Though most of the files are fragmented, Trixie is able to assemble a rough outline of Markham Zeidel's life and research. A UCAS native, he studied at MITT for his doctorate in cybertechnology. His thesis dealt with research into the X factor in AIs and attempts to recreate the process in a laboratory. All of his experiments failed, though his research was still widely accepted. Two weeks ago, he was found dead by his personal assistant. The researcher had died from obviously self-inflicted wounds and, later, it came out that he had been non-compliant on medication to deal with schizophrenia that had developed late in life.

The call was put out by numerous fringe members of the population that he was murdered, but civil officials have found no proof to corroborate this and have written it off as the rumormongering of criminals and conspiracy theorists.

Victim number: 772A-15042064

Victim is a caucas^&*($#$&$$$& with obvious lacerations to the right forearm. Injuries appear self inflicted due to angle of blade and depth of incision. ^&*^($%#&(&^(^ handedness reported by next of kin...no obvious damage to cyberware implanted. Chemical reports were negative. Possible BTL overdose in recent history due to increased neurochemical levels in the brain at time of death...Medical examiner concurs with chief investigator, death was caused by victim.

The report goes on to list record of certain non-identifiable implants in Dr. Zeidel connecting the brainstem to the spinal column as well as the mesencephalon.

The autopsy report clicks over in your head turning on a series of different light switches. Abnormal cyberware in the lower and mid-brain. If the doctor had a wireless uplink connected to his lower brain, it would be possible to constantly transmit data and neurological impulses without seriously hindering movement and function. The fact that the coroner couldn't make heads or tails means it isn't registered.

Tie unregistered cyberware to Falcone's love for the high-tech and you create a tenuous connection.

He also mentions being part of a research team that had gotten corporate money to make a sort of mini-matrix to compare to the real matrix and use neural implants to transmit a constant stream of data with it. It was on a Takara site that was destroyed by Ikeda operatives. I don't know what that means. The handwriting's really different on the last several pages.

"I AM THE TRUTH INSIDE, THERE ARE SHADOWS OF LIFE WITHIN ME, HUNTING FOR THE LIGHT. "

Found Journal, trode net, microtransmitters, and a wierd woman outside

Downloaded partial coding from the trode net, which interfaced with the Matrix to grab something fuller, expanding to fill all available space in Jack’s deck.
--"The data that you provided from the electrode net appears to be some kind of worm to borrow processing power. It has a signature and style that is similar to Dr. Markham Zeidel's work. I would offer to put you in touch with him, sadly though he has recently passed away, perhaps you can find the individual who worked with him on this project as it is not his programming alone which created this file. The one odd thing that my design team still has not cracked it what kind of system this is attacking. It does not meet any of the current standards for hosts or stand-alone workstations."

Added tidbit of a BTL which seemed to interface similarly—grabbing memories and personal thoughts to build a custom environment. The processing power for such a task would be immense. The chip seemed to be adaptive, overcoming limitations imposed by running through a cyberdeck rather than a dreamdeck.
----Believed to be a partial code for an AI but you had to find someway top network all of the pieces together.


Jaron's ranch gets hit around the time the team is doing a hot Evac of the apartment.

Day 2--0330 Hours

The storm breaks as your team passes through the pre-dawn hours of Seattle. Lonestar patrols speed by their lights blazing, casting a kaleidoscope of colors on the wet streets and buildings. Gridguide cameras open and close their shutters, recording another plain looking van drive down roads that see hundreds of similar ones everyday.

Pulling in front of a seedy looking bank on the edge of the downtown core, First Seattle Bank appears to be the perfect bank for doing business with shadow assets. Open 24/7, there is one synth-teller obvious through the glass doors. Calisto swings open the side door and strides inside noting the sentry guns with cool ease.

"Picking up or dropping off?" The digitized voice modulates for a few seconds until finding what it believes to be the interpersonal best for "Swift Death in comfortable footwear" and affects a male voice with robotic huskiness.

"Picking up, J-37." Calisto places her thumb on the scanner and feels the cool metal warm to her touch.

"Account will stay active for 72 hours before renewal is necessary." A slot opens below the teller screen and a counter is ejected bearing two certified credsticks, an optical chip, and several flimsies.

Scooping them up, she walks back to the van and pulls the door shut behind her. As the van pulls away, a pocket flashlight clicks to life.

Downtown Archives—1794 East Madison. A squat building pressed between the Metroplex high rises, the Lonestar archive should prove no more difficult to break into than most corporate installations. The knife and Dr. Zeidel’s personal effects are being stored in Evidence Locker A096781 and are due to be released to the family in 10 days time.

Zeidel Residence—310 102nd Avenue #613. Corner of 102nd and 3rd, in Bellevue. The apartment overlooks Wildwood Park.
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Jester eases through the earliest of risers and cuts across the bridges into Bellevue. Wildwood Park lays abandoned except for a lone squadcar picking up kids who were sleeping off the effects of the previous night before sneaking inside of the posh dwellings of their parents. Street parking seems to be the choice of the day without access to the secure underground parking of the various apartment complexes.

Choosing a position that gives a good arc for the sensors into Zeidel's building without being overly exposed, the team rolls into the neighborhood as the Lonestar patrol pulls away with the glazed over eyes of the teens inside sweeping over the newcomers and the crawling shadows of the park.
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Passing through the park gives ample cover without restricting your view horribly. The scent of fresh pastries is carried on the breeze from the bakery a hundred meters south of you. Providence smiles upon you as you cross the street, a woman in her late-twenties is leaving the building. She seems to read the determined movement telgraphed in your stride and holds the door open for the pair of you.

"Those things will kill you an average of ten years earlier than the average person, unless you get regular maintenance on your self-contained air filter system." Her comment is obviously directed at Wren as he stamps out the nicostick. As you look up at her, she locks eyes with you for a moment, smiles and walks down the street fishing for something in her handbag.

Uncertain how to make a comeback with out creating a scene, the violet-eyed elf heads into the building. A brief elevator trip later you stand in front of Dr. Zeidel's previous residence. Deflecting the view of the hallway with her body, Calisto gestures to the lock. Less than a minute later, the case has been removed, the lock rewired and the case reset. The hired killer nods approvingly at Wren's quick work. Opening the door, the two professionals step into the apartment out of the exposed hallway.

Vaulted ceilings obviously take Zeidel's abode through the 7th floor. The open air studio is sparsely furnished but everything there has a very distinct function and is made from real wood and leather. Cleaning drones appear to be going through their automated functions, possibly making the house ready for sale. The bed appears to be untouched, sheets tossed down and mussed from obvious use.

Across the room, there is almost a palpable division of emotion from living space to work area. An ergonomic chair beside the desk has blood stains obvious against the smooth off-white leather.

Jester:
The small drone gives you the all clear signal as it pulls free of the metal confines of the van. You note that it has reached its holding position as you activate the sensor package in the van. Signals bombard you as input is received from multiple interfaces. The van begins forming sensor locks on local vehicles noting direction, speed, distanced traveled as it formulates firing solutions. There is rigger traffic in the area but it doesn't seem to be anything beyond the corporate systems and Gridguide analyst protocols.

You watch the exchange between Wren and the woman before switching over to the Firebat. Once inside the drone you zip through trees, keeping branches around you as much as possible and darting from cover to cover. The sim-sense rig brings you the feeling of wind beneath your metallic arms as you are pulled forward by the spinning rotor-blades. The unknown woman pulls on a fashionable trode-circlet as she walks, by the time she has passed the bakery her strong walk has slowed to a casual sashay of the hips.

Focussing back on the job at hand, you stretch out your digital senses and feel the web of a wireless network push back from the windows of Zeidel's apartment. You detect several small moving objects in the room and as the door opens two metahuman signatures enter. They spread out and begin canvasing the apartment as you perch under the awning rotating the thrust of the engine slightly to hover.

Calisto:
With the computer broken down, you do another scan of the room. Initially you don't see anything further, but an odd shadow catches your attention. Magnifying the image in your mind's eye, you see small tendrils pushing out of the seam of the ceiling in the corner behind Zeidel's desk. On a hunch you check the other corners and the same thing is in two others. You almost want to guess that they are micro-transmitters for a wireless uplink or network.

Jack went out to meet a new team member replacing one who got called away hours into the job. On the way back to the hangar, an odd series of events happened.

As you walk through the streets with your new teammate, you have the unsettling feeling that the chipped out kids are watching you. Shrugging it off to paranoia, you try to push it out of your mind but notice one of them turn her head to follow your path past the building.
------------------------
You look into the BTLs and find that they are interactive. Jack does a test and discovers that the chips have C2 components with a wireless link. Calisto takes the chip to get checked out by her contact to dismantle the code.

Calisto and Jester pick up Jaron from the hospital. Trixie gets trapped in the Matrix by something, she dumpshocks and the team goes to the street doc to get things taken care of. It is found out that Trixie has some Psychotropic conditioning that was not completed. Wren vanishes and a hitman tries to perforate the team. After interrogation he attempts to escape and is killed.

Collecting some gear from the assassin, the team heads to the Hotel California and goes to Tokyo.

trixie data search:
Monsignur Joseph Mennon. A Catholic priest in Rome. He placed a request for the "Falcon's Crown and the German Jewels." You're not sure what the connection is but the piece fits in the puzzle that your mind is slowly revealing.

trixie data search:
Taking the road less traveled leads you to the heart of Italy. The Papal States RTG is a horrible juxtaposition of Catholic imagery and traditional matrix icons. Digging deeper you find the info you needed on Mennon.
Monsignur Joseph Mennon, age forty-four. Born and raised in Rome, he was a self-proclaimed techno-phobe until five years ago he had a vision from God. Since then, Mennon has been on a personal crusade to purify the Matrix. The digital realm in his mind is the next battleground where the Army of Light must vanquish the forces of Evil.

trixie data search:
You try to put pieces together in your head but ralize you are missing that kernel of truth that will lay everything together for you. Narrowing your search to the local Papal grids rather than scouring back across all the chains of possibilities between Seattle and here, you begin turning over rocks and trying to find the secrets they conceal. Soon enough, it has paid off.

Mennon was the target of a reversed hate crime just before his "vision." He had been a strong proponent for excommunicating all the "Children of the Matrix" labelling them demon-spawn and Satan's Get. After that, it seems that a couple tribes of Otaku got together and pooled their resources into destroying the priest. Not able to find enough incriminating material digitally on him, the Otaku erased his SIN and a pack of twenty or so beat him into a coma. It was during his recovery that the messengers of God came and tasked him.

The Fool:
"I believe that Mennon is an unwitting pawn. He had an encounter with the All-Father much as I did, but where my experience left me somewhat damaged, Mennon gave in to the conditioning and his brain worked it into his own preconceived notions of reality."

Jack:
"Guess I stand corrected. Alrighty then, so this Memmnon guy is out to slaughter the Otaku, like Trixie here," he nods to the girls Icon.

"And the All Fathers rounding them up and using them as his own little army, both in the Matrix and eventually real life, we have to assume. So we need to find out what kind of resources the All Father has at his disposal, neutralize them, and then deal with him. Seems like Memmnon might make a good alley if we could convince him to leave the Otaku alone for the moment. We can always deal with him later, but we can use every spare megapulse we can muster against the All Father."

Trixie:
"Mennon is a mad-man, I don't see him working with us freely. It would be a good idea to try and track him down though, so we could somehow put an end to his Otaku hunting."

Jack:
"I hate to write off his assistance before we even try. He's got the church behind him, after all. But if you think it's not worth it, we'll have to deal with it later. I think we need to worry about the All-Father before Mennon, although I agree, we need to get some general information just to avoid him.