The Tana Case Part 10

GM: Yin
Players: Ghost Riddle (Samura), Freefall, Walker, Yin
Synopsis:Yin, looking for a blank Decker with a low profile, snoops out Ghost Riddle, who accepts the job offer. She then tries to break into the terminal host of the physician and psychotherapist Rainer Mangold-Zobel, in order to retrieve information about the missing subject Tanaka Tana, who had therapy sessions with Mangold-Zobel over several years. The office host of the therapist is challenging for Ghost Riddle, Probe and Scout IC are quickly activated, but her raising Security Tally stops when she enters an ongoing operation that takes her about 10 minutes to finish. A Null Operation well timed! In the real world, Walker and Freefall are idling in the Wormhole matrix club where Ghost Riddle jacked in. A little situation unfolds, when an upstart youth gang tries to impress a corporate gang from Shiawase on the leave. Just the random insanity going on in Denver! Ghost Riddle's Suzuki Aurora is saved from perforation and destruction and Ghost Riddle successfully finishes her job! Hopefully, a good gig for her reputation, experience and profile!
Date: 2083-02-27

Getting a Decent Decker

Yin chose the Jinwei Import complex for an anonymous Matrix access. It's basically a search on Shadowland, most likely. He has some experience, but he's not a decker, that's why he's looking for one, of course! - He waits for some other customers to leave the trix cafe and then he tries to make good use of the quiet hour. He designs a simple search query first, specifying what he's looking for.

+ Show rolls/ooc

As Yin plows through the storm of data looking for the right person he comes across the profile of a pretty elf girl with blue eyes and raven hair. In the picture she's smiling wearing her gradulation outfit. She has a bachelor's degree in art, graduting from the Universe of Washington in Seattle just a few years ago. She is UCAS citizen. 5'4", born on Oct 23rd, 2054 making her 26 years old. Her name is Sylvie Everleaf. A few other photos come up on the search of her sitting on a street racing bike wearing a red jacket covered in anime patches. The bike has anime babes painted on the chasis. Doesn't seem to talk much about whether is a decker or not.

She runs a small computer repair business called Magic Touch out of her apartment. Business phone listing and Matrix business Host pages are available. Contact by vid call first.

After AGES of browsing, Yin was almost about to give up and try other means, but then… Three little details catch his attention: She's smiling, she's wearing anime patches, and she has a physical shop with a very funny name! No way would he even consider a detailed search at this point. Damn these time-consuming matrix search! It's simply not his world. With the business address and a name, he's going to run one little thing in advance though, for security's sake. Depending on whether Miss Everleaf is residing within Lone Star or Knight Errant controlled territory, he would call a contact and ask for a quick criminal record check.

+ Show Contact Information

Another text message from Yin. Another favor only this favor has the promise of some money plus a free cup of coffee and a donut. Spacey Short texts back that she'll meet up at the usual place and being a woman of her word she shows up at the appointed time. She walks into the place and scans for Yin.

It's a small asian street cafe close to the CAS/UCAS border. Yin, wearing a simple dark suit, is waving for her, coffee and donuts already waiting: "Hey, Spacey, how are you doing? Nice to see you back on the bike again, after the accident… em assault. Really, I'm glad we could help you." Yin, referring to a scene that happened last year, is really happy that Spacey survived the assault that sent her flying on the pavement. She spent some time in hospital after that.

Spacey tossed herself into the booth with a huff. "Yeah, back in the saddle one more time. I have to pay off the hospital tab somehow so need to work," she grabbed the soykaf and savored its aroma for a moment then took a long sip from it then looked at Yin over the lip of the cup. "Overtime and all that but I like making money that doesn't invovle me being shot at so… here we are. What is it you want from me Yin?"

"You see, Spacey," he begins, "I'm looking for a partner to recruit but I'd like to have a glimpse at her records first. I don't want to build my sandcastles too close to the shoreline, if you know what I mean." He smiles and reveals a piece of paper: "It's a Sylvie Everleaf, holding a bachelor degree and living in UCAS. She runs a shop called Magic Touch. It's all looking good and should be legit, but you never know."

The piece of paper is a small printout, with the details of Sylvie and two decent photos as well. The information is streamlined and does not betray any Shadowland affiliation, if possible.

Spacey picked up the sheet and looked it over, taking another sip. "Are you hoping she has a sheet or is clean or do I even want to know?" she asked, looking at Yin eye to eye.

"I need the truth," he grins, "As I said, I would like to recruit her as a partner, if it fits. So I don't want any surprises. You know that I can't work with people who wouldn't stand against a screening." Yin, refering to his official work as a lawyer and private investigator, usually keeps Spacey away from shadowrun-related things. But she knows that he walks the line.

Spacey folds the sheet away for safe keeping, "Sure. For a K I will search for anyone you want. As I said, I need the money for the bills. Insurance only goes so far," she grumbled taking a bite of her donut. "I'll run it when I get into the station and let you know. You know where to send the money."

"One K?" he groans… "Alright. I won't bargain with you on that one, but expect me to do it next time!" With a soft smile he nods his agreement. Yin says "Thank your for helping out, Spacey."

Spacey nods and finishes up the coffee and slides out of the side with the half eaten donut. "All the time I have for small talk. Keep your head down and good luck. Talk to you soon," she says as she holds the donut in her mouth while she zips up her police jacket for the cold outside.

Yin remains behind after bidding her farewell.

+ Show rolls/ooc

As the sun is setting on the day Yin finally gets a text message from Spacey:

'Your girl has a lead foot. She has several speeding violations on that crotch rocket of hers but more interesting I found out this is the girl that draws one of my favorite matrix comics. You ever read The Advetures of Bad Karma? Its pretty good. Her art is awesome. You'd like it. Its right up your DARK alley way. Anyway, no hardened criminal for you. Just an artist that knows computers and likes to race on her bike. Thanks for the help.'

Bemused by Spacey's hitherto unrevealed preference for manga and anime, Yin nods at the information. "Good enought then," and for sure he checks out the tix-comics. After all, he is a Japanese in his late twenties! But soon after, he'd just make a vid call to get through to this Sylvie Everleaf.

«OOC» Ghost Riddle says, "I am sure Yin likes the lead though. Its obvious the elf artist knows about Shadowrunners and their struggles against The Man (tm)."

Ghost Riddle and Yin Meet

Yin makes the call to the business number listed for Magic Touch. A few rings pass and then there is a connection and the vid display on Yin's phone shows a pretty elf wearing one of those nifty AR glasses. She looks mostly like the photos only you can see she has a scar on her left cheek that wasn't in the photos. The scar is obviously initials; N.C. The background is a digital backdrop that Sylvie no doubt programmed to replace the real background of her apartment.

"Magic Touch! If its broke we can fix it… probably! How can I help today?"

Yin can be seen, moving through what appears to be a living or office room. He has short-cut, manga-style black hair and is obviously from Asian origin. He wears a suit of some sort, with a black tie and white buttoned shirt: "Greetings, Miss Everleaf, this is Yin Li, but just Yin is fine. I am a private investigator based in the CAS sector, Denver. After some searching I came across your business profile related to data searches and I was wondering if you would find the time for a meeting?"

Sylvie smiles brightly. She has a great looking smile. Perfect teeth, super white. She takes care of herself. "Absolutely! We can absolutely handle any legal searches you may need. I have an open slot today at 2pm and 3pm. Would either of those work for you Yin?" she asks. Already on first name basis! She works quick!

Yin nods, also compelled to return the smile, even though it's a bit more modest. He bows his head: "Oh, why not. Sure. I'll be at your place on twp pm then. Thank you for your friendly and quick invitation."

Sylvie nodded and confirmed the apointment, a little message appearing on Yin's phone to show his request was accepted and expected at 2pm today. "I look forward to seeing if I can help you out! When you get here just push the buzzer and look into the pretty camera so I can see it is you. See you at two!"

"What a refreshing nature she has," Yin reflects after the video call, a little bit unsure if this will work out. But there is only one way to make sure! He asks a friend to drop him off just in time.

The Meadows of Dunkirk apartments aren't your upper class style nor are they low class slums, just kind of stuck between almost being Middle Class and Broke AF. They are maintained well enough and security in the area isn't terrible. Yin can easily walk on to the property and make his way up to the 2nd floor to apartment 211. The metal door has a built-in camera for looking at who is outside when the door buzzer is pressed.

The door opens after a few seconds and a dwarf woman steps out, turning back to the elf, "Thanks for the help Sylvie. I promise I'll pay you back for the favor," the stout bearded woman says. Sylvie smiled to her, "Take your time. I am in no dire need. Take care of your family first," she waved. The dwarf looked the asian man over then turned and headed down the walkway to the stairs to the second floor.

"Mister Li, practicing the ancient art of early is ontime, ontime is late. Please, come in."

Yin greets the dwarfen client with a polite bow and then enters Sylvie's apartment. And he doesn't come with empty hands, actually. It seems like he actually does practice some other ancient arts as well. He carries a small paper box with both hands, maybe 10 inches on each side. He bows, a bit formally, and then extends the present with both hands: "Miss Everleaf, Yin is fine! And please, before we talk about business, let me offer you this small gift of hospitality. For your kindness, and also for your admirable work as a manga artist. So, no matter if we will have a business agreement today or not, I'm already quite happy to be invited to your… curious shop."

The apartment is little more than a rectangular space, much like a Japanese apartment in size. There is room for a tiny kitchnette, a bathroom off in a little cuby with a bead curtain door, a fold away bed in the wall one side of the room then the other twelve foot wide wall is one giant computer work station and workbench covered in computer tech with multi monitors and a headset of some kind plus a cute pair of cat ear headphones on a hook holder. The walls are covered in anime and manga characters from Japan, no doubt the elf's favorite shows.

She looks confused by the gift for a second but smiles and takes the gift and she bows in return. Perhaps she has some Japanese etiquette in her? "You didn't have to do that but I accept your gift and thank you for the kind words regarding my art. You did a little research on me before you came didn't ya?" she winked and offered a seat in the one chair next to her computer workstation.

Yin, used to observe, takes in the details and nods in admiration: "What a cozy place to work in. - A friend of mine told me about you being some reknown artist. So I took a look myself, yes. I like it, actually." He smiles and nods in reassurance.

He settles down on the offered seat, waiting for Sylvie to lead and direct the conversation as she sees fit, she's the host after all!

Sylvie keeps that winning smile going as she sits and she opens the gift box to see what is inside. "I am glad you like it. It helps pay the bills!" she chirped.

The inconspicious paper box contains a little manga puppet! It's a female character clad in a white robe. For those who are initiated into this fringe culture, it's obviously that this is an incarnation of Miru, as the Radio Sorceress! It's a manga character designed and produced by the Japanese Yutani Corporation. A rather small producer of matrix and household technology. Yin has put two pens for manga drawing in the cute character's hands.

The puppet is able to offer some simple media services if connected to a phone, computer, or similar media device.

Sylvie Squeees a little bit. "So cute! Wow, this is a great gift! Now I feel like I really need to come through for you Yin," she sets the little doll next to one her monitor stands facing out into the room. "Guard the room Hiru! Make sure no one interupts us!"

Details on the Run Discussed

She turned back to Yin after that and folded her hands in her lap. "Now, what can I do for you today?"

Yin seems content with how she treated the little fellow but turns more serious then: "I am working on a missing person case, supported by local authorities in Asiatown. The boy is member of a minority in Asiantown, he got kidnapped about one year ago, tortured and most likely killed." he begins and continues…

Sylvie's smile fades fast into a serious one as listens and then she frowns. "That is terrible…" she says. "Any leads at all or is the trail starting here with this investigation?"

Yin continues: "The investigation is in an advanced state. The boy suffered because of some traumatic event he wittnessed in the past, many years ago. And he saw a psychotherapist for years. And this man refuses to cooperate for some reasons. The information he has about what actually happened to the missing subject could be crucial. But there is no legal lever to force him to cooperate right now."

Sylvie nods. "Using the old Doctor Patient defense on you?"

"Yes, that's one argument he does raise. He also seems to be a proper racist against every non-white non-human non-caucasian non-male in town, if you get the point. - So," Yin finishes, "I speak quiet openly here: I need someone to check his database on the case file, without his consent. However, I can guarantee your complete anonymity in regard to any authorities involved with the case. Your findings won't be used in any legal procedure, but they could help us understand the complex schemes behind this abduction."

Sylvie sits back in her chair. "So for the record, you need someone to hack into a private computer, search for paydata to your case and extract it out all discreet like? I heard you right?"

Staring into her eyes with some intensity, he suddenly laughs light-heartedly and shakes his head slightly: "You heard me perfectly right, Miss Everleaf," he runs his hand through his hair and wonders quietly to himself: 'She's either going to kick me out of her shop in a second, or I actually did find the right person…if…,' he then continues to speak aloud again: "If you feel capable of doing so, of course!"

Ghost offered up a smile and shrugged, "Hey… sometimes you have to take the backroads to get to your destination right? I might be able to help you out depending on what all is involved and it sounds like a good cause because one, I hate racist assclowns and two, a child is involved and people who hurt kids deserve a special place in Hell." The last part is said with all seriousness in her voice. She means what she says.

"You need me to hit a private computer or is this a public? Do I need to be onsite or remote? Threats? And how much is this going to cost me and how much are you willing to pay for it all?" she asked and pointed to the lights overhead lighting the apartment in the cyberpunk glow of magentas and cyan colors. "I have to keep the lights on somehow."

For some reason, Yin's eyes are trapped for a moment by Ghost Riddle's teardrop pendant piercing on her belly, as if he tries to remember something. Which seems a bit odd, since he did not even blink once at her NC scar right below her eye. Maybe he just processed all the questions she just asked. Eventually, he looks up again: "Well, I'll give you what I have. You better get a pen, or a data file, or your headmemory ready… whatever you prefer!" He smiles and seems content so far, about how this conversation goes:

Yin continues: "The target is a Rainer Zobel-Mangold, occupying an apartment at the so called 'Cassidy Building' in the central CAS sector. I think that building acts as a guardian host for all residence terminals, as far as I could find out, so Zobel-Mangold's terminal should be accessable from the CAS LTG through the Cassidy Building. - The payment should be around five to fifteen thousands, depending on the find and its significance. I'll negotiate the details with my client."

"Furthermore, the apartment is quiet at night. His office is closed after dark. That would probably the prefered time to enter the terminal. If you are interested, what else do you want to know?" Yin adds.

Ghost's fingers fly across her terminal keyboard as she makes notes in a new classic Notepad file that she entitle's Candy Store Grocery List. As she types she asks, "What kind of man is Rainer and be very specific on what you need me to pull from his system. I mean I could just pull his entire data storage but that could take time depending on how much horse porn he has on his system so I'd rather narrow the search down."

Ghost keeps writing and goes OH! and adds, "What kind of classication is that apartment? Security rating? Income level. This will give me an idea of what kind of hurdles I will have to jump over while zipping in from the CAS LTG. The more I can keep GOD off my ass the better."

Yin nods, "Of course, well, Rainer Zobel-Mangold is a German physicist and psychotherapist. He moved to Denver in 2071, focus on burn-out therapy, resilience training, trauma therapy, trauma-informed family therapy, as well as the treatment of cyber-related mental maladies. You know, like shizophrenia, addiction, disembodiement, sensoric failures and so forth…" Yin makes a gesture with his hand and pauses for a moment, to allow her to write the important facts down. "The area is rated A and the Cassidy Building advertises Orange Level security. I can't say much more about that, though. I think our target has some good income, upper middle-class. He seems to be into Simsense based therapy, as well. So, maybe he did actually store therapy sessions with the missing boy in Simsense quality. I am not sure though, since we have no clear indication about the nature of the therapy sessions."

Yin then advances with the details: "As for the data profile: I am looking for his notes and protocols related to a 'Tanaka Tana', a now 18 year old boy who had his first session with Zobel-Mangold around 2077, about five to six years ago. Everything related to Tanaka Tana is of interest." - "To be even more precise: Tanaka Tana should not appear in Zobel-Mangold's records before the 6th of June, 2077.

Ghostie nodded as she wrote all the notes. At the mention of Orange Security she makes face and says something Speretiel, looking quite annoyed. "Got it. What's the due date on the data dump?"

"Hm, yesterday maybe?" he grins a bit, "but on a more serious note, the case is moving toward a conclusion, I think, so, within a week would be perfect. If there is anything in the data that would identify additional suspects or relationships, or would clarify some blank spots, that would be very helpful. But ten days is probably also okay."

Suddenly, something else comes to Yin's mind: "Oh, and one thing! Should he, for whatever reason, have deleted or moved any files, that would be of interest as well. Because legally, he is required to keep medical records for a certain time. So, if you find nothing, maybe you can bring back log files or anything else? Data about when and how he manipulated records?"

Ghost nods and starts making her bullet point list; Logs, Imagines, Video, Audio all regarding Tanaka Tana. "Do you have any photos of Tanaka you can give me?"

Yin raises a finger in agreement and understanding: "I have one photgraph his mother shared with us… let me get it…"

He opens his wrist computer, preparing a video hologram to get shared with whatever device Sylvie presents. It's a portrait of a young Asian man. It's a digital Trid photo, so it shows the three dimensional features of a black-haired lad in casual dress, with some band merch shirt (MexiKali) and a baseball cap (Urban Brawl). Probably not even eighteen years old.

Yin says "Tana was born in 2064, 5th of February, if that helps too."

Ghost writes up the other details and taps her phone laying on her workstation table. "Send it here," she says, rattling off the contact number. "I think I have all I need to do my run. I'll spend the rest of today prepping my hardware and software and probably will take a run at it tonight. I try my best to get my clients the info they needed quickly and I will keep you informed every step of the way. THe number you are sending the photo through valid for text comms?"

"Hm," Yin ponders, "actually, I think it would be best to avoid trix messages. You see, officially I will book your services for public data search. Since your findings could, at some point, come up in a legal case, it's best to have as little connection to your actual activities as possible. - Here, I have an electronic business card with my details", he offers her his card with both hands, "including the apartment address I am working from for this case. Step by anytime or leave a note with the concierge, if you think you are trailed on the trix. But of course, you can also just text me and see if I'm around. But keep our connection off the grid, if possible."

Ghost nods, "Neat and discreet. Got it. Anything else I need to know? If not, I can get started we a little nuyen to show me you are serious. Say about 2k. The balance due upon data retrival and package delivery."

+ Show rolls/ooc

Yin tightens his lips, but then nods with a smile: "Of course, we can do this. Trust is built in small little steps." The transfer would happen right on spot, with an uncertified credstick.

Ghost slides the credstick into a drawer on the left side of the workstation desk and offers the prettiest of white teeth smiles. "Trust is indeed a two way street that is paved with Nuyen credsticks. My work is guranteed. I have never failed a client yet," she beamed proudly leaving out the fact she's had one client in the last year but she is confident she can do this since this looks like a cakewalk compared to that last job in Seattle.

"Now this next part is not meant to threaten you or anything. Take this as a matter of fact. Failure to render payment upon satisified completion of the job will end in a whole lot nasty action against you until the payment is issued. You seem like a nice PI who is genuinely trying to do good. Rep is everything for everyone in the biz so lets keep our reps intact, k?"

Yin can't help but to try and hide a smile on his face in the palm of one hand, with his elbow resting on the armrest. He prefers not to comment, but bows his head.

Ghost Riddle Gets Ready at the Wormhole

+ Show OOC and Cyberdeck Information

Free raises a brow but nods slowly and pulls out her comm, thumbs typing out in the old skool way to Walker. «Milk and cookies. And Hugs. Wnat them? Meet us at The Wormhole. G has a hot date.»

The response comes back a few minutes later. «Always been a sucker for snacks. This a strictly social call or am I packing for work?»

Free snorts and texts back, «Watching G work. Pack what you want. Shouldn't be long.»

This time the reply is quicker. «Hot. Sign me up. I'll leave the grenades at home.»

Ghostie pulls off her AR googles and gloves and removes them from their port jack so she can start packing up her deck after she shuts it down. Into the anime sticker covered armored case it goes and the locks click into place, red LED lights indicting the locks are engaged. She snags up her spiffy synthleather jacket with the fur lining to fight the Denver cold. She slips it on and then ties her long black hair back into a cute pony-tail. "Who's driving?" she smiles at Free, slinging her deck case over her shoulder, ready to roll out.

Free smirks. "You are. I look better hanging off the back of a cycle. That and more room for my tail. Walker is meeting us there." She gets up on her paws, coat already on.

Ghostie unslung her deck and held it out for Free to take. "Deck duty then so you can hug on tight to me. Added bonus of sharing warmth. Hate for a case to be between me and that bod of yours," she winked.

Free takes the case with brows rising skyward. "I'll make sure to hit the pavement first if there's a wreck. I know your baby here is precious." She slings it over her shoulder cross body and ushers them out.

Ghostie smooched Free on the cheek. "Save yourself. The case is bullet proof. It can handle a fall from the bike. Rather have you in one piece then the deck. Deck can be replaced, you can't!" she snagged her her fanny pack which contained her firearm and two spare mags and secured it to her slim hips then headed out into the cold of Denver, locking up after Free exited. The two headed down her street rocket and mounted the bike. With a push of a button and a signal check to her PDA to make sure she was the rightful owner, the bike started up with a 7.5 on the Rickter scale. Helmets are dawned and the onboard Navicomp is given destination which is mapped out through the Denver Street Guidance system.
The drive is not terrible, only about 30 minutes southwest from home in upper eastern UCAS territory. By the time they arrive its mid afternoon and the lunch rush is dying down. A work and school day finds The Wormhole not as busy as it could be. Parking is not big deal. Free and Ghostie pull up on the bike and park in one of the designated spots for guests of the arcade/cafe. Ghostie pulls off her helmet and shakes out her pony, scanning the parking lot for the pretty boy elf.

Free's legs are protected from the cold because they're not real. However the rest of her isn't so lucky. Thankful for the helmet and being able to snuggle for warmth she's quiet on the ride there. Once there hse hops from the bike and pulls off the helmet, cat ears popping up and flicking until the feeling comes back into them.

The highly decorative elf in question seems to have beaten them here (when you can fly you don't have to worry about traffic) and is currently doing his best impression of a bored office worker flirting with a waitress on his fifteen as he lounges there in an artfully dishevelled shirt with the top button popped. At least he's managed to snag a table though: four seats in a quiet corner of the place.

Not seeing him in the parking lot, Ghostie takes her case from Free and slings over her shoulder then heads toward the entrance. She turns on AR mode on her glasses because she loves this place's Trix architecture. The main entrance is a long hallway painted in black paint with reflective neon colored stars and a comet shooting down the wall. The blacklighting makes it all glow, casing the hallway in dark purple color. In AR mode, when looking down the hallway it looks like you are standing in a swirling wormhole, zooming down it at the speed of light. Virtual signage shows the food and drink menu and any special events coming up.

The price of admission into the place is also displayed and the hourly rate for renting any of the jackpoint equipped booths. She pays the fee, not realizing Walker is already here and occupying such a booth already. Goodbye 25 Nuyen.

«Auto-Judge[]» Ghost Riddle (#13352) spends 25 nuyen for "Entry Free".

Once you pass the entry hallway and pay the fee, the doors before you slide open like on an old episode of Trek, complete with the hiss soundFX. As the doors slide open one is assaulted immediately by a wall of video game audio turned up to 11 out of a possible 10. Loud and proud with even louder synth pop and retro music blairing from ceiling mounted speakers. There is a bar area (ID required), lots of games around the place, a dance floor off to the side and then the more isolated booth room for those who want to just crash into the matrix and leave the meat world behind. There sits Walker.

Ghostie walks in with Free and offers big smile. "Free! Look! Someone ordered us a super hot elf for our booth!"

The felined woman rolls her eyes at Ghost and just nods with a grin. "A flirty hot elf boy with a table. What more could a gal ask for? Unless he's loaded with nuyen and has a yacht. That could make it better." She moves up to the table and waves finger at the Walker in question.

Closer to, Walker looks less than impressed at the choice of venue. Pointed ears twitch irritably in time with the pounding bass beat of the soundtrack as he nurses a black soykaf. Ghostie's joke draws a slightly weary look, though Free's response elicits a hint of a wry smile. "I stole a small yacht once," he muses idly as he returns the wave, "Didn't get to enjoy it for long, but the minibar was good!"

+ Show rolls/ooc

Seems like the place is busy today, even on an afternoon. There are about 10 people on the dancefloor, some with drinks in their hands. The bar is also working on the double. It's a cheery atmosphere, overall.

Ghostie tosses herself into the booth first so she can be close the jackpoint embedded in the wall. She lays her case on top of the table and opens the thumb locks and pulls it out all stealthy like. As stealthy as one with a anime sticker covered case and a hot pink hardshell deck, also with anime stickers on it. The case is put on the floor against the wall.

The AR menu pops up asking for orders. They don't just hurl wait stuff at tables like the old days here. If you don't order they tend to leave you alone, at least for a while until the AR menu hits you in the face again trying to sell those heft drink prices and cheese sticks. When it asks Ghostie just selects ask again in 30 minutes and dismisses it.

"Well its nice to meet you super hot elf guy I have never met before," she chuckles then leans in and whispers… loudly over the music. "Okay you two, keep me safe. I shouldnt be in long I hope. Hitting up a doc's office and going to see if I can pull data my client has asked for on a subject. I will established a commlink group for us once I am go under so I can keep you all informed. If shit goes sideways be prepared to bounce, k?"

Free sighs a tad when the case is put on the table and opened. She tries to stand in the way, blocking sight of the rest of the place for the moment and then settling into the seat next to Ghost when she's done setting up. "We are going to have to chat about a few things when we get back home, my dear. Or uncle W here is going to blow a gasket or three instead."

Ghostie plugs the Deck-to-Jackpoint cable into the socket and then attaches the Cable-to-Decker cable into her datajack on the back of her neck. She then melodramatically swooooons and leans against Free, resting her head on her girlfriend's shoulder. "You care! You really care!" she giggles then coughs. "Okay… serious time. Walker, magic screen. Free, love me and keep me from falling in the floor? Also, make sure Walkie doesn't leer to much at my hot bod while I am out. Okay? Shouldn't be but a minute or two. Shorter if the doc has a bullshit stack of security in the way. I am geared up for stealth and deception, not combat. Here's hoping. When I am done, lunch on me and then Walkie I want to kick your ass at a game Turbo Samurai Warriors."

Arching an eyebrow at Free as if to confirm that gaskets are already strained, Walker remains silent at the amateur dramatics, ears still twitching along to the music. 'Doctor?' he mouths in Free's direction while Ghost gets herself prepped, blinking in surprise when she mentions a 'magic screen' and looking around cautiously as though wondering what the hell kind of place he's been brought to.

Free puts an arm around Ghostie as if snuggling in. "Do it to it, lady. Fast in faster out." She urges while flashing Walker a smile. Eyes making sure to cover the room every now and again.

Jack-In

Whatever this place is, napping away - or jacking in - on a shoulder's friend seems to be something not only tolerated, but encouraged here. Where other places - and customers - would just see vulnerable victims to all kind of abuses, this place sees only like-minded souls.

Ghostie gets comfortable against Free as if she is just taking a nap on her friend's shoulder. She smiles across at Walker, "See you on the flip side pretty boy." She presses the connect button on her deck and her meat bod slumps.

At almost the speed of light Ghost is in her deck's host node, a no descript room of blackness but still she is lit, with a ghostly glow on her persona icon, that of Sumara from The Ring, a classic horror Vid. She draws all her proggies to her, asborbing them into her body and then takes a breath and opens up a commlink channel to her friends with her commlink proggy. Once she establishes a secure comm hub with her friends she prepares to circumvent The Wormhole's normal login routine with her a more subtle stealthy login through her deck. She walks up to the exit point and touches it and goes for a login attempt to The Wormhole's host.

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A caleidoscope of light emerges from the nothingness that is the fiberoptic connection. A bunch of lights then group together, forming frames and features, shapes and representations. Passing the usual way a logon would take, Ghost Riddle's persona, the ghastly Sumara, appears as a sharp shadow against the sunlight that cuts across the space station. Passing spacecraft are not taking any notice. She's an unresolved errorcode, stacked beneath hundreds of index anomalities.

«Plot» Ghost Riddle says, "Once in the system she ducks, dodges and weaves all icons on her way out of the system. She will logon to the Denver LTG. I did a matrix search earlier in RP with Free a week or so ago to just look up the doc's Trix address for his business using public services. If it exists on the Trix for clients to log into. If the doc has a Matrix public host she's going to then log into that system illegally and see if there is a backdoor into the private systems for staff only."

Ghost Riddle looks for the access to the LTG first. It is quite obvious where the System Access Node lies that eventually leads to the Denver LTG: a vast lane into blackness, leading from the space station into the void. A logon operation to the LTG would be the first step.

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LTG DEN-CAS-11872.22 - UMD representation. A flash of light, and there she goes, Ghost Riddle is dropping into the Denver Landscape with the sector dipped in red, green and purple color scale. Data traffix lanes meet and greet here, where the matrix cafe resides. A circling space station floats and rotates in the weightless bleakness that is the LTG. It represents the matrix cafe from which Ghost Riddle emerged just a nanosecond ago. A sense of strain is tangible on the LTG, like a brooding, distant thunderstorm over a cowering landscape. Maybe some Matrix Service Providers have some issues today? Could be a bandwith limitation somewhere in the distance. Probably not of interest for Ghost Riddle; hopefully not. She did her homework already, and looked up the trix address for the so called "Cassedy Building", the place where the office is located in the physical world. From there, she would have to deck herself directly into the therapist's office host.

Ghostie doesn't fell like hanging around here longer than she must. She knows GOD is watching her sinning and every second she sins the closer she gets to coming face to face with the Almighty. She uses the bookmark to zip across the Denver LTG landscape to the host for the doc's biz. Once she is in the Cassedy Building she kindly ignores the Login Here prompt that may be awaiting her to try to hack her way in. If there is no obvious login for Admin's she starts searching for the way in to the Doc's private node.

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Ghost Riddle travels straight to the 'vicinity' that surrounds the Cassidy Building. A dark borderless space with grey features and a gleaming orange model of the Cassidy Building: a multi-story residential building. It's not possible to look into the building, but UMD symbols identify several interactions: Messager and bell system for residents, advertisement for renting apartments in the Cassidy building, public advertisement of resident offices (including Rainer Mangold-Zobel). This host bundles matrix data traffic from all resident terminals and pass it on to the LTG. This is represented by a stream of light, leaving the main entrance. A black doorway leads to the building maintenance host SAN.

If visitors care to focus their attention to the surrounding street, they become aware of the physical vicinity of the Cassidy Building as well. The dark room that contains the Vassidy Building Host then becomes more transparent, giving away to the impression of a lively and decorated street. Selected shops are represented here and augmented reality most likely ties dynamically into the threshold between LTG and Hosts. Visitors might easily shift their focus between the street representation and the Cassidy Building in full focus.

From her knowledge about matrix topology Ghost Riddle assumes that the easiest way is to try the official access node into the office of Rainer Zobel-Mangold. The maintenance SAN would lead her through the Cassidy Building host, which is operating as an additional guardian host for all residents who are not running a public terminal on their own.

Ghost likes easy. Plan B's are not her favorite thing. She reaches out for the public access to tries to enter into the system.

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Into the Shrink's Host

+ Show GM Host Information

Ghost Riddle's persona is sucked into a tunnel of light, circling its walls with increasing speed. Then: success! The RMZ host opens up to her bidding. The entry point to this host is a spacious white lobby with a gleaming tiled floor and a massive black reception desk in its center. "Rainer Mangold-Zobel - Therapist" is written in massive black letters on the wall behind the desk. Three of four walls are made of what appears to be smoked glass, faintly illuminated by shifting, indirect lighting. The fourth wall, where the SAN enters the room, has two large windows on both sides of the portal, almost reaching from floor to ceiling. Shutters are half closed but there is the impression of daylight cutting through the room. It might simulate the actual ambience and weather from the physical world. Two open doorways lead to other rooms, supposedly, giving the impresion that this terminal host simulates an office appartment. Despite the lack of doors, it's impossible to see through into the neighboring rooms, though. Blinding light blocks the sight. Curiously, the light does not help to illuminate the reception hall.

Speaking of light, the reception is rather dark at this time of the day. The faint indirect lighting from inside the smoked glass leaves everything rather grey and somber. The whole host seems to be in a kind of night's rest.

Anyway, one thing quickly catches the eye. There is the icon of a female human leaning against the wall, next to one of the brightly illuminated exits. She seems to be looking into the bright blinding distance and has her face turned away from the entrance SAN and her desk. Yes, her desk, because she definitely looks like a secretary. A grey miniskirst, just long enough not to be slutty, reveals long legs. One of her high heeled feet rubs its instep against the other lower leg in almost transparent stockings, underlining the idea of inactivity or even boredom. Her grey jacket covers a white buttoned shirt. Given her overall appearance, one would bet that she is presently playing absent-mindedly with the top buttons of her shirt. The icon's frame is highlighted with a thin stroke of teal neon color, so that she stands out clearly against the room. All in all, the icon is suggestive, as if she's waiting for someone to secretly spy on her - or to even catch her by surprise after office hours…

Ghostie, being a bisexual elf chica observes the hotty and smirks. 'Nice' she thinks to herself and then holds out her hand and opens it up, palm out. An eyeball appears in her hand and gazes deeply at the icon try to ascertain what it could be.

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Hotty indeed! Ghost Riddle's eyeball practically rips her outer shell off her body! And reveals a Guardian IC Construct beneath. It combines a White Probe with a Grey Blaster IC, Rating is 8. Also, this IC seems to be a central service processor - basically an advanced office program. It's probably a thing advertised by Vector Matrix Services, Ghost Riddle thinks. The "Secretary" is designed to please in several ways. But it can be interrogated and interacted with for everything that comes with running an office.

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Ghostie hangs back from the icon packed with IC and instead rolls her hand over, palm up. The eye embedded in her hand opens up wide and projects a holographic score. At least the graphic icon glitches, as if it is being jammed. Sumara furrows her brow, her ghastly face showing annoyance and she glares at the eyeball and wills it to do better. Finally the graphic unglitches and shows her tally of 2. Satisfied with the results the eye closes and the graphic goes away. "Now… if I was a doctor hiding a bunch of sensitive stuff on a dead client of mine.. where would I be?" she mumbles to herself which sounds all etheral and spooky.

Ghost Sumara walks along the floor, leaving water puddles in her wake that fade after a few seconds behind her. She moves to the big ass lobby desk with the mighty words above it. She floats up and lands on top of the desk and kneels down placing both her hands on top of the desk. Eyeballs appear on both of her hands as she starts scanning the host for any hidden entry/exit points that might lead to other more private hosts. She's not convienced the doc would keep such materials she is looking for in the buildings server storage. Given the nature of the data, it has to be on his own host which is available chained to this building's.

The secretary construct moves her head, peering over her left shoulder towards the entry SAN, just for some nanoseconds. Was there something? Nah… she purrs a sigh of impatience. Her work morale seems to be rather mediocre. But on the other hand, she probably does exactly what she's been programmed for. Suddenly, she pushes herself away from the wall and circles towards her black office desk. High heels clicking on the glass-like floor. Soon, she settles down on her comfy office chair, crossing her legs, just at arm's length away from Samura. Water is dripping on the desk, but the secretary doesn't seem to notice. But why is she smiling then? Samura has to trust her capabilities…

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Samura is lucky, and catches a good glimpse as the secretary is operating her terminal. The holographic copy of a hologryphic entity flashes up as a transparent screen between Samura and the secretary. This gives her the opportunity to drain some information! This host has the following obvious Icons:

  • Exit/Entry SAN to LTG
  • Bright portal on the right wall
  • Bright portal on the left wall
  • Black front desk
  • Illuminated smoked glass walls
  • A bored secretary

This seems to be the relevant host. No vanishing SAN is registered. No other Host-Host connection either. Maybe it's a good call to search for the data on this host? There should be a trail of some sort!

While Samura takes in the control system report, she can also see that the secretary is suddenly putting on some sharp looking sunglasses. They flash once, then teal-colored data is fed through the black glasses.

Ghostie vanishes in a nano-second and reappears by the right portal. She opens her left hand and a skull with flaming wings reminiscent of the old DOOM game series appears. It hisses and drools fire. She holds it up and looks deep into its eye sockets then turns it to face the portal. She points at the portal with her other hand and gives the Browse program a command. "Seek," and it races off to hunt down the paydata she is looking for that she mentally shares with her little helper proggie.

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The Skull of Doom nods impishly - and darts off into the adjacent room, suddenly disappearing behind the bright portal. It seems to work! But since this is an interrogration operation, it will take a while longer to conclude. The Secretary behind Samura gets up from her desk, scanning the room with her newly acquired stylish shades: "So…", she suddenly speaks in a low and teasing voice, "a client maybe, loving to stalk this poor secretary of mine?"

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Nothing is more hiliarous then a scary ass Sumara tapping her foot impatiently. No Skully still…. what is he doing!? Sumara looks back at the sexy headache waiting to happen then huffs and steps throught he portal herself to see what the hold up is.

The room beyond is weird and disorienting. It's like a real consulting room, with a couch, tables, chairs, racks and shelves. The interior is post-modern, corporate style - lots of white, with some abstract artwork. But at the same time, there is a virtual overlay that mimicks the real room. Samura just stepped into an AR environment. The real-world shelves are coated with smoke glass, similar like in the lobby outside. That's were the Skull of Doom is heading to, browsing the digital registers and indexes for the correct file. And it seems like there are a lot of them! Poor skully is working hard already! All the files are neatly arranged as teal-colored stacks of discs behind milky glass. Wherever the skull hovers across, the smokey haze disappears and a plain view on the files is permitted.

Since this is an AR environment, Samura becomes aware that there is someone else in the room! Two people, one is sitting on a huge chair, the other one lying on the couch. There is a therapy session ongoing! Sound is not transmitted though, and the video feed is blurred, but it's very likely this AR setup would allow for detailed recording of both.

Finally, there is a decent terminal sitting in the middle of the room. It must be some kind of slave, directly connected to the physical object in the room. It is something that looks like it is attached to the sofa, where one person is currently lying on. It would take a closer look to determine what this Icon represents ecactly.

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Ghostie has to take a second to orient herself. Session going on now is not of her concern. He target is dead after all and it most likely not the one in the couch at the moment. The data is more important. She feels the long arm of the IC reaching out for her and Ghostie is notorious for getting paranoid real fast as she is not as experienced in all this crime stuff as others might be. The file matters most! Comeo on Skully, you can do it!

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Skully hisses happily which is very disturbing sounding but cutely does little barrel rolls and spins near the document in question. Ghost Sumara appears next to the files in an instant. "Good boy Skully!" she pets the flaming skull and then it vanishes in a sparkle of pixels. Better safe than sorry just in case the doc really wants to keep these files safe. She opens her palm and the all seeing Analyze eye appears in her hand again and she scans the files for data bombs and other security measures that might be in place to keep these files safe from unathorized accessing.

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A closer look at the files quickly determines the basic facts: five files in total, one is a simple data file with session notes, calendar, accounting. Only 10 MP of data. The other four, however, are massive recordings of Simsense Data. With Samura's current deck, it would take about 11 minutes to download everything. And there is no Databomb attached!

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Ghost Sumara opens up her left hand and flicks her wrist and a pretty good copy of Slimer from the old Ghostbusters vids of the 80's tumbles out, slobbering, and nashing his teeth. She points at the files for him to eat and he goes to work devouring the files and sending their MP into storage in her deck at 300 MP a cycle.

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The slime eats hungrily into this massive block of data. Damn, this will take AGES! It took Samura only about 15 seconds to get this far, and now, 11 minutes… Suddenly, the room turns darker for a moment. Someone steps in.

A quick check confirms the most likely event: the secretary is not amused. With her shades on, she scans the room: "Naughty indeed… I'm talking to /you/, don't you dare leave me standing there alone in the lobby? Oh wait, I'll have you kneeling on the floor soon enough…"

Her demanour makes it obvious: she knows there's someone stalking around, and she's actively tracking! Did Samura leave a trail of dripping wet on the floor? However, shortly after, another Incon enters the room. It looks exactly like a torture droid from some science fiction epos in the 20th century. A floating black cylinder. However, both, secretary and the torture droid continue to sweep. They don't lock on Samura yet. The secretary starts to check the AR slave system now, probing with a slender hand, even touching things in the real world, it seems.

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Ghostie eeeeeps on the inside and just freezes in place against the wall she is leaning against. Nothing to see her IC.. just move on. Nothing to see here. She looks sidelong up at Slimer who is going to town on the files, turning the icons it eats into green 1's and 0's as it devours the files and sends the file contents to storage in the belly of the digital beast.

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Samura literally sinks into the smokey glass of the consultation room, laying as low as possible. Single electrons could be counted now! The secretary takes keen interest in the physical world, almost prying and stalking the two physical bodies beyond. But she does her job, as does the Scout IC next to her.

All went well, until minute six or so. Samura saw it coming: the secretary eventually lost interest in the control and slave subsystems and started to check mechanically - on the file system. Row by row, rack by rack. And then: "Sacrilege!" He fist slams into the ooze that sucks away on the data shards. However, the operation holds. The secretary tries to free her fist from the ooze, but it won't work. The slime holds her tight, so that she growls in anger, and suddenly a straight sowrd leveas her right sleeve, arming the secretary. The sword is immediately put to good use, cutting the secretary free. And still the download operation continues…

With an angry yell, the secretary calls for support, and another player arrives on the field. Armed with a tar splat gun, the secretary fires at the download utility.

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Ghost Riddle just wittnessed how the secretary construct blasted her Tar Pit gun at Ghost Riddle's Download utility, and it survived! It even succeeded in hiding behind the smoked glass that makes up the floor-to-ceiling represntation of racks of data files. And then, one of the meat bodies in the real world side of this AR room suddenly projects into the host. It is Rainer Mangold-Zobel himself, looking around, annoyed by something. Samura is still hiding behind a glass wall, observing the scene: "What is going on here, I have a client? Why are you prying here again?" Zobel demands from his virtual employee.

The moment her boss had arrived, the secretary construct made a move to hide her Tar Pit gun behind her back. It worked well! And also, her silvery sword returns to the folds of her dress as well. Samura can see how she tries to purr at him, and ease his temper. She moves closer, playing down the situation: "Only a utility sneaking up at one of the files, but don't worry. I've got it under control!" He replies, while putting his hand casually on her big behind: "You keek this house clean, you here me? And do something useful, I always see you idling about, prying on me, damnit. What's with the lobby now?" - She answers, pressing closer to him: "I can be many places at the same time, Sir…" He steps back then and leaves the AR environment with a grunt: "Do your job!" That said, the secretary scans the room one last time, then she orders the torture droid to disappear and leaves towards the lobby.

Meantime in the Meat World

Several minutes have already passed in the meat world, where Walker is idling in a booth at the Wormhole matrix club, together with Freefall and a Ghost riddle who seemingly just felt asleep on Freefall's shoulder. Despite the early hours, some larger group of teenager twens is rocking on the dancefloor, also keeping the bar crew afoot.

Freefall keeps hold of the decker, trying to remain aware of anything that might cue her in that Ghost is in trouble and needs pulled out of the trix. All this while trying to keep a pleasant smile on her face.

A brief glance is given over to the teens. Compared to how she grew up this place seems almost alien. And the idea that teens would have the yen to toss away on drinks and 'clubbing' even more so. She shakes her head and then looks to Walker. "I can't..wrap my head around these kids."

Glancing over to the kids in question, A wry smile creeps across Walker's face as his gaze slides off them. "I had some friends like that… More of Mom and Dad's money than was good for them and no street smarts." His eyes return to Freefall and he winks. "But I get what you mean."

Three minutes have passed, conversation is not easy, with all this retro music blasting at 11/10 across the dancefloor, but well, that's how it goes these days! While Walker and Freefall muse about the decline of society in a nutshell, both suddenly hear something across all the noise. Something that let the hair raise on the back. Three single sounds, not in line with the music's rhythms. Was that a gun burst?

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Free's feline ears flick, not that they actually heard the shots over her real ears. Her smile becomes tight as she leans in towards Walker. "You hear that?"

Walker's eyes are roving the room as he leans in, nodding wordlessly. "Gunfire?" he prompts, not sounding especially confident in that assessment. A quick of his head motions to the most sheltered corner of the booth. "You two hang tight here. I'll go take a look," he says as he rises from his seat, rolling his shoulders back as he psychs himself up to push through the scrum of dancers.

While Walker moves through the crowd, his danger sense intensifies from years of experience. Something is not right. Actually, it seems like these kids, or a good bunch of them, know each other. Some pick out their pocket computers, checking latest messages - and drift towards the side, away from the dancefloor, in order to chat about whatever is going on. Curiously, all have the same pocket computers. Shiny white with a red ball logo.

While Ghost Riddle is resting peacefully against the bodyguard next to her, Walker speeds up a little and moves into the entry hallway, where the AR offers the wormhole simulation - and the mundane eye only gets a black corridor with neon stars to behold.

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As Walker moves off, Free takes stock of the room again and the exits as well as how sturdy the table they're sitting at is. Tables are wonderful shields and sightline blockers. She checks to see if she can move or flip the table on its side if the need arrises.

«Something's going on with these kids,» Walker mutters into the concealed mic at his throat, «Bit too coordinated for my taste and they all have matching Shiawase phones… Might swing by and pretend to by sleazier than I actually am, see if I can shake anything loose.» Now in the corridor, the shaman eyes up and down the darkened space with his elven eyes, flicking his vision to the astral plane for a moment, just in case.

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«Plot» Yin says, "Freefall realizes that all tables are bolted to the floor and this main hall basically is a death trap… but! … there is a small space that runs between the booths and the walls, wide enough to make a covered move and circle directly behind the bar. Probably a longer but much less trampled way towards the emergency exit behind the bar, should the situation escalate."

Free checks the end play escape route and hmms softly to herself. «This place has an odd layout. I don't really like it.» Gingerly she tests the strenght of the tabletop and the mounting bolts.

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An unintelligible curse in Ute filters through the commlink as Walker returns. «This place is crawling with watcher spirits… like they've been set to keep an eye on the kids,» he hisses urgently as he makes his way to the bar. «No magicians in the group though.»

While Walker moves towards the bar, several kids already start to chat about something happening outside, they yell it over the noise, so it's basically hard to not learn about it. Some of them start to move outside, curious more than frightened.

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"No, he done it, no shit! Come on! We' so fucked! That's an evac man! An evac! Oh dreck, we're all going down for this!" hyped and thrilled and angry, but also just laughing, this young man around 18 is yelling into his friend's ear. She, in turn, is less enthusiastic about the situation, she puts one finger against her left ear and replies: "The executive will see us demoted, degraded, and discharged… Wait, don't go outside! They are shooting damn it!" The other replies: "He took their guns, what's about? You wanna leave him alone, we've to stick together, come on!" He drags her on, towards the exit. That's what Walker can overhear at the bar, while in the meantime, most of this group moves outside.

«Those were gunshots outside right? And the kids are getting riled up now. Fine day to be out and about.» She visually checks Ghostie again.

«Gunshots outside confirmed. The kids think they're in deep shit,» the elf reports over the commlink, «Gonna tag along and keep tabs.» Turning smoothly from the bar to intercept a few of the kids, the elf puts on his best ingenu impression. "What's with all the excitement?"

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Two of them turn around, only for a brief reply, they take Walker in, for what he is to them: an outsider, but a curious one: "Some so called 'gangers' tried to impress the wrong bunch! They got their rides perforated for good! You wanna see some bikes burn?" They move on with that, leave the rhetoric question for Walker to answer.

"You know it!" Walker mugs enthusiastically, using the cover as they turn to go to relay information to the others as he follows the group. «Some kinda gang drama outside. They seem more excited than worried though.»

Walker falls in line with them. Outside, the scene has fully developed! About a dozen 'kids' are cheering from the stairwell that leads from the Wormhole club to the parking lot. What they are cheering at is a pair of their fellows, one is knocking over some motorcycles while the other one actually has an assault rifle in his hand. Shots have been fired at some of the bikes, obviously, and the guy is currently holding up a cellphone with his other hand. Walker slowly comes to understand the situation, these kids must be a corporate gang on leave. Soon enough, this place will be crawling with cops and maybe even corporate response teams. Also, there is a dark purple Suzuki Aurora standing proudly among the other bikes currently being knocked over and shot at!

Ghostie's voice comes through the commlink channel, "Ssssssshhhhiiit! The Doctor just logged into the Host to see what the hell his Virtu-Secratary is on about! I might be coming out of this system in just a second! Everything cool out there?"

Free sighs and rubs at her temple. On the commlink she says, "Not sure. There is some drama outside in the parking lot going down. Walker is looking now."

While busily pantomiming some meme-worthy reactions, Walker murmurs urgently into the throat mic. «Idiots got a damn assault rifle: shots fired which means law enforcement en route, possibly corpsec as well. Pretty sure these kids are some corpo gang. You wanna be gone /soon/.»

Ghostie's voice is audibly annoyed, "Are you fucking kidding me? Of all days these little corp fucktards have to cause problems? Well at least the IC is leaving and the Doc jacked out. I'll be done here in another four or five minutes."

Free snorts, "Ghostie. If you have a way to shorten that time then do it. Otherwise Elf-man is going to have to buy you time."

Outside, some of the kids are informing their corporation already: "Sending a live stream to the exec office now…." - "No! Are you crazy, don't record him with the gun, idoot! This'll make it harder for everyone!", while others are obviously calling for extraction, literally. That's what they type on their phones or call it on phone. Walker can also observe how the two corporate gangers are now moving towards Ghost Riddle's Aurora bike. One of the last three standing…

«Plot» Yin says, "Also, it might be obvious between the lines, but whomever these bikes belong to, they have already fled the scene. There is no opposing party right now."

«Hey Newbie…» Walker's voice has regained some of the near-customary flirtation as he eyes the situation on the ground, «Scale of 1 to 10: how much you like your bike? Because right now it looks like a decent distraction but if you ain't getting paid enough to give it up we might have to get creative.»

Ghostie talks in a hushed rapid squeaky tone, «<Don't you dare mess up my bike Walker! Find another way! I just need a few more minutes! I can't mess this up! Its a good paying job and rep building! A break for me!»>

The unfolding situation has reached the club inside, but everything is fine there. Freefall and Ghost Riddle are undisturbed.

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Growling in irritation - the bike would be a perfectly good distraction and the pay would easily buy a new one - Walker's eyes narrow as he sights on the cluster of bikes. A thick fog billows out from between them, quickly reducing visibility nearby to nil. "Oh shit! One of 'em has fuckin' neurostun! I saw this shit at a Mercurial concert before!" he cries, lying through his pretty teeth.

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The sudden appearance of steam and mist takes both corporate youths back. Wary of the situation, they cover their mouths and move away, puzzled. Their peers from the entrance yell at their fellows: "It might explode, move back!" - "It's gas! Run! It's anti-theft!" - "Drop the gun, Kosa! Drop the damn rifle!" - "The cops are coming! Stick to the procedures!" Only one or two try to cheer them further on, but generally, the situation is rather calming down. Ghost Riddles Aurora still stands proudly in the mist! Funny thing is, one Asian corporate youth next to Walker remarks: "Thanks to all heavens, they did not shoot the Suzuki! That would've been the worst…" Another woman nods gravely.

Then, Knight Errant arrives first with a surveillance drone, calling out people to move inside, barricade and wait for a response team to arrive. A patrol car joins only about a minute later, and ambulance. That's the moment a mage manifests right next to the patrol car, obviously wearing a corporate uniform. He seems to be an Asian guy - or al least his manifestation looks that way. He starts to negotiate immediately. This stalls them a moment (and also the runners inside), and another drone enters the scenery. This one is issuing orders, though on Japanese. And the message is obviously adressed at the assembled corporate youth gang: « This situation is under control. As citizens of Shiawase you are obliged to not issue any statements or answer to questions of Knight Errant law authorities until a legal representative arrives on scene. A Customer Agent is already dispatched. Please stay calm and look out for each other. Remember, you are representing our corporate family at every moment. »

While the chaos unfolds, many customers prefer to sneak out the back door of the Wormhole club. And our runners might as well join them.

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Epilogue

Text Message to Yin from Ghost Riddle (#13352)
Hey Hey! I got that special gift for your wife you wanted! Kept it nice and discreet! Where do you want to meet so I can give it to you?

Text Message to Ghost Riddle from Yin (#9019)
Miss Everleaf! I am curious to unwrap what you got her. Please come by at the place on my card.

Text Message to Yin from Ghost Riddle (#13352)
Will do! Be there in like.. 30 minutes barring traffic.

Text Message to Ghost Riddle from Yin (#9019)
Looking forward to see you.

Mountain Hill Apartments, Room 130

Yin opens the door, in a casual business dress. He wears simple black dress pants and a white buttoned shirt. The shirt has its top buttons undone and the sleeves are rolled up. He has his shoes off.

"Miss Everleave, what a pleasure, please, come in and be welcomed. I set up a green tea, if you don't mind? - Oh, and you bring a guest…em wait, we've had the pleasure already…"

Yin invites both in, closing the door behind her - and locking the bolt. He is surprised by Freefall's company and he leaves it to her to introduce the name she prefers to use for this meeting. But both, Yin and Freefall, met already and introduced each other briefly, at the Cybered Arm and the Wrench Werks.

Shoes are usually left at the entrance, as it seems. A small rack already holds several men's shoes. The apartment is well heated; cosy enough to leave coat or heavy jackets at the wardrobe as well. Some incense fills the air. It's refreshing. While Yin heads for the kitchenette to fix the tea, Freefall and Ghost Riddle have the chance to explore the main section of the apartment a bit, if they wish to. There is a small sofa that looks inviting, while the central table is occupied with work related stuff.

Freefall offers Yin a smile and a courteous bow, ensuring she wipes her paws on the mat and giving him an appologetic look. "I'm sorry for dropping in with her but there's been a number of ghoul attacks and the like recently. Just looking after her. If you wish I can wait outside. Especially as I can't take shoes off." She motions to her catpaws. "Freefall and yes. I remember meeting you now."

Yin shakes his head: "Please, be welcome," he bids Freefall in. "I just wasn't aware you two are acquainted with each other, it's nice to meet you again."

Sylvie takes in the place and likes the smell. She inhales deeply and sighs letting her mistake in the parking lot roll over her shoulders. "Green tea would be lovely. Yeah, sorry about not announcing having someone in tow but as she said.. protection."

Sylvie is accustomed to the culture of shoe removal as she runs in circles with the asian community in her place and she speaks pretty good Japanese from her past history. Her shoes come off revealing red socks. She removes her jacket too so not to burn up from the nice warm enviroment of the apartment.

Yin leads them to the sofa, "Please, just feel at home. If you would like anything else, just ask." He then smirks a bit at the red socks, but in a positive way. "I am so curious, as you can imagine, to learn what you could find out - and what not. Both will certainly help."

Sylvie moves over to sit on the edge of the couch. She unzips the pocket on her skin type black synth leather pants and pulls out a little storage box about the size of a postage stamp and puts it on the table and slides it over.

"Your doctor is quite the perv by the way. Dude seriously has the hot secretary fetish. It was kind of creepy being in his system but I was able to find all of his data stores on your subject," she nods to the box that has a few datachips inside with the compressed data on them… and encryption keys. "You will find a metric eff ton of written, audio, video and sim sense logs on those datachips."

Freefall nods and then shakes her head to the offer of a drink. "No thank you." She says quietly and then moves over to the side with the air of someone that's done this many times before. That being fading into the background and try to be unobtrusive.

He serves three clay cups of tea while Sylvie explains, leaving the steaming pot on the low glass table in front of the sofa as well, to admire the simple handmade artefact as a rooting contrast to the modern and somewhat cool and clean interior. Freefall's demeanor is acknowledged with a nod though. Yin finally got the point, that she is here in a very specific role. He's going to ignore her mostly, from now on.

"Simsense you say? Excellent! I was hoping for that. This coud be what the Genie Group was after…" he picks up the tiny box and turns it in his fingers a few times: "Tiny little key to the riddle, if we're lucky, heh…," amazed and also a bit relieved he puts the box back on the table. He then looks Sylvia into the eyes: "I have some questions about your procedure I'd like to ask you, and your answers will be treated very confidentially. Noone outside this room will learn about them. Is this okay for you?"

Sylvie nods, "It is okay up until its not okay so ask away and just to let you know those datachips are all encrypt and I have the key. As I have no working relationship with you, you wil l forgive me for adding an extra layer of protection for myself. Once payment is settled in full the keys will be sent to you immediately upon verification of payment. Cool omae?"

"Omae?" Yin can't help but smile a bit, "of course. I am ready to go along with your careful nature, as I did when we first met. I don't think you would bluff here anyway, no worries. It's not worth the hassle for both of us, to cheat the other." He then sits down as well and gathers his thoughts, "Well, the questions, yes. You see, this data could become part of a legal prosecution. I get it that you were careful to obtain them with a minimum of attention, as we agreed upon beforehand. But can you specify under what legal authority this data was stored, or more specificly: under what jurisdiction was this data stored? Was it a CAS host, where he had his office, or was it under another jurisdiction?"

Sylvie nodded and took a sip of the tea. "I entered into his main office building which identified itself as a CAS hosted system. It was an AR host architecture so it was linked directly to his building which the physical address is in the CAS territories so you do the math detective."

Yin nods, and continues, his attention still fully focused on Sylvie: "And was there any possible trace on you? Did you leave any evidence of your intrusion? If so, to where exactly would that trace lead? If you don't want to reveal you operation and expose your security, you can just specify the LTG where you logged on, that would be fine for now. - My final question after that one then is: was there anything unusual you wittnessed, something that suggests that this man, Rainer Mangold-Zobel, is involved in illegal activity himself?"

Sylvie took a few seconds to go back through the Trix run before answering. "His IC got a wiff of my processing running on his data stores but it couldn't pin point the problem I was creating. It certainly was generating enough drain on his computer system to make him come into AR mode to talk trash to his sexy secretary program. I am telling you, that dude probably has some weird fetish shit on his computer like monkies having sex with goats and weird clown shoe fetishes," she chuckles then adds, "He was with a client at the time and wasn't having any of that non-sense his IC was reporting. He reset it and after that clincher, I was able to do a full log scrub and gracefully depart the system. I don't really want to disclose my jack in point for security reasons on my own end but it was sufficent to create a trace buffer between me and his system. He should have no clue I was there."

Yin listens carefully and nods a few times: "Did you log in within or outside of CAS? Can you disclose this information at least?"

Sylvie nods. "Sure. I bounced in from the UCAS into the CAS and then into his system."

Freefall gives Sylvie a small little frown but it's quickly gone and her face smoothes over. She then goes back to monitoring the room as a bodyguard should.

"UCAS? Hm, nice," he smirks, "Very well," he straightens up and then leans back, "I make some notes about that, before it slips my mind." He pulls a pocket secretary and leaves a note. "Looks to me like this contract is good for closing and all involved will be happy then. I will relay the information to the auhtorities and your payment will be based on the quality and extend of what you delivered. If it's like you said, then this looks like a 10 out of 10 to me. Do you have any further questions on the pending case or your service? Or anything you would like to add?"

«Plot» Yin says, "Freefall might roll perception, by the way"
«Auto-Judge[]» Freefall (#13374) rolls Intelligence:
1 4 5 7 17

After a while, Freefall spots a pistol beneath a suit jacket that is thrown over one chair at the table. It's a holster with a pistol, to be precise. The chair is within arms reach of Yin, but it doesn't necessarily look like he placed it there with the purpose to hide it. Just a holster with a jacket on top. - More curiously, Freefall also spots a little painting on the wall, just next to the couch where Sylvie is sitting on, just down at floor level. It is a kind of manga character grafitti, only about 10 cm in height. It's black, and depicts a character with sticky hair, a bit emo-like. It's hard to see more details from her position. It's just odd that someone would place a grafitti tag on a wall of this neat and clean living room.

Sylvie looks a bit annoyed at the 'quality of product' vs. 'pay'. He needs to see the data to assess its worth but if she gives him the keys to unlock the data he could just bounce. She's not going to back down and be super nice nice elfie. She's going to be fair while trying not to be effed over.

"Five grand to release the keys. You said this data would be worth five to fifteen grand to you so lets start on the ground floor so you can enter the data playground and find out what little Doc Rainy has been up to, hai?" Serious elf poker face activate!

Yin laughs, "You are aware that I am just the middle man. You are asking the poor lawyer who brokers the deal to vouch with his personal money, are you aware of that?" Since he seems to take it so lightly, the truth might be somewhere in between.

Yin says "What about I get me some VR goggles and just have a look at the data right here. You can have your hands on the slot and your encryption key. And I settle a final payment. Would that be fine?"

Sylvie frowns a bit. "Well the middle man had to pay you something to get you interested. Pass it forward on a bit of trust. I am not particualrly inclined to go hand in hand on a digital date with you through the doctor's mess. There is over 35000 MP of data to sift through and I have people to do, places to go. I have a good reputation for being trustworthy. Just ask Free here. I am not going to screw you over detective. I have no incentive to do so but I need insurances that payment will be issued from you or your middle man, minimum of 5k before I can release the keys and I get trust goes both ways but as someone who has been… through some shit with trust issues you will forgive my caution."

Yin listens and with a stern business face he nods after a careful thought. He leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Alright, give me your detes, I get you the prepayment. Which is then up to seven thousand total." Yin would make the transfer to a safe account, if Sylvie provides the necessary details.

Sylvie sighs and doesn't like that stern biz face on her pretty boy detective. "Okay, okay. You are lucky you are hot," she says. "You did front me 2k so just make it 3k for a total of 5k and I'll release the keys to you. I can do it right now if you have a 3k certified credstick laying around. I am not huge on doing digital transfers. To easy to track, trace, and lock down. The less trail, the less jail," she smiles sweetly at the detective.

Yin is a bit baffled: "Oh well, I guess I am the lucky winner then, on several accounts," he raises up with a faint smirk, "it's fine with me. I'll get you your prepayment and you don't have to worry a thing." That said, he'd do the transfer.

«Stats System» You pay Ghost Riddle (#13352) 3000 nuyen for "Prepayment for plot payout (IC)".

Sylvie takes the credstick and taps the button to check its values and see's 3k certified and pockets it then she pulls up her phone and sents the key to Yin's phone.

Text Message to Yin from Ghost Riddle (#13352)
jfCrHRUwQ4og+TI8DjnH5vo0LFX4j3ZgepNUXEJl2YJvCasEEuwJmPiegpCNephzQQgs30qfVESFSRdOkPvvV2BOtl
i2xuvIrwMin0dZvTyRGlFudcNxCo/QLT9iJglQfTfYmZCNpY5KGbyv5ibrUjxxeOQSMKeRDVhB7+BwvIUNPddoMrQ8bIs
BWTKxUd/iWFEuyv3mjvpnBtllG+HVFEEP7BWYWR9a0RtnLlA2fwYa1qgGnxPavXeW+OhfRMx3pgshpte8XWxujZmj4aJ
4SL9RrlrU09wcQ+3afbN0/C5i2psTvkwfmMZ3HBoyQqys6R5iuPNLB6STLByAOYUkoU3n9xxu0eG2A+elMR3tU/U=

"There we go. You can now dance inside the doc's head and look for the kid. I hope you find what you need and get some justice. Bad doctors are worse than a thief if you ask me," she hmphed.

Yin gets a portable computer from the kitchen area, a simple but solid thing, and slots the memory stick. Then comes the decryption token. With a stern face he sits down, rests his elbows on his knees again and takes a closer look. Shortly after he gasps: "By all means, this is a HUGE amount of simsense data, what the heck…?" He then limits himself to metadata analysis. He checks the 10 MP medical case file which contains data on the recordings. He double checks the summary notes, the file sizes and datetimes and so forth. It seems as if Yin knows at least some stuff about data processing and computers. After a while, he loggs of and removes the memory card. "I think that's excellent. I'll if we get a bonus for you even, if the simsense covers the boys supernatural experiences he had."

He then closes the portable device and looks at Sylvie: "Shall we call this settled then? I think business is taken care of properly."

Sylvie smiles and nodded and takes another sip of the tea. "Yes. Good tea by the way. You are a great host Detective Yin," she stands up and gives a little stretch display. "If you ever need any help in the future you know how to find me. I look forward to hearing from you regarding this case close out. I hope for a happy ending for all involved. Free, you ready to rock and roll?"

Yin raises as well, bowing: "You've been a reliable and very likeable partner so far. I'll certainly remember you."

Sylvie returned the bow and pivoted on her heel and headed over to the little shoe storage area to put her riding boots back on, giving a display of elf femine curves as she works the poots on then snags her riding jacket. "I hope so! I am quite memorable she winked and then smacked Free on the shoulder. "Let's ride pussycat!" and out the door she went with her friend in tow.

Yin escorts both to the door and wishes them a good ride and safe return. He certainly can't help to notice some curves - he's an investigator after all, but takes some care not to make it too obvious. The door is then carefully shut behind them.
page revision: 7, last edited: 06 Mar 2023 22:34
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