Family Business

Family Business
Date 2085-05-01 GM Orion Location Ares Plaza, Everett, Seattle Metroplex Status Threat Level: Extreme
Factions Involved
ShadowHaven	Ares Macrotechnology	Aztechnology
Babylon Bunny Hop Fennec Lumin Six of Hearts	Ares Corpsec Foundation Denizens Marshall Hayden Sophie	Sophie
Casualties and losses
	Ares Corpsec (subdued), Marshall Hayden (death cursed)	Sophie (left unconscious in the Foundation)

Summary

In which Babylon enlists aid in extracting her family from Ares' clutches.

Background

Babylon's mother and little sister (see: The Littlest Black Mage) are Ares SINners who she very much wishes to extract from the custody of the corporation. Standing in the way of that is a whole lot of Ares corpsec as well as her mother's new husband Marshall Hayden, a powerful mage and Director of Thaumaturgical Operations for Ares Seattle. Knowing she can't do the job alone, the black mage calls upon allies for help.

The Meet

Babylon is contacted by Juliette Burns, who informs her that a certain contact of hers within Ares Macrotechnology has informed her that Marshall Hayden will be out of town the following week, making it an excellent time to pull her mother and sister out of the corporation's custody without his interference. Thanking her fellow black mage for the tip, Babylon contacts Six of Hearts (one of her oldest allies) and explains the details of the situation; Six agrees to help, and the two begin formulating a plan.

The Plan

Since their targets live on the 37th floor of the Ares Plaza tower in Everett - the megacorp's Seattle HQ (i.e. highly secure ET grounds) - the two know they will need to plan out every detail. After conducting some thorough recon on the plaza's layout and the surrounding streets, the two find locations to place getaway vehicles (a delivery van, a pair of motorcycles and a fast sports car) which they are prepared to ditch on demand. Their plan is to infiltrate using strong fake SINs identifying them as employees for an Ares-owned delivery service and forged a delivery manifest for some "extreme sports gear " (climbing harasses, rappelling gloves, and microwire line on a spool, along with "safety gear") and "personal protective equipment" (read: Ares-branded guns and body armor) in order to get their extraction kit into the apartment, then escape down the side of the building to their pre-placed getaway vehicles.

Knowing they're going to need Matrix support to pull this off, Babylon uses I Know A Guy to recall the phone number of an adept decker who she met at a club (Kathryn "Aphrodite" Riviera), who agrees to provide remote assistance on the job but advises getting other runners since she's not going to stick her neck out *too* much for someone she barely knows. With that in mind, the mage contacts Fennec (who agrees without question, plus ropes her friend Bunny Hop into things as well) and Cecelia Cross (who sends her new protege Lumin to assist). After swearing the trio of techos to secrecy on the matter, she explains what she needs from them: to insert the false delivery manifest into the host's files, and to recover (and subsequently delete) all the health records on their extraction targets, as well as the location of any quicksilver photographs that Ares has of their auras so that they can be destroyed. Though anxious about the danger involved, the runners agree to help as best they can.

The crew spend the next a week of practicing the various getaway routes, training with the rappelling gear, binding spirit backup, gathering info on the physical/Matrix/astral defenses, having false identities crafted, and securing a safehouse to lay low as well as passage from Ancients smugglers out of the Metroplex - when the appointed day comes, they feel as ready as they'll ever be to pull the job off.

The Run

While Babylon and Six (disguised as delivery workers) approach Ares Plaza in a rented van which they intend to ditch, the Matrix crew infiltrate the complex's host from the Ares global grid and locate the section containing the day's delivery manifests, successfully managing to stay hidden while cracking the file and placing the fake delivery information inside. With that taken care of, the techno trio begin to search out the Foundation portal (having discovered its location and paradigm via Fennec's Prime Datahaven Membership with The Helix during the legwork) while the decker covers the mage and street sam's PAN; with the combination of their disguises, false IDs and lying skills, they're able to bluff their way past the first layer of security and make it onto ET grounds without being detected.

Foundation

Bunny Hop, Fennec and Lumin - dosed up on their hacker candy and having infused their sleaze ratings with Resonance up as high as they'll go - manage to locate the Foundation portal amidst a digital memorial for corporate employees who died in the line of duty. Each of them is able to mark the portal and get inside, finding themselves in a Pleasantville-style black-and-white world of yesteryear: Fennec appears at the town's train station as a Hunter S. Thompson-esque Gonzo journalist (touching the train confirms that it's the portal node); Bunny Hop appears as a secretary in a factory warehouse full of smoke where she commiserates with the Foundation denizens (through exploring the factory and pretending to work, she is unable to locate a node); Lumin appears in a schoolhouse at the front of a classroom teaching American history (after bluffing her way through the lesson and barely avoiding triggering variance, she discovers that she's in the slave control node).

After taking the train to "Work", Fennec ("Hunter Sinclair") arrives at the factory and proceeds to be loud and demanding in her pursuit of "the scoop". Bunny Hop ("Evelyn") almost immediately recognizes her fellow techno by the attitude and affected 50's accent, helping to con the Foundation denizens into believing that the reporter belongs there and merely intends to write a puff piece on the factory's record earnings (as well as making a sexist worker trip over his shoelaces using puppeteer). Bunny Hop brings Fennec to her boss (who bares a distinct resemblance to the Monopoly Man - a handshake confirms that he's the scaffolding node), and Fennec bluffs her way through the ensuing "interview", where it comes about that the factory owner works closely with the mayor ("Jezebelle Hayden" the name of Babylon's sister). Fennec learns that they typically meet either at city hall or the diner across the street, as well as about the existence of the schoolhouse, before managing to gracefully exit the situation and taking Bunny Hop to the diner for an interview.

Meanwhile, leaving the schoolhouse, Lumin ("Pearl") makes her way to the library while she discusses the state of affairs in the Foundation with a coworker named Sophie; while in the stacks she starts pursuing the history section and finds that the books are the security control node. After, her coworker invites her to the diner, where the two of them encounter "Hunter" and "Evelyn" - the runners manage to recognize eachother via subtle cues and potential variance-causing behavior, and realize that "Pearl's" coworker Sophie doesn't react in the same way as the Foundation denizens to these minor hiccups, meaning that she must be another hacker. Joining the pair in their booth, they learn that there's supposed to be a field trip to city hall the next day which "Pearl" and "Sophie" will be attending as chaperones, so "Hunter" decides to come along and seek an interview from the mayor and "Evelyn" to escort her totally-real children.

On the way home when the two are alone, "Sophie" confronts "Pearl" and asks who she and her friends are, revealing that she is indeed a hacker who has been stuck in the Foundation for an extended period, unable to leave after her last team triggered variance and caused a paradigm shift. Lumin discretely transfers a sprite to her and promises to help get her out, and in turn she reveals that the basement of city hall is the archive node. The next day at city hall, "Hunter" is able to socially navigate their way into a handshake with the mayor, learning that she is the master control node but also spotting a data trail connecting to a biomonitor - under closer inspection it seems to connect the real Jezebelle Hayden's vitals to the Foundation's functions, seemingly turning her into an early warning system for an extraction attempt.

Intuiting that Ares must have somehow learned that they're coming, the team make haste to the archive node where Bunny Hop and Lumin manage to extract the desired information but have to evacuate when the fire alarm is pulled. After, Fennec sneaks down to look for additional secrets and discovers that "Sophie" has betrayed them, forcing her via puppeteer to reveal that she's working with Aztechnology to steal patent information. A brief fight ensues from which Fennec emerges triumphant, but the resulting variance trigger forces them to make a run for the portal node - Fennec is nearly left behind, but manages to maintain her "perfect record" and escape shortly after the others.

Meatspace

Babylon and Six have their package scanned and manage to sell the lie that it's merely sporting and personal protective equipment to be delivered to one of the tower's residents; having sewed a strategically-placed biofiber pocket in her jumpsuit, the mage is also able to successfully conceal several alchemical preparations (in the form of ceramic coins) from the security pat-down and aura scan as well (hiding her own aura via an astral doppleganger ritual conducted by Pump King Jack to make her look mundane). The two are assigned a guard to escort them to the 37th floor to make their delivery, and a tense elevator ride upstairs ensues.

Upon arrival at her mother and sister's apartment, they find another guard posted at the door "protecting" them; it's immediately obvious upon opening the door that her mother has been crying, and Babylon's reaction gives away to the guards that something is up. Once a gun is pointed in her direction, the mage seizes control of one of the guards thoughts and has him de-escalate before going to take the long elevator ride back downstairs while the other helps bring the package into the apartment. Once inside, Aphrodite loops the interior cameras while Babylon transforms the remaining guard into a ferret and asks her mother what's wrong. She explains that Marshall came back from his business trip early and has taken her sister upstairs to the Thaumaturgy laboratories. Out of patience with the situation, the pair decide to storm the labs and recover her.

After non-lethally dispatching the opposition en-route, the two get to the elevators (with control seized by the hacker crew) and make it up to Marshall's laboratory - however, instead of the horde of hermetic elementals and homonculi they were expecting they find Hayden alone with his daughter chained up in a ritual circle. He immediately attempts to place Babylon and Six behind a physical barrier, which Babylon reflects back at him; she demands an explanation, but when Hayden attempts to control her thoughts Six feels the background mana fluctuations of the powerful spell and promptly shoots him in the sternum, forcing him to recklessly cast and thus knock himself out from the strain. Resuscitating him with a stim patch, Babylon once again demands an explanation, only to have blood spat in her face. Using Hayden's own tactics, she controls his thoughts to force him to tell her (not wanting to risk the temporary vulnerability of a mind probe). He explain that he was attempting to cast a ritual to dispel excess magical energy which has been accumulating in his daughter (see: Always Bet on Black Magic) and channel it to "his master", however this triggers a magical geas placed on him. Casting heal on him keeps him alive long elaborate that the person he speaks of is the creator of the spirit Tanis (see: New Babylonian Family) before his heart gives out for good.

Aftermath

Shocked at the revelation and the sudden death of Hayden, Babylon and Six quickly grab the former's mother and sister before exfiltrating via their established plan (invisibly zip-line down the side of the building, drive off in the van, switching vehicles at pre-arranged drop points, and getting to a warded Ancients safehouse before being smuggled out of the Metroplex). Thanks to the stealth skills of her street sam bodyguard, the aid of the cadre of spirits that the mage bound for aid and the trio of technos covering them on the Matrix, this goes off without a hitch. Performing the mana ebb ritual to stabilize her sister's condition and placing calls to pharmacists to synthesize the drug cocktails she needs, the mage pays the crew what she can (subsidized by her friend Cecelia Cross, who totally doesn't have ulterior motives and who Lumin totally didn't pass along information to) and once more swears them to secrecy regarding everything. The techno trio celebrate with a trip to E-Vue.

Rewards

For Babylon and 6:

20 Karma (20 RVP)

32 CDP (15 RVP)

40k in magical goods, cybernetics, weapons & drugs up to Avail 18 (10 RVP)

Initiation Award

Ascension rewards for 6

For Lumin, Bhop & Fennec:

10 Karma (10 RVP)

40k Nuyen (20 RVP)

32 CDP (15 RVP)

Lumin gains +1 Chip with Cecelia Cross

For All:

Optional Contact: Kathryn "Aphrodite" Riviera (C4/L1 Adept Decker) (4 RVP)

Game Quotes

"Fennec('s Foundation Persona) works for Fox News!"

Player After Action Reports (AARs)

Babylon

Fucking Ares, fucking Tanis, fucking Marshall fucking Hayden. Really didn't mean for the guy to die, even if he was a bastard he was just trying to help Belle. At least she wasn't awake to see it, but fuck, now I have to tell her what happened. I know I didn't put the death curse on him, but I still feel responsible - but also, he was a problem, and he had to go. He wouldn't have stopped looking for them, and he was too powerful. Just... fuck. Wish there had been another way. Now I have to figure out where to send her and mom, and what to do about Tanis and his damn deal.

Lumin

This was... Interesting. I hope going forward I can do more work for Ms. Cross, but maybe not without the turrets as children bit. I'm gonna *try* to network some with bhop and Fennec, but I... I don't know if I'm ready to try to be a professional, techno runner, and not just... A runner lurking in the shadows of ShadowHaven's digital entities.

Six_of_Hearts

I'm not sure what exactly was going on in that building... but I will say, without condemning or condoning what Barbara did... I understand. It's a shame she wasn't able to get as much information out of Hayden as she wanted, but at least she has something to work with. I hope I can help going forward... I hate to see her tied up in a knot about this. She may play confidence and strength in front of everyone else, but I know she's having it rough from the info she got. I don't have all the details, but I'll have to have a conversation with her about this. She can't do it alone, and I won't let her.