Jumped forward a little bit to deal with Deep-Fried. Will get to the IC description of the hack in a bit.
As far as the glyph Scorch "tipped" DF with, he'll thread a 3-point psychotropic effect onto his data-bomb CF. For the effect, he'll aim for nymphomania (some sort of addiction, or mania) but I am guessing the specifics are unlikely to matter.

Yes. There are public pan's : They are the woman and the girl. The woman appears to be called Danielle Carter, the other woman/girl is laura Carter

2 active accounts - one belonging to Danielle Carter the other to one Mark Carter.
1 additional account but its currently disabled. Its simply an install and maintenance account for the system itself.

Not a problem at all.

The information regarding the Carter names would be included in the information sent to the rest of the team, as wet-record snippets of him finding it.

Assuming Scorch gets to be ~3, sleeps for 8 hours until 11, and is up and about around noon. He hasn't got much else he wanted to prepare for today, so he'll check his various messages, check to see if his backdoor account still exists (logging in in AR, first, in case any nasty surprises await him), and then will begin hiding the account:

Scorch will buy 3 hits for matrix perception to see if anyone else is online, or if there seems to be any noticeable difference from the night before (new programs running, whatever).

He drop into Hot sim VR if the coast seems clear and will thread his stealth 3 higher (buying hits for threading and drain), so his dice pool becomes
Hacking (4) + Stealth (9) + VR (2) = 15 dice
Extended test with Threshold 5 (firewall), and interval of 10 minutes.

Invisible castle is down again, but here are my rolls (from WoTC's online dice roller):
3,4,2,3,4,3,2,5,1,3,3,3,6,3,5 = 3 hits
4,4,2,5,4,1,4,6,3,4,1,4,6,6,4 = 4 hits

So, should be about 20 minutes.

Then he'll drop back into AR, and cease sustaining the Stealth CF, but leave an open connection to that node available all day (in case the team has questions, or just to keep an eye on the situation).
At about this time (12:20ish) he'll also send another message to everyone on the team telling them he is online, and available for work if they need anything. He will also offer to open communication streams to anyone else who is online and wants to stay connected.

That leaves about 6 hours available before he needs to head over to Vamps, and unless anyone has any requests of him, he'll probably waste that time maintaining overwatch on the J's place (which I assume is boring) and socializing online.

The watch isgenerally dull, though Scorch's interest is piqued by two things: 1.Every 2 hours the womans account logs on, checks the system (nothing fancy, just makes sure nothing has triggered the alarms. then it logs off. 2. At 5:00AM the security system was deactivated for 5mins then reactivated. A quick check of the system logs suggests the same thing happened yesterday. Otherwise the people you observe do little but sit, eat, drink and watch the two active pans in the upper bedroom.

Unless anyone has questions for Scorch or want to do other things id suggest moving towards picking up the bulldog and the meet at the docks. (i believe iset those up that you'd logically grab the van on the way to the meet - or vice versa)

I'm up for jumping ahead to the 8pm meet at Vamps.

As for the lady of the house logging in every 2 hours. In the cameras, can I tell who is actually doing it? I imagine they're not letting the wife get online, so does Scorch see someone else with trodes on, or gesturing in VR, or something similar every few hours?

Went ahead and bumped us to the get together. I'm happy to edit if someone comes up with something they wanted Scorch to weigh in on before we move on.

Etiquette roll for Sammy:

Etiquette 4 + Charisma 6 + Loyalty 2 = 12d6.hits(5)=6

Merry Christmas all. Its almost 6pm here so im signing off for a couple of days. will be back with Sammy's response to the message and the upcoming meet with Johnson II

Probably Saturday or Sunday though no rush to get back to frequent posting until after New year.

And were back. hopefully with the full compliment of 4

I'm around.

I'm still here

I assume Vamp swung by his place and picked up the team. Or at least those of us who showed up.

correct. I left it vague enough so anyone can drop back in

Otherwise im assumiung at this point its purely Vamp and Scorch at this particular meet.

I'm okay with moving forward (with this scene, at least) shorthanded, but I hope that Dr. Funk and Generic_PC rejoin us soon.

Will buy 3 hits on Matrix Perception test to look around the area and survey the matrix-scape. I'm assuming that there are, at a minimum, enough public devices within signal range to maintain a connection to the Matrix. I'm not sure if the warehouse would normally have a public node associated with it (particularly when it is closed) and I'm fairly sure that anyone who is here for this meet will be running in hidden mode. So, I'm not expecting to find much, but I thought I should look. If there is a node for the warehouse, that would be interesting, since it might give us additional sensors on the area, and whoever else is here might be logged into that node (even if they're in hidden mode) if they run the place, which would give Scorch a shot at finding them.

Speaking of which, once we turn off of the busy roads, Scorch will turn his public PAN off. If we get arrested during this meet, not broadcasting a public PAN will be the least of the charges against them.

there seems to be a 100 yard dead zone centered on the warehouse infront of you. you notice fairly quickly as you make your approach. One minute there are signals and pans around you, then suddenly nothing. Not even anything from the docked ships in the harbour.

Waiting on Vamps approach to the warehouse to move things along.

Also, toying with the idea, after this section, of advertising for more runners.

Sorry I haven't posted anything recently, I have been busier than usual on this end, but I should be able to make a post tomorrow. I am sorry for the delay.

No worries. The occupants of the warehouse are (fairly) patient

Making a Visual Perception test on the warehouse:
Intuition 3 + Perception 1 + Visual Spec 2 + Vision Enhancement 3 + Observe in Detail 2=
Perception Test (11d6.hits(5)=5) 5 Hits

Typical warehouse, large entrance at the front with a side door for people. Outside all is quiet, there are no other vehicles parked near the approach. Nothing sticks out as odd or unusual unless the lack of noise could be classed as odd.

Threading Encryption 3 for the connection between Vamp's commlink and Scorch's, just in case anyone is listening for traffic in the otherwise empty airwaves.

Vamp will make a Judge Intentions test on the guy telling them to bring the van into the warehouse in order to determine whether this might be a set-up.

Intuition 3 + Charisma 6 + Empathy Software 3 =
Judge Intentions (12d6.hits(5)=4) 4 Hits opposed by the guys Willpower + Charisma.

Hes diffifcult to read but what you can tell is

1. Hes impatient and wants to leave the area quickly
2. he is unlikely to attack you. Though he has an edginess about him that says he isnt adverse to violence if the need arises.

Making an etiquette test to calm the guy at the door down.

Etiquette 4 + Charisma 6 + Kinesics 2 + Empathy Software 3 =

Etiquette Test (15d6.hits(5)=3) 3 Hits opposed by his Perception + Charisma.

IIRC, Jumped in, Scorch uses his response (4 in VR) in place of reaction, but has no pilot skill (-1 for defaulting) and gets a bonus for being jumped in (+2 for hot-sim). Grand total being something like 5 dice - but that should be enough to buy one hit on a vehicle test to pull into the garage without smashing off a rear-view window, or something.

The man at the door remains on a high nervous alert.....

Also, FYI, I double-checked with Zed that the van has rigger adaptation. I thought that was standard, but I guess not.

Okay heres the situation.

The lights are designed to provide a couple of seconds worth of disorientation. If i read it right Scorch is in trouble in that sense, his night vision has gone (the vans cameras may prevent that but they will have been blinded for the duration the lights were on)

The question is this : Would Flare Comp kick in in time to avoid the night blindness? If it hasnt hten im guessing switching to Thermo is going to resolve the problem for Vamp. In which case the heat signatures are : 1 above him (about 15 feet up and 40 feet in front), 1 to in front on his level, about 30ft definitely pointing a weapon at him, and one on the far side of the warehouse (50ft) also pointing a weapon. And 4 very large bright spots - probably the halogen bulbs from the spot lights they could be masking more men.

If he glances to his side there is another man, about 5 ft away who closes the door as he goes in.

You could probably handle them like searchlights on vehicles (Vehicle modification rules, pg 143, Arsenal). "Anyone looking into the spotlight suffers glare modifiers (see p. 117, SR4)."
Which is only a sad -1 penalty, which I think is ignored if you have glare-compensation.

Flash-paks are nastier (SR4A, 324) which impose a -4 penalty, -2 with compensation.

But, in both cases, once the light is removed, the penalties are as well.

Of course, you're free to say we're still seeing stars for as long as you like.

Etiquette test again for the voice in the room.

Etiquette 4 + Charisma 6 + Kinesics 2 (no Empathy Software, because I probably can't see enough of the speaker to read his body language)

Etiquette Test (12d6.hits(5)=3) 3 Hits

Original post didnt go through for some reason (suspect I hit preview then in a rush to go out forgot to post it) But im much happier with the feel of this one.

This guy is serious. Vamps initial reaction is he will not entertain a question on money, in fact it could actually push him into hostile if its brought up.

More needs the usual checks.

Still waiting Vamps response before we move on.

Sorry, was busy last two days (my two RL games grabbed my attention angrily), I will post something soon.

Negotiation Test against the Johnson:

Negotiation 4 + Bargaining Spec 2 + Charisma 6 + Kinesics 2 + Empathy Software 3

Negotiation Test (17d6.hits(5)=5) 5 Hits

He failed his test The problem is the only thing he has to negotiate with are what hes shown you. As a point at no point does he show any form of anger or real emotion throughout the discussion.

To the Newcomers (and the existing team)

Ill kick off a post later for you guys to respond to - it will be an intro post from Sammy i suspect. He will be trying to set everyone up for a meet (so thats current team and new people) though time is short since the show down is within 24hrs (if my timings are right)

Etiquette test for Vamp, trying to gain 'Mr. Johnson' as a contact.

Etiquette 4 + Charisma 6 + Kinesics 2 + Empathy 3

Etiquette Test (15d6.hits(5)=4) 4 Hits

If at all possible, Scorch would like to catch a glimpse of the Johnson and Captain Black before they take off to let their nameless lackeys load the van. Otherwise, don't worry about it. My bad for forgetting this was even an option.

He will use his SimRig CF to record his simsense to disk, so he might be able to later pull out the video stream, and run some faces past some facial-recognition software or something.

Neither have gone out of their way to avoid photo's being taken etc so not a problem at all.

Neither have gone out of their way to avoid photo's being taken etc so not a problem at all.

Even more reason to think that there won't be much to dig up on these two. Still worth doing, I guess.

Sounds good! Looking forward to it.

Slight Delay to give Vamp and Scorch chance to do something during the rest of the evening *and see the spectacular fireworks in their rearview mirror* otherwise we move on tomororw.

Assuming Vamp has no objections, Scorch may as well attempt a data-search on "Captain Black" as well as running the faces of the Johnson, the Captain, and their crew past any reasonably public databases that might carry biometric data like that. Not expecting a whole lot, but if they're on some "UCAS's Most Wanted" lists or something, it would be good to know.

Threading Browse @ 3
Data Search (1) + Browse (3) + VR (2) = 6 dice

1 minute: 1 hit
2 minutes: 2 hits (3 total)
3 minutes: 3 hit (6 total - general info / public info)
4 minutes: 4 hit (10 total)
5 minutes: 3 hit (13 total - not publicized)
6 minutes: 2 hit (15 total)

Assuming Extended tests are limited by dice pool size. If we're using the rule that says you lose a die each time, the hits go down to 8 (and I got lucky that I didn't glitch).

you'll likely be running this as you set off in the van since there is no matrix access around the warehouse. You pick up a couple of hits - mostly news feed on your mr Johnson:

Commander Patrick Heaver - Senior commander in chief Lone Star NY : Recon and Assault divisions. 4 years ago he had his men destroy a building which was being used by a drugs cartel as a factory and defensive hold out. In and of itself not a problem but the gang had 14 off the street hostages at the time. He was quoted as saying they were collateral damage and their sacrifice would save hundreds of lives due to the loss of the drugs.

He was court martialled, but the court found his approach was both tactically sound and resulted in no Lone Star casualties. Whereas an assault would have taken at least 10 casualties due to the defensive perimeter. Instead of being found guilty of murder he was promoted. Since then there have been similar incidents.

Captain Black is always present at the commanders shoulder in the more recent footage. The past year though that footage has got scarcer. You find nothing in the public domain on him in the last 8 months.

You're interpretation of the man : he will do what it takes irrespective of the civilian casualties as long as his men are kept safe. Which considering what hes suggested is a little out of synch with the public persona he's gained.

Alright. tomorrow will be the intro for the new team members Just needed to get the current team to a point where it makes sense for an intro.

somewhat convoluted but hey thats life - all players are in now so respond accordingly (you don't have to meet but well your stuck if you don't:)

Also from the point of the meet you have approx 6 hrs before the shipping window begins. Now if the current team want to do something in between then no problems just post it up but id assume Vamp will be busy with Lilith for a couple of hours before going home to sleep. Sammys message at 11 is still probably early for him

Scorch i have no idea what he does for down time

He'll probably check on the Johnson's family a little more, and then play around with his new SimRig, hot-sim SimDeck, and the rest of his SimSynth workshop. He'd probably hit the sack a little early that day, having accomplished very little useful information, so that he'll be in good shape for the day of the job.

Question: When we last met at Vamp's place, we split the down-payment cash 4 ways and handed out a credstick to everyone. I know Scorch tossed his back towards Vamp to go towards our initial supplies, but IIRC neither of the mages did likewise. Now that they've called in sick, should we assume they took their split of the down-payment with them?

At this point, it doesn't look like we're going to be buying any new initial supplies, so I am not too worried about it, but since we're likely to be talking compensation to the new team, it would be good to know what we've got to work with.