The Found Arcana - Chapter 12 [IC] Options

[Jack_Spade]

<<Worst case: they vanish and don't get in contact at all. If Belenky is gone, he's gone. But our chances to get him are going down if we don't move fast.
We have one last chance with that message - and we are frankly not taking it.>>

Bobby replied

[Gilga]

she texts back:
What do you want to find on the link because a high end link of an alert user is a difficult target to hack cleanly. I will do it if you prefer but I wouldn't have called them from my personal link and a hacker already poked here and found nothing. I will do it from the van if you if you insist but we are risking a meeting.

[Jack_Spade]

Bobby replied <<We need to know to which device she sent the message.
If we have the device we can track it. So a look into her sent message folder should be enough. If you want, I can drop some reagents and give you some extra insight to the limitations of your gear, so the operation will go safer.>>

[Gilga]

"No rest for the wicked" She says apologetically, and sighs. To keep the appearances in the meat world. >> Fine... I'll be in the van working on it. You are free to do what you can to help. She places back the pool and heads to the car where she is comfortable enough to hot-sim like she loves to do.

[Beta]

Tamarind keeps watch over AM, ready to jack her out if needed, and generally just fussing while her team mate is unconscious.

After her own experience of coming out of VR in a jail cell, after going into it in a hotel, she is just not very comfortable with VR, and seeing anyone else like this, even more helpless than when asleep, is stressful. Even with her drones and herself on high alert, she can't get past the feeling that something could happen to AM's body that she wouldn't be able to stop.

She positions her Flying Eyes to watch out the windows, and she cycles between their cameras and checking the matrix for signals running silently. She'd briefly thought about offering to provide some matrix support, maybe giving that touch of extra insight that could help everything go smoothly, but then decided she'd be better employed making sure that AM is safe, and so letting the elf focus on the hack.

[Tecumseh]

Mato loses his pool partner to the call of duty.

He goes over to the dart boards and finds one that's unoccupied. He pulls the darts out of the board and takes a few steps back to the proper range. He tosses the darts accurately but casually [buying 4 hits], not trying to do anything too flashy. Maybe, if he's feeling quirky, he might throw the darts so that they land in a smiley face pattern.

He'll play a few rounds, mostly just to pass the time. If anyone approaches, he'll talk. If not, he'll keep to himself.

If nothing transpires, he'll see what sort of menu - if any - is available. He looks for jalapeño poppers, but will also be happy with potato skins or a loaded quesadilla.

[Jack_Spade]

Bobby kept himself busy maintaining his spell as well as keeping an eye open for trouble. They were kicking a hornets' nest here and he was under no illusion how this would likely end for all involved.

[Thanee]

While AM is busy looking at Banshee's commlink in the Matrix, Tamarind keeps a close eye on here, and Bobby also stays vigilant, in case anything happens.

With the help of his magic, AM is able to break through the firewall and mark their target. She quickly looks around for the message log. It has last been accessed and modified very recently, probably when the message was sent earlier. AM just wants to open it to take a look at the last entry, but then her instincts stop her. She does take a closer look and there it is... a data bomb. Of course. Why wouldn't there be some layers of protection. This is a fixer's commlink, surely Susan does not want anyone snooping around there and get information about her contacts and calls. That ancient terminal in the back of the bar might have her fooled, but this is a different beast. This one is top-notch.

In the meantime, Mato picks up a few darts and throws them at the target. Casually, but still quite accurately. "Not bad! Looks like you have done this before."
The voice belongs to an orkish woman in a coverall with the Apex Plasmids logo. Probably came here right after her shift with a bunch of her co-workers, who sit at a nearby table, two humans and another ork, all male, all sioux, including the woman. They watch and Mato cannot help but notice the grin on their faces.

[Tecumseh]

Mato gives a sly smile.

"I see your friends grinning," he tells the ork woman. "I presume that means I am about to be hustled. What's the local flavor? Loser has to order Rocky Mountain oysters?"

[Beta]

How is it that things happen so fast in the matrix, but that watching over someone who is in the matrix seems so slow? I know, it is my anxiety about what could happen to her in there combined with not knowing how it is going. But waiting like this is stressful!

To nobody in particular she says out loud "Once AM is done, we are going back in there and I'm getting a drink." (apparently forgetting how just yesterday she vowed no more drinks on this job for fear of falling back into the habit)

[Gilga]

"ofcourse she has a bomb in place..." AM murmers to her place. She settles to disable the bomb and baypass the password by altering the instructions in her program, seeking for the password check and flipping a single instruction from BEQ to BNE, but that requires her to understand a program which was
written to be misleading. Yet, she has bobby's spell and her augmented intellect are on her side... her mind scans the software with sophisticated pattern matching algorithms until she is ready to commit to the modification. Heart pounding she waits to see if the Jhonson explodes... or if she can finally read her texts. Either way it is going to be interesting.

[ Spoiler ]

The description is just fluff describing the hack....

disable data bomb base pool 9, augmented logic 3, hot sim 2 Bobby 5 = 17 dice
disable data bomb: 17d6t5 5

[Thanee]

Carefully trying to remove the nasty surprise from the file, AM hold her breath for a tense second. She can feel her heart beating, as she finalizes her tinkering.

And then... nothing happens. Letting out a sigh of relief, the elf can see the data bomb vanish into the void. After taking a deep breath, she looks at the file again, ready to finally claim her reward.

But something is in her way still. The file cannot be read, or copied. It's protected.

[Thanee]

The last layer of protection does not pose a huge problem for AM, and a moment later, she can actually access the call log.

There is not a whole lot in there. Definitely less than one would expect from a phone that is likely used regularily. The log must be purged regularily.

But AM is only here for the most recent number, and it is still in there.

[Gilga]

It was a small victory, but she needed to be consistent. "Time for the decryption algorithms... she pushes the deck to the maximum overclocking it increasing its power consumption and revoking the gurantee while running the decryption software."

[Thanee]

The ork grins at Mato.

"Nah! Just a couple beers. We are here to have some harmless fun after a long day. You look like you can afford that. And you do look like you know what you are doing, so who knows. Alright. How is it? Wanna throw some darts? Show us what you got? Loser pays for the next round for the winner's table. Fair?"

[ Spoiler ]

Sorry, totally slipped my mind that there was something else you were waiting on here...

[Gilga]

The last layer of protection does not pose a huge problem for AM, and a moment later, she can actually access the call log.

There is not a whole lot in there. Definitely less than one would expect from a phone that is likely used regularily. The log must be purged regularily.

But AM is only here for the most recent number, and it is still in there.

"I have the number! " she says Do you want to trace it right away? or keep it as backup? Call it perhaps?"

[Jack_Spade]

Bobby perked up and smiled a very small smile.

<<Perfect. For now just a matrix search to find the device, identify what model they use first. While my spell still works, you should have no trouble getting a MARK and putting a trace on the device. Let's just hope they are still at their hideout. But if the device is on the move, we at least can infer the relative location of the hideout. Should give us another chance with a tracking power from one of your watchers.>>

[Tecumseh]

Mato smirks.

"Yeah, I can afford that." He holds up a cyberhand. "I'd be a pretty sad sack if I could afford a bunch of chrome but not a few beers, neh?

"What's the local game? 301, 501, Around the Clock, Killer?" These are all popular versions.

Most games have the players taking alternate turns, throwing three darts each turn. On his turn, Mato throws his three. He absolutely drills the first shot, makes an excellent second shot, but the third shot is not quite as good.

[ Spoiler ]

Each Take Aim action adds either +1 to the dice pool or +1 to the Accuracy. I don't know what the Accuracy of a dart would be or if it would need its Limit improved, so I'll stick with adding to the dice pool for now.

Agility 10 + Throwing 5 + Take Aim 3: 3#18d6t5 8 hits 6 hits 4 hits

[Thanee]

"Ah, let's keep it simple. 301 single-out. Also... I'm Cassy!"

Looking at the cyber up close, she ponders for a moment, probably thinking about what it might be like to have one of those.

"I guess those give you a bit of an edge, too." Then she grins a little. "That should make it fair."

The guys in the background give a silly thumbs-up, they do like challenges.

She hands over the darts. "Let's see what you got!"

Mato's first throw goes really well, which prompts some cheers from those watching. The accuracy drops off a bit, but the darts still hit good spots (at least for a bar game).

Cassy's opening is really strong. She gets ahead quite a bit. It was to be expected, that she knows what she is doing. And she does not disappoint. More loud cheering, naturally.

After Mato's next throw, Cassy continues strong, but not quite as good as her first three darts, which were pretty perfect. She still reaches zero with her sixth dart.

[ Spoiler ]

Limit should be Physical Limit here, I think. That's also how throwing weapons work, IIRC.

Let's not make this too complicated... Just make rolls until you reach 31 hits (minimum of six throws, though, since you need those, at least, to get to 301).
If one of you makes it there with fewer throws, that one wins.
If both make it there in the same number of throws, whoever has more hits at that point wins.
If you are tied, you continue with single rolls until one has more hits.

Cassy has a Physical Limit of 8 (Body 6, Reaction 4, Strength 7). She has 5 Agility and Throwing (Darts) 6 (2) she will Aim for +3 dice (Willpower 5).
She will use 1 Edge (her Edge is 4) on the first roll (to make a good first impression), but that's it (not fair to use all her Edge here, as she does not need it for anything else).

https://orokos.com/roll/1034423 --> 7 hits
https://orokos.com/roll/1034424 --> 7 hits, 9[8] hits, 6 hits, 5 hits, 5 hits, 7 hits, 5 hits

7 + 7 + 8 + 6 + 5 + 5 = 38 hits in 6 throws.

[Gilga]

"Lets see what we have..." AM attempts to locate the number and identify the kind of link it is.
(She buys 5 hits)

[Thanee]

AM manages to spot the icon and can identify it belonging to a Hermes Ikon commlink (Device Rating 5).

[Tecumseh]

"Hi Cassy, I'm Dirk," Mato says, giving the name from his fake UCAS SIN that he's been using since they got into Denver.

Mato is duly impressed. Perhaps the unexpected pressure gets to him, because he flubs his fourth throw. He winces a little bit, then recovers admirably with his fifth and six throws. But it's too late; Cassy's lead is too large to overcome.

"To the victor goes the liquor," he says, conceding the match. "What will it be?"

[ Spoiler ]

Rules look good to me.

I couldn't remember to round Willpower up or down. If we're rounding up, I'll use 4 Take Aim actions.

Agility 10 + Throwing 5 + Take Aim 4: 19d6t5 3 hits, that's not going to get it done
Agility 10 + Throwing 5 + Take Aim 4: 19d6t5 7 hits
Agility 10 + Throwing 5 + Take Aim 4: 19d6t5 8 hits

8 + 6 + 4 + 3 + 7 + 8 = 36 hits

Cassy's got him beat on both total hits over six throws, and the number of throws required to reach 31 (five rolls for Cassy, six for Mato). Cassy's rolling 39%. Mato's 32% can't beat that.

[Thanee]

When Mato almost botches that fourth dart, Cassy goes: "Ooohhhh, that one went wild."

Even though, his next two are very good again, Mato, despite his souped-up agility, cannot manage to catch up with Cassy's lead anymore and she brings the game home with well-trained routine.

After everything is said and done, her friends cheer some more, and Cassy offers "Dirk" a strong handshake.

"You are really good. If not for that one dart, you could have easily won this. Impressive skills! Good thing you did not embarrass me in front of my buds. Wouldn't hear the end of it," she says grinning.

In the background Susan has been watching the game as well, probably more out of professional curiosity, though. Hopefully, it also kept her distracted from whatever AM was doing to her device in the meantime.

Despite losing, Mato absolutely feels the patrons' appreciation overall. It was a very close game, and he certainly did have a very good shot at winning here.

"Yo, Susan! One round of our regular plus one on the tab of my new friend here."

Getting back to "Dirk", Cassy offers with a glance to the bar and the entrance: "Wanna join us? Looks like your guys have abandoned you, anyways..."

In the meantime, Susan brings five bottles of beer to the table, three Orkstaff’s XXX Hurlg and two not-quite-so-strong ones for the humans.

[Tecumseh]

Mato considers the offer, somewhat tempted.

"Have they?" he asks of his bailing friends.

"If they're gone, then it probably means that I'm the one that's late. Pleasure meeting you, Cassy, but I better be catch up. Drink my Orkstaff for me, neh? But drink it slowly because if they're just outside smoking death sticks then I'll be back shortly."

He shoots ¥50 to Susan to cover the round then heads outside to see if the Gopher is still there or if he needs to run to catch up.

Seeing the Gopher still there, he climbs into the cab.

"Eh, I lost. What's our destination?"

[Jack_Spade]

Bobby replied: "Still waiting for AM to trace the link.
How did you lose at darts? Aren't you cybered up so hot, that you can circumcise a fly with your throwing blades?"