A Tangled Web

GM: Eris
Players: Eris, Turk
Synopsis: The Universal Conspiracy runs deep. Information has been accumulated in Denver, and the noted conspiracy head 'Turk' or 'Plot 9' is put on the case to find out exactly what it is one player in the Conspiracy knows.
Date: 01/05/2073


Good Morning Turk.

As you may or may not be aware, The Spotlight is an investigative journal which specializes in various conspiracies. One of their recent investigations has been to track the reported incidences of HMHVV Infection across North America. As they are based in the Denver RTG, and we believe that you are of a mind to understand the need for discretion in these matters, we have decided to contact you for retrieval of this data.

If this data is received at UE.8111|9291929#UE.8111|9291929 by 9pm UTC within the next week 20,000 =Y= will be deposited to any account also noted in the body of the trixmail. We trust you will find this offer worth your time.

Yours.

The trixmail came without any warning or preamble, from the same trixmail address that the data is to be deposited in. And very little other information. … Intruiging.

«OOC» Turk shall - first and foremost, while I'm writing the pose - check for any bugs, viruses, etc! Shall I roll for it, and what shall I roll?
«OOC» Eris says, "Don't worry about rolling for it, I presume that you're competent enough to spot such things."

Ghost pain. A tightness along the right ribs. The wound itself, long gone; Armor patched. But even after the wound is gone, the scar - and the ghost tightness - remained. Itching. Likely would for the rest of his life; Not the first wound to do so. Not in his career. Not with the [REDACTED$] and not -afterwards-.
His mind, somewhere far away; Body relaxing. Cellular link, daisy chained, the deck gripped loosely in a sleeper's confessional hold. A plastik lover. The Trixmail caught his attention first, Plan 9 - his avatar nothing more than a playful breeze picking up virtual debris - runs the Trix-note through every sort of twisting virus check it can. Illumasons? Cult of D? Vampires? Hard to say. Have to be careful.
Finding nothing - which may just mean it's so far beyond him that he'll never find it - the message is scanned. Considered. The Spotlight - investigative? How curious they named themselves for illumination. Or a lighthouse. Part of the Heritage Coast? The tangled lines of deception run ever deeper. None the less, the mission is accepted. Curiosity driving Turk, more than money; Although nuyen is always welcomed. First step?
Get an falsie MSP account, and start hunting.
«OOC» Turk is buying a three day fake MSP (300 yen), and going to start a little -research- with the Spotlight paper first.
«OOC» Turk says, "shall I +spend first?"
«OOC» Eris says, "Sure, and yeah. Decide what you want to know and make your matrix search check."

«Auto-Judge[]» Turk (#9565) spends 300 nuyen.

«OOC» Turk ahems. "First, I'm looking for any connection between supporters of the journal and minor pharmacuetical companies. THEN, I'm going to contact my Reporter and Data Snoop contacts to see where to begin.

«OOC» Eris says, "Okay, that'll be a simple search."
«Auto-Judge[]» Turk (#9565) rolls Computers (Decking) vs TN 4 for "Simple Search!":
1 1 1 3 3 3 8 = 1 Success
«Auto-Judge[]» Turk (#9565) rolls 1 for "Hours Spent":
2

It takes a couple of hours involve sifting through various public records regarding the company's shareholders and employees. Surprisingly, The Spotlight seems to have avoided the AAA Megacorps pretty well! Largely the property of one James Yehvon, though there are a few minority shareholders too, he owns seventy per cent of the journal.

«OOC» Turk rubs his chin. And I have seventy two hours to fulfill the contract?
«OOC» Eris says, "Yup!"
«OOC» Turk nods. Another search for James Yehvon, and a pose!
«OOC» Turk says, "I'll be looking for basic investment information about him, also."
«OOC» Eris says, "Okay :)"
«OOC» Eris says, "Oh, but, I just noticed - computers (searches) is for data searches."
«OOC» Eris says, "So you'll need to use base skill for the next. >_>"
«OOC» Turk salutes.
«OOC» Turk says, "The more you know ~"

Plan 9 drifts quietly through the public datastreams, riding on a 'fake' MSP account to prevent drawing undue attention to itself. Just yet. The information is carefully dissembled; Scanned, compounded, hashed. Set aside to eventually be printed to flimsie and added to The Wall. A wall filled with flimsies, red thread running everywhere in the apartment. Turk's mind pushed into the virtual nether by the cellular link..
The lack of AAA funding is surprising. Suspicious. There are never any coincidences in Turk's twisted world of conspiracy, the bent gears in his head turning. Why avoid large money, in a world of large money? ONLY IF YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO HIDE. Focusing on the owner for a moment, Plan 9 drifts into the datastreams once again, little bits of virtual paper and debris turning into drifting numbers and tags; The virtual trash of the Trix.

«OOC» Turk says, "type of search?"
«OOC» Eris says, "Depends how deep you want to go. Basic public info will be simple, his social security number, criminal record etc would be standard and home address, bank account, private contact info would be detailed. Investment information will go on the same kind of rating.

«OOC» Turk nods. Lets go standard. Still need the +spend for it, or will my fake MSP account cover it?
«OOC» Eris says, "You'll need to +spend, the MSP is ensuring people won't track it back to you without real effort (hacking the MSP records etc)"

«Auto-Judge[]» Turk (#9565) rolls Computers vs TN 5 for "Standard Search":
3 4 5 9 20 = 3 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Turk (#9565) rolls 2 for "Hours spent":
4 5
«Auto-Judge[]» Turk (#9565) spends 90 nuyen.

The information on James is far more difficult to find. He's a native of the UCAS, 46 years old, with a career across a number of media, marketing and news agencies. He founded The Spotlight three years ago with the assistance of contacts he'd made across the media world at that time. He couldn't afford to pay a decent wage so he offered shares in the company instead; with most of the contacts selling some of them back to him over the past three years.

The Spotlight has been struggling for a while. It has rigorous standards for investigative journalism and has been harrassed in the courts and by the police in its time. Unfortunately, rigorous standards means that issues are rare, and an office of eight people can't compete with the glitzier productions such as The Daily Buzz and Action News.

Data, filed. Integrated. Incorporated. The results, obvious: Someone wants that information surpressed. But to what end? Vampiric, most likely. Or the ghoulish cast of the Universal Brotherhood; Bug spirits? Ha. Ghoulish sorcery. But the question then becomes, does he play along? Does he join the web of conspiritors, in an effort to get closer to The Truth?
Of course he does. Innocence is a thing of the past; Everyone is part of the Unified Conspiracy. Even newborns, with their flouride teeth allowing satellite tracking. The faux zoo animals, their fake fur groomed for DNA samples every night. Sacrifice.
Plan 9 tucks that data away with all the countless, vast fortune of random bits of data he has accumulated, each connected together in a manner only his mind can see. And then? He makes a few connections of his own..

«Auto-Judge[]» Turk (#9565) rolls Etiquette for "Mouth, the reporter":
3 4 5 7
«Auto-Judge[]» Turk (#9565) rolls Etiquette for "Vox Populi, the Data Snoop":
2 3 4 8

The contact is, as always, one of anonymous nature. In Turk's artficially induced paranoia, he does keep more than a pager on his person; Nothing that can be listened too. Nothing that can be heard. Plan 9's gaseous form driving small, torn scraps of bar-room napkins and yellow flimsy before it, each carrying random and assorted phone numbers. Always, always adapting to the local virtual fauna; the better to hide. The better to adapt.

"Mouth.." Comes the voice, always with a slight crackle from the hijacked connection. ".. Am I interrupting anything? I've a few questions about a few companies in your business.."

"Turk." Mouth replies, sounding, perhaps, a little wary. But then, that's only sensible in these confused and dangerous times, isn't it? "What can I help you with, exactly? I've got a little work on, but nothing I can't postpone if there's a little something in it for me…"

"The Spotlight. Owned by James Yehvon. What's your take on them, omae?"
A simple enough question to answer; Perspective. Turk was always good at gathering data. It's putting that data together in a coherent, logical fashion that eludes him with the [REDACTED] clouding his skull. A spinning gear throwing everything else out of wake. Then it hits; Mouth may be a telepath. Does it work over Trix?
If he's a telepathic Otaku. Disassembling is the defense. Red thread. No joints. Irregular. Flow off center. Best way.
Thoughts of nuyen reward, unpossessed. Money was the best friend, for 'friends' like Mouth. That, or a few odd hits of his own.

"Someone's hiring a lot of muscle to dig for buried treasure in the Warzone of the 'rens." Begins Turk, after a moment to digest what Mouth had to say. "And giving a lot of SINLESS shovels. 'Course, they stumbled across a few oddities.."

Dangling that carrot for a moment, before he continues with his own line of questioning. "They specialize in any particular sort of moral outrage?"

Mouth pauses for a moment, "Have you got any proof to back that up?" He asks, curious, more than anything else. "If you can pass me some solid data on that, we can keep talking, otherwise, I'm going to need a little donation…"
«OOC» Eris says, "You can roll negotiation - there'll be a bonus if you actually do have info on that plot hook."
«OOC» Turk nods. All I've got are rumors. I contacted Savannah about it, but was told it's just background colour and an open plot idea right now.
«OOC» Eris says, "Roll it anyway, if you want to fast talk the guy. :)"

«OOC» Turk says, "TN, or open?"
«OOC» Eris says, "Its his int, so I'm going to peg it at 6."

«Auto-Judge[]» Turk (#9565) rolls Negotiation vs TN 6 for "Chatter":
3 5 9 = 1 Success
«Auto-Judge[]» Eris (#9237) rolls 5 vs TN 6 for "Counter-negotiation":
1 2 3 3 11 = 1 Success

«Plot» Eris says, "The outcome here is that he's going to want a token donation of 50 =y= to pass on the inside scoop on The Spotlight"

«Auto-Judge[]» Turk (#9565) spends 50 nuyen.

"Whispers, Mouth. Too many people saying the exact same thing. You know how this works."

Red threads, stretched across the room. Devulging information? Dangerous. Necessary, however. But even more necessary is an investment. "Getting a line of sight should be easy enough. Something for later. A down payment, then.." The transfer of creds was quick; Quiet. The electronic version of passing it off behind the back.

"I know that drek's always going down in the Warrens, Turk, and people don't care unless there's something exciting in it." He sighs, and there's a few moments of silence before he continues. "Anyway. Sure. The Spotlight does good work. They tweak noses every now and then. Don't care about ruffling feathers in breaking stories that are actually uncomfortable, and James is a good reporter. Thinks he's smarter than Lofwyr though. One of those sorts, y'know?"

Maybe he -is- smarter than Lofwyr. Or, just perhaps, he IS Lofwyr. A thought placed aside for the moment. The information given is quietly filed away, Turk not riled in the least by the doubt; The world is filled with doubters. It's why the conspiracies get away with the balatant things they do. Too much doubt; Not enough Belief.
"Thanks, Mouth… and mind your back." The usual goodbye, as the voice turns to static and pitch drops away. Hijacked commcalls - much harder to catch and trace. Or listen too. Considering the information, Plan 9 reaches out through the trix to another Believer - Vox Populi.

It always takes longer to get through to Vox Populi than it does most other people. Of course, he's got his own set of rituals and checks, balances and assurances to make before he answers.

When he DOES answer, he doesn't say anything. Waiting for confirmation of who it is before he opens his mouth.

Plan 9, the breeze, quietly turns and twists in the little 'Trix backcorner of the cell network, virtual debris lightly dancing about. When he's certain the connection is stable, he opens with a short phrase. "The assassination in nineteen sixty three did not involve a shooter on the grassy knoll. It did, however, involve three shooters in the police line." The usual opening phrase of a Believer!
"I need some info, Vox Populi.."

"We all need information, Turk."

The voice is distorted, badly, but, deliberately. Everyone has their own ways of ensuring privacy in an age without privacy. "What question are you answering today?"

Between telepaths, spies, Agents, bug spirits, and robotic control, there never was privacy. Not since the days of ARPANet.
Turk's voice, fading in from static as he speaks and back out during silences, proceeds after a moment. "The Daily Spotlight. Know for moral pieces. Avoids major cash. Idealists.. who would be interested in seeing a few of their articles about disease shut down?" A vague enough query. "Specifically an article coming out soon?"

"Dangerous question." The Voice of the People replies. There's a few moments where it hangs there.

"Usual major players. Saeder-Krupp dislike any information they don't know about. Depends on the disease. Depends on the article. Lots of factors. Need to narrow it down."

Data points. Always dangerous. Reveal too much, and you'll be sold to someone else. Reveal too little, and you won't get what you want. Red threads get tangled; How much to trust Vox? How little? Being a Believer meant you knew what was going on; It didn't mean you agreed. Besides, Otaku were notoriously unpredictable; What would a -HIVEMIND- of Otaku do?
Risk. Reward. Go.
"HMHVV. Factor spread across northern continents. Did they find a source..?" Worth the risk. Shut down the article, get paid - the information gets out through a second, more trustworthy line. Quietly. In the hands of a Believer.
The fact that it'd become a conspiracy would -lessen- the credibility doesn't even cross his mind.

"HMHVV."

The moment draws on, and there's the sense of deliberation, contemplation, even if it is silent. "Suppression of that kind of data falls into many hands. Recent activity in Europe indicates greater quantities of intelligent infected, so if the data shows an increase, could be an attempt to quash public fear. If it shows a decrease, could be an attempt to suppress information which can be utilized to justify tighter disease control regulations. Could be a megacorp attempting to quash this for any number of reasons. Or one of the intelligent infected themselves."

Plan 9 reacts in surprise, the breeze swirling a little harder, a virtual paper bag carried on the font of air up until is passes beyond the reactive overlay - rezzing gracefully from existence. Of course; He'd only considered a cover-up by pharmaceuticals about how drug resistance tests are getting loose. He never considered surpression from a political stand point. Blind sided.
It's why he talks to Vox, after all.
The transaction occurs; Behind the back pass of a small package. Now he has perspective, from both inside the business and beyond the grasp of the Federales; He'll know what he's getting into.
Time to prep. "The truth is out there, Omae. Mind your back."
«Auto-Judge[]» Turk (#9565) spends 25 nuyen.

"The truth will make ye fret."

There's a vague sense of gratitude, and then the line goes dead. There really are a lot of mysteries at play here. But then, aren't there always?

«OOC» Turk says, "How much would it be to rent a very, very tiny hotel room - with a window? Preferably a room up high?"
«OOC» Eris says, "About 100 =Y= per day."

Severing and gracefully backing out of the trix and back to his cellular connection, floating in the grey emptiness of his deck. Before removing himself entirely from the system, eyes fluttering open. The Dwarf takes a moment to consider his options, eyes flitting along the flimsies. Hundreds of them, like a second wall paper. Up and down his walls, red thread spooling everywhere as he finds new connections.
A crimson web.
Enjoying the metaphor more than he really should, the dwarf begins gathering the equipment he's going to need. A few stim patches, his portable satellite, and his deck. Then intends to drive somewhere nice and quiet - preferably -outside- of the Warrens.

Turk drives for a while, in his little Leyland Zil Tsarina. For thirty minutes he travels, watching as the local scape slowly changes from mega-city to large city to suburban sprawl. When at last he can see the majority of the sky. Finding a nice, quiet place to park, Turk sets the portable satellite so that the head of the 'dish' clings to the door frame, giving it access to the blue sky above. Fair weather. Sliding the cable into the satellite interface of his deck, and the other into his cranium.
Five hours of battery life. Should be enough. Turk begins to attempt the alignment, hunting for the NewsNet Sat cluster - it seemed fitting enough …

«OOC» Eris says, "I'll give you TN 3 to lock on."
«OOC» Turk nods. Standard computer test, right?
«OOC» Eris says, "Yup"
«Auto-Judge[]» Turk (#9565) rolls Computers vs TN 3 for "Locking onto NewsNet Sat Cluster":
1 1 3 4 8 = 3 Successes

«OOC» Eris says, "Then TN 4 to access due to your -5 util."
«OOC» Eris says, "Decking and HP as usual. I need to know your DF though."

«Auto-Judge[]» Turk (#9565) rolls Computers (Decking) + Hacking Pool: 6 vs TN 4 for "Accessing SatNet Grid!":
1 1 1 1 1 2 3 3 4 5 7 11 11 = 5 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Eris (#9237) rolls 6 vs TN 5 (to no one) for "ACCESSING":
2 3 4 5 7 23 = 3 Successes

«Plot» Eris says, "Okay, you're in."

Locking onto the NewsNet cluster was the easy part; It was designed for upload access, after all, to carry the constant stream of data from one agency to the next. It was actually getting -inside- where the interesting things happen. Plan 9 appears - for all intesive purposes - like a wavering breeze. Blowing bits of dust from the external hub of a virtual station, perhaps, as it quickly approaches the access gate.
Adapt. Assume. Entrance - quickly adapting it's overlay to match the Host's environemnt. The better to pass un-noticed..

Like most satellites, the architecture is not particularly interesting; just a fishbowl with a view down to the places that it covers. Which, naturally, includes Denver, located conveniently on the UCAS RTG!

Appearing as nothing so much as a brief haze of solar wind, Plan 9 creeps along the SatNet - tendrils easing outwards as it winds it's way through the sparse virtual environement. As always, seeking to be as unobstrusive as possible as it heads for the Denver RTG ..

«Auto-Judge[]» Turk (#9565) rolls Computers (Decking) + Hacking Pool: 6 vs TN 2 for "Access Denver":
1 1 1 2 3 3 4 5 5 7 9 15 27 = 10 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Eris (#9237) rolls 4 (to no one) for "ACCESSING":
1 10 10 21

… And into the familiar Denver RTG, back to being a slowly whirling breeze, carrying the debris of a virtual megacity. And now: NOW he begins to hunt, questing through and diving among the virtual streams. Hunting for the Spotlight…

«OOC» Turk says, "Index TN?"
«OOC» Eris says, "2"

«Auto-Judge[]» Turk (#9565) rolls Computers (Decking) + Hacking Pool: 6 vs TN 2 for "Index Test, doesn't go lower than 2. Locate Daily Spotlight on Grid…":
1 1 1 1 3 3 4 4 4 8 13 14 17 = 9 Successes

«Auto-Judge[]» Eris (#9237) rolls 4 vs TN 5 (to no one) for "ACCESSING":
3 5 9 21 = 3 Successes

«OOC» Eris says, "Okay, so, init!"
«OOC» Eris will also pose.

Locating the Spotlight is not easy. It is hidden on a small part of the UCAS RTG tucked out of sight and out of mind. But if you know what you are looking for, you can track it down. A small building which looks like it was ripped right out of an old Noir film, right down to the shutters and somehow 'grimy' light.

Unfortunately, as Turk approaches the Host, a large black dog comes bounding along the 'Denver' Streets, barking and howling!

«Auto-Judge[]» Eris (#9237) rolls 2 for "+6 IC Init":
2 3
«Auto-Judge[]» Turk (#9565) rolls 2 for "Decker Init +4 (Int - 2)":
4 5
«Plot» Eris says, "Okay, you get to react first!"

«OOC» Turk nods. Evade is a complex action?
«OOC» Eris says, "Yeah."
«OOC» Eris says, "All Matrix combat is with very few exceptions."
«OOC» Turk rubs his chin. And swapping modes is as well. Evade.
«Auto-Judge[]» Turk (#9565) rolls 5 + Hacking Pool: 4 vs TN 2 for "Evasion (5) + HP 4/6":
2 2 3 4 5 5 5 5 9 = 9 Successes

«Auto-Judge[]» Eris (#9237) rolls 4 vs TN 5 (to no one) for "Contest":
1 1 3 14 = 1 Success
«Plot» Eris says, "Okay, you're free to act and try to access the Host, but I'm keeping that TN secret."

As the breeze approaches the noir-feel of the newsie, it begins blowing old paper wrappings and faded newspapers. Cigarette butts gently rolled along the sidewalk in that stiff breeze. Plan 9 is preparing to seize on that initiative - when the black dog attacks! The gentle breeze suddenly -scatters-. Cloaking itself into the virtual background, while Turk juggles his processing power. He hadn't expected to be found out so soon …

«OOC» Turk says, "Swapping modes. Bod and Evasion. If bod is at 3, and evasion at five, the Bod becomes 1 and Evasion becomes .. 7?"
«OOC» Eris says, "Yup. Are you sure you want Evasion and not Masking, though?"
«OOC» Turk grins. I meant to say Masking. I was considering bumping down Evasion.
«OOC» Turk says, "The DF attribute."
«OOC» Eris says, "Yeah, improve Masking decrease Body is the way Eris runs too."
«OOC» Turk says, "So. Masking at 7, sacrificing 4 HP to raise it to 9."
«OOC» Turk says, "Err, not Masking."
«OOC» Turk says, "DF at -6-, sacrificing 4 HP to raise to 8."
«OOC» Eris says, "Sure. :)"

Plan 9 - now running as deep as he can on the Hacivat - quietly swirls past the IC, searching for cracks in the Daily Spolight. Wrinkled newspapers blown against the door frame, seedy cigarettes lazily swirling in the breeze..

«Auto-Judge[]» Turk (#9565) rolls Computers (Decking) + Hacking Pool: 2 for "Access Attempt - Daily Spotlight":
1 1 1 2 4 8 10 11 11
«Auto-Judge[]» Eris (#9237) rolls 5 (to no one) for "ACCESSING":
1 2 2 11 11

The cracks give way, and Turk flows into the main entrance of the Spotlight. There's a small crowd in here, people chattering with a low thrum of general conversation as they stand around the faux office space.

No longer a sleazy alley way breeze, Plan 9 becomes the sturgid air blown from a fan. It lulls about the entrance, while Turk quests outwards; Things got hotter, faster, than he thought it would. Time to cool things down a bit, as it seeks nothing less - than impersonation.

«Auto-Judge[]» Turk (#9565) rolls Computers (Decking) + Hacking Pool: 2 for "Validate Attempt, Validate R5 Utility. Standard account.":
1 1 2 2 3 4 5 7 9

«Auto-Judge[]» Eris (#9237) rolls 5 (to no one) for "VALIDATION":
4 4 4 7 10

«Auto-Judge[]» Eris (#9237) rolls 2 (to no one) for "Number of rounds before admin deactivates new account he didn't make":
2 4

There's some resistance from the system. However, just, Turk is able to create the new account. When it does go through, though, he hears a 'PING!'. The system has alerted the administrators that a new account has been created; presumably it is only a matter of time before they notice and move to deactivate it.

The sluggish breeze spins a little faster around itself, pulling dust from the floorboards - and, thread by thread, building a pair of pants, a shirt, and a hat. A body fills this out, formed of the very dust, and the new Account is validated! But the warning ping is enough to remove any elation. User John Wilkes Booth adjusts his sleeves and the straps keeping his pants up, before tipping the brim of his old fashioned hat low to begin hunting …

«OOC» Turk says, "What're the assigned commands of my standard account?"
«OOC» Turk says, "May I, for instance, browse for access nodes to see where developing stories are?"
«OOC» Eris says, "Analyze Icon, Graceful Logoff, Locate Access Node, Locate File, Logon to Host, Logon to LTG, Logon to RTG, Upload Data"
«OOC» Turk nods. Locate File attempt, keywords: HMHVV, North America, Disease
«OOC» Turk says, "Err, scratch last word. 'Track'"
«OOC» Turk says, "Locate File roll for speed of attempt?"

There is a trail! Unfortunately, the trail leads to another, linked Host - from the way these things usually work… probably their more secure, developing stories/private leads Host.
«OOC» Eris says, "Nope, they succeed automatically. Tis why Validate Account is considered OP. :p"

Blank, eyeless sockets peer out from the Mock Man as his search algorithmns tease out an answer. A quiet frown; Not unexpected, after all. With a roll of resignation, the newsie avatar begins following the glinting trail only shown to his overlay; Otherwise, everyone would be spammed with query hunts! Pausing before the door to the next Host, he grips the door knob and pushes inside..
«OOC» Turk says, "Logon to Host - next."

The archives room is markedly less welcoming than the last Host. Where that one had been a public Host, this one is only meant to be accessed by the journalists themselves; and they should only be storing and retrieving information they should have access to. Huge racks upon racks of information crowd a dusty, unpleasant storeroom as quiet as the grave.

Plan 9 - the Mock Man - pauses within the Archives long enough to become acquainted. Shifting his hat off his head for a moment to simply take in the architecture; Somewhere, some part of him Remembers. But then the bent gears in his head begin clicking again, and he refocuses on the task at hand.
Moving to follow his original algorithmic trace towards the file that had the highest percentile chance of being what he's looking for ..
Just as he begins, unfortunately, there's a lurching grinding crunch. ACCESS DENIED. USER ACCOUNT REVOKED.

«Plot» Eris says, "You'll need to roll :p"
«OOC» Turk salutes. Browse?
«OOC» Eris says, "Yup"
«OOC» Turk squints. Decking skill, rather than computers.search, right?
«OOC» Eris says, "Yeah"

«Auto-Judge[]» Turk (#9565) rolls Computers (Decking) + Hacking Pool: 2 for "Locate File Attempt + HP 2, Browse R5":
1 1 2 3 3 3 5 9 10

«Auto-Judge[]» Eris (#9237) rolls 5 vs TN 8 (to no one) for "RESIST":
1 2 2 3 4 = 0 Successes

«Auto-Judge[]» Eris (#9237) rolls 5 vs TN 8 (to no one) for "Security Decker Locate Decker Operation":
1 2 2 4 11 = 1 Success

Locating the file turns out to be deceptively easy; amongst all the archives, one box stands out. It is clearly labelled 'HMHVV Data And Analysis'. Good money is on that being the target of the run!

The breeze quietly spins on itself - nothing to see here. A few drifts of archive dust, some fluff, and a few scraps of paper brushing along the box Icon; Plan 9 does not 'stick his hand in the cookie jar' just yet, oh no. Not without quietly checking for nasty, nasty traps. Paranoia would allow nothing else…

«OOC» Turk says, "Scan Icon test."
«Plot» Eris says, "Roll away"
«Auto-Judge[]» Turk (#9565) rolls Computers (Decking) + Hacking Pool: 2 for "Analyze Icon. Sensors 2, Analyze 5, -7 TN.":
1 3 3 4 4 4 5 5 5
«Auto-Judge[]» Turk (#9565) rolls Computers (Decking) + Hacking Pool: 2 for "Analyze Icon v2 - KP 1/1. -7 TN":
1 1 3 3 4 5 5 5 9
«Auto-Judge[]» Eris (#9237) rolls 5 vs TN 8 (to no one) for "RESIST":
1 1 3 4 9 = 1 Success
«Auto-Judge[]» Eris (#9237) rolls 5 + Hacking Pool: 5 vs TN 12 (to no one) for "Security Decker Restrict Icon":
2 2 4 4 4 4 5 5 7 9 = 0 Successes

«Auto-Judge[]» Eris (#9237) rolls 2:
1 3
The Icon remains stubbornly impenetrable to the attention of Plan 9. Blank and uncertain, there's no indication of what it is, really, just what it appears to be. Of course, he can always try again, but the system feels much more restrictive than the last one. Much more dangerous.

The breeze slows once more to a sluggish cadence; But what else can it do? Plan 9 was, at best, a second tier hacker. Cheap but competent. If there were bombs, or tars, or sparkers, or all manners of horrors connnected to this innoculous Icon, it's beyond his ability to detect.
And there's always the matter of dealing with consequences afterwards. With that in mind, the fan-driven breeze suddenly becomes stiffer and stronger. Whirling into the box, the breeze does nothing less than try to simply empty it..!
«OOC» Turk says, "Download File. Read/Write R5. Compression R5 - if it's under 500 MP, I can compress it to 250. Gotta uncompress it later, of course."

«Auto-Judge[]» Turk (#9565) rolls Computers (Decking) + Hacking Pool: 2 for "Read/Write R5, Compressor R5 (Up to 500 MP compressed to half size).":
1 2 3 3 3 3 4 4 4

«Auto-Judge[]» Eris (#9237) rolls 5 vs TN 8 (to no one) for "RESIST":
1 1 5 8 16 = 2 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Eris (#9237) rolls 5 + Hacking Pool: 5 vs TN 12 (to no one) for "Security Decker Restrict Icon":
1 1 2 2 3 3 4 5 9 11 = 0 Successes

«Auto-Judge[]» Eris (#9237) rolls 2 (to no one) for "Sensors":
5 8
The icon remains in place, obstinately refusing to be claimed by this unauthorized user. The box is locked shut tight, and not a single scrap of data is released. From the other side of the archives, though, a thick black ooze is starting to form. Pressing itself into a humanoid shape as it slithers towards the unwanted Decker.
GM NOTE: The above is a Tar Baby 7 (Shield) piece of IC.

The chiming alarms in Turk's skull - wind chimes, if one must know - warn him of the impending nature of Decker doom. The wind continues to tease at the box, but to no avail; Locked tight. The breeze turning slowly on itself, as if leaning away from the ooze.
The time for subtly is quite quickly passing. Rearranging his processing power once again, the breeze abandons it's quiet approach and suddenly becomes a torrent; Attempting to, quite literally, rip that lid off the box and send the papers flying up into exposure…
«OOC» Turk says, "Dropping HP bonus to DF. DF is now 6. Attempting download again. :3"

«Auto-Judge[]» Turk (#9565) rolls Computers (Decking) + Hacking Pool: 6 for "Download Attempt. TN -5 for Read/Write. Compressor R5, 500 MP can be downloaded as 250 MP.":
1 1 2 2 4 5 5 5 10 10 10 11 13

«Auto-Judge[]» Eris (#9237) rolls 5 vs TN 6 (to no one) for "RESIST":
1 3 4 4 8 = 1 Success
«Auto-Judge[]» Eris (#9237) rolls 5 + 5 vs TN 10 (to no one) for "Security Decker Restrict Icon Operation":
1 1 3 3 5 5 5 7 8 23 = 1 Success

Finally, something seems to go right for Plan 9. The box cracks, and finally shatters. Instantly, the secrets are learned; there's a lot of raw data encoded here… but there's not 500 mp of raw data here. He'll have to examine it in more detail later!

«OOC» Turk says, "How much did I download in compression?"
«OOC» Eris says, "There was 239 MP before compression."

The papers whirl around one another in the 'playful' breeze, rustling what virtual overlays are designed to react to virtual environment. The pages stripping down and disappearing into the whirling mass as it begins dissipating - attempting, like wind does, to simply disappear…

«Auto-Judge[]» Turk (#9565) rolls Computers (Decking) + Hacking Pool: 6 for "Graceful Logoff, DF 6, Deception R5":
1 3 3 3 3 4 4 5 5 7 7 10 11

«Auto-Judge[]» Eris (#9237) rolls 5 vs TN 6 (to no one) for "RESIST":
1 1 4 5 11 = 1 Success
«Auto-Judge[]» Eris (#9237) rolls 5 + 5 vs TN 8 (to no one) for "Security Decker Block System Operation":
1 1 3 4 4 4 5 5 8 8 = 2 Successes
«Auto-Judge[]» Eris (#9237) rolls 2:
2 11

The wind that is Plan 9 begins to dissipate, but, as it does, he gets a warning 'tingle' again. This time his attention is directed towards a man in a sharp suit who has, apparently, been there all along, attempting to pin down the wind with a nailgun. Unfortunately for said sharp-dressed man, this proves as fruitless in the trix as it would in the real world, and, by the skin of his teeth, Plan 9 completes the operation, leaving no trace that he was ever there, other than the memory of one pissed off sysop.

The mind crashes back down to earth, Plan 9 halting in the grey expanse of his own internal systems. The wind dying down to reveal Turk himself; But not as one remembers. Decked in the smooth lines of mil-spec, '10K' neatly tattooed onto the meat of his right shoulder. He fingers his short cropped beard in virtual space, even as he begins decompressing the data. Some to copy to an offline storage, the rest to package and send to te Trix account. Along with a 'prepay cred' account in the body of the return mail.

Body: FER-3432-NNZ
Increase your girth today! We've got what you want. See how big your package can get, with Plan 9!!

Attach: Gift.DX

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