13:11:27 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Sacred Heart Cemetery, Redmond, Seattle, UCAS

Tony is roused from his watch by Todd's voice. Go in? Has he gone cuckoo for soypuffs? Tony thinks to himself. "You're the boss, kid, but I'd get that gun ready for whatever may come out." Walking up to the smooth, absolutely freezing marble door of the crypt, Tony pushes in...

13:12:08 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Sacred Heart Cemetery, Redmond, Seattle, UCAS

Tony squares up against the door when his first push isn't enough to dislodge it. Applying a steadily increasing amount of torque, he is rewarded with a harsh grating sound. The end plate shifts half a centimeter outward to the left. Breathing deeply, a thin sheen of sweat forming from the effort, Tony sets himself again and pushes, exhaling sharply. The retaining pins shear with a series of sharp cracks, almost like gunshots in the icy air, and the entire endplate comes free, sliding to the ground.

The stench rolls across him like a wet blanket, and he stumbles backwards, coughing. Curled just inside the crypt, wedged between the coffin and where the endplate was mounted, is the body of a man. The decomposition process is advanced, his skin a sallow putrid color. The corpse is dressed in faded securetech clothing and boots, and its arms are crossed over its chest as if to keep in some piece of warmth. Tony can see that the corpse's right forearm is synthetic, the dull chrome standing out against the decaying flesh.

13:12:15 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Sacred Heart Cemetery, Redmond, Seattle, UCAS

Todd looks at the body with disgust, but not fear, he has seen far worse than this before. "Oh man, thats nasty... Ok. This is my deal, I'll check it out, just make sure nothing jumps up and eats me."

His feeble attempt at lightening the mood is quickly passed over as Todd steps inside the tomb to have a look around.

13:14:28 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Sacred Heart Cemetery, Redmond, Seattle, UCAS

Doing his best not to disturb anything, or even to touch the corpse, Todd leans into the crypt. The stench is almost overpowering, but he is driven by an intense curiosity as to what could possibly be worth this much trouble to conceal. The corpse appears to be empty handed, and a gentle pat-down reveals only a ruined pack of cigarettes in its jacket pocket. Frowning, Todd notices that the corpse's synthetic arm has a built in cyberdeck. Gently lifting it away from the body's chest, he turns it over to check and see if anything is slotted in the chipjacks. A throaty growl from his right makes him freeze, and he glances over. Tony stands ready outside of the crypt, but the threat is already past him, it is inside with Todd. Red eyes glow in the darkness, and as Todd opens his mouth to shout for Tony, a black shape explodes from the shadows, the force of the impact throwing the youngster out of the crypt and onto the frozen ground. Tony spins around at the commotion, eyes widening in surprise at the creature looming over Todd. Sleek muscles bunched along its flanks, and steam curls from vicious looking fangs.

13:14:29 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Sacred Heart Cemetery, Redmond, Seattle, UCAS


“What the hell..?” Tony said to himself as he swung around. His eyes widened as they took in the scene. Thinking quickly, and seeing that the dog? What the frag is that thing?!? was only paying attention to Todd at the moment, Tony reached in his pocket for the pistol that he had put there. Drawing it quickly, he fires off 2 shots at the dog standing over Todd’s prone form, hitting the dog twice. The loud reports of the gunshots echo across the graveyard.

13:14:29 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Sacred Heart Cemetery, Redmond, Seattle, UCAS

Howling in pain, the hound staggers to the side before catching its balance. Snarling, it leaps at Tony claws outstretched. Todd blinks, half-blinded and deafened by the unsilenced gunshots only meters away. He glances down, realizing that he's still holding the cyberarm in his hand, the rotted flesh and bone holding it to the corpse having torn away as he tumbled from the crypt.

13:14:30 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Sacred Heart Cemetery, Redmond, Seattle, UCAS

Todd chokes on the screem that wants to escape his lips as he scrambles to his feet. He turns and flees for Tony's car while calling over his shoulder, "I got the key!"

13:14:30 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Sacred Heart Cemetery, Redmond, Seattle, UCAS


The dog’s leap catches Tony off guard, but doesn’t do as much damage as it could have, clawing him on the face and making a long, jagged scratch on the outside of his longcoat. Fragging dog, I just got this damn coat! Tony thinks to himself, a trickle of blood running down his face, as he launches a hard kick at the dog…

13:14:31 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Sacred Heart Cemetery, Redmond, Seattle, UCAS

The hound dodges aside from Tony's kick, snarling. It seems to feel its wounds all of a sudden, backing away and circling to the right. It seems to be favoring its left foreleg slightly.

"I got the key!" shouts Todd again, running flat out for the car and waving the cyberarm at Tony.

13:14:33 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Sacred Heart Cemetery, Redmond, Seattle, UCAS

Finally hearing Todd's call, Tony points his gun toward the dog and begins backing away from the wounded animal. "You sure that you've got it? You ok?" he yells over his sholder, keeping one eye on the dog.

13:14:33 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Sacred Heart Cemetery, Redmond, Seattle, UCAS

Todd calls over his shoulder while he continues to run for the car, "I'm fine! The cyberarm has a built in deck built into it! Its gotta be what I'm after!"

13:14:35 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Sacred Heart Cemetery, Redmond, Seattle, UCAS

"Good, kid. I'll unlock the car for you, be right over. Get in the car and lock the door 'till I get over there" Tony yells, continuing to glance between the car and the dog. Reaching in his pocket for the keys, he hits the "Unlock" button on the alarm fob. The car's lights blink twice in response.

2200 Monday 08 January 2063- Cooper's Condo, Hidden Oaks, Downtown-UCAS

It's getting late, so Marquis sets his work down for now. You never know when youre going to have a busy day in this line of work. He should get up very easily, but he sets the alarm for 0800 anyways. You never know when your body is going to try and steal a couple hours of sleep.

17:45:01 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Unit 303, Winlock Apartment Complex, Tacoma, Seattle, UCAS

Images of stone walls and black holes danced through Eyes's head as he jacked out tiredly. For whatever reason--either this guy was ridiculously good at covering his own tracks, or someone else didn't want him to be found--finding info on Casimir was like trying to pull water out of a rock. All he had managed to come up with, after eight hours and nearly 200 worth of anonymous subscriptions to various data-mining sites and databases was the man's main Shadowland handle--Oracle--and the fact that he frequented Schrodinger's, a chess bar in southern Downtown. And both of those he could've found in fifteen minutes! It was like this guy just didn't exist other than those two details, which didn't make an ounce of sense unless there was something truly massive going on... but that's just getting paranoid. Isn't it? At least he had managed to confirm Jane's data from yesterday, whatever good that did him.

Eyes sighed in frustration and glanced at the address to Schrodinger's that he had loaded into his PSec. It may not be a very good lead, but it was all he had; maybe someone at the bar might know something. Grabbing a quick bite from the fridge and the keys to his bike, he got ready to leave. "Keep your eyes open while I'm gone," Eyes said to Jane, who was still floating on the terminal screen, "And be careful. I don't want that Revenant character or whatever he was fighting with to mess with you." Not that I expect you to actually find anything, he didn't say, as he walked out of the room.

18:15:01 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Schrodinger's Chess and Coffee Shop, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

The artful sign over the door has a neon cat's face smiling out where the two e's in coffee should be, and a real bell announces the opening and closing of the door. The interior is uniformly dim, although the shaded lamps on each of the two dozen or so tables spread small islands of bright illumination. Almost all of the tables are filled, as are the couches tucked between the floor to ceiling bookshelves. Most of the customers appear to be older; gray haired gentlemen in worn sports coats and slacks talking in low voices over chess or backgammon. Eyes could pick out a table or two of college students, but they seemed to be the exception, not the rule. The bell on the door jangles again, and Eyes turns in time to see an older woman dressed in a multicolored gypsy dress brush past.

13:14:35 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Sacred Heart Cemetery, Redmond, Seattle, UCAS

Todd jumps into the car and slams the door behind him. For the moment he ignores the cyberarm and watches out the window to make sure Tony is ok. What the drek was that thing?

13:17:04 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Sacred Heart Cemetery, Redmond, Seattle, UCAS

Tony makes it to the car without incident, all the while keeping one eye on the dog that was now licking its wounds 20 meters away, taking his time to bleed off the shakes that he usually got from the aftermath of pulling a gun. Getting an antiseptic wipe from the medkit in the trunk and scrubbing the still bleeding cut on his face, Tony gets into the car feeling a bit calmer. "You sure that you got what you want, and that you're ok? You took a pretty good whack from that dog. If we have to come back here, I doubt that that thing" Tony gestered toward the dog "will be alone" he says to Todd, wincing from the stinging of the alcohol compound in the wipe. Hell, I just don't want to have to give something else to that wacked out old man or whatever the hell it was

13:17:34 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Sacred Heart Cemetery, Redmond, Seattle, UCAS

"Give me a sec to check this thing out and make sure."

Todd reaches into his backpack, pulls out a spare t-shirt, and places it over his lap. That done, he sets the cyberarm on his lap and boots the installed computer up. He looks up at Tony and smiles a bit, "I'll be right back."

He then plugs his datacord into the cyberdeck.

13:18:40 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Sacred Heart Cemetery, Redmond, Seattle, UCAS

Tony continues to scan the outside of the car while Todd is out. Damn, but that doesn't freak me out that that dog was in there. I shouldn't have skipped taking that Astral Theory and Sight class back at the academy; it would come in handy right now. Instead, I took the business strategy one with Andie. Good times, that, but it ain't exactly helping now. Tony thought to himself as he started the car. Better to be ready to go than not he thought as he reloaded his pistol with a fresh clip from the bag in the backseat and continued to look for anything approaching the vehicle

13:18:57 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Sacred Heart Cemetery, Redmond, Seattle, UCAS

18:21:35 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Schrodinger's Chess and Coffee Shop, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

Eyes went to the cashier and ordered a cup of coffee while considering his strategy. It would look really suspicious if he just started asking people questions about Casimir; maybe it'd be a better idea to just loiter around, acting as the curious young chess newbie that he really was, and interject questions about Casimir with others about the game. It might even be a good idea to play a few games; besides, he hadn't played a game of chess in awhile. For a moment he considered the backgammon tables--dice games tended to be a bit louder and more prone to gathering crowds--but the "gentlemanly bets" on the table looked a bit more than he cared to pay for this job.

Picking up his cup of strong black coffee--the first real cup he'd had in weeks, if not months--Eyes grinned and went to have some fun.

0930 Tuesday 09 January 2063- Cooper's Condo, Hidden Oaks, Downtown-UCAS

After a nice soy-free breakfast, Marquis is ready to go for the day. Nothing business wise going on today, but there wasn't yesterday either. Before heading out he places a call to Kaiser.

"Hey Kaiser, I'm coming by for a visit, unless youre busy."

1235 Tuesday, January 9, 2063 - Land's End Magic Shop

It's clear to see the question's caught Andie off-guard. Solomon smiles as he shrugs on his heavy longcoat. "When I return will be soon enough. Good luck with the circulation."

With that, he steps out of the small shop into the snow and the cold. Andie shivers as the brief gust of wind catches him before the door closes and is key-locked from the outside with a soft "click".

What will I name it?

09:30:43 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Cooper's Condo, Hidden Oaks, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

"Not so busy that I can't spare you a minute or two. Are you in the market for something or is this just a social call?"

Noise in the background of the call washes over Kaiser's voice for a second until the adaptive comm program deadens the interference.

13:19:17 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Sacred Heart Cemetery, Redmond, Seattle, UCAS

Todd shuts down the cyberdeck and looks over at Tony with a look that doesn't hide his confusion. "This has got to be it man, I ain't never seen anything like it. Lets get the frag outta here."

Man oh man, I can't wait to get this thing home and tear into it!

18:47:29 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Schrodinger's Chess and Coffee Shop, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

"Doctor Terrance Casimir, you say?" mused Arturro, chewing on the end of his elaborately carved briar pipe. He pronounced the name "tear-antz", with the emphasis on the second word. In the fifteen minutes they'd been playing chess, Eyes realized that Arturro spoke excellent English, but often exagerrated his accent or pronounciation in order to throw his listener off-guard. The older man continued to chew on the pipestem and mumble to himself while he contemplated his next move. Eyes' position was strong, and he was planning a rook-pawn exchange that would leave him up three pieces and set him up for mate. Arturro slid his queen's bishop across the board in a not-unanticipated attack on Eyes' flank. Still, this would prevent a successful pawn gambit, though.

"Terry was a good friend of mine, one of the better men that I have known. But he was a deeply troubled man. He did not like to talk about his work for the corporations, which he viewed as both his greatest triumph and his greatest failure. He used to say: 'I shall pay for my hubris with my life.'"

13:19:52 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Sacred Heart Cemetery, Redmond, Seattle, UCAS

"You got it, hombre" Tony says, shifting the car into gear and driving carefully but quickly toward the gates of the cemetary. "I can't wait to get out of this place either."

0931 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - En route to Kaisers shop, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

"Oh, I guess a little of both, business and social. I'll be there in a few minutes."

The sleek Cadillac glides in and out of backstreets, moving around the late morning rush. Carefully watching for police drones, Marquis drives the car hard, but well under control.

18:47:29 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Schrodinger's Chess and Coffee Shop, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

"Technological hubris?" Eyes smiled faintly. "He truly was a man of our times then." Arturro had brought up an interesting point: it was very possible that Dr. Casimir's killer had had a long-standing grudge of some kind, and the assassination was all some incident in the past coming back to haunt him. It didn't seem likely though; an armor-piercing bullet fired through a wall implied a lot of cred being thrown at the problem, and a lot of cred doesn't just sit around for years with no clues leading up to it.

Studying the board, Eyes contemplated his next moves, both in the game and out of it. In the game he thought he was doing rather well, particularly as it had been some time since he had last played. Before the attack [Arturro[/b]'s bishop had been preventing his knights from meeting up at the board's center, which would make an excellent staging ground for the next attack. The problem was the bishop itself; if it wasn't held back it would cut a swath through his flank. Thinking for a moment, tryint do consider all the angles, Eyes moved a knight sideways, threatening the biship but leaving it possible to jump back to the board center when the bishop's own threat eases.

In the battle of words, he also had his move ready. "It's strange, though. I never knew Dr. Casimir personally--only by repuation, and through some of his journal articles--but he seemed to me like a true master of information technology. Maybe it's just my own hubris talking, but I can't imagine he didn't know something was happening before he died. Did he never mention anything?" Phrasing the question as one on the doctor's ability rather than about the case itself seems circumspect enough... and it'll distract him from the game a little, Eyes reasons.

13:25:08 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Sacred Heart Cemetery, Redmond, Seattle, UCAS

Reaching the driveway of the cemetary without incident, Tony relaxes just a bit. More dark shapes had been in the shadows, but none had blocked their path or paid much attention on the way to the exit.

Looking around at the gate, he doesn't see the old man guarding the gate. "Well kid, where do you want to go?" he says to Todd "Back to the Landing or somewhere else?"

13:25:18 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Sacred Heart Cemetery, Redmond, Seattle, UCAS

Todd takes the cyberarm and wraps it up in the spare t-shirt, then shoves it down into his backpack.

"Home for me. I'm gunna have to tear this thing apart and figure out what is up with it. I can do your data search from there and foward you the results. What all did you need anyways? Cause if you want a mass of detail, that can take a few days sometimes."

13:37:41 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Somewhere in the Redmond Barrens, Seattle, UCAS

Pulling out of the cemetery and out back toward Intercity 5, Tony launches into his spiel.

“I’m mainly checking to see if they’re alive, where they’re at, and how to contact them. Of course, anything extra you find for them will be appreciated. Give me an address, and I’ll send a file over as soon as I get back to my apartment with some more information. I’m going to be upfront on this: I’d be careful searching for them. The people I and they used to work for got bought out by Ares, and our names weren’t exactly published on the official list of employees, if you catch my drift. If that or the file I send over scares you off, then you can pay me for the job.” God I hope not. This kid’s my best shot of finding them I’ve had in a long time, and the price is surely right

Getting to a cross street, Tony asks “Which way toward home, kid?”

13:37:57 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Somewhere in the Redmond Barrens, Seattle, UCAS

"No problem, I'll do everything I can for ya. I can't tell ya how much I appriciate you helpin' me out today. Head towards Tacoma, you can drop me off at the corner of 5th and Elm."

<double post>

18:49:42 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Schrodinger's Chess and Coffee Shop, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

Arturro frowns at the board, chewing on his pipe distractedly.

"Seen it coming? How, exactly, would he have seen it coming? They shot him through an armored external wall. Like the late, great, Asimov was fond of saying: 'You can't reason with a bullet fired from across the battlefield.' Terry never mentioned anything specifically, but if you understand what he was responsible for, what it was that he created, you'll know who wanted him dead."

The White Queen slides forward from the back rank, not directly protecting the bishop, but threatening to open either side of Eyes' formation if left to her own devices.

18:41:03 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Schrodinger's Chess and Coffee Shop, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

"Heh, you're right. I was thinking that Dr. Casimir would certainly know if someone was investigating him, or setting up for an assassination, but now that I think about it that's pretty much beyond anyone's ability. 'We question all our beliefs, except for the ones we really believe, and those we never think to question,' Orson Scott Card." Eyes said with a small smile, his own eyes focused on the board.

'Shot him through an armored exterior wall?' Eyes thought in surprise, Was that actually common knowledge, or does this guy know more than he's letting on? Either way I'm probably not getting any more useful info from him about the good Doctor; maybe I should just drop it and concentrate on the game.

A piece clicked in his head. 'what he was responsible for...' A Renraku programmer, specializing in neural networks and artificial intelligence, of course. And what with the whole Arcology thing being practically the biggest piece of news in the past decade. What a 'duh' moment.

Eyes glanced over the board. The queen more looking like an empty threat: nothing attackable by the queen in the near future would be worth sacrificing a queen over. That bishop, on the other hand... Eyes moves a pawn forward, shoring up his flank a little and freeing up his own queen. Let's see where he's going with this. I've got time. "You're talking about the Arcology situation, right? I guess I can see the connection, but I don't think the implication to the culprits are as obvious as you're making it out. Care to explain your reasoning?" I might just be not thinking of something obvious here, Eyes considered, but from where I'm sitting it just doesn't look so cut-and-dried at all.

10:21:15 Monday 08 January 2063 – Redmond - Touristville - The Respite Soup Kitchen – Roof

'Why would anyone want to take Keira?' It just didn’t make sense. If it had been gang or mob trouble, she would likely be dead by now…at least that is how every trid show and movie Max had ever seen went.

His head was still swimming from it impact with the ladder rung. He wanted desperately to call upon the hunter within to help him locate her, but he knew trying something like that in the barrens, in his condition was futile. First he needed to help Trancer and his mom. Then he would need time to heal before he could make his attempt to find Keira. Whoever was behind the kidnapping obviously wanted her alive. Hopefully it would give him enough time to find her. From the auras around Trancer and Melina he could tell they were unconscious but not severely wounded. He worked to gently wake them.

18:41:32 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Schrodinger's Chess and Coffee Shop, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

"Certainly not," replies Arturro, mock indignation written heavily on his face. "I make it a point not to explain myself whenever possible."

Frowning at the board, he taps his pipe on the edge of the table.

"The problem is, and has been for some time now, that it is difficult to discern the true nature of events. For instance, the 'Arcology Incident' you so casually refer to has been resolved for the most part without the assistance of Ren Raku computer experts. You should pay more attention to the figures moving behind the scenes, rather than the showy claims of those who hold the media spotlight."

Arturro castled, placing his rook in line with Eyes phalanx of pawns, and in line to be protected by the white queen once it struck.

14:05:24 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Corner of 5th and Elm, Tacoma , Seattle, UCAS

Tony and Todd arrrive at the intersection, after an uneventful and quiet trip from the Barrens. Tony pulls up next to a Stuffer Shack, acroos the street from what looks like a couple of apartment buildings. "Your stop, sir," Tony says to Todd in a very fake British accent. In his normal southern accent, Tony adds "I'll get that file to you as soon as I get back to my apartment. I've got a psec if you want to beam me over an address," he says, getting out the device

18:42:56 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Schrodinger's Chess and Coffee Shop, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

Eyes reached out with his knight and took the bishop that Arturo had left unprotected in its forward position. The man makes a good point; this might not have anything to do with that AI in the arcology. I don't really have any hard facts here, other than the bullet that killed him and the fact that Dr. Casimir, rest his soul, liked to play chess with arrogant intellectuals. All of these fragging leaps of faith; it's so frustrating not to actually know anything.

"That's a good point, though what else could he have been a part of that would tempt someone to kill him, years after retiring? It's not like there's a whole lot he's actively involved in anymore; certainly he hasn't published anything earth-shattering in the past five years or so."

14:05:34 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Corner of 5th and Elm, Tacoma , Seattle, UCAS

Todd holds up this left hand towards Tony's psec and extends his pinky finger towards it. A moment later, Tony's devices beeps and lets him know the address was received. Todd extends his hand to Tony, "Thanks again man, I can't tell ya how much you saved my can. I'll look foward to getting that file from ya."

18:43:20 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Schrodinger's Chess and Coffee Shop, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

"Retirement for Terry was more of an administrative change in life's pace than any difference in his day to day operations. And while his publications became less frequent in life, his research remained constant. I wouldn't be surprised if there were a handful of groups which, if they understood the depth of his knowledge, would have felt threatened enough to kill him. You know, Terry used to say that storing information online was like playing a game of chess on a board with no boundaries: you could never be sure where, exactly, the next attack was going to come from."

Arturro tips his king over, acknowledging that his response to Eyes' attack will give black mate in five moves.

"Nice game, kid, and good luck with your investigation. Be careful, though. The Red Queen plays for keeps."

The slightly stooped older man shuffles out the door of the coffee house, pausing only to light his briar before continuing down the street.

0952 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Kaiser's shop, Seattle, UCAS

The sleek automobile pulls gently into the alleyway where Kaiser does business, so to say. The car slowly comes to a holt, between a white undescript van, and a greyish truck. Climbing out Marquis double checks there is ample room for his neighbors' doors to open.

Walking into the converted space, Marq is greeted by Kaiser, one of his closer friends in the shadows.

"Hoi, chummer. So whats it zat you need?"

Reaching out to give a friendly hand shake as the older man approaches, "Just a bottle of acid etch today."

After the quick greeting, Kaiser heads to a couple of shelves, searching for said item. "Im sure I got some somewhere," he says, scanning over the shelves, moving a couple of cans and bottles around.

14:06:02 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Corner of 5th and Elm, Tacoma , Seattle, UCAS

Tony shakes Todd's hand. "Null sweat jefe. Good luck with that key, and if you need anymore help with it you know how to get ahold of me. That file gets to you as soon as I get to my flat," Tony says warmly as Todd shuts the door of the car. Pulling back out onto the street, Tony heads toward I-5 and back to his apartment downtown.

14:12:17 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Apartment 875, Parkewood Village Apartments, Tacoma

Todd steps into his apartment and quickly closes the door behind him. He sags against the door for a second, letting the safety of home sooth him after the days events. Man, I'm just a 'trix kid, what the drek am I doing running around old graveyards with demon dogs trying to eat me!?

Shower. Oh yeah. Making his way across the apartment, the kid drops his backpack off at the workbench, then makes his way into the bathroom. He doesn't even bother to stop and check his messages, wanting nothing more just now than to get out of these dirty clothes and wash the smell of death off himself. He hits a button on the bathroom wall and thumping techno beats permeate the bathroom as he washes up, helping to take the edge off.

About thirty minutes later Todd steps out of the bathroom, wearing fresh clothes and feeling much much better. Time to get dirty all over again... He steps up to the workbench and grabs a set of disposable latex gloves and snaps them on. He then grabs a face mask to help deal with the smell and after a thought, runs into the bedroom and comes out with a few sticks of smoking incense. After arranging the incense around the room, he unzips the backpack and digs out the cyberarm, placing it on the workbench.

Grabbing a trash bag and a horde of cleaning supplies, Todd begins the painfully nasty process of cleaning all the decomposing flesh from the cyberarm. Once that is done, he takes the trash bag and pours in a bunch of soycaf grinds in with it to help cover up the smell and sets the bad aside to later be taken down to the building's incinerator.

Once everything is cleaned up, Todd brings out a whole new set of tools and prepares to crack the casing on the cyberdesk...

14:14:05 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Apartment 875, Parkewood Village Apartments, Tacoma

With the mount plate disconnected and the putrid remains of the corpse’s arm set aside, Todd opens up his microtronics toolkit. Unlike a regular synthetic arm, the set screws on the covering are not one-way. Rather, they are intended to be removed to allow the upgrade and maintenance of the deck components inside. The top forearm is loosened first, allowing the dovetailed plates of the lower underarm to slip free. Taking a slim flexible fiber optic camera, Todd carefully threads the snakelike lens through the narrow opening. The LEDs surrounding the lens illuminate the cramped interior of the arm, the slim circuit plates nestled between the titanium ‘bones’ and myomer 'muscles'. With a twist of the joystick controller, Todd scans the camera across the interior of the arm, pausing only when he gets a clear look at the underside of the coverplates. Each of the arm’s covers is sheathed on the interior with hexagons of plastic explosives covered by a thin layer of copper. In effect, they’re a hundred miniature shaped charges, all directed at the deck. A sheen of cold sweat forms at the base of Todd’s back. With another twist, he scans along the edges of the explosives, searching for the wires leading to the detonators. Something has to trigger the charges. The lines are spider thin, collected along one edge of the plates and all clipped to a master bus. Todd grins, until he spots the anti-tamper circuit mounted on the lines. Any attempt to cut either the master board or the central braided line will cause the piezeoelectrics to fire, detonating the charges. But, the lines themselves won’t detonate unless they receive a command from the master bus. And the bus is wired only to the primary cybernetic interface on the deck. It’s not so much a boobytrap as it is a self-destruct mechanism.

With the care required of handling a half kilogram of plastic explosives, Todd carefully unscrews the fasteners holding the coverplates in place before lifting them free. The technological skeleton revealed is like nothing Todd has ever seen before. The deck is simplistic at best, cobbled together from off the shelf parts, with an MPCP chip that he would rate as mediocre. But the machinery underlying the deck is something else entirely. Where the internal battery compartment should be is that strange multi-prong tap. Linked into that is a piece of black box wizardry which looks suspiciously like a reality filter. Which makes no sense to Todd, since a reality filter must be attached to the deck to be of any use. What the frag is this thing?

18:46:12 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Schrodinger's Chess and Coffee Shop, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

Eyes grinned in surprise and satisfaction at winning his first chess game in over half a decade. Really it was more luck than skill, remembering an old closer that had been used on him once, but it still felt good.

Then his thoughts trailed back to Arturo's parting words. Red Queen... who is that? James pondered. Is it even a person, or just a idiom that I just don't recognize? I mean, I've heard of an Orange Queen, but... hm, maybe something else for Jane to check out tonight.

As for what came before, that's an extremely good point. Heck, I keep all my important documents off the 'trix myself; I can only imagine someone like Casimir would as well, even if his SIN and address were absurdly easy to find. It might be a good idea to look into rifling through the good Doctor's offline files, assuming that they're anywhere to be found. And that I'm not the first person to have this brainstorm.

Eyes frowned. At this point, it might actually be a good idea to head back to his apartment and start anew with his searching; these two leads could be the ones he was looking for, after all. He took another large drink from his coffee cup, savouring the first real cup of completely non-soy caffeine he'd had in months. He took in the low din of soft voices, intelligently discussing an assemblage of different subjects while quietly playing chess.

Okay, maybe just one more cup of coffee...

18:50:43 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Schrodinger's Chess and Coffee Shop, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

With another cup of steaming black java in his hands, Eyes turns away from the bar, and comes face to face with the gypsy-dressed woman. She smiles, cheerfully at first, but her expression fades to something almost like sadness. Glancing to either side, she leans in and speaks in a hush.

"You're a smart kid, but you're all alone in this. Be careful, and if you run into trouble, you'll be safe here."

She holds up something between her fingers, and it takes Eyes a moment to realize that it's an antique trolley token. The woman presses it into his palm before closing his hand around it. With a nod of her head, she steps back and disappears out the door of the shop.

14:40:23 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Capitol Hill Terrace, Capitol Hill, Seattle, UCAS

Tony walks into his apartment, not necessarly tired, but knowing that he needed rest before this evenings activities. Almost absentmindedly he begins to disrobe for a shower before he remembers his words to Todd. Going half clothed to his bedroom dresser and pulling out a chip, he slots it in his computer and shoots off an email to the address Todd had given him earlier. After shooting off the email, Tony goes in for a long, hot shower and a quick nap.

Todd:
Hope that arm's telling you what you need to know. Here's the file I was talking about. I've got some more background info if you need it. Let me know if you find anything, or if you need more help with your project.

Tony

//BEGIN FILE//

AGRICOLA ID: 015AOU074
NAME: RICARDO ULYSEES CALVOS
METATYPE: TROLL, MALE
BIRTHDATE: 7.14.38
ACTIVATION DATE: 06.04.58
HEIGHT: 2.7 M
WEIGHT 275KG
SKIN COLORATION Light Green, 2 horns on sides of head

EDUCATION: Agricola Corp Academy (ACA)
BT: Thaumatalogy
BBA: Human Resource Mgmt
CLASSIFICATION Adept

FIRST DUTY POST: Austin, TX, CAS (6.27.2058)
MENTOR: Franklin Jones (ID: 007AOU022)
NOTES FROM AUSTIN POSTING:
MUCH POTENTIAL, BUT MANY DISAGREEMENTS WITH F.JONES OVER USE OF DENIABLE ASSETS. F.JONES REPORTED IN ORAL EVALUATION ON 12.27.58: ‘…hotheaded kid. Wants more responsibility, but without the duty that it entails. Has a great grasp of business and Operations role, but thinks he can do everything himself…That damn troll is either going to get himself and everyone around him killed or run this company. Don’t know which yet” SUBSEQUIENT EVALS SHOW TECHNICAL IMPROVEMENT, BUT STILL HAS PERSONALITY CONFILICTS WITH LEAD OPERATIVE/MENTOR. PROMOTION TO LEAD OPERATIVE DENIED, TRANSFERRED TO DENVER, FRFZ ON 10.27.60

DUTY POST: Denver, FRFZ, CAS Sector (10.27.60)
MENTOR: Jesus Calderon (ID: 009AOU014)
NOTES FROM DENVER POSTING:
BETTER PERSONALITY/ABLITY MESH IN THIS POSTING. J.CALDERON REPORTED IN ORAL EVAL ON 1.17.61: “Kid has a great head on him, very good at adapting to a much more fluid situation here in Denver. Knows much more about how to use deniable assets than I was lead to believe, and is learning how to use metahuman rights campaigns and local sects in building additional assets and resources. Still needs training in negotiation, though. More seasoning recommended before I recommend him for management promotion, but he’s on his way there.” EVAL ON 8.14.61 STILL DID NOT RECOMMEND PROMOTION, BUT WITH HR ISSUES IN DENVER AND HOME OFFICE, R.CALVOS WAS PROMOTED TO LEAD OPS OFFICER.

OPS CONTROL NOTE 4.29.62:
CONTACT LOST AFTER SO CALLED ‘LOS CABELAROS’ INCIDENT. OBVERSATION BY OPS ASSETS INDICATE THAT SUBJECT IS ALIVE, BUT IS IN HIDING. NOT, REPEAT, NOT IN RECLAIMED AZT AREAS OR IN CONTACT WITH FORMER ASSETS STILL IN DENVER. PROFILE INDICATES MAY RELOCATE BACK TO HOME OFFICE. HAS FAMILY AND FRIENDS, INCLUDING LEAD OPS OFFICER, IN SEATTLE, UCAS. RECOMMEND FILE NOT BE DISSIMENATED TO OPS SEATTLE FOR THIS REASON.

//END FILE//

//BEGIN FILE//

AGRICOLA ID: 015AOU068
NAME: ANDIE MORGAN PRIEST
METATYPE: HUMAN, FEMALE
BIRTHDATE: 12.15.37
ACTIVATION DATE: 06.17.59
HEIGHT: 1.3 M
WEIGHT: 60Kg
SKIN COLORATION: White

EDUCATION: Agricola Corp Academy (ACA)
BT: Thaumatalogy
BA: Political Science
MT: Applied Thaumatalogy
CLASSIFICATION: Mage (Heremetic)

DUTY POST: Atlanta, GA, CAS (7.7.59)
MENTOR: Patricia Smiley (ID:009AOU001)

NOTES FROM ATLANTA POSTING:
VERY EASLIY SLIPPED INTO ONE OF OUR MOST IMPORTANT POSTINGS. P.SMILEY REPORTED IN ORAL EVALUATION ON 1.3.60: ‘…plays politics like she’s been doing it for years. The big shots in the mansion don’t have a clue that she’s got an agenda, and that they’re following it. Superior performance with deniable assets, including operations against ARE-CSA…If I have to give fault, then my only two gripes are that she may get hasty and start biting off more than she can chew, and that she keeps in contact with her damned ‘friend’ in Seattle against Ops policy. Again, both are very minor.” SUBSEQUIENT EVALS SHOW VERY POSTIVE RESULTS, INCLUDING INFLUENCING ADMENDMENTS TO SB-77 (HARLING-RANKIN ACT), SLOWING EXTERNAL COMPENTITON IN CSA. PROMOTED TO LEAD OPERATIVE ON 2.25.61 UPON P.SMILEY’S ROTATION AND RECOMMENDATION.

11.14.62-EMERGENCY REPORT FROM LEAD OPERATIVE (ATLANTA), OPS ID CONFERMED:
\\BEGIN AUDIO FILE\\
‘…whole damn run fragged up, the whole team’s dead, main and safe houses compromised. Ares must have had someone inside, they were waiting for us!...

[ops control]Any way you can get back to the office?

‘No way, Ops, not going back to the office. MY FRAGGING PICTURE IS ON THE NEWS! I can’t even get gas for an Jackrabbit, much less get on a plane. Do you not get that we are screwed? Without that data, Ares now has most of the CAS Senate enough in its pocket to…

[Gunfire in the background]

[ops control]What’s going on? Andie, talk to us!

‘Gotta run ops, I’ll get back when I can

\\END AUDIO FILE\\

//END FILE//

18:52:13 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Schrodinger's Chess and Coffee Shop, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

Eyes stares at the token, a sheen of sweat growing on the back of his neck. For a man who was trying not to be easily spooked, Eyes was surely tempted after this last warning to move again, this time maybe even further away. The warning itself wasn't the worst part; the fact was that this was the second time someone he didn't know had approached him or Jane about this little investigation that he had just started yesterday evening. He thought he was being careful, discreet; if it was so easy for supposed friendlies to track him down what about the other kind?

Sitting down heavily at a nearby chair, Eyes takes a long sobering drink from his new cup of coffee as he contemplated the token, now slipped into his pocket. Once again the thought occured to him, though this time more seriously, that maybe there really was such a thing as too much information.

Eyes sighed. At this point there was really no choice but to see this whole thing through; letting on that he knew he was being observed by trying to flee or drop the whole thing would only tell whatever group or groups out to get him that he knew something. And assassinations appeared to be cheap in whatever game he was involved in; his apartment walls weren't even armoured. No choice but to keep going, he thought ruefully, Now there's some famous last words.

After taking a few minutes to steady himself, he got up, found a small group of people who looked to be near the end of their game and introduced himself. He needed to take his mind off of assassinations and conspiracies for awhile, and chess was the best available distraction for the moment.