Doctor Yamada, I Presume?

Doctor Yamada, I Presume?
Part of Corporate Revenge Tour
Date 2086-08-23 GM Sarcarian Location San Francisco, California Free State Status Threat Level: High
Factions Involved
ShadowHaven	Mitsuhama Computer Technologies	Rival Runners
Lace Monitor Ninkasi U-2	Dr. Yamada Mr. Yamada	Kaleidoscope
Ninkasi gets addicted to betameth.

Summary

In which the runners assist crossing a name off of Mr. Bunnish's enemies list.

Background

In the mid-late 2060s during the JIS occupation of CalFree, one Dr. Yamada Yoshi was involved in some rather nasty experiments at the Tanforan Internment Center; his son, Mr. Yamada Hoshi, continues his work with MCT Brainwave Inc. under his father's guidance to this day, with the "good" doctor having been transformed into a jarhead and presumed dead.

Unfortunately for him, Hoshi once slipped up while drunk and admitted this dark family history to Mr. Benson Bunnish, who has remembered the tidbit of information and now desires to use it to ruin his former classmate. To this end, he has hired runners to expose the secret.

The Meet

The runners are contacted individually by their fixers and told about a job opportunity in San Francisco with an employer who wishes to speak with them in person to discuss business; they are provided with an address and a scheduled meeting in two days time. The runners link up through the Haven app and meet with one-another at one of "Dirty" Hikari Sera's popup noodle stands to talk about how to get there - the bullet train offers the most direct route, however it is difficult to smuggle their illegal stuff. Since Lace Monitor wishes to bring her vehicle and drones, she proposes a road trip in her smuggling compartment-equipped van. Ninkasi and U-2 accept the proposition, with the former contacting their fixer to network with a coyote - Brush Wolf - and the latter doing a quick search on the address they're to meet Mr. J at, finding that it's a private residence owned by a shell company.

Brush Wolf, in exchange for a modest fee, points the runners towards a good way to cross over into the SSC and the names of some boarder guards in Boise and Reno to bribe when crossing the PCC and CalFree boarders. They're successful in leaving the Metroplex via the Carnation Ranch in Redmond, and narrowly avoid an encounter with a territorial horned bear en-route to the highway thanks to Lacey's driving skills; the rest of the journey to Boise goes by without incident, and while resting in Boise Ninkasi (up from insomnia) and U-2 (up thanks to nocturnal-ness) dig deeper into the shell company who owns the property they're heading to, finding that it's leased out to a Mr. Benson Bunnish (who they discover is a multi-millionare thanks to his family's electronics manufacturing firm).

Some smooth talking along with a small bribe ensures a SIN scan-less crossing of the PCC boarder, and the drive through the Nevada desert to Reno provides some scenic vistas; Ninkasi is successful at gambling in Rino, and the crew are able to cross over into CalFree without having their crime goods found thanks to Brush Wolf's tips. Finally after 18+ hours of driving, the team arrive in San Francisco and head to their meeting.

Bunnish's house proves to be a mansion in the hills, with the runners suitably impressed by the display of wealth - Bunnish welcomes them into a sitting room and thanks them for coming, telling them that he wants them to dig up dirt on a personal enemy. He provides a dossier on Yamada Hoshi and explains that some years ago he was told a story about how Yamada's father conducted some distasteful experiments during the Saito occupation; he would like the matter brought to light, and offers 20,000 nuyen each for the runner's services. They're able to negotiate for an expense account to cover the bribes that they spent to get to the meeting, and Bunnish puts them up in a nice hotel in San Francisco as a bonus.

The Plan

After taking their leave from Mr. Bunnish's house and heading to their hotel, the team rest and figure out their plan. Reading their dossier and performing some cursory searches, they find that Mr. Yamada spends much of his time on MCT corporate property but occasionally goes to one of several cocktail lounges in San Francisco for a drink. Rather than waiting for him to do so on a whim, they decide to have Ninkasi impersonate an old classmate from Stanford - one Delia Kent of Saeder-Krupp - and invite him out for one. Acquiring a synthskin mask, smart wig and polychromatic lenses, they also attempt to get knockout drugs from a dealer but find that he's fresh out; instead they plan to use U-2's venom combined with som DMSO (which the dealer does have a hook-up for) to knock him out.

The Run

Ninkasi, disguised as Kent, texts Yamada saying she's in town for the weekend and asking if he wants to meet up at the Lizard's Head for a drink to catch up; he accepts, and the team find themselves outside the bar around 8pm. Lacey and U-2 stay in the van, with the former sneaking a fly-spy into the bar's rafters to provide some over-watch and the latter monitoring Matrix signals. Nikasi talks her way past the bouncer and sits at the bar to wait - once Yamada arrives, Lacey notices a woman in a corner booth take surreptitious notice and U-2 sees that they're running a high-grade commlink with a firewall booster. Suspicious, they combine their efforts to hack the stranger and discover an oddly-bare commlink, as if its being used as a burner, registered to a CalFree SIN belonging to a 'Vanessa van der Mer'; however, they're unable to notice the technomancer's silent-running persona and are in turn noticed and marked by them.

Turning their attentions to Yamada, Ninkasi-as-Kent keeps him occupied while U-2 marks his MCT-5000 link, discovering another mark present along with an odd string of code which Lacey identifies as possible evidence of interference using technomancy. Figuring that Yamada must have pissed a techno off, they decide to bring him somewhere else to see if they're followed, inviting him to take a ride-share to another bar after a few drinks. He agrees, heading to the bathroom before they leave, where Lacey's fly-spy notices the stranger from the booth plant a tracking device on him; with Lacey's van disguised as their ride-share, Ninkasi tricks him into imbibing some "schnaps" (actually U-2's DMSO'd venom) from a flask in the parking lot, knocking him out. While Ninkasi fries the stealth tag, Lacey notices a rotodrone watching them - U-2 manages to spot its hidden icon and hack it, sending false input showing the van turning one direction while Lacey skillfully (and stealthily) takes another route. Smartly, the group reboots their commlinks and clears their pursuers marks, forcing them to slowly track them via traffic cameras instead.

Having confirmed they're being followed, the group bring Yamada to an underground parking garage for an impromptu interrogation; MCT's counter-extraction training helps him maintain his composure despite the group's intimidation attempts, but they manage to get him to sweat a bit before Lacey decides to message their employer to ask for some prompts to get Yamada talking; he mentions 'Camp Tanforan' and 'Project Simplex', telling them to delete the message and make sure Yamada doesn't remember the questioning. Knowing that it's a matter of time until they're tracked down, they decide to move him again, briefly stopping by Skid Row to buy laes from the dealer they met earlier and questioning their captive in the van.

Yamada cracks once the group reveal the depth of their knowledge, and Ninkasi senses him slip up when mentioning his 'late' father - after some creative medical-based threats from Lace Monitor (who as it happens was acquainted with Dr. Yamada, having spent time in CalFree during the late 60s working with MCT), he tells them to go to his cottage where they'll find the answers they're looking for. Taking his keys and laesing him, they leave him in an ally for their pursuer to find and drive south to Half Moon Bay where Yamada's cottage is located.

At the cottage, the team locates the sub-basement and manages to hack the palm-scanner on the trapdoor. With Ninkasi delerious from days of no sleep and some light betameth usage, U-2 heads in first - Lacey, wary of the possible murder basement, thinks to bring a rotodrone for backup. This proves to be a smart move, as U-2 is attacked by an anthrodrone in the basement; the team combine their fire to take it down, finding a secret laboratory filled with illicit research. Lacey helps herself to this information, while Ninkasi and U-2 manage to locate a locked compartment (which Yamada's keys open) containing what looks like a metal football wired into a server rack. Lacey determines this is most likely a jarhead - probably the "late" Dr. Yamada - and her medical knowledge combined with U-2's technical know-how is enough to safely disconnect it.

Aftermath

Outside, the team's pursuer catches up to them, this time with an armed rotodrone waiting on top of their van. Greeting the runners convivially, they straightforwardly demand the CCU and offer purloined paydata to sweeten the deal; the runners, in no position to fight and not particularly caring to do so, hand over Dr. Yamada's brain in exchange for being allowed to leave without any trouble.

Returning to Bunnish's house, they hand over the incriminating information and evidence of the Yamada's illicit experiments - the elder Yamada's very unethical work being continued using Brainwave Inc.'s resources under the younger Yamada's direction. Seeing as how this implicates Hoshi in a number of serious crimes, he is satisfied with the runners work and provides them their full payment.

Rewards

20,000 nuyen + 4000 nuyen worth of paydata

2 karma

6 CDP

Optional Contacts: Brush Wolf (C2/L2 Coyote/Smuggler) for 3 RVP or 6 CDP

Optional Contacts: "Dirty" Hikari Sera (C2/L2 Noodle Stand Propriator) for 3 RVP or 6 CDP

Narrative Consequences:

-The second name is crossed off of Benson Bunnish's list as Yamada Hoshi is implicated in illegal experimentation, kidnapping of the SINless and keeping an unlicensed cyborg; Dr. Yamada's brain is taken and subsequently handed over to the authorities.

-Lace Monitor lets her handler Satoko Obara know about Mr. Bunnish's list as well as the partial compromise of Project Achilles, and keeps some of Dr. Yamada's research notes for herself.

-Mr. Yamada suffers from inexplicable memory loss (thanks laes), however Delia Kent's name is in his commlink; Ms. Kent, if she is targeted in the future by Mr. Bunnish, will be forewarned One Step Ahead.

U-2

"Nearly got jabbed with some mystery syringe by some crazy anthrodrone..."