[Cynthia Rawson - Monday June 10th, 2075 - Inside the Resonance] #271

Cynthia nods tiredly, rubbing her forehead. She nods "Sure. How is Gene?"

You catch Mama Lini exchanging a look with Sophie. "He would not like me to say, but he is not doing well. It seems that there is a limit to what he can do. He is still holding his own, but he weakens."

[Cynthia Rawson - Monday June 10th, 2075 - Inside the Resonance] #272

Cynthia doesn't even hesitate "Then I will have to leave tomorrow. What you could teach me will have to suffice for the time being. I could always come back later I suppose, and this time since I know how it works, it will reduce the risks of getting caught."

Again the two women look at each other. Mama Lini reaches across the table and puts a hand on yours. "That is not how it works, dear. When you return to your own plane, you will remember almost none of this. It will be as part of a dream. You will have access to the knowledge of the resonance, but that is about it. You might not even know why your power is suddenly higher or why the sprites you summon across seem to be stronger. There may be other bits and pieces you remember, but that is all. It is not something we have any control over or we would change it for you. But you are a clever girl and might just figure out more."

[Cynthia Rawson - Monday June 10th, 2075 - Inside the Resonance] #273

Scowling, Cynthia considers the problem for a moment "I won't even remember Gene? Frag, this is messed up. What about Arsène? Surely he will be able to remind me of things." she frowns "Can't I write something here, that you would pass along to me when I wake up?"

"You will remember some things, but only as if they were part of a dream. But you will remember what you learned of the resonance, and is that not what you came here for? Through use, you will be exposed to more and more resonance, and it is possible that you will begin to remember more. No one else has ever wanted to remember. Why do you?"

[Cynthia Rawson - Monday June 10th, 2075 - Inside the Resonance] #274

Cynthia looks at the old woman as if horn had suddenly sprouted on her forehead "Why do I want to remember, are you serious?". After a pause of a few seconds, she shakes her head "I don't want to forget! I don't want to forget about those masters and their plan!"

A few seconds pass, where she is visibly not too comfortable. In a lower voice, she adds "And I don't want to forget this place... You three, Arsène... And Gene..."

Mama Lini smiles and squeezes your hand. "It is the nature of this place, dear. There will be times when you get a niggle at the back of your mind and something will look or seem familiar or spark a memory that will seem to be a dream. But as you grow stronger in the resonance, you will remember more and eventually you will remember all. And things work in odd ways, child; you might find your way back here some day and want to spend more time drinking tea and eating good food. And you will not forget Arsene, he is already part of you, as are your other friends. And friends they are, do not forget that. You have already impressed them and they all recommended you for this journey."

"You are much better trained than almost any other technomancer that has been here and are more ready to help us work together to stop the Masters. Work together with our contact there and help her in her task. We trust her more than she knows and know that her road is going to be long and dangerous, even more than she is aware of."

[Cynthia Rawson - Monday June 10th, 2075 - Inside the Resonance] #275

Cynthia seems quite depressed for a while. With a sigh, she asks "But how am I supposed to really help if I forget all about those masters? I mean sure, I had decided to help her, but more for fun and for lack of a more interesting challenge, but that's not the same thing..."

"You will have hints and you will not be forgotten. I know that this is a disappointment, but be assured that you will eventually remember everything. Sophie will pack you a meal to take with you. That will give us a bit of time to do a little bit of training. And thank you so much for wanting to remember. You are the first who has and that justifies our choice of you."

[Cynthia Rawson - Monday June 10th, 2075 - Inside the Resonance] #276

Cynthia sighs "Fine." After that, while she will still try to learn a bit, she doesn't do it with much spirit. She doesn't feel like it is suddenly pointless but... It all lost a lot of meaning to her.

Mama Lini breaks off in the middle of saying something and looks sharply at you. "Hey, child. Your mind and heart are not in this. Life will not always go your way, and in fact will often not. That you want to keep all of your memories with you is admirable, but that you seem to give up wanting to learn just because you find you cannot keep them is not admirable at all. You are not a little girl and this is not a game. The lives of many people will depend on you and your willingness to participate. Mortals, sprites, and spirits alike will fall to the Masters no matter what you do, but more will fall if you do not help. This is not a time to pout, but to try to live with disappointment and move on. I have told you that you will remember what you wish to, but only once you have become fore familiar with the resonance. If this is not good enough for you then you are not the person I think you are. I know this is a big responsibility to place on you, but I believe that you can do it. Now, are you ready to sit and learn?"

[Cynthia Rawson - Monday June 10th, 2075 - Inside the Resonance] #277

Cynthia seems upset, almost angry now "So what, not only will I lose my memories, a small part of what makes me who I am, I can't even be angry about it? Am I supposed to like it?" She pauses for a minute, looking angrily at everyone. Or at the situation in general. After a moment, still angry but having internalised it for now, she nods. She won't remember her anger later anyway. A thought that doesn't help at all for said anger for a good moment...

Despite this anger - or maybe because of it - she focuses on what she is taught. But from the beginning, all this situation had a sense of...wonderment. She loved what she saw, what she did, even when it hurt. She took immeasurable pleasure to discover all of this. And now, she has utterly been robed of all that. More than anything, it's probably that fact she resents most of all. Had Gene told her beforehand that she wouldn't remember, she almost certainly wouldn't have gone through all that trouble. Yes, she is told she may remember at some point. But so what? Can she really trust that? When is that "at some point"? And the most important fact is that in the meantime, she won't.

Mama Lini nods. "That is better by a bit. You are angry, but I cannot change what happens here for you. I wish that I could, but it is impossible for my skill to overcome the laws that govern intermixing between the planes. I am sorry that you do not understand, but I hope that you will at some point."

After some time, the old woman stops talking and puts both of her hands on yours and looks you in the eye. "Bless you for wanting to help. And bless you even more for wishing to not forget us. Our hopes and prayers go with you......those of us in this room and countless other sprite, mortals, and spirits. I beg you to be careful and be prepared. The Masters will eventually work out what we are trying to do and take steps to deal with us. I hope that such a thing does not come to pass before you succeed, but please, do take away with you that we care very much about you and know that you care about us. You are a special woman."

"Now, it looks like Sophie and Jeanette have prepared you a nice meal for the journey."

Sophie hands you a picnic hamper, from which some very enticing aromas waft up to you. "I put my recipe for the bread you liked in the basket. I hope that you like it as much at home as you did here. May you be blessed with understanding and power. I will take you back to the pool when you are ready."

[Cynthia Rawson - Monday June 10th, 2075 - Inside the Resonance] #278

Cynthia doesn't calm down for a while. Probably because she wants to stay angry. At some point though, this anger fades, only leaving behind sadness and probably a bit of bitterness. She considers saying to Mama Lini that what she says now doesn't matter since she will soon forget. But...she just lets it go.

With a small smile, she thanks Sophie "Thanks. I... I'll try to come back. If I remember someday..." she sighs then nods "We can go now I suppose. You will thank Jeanette for me?" Turning to Mama Lini, she pauses for a moment, before thanking her too "Thank you. I'll try to be..." She shrugs "To make sure your hopes are not in vain. Somehow..."

It does not take long to gather your now washed and dried clothing and get ready. After goodbyes are said, Sophie leads you back to the front of the shop and out the door. You are not completely certain, but it seems that she is taking a different route back. "We must be careful; the Masters have eyes in many parts of the city, even some in the Barrens here that would as soon curry their favor than be loyal to their own kind. I am sorry that you and Mama Lini parted on a sad note. Please do not be too angry with us......it is not our choice that you do will not remember, but a function of the interrelationship of the different planes."

After a few minutes, the two of you pass from a narrow alleyway into the street you that leads to the pool you came through. Sophie stops at the mouth of the alley and points. "That is the direction you need to go. Just a couple of blocks and then the pool is off to the left. There is enough resonance in you that you only need to use your mind to call a stream that will take you where you wish to go. Once you make the call, just reach above your head into the pool and you will go there. Thank you for this.......and good luck." She embraces you then steps farther back into the alley.

[Cynthia Rawson - Monday June 10th, 2075 - Inside the Resonance] #279

Cynthia shakes her head "It's not at you that I'm angry. Nor at Mama Lini. But at this situation. For a few days I got to see what a family is about, and..." Again, she shakes her head, sadly "Whatever I feel, I won't remember soon enough anyway, so there's no use thinking too much about it..."

Tentatively, and more than a little awkwardly, Cynthia hugs Sophie for a second "Thanks." When she steps back, it's with the same little smile. One that says this quick hug was not to her only, but... "I better go now. And you should leave. Even if they catch me, you have your daughter to think of."

With a last nod, Cynthia calmly walks in the direction of the pool, as if it were perfectly normal for her to do so. Once she reaches it, she calls a stream, and ask it to bring her where she came from, to Gene.

You reach into the pool and are whisked away from the street. Unlike your first visit, which was pretty much free falling through the liquid, this trip is like being on a fast-moving escalator. You are deposited on the land near the camp you shared with Gene to find him sitting on a large flat rock. He looks a bit haggard and you can see what might be injuries on his arms and face and his clothes appear to be torn in several places, exposing large welts that look like they ought to be painful. Looking around, you see a large number of carcasses of................well, of something. You do not recognize the animal, if indeed they are animals, but a couple near you appear to have sveral rows of very sharp teeth in their large mouths.

"Well, I see that you took the short cut. Clever girl. Is that some of Sophie's cooking in that basket? Maybe some of that bread she makes? Now, in my opinion, if you could make that bread, you could open a bakery and make a killing. Shall we eat and then be on our way?"

[Cynthia Rawson - Monday June 10th, 2075 - Inside the Resonance] #280

As she looks at Gene, Cynthia seems about to lash out at him, to make him a target for her pent up anger. She stomps down heavily on that impulse however: while she is angry, it's not at him. Or not for that. Not really. She turns to look at the beasts, then at his arms. Glad she didn't take more time there.

"Yes, it's bread. We can eat and walk at the same time. I don't want to see the living version of those beasts."

Gene nods and smiles, but the smile is not a happy one. "You do not need to walk anywhere, Cynthia. The journey here was to see how committed you are and you far exceeded my expectations on that score." He takes a small device out of one of his pockets and holds it out to you. "This will drain the resonance from you and then I will take you home. Here is your final test, so please consider your actions carefully. You may keep enough resonance to be one percent of your body. That will allow you to remember enough of what you learned to be better than you were, quite a bit better, actually. More than that is not allowed, meaning that if you decide to try to keep more than one percent, you cannot go home. You do have the option, though, to drain it all away, leaving you with nothing gained from your experience here. Some people just do not understand and for whatever reason, decide to take that route and drain it all. It is your one chance to decide, so please consider this carefully."

[Cynthia Rawson - Monday June 10th, 2075 - Inside the Resonance] #281

Cynthia looks at Gene for a couple of seconds. Then, she sits, and opens the basket. Grabbing a bread, she holds it to Gene. "Eat." Once she has shared the meal in half, she proceeds to eat, mostly silent. Halfway through, not looking at anything in particular, she calmly says "You weren't there so you may not know. But let's just say that I didn't take it too well when I was told I would forget everything. Even knowing that it may come back at some point. And you would want to take even that sliver of hope away?"

When she looks at Gene, she seems... Outwardly calm. But with a bit of a volcano inside. "Staying here, or there, forever would be much more tempting than draining everything. Hell, even know I'm tempted. So do not, ever, suggest anything like that again. Knowledge may hurt, it may not be what we would have hoped for, but it is what it is. And getting rid of it simply because we don't like it is cowardly. It is more than cowardly in fact, it's...hell, I don't know what it is, but I won't do it."

Gene shakes his head. "I am sorry for your pain. I may have explained this part of it poorly. At this stage, if you retain more than one percent of your body as resonance, you simply cannot cross back into your own plane. Pure and simple. Once back on your plane, you can start gathering more to you, but that is a different process and takes time. What you are now was taken from the resonance in a short time and is not really you. But one percent is you, if you wish it. I am not asking you to give up more than you were told you would have to give up, only presenting you with the mechanism to cleanse yourself enough to be able to go home. You may pick the part of your body that you wish to keep resonance. Your eyes are particularly beautiful in that color, so you may want to keep that part, but it is up to you."

[Cynthia Rawson - Monday June 10th, 2075 - Inside the Resonance] #282

"Who says I want to go home?" with a small wave, she prevents Gene from answering that particular quip. "The eyes are windows to the soul. Someone famous said that one day I think." She shrugs "Let's keep the eyes yes."

"Yes, indeed. Someone famous on your plane a very long time ago. It means the same now as then. After we eat, I will give you the device. You will know what to do with it. Afterwards, I will take it back and send you home. But before you go I want to tell you how much this journey has meant to me. It is hard for me to find the right words, so I will just say thank you." Once you have finished the very good lunch, he hands you the device and you do somehow know just what to do with it.

[Cynthia Rawson - Monday June 10th, 2075 - Inside the Resonance] #283

Cynthia shakes her head "I should be thanking you."

She spends a moment, playing with the device. She doesn't consider for even a moment to drain everything. In fact, she would like to find a way to keep more, but... Resigning herself to the inevitability, she drains the Resonance out of herself. Carefully, very carefully, making sure she keeps no less than one percent of it, in her eyes.

Gene looks at you with what you think is a great sadness as he takes the device back from you. "I wish................" He shakes his head and then says, "I wish you all the luck in the universe, Cynthia. You are a clever girl, a very clever girl and someone I would be glad to call a friend. If there is room in your heart for a new friend, I hope that you put me there. Are you ready?"

[Cynthia Rawson - Monday June 10th, 2075 - Inside the Resonance] #284

Cynthia hugs Gene for a couple of seconds "You're already there, old man." she grunts "But until I remember, you'll be the only one to know it..."

With a sigh she steps back "Take care of you, don't let them catch you. Maybe one day I'll be able to remember and find you. I'd be pissed if you had let themselves grab you." she looks around herself for a moment. Sad and angry she won't remember most of all that. Then, with a nod, she says "I'm ready."

BEEP - BEEP - BEEP - BEEP. Your chrono goes off, letting you know that it is now 0700 and you have an appointment for 1000. There is time to get up, shower, dress, and eat something before leaving to make the meet. Of course, you could probably call him and set a later time.

[Cynthia Rawson - Monday June 10th, 2075 - Cynthia's House, Capitol Hill, Seattle] #285

With a grunt, Cynthia wakes up. For a fleeting moment, echoes of a strange dream lingers in her mind, but it passes soon. Shaking her head, she gets up. She changes into a tracksuit, and after having taken a small bite in the kitchen at her Soy Processing Unit - bite that, for some reason, seems much more bland than usual - she goes for her morning run. Yawning for most of it.

Just as she leaves her house, she sends a message to Barbara >>Hey there, you still alive?<< and will compile Sherlock. She thanks him for coming but she's not sure why: she does from time to time but not always, and this time she just felt she had too. Nonetheless, she asks him to go through the events of the night, to get an idea of what she missed. As she does, she has a feeling she just forgot something about him, but it soon goes away. Probably nothing.

Cynthia Rawson Monday June 11th, 2075 0735 Capitol Hill, Seattle


The run is refreshing and allows you to wake up and clear the fog of barely remembered dreams from your mind. Partway through the run, you get a response to your message. >>Yes. Thanks. Cannot talk just now. Back at you later.<< Sherlock seems particularly energetic this morning, responding quickly, almost as if he had been expecting the summons.


OOC: Cool on the karma usage. Thanks for letting me know. Be sure to update your character sheet.

[Cynthia Rawson - Monday June 10th, 2075 - Cynthia's House, Capitol Hill, Seattle] #286

Once done with her run, Cynthia will take a hot shower, and change into a jean and t-shirt, with a sweatshirt on top for the morning. In front of her Soy Processing Unit, she seems to hesitate. She had always considered the machine to be her most important possession, but today, somehow, nothing it could make appeals to her. Looking at the time, she decides she will eat at the Digital: they don't serve the best of stuff, but it seems more interesting than anything for now.

On the way to there in her car, Cynthia will talk with Sherlock, trying to piece together with him the puzzle of the past night. Not necessarily directly related to the direct consequences of their run on the gangs, but the ripples it created and how each player involved reacted. Players such as the Yakusa and KE.

While you are getting dressed and tossing your dirty clothes into a pile to be cleaned later, you feel two stiff pieces of paper in a pocket. Pulling them out, you find that one is a recipe for some sort of Cajun spiced-bread. The ingredients listed are not your normal fare and you have never even really tried cooking anything. The description of the bread is a bit enticing, though you have no idea where you picked the recipe up at. The other is a small, playing card-sized advert:




There is an address and a com code on the back. You have no idea how the card came to be in your possession. Perhaps it was placed there the evening before while you were walking about at Dante's Inferno.

Sherlock sends you a quick message when you call him to talk about the information of last night. "Even the base Germans give me more time than this. Do you want information or just snippets? If information, I will contact you when I have enough to talk about."

[Cynthia Rawson - Monday June 10th, 2075 - Cynthia's House, Capitol Hill, Seattle] #287

Cynthia plays with the two papers for a moment. To her empty stomach, the bread seems alluring. Maybe she will have to try someday. Obviously not today since she doesn't have the first ingredient needed. And probably not the required tools. But someday... As for the other paper... For a moment, she seems about to throw it away, but thinks better of it. She doesn't even know why, hell, Voodoo is probably the last thing she would be interested in, but... Not that it matters to much since, for some reason, the code seems to have stuck in her brain.

With a shrug, she closes her house, and climbs in her car {Sorry, sorry. Take your time, I didn't even get my breakfast yet. I'll even look for this with you while I'm in the car. There will be many things to find today.} With a frown, not really knowing why she says that, she adds {I hope you don't mind.}

Cynthia Rawson Monday June 11th, 2075 0920 Capitol Hill, Seattle


>>Well.....er.....alright, then. I do not really mind, but thank you for asking.<<

Once settled in the car, it feels like a cocoon of security as you tell it to drive to the Digital.



OOC: The picture is a good choice. By the way, your timeline is still showing you in the resonance.

[Cynthia Rawson - Monday June 10th, 2075 - Capitol Hill, Seattle] #288

In the car, Cynthia slips into VR. Her first surprise comes from her appearance. It's not something she ever used. And all this blue... Somehow however, it feels...right. For a moment though she thinks something is wrong. Everything seems...slower... It takes her a moment to realise that it's not the Matrix that is slower, but her who is noticeably faster.

She takes a minute to get used to it wondering where all those changes come from, then starts to help Sherlock to dig into the events of the night and the consequences in the city.

Cynthia Rawson Monday June 11th, 2075 0923 Capitol Hill, Seattle


It is true. From the moment you slip into VR you notice a change. It takes a bit of time to get used to your new abilities, but for some reason, you are faster today then you were yesterday. Your command of the resonance and thus the matrix seems............greater. You have time to do some looking into the events of last night and find reports of a major conflict in a section of the Barrens that involved some alleged vigilantes and a Vory syndicate Bratva. Details are sketchy, but it seems that there were casualties on both sides but that the vigilantes were forced to withdraw. Even now, there are calls from conservative lawmakers for an investigation into how such an event could have taken place while the KE seemed to just stand by and watch.

A silent tug on your avatar lets you know that you have arrived at the Digital.

[Cynthia Rawson - Monday June 10th, 2075 - Capitol Hill, Seattle] #289

{Time for breakfast, I'll leave you to it.}
Cynthia gets back into her meat, frowning a bit at how slowly things appear to go. With a sigh, she gets out of her car, and gets into the Digital. There, she goes the bar to greet Xiaoyou, and asks for a good breakfast: she's famished. She grabs a small snack to wait until her breakfast is prepared, then will go join Roger.

"Hey Roger."

As you approach the Roger's table, you see that he is with another man. This second guy appears to be in his early twenties, wearing large, black-framed glasses. Both men look up as you near the table, with the new guy standing. Roger chuckles and says, "Hey, Eugene, don't lay it on too think. She's one of us." He turns to look at you and continues, "Hey there. This is Eugene. I caught him in the same trap that got you, only he was not able to catch on for some time. He has some good skills though, so I invited him over to talk to us. I hope that is alright with you."

Eugene looks at you hopefully then starts and takes a double look. "Wow, what gorgeous eyes. I am not sure I have seen that color of blue before." He blushes a bit. "Sorry if I said something wrong."

Roger rolls his eyes up and says, "Alright. Let's all sit down and start talking. Has anyone heard anything about what is going on? So much information is flooding the matrix that it is hard to know what is true."

[Cynthia Rawson - Monday June 10th, 2075 - The Digital, Seattle] #290

Cynthia smiles slightly at Eugene "Thanks, you... Err what?" For a moment, she looks at Eugene without understanding. Her eyes are green, they always were green. Like most redheads in fact. Grabbing her 'link, Cynthia checks with the embedded camera. To find that her eyes are, indeed, blue. After a second or two, she glances at Eugene. *He must think I'm stupid. Which may not be too far from the truth, frag my eyes became blue and I didn't even notice it. Was that anything I took yesterday?*

Shaking her head, she sits on a free chair at the table "Sorry, I...short night." She pauses to order her thoughts and resumes "First, I'll say that while your 'trap' got me for a minute, in the end I was the one who got you. I'm fine with Eugene being here, it's supposed to be your show after all, aren't you the one paid for this?" she looks at Roger with an eyebrow raised, but remembering he can't see, continues after a short pause.

"I didn't wake up too long ago so I obviously didn't get too much information yet, but it looks like the mercenary raid that went on in the night didn't reach its objective. As for Bogotá, which is what interests us today, I didn't check yet so I don't know more than I did yesterday." She pauses again, hesitant to say more. For now, she decides to play it safe "But before we get to that, I really have to take my breakfast, I'm famished. Oh and were you able to clean the footage of the mercenaries I sent you?"

Cynthia Rawson Monday June 11th, 2075 1001 The Digitall, Seattle


Eugene moves to pull your chair out for you then returns to his. Roger shakes his head and waves a hand before saying, "Yes, in the end it was you that got me, but I thi............."

Eugene blushes as he interrupts. "Oh, I am afraid that I was completely taken in until Roger let himself be known. You must be very clever. I am still not sure why he invited me here."

Roger sighs. "I am starting to wonder, too. I was noticing how easily you moved in the trix and thought that you could help us, but now I wonder."

"I will do my best. I do have some ideas about Bogota and am hoping to get some confirmation soon from a friend I sent out to gather information. Most of what I know so far is public knowledge, but I had a thought and am looking into the bank accounts of some of the politicians. And you probably know that there have been two more assassinations in the past couple of hours, right?"

Roger sits up a bit in his chair and turns to face Eugene. "Two more? No, I have not heard that. Who and when?"

"Carmella Sanchez, the National Secretary for Antiquities, and Diego Garza, the speaker of their parliament. Both were supporters of not letting Liston Pharmaceuticals into the country. Quite vocal about it, too. Carmella was stabbed by rioters at the National Museum and Diego was shot in his car as he was leaving his house."

[Cynthia Rawson - Monday June 10th, 2075 - The Digital, Seattle] #291

Cynthia grunts, pensive "There are three things we can do. The first one is look into the objectives of Liston: sure, they want to be able to set up shop in Bogotá, but what for? The second one is try to learn why Liston has gone to such extremes. It's not exactly discreet to proceed that way, so they must be pressed by something. I doubt it was because they were tired to wait. Which of course is probably linked to point number one."

She shakes her head for a moment, the continues "The third one is more involved, and consists in finding proofs of Liston involvement in those deaths. Half the world may suspect, but that doesn't mean anything without proofs. Problem is, on one side, we would probably find shadowrunners. Not the easiest people to track, and even if we did find them, we probably wouldn't be able to track them back to Liston. No the best option would be to find who in Liston is tasked to recruit such people, and try to see if he kept stuff he wasn't supposed to. Like memos, mails, maybe even recordings. Not the easiest thing to do from here, but not impossible either."

She looks at the other two "With me so far?" she nudges Roger "And don't forget my cleaned footage."

Roger nods. "Well, perhaps each one of us should take one part of the objective? Which would you prefer? And I have not forgotten your footage. I should be finished with it tomorrow."

[Cynthia Rawson - Monday June 10th, 2075 - The Digital, Seattle] #292

Cynthia grimaces "I had hopes it would be faster." She pauses, considering, then shrugs "Alright, it is what it is."

Rhythmically tapping her fingers on the table, Cynthia stays pensive for a moment. Just as she is about to answer, her breakfast arrives, and she happily digs into it. After a minute, she resumes "I'll take point number one. And two I suppose, since the two of them are probably tightly linked." She seems to consider the situation for a moment, as she eats, then adds. "And for the one of you two not looking at the runners angle, maybe you could try to reach some of the people currently in "protective custody" in Liston's HQ? Some of them are probably not there willingly, and could have stuff to say."

The men nod. Roger looks over at Eugene and says, "I can try to find the people inside the compound if you want to look more into the who did the assassinations?"

Eugene nods and looks at you. "Are we doing this here or somewhere else? It is a bit public, but it does seem that others are off in VR doing one thing or another, so maybe it is alright?"

[Cynthia Rawson - Monday June 10th, 2075 - The Digital, Seattle] #293

"It's okay, no one will bother us. Just don't get traced to here, that's all..." As she finishes her breakfast, Cynthia sends a message to Tanya >>The footage will take longer to get cleaned than I thought, it'll be done tomorrow. Shouldn't matter though, I got a message from Barbara not long ago, she couldn't talk much at the time, but she's alive at least. I'm about to dig into Liston, I'll let you know when I have news.<<

Thinking about something, Cynthia asks to Roger "Hey, I wanted to ask, do you think you could get me a good Agent I could put on my 'link? I never bothered with it, but maybe it could be a good idea..."

Roger seems surprised at the question, but the expression on his face says that he is thinking. "I have a friend that might know someone who can help you. I will send him a note and get back to you when we are back in the meat world."

You look over at Eugene, who has not said much and notice that he has the familiar expression of someone already deep into VR.

[Cynthia Rawson - Monday June 10th, 2075 - The Digital, Seattle] #294

"Cool, thanks. Let's get to work now then." With that, Cynthia slips into VR. She first reviews the data Sherlock found about the events of the night before anything else.

Before she starts to hack anything of import, she needs a lot more information. Preferably, information that is not public. To do that, she will focus on five different direction. The first two will of course be Liston Pharmaceutical and Sampson Industries. The second and third, will be the consequence of what happened in the night, being the Yaskusa, and specifically one of its lieutenant Tanaka on the one hand, and who, in KE, has the clout to make sure KE didn't move. She will of course look more specifically at Colonel Sanks since Tanya admitted she had doubts about his involvement. Finally, the last direction will be the current events in Bogota, to try to determine how it fits with all the other stuff that happened in the last days.

Cynthia doesn't hope to reach the bottom of this from this search of course. If it were this easy, it would have been done long ago. What she hopes is to get a clearer surface picture, maybe to establish some links between seemingly unrelated events, some other players. She's looking at an unprotected backdoor, a thread she can pull to unravel everything.

But first things first: Cynthia compiles Sherlock at a higher level, so that he can more easily find what she needs. And she soon regrets not having the juices from the Dante... Still, once he's here, Sherlock works his magic on the 'trix.

The below information is yours by the end of the day, and I do not mean you get this by looking at a register. Oh no, this takes much time and effort as the connections are buried in mountains of secure files behind lots of firewalls:

Sampson Industries is an umbrella corp, publicly held.....at least on paper. There is something odd about the list of shareholders, but looking deep into that would mean sifting through huge amounts of data. It has a slot on the Big Board in New York, UCAS, and is traded publicly.

The corporation has controlling interest, sometimes wholly, in several companies and corporations. The wholly-owned are listed are Liston Pharmaceuticals, Grainger Manufacturing Materials, Avila Transport, Tolson Electronics, Weidener Security, and Gimbell Foods. There are twelve corporations in which Sampson has a majority interest and an array of companies in which it has less than fifty percent of the outstanding stock.

Liston Pharmaceuticals is one of the real success stories for Sampson. It was apparently on the verge of going under due to some bad luck: six drug patens had been delayed for months in the UCAS, CAS, and Greater Europe; four of the best research minds of the company had left in the past two years and another two had died on a skiing holiday in Switzerland; and cash flow had become a problem as rumors of malfeasance among the senior board members came to ligt, casting doubts about the ability of the company to meet its financial obligations. All of these problems corrected themselves soon after the owners managed to sell the company at a seriously downgraded price. The patents were approved, the scientists were hired back, and the rumors of chicanery blew into the wind. Since then, Liston had become a major player in international drug research, upgrading or opening facilities in several countries. Success followed the company everywhere it went, turning research into megamillions in income from it new drugs.

[Cynthia Rawson - Monday June 10th, 2075 - The Digital, Seattle] #295

Pensive, considering what she learned, Cynthia slips out of VR...and is instantly reminded that while she doesn't need food in the 'trix, her meat very much needs some. She quickly commands a nice meal and takes the time to go to the restroom. Eating in not her only needs after all...

As she washes her hands, she sends a small message to Tanya >>Do Grainger Manufacturing Materials, Avila Transport, Tolson Electronics, Weidener Security, and Gimbell Foods evoke anything to you? All of those, with Liston, are owned at 100% by Sampson. Pharmaceutics, food, transport, security...<<

Tanya gets back you quickly. >>I happen to know people who sit on the boards of some of those; hmmm, Avila and Gimbel come to mind. Both CEOs are heavy hitters in some of the charities I am involved with. They and the others owned by Sampson, eh. Looks like a complete system except for raw materials. Otherwise they have several types of wholesale/retail combined with transportation and distribution. Avila is world wide as of its last acquisition of a steamship line in the Orient out of Hong Kong. Good work.<<

As you eat, Roger comes out of VR and he, too makes a stop at the bathroom before ordering food. Eugene is still in VR and Roger gives him a concerned look. "Not sure how long he should stay out there. I sort of got the impression that he is somewhat new to hacking at this level. Should we bring him out?"