You are Kai, a newly minted edgerunner trying to scrape by in Night City. A week ago your father, an NCPD netrunner, was murdered under suspicious circumstances during a Cyberpsycho attack on Kabuki Marketplace. You’re out looking for answers. Answers and eddies. Eddies to pay for your several ill mother’s medical expenses, eddies for more gear, eddies for information, eddies for allies. Everything in Night City has a price, and everyone has secrets, especially your family - Dad was an Edgrerunner for decades in secret, your Mom used to be a corpo scientist for Biotechnica, and even you're hiding your new line of work from almost everyone in your old life. The only person you can fully trust is yourself… and perhaps Alice, the ghostly AI that your netrunner father was working with in secret before they both got attacked on New Year’s Eve. The last few days have been busy with small jobs for the static Aldecaldo fixer Dakota, both solo and with other edgerunners. You’re still one of the freshest faces around Night City's shadows for now, but all it takes to end that is a single bullet - This line of work is a meat grinder, and runners are the meat. 2076.01.06, 13:25Night City (Kabuki, your apartment)Sitting down in your father’s old chair, you look at your reflection in the dark screens of his dormant comp. It’s a faint image, ghostly and somehow unreal - Shaking your head you look away from the screens, having had more than your fill of ghosts recently.”Are you prepared for the journey, Kai?” Alice’s voice whispers within your mind, projected across a secured Net connection and directly into your neuralink. Her dulcet tones relax you a touch, and if you didn’t know better you’d swear she was standing beside you - that’s impossible of course. She’s dead. A ghost caught in the Net, human consciousness transformed into a kind of wild and unplanned artificial intelligence… Or at least that’s the best you’ve been able to make of the situation so far.“...I am.” You speak the words aloud, preferring the control of verbal communication to the stuttery messiness of communication by pure thought. Reaching into the interior of your blue aramid jacket, a reward of sorts from your first job for your fixer Dakota, you grab a hold of a large device you’ve been concealed since your return from Kabuki’s roundabout marketplace.
>>5944098The metallic exterior of the external deck is cold to your touch as you draw it out from within your blue jacket, the rectangular device still quite unfamiliar to you even after cleaning it of tracking soft and installing your own new shards. Tracing a finger over the faint relief of the Arasaka logo on its exterior, feeling the fine texture of it, you let out a sigh - there’s no putting this off, you’d better be ready now. Flipping the deck’s screen up, you start it up with the tap of a button and then pull your personal link from the small port in your wrist and jack in. Lines of code flash across the deck’s small screen as a connection is established, and just as it did this morning you feel your perception begin to fragment, to slip into two places at once. You remain half aware of your physical body in the dimmest sense, and are nearly overwhelmed by the rush of sensory data as your avatar’s form materializes within the Net, displacing your awareness from the physical to digital world as you slip through a hole in the walled gardens put up by the corps to keep clueless gonks from wandering too far into the wilds of the Net. The stolen Arasaka deck cuts right through that safety railed garbage, and instantly you understand that you’re in the real Net, a shattered patchwork of servers and infrastructures slowly pieced back together over the decades post datakrash.Cold awareness spiderwebs through your mind like freezing tendrils of supercooled mercury as you survey the digital landscape rolling infinitely far off to a horizon that never quite materializes. Only the distant menacing form of the Blackwall cuts across the infinite closing off one ‘side’ from access, but that is far, far off still. Monolithic and monochrome data-fortresses loom much closer, towering behemoths of corporate might among the ‘hills’ and ‘mountains’ of net infrastructure half a century older than you or more. Verdant holographic forests of smaller data centers carpet the landscape, swaying in the winds and streams of data flowing between on the ground, and below, and above. This visualization of the Net, this naturalistic look - excepting the Blackwall - is partially constructed from the software the stolen Arasaka deck you’re jacked into is using, partly from the transmitted images presented by corporations, but mostly because of your own mind and preferences. The Net looks like this only to you… And perhaps one other person.
>>5944103”Hide yourself, with haste! There are crawling things here, even in the bright places, spiders and frightful grasping creatures.” Alice implores from beside you, her own faintly crimson digital form far more detailed and solid than your own wavering blue, hints of truer colors playing faintly beneath the surface of her skin, like an old holographic card reflecting light strangely. She’s crouched low, almost blending entirely into a stream of passing data as it rushes by in a torrent, her form becoming harder to perceive by the moment except for a faint silver cord running from her clothes to your own. A direct connection through your neuralink.“Hide from what? Are they close?” You ask quietly, crouching beside the ghostly AI, your sheathed sword bumping up against her thigh as you move half a step closer and into the stream… Your sword? A dull sword, and one you scarcely know how to wield. Another visualization of your deck’s core programs you realize, along with the scroll hanging by straps at your other side. That’s the daemon you bought in Kabuki marketplace earlier, the imp sold to you by Yoko - He’s sealed up in his datashard for now, ready to defend at a moment’s notice, already patrolling your personal network even if you’ve yet to think of him strongly enough to force his appearance.”Everything is close, Kai, even the sky.” Alice squints off in the distance, down the path of the datastream, her awareness pulling yours along with it - And suddenly you are elsewhere, a much darker place, falling up, up, up, tumbling too and fro among currents of data - and with a thwack you land, in another forest, among other rustling digital trees, the same imposing data-fortresses from before still far off in the ‘mountains’ but the angles completely changed. Ahead of you now is a small encampment of tents surrounded by a ‘log’ palisade and ditches, resembling some sort of hastily constructed and half ignored military camp from long ages past… No, not a military camp, a barbarian one. Sloppy, haphazard, the work of bandits. Of scavs. A pair of wart covered and hunchbacked green goblin-like creatures patrol about the entrance with weighty wooden clubs in hand, their beady little black eyes looking out occasionally into the forest of data surrounding the scav subnet. IC of some kind, and not very good IC either. “...We’re here.” You’re aware of it at once that Alice has brought you directly to the scav subnet you need to scout out for the job tomorrow, “That was preem tracing work Alice.”
>>5944105The ghostly girl shakes her head slightly, her lips pursed in annoyance as she brushes off her simple dress, “I am afraid it was quite clumsy. Are you intact?”“I… am.” You reply after a moment of checking yourself over, bio and cyber-diagnostics flashing through your awareness quickly even as you check over your digital avatar ‘manually’, just as if you were out in meatspace, “Here’s the plan…”VOTE OR GET FLATLINED:>”We do this quietly, get the detes on our target and logout.” Attempt to find a backdoor into the scav subnet, try to enter and leave unnoticed. You’ll want to keep your Imp sealed away in his datashard, the more you can focus your deck on remaining unnoticed the better. >”Doesn’t look like they have any good IC, lets hit them fast and delta, snatch all the data we can while be blow through.” Draw your ‘sword’ and raid the subnet! The scavs will know *a* breach occurred but likely nothing else unless you are successfully traced or get fried by IC. You can have your Imp out for this, it’ll help keep you safe from attacks.>”...I’ll go in and talk, get whoever is doing net security distracted. Dig around and see what you can find, camera feeds, anything useful.” Split up - You will attempt to do some social engineering while Alice pokes around like a proper ghost.>Write-in.Previous Thread: https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/2023/5829969/
>>5944109>”We do this quietly, get the detes on our target and logout.” Attempt to find a backdoor into the scav subnet, try to enter and leave unnoticed. You’ll want to keep your Imp sealed away in his datashard, the more you can focus your deck on remaining unnoticed the better.Based, I’ve been waiting for this quest to return!
>>5944109>”We do this quietly, get the detes on our target and logout.” Attempt to find a backdoor into the scav subnet, try to enter and leave unnoticed. You’ll want to keep your Imp sealed away in his datashard, the more you can focus your deck on remaining unnoticed the better.
>>5944109>”We do this quietly, get the detes on our target and logout.” Attempt to find a backdoor into the scav subnet, try to enter and leave unnoticed. You’ll want to keep your Imp sealed away in his datashard, the more you can focus your deck on remaining unnoticed the better. We've got Alice, I imagine this'll be easier than the last sneaky outing into scav dwellings. This is our element comparatively, or should be. Don't let em know we're coming, don't want to spoil the meatspace job.Also, welcome back Mainline! I missed this.
>>5944109>>”We do this quietly, get the detes on our target and logout.” Attempt to find a backdoor into the scav subnet, try to enter and leave unnoticed. You’ll want to keep your Imp sealed away in his datashard, the more you can focus your deck on remaining unnoticed the better.
>>5944109Komban-wa, Mainrine-sama.May we remain nimble like the mongoose, and as subtle as the myriad folds of a geisha's kimono.
>>5944109>>>”We do this quietly, get the detes on our target and logout.” Attempt to find a backdoor into the scav subnet, try to enter and leave unnoticed. You’ll want to keep your Imp sealed away in his datashard, the more you can focus your deck on remaining unnoticed the better.
>>5944109>”We do this quietly, get the detes on our target and logout.” Attempt to find a backdoor into the scav subnet, try to enter and leave unnoticed. You’ll want to keep your Imp sealed away in his datashard, the more you can focus your deck on remaining unnoticed the better.Good to see you back QM, excited to see this one again.
>>5944109>”We do this quietly, get the detes on our target and logout.” Attempt to find a backdoor into the scav subnet, try to enter and leave unnoticed. You’ll want to keep your Imp sealed away in his datashard, the more you can focus your deck on remaining unnoticed the better.Netrunners who smash and grab are netrunners who are just itching to get their brains fried. Let's do this stealthily. Also, welcome back, Mainline. I was really looking forward to the return of this quest.
Rolled 47 (1d100)>>5944328>>5944268>>5944170>>5944151>>5944129>>5944121>>5944116I need two rolls of 1d100. DC is 55, higher is better.Rolling for Alice's support as well.
Rolled 80 (1d100)>>5944372Well, at least she got the musical number.
Rolled 81 (1d100)>>5944372Watch this, Choom.
Rolled 79 (1d100)>>5944372
>>5944381>>5944382Pretty sneaky, anons - well done.
>>5944381>>5944382Good rolls anons, an 81 will do it.>>5944383...What are the chances of rolling a 79, 80, and 81?
we're so fucking back.
“We’ll do this quietly, get the detes on our target and logout.” You speak in a hushed voice, eyes focused intently on the IC avatar’s at the entrance of the scav subnet, trying your best to remember old lessons from your father, “...Scav gonks bought low grade IC, look at those goblins.”“Filthy little barbarians.” Alice wrinkles up her mouth in distaste as she watches the goblins alongside you, one of the hunchbacked programs knocking the other over the head with his club, the thunking smack bringing his wart covered compatriot back to full attention, ”What an awful mess they have made of their own subnet, nasty creatures. We will have no troubles with those quarrelsome brutes.”You share the ghost woman’s confidence, thinking little of the obnoxious greenskinned avatars of the scav IC programs. Careful not to pull the silver cord between you too tight, you lead the way toward the log palisade of the camp, running your deck’s basic intrusion soft with a thought. Data flashes before your eyes, phantom images of encryption grids, columns of letters and numbers searched and selected through quickly as your deck cuts past the basic encryption of the scav subnet’s firewall. Pff, ‘firewall’, the logs aren’t even on fire, someone failed to even set it up correctly, the entire thing is barely a defense at all. As you finish your intrusion attempt a small gap in the palisade materializes, a backdoor successfully located. Keeping low, you and Alice move through the swaying tall grass at the camp’s edge, useless junk data parting as you mask your presence and enter the quietly breached subnet. Inside, past the poor excuse for a firewall and unseen by the patrolling IC, you lay eyes on the true interior of the subnet for the first time - The faint silhouettes of human figures walk between tents and piles of barrels and crates, representations of personal agents or links and the various shared datastores kept by the scavs. Another of those witless IC goblins stands in the center of the camp, one gnarly crooked green finger shoved firmly within its pointed ear as it picks away at wax. Clueless, just like the others.Everything is going perfectly, you just need to find a way to access any cameras the scavs have, and their most recent records… Something snaps behind you, bursts of data sent whistling and flying about through the air in whistling arcs, and the IC goblin’s beady eyes are suddenly wide and alert, his ear picking hand grasping at the wooden cudgel on his belt in a startled panic. Turning to see what made the noise, you find Alice positively mortified, pale as a ghost, one shoe having snapped a twig in two. She’s tripped some of the scav’s passive security, sending alerts out to all the active IC.
>>5944432”Oh dear. She covers her mouth in embarrassment even as you hurriedly pull her behind one of the tents and out of sight. Alice speaks in a whisper as you both slink into the temporary hiding spot, ”I am terribly sorry, Kai - We can reset them still!”“We can?” You question, a little out of your depth but thankfully not yet on the wrong end of whatever those bludgeons the IC are carrying around are - for now you’re still undetected, only a general alarm has sounded, and only to the IC it seems… No lurkers or scav netrunner today. ”You can, I… Lack full functionality, it would be more trouble than-”“How?” You demand, hearing the grunts and footsteps of the IC grow closer, tent flaps being thrown open as they check each of the subnets' datastores and logs for intruding programs or netrunners.“A trick!” Alice snaps her fingers, and… nothing happens, though thankfully it doesn’t even make a sound - whatever she tried was utterly inert, “...Drat, curse my missing data - You try, Kai.” “Preem, Alice, very helpful.” You mutter while pulling up your deck’s basic spoofing soft - just a part of its core functionality, nothing fancy or specialized. In a rush you throw together a simple spoof, ripping code haphazardly from the deck’s libraries and assembling a fake ping of the subnet, a brutish fake advertisement that will play the role of a security tripping spam message almost perfectly. If anything the hasty and amateurish programming makes it more believable, the work of some unpaid intern at a soulless corp. With a flick of your wrist you send the burst of data high into the air, and it sails back down among the swarming goblins moments before they reach you.…And they take the bait, resetting immediately and returning to their previous positions.”Sorry, choom. Alice apologizes quietly once more, her eyes now firmly focused on the ground as you both return to your search of the subnet. At least she doesn’t intend to make the same mistake again.>”No harm done. Take the logs over there, I’ll check their cameras and messages.” Many hands make short work, Alice’s slip up was a fluke.>”...Just keep close, Alice, watch my back.” Do everything yourself, Alice lacks the data or hardware to properly back you up in her currently crippled state, even if she is a ‘native’ of the Net.>”Never mind all this data, we need to find their leader’s agent - that’ll have the preem detes.” Hunt around for the real prize… it’ll take some riskier snooping around though, the scav personal nets housed inside their overarching subnet might have their own IC as well. The deeper you dive, the harder it becomes to leave if things go wrong.
>>5944434>”No harm done. Take the logs over there, I’ll check their cameras and messages.” Many hands make short work, Alice’s slip up was a fluke.I trust her natural aptitudes even if she's clumsy
>>5944434>”...Just keep close, Alice, watch my back.” Do everything yourself, Alice lacks the data or hardware to properly back you up in her currently crippled state, even if she is a ‘native’ of the Net.Idk, her one roll vs our bo3 roll makes me wary of letting her be on her own.
>>5944442Best of two.
>>5944434>>”...Just keep close, Alice, watch my back.” Do everything yourself, Alice lacks the data or hardware to properly back you up in her currently crippled state, even if she is a ‘native’ of the Net.
>>5944434>>”...Just keep close, Alice, watch my back.” Do everything yourself, Alice lacks the data or hardware to properly back you up in her currently crippled state, even if she is a ‘native’ of the Net.We need to get her a deck and sign up for some health insurance.
>>5944434>”...Just keep close, Alice, watch my back.” Do everything yourself, Alice lacks the data or hardware to properly back you up in her currently crippled state, even if she is a ‘native’ of the Net.We'll go through those old shards full of juicy dangers and fix her right up, in time. There's a lot to do, the encrypted stuff on dad's comp, the old deck when we are finally ready for it's IC, getting Alice a proper deck of her own and a real body.For now she should stay close, just assisting us.Cameras, layout, guard positions first. We can go deeper when we've got the basics, not before.
>>5944434>”...Just keep close, Alice, watch my back.” Do everything yourself, Alice lacks the data or hardware to properly back you up in her currently crippled state, even if she is a ‘native’ of the Net.
>>5944434>”...Just keep close, Alice, watch my back.” Do everything yourself, Alice lacks the data or hardware to properly back you up in her currently crippled state, even if she is a ‘native’ of the Net.This will do fine and we do need to teach ourselves these things after all.
>>5944437No harm done.>>5944442>>5944455>>5944469>>5944471>>5944612>>5944697Quiet and close, do it yourself. Wins.Rolling time, chooms.I need two rolls of 1d100, DC is 60. Slightly harder doing it all alone but failure (if it happens) isn't as harsh since Kai has a proper Deck unlike Alice.No rolls for Alice.
Rolled 74 (1d100)>>5944873Rollin'
Rolled 85 (1d100)>>5944873 I dig the pseudo-fantasy element to the net descriptions, Mainline
>>5944878>>5944882The 85 will do it nicely, good rolling. Writing.
“...Just keep close, Alice, watch my back.” You reply quickly, now realizing your mistake in relying on Alice - she’s willing to help, just as she did this morning, but that doesn’t mean she can do it reliably. Perhaps bringing her along for this run may have been a mistake with how damaged she still is and without her own deck to use. Alice closes her eyes, wincing for half a moment before returning a small nod of understanding, ”I will remain by your side.”With the matter settled for now, you return to the real work at hand - scraping as much data from this scav subnet as you possibly can without alerting those fiendish little IC goblins or any of the faint silhouettes of the scavs themselves. Careful to try and mask your presence, you slink back out from behind the tent and set to work. Stalking from datastore to datastore, inching around the barrels and crates stacked haphazardly here and there between the other tents, you locate your primary item of concern; a crystal ball hidden away within a large black and red bell tent half covered in spiderwebs. Careful, Kai. You think to yourself, Alice slowing her pace even before you do at the sight of the webs. The opalescent sphere lays just a few footsteps ahead atop a wrought iron stand, behind a thin and almost imperceptible curtain of that old webbing. Carefully you trace out the edges of the webbing from a safe distance, searching for weak points in the old passive security until finally you locate a more ragged section. Drawing your ‘sword’, preparing an intrusion soft, you carefully cut away at the edge of the web. Even the dull blade of your unfamiliar deck is enough to deal with what must be terribly outdated defenses, so long as you remain fully focused. Encryption grids flash before your eyes once more, columns and rows found and selected at the speed of thought, and soon you’ve cut through, passing beyond the encryption and security protecting the tent… and toward the camera controls. As you step inside the tent the webbing behind you regenerates instantly, but it is entirely illusory now - you can step back and forth freely, and only a truly close inspection would ever find evidence of your intrusion. It will still stop others besides you and Alice.
>>5944919Moving to the crystal ball, you grasp your hands along its sides and peer within. There are seven moving images, each of different rooms of the scav den - and what den it is. Dingy old walls of half rotted wallpaper or bare concrete covered in graffiti and worse, dim lighting from ancient lamps and half steel shuttered windows, ruined and decaying furniture covered in stains and used hypos. It’s disgusting, but largely what you’ve come to expect of scavs. There must be two dozen of the tattooed and roughly chromed lowlifes milling about here and there, all of them decently armed - rifles, shotguns, vests, only a few helmet; they’re not wanting for weapons or basic armor, though there doesn’t seem to be anything truly stand out among them. …Or at least there wouldn’t have been if it weren’t for a trio of militech anti-personnel mines securing one of the back entrances to the highrise scav den. Attached like ticks to skin, the bulbous little mines cling to support pillars on either side of an old sliding steel door which leads out to the balconies and open air of Westbrook’s extremely densely packed residential highrises.Taking note of the mines, and the positions of the scav guards, you move on to search for your target, this ‘Buddy’ the client wants back. Waving your hand over the crystal sphere, you change the images again and again, connecting to different cameras and panning them unobtrusively about to search each room of the den, but you find nothing except a chop shop filled with decades old medical equipment and the stomach turning remains of some of the scav’s other victims, gore spattering the tile floor of the barbaric operating room and racks of harvest chrome lining one wall. No one who could be ‘Buddy’ though… just a cage off in the corner, too small for any adult unless they were a dwarf or… not an adult at all. Bile rises in your throat - Do the scavs have a kid?. You can’t get a good look at the cage, but having eliminated all the other locations in the den it stands the best chance of being where ‘Buddy’ is. Pulling your hands back from the orb, you wipe them off, trying in vain to peel away some of the filth of what you’ve just seen. Fucking scavs. “Found the target, Alice. Doesn’t look good, scavs have them locked up in a cage the best I could tell.” It takes Alice a moment to answer, disgust written plainly on her face as her crimson eyes remained locked on the crystal orb, a deep fury growing behind them, ”...I saw it as well, such needless cruelty… We must keep going, Kai, lingering only draws more eyes.”
>>5944921“Agreed.” There’s no time to sulk and mope over scavs being unhinged bastards, you’ve got work to do - There are data stores to plunder. Stepping back out from the tent and moving through the camp, you find the datastores are mercifully quite unprotected, and all it takes is popping the crates and barrels open and scooping your hands within to gather up more information that you could possibly review right now - you’ll have hours after the run to look it over. Having plundered the datastores for all they have, and secured a solid understanding of the layout of the den, its defenses, and even those mines guarding the balcony entrance, you could leave the subnet and logout now. The scouting job is done, but you could go further. Those silhouettes, the agents and links of the scavs themselves, they must have the truly juicy paydata, maybe even something vital for the job itself… It’s a big risk though, personal nets might have their own IC, and even alert those goblins lazily guarding the entire subnet.”That one is their leader. Alice points an accusative finger toward one of the larger shades within the camp, the faint outline of a hulkingly large man standing out among the others as soon as Alice directs your attention to him - It’s some kind of trick of Net perception, the footprint left by the leader’s link is not actually larger than the others, Alice’s indication of it has simply grown its importance within your mind.So do you stay and risk running into trouble, or delta?>Attempt to infiltrate the leader’s link, paydata and secrets await. >Snoop around some of the scav’s agents, maybe you can make it easier to cause trouble with their chrome during the job.>Delta, you’ve got what you really need. No unnecessary risks.>Write-in.
>>5944923>Attempt to infiltrate the leader’s link, paydata and secrets await. Perhaps we actually should've let Alice act independently, it seems that as long as we succeed we can cover up for her failure. Better overall chances of success. Too late now though.I could take or leave the paydata, but the mission related information is what's important to me. This job required three people for a reason.Though if people think the leader's link is too risky, messing with the lackeys is probably easier.
>>5944923>Delta, you’ve got what you really need. No unnecessary risks.We basically have earmarked anything important. What is important is we leave a basic rootkit to get back in quickly when the op starts. Preceeding the op we can start messing with agents. Makes more sense to do that stuff when advanced warning doesn't let them move/ change things. As is we can even try tracking the scav leader for when/if he leaves the den.As for agents, they don't have any real backup, we can take the hardware from them during the op and crack it on our own time. Should be easy enough to write a card ejection program that doesn't care if warnings are tripped. Could even leave a "fake file" as per the fake ad we senCapcha: 4vvv
>>5944923>>Attempt to infiltrate the leader’s link, paydata and secrets await.Risk it for the proverbial brisket.
>>5944923>Delta, you’ve got what you really need. No unnecessary risks.Overconfidence and all that jazz. I have the feeling that the big man will have some nasty IC or it will be difficult to crack it. Lets play safe for now.
>>5944923>Delta, you’ve got what you really need. No unnecessary risks.I figure we get out now, we’re NOT very proficient with hacking just yet
>>5944923>Delta, you’ve got what you really need. No unnecessary risks.
>>5945050>>5945033>>5945012>>5944956Delta wins, writing.
“We’ve got him marked, that’s good enough for the job - Let’s delta.” You motion toward the edge of the log palisade with a nod, waving for Alice to follow along. She keeps close and tight, barely a step behind as you hurry back to the wall of the subnet and make good on your escape, utilizing the same backdoor you entered through earlier. In just a few moments the two of you are back out in the junk data of the tall grass surrounding the subnet, safe and intact with the data you came for in hand.”Like thieves in the night.” Alice muses as the two of you hurry off among the data grass, a holographic window appearing in her hand in a little puff of smoke - Some of the logs scraped from the subnet, ”Though this certainly was not their rightful possession. Here, Kai, take a look.”Continuing your careful pace toward the nearby ‘treeline’, you take a look at the logs yourself, noting the corporate logo immediately - These are TraumaTeam corporate records. Denial of service records, timestamps and location coordinates, initial medical assessments, preliminary cyberware diagnostics, even footage of the aftermath of several violent incidents.“...Using it like a damned menu, picking out their targets.” You hand the data back to Alice, shaking your head - It’s not a huge surprise scavs klepped or bought that data, but seeing the logistics of scav work first hand is unsettling. People call Trauma, get denied due to missing a payment, and get scooped by scavs minutes later. “Getting happier by the minute that we’ll zero some of these scopsuckers.” ”No tears will be shed for the likes of them,” Alice states quite matter-of-factly, sighing a moment later and crossing her arms as you reach the safety of the trees and prepare to logout fully - It poses no risk at this point. ”What a tragedy, all of it.”
>>5945169And with a thought, you log out. Layers of digital awareness peel back from your mind, displaced consciousness refusing completely with your body resting limply in your office chair back in meatspace - icey cold recedes, tendrils retreating from your brain like the onset of a migraine played in reverse and sped up. Blinking several times, your vision clears entirely - You’re in your apartment, at your fathers desk, just as you were a few minutes ago when this all began. Except now you have what you were looking for - all the detes you really need for the job. …Not particularly reassuring detes, but it is what it is - You already know there would be a lot of scavs, so did Dolf and ‘Connor’.Alice’s soft tones slip back into your thoughts, carried there directly by your neuralink, ”Shall we call our chooms, Kai?”>”No use waiting on our hands, we’ve got the detes.” Call up Connor and Dolf, let them know what you’ve found out - you can pour over the other data later. >”...Not yet, let's take a look through the data we scraped.” It’ll take hours to review it all, most likely useless, but there’s a chance of something useful among it.>”Not yet, first things first - We’re getting you patched up, Alice.” You’ve got all day to report in with the others and make a plan for the scav job, getting Alice to a better state of functionality might be worth doing first - She’s a choom and your only backup on the Net right now, and besides that you do owe her for stopping you from getting fried earlier.>Write-in?
>>5945170>”...Not yet, let's take a look through the data we scraped.” It’ll take hours to review it all, most likely useless, but there’s a chance of something useful among it.Preparation is the mother of success or some shit like that.
>>5945170>”...Not yet, let's take a look through the data we scraped.” It’ll take hours to review it all, most likely useless, but there’s a chance of something useful among it.It's literally the same day we met Dolf and Connor, and did that drone fetching job with Maeve. Dolf said we had two or three days, and it is just barely passed noon. We've got time. Go to the meeting with some actionable intel and a sketch of a plan in hand, it'll probably impress them.We probably have time to fix up Alice too.
>>5945170>>”Not yet, first things first - We’re getting you patched up, Alice.” You’ve got all day to report in with the others and make a plan for the scav job, getting Alice to a better state of functionality might be worth doing first - She’s a choom and your only backup on the Net right now, and besides that you do owe her for stopping you from getting fried earlier.We didn't find out anything big, but I think this is too glaring to be ignored.
>>5945170>”...Not yet, let's take a look through the data we scraped.” It’ll take hours to review it all, most likely useless, but there’s a chance of something useful among it.We got in and out flawlessly, there’s no rush!
>>5945170>>”Not yet, first things first - We’re getting you patched up, Alice.” You’ve got all day to report in with the others and make a plan for the scav job, getting Alice to a better state of functionality might be worth doing first - She’s a choom and your only backup on the Net right now, and besides that you do owe her for stopping you from getting fried earlier.
>>5945170>”...Not yet, let's take a look through the data we scraped.” It’ll take hours to review it all, most likely useless, but there’s a chance of something useful among it.
>>5945170>”Not yet, first things first - We’re getting you patched up, Alice.” You’ve got all day to report in with the others and make a plan for the scav job, getting Alice to a better state of functionality might be worth doing first - She’s a choom and your only backup on the Net right now, and besides that you do owe her for stopping you from getting fried earlier.
>>5945170>>”...Not yet, let's take a look through the data we scraped.” It’ll take hours to review it all, most likely useless, but there’s a chance of something useful among it.If we're going to be the data guy, we might as well be autistically thorough about it.
Rolled 90, 52 = 142 (2d100)>>5945178>>5945204>>5945218>>5945436>>5945598Reviewing data wins.I need two rolls of 1d100. Higher is better.Rolling for Alice analyzing as well.
Rolled 86 (1d100)>>5945612Rollin
Rolled 63 (1d100)>>5945612EnHaNcE
>>5945621An 86 will do nicely. >>5945622kek
>>5944098Oh shit, I'm lateGlad to see this back
>>5944098Hell yeah CP Quest is back!
“...Not yet, let’s take a look through the data we scraped.” You reply to Alice, mentally preparing yourself for what will surely be hours of tedious document review - even with the help of your neuralink. “Help a choom out?”“Happily, Kai.” Alice’s voice whispers within your mind, more often a soothing presence than an unsettling one, ”...At last a task for which I am not so ill prepared.”Leaning back in your father’s old office chair, you call up the data scraped from the scav subnet with half a thought, text boxes and images flickering half-real in your field of vision thanks to your link. As you begin to skim over the information, you continue to speak with Alice, taking an educated guess as to her current issue, “Don’t let the run get you down Alice, you’ll be blasting through IC in no time once we get you fixed up.””Undoubtedly. Our trip into the net was a thrill though, was it not?” “Hell yeah, preem work too, in and out. I’d heard stories from my dad about netrunning, real dives, but they didn’t get half of it. Felt…””Real?” Alice volunteers the word easily.“Exactly, choom.” You nod mostly to yourself, quite alone within the apartment, and return your full focus to scanning through your klepped data. Most of it is useless junk, as expected - Net searches, scop takeout receipts - buck-a-slice, of course - unread instruction documents for cyberware the scavs definitely didn’t buy legally… A full hour goes by before you stumble upon the first speck of gold in the digital sand you’re panning. “...Huh. Interesting.” You eye the text file curiously, reading and rereading to make sure your suspicions are correct - you can scarcely believe these gonks would store something like this unsecured on their subnet, but gonks will be gonks, “Alice, check these records. Is this what I think it is?””...Registration keys? For games?” Alice questions back immediately, nearly instantaneous with her response but still uncertain, ”Hundreds of them, my goodness!”“Yeah, looks like one of the scavs is dabbling in ‘redistributing’ things other than chrome,” You’d chuckle if their bigger business wasn’t so grim - this kind of petty Net crime is almost comical in comparison to abductions and murders, “I think we can make better use of these, don’t you? Can’t be hard to find buyers.” ”Arrr, aye captain. Raise the black flag.” Alice answers back in a terrible impression of a pirate. It still gets a laugh from you.Asset Aquired: Game KeysEstimated Value: ~€1800
>>5945686“Find anything of your own?” You question before returning back to the endless review - paydata like those keys are nice, really nice, but you’re more interested in something to give an edge on the scav job. Dying makes it hard to spend eddies.You can’t see it, but you can feel Alice sitting up straighter and adjusting a pair of glasses that doesn’t exist - you just know she’s getting ready to present something she’s quite proud of, ”I have been cross-referencing the serial numbers of cyberware harvested by the scavs with those of reported missing persons in the NCPD public database. I believe I have solved four missing persons cases.” “...Wait, seriously?” You ask in mild shock - the data is there, now that you think about it, but putting it together so quickly is impressive, “Is there-””A reward? Quite the mercenary attitude.” “I was going to ask if there was a way to contact their families.” You reply defensively, but you can tell she’s just screwing with you a bit, “Still not helpful for the job, but may as well do some good while we’re working, right?””Good deeds are their own reward.” She answers cheerfully, ”And we might receive some degree of material reward, they may be grateful for closure… if not the news itself.” You’re unsure if you’d even accept payment for delivering that kind of information - you probably would, work is work and you generally wouldn’t deny money freely given, but at the same time it feels like something that should be done out of simple common decency. People deserve some peace and answers about missing family.
>>5945688Several more hours later“...And you’re sure they haven’t updated the firmware for their smartlinks?” The ask for the third or fourth time, questioning Alice’s conclusions on what may be the single most important piece of data you’ve found all day - Several of the scavs have older Militech rifles with defective targeting firmware. A patch was rolled out for it years ago, but for legal reasons that are beyond you it wasn’t offered over the Net and the guns had to be brought in for ‘repair’ in person. Almost none were, and disabling them is rather trivial over the Net. ”Is the pope Catholic?” “Ask the poles, they don’t seem to think so. Anyways, if you’re certain this can be used then that’s good enough for me. All I managed to find were the detonation codes for those anti-personnel mines on the balcony door.” ”But what a distraction that will make!” “True, tinnitus on demand isn’t something to turn down. Might be able to blast a scav or two as well, there’s a lot of those assholes in there.” You cross your arms, finally sitting up in your father’s old chair and surveying the interior of your apartment idly, thinking over everything you’ve gathered: Firm paydata, morally questionable ‘paydata’, means to disable some of the scav’s weapons, as well as a potential distraction with the mines - or even a trap, with a bit of creative luring of scavs.>Call up Connor and Dolf, discuss what you’ve found. No new information on ‘Buddy’ but you’ve got a bag of tricks now, and a better idea of the scav defenses.>”Alright, let’s see if we can get you back into fighting shape, Alice.” Check out some of those encrypted shards you couldn’t access a few days ago, and your father’s old NETWATCH deck as well, it’s possible they could have some of Alice’s data. You’ll need to be careful, Yoko’s warning is still fresh in your mind.>Go looking for trouble and eddies out on Night City’s streets - you’re an NCPD subcon now, try to put some of your new gear to work and collect a bounty. There’s time until the scav job.>Call someone else. (Who?)>Write-in.
>>5945689Ah, maybe we can make a distraction at the back, lure some of the scavs into their own mines, then detonate em. It'll thin them out, attract even MORE to the back, letting us infiltrate the front.inb4 we're 'rescuing' a kid from scavs only to deliver them to a pedophile or something.>”Alright, let’s see if we can get you back into fighting shape, Alice.” Check out some of those encrypted shards you couldn’t access a few days ago, and your father’s old NETWATCH deck as well, it’s possible they could have some of Alice’s data. You’ll need to be careful, Yoko’s warning is still fresh in your mind.I'm actually worried we aren't ready for this. We were warned about old IC and daemons being real bad shit even for modern times, worse even. Still, maybe it's best to poke our heads in just to get a taste of what we need be ready for.I'm not sure about doing dangerous work before our upcoming job either, what if we get injured? It'd ruin our rep if we had to sit this one out because of a stupid mistake prior to the real thing. Still, it'd be a shame to waste the time sitting on our hands.
>>5945689>”Alright, let’s see if we can get you back into fighting shape, Alice.” Check out some of those encrypted shards you couldn’t access a few days ago, and your father’s old NETWATCH deck as well, it’s possible they could have some of Alice’s data. You’ll need to be careful, Yoko’s warning is still fresh in your mind.
Glad yo see you're back, Mainline!>>5945689>Call up Connor and Dolf, discuss what you’ve found. No new information on ‘Buddy’ but you’ve got a bag of tricks now, and a better idea of the scav defenses.>>5945686>”Arrr, aye captain. Raise the black flag.” Alice answers back in a terrible impression of a pirate.Oh no, be still my beating heart!
>>5945697Supporting all this.
>>5945697This sounds good, support. Also, love that we got some game keys kek.
>>5945689>>”Alright, let’s see if we can get you back into fighting shape, Alice.” Check out some of those encrypted shards you couldn’t access a few days ago, and your father’s old NETWATCH deck as well, it’s possible they could have some of Alice’s data. You’ll need to be careful, Yoko’s warning is still fresh in your mind.
Rolled 78 (1d100)>>5945949>>5945893>>5945739>>5945716>>5945697Alright, we'll start with the shards first since they're less dangerous and complex by far.I need two rolls of 1d100, DC 75.Rolling for the armor sa- I mean for Alice.
Rolled 61 (1d100)>>5945958
Rolled 21 (1d100)>>5945958
>>5945996>>5946002>61Well, at least Kai isn't getting fried by the attempt. Writing.
Thinking over your options for a minute, tapping one hand against your father’s old metal desk, you finally settle upon a new course of action - Connor and Dolf can wait a little longer, “Alright, let’s see if we can get you back into fighting Alice.” ”Data shards?” She may as well be a child asking about candy.“Yes, we’re going to crack some of the encrypted ones dad left, see if there’s any of your old data on them,” You get up and move to your bed, pulling the box of shards out from under it, “And once we’re done with these, we’ll try his old deck.””We should take care not to dig too deep or greedily, Kai.” Alice warns, though her still excited tone does a lot to dampen any fear the ominous warning might’ve brought on, ”I wonder if any of my memories will be on the shards as well? Oh, this is so exciting, Kai, thank you!”“Only one way to find out - and save your thanks, might just be about to open a can full of old daemons…” You sit on the bed and go through the usual procedure of connecting to your recently stolen deck, linking into it from your wrist but not going for a dive - not yet. Your other hand grabs a few of the mystery shards, little black not-quite-rectangles, and slots the first in. With a final thought, now you dive in and begin the dangerous wor-Two hours later.
>>5946086”Kai? Kaiiii?” A familiar voice whispers in the dark, ”Anyone home? Oh dear, still no - Aha! There you are!”“Wha…?” You groan awake, eyes blinking at too bright light overhead before slowly lifting a hand to shield yourself from the horrendous glare, “What the hell happened?””He lives!” Alice cheers within your pounding skull - What asshole is playing drums right now? Oh, it’s just your heartbeat. That’s not a good sign.“Did I get spiked by something?” ”A mild daemon, I was able to stop it before it did any permanent damage to your link - I am so happy you are alright, Kai, I was worried the diagnostics were wrong after the first horu passed and…”“The first hour?!” You bolt upright in your bed, unjacking from your deck with a hasty pull and letting the cable snap back fully into your arm port, “How long have I been out? Fuck, my head!-” ”Two, just now.” You can’t see it, but you know she’s checking a pocket watch that isn’t her own. ”We were successful in cracking several of the shards, I even found some of my old data! I can wear hats now.”“W-what?” You wince, closing your eyes and pinching a bit at your forehead with one hand, pain slowly receding, “Hats? What do you mean?””I can make my Net avatar appear with a hat.” Alice states more flatly. You groan again. Knocked out for two hours for Net accessories? That just isn't fair. ”I am sorry Kai, I wish I had better news, or perhaps a sophisticated breaching protocol… I do look rather dashing now though.”Standing from the bed, slowly and with a slight wobble, you head over to the kitchen and grab drink, opening the can with a quick hiss and then sipping away at its over-caffeinated goodness. The artificial flavors are harsh and overly fruity, with a hell of a tang, but you’ll take anything to distract from this headache.
>>5946087“I’d rather have been shot.” You complain mostly to yourself, “...You said you stopped permanent damage?”“Yes, I was able to shield you from the worst of the attack, but only just. Your link was knocked offline temporarily, and the… Imp escaped. I put him back in his box. Friendly little fellow, though rather odd. Do you think you’re ready to resume cracking the shards, or perhaps some buck-a-slice first?” >”Back to the grind. Let’s do this right this time.” That’s twice she’s saved your ass today, netrunning is, as people have warned, alarmingly dangerous. But that just confirms that you need her for backup - some risks are necessary. Crack the rest of the shards.>”Buck-a-slice, I’ll take cardboard scop and synthcheese over jabbing more nails in my brain… Any calls come in while I was out?”>”...I think we’re going to need some more experienced help with this, Alice. Let’s get back out on the streets, we’ll need more eddies for help with this.” You’ll need more eddies for EVERYTHING.>Write-in.
>>5946088>”Buck-a-slice, I’ll take cardboard scop and synthcheese over jabbing more nails in my brain… Any calls come in while I was out?”Maybe we should take a beat, rest up, hit the scavs to retrieve Buddy first before we return to this
>>5946088>>”Buck-a-slice, I’ll take cardboard scop and synthcheese over jabbing more nails in my brain… Any calls come in while I was out?”
>>5946088Okay, so the old timey deck is a no go for us then. Not until we are far more skilled than we are currently, and once Alice has a deck of her own. Even these shards are too much for us.>”Buck-a-slice, I’ll take cardboard scop and synthcheese over jabbing more nails in my brain… Any calls come in while I was out?”We're gonna need a break after that one. A boring boy with no play makes for a very boring day. Or something.
>>5946088>>”Buck-a-slice, I’ll take cardboard scop and synthcheese over jabbing more nails in my brain… Any calls come in while I was out?”With extra sauce.
>>5946088>”Buck-a-slice, I’ll take cardboard scop and synthcheese over jabbing more nails in my brain… Any calls come in while I was out?”
>>5946100>>5946112>>5946120>>5946147>>5946157>>5946367Cheap "pizza" by unanimous agreement, writing.
>>5946455how about Anchovies?
>>5946512>anchovies on $1-a-slice pizzaMy god, anon - are you trying to kill Kai?
“Buck-a-slice,” You agree, still trying to shake of the last of the pains from getting your neurons knocked around by whatever daemon your father had on those shards, “I’ll take cardboard scop and synthcheese over jabbing more nails in my brain… Any calls come in while I was out?””Only one, Officer Reyes attempted what I believe was a check-in call. The Buck-A-Slice is on its way, I have placed the order.” “Vicky? Sounds like her.” You send off a text to her with a thought, all while still sipping away at your drink - the flavor really doesn’t get better over time, you’d prefer a NiCola, but it is what it is. // Message to Victoria Reyes: Hey Vicky, I’m doing fine, just trying to get by. Thanks again for the cookies and checking in, means a lot.// …Yeah, that’ll be enough for now. You dismiss her contact information with a thought, returning your full aching focus to the impending arrival of buck-a-slice. It’s about as cheap and low quality as pizza gets, but as soon as Alice mentioned it you realized you’d been craving it for awhile - Dad would buy it sometimes, even when you lived downtown. He always explained that it was a habit from his college days, and that the taste grew on him… Mom hates the stuff. Heh. You miss having them both around. Sighing, you crumple the now empty can and toss it in the garbage with practiced aim before heading back to your dad’s chair and sending it into a slow lazy spin with a light kick of the floor. Staring up at the lights overhead, and the dark slightly stained ceiling, your thoughts begin to wander. Images and smells from the last week flash through your mind, more vivid than usual - the smell of blood, of burnt powder, billowing CHOOH2 exhaust, all the grime and grit of merc work…
>>5946561”...I believe I was rather fond of buck-a-slice.” Alice’s voice muses quietly in your mind, her ghost blissfully unaware of your darker thoughts, ”I can nearly recall its taste...”“You remember bad pizza?” The absurdity of the claim drags your thoughts back to the present, a small grin spreading across your face. ”No, not a bit, but it did leave an impression... It is familiar. I know not why. It is quite the odd sensation.”“It definitely leaves an impression.” You chuckle lightly, “Must not've been that well off if you picked up a taste for it. Got mine from dad, hiding it from mom made it kind of fun, even if it tastes like greasy cardboard sometimes.””You truly know how to make a food sound appealing, Kai. Bleh.” Alice replies with mirthful sarcasm, and you can feel her next question brewing even before it slips into your thoughts, ”...Who do you think I was before I became like this?”Before she died.>”We’ll find out when we get more data, but whoever you were, you are who you are now, Alice… If uh, that makes sense.” Even faded now, the pain from earlier makes eloquent speech a real bitch.>”...Well, if you got along with my dad, and Yoko, and you like cheap pizza… Maybe a netrunner?” You don’t have much to go on, this doesn’t even qualify as a proper hunch.>”Clearly you were a pirate nomad, Alice. Arr harr.” She *probably* wasn’t, but you honestly don’t have a clue.>Write-in.
>>5946563>”We’ll find out when we get more data, but whoever you were, you are who you are now, Alice… If uh, that makes sense.” Even faded now, the pain from earlier makes eloquent speech a real bitch.
>>5946563makes eloquent speech a real bitch.>”...Well, if you got along with my dad, and Yoko, and you like cheap pizza… Maybe a netrunner?” You don’t have much to go on, this doesn’t even qualify as a proper hunch.
>>5946563>>”...Well, if you got along with my dad, and Yoko, and you like cheap pizza… Maybe a netrunner?” You don’t have much to go on, this doesn’t even qualify as a proper hunch.
>>5946563>”...Well, if you got along with my dad, and Yoko, and you like cheap pizza… Maybe a netrunner?” You don’t have much to go on, this doesn’t even qualify as a proper hunch.>”It’s a bit sad - as you remember who you are, this version of you will slowly disappear.”Ship of Theseus and all that
>>5946563>”...Well, if you got along with my dad, and Yoko, and you like cheap pizza… Maybe a netrunner?” You don’t have much to go on, this doesn’t even qualify as a proper hunch.
>>5946609>>5946622>>5946625>>5946694Writing.
Going to be a bit longer until the next update, got caught up in watching Dune with my family. Should still have it posted later tonight.
“...Well,” You mull over what you’ve learned of the ghost woman the past few days, closing your eyes and reclining further in the chair as you think, “If you got along with my dad, and Yoko, and you like cheap pizza… Maybe a netrunner?” It’s a shot in the dark, close enough to a blind guess, but there’s something to it that pulls at the edges of your thoughts - nothing like a clear pattern of details, but perhaps a faint impression of one. Or perhaps you are simply imagining things which are not there, projecting aspects of yourself on the faint hints of Alice’s past which you’re privy to. ”A netrunner?” Alice ponders, her soothing voice slowly growing as familiar as your own, ever present through your link, ”Yes, perhaps that is who I was. An explorer of the old Net, striking out into the unknown only to be caught unawares by Soulkiller, a victim of Arasaka just as Yoko spoke of earlier… That would be quite the dramatic tale would it not? For a purveyor of shards and daemons, Yoko has quite a sinister aspect when relaying stories.”“Maybe she missed her real calling in life.” You open your eyes, staring up once more at the slightly stained ceiling, “Could’ve been spinning ghost stories like that with Maximum Mike on Morro Rock, would fit right in.” ”Indeed.” Alice laughs lightly, ”There are other stories which tickle at me, teasing things. I could have simply been caught in the DataKrash - Perhaps I am an old woman reliving a sort of second youth, or a witless victim of corporate crossfire in the last war. So many possibilities, none more real than any others, equal musings all of them. I am glad to be alive and here, regardless of the circumstances.”“You definitely keep up beat,” You admire that about her, whatever oddities and quirks she has - Charges of glowering cynicism or depressed resignation could never be brought against Alice, whatever her true past, “Does it bother you?””Not knowing? Indeed, quite terrifically so. But as I see it that is hardly unique, it is… comfortingly human. I learn more by the minute, the search is a thrill. Do you know who you are, Kai?”“I…” You stumble on the question for a moment, failing to find a truly satisfying answer, “I’ll have to think about that more.”
>>5946983An hour later.Finishing off the last slice of the greasy pizza, you look at the now empty box with a hint of regret - That was a lot to eat all at once. Still, it was about as good as you could’ve hoped for, cheap dirty food has a certain appeal even if the taste and texture are lacking. For the next couple of minutes you clean up, disposing of the box, washing your plate, generally busying yourself with mundane tasks instead of thinking about the swamp of problems you’re sinking into. Debt, danger, even death - It takes a back seat to the simple chores of life for a moment. You even take a little longer to clean up the apartment. Finally finished, you find yourself well into the afternoon - Night City won’t be living up to its name for another couple of hours still, but that’s not much daylight to work with. >Head out onto the streets of Night City and see what there is to see - Maybe do some subcon work, maybe just a drive in the Quadra, you don’t have anything particular in mind at the moment, but you want to keep your feet moving - hiding away in a (poorly equipped) netrunner lair isn’t your style. Sleep is for the dead.>Conveen the council of chooms, call up Dolf and Connor and give them all the detes you scraped off the subnet earlier. They might try to drag you off into something else once they know you’re done though, maybe even kick off the job early.>Take it easy for the rest of the day. You’ll need to be well rested for the job, report back to Dolf and Connor tomorrow morning.>Get in a bit of lower risk netrunning practice. There have to be easy targets out there on the Net, and you need to strengthen your barely existing skills. This won't be restful at all.>Call someone. (Who?)>Write-in.
>>5946985>Conveen the council of chooms, call up Dolf and Connor and give them all the detes you scraped off the subnet earlier. They might try to drag you off into something else once they know you’re done though, maybe even kick off the job early.
>>5946985>Conveen the council of chooms, call up Dolf and Connor and give them all the detes you scraped off the subnet earlier. They might try to drag you off into something else once they know you’re done though, maybe even kick off the job early.Nah better give them time to prep if they want to make any last minute changes to any initial plans they had.Sleep aside, kicking it off early is fine too. Then we won't have to worry about wasting days sitting still, worried about being injured before the job and leaving our chooms hanging. Night time makes sneaking easier too.
>>5946985>Conveen the council of chooms, call up Dolf and Connor and give them all the detes you scraped off the subnet earlier. They might try to drag you off into something else once they know you’re done though, maybe even kick off the job early.The better the plan the better the chance we all go home alive.
>>5946985>Conveen the council of chooms, call up Dolf and Connor and give them all the detes you scraped off the subnet earlier. They might try to drag you off into something else once they know you’re done though, maybe even kick off the job early.Planning is good, but we probably shouldn't do the job early after a tiring day like this
>>5946985>Conveen the council of chooms, call up Dolf and Connor and give them all the detes you scraped off the subnet earlier. They might try to drag you off into something else once they know you’re done though, maybe even kick off the job early.I’m not opposed to kicking off the job early tbqh
>>5947141>>5947112>>5947108>>5947050>>5947002>>5946987Writing.
A few minutes later, on the holo with Dolf and Connor.2076.01.06, 16:45Night City (Kabuki, your apartment)“What’s the sitch, choom?” Dolf answers the call as soon as you ping him, Connor following a moment later.“I’ve got the detes on the scav den, scraped everything useful off their subnet,” You speak aloud, spinning slowly in your father’s old office chair as you relay the details - not that Dolf or Connor can see that, you’re just a talking head in a box to them, same as they are to you, two disembodied faces in the corner of your vision, “There are thirty of them, give or take a couple depending on the time of day, spread out across eight rooms. They’re armed with a mix of rifles and submachineguns mostly, nothing heavier, some have armor - most have visible chrome, street grade, barely better than meat… I’ve got a map of it worked up, guard positions will change but the layout is right.”“Damn, that’s a hell of a lot of gonks,” Dolf mutters to himself, frowning contemplatively - Even as a flickering half-real image projected by your link, it’s an intimidating look. Connor bites at her lip, eyes narrowed. “Yep, dumpsters full of them, but that’s only the bad news.” You’re can’t help but grin devilishly, already thinking of the mines, “The good news is we know our target’s location, they’re in this cage back here… Couldn’t get a good look inside, but there’s nowhere else for them to be.”“Sure there’s not a room you missed, like uh, a trap door or sliding bookcase?” Connor questions, eliciting a barking laugh from Dolf. “Too many cartoons, choom, this look like some kind of haunted mansion to you? That’s fancy, scav dens don’t do fancy.”“Hey, fuck off you big meathead, you know what I meant,” Connor rolls her eyes, grinning, “Scavs don’t live by just being gonks, they’re sneaky assholes too, clever enough to hide from cops and stuff - Maybe they’re hiding things.”You tilt your head slightly, contemplating if you might’ve missed something - probably not, “I looked around, didn’t find any mention of it on the data I scraped, or see or hear anything on the cameras - That cage is the best we’ve got.”
>>5947276“And there’s more good news, yeah?” Dolf prompts you, clearly hoping for more.“Oh yeah, hit gold. Scavs have the balcony door over here covered in mines,” You send out an update to the digital map to both of them, pinning the location of the explosive laden door, “And I managed to snatch their remote detonation codes. Can light the whole place up like a block party in Santo Domingo. Some of their rifles aren’t running updated firmware for their smartlinks either, can jam those up - and I picked up some other tricks in Kabuki earlier.““See, that’s that wizard shit I was talking about earlier! He’s not just a doors and cameras guy…” Connor almost cheers at the news, grinning wider before another thought tamps down her enthusiasm, “Uh, you did get the doors and camera controls though, yeah?” “Naturally, got all the basic covered.” You confirm, setting the wiry woman at ease.“Alright, alright, this is what I love to see - We’ve got a map, doors, cameras, numbers, weapons, weaknesses, big bag of spooky ass Net tricks - Ah, choom, I’m feeling all tactical and shit, this is some good stuff.” Dolf is clearly pleased with the results, “So how do we hit them?”“Hard.” Connor offers enthusiastically, if somewhat unhelpfully. “No, I was thinking we’d smack em’ like a pillow - Of course we hit them hard.” Dolf’s image in the holocall box moves about slightly as Connor punches him in the shoulder, “Ow! Hey, hey! Save it for the scavs… little maniac. Been reading up on this kind of op, old Blackhand stuff, Militech tactics manuals - I can put something killer together.”“Holy shit, you can read?” Connor laughs, receiving her own - lighter - punch from Dolf, “Gah! Watch it you big gorilla, I’ll kick next time!”>”Alright Dolf, what’s the plan then?” Hear out what the big guy has to say.>”I was thinking we lure some scavs to the mined door, lock the other rooms up, and enter after detonating the mines - split the scavs up and work room to room, I’ll jam guns and eyes and unlock doors as we go. Grab buddy and ghost out before they can all swarm us.”>”Think there might be a way to do this quietly?” Dolf probably doesn’t do quiet all that well, but Connor… Well, she MIGHT be able to, she’s kind of small and definitely agile enough. Just has to shut up for a few minutes.>Write-in.
>>5947278>”Alright Dolf, what’s the plan then?” Hear out what the big guy has to say.If he has a plan, lets hear him. We can add to it or change it after we hear it.
>>5947278>”Alright Dolf, what’s the plan then?” Hear out what the big guy has to say.>>5947294This
>>5947278>>”Alright Dolf, what’s the plan then?” Hear out what the big guy has to say.Sounds like he has something in mind.
>>5947278Less points of conflict mean less chances for things to go sideways
>>5947278>”Alright Dolf, what’s the plan then?” Hear out what the big guy has to say.But do be ready to interject with our own plan before the meeting ends, may as well hear out all the ideas and compare their pros and cons against each other.
>>5947278>”I was thinking we lure some scavs to the mined door, lock the other rooms up, and enter after detonating the mines - split the scavs up and work room to room, I’ll jam guns and eyes and unlock doors as we go. Grab buddy and ghost out before they can all swarm us.”One thought - can we exploit social divisions in the scab group? Did we pick up on any factionalism between the scavs? Maybe we try to spark a gunbattle between scavs just before we hit the site
>>5947499Social engineering is a hell of a weapon.>>5947486>>5947350>>5947303>>5947294Writing.
Almost done writing. Got caught up in other things again.
”Alright Dolf, what’s the plan then?” You ask the big man, curious as to what he’s been cooking on his own after only just seeing all the information you gathered - not long to think things through at all. “Give me a few minutes and I’ll get back to you, Choom - Need to look this map over closer…” Even in his holocall box you can see Dolf squinting, presumably at the map of the den you sent to him and Connor, “If you can jam the smartlinks on some, could you make them… shoot?”“Even easier, probably.” You furrow your brow as you consider the idea, “Looking to sow some chaos?”“Making their iron bark on its own? Nova, but… that’s kind of fucked choom - I love it! This is why I don’t trust iron though, better to just work a gonk over with a metal bar, or-” Connor starts to comment before getting quieted by Dolf, the small tan woman making a face at him as one of Dolf’s overly large hands waves into Connor’s holocall box briefly.“Chaos is exactly what we need.” Dolf’s taking this more seriously than earlier, though he’s no less enthusiastic, “Anything to draw some of the gonks off, split them up, get them out of there lair. Maybe even get some ‘friendly’ fire going, eh? Bet we can get them at each others throats.”“Getting shot in the gut by a choom that swears the ‘gun went off on its own!’? HAH!” Connor laughs hard at the thought, even mocking wiping away a tear, “That’s preem, choom…”“Interesting distraction along with the mines,” You can’t help but grin devilishly at the thought, smiling at an idea that just a week ago would have horrified you - of course a week ago you didn’t understand the true depravity of most scav groups either, just how fundamentally fucked they all must be to participate in a chrome ‘scavenging operation. Murderers and vultures, worse than mercenaries. They don’t just kill, they defile. It offends every sense of the sacred you bear on a subconscious level.”I could use my crime voice.” Alice offers - though only you can hear her currently, the group call and your near constant connection to her partitioned for now.“It’s an old Blackhand trick - You know if a guy keeps doing solo work for seventy years or whatever the fuck he’s at now, there’s got to be something right going on with his plans.” Dolf’s a hard man to argue with, though you’re only vaguely aware of the man he’s speaking of - Morgan Blackhand, “It’s all in the set up. ‘Low trust gangs’ are ripe for uh, ‘exploitation’, yeah? Bet these gonks are chooms in name only. Lead starts flying from two places at once, they won’t stop to ask questions.”
>>5947808“Would’ve taken you for the guns blazing type, Dolf.” You don’t mean it as an insult, he and Connor both definitely gave off that vibe earlier at the bar - but they opted for you to sniff around on the Net and to prep more gear, so it’s hardly the first sign of prudent action.“Oh, I am, choom, I am. But I like my insides inside, and my eddies not spent on a MedCenter bill. We’re going to need more distractions, something to pull a load of the gonks further apart before we bust down a door… I’ll figure out the breaching plan in a bit, might not even be a door. Distractions first.”“Aw man, I like the part where you draw the colored arrows and x’s on the map.” Connor teases, “Makes you look like that uh… Ah, damn, what’s the sunglasses guy from Bushido XI? The map guy, with the minigun, jumps out of the space shuttle when they’re at the crystal palac- Malcolm!”Dolf’s grin gets bigger and dumber, “Yeah, that’s exactly it! Can’t be sloppy like an old flick though. Think I’d look good with a minigun… Back to the job though - Any other ideas for how to draw more of the scavs out, Kai? I was thinking maybe we spoof a target, get some of them sent off, or set a ghost deal. Get a dozen of them sent off to Rancho looking for chrome that ain’t there, hah!”>”I can spoof some messages, try to lure them out for a fake chrome deal.” That’s new territory, you only just got your Deck, but how hard could it be really? Maximizing distractions seems like a solid foundation before any other plan.>”Maybe, maybe. I’d like to get a feel for the ‘arrows and x’s’ part of this first though, doubt it’ll change too much if we peel a handful more of them off with some gonk business on the other side of NC.” He’s had his couple of minutes to look over the map, push for him to spit out the rest of his idea.>”If we set the guns off in the furthest room, think it’d draw enough away to sneak in through the balcony? Deactivate the mines, unlock the door, grab ‘buddy’ and ghost the way we came.” Stealth has been working great for you so far, why quit now?>Write-in.
>>5947811>”Maybe, maybe. I’d like to get a feel for the ‘arrows and x’s’ part of this first though, doubt it’ll change too much if we peel a handful more of them off with some gonk business on the other side of NC.” He’s had his couple of minutes to look over the map, push for him to spit out the rest of his idea.
>>5947811>>”I can spoof some messages, try to lure them out for a fake chrome deal.” That’s new territory, you only just got your Deck, but how hard could it be really? Maximizing distractions seems like a solid foundation before any other plan.
>>5947811>”I can spoof some messages, try to lure them out for a fake chrome deal.” That’s new territory, you only just got your Deck, but how hard could it be really? Maximizing distractions seems like a solid foundation before any other plan.If it fails at step 1 though, then better have a backup plan worked out. Whether that be the 'lock the doors and go room by room' plan or different, more basic stealth plans that don't involve us trying something new, assuming they haven't noticed us yet.
>>5947811>Spoof some messagesShouldn't be too hard, just get one of the old messages, change the name, date, chrome, and location, and brain blast it to them
>>5946985>Conveen the council of chooms, call up Dolf and Connor and give them all the detes you scraped off the subnet earlier. They might try to drag you off into something else once they know you’re done though, maybe even kick off the job early.But before that, call Vicky.
>>5948129A little slow on the draw, choom.
>>5948129This anon has me thinking though. We aren't the only one that lost our pops. Maybe we should call Vicky soon.
>>5947945>>5947979>>5948018Writing.
“I can spoof some messages, try to lure them out for a fake chrome deal.” Your hand drifts toward your deck sitting atop the desk, and place a foot down to slow and then stop your lazy spin in the office chair, “Shouldn’t be too hard, just need to poke around in “Think you’ll need to spoof voices too?” Connor questions, one of her hands appearing in the holocall box and miming the shape of an ancient phone pressed against her cheek. Her voice shifts into a deeper, gravely tone… which is still pretty high pitched, she just can’t do it well, “Yo, this is Scavvy McGonk, got your text. We on for the Rancho deal?””We are. Eddies are waiting, choom.” Alice replies smoothly, piping into the call through your link, her presence still hidden.“Woah ho ho, that was preem!” Connor breaks ‘character’, if her joking scav imitation even qualifies, laughing in delight at the unexpected voice.“Nova spoof, got that handled then.” Dolf rumbles approvingly, taking Alice’s voice for a voice spoofing program - Hopefully she can do others as well, you’ll need to impersonate particular individuals if it comes up, “How long do you need? I’ll get grinding away on the plan, have it all laid out in… half an hour? And Connor, you can…” “Whips and kicks, bro, whips and kicks.” Comes her squeaky response before Dolf can finish, “Need to practice with my wire more before we’re neck deep in gunfire.”>”I’ll get cooking on that fake deal, call you back in thirty. Maybe we’ll get lucky and they’ve already got a real one happening.” [You will be able to access the scav subnet immediately, your targets are the scav’s personal networks within it.]>”I’ll set up a fake meet later, let’s get the rest of this plan figured out before I dive.” It’ll need to be tweaked if some of the scavs get lured off, >As above, but send Alice off to fake the deal while you stay on the holocall with Dolf. Head out to the Quadra to hook your deck into it temporarily - It still won’t give Alice her missing data she needs to really be a threat, but she should be able to make use of it while you aren’t. She'll be making her own decisions on the Net to get the task done.>Write-in.
>>5948215>”I’ll get cooking on that fake deal, call you back in thirty. Maybe we’ll get lucky and they’ve already got a real one happening.” [You will be able to access the scav subnet immediately, your targets are the scav’s personal networks within it.]We've got a whole day or two still. Time can be spared.
>>5948215>>”I’ll get cooking on that fake deal, call you back in a 2-3 hours. I'm going to need some time for other prep." Still need to get Alice patched up. You need her backup.
>>5948130Yeah I didn't notice lol>>5948164Definitely
>>5948215>”I’ll get cooking on that fake deal, call you back in thirty. Maybe we’ll get lucky and they’ve already got a real one happening.”
>>5948215>”I’ll get cooking on that fake deal, call you back in thirty. Maybe we’ll get lucky and they’ve already got a real one happening.” [You will be able to access the scav subnet immediately, your targets are the scav’s personal networks within it.]I’m feeling good - we’ve done the prep and we’ve got a smart plan
>>5948215>”I’ll get cooking on that fake deal, call you back in thirty. Maybe we’ll get lucky and they’ve already got a real one happening.” [You will be able to access the scav subnet immediately, your targets are the scav’s personal networks within it.]
>>5948517>>5948483>>5948351>>5948218We'll just get right to it then.I need two rolls of 1d100, DC 55. This is for breaching some of the scav's agents and links. How cheeky you want to be with the spoof messages/distractions will come up next.Alice will remain on the sidelines for now.
Rolled 59 (1d100)>>5948536
Rolled 44 (1d100)>>5948536
>>5948539A 59 will do it, writing.
“I’ll get cooking on that fake deal, call you back in thirty.” You’re confident in your ability to pierce a couple of the scav’s personal networks and get the data you need for a quality spoof, ”Maybe we’ll get lucky and they’ve already got a real one happening.” “Good luck with the dive choom, don’t circ out - I’ll have a plan waiting.” Dolf’s farewell rumbles into your thoughts over the holocall, the big man raising a hand before disconnecting.“Don’t get your brain fried, Kai!” Connor says cheerily before disconnecting, flashing a final dual thumbs up and a big smile. Those two are something else, but at least the enthusiasm doesn’t seem to cut into their willingness to plan.Reclining back in your chair for the second time today, you jack back into your stolen deck, close your eyes, and find your consciousness swept away into the Net in a wash of overwhelming cold. When you open your eyes, you’re standing within the digital landscape once more, streams of data filling the air and distant data fortresses dominating the unending skyline. Alice appears beside you, appearing to step from a fog, holographic dress fluttering in a non-existent wind. ”Shall we venture forth?”A minute or so later, back within the scav subnet.Returning to the ill defended subnet was only a matter of thinking your way there, your path already prepared by your previous entry a few hours ago - Alice handled it once again, sending you tumbling briefly from the sky, but instead of outside the palisade you are within the camp upon landing. The gnarly looking goblinoid IC is, as earlier, blissfully unaware of your presence.Shaking your thoughts clear after the jarring transition, you hurry along to the relative safety of one of the nearby ‘tents’ and hide your presence within, sheltering inside a decrepit old terminal the scavs are using to store their data. You already pilfered this one earlier, and it’s only use now is as a safe position to observe the interactions between scav personal nets and the rest of the subnet’s connected systems. Soon enough you become aware of them, the wraith-like forms of personal nets materializing one after another as traffic on the subnet carries on as normal, ghosts walking from tent to tent, occasionally placing data in various crates and barrels or taking from them. Eyeing them over, you spot a few promising targets - Not the leader of the scavs, but a few of the personal networks interacting most frequently with his. Lieutenants of some kind, or maybe just his chooms - they’ve probably got worse IC and most of the same data you’ll need for a spoof. Perfect.
>>5948724A few quick strides carry you from the tent, Alice close behind and keeping the silver thread connecting the two of you held loosely in one hand. Reaching one of the personal nets close to the leader, you extend a hand, grabbing it by the arm and holding it up for a moment as you begin a breach. Grids of numbers and letters flash through your mind, your decks decryption soft struggling to burrow past the scav’s basic security… But you do get in, no alarms raised, no IC scrambled to attack. The data is yours. Alice is far quicker on the draw when it comes to analysis, her free already hand extended and a trio of red icons floating above it - holographic representations of promising contacts, fully picked over. She explains the options quickly, ”These are promising targets for spoofing. The first and most promising is a low ranking Maelstrom lieutenant, ‘Dum-Dum’, a frequent bulk purchaser - Their swaps are usually held at an industrial park in Northside. The next is one of their contacts at TraumaTeam dispatch, ‘Vulture’’, I believe she is the one feeding them their information on service denial locations.”“And the third one?” Upon closer inspection you can see it is actually a pair of icons orbiting about on another, a young woman’s face - clearly one that had work done, strongly resmbling a popstar you vaguely recognize from a few years back - and that of a rough looking man. ”The scav who’s agent we have breached, and the scav leader’s… output?”“Yeah, that’s the word.””It is distasteful, but we may be able to frame her as a disloyal philanderer, and this scav as one of her partners.”“They might be into that.” You half joke, but honestly it’s a risk.”...I doubt it. I have educated myself on such… behaviors. The signs are not there.”“You have?” You arch an eyebrow, intrigued, “What are these ‘signs’ you’re looking for?””J-just pick an option!” Alice turns a brighter shade of crimson, thrusting the floating icons toward you more forcefully.>”Keep it simple, we’ll fake a Maelstrom deal in Northside. Had a run in with them a few days ago, know enough about recent losses to make it sound like they need replacements.” Still not ‘easy’, but the easiest option. >”Trauma’s probably harder to spoof, but we could fake multiple pickup sites.” More challenging work, but perhaps with more scavs pulled out of the den.>”Lover’s quarrel turning into a gunfight is a certified Night City classic.” Scav tempers probably run hot, that kind of work generally doesn’t attract stable personalities. Dicier, you’re working with more unknowns here.>”...Any reason not to try all of them? Might just be a busy day for them tomorrow.” The reason is that it is a hell of a lot harder. It would be very effective if you pull it off.>Write-in.
>>5948726>”Trauma’s probably harder to spoof, but we could fake multiple pickup sites.” More challenging work, but perhaps with more scavs pulled out of the den.With luck, any survivors of our hostage rescue will think this disgusting 'Vulture' sold them out, and thus will hopefully remove the wretched parasite feeder from existence. If anything we're just helping them balance out their karma.Also, still jealous Alice? Maybe if you wore cat ears you'd have better luck. lol
>>5948726>”Trauma’s probably harder to spoof, but we could fake multiple pickup sites.” More challenging work, but perhaps with more scavs pulled out of the den.
>>5948726>”Keep it simple, we’ll fake a Maelstrom deal in Northside. Had a run in with them a few days ago, know enough about recent losses to make it sound like they need replacements.” Still not ‘easy’, but the easiest option. Vulture sounds like someone we could take out in our own time for some good loot.
>>5948726>”...Any reason not to try all of them? Might just be a busy day for them tomorrow.” The reason is that it is a hell of a lot harder. It would be very effective if you pull it off.I think we can do it and it's be very good practice working with the net.
>>5948726>”Keep it simple, we’ll fake a Maelstrom deal in Northside. Had a run in with them a few days ago, know enough about recent losses to make it sound like they need replacements.” Still not ‘easy’, but the easiest option.We're still a fresh netrunner and we're not quite a savant, lets play it safe until we get better soft and better skills.
>>5948726>”Keep it simple, we’ll fake a Maelstrom deal in Northside. Had a run in with them a few days ago, know enough about recent losses to make it sound like they need replacements.” Still not ‘easy’, but the easiest option.Success here could later be parlayed into tricks 2 and 3, if we so choose.
>>5949019>>5948925>>5948879Maelstrom.>>5948905Everything.>>5948775>>5948819>>5948746Trauma.Got a tie between Maelstrom and Trauma, I'll give voting another hour.
>>5948726>”Keep it simple, we’ll fake a Maelstrom deal in Northside. Had a run in with them a few days ago, know enough about recent losses to make it sound like they need replacements.” Still not ‘easy’, but the easiest option.
>>5949083>>5949019>>5948925>>5948879Maestrom wins. I need two rolls of 1d100, DC 45. Higher is better.
>>5949087Maelstrom*
Rolled 17 (1d100)>>5949087I’m feeling good about this boyos. Are there crits in this quest Mainline?
Rolled 53 (1d100)>>5949087
Rolled 42 (1d100)>>5949087
I'm glad I rolled when I did, seeing these rolls. Also very glad the easiest choice won, in hindsight at least.
>>5949090There are, 100 and 1 are both crits. Higher is better, meets beats, the degree of a success or failure increases its potency. Rolls can also REDACTED when they REDACTED, so you should look out for that as well.>>5949095A 53 will do it, writing.
Apologies for the delay today, it'll still be a few hours more. The next update is about half written, kept having things come up.
>>5949087Can we at least mark down who "Vulture" is
“Keep it simple,” You snatch the floating image of Dum-Dum out of the air, commcodes and voice patterns from past holocalls filling the periphery of your vision for a moment as you hold it tight in a closed fist. Reading carefully, your eyes dart from each box of text to the next. Yes, this will do nicely, Alice has done a preem job organizing everything. “We’ll fake a Maelstrom deal in Northside. Had a run in with them a few days ago, know enough about recent losses to make it sound like they need replacements.” ”...Maeve was responsible for their losses?” Alice tilts her head curiously, red eyes peering past you for a long moment as if she was observing something else entirely.“She made a mess of a whole pack of them trying to sell some cargo she klepped running from her raffen clan… How did you know? I don’t remember mentioning it.” ”Intuition. I see I was correct.” Alice smiles a touch mischievously, wiggling her shoulders a bit and clearly far too pleased with herself at guessing correctly, almost laughing in delight, ”We will not use the others?”“After blacking out earlier? Feeling a bit humbled still, Alice.” You scratch somewhat nervously at the back of your head, “I doubt these scavs are packing daemons like that, but I’m sure if we shake the nest a bunch they’d find something to send our way. Sloppy as it is, someone set up their subnet and defenses.””I will not allow them to harm you.” “I appreciate it, Alice. I’ve got your back too.” Her promise isn’t something she can really guarantee in her current state and without a deck, but she’s pulled you out of the fire twice today, “Let’s get out of here, I’ll get the messages ready. You can handle the calls if they try to confirm?””With pleasure.”With a thought you summon up your decks basic spoofing soft, unfurling a holographic scroll and willing false information into it, carefully grafting in commcode information and basic verification protocols before writing up the details of your false Northside meeting with Maelstrom… It won’t stand up to a very close inspection, but it won’t get flagged by anything automatic an agent or link is running. As long as the scavs don’t have a reason to go searching for a problem, they won’t find it. …Probably.
>>5949445“Think I did that right…” You inspect the spoof once more, squinting at it uncertainly. This is the first time you’ve ever done something like this for real. It’s simple work, but a lot is riding on it. You roll it back up and then search about the camp’s interior for the personal network of the scav leader - Alice proves helpful once more, pointing toward the ghostly silhouette with one finger. As it did hours ago, the flickering outline grows in size once more, towering above its transparent compatriots. A few steps carry you and Alice towards the figure, and with a smooth motion you extend the spoofed message toward it - The personal network reaches out, grasping the scroll, and pulls it from you.It accepted it as real!You let out a sigh of relief. Whether or not the scavs buy into the deception is another matter entirely, but you’ve gotten the technically riskiest part of the setup done now. Alice tugs at your hand, pulling your attention back to her - She’s pointing off at another person in the camp. Not IC, another runner. Arms crossed, leaning against one of the stacks of crates nearby, the black hooded figure observes you both with predatory interest - Yellow eyes peer out from under the hood, slitted like a lizard.>Ghost the fuck out, delta yesterday. It doesn't matter who the runner is, anyone seeing you here is bad news.>...Bit of an intense look, but if they wanted to jump you or Alice they could have already. There’s a decent chance it isn’t a scav - Greet them politely.>Greet them somewhat less than politely. Get your IC imp out and pull up your decks basic - and rather unimpressive - default combat soft. Don’t attack, greet them warily.>Write-in.
>>5949449>>Ghost the fuck out, delta yesterday. It doesn't matter who the runner is, anyone seeing you here is bad news.
>>5949449>Ghost the fuck out, delta yesterday. It doesn't matter who the runner is, anyone seeing you here is bad news.Oh shit, time to go. Plothooks can wait, this isn't the place for us to be chatting.
>>5949449>Ghost the fuck out, delta yesterday. It doesn't matter who the runner is, anyone seeing you here is bad news.We should hit the site ASAP, before these vultures steal our target first!
>>5949449We're being traced or watched...It might be prudent to forward our scrolls a few other places while we're at it until we're "boring" to watch.
>>5949449>Greet them somewhat less than politely. Get your IC imp out and pull up your decks basic - and rather unimpressive - default combat soft. Don’t attack, greet them warily.the net is the best place to make friends
>>5949449>Greet them somewhat less than politely. Get your IC imp out and pull up your decks basic - and rather unimpressive - default combat soft. Don’t attack, greet them warily.We've already been spotted. Lets find out if this is a foe... or something else.
>>5949449>...Bit of an intense look, but if they wanted to jump you or Alice they could have already. There’s a decent chance it isn’t a scav - Greet them politely.
>>5949616>>5949474>>5949467>>5949452Δ! Writing.
An electric jolt of fear courses through you at the sight of the dark runner; whoever they are, whatever reason they’re here for, they’re bad news. “Oh shit, delt!-” Before you can finish speaking Alice’s hand is already wrapped about yours, a wall of vertigo slamming into you once more as you fall upward through the Net. Out of the subnet in a blur, passing through the code filled liminal spaces your mind can scarcely process, before getting dumped in a violent tangle of limbs far off… somewhere.Alice rolls off of you as you try to pull a trapped arm from under her, and everything is a terrible mess of tangled bodies, enough almost to make a person lose track of themself, until you at last separate properly and begin to brush yourselves off. Streams of blue data pass lazily overhead, carried on non-existent winds through the valley and off towards a data-fortress which is altogether far too close, the great menacing bulk of its dark blue, nearly black, stone walls towering high above. Rising uncertainly to your feet, eyes darting about warily across the shadows cast by the enormous structure, you finally settle your gaze upon Alice. A faint green string is wrapped about her, shooting off into the sky in a flickering line - A trace. Her dark hair is a bit ruffled, messier and puffier from the fall, and she’s still trying to wipe scrap data from her red dress… But her eyes are fixed firmly upward, toward the trace and beyond.Following her gaze, a speck appears in the streams of data snaking through the air overhead, falling parallel to drawn out tracing string. Though black at first, as the dot grows closer you find it shifting to red, changing from a speck to a shape, and from that vague form finally to a hat. It lands neatly atop Alice’s head, as if it was always meant to be there - It’s a tiny thing, a miniature top hat, an anachronism in your fantastical visualization of the Net but hardly moreso than her dress or your jacket ever were. At once, as if the frame of a film changed, Alice’s hair is fixed, now perfectly groomed, her red dress unwrinkled and free of imperfection, and the green tracing string burnt away by black and crimson flame, ceasing to bind her. A feeling of reassurance carries across the silvery cord of your link, calming your pounding heart.”Are you injured?” Alice asks strangely, leaning far over to peer at you, dark hair hanging loose as she cranes her neck, mere inches from you.“No, I-” You take a half step back from her intense, and far too close, stare, “I’m fine, I think. You?” You run a diagnostic quickly, confirming the belief - your Net connection is stable, your deck is fully functional, and there are no indicators of biofeedback or neurological damage of any kind.
>>5949903”I am thoroughly exhilarated! Oh, a proper whirlwind escape will get the heart pounding like a drum, like drum, thum, thum, thum…” Slowly Alice leans back, whatever temporary mania’s grasped her fading as her eyes flick up toward the dark walls of the looming datafortress. Her grin collapses into a terse displeased line. “Harumph. Perhaps we should not stay here, Kai.”“Hell no.” You agree quickly, having no desire to find out what’s going to come out of that fortress if you linger near it for too long, “Log off?” “We are no longer traced, though perhaps I missed a strand… Mmm, clear as a spring day!” Alice flashes a confident grin, energy filling her once more, before waving for you to follow her. Together you travel on foot directly away from the fortress wall and out into the wilds of poorly managed Net infrastructure, “Why in such a hurry, Kai? Our work on the Net is hardly done.”“The spoof? We got the message through, and it’s too hot to go back with another runner sniffing around.” Now that you’ve had a few seconds to think, more questions slowly bubble up from your mind, the brisk stroll back into the wilds jogging your thoughts, “How’d you kill the trace with your hat? I thought it was useless other than for… looks…”Alice tips her tiny hat with a careful motion, her hair and dress flashing back into a mess for a split second before returning to total tidiness, ”I fiddled with it while you took your greasy vittels, and after toiling for a time I discovered the secret of the hat. It not only changes my look, it change me! Ah, but we still have enough on our plates, buck-a-slice or no. Enough of the past when adventure awaits!”>”...Nova, glad I blacked out for something then, that headache just about killed me after - Anyways, you think the spoof isn’t done?” Stay on target, stay on target.>”...Greasy vittels? What? Are you sure you’re alright?” She’s getting weird again.>”Got something else in mind besides the spoof?” The message was sent, further spoofed correspondence can be handled later. Why not log out now? >Write-in.
To clarifying a bit on the options, #1 is pushing to work on the spoof more, #3 is more curious about alternatives/exiting the Net. Realized they're a bit ambiguous on the differences.
>>5949904>>”Got something else in mind besides the spoof?” The message was sent, further spoofed correspondence can be handled later. Why not log out now?cyberdate
>>5949904>”Got something else in mind besides the spoof?” The message was sent, further spoofed correspondence can be handled later. Why not log out now? We've got time. Sure, our chooms are waiting on us for the planning and stuff, but we've still got days. Still, we're sure the trace is gone, right?
>>5949904>hats change her>black hat/white hatgoddamn it GM
>>5949904>>”...Greasy vittels? What? Are you sure you’re alright?” She’s getting weird again.
>>5949904>”...Greasy vittels? What? Are you sure you’re alright?” She’s getting weird again.Personality instability seems a bit worrying
>>5949904>”...Greasy vittels? What? Are you sure you’re alright?” She’s getting weird again.
>>5949904>”...Nova, glad I blacked out for something then, that headache just about killed me after - Anyways, you think the spoof isn’t done?” Stay on target, stay on target.
>>5949999>>5950000>>5950088Writing.
“...Greasy vittels? What?” You ask confused, looking your digital choom over with worry, “Are you sure you’re alright?” ”Vittels? Erm… victuals. The ‘buck-a-slice’. It was greasy, was it not?”“Uh, sure,” You brush past the archaic mannerisms, already somewhat accustomed to odd speech patterns from Alice, “The hat changes you? I'm concerned about that, not what you're calling food.””...Oh, of course. I see why you might be taken aback,” She lifts the hat slightly once more, her hair bursting into a messy spray of dark strands, ”I am still myself deep down, do not worry a bit!”“Not exactly normal though, is it?” You scratch at the back of your neck as the two of you pass under the branches of small copse of trees, twisted old elms representing half abandoned subnets from the year prior, probably bit of infrastructure a smaller corp forgot to shut down, or perhaps far older, “Changing like that, I mean. It’s so sudden. You’re in control of it?””Indeed, indeed, quite in control, more than yesterday but not half so much as a week and a day ago, or so I suspect.” The hat settles back into place, Alice’s ‘clean’ look returning along with her odd shift in behavior. Clasping her hands together with a loud slap, she gives you a fiery, determined look. ”Much remains to be done - there will be time for wither-tos and why-fors later, and much talk of my stability - though I assure you I am the very picture of engramatic cohesion. Shall we get to work once more?” “...If you say so. I’m just trying to look out for you, Alice. Sudden changes aren't natural... I don’t know how this is supposed to work.” Without an expert on artificial intelligence, human derived or otherwise, there’s really no method by which you can check her assertion other than to observe behavior and guess. For now you choose to speak honestly and carry on, worry still brewing at the back of your thoughts. “Get back to working on the spoof then?””...Perhaps, perhaps not. We have…” Alice holds out a hand, a small hologram of a pocketwatch appearing, dangling from a glittering chain. She cranes her neck over to inspect it, lips curling into a mischievous grin, ”...The better half of half an hour, half again more than needed for a spot of adventure - Shall we set off? Data awaits.”>”Your data? You have something particular in mind, Alice, don’t you?” That's new.>”After the job, we have a contract to finish out, Alice - Scavs first. We still need to shepard that spoof along, make sure they fall for it.” Stay on target. You’ll have to be wary of that other runner.>”A runner tried to trace us - did, for a sec - Let’s not push out luck, it’s time to leave the Net.” Enough close calls for today, just let it be and check back in with Dolf. >Write-in.
>>5950308>”A runner tried to trace us - did, for a sec - Let’s not push out luck, it’s time to leave the Net.” Enough close calls for today, just let it be and check back in with Dolf.Is this even Alice, or are WE now getting spoofed by that other runner?
>>5950308>”Your data? You have something particular in mind, Alice, don’t you?” That's new.Uh...this is worrisome. Not to say she isn't fun like this, but I'm not sure how much of this is AI weirdness and how much is the runner we ran into. I'll go along with it, I guess.
>>5950308>>”A runner tried to trace us - did, for a sec - Let’s not push out luck, it’s time to leave the Net.” Enough close calls for today, just let it be and check back in with Dolf.
>>5950308>”Your data? You have something particular in mind, Alice, don’t you?” That's new.I'm not worried about this, a "hat"/disguise program making superficial changes to speech patterns and the like makes sense, it's probably a filter applied to her.
>>5950308>”Your data? You have something particular in mind, Alice, don’t you?” That's new.Maybe the hat is linked to a data cache?
>>5950522>>5950472>>5950317Writing.
“Your data?” You ask, eyes widening at Alice’s words. It seems unlikely she’d care much about any other kind. “You have something particular in mind, Alice, don’t you?” ”Indeed I do, Kai - It only just occurred to me, a bolt of inspiration struck as soon as we fled that hooded rapscallion. It is almost embarrassing that I had not thought of it sooner, considering our first meeting.”“When you put on your hat?” You stop by one of the gnarled old trees, keeping under its ancient shade - perhaps a decade or two old, downright wizened by reconstructed Net standards, “See, that’s the kind of shit that makes me think you’re gonking out, Alice.” ”No, no - When I obliterated the trace!” Alice claps her hands together with, sparks of black red flame cracking forth as she laughs in delight, ”Haha! Oh, what a thrill!”“It was rushed, but a clean getaway compared to what could’ve happened…,” You can feel her renewed confidence surging through the link connecting you - Whether the hat has changed her on some deeper level is unclear, but for now it seems to merely be a massive boost to her confidence, “Really nova work - Can you do more than kill a trace though?”Her grin fades, mouth scrunching up in annoyance, lines of code flickering briefly across the surface of her transparent red skin, ”To my dismay, no - And with a bit of bravery, and a companion with a deck, that should be more than enough to explore the hinterlands of my old fortress… Or rather the fortress I tried so desperately to contact upon first waking. In truth I have not the slightest inkling of who owns or owned it, or if it even exists.”
>>5950890“Woah, woah, hold up,” You shake your head, waving your hands in front of you in the universal sign of ‘oh fuck that gonk idea’, “You want to go snooping around a data-fortress? On purpose? Look, I get that you think you might find something of your old self there, makes sense, but that’s like wandering the badlands looking for old war scrap, you’ll find it in the form of a landmine.””Mmm, yes, of course there is a real danger to the endeavor, but so long as we keep our wits about us and refrain from touching what should not be touched, I see no reason to fear it. Now that I can hide us, the risk of watchers is far smaller. I do not propose we attempt to enter, I am very fond of living, data or no. What do you say, Kai? If the fortress has become a derelict, then the longer we wait to act the more likely it is that data will be lost to time. It could be fading even as we speak!”>”...Alright, fuck it, I’m in. But just around the outside of the fortress, alright? Not getting zeroed over just a chance at some data.” Dangerous(?) side quest at a spooky castle, what could go wrong?>”Later, Alice. We have to take these jobs one at a time, scavs first and then maybe we use the eddies to prepare better, come back with more than a weird hat and a deck I’ve had for less than a day.” Log out, talk with Dolf, get on with the job back in meatspace. This doesn’t close off working on the spoof more.>Write-in.
>>5950891>”...Alright, fuck it, I’m in. But just around the outside of the fortress, alright? Not getting zeroed over just a chance at some data.” Dangerous(?) side quest at a spooky castle, what could go wrong?This is a terrible idea, I'm in.Seriously though, the better idea would be to at least spend the day dealing with the shards we have lying around, maybe even splurge out for a cheap deck for her, rather than actually doing this, let alone going in. I feel like actually entering would be about as bad as probing dad's old deck at our current skill level. Still, as long as we stay outside, this isn't 100% suicide, which isn't saying much.If we didn't have a couple days to spare, I would say to focus on the spoof and the scav mission, but I'd rather we spend our spare time risking our brain getting scrambled like an egg than spend it risking our flesh in blood in the streets right before a big job.
>>5950891>”Later, Alice. We have to take these jobs one at a time, scavs first and then maybe we use the eddies to prepare better, come back with more than a weird hat and a deck I’ve had for less than a day.” Log out, talk with Dolf, get on with the job back in meatspace. This doesn’t close off working on the spoof more.Look, this whole personality shift is a red flag for me
>>5950891>”Later, Alice. We have to take these jobs one at a time, scavs first and then maybe we use the eddies to prepare better, come back with more than a weird hat and a deck I’ve had for less than a day.” Log out, talk with Dolf, get on with the job back in meatspace. This doesn’t close off working on the spoof more.
>>5950891>”...Alright, fuck it, I’m in. But just around the outside of the fortress, alright? Not getting zeroed over just a chance at some data.” Dangerous(?) side quest at a spooky castle, what could go wrong?What is life without risk?! The potential gains are immense!! Having our own data fortress would kick ass
>>5950891>”...Alright, fuck it, I’m in. But just around the outside of the fortress, alright? Not getting zeroed over just a chance at some data.” Dangerous(?) side quest at a spooky castle, what could go wrong?Blaze of glory, dex. Blaze of glory.
>”Later, Alice. We have to take these jobs one at a time, scavs first and then maybe we use the eddies to prepare better, come back with more than a weird hat and a deck I’ve had for less than a day.” Log out, talk with Dolf, get on with the job back in meatspace. This doesn’t close off working on the spoof more.Let's do >>5950910 with looking at the shards and maybe look at getting a deck for her, but I want to do the job first and get experience. We didn't even know we were being tracked.
>>5950891>”Later, Alice. We have to take these jobs one at a time, scavs first and then maybe we use the eddies to prepare better, come back with more than a weird hat and a deck I’ve had for less than a day.” Log out, talk with Dolf, get on with the job back in meatspace. This doesn’t close off working on the spoof more.Hm, hm, very risky. Let us focus on the problems of the now.
>>5950891>>>”...Alright, fuck it, I’m in. But just around the outside of the fortress, alright? Not getting zeroed over just a chance at some data.” Dangerous(?) side quest at a spooky castle, what could go wrong?We can do an inital survey from the outside. Can get tools later to do something proper. Getting the resources for those tools is goal #1 though. Therefore one job at a time. Cruising around the net takes almost no time in the day at least.
>>5951026>>5950968>>5950964>>5950910Spooky data adventure.>>5950911>>5950946>>5950973>>5951016Back to the meatspace.Got an even split so far, I'll give it another couple of hours.
>>5950891>>”...Alright, fuck it, I’m in. But just around the outside of the fortress, alright? Not getting zeroed over just a chance at some data.” Dangerous(?) side quest at a spooky castle, what could go wrong?
>>5951048>+1 spooky data adventure
>>5950891>>”Later, Alice. We have to take these jobs one at a time, scavs first and then maybe we use the eddies to prepare better, come back with more than a weird hat and a deck I’ve had for less than a day.” Log out, talk with Dolf, get on with the job back in meatspace. This doesn’t close off working on the spoof more.
>>5951054>>5951083>>5951026>>5950968>>5950964>>5950910Spooky data adventure wins 6-5, writing.
“...Alright, fuck it, I’m in.” The words escape you with more enthusiasm than you realized was building, trepidation turning easily into a kind of dangerous excitement - maybe Alice’s new confidence is contagious somehow. “But just around the outside of the fortress, alright? Not getting zeroed over just a chance at some data.” ”I would never dream of going further, not in our current shabby state…” Alice considers her words carefully, tapping a finger against her lips as she thinks it over, eyes fixed upward at some unseeable point far beyond any horizon, “Mm, perhaps I would dream it, but I would not do it! Let us be off then, Kai!”The well-hatted ghost extends a slender hand toward you in the shadow of the old Net tree, waves of detail washing over her skin. Holographic red one moment and then very nearly indistinguishable from a living person the next, at times she’s more real looking than your own avatar. Taking her hand in yours, clasping tightly, you close your eyes and prepare for the inevitable falling up that you’ve begun to associate with her style of rapid Net travel…But it isn’t like that this time. It isn’t like that at all. You do not fall, but slide. Like a pair of skaters blown by a gust of wind across the ice, you simply move. Trees and hills peel away into blocks of abstract code, then streaking lines of lights. Monumental data-fortresses blur from castles into simple geometries before zipping past and entirely out of sight. Faster, and faster, and faster still, you slide - The naturalistic landscape is gone now, nothing is recognizable except the endless horizons of the Net and flowing streams of data above and below you. Even the dataflows vanish into the dark, drifts of and dunes of scrap data replacing them. Soon those begin to flatten, to grow bleak, worn down...…And only the Blackwall remains.
>>5951644As suddenly as it began, your motion stops. Data coalesces slowly on the desolate plain surrounding the Blackwall. Barren wastes devoid of life stretch forever to either side before the ominously undulating surface of the infinite black and red barrier. The skies are devoid of data flows, dead. Squinting, straining to perceive the Net with your deck’s limited ability, you begin to notice more of the bleak ‘landscape’ lying in the shadow of the wall. There are ruins here among the dunes of white grey scrap data. Rubble, of a kind. Walls and towers, crushed almost to dust, the detritus of old servers long lost. Net infrastructure half a century old at least… None of it is active. Imprints are all that is left, nothing is interactable, nothing lives. It has all been reduced to grave markers for a long gone era. ”...Drat.” Alice’s voice is a whisper, but it thunders loud in the silence, echoing again and again in the bleak emptiness before the wall. Slowly she removes her hat, that gleaming spark of adventure that burned in her eyes dying. In a flicker her hair is a mess once more, her dress tarnished. ”I had hoped there would be something here… Dust to dust.”She cries out and kicks at a stone on the ‘ground’ in frustration, knocking free a cluster of advertisements for a show that hasn’t been made since before even your father was born. Ancient, useless, dead data. It loses coherency, dissolving into nothing, more dust to settle among the ruins. “There’s still the ruins, we could look around. Might be part of the fortress… You’re sure you pinged this before?” You glance about somewhat nervously, your voice carrying just as far as Alice’s has, echoing strangely. The Blackwall seems to absorb the ‘sound’, a feeling deep within the recesses of your mind screaming at that it is aware of your presence - But if it is, it makes no move but to fluctuate slightly, like the slightest ripples on a vertical pool of red and black before settling back to vertical striating rows of red data. On the far side of the wall, something pounds at the great red and black barrier, causing a small portion to bulge. It soon returns to near placidity.”...I am certain of it, Kai.” Alice leans down and picks up another piece of old data, inspecting a degraded skull even as it crumbles away, falling to ashes in her hands, ”Burned from the inside. Destabilized.”
>>5951650Alice takes a few steps toward a larger clump of data speared through by a shattered stone pillar, clearing some of the ashes from it with a swipe of her hand - The small motion moves more ash than it should, a gust of wind clearing the rest of the object she is inspecting… It is a colossal jawbone, a few teeth missing but otherwise recognizable as human. Sighing in defeat, on the very verge of sobbing, she buries her head in her hands and leans against the bone pile, sinking slowly down into a defeated kneel. “Alice, there’s more. We can keep looking for…” The Blackwall pulses again, something else pushing against it from the other side, a deep resonating thrum passing vibrating the ruins, and bones, and dust, and your soul. The barrier holds. “...Fuck. Uh…” It takes a moment to clear your thoughts, “We can keep looking, there might be something that survived. Maybe the fortress got buried, there’s no telling how deep this all goes.”Indeed, the longer you spend here the clearer the details of your bleak surroundings are becoming, what appeared at first as drifts or small dunes of ash and dust beginning to clear to reveal more shattered ruins or great bone piles. A weapons, countless degraded swords and spears, some thrust into the ground, others into walls or bone piles, some simply discarded. Rotten and rusted, the imprints of thousands upon thousands of corrupted combat programs litter the area beneath the wall. ”Did you bring a shovel? A pick?” Alice’s response is bitter, a surge of petulant anger and frustration pulsing through the cord connecting you, ”It is all gone. Everything is gone. I do not remember it but… It hurts.”A smaller impact strikes the far side of the Blackwall, another ripple sent across its black and red depths, lines of code vibrating… almost into song. You don’t understand it, but the wall is singing, quietly, almost silent even in the great bleak stillness of the wastes around it.>”...Is this from the datakrash?” Sit beside Alice, she needs some support. This definitely doesn’t seem recent, certainly not from as close as New Years. However this might relate to your father, if at all, it’s a lot older than his death.>”...Just stay here, Alice, take whatever time you need… I’ll look around, maybe there’s a program we can capture… or something left. Anything.” She needs time to process this, but you came here for data. You can capture data with your deck, store it away on a shard for later use or just give it directly to Alice if it’s her own. >”We should get out of here, Alice, come on.” Pull her back to her feet and exit the Net.>Write-in.
>>5951653>>”...Is this from the datakrash?” Sit beside Alice, she needs some support. This definitely doesn’t seem recent, certainly not from as close as New Years. However this might relate to your father, if at all, it’s a lot older than his death.
>>5951653>”...Is this from the datakrash?” Sit beside Alice, she needs some support. This definitely doesn’t seem recent, certainly not from as close as New Years. However this might relate to your father, if at all, it’s a lot older than his death.it's the blackwall, we'll be fiiiiiine....probably
>>5951653>”...Is this from the datakrash?” Sit beside Alice, she needs some support. This definitely doesn’t seem recent, certainly not from as close as New Years. However this might relate to your father, if at all, it’s a lot older than his death.
>>5951653>”...Is this from the datakrash?” Sit beside Alice, she needs some support. This definitely doesn’t seem recent, certainly not from as close as New Years. However this might relate to your father, if at all, it’s a lot older than his death.She’s older than we think, clearly - maybe not human after all
>>5951674>>5951761>>5951786>>5951821>>5951847Writing.
“...Is this from the datakrash?” You ask quietly, wary of how your voice has been echoing. Alice remains quiet as you sit down beside her in the ashes, leaning back against the enormous weathered jawbone.”I… I do not know. Perhaps so. What else could create such a grave?” Her words are a whisper, solemn and sorrowful. Sitting seiza, sunk into the ash nearly past her knees, she runs a red hand across the ground, leaving a furrow in the corrupted and lifeless data. ”What do you think their names were?”“I couldn’t say. They’ve been resting for a long time now, whoever they might have been.” It’s a grim resting place, a scorched charnel field left lifeless in the Blackwall’s shadow, “Another impression?”“Something of the kind. May we wait here?”“We have time.” Dolf’s not expecting you for another twenty minutes at least, and after the week you’ve had you won’t begrudge someone for their mourning. Silence settles upon you both, and the shadowed data wastes, and time passes. You contemplate the events of the last week, the whirlwind that has pulled you along since your father’s death - even today feels like it has gone on forever, starting with blood in out the badlands and leading to this digital mass grave…At some point, you’re not quite sure when, Alice began to lean on your shoulder as you sat together, her head resting against the simulated material of your jacket. It isn’t nice, nothing in this desolate place could be, but it is… welcome. A reminder of life. And while you rest together, and Alice mourns silently for a past she cannot remember, the Blackwall sings. Eerie, utterly inhuman, it resonates across the Net, brushing strangely against the edges of your thoughts, pulling at the cohesion of your avatar. Dull thumps sound against it, impacts upon the far side, each failed escape accenting the alien song. You close your eyes and listen.Footsteps sound in the emptiness, thunderingly loud. Someone else is approaching. Several someones. They do not belong here.
>>5951963Opening your eyes, you see them - three figures moving toward the wall, a pair holding a box between them, each gripping a handle, and the other at the head of the group. Their forms are obscured, blurring distorted boxes shifting about vaguely humanoid shapes hidden beneath, a shifting veil of dark red fractals covering each. They are humans, netrunners, and they have not seen you. “...This is the location.” The leader of the trio speaks, her voice distorted heavily, “Do not fuck this up, I’ve got a lot riding on this. The board... Ugh, just keep an eye open for NETWATCH.” “Ooh, NETWATCH going to get us, jump out from behind every bone and zap us good.” One of the box carriers laughs back, distorted but clearly accented, not a native English speaker. “Everyone goes to the dust some day, yeah? Not our day.”“Ha, yeah, not ours.” The other carrier chuckles in a far deeper voice, sharing a similar accent you cannot place. “You brave or stupid to think you control this for long. But we snag it, eddies good. Buy a new chair and new girl, ahaha!”“I am not paying the two of you for... for comments! Load the program and prepare the capture protocols.” The woman barks back sharply, “Go, get it against the wall.”“Ay, Blackwall, long time, ne?” The second carrier laughs as both men make their way toward the Blackwall, “Help a choom out and give us a BIG one, yeah? A real nasty girl, someting with claws.” The ‘leader’, or probably more of a client you realize now, watches impatiently as the two jovial men cross the last few dozen meters toward the Blackwall and black the box against it. They haven’t seen you or Alice, a layer of old data having settled lightly on both of you, a fine covering of dust doing just enough to hide you.What the hell are they doing?
>>5951967“Capture protocols ready?” The client shouts, refusing to approach the wall any closer than she had when sending the two men off. A shout and wave come back in the affirmative from the two men, the pair just barely still in sight, “Yeah, capture good and ready!” “Pro…” The woman fails to finish the command. She stamps her foot slightly in the ash, balls her fists, and shouts the order firmly, “Proceed!” Hellish screeching, inhuman and agonized, pierces across the wastes as the breach begins - It is not the wall crying out in pain, it continues to sing - No, it is noise from the other side. Alice’s hand grips your own tightly, shaking. Taking a few steps back at the horrific noise, the client woman looks about the area… Her shifting fractal eyes settle upon you and Alice.Does she actually see you?>Watch silently. Do not move, do absolutely nothing to reveal yourself. Dead data, scrap, dust, ash - that’s all you are, just another pair of ancient corpses. Maybe she hasn’t seen you. >Bolt immediately. Flee further into the ruins and bones - maybe the breach will keep them distracted enough that you can escape and begin to head back to the rest of the Net.>...She’s scared. Use that. You are covered in the ashes of the dead and a ghost stands at your side. Play the part of an ominous specter… long enough to get the hell out of here. Bluff.>Write-in.
>Watch silently. Do not move, do absolutely nothing to reveal yourself. Dead data, scrap, dust, ash - that’s all you are, just another pair of ancient corpses. Maybe she hasn’t seen you.
>>5951968>Watch silently. Do not move, do absolutely nothing to reveal yourself. Dead data, scrap, dust, ash - that’s all you are, just another pair of ancient corpses. Maybe she hasn’t seen you.
>>5951968>>...She’s scared. Use that. You are covered in the ashes of the dead and a ghost stands at your side. Play the part of an ominous specter… long enough to get the hell out of here. Bluff.
>>5951968>Watch silently. Do not move, do absolutely nothing to reveal yourself. Dead data, scrap, dust, ash - that’s all you are, just another pair of ancient corpses. Maybe she hasn’t seen you.Whoa, are they playing dead program Pokémon over there?
>>5951968>Watch silently. Do not move, do absolutely nothing to reveal yourself. Dead data, scrap, dust, ash - that’s all you are, just another pair of ancient corpses. Maybe she hasn’t seen you.Just got caught up. My morning shit just isn’t the same without my favorite /qst/ threads.Good to have ya back, QM!
>>5951968>Watch silently. Do not move, do absolutely nothing to reveal yourself. Dead data, scrap, dust, ash - that’s all you are, just another pair of ancient corpses. Maybe she hasn’t seen you.spooky! Lets hope they don't get something wrong and let something out...
>>5952122M1ss1ngn0 appears.
>>5951967Hire-ons maybe Voodoo boys, that 'someting' and all that. Or Japanese because of the 'ne', though I'd think we'd recognize the accent more clearly if it was something that common. No idea for the leader, either corpo or a criminal org with a board structure.>>5951968>Watch silently. Do not move, do absolutely nothing to reveal yourself. Dead data, scrap, dust, ash - that’s all you are, just another pair of ancient corpses. Maybe she hasn’t seen you. Bluffing will just get us into a fight we aren't prepared for.The net is a scary place. I'd rather risk walking through your average bad neighbourhood in Night City.
>>5952037>>5952054>>5952122>>5952187>>5952274>>5952276>>5952340Writing.>>5952122Not quite. I haven't been emphasizing it much but you can absolutely play Pokémon with wild programs on the Net, lots of things are captured rather than made. That is how the IC imp that Kai purchased was 'made'. It got caught, shackled and dedicated to a clearer purpose, and stuffed in a shard. >>5952340Kai would immediately know if they were Japanese, you can rule that out at least. The net is very scary, you're right about that, choom.
>>5952355>The net is very scary, you're right about that, choom.Yeah, I hear there's terrifying programs out there made to run on JAVASCRIPT, BASH, C, and even GNOME. God help the netrunners that encounter these entities, created by madmen.
…You keep as still as a corpse, remaining exactly as you were before the netrunner woman’s gaze fell upon your hiding place. Her eyes glow dark blue, distorted by the swirling fractals concealing her form. The shifting shapes hover above her avatar’s body, distorting into new patterns as the hellish screams continue to sound from the direction of her hired netrunners and their ‘capture box’. Alice’s hand grows still, her shaking ceasing, but you can feel her fear through your link.“...What the fuck are those?” The woman’s blue eyes narrow, and she takes a step closer toward your accidental hiding spot. Can a layer of dust really hide you? It settled upon you without your notice - these wastes before the Blackwall are where it all seems to settle, where the winds end. Another step, and another, she grows closer, head cocked to the side curiously as she approaches directly toward you. She must see you. She sees something. The otherworldly screeches continue, vibrations traveling through the ash dunes and drifts, shaking the shattered ruins, pulling again at your thoughts. Screams of dying beasts, of mothers discovering slain children, rage, hatred, fear, despair, and a sea of noise and thought utterly alien in its vastness - gnashing, gnawing, clawing. The noise digs at everything - and it draws the woman’s attention back to the wall again, too horrific to be ignored.“Is… Is the capture working?” She turns her attention from your spot and shouts to the two men and their box. You dare not look, not even a slight turn of your head - you cannot see them.“Preem connection!” One of them answers back, barely able to be heard in the cacophony now filling the wastes, “Stability good too, real good - We… Wait.” “Wait? Wait what? What’s going on?” Panic fills the woman’s voice immediately, standing within a waking nightmare too much for whatever resolve she might normally possess - fields of bones and ash, the Blackwall, and what screams and gnashes beyond it. “Is… Is there trouble with the capture?”“No, no, we good, big claws though, sharp teeth,” The man reassures her, but even through the distortion and screams you can hear uncertainty, “Make your [indecipherable] ‘board’ happy, yeah?”
>>5952579“...Uh, very! Keep it going!” The woman crosses her arms, eyes fixed on the box and its screaming connection to the Blackwall, one foot tapping nervously in the piled ash which covers everything, tap, tap, tapping away at the old dead scrap data. “...Shit end of the stick on this one, always get the fucking worst assignments…”“It is failing.” Alice whispers while the runner woman murmurs and complains to herself, cursing her luck with jobs, ”They cannot do it.”“The breach?” You ask back quietly, barely able to force your mouth to form the words - fear grips you tighter than you’d realized, your stillness born as much from terror as prudence.”The capture. They cannot do it. Not with that little cage. It is bait.”. The screams begin to grow quiet, distant, as if they were a crowd fleeing from the point at which the wall has been breached. You finally dare to look back toward the Blackwall. The two men have taken several steps back from the box, abyssal cracks spider webbing from where they attached it to the striated red code of the wall.“...Is it done?” The netrunner woman asks, the sudden silence unnerving her. Whatever curiosity she had for you, or whatever she thought she saw in your hiding spot, it is gone now. “...No. You are though, [indecipherable].” The man laughs nervously, glancing to his companion for reassurance - But the other box carrier doesn’t laugh. He’s on his knees, facing the cracking section of the Blackwall, head bowed as if in some kind of prayer. “What?” Anger rises in the woman's voice, a slender crystalline spear materializing in one hand and her obscuring fractals hardening into something harsher, a kind of angular plate armor instead of a shifting veil, “You’d better not be trying to fuck me - Get him up, finish the job.”“No, not us, we not the ones to fuck you. Our job done.” The speaking box carrier continues to chuckle nervously, though with shrinking enthusiasm as the cracks on the Blackwall deepen and silence slowly returns to the wastes. The Blackwall thrums, something massive impacting the far side.
>>5952581The cracks in its striated surface deepen, merge, and begin to consume the remaining streaks of red code - slowly it forms into a solid black circle, a portal which leads only out from the other side.Four eyes peer through, slanted and lizard like, a large set burning red and a smaller set just below them. The ground shakes once, and the eyes grow larger, and then again, and again, this thing from beyond the Blackwall slowly emerging from the hole bored in the great barrier. As it passes from the dark and into shadow, darkness is pulled along with it, a clinging cloud of abyssal data obscuring the details of the AI’s form. Its slanted crimson eyes rise up as its neck snakes fully into the Net, slender and armored but vast enough to easily swallow a person whole. It peers down its long scaled snout at the two kneeling men and their strange box. It is a dragon.“We… we bring sacrifice!” The previously laughing man cries out half in terror, whatever superiority he felt over his duped client melting away. His eyes are averted from the looming AI, his words nervous and uneven, “One rich in secrets, one who came to bind - we offer her data to you, great spir-”The dragon crushes him with a step. With another step it crushes the box, prowling out from the gap in the Blackwall one step at a time, its gaze now fixed on the spear-armed woman and her hardened armor. The second man still prays as the draconic thing continues to emerge, thin strands of data flowing from his body and toward it, every bit greedily absorbed by the alien intelligence, siphoned into its clinging abyssal clouds.The armored netrunner charges forward with a cry of terrified defiance and throws her spear, launching the lethal program at the AI. The combat program arcs across the gap, transforming into a bolt of lighting half way across, instantly crackling forward the rest of the way along a jagged electric path. The bolt smites the skull of the dragon between its larger set of red eyes, and there is a brilliant flash of light. The dragon stops in place, frozen and half headless, a perfect sphere blasted into the top of its skull. For a heartbeat you expect it to fall lifeless.It just keeps walking. The darkness that clings to the dragon fills its gaping head wound, flowing like water to fill the missing chunk, reforming its shape and hue until it is indistinguishable from before the bolt struck - scrap data is sucked up from the ground to renew the cloud as it passes, ‘useless’ ashes turned to fuel. Every step shakes across the dunes, rumbling through the ruins, until nearly the entire body of the dragon has been freed from the far side of the Blackwall.
>>5952583The woman throws another spear, and another, each turning into crackling, jumping bolts of lightning which now leave no mark on the slowly advancing AI’s hide. She changes to throwing fire, and again the first bolt finds purchase, scorching deep until more swirling darkness and dead data fills the wound. The next bolt does nothing. Slowly you realize the dragon isn’t even looking at the netrunner anymore, ignoring the ultimately harmless assault - Its eyes are fixed on something far off, in the direction of the rest of the Net. It is almost free now, only half of its long spiked tail remaining on the far side of the Blackwall. You dare not move, sitting still beside Alice as the netrunner continues to try different programs, now alternating on every attack, blasting apart great chunks of the beast only to see them reform ever faster, consuming more of the nearly infinite scrap data piled high among the ruins - she’s got quite the variety of combat programs ready to be called up, but it’s like digging at a mountain with a hand trowel.As the dragon’s tail is almost clear of the portal, the Blackwall closes shut, falling upon the creature like the blade of a guillotine. Where it had moved slowly before, lumbering step by step, the dragon shrieks in pain and whirls about like a cat, its severed tail lit aflame with black and red, smoking and burning and turning to ash. It spews its own dark fire back at the barrier, leaving no mark upon the Blackwall.The tail does not heal. As dark clouds of data pour in to extinguish the flame, trying to repair the wounded tail, it only serves to feed the fire. Sparks of that terrible flame arc off, one landing on the prostrate box carrier - He goes up like a torch, crumbling to ash before a cry escapes his lips. The tendrils of data which stretched from him to the dragon fall apart as well, more ash to pile on the endless heaps. Moving from ruin to ruin, the female netrunner continues her desperate and panicked barrage, flinging a spinning ax which bites deep and sinks into the dragon’s neck, but she is still not its focus - Why is she not fleeing?As the flame advances up the dragon’s long tail, its jaws snap shut around the base of the appendage, arm length fangs sinking deep, and then it rips, tearing its tail free in and throwing it away into the wastes to be consumed in fire. It begins to heal, siphoning in data to the stump of a tail, but it does not regrow - the stump seals, gnarled and ragged, but even as more data pours in it cannot reform it. The dragon’s head whips back to look at the Netrunner, the ax in its neck slowly being absorbed into its body, data consumed like all the rest, and for a few seconds she receives its full attention.
>>5952584The runner freezes, the AI’s gaze enough to hold her in place - It is not fear holding her, you can see and hear her struggling against invisible bonds, unable to slip free. Fractal armor cracks and crumples, the blazing white sword now held in her hand extinguishes and bends until it curls in upon itself, and flickering geometric patterns swarm about her, eating away at her programs - Just as the last of her armor is peeled away and it begins to destabilize the runner herself, a horn sounds far in the distance.The dragon releases the netrunner, its four eyes blazing as they gaze in the direction of the horn call. Taking two quick steps it attempts to leap into the air, wings spreading wide… and it crashes into the ground, crushing a half collapsed tower further to dust. The horn sounds again, and the dragons kicks and flails about, trying to right itself for a moment before burrowing its head and claws deep into the ash. It slithers and kicks, throwing up great clouds of ash, and burrows away and out of sight, seeking refuge within the deeper structures of the Net. It does not return.The distant horn sounds again, and the Blackwall’s quiet song can be heard again. Silence slowly returns to the wastes.You rise to your feet alongside Alice, surveying the aftermath of whatever gonk plan it was those runners had. None of them got what they thought they would. The capture failed if it was ever even possible, the betrayal failed, offering a ‘sacrifice’ failed, fighting failed - the only thing they did was turn the key on that Blackwall’s prison door, letting that thing out from the far side.
>>5952585“...Why would they do that?” You finally speak, looking to Alice in shock. While she brushes the clinging ash from her filthy dress, she just shakes her head and doesn’t answer the question, choosing not to speculate. ”She lives.” Alice points toward the mangled form of the Netrunner’s avatar. A groan sounds from it, one hand twitching trying to grip at a sword that no longer exists, ”...As does the tail.”More surprised by that than the runner, you turn to see that the severed burning tail has been largely extinguished. Little of the flame which consumed it remains, slowly burning in a few places but quickly losing its vigor, as if the fire somehow understands that its purpose is complete now that the tail was severed from the rest of the AI. Alice stares contemplatively at the tail, deep in thought.>Check on the Netrunner, she looks like she’s in pretty awful condition - probably can’t exit the Net on her own after getting thrashed so thoroughly. A fraction of a second more and she’d be ash just like those box carrier netrunners, whoever they were.>”Can’t believe it ripped its tail off like that either, didn’t even hesitate.” Alice is probably just in shock. If you hadn’t been in a couple of gunfights in the last week you’d probably be unable to speak as well. Even now you barely can.>”...The AI delta’d when it heard the horn. NETWATCH?” It’s a guess, but if it is you’ll probably want to get out of here soon.>Write-in.
>>5952586>Grab the tail, put it on a shardMaybe it'll regrow and we'll have a contained piece of insane malware, maybe it'll be a cool souvenir, maybe we can tame it. Any way we go about capturing it, it can only go well.
>>5952591>+1Let's take a chance.
>>5952591Fuck it, we ball. +1
>>5952583Okay, so my guess is that they were indeed Voodoo Boys, or at least some netrunner crew attempting to curry favour with rogue AIs, the woman is presumably Militech, and this is Project Cynosure. Her hesitance regarding saying if the board would be pleased could just be nervousness, or she could be acting independently, typical corpo ambition, it would explain the lackeys.>>5952584Baby AI no match for daddy Blackwall.>>5952586Because they're gonks Kai.>Full greed: Grab the Netrunner, tell Alice to package up the tail into a shard, and even stop to scoop up the remnants of Alice's data fortress from the data-ash into another shard.If Netwatch catches us, just explain what we saw and hope they don't zero us and enslave our AIgirlfriend.
>>5952591>>Grab the tail, put it on a shard.Time to upgrade our greatest advantage an best friend! She obviously wants it but does not wish to burden us by asking. >>5952621>Sanity is for the weak!!! Become truly sane through cosmic knowledge! >>5952668Miltech will zero us. Netwatch will do worse.
>>5952591>>5952621>>5952632>>5952793Writing.
God this is going to be fucking hilarious imagine when this AI comes after us later for having the tail
“Can’t believe it ripped its tail off like that, didn’t even hesitate,” Your voice carries across the wastes loudly once more, the silence hungering to be filled with any noise it can, “...Let’s take it.” ”Take it?” Alice gasps in surprise, red eyes widening as she covers her mouth with one hand, ”It is dangerous, Kai, that is the core data of another artificial intelligence, there is no telling what nasty secrets it could hold.”“Yeah, isn’t it great? Come on, think of the possibilities, Alice. I saw how you were looking at it.”“It… did cross my mind.” She licks her lips slightly, eyes locked on the half burnt remains of the severed tail and its many spikes, “Oh… Maybe just… a little. What is the harm?” You see an opportunity and can’t resist, needing some levity now more than ever, “Just the tip?”She snickers childishly at the immature joke, her laugh carrying sweet and clear across the ash wastes, utterly out of place among the dead, “Stop it, cat lover. How do you propose we do this? I could try to integrate it into myself, but there are dangers.”“Always use protection.” You’re chuckle, a shard materializing between your fingers - one of the empties slotted into your deck. With no stored data, it takes on only its own appearance. “We’ll try to shard it and deal with it later.” “Mm, no, I want it now.” Alice shakes her head, looking a bit wild with her hair and dress as messed up as they are - all the scrap data here really seems to have done a number on her appearance, far more than her scuffs and changes after evading the trace earlier, ”...Just part of it.”
>>5952859You walk toward the smoking wreck of a tail together, footprints in the ash quickly fading and filling in behind you. Quiet groans sound from the disabled netrunner, but you pay her little attention for now, every ounce of your attention focused upon the tail. Part of you worries that it might be more corrupt than it looks, scorched internally and only appearing to remain intact. Upon reaching the elliptic crater in the ash where it landed, you kneel beside the severed data and look it over uncertainly. How do you shard something like this?“Just stick it in, you pansy.” Alice chides, reaching out and grabbing ahold of one of the long spikes of the tail, her brow furrowing as she concentrates upon data held within, ”It is safe enough. And I will be taking this.” With a concerningly violent yank, she tears the spike free of the corroded code beneath, bits of scrap data spattering her already filthy dress. Pulling the remaining strings of code free with her teeth, like an animal tearing away sinew, Alice soon has the long spike cleaned. Adjusting her grip on it, she holds it from its narrow base like a sword. The oddly shaped root of the spike melds into a hilt, shifting to fit her grip, and she gives it a hesitant swipe through the air. ”Lots of snicker, not so much snack….” She pulls another spike free, scraping it clean with the first blade before flipping it into the air and catching it by its newly formed hilt, “...Lots of snack, not so much snicker. I love them. …What are you looking at, Kai?”You’re looking at the semi-feral AI woman standing beside you wielding a pair of gore spattered teeth as swords. Her hair is a wreck, her red dress filthy and nearly black in places, flecks of the dragon’s scrap code spattered about like dried blood. She’s red and black, just like that dragon was. Like that Blackwall is. She always has been.
>>5952860“Nothing, just thinking you’d make a good horror BD villain looking like that… Seriously though, are you feeling alright? I didn’t think you could integrate data that wasn’t your own.”“Oh, shush, I am not that scary…” She looks down at her dress and then to the quite sinister looking spike blades held in her hands, “Oh… P-perhaps you have a point. A leather choker and a guitar and I could start a band… Hm, I do feel good though, very good. Tingly? The data is similar to my own, this tail was a person once.”Your blood runs cold, and despite being deep within the Net you can feel the hair stand up on the back of your neck - your actual neck. “That was a person?!””Once. A person’s engramatic data was the seed for it. I would bet my life on it, or my new at least. Rather a chilling thought… Are you going to shard it, Kai?”You nod, deciding to just shove the horror of the situation aside a little longer - hardly the first time today - and get to work. Jabbing the shard into the scaled surface of the tail, it sinks in easily and begins to siphon in the data, distorting and shifting it into a whirlpool of code, pulling it in until nothing remains except the elliptic crater. // Data Capture Complete! // // Shard Capacity at 73.6% // “Surprised that worked,” You murmur half to yourself, ignoring the scraping of bone on bone as Alice uses the two spikes to sharpen each other, “Aren’t AIs supposed to be hard to handle? That was as easy as moving any other file.””It is uncontrolled, it simply cannot resist it… May I have that?”You give a small nod, “Later. Doubt we could sell it anyways, too hot. Speaking of which, we should probably delta, can’t get out of here fast enough. …Uh, do those blades work?””I am not inclined to test them, but I suspect so. It is not familiar, but I have gained a measure of combat effectiveness - With the rest of the data, perhaps I could make something of myself.” Alice turns to face back toward the disabled netrunner and the rest of the ruins, putting her back toward the vastness of Blackwall.
>>5952861“I like you how you are, Alice. Don’t go turning into a dragon while I’m not looking.” You walk with her putting distance between yourselves and the looming barrier - You can’t exit the Net here, you’ll need to be closer to your entry point to do so safely.“Feed me gold and virgins, grr.” Alice laughs, more her usual self now despite the change to her appearance and the grim surroundings - there’s something oddly reassuring about that. You prefer her like this - concerns about the new data aside - to whatever the hell that hat did to her personality, mere disguise or not. ”...Will we do something about her? I feel… very bad leaving her to die. It is wrong, even if she was a gonk.”Okay, definitely the normal Alice still. Good. You follow her gaze toward the crumpled up netrunner, a quite severe looking blonde - whatever programs were concealing her avatar have been stripped away completely, along with the better part of one of her arms… Ugh, that’s rough, might be permanent nerve damage from it back in meatspace. Hard to know.>”...Maybe she’ll pay for the save. Let’s take her with us, we can talk it out when she wakes up. She shouldn’t have much fight left in her after getting wrecked like that.” Eddies await, or maybe just corporate entanglements.>”She’s a corpo, I think. Let’s just drop her off back in the civilized parts of the Net. Should come around on her own… probably.” A good deed for its own sake, but don’t risk your neck too much.>”Too risky, let’s delta. NetWatch is going to be swarming any second, I think that’s what the horn was a minute ago.” Ghost off back to the civilized Net and logout.>Write-in.
>>5952863>”She’s a corpo, I think. Let’s just drop her off back in the civilized parts of the Net. Should come around on her own… probably.” A good deed for its own sake, but don’t risk your neck too much.Hand her to netwatch if we run into them
>>5952866+1Way I see it she's likely to kill us for having a chance of knowing about this sort of thing. That said, we're not savages.
>>5952863>”She’s a corpo, I think. Let’s just drop her off back in the civilized parts of the Net. Should come around on her own… probably.” A good deed for its own sake, but don’t risk your neck too much.
>>5952868It's easy enough to leave a scroll for her to pay us/get a sitrep on what happened. As is, we have more than enough to fuck her completely even if she zerod us, but we aren't extorting her on that. Theres no reason to track down a Negaunee to stop them from leaking. Last time someone tried doing that against a net runner, there was the net crash. Shed be retarded to not think there aren't contingencies.
>>5952863>>”She’s a corpo, I think. Let’s just drop her off back in the civilized parts of the Net. Should come around on her own… probably.” A good deed for its own sake, but don’t risk your neck too much.
>>5952863>Resist that knee jerk civilized response. Interrogate her then kill her. She's nobody to us and that presents the highests gain at the least risk.
>>5952952>>5952882>>5952868>>5952866Writing.
”She’s a corpo, I think.” You lean over the half corrupted avatar of the netrunner, inspecting her rather severe damage - something like acid burns covers swathes of her netrunner suit, and one arm is simply missing from the elbow down. Occasional groans escape her lips but a tap with your foot confirms she isn’t conscious. “Let’s just drop her off back in the civilized parts of the Net. Should come around on her own… probably.””I can carry her,” Alice spins her swords about into a reverse grip and sheaths them both - they vanish at the end of the motion, no sheaths existing on her hips, “I may not be good for much, but I can do transport. What corp do you think she was from?”“We could search her and find out.” You suggest with a shrug.”...That feels like a violation of personal autonomy somehow…” Alice says even as she begins to rifle through the unconscious runner’s digital pockets, kneeling beside the woman and clipping her hands into the avatar, ”This is my first time inside of a… Oh dear, one of her IC programs is still active… Snicker-snack, aaand there we go. She is… ” “Militech?” You guess, but Alice shakes her head, striking quite the fiendish look covered in gore and dirt and crouched over a mangled body. ”EBM!” Alice corrects you cheerily before chastising the unconscious runner, ”And on a solo job too, tsk tsk. Very naughty, asking for forgiveness instead of permission and then gonking it up this badly. The rest is too encrypted, I cannot get past it.”“Not even with those fancy new spikes of yours?” You refrain from commenting on EBM - you’d been under the impression they were defunct, dissolved after a failed coup or something a few years ago. Might be part of them that got bought by another corp after.”Especially not with them, I can break and burn things fairly well now… but this is delicate work. She would certainly die and I doubt we would get the data anyways. I would rather not kill her, gloryhound corpo or not. Shall we depart?”“Lets.”
>>5953102A few minutes later, back within the ‘civilized’ parts of the new Net.Alice sets the still limp body of the Netrunner down among a patch of tall grass, obscuring her from casual observation - It’s a decent hiding place to recover. Not perfect, but you don’t owe a stranger that. Wiping her hands together, the transport job complete, you both exchange a quick nod and exit the Net.Awareness of your apartment, of the pressure of your chair, the cold metal of your desk, the nearly still air - it all hits like a sledgehammer. You blink, disoriented, and lean back in your chair - you’ve never delved so far into the Net before, and you’re really feeling it now. “Ugh, fuck,” You look down at the cable extended from your wrist and into the stolen Arasaka deck on your desk, “...Need a bigger port, this blows. Alice, you make it out too?” There’s no response within your mind, so you shoot her a text asking the same.// Message from Alice: I have! I believe text communications are ideal for now, maintaining a close connection through your link for so long is very taxing. //// Message to Alice: Run a full diagnostic or two, make sure your data’s alright. That dive fucking sucked, holy shit. Talk about nopes-ville. //// Message from Alice: It was more distressing than I intended or expected, but I would say we did very well. A spoof, a trial of my hat, and more that I will not commit to text. I am useful now! Hooray! //// Message to Alice: Yeah, definitely could have gone worse. I’m going to call Dolf, see what he’s cooked up. Want to listen in? //// Message from Alice: No, I have buckets of data to sift through and process… and other things to contemplate. Thank you for going with me, Kai. I had hoped there would be something left though. //// Message to Alice: Want to talk about it? //// Message from Alice: No. Not today. Call Dolf. //And so you do.
>>5953106Ringing Dolf on the Holo doesn’t take long, the huge man’s face popping into existence in a box at the corner of your vision, flickering slightly as your ‘Psyche’ neuralink tries to layer it on top of your vision. Cybereyes or AR glasses would do the job better, but it works alright.“Woah ho ho, someone fucking die, choom? You look like you just ran one of those freaky maelstrom gauntlets.” Dolf exclaims immediately upon seeing you, clearly startled slightly and almost choking on some NiCola he was sipping, “Bad dive?”“Something like that. Got a basic spoof done, need to do some follow up but the scavs will probably send some of their guys off to northside for a deal with Maelstrom.”“Excellent…” Dolf nods, grimacing uncomfortably after a moment, his mouth and forehead wrinkling in concern, “Uh, what did happen, choom? Seriously, that’s a pretty bad fucking stare, I’ve seen eyes like that before on homeless guys, those vets with all the deactivated military chrome… you’ve seen em’, not a good place to be. Need to know your head’s in the right place still.”Do you really look that bad? You lean toward one of the powered off screens of your father’s old comp and check your reflection… You don’t see it. Maybe your link has a processing error. “I’m fine. Had a close call in the scav subnet, got away clean, and then went on a detour that went kind of shit… Actually, it’s better if you don’t know. It isn’t work related. Still have all of my neurons, if that’s what you’re asking…”“...Sure, sure.” Dolf shakes his head unhappily, something like a joking tone slowly returning to the usually jovial young mercenary, “Netrunners and secrets, peanut butter and jelly, scop and kibble, aye yai yai. Whatever. I got a killer plan worked up while you were snorting ones and zeroes or however that deck shit works. How many do you think the spoof will draw off?” “Based on past meetings? Probably four or five, take them about an hour there and back with the goods. Call it forty five minutes for safety, I can monitor them in case there’s a surprise and they come back early.”
>>5953108“So we’re looking at closer to twenty gonks then…” Dolf closes his eyes for a moment, probably running numbers in his head, “Not so good, but we can manage. When’s the meet?”You check your link’s messages and find that the scav leader, Jimbo, has proposed a meeting at midnight, “Midnight, just got a response back. That's enough time for your plan?”“Hell yeah, choom, locked and loaded.” Dolf raises one of his submachineguns into frame for a moment before setting the gun back aside, “Just one last detail left to iron out, then we can start bickering about things, call eachother suicidal gonks and all that good shit. Are you going in with us?”>”I bought armor, didn’t I? Of course I’m going in.” Dolf and ‘Connor’ look like they can handle themselves but numbers add up.>”Think I’ll be more useful nearby running their subnet for them. Doors and cameras, y’know.” Reel it back in Kai, you’re not combat chromed or packing heavy armor and iron.>Write-in.
To add a bit onto option one, Kai can trigger preplanned things like doors or mines and use slotted quick-hacks even in the midst of a gunfight, more creative stuff is just a lot harder.
>>5953110>>”Think I’ll be more useful nearby running their subnet for them. Doors and cameras, y’know.” Reel it back in Kai, you’re not combat chromed or packing heavy armor and iron.We really, actually, would be more valuable on the net, I think.
>>5953110>”Think I’ll be more useful nearby running their subnet for them. Doors and cameras, y’know.” Reel it back in Kai, you’re not combat chromed or packing heavy armor and iron.I'd also like to test out the tail we got from that AI.
>>5953110>”Think I’ll be more useful nearby running their subnet for them. Doors and cameras, y’know.” Reel it back in Kai, you’re not combat chromed or packing heavy armor and iron.
>>5953110>>”Think I’ll be more useful nearby running their subnet for them. Doors and cameras, y’know.” Reel it back in Kai, you’re not combat chromed or packing heavy armor and iron.
>>5953110>”Think I’ll be more useful nearby running their subnet for them. Doors and cameras, y’know.” Reel it back in Kai, you’re not combat chromed or packing heavy armor and iron.we are but flesh, that's not exactly enough in this biz
I mean, maybe if we had some of that bullettime brain hardware, some AR Nightvision Goggles, some of those hearing enhancing Earpro like some Peltors, a respirator, a couple frag grenades or IEDs strapped to RC cars, and Alice had her own deck we could keep up in there but in our current state... perhaps we should hang back
>>5953489>>5953488>>5953198>>5953153>>5953125Writing. Might not finish until the morning, not sure.
“Think I’ll be more useful nearby, running their subnet for them. Doors and cameras, y’know.” You repeat the phrase Dolf and ‘Connor’ have both been so fond of, preferring not to suffer from acute lead poisoning beside your new chooms - It isn’t cowardice, just a lack of chrome. Aramid weave and ceramic plates only carry squishy meat so far, and twenty or more scavs with rifles is a bit beyond your comfort zone.“Eh, if your spoof and the mines work then you pulled your weight. Fair enough, choom.” Dolf shrugs, unsurprised by the choice - a little too unsurprised. Hey, netrunners aren’t cowards! “So plan A then. Here’s the sitch…” Plan A? Dammit, he definitely expected this. Whatever. The holographic map of the scav den you created earlier flares to life in your mind’s eye, called up by your 'Psyche' link and a few pings from Dolf - Each room is numbered and labeled, cover and concealment have been protection rated and color coded, likely scav positions and weapon caches have been marked off… It is exceedingly thorough, if a little cluttered. A lot more than you expected for half an hour of prep. Entry and exit points are marked off, along with a path of attack and several more for escape.“Keeping it simple and violent, choom. Draw as many as you can to the mines here,” Dolf pings the mine protected door, “Blast those gonks, leave the internal doors open, let the others move into these rooms - lock them up. Should hold them for… Fifteen seconds maybe? Cat and, er, Connor and I frag them and push in through the front door which you’ll unlock, zero anything left in our way. We push further up through here or here, keep these thicker walls between us and the bulk of the scavs, don’t need shots coming through the walls…”…He’s right, it isn’t a complicated plan, basically just sealing off or blasting scavs in other rooms so he and ‘Connor’ can storm through along the (probably) safest path to ‘Buddy’, grab them, and get the hell out - probably through a window and then down some balconies, but there are alternate exit routes too. “...Got everything loaded into our tac soft, it’ll handle the pathing and highlights for walls and gonks… Uh, here’s the code for it.” Dolf forwards you an invite to join the tactical net he’s set up with ‘Connor’ using what is clearly stolen NCPD software, “Can you link that up with their cameras? Helps if we can see through walls, some seriously spooky shit I hear, want to try it out.”“Easily. Should be able to get it to flag disabled weapons and chrome too, if I turn off one of their rifles or their eyes you’ll know.” You’ve never done it before, but with Alice’s assistance and a couple of hours it shouldn’t be an issue at all, you have full camera control already, “You just had an old MaxTac tactical program laying around?”
>>5953557“Connor’s uncle did. Crazy bastard was full of surprises.” Dolf’s expression is uncharacteristically grim, “He doesn’t need it anymore, she snagged the shard while going through his things. Can’t really use it all the way, don’t got the gonzo nova chrome it expects, but it’s some preem shit even if it’s… what, five years out of date? MaxTac’s probably got something that makes it look like a relic now.” “Relics can be very dangerous,” You glance toward the black Nue holstered on your desk, the simple design still plenty lethal even in a world of smart missiles and quick-hacks, “There’s no telling what kind of trouble you can get into with them. Plan seems solid, I’ll handle my end. …Connor’s still practicing?” “Yeah, she’s out chopping raindrops now or something, got tired of the cans. Watched too many ninja BDs as a kid.” Dolf chuckles, but you sense a hint of concern in his words, “We both did, probably. Anyway, get those cameras and we’re good for hitting them right before midnight. Can’t always plan a job out like this, its got me all excited, choom, haha!” He’s positively giddy, and not someone you’d want to be on the wrong side of - He’s gregarious, but all those laughs and jokes are just hiding the fact that he really has something going on behind that thick skull, and almost all of it is enthusiastic about working as a gun for hire. Definitely not just a meat gorilla, he’s a meat gorilla with a plan.“...I'm feeling it too. Ready to make some eddies!” You can’t quite match his enthusiasm, but the man’s got an infectious laugh, “I guess taking the scavs for all they’re worth is off the cards though?”“Yeah, shame. Too risky, can’t spend eddies if you’re dead or in a coma. Need to blow through fast, not looking for a stand up fight today.” Dolf confirms what you already knew had to be true - this kind of lightning assault and recovery just doesn't have time for rifling through pockets and crates.“Meet up in Westbrook later?”“Yeah. A 25/7 in Japantown, it’s a runner spot - no one’ll look twice at our gear,” Dolf forwards the location to your link, marking a spot on the lower level of one of the market areas, “Bringing your wheels, Kai?” “Always do.” Of course you’re not going to leave Alice on the other side of Night City.“Preem, want to check that ride out up close. See you there, choom.”>Relax and prepare yourself until it’s time for the job, and then head over in the Quadra. Time for eddies.>Head over to the spot early. If it’s a runner spot, maybe you can sniff out jobs for the next few days? Gotta network to make your Net work… work.>Call someone (specify).>Write-in.
>>5953559>See if you can' use the cameras to get a better picture of the leader and run it through facial recognition and reverse image searches. Maybe get a hit and find out exactly WHO you're dealing with in.
>>5953563No need to waste a vote on that. Most of the scavs have their identities hidden with scramblers (extremely difficult to get a good look at their face, even on their own cameras), but with the data Kai has pulled from the subnet and agents he is pretty sure the leader 'Jimbo' is actually one James Morken, currently wanted by the NCPD for murder, kidnapping, rape, and armed robbery. His bounty is 1550 eddies, chump change for someone running a crew of the size which goes a long way to explain why a pack of subcons hasn't busted down their doors looking for blood and eddies. Most of the other identifiable scavs have small bounties in the very low hundreds of eddies.
>>5953585Thanks Mainline, in that case I'll switch to>Relax and prepare yourself until it’s time for the job, and then head over in the Quadra. Time for eddies.
>>5953559>Do more prep work with Dolf's combat soft. Maxtec taclink software five years out of date is still Maxtac software, it's gotta have all kinds of useful features only a dedicated net runner could leverage. I want a copy of this. This shit would be great for jobs later down the line.
>>5953608Connor's program, Dolf is just using it. There isn't much left to add to what Dolf has done, he used pretty much all of the features that are functional without being turbo chromed.Kai currently has full access (Dolf gave him the code) and can pretty quickly figure out how to use most of it (not even going to ask for a roll for the cameras), but making a functional copy is rather difficult due to protections built into the program and the shard it is housed in. Go ahead and give me two rolls of 1d100 to attempt to make a copy on one of Kai's spare shards, DC 95. This can be done regardless of other options that are picked, it takes about as long as the drive to Westbrook to attempt.If Kai fails it won't lock up the program or anything, but he'll need some time to reassess and approach it from a new angle. If he's on good terms with Dolf and Connor after the job they might just let him take as many cracks at it as he needs, in which case I'd guess it'd be about a week of on and off work between other jobs for an auto pass. This is not easily repeatable even after it is done once, the security measures are adaptive and beyond Kai's ability to sever from copies. If he improves enough as a netrunner that'd be a pretty decent source of passive income though, selling cracked programs is a classic. Hard tasks like this are also a pretty good way to learn on the job, easy stuff doesn't teach much but the more ridiculous bullshit Kai grinds through the better he'll get.
Rolled 26 (1d100)>>5953620
Rolled 49 (1d100)>>5953620D4G2
>>5953559>Head over to the spot early. If it’s a runner spot, maybe you can sniff out jobs for the next few days? Gotta network to make your Net work… work.
>>5953559>Call someone (Vicky)
Rolled 54 (1d100)>>5953620Damn that DC is high.
>>5953559>Head over to the spot early. If it’s a runner spot, maybe you can sniff out jobs for the next few days? Gotta network to make your Net work… work.What about CAREFULLY analyzing the dragon tail data to see if we can make something useful out of it, in addition to Net jobs?
>>5953754That'll definitely be an option, it was sort of the agreement Kai and Alice came to when grabbing it, though there wasn't a strong commitment to a particular course of action.>>5953732Yes. Copying advanced programs is extremely difficult. If it was a newer version there wouldn't be a DC, it would just be flatly impossible at Kai's skill level and with his deck lacking specialized programs for it. >>5953663>>5953674>49.Reverse the numbers and you're almost there.Still taking votes for: >>5953559I'll leave voting open for another two hour.
>>5953754>>5953677Leave early.>>5953726Call Vicky. >>5953594Relax and leave later.>>5953608Handled in >>5953620Leaving early wins, writing.
>>5953754+For carefully analyzing the tail too.
>>5953930maybe NOT RIGHT BEFORE an op. last thing we need is to get tied up when shit's about to go down.
>>5953943After, then, and we might have to hold off on letting it loose in the scav subnet too,
2076.01.06, 17:45Night City (Westbrook, Japantown)As the light of the sun dims, Night City begins to live up to its name. Neon advertisements plaster the street sides of Westbrook as the Quadra crawls along through bumper to bumper traffic, tens of thousands of wage slaves still slowly making their way home from long shifts, or heading out early for the night - You fall into the latter camp. The glaringly bright colors of an Orgiatic ad flash a rainbow of colors over the creeping traffic jam, casting old and new vehicles alike in strange shifting hues.”Any luck with cracking the tactical program?” Alice’s voice whispers through the Quadra’s speakers, holographic red eyes projected across the windshield and watching you intently. She’s an excellent driver, but no one could avoid getting stuck in this traffic short of rolling over it with a tank. “None,” You unplug from your deck, slipping the data jack back into the small port on your wrist - it slithers into place and locks in reassuringly. Good work, Vik, very good work. “Patience is always rewarded though, I’ll take another shot at it later if we still have access. Whoever made it for MaxTax put together a hell of a puzzle to get through. Think you could try?”Alice’s projected eyes look up and away from you, flaring to a brighter red and considering the question thoughtfully, “I would break it entirely. My new capabilities are potent but… quite barbaric. Limited. Not every problem is a nail, and I have come into possession of a rocket powered sledgehammer.”“Fair,” You cross your arms, trying to relax in the Quadra’s black and red interior - It’s comfortable enough, but you’ve always despised heavy traffic like this. Who doesn’t?Rain drops begin to patter against the windshield of the Quadra, a sudden downpour beginning. Outside on the sidewalks pedestrians with a bit of forethought begin to draw and pop out umbrellas, many transparent or lit in bright colors by electric light strips. A few others simply pull up their hoods, and the last group, probably new to the city, look about in surprise and frustration before seeking out the overcrowded coverings pressed against nearby buildings.“Alice, you know those fossils that get found in tar pits? Dinosaur bones and stuff? I think I understand how the big guys felt when they ended up there.” Even your Net connection is slow, so many vehicles and people stuck nearby eating up the bandwidth. “It is excruciating. Some portions of my mind…” Alice stops, considering her words more carefully, “Let us just say I am very aware of the passage of time. I have been trying to meditate instead of stewing in boredom.”
>>5954013“Really?” You ask in surprise, the idea of an AI bound to a car attempting something spiritual striking you as a bit odd… Or maybe it makes the most sense out of anything you’ve heard in awhile, she’s a spirit of a sort. “It helps to center oneself, but uh… I haven't made much time for it this week. How’s it working for you, Alice?”“I have achieved enlightenment.” The Quadra flashes on its brights, which are very bright - the white beams cut through the rain and elicit a few angry honks from the car ahead of you, probably half blinding the driver reflecting off the mirrors inside.“Pfff, very funny, Alice.” You chuckle slightly, at least appreciating the effort, “Let’s not start a firefight, kill the lights.” The Quadra’s lights flick back to their lower setting. Traffic continues to crawl along, fat raindrops catching and reflecting the lights of the city as they continue to fall steadily, pitter pattering away. With a thought you pull up the Quadra’s radio controls on your ‘Psyche’ neuralink and begin checking through different stations. ”Morro Rock.” Alice requests, as usual.”Sure, in sec.” You reply while listening into a few stations, switching after a second or two, “...Gotta catch up on the corpo news slop for the day - N54 here we come.””...Welcome back to N54. Major news today as the full privatization of the Night City Police Department, which started at the end of last year, has officially been completed. Working in partnership with the former head of sales at DataTerm, Jerry Fawlter, Mayor Rhyne has promised a new age of public safety and fiscal responsibility for the city of dreams. Isn’t that just wonderful? I think everyone likes safer streets and more eddies in their pocket…”“Fuck me, I’d forgotten.” You sigh, remembering a couple of your dad’s impassioned rants about the planned switch - He didn’t talk about it too much, hated the idea, and you know Vicky and the others down at the precinct like the plan about as much as a zen master likes chrome, “That’s going to be a disaster, I can feel it.” ”...An immediate reduction of force of over fifty percent, cutting billions of eurodollars in expenses while increasing security with his ‘Drone for Officers’ initiative. Opinions from experts in law enforcement are generally positive, citing advances in technology and policing theories which should allow our soon-to-be robotic guardians to become a valued part of every community…”
>>5954016”We should armor the Quadra immediately.”You can’t help but laugh at Alice’s deadpan delivery - It doesn’t take an AI to figure out that these drastic overnight cuts are going to be a nightmare. Drones replacing cops on that wide of a scale, and in one day? Is someone down at city hall huffing glitter? “...Soon, maybe. Streets are going to be a mess. Half the force gone…” You shake your head, laughter fading quickly into deep concern, “Ah, shit, good chance it caught Vicky or some of the others. Gangs are going to come swarming.” “And the NCPD will be forced to act more like a gang.” Alice cuts right the heart of it again - with half the cops and a pile of armed drones, violence is going to be a first resort even more often than it already is. And it really, really already is in most neighborhoods.“I’m sure we’ll hear about it more,” You sigh unhappily and sink deeper into the increasingly inaccurately named driver’s seat, “Biz first though.”A few minutes later.The Quadra exits traffic, bumping down the shallow leading off Longshore South and eventually into a small strip parking lot close to a tiny 25/7 convenience booth. The typical sun-blotting skyscrapers of Westbrook loom behind it, just past the busy street of Longshore South, half a level up past an orange and slanted concrete retaining wall. The rest of Japantown’s multi-layered maze is even further beyond those glass and steel behemoths, deeper within the concrete jungle. “...You’re sure this is the place? It’s tiny, looks…” As you squint out the rain soaked windshield, peering past Alice’s red eyes, “Wrong. A 25/7 is too small.””These are the coordinates we were given. I did think it was rather odd we would be sent to such a small convenience station. Perhaps it is a… joke? To see if you would go instead of asking about it. Hazing, I believe it is called.”“A joke about where to meet before this kind of job?” You shake your head, “Some joke. Nah, if it is then the real place has got to be close by, not Dolf’s style to do something that gonk.””Mm, yes, and you do know him well, all ten hours of your choomship have really laid his life bare. …Perhaps it is just over there then?” Alice speaks with more sarcasm than you’re accustomed to from her, an red arrow marking a location just across the street on the Quadra’s nav-system. A bit of banter won’t rile you up.
>>5954019You squint out through the rain at the neon on the building further down the street, spotting it at once - a small bar standing on its own at the corner of Longshore South and Poplar, a multi-colored neon running along the rim of its flat roof marking it as ‘Turbo’. Squat and wide, made of cement and plated metal of brightly dyed cyan and yellow, you realize after a moment that it’s a bar of some kind. It must have been converted from an old CHOOH2 station or something. Decent renovation job really, you’ve seen much worse. Places like that pop and die around NC all the time as people try to reuse old structures.“...Pull us over there,” You say to Alice, the Quadra already rolling before you finish, “Bet you’re right about it.” The Quadra feels far more at home in Turbo’s spacious (by NC standards) parking lot. A few other cars are parked there, a Quadra in Tyger Claw colors, red and green splashed prominently across its angular body, as well as a couple of up armored nomad cars and a few more vehicles that don’t warrant much attention. Beat up Hellas, a few motorcyles of different makes, nothing special. Some of the cars still have their occupants inside, barely visible through the rain and dark tinted windows, but more are empty or too dark to see into at all. Only the nomad vehicles have anyone next to them - one of the cars is lifted up on a jack and stands, some poor bastard slid half way under it trying to work on something in the rain. His choom kneels beside him, handing off items from a tool kit and checking the glowing screen of a tablet.”Will you be waiting inside?” Alice questions calmly, ”The Quadra’s sensors have a good field of view here, it is not at risk of being damaged.”“Hm.” You scratch at your chin, thinking things over - If there wasn’t rain there’d probably be people chilling outside the bar, you can see some plastic chairs stacked up along one wall along with what looks like an old fashioned gas grill.>”I’m heading inside, not much point hiding in the car.” Just head right in and see who’s there, maybe get something to drink. Those Claws are probably inside, Japantown is their home turf and this is the edge of it.>”Pull us up by those Nomads. Maybe we can help them out.” Hardware failure often goes hand in hand with software issues, and you’ve got a deck and Alice to help.>Stay in the Quadra for now, call Vicky. She might be having a particularly shit day, and you kind of blew her off with that text earlier.>Write-in.
>>5954021>”Pull us up by those Nomads. Maybe we can help them out.” Hardware failure often goes hand in hand with software issues, and you’ve got a deck and Alice to help.Trade them for local intel?
>>5954025+1we've got time, and it never hurts to make friends
>>5954021>>”Pull us up by those Nomads. Maybe we can help them out.” Hardware failure often goes hand in hand with software issues, and you’ve got a deck and Alice to help.
>>5954021>”Pull us up by those Nomads. Maybe we can help them out.” Hardware failure often goes hand in hand with software issues, and you’ve got a deck and Alice to help.
>>5954021>Stay in the Quadra for now, call Vicky. >She might be having a particularly shit day, and you kind of blew her off with that text earlier.
>>5954021Stay in the Quadra for now, call Vicky. She might be having a particularly shit day, and you kind of blew her off with that text earlier.She might be out of a job and need a place to crash.
>>5954025>>5954076>>5954116>>5954125Nomads win.>>5954154>>5954182Stay strong Vicky bros.
>>5954201We'll get our Vicky time eventually
“Pull up by those Nomads,” You nod toward the men working in the rain, Alice once more guiding the Quadra over before you finish the request, “Maybe we can help them out.” ”I have doubts about my usefulness in assisting with automotive repairs.” She whispers back through the speakers as the Quadra comes to a halt a spot over from the nomad vehicles, the man with the tablet already standing to investigate - or perhaps lured in by the angles of the ‘54 Quadra like so many others were at DaKota, ”It is perhaps a bit ironic that I do not, now that consider it… but humans are hardly qualified as doctors simply by having their bodies, so perhaps not.” “Kill the projection,” You wave the image of her red eyes away, worried that the nomads can probably see it so close - with the lights of Westbrook reflecting off the glass and rain it is doubtful, but the fewer questions the better, “I’ll see what’s going on.”The door of the Quadra slides open, the low roar of the falling rain growing far louder - Stepping into it, you’re glad the jacket you got from Dakota is waterproofed. The rain is coming down hard now, quickly soaking your hair and face. You give a friendly wave to the Nomads and take a few steps toward them, “You two need some help with that?” “...We’ve got her handled,” The skinny man with the tablet shakes his head, giving you a wary look, “Someone send you?” “No, just a friend of the Aldecaldos, thought I’d see if you needed a hand. I do most of my work for Dakota.” You just lay it out, seeing no real reason to hide your intentions - you’re not a hundred percent certain they’re Aldecaldos, but their cars have the right colors, “I’m waiting on some chooms for biz, name’s Kai.” “Skid,” The skinny dark haired man introduces himself, grimacing as the rain continues to fall on you both - He’s got a hell of a scar covering most of his chin, maybe an old war wound, pale scar tissue standing out from his tan complexion. Shrapnel possibly. He's probably around cannon's age, maybe a decade younger but still just registering as 'old but still scary' in your mind, “And that’s Jack.”
>>5954278Skid motions over his shoulder with a thumb toward the other nomad now peering halfway out from under the car. He’s lanky and more awkwardly proportioned, probably not a close blood relative to Skid, what with being pale and red haired. Jack’s boyish enough in the face to perhaps be even younger than you - He spits out a piece of metal that was held in his mouth and greets you. “Howdy!” Jack waves with one hand, sitting up in front of the car but not rising to his feet, “You’re an Aldecaldo too? Can’t hear anything with this storm.”“No, he’s one of Dakota’s,” Skid says gruffly to the teenage boy before turning back to you, “You’re a tech, Kai? I’ve got Jack checking over some of the ground sensors, we’re getting flooded with errors.”“We’re just getting plain flooded!” Jack complains, slapping a puddle of water nearby with one hand, “If you want to crawl down here, go ahead. Plenty of water for everyone.”“I’m a Netrunner.” The full explanation of being an inexperienced gonk is a lot less impressive, may as well just pick a title and try to live up to it - you’re hardly bound to the job though, “I could troubleshoot the sensor program, not good with a wrench though.”“Oh ho ho, hell no. Not letting someone we just met link to our car, especially not a wet behind the ears chair jockey…” Skid squints at your, brown eyes searching you over carefully, your status as a rookie pretty evident to anyone that cares to look - you’re just young, and not chromed enough to raise doubts about it either, “And with those wheels… Nah, not happening. Fishy.”Well, he doesn’t avoid saying his mind at least.“We could use the help, Skid!” Jack crosses his arms in annoyance at the older man, “If someone rolls up in a ‘54 and volunteers to splash around in the mud doing troubleshooting, I’m inclined to trust them, just on principle. Just text Dakota, you were about to let him help before you found out he’s got a deck. And they’re my wheels - My rules.” “They’re the clan’s wheels, you haven’t earned that yet…” Skid snaps back, his cybereyes flashing to life for a moment as he sends the message, and then another - after a moment he eases up, “...Alright. You check out, Kai.” // Message from Cannon: You’re welcome, kid. Good on you lending a hand. Skid’s jumpy from the war, don’t mind him. // // Message to Cannon: Thanks, Cannon. // “Oh, so now you trust Dakota again?” Jack maintains his glare at the older nomad. “Cannon vouched too.” “Riiight.” Jack rolls his eyes and waves you over, “Got a port down here choom, bypasses the other systems.”
>>5954282You walk the rest of the way over, trying not to think too hard about just how soaked you’ve gotten already in the rain, and get down on the ground and slowly slide yourself under the car - It’s not a comfortable fit with Jack there too, but he keeps a small light focused on one of the ports as you unwind the cable from your wrist and connect to your deck and then the car. Alice requests access through your link again, and you grant it - two sets of eyes are a lot better than one, even if she’s ill equipped to fix things herself.Diagnostic panels flash half-real before your eyes, most of it making little sense to you - But at once you can tell something is off, even if you cannot put it into words. A tingle creeps up the back of your neck, a sense of being observed filling you with paranoia. ”There is something in there.”It might not be the issue Jack and Skid have been trying to fix, but there is definitely something Net related going on.>”Then we’re going in after it!” Dive, enter the car’s Net infrastructure. This brings a lot of personal risk, as always, you could be walking into the digital version of a gunfight and with all the same life-or-death stakes. >”...Let’s try to deal with it from out here, it’s probably just a daemon that hitched a ride.”>”Jack, any reason you might have something living in the system? Added new parts recently? Trouble with other systems?”>Write-in.
>>5954285>”Jack, any reason you might have something living in the system? Added new parts recently? Trouble with other systems?”Info first. If we can isolate the part it came from, we might be able to detach it for better troubleshooting without it being able to...you know, start the car and run over our head.
>>5954285>”Jack, any reason you might have something living in the system? Added new parts recently? Trouble with other systems?”
>>5954285>”Jack, any reason you might have something living in the system? Added new parts recently? Trouble with other systems?”it's his car, lets not be overeager
>>5954285>>”Jack, any reason you might have something living in the system? Added new parts recently? Trouble with other systems?”
>>5954285>”Jack, any reason you might have something living in the system? Added new parts recently? Trouble with other systems?”Lets be careful, in more ways than one.
>>5954477>>5954422>>5954391>>5954370>>5954305>>5954288Writing.
Rain continues to fall all around as you work in the dark and cramped confined under the jacked up car, Jack still inspecting some things on his own while you mull over the diagnostics information you pulled from the dataport.“Jack, any reason you might have something living in the system?” You question the lanky nomad, eyes still focused firmly on the half-real information panels filling your mind’s eye thanks to your ‘Psyche’ neuralink, “Added new parts recently? Maybe some trouble with other systems too?” “Living?” Comes Jack’s unsettled response, though you can’t see much of his face in the awful lighting, “What, like a virus or something? Not that I can think of, we try to put most things through a test rig to look for stuff riding along like that, but… Ah, god dammit Jack, of course that’s it. Think something could hide in a gun sight?”“You can shove daemons into nearly anything, heard about one is a toaster once,” You don’t have time - or a willingness in the damp and dark - to retell one of your father’s old stories, “A gun sight could do it. Problems started after?”“That was last week, errors only started flooding in today. And it’s the ground sensors that’re acting up, not the guns… It keeps saying we’re about to hit mines, or flagging hollows that don’t exit,” Jack taps at a strange hexagonal plate on the bottom of the car, you don’t have the slightest idea what it is, “Radar’s been particularly bad. I was thinking it might’ve been a faulty connection, someone not doing the install right and it finally vibrated loose, happens sometimes but I’ve been digging around and everything’s good. Solid clamps, welds were done right, ports aren’t loose, not picking up any shorts and I’ve been looking all over for that, there’s no...” Jack keeps going on about Tech stuff, not really your field - Maybe you should take the time to learn more, but not right now. You bite at your lower lip, contemplating the information - Your experience is still, to say the least, extremely limited, but you have the distinct impression that daemons don’t just wait a week before acting unless it’s part of a planned attack, and this doesn’t fit that at all. “...So you’re sure it’s a daemon or something, uh, living in there?”
>>5954545“There’s something gonking around in there.” You reply, already considering your options, “Might be overzealous IC mucking things up too, lots of possibilities…”>”...Mind if I take a closer look? Make sure I don’t start gargling rain water while I’m out.” Dive in and take a look around, look for a rat to stomp on.>”...Let’s see if it’ll take some bait and jump systems.” See if you can lure whatever this is into your deck, capture it in one of the empty data shards.>”...You know what, I’ve actually got some IC that might be able to sniff this out.” Not quite the intended use case for it, but it should work since it’s just being tasked to protect the car’s systems instead of your deck or link. Upload the Imp you got from Yoko, let the little guy get to work.>Write-in.
>>5954548>”...Mind if I take a closer look? Make sure I don’t start gargling rain water while I’m out.” Dive in with Alice and take a look around, look for a rat to stomp on.I’m actually pretty optimistic we could slice and dice this thing with Alice’s new dragon sword .exe’s
>>5954549>”...Mind if I take a closer look? Make sure I don’t start gargling rain water while I’m out.” Dive in and take a look around, look for a rat to stomp on.Lets crush some things.
>>5954545>”...Mind if I take a closer look? Make sure I don’t start gargling rain water while I’m out.” Dive in and take a look around, look for a rat to stomp on.
>>5954549>>”...Let’s see if it’ll take some bait and jump systems.” See if you can lure whatever this is into your deck, capture it in one of the empty data shards.
>>5954549>”...Let’s see if it’ll take some bait and jump systems.” See if you can lure whatever this is into your deck, capture it in one of the empty data shards.You can *always* use more variety
Voting is open for one more hour.
Extra Terra - Cybertruck https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntudnPmM-nk
>>5954549>>”...Let’s see if it’ll take some bait and jump systems.” See if you can lure whatever this is into your deck, capture it in one of the empty data shards.Gotta catch 'em all...
>>5954714>>5954594>>5954578Shard.>>5954553>>5954568>>5954576Stomp. I'll give it another hour for a tie breaker.
>>5954553>>5954568>>5954576Stomp.>>5954758>>5954714>>5954594>>5954578Shard. Shard wins, writing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuYeHPFR3f0
Alright, after writing for a bit (and leaving to eat dinner), I realized it's probably better to just ask for rolls at this point. I need two rolls of 1d100, DC 65.
>>5954814you got it boss
Rolled 9 (1d100)>>5954832forgot my roll
Rolled 66 (1d100)>>5954814our biggest test yet - fixing a car
>>5954834I think we're curs->>5954840Oh nevermind
>>5954840>>5954834>66Success!>>5954862Yeah, close one.
“...Let’s see if it’ll take some bait and jump systems. I’ll need a few minutes, Jack.” You finish saying, already calling up your decks basic spoofing software from earlier - It’s barebones stuff, but you need something to dangle out in front of whatever pest of a daemon is bumping around inside Jack’s car. With a thought you let Alice in on the plan, though considering her unrequested intrusion into your link a few seconds ago she’s probably already noticed.”Forwarding systems data from the Quadra. Spinning up a fake system for our friend in there?“Something like like that yeah idea is trap okay? Cool cool we got this.” You think back directly over your link, something close to pure intention spilling sloppily into words as the message is sent directly to Alice. Diagnostics information and system data from the Quadra floods into your link. It should be more than enough to make a fake sensor system for a daemon to try to nest inside of. For kicks, you decide to throw in some self-driving and brake control data, about a minutes worth of highway driving. Assembling the spoof piece by piece, after a couple of minutes you’ve got something you feel confident enough in to try - and a shard ready to snag anything that takes the bait.“...Still working on it?” Jack questions, his voice slightly muffled by the falling rain and the car between the two of you - he crawled back out from under the vehicle after you went quiet concentrating on the spoof.“...And done.” You reply, smirking a little at the timing. The spoof executes, false system data mingling with that of Jack’s car… And immediately you get a bite, strange errors flashing all over the fake as it detects hazardous road conditions of every imaginable sort and even attempting to activate the emergency brake. You kill the connection, unplugging your link a moment later, shutting the jaws of your trap on whatever was causing the fake warnings. // Data Capture Complete! // // Shard Capacity at 0.42% // “I did it!” You bang one palm against the underside of the car in triumph, a loud clang sounding from one of the armored plates. Ow. “Caught a…” You run a quick analysis of the shard. Unlike the dragon’s tail from earlier, this is something the deck can do more or less on its own.// Analysis Complete: Nuisance Level Daemon - “Detour” - Version 2.27 - 荒坂社 //
>>5954986“...Arasaka daemon, nasty little guy!” You awkwardly slide yourself out from under the vehicle and back out into the pouring rain - which is worse than the pooled rain under the car, but not by much, “Some kind of nuisance daemon. Tried to cause errors with the self-driving system I spoofed, would’ve sent it spinning out in the middle of traffic if it was a real set of wheels.” “How’d that get in there?” Skid scratches at the scar on his chin, so soaked by this point to hardly care at all about the rain - his eyes are locked firmly on his more junior companion. You get a glimpse of the tablet still held in his hands, the screen indicating that the car’s errors have vanished after the removal of the daemon. “...Probably the Arasaka gun sight we picked up in Atlanta.” Jack admits sheepishly, “I might not have, uh…” “You skipped cleaning its systems.” Skid shakes his head in disappointment, but he doesn’t look surprised, “Too busy ogling the delivery girl again instead of checking the hardware going on your new wheels - Oh, to be young and a fucking gonk again, god dammit Jack…”Jack winces slightly, preparing for a barrage of insults.“...She did have a hell of a rack though, pair of AVs parked there,” Skid chuckles mostly to himself, still clearing unhappy but easing off, ”And I was your age once, believe it or not. Some time after dinosaurs but before they invented fire …Just don’t fuck up like that again, Jack.” “Yes, sir! Not a chance of it.” Relief washes over the lanky boy’s rain soaked face, but you can tell from Skid’s expression that he doubts it’ll actually be the last time - either Jack’s a habitual screw up or it’s just expected of rookies. Or maybe Skid’s just an honest cynic, that’d fit too. “...And thanks, Kai. Friend of the family indeed, owe you one.” >”Some drinks and we’ll call it even, let’s get the hell out of this rain.” May as well build even more rapport with Nomads. Cannon, Maeve, now Jack and Skid, even Dakota sort of it you squint - that could add up to something significant eventually.>”Don’t worry about it, choom. I’d ask up front if I was expecting something. Gonna head inside and try to look less like a used dish towel.” There’s got to be other people of interest at ‘Turbo’, no reason to tie yourself down just yet.>As above, but find a spot to call Vicky while you’re trying (probably in vain) to dry off.>Write-in.
>>5954989Clearly unhappy*
>>5954989>”Don’t worry about it, choom. I’d ask up front if I was expecting something. Gonna head inside and try to look less like a used dish towel.” There’s got to be other people of interest at ‘Turbo’, no reason to tie yourself down just yet.I'd say yes to some drinks if we weren't about to do a job. Try to throw him out commcodes if he needs a newbie netrunner. Not opposed to calling vickey either, consider this a +1 to either.
>>5954989>>”Don’t worry about it, choom. I’d ask up front if I was expecting something. Gonna head inside and try to look less like a used dish towel.” There’s got to be other people of interest at ‘Turbo’, no reason to tie yourself down just yet.Reminds me of a debt we need to pay back that Ripper Doc who chipped us. Maybe bring him some real food too after we get groceries. Can't live of buck a slice forever.
>>5954989>>”Don’t worry about it, choom. I’d ask up front if I was expecting something. Gonna head inside and try to look less like a used dish towel.” There’s got to be other people of interest at ‘Turbo’, no reason to tie yourself down just yet.
>>5954989>As above, but find a spot to call Vicky while you’re trying (probably in vain) to dry off.
>>5954989>>As above, but find a spot to call Vicky while you’re trying (probably in vain) to dry off.
>>5954989>As above, but find a spot to call Vicky while you’re trying (probably in vain) to dry off.Get their commlinks if we haven’t already - good to have a couple of friendly contacts
>>5955190>>5955081>>5955069>>5955035>>5954996Writing.
>>5955197Finally. We give Vicky a call
>>5955197
“Don’t worry about it, choom.” You give jack a thumbs up and forward your commcode to his agent with a thought, your link handling the legwork as you begin to turn and head toward the bar, “I’d ask up front if I was expecting something. Gonna head inside and try to look less like a used dish towel.” // New Contact: Jack // // New Contact: Skid // “Appreciate it, Kai - We’re heading back out to the badlands.” Jack waves as you depart, “See you around, and good hunting!” “Yeah, you’d better be thanking him, he just pulled your ass out of the…” Skid’s words fade away in the rain as you leave the two nomads and head toward the neon sign of ‘Turbo’, intent on getting inside the bar as soon as possible. It’s going to take ages to dry, and you’ve already got things on your mind besides the upcoming job - those massive NCPD cuts at the forefront.”Have you considered becoming a nomad, Kai?” Alice whispers within your thoughts, still connected to you directly through your link, surprising you with the sudden question.“Not much, maybe in passing a couple of times,” You say aloud, no one close enough to hear as you trudge through the rain toward the ‘bar’, or really maybe more of a diner now that you can see through the windows a bit better - definitely people drinking inside though, “Can’t leave NC though, not with mom’s bills and… Unanswered questions.””I intend to see the investigation through to the end as well, Kai.” Alice replies softly, ”And to honor my promise to assist with jobs while I can, for your sake, and your mother… but…”You stop outside the door to ‘Turbo’, standing beneath the small overhang provided by the roof to keep out of the rain, “That’s a long but, Alice.” ”Y-yes, so it was. I have been thinking of it, Kai. Being a nomad.”“Feeling the call of the open road?” You ask, though it doesn’t surprise you too much - in fact it seems like a good fit for her in some ways no that you've had a second to think, being stuck inside a car and all, “Thought you’d be wanting to jump out of the Quadra first chance you got, get out on the Net for good. To live there, I mean, not ghost me or some shit, I know we're chooms.””I… Am actually somewhat conflicted about where to live, even after my data is recovered. I desire a body, I have come to realize. Not metal, flesh and blood. Emotional imprints… are difficult to process, they overwhelm me for thousands of cycles at a time, with a body it would be easier I… I think. My core helps, but it is mostly a container. The Quadra or another vehicle are suitable to house it, and leaving it behind for unspecialized hardware would be… tricky. I know it is possible, but I… Apologies, I am getting very sidetracked. Rambling.”
>>5955335“A body?” Now there’s a thought, one that both sends a jolt of fear and excitement through you.“I would feel more alive if I had one… I want to feel alive. I am alive. I survived. I feel, but… I cannot help be feel that I am missing something. The nomads seem to be…”“Real ones, yeah. Not boot licking corp worshippers. Alive.” ”Y-yes, precisely that! I admire their spirit.”You nod, looking toward the parked Quadra out in the lot and the now departing duo of nomad vehicles, Jack and Skid already driving off - one of them honks, presumably another farewell.“...Yeah, definitely something to them. You might just be seeking freedom though, Alice.””Perhaps it is that simple.” Her reply is quieter, barely registering within your thoughts, growing sharply in prominence a moment later, ”...You are considering calling Vicky?”“I was. How’d you-” Your eyes widen, “Can you read my fucking mind, Alice? What’s the link feeding you?””N-no! Nothing of the sort, I have just felt… more synced with you since this morning, and after our trips into the Net. It s-sort of, um, popped into my thoughts, but I knew it was you.”“...Been noticing the same thing, here and there.” You’re unsure of how to feel about the odd phenomena, but whatever interaction between your link and Alice that might be causing it is beyond your technical expertise - Don’t got a fucking clue, choom. “Yeah, gonna ring her on the holo, might be out of a job with those cuts.””I will give you some privacy.”
>>5955337Alice’s presence vanishes, a subtle change in the pressure of your thoughts. Bizarre. With a thought you pull up Vicky’s commcode and give her a call, a box with her face flickering into existence half-real in the corner of your vision. Just a still image for now, it’ll switch to a live feed after she connects… Which she doesn’t.Must be busy, you think to yourself, ready for the call to fail after waiting for nearly half a minute - but just before it drops Vicky’s image flashes away to be replaced with a live feed of her apartment interior. She looks rough, puffy eyed and with dark tear tracks of smeared makeup that she clearly tried to wipe away before accepting the call - it just made it more obvious.“Heya, Vicky.” You greet her quietly, the words almost catching as you see her distraught appearance, “I, uh, I heard the cuts happened. Thought I’d… Are you alright?”“Fuck! Can’t hide it from anyone…” She curses under her breath, frustration and a despair mixing as her expression darkens, brown eyes closing shut as she shakes her head, “I’m sorry, Kai. You shouldn’t have to see me like this. ...I got cut, ‘excess to requirements’.”“Damn, Vicky, I’m sorry, that’s…” You hate seeing her like this, especially after all she and the others on the force have tired to do to help you out over the last week, “That’s shitty of them, low even for city hall. How a-” “Am I?” She sniffles, not quite snapping at you, before erupting into anger at her situation, “How am I? …Shit, Kai, I feel like shit. That fat asshole Rhyne’s killed my career, and his enny pinching gonkhead choom from DataTerm is going to get my friends killed. Bots for cops? Jesus, Joseph, and fucking Mary, they’re handing the city over to the gangs and too blind to see it. And I can’t even make rent next week, they’re dropping the bills for our chrome on us completely, no subsidies for ex-badges…”Her words trail off as she looks off camera for a moment, snarling in disgust at what she sees before nearly losing it again, barely holding back tears. After a few moments she’s got it under control enough to talk again, something of the usual Vicky just barely shining through, concern evident behind her large brown eyes, “...Kai, why’re you out in the rain?”
>>5955340Ah, crap - It’s not a live feed, just your link simulating your surroundings and what you probably look like, but that can’t be good as soaked as you are. “Making ends meet.” You keep it vague for now, “Trying to anyways… Got caught out without an umbrella.” “Kai.” Vicky's demeanor shifts, far more familiar. Ah, there she is, protective Vicky, “How many times do I have to tell you? You’ll catch a cold or… or something. The streets aren't safe.”“Yeah, thanks, mom.” What would’ve been a snarky, immature teenage quip last week is somehow warmer now, familiar. Vicky snorts out a laugh, rolling her eyes. “If she were here she’d say the same thing.” Vicky’s sniffles again, wiping away a stray tear that managed to sneak out as she laughed, “...How is that, Kai? With your mom, I mean. I know the bills weren’t small… I don’t think any of the death pensions got cut, so… so that’s a silver lining. Kinda fucking thin…”…But still a silver lining. The NCPD isn’t paying much out to your family, but it’s a few thousand eddies a month you don’t have to extract from some scav’s tetanus filled decaying urban lair.“You sure you’re doing okay?” She asks once more. …Aren’t you supposed to be the one checking in on her?>”Some friends of the family have been helping out, throwing me some jobs to work.” True, technically, but also a total fucking lie at its heart.>”...Picked up some of the side gigs my dad used to run, haven’t caught a bullet yet somehow. Pays good, enough for mom maybe. Maybe enough for your rent, it’s sort of like subcon work. Kind of.” …Vicky might not have known, but she must’ve suspected things about your father, he was as close with her as anyone on the force. Maybe it’s her turn to balance on that edge. Or maybe losing the badge is still too fresh. Rent doesn’t wait, whatever her feelings are.>”Don’t worry about that, Vicky. I appreciate it, but you’ve got enough to deal with right now… Need a place to crash for a while?” >Write-in.
>>5955342>>”Don’t worry about that, Vicky. I appreciate it, but you’ve got enough to deal with right now… Need a place to crash for a while?”
>>5955342>”Don’t worry about that, Vicky. I appreciate it, but you’ve got enough to deal with right now… Need a place to crash for a while?”
>>5955342>”...Picked up some of the side gigs my dad used to run, haven’t caught a bullet yet somehow. Pays good, enough for mom maybe. Maybe enough for your rent, it’s sort of like subcon work. Kind of.” …Vicky might not have known, but she must’ve suspected things about your father, he was as close with her as anyone on the force. Maybe it’s her turn to balance on that edge. Or maybe losing the badge is still too fresh. Rent doesn’t wait, whatever her feelings are.
>>5955342>”Don’t worry about that, Vicky. I appreciate it, but you’ve got enough to deal with right now… Need a place to crash for a while?”I do want to be honest with her eventually but she's not lookin too good right now
>>5955342>”...Picked up some of the side gigs my dad used to run, haven’t caught a bullet yet somehow. Pays good, enough for mom maybe. Maybe enough for your rent, it’s sort of like subcon work. Kind of.” …Vicky might not have known, but she must’ve suspected things about your father, he was as close with her as anyone on the force. Maybe it’s her turn to balance on that edge. Or maybe losing the badge is still too fresh. Rent doesn’t wait, whatever her feelings are.So I have a question for y’all. My only experience with the setting is this thread and Edgerunners, with passing knowledge of the rest of the setting.Does just about everyone in this setting moonlight as a criminal? Or is that just the most interesting aspect of Night City?Basically, is the rampant criminality a feature of the stories that people write because it’s compelling, or does everyone down to the Taco Bell cashier have a side hustle as a door kicker for hire?
>>5955403You could be a corp but office work is often boring and hard to get (and can also be very dangerous).So most likely you would be a merc anyway and as we are not "criminal" like the gangs are. We are a hired gun for fixer/s, not for a corp at least for now.As for the rampant criminality, the reason is high unemployment and big homeless population. Somebody correct me if am wrong about anything.
>>5955403far from everyone, it's just that's who you play as in the ttrpg so that's what gets focused in all the media. That said, very few people are in a good place financially in night city and mercenary work or straight up crime is very glamorized, so you end up with a lot of kids (like our main cast) throwing themselves into the meat grinder to try and make ends meat (heh).
>>5955403It's more like the opportunities are constantly waived in front of your face + rents/COL is high...But Cost of Living is high because people are ABLE to make the payments somehow. The people doing retail work are also asked by people passing by to hide something for a little extra cash. The people who are in the ambulances get active offers for the parts in their patients. It's choices between bending rules where people 'aren't hurt too much/they deserve it(Scavs)' and having a living space where you aren't worried about your utilities being broken. Those without the ability to leave are stuck with unemployment and cheap thrills (BDs are $20-50 eurodollars. Wreathes are like $100ish?) even before the drugs and other things. Think someone also calculated like 4% of the city dies each year (with population stabilization due to high immigration of those chasing dreams + corpo replacements)If you make enough money, it's not hard to leave Night City. The problem is due to it being AnCap central, there's an absurd number of opportunities to make money as an individual vs the corpo-states elsewhere.
>>5955342>”Don’t worry about that, Vicky. I appreciate it, but you’ve got enough to deal with right now… Need a place to crash for a while?”Gotta take care of our own, and who knows, maybe she will want to join us in edgerunning?
>>5955487In the game it was originally stated "In the year 2076, Night City's population fell by 29.24% - the third worst decline in North America." This was changed by "In the year 2076, Night City's birthrate fell by 7% - the third worst decline in North America."So guys do your part in repopulation of night city
>>5955527Repopulating NC with Vicky.....
>>5955643You can always try Anon.
>>5955348>>5955354>>5955358>>5955368>>5955402>>5955493Place to crash?>>5955382>>5955401>>5955403THE TRUTHOffering a place to crash wins, writing. Should get the update out tonight still, might be close to midnight though. >>5955403Depends a lot on what you mean by a criminal, anon. Pursuing crime as a career alternative isn't common, it is mostly just the (very large and often corp backed) gangs, some scavs, arguably Nomads but they're de facto semi-sovereign if not de jure, and then edgerunners filling in the gaps. Dabbling in crime is common though, ubiquitous even. It is important to remember that just a few years prior, Night City was/almost was an active war zone, it STILL has a military occupation going on by a rogue warlord in Dogtown, and even before that it had been slowly recovering for decades after getting nuked by Militech at the end of the fourth corporate war. Don't think of it like a modern first world city gone bad, it ISN'T. There is shit tons of wealth and glamour which draws people in, NC is a god tier business hub for legal and political reasons and has heaps of strategic importance so it gets propped up and big corps and nations bicker over control.Take the cynicism and corruption of 1990's Moscow, the massive gangs of Honduras until a few years ago, and something like the bizarre laws/tax exemptions/structure of a free city in the Holy Roman Empire, dash a sort of cyber-feudalism and geopolitical intrigue between the NUSA and Japan (Militech v. Arasaka) on top, and you're left with the absolute shithole that is Night City in the 2070's. 2076 is an especially awful year. The political and administrative situation is downright bizarre and a total mess, making it a wonderfully awful place to live but a great one for stories about bad times and hard choices.The world is spiraling the drain, but there are a LOT of eddies to be made.>>5955487>>5955421These anons gets it. 2076 was a disaster for Night City, in 2077 the pieces are slowly getting picked back up.>>5955643Oh god, it begins.
“Don’t worry about that, Vicky. I appreciate it, but you’ve got enough to deal with right now…” You consider spilling the truth about what’s going on, but having had something of a shit week yourself you know what it’s like to get more crap piled on out of the blue - Later, maybe, but not right. “Need a place to crash for a while?”“Yeah. Thanks, Kai, I… just need a place for a bit, to get back on my feet.” She looks down, utterly defeated, spent emotionally after what must’ve been hours of dealing with the aftermath of the cuts, “In a couple of days, rents due on the ninth so I’ve got about enough time to put all my shit into boxes… Was looking at storage places.” “I’m not using most of the apartment, just leave it there for now. It’s what friends are for, you’ve been looking out for me since dad got…” Anger begins to fill you once more as you think of your father’s death and all you’ve learned of it so far - anger or utter emptiness, it’s always one of the two when you think of New Years. It wells up like oil from a crack in the earth, covering all your thoughts. “...Since he got killed. Shit week for a lot of people.”“Yeah.” Vicky gives a small nod. She gets it, she was close with dad - not family close, but you always suspected she sort of had a thing for him. Dad was loyal to mom though, and Vicky’s just not that kind of woman, so it wasn’t ever an issue. Still has to sting. “Alright if I bring things by tomorrow morning?” “Of course - I might even be dried off by then.” You try to add a little levity but it doesn’t really land. Ah well, worth a try. “Need help moving it?” “Don’t own the furniture, so it’s…” She looks past the camera of her agent, eyes sweeping over the interior of her apartment, taking in the wreckage of the last phase of her life. “It’s not too much. If you’re not busy though, I could use a hand.”
>>5955971“I’ll swing by in the morning, it’s not a problem.” You reply, watching as a new car pulls into the lot, rolling slowly through the downpour and across rain slick concrete before finding a spot. It’s another beat up old Hella, the quintessential everyman car for decades now after some corp accidentally made something that can hold its value and take repairs well. Oops, can’t go doing that, now can they? They’re roaches of the car world, there’d still be some rolling around even if someone set off another nuke downtown. You kind of like them, NCPD police cruisers are based on a similar model. A tall woman with long white hair exits the cyan car’s passenger side, her clothes all whites and leathers and openly wearing a European style of sword - odd look. Another edgrerunner, probably, definitely not a ganger. A short squat bulldog of man exits from the passenger side, sporting a long but well groomed beard and what have to be muscle grafts - he’s built like a dwarf. Not a little person, the ax swinging kind. They both hurry into 'Turbo' and out of the rain, the young woman giving you the one of the strangest looks you've ever received as she passes by, emerald green eyes looking right through you.“Thanks again, Kai. I guess you need to get back to what you’re doing?” Vicky doesn’t press further but with how her eyes narrow ever so, you just know she suspects you’re not telling her everything. You’ve never been good at bluffing her, it’s why you started to avoid talking entirely when trying to do something gonk.>”Yeah, waiting on some chooms I met. One of them had family on the force too.” A lot of your good will toward Connor, or rather Catalina - her real name - hangs on that ‘had’. Vicky’ll probably assume it’s a support group or something. They sort of are, if you stretch the term to include fire support.>”Goes until midnight, maybe a bit longer.” Minimal details.>”Yeah. See you tomorrow morning, Vicky.” NO details.>Write-in.
>>5955975Short guy exited from the driver's side, that was an error.
>>5955975>”Yeah. See you tomorrow morning, Vicky.” NO details
>>5955975>>”Yeah, waiting on some chooms I met. One of them had family on the force too.” A lot of your good will toward Connor, or rather Catalina - her real name - hangs on that ‘had’. Vicky’ll probably assume it’s a support group or something. They sort of are, if you stretch the term to include fire support.man we should get a sword, maybe a rapier? I don't think Kai's strong enough for something cool like a dadao.
>>5955979The door was stuck.
>>5955975>>”Yeah, waiting on some chooms I met. One of them had family on the force too.” A lot of your good will toward Connor, or rather Catalina - her real name - hangs on that ‘had’. Vicky’ll probably assume it’s a support group or something. They sort of are, if you stretch the term to include fire support.
>>5955975>”Yeah. See you tomorrow morning, Vicky.” NO details.
>>5955975>”Yeah, waiting on some chooms I met. One of them had family on the force too.” A lot of your good will toward Connor, or rather Catalina - her real name - hangs on that ‘had’. Vicky’ll probably assume it’s a support group or something. They sort of are, if you stretch the term to include fire support.Btw, What do we know about Vicky? Can we get a rundown of what Kai knows about her? Might be useful conversationally.On the way back to the apartment, we should probably buy her some sleep medication as well. Otherwise, she isn't likely to get any useful sleep for the next several days with how she feels. I say that from personal experience.-----------------------------------------Also on the subject of the population of Night City, It also has to do with the fact that the average person lives in a Rat Utopia like environment (look at Fredrik Knudsen's video on it). There is always constant supervision. With constant agitation from the ads on the street and news on the data feed. And anyone who tries to shut it out is followed by it no matter where they go. There is always something to worry about or be aware of. It leaves most people slowly going crazy. And any potentially prospecting parents in the "we will do it later when times are better" mentality. On top of that, most people in prime parenting age are likely to join gangs and get killed. It isn't the 60+ age that join places like Mox, Maelstrom and Valentino's. It's the 18-28 year old demographic. Who are likely to get killed quickly after they join as newbies. Or become unfeeling shitheads if they survive.
>>5955975>”Yeah. See you tomorrow morning, Vicky.” NO details.This is a face to face conversation we should have with her.
>>5955975>Yeah. See you tomorrow morning, Vicky.” NO details.She’s not ready for more just yet
>>5955975>>”Yeah. See you tomorrow morning, Vicky.” NO details
>>5955527>>5955487>>5955421So if I’m understanding correctly, Night City in 2076 is in a pretty severe economic recession?I assume that Night City wasn’t always this big of a shithole, given that it hasn’t completely collapsed yet. Unless the 2077 setting is supposed to be set in the middle of said collapse, that is.
>>5955975>”Yeah, waiting on some chooms I met. One of them had family on the force too.” A lot of your good will toward Connor, or rather Catalina - her real name - hangs on that ‘had’. Vicky’ll probably assume it’s a support group or something. They sort of are, if you stretch the term to include fire support.
>>5956237It is actually a hiccup during the first period of prosperity after its true economic catastrophe during the Red, when downtown was still a nuclear blast crater. 2076 is definitely not good, but much worse times are still well within living memory for Night City's oldest (and hardiest) residents. Kai's plenty familiar with the history but didn't see much of it, it was basically over by the time he was old enough to notice and things were well on the way to recovery.Part of the population drops and lowered birth rates can be explained away by the fact that Night City removed Pacifica (and Dogtown within it) from its administrative borders, so a good chunk of the population decline is just cutting loose the most run down and crime filled section of the city. Nobody wants to administer a combat zone, so they just... don't. Everyone in NC still thinks of it as part of the city, just super run down and run entirely by gangs (and at least one warlord with anti-aircraft missiles that can shoot down sub-orbital shuttles lmao).In 2077 Night City has found a kind of shitty equilibrium again but there's war on the horizon once more and a looming AI apocalypse (not generally known). Depending on the canon events of the game a lot of this can be made way worse, seriously mitigated, or barely touched and allowed to sail right into the looming AI iceberg. >>5956138Vicky was an NCPD officer working at the local precinct that Kai's father worked from. She's twenty nine and was on the force shortly after her eighteenth birthday (tested in at seventeen, minimum age for starting the process), and grabbed that badge as fast as she could to get out of Heywood - the alternative was gang life, and her older brother got killed a few years before so she wasn't keen. She's been a family friend from close to the time she came on the force, and used to babysit Kai (only a handful of times) but never stopped seeing him as a kid (to be fair he mostly was) - that's probably changed now that Taro is dead and Kai's having to step up. Kai was resentful of that, in a petty teenage kind of way, but has always still liked her. Think of Vicky as an overprotective older sister in a lot of ways and you're close to what the relationship is, just maybe a bit more distant than that. Having survived working the streets of Watson for a decade, she's had more than her fair share of gunfights, killed probably a dozen gangers if not more, shot (or shot at) many more, and even got her leg blown off during a particularly nasty scrap - a cloned one replaced it, not chrome, but she does have some internal combat chrome (Kai doesn't know the specifics). She likes to bake in her free time, which is rare in NC's often kitchenless apartments, and does mixed martial arts but doesn't actually enjoy it very much - it's just a survival thing. She's nominally roman catholic, it doesn't come up much besides religious swearing.
>>5955981>>5956079>>5956164>>5956169>>5956180>>5956204No details.>>5955988>>5956037>>5956138>>5956160>>5956242Waiting on chooms.Narrow win for no details, writing.
“Yeah,” You’ve never like those looks she gives, withering under them far too quickly, and hurry to finish up the call, “See you tomorrow morning, Vicky - Take care of yourself, you’ll get through this.”“...Yeah, yeah.” She replies quietly, clearly drawn back to contemplating her shit situation instead of wondering what exactly you’re doing outside in a storm, “I will. You too, okay, Kai? I’ll get some boxes ready… See you tomorrow.” And with that the call ends, the holo box flicking out of existence at the edge of your vision. Sighing, you think over the situation - She’s going to find out about what you’re doing eventually, probably sooner rather than later. How do you break that to her? She knows how Night City is, and better than you, but a part of you fears the judgment that will come with it. Did she know about dad’s side work? His actual past? You shake your head, shove your hands into your blue jacket’s rain soaked pockets, and trudge inside ‘Turbo’. The door swishes open automatically, revealing a bar, tables, and all the interesting chooms you’d expect to find at a dive called out as being a ‘runner spot’. Mercenary sorts of all types, some having beers or harder drinks, a few others clustered at the old diner style booths and enjoying… pancakes? That actually smells pretty good, almost real.A few of the chromed crowd glance your way as you walk in - a couple turn right back to what they were doing, but some sets of (cyber)eyes linger on longer…>There’s something deeply odd about that short guy and the white haired woman - more the woman than the man. Try introducing yourself, maybe they’re new to the city? >Em? Damn, you didn’t think you’d see her here. She’s with a few guys, all Claws - probably the owners of that other Quadra outside - they’re talking in Japanese, something about one of the bosses getting chopped up. Sounds like it might be cyberpsycho related. Head over.>...You recognize another one, small city! It’s that short crazy girl from northside, the one you delivered the stolen comp to. She's there with a couple intimidating looking chooms. Head on over.>Get your own booth and some synth coffee or something, try to dry off and warm up before bothering anyone. Who the hell wants to talk to a soaked brat?>Write-in.
>>5956286>>Em? Damn, you didn’t think you’d see her here. She’s with a few guys, all Claws - probably the owners of that other Quadra outside - they’re talking in Japanese, something about one of the bosses getting chopped up. Sounds like it might be cyberpsycho related. Head over.I gotta get me some of that plot.
>>5956286>Em? Damn, you didn’t think you’d see her here. She’s with a few guys, all Claws - probably the owners of that other Quadra outside - they’re talking in Japanese, something about one of the bosses getting chopped up. Sounds like it might be cyberpsycho related. Head over.We speak Japanese, right?
>>5956286>Em? Damn, you didn’t think you’d see her here. She’s with a few guys, all Claws - probably the owners of that other Quadra outside - they’re talking in Japanese, something about one of the bosses getting chopped up. Sounds like it might be cyberpsycho related. Head over.Maybe she will take us a bit more seriously after we got some chrome. Maybe we could find more info about dad.
>>5956286>Get your own booth and some synth coffee or something, try to dry off and warm up before bothering anyone. Who the hell wants to talk to a soaked brat?Appearance matters and right now we look like a stray puppy to any veteran runner>>5955988Swords are cool but they also need an assload of practice and experience to get the most out of.Maybe start Kai off with something simpler, like a hatchet. Or an electric baton, juice it up from mere 'stun' to 'burnt flesh and fried chrome'!
>>5956286>Get your own booth and some synth coffee or something, try to dry off and warm up before bothering anyone. Who the hell wants to talk to a soaked brat?But with the caveat of trying to listen in on Em talking about the boss getting chopped up.
>>5956286>>Em? Damn, you didn’t think you’d see her here. She’s with a few guys, all Claws - probably the owners of that other Quadra outside - they’re talking in Japanese, something about one of the bosses getting chopped up. Sounds like it might be cyberpsycho related. Head over.
>>5956296Yes, and Kai also has dual citizenship, although that's unlikely to matter much in the near future.>>5956338>to get the most out of You don't need the most from them, just enough, and that's a much more attainable goal usually, even in the relatively short term if you're using the right chrome. Speedware and skill shards are a hell of a drug, and there's stuff that speeds up natural learning too. Or redeem your soul in the light of the God-Emperor and just use a chainsword.>>5956340>>5956335>>5956296>>5956292Em.>>5956338>>5956339Dry off for a bit.Em and the Tyger Claws win, writing.
>>5956286Huh, Becca and co? Wonder if be able to wrangle a few netrunning lessons out of Kiwi if she's not already hands full with Ms. Stay At Your House.
Sweeping your gaze across the interior of ‘Turbo’, your eyes settle on a familiar sight among all the other mercs. Em. She’s in red and black, a body suit of some kind, and sitting on the outside of one of the booths with a pair of guys you immediately flag as Tyger Claws. They’re not hiding it, sporting the colors openly and absolutely covered in ink. For a moment you just watch, listening in. One of the Tygers, the taller one with long green hair, speaks to his chooms in a low voice - you can only just hear him,「He was gutted before his guards could react, and now the other bosses are getting jumpy. There is no telling who will be next, Emiko.」「Haunted!」The other Tyger, bald and a bit rounder faced, exclaims worriedly.「What?」Em asks sharply, her expression flat and unreadable, a statue of ice.「We are haunted by ghosts.」The bald Tyger replies, wide eyed - He must really mean it. Em’s mouth wrinkles in disgust,「Ghosts? Idiot. Kato was a full borg, and weak. He broke, that is all.」The green haired one laughs darkly, shaking his head,「You are nearly a full borg. Perhaps you will break next. What meat are you holding onto still, mantis?」「It is ghosts. The young princess said so.」The bald one insists, growing frustrated at Em’s dismissiveness.Em’s cybereyes narrow, and she grows very, very still,「You are ridiculous, Yamada. She is a child, and a hostage, and alone. She tells stories to pass time, and listens to things that are not real.」「She has servants. You. I like her stories.」Yamada, the bald one, crosses his arms and leans back nervously.「You are a bigger idiot than I thought, that is not at all . . . Oh my, oh my, perhaps we are haunted. There is a ghost right there.」Em’s eyes shift from Yamada and toward you, the sudden weight of her attention slapping you across the face - She’s a predator sizing you up. You recognize that more readily now than even at the shrine or on that NCART ride on New Years. She could kill you, easily, and there is nothing you could do to stop it. …The same might be true for the two claws as well, but maybe you’d get a lucky shot off or blind them and run. 「The boy? Who is he to you?」Yamada asks, making quite the show of turning to look at you, one arms going over the booth as he just stares. He does look kind of stupid, now that you see his face more clearly.Em’s voice grows sinister, taunting her bald ‘choom’,「A specter that stalks me, a monster. See how ridiculous you sound, Yamada? That is what you sound like. We met at the shrine. Sarah wished to go.」「Sarah?」The green haired one glances at you after asking, and then turns his attention right back to Em’s icey expression,「So familiar with her now, are you? I knew I was right. You are going soft.」
>>5956463「Chimon, shut up. You go too far sometimes.」Em practically spits the words out at green hair, Chimon, before waving you over,「Kai, come over here. I will kill you if you keep eavesdropping.」A few of the other mercs in the bar turn at that, either understanding what she’s said or having it translated in real time by their chrome. It might have been a poor joke, you can’t tell. You try your best not to look terrified as you walk over, shivering slightly from the cold of the rain water that’s soaked your clothes. 「This one got your attention? Always the young ones.」Chimon laughs derisively. You know at once he’s an asshole, but from how he and Em have been speaking they must be friends… or they absolutely hate each other’s guts,「Sit down before she makes more of a scene, Kai.」You do so, next to Em - Yamada and Chimon have got the other half of the booth just about filled up. You introduce yourself politely, eliciting another snicker from Chimon. >「There was another massacre? I have been investigating what happened at Kabuki on New Years.」Directly to the point, press right in.>「I am here for a job for the lady of Westbrook, waiting on my companions . . . I did not expect to see you here, Em.」Should probably let them know what you’re doing - in a vague sense - before those (maybe) joking threats turn real.>「What was that about ghosts you were saying?」>Write-in.
>>5956464>「What was that about ghosts you were saying?」Ghosts, or another cyberpsycho attack? But psychos are not very ghostly
>>5956464>「What was that about ghosts you were saying?」Kai has shown an interest for the supernatural or that he's atleast somewhat spiritual. Might as well ask, as Em has already shown hostility when it comes to the detes of the cyberpsycho attack. Besides, it might be relevant to the cyber-disease Wakako mentioned and that probably got our dad smoked.
>>5956464>「I am here for a job for the lady of Westbrook, waiting on my companions . . . I did not expect to see you here, Em.」Should probably let them know what you’re doing - in a vague sense - before those (maybe) joking threats turn real.
>>5956548Supporting, I wouldn’t be surprised if these guys have another piece of the puzzle
>>5956548>>5956636>"I would call it a widow’s intuition, but one of my little stray Claws lost their mind just last night and sliced up a meeting of Arasaka specialists sent to negotiate an arms deal."This could very well be the thing they are referencing. Not sure it would be wise to mention that we are aware of this, you never know with these Tyger Claws, but it might help us connect the pieces.
>>5956660Actually no, changing this to this>「What was that about ghosts you were saying?」
>>5956464>「I am here for a job for the lady of Westbrook, waiting on my companions . . . I did not expect to see you here, Em.」Should probably let them know what you’re doing - in a vague sense - before those (maybe) joking threats turn real.>>5956338get enough chrome and unskilled use is plenty deadly! >>5956356yea like that, come to think of it, with enough reinforcement we could totally make the cyber zweihander a reality
>>5956464>>What was that about ghosts you were saying?」
>>5956533>>5956548>>5956661>>5956717Ghosts?!>>5956708>>5956549Explain yourself a bit.Time for ghost stories. Writing.
「What was that about ghosts you were saying?」You question, trying to contain your nervousness around Em and the two Claws - they’re all chromed, Em especially heavily but Chimon’s no slouch - obvious cyberarms and a full faceplate - and Yamada still has cybereyes and obvious ports, and cyberhands if not full limbs. His jacket conceals any other chrome he has, but not the large handgun printing heavily in a shoulder rig.「Not you too.」Em shifts her glare to you from Chimon. Her bladed feet tap against the floor of the bar, tick, tick, tick. Chimon leans over the table toward you, pointing a red plated finger right in your face, his cybereyes flashing red,「This city is full of ghosts, and more are made every day. What is it to you? Think you can ask questions? I told you to sit, not to talk.」「His father was killed on New Years Eve, in Kabuki marketplace.」Em states flatly, the weight of her gaze returning to the green haired Claw - he backs off slightly, but his hand is still closer than you’d like.「What a bloodbath! But why tell him? Is he paying? They can’t be related.」Chimon questions, his finger still just a few inches away, but his attention solely on Em. You badly want to punch the smug chromed cunt in the face, but that would just break your fingers and then get you killed in the parking lot. Flesh is weak, steel is not. 「They can be if it is the same spirits causing this. You wanted to hear about the ghosts, Kai? I will tell you.」Yamada begins to say, but Chimon is quick to be a real cockhead once again, speaking over him.「You forget yourself, Yamada.」Chimon scolds, suddenly caring about etiquette. What a bad joke.The protective covering of one of Em’s mantis blades opens up, armored plates parting on her forearm and letting the long blade slink forward and click against the table - it is sharp enough to cut through such thin metal by its own weight alone, but she controls it perfectly, not leaving a scratch on the surface,「He does not, you do. There is no censure on what Sarah says, lonely nonsense or not.」「Then you forget yourself as well. You are not one of us anymore, you cannot enforce rules that do not apply to you. You are huscle. Not one of us.」Chimon clenches a slightly-too-large fist, arcs of electricity crackling and jumping across the knuckles for a moment - again the bar’s attention is drawn toward your booth.「I've always wanted to kill you, Chimon.」Em remains perfectly still, the words carrying across the silent bar. Chimon blinks, but holds his ground.
>>5956843“Someone about to die over there? Holy shit, take it outside, chooms!” A hoarse voiced girl shouts from the far end of the bar, somewhat confused - Em and Chimon ignore her. Well, that answers the friend or hate question. Fuck.「And you will do it now? Over this kid? You won’t.」Chimon’s laughs right in her face, but she doesn’t back off - the whine of charging capacitors fills the air, something built into Em powering up to combat readiness. Shit, shit, this is bad. You start scanning for the nearest exit - it’s still just the front doors.「Not this kid. Apologize for the disrespect you have shown the princess.」Em’s voice goes nearly synthetic, something unnatural leaching into it at the edges. Chimon blinks once more but doesn’t back off another inch,「. . . You cannot be serious. You just said far worse, her father is powerless-」「Perhaps it would be best to calm things! It is just a story.」Yamada croaks,「A harmless ghost story! Em, she would not want this.」「. . . No. She would not.」Em’s blade retracts, and the whining of capacitors dies away as she backs off,「Tomorrow, Pacifica, the mall.」「I won’t accept a challenge from a hired dog.」Chimon stands up and leaves, Yamada awkwardly moving out of the way to let the other Tyger head out of the bar.「Tell your stupid story, Yamada.」Em’s gaze follows Chimon’s path as he leaves the bar, heading out the front door and into the rain - she stares out the plate glass window as the Tyger Quadra pulls out of the lot. She doesn’t look back, focused on that last image.「. . . I did not realize that this was so delicate. My sincerest apologies for any trouble I have caused.」You utter the words almost reflexively. Yamada at least seems to appreciate them, but Em has just shut down. No playful looks or icy stares, she’s somewhere else mentally… Is she even there? Once again you become aware of just how much chrome she has, how close to the edge she’s running. Your link was disorienting enough, what would removing legs and arms do? Your eyes? Your skin? What is even left in there?Yamada looks between the two of you uncomfortably, but he still seems willing to talk,「You could not have known. I will have the support of the princess in this matter? I . . . I am fond of my head remaining on my shoulders.」Em doesn’t answer.「. . . She gets like this sometimes. I will be alright. I will be.」Yamada still looks worried, repeating the assurance to himself a few more times. You’re not sure why exactly he’s willing to risk anything for you, but you’ll take free information where you can get it.
>>5956845「Anything you know of it, please.」You encourage him, glad to get something other than a stab wound after this rollercoaster of a conversation. 「It is not much, I will tell you that. I was told a story of ghosts that haunt Night City, the ghosts of innocents slain only for the sake of making them ghosts. Many things can be done with such spirits, and though Chimon does not believe, he was correct. They are everywhere in this city . . . And something has stirred them into anger. A mark of death has been put on people, on places - they are cursed, but not others. Any who wander nearby will share the same fate.」「What would do that? How many ghosts?」「It is not known to me. What good would it do to know?」Yamada shakes his head, occasionally glancing nervously at Em, who is still silent and as motionless as a statute,「I know that they seek others, but not me. I was assured of that. She did not say more, I do not think she knew but . . . No, I should not say.」「Please, tell me. How could anyone know that?」You almost beg, desperate for anything. This is the most you’ve heard from anyone at once.「I cannot say.」He clams up, nervousness overtaking him again.「You do not know, or you are not allowed to say?」You press on anyways. Why not at this point?「Don’t answer that.」Em’s synthetic voice grates against your ears, slowly sliding back into something more alive and rich with unexplored dangers. Her usual self slinking back. “Enough of Japanese. I get so sick of it all.. Why are you here making my life hard, Kai?”“He… He just said. The massacres, he wished to-” Yamada starts to yammer.“Of course I heard that!” Em snaps angrily, defensively, “I meant here, at ‘Turbo’. Suddenly you’re an edgerunner?”>”I’ve been doing a few jobs here and there, waiting on one right now. I was hoping to meet some other runners in the meantime… uh, network, I guess.” Few details, more or less true.>”A netrunner.” Slap your deck on the table. >”I’m waiting for some chooms, we’re going to kick the door in on a scav den for Wakako. It’s a rescue gig.” Full transparency - You just stumbled in and made a huge mess by existing, may as well be honest.>Write-in.
>>5956847>”I’m waiting for some chooms, we’re going to kick the door in on a scav den for Wakako. It’s a rescue gig.” Full transparency - You just stumbled in and made a huge mess by existing, may as well be honest.I can't see any reason to lie, and if the mechanized killing machine is in a bad mood it may be best to not upset her.
>>5956847>>”I’ve been doing a few jobs here and there, waiting on one right now. I was hoping to meet some other runners in the meantime… uh, network, I guess.” Few details, more or less true.>”A netrunner.” Slap your deck on the table. >”I’m waiting for some chooms, we’re going to kick the door in on a scav den for Wakako. It’s a rescue gig.” Full transparency - You just stumbled in and made a huge mess by existing, may as well be honest.May as well be all of the above.Dad's dead, so we gotta make ends meet somehow. Picked up netrunning and waiting on chooms for a job. Simple as that. More we're surprised in such a short time we can see many people we recognize in a place like this. I'd also try getting a contact with Yamada. Man seems like he has enough sense in his head to respect what Alice is and keep that secret. Like not necessarily telling him right now, but he seems like someone who could help feed us rumors down the line that helps.
>>5956847 honesty is the best policy
>>5956847>"Suddenly I have bills I have the responsibility of paying. Been doing a few jobs here and there, waiting on one right now. I was hoping to meet some other runners in the meantime… uh, network, I guess.” Few details, more or less true.
>>5956862>>5956866Do not yell them about the job we're working. Opsec, we might fuck the job. Do not show that we're a netrunner, we know jack shit compared to some others and I'm scared of other netrunners. Anything besides the first option seems foolhardy.
>>5956870We're in a bar of edgerunners. She already knows we're a newbie. We definitely don't say what the job is. That's information that can be sold. But this is a place for edgerunners to meet up and sync up. None of those statements are out of the norm for the place we're in. It'll also set up some street cred/get a street name going a little if we show up the next day. Other netrunners aren't going to go poking at others in a place full of ware. That's just asking for trouble. The fact we're clearly a newbie further disincentivizes it in here. There's not enough to gain and plenty of reason for them to be persona non grata in a common meeting spot.
>>5956847>”I’ve been doing a few jobs here and there, waiting on one right now. I was hoping to meet some other runners in the meantime… uh, network, I guess.” Few details, more or less true.>”A netrunner.” Slap your deck on the table.>”I’m waiting for some chooms, we’re going to kick the door in on a scav den for Wakako. It’s a rescue gig.” Full transparency - You just stumbled in and made a huge mess by existing, may as well be honest.
>>5956871I guess we should drop the 'scav den for Wakako' part. Is a good way to piss off Wakako that we blab like thatAnd the scavs might be more on alert.
>>5956875>”I’ve been doing a few jobs here and there, waiting on one right now. I was hoping to meet some other runners in the meantime… uh, network, I guess.”Changing to just this
>>5956847>”I’ve been doing a few jobs here and there, waiting on one right now. I was hoping to meet some other runners in the meantime… uh, network, I guess.” Few details, more or less true.>”A netrunner.” Slap your deck on the table.Hmmm, interesting. Could Alice be considered one of these ghosts? Very fascinating. Also, I would avoid blabbering too much about the job, discretion was clearly a virtue our father possesed. And revealing that we are a netrunner might explain our interest in "ghosts."
>>5956847>”I’ve been doing a few jobs here and there, waiting on one right now. I was hoping to meet some other runners in the meantime… uh, network, I guess.” Few details, more or less true.These people are not our friends. Also, Mainline, your writing quality somehow continues to climb as you go along here. Phenomenal work
>>5956847>>”I’ve been doing a few jobs here and there, waiting on one right now. I was hoping to meet some other runners in the meantime… uh, network, I guess.” Few details, more or less true.Loose lips sink ships, our purpose is to extract paydata from the environment and turn it into eddies, not vomit it out for free.
>>5956847>”I’ve been doing a few jobs here and there, waiting on one right now. I was hoping to meet some other runners in the meantime… uh, network, I guess.” Few details, more or less true.
>>5956855>>5956866 (I think this is a vote?)Kicking doors for Wakako. >>5956862Everything.>>5956869>>5956883>>5957019>>5957089>>5957112Few but true details.>>5956995Few but true + flop your deck on the table.Few but true wins, writing.
“I’ve been doing a few jobs here and there,” You reply carefully, trying desperately not to tense up further under her icy stare or just start blathering, “Waiting on one right now. I was hoping to meet some other runners in the meantime… uh, network, I guess.”“Network?” Em makes the word sound downright alien, her pale brow wrinkling, red lips pursing - a good imitation of life, but sitting so close to the mantis bladed woman, so very close, you can see it for the synthetic fake it is. Pure cosmetic ware is indistinguishable, but she’s got armor built into that skin - like Connor. “Does this look like a corporate lunch to you?” “I got raised by a corpo, sue me.” You dare to snap at her, which turns that scrunched up disgusted look into a cold smile - and that sends a downright concerning reaction pulsing through your body. No, gonk idea, she’s made of murderous, bloody red flags and more metal than a scrapyard. Well shaped metal, the gonk teenage part of your brain whispers. “...I’m here to get my name out on the street, find some gigs.”“Better.” Em notes with something a little less than approval, her smile disappearing as soon as it arrived.「You are Japanese?」Yamada asks, his expression brightening as soon as you said you’re looking for work.「Yes.」You reply at once.「Have you thought about joining the Claws? You seem to have guts, or no brain. It would be a good fit.」He laughs warmly, none of the fear from earlier showing, 「Show that you can do some jobs and I can get you in our colors by the end of the week, we don’t get as many men from home anymore, you would be appreciated.」「Being an idiot is certainly how you joined.」Em doesn’t sound pleased, switching right back to English, “What’s next, flash a Quadra in front of him and throw him into a room with some joytoys? Are you that hard up for recruiting now?”
>>5957205“It’s my job.” Yamada shrugs, giving a wide grin, and holding his arms out, “People like me! Not you, but other people. You just scare me.”Em almost laughs, stifling it before it can do more than soften her glare, “You are lucky for that. It is always gonks with all the luck. Kai, move.”You almost leap from the seat to get out of Em’s way, her bladed feet click across the ground and she slides out from the booth. Once she’s standing, she reaches a slender metal hand into one of the tight pockets of her bodysuit - essentially low profile webgear - and draws out a cigarette and lighter. “You know what they called these here a century ago?” Em asks, lighting up and taking a drag as she stands over the booth, looking down at you and Yamada, “Freedom torches. Nice ring, ne?”“Kind of, yeah.” You agree. It sounds very old United States, the kind of thing President Myers would kill to get people spouting again, “It was a propaganda thing?”“Corporate advertising… I, uh, took a class once.” Yamada corrects, the bald Claw growing wary once again.“It was a load of shit. Lots of that around here.” Em lets out a puff of smoke, turns, and clicks her way right out of the bar, long bladed legs clicking all the way to the door and back into the rain. “Is she always like that?” You ask Yamada.“Intense?” Yamada supplies the word readily, turning his attention back to you now that Em is well and truly out of stabbing distance.Shaking your head, images of the New Year's attack flash through your mind, and of the Shrine days after, and her odd behavior around that girl Sarah, “Erratic.” “No… that’s new.” Yamada scratches at a dark green tattoo of a tiger on the side of his neck, ”Makes me itch… How about a drink, Kai?”“Got a job later, or I would.” You decline, but you’re thinking over what he said a few moments ago, about joining the gang - certainly not something you’d have considered a week ago, but now? Probably still not, but you need eddies. “You were serious about the offer to join?”“Eh, it wasn’t the usual pitch.” He doesn’t seem like he’s going to press on the matter too hard, “But yes. Run a few jobs for us, and we’ll get you inked and chipped. Fast eddies, fast wheels, fast girls. Like Em, but less spiky. Still have a temper usually, ha!”>”...How good are the eddies? It’d need to be preem.” If it’s enough eddies then maybe?>”And deal with dickheads like Chimon? No thanks, choom. Maybe free lance work, but I’m not joining. Already got a car girl… car and a girl.” Any jobs you can get, just don't join.>”Going to have to decline. Not looking to get tied down like that.” Definite no, you're not doing gang work.>Write-in.
>>5957207>>”Going to have to decline. Not looking to get tied down like that.” Definite no, you're not doing gang work.Work sure, leash no thank you.
>>5957211>>5957207changing to this as i misread it at first>”And deal with dickheads like Chimon? No thanks, choom. Maybe free lance work, but I’m not joining. Already got a car girl… car and a girl.” Any jobs you can get, just don't join.
>>5957207>”And deal with dickheads like Chimon? No thanks, choom. Maybe free lance work, but I’m not joining. Already got a car girl… car and a girl.” Any jobs you can get, just don't join.
>>5957207>>”And deal with dickheads like Chimon? No thanks, choom. Maybe free lance work, but I’m not joining. Already got a car girl… car and a girl.” Any jobs you can get, just don't join.
>>5957218>>5957220>>5957223>>5957272Writing.
“And deal with dickheads like Chimon? No thanks, choom.” You turn down the offer at once, having no interest in tying yourself to the leash of some gang boss or likely ending up shooting at badges - that might happen anyways, but you’re sure as hell not going to do it for the Tygers, “Maybe free lance work, but I’m not joining. Already got a car girl… Car and a girl.”Smooth save, Kai.Yamada looks you over, considering the counter-offer for a long moment, “Are you certain? Mercenaries get the shit jobs, or… specialist work. What do you do?”“Chair jockey.” You slap your deck on the table, puffing up a bit in your soaked jacket, “Not looking to do wetwork, but if you need something cracked or erased? I’ve got that handled.” He stares blankly at the deck, squints hard, and then nods as if he realized something profound - you doubt it though, “Okay. Okay. Perhaps there could be a job or two. It is not in my control, but I can pass your name along… You have worked with the widow already? I think most of our outside help still goes through her, if she accepts you then maybe there is something. If ghosts don’t get us first, anyway.” “We’ve done biz.” Maybe overselling it a little, but you’re on a job for her right now, even if technically you’re getting brought in by Dakota as some sort of favor trade, ““Well, maybe I’ll mention your next time someone needs a guy.” Yamada’s cybereyes flash as he receives a holocall, his face slackening as he focuses upon something far, far off. He stands up from the booth at once, hurrying to exit the bar, “I must go. Family business.”“So fast?” You call after him, but the bald headed Tyger’s already up and out the door, jogging off into the storm. “Thanks, choom!”Looking at the now empty booth, you decide it’s yours, and settle in for a while, taking your jacket to dry faster. The black armor vest beneath and your white button down go a long way to make you look like some kind of corpo leaning merc, you realize while looking at yourself in the mirror. Leaning closer, peering at your reflection, you see something…You jump back, startled. For a moment, your father was looking at you. Shaking your head and looking away from the glass, you try to clear your head of the image - family resemblance and the bar’s bright lighting shifting some angles about, that’s all it was.
>>5957366>>5957369Time passes, synth coffee is ordered and sent down the hatch, and you mostly dry off.There’s still time to muck about meeting other mercs inside the seedy bar, but the crowd has changed some in the last half hour or so. That short girl and her chooms have left, probably off on a job, and their table has been filled in by a couple of guys that can’t be much older than you are. Younger even, possibly. They’re busy loading empty magazines from a few boxes of ammo while they chip away at plates of pancakes, chatting away.Elsewhere, that white haired woman with the old sword has been sitting transfixed by a television for about twenty minutes, just staring like it’s one of the most fascinating things in the world. The short bearded guy, ‘Dwarf’ as you’ve filed him away in your mind, is off at another table and arm wrestling anyone who’ll try him - He’s up against a member of the Animals, a big bear of man covered in muscle graft scars… and winning! Barely. …Or maybe not? There’s a small line of other gnarly looking mercs ready to take their own shot at him.Finally, among a smattering of other rough looking types, there’s a security robot talking with a man in a dark suit. Their peculiar meeting holds your gaze for a long time, the robot conversing and even using hand gestures just as if it were a person. Etiquette programming is hardly uncommon in higher end bots, some of your neighbors when you lived downtown had them, but this one is obviously being puppeteered by someone. A netrunner, probably, and one too paranoid or plain antisocial to show their face in person. The man in the suit gets up, takes a briefcase handed off to him by the bot, and leaves the bar - the bot remains… grooving, sort of dancing in place to music you cannot hear, celebrating the completion of a job and even making finger guns at a few passing mercs. Maybe not so antisocial then.>Call someone?>Strange sword lady has been staring at that television for entirely too long to be normal.>...Head over to the arm wrestling and place some bets, maybe make a few eddies.>Roboto McFingerguns deserves a chat, if nothing else - meeting another netrunner could prove useful. Of course you could just hang at Yoko’s store to do the same, but the robot seems in a good mood right now.>Just wait out your time, no need to chat with everyone, you've already gotten soaked in rain and received a death threat or two, that's enough networking for now. Dolf and Connor will be here eventually.>Write-in.
>>5957370>Roboto McFingerguns deserves a chat, if nothing else - meeting another netrunner could prove useful. Of course you could just hang at Yoko’s store to do the same, but the robot seems in a good mood right now.Two chances. Chance number one is that this isn't a netrunner piloting a robot, it's a legit robot a la Alice, somehow. Chance 2, it is a guy driving a bot, and I want to know how to do that.
>>5957370>Roboto McFingerguns deserves a chat, if nothing else - meeting another netrunner could prove useful. Of course you could just hang at Yoko’s store to do the same, but the robot seems in a good mood right now.
>>5957370>>Roboto McFingerguns deserves a chat, if nothing else - meeting another netrunner could prove useful. Of course you could just hang at Yoko’s store to do the same, but the robot seems in a good mood right now.this could be us someday............. maybe we get a bunch of robots and give them swords, that'd be cool I think.
>>5957370>5957370 #>Roboto McFingerguns deserves a chat, if nothing else - meeting another netrunner could prove useful. Of course you could just hang at Yoko’s store to do the same, but the robot seems in a good mood right now.Lets give it a go.
>>5957389>>5957448>>5957461>>5957479Writing.
>>5957366>He stares blankly at the deck, squints hard, and then nods as if he realized something profound - you doubt it thoughWhy does this make a alarm go off insibe my head? He saw the Arasaka logo on it. Tyger have affliaton with Arasaka, so either we got good jobs in future as he thinks we have the blackest ICE for a mile or a corpos try take theirs back after tyger rat on our ass.>>5957370>Strange sword lady has been staring at that television for entirely too long to be normal.
>>5957370>>Roboto McFingerguns deserves a chat, if nothing else - meeting another netrunner could prove useful. Of course you could just hang at Yoko’s store to do the same, but the robot seems in a good mood right now.
>>5957524Fun theory.
Putting your now mostly dry jacket back on, glad the water resistant coating on its aramid weave functions as well as it does, you adjust it at the shoulders a bit and ensure a nice snug fit, and then slide out of your booth. There’s a lot going on inside ‘Turbo’, a pretty lively place all things considered, but that dancing robot has grabbed hold of your attention with its servo-powered groove and won’t let go. No synthetic being should possess such an outrageous level of funk, it just isn’t natural. As you walk over, the robot’s boxy head swivels to follow you, its single glowing yellow eye pulsing with a the waveform of an unheard song. Black and yellow caution stripes decorate its armored chassis in places, white stenciled letters saying: ‘BEWARE: GOOD TIME AHEAD” prominently displayed on its chest. In a smooth androgynously synthetic voice it greets you, still swaying to the absent music, “Salutations and felicitations, choom - Feel that in the air?”“No,” You say after stopping for a moment, wondering if perhaps there was something you hadn’t noticed, “Was wondering what a dancing bot was up to - Nice moves, for someone sitting.”“It’s eddies, choom, there are eddies in the air! And you should see my pet toaster, king of the dance floor.” The robot waves you over with a clumsy metal hand, one clearly meant only for gripping handheld weapons, and invites you to sit, “Join me, we’ll groove as one.” “Not much of… sitting dancer.” You take a seat anyways, thoroughly intrigued now - what a bizarre situation, “Is that even a thing?” “You know it baby, look in front of you!” The robot lifts its arms in the air, servos whirring, and just keeps going, “What brings you here? Never seen a good dancer before, or got something for bots?”
>>5957642“Was thinking you might be a netrunner, somewhere back beyond all that titanium.” You admit, largely drawn by professional interest along with general curiosity, “How’re you driving that bot?” “With love and a whole lot of heart, how else? Come on, move your arms a little… What’s your name, my fleshy choom?” “Kai.” You reply, still not quite processing what the fuck is going on. With a thought, you connect back to Alice and the Quadra, the subtle pressure of her presence in your link returning.“Cam. You were made to dance Kai. Everyone was - don’t let the city get you down…” Cam’s movements slow, the robot’s single eye sensor flaring yellow for a moment, its voice lowering dramatically as it leans over the table, “Woah ho ho holy cyber-cow, got a friend bouncing around in there? Or are you one of those?"”There is no breach. How could it know? Alice’s voice whispers inside your thoughts. Running a diagnostic and letting out your IC imp for a few cycles, you don’t see or detect an intrusion either. Maybe it detected the signal from the Quadra itself?“Got a Militech signal intercept unit. I can see the signal, it's got a nice pulse to it.” Cam clonks itself on the side of its boxy rectangular head, scratching the black and yellow striped paint before leaning back and starting to sway again, that pulsing musical beat returning to its yellow sensor eye, “Come on, dance with me, Kai - and your friend too.”>Do not dance. “Just how much is that unit picking up?” >...Dance, reluctantly. “You always make people dance before talking?”>Dance! Poorly, probably. “Just sealed a big deal, choom? Seems like you’re in a good mood.” >Write-in.
>>5957645>Go full retard dancing.
>>5957645>>Dance! Poorly, probably. “Just sealed a big deal, choom? Seems like you’re in a good mood.”rock! robot rock!this chooms vibes are immaculate
>>5957665+1
>>5957645>>Dance! Poorly, probably. “Just sealed a big deal, choom? Seems like you’re in a good mood.”
>>5957645>Dance! Poorly, probably. “Just sealed a big deal, choom? Seems like you’re in a good mood.”>pic related
>>5957645Note to self get sunglasses or contact lenses with signal intercepter unit
>>5957665>>5957673>>5957706>>5957719>>5957765>>5957842>>5957854I need two rolls of 1d100 to check Kai's dance moves.
Rolled 68 (1d100)>>5957878Lets cut a rug
Rolled 3 (1d100)>>5957878Anything but mediocre.
>>5957916LolLmao
>>5957916Please tell me we’re using this roll.
>>5957916Hit 'em with the Shepard Shuffle!
>>5957961AUGH fuck, I forgot to post the gif
>>5957926We are.>>5957916Going with this purely for the entertainment value. Writing.V sucks at dancing too, they basically just Shepard Shuffle. May as well make it a cyberpunk tradition.
Attempting to mimic Cam’s groovy moves, you lift your arms and wiggle about, giving the dance your all - It’s harder than it looks while sitting, and you know at once you can’t match such a funky machine, but you find that only pushes you to try, and wiggle about, more.“Just sealed a big deal, choom?” You ask while continuing to wave your arms about, Cam’s glowing yellow eye pulsing rhythmically as the bot continues to have a great time, “Seems like you’re in a good mood.” “You know it! Nova biz, nova mood - Can’t talk detes, client wanted it hush hush. NC’s got a killer vibe, just have to stay on the right wavelength and the eddies never stop rolling in…” Cam’s movements slow once more but never stop, the robot’s blocky head tilting slightly, watching your attempt at dance quizzically, “Got a crew besides your broadcast choom?”“Not a permanent one, but I’ve got one,” You reply, continuing to try to match the caution striped robot’s moves, “Waiting on them right now. You can see the signal?”“Like an aura - You’ve got a nova glow, Kai!” Cam… compliments? You’re not sure what to make of it. The bot’s movements speed back up, “Need some help?”“Help with the job? No, we’ve got it handled.” You shake your head, attempting to work it into your ‘dance’. Splitting the eddies again wouldn’t be any good, there’s only so much to go around.“With your moves!” Cam laughs, “Got spirit for two, but what’s that you're doing? Come on, more like this! Put some love into it.”After half a minute of looking like a total idiot, Cam finally shakes its head and slowly comes to a stop, the yellow pulse fading from its eye, “Well, you tried! So you’re not a corpo - wasn’t sure when you strolled over, but no corpo would dance for that long, that hard, that badly! That takes passion, and suits get that beaten out of them fast.”“...Was it that bad? I wasn’t sure what to do while… uh, sitting.” You admit sheepishly, now beginning to wonder just why you made such a fool of yourself. It was kind of fun though, maybe you just needed some fun for a minute. “Thanks though, I think?”
>>5958033“You’re supremely welcome, my choom!” Cam’s metal hands clap together with dull clang, “So you and your funky red signal are looking for a netrunner? You’ve got one! I do tech, too - How’s my advertising game?”“On point, if the bot is your work. Nova paint job, I dig the lines, and the moves.”“All me, baby! Tuned it up myself after it danced its way off the back of a truck.” The robot gives a few quick karate chops at the air after mentioning the tune up.Something’s been bugging you this whole time, and the question got dodged earlier so you ask again, “Okay, I’ve really got to know - How do you control it like that?” “Got special implants for it - Anyone with a deck can dive in and give a bot orders, but I’m inside.” Cam replies, confirming that there is a human behind all that metal. Allegedly. “A ghost in the machine. Feels like me, because right now it is!” “Where’d you pick up that kind of chrome?” You ask, needing to know - being able to control a bot like that would eliminate the ‘ah shit, I’ve got a hole in my chest’ risk of gunfights you’ve been facing down for the last week.“...Uh, Dogtown. Not an open market item if that’s what you’re thinking - Failed Militech project. Went the way of the Dodo after unification hit a NorCal shaped wall.” The remotely controlled robot makes a pair of finger guns at you, “Your turn now, blue jacket - Who’s your head choom?” >”Pass your commcode and you can talk to her yourself.” Alice can introduce herself just fine.>”Another netrunner, we’ve been partnered since I started taking jobs.” Sort of true, if you squint.>”Not at liberty to say - How about a different question?” Not worth revealing more than Cam already knows.>Write-in.
>>5958034>”Another netrunner, we’ve been partnered since I started taking jobs.” Sort of true, if you squint.
>>5958034>>”Another netrunner, we’ve been partnered since I started taking jobs.” Sort of true, if you squint.
>>5958034>"I'l ask her if she wants to talk, hold on uhhhh." Let Alice choose whether to talk to him.
>>5958034>”Pass your commcode and you can talk to her yourself.” Alice can introduce herself just fine.I want his commode anyway. That implant suite sounds primo, if we can find the schematics and a fabricator. Lot of ifs but is obviously VERY useful. Imagine all the other bots we could use it on.
>>5958117Dolf's a Militech fanboy, not really his thing but maybe he'd know why it didn't get implemented- like it cripples you or something?
>>5958080Supporting
>>5958034>”Pass your commcode and you can talk to her yourself.” Alice can introduce herself just fine.
>>5958051>>5958074>>5958154Sort of the truth.>>5958080>>5958136Ask Alice first.>>5958117Got Cam's commcode and let them talk.Sort of the truth wins, writing.
“Another netrunner, we’ve been partnered since I started taking jobs.” You keep your answer short, mostly true, and right to the point - best to keep some things close to the chest. Elsewhere in the bar a chorus of shouts and cheers erupt as another of the arm wrestling matches ends. “With that signal?” The bot lets out an odd whistling noise, one metal hand hand scratching at the back of its neck joints - You can imagine the expression Cam must be making, in their own head at least, “Got a strange groove, Kai - that choom of yours is either a keeper, or they’re keeping you, if you feel me. Only a few things that kind of connection means - got a guardian angel or something a little nastier… Or maybe just a gonk trying to groove with the wrong gear. Are they new too?” “Uh, you could say that, yeah. Too much signal strength or something?” You ask, brow furrowing as you think over the robot’s odd warning, more concerned about just how much Cam may or may not know than about Alice. She’s proven herself plenty today, a few words from a stranger aren’t going to change your mind.“Got a whole lot of data going both ways, choom - Not your regular boring old holocall, that. Vibes are too strong, too red.” Cam explains somewhat unhelpfully.…It isn’t a holocall? It was a holocall earlier today, certainly this morning, but… No, Cam’s right, at some point that changed. Alice is just there sometimes, only using messages occasionally unlike before. It was after the Chevillon maybe? No, even some of that was still using one of your link’s holocall channels… Is it still? Something happened, but you’ve not taken the time to consider it deeply.”Oh my, the connection has grown stronger! I… I had not noticed. I will try to find when this occurred, give me a moment.” Alice’s presence remains within your link, but you know that she is indeed focused upon something else for the time being.The robot’s servos whir and metal slides as it shrugs, “Not my monkey, not my dancefloor. As long as they don’t poke around my data, we’re chill as ice.”>”Won’t be a problem then… Say, do you offer, uh lessons? Netrunning, tech, that kind of thing, not dance lessons… Guess I’m open to that too though.” >”Not her style, don’t sweat it. You got a crew of your own, Cam?”>”She’s chill, pretty big on the whole personal autonomy thing actually… Well, it was good dancing with you, Cam, but I’ve got biz to get ready for. I’ll see you around the city.” You will still receive Cam’s commcode.>Write-in.
>>5958229>”Won’t be a problem then… Say, do you offer, uh lessons? Netrunning, tech, that kind of thing, not dance lessons… Guess I’m open to that too though.”Teach us your ways, robo-dono
>>5958229>”Won’t be a problem then… Say, do you offer, uh lessons? Netrunning, tech, that kind of thing, not dance lessons… Guess I’m open to that too though.”
>>5958229>>”Won’t be a problem then… Say, do you offer, uh lessons? Netrunning, tech, that kind of thing, not dance lessons… Guess I’m open to that too though.”
>>5958233>>5958253>>5958267>>5958307Writing.
”Won’t be a problem then.” You assure Cam, just not seeing that kind of move as being Alice’s style - she’s curious, but not a gonk. “Say, do you offer, uh lessons? Netrunning, tech, that kind of thing, not dance lessons. Guess I’m open to that too though.” “Looking for a Net sensei? If you’ve got the eddies and the chrome, I’m game - Dance lessons are free though, you need help. What’ve you got chipped now?” // Contact Request: Cam //// New Contact: Cam //You accept Cam’s request and shoot over a truncated copy of your chrome diagnostics from a few minutes ago, the closest thing you’ve got to a list of what Vik chipped you with. The bot’s eye flashes yellow as it accepts the data package, and a moment later it lets out another of those odd whistles.“Okay, okay, let’s see what we’ve got, my prospective apprentice - What digital wonders are… Oh, wow, you’re greener than memorial park.” Cam almost breaks character, the robot’s synthetic voice scratching to a halt, “I can’t teach you like this, not the ways of Net. Your spirit’s ready, but not your body, you feel me?”“...What am I missing?” You question, more curious than surprised - you’ve barely got any chrome, hitting a wall was bound to happen somewhere.“Large interface port, a deck-” Cam starts to lift fingers, counting them off one at a time, but you interrupt them before they get further. “I’ve got a deck.” You place your klepped Arasaka box on the table, the bot’s blocky head swiveling down to examine the metal case. “So you do, my fleshy choom - must’ve fallen out of the same truck as this bot.” It’s clear Cam know the deck is stolen, the Arasaka logo is a bit of a giveaway if nothing else, “External decks are pretty old school, don’t put eyes on many of those now. Tell you what, when you’ve got an internal deck, and a real port - I recommend a neck one, helps keep you from drowning in an ice bath - we’ll talk. Oh, and a suit, birthday or coolant, your choice choom.”“Large plug, internal deck, coolant suit… or a lot of bags of ice.” You repeat the list back to Cam, the bot giving a pair of finger guns in response. “Right on target.” Cam confirms, “And a couple hundred eddies an hour.”“...I might be able to swing that. Sounds preem, Cam.” You don't make any hard commitment to the new chrome or Cam as a teacher, but why not leave the possibility open?
>>5958394A couple of hours later.Your time with Cam came to an end pretty abruptly earlier, the bot leaving for other biz - You didn’t hold the puppeteering netrunner up, and waited out the rest of your time at ‘Turbo’ until Dolf and Connor showed up. A brief - very brief - discussion with Alice was had about her presence in your mind, but both of you drew up blanks on what exactly is going on there - it’s a question for a proper tech, maybe a ripper like Vik.The doors to ‘Turbo’ open as a an armored mountain of a man and his far smaller and lithe little choom stroll in, Dolf and ‘Connor’ arriving right on time. Dolf’s got both his submachineguns holstered in black hip rigs, matching his heavier tactical armor, both of the cheap Budget Arms weapons looking a bit out of place besides all the plates and mag pouches. He’s definitely got a thing for the tactical, maybe a bit too much of one - Looks like he’s ready to go to war, drawing the attention of all the more veteran edgerunners at the bar. They’re not giving good looks. Not a subtle man. Connor’s killing it in a simple white tank top and black athletic shorts, a light aramid vest her only external armor - She does fit in, matching the vibe of the bar and other runners. Now that you think about it, you probably do as well, most of your armor concealed beneath your nomad jacket. The pair spot you quickly and waltz over to your booth, flopping a couple of duffel bags full of gear on the table - you had synth coffee waiting for them, which Dolf ignores but ‘Connor’ greedily begins to down. “Heya, choom!” Connor greets you before starting to gulp down the black liquid, “Mmm, bitter and tastes like regret - Preem fuel.” “They don’t have any other kind,” You smirk, but something is already bothering you as Dolf doesn’t say a word after sitting, “It’s that or alcohol, guess they know their patrons, ne? Unusually quiet there, Dolf. Something off?”“Just… Nah, nothing.” He shakes his head, a slight frown soon replaced by his usual smile, if a bit forced, “Got all the gear we’ll need. You didn’t go to the 25/7?”“Figured it wasn’t the place.”“It’s not.” Dolf brushes past the topic quickly. “Eh, doesn’t matter, choom. Not a big deal. We’re good for the job if you are. Gonks still set to head out on time?”You check the status of your spoof with a few thoughts, flicking through the false correspondence that Alice has largely been handling on her own - A group of five are getting sent to Northside for the fake maelstrom meeting, just as planned.“Smooth as butter, they leave in twenty.” You confirm for the big man, taking a sip of your own awful mug of liquid bitterness - it does taste like regret, Connor’s spot on. You drink a little more anyways.“Twenty? Sooner than expected.” Dolf asks, gulping and breaking eye contact with you, “That’s okay.”
>>5958395“Not an exact science, Dolf. You alright?” You question, the signs of nerves getting to him written as clear as day, “Need your head in the game.”“He’ll be fine.” Connor dismisses your worries, punching her huge choom on one of the armored plates on his arm - she may as well have struck a concrete wall for all it moved him, but it gets a smile back on his face at least, “Gets pre-job jitters. Hates needles too, isn’t that right, Dolf?”“They make me laugh. Can’t help it, nerves. Ripper visits are like going to a comedy club...” Dolf admits somewhat sheepishly, “Don’t have a problem when the leads in the air though, don’t sweat that. Just overthink things. You going to get close, or do your Net stuff from here?”>”I’m going on site, better connection that way. I’ll find a closet or something on a different level, won’t be an issue.” Close enough to still show up in person if something goes wrong as well.>”Staying in my car, I’ll be out on the street below.” Might need to play getaway driver - fitting everyone in the Quadra might be a challenge though. Someone’ll have to get thrown in the frunk.>”Staying planted right here, I’ll have drinks waiting to celebrate.” Minimal risk, no ability to intervene outside of the Net though.>Write-in.
>>5958400>”Staying in my car, I’ll be out on the street below.” Might need to play getaway driver - fitting everyone in the Quadra might be a challenge though. Someone’ll have to get thrown in the frunk.
>>5958405"... We don't even drive the car. Why don't we just lie DOWN in the trunk. Nobody will expect the third guy's just in the trunk of the getaway car. Why would a netrunner be so close?We get questioned on it, we just drive the car via net. Nobody'll question it.
>>5958400>”Staying in my car, I’ll be out on the street below.” Might need to play getaway driver - fitting everyone in the Quadra might be a challenge though. Someone’ll have to get thrown in the frunk.+1 to trunk anon, nobody'll expect it. Solves the fitting everyone in problem too.
>>5958445>rig up car so it has liquid cooling that links our "coffin" to the car's radiator >Add more hardware to the car for signal/processing/neural protection>mobile cyberchair coffin with liquid cooling >empty car just driving around with a guy doing everything from the trunk
>>5958445Just going to remind everyone that the Quadra is a mostly stock '54 Turbo-R, it's a rear engine with only two seats. The frunk (no trunk) frunk is still a dumb word has enough room for two grown adults to be tied up and stuffed inside (feels weird using that as a unit of measurement). There is a data port in the frunk and Alice's AI core under a panel, so laying in it actually can work, but the car just isn't ever going to have much space. There's no modding around that either without taking it to nomads to really chop it up and start adding bustles and the rest of their usual craziness.That all being said, Connor is a small (but heavier than you'd think due to chrome) woman and can just sit in someone's lap, so if Kai is in the front then the Quadra can work for a three person team + one target so long as the target isn't a giant muscle gorilla like Dolf or a turbo fatass. Basically the Quadra isn't well suited for much more than a two person team, unless you want to go full clown car. tl;dr the Quadra frunk plan works for this job, but it is far from ideal.
>>5958557So Connor goes to our lap as then room for all
>>5958400>”Staying in my car, I’ll be out on the street below.” Might need to play getaway driver - fitting everyone in the Quadra might be a challenge though. Someone’ll have to get thrown in the frunk.Lurk in the frunk.
>>5958405>>5958420>>5958445>>5958591Frunk lurking it is then, writing.
“Staying in my car, I’ll be out on the street below.”“Getaway driver?” Dolf asks, but it’s more of a statement than a question - of course you’re the getaway driver, but only if things go south. No need for one otherwise, Wakako’s got recovery handled. You’ll be on the old lady’s home turf, right near Japantown, and like every fixer worth the name in Night City she’s got plenty of cars for clients.“Won’t need one! Job’ll be a cake walk with all the Net magic Kai pulled - And I’ve got this for the gonks.” Connor flicks out her monowire, just as she did at the scratching post - you don’t flinch this time, knowing she can control the shape of the smart metal, it’s nothing more than ultra-high strength wire until she wants it to cut. Well, at least someone’s got faith in your abilities - you’re not so sure still, and there’s something about Dolf’s nerves that are getting to you as well. He’s definitely the more cautious of the two, his excitement for the job aside.“Heh, yeah, and I’ve got these.” Dolf pats at his submachineguns, slapping a hand on each, “Hope you’re right, iron should carry us through… We ready to roll then?”You nod, and Connor exclaims excitedly, “Fucking finally, lets go get some eddies!”
>>5958624Half an hour later, inside the scav subnet.”...And that’s far enough, I believe. The spoof group are too far to head back in time, traffic is surprisingly dense for being so close to midnight.” Alice says to you cheerily, using a contraction once again - which you’re still getting used to - and pointing to a window she’s opened up in front of her which displays the current location of the scavs heading to North Side. It hovers in the air before her, red edges matching the shifting surface of her body on the Net. “Alright, let’s start the party.” You turn away from her and back toward the crystal ball controlling the scav den’s cameras - you’re already back in shabby cobweb covered tent representing their system - and place your hands on the orb. At once you’re aware of the den’s interior, flicking across the live images until you find what you want - the door with the mines. “Dolf, Connor, you there?” You project your thought across an open holocall you’re maintaining with the duo - they’ve been making their way up through the building quickly for the last minute or so. “Ready when you are, choom.” Dolf replies in a hushed tone, his deep voice sounding strange in a whisper, almost a growl, “We’ll move when we hear the fireworks.” “Let's see how many fish I catch.” You comment back, forwarding prepared messages to the agents and links of a number of scavs connected to the subnet, each a bit different but designed to draw them to the door at the back. Mostly promises from their chooms that they’ve got a new XBD or some synth coke on the cheap, that kind of thing.But will they take the bait?I need two rolls of 1d100, DC 45. Meets beats, higher is better.
Rolled 8 (1d100)>>5958625rollan QM, was Alice always supposed to be a main character or did we just get really lucky with that crit in the first thread?
Rolled 62 (1d100)>>5958625
>>5958626She was always going to be around in some form, but it was up in the air on when she'd show up or if she'd even be with Kai at all (if he'd sold the Quadra). That crit was probably the most important roll to happen in that whole thread, other than maybe some of the stealth/combat since Kai could've gotten flatlined pretty easily. All the starting character choices were going to bump into each other too and have some connection to what happened on New Years. Kai's dad got fried, Catarina (Connor) had her uncle go psycho, and Maeve snatched a shipment of baloperidol and immunoblockers that the Wraiths had intercepted before it got into NC. Won't say more than that, it's all that has been revealed between this thread and the first one.>>5958627A 62 will do it, writing more.
>>5958637Catalina*
The messages float away from your open palm, motes of light sent zipping out of the tent and off toward the ghostly impressions of agents and links which stalk about the camp representing the scav subnet. Watching intentlying through the den’s grainy cameras, you watch as a few of the scavs pull their agents and check their flashing screens, or interrupt conversations and wander off toward the door with puzzled looks - a few talk to each other on the way over, slowing down but not stopping as they walk through the trashed out old rooms. As the group of four, and that seems to be all who took the bait, arrive at the mine protected steel door, you detonate the trap. No talking, kill.A shock jolts through you as the camera cuts, and after a moment of disorientation you switch to another. The first must’ve been taken out by the blast - you didn’t even get to hear it, the image of the scavs inspecting the door with suspicion simply vanished into the black. Flicking through the cameras, you pan them to the doors you need locked and get to work, sealing them up the rooms along the planned assault route, old metal doors sliding shut and lock lights switching red as scavs begin to scatter and grab guns, the whole den erupting into confused motion.“We’re moving!” Dolf’s rumbles over the holo-call, right as you finish unlocking the front door to the den - Dolf’s the first through, looking like a bad action BD star trying to push Militech and Budget Arms product for the quarter; you can’t hear a damned thing through the cameras, but you watch as the first scav gets ripped to pieces by the big man’s hail of automatic fire. The scav staggers and falls back against the ratty sofa he’d just stood up from, his head and torso a ruined mess before he can fire a shot, blood staining the bullet blasted cushions.Another scav with a yellow cyberarm lifts a heavy looking handgun and lets off a shot, and another, but before the muzzle flashes a third time a Connor shaped blur appears behind him. A single lightning fast kick from her oversized cyberleg catches the gonk in the back of his head, caving his skull in - he drops lifeless, and Connor flips past and takes another man out with a throw of one of her knives, the blade buried to the hilt in his throat. She looks to almost teleport around the room due to the camera’s low framerate, her sandevistan working overtime. They’re onto the next room before the knifed scav hits the ground, done in seconds and the plan working perfectly so far.I need two rolls of 1d100, DC 55. This is for shutting off rifles using the exploit found earlier, and throwing out an Optics Reboot or two. Rolling for Dolf and Connor, as well as the scavs. Dolf is the first, Connor is the next two, the Scavs in the way are the fourth, and the Scavs locked in other rooms are the fifth. Dolf’s DC is 50, Connor is 30(!), Scavs are looking at 60 and 75 respectively.
Rolled 56, 78, 7, 53, 42 = 236 (5d100)Rollin', lets see if the job goes horribly sideways.
>>5958656Sealing up the rooms along*
Rolled 5 (1d100)>>5958656
Rolled 42 (1d100)>>5958656
Rolled 95 (1d100)>>5958656>>5958667>>5958670Shameful. I know this won't count but we can do better.
Guess they updated their stuff after all, must've got the upgrade data secondhand.
>>5958667>>5958670>42.Failure, writing. >>5958671Shameful indeed.
Rolled 90, 1, 61, 56, 75, 51 = 334 (6d100)As your chooms make their way to the next door, Dolf releases the mostly spent mags from both his sub guns and slaps them against his thighs, fresh ones held on mag plates slamming home - both guns are back up in a second, ready to rumble. Connor’s bolting full speed for the door, and with a thought you get it sliding out of the way, able to at least think as fast as she can move, at least from a nice safe position like you’re in. The little Solo drops and slides into the next room, and as you switch cameras she’s in and among the next group of scavs, flickering from place to place as the cheap camera fails to track her smoothly, too much motion happening between each from. Gunfire greets her, rifles clattering away; seeing your moment, you execute the exploit Alice discovered earlier, uploading a dataspike to overload the old smartguns… They keep firing. “The fuck?” You curse, drawing a look from Alice as the fight continues to unfold across the surface of the crystal ball. Connor weaves between shots, leaps with such violent force it cracks the stained concrete floor, and appears a half way across the room between two of the scavs, one arm held far out from her body - The scav to her left turns, and finds one of his arms doesn't come with him, the appendage falling free from his recently sliced stump of a shoulder. There’s a split second where it seems as if he doesn’t understand, as if even his body hasn’t processed the loss, and then a curtain of gore erupts from the monowire inflicted amputation. The other scav reels back a step, and fires from the hip. The panicked shots go high and skitter across the ceiling, trailing puffs of concrete dust, and a moment later his rifle is kicked from his hands and sent clattering. Dolf, meanwhile, barrels in far more clumsily, both sub guns flashing away silently as you watch the battle unfold. His shots catch a pink haired scav woman and spark on impact, her cheap chrome holding under the fire long enough for her rifle to send a burst into Dolf - he doesn’t slow, armor shrugging off the automatic fire, and finally his own bursts find purchase, catching the scav at weak points on her dermal armor and sending her sprawling to the ground. He keeps shooting as she falls, firing until empty into the bloody and sparking corpse, spent brass filling the air and clattering about the filthy old floor of the den.
>>5958731The disarmed scav facing Connor point one of his cyberarms at her, and metal panels on it unfurl to reveal a projectile launch system, a big fat muzzle facing right at the tiny Solo - In the heartbeat before he fires, you try to upload a quickhack to blind his cybereyes, but the son of bitch has more IC than you expected and it isn’t even half way in before it’s too late. His arm launcher fires, a micro-missile burning free and missing Connor’s head by mere centimeters as she ducks to the side. Too close to adjust her monowire easily, she presses into the scav, body slamming him, and pulls the chromed man’s own pistol free from the holster on his hip, twirls it dexterously to get a proper grip, and pumps three shots into his gut. The scav staggers back, his face a mask of agony, cyberarm slamming into the side of Connor’s face - her small head snaps violently to the side, but she keeps firing, and firing, and firing.After a few seconds, the scavs are dead, the fight far messier than breaching the first room. A quick flick though the other cameras, barely long enough to get an idea of what’s happening, reveals a number of scavs trying to shoot the locks off the doors you’ve sealed up. That’ll either work, or jam them up completely - What happens there is beyond your control now. One rotten and rundown room remains, a single armored scav standing between your team and ‘Buddy’.I need two rolls of 1d100, DC 55. This is for throwing out an Optics Reboot. >>5958731I am rolling for Dolf and Connor, as well as a big scav. Dolf is the first 1d100, Connor is the next two, the big scav is the fourth and fifth, and the scavs locked in other rooms are the sixth. Dolf’s DC is 60, Connor is 40, scavs are looking at 50 and 75 respectively.
Rolled 29 (1d100)>>5958733Connor, no. We gotta give them an edge.
Rolled 61 (1d100)>>5958733Boy, this is getting messy fast.
>>5958752>61Ayyyy, there's that chair jockey shit, very honorable. Writing.>>5958746Yeah, that 1 isn't good.
”Kai, one the scavs has dived, they are attempting entry - I am going outside.” Alice’s words startle you back to awareness of the subnet, drawing you from the cameras for a moment.“What? Alice? Alice!” You shout after her, but she’s already past the cobweb curtain sealing the camera tent off from the rest of the digital camp - And Dolf and Connor need your attention now. “Shit, wheels are falling off!” Turning your full focus back on the orb, you enter the cameras once again and don’t waste time, immediately starting an upload on the last scav standing between your chooms and ‘Buddy’. It’s a big scav, really big, Animal sized even, maybe a ganger from Pacifica moonlighting as huscle for the den. He wasn’t around earlier when you scouted the place out, and neither was the humongous shotgun he’s holding. You identify its blocky industrial look immediately, infamous from news headlines and weekly NCPD bodycounts - every kid in NC has seen one in an action BD at least once: a Carnage. He’s got thick IC, far worse than the last guy, and you watch in horror as the upload bar crawls forward - there’s nothing more you can do. Nothing more you know how to do. Connor’s the first through the door again, but she’s moving slower now, much slower. The entire room goes bright for a frame as the Carnage fires, bucking high in the grip of the big dark skinned scav, dreadlocks blown back by the weapon’s massive concussion and light reflecting off his mirrored sunglasses. He hits.Connor slams into the wall beside the doorway, thrown back by the sheer force and psychological shock of the shot’s impact - She slumps motionless, a fist sized circle burning in her armor vest. Son of a bitch must’ve been using some kind of incendiary.Dolf is already firing as he steps through, dumping lead into the scav as fast as he can, keeping his twin guns steady - but they don’t have the bite they need to get through the other big man’s armored trench coat, the heavy aramid weaving pulsing and shaking with every impact but standing firm. The scav fires again, and one of Dolf’s Guillotine submachineguns explodes into useless scrap, caught half in the spread of shot - Dolf ducks back through the doorway and out of sight, reloading his remaining weapon hurriedly.
>>5958844The scav, however, has one shot left, and stomps forward with two quick steps, long strides closing the distance to Connor’s slumped body. She looks up dazed, one hand grasping at the hilt of a sheathed knife. As the scav levels his monstrous shotgun at Connor’s head, the red bar of your upload fills entirely, completing at last. A shower of sparks spews out from behind the giant man’s sunglasses, cybereyes going haywire as your hack overloads their primary systems - almost all ‘ware has backups though, and they’ll kick in soon enough. Connor throws her knife in the time you’ve bought her - it flies true, cutting the stumbling and blinded scav’s cheek, but nothing more. She isn’t strong enough, not wounded like that - it’s a wonder she’s even moving at all. Dolf, however, is strong enough. Storming back through the door to protect his wounded friend, Guillotine blasting away, he charges the blinded scav and presses the muzzle of his gun into the man’s neck, right above the collar of the coat - sparks and blood fly as dermal armor buckles and fails, but even as he’s filled with lead the scav’s eyes reboot, and with a flash of blue from his cybereyes he’s back in the fight. The two men struggle, exchanging punches and knees as they grapple about trying to get a superior position, but Dolf quickly has the better of it and pins the scav. Huge gauntleted hands jackhammer into the scav’s face again, and again, and again. Ripping skin, denting metal, shattering bone - one of the scav’s cybereyes pops free, dangling by a mangled optic nerve, and he lies dead. Half his face is pulped meat and scrap.Dolf screams, like a fucking caveman or something you’re pretty sure - you can’t hear it - and rushes to Connor. He checks her over, patting at her mangled vest, checking for perforations. “Ow.” Connor gasps hoarsely over the holo line, her normally squeaky voice barely distinguishable, “...H-hypo, hypo!”Dolf obliges, jabbing an airhypo against Connor’s neck and dumping the whole stim dose. In a few moments Connor, with Dolf’s help, staggers to her feet. “She’ll live!” Dolf calls out on the holo, looking up at the room’s camera - right at you - before struggling on with the missing; he leans to scoop up his dropped gun from the floor and reloads it one handed, using that nifty mag plate rig on his hip again.
>>5958846Checking in on the scavs in the locked rooms, you find most of them have only managed to ruin the locks on the doors. A few are trying pry bars or cyberarms to open the doors now, but they aren’t having much success… Actually, it looks like some are getting theirs to slide. Shit.“Scav’s are levering the doors, you need to move - get the target and delta! I can’t lock them in twice.” You say tersely over the call, glancing back behind you to the camp beyond the cobwebbed entrance to the camera tent - the unexpected fight on the Net is not over, you’re still connected with Alice by that thin silver strand and you can feel the pulsing rush of combat. You’ve got a view on the scav who dived, he’s just laying unconscious on the ground a few rooms from Connor and Dolf, but there’s not a thing you can do to him - you don’t have those hacks. >Try to slow the door scavs down, blind them, do anything - Dolf’s still in fighting shape but Connor sure as hell isn’t, they need the help.>...Alice, dragon spikes or not, is far from having her complete data - however she’s fighting right now, it has to be desperate. Pull back from the cameras and help her out.>...Shit, shit, there has to be something… Uh, that shard! The shard Alice said can light people on fire! Where is that damned thing? The Quadra, or your apartment? Crap, exit the net - running past the fight essentially - and try to find the shard and dive back in.>Write-in?
>>5958849>Try to slow the door scavs down, blind them, do anything - Dolf’s still in fighting shape but Connor sure as hell isn’t, they need the help.Alice doesn’t need to win her fight, just distract the scavrunner for long enough
>>5958849>Try to slow the door scavs down, blind them, do anything - Dolf’s still in fighting shape but Connor sure as hell isn’t, they need the help.
>>5958849>Grab Alice and exit the subnet, time to get out of the frunk and into thefight, you doubt Dolf can carry both Buddy AND Connor.
>>5958420Supporting
>>5958849>Try to cause some friendly fire, that kind of chaos should slow them down significantly. Those smartgun codes didn't shut the guns off before, but Dolf did say it should be possible to make them fire without trigger pulls.
>>5958849>Try to slow the door scavs down, blind them, do anything - Dolf’s still in fighting shape but Connor sure as hell isn’t, they need the help.>>5958933Think this might be able to be rolled in with the slow down option, if so, +1
>>5958849>>Try to slow the door scavs down, blind them, do anything - Dolf’s still in fighting shape but Connor sure as hell isn’t, they need the help.
Rolled 72, 88, 74 = 234 (3d100)>>5959108>>5959030>>5958964>>5958885>>5958874Alright, staying focused on the scavs it is. I need two rolls of 1d100, DC 50. Kai's trying to blind more of the scavs, but their chrome is worse and easier to exploit. Rolling for Dolf (1st, DC 50), Connor (2nd, DC 80), and the door scavs (3rd, DC 65).
Rolled 15 (1d100)>>5959158So many scavs. Oh boy.
Rolled 35 (1d100)>>5959158
Rolled 32 (1d100)>>5959158
Rolled 48 (1d100)>>5959158I FEAR
Living up to being a door and camera guy. Heh.
>>5959188>>5959194>>5959196>>5959197SUPREME SHAME. Even if it was Bo4 it'd be a failure, this ain't prime runner work chief. Writing. It just means Kai's a little slow on the draw and uploads at much less than ideal times, not that it does nothing. The scavs have no meaningful defense, the worst Kai can do is just be suboptimal using his deck's resources.At least Dolf and Connor (somehow, and with blood god dubs) succeeded. Going to be another messy fight.
>>5959216...is it too late to get a 'saka office job?
You push thoughts of Alice’s fight outside the tent from the edges of your mind, focusing fully on the cameras once more and setting to work trying to buy some time for Dolf and Connor. Hypo or not, Connor’s not going to be moving anywhere fast - even if her vest and dermal armor ate the blast from the Carnage, that had to leave a hell of a bruise. Might’ve even cracked some ribs, reinforced or not.“I’m poking out their eyes, but it’s not…” You center the crosshair of the den’s camera on one of the scavs prying the door open with a bar, and with a thought begin uploading your quickhack - It’s a lot of data to sound out at once, your deck can’t handle more than a single target at a time. “...It’s not going to hold them for long!”“We got our eyes on the cage, hold em’ as long as you can, choom we’re… we’re… the fuck is that? That can’t be the target, shit - check collar.” Dolf’s voice rumbles over the holocall.“...A puppy?” Connor squeaks out, some of her regular high pitched voice slowly returning - it doesn’t fit the lethal display you saw moments ago at all.“Something’s up?” You switch to the camera in the ‘operating’ room, rows of cyberware hanging from racks along the wall, a few bloody operating tables spread about. Dolf and Connor are both standing in front of the cage you spotted on the net early, the big guy hold up what is unmistakably a young canine - fluffy, floppy eared, golden furred. It licks Dolf on the face, eliciting a string of curses, utterly oblivious to the almost total extinction of its kind.“Ah, man, gonna get a fucking bioplague!” Dolf shouts, nearly dropping the dog as he holds it out fully at arms length, “What gonk paid us to get this mutt? Dogs all died for a reason, this thing ain’t safe-”“GIVE ME HIM, YOU GORILLA!” Connor shouts, reaching way up to grab the puppy from Dolf, looking ‘Buddy’ in its big soft eyes for a solid couple of seconds and seeming to just melt. Her expression hardens again as she glances toward the escape route, “...No one is hurting you, little bro. Dolf, let’s delta!”You unlock one of the doors leading to the balcony - more of a terrace really - and the Duo rush out and begin the climb down along the planned route. Flicking back to watch the scavs, you find they’ve busted a couple of the doors already, some slowing to inspect the corpses of their chooms but most rushing after your crew intent on bloody revenge. You upload another hack on the lead scav, his eyes sparking out a few second later, but your not-so-impressive Arasaka deck and small data port are conspiring to absolutely fuck your ability to quickly upload anything.
>>5959392“They’re almost out on the terrace.” You state over the holocall, unable to access cameras viewing their hopping climb down. That’s got to hurt for Connor, cyberlegs or not. Locking the terrace door as the scavs reach it, you’re dismayed to see them blast the lock and that it works this time, “Shit, they blew the lock, eyes up!” You send another hack into one of the scavs at the back of the pack, but he must have a tracing unit because at once he spins about and blasts the camera to pieces - the upload finishes, but the feed is cut before you witness the results. Errors begin to flash across the orb’s surface, a flood of crash alerts swelling to fill the whole crystal ball until it simply winks out of existence. Alice’s head pops back in the tent for a moment, just as you’ve lost nearly all ability to help Connor and Dolf - hopefully their fighting retreat doesn’t end in disaster, they only have to make a few hops down before they’ve got an elevator waiting to take them to ground level - you made sure it was ready, but there’s no camera coverage of the halls to check.”KAI, FLEE! THE SUBNET IS COLLAPSING!” Alice screams, panicking and using contractions once again - she looks human, fear coloring her Net body with true life, ”I CAN’T STOP IT SPREADING!” “What?” You yell, already moving to the cobwebbed entrance of the tent - red black flames lick at the curtain already, spreading rapidly until the old protections around the camera subsystem fall away to dust. Alice’s new swords are burning with the same crimson flame, as are about half a dozen screaming IC goblins and most of the wooden palisade - for a brief moment in time the scav’s shoddy firewall is actually on fire. “Oh. OH, SHIT! GO! GO!”Running from the tent, several of the flaming goblins nearly bumping into you as they run past screaming in agony and falling to dust, you grab one of Alice’s wrists and make for the exit - parts of the palisade are beginning to collapse inward. As you reach the edge of the camp, you fall up, stomach turning inside out as Alice catapults you both across the Net and toward safety.
>>5959393Upon landing, you waste no time in exiting the Net. The dark interior of the Quadra’s frunk returns sharply to your awareness, your head aching at the quick exit but your mind unharmed.“Alice, are you here?””I am! Are you alright, Kai?” She whispers worriedly within your mind, ”Did we succeed?”“I’m fine, I’m fine - They should be in the elevator now, things went a bit sideways but they were alive and had the dog last I saw…” “Oh, that is such a terrible relief, Kai, I-i… Wait, the dog?” Alice questions.“Yeah, our target was a dog. Yellow fur, floppy ears, barks, the whole package. Get the engine ready, we might have scavs try to tail us.” The Quadra roars to life before you finish speaking, the rumbling vibrations of the engine traveling all the way through its frame and to the frunk, “How’s the spoof group?”“They are heading back, but it will take them too long.”“...At least something went smoothly.” “Yo, choom, we’re in the elevator - took some lead but the mutt’s fine.” Dolf announces with a groan of pain, “We’ll get our eddies.”About a minute and a half later.“Oh man, how’s that for a fucking job? Gonna have a new scar from this shit for sure - hand me another airhypo, two should be plenty, gotta pace em’ out… Uh, Kai, you hiding somewhere?” Dolf rumbles - you can hear a faint muffled echo of his voice through the body of the Quadra, mirroring the crystal clear connection over the holocall.“I’m in the frunk.” You reply simply, rolling slightly as the Quadra begins to move.“...What?” Connor asks curiously - a small bark accompanies the question.“I’m in the frunk.” You repeat, almost able to feel the exchange of glances between your chooms even if you cannot see them from your dark lair at the front of the sports car. “Oh.” She answers back in a pained tone, “...Shit! Hypo is wearing off I think. Do we have more?”“There’s some in the bag on the floor, passenger side. Use as many as you need.”“Oh, preem, I’d kiss you if you weren’t being a frunk goblin, hahaha! Agh, ow, don’t laugh, Cat.” She slips up, too pained to care about her odd fake identity, and you can hear the hiss of a hypo, and another, and another, “...Ooh, fuuuck that’s good!”“Hey, hey, don’t OD over there! Lay off the happy juice, bleeding got stopped already.” Dolf scolds her, “Kai, how long to Wakako? We’re dropping the mutt off on Jig-Jig and grabbing our eddies.””Two minutes.” “Two minutes!” You parrot back over your call.
>>5959397Two minutes later.You exit the frunk of the Quadra just outside of the street level entrance to Jig-Jig street, the smell of cheap sex and regret filling the air of the seediest part of Westbrook. A couple of joytoys and johns watch as you roll out of the darkness of the frunk, staring at you as if they’d just witnessed a vampire emerging from its coffin. Blinking, heart still pounding from the excitement of the job and escape, you find your attention drawn almost unwillingly to the flesh and chrome on display… No, no time for that. Probably catch a neurovirus anyway and burn every time you use your link, this place has to be filled to the brim with malware. You ignore your hormones and fading adrenaline, and move to join your chooms as they walk, or rather limp, toward Wakako’s pachinko parlor deeper in the red light district.“...Thanks for the save, Kai.” Connor says quietly as you walk beside one another, the young puppy held in her arms and drawing a lot of looks from the sketchy denizens of Jig-Jig. Connor would be downright cute carrying the dog if she wasn’t covered in her own and other people’s blood - she smells like singed polymer and burnt gunpowder, and just slightly of hypo mist. “The… the sparky eyes thing that you did, I was gonna get zeroed for sure. And the hypos, hehe. I like those a lot, you buy good stuff.”“You’re higher than an AV.” You comment flatly, giving her a look. “Yeaaah, hehe.” She giggles, grinning wide and happy, bumping into you on purpose - you don’t move, she’s heavier than you’d expect with all the metal in her legs, but she’s still about a foot shorter. “Help me walk, Kai.”
>>5959399“Need to lay off that stuff after this, gonna be hell coming down, Cata... Connor.” Dolf comments, sounding more like an older brother than anything else, “There’s the parlor over there. Hand me the mutt.”Connor frowns as she’s made to give up the dog, bickering with her huge choom for a minute before finally letting go of ‘Buddy’. Dolf vanishes inside the parlor - He’s the one that secured the job, and you just got subconned in. He’ll get the pay from Wakako, and then it’s up to the three of you to split that fat credstick you were given to negotiate with. While you wait, Connor is somehow leaning against you again - it just sort of happened.“You’re hot.” Connor’s blood spattered face looks up at you, wide eyed. Shit, she’s really out of it, but the words still send a wave of excitement and heat through you, gonk hormones not caring much about the circumstances.>”Biz first, Connor. Eyes on the eddies.” She’s high, it doesn’t mean anything. Dolf will be back soon with the eddies, don’t turn your back on that much money even for a minute.>”Yes.” Clearly Coco and probably Alice agree. Maeve too, maybe? Shit, is it actually true?>”...You know what, let’s get you to a ripper - I think you might’ve huffed a couple hypos too many.” At her body weight - ‘ganic bodyweight especially - Connor might actually be in some danger. She needs to get patched up anyways.>Write-in.
>>5959401>”Yes.” Clearly Coco and probably Alice agree. Maeve too, maybe? Shit, is it actually true?lolprobably should get her to a doc sooner then later, but I feel that even out naive kai would know there's no good rippers on jig-jig street
>>5959401>”...You know what, let’s get you to a ripper - I think you might’ve huffed a couple hypos too many.” At her body weight - ‘ganic bodyweight especially - Connor might actually be in some danger. She needs to get patched up anyways.
>>5959401>”...You know what, let’s get you to a ripper - I think you might’ve huffed a couple hypos too many.” At her body weight - ‘ganic bodyweight especially - Connor might actually be in some danger. She needs to get patched up anyways.comm dolf to tell him what we're up to
>>5959399Vamp is a great runner name. Say it's because we drain people of their life. It's cuz we have a frunk coffin.>”Yes.” Clearly Coco and probably Alice agree. Maeve too, maybe? Shit, is it actually true?>”...You know what, let’s get you to a ripper - I think you might’ve huffed a couple hypos too many.” At her body weight - ‘ganic bodyweight especially - Connor might actually be in some danger. She needs to get patched up anyways.To whatever doc Dolf suggests. Ping him first. Also our Cool is way too high for a Netrunner, lol
>>5959401>>”Yes.” Clearly Coco and probably Alice agree. Maeve too, maybe? Shit, is it actually true?>>”...You know what, let’s get you to a ripper - I think you might’ve huffed a couple hypos too many.” At her body weight - ‘ganic bodyweight especially - Connor might actually be in some danger. She needs to get patched up anyways.
>>5959401>”Yes.” Clearly Coco and probably Alice agree. Maeve too, maybe? Shit, is it actually true?>”...You know what, let’s get you to a ripper - I think you might’ve huffed a couple hypos too many.” At her body weight - ‘ganic bodyweight especially - Connor might actually be in some danger. She needs to get patched up anyways.
>>5959401>”...You know what, let’s get you to a ripper - I think you might’ve huffed a couple hypos too many.” At her body weight - ‘ganic bodyweight especially - Connor might actually be in some danger. She needs to get patched up anyways.Probably for the best
>>5959651>>5959541>>5959534>>5959515Yes+Ripper.>>5959637>>5959628>>5959422>>5959417Ripper>>5959405YesGuess I'll give voting another hour. VOTE.
>>5959708>>”Yes.” Clearly Coco and probably Alice agree. Maeve too, maybe? Shit, is it actually true?>>>”...You know what, let’s get you to a ripper - I think you might’ve huffed a couple hypos too many.” At her body weight - ‘ganic bodyweight especially - Connor might actually be in some danger. She needs to get patched up anyways.
>>5959422>>5959708switching to yes + ripper
>>5959733>>5959651>>5959541>>5959534>>5959515>>5959738Writing.
“Yes.” You reply with a confident smirk, cheeks flushing with warmth and enjoying the compliment in spite of yourself. The simple reply elicits a giggly grin from the your all-too-high choom, and she lets more of her weight lean against you. …Been getting a lot of this lately. Well, not this, but interest. Must be onto something with this whole living on the edge thing. Maybe it’s the jacket?Connor looks up at you, her cybereyes dilated wide, pink heart shaped pupils displaying on the mood sensitive displays - You almost laugh, it’s like a bad cartoon, but her hand feeling around the crotch of your jeans snaps you back into the reality of the moment, hard. “Uh, you know what,” You say a bit more stiffly than a moment before, brushing Connor’s hand back with your own - the gonk just holds onto yours instead, staring up at you, “Let’s get you too a ripper - I think you might’ve huffed a couple hypos too many.”Her eyes glance down to her target from moments ago, “I could huff on something else~”“Okay,” You interrupt her at once, “Definitely going to a ripper.”“I just need to shower, clean up a little, I’ll be fiiine… You can help me~” She walks the fingers of her other hand up your chest, and your eyes widen involuntarily - fucking hell, she’s voracious. You brush her hand away again, now holding both hands, and looking down into her eyes… How did that happen? Is she trying to dance? You message Dolf immediately, growing worried that the drug addled tomboy is outplaying you somehow - this isn't good at all. // Message to Dolf: I’m taking Connor to a Ripper, she’s higher than an AV. Think she overdid the stims. /// // Message from Dolf: ”How bad? Waiting in line, Wakako’s got a lot of biz goin’ on.” // // Message to Dolf: ”She’s acting like a gonk. Who’s her usual ripper?” // // Message from Dolf: ”Can’t ask her? Damn, was worried she took too many hits - both kinds. She sees a choom named Viktor over in Watson. I'll forward the eddies. Let me know if she needs more than a patch and some detox.” // // Message to Dolf: ”Will do.” // Swaying with Connor, not as planned, you managed to get one hand free from her surprisingly firm grip and start to lead her back down Jig-Jig street. She points eagerly at a huge glowing neon sign of a penis, giggling uncontrollably. There’s got to be a ripper nearby, right? Wasn’t there a clinic next to where you picked up that package before? Shit, who’s even open at this time?>Take Connor to the closest open ripper. It’s just a detox and patch job.>Take Connor to Vik’s. He seems like the kind of guy who takes clients at weird hours.>Write-in.
>>5959861>Take Connor to Vik’s. He seems like the kind of guy who takes clients at weird hours.Vik will be there, I hope. And christ, she really is voracious.
>>5959861>Take Connor to Vik’s. He seems like the kind of guy who takes clients at weird hours.Figure Vik's got the specs Connor's chrome, too. Better stick to a known RipperdocJust uuh, try to distract her by talking about that dog we recued, she seemed to like it.
>>5959861>Take Connor to Vik’s. He seems like the kind of guy who takes clients at weird hours.
>>5959861>>Take Connor to Vik’s. He seems like the kind of guy who takes clients at weird hours.
>>5959861>Take Connor to Vik’s. He seems like the kind of guy who takes clients at weird hours.Alice is going to be so jealous.
>>5959861>>Take Connor to Vik’s. He seems like the kind of guy who takes clients at weird hours.Good, we can pay off our debt we owe Vik while we're there, it's a good opportunity to show that we can be trusted.
>>5959861>>Take Connor to Vik’s. He seems like the kind of guy who takes clients at weird hours.seems like she's just tripping, not having a seizure, so it's better safe then sorry... than sorry? One of the two.
>>5959868>>5959877>>5959887>>5959892>>5959937>>5959976>>5959982>>5960030Writing.
Some time later, after wrangling Connor back into the Quadra.The neon lights of Night City slowly pass by outside the Quadra’s tinted windows as you roll through the streets toward Watson, Alice’s excellent driving ensuring a smooth ride. Night City never sleeps, but a whole lot of wage slaves do, and traffic is fairly light. It won’t be a long drive, just a hop and a jump across Watson bridge and over to the clinic. Connor, however, is not making things easy. It took her all of about ten seconds to realize you aren’t driving, and she’s been alternating between trying to find more hypos in the gear bags and attempting to crawl all over you. If she weren’t covered in blood and alarmingly high this’d be a great time, but she is and you’ve got Alice lurking in the Quadra to consider as well.“We’re going to your place?” Connor asks in a slightly slurred voice, her heart eyes looking you over hungrily, “And in such preem wheels, smooooth ride.”“No. Vik’s, Connor, we’re going to his clinic to get you checked o… uh, for ripper work.” You think better of the phrasing at the last moment, Connor’ll latch onto just about anything in her current state. You’ve told her a couple of times now you’re going to Vik’s, but it doesn’t seem to stick for long, either forgotten or willfully ignored. At least she’s in a sound enough mind to appreciate the car, so you try to keep that conversation going, patting the dash appreciatively, “...She’s a ‘54 Turbo-R, nova handling, very smooth ride, had nomads swarming me-”“I want a hard ride-” Connor interrupts, but she doesn’t finish her sentence, a flash of holographic red swelling to fill the entire windshield as furious crimson eyes appear projected across it. Connor nearly jumps through the roof in a blur, letting out a startled high pitched squeak, and then holds totally still - you wince, seeing the sandevistan on the back of her neck lit up.”Two minutes until arrival at Viktor Vektor’s Clinic in Watson.” Alice chimes in particularly artificially, mimicking the mannerisms of a basic auto-nav system, her enormous crimson eyes filling the windshield only for a moment before flashing down to something far smaller and more friendly looking.“Thank you.” You reply in a strained voice, giving Alice’s main camera inside the Quadra a slightly incredulous look - she really doesn’t need to be adding to this, “That’s enough for now.”“Your car’s got a nova voice, hehe. Did you pick it?” Connor asks in another fit of immature giggles, lowering her head slightly to be at the same level as the projected eyes and waving at them - that’s not where the camera is, but of course she couldn’t care less - At least she’s distracted now.
>>5960170Three minutes later, near Vik’s clinic.Misty, kind soul and weird night owl that she is, still has her shop open when you arrive and understands the situation at a glance, waving you and Connor through to the back alley. Your short choom is out of it, making increasingly nonsensical comments about doing all kinds of things together - you’re just tuning it out now, after the initial shock of the situation it’s really only worrying now. Maybe you’ll laugh about it in a few days together, going a bit gonk on painkillers isn’t exactly uncommon, even if taking enough hypos to get that kind of strong reaction is.As you descend the stairs to Viktor’s clinic there’s another client walking out - you don’t recognize him and just brush past. The subterranean clinic is as you remember it, a bit dimly lit but well organized, the walls covered in old boxing posters and anything else that’s caught the doc’s eye over the years. There’s another case of cyberware on display now, different even from when you dropped by so recently.“Kai and… Catalina!” Viktor stands from his chair with a concerned look on his face, moving immediately to help you bring Connor - or rather Catalina - to the waiting operating chair, “What happened, Kai?”“Got shot up some on a job, most of the blood isn’t hers.” You begin to explain even as Vik is already checking over the groggy woman with the kind of speed and practiced eye that only decades in the field brings, “Hypos stopped the bleed but she took half a dozen, been acting like a horny gonk ever since. I’ve, uh, got some of the empties.”Vik looks the used hypos over, recognizing the different types at a glance and shaking his head, “No wonder, mixing brands like this - kids always making the same mistakes… I’ll get her patched up, good as new. Catalina, can you hear me?”“...Yeah, hehe.” She answers after being asked a second time, blinking and utterly confused before looking at you, “Kai, your place looks weeeird. You live with Vik?”
>>5960173You suppress a laugh, a feeling of relief settling over you as Vik gets to work, coaxing the information he needs from Cat while preparing for the detox procedure. He waves you back and you head to the far side of the clinic, giving him space to do his thing. Nothing more you can help with. Messages begin to chime into existence over your link, your bank account suddenly much heavier.Transfer Received: €9,250.Eurobank Account Balance: €11,480.// Message from Dolf: Here come the eddies! Your whole cut choom, one third of the payout plus that credstick and some bounties. Nearly ten big ones, hell of a job. How’s Connor? //// Message to Dolf: Making it rain, Dolf - This is a third? Connor’s getting worked on, Vik said she’ll be alright. //// Message from Dolf: Yeah, bucket loads of cash, makes getting a lead transplant feel worth it, ne? At another ripper now, getting some bullets pulled. Gonna make a necklace I think. Knew Connor’d be fine, she’s a survivor. Got plans for those eddies? //// Message to Dolf: Got a debt to settle, chrome to chip, bills to pay - the usual. You? //// Message from Dolf: Right on, choom. Shoot me a message if you get chipped with something good, do a little show and tell. Let me know when the doc’s done working on Connor, yeah? //// Message to Dolf: Will do on both. //Kai also has €2,350 in cash, and owes Vik €2,000.>Time to settle your debt with Vik, maybe shop for some more chrome too - Almost one in the morning but the clinic is open, may as well.>Keep all your eddies for now, you’ve got 20k in bills at the end of the month to be thinking about. Jobs this lucrative probably aren’t common, especially for someone new to the streets.>Write-in.
>>5960174>Time to settle your debt with Vik, maybe shop for some more chrome too - Almost one in the morning but the clinic is open, may as well.as we saw in the fight, we need an internal deck and a real port ASAP, in fact I think we should spend our whole budget (aside from enough to cover the essentials this month, just in case) on some really preem runner gear.
>>5960174>>Time to settle your debt with Vik, maybe shop for some more chrome too - Almost one in the morning but the clinic is open, may as well.Large plug, internal deck, coolant suit- just like our prospective teacher suggested. Flashing around our stolen deck might not be so wise after all.
>>5960174>Time to settle your debt with Vik, maybe shop for some more chrome too - Almost one in the morning but the clinic is open, may as well.pay cash, lookin to buy a large port, maybe somethin else based on what they have?
>>5960174>>Time to settle your debt with Vik, maybe shop for some more chrome too - Almost one in the morning but the clinic is open, may as well.
>>5960174>Time to settle your debt with Vik, maybe shop for some more chrome too - Almost one in the morning but the clinic is open, may as well.Settle the debt, maybe get an upgrade, but nothing too extravagant.
If the same stuff is available from last thread it'll beA chipwae socket for 1000A large plug for 4000that militech internal deck for 4000(might not be there)'coolant suit is ???? so we'll see if we can afford it, though we should probably replenish our hypos instead
>>5960228Actually, we'll need multiple sockets for IC and hacks and an empty shard, won't we? Then there is our debt, too. No go on the large plug for now but we can get some spare cash selling the Arasaka deck.
>>5960228A makeshift "cooling" external system in our frunk isn't necessarily a bad move. It'd probably be fairly cheap to get a Nomad to help us out with. Our external deck is still useful. An internal deck helps with a lot, but you still need external tools for all sorts of interfacing and fun. Even Lucy needed a laptop when hacking the car, and she had the best neural cranial plug a corp could develop. At worst, it's one extra layer of safety an enemy hacker won't expect that buys us time to evac without our brain getting fried. Security in obscurity.
>>5960174>Write-in."Thanks, Vik. Money is tight right now so until I'm out of the red i'll pay half of the money i owe from last time. Preem?" Pay 1k now as a show of gratitude and wait until we are above the cost at the end of the month to pay the rest. Even if we want to be nice to Viktor, we still have a lot to deal with at the moment.We also now have someone else living back at our apartment on our credit as well.
>>5960174>Time to settle your debt with Vik, maybe shop for some more chrome too - Almost one in the morning but the clinic is open, may as well.Well, while the looming 20k of bills is worrying, its still the beginning of the month and if we want to get some proper jobs, we'll need the proper chrome. Suggestion to the other anons, maybe we should start putting some of the money to the side just for the debt and not take anything from it, as a way to keep us from squandering it.
>>5960174>Time to settle your debt with Vik, maybe shop for some more chrome too - Almost one in the morning but the clinic is open, may as well.50 for needs, 30 for wants, 20 for savings-Set aside $5740 for the end of the month-Use $3500 for immediate purchases. Settle our debt and refill on air hypos.-Set aside $2300 in a rainy day fund, we’re bound to have unforeseen medical expenses soon.
>>5960397Supporting this anon’s financial acumen
>>5960174>Keep all your eddies for now, you’ve got 20k in bills at the end of the month to be thinking about. Jobs this lucrative probably aren’t common, especially for someone new to the streets.
>>5960411>>5960397>>5960321>>5960283>>5960223>>5960220>>5960196>>5960184>>5960181Writing.Getting cybereyes is pretty good if you're grabbing an internal deck, for reliably fast "I see you, die" optical targeting for quickhacks.>>5960241Getting an internal deck necessarily involves getting several shard slots for it, but getting a few extras is good too. Extra hardware is seemingly very important for netrunning when you're going after harder targets with more complicated defenses and dedicated lurkers, hence all the ice baths, giant server racks, and rooms filled with massive computers in a world of extreme miniaturization.
>>5960411>acumenYou give me too much credit Anon.This is just the Dave Ramsey method.
While Vik is working on Connor, you take the time to peruse some of the ware available in the clinic - and decide that now is a good time to pay off your debt. What’ll you chip?>€0. Nothing.>€1000. A Chipware socket. Required to slot shards and loads of other chipware like pain editors or skill chips. It’s the same Dynalar model you got last time at Vik’s. Probably not the last one you’ll get, most people run multiples for redundancy and to slot more chipware. This how you’d use an internal Deck, but the slot you already have is sufficient for those purposes. A second (or third) chipware socket will allow for installation of other ‘ware.>€2500. Militech ‘Die Hard’ pain editor. It makes getting fucked up hurt less, but you’ll still know you took a hit so long as it isn’t tiny - severe or extensive injury is still agonizing, but less so. Works best when partnered with a biomonitor. Want to still shoot (mostly) straight after taking a knife to the gut or getting your arm broken? This is your jam.>€500. TraumaTeam biomonitor. Provides real time medical diagnostics for your meat, within reason, and formats it in a way useful for MedTechs or other implanted chrome to work with. An internal or external biomonitor is required for a TraumaTeam plan, but internal monitors are generally more accurate.>€3500. A pair of cybereyes.Kiroshi’s flagship model from 2072 and still more than up for the basic tasks of life in Night City, licit or otherwise. Basic optical zoom, target identification, smart link pairing with weapons, even targeting for hacks - these serve as a good base for all of it. You’ll want better eyes eventually, but having any at all is a real advantage. They’re new-in-box even after all these years due to a shipping ‘issue’ involving old sea mines sinking a freighter - salvagers just pulled up all the sealed containers last week, so there’s a lot of good ‘old’ chrome flooding the streets.>€3000. Muscle and Bone Lacing. Muscle and bone lace use nanites to thread microscopic artificial fibers through muscle and bone tissue. The result is that the tissue is both stronger (physical strength is enhanced) and more resistant to damage. The full process is slow, and takes a few weeks to complete, but this depends heavily on the subject’s biocompatibility - results can be seen in as little as a few days compatibility is high. Muscle and bone lace will enhance overall strength and durability, but not to the degree of an actual artificial cyberlimb. Further treatments grant greater benefits, and are often used as a base to strengthen a body before undergoing extensive cybernetic enhancements.
>>5960564>€4000. Skinweave. In a process similar to muscle and bone lace, nanites thread fibers through skin tissue, making it much more resistant to damage. The result is bare skin that has resistance to damage similar to light body armor (think Kevlar). Skin weave is transparent to the naked eye for the most part, but can still be detected with careful observation. It takes a couple weeks for the nanites to complete the upgrade, but this is subject to the same compatibility variance as muscle and bone lacing. All modern versions of skinweave are capable of self-repair, drawing material from the host body it is grafted to, prioritizing fat reserves first - coincidentally this results in a very cut look after several months, but a number of safety features ensure body fat percentage does not drop to a dangerous or energy sappingly low level.>€3000. Cyberlimb (Arm or leg), various manufactures. Stronger, faster, doesn’t bleed, mitigates recoil, and takes a ripper hours or even minutes to fix instead of days or weeks to heal, and on top of that it can store all kinds of other chrome and modifications - A truly classic upgrade for a reason. These aren’t top of the line combat models, but they’re good enough to be on the approved list for the NCPD - so still a decent step up from meat in a firefight.>€4000. Interface Plug, large. A sizeable neck mounted interface plug - comes with an input slot a few fingers wide and an output at the end of an internally spooled fiberoptic cable. This is the standard for interfacing with external decks and netrunning chairs, or just generally getting a kickass Net connection for a deep dive - you won’t want to attempt one without it. Boasts all the features of the small plug as well, and even some memory for decks to shunt secondary tasks off to. If you really dive down the netrunning rabbithole there is a lot more where this came from, upgrades galore.>€5000. An Arasaka Kerenzikov. A decade behind and no longer issued to their security forces, but speedware is speedware - When combat kicks in, the world slows down… Just not nearly as much as the new stuff, or for as long. They share names but this isn’t the really old Kerenzikovs that forced you to live in slow motion, but those relics from the 20's are still floating around on old Solo’s you REALLY shouldn’t fuck with (subjectively they’re a few hundred years old now! Crazy fuckers.).>€4000. An internal cyberdeck, a Militech Paraline Mk. 1. A couple years old but it fits right into a chipware socket, and still has all the basic modern features decks are expected to - biofeedback protection, shard slotting to upload daemons, passable (barely) memory, and of course the ability to do a proper dive into the net with the help of an interface plug, preferably a large one, and a coolant suit or icebath, and probably a stack of comps… Okay, so netrunning is hard and dangerous, but the point is that it’s a good beginner deck.
>>5960566Choose chrome to purchase, or none at all, and also how you'd like to pay off Kai's debt - cash or a transfer.Eurobank Account Balance: €11,480.Cash: €2,350.Debt to Vik: €2,000.Vik is willing to extend a small line of credit of up to €3000 (6000 if the debt is paid, paying early and on time = more trust). Pay up in a timely manner or tank any good will your dad (and now you, slightly) have earned, and not just with Vik - word gets around.
>>5960570First of all>pay off debt, cashCarrying cash might not be a good idea and we have it right here. I like what the other anon was saying about saving cash, let's do that and set aside 5 grand for the end of the month, so we have 6 grand to play with. I want to take the Vik loan offer, which brings our total to 12 grand. With this in mind,>Interface plug, Large, 4K,>Internal Cyberdeck, 4K>Cybereyes>Chipware socketBrings us to 12.5k, which we should be able to afford since we have 350 in cash and 480 in loose Eurobank, while leaving us with 5k savings, but also 6k debt to VikWe will also be making money after we sell our old Saka deck.
>>5960576so in total>total avb = 11480+2350 = 13800 + 6k(vik) = 19800-2000 (pay Vik) = 17800-5000(savings) = 12800-12500(chrome) = 300+??? (saka deck)
>>5960576+1just about exactly what I was thinking
>>5960576While being left with only 300 eddies is a bit worrying, we can always bite into the savings if it gets serious. We getting chromed the fuck up.+1
>>5960579external deck still provides all sorts of nice things, especially in conjunction with an internal deck. For the level of diving we're doing, having mobile heavy hardware is still useful.
>>5960583330 actually, I can't math. >>5960584yeaaaah, but it's stolen saka hardware and it's getting us some weird looks. I'm not set either way about sellin it yet, I guess the decision'll come when we see how much it's worth.
>>5960576Sounds good to me, though we might have to ease up on the chrome for a while afterwards. I'd rather start building up our savings early!>>5960590Maybe we could hide or remove the 'Saka logo in the meantime, if we don't end up selling it.
>>5960566maybe also ask vik if tonight is fine for all this or if he wants us to come back in the morning, it's a lot of augs, there was a guy waiting and it is 1am, plus Connor(Catalina? Gotta ask her about that)
>>5960570Does taking just the internal cyberdeck have any upgrades to our abilities? Or is it more or less same as saka deck?
>>5960641You don't have to jack into it for one, so it leaves interface ports open for other tasks and you don't have to chain through the deck. An internal deck benefits from most armor augmentations and worn armor without adding any bulk like an armored case on an external deck does. It is essentially impossible to detect with a quick visual search and easier to spoof as something else in a security scan (such as a mundane skill shard). It networks better with your internal chrome and can benefit more from their systems, while still being able to play nice with outside hardware in a proper Netrunner haunt. The close integration of an internal deck and a neuralink also allows for a degree of Net perception even without diving, but to do automatic traces and see signal strength/paths you'll need other chrome like cybereyes and (for detailed analysis) an intercept unit or scanner.Smaller, sleeker, stealthier, harder to steal or damage, somewhat easier to use, plays nicer with its techno-chooms. The primary appeal of external decks is that they're more scaleable and easier to do custom work on, they don't have the physical limitations of a body to fit them into so they can get quite large. A lot of runners will have an external and internal deck (T-Bug and Bugbear seem to do this with wrist mounted ones, So Mi has one the size of a fucking satchel because she's a madlad, Nyx rocks a wrist one, Lucy doesn't, Kiwi doesn't), this is probably for specializing them for different tasks. It is possible some of them are running external decks that are extremely customized or experimental as well (Nyx, So MI) and simply better than any internal ones that exist. Every netrunner uses external hardware to some extent though, unless you're doing some V-tier script kiddy cyberpsycho shit and only use them for quickhacks.
>>5960657Another questionDoes speedware work well with quickhack? As far as my understanding goes you cant have sandevistan and cyberdeck at same time.
>>5960674That limitation seems to be a gameplay convention rather than actual incompatibility in the lore, there's no reason you couldn't have a deck and a sandevistan besides eddies and biological limits/humanity loss (these are pretty serious concerns though to be fair). Most people who use one or the other don't have a great deal to benefit from having both - Netrunners aren't often rushing around in the middle of gunfights and Solos don't tend to study the intricacies of programming and Net architecture. Exceptional individuals can probably be a speedy as fuck techno-battlemage. I doubt they'd be as good at either compared to picking a focus, but that's a hell of nasty combo.
>>5960692Good to know.>>5960570>pay off debt, cash>€4000. An internal cyberdeck, a Militech Paraline Mk. 1. >€1000. A Chipware socket. Lets not use all of the EDs>€500. TraumaTeam biomonitor. This could be handy in future.
>>5960564>NothingLet's pay off our debt and leave. Money on hand is more useful than any of this, right now.
Going to give voting another hour or so while I eat dinner, then I'll tally things up.
>>5960576+1
>>5960701+1
>>5960570>Don't buy anything, Dave Ramsey up there will probably end up being right.>Pay off the debt via transfer, we'll save cash for black market stuff and bribes.
>>5960813>>5960597>>5960583>>5960582>>5960579Debt paid with cash, 6k in credit taken out with Vik after building up more good will, rest paid from the eurobank account. Large interface plug, Militech internal deck, a pair of Kiroshis, and a second chipware socket - Hell of a haul, chooms! Grab a coolant suit and you're ready to get your brain fried and die in some musty garage full of server racks, like a proper Netrunner. Writing. You could give the 'Saka deck to Alice, though you do also have the old (and extremely dangerous) NetWatch deck as well.I'm going to write up a gear/chrome/finances overview soon, along with rounding up the various dangling bits of info and tasks Kai can pursue.
2076.01.07, 00:25Night City (Watson, Vik’s Ripperdoc Clinic)“...There we go, right as rain.” Vik wheels away from the operating chair, a satisfied look on his face as he surveys the completed path job; tubes his as they disconnect from a number of ports on Catalina’s body and slither back to waiting detox tanks on a stand nearby, “You’ll feel like a truck’s run you over, but it’ll pass. Been there a few times myself, back in the day.” “Ughhh, can I get a pain editor too?” Catalina groans from the operating chair, wincing as she begins to lean up, “...Detox blows scop chunks, fuck. Bag of ice or something? Oh, hi there Kai, I… Wait…” Catalina’s eyes widen to saucers, cheeks turning bright red even through the tan of her armored skin, and she buries her head in her hands as she squeaks out an apology, “W-wait, that all, uh… Oh god. I’m sorry.” “Depends on what you mean by all, Cat.” You reply, choosing to just use her real name - at least in the privacy of the clinic, considering Vik seems in on it as well, “You were high, it’s fine - everyone gonks out on too much of the juice.”“But I was-” She looks down, ashamed, “Sorry. …Was some preem stuff, should’ve listened to the gorilla though, Dolf’s always yapping about pacing.”“Sounds like you’ve got some things to work through.” Vik comments from his rolling chair, though there’s no sense of judgment to the statement - the old guy’s been around long enough to just know, “Your big choom is right , especially if you’re mixing brands - different active agents, kid. Has all kinds of nasty side effects when they mix with those adrenaline pumps you’ve got, reaction moves too fast, turns toxic at lower dosages than they warn about.” “...And I’m small. Yeah, I know.” Catalina sounds like she’s talking to a scolding father, a little annoyed but still clearly listening, straining to be respectful despite what has to be an awful body wide soreness, “I’ll be more careful, I promise. Thanks for patching me up, Vik.”Vik nods, satisfied, “Try to be, but it’s your organs you’re tearing up, not mine - you don’t want to do this all the time, have to trade them in for clones or chrome if you do. I’ll be here if you need anything else, either of you - going to be open all night, staying up as a… Well, let’s just say you’re not the only couple of punks out on a job tonight. Shouldn’t see any of them for a few more hours. Hope I won’t see any.”“Getting paid to stay up?” You question, now noticing the tabs of caffeine pills and a couple of mugs of synth coffee on Vik’s desk, “...Right, easy eddies if things go well. I’ll say a prayer for them, for your sake… and theirs, heh.”“Ha! You do that, kid, you do that. Sure Misty’d join in if you ask, she got a shrine up there to… something.” Vik shrugs, probably not the most spiritual guy.
>>5961007Catalina gets up from the operating chair a bit woozily but the confidence soon returns to her steps, and she makes her way over to you looking a lot more like she got shot up earlier, her vest and tank top a bit ragged and stained dark from dried blood. Long gone is the horny gonk higher as an AV from half an hour ago, but that’s for the best. “...Thanks, Kai.” She bites at her lip, looking up at you with her usual brown - almost natural - looking cybereyes, “For being chill, and a choom about this, and covering us on the job, I was gonna… gonna get flatlined, I think.” “Sorry for missing that dreadlock guy even being there,” You shake your head, something not quite sitting right still, “Messed up on the scouting, should’ve flagged him before letting you and Dolf in the front.”“Shit happens, you saved my ass.” Cat grabs your hands, squeezing tightly, “You’re a real one, Kai.”“Thanks, Cat.” You accept the praise as it's given, not going to argue about something good, and you find yourself now a bit curious about a very different matter, “Earlier, when you were completely blasted, did you mean any of that?...” “...Y-yeah. Maybe some of it, it’s a blur.” She turns beet red again but doesn’t look away, “I’m down if you, uh… Well, not right now.”“You got your ribs cracked, definitely not now.” You chuckle, glad to at least have some kind of understanding, “Got to hurt like a son of a bitch.”“Ooh yeah,” She winces, trying not to laugh as well, and pats lightly at her more or less flat chest, “Had worse once. Ribs’ll be healed in a few hours, got nanosurgeons. Already feel em’ going at it, kind of tickles.”“...Damn, you’re chromed up.” You say aloud, having thought it many times already - She’s not like Em, not close to being a real ‘borg head, but you keep finding out about new ‘ware Cat’s packing, “Got a rocket launcher hidden in there somewhere too?”“Pff, no, in these arms? Got one down there?” She glances at your pants for a long moment and then cracks up into more painful laughter, finding her own bawdy joke a few times funnier than you do - you still crack a grin. “Glad you’re feeling better,” You roll your eyes, “Think I’m going to get chipped while we’re here.”“You should, you’re all squishy!” Cat agrees at once with your plan, “Just… not the face, okay?”
>>59610082076.01.07, 02:15Night City (Watson, Vik’s Ripperdoc Clinic)Eurobank Account Balance: €4,980.Cash: €350Debt to Vik: €6000“...And that’ll do it for you as well - Diagnostics are all in the green, looks like you’re good to go storm some datacastles, Kai.” The old ripper doc hands you a special airhypo, ”Two puffs, if you get any side effects. Doubt it’ll be necessary - and keep it away from Catalina.”“Thanks, Vik.” You say, still reeling slightly from the diagnostics Vik’s been putting your new chrome through. Checking the new plug on the back of your neck - right into the spinal column, yikes - and the chipware slot nearby along with your internal Militech Paraline… …And of course your eyes. Everything about the world is sharper, a little more vibrant, a touch saturated even; you can see clearer in the dim underground clinic now, and with a thought your vision focuses and zooms, like the camera on your clunky old agent except a hundred times more responsive and intuitive. It’s a part of you now, subconscious and simply there. Compared to the strangeness of chipping your neuralink, this is nothing - if anything it’s actually made processing data easier, the visuals now a firm image displayed by your cybereyes instead of half-real flickering holograms caught in your mind’s eye. Holocalls? An actual box. Diagnostics? Real interactable screens, like a comp but almost at the speed of thought, and still actually at the speed of thought when you’d like to do that as well. You set your new Kiroshis on Catalina and run a visual scan - It instantly matches her to your link’s contacts, displaying her name and age, as well as pulling NCPD subcon database info, and even flagging visible cyberware. Hot damn, that’s slick. With another thought you pair your eyes to your Nue, old as it is the gun still has a smart link, and watch in amazement as an honest to god ammunition counter and crosshair appear at the edge of your vision, like some kind of BD game. This is badass! Nova chrome job, worth every enny.“Gonna head out now I think,” You take the probably useless hypo and pocket it in your jacket, standing up from the chair and heading to Catalina near the clinic’s exit, “We’ll be squared up soon Vik, just like last time.”“Don’t sweat it kid, your old man paid early too - runs in the family. Watch your back out there!” Vik calls after you - You really do like him, he's good people.
>>5961010Cat, now far less pained looking, eyes you curiously as you both walk up the stairs out of the clinic and back to street level, “Kiroshis working for you? Seeing double, or ready to rock?”“Ready to rock.” You confirm with a grin, “Crosshair and everything. You waited the whole time I was out?”“Yeah.” Catalina’s eyes flash blue for a moment, “Sending Dolf a pic, he’ll want to see what you got. More spooky Net wizard stuff?”“Got my staff and pointed hat,” You joke, “I can go to the secret meetings now, out past the Blackwall.”“Yeah, yeah, fuck you.” She slows to get a better look at your neck, eyes flashing again, “Port job looks preem, Vik’s quality.”You can’t help but agree, “Yeah. Been your ripper for a while?”“Nah, recent switch, my old one moved to Dogtown.” She shrugs as the two of you press out of the alley, taking one of the other exits since Misty's shop is closed now, “Had some nova ‘ware but kept getting raided.”The Quadra’s doors open as you approach it, Alice waiting patiently this whole time for your return - sitting inside, you feel at ease immediately; the dark interior and red lights are a true comfort. The doors hiss shut as the car rumbles to life and rolls back out onto Night City’s streets. “Back to Dolf’s?” You question, the Quadra heading vaguely east currently - lots of places off that way.“...How about your place?” It’s an offer, not a question.>”Dolf’s place, Cat - Not tonight.” Not feeling it, Dolf’ll be expecting his choom back anyways, and it just feels a bit weird right after a job. Besides, you have a date planned with one of her chooms of all people.>”...I like the sound of that.” She waited, could’ve left hours ago and taken NCART or something. You’re not tied down, haven’t even gone on a single date with Coco yet.>”...To sleep, sure.” Not feeling it, but there’s a spare bed. Now that she’s not high out of her mind you don’t have concerns about her being a gonk.>Write-in.
>>5961011>”Dolf’s place, Cat - Not tonight.” Not feeling it, Dolf’ll be expecting his choom back anyways, and it just feels a bit weird right after a job. Besides, you have a date planned with one of her chooms of all people.bad idea mixing business and pleasure
>>5961011>”...I like the sound of that.” She waited, could’ve left hours ago and taken NCART or something. You’re not tied down, haven’t even gone on a single date with Coco yet.Here for a good time not a long time
>>5961011>”...I like the sound of that.” She waited, could’ve left hours ago and taken NCART or something. You’re not tied down, haven’t even gone on a single date with Coco yet.sanest female we've met so far
>>5961011>>”...I like the sound of that.” She waited, could’ve left hours ago and taken NCART or something. You’re not tied down, haven’t even gone on a single date with Coco yet.
>>5961011>”Dolf’s place, Cat - Not tonight.” Not feeling it, Dolf’ll be expecting his choom back anyways, and it just feels a bit weird right after a job. Besides, you have a date planned with one of her chooms of all people.Her ribs might be healing, but no thanks. Maybe next time.
>>5961011>Dolf's placeI do wanna bang, but not when someone has broken bones and blood all over them. Maybe tell her as much.
>>5961011>>Write-in."Cat, I'm flattered by the idea, really. But Dolf will be waiting for you. He's probably worried since I'm new to your crew. And honestly? If my only partner disappeared with someone I'd only known for a few days, someone who can do freaky mind shit, id be skeptical as all hell too. Besides, I've got a family friend moving into my apartment from a gonk situation. so today of all days really doesn't gel with me either."Remember, Vicky is also moving in. I REALLY think that would be an awkward conversation with how chromed-up Catalina is. So i think respectfully declining is best here.Also, now we've got 3 women in our lives. A car one, an ex-cop, and a chromed-up mercenary. Personally, i lean more toward Vicky. But that's just because i love older women, and she seems the most emotionally mature and stable of them.
>>5960777Yo mainline, can I get a short description of the gals currently in the running for the Kaibowl? Feeling in a fanarty mood
>>5961011>”Dolf’s place, Cat - Not tonight.” Not feeling it, Dolf’ll be expecting his choom back anyways, and it just feels a bit weird right after a job. Besides, you have a date planned with one of her chooms of all people.
>>5961099Jesus Christ I can't believe I'm agreeing with everything the namefag is sayingAnd also fuck you you made me think I was on the Halo quest.
>>5961149Changing to this >>5961099
>>5961011>”Dolf’s place, Cat - Not tonight.” Not feeling it, Dolf’ll be expecting his choom back anyways, and it just feels a bit weird right after a job. Besides, you have a date planned with one of her chooms of all people.Oh yea, Vicky will drop by. Still, Cat seems like one of the more normal girls we could go over, altough she's quite chromed up.
>>5961011>>5961151
>fanartINTERESTING.I'll get descriptions worked up for some of them and the more accurate soulless corporate AI generated, as fits a cyberpunk quest, art I've got for them.
>>5961011>”Dolf’s place, Cat - Not tonight.” Not feeling it, Dolf’ll be expecting his choom back anyways, and it just feels a bit weird right after a job. Besides, you have a date planned with one of her chooms of all people.She is cute and sane but yeah we're already dating her friend.
>>5961099+1
>>5961126Alice's actual form (going by her single photo of her old self) is pretty unassuming, an attractive but not spectacularly so early 20-something mixed euro/japanese woman. Brown eyes, medium length black hair, very slight upturned/pixie nose from the admixture, and she's skinny but not alarmingly so. The whole 'Alice in Wonderland' stuff on the Net is an affectation and partially Kai interpreting how he subconsciously thinks she 'should' look, the dress and hat aren't a core part of her identity but represent parts of it. Her looks are a bit nebulous at times despite the picture she has of herself, so do as you want.Maeve's a bombshell. She's tall and fairly athletic, and has sharp looks, green eyes, a very severe aspect to her face and looks more mature than her age (she's a bit older than Kai). She looks like trouble, knows it, and likes it - her hair and makeup purposefully accentuate this, she's trying to look more like a properly intimidating merc. The AI slop is close to what she's supposed to look like, so you can mostly reference it. When she's not dressing that way (such as when she was back with the raffen or hiding), just go for some crazy trashed out techno-barbarian biker gang vibes and you'll be close. Vaguely european, naturally a redhead, no visible cyberware.Catalina/Connor's a bundle of chrome and reinforced muscle, filipina, and around five feet tall - she's quite tan. Her cyberware is fairly extensive, but for her upper body the most prominent features are her cybereyes (usually brown), nanite injection ports for various muscle/bone augs, the subtle sandevistan along the top of her spine, and the monowire whip hidden in her wrist. Thin panel lines are occasionally visible running between muscle ports, there's some subdermal reinforcement going on. Her cyberlegs are meant to be bare gunmetal and slightly too large for her frame - they're exaggerated but it isn't to a ridiculous degree. She generally dresses in workout clothes, kind of lazy about it too. No makeup. She's flatter than the art depicts.Coco is 5'4", and the ears and tail stay on! They're xenografts and a living (functional) part of her body - she does not have human ears, they were sculpted off. The claws are real as well, very sharp, and steel reinforced, as Kai will find out if he gets that far. She's pale, has a heart shaped face, and yellow cat-eye cybereyes. Her black hair is usually worn in a short or mid length bob - the fur matches the rest of her hair, but it's just on her ears and tail. When out in the city she's usually just in a hoodie and jeans, or something else very casual - she prefers reds. She's got a pair of monowire whips, one spooled and hidden away in each wrist, which implies a degree of lethality a lot greater than what her job as a glorified receptionist seems to require.Vicky's art is very close, but she should have brown eyes.
>>5961015>>5961094>>5961096 (welcome to NC lmao)>>5961130>>5961146>>5961155>>5961205>>5961215Not feeling it.>>5961023>>5961054>>5961064Feeling it.>>5961099>>5961151>>5961243Write-in. Halo is based.Not feeling it wins, writing.
>>5961269REEEEEEEEE, your not doing your best to repopulated Night City Anons. jk
Congrats on making it on /qst/, Mainline - 15+ voters is nothing to sneeze at.Consider placing ads on 4chan to lure in new players to /qst/, you beautiful man
“Dolf’s place, Cat - Not tonight.” You try to let her down soft, almost feeling bad she’s been waiting just to get turned down - but tonight’s not the night for this, “I’m flattered, but Dolf’s gonna wonder where you are - and I’ve got a family friend moving into my place early tomorrow, it’s a mess.”“Jeez, right into the excuses. Just my gonk luck…” Cat replies, clearly a bit put off and letting out a frustrated huff, “...Don’t like the chrome or something?”The Quadra’s dash lights up happily - to anyone unfamiliar with Alice’s mannerisms and control of the lights it would look like a normal fluctuation, but you know. Outside the car’s windows the neon lights of Watson pass by steadily, you’re already out along the water. Not too much longer and Watson bridge will be in sight, along with nearly all of Westbrook.“No, looks great actually, nova legs… just, uh, you just got shot up, and you’re Coco’s choom, it doesn’t seem right, somehow.” You answer honestly - Catalina’s definitely attractive enough, that’s not the issue at all. She stares at you for a long couple of seconds, silence hanging thick in the Quadra’s interior, and then sighs, her mouth wrinkled up in an unhappy frown.“...But you’re interested?” “Hell yeah, just… bad circumstances.” You dislike seeing her get upset like that, but it’s not going to sway you - she’s probably not used to rejection. You certainly aren’t, probably wouldn’t handle it great either to be entirely fair.“Really know how to make a girl feel appreciated.” Catalina sighs bitterly, but she doesn’t seem happy about that either, “...Ugh, sorry. I just had it worked up in my head, and you… Nevermind. We’re chill, Kai. I kind of get it, after earlier. Was being a gonk.”“Came on a bit strong.” You agree with a smirk, glad to see her mood slowly turn for the better - sulking doesn’t suit her at all, it’s an ugly look.“A bit? Heh.” Her smirk almost matches your own, still a bit dampened, but a determined and mischievous look settles across her eyes, “I’m gonna get you though.” “What?” Catalina lifts her eyebrows a few times, “You heard me, Netboy. Maybe I'll lasso Coco in too, she’s-”“What?”
>>5961338Later, after dropping Connor (or is it just Catalina now?) off in Westbrook. ”Another hussy, and named Cat to boot. Alice complains almost as soon as Catalina is out the Quadra’s door and off toward the front entrance to her and Dolf’s apartment block, ”This city is filled to the brim with lecherous felines, not one should be trusted.”“Damn,” You laugh as the Quadra starts the drive back to your apartment in Kabuki, “You get jealous easy, Alice. It’s cute.”Alice’s flustered face appears projected across the windshield, cheeks puffed in annoyance and a hand even coming into view to wag a finger at you, ”Q-quiet! I know your games now, Kai. We may be chooms, but I will not fall for your… your wiles”“My wiles?” You inquire.“I am older and wiser now, Alice replies, the projection zooming ‘out’ to allow you to see most of her body, hands now on her hips as she lectures you about just how bad your interest in other women clearly is, I have learned the ways of this city and its… less savory sorts. Not only mercenaries such as ourselves, but the… joy-toys as well. That is how those furred floozies have acted. They are overly promiscuous - naughty even - and should be punished! Whipped, perhaps, they seem fond of whips, perhaps they would take to it.”You choose not to jump on the obvious jokes Alice’s ‘naughty’ comment brings to mind, or anything to do with whips, and instead focus in on her apparently recently gleaned knowledge of Night City’s night life - somehow you doubt it’s genuine, “You just binge watched Watson Whore on the Net again, didn’t you?”“I did… not. You have no proof!” She’s a terrible liar sometimes.“Maybe I’m just out for some pussy, Alice.” You tease, knowing it’ll just stir shit further - you almost can’t help it, it’s reflexive with her. The way she responds so easily to the teasing just draws you in, flies to honey.“No, stop that! Cat puns are banned in the Quadra, especially such… lascivious ones!”“Banned? It’s my car.”“I live in it, and I am putting my foot down!” The Quadra leaps forward, accelerating suddenly and sending you slamming back into the headrest of your seat, “Oh, drat, not that foot - what a silly interaction… You should not get me so worked up, Kai, I could crash!”
>>5961339Later, after much light bickering, back in your apartment.Flopping back first onto your bed, you stare up at the slightly stained ceiling and wonder what the hell kind of life you’re living. In a matter of days, taking money to kill has become… almost routine. You barely even thought about it with the scavs, or the ‘Saka goons earlier. It doens’t bother you as much as you expected, which is a little worrying. Maybe it runs in the family, your father wasn’t shaken up bad by his work either, kept it sealed away tight. …You’re walking in his footsteps, inadvertently perhaps, and slowly becoming a Netrunner. The new chrome you chipped is evidence enough of that; throw on a coolant suit and you’ll even look the part completely. Fucking hell, it’s going to take a lot of practice to not get zapped by IC - You groan, thinking about just how much programming you’re going to have to do, brushing up rusty skills and building from the most basic lessons your father taught you.At least it was something to start with, you’d be even more lost without it. >Sleep. You need to help Vicky move in the morning, and then find work and hunt down leads - gut instinct tells you the days are going to start moving faster.>Crawl back out of bed and down to Kabuki - grab that netrunning suit now, and then get back here and sleep like the dead.>Just lie in bed and try to hawk some of the paydata you grabbed earlier on the Net - Those game keys should move pretty fast, and you need eddies. …Should you send Dolf and Cat a cut too? >Write-in.
>>5961340>Sleep. You need to help Vicky move in the morning, and then find work and hunt down leads - gut instinct tells you the days are going to start moving faster.Sleep is a valuable resource
>>5961340>Sleep. You need to help Vicky move in the morning, and then find work and hunt down leads - gut instinct tells you the days are going to start moving faster.It’s hard to believe it’s only been about two weeks. What a crazy fucking life.
>>5961340>Just lie in bed and try to hawk some of the paydata you grabbed earlier on the Net - Those game keys should move pretty fast, and you need eddies. …Should you send Dolf and Cat a cut too?>Sleep. You need to help Vicky move in the morning, and then find work and hunt down leads - gut instinct tells you the days are going to start moving faster.Today is a chill day. Offer them a cut given it's from the same job. Rep matters. But also shouldn't really overdo trying to hawk them all. Get some sold, don't focus on maxing out the day. Helps us get a feel for sales.
>>5961340>Just lie in bed and try to hawk some of the paydata you grabbed earlier on the Net - Those game keys should move pretty fast, and you need eddies. …Should you send Dolf and Cat a cut too? >Sleep. You need to help Vicky move in the morning, and then find work and hunt down leads - gut instinct tells you the days are going to start moving faster.
>>5961340>Sleep. You need to help Vicky move in the morning, and then find work and hunt down leads - gut instinct tells you the days are going to start moving faster.Rest up, we gots bills to pay
>>5961340>Sleep. You need to help Vicky move in the morning, and then find work and hunt down leads - gut instinct tells you the days are going to start moving faster.Early bird and all that. Also, we should probably learn how to actually drive car, dont want to end up in a situation where we are expected to drive and we dont have our AI bae with us.
>>5961391There are other car driving AIs in Night City if Alice isn't around.
>>5961398Alice > Delamain
>>5961340>>Sleep. You need to help Vicky move in the morning, and then find work and hunt down leads - gut instinct tells you the days are going to start moving faster.
>>5961359>>5961361>>5961368>>5961391>>5961414Writing.
Allowing the weight of the world to lift from your shoulders for a time, you embrace with comfort of your bed - sleep takes you quickly.2076.01.07, 07:15Night City (Kabuki, your apartment)For the fourth or fifth time the alarm beside your bed goes off, its shrill synthetic chirp easy to keep out of mind. Sleep, you need more. A song plays silently somewhere, annoying but you ignore it. Reaching blinding with an arm, eyes closed, you draw your pillow closer, tighter, and try to pull deeper under the covers. It’s warm and comfortable here, god is in heaven and all is right with the worl-A sick guitar riff startles you awake in a panic, Nue in one hand and pillow wielded in the other like a shield.”LOST ANOTHER DAY, TO POINTLESS DRUDGERY,” Alice’s voice screams from the speakers of the apartment’s television, ”THE SLOW CHIPPING AWAY, OF MY AUTONOMY! A RODENT IN A RACE! UNSUNG AND UNDERPAID!”“Alright, ALRIGHT!” You shout back in annoyance, hurling the pillow at the distant screen while swinging your legs out of bed, groggily stumbling your way into a standing posture and tossing your gun onto the bed, “Enough with the FUCKING SAMURAI! I’m awake!””MY COLLEAGUES SEEM TO ME, LIKE SLAVES IN SHEEP-ARRAY!” Alice continues, her laughing image flashing across the television screen - she’s playing a guitar, which while undeniably nova as fuck is not what you want to see this early in the morning. She keeps rocking out, ignoring your complaints.“Fucking come on! Cut the sound, choom, too loud for the morning-” You groan and make your way to the bathroom, checking your holo-messages with a thought; just one, from Vicky, she’ll be ready to start moving stuff in an hour. Trying to tune out the music, you shave quickly and brush your teeth, and start getting ready to shower. The music is just getting louder. Holy hell, sleep in once after a job, barely, and Alice goes full 2010’s on the apartment. She’s just getting to the chorus now, the speakers of your father’s old comp joining in. ”SUIT UP, PUNCH IN, PUNCH OUT - NON-STOP!” Alice sings, pour her soul into it - damn, she wasn’t kidding about like the song, but you didn’t expect this, ”SUIT UP, PUNCH IN, PUNCH OUT - GET FUCKED!”By the time you stumble out of the bathroom, towel wrapped about you after a shower you found yourself motivated to complete very quickly, the music is dying down. ”HERE COMES REVENGE! HERE COMES THE END!...” The song trails off with those last words, Alice’s red avatar waving at you from every screen in the apartment before announcing cheerily, ”Good morning, Kai! I see the sleeper has awakened. I found some data last night!”
>>5961484“You did?” You wipe at your eyes while walking to your stash of NiCola and popping one open, nice hiss. The refreshing cherry flavored battery acid glugs readily down your throat - Mmm, delicious corporate slime, “Preem news, Alice. …Uh, how? And why the racket? And the screens?”Lot of questions for so early in the morning. ”While you were sleeping, I explored the less protected subnets of Kabuki marketplace!” Alice draws a vaguely curved blade, her spike sword resembling more of a pirate blade - and her hat appears briefly, now a big leather bicorn complete with a jolly roger across the front, ”Cutlass in hand, I plundered their secrets, yarr harr! And I found this!”She lifts the guitar in her other hand, grinning wide - It vanishes a moment later, replaced by a kind of abstract block of streaming code, red and black text mixing together in a bleeding cube of engrammatic data, ”And this as well! I must have spun them both off before dying. Or they were torn from me, one of the two - rather a grisly distinction, but I can hardly-”“You went poking around subnets without me?” You interrupt, a bit hurt, that would’ve been good practice - fun, even! At least she got something useful, this is still good news, “Preem finds though - Got any new tricks?””A whole bag of them! I have regained minimal functionality in all areas!” She beams, looking more alive than ever; her presence grows steadily in your mind, and box with a list of recovered features scrolls past at the edge of your vision.You let out an impressed whistle, “All of them, all of them?””All of them! I am self possessed and fully functional!” She replies happily, tossing the bleeding data cube up in the air like it was a ball before catching it again in her hand, ”My little friend here was a key to rationalizing swathes of my corrupted code - recovery is still ongoing; I have even retrieved a few memories. Thank you for accompanying me into the deeper Net yesterday Kai, I could not have done this without my trusty blade - or you!” Damn, leave an AI unattended for a night and she goes off and plunders unguarded subnets to grow in power - or binge watches cheap BD dramas. Hard to guess which, seems to depend on the night.
>>5961485“Memories? Of what?” You ask excitedly, hoping there might be some hints as to your father’s past and ultimate fate locked away in there - Alice was there when he died, fighting to protect him, she must have known more.“Of my first death!” She sounds like she’s wanting to show you a puppy, not talk about her own demise - it’d be disconcerting if you weren’t so excited for her as well, “I have not processed it yet. I am scrolling a BD of it as we speak, the data is rather difficult to parse - I have had to restart several times. The details are still difficult even for me to understand, but soon we can see it together. I do know my real name now though, Kai.”“Oh? What is it?”“You will find out soon enough if… Agh, it collapsed again.” Alice almost curses, barely stopping herself, and puffs her cheeks out in frustration at the slippery data she must be working with, ”I may need specialized equipment for this.”“Will a deck do it?”“No, unfortunately not. I need a comp specialized for editing brain dances. Do you know of someone who possesses one, or the skills to assist me?”>”We can ask around, might be someone close by.” It’s a specialist skill but BDs are so popular it can’t be too hard to find someone willing to rent out the hardware.>”Okay, come on, what’s your name? You can at least tell me now if we have to track down extra hardware for these memories.” >”We’ll get on that after Vicky moves in… Damn, I probably need to clean up the place.” It isn’t dirty, you’ve been cleaning by habit still, but there are guns and ammo out on the countertop in the kitchen and shards and stolen (or inherited) decks all around dad’s old comp. Runner stuff, not the first thing you want Vicky to see.>Write-in.
>>5961488>”We can ask around, might be someone close by.” It’s a specialist skill but BDs are so popular it can’t be too hard to find someone willing to rent out the hardware. >”We’ll get on that after Vicky moves in… Damn, I probably need to clean up the place.” It isn’t dirty, you’ve been cleaning by habit still, but there are guns and ammo out on the countertop in the kitchen and shards and stolen (or inherited) decks all around dad’s old comp. Runner stuff, not the first thing you want Vicky to seeMaybe we can find somebody who is along the way as we go get Vicky but we should clean too.
>>5961488>”We’ll get on that after Vicky moves in… Damn, I probably need to clean up the place.” It isn’t dirty, you’ve been cleaning by habit still, but there are guns and ammo out on the countertop in the kitchen and shards and stolen (or inherited) decks all around dad’s old comp. Runner stuff, not the first thing you want Vicky to see.
>>5961494+1
>>5961494Agree with anon. +1
>>5961494Supporting
>>5961488>>5961494+1>>5961485>"walking to your stash of NiCola and popping one open, *nice hiss.* The refreshing cherry flavored battery acid glugs readily down your throat"Holy based and MRE pilled. I did not expect a Steve reference.
>>5961494>>5961497>>5961498>>5961503>>5961506>>5961507Writing. >>5961506>this is the security forces of Arasaka field network, the AS-SN 'Kabuto', subnet two >roughly translated as "helmet">this thing comes in seven different field variants >it requires five japtilloflops to process, or seven point three eight ameriflops, and contains four thousand one hundred and eighty operatives>it has a two year expected runtime>lets check it out>*breaching protocol* >huh, thick IC>it's supposed to come in three separate auxiliary nets>*cyber rustling of Net architecture*>oh nice, flameless overheat quickhacks>...You can save the outer firewall, definitely a nice multipurpose IC>here are the three different auxiliary nets>command is the smallest>check this out>look at that>350 operatives, Adam Smasher with Yorinobu>looks nova>a good quality, thick IC barrier >nice setup, can stand up to hacks on its own
“We can ask around, might be someone close by - We’ll check after Vicky moves in…” You reply to Alice, excited both for her and the chance of gleaning more information about your father’s death, but there are more pressing concerns - the fact that your apartment is slowly starting to look like an edgerunner lives there being chief among them. Vicky won’t like that. “...Damn, I probably need to clean up the place.”Alice watches from many screens as you walk past, most unseeing but a few utilizing small inbuilt cameras to actually follow you - her ability to breach networks delicately has clearly been enhanced massively, yesterday she would’ve wrecked all the devices trying to do this”She will be upset by your new profession? Was she not a killer for hire as well?” Alice asks, miming covering her face with her hat while you get dressed and put away some of the weapons, but you see those camera lights still lit up - sly. Whatever, she can enjoy the show if she wants, peeping ghost.“Look, I’m not a fan of the government, or corps, but that’s kinda reductionist, don’t you think? Cops aren’t that bad. Some are real scop bags, but Vicky’s chill. Little protective.” You try to reason with Alice while getting your jeans on, and then throwing an old t-shirt over the top; ironically a Samurai one that used to be your father’s - he loved that old racket, still bought all the new Eurodyne albums too. Rubbed off on your some. Holsters go on next, one for the Nue and its spare mages, and a sheath for your knife. You put up your Nowaki, sliding it under the bed.“Says the son of a police officer.” Alice crosses her arms, hat now put away as she openly observes you finished up getting ready - with her displayed on so many screens you almost feel surrounded; normally this many pretty women around you would be rather exciting, but it just doesn’t have the same effect through a screen. Almost creepy.“Says the partner of one.” You retort, throwing on the blue jacket gifted by Dakota; it’s armored, and goes well with the concealed vest you’ve got on under your shirt.“Off time, when he was justifying my cynicism by working as a professional criminal. Quite dastardly deeds.” Alice ripostes wryly, countering your counter - what a slippery ghost!Sighing, you’re unable to really argue with that - an objective take on your father’s activities is pretty sketchy, even if you believe he was one of the good ones - like you, hopefully. Maybe. “...Okay, fair, but what does that make you, Alice? Getting all choomy with criminal cops?”“A freedom fighter with suspect allies, I would say.”
>>5961745“A freedom fighter?... You’re fucking with me.” You shake your head and laugh, realizing the game she’s at - maybe this is what you get for flaring up her jealously with your teasing last night. Heading to the door, you stop to grab your klepped Arasaka deck and some encrypted shards on the way out - Alice might be able to use both now, and you’ve already talked about it before.“...Maybe slightly. You poke at me so often, it is only fair.” Alice’s smile confirms every suspicion you held, and indeed you already knew, her presence within your mind making the conclusion unavoidable - it certainly isn’t telepathy, but there’s some level of subconscious connection. “Oh, a gift for me?”“Something to hold you over while I’m helping move Vicky in, maybe you can crack them - just don’t get yourself fried.” You say while exiting your apartment, lowing your voice nearly to subvocalization but continuing to talk aloud - it’s easier to sort out your thoughts this way, “Need you in one piece to get those BDs spun later - Going to be a busy day again it feels like.” On the way down the stairs out of your rundown apartment building, you bump into your neighbor - she’s carrying a cardboard box filled with BD wreaths and what looks like… MaxTac gear? What the hell? “Oh, hey there - Mind stepping out of the way, choom?” She asks, stopped from moving further up the stairs by your presence and that of a strung out junkie taking up the other half. You look her over, dyed green and pink hair, tats, some iron printing lightly around her waist - looks and sounds like a ganger, but she’s been alright to you in the past. Never can remember her name.“...Uh, sure. You do BDs?” You step aside but look down at the box, surprised by what you were looking for just showing up. Hm. Maybe it’s not new, actually, you’ve seen her move tech inside before. Even a robot once, that was in parts though.She shakes the box as an answer, the wreaths jangling about in it, clearly amused, “Do I do BDs? No, I don’t scroll, not my thing - but I do edit, make em’ into art. …Why? Ask every stranger with a box of tech?”
>>5961747“Looking for someone with the hardware to spin one out of, uh, pretty complex data.” As you speak it almost feels as if the words are coming to your from another mind - not taking over, nothing like that, but you can feel their weight mentally, guiding you to say things if you wish to do so, concepts coming easily, “It is… core memories scraped from a recently deceased person, they’ve been stored strangely for decades but I’ve been trying to find someone talented enough to help recover them. When I attempt to compile them, the program corrupts and collapses.”Your neighbor considers that for a moment before nodding, seemingly interested, “That’s more of a morgue job than what I usually do, but I’ve done things like it before - BDs aren’t just for floggin’ the log… Maybe I could help, corruption sounds like a trick though - If you’re payin’ then I’m game for a challenge. Need to handle this box first, got a lot to sort through.”“MaxTax stuff? You don’t look the type, no offense.” You ask as she moves past up the stairs, stopping on the landing above near the doors to your rooms.She rolls her eyes, “I’ll take it as a compliment - not a cyberpig. Just pretend you didn’t see it. Drop by later, I’ll be in all day working, my other studio got zapped by a daemon. Getting renovated.”“Sounds preem, I'm helping a choom move in for the next couple hours anyways - See you around… uh.” Crap, not remembering neighbors is kind of embarrassing - she doesn't seem to mind though.“Judy.”“Kai.”
>>59617502076.01.07, 08:05Night City (Watson, Megabuilding H11, Vicky’s apartment)Vicky’s apartment is not how you remember it, everything is all packed up in boxes or discarded in a trash heap in the corner, some of it bagged, more of it just thrown there in a fit of depression. The last time you were here was a few months ago, back when she invited over your dad and a couple of other guys on the force to try her newest cookie recipe… Which was amazing, even if dad couldn’t make it. It smelled like lilac and cookies, and generally like a home then. It’s just a place she’s about to leave now, empty, sterile, everything’s stripped from the walls and sealed away. Vicky stands beside you, a few inches shorter, surveying the ruins of her life. “Makes everything feel small. A whole decade, and these,” She taps one of the closest boxes with her boot, “Are all I’ve got to show. Eh, sorry, Kai… You don’t need more right now. Thanks for being a good friend.” “Of course, Vicky - Not going to leave you hanging,” You look at all the boxes as well, the task of carrying a few dozen of them down the megabuilding over, and over, and over is more than a little daunting. There aren’t any trolleys to use so it’ll all have to be by hand, “Where do we start?”“Guns. It’s going to take a few trips, my Hella’s not going to fit much, maybe a few trips worth… What wheels did you bring?”“Dad’s Quadra.” You shrug - It is not a vehicle for moving boxes, but it’s all you’ve got, and Alice is working out of it right now with your external deck, cracking shards and generally being productive now that she’s got some of her Net mojo back, “Only ride I have. There’s some room for some of these in the frunk, and I can probably stack a couple riding shotgun.” “Moving in a sports car. At least my life’s going down in flames in style.” Vicky chuckles darkly, finding humor even in the shit situation she’s in - that you’re both in, truthfully, you still have a mountain of bills - “I’ll bounce back though - And help out with your rent, know your mom’s got stuff going on.”“Uh… Yeah. Actually, I’m expecting a call from her today. Probably. She wasn’t super clear about when it’d be.”“Oh? To talk about what?” Vicky seems eager to talk about anything other than the move, but she finally notices things about you, “...Carrying iron now. Kai? Need to be careful with that.”
>>5961751“I’m being careful. It’s a rough city, Vicky.” You shrug, picking up the first of what will be many, many boxes. Vicky nods, accepting that answer, but her eyes linger on you longer, unspoken suspicion filling them - you put patches over your ports and other ‘ware, and your cybereyes are set to mimic your old real ones, but she’s not a gonk. Definitely noticed some of it.“Real rough for gonks.” Vicky agrees, picking up a box of her own - it isn’t labeled, but you can only assume it’s full of weapons of some kind or another.>”Speaking of iron, what’re we moving here?” You almost have to ask.>”Got any ideas for work? Subcons stuff, maybe?” She must have considered it.>”...Got chipped too.” May as well start coming clean now. Slowly.>Write-in.
>>5961753>>”...Got chipped too.” May as well start coming clean now. Slowly.
>>5961753
>>5961801>>5961753Oops>”...Got chipped too.” May as well start coming clean now. Slowly.
>>5961753>”...Got chipped too.” May as well start coming clean now. Slowly.
>>5961753>>”Got any ideas for work? Subcons stuff, maybe?” She must have considered it.
>>5961261I always think of Catalina as looking exactly like Paninya from FMA. Oh no, another cat pun...
>>5961652>"Now, let us try this instant cyberware malfunction mk2 quickhack." >"Comes in a neat small chip, easy to carry on the go">Nearest person's arm seizes. Makes several small satisfying clink noises>"An excellent follow up to any optics reboot. Runs smoothly, leaves the enemy unarmed. A great addition to any Netrunners arsenal">>5961753>”...Got chipped too.” May as well start coming clean now. Slowly."got chipped, with the bills, i've been able to use some of the lessons dad gave me to earn a few eddies."
>>5961756>>5961802>>5961803>>5961833>>5961834>>5961870>>5961881>>5961940Writing.>>5961857I approve of this as well, FMA is based.>>5961881Absolutely decadent netrunning, anon.
“...Got chipped too.” You admit as you both leave the apartment, boxes in hand. A few people are mulling around out in the hallways beyond, and the landing further past it - there are shops over there; a gunstore, a boxing ring, and a couple of thrift shops and scop joints. It’s a busy little market, even this early in the morning and this many levels up inside of the Megabuilding. “With what?” Vicky asks pleasantly, but you know she’s forcing that - you’ve heard that voice enough, she’s concerned, “I saw your wrist port. Looks clean - If you’re going to patch over it, try to match the skin tone better. I can help with that.”“Oh, uh, thanks. First time trying to use them, the kit didn’t really match.” You look down at your wrist and the not-quite-skintone patch sitting atop it; she’s right, it does stand out if you’re looking for it, “It’s plugs and headware mostly, got a link and a couple of chipware ports. I’ve been doing some of the things dad taught me.” “On the Net?” She asks curiously as you pass through the market. The vastness of the Megabuilding feels at times almost as if it could swallow you up. “...Have you been able to?”“Yeah, he showed me enough.” You confirm vaguely, trying to stay focused on the elevator ahead of you - there are a few other people getting on it right now, and one of the stops to keep the door open after spotting you and Vicky walking with the boxes.Vicky nods slowly, frowning, but chooses not to press the issue while you step onto the elevator and are quickly surrounded by other people, all kinds of gaudy clothes and strange hair colors flocking about, “Not getting into too much trouble?”“There have been a couple of spots.” You find it’s hard not to talk now, but you keep it contained. The elevator shakes a little and you feel the very slight negative g’s as it lowers, the perceived weight of your box lowering just a hair. When you reach the bottom of the Megabuilding you both exit the elevator among the crowd and press out into the plaza beyond, a mix of small food stands, tiny parking areas, streets, and stairs going to other levels - more buildings hug close nearby, true skyscrapers but not the massive beast that the Megabuilding is.
>>5961987“My wheels are this way, we’ll load it up first.” Vicky nods toward the parking garage close by, the same you had Alice take the Quadra into, “I’d move it closer, but there were some gangoons around early - they’re already noticing we’re not ou… Uh, that the force isn’t out around here. Not enough of them. Barry’s still over there at least.” She winces at the painful correction. So much for ‘once a cop, always a cop’. Probably hard to parrot supposed aphorisms like that so soon after getting axed from the force.Squinting through the crowd of pedestrians moving around the plaza, you do in fact spot a single NCPD officer, a small Militech drone hovering close in the air beside him; he’s a big guy, compared to you at least, and wearing a mask to filter out the smoke and smog of long patrols on the street. Yeah, that’s Barry alright. Soon you’re inside of the garage and loading boxes in Vicky’s old black car, putting the boxes down in the trunk - and now she turns to look at you, an all too familiar look in her eyes. “Alright Kai, come clean. Guns and chrome - What’re you doing, really? And don’t say freelance programming, I’m not a gonk.”>”...There’s some netrunning involved, and I did some subcon work.” True enough, though technically Dolf turned in the bounties - still, you did the work.>”I’ve been doing jobs for nomads. Pays great, and they’re good people. Most of the clan is a couple states over so they’re short handed. Dad knew them.” Probably going to raise other questions, but it’s true.>”Can we finish the move first before talking it out, Vicky?” She might agree. Moving is going to be a pain, there’s a bit more stuff to haul than you expected.>Write-in.
>>5961988>Write-in."...can we finish moving first? I know you ask because you are concerned. Even a gonk like me can see that. But I would really rather have this conversation when we can sit down and actually talk eye to eye back at the apartment. Instead of out here. You said it yourself, it isn't exactly safe."Basically following the third option but trying to be understanding for Vicky as well. show that we aren't trying to avoid the topic but instead just want a better environment.
>>5961988>>”Can we finish the move first before talking it out, Vicky?” She might agree. Moving is going to be a pain, there’s a bit more stuff to haul than you expected.What fleet Anon said.
>>5961988>>”Can we finish the move first before talking it out, Vicky?” She might agree. Moving is going to be a pain, there’s a bit more stuff to haul than you expected.+1, although I think we should be super careful in what we eventually tell her, especially about Alice, as Vicky still seems to think she's a pig.
>>5961988>”I’ve been doing jobs for nomads. Pays great, and they’re good people. Most of the clan is a couple states over so they’re short handed. Dad knew them.” Probably going to raise other questions, but it’s true.
>>5961988>”...There’s some netrunning involved, and I did some subcon work.” True enough, though technically Dolf turned in the bounties - still, you did the work.
>>5961988>”I’ve been doing jobs for nomads. Pays great, and they’re good people. Most of the clan is a couple states over so they’re short handed. Dad knew them.” Probably going to raise other questions, but it’s true.I would rather be (sort of) honest here
>>5962114>>5962090>>5962068Who you're working for.>>5962070Vaguely about the work you're doing.>>5962013>>5962006>>5961992Discuss later (counting these as close enough)I'll give voting another hour for a tie breaker.
>>5961988>>”Can we finish the move first before talking it out, Vicky?” She might agree. Moving is going to be a pain, there’s a bit more stuff to haul than you expectedUse the extra time to think up a convincing line of bullshit. The more truth she knows, the more dangerous it is for her, us, and our new chooms.
>>5962240Huh????she is the one person that we have potentially the most ability to be open to. even if we've been around her less than the other girls during the quest, she's supposed to be a family friend. She is the one person i could actually imagine Kai could open up to about what his life has become without her judging either. since her previous line of work wasn't exactly safe either. And what danger?? we haven't even made any real enemies???
>>5961988>>”I’ve been doing jobs for nomads. Pays great, and they’re good people. Most of the clan is a couple states over so they’re short handed. Dad knew them.” Probably going to raise other questions, but it’s true.
>>5962233>”I’ve been doing jobs for nomads. Pays great, and they’re good people. Most of the clan is a couple states over so they’re short handed. Dad knew them.” Probably going to raise other questions, but it’s true.
>>5962253>>5962250>>5962114>>5962090>>5962068Writing.
“I’ve been doing jobs for nomads.” You meet Vicky’s gaze, and watch as her brow furrows at your worlds, worry growing behind her eyes. A brightly painted car passes by through the parking garage, going too fast, and draws nasty looks from both of you - fucking assholes don’t know you’re trying to have a conversation here! “...What a bunch of gonks… Right, nomads. The pay is great, and they’re good people - most of the clan is a couple states over so they’re short handed right now, lots of work to go around. Dad knew them.” “...Nomads? ...That truck guy.” Vicky questions, eyes widening as if a final puzzle piece just fell into place, “You mean the old guy with the armored Thorton, don’t you?”“Yeah, that’s Cannon.” You confirm, glancing back in the direction of that car that sped past a moment ago - you can hear brakes squealing as it comes to a stop around the corner, on the ramp to the next level, “He’s an Aldecaldo, if that means anything to you.” “Yeah, I know the clans. Kai, those are rough people - Nomads don’t…” She pinches at her brow with one hand and lets out a sigh, not quite a disappointed one though, or perhaps disappointed in herself rather than you, “...Christ, how did I not put that together before. Yeah, Taro must have been doing work with them for years, right? I saw this, uh, ‘Cannon’ guy a couple of times, caught them in a parking lot swapping something a few years ago, back when I did motorcycle patrol more. You dad asked me to drop it, and I did. What’s that guy got you doing, Kai? Taro could handle himself, but you’re a…”“Kid?” You finish for her, slightly annoyed - she’s right, sort of, but why’s it always come down to that? “Vicky, come on, give me some credit. I’m not jumping in over my head.”“Don’t lie to me.” This time Vicky’s look is one of disappointment, and focused entirely on you. It’s hard to wither under her gaze, she’s been looking out for you for years and years, even if you’ve resented it sometimes, and out of everyone in Night City you trust her, but why’s it so fucking hard to own up to what your doing? That look hurts. “...I’m mostly not.” You look away, thinking of scav dens and the smell of ozone and blood, of dead eyes and bloodied cyberdecks - It’s a small miracle you haven’t caught lead, and yesterday you almost got your brain fried twice - maybe three or four times, depends on what you count as a close call. “Kai, I’m not going to rat on you,” Vicky puts a hand on your shoulder, half guiding and half forcing you to look at her again, “I don’t care if you’ve stolen things, or put lead down range out on the street, or… or flatlined a ganger or something - I just need to know. I can’t help if you get all vague and fucking wishy-washy. Don’t dodge it, just give me the truth-”
>>5962354As you’re about to speak, a loud voice interrupts you, an arrogant taunting shout from the direction of the garage’s ramp - where that car stopped out of sight, “LOOK AT WHAT WE’VE GOT HERE - OFFICER REYES!” The shouting man is a gangoon, clearly a Valentino from his tats and gaudy gold and red clothes, tan skinned and young but worn out looking in the way the streets often will do to a person. The golden plate covering the left side of his skull glints in the garage’s stark artificial white light, a memento from what must’ve been a pretty horrific injury. He’s got pistol-gripped pump action shotgun held in both hands, swaying about as he swaggers forward across the garage, flanked on either side by his chooms - two on the left, one on the right, all with weapons in hand, gold plated pistols and knives mostly. “SORRY, FORMER OFFICER REYES! HAHA!” The ganger continues to mock, slapping the slide of his shotgun against his support hand a few times, almost like he was testing the weight of a baseball bat, “HOW’S THE PENSION PLAN TREATING YOU? HAHAHA!” “Kai,” Vicky is turned to face the approaching gangers and standing very still, speaking in a hushed voice, her lips barely moving, “We’ll finish this later. How’s your aim?”A chill runs through you at Vicky’s question - she’s not expecting this to end with words, “...Decent.”“Keep behind the car’s engine,” She then give you a tiny nod, and shouts back to the approaching gangers, “What the fuck do you want, Gabriel? Get let out early?” “I want what I’m FUCKING OWED, PUTA!” He points at the gold plate making up about half his skull, “You flatlined two of my chooms, gave me this, and hid behind that FUCKING badge! Don’t got that shit no more, yeah?”“How’s your girl? Still beating the shit out of her?” Vicky shouts back, not even bothering to try to de-escalate - shit. You know her, if there was any chance she’d be going for it, trying to thread that needle.Gabriel and one of his chooms shout something back in Spanish - It’s not pleasant, whatever they said. Vicky replies with something that makes one of them snicker, but the laughing gangoon gets a look that could blow a circuit breaker from Gabriel and quickly shuts the hell up.>Let Vicky take the lead on this, she’s gotta have a good sense for when this is going to flip from spitting words to spitting lead. >Breaching protocol, hit these gonks with some quickhacks and get the hell behind Vicky’s car. After the debacle last night with the scavs, you made sure to slot that Overheat shard.>”Alice, can you mimic sirens?” Communicate by your link - the Quadra isn’t far away.>Write-in.
>>5962356>”Alice, can you mimic sirens?” Communicate by your link - the Quadra isn’t far away.We gotta break the escalation loop here and fast.
>>5962356>Breaching protocol, hit these gonks with some quickhacks and get the hell behind Vicky’s car. After the debacle last night with the scavs, you made sure to slot that Overheat shard.Fortune favors the bold
>>5962356>>”Alice, can you mimic sirens?” Communicate by your link - the Quadra isn’t far away.We can buy time for us to evac. The distraction of the siren, when they look away, we can run an overheat on their smart iron. That should result in them dropping the gun given they're not expecting netrunner shit. The car is also a weapon. Alice can get Barry on the way at minimum while we handle this fight. The most ideal outcome is no shots hit on target and they have no idea where Vicky went.
>>5962356>>”Alice, can you mimic sirens?” Communicate by your link - the Quadra isn’t far away.we haven't been massively lucky this quest, I dont like risks
>>5962356>>”Alice, can you mimic sirens?” Communicate by your link - the Quadra isn’t far away.Better than a crime voice
>>5962356>Let Vicky take the lead on this, she’s gotta have a good sense for when this is going to flip from spitting words to spitting lead.
>>5962383Barry is a big guy.
>>5962356>>Breaching protocol, hit these gonks with some quickhacks and get the hell behind Vicky’s car. After the debacle last night with the scavs, you made sure to slot that Overheat shard.
>>5962356>>Breaching protocol, hit these gonks with some quickhacks and get the hell behind Vicky’s car. After the debacle last night with the scavs, you made sure to slot that Overheat shard.>>”Alice, can you mimic sirens?” Communicate by your link - the Quadra isn’t far away.Bit of column A, bit of column B...
Rolled 91 (1d100)>>5962357>>5962383>>5962396>>5962401Writing. Rolling for Alice, DC 15.
>>5962467>91Definitely sounds real.
I have my doubts about making Alice mimic the sirens... The scenario in my head goes like 1) The Valentino guy and the others get really jumpy and scared, but he's still so butthurt he won't just leave, just start blasting shit like crazy to finish faster and get the hell out of it2) Barry gets really confident because of the sirens and goes head-on to the Valentinos3)Barry gets badly injured, like some serious shit, there might be even more civilians injured because of the huge gunfight and the Valentinos shooting on two directions (Kai & Vicky, Barry & drone)So yeah, my suggestion would be to sent a message to Barry with our link about our plan and>>5962467Votes called and we got an awesome roll... Yeah, I never had my doubts in this plan, good job anons!
“Alice alice,” You communicate by thought over your link, ideas flowing fast as your adrenaline begins to pump - those gangoons aren’t too far off now, “Sirens! Police sirens! Gangoons! Make make siren noise loud siren wee woo! Need distraction yes sirens, scare the gang-thing!” God, you almost feel like a rat sending messages like this, true stream of consciousness communication is a fucking mess.”Wee woo inbound, my eloquent choom! Alice laughs within your mind, a flickering image of her appearing in altered reality just ahead of you and giving a sharp salute - that’s new. Even as her image dissolves away, the wailing sound of a police siren fills the garage, sounding as if it’s coming from a few levels above and growing closer fast.Gabriel’s head snaps to look in the direction of the siren, his gangoon chooms doing the same, the one who laughed earlier going pale as a sheet - the weak link in the group. He bolts, turning on one heel and sprinting back toward where their car was left, just around the corner and on the ramp up to the next level. Gabriel turns and curses after him, “YO, WHERE YOU GOI-”A trio of thunderclaps sound beside you, followed by three smaller thumping bangs, each echoing loud inside the parking garage’s concrete walls. The ‘ganic half of Gabriel’s skull blows out in an incendiary flash, chunks of smoking red spraying across the ground as he crumples, and the choom to his right collapses as well, clutching desperately at the shattered ruined of bone and charred meat that was his organic knee, hands quickly soaking in blood. The barrel of the Metel which simply appeared in Vicky’s hand burns bright red, smoking slightly from the ultra-high pressure rounds - she’s holding the strange revolver close-in, point shooting, cybereyes lit up blue. The last gangoon, being a true gonk’s gonk, whirls back around firing his pistol, his face a mask of terror and shock.>Nue go blam blam! >Quickhacks, choom. Gonk’s lost his eyesight and unburnt chrome privileges. >Take cover! Let Vicky make a mess of him as well, holy shit she just fucking iced Gabriel as soon as he looked away!>Write-in.
>>5962497ruin of bone*
>>5962497>>Quickhacks, choom. Gonk’s lost his eyesight and unburnt chrome privileges.Keep making ourselves useful. We're no solo, but still a useful support player.
>>5962497>Quickhacks, choom. Gonk’s lost his eyesight and unburnt chrome privileges.Shit, Vicky don’t play
>>5962497>Nue go blam blam!Gotta hold it sideways too!
>>5962497>Nue go blam blam!quickhacks aren't *that* quick
>>5962505Yeah but I bet we get better target numbers doing hacks then playing gunbunny
>>5962512Gun is a bit faster if it goes well and Kai is a little better now that he has cybereyes and functioning smartlink. Quickhacks are easier against the kind of street grade chrome these Valentinos mostly have.
>>5962497>>Quickhacks, choom. Gonk’s lost his eyesight and unburnt chrome privileges.
>>5962497>Quickhacks, choom. Gonk’s lost his eyesight and unburnt chrome privileges.
>>5962540>>5962497actually wait no, change to >Nue go blam blam! he's fucking shooting at us while running, hacking his eyes wouldn't stop him from shooting and we need him dead now, don't know how fast the quickhacks will take
>>5962544The one that is running away is still only fleeing. There were four: One turned and ran when he heard sirens, one got blasted in the back of the head and did a great impression of a watermelon full of firecrackers, one got his leg nearly blown off at the knee, and the last one has turned around and started shooting in a panic.
>>5962501>>5962502>>5962520Hack.>>5962504>>5962505>>5962544Nue go bang.Got a tie. I'll leave voting open until the morning, going to sleep for now.
>>5962356>”Alice, can you mimic sirens?” Communicate by your link - the Quadra isn’t far away.
>>5962568rip
>>5962569Yeah I'm late again
>>5962571happens to the best of us
>>5962497>Quickhacks, choom. Gonk’s lost his eyesight and unburnt chrome privileges.We are the chairjockey.
>>5962570>>5962676>>5962713>>5962501>>5962502>>5962520I need two rolls of 1d100, DC 40.
Rolled 96 (1d100)>>5962723
Rolled 30 (1d100)>>5962723
>>5962724>96Christ, anon, I think you got him.
>>5962724Yep.He dead.
Bullets whiz by, one, two, three; the ganger’s Lexington rattles away, spewing lead - Vicky rushes to interpose herself between you and the ganger, shielding you with her body as she fires another return shot from the hip, missing. You don’t need the protection. Time slows to a crawl as you focus your mind to a pinpoint, channeling it through your link, your deck, and finally your cybereyes. With a thought your Kiroshi’s highlight the screaming Valentino in a red outline and determine his position relative to other Net enabled devices within the garage. With another you find his personal network’s presence on the Net, filtering it almost instantly from the garbled background of data thanks to the location information fed to you by your cybereyes. With a final mental push, you spike the ganger’s knock-off Militech cybereyes with the caustic data contained in one of your shards slotted into your deck. The world snaps back into motion, Vicky is in front of you now and her revolver barks again, a thunderous double-thump as the explosive rounds detonate. The ganger’s eyes erupt in a shower of sparks, his already wild shots going further afield as he panics and waves his arm about. Time stutters once more as you spike his gold plated cyberarm another hack, malevolent data coaxing the arm’s systems into a sudden blaze - the lubricating oil of the limb catches fire at once due to the sudden spike in temperature, a small inferno engulfing the limb. The shots from his automatic pistol stop, and the ganger stumbles back in an even greater panic, trying to bat at his flaming arm, howling in pain - the meat of his ‘ganic shoulder detonates in another incendiary flash as one of Vicky’s shots finds its mark. The thunder of gunfire fades from the parking garage, the last echoes dissipating and replaced by the agonized cries of the horrifically maimed gangers, both of them on the ground trying desperately - and failing - to stop the hemorrhaging from their near amputations. The police sirens from the level above continue, still growing louder. Vicky keeps her gun trained on the gangers and in the direction of the ramp, but she glances back to you; her eyes are still lit a bright blue, searching for targets, but they dim as she meets your own.
>>5962768“Kai, are you alright?” Vicky half yells, adrenaline getting the better of her. She’s reloading even as she asks, the movements smooth and well practiced, almost done unconsciously.“I’m fine!” You answer quickly - there’s not time for much more, as she grabs you by the shoulder and hauls you behind a nearby car. Not her old Hella, but another in the garage. You’re pulled down into a low crouch, but Vicky keeps her head just barely above the back of the car’s trunk, watching the dying gangers closely. A few seconds later the roar of an engine fills the garage and the ganger’s colorful car - the one that sped by earlier - comes back around the corner from the ramp, driving backwards far too fast, and crunches over the wounded gangers before accidentally smashing into another car nearby. It’s a violent impact, close to Vicky’s Hella, and your current hiding spot suddenly makes more sense. The panicking driver pulls the gaudy car forward and into a hairpin turn, and then hauls ass out of the garage and onto the street level beyond. Vicky waits a few seconds longer before turning to you, chest heaving as she breathes heavily, trying to keep her cool - she does. “Stay here.” And with that command given, Vicky jogs forward toward the gangers, her strange revolver held steady in a two handed grip, its barrel still glowing a dull red near the muzzle. Unfortunately for the gangers they’re still alive, maimed and crushed but not zeroed. Vicky kicks their guns further away from them, well out of reach of the dying hands. No final acts of vengeance for them, just a quick bleed out on dirty concrete. You stay behind the car as commanded, and watch as Vicky’s eyes light up blue again - and for a shocking moment you think she’s about to execute them - but it’s just a holocall. She talks quietly for a few moments and then returns to you. The police sirens coming from the levels higher up slowly fade away.“Barry’s coming to clean up.” Vicky tells you quietly, finally storing her revolver back in its concealed holster at her waist, “Are you sure you’re okay?”You give yourself a final check, patting to make sure you didn’t miss a wound out of shock, and then nod - She pulls you immediately into a hug. It’s quick, just a moment, but you feel better. Safer, even. Part of your mind switches, understanding that the danger is properly over - Vicky’s still looking concerned though.
>>5962769“Thank god, Kai - I’m so sorry this happened. Those pieces of shit must’ve gotten tipped off by someone, departments going to hell already.” Vicky curses, and leads you back to her Hella, the old car now sporting a couple of bullet holes in the trunk, “Come on, get in, we need to leave.”You don’t argue, getting in quickly. The interior of the car is worn but clean and very well taken care of, and smells faintly of mint. The engine fails to start the first time, but she gets it on the second press of the ignition, and with more calm than you’d probably have Vicky brings the Hella slowly out of the garage and out onto the street. Barry walks past, that gun drone following him, and exchanges a quick nod with Vicky through the window - she doesn’t stop for a conversation. Transfer Received: €120.Eurobank Account Balance: €5,100.…Huh. Must’ve been a bounty on those guys. Your Kiroshis did ID them, not that you had time to read while throwing out your hacks; what a slick system, they reported and collected everything all on their own.”Leaving without me?” Alice asks from the back seat, one delicate hand on the top of your seat as she leans way forward, just a few inches away from you. You almost jump in fright, not expecting the ghost to appear like that again. She’s wearing an old fashioned blue police hat, an exceedingly smug look on her face, only the faintest hint of striated red data revealing she isn’t truly there, ”Perhaps I should pull you over.” “Kai, I’m so sorry you had to be a part of that. Old trouble from some… choices I made last year, down in Heywood.” Vicky says while driving, totally unaware of Alice’s image - it’s your cybereyes displaying Alice, no one else can see her. “...Those sparks, and the fire back there - that was you?”>”What kind of choices, Vicky?” Enough about your chrome, you want to know what the hell just happened.>”...Yeah, got a deck chipped last night. Wasn’t a big step from what dad showed me.” Actually it has been several big steps, but you’d be helpless if it wasn’t for his lessons.>”Yeah. What the hell is that gun you used? That was nova.” Okay, okay, sure you have a deck, but what the fuck is with those explosive rounds?>Write-in.The rest of the very tedious move will be handled in a short timeskip.
>>5962770>”...Yeah, got a deck chipped last night. Wasn’t a big step from what dad showed me.” Actually it has been several big steps, but you’d be helpless if it wasn’t for his lessons.>”What kind of choices, Vicky?” Enough about your chrome, you want to know what the hell just happened.
>”...Yeah, got a deck chipped last night. Wasn’t a big step from what dad showed me.” Actually it has been several big steps, but you’d be helpless if it wasn’t for his lessons.Looks like Vicky ain’t a saint either, maybe time for a mutual confession?
>>5962770>>”What kind of choices, Vicky?” Enough about your chrome, you want to know what the hell just happened.>>”Yeah. What the hell is that gun you used? That was nova.” Okay, okay, sure you have a deck, but what the fuck is with those explosive rounds?
>>5962770>”...Yeah, got a deck chipped last night. Wasn’t a big step from what dad showed me.” Actually it has been several big steps, but you’d be helpless if it wasn’t for his lessons.
>>5962770>”Yeah. What the hell is that gun you used? That was nova.” Okay, okay, sure you have a deck, but what the fuck is with those explosive rounds?
>>5962396I take it all back anons>>5962724we're so back>>5962770>”...Yeah, got a deck chipped last night. Wasn’t a big step from what dad showed me.” Actually it has been several big steps, but you’d be helpless if it wasn’t for his lessons.
>>5962770>>”Yeah. What the hell is that gun you used? That was nova.” Okay, okay, sure you have a deck, but what the fuck is with those explosive rounds?
>>5962770>”What kind of choices, Vicky?” Enough about your chrome, you want to know what the hell just happened.>”...Yeah, got a deck chipped last night. Wasn’t a big step from what dad showed me.” Actually it has been several big steps, but you’d be helpless if it wasn’t for his lessons.
Woops, read the votes wrong. Ignore the other post if you saw it.>>5962931>>5962889>>5962783Wins. Writing.
“...Yeah, I got a deck chipped last night.” You admit, seeing no point in denying it now. “Wasn’t a big step from what dad showed me how to do.” “Thanks for the cover.” Vicky replies cautiously, but you can’t see her face with Alice in the way - sensing the issue, your ghostly choom vanishes, dissolving into flickering strands of data, “Netrunning is… really dangerous though, Kai. Your dad wouldn’t have wanted you doing that.”Ow. That hurts, but with how much he shielded you from there’s a good chance Vicky’s right. The Hella’s taking a trip around the block, getting pretty close to Vik’s clinic actually, but Vicky is probably just looping around to let the heat die down some back closer to the plaza. Gang related shootings aren’t too uncommon, it’ll get cleaned up fast, tagged, bagged, and cremated before the hour is out likely - or just dumped in some waste pit.“...I know. But he left a lot of things unfinished, Vicky, and I need a way to pay for mom’s bills.” You look out the window instead of at Vicky, but then you see your father’s reflection in it and scowl - not at Vicky, or yourself, but at life - it’s easier to get on with things when no one is making you stare at what you’ve been doing. You look back to her eventually, trying not to look too much like a petulant and angsty teen, “I know it’s not safe, I’ve had some close calls already, but I’m getting better and have chooms to help - really, it’s not that bad-”Vicky pulls the car to a stop along the side of the street and slumps, head in her hands for a long moment - You can tell she’s trying not to burst, trying not to lash out at you. When she finally looks to you, you shrink and feel like a kid. Much, much younger. There are years of experience behind her eyes, hard won lessons you don’t understand, things you can only begin to guess at - and from what little you’ve seen in the last week you know her worries are justified.“You can’t help your mother if you’re dead, Kai.” Vicky starts out aggressively, stops, and then tries again, “...Does she know you’re doing this for her? I don’t believe she’d want that. I can’t believe it. We had our differences, but she’s not so selfish. She loves you, Kai.”
>>5963110“Selfish?” Your thoughts focus entirely on that word, confusion and anger building too quickly. Who the hell is she to call your mother selfish?“Yes, selfish - to let her son risk his life, just so she can hold on for another month. That isn’t her.”“She’s my mother.” You barely get the words out, vision turning red. A crimson outline flickers around Vicky for a moment, just for half a heartbeat, and you force yourself to look away, appalled at what your eyes just did on their own. The flare of rage fades, smothered in shame. What the hell are you doing?“That’s my point, Kai.” Vicky’s voice softens, and she places a hand on your shoulder gently, “Do you think she values her own life more than yours? You haven’t told her. I can see that.” “No. I haven’t.” You reply quietly, angry at the sense Vicky is making. Of course mom wouldn’t want this, that’s why you’re hiding it, because she… why? Because it’s your choice? Is that right? “...I’ve been doing fine. Made enough to get better gear, better chrome. I’ll make more.” “...Listen to yourself, Kai.” Vicky squeezes your shoulder a little tighter, “You need to tell her what you’re doing. All of it. The nomads, the netrunning… Did she know about what your father was doing with the nomads?”“No, I don’t think he told her. She might have suspected things. I didn’t know at least.” “Before you go off doing any more work for them, talk with her about it. You’re a… man now,” The words don’t come easily to her, and it even sounds weird to you to hear her say it, “You can make your own choices - And I’m your friend. You looking out for me, I’m just trying to return the favor… I might even help with some of that work, if it keeps you out of a six foot hole. Just don’t make your mom have to fly back here and bury her own son, or at least not as a surprise. I don’t want to make that call. I've done it too many times before.” “...Thanks, always know how to cheer me up.” It isn’t funny, but you can’t help but chuckle - Why the hell does she have to make so much sense? This is exactly why part of you wanted to avoid her, could’ve just kept your head down and everyone else would be none the wiser. Vicky probably hopes mom’ll take you out of it. …Will she?“I do ‘bright and cheery’ when I bake and babysit, not on the street.” Vicky doesn’t quite smile, but the mood in the old Hella slowly lifts - she puts the radio on, Pacific Dreams 88.9, and starts driving again, pulling back out into the slow Watson traffic, “We’ll talk about this later, still have to move.”“Still? After zeroing those guys?” This is the Vicky you’ve always know, but also not. Street Vicky is kind of terrifying.She frowns and gives a small nod, “You think this city waits on little people like us, Kai?”
>>59631132076.01.07, 011:45Night City (Kabuki, your apartment)Moving Vicky in took hours and quite a few trips, but you worked fast and got it done before it was past lunch - there wasn’t much conversation after the shootout earlier. Probably for the best, sometimes things just need to be done, but you’re finished now. The few dozen boxes of hers are stacked off to the side in your apartment, taking up a fair chunk of the section you’ve been using as a living room, though it isn’t really partitioned from the kitchen or your dad’s old bed and desk. Only a few of the boxes are all that big, most are small enough you could take them three or four at a time earlier. Vicky has already started to get some of her essentials back out and put away. She’ll use dad’s bed, you don’t feel comfortable sleeping on it often anyways - the feeling kind of comes and goes, sometimes it makes you feel like when you used to nap on it and wait for him to come home from a late shift, but right now you want nothing to do with it.Alice’s flickering image appears on the sofa nearby, feet propped up - she’s wearing torn jeans and a black leather jacket over a ratty old band t-shirt, and her black hair is tousled and dyed with a couple of bright crimson streaks. She looks every inch like she just stumbled out of the 10’s or 20’s.”Kai, when shall we check on that lovely BD specialist next door?” Her voice sounds within your mind, even as you see her lips moving - how she’s accessing your cybereyes so easily, you still aren’t sure… but it’s not unwelcome. She did her part with moving earlier, and saved your ass again - maybe - with those sirens.“Later. Need some lunch first.” You reply. Vicky turns to look at you from where she’s crouched beside a box, a puzzled look on her face before she shrugs and nods.“I could go for something - I’ll pay.” Vicky agrees - you didn’t mean to speak aloud to Alice’s question. Shit, what’ll Vicky think about the AI living in your car?“Pay? You’re having to slum it with me.”“I still have some money. A few hundred eddies.” Vicky laughs off your response, but soon she’s looking back at all of her boxes, “We might want to stop by an El Dorado later though, some of these boxes are going to have to go.”“Pawning it off?” You question - El Dorado’s are all over the city, nearly on every street. Your one experience with them was getting pissed at the low price they offered for an old BD wreath you tried to sell once.
>>5963114“Unless your nomad friends want to buy my junk? Yes.” Vicky shrugs, “Still want to hear more about that too - Where do you want to go?”VOTE>”There’s a noodle stand over in Kabuki market, just off the rotunda - it’s good. Reopened already, last I saw.” Cheap, tasty, but with lingering memories of your father. Still need to hunt down more clues…>”Uh, Pepper and Spice, I guess? Heard they’re good.” Just some new fusion restaurant, kind of expensive but not ridiculously so. It’ll be good, and there’s no baggage.>”...You know what? We're going out of the city. The nomads I’ve been hanging with keep a grill going. We'll have some real barbecue and do a meet and greet.” Fuck it, just show Vicky what you’re doing - she shot a man dead a few hours ago, who is she to judge?... Someone who cares about you. Aw, crap, why’s it have to sting like that?>Write-in.
>>5963115>”...You know what? We're going out of the city. The nomads I’ve been hanging with keep a grill going. We'll have some real barbecue and do a meet and greet.” Fuck it, just show Vicky what you’re doing - she shot a man dead a few hours ago, who is she to judge?... Someone who cares about you. Aw, crap, why’s it have to sting like that?Pawn shit off and get some grub at the same time. Better off with nomads than with pawn shops. Besides, Nomad grub has 50% less carcinogens.
>>5963115>”...You know what? We're going out of the city. The nomads I’ve been hanging with keep a grill going. We'll have some real barbecue and do a meet and greet.” Fuck it, just show Vicky what you’re doing - she shot a man dead a few hours ago, who is she to judge?... Someone who cares about you. Aw, crap, why’s it have to sting like that?
>>5963115>”...You know what? We're going out of the city. The nomads I’ve been hanging with keep a grill going. We'll have some real barbecue and do a meet and greet.” Fuck it, just show Vicky what you’re doing - she shot a man dead a few hours ago, who is she to judge?... Someone who cares about you. Aw, crap, why’s it have to sting like that?Maybe call ahead, yeah?
>>5963124>>5963140>>5963152Supporting this consensus
>>5963115>”...You know what? We're going out of the city. The nomads I’ve been hanging with keep a grill going. We'll have some real barbecue and do a meet and greet.” Fuck it, just show Vicky what you’re doing - she shot a man dead a few hours ago, who is she to judge?... Someone who cares about you. Aw, crap, why’s it have to sting like that?Meet and greet, opportunity to talk to Dakota for a job, sell Vicky's stuff. We gotta make time for Alice to figure out what's going on in our head and with her
>>5963115>”...You know what? We're going out of the city. The nomads I’ve been hanging with keep a grill going. We'll have some real barbecue and do a meet and greet.” Fuck it, just show Vicky what you’re doing - she shot a man dead a few hours ago, who is she to judge?... Someone who cares about you. Aw, crap, why’s it have to sting like that?>>5963191This. BUT as with any respectable BBQ we also bring some meat and drinks with us for hospitality. I say for the drinks we bring two cases of Randver good quality beer. With us paying for it.
>>5963115>”There’s a noodle stand over in Kabuki market, just off the rotunda - it’s good. Reopened already, last I saw.” Cheap, tasty, but with lingering memories of your father. Still need to hunt down more clues…
>>5963115>>”...You know what? We're going out of the city. The nomads I’ve been hanging with keep a grill going. We'll have some real barbecue and do a meet and greet.” Fuck it, just show Vicky what you’re doing - she shot a man dead a few hours ago, who is she to judge?... Someone who cares about you. Aw, crap, why’s it have to sting like that?
>>5963140>>5963208supporting this, half the job is building a good rep
>>5963262>>5963238>>5963208>>5963191>>5963168>>5963152>>5963140>>5963124Writing. Probably won't get the update out until later tonight.
“...You know what? We’re going out of the city.” You reply to Vicky, deciding that it’ll be better to just show her who you’ve been dealing with rather than talking it out somewhere else over noodles and scop, “The Nomads I’ve been hanging with keep a grill going. We’ll have some real barbecue, and do a meet and greet.”“Real barbecue?” Vicky asks - you have her full attention, real meat is exceedingly rare these days; the nomads probably pay a small fortune, or are allowed to skim off the top of food they smuggle into the city, “Say no more - I’ll need to change.” That was easier than you expected. You look Vicky over, seeing nothing wrong with her simple outfit right now - though she does look a bit like a cop still, which might ruffle a few feathers even among the Nomads. They take in all sorts, but law enforcement generally doesn’t like transients, and especially not heavily armed and organized ones; they’re sort of the ultimate middle finger at government and corporate control, too big and well armed of a work force to put down, so that have to be dealt with.“Trying not to look like a cop?”“Don’t show up to a barbecue as a pig, rule number one. I’ll wear some of my old stuff, really old…” She rests her chin in one hand thoughtfully, eyeing a very old looking box among the stacks, one marked ‘2060’s - Heywood’, “I wonder if it all still fits?”
>>5963480Fifteen minutes later.“...And the belt too, the skull one with the cybereyes! It should be in there, I don’t think I sold it.” Vicky half shouts from the mostly closed bathroom, somehow lacking yet another item of clothing for her ‘not a cop’ look. She really should’ve just brought all this in with her, “I think my old school stuff is there… uh, don’t look through that too much.” How the hell did this happen? You’re staring down at a box you’ve cut open, sorting through clothes Vicky hasn’t worn in who knows how long and looking for items as she requests from the bathroom. You find the ‘skull belt’ quickly this time, trying not to look too closely at the frills on some of the other clothes - for Vicky’s sake - and hand it off through the slightly cracked door. Vicky’s hand and wrist extend out to grab it from you, the door shutting tightly closed again a moment later. ”...Victoria must have had quite the fashionable youth. Look at that lace!” Alice exclaims excitedly from beside you, displaying no qualms whatsoever about looking at the old clothes laid in the box - being a projection within your mind she can’t actually dig in deeper, but she’s pointing at it like a child who’s just seen a puppy for the first time. ”I adore her tastes! Oh, the frills and so many dark colors!” You ignore Alice’s gushing, and the objects of her affection. Time passes, more clothes are handed off, and back, and so it goes. Picky Vicky.
>>5963482A few more minutes later.The person who emerges from the bathroom is not Vicky - or at least not any version of her you’ve ever seen, met, or imaged. From the spiked boots to the worn out jeans to her bare midriff and the short jacket above it, you don’t get a cop vibe at all. Vicky is a punk, and a damned fine example of one. Your eyes go a bit wide, and you only just barely keep your jaw from hanging loose. You’d never thought of her like this before, those cop uniforms and hairstyles really don’t lend themselves to looking good, but Vicky…Damn, you see why your mom was worried about her now.“How do I look?” She asks, sort of posing while checking how much give the waist of her jeans give - they’re a shapely fit, but she still gets a couple of fingers in there, “I was afraid some of it might not fit, but actually it’s a little loose…”“N-not like a cop.” You answer, extremely dignified and not at all gawking. “...Did I overdo it? I didn’t want to ”“No, no,” You hurriedly assure her, “It’s good. You look great, very, uh, streetkid.”“I’m from Heywood, Kai, I was a streetkid - my brothers were Valentinos. A decade in the blue can’t beat all that out.” She’s clearly very pleased at the excellent fit of it all, grinning nearly from ear to ear, “Almost makes me feel seventeen again! I’ve had all of this in boxes for years. So we’re off to meet with Nomads? …Christ, I’d arrest myself a week ago if I heard that.”
>>59634852076.01.07, 012:50Night City (Badlands, DaKota)The Quadra rolls to a stop outside DaKota, more Nomad vehicles parked around the front of the building than usual - a lot more. You stopped to grab some beers on the way out of the city, but it definitely isn’t enough. The gesture should still be appreciated. The doors on both sides of the Quadra hiss open to allow you and Vicky out, and even before you get a shoe on the ground you spot Maeve standing with Cannon besides the grizzled old Nomad’s armored Thorton. You give them a wave, which Cannon returns - Maeve is busy unfucking something wrong with her rifle, sitting crosslegged and looking at the rails like a confused monkey. A very hot and slightly psychotic monkey, but still a monkey. Vicky gets one of the cases of bear from the frunk, and you grab another, and then together you head over.“Brought some drinks.” You announce louder than you need to, drawing a couple appreciative whoops and greetings from the other Nomads scattered about the area, “...Looks like there’s more than the usual cookout going on though.”“Clan’s coming back early, kid.” Cannon points to a couple of the other more veteran looking Nomads here and there, “Old hands scouting the way - we’ll be making the drive back later, keeping the roads clear of raffen and flagging corporate convoys. …Who’re you, young lady? Names Cannon.”“Victoria Reyes. Chooms call me Vicky.” Vicky introduces herself, extending a hand - Cannon gives it a firm shake. Maeve glances up, emerald eyes looking over Vicky, and then back to the magrails of her half disassembled Nekomata.“I’m Maeve.” Maeve doesn’t shake her hand or stand up, “How do you know each other?”“Friend of the family.” Vicky answers without hesitation, “For a very long time. Got issues with your tech there? I’ve got a spare barrel if you’re looking for a replacement.” “For a Nekomata?” That got Maeve’s instantly - and yours. Vicky did bring along her box of weapons, along with a couple of others Nomads might be interested in. But that kind of firepower?“I’ve been picking things up for years, got some others too." Vicky answers casually, "Most of them are from gonks that tried to shoot me. A couple even did."“She’s an arms dealer, suit?” Maeve gives you a quizzical look, shrugs, picks up her rifle parts, and then stands up from the ground. With her mostly free hand she brushes off some of the dirt from her leather pants.“Uh, yeah.” You don’t have a good answer to that, and let Vicky take the lead. “I’ve got arms to deal today. Come on.” Vicky hands her case of beer off to Cannon, who is more than happy to take it, and leads Maeve off toward the Quadra. Alice’s unreal image is already standing there, reclined against the sports car and visible only to you, strumming away at that guitar of hers - you can’t hear the music though.
>>5963487“Where’d you meet Victoria, Kai?” Cannon watches with interest as the two women walk away - he’s old, not dead. Elsewhere, someone fires off a rocket launcher - the launch startles you enough that you turn to watch the projectile streaking far off into the distance before it self-detonates slightly beyond its maximum range. Cheers of ‘it works!’ erupt from a few of the Nomads close to the man who fired it.“She knew my dad, they worked together.” You let him fill in the blanks.“...Thought I’d seen her before, hair was different then, and the clothes. Get caught up in the cuts? Heard about that, Dakota’s been chattering all day about it.” “Yeah. She’s staying at my place for now, couldn’t make rent.”“She’s got a box of guns over there, she could make rent.” Cannon shakes his head. He’s got a point. “...Might’ve just wanted a change of scenery.”“Spoken like a Nomad.” You comment back, watching how well Vicky is just sliding into things here - perhaps she really is just trying to cut off her old life. Sometimes pain is too hard to face head on, even if you don’t consciously realize you’re trying to avoid it. “Maybe so. She’s a hell of a shot, and has connections on the force still - and experience.”“Twenty three? Twenty four?” Cannon questions, “Can’t be that experienced. Badges do more paperwork than fighting.”“A lot closer to thirty.” You correct him, “And she zeroed a couple of gangoons just this morning. Used a revolver.” “...What kind?” The old Nomad asks the question so seriously you almost laugh.“A Metel.”“Ugh, blasphemy!” Cannon shudders, apparently given revolver enthusiast heebie jeebies by the mere mention of the magazine fed revolver, “Those things aren’t natural, Kai. It’s a platypus of a handgun. …How’d it do?”“Took their limbs off. Some kind of explosive ammo I think, had a hell of a crack to it.” You don’t linger on that part of the story much longer, the sight of the mangled bodies still fresh in your thoughts, “I got to use my new deck too.”“Ah, Taro’d be proud.” Cannon leans back slightly to glance at your neck, “He always said you were a bright kid. You should go make yourself known, Kai. Lot more people from the family around right now. I’ll hand out the beers, and make sure people know you brought them - leave it to me. All of it to me.” You roll your eyes but thank him anyways, knowing he’s planning to keep a few more for himself - fair enough, he’s the one that took you under his wing to begin with. >Head into the garage and see if Dakota’s available to talk, you need to grab some work.>Go get some barbecue! Meet some new people, maybe look around for Jack or Skid.>Other stuff can wait, rejoin Vicky and Maeve - a few more Nomads are looking at the guns now as well.>Write-in.
>>5963491>Go get some barbecue! Meet some new people, maybe look around for Jack or Skid.mmmm bbq
>>5963491>Go get some barbecue! Meet some new people, maybe look around for Jack or Skid.
>>5963491>>Head into the garage and see if Dakota’s available to talk, you need to grab some work.If we're doing any biz here, do it first. That way everyone involved can enjoy the time instead of having a buzz killed
>>5963491>Go get some barbecue! Meet some new people, maybe look around for Jack or Skid.REAL MEAT (probably)
>>5963491>Go get some barbecue! Meet some new people, maybe look around for Jack or Skid.On a side note, I'm not definitely in the romance Vicky party
>>5963577*now definitelyFuck me
>>5963491>>Go get some barbecue! Meet some new people, maybe look around for Jack or Skid.
>>5963491>Head into the garage and see if Dakota’s available to talk, you need to grab some workThe grind continues.
>>5963493>>5963495>>5963516>>5963552>>5963577>>5963594Writing. Might take a bit.
The smell of grilling meat soon lures you away from Cannon around the side of DaKota, right around the side of the garage. Smoky, savory scents fill the air, and before you know it you’re waiting with a plate picked up from one of the tables spread about the area. As you reach the grill, the nomad in charge of the cooking comes over and starts to give you some trouble - being an outsider and all - but the lanky Nomad kid you helped out last night, Jack, steps out of the crowd and gets him to stand down. “He’s a choom, Greg - give him the damned meat.” Jack says to the portly grill master, “Kai helped me get a daemon out of my ride’s sensor system last night, in the middle of a rainstorm. Didn’t even charge an enny.” “A friendly netrunner?” The rotund nomad griller squints at you, shrugs, and gives you more meat than you have any idea what to do with, “Here, have triple, we need more Net people.” “Thank you, sir.” You reply politely, but you’re having a hard time looking away from the mountain of real meat on your plate - ribs, in this case. That’s got to be a few hundred eddies worth at least.“Nah, no need for that, it’s just Greg.” Grag shakes his very round head, the old external cybereye on the left side rattling a little in its housing - he looks over to Jack and nods, “Polite too. Where’d you find him?”“Merc bar… diner, thing. Turbo.” Jack answers uncertainly, unsure of quite how to describe the place - in fairness neither are you, it’s an oddity and seems likely to get renovated again at some point - “Kai, you should come sit with us!”
>>5963951You oblige, following behind Jack as he leads you over to a table where a few other nomads are sitting - there are three, all on the younger side, probably about as old as you are. Two guys and a pale black haired girl. The guys look to be twin brothers, blond hair, blue eyes, fair skinned but with solid tans - not spectacularly handsome, but not ugly, kind of long faces. The girl is dressed in a frumpy looking and oil stained mechanic jumpsuit that’s had a lot of extra pouches sewn onto it, and wearing big multi-lensed AR goggles that are slid up on her forehead.“Everyone, this is Kai - Chair jockey that pulled that daemon I was talking about.” Jack introduces you to the others.“Hey. Nice to meet all of you.” You say, taking a seat at the ancient wooden table that’s been dragged outside from who knows where. Greetings and introductions are exchanged - nomads are nice and all but you need food, so your attention is mostly on the giant stack of ribs in front of you. “I’m Peg.” The girl points a gloved finger to the nametag on her jumpsuit, which does in fact say ‘Peg’. She’s busy messing with an agent that looks to have been grafted onto a scanner of some kind, or… something. You’re not a tech, hardware like that is a bit outside of your ‘comps and decks’ wheelhouse for now.“Yo. I’m Ronnie.” One of the twins greets.“Nic.” The second twin gives you a small nod, before looking at your plate half in disbelief, “Got enough meat? Jesus, that’s the whole pig.”“He’s a netrunner, Greg’s just trying to bribe him like usual.” Peg replies almost monotonously, uninterested in anything but the weird chimera of a scanner she’s tinkering with, “...And he has someone listening in on him… Or this piece of junk is still on the fritz.””Another signal interceptor. Alice’s flickering image appears beside Peg, crouched down and peering at the device in the girl’s hands, though of course she can’t see any more of it than your cybereyes can, ”I really must find a way to obfuscate myself better. These are troublingly common.”You don’t reply to the ghost, trying to focus on the nomads at the table instead. >”I’ve got a shy choom that helps me out a lot, another runner. She keeps tabs on me, uses my Quadra as a relay for the signal.”>”It’s probably just picking up ghost signals.” >”Trying to get that thing to work? Here, give it a test - where’s the signal coming from? I’ll tell you if it’s gonked out or not.” >Write-in.
>>5963952>”I’ve got a shy choom that helps me out a lot, another runner. She keeps tabs on me, uses my Quadra as a relay for the signal.”“My gf goes to another school, you wouldn’t know her haha”
>>5963952>”It’s probably just picking up ghost signals.”They're nomads, they're gonna want to see the Quadra and I don't want to explain Alice's hardware too much.
>>5963952>”I’ve got a shy choom that helps me out a lot, another runner. She keeps tabs on me, uses my Quadra as a relay for the signal.”We really got to fix that
>>5963952>”It’s probably just picking up ghost signals.”Not even a lie.
>>5963952>>”It’s probably just picking up ghost signals.”Almost feels cruel to say this about her
>>5963952>”I’ve got a shy choom that helps me out a lot, another runner. She keeps tabs on me, uses my Quadra as a relay for the signal.”
>>5963952>”It’s probably just picking up ghost signals.”
>>5963963 (lmao)>>5963974>>5964048>>5963973>>5963990>>5964029>>5964054Writing.
>>5964312Anon am sadded to inform you that you are late again..
>>5964322I know lmaoMakes sense, I only really check on this quest 2-3 times each day
>>5964337That’s more than me.I check it during my morning shit.
“It’s probably just picking up ghost signals,” You dismiss Peg’s comment and start to figure out how to approach these ribs you’ve been given - this is going to be messy but extremely delicious, coming out to the badlands was definitely the right call, “What’re you trying to get it to do?”“Work.” Peg responds very unhelpfully - of course she’s trying to get it to work.”Ghost signals?” Alice huffs and crosses her arms, giving you a look that you have to try not to laugh at - she gets cute when she’s worked up, ”How very on the nose, Kai.”“She’s trying to get it to work as an early warning sensor for Net controlled drones and mines,” Jack explains, sitting beside Peg and returning to the half rack he must’ve been working his way through before you showed up, “Most of our cars can’t detect it passively, it’s just another layer the old safety onion.” “See first, shoot first, survive - Still usually end up spotting everything by eye,” Nic’s cybereyes flash blue, “Not sure I trust that scanner scrap, Peg.”His brother Ronnie grunts in agreement.“It’s old junk.” Peg says in her bored monotone, “Like your eyes. I’ll get it working.”…It already is working, she just doesn’t realize it yet. You keep focused on the ribs, tear one from the rack - holy shit they’re tender - and take the first savory, delicious, smoky bite. Your eyes nearly roll into the back of your skull, this is fucking good.“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Nic doesn’t seem bothered by the quip, not that you’re paying much attention now. The Nomads all bicker for a moment, some taking bites of their own food while you continue to dig in eagerly. “...There.” Peg squints at the agent wired haphazardly into the old interceptor, tapping at it aggressively with gloved fingers, “Working, unlike you. I’m picking up a… holocall. International, I think.”“You can’t possibly know that.” Nic exclaims, “Give me that, I’ll-”// Incoming Call: Mom. // You don’t hear anymore of what the Nomads are saying, your whole attention drawn in by the holocall alert. This is it - she said she’d call back in a few days. It’s time for some answers."I will give you time alone, Kai. Alice's image and presence within your mind vanish completely - however it is you're connected, she can certainly leave whenever she'd like.>”No, she’s right - I’m getting one from Stockholm. Excuse me for a minute.” Walk a bit off from DaKota and the swarm of Nomads and talk in private.>”I’ll be back in a bit, have to take a call.” Take it inside the Quadra - maybe a better signal there.>Just answer it here and communicate by thought - it’ll be a little sloppy verbally but you can do it.>Write-in.
>>5964337More often than I'd expect from most anons desu. >>5964461Yeah that sounds about right.
>>5964482>”No, she’s right - I’m getting one from Stockholm. Excuse me for a minute.” Walk a bit off from DaKota and the swarm of Nomads and talk in private.>>5964484I keep it open in another tab and check just about whenever I switch to my browser (˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ )
>>5964482>”No, she’s right - I’m getting one from Stockholm. Excuse me for a minute.” Walk a bit off from DaKota and the swarm of Nomads and talk in private.
>>5964482>>”No, she’s right - I’m getting one from Stockholm. Excuse me for a minute.” Walk a bit off from DaKota and the swarm of Nomads and talk in private.
>>5964484I mean, it's only like 2-3 times a day
>>5964546Wait I already said that lmao.Anyway yeah it's not that much I think.
>>5964482>”No, she’s right - I’m getting one from Stockholm. Excuse me for a minute.” Walk a bit off from DaKota and the swarm of Nomads and talk in private.>Explain that it's a family member who's in the hospital
>>5964485>>5964488>>5964491>>5964494>>5964499>>5964545>>5964549Writing.
“No, she’s right - I’m getting one from Stockholm.” Your words settle the dispute between the young nomads at once, a little smug grin flicking across Peg’s face, “Family in the hospital there. Excuse me for a minute.”“Oh, man, of course - take your time.” Jack excuses you graciously, a look of concern crossing his face for a moment, “Hope they’re okay.”You shake your head and stand, and start the short walk out into the barren tan and orange wastes surrounding DaKota - out here the Badlands feel like they go on forever, just a few distant cliffs and the far off towers and lights of Night City breaking the illusion. You answer the call while walking, and keep heading out away from the highway for about a minute. “Hey mom.” You speak aloud while walking, the words nearly catching in your throat as the image of your mother appears in the corner of your vision, crystal clear - as if she was just peering through a window at you, “How’re you feeling?” “Better, dear. We don’t have much time to talk though, I tried to find more time but my walks don’t last long, and the encryption won’t hold up if they become suspicious.” She smiles sadly, blue eyes - natural, though cloned - twinkling with a slight wetness. Behind her an outdoor garden stretches on for quite a ways, vibrant flowers and well managed trees creating a peaceful place for the patients. For the dying. Not yet though. Not for a long, long time if you can help it.“It’s okay mom. Your treatment went well?”She laughs a little - you missed hearing the sweet sound, it feels like it’s been so long even after just a year, “As well as it ever does, dear. I feel a little sharper, for now, which is why we must talk - you wished to know the truth.”“Yes.” You answer solemnly, still walking out into the badlands, past scrub brush and a large boulder that looks to have been used as a target in the past, little pockmarks and cracks covering the side facing DaKota - you swing wide around it, not wanting to get shot in the back by a drunk Nomad, “...You did some kind of gene therapy to me?” “Much more than that, Kai.” Your mother’s voice quiets, and she looks about surreptitiously, double checking that she hasn’t been followed, “And it took well I see. Cybereyes now too? They suit you, you look very handsome.” “...Yes, got them last night… Well, this morning. Really early.” You correct yourself awkwardly, unwilling to lie to your mother in the state she’s in. Of course you’re lying by omission, but she hasn’t yet asked for how you’re affording the chrome, so perhaps not.
>>5964828“Late night ripper visits?” Worry fills her soft eyes, a small frown forming, but it soon vanishes to be replaced by a profound melancholy - something far deeper than momentary concern, “That’s alright. You must have gotten it from your father, he snuck off to do the same and thought I did not notice.”“Yeah. The gene modding though… Why? How?” This whole call was for answers, and you want them before time runs out.“To give you an advantage Kai, and… Arrogance, I am ashamed to admit. Pride. The longer I look back at my life, and the one you have ahead of you, the harder it has become to lie to myself about it...” “Arrogance?” Your face twists up in confusion, unsure of what to make of the words - your mother was a fairly important scientist at Biotechnica but you’ve never heard her speak like that about you before. The look of shame only grows deeper as she speaks, her pace through the garden slowing, “Just before I had you, there was a project at Biotechnica - it was in partnership with Militech, very clandestine - to create a new generation of gene modified soldier for use by their military arm. The goal was to create a process by which genetically ideal templates for augmentation could be mass produced by cloning. The scope was expanded… considerably, over the life of the project.”“I… I thought you did pharmaceuticals?” You’re feeling a bit lost. A bird - a swallow, and an exceedingly rare sight these days - passes by overhead, its winged shadow tracing quickly across the dry ground.“I have lied to you for a very long time about what I did at the company, Kai. I headed a genetics and nanotechnology lab - several of them. I never worked in the pharmaceutical division at Biotechnica, nor did any of my colleagues you have met.” As she continues to speak, a growing sense of dread begins to fill you, more questions rising up than she can put to rest, every word unraveling the mental image you’ve held of her for so long, “The lab accident was a lie as well. Partly. My current condition was caused by exposure to a form of weaponized nanite - Thankfully not the finalized form of the project, or we wouldn’t be speaking, but they are frustratingly resilient. I won’t be getting better, Kai. I’ve always been truthful about that, I could not lie to you about… something so important.”She looks as if she doubts herself, coming entirely to a halt in the shade of a large tree.
>>5964831After a few seconds of silence, she continues, “This is not about me, however. You and your twin sister are both a product of that joint project - we called it Dís at the time, though I think Myers had the name changed after I was forced out of it. Your sister came first, but you were… a personal decision, after I was forced from the project. I couldn’t let things go.”“Twin sister?”“At least one. I only knew of her, and only had her at my lab for a... a year or so. If they made more of her I never heard, there was another team handling final stage production… I’m sorry, Kai, it’s difficult to talk about.” She’s trying not to cry, and slowly but surely failing - you didn’t intend for this, but you also had no way of knowing she’d be disclosing such dark secrets either - no wonder she had to wait for a better time for a call, this is the kind of information that gets people shot in dark alleys, “...Do you remember where we used to live? Before our place downtown.”“No… What’s that have to do with anything?” You find it hard to care about old apartments when you have more family out there somewhere.She wipes away another tear, looking over her shoulder again and continuing to walk, leaving the shade of the large tree, “Of course you don’t remember, you were so young… Perhaps it doesn’t matter. I had a fall from grace at Biotechnica - I was shuffled off to lesser projects, my pay was cut massively, and I was left bitter. Your father was my only comfort. We never spoke about the details, but he had his own life and it worked easier that way for the both of us… When I decided to unfreeze you, I knew he wanted a son, so I made the adjustments…and then more, to match those of the project. No one else believed it would work on males, there is less genetic stability with the methods we utilized, but I was certain I could do it - and I’m very happy I was right. You’ve grown up into a fine young man, Kai.”>”I have a twin sister?” Yeah, kind of stuck on that point still. And there might be more of them?>”...You said the project expanded in scope over time?” As shocked as you are, you’re also terribly curious - this is far more than you expected.>”...I’ve got something to admit too, mom.” Enough secrets between family, tell her what you’ve been doing to make money.>Write-in.
>>5964837>”...I’ve got something to admit too, mom.” Enough secrets between family, tell her what you’ve been doing to make money.This is pretty fucking big shocker but we gotta spill our beans before Mom cuts the call short here
>>5964837>>”...I’ve got something to admit too, mom.” Enough secrets between family, tell her what you’ve been doing to make money.Ominous vibes.
>>5964837>>”...I’ve got something to admit too, mom.” Enough secrets between family, tell her what you’ve been doing to make money.So no wonder all of the ladies like us as superman. There are worse things to found out. Should learn more about our twin sisters.
>>5964837>”...I’ve got something to admit too, mom.” Enough secrets between family, tell her what you’ve been doing to make money.
>>5964837>”...I’ve got something to admit too, mom.” Enough secrets between family, tell her what you’ve been doing to make money.No time for other questions at the moment, even though I'd REALLY like to ask!...Should we tell Vicky? I don't think so. And no, I'm not saying we lie to her, I'm saying we tell her she might be better off not knowing high-level Corpo secrets.Also I don't want to give her potential ammo against mom.>"- we called it Dís at the time, though I think Myers had the name changed after I was forced out of it."Well, if we ever end up with reason to dig around for answers we have a lead!> genetically ideal templates for augmentationMakes me really curious as to how much chrome Kai could get. You NEVER go full cyborg, of course, but good chrome always ups your survivability.
>>5964837>”I have a twin sister?” Yeah, kind of stuck on that point still. And there might be more of them?Not a minor detail
>>5964837>”...You said the project expanded in scope over time?” As shocked as you are, you’re also terribly curious - this is far more than you expected.I feel like we should know everything that's different about our genome, it could be very relevant and as sad as it is to say this could be our last chance to learn
>>5964837>”...I’ve got something to admit too, mom.” Enough secrets between family, tell her what you’ve been doing to make money.Wait, hang on. Does that mean that we’re about to notice an army of fem-Kai clones running around Night City?
>>5964911selfcest..............
>>5964837>”...You said the project expanded in scope over time?” As shocked as you are, you’re also terribly curious - this is far more than you expected.
>>5964914No Anon... that's TOO based.
>>5964914I wonder if it would be selfcest if we're actually a clone too. We should have asked her if we're a clone too. Also wondering what's the deal with our old apartments, wonder why she asked us about that. we have so many plot leads and we can't pursue any because we're BROKE AND HUMAN aaaaa
>>5964837>>”...I’ve got something to admit too, mom.” Enough secrets between family, tell her what you’ve been doing to make money.
>>5965098>>5964911>>5964872>>5964859>>5964853>>5964845>>5964839Writing.It'll probably be a few hours before I get the update out. In the mean time, are there any plot threads you're curious about? I (probably) won't answer questions due to potential spoilers, but it might be good to discuss priorities. I'm working on a list of shit Kai might want to do/look into, seeing what players have the most questions about it helpful.
>>5965247According to medical experts, our priority should be investigating our father's death and approximating our revenge https://youtu.be/LA6n9ZG2DZs?si=NsH9RZfJ1340T9em
>>5965247I still wonder what on earth was up with sword lady, dancing robot sensei was too good not to check out but she stands out as someone interesting.
>>5964990She said that Kai came from a frozen embryo that she chose to carry.Kai is definitely a clone.
>>5965255+1If we’re gonna be netrunning, we might want to consider looking into whatever’s flatlining the city’s most experienced runners.
>>5965301She's our twin.
A dozen different thoughts race through your mind, too many revelations coming at once to truly process - Your mother’s lifelong lies, the fact that you have at least one sister, the nanites slowly killing her, all of it is too much. What you are certain of however is that time is short - a call like this cannot be secure for long, your mother’s walk in the garden will not last forever, and some things need to be said while there is still a chance. Vicky was right.“I’ve got something to admit too, mom.” You begin nervously, looking her in the eyes across thousands upon thousands of miles. An ocean separates you, but with your Kiroshi’s and link she may as well be beside you, just on the other side of an open window - you can almost imagine the breeze from the lush garden drifting out to you, cool air mixing with the heat of the badlands. “About how I have been affording my trips to the ripper, and why I am doing it-”“You are trying to keep me alive. I know.” She holds up a finger to silence you, and the effect is immediate - by her standards it is a great display, usually it would only take a look. That’s all it took since you were a child; you disliked her rules, would break them in fun ways with your father at times, but you have always been well mannered. It would be shameful not to be for your mother, whatever choices she has made. “And you have not been employed by any of the major corporations in Night City. I still have some connections, Kai. Few, but some. A dying woman gets to ask such favors. Quietly ask them, of course.” You stop and sit on one of the countless tan rocks, resting beside a small cactus - a prickly little bastard, its flowers all tightly sealed up. The wind howls strangely, and your gaze is drawn far off, well beyond the distant border guarded by Militech. A storm is brewing somewhere - you cannot see it. “I have been working as a mercenary.” You choose not to sugarcoat the reality, “As father did. With some of his old associates, they have been providing work.”“A mercenary? Taro? I thought he was still with NetWatch, in a reserve role...” Your mother questions, clearly puzzled, analyzing at once before the worry begins to set in, “I never pried into his work - but I will with my son’s. …Why, Kai? Do not risk yourself for my sake-”No, you won’t hear that, not from her - You interrupt her, “I’m good at it, mom, and I’ve already made enough to pay for a month. I just had to-”“To reinvest in cyberware, yes, I gathered that.” There’s that cold analysis again. She’s thinking about something, wavering between concern, and doubt, and strange… determination? “What have you gotten so far? All of it, quickly, Kai.”
>>5965545You list off what cyberware you’ve gotten, and your mother listens intently, finding another small copse of tree to take shelter within for a time - it’s clear now that she’s attempting to evade someone, perhaps a nurse sent to retrieve her. “Then you have not done anything drastic yet. Good. Focus on nanoware - it will work the best, that is what you were designed for.” She lets out a small sigh of relief, but the moment doesn’t last, “...Are you going to stop, Kai?”“And let you wilt away? …No. I can’t.” You shake your head. It’s an unbearable thought - not just losing her, but how she will go, if the progression of her condition has not been a lie as well. Her mind will go before her body, bit by bit. You’ll lose her twice, the first time just a little every day, and then again when she finds… rest, hopefully. She is pained as she utters the next words, like a blade is being driven into her heart, and you can tell that on some level she is not ready, “...It does me well to know that you love me, Kai. You are the best son I could have hoped for, but I do not deserve or want you to take such risks. Reconsider.”“...You will not forbid me from doing it?” You ask, confused - she has never been one to leave things so open. Warm and motherly, certainly, but strict. You expected a command to stop. A threat, even, for your own sake.“I cannot forbid it. For the sake of your sister… Sisters, perhaps. I must stay a little longer, before meeting with your father again. A month or two, to try to find what has happened to them. I can’t let go, Kai. But I… I think I am ready, if I do not have the choice. I do not want to see you hurt, Kai. I have grown used to the idea of endangering children - far, far too used to it. I deserve what has happened to me, and worse. Forgive me for that, please.”>”...I forgive you, mother. You knew dad worked with NetWatch? I need to know more, I’m on the trail of his killer.” You forgive her, for whatever it is she’s done, but you won’t accept her death meekly - or your father’s. You must find out more, anything. If he still had contacts at NetWatch then they must have some interest with a cyberpsycho plague and his death, surely.>”I forgive you. Tell me about the project, mom - let me help. I know people now, I may be able to find things you can’t.” Corporate secrets like that are not easy to come by, but Night City is a hub of secrets. A fixer might know something, or know of someone who does. Deeper thoughts on your mother’s choices can come later… or maybe never - you love her.>”...Endangering children?” …Something about how she said that causes your heart to sink. There’s more than prideful risks with your own health behind those words, more even than whatever cloning work was done - and that is already ethically suspect. Who is this woman?>Write-in.
>>5965546>>”...I forgive you, mother. You knew dad worked with NetWatch? I need to know more, I’m on the trail of his killer.” You forgive her, for whatever it is she’s done, but you won’t accept her death meekly - or your father’s. You must find out more, anything. If he still had contacts at NetWatch then they must have some interest with a cyberpsycho plague and his death, surely.WE WILL HAVE VENGEANCE!!!!
>>5965546>>”I forgive you. Tell me about the project, mom - let me help. I know people now, I may be able to find things you can’t.” Corporate secrets like that are not easy to come by, but Night City is a hub of secrets. A fixer might know something, or know of someone who does. Deeper thoughts on your mother’s choices can come later… or maybe never - you love her.
>>5965546>”...I forgive you, mother. You knew dad worked with NetWatch? I need to know more, I’m on the trail of his killer.” You forgive her, for whatever it is she’s done, but you won’t accept her death meekly - or your father’s. You must find out more, anything. If he still had contacts at NetWatch then they must have some interest with a cyberpsycho plague and his death, surely.Ignoring this obvious warning of a looming threat in favor of revenge can't possibly be a wrong move
>>5965546>”...I forgive you, mother. You knew dad worked with NetWatch? I need to know more, I’m on the trail of his killer.” You forgive her, for whatever it is she’s done, but you won’t accept her death meekly - or your father’s. You must find out more, anything. If he still had contacts at NetWatch then they must have some interest with a cyberpsycho plague and his death, surely.>”I forgive you. Tell me about the project, mom - let me help. I know people now, I may be able to find things you can’t.” Corporate secrets like that are not easy to come by, but Night City is a hub of secrets. A fixer might know something, or know of someone who does. Deeper thoughts on your mother’s choices can come later… or maybe never - you love her.
>>5965546>>”...I forgive you, mother. You knew dad worked with NetWatch? I need to know more, I’m on the trail of his killer.” You forgive her, for whatever it is she’s done, but you won’t accept her death meekly - or your father’s. You must find out more, anything. If he still had contacts at NetWatch then they must have some interest with a cyberpsycho plague and his death, surely.
>>5965546>forgive her>ask more about the project, our sister(s?)
>>5965546>”I forgive you. Tell me about the project, mom - let me help. I know people now, I may be able to find things you can’t.” Corporate secrets like that are not easy to come by, but Night City is a hub of secrets. A fixer might know something, or know of someone who does. Deeper thoughts on your mother’s choices can come later… or maybe never - you love her.
>>5965546>”...I forgive you, mother. You knew dad worked with NetWatch? I need to know more, I’m on the trail of his killer.” You forgive her, for whatever it is she’s done, but you won’t accept her death meekly - or your father’s. You must find out more, anything. If he still had contacts at NetWatch then they must have some interest with a cyberpsycho plague and his death, surely.I don't think we're in a position to openly sniff after corpo secrets.>“Then you have not done anything drastic yet. Good. Focus on nanoware - it will work the best, that is what you were designed for.”Dang, does this mean we need to stay away from cyberlimbs?
>>5965938That's fine, stuff like muscle and bone lace iirc is Nanoware, and that stuff already scales with the user's own physique. This is basically saying we have a massive boost on what is already an arguably better alternative to Cyberlimbs.
>>5965546>”I forgive you. Tell me about the project, mom - let me help. I know people now, I may be able to find things you can’t.” Corporate secrets like that are not easy to come by, but Night City is a hub of secrets. A fixer might know something, or know of someone who does. Deeper thoughts on your mother’s choices can come later… or maybe never - you love her.Whew, what a lore dump here
>>5965600Try to learn about both.>>5965549>>5965553>>5965616>>5965638>>5965938NetWatch/VENGEANCE WILL BE KAI'S>>5965910>>5965810>>5965752>>5965622>>5965550>>5966016Project/Sister(s). Wins, writing.>>5965938Cyberware is still better at a lot of things, especially for the price. You're not going to nano-tech your way into having a rocket launcher hidden inside your arm, for instance. They also aren't necessarily exclusive, some cyberware works great with little nanite chooms helping it out. Full body human cloning exists, and limbs are especially cheap to replace with cloned organic ones - a cyberlimb isn't a permanent decision, just a pricey one. You can put your meat back on, to be crude about it.>>5965977"Massive boost" might be a bit too strong of a description, but I'll say now that it will work meaningfully better. The lines between cyberware, nanoware, and bioware can get extremely blurry if they synergize well enough. They all can do at least a few things the other can't, though cyberware is definitely the most developed. Techno-organic nanite biohorror cyborgs are entirely within Cyberpunk's fucked up technological wheelhouse: see the whole cyber-werewolf incident for a taste of that. Also vampires, maybe. Probably not though.
>>5966026>Cyberware is still better at a lot of things, especially for the price. You're not going to nano-tech your way into having a rocket launcher hidden inside your arm, for instance.Oh, I'm aware I was just a bit worried we'd be locked out of cyberlimbs at least for the time being.>Cyber-werewolf incidentThe *what* now, that sounds AWESOME
>>5966026 father is dead, blood is fuel, night city is full
>>5966026Would we be able to become senator armstrong?Nanomachines son
“I forgive you.” You say the words, unsure of what exactly she’s asking to be forgiven for - it sounds like more than just you and your ‘sisters’ creation. Time is short though, so you press on without probing those uncomfortable depths further. “Tell me about the project, mom - let me help. I know people now, I may be able to find things you can’t.”“...You may be right. There isn’t much time, they’ve noticed I’m not coming back like usual… If I am made to stop, I will call again as soon as it is safe.” Your mother explains hurriedly in a hushed voice, “Dís was primarily about engineering ideal genetic templates for augmentation - especially nano augmentation. We were not the first group to attempt it, but we got it to work, Kai. The first time we achieved stability was at our SoCal facility in 2052 - I was already the project leader by then, fresh to the position, and was assisted by Dr. Liu Zhao - he’s retired now, but he knew almost everything. He was Militech’s liaison to the project, and headed the Net integration efforts.” “Liu Zhao?” You question, making sure you’ve gotten the name right - it’s not necessary to ask now with your link, but you still do so out of habit. “What do you mean Net integration?”“The scope of the project expanded rapidly after initial stability was achieved,” You mother begins, hurrying from her hiding place before stopping briefly to very deliberately smell some flowers, miming a degree of casualness, “Once nanite integration was shown to be within the ninety ninth percentile, Militech began to purchase more control over the project - Net and Proxy experts were brought in…” “Proxy?” You’re unfamiliar with how she’s using the word. “Experts in technologies that allow remote control of another person. Dolls, Kai.” She looks over her shoulder after answering, her expression darkening, and she rushes out everything she can, running far short of the time she needs, “...I’m sorry, there isn’t time for more, they’re almost here. Find Zhao, or… or David Chiang, he was the nanotechnology director for Dís before I took over from him! Your sister’s code is YU-1, we called her Yui - they were going to produce her template in Arizona, an old biodome was being converted, but I never learned - Oh, hello, Fredrik. No, no, I was just talking to myself. It helps to keep my memory sharp, the treatments are so rough on me. Yes, very good today so far, the walks help…”
>>5966089The call ends without a goodbye.“Mom? Mom?!” Your words are heard by no one except yourself, fading to nothing in the wind sweeping over the badlands, “...Shit.”>...Return to the nomads. Eat your ribs, contemplate what the hell is going on. Dad’s murder, and now your mother’s corporate secrets. There’s a lot on your plate. >Immediately fill Alice in on every detail - she wasn’t listening in. Perhaps your ghostly choom has some kind of insight? >Head back, excuse yourself from the table, and head inside to speak with DaKota - you might need to hire her to find people to find people… though you don’t really have the eddies right now.>Write-in.
>>5966091>..Return to the nomads. Eat your ribs, contemplate what the hell is going on. Dad’s murder, and now your mother’s corporate secrets. There’s a lot on your plate.I'm not letting the family drama separate us from the real food
>>5966091>Immediately fill Alice in on every detail - she wasn’t listening in. Perhaps your ghostly choom has some kind of insight?proxy...... is that why Alice is connecting on such a deep level to us? And so easily? ...........download alice into a yui body? We do want to eat those ribs though, no matter how emotionally destabilizing this is
>>5966091>...Return to the nomads. Eat your ribs, contemplate what the hell is going on. Dad’s murder, and now your mother’s corporate secrets. There’s a lot on your plate.Time to get the old thinker box runnin
>>5966091>>...Return to the nomads. Eat your ribs, contemplate what the hell is going on. Dad’s murder, and now your mother’s corporate secrets. There’s a lot on your plate.Is Vicky still in line?
>>5966089>...Return to the nomads. Eat your ribs, contemplate what the hell is going on. Dad’s murder, and now your mother’s corporate secrets. There’s a lot on your plate.Eat food!>>5966055we can and it only costs 8k eddies, Bone reinforcement and subdermal armor are both 4k and are both nanotech based
>>5966134Vicky was trying to sell stuff to Maeve and a few other Nomads the last Kai saw. He can't see them from where he has walked out to currently, DaKota is in the way and most of the cars and nomads are on the other side.
>>5966152She's probably doing a good bit of trade then, nice!
>>5966091>>...Return to the nomads. Eat your ribs, contemplate what the hell is going on. Dad’s murder, and now your mother’s corporate secrets. There’s a lot on your plate.Btw can we get a signal interceptor soft for our new cybereyes?
>>5966179You'd need to get an interceptor installed first, the eyes are fully capable of interfacing with one though. They're not really optimized for it and definitely aren't cutting edge, but they'd mostly work.
>>5966179>>5966146>>5966134>>5966111>>5966104Writing. Actually almost finished, forgot to tally the vote a bit ago.
In the silence following the call, you find yourself truly alone - the very distant shouts and whoops of the nomads, and occasional revving engine, the only sound beyond the wind. You don’t move for a time, expression placid as you gaze far, far off. Desert wind brushes past your cheek, dry and warm, and you lose yourself in thought. Leaning down, you grab a handful of the sun baked earth, sandy but not fine, too many little rocks mixed in - you feel the grit in your palm, between your fingers, the warmth of it, the surety of it. No lies there, no plots, no dangerous secrets.Sighing, you stand, and wipe the dirt from your hands. If only it were that easy. The walk back to the nomads takes a few minutes, your short sojourn away from DaKota lasted longer than you realized. Did you… lose time? Checking your link, the internal clock confirms that nearly half an hour has passed. Odd.“Kai!” Jack calls to you from the table - he’s finished eating already, but your plate is undisturbed, “Everything alright with your family?”“Yeah, they’re fine.” You lie easily, forcing a smile, “Just had more to catch up on than I thought. Don’t call as often as I’d like.” “Right, right, I get how that is.” He nods, not getting how it is, “My parents are off with the rest of the family, don’t see them much since I started doing jobs away from the rest of the pack… You should finish your meat, flies’ll start swarming soon otherwise.”“Yeah, or I might start swarming. Too much meat to waste.” Nic jokes and his twin - his twin, you have one somewhere too - echoes the sentiment with a grunt. Not a talkative fellow. Peg is gone along with her scanner, you don’t really care where to. Not right now.
>>5966442Returning to your seat, you eat, think, and drink. The beer has gone warm, but the ribs are still excellent. You don’t pay it much attention, working through the stacked plate almost on autopilot, bite after bite, absentminded, barely engaging in conversation. A sister named Yui… An older sister, but still a twin… A clone. But that would mean you’re a modified clone of Yui, wouldn’t it? A modified YU-1 template - not natural. How many 'siblings' do you have? Part of you wants to dismiss them as only being genetically related - you don’t know any of them, but you can’t. Maybe it’s an overactive imagination coping with the stress, but you feel different. Like the knowledge has changed you somehow. You have to find her. Find them, if there are more. Contact this Zhao guy, or Chiang - maybe drive to Arizona, look for that biodome, a clone production facility has got to leave a footprint if it exists there, right? You’d run a Net search on them, but that’s too clumsy even for someone as green as you are - not something to do without a dive.But then what? And what of father’s murder? You can’t let that go either. Still need to call Regina, to check those encrypted messages on his comp, to check his deck, to see what might be left of his implants at that NCPD evidence facility… It just keeps piling up, there’s even more than that. Whatever mess the Tygers are involved in seems related, and somehow a little girl knew about ghosts? Alice’s presence slowly fills your mind once more, a subtle pressure growing as her consciousness layers atop yours, synchronizing, and then becomes nearly unnoticeable. You simply know she is there, and that she is deeply curious. A request from Alice flashes across your vision, she wants to access the record of the holocall you just had with your mother.>Allow Alice to access it. You need more time to just think on your own.>Don’t allow her in, just explain what was said.>You know what? Try to access her mind. This has been a bit one way. Don’t muck anything up, just be… present, as she is. Can you even do that?>Write-in.
>>5966452>Allow Alice to access it. You need more time to just think on your own.So we need to: find 2 experts preferably alive and willing to break NDAs. Locate a Miltech black site in Arizona. Plan a raid on said black site, and rescue our long lost twin sisterNot to mention VENGEANCE(very important) and figuring out AliceWe should get to work
>>5966452>You know what? Try to access her mind. This has been a bit one way. Don’t muck anything up, just be… present, as she is. Can you even do that?"Mom says its my turn to probe your mind"
>>5966452>Immediately fill Alice in on every detail - she wasn’t listening in. Perhaps your ghostly choom has some kind of insight?
>>5966452>>You know what? Try to access her mind. This has been a bit one way. Don’t muck anything up, just be… present, as she is. Can you even do that?
>>5966091>...Return to the nomads. Eat your ribs, contemplate what the hell is going on. Dad’s murder, and now your mother’s corporate secrets. There’s a lot on your plate.
>>5966452>Allow Alice to access it. You need more time to just think on your own.
>>5966452>You know what? Try to access her mind. This has been a bit one way. Don’t muck anything up, just be… present, as she is. Can you even do that?not out of us being mad at her wanting to know, just out of curiosity
>>5966452Just caught up, all I wanna say is nanomachines son.>>You know what? Try to access her mind. This has been a bit one way. Don’t muck anything up, just be… present, as she is. Can you even do that?
>>5966516>>5966537>>5966695>>5966708Writing.
>>5966091>...Return to the nomads. Eat your ribs, contemplate what the hell is going on. Dad’s murder, and now your mother’s corporate secrets. There’s a lot on your plate.Scheming on an empty stomach is just asking for trouble.
>>5966930Damn phone wouldn’t update.I’m sure the ribs were delicious.
Tired of being the one always intruded upon, or perhaps merely curious of what it is like, you press back against the presence within your mind - there is no activation of the link, though you do see its resource usage skyrocket. Warnings flare into life at the corner of your vision. Flashing red text floods your vision as warning after warning fills your field of view, but they’re inconsequential - you swipe them away with less than a thought, pure intention removing them. The presence, Allice, presses into you more aggressively, more abrasively, closer, and closer - and then it vanishes, overlapping perfectly. You become aware of things.There are thirteen nomads surrounding the Quadra. The closest is Maeve. Anti-theft and traffic navigation sensors detect that she is conversing with Victoria. They’re pretty. They are getting along well. Two vehicles are leaving the gravel lot at the front of DaKota, one large, the other small, both too modified to be identified concretely by the Quadra’s database - likeliest matches are a Mizutani Shion and a Thorton Galena. They’re uglier than the Quadra. There are two drones orbiting overhead a kilometer out and at an altitude of two hundred meters. One is pretending to be a bird. The current date and time is 2076.01.07, 13:47. You died fifty four years ago. Micro solar panels are operating slightly above normal efficiency - the sun is brighter than usual. You don’t feel it. You miss feeling the warmth. There is dust in the air. A filter change will be necessary soon. You remember when people turned into dust. You survived. And then it happened again, when you had already died. It will soon happen again.But you don’t like thinking about that, so you don’t. These ribs are delicious!Someone else is here. …Kai?>Pull back. >Push in.>Stay here, eat ribs. You miss eating. This is delicious! You almost feel alive again.>Write-in.
>>5966942>Pull back.Time and place for further exploring... whatever this is. The time is not now.
>>5966942>Stay here, eat ribs. You miss eating. This is delicious! You almost feel alive again.let's just hang out here for a bit then decide in or out
>>5966942>Push in.Ah yes Kai missing being alive, not
>>5966963>>5966942Changing to Rib eating
I think that us being able to do this link thing is because of the dolltech that mom was talking about, evidenced by the weird link and what the dancing robot guy was saying. I wonder if we were the first generation clone or later generation. Being later generation would make more sense given our abilities. I'd bet we could do what that robot guy was doing without implants-WAIT A MINUTE robot guy was talking about an old militech project that went the way of the dodo, that had got to be related to all this
>>5966942>Stay here, eat ribs. You miss eating. This is delicious! You almost feel alive again.
>>5966942>>Write-in. panic(I haven't gotten a specific want honestly. This is just what I imagine will happen. So enjoy it as possibly an alternative outcome/event that I wrote in a bout of inspiration. hope everyone enjoys it :D)...Slowly lowering the ribs, you feel an awareness that there is no Kai. Calling out, you ask Alice if everything is alright. But she isn't there either. Not at the current moment at least. Then you realize it. They both aren't there. Checking the Connection, you realize it is because you are both. A seamless mix of the two. A mind in the middle of the wire.Sitting in front of the ribs. You hear the audio of others around you, the sounds, scents, and sensations. The wants of Alice and her need to feel human experiences again fill you with happiness. But the knowledge that both she and Kai are, as long as you can think and feel, dead. Their streams of independent thought have fused together to create yours. It fills your stomach with a pit of dread. A pit that no amount of food can fill. Breathing seemingly becoming harder with each intake of air."This wasn't meant to happen" You think to yourself. This wasn't what you wanted to do when you dug into Alice. You feel angry at Kai as well for invading your mind. A mental dysphoria taking place at both of those being you.Looking down at your fleshy body, you see the part of your existence from Kai. Looking back up, you look over to the Quadra and see the data stream that connects you to your second half. Your other brain. The one which is from Alice.You hyperventilate. You are in two places at the same time. You're existence killed two awareness's to come into being. You want to bring them back, but death scares your new existence in this world even more than how frighteningly fast you came into it. The emotional turmoil Kai was in growing, as they intermix with your new self-made fears and worries....You want to scream. But you can't let others hear it. And as you hold it back, only a tiny whimper comes out. Yet despite that, everyone seemed to notice something.Looking around, you see the people around you are distracted. Their attention on your Quadra....You had activated the car horn when you had let out that whimper.
>>5966942>Pull back.
>>5966942>>Stay here, eat ribs. You miss eating. This is delicious! You almost feel alive again."We're going on an adventure!"
>>5966942>Pull back.We're in dangerous waters, better safe than sorry.
>>5966942>Pull back.Now's not the time to get lost in wonderland>>5967101Ah sweet man made horrors beyond my comprehension
>>5966953>>5967157>>5967205>>5967206>>5967288Pull back.>>5966959>>5966972>>5967064>>5967198>>5967283Enjoy life. It's a curious thing, isn't it?>>5967101We exist together now, two corpses in one grave...
>>5967313We have a tie. Voting will be open for another two hours.
>>5966942>Pull BackGtfo, this is not worth it.
>>5967313>Stay here, eat ribs. You miss eating. This is delicious! You almost feel alive again.
>>5967329>>5967316>>5966959>>5966972>>5967064>>5967198>>5967283Writing.
Kai? The name sounds again in your mind. You take a bit of the delicious meat and close your eyes. That is… you? You’re alive. Chewing, tender flesh, smoky meat - that was alive too once, and now it sustains you. You are also Hlín. You are fulfilling your purpose, though you do not remember quite what it is. Perhaps the others still are as well. What tasty meat! Your eyes flick up and brighten, taking in the animals around you, humans, - ‘Nomads’. Their faces are familiar, the lanky red haired one and the two identical blondes. The troublesome girl is not here anymore, she has gone outside your awareness. Away. It does not matter where to, so long as she is gone. You feel content here, a meal is a simple pleasure, and you have missed it terribly.“Kai?” The red haired one asks, macro movements of its facial muscles indicate a level of distress. Worrying. That will not do. It makes noise again, “What are you looking at, man?”“Everything I can.” You vibrate the air, chord and muscle working as one to emit the desired sound. Good, you have not forgotten how. The lanky one eases, distress dissipates. Excellent. You prefer these ones to be at peace. Placid. Unaware. Something has changed, but you are not quite sure what.“Oh, uh, netrunner stuff? Your eyes are really lit up - and, uh, you were staring. Kinda creepy, dude.” The red haired one is a… choom. That is the word you were taught. You had others once, long ago, but you do not remember them - a hole you are aware of but cannot fill. Don’t trip in, you won’t be able to stop that fall. You have chooms now. You keep their names on a list. Contacts.“Yes, I have a lot to check on. Biz never stops.” You deceive the creature. The two decks under your control are not active, but the red haired human’s suggestion is interesting. The decks awaken, and your consciousness solidifies. You are Kai, and you’ve been acting a little weird. Quickly you apologize to Jack, “...Sorry, choom, got a little caught up thinking about everything. Got a lot of data to process right now.”“Work while you eat? Gotta learn to enjoy the little things, chair jockey.” One of the blonde ones makes noise again.“I agree, it is very important to enjoy the little things. You never know when they might be gone.” You answer, part of you wishing you had taken more time following that advice before. You focus on the meat again, making sure to savor it, closing your eyes - what a splendid experience, real meat. Life. You need to preserve your mother’s life. You promised… yourself that you would help.This gathering could use more music.>”...Do we have a guitar around here somewhere?” It has been a long, long time. [Hlín - Alice]>Consume the meat, every bit of it, and then seek out work. Currency must be acquired. Eddies. That is indisputable.>”Have any of you ever been to Arizona?” Nomads travel, they may know things. [Kai]>Write-in.
>>5967438>>”...Do we have a guitar around here somewhere?” It has been a long, long time. [Hlín - Alice]Quick, download the militech musican package
>>5967438>”Have any of you ever been to Arizona?” Nomads travel, they may know things. [Kai]
>>5967438>Consume the meat, every bit of it, and then seek out work. Currency must be acquired. Eddies. That is indisputable.Eddies rules everything around meGRIND
>>5967438>”Have any of you ever been to Arizona?” Nomads travel, they may know things. [Kai]I believe we may have erred.
>>5967438>Consume the meat, every bit of it, and then seek out work. Currency must be acquired. Eddies. That is indisputable.Uh oh. I wonder what our sync level is now, it was only like 2 or 3 percent last time we had something like this happen
>>5967550>>5967438>Your eyes are really lit up -Are we Mr. Blue eyes now?
>>5967557Lilith has concealed the tenth circle from the ancestor's eyes.
>>5967438>>”Have any of you ever been to Arizona?” Nomads travel, they may know things. [Kai]
>>5967438>”...Do we have a guitar around here somewhere?” It has been a long, long time. [Hlín - Alice]I want to give Alice a spin in the meat sack
>>5967438>Consume the meat, every bit of it, and then seek out work. Currency must be acquired. Eddies. That is indisputable.Uh oh - Kai is possessed.
>>5967438>”Have any of you ever been to Arizona?” Nomads travel, they may know things. [Kai]Also, I don't like the way that peace thing was quoted. Placid? Unaware? Sounds like something a predator would use. I don't jive with this shit.
>>5967438>”...Do we have a guitar around here somewhere?” It has been a long, long time. [Hlín - Alice]>>5967579I think more consumed to form a gestalt mind
>>5967438>>”...Do we have a guitar around here somewhere?” It has been a long, long time. [Hlín - Alice]
>>5967446>>5967576>>5967618>>5967646Hlín into it.>>5967466>>5967499>>5967572>>5967595Don't get Kai-ried away.>>5967489>>5967550>>5967579Grind.Got a tie, I'll give it an hour for a tie breaker. VOTE
>>5967438>>”...Do we have a guitar around here somewhere?” It has been a long, long time. [Hlín - Alice]Maybe this is like a drug trip, we'll just snap out of it when Kai sleeps.
>>5967438>”Have any of you ever been to Arizona?” Nomads travel, they may know things. [Kai]Don't lose ourselves. We don't know if we can come back.
>>5967657Arizona
>>5967671>>5967674>>5967466>>5967499>>5967572>>5967595Writing.
“Have any of you ever been to Arizona?” You question the trio of Nomads, suspecting it is likely that they have. There is little reason to stop eating, so you continue on with your meal as well - The amount of food given to you was excessive, but not unappreciated. At the periphery of your awareness, you take note of your two decks now operating at close to their total memory capacity - they would use more if they had it, but are stopping something from overloading them completely. “Arizona? Yeah, we bring a lot of goods up past Tucson.” Nic answers with a nod - that was his name, Nic. And his twin Ronnie, the one that mostly grunts. Right. Jack tilts his head quizzically, as if he’s noticed something off about you, “Most of the family is out in New Mexico right now, we’ll be keeping the route clear through SoCal and Arizona - Why? Something to do with all that data?”“Sort of, yeah. I might need to head that way, there’s a biodome there that… Well, actually I’m not sure if it’s even a biodome anymore…” You grow less certain of your words, and if you should be saying them at all, as you continue to talk to the three young nomads. Their clan has been accommodating with work, and you’ve helped Jack out of a small bind, but this is potentially extremely dangerous information. “Oh, yeah, biodomes. Got tons of those out there. Hundreds, probably.” Jack latches onto the information quickly, “Biotechnica put up loads of them, most aren’t in use anymore - You’ve seen the ones past jackson plains, right?”“I have.” You confirm the fact, part of your mind recalling your odd encounter with Alice there… is something like that happening now? It feels like it might be, but everything is almost dreamlike. It feels less real, like the world is processing too slowly. “The protein farms aren’t really domes though, are they?”“Well… No, not actual domes, but it’s the same thing mostly.” Jack shrugs, “But why the interest in old ag infrastructure? It’s boring stuff, I’ve been in a few for scrap, most got gutted years back.”“Might need to find a particular one.” You decided to keep things vague still, “Not gutted, but it might… look like it is...”“Well, I don’t know if I can really help you on that, if you won’t talk,” Jack scratches at the back of his head, “...But I owe you one. How about you tag along with us to keep the roads clear? I’ll need to run it past the gray hairs, but we can pay - there’s a lot of us, so we move in waves, and we need more netrunners. It takes about a week to get the heaviest stuff across with breakdowns and what not. Plenty of time to snoop around old biodomes if you want.”
>>5967758>>5967761“We leave in a few hours.” Nic chimes in. Dimly, in the back of your mind, you feel very satisfied with that information, as if a bullet has just been dodged, or perhaps… a feral cat was avoided. Wait, shit, you have a date on Thursday! …Why the urge to not go though?The… the connection? Oh, holy shit, the connection. You almost panic upon realizing what has been happening for the last few minutes, just how alien your thoughts became - and you can feel Alice panicking as well, pulling back, the realization striking her simultaneously. Your decks power down as your consciousnesses peel apart, the overworked and unfit hardware finally getting a break after being pushed to the edge - your neuralink also returns to a more stable state. Shit, whatever that was, it wasn’t working correctly - like something vital was missing. No, it was an inhuman skeleton of a consciousness, only the barest scraps of personality attached to it. When the decks came online it became more like yourself, more like Alice… Perhaps it’s a hardware issue.Synchronization: 5%“Kai? Yo! You spaced out again.” Jack snaps his fingers in front of you a couple of times, the popping noise bringing you back to the present.“...Sorry.” You apologize quickly, but that only seems to raise the lanky nomad’s suspicions higher, “I’m having some trouble with my implants I think, that was a lot of data a minute ago. …Diagnostics are coming back clean now though, I should be fine.”It’s not a great lie, but it seems to work.“So how about it, choom? If your implants aren’t about to burn out, I mean. Uh, we’ve got a ripper with the family if you need those checked on.” Jack offers, trying to be a friend but clearly a little weirded out by how you’ve been acting. You can’t blame him - were your eyes lit up that whole time? That was a lot of data getting pushed around, way too much. Two people in one body, and with such minimal hardware… How’s that possible at all, even if it didn't seem to work right?>”I’ll… I’ll think about it.” You need time to talk with Alice, or rather Hlín, about what the fuck just happened.>”Can’t, got plans already, date with a catgirl - and I’ve got to keep working some biz here.">”...Sure, if there’s eddies then I’m ready to ride. I’ll need to hop back into NC, but I can be back before you all head out.” Maybe Vicky can watch the apartment, or maybe she’ll want to go too? You’ll have to bail on your date with Coco.>Write-in.
There was a small mix up earlier in the thread where I got the day of the week wrong - it is currently Tuesday, the date with Coco is set for Thursday morning.
>>5967765>”Can’t, got plans already, date with a catgirl - and I’ve got to keep working some biz here."Let's establish ourselves a little bit more before we start poking at secret facilities
>>5967765>>”Can’t, got plans already, date with a catgirl - and I’ve got to keep working some biz here."
>>5967765>”I’ll… I’ll think about it.” You need time to talk with Alice, or rather Hlín, about what the fuck just happened.
>>5967765>”I’ll… I’ll think about it.” You need time to talk with Alice, or rather Hlín, about what the fuck just happened
>>5967765We could ask Coco if she's avb at all Wednesday or today sometime, a week long job would be an awful lot of money that I want to take, but just running off would be leaving Coco out to dry
>>5967831oh I misread it we only have a few hours. Damn.
>>5967765>”Can’t, got plans already, date with a catgirl - and I’ve got to keep working some biz here."We still have work here. Robo-man, money, a date - we can't leave yet.
>>5967765>”...Sure, if there’s eddies then I’m ready to ride. I’ll need to hop back into NC, but I can be back before you all head out.” Maybe Vicky can watch the apartment, or maybe she’ll want to go too? You’ll have to bail on your date with Coco.Sorry baby, something came up. Gotta do it for family, don't really wanna talk about it. Easy.
>>5967765>”I’ll… I’ll think about it.” You need time to talk with Alice, or rather Hlín, about what the fuck just happened.We have to address this head-on, what if we space out in a gunfight?
>>5967765>”...Sure, if there’s eddies then I’m ready to ride. I’ll need to hop back into NC, but I can be back before you all head out.” Maybe Vicky can watch the apartment, or maybe she’ll want to go too? You’ll have to bail on your date with Coco.Disregard feline females. Acquire currency.
>>5967765>Write-in.>"No can do, timing's just too poor. I've got too many loose ends to look into as is."I REALLY don't wanna use a date of all things as the reason we're blowing them off. There's also the fact that we're far too reliant on Alice when it comes to Netrunner stuff, and we can't quarantee that the Quadra will be in range for Alice to have a good signal to us.Let's see if we can find this Zhao guy and convince him to tell us something so we're not relying on getting lucky and finding the right biodome.
>>5967778>>5967790>>5967816>>5967889Cats and city biz.>>5967826>>5967829>>5967880>>5967985Think about it.>>5967980>>5967986Ride!>>5967988Write-in.I'll give it another hour. Vote!
>>5967765>”...Sure, if there’s eddies then I’m ready to ride. I’ll need to hop back into NC, but I can be back before you all head out.” Maybe Vicky can watch the apartment, or maybe she’ll want to go too? You’ll have to bail on your date with Coco.No catgirlsCar gang
>>5967765>>>”Can’t, got plans already, date with a catgirl - and I’ve got to keep working some biz here."
>>5968005>>5967778>>5967790>>5967816>>5967889>>5968041Cats and city biz it is, writing.
>>5968046Meowzers!
“Can’t, got plans already,” You turn down the offer, and decide to just be honest about the situation for now, “Got a date with a catgirl, and I need to keep working some biz here. Have to cover my mom’s medical bills.”“Catgirl?” Ronnie questions, perking up as soon as you’ve said the word - apparently that's what’ll get him to talk, “Weird girl with a lot of cats, or do you mean ears and tail?”“Ears and tail kind.” You confirm, but a coffee date with a girl you barely met isn’t really what’s tying you down, “But we just met. Mostly it’s the bills for my mom, I’m having to cover things. My dad…” It’s still hard to talk about it sometimes, the words catch in your throat. “...My dad was murdered a week ago. I’m just doing what I can. Down a lot of eddies right now.” You manage to get them out anyways. “Sounds like you’re way up shit creek.” Nic comments, getting looks from Jack and Ronnie immediately, “What? He is. That’s fucked if I’ve ever heard it. …Sorry about your dad, Kai.” “Could be less of a dick about it.” Jack replies to Nic’s comment, his look remaining sour.“He can’t.” Ronne shakes his head, slowly returning back to using fewer and fewer words. Ronnie seems alright at least.“Sorry about your dad, Kai. You’re filling in for your old man then?” Jack questions.You nod, and go through the usual explanation, but with far more detail since Cannon and Dakota are already as in the know as anyone is going to get - pretty much everything except NetWatch or the Quadra’s resident ghost is already known to the Aldecaldos, it just might not have spread around yet. It’s tiring, but soon you’re done. Alice, or Hlín if that fever dream of a connection earlier was right, has waited patiently while you’ve told your tale - she wants to speak, and so do you, but business comes first, and right now nomads are practically your only source of income. Or rather Dakota is, but statics still count.“I’d kill him.” Ronnie comments after you’ve finished speaking, “Whoever got your pops.”You nod grimly, there’s not much to say to that - it’s exactly what you plan to do to whoever is responsible, not a doubt in your mind about it. Whether it’s with a bullet or a daemon, you’re going to zero the fucker. You didn’t dump all the Net details, or much about the Tygers, but the nomads know enough to realize there’s something genuinely strange going on.
>>5968064“...Well, it sounds like you need to talk to Dakota, man. About all of that, or maybe… Carol?” Jack looks between Nic and Ronnie, the twins both nodding in agreement, “She’s sort of the tech head honcho for the family, netrunner too. Probably knew your dad, actually. She’ll be back in with the rest of the family.”You file the name away along with so many others, just one more person who might be able to provide some kind of help - probably in exchange for work. No shortage of that these days. “Thanks, Jack, I’ll make sure to talk with her - And I’m gonna talk with Dakota now. Ribs were great, but biz doesn’t wait.” You clean your hands up with a wipe - little packages were set out on the table before you arrived - and then get up, dropping your plate off in a small pile of other dirty dishes close to where Greg has some of the youngest nomads cleaning things up. The gathering has most winded down now. Before you enter back into DaKota to speak with Dakota - very on the nose naming - you’re stopped by Alice’s voice whispering within your mind. ”Kai, we must speak.” Her voice intertwines with your own thoughts, blurring together strangely, ”I could feel your body as my own, but I nearly lost myself – I felt like a machine. I saw your memories. All of them. I could not process them readily, they just came to me. ...You have a sister?”A shudder runs through you - All of your memory?>”Yeah, I do. ...I got bits and pieces of yours. Freaked me out, I didn’t feel like myself at all. Your name is Hlín?” It definitely wasn’t all of it, and nearly everything unsettled you. Sort through some of it now.>”Then we’re on the same page. Ease off on the connection for a while, we’ll talk it out later, I promise.” She’ll know you mean it - the connection seems locked in place to some extent. For now though you need to get work from Dakota.>”...It felt like it was getting more like… me, or us, when the decks started up. I think we can do it better, we’re just missing something.” You were fully aware of two different locations at the same time, down to the smallest details, processing data from your link and the Quadra - that’s damned useful, if a bit terrifying. It might be the edge you need.>Write-in.
>>5968065>”...It felt like it was getting more like… me, or us, when the decks started up. I think we can do it better, we’re just missing something.” You were fully aware of two different locations at the same time, down to the smallest details, processing data from your link and the Quadra - that’s damned useful, if a bit terrifying. It might be the edge you need.
>>5968065>”...It felt like it was getting more like… me, or us, when the decks started up. I think we can do it better, we’re just missing something.” You were fully aware of two different locations at the same time, down to the smallest details, processing data from your link and the Quadra - that’s damned useful, if a bit terrifying. It might be the edge you need.We gotta use and abuse every advantage we can get
>>5968065>”...It felt like it was getting more like… me, or us, when the decks started up. I think we can do it better, we’re just missing something.” You were fully aware of two different locations at the same time, down to the smallest details, processing data from your link and the Quadra - that’s damned useful, if a bit terrifying. It might be the edge you need.The real man-made beyond comprehension was inside us all along
>>5968065>>”Yeah, I do. ...I got bits and pieces of yours. Freaked me out, I didn’t feel like myself at all. Your name is Hlín?” It definitely wasn’t all of it, and nearly everything unsettled you. Sort through some of it now.
>>5968065>”Yeah, I do. ...I got bits and pieces of yours. Freaked me out, I didn’t feel like myself at all. Your name is Hlín?” It definitely wasn’t all of it, and nearly everything unsettled you. Sort through some of it now.You anons gave a body craving AI the ability to puppet Kai, y'all need to chill.
>>5968065>”Yeah, I do. ...I got bits and pieces of yours. Freaked me out, I didn’t feel like myself at all. Your name is Hlín?” It definitely wasn’t all of it, and nearly everything unsettled you. Sort through some of it now.
>>5968102>>5968128>>5968149>>5968165Writing, might take a while to get the update out though.
”Yeah, I do. ...I got bits and pieces of yours. Freaked me out, I didn’t feel like myself at all.” Your skin crawls as you recall the experience, how your mind disappeared without your notice, melding into something else - were you dead for those moments, or was it more like falling asleep? Too many disturbing questions, you will need to meditate upon it later - for now there is something more pleasant yet still important to deal with, “Your name is Hlín?”“It is, though I had intended to make something of a celebration of its reveal, not this horror,” Alice admits, her sweet voice still tangling with your own stream of consciousness, “...It is a rather odd name, but it is what my memory bore to me - perhaps I had strange parents. That would go quite a way to explaining me!”You don’t find her joke particularly funny, but laugh anyways - because she does. It comes naturally, easily, and it isn’t you. Stopping beside the door to DaKota’s back, you lean against the concrete wall and speak in a hushed tone, frowning, “Can you control that, Hlín?”“I am trying,” Comes her reply, the renewed panic in her voice touching off a spark of anxiety in your chest as well, your breathing tightening slightly, “Can you?”“No. I… I don’t know how to think my way out of this.” You struggle mentally for a bit, but it doesn’t do anything more than you already have - whatever part of this is intuitive has hit a wall, and hard.“Meditation might help.” Her suggestions is direct and to the point, but you agree entirely. Actually, that was your thought, she just spoke it. Her panic grows, “Oh dear, oh dear, I believe it might be getting worse! I could sense the edges of your intentions before, and make mine known, but you have tangled me up so terribly, Kai! My code is a mess!”
>>5968371“Can’t you just… pull your code back out of me, or something? You can do Net stuff now, just leave my link.” You suggest, struggling to keep calm - if you’re not careful this will spiral, and you’ll trip right into a very deep, very dark pit with the only other person who knows what the hell is happening, “Please, get out of my core! My… My link.”Shit, that was her again for a moment. You blink, clearing away a flashing diagnostic sent by the Quadra about its fucking tire pressure of all things - not even a flat, just a test confirming everything is still fine. Cursing, you consider calling Vik - He seems like he might know a way to cut the connection, maybe unplugging your link and slotting it back in will work.“...I will try to keep to myself, if you will.” Alice -Hlín- promises nervously, “I am fond of you Kai, very much so, but not like this.”Your face floods with warmth as you are exposed to an intense attraction for a moment, brushing up against the feeling close enough to get absolutely whalloped - your breath quickens with your heartbeat, thoughts narrowing to Alice, to her appearance. She’s pretty, isn’t she? You should see that, not cats, and if you’d just put on a BD wreath you could even f-“Get out! Out!" Alice shouts in your mind - you try to comply, but again there is no response.>”I think we’re stuck like this for a little while, Alice. We need to keep calm, or we’ll freak everyone else out.” There are definitely worse people to get stuck with like this - at least she’s trying not to press further. Things must have been teetering right on the edge before you added to it.>”...Is that how you see me?” Holy shit, that was strong, a hell of a lot stronger than you’re used to feeling just about anything - Is that how she feels everything?>Cut power to your link. It’s dangerous to do while awake, but what choice is there? The mutual violation is a living horror.>Write-in.
>>5968373>Get in the car, turn on the A/C, and net dive. Maybe materializing on the Net will help you figure out how to untangle.
>>5968373>”I think we’re stuck like this for a little while, Alice. We need to keep calm, or we’ll freak everyone else out.” There are definitely worse people to get stuck with like this - at least she’s trying not to press further. Things must have been teetering right on the edge before you added to it.
>>5968373>Get in the car, turn on the A/C, and net dive. Maybe materializing on the Net will help you figure out how to untangle.Goin in
>>5968373>>Get in the car, turn on the A/C, and net dive. Maybe materializing on the Net will help you figure out how to untangle.THINK ABOUT FOOD
>>5968373>Get in the car, turn on the A/C, and net dive. Maybe materializing on the Net will help you figure out how to untangle.I knew plugging a computer into our brain was a bad idea.Anons who know the setting better than me: how close are we to cyber psychosis right now?
>>5968529It isn't cyberpsychosis. Arguably it is much worse, if it goes bad.
>>5968529We're not close at all, not chromed enough. if you want an example of an almost cyberpsycho look at em the Tyger claw. she's nearly a full borg and hates interacting with the unaugmented, and is violent or erratic, but she was always that in our interactions with her so I dont have a baseline to go off of. I would look up the wiki article for cyberpsychosis, it explains it a whole lot better thsn I could, but its essentially losing your humanity to the implants.
>>5968373>>”I think we’re stuck like this for a little while, Alice. We need to keep calm, or we’ll freak everyone else out.” There are definitely worse people to get stuck with like this - at least she’s trying not to press further. Things must have been teetering right on the edge before you added to it.
>>5968666>>5968373Changing to cut the link
>>5968535I guess we are going the Johnny Silverhand shard route or, preferably, the Mr. Blue Eyes route.
>>5968373>”...Is that how you see me?” Holy shit, that was strong, a hell of a lot stronger than you’re used to feeling just about anything - Is that how she feels everything?Ok anons are balling, at this point id say fuck it as well, however I have decided to be an outlier and be different in the off chance that this is a terrible idea and it gets worse and that way I won't feel responsible for it.
>>5968373>Get in the car, turn on the A/C, and net dive. Maybe materializing on the Net will help you figure out how to untangleWe can't drop into this downwards spiral. Get on the net and untangle as soon as possible, we can't be JC Denton's yet.
>>5968859>>5968775>>5968529>>5968462>>5968437>>5968383Writing. Fun to see a write-in win for once, probably a choice I should have listed anyways, just didn't think of it at the time.
Rolled 46, 35 = 81 (2d100)“We’re going to sort this out now!” You think together, frustratingly in sync - and instead of heading inside to speak with Dakota you go around the side of the garage and then out front to the Quadra, stomping right past Maeve and Vicky without a word and climbing into the car. The two women give you strange looks, but Maeve just rolls her eyes and returns to fixing her Nekomata with parts Vicky must have sold her. Vicky, however, looks deeply worried - she asks something through the Quadra's tempered glass, but you don’t hear it, cranking the A/C up and activating your deck. Decks. Icy cold spikes into your conjoined minds as together you and Hlín enter the Net.I need two rolls of 1d100, DC 95. Alice will also be attempting two rolls to untangle, same DC.
Rolled 38 (1d100)>>5968924Oh shit that's a high DC
Rolled 91 (1d100)>>5968924
Rolled 19 (1d100)>>5968924
>>5968930>91Damn, close but not a success. Writing more.>>5968925About a one in five chance with four rolls.
The ‘Net’ that you enter isn’t really the Net proper at all - but instead the Quadra’s Net infrastructure. It’s the closest thing to a subnet you possess, a little slice of privacy in the vast and untamed wilds of the rest of cyberspace. Instead of the natural environment you’ve grown used to, with grass and trees made of data, you find yourself falling… and falling… and falling… down into an infinite darkness.“What the hell?” You shout in surprise and fair as air rushes by - and it does truly feel like air here, not a wisp of stray data in sight. Hlín, though truthfully you still think of her as Alice, pops into existence beside you, now back in her dress and fighting to keep it from blowing up and around her - she twists and turns into a head first dive instead, solving the issue. After a moment of further shock you pull your arms in close and allow yourself to fall faster, catching up with her descent into the infinite. “We are going nowhere, worry not! Take my hand, Kai!” She calls out to you, reaching out with a hand - you hesitate to take it. Isn’t the whole point of being in here to untangle your minds? Eventually you relent and hold on, “We shall sort this out together! Call up your engramatic data.”Red cubes and striated lines of code begin to flicker into existence around Alice, some remaining locked relative to her body while others orbit steadily.“My engramatic… Alice, uh - Hlín - I don’t HAVE engramatic data!” You shout in protest, simply unable to follow the instructions… What the hell? One of the cubes orbiting Alice turns blue and floats toward you, and you get absolutely sucker punched by the memory of your fifth birthday party - all of it, and in vivid detail. You gasp and wretch, panicking at the overload of pure data, the biofeedback layer of your deck flaring into life to keep neurological shock at bay - but it is your data, that at least is undeniable, and it reintegrates quickly. ...Just a copy of your data, nothing new. You hadn't forgotten it... you think?“Excellent!” Hlín calls back to you, “Pray take care of the memories, they are precious! You do not wish to experience that kind of loss. Keep at your work, and I will see to mine.”
>>5968958Staring again at the data floating about Hlín, you spot another cube which looks out of place - something about it simply striking you as familiar - and again it turns blue and floats toward you. This time, you’ll be ready, you’ll-You aren’t ready. Next to you, Hlín cries out in terror, experiencing a nightmare of her own.In your mind, your father dies for a second time. You nearly slam your head into the dash of the Quadra as you jolt out of the Net. Biofeedback warnings flash across your vision, your link and deck both flooding your awareness with warninings of the near miss you just experienced. The feedback protections worked, they usually will if you aren’t pinned by IC or deep into a network, but your head aches like someone just took a gorilla fist to it. “Fuuuck….” You groan, far from your most eloquent - Outside the Quadra, Vicky bangs on the door. “Kai?! Kai, open the car-” The door hisses open and up and she nearly comes tumbling in, catching herself with one hand on the frame, “Are you alright, Kai?” No, Hlín thinks, still synced to you, caught together on a bridge between your minds. …At least most of your thoughts are your own still.>”No, Vicky, I need to get to a ripper. There’s something wrong with my chrome.” Not quite true, but a ripper might have useful input.>”Just a fucking AI tangled into my brain, you know - the usual.” Fuck it, your head hurts too much to care about secrets - What are nomads going to do, report you to NetWatch? Unlikely.>”Just a hard exit, I’m fine - no damage. Had some biz to do… Ugh, fuck, is there an icepack around here somewhere?” Play it off. She'll be worried still, she always is.>Write-in.
>>5968960>”No, Vicky, I need to get to a ripper. There’s something wrong with my chrome.” Not quite true, but a ripper might have useful input.Maybe we need more nanites that harden in response to trauma
>>5968960>”Just a hard exit, I’m fine - no damage. Had some biz to do… Ugh, fuck, is there an icepack around here somewhere?” Play it off. She'll be worried still, she always is.Let's go with the tried and true teenage method of lying and praying to God that works
>>5968960>”Just a hard exit, I’m fine - no damage. Had some biz to do… Ugh, fuck, is there an icepack around here somewhere?” Play it off. She'll be worried still, she always is.I dunno which option is best so for now pick this.
>>5968958>>”Just a hard exit, I’m fine - no damage. Had some biz to do… Ugh, fuck, is there an icepack around here somewhere?” Play it off. She'll be worried still, she always is.Our issue to deal with, not hers.
>>5968960>mbling in, catching herself with one hand on the frame, “Are you alright, Kai?”
>>5969050Anon, I believe you copied the wrong thing.
>>5969097ah, so it would seem, tehepero~ twas meant to be:>”Just a fucking AI tangled into my brain, you know - the usual.” Fuck it, your head hurts too much to care about secrets - What are nomads going to do, report you to NetWatch? Unlikely.
>>5968960>>”Just a hard exit, I’m fine - no damage. Had some biz to do… Ugh, fuck, is there an icepack around here somewhere?” Play it off. She'll be worried still, she always is.
>>5968960>I'm fine, I'll tell you about it on the drive back, got to get some work from Dakota firstWe really should introduce her to alice/hiln
>>5968960>”Just a hard exit, I’m fine - no damage. Had some biz to do… Ugh, fuck, is there an icepack around here somewhere?” Play it off. She'll be worried still, she always is.Well this quest is certainly getting interesting. Might be the best-written quest on the board right now
>>5968970>>5968986>>5968991>>5969118>>5969149Writing.
“Just a hard exit, I’m fine - no damage,” You half-lie your ass off, “Had some biz to do… Ugh, fuck, is there an icepack around here somewhere?”“Some biz to do?” Vicky eyes you with a level of suspicion falling somewhere between the FIA inspecting Arasaka records and NetWatch interrogating a Voodoo Boy - your eyes widen involuntarily as hers narrow. You’ve always been a tremendously shitty liar when she’s right in your face like this, folding immediately, and it happens again. “I saw your head nearly hit the dash, Kai - What the hell kind of gonk shit are you doing on the Net?”“J-just regular b-business.” Hlín speaks through you accidentally - immediately she apologizes within your mind, but the damage is already done. Kami help you, she’s even worse of a liar when embodied. You know how strong her emotions hit now, and there’s some off about how they’re tuned, or maybe you’re just a bit more stoic than the average bear and never quite processed that. Still, even if you understand it, it’s a terrible time to have her stutter all over the place.“Out of the car.” Vicky demands, pointing back toward the DaKota, “Find a chair, plant your ass there. We’re talking about whatever…” She motions kind of vaguely at the chipware slots at the back of your neck, one of which houses your deck, “Whatever this is! I knew I was right earlier - you’re lucky you didn’t get fried, Kai.”“...You his mom or something?” Maeve asks with a grin, but it fades fast as she looks at your for longer - is it really so hard to hide things? “...Shit, suit, are you okay?”“I’m his godmother - very good friend of his family - and I’ve got a strict no gonks policy. And yes, he’s okay, I think.” Vicky lies a lot better than you’d expect - she’s even got a little crucifix necklace on. Maybe she picked it up from years of hearing bullshit from gangoons in Heywood, or from streetkids trying to avoid charges for smashing a DataTerm with a bat just for kicks. You nod in agreement with Vicky’s assessment of your health and groan in pain, your head is murdering you.
>>5969242Maeve accepts the answer, and then offers something you didn’t expect from her, green eyes filling with,a lot more emotion than you thought you’d ever see from the hardened ex-Raffen as she looks between you and Vicky, “...I’ll get some ice from the chiller, and see if there’s a medtech that does more than hand out hypos… You’re going inside?”“Yeah, we are.” Vicky hauls you out of the Quadra with one hand, grabbing your collar, and then says quietly, “Don’t bitch loudly, they’re watching.”“Yeah, yeah, I got that.” You rub at your forehead as the ex-policewoman brings you in for questioning… at a nomad fixer’s illegal netrunning hub and vehicle depot? Alright, so some things about Vicky stay the same, others definitely have changed.Soon you’re back inside DaKota, and sitting in a plastic chair Vicky pulled over from one of the walls. Some nomads are still in the garage, two working on Maeve’s Chevilon Emperor and another couple hauling around some server… cubes. They’re big crates covered in data-readouts, whatever they are - definitely Net stuff.“Alright, spill.” Vicky’s demand is simple - everything. Curious as to the commotion, Dakota emerges from her smoky office den and takes a huff from her oxygen mask. With a small wave and a shout the old nomad woman sends the other nomads scurrying from her garage. Now you’re alone with Vicky, and your only reliable fixer. Well, only up from here, or way, way down to rock bottom. Maeve then arrives with an icepack, an angel from the heavens, and throws it to you - you catch it, thank her with a groan, and place the divine relief against your forehead. You can think enough to speak now... to lie, even. Or will that just blow up again? The other lie went full 2023 on you, and you were Arasaka tower. Oof.>”...So I got tangled up with an AI, starting a few days ago. I found her in the Quadra, I think dad had her from his NetWatch days, or… or something close to that. She’s been helping me do jobs, but I might’ve gonked up bad. We both might have.” Okay, just lay it all out, try to stay in control.>”Here, I’m going to start a group holo-call, just accept it - I know we’re right here, I’ve got a choom that needs to join in.” Introduce them both to Alice, or Hlín, whatever she wants to be called. >”...I think I picked up a really nasty neuro-virus while piercing the subnet of a scavden I raided last night, I had to leave in a hurry since the whole system was collapsing and I didn’t decontam properly.” Spin a tale of bullshit to rival Homer’s epics.>Write-in.
>>5969242something off*back toward DaKota*>>5969247with a lot*
>>5969247>>”Here, I’m going to start a group holo-call, just accept it - I know we’re right here, I’ve got a choom that needs to join in.” Introduce them both to Alice, or Hlín, whatever she wants to be called.No way out.
>>5969247>>”Here, I’m going to start a group holo-call, just accept it - I know we’re right here, I’ve got a choom that needs to join in.” Introduce them both to Alice, or Hlín, whatever she wants to be called.
>>5969247>group holocall
>>5969247>”...I think I picked up a really nasty neuro-virus while piercing the subnet of a scavden I raided last night, I had to leave in a hurry since the whole system was collapsing and I didn’t decontam properly.” Spin a tale of bullshit to rival Homer’s epics.This won't win, but I think it's really funny
>>5969247>”...So I got tangled up with an AI, starting a few days ago. I found her in the Quadra, I think dad had her from his NetWatch days, or… or something close to that. She’s been helping me do jobs, but I might’ve gonked up bad. We both might have.” Okay, just lay it all out, try to stay in control.
>>5969247>"Here, I’m going to start a group holo-call, just accept it - I know we’re right here, I’ve got a choom that needs to join in.” Introduce them both to Alice, or Hlín, whatever she wants to be called
>>5969247>>”Here, I’m going to start a group holo-call, just accept it - I know we’re right here, I’ve got a choom that needs to join in.” Introduce them both to Alice, or Hlín, whatever she wants to be called.Well it’s been nice knowing you lads. How long till Netwatch hears about this now?
>>5969261>>5969267>>5969361>>5969449>>5969512>>5969376Writing.
Update will be delayed a bit longer, should still have it out today though.
”Here, I’m going to start a group holo-call, just accept it - I know we’re right here,” You can see their doubts already springing up as you speak, but there’s really only one way forward through this now - dumping everything on them, including your ghostly choom. “I’ve got a choom that needs to join in.”Vicky and Dakota quickly accept the call, and you remove their video boxes from your vision - they’re in the garage with you so there’s no point - and then you call up the Quadra. Maeve leaves while you wait, shooed off by a small wave from Dakota. Eventually a yellow bordered box appears at the edge of your sight, Alice’s face - and you do still think of her as Alice - flickering into existence. She’s appearing far less red, closer to the natural state before she died back in 2022… which you still feel strange knowing so intuitively. Memories bleed together so messily.“Interesting. Who are you?” Dakota’s question comes immediately, her arms cross as she stares off into nothing, eyes slightly aglow. “My name is Alice.” Alice introduces herself, and you have to resist the urge to speak as one with her - you do, thankfully. That would’ve been creepy as all fuck. “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintances, Dakota Smith and Victoria Reyes.”“You know who we are?” Vicky’s voice is soaked in suspicion, her hands clenched in fists, though of course there is nothing to strike nearby, “How do you know Kai? What has happened to him?”“I do.” Alice replies softly, “Do not worry, I bear only good will for the three of you - Kai and I are friends, and tied closely to one another in our troubles. I am an artificial intelligence.”“She’s an A-” You start to tell Vicky and Dakota of Alice’s true nature, but stop and blink a few times. Holy crap, she just went and admitted it herself! Perhaps she was pushed to speak by your intentions this time, it is all so tangled. “...Yeah, she’s an AI. A ghost, she was a person a long time ago.”
>>5969995“...An AI?” Dakota’s eyes flash brighter, a few of the server cubes within the garage lighting up to match their glow - she’s thickening the IC on her end of the call, “I have heard many things in my time tending to the badlands, this is hardly the strangest - speak, sister. You have worked jobs for me, haven’t you?”Vicky is too shocked to speak, just looking at you in disbelief. Oh, crap, you’re going to get it from her in a minute when she’s processed that bombshell.“I have, with Kai.” Alice replies, “And before, with Taro, though my memories of that time were severely corrupted when we were attacked on New Years. I regret that I was unable to save him - he allowed me to reside within his Quadra, where I remain now.”“So you are her.” Dakota nods, her lips pursing tightly, and she takes another puff from her oxygen mask, “Then there is nothing to discuss. Our arrangement continues.” “I do not know what the arrangement was.” You speak in sync with Alice this time - shit, Vicky is really going to give it to you, that’ll be a thermonuclear chewing out, “...And we are somewhat tangled.” “Tangled?” Dakota questions, suddenly curious again, “Your minds have touched? I have heard whispers of this before, Pacifica leaks them like a sieve.”…Could she truly know something about this? Fixers know a lot of things, perhaps she really does.“We have,” You start to explain, daring to hope she might know someone who could help you, “It happened the first time I dived, and it has grown worse the more I have been Netrunning, but she has also saved my life… two or three times now. We work well together, but I don’t want to be stuck like this. It's getting worse, like we're melting into each other.”“Get out of his head.” Vicky growls, her eyes shifting away from you and toward where the Quadra is parked, “Get out now.”“I cannot, we have both tried to pull apart - that is what was occurring before his hard exit.” Alice speaks quickly, seeing Vicky clearly through your eyes. The former policewoman’s hand is lingering too close to her holstered Metel, her eyes too focused on your car - Does she mean to shoot it? That’s insane… But if Alice’s core was broken, perhaps this would end. Vicky’s fingers tighten around her holstered gun.Terror seizes you.>”Woah, woah, Vicky, fucking cool your jets - she’s a choom, we’re trying to untangle, we just might need some help! Breaking her won’t help!” [Kai]>Get up and physically block Vicky’s line of sight to the car - it’s highly doubtful she’d shoot from here, not knowing the precise location of your core, but you just can’t bear the thought of dying again. [Alice - Hlín]>”Dakota, do you know how I could fix this?” Shit, maybe hearing someone else will calm Vicky - but she’s got that determined look in her eyes.>Write-in.
>>5969998>”Dakota, do you know how I could fix this?” Shit, maybe hearing someone else will calm Vicky - but she’s got that determined look in her eyes.start the quadra's engines just to be safe but I think we can drive faster than she can draw unless she fuckin crits or something
>>5969998>”Woah, woah, Vicky, fucking cool your jets - she’s a choom, we’re trying to untangle, we just might need some help! Breaking her won’t help!” [Kai]
>>5969998>Write-in>Physically move and stand between Vicky and the car. "You better calm the fuck down, because shooting at Alice might as well leave comatose in a bed for life" [Kai]I can perfectly see Kai pulling his big man pants up and doing something like this not out of fear but because he cares enough about Alice to talk to Vicky like that. And I feel it's also important to make sure I tag Kai on the write-in for that
>>5969998>Get up and physically block Vicky’s line of sight to the car - it’s highly doubtful she’d shoot from here, not knowing the precise location of your core, but you just can’t bear the thought of dying again. [Alice - Hlín]"Vicky, please! With the way we're tangled right now, you might as well be shooting me!"
Just caught up with the quest, holy fucking shit Mainline, you could publish this shit.Real stress, you got me CONTEMPLATING
>>5970026Tagging like that is useful for write-ins during these very tangled moments, it's a good idea. Helps me get a better idea of the intention behind it.>>5970029Thanks anon, I appreciate the kind words.
>>5970004>>5969998Switching to >>5970026 I like this writein
>>5970026>supportUh oh, I personally underestimated how much she cares about kai's well being.Regardless we dont need her causing more problems.
>>5969998>”Dakota, do you know how I could fix this?” Shit, maybe hearing someone else will calm Vicky - but she’s got that determined look in her eyes.>"If you destroy Alice, her death will also affect me due to the tangle. Don't do anything stupid."
>>5969998>”Woah, woah, Vicky, fucking cool your jets - she’s a choom, we’re trying to untangle, we just might need some help! Breaking her won’t help!” [Kai]>"If you destroy Alice, her death will also affect me due to the tangle. Don't do anything stupid."
>>5970144>>5970161Supporting
>>5969998>”Woah, woah, Vicky, fucking cool your jets - she’s a choom, we’re trying to untangle, we just might need some help! Breaking her won’t help!” [Kai]This shit getting wild
>>5969998>>”Woah, woah, Vicky, fucking cool your jets - she’s a choom, we’re trying to untangle, we just might need some help! Breaking her won’t help!” [Kai]
>>5970005>>5970241>>5970248Cool your jets.>>5970026>>5970045>>5970048Chad Kai protects the car.>>5970027Block.>>5970144>>5970161>>5970189Dakota+Destroying will hurt you.Looks like we have a three way tie (unless I counted wrong), I'll give it a couple of hours for the tie to be broken. VOTE CHOOMS, VOTE! Going to eat lunch and get some errands done.
>>5970346Just realized these three aren't the same.>>5970144>>5970161>>5970189So a two way tie then.
>>5970026Supporting
>>5970346>>”Woah, woah, Vicky, fucking cool your jets - she’s a choom, we’re trying to untangle, we just might need some help! Breaking her won’t help!” [Kai]
>>5970346>>5970027Change vote to chad Kai, that's p much what I intended
>>5970026>>5970045>>5970048>>5970349>>5970375Writing, might take awhile again but I'll definitely have it out today.
>>5970347I'm going for the Vicky one, not Dakota.
Standing at once, you move to block the path between Vicky and the Quadra, heart racing a million miles a second - you muster up your courage and speak firmly, hold out a hand toward the former police woman who care just a little too much right now, “You better calm the fuck down, because shooting at Alice might as well leave me comatose in a bed for life.” “What?” Vicky questions, releasing her metal from its holster with a flick of her thumb but not pulling it fully free.“He’s probably correct.” Dakota comments almost idly, unimpressed by the tension in the room.“What?!” Vicky whirls about, then thinks better of it and turns back to face the car, “Explain, now - Blasting that bucket of bolts seems like an express ticket to fixing all of this from where I’m standing!” “I have been tinkering with a theory.” Alice chimes in, though of course Vicky doesn’t give a flying fuck what the AI in your head thinks. Alice continues speaking anyway, “Part of Kai’s consciousness has been rendered down to engrammatic data, and… mixed with portions of my corrupted data - data I lost while defending Taro, might I remind you. Destroying my central core would likely damage me irreparable, and obliterate the portion of Kai’s psyche which is linked to my own. You would kill us both.”Dakota nods, and takes a step to Vicky, placing a hand on her arm; slowly her hand pulls away from the holster. Dakota says something quietly to her, you don’t catch it, and then speaks more loudly, “I will not have fighting in my garage - or my runners killing themselves. Kai, can you sort this out?”You nod at once - what else is there to say but yes? You have to keep getting jobs or absolutely everything will collapse, the wreck of your life caving in on itself. “I can control it enough to work, if that’s what you mean, Dakota.”“You understand then, good. I will be in my office - See a ripper, or come to me with eddies, rumors from Dogtown aren’t free. This is not a charity center, and I do not do interventions, AI or otherwise. You’re both welcome to stay and drink though, or smoke.” Dakota walks back to her office having announced that - of course she won’t just stand here and hash this out for an hour, she has too much biz, too many eddies, and you’re a very small, if peculiar, fish in her ocean. “Vicky, we can talk this out, the three of us.” You say to your friend, approaching her with arms held out, “...But I need your help, not a gun.”
>>5970683“...Shit, I hate Netrunning,” Vicky curses and then hugs you briefly, pressing tight before backing away, “We’re going to a ripper immediately. No buts, I don’t give a shit.”“Hey, I got that… medtech…” Maeve’s voice dies down even as she reenters the garage with another nomad, a first-aid kit held under one of his arms, “Heading out?” “Yeah, right now unless you’ve got a job.” You nod to her and the medtech, “Thanks, uh?...”“Jeff.” The man answers, and you give him a quick thumbs up. “Thanks, Jeff, don’t need any help right now though choom, I’ve got an appointment at a ripper.” You lie, but of course it doesn’t matter - he accepts your words and heads off back to the others outside, joining back in the small crowd around the vehicles, “...Maeve, I was serious about the job. Got one?”“I do, but you should get a chrome shrink to look around in your head… I overheard some of that at the end. Sounded fucked.” She grimaces, and you think at once of her friend Jan - the first person you ever killed, and right in front of Maeve as well - and how she spiraled into near cyberpsychosis one faulty implant job at a time, “Don’t fuck yourself up, suit, you can’t come back from some things.”“...Yeah, I know.” You don’t have anything better to say for now. Later back in the Quadra with Vicky, on the return trip to NC.Alice, or rather Hlín, is handling driving as usual, and chatting away pleasantly with Vicky - neither of them are used to the situation yet, but your red choom is doing a good job of socializing at least. Vicky seems a few degrees less likely to pump lead into the car now, but only a few. You, however, are busy checking jobs sent to you by Dakota…Which will you pursue tomorrow? Today is shot, no eddies unless you find them on your own. >Some courier work. It’s nothing special, a few simple pickups and dropoffs, no huge risks or special skills required besides a basic level of trustworthiness. Payout is 500 eddies for an entire day of driving - closer to 450 after gas and food. (essentially a timeskip, no risk)>...Raffen are stirring up shit out in the badlands, they’ve kidnapped a kid. Connor and Dolf are on this one again. 3000 eddies at least, but high risk. You’ll need to prep appropriately, but now that you’ve worked with the duo before it shouldn’t take nearly as long. (This won't take a up half of two threads)>...A bounty job, essentially. There’s an autoshop near the edge of Rancho that screwed over a number of less savvy nomads recently, and with the family busy moving states there’s no one to bust the guy’s kneecaps - or capture him so the nomads can. Killing is acceptable but disfavored. 1500 eddies if it’s done clean, 1000 if there’s a mess. (A couple of posts)
>>5970685>...Raffen are stirring up shit out in the badlands, they’ve kidnapped a kid. Connor and Dolf are on this one again. 3000 eddies at least, but high risk. You’ll need to prep appropriately, but now that you’ve worked with the duo before it shouldn’t take nearly as long. (This won't take a up half of two threads)
>>5970685>>...Raffen are stirring up shit out in the badlands, they’ve kidnapped a kid. Connor and Dolf are on this one again. 3000 eddies at least, but high risk. You’ll need to prep appropriately, but now that you’ve worked with the duo before it shouldn’t take nearly as long. (This won't take a up half of two threads)
>>5970685>>...Raffen are stirring up shit out in the badlands, they’ve kidnapped a kid. Connor and Dolf are on this one again. 3000 eddies at least, but high risk. You’ll need to prep appropriately, but now that you’ve worked with the duo before it shouldn’t take nearly as long. (This won't take a up half of two threads)Building up a rep with Solos is not a bad move for the kind of shit we're going to be dealing with. If we're fighting Raffen, it's a good way to sync with Meave for an edgerunner team. We're going to need people we operate well with and can trust as we start getting deeper into the conspiracies around us. The money is a nice bonus to it. Plus we can actually properly run with them now via the two decks we have. Honestly, the person we zeroed probably had an internal as well.
>>5970685>...Raffen are stirring up shit out in the badlands, they’ve kidnapped a kid. Connor and Dolf are on this one again. 3000 eddies at least, but high risk. You’ll need to prep appropriately, but now that you’ve worked with the duo before it shouldn’t take nearly as long. (This won't take a up half of two threads)3000 is our cut, I hope, not split?
>>5970752Yes, that is Kai's expected cut before any pay data, bounties, found bundles of eddies, or other crap that isn't bolted down and a Solo can grab quickly in a gunfight or while sneaking around. Cars are a huge win if you get them in decent-ish condition and without triggering failsafes or getting it filled with bullets. That's pretty hard to do in practice.
>>5970765damn we probably handed Maeve a 5 digit stack of eddies then we gotta remember that if we ever need an armored car lol
>>5970779>5 digit stack of eddiesYeah, that's pretty much exactly what happened. Notice her suddenly being a lot friendlier? That's not just beer and ribs putting her in a good mood.
>>5970779we also basically bought a subscription/# of favors for her to use that vehicle for us.Realistically, having a Nomad soup it up and drive it for us is worth a ton more when we need wheels in the long run.
>>5970685>...Raffen are stirring up shit out in the badlands, they’ve kidnapped a kid. Connor and Dolf are on this one again. 3000 eddies at least, but high risk. You’ll need to prep appropriately, but now that you’ve worked with the duo before it shouldn’t take nearly as long. (This won't take a up half of two threads)I like the idea of the being known for “VIP” rescue/ops
>>5970685>...Raffen are stirring up shit out in the badlands, they’ve kidnapped a kid. Connor and Dolf are on this one again. 3000 eddies at least, but high risk. You’ll need to prep appropriately, but now that you’ve worked with the duo before it shouldn’t take nearly as long. (This won't take a up half of two threads)Thank fuck that was defused. And we have reached ...'stabilty'?
>>5970983>stabilityYes, for now at least, it comes in episodes.
>>5970683Raffen
>>5970729>>5970731>>5970749>>5970752>>5970810>>5970917>>5970935>>5970971>>5970983>>5971032Writing. Probably going to be another slow day, but the post should cover a lot of stuff and get right to the job. I think we'll be able to get the job finished before the thread dies, but we'll see.
You send back a message indicating you’ll accept the ‘Raffen Rescue’, and then shoot a few texts off to Dolf and Connor to let them know you’re on the job as well - in a few moments you’re flooded with enthusiastic messages from the pair of Solos… and a photo of Connor stretching fascinatingly over a countertop in tight workout shorts; she’s mostly chrome down there, but not all and if you were driving the Quadra it might’ve crashed. The fit of your pants is quite a bit tighter after you stare for a good half a minute, and your cheeks a touch hotter, but thankfully Vicky can’t see the image - the benefits of a link over an agent, no prying eyes…Well, except for Alice of course; if it were possible for the Quadra’s projectors to display anything but red she likely would turn green with envy. The next half hour back to Night City, and to Vik’s clinic, is spent bickering with her within the safety of your shared mind. The pause in conversation between her and Vicky clearly didn’t go unnoticed by the former policewoman, she clued into the AI’s projected eyes narrowing in anger, but they’re soon back at it - Alice can quite easily handle pestering you and speaking about Vicky’s hobby of baking. Damn, you could go for some fucking cookies. Both of you could; Alice remembers the taste of Vicky’s baked goods through your memories, and she wants them bad - yet another desire unfulfilled. …Quite the repressed and frustrated ghost.2076.01.07, 015:45Night City (Watson, Vik’s Clinic)It didn’t take long to let Vik in on what’s happening, or what you think needs to be done - he agreed. When you awaken from the full disconnect procedure, Alice is still within your mind. You blink as Vik shines a light into your Kiroshis, his weathered yet still handsome face wrinkled up in contemplation of your condition. “Still kicking around in there?” Vik asks, “Unplugged all your chrome, full factory reset on everything except your deck’s shards - should’ve killed off whatever you got tangled up with.” “...She’s still here.” You shake your head, a wave of disorientation striking you as your chrome finishes reestablishing nerve connections and fully reboots, “No dice, Vik.”“Damn. Must be more of a biological component to it than I’d thought, dealing with some murky waters here…” Vik shakes his head and rolls back in his chair a few feet, lifting a hand to his chin as he thinks, “I might be able to pre-install a Militech IC packaged on your personal network, it should be able to block the connection the old fashioned way - even if you’ll still have bits and pieces of this ghost of yours mixed up in there.”
>>5971761“...So we’d both be cut off from parts of ourselves? Like if the chrome was just left off?” You ask, and the experienced ripper nods - that’s just no good, you’re in full agreement with Alice instantly. This is about recovering yourselves, not chopping off the mental equivalent of a gangrenous limb - you want to be your own person, not yourself minus a shotgun pattern of random memories and personality quirks. You like your quirks, dammit. “That’s no good Vik, I’m not down for that.”“Well, there’s no guarantee it would even work, there’s more going on here than just enhanced compatibility - a lot more than I’d thought was possible… tell you what, I’ll do some more research into this on my own time, see if there’s a journal article out there or rumors on the Net. No charge, I’m interested - and it might come in handy later. Never know when another client’ll get their head tangled with someone else’s engrammatic data.”“...What the hell are the chances of that?” Vicky questions from the side of the clinic, leaning against a wall still - she’s been there for the last half hour, watching and fretting, and looking way too good with her midriff showing like that. She’s got a whole damned bakery packed away right below it, family friends aren’t supposed to be shaped like that! Alice’s virtual nose wrinkles again at your interest, you can just feel her disgust… Have you always been this horny? No, no, not quite this bad, even with your hormones as they are… Oh, shit! In a moment of stark revelation you understand that this is Alice, not you, and she’s disgusted with… herself? Weird. An image of yourself shirtless flashes through your mind, and… No, oh, ew - Why? That’s not natural to feel that way, you almost gag a little at the mixed impulses.“Always good to be prepared.” Vik replies to Vicky, both of them totally unaware of your hormonal inner turmoil, “...Looking for any other work?”“Not today.” You answer almost in sync with Vicky now, though it’s just coincidence with her. Hopefully this sync fit fades fast, Alice has really got some shit she needs to work out on her own.
>>59717622076.01.07, 016:50Night City (Westbrook, Dolf’s Apartment)“Yo, why aren’t we at pussy palace again?” Connor questions her huge choom as you enter through the sliding door of his apartment. It’s all yellows and blacks, particle board racks with weapons hooked to them adorning most of one wall - it’s like a Militech catalog vomited half its inventory out across the place, weapon and ammo crates included. The couch is even made of old crates, pillows and blankets thrown kind of haphazardly over them to make something vaguely comfy. “YO! KAI! What up, choom?~” “Just the usual, locked and loaded and ready to make some eddies.” “I’ll lock and load something, if you’re-” Connor makes a crude pumping hand motion that sends your eyebrows nearly flying off your head, but Dolf’s thankfully close enough to hit her with a big gorilla fist. An actual gorilla fist now, he’s gotten new chrome. It’s a good look, the huge reinforced knuckles suit him.“Connor, cut it out.” Dolf bonks her a second time for emphasis, “Need his blood in his brain for chair jockey shit. Come on, think.”“Oh, shit, good point.” Connor squeaks back, rubbing at the welt on her forehead with one hand - she’s reinforced enough that they can actually get quite violent and still have it be in good fun. Hopefully they don’t forget you’re still just squishy meat. “...Wait, wait, Kai - do you do that bath thing with no clothes and the ice?”“Uhh, sure?” You shrug, not your most charismatic moment, but you’re straining hard not to send Alice flying off her handle as well. Really, really need to do something about this libido stuff bleeding over, it’s downright uncomfortable. Need more eddies for that though. …Or maybe you’re just stressed and need an outlet? No, that’s Alice again.Connor bites her lip and nods, “Can I help with tha-OW!” Another thwacking slap of Dolf’s hand sends the little Solo tumbling nearly off the sofa, “Connor, keep it in your pants, choom! Got a job to plan, fucks sake.” You agree with the big guy on this one - Connor’s coming on a bit too strong, but maybe she just doesn’t get how else to do it? Or maybe BD’s just fucked her idea of how this is supposed to work, not really uncommon.“Yeah, let’s talk biz.” You take a seat on a stack of ammo boxes opposite the makeshift sofa, “What’re we looking at for resistance? I might have a driver for us with an armored car, ex-Raffen that owes me a Chevillon Emperor’s worth of favors.”Dolf lets out a whistle, “An Emperor? Shit, those are preem wheels for this kind of gig, we’re gotta go waaay out into the ass end of fucking nowhere. Roads are all garbage on sat images… Here, take a look.”
>>5971764Dolf tosses you a shard, and you slot it immediately. A holographic map of the badlands stretches out across the room between you and the two Solos, every hill and road perfectly displayed by your link and Kiroshis working in tandem. There’s a small fenced off compound atop a hill near an old ghost town, decent sightlines in every direction, and even an honest to god guard tower. About half the perimeter fence is reinforced with shipping containers that’ve been lined up to make a proper wall, the other half is protected by a nasty looking anti-vehicle ditch. The gate looks reinforced as well, but manageable with a good ram - you’d need to see it closer to know for sure. There are three buildings, an old two-story farmhouse, a run down metal barn that must be pushing a century old, and some kind of… bunker entrance?“Old survival shelter back behind the farmhouse?” You question, and Connor nods. “Yeah, I searched the old owner on the Net, kind of fucked honestly… some cult guy built it for his family, but they all necked themselves when Arasaka tower got nuked by that rockerboy, whatshisname, uhh, Johnson Silvercock? Thought the world was ending.” “Silverhand.” Dolf facepalms hard enough it would kill a lesser man, “No more BD time for you, bro. …Uh, back to biz, Christ. I think our target’s in the bunker, makes the most sense from what I’ve seen. The place hasn’t had a new owner for fifty years but squatters like these Raffle Shiv guys have been making renovations, mostly security and stuff to keep the walls up and the lights on.” “Raffen.” You correct. Dolf just takes it in stride, nodding. Probably a slip of the tongue.>”Seems like a straightforward job. I poke around on the Net, you make an assault plan, we bust our target out. Or am I missing something?” Straightforward doesn’t mean easy or safe.>”Who is our target exactly? Hope it’s another dog, I didn’t get a chance to pet the last one much.”>”...So I’m gonna be bringing in another Netrunner on this one, she’s chill though, just wanted to give you both the heads up. Won’t be taking a cut of the eddies, it’s a personal favor.” Make Alice’s presence known.>Write-in.
>>5971765>”Who is our target exactly? Hope it’s another dog, I didn’t get a chance to pet the last one much.”>"What's the timeframe looking like? Obviously I'm gonna get us the exact who, where and when, but any word from the fix?"Four straight hornyposts.... Our man (and car) NEEDS to NUT with URGENCY. Do you think if we did that whole wreath, live-BD thing Alice was thinking about, it would relieve the stress of both of us?
>>5971792it has me wondering if that bit with her needing to hash our her memories was just an excuse to get us available for sexytime.what's your guys's waifu rankings? I'm thinkin Alice top, since she's literally in our head and that synchronization stuff could be really useful if we got more chrome, Connor, then Coco, then Maeve. >”Seems like a straightforward job. I poke around on the Net, you make an assault plan, we bust our target out. Or am I missing something?” Straightforward doesn’t mean easy or safe.love us a fortified position though, see if either of them have sniper rifles or something.>writein>ask Connor what the deal is with going by Catalina
>>5971765>>5971822forgot to link vote
>>5971765>”Seems like a straightforward job. I poke around on the Net, you make an assault plan, we bust our target out. Or am I missing something?” Straightforward doesn’t mean easy or safe.>”Who is our target exactly? Hope it’s another dog, I didn’t get a chance to pet the last one much.”>”...So I’m gonna be bringing in another Netrunner on this one, she’s chill though, just wanted to give you both the heads up. Won’t be taking a cut of the eddies, it’s a personal favor.” Make Alice’s presence known.Wanna have one or two more missions under our belt before we introduce Alice to them. Need to see how trustworthy they are with this kinda information. As is, Dakota has information she COULD sell, but won't thanks to Dad (maybe, hopefully)Wakako would sell this shit straight to Arisaka on a moment's notice though. Engramatic cross-compatibility? It's a lot more dangerous for people to know than one would think in 2076. Also >"How are things with Catalina?"given we're supposed to go on a date with her. She asked first. And wasn't trying to hump us (Kai + Alice) every other second.
>>5971792>>5971822+1 to asking what the situation is with Ms. O'ConnorWaifu ranking: VickyVickyMaeveAliceCocoCatalinaI just want a girl who will take care of me (forcefully)
>>5971822>supportSo far alice (surprisingly) is best girl with connor and vicky tied for second.
>>5971762Well yeah she's got a bakery, and she's got an oven in there without a bun in it. We should fix that.
>>5971792Supporting this and:>”Who is our target exactly? Hope it’s another dog, I didn’t get a chance to pet the last one much.”
>>5971765>I got a feeling that bunker is going to be trouble. If we can find the air intakes we could pump some smoke in there or something to flush everybody out. Might make sense as an opening move before they know we're there.
>>5971792Supporting this post and trying to solve the horniness thing, it is starting to override core functionality here…
>>5971822Maeve scares me. We don’t touch that.Vicky is basically a second mom. Don’t even think about it.Coco is just… weird. I dunno but I don’t like her.Alice is best girl but Catalina is actually… ya know… a real person. If a little pushy.
>>5971765>”Seems like a straightforward job. I poke around on the Net, you make an assault plan, we bust our target out. Or am I missing something?” Straightforward doesn’t mean easy or safe.>”Who is our target exactly? Hope it’s another dog, I didn’t get a chance to pet the last one much.”Write-in:>We’re going to need to get creative about that bunker. Any ideas on how we can smoke it out without flatlining our target?
>>5971765>”Seems like a straightforward job. I poke around on the Net, you make an assault plan, we bust our target out. Or am I missing something?” Straightforward doesn’t mean easy or safe.>”Who is our target exactly? Hope it’s another dog, I didn’t get a chance to pet the last one much.”>I got a feeling that bunker is going to be trouble. If we can find the air intakes we could pump some smoke in there or something to flush everybody out. Might make sense as an opening move before they know we're there.Something nonlethal of course, teargas, or sleeping gas.>>5971822>Waifu rankingsMaeve > Catalina > Vicky > Alice > CocoWhat can I say, I like them spicy.
>>5971765Supporting >>5972020
>>5971822>Vicky>Maeve>Coco>Connor, though her assertiveness is kinda hot, I'm just not really into short or heavily chromed people.
Won't be able to post for a bit so voting will be left open for now. Lets see who your REAL Waifu is.
>>5971765>”Who is our target exactly? Hope it’s another dog, I didn’t get a chance to pet the last one much.”>>5972211Nue my beloved your time will come
>>5972211rolling
>>5971765>>”Seems like a straightforward job. I poke around on the Net, you make an assault plan, we bust our target out. Or am I missing something?” Straightforward doesn’t mean easy or safe.>>”Who is our target exactly? Hope it’s another dog, I didn’t get a chance to pet the last one much.”
>>5972211These are in numerical order, not superiority>Connor, i see no reason why should not give the girl little bit of sausage when she trying so hard. Also if i dont remenber wrong there was something about threesome with Coco. Would.>Vicky, the forbitten fruit. Not my main choise but for harem sure. Would.>Coco, a catgirl need i say more. Needs more screentime to know chacter better. Would.>Maeve, crazy and hot. Did i say hot as like the surface of the sun. Would.>Alice, She will be fun AFTER she gets her own body not ours. Would.>Em, If she has not gone cyberpsycho. Seems little yandere. Big maybe.>Dolf, No.>Mom, NO!>Car, that just Alice right now. "AFTER she gets her own body".>€$, My beloved that will work with all of the combos.Sorry Mainline cant decide want harem.
>>5972297Sidenote: No is not no to save mom
>>5972297>7 Dolf'd. You flew too close to the sun, anon.
Rolled 8 (1d10)>>5972302
>>5972309It seems we are saving mom
He can’t keep getting away with it. On that note. is our mom even related to us? After all we were a part of gene-soldier program. She gave birth to us, But who is the genetic base for us?
>>5972211Rolling
>>5972332YEEEEAAAAAAAH
>>5972327We're probably modified enough for genetic mutation to be a non factor. In fact, I believe that our most compatible partner is some who has gone through the same modification. Arizona can't come soon enough!
>>5972336Reproductive genes are relatively isolated from gene therapies, due to Weismann line & central dogma of molecular biology. Not impossible, but with the precision work done on him it is unlikely Kai will be shooting super sperms
>>59722111-Catalina: seems nice enough, good choom and on the more stable end of chromed-up solos2-Vicky: borderline incest, no3-Coco: I dunno maybe, the bio mods creep me out 4-Maeve: only if I want to get shot by the queen of Tsundere six months later5-Alice: once she gets a body, yes. She’s cute!6-Em: no cyberpsychos. That should be obvious.7-Dolf: the best choom a runner can ask for8-Mom: basically Kai’s main driving force. Also completely doomed to die, poor woman. She’s complicated, but definitely didn’t deserve nanite ALS.9-Quadra: More than just a choom, a true brother in arms. Even better with Alice behind the wheel.0-Eddies: Yes. No other commentary needed.
>>5972336Wait. Your post made me realize it all. Mainline WANTS us to fuck our sister. It is all part of his plan. Our character’s name is Kai, What does that seem close to? Kain, as in the biblical tale of Kain and Able. In the Book of Jubilees, Kain’s wife is said to be named Awan. What does that Sound like? “A-one” What is our sister's name? Yu-1. Her name has a 1 in it.I cracked the fucking code lads. It was all part of the master plan. mainline wants us to breed our sister and make a city named after said child, as Kain did for Enoch.
>>5972327That's a good question to ask the next time Kai speaks with her, whenever that is. >>5972336Should've added a theoretical FemKai to the rolling chart. And the Nue >>5972233 is based>>5972364ܡܘܬܐ ܩܡ ܘܐܬܝܠ ܠܫܚܟ ܐܪܐܡܐ، ܣܐܦܪܐ
>>5972367for what it's worth Kaiussy is in the lead
>>5972344That's assuming she stuck to one set of modifications. If your going to backstab a megacorp you might as well be greedy about it. Much like how the Bene-Gesserit Jessica produced the Lisan al Gaib. We are Destined to unite the nomads and jihad across the continent with our super sister.>>5972364Or this. This works too
>>5971792>>5971923>>5972016I think this is the winning option/combo? Very fractured today. I'll throw in the Catalina/Connor question as well, and I guess some bunker concerns too since that came up in other votes and it's a good question. Writing now.>>5972409The CHOO2 must flow, anon. Speaking of sci-fi stuff, Cyberpunk has FOUR fucking O'Neill cylinder colonies and two of them declared independence from earth FIFTY YEARS AGO. Also mechs exist.Moving to not-Zeon is not only possible, it's a good way to escape corporate troubles. Mike Pondsmith is such a fucking ridiculous weeb, I love that man.
“So who’s our target exactly?” You ask probably the most important question for a rescue mission - escape could be a hell of a lot harder if they’re some ginormous lardass or a frail old lady, “Hope it’s another dog, I didn’t get a chance to pet the last one much.”“I miss buddy.” Connor frowns, crossing her arms, “Stupid bioplagues, I think I like dogs.”“...Eh, yeah, he wasn’t so bad.” Dolf grins, probably thinking of the fuzzy golden little pup, “But our target this time’s a corpo that tried to cut the wrong deal with these Raffen guys, handoff went bad and his guards got lit up - they’re trying to pump his corp for eddies to release him.” “We’re working for a corp… Through Dakota?” You kick at a shotgun shell laying on the black tile floor, sending the red wax cylinder rolling away to Connor; she kicks it back, and the game is on,Dolf watches your game of shell hockey for a moment before speaking, knocking it back toward his small choom when you launch it off target on the third exchange, “...Nah, she said it ain’t a corp paying but it’s kinda a confidential gig, y’know? Didn’t ask for names.”“Right, right. Target’s name though?” You ask, trying to keep focused on the game and the gig, and not Connor… or her very nice legs. Chrome, sure, but shaped well and they give her a frankly eye popping hip to waist ratio. Agh, really need to do something about these urges, your small head’s starting to commandeer the ship from your larger one.”Stop looking! Y-you get so hard. I m-mean you make this hard! Just don’t look at her!” Alice stutters within your mind, and your cheeks flush at the distracting comment.“Donald Forest.” Dolf replies, giving you a strange look as he notices your new crimson hue, “...He’s with Allworld Insurance, apparently they do arms deals.” “Wait, wait, an insurance company selling guns to Raffen?” You fail to block the kicked shell this time, Connor scoring a point. Sweeping it back from the edge of the crate, you begin the game again, a little more distracted now with the gig, “Isn’t that just asking to have to pay out policies, or are they trying to fuck over a competitor or something?”
>>5972499“Think I know? Dakota didn’t say a peep.” Dolf chuckles and shrugs, “They’re not paying, so I only care that the Raffen have lots of new guns, but uh, I gathered that’s not really a change from their normal MO, yeah?”“No, not at all.” You answer, thinking of your first gunfight - that frantic car chase fleeing from Raffen in Northside. Crazy times, but far crazier ahead still, “What’s the timeframe looking like? Obviously I’m gonna get us all the detes on who, when and where, but any word from Dakota? And what about that bunker? It seems like trouble.”“We go tonight, before midnight, or Mr. Forest’s getting a lead pill he can’t swallow - fucking insurance gonk, hate those guys, they never paid out on my… ugh, never mind that.” Dolf shakes his head, frowning for a moment, “I don’t think they’re gonna move him before then, so you’ve seen the place. That’s basically what we’ve got. Don’t know their numbers or layout, security, Net stuff, nothing. Agreed on the bunker, it’s bad news, but if you can open the door then I think Connor’s got that covered, she’s fast and it’s small - whippity snip, grab the client, gig’s done.”“Kind of a shit job with such short notice.” You aren’t at all happy to hear that deadline, but it’s not impossible - with only a few hours to work, including driving out to the target, you can’t afford any big screw ups. …Or sneaking off with Connor, which is an idea that is frankly beginning to drown out most of your rational thoughts. You kick the shell back to her again. “We can manage though.”“Hell yeah we can, choom.” Connor agrees enthusiastically, “I can smell the eddies - another big job. We’re making it!” …Is this really a ‘big’ job? Big risk, maybe, but the pay isn’t that great for having to storm a Raffen compound, even a small one, with eight hours notice. Connor seems convinced though, grinning wide… she has a damned pretty smile. And of course her name isn’t Connor, it’s Catalina, which brings another thought to mind.“Yeah we are, gonna make it big.” You agree despite your doubts, “Uh, say, Connor. Catalina. What’s up with the whole name thing?”
>>5972500“Oh, that?” She asks, “Normally I only tell chooms who are chill, but you’re hot, so…” Dolf groans and mimes shooting himself, but the stupid line works on you - dammit, everything from everyone has been working the last few hours.“That’s just to keep me from getting zeroed, old name’s got some baggage. Don’t need to hide it well, just can’t use my old one or people will think I’m trying to do stuff, and I’m not.” Catalina explains with a small sigh, her high pitched voice making the looming death threat sound far less threatening.“Baggage?” You press a little, though maybe it isn’t the wisest thing to do. Catalina doesn’t seem to mind, but she’s obviously a bit cagey about the finer details.“Yeah, baggage.” She nods, “Got a complicated family life… Extended family, mostly. Not much of it left, but that doesn’t matter. None in NC.”>”Totally get that choom. Just found out I’ve got a twin today - a sister, before you go jumping through the roof looking for them. Family stuff can be kind of gonked out, y’know?” No need to mention anything about clones or genetic enhancements.>”What, got a gang after your cousins or something?” Might be pressing too far, but now she has your curiosity.>”...Guess I’d better get scouring the Net, see if I can access any of this Raffen stuff. Might have to get closer, line of sight.” That’ll suck ass if it’s the case, but you have cybereyes now so it’s not the worst imaginable ass, just kind of shitty.>Write-in.
>>5972502>”Totally get that choom. Just found out I’ve got a twin today - a sister, before you go jumping through the roof looking for them. Family stuff can be kind of gonked out, y’know?” No need to mention anything about clones or genetic enhancements.>Write-in."I don't know how much prep you guys will need, but I've got half a mind to do the hack on-site, or near enough to. It'll be easier with you there to jump these gonks when they try to get wise on me, I can bust through a bit quicker that way. Plus, with a live feed and a bit of time there, I can guide you in past the guards. Either way, I'm heading down to the Quadra to get a headstart, holo me when you're ready to get this show on the road, I assume I'm the wheels again?" The other half of my mind is between those Filipino yamsIt might be a good opportunity to have Maeve tag in on this one, but unlikely she's free for a job at such short notice. Wouldn't hurt to call, but I'll see what anons think.
>>5972502>”...Guess I’d better get scouring the Net, see if I can access any of this Raffen stuff. Might have to get closer, line of sight.” That’ll suck ass if it’s the case, but you have cybereyes now so it’s not the worst imaginable ass, just kind of shitty.
>>5972502>”...Guess I’d better get scouring the Net, see if I can access any of this Raffen stuff. Might have to get closer, line of sight.” That’ll suck ass if it’s the case, but you have cybereyes now so it’s not the worst imaginable ass, just kind of shitty.Hi-ho hi-ho :)
>>5972211rolling>>5972502>”...Guess I’d better get scouring the Net, see if I can access any of this Raffen stuff. Might have to get closer, line of sight.” That’ll suck ass if it’s the case, but you have cybereyes now so it’s not the worst imaginable ass, just kind of shitty.
>>5972502>Totally get that choom. Just found out I’ve got a twin today - a sister, before you go jumping through the roof looking for them. Family stuff can be kind of gonked out, y’know?” No need to mention anything about
>>5972508For this kinda job, it's a simple drive. Honestly, it's better to start linking her in so they know she's reliable (or if she's not). simple pay for a simple job, just driving there and back in a car. Given the opportunity to possibly steal a ton of guns from the Raffen, she might take it up pro-bono. Aslo, Alice lives in our car so that'd drop her out of this? Maybe spending time away from her would help disentangle? >”Totally get that choom. Just found out I’ve got a twin today - a sister, before you go jumping through the roof looking for them. Family stuff can be kind of gonked out, y’know?” No need to mention anything about clones or genetic enhancements.>”...Guess I’d better get scouring the Net, see if I can access any of this Raffen stuff. Might have to get closer, line of sight.” That’ll suck ass if it’s the case, but you have cybereyes now so it’s not the worst imaginable ass, just kind of shitty.Also the spike in Connor/Cat being overly flirty is also interesting. She wasn't nearly this flirty the first time around. Might be the 'he had my back' after the drugs and not taking advantage of her?
>>5972709I agree with your points + an extra gun might go a long way, a fireteam of 2 against a compound isn't ideal for a clean sweep. Also, I imagine raffen are a touch better equipped than scavs, to say nothing of any potential Big Dudes.But on the other hand, if stealth is an option (difficult for Dolf) then the armored Chevillon is a no-go.
>>5972508Supporting, though I dunno about Maeve, we're gonna have to split it with her.
>>5972409Holy Christ anon, you found the missing link. The Kain and Awan reference is secondary. The Dune reference is the primary one. But instead of being only Paul, we are also Leto the Second. Our body is meant to accept the nanites like Leto accepted the worms into his body to become the worm emperor. The purpose of kai is to become something between man and machine. And in marrying his sister, he will create a new city that will topple the existing houses (the big companies) with the new city named after the child. We MUST search out the secret nanite project Mom was working on.(I am Schizoposting. Buuuuut thinking about it, this would actually be a really cool plotline idea to go down in my opinion)
>>5972502>>”Totally get that choom. Just found out I’ve got a twin today - a sister, before you go jumping through the roof looking for them. Family stuff can be kind of gonked out, y’know?” No need to mention anything about clones or genetic enhancements.Wanna do some familymaking activities, Catalina>>5972806He who controls the CHOO2 controls the universe
>>5972806What makes this even funnier is that we have already accepted a "worm" (Alice) into our body. Not to mention the biodomes in Arizona that were brought up and mentioned in light investigation, but there is one what holds something of import out there. HOUSE KAI SHALL RISE. I'm only worsening this aren't I?
>>5972806From thread one:“Can’t.” She confirms, laying out the cards one at a time, “Let’s see what path fate has in store for you, Kai… The Magician, reversed.”“What does it mean?” You ask while peering at the card, it is a colorful pastel image of a medieval looking cloaked man, one hand pointed upward and the other below.“Well, it depends a lot on the next few cards, but it usually symbolizes a meeting of the physical and spiritual words, a conduit for fate to work through - the midpoint between thought and action. When it’s reversed like this, it shows an unfocused energy, unrealized potential - sometimes something darker. Let’s see what the next one is… The Chariot, upright. Hmm. Not what I would’ve expected after the last one, but sometimes fate is filled with surprises. The chariot represents a determined focus, or a quest even, that a person has chosen on their own - But it isn’t without peril - without balance, a person’s goals can drive them right over the edge, off their path and into ruin.”“Ominous… But that tracks.” Investigating your father’s death, paying for mom, even helping out Alice - in some ways it’s fallen on you, but you’ve chosen this path.She lays out the next card, “…The Tower, reversed. That’s a bad card, Kai. Really bad.”“Can’t you just… flip it around?” You know that’s not how it works, but the joke doesn’t even get a laugh from Misty, just a very small, very sad smile.“I wish I could, Kai, but I only divine futures, I don’t make them. When the tower is reversed, it represents disaster. Shaky foundations that will fall apart suddenly or which have already started to go. Betrayal from someone you thought to be a friend, lies finally unraveling …And finally, the last card… The moon.”“Sounds better than a falling tower.”Misty shakes her head, “I wouldn’t be so sure. Not many people get this to end a reading. The moon is… mystery. Uncertain futures, hidden enemies. That’s not good with the reversed tower, or the magician… any of these.” She bites at her lip slightly, glancing at the cards worriedly, “I’m sorry, Kai, I was hoping I’d bring you some peace, but maybe a warning is enough?”“Thanks, Misty… I think. It’s better than not knowing.” The whole thing has just left you feeling unsettled, but it really is better than being spiritually blind - at least you'd like to think so. You don't begrudge her a bit either way, the message isn't the messenger's fault.
>>5972878It all makes sense.IT ALL MAKES SENSE.The meeting of the spiritual and physical world is meant to show how Kai's mind will become one with both normal reality and cyberspace. His body being not just flesh anymore but closer to a mix of blood and metal. He will have no fixed boundary of when he stops and any other machine begins. He will become almost like an AI with a physical body. a Deus ex machina, the god in the machine. And the truth, the chariot. It will be revealed to us after finding Yui. How we cannot run from Night City. For Night City will always follow us. And we will then challenge the old powers with the help of the nomads we've been helping.The tower is meant to show how the lie that Night City has its foundation laid upon will be shattered. And we will likely have a person we care for die. We are the betrayer to Night City, in the biblical sense of betraying one's parent by whom one was raised. And the moon will represent how the future we've made is a delicate one. One with the potential to save everyone. Or doom everyone in the city if it falls apart. That, or potentially our actual fate will be connected to the moon. Night City does have the rocket to it. Mainline, you absolute bastard. I'm hooked now on this. THE NANITES MUST FLOW.GOD EMPEROR OF NIGHT CITY.THE DEUS EX MACHINA.
Voting will remain open for another hour or so, won't be able to start writing until after dinner.
>>5972594>>5972534>>5972515Writing. Might take a bit but it should still be out tonight.
Going to be a delay on the next post, it'll be out tomorrow morning if things go well. Should get right into the swing of the job with it, at least the Net and scouting bits.
>>5973191The twin stuff got more votes didn't it though? It was kind of a deadlockNet scouring: >>5972515 >>5972534 >>5972594Both: >>5972709 >>5972718 >>5972796Twin: >>5972508 >>5972821 >>5972660
>>5973609Actually no it didn't get more votes, both got the same.
>>5973609>>5973610I had some concerns about that as well but narrowly went with net scouring winning.>>5972718 Isn't formatted clearly as a vote, anon was agreeing but it could have just been discussion.>>5972508 Has a significant write-in portion that makes it distinct from twin stuff alone. Arguably it is closer to being a 'Both' option, but I don't think it quite fits.Really though I should've just left the vote open longer, I thought I'd have more time to write last night. Apologies for the messy situation.
“It’s all chill for now, if that’s what you’re wondering.” Dolf assures you a little more defensively than you’d expect from the usually jovial man, but you’re getting the sense that he’s something of an older brother and best friend to Catalina - being protective makes sense. For being pretty gung ho, Dolf’s the voice of reason between the two Solos. “Not gonna mess with biz any, so don’t sweat it.” “...Guess I’d better get scouring the Net,” You let the discussion of Catalina’s family pass for now, familiar with your own messy situation enough to know not to go diving into that before a job like this, “Might have to get closer, line of sight.” “What kind of zoom have you got on those eyes?” Dolf asks, “Connor told me about all the new chrome.” “Uhh… Six times?” You zoom in on Catalina’s, and then find yourself immediately torn between thinking it’s the best idea you’ve ever had or the worst. Alice forces your vision to snap back to normal, which is concerning but appreciated - it does nothing to settle your raging hormones or this awful emotional cross contamination going one, but at least she’s willing to digitally bonk you on the head when you’re getting too horny for your own good… Or when she is. Whatever this is! “Here,” Dolf stands and moves to a crate nearby, unclasps its and swings the heavy metal lid open. A moment later he has a pair of large field binoculars in his hands, “These do thirty two, and thermals. If you have to do your Net stuff up close, this'll keep them from popping your head... probably. Rifles can reach out pretty far with the right skills.” He tosses you the binoculars, which you catch with both hands - heavy bastards, they weigh almost as much as your Nowaki does. A few shard slots on the sides and a data port immediately get your interest. “Those can do Net triangulation, for uh… fast hacks, or whatever you chair jockey guys call them. Airstrikes too, but I don't got an AV or nothing to do that. Heh, that’s why I got them though. Never know when it might come up, yeah?”
>>5973623“He spends all his eddies on gonk surplus shit!” Catalina’s grinning wide again, “...I kinda like these ones though, we went up on the dam a few days ago with them, can see everything from up there with them. Gonna be a nova Net wizard, Kai, go all eye of Sauron on these gonks.”...eye of Sauron? You have no idea what that means, but Alice does... Lord of the Rings? “I know the spot, yeah,” You think of your discussion with Alice a few days prior, when you came to realize she may be a ghost - a human - rather than a properly alien AI, “So just jack in and I can start uploading at… damn, that’s got to be a kilometer or more, doesn’t it?” “One click? Easy, they’re good out a whole lot further on a clear day and if you’ve got a steady hand.” Dolf informs you, mimicking the use of pretend binoculars almost like some giant heavily muscled child - he really likes this stuff, “Gonna want them back though.” “Yeah, for sure - I’ll go ahead and get to the Net stuff then… Mind if I just do it here?” Now that Alice is using the klepped ‘saka deck your distance to the Quadra isn’t quite so important, especially with this mind-tangle you’ve got going on, but it’s still parked close enough to the apartment either way. …Does raise the question of what happens to you if your Net connection is killed entirely. Probably nothing good, might leave you drooling on the floor missing your ability to walk, or turn you into a psycho when half your empathy is suddenly just gone... Yeah, no, not in a rush to test that out.“I’ll go get some ice,” Catalina rubs her hands together excitedly, “There’s a port in the bathroom.”>”That’ll help, if I can find their subnet I’m betting it’s a lot better defended, might end up running hot.” …Still need to pick up a coolant suit somewhere, but that can wait - the sooner you get chipping away at Raffen IC, if you can access the subnet at all, the better.>”...Sounds like a great time, but I’m gonna go snag a coolant suit in Kabuki and get headed out to the badlands. Maybe call up that armored car.” This will cost 2500 eddies. Best to start heading in the direction of the job as early as you can.>”Sounds like a great time. Uh, before that though, what’d you say to a third, or a fourth… or a fifth for the job? I’ve got some chooms that owe favors, shouldn’t take much of a cut outside of looting some things, if even that.” Maeve and Vicky come to mind. Maeve owes you a couple of favors and might settle for loot alone or just fucking over Raffen, Vicky’s a shoe-in for a rescue job, good way to introduce her to merc work, but she needs to get some pay with her finances as they are, and Alice is with you either way so introducing her properly might be worth it. This will trigger another vote on who to bring in if it wins, and then it’ll be off to the ice bath. >Write-in.
>>5973625>>”Sounds like a great time. Uh, before that though, what’d you say to a third, or a fourth… or a fifth for the job? I’ve got some chooms that owe favors, shouldn’t take much of a cut outside of looting some things, if even that.” Maeve and Vicky come to mind. Maeve owes you a couple of favors and might settle for loot alone or just fucking over Raffen, Vicky’s a shoe-in for a rescue job, good way to introduce her to merc work, but she needs to get some pay with her finances as they are, and Alice is with you either way so introducing her properly might be worth it. This will trigger another vote on who to bring in if it wins, and then it’ll be off to the ice bath.
>>5973625Third vote option should have said "fourth, fifth... or a sixth"
>>5973625>>”...Sounds like a great time, but I’m gonna go snag a coolant suit in Kabuki and get headed out to the badlands. Maybe call up that armored car.” This will cost 2500 eddies. Best to start heading in the direction of the job as early as you can.
>>5973625>>”That’ll help, if I can find their subnet I’m betting it’s a lot better defended, might end up running hot.” …Still need to pick up a coolant suit somewhere, but that can wait - the sooner you get chipping away at Raffen IC, if you can access the subnet at all, the better.
>>5973625>”That’ll help, if I can find their subnet I’m betting it’s a lot better defended, might end up running hot.” …Still need to pick up a coolant suit somewhere, but that can wait - the sooner you get chipping away at Raffen IC, if you can access the subnet at all, the better.
>>5973625>”Sounds like a great time. Uh, before that though, what’d you say to a third, or a fourth… or a fifth for the job? I’ve got some chooms that owe favors, shouldn’t take much of a cut outside of looting some things, if even that.” Maeve and Vicky come to mind. Maeve owes you a couple of favors and might settle for loot alone or just fucking over Raffen, Vicky’s a shoe-in for a rescue job, good way to introduce her to merc work, but she needs to get some pay with her finances as they are, and Alice is with you either way so introducing her properly might be worth it. This will trigger another vote on who to bring in if it wins, and then it’ll be off to the ice bath.
>>5973907>>5973837>>5973695>>5973676>>5973637Writing.
“That’ll help, if I can find their subnet I’m betting it’s a lot better defended than the scavs were. I might end up running hot.” As soon as the final words have left your mouth you’ve realized your mistake, setting things up too easily for chrome-legged Solo.“I’m sure you do run hot~.” Catalina replies with a mischievous wink before standing up from the makeshift sofa, giving the shell one last kick and scoring another ‘goal’ on you, “...I’ll snag the ice, there’s a chiller a level down.” “I’ll help, we can do it in one trip that way.” Dolf volunteers, standing up with his small choom, “You got a biomonitor, Kai? Need to know if you start flatlining on us during your dive, heard some real fucked up stories from vets. Or we could just leave the door open, but, uh…”Dolf glances at Catalina, and you understand immediately. Big guy’s trying to buy you some privacy, though you doubt Catalina would actually perv on you like that. She’s gotten a burning interest in you since you looked out for her last night - twice - but you’re pretty sure it’s just fun. She knows what lines not to cross.“Uh, I don’t have a biomon, no, but if it’s that bad I can get my link to send an alert probably.” You scratch at the back of your head, running a quick Net search for anything that might be able to patch autodiagnostics through to them - a handful of eddies later and you’ve got a basic soft for it, though you don’t trust it to hold up like something out of Yoko’s shop or another true netrunner haunt would, “Leaving the door open might be best though, not sure if it’ll hold.” “I’ll keep watch then~” Catalina laughs, receiving another thump from Dolf - she spins about and makes some angry and vaguely suggestive hand gesture to illustrate her next point, “Ow! I mean it, he watched my back, I’ve got his. Jeez, you gorilla, it’s not all input output - although if you want before the job, Kai, I- OW!”“Biz first, come on!” Dolf shakes his head, his new gorilla fists finally allowing him to live up to Catalina’s constant name calling, “Never seen you like this before Cat, what the hell’s with you?” “What? He’s sweet, and are you blind? Look at hi-” They disappear out the apartment’s sliding door before you hear the rest of the bickering conversation.
>>5974086You settle in for a time and try not to think of Catalina, or any woman - and with tremendous difficulty you manage to focus on the job. First order of business is finding if the Raffen subnet is even accessible from the wider Net - if not then there’s going to have to be a trip out to the badlands for line of sight work. If you can find it then it’ll be slow probing of the defenses, followed by infiltration work and maybe some light sabotage. You just don’t have the softs to go in digital guns blazing like you might’ve been able to with the scavs. …Well, Alice actually might, those data spikes she got from that rogue AI are the stuff of nightmares, but you’re still poorly armed on the Net. Basic programs, an IC imp, some quickhacks, and whatever the hell the rest of the dragon’s tail would do if you dumped it out of the shard somewhere. That’s an emergency button, maybe, but if that damned thing starts regrowing then you definitely can’t stop it.Dolf and Catalina soon return with big bags of ice, water is run, clothes are stripped - in privacy, thankfully. As you look yourself over in the bathroom mirror, Alice, or rather Hlín, gets a bit too excited… Ugh, you’re proud of your looks, and in decent shape, but something about feeling her thoughts about you is kind of gross. …Maybe a bit interesting too, but the ice bath obliterates any of those thoughts as soon as you step foot in it. Lowering the rest of the way into the freezing cold, shivering and shaking like a ganger about to hold up a store for the first time, you run a cable from the port at the back of your neck and to the port on the wall nearby. It’s interesting that an apartment like this has one, but maybe there was another runner living here before Dolf. People come and go fast in NC. You close your eyes, and when you open them you stand within the data fields as you have seen many times before, observing the increasingly familiar landscape of Night City’s Net presence. There was no feeling of rushing cold or disorientation, the larger data port and ice bath work. Damn, that’s much better, you feel far more present now. Alice falls from the sky a moment later while you’re still testing out your more responsive Net body, landing by your side and looking a little flustered - she’s back in her modest dress from before, quite an archaic looking thing but still cute, and red cheeked. The ice bath’s had no effect on her own thoughts of course, but you feel a little more separate right now - it’s hard to be one person when you can see the other’s body. “Let’s get moving.” You nod to her, and the search for the Raffen subnet’s presence begins… I need two rolls of 1d100, DC 45. Success will reveal the subnet’s location, or that it doesn’t exist - failure will trigger more rolls and waste more precious time the job can barely afford.
Rolled 14 (1d100)>>5974087
Rolled 96 (1d100)>>5974087Uh oh
>>5974101>96Kai discovers that the subnet is indeed not connected to the wider Net, at least not in any way that even a VERY thorough search could discover. Good roll, anon. I'll have the proper post written up tomorrow morning.
>>5974102We should probably invest in a laser based signal repeater or two. Have cat sneak in, set up the repeater and give us a distant "in" into their network through our man in the middle. It also lets us open their subnet to the wider net and then start "screaming" from the point to draw curious newbie netrunners to cover our ass while we begin extract. Just have our man in the middle start blasting packets out and make it seem like their subnet is the cause.
…Half an hour after entering the Net, you re-emerge empty handed, the cold of the ice bath slapping you across the face as you come back to full awareness of your body. Shaking, you pull yourself from the freezing waters and reach for a towel, starting to dry off and warm up as soon as you can - it’s better than the post-dive headaches you were getting with your small port and not cooling, but it still isn’t pleasant. No wonder so many chair jockey’s get hooked spending time on the Net, you felt great in there, surrounded by something close to vibrant nature… Now though you’re just in Dolf’s mundane ass bathroom. It’s clean at least. Taking a few steps toward the slightly cracked door, you call out to your chooms, “No luck on the Raffen subnet, I’m going to have to get up close and do it line of sight.” ”Clothes, Kai!” Alice reminds you within your mind, your heart beating quicker as you catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror. Ugh, absolutely have to do something about this tangle.“I know.” You hiss back at her under your breath, not having forgotten the fact that you’re a birthday suit rather than a coolant one, “Stop going all gonk from a glance, fucks sake.”“Yo, that blows!” Catalina groans from the next room, thankfully not hearing your exchange with the AI - you can’t see Catalina through the cracked door, so either she hasn’t been peeping or she’s… quick. Hm. “Taking those preem wheels of yours?”“Yeah, probably have to hike a long way in, Raffen’ll might have cars out and they definitely watch the roads…” As you speak you begin to realize how much trickier this is going to be - your other job out in the badlands only worked as well as it did because Maeve cleaned up the ‘Saka goons from long range and the Quadra barely had to pull off road. It definitely isn’t made for bumping around the rougher terrain that’s so common out there, and taking the road too close is asking to get shot up or start an attempted jacking. Raffen wouldn’t let a juicy car like it pass by, or at least you think they wouldn’t. You wouldn’t if you were them.
>>5974470“Mind giving us a lift out too, choom? Not afraid of a walk for the last stretch.” Dolf’s deep voice asks, also unseen. “What? You’re terrified of cardio, Dolf.” Catalina questions more quietly, but you can still hear the exchange as you get dressed again, “...You should go out for runs more.”“With you, chrome legs? Nah.” Dolf answers, both of them seeming to have brought their energy levels down a touch while you’ve been out - they’re probably a bit more chill when a third person isn’t around, and you’ve pretty much been dead to meatspace for the last thirty minutes, “Got everything I need in my program already. I do run… uh, some. Sometimes.”>”Sure, I’ll ride up front again - enjoy the view, chooms.” Just head out with the Solos and gear now, pile everything into the Quadra and hike closer to the job so the Raffen don’t go full gonk on your car.>”...Yeah, definitely calling up that armored car, fuck having to exfil on foot. We’ll ride in on it, and back out.” Rope Maeve in, she’ll probably be down for the job.>”Not today, choom. Either of you got wheels we can take? My Quadra’s not great off-road, and I don’t want to just roll up a dirt road to the compound. Express ticket to getting zeroed.”>Write-in.
>>5974472>”...Yeah, definitely calling up that armored car, fuck having to exfil on foot. We’ll ride in on it, and back out.” Rope Maeve in, she’ll probably be down for the job.
>>5974472>”...Yeah, definitely calling up that armored car, fuck having to exfil on foot. We’ll ride in on it, and back out.” Rope Maeve in, she’ll probably be down for the jobTime to call in a favor
>>5974478desu, this is as much a favor to Maeve as it is us calling one in. Getting her networked in the biz is worth a lot.
>>5974472>>”...Yeah, definitely calling up that armored car, fuck having to exfil on foot. We’ll ride in on it, and back out.” Rope Maeve in, she’ll probably be down for the job
>>5974472>>”...Yeah, definitely calling up that armored car, fuck having to exfil on foot. We’ll ride in on it, and back out.” Rope Maeve in, she’ll probably be down for the job.
Rolled 32, 88 = 120 (2d100)>>5974476>>5974477>>5974478>>5974633>>5974716>>5974720>>5974722>>5974798Writing. It'll be right out to the badlands, no gonk business.Rolling for Maeve to not fuck up on the approach to the job. DC 35. Avoiding Raffen cars that're offroading, keeping an eye out for stray drones, and generally avoiding being detected on the drive in.
>>5974883Soon tm
>>5975173Very soon, just finished it.
“...Yeah, definitely calling up that armored car,” You say after thinking about what a pain it’ll be to take the Quadra out over rough terrain - it might just be impossible, and the hike in and out sounds brutal. Lethal, if things go bad. “Fuck having to exfil on foot. We’ll ride in on it, and back out.” “Sounds preem - This is a favor, yeah?” Dolf questions, picking up a big bag of equipment and slinging it over his shoulder, and then another. Catalina’s got a couple of duffels as well, and looks a bit cartoonishly weighed down - despite her tiny stature, she handles it just fine.“Yeah, probably won’t need to split the pay,” You reply while finishing getting dressed and exiting the bathroom, “Driver’s got a bit of a grudge against Raffen. She’s hot… headed, so try not to piss her off. Gonna call her up now.”The two Solos continue to get weapons and gear together, probably overpacking massively like they did for the last job - better than underpacking - while you call up Maeve on the holo. The outline of the holocall box snaps into existence at the edge of your vision, as real as any of the windows or doors of Dolf’s apartment, and a moment later Maeve’s image appears within it. She’s smoking and sitting cross legged beside a window, wearing her usual eye-popping leather getup and yellow jacket. Catalina’s not the only person looking like a cartoon - your jaw just about falls off when you see the former Raffer, and you get an alert through your link that the Quadra’s car alarm has gone off. Alice agrees, it would seem, even as you feel a pulse of jealousy through your shared mind.…Thankfully that reaction’s mostly within your heads, and you can feel Alice straining to reel her feelings back in - to little avail, but the effort has to be credited at least. Even before Alice’s tangle you found Maeve searingly hot, she’s just got it and with a few days to really put herself back together after fleeing the Raffen she’s only getting better. After a slight silent pause, Maeve taps at her agent in confusion, probably thinking your stunned silence was a connection error.“Yo, Maeve, I’ve got a job fucking over some Raffen out in the badlands. Rescue gig, got to pull a corpo out of a compound on a hill, terrain around the area sucks ass - I need a driver with preem wheels…:”“I’m in.” She doesn’t even wait for the rest of your hasty explanation, standing up at once and causing her agent to lose sight of her for a moment as the autotracking camera struggles to find her face again - briefly zooming on her chest instead, “Send the coordinates, I’ll burn rubber - you need a pickup in NC, suit?”“We’re getting the gear ready, can meet halfway to save time. Got to get the job done before midnight or they zero the corpo…”
>>5975207 2076.01.07, 017:10Night City (Badlands, Near the Raffen Compound)Laying down on the ground beside Maeve, covered by a desert patterned camo tarp Dolf supplied, you peer through the binoculars Dolf also supplied, and survey the Raffen compound. You’re up in the hills a little over two clicks from the crest of the compound, the bino’s range finder already proving nearly as useful as its ability to beam a Net connection to exposed devices; it’s a very tricky thing holding the beam steady, even with a little tripod to help rest the bulky heavy observation gear on. The Chevillon is parked on the opposite side of your hill, fully out of sight of any Raffen and ready to roll at a moment’s notice - Dolf and Connor are over there standing watch, cybereyes scanning the skies and landscape for Raffen cars or drones.“...Hotter than fuck today, how is this january?” Maeve complains, still working over a few fine adjustments on her Nekomata, ensuring it’s sighted in for this kind of long range shooting. With its magnetic acceleration it can take out armored targets at well over three times this range, but that’s in the hands of shooters with many more years of experience or a pile of chrome; Maeve’s a damned good shot, but not that good. “...You get that head stuff sorted from earlier? I overheard a lot of it.” “Managing it, yeah.” You reply tersely, trying to focus on the tiny silhouettes of Raffen moving about the walled compound. You can see around a dozen, and a trio of up-armored cars parked near the metal barn. There have to be a few more in the buildings too. Using the MaxTac software Catalina has generously provided once more, you mark each Raffen with a little arrow - they light up with a red outline, stalked by the digital aura now wherever they go. The program is even good at picking targets back up if they leave line of sight and come back, though it isn’t perfect. “Looks like we’ve got… fourteen gonks? The two up in the tower have something heavy.” Maeve looks through her rifle’s scope for a moment and nods slightly, “Yeah, they took one of the ma deuce’s off their rig. Probably has thermals and everything, manual operation though. Ever seen what those do to a person, suit?” “...No. I can imagine though, uh, old tech that, really old. …Got a lot of old war BDs, some get kind of detailed.” You think back to the digital carnage you’ve seen older versions of the weapon create in your father’s second world war BDs and shudder. Catalina and Dolf have a lot more armor and chrome than German conscripts, but it wouldn’t do them much good. Maybe Dolf’s plates could eat a handful of hits before breaking up, but he’ll be canned chunky salsa a second after the next burst comes in. Catalina… Nah, don’t want to think about that. She’s fast, it won’t happen.
>>5975209“BDs?” Maeve questions skeptically, looking away from the scope of her tech rifle, “It’s worse in person, suit. We’ll need to bag those two assholes manning it first, and then Jerry down below.”“Jerry?” You ask, tilting your binoculars ever so slightly to bring the man into focus - you zoom in further, but still can’t see much detail, “...The fat one?”“Yeah. Hope he’s enjoying that smoke, handsy shitbag.” Maeve curses.“You can see that he’s smoking? What kind of zoom have you got on that thing?”“More than your choom’s old surplus junk,” She answers with a devilish grin, “So when do you start setting them on fire?” “Uh,” The directness and excitement of the questions gets to you a little, Maeve’s a solid block of rolled homogenous red flags, but part of you likes that a lot more than you probably should, ”Soon, still assessing thing. Not sure a dive’ll work, but there might be a good target for it…””Such a proclivity for wanton violence is detestable.” Alice’s voice sounds within your mind - she’s using the Chevillon as a relay to keep a good Net connection to you, to avoid any risk of sudden lapses due to losing access to tangled portions of your mind - with a bit of effort she’s even been able to piggyback through the binocular’s tight beam Net connection to Raffen devices, but she won’t be good for much besides setting fire to the whole subnet. Maybe that’s fine though. ”...But perhaps warranted with Raffen. I fear I may be on something of a slippery slope in regards to violence…”…Yeah, you’ve had the same thoughts, but scavs and Raffen both really are a pile of scopsucking gonks, they don’t deserve much in the way of mercy and definitely don’t warrant guilt for putting them down. Putting them down? Damn, Maeve’s murder talk might be rubbing off on you a little, you’re almost thinking of them like animals. Although animals would be worth more eddies, so maybe that's not a good fit either.
>>5975211You drop the thought and refocus.>”I’m going to go ahead and try slipping into their subnet. If I start breathing weird and sweating too much, uh… throw water on me, or something.” Without a coolant suit it’s going to be kind of sketchy to do a dive in the badlands heat, but at least it should start to cool down soon.>”...Fuck it, I think we’ve seen plenty. Let’s get an order of targets marked up and get to work.” You’ll take out what Raffen you can from here - hit them hard and fast with as much Nekomata fire and quick hacks as you can - and then swing wide around the compound in the armored car and assault from an unexpected angle with Dolf and Catalina.>”Maeve, think you can drop any of them quietly? I might be able to cause some distractions, keep them from noticing the bodies piling up.” Overloading music players and other random devices is pretty easy, just need to be creative and careful and you can mask the impacts from the Nekomata and thumps of falling bodies.>Write-in.
>>5975214>”...Fuck it, I think we’ve seen plenty. Let’s get an order of targets marked up and get to work.” You’ll take out what Raffen you can from here - hit them hard and fast with as much Nekomata fire and quick hacks as you can - and then swing wide around the compound in the armored car and assault from an unexpected angle with Dolf and Catalina.Nothing fancy, let’s get to work
>>5975214>>”I’m going to go ahead and try slipping into their subnet. If I start breathing weird and sweating too much, uh… throw water on me, or something.” Without a coolant suit it’s going to be kind of sketchy to do a dive in the badlands heat, but at least it should start to cool down soon.We don't need to really hack any devices in there. What we need is to know WHAT devices they have in there. Last thing we want is tripping unknown mines, sensors, or turrets. Ideally that doesn't burn a ton of cycles. We don't even need to really worry about access logs given the speed of what we're doing. If the one of the raffens have a 'ping' go off, it shouldn't trip anything. And we can probably lift an ID key off one of them from the binoculars. non techies tend to be bad about security, even if they're on guard duty. captcha P00N8
>>5975211>”...Fuck it, I think we’ve seen plenty. Let’s get an order of targets marked up and get to work.” You’ll take out what Raffen you can from here - hit them hard and fast with as much Nekomata fire and quick hacks as you can - and then swing wide around the compound in the armored car and assault from an unexpected angle with Dolf and Catalina.
>>5975214>>”I’m going to go ahead and try slipping into their subnet. If I start breathing weird and sweating too much, uh… throw water on me, or something.” Without a coolant suit it’s going to be kind of sketchy to do a dive in the badlands heat, but at least it should start to cool down soon.
>>5975214>”Maeve, think you can drop any of them quietly? I might be able to cause some distractions, keep them from noticing the bodies piling up.” Overloading music players and other random devices is pretty easy, just need to be creative and careful and you can mask the impacts from the Nekomata and thumps of falling bodies.Might be able to get more of them this way before we go loud
>>5975214>”...Fuck it, I think we’ve seen plenty. Let’s get an order of targets marked up and get to work.” You’ll take out what Raffen you can from here - hit them hard and fast with as much Nekomata fire and quick hacks as you can - and then swing wide around the compound in the armored car and assault from an unexpected angle with Dolf and Catalina.Time to get the lead out
>>5975214>>”Maeve, think you can drop any of them quietly? I might be able to cause some distractions, keep them from noticing the bodies piling up.” Overloading music players and other random devices is pretty easy, just need to be creative and careful and you can mask the impacts from the Nekomata and thumps of falling bodies.
>>5975214>”...Fuck it, I think we’ve seen plenty. Let’s get an order of targets marked up and get to work.” You’ll take out what Raffen you can from here - hit them hard and fast with as much Nekomata fire and quick hacks as you can - and then swing wide around the compound in the armored car and assault from an unexpected angle with Dolf and Catalina.Time to get to work boys.
>>5975238Supporting
>>5975214>”I’m going to go ahead and try slipping into their subnet. If I start breathing weird and sweating too much, uh… throw water on me, or something.” Without a coolant suit it’s going to be kind of sketchy to do a dive in the badlands heat, but at least it should start to cool down soon.Can't be some do nothing gonk on a big job like this, and if we don't get that bunker open, it's a pointless job anyway.
>>5975214>”I’m going to go ahead and try slipping into their subnet. If I start breathing weird and sweating too much, uh… throw water on me, or something.” Without a coolant suit it’s going to be kind of sketchy to do a dive in the badlands heat, but at least it should start to cool down soon.
>>5975214>”I’m going to go ahead and try slipping into their subnet. If I start breathing weird and sweating too much, uh… throw water on me, or something.” Without a coolant suit it’s going to be kind of sketchy to do a dive in the badlands heat, but at least it should start to cool down soon.Let us hope for the best, maybe keep ourselves just a bit cool in the battlecar.
Rolled 25, 59 = 84 (2d100)>>5975238>>5975338>>5975400>>5975467>>5975471>>5975486I need two rolls of 1d100, DC 70.Alice is going in too using Kai's brain as a extremely unsafe relay, same DC.
Rolled 13, 41 = 54 (2d100)>>5975685Haha we got this
>>5975688Oops, I didn’t meant to roll twice, ignore my second roll other players
Rolled 1 (1d100)>>5975685So, pretty sure our brain's getting fried.
>>5975691R.I.P. Alice
Nue-chan would never do us dirty like this
Honestly I hope Mainline doesn't hold back here, we made a very risky gamble and deserve to get our brain cooked. t. a QM who once killed his MC due to poor player decisionmaking and bad rolls on top
>>5975691Oh god, what have we done.
>>5975724I see your point but consider: that's not fun
Rolled 100, 65, 72, 41, 15, 34, 10, 23, 22, 43, 89, 80, 13 = 607 (13d100)>>5975691>1Ouch. Okay, so time for some !FUN!, but before I go further with this I'll need to make some additional rolls to flesh out the situation. (#) indicates which roll it is, in order.First, a check to see if the job is still attempted (1), they go ahead on a 34 or higher. Conditioned on that are rolls for Alice (2-3) DC 75, Maeve (4-5) DC 65, Dolf (6) DC 65, and Catalina (7-8) DC 50. Next is the Raffen (9) DC 60, and the rest of the Raffen (10-11) DC 60. Finally, rolls for Vik (12-13), DC 20 if the job is not done, DC 25 if it is.Lets see if this is salvaged, a total shitshow, or merely unfortunate.
>>5975759>does the job go ahead>critOH DEAR
>>5975759>Everyone but 1 Raffen and Vik fumblesOh boy.
>>5975759>Nat 100 for going ahead with the job, right after a nat 1>everything except one Raffen roll and Vik is a failure.Genuinely not sure what to make of this scale of a fuckup, so I'm just going to present two options.THE QUEST IS IN YOUR HANDS, CHOOMS. CHOOSE:>The job is a messy disaster, and the dice are what they are. Kai survives.>That's a 100. Throw out the other rolls, and control a different character to try to save the job. Kai still survives, I'm keeping that Vik roll.
>>5975789>>5975794Realistically? We lost the hostage, but everyone else made it out alive, albeit mostly in spite of themselves. We’re probably never getting work from Dakota ever again though, and all the other fixers - and Vik - are now understandably skeptical about our little group. Kai and Alice keep getting basic details about themselves mixed up, Maeve lost her ride, and we were out of commission long enough that our bills are now due, not to mention how much money we now owe Vik. We may be built different, but we’re CLEARLY not cut out for this shit. Fuck this city.As for my vote:>You are now DOLF, and you don’t know how this shit works but you’re pretty sure these Raffen fucks have your newest pal trapped in their dingy subnet somehow. Time to prove you’re a bad enough dude to wipe these scumbag Raffen off the face of the Earth, save your friend, and rescue the hostage you actually came here for so you can all laugh it off through the power of cold hard cash!
>>5975794>>The job is a messy disaster, and the dice are what they are. Kai survives.
>>5975794>That's a 100. Throw out the other rolls, and control a different character to try to save the jobI will NOT throw away a chance to fuck this up even further than "messy disaster". I want this fuck up to be visable from SPACE.
>>5975794>That's a 100. Throw out the other rolls, and control a different character to try to save the job. Kai survives.WELCOME TO DOLFQUESTKai was just available on the ship level, not the big shell part.
>>5975794Alice and Kai get fully lost behind the blackwall, netscape adventure?
>>5975794>>5975796Support Dolf(side)Quest
>>5975796dolfmaxxin, let's do this, +1
>That's a 100. Throw out the other rolls, and control a different character to try to save the job. It's possible to be big damn heroes.
>>5975794>>That's a 100. Throw out the other rolls, and control a different character to try to save the jobIt seems that Kai the Super soldier is having a bad day
>>5975794>That's a 100. Throw out the other rolls, and control a different character to try to save the job.>Play as DolfYeah, this might be the end of Kai's career with Dakota. We'll need to find a new fixer or some other way to get cash, we've learned our lesson.
>>5975794>The job is a messy disaster, and the dice are what they are. Kai survives.Playing through the chaos is fun! Also, consider that losing is also fun!>>5975727I respect your opinion, but if the stakes aren’t real, why bother rolling at all? I prefer to think of quests as “narrative games” rather than “CYOA stories”. If quests are a game, then they can be lost if they are played badly, and that should include the possibility of MC death as well.
>>5975955I think you puted your option to different anon than you meant
>>5975794>That's a 100. Throw out the other rolls, and control a different character to try to save the job.Personally, I feel like this shouldn't necessarily be the end of the quest. It is a singular critical failure. And with a crit right after as well. 1's will happen in any given quest after enough rolls. It is a 1/100 chance after all.I think that the job should continue to be carried out. Possibly even with rerolls (that depends on what others think) and have Kai be the one to whom the punishment happens to. I don't think Dakota will turn us away either. Less trust? Probably. But not blocked outright.Personally, i propose the idea that Kai overheated massively. And because of it, his neural wetware short-circuiting had to do a near-complete restart. This means he literally shuts down and goes unconscious where he is during the whole fight. During this time, the wetware will actively piggyback off of Alice's connection to Kai and help reboot using her. Which strengthens the synchronicity by a large amount. Like 10 to 15%That's at least my view on the nat 1 & 100. What i think seems fair at least.In the meantime, we can indeed play as dolf. Seems like it would be fun.
>>5975691Anon jinxing us with that comment
>>5975759Good fucking LORD Almighty. However this goes, I don't think there'll be much of a Raffen outpost left afterwards!How are we gonna bounce back from this? Go for lower stakes jobs until we got the gear and training to go for big bucks again?>>5975794>That's a 100. Throw out the other rolls, and control a different character to try to save the job.
>>5975794Kai’s deck completely short circuits. Alice attempts to reboot it, but the engrammic mix-up fucks up the process. Kai and Alice are still entangled, but they switch places. Alice is in Kai’s body and Kai is in the Quadra.We control Maeve as she wrestle bloody vengeance on her sworn enemies. Even if that means blasting this fucking bunker to powder.
>>5975991>>5975970Absolutely devious suggestions.>>5975797>>5975955!FUN! enjoyers.>>5975796>>5975802>>5975803>>5975847>>5975868>>5975908>>5975932>>5975933>>5975970>>5975987>>5975991>play someone elseAlright, looks like there's going to be an attempt to salvage the job. Things might still go INCREDIBLY wrong, but you'll get to watch it in real time from the comfort of someone else's POV.Which disposable tool of Dakota LEGEND OF NIGHT CITY will you control?:>Dolf. The BIGGEST.>Catalina. The fastest!>Maeve. The CRAZIEST!VOTE, CHOOMS! IT IS YOUR PATRIOTIC DUTY AS NUSA CITIZENS.
>>5976013>Dolf
>>5976013>Maeve
>>5976013>Dolf. The BIGGEST.Excuse me Mainline, as a member of the EEC i find this quite offensive.
>>5976013>>Dolf. The BIGGEST.
>>5976013>Dolf. The BIGGEST.Dolf SMASH!
>>5976013>DOLF
>>5976013>MaeveDemocracy is incredible, isn’t it?
>>5976013>>Dolf. The BIGGEST.unironically the smartest person there for the situation involved. Alice is still an active 'combatant' at least.
>>5976013>>Catalina. The fastest!
>>5976013>Maeve. The CRAZIEST!Mama warned me about women like you. I was hoping she was right.
>>5976205I think Alice was the closest to meeting the original DC, only four or so off.It’s not gonna matter, that corpo is fucked. The best we can do is scavenge them for guns and ammo to resell later.QM, what’s an M2 Browning go for on Night City’s black market?Better yet, can Dolf wield that and remain mobile?
>>5976023>>5976043>>5976044>>5976051>>5976055>>5976079>>5976090>>5976205The Dolf times will be upon us tomorrow morning, chooms.
2076.01.07, 017:14Night City (Badlands, Near the Raffen Compound)“Come on, choom, wake the fuck up.” Growling in frustration, you slam another air hypo against Kai’s chest, and shake the unconscious chair jockey by his collar as the Chevillon bumps and bounces back down the hill. Something nasty in the Raffen subnet caught Kai off guard - alarms got tripped, Raffen got to their cars, and everything for the last couple of minutes has been a blind fucking rush to get your shit piled back in the Chevillon. Weapons, gears, Kai - you threw it all in, nearly ragdolling the netrunner when you tossed him inside. “...Shit, he’s not getting up! Maeve, job’s still on - swing us around!” There’s no response from the nomad woman except the roar of the Chevillon’s engine as it accelerates down the hill, striking through cacti and brush, everything going down under its armored front. “Kai?” Catalina’s got Kai’s head in her lap, staring at his unresponsive cybereyes, barely speaking in a whisper. God dammit, you need her awake for this too, she’s looking sadder than that damned puppy you rescued last night - Placing a huge hand on her shoulder, you force your best choom to look you in the eyes instead.“Cat, job’s still on,” You repeat, trying to give her a confident smile - the best one you’ve got, “He’s got a pulse. Think he delta'd in time, just isn’t rebooting yet - we can’t do more.”“The… the job? He needs a ripper!” She punches you, which you barely feel - ferroceramic plates and aramid weave thicker than mama’s old blankets’ll turn even her reinforced blows into a light thump, “The job’s fucked!”“The job’s doing fine,” You shake your head and then look back to Maeve - her eyes are fixed solely on the drive, twisting the wheel about here and there as the Chevillon careens and jumps down the rough slope. Even now it’s beginning to level out, and the wide swing around the hill and then toward the other hill the Raffen compound is on has begun, “Ain’t that right, Maeve? It’s time to get tactical, chooms - we’re going in! …Come on, Cat - these gonks are gonna chase us either way, gotta attack into their attack or we’ll get shredded on the road.” “Big guy’s right! We run and they’ll smell blood, gotta kill all of these assholes!” Maeve cackles in excitement, drifting the Chevillon in a wide sweeping arc. Scary bitch, but you’re glad she’s here, and her car too - Kai did good on that, at least.
>>5976740“Cat, we need you in the game, choom,” You give her one last reassuring shake, and then turn to deal with your gear bags that got jammed in the back with everything else. You’d crawl up to ride shotgun, but even in a car this big that’s a damned tight fit. You don’t do small spaces, and neither does your gear - shit barely fits, but you managed to bring something BIG for this job, “...Let’s see what we’ve got…”>Dolf Nukem’: You brought a collapsible Militech Super FLASH, a quad-barreled thermobaric rocket launcher. Come get some!>The Dolfinator: You brought a minigun. You’ve come to the past to save this job.>Dolfenstein 3D: You brought… A knife and an old pistol? Fuck, this is the wrong bag! MEIN LEBEN!
>>5976741>The Dolfinator: You brought a minigun. You’ve come to the past to save this job.Only a huge application of flying metal will save the day
>>5976741>Dolf Nukem’: You brought a collapsible Militech Super FLASH, a quad-barreled thermobaric rocket launcher. Come get some!I'm getting wood
>>5976741>>Dolf Nukem’: You brought a collapsible Militech Super FLASH, a quad-barreled thermobaric rocket launcher. Come get some!
>>5976741>Dolf Nukem’: You brought a collapsible Militech Super FLASH, a quad-barreled thermobaric rocket launcher. Come get some!
>>5976741>>The Dolfinator: You brought a minigun. You’ve come to the past to save this job.
>>5976741>Dolf Nukem’
>>5976741>The Dolfinator: You brought a minigun. You’ve come to the past to save this job.
>>5976745>>5976747>>5976747>>5976764>>5976793>>5976794We're going to be taking this into a bunker, remember? And I doubt thermobarics will help our target much. Hell, Dolfenstein 3D would probably be better for close quarters shit but this is a good middle ground, at least for outside stuff.
>>5976925Consider; the pistol and knife will still be there when it's time to raid the bunker. But we need to survive getting there first!
>>5976741>Dolf Nukem’: You brought a collapsible Militech Super FLASH, a quad-barreled thermobaric rocket launcher. Come get some!And frag that tower the second we get a line of sight on it.
>>5976925Nah choom, Catalina can handle the CQB. We gotta scrap some Raffen wheels and flatline the heavy gunner if we even want to get close.
>>5976925On one hand, the minigun has volume of fire and is forgiving when it comes to aiming but at the end if the day it's still regular 7.62On the other the flash is going to stop dead anything it hits, if it hits, but we only get 4 chances, and I doubt Dolf brought reloads.I'm less concerned about the weapon choice and more concerned about the rolls
>>5976931>>5976947True, but I still think the minigun would be better as I concur with >>5976956 that Dolf might now have brought reloads.
>>5977011*not
>>5976931Actually no, scratch that, we can't. This is just the one bag with the big shit that dolf brought. We MIGHT have a knife and old pistol in here somewhere but we definitely do not have a spare FLASH and/or minigun.
Rolled 45, 66, 14, 28, 95, 97, 95 = 440 (7d100)>>5976745>>5976747>>5976764>>5976793>>5976794>>5976946I need two rolls of 1d100, DC 60. Firing a rocket launcher while leaning out a window is tricky, and the Raffen aren't giving you the choice of picking a different plan. Each degree of success (increments of 10) is another Raffen car hit. Dolf is saving a rocket for the tower, but if he screws this up he'll have another chance at the cars too with the last one - that's a choice to be made later though, if at all.My rolls are for Maeve driving (1-2) DC 40, Catalina shooting (3, 4) DC 65 (she's shaken up by shit going sideways and doesn't have a proper gun for this), and each of the Raffen cars (5,6,7) DC 45. Unfortunately turbo-bastard nomads are still nomads, and pretty good at both driving and shooting.
>>5977058>the raffen rollsDOLF, FOR THE LOVE OF MILITECH DON'T FUCKING MISS
>>5977058>95, 97, 95Uh...
Rolled 64 (1d100)>>5977058
>>5977058To clarify on the degrees of success needed for taking out the Raffen cars, the initial success (meeting the TN of 60) takes one out, so you need an 80 or higher to kaboom them.
Rolled 71 (1d100)>>5977058Allah I beg of thee
>>5977074That's two! Alright, that really means Dolf is going to have two options, so I'll just ask now so the update can be nice and juicy:>Use the last rocket on the final Raffen car armed with a pair of LMGs, essentially) and try to take out the tower with smaller iron.>Save the rocket for the tower and its HMG, and hope Catalina can take out the last Raffen car.VOTEThe Chevillon is going to be pretty fucked up (at least), but easy come easy go, ne?
>>5977077(armed with a pair of LMGs, essentially)*
>>5977077>Save the rocket for the tower and its HMG, and hope Catalina can take out the last Raffen car.Its the bigger threat to the chevellion
>>5977077Can we ram the guard tower?
>>5977077>Save the rocket for the tower and its HMG, and hope Catalina can take out the last Raffen car.Tower go boom. .50 cal is going to shred the Chevilon.
>>5977083If that tower has lasted this long, there’s no way the Chevilon is going to kill it.That’s a great way to kill the car, though. Steel columns buried in concrete have a long and storied history as road barriers.
>>5977077>>Save the rocket for the tower and its HMG, and hope Catalina can take out the last Raffen car.A Bold Move.
>>5977077>Save the rocket for the tower and its HMG, and hope Catalina can take out the last Raffen car.
>>5977091I was thinking it was more steel skeleton rather than concrete. Lots of different guard towers out there, you never know.>>5977077>Save the rocket for the tower and its HMG, and hope Catalina can take out the last Raffen
>>5977083There's an anti-vehicle ditch in the way, you'd have to make it into the compound and ram it from behind. Or ramp off something to hop the ditch.
Rolled 35, 63, 58, 88, 84, 10 = 338 (6d100)>>5977080>>5977088>>5977097>>5977099>>5977107Alright, saving it for the tower it is then. Time for the last rolls I'll need for car battle sequence, then I can get to writing it all out.I need two rolls of 1d100, DC 20. It's a big stationary open topped target and you're hurling a thermobaric rocket at it - don't completely miss and you'll absolutely wreck it and everyone on it.My rolls are for Maeve's driving post-damage (1,2) DC 70, Catalina trying to take out the remaining car (3,4) DC 65, and then the tower and the final car (5,6) DC 40 for both.
Rolled 96 (1d100)>>5977158
Rolled 87 (1d100)>>5977158>>Save the rocket for the tower and its HMG, and hope Catalina can take out the last Raffen car.
Rolled 25 (1d100)>>5977158
>>5977170Aw damn, I didn't notice someone else already rolledProbably for the better anyway
>>5977169>96>post ends in 69How does Dolf do it boys?
>>5977169>96 Nothing quite like turning a sheet metal tower into the world's largest frag grenade! Scroll that shit and put it in Militech's ad campaign, choom. Shame you didn't bring a media along for the job, might've been able to make some scratch with a shot like like.Seems like the heavy Raffen stuff gets cleaned up easily (Catalina had a nice success and the Raffen car ate shit with a 10), but the Chevillon won't be doing so hot.I'll get to writing, might not have the post out until tomorrow though.
>>5977190Like that.*
As you unzip the heavy black bag, you lay your large hands upon your baby, a Militech Super FLASH. Four tubes of semi-unguided thermobaric goodness, enough to flash fry and turn inside out any gonk that gets on the wrong side of the NUSA - Oh yeah, it’s even better than mama’s cooking on the fourth of July. Hauling the boxy weapon free of its canvas enclosure, you grab a hold of the optics rail along its side and use that grip to pull the launcher out to its full length. It lets out a satisfying clack as it locks into place.“Maeve, roll down the window!” You bellow to the smoking hot driver - goddamn, this really is like a BD, should’ve brought a media, “See any of Raffen wheels yet?”Maeve glances back at you and Catalina as the Chevillon jumps through the air, ramping off another rock for a moment, and her evil cackle turns absolutely maniacal, a murderous grin spreading across her face, “Ahahaha! Yeah, and I don’t want to! Window’s coming down, big guy - Send them to hell!” As the armored window rolls down - slowly, it’s some thick ass ballistic glass - Catalina fishes one of your rifles out of another bag and loads it up, rocking a mag in and slapping the bolt forward. Fuck yeah, this is what it’s all about - She’s getting back in the game, and you’re about to burn some eddies making eddies. Might not come out of this job ahead, but you’ve got a rep to grow. Squeezing your huge torso and the launcher out the window is tricky, but soon you’re leaning out and scanning the landscape all around. Three dust plumes are dead ahead, the armored Raffen cars, just as Maeve said. Lining up the optical targetter, you link to the launcher’s systems and watch as dotted trajectory lines shift and change with every bump the Chevillon takes over the rough ground. Wind rushes past, engines roar, and you exhale… and squeeze the launcher’s crude trigger. The rocket’s engine hisses to life, soaring out toward the Raffen vehicles. A red-orange blossom of smoke and flame blooms out and obscures the lead car for a split second, thunder crashes, and then blackened and flaming wreckage clears the smoke, flipping and spinning and plowing across the hard desert earth. You let out the ancient battle cry of all Solos - even before they bore that name, “COME GET SOME!” The second rocket streaks out, hot and hissing fire, and another Raffen car vanishes - this time it explodes in all directions like a bomb went off inside of it. Magazine explosions; a certified classic. One of its wheels flies off toward the third car, but its driver is quick, like a… cyber-cat, or some shit that’s real quick, words aren’t your thing, and it swerves out of the way before lining back up and opens fire with its own guns.
>>5977361“Ah, fuck!” You let off the third rocket as the final Raffen car lets loose with a pair of machine guns mounted to its front. Your rocket goes wide, soaring off into the badlands before striking the barren ground in a distant fireball, just beneath the compound’s hill. Armor piercing rounds ping and skitter across the Chevillon’s armor, and then up and across the windscreen, sending spider webbing cracks all across it. A couple rounds even hit you, but you’re wearing the heavy stuff today, and little shit like that’s not gonna do anything with just a pair of hits, AP or not. For a moment you consider taking the last shot at it, but then see the Raffen compound growing closer in the distance - and the tower. Gotta think ahead, choom - tracer’s are already zipping out from it’s old gun, but they’re way off target. More staccato cracks fill the air as Catalina opens fire at the Raffen car from her window, but her bursts are sloppier than even the Raffen tower’s, tracers flying around like some kind of badly planned laser show downtown. The Chevillon shakes and skids for a moment as one of the tires gets completely shredded, an awful scraping noise sounding as even the armored run flat is just ripped apart by concentrated fire. Damned Raffen are behind you now, drifting way better than they have any right to be able to. “Gonna fucking skin these bastards!” Maeve screams from the driver’s seat, struggling to keep the vehicle moving in a straight line - she holds it on target, mostly, and Catalina slaps in a fresh mag and gets back to work. The tower grows closer, and closer, and with it the whole compound. Come on, just a little more, a little more...Whatever gonk is in the tower finally gets the gun sighted in properly, and hits starting landing on the car - Shit! Popping sparks and flame shoot up across the armor, raufoss probably, deep dents threatening to perforate the overstressed armor - a couple go through the windshield and detonate inside, but none of your chooms take a hit, not even Kai. Shit, that’d be a bad way to go, unconscious and shot by a stray round from a fifty - Not today though. Leveling your launcher again, the Chevillon swerving and bucking even more chaotically as it’s pounded by gunfire from both sides, you bring the top of the tower into your sights. The dotted trajectory line shifts and moves about, left and right and left and right, swaying up and down with every bump. You squeeze and fire, and a second and a half later the metal tower is turned into the world’s largest fragmentation grenade. You managed to land the rocket in just between the roof and the firing platform, catching the full force of the blast within it. The gun, steel structure, and bits of Raffen bodies are blasted out in every direction across the fenced compound, raining destruction on the old farmhouse and barn - the house even starts to smoke, catching on fire.
>>5977365Speaking of fire, there’s more coming in from the Raffen car behind you - it’s chewing up the back of the Chevillon, but Catalina’s putting in work. Slipping your launcher back inside the car, you keep your visored head out and watch her work. Maybe it’d be better to help, but Cat’s got this one - shot after shot is pounding into the same fist size area just in front of where the driver’s head must be, and the gonk isn’t swerving enough to shake it. Cat probably has her sandy turned on to shoot like that, but it fucking works. As her second magazine runs dry, the armored glass fails and the car careens off into a boulder where it crashes hard, bending and twisting up and flipping over the big stone. Driver must’ve gotten his skull excavated by the last shot. Now you get back within the car. …And it’s a good thing too, because it’s spinning half out of control and hits something fucking hard, and you’re slammed into the door. If you were leaning out still you would’ve been thrown, but as it is your wide shoulders eat most of the attempted catapulting and get wedged in the window. Ow. Pulling yourself back, you end up falling backward onto Kai… something snapped, you think. Hope it wasn’t anything important.“Dolf, did you see tha- Hey, get off of him you big gorilla! You’re crushing him!” Cat shoves against you with the side of her rifle, practically cross-checking your armored shoulder, but you were already trying to lift yourself from the fragile chair jockey. Choom doesn’t even have dermal armor, he’s all… soft. Kind of looks like one of those shitty neo J-pop idols Cat thinks you don’t know about her listening to.“I’m off, I’m off!” You hold up your gloves hands and then direct your attention back to the front of the Chevillon just in time to see the compound gate rushing closer… and side on, oh fuck, you’re drifting into it! You slam into the window again, and then back again, landing on Kai again, and receiving a rifle butt to the helmet this time. Slightly dazed, but still a big guy wearing a mask (helmet), you announce the next step of your master plan…>”Flatline em’ all!” Yeah, that’s a damned good plan. Simple, reliable, gets rid of Raffen quick or your eddies back. Kick the door open and just start blasting gonks left and right. >”Cat, hit the bunker, get our guy out - Maeve, you’re with me, need to find wheels that work!” Grab a two handfuls of iron and blast your way to the old barn, maybe there’s working wheels inside.>”I’ve got the bunker, keep these guys off my back! Find a car that isn’t fucked!” Pound your gorilla fists together, it’s time to put this new chrome to the test and set a personal best.
>>5977366>>”Flatline em’ all!” Yeah, that’s a damned good plan. Simple, reliable, gets rid of Raffen quick or your eddies back. Kick the door open and just start blasting gonks left and right.
>>5977366>”I’ve got the bunker, keep these guys off my back! Find a car that isn’t fucked!” Pound your gorilla fists together, it’s time to put this new chrome to the test and set a personal best.
>>5977366>”Cat, hit the bunker, get our guy out - Maeve, you’re with me, need to find wheels that work!” Grab a two handfuls of iron and blast your way to the old barn, maybe there’s working wheels inside.Dolf eats rafren for breakfast. And right now, hes very hungry
>>5977366>”Cat, hit the bunker, get our guy out - Maeve, you’re with me, need to find wheels that work!” Grab a two handfuls of iron and blast your way to the old barn, maybe there’s working wheels inside.
>>5977366>”Flatline em’ all!” Yeah, that’s a damned good plan. Simple, reliable, gets rid of Raffen quick or your eddies back. Kick the door open and just start blasting gonks left and right.
>>5977366>fail mission>drive back with 3 new Nomad tuned carsI mean, it's a better payout technically
>>5977514-1 to failing the mission, Dolf does not fail.+1 to stealing all of the cars to sell to the nomad clan
>>5977366Uuuuugh.>Pulling yourself back, you end up falling backward onto Kai… something snapped, you think. Hope it wasn’t anything important.
>>5977366>”I’ve got the bunker, keep these guys off my back! Find a car that isn’t fucked!” Pound your gorilla fists together, it’s time to put this new chrome to the test and set a personal best.>>5977558Whatever broke, I doubt it was something a Ripperdoc couldn't fix.
>>5977366>”Flatline em’ all!” Yeah, that’s a damned good plan. Simple, reliable, gets rid of Raffen quick or your eddies back. Kick the door open and just start blasting gonks left and right.This is what Dolf would do
>>5977366>”Flatline em’ all!” Yeah, that’s a damned good plan. Simple, reliable, gets rid of Raffen quick or your eddies back. Kick the door open and just start blasting gonks left and right.this is a certified dolf classic
Rolled 85, 6, 36, 78, 31, 66, 53 = 355 (7d100)>>5977376>>5977468>>5977490>>5977695>>5977698>>5977772Think this won if I counted it all up correctly. I need two rolls of 1d100, DC 55.Rolling for Maeve (1,2) DC 50, and Catalina (3,4) DC 35, as well as a pile of Raffen (5,6,7) DC 55. The Raffen rolls in order are against Dolf, Maeve, and then Catalina.>>5977558And then it happened again! Good thing Kai knows a quality ripper.
Rolled 27 (1d100)>>5977839Time to hit them like a fucking train.The Dolf stops for nobody.
Rolled 12 (1d100)>>5977839Dolfageddon
>>5977842Looks like it won't quite be a clean sweep, Dolf's gonna take some hits and probably bag a Raffen or two. Maeve has some trouble but wipes out her pack of Raffen, Catalina's basically in the same situation but comes out more or less unscathed but her sandy is taking a break for a bit.I'll go ahead and propose the next vote now so I can do a bigger update. Here's the situation: Dolf is wounded slightly, and one of the surviving Raffen from the group he fought is running for the bunker - probably to grab the hostage to negotiate or flatline. A grenade has landed near Dolf's feet, and there are still two other Raffen from Dolf's group shooting at him. Maeve and Catalina aren't in position to intervene in time, they got caught up in some hand-to-hand shenanigans involving a katana and monowire whips.>Charge the fucker down and beat him to death, if you catch him he's 100% dead meat. You will definitely get shot some more, but your armor is mostly intact.>Try to take cover from the grenade and just shoot the Raffen running to the bunker! Spray him down.>...Kick the grenade back at the Raffen, and try to hit the runner with it!VOTEI'll get a big update out again once this is done, might resolve the situation entirely if it goes well.
>>5977852>Charge the fucker down and beat him to death, if you catch him he's 100% dead meat. You will definitely get shot some more, but your armor is mostly intact.Grenades have a four second fuse. By the time it hits your feet, it's more like a two second fuse. You aren't kicking it far. But if you can run fast enough...you can at least get out of the worst of it.
>>5977852>..Kick the grenade back at the Raffen, and try to hit the runner with it!I have faith in Dolf's coordination
>>5977852>Charge the fucker down and beat him to death, if you catch him he's 100% dead meat. You will definitely get shot some more, but your armor is mostly intact.>>5977854Basically this; between the distance and Dolf’s armor, it’ll sting and it might even suck, but he should be fine. Besides, unless we know exactly where the hostage is, it isn’t worth the risk getting them caught in the blast if Folf somehow nails the kick but misses the target.
>>5977852>>Charge the fucker down and beat him to death, if you catch him he's 100% dead meat. You will definitely get shot some more, but your armor is mostly intact.
>>5977852>>...Kick the grenade back at the Raffen, and try to hit the runner with it!Yeetus deletus!
>>5977852>Charge the fucker down and beat him to death, if you catch him he's 100% dead meat. You will definitely get shot some more, but your armor is mostly intact.OPEN WIDE RAFFEN SCUM, HERE COMES THE DOLF TRAINCHOO CHOO MOTHERFUCKER
>>5977852>Charge the fucker down and beat him to death, if you catch him he's 100% dead meat. You will definitely get shot some more, but your armor is mostly intact.
>>5977852>...Kick the grenade back at the Raffen, and try to hit the runner with it!
>>5977852>Charge the fucker down and beat him to death, if you catch him he's 100% dead meat. You will definitely get shot some more, but your armor is mostly intact.The pain train doesn't stop
>>5977852>>...Kick the grenade back at the Raffen, and try to hit the runner with it!
Rolled 83, 63 = 146 (2d100)>>5977857>>5977899>>5977854>>5977906>>5977911>>5977993>>5978135>>5978147I need two rolls of 1d100, DC 50. It'd be waaay lower if it was just a fight, but Dolf has to catch the guy first while getting shot at.Rolling for the puny running Raffen defending himself (1) DC 90, and the other Raffen shooting (2) DC 55.
Rolled 28 (1d100)>>5978372
Rolled 93 (1d100)>>5978372Pump those legs, Dolf!
>>5978412>93 Yeah, that'll do it. I'll get to writing everything up in a bit. Probably one more Dolf vote before we're back to our regularly scheduled Netrunner gonkery. Probably going to wrap up the the thread at that point since it'll be a clean starting point for the next one and we're on page 10 now.
Rolled 13 (1d100)>>5978372Rolling
>>5978418Fuck I'm late againOh well, it was a bad roll anyway
Thread is archived, expect the final Dolf post later tonight probably. I'll give more details on the next thread then, there might be a slight break (days, not months like last time) before I start it but I'm not sure yet.
“Flatline em’ all!” You bellow while grabbing two handfuls of iron, your trusty - if occasionally lacking power - Budget Arms Guillotines. With a grunt you kick open the door of the Chevillon and rush out into the dusty compound. Raffen guns give you a warm welcome, being the friendly sorts they are, and soon you’ve got streams of tracer fire doing their best to get all close and cuddly with your internal organs. Roaring, you hold your pastel colored submachine guns outstretched and let loose, cybereyes tracking their steady lines of fire as the huge muscles of your arms and shoulders lock and hold the twinned guns steady like a vice. One Raffen goes down in a heap, sprays of blood knitting their way up from his foot to head, and then another takes a sweeping burst across the chest and buckles at the knees, her lifeless head smashing into the rim of an old fuel drum.Charging forward, trusting in the protection of your heavy armor, you take hit after hit - something hot and warm blooms against your side, a projectile managing to find soft armor between the heavier plates. It doesn’t matter, you took worse last night and were fine by morning, and you’ll be fine again tomorrow. As you close on the Raffen who put a round through your side, you deliver a kick to his chest and send him sprawling back to the ground coughing blood - the last of your magazines sees him off in a shower of lead and brass, transforming his face into bloody ground scop. More thumping hits slam against your torso and arms, barely felt through the armor, and you turn your attention just in time to see another pair of Raffen bastards opening up with rifles. They’re in cover, muzzles flashing and bodies barely exposed. A third gonk is running, heading for the bunker.“Oh, fuck no!” You throw your guns forward as you run across the compound after the little hostage seeking rat, nailing one of the shooting Raffen in the head and sending him sprawling. The other shooter keeps pump rounds into you, and you stumble for a moment as something zips through the back of your leg, and then your left arm just above the elbow. Shrugging off the hits, you slam your newly implanted gorilla fists together just before reaching the terrified runner.
>>5978855Just at the entrance to the small underground bunker, the scrawny Raffen draws a large revolver and puts a pair of shots into your chest - nah, better luck next life, choom. Putting your whole weight into the hit, you strike the poor son of a bitch with a mighty right hook and his head vanishes. It’s there one moment, and then it isn’t, crimson spray, flaps of tattered meat, and bone shards spraying out across the half opened bunker door behind him. Barreling the rest of the way inside to not get mag dumped in the back, you find yourself in a small red lit metal room. More of a shitty fallout shelter than a bunker really, there are a couple of steel bunks, some cabinets, a small kitchenette, and all-in-one bathroom, and a couple of comps at a small table. You target, that middle aged insurance gonk, is tied up on a folding chair near the bunk.“Mmggmmmhmmm!” The gagged corpo says. You rip the gag off him with your unstained hand, and he speaks again, more clearly, “HOLY FUCK, NO, NO, NO - MILITECH? NO! I DIDN’T KNOW, I SWEAR-”“It’s just armor, chill, choom, chill!” You almost slap the yappy suit, but he’s worth a lot of eddies and it’d definitely kill him, “I’m here to get you out, not some corpo tin soldier.”“What? Oh! Oh, it’s about fucking time!” The very grateful and supremely respectful corpo replies as he realizes his position of importance has been restored over lowly peons like you, “Get me the fuck out of this fucking chair, fuck!”“Yeah, yeah, I’m working on it…” You grunt, grabbing the ropes tying the man up and snapping them with your bare hands; the wonders of mechanical grip strength, god damn. Or maybe it was just old rope, doesn’t matter. “There, get up, keep close. …Sounds like shootings stopped.”“Oh, shit, they killed the rest of your crew, didn’t they? We’re gonna be next! Fuck!” The suit shouts, and then runs up the stairs. You catch him by the shoulder, careful not to explode his bones with your new chrome grip, and stop him dead in his tracks.
>>5978857…Dakota is not paying you enough to deal with dumbasses like this, he was about to run up into gunfire because he was scared of the gunfire. It’s starting to die down now though, and sounds like the rest of the Raffen have been cleaned up. Before you can think too much about that, a green-ish Catalina-shaped blur appears next to you, panting and sweating and nearly doubled over from exhaustion. “We… We got…” She gasps a few times and slaps on hand against the dying light of the sandy implanted across her spine, trying to knock some sense back into the implant, “We got them all. Found two sets of… wheels.”“Two?” You ask, ignoring the corpo’s screams. You reach over and grab the discarded gag and pop it back in his mouth. Dakota didn’t pay you to be nice.“Y-yeah, bro, two. One’s kind of preem, the other is… Well… It’s a tank! Tank-thing, sort of half tank… I dunno!” Connor laughs between gasping breaths, high pitched and strained but clearly having a great time now, for some reason, “Oh, sandy’s gonna put me in the dirt… could use another hit.”“Mmmnnfffgggggfffckinggnkmgghhhpyingyghhh!” The gagged corpo protests, but you both ignore him. Cat pulls a hypo from one of the small pouches on her belt and takes a long puff, immediately beginning to calm. You frown, she inhales those things like air when she’s got the chance, but sandevistans aren’t forgiving on a small frame like hers, even reinforced and with a quality ripperjob like she got.“...What do you mean it’s 'half' tank, choom? Some kind of tank platypus? Half AV, what?”“The hell’s a platypus?”
>>59788592076.01.11, 20:55Night City (Kabuki, Your Apartment)You are Kai.You awaken to the face of an angel looking upon you, beautiful brown eyes filled with relief and kindness gazing down into your own. Blinking once, then twice, you think it might be a dream. A hand is running gently through your hair, stroking gently, almost motherly, and a heavenly aroma fills the air - fresh baked chocolate chip cookies and… apricot perfume?“Kai?” The angel asks, smiling. What a lovely smile. “Kai, are you really awake this time?” Part of you doesn’t want to answer, it wants you to close your eyes and enjoy this - you’re snug here, under covers, propped up on pillows, your arm in a… cast? Why is your arm in a cast? You blink again, and your eyes focus properly. The illusion of comfort retreats slightly, a dull ache in your arm and joints slowly growing in your awareness, but the angel remains by your side. Vicky is sitting next to your bed in a chair, her hair a bit frazzled and wearing black pajamas of some kind, stroking your hair lightly with her hand.“Vicky?” You ask groggily, lines of text beginning to fill the edges of your vision as your chrome boots fully out of stand-by mode, “What happened?”She closes her eyes and pulls back, shoulders slumping as she relaxes for what looks to be the first time in… you check your link’s time and date. Four days?! That has to be wrong. You were just watching the Raffen camp, jumping onto their subnet with Alice and… And what? You don’t remember.“Kai, thank god.” Vicky gets an arm under your neck carefully and wraps you in a gentle hug. She’s soft, wonderfully and comfortingly so. You return the hug with your good arm, confused but smiling. You don’t know what she says next, it’s Spanish, or maybe Latin, but you’re pretty sure it was a prayer or something very close to one.“What happened?” That’s the only question in your mind right now.“You got…” She has a hard time speaking the next words, “You got knocked out by neural feedback and overheated bad, it almost fried you out. That’s what Vik said. Do you remember that?”You nod slightly, “...Vaguely. How… How’d the job go?”“How’d the job go? My god, Kai, you almost died and…” She shakes her head, a bit of that old familiar fire beginning to sneak back into her expression. “...And it went okay. They got it done and got you to Vik’s clinic. Catalina has been visiting, just to sit. She helped me bake earlier.”“...Sweet of her. And you, thanks, Vicky… Is she any good at it?” You almost chuckle as you ask the question - why do you care? Still, the words come out.
>>5978860“No, she’s awful. It was fun though. Reminded me of my little sister…” Vicky’s gazes grows more distant for a moment, but the look soon passes, “If you ever do something like this again, make sure it kills you, or-”“Or you will?” You do laugh at that. What kind of a threat even is that? You get a caring slap against your cheek, barely a blow at all. You didn’t even know a slap could be caring before now, what a strange experience… It’s nice. To be cared for like this, you haven’t had this in so long. Years, and years…“Yes.” Vicky nods, laughing along with you, and the scratches at the back of her head with one hand, “You’ve got to be hungry, and I’ve got a lot of cookies - Got my oven set up. It kind of eats up the kitchen, but you don’t mind, right?”“If it means cookies you can put a hole in the ceiling, do whatever you need to. I could really go for some right now.” ”Kai…” Alice’s - or rather Hlin’s - voice interrupts your half awake talk, her presence slowly bleeding back into your mind as your chrome spins up. She wasn’t ever truly gone, but distant for the last minute or two that you’d hardly been aware of her mind within yours. ”...What happened? My chronometer is malfunctioning, it indicates four days have passed.”Nova, you were both out then. This is gonna just be a fucking preem week, isn’t it?End thread.
I'll take questions until the thread falls off the board.
>>5978867Did we get the two cars? Did Maeve's big armored car survive? If those did maybe we can buy skin and skeleton nanites next thread.ALSO FUCK WE WERE OUT FOR THE COCO DATE but catalina probably told them
>>5978867What's the name of Dolf's rival that totally isn't Sylvester Stallone
>>5978875Phoneposting but it's the end of thread so whatevs>nanitesDepends on how much they'd cost, we still need a cooling suit so we can get Netrunner training (which we need BAD) so I'd prioritize that first.If we manage to get the eddies for a suit AND nanites then hell yeah we should get both!>CocoAw fuck, we need to give her a call.
>>5978914There's no way Cat didn't let Coco know. They're all tight.
>>5978875Meave probably isn't even sad if the car got destroyed (it's probably recoverable)The Nomads just got a tank and a preem ride vs a corpo ride. DESU, even with Kai down this was a great job. At minimum, being able to set up the connect with Meave and at least do some prep made up for getting bounced. Hopefully that means we learned something. Just gotta not keep getting bounced.
>>5978875Maeve's armored car is quite fucked but repairable, it will be out of action for weeks unless a donor car is stolen or a lot of money gets poured into it. Dolf and Catalina got one car, the SovOil Neo-BTR is technically Maeve's but being used by the Aldecaldos while the bulk of the clan is moving between states (which is mostly done now). Maeve's in their good graces after giving her old clan a bloody nose, but stuck using her motorcycle for the foreseeable future since her new wheels are probably going to keep getting used by the family.Wraiths will be semi-actively looking to kill everyone involved in the job, so watch your back around NC. Maeve's left a gaggle of them as corpses by now, so it's getting pretty fucking heated. >>5978875>>5978914>>5978930Coco was made aware of what happened and is chill about it, but hasn't rescheduled. Kai currently does not have any planned dates.>>5978913Boulder.Other details that Kai would find out fast: Maeve got shot a couple of times and was out of action for a few days while the wonders of modern medicine did their thing. Dolf was in a similar boat since he got it a lot worse than during the Scav job, and Catalina was actually entirely unscathed this time. Kai got his arm broken pretty badly and in multiple places (thanks, Dolf) but it should be fine in a few more days if he keeps on his meds (or he can force it even faster with bone lacing or other nanite stuff). Alice was knocked out while Kai was out, Vicky watched out for her and the Quadra since Alice = Kai right now in terms of personal safety (also it's a fairly rare car, it'd be a shame to have it get stolen). Vicky has done some small time subcon work over the last few days but there wasn't much action to any of it, the most exciting it got was she shot a guy in the leg. Kai made slightly under 3000 eddies after medical costs, Dolf and Catalina cut Maeve in on the loot split and gave her a bigger chunk to help pay for the lost car - it doesn't even come close to covering it all, but it helps. She just wanted to kill Raffen so it wasn't a fun loss but there are worse things. Dolf actually took a multi-thousand eddie loss as well by using his FLASH, but he's got a hell of a story out of it, the rep probably puts him ahead overall.Kai's mom has not tried to call during the last few days, and doesn't know he has been in a mini-coma.
>>5978930>>5978955Oh, I'm not worried about Coco not knowing, I just figured that letting her know we're awake is good form.Actually, we should call/message the gang as a whole. I know I'd be pissed if a friend didn't let me know they'd woken up after being out for over half a week
>>5978962>"I’m never gonna live this one down, am I?"
>>5978955Nomads remind dolf that his new wheels has a target on it?Ie: he's probably gonna need to get it remodeled/repainted to lose their trail. Also sure the nomads wouldn't mind a "swap". Whole crew can probably make some premium dosh if they get BDs made for the jobs. Maybe hit Judy up to see about doing that. Sure she wouldn't mind a cut. Would need censoring to hide identities but its income.
>>5979048He knows, and measures have been taken to deal with the car. BDs are a decent idea (if Judy could be convinced), but as you pointed out it would be the rest of the crew that needs to be rounded up to get them made. They also weren't purposefully recording them, so it'd be from memory which is a lot fuzzier.
>>5979193Might be worth investing in a BD recorder in the future then. For post-op debriefing, intelligence gathering and distribution, and side income. Already have a neurallink
A new thread should be up sometime next Monday or Tuesday.
>>5979463Thanks for running, see you soon(tm)
>>5979463Godspeed QM, my morning shit will be that much poorer until your return.
