<Dual>: Got it. Decrypting the door controls, but I don't want to alert him by opening it for you. See if you can either get him to let you in, or to leave.

You begin adjusting the levers and dials to the positions you believe the schematic indicates. After each lever or switch is flipped, the system takes a short moment before you hear the combination begin to ‘click’ into place. It is going to take some time to get the system working.

Meanwhile, just outside the guard shack, you can see a Doberman sniffing the ground, trying to pick up your scent. It doesn’t look like he’s spotted anything yet.

You begin to make your entreaty to the man behind the glass door. At first he is unmoving – or rather, points to his ear and shrugs. Either the glass blocks sound, or he’s hard of hearing. Left with only visual cues to make your plea, your lost puppy-dog face eventually wears down the old man, and he opens the door a crack, releasing your coat.
You explain that you are having difficulty figuring out the announcing device, and he eyes you suspiciously. “Just ask out loud fer the person you came ta see.” he says. He stays behind the door, holding it open a crack – he seems to be waiting to see what you do.

The man stands behind the door, holding it open a crack, until someone answers the system’s page. Upon hearing a voice pick up, he nods as if to affirm your legitimacy of purpose, and turns around to continue on his way.

The voice that responds when you ask for Ida sounds weak and slightly raspy.

“Hello? Who is this?”

A close look at the guard that you share the shack with reveals he is little more than a sophisticated user interface; his tasks consist mainly of verifying the legitimacy of users in order to operate the decryption panel. You note he is unarmed and rather oblivious unless interacted with – he’s definitely no threat, and most likely incapable of retaliating or even informing anyone of your presence.

You set another combination on the panel, and while the next stage of ciphers is clicking and blinking in to place, you take the opportunity to examine the guard dog in detail. Moments before you can bring your scanning programs to bear, the dog looks suddenly up from its nasal investigation of the surrounding terrain, and looks you straight in the eye. He seems to sense the unauthorized nature of your visit in the depths of your eyes, and leaps to attack!

Time for the big sell. Don't screw this one up.

"Hello Ms. Riccetti. My name is Michael Stanton. I am desperately trying to find my mother and you are my last hope. Please... Could I come up and have a moment of your time? Please Ms. Riccetti."

Snapp pauses hoping that his fake pleas softened the heart of Aunt Ida.

“Your mother? I’m afraid I don’t understand. I don’ see how I’d be. . .”

Sensing her indecision, you cut in, repeating your plea and re-iterating that it really is your last hope.

There is a long pause on the other end of the link, and at last a sigh. Ms. Riccetti says no more, but you hear a simulated “click” as the door unlocks. The old man from before is nowhere in sight, apparently he hurried on to his own business once he believed yours was legitimate.

Inside the hallway, you see that the interior of the building is much like the exterior. The floor is some sort of plastic-based tile simulation, and is old but relatively clean. The walls were once a cheerful white, but are now somewhat faded. On your left is a set of steel doors, with a thumb scanner and a room number on each – most likely mail boxes. To the right is a closed door, with “Patron Care” written on the front in a metallic font – the leasing office. Ahead a short way is a small alcove holding both the elevator and the stairs. From the address in your commlink, supplied by Jimmy, you see that Ida’s room is on the 8th floor of this 11 story building.

Roughly half an hour has gone by since you sent your spirit out. You, the troll, and the old man haven't come up with a definate alternative plan yet. Knowing the energies spent on this type of an astral search, you realize you are coming to the point where the spirit will either find the footsteps of the not-so-good doctor, or it will fail. Wondering curiously which it might be, you are suddenly struck by an odd sensation. You think at first it might be the spirit returning with the news. Then you are hit by a very brief feeling of falling, as if the earth has dropped its support from under your feet. You know immediately that your spirit has been disrupted; something has destroyed it and sent it back to its earthy home.

Ugh...8 Floors. Better get going. Snapp glances at the elevator but decides it's not such a good idea, so he begins his trek up the stairs to Ida's room.

<Dual>: Okay, Spook. Its looks like we're in the building. Any leads on the van? I've got some idle cycles here, I could start looking into more information if you think it would help - but I'm guessing the van isn't registered to him in any way.

Once you reach the 8th floor, you take a few moments to catch your breath. You then quickly find the correct hallway, and head to Ida’s apartment. The door’s telltale indicates that you are expected, and so you enter.

Inside, you find a sparsely decorated living room. The walls are practically covered with trideo-stillframe boards with a wide variety of content displayed in the pseudo-3d of early 50’s trid technology. They show an impressive selection of exotic locations, famous people, and insignificant seeming people. Most also contain a woman you assume to be Ida, at various ages ranging from six to at least mid fifties.

There is a small couch, a plain coffee table, a straight-backed chair, and a rocking chair for furniture in this room. All but the rocking chair are very plain, bordering on the practical pre-built furniture look. In the ornate rocking chair, across from the straight-backed chair and sideways to the couch and coffee table, sits a woman you guess to be in her mid 60’s. Her gray hair is smooth and tidy, as is her slightly outdated clothing. The woman herself looks less tidy, less healthy however. Her cheeks are slightly sunken, and have a distinctly unhealthy pallor to them. Her hands, resting on the arms of the rocker, are gnarled and ashen-colored, and her breathing is shallow. Her eyes, however, are clear and sharp as she looks you over. They alone reveal the vibrant woman that was Ira Ricetti.

“You get lost or something? I could have made it here faster scaling the wall. Now what’s all this business about me being your only hope to find your mother?”

You tell your story, all the while watching Ms. Riccetti for reactions. She seems shrewd, but you’ve lied to shrewd people before. She seems annoyed when you mention your search for Severensin leading to her – but you’ve lied to annoyed people before too. When you are finished, there is another long silence, with Ida staring at your face, into your eyes, as if trying to judge you.

Her forehead bunches up into a scowl, and she says in her rasp “Now look, mister. . .” she doesn’t wait for you to give her your name before continuing. “Look here mister. I don’t know how you found out about me being tied to Doc Severensin. And you’ve got no right to come tramping in here, dragging up things that are none of your business!” She tries to stomp her foot to emphasize the point, but it falls weakly to the floor, and she begins coughing. Her eyes roll back in her head with the pain.

After a brief moment, she stops coughing, and her eyes again focus on you. “My business is none of your business. But. . . You didn’t really come here about my business. You came here about your business – about your mother.” Ida sighs heavily, and it almost starts another coughing fit. “I’ve got to respect a man that values his family, even if he goes prying about in the unpleasant business of an old woman. Much as I hate it – the prying part as well as the old part” she says, her stern face almost – almost breaking in to a grin.

The almost grin evaporates, and the shrewd, business look returns. “If I tell you how to contact Severnsin, so you can find out about your mother, you’ll keep this whole business to yourself?”

<Dual>: Good news, Spook. Snapp has made contact with Ida, and she has offered to help us find the Doc.

Ida gestures towards a notepad on a counter that borders the small kitchenette and the living room. Snapp retrieves the pad, and a nearby pen, and hands them to Ida. Her hands shake as she scrawls a comcode address, turning her normally flamboyant penmanship into nearly illegible jitters.

“Leave a message for Severensin at this voicemail, and he should call you back. You can set up whatever meeting you need to then” says Ida, as she hands you the small slip of paper. Her face regains the scowl she wore wile admonishing you about digging in to her business, but says only “and good luck with your mother.”

<Dual>: Might want to assure her that we, er, you, will do your best to keep the Doc from finding out how you got that number. Even if she's not worried about it, it might keep her from mentioning it to him if she talks to him in the next day or two.

<Dual>: Speaking of which... I might as well screen her calls for her, right?
<Dual>: Anyways, I can start a trace on that commlink ID, if we want... if he has it on him, or keeps it near him, it might give us some clue as to where he's at. If he accesses it remotely, I coudl try to hack in and wait for him, there....

Without much difficulty you again slip into the grassy clearing that is the representation of Ida’s commlink. Certain that your camouflage will keep you from being spotted, you set up a few telltales to catch any incoming or outgoing traffic.

Looking over the comcode address that Ida gave Snapp, you recognize some similarities. A quick comparison shows that it is from the same anonymous service that left the appointment time in Ida’s commlink, though it is not the same number.

<Dual>: Scratch that, guys. I compared the ID to the one in her commlink that created the appointment reminder - its from the same anonymous service he used before. If we want to leave a message, it might cause him to at least check his mail - and when he logged on, I could grab his personal commcode ID.
<Dual>: Unless you guys have a lead....

Putting together your notes and images and security background, you come up with the following likely security profile for the building:

Outside: There is likely a camera at each door – front, fire exit, and the underground parking garage. There are also two cameras at the entrance to the underground garage – which requires the same wireless card key as the front door – one on the vehicle’s occupants, another on the license plate. The three entrances all require the wireless card you observed at the front.

Inside, there are few cameras, and no evidence of other detectors, such as chemical or Cyberware scanners. You noticed a camera in the elevator, one that observes the mailbox area, one that observes the office area, and one every two floors in the stairwell, starting on the first floor.

You both agree that it is unlikely a place of this quality would have much magical security, beyond perhaps a few simple wards. But individual owners sometimes have specific paranoias, and neither of you are experts on magic.

As far as personnel, there is currently someone in the office, though you’d hardly call them “security.” On the way out, Snapp notices a flyer advertising the place’s features – one of them is “night security guard on duty.”

looks like the other group is having a little bit of luck, at least. They've made contact, and have a lead on the doc it seems. not much, but it's a start.

Sorry about the delay, i've been a little distracted swapping lame ideas for tracking the doc. No luck here yet

Frag it... something's disrupted the spirit. This doc has some kind of mojo backing him up it seems... Drek, i was hoping he wouldn't have the money for it. Alright, well the good news is, we now know he's at least somewhere close to here. The spirit can only search so far at once, so he's definitely within 5 miles, probably within 3 or 4 at most. Assuming that was him that disrupted it and not just some random punk. In any case, i think it might be best to be cautious for the next little while. They probably at least got a good look at my aura, and they probably know someone's looking for them, and they may know it's me when they see me."