[IP] Panzerknacker Options

[Gilga]

Anna kept her cool and hid the grenade in the ventilation shaft. Then she exited to the corridor and warmly hugged Flatline. "You are the number one boss!" she said softly as she made sure that their mark does not get a second look at their faces. Then she said "Lets go sightseeing..." and grabbed his hand, not taking no for an answer.

[ Spoiler ]

Palming + int: 11d6t5 4

[Jack_Spade]

For once everything works out without a hitch - even though it is close. Just as Anna is sticking her head together with Flatline, the wage mage turns around the corner, still dragging his fresh yoga mat with him, looking very grumpy. The large Janitor Drone had moved aside in time for the wage mage to enter his room again. Through the half closed door the two runners can hear him ordering the drone out: "Damn it, I said clean the Soylent from the floor, not clean the windows. Get out and don't come back before 19.00 o'clock - and while you are at it, reserve a place down in the restaurant for 18.45."
The door closed, but only for a minute, until the Maid drone left again, resuming its duty in the next room.

Only now did Anna have time to recall all the details of the mage's hotel room:

All furniture had been moved to the sides - including the small single bed - to make room for a large circle, delineated by various kinds of crystals on the ground. The carpet had had a large, fresh stain, implying that the mage had soiled it with his liquid lunch. Otherwise the room had been bare of any luxuries and the closet had contained only more gis and two business suits. Anna guessed that the asceticism and therefore hunger was the main reason the man looked so grumpy.

[Gilga]

"Perhaps he is undergoing some initiate ordeal?" thinks Anna when she notices the minimality of the room as the bad attitude of the wagemage.

[ Spoiler ]

Magical theory perhaps?
Magical theory: 5d6t5 1

[Volker]

Whew, girl, that was close!

bnc reboots her deck, thus leaves the host and removes the drone's malconfiguration.

<@all <well done barbie. next step are the spiders nestcepas>>

[Gilga]

"So again, we pulled it off and sneaking came in useful perhaps more useful than actual magic. Which is great as my mojo is not yet fully developed." Hugging the other mage, got her to think how limited he was in comparison with physical tasks. The man was a slob, while Anna felt that her own body was a temple, a piece of art to constantly improve. Yet, she could not do that without his distraction and was happy to help. All in all, she liked breaking and entering A LOT and it was the kind of things she barely did anymore, in the university. It was mainly booked and competing with more academically disciplined or plain smarter mages at the university. If there was money at the end of this gig - then perhaps this 'occupation' was the one for her. It felt better than being a fake person, being called Anna instead of Yael to match the fake SIN. She felt happy and alive and she wanted to celebrate.
>> @bnc That was some Wiz work yourself!

In her good mood, she ordered flowers to be delivered to bnc's hospital bed along with the note:

"Dearest Sprinklers,

Get well, sweetie!
Your cleaning skills are indeed legendary.
I am impressed and cannot wait to clean *your* windows.

Barbie"

Anna had no idea how bnc would react to such a gesture. Yet, she felt a bit off by not visiting her. Knowing the decker for such a brief time she felt that bnc would rather be alone and not expose weakness. Perhaps she'd like special K there. Clearly not herself but she wanted to be nice and still wish her well. Besides, Anna felt that it was fun to get flowers even if they were from a fake lover. So she hoped that the flowers would be accepted with a smile.

She texted the team.

>> Anybody feels like visiting the spaa? I mean, why not use the facilities...

[Volker]

bnc replied rather dryly to the text message.
<@Anna <ts it was like beating up a kid. only less fun.>>

Since there was not much else bnc could do, she quickly checked in on Vandemark, then creates overlaying timetables to find a time in the future, where both Vandemark and Pierce are on shift, preferrably in the night.

[ Spoiler ]

I will react IC to the flowers to a later time, since even with drones, it will take some time till they arrive.

[Jack_Spade]

Anna wrecked her brain for anything she knew about crystals. But except that they were a key element in the crazy Psionic tradition, she couldn't remember anything specific. Mind over matter catch phrase was the only thing she had retained about the topic.

bnc had no problem to find a suitable crossing: Six days from now there would be a night shift from 22.00 to 06.00 where both the mage and the Seattle decker would be on, as well as the security team Slobber and Krestov had made friends with. Also it was the night when Zola would be once again out on a date...

[Gilga]

Since technically the fight with bnc was Anna's only physical fight that she has ever won. She texted teasing the young Decker @>> bnc ... is that so, I did not realize it was that difficult.

Anna could not but feel that she did once knew something but forgot and felt disappointed with her memory. However, such disappointment passed when she reached the spaa and signed her name for a full body massage. Afterward, she entered the jacuzzi and urged Flatline to follow. Grinning she asked, "Did you enjoy our time together? It has been a while since I had this much excitement. I feel so alive!"

[Jack_Spade]

Flatline hushed: "Tone it down a bit - we don't want anyone thinking they could make penny by blackmailing the boss that is so openly courting his secretary.
But yes, it was pretty exhilarating "

[Gilga]

Anna grinned and said "Well, my *boss* shares a hotel room with me so it is safe to say that we crossed that line. I thought you'd enjoy this part more though. Am I making you uncomfortable? I mean - it seems that Eve did and we kind of look alike. Is there anyone special waiting at home?"

[Jack_Spade]

"No, no, it's just..
Damn it Anna, I'm a doctor not a playboy. This pretending to be someone else is so not what I'm good at.
I'm doing all this because I want to keep a neighborhood clinic open.
I'm supremely uncomfortable as it is, add the party aspect and I'm on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Which is funny, because I never had those problems when I'm in the OP or even when working under fire."
Flatline sighed and drew his hand across his face.
"I'm sorry, this is just not my thing."

[Gilga]

Anna softly said"Indeed, this job has plenty of pretending but you do not have to do so alone, I am here for you until the end. I pulled my weight in negotiations and also today. What I am saying is, you are not in this alone. I will be by your side as your close assistant and will handle what I can."

She paused and said "But right now we are not on the clock. If you find me so stressful then there is no real necessity. You can go back to the room and work, but I was hoping to get to know you a little bit. I mean, You sort of are the senior mage and you mastered your talent on your own. Whereas I had to go to university to figure things out. Also, we seem to follow very similar philosophies despite how different we are, I feel that you protect our own and I can appreciate it. I feel safer around you."

[Jack_Spade]

Flatline shrugged:
"It's not so unlikely. Our tradition is supremely able to adapt to almost all circumstances. I do take my oaths serious.
And I probably would have also taken more thaumaturgic lessons if getting my MD wouldn't have been time consuming enough. Good street mages are getting rarer and rarer the more the universal magical theory allows other traditions to enter the academia. It's only a matter of time until all magical talent is scooped up by the corporations.
But until then I hope I've got my share from this heist and can recruit some of them myself for my practice."

[Gilga]

Seeing the man relaxing a bit Anna knew she had the conversation going the right direction. "Well... It was very difficult to study, and I never managed to settle for a specific tradition. I mean, I combine techniques from multiple traditions but have no ideology about it. By the way, I am kind of gifted with health magic myself. Modestly speaking, I only have a rudimentary knowledge of other categories. "

[Volker]

bnc informs the others of the date she found out.

<@all <okay dudes. we can now take care of the mage. next target is the spider. shall we try a similar approach? he might be able to notice a remote-controlled grenade though. still i d love the idea of having no spider meddling with our affairs.>>

[Jack_Spade]

Mike involved himself in the conversation: <<Great to hear, I just informed the boss about the success.
About that hacker: If the mage is weak against mundane and matrix, the hacker will probably be weak against magic. Maybe one of you magic types can have a spirit leave a post hypnotic order with him to abandon his post at a specific time - or just have a spirit knock him out.
But while you are in the hotel, you could try and take a look into the rooms of Ramirez and Kynos. Dr. Schmidt says he'd like to have something he can use against them - or ideally to turn them against each other.>>

[Gilga]

Anna texted >> Best case will be to simply check, I can pay him a visit and verify if magic is indeed his weak security aspect. It'll have to wait for an hour and a half or so as I am enjoying the facilities. Just send me his location and I'll see if I can spot him, be specific as things look strange in the astral. Shortly after she was summoned for her massage, Anna laid on the bed closed her eyes and simply enjoyed herself when her masseuse oiled and rubbed her back. She thanked Jessica, and gingerly smiled when she tipped her. Feeling a bit happier than she should, Anna got dressed and went straight to her room. Perhaps delaying for an hour was unprofessional, but Anna would not miss that piece of paradise to spy on spiders in the astral.


When Anna entered the room, Flatline was already there. A bit impatient to begin. However, Anna was in such a good mood that she barely noticed. She jumped into the bed like a teenager and tucked herself in... She felt the usual tickle when her mind left her body. The two headed directly to the the spider trying to asses how well he was protected from magic. If at all...

[SquirrelDude]

"Need any help from a heavily armed Orc to get in?"

@Team@Mike>> We've got the commlink numbers for a whole shift of security guards, any ideas what we can do with them?<<

[ Spoiler ]

Sorry I haven't been active, had a super fun "everyone may or may not be laid off" announcement come down at work last week. You guys seemed to be active regardless.

[Jack_Spade]

Mike replied: <<Great work. At the very least we can fake a call to them to distract them. But I'm sure you'll think of other ways too.>>

Thanks to Kite's drone the mages had a very precise understanding where the spider was. Finding his lodgings proved to be even easier: It was a middle class flat inside a high rise. Everything inside spoke of a bachelor's life: Single sets, comfortable furniture and lots and lots of tech stuff strewn across the room.
"I don't think he intends to bring his date home with him" Flatline said while manifesting so he could get a better view of the room.
"He has a sophisticated alarm system - at my clinic we have a similar system although a decade or more older."
While he spoke a cleaning drone with articulated arms began cleaning the kitchen but pointedly ignored the area where the tech stuff was lying around.
Magic wise there was nothing to speak of in the flat, not even an elevated background count. All in all the aura of the place looked boring and uneventful, almost sterile, despite the tech mess...

[ Spoiler ]

Anna can make an assensing test
3 successes and she notices something interesting

[Gilga]

Anna checks out the apartment and is momentarily distracted by an interesting pattern in the background count. She answers "I wonder if he works from home though..."

[ Spoiler ]

Assensing
Assensing: 11d6t5 0 (no glitch - but almost!)
Assensing(retry): 9d6t5 3 (retrying with -2 dice)

[Volker]

<@all<thaz good. with the link numbers i can do a lot of mischief. ill consider it when we flesh out the whole plan. its a great way to find the 'links and mess with them. also we can fake messages - commands!>>

[Jack_Spade]

At the second look around the apartment, Anna stops at the bathroom. There are a lot of prescription drugs, some of which she recognizes as those wageslaves consume to stay fit for work, but a faint aura from the waste basket draws her attention. It seems that the decker discarded some bandages - the blood on them is relatively fresh. She almost dismisses it but decides to concentrate a bit more. She can't identify it exactly, but it seems that there is some kind of magic or disease inside the blood. It feels somehow wrong.

[Gilga]

Anna says "Justin... " seeing that the mage did not respond she repeated with his own name... Hoping that he'll be more alert in the physical "Flatline... You are a physician have you seen anything quite like this blood? There are traces of magic - but it is not like yours or mine... it feels wrong."

[Jack_Spade]

Flatline floated to where Anna pointed and examined it himself.
"Hm. Good catch. Yeah, there is something. I'm not sure what it is exactly - certainly no normal disease - but the bandages indicates he was cut with a very, very sharp instrument across the forearm or the lower leg. It bled profusely but there was no disinfectant used.
My best guess - considering who his boss is - would be that he was part of some blood magic ritual."

[Gilga]

Anna replied "Blood ritual? Why would a spider participate in such things? It seems odd to me to use someone so valuable to fuel a spell... A blood pact? At any case, there is not much we can do about it right now. Let's head back. "

To herself, she thinks- "This blood magic is kind of creepy... or perhaps HMHVV? Ghost, I am bad at this... I should learn some more about medicine."