Salted Wounds [IC], a Deep Black Sea game Options

[Gilga]

Anna answered but seemed distant stable and neutral as if stating a dry fact rather than a difficult experience "if you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back at you", it was what she called Chaos speech where she somehow channeled insights that were between brilliant and stupid.

Then after a short pause, she said in her own somewhat broken voice "It is one thing to listen to horror stories about that war...
To actually experience it is intense.

Then again, it is also the frustration for experiencing this agony for nothing useful. There is nothing I can do to undo this suffering, and I did not find anything related to Bean Si.

It was nothing like when I used to babysit and identified children's favorite toys. I only knew how to assense at the time, and I did so all the time. " Talking to it made her feel better. Wraith could see her smiling in nostalgia after the last sentence. She thought of Tom, her neighbor's child which she used to babysit. He was like 10 already... Hopefully not in any gang yet, but who knew... Orcs matured faster than one could imagine.

[Jack_Spade]

Eliza replied:
<<Not coincidence per se. The boss was looking for a place with high background count - since no-one of our team was awakened it seemed like a good idea without any drawbacks. I don't know enough about magic, but if the infected are drawn to this place it might be connected to the transformation that Bean Si experienced.>>

[ Spoiler ]

Make a matrix perception check, Eliza's persona is running in hidden mode

Plugging in the old chips turned out to be a problem: The Fairlight didn't have the necessary slots anymore. Only the neutered burner link seemed to be able to handle the old format. Once booted up and inserted, bnc quickly realized that her sister (she was pretty sure it was her handy work) had learned a thing or two about matrix security from her: The files were both encrypted and protected with databombs. As long as those remained, she couldn't copy the file without triggering the protection. At least the files were based on old protocols and had a classic passwort prompt - complete with a passwort hint:
The one on the first chip asked: The voice of truth? while the other had just "her" as a prompt.

[ Spoiler ]

R6 encryption and databombs with 6 successes.
You'll have to jury rigg a connection to the modified burner link with a Logic+Hardware test (10, Minute) if you want to hack it.

[Luckace]

@bnc:
<< I find you nosin around, you're next to catch a mindreading spell. An eye for an eye, you know I'm old fashioned that way (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) .>>

Wraith was seemingly content when he saw Anna smile again and smiled back. He made himself comfortable on the sofa and decided to use the pause to educate himself. I really should know more about this whole HMHVV-stuff...

The pause made him notice how hungry he was, though, so he also started checking for food deliveries and motels in the area, so they could decide where to stay and what to eat rather quickly as soon as they were done in the hideout.

[Volker]

"You'll be fine," bnc says, patting Anna's shoulder, while instantly reflecting on the question if there are persons who'd find solace in platitudes like this, and if Anna was such a person. bnc was inclined to believe that there was a negative correlation between people who are emotionally affected by incomplex and insignificant but socially accepted communicational acts and people who tend to be smart. But then, in Anna's case, she couldn't even clearly come to a decision regarding her intelligence. Sometimes, her practical intelligence reached farther than bnc's, but other times this girl was just outright dumb. People were so frustrating. Agents were so more reliable... uh, thinking of.
bnc checks whether her agent - It needs a name! If Tom and James have names, my agent should have one, too. - has already had any success building up her mother's family tree.

[ Spoiler ]

Matrix Perception (hot-sim): 15d6t5 6

"If this background count triggered or altered the transformation ... then death would not be a sentence but a mercy to her."
bnc ponders on the thought for a second or two, staring numbly into nothingness. Then she grits her teeth, forces back the upwelling wave of emotion, and insteads informs the team about her chips and the password prompts.
"For the moment, guessing the passwords is the favorable way. I could try and hack that thing, but if I make just a small mistake, the whole thing blows up and whatever chance we have, likely goes with it.
I must admit, I find it hard to make an educated guess. Kerstin seems, ironically, to have grown up a lot since I departed. Before, she was merely a rookie who tried to shoot everything that came in her way. Now, apparently, she's a tough shadowrunner with survival instincts who carefully cares for ... well, for the things I used to do. Also, either she had someone smarter than her with me, or she ate some originality wonder cookie. The Kerstin I know would never have come up with a name like Bean Si herself."
She smiles in memory of her supreme yet somewhat silly sister.
"All right. Any ideas on the voice of truth?"

In the meanwhile, bnc tries - feeling slightly arrogant and self-centered - to type in "bnc" into the second device. If that fails, she tries different versions of "Mama" and "Eva-Maria Burgstaller".

[Jack_Spade]

The agent had started it's search but seemed to have problems accessing what should be easily obtainable public information. Despite the various search enhancers it looked like this would take a while.

On the other hand, while her mother's name did not trigger the release, her own name, her real name Bianca, was accepted as valid.

The file unfolded into a small archive that seemed to be a private diary. The last entry correlates with the day she ran away.

2076-12-21
Vocal transcription:
"It's getting worse. I can feel it growing in me. My left arm has changed. I just want it to stop. Why won't it stop doing that. The dreams are getting worse, but tonight was the first time I can remember them. I was back at home. Mama was still alive and Papa too. Only, it suddenly wasn't at home any more, they were both lying in hospital beds, chained to the frames and starving. Mama had begun to gnaw on her own biceps and Papa was licking his own blood. And I was so hungry and they said I should join them, sate my hunger and thirst. And suddenly I realized that they weren't eating themselves but Bianca and I had joined them.
I woke up vomiting all over myself.
Richard is not home yet, so I have time to clean up. But despite the mess, I'm so hungry. Yet nothing in the kitchen appeals to me. Only a bit of raw minced pork and even that I have thrown up again. These crystal eyes are driving me crazy. I can see through closed lids. I thought going blind was bad, but not being able to see is nothing compared to being forced to see all the time.
Oh god. I just realized what I really want to eat. No. No. NO! I have to keep it together. Focus. This is just another pain. I can deal with pain.
I have to get out of here. I... no, the risk is to big. Oh god, I'm so hungry. Think, Kerstin, think. Yeah, one step after the other. Just because you are going crazy doesn't mean you have to be stupid about it. I have to go back to Linz. Maybe der Abdecker can help me.
But first I have to contact Rosenberg."
End of transcription.

[Luckace]

[ Spoiler ]

assuming she's not immediatly playing it on loud speakers for everyone to hear, or if she does, then before she starts playing the transcript to everyone.

"The voice of truth? Hm."
Wraith's first thought was god or the bible or something like that, but something told him that wouldn't be the correct answer.
"Well, there's the saying <<Kindermund tut Wahrheit kund>>, meaning <<a child's mouth tells the truth>>... but that'd be a lousy password."
No, no, that's not Kerstin's way. Think, Raph... what speaks the truth? What's a voice that kerstin would...
"Factcheck!", he suddenly shouted. "Factcheck, or someone from there. That's Kerstin's voice of truth, try that... Bnc? What is it, what did you find?"

[Gilga]

Anna said "Perhaps for a woman that hears voices, the voice of truth is a bit more literal, a person rather than a phrase. Someone she trusts and can speak the truth to, or someone that can uncover the truth about her condition."

If bnc shared the log entry she'll suggest "perhaps or even Rosenberg as her caregiver, or that Abdecker as she plans to visit that person."

[Thanee]

"Sounds like, at the very least, we have some more leads to pursue. 'Der Abdecker'? Probably a contact of hers. It also sounds really bad... we need to find her fast. Interesting, though, that she seems to be acquainted with Dr. Rosenberg. Isn't that the guy behind the Harvesters?" Nova said.

[Volker]

Goddamn pilot. You better hurry up or you'll end up with a name like Ignaz, Hieronymus or Uwe. Damn piece of code.

"Uh, girls, this one was easy. Kind of. But the moment I realized I do have a real name besides my shadowname, it was easy. Ahem. Now let's hear!"

The hint of a smile that crept on bnc's face dies a sudden and violent death. All color fades from her face, leaving her pale as chalk. Her jaw drops slowly. Only after being half-way through, she unconciously covers her mouth with her slightly shaking hands. She then runs it through her spiky hair, gazing at the record in horror. It's not that it was really new information to her ... it's just way more difficult to suppress an image if you hear your own flesh and blood's last words before she turned into a monster.

bnc gets up, numb. She doesn't translate the record into English. In fact, she doesn't seem to recognize the chattering and debating group around her. She walks a step, then the commlink with the two chips drops out of her numb fingers as she walks into the bathroom. landing on the ground clattering. "James: Kill anyone who tries to enter the bathroom", she says in an emotionless voice, then slams the door shut behind her.
James takes post before the door.

[SquirrelDude]

Sharkboy just shrugged and turned to the rest of the group when bnc ran to the bathroom. "So I can speak a little spanish and japanese, but I didn't get a lick of what our recording just said. Can someone who didn't run to the bathroom translate that for the rest of the group."

He then turned to Anna, "Is she going to be able to handle this, professionally, I mean."

[Gilga]

Anna slaps a patch of Golden Mirror under the door, using her still sustained magic fingers spell.

[Luckace]

Wraith summarizes the transcript, leaving out the personal details of the dream.
He picks up the chips that bnc dropped and puts them on the table, apparently still hesitating whether to try to enter the second one.
Towards Anna : "What was that you gave her?"

[Volker]

bnc rushes to the sink and turns on the cold water, then holds her head under the cold current for a couple of seconds. She raises then, leaning on the sink with both hands, inhaling deeply. Then she starts rummaging throught her pockets, drawing out- Frag! Where are they? Where- ugh, die in hell, bnc!. Who did I give that god-damn Whoom?? Wraith? Anna? Shit, I need it..."
She sinks to her knees, blinking tears away. Then she sees the small bag slide under the roof. Sweet angel ... so nice. Only, that's exactly the opposite of what I need now.
She furiously rummages through the medkit to find something, anything to relief her. But the painkillers wouldn't kill this kind of pain.
Pain... She had heard of this way out over and over again, even done it herself once or twice. It never gave her the same sense of bliss Whoom did. But then, everything was better than nothing for the moment.

bnc undoes the lid of the midkit once again, taking out the scalpel. The medicincal tool in her hand gave her a sense of clarity and control. Her shaking stops almost instantaneously. She looks down her body, reflecting for a second. The she pulls off her boots and undoes her socks. With precise movements, she draws two slow and long but shallow cuts through the sensitive piece of skin between her heel and the ball of the foot, on each side. She bites on a piece of plastic or cloth, whatever she finds, to stomach the pain but embraces the distraction it brings her. When she's done, she professionally cleans and covers the wounds, before she washes the scalpel and redresses again. Only a few drops of blood on the floor remain as witnesses of what happened.

[Gilga]

She replied to Wraith "Something fun to take the edge off. She did enough for the time being, and we have a lead to move forward. " she replied

[SquirrelDude]

Sharkboy was more blunt than Anna.

"Drugs, Wraith. She passed her some drugs. Your old-friend and our matrix expert can't handle a sad message from the target and went to cry in a closet." He looked at Anna again. "Remember when we had that little talk about how I may need one of you to give me dopadrine because I'm murdering some lead or witness? Now I'm asking you, pusher girl, should we be slapping patches on her every time we enter a room with information about her sister so that she doesn't make any rash decisions?"

[Gilga]

She frowned at Shark and said, "bnc would do a fantastic matrix job, and you won't find Kerstain without her. Focus on that." Next, she looked him in the eye and said with a combination of annoyance and amusement "Pusher woman please..."

[SquirrelDude]

Sharkboy didn't budge. "No, girl I'm not going to focus on that.

"Your stable-mate is in control of a killer robot and asking to access all our commlinks. We need to know that your druggie isn't going to wig out and put us all at risk the moment Kerstein gets hit by a stray bullet." Sharkboy had other concerns, but those could wait until after they found the girl.

[Gilga]

Anna's amusement grew "Well, BOY it is called emotions. They are a human thing, but perhaps you'll get it if you give them a try. She paused and then said "As for your valid concerns about our top-notch decker, grow a pair and face her directly... To the very least it would be amusing to watch."

She rolled her eyes and shrugged "Somehow I always get the worse out of people, perhaps I have this little vibe that makes them think that it is okay to mistreat me."

[SquirrelDude]

Sharkboy did his best to maintain his composure, but his crossed arms and tapping and finger gave him away. "I'd actually love to "grow a pair" and ask her, there are two problems with that plan.

"One. There's a robot butler keeping us out of the room, and I don't want to break valuable equipment just to ask a question.
"Two. Drug addicts tend to lie about why they use drugs. I speak from experience as someone who hangs out around a bunch of professional fighters who lie about why they abuse pain killers, sleeping aids and alcohol.

"I was hoping her friend could be more honest."

Sharkboy chose not to offer his guess as to why people always mistreated Anna.

[Luckace]

Wraith had opened his mouth as to reply to Sharkboy's concerns, but he hadn't said a word. He really wanted to reassure the man that bnc could control herself, that she would be certainly able to face up in a minute and be professional. But he couldn't.

He reached for the second chip, but then pulled his hand back again. He had no idea, what happened, if he entered the wrong thing, after all. His face grew thoughtful for a few moments.

"After this, I'd say a few minutes for herself are quite forgivable, we got enough to work on for now anyways.", and he waves the old PDA.
"What I would not forgive is if she runs off when we need her, but so far she hasn't snapped in dire situations. And if she does, if anyone snaps and endangers us", here he glances at Sharkboy, "we'll get 'em back in line. Perhaps, there's a drug for it... or if anything else fails, I got a spell."

[Volker]

When the door reopens, bnc is calm as a forest lake. Her hair is all wet, but apart from that, she is still: She doesn't quiver, her eyes are steady, her expression cool if somewhat distant.
She steps into the room, taking in the situation. She only heard a few words, but they gave a short indication of what the talk was about.
"A drug for what?" she asks to join the conversation.
Then she looks from face to face, assessing the situation and the emotions involved.
Unfortunately, she has never been good in reading emotions.

[Luckace]

Wraith had kept a stern face during the conversation, but for a moment, a trace of a reliefed smile appeared on his face when he saw bnc apparently having regained her composure. It vanished as quickly as it appeared.
"Well, a drug, a trick, magic... anything that makes sure you keep yourself together and don't crash when the drek hits the fan. The closer we get to Kerstin, the more dirty secrets, and our decker running away in the middle of the job endangers us all. Will you make it?"

[Volker]

"Up until now, except for yourself maybe, I was the only one who kept a cool head when things got hot. If you worry about someone losing their focus in a dangerous situation, watch out for Sharkboy who just randomly killed someone in the front of a crowd or Anna who just randomly -"
bnc stops midsentence. "I can keep myself running. I'm an addict, obviously, but that doesn't necessarily make me your average junkie next street. I know when to shove horrors aside and when to numb them. I've lived through worse than a vampire sister and I can be a real pest when it comes through following a plan."
Despite the attempt of humor in the last sentence, her voice is dry and emotionless, her gaze cool if not empty.

Without waiting for a reaction she takes the converted 'link and gives it a closer inspection. She then nods to Wraith and hands it to him.

[Gilga]

Anna looked at bnc and asked softly "Are you okay, sweetie?"

[Thanee]

"I assume, there is no real reason to fiddle with those chips down here? Maybe we just check the rest of the bunker and then head off to a safer and less creepy place to figure out our next moves. Linz being the destination, obviously," Nova said, not taking part in the discussions about drugs and cool heads and other random things.