Rex didn't dare use any magical abilities while the little watcher construct was around, so he focused instead on the virtual documents that Waywalker was sharing with him. Even with the translation programs it was tedious work to sift through the material, looking for a mention of the book.
Consequently he (dis)missed the bug drone until he noticed Waywalker looking in in it's direction and frowning.
<<What's going on? Have you found something?>>

#35

#30

"That bug is a drone, but I'll cover it in malicious code until it crashes. Let's hope it didn't record our faces to the owner..."

<<Shit. Thank god we went to the trouble to find a student who looked a bit like you. Be careful though - this might be one of the other parties we suspected might turn up. Let's scan the stuff in as fast as possible and get out of here. We can do the research in the hideout. Just to be sure there isn't something magic hidden in there, I'll take a look in the astral.>>

As Waywalker shifts his perception to AR, he founds out, not surprisingly, that the little drone is running silent. While he can perfectly spot it in the real world, his icon remains hidden to him...



... But the meek defense of the drone is nothing for Waywalker wiz skill in the Matrix. He quickly founds the icon, and aims all the power of his cyberdeck attack program to it !



Almost immediately, the tiny drone icon disappear in a (small) burst of broken codes, and the robot itself falls, silently, on the runners table. The corpse of the little device is blackened like charcoal. Fortunately, nobody is the room, whether or not in AR, noticed the incident. In the meantime, his partner quickly gaze into the Astral. Nothing has changed since he took a brief look, but the small, and discreet, watcher spirit is still hovering around, observing the room in silence.



Once that matter is settled, the runners have no excuses anymore to postpone a tedious investigation of the document. He takes already a couple of hours, to sort the numerous document of the Contos Archive. There is almost everything attached to this label: official paper, private (hand written!) mails, old note books, and a few dozens, indeed, first prints of a lot of books of the 19th century. Of course, the runners checks those first, as they are delivered by the drone, but none appears to be the first book mentioned by their particular employer: "Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie".

However, many books are badly damage, apparently a note mentioned an arson, which led the library where the books were stored, to be flooded by firemen, just days before the donation happened. So it takes a while to actually rule out the most damaged items as potential matches. Finally, as the day comes closer to an end, it appears clear to the runners, that they are far from done with their researches. Indeed, there is so many other items - listing, mails, document, in the Contos Archive, they need to pass through a fine-tooth comb, if they want to get a lead on the manuscript...

Rex kept sitting on his chair like a good dog and used AR to read through the translations.
<<If we don't find anything here, we might have to take a direct look at the estate where this stuff came from. Maybe during the book wasn't even donated but instead sits still there somewhere. If I'm close enough I can call a Kami to use its powers to locate it.>>

As the duo leaves the room, after what turned out to be an exhausting day of research work, Rex tries to sum up what they found in his head, but can't beyond his early disappointment, when the drones brought the the last batch of documents ties to the Contos Archive and it looked at the aura of all the item, searching for a magical signature in Astral.

Sadly, if the documents, due to their age and somewhat historical signification, have certainly a rich and colourful auras, none of them appears to have any kind of magical capacity, neither to have been used in conjunction of (recent) magical practises. Despite the power of the hidden knowledge most likely hidden within them, the stacks of documents are for sure as mundane as it comes.

<<Careful now. If that bug was indeed part of an enemy operation, we might find ourselves targeted after we leave - or followed. Better we don't go home straight away. I'll have a Kami conceal us at an opportune moment and we can wait a bit, if someone shows up looking for us.>>
Rex had a bad feeling about that bug - which certainly wasn't helped by the rather oppressing environment around them.

Trying to act as casual as they, the two runners leaves the building. As they get closer to the exit - the same arch they went below earlier in the day, they start paying even more attention to their surroundings, looking for somebody - or something, that could be waiting for them outside. Passing in front of the clearly disinterest Knight Errant officers, they step outside, under a heavy rain. The smell of (bad) water is poignant that even their filter can't really removes of the stench.

Despite this unbearable smell, both runners keeps their head in the game - as Rex starts silently invoking a Kami, Waywalker (as discreetly as possible), starts looking for a potential tail, both in the physical world and in the matrix.

#31

The little bugger was gone in a matter of seconds. What was very painful was to sift throught the depth of the documents looking for a clue.
"Well, Rex, we did not waste our day...we found plenty of books that were not our target!"
Smiling under the gas mask was curtailed by Rex's worrying.
"Yeah, let's be extra careful - does not hurt."
With regard to the last message, Waywalker let his Fly-Spy loose to get a glimpse of the surroundings.

When he passes in front of the Knight Errant guards, Waywalker opts to act as he belongs, rather than trying to pass for a "regular" student. He has no idea how to do that, and, anyway, with a service dog along him, there is no way to pass for a "regular student". So confident, and focusing on the ARO popping up to sign off of the archive for the day, Waywalker and Rex walks through the gate without any problem.

Once outside, under the gloomy weather, he deploys his Fly Spy, and thanks the god that, at least, with the archive closing a little bit before 17:00 (because people working there wants to be done at 17:00 exactly) there is still enough natural light coming out of the reddish clouds hovering over the city to give him a decent visibility. The drone silently flies away from him, and the Italian rigger starts paying attention at his surroundings - through the lens of the tiny drone video feeds.

As Waywalker moves slowly away from the public building, he quickly realizes that if somebody is observing or tailing them since they left, they must be quite good, because he can not spot any suspicious activity around them. Or they are just at avoid his sensor, he is honestly not to sure if it is not the later.

On the matrix side of things, he however got things covered quite efficiently. He quickly tagged every icon out there when he went out, on top of of searching for a list of running silent one. He did find a couple of those, as they are always bound, especially in a large city, to find some of those, but could not spot any that could relate to them. Helped by his agent, he checked out all the remaining icon, quickly classifying them by type and activity, and none come out as being, potentially, "unwanted attention".

If whoever they are facing has indeed sent a tail to the archive, it is for sure not a drone or man holding a camera. Their AR surroundings are clean.

Rex kept his eyes and his nose open and even took another peek into the astral to look around. The bad feeling was still there.
But he would have to wait calling on the Kami until they were somewhere unobserved.

#32

"In the shadows, the more paranoic you are, the better. Either we're clear or we have very good pursuers."
Waywalker then proceeded to type another message with his thoughts:
" Why don't we get in the van and divert our would be chasers?"

<<Fine by me. That gives me a chance to call on the Kami>>
Rex dismissed the illusion he had held on Waywalker and hurried towards the parking garage.

#33

While walking with the gas mask on, Waywalker's thoughts formed a message: "To:Rex: The simple fact that there was a drone in the Archive to begin with is an evidence that other parts are interested. I don't know if the drone was there to look at the documents or to have a look on us. I hope for the former. Tomorrow we may need a little disguise on the document room."

<<I concur. For now I can imagine three scenarios:
1) The drone was a guardian left behind by whoever scanned the docs before us and who was interested who else would come looking
2) It was in the process of scanning the documents and probably had a few siblings inside where ever they keep those materials
3) It was a deliberately placed spying device targeting both of us specifically

1 is the most likely, 3 the least.

Wait a second. I really need to boost my ability to compute all this.>>
They had reached the car and Rex quickly went inside, so he could cast without being observed. Once again the shadow form of his mentor fell over him



<<Much better. As I was saying it's most likely a post-operation measure.
Our opponent could have left it behind to get a clue to their competition, or they might have failed at locating the necessary data and instead want to wait for someone else to do the boring work and then swoop in to capture the prize.
At least that's what I'd do in a case like this.

Now to our options:
The most obvious is "Giving Up". I think neither me nor you are considering that one.
The next is: Do what they are doing: Smuggle a bug into the stacks and play the same game. But that is a reactive move, taking away our initiative and it relies on the unproven assumption that there is another side seeking the book.
The third is "carry on and be ready for an attack". That's what we'd have done regardless of finding the bug and it's still valid.
The fourth is "lose our tails and visit the mansion where the books were stored originally". This one has the benefit of being combinable with two and three.
The fifth is "Lay a trap for the opposition, lure them into a premature attack by faking a find." We capture them and find out what they know. Provided of course that they know anything relevant in the first place. That option is high risk and despite both of us being able to multiply our force through drones and summons we know to little for this to be a valid choice at this junction.

Do you have any other ideas that I missed?
I just wished I could remember anything from my previous life - I'm certain that this isn't the first time I had to outfox pursuers...>>

The duo has now left the building behind them, and start walking down the street. As Rex awaits for Waywalker to reply on his proposition and theorizing, he briefly switches to astral, to ensure "nothing" there is tailing them. At first glance, the mage does not spot anything out of the ordinary, but suddenly, his attention is drawn to a "presence" emerging not far away from them. The mage is unsure what it is, but there is definitely "something" in the astral trying to follow them...

Rex pulled back his head from the window.
<<Alright, seems like we are dealing with magic surveillance now.
We have two options: I call a Kami to deal with it - revealing that we do have considerable mojo - or we try to throw them off our trail by driving to the address where that student lives whose identity you are using.
I'm up for both.>>

#34

Waywalker took a couple of minutes to process all the messages from Rex.
"To:Rex: I too think the option 1 is the most likely, but we should take extra precautions. As usual, I suppose.
Carry on and be ready sounds like a good enough plan to me."
Waywalker noted Rex being uneasy. Then received his message.
"To:Rex: I'd say our first option should be throw them off, but you can decide either way. Do as you see fit, I trust you in mojo matters."

<<I just thought of a third option. I'll call a Kami to discreetly follow the astral connection between whatever follows us back to its source. When that's done the Kami can take care of our shadow. Until then we have to drive around. Just take care that we aren't going somewhere where we can be ambushed easily>>



Rex concentrated and chanted in his mind: 'Oh Ishiru, son of the Night Court, come and help me find my enemy.'
He felt that his chant had been successful - barely - as the blue glad figure of a Japanese peasant appeared. Albeit one wearing a face mask and carrying Sai daggers.
'You called, Mortal'
'I thank you for your time Ishiru. We are tailed by something in the astral. I ask you to move unseen following it's trail back to its master. Report what you find and if possible use your guile to convince him or her to drop this endeavor and dismiss their servant.'

Without so much as a nod, the Kami vanished.

It took over four hours for Rex's spirit to follow up the trail, during which Waywalker and Rex took a little tour in Paris, and finally opted to have a bite in a restaurant. Certainly, the best way to act casual. At regular interval, Rex could spot that their "astral tail" was still on them, but could not really report anything suspicious. It is circling 9pm when the Kami invoked by Rex calls him through the astral:

"I have located the kami's master, but he or she is protected by a strong astral barrier... Do you want me to attempt to penetrate it ?"

With the message, the Kami shares a mental image of the physical location it has reached: a medieval village, fortified and surrounded by water... Whoever has invoked the spirit, is currently inside the famous Mont St Michel...

'You have done well. I thank you for your help, there is no need to seek confrontation just yet. Consider our bargain fulfilled '

<<Guess what: Our tail's master sits in Le Mont-Saint-Michel. The Kami couldn't see them through their barrier, but we can expect some serious mojo to be on our case here. In any case, we need to lose this observer and once I get to our place, I need to strengthen our barriers.>>
Rex thought for a moment.
<<Alright, I have an idea how we can subtly lose our shadow. We need the entrance to the sewers once again and take a little walk there. Sorry.>>

Just one hour afterward, Rex could not believed how much his plan has worked. First of all, he had no issue invoking the Kami, and it quickly understood his plans. He also pointed out they did not actually need to go into the sewer. There is already a lot of devil rats, just beneath the street, if you get closer to the Seine. Having the sudden rush of those critters happening while the duo were, apparently, strolling through town, also increase the impression that maybe the spirit tailing them was not really spot by them, but simply end up, unluckily, attracting some attention to itself. In any case, this happens very smoothly, and it is now barely 10pm, and the duo are - free of any magical entity on their trail, on their way back to their safe house.

The two shadowrunners have managed to leave Paris without being followed, but what their next move ?

<<Success.>> Rex had gotten only glimpses of the carnage through is connection with the Kami, but the Rat King had shown his resourcefulness: Just as they had walked under one of the Seine bridges their tail had found itself suddenly surrounded by a swarm of devil rats.
Waywalker and Rex had walked on as if nothing had happened.
Half an hour later they were back at their hideout.
<<Since we are going back to our research tomorrow, we'll need another plan to shake our tail - unless we find what we are looking for. In that case I can just destroy it.
Meanwhile it would be good if you could find out through the matrix who has holed up on that island.>>

Rex had dismissed the Kami and instead called up his trusted guardian so it could keep up the shapechange spell on him while he slept. This time he made sure that it would also project a strong mana barrier around him and Waywalker, so any search for them would be just that little bit difficult. As the saying went: What you can think off, the enemy can think off too...

A quick browse of the matrix quickly informs the two Shadowrunners. The renovated Mont Saint Michel was given by the French Catholic Church - a separate entity from the Catholic Church, to the latter, in attempt of appeasement in the late 50's. It became quickly the HQ of the Order of St. Sylvester in France.

Rex recoiled slightly at those news:
<<Seriously? Our opforce is the catholic church? Looks like this book is slightly more satanic than we thought. That is disconcerting. Nevertheless, a deal is a deal - even if you make it with the devil. We'll just have to be quick with finding this damn book.
Maybe we really need to take a look at the old estate where the books came from.>>

#47

As Waywalker and Rex keeps browsing the Matrix about the Order, they quickly realized that there is more than meet the eyes there. Yes, they report to the church and therefore claims to be "the good guys", but as any magical initiatic order, it has its fair share of secrets and darkness. And to be fair, the Catholic has quite often end up "on the wrong side" of many battles through the centuries...

Also, many founders of the initial order did come from questionable part of the church - to say the least. Many people joined the order from Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the modern version of the infamous Inquisition. The founding of the Order itself, at his inception, has very unexplained ties to some shady banks - including part of the Trans-Latvia Enterprises "network". All of this, of course, predates the merger of the company into NeoNET, but still.

And, of course, nothing exists in a void, so the Order has also ties with other initiate or organization. Especially in France, where the local branch has been alleged to either work directly for the mysterious "Black Lodge" or be at least tied to it, but it is common rumors for such organization. More publicly, there is definitely some collaboration with the Atlantean Foundation, and some spat with the Draco Foundation. Well, a spat to some extend, as they were clearly in cahoots during the "artifact rush" a few years ago. At least according to the information Rex and Waywalker can muster.

Not to forget, the legendary "Templars", sort of black ops or runners of the Order, about which very few actual information transpired...

#35

The sheer amount of information was enough to crash a little mind, but looking for the bigger picture helped Waywalker in the matrix search.
"So, should we presume we're officially on their target? It would not surprise me if it was a rogue agent who wants the book and uses the resource of the organization. Of course, that would mean to be super extra careful..."

<<Well, they noticed that we are researching the book and they invested - however cheap they were - resources to tail us. If we aren't outright targets yet, we are certainly of "interest" to them.
And I don't think it matters all that much in the long run if its the whole organization or just one mage with access to their resources.

But we have to decide now if we want to go back to the archives or if we want to look at the source where the books came from originally.
If we go back to the archive there will be almost certainly a confrontation. We can't use the rat trick twice.>>
Rex replied.

#36

"I think the Archive won't move form there for a couple of days, no? I'd say to follow your instinct. We'll go to the source."

<<Good point - if there was anything there the Sylvesters will have found it by now anyway.>>

After this was settled and the team found some rest during the night, Rex was eager to get on to visit the old mansion where the collection had came from. He toyed with the thought of sending a Kami to scout ahead, but decided against it. After all that was how he had found the opposition previously.

Set on going to the actual estate from which the papers came originally, Waywalker and Rex spends part of their evening looking at the Matrix. While the information is not secret itself, any kind of information predating both Matrix crashes are also a bit tricky to correlate. However, thanks to the metadata they scanned from the Archive, they quickly puts a pin on the map.

The Contos Archive documentation, before donation, were stored in a small house inside Arles, in what is now the "Comté de Camargue". While the use of the word mansion and estate had certainly conjured images of fancy houses or even small castles surrounded by large garden in both runners minds, the actual house - as shown on the Matrix, is certainly less exotic. Sadly, few information are publicly available on the building current state, function and ownership...



However, the location in itself is bad news. Arles and the Comté de Camargue surrounding it, is more/less a kingdom inside a kingdom. While technically still part of France and bowing to the "temporal power of the Republic", it has been ruled by the family of Eleanor Filinaerel - born Edouard Laminsk, for several generation now. If the Count himself is now just an old, senile man - hanging to life by a tread, his own seven daughters are still ruling over the piece of lands with almost full autocratic power.

Despite the all family being made of humans, the county itself is very much "pro elf". Back in the 50's, it was one of the only part of France having regular visitors from the secretive Tir Tairngire and Tír na nÓg. While the elfish renaming of the family makes many smile, the fact is that the estate has ties for sure with the elven nations.

Matrix pictures of the region depicted a beautiful country filled with horses but also a few unicorns, and even Bayard and Pegasus ! Apparently, the family has largely invested in safe keeping Equidae of all kinds. The so called "Filinaerel" have certainly takes up the elven nasty habits of being eco friendly...

All of this means a lot of trouble for the two runners, because the County is forbidding any kind of motor vehicle within it. The private security, named "les guardians" used only horses and a few hovercraft in the swamp like part of the region. This is small army has certainly not enough firepower to be a threat to any corp or the french government, but can sure as hell take down a shadowrun team doing any kind of mischief in the domain. And not surprisingly, the worst offense is stealing or harming horses - with a swift death penalty being applied to the offender (with a silent approval of the French government).

Astral visitor are also not really welcome either as free spirits and shamans are rumored to enforce the domain security...

Rex looked at the map - it would be a long trip through the republic and likely also a long trip by foot if they couldn't come up with some form of local transport.
<<How good are your horse riding skills these days? I can probably provide you with a spirit horse, but that might cause some questions.>>

#37

The first thing Waywalker did arrving in their safehous was setting the Agents to help him narrow information on their target.
Then he madd himself comfortable on the bed and went limp in VR.
"My riding skill is non-existant, but I think I can stay on the back of one without falling, or at least I hope so. I'm also searching for a way to get a VISA or some permission, they may be eco friendly, but I think the paperwork is still in the Matrix..."

<<That sounds like a good idea. Hopefully, they don't have too strict leash laws.>>
Rex replied while he waited for Haywire's search to conclude.

Looking up in the matrix the process to get to Camargue, Waywalker quickly realizes that, while it has increased the security, the County is still part of France - so getting in is fairly easy, but frequent, and thorough SIN checks are to be expected. The private security hired by the "seven sisters" is also known for often checking for concealed weapons and illegal items such as cyberdeck.

Waywalker's search on the property itself is also bringing mix results. First of all, the house appears to be left of its own device for a while now, and he has to go through several shell corporation before getting, at least, a real lead. But certainly not a good news. Indeed, the last change of property has happened in the late '57, when the mansion was transferred to the newly born... Draco Foundation. Since then, managed through a set of proxies, the Foundation has hold on the property without, apparently, doing anything with it. Sadly, going further back in time turns out to be even more difficult, as most information appears to have been swallowed by both Crashes...

<<So, to recap this: The mansion is held by the Draco Foundation inside a territory of horse fanatics with really good security that don't allow motor vehicles.
How good are you at hiding your stuff? I don't like the fact that they employ good magic security. But with the help of a sufficiently strong Kami we might be able to avoid detection, provided we are stealthy, lay low during the day and travel by foot.>>
Rex replied.

#38

"I am pretty confident in my matrix skill, but not so much in the meat ones... If we're caught we're pretty much screwed. How many day will it take by foot? With you mojo could you conceal a van? Heck, if you can we can try to smuggle ourselves into it..."

<<If I'm reading this map right, we'd have to move 30 km cross country. The good news is, that I can just turn us into birds and have a Kami carry our gear high in the air and out of sight. I'm thinking a pair of owls should be able to quickly traverse the distance.
I'd have to camouflage your aura as well and just to be sure we should also be concealed by the Kami.

Concealing a car to the same effect is quite a bit harder - also it would likely cause collisions quickly - unless you fancy another cross country drive. But once we are in the city, I don't know where you'd park the car.>>
Rex replied.

#38

"I fancy all the cross country driving we need to get to our objective, my reasoning was to have a reliable way of moving out quickly if drek hits the fan.
We could have it as backup with the drones inside parked outside the city. What do you think?"

<<You realize that cross country will leave some very visible tracks that no concealment in the world can hide. I could maybe levitate it with some Kami help and add some movement power to make the cross country travel faster. Yeah, that could work. Just enough lift so we don't leave any deep tracks. We'll have to move at night and I'll need a very strong Kami to help me, but it is doable.>>
Rex replied.

#39

"I'm on board with the plan. Do your mojo, I'm ready."

The cross country trip was long, but not particularly exciting. Rex marveled at size of France. Most of Europe had succumbed to balcanization, turning the large national states into smaller ones with less political power - just as the corporations wanted it. But France had kept its centralized and unified structure, despite small fiefdoms like the one they were heading towards now.

When they arrived at their staging point he was as well rested as he was going to get. As soon as the sun had set he began to call upon the mighties Kami he had ever dared to call. A being even more powerful than the Warlord.
Relying on the power and understanding in and of his focus he mentally spoke the name: 'Kikone, Princess of the Shadowmoon, hear my plea.'

For a moment, nothing happened until Rex realized that the Princess of Darkness and Tide was already there, regarding him silently from behind her black shroud.
'I thank you, oh noble princess, to come to my aid in my time of need.
Help us make our way unseen, unheard and traceless like the tide to move quickly, quietly and safely to our destination.'
There was a moment of ominous silence, before the figure extended her hands and the whole car was enveloped in a thin cloud of shadow and the car began to lift from it's springs. Rex hastened to add his own power behind the action and only a moment later the car had left the ground completely and hovered 10 cm above. Rex felt the strain that this feet was putting on the Princess, even her immense powers had limits while she stayed on this world.
But with an effort of will, the car began to accelerate with a feeling that wasn't unlike falling from a high cliff towards the sea - only now they were falling towards the horizon.

Thursday 12th March 2076 (around 11pm)

Concealed and protected by the darkness of the night, the runner's vehicle hoovers through the wetland unnoticed and soon gets in the suburb of Arles. The city looks almost exactly as it looked a century before, like it has somehow escaped the all century of madness that give a (painful) birth to the 6th World. Waywalker is also immediately surprised by the quality of the local grid. No noise, decent connection, no spam...

Once inside the city, Rex asked his Kami to drop the concealment to ensure they do not attract unwanted attention from potential magical security deployed by the Seven Sisters of Camargue. It is already late and the city is pretty quiet. Fortunately for them, there is still enough traffic, mostly people coming home after a dinner party, to not draw unwanted attention to their vehicle.

After a quiet drive inside the historical center, the runners arrives a couple of street away from their target, the old building that used to shelter the Cantos Archive.

#40

Waywalker "drived" or better, almost sailed the van with the power from Rex's mojo.
"If you have motion sickness, let me know! I know a couple of tricks to deal with it."
"Wow, this grid is better than the one of half of France... I wonder who mantain and pays for it. I hope we're not going to step on some big toes..."
In the while, he looked on the Matrix for Icons running silent and/or security ones.

<<Don't worry, I've grown a strong stomach and having superhuman willpower doesn't hurt either.
Just make sure no-one notices us. We need to find a place where we can hide the Van. Once we are in position we should scout out the building - I'll go astral and you might want to deploy one of your drones. Since the Draco Foundation has control here I expect some nasty surprises.>>

Rex replied while he mentally prepared for the next step of their operation.

#55

Looking at the icons associated to the building for a little while, Waywalker is confused. First he expected some devices to run silent - and did find a couple of devices running silent around him. After some quick hacking - MARK, Trace and reboot, he asserted those devices were not anywhere the mansion. That being over, he starts looking for legitimate devices around the mansion, but apparently, the place - at least on the matrix, appears to be devoid of any life...