A Game About People Who Commit Crimes Sometimes (IC)

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Seattle. Twenty-seventysomething. What's that? Three? Okay, sure. 2073. A Friday, March 17th. Evening.

It has been raining a lot for the past week, triggering a lot of allergies and reports of backed-up storm drains. Still, today's forecast predicted that the rain was going to let up as of about an hour ago, and turned out to be right for a change. The sky is still cloudy, the sun is setting, and the main streets and sidewalks are busy with locals taking the first decent opportunity to run errands that they've had in a while.

Be you out for entertainment in the bars and dance clubs to the North or shopping for fancy new clothes at the mall to the South, you happen to have your commlink up and active just in time to receive a message from someone you've met before:

TO: Breaker, Annie, Mordred, Cauhl, Lolita

Oy!

I just got a report of an emergency call automatically sent from a client of a client of a client of mine. She's apparently unconscious and probably dying, I don't even know. The problem is, that client of a client can't get in to extract her because her insurance doesn't cover trespassing on corporate property. Or something. Look, I'm a doctor, not a lawyer. The point is, you guys happen to be close enough to the patient's location to get there in a timely fashion.

I'll attach a file with the patient's biometrics. The EMTs will be hanging around outside the gate to pick her up when she's conveniently outside of the arbitrary, invisible zone of impenetrability.

...oh, and I'll pay you. I'll know how much in a minute but I already know it's enough, so don't worry.

Here's the map. Like I said, it's right near all of you, so just go now please.

This isn't Dr. Gunsforhands' usual modus operandi; most of the time, he conducts this sort of business exclusively via old-school videogame chatrooms and has to spend forever setting up for a meeting; even for something so clearly time-sensitive, he apparently can't help but beat around the bush a little. A simple mass text is kind of refreshing, really. He's still online, too, so he might even take questions from you individually. Nice.

Each of the names on the list of recipients sounds vaguely familiar, but the one called Lolita is already in everyone's contact list, and everyone's on hers, albeit from years-old, passing interactions. Even if she wasn't, the 12-year-old elf isn't exactly hard to recognize in person as long as you've seen her even once before.

Most of you were just out shopping or getting dinner or something, making it fairly easy to respond to DG's sense of urgency... except for one Riley McDowell, who is supposed to start his set in like ten minutes at a bar down the street. Decisions, decisions.

The target on the map is within walking distance, a five-story office building with two small cars and a white, unmarked van sitting in the parking lot. That's about all the information you get without actually trespassing, but the lot is barely even fenced in, so that won't be a problem unless you're just waiting for the rest of the list to show up.

You might want to look over the biometric data, too, but the file is in kind of a weird format, rather than having an actual picture attached. You'll need to actually analyze it, apparently.

[Sir Dancealot]

Humming happily, Jill reads through the message. She smiles slightly as she wraps a napkin around the icecream cone and tucks it between her legs. It should hold for a second. She pulled up the screen on her comm and started typing up messages. It would be best to get people doing what they were best at from the start. Give them a sense of direction if nothing else.

Breaker: Evening Breaker. Think you can pull up the info on the bios? It's nice knowing what we're looking for. Everyone's contacts are attached. Spread the love. /Harmony/

Mordred: Think you can pop in and see what's what with the place? A little recon is always nice. Everyone's digits are attached. Let us know what you find. If you head over there. /Harmony/

Annie: Anything funky in the magical realm? Deets attached. /Harmony/

Cauhl: You know cars right? What do you know about the van? And can you drive it? Everyone's numbers are her for perusing. /Harmony/

Dr. Gunsforhands: No Sam? I hope this turns out to be simple. /Harmony/

Hopping down, she starts walking towards the marked area, munching happily on her ice cream as she does so, looking for any EMTs in the area.

[Retrokinesis]

Laurel was taking advantage of the lull in the rain to enjoy a cup of soykaf at her favorite cafe when her shadow commlink beeps. The fixer's message was worrying; this client must be pretty valuable to get him to drop his usual theatrics. Taking a job without knowing exactly how much she was being paid was somewhat unusual... but a payday is a payday and both Laurel and Dragon loved getting paid.

The building wasn't far so the gnome sends a one-word confirmation reply and switches her public 'link to "Busy". Leaving it in hidden mode in this neighborhood would attract too much attention. Drawing the warm brown leather of her coat around her, she heads to the target building as quickly as possible.

***

Nothing about it looked unusual from the outside except for maybe the unmarked van. She looks around for the others, who either haven't arrived yet or are concealed somewhere. Either way, Laurel didn't need to wait for them. Her power focus (a gold Ouroboros ring) hums with energy as she conjures a Watcher from the Astral. They were simple-but-useful spirits often underused by her fellow magicians. Laurel scratches the ghostly eel as it wiggles around in the air. "I will be projecting my consciousness; come and warn me if anyone approaches my physical form".

Spirit proximity alarm set, she separates her Astral form from her body and levitates into the air. The tails of her discreetly-armored designer trenchcoat extend and float like the tendrils of a squid. Let's get a closer look. The mage appears over the parking lot and looks around. Most of the city was dead and gray in the Astral, but living auras and spirits literally glowed with vibrance. She does a quick flyover of the building and parking lot to look for anything that stands out...

Spoiler

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Power focus in now active. The Watcher will last for 1 hour unless destroyed. I didn't roll Assensing yet since it's supposed to be for examining specific auras and she doesn't know what's there yet.

[DaedalusMkV]

Luckily for anyone trying to get a hold of him, Breaker's pretty much always on the Matrix. Benefits of having a full implanted Simrig and brain that thinks far too fast for normal life, anyways. In this case he was about halfway through eating a meal, some sort of stringy sim-pork that the hole-in-the-wall's proprietor insisted tasted "just like the real thing", but really, really didn't, while silently checking the bulletins and browsing news-Nodes through his backup Commlink when the message comes in. For a moment he almost doubts that it's actually from Gunsforhands at all; something simple and out-of-character like this could easily be a trap, after all, but the connection checks out and he shrugs and gets to reading. When the biometrics arrive, he narrows his eyes and reaches down to his custom 'Link, plugging it into his implanted Datajack and immediately firing up his analysis software. He's already well into the process by the time the little girl's typed message comes through, even as he begins composing public-domain searches with the other half of his brain. Composing a response takes less than a second, being done at the speed of thought. And Breaker thinks very quickly.

Lolita: Please, kid. It's not even encrypted. I'll have the details in a minute. Most of the other handles aren't familiar to me. You worked with any of these clowns before, or are we going in with a bunch of unknowns? I'll meet you a block or so west of the building. -Rulebreaker

Moments after, still sitting at the table and absentmindedly munching on the last of his poor excuse for a meal, he composes a response to the fixer.

Doctor Gunsforhands: I'll do the job, Kemosabe, if only 'cause this place's security looks like a joke. You better have the cash on hand when I'm done. You know damn well I don't take IOUs.

Finished 'talking' for the moment, the hacker sits back and continues to focus on his digital activities. No point heading for the destination if the target's already dead or something stupid like that.

[Sir Dancealot]

Breaker: Come now Breaker, out of anyone I thought you'd know how old I was! We've got wheels, an infiltrator, a mage, plus you and me. We're out a Sam, sadly, so we'll have to be extra careful.

[RdMarquis]

When the call came in, Mordred was adjusting his tie as he got off the bus. He undid it with a disdainful snort. The voice of an older man (or so it sounded) snapped at him. Time runs against us all, boy. Even myself. Rise to this challenge.

"I was going to, thanks." The tie was placed carefully in a small compartment. Mordred had gotten it following a different impromptu job. In lieu of actual nuyen, the lady paid him in the balance of his medical bills, a sustaining focus, and the tie ("silk from Siam", she had told him. "It's called Thailand these days", he replied).

<Lucky for you, I'm in a bad mood.> He started down a back alley towards the office building, pulling on his goggles. <Miss Haze, Doc, you have a team in mind for this? Get them on the horn so we can match faces and names. I do not want us shooting at each other while we're trying to save this lady. And if it's not too much trouble, Doc, what's your offer for this job?> Going on the details they had, it was doable (of course, that was subject to change). The location wouldn't be too tough to crack, and the target was apparently someone who had been screwed over by the system. Big surprise.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

To: Everyone

Oh yeah, headshots to remind each of you who the others are:

The fixer sends a list of contact photos that he presumably took when you each met him in person. Jill finds it useful almost immediately as she notices, 'Annie,' passed out on the sidewalk outside the target building.

On the astral plane, Laurel can't quite see through the astral shadows cast by the vehicles or the building. The top floor of the building is the only level that actually seems to be warded, though, so you could project right through the other walls if need be. Unfortunately, the investigation is quickly interrupted by a squealing derp-eel as a series of metahuman auras approach Laurel's empty body. The first of these auras seems to be that of a little girl.

The file attachment is easy enough for Breaker to extract. It is, literally, a series of biometric data - if you knew what to do with it, you could probably fool a few different kinds of security systems into thinking this character is passing through. For now, though, you pick out the information that tells you what she looks like: a brown-haired, doughy office worker with couple of cosmetic implants, plus the biomonitor/commlink combo that must have brought her to your friend's attention. If you really wanted, you could probably figure out her identity, but it may be too large a conceit to assume Breaker cares about that.

I don't want to make any more promises on the payment amount yet. They keep changing how the, "retention program," works, and they won't release the funds until they know she's out and salvageable anyway. Suffice to say I need you to be working on it while I sort that side out.

You shouldn't really need much muscle beyond physically dragging her out. I think that the damage was all commlink-related, though, so be careful about anything relating to that node.

[RdMarquis]

Mordred pulled on a pair of protective gloves. <Got it. And can we try not to make a habit of this "ambiguous payment" thing? Pretty please?> He left the photos displayed in his overlay. Stopping in his tracks, he took a deep breath, drawing in mana with the air. The adept raised his arms slightly and exhaled, spreading the energy throughout his being. The world seemed to slow in response. Mordred staggered as he felt his vitality dwindle with the effort of his spell. Gritting his teeth, he focused the structure of the magic into the left glove, his sustaining focus.

He contacted the rest of the team as he continued on his way. <Formal introductions can probably wait. But I'm Mordred. Spy, thief, violent thug. Someone talk to me, here. Do we know who we're supposed to be saving from their own bosses?>

Spoiler

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Spellcasting: (11d6)[6][2][5][4][6][3][4][2][4][2][3](41)
Drain: (9d6)[4][2][4][3][4][6][1][2][2](28)

[Retrokinesis]

At the Watcher spirit's warning, Laurel concentrates and snaps back into her body. She stands to her (diminutive) full height and fixes her clothes before noticing the commlink conversation. <They call me Annie. Hermetic mage at your service. I'll be providing magical support and firepower. I didn't get a chance to finish my Astral sweep yet, but only the top floor is warded. Could be indicative of lax security, or everything important might be underground where I can't see it.>

She turns to the approaching face and nods. "Hey. Want me to dive back in, search the lower floors? Or are we waiting for the rest?"

[DaedalusMkV]

Breaker grunts as his program finishes getting the data package into shape, blinking to bring it up to his VR display so he can check it properly. Noting that the rest of the ad-hoc team seems to be checking in with group messages, he responds likewise. <Breaker, here. Codebreaker's the relevant title, this time. Hacker, cracker and data-jockey extraordinaire, at your service. I've got the Biometrics sorted out; once we're in range for a direct comms link I'll send the relevant details straight to your 'Links. In the mean-time, you're looking for a brown-haired, middle aged woman, visible cosmetic implants. I'll try to figure out what's wrong with her while I walk. This is some good stuff; I'm pretty sure I could spoof a DNA test with this datastream. Who the hell can afford a biomonitor rig like this and cheaps out on the response firm?>

Finished with the last of his meal, Breaker stands up and brushes himself off, adjusting his coat and putting his wide-brimmed hat back on. Never know when the rain will come back, after all, and he never has the free hands or the attention for an umbrella. Besides, he's always had a fondness for fedoras, even as horrifyingly out of fashion as they are. Finished with the sad excuse for an eatery, hopefully for good, he steps out into the busy city street and begins walking almost absentmindedly, calling up his mapsoft and overlaying a route on his VR interface before getting back to his study of the biometric data. <Oh, by the by, I'm not armed right now. Civilian mode. I'll bypass any security system that gets in the way for you, and if necessary I'm a passable medic, but I'm wigging out at the first sign of violence. Got it?>

Spoiler: OOC

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Do I get anything from the quick and dirty Matrix search about the rest of the group? I definitely understand if most of these people don't have anything publically attached to their aliases.


I think it would be a Medicine check to identify whatever is wrong with our target using the biometric data? I've got a Dice Pool of 9 for that, so I'll go ahead and do that while I walk towards the area in question and the meeting with the rest of the group.
(9d6)[3][6][4][5][4][1][2][3][3](31) (2 Hits)

[Sir Dancealot]

"Nah. Keep doin' what your doin'. I'll make sure nothing happens to your body. Could you like, sit down or something? Pop up an AR sign asking for spare creds? Layin' about in the street looks damn weird." She replied, still munching happily on her ice cream. The real stuff too. Expensive, but worth every penny. She was still looking around for anyone else nearby.

[Escheton]

When the call came Cauhl was busy "shopping". That is to say, using his vision enhancements to look for dead-drops hidden in things, that might worth something, or could be fun to interrupt. For a reason that is beyond him, all manner of covert organisations, from crank-pushing gang-bangers to mega-corps fixers, they all seem to like big frickin' malls as they dead-drop sites.

Not feeling like doubling back, he sends a wave to his pilot program to drive up, while he dives in an alley to get to the road.
He tries to break into a bit of a jog, but he's too out of shape to keep it up. Whilst breathing deeply and walking at a brisk pace, he analyzes the message, and concludes it of little use to him.
<"If it has a means of propulsion I can operate it. If it doesn't, give me a few hours and it will. Looks like we're on the clock here though. There is likely a Lonestar squad on their way. Breaker, think you can spoof up some false alerts from shops, businesses and/or residences in the area? Might buy us a minute or 2.>, Cauhl replies in a group-msg

He gets into the car, tells the pilot where to go and zones out looking at infrastructure and population data of the area. He needs an out, and an inconspicuous one if possible.

[RdMarquis]

<I've got a bit of magic, myself.> As he approaches the office building, his pace slows to a walk. Mordred had discarded the cello case close by, next to a dumpster. There were more pressing issues at hand than his other job. <And Breaker, don't worry about bashing heads. I'll take care of that. On site in 1 minute.> He moves hunched over, keeping behind cover. <Considering the target literally couldn't pay to save her life, I'll assume she isn't in a high security area. But I'll give you all an update after I've done a quick walk around the outside.>

Spoiler

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Infiltration: (11d6)[5][5][4][5][2][2][4][2][4][6][6](45)

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Spoiler: OOC

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Do I get anything from the quick and dirty Matrix search about the rest of the group? I definitely understand if most of these people don't have anything publically attached to their aliases.

I think it would be a Medicine check to identify whatever is wrong with our target using the biometric data? I've got a Dice Pool of 9 for that, so I'll go ahead and do that while I walk towards the area in question and the meeting with the rest of the group.

An image search on Mordred pulls up the defunct social media page of some schoolgirl named Morgan Senlis, and not much else. Apparently she was his sister?

Caul gets some more interesting results. Dude's got one heck of a bounty on his head, though it'll take a bit more time to find the details.

You'd think that this Lolita character is practically famous, but anything really interesting is lost under a pile of cutesy photos in your unfiltered image search.

Annie is a challenge to search for. How do you tell her from every other nerdy gnome magician out there?

Finally, the patient. The file has a text portion that says she's as healthy as a devil rat. It's also dated about two months ago.

Cauhl gets there quite quickly. Everyone was selected for the mission based on their close proximity, after all. As he and Mordred approach the entrance to the building, they notice that the lights are out and that the door is just slightly ajar, the bars behind it just slightly out of position.

This place has already been broken into.

...Oh, and there are some pretty obvious security cameras pointing into the parking lot. Should probably have led with that.

[RdMarquis]

<Heads up. We're not the only group at work here. Can't tell if they're other runners or after our lady, but let's try not to butt heads until we're sure.> Mordred's case and the gear he wasn't carrying had been relocated to the rigger's vehicle. Given the new development, he also took the opportunity to arm himself more heavily. <When you get on site, watch your step in the parking lot. Bunch of security cameras.> The adept continues his search of the office building. He didn't like the idea of getting in through someone else's entrance unless there were no alternatives. It might have already been discovered, or being guarded for use as an exit.

[Retrokinesis]

The gnome nods and sits on the ground leaning against the nearest sturdy object. "Sure. Poke me if you're going to start shooting or something". Laurel closes her eyes and draws mana into a spell to improve her reflexes. It wouldn't help her if anything attacked on the astral plane but she was much stronger in the physical world with it. Luckily, it works perfectly and she shrugs-off the Drain. Good. This feels like it's going to be a spell-heavy night. Her sustaining focus - a small lump of fulgurite on a thin gold wire around her neck - begins to tingle with the energy of the spell.

As Laurel's astral form releases, she takes a few moments to erase the astral signature of her spell. No sense leaving evidence when she had enough time to get rid of it. Right, back to the search. She sticks her head through the van and any other vehicles in the parking lot before floating through the lobby and looking around. If this Mordred was right and their target wasn't behind those wards on the top floor, Laurel could find her.

Spoiler

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Spellcasting results in the OOC thread. Taking 3 complex actions to erase the spell's astral signature before searching. Let me know if you want mundane observation tests or anything.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

The red car, the only vehicle in the parking lot besides the van, seems devoid of life or magical activity.

*Astral Bonk*

...the van's cab, on the other hand, is apparently warded.

Meanwhile, Mordred proceeds into the office building, pushing the door the rest of the way open so anyone else could get through. He passes by the front desk on his left - it's unattended - and the restrooms on his right. Directly ahead is the elevator, and the hallway goes left or right from there.

It's dark, but you can tell that the elevator door seems to be stuck open, revealing the empty elevator shaft. There's a door to the left that's probably the stairs.

[RdMarquis]

<Doesn't look good. The place seems to be abandoned.> Drawing his pistol, Mordred gives the ground floor a quick search. First left down the hallway, then right. The elevators barely receive a glance. Even if they could be fixed, the other team might have a hacker with them, in which case the elevator was a potential deathtrap. If not, it was a guaranteed regular trap. After confirming his suspicions, he looks for the stairs.

[Sir Dancealot]

"Right. Give it a quick looksie then. I'll be looking around out here." Saying such, the small elf with an icecream cone wandered about, her SIN set for low profile.

[Retrokinesis]

Well. That's not a good sign. The EMTs, perhaps? Or whoever almost killed their client. Laurel could certainly attempt to force the ward, but it would warn its creator even if she succeeded. Better to have the others check physically; the advantages of working with a team. The gnome snaps back into her body and stands up before sending a message from her running 'link.

<Possible issue: the van in the parking lot is warded. No idea who or what is in there. Fixer mentioned something about EMTs standing-by outside so it could be them, but it could just as easily be whoever made this mess in the first place. Shall we check it out or just keep an eye on it?>

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

The left hallway opens up into a room filled with chairs all turned to face a podium on the far side. The room is otherwise barren, save for some gum on the underside of the chairs. No security cameras here.

Breaker reports that there's a jammer on the upper floors that might disrupt communication when you get up there, but frankly it's nothing he can't handle. Also, that the security camera nodes are apparently turned off, but there is a commlink on in the van.

Down the right hallway are a few locked offices before it opens up into an antiquiated cube farm, with a rack of mailboxes and even a paper printer mounted on the wall. The workstations each have a small locker on the desks, but are otherwise plain and identical. If they were allowed AR decorations, they turned them all off when they left for the day. There's a single small black blob of a security camera in the far right corner, positioned so it could probably see the whole room.

As one magicky person explores and the other wakes up, the little girl wanders into the parking lot and her contact lenses' vision enhancement focuses on something in the corner of her eye. Through the now-open door, down the darkened hall, she just barely glimpses someone ducking into the elevator shaft.

[RdMarquis]

<Someone send a picture to the Doc. Ask him how the client's getting out of here, and if he recognizes the van. It's worth monitoring, though. Can you summon Watchers?> Mordred hadn't relearned how to call spirits, yet.

A quiet chuckle escapes his lips. <What was that one movie? The guys storm this building looking for a hostage, and there's a bomb waiting for them in one of the rooms. I'm getting that vibe right about now.> With his pistol at the ready, he checks the door next to the elevators.

[Sir Dancealot]

"Looks like someone likes elevators." She says as she licks another bit of her icecream cone. Man, that thing was delicious.

[RdMarquis]

If peeking through the doorway reveals nothing, Mordred will turn his attention back to the hall. The adept replaces the pistol in its holster. He clenches his fist, drawing in more of the ambient mana. <Lady, you have until I'm done with my spell to tell me you're kidding.>

Mordred makes a slashing motion with his hand, scattering the energy around himself. He is rendered invisible, not only to most eyes, but also the average surveillance device. This time, he manages to avoid losing much of his vitality to the spell. <No? Thought not.> The adept treats the elevator shaft as he would an exceptionally dangerous intersection. With drunk drivers and the occasional go-ganger. He glances both ways to check the location of the elevator itself, and judge the difficulty of climbing after...whoever the hell that was. Was it even worth checking out?

<Any thoughts would be appreciated. I'm not thrilled with the idea of hoping that everyone lurking around isn't going to make trouble for us. But if I'm going to do something stupid, I'd like someone to check upstairs in the meantime.> So many new questions, and not even a hint of an answer.