Family Matters
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ShadowHaven Vati The Stone Family | Family Awkwardness | ||||||||
| Samsara | |||||||||
| Content Warning for Kidnapping & Drugging | |||||||||
Summary
In which Samsara confronts her past, examines her present, and looks to her future
Protection, and the money thereof
Samsara is spending her time not being a professional criminal by being an amateur criminal. She is currently at a new mechanical chop shop called the Chop'n'Shop. According to Warboss this shop hasn't paid it's protection money this month, and so Samsara is being sent to collect. The Orks that work at the chop shop do not seem willing to pay at first, especially not to the knife-eared poser that claims to be a member of the Skraacha. One of them tries to fight Samsara, but the Street Sam is better trained than the Ork criminals and easily knocks the Ork down. Eventually the leader of the chop shop tells his goon to stand down before the fight can escalate. Samsara is brought into the busy chop shop where many cars are being ripped apart for their most valuable parts. The Ork leads Samsara to desk in the back of the shop and hands her a credstick. Taking the credstick, Samsara is prepared to leave until she hears the sound of screaming below. The Ork seems nervous, but after some pressuring by Samsara, he admits that some cyberdoc has set up in the basement of the Chop'n'Shop, but the protection money should cover the additional renter.
Hearing more screams, Samsara scares the Ork into leading her through the trap door to the basement and interrupts the involuntary surgery that a German doctor is performing. He makes a bad impression initially as he refers to Samsara as a Troglodyte, and explains that he is simply performing experiments on lesser creatures as was his right as a superior human. Samsara would have left, had it not been for the person in the non-sterile cyberclinc's chair. It was her sister, Lily Stone, a 17 year old elf girl who was obviously scared of the trauma that was about to be inflicted upon her. He was apparently hired to find out about a theory where, under enough trauma, the insertion of cyberware into a body can cause an Awakening without burning out. Feeling the blood-deep rage from her mentor spirit Shark Samsara kills the scientist and discards of the body by offering it to Nameless's congregation. She returns to the Chop'n'Shop and takes her sister to her car.
The Prodigal Sam Returns
As she figures out what to do about her sister, Samsara heads to the apartment of Kenneth "Flamesaw" Murphy. The troll is happy to see Samsara, and agrees to let her store some of her more volatile items in his already packed apartment as well as agreeing to give the protection money that Samsara collected to Warboss. He asks Samsara if she's okay, and she isn't really sure how to answer. Returning to the car, Lily inquires as to the relationship between Samsara and Kenny and she admits to being in a relationship with him. Lily confirms that their parents are going to hate finding out about that. However there is some relief as Lily is afraid of punishment for her actions. The sisters get an order from Taco Temple and discuss what they're going to do next and Samsara says that they need to go back to their home.
Asking how her sister got into the situation that she had been found in, Lily talks about going to a party in Redmond with some of her friends for a party. She remembers leaving her drink for a moment and then two elves approaching her. She remembers feeling tired, and then waking up in the cyberclinic that Samsara found her in. Samsara asks if she got any other information about the elves, but the only thing that Lily remembers is that they seemed to be members of The Ancients. Deciding to avoid putting it off any longer, Samsara and Lily return to Tarislar and to the trailer park where their parents are.
Knocking on the door, an older elf woman, Mera Stone answers and immediately hugs Lily, while criticizing her for being gone so long. It takes her a moment to recognize Samsara and is obviously disappointed by the ork posers appearance. She greets Samsara and invites her in, and Thomas Stone, the three-year-old son of the Stone family comes out to tug on Samsara's pants and request to be lifted. Mera asks where Samsara has been for the last several years and Samsara explains that she's been doing some work after some things were difficult after the concert that she had stolen the car to go to many years ago. Mera seems frustrated by the new appearance and the new contacts that Samsara seems to have made over the course of her time missing. The irritation of her mother is interrupted by Samsara's older sister, Juliet coming in and ruining Lily's lie of being at the Daisy Chain, a nearby bar. As Juliet is actually a worker at the Daisy Chain.
Explaining that she had snuck out to a party, Mera is frustrated and chews her out in Sperethiel, while Samsara looks on awkwardly. At this point, Samsara's father, Luke, comes home in a construction outfit with the Renraku Computer Systems logo on it. Samsara manages to keep calm in the face of the hated corporation and is simply happy to return to her family. Though Juliet has to go to work, Samsara asks if she can come back for dinner. As plans are in the process of being made, Samsara's commlink rings with a message from Warboss. He received the credstick from Kenny, but discovered that the three orks that ran the Chop'n'Shop were dead. This is a problem for the Skraacha, as if they kill people who pay protection money their reputation will take a hit. Samsara agrees to come back to the Skraacha headquarters to have a meeting with Warboss and asks permission to take her family's car once more in return for picking up food for dinner that night.
Chop without Shop
Samsara begins speeding out of Puyallup, trying to reach the Skraacha before the time limit set by Warboss expires, but is quickly sidetracked by finding a group of Ancients hanging out nearby. Remembering what her sister said about the Ancients that kidnapped her, Samsara pulls up and endures the insults hurled at her by the go-gangers. Samsara tries to be composed and does a good job, until one of the gangers pulls out a weapon in an attempt to intimidate Samsara, but the ork poser simply grabs the gun and holds it to her head. The ganger pulls the trigger, but Samsara takes little more than a small welt, while the gun explodes due to the Extra-explosive ammunition packed into the weapon.
Samsara finally gets out of the car and intimidates the Ancients, realizing that they are outmatched by the poser, two of the elves get on their bikes and drive away, the final elf attempts to get away, but Samsara holds his bike in place as she questions him about her sister's abduction. The elf tries to play dumb, but Samsara brings up her Mentor's mask, rather than the blood-red eyes of Shark, Samsara hears the far-off noise of an oncoming storm, and her eyes begin to crackle with lightning. The elf freaks out and spills his guts, explaining that someone approached him when he was short on money, a Japanese human calling himself Mr. Tanaka. The Ancient explains that they were just supposed to go to a place no one would care if people went missing from, and bring them to the Chop'n'Shop doctor. While her blood boils, Samsara doesn't feel the need for violence that normally comes from Shark, but rather a need to find the truth, and repay the pain inflicted upon her family. She lets the Ancient go and returns to her car, realizing that she's going to be late to her meeting with Warboss.
Samsara arrives at the Skraacha HQ where Warboss and Ghaz await her, though as she tries to make excuses for her lateness, Warboss punches her in the face and dents the ballistic mask that she wore. The Skraacha boss is unhappy with the poser and leaves it to Ghaz to explain. Ghaz tells Samsara that people in the community had heard some commotion over by the Chop'n'Shop and checked it out after it had stopped, finding several bodies in various gory states. The Chop'n'Shop itself was ripped apart and it seemed like someone was angry about it. It happened shortly after Samsara called Warboss about collecting the money and so there was some concern that the Skraacha would be held up in it. Since Samsara claims she didn't kill the orks that ran the shop, she's being sent to investigate the Chop'n'Shop.
Agreeing, if for no other reason than arguing might get her punched in the face again and she's unsure if she can survive that. Heading back over to the chop shop, Samsara discovered that the doors of the place were broken down, and the people inside had been killed. Going back into the underground cyberclinic, Samsara discovered that the cyberware that she had seen before had been taken. There was also an ARO floating in front of the chair where her sister had been strapped in just hours before. The ARO was written in Japanese, but Samsara's limited vocabulary only picked up the name at the top of the AR display. "Vati"
The Past without Peace
Concerned about the connection between what happened to the Chop'n'Shop and her mentor, Samsara begins to head out of the Sprawl. She parks the car at the Daisy Chain and steps in to see Jacqueline Grant. Jacqueline is surprised that the ork poser is Juliet's sister, and says they need to talk. However Samsara is in a rush and explains that she might have pissed off the Ancients this afternoon, and so she needs Jacqueline to watch over her car. Jacqueline agrees, though a little reluctantly after learning who the gang was, and says that she'll park it in the back.
Leaving the Sprawl, Samsara heads out into the rain and begins to feel the Buddhist background count on Vati's meditation path. Calming her somewhat frayed nerves. She moves down the path with speed, but unlike the last several times she had come to the clearing where Vati makes his home, there is no Orksploitation music playing, there's no sign of the Troll attending to the zen garden, or fiddling with some small mechanical device. There is a cup of tea that is still steaming in the rain. Samsara sits on the stumps that makes up the chairs around the larger stump table and drinks the tea, only to see Vati standing behind her, ready to strike. The Troll says that he's had some bad vibes lately and that he is concerned something bad is happening.
Samsara breaches the subject of the belt that she found in Vati's hut during the events of A Blast from the Past, and offers to take him up on the offer to learn the answer through a sparring match. Vati and Samsara begin sparring, trading blows back and forth in the rain. The fight ends as Samsara summons up the powers of her Mentor, though not the blood-thirsty Shark, but rather the crackling lighting of the Thunderbird. Vati is a bit taken aback from the strike and the change in his student, but brings her into the hut and explains that he used to be an employee of Renraku Computer Technologies, as a training specialist and a technician. He also shows her what sits within his closet, a set of Red Samurai Armor. Vati explains that when the Shutdown incident occurred Renraku divested itself of many employees. Vati was part of a group of former Renraku employees in Seattle that were angry at their former employer and that had lost their SINs because of the tragedy. Vati reveals that he had built the bomb that the runners had recovered for him and that his friends had been the ones that snuck it into the facility.
Vati also explains that all of the members of that group are either missing or killed. The last Vati heard from any of them was several years ago, when his friend Kai, a Red Samurai who had been cut loose after he disagreed with Renraku's handling of the Shutdown. Kai came to Vati and gave him the armor, saying that there was something that he had to do and that it would be dangerous, but to keep the armor safe.
Samsara gives Vati the ARO that she had found and he reads it quickly. He tells Samsara that the note is from Kai, who is apparently been converted into some kind of cyberzombie and is under the control of Renraku. The company is dedicated to removing loose ends, and the note explains that the killing will continue until Vati is found and killed. Vati explains that he must prepare for this fight, and Samsara agrees, thanking her mentor and heading back towards Seattle.
Family Dinner
Arriving back at the Sprawl, Samsara realizes that it's almost midnight and that she hasn't picked up the dinner she promised for her family. Trying to find Tir food somewhere within Puyallup at that time of night proved too difficult however, and finds a location called "Tir Pizza" instead. Buying the pizza and driving fast back to her parent's trailer, Samsara is greeted warmly by her family as she presents the pizza, and it is agreed that she can stay there for a time, sharing a bedroom with Lily.
The car that Samsara returns to her parents has a small bug, flashing red in the darkness of the elven slum's shadows, broadcasting it's location.
Rewards
- IG3 Plus Ordeal discount
- Can buy Mentor Spirit off for Chargen price, and buy a different one for chargen price (10 RVP)
- 2 CDP
- 4 Karma
Game Quotes
Player After Action Reports (AARs)
Samsara
Woah... well that's got to be the heaviest day I've had in a long while...
Things start off normal enough - I'm just collecting protection money for the Skraacha, beating up some guy who called me a knife-ear, when I hear some ungodly screaming coming from the basement. I went to put a stop to that drek right quick, and who should I find but Lily strapped to a fucking table about to be cut up - I just sort of saw red after that and ended up killing the street doc after he told me what he had planned for her (thankfully not in front of her). At least the ghouls won't go hungry for another few days.
I never thought I'd see my sister again, much less in a situation like that... I'm just so glad she's okay, or will be after a while at least. I knew I had to take her home though, which meant facing Mom and Dad... I've done a lot of really dangerous stuff in this line of work, but none of it prepared me for that. I just... ever since I heard they were still around I've been thinking about how to talk to them, and never expected it'd be like this. I guess it went okay, or at least as well as could be expected - I was worried Mom would cry or scream or something, but I guess she didn't want to do that in front of Julie and Lily (and Thomas, which like, ohmygosh I have a little brother now!) There were defenitly some awkward questions about the whole tusks thing though, not to mention the gun that Santa sent them... I'm just glad that they didn't ask about the wires. Oh, and Dad works for Renraku now, which is cool, defenitly not going to be an issue... at least they were happy to see me. The hugs felt really nice, I missed those a lot.
Just as things were getting really emotional though, I get a call from Warboss telling me that those fraggers I beat up are all dead and demanding an explanation. I had to rush back, and on the way I run into some Ancients and feel like, this fury welling up when I remembered that the doc said they were the ones who took Lily. I didn't get much out of them other than a bullet to the head (spoilers: still alive assholes), but there was like, this electricity in the air that sort of followed me... finally got to Warboss only to get punched in the face (spoilers: still really, really hurts, but at least he didn't use the spurs) and told to go check the place out. Turns out it was a fragging massacre, someone really went to town on everyone and tore apart that clinic - left behind a note for Vati of all people, so I high-tail it out to his place to see if he can fill me in on what happened.
I was really worried when I got there and things seemed deserted, but he was waiting for me. We had a sparring match for answers, and I actually managed to hit him for once - I felt like, this new power, different from that one that's been with me since I got the wires, and there was this thunderclap when I struck him. It was... weird, to say the least, but I feel a lot calmer now. Turns out that the killer was likely one of his old omae's Kai, a full on Red Samurai that's been turned into some kinda cyberzombie assassin and is hunting him down. I'm gonna have to make sure I'm there when this fight happens.
Finally I get back to Tarislar and realize I'm late for dinner, so I grabbed pizza and headed to the trailer. It was a nice mix of awkward and welcoming - I think they were a little surprised I came back - but it was really nice. I returned the car, and they said I could stay in Lily's room if I wanted. I dunno about moving back in permanently - I'm worried I'll lead Renraku and this Kai fragger back to them - but it's nice to have a place to stay when I need it, and regular family dinners at least should be nice. It's good to be home.