GM: Selene
Players: Pulse, Adam
Synopsis: Adam and Pulse pursue the ultimate question: Who is Selene's daddy?
Date: 2070-03-26
«OOC» Adam says, "Pull up full SIN information on Daddo. Where he lives. Where he has worked. What he purchases. Health checks, etc."
Sometime in the last couple of days, Selene sent on to Adam a little packet of information. Well, very small packet of information really. There are two names: Jeffery and Jane Arlen. No SINS. But indications that Jeffery may still be employed with a distant subsidiary of Renraku, and Jane appears to have been last known employed with Saeder Krupp - the actual company. Thin go go on, but that's it.
«OOC» Adam says, "So he'll kick off with a Standard Search
«OOC» Adam would say a 7 with 7 Pool and 6 KP.
«Auto-Judge[3857401]» Selene (#609) rolls 7 + 4 (hacking pool) vs TN 3 for "simple search decker has a nice browse utility, but isn't trying too hard yet.":
1 1 1 2 3 3 3 4 4 7 10 = 7 Successes
Not too many hours later, Adam's buddy calls him back, "Well, I hit quite a bit of data. Mostly pretty mundane stuff. Jeffery has been in R&D for Genecraft Australia, remote, from Seattle and occasionally travels to the home office. Published a few good research papers here and there, but of course the published stuff is pretty non-world-shaking. I mean, there's reams of crap here, there something specific you were looking for? Looks like your standard suit on paper."
Your pocsec beeps, and a photo is sent over. Male, middle aged, elf. Looks sort of full of himself. (if you've seen Magnum PI - he looks like a taller elf version of Higgins).
Adam keeps Bif (his decker) on the phone as he goes over a spell formula before him. "How about a list of previous and current residences? His status with the Misses. And anything about his relations with his daughter." He taps his chin, "Lets find out what drives Mister Arlen. Oh— and one of those articles just to skim over. The least crappy preferably."
There is a moment of quiet as Bif sorts through the data for interesting tidbits. "Divorced. Not remarried. Had a daughter: Brenna." he hmms, and pauses while scrolling through the data, "This is a little interesting, a side search on Brenna pulls up a news broadcast - looks like the kid died in a terrorist bombing of a coffee shop, bout 10 years ago. Eh. Probably only half true, the news sensationalizes everything. Have to dig deeper to be sure." and there is another pause, the sound of fingers sliding over the deck's interface in the background, "Ah - here's the divorce records - Messy shit. He tried real hard to smear his wife. Worked to get him custody… Oh! this paper is kind of cool, looks like they thing they identified one of the genes that allows for magical aptitude… talks all about the potential benefits, better testing for magical aptitude and potential to 'treat it', whatever that means. I'll send it over, you might think it's cool."
Another beep on the pocsec, and there's the public record of the divorce from Jane Arlen, and an interesting published article by Jeff Arlen and a few other scientists.
"Seems like politics, rehashed," Adam says as he reaches for his tea and takes a sip, "See what you can find about that research— and the custody battle." He hums as he skims over the data, "He seems like a real egocentrist."
There is another long pause, as the sort routine tries to isolate the requested data, and filter out all the credit card purchases, dining preferences, and other standard data that is floating about there on everyone, "Oh! Looks like he was a big donor to that legislator that pushed the bill to limit magical items given to mundanes… He gives to a few different anti magic causes… OK, yeah.. Divorce, here we go:.. " he taps the deck in the background, forwarding some more information, "He accused Jane of having an alcohol problem, abusing his daughter - note that, it's always 'his' daughter in the testimony, rather than 'our' daughter. Tried to say that she stole money from their accounts and blew it gambling. — but there doesn't seem to be much cooroborating evidence.. she did lose her job in Genetech though."
"Well the motivation is there, then," Adam says, "Can you get ahold of any of his research files from ten years ago?"
Selene hmm, "that's tougher.. Other than the peer reviewed public research, everything that might have been patented, or been profitable for Genetech is going to be kept locked down. How hard you want me to look?"
Bif hmms, "that's tougher.. Other than the peer reviewed public research, everything that might have been patented, or been profitable for Genetech is going to be kept locked down. How hard you want me to look?"
Adam motions, "Hard enough to see how much relation his research is in alignment with his daughter. Although I'd like to think it's fatherly love— I sincerely doubt it."
You say "Ok.. that'll cost ya extra, but here goes…"
Adam nods his head once at the whole 'cost' bit. Always does!
«Plot» Selene says, "trying the matrix quick resolution rules - gonna say the host is Orange."
Pulse has arrived.
«Auto-Judge[3857401]» Selene (#609) rolls 7 (computer) + 7 (hacking Pool) vs TN 7 for "Hacking into the the primary data storage share, for Magic Gene research at Genetech. Go Bif!":
1 1 1 3 3 3 5 5 5 7 7 9 10 11 = 5 Successes
Bif responds, "Ok, gimme a couple hours, I'll get back to you."
…. a couple hours pass.
Bif calls back, "Ok. Looks like Genetech was interested in both ends. They isolated a couple of genes they think are the location of magical talent. Then they wanted drugs. One: to enhance the talent, and that never really seemed to go anywhere. Two: To turn it down - but without significant side effects. They wanted to turn it off without making the subject useless. That was more successful. They did a few trials, pretty effective. Not quite ready for market yet, delayed on FDA approval for safety or something, red tape basically. There's a bunch of molecular diagrams here that mean drek all to me, but if you want 'em.."
"Yeah," Adam says as he wouldn't have much ammo without proof, "I'll want them. Any relation to that study with his daughter in the testing stages?"
Bif laughs, "Oh.. look, there's a cute picture here, of him and some kid… pretty girl. I'll send that on." There is a pause as he peruses the list of test subjects, "nope. No Brenna on the official list.. ooooo… looky here, his private notes - Bingo, there it is - buried in a lab notebook - She wasn't an official research subject, but there's results on her. Man, this guy is meticulous in his lab notes."
Adam goes over the notes as he nods his head to Bif, "Alright. This will give me a bit to chew on. Throw it on my tab, omae. Next time I see you in the flesh I'll have to kick back some tickets to Fallen Power for you, too."
Bif replies, "Cool deal man. Check you later." he hangs up.
Brenna. That's a familiar name. Somewhere in Denver, Pauly's driving a fast car with a license place that reads 'Brenna,' up for a quick drink with Tammy. He's got some digging to do, himself.
It's not that he doesn't trust Selene, honest. He just wants to find out more about this 'reported death…'
And who better for that then a reporter?
The lovely face of Denver's nightly news, Tammy Tucker, awaits Pulse at his favorite cocktail lounge, dressed to the nines. When he walks in, she rises and greets him with a warm hug and a kiss on the cheek, "Pauly. What a rare treat. What brings you out tonight?"
«OOC» Selene says, "OK. How you want to confirm or deny?"
«OOC» Adam says, "Well there are probably 101 details in the data I just got, of which I can see 3 or 4. Im looking over the rest of the OOC information to see if his motives are harmful to Selene and staying away is a good idea."
«Plot» Selene says, "Well, if you dig long enough .. you will confirm that the man has a real issue with magic, don't have info on why.. but a strong and long term predjudice against it. And he's sort of an arrogant jerk - his reviews show more than one warning about his issues with relating to other employees.. lots of HR complaints. - HOWEVER - you can't find anything that says he abused his daughter in any way (other than that one research experiment), and he seemed to care about her welfare very much."
Pulse smiles at the woman, returning the kiss. "Not bad, Tammy… well, I'll be honest." He sits down behind her, listening to the booming base of the Stage Perilous (his favorite bar!), and shakes his head. "Just… you know, doing business. Friend of mine is looking into a bombing, about ten years ago. Girl named Brenna Arlen was killed. Some… property of hers has found its way into my friend's hands, and we're trying to figure out what to do about it. I was -hoping- that you could use some of your newswoman badassery and find out about this bombing. Where, what, that sort of thing… police reports, any living family, hell, maybe the obituary. Whatever you can find."
Tammy Tucker sighs, and pouts slightly, "Ah, never just glad to see me. I'll see what I can do. Any information about location of the bombing? something to narrow it down? There are probably 200 - 1000 bombings or more in north america eery year… that get reported. And more that don't."
Pulse says "Seattle. Or near it. Again, about ten years ago." He smiles. "And you know how it is, Tammy. A man's got to earn his bread before he can spend his dough, even on a cupcake like you."
Tammy nods, "Well, I'll see what I can do. Make a few calls, I know a couple retired cops up in Seattle. And back at the station we have extensive archives of footage. Few contacts over at city hall.. sure. This is easy. Take me a day or two." and then she scootches closer to Pulse, "So, what's in it for me?"
Pulse smiles at the woman, slips his arm around her waist. He leans in. "An exclusive story," he whispers. "About a possible toxic stain in the Warrens. Hundreds under the influence of darkness, freed by a small band of nameless heroes… and now the site of regrowth, even hope." He nudges her with his head. "Or a personal interview with the world's best boxer, just before his next fight."
Tammy smiles broadly, "Human interest story, always gives the sponsors a hard on. Good ratings in those, you really *must* elaborate, and a little corroborating evidence would be nice too. Your little task will take me a day or two. Is there a story in there I should know about?"
"This Brenna wouldn't have anything to do with your license plate, would it?" Tammy prys a little, she can't help it, it's in her blood.
Pulse says "Find me what I want to know, and I'll tell you. There could be a -hell- of a story in it, for you… and you know I always send my exclusives to you. You put such a…nice spin on them." He lets her go. "Now. I get so busy running around taking care of buisness all day, I've got to save my bloody training for night. I hate to run, but… you'd hate for me to be killed in the ring, right?"
"Don't you dare get killed. I'd lose half our audience without splashing your pretty grin on the trid every month for a new exclusive. The audience loves you." she says, and gives the big boxer a hug, "You know… you should really reconsider the sort of people you hang around, change over to a higher class of respectable women, for instance. It would be good for your image."
Pulse laughs. "It might. But doesn't one of your affiliated tabloids make millions a week off your 'pauly's skank o'the season' feature? And 'pounded by pulse' sold eighty thousand chips in Amsterdam this Christmas?" He pecks Tammy on the cheek and, winking, makes his way out.
A couple days pass…
Tammy gives Pulse a call back, "So. I dug around a bit… "
Pulse says "Yeah babe?" Pauly's in his bubble bath now, playing with his rubber ducky, as he queues up the tridphone. "Whatcha got forme?"
Tammy Tucker oogles the boxer's broad chest openly over the tridphone then gets down to business, "There was a bombing. And the newstrid did report several young people dead. The coffee shop was a big hangout for corper kids. 3 dead, about half a dozen wounded. One of the dead was supposed to be Brenna Arlen - or that's what the early report said. Later, she was listed as missing, because no remains were ever discovered. -That- never made the nightly news."
Pulse nods. "so a coffee shop," he says, squeezing the rubber ducky. "Not usually a big target for corporate terrorism (ooc: shadowruns). Means someone inside was likely it… any word on living family? Got an obituary for me?" He lifts the duck, and gestures with it like it's attacking Tammy's image.
Pulse says "QUACK QUACK!"
Tammy Tucker is, herself, lounging at home a glass of wine in one hand, and a long thin cigarette in the other, "I got copies of the police reports. Relatives of Brenna are listed as Jeffery Arlen - sole legal gaurdian. Doesn't mention a mother, but… who knows, probably a story there too. Dad worked for Genetech Australia at the time, but his office was in Seattle - telecommuter. Looks like he's still alive and kicking out there somewhere."
You say "No Obituary. Check on Brenna Arlen's SIN has it tagged: Missing, presumed dead."
Pulse says "Affirmative. Birthdate?"
Tammy Tucker taps away on a pocsec for a minute, "Says here - November 10, 2047."
Tammy Tucker rubs the screen with her thumb, "No.. make that 2044… sorry, this thing is getting old and scratched."
Pulse says "So a Scorpio. Fascinating. Thanks, Tammy. A little bit of cred's heading your way… and I'll see about hooking you up with that human-interest story, too. Be a dear and have an extra bottle for me?"
Tammy Tucker raises her glass to the tridphone screen, "any time, Pauly baby." And then the image winks out.
«Auto-Judge[3857401]» Pulse (#3231) spends 500 nuyen for "tip for tammy. but just the tip!".
Pulse calls Adam. And Selene. "Drinks?"
Selene answers Pulse. And Adam, "Always!"
Adam sips on his tea— looking at it a moment and guessing thats not what he meant, "Sure. Where?"
Pulse says "Stage Perilous? The Palatine Summit? Montoni's? The Penthouse?"
Adam hums and says, "Low key just doesnt quite hit it off— eh? The Penthouse, then."
Selene shrugs, "anywhere, darlin. Prefer quieter to louder tonight."
Pulse says "Great. Let me put my pants on and I'll be out on the patio."
Selene laughs and hangs up, "See you in a few."
Adam decides to bring his guitar— since he does not have to go very far (har har!). He strums a couple tunes while he hangs out— otherwise enjoying the view.
«Auto-Judge[3857401]» Pulse (#3231) has the Knowledge Skill Guitar with the value '2'.
«Auto-Judge[3857401]» Adam (#1093) has the Knowledge Skill Guitar with the value '5 (6)'.
Selene takes a little longer getting there, since she comes all the way from the 'rens. But she does make it in good time, and lets herself into the apartment.
«Auto-Judge[3857401]» Selene (#609) has the Knowledge Skill Belly Dancing with the value '4'.
Pulse steps out onto the patio, almost having forgotten his pants… well, having totally forgotten his pants, just wearing a plush crimson towel instead. "Evening, Adam," he says, walking over to his grill and turning it on, setting the autochef to start work on some steaks. "How's the research going?"
«Auto-Judge[3857401]» Pulse (#3231) has the Attribute Strength with the value '8 (12)'.
«OOC» Selene waits for PUlse to bench press Adam now.
«OOC» Adam chuckles.
"Terrible on one end, fantastic on the other," Adam says as he strums a chord, "and working with Roosevelt is promising so far."
«OOC» Pulse should improve his guitar skill and start a country-western band with adam!
«OOC» Selene cries!
«OOC» Adam ohboys. :P
Pulse says "Oh yeah?" He asks, popping open a cold one and leaning against a low wall, enjoying the night. "Um. About that. See, I was doing some digging with Tammy, and I -may- have mentioned a certain island in the 'Rens. I told her maybe on the story, see if she's interested, but I'm not sure how you'd feel about press."
A few minutes after Adam arrives, Selene finally comes in, walking through the apartment like she lives there, and giving Pulse a pat on the bottom as she walks by on the way to getting a glass of wine, only barely registering his last comment to Adam.
Adam motions his natural hand, "Sure— Shiawise will be finding out I'm alive soon enough, lets give them where Im hiding out in lawlessland while we are at it." He shakes his head, "SINners don't care about the Warrens— they barely care about the state of thier own world." He looks up as Selene comes in with a nod, "I've been doing some digging too."
Pulse tilts his head. "I don't have to attach your name to it. Was just going to describe about a group of unnamed heroes rescuing a colony of refugees from a sinister darkness. Might be fun, and noone's going to come down and stick their nose in it." He returns selene's pat with a pat of his own, and he goes into it.
"Oh yeah? -I- found out that some girl named Brenna Arlen was thought killed in a coffee house some ten years ago, but is now just presumed missing- they never found any remains. Also, she has no mother."
Pulse tilts his head. "I don't have to attach your name to it. Was just going to describe about a group of unnamed heroes rescuing a colony of refugees from a sinister darkness. Might be fun, and noone's going to come down and stick their nose in it." He returns selene's pat with a pat of his own, and he goes into it.
"Oh yeah? -I- found out that some girl named Brenna Arlen was thought killed in a coffee house some ten years ago, but is now just presumed missing- they never found any remains. Also, she has no mother."(repose for adam)
Selene gives Pulse a quizzical look over the edge of her freshly poured and perfectly chilled glass of white wine, "Everyone has a mother, dear. Everyone."
Adam motions a hand towards Selene and confirms, "Brenna has a mother. The father just drove her away with false accusations. He wanted her all to himself— and has a nasty history in some thaumatological research."
Pulse nods. "I assumed there was something sinister going on. Father's an Aussie, you know that? And there's no legal information on Brenna's sin about her mother. Hell, Father's just a legal guardian. How odd." The grill dings, and Pauly gestures. "Porterhouse, anyone?"
Adam takes him up on that, "Sure," and strums a tune.
Selene stops, takes a sip of her wine, and drops into a chair to simply listen to them for a moment, she responds to the porterhouse question, "Sure.. darlin."
Pulse gets the steaks out, putting them on plates (all three of the steaks are rare and heavily garlic'ed) and passing them around. He takes a swallow of his beer. "So. Adam. This Brenna girl, her father. If I were to approach him, would it be with a handshake or a fineblade?"
"Likely a fineblade," Adam says, "Soon followed by Brenna's father resuming where he left off in magical research on her. Not exactly the fate most people want."
Selene takes her plate from Pulse, and sets it down on the table, almost immeadiately aattacking it with her knife and fork, stuffing her mouth with food, and keeping quiet.
Pulse raises an eyebrow. "You think he'd kill me?" He asks. "Or take Raven from me?" He laughs. "If it was anyone else saying it, I'd be offended. Asking if you really thought there was anyone I couldn't kill if I wanted to. But to you…I'll just ask what you learned, and why, if he deserves it, I should spare him a bloody death."
Selene watches Adam curiously for his response, still remaining silent. She chews the lovely rare steak slowly, and then *ow* bites her tongue. A sip of wine numbs it quickly enough.
Adam offers to Pulse, "I think he'd try. And when he fails, he'd just go after her… again." He takes an optical data chip and slides it into his pocsoc. He projects over towards Pulse the reports of the man's research— about how they were attempting to augment or dampen magic then just like they are now. And one of the subjects— is Brenna. "Most interesting is how much he put out there to try to keep her. Disappearing may just have been the only viable option. These situations rarely end well for anyone."
Selene finally interjects, "you know.. you're both talking about my father. The man that took me to the park, made me smiley face chocolate chip pancakes…. Are you sure this is the same guy?"
Pulse grunts. "He can't keep her," he says, his voice a bit of a… deeper growl then it was, previously, his eyes glinting, his brow hardening: something in his posture changing. "And he will not strike bat from her, either. This man is a stain upon the world, Mage. A stain upon the world."
Pulse gives Selene A Look.
Adam shakes his head and says, "His research is a stain upon the world," he slides the pocsoc back inside, "but it'd be hard pressed to say /he/ is a stain upon the world. Just that the risk isn't accessible to be near him without a better understanding. And that, right now, is the perspective you need if you're hell bent on meeting him." He strums his guitar, "For all we know, the research was fueled by a desire to cure a disease that we dont know about."
Selene looks between her friend and the man she has both killed and died for, "Maybe. Maybe we can just postpone things, eh? I mean.. who needs a bit of paper anyway, Pauly? Do nothing, and things remain as they are now. No one knows me as Brenna, no one has known me as Brenna in years… why not let the sleeping dogs lie?" Yes, all of this talk makes her nervous, bringing back all the fear and uncertainty of her early years with Slash.
Pulse grumbles, but he doesn't argue with Adam further. "Very well. Pray, continue your research. I will invite him to the rehearsal dinner, as well as the wedding. If by then your research indicates he is a monster, then I will have Pauly or Reed kill him. If not, then Pauly and Raven can rely on that scuttling Don and their -friends- for protection. Does that seem acceptable?
Selene blinks at Pulse, suddenly speaking about himself in the third person.
.
Adam shakes his head and explains, "To damn someone in days? Why don't we just trick him into thinking she is alive. A Physical Mask will do just that. Then you can judge in a controlled environment just where his motives lay. The the best case, we are all making the wrong assumption and things can continue as if he was just some average guy you had to meet. In the worst— well killing someone's father rarely earns any points. Show that it was an illusion and bury the thought of him thinking she is alive even further." He motions a hand, "Theorize. What if you did slay him? Would that bring more harm or less? It certainly would inspire 'why'. And that leads to his research. Which leads to her."
Pulse says "It is not about -points-," with a bit of a sneer. "An it is not a matter of -days-. Pauly will not get married in less than a month." He tears off another piece of meet, chewing it, then swallowing it hard. He walks over to the side of the patio, looking out over the city. "It is a matter of him trying to cut her off from her nature, or trying again. She is my last conduit to him." He pauses, tilting his head a little, then shakes his head. "But we will follow the prudent course. Not the full deception, but… perhaps we mask Selene there as someone completely different. We take her to meet him. The three of you will gauge what you can of the man."
Adam taps the side of his guitar, "Hmm. Fair enough."
Selene lifts an eyebrow and looks Pulse up and down carefully, until it finally dawns on her just who is speaking now. Her hand pauses with the glass halfway between the table and her lips. Nearly a full half minute later, she shakes it off, drinks, and nods, "Well, a compromise plan is better than no plan. Are you sure you can't consider the 'do nothing' option?" Something in her strongly resists both meeting the man, and doing him any harm.
Pulse says "What am I? A Eunuch?" He looks back at Selene. "More properly. Your picture's going to be splashed across the trids as soon as the news breaks. There's no avoiding it. connections will be made. Do we wait to react, or do we make our own way?" He crushes his beer can. "No. We are not waiting for something to happen. Not waiting for these… schemers." A flexing of the hand. "I don't want to kill your father, Selene. No more than anyone else. But you do not belong to him any longer, and he will -not- interfere."
Adam strums a chord and says evenly, "While killing someone isn't a best case scenario, Sel, its still something that has to be accepted as a possible scenario. What happens if the ten years he spent apart he /did/ put something together and uses it against you? Or needs you to complete a peice of a puzzle? At that point, hes a big risk to you." Strum. "And the people around you, as a result."
Selene glances sideways at Adam, then lifts her gaze to momentarily meet Pulse's eyes, trying to gauge which man or spirit is behind them. The normally snarky, mouthy, and aggressive young woman drops her gaze, spreads her hands in surrender, and acquiesces, "You're probably right love. It's face it, or keep running."
Pulse grunts. "Glad we are in an accord," he says. He finishes his steak. "I need to punch something," he adds. "Thank you for sharing a meal with me."
Adam plays some duly appropriate music on his guitar for the mood. Something dramatic and offbeat sappy.
Selene offers, "Even without daddy.. what do I do when my face is splashed across the trids? It's not like my line of work lends itself well to fame and recognizability."
Pulse says "Disguises," as he's on his way out. "Ask Adam about that."
Adam strums and sings poorly, "Physical Masskkkk. Its where its atttttttt." o/~
Selene watches Pulse walk out, and throws up her hands, "sometimes.. that man drives me batty." then to Adam, "I don't know that spell… Illusions are not my forte."
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