[IP] Uncaring Stars Options

[Jack_Spade]

Eliza replied:
<<He can be haggled, but he famously has a temper. If he feels insulted he might kick you out without hesitation.>>

The Rabbi replied: "Mounting in the sense of adding a weapon mount, no, not on short notice. Single shot reloads are notoriously complicated.
But your anthro drone has hands and I have the right autosoft."

[Thanee]

"Thank you! Then we will take the whole lot, sans the drone, but with the crossbow for our drone, of course," Nova replied. There was no point to haggle here and potentially make things worse. Getting everything on such short notice was certainly a great service.

[Volker]

[ Spoiler ]

It's somewhat shitty, and makes my dicepool drop to a one-digit number, but I guess it's still better than nothing. But it'll be no more than an ultima ratio that way. On the other hand, it's not terribly expensive.

"Too bad. Yeah, let's take the soft. No more than rating 4, though, as I haven't upped James's OS yet. Thanks and stuff.
Unless..."

bnc switches the speech canal.

@Elliza "Would you be able to get me a rating 6 pilot on short notice? Would improve James' hitting power by far."

[Jack_Spade]

Eliza replied: <<Not on short notice. That kind of gear is military grade. But I can certainly give it a go with my contacts.>>

The Rabbi replied: "Very well. Leave your credstick here. You can fetch your gear at this address in an hours time. The software you can have directly"

[ Spoiler ]

The offer includes both the autosoft for targeting and the smartsoft so you can use the smartgun system on the bow, so you'll have 10 dice to roll. Clever use of active targeting can make drone attacks a lot more effective too

[Thanee]

"Then you have yourself a deal. Nice doing business with you."

Nova coordinated the payment, so they left only one credstick with the full sum.

[ Spoiler ]

Nova pays 3,500¥

The rest should be... (w/o the Autosoft it is 7k¥ total)

Anna 1,500¥ (Preparation and Dazzler)
Taurus 1,000¥ (Sledge Hammer)
bnc 1,000¥ (Winchester Airbow with Smartlink)

[Volker]

Before the deal is closed, bnc makes clear that Nova doesn't purchase the autosoft needlessly, then she answers Eliza.

@Eliza "I'm aware that it's military grade, so I'm actually happy if I can my hands on it at all. Personally, I'd have no clue how to get such a high-rating pilot. If you somehow miraculously could get it before we attack the vampires, it would certainly help, but I know that's kind of impossible, and I also don't think it's high priority. I was just thinking, you know, sometimes strange coincidences happen and the right offer just happens to arrive at the right time or so."

@Team "I guess we shook off the police and other followers. Are we going to meet up at the hut?"

[Jack_Spade]

Eliza replied: <<I would indeed not hold my breath.>>

The Rabbi concluded the deal and checked the balance on the sticks.
"Good. Anything else? Otherwise you go now. There are other people interested in my service."

[Crossbow]

"Actually there is." Taurus prepared himself for a bad reaction, but continued, "Can you tell us anything about the Lovci Stínů? We are concerned that we may be working at cross purposes with them, and we may have already had encounters with them that didn't exactly go well."

[Volker]

At the hut, somewhat earlier

[ Spoiler ]

Apologies I didn't respond immediately. That was a hell of a week and then I forgot about it.

As bnc moved around the cabin, Muhme frowned first, then reached into her desk and produced something that looked like a cookie. "Here, you look like you could need it."

bnc takes the cookie graciously. "Oh, wow, thanks, uh, ma'am? Very much appreciated."
bnc rolls her arms. Too much sitting. Before soon, she'd need painkillers if she didn't workout more. "Yah, well ... let's say, shadowrunners are notoriously lonesome wolves, which makes it kinda hard working in a team. How do you do it? I mean, you seam like a planner. You don't just simply weave through the flow, but you coordinate and arrange. How do you work with people who ... yeah, you get me."

[Jack_Spade]

"Usually, people stop complaining once I've turned them into a frog... for a time. And no, I'm not good at it. I've spend a very long time becoming who I am by doing things my own way. Once you have the power, people fall in line - usually. There are exeptions of course.
Now eat. The way you are abusing your body is concerning. You are wasteful in your care for your single most important ressource. And I should know. I made the same mistake in my youth - and I'm paying in my age now."

Muhme fell silent again and returned to study the hologram of the leylines.


The Rabbi narrowed his eyes: "Yes. I have heard about that incident. You did not make any friends there. Being a Hunter of Shadows in this city is a lucrative but also very dangerous profession. I am selling to you only, because a contact vouched for your contact. And business is business.
Since you didn't kill anyone of them and let them go again, it is unlikely that they are gunning for you. They have bigger problems after all.
For a price I can deliver a message to them - or at least some of them. Is there anything you want to tell them?"

[Thanee]

"How about this? We would like to apologize for the commotion we caused through our actions and lack of knowledge of the local conventions, and we would appreciate if there was a way to pull on the same rope together instead of tying each other up with it. We do have the same goal, after all."

[Jack_Spade]

The Rabbi nodded. "That message I'll pass on for free."

[Volker]

before they reach the Rabbi

"Usually, people stop complaining once I've turned them into a frog... for a time. And no, I'm not good at it. I've spend a very long time becoming who I am by doing things my own way. Once you have the power, people fall in line - usually. There are exeptions of course.
Now eat. The way you are abusing your body is concerning. You are wasteful in your care for your single most important ressource. And I should know. I made the same mistake in my youth - and I'm paying in my age now."

bnc bites into the cookie. "The single most important resource is my brain. It's only a matter of time since science liberates me from the necessity of ... that", she says with disgust in her voice, accompanied by a double-handed motion indicating she's talking about her body, "but thanks for the advice that, in the end, you too believe it's just about who's the better bully." At this, it's not so much anger but resignation and/or disappointment, that shows through. She loves the cookie, though, and munches away.

during the meeting
@Nova <nicely dun>>

[Thanee]

Nova gave the Rabbi their contact info to pass along with the note.

"Thank you and have a nice day! Pleasure doing business with you."

[Jack_Spade]

"Don't be so quick to write of your body. It's an amazing machine and still unmatched by any machine. Still, no matter of mine as long as you can perform your part of this mission."
Muhme replied with a tone that made clear she thought bnc was too young to understand.

The rest of the team meanwhile found themselves outside again and the delicious smell of several restaurants reminded them that it was past noon and they hadn't eaten yet. The delivery was supposed to arrive in an hour in a warehouse in the south of the city. Plenty enough time to get there.

[Volker]

Something prevents bnc from snapping back. Instead, she took Muhme's response as a dismissal. She was her boss, after all.
"Right. Whatever. Thanks for the cookie, Mrs. Johnson." What a weird, weird thing to say.

bnc goes somewhere where Muhme can't see her - the bathroom, most likely, to do some basic training. Before too long, however, she grows frustrated, and instead has the food machine print her some pasta. Not quite food, but that's a thing she doesn't really care about. With that, she sits crosslegged in her seat, nodding to Muhme if she makes eye-contact, and turns on AR to see what has happened in the meantime, join the Rabbi deal, and catch up with local news.

Once she's finished her pasta, she breaks into the gallery again.

[ Spoiler ]

Watchdog: 21d6t5 5
Opposed roll: 10d6t5 3
OS = 3
Matrix Search: 16d6t5 7
Looking for security camera recordings.

[Jack_Spade]

Having been in the host before, it was no problem for bnc to find the archive for the camera footage - at least those that weren't archived yet - it reached back to the beginning of the month.

[Volker]

Before downloading the file, she checks for data bombs and/or encryption.

[ Spoiler ]

Matrix Perception: 16d6t5 9
Watchdog: 21d6t5 7
Opposed roll: 10d6t5 1
OS=4

[Jack_Spade]

Nothing secures the files.

[Volker]

[ Spoiler ]

Edit File: 18d6t5 8
Opposed roll: 10d6t5 2

How odd. And convenient.
bnc downloads the file and reboots her deck, then fast-forwards through the recordings to find the moment when the statue was brought in.

[Jack_Spade]

The convenience relativized itself soon, as the statue was apparently installed before the start of the month. Looking on the matrix information page, the exhibition object with the name "The Hunger" had been donated to the gallery at the end of march from a sponsor. The creator was apparently a woman from Seattle, called Andrea McLaughlin.

[Volker]

Yeah, that didn't come too unexpected, did it?

bnc shares the info with the team, then does some research on Andrea McLaughlin.

[ Spoiler ]

Matrix Search: 16d6t5 2
Oh wow. I could have bought twice as many hits ^^

[Jack_Spade]

Not too much is on the matrix about the reclusive artist, but from what bnc can figure out, she was a very productive outsider artist until she was apparently murdered by a runner team in Chicago about 30 years ago. Since then her artwork has gone up in price. The statue is valued at 50k€.
About the buyer and donor, bnc found nothing. Though there is a press photo of the director of the art gallery receiving the statue, displaying her name: Katya Czerniak.

[Volker]

[ Spoiler ]

That woulda been my next question ^^
I assume there's little to be found on the 'trix about her? Matrix Search: 16d6t5 5
If so, bnc is gonna re-enter the host and trying to find out more about her in the non-public records.

[Jack_Spade]

Czerniak is a middle aged woman with good connections to the government. She has not had any significant scandals, but was critizised for quite a few decisions that quite a few journalists suspect, were either due to bribery or cronyism, to curry favor with powerful people. Putting up the statue is mentioned as one of those examples.
Her address is listed in the not particularly secure host.