Stars in Her Eyes

Stars in Her Eyes
Date 2082-04-03 GM Aurora Location Renton, Seattle Metroplex Status Threat Level: Medium
Factions Involved
ShadowHaven	Renraku
Stargazer Babylon	Stargazer's Father Renraku Handler
Stargazer's initiation ordeal

Summary

In which Stargazer is given an "offer she can't refuse" and refuses.

Background

During the events of Staring Down Renraku, Stargazer discovered that Renraku had been planning on creating an artificial manasphere in space in order to allow the Awakened to go into space. She also discovered that one of the engineers on the project was her father, who she believed to have been unwillingly extracted from their Ares Space home in Houston.

Not a date

Stargazer is contemplating the night sky from the balcony of her apartment building in Renton when she gets a call from Gus from Marketing. Frustrated by the constant pursuit of Gus, and yet compelled to answer in case it has something to do with work that she cannot afford to be late with, she picks up the call. According to Gus, he was contacted by the same Renraku executive who interviewed Stargazer during her run and offered to buy her contract from Ares. Asking for the message to be sent, Gus instead says that he should not relay it over the Matrix and invites Stargazer over to his apartment. As loathe as she is to go, she ends up picking up a bottle of wine and going over to Gus' apartment where he has prepared a dinner of astronaut food for them. Annoyed by his continued attempt to start a relationship with her, she informs him that there is nothing happening, and instead takes the datachip that has the message on it and leaves after ordering pizza instead.

The revelation

The datachip is a message from the Renraku handler, reaffirming his offer to buy Stargazer's contract from Ares. However Stargazer sends a message back requesting another interview, and being able to talk with her father in order to make sure that he was okay. The next day the handler responds with a time, and the location of a club in Renton called E-Vue. Stargazer prepares with a nice suit and brings Jupiter, her bound Air Spirit, as a safety precaution. The runner goes to E-Vue, and is allowed entrance by virtue of being on the list. She moves up the stairs to where the Renraku employees are waiting, including her nervous-looking father. The mage assenses the two individuals, and finds out for the first time that her father is Awakened as well.

Sitting down to meet with her father, Stargazer asks what has been happening, and tells him that she and her mother miss him, though at the mention of her mother, her father becomes stern-faced. Unable to hide his emotions, Stargazer gets distant, and asks her father directly if he was unwillingly extracted or not. He admits that he was in fact willingly extracted by Renraku, but had expected that Stargazer could go with him. Disgusted by the idea that her father would abandoned his family and work for Renraku, Stargazer declines the offer for the job and begins to leave. She begins to be pursued by some of Renraku's agents that were placed in the club, but calls out Jupiter to create a distraction so that she can sprint out of the club and turn herself invisible to get away from the other megacorporation. Emotionally distraught and struggling with what to do and who to turn to Stargazer calls Babylon, as the elf is the only other mage that she knows.

The Vast Blackness of Space

Babylon comes to Stargazer's aid, the Ancients member pulls in with her bike and takes the invisible troll on the back before heading off to her safehouse, which has a magical lodge set up to create a mana barrier between Stargazer and Renraku. Once in the safehouse, the two mages discuss what is happening. With Stargazer admitting to being an Ares wagemage and Babylon admitting to being a criminal SINner. The two get drunk as they consider their next moves, and discuss how things have gotten to this point. The Black Mage explains magical concepts to Stargazer, who seems interested and eager to learn from the more experienced caster. She is also introduced to Gomorrah, Babylon's ally spirit, and questions her.

A spirit that Babylon has bound is outside the lodge scouting, and Babylon is informed that there is a large water spirit that wishes to talk with Stargazer. After Babylon astrally projects herself to make sure the spirit is not there to attack them, Stargazer projects as well and gets the message. Her father summoned the spirit and sent it to find Stargazer and apologize. However Stargazer is not willing to hear it until her father acknowledges that leaving his family behind wasn't okay. The spirit returns the message for Stargazer and then vanishes. Choosing to leave the lodge, as a Force 10 Spirit showing up might promise future danger, the magical duo leave the lodge and head to a local No Tell Motel in order to keep a low profile.

Once at the motel, Stargazer thanks Babylon for her help and calls her Ares handler, explaining the situation and that she is most likely being watched and pursued by Renraku. Stargazer is told that she must move since her apartment is being watched, and that she should also write an initiation thesis on Masking in order to hide her aura which Renraku probably now has.

Aftermath

Stargazer moves to a new apartment in the sprawl and writes a thesis on Masking under the tutelage of one of Ares' senior wagemages.

Rewards

Stargazer:

• 10% discount on IG 1
• Astral Chameleon for free (10 RVP)
• 2 karma (2 RVP)
• 2 CDP

Babylon:

• Groupthink for free (5 RVP)
• Natural Leader (5 RVP)
• 2 karma (2 RVP)
• 2 CDP

Game Quotes

"I assume, Gus, that you have not had very many people come to your house at all" -Stargazer, after Gus comments that no one has brought wine to his house.

Player After Action Reports (AARs)

Stargazer

It was a long day, fleeing from Renraku and having to go back to do extra work for Ares is quite a thing. I was not expecting that only a month after moving to Seattle that I would find my father. Nor that the reunion would be so bittersweet. It seems as though I will have to become more powerful in order to ultimately get the answers that I want from him. For now I will settle with learning how to hide my aura from Renraku.

Babylon

It was nice to see Stargazer again, I just wish it had been under more pleasant circumstances. This business with her father... it hits rather close to home for me. Still, we had a good talk - it turns out she works for Ares of all people, which is rather serendipitous. I'll have to speak to her more about that in the future when she's in a better headspace, it might be just the in I need to get to Mom. Frag, is that manipulating her though? I mean I want to be there to help her out, but... wait, why am I even justifying this to myself? Fragging therapy...