The Absolute Top of the Problem
| The Absolute Top of the Problem | ||||||||||
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| Factions Involved | ||||||||||
| ShadowHaven | Eagle Security | Knight Errant | ||||||||
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Pell Delphi Skimmer Sp4rks |
Eagle Security Grunt Eagle Security Lieutenant | Knight Errant Squad | ||||||||
Summary
In which Zenith has a personal problem and turns to a bunch of criminals in order to cover his ass.
Background
Over the course of the last several runs, Zenith has the sense that Harriot, his teenaged daughter, is getting more and more suspicious of his activities, and may be getting to the point where she doesn't believe that he actually a security consultant as he's been telling her for several years. This is amplified however, when Harriot receives an assignment to write a report about her parent at work in the classic "Take your child to work day." Harriot didn't reveal this assignment to her father until the day before the task, and made it clear that it was a very important assignment.
Zenith, in an attempt to maintain his cover, hires runners he knows and trusts in order to set him up as a security consultant.
The Meet
Instead of messages going through fixers, to minimize the amount of people who know about the job, Zenith messages people individually and tells them to meet him at Gus' Bar, a street-level runner bar in the Redmond Barrens. The bar has seen better days, with obvious repairs the the windows and a sputtering neon sign. The runners receive a message from Zenith telling them to come inside where he and the bartender are waiting. He buys the group a drink and explains that they need to keep this a secret as much as they can, even from the rest of the Haven. After they agree, he passes over a physical picture that he keeps in his wallet that shows him in a Bellevue park with a red-haired elven child of about 6 or 7. He explains that the child in the picture is his daughter Harriot and that she's 15 now, and that she has an assignment where she has to shadow Zenith on his job.
This is complicated by the fact that he is a professional criminal and has lied to her about his job as a security consultant for years. Though he has found a non-corp affiliated security company called Eagle Security that is starting a new franchise in Seattle. He needs the group to put his credentials into the system and make it seem like he is a real consultant and should be there. He also explains that the assignment is supposed to be done tomorrow, so they don't have a lot of time in order to make the con work. He offers the runners 10k a piece, as well as a favor to be named later. Though the runners seem happy to help.
The Plan
The runners leave the bar and retire to Skimmer's apartment in order to start doing research. Sp4rks starts searching through the matrix for things about Eagle Security. He learned that they have contracts all over UCAS, CAS, The Sioux Nation and even the Salish-Shidhe Council. The new franchise in security is being set up by Leonard Treviere, a former Lone Star officer who has been rising through the ranks of Eagle Security. He learns about the packages that Eagle Security provides, including 4-man security teams of two meat guards, a security spider and a spellslinger. They are know for hiring consultants in the first few weeks after starting a franchise in order to get a handle on the kind of security that the city needs. They also hire local former KE and Lone Star officers who know the area well in order to ease the transition into the city.
The Run
Sp4rks finds the public facing host and dives inside, quickly finding the hidden Security Host that is brand new and just finished being set up. He enters the host and finds a number of files that are databombed. However the files that he needs to access are luckily not encrypted, and so he can sneak in and add Zenith's identity to the files. Sp4rks also spoofs a command on the file to make it appear that the files with Zenith's information have been "lost" in the spam folder of Eagle Security's system, giving him a reason to show up unannounced.
Delphi theorizes that Eagle Security will also have an offline backup server that will hold information that they need to sneak into in order to complete their con. Skimmer and Pell go to the site and discover the building is only guarded by cameras as Eagle hasn't had the chance to put up any magical defense. This allows Pell to summon a spirit to use Concealment on Skimmer, which, alongside his RPC, is able to effectively conceal him from the cameras. Using his B&E skills, Skimmer is able to sneak into a fire escape door on the side and break into the server room. As the doors open, Skimmer's communication gear begins to collect static. The group finds a series of jammers that are designed to stop people getting into the server with any sort of tech. Sp4rks is able to reduce the noise enough to write an exception into the jammers that ignores his gear, and clears the noise from the server room for the team.
After connecting a data tap to the server, the group is able to get Zenith's information into the server and the runners sneak out after a job well done.
The next morning, Delphi and Pell meet up with Zenith outside of Eagle Security, with Skimmer nearby in a car in case of emergency, and Sp4rks covering the team in the Matrix. The first thing that the team did was Delphi and Pell readjusting one of Delphi's suits so that it fit Zenith, rather than him wearing the armored Sleeping Tiger that he usually wears to meets. Once they had adjusted the suit and wore disguises to avoid detection, they met up with Harriot, who greeted Pell with very formal Sperethiel and greeted Delphi as a coworker of her father. Upon entering the Eagle Security facility the group was approached by Leonard Treviere who demanded to know who they were. Thanks to a quick con by Delphi and Pell, plus the evidence planted by Sp4rks, they convinced Leonard that Zenith was meant to be there.
They now had to give presentations on security. Zenith gave a poorly written slideshow presentation about Shadowrunners in Seattle, while Pell gave a presentation about the economies of conjuring as they relate to security, and Delphi gave a presentation on the use of security Awares in Seattle. While the presentations go over somewhat well, the runners are distracted by Skimmer noticing a squad of Knight-Errant officers approaching the building. Delphi goes to eavesdrop on the conversation, and hears the KE officers trying to intimidate Treviere into closing up the security company. Understanding a shakedown when they see it, Delphi and Pell approach the confrontation and use a quick con with a skillsoft about the law running in order to get the Knights to back off before they can start a fight.
Having the presentations done, the runners leave the building and Zenith takes his daughter home, though Delphi doesn't seem to believe that the bright teenager believed the con completely.
Aftermath
The runners meet back up at Gus' Bar with Zenith, and he offers each of them a credstick with 10k nuyen on it. They don't accept the payment, instead just accepting the appreciation of their fellow runner and all enjoy a drink together.
Rewards
- 2 CDP
- 10k Nuyen (5 RVP)
- 6 Karma (6 RVP)
- +1 Street Cred (1 RVP)
- Zenith will owe you a favor
Player After Action Reports (AARs)
Skimmer
"Sometimes it's the little things in life that are the most rewarding. I mean, a run where I sneak into a building, place a data tap an sneak out is rather easy, and kinda pointless all things considered. Certainly not worth getting paid the big bucks for. But when that little service is done out of friendship, it changes the nature of the deal. Suddenly, that little data tap is the most important thing in the world; maybe not to me, but to a friend of mine. That makes it worth it. No matter the effort or the cost. Glad I could help Zenith out with his daughter, but she's a smart one. Either the day will come when he fesses up to her about his "day job", or she reveals that she knew all along. The ball is in your court my friend, maybe it's time to take that shot."
Pell
Sometimes the only people other people in the shadows can turn to are other runners; I'm glad I can help with Zenith's problems, even with how little I've contributed. Hope his kid's doing well, and he's prepared for her finding out somehow.
Delphi
I worry for Zenith - I'm not sure how much longer he's going to be able to keep this house of cards from crashing down around him. This was a desperate gambit, and while I'm happy to help him out there's just so many ways it could have gone poorly, and even if we all ended up giving him his money back I don't think he's got the cash laying around to hire a whole team every time he needs to keep that girl from finding out what he really does for a living. I'm pretty sure she's got a good idea already though, that kid is a lot smarter than him - I hope he tells her soon.