean and uncorroded as possible. I want mollusc shells - do you know what mother-of-pearl is? I need a lot of that. Also, all the agates and fibrous minerals like tiger's eye and bull's eye you can lay your hands on. I need hardwood, or resin-impregnated softwood. I need bare or minimally haired skin, but if you can't get any, I'll offer a reduced price for furs I can scrape clean easily. I need various waxes, tallows, and greases, but none of them blended with mineral sources. Mineral waxes and oils, separately."

He looks as if he's about to go on, but pauses and peers at Graciana's ghostly, manifested form. "Think you can swing any of that?"

[Happy Noodle Boy]

@Andrew [Dare Mo]: Okay I hooked into a hard wire connection. It should make research easier.I am also interested in who,how and why behind the travel plans for a certain group of people In the meantime I will be looking around for more information of a physical nature.

While Andrew in doing his thing let me see if I have find Opportunities in the vice-principal's office. If I have time I can look into Ms. Xavier's Office.

[Ziathra]

Graciana listens to the list, trying to memorize it.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” she says when Skunk stops for breath. “I can't write any of this down. Let's take it one thing at a time, please. I think I can handle the pigeons. Twenty adult pigeons, alive. When would you like them?”

[Koekepan]

Skunk purses his lips and shrugs. He flips the little splinter of wood back onto the workbench, and crosses his arms, leaning back against the bench's edge in his van. "When? How about eleven o'clock? Or you got someplace to be?"

[Ziathra]

Graciana frowns a little.

“If you mean eleven A.M., unfortunately I do. It'll take a little time to get all twenty anyway. Is it permissible to stun at least some of the pigeons, to capture them?”

[Koekepan]

Sure, stunning 'em's fine. No drugs, though. Alive, no drugs. But are you sure you couldn't scare up some mussels? They scare pretty easy."

Skunks laughs at his own joke, broad shoulders jerking under his jacket, but settles down quickly to his broad, toothy grin.