Of CRISPR and Covens

Of CRISPR and Covens
Date 2085-11-08 GM Eva Location Seattle (Ork Underground) Status Threat Level: High
Factions Involved
ShadowHaven	The Circle of the Rose	Ordo Maximus
Setter Wrath Doggie Bag	Emilia de Vries 'Sylvia'	Cynthia Rochette

Summary

Evo tries to hire the Haven runners to reclaim an asset gone rogue. The Runners find her, discover her infected status, and given they're 2/3rds infected themselves, decide to help her swap her old masters for some new ones. The asset is a rogue experiment with a tie to a local vampiric group, and Ordo is all too happy to absorb Evo's hard won research and the fealty of a dozen new vampiric magicians. All in a day's work.

Background

Emilia de Vries is an ongoing project of the Evo corporation. Some biological experiments into new avenues for bioware development. Luckily for her, she's kept on a long leash. Weekly check-ins, more of a parole officer situation than being in lockdown. Recently, however, Emilia has gone AWOL, missing her last checkup and disappearing from her usual spots. The corporation believes that she is in bed with a local magical group, The Circle of the Rose. The Circle keeps it's headquarters in the upper region of the Ork Underground, and is comprised of about a dozen members, of varying degrees of magical ability.

The Meet

The meet is downtown, in a nice bar. Ms. J is a well dressed, athletic ork woman. First to arrive is Setter, an incomparable beauty, even amongst Dryads. Second is Wrath, who, having heard the job is corporate in nature, has arrived already predisposed against the Johnson and the mission, on a conceptual level. She is well covered (to hide her spiky bone growths), and dressed informally, sweats and the like. She even asks for some fancy wine to run up the J's budget, just a little bit. Doggie Bag arrives last, well dressed and polite. He does, however, quickly realize that this is likely an Evo job. As an Evo SINner, who is not currently on great terms with his mother corp, this is a point of pretty strong anxiety.

The Job as proposed is relatively simple. Emilia de Vries is a walking bioware experiment gone rogue. She is believed to reside in the upper levels of the Ork Underground in the arms of a magical group called the Circle of Roses. Not much is clear about the Circle or its' nature, but the pay is good and the timeline relatively flexible. Being staunchly anti-corporate, Wrath makes a strong point to say that she wants the liberty to decline the job after initial legwork is complete. Surprisingly enough, the Johnson gives us 24hrs to investigate and decide for ourselves.

The Plan

We head to a dive bar to do some legwork. Basic matrix searches show that Emilia is likely awakened, a human, and has fallen off the grid recently. Otherwise, there is nothing too out of the ordinary. We plan to employ some of Wrath's magical abilities, and head to her hideout to do so. She creates a large Watcher spirit (F8) and a few Armor preps. Doggie Bag explains Noble Sacrifice, and uses it to take most of her drain on her behalf.

Wrath sends out the Watcher to search for her. It is successful after some time. Notably, Emilia is still out at this late hour (~3 am). Having located the target, but unsure of how to proceed, we decide to go find her and do an in-person assessment.

The Run

Wrath's Watcher spirit finds Emilia de Vries in transit, just outside of a local OU bar. The team assenses her: initially, they find her to be a healthy, relaxed mage, with a solid magic score. Later on, they'd be able to pierce her mask and identify her as not just astrally perceiving, but dual natured, as she is in fact a Vampire. In terms of getting up close, the best candidate is obviously the charismatic Setter. She approaches, claiming to be a new awakened (a fact that is not exactly the truth, but not a lie either) looking for guidance. She sets the seeds for Emilia to introduce her to the Circle of the Rose, and Emilia takes the bait. It is clear after some time that Setter's stunning looks and natural glamour are heavily assisting in this endeavor, but that Emilia is also happy to introduce another wayward soul to her Coven.

Arriving at the Coven property, Emilia demonstrates their strong magical security proceedings as she has Setter "whitelisted" onto their outer Ward. Once inside, Setter is able to determine that most or all of the Circle members are Vampires and/or Magicians. She continues innocently questioning Emilia, who is happy to give the basic details. The Circle is not a strictly moral group, but neither are they cold blooded killers. Trying to survive, forced to feed, they feed on those they deem more deserving of it, but aren't too stringent. Sylvia, the coven leader, made a natural connection to Emilia in their shared circles, and was genuinely offering her safe harbor and a new support network. Evo would not allow any other group to be involved like that, and as such, Emilia felt forced to flee.

After some time, but before Setter can get any further quagmired with the group, the runners outside try for a bold play. They message Emilia, mostly honestly recounting the situation, and ask for a meetup. Unsure of what's to come, Wrath and DB prepare for a potential brawl.

After arriving, the team gets the full scoop on the Circle and how Emilia came to be a member. It is clear that what she really wants at this point is to retain her agency and relationship with this newfound group, which is able to uniquely support her as a vampiric creature with difficult needs. The team is reticent to bag her for Evo, thinking that they stand little to gain from the situation and having a general distaste for the type of lockdown she'd presumably be put under. They discuss privately over DNI, and even attempt to revise a plan to fake Emilia's death a few times. Ultimately, the long arms of Evo are just too long for her to go fully free. As a more realistic option, they propose she change hands, live under a more infected 'friendly' regime. She is intrigued, and more than happy to have a similar hands-off research agreement with a similar overarching force, as long as she is given the liberty to remain with the Coven.

Doggie Bag steps aside, and calls Cynthia Rochette. She picks up, and he gives her the full report, holding nothing back. He explains that the Ordo might have some interest in this apparently infected related augmentation study, and that the Circle could even be a positive connection to pull on later down the line. Somewhere to pull from if need be. Cynthia is happy to extend a similar deal that Evo had previously made, provided that the Circle as a whole be willing to report on their surroundings as they pertain to the magical and infected related events in the area.

Giving the offer back to them, the Circle is not unhappy to forge this kind of connection. While it is potentially dangerous, even a loose relationship to Ordo is meaningful. Provides them with protection and perhaps information of their own, someone invested in their success, as it were. Wrath is extremely zealous about the idea, Doggie Bag is relatively optimistic, and Setter isn't exactly sure who we've just signed our new friend off to.

With the team having sown the seeds for a quiet weaseling out of the job, they do so, bothering their Evo Johnson quite a bit, but not technically reneging on any agreement. Cynthia sends some hands from Ordo Maximus for the final negotiations with Emilia and the rest of the Coven, and to gather initial information about the research contained within Emilia's body.

Aftermath

Evo is upset, but not able to actually go after the runners for any good reason. They come to understand that Emilia somehow came under the protection of Ordo Maximus! Ordo is happy with their new magical and informational resource, as well as the potentially useful research Evo placed inside Emilia, should it be reverse engineerable. Cynthia is again pleased with Doggie Bag's ability and willingness to entirely subjugate himself to please her.

Rewards

16 RVP

• 20k Nuyen (or twice in 'ware up to avail 19) (10 RVP)
• 6 Karma (6 RVP)
• 2 CDP
• +5 Ordo Maximus rep
• -2 Evo rep

Optional, taking from above rewards:

• Closer (4 RVP)
• +1 Loyalty on Cynthia Rochette for Doggie Bag (to L4) (2 RVP)

Game Quotes

"Oh it's like mini, summery Tempest" (complimentary) - Doggie Bag (thoughts after meeting Setter)

"There could be straight characters in shadowrun, just because I haven't seen one yet..." - Scranton

"They do think I'm stupid. They're not wrong." - Doggie Bag

"Wrath has a cute dryad to not let down, she has motivation!" - Scranton / Wrath's thoughts

Player After Action Reports (AARs)

Doggie Bag

"Sending Mrs. R another token of my admiration, I guess. Honestly? Not sure this is a good road for me to walk down, just not really sure what the hell else to do with myself. Today was a close call, if I had been dumb enough to get under the knife at an Evo clinic, I mean, they woulda matched my DNA in a heartbeat. Jesus, can you imagine? At least my frag-off chrome woulda given Dad a heart attack. Eugh. Can't imagine having to have that conversation. I'm pretty sure they think I'm dead. If there's one thing I can say, Ordo Maximus treats me with actual fucking respect. I'll never say they're the good guys, but who's to say I even have that in me? Sure doesn't feel like it. Whatever. Job's done. Be happy no one died."