The Found Arcana - Chapter 13 [IC], Urban Exploration - 13 is the luckiest number... Options

[Jack_Spade]

Leaving the house, Felicitas locked the door again and got on her own bike
"Don't hesitate to call me. I'll be on set for the rest of the day and the set moves around. Today we are in Puyallup."

When Mato slotted the chips, he found them protected by encryption, but with some effort, AM and Tamarind were able to crack the protection.

Opening the latest file reveals 14 hours of simsense/trideo with four different streams - one for each member of the crew.

[ Spoiler ]

Extended Perception check for everyone who participates watching the unedited stream - 5 minutes per roll - 20 successes total needed from all participants combined
While you watch the stream you can't do anything else and are unaware of your surroundings

If you succeed, you learn the exact route the crew took and what they found.

[Beta]

Tamarind tells the others "I'll drive us to the dead drop, and wake up anyone deep diving once we are there. But I'm not letting my consciousness get hijacked without several locked doors between me and the rest of the world. It is just ...." she shudders, but never finishes that thought.

[Thanee]

Rachel shares what she remembers from conversations in Downtown about ACHE.

<< I still need to grab some stuff from our place. Should we go there first? It won't take long. >>

She puts the stream on her commlink to watch it and comments on what she considers noteworthy (7 hits).

[Beta]

"Yes, our house first, but we are taking the long way while I check visually and matrix-ly for anything following us."

[Thanee]

Rachel sends Tamarind a thumbs up.

[Jack_Spade]

The team reached their home within a few minutes - as far as any of them could make out, no-one had followed them - not even a spy drone.

[Thanee]

Rachel also checks astral space to see that they are in the clear (5 hits).

As promised, she does not take long, even though she does change her clothes.

And since a quick check revealed that they will likely find what she needs at the mall, she leaves the Executive Suite in Bellevue to get something more appropriate for their upcoming endeavor.

[Tecumseh]

While Raven gets her stuff, Mato starts watching the footage from the data chips. He puts his new attention coprocessor to work trying to pick out the important points.

[ Spoiler ]

Intuition 6 + Perception 5 + Attention Coprocessor 1: 12d6t5 4 hits
+
Intuition 6 + Perception 5 + Attention Coprocessor 1 - Extended 1: 11d6t5 5 hits

Belatedly, he remembers that he might actually want a gun this time. This is an unusual job and might actually require laying down some lead. He packs most of his collection: his little-used AK-97, his even-less-used Ingram Smartgun, and the Walther P118 from Pike Manor. He does leave behind the Mannlicher Marpingen Pro D, perhaps thinking of it more as a sporting rifle than as a shotgun, or perhaps concerned about the limited ammo capacity for the shotgun.

He even packs some grenades. "Nothing to see here," he whistles innocently.

[Tecumseh]

As the team heads toward Downtown, Mato says, "I'm going to reach out to Xavier Tien III."

<<Mr. Tien, this is Seattle Investigative Services. Three months ago we assisted you with the recovery of your son and the Xenobite-Tesseract.>>

Mato is confident that Mr. Tien remembers, but sometimes a gentle reminder of the services previously rendered will put the contact in a more receptive mood.

<<Our current investigation involves a similar recovery from the ACHE, specifically someone who may have been attempting to recover CrashTech.>> He refers to the the last scraps of arcology systems that had been touched by the Crash virus.

<<We know that you are both well-connected and a collector and wanted to ask if you have any insights into CrashTech or the ACHE itself. Any assistance you can provide might allow us to return a missing person to their family.>>

Mato doesn't want to reveal too much about the current assignment, but he figures that drawing parallels between the current operation and Tien's job might help Tien overcome any concerns about supporting a grey-market endeavor. Plus, they might get lucky and discover that Tien wouldn't mind collecting some CrashTech himself.

[Jack_Spade]

The reply from Tien came surprisingly quickly:

<<Good to hear from you. A very interesting case. I'm not overly familiar with CrashTech, but I have an acquaintance that would be very much interested in what you find there.
As far as I know, the ACHE still has some parts no-one is allowed to enter. Not that that has deterred people much. There were some rumors that a group of crazy technomancers has been selling artifacts from in there. But Renraku organized a raid and caught most of them.

I'll forward you the contact info to Kima Okambe - he is a collector of that particular era. He likely can tell you more - and might be interested in any find you produce. They have become only more valuable over time.>>


Attached to the message is another one that Tien has written to his contact, putting you into CC.

<<Greetings Kima,

I have been contacted by a firm I've been dealing with - very professional private investigation outfit called SIS - they are currently on a case involving the ACHE as well as artifacts from there. As I know, you are always quite interested in this kind of materials. Give them a call, if you are interested.

Best Xavier>>


A few more minutes passed, before Mato received a call directly to the team line:

<<Am I speaking to a representative of SIS?
My name is Kima Okambe. I was informed that you are trading in SCIRE artifacts? I'd be very interested in seeing your collection.>>

[Tecumseh]

<<Mr. Okambe, a pleasure. This is Mato from Seattle Investigative Services.>>

<<We, as the agency, do not have a collection of SCIRE artifacts, but our principal does. Unfortunately, the principal has gone missing - we suspect in the SCIRE itself - and we need to recover him.>>

<<I would be happy to make an introduction once he is safe and sound. To that end, we were hoping that you might have some intel on the SCIRE that could improve our chances of success. Once he's been delivered safely, I'm certain he will be very grateful to anyone who lent us their assistance.>>

Mato is loading credsticks that Diego/Trece will have to cash, but he considers it a reasonable gamble. Given the ACHE's reputation, Diego is likely to be traumatized, and will likely not want to retain any reminders of that trauma. Or so Mato's thinking goes.

[Jack_Spade]

The answer came directly:

<<I see. Under the understanding that you'll introduce me to your principal once you found him or her, I can give you the following information:

There are three primary dangers still active in the Arcology:

- The security forces that keep the people in public housing from revolting. They are particularly brutal and with all encompassing authority in their sections. Anyone they catch are entirely at their mercy. They are more brutal than many gangs. Don't get caught and if you are, it's better to fight your way out than cooperating. They can and will vanish you into a hole - or a meat processor.

- The citizens in public housing. There is a reason the housing part is seen in practice as a low security prison. Lots of drugs, prostitution and weapon smuggling going on. Same advice as above.

- Remnants - by now it's not machines you have to worry - those were deactivated, destroyed or sold off for the most part. But the intense violence has left echoes on the astral and the so called resonance. Spirits and sprites or an amalgamation of both roam through the closed of top levels. Most of them are harmless - but now and again a crazy technomancer or former otaki goes there and stirrs up the population. Be prepared to have an exit plan - on paper.

Good luck.>>

[Tecumseh]

"Sounds like we have some friends for Trouble to play with," Mato tells AM.

"And Rachel's spirits too, although I don't know their names."

<<Thank you, Mr. Okambe, we appreciate the intel. We hope to be in touch shortly with news of our success.>>

"For the security and the citizens, we should bring some less-than-lethal options. I have a few flash-bangs and a handful of Pepper Punch grenades too, which might work well since it won't easily disperse indoors."

[Jack_Spade]

When the team had packed everything they conceivably could use on this mission, they headed downtown.

First stop: The deaddrop.

As previously scouted with the drone, the matrix address belonged to a large AR billboard, advertising the latest GMC muscle car collection. According to the matrix perception of the unflappable agent on the drone, no-one had as of yet attempted to download the content. Access to the UDP of the board is not impossible, but requires a bit of climbing.

[ Spoiler ]

The drive takes 15 minutes - so three more attempts to reach the necessary 20 successes in your extended teamwork test

Climbing up on the billboard requires 3 successes in a Strenght+Climbing check. Having a drone attach a long fibre optic cable requires 3 success in piloting+reaction
You also need 1 Mark on the Billboard - with a direct connection that's trivial against only 4 dice

If you want to mark the files you can try your hand on a Software+Logic [Sleaze] 20 (10 Minutes) test to create a program that sends a message to you from the device they are copied to, identifying the device/persona
This is a modified Data Bomb, so all rules and programs pertaining to the Set Data Bomb action are available.

[Thanee]

Rachel spends some more time with the stream on their way towards Downtown (9 hits).

[ Spoiler ]

Mental Limit is exactly 9 currently. I believe, that puts us at 25 total hits.

[Jack_Spade]

Rachel's diligent work allows her in combination with the map data to recreate the path, the crew has taken.

They started in the mall, hijacking a freight elevator in a delivery bay that took them into a subbasement. From there the team walked about a kilometer through mostly disused storage areas until they reached a thin dividing wall where they just cut through with a monofilament saw - an action they likely would have edited out of their stream. All that movement had been accompanied by avoiding a few security drones patrolling down there.

Finally, they reached an old, clearly long disused elevator. Dave had worked on the panel until the whole thing started to move. They switched elevators twice - every time in a seemingly abandoned part of the mega structure. The old fashioned display showed that they had reached the 316th level when they finally left. The whole trip had been accompanied by ominous sounds from the old equipment.

The environment they found there was reminiscent of a battlefield: meta human bones lay scattered on the ground. Whole wall sections were perforated from large caliber bullets. Every now and then, the crew picked up pieces from the ground - likely the stuff that the team had found in the cellar. All that had been accompanied by a stream of comments from Diego - now and again interrupted from the others when each one had something to say about a piece that fell into their respective field of expertise.

According to Skull, they retraced the path of a group of elite troups that fought their way through this level. According to Dave this had to be one of the larger computer development labs in the Arcology. They speculated a bit on what the troups were after. But whatever it was, the troupers met heavy resistance, as the obliterated remains of the drones showed along the way.

Finally, they reached a breached piece of wall with a ladder leading upwards to 317. That's where the stream began to degrade. Ghostly images and artifacts began appearing throughout the different streams, sound and video quality began to nose dive.

The last thing the recording showed was Diego commenting they had to turn back and get more resilient video equipment - especially stuff with offline only capabilities.

[Thanee]

"Those security forces. It sounds like they are more part of the problem than part of the solution."

"I'm always on board with any non-lethal approach. Lethal methods should be seen as a last resort only and not be used out of convenience."

* * * * *

After sharing her findings with the others, Rachel ponders: "Sounds like what that Mr. Okambe mentioned. We probably should have all wireless connections offline in there."

"Or do you think it applies to electronics in general? Can they do anything with those, even if they are offline?"

[Beta]

Once they saw the footage of what was happening to the wireless gear, Tamarind got very quiet for a bit, and drove with one hand in AR and the other stroking Beauty. Finally she said in a somewhat small voice "I probably can't really take my drones up into that part. Even if it is just noise, it will overwhelm them. If it is something more actively hostile it could be even worse. We'll see how it goes, I'm quite good at reducing noise and punching through noise, but is the problem really noise?"

"We can purchase some long fibre optic cables and I could run one or two drones that way, wireless off and directly connected, but it won't give me much to work with and really I rely on swarms for effectiveness much of the time. One thing I'd like to do, if we can get it past the initial stages, is bring along Toothless, both for the ability to rip open barriers and for the medical aspects -- if we find any of the subjects hurt and needing first aid, or even for medical evacuation."

"And one more thought, once we get up into that sort of area, where wireless communication is not reliable, we may need to rely on sign language to avoid being heard."

[ Spoiler ]

She really is good at reducing noise -- she has the "Silence is Golden" quality that reduces matrix noise by 2, within ten meters. Then RCC allows noise reduction for her drones.

However her Sioux Sign Language is only at 3 (although a pool of 10) so not going to have very sophisticated conversations with hands.

[Gilga]

AM in redmond packs anything she thinks she might need.

Once they arrive she asks "Anything stopping us from telling the truth, flash a credstick and promise we are just after some stupid rich idiots and enter informally at our own risk? "

AM says "I'll bring my Erika and commlink but would probably keep them offline unless we need to hack anything."

[Tecumseh]

Mato grumbles internally at the prospect of sprites messing with his wireless connection. His Walther doesn't even have a trigger, which is a shame because it would fit in the Wild Hunt's holster. He could pack a heavy pistol, but that would limit his rate of fire. At that point, Mato's better off throwing something.

"We're going in fully loaded," he says to AM. "Let's avoid eyes wherever possible. Plus we should retrace Diego's steps; his team would have exfil'ed the same way they infil'ed. We don't want to miss any clues by taking a different route.

"Let's prioritize stealth and speed. Tam, can Toothless keep up without making a lot of noise? We'll take your kids as far as we they can go. Even if they have to stay behind at some point, they can still maintain our lane of retreat."

He looks up at the billboard.

"I can climb that," he says, "but I'm way more conspicuous than a drone. Tam, you want to fly up there?" Presumably he means one of her drones, although the line between Tamarind and her drones gets blurry at times.

[Thanee]

"We can also make you look like a maintenance worker..." Rachel comments.

[Gilga]

I use a few spells to prep my mind for the hack and another one to connect the cable to the sign.

Then my plan is straight forward, hack the billboard, look for traps encryptions and files, handle encryption/databombs/ copy the file, erase the part about SIS being in the apartment, and then make a tracer program something that would take me about an hour to make.

[Jack_Spade]

While the team sat in the car and waited while AM created the tracer, traffic continued to rush past. Tamarind's drones kept overwatch and Mato's cybernetic senses stayed on alert while Rachel and her spirit kept an eye on the astral.

Just when AM put finishing touches on her program, something changed. The drones alerted the team to a change in the traffic flow. It took a moment to identify the source, but they picked up a change in the pattern of traffic lights as the source. A subtle effect, but noticeable - and precedented as emergency vehicles created the same effect on a larger scale when they involved priority and had traffic lights change for them.

Someone was coming who wasn't content to wait in traffic.
Next was Mato to pick up a group of three bikes heading straight for their position. Magnification revealed three bikers in heavy leathers driving toward the billboard.

[ Spoiler ]

Astral perception from AM, threshold 5

[Thanee]

Rachel is sitting in the car, the side window is rolled down slightly, just creating a slit that allows her to peek outside with her astral senses, but her field of vision is quite limited.

When they get alarmed about the incoming bikers, she quickly looks for two of her preparations, in case things get heated. Wearing no armor at the moment, she needs something else to protect herself. Luckily, she had prepared just that.

[ Spoiler ]

Getting two preparations ready, but not using them just yet. Combat Sense and Armor.

<< So, is this whole thing here just a trap? Well then, Mato, looks like you got your wish. >>

[Jack_Spade]

Trouble was the first to get a closer look at the approaching bikers.

The first thing the cat shaped spirit realized - and feedbacked directly to AM - was:
The three people had very little cyberware and what they had actually suffused through their whole body. Curious about that, Trouble went for an even closer look. That's when Trouble realized that the cyberware was in fact moving through the bloodstream, bones and brain, creating a swirling pattern throughout the aura, even more curious, the pattern resembled a second, inverted aura, a bit like how a spirit possession would look like - except it was more like someone cut the a hole into an aura, that looked like a different aura.