Twinkle Twinkle Little Star - Vested Intrest

Gash halted and looked back at Neuro. The man had a point, and it coincided with the ork's own thought so exactly that he wondered for just an instant if the human was somehow reading his mind. He let that notion go as foolishness as quickly as it had formed, however. Neuro was only making good sense in their current situation. Trying to get far on the streets, even in the dark, was too risky. Sooner or later they would run into trouble, be it another security drone, Lone Star patrol, or street gang out looking for a victim or two.

"Yeah," he replied, "we're probably closer to that bus stop than someplace to hole up anyway."

Area Knowledge to get back to vehicles= 1
Remembering route back to vehicles= 4
(Kesslan, I wasn't sure if it was a knowledge or memory test, so I rolled it both ways.)

Gash checked the commlink he used to broadcast his fake SIN, making sure it was set to Active mode, which should be good enough for casual scans, and then nodded to Neuro that he was ready to move on.

Looping back around and placing some space between themselves and the crime scene the pair could heard the sirens of an approaching police car. By the time anyone actually got on site however, they were almost there and even at this time of night, were hardly the only ones out and about as many bars and strip clubs were still open as well as a few late night eateries and other venues. The era of buisinesses being only open 8hrs a day had died almost a century before. By the time they actually reached their respective vehicles several other police cars had responded to the area, focusing mostly on the scene and by this point all they could do is hope they didn't leave some sort of clue behind.

The trip to Neuro's place was uneventful. As they pulled up to the location, a wide gate swung open to allow the vehicles entry. Inside the gate, a fairly nice house with a large shop-style garage awaited them. His AR net detected security patrol drones, as they automatically subscribed themselves to his Tacnet. The shop's roll-up door opened, at least 14' high. That was plenty of room to allow his tractor unit to fit in, even with a trailer attached. They drove the vehicles inside, out of sight and the big door closed behind them, seemingly on it's own. This place could not have been provided by The Exchange. It must be a safe house connected to his stolen commlink. Hopefully it had belonged to a deep-cover operative, and anyone who might be looking for him may not know about the place. Taking a quick look around, he found nothing much of immediate use in the shop area. Aside from being near the size of an airport hangar, the building was mostly empty except for the tractor unit and the motorcycle.

"Let's go check the house out!" Neuro stated. He knew he should apprise his partner of their potential danger, so as they went to the main house and checked the living accomodations out he told Gash his story. He told about how he woke up at the facility, mentioning the memory loss, his escape and the possibility of pursuit. He knew he was taking a big chance, but this guy seemed pretty solid. He deserved to know that a team of operatives might show up and attempt to take him back, and he didn't want his himself or his partner to be caught unprepared. During their search, he came across a small room with a comfortable chair. It was a small office of sorts, but after bringing in his tools from the truck, it would service nicely as a makeshift workshop.

After he got through his story, and they had something to eat, Neuro got to work on the electronics.

First, he worked on getting the datadisc player opened
Logic 5 + Electronics 4 +Analytical Mind 2 + Encephalon 1 = 6 hits

After fiddling around for a short time, the disc popped right out with no problems. He set it aside for the time being, and set to work on the commlink
Logic 5 + Electronics 4 +Analytical Mind 2 + Encephalon 1 = first round, second round

After a little bit longer than he'd expected, the commlink came online. He quickly shut it off, hopefully before anyone scanning for it could get a solid trace, and set it down. After they'd had a chance to review the data disk, he could set up a secure network, scan the commlink for tracers and see what was on it. He then inspected the goggles and keycard copier he had stowed away before going to find Gash and let him know what he had found.

The drive 'home' was uneventful for the pair and traffic was fairly light that time of day meaning they made good time and apparently without picking up a police tail. Neuro's inspection of the Keycard copier showed that while it was a little banged up and looking worse for wear, it was still in good condition internally and seemed to show no faults. It was also a top of the line product that would no doubt come in handy some day (R6 Keycard Copier). The goggles were equally battered but would be serviceable with a few minor repairs, however it didn't seem to boast much in the way of functional systems. Further investigation simply revealed that they didn't have much to begin with (The padding around the edges had melted and would need to be replaced at the cost of 25 Nuyen in parts. R6 Goggles:Flare Compensation, Image Link, Low Light, Smartlink).

The Data Disk however was a whole other story from the other findings, Neuro was quickly able to deduce from inspecting it that it had several components to it. A simple audio file that, in a man's voice simply said: "You thought you'd be safe down here in your sewer, didn't you, pal? You were wrong...dead wrong." the rest was tied into some sort of basic but functional software overrides for a common household drone, an internal countdown timer set to activate once a specific individual (in this case the apparent owner of the home) entered the premises and a final set of instructions set to run the moment the recorded voice file played that sent some sort of trigger signal. Who ever had programmed the disk clearly was an amateur programmer as there had been some cross over with the internal command to the drone's voice box that would have created some sort of odd stutter but otherwise was fairly sound. Of course Neuro could already see 18 different mistakes or command path inefficiencies he could have fix to make the coding far more efficient and would have eliminated the stutter entirely. Of additional note was that moments after the voice file was played, a new message popped up on Neuro's Exchange Mailbox.

As Neuro tinkered with the gadgets they'd 'liberated' from the wreckage of that runner who'd gotten himself geeked, Gash patrolled the house, his shotgun in hand and at the ready, peeking through window shades and checking that doors remained locked. He had also, with Neuro's assistance, subscribed his PAN to the CHN's security systems. This allowed Gash to monitor the various devices for alerts as well as providing a cycling view of the surveillance cameras on his HUD.

Gash was impressed with the human's crib - though the place was too high-profile for his own tastes. Still, he had to admit Neuro had style. These ruminations were only 'background noise' in the ork's thoughts, however, as he focused primarily on any signs of entry-tampering or anything else suspicious.
Knowledge Test: Signs to Look For (Intuition5+UrbanCombat4)
Detailed Search for Signs (Intuition5+VisualPerception6+ActivelyLooking3+VisionEnhancement3+Edge5[reroll6s])

(Kesslan, I rolled this as an Extended Test since Gash is going to different spots in the house and checking various security system feeds. Sorry for the extra work.)

Gash's patrol of the home showed not even the slightest attempt by anyone to force their way in, and further more, as far as he could tell while Neuro didn't seem to think this was his own home, every sign Gash found seemed to point to the contrary.

As Gash made his rounds, something Neuro had said kept circling through his thoughts. He wasn't sure, and Neuro could certainly be afforded some leeway for being under stress, but it seemed the man was under the impression that this place belonged to someone else.
And, though truth be told Gash had no way of knowing what the man's personal belongings could be, what little the ork saw during his repeated circuits of the house, there was a lot of what Gash assumed a hacker would own. It was possible they'd inadvertently stumbled into the home of another hacker, but he didn't usually buy in to coincidences of that magnitude.

And to firmly set his mind on a paranoid track, Gash thought of his partner's name, Neuro. He'd not given it much consideration before now, but he realized, with an unpleasant sinking in his gut, that the simple addition of 'tic' would transform a moniker that suggested, at least to him, mental talent, something a hacker would appreciate, to something not only entirely different but potentially a liability to the mission... and dangerous to Gash personally.

Not the most trusting soul as a rule, Gash was usually careful not to rely heavily on others, preferring to keep a relatively safe distance. This accounted for his mostly solitary existence - a condition that had afforded him the very gratifying ability to remain a virtual unknown. Now, however, he found himself in a situation that could potentially change all that.
The problem was this: he didn't have the connections nor the kind of Matrix skill to handle this job on his own. He would have to continue working with Neuro, but keep a close eye out for further indications of any of the man's 'quirks.'

Never a dull moment, he thought to himself, and resumed his patrol. The next few hours, let alone days, should prove interesting if not out and out lethal. But that was the life of a shadowrunner.

Sitting in the office, the commlink they had found in front of him, Neuro accessed his Exchange mailbox. Incredible timing they had. It was almost as if they were watching their every move. After checking the message, he glanced down at the 'link again and was hit with sudden inspiration. He reached over and turned on his area jammer, then jacked directly into the commlink and turned it on. This was the only way that he could be sure that nobody would trace the link short of being inside a faraday cage or having specially treated walls. It was not infallible, as anyone with a good enough ECCM program and skills should be able to break through eventually, but it just might give him enough time to disarm any malicious programming or tracers that he might find. Almost as an afterthought, before he got lost in the commlink, he subvocalized to Gash.

"What did we end up doing with that weird figurine? I don't imagine we'll get DNA or 'prints off it, but there might be something..."

He trailed off, as he dove into his work.

OOC: I'm not sure what I should roll here, but my plan is to analyze and clean the commlink, make sure there is no trace running on it and see if there's any info inside it that can help us.

Gash had paused for a few moments at one of the windows on the front of the house to watch a vehicle passing by on the street. As well as he could tell it had not slowed, nor had the passengers given the house more than a cursory glance. A nice house always drew eyes, there was no avoiding that, and folks usually went on about their own biz. That seemed to be the case in this instance. Still, Gash would be glad to get out of this residential 'beacon.'

"What did we end up doing with that weird figurine? I don't imagine we'll get DNA or 'prints off it, but there might be something..."

Gash snapped his fingers. He'd forgotten all about that thing.

"I got it right here," he replied. "Be there in a sec."

Unfastening the buttpak where he'd stowed it, he pulled it out and took a good look at the statuette.

Observe in Detail 7
Intuition 5 + Visual Perception 6 + Vision Enhancement 3 = 14d

With no real knowledge of statuary or their ilk, he couldn't hope to discern much more than the figurine's appearance and texture, though he certainly got a good look at that.
Bouncing the figurine on his palm once or twice, he then gripped it securely (he didn't want to drop the thing and break it), and headed back to where Neuro tinkered away on the electronic swag.

GM Note: 10d6 as your 'home' and have the time I've just treated this as an extended test with you buying the needed hits. In response to what tests to roll, it was an electronics 5 Test. For the rest see below

Neuro had to be very careful opening the case, part of it had melted shut and he found himself having to cut it open without risking damage to the electronics inside. More time was required to carefully solder a few leads back together but eventually he got it working again. Booting it up just spat out a corrupted Operating System Error, but that wasn't necessarily the end of the world. Even with the OS trashed Neuro knew with a little bit of work... well ok a fair bit of work he could at least salvage something off of the disk. (Software 23 extended test to recover the data. A glitch will destroy the rest of the data. A critical glitch will destroy all the data including what was salvaged). Musing over the figurine, he couldn't really think of much to do with it though further inspection might be required. Then again who ever left it clearly had done so as a sort of 'calling card' that much instinct told him, but why? Such a move was always a little risky.

Gash meanwhile had plenty of time to check the place out and even examine the figurine. It was roughly the size of a large chess piece, clearly mass produced or churned out by some sort of nanoforge, though it seemed to be otherwise entirely unmarked. Still, for something that was apparently mass produced it was a relatively good quality piece in the grand scale of things. Based on this Gash figured the piece might well be a copy of an actual original, rather than being the actual primary creation. In the day and age of collectables and the increasingly low cost of mass production, many artists had taken to selling originals to those with money, while making a little extra on the side selling mass produced copies of the original. The only problem was, without any identifying markings he wasn't sure how he could try and track down such information but he figured it may lead to further clues later down the road. Either way, it was clear some one had left the piece as a calling card as it was hardly something just randomly found in the blast site, especially based on where it had been found. Maybe it even really was part of a chess set.

Unable to make heads or tails of the figurine, other than a basic description, Gash put in a call to the Exchange while Neuro continued working on the salvaged commlink.

> Aps>MercuryMessenger>New Message
> Encryption Keys Generated
> Select Contact: Exchange
> Attach File: figurine.img
> Message Body:
Found this during a sweep of Target's 'recently excavated' home. Seemed whoever left it wanted it to be found. Calling card? Need all pertinent intel on figurine, plus list of Target's contacts.
> Send
> Your message has been sent.

After sending the message to the Exchange, Gash considered touching base with Jasper, his fixer. It could be a long shot, but the ork might possibly know something about the little figurine, as well as possess new information concerning the authority's own investigation into the bombing.

> Aps>MercuryMessenger>New Message
> Encryption Keys Generated
> Select Contact: Jasper Crag
> Attach File: figurine.img
> Message Body:
Found this on a job. Item is about the size of a chess piece. No identifying marks or other significant features. Might be some sort of insignia or 'calling card.' Need as much intel as you can dig up.
> Send
> Your message has been sent.

There was nothing else he could do now but wait for the replies. Gash didn't have an extensive network of contacts, a serious drawback in his line of work, but maybe later he could find one of those talis-whatevers - 'magic pushers' some of his old gangers called them - and find out if the figurine had any mystical significance.

Right here and now, he returned his attention to Neuro and what, if anything, the hacker had salvaged from the burned commlink.

Logic 5 + Software 4 + Analytical Mind 2 + Encephalon 1 first batch = 21 hits, second batch = success

ooc:will edit with description from work. started posting before I realized it was alredy time to go.

Neuro busied himself with attempting to recover the data from the comlink, but it was something he soon realized would take him quite a while to accomplish. Still, he knew he could do it, though he wasn't certain just how much he could recover, he felt capable of at least pulling out some data that would be useful. "Give me a day or two Gash, and I think I can pull together a more complete picture of what happened. I've got to rebuild some of the code and then port it over to a stable system before I can see what's what. Shouldn't be too hard to do, just a matter of time."

Meanwhile Gash used the time to put out some feelers about the figurine though he hit a dead end with his Fixer, who couldn't dig up anything, The Exchange was another story. Even then however the news was scant:

>Message Begins:
> Figurine appears to <2MP Corrupted>ing. Several other similar items appear here: <Link Deleted>.
>Security compromised. Use of hard copies suggested.
><14MP corrupted> at Interpol as internal asset is unavailable. The inspector however may know more.
>Network connection lost, attempting to reconnect.
>Connection Timed out
>Connection Timed out
>Connection Timed out
>Using alternate connection.
>Welcome to The Exchange.
>1 Priority Message
>Your previous query was compromised. Assumed to be related to other events in Seattle. High risk likely involved but does not appear to be directly linked to assets attacking The Exchange. It is suggested if you wish to investigate further that considerable precautions be taken. Unknown at this time if figurine is connected to direct loss of user K-132. May be merely observational in nature due to deceased member's involvement in other activities. Please proceed to The Bagel Factory <Map Link> at 13:00 tomorrow. See 'Tom' and ask about the backpack you forgot at his house.

Neuro: "Give me a day or two Gash, and I think I can pull together a more complete picture of what happened. I've got to rebuild some of the code and then port it over to a stable system before I can see what's what. Shouldn't be too hard to do, just a matter of time--"

Thinking this would turn into another incessant rambling of techno-jargon (like just about every techie Gash ever met,) he scanned the message he'd gotten from the Exchange while the hacker was still talking.

>Message Begins:
> Figurine appears to <2MP Corrupted>ing. Several other similar items appear here: .
>Security compromised. Use of hard copies suggested.
><14MP corrupted> at Interpol as internal asset is unavailable. The inspector however may know more.
>Network connection lost, attempting to reconnect.
>Connection Timed out
>Connection Timed out
>Connection Timed out
>Using alternate connection.
>Welcome to The Exchange.
>1 Priority Message
>Your previous query was compromised. Assumed to be related to other events in Seattle. High risk likely involved but does not appear to be directly linked to assets attacking The Exchange. It is suggested if you wish to investigate further that considerable precautions be taken. Unknown at this time if figurine is connected to direct loss of user K-132. May be merely observational in nature due to deceased member's involvement in other activities. Please proceed to The Bagel Factory

Neuro took a while to look over Gash's comlink before giving a slight shrug "Looks like some one intercepted it at the source, or somewhere along the way. Your links are both clean. Nothing I can do about the corrupted data though, it's gone." with that said and Gash deciding to head out, Neuro returned to the task at hand of trying to salvage the badly damaged comlink to see what he could pull off of it.

The Bagel Factory the following day, turned out to be exactly what it said it was. A small bakery that specialized in making all sorts of various bagels, using real ingredients rather than soy, krill and other food substitutes. The bakery, like most, had a small store front where customers could walk in off the street and buy fresh product still hot out of the oven (Or at least recently baked if they came later in the day). The place offered a full spread of both types of bagels as well as condiments to put on them from butter to cream cheese and many other options. They even offered sandwiches made out of bagels, all freshly made.

Starting Money Roll= 1500
As any shadowrunner will tell you, grab downtime when and where you can. After leaving Neuro's home, Gash drove to his own. His 'appointment' at the bagel shop was not until 1300 hours the following afternoon, and he badly needed some rest. He also wanted to give his own home a good once-over before settling in for the night. Checking security had become a habit for all twenty-first century homeowners - at least those who could afford it - but for shadowrunners it was a must. And picking through the aftermath of 'K132's' lethal 'homecoming' had certainly served to heighten the ork's sense of self preservation.
Like so many non-technically savvy chummers these days, he relied almost solely on his CHN's ability to monitor the house's security systems. Having already been verified as Administrator by the system which scanned him upon arrival, he called up the node's status via his commlink before entering the house.
Though the node reported all systems nominal and the house secure, Gash took the time to make a visual inspection anyway.
Observe in Detail= 7
Finding nothing out of the ordinary, the ex-ganger finally allowed himself to relax. Shrugging out of his biker jacket, he slipped off the holster with his shotgun and headed for the shower, leaving a trail of discarded armor and clothing through the house. The service drones would see to gathering up and depositing the various articles in their proper places, leaving Gash to focus on preparing for bed.

The next morning, after a quick breakfast of nutri-bars and a couple cups of soykaf, Gash headed for the city. He wanted to pick up a couple of items before making the connection with the bagel shop contact. He wasn’t much of a ‘cloak-and-dagger’ type; relying more often on head-on confrontation and intimidation to resolve social issues, and full on lethal combat for all others. So these spygame tactics were forcing him to take additional precautions that were outside his normal venue.

Geared up and fully armored, he rolled his Suzuki Mirage (also black) out of the garage, sent the command for the door to roll shut and arm the security system, than drove down the driveway and out onto the private road that led to his secluded home. He’d decided on the ‘rice-burner’ for this trip because of its superior speed over the hog, despite the Skorpion’s tougher body. With questions of just what the frag was going on running through his mind, he rolled the Mirage’s throttle back and leaned into the bike’s burst of speed. His first stop: a visit to his fixer.

Later…

“Damn spooky is what it is,” Jasper Crag, Gash’s ork fixer, snapped, his expression both incredulous and outraged. “Its my biz to know what’s going down in the shadows – only way I can keep up my rep – but the lid on this thing is so tight it might as well be molecularly bonded!”

The two orks sat facing each other over Crag’s desk in the fixer’s private office. Crag, used to being in the know, was understandably upset at the lack of reliable intel available surrounding certain recent events; not the least of which was one of his own runners being hired to investigate by the enigmatic Exchange which then adopted a tight-lipped policy and refused to provide additional details.

“Nothing on the ‘Trix?” Gash asked, knowing Crag would have had his people combing the net for any scrap of info, no matter how small.

“Tons!” Crag sneered disgustedly. “There’s speculation, misdirection, observation, and total fabrication enough to choke all the horses on the planet! I’ve got people working around the clock sifting through it all looking for anything concrete…so far zilch!”

Gash was suddenly struck by an idea…an unpleasant one. Suppose the Exchange was keeping Crag in the dark for a reason? Gash had not given away anything that might be considered sensitive, but he suddenly felt uneasy about discussing the Ex at all.
The fixer must have caught some sign on Gash’s face as he asked abruptly, “What? You got something I should know?”

Gash schooled his face to blank, tinged with exasperation. “Me? You kidding?” he replied with a wry grin. “I came to you for info, remember?”

Crag gazed at his runner for a moment as if trying to penetrate a false façade, then shrugged.
“Ah, you’re right, omae. This whole thing’s got me jumping at phantoms. That all you came to see me for?”

“Not all, no. I was hoping you could hook me up with a radio signal scanner also.”

“Think you might be bugged, eh? Let me check my inventory. Give me a call back later today, I’ll see what I can do.”

Gash pulled away from Crag’s place – politely refusing an offer of lunch, he had not wanted to reveal his meeting at the bagel shop – and merged into traffic. He didn’t like the unease he’d felt with his fixer; something he’d never felt before with Crag. Then he was reminded of something the fixer had said, ‘This thing’s got me jumping at phantoms’ and Gash thought it ominously appropriate.

Arriving at the Bagel Store, he went inside and, asking for ‘Tom’, he gave the code phrase and asked about the backpack he’d left.

Gash's appearance drew a few looks when he arrived but nothing too serious. The Ork clearly looked a little out of place at the establishment but then given that many of the patrons seemed to have semi formal work clothes to more casual T-Shirts and jeans it was perhaps no surprise given that Gash had shown up so heavily decked out the way he was. Still, bike armour wasn't so uncommon as to be that suspicious and folk just went back to what they were doing. When he asked to speak to Ted, the cashier gave him a friendly smile "Oh sure! You the brother of his friend he said would drop by today?" she asks, when given the affirmative she simply ducks around back though she can be heard yelling "Hey TED! That guys brother is here!" a few moments later another employee comes out, teenager still probably by the looks of things, though clearly old enough to work. "Oh, hey man, Meet ya round back in the employee parking lot K? Got the bag in my trunk for ya!"

"Skraa, omae," Gash responded to the teenager as if they'd known each other for years. "I grok ya. But slot-n-run, chummer. I gotta meet with a trog and he's an ill-tempered slot when I run late, ya grep me?"

Gash turned and walked nonchalantly out the door. He figured if anyone inside who'd heard the conversation would have no reason to think twice about it.
Outside, he left his bike where it was parked and walked around to the employee parking area. It would look odder if he pulled out of one parking space only to circle the building and park again. The things a runner had to remain aware of just to avoid notice.

It was not a long walk, however, and Gash soon found himself in the general vicinity of the teenager's vehicle.

The teen seemed a little intimidated by Gash's response but in the end simply lead him to the car, handed him the bag from his trunk as promised and then gave a furtive look about to make sure the parking lot was clear for the time being "Uhh.. listen. I uhh.. know this ain't part of the deal but.." another glance about like a scared rabbit "Was kinda wondering if you could score me a gun?" the teen sounded hopeful, but looked like he'd bolt if Gash so much as went 'BOO" at him. "You know.. for.. protection and stuff."

Gash slung the pack over his shoulder without bothering to look inside. Whatever the Exchange had arranged for him would be better scanned out of public view. He started to turn away and head for his bike when the kid's timid question stopped him.
Seeing the kid's furtive glances, the big ork made his own slow, seemingly disinterested scan of the area, then in a hushed tone that would be difficult to overhear more than a meter or two away, asked:
"What d'yas need protection from? And be straight wit me, chummer, if yas want any help from me."
Gash kept a grin on his face, so anyone who might see the two talking would think their conversation nothing of any import, but just a couple of chummers shooting the breeze.

The kid kept up hushed tones "You know.. from /them/ the guys whacking network members!" he hissed, glancing around nervously once more "Couple folk I knew all got iced. Chummer of mine was part of it, but when folk started getting popped he quit but they went after him too anyway!"

Reluctant to part with his only firearm, Gash squatted near the kid's vehicle to check the contents of the pack. The Exchange often had an almost eerie - one might say creepy - way of knowing ahead of time what might be needed for a given task. Perhaps they'd already provided for this situation as well.

"Let's see what we got here," Gash told the kid, rummaging through the pack at his feet.

Inside the backpack were two small cardboard boxes, one labelled Gash, the other Neuro. There was also a large envelope that seemed to have a fair bit inside of it. When opened there was a small collection of various figurines complete with AR tags that popped up, each one containing a small list of basic details along with, when apparently available, photos showing where and when each was found, under what circumstances. Additionally there was a data chip that would need to be slotted to check on the contents.

However, there did not appear to be any weapons.

(IF opened the box named Gash was found to contain a hand written 'IOU' complete with address and the name of Grinder 'to whom ever holds this note. Able to be redeemed for to be determined upgrades of one vehicle subject to Grinder's choice and value.'

Upon inspecting the backpack's contents, Gash came to a realization. The Exchange, though currently under attack by an unknown assailant (or assailants), consisted of an immense network of agents and interwoven contacts and information sources. Their proficiency with providing what was needed for practically any given situation was unsurpassed.

Rising abruptly from his crouch, the ork quickly shrugged out of his armor jacket and just as quickly unfastened and removed his Desperado shotgun and its holster. He held it out to the kid.

"Ever used one of these?"

The kid simply shook his head, looking at Gash a little wide eyed now, he'd perhaps not really expected it but he definitely didn't seem to be willing to shy back about it. "N...No. But um.. how much ya want for it?" his voice not quite timid at this point, though it was slightly tinged with relief. "I can learn though! My uncle goes huntin n' stuff sometimes, could ask em to teach me how to shoot."