pbangarth
Aug 9 2023, 02:35 AM
Bongo sees the social dynamics immediately and waits to see who among the HomeBoyz jumps to help out the pretty lady. In the meantime he commits to memory faces/appearance with the associated names.
Willie, inside, helps Angel select a room. "Your Steed can climb stairs, right? Bedrooms are on the top two floors. Bongo and I have rooms on the third floor. There's one more room there, and three more on the second floor. So, six of us can be accommodated here, with a seventh if they use an extra back room."
Seth
Aug 9 2023, 10:32 AM
Angel 316 nodded at Willie "Thank you. Yes. Well call me when it's time to get up. I have some work to do as well as sleep." She headed up the stairs rather slowly. It looked like stairs were still 'new and awkward for her', her Steed behind her in case she fell.
Fortunately she didn't fall, although she had to stop half way to catch her balance. She found the third bedroom on the floor with Bongo and Willie before getting in her Steed and closing her eyes. Obviously she could have had the Steed carry her upstairs but she seemed quite determined to do it all herself.
sunnyside
Aug 9 2023, 02:21 PM
Angelo says. "Since homeboyz are often having fun on their rides, and we don't like chip heads getting in our way, your stuff is probably safer in the garage. Still, you go leaving valuables sitting around and see what happens sooner or later. You can figure out where to park by going out the backdoor of your crib. Just park there. "
As Angelo finishes Slim quickly adds " Or I could just show you. I'll swing around and lead the way. Actually they should be coming by with the nutri packs soon. I can show you how to save some nuyen."
Without waiting for an answer slim takes off towards the garage as his fellows put their hands into their large jackets and roll their eyes. Starting to walk back towards where they had been standing earlier, and where it looks like a customer might have pulled over to the side of the road.
Koekepan
Aug 9 2023, 03:24 PM
Tubesnake directs his shankworm into the van through an exhaust vent by the inner workstation. A squeeze through the grille, a wriggle past the fan blades, and then once inside the van he directs it to where the daddy sniperlegs sit. A couple of quiet moves, a couple of thrown switches, and they activate. Tubesnake links to them in the AR view in his goggles, and then directs the shankworm to come back to him.
While the shankworm does the little pilgrimage back, the daddy sniperlegs flip off the van's killswitch, and Tubesnake adds it to the AR as well - not for much, merely sliding open the top maintenance access hatch about six inches, and the daddy sniperlegs both quietly crawl out of the van and take up positions on top. They just sit there, looking for all the world like a couple of slightly weird antennae strapped to the ladders on top of the van.
Tubesnake says to Willie: "Y'know, I'm thinking. You have a line on subsonics? I oughta have a quiet capability too."
pbangarth
Aug 9 2023, 05:37 PM
Willie, having placed Angel, is back with Tubesnake at the door. He scratches his chin for a minute. "I don't know if I have a line on that or not. What is that? Can you fill me in?"
Thanee
Aug 10 2023, 05:38 AM
"Great! I will get my bike right away. Fiona? I might need that seat..."
The cat hops off the bike and strolls around the corner where Slim is headed, while Selina jumps into the seat, starts the ignition, and slowly drives up to them.
"Thank you, Slim! That's mighty sweet of you."
Koekepan
Aug 10 2023, 07:41 PM
"Bullets. Or, really, cartridges. Heavy bullets and controlled charges so that the bullet doesn't break the sound barrier out of the gun's muzzle. Because it's so slow, the only noise is the thump of the initial charge, without any supersonic crack of the bullet's passage through the air. Add a suppression system to the gun, and it's as loud as someone kicking a ball. It's not good for long range shots, but about a hundred out, it's fine. Heavy bullets mean good penetration even though velocity is lower."
Yeah, apparently Tubesnake knows about more than just electricity and carpentry.
pbangarth
Aug 10 2023, 09:18 PM
"That sounds interesting," Willie opines. "No, I didn't know about that, and anyway I don't have any connections here yet except Brewster. He might be able to line some of those up."
Bongo comes back and joins the two at the door. "The HomeBoyz are flexing their muscles and showing us who's boss in this neighbourhood. Typical ganger stuff."
sunnyside
Aug 11 2023, 02:16 AM
Outside the house nobody seems to have noticed the rifles setting up on the top of the van, but they'd be able to notice people starting to file out of the Speakeasy and passing in front of 711. Looking a little annoyed but they walk around Tubesnake's saw and pile of algeawood dust. As they head east down the sidewalk they reach the chipheads and give a couple friendly nudges, getting them up and moving. Soon it looks like lots of people are emptying out of both buildings. All of them doing in the same direction Slim and Selina went.
At least the music has stopped for a while, some punk band seemed to have been experimenting with smooth Jazz.
Slim smiles as Selina follows him. We'll that at saves me having to come around with my ride. Though I'd like show you my ride anyway. It's right here near the entrance, so I can get to it fast if there's any trouble. He points at a dirtbike, though a shiney one, made form parts probably from quite a few models. Notably it has a front windscreen that's narrow, but high enough that he could stand up and still be covered.
He continues past it. Going to the North wall of the garage and walks past a couple doors, finally stopping and pointing at one. "Well, that's your rear door. And these two parking spots are basically yours. I don't know if that's a law or anything. But consider them yours. At least you're close to them if anybody frags with it. Some chipheads pissed us off, so we welded their door shut. I'd say you can use those two too, ya! Sometimes folks will actually fill up the parking around here for some drinks 'n tunes, but usually they head out the front too. We can be a little scary in here. " He gives Selina a toothy grin.
About then a large truck swings into the building, with a Baltimore Police Union car pulling in behind it. The cop car parks nearer to the entrance. The truck trundles along to about the middle of this half of the parking garage. A crowd starts following it in from the outside.
Slim waves a hand at the truck. "Authentic B-more nutri packs. They're kinda like big drink pouches full of 2000 calories of paste and vitamins. I bet our city has the healthiest chip heads in the world. Crazy. Now I'm dressed a little nice for somebody who should be getting 'sistance but I got stuff I can spend nuyen on ya know? The truck guys aren't going to cause trouble, if they gave a shit in the first place."
He gives Selina a smile and gives her a looking over while he can. Though his smile seems to fade a little as he considers her outfit and his course of action, but he tries to keep his posture good and casually scatches his chest, pulling up his T shirt a little to show his six pack.
pbangarth
Aug 12 2023, 12:28 AM
Bongo perks up at the sight of the parade. "A truck, a cop car and a bunch of whatever was in those two buildings is heading off to the garage. Following Selena. Let's go see what's up. Willie you with me out the back of our place? Tubesnake, can you follow in behind them with your van of tricks? This could be interesting."
Bongo heads for the back door. Willie mutters "Who the fuck put you in charge?" But he follows Bongo.
Koekepan
Aug 12 2023, 04:23 PM
Paul thinks for a second, then simply grabs his tub of soft drones and carts it into the back of the van. While he's there, he dumps in his toolbelt, folds up the jobsite saw and dumps it in as well. Then he slams the van doors shut, activates the van and slumps down in the seat to set it toodling down the street at a modest pace - just the autopilot in funeral procession following mode.
He also instructs one of the daddy sniperlegs drones to reach over a claw and turn off the jobsite radio on top, and once that is done gets a Fly-Spy to buzz up, out of the top hatch, in case he wants to be able to look around some more.
Thanee
Aug 12 2023, 05:41 PM
Selina mentally rolls her eyes (she does not want to offend the ganger).
"Alright, here looks good then." She finds a spot for the bike and leaves it there.
When the nutri pack delivery with their police escort arrives, Selina watches the little spectacle. "At least the city does seem to care. Can't say that about every place."
The cat casually stalks around the place, looking at everything, and it also seems like she is keeping an eye on the bike every now and then.
sunnyside
Aug 21 2023, 02:09 AM
Slim thinks for a brief moment and says "Well, at least the politicians have to pretend they care. But maybe that at least means enough SINners want to pretend to care? Maybe a lot of things here are better than where you came from huh babe?" Slim gives her his most confident half smile.
With the nutri packs being handed out everyone seems to be ignoring the van. One of the cops gives it a brief glance, but the well worn body of the work van doesn't catch his interest.
However as Willie steps out Rat Fink gives out an excited shout and meanders over the to big truck. The men in the truck are trying to get people to leave a thumbprint and to only take on bag, but Rat Fink is tall enough to reach over the divider and into the truck to get a few packs, which his large hand manages to grip at once. The humans in the truck have a look somewhere between anger and disgust, but otherwise they act like they didn't notice and get back to the alcoholic rockers and the chip heads.
Rat Fink strides over towards Willie and hurls one of the packs at him. "You oughta try some 'thentic cooz'n yeah? "
pbangarth
Aug 21 2023, 02:30 AM
Willie deftly snatches the flying meal pack out of the air. He looks at it. He looks at Rat Fink. He looks at the van people. He remembers what it was like to be hungry.
"Yeah, you bet. Been a few hours since I ate. I think I'll get another one."
He walks over to the van, pulls out his credstick, and quietly says to the nearest city employee, "If you have another pack available, I'd like to pay a hundred nuyen for it." Even more quietly, he says, "I been hungry before. Some of these folks can't fight for their food the way I did. Maybe this cash'll help."
sunnyside
Aug 21 2023, 03:01 AM
The worker takes the offered credstick automatically, without thinking, and before a chip head can grab it themselves. But then Willie can see the gears turning as the guy wonders what to actually do. He says "Ok" , slots it for a hundred, and then hands it back along with another pack to Willie.
Somebody in what probably was a mohawk cut a month ago, but now has a half inch of fuzz all over and not enough product to get it to really stand up yells " C'mon he said not to make everybody fight" A number of folks in ratty synthleather jackets take up the cry with similar sentiments. As the cops start to look over the worker quickly slips the credstick into his pocket and nods. He mumbles something to his coworker about splitting and presses a few buttons on the old style touchscreen he's using and they start handing out packs without the hassle, and more than one a person. With the shouting dying down the cops go back to their soycaf. Despite handing out quite a few more packs the process actually goes much quicker without trying to log people, and soon they're moving to lower the sliding door on the truck. Of course even with an extra pack people are cajoling them for more, but this seems par for the course even if folks hadn't gotten a pack.
Willie gets some thanks from the crowd, but he gets more offers of sexual favors for nuyen, requests for more aid to help a guy out, and confused glances from the gangers.
Thanee
Aug 21 2023, 05:26 AM
"Looks like you got some fans over there," Selina remarks when Willie is back, pretty much ignoring Slim now.
"Anyways, I guess that is all there is to see here. Still need to unpack my stuff. Thanks guys, see you around!"
The elf then goes back to the front entrance and heads inside. Having nothing better to do at the moment, Fiona just stays with the bike.
Koekepan
Aug 21 2023, 04:02 PM
Paul just settles back in the seat until the van is properly parked, then sets about shutting it down properly. In an area where there are chipheads, it's a cinch that there are deckers of substantial skill, so in this case shutting down means more than hitting a softswitch; it means a physical switch like an old school killswitch except that instead of being a big, red switch in an obvious place, it's an anonymous knob hidden under an insert in a cupholder. No current? No computing. Next, he locks a big, chunky length of cable around a utility post.
It won't stop determined vandals, or anyone with a tow truck and a utility saw, but as far as casual thievery is concerned, there are easier targets. Much easier.
This all done, he unfolds a utility dolly and opens the back of the van, to load all his drones and other key devices on it. Even the daddy sniperlegs scramble down from the top of the van, and then he turns them off and folds them up to tuck them away for a ride back into the safehouse.
sunnyside
Aug 23 2023, 04:10 AM
At this point everyone's comlink goes off as Brewster calls.
[OOC: Assuming everyone answers after waking up or excusing themselves]
Brewster shows up in the conference call in your AR as a bust of himself, apparently using a trid camera. He's an elf, making his age somewhat hard to tell. He's wearing a dark blazer and white T shirt, but what mostly sticks out is his datajack and sculpted features giving him a strong chin and pronounced cheekbones, but they are obviously due to dermal plating for anyone familiar with the cyberware.
"Hello, and apologies for calling. I know my instructions were to settle in and wait for everyone to arrive before calling me, but Flatline had something come up. Actually, they're heading to Willie's boat as we speak. Hopefully Willie can help him out with an emergent opportunity while the rest of the group starts on a separate matter.
I did advertise that this city has plenty of work didn't I?
Also I often prefer to meet in person, or in a more secure virtual environment. But have yet to establish all that, and this information would seem to demand less security than typical.
Yes a bit of do-goodery to get to know one another.
Though I'm afraid there isn't much to go on, it seems this also shouldn't be too dangerous."He holds up a hand and an ARO of a trid image of four people sitting at table appears in it. The image zooms out, showing a club with people dancing. There's a variety of fashions, but most seem to be in odd suits and dresses. (OOC: With their fashion skill Selina at least could recognize them as based off the "roaring 20s" style. Not those 20s, the ones before that).
He zooms back in and an arrow points at a human woman. Shes looks like she might be slightly out of it, but is smiling pleasantly enough. The human male with his arm over her shoulders appears to be at least twice her age and is talking with the other couple at the table while he pours them a drink with his other hand.
After a moment Brewster continues
"The woman is one Sophie Brooks. She was in New York, but left home at 17 and quickly went off the grid entirely and has been missing for over a year. She seemed to have packed up her things, but she has not contacted her parents or old friends since.
The parents are understandably very upset and wish her back home safely. I have ascertained that they are upset to a specific level of 24,000.
This picture was taken by a certain "SpinOX" who is trying to be a simsense star. They were partying at the Gatsby club here in Baltimore five days ago, and selected this image, with their face superimposed of course, as the ARO for their download site.(OOC:
https://goo.gl/maps/6crR19za8v783CYH9 )
"The parents indicated they didn't think it seems like SpinOX knew them. It seems to simply be the first hit they've had after having agents scouring the matrix for images or any trace of their daughter, since she vanished and remains the only clue.
They are heading down this way. You may call me back to facilitate the family reunion.
I don't recognize anyone involved, which perhaps makes finding her more difficult, but I assure you that's good news.
I have a little time if you have questions appropriate to this connection about anything.
Thanee
Aug 23 2023, 05:38 AM
"'this also shouldn't be too dangerous' - isn't that what they all say..." Selina remarks in a hushed tone.
"That club looks fancy. I like it. Definitely going to check that one out. Is Angel awake? I think, we might need her talents here to get started..."Selina instructs her own agent to procure the public information about that Gatsby club. They already got the address, but more detail about the neighborhood's security level, do you need SIN registration to enter, opening hours, dress code, drinks menu, prices, and such.
[ Spoiler ]
Agent is Rating 3 with Browse 6 (Optimization 3, so it can run on Selina's Rating 3 commlink)
This would be an extended test, right? So 9 dice, then 8 dice, then 7 dice, and so on?
After a moment, she comments to noone in particular, while watching some kind of video on her AR feed:
"Charleston... huh."
sunnyside
Aug 23 2023, 01:59 PM
[OOC: I'm taking it that the call is still on, but like most folks of the time Selina is filling her peripheral vision with searches and other information. Some of which is available with the 2 auto hits within this timeframe
April 25th 2070 is a Friday. But the club won't open until 9. It's in the downtown "Shadow City" area underneath the Ares Arms "Arch-ology"
It does not seem to have an official dress code or SIN requirement but has a bouncer, at least sometimes a line, and a 20 nuyen cover charge.
Mostly she gets flooded with images and video from people in and around the club and old or up coming promotions.
I'm assuming angel is awake and on the call, I figured they'd work that into their post, similarly to how Bongo and Willie would need to get some privacy (or multitask and subvocalize) ]
Koekepan
Aug 23 2023, 03:30 PM
Paul takes the call without comment. He grabs a carpenter's pencil and a small chunk of algaeply scrap to take notes: the address, and the names Sophie Brooks and SpinOX. He taps his lips with the end of the pencil, then thinks to himself.
"OK, we have a club under Ares. Doesn't necessarily mean much, but I should check how connected the structures are. Also should map the ins and the outs of that building, signal-wise as well as internal management nodes to check for records. If Sophie was recognised, she probably didn't have facial cosmetic surgery which means either nobody's really trying to hide her, or they're stupid cheap. She's probably not in the club any more. If she is, it's easy, but the real paydata is in how and when and with whom and from where she came and left. A job for Angel, but I can do the legwork to get her in there more easily. Can do."
Thanee
Aug 23 2023, 04:27 PM
"It's been five days, since that picture was taken. Unless they are throwing the party of the millennium there, they surely won't be at the club, anymore," Selina agrees.
"But someone must have paid their admission fee and drinks, and we have the other people in the image. Most importantly, the guy she is with. If we can find out who that is, we are half-way there. And, as you say, they must have come and gone in some way, and maybe someone drove them."Back to the call, Selina asks bluntly:
"So, is that number up for negotiations?"While waiting for a reply, the witch informs Fiona via their telepathic connection:
"I might need your aid for a moment to cast a spell." The cat then jumps off the bike and moves into some corner, where she can vanish, only to reappear hidden behind some piece of furniture in the house and walk up to the assembled group.
[ Spoiler ]
Increase Charisma F6 with Aid Sorcery from Fiona
Spellcasting
4 hitsDrain Resistance (DV 1S)
3 hits
pbangarth
Aug 23 2023, 06:20 PM
Willie goes through a practised set of checks of equipment and armour as he comments, "Looks like the guy who pays the bills needs my special talents elsewhere. Meet you back here when, (Flatline is it?), and I are done."
He hops on his bike and heads for his boat. To Brewster he replies, "On my way to the boat."
pbangarth
Aug 23 2023, 06:41 PM
Bongo commits to memory the faces and any other identifying features of the four at the table.
He checks the image carefully for any thing on the four that might help track them: rings on fingers, jewellery, tattoos, etc.
[ Spoiler ]
Perception 7 + INT 5 = 12 dice:
1 success Pthbthbthb!
Well, get it out of the way early.
Seth
Aug 23 2023, 07:31 PM
Angel 316 was listening and not really understanding what they were being asked to do. Finding one person who didn't want to be found, and had spent a year learning how to do that, didn't really sound a very likely thing to her. Especially when she just had a picture.
"if any of you can help me with first aid" she asked
"I am a little tired and I think it would be good to be fresh when I hack the club"
"The simplest and safest way to get in is to probe the system slowly. It will probably take three or four hours, but there would be very little if any risk. I can go in all guns blazing and maybe they will see me...maybe not. Are we in a hurry?"OOC: Threading exploit to +3. Fortunately no extra stun
[ Spoiler ]
Die rolls
https://r.rpol.net/usermodules/diceroller.c...date=169281906821:27, Today: Angel 316 rolled 3 successes using 11d6 with the Shadowrun 4th ed system with a target of 5 with rolls of 6,3,2,2,2,1,1,6,3,5,1. resist fading from threading .
21:26, Today: Angel 316 rolled 3 successes using 9d6 with the Shadowrun 4th ed system with a target of 5 with rolls of 6,6,6,3,3,4,3,4,3. threading force 2 exploit. (I misread the rules and thought you declared the effect first. )
That means hacking 4, exploit 7 so 11 die. Not rolling those yet
Thanee
Aug 23 2023, 07:47 PM
With a quick glance towards Bongo Slade, Selina replies: "Yeah, I got that covered. Maybe you can find some clothes, that are approximately the size needed, ideally something you do not like anymore."
She then turns to Angel.
"It's been five days, take your time. A few hours won't make any difference. Getting that information without setting off any alarms, however, might. The club is closed until tonight, anyways."
Koekepan
Aug 24 2023, 02:43 PM
Paul looks up, loathe to interrupt, but quietly adds: "Yeah, I can help. You don't want me doing heart surgery if you already have a cardiologist, but I'm better'n nothing. I can do some preliminary scouting to help, if you like."
pbangarth
Aug 24 2023, 05:19 PM
Seeing as there might be some downtime as the matrix whizzes look for info, Bongo picks through the clothes he brought and settles on an old suit he hasn't worn in a while. He puts it on and goes back to Selina.
"Here's something I don't mind turning into a period costume. Let's see what you can do."
Seth
Aug 24 2023, 06:57 PM
"I'll be a while then" Angel said and headed to her room
I will be five hours at least. Perhaps six. So let me know when I can join in again
[ Spoiler ]
I can't beleive how many die rolls that took...
- OK so I threaded a +3 to explot givine hacking 4 + explot 5 threaded +3 => 12 die. That didn't cost any fade
- Then I got a force three crack sprite. It had a net two services, and didn't cost any fade.
- With two services it helped the first two rolls.
This gave the following die rolls
- 12 + 3 from the team work test => 2
- 11 + 2 from the team work test => 3
- 10 =>2
- 9 => 6
- 8 =>4
- Total so far = 17
That should be enough for an admin account. If not I'll spend another hour
[ Spoiler ]
20:53, Today: Angel 316 rolled 4 successes using 8d6 with the Shadowrun 4th ed system with a target of 5 with rolls of 3,5,4,3,5,6,1,6. exploit 5th go.
20:53, Today: Angel 316 rolled 6 successes using 9d6 with the Shadowrun 4th ed system with a target of 5 with rolls of 5,6,5,1,2,3,5,5,6. exploit 4 th go.
20:52, Today: Angel 316 rolled 2 successes using 10d6 with the Shadowrun 4th ed system with a target of 5 with rolls of 2,6,6,4,2,4,3,2,1,2. exploit 3rd go.
20:51, Today: Angel 316 rolled 3 successes using 13d6 with the Shadowrun 4th ed system with a target of 5 with rolls of 1,1,1,1,5,3,4,5,2,1,6,1,2. second exploit test.
20:50, Today: Angel 316 rolled 2 successes using 6d6 with the Shadowrun 4th ed system with a target of 5 with rolls of 2,3,5,6,2,2. second crack spirit team work.
20:50, Today: Angel 316 rolled 2 successes using 15d6 with the Shadowrun 4th ed system with a target of 5 with rolls of 1,2,4,1,4,6,4,3,1,1,3,4,1,5,3. probe.
20:49, Today: Angel 316 rolled 3 successes using 6d6 with the Shadowrun 4th ed system with a target of 5 with rolls of 6,2,5,5,3,2. team work test from crack sprite.
20:49, Today: Angel 316 rolled 2 successes using 10d6 with the Shadowrun 4th ed system with a target of 5 with rolls of 2,1,5,3,1,3,2,5,2,2. resist fading.
20:48, Today: Angel 316 rolled 1 success using 3d6 with the Shadowrun 4th ed system with a target of 5 with rolls of 3,2,6. force spirit resit.
20:48, Today: Angel 316 rolled 3 successes using 11d6 with the Shadowrun 4th ed system with a target of 5 with rolls of 4,2,6,5,3,4,3,4,5,3,4. Compiling crack spirit force 3.
21:27, Yesterday: Angel 316 rolled 3 successes using 11d6 with the Shadowrun 4th ed system with a target of 5 with rolls of 6,3,2,2,2,1,1,6,3,5,1. resist fading from threading .
21:26, Yesterday: Angel 316 rolled 3 successes using 9d6 with the Shadowrun 4th ed system with a target of 5 with rolls of 6,6,6,3,3,4,3,4,3. threading force 2 exploit.
sunnyside
Aug 24 2023, 08:54 PM
[OOC: You moved on fast. I'll finish up Brewsters end of the call here]
Replying to Bongo he laughs. "I generally pride myself on knowing how to get anything in the city, but off the top of my head I don't know where you'd get a flapper dress or a gold pinstripe suit outside of a costume store, but I have a high confidence in your ability to manage."
To Selena's question he replies. "No, I'm afraid I negotiated on your behalf for this one. I hope you'll concede the rate is above par yes? Normally of course I do enjoy a bit of negotiation, and I have a feeling you'll do quite well in meetings with a Mr. Johnson yourself. Perhaps events will transpire for you to have an opportunity this time before all is said and done."
[OOC: With her boosted Charisma, and resulting rolls, Selina notices some oddities in in his subtle actions and inflections. She's pretty confident he's being truthful in those statements, even about enjoying negotiation. But something else is bothering him about just this particular exchange. Something seemingly unrelated to this particular job since it doesn't seem to otherwise manifest. Selina will be paying attention in future interactions to see if she can figure out a pattern.]
Seeing that the team was getting on with things Brewster continues "I really should shift over to a call with Willie and Flatline. But since you're new I want to stress something about the area the club is in. With Ares everywhere overhead and many places going down to ground level they're very very sensitive about bullets and spells. They'll have Knight Errant on the ground, drones in the air, and spirits on patrol in the astral very much focused on those things. However it's a jurisdictional mess with them and the Baltimore Police Union there. They will often just stare at each other across a street while obvious crimes of other sorts are going on between them, even assault. But if someone pulls a gun or some mojo to try and get the upper hand.... Do try and not get killed just walking down the street hmm? Also turf wise the area is used as a neutral space, in particular the east side and west side ork gangs, but also organized and unorganized crime, and even downtown and uptown. To an extent that makes moving around easier, but it also makes it hard to be safe by being in good stead with the locals."
He makes a gesture and a slight bow. "I hope you enjoy the city and find our joint efforts profitable. There is much to do if we can get to know each other. You can leave me a message if you find you need anything elsee. Goodby"
At that he hangs up.
---------------------------------------
After four hours Angel is into the public facing node for the club with admin access. An alert does not seem to have triggered. The financials do not seem to be here or connected to the public facing node, which is hosted on a commerical nexi. Mostly it has calendars of events and information about the club. While it doesn't exactly have blueprints, there's enough there for Angel to get a pretty good idea of the layout of the place. With a hallway to pay and a main dance floor on the first floor, tables and VIP areas on the second, supplies and a kitchen in the basement, and adult entertainment and offices on the third.
There is also a list of pre-approved guests. None of the four individuals at the table seem to be in the list. But you could add yourselves, which should also keep them from running your SINS.
Thanee
Aug 24 2023, 11:26 PM
To Brewster:
"Of course, sounds great. And you went above and beyond here, already, which is much appreciated. Just trying to get a hang of how things are run around here."* * * * *
After the call, Selina will help everyone with their dresses. She will do some more research, and make use of her Fashion spell, in order to create outfits that would allow them to blend in with the club's crowd. She also takes some time to practice the dancing, even though that will still be a bit clumsy with only a few hours of preparation.
Seth
Aug 25 2023, 06:11 AM
Angel sighed at the end. That had taken forever. Perhaps one day she would get good at this: it was only a club website after all. What would she do if it was a serious website?
Still it was done now. She added invitations for each of them. Then looked back over any records that existed of previous nights. Could she find anything about the time that the picture had been taken? Any records about who those people had been?
OOC Please feel free to roll any suitable die rolls if you feel it's worth rolling die for this
sunnyside
Aug 25 2023, 03:51 PM
[OOC: With Admin access and no security alert Angel is able to operate quite freely in the system. They could even do things like lock out the actual club owners from their own public matix site, or set the dormant IC in the node to attack them or something. It's essentially your system unless or until a spider or other user happens to notice something is off. Note that for most functions user access is plenty and makes for either much faster probing or safer hacking on the fly. However with higher access it can be fun to just tell security IC to shut down instead of fighting it.
The issue is that while you're able to find the promotional materials for that night, and you could find information on the club owners who have access to this node, none of that pertains to the four individuals at the table.
Actually this might be a spot to RP with some of the others due to Angels disadvantage. Angel isn't so used to the idea of the physical world. However even without particularly specialized knowledge of matrix security, the others would know that the business has to be doing money transactions, and probably has some cameras set up. It isn't that Angel is having a problem, it's just probably all handled by a system on site.
The question for Angel is if they want to leave themselves a logon they could use to get into this public node anytime, or if they'd rather try to eliminate all trace anyone was doing anything in the system (aside from being added to the pre approved guest list). ]
Koekepan
Aug 25 2023, 03:56 PM
Paul starts by sitting down for a good think.
It's a club, under the Ares arcology. It either abuts other construction, or stands free. If it stands free, there has to be framing around it to help support the arcology's foundation above - this gives an ideal entry for the quieter drones. All he needs to do is to get up into the scaffolding somewhere vaguely nearby, and that's easy with his ladders and a little patience. Then his drones can quietly infiltrate, without so much as a matrix signature, by running on cables rather than wireless. In combination with drones running through sewer and drain lines beneath, he should be able to get a good set of additional views from beneath in under an hour, especially with a prospect of looking for hidden cells for captives or other activities. OK, time to make his pitch to the group. He goes to find Selina.
"Excuse me, ma'am? I don't know what the plan is, yet, but I have a read on how I can get a lot of structural and technical data on the club if we want it, without raising alarms. No magic, no wireless activity, no damage, no explosions. If you want me to, I can get to work on that, especially if people have questions that they'd like answered. For example, are there cells for keeping personafixed prostitutes under the club?"
Thanee
Aug 25 2023, 05:03 PM
Selina smiles. "You talk to me, like I'm your boss or something. We are all equals here. That being said, while I am not particularly interested in that specific piece of information, anything we can figure out, especially without causing any suspicion, seems like a good idea to me. If we head there later tonight, we might need to find out more from the inside, and maybe you can dig something up, that could help us with that."
Koekepan
Aug 26 2023, 03:42 PM
Paul raises a hand to scratch under the band of his cap. "I'm a contractor, ma'am. I try to treat my fellow contractors with respect too. But if this is the idea, then the sooner I get started, the sooner I'll have data."
Seth
Aug 26 2023, 04:32 PM
"Well I am afraid that was mostly a waste of time" Angel said sadly "There's nothing there of interest that I could find. There are no cameras or anything. Still we have invites to get in"
pbangarth
Aug 27 2023, 01:41 AM
"Looks to me like we have some scouting to do. Angel is hooked into the system from here and it's probably best that she keep a watch over things from in here. Tubesnake has a plan to suss out the innards of the building with his pets and can get them to be more proactive if necessary. Willie and our yet-to-be-met teammate Flatline (that name worries me a bit) are off on their own thing. So, Selina, how about you and I go for dinner there dressed appropriately and reconnoitre from the inside? "
Bongo smiles radiantly at the magician. "We can get to know each other better. Skills and beliefs and such."
Nothing would ever develop in a professional relationship such as this, but ... dinner with a beautiful woman? Come on. And his presence would keep most of the predators away.
"Angel, do you know what the club's policy is on weapons? Wouldn't want to ruffle any feathers."
Thanee
Aug 27 2023, 06:38 AM
"We should definitely go. It's the only lead we got at the moment. There is little to watch from the outside for Angel, as it looks. If we want to get the information we are looking for from their system, we need her inside. Of course, that is where things start to get a little more complicated. We need to figure out where she can access the system, and then give her the opportunity to do so."
Koekepan
Aug 27 2023, 05:15 PM
Paul nods and hauls his goodies back to the van, before unlocking it from his crude security measures, and firing it up. He sets the autopilot to stop about a block away from the target area, and while he does so, he sets up his drones to get active in the back of the van. This includes coils of signal cable, full batteries, and other health checks.
Once he reaches his destination, he puts on a helmet plastered with a couple of IBEW stickers, a high visibility vest, and goggles, then opens the top hatch, scrambles out, and hoists a ladder to hook onto the scaffolding above. He uses the console inside his van for direct control of a couple of shankworms, and has them head into the scaffolding, pulling a cable along the way to make vertical movement easy. While they do this, he pops out of the back of the van to put down traffic cones. Legit union worker getting busy, that's the look.
Seth
Aug 27 2023, 06:25 PM
"There's nothing in here about the clubs policy on weapons" Angel said sadly. She was obviously not feeling as though she was contributing very much to this
Thanee
Aug 27 2023, 06:38 PM
"Angel, darling, don't despair, just because there wasn't anything to find on the first layer. It usually takes a bit more determination to get things done. Are you okay with getting into the club with us? If we can find a way for you to access the inner system, that is where you should be able to find everything we are looking for. Do you want your clothes to look like what the ladies are wearing in the picture? As far as I can tell, that is not a necessity."
sunnyside
Aug 28 2023, 04:01 AM
[OOC: Assuming around 5 pm so everyone is caught up together. ]
Tubesnake rolls up to find the immediate area relatively quiet. Both Gatsby's and Trip's next door aren't open yet. Though not far away new clubs and bars that replaced the old houses are going.
Tubesnake finds himself getting some friendly looks and waves from folks he doesn't know from the other side of Charles street. That's a little confusing for a moment but then an ARO from across the street pops up indicating the UNITE HERE Local 7 is still located in the building, which is the union for hospitality workers in the area. Tubesnake notes the old Walbert building is now hosting a fancy restaurant going by the Walbert. That might be some drama if they don't pay well.
The scaffolding around the Gatsby club is free of the elevators and the like the safehouse building has. Just heavy structural elements. Some open lots and parking lots have afforded Ares places to put in proper pylons and the occasional proper lobby should employees wish to come down here.
Even in a short while Tubesnake would notice that the crowds are starting to build.
pbangarth
Aug 28 2023, 03:03 PM
Seeing as there is a bit of time before they head out to the club, Bongo does a little research. Just in case he gets a chance to go on stage. Now or some time in the future. One never knows!
He looks for popular songs of the 20's and some of the main singers, committing to memory vocal nuances, lyrics, maybe mannerisms if he can find visuals. And, of course, rhythms .
Yet again, he congratulates himself on channelling Magic into his ability to memorize.
The rhythms are easy, as they continue through music across generations. He works on voices of a few classic singers of the period, practising his Voice to emulate them. Eddie Cantor, Al Jolson, Gene Austin, Nick Lucas, Cliff Edwards. He even works on "Whispering' Jack Smith, a baritone.
Tunes like "Margie", "Ain't Misbehavin'", "Makin' Whoopee", "Swanee", "My Blue Heaven", "Singin' In The Rain", "Blue Skies", "Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue" and "Me and My Shadow" provide a range of moods to present.
Oh, what the Hell. Why not "I Wanna Be Loved By You" sung by Helen Kane, surely the model for the cartoon character Betty Boop. Nobody would expect him to emulate that voice.
Koekepan
Aug 28 2023, 03:16 PM
Tubesnake's drones wander along the scaffolding, establishing first a very clear exterior plan of the structure. He takes detailed notes on the environment around, with the intention of handing this tactical information to the rest of the team. While he does this, he does tap off his AR glove long enough to return the waves and touch the peak of his helmet to the union brethren and friends. Solidarity!
The absence of direct connection to the uptown area is clearly useful information, but also means that his drones can easily render a yet better view of what's up. What the hell, while he's there he sees whether there's a dead floodlight or something that he can fix so that his cover is even more plausible. Maybe even just rewire an old segment that got damaged.
But back to business. While he does official-looking busywork, he gets a simple loop on a pulley running from the upper scaffolding down to the roof of the club building itself. Once he identifies plausible entrypoints to the building itself, he can set up a signal cable and send down drones to infiltrate.
While so doing, keeps half an eye open to see whether any teammates show up.
sunnyside
Aug 28 2023, 05:24 PM
The Ares floodlights are high and over the streets. They seem to be kept in good repair. It also seems like the external cameras around here are mostly theirs due to being placed on the "ceiling" above or scaffolding. The occasional patrol drone has a KE logo. These don't pay any attention to Tubesnake. As far as he can tell they don't take a particular interest in anything, just flying patterns.
The structure is fairly basic, most noteworthy perhaps for its lack of windows on the lower floors and basement. Just the occasional vent. The top floor has four windows on the front and side. Tubesnake notices the downspouts seem to be clogged, which is odd considering it wouldn't have rained here since the Arch-ology went up.
Having a drone look around some Jauchekafer (Sewage bugs) have moved into the area between the uptown and downtown structure, and have been producing the "rain" clogging the downspouts. The grates on the main vents up here seem to have kept them out so far. Looks like they've been here a while, and probably haven't caused anyone much trouble as they're generally just going to try to sneak out and get their foot long antler like jaws on some garbage, which seems to be in fair supply in the ally next to the building.
Still, four kilos of big stinky black venomous bug doesn't endear itself to people.
Their habits seem like they might have trashed patches of the RF blocking paint up here.
(OOC: I figure that's about the level of info Tubesnake might know without a particular skill, but having been mucking around in Baltimore a while and having some browsing skill).
Seth
Aug 29 2023, 09:53 AM
Angel didn't really look happy at the 'next level'. There wasn't a 'next level'. Not with any connection. So no one could do anything with it. What was the point of that?
"They won't let me in the club" Angel pointed out "And I don't do well with crowds. No I'll wait out here. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help." she didn't sound very optimistic "It seems to have air gaps that will cripple it's ability to do anything. I've only heard of R&D centers and places like that having such insanely powerful defences because normally people want to actually get jobs done and you can't do anything through an airgap. So maybe the club has some secret or something?"
Thanee
Aug 29 2023, 10:01 AM
"Everybody has secrets," Selina comments mysteriously with a sly wink.
"It's an easy and very effective precaution, if they do not need the information outside of the club, I guess."
"Anyways, if you are not coming inside, we need to get a wireless signal to you, that allows you to connect to the inside system, right? Not sure, how we can do that right now, though."
"But why do you think they wouldn't let you in? Too young? If you are on the list, they won't check your SIN, right? You can keep that hidden."
"That reminds me, I should probably check in advance how their magical security is like, if there is any."
Koekepan
Aug 29 2023, 03:58 PM
All righty. This here is paydirt. Windows as possible entrypoints, ditto vents with some finagling. Roof damage may afford additional wireless connectivity - interesting. He sets up his Fly-Spy to fly a simple route; up, along a line of scaffolding, a loop over the roof and then back the way it came. On the way, it will have its wireless link turned off, turn it on during the loop, then turn it off before returning, and simply record a catalogue of detected nodes. This should provide some useful data for later probing.
The Jauchekaefer are excellent cover for his activities, so he sets up a couple of flatworker drones with cleaning brushes to clean trash and mess left on the scaffolding, conduits and all the rest of it. At the same time he sends up a couple of shankworms as security, in case some of the bugs get cute and want to get aggressive. Nothing like a steel spike to change their operational context, should it get that far. However, everything so far is still run on physical cables aside from the brief Fly-Spy fly-by.
sunnyside
Aug 30 2023, 04:48 AM
(OOC: The trouble with being rusty in something as cruncy as shadowrun is having to go through a bunch of rules to figure things out. So in order to detect hidden nodes you'd need an electronic warfare autosoft, or have someone with the skill piloting the thing. Detecting active and passive nodes is automatic, though passive nodes tell you very little except that they exist and this sort of capture doesn't have any sense of direction. Sifting through the result is a data search, and generally that's an extended test starting at 7 dice for Tubesnake. The data set would be fairly limited.]
The paint, or maybe even more, around Ares is keeping signals out, and the cheap wifi inhibiting paint on most of Gatsby's is also blocking most signals.
There are still a handful of signals picked up by the spy. Maybe drones. Something with an angle or high enough signal to punch through. Tubesnake can't really tell about the passive nodes in the list. However connecting to an espresso machine in active mode up there is awfully suspicious.
(presuming you have mercy on those around and have a drone set up a garbage bag, the others could start pushing waste out of the jammed downspout.)