Into the Light of a Dark, Black Night
| Into the Light of a Dark, Black Night | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||
| Factions Involved | |||||||||
|
ShadowHaven Saeder-Krupp | Ex Pacis | ||||||||
|
Geodesic Caliban Fennec |
B1@ckb1rd Character2 | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| B1@ckb1rd(?) | |||||||||
Summary
S-K Prime decides to fight Dissonance with Dissonance and hires Geodesic and Caliban to hunt down a suspected Ex Pacis associate. They get in over their heads.
Background
The Third Universal Matrix Conference is in full swing. Saeder-Krupp, a major corporate attendee, suspects outside parties to attempt to disrupt or assault the conference, among those being Ex Pacis, the Dissonant technomancer tribe. Amrei Veidt, under the moniker "G01d3nI", reaches out to hire Geodesic and Caliban to trail a suspected contact, B1@ckb1rd, testing whether their corruption by Dissonance will enable them to withstand it better.
The Meet
Geo and Caliban head into the Shadowhaven host G01d3nI requested they meet her at, suppressing their intense discomfort to do so. They sit down after a moment, Geodesic confused but friendly, Caliban vaguely hostile, and G01d3nI explains the situation. They are told she wants them to head to New York, the site of the Third Universal Matrix Convention, where a known technomancer and possible terrorist B1@ckb1rd is posing as a pizza delivery man. They believe he is meeting with an organized group plotting to attack the convention, and want the two runners to tail him and find evidence of this plot. G01de3nI offers 30,000 nuyen each, plus travel expenses. Despite warnings that each have received about the situation in New York City, they both agree.
The Plan
Geodesic, expecting heavy Matrix presence and wanting an edge, asks her contacts for a dose of Cereprax. She gets it from Hextech who takes even more time out of her exhausting schedule to produce some. Caliban, meanwhile, asks her for Khamsa, which she is unable to get for the team. Geodesic also takes a moment to register a Machine sprite before the two head to the airport and fly out. They leave their more unsubtle gear at home, including Geodesic's drone and Caliban's emotional support briefcase bomb.
On the flight, Caliban shares discomfort with one of the identified associates of B1@ckb1rd, Dr. Penelope Ann Xavier, who she remembers vaguely from her time in Human Malice. They have a discussion about the nature of personhood and memories, in which Geodesic claims that if personhood is transient, memories that a person has by definition have to be "theirs," whether they happened to that person or not. Caliban is disquieted by this claim, but does not argue.