Heather doesn't spot anyone else looking as if they're staking out the apartment, so .... the coast is clear!

Or, at least, as clear as it will ever be.

We're putting our house up for sale, and vacating for the next week to keep it pretty and clean. Will be traveling a bit, so internet access will be on and off. I will try to keep in touch and up to date.

Will leave on the 20th, be back on the 27th, and fully functional by the 28th of July.

Best of luck with the sale!

heather lockpick rolls if she needs too:
Stealth to unlock door if nessacary: 6#1d6 6 3 1 6 5 2

Re-roll 6: Stealth to unlock door if nessacary: 2#1d6 6 3

Re-roll 6 (2nd): Stealth to unlock door if nessacary (3rd): 1d6 6

Re-roll 6 (3rd):Stealth to unlock door if nessacary: 1d6 5

Sadly I had far overestimated time available as work continues to shift and change. My posting availability is unlikely to get better anytime soon, and so it's probably best if Carlos is either picked up by Mitsuhama from the bus stop or if he's victim to random drive-by shooting.

Oh, I'm sure that I can find something so much more creative and amusing than a random drive-by.

Carlos's last words might be: "OK guys, remember not to open the cheese sauce valve while I'm back there."

Sad to see you go, ntwi. May COVID be never with you.

I guess Connor's decker contact may get some business in the near future.

Or, Carlos is now a Contact for Connor?

I could be bribed to that way of thinking. Traditional bribery would of course involve a deep dish pizza with anchovies, black olives and asparagus, but I'm open to creative thought.

Hmmm ... from the name of the campaign I surmise you might have, but still be interested in, an evil genius I created originally as an Enemy for a PC of mine, but then lent to Virtual Seattle for their last season, in which the fixer for us all,Claudia, was killed in the last mission, by ... Dun Dun Duhhhn ... The Blind Man.

My PC was Professor, an archaeologist who had channeled his physical adept powers mostly into academic skills, and who was forced to enter the shadows to find the person who destroyed his career and almost succeeded in framing him for murder. Professor's real name was Nathaniel Jones. He possessed a Power Focus inherited from his great grandfather, Indiana Jones ... a fedora. This inheritance stirred jealousy in Nathaniel's cousin, Simon Berkoff, who in the shadows (and another PC of mine) was Hodder, a Caballistic tradition mystic adept who had made a career of antiquities theft, and saw himself as the rightful heir to Indiana's fedora.

In a fit of pique, Hodder betrayed Nathaniel's recent discovery in India of an ancient manuscript purported to tell of a previous age of magic in the world to an acquaintance of his, The Blind Man.

The Blind Man is based on a character in John LeCarre's novel, The Night Manager. Wealthy (both from inheritance and business), connected, loved by the global community for his acts of largess and charity, he secretly deals in every vice known to metahumanity. He is augmentedly intelligent, and conceives of himself as someday rivaling the Dragons in their scheming, planning and behind the scenes manipulation.

I think I could dig up TBM's backstory, if you are interested. Or for that matter the two PC's stories and vignettes as well.

I have good news, and I have bad news.

The good news is that think that I might drop Carlos into the NPC contact bucket until I find an appropriately hilarious way of offing him.

The bad news is that you have completely missed the intent of the campaign title - but even that is good news, because you get surprised by the plot!

But fair enough; when you have time, you can rock back in with your posts and I'll keep up.

So, at this point, are Connor and Carlos still together?

Oh, wait, I could have Connor skip out to check his digs to collect important materials, like his Lodge materials. That could split the two escapees, after which you take over Carlos. Got it.

Completely missed the meaning of the title? Intriguing!

Yup, looks like you got it.

More coming soon.

I'll roll the burner phone into Connor's lifestyle costs.

If it turns into a dozen burners, that may change.

I figured that. Thanks.

You back in the mix yet, pbangarth?

sorry for the waiting, been a little busy with work.

No problem, I'm not sharpening the axe just yet.

Hey, they asked nicely for you to come in. Real nicely. They offered you bennies. Did you SEE that health plan?

Of course, you hurt their feelings, and now they're retaliating. Just lashing out, in their grief.

Starting Tuesday, I will be away from home for a week. Going to the cottage (cabin for you American folks). Two people, two dogs, two cats, plus supplies for a week. One car.

This year is a little complicated by COVID. The cottage is on an island in Georgian Bay (Lake Huron) which is a First Nations reserve. The land is leased to cottagers. Because the indigenous residents are understandably wary of diseases that come across the pond, they have kept the island off limits to non-residents, till now. If any case of COVID appears on the island, all non-residents have to leave within 24 hours.

So, we have not set up internet (exorbitant fees for setup for just one or two visits), and cell phone coverage is almost non-existent. Access to the high point on the island is not allowed. No going in to the village to use the store's internet. I might, on occasion, be able to get a cell phone link on the beach, but this is very rare.

We will return home on Tuesday, 18 August. Carry on without me as well as you can. Try not to kill my PC.

Have fun. Be safe out there.

Thanks.

Hmmm. How could a team of runners use a contact who is skilled at miniaturization?

Koekepan, should I wait to see if anyone in the diner recognizes Connor, or just go ahead and do some 'freshening up' in the bathroom?

Freshen you up. We'll get you back in when you're back from the wilds.

sorry for the long absence, work has been eating my attention. If your stilling running I'll be posting.

Still running; was kind of wondering where everybody had gone.

Keep on trucking!

Percpetion checks:

5d6: 14 [5d6=4, 1, 1, 2, 6]

Re-roll the 6: 1d6: 1 [1d6=1]

Well, this should be fun. Does she wait to see whether it follows, or does she shoot it out of the sky before it records her vehicle?

"Woman shoots News 16 camera drone out of sky! Is she connected to the car theft ring we are investigating? Update on the hour!"

Obviously, she tempts it into a dark alley, grabs it and interrogates it. With a lead pipe.

Connor should just roll for disguise, and come back into the wilds.

Will do shortly. Have to figure out how best to get around an 8(!!) target number for the Makeover. Damn daytime.

I think I used up Connor's Karma pool earlier. I'll check that, again shortly.

I can't recall how to do a memory test. Heh.

Is it a straight INT roll? And if so, where the #^%#^# do I find that in the SR3 manual?

Yup, straight up INT.

Intelligence is the attribute associated with memory, and there is no relevant skill.

Connor memory test : INT 4 = 4 dice (target 4 I presume): 3 hits

Huh. 3 hits on 4 dice. Clearly there is something memorable about this woman. Hey, GM, do I have a little leeway for my IC post?

Sure, have some leeway.

You already know she's in the practical chemistry end of things, so it's logical that Connor would recognise her.

Connor knows her to be intelligent, but have some personality quirks, and a real problem with authority.

Hey guys, I got to deal with the hurricane that hasn't made up its mind right now. So far its tracking right over my house so I might be offline for a while. When I know more I will be getting back to you. At least I'll be on mobile. So prayers and good vibes needed.

No problem, I completely understand.

By the way, if it really does go right over your house, you may find the eye to be an eerie experience.

I've been there.

Makes me feel like I've been left out. Hurricanes almost never make it up here with any strength.

Well, we still have winter.

For now.

Take care!

Next few days I will be in and out of touch too, as we are moving to a new town and house.

Oh, shit! I'm going to have to change my location info! No longer at the "Center of the Universe".

Let me know when you're all back from natural disasters, visiting relatives and other calamities.

I'm back till the 30th,

Where is everybody?

I'm here! I'm waiting to see if Foxx survived the hurricane. I'm hoping that we can get some kind of thumbs-up/thumbs-down soonish on that.

OK, neither hide nor hair of Foxx at this point.

Pbangarth, it looks like it's just one dwarf versus the biopocalypse. I'll let you pick up with the arrival and settling in at a safe house, give or take whatever magical precautions you wish to perform. The trip there will be substantially uneventful.

If Foxx shows back up, we'll see where we go, but for now it's all you.

Alright! One coddled newbie facing the unknown, experienced in the shadows from a few forays slumming in Tacoma and some Karl Kombat Mage movies.

No problem.

Uh, so I don't have to lift my tired, old fingers and exercise a similarly challenged brain, roughly what time is it when we get into the safe house?

About 2PM. No rush hour active, that neighbourhood is pretty quiet this time of day, so if mister night owl wants to collapse and wake up to do madness in the evening, I'll run with that as well.

Away from computer until Thursday (8 Aug.) evening.

So, can a PC with a whopping "1" in Biotech read the flashing lights on the autodoc in a meaningful way, or should I roll?

A lot of Connor's spells are prophylactic (Hey! That's what would have been required in his job), and won't help much here, not even Antidote if she is already damaged. Prophylaxis is great if you can apply it before exposure. Maybe if she is physically damaged, Heal will help. If her blood oxygen level is low due to whatever is going on, Oxygenate would help. If blood sugar or other nutrients are deficient, then Nutrition might make her stronger.

You can read them. You wouldn't always know what to do about it, but you can tell that she's not in imminent risk of death. Breathing is OK, if very slow. Heart rate is around 40BPM, brain activity is low, but functionally similar to non-REM sleep, as far as you can tell.

If what's going on is that she's in a chemically induced trance or coma or something, you could probably rouse her with Antidote. She's not obviously damaged according to the autodoc. For more information, you'd need a roll.

Thanks! That's helpful.

You can take the toxin in question as level 5 nasty. She doesn't play cheap games.