To Lay To Rest
To Lay To Rest | |||||||||
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Factions Involved | |||||||||
ShadowHaven Arcane Eye | Major Corp | ||||||||
Wayfarer Oracle Miut Weevil Poe Jessie DeVux |
Character1 Character2 |
Summary
Following the death of their boss, Manashoe, the employees of Arcane Eye hunt for his killer. Along the way, they also begin the search for his missing body.
Background
Manashoe is dead. In his last run, another runner known as Koi killed him while berserking, and in his final moments he sent out a message to his friends and employees informing them as such.
The Meet
Upon receiving the message, Weevil immediately stepped into action. He went to the office to try and gain information on what led up to the events, even finding his way into Manashoe's apartment to gain further clues. Oracle and Miut, knowing how Wayfarer was closest to Manashoe, instead decided to find the oni at his home and console him. When they arrived, the door was locked and Wayfarer was unresponsive to their knocking, prompting the two to have to break into his house. Upon entry, they found him on his couch in the dark, surrounded by broken furniture and blood from one of his blood bags. After managing to break him out of his stupor, the three decided to call Weevil for a meeting at the Arcane Eye office to discuss their plans.
The Plan
It was simple. Find where Manashoe died, investigate the area and get into the cameras, then hunt his killer down for answers... and maybe for revenge if she held no remorse for her actions.
The Run
Finding where he died was easy. There was a recent event, and given the timing it tracked with when the four of them got the message from Manashoe. Arriving at the scene, they noticed Knight Errant was already on the scene. Overhearing conversations and looking through the camera footage, they were able to find out a few things... First, a meat wagon came in and swapped one of the bodies before heading vaguely west. Secondly, the cameras were heavily tampered with, removing footage that was around the time of Manashoe's death. Third, Manashoe's body was the one replaced with another individual who's history and appearance was similar to his. Lastly, the individuals that took his body were wearing synthskin masks, hiding their identities. Searching the area further, the group was able to find an alleyway the previous runner group ducked into before retreating toward and into the Ork Underground.
Looking into the history of the run, the four were able to find out that Ashen Hand was connected to one of the runners, though they didn't know which one. Wayfarer DNI'd the mercenary leader, who informed him he couldn't and wouldn't hand over that information. Wayfarer asked him to pass along a message, a request for a meeting, which Ashen Hand did. The unknown runner rejected the meeting. With the evidence they were able to acquire, it was proof now that the Haven was protecting the identity of the killer as well as her accomplices. This, obviously, enraged the grieving party. They had reached a brick wall on finding the murderer which they couldn't climb over.
Thus, they gave up. Mostly. Miut very briefly continued working, utilizing her decking prowess to dig into it further. Unfortunately she too soon reached another brick wall, ending her search. A month had passed by, and the party began to slowly pick themselves back up. That was when Miut received a direct message out of nowhere. An individual named Poe had information he had been holding onto for that month, and he felt it was time to share it. He asked to meet with the lot at a bar semi-nearby. After Miut informed the other three of this, Wayfarer said he'd meet the man face-to-face while the rest of them watched and listened from the safety of the roadmaster. Agreeing with this, Miut told Poe they'd meet, and they traveled to the bar.
Stepping inside, Wayfarer met Poe and began to interrogate him on what he knew. Poe revealed the name of the murderer: Koi, whom he shared a tumultuous relationship with (if one could really call it that). He offered for Wayfarer to see how it went down, which the oni accepted. Being given a mind link, Wayfarer saw from the dissonant eyes of Koi Manashoe's final moments. Taking a second to let it set in, he then asked if Poe could call Koi to set up a meeting. He did so, leaving it on speaker so that the both of them could speak and hear. Unfortunately, the only thing they heard was odd screaming from the other side, prompting Wayfarer to ask Poe to take him to where she was hiding out at. Poe accepted, and DNI'd him the location, requesting that he come along. Grumbling, Wayfarer and the rest of his group allowed this. In preparation, Miut called Ashen Hand and paid for a mercenary prepped for combat.
Arriving at Koi's safehouse, the group heard the some disturbing noises in her room upstairs and noticed there was an unnatural background count in the area, causing them to have to rush upstairs. Inside, they noticed Shedim-possessed corpses and another type of shadow spirit present. Wayfarer was quickly taken out of the majority of the fight by some sort of depressive spell cast upon him. Luckily, Poe and Oracle were able to deal with the spirits on the astral side, while Spearhead (the mercenary Miut bought the services of) and Weevil were able to combat the possessed corpses. Most oddly, Koi was now casting magic, when previously she was described as a Mundane decker. Poe's history of dealing with spirits give him insight into this: She made a spirit pact, which gave her magic, and it would not end well. With the battle turning, two shadow spirits began fleeing, though one was grabbed by Wayfarer once he broke out of his depressed state and quickly banished.
Koi, however, had been affected by another spell, causing her to become hostile to the group. Weevil quickly managed to knock her out using his rotodrone, and Spearhead cuffed her. After being healed by Oracle, enough to get her awake, Wayfarer then began to interrogate her on the events. This proved to be difficult, as Koi's psyche seemed to be in tears and she was overcome with negative emotions. Managing to calm her down, Wayfarer asked again, more softly. She apologized profusely, admitting it was her, that she never meant for it, and began blaming herself for everything going wrong her whole life. This caused Miut to flare up, insulting her. Wayfarer hushed her, trying to speak with Koi again. Over the course of this time, he managed to convince her to actually try seeking therapy in some fashion, revealing his real name and the bounty on him, and stated that he would work with her to help her retire, downgrade her 'ware, and try to get a more normal life. She said it wouldn't matter if she didn't go on one last run. This run, which she stated she needed, would free her from being hounded her whole life by Humanis. Weevil then spoke up, offering to help her out in a somewhat insulting manner, though he meant well by it. She accepted it, saying she'd keep him in mind when she made the team.
With not much else to be talked about or done, Koi and Poe set fire to the room to erase evidence of what happened, and they wished the Arcane Eye luck in their future. The two groups split, and now Arcane Eye was on the search for Manashoe's body. Unbeknownst to both Koi and Poe, Wayfarer and Weevil had been recording everything.
Calling up Raytheon, Wayfarer asked for him to find out where the meat wagon went the month ago, and to see if he could get a figure on the body that replaced Manashoe's. The information he gave was that it stopped at an Evo clinic nearby in a one-way trip. The rest of the footage appeared to be scrubbed. Additionally, the individual that took Manashoe's place lived in Auburn at one of the apartments there. Deciding to get more information about the situation before moving in first, the group headed to the apartment. Scouring inside it, they were able to come across a diary of some sort, displaying the person's situation leading up to their death alongside the name of his girlfriend, Liu Chen, who coincidentally worked at the Evo clinic that the body headed.
Making their way to the clinic, the group staked out the area and found out where her office was as well as her official title: Head of Security. Once night time hit, the group made a plan... Wayfarer, made invisible by Oracle, would sneak into her office and plant a flyspy inside, allowing them to watch her to observe her over the next couple of days. With Miut's aid in getting inside and out, the plan surprisingly went off well and the flyspy was planted. Now outside, the group headed to where she lived and did much the same. The next two days were spent watching her actions, trying to find out if she had any dealing with her boyfriend's death and the swapping of bodies. Finding this to not be the case, the party then discussed how to approach her. In the end, those chose to DNI her and have a conversation in person.
Meeting with her, they managed to persuade her to agree with helping them. The next day the group was given a recording that she was able to recover. With this information, they were able to find the brand of car that Manashoe's body left in, and that it was headed northeast toward the border between Bellevue and Redmond. Following camera feeds, it reached Inglewood and entered a gated community. Later on in the day, it left and went into Redmond, and she couldn't follow them further. Raytheon was then called again, and was asked to find out where the vehicle ended up at. He managed to do so with much difficult, sending them the coordinates of the last known location.
Heading to the gated community, as it neared nightfall once more, the party talked amongst each other before coming to the conclusion of trying to infiltrate it. It was obvious that the body didn't leave this location, and if they were able to, they could finish this now. The level of protection was too much for the party to make any bold moves, however. They decided to have Spearhead sneak in with Miut's aid (by finding out the position of cameras), and from there see if he could find out at the very least which home the vehicle ended up at. This was able to be done, and they found that the car lead into the driveway of a house with a more classic theme to it as opposed to the buildings near it. Miut attempted to dig in a little further, though unfortunately this led to her being marked and having to reboot her deck. With the aid of Oracle summoning an Earth spirit, he was able to help get Spearhead over the fence and back to the roadmaster.
At that, the group decided to head to where the last known location of the car. They figured, at least, they can find out who delivered the body, and maybe who it was that lived in the house. Driving up to the location, Wayfarer had the rest of the group besides him, one of Oracle's spirits, and Spearhead stay in the car for their safety. Once he stepped up to the door, he knocked on it, and a tattooed man came out to ask what it was they wanted. Wayfarer, frustrated and exhausted, attempted to grab the man, though was unable to do so. Weevil and Spearhead readied their guns at the man, who then let go of Wayfarer. Calming down, he asked for the details. The tattooed man stated he couldn't give out specifics about his "Johnson," which prompted for Wayfarer to ask if they could DNI the mysterious J.
After being questioned on the reasoning behind this and what he wanted with their friend's body, the voice revealed that he is Manashoe's father, and invites the Arcane Eye members back to the house if they "play nice." Accepting, they made their way back and inside the gated community with no further complications. Driving up to the curb, they all made their way out of the roadmaster and followed Manashoe's father to his backyard, where an unmarked grave lie. Manashoe's grave. Oracle and Miut confronted the father on his faked death, disappearing from Manashoe's life and letting him live in squalor while he was well off. His father explained, stating that he had no option but to do so. In the meantime, Wayfarer and Weevil silently stared the grave. With the confrontation over, Wayfarer was prompted to give his final words to his best friend. After that, Oracle and Miut made their way back to the roadmaster, allowing Wayfarer the opportunity a moment. Weevil, before he followed after them, handed over a series of files and more of evidence on Koi as well as her admissions to the murder. Now alone with Manashoe's father, Wayfarer watched the grave a little longer before asking for a favor - if he could sometimes return. Nodding, the father allowed this, only asking that he be made aware of this a day prior. An agreement set, Wayfarer headed out and back to his party.
Before the group left, they were given a final bit of advice, warning them to not strive too high too early, as a single mistake could result in their death. With that, Weevil started his roadmaster and they made their way back home.
Aftermath
Rewards
25 Karma (25 RVP)
60 CDP (30 CDP)
+2 base CDP
For Poe
15 Karma (15 RVP)
Thematics may be needed to discuss rewards for Weevil and Koi (Aaron and Peep), given their characters are deceased. At the time this run started and when Koi was introduced, both characters were alive.
Game Quotes
There was this quote in a movie I saw... there's only two reasons to live this life... thrills or bills... what's your reason? - Weevil How DARE you! I'm blind! Excuuuuse me for getting a little turned around in this urban maze when I'm just trying to greet my friend! - Oracle What? No. He needs us right now, not to stew alone in his house by himself. C'mon, I'm gonna find another way inside. - Miut Sure, I can put her on call. Give it a sec... Horrid dissonant screaming from commlink. Okay, well... that's not good. - Poe and Koi |
Player After Action Reports (AARs)
Wayfarer - Manashoe was my best friend, and I will miss him greatly. Save a seat for me...
Oracle - I suppose that's the life of a runner. You live in the dark, until one day you slip at just the wrong moment, and thats it... Is this what awaits us all?