Food Poisoning
| Food Poisoning | |||||||||
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| Factions Involved | |||||||||
| ShadowHaven | Innocent Victims | ||||||||
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Glamor Number 6 Rewired Six of Hearts |
Julia Krieger Restaurant Staff | ||||||||
Summary
In which the runners are hired to poison someone with ghoul spit at a fancy restaurant - they succeed in this task despite themselves.
Background
Dr. Julia Krieger is an up-and-coming virologist with Micronetics, an S-K subsidiary; she is also the grand-niece of Dr. Jeffery Krieger, the man who first isolated HMHVV Strain III, and has done a lot of promising work on the virus and potential cures. Some Shadowy Figures(TM) have decided that her work would be put to a lot better use if she were practicing in Asamando, but she has so far resisted enticements to move to the country. Taking a more direct approach, these figures have reached out to Fear the Dark to infect Krieger so that she will be transferred by S-K to Asamando; they have hired a Mr. Johnson to pass it off to the runners as a wetwork gig.
The Meet
Mr. Johnson has the runners meet with him at the Sleeping Sun, a shady mahjong parlor in Loveland. Number 6 slots their "Salty Tom" p-fix and hitches a ride from Glamor, who in addition to being burned by the harsh light of the sun is forced to put up with Salty Tom's antics; Rewired and Six of Hearts meanwhile take their bikes and manage to arrive without issue. Talking their way past the doorman, they meet with Mr. J at his table, who gives them a sealed vial (which they are not to open beforehand, being told that it will denature quickly) and tells them that the target must be poisoned with it while out eating at the Tacoma Purple Haze restaurant, where she has a reservation for the following evening. After quibbling over price a bit, they settle on a final take of 16k each, and Mr. J takes his leave after providing them with a burner commlink number to contact him at once the job is completed.
The Plan
After some Shenanigans(TM) with Glamor and Salty Tom accidentally stumbling onto Agamemnon's hidden lair (the former getting quite badly burned by the UV lights installed in the access corridor), Rewired wisely invites the team to leave the Sleeping Sun and reconvene at his apartment in Bellevue in order to perform some preliminary legwork. While he hits the grids looking for more intel on their target, Glamor summons and binds a spirit before going home to sleep and Six of Hearts attempts with some success to stop Salty Tom from going to assault Rewired's poor neighbor. Rewired is able to locate information on both the Tacoma Purple Haze and Dr. Krieger, and the team concoct a plan to replace some members of staff at the restaraunt (with Six of Hearts being a trained chef and Salty Tom Number 6 being a capable social infiltrator who can pass for waitstaff).
While Rewired hits the restaurant host to set things up, the team contact their SIN forgers for some burner identities and Six of Hearts hits up the Crime Mall for some new combat chef's knives just in case (finding one made of ceramic components), as well as electrochromatic Ares Industrious outfits and some fresh synthskin masks.
The hacker pops some brain drugs before dropping into VR and scoping out the Purple Haze's destination host. Slipping inside as a regular patron, he browses the simsense menu and looks through the list of chef's credentials, waving off requests to make a reservation as he follows the data trails to a nested host; managing to place his mark on it, he slips inside without being seen, avoiding notice of the patrol IC as he locates the reservations file. Disarming the data bomb, he makes a quick edit to slip in Glamor's fake name in place of an existing reservation in Krieger's section before quickly locating the staff schedule, all while remaining hidden from the security spider who is in the process of making some edits to the file. Making a copy for himself, he quickly jacks out without being seen.
The Run
Putting on their respective disguises, the team heads to the Purple Haze in Glamor's car and parks in the staff parking lot, staking the place out and seeing their target employees approach the staff entrance in the rear of the building. Using mind magic the team lures them into the car and knocks them out, letting them take their places, however Rewired and Glamor draw some attention from security in the process, forcing them to beat feet. They decide to take the two stunned employees to the hospital, settling on dumping them outside the emergency room without their commlinks, and are spotted by several witnesses doing so - this results in them being tailed by drones and prevented from returning to the restaurant, forcing Glamor to call Kenneth "Flamesaw" Murphy to obtain access to the OU through the entrance near the Crying Wall in order to avoid the panopticon of surveillance attempting to locate them.
Meanwhile Six and 6 successfully infiltrate the restaurant disguised as the members of staff, adequately performing their duties and staying under the radar until Krieger shows up for her reservation (accompanied by a bodyguard). "Salty Tom" (presupposing his pirate-ness) takes her order and brings it to Six of Hearts, noticing the chemsniffer ring on the bodyguard's finger in the process. Rewired attempts to hack it remotely, but is unable to do so due to the local noise levels, so Six of Hearts uses her chef's knowledge to add a bunch of spices to the meal which should help cover up it's presence before using her palming skill to surreptitiously add the "poison" to the dish while Salty Tom creates a ruckus in the kitchen which keeps the other chefs from noticing.
Salty Tom brings Krieger her meal and is able to convince her to try the extra un-ordered spices, making sure she takes a bite before returning to the kitchen to find the manager there on the phone and asking the two of them to come to her office (having been contacted by the hospital who have resuscitated the two original employees). Salty Tom, with Six's aid, feigns grief at their poor grandson who was in a terrible accident, and says that they need to go to the hospital immediately - the two manage to put on a good enough performance that the manager awkwardly allows them to go without protest (a decision that will almost certainly get them fired).
Aftermath
Managing to make a totally-not-clean getaway, the team reconvene and contact Mr. J to tell him the job's done. They receive a ping to a dead drop where their credsticks are waiting, and a day or so later catch word on the newsfeeds of Dr. Krieger being Infected and transferred to Asamando, with the restaurant being temporarily closed for inspection by the health department and possible lawsuit.
Rewards
- 16,000 nuyen
- 2 karma
- 2 CDP
Game Quotes
Player After Action Reports (AARs)
Salty Tom - "It was a damn good job, much like the ones in my youth. My and granddaughter Montenegro got the job at a Mahjonk parlor and then we went to some strange person's apartment where I told them about my past adventures. Then, me and my nephew Grenadine got a job at some restaurant and went to work. I served some Corp Doctor lady a spicy meal but I had to leave work early. I had received the terrible news that my Grandson had all of his limbs removed in a game of Urban Brawl. Tough stuff but that's the way it goes."