@Michael When your PocSec rang and the voice on the other end introduced herself, you almost upended your teacup. That was two short days ago. Since then you've done double duty at the market bringing in a new shipment of bok choi and scraping together a bit of cred to get that Lordstrang's suit that you wore to prom dry cleaned and tailored.

This could be your big break, could put you on a payroll that would settle your folks' old debts and leave plenty more to keep the grocery store running. Maybe even let them retire.

@Firebird The supersonic from Seattle was running late, which was no great surprise, but it did mean that you wouldn't have time to check into the hotel and freshen up before the meeting. Fortunately, they had sent a car out to the airport, and a cup of fresh kaf in the back of the sleek black Nightsky helps pep you up a bit before you get to the gleaming glass tower.

Something tells you that San Fran is going to work out for you. Being on the bad side of a megacorp is a sure fire way to get yourself killed. The best way to avoid a bad end is to go somewhere that your enemies are weak and find powerful friends.

Now...
Arrayed around the boardroom table you join a number of highly motivated men and women. Like you, prospects. Exclusively humans, well-dressed, clean and well-spoken. There is iced water in jugs dripping condensation and fresh coffee, yes actual coffee, in urns on the long glass table.

At 9:05 an assistant drops in to inform you that Ms Harper-Smythe is tied up at the moment and will be a few minutes late.

What are you doing while you wait for the San Fran director of the Dà Dì Xiāo, internal security branch of Wuxing Inc?
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:36, Mon 02 Oct 2023.

Firebird is dressed in her Corp look. Still ready for a fight but definitely presenting a Corp mage look in reds and oranges. She is taking advantage of the amenities like any Corp Mage would in a boardroom.

"Could I get some real milk. It mixes better with real kaf."

She says without looking at the assistant.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:37, Mon 02 Oct 2023.

After receiving the phone call from the Wuxing Inc Michael dresses in his finest clothes  to make a good impression for the job. After letting his mom know he has a job interview and heading out for a while.

Once he arrives at the Wuxing Inc offices and checking in with the front desk Michael is directed to the conference room with the other candidates. Well, this should be interesting. He thinks to himself.

You find yourselves at opposite ends of the table. The prospects talk in quiet tones, making introductions. It’s clear there are a mix of talented, deniable assets here today. A good mix of razors, techies and spellslingers.  Obviously Ms Harper-Smythe likes to cover all the bases.

@Firebird

”Naturally Ms Firebird,” an assistant replies, busying himself with a fresh cup and bringing it to you place.

”I would have one of those two,” says an of the prospects, a young woman in a black and pink dress that shows off her well muscled arms and shoulders.

”Certainly Ms Neko.” the aide says affably preparing another steaming mug.

@Michael

The heavyset man sitting next to you wearing a freshly pressed suit sporting a high Mandarin collared jacket, clinks his cup, dropping four sugar cubes into his kaf. ”Hey, name’s Murat,” he says with a slightly Arabic sounding accent. ”You think maybe this is some kinda corp power play, keeping us waiting like this?”

"Could be. But also seems like typical Corp over scheduling. You can call me Firebird."


Firebird looks over all of them. She thinks this might work.

@Firebird: ”Could be what?” replies the woman seated next to you. ”Oh, and I go by Neko.” she adds offering her hand.

I think you picked up the wron prompt Firebird :)

"Sorry Neko that was answering Murat's question."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:27, Tue 03 Oct 2023.

@Murat

Taking stock of the man sitting next to him Michael nods his head in agreement. “I’m Michael and it could very well be just that; a power play to make us wait. We certainly need the corp more than Wuxing needs us.” Motioning with his hand at the others in the room he continues, “A lot of eager faces in the room wanting to prove themselves or catch a quick score; maybe even get their foot in the door with Wuxing for an easier lifestyle. A lot of change is coming to this part of the world and everyone wants to survive and come out on top.”

Tilting his head a little Michael considers, “If you don’t mind my asking. I’m surprised to see someone of Arabic descent here, Murat; particularly for a corporation based in Asia. Have you been in the city long?”
This message was last edited by the player at 21:36, Mon 02 Oct 2023.

@Firebird. ”Mmmhmm,” Neko replies somewhat nonchalantly.

@Michael. ”It is a story for another time,” Murat replies in a whisper nodding toward the door.

@All. Assistants scatter to the edges of the room as a senior aide opens the door and a middle-aged woman walks in. She carries her designer suit jacket over her shoulder, sleeves of her blouse rolled up to her elbows, sporting a wrist comp worth more than a modest suburban home. Without the slightest hesitation she makes her way to the head of the table.

”A kaf, Ms Harper-Smythe?” asks an assistant.

”I would love a kaf Allan, it’s been minutes since I had one,” she replies wth easy affability as she settles into the leather chair at the end of the table. ”I really want to thank you all for taking the time to come and speak with us today.” she continues accepting the cup of kaf from the assistant named Allan. ”At Wuxing we’re excited about new prospective talent and we hope that we can explore some mutually beneficial opportunities in a number of roles. But let’s not mince words, we have interests and we need people to work with who take our interests seriously. You make life and death decisions out there in the field and deserve the best support we can provide. That’s quite a commitment, I think you will agree. So, you understand that, from our perspective, we don’t want people who are going to become a liability after they join our team.” she says, making a long pause and sipping kaf before continuing. ”Which brings us to today. I’m going to assume that you call came willing to negotiate and willing to get right into it. My operations team and I would like to offer you a chance to show us what you’ve got. Call it an extended interview if you like, we work together for one discreet job and then we decide whether or not our relationship continues to our mutual benefit. How does that sound?”

@Ms._Harper-Smythe "Hmm, typical. You expect us to do work for Wuxing without pay.  Not sure that works for me. I am sure Renraku or Gaetronics or some other Corp in Seattle would have had paying work for me tomorrow. Or for that matter the Dragon's corpse by the end of the week. "

Rachel says as she pours another cup for her self and eats another finger samdwich.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:05, Tue 03 Oct 2023.

@Murat Michael nodded in return; whispering back. “Looking forward to it.”

As the middle aged woman enters the room Michael turns his attention to her and listens intently to what she has to say. Gauging people’s reactions around the room he considers what the female runner said; keeping his facial expression neutral. She’s definitely in it for the money. He thinks to himself. With resignation Since no one else asked Michael replies, “What corporate interests are you and your team usually assigned? ”

@All, addressing Firebird:

”Oh it is early,” she says in reply to Firebird’s comments. ”Allan,did I lapse and tell them I expect them to work for free?”

”No ma’am you did not.” the aide replies.

”Ok, great. I’m not slipping.” she continued. ”So right now Ms Firebird, I think you would agree that we are having a conversation . If, after hearing us out, you are interested in what we are offering, perhaps we can break into smaller teams and begin negotiations. But, you carry no obligation. If you believe your talents will be better compensated elsewhere, you are free to leave.” she says, betraying a hint of an iciness in her words. ”If you would prefer to shop around, then off you go. Consider those opportunities that you mentioned. We can have the car come back around and deliver you back to the airport.” she adds, gesturing toward the door. ”You might want to check the morning scream sheets before pursuing employment with Renraku though. They seem to be in a bad spot right now and I’m not sure those folks that are locked inside the Seattle Arcology are as excited about their human resource opportunities as you are.”

@All, addressing Michael

”Now that is an astute question, Michael-san.” she says turning to Michael. ”It will come as no surprise that my people focus on asset recovery, infiltration, intelligence… the usual fare,” she says matter-of-factly. ”So we offer opportunities in those endeavours if they suit your talents. You might be surprised to learn that we also invest a significant amount in inquiries that serve more benevolent purposes. Without going into details before we begin negotiations, let’s just say that it would not do well for profits if some powerful being from the aetheric planes turned our planet into their own private hellscape.” Sipping her kaf, she adds, ”So we like to help out where we can.”

Rachel smiles.
@all, addressing Ms. Harper-Smythe.


" OH Mi Mal. I will hear you out."

@ Ms Harper

Listening to Ms Harper’s reply Michael wasn’t surprised and projected agreement in his body language to her. “I’m still listening Ms Harper. Please continue.” he said warmly. Taking another glance around the room Michael wondered. With this many people gathered here I wonder if something has happened that now Ms Harper has clean up the mess?

”Great!” she says clapping her hands together. ”Let me start by saying that compensation doesn’t just come in cold untraceable cred.” she adds pointedly. ”Before we break into smaller groups and get down to brass tacks about work that needs to be done and the money that will be made doing it, I’d like to show you around the department.” she continues, standing and leading the group to a large cargo elevator. The lift takes you from the boardroom to somewhere high up in the building.

”There are reasons that talented and motivated people go corp. You can scrape by on the streets and maybe even become a prime runner if you live long enough, but day-to-day, you’re just going from one rat infested flop to the next.” The tour passes by a large gym and a martial arts dojo, a hermetic library and a workshop filled with data terms and technicians. ”If that kind of life works for you, well more power to ya, but at Wuxing we want to bring the best out of our teams, and that means giving access to amenities so you don’t have to worry about them.”

She leads the group back to the large cargo elevator and you descend from the upper levels down into a sub-basement. ”It’s not all glamorous,” she continues, leading you past a small armoury, vehicle bays and ending at a DocWagon mobile surgery medical bay. ”But we try to protect our investments, which is a lot more than that back room fixer is going to do for you.”

Michael follows along on the department tour with the other candidates and takes note of the amenities Ms Harper points out along the way.  His thoughts racing as he takes in the sights of a future in corporate  employment. An amenity is only a benefit if you have access to it. However, it is impressive and  works well with my goals. He thinks to himself., shaking his head at little to himself. He looks around at the other candidates to gauge their reaction for a taste of what is being offered to them. The question is at what price for all this?

@ All, Ms Harper

As the tour ends Michael asks Ms Harper. “Ms Harper, is Wuxing corporation concerned about the rumors of Japancorp soon having a larger presence here in the local government and immediate area. How would this affect Wuxing’s interests in the area?”
This message was last edited by the player at 11:29, Thu 05 Oct 2023.

Rachel follows along. Quietly simmering.


" all of this is good. But it makes a few of us more vulnerable. There might be a reason at least one of us isn't  Corp. At least one of us, had the runner life chosen for them. "

She says hating the fact that she is giving away this much info.

”Well, Michael-san, I can’t conceive of the Japanese multinationals having any more influence here than they already do.” she replies, ”The Bay ‘plex is a gateway to the PCC and UCAS, with less access but better stability than Seattle. That’s why we’re here. We can manage Shiawase, Yamatetsu, Renraku; we all have the same standing… now that Fuchi is gone” she adds with a conspiratorial smile.

”Ms Harper-Smythe,” Allan says deferentially.

”Yes, Allan, I know.” she replies. ”Well anyway, I hope the tour helps make things look a bit more attractive for you all. I’ll leave you in the care of Allan to begin to break this group into smaller teams that can discuss some of our projects in more detail.”

As Ms Harper-Smythe leaves, Allan begins to call out names, giving each group a room number and asking them to wait for one of the managing directors to come in with a mission brief.

About mid way down the list, he calls out: ”Ms Firebird, Michael-san, Mr Feb and Ms Neko. If you would kindly wait in room 205 for Mr Findlay from our recovery department. He will join you shortly.”

Rachel shrugs and heads to 205.

Nodding in acknowledgment towards Allen Michael follows Ms Firebird and rest of their group to room 205.

As they wait Michael introduces himself to everyone. “I wanted to introduce myself. My name’s Michael.” Pausing a moment Michael continues, “So, what does everyone think about all this?”

”Neko,” said the well muscled blonde. ”They paint a pretty good image of themselves, but that’s corps for you. It’s always high gloss sales pitch. ‘Course we know the price, it’s loyalty. Stay loyal to the company and you remain an asset. Show disloyalty or fail to get the job done, and you’re a liability.” she added. ”It looks like a cushy place to work though, just gotta remember that it’s a business relationship not a friendship.”

The clack of cowboy boots sound on the hard floor as Fen walks into room 205. Nice boots, a well tailored western style suit, and a black Stetson cowboy hat are what is seen as Feb walks into the room. Seeing introductions taking place he offers his name. A slight cowboy drawl can be heard.

“Name’s February D’Gac. You can call me Feb.” He nods at Niko’s comment. “Loyalty is everything to the corps.”

He looks around the room and task a seat at the far end of the room.

“Let’s see what the job is and what they offer for compensation.” 

After a few moments, one of the assistants arrives with water, soft drinks and kaf. She tells you that Mr Findlay is on the way down.

A few moments later a tall, dark-skinned man wearing yet another perfectly tailored black suit joins you. ”Nice to meet you all.” he says politely, but rather impersonally.  He pulls up a chair and connects his datajack to a port in the table. The trid screens in the conference room come to life with a series of images depicting what looks like a running team.  A red bearded man, an orc wearing smart goggles and a woman with a cyber deck carried across her back.

”Ladies and gentlemen, meet Mr Church and his team.”

Tell it to them straight

”Mr Church was working for us as an independent contractor. A deniable asset. His task was to recover company property that had been taken by a rival. Data, encrypted, hardwired into a read only optical drive. Our work was infiltrated by an agent of Yamatetsu. It was imperative that Yamatetsu not be made aware that we had discovered the security breach, just in case there were other agents that were in a position to damage the company.”

The photos on the screen change to an older man with a grey beard. ”This is  Reyes Cranmore. We believe he was a deep cover agent tasked to infiltrate our home station research and development department. He was able to replace the real drive with a decoy and, taking the real drive, disappeared from the company archology in Hong Kong. We believe that Church had successfully tracked Cranmore to CalFree, to a safe house in Forest Hill, but the team went dark four days ago, missing their last check in.”

Findlay opens a file containing a recording of a video call. ”This is our last check in from Church.”

The video starts to play, the bearded Church speaking into the camera. ”Pacheco Street. Residential complex.” A map appears in the corner of the screen. ”Cranmore, muscle boy, spell slinger. Nothing we can’t handle. We’ll be in touch to arrange the drop.”

”But the call never came.” Findlay says. ”We’d like your team to pick up the trail. Compensation is sixteen thousand. We will provide any necessary tech support from here, our operations centre is twenty-four seven, so if you need a hack or drone support, it’s only a PocSec call away. Acceptable outcomes include tracking Cranmore and recovering the data, or locating Church and getting his team back into action.”

“I’m sure there will be questions.”

" All the same webs, every Corp makes. I remember running a game like this against ChevronDisney. What am I missing that isn't  normal. "
This message was last edited by the player at 22:42, Sat 07 Oct 2023.