Help - Search - Members - Calendar
Full Version: IC: company men
Dumpshock Forums > Discussion > Welcome to the Shadows
Pages: 1, 2
Aku
You wake up the same way you have since you had originally been captured, in a single room, with nothing more than a cot hanging from the wall, a toilet, and the friendly reminder that it's morning by a lone, stoic light that flickers on, waking you up. From down the hall, you hear a rapping on a door, and an all to familar scene to you folds out, as you hear words being spoken.

"so'd, cha make up yer mind yet chum?" A muffled exchange ensues in moments, and then a single loud burst reaffirms your belief that you choose the correct action...

You shortly have your doors opened by non-descript corporate male in a dark black suit, and equally dark glasses, accompinied by a large, bloodied troll, with a pair of horns that each branch off into a pair of spikes each, and a rifle spattered with blood.

"The Boss is ready to give you your first job... Are ya ready?"
Jaid
Esper wakes up to the sound of another fragger making a stupid decision.

"why can't they choose to die at a reasonable time and let the rest of us sleep?"he grumbles.

As he is asked if he's ready, Esper has to reign in the urge to be sarcastic, and instead simply nods.


"Right. Let's get this over with then."

Guess i wouldn't get to sleep even if the moron said yes, he thinks to himself. Well, time to find out what they got planned for us...
brohopcp
The light flickers on and Calvin twitches awake unwillingly. He lifts his head and looks at the room, wiping the drool off his mouth. "Fuckin' elephants..." He flops back onto the cot and pulls the pillow back over his head.

The door slides open and he hears heavy footsteps enter and the smooth voice speaking,
"The Boss is ready to give you your first job... Are ya ready?"

"Sí, Sí Despierto," Calvin grumbles as he rolls out of bed and stumbles to the sink. The water helps clear his mind, but the shock of looking into the mirror and seeing a huge bloodied troll finishes the job.

He snaps up and turns around, trying to look professional and switches to English,
"Yes sir, absolutely sir, uh... yeah, let's go."
Sicarius
Wheezer rolled out of bed, still awake from the night before. Attempts to fall into bliss sleep were met with a periodic hacking cough... Wherever they were, the air was terrible. She looked up at the fragger who welcomed her to another morning's imprisonment.

"Are ya Ready?"

the girl said nothing, but nodded.

Stay alive Wheez, the rest is just details. She told herself, as she brought herself to her feet.

"Okay Paco, let's do this."
Aku
The three of you are escourt down the long, stoic corridor to an elevator. The suit pushes the up button, and as the elevator dings and the door opens, he motions everyone in and follows behind, with the troll. Carefully guarding the keypad with his body, he enters in a sequence of 12 numbers and you begin to ascend.

The elevator dings again, and the doors open up to a non descript floor, and the Suit leads you out of the elevator, the troll lagging slightly behind everyone, down a bare walled, grey slab hallway and into a small conference room, where another man sits.

The new man sits in a pleather chair, bald headed with his back turned, watching a trideo display of some business network show. As the door opens and closes, he turns toward you, blue eyes shimmering in the over head light.

"ah, so these are the newest recruits, are they? Excellent, please, everyone have a seat, and we'll get down to business." He pauses long enough for everyone to take a seat, aside from the bloodied troll, he exits the room and closes the door behind him.

As everyone settles in, the bald man begins. "I'm sure you have plenty of questions, and we'll get to them in due time, but first, i want to explain how things work with our arrangement. You do work for us. We supply the neccessary equipment, on a teasonable basis, to facilitate you getting that work done. Ytansportation to and from the site will be provided as is reasonably possible. If, once inserted, you decide you don't want to come back, you will be under punishment of Death. Before i pull out your first job, are there any questions on the situation?"

The man stares across the table, looking at everyone in turn, waiting for any questions.
Sicarius
Wheezer gazed from side to side examining her new "team"mates. She wanted to open her mouth and wisecrack, but she wasn't entirely sure if they still wouldn't geek her right where she stood.

this sucks she thought to her self, followed shortly afterwards by self pity.

I Miss my daddy

Okay girl, enough of that. Keep your eye on the prize. These suit slitches would make a mistake... sooner or later.

Jaid
Esper merely nods to indicate he has no questions.

well, wonder what kinda garbage he's gonna tell us for this run

after briefly wishing he dared scan the Johnson's Aura, he thinks to himself, 'well, at least i don't have to wonder who the fragger works for for once'.

brohopcp
Calvin avoids the bald man's gaze, instead focusing on picking some imaginary lint off his pants leg.

Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit keeps running through his mind.

As his chest stops shaking and breathing slows, his ears focus and pick up what the boss says next. As he starts speaking again, Calvin looks at his teamates and feels an instant common bond with them, thinking they're in the same SOL situation I'm in.
Aku
"Well, this is good that you have no questions for me. Either you have an incredable grasp of the situation, or you're incredably stupid. But that is neither here nor there." He pauses, before pressing a button on the desk that spins a Trid screen above and behind him.

"your first job is a simple one. Our costal patrols have been sending in reports of a horse like creature running along the coastline, however, they report that it constantly manages to evade them as they try to get a closer look, and vanishes around a bend." He flips through a couple of pictures showing this horse like creature with a black, almost seal-like skin. "addionally, there have been reported kidnappings in relation to this creature, as a handful of beach goers have gone missing, with the only tracks around the site being those consistant with a horse like creature. So Far the only sightings of this creature has been at night, and they are a wholely new phenomenon, and so we are highly interested in finding ot what sort of creature this is.

You will be transported to the western coast where all of the sightings have occurred, and you will hunt down and bring back a specimen, dead or alive. Any questions?"

He again pauses, and looks around the table once more.
brohopcp
Calvin looks around, breaths in deeply and slowly lets it out. He speaks hesitantly without much confidence.

"Ermm... will we be alone or is there a guide or something for that area? And uh... do we get guns and armor and stuff?"

He sits back a little more taller, thrilled that he wasn't shot for speaking up.
Aku
A guide can be provided yes, and yes, you can request whatever sort of goodies you want, but i can't garuntee everything will be available, or, even if it is, that you'll get it. Don't expect to Get an Azentech Dragoon the first time out.
Sicarius
As it happened Wheeze wasn't even too sure where here was.

"Has there been any examples of it using magic? 'Cuz getting fragged by a wiz-pony ain't sounding like a good time."

Of course she wasn't all that sure that Senor Hoop-monkey had any idea what a good time was, but this definetely, was not it.

"Also, you said beach-goers... How many people are we talking about? Small fishing village or honk'n big mega-resort?
Aku
"powers or abilities it may have are unknown. There are no direct reports of anyone seeing how it lures away the people that have been reported missing. there, is, actually, no concrete evidance that it is in fact this horse that's doing it, people have just gone missing at around the same time it was sighted.

And it is a couple of fishing villages that the people have reported missing."
Jaid
"Do we know how fast it can move?"
Aku
"fast enough to disappear around a bend from a coast guard clipper"
brohopcp
"Well, I think that's enough info for me and I'm anxious to get outside again." He stretches, "so, when do we leave?"

Calvin gets a slight gleam in his eye, "and who do we talk to 'bout the guns?"
Aku
"make me a list, give it to the secretary at the end of your hallway....

That reminds me,i forgot to mention, now that you've been assigned, you also get to move out of the basement. For now, it won't be much better conditions than down there, but atleast, you won't be down there, right? Senor will show you to your new quarters, and there will be a secretary and guards infront of the elevator access and stairwell. You are not permitted to leave that floor. You will also be issued an ID card and SIN with your first requisitioned equipment. You need it, pretty much for everything. Senor will also show you around your floor, there are a few ammeneties up there."

He continues talking about the gear again.."And my secretary will get me the list, departure should be within 1-4 days, depending on how esoteric of gear you want."
Sicarius
"Well also need some time to speak together, after all I've just met these fraggers..." Wheeze turns towards her compatriots, the thin slit of her pupils winking back the light from overhead as she offers a shy smile

"No offense."

Aku
"None taken, A conference room is available on the floor, on request." He glances around the table, trying to get a feeling for any working chemistry that might already be brewing.
brohopcp
Calvin slaps the arms of his chair softly and heaves himself up, which is pretty easy with a small wiry frame.

"Well then, looks like we've been thrown in like beans in a burrito, and the refried part is very accurate." He throws a quick smile to the group and walks to the door. "Let's get to know each other and maybe this... um, employment won't be short"
Sicarius
"I didn't mean you." Wheeze mutters, as she also stands up. "You guys ready?" She says, turning towards her new found teammates.

Aku
"Very well then, I will leave you the Senor, and i will look for those requisition forms."

He stands up and pushes another button on his desk, and immediately, the troll from outside opens the door and walks in, bloodier than earlier, and now, with bits of flesh hanging off of his clothing. The B oss walks out the door, but turns and mentions

"If you have any more questions for me, they can ofcourse, be routed through y secratary."
brohopcp
Calvin, already standing, looks around and follows Señor's direction or leading to their new homes.

After given a little time, he completes a requisition form and submits it to the Secretary. When submitting, he speaks with her about getting the first item on the list As Soon As Possible.
Aku
"Good good," Seńor replies. "now if you'll follow me, i'll show you to your quarters." He leads you out of the room, and down the ever stoic hallway, to a three-way intersection, with digital signs on the walls, telling you what is where. As you stand in the intersection, the ceiling rises up abot a meter, and a digital sign indicates "troll lodging, ahead" and to the left and right the ceiling is level with how it has been the rest of the way. To the left, the sign reads "Human and Ork Lodging", and to the right "dwarven Lodging."

Se?ńor states the obvious "This is the first junction leading tot he various rooms, as you can see from the signs, Humans and Orks, due to their close size are housed in one area, Trolls and Dwarves, due to their seperate size issues, are housed in seperate ares to accomodate them, better. I'll Show Esper here his room, and then we'll move to the human rooms, and then tot he back side of this floor for the other accomadations." He pats himself down, seemingly aggitated with something. After a moment, he realizes something "ahh, that is right, we havent gotten your cards yet, so here, i'll just show this one to you." He goes to the first door in the hallway and swipes a card at the reader. The door makes an auidible click, and he pushes it open, while motioning Esper over.

The Dwarven room, is, as can be expected, furnished with a small bed that is low to the ground, as well as having a small desk and chair in it as well, but the ceiling appears to be of a normal height, as you would expect, judging from the ceiling in the hallway. There is nothing "special" about it, but it's more friendly than you might expect from other corps who might just leave the beds where they are and let the dwarf figure some way to get up into them.

"Se, se, everything is good, no? Now, lets show you the human rooms, right quick, we'll figure out which rooms are yours exactly in a bit." Seńor hustles across the hallway and opens the door to one of the human sized rooms, and it looks like an enlarged version of the dwarf room. Same furnishing, just in a normal size, really. If you had the choice, you'd probably take a coffin hotel over a hotel with rooms like these, just to save a few extra nuyen.

After showing both of the room types, he leads you down the troll hallway, which bends slightly around a corner in the middle of the hall, and as you snake around you see another set of elevators at the far end. Boxed in between the elevators is a desk, with a thick black wall running up to the ceiling on each side of the desk, and the front, save for a small window, where you see a chubby eleven woman sitting at the desk, tapping away at a keyboard.

as you approach the intersection, Seńor begins explaining. "This is the Boss's secretary, Isabella. " He walks up to Isabella and says hello, while grabbing a handful of data chips, and hands one to each of you. "These are your requisition forms. Fill it out, bring it down here to Isabella, grab a new chip, and we'll see what you can get. Keep it reasonable, and it'll be a cinch. Down the hall way to our left is the omnipresent Stuffer Shack, food, snacks, and other non violent nick nacks can be found there, as always. To our right, is the conference rooms. Just come ask Isabella to set you up with a time and she'll do the most she can to get you in."

Just then series of beeps are heard from Isabella's desk, and she perks up. "seńor, their rooms have been assigned, and tags produced." She pulls three Credsticks with "Azentechnology" embossed along it, from somewhere behind the walls. She swipes them through a card reader verifiying that they work before handing them off to seńor, telling him whose is whose.

As Seńor hands you each of your cards he says "Welcome to Azentechnology..."
brohopcp
A cold and icy hand grips Calvin's heart as those dreaded words are spoken. He feels quite sure that this may be his first and last real job... though he may have a say in how long it lasts.

He heads over to the Stuffer Shack, gets a few snacks and looks for cigarettes. If they have some he'll ask the secretary if it's ok to smoke in the rooms. Eventually Calvin will relax a little, move in and work up a requisition list that is then submitted to Isabella. Calvin doesn't speak with the other "employees" except to check on when they will meet and discuss.
Aku
You walk over to the stuffer shack, which is well lit, but you are still wary in walking in, as it doesnt seem like there's anyone working, when a sign catches your eye:

Welcome to Stuffer Shack Concept store 116923-B. This model features a completely self centered shopping experience. Find what you would like, and experimental Technology will scan the codes as you exit, and your Azentechnology Credstick will be automatically billed.

You shop around for snacks for a while, grabbing what looks tasty. Cig's are found along the back wall in all manner of filtration, flavors, and toxin levels, to kill you as quickly, slowly or tastefully as you'd like. Conspiciously, only one actual brand is avialable though, Azensmokes.
Sicarius
Wheeze followed her fellow employee to the stuffer shack wearily. They'd said nothing to each other so far, and that was fine by her. What she was looking for was breather masks. She figured they'd have to have some here, given the reputation of the air in these parts. She was uncomfortable in the filtered area of the building they were in, and she figured it could only possibly get worse outside.

"I wonder how much cred is on this thing" she asked herself. She was also wondering just how much information it relayed back to the Azzies about her movements and purchases. She looked around for something noticeable, and possibly forbidden, so she could buy it just to see how long it took for them to respond to it.

Jaid
Spook checks out his room really quick to figure out how much space he has to work with.

hmmm... if i get myself a stepladder or something i could even put some stuff higher on the walls and still be able to get at it... well, i'll have to see about that... in the meanwhile, i guess i better check out the stuffer shack... not like i have anything better to do here, anyways

He quickly heads to the stuffer shack and checks to see if there is anything to keep oneself entertained. and maybe even something that will pass as food.

Then he heads back to his room to get his requisition done, and sits down to whatever passes for entertainment here, before he gets some shuteye.
Aku
Wheeze

You walk into the Stuffer Shack behind Calvin, but quickly depart away from him, doing your own shopping. Entertainment wise, you find some cards, and board games, Chipped movies, live recordings, and computer games, as well as the ever popular yo-yo and slinkies. You glance at a shiny, metalic slinky, and realize it would be an unwise purchase, as you havent seen any stairs yet, and a slinky rolling off of a bed isnt all that entertaining. As that thought passes, you hear a "beep... beep" from the front of the store, and glance up to see someone checking out. The sound sticks with you, and you hear it a few more times as you walk around the store shopping some more.

The food supplies seem relatively decent, and some if it even looks to be real, actualy, not-from-soy food. Boredom slowly begins to consume your mind though, and you start concocting things to do to see how secure this store really is. You work your away over to cleaning chemicals, and remember a story about bleach and amonia producing some interesting effects.

You grab a bottle of each, along with whatever you need, and proceed to the check out, which is empty, as seems to be the store. You scan through all of your purchases, and your shiny new axentechology Credstick, and your purchase is followed by a confirmation "Beep...beep...Beeewoop"

You return to your room and wave your stick on the reader, and the door unlocks. You enter and flip on the light, to see another person, in your room. A Suit.

"Ya know, you don't need to worry about cleaning, staff takes care of all that, while you're away, and on appointment while you're here. I'm sorry if Senor didnt mention that on his rounds with you today, but there's really no need to worry about cleaning supplies, they're just there so that the cleaning staff has easy access to thrm as needed, and we can see how much is getting used where, ya know?" He pauses for a moment thinking "Ya know, if i want, now that you know you dont need them, i can run them back over for ya, i feel like a Snickers anyways want me too?"

He Stands up out of his chair, expectantly.
Sicarius
Rachael is smiling beneath the breather mask. That was fast.

"Uh,sure you know, I just like to stay clean... Germs.. and stuff ya know" She mutters quickly, handing the items back over to the suit.

"Can you make a notation to the cleaning crew to use a disinfectant? I think its important to use a disinfectant, alot of people just do a once over, and than think its clean, but bacteria can survive... ya know, a long time." Wheeze continued.
Aku
"dont worry Senorita, we clean good, disinfect, deinfect, all sorts of things dealing with infecting." He laughs, and as he walks out the door, he turns and says "Oh, yea, and welcome to Azentechnology." and walks down the hallway with the two bottles.
brohopcp
Calvin wakes the next morning, not sure whether he slept or not. At least the dreams weren't as bad this time. Inhaling the crisp taste of a fresh cigarette frees his mind to remember the surroundings and situation, now less of a shock. With a little nicotine rush, Calvin feels ok about himself.

He looks at the clock, hmmm... about 20 minutes till our meet, just enough time to drop off the requisition form. Calvin washes his face, uses some mouthwash, pulls some clothing and his jacket on, and heads out to the secretary. After looking over and editing the list slightly, he hands it across to Isabella, "Gracias, Señorita. Is da meeting room open fer us?"
Sicarius
Rachael didn't sleep all that well, but she was thankful of what rest she did get, since the morning came way to early. She rolled out of bed, she'd slept fully dressed, and old habit which died hard, after all, what was gonna happen, some corp-sec team run in and snatch her?

A little late for that. She moved through the door, and down the hall way. The secretary, what was her name, Isabella, was already awake and working. They really put their time in didn't they. Wheeze tossed the requisition disc through the air, letting it land with a "clack" on the desk. She smiled at her fellow captive as they awaited approval for the conference room.
Aku
Time:0600
Isabella
looks up from a pile of daisies that she's nibbling on. "Hmm, lets see, yes, it's early in the morning, the room isnt scheduled for use until 0900 today, just give me 5 minutes and i'll have the room set up, ok?"
Sicarius
"So... How'd ya sleep?" Wheeze asks Calvin.
brohopcp
"Pretty good. Immediate threat of death being removed combined with extreme exhaustion... I crashed pretty quick." He stops leaning against the desk and puts his hand out in greeting, "I'm Calvin, somewhat pleased to meet you."
Sicarius
"Friends call me Wheeze, in different circumstances I'd say I was damn pleased to meetcha. Where'd the dwarf go? He sleeping in first day on the job?"
Aku
As you stand there talking Isabella Perks up again, "so, do ya wanna schedule a time between now and 9 or not?"
brohopcp
"Uh... yeah. Sorry, brainfreeze. We'll take a spot 20 minutes from now. It'll give us time ta go grab the other guy." If she agrees, Calvin will head towards the other rooms mumbling to Wheeze, "you remember where he's stayin?"
Jaid
Esper comes walking down the hallway calmly.

"I'm not late until we get down to business anyways. Plus, i'm pretty sure if someone slept in too long they'd get woken up by something. The corps don't let ya waste their time, and i doubt that changes for us... probly gotta be doing something useful all the time, or they get mad at you."

"And besides, if we can't meet until 9, then i'm obviously three hours early."

"Anyways, my name's Esper. Any ideas what to do while we wait?"
Aku
Isabella replies "great, the room will be ready at 0620". she then punches a few numbers into her com system, and remains relatively motionless for a few moments, before returning to her daisies.
brohopcp
"Smoke break." He pulls the cigs out and looks to Isabella, "is this a non-smoking area? And if so, where can I go to smoke other than my room?"
Aku
Isabella looks up, half disgusted. "Smoking is only allowed in your rooms on this floor." she informs you.

brohopcp
"Er... ok, no prollem." Calvin walks away to his room mumbling something about 'not judging her about eating habits...'

A quick relaxing smoke later, he returns in time for the meet.
Aku
At 0700 hours, a message comes across your Dataterm, from Isabella.

Calvin
[ Spoiler ]


Esper
[ Spoiler ]

Wheeze
[ Spoiler ]


General notes

Medkits are rating 3 (i cant find references to any other rating medkit, if anyone has a reference to variable rating medkits, offer it up and i'll check it)
Aku
Thee meeting room is about the same size as the last one when you met the boss. As you walk in you can hear a very faint hum in the backaround, atleast they're nice enough to give you a white noise generator in the room. A nice, fake wood table and chairs sits in the middle of the room, with a single, small, potted plant in the middle of the table, lines of florescent lighting on the ceiling.
Jaid
Wow, what a nice place, Esper thinks sarcastically to himself.

"So i guess we pretend they're not listening to us because there's a white noise generator here or something?"

"Anyways, time to talk strategy. First things first, how are we gonna catch this thing? If it runs on water, and outruns their patrol boats, I think it's pretty obvious we need to ambush it. Which also means we probably need to hit it with as much as possible in as short a time as possible, preferably without damaging it too much, and definitely without the use of large amounts of explosives."

"So... anyone here a sniper?"
brohopcp
Calvin plops into the chair, relaxing with a deep breath. As the conversation starts, he rubs his eyes and head; focusing on the situation.

"I'm not a real sniper, but I've pulled off spells over a good distance. At least a couple hundred yards. On the other hand, I'm not much up close either. Now, don't get me wrong... I can beat up drunk gangers all day long, but unknown animals? That's different."

He looks questionably at Esper, "um... what's a white noise generator?"
Jaid
"A white noise generator is a device that makes background noise, called 'white noise'. This sound makes it harder for people to overhear us... kinda like if you cover your ears and start humming or something like that. It isn't really enough to be a problem for people who are close together, but it does make it likely that someone standing, say, 5 meters away, would have a harder time hearing what you say."

"Anyways, I can also sling a spell or two. I may be able to cage it in briefly with magic as well, although that might be a little tricky."
brohopcp
Calvin listens to the conversation and starts nodding in understanding about halfway through the response. "Kay, I've never heard what those were called. I guess you learn something new every day you're imprisoned by megacorps... heh."

He swivels around in his chair, looking at his companions. "So, what kind of plan shall we make?"
This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please click here.
Dumpshock Forums © 2001-2012