Since this is my first post, and an opening of sorts - I figured I should follow the lead of every sourcebook I've ever read and add my own fiction to the pile. The below was a teaser for a campaign that never quite got off the ground. Its a little rough and lacking in details for a bunch of things - because the people it was written for already know the characters involved. They didn't need descriptive passes. Just a tease to try to get them playing again.
It worked. Unfortunately time is not always the friend of those of us no longer in our teens, or twenties and instead well into our thirties. Primer: Devin O'Connor (which my forum nick comes from) is an elf. So is Salem, and Ming/Junie. Devin is about 40 years old at this point, a 'retired' runner who'd thought he'd left most of that behind. Plenty of scars to show for it, and more then a slight cynical streak. He's a hair over 6 foot with boring brown hair that he keeps cut short, and brown eyes. Salem just short of her thirties, with raven black hair, grey eyes, and a datajack from her days as a decker before the crash, and her awakening as a technomancer. Junie is in her mid thirties, former Yakuza assasin Basically a Japanese gunbunny. Guk is a troll. A rather *old* troll, but he doesn't have any speaking lines at this point, so I didn't have to get into it.
The rest is self explanitory though it includes a lot of references to an old campaign and may not make complete sense in that reguard. Still. I hope ya'll enjoy. I know I've enjoyed wandering around your little corner of the 'net. Intend to to a bit more.
***********************
Déjà vu.
[ Spoiler ]
Fifteen years ago, he’d laid on this roof and watched the future die. Not that he’d ever been a big fan of the Big D. But it was hard to argue with the fact that Dunkelzahn was one of the biggest movers and shakers of the Fifties and his presence was still felt today in some respects. All Devin knew was the that night had fucked with his life – which wasn’t exactly something it had a monopoly on.
“Why exactly am I here?” He asked, glancing at the man next to him. He looked like a man anyway, but he had it on good authority that it was actually the Great Dragon Ghostwalker in human guise. Devin didn’t dislike dragons, but he hated being toyed with, and he’d more than his share of shadow wars because of it.
“I thought it might give our dealings a bit more weight.” The man who hadn’t bothered to give Devin a name yet replied. “You’re the last you know. The last of the ’57 security team. All the personal security team died in the blast. Only a few of the Overwatch survived, and of those – you’re the only one still breathing. What do you think about that?”
“Not much to think on. I’m still alive and I like keeping it that way.” The elf shot back to the stranger.
“True enough. You seem to have a knack for staying alive. And for acquiring useful allies. Probably something to do with the staying alive – but that’s a separate conversation. You are aquainted with one Juni Takahara, and Salem O’Connor”
“The latter is rather public information, seeing as she’s my wife. The former isn’t exactly rocket science since you contacted me as *Nightstalker*. Thought I’d left that name behind when Shadowland went down in the Matrix crash. Course, I’m very sure I left Vanes behind but you know that name too. So, we get back to my original question, what exactly do you want?”
“I need some work done, and your name came up, as did Takahara’s.”
“I’m legit these days. I don’t run the shadows.”
“You still inhabit them. Devin O’Connor was never born – but you kept the name anyway. Rumbles say you handle the shadowy side of the business for your wife. So you might not *run* anymore –but you still know the business.” The infuriatingly bland man replied as they looked down at the bunker that contained Dunkelzahn’s rift. “You know how to stay alive. You know how to keep a team alive, and you know how to spot talent. I need these things.”
“I also know how to kill a man from almost a mile. Or from five feet, though you’re not really a man. So stop it with the riddles. It makes me start dreaming of high caliber bullets and C4. I probably couldn’t kill you – but I could give it a good shot, and I might *hurt* you – and while I don’t know much about dragons, I know that showing weakness is a good way to get a chunk taken out of you.” Devin hissed.
The dragon next to him *laughed* softly. “Oh, I can see why Dunkelzahn liked you.”
“I hardly knew the wrym”
“No, but he knew you. Anyway – there are tasks I need done – I cannot use the usual channels to do these things, I need what you metahuman’s call a cutout. You and I have no ties and you have no interest in these things so we have plausible deniability. We will negotiate a shadow contract and you will bring in a substantial amount of nuyen yourself and your team – I will get the things done that I need done – and I will owe you a favor. “
“The first rule of Shadowrunning is, and was never deal with a dragon.”
“And yet… they always do.” The man smiled at him, and for a second Devin swore he saw far too many teeth. It was unsettling.
An AR window popped up into Devin’s line of sight with a scroll of text that was keyed to the exact maximum speed he could read it, and concentrate on the task at hand.
“How much?” He finally asked.
“One Billion Nuyen. Certain Expenses will be re-embursed as well, when various goals are completed.” The dragon replied drolly.
Devin managed not to rock back on his heels, but the Corporation that Salem controlled was only worth about two billion on a good day. That much Nuyen was nothing to sneeze at for them.
“Also, the services of Ms Takahara will be requisite for the contract, and must be proven before any payment is made.”
“That may be difficult.” He hedged.
“You made her disappear at her request. Time to make her un-disappear.” The man Devin assumed to be a dragon chuckled. “I’m sure you can handle it.”
“I’m assuming you have a full legalese version of your contract.”
“Indeed.”
“Pipe it to my ‘link. I’ll need a few days to discuss this with various parties. Assuming we accept, how do you want me contact you?”
“Complete the first assignment in the contract within a month, and the first payment outlined there within will be deposited into that old Carribean League numbered account you’ve never gotten around to closing.” The dragon replied, turning to leave.
“And if we decide to turn down the job, or if Juni doesn’t want to come out of retirement?” Devin inquired as he mentally re-activated his comlink’s full functionality – and the contract started pouring across the airwaves into his storage.
“There will be no money, no favor – but I won’t be angry. Though it will go poorly if these things aren’t done. And if you do not do them, I am not certain that I can find the personnel prepared to deal with the realities.”
“What do you mean by poorly?” Devin called out as they headed towards separate exits.
The answer was piped to his link as an anonymous PM.
“The things coming will make what you saw under Mount Fugi look like a day at the beach. –G”
“Frag me.” Devin replied as he slid down the fire escape. Mentally he sent a text command to his overwatch team, and headed for the armoured SUV that pulled up at the mouth of the alley. At least Guk was still as dependable as always.
Something told him he was going to strain that relationship… again.
First though, he and Salem needed to read through the contract. Then… they were going to have to dig up Juni. Somehow he didn’t think she’d be happy to see him.
*********
“Dragon’s sure do know how to draw up a contract.” Salem mused, some hours later. She was viewing the contract in Augmented Reality, sprawled across the extremely soft and comfortable couch – and its other inhabitant Devin, in the living room of the suite Zephyr Industries maintained for the controlling family in the FDC. “Maybe we should hire one to head the legal team.”
“Gods, please don’t.” He chuckled and sipped at a beer as he skimmed back over the contract himself – also in AR. He’d read it in detail on the drive back to the suite. “So what do you think?”
“I think its insane… but… that kinda capital could really let me expand Zephyr in ways *I* want to see, rather then the important but rather mundane niche it inhabits. I don’t like the risks its going to place on you, occasionally though. I’ve gotten rather attached to having you around.”
“The feeling’s mutual.” Devin agreed as he tapped the beer bottle with his pinky, “Guk’s in. But he’s always in for something that might let him shoot something.”
“Juni is going to be a problem, isn’t she?”
“She asked me to help her disappear. We did. It was kinda implied that it was going to be permanent and we were never supposed to see her again.” He pointed out off hand. “You can find her I assume.”
“Never lost her, actually. She’s been living as far off the grid as she can get… but not so far I couldn’t keep track of her – since I know what to look for. Figured it might be good insurance.” She hedged lightly.
“Joy. So are we doing this?”
“Promise me you’ll come back.”
“I always come back. You’ll back me up, and I’ve got Guk… and Juni *does* owe me a favor. With the three of us, we’ll get the job done.”
“You’re not that young anymore. Don’t get killed.”
“I won’t.”
“Then we’re in. I’ll set up an itinerary to get you to Argentina – have you take a few tours of the job site security down there, and find you a window where you can disappear for a while… but after that finding Juni is going to be your job. Will you take Guk?” She asked as she curled herself around him a bit more.
“No. He needs to stick around and handle your personal security – and start interviews for someone to fill that role. Since he’s going to be busy for the next few years with me it looks like.” Devin replied as he leaned his head against hers.
“Just be careful then.”
He leaned in and kissed her, “As a mouse in a room full of cats. Lets head to bed. I have a feeling I’m going to spend far too many nights away from you in the near future.”
“Then take me to bed, you old rogue. And make sure I won’t forget you.” She chuckled as he picked her up, and did just that.
************
In theory, Argentina was nice this time of year. Almost four years of heavy conflict between any number of factions, and the flavor of the month Revolutionary Council left most areas of the countryside a potential hazard zone. Buenos Aires was comfortable enough, in a Corp enclave sort of way… but they weren’t anywhere near there right now.
Devin was flying into the foothills of the Andes. His ride was a smuggler who hadn’t been particularly pleased flying him *this* far into desputed territory. But the man was good to his word, and had put him down at the planned LZ. Of course – he didn’t have to come back. Devin had a backup plan for exfil, but was hoping Juni would have a way out of the area.
Hopping into the back of a old five ton truck, with the gift of medicine he’d brought to get in the door – he headed for an outpost of the most successful rebel factions in Argentina. Devin didn’t speak enough Portuguese to parse the name of the group – but he knew they left a calling card.
Lilacs.
Four hours later, with daylight slipping away behind the curtain of the Andes, the heavy truck pulled into a small encampment, half dug into a hill. A well drilled security detachment questioned the driver, checked the contents of the crates and scanned them. Then came to the passenger.
“What is your purpose here, and why are you bringing medical supplies?” The guard sergeant asked in the clipped tones that indicated he was using a Linquisoft and not necessarily a *good* one.
“Grease for the wheels. I would like to speak with your Commanding Officer.” He replied lightly. “She owes me a favor.”
The Sergeant kicked that reply up the line via encrypted comlink and motioned for Devin to get out of the truck, which he complied with. One of the private’s started to frisk him, until the Sergeant waved him off with a stream of too fast to follow Portuguese. “The Lady will see you. She’s indicated you are not to be searched, but please know – if you attempt to harm her in anyway, even if she doesn’t kill you, every fighter in this camp will not hesitate to kill you.”
“Noted.” Devin deadpanned, and waved a hand to the guards, “Shall we?”
The Sergeant nodded and led him into the main bunker, which was built into the hill. Once inside it became clear to Devin that the ‘Bunker’ was *much* larger then he had anticipated. But then, that fit rather well with the woman he had known as Juni.
After taking a few turns, obviously designed to confuse him, they arrived at an unadorned door. Knocking twice, the Sergeant stepped in and allowed Devin to follow.
“Lady, the stranger as you requested.”
“Thank you Sergeant.” The woman now known as Lilith Ming replied Or as she was called locally – simply Lady. She was sitting behind a utilitarian metal desk, scattered with maps and supply charts. Three things had changed about her since the last time Devin had seen her. She’d gotten her ears regrown and now had the sharp pointed ears of an elf, and her facial structure was just a hint different – either a chance to make it harder to identify her, or she had her elfin features re-built. He wasn’t sure. The most striking thing though, was her manner. She looked comfortable in her own skin. “You may go.”
The NCO looked between the two for a moment and then nodded and slipped out.
“So… should I ask you what you’re doing here, or how you found me first.” She asked Devin, with the very ghost of a smile on her lips, “As much fun as it is to see you, the whole point of disappearing, is to disappear.”
“I got a job offer. To accept, I had to have you along.” Devin replied quietly, “As for how – well we never really stopped keepingtabs on you. We needed to know if your father or one of the lesser yakuza tried to kill you. Though… based on what you’re doing out here right now – I’m going to say that eventually you’d get yourself killed anyway.”
“I have a certain set of skills. I tried hiding it. It didn’t work. Now I do this. Why would someone ask for a dead woman?” Lillith asked, “Who would ask?”
“Great Dragon. Probably Ghostwalker, but I wasn’t able to verify that.”
“The only thing worse then the Yakuza is a Dragon, never mind a Great one. What would make me want to leave my little operation here and wander back into the Shadows with you?”
“Because you owe me a favor…. And because the pay is *really* good.” Devin countered, grabbing a chair and turning it around so he could lean forward against the back.
“How good?”
“Overall, twelve figures. Seperately, the employer is offering you ten percent.”
“One hundred million?” Lillith frowned. “What job is worth that kind of money – never mind the billion you just mentioned.”
“Series of jobs. Long term – could take upwards of a couple years. Most of the work won’t be done directly, you, I or some cutouts will handle silent overwatch for the jobs. We make sure the work *succeeds* - we make sure that the team or teams that do the work get paid, survive and continue to improve until the work is complete. After that we fade back into complete obscurity.” Devin explained and shrugged, “Without you, there’s no contract. You could do a lot with a hundred million, maybe swing this little war you’re fighting in your favor.”
“So… I work *with* you this time.” She replied after a few minutes thought.
“Yep.”
“Salem won’t much like that.”
“No… but she’ll put up with a lot for a cool billion. I wouldn’t be down here if she wasn’t in.” He pointed out.
“I envy you that, you know.”
“What?”
“Having someone.” Lillith replied quietly.
“Lot of fish in the sea Lillith. You just need to learn how to swim without putting a gun to their head first.” He chuckled.
“Its more efficient.”
“Love isn’t about efficiency, and only seldom logic.” Devin pointed out lightly, “So are you in?”
“I’m interested but I want to see the terms first.” She replied with a nod.
“Open your comlink and I’ll pipe it through.” He agreed.
A moment later the full contract filled her vision with an AR window and she sat back, staring at the ceiling. Devin pulled a canteen off his belt and took a pull while he waited.
It took about thirty minutes before she shook her head. “This is madness… what could possibly be the goal?”
“Dunkelzahn used to call Imortality the Long View. Something we don’t have – and so to us its just puzzle pieces without the big picture. But we can tell a few things.”
“Such as?”
“This is big. I see a pattern here – I’m no mage and Magic is far and beyond me – but this definitely has a lot of magical links… but its not just that. Its pushing the world towards something. I’m just not sure what it is – yet.”
“And if you figure out what?” She asked, standing up.
“I guess we’ll see. You’re in?”
“Why not. What’s the first move?”
Devin stood up himself. “Send a note to the comcode I appended to the contract. Then Salem and I will get the ball rolling on a team. A lot of this looks to be European Theater work, so we’re going to find a group - probably based out of Britian. Once they’ve worked out the bugs, and seem to be working well together, we throw them at the first real job – that’s when the real work on our end starts.”
“This is going to be a whole new level of… puppetmaster.”
“It is.” Devin agreed. “It will be interesting though.”
“It will.” She replied studying him for a moment. “You’re different you know.”
“I don’t wake up with a boot on my throat these days.”
“Point… you need a ride back to friendlier territory?”
“Read my mind.” Devin chuckled.
“What were you going to do if I kicked you out?” She laughed in return.
He shrugged, “Steal a truck.”
She laughed again. It certainly was a different world, and they’d both changed… but some things never would.
“Why exactly am I here?” He asked, glancing at the man next to him. He looked like a man anyway, but he had it on good authority that it was actually the Great Dragon Ghostwalker in human guise. Devin didn’t dislike dragons, but he hated being toyed with, and he’d more than his share of shadow wars because of it.
“I thought it might give our dealings a bit more weight.” The man who hadn’t bothered to give Devin a name yet replied. “You’re the last you know. The last of the ’57 security team. All the personal security team died in the blast. Only a few of the Overwatch survived, and of those – you’re the only one still breathing. What do you think about that?”
“Not much to think on. I’m still alive and I like keeping it that way.” The elf shot back to the stranger.
“True enough. You seem to have a knack for staying alive. And for acquiring useful allies. Probably something to do with the staying alive – but that’s a separate conversation. You are aquainted with one Juni Takahara, and Salem O’Connor”
“The latter is rather public information, seeing as she’s my wife. The former isn’t exactly rocket science since you contacted me as *Nightstalker*. Thought I’d left that name behind when Shadowland went down in the Matrix crash. Course, I’m very sure I left Vanes behind but you know that name too. So, we get back to my original question, what exactly do you want?”
“I need some work done, and your name came up, as did Takahara’s.”
“I’m legit these days. I don’t run the shadows.”
“You still inhabit them. Devin O’Connor was never born – but you kept the name anyway. Rumbles say you handle the shadowy side of the business for your wife. So you might not *run* anymore –but you still know the business.” The infuriatingly bland man replied as they looked down at the bunker that contained Dunkelzahn’s rift. “You know how to stay alive. You know how to keep a team alive, and you know how to spot talent. I need these things.”
“I also know how to kill a man from almost a mile. Or from five feet, though you’re not really a man. So stop it with the riddles. It makes me start dreaming of high caliber bullets and C4. I probably couldn’t kill you – but I could give it a good shot, and I might *hurt* you – and while I don’t know much about dragons, I know that showing weakness is a good way to get a chunk taken out of you.” Devin hissed.
The dragon next to him *laughed* softly. “Oh, I can see why Dunkelzahn liked you.”
“I hardly knew the wrym”
“No, but he knew you. Anyway – there are tasks I need done – I cannot use the usual channels to do these things, I need what you metahuman’s call a cutout. You and I have no ties and you have no interest in these things so we have plausible deniability. We will negotiate a shadow contract and you will bring in a substantial amount of nuyen yourself and your team – I will get the things done that I need done – and I will owe you a favor. “
“The first rule of Shadowrunning is, and was never deal with a dragon.”
“And yet… they always do.” The man smiled at him, and for a second Devin swore he saw far too many teeth. It was unsettling.
An AR window popped up into Devin’s line of sight with a scroll of text that was keyed to the exact maximum speed he could read it, and concentrate on the task at hand.
“How much?” He finally asked.
“One Billion Nuyen. Certain Expenses will be re-embursed as well, when various goals are completed.” The dragon replied drolly.
Devin managed not to rock back on his heels, but the Corporation that Salem controlled was only worth about two billion on a good day. That much Nuyen was nothing to sneeze at for them.
“Also, the services of Ms Takahara will be requisite for the contract, and must be proven before any payment is made.”
“That may be difficult.” He hedged.
“You made her disappear at her request. Time to make her un-disappear.” The man Devin assumed to be a dragon chuckled. “I’m sure you can handle it.”
“I’m assuming you have a full legalese version of your contract.”
“Indeed.”
“Pipe it to my ‘link. I’ll need a few days to discuss this with various parties. Assuming we accept, how do you want me contact you?”
“Complete the first assignment in the contract within a month, and the first payment outlined there within will be deposited into that old Carribean League numbered account you’ve never gotten around to closing.” The dragon replied, turning to leave.
“And if we decide to turn down the job, or if Juni doesn’t want to come out of retirement?” Devin inquired as he mentally re-activated his comlink’s full functionality – and the contract started pouring across the airwaves into his storage.
“There will be no money, no favor – but I won’t be angry. Though it will go poorly if these things aren’t done. And if you do not do them, I am not certain that I can find the personnel prepared to deal with the realities.”
“What do you mean by poorly?” Devin called out as they headed towards separate exits.
The answer was piped to his link as an anonymous PM.
“The things coming will make what you saw under Mount Fugi look like a day at the beach. –G”
“Frag me.” Devin replied as he slid down the fire escape. Mentally he sent a text command to his overwatch team, and headed for the armoured SUV that pulled up at the mouth of the alley. At least Guk was still as dependable as always.
Something told him he was going to strain that relationship… again.
First though, he and Salem needed to read through the contract. Then… they were going to have to dig up Juni. Somehow he didn’t think she’d be happy to see him.
*********
“Dragon’s sure do know how to draw up a contract.” Salem mused, some hours later. She was viewing the contract in Augmented Reality, sprawled across the extremely soft and comfortable couch – and its other inhabitant Devin, in the living room of the suite Zephyr Industries maintained for the controlling family in the FDC. “Maybe we should hire one to head the legal team.”
“Gods, please don’t.” He chuckled and sipped at a beer as he skimmed back over the contract himself – also in AR. He’d read it in detail on the drive back to the suite. “So what do you think?”
“I think its insane… but… that kinda capital could really let me expand Zephyr in ways *I* want to see, rather then the important but rather mundane niche it inhabits. I don’t like the risks its going to place on you, occasionally though. I’ve gotten rather attached to having you around.”
“The feeling’s mutual.” Devin agreed as he tapped the beer bottle with his pinky, “Guk’s in. But he’s always in for something that might let him shoot something.”
“Juni is going to be a problem, isn’t she?”
“She asked me to help her disappear. We did. It was kinda implied that it was going to be permanent and we were never supposed to see her again.” He pointed out off hand. “You can find her I assume.”
“Never lost her, actually. She’s been living as far off the grid as she can get… but not so far I couldn’t keep track of her – since I know what to look for. Figured it might be good insurance.” She hedged lightly.
“Joy. So are we doing this?”
“Promise me you’ll come back.”
“I always come back. You’ll back me up, and I’ve got Guk… and Juni *does* owe me a favor. With the three of us, we’ll get the job done.”
“You’re not that young anymore. Don’t get killed.”
“I won’t.”
“Then we’re in. I’ll set up an itinerary to get you to Argentina – have you take a few tours of the job site security down there, and find you a window where you can disappear for a while… but after that finding Juni is going to be your job. Will you take Guk?” She asked as she curled herself around him a bit more.
“No. He needs to stick around and handle your personal security – and start interviews for someone to fill that role. Since he’s going to be busy for the next few years with me it looks like.” Devin replied as he leaned his head against hers.
“Just be careful then.”
He leaned in and kissed her, “As a mouse in a room full of cats. Lets head to bed. I have a feeling I’m going to spend far too many nights away from you in the near future.”
“Then take me to bed, you old rogue. And make sure I won’t forget you.” She chuckled as he picked her up, and did just that.
************
In theory, Argentina was nice this time of year. Almost four years of heavy conflict between any number of factions, and the flavor of the month Revolutionary Council left most areas of the countryside a potential hazard zone. Buenos Aires was comfortable enough, in a Corp enclave sort of way… but they weren’t anywhere near there right now.
Devin was flying into the foothills of the Andes. His ride was a smuggler who hadn’t been particularly pleased flying him *this* far into desputed territory. But the man was good to his word, and had put him down at the planned LZ. Of course – he didn’t have to come back. Devin had a backup plan for exfil, but was hoping Juni would have a way out of the area.
Hopping into the back of a old five ton truck, with the gift of medicine he’d brought to get in the door – he headed for an outpost of the most successful rebel factions in Argentina. Devin didn’t speak enough Portuguese to parse the name of the group – but he knew they left a calling card.
Lilacs.
Four hours later, with daylight slipping away behind the curtain of the Andes, the heavy truck pulled into a small encampment, half dug into a hill. A well drilled security detachment questioned the driver, checked the contents of the crates and scanned them. Then came to the passenger.
“What is your purpose here, and why are you bringing medical supplies?” The guard sergeant asked in the clipped tones that indicated he was using a Linquisoft and not necessarily a *good* one.
“Grease for the wheels. I would like to speak with your Commanding Officer.” He replied lightly. “She owes me a favor.”
The Sergeant kicked that reply up the line via encrypted comlink and motioned for Devin to get out of the truck, which he complied with. One of the private’s started to frisk him, until the Sergeant waved him off with a stream of too fast to follow Portuguese. “The Lady will see you. She’s indicated you are not to be searched, but please know – if you attempt to harm her in anyway, even if she doesn’t kill you, every fighter in this camp will not hesitate to kill you.”
“Noted.” Devin deadpanned, and waved a hand to the guards, “Shall we?”
The Sergeant nodded and led him into the main bunker, which was built into the hill. Once inside it became clear to Devin that the ‘Bunker’ was *much* larger then he had anticipated. But then, that fit rather well with the woman he had known as Juni.
After taking a few turns, obviously designed to confuse him, they arrived at an unadorned door. Knocking twice, the Sergeant stepped in and allowed Devin to follow.
“Lady, the stranger as you requested.”
“Thank you Sergeant.” The woman now known as Lilith Ming replied Or as she was called locally – simply Lady. She was sitting behind a utilitarian metal desk, scattered with maps and supply charts. Three things had changed about her since the last time Devin had seen her. She’d gotten her ears regrown and now had the sharp pointed ears of an elf, and her facial structure was just a hint different – either a chance to make it harder to identify her, or she had her elfin features re-built. He wasn’t sure. The most striking thing though, was her manner. She looked comfortable in her own skin. “You may go.”
The NCO looked between the two for a moment and then nodded and slipped out.
“So… should I ask you what you’re doing here, or how you found me first.” She asked Devin, with the very ghost of a smile on her lips, “As much fun as it is to see you, the whole point of disappearing, is to disappear.”
“I got a job offer. To accept, I had to have you along.” Devin replied quietly, “As for how – well we never really stopped keepingtabs on you. We needed to know if your father or one of the lesser yakuza tried to kill you. Though… based on what you’re doing out here right now – I’m going to say that eventually you’d get yourself killed anyway.”
“I have a certain set of skills. I tried hiding it. It didn’t work. Now I do this. Why would someone ask for a dead woman?” Lillith asked, “Who would ask?”
“Great Dragon. Probably Ghostwalker, but I wasn’t able to verify that.”
“The only thing worse then the Yakuza is a Dragon, never mind a Great one. What would make me want to leave my little operation here and wander back into the Shadows with you?”
“Because you owe me a favor…. And because the pay is *really* good.” Devin countered, grabbing a chair and turning it around so he could lean forward against the back.
“How good?”
“Overall, twelve figures. Seperately, the employer is offering you ten percent.”
“One hundred million?” Lillith frowned. “What job is worth that kind of money – never mind the billion you just mentioned.”
“Series of jobs. Long term – could take upwards of a couple years. Most of the work won’t be done directly, you, I or some cutouts will handle silent overwatch for the jobs. We make sure the work *succeeds* - we make sure that the team or teams that do the work get paid, survive and continue to improve until the work is complete. After that we fade back into complete obscurity.” Devin explained and shrugged, “Without you, there’s no contract. You could do a lot with a hundred million, maybe swing this little war you’re fighting in your favor.”
“So… I work *with* you this time.” She replied after a few minutes thought.
“Yep.”
“Salem won’t much like that.”
“No… but she’ll put up with a lot for a cool billion. I wouldn’t be down here if she wasn’t in.” He pointed out.
“I envy you that, you know.”
“What?”
“Having someone.” Lillith replied quietly.
“Lot of fish in the sea Lillith. You just need to learn how to swim without putting a gun to their head first.” He chuckled.
“Its more efficient.”
“Love isn’t about efficiency, and only seldom logic.” Devin pointed out lightly, “So are you in?”
“I’m interested but I want to see the terms first.” She replied with a nod.
“Open your comlink and I’ll pipe it through.” He agreed.
A moment later the full contract filled her vision with an AR window and she sat back, staring at the ceiling. Devin pulled a canteen off his belt and took a pull while he waited.
It took about thirty minutes before she shook her head. “This is madness… what could possibly be the goal?”
“Dunkelzahn used to call Imortality the Long View. Something we don’t have – and so to us its just puzzle pieces without the big picture. But we can tell a few things.”
“Such as?”
“This is big. I see a pattern here – I’m no mage and Magic is far and beyond me – but this definitely has a lot of magical links… but its not just that. Its pushing the world towards something. I’m just not sure what it is – yet.”
“And if you figure out what?” She asked, standing up.
“I guess we’ll see. You’re in?”
“Why not. What’s the first move?”
Devin stood up himself. “Send a note to the comcode I appended to the contract. Then Salem and I will get the ball rolling on a team. A lot of this looks to be European Theater work, so we’re going to find a group - probably based out of Britian. Once they’ve worked out the bugs, and seem to be working well together, we throw them at the first real job – that’s when the real work on our end starts.”
“This is going to be a whole new level of… puppetmaster.”
“It is.” Devin agreed. “It will be interesting though.”
“It will.” She replied studying him for a moment. “You’re different you know.”
“I don’t wake up with a boot on my throat these days.”
“Point… you need a ride back to friendlier territory?”
“Read my mind.” Devin chuckled.
“What were you going to do if I kicked you out?” She laughed in return.
He shrugged, “Steal a truck.”
She laughed again. It certainly was a different world, and they’d both changed… but some things never would.
********
EDIT: So, since I got some feedback, I figured I'd throw the next piece up. People want to see more, I'll keep putting things together - next bit actually introduces the actual Runners. They're a bit of an eclectic bunch (probably because my players never could come up with a cohesive team.)
Death and Taxes
[ Spoiler ]
“What do you want mother?” Salem sighed as she turned in her office chair completely unnecessarily, as her mother’s face appeared in an AR window in her sightline. Her mother could only see what she *wanted* her to see, but it was an old habit from her much, much younger days. The fact that she found herself doing it now that she was the functional CEO of the family operation was somewhat… frustrating.
“Your father and I were just going over last quarter’s financial records hon. and we’ve noticed a few irregularities.” Petal Zephyr replied as she shook her head slightly, “Do you have time to discuss them?”
“I can make the time.” Salem relented after a moment, as she threaded a search program to pull up the quarterly earnings report. As she recalled it, profits were up, and her parent’s quarterly stipend of those profits had been paid on time. “What’s the problem?”
“Well…” Her mother hedged for a moment, “There seems to be a little too much profit, yes? We only have six open job sites currently, and the usual return for those services doesn’t match the profit inflow. I may be getting a little old, daughter, but I can still add. What exactly is going on here – you’re not scrimping on service are you dear?”
Salem sighed slightly, this was going to be easier then she’d feared, “Mother, all six of those cleanup sites are using both our mage teams, and the new nano-scrubbers that R&D patented last year. The Nano-scrubbers are exceptionally low cost to operate now that we have them running, but our use costs reflect the R&D budget we’re looking to recoup. I promise you, it’s all above board.”
And it was, mostly. Devin’s first pay from what they were terming BlueCollar between themselves had come in just at the tail end of the quarter, which had bumped projected earnings by a little over a percent, as she’d tucked the money in here and there.
“I’m not a big fan of those technological marvels you know,” Her mother reproved, “Too easy to be misused in the wrong hands.”
It always amazed Salem how… naive her mother could be about things. It wasn’t like there weren’t plenty of mages out there who made their living blowing things up, killing people or any number of other destructive professions. But her mother was one of the early magus’s. And a flower child to boot. And her father had more or less settled into her mother’s world view, assuming he ever held a different one. It explained much about Zephyr Industries niche in the world as the environmental clean-up crew for any AAA corp that couldn’t be bothered to clean up its own mess – which was most of them.
Salem though had big dreams. And those dreams didn’t include taking out someone else’s trash for the rest of her days. Even if it did pay rather well, and that’s why she’d agreed to BlueCollar in the first place. She needed capital for investment. And this would bring it to her faster than anything else. She just had to find creative ways to *hide* it from her parents a while longer.
“We’ve had this discussion before mother. Our Nano-tech is a positive force on the environment, not a negative one. It’s been proven safe in every way that matters – and its making us money.”
“Just be wary daughter. The path of greed will never end in a good place.” Her mother reproved gently before changing the subject, “By the by, where did that Beau of yours get off to now?”
“He’s doing a site survey in the UK mom. Potential new client. He’ll be back late next week – last I checked his itinerary.”
“You two aren’t having problems, are you? This is the second or third place you’ve wandered him off to on his own in the last month. Usually you two are near on inseparable.”
“We each have jobs to do Mom, we’re fine. I’d rather he was here at home, but part of his job is assessing new site security and since I took over as CEO, I’m not as able to travel as I once was. Maybe if the board wasn’t so against meeting in VR, or at least by ARO. “Salem trailed off as a window flashed in the opposite corner of her vision. Ten minutes before Devin was going to expect her to provide matrix overwatch for himself and Juni.
“The board has run this company quite for longer then you’ve been alive, by sticking to the old ways.” Petal stated sharply as she started to get spun up on one of her rants.
“Mom, enough. You’re not even old enough to remember the ‘old ways’ you so strongly cherish. You were raised in a druid commune and all I get it. Except that they were a bunch of Wiccan’s before the awakening. And Wicca was created by someone to be a poor, new age substitute for what people think *might* have been Celtic druidism. We’ve had this argument at least a thousand times since I was thirteen. And I’m not rehashing it beyond that now. I’ve got a business to run, and my beau, as you like to call him – is calling.”
Her mother harrumphed, but cut the connection after a quick “I still love you.”
With a sigh, Salem slumped in her chair. She loved her mother, but the woman could be horribly trying at times. Closing her eyes she hummed to herself as she felt the brush of her favorite Agent – Caroline on her consciousness. She’d built Caroline years before, and had only been tweaking the code since then. She wasn’t an AI, though she did occasionally get confused with one by Matrix newbies and she kept track of all sorts of things for Salem. Her Icon was that of a classic, curvy 1950’s secretary. Salem wasn’t much of a fan of the ‘old days’ but she’d seen the style from the time period about the same time she originally built Caroline, and the style stuck.
~Five minutes.~ Caroline crooned.
~More than enough time.~ Salem thought to herself as she idly brushed a lock of her hair behind a sharp pointed ear, then mentally fell into the stream of wireless data that enveloped the room.
*******
“This is the best you could put together?” Juni groaned softly as she and Devin watched the security feed from the Greater London Gentleman's Club.
“I don’t exactly have an abundance of contacts in the United Kingdom. And the job was pretty clear. Put together a bunch of no-names, and turn them into runners. This is about as no-name as we’re going to get.” Devin pointed out. “And at least none of them look as brain-dead as Johnny used to be. And I suppose, currently is.”
“That’s not saying much.” Juni pointed out with a slight grimace, “I would have never picked him if it had been left up to me. But then, I don’t think I’d have picked you, or Guk. Or Salem for that matter so I suppose there could be a few diamonds in the rough here. This job though… what’s the angle?”
“Well, I wrote the script on this one. The ‘job’ was in the contract –you know that well enough. I want to see how well they can follow directions when given an incentive to do so. Be good to see if they can do this ‘soft’ rather than ‘hard’. Took me a long time to teach Guk the benefits of soft.”
“Fair enough – but a dusty old journal? What is this Nightwraiths incident anyway? And why, after this many years does anyone care, anyway?”
Devin leaned back in his chair as he continued to pay half attention to the transcript that one of Salem’s sprites was keeping of the audio in the room they were watching by AR. “I don’t honestly think it’s connected to the later jobs. It’s just a thread to pull people together and test them. But I could be missing something. The short version is this – at the Peak of the Eurowars a bunch of British Nightwraith bombers show up out of nowhere all over the various fronts, and proceed to bomb the utter shit out of everyone. Britain claims to have no hand in it. In effect, it hastens the end of the Eurowars. There have been rumors for years that the operation was Crown funded and Initiated – but at the time the British Monarchy didn’t retain that kind of power. It’d be fairly scandalous if it turns out they indeed did/do. Does it really matter in the long run? No. But someone wants to know what really happened, and they want to share it with the world… and they want to use it to train a team to be able to do what comes next. Simple. The Journal is the first piece, if its legit.”
“Thanks for the history lesson.” Juni scoffed, “I still don’t see the point. I mean, we could be having them steal something worthwhile.”
“It’s been worthwhile to someone to keep it hidden all this time. Maybe that’s the point.” Devin opined. “Maybe our benefactor wants to blackmail someone. If he’s really a dragon, maybe he just wants to horde it.”
“What *is* the score on that, anyway?” Juni inquired as she got up and stretched, then pulled the pen she was using to hold her hair up out and shook out her hair. It was a lot longer then she used to wear it.
~Uncertain.~ Salem stated in a slightly detached voice that overrode both of their audio feeds.
Juni jumped slightly, “Woman, that wasn’t nice.”
~Neither is trying to catch my man’s eye just because I’m not physically in the room. And not thinking I’d notice.~ Salem replied coolly, ~In any case there are some inconsistencies from our original meeting. I don’t think that was Ghostwalker – or one of his mouthpieces. But we didn’t have time to source a mage and get him onsite to verify a few things. The money is certainly real enough so far though. And there’s no reason it couldn’t be him behind the curtain. Someone certainly wants us to think it’s him. I’m currently trying to trace the funds, but whoever routed them did a damned good job. I’ll find them, eventually though.~
“Yeah… but we’ve all seen the list of things we’re supposed to get, eventually. Even our initial data gathering makes it clear these are Artifacts with a capital A. My money is still on a Dragon. Too slick to be a straight Corp op.”
“Fair enough.” Juni agreed with a slight nod. “Looks like the meeting’s breaking up. I put money on the renta-cop pulling a stupid on this one.”
“No deal. He’s definitely the weak link.” Devin smirked. “Salem dear, put traces on all of them and let’s keep tabs via the matrix on them. Definitely want to be a bird on the wire for their planning session.”
~Done five minutes ago.~ Salem replied as their security feeds dropped. ~Gotta get back to work on this side of the Atlantic. Be good – I’ll be in touch.~
“Nosy, isn’t she.” Juni murmured as she and Devin packed up their gear.
“I’m halfway around the world with a woman who in her opinion did her level best to get myself and her killed on a fairly regular basis – and generally terrorize us along the way. So, yes she’s probably nosy. And I don’t blame her. Hell, I miss her.” Devin snorted.
“Well, don’t worry dear, you’re not my type.”
“Oh? What is your type?” He inquired.
“Honestly? I don’t know. But you’re far to blunt for my taste, “ Juni teased.
“Not enough bootlicker for you?” Devin smirked.
“Nope. Not even close.”
*******
‘And,’ Salem thought to herself as she finally killed the connection, a satisfied smile on her lips from her husband’s response to Juni, ‘There’s not enough actual *woman* left of you – Juni.’
Scrubbing her fingers through her hair as she pushed the warm blanket of the wireless matrix away Salem got up and stretched. She still had two meat space meetings this afternoon. The UCAS IRS wanted to do an audit of their last six quarters of business. It was a pretty common occurrence since she’d ‘reappeared’. They hadn’t found anything odd yet, and Salem was going to make sure they never did. That didn’t mean it was going to be easy. The IRS was still the IRS.
Nothing was as sure in life as their pursuit of money to claim for the government. Except maybe death. And she had a long way to go before she intended to shuffle off her mortal coil. Might as well get on with it.
“Caroline, let my three o’clock know I’m on my way.” Salem stated, her agent picking up her voice through the room’s audio pickups. “Time to go protect my money.”
“Your father and I were just going over last quarter’s financial records hon. and we’ve noticed a few irregularities.” Petal Zephyr replied as she shook her head slightly, “Do you have time to discuss them?”
“I can make the time.” Salem relented after a moment, as she threaded a search program to pull up the quarterly earnings report. As she recalled it, profits were up, and her parent’s quarterly stipend of those profits had been paid on time. “What’s the problem?”
“Well…” Her mother hedged for a moment, “There seems to be a little too much profit, yes? We only have six open job sites currently, and the usual return for those services doesn’t match the profit inflow. I may be getting a little old, daughter, but I can still add. What exactly is going on here – you’re not scrimping on service are you dear?”
Salem sighed slightly, this was going to be easier then she’d feared, “Mother, all six of those cleanup sites are using both our mage teams, and the new nano-scrubbers that R&D patented last year. The Nano-scrubbers are exceptionally low cost to operate now that we have them running, but our use costs reflect the R&D budget we’re looking to recoup. I promise you, it’s all above board.”
And it was, mostly. Devin’s first pay from what they were terming BlueCollar between themselves had come in just at the tail end of the quarter, which had bumped projected earnings by a little over a percent, as she’d tucked the money in here and there.
“I’m not a big fan of those technological marvels you know,” Her mother reproved, “Too easy to be misused in the wrong hands.”
It always amazed Salem how… naive her mother could be about things. It wasn’t like there weren’t plenty of mages out there who made their living blowing things up, killing people or any number of other destructive professions. But her mother was one of the early magus’s. And a flower child to boot. And her father had more or less settled into her mother’s world view, assuming he ever held a different one. It explained much about Zephyr Industries niche in the world as the environmental clean-up crew for any AAA corp that couldn’t be bothered to clean up its own mess – which was most of them.
Salem though had big dreams. And those dreams didn’t include taking out someone else’s trash for the rest of her days. Even if it did pay rather well, and that’s why she’d agreed to BlueCollar in the first place. She needed capital for investment. And this would bring it to her faster than anything else. She just had to find creative ways to *hide* it from her parents a while longer.
“We’ve had this discussion before mother. Our Nano-tech is a positive force on the environment, not a negative one. It’s been proven safe in every way that matters – and its making us money.”
“Just be wary daughter. The path of greed will never end in a good place.” Her mother reproved gently before changing the subject, “By the by, where did that Beau of yours get off to now?”
“He’s doing a site survey in the UK mom. Potential new client. He’ll be back late next week – last I checked his itinerary.”
“You two aren’t having problems, are you? This is the second or third place you’ve wandered him off to on his own in the last month. Usually you two are near on inseparable.”
“We each have jobs to do Mom, we’re fine. I’d rather he was here at home, but part of his job is assessing new site security and since I took over as CEO, I’m not as able to travel as I once was. Maybe if the board wasn’t so against meeting in VR, or at least by ARO. “Salem trailed off as a window flashed in the opposite corner of her vision. Ten minutes before Devin was going to expect her to provide matrix overwatch for himself and Juni.
“The board has run this company quite for longer then you’ve been alive, by sticking to the old ways.” Petal stated sharply as she started to get spun up on one of her rants.
“Mom, enough. You’re not even old enough to remember the ‘old ways’ you so strongly cherish. You were raised in a druid commune and all I get it. Except that they were a bunch of Wiccan’s before the awakening. And Wicca was created by someone to be a poor, new age substitute for what people think *might* have been Celtic druidism. We’ve had this argument at least a thousand times since I was thirteen. And I’m not rehashing it beyond that now. I’ve got a business to run, and my beau, as you like to call him – is calling.”
Her mother harrumphed, but cut the connection after a quick “I still love you.”
With a sigh, Salem slumped in her chair. She loved her mother, but the woman could be horribly trying at times. Closing her eyes she hummed to herself as she felt the brush of her favorite Agent – Caroline on her consciousness. She’d built Caroline years before, and had only been tweaking the code since then. She wasn’t an AI, though she did occasionally get confused with one by Matrix newbies and she kept track of all sorts of things for Salem. Her Icon was that of a classic, curvy 1950’s secretary. Salem wasn’t much of a fan of the ‘old days’ but she’d seen the style from the time period about the same time she originally built Caroline, and the style stuck.
~Five minutes.~ Caroline crooned.
~More than enough time.~ Salem thought to herself as she idly brushed a lock of her hair behind a sharp pointed ear, then mentally fell into the stream of wireless data that enveloped the room.
*******
“This is the best you could put together?” Juni groaned softly as she and Devin watched the security feed from the Greater London Gentleman's Club.
“I don’t exactly have an abundance of contacts in the United Kingdom. And the job was pretty clear. Put together a bunch of no-names, and turn them into runners. This is about as no-name as we’re going to get.” Devin pointed out. “And at least none of them look as brain-dead as Johnny used to be. And I suppose, currently is.”
“That’s not saying much.” Juni pointed out with a slight grimace, “I would have never picked him if it had been left up to me. But then, I don’t think I’d have picked you, or Guk. Or Salem for that matter so I suppose there could be a few diamonds in the rough here. This job though… what’s the angle?”
“Well, I wrote the script on this one. The ‘job’ was in the contract –you know that well enough. I want to see how well they can follow directions when given an incentive to do so. Be good to see if they can do this ‘soft’ rather than ‘hard’. Took me a long time to teach Guk the benefits of soft.”
“Fair enough – but a dusty old journal? What is this Nightwraiths incident anyway? And why, after this many years does anyone care, anyway?”
Devin leaned back in his chair as he continued to pay half attention to the transcript that one of Salem’s sprites was keeping of the audio in the room they were watching by AR. “I don’t honestly think it’s connected to the later jobs. It’s just a thread to pull people together and test them. But I could be missing something. The short version is this – at the Peak of the Eurowars a bunch of British Nightwraith bombers show up out of nowhere all over the various fronts, and proceed to bomb the utter shit out of everyone. Britain claims to have no hand in it. In effect, it hastens the end of the Eurowars. There have been rumors for years that the operation was Crown funded and Initiated – but at the time the British Monarchy didn’t retain that kind of power. It’d be fairly scandalous if it turns out they indeed did/do. Does it really matter in the long run? No. But someone wants to know what really happened, and they want to share it with the world… and they want to use it to train a team to be able to do what comes next. Simple. The Journal is the first piece, if its legit.”
“Thanks for the history lesson.” Juni scoffed, “I still don’t see the point. I mean, we could be having them steal something worthwhile.”
“It’s been worthwhile to someone to keep it hidden all this time. Maybe that’s the point.” Devin opined. “Maybe our benefactor wants to blackmail someone. If he’s really a dragon, maybe he just wants to horde it.”
“What *is* the score on that, anyway?” Juni inquired as she got up and stretched, then pulled the pen she was using to hold her hair up out and shook out her hair. It was a lot longer then she used to wear it.
~Uncertain.~ Salem stated in a slightly detached voice that overrode both of their audio feeds.
Juni jumped slightly, “Woman, that wasn’t nice.”
~Neither is trying to catch my man’s eye just because I’m not physically in the room. And not thinking I’d notice.~ Salem replied coolly, ~In any case there are some inconsistencies from our original meeting. I don’t think that was Ghostwalker – or one of his mouthpieces. But we didn’t have time to source a mage and get him onsite to verify a few things. The money is certainly real enough so far though. And there’s no reason it couldn’t be him behind the curtain. Someone certainly wants us to think it’s him. I’m currently trying to trace the funds, but whoever routed them did a damned good job. I’ll find them, eventually though.~
“Yeah… but we’ve all seen the list of things we’re supposed to get, eventually. Even our initial data gathering makes it clear these are Artifacts with a capital A. My money is still on a Dragon. Too slick to be a straight Corp op.”
“Fair enough.” Juni agreed with a slight nod. “Looks like the meeting’s breaking up. I put money on the renta-cop pulling a stupid on this one.”
“No deal. He’s definitely the weak link.” Devin smirked. “Salem dear, put traces on all of them and let’s keep tabs via the matrix on them. Definitely want to be a bird on the wire for their planning session.”
~Done five minutes ago.~ Salem replied as their security feeds dropped. ~Gotta get back to work on this side of the Atlantic. Be good – I’ll be in touch.~
“Nosy, isn’t she.” Juni murmured as she and Devin packed up their gear.
“I’m halfway around the world with a woman who in her opinion did her level best to get myself and her killed on a fairly regular basis – and generally terrorize us along the way. So, yes she’s probably nosy. And I don’t blame her. Hell, I miss her.” Devin snorted.
“Well, don’t worry dear, you’re not my type.”
“Oh? What is your type?” He inquired.
“Honestly? I don’t know. But you’re far to blunt for my taste, “ Juni teased.
“Not enough bootlicker for you?” Devin smirked.
“Nope. Not even close.”
*******
‘And,’ Salem thought to herself as she finally killed the connection, a satisfied smile on her lips from her husband’s response to Juni, ‘There’s not enough actual *woman* left of you – Juni.’
Scrubbing her fingers through her hair as she pushed the warm blanket of the wireless matrix away Salem got up and stretched. She still had two meat space meetings this afternoon. The UCAS IRS wanted to do an audit of their last six quarters of business. It was a pretty common occurrence since she’d ‘reappeared’. They hadn’t found anything odd yet, and Salem was going to make sure they never did. That didn’t mean it was going to be easy. The IRS was still the IRS.
Nothing was as sure in life as their pursuit of money to claim for the government. Except maybe death. And she had a long way to go before she intended to shuffle off her mortal coil. Might as well get on with it.
“Caroline, let my three o’clock know I’m on my way.” Salem stated, her agent picking up her voice through the room’s audio pickups. “Time to go protect my money.”
