A Box Within A Box
| A Box Within A Box | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of The Cradle Of Betrayal | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Factions Involved | |||||||||
| ShadowHaven | Xandra and her bodyguard | ||||||||
|
Lambda Nix Strobe Trample | Xandra Barkirkis, Titan, a cyberadept | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| None | Xandra's promotion | ||||||||
Summary
The runners are hired by a corporate suit to prevent a talented coworker of his from getting a promotion she probably deserved.
Background
Genesis Consortium, a South American AA corporation with an heavy focus on biotech and the amalgamation of magic and biology, known for its deep ties with Aztechnology, is infamous for its cutthroat politics and hostile work environment. Mr Powers, a medium level director operating in Matrix security, is positive that the current status quo is favorable to him, and knows that sudden rises or downfalls can lead to turmoil, that he would rather avoid. Another important piece of the puzzle is the existence of a non publicly known azzie sea archology, far from the coast in the Alaskan sea. Due to classified "spirit issues", it has received some damage, and the company is considering the idea of selling it, and for that, a stage during the SoCeACo (South and Central American Corporations) convention, in which companies from both the inside and the outside of the Aztechnology sphere of influence will make their proposals.
The Meet
The meet happened in a private chat room in the Shiawase global grid, as requested by the Johnson. The J explained his problem, and made clear that the runner's job was to more or less destroy the carreer of his rival, Xandra Barkirkis. She, in fact, as a plan for the deep sea archology, and it looks promising enough to be accepted by the seller, bringing lots of nuyens in the company's pockets, and lots of influence to Xandra herself. The team was tasked with finding dirt to toss at her, making the presentation itself fail, whatever is needed to stop her.
The Plan
The team decided to meet in meatspace to discuss the details, more specifically at a cat cafe suggested by Strobe. There they discussed on what could be considered a "career killer" within one of the azzie aligned corporations, which are known for their unethical practices. Lambda, after a deep Matrix search, discovered that the target has both a severe addiction to red mescaline, and has some sort of ties with Tlaloc, a known cybermancer. Thanks to Nix's insight on Aztlaneer society and culture, it was deemed enough to ruin her, and it was decided to add a slide to the presentation, with a picture of her talking to this hooded figure that is known to be Tlaloc themself.
The Run
After some digital scouting, Lambda and Trample entered the venue's host, and searched it for hidden sub-hosts, finding one, and then another nested in deeper. Thanks to the fact they were both running silent, they were able to penetrate the defences of Xandra's bodyguard, Titan, and a sprite of his. Once within the deepest layer, Lambda took care of disarming data bombs, decrypting the file itself (revealing that the plan involved turning the archology into a deltaware clinic, specialised in the production of transhumans), editing (to add the photo, as planned), and then putting the encryption (whose password was "Marlboro2004") back in place, while Trample engaged in cybercombat with the technomancer as a red herring, to allow the human decker more leeway to do his thing. After this skirmish, she also made her way inside the deepest host, and took a look to other presentation files, of rivaling companies, specifically Onotari's idea of turning the place into a testing ground for gauss weaponry, and Aztechnology Paranormal division's proposal of turning it into a observation post to better study the many free spirits roaming the area. After the successful host dive, the core of the run was already archieved, but the team decided that attending the convention would have been preferable, to make connections and to interevene directly if something goes south. Strobe had some fun with a trophy husband, Nix found an old wakyambi azzie to leech off for the night, and Trample got to know Axolotl a famous metasapient rights activist.
Aftermath
The presentation was, as forecasted, a disaster, and seeing Xandra so heartbroken moved something within Trample, that decided to counsel her and accompany her back home. The rest of the team got out of there as perfect ghosts, and the J was satisfied by the brilliant execution.
Rewards
- 14k nuyens or double the amount in bioware, Aztechnology brand weaponry or armor
For Strobe
- 14k nuyens or double the amount in bioware, Aztechnology brand weaponry or armor OR 2k nuyens or double the amount in bioware, Aztechnology brand weaponry or armor AND Tlazopilli as a 6/1 contact
For Trample
- 14k nuyens or double the amount in bioware, Aztechnology brand weaponry or armor OR 4k nuyens or double the amount in bioware, Aztechnology brand weaponry or armor AND Axolotl as a 5/1 contact
- Optional contact Xandra Barkirkis as a 5/1