Dining and Dashing

Dining and Dashing
Date 2085-02-11 GM Archtmag Location Bellevue, Seattle Metroplex Status Threat Level: High
Factions Involved
ShadowHaven Fiendest	Private Security
Hotdog Lappland Oberon	Private Security Guard
Casualties and losses
	Private Security Guard x2

Summary

In which the runners assist the 162s with saving face.

Background

The 162s sometimes sell spare meat on the side through semi-anonymous channels. One of their customers has decided not to pay, and they've decided to make an example of them - however, having little to go on, they decide to contract the job out to independent investigators.

The Meet

Fiendest reaches out through the runners fixers, arranging a meeting in a nondescript Redmond parking lot; each of the runners is able to make it there without issue. Arriving in her Ghoul Party Car blaring music, Fiendest explains the situation and tells her prospective employees that she will pay them to track down and make an example of the person or persons who ripped them off. Oberon makes use of a mana barrier to block the ghouls ability to see his aura, while Hotdog puts on the charm and attempts to negotiate for a bigger payday, though Fiendest proves to be quite gregarious herself and counter-negotiates the price for the runners services down to a more reasonable (in her eyes at least) figure, promising 10 grand for finding the culprit and another 10 if they send a suitable message.

The Plan

Fiendest is lacking any real leads, except for the name of the person who referred the buyer to them - a dwarf named Steve, who she provides a photo of. Steve sometimes hangs out at The Daze, however Alessa P refuses entrance to Hotdog and Lappland following their close contact with ghouls, telling Hotdog not to burn his house down before giving her Steve's address, a crummy apartment just across the Bellevue/Redmond boarder. The team decide to pay him a visit and find out what he knows.

The Run

Steve's apartment building proves to be not very difficult to break into. Lappland (acting as a bodyguard) and Hotdog head inside. Steve is evidently not home, but Oberon enters and uses Motion Sense to detect someone inside the apartment before picking the lock and heading back outside to keep watch while the others handle the interrogation. Hotdog, using her "friendly, but also threatening" voice, enters and convinces Steve to lower his shotgun to have a chat with her. Under interrogation, Steve confesses that he connected his friend Mike with some shady types, and that Mike has been out of contact for a little while; he is unable to provide an address, but does give them Mike's full name and a photo.

Hotdog calls her pals Mack and Hack who manage to trace Mike's data trails to a nice apartment in an A zone. Due to the high security rating and quick response time, team decide to scope the place out for a bit to get a feel for things. Hotdog makes use of her new ice cream truck to stake the building out, attracting the attention of neighborhood children (who she teaches several creative new curse words) and, subsequently, the local police, who gently encourage her to move along despite the attempts at a bribe.

Once night falls, the group reconvene to plan further recon efforts - while Lappland acts as a getaway driver and Oberon takes the role of lookout, Hotdog steals a pizza from a nearby shop and heads to the door of the building. She is able to identify Mike's apartment from the call-box, and buzzes a resident on the same floor who she is able to con into opening the door in exchange for some unordered but free pizza. Asking about Mike, she is able to confirm from his neighbor that he hasn't been seen in a little while, but they know little else.

When Hotdog leaves the building, Oberon enters in the form of an invisible mouse and heads up to Mike's door - not detecting anything on the other side thanks to the ward that's in place around it, he uses mist form to slip inside and sleaze through the ward. Unfortunately, on the other side are a pair of private security guards keeping watch over a secured door with a barred window and a UV light over it, as well as some very bad vibes. One of the guards notices the suspicious mist, and a scuffle soon breaks out.

Hotdog, hearing trouble coming from the apartment, conjures a fire spirit and tells it to lend assistance to her erstwhile associate in the confrontation, while Lappland gets the van ready to beat a quick retreat. In the apartment, Oberon locates and disrupts the lynchpin of the ward keeping him inside, allowing the fire spirit reinforcement to enter and begin atomizing the guards at his request, starting a small fire and setting off the building-wide fire alarm in the process.

While it does so, he endures the burning UV light to inspect inside, finding a hunched figure which he's able to identify as a recently-infected ghoul - one whose features match those of Mike. Sighing, he unlocks the door, paralyzes Mike with a nerve strike, and carries him to the balcony. Turning the pair of them invisible, he erases his and the spirit's astral signatures before climbing down the side of the building with gecko crawl and meeting the other two at the getaway car.

Aftermath

With Mike in tow, and with onlookers distracted by the fire alarm, the team make a (relatively) clean getaway with their captive. Calling Fiendest, they fill her in on the situation and tell her that Mike is barely cognizant of the situation - and that he keeps asking for meat. Arranging a meetup at an abandoned diner in Redmond, Hotdog and Lappland bring Mike inside; after satiating his hunger, he's a bit more coherent, and it comes about that he was accidentally infected, that his parents locked him up, and that they were the ones to screw over the gang. Fiendest is amused by the whole situation, deciding to keep Mike around for fun and paying the runners what was promised for tracking down the culprit.

Rewards

10k nuyen (5 RVP)

7 Karma (7 RVP)

8 CDP (3 RVP)

+4 162s rep

Optional Contact: Fiendest as a (2/3) - 4 RVP

Optional Quality for Oberon: Shoot First Don't Ask, at chargen rates (taken from karma)

Optional Quality for Hotdog: Good Looking and Knows It, sub rvp

Mundy ascension for Fern

Player After Action Reports (AARs)

Oberon

Well, that was a bit of a shitshow. Messier than I prefer, but the job - such as it was - got done in the end. Props to that shifter and her fire spirit for the timely assist. Had to be extra dodgy around those ghouls to avoid getting made, but they might be useful to know in the future.