Is it possible to hijack the "Samurai" I saw earlier, using the access codes? "Making it look like an accident" might be useful
This message was last edited by the player at 07:02, Tue 25 Jan 2022.

That would be possible using the move Subversion but you need to be in the same mode as the IC

This is probably a longshot,but wth, longshots are fun:

A direct attack on the user, in the manner of the nastier type of anti-intrusion program, but with a difference. Instead of really damaging the person permanently, we're going to 'flashbang' the sensory filter in the thalamus.

(This is the brain center that prioritizes some sense input over others, so you aren't constantly noticing how your shirt feels on your back, socks on your feet, tongue in your mouth, hair on your head, and that's just touch. So, rather than try to fry the operator or cause seizures or something, we're gonna try to turn off the filter, "open the doors of perception" for a while, and let them try to sort it out a bit while Venom sorts his work out.)
This message was last edited by the player at 18:29, Tue 25 Jan 2022.

It’s a long shot, but you go for the decker’s ASIST module, hoping to scramble the spider long enough to finish up your dirty deeds...

Sling Code
17:26, Today: Mr. Johnson, on behalf of Venom, rolled 8 using 2d6+1 ((4,3)).
Weak success

...dropping the deck’s sensory dampers and letting the node touch the decker’s mind unfiltered, if only for a millisecond. The spider writhes in pain as the matrix overwhelms the decker’s fragile meat.

But...

...flailing in pain, the spider clips you with a barbed leg.

Security decker Deals damage CPU 3 - 1 Hardeneing = 2

(1) You have the drop and can act without the decker making a move next turn
(2) Will it be enough to get the job done?

Venom [/] [/] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Spider [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] - stunned

This message was last edited by the GM at 00:39, Wed 26 Jan 2022.

She couldn't call for help, and was out-of-commission for a few minutes. (She'd live. She might even get the urge to go make art or something- Venom heard tales.)

Venom opted to just crush the avatar, rather than go for a kill- if nothing else, the stakes weren't quite murder-high on this job.

Would Steamroller be appropriate for this? I thought I'd let it take a try at it, while Venom queues the 'update'.

  What sort of evidence of him being here will he have to consider?
This message was last edited by the player at 05:54, Wed 26 Jan 2022.

I missed something. Do you want to attack the spider or insert the run payload and escape?

An attack on the spider doesn’t need to be fatal, you can use Rock and Roll to attack the deck, not the decker.

The original player made Steamroller as an attack program to give an advantage on attacking Tar Baby and Tar Pit IC. Attacking a decker with it would not give any advantage or disadvantage; it’s the same as Rock and Roll.  If you want to ditch this program and get a more general purpose attack program instead, no problem, just let me know.

It’s good to be concerned about leaving tracks. In this case, the decker still doesn’t know what you are up to and won’t be able to tell what you do next (since the decker is stunned).  With the way you described the plan for inserting the data it would take a lot of analysis to find your fingerprints. Sacramento doesn’t pay for that kind of analysis. Assume if you get the data in, you do it with not chance of it coming back in you and Kali.

So: attack the decker or insert the payload?

I'll switch his loadout between missions, I guess. It's fine for now.

My original plan was 1) set something automated on the Spider, let it work on its own 2) insert the payload and then 3) do whatever still needed doing (finish it off, clean up, run for it, etc)

Thanks for the clear picture of the situation.

New plan: He'll insert the payload, see to it that it got through, and get away. (Hopefully before the stun wears off.)
This message was last edited by the player at 04:08, Thu 27 Jan 2022.

Ahhh... got it.

You can set up an autonomous program to do tasks for you. This effect is achieved through a hacker move Compile Agent but since you don’t know the move, you can try it, but you will be glitched

Still the safe bet to inject the payload into the node and get out of there, but *picking up dice* if you want to go for it, just let me know!

The mission is effectively over now- opposition's down, nobody's coming, all that has to happen is depositing the files, and we're good to go. Besides, the important thing right now is that he not cause an expensive enough problem for anyone to care to follow them back.

And, if I read the room right, Venom can make it look like 'I caught him at something, he threw down a flashbang and ran, but he didn't finish whatever it was' with very little effort. This seems about right. Then he can scarper with the finished job and a valid set of Admin codes.

With the spider stunned, you crack open the data flow and upload your payload...

Sling Code
22:49, Today: Mr. Johnson, on behalf of Venom, rolled 10 using 2d6+1 ((6,3)).
Strong Success

:: Private to Venom
Kali: I see it. Tidy bit of driver’s history for these IDs. I’m ghosting. Catch you at Syberspace to split the cred?

You know it!

Annd... get clear of the DMV, and take the safe way home.

Annnd.... credits Music! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KinU-QX51OQ)
This message was last edited by the player at 06:13, Thu 27 Jan 2022.

As soon as you hit the DMV SAN, the worker avatar is gone and you’re away like a flash, riding the data lines of the OKL RTG.  Time to get paid, but before you get to the local Syberspace access node and skip across to it’s PLTG, you mind buzzes with a message...

You have a contact left to finish before we’re done with your character sheet. Who is calling?

Submitted four possible contacts- let's see who you like. That one. :)

"Ummm, hey Venom?" comes the woman's voice on the other end of the line. "It's Sunan from the, ummm, crowd over at People's University. Kind of hit a bump in the road and hope you can help us out. Can we meet up? Tomorrow?"

The Circle, PocSec updated.

Prelude ends. Character sheet complete. Give it a reveiw and let me know if there is anything you want to change before the next scene.

Everything looks fine. :)

Just for fun: We both know about as much about Venom, so- how much work do you reckon it'll take for him to be presentable in public? (since she wants to meet IN PUBLIC, which he's not gonna be happy about....)

I'm gonna just put it out there that this is the first time for a face-to-face meeting. He's not gonna be thrilled, she's gonna be taken aback, it'll be fun on a stick. ;)
This message was last edited by the player at 04:20, Sat 29 Jan 2022.

let’s say you have a full day of downtime between finishing up the DMV job and meeting with Sunan.

That gives you some time for whatever legwork you want to accomplish. Just let me know what Venom is up to and we can see how it all plays out...

Besides, I’m sure ‘presentable in public’ still gives a pretty wide margin for interpretation in 2060 Berkeley!

Day off:

In general:
-Health check: Anything new or unusual (Ie, is any of his usual conditions getting worse)?
-Normal exercise: He mainly wants to be able to get around if his cyberlegs.. aren't.
-General check for bugs, worms and wiretaps- just general “this is my job” stuff. [Might 'hold on' to them if they're traceable- he could misinform people rather than remove the bug entirely.]
-Weapons maintenance on his Colt and general 'R U OK' on his deck.

-Check the local buzz. Particularly the local “police blotter” (incomplete as it probably is). Trying to get a picture of who the immediate at-your-doorstep players are, where he is.
-Check the sports scores. [He favors British soccer and pro fights in general. Though he’ll take anything, really.]
-Get “dressed up for a day on the town”. This will involve  hacking his beard into acceptable fashion and generally cleaning up.

-Q: Is there a thrift shop nearby?

Side projects:
-Generally check the area he currently lives in [Since we didn’t use the area w/ Mr. Timu, yet, he doesn’t live there yet.]

First: This is an ‘informal sublet’- he pays rent to someone who actually holds the lease, somewhere else. (If you want him to have roommates, that’s a wacky detail. IRL I once did this, in a three-BR apt, with five other people.) The name on the door-buzzer isn’t his, etc.

So: General background checks on the person he’s renting from, roomies if any, the guy (whose name is on stuff) who he’s supposed to say he’s “a friend of”, as much information as he can get about other people in his building [alarm bells and interesting news only, nobody needs every tenant], anything “Red Flag” about his area in general.

If anyplace in the neighborhood looks- from “outside”, in the Matrix- like it shouldn’t be as fancy as it is, that’s a “check this out later” flag. He has no intention of hitting anywhere close to where he lives, but it’s good to know anyway.


Last Mission:
-Aftermission: Any feedback from Kali? Any particular ‘news’ as a result of the last mission? Did Venom break any ‘ground rules’ that need addressing?

“Loadout” (Black Market check):

-Check around, see what kind of skill chips are 'in stock' locally, right now.
-Some kind of 'utility knife'.
-Look into micro-drones. Venom probably used something LIKE a drone in his “old job”, but probably not what’s available to buy. [I started with a pre-drones SR setting, so if it requires new training or something that’s news to me.]

-While I’m thinking about drones- is there unusual amounts of drone traffic in his area? How about pigeons? Unusual radio signals (like numbers stations)?

-Looking for someone selling “Bushmasters”. (This is a one-shot, very much NOT silenced, bullet-in-a-tube that can be set to go off on a timer or net-capable signal. It’s a real bullet (though he’ll settle for a blank), not “aimed” at anything in particular. It’s meant to be a diversion or to build the illusion of backup. If they’re cheap, buy a few and give the illusion of a LOT of backup.

CODING:
-That “flashbang” trick worked out nicely. Research: is there a way to make that a standard part of the arsenal?

Next Job: This is more or less prep for what he’s getting ready to do:

-Q. Did Sunan Pranee name a particular time/place to meet, and if so, where/when is it? Does anything immediately seem unusual about either?

[I'm trying to figure out how to get Venom to attract as little attention as possible. I have a default idea for this, but will tailor it if anything interesting comes up.]

-Check the “Campus news”- Every campus worth its salt has an official newspaper, but also a bunch of unsecured “chat feeds”, open blogs, gripe forums, stuff like that. See if any useful news has happened, and if they’re talking about any trends or issues that might be of interest.

(This includes the campus security blotter, which is usually open to the public so people know to avoid things.)

-Quick, “Retail level” net search for the usual suspects in this group, including Sunan Pranee. Nothing to trip any alarms, just…. Keyphrasing them. [Basic stuff- where they’re from, are they from money, what obvious connections do they have, majors if any, stuff like that.]

-If- during the process of cruising these places- any unusual Matrix traffic shows itself, just notice it.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:01, Sun 30 Jan 2022.

The local buzz now isn't this interesting? The police blotter has something about a gambling parlor suspected to be run by the Black Chrysanthemum Clan being hacked by an unidentified competitor.

Thrift Shop in the C-zone, every shop is kind of a thrift shop.

Background checks nothing noteworthy enough to check out later, but hey, it's only a quick check, you got other things to do right?

Aftermission it's not unusual for Kali to go dark for a few days, or weeks at a time. It's a symptom of a wider problem.

Drones there are a ton of drones that aren't black market. You can order Kanamushi, Fly Spy or Pigeon from Big Mart and they will be delivered this week.  Microskimmer or a ground drone like Gerbil might even be delivered same day. Anything restricted, well, you'll need a contact to handle that kind of purchase or you'll need to wander the dregs for awhile and find someone selling illegal goods out the back of a van.

Knife Big Mart Ranger, 4" locking blade, 50¥, delivered today, just click buy now.

Skillsofts, Knowsofts, Linguasofts complex skillsofts to run with skillwires are tough to find, but not impossible. Knowsofts and Lingusofts are a dime a dozen (figuratively... literally they are about 100¥ and you can download them with your phone and a tech guy like you probably has a chip cooker).  Music, maps, virtual instructors are always available too.

Bushmaster might have do do some legwork to track one of these down. Shouldn't be too strenuous, but will take some time.

Coding that's totally possible, but an all day coding grind to map your code on top of an existing attack utility. Those are restricted, so you'll need to find a friend who knows someone who can get you hooked up or repurpose the Steamroller... it has the basic programming framework already.

Will pick up on stuff about the meet after downtime

[OOC: I think I'm repurposing Steamroller- I think I get Flashbang better than I do Steamroller.

The Chip thing: He's concerned about skill atrophy (he lost a LOT of steps since just five years ago), so he might try making up for lost time by 'chipping it'. A language chip for whatever likely 'let's talk behind his back' language they're likely to use at the University these days is a good idea.

Knife: Check!
I'll check out the drones later. I think something really basic for now. Top of the line stuff might attract attention.

-Putting out feelers for the Bushmasters now, for later payoff.
-Stashing the information about the Black Mums, for later. That IS useful. Maybe he can find work.]
This message was last edited by the player at 04:56, Sun 30 Jan 2022.

You open the guts of Steamroller, crack your knuckles and get to work...

Sling Code

12:06, Today: Mr. Johnson, on behalf of Venom, rolled 5 using 2d6+1 ((2,2)).
Fail
Take 1XP PocSec updated

...it does not go well, maybe the stress of this face to face meeting has you distracted. Looks like you need to make another attempt when you have a clearer head.


Knife purchased
Linguasofts purchased
PocSec updated

Coming soon: The Meet...

So, there's three possible "blend ins"-

One, he has a reasonable blend-in of a suit, pomade enough to slick back his hair, and a Japanese-style coughing mask. (It was large enough to cover most of his facial scars. He'd look like a very... strange sarariman.

Second was just what he was wearing now, fuck 'em. (This didn't seem that great an idea)

Third, he had crutches. His plan was to wear clothes from a vending machine, sunglasses, a headkerchief, a baseball cap, 'stash' his prosthetics (and his usual clothes and such) in a duffel bag, crutch his way along to a decent location, and deploy The Sign. (The sign is a 2' by 1' foot, folding handwritten, cardboard sign that says:

"ALL HELP APPRECIATED-

I am in needing of 500¥ for train fare back to San Diego.

I have until FEBRUARY 2nd to see my brother before they foreclose on his dog

and (with the cap next to him, and no eye contact) it's guaranteed invisibility.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:57, Sun 30 Jan 2022.

Sunan sets the meet for the student centre at PU on the old Berkeley campus.  Most courses have broken for winter break and the campus is pretty slow, which makes it a pretty good spot to avoid any prying eyes. She has a study room signed out where you two can talk in private.  It seems strange that she wants to meet in private without others in The Circle, it’s not unheard of, just normally decisions are made democratically so a one-on-one seems a bit out of character.

A scan of the university public forums reveals nothing about The Circle. If it had, would you even consider working with them?

Shadowlands however gives a bit of perspective...
This message was last updated by the GM at 02:39, Mon 31 Jan 2022.

okay, lay it on me...

link to a message in this game

This is kind of a meta-question here, but how exceptional should I assume Venom is? I mean, he spotted the Black Mums' breakin problems off the police blotter pretty easily, and judging by the Shadowlands thing, it's not exactly a state secret that the Circle were involved.

This is just to temper my IC response- if it's a quiet thing that requires a delicate touch (and Venom is just ahead of the curve), that's a different scene than "Literally every Shadowrunner has access to this information, the Black Mums know it was you, what, exactly, do you want me to do about it?"
This message was last edited by the player at 14:18, Mon 31 Jan 2022.