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

[Ziathra]

Graciana replies, “Oh, I never use drugs on the pigeons. I have to eat them. For mussels, I'd have to hit the beach somewhere. That's going to take even longer. About payment for the pigeons – do you know any Chaos Magicians looking for apprentices?”

[Koekepan]

"Chaos Magicians? I know dozens of them, manifestation, but apprentices? I don't go giving out names unless I know I can recommend somebody. Otherwise I'd be the chump. How can you prove what you have on offer? Besides filling my orders, of course."

[Ziathra]

Perhaps I should just drift away from it all.

“That's a very good question. It's so good that I don't think there's a possible answer while I'm in this form. I suppose you'll just have to pay me in cash for the pigeons.”

[RdMarquis]

@Dare Mo [Andrew]: I'll let you know if I find anything. Andrew had switched to VR. His persona had been inspired by the idealized image of runners presented by the media. The young, strong looking man striding through the digital corridors was dressed in a long, white armored coat and a pair sunglasses resembling Andrew's own. With the Stealth program acted, he was shrouded by a curtain of static. Of course, Andrew given his avatar a few personal touches. Electricity surged up Angelo's arm and into his surroundings, searing a glowing silver hexagon into the nearest wall. With a flash, it disintegrated into a cloud of similarly colored feathers. Angelo stepped through to where Dare Mo had installed the hard wire connection.

His sunglasses flashed briefly as his Anayze program confirmed the connection's presence. Then Angelo began working on the office node. The area around him glowed faintly, and when the light had faded, a trio of dark, flat, vaguely triangular shapes remained. Without even a command, they floated over to the "surface" of the firewall. In unison, they began releasing a steady stream of electricity, slowly burning away the node's protection.

[Happy Noodle Boy]

After making another check for addition security carefully lowered himself into the Vice Principal's office. He quickly set about gathering information.

Dare Mo looked over the cluttered office. Okay let see if I can find what I need from this mess

Dare Mo managed to find and copy a couple of data chips and a some AROs. Dare Mo also managed scan a few of the bulletins on his desk.

I suppose hoping for a password or pass-code left out in the open was asking to much. We will see if anything of use comes from the loot,

Dare Mo checked his timer Drek, I took ten minutes on this office. I better be careful or they will find me and they will actual have a reason to send me to reform school, other that that damn test

Dare Mo quickly put everything back in it's original place and quietly ascended to the crawlspace.

I think I will need to check Ms Xavier's office next and probably have to call it a day. I hope Andrew is having better luck.

[Happy Noodle Boy]

This should be a largely a repeat of what I did in the last office. The difference is in the obstacles and opportunities.

Obstacles and opportunities seem to be the heart of the B&E game, Dare Mo hoped that he was up to the challenge. Up until yesterday morning he thought he would have more time to cultivate his skills. His original plan was to simply survive the school year and hone his electronic and athletic skills and graduate from this scholastic armpit. He was hoping to find a way to get in touch with Sensei Castillo and get more training, even if that mean working with Senorita Satan again. Dare Mo smiled at the memory of last summer; while she seemed to do her best to beat the drek of him on every opportunity, this competition made him excel in the other parts of his basic shinobi training.

Well so much for original plans, so instead of staying out of trouble I now have commit a crime in order not to be sent to reform school.

He looked at his timer Drek , I have ten minute left on my timetable. I going to require one minute for exfiltration and one minute to remove to hardwire tap, leaving me with eight minutes. This assumes they don’t end their meeting early .

After again checking for extra security on Ms. Xavier’s office he lowered himself down

[Koekepan]

His sunglasses flashed briefly as his Anayze program confirmed the connection's presence. Then Angelo began working on the office node. The area around him glowed faintly, and when the light had faded, a trio of dark, flat, vaguely triangular shapes remained. Without even a command, they floated over to the "surface" of the firewall. In unison, they began releasing a steady stream of electricity, slowly burning away the node's protection.

Angelo doesn't have too long to work before he gets in - as with many poorly administered environments, it has candyball security with a crunchy outside, but a soft, chewy interior. The connection which Dare Mo obtained turns out to feed directly into a system run by the school maintenance team, and the security facing him is for appearances only.

Once he is in, Angelo discovers that this machine is essentially a jumping off point for drone management, and a swarm of panels with streams of data from drones appear before him. A quick count tells him that there are twenty-four active drones currently running around the school, most of them on some kind of autopilot or routine maintenance cycle. Angelo can see what appears to be a set of drone management operations available, but without deeper inspection doesn't have a clear view of what's possible. On the other hand, no sign of any countermeasures is visible, and the only other user currently connected is engaged with one of the drone management panels, and paying Angelo no attention whatsoever.

[Koekepan]

Perhaps I should just drift away from it all.

“That's a very good question. It's so good that I don't think there's a possible answer while I'm in this form. I suppose you'll just have to pay me in cash for the pigeons.”

"No problem. Come on back when you got something and we can talk more." Skunk turns back to his work bench and starts using what looks like a dentistry laser to carve away at a bit of bone.

[Koekepan]

After again checking for extra security on Ms. Xavier’s office he lowered himself down

Melinda has obviously spent a lot less time in this office than the Vice Principal in his - not strange for a recently hired contractor. In some ways this makes Dare Mo's job easier. She has only one piece of hardcopy on her desk, which appears to be boilerplate instructions for activating her new connection to the TEA's computer systems. There are two datachips lying there, but her desktop computer is locked up tight.

Other than that is an institutionally ergonomic chair, an institutionally ergonomic desk, an institutionally efficient waste disposal receptacle, and not a whole lot else.

[Ziathra]

What does one say in these situations? Oh yes.

“Sure. Thanks for talking to me. I'll get back to you with the pigeons.”

Graciana then stops manifesting and zips back to her physical body. Once there, she checks her commlink.

Still nothing from Tristan. I hope he's not out sick today.

[Happy Noodle Boy]

Not much here. at least this mean going through this office will take less time

Dare Mo quickly copies the datachips and checks the instructions. Not finding anything useful on the paper he turned his attention on the Desk. Maybe I have played too many of those ninja/secret agent games but the first time I underestimate a target could result is something worse than 'Game Over'.

Dare Mo quickly sets to opening the desk opening the desk

Dare Mo again checks for any exploitable sources of data or information. Pausing briefly, he check for footfalls or voices then quickly goes through the desk

The timer is ticking so I make good time on this

[RdMarquis]

This wasn't the node he was looking for, but at least getting into the school system hadn't been too much trouble. He didn't plan on staying. Odds were, the other user was just some faculty member, but there was no point in risking detection. Angelo put his Analyze program to use once more, looking for a route to anywhere administrative records might be kept. He examined the controls to the drones, as well. Just in case one might have spotted Dare Mo at work.

[Koekepan]

This wasn't the node he was looking for, but at least getting into the school system hadn't been too much trouble. He didn't plan on staying. Odds were, the other user was just some faculty member, but there was no point in risking detection. Angelo put his Analyze program to use once more, looking for a route to anywhere administrative records might be kept. He examined the controls to the drones, as well. Just in case one might have spotted Dare Mo at work.

The drone controls don't show anything particularly exciting as far as Dare Mo is concerned. One is sweeping sector 39 of the floor, and polishing it as well. One is doing electrical conduit examinations. That sort of thing.

The computer environment has one way out - leading straight to the central administrative system, apparently - or perhaps some intermediate machine. But it has a way out.

[Koekepan]

Dare Mo again checks for any exploitable sources of data or information. Pausing briefly, he check for footfalls or voices then quickly goes through the desk

The timer is ticking so I make good time on this

It's easy to make good time on the desk. Dare Mo's autopicker makes quick work of the pathetic, institutional locks on it, and the drawers pop open.
The drawers contain neatly packaged blocks of office equipment, unopened, and various bric-a-brac which probably weren't even used by the previous occupant.
Dare Mo can't even state for sure that Melinda ever opened these drawers herself.

[Happy Noodle Boy]

That seemed a bit sparse, Hell. I wouldn't be surprised if I didn't find any of Ms Xavier prints, not that I have time.

Dare Mo noted that he only about three minutes on his timetable. He quickly put everything back in place. and climbed back up

I better hook up with Andrew. I hope fifteen minutes was enough.

@Andrew [Dare Mo]; I going have leave in a short time. So unless you can totally spoof the maintenance to ignore the hardwired connection I going to have to disconnect in 45.357 seconds to remove evidence of our intrusion.

[Koekepan]

There's a slight pause, and then a response:

@Dare Mo [Angelo]: Go ahead and disconnect. I have ways back in. No need to push your luck.

Dare Mo, now in the ceiling spaces, can hear the slamming of doors and shuffling of feet which means the meeting is over. He didn't have much time to spare, but it was enough now that he has made his exit.

In the ceiling, the drone is nowhere to be seen, but that probably means that it has finished its maintenance run. It should be easy from here on out, to grab the commlink, disconnect, and get back out of the ceiling. And look innocent.

Back in a comfortable chair, Andrew shifts gears into AR, just confirming that the back door which he set up in the maintenance system is still there. As long as it is, it's a way into something, which means more electronic intelligence in any case. It might go undiscovered for a very long time, since it's a poorly defended back end maintenance system, but the way things look a couple of days might be all they need, or get.

[Happy Noodle Boy]

Todd Pulled his Agent 'Hana' AKA 'PHNG'Pink Haired Ninja Girl

OK Hana I need you to check through the data I just obtained. your Primary keywords will include [insert students on list], Melinda Xavier, and impending student transfers. as a secondary search see if there to be any potential pay-data, If need be we will do a more refined search later in the afternoon.


As the virtual agent nodded and the image faded Todd reflected that When he got the equipment from Johnny the comlink was previous reformatted and uploaded with a upgraded Operation system as well as Hana. While Hana seem to be just a mass produced mid-grade computer agent he couldn't help but notice the resemblance to another Kunoichi he knew.Other than the anime outfit, anime hair ,the well developed cleavage and she's not trying to beat me up Hana kind of resembles.... never mind maybe I am imaging it.

In any case I better get my head into the classwork, with luck I should have some information to work with. I will to contact Graciana and Andrew at lunchtime and trade notes and we can start figuring out what to do from there.

[Koekepan]

Lunchtime rolls around, with no signs of outrage, no school-wide manhunts or other evidence of ruffled feathers among the authorities.

The cafeteria is serving a krill casserole with algae base today, opposite genetically enriched wheat sandwiches topped with soybeef - just like the real thing, if you're an anosmic vegan.

The kids generally self-segregate, as has been the way since time immemorial. The only real exception is some hollies who are trying to do some sort of documentary on integration in the modern high school, and they are running around trying to convince various metahuman kids to mug for the camera. It looks perilously close to starting a fight.

[Happy Noodle Boy]

Todd walked into cafeteria with a group, as usual he blended with it. Before his training he was sad at being alone in a crowd, but he now viewed a crowd as an asset for infiltration and evasion.

Todd looked around the cafeteria for Andrew and Graciana, using his glasses to help with the search.

Okay Hana It's almost time for show and tell, did you find anything on the search?

[Ziathra]

Graciana enters the cafeteria with an appetite that would befit a starving wolf. She's so hungry that the casserole looks good. After grabbing a serving of the casserole and a side of qinoa for the local wildlife, Graciana looks for Todd and a place to sit. Only then does she notice the Hollies trying to do interviews and the emotional tone of the lunch crowd.

Oh no, not a food fight. Wait... I'll bet they'll clear the cafeteria if there's a fight in here.

Smiling evilly, Graciana changes tactics. Now she's looking for Todd, a place to sit, and Kittenburner.

[Koekepan]

Hana doesn't have a lot to report. Only one item which is more revealing than a simple list of staff or pupils at the school, in fact, and that is the list of pupils designated for removal, under the heading: "Candidates for Augmented Remediation and Resocialisation."

Graciana won't have too much trouble finding a seat, nor will Todd but not near the ork of sadistic habits - he's living the dream, with a camera in his face and his arm around the shoulders of a giggly human holly girl. Graciana can't make out what he's saying over the noise, but apparently he turned on the charm.

[Ziathra]

Graciana spots the current interview and almost swears aloud.

Now how am I supposed to start a fight in here?

Graciana takes a seat and begins to eat her vile lunch while considering that question. She tries to save a spot next to her for Todd, should he find her. Perhaps she'll look for him more later, when she begins to notice the taste of the casserole...

[Happy Noodle Boy]

Thanks Hana

while taking a quick look to confirm his suspicion that he was on the damnable list He had the comlnk to do a repeat of the search, just in case.

He glanced at the students 'enjoying' the cafeteria fare. I remember reading a book by James Clavell called 'King Rat' and I think that the British POWs ate much better than this. Damn, if it weren't for my possible deportation and becoming a 'Prisoner of the Tecoma Education Authority' I was looking forward to setting a business to provide alternate fare'

He first spotted Graciana and then Andrew. He then send a quick message to Andrew

@Andrew [Todd}: Care to talk about our recent game. I will be sitting near Graciana, I suspect she may have more notes on the game herself

He quietly approached Graciana with sandwich in hand. "You don't exactly look happy with your lunch, I have a spare sandwich, would you be interrested?

[Ziathra]

Todd finds Graciana just as the taste of the casserole is beginning to shine through the clouds of her hunger.

“The only thing this casserole is really good for is throwing,” she tells him. “Thanks. Here, have a seat. Yes, I'd like the sandwich; how much do I owe you for it?”

[Happy Noodle Boy]

Todd smiled No charge for this one, let's call this for a favor later, and it won't involve anything illegal or immoral without full and complete mutual consent

Todd produces a comlink with a hard-wire interface. I have the latest upgrades for 'Fantasy Shooter' and 'Maze Hunters' would you interested?
As Dare Mo bend past Graciana's ear he whispered I also have an encryption key if you want a quieter conversation.