Imladir
Dec 27 2016, 01:26 AM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 12th, 2075 - Seattle] #536Cynthia grimaces
"Looks like. Don't try to find who, for now anyway..." With a sigh, she sends the recording of the construction site's underground, beginning after the reboot. Then, she starts to read the file she was just sent.
~~~~~~ OOC ~~~~~~
Damn, she put two Marks on me and I didn't notice? I really must start paying more attention to that...
Mercy
Dec 27 2016, 02:06 AM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 13th, 2076, 1556 - Seattle]
The file is heavily encrypted and will take you a bit of time to work it out. Essentially, it is a communication trail that covers several weeks of messages back and forth between Probus, Sr. and someone with a user ID of Grand Marquis. The tone of the messages starts with reminding Probus of certain debts he has incurred in the expansion of his business and for sending business his way. Probus starts off blustering then gets quite angry, but there is a sudden shift to his tone about a month ago and he becomes more compliant to the demands of the Grand Marquis. The demands of the sender do not seem all that severe, as it appears that he only wants the firm to continue working on the project as the original project required. Also, he is to provide a promotion to Charles Fines to the position of one of the junior partners and allow him unfettered access to the files without any attempt at oversight.
OOC> Yeah. You both probably need to run sweeps on yourselves more often.
Imladir
Dec 27 2016, 02:16 AM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 12th, 2075 - Seattle] #537Cynthia grumbles a bit, then performs a search to see who this Charles Fines is. Probably the employee who was running silent. Wich would mean she'd need to go back there...
Still, even if it's an alias, at least she has a name: Grand Marquis. Though she won't bother performing a search right now, if there's something to find, it will require to go quite deep in the Matrix. Not something she will do in the current circumstances...
~~~~~~ OOC ~~~~~~
Sweeps and I'll take the Matrix defence action more often...
Matrix Search:
14d6t5 4
Mercy
Dec 27 2016, 02:31 AM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 13th, 2076, 1557 - Seattle]
Charles Fines was hired into the company in the round of hirings that the firm had just before beginning work on the Goldstein Building. Before that, Probus and Sons had been a relatively small firm and had needed new talent to work on the new projects they were getting. Fines has risen steadily up the firm's ladder, but was stonewalled at just below the junior partner level until just about a month ago, when he was promoted quite suddenly and is not the number two man on the Goldstein project. he is married with two children and lives in the trendy section of Queen Annes Hill, having just bought a home there on the strength of his promotion and raise. This is about all you can get from public sources without going back into the host to look at his HR files.
Imladir
Dec 27 2016, 02:37 AM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 12th, 2075 - Seattle] #538
Cynthia sighs. She can't exactly go back to the Host right now. Maybe tomorrow at best, but even then, it might be too dangerous. What she may be able to do however, is go not too far from Fines' house. With a bit of luck, there are interesting things on his own 'link.
That being said, there's something she didn't check: what are in the files she did get. She's not expecting a miracle, but it doesn't hurt to check... Plus... Yeah, later.
Mercy
Dec 27 2016, 02:51 AM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 13th, 2076, 1600 - Seattle]
Suzee sighs. "OK, I have this encryption broken on what you sent me and can send you the cleaned files. Do you have a similar one for my file so I do not have to decrypt it?" She sends you the decrypted files for you to look at. Most of these are blueprints of various projects the firm is involved in and without some experience reading them, they might as well still be encrypted. All three of the major projects in the city seem to have been funneled their way as well as a number of smaller ones. Included with each file is a list of the architects involved in each project. It almost skips your notice, but you do not find Charles Fines' name on any of the lists.
Suzee sighs. "Wow, these guys certainly did get a lot of work in a short time. The company exploded to almost a hundred architects and engineers within the last couple of years. Oh, by the way, I am sure that you have already noticed, but the blueprints of the Goldstein Building in this file do not match what you have seen on the ground. Something is very wrong here."
Imladir
Dec 27 2016, 02:56 AM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 12th, 2075 - Seattle] #539
Cynthia snorts "At this point, the difference between reality and plans is just a curiosity, nothing more."
She hesitates for a moment, eager to do something else, but instead decides to ask "So, what do you want to do now?"
Mercy
Dec 27 2016, 03:06 AM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 13th, 2076, 1602 - Seattle]
Suzee hesitates a moment then says, "We will need to go back in there, won't we? I do not think it is too smart to go right away, though, what with the spider and IC all aroused. We were going to go back to the others, but that might be a bad idea. Do you have anything in mind that might need a hacker and a rigger? If not, you can just drop us off somewhere and we will look for a place to stay overnight. We have each other's com codes already."
Imladir
Dec 27 2016, 03:15 AM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 12th, 2075 - Seattle] #540
Cynthia doesn't answer right away, while thinking about how the two other girls could help her. If she wants to take that risk. She would have to tell them more at some point of she does, which could be quite dangerous. Then again, if all this is some kind of elaborate trap, it's far too late. Maybe she can offer them a chance to just disappear though.
After a minute, she says "I suppose you know about the recent rash of violence in town in the last few days? Bombs, assassinations, fake gangs war and so on? All of that is linked to why you are in so much troubles. So it may be best for you if you just disappear for a few weeks if you don't want to get in the middle of all that instead of on the fringes."
Mercy
Dec 27 2016, 03:49 PM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 13th, 2076, 1604 - Seattle]
That has the other two quiet for a couple of minutes. Suzee's voice wavers just a bit when she answers. "Maybe you're right and we should just disappear. It is getting pretty dangerous and we only got in this in the first place to raise a point, not get killed. I think I'm out. Sandy?"
There is another moment of silence from the girl in the passenger seat up front. "Where are you going to go hide, Suzee. Whoever this is will still find you, right?"
"No, I can call mom and have her send enough money to get me home."
"I thought you hated your parents?"
"No, not really, I guess. Maybe. But what I do know is that I want out of this and they can help. You coming?"
More silence then a slight shake of the head. "No, Suzee. I am staying. Something very wrong is happening and someone needs to find out what and do something about it. At least try."
"Have it your own way. So, can you just let me out here? I am gone."
Imladir
Dec 28 2016, 02:59 AM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 12th, 2075 - Seattle] #541
Cynthia shrugs. She probably wouldn't have made that choice, and probably did in fact choose the opposite. But among other things, Sandy probably knows best if she'd be safe at her parents'. Assuming she doesn't under-estimate Roger and his goons anyway... Still, that's her choice.
"The car has rebooted by now, so you just have to open the door and leave if that's what you want."
Then, she just waits for Sandy and Suzee to say good byes, while she climbs back on the driver's seat. Not that she intends to.really drive anything but...
Mercy
Dec 28 2016, 05:31 AM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 13th, 2076, 1606 - Seattle]
There is not even much of a goodbye when Suzee steps out of the car and walks away. The girl next to you shakes her head and softly says, "And I would have thought I would quit before her. She was always one of the most strident. Maybe the thing with that guy Roger has something to do with it. I hope that she gets home."
There is a moment of silence from her then, "So, what about me? I am a damned good rigger and have a number of toys I can use to help you, but I am no hacker. I can drive a car like no one's business, though, even one without a fragging interface. Look, I am not into being a charity case, but I do have skills. Can you use them?"
Imladir
Dec 28 2016, 05:43 AM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 12th, 2075 - Seattle] #542
Cynthia seems a bit surprised by the lack of good-byes, but doesn't say anything. It's got nothing to do with her anyway... She looks at Sandy for a moment before answering "Probably. But just so we're clear, don't communicate anything, no matter how harmless it seems to your old group. Maybe I could use your help as soon as tonight, even if what I've planned should be quite straightforward. Depends on the kind of toys you've got I suppose."
She considers the question an instant, then adds "Speaking of toys, do you have to go somewhere to retrieve them?" She frowns, seems about to ask another question, but closes her mouth without another word.
Mercy
Dec 28 2016, 06:08 AM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 13th, 2076, 1607 - Seattle]
Sandy has been sitting with her legs pulled up to her chest but now she straightens one out and taps the floor of the car in front of her and you see a dark attache case lying on the floor. Her voice is still quite soft as she says, "I have some Fly Spies, a couple of armed Roto Drones, a Bumblebee. They are back at our meeting place so I guess I need to move them. Will that alert anyone who is watching me that I have left the group? Maybe I could just sort of send in a quit notice or something? Those toys and this case are my life and every spare nuyen I get goes into making them better. What do you think? Should I just bring them to me or what?"
Imladir
Dec 28 2016, 06:20 AM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 12th, 2075 - Seattle] #543Cynthia smiles lightly
"In fact, I've just thought about something else you could help me with. But first let's take care of your drones." she rubs her chin, pensive
"Odds are whatever place you're associated with is monitored, so going there would be a bad idea. No, it would be best to give the order to your drones to go someplace else. I'll check around in the Matrix that nothing is tagging them or following, then we'll retrieve them."She frowns
"Or send them them to another place, I don't think it'd be possible to stash rotodrones in the car. To say nothing of how visible it would be." She pauses, then cocks an eyebrow
"We could rent someplace to put everything in, or rent a van or something I suppose, what do you think would be best?"She also sends a message to Tanya
>>I may have a rigger support for tonight, would that be alright with you? Someone I think I can trust, but not too sure about yet. Oh and regarding Probus, they're being blackmailed to work on the project, by someone who's calling himself Grand Marquis. Dumbass name if you ask me. Maybe that's something to link with the son and his girlfriend? That would probably explain some stuff, and it's the simplest explanation. And Ockham's razor and all that... Anyway, seems like a Charles Fines is the one we'd be interested in if we want to know more about the plans, or at least the baddies' version of them. I grabbed some, but it might as well be Chinese as far as I'm concerned. That being said, it's probably just the normal ones, I didn't yet know about dear ol' Charles.<<~~~~~~ OOC ~~~~~~
I recently got some ideas about stuff Cynthia wants to do, so I bought a few knowledge skills to reflect that (stuff she probably got in high-school or at that time):
- Astronomy 4
- Mathematics 1
- Physics 1
And I added another one to reflect Cynthia's studies of some financial data in recent Hosts visits:
- Economics 1
And I got an idea for some project that Cynthia would really like to do, with Sandy's help probably, I'll introduce that in a few messages
Mercy
Dec 28 2016, 02:47 PM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 13th, 2076, 1608 - Seattle]
Sandy grimaces. "Yeah. I am thinking along the same lines. I can reboot them where they are then send them to another location to reboot them again then on to somewhere where we can pick them up. I suppose a van would be best, but...I, uh,....well, I do not have much money left. I plowed everything I have into my drones and my RCC. I could rent a van for a bit until I can afford to buy one and trick it out for the drones."
>>Rigger support? I do advise caution, but a good rigger would be helpful. He or she and any good?<<
Imladir
Dec 28 2016, 02:58 PM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 12th, 2075 - Seattle] #544
Cynthia shrugs "I can rent a van, at least that way you could keep your things nearby. I suppose you don't have anywhere to stay either for now, right? Good thing money is not really an issue for me at the moment. Which reminds me..." She blinks, then shakes her head "Nevermind. Bulldog okay for you?" Cynthia performs a small research to find some place nearby where she can rent a Bulldog for a couple of days. "Hey, how old are you by the way?"
To Tanya: >>No idea yet if she's any good or not. I should find out soon though. Or at least get some idea, I was thinking about getting her to scout my house to see if I can go there to grab some of the stuff I left there. She says she as flyspies, rotodrones and a Bumblebee, whatever that is. As for caution... Well, she tried to kidnap me with her hacker friend, but it was just a misunderstanding and it's all sorted out. So it should be good now. They have the misfortune of knowing Roger. Except they don't know who he is, and he doesn't seem to want to recruit them, but to kill them instead. The hacker left to go back to her family, but the rigger wants to stay so... Well, we'll see. And yes, I'll be careful. As much as I can be given the circumstances anyway.<<
Mercy
Dec 29 2016, 06:34 AM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 13th, 2076, 1610 - Seattle]
Sandy gets a faraway look in her eyes. "Yeah, a bulldog would work great. I could really trick one out, but of course, not a rental. Still, it will do great, yeah. But I do not know how I will pay you back." She looks out the passenger window before answering your question. "If I cannot go back to the house, I got no place to stay. And I am seventeen. Seventeen as of last Tuesday. I suppose now you are going to say I am too young to help? But I have good skills and can help you. Just give me a chance."
>>A Bumblebee? Frag, the girl has a machine gun on a drone? Be careful with her. Those are pretty rare and pretty illegal. So, this Roger seems to be popping up all over the place. I hope that they really grab him tomorrow and take him out of our hair. Please be careful and let me know if you need anything.<<
Imladir
Dec 29 2016, 06:44 AM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 12th, 2075 - Seattle] #545
Cynthia snorts "What, do you think I'm fourty or something?" She shakes her head "Alright, bulldog it is then. As for money... Don't get me killed, help me get to the end of this, and then we'll see. For now, it's not too important. And I suppose I can find you a place to stay. You have a SIN to rent the thing?"
As she talks, Cynthia orders the car to drive to the rental place she chose.
To Tanya: >>Yeah, I hope they grab Roger too, it will be difficult to avoid him and still appear normal... I'll let you know for the rigger before tonight.<<
Mercy
Dec 29 2016, 07:23 AM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 13th, 2076, 1612 - Seattle]
>>Alright. That is all you then. Ciao<<
Sandy turns from the window to look at you. "No, not forty. Maybe in your twenties, though, so perhaps twenty-five? Anyway, it does not matter because you sound so calm and in command while I am sweating bullets that you are going to open the door and tell me to pound sand. Su.......Suzee was that way, like you, I mean. She was always in control, even after Roger joined our group. They were thick as thieves, those two, and I know she relied on him to get stuff organized. I am sure that him being a hacker helped, but I did feel a bit put out. We all did, at least until we started dying off or just going missing and not showing up any more. I wonder what they will think now that Suzee and I are gone without any warning? Are you sure that I cannot at least let Roger know where I am so that he can tell the others on the QT?"
Imladir
Dec 29 2016, 07:38 AM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 12th, 2075 - Seattle] #546
Cynthia groans "First, I'm seventeen too. Twenty-five..." she shakes her head, and, not liking to have to say it, adds "Second, since you do not know who is after you, you shouldn't tell anyone anything, and absolutely not under any circumstances where you are and with who. The wrong thing could end up in the wrong ear after all."
She sighs "If you need to, tell your group that they should go underground for a week or two, and avoid talking to anyone since it's not safe. Hell, say you suspect one of the missing members to be after you, it wouldn't hurt and that way the real culprit won't thing anything is wrong." After a small pause, she adds "Assuming it's not the missing person of course. After that, if they're not smart enough to do the right thing, there's nothing you can do... But I'd rather you didn't say anything. Two more people missing should indication enough they have to go to ground." She shrugs.
Mercy
Dec 29 2016, 02:41 PM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 13th, 2076, 1614 - Seattle]
Sandy nods slowly, obviously considering what you have said. "Seventeen? Really? You seem older than that. And you are right. Some of us have already talked about splitting the group up and going dark due to the number of people we had go missing or dead. Suzee and Roger wanted to keep things going, but I could tell that they were close to making the decision to scatter, but, hell, Roger was so under her thumb that he would do what Suzee wanted. I guess that two more of us disappearing ought to make the decision easy, especially without Suzee to keep them together." She snorts. "Poor Roger won't know what to do, but my guess is that she will try to contact him and tell him."
Imladir
Dec 29 2016, 02:51 PM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 12th, 2075 - Seattle] #547
Cynthia moans "Drek..." She rubs her forehead "Contact Suzee. And tell her that under no circumstances should she talk to Roger." She closes her eyes an instant, then adds "Don't you see? Roger is the one killing hackers left and right. He's a big-wig in some Megacorp, he even has the rank of Major there. So don't feel too much pity for him... And yes, I have proofs."
She groans again "And tell her to not do anything with that information. Not contacting anyone, not trying to see him or get him down, nothing. She wanted to disappear, she has to, and silently, without so much as a peep. Make really sure she understands that. Otherwise she'll be killed, and won't be the only one, we'll go down too. It's not a game." She smiles lightly "Well it is... But it is a deadly game. So no mistakes here. Though she can come back if she decides to take revenge. I don't care, as long as Roger doesn't learn anything at all."
She rubs her eyes with a grimace "Frag, I hope you're not working for him, otherwise I'm toast..."
Mercy
Dec 29 2016, 03:33 PM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 13th, 2076, 1615 - Seattle]
Sandy looks shocked. "Roger? Are you sure? He comes across as such a dweeb, you know. Always a bit smarmy and completely under Sezee's thumb, or mostly, anyway. He did try it on with me, once by putting his hand up my skirt" She blushes. "I was so shocked I did not know what to do and he was able to......well, he got more than he should have before I got myself together and moved away. I told him that I was not interested and he never tried it again, although I suspect he did try it on with some of the other girls in the group afterwards. He had such a smug sort of look a couple of times after being alone with Carla or Fionna, you know? Alright, I will send a quick note to Suzee and I hope that she listens. After that I will cut the connection and change my comm code. By the way, if you are trying to scare me, it is working."
Imladir
Dec 29 2016, 03:41 PM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 12th, 2075 - Seattle] #548
Cynthia seems a bit surprised for a moment. Could it be another Roger? That one doesn't sound at all like the one she knows, but... Well, the "Major" didn't feel like the one she knows either so... Better safe than sorry. "Given the number of dead in the last few days, being a bit afraid is not a bad thing... As long as Suzee stays quiet, everything's fine. Or at least not worse than before. Just tell her to lie low and that you'll warn her when danger as passed, and it'll be peachy."
Looking outside, she adds "We're there. You have a SIN to rent the Bulldog? Fake or otherwise, I don't care." Unless it's a Renraku one anyway... "Much..."
Mercy
Dec 30 2016, 05:42 AM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 13th, 2076, 1700 - Seattle]
Sandy looks out the window at the Rent-A-Wreck you have parked at. "Yeah, I got a SIN I can use. You coming in or is this all me?"
Imladir
Dec 30 2016, 06:03 AM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 12th, 2075 - Seattle] #549
Cynthia shrugs "I'm coming, it'll be easier to pay that way."
She then exits the car and once Sandy has joined her, she walks to the shop with her. Crossing the street, she asks "So... What do you do when not taking care of your minions?"
Mercy
Dec 30 2016, 06:57 PM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 13th, 2076, 1702 - Seattle]
For the first time since you met her, Sandy cracks a real smile and chuckles. "Minions. I like that. Makes me feel all evil scientist type. Seriously? I was a student at the U, majoring in applied physical sciences with a focus on drones. I was learning things that supported my habit and was actually doing well, grade wise. Then I met Suzee on a chat site and got all involved in this activist group. She and I seemed to hit it off really good and she introduced me to the others. I sort of dropped my classes and went full time activist, going to protests and the like. We were digging up dirt on all of the people involved, from the governor to the mayor and anyone else associated with the Goldstein Building project. I sometimes felt filthy just reading some of the things we found out. We were going to go public with our information but suddenly we started dying or disappearing and the rest of the group was talking about just quitting. I did not want to quit and talked Suzee into doing this job at Probus. And now she has quit."
Imladir
Dec 30 2016, 09:01 PM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 12th, 2075 - Seattle] #550
Cynthia chuckles "Really? That's funny, I'm in the middle of all of this... or well... Not really on the fringes of it all, and I'm considering enlisting to University. Probably for the Fall term. I'm not quite sure yet in what specialties. Well, apart the Matrix one of course."
After a few more steps, she asks "Do you know anything about rockets? Or are at least interested a bit in those? More specifically their construction and operation?"
Mercy
Dec 30 2016, 09:11 PM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 13th, 2076, 1703 - Seattle]
Sandy stops as you approach the door to the rental office and laughs. "That is just odd that you would ask that question. I am afraid that I know very little about rockets, actually, but i would be interested if I could make one a drone. That's me in a nutshell; I can do a lot of things with drones, or anything with a proper interface, but little beyond that. I guess I have sort of narrowed my focus a bit, eh?"
She resumes walking with you and you enter the door to the office. A nice-looking young man standing behind a counter looks up from a terminal and smiles at the two of you. "How can I help you this afternoon?"
Imladir
Dec 30 2016, 09:16 PM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 12th, 2075 - Seattle] #551
Cynthia rubs her chin for a second, with a small smile "Well, I've always liked the stars, galaxies and so on. I was thinking about getting my own telescope, probably a small one, in the periphery of Seattle. But with a rigger available..." She looks at the sky, a dreamy smile on her lips "Imagine if we could build a rocket. I'd take care of the software side of things, while you'd take care of the hardware. And both of us worked on the design... Wouldn't it be cool to launch a telescope in orbit, with our very own rocket?" She shrugs, a bit embarrassed "Not sure it'd be possible to build all that, but... I'd bet it'd be wicked cool..." eyes sparkling, she adds "And I'd bet there aren't a lot of riggers who flew into space..."
Looking at the man, she stops, and nods in greetings "Hi. We'd like to rent a van for a few days. Not sure which one exactly..." at that, Cynthia looks at Sandy, waiting for her to decide which van she wants.
Mercy
Dec 30 2016, 11:06 PM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 13th, 2076, 1704 - Seattle]
"Rockets, huh? That might be interesting. Way out of my study zone, but maybe we can find someone to help with the rocket part."
The man looks to Sandy as well, and she nods, her personality becoming a bit different as she outlines the requirements for the vehicle. The man gulps at the information flow but manages to keep up with her on his terminal. He shakes his head and looks grimly at the machine in front of him. "Those are some pretty specialized requirements, Miss. I am afraid that we don't have anything quite like that in the rental area. I do have a rather generic Bulldog, though. Seen some better years, but is still a good go. They were made tough to last." He looks up at the two of you and his smile falters a bit. "Got a bit of a problem, though. There is an age requirement of twenty years old, so unless one of you is a few years older than she looks or has a parent waiting outside, I am afraid I have to say no."
Sandy doesn't blink an eye as she smiles at the young man and says, "But your sign over there says that you rent to Uni students with appropriate ID. I am assuming that means a student ID and a good SIN. Am I right?"
The man blinks and nods. Sandy activates an ARO that shows her as registered for classes at the U. It also indicates that she has a SIN and that her name is Sandra Huffington and an address on Queen Anne Hill. The GOOD part of that neighborhood. The man checks the data and nods. "In that case, please sign the document I will be printing." His terminal pings and spits out a document that he turns to her and has her initial in several places and sign in two. "That will be 100 Nuyen a day, unlimited mileage. You will need to fill up the tank before turning it in. Now, should I send a bill to your address?"
Sandy initials and signs as appropriate but shakes her head at his question. "No, thank you, this is for a class we are taking, not for private use. We will cover the costs and get reimbursed by the prof when we are done." She turns to look at you. "How many days do we need this for the coursework, Ellie? Three or four? Maybe five to be sure?"
Imladir
Dec 30 2016, 11:15 PM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 12th, 2075 - Seattle] #552
Cynthia blinks a few times in surprise. Not so much at Sandy - Sandra's - (maybe) real identity than at the way she handles the discussion. After all, she doesn't exactly come from a poor family herself. But as for lying like that, she wouldn't be able to. Not outside of the matrix anyway.
After a few false starts, she frowns and answers "We'll need it until Sunday. So four days, five if we count today." With that, she performs a transfer of 500 nuyen "Here's the payment."
Mercy
Dec 30 2016, 11:34 PM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 13th, 2076, 1707 - Seattle]
The young man takes your stick and transfers the sum indicated. "It is only four days if you have it back by 1700 on Sunday. You can collect the difference when you bring it in, but this way we won't be looking for you until after 1700 on Monday. You have indicated that you accept that you will be held liable for any new damage to the van. The document I am giving you indicates the current status of the vehicle, to include and small dents and body marks. Please do a thorough walk around of the vehicle and list any noticed issues that are not already on the form." He smiles and a green arrow appears in front of Sandy as he hands her a set of keys. "Just follow the arrow to your vehicle. Drive safely, please. I hope to see you back on Sunday afternoon. Oh, there is a station not too far from here that will not charge too outrageous a price to fill the tank." He smiles at both of you as Sandy takes the form from him.
She looks at you and it seems that a shadow has fallen over her face as she nods at the ARO. "Shall we?"
Imladir
Dec 30 2016, 11:44 PM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 12th, 2075 - Seattle] #553
Cynthia nods in thanks at the man "Thank you."
She then turns to Sandy. She frowns when she notices the shadow, but unable to understand where it comes from, she doesn't know how she's supposed to react. As a consequence, she chooses to ignore it, and simply answers the question "Indeed we shall. I'll let you look at the vehicle, I don't know anything about all that..."
Mercy
Dec 31 2016, 12:47 AM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 13th, 2076, 1709 - Seattle]
Sandy nods as the two of you follow the arrow out into the lot and over to a Bulldog van parked along a fence line. She unlocks the vehicle and steps up into the driver's seat. Reaching to the ignition, she slips the hey in and the engine turns over. Sandy looks at you, the curtain lifted again, and smiles at you. "It's got an interface. Let me check the vehicle out and I will be back with you in a sec." She pulls a length of cable from her neck and jacks it into the rigger interface on the dashboard of the van and her body collapses in the seat, almost falling over. Various internal and external lights flash on and off and then she is back. "Hmmm. The guy was telling the truth about the condition of this thing. I cannot find any physical faults that are not already identified on the form he gave us."
She swings her legs back out of the door and looks at you. "Thanks for helping and thanks for not asking a bunch of questions right away. So, what is our plan? I can have the drones come to me and put them in the van from almost anywhere. And you have a car to worry about. Where do we go first?"
Imladir
Dec 31 2016, 12:58 AM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 12th, 2075 - Seattle] #554
Cynthia shrugs "No problem. As long as it doesn't put what we're doing in danger, I don't intend to pry. Not that I'm not curious, but... if I ask questions, I figure I'll have to answer some too. So it might not be your privacy I'm respecting..."
She looks around, pensive "As for the plan, first step is to fill the tank of this ogre, then retrieve your drones while making sure nothing or no one is following...and that they don't draw too much attention while getting into the van. Once this is done, I'll need your help to scout my house. I'm not sure it's safe to go there, but I'd like to get some stuff. Then I suppose we'll get you a room and diner. After that... Well, we'll see the rest later. As for the car, it can drive itself just fine. I'll send it someplace safe and out of the way for now."
Mercy
Dec 31 2016, 09:43 AM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 13th, 2075, 1711 - Seattle]
Sandy nods. "The tank is already full. I think he meant to have it full when we return it. Once we get in and find a good place to park, I can summon the drones to someplace and then jump into each one to check for marks before bringing them to me. Dinner sounds great, although I probably have enough to cover that. A place to stay might be harder, depending on where we stop. We need a place where the van won't disappear on us in the middle of the night. And you know I will help you scout your place."
Imladir
Dec 31 2016, 09:49 AM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 12th, 2075 - Seattle] #555Cynthia shrugs
"Don't worry for the van, I have just the place to go. Nothing'll happen to it there, the rooms aren't expensive but safe. It's pretty nice" Jumping in the passenger's seat, Cynthia sends an order to her car, telling it to go park nearby the ACHE. It's reasonably situated and at least as importantly, there are so many things nearby she could be there for any number of reasons.
"Ok, let's go look for your drones." She looks outside for a moment, then adds
"Though you should order them to go wireless off once you've given the order at midpoint, less risks that way. I'll check for bugs then, though you should make sure no one put something physical. Maybe it's a bit paranoid but..."On the way, Cynthia spends some time retrieving Tanaka's latest communications, to improve her file on his operations, contacts, etc. She keeps an eye on the financial aspect of things, but there's one more thing she's interested in: she wants to see if the name
Grand Marquis appears in there somewhere, or maybe the Woods, Probus or Franklins (owners of the company building the Goldstein Building), other name that have recently popped on her radar. At some point, she asks Sandy
"By the way, why Sandy instead of Sandra?"Once she has everything she could from Tanaka's communications, she reviews the finance files from Avila she got yesterday, to see if maybe she missed something, or if a new recent element can shed some new light in there.
~~~~~~ OOC ~~~~~~
For yakuza business operations
Economics:
7d6t5 1Yakuza:
8d6t5 4Matrix Search:
14d6t5 3 (to supplement what I already know, fill some missing parts, find some missing links, etc.)
For cross-referencing Tanaka's communications and operations with stuff found on the Woods, Probus, Franklins
Matrix Search:
14d6t5 3Avila's finances:
Economics:
7d6t5 3I was beginning to get a bit lost in all the information I had, the things that were planned, and stuff I wanted to look into, so I went back on the thread to gather the relevant information. I didn't include stuff from the Resonance Realm, since Cynthia doesn't remember that. Everything is there if you want:
[ Spoiler ]
The (evil) Cabal
→ Wants to unleash a "horrible series of several strains of weaponized bio agents on another segment of the population"
→ Targets are non→humans
→ All for profit (under pretty words)
The (good) Cabal
→ Tanya is a member
Sampson Industries
→ Board: 3 highly placed members of the Yakuza, 3 mid→level suits from Renraku
→→ Yakuza members are Phil Tanaka, Obi Shinosetsu, Aki Watanabe
→→ Tanya turned one of the renraku guys
→→→ The guy was removed from the board around april
→→→ Was assassinated on the 9th
→→→ Was sending some of the anthrax and documents to Tanya via courier
→ Something odd about shareholders
→ Publicly traded on the Big Board in NY, UCAS
→ Fully owns a bunch of corporations
→→ Avila Transports
→→ Gimbell fgoods
→→ Grainger Manufacturing
→→ Liston Pharmaceuticals
→→ Tolston Electronics
→→ Weidener Security
→ Partially owns many other corporations
→→ 12 with at least majority
→→ "an array" of companies where they have less than 50% outstanding stock
Liston Pharmaceuticals
→ William Jennings, CEO, currently in Bogota
→ Six drug patents delayed by the UCAS, CAS and Greater Europe
→ Four of their best minds left in the past two years
→ Two more were killed in Switzerland (skiing holliday)
→ Rumors of malfeasance among the senior board members
→ All problems disappeared when the company was sold a low price (to Simpson probably)
→→ Patents approved, scientists hired back, rumors put to rest
→ Has facilities in many countries
→ Earns a lot with new drugs
→ A bit less than a year ago, Liston's UCAS facility was raided and anthrax reportedly not stolen
→→ According to Tanya, stolen anthrax was to be mutated and weaponized
→ Wants to open a new facility in (or near) Bogota
→→ Facility to weaponize and test the new strain of anthrax?
Avila Transports
→ Office in a small business park (20min from Cajun town)
→→ Opened 3 years ago
→→ Nothing much going on until february (Franklin construction becomes a client)
→→ Nathan Grover, Manager
→→→ Married, 3 children
→→→ has an affair with his secretary (also married), and films their relations (the secretary probably doesn't know)
→→→ Stole the company's money (should have been used for security upgrades, physical as well as in the matrix)
→→→ Currently recruiting staff
→ Trucks operate from a converted bus barn leased from the city
Grainger Manufacturing
→ Produce small diameter electrical wires
→ Conduit produced in Denver
→ Offices in Seattle (4th floor of a 6th story building)
→→ 13 employees
→→ James Van der Slatten, manager
→ Small plant / warehouse at the edge of the industrial district, not far from Avila's garage
→ Decent Host / Matrix security
Goldstein Building (GB)
→ Designed by Probus
→ Built by Franklin Production
→ Wanted by the Mayor and Governor
→ Heavily guarded
→→ Multiple teams of 5 (armed & armoured) guards with dogs
→→ Resonance barrier, poisonous to personas and sprites
→→ Colonel Grieg is security team leader on site
→ 4 tunnels go out (roughly on cardinal points) from an underground cave (200ft ceiling)
→→ Rails in the tunnels
→→ truck lane on each side
→→ pedestrial lane on the left
Mercenaries
→ Obtained a secure suitcase with anthrax and files from Sampson
→ After Rowena, to get the code which opens the suitcase
Rowena
→ Got caught in the middle of a firefight when the mercenaries tried to get a suitcase containing data from Simpson's board
→ Knows the code opening the suitcase
→ Got hurt and is now paralyzed from the waist down
→ Helped by Barbara (hacker) and Bryant (muscle)
→ Holed with a Vory gang
Tanaka
→ Yakuza lieutnant
→ Member of the Sampson's board
→ Lives in Little Japan, in a gated community
→ Chooses a callgirl every Wednesday for Thursday (preference to Russian or Greater Europe girls)
→ Had an affair with the wives of two Yakuza (his immediate boss and a neighbor "friend"). Information is suspect since coming from his public 'link.
→ Fan of bonsais
Roger
→ Possibly working for Renraku
→ Supposedly blind
→ Recruits or kills hackers interested in the conspiracy
→→ Involved with Suzee and Sandy?
→ Has the rank of Major somewhere
→ Interested in the GB only peripherically
→ reports to Colonel Grieg on Matrix threats, but has a higher status
Woods
→ Jason
→→ Has "bloody dodgy business interests" (according to Tanya)
→→ Involved in something shady (according to Tanya)
→ Connie
→→ Related to the Governor
→→ Follows Jason's lead on the shady business (according to Tanya)
→ Katherine (daughter)
Probus
→ Architects designing the Goldtsein building
→ Work on three major projects:
→→ GB
→→ Saks Department Store
→→ Arawak Towers
→→ All three were referrals (possibly by Sampson & Co)
→ Michael (head)
→ Andrew (son)
→→ Involved with Katherine Woods
→→ Shopping for threesome with a discreet woman
→ James Fines
→→ Married, two children, lives in Queen Annes Hill
→→ Hired just before work for the GB started
→→ Was promoted to junior partner following some kind of Blackmail from the Grand Marquis
→→ Number 2 on the GB project
→→ Got unchecked access to all the plans of the GB
→ Has debts to the Grand Marquis after business expansion and referrals
→→ Refused until mid→may to comply
Franklin Construction
→ Offices in Downtown
→ Build the GB as well as three other major projects
→ Owner (Liam Franklin) died early in the year
→ Three brothers
→→ Luke (messy divorce, went quiet when Luke made a huge payout to settle)
→→ Matthew (married to Lisa, 3 children)
→→ Mark (married to Susan, 1 child)
→ Got on the brink of bankruptcy due to overcost for the GB, but suddenly got better (in february)
→ At that point of time, they broke of with all suppliers and went with Avila and Grainger, as well as other firms recommanded by Avila and Grainger, all owned at least at 50% by Sampson
→ No apparent link with the Yakuza (not normal, given that all large business have at least some indirect links)
→ The sisters and (female) cousins were removed from the company (Ruth, Naomi, live in Seattle) after a legal process forced by the brothers
Rupert Sanks
→ KE Colonel
→ Deputy Assistant Commander for the Knight Errant Active Crimes Unit
→ Mole?
Bogota
→ Bombing
→→ Governement district
→→ 87 dead, 200+ injured (45 in critical condition)
→→→ Finance Minister, dead, opposed to Liston
→→→ Deputy Finance Minister is publicly for Liston
→→ Perpetrated by "rebels" (FARCs), calling for the "public removal of all who would stand in the way of developing Colombia's vast natural resources"
→→ Rebels disappeared after the bombing
→→ Some were caught on CCTV, and are now wearing a Liston mercenary uniform
→ Assassinations
→→ Carmella Sanchez, National Secretary for Antiquities, against Liston, stabbed by rioters
→→ Diego Garza, speaker of parliament, against Liston, shot in his car
→ Liston had mercenaries on site because they were "warned of FARC activity against" them
→ They then used the mercenaries to "protect" the surviving members of the government
→→ President and most of the cabinet are in "protective custody"
→→ Located in an armed compound taken over at the start of the riots
→ Top military commander is missing
→ Most of the police force is sympathetic to the FARC line
Todo:
→ Retrieve armour & weapon from home (and clothes, etc.)
→ Look for anthrax protections
→ Find the real plans for GB (see James Fines?)
→ Identify "Grand Marquis" and the contact of the Franklins and Woods
→ Learn more about Obi Shinosetsu and Aki Watanabe
→ Move to Cajun town
→ Launch Hubble 2.0!
Agenda
→ 13th, 2300: meet Tanya at the Stuffer Shack near Grainger's warehouse
→ 14th, 0900: Meet Taylor for armour&weapons
→ 14th, 1000: Meet Roger at the Digital (hopefully not...)
→ 14th, evening: Fundraiser for orphanage. Connie and Jason Woods will be there.
→ 15th, 0900: clinic meeting for implants
→ 18th, 0900: plane to Bogota?
→ 19th, 0900: insert Tanya's profile (Lotus Flower) in Tanaka's callgirls selection
Mercy
Dec 31 2016, 05:48 PM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 13th, 2075, 1713 - Seattle]
Sandy nods as she settles into the driver's seat and pulls out of the rental lot. "Go silent and check for marks while we both look for physical bugs and anything not supposed to be present. Oh, should I remove anything we find or leave it or what?"
When you look for Grand Marquis, you find a few innocuous messages to Tanaka, all three of the Woods family, all three of the Franklin brothers, Nathan Grover of Avila Transport, James Van der Slatten of Grainger, and Probus, Sr. All of the messages seem to be requests for information in the case of the companies, and personal exchanges with the Woods family and Tanaka. There is nothing in any of the messages that would be considered other than routine fluff. Your search among the financial situations reveals no new information. Tanaka has selected his girl for Thursday and will have her met at the gate to the community he lives in at 0900.
Sandy sighs. "My maternal grandparents practically raised me." She laughs. "Hell, I guess it was more than practically. They are very domineering people. My father was wilting under their fingers and finally had enough. He left us when I was seven and I have cried a river of tears since as I wondered why he did not take me with him. Mother lasted a couple more years then just died. My grandparents are nice enough on the outside, but completely control every aspect of everyone in the family. I have several cousins and a couple of aunts and uncles that are content to live like that because of the money she has. I think the presiding thought is that she cannot live forever and all the money will then go to the survivors. They named me Sandra and I would prefer to be my own person."
Mercy
Dec 31 2016, 05:54 PM
OOC: Wow! That was some work cataloging all that information.
So, I do not know if you are monitoring the SG threads, but there is a chance to combine yours with that of Jeremiah. Both of you are set to investigate the same warehouse at about the same time. We can work this into a group thing by having you guys bump into each other. This pairing might go better than the one with Eva that never really took off. I would like to try it out, so let me know if you are interested. I am pretty sure that I can line him up with the trip to Bogota if you want company there as well.
It might be worth a try so please consider it.
Imladir
Dec 31 2016, 06:41 PM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 12th, 2075 - Seattle] #556Cynthia answers a bit distracted
"Remove everything, we wouldn't have the resources to play with whoever put the bugs." After a minute, she adds
"Doesn't changing your name because you don't like them give them more importance than you'd like? I mean, why should their opinion matter to you? If you don't like the name, change it for that reason, but you can still like it and not care what they would think." She shrugs
"Or at least that's how I see things..."She grumbles a bit at the lack of new information. Even if it's not surprising, it's still a bit depressing. Still, it looks like she'll really need to pay attention to the Woods... Which will probably mean going to that fraggin' fundraiser... Which would mean... Probably a dress... Erk... Now really depressed, Cynthia sighs mournfully.
Then, after a couple of minutes wallowing in pity, she freezes, and hits her forehead. Yes, the plans would be at Probus', probably with Fines. But what about Franklin's construction? They
have to have it, otherwise they wouldn't be able to do anything! Time to pay them a visit. Well, after the drones' business is taken care of, and they went home to get her stuff. Though at that point, it will probably be too late for the day. And the plans are probably on site and not necessarily at the offices... Cynthia grumbles again...
There's something she can check though: in all of Tanaka's communications, is there a cipher, which would transform some random communications to more meaningful ones?
~~~~~~ OOC ~~~~~~
Yeah, took me a while, but it would have taken even more time had I waited :o
But it was worthwile, there was stuff in there I had forgotten to check so...
I suppose it's a Software roll to check for cipher in Tanaka's communications?
Software:
13d6t5 2 I won't go far with that. Then again, with only Tanaka's communications, I probably won't have enough to check. I'll have to retry with other people's comms.
As for Spokane & Cynthia, I don't have any problem with it. He has NPCs with him and I'll still have the Matrix, so I'll be able to keep busy between two answers from him ^^
Though I'd
really prefer the thread to be on Dumpshock. I think Stuttrboy has an account here, so it shouldn't be a problem.
Mercy
Jan 1 2017, 06:18 PM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 13th, 2075, 1715 - Seattle]
Sandy nods. "Alright. Remove everything. Got it. I am holding the drones at a midpoint right now and will go to each in turn. How do you want to do your checking of them?"
At this point, there seems no indication of a cypher, but it could be almost anything if set up properly and even the most innocuous messages could have a second meaning. You would probably need some sort of code key to figure it out.
Imladir
Jan 2 2017, 12:40 AM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 12th, 2075 - Seattle] #557Cynthia shrugs
"Just invite me to put a Mark on you, that way I'll be able to find you."Once this is done, Cynthia follows Sandy to her drones in VR. On site, she checks for hidden icons in the vicinity of the drones. On the side, she writes a small program that will try to decipher the messages by trying in a brute force manner to find the key. As first parameters, the program will try words in relation with bonsai.
~~~~~ OOC ~~~~~~
Matrix Perception (+2 VR, +2 TM):
16d6t5 7, as always, limit of 6
As for the decipher program:
Software: write decipher program (+2 VR):
15d6t5 2The programing gods aren't with Cynthia today... Probably angered she's doing that on the side, not paying all due attention to that...
Mercy
Jan 2 2017, 02:27 AM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 13th, 2075, 1717 - Seattle]
Sandy looks surprised. "You can track me like that if I am jumped into one of my drones? I will have to remember that. So how does a person get rid of a mark?"
She stops the van where you have indicated and flashes you a smile before her body slumps in the seat. You, too, sag in your seat as you go into VR and you race off to where the drones are gathered in a sort of park. You detect no hidden icons in the vicinity of the her drones, but you do see each one go off-line for a few seconds before coming back up and zipping off, presumably to the location of the van.
Unfortunately, you do not think that your software design is all that good and its execution proves it and no cipher is discovered.
Imladir
Jan 2 2017, 07:57 AM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 12th, 2075 - Seattle] #558
Cynthia nods "A marked icon can be found anywhere in the Matrix, at all times. That's how, as an owner, you can always find tour drones in there. As for removing a Mark, you have to inspect yourself first to see if you have an unauthorized Mark, all Marks are unique and correspond to the Persona who put them there. After that, you can try to scratch it from yourself. But if the hacker is good, you may not be able to. A reboot however removes all marks automatically. Any on you, and all the ones you placed. Well except on stuff you own of course."
In the Matrix, Cynthia is glad to see there appears to be no problem. She frowns however when she sees the drone's icon get back online. >>Don't forget to put your drones wireless off once you have rebooted them and given them their orders.<<
Mercy
Jan 2 2017, 05:48 PM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 13th, 2075, 1718 - Seattle]
"Ah, so you are putting a mark on something I own, not on me personally. Got it."
The drone you are watching immediately winks out again. >>Right. Sorry about that.<< After a short time, all of the drones have completely disappeared. >>OK, all done with that step. My babies are heading back to the van so I should return and get ready to receive them. All except three can be put almost anywhere, but the bigger ones will need some care.<<
Imladir
Jan 2 2017, 05:55 PM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 13th, 2075 - Seattle] #559
In the Matrix, Cynthia continues to talk >>No, here I put my mark on your Persona, which is how I'm able to follow you. With another Mark, I'd be able to find your meat, but since I already know where it is...<<
When Sandy goes back to said meat, Cynhtia waits a few more seconds to be sure nothing happens, then goes back to her own meat. "Need some help?"
Mercy
Jan 2 2017, 07:04 PM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 13th, 2075, 1720 - Seattle]
You stir and see that Sandy is in the back of the van. She has opened the rear door and is sitting on the floor, but she turns her head at your question. "Yeah, maybe. The Fly Spy drones will be no trouble, but the other three might be. Two are standard armed Roto Drones, so that means longish rifle barrels and the Bumblebee has a machinegun mounted, so it is even more bulky. The trick is to get them loaded and stored so that they don't crash about the inside of the van as we drive around. I could fashion some racks or restraining straps or something, but I do not have any equipment or tools, not to mention that this is a rental and we do not have permission to make modifications. I could really do something with a van like this if I have the chance and some time. Right now, I am thinking to just try to stow them as best I can and drive carefully."
Imladir
Jan 2 2017, 07:16 PM
[Cynthia Rawson - Wednesday June 12th, 2075 - Seattle] #560
Frowning, Cynthia looks at the interior of the van. "We could always place some cushions on the side. It wouldn't help much against dents, but it probably would avoid scrapping either the van's interior or the drones. Which by itself is not a bad thing."
She rubs her chin for a moment "After that... Well, a van to yourself is probably a good idea indeed, but those tend to be expensive. Unless you steal one of course, but it's a really involved process... Which, if you're interested, I'm absolutely not competent in. I wouldn't even know how to start to change the ownership of an item. It's nothing software related, that stuff is embedded in the hardware. But maybe it won't be necessary, we'll see in a few days. After all, you could store those in warehouse somewhere like you did already, it seems to me to be less secure, but it depends on the warehouse I suppose."
She looks at the van for a moment more, then asks "I have to ask though, what where you planning to do with all that heavy weaponry? Oh and er...what's the loadout?"