Screech

Screech

Media Vulture
Sneaky Social Adept
Source: the rats that live in your walls
Discord	@discogoblin#9660
Reddit	[1]
Metatype	Koborokuru
Street Cred	0
Notoriety	0
Public Awareness	0
CDP	2
D.O.B.	5/3/2058
Age	27
Folder	[2]
Priority	Metatype - B Attributes - C Magic/Resonance - D Skills - A Resources - E
#Max IGs/Ascension	0
# Optional Infected powers allowed	0
Essence(Current/Max):	6/12
# Optional Drake powers available	Major Powers:0 or Minor Powers:0

Character Information

Summary

Seattle's NUMBER ONE source for INDEPENDENT journalism, bringing the people the UGLY TRUTH, 24/7!!! Screech is a ravenous, cannibal Gnawer- and worse- and honest media, hellbent on making a name for herself by sticking a claw in the Big 10's eye. She runs because well... truth doesn't pay the bills, and her audience goes crazy for pulpy true crime.

Goals

- EXPOSE the corruption of the corporate ruling class!

- BROADCAST her message to the people of the world!

- COPE with her ravenous hunger for bones!

- PAY her overdue rent!

Background

Cadence Conway: an indie news star, known for her daring, on-the-scene broadcasts and deep undercover exposes. She burst onto the scene with her coverage of corruption in Knight Errant juvenile court systems, purposely getting arrested to sneak recording gear into the jail. After that came her groundbreaking documentary on an ecofascist policlub in Snohomish, featuring a member of Seattle's city council admitting to campaign finance fraud on tape. By then big names were starting to notice, and Cadence got signed to Reverb News: a massively successful, independent outfit that she had looked up to since she was a kid. She dropped out of college and realized her dream of becoming a full time media, but as her company shifted towards mass-market appeal the relationship between the two soured. Cadence leaned harder into fringe stories ignoring the objections of her editors, gradually whittling her audience down to a small group of NeoA diehards. Then, the intrepid reporter poked the bear.

While researching a string of missing persons in the Barrens, she stumbled into an enormous conspiracy: a Tamanous organ legging operation that reached all the way to the corporate council. This wasn't some petty, street level corruption, but a billion nuyen industry of dead bodies and 'ware. Tamanous were smart, organized and ruthless, known for making examples out of snitches. Cadence said publish the story, damn the risk! Reverb was decidedly less gung-ho. When faced with the potential for violent retribution, the company threw its employee to the wolves. They fed her location to a Tamanous hitman, washed their hands of the whole affair, and quietly replaced her time slot that night with a nice, inoffensive cooking show. Cadence was grabbed on the way to her apartment by a hulking, slavering loup garou, and her story would've ended there if not for the actions of a single bold stranger.

This bystander charged the loup garou armed with only a tire iron, giving Cadence a chance to tear free and escape down a narrow side alley. Her savior's warcry cut off abruptly as the garou turned its rage upon them, tearing the hero to chunks of viscera splattered down the rain-soaked gutter. Cadence called in every favor she had to cover her tracks and get to a ripperdoc, eventually being saved by an old acquaintance from way back in the Snohomish days. Bianka Dreschler, a seasoned fixer, responded to the crisis as best she could, but even as she arranged for an ambulance she knew that it was too late. Cadence succumbed to her wounds at the ripper's. Then, she got back up again. Her skin turned pallid, her hair fell out, and her teeth sharpened into serrated points. Then the ripper tossed a body in the room, and she stripped it to the bone like a school of piranhas.

It's been busy nights as of late for the zombified media. Assets seized, SIN burned, and with medical debt nipping at her heels, she really didn't have much of a choice in accepting Bianka's offer for merc work. At least it'll get her back on her feet, she tells herself over and over again. She may have lost once but she's not down and out. Cadence Conway always gets her scoop. With a little bit of luck she can start a new platform, for real this time, without corporate constraints. Then she'll drive a stake through the heart of the conspiracy they killed her to cover up. Even if it means burning up in the process, she'll drag this whole sordid affair out into the light of day.

Narrative Significant Qualities

Positive

Rat Queen (Animal Empathy, Infected: Gnawer): Screech is a fledgling strain 2 infected with all the problems that entails. On the upside, she can perceive the astral, and has a strange affinity for creatures of the night.

Beat Reporter (Online Fame, School of Hard Knocks, Linguist): Screech has never shied away from putting herself in the field. She knows the city like the back of her hand, and is already amassing a new online following for her coverage of Seattle's sordid underground. Whether this fame is good for her or her teammates remains to be seen.

Negative

Muckraker (Data Liberator, Electronic Witness, PSC IV: Nosy): For better or worse (usually worse), Screech truly believes in her mission to publish nothing but the truth. Her infection has only increased her fervor, and she will happily expose morally dubious practices even if it means screwing over a client. She also likes to film her jobs- blurring the faces of her team, of course- and publishes them in the form of videos on her exclusive subscription feed.

Run History

Name	GM	Metaplot	Date of Run
Green Gold in the Ashes	LHOG		15 August 2085

Affiliations

Contacts

Contact	Connection	Loyalty	Archetype	Profession	Aspects	Chips
News Van Dan	3	3	Legwork	Guerilla Reporter (Infobroker)	Infobroker, Conspiracy Theorist, Drone Operator, Hacktivist	Even
Bianka Dreschler	3	3	Fixer	Info-Broker	Chaos Magic Magician, Anarchist, Paracritter Lover, Linguist	Even
Zigzag	1	2	Service	Driver/Organlegger	Ghoul Organlegger, Actually a Good Driver, Dead Drop, Infected Networker	Even

Enemies

Tamanous: This time around it's personal. Screech hasn't given up the goal of exposing Tamanous's smuggling ring, but will have to restart from square one after her own editor burned her research.

In Character Information

Matrix Search Table

Threshold	Result
1	It's easy to find the website for Chatterbox News, as the links have been spammed across half the Emerald City. All of her published articles are available here free of charge, with a subscription-tier system for her "documentaries" keeping the whole thing afloat.
3	It's not too hard to connect Screech's writing style to the microcelebrity Cadence Conway. The interesting thing is that- according to the Knight Errant- Conway died several weeks ago in a 'cyberpsychosis event'.
6	Looking too far into Conway's death is a risky endeavor indeed. A syndicate had a hand in this, one willing to sic a raging loup garou on a victim to make an example. That would explain the virus, at least.

Shadow Community Table

Threshold	Result
1	"Wasn't that some rockerboy back in the 70's? Had the hair like a skunk?"
3	"The weird, short one who kinda smelled like dead earth? I've seen her. Nosy. Always asking questions."
5	"The ghoul media? That's double bad luck. Bail while you still have the chance, chummer. Plus, I think they're on Tamanous's shit list. You didn't hear that from me, though."

Assensing Table

Threshold	Result
1
2
3
4
5

SINs

Kayla McKenna, R4 Burner: Look, it's all she could afford.

Character Plot Hooks

Here are characteristics of the character that GMs may take advantage of to add complications to runs, or to otherwise use when in use. If you want to use them in unrelated to runs, please ask first.

Aspect	Information	Related Run(s)
Aspect 1
Aspect 2
Aspect 3
Aspect 4
Aspect 5