Third-Story Malpractice
| Third-Story Malpractice | |||||||||
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| Part of La Famille du Peintre | |||||||||
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| Factions Involved | |||||||||
| ShadowHaven | Major Corp | ||||||||
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Ashford Bunny Hop Crunch Zenith |
Character1 Character2 | ||||||||
Summary
Background
Bunny Hop is doing some nullsect googling (don't worry about it), while Ashford is reading Agrippa's Three Books of Occult Philosophy, and UMTifying it while Crunch and Zenith discuss the merits of not eating at the local taco temple, which Zenith claims is doing blood magic because it managed to upset his stomach. Totally normal 10PM night time activities.
The Meet
The gang is requested to meet at Ash Bucket, a western style saloon in Puyallup City, and after Zenith nearly hits BHop outside of the bar. BHop isn't impressed by the scrungly Zenith, and Ashford seems to think that eating Taco Temple is blood mind magic of some sort. The J wants the group to steal a rail road spike from the Doctor's Hospital of Tacoma. While another runner team is seeking it out as they speak; A decker, a druid, and some street punks. The J and the newbie J offer up 12k for the job, and 4k if they are able to find out who the enemy team is working for.
The Plan
There is no plan.
The Run
Zenith starts the run by shooting a metal skull'd troll in the head, who turns out to be one of the other runners. After some back and forth, the troll heads inside 1k richer. Bunny Hop attempts to watchdog the troll's comm, but instead sees nothing running silent in the area, and a chunky rating 6 host. While BHop begins matrix crimes, Ashford settles into the comfort of the closest alley's trash to project and take a look around. Spying a watcher, wards on some random windows, and the third floor, Ashford doesn't see any dual natured people wandering around. Zenith gets to listen to two mobsters complain about how runners are more metal than metahuman, before insulting them and the two attempt to rob him, leading to a little bit of a scuffle, saving Ashford from mobsters. Heading inside, Crunch talks with Benjamin to make sure he's okay before returning outside to check on Zenith who is presumably vomiting on Ashford's suit. Instead, the gnome finds two passed out Italian mobsters and their runner cohorts. BHop meets the host's security spider, Girl in White, and attempts to convince them that they are meant to be there. It fails, but Girl in White gives BHop their commcode if they find The Heavenly Host. They have a little techno moment, and Girl in White explains that they need BHop to leave or they'll have to kill them. Eventually BHop bribes Girl in White to leave them alone.
Bringing the two wounded men inside, they're able to bluff past the receptionist and pick up a resident. While Zenith and Ashford drop off the two mobsters, the small gnome sneaks past to the medical director's office, Reginald Patel. Zenith pick-pockets the resident, producing a pen. Using high pressure sales tactics and the idea the the hospital would financially benefit from a residency program with UW, Crunch manages to bully the man out of his own office. That pen Zenith took, is actually an injection pen filled with Narcojet. Sadly, he only realizes that as the 'resident' sees Crunch with the box containing the railroad spike, and closes the door behind him, trapping her in the office with him and their objective. Upon hearing this, Zenith sprints down the hall and up the stairs to where the captured gnome is. The 'resident' attempt to nerve strike the gnome, unable due to her pacifist aura, and with some basic somersaults, Crunch keeps out of the way. Zenith is cut off in the stairwell by a plant spirit, and Ashford summons a F6 spirit of man to aid him while Zenith proceeds to beat the spirit with his stick. The spirit, in turn attempts to eat him. The spirit of man, presented as a stack of books, attempts to diffuse Spilling out into the hall, Reggie witnesses the 'resident' attempting to nerve strike the gnome, jumping into the fight to protect his hospital's future UW contact. The whistling of a train begins to rumble in the distance. Spirit Kaiju battle begins as Crunch, coming to the stairs, in true gymnast fashion leaps over the battle and lands safely besides Zenith while the 'resident' calls for Benjamin. Zenith at this point scoops up gnome and rail road spike while Ashford puts up a physical barrier for the 'resident' to glass-window-bird slam into it as Zenith and Crunch escape to the lobby. Benjamin meets them in the lobby, and punches Zenith in the shoulder as Crunch is gnome-bowled. 'Stabbing' Benjamin with a 2k credstick, like a true ham, Benjamin 'falls'. Passing the box off to Zenith, Crunch goes back to ask Benjamin about their employer, promising to split the 4k with him if he finds out before cutting open her palm and smearing some blood on his stomach area to help sell his con.
Aftermath
As they start driving away however, Zenith feels Oracle coming back first, whispering There's more to the story. They are suddenly transported to the desert on a train track, a train whistling loud with an 1800s freight train zooming by as an vague figure in a cloak of sand with a black void for a face and orange menacing eyes extends a hand. This causes Zenith to slam on the breaks, and Ashford to run into the back of the car. Crunch slugs through the sand, to take the hand of the entity, moving miles away in moments as Zenith eats a cold soy churro. Taking the mummy like hand, her vision is much higher than normal, her back aches and sweat begins to form as she notices she's holding a rail road hammer. The same desert shows a partially constructed railroad, other men working on the rail road to a wordless hum. Looking to the encampment, she sees other workers, the foreman and a very fancy man (balding man with very frizzy hair, a large bushy beard and muttonchops in a nice suit with a cane, holding a book covered in occult symbols -- See Luke McRedmond for an image.) with an Irish accent claiming they needed to go further to find 'it out there' so he'll live forever. Returning to the spirit it says 'The Progeny Believes a Lie'.
With a blink, the world has returned to normal. Getting back in the car, she opens the box to observe the rail road spike. Crunch does what any sane person does and immediately attempts to psychometrise it, but is unable to due to age. Returning to the Js, Crunch relays the vision save for 'Returning to the spirit it says 'The Progeny Believes a Lie'.' for an extra 4k.