Chapter One: Most...Interesting Imposters in History

[Muppet Man]

Sex, money, murder, these are the breaks//These are the times, level number 9

/-----------------------/

<2001:42/2075-01-14><START FEED> Hi everyone! I'm walking through the Crime Mall today. Took at the chaos and density here. Density is the right word, the floor space is packed. The walls are jammed. There are people shoving things in your face, invading my space, ever step, "Oi chummer" this, and "Oi Chummer" that. I want to yell, you're not my friend! But I don't. The ceiling is the least cluttered, but it has drek falling from it, broken windows and skylights, busted ducts and wiring. All the good stuff stripped away, I'm sure. It's not just the space, either. The air is filled with weird smells, hopefully from the talismongers, but probably from the food stalls. Some areas the smells are so thick, you can chew it. And the cacophony. Not just the hawkers, but everyone is yammering at a friend, or on a commlink or just cause they're crazy. Not like me, I'm life streaming. It's wiz.

The AR space is crowded too. All sorts of ad noise, none of it comprehensible, my filters barely kept enough space clear for my comment section. I hoped my ads didn't show up clustered and crowded. No ROI there, you know, right?

Okay, so now I'm going to go up to this stall and see if the halfer behind...[jostling blurred camera, static audio]...Drek! Frag me frag me! Do you see that? Drek, drek, drek...[jostling blurred camera, static audio]...<2019:55/2075-01-14><END FEED>

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//Location:Tacoma/Seattle Metroplex/UCAS
//Time: <0933:00/2075-01-18> Combat round OVER
//Weather: <Heavy Overcast, Light Snow, 0C, Wind N 8kph, feels like -8C>
//Air Quality: <Monthly Average: Moderate (Yellow), Precipitation pH 2.6>

The weather in fact was nothing like predicted but it still sucked. It got up to 12C on Tuesday and Wednesday, and combined with non-stop heavy rain, it made for miserable. Not warm enough to be warm, not cold enough for jacket. Sopping wet all the time. Puddles the size of Lake Washington in every neighborhood. And then, Thursday, it dropped to 1C and snowed heavily. Sloshy, sloggy, and then by dawn Friday, all of the mess had frozen. So the forecasts were right about that part. Fat, wet, dirty flakes fell slowly throughout the day.

Around the Sprawl, things ground to a halt. Ground transport needed pontoons, or ice skates, the shitty Seattle drivers crashed on flat areas and skidded out of control on hills. Public transportation got stuck in the gridlock. Though the lightrail kept running, all the escalators broke : all of them. Turned out it was the work of a decker, but given the SDOT and Metro's rep, people would have believed that they all just broke.

Game Effects:

• Triple travel time anywhere in the Sprawl, with minimum of 1 hour.
• Getting anywhere requires a piloting/driving check Difficulty 2, if you're from Seattle or Portland, increase difficulty to 3
• Motorcycles are worse: difficulty 5
• Visibility: -1

This all holds true in Puyallup as well, for the most part. The Sprawl has lots of microclimates, Puyallup has tended

-1C, ice everywhere -2 penalty to driving

in the winter, and wetter. It has horrible air quality perpetually. Few notice who don't live there. Throw in some volcano action and it gets even more unique. "Grey snow" mixed with wet snow, a special kind of choking hazard.

Located near the old Washington State Fairgrounds at the north end of the Puyallup, the Fairground Scone Factory sits within spitting distance of the tail end of the main lava flow. It's a holdout from another time, another century even. It still makes scones.

But to maintain its relative independence, deals needed to be made, protection paid, dubious connections established. Relative is relative.

Over time the factory grew and morphed. It's current state as a sprawling multi building complex occupying about four square city blocks sits atop the original walk up delivery truck that sat in the parking lot during state fairs and such civilized events. The modern version has a main factory where the majority of the baking and packaging is down. There is a large commercial warehouse with loading dock for bulk shipping. The office portion is small by comparison. It's three stories of boring concrete with wall to wall glazing on each floor. The warehouse has large skylights regularly spaced.

Late Thursday night, Mulpa gets a message from Yu:
<<Here are the final details. <File appended>>>

UPDATED Run Details

Phase 1:

• Overview: Human Resources Acquisition: Willing Subject:
  • Legal Name: Charla Ann Dalrymple Media Handle: @CharlDarlBaby Occupation: Media Personality/Influencer
  • Description: Age: 19 Metavariant: Human Skin: Brown Hair: Bald Known Affiliations: Humanis Policlub
• When: by 1/18/2075, delivery no later than 21:30.
• Where: Fairground Scone Factory, Puyallup, extract and deliver to Paine Field, Hangar 17, Everett
• Security: Site secured by mercenary guards, exact provider unknown. Thought to be a very veiled Ares team. Surveillance indicates between 12 and 16 mobile guards. One active Matrix cyberdeck has been noted emanating from the compound, our decker was brainfried in the exchange. Two magical active persons are on site periodically, never both at the same time. No indication of paranormal animals or warding.
• Pay: 32,000¥ +6,000¥ total, with 6,000¥ upfront
• Target: Information withheld until finalized contract agreement

Phase 2:

• Overview: Resource Management/Logistics
• When: 1/18/2075, 21:30
• Where: Paine Field, Hangar 17, Everett to 3000 NE 4th St, Renton, WA 98056
• Security: Unknown. If Phase 1 was executed quietly, opposition should be limited. Threat level will increase in relation to the amount of disruption caused during phase 1.
• Pay: 18,000¥ + 4,000¥ total, with 4,000¥ upfront (paid at delivery of phase 1)
• Target: (1) 1m x 1m x 2m container
• Note: Delivery vehicle will be provided for Phase 2

• Details:
  • Design:
  • Bakery: 4 stories tall, concrete first floor, metal siding upper floors, metal butterfly roof, significant HVAC and other roof penetrations
  • Warehouse: 3 stories stall, concrete walls, flat membrane roof with 2/3rd green roof (as in it's a garden), 2m parapet around roof
  • Office: 3 stories, flat membrane roof w/ 3/4 green roof, 1.5m parapet around roof
  • Parking lot: Asphalt paving, no planters, wheels stops at stalls adjacent to buildings only, 16 streetlights, each with a electric vehicle charging station
  • Landscaping: dirt or lava rock, xeriscape friendly plants around entrance to office. A large above ground concrete utility vault is connected to the office portion. A 1m deep, .5m wide trench follows the north side of the bakery. Covered walkways (metal roofing) connect the buildings
  • Ingress/Egress:
  • Bakery: 4 man doors at street level, 2 upper level door accessed by fire escapes/catwalks, catwalk connects to center portion of roof
  • Warehouse: 2 man doors at street level, 3 lading docks, 1 loading door at ground level, access to roof from interior stairway
  • Office: double entry door on ground floor, two emergency exits, access to roof from interior stairway
  • Fenestration:
  • Bakery: three small windows next to main entry door, clerestory windows on long side at about 30m above the finished grade of the parking lot
  • Warehouse: Main entry door has two sidelites and a transom window, remaining doors have transoms, three square windows at 1.5m above finish grade of the parking lot evenly spaced on each side of the building, six 1.5m x 3m skylights evenly spaced on roof
  • Office: Each floor has floor to ceiling glazing on all sides, glazing is "opaque", several portions of the windows system are operable egress windows

About 10 minutes later he gets another message from the Mr Johnson, one very odd message.
<<I know who she is, and this is not a rescue. She will think it is at first.>>


Scone Factory Aerial View:

[Bushwack]

"Fraggin Humanis? They REALLY need all the pieces in one go? I mean wouldn't it be easier to chop her up in say 5 pieces and mail it to the destination, with the weather making transport difficult and all?"

"Her media influencing might take a nosedive with her front teeth missing if she gives me any of that racist lip."

"I'm kiddin' of course. I can keep it strictly professional when needed. Just a lil' bitch slap, no permanent damage to devalue the merchandise."

[Mulpa]

"Fraggin Humanis? They REALLY need all the pieces in one go? I mean wouldn't it be easier to chop her up in say 5 pieces and mail it to the destination, with the weather making transport difficult and all?"

"Her media influencing might take a nosedive with her front teeth missing if she gives me any of that racist lip."

"I'm kiddin' of course. I can keep it strictly professional when needed. Just a lil' bitch slap, no permanent damage to devalue the merchandise."

"That is one of the reasons I have my Shock Gloves... a nice hand shake can really communicate for you... and the Johnson has updated saying that though the target wants the extraction, it won't turn out quite how the target is wanting it to."

[Stygge]

Doing it for the money, doing it for the money, doing it for the money ...

This is the only way Stygge is able to convince herself not to bail on this job. First the weather makes driving Meggy a pain in the hoop, and now the person she needs to help out is with Humanis? She's gonna have to go see Gil after this - sure, Stygge and alcohol don't get along, but maybe they've got a tea infused with just the right herbs to make her forget about all of this. Or maybe she'll see if she can get her hands on some good BTLs.

"... and the Johnson has updated saying that though the target wants the extraction, it won'tturn out quite how the target is wanting it to."

"So ... does that mean this run's not so fragged after all?" Stygge asks with a slightly hopeful smile.

[Muppet Man]

Running things down...
Mulpa:

"Paulina, this is Mulpa. I need a hacker to insert my picture and ID into so I can use it to get in. I will need to talk to them to set up the exact details and timetable. If you could pass on my com information to a suitable person as soon as able, I will be very appreciative. What is your latest project... I am sure the parts you need could use some extra Nuyen to speed up the purchase of those parts..."

Paulina: "Mulpa, let me make some calls." She comes back with a semi-shoddy but cheap decker (rating 3) and an overpriced but reliable decker (rating 5). She will take only a small cut off the fee of the reliable decker in parts (200 nuyen in parts -- induction pads for electric cars ideally, or 500 nuyen in cash), Mulpa can talk to the shoddy guy for free. Her price would preferably be in barter, but she'll take "cash" if that's the best option.

Shoddy guy is available immediately. Reliable guy needs a day. Both will meet if Mulpa makes contact.

OOC Comments

Let me know what the job you actually want them to do with and I will give you a price. I will count your Con roll in the negotiation, so the offered price will account for that, as in this will be their "best offer".

Wraith:

Shiori Ishikawa (3/4, fixer-fence/black market contact, mid-level yakuza 'exec', also her older cousin!): If she is able to get her hands on floorplans of the factory and various buildings, and/or if shes aware of potential interference from any of the major crime groups
Alexis Boseman (1/4, grad student in civil engineering, and a friend/housemate): whether she can get access to floorplans of the factory buildings and/or municipal infrastructure such as sewage, old tunnels, etc

Shiori: "I'm sorry cousin, but we (using the formal, plural we) can not approach this. You must not ask me or any other of my family in regards to this matter, your life and mine would be in jeopardy. I will forget this conversation immediately."

Alexis: "Sure, let me look into the records..." Alexis provides basic floorplans without any equipment or modifications after 2063. Unfortunately after the eruptions and quakes, the infrastructure maps are no longer reliable. It would be possible, for a 2-3k nuyen to order a survey. For 2-3k more, they could do it in the necessary timeframe.

OOC Comments

Wraith has a digital map of the building showing all existing walls, doors, stairs, ducts, electrical corridors, etc. including materials and wall details. Obviously I don't have a fully completed as-built set of drawings for the building, so count this as a +2 limit on any perception or similar test involving the building structure - kind of like a mapsoft.

Oh, and Wraith pokes the yakuza any more, she will get hurt. Maybe that's a clue?

[Mulpa]

Running things down...
Mulpa:

"Paulina, this is Mulpa. I need a hacker to insert my picture and ID into so I can use it to get in. I will need to talk to them to set up the exact details and timetable. If you could pass on my com information to a suitable person as soon as able, I will be very appreciative. What is your latest project... I am sure the parts you need could use some extra Nuyen to speed up the purchase of those parts..."

Paulina: "Mulpa, let me make some calls." She comes back with a semi-shoddy but cheap decker (rating 3) and an overpriced but reliable decker (rating 5). She will take only a small cut off the fee of the reliable decker in parts (200 nuyen in parts -- induction pads for electric cars ideally, or 500 nuyen in cash), Mulpa can talk to the shoddy guy for free. Her price would preferably be in barter, but she'll take "cash" if that's the best option.

Shoddy guy is available immediately. Reliable guy needs a day. Both will meet if Mulpa makes contact.

OOC Comments

Let me know what the job you actually want them to do with and I will give you a price. I will count your Con roll in the negotiation, so the offered price will account for that, as in this will be their "best offer".

"Paulina, I am going to have to trust the guy's work with my life, so the overpriced but reliable one it is. I know someone who may be able to get me the induction pads. Give me a few days."

"@Stygge, you mentioned having a few contacts around scrap yards. I need some induction pads for electric cars. Getting them will save me 300 nuyen vs. paying the guy outright cash. I will give you a 100 nuyen finder's fee for the

See the request for Paulina.

This will pay for the introductions to a decker with a good rep, though his prices for his work may be a bit steeper than some others. Stupid @Tulpa tweaking out when we need him for the run. Any costs for this decker's services are coming directly out of his cut!!!"


"Alright... Silhouette is it? What I need is for a set of credentials for me to be input into the system at the Fairground Scone Factory, Puyallup. They are for me to be a system repair man and for me to have access to everywhere in the factory including the offices. I need for it to be in the system by the 16th, and for it to be gone from their system at the end of the 18th no earlier than 2200. I need for there to be nothing that would give any hints of us. When you set up my credentials, I want for them not to set up any alarms when they are used for any of the doors. How does that sound?"

[Wraith]

Location: Puyallup, Seattle Metroplex
Condition: Wet, kinda cold
Current Broadcasted SIN: Elisabeth Gibbs

Always one to try and be ahead of schedule, Wraith arrives at the teams pre-arranged meeting point a good hour before hand, taking cover somewhere reasonably warm (convenience store, donut shop, whatever is available) but providing a decent view of the area, and sets in to wait for the rest to show up. The foxelf was somewhat disappointed at the lack of information she'd been able to get - and concerned about her cousins warning - but admits that she's worked with less. Like, that last mission being a great example.

What info she had been able to get, the digital map, had been shared to the rest of the team via their shared channel, along with a genuinely polite apology for not having been able to get more than that.

In order to seem like she was not just loitering, Wraith makes a point of making some sort of purchase (what exactly depends on where she is loitering), then settles at a free table and pulls out the commlink she is using, and starts to flip through things at random on its tiny screen; sure she could do this through image link, but figures it might seem odd if she were just sitting there staring off into space. Besides, this gave the foxelf something to do with her hands.

Primarily, Wraith goes over the various plans that Alexis was able to get her - money was tight so she did not shell out for the extra stuff, figuring that this will be sufficient for planning purposes.

OOC Comments

Periodic audio/visual perceptions as she keeps an eye out on the area, inside and out. Will post one of each, if you need more she has 12d6 for both.
Visual:
Audio:

[Stygge]

"@Stygge, you mentioned having a few contacts around scrap yards. I need some induction pads for electric cars. Getting them will save me 300 nuyen vs. paying the guy outright cash. I will give you a 100 nuyen finder's fee for the

See the request for Paulina.

This will pay for the introductions to a decker with a good rep, though his prices for his work may be a bit steeper than some others. Stupid @Tulpa tweaking out when we need him for the run. Any costs for this decker's services are coming directly out of his cut!!!

Stygge's face lights up when she hears what Mulpa needs and knows exactly who to contact for this favour. "Chip truth, I know just the guy who owes me one!" She pulls out her Spider and starts typing a message for King.

Remember the other day when I stopped by and fixed up a few of your cars? Well I've decided how I'd like to be compensated for that: induction pads. Got a friend of a friend who's in the market for some.

When she hears about the decker not coming cheap, her expression sours somewhat as she continues her message.

Possibly two friends if I can sway the other guy.

When she gets Wraith's message, Stygge chuckles and remarks: "Better than a bullet to the brain." She then opens up the shopsoft on her Spider and checks out some of the motorbikes being sold. When she sees the Yamaha Nodachi, she lets out the pitiful whimper of someone who really wants something but knows they can't have it.

Gonna need a big payday for you, girl.

Just in case

Negotiation with King for the parts:
Add these if Stygge's bargaining specialism counts:

[Shrike]

"Where are we at people?"

Great, a frigging Humanis Shrike balks when he learns this, but when they are given the followup information, he is only partly assuaged.

Even if this person i being dealt with, I wonder what the deal is actually about.

"Even if we are the extraction team, our presence might still cause issues with the extraction. Mulpa, Bushwhack, you'll be too obvious due to your heights and appearance, but Wraith, Stygge and I can pass if they don't see our faces. So we need helmets if you don't have them."


"Let me see what my Fixer can pull up. I got an armourer to get us the helmets."

Contact - Amber - Elf Fixer 3/3 - Technically independent, but with possible ties to Tir Tirangie. See what we can find out about the security arrangements
Dust - Armourer 3/2 - to get full face helmets and if need be some padding to hide the elves.


Shrike arrives at the arranged rendezvous, this time loaded for the bear, complete with Assault Rifle. He seems very comfortable with the weapons and keeps them close at hand.
"Hopefully we won't need the weaponry, but the perils of legwork can lead to being noticed by other parties. Ares are not a corp you cross without being prepared for trouble."

He examines the map Wraith provides, adding notes to it as they talk.

"This is a good start. So we need some eyes on the location, try and piece together their guard rotation and movements. See if there is anywhere suitable nearby to observe from. Do it in shifts and see if we can also spot our extraction target."

If Wraith mentions the options Alexis offered, he frowns.

"The information would be useful, but if Mulpa is able to get on site, we can fix most of the flaws with what he sees. Mulpa, do you have a camera? Don't want to risk broadcasting an image link where the onsite security can pick it up."

[Mulpa]

"The information would be useful, but if Mulpa is able to get on site, we can fix most of the flaws with what he sees. Mulpa, do you have a camera? Don't want to risk broadcasting an image link where the onsite security can pick it up."

"My glasses include a camera that I can save the footage from in my comlink. Once I can get my ID into the system, I will do the recon as soon as possible."