The Found Arcana - Chapter 10, X marks the spot Options

[Tecumseh]

"The opened skylight, yes," Mato nods.

[Jack_Spade]

Tien shook his head: "Unfortunately not. Though I would have welcomed one. Last Christmas I only received a Philipp Patek - and that one was delivered directly from the vendor."

Gladius replied: "Yes, the skylight latch is broken. The only obstacle is the ward, but at a magnification level of 12 I'd expect the spirit to have little trouble. As an Id shard, it has the abililty to engulf objects in their aura, so the transport should be possible, despite the ridiculous speed involved."

[Thanee]

"Yeah, he can get inside. Has done it before, when we went back to 'free' the spirit that was there to ambush you. Well... disrupt, actually. It was the only thing I could do for that poor soul. I really hope that the suffering is at least less now."

"When we get your son back, and I sincerely hope that we do, and we get him to sit down and talk, I really need to have a word with him about how he is treating his spirits at some point. Honestly, I hope it is just Victorias current influence. But that spirit was tormented. The whole astral area inside the apartment is tainted because of it. It's just... it's not right."

"Anyways, I will be out for a bit and check the apartment. And if it is clear, I will go in and fetch some items that can be used as a material link. AM, maybe you can ask Trouble to fly around the plane astrally for a while, so I have an easier time finding it on my way back."

[Gilga]

Oh wow, do conjurers even go up on planes? Though riding in the eye of a storm seems extreme. I am beginning to feel DB's disappointment when I proved not to be a conjurer - but I can't complain - sorcery is plenty, and I can still understand the theory of everything else - even if I don't practice it.

"Trouble will do it; if he gets bored, I'll craft a minor watcher spirit to beacon you. If so, my watchers look like Buffalos." Truth is told, I miss my Tatankas. Never felt a need for them since I had Trouble.


To Gladius I say "I think we should find the accident site, I think it would be less condensed than the hospital - with all the other patients being there and obscuring the astral. Does anyone know exactly where the accident happened? "

[Beta]

Bringing a painting faster than a plane can fly? Truly magic is a marvel!

Tamarind doesn't have much to add to the current discussion, so she simply offers to sit watch on Rachel's body -- some mages don't seem to mind leaving their bodies lying around alone, but Tamarind knows that she's happier having someone make sure her body is OK.

[Jack_Spade]

Tasking the air spirit to fetch a painting turned out to be no big deal. Traveling through the astral was pretty easy and even the barrier was no problem if you didn't care about being noticed.
Now, the spirit stood before the paintings and waited for Rachel to choose which to bring.

Meanwhile, the private jet had reached its travel speed of about 1000km/h - rather sedate compared to the more than four times faster spirit.
Still that meant that the team could reach San Angelo within three hours, compared to the expected one day and eight hours that the fugitive mages would need.

Taking out the half day headstart, the team looked at a comfortable 22 hours prep time, when they landed at 2155h in San Angelo.

The air was humid and warm when they left the plane at the private airfield. Tien had booked hotel rooms for everyone close by as well as two rental cars.
Passing security was a breeze - the lone guard didn't even get up from his chair, but just waved the team through with their equipment.

Outside the air spirit waited with the painting.

[Beta]

Once Rachel had returned to her body, Tamarind did her best to get some sleep. She had a feeling that things would get busy once they landed.

Once she was woken up for the landing she did her best to rinse the cobwebs out of her head, then said "So, order of operations once we land, let me see if I understand the plan. It will take me a few minutes to get the drones out once we are on the ground. Then we go to our hotel to leave anything that we don't want to drive around with, and maybe quickly shower and change for the weather. There is a ritual to be done by Gladius, using the painting. Do you need to make a temporary lodge first? And is simply doing it in the hotel OK, or do you want to be somewhere more conducive? Then there is looking for magical trace where the accident was -- this is seperate from what is being done with the painting? And since they may realize that Gladius lives they will have likely changed up their plans some, but likely only a bit because they are not good at this, so we should look at where a likely intercept point my be in case the magic doesn't let us intercept? Or am I misunderstanding?"

"Oh, and if we don't have a truck or van then perhaps we can arrange to leave Toothless in the hangar for now? It can handle highways so we can call it later. But if it is cars we might want to look at renting a truck in case we have to go off road."

[Jack_Spade]

Gladius replied: "No, I need no ritual meditation. My shard handles the pattern recognition process autonomously. Though it will take a few hours. Meanwhile though I'm mobile. And yes, the painting is only needed for predicting when and where our paths intersect with Tien IV.
The accident site is connected to Arione only. The fact that they are coming back here for their ritual indicates to me that there is a connection.

Your drone should fit in the rental. Out here in Texas they are rather gratiously spaced.

Though we could split up right now - one crew visiting the hospital to find out more about when Arione was admitted - likely a job for a decker and a rigger. While people with hyperconsciousness can examine the accident site."

[Beta]

"AM is both, so clearly we shall cleave her in two and each take half -- just make sure that you have the half with reagents in its pockets and I take the half with the deck." The joke comes out before she remembers that she has terrible delivery and people don't seem to know if she is joking half of the time. Part of why it is usually better to listen more and talk less.

"But more seriously, you and Rachel could take Mato to watch while you are busy in the Astral, and AM and I could go to the hospital. She can talk and deck and do magic if needed, and I can watch her back and do simple matrix activities. Hopefully we are far enough ahead of them, and they with little enough knowledge about us, that they won't have effective counter-measures already in place."

[Tecumseh]

"In the car accident... who were the driver and the backseat passenger that were killed?" Mato asks. The question is mainly addressed to the III, but also to the rest of the team.

His eyes drift over to Gladius.

"It sounds like ambushing people is part of Victoria's modus operandi. Do we even know that she was in the car at the time of the accident? Or, if she was in the car, a sufficiently large spirit - routine for someone with a doctorate in ritualistic summoning - could consume the vehicle while protecting Victoria.

"Let's see if there was an public record of who was killed. If not, let's see if the hospital has a report. Or, failing that, the local morgues."

[Thanee]

"Yeah, after re-reading the part that AM could find out about the accident, it does not sound like an accident at all. Someone tampered with the car's battery. We really need to figure out who the other people in the car were, and if they were relevant."

"I can go to the 'accident' site, sure."

[Gilga]

Praise Iktomi, I am a Sorcerer, but I can understand Tam's confusion. Transitioning from an atheist Christian teenager into a Shaman was quite a shock. Sorcory came at a terrible price, from hyper-rational and rather safe existence to the constant danger of having a relationship with the great spirit of knowledge, mischief, and trickery. I worship a deity that scares the crap out of me, forcing me to look over my shoulder and expect a life of hardship, mischief, and growth but not harmony or happiness. It is a lot to accept - even if I got sorcery in this bargain. Though every time I use a spell, I remind myself that it is Iktomi's blessing - and that like all relationships it has a price. Every step I take toward the Wakan Tanaka, toward more sorcery and more power, is dangerous. It is not a coincidence that mages tend to go bad more than the rest of the population. I suspect that few can interact with the divine without being fundamentally changed by these interactions.



I listen carefully and say "Alright, I'll go to the hospital with Tamarind and perhaps Mato to access the medical files from the accident. We got it covered between technical and social skills."

I pause a bit more to gauge the room and then suggest Raven and Gladius can examine the incident site, and if you need another pair of eyes, I'll join you. Though honestly, I am far from an expert in that field, and if I join you, it would be mainly to learn and practice. What I can do for you if you require is augment your natural perception to make understanding and observing more accessible."

"In the meanwhile, I want to go to Wonderland to scan all the accessible sources before gaining access to the medical files, and possibly police files, " I comment, suspecting that Lonestar does the policing here which may render the KE contact impractical for this, but a quick Trixing would give me these answers.

I look at the team, waiting for a polite moment to go to Wonderland and start figuring things out, and assessing what we would need to access the hospital's medical files on the incident. >> Tam, do you do Trix searches? - it can be a lot of fun, we can do some homework before physically inspecting the hospital or whatnot.

[Jack_Spade]

Gladius nodded.
"Alright, we regroup at the hotel, freshen up and move out at 2300h."

Tien added: "I took the liberty of checking us in already - I transferred your room keys to you.
Good luck and good hunting."

The hotel was only 15 minutes away from the airfield - nothing overly luxurious, but Tien had splurged for the premium packet that included extra large beds and a well stocked snack bar.
A shame that the team wasn't going to stay long enough to actually enjoy them.

Another advantage: the hotel was fully automated, so no-one had to deal with curious staff.

[Tecumseh]

"I'll go to the accident site," Mato says. "I know it's a long time past but I want to see the lay of the land, to see if it's a place where driver error could be a factor like the report said.

"Here's a thought going the other direction: maybe the accident wasn't a hit on the driver or the backseat passenger. Perhaps those were friends or loved ones. Maybe Victoria thinks that she can use the X-T to 'bring them back', so to speak.

"Either way, let's find out."

Mato wants a shower now that he's off the plane. He appreciates III handling the logistics so that the team can focus on the task at hand. He'll shower and eat (if he didn't eat on the plane) and be ready by 23:00.

[Thanee]

"Yeah, I had thought about that as well. There must be a reason why this place is so important to her."

[Beta]

Tamarind replies to AM "Matrix searches fun? When you never know if you gave up too soon, if there is some key piece of information hidden just beyond where you penetrated? No, I wouldn't call them fun myself. But yes, I can do them competently. Maybe not at your level, but competently."

Once they have the information about the doctor and paramedics, she suggests "We should go talk to them -- and maybe guard them? Seems like the sort of loose end that a psychopathic magician might decide to send a spirit to clean up?"

[Gilga]

"Don't let the FOMO blind you to the wonders of creation just because you may not see them all. The Matrix, virtual reality, neural interfaces, and artificial intelligence are all nothing but modern days miracles.

"Yes lets go to the hospital, and try to get the medical files. Let's bring some chocolates so people would assume we came to visit a patient."

[Jack_Spade]

With the grouping decided, the team split up.

AM and Tamarind headed with the GMC for the hospital, while Mato, Rachel and Gladius took the Ford out into the wild.

2330h: San Angelo Hospital

Despite the late hour, there was a lot of traffic in and out of the hospital. Especially Aeroquip Dustoff drones de- and ascended in swarms on the roof of the building, delivering their stabilized patients directly into a very efficient system. For the less fortunate i.e. poor people there was the emergency room reachable by foot. Quite a lot of gunshot victims it seemed, as AM and Tamarind made their way through the open doors and past the weapon scanners, where a heavily armored lonestar cop sat and made everyone give up their god given right of carrying more weaponry than the average national guard.

"Put your irons in the basket and move through the scanner."

2345h: Some 20km west of San Angelo

Outside the city, the light pollution quickly diminished and something like true night made an appearance. Left and right along the road, endless fields of soy and corn filled the horizon while a nearly full moon shone its pale light on everything.

Gladius slowed down the car as the GPS indicated that they were nearly at their destination.

[ Spoiler ]

Perception rolls and or Assensing checks

[Gilga]

I carry no sidearm, as much as I love them. So I enter the scanner I removed my personal belongings and act politely to the guard.

[Tecumseh]

"Don't bring chocolates," Mato suggests. "It's almost midnight. Nobody visits patients at midnight. If you're going to bring sweets, bring them as bribes for the nurses and orderlies."

~~~

This is Texas and Mato isn't sure what to wear. He'd wear a cowboy hat and cowboy boots if he had them, but he doesn't. So should he go functional with the armor jacket or remain stylish in case there are interactions with the authorities?

He goes with the Chasseur Field Uniform, reasoning that the social component is more important than the fire-proof aspect of the armor jacket. He debates whether it's more suspicious or less suspicious to have a gun in the CAS. He splits the difference by putting his Walther in the Ford. He packs some throwing knives in his smuggling compartment and calls it good. He can pose as a foreign dandy if any Lone Star patrols want to question him.

At the scene of the accident, he's not really sure what he'll find. The accident was two years ago and that certainly seems like enough time for Mother Nature to wipe out any physical traces of what happened. But he'll put his sensors and his common sense to work to see if they uncover anything unusual. The people who wrote the report seemed inclined to attribute things to bad luck, which implies a certain degree of laziness, which then implies a propensity to overlook things.

Perception:

[ Spoiler ]

I don't want to roll three senses separately so I'll take a chance and make one roll for the three of them. They all have the same dice pool, with the exception that scent should have 1 extra die:

Intuition 6 + Perception 5 + Specialization 2 + Cyber Enhancement 3 + Attention Coprocessor 1: 17d6t5 8 hits

That'll do. If he's trying to perceive something that's outside the realm of cyber, then he would have 4 hits on his Attribute dice, 2 hits on his skill dice, and 2 on his cyber dice.

Potentially relevant sensors:
Audio Enhancement
Increased Hearing Spectrum
Low-Light Vision
Thermographic Vision
Microscopic Lenses
Vision Enhancement
Vision Magnification
Olfactory Booster
Orientation System
Radar Sensors

[Beta]

Tamarind had left her drones and her Ingram in the truck, but duly deposited her taser with the guard. Maybe here it would have been more normal to have had something more serious to leave than a taser? Well, something to figure out.

She also set her RCC to basic commlink functionality, and hoped that it would pass without comment. She'd like to have her drones ready to provide cover in the unlikely situation that things went sideways. But until they could get out to the drones she'd be completely dependent on AM for defenses. Hopefully there wouldn't be physical problems.

If there is an opportunity to do any matrix searches here, she helps AM

[ Spoiler ]

matrix perception to teamwork with AM, as needed: 13d6t5 5

[Jack_Spade]

2335h: San Angelo Hospital

Moving through the scanner proved to be no problem. Tamarind was even allowed to keep her taser. Now that they had passed that hurdle, they stood in front of a reception. Unlike the massive drone flood above, it seemed rather quiet here. A series of AR kiosks with an animated avatar looking like a hispanic nurse greeted the two women. The closest one turned to them with a dazzling smile:

"Good evening, what is the nature of your emergency? Please speak clearly and make sure your SIN is broadcasting as well as your Doc Waggon contract. Should you have no contract you may now open one for a one-time emergency fee of only 99.99 Nuyen."

2345h: Some 20km west of San Angelo

Mato wouldn't have thought that two years after there were still traces left, but he could clearly make out where the car had left the road as the wheels had dug deep ruts into the gravel shoulder. Looking closer he could even make out the dent that the car had left after its high power impact inside the ditch. One thing was immediately clear: There was no curvature to the road. Whoever drove must have jerked the steering wheel suddenly and violently to the right to cause an accident here.
Someone trying to avoid a collision with a deer or some other obstactle might have acted like that. You'd have to be very inattentive though to not notice the obstactle at this spot where there was quite a lot of space left and right from the road where nothing could appear so suddenly.

Stopping the car, Gladius got out and looked around. Mato went closer to the ditch and felt a shiver run down his spine. Something wasn't right here.

Rachel noticed at once an elevated background count. Fear, pain and death had marked this spot. Even more interesting, it wasn't a spot, but a line that ran roughly from east to west, carrying this psychic imprint.

[Thanee]

With her senses trained on the astral, Rachel is looking for those lingering imprints, that after all this time are still noticable. This must have been a rather terrifying incident to leave such a mark. She informs the others of her findings. Surely, Gladius and his 'second mind' had also noticed it.

The sudden jerking of the wheel could also have been from a materializing spirit in front of the car.

Her astral gaze follows the line. How long is it? Where does it originate and where does it end?

[ Spoiler ]

Sorry, completely missed your post before that last one.

So, here we go...

Perception 2 hits
Assensing 4 hits

[Gilga]

I look around for a device to hack and get a mark on the system, preferably unseen. Then that device just greets me, so I walk toward the kiosk and search for a universal access port to directly connect.

[Jack_Spade]

2336h: San Angelo Hospital

The kiosk was protected by the hospital host (A5S6D7F8) and it's UDP was locked with a plate, secured by a simple lock. It wouldn't be hard to break or pick, but doing so in plain view would take a bit of finesse.

[ Spoiler ]

Palming test to pick/break the lock unnoticed

otherwise, hack through wifi with the given stats of the F5 host

2346h: Some 20km west of San Angelo

Rachel realized that this line was in fact a weak leyline. The deaths had left an imprint and either were so strong that they had changed a minor ley line, or - what she deemed more likely - the death, pain and fear effect had been caused by the same thing that had derailed the car.

Gladius had evidently come to the same conclusion: "There is a line of force running through the ground here. The psychological aspect is... worrying. I don't think it's a coincidence that the accident happened here. This line leads somewhere important, I'm sure. The question is, should we move east or west."