Wire 2014/12/24(Wed)14:57 No. 615087 ID: 337362
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"What got him this time?" 14-1 asks.
"A fucking kid," Monica says. "Some 12 year old with a kalashnikov. He just-- froze up."
"This wasn't you," 14-1 says. "That would catch anyone."
"It shouldn't," Monica says. "Fuck. It shouldn't have. That's why we're us."
"I'd have hesitated, too," 14-1 says. "I'm an old hand. It should have been a drone."
"And instead we lose Sev-Three," Monica says. "Fuck fuck fuck. Why did it have to be Sev-Three? Why not 88 again? He loves getting killed."
"He was a good man," 14-1 says.
"He was a good agent," Monica says. "If I think of him as a man again I'm gonna start pulling my hair out."
"It wasn't your fault," 14-1 says. "I told you."

"I know." Monica walks away. "It still hurts."
"He'll be back."
"Someone will be," Monica says. "It won't be 73-5." She stops in the doorway. "Pull him out when he's done. Back to the grind."

Wire 2014/12/24(Wed)14:59 No. 615088 ID: 337362
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"Yep," 14-1 says. He slides the usb stick into the unprotected port. The little light blinks on. The guy told him it would dissolve when it was finished doing its work.

14-1 puts a palm on the front of the reconstituter. "Back to the grind."

Wire 2014/12/24(Wed)15:00 No. 615090 ID: 337362
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88-1 dreams.

He doesn't know why he's called 88-1, but he is.

>>615088
(Looks like my suspicions were founded about 14 tampering with moldies during rebirth.)

So you awake there 88-1?

Wire 2014/12/24(Wed)15:07 No. 615093 ID: 337362
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88-1 dreams about a handsome young man in a black trenchcoat.

"Hi," says the man. "I'm 73-6, the guy who killed you. Sorry. You were kind of an asshole.

"You're working for the good guys now. Kind of. People are going to tell you to kill people and you're going to do it for them. It's not all bad. The empathy reducers in your brain actually make it pretty fun. But they're going to maybe mention something about your loyalty enhancers? To the Bureau? You don't have those.

"Outpost Jericho is a weird place, but trust me when I say you don't want to be transferred. I reprogrammed your loyalty thing to us, not the Bureau at large. I'd apologize for that but 1) it's probably a good thing and 2) you won't be too pissed, because of the whole reprogrammed loyalty thing. Anyway I'm not sure how I'm going to do this, but I want to retire from the assassination business, and if there's any way I can bring my friends with me, I'm going to.

"And you're my friend now. Or will be, anyway. I'll introduce you around. Just keep this a secret. Lay low, go with the flow, and when I need you, I'll tell you.

"Welcome to your new reality, dude. It's hard, but I'll have your back. Good luck."

>>615083
"When is the right time?"

>>615093
Well, great. When you wake up, be grumpy.

Wire 2014/12/24(Wed)15:13 No. 615099 ID: 337362
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88-1 wakes up.

[b]Choose a specialization for 88-1.

+STEALTH+ 88-1 gains a shell suitable for stealth missions, including sound dampeners, stationary invisibility, and hologram projectors.

+ASSAULT+ 88-1 gains a shell suitable for assault and mayhem, including dual-wielding, rhino skin, and explosive teeth-bullets.

+SUPPORT+ 88-1 gains a shell suitable for supporting other agents in-field, including sharpshooting solutions, thermal vision, and signal interceptors.

>>615093
Think to yourself that this is a very weird dream.

Support, I think. Sev already fills the stealth role, and Penny is our heavy hitter assault option. (Even without exploding teeth and rhino skin).

Assault as a second choice.

assault, you are a big guy, make the most of it.

Well sev is a hacker,
Pen is a slicer and dicer.

Should we make him assault or support?
I feel like some killing power might be nice, but that's kinda straight forward. I think support might be fun, but at least there will be two other options after support.

So I'll say support.

>>615099
Support, we have enough close-up characters, I think.

Support seems good.

i'm gonna say support, we don't have that one yet.

Support.
We always need a man to see through the walls to tell where Sev to go and Pen to destroy the guy on the other side.

Thermal vision, sharpshooting solutions, and signal interceptors all sound pretty useful. Gonna say support. Exploding teeth bullets seem kind of silly.

(I'm assuming we will get to pick his other two ability trees? Wonder what our choices will be, likely stealth and assault, hacking, and maybe some other goodies like entirely new classes.)

So long as the next upgrade Pen gets is dual-wield, I'll go with Support.

>>615116
These seem far more general than what you are thinking of.I net this pick is all three "paths"

>>615124
I feared so. Hopefully he gets wetwork or something kind of 'general' as a third skill, because wetwork has shown to be all over the place, and would be useful for any operative.

so what is it about agents designated as 88 that they let em keep their hair?
Support.

>>615099
Remember who 88 was. Brains can be rewritten, but I think they just go with memory wipe.

Pick Support.

Definitely hit up the Support tree. Mayhaps one day our new friend will punch through a hab-block with a railgun hooked into the grid or something to save our demi-life! Ya never know.

Wire 2014/12/24(Wed)21:41 No. 615247 ID: 337362
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"Sev-Three, meet the new 88," Monica says. "88-1. Support specced and packed full of the latest Bureau hardware."
"pleased to meet you," 73-6 says.
"Pleasure's mine," 88-1, née Lockjaw, says, fixing 73-6 with a steady gaze. He raises one eyebrow in recognition when Monica isn't looking.
"nice hat."
"Thanks," 88-1 says. "Nice coat."
"one size fits all."
"Look at these fast friends!" Monica says. "Show the newbie around, 73-6. Introduce him. He's gonna be your team member, at least until the Fantomas job is done. We needed the extra manpower. I'll be in the control room if you need me. Bond."

88: after the handler leaves, give Sev-three an appraising look and say "You don't look like I expected."

>>615247
Got it, M.

Wire 2014/12/24(Wed)22:25 No. 615262 ID: 337362
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"roger," 73-6 says. "come on, newblood. i'll take you to meet the team."

"You don't look like I thought you would," 88-1 says.
"what did you think i'd look like?"
"Like something a dog didn't puke then eat then puke," 88-1 says.
"well i thought you'd be taller."
88-1 cocks his head. "Touche." Then he wires: "And I'm assuming it's no coincidence that I dreamed about you considering there's a little backdoor secure communication channel to you in the back of my brain."
"i figured it might be useful if we could talk off the record," 73-6 responds.
"Well you got me," 88-1 wires. "And it sure as hell feels like whatever you did worked. What exactly are you planning on making me do?"

>You are now in control of 73-6.

>What exactly are you planning on making me do?
...can we make him do things? We didn't program in a directive override, just loyalty to Jericho.

But to answer: the guys in charge aren't always as good guys as they should be. They don't always treat us right, either. I'm looking for more freedom, in that respect. Maybe a way out, eventually.

I mean, I like the people I work with. And being a super-soldier and killing genuinely bad guys is fun, but I don't enjoy being treated like a disposable non-person.

*shrug*. Monica said we needed help? Well, so do I, probably.

Nothing specific right now. However, I wouldn't mind a friend. A male friend. All my best friends are ladies. That's fine but where's the DUDE time, you know? I can't make fart jokes with a robot lady, that would be rude.

Sometimes you just look at this place and your own existence in this business and you just wonder how you can make something more of it. I guess this is the stepping stone.

>>615262
Well, right about now, we're planning to make you go around and meet the people on the base. Monica's good people, and we try to keep her happy.

In all seriousness, though, we're not exactly planning on making you do anything, specifically. Just trying to build a support network, you know? It's good to have friends. Let's see if we can't make you some friends, hmm?

Make you? I wasn't planning on making you do anything neccessrily, I just figured if you were gonna get dumped into this cycle of killing and getting killed it would benefit both of us to have some friends other than the ones making sure we stay here until were mush.

Oh and I hope you aren't sore about me killing you and all, kinda vouched to keep you hostage if that's somehow better. Doing well with your brief experience of being a techno zombie so far? Oh one more thing, if you want to know I could tell you your old name unless you like 88, which you probably do being programmed to and all.

Anyway I'll introduce you to pen I suppose if she isn't busy. Do you know what you can do yet with your support specs?(all possible small talk, the more sensitive topics discussed over the wire.)

Hopefully nothing, but when and if the time comes, come along for the ride.

Wire 2014/12/25(Thu)00:07 No. 615300 ID: 337362
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"i wasn't planning on making you do anything just yet," 73-6 wires. "just be ready for the ride when it comes. actually i kind of just kind of wanted a friend who's a dude. everyone else is a girl except for the old 88 who's a robot basically."
"Clambake, huh?" says 88-1.
"what's that?"
"Opposite of a sausage fest."
"basically. anyway it's easier to manage around here if you have friends. let's find you some."
"Word."
"what should i call you?"
"Is 88-1 not good?"
"you want to know your old name?"
"Sure."
"zarek. we called you lockjaw."
"Both of those are a fuckton cooler than 88-1 but I get the feeling you'd get it up the ass if you called me by my pre-name. Just call me... uh... Double-8."
"double-8. that works. how you feeling so far?"
"Kind of numb."
"sounds about right."

"hey penelope," 73-6 says. "meet double-8. new meat."
"New meat!" Penelope leans back in her chair. "That makes me the old meat. Bueno. I'm Penelope."
"No number?" 88-1 asks.
"no number," 73-6 says.
"Word," 88-1 says.
73-6 looks around. "where's keesh?"
"She's out getting something to eat," Penelope says. "I'll tell her you were looking."
"keesh is cool," 73-6 says. "kind of scary but cool."
"Keesh ain't scary," Penelope says. "She's downright cuddly if you know to never take her seriously."
"i'm taking him around for a tour," 73-6 says. "we're hitting the armory next. want to come?"
"I'm good," Penelope says. "I'll catch up with y'all at the briefing later."
"briefing?"
"Apparently we're going after Fantoma Number 2 pretty soon now that Double 8 here is out of the fridge," Penelope says. "Get pumped, noobie. We gonna whack one of your old crew."
"I look forward to reintroducing myself," 88-1 says. He fires off a lazy salute and he and 73-6 head to the armory.

Wire 2014/12/25(Thu)00:07 No. 615301 ID: 337362
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"I am so scary," Keisha says, raising her head above the desk.
"You're terrifying, boo," Penelope says. "We'll ease him in."
"How'd he look?"
"Short."
"Good." Keisha gets back to work. "We outnumbered round you tall skinny ass motherfuckers."

Wire 2014/12/25(Thu)00:07 No. 615302 ID: 337362
File 141949486917.png - (11.76KB , 960x560 , 7.png )

"Now this," 88-1 says, "feels very right."
"that's the standard bureau marksman rifle," 73-6 says. "it links targeting right up to your hud. no ironsights required."
"Very nice." 88-1 turns it over in his hands.
"look at you with your little hat and your new present. you look just like tiny tim."
"You look like the ghost of christmas future," 88-1 says.
"that was the best ghost."

"Hey Sev?" Monica says over the wire.
"yeah."
"Speed the newbie through the rest and then get to the waterfall control room. We got guests. Um, bigshot guests."
"ok."
"Big big shot guests. The kinds of guests we dealt with last time kinds of guests."

>No number?
108-1, technically, but she's not dead yet so it doesn't really count.

>The kinds of guests we dealt with last time kinds of guests.
Right. So um, these are gonna be higher ups. Not friendly types. We see you as disposable tools and expect you to act that way types. So be ready to put up a good little zombie act.

>Apparently we're going after Fantoma Number 2
88: So I was number one, huh?

>>615302
Aw, shit. 88-1, look sharp. No, sharper. Just a bit sharper. Okay, there. Time to go meet our overlords.

Or the overlord's ambassadors, whatever. Try to make a good impression, is the point we're making here. Probably just follow our lead and don't say much.

gotta remember, monica is the only person you refer to with a pronoun, we just call each other 'agent' or by our numbers.

>>615328
this, let's not screw ourselves by mistake

>>615302
Ask what's the occasion.

Probably best to act a little dull if anything. The folks upstairs aren't huge fans of personality. Or they are until they aren't and you don't want to be a personality they're not a fan of.

Alright speed him through the rest of the tour, of just have him get Penelope to do it. (For lulz) Then look presentable and go meet the guests. (Sosa?)
>>615328
And yeah tell him to just try to call people by their number or agent, otherwise certain folks might get pissy.

Alright, we've got company from the CEO, so we should speed this up. Keep doing what you're doing and it'll go fine.

Oh, be sure to tell him he's referred to as a Reconstituted Asset and the Bureau considers him to be a weapon.

...wait a minute why is he 88-1? There's already an 88-11.

>...wait a minute why is he 88-1? There's already an 88-11.
Not anymore.

>>615384
He's just a drone now I think.

Wire 2014/12/25(Thu)22:00 No. 615502 ID: 337362
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"shit," 73-6 says. "look sharp, double 8."
"Do I not?"
"sharper. less sharp. they'll think you're up to something."
"We are up to something."
"shhhh. the higher ups at the bureau are not jokes." 73-6 leads the way toward the waterfall room. "i talked to the ceo? there was a censor bar over his eyes and it still felt like he was friggin stripping me bare with them. he's literally a sociopath. he told me."
"Doin a great job keeping me calm for this," 88-1 says. "I feel very sharp."

They go out onto the walkway. The air is a lot cooler in here and 73-6 can hear the boom-crash of the waterfall.
Monica is at the meeting table, along with someone 73-6 has never met before.

Wire 2014/12/25(Thu)22:00 No. 615503 ID: 337362
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"Um," Monica says. "This is Tai Jiaying. CRO of the Bureau of Domestic Defense. She's here to sit in with us on our briefing for the next Fantoma takedown. Umm. Tai, this is 73-6 and our newest asset 88-1."

"Hi, 88-1," Tai Jiaying says. "Hi, 73-6. I've heard a lot about you. How's the struggle, Agent?"

Wire 2014/12/25(Thu)22:00 No. 615504 ID: 337362
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"You mentioned something about letting her strip me bare?" 88-1 whispers.

>>615504
see this is why I seriously wonder why they give you working junk

What is the point of that? You can increase aggression without testosterone, increasing aggression is EASY. There is no good reason for your expendable zombie soldiers to have sex drives. Don't tell them that, though. If they were dumb enough to put the program in place they won't like hearing about their mistakes.

We killed one guy and now we are going to kill another guy. That's how the struggle goes.

>>615503
Okay, that settles it. The higher ups in the bureau are all undead. I mean look at her. She practically screams scary sexy vampire.

>>615504
say the wrong thing and they'll deactivate you, 88. then they'll deactivate 73-6 just for standing near you.

We obvious left the fear and libido knobs in the wrong position when reprogramming your brain.

Wire 2014/12/25(Thu)22:43 No. 615510 ID: 337362
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"did i mix up your fear and libido knobs when i was rewiring you?" wires 73-6. "if you mess up they're gonna blame the tour guide."
"Why do they give us libido in the first place?" wires 88-1.
"that is a good question."

"You had an extremely impressive last outing, 73-6," Tai says. She grins at him. It's the kind of smile you give someone when you're both on the inside of a hilarious joke nobody else knows about. "Our friend Mr. Sosa's very excited. He doesn't get this way normally unless there's a car crash, or a sale on lye." She looks over at Monica, who's sweating bullets. "Did I get that right? Lye's the one you dissolve bodies in?"
"Yes ma'am," Monica says.
"Stellar." Tai takes a seat. "It's wonderful to finally meet face-to-face, 73-6. Sev-three? That's what they call you, right?"
"yes, ma'am."
"Penelope needs to be here," Monica stammers. "I'm I'm not sure, I'm sure there's a good reason she's keeping us."
Tai laughs. "Breathe, honey. Don't worry. Outpost Jericho has done more than most cells with quadruple the manpower. I didn't come with a report card. I'm a fascinated observer taking notes on what you guys are doing so right. Pretend I'm not here."
"Thank you," Monica says. "Thanks so much. Um, she just told me she'd be right in."
"Stellar," Tai repeats.

>Which Fantoma is Outpost Jericho is taking down next?
>Sandman, the politician?
>Or Warbucks, the money supplier?

Go for Warbucks. If he gets spooked he'll be hard to catch. Sandman's got a public position so he can't easily vanish.

>>615510
"relax, Monica. I'm sure she just want things to go right. Don't want you jumping every time I murder someone." grin in way that is intended to be comforting, but comes off appropriately sociopathic.

"Politician still has to talk to people to be useful. Fellow with money can still hide. Warbucks next."

Penny, now is really time to be using your 40 mph running speed or Monica's gonna have to rethink your girlfriend on base privileges.

>who pick
For convince, here's the post where Monica outlined who these guys are:
>>/questarch/585178

...personally, I'd go for the money man. We already took out their military planning, next we take out their resources. Leave the true believer in charge for last, ineffective and squirming till we come for him.

>>615512
makes sense, we should ask if they want us to try and bring his head back in one peace so they can sift through his brain.

Secondary objective: we should hack this guy's bank account and take as much money as we possible can.

It is far easier to hide money than politics. Admittedly it's still POSSIBLE for politicians to hide some of what they do, but it's nowhere near as easy. If the politician goes dark completely he's still useless. If the money guy goes dark completely he can still supply cash. Go for the money, and yes, we definitely want to look into cracking his bank account.

Whomever we target second, the remaining kingpin is likely to go full defensive or try to flee to a remote tropical country. And since money talks faster than a diplomatic status, I'd eliminate Warbucks before Sandman.

>>615514
>"And if he's in there," Monica says, "the other two are gonna be in there. We have the politico. The guy who makes sure the biggest investigations on the Fantomas get smothered in the crib."

I'd say go for the politico next. It's easy to make money if all you want to do is make money, whereas pulling Sandman's finger out of the dike holding back all the investigations being run by non-murder-based police agencies could strand the the entire Fantomas organization on a (metaphorical) flood plain swarming with ravenous pigs. It's not quite the same as dropping them all in the Bureau's shark tank individually, but we can still take credit for making it possible, then just sit back and watch.

Starving them out doesn't sound nearly as much fun when their footsoldiers already don't get dental coverage.

(This also gives 108-1 the chance to walk in on a conversation, hear something about fingers in dykes, and on that basis completely misjudge how serious things are.)

>>615612
Which is exactly why Warbucks would make a better 'friend on the outside' for Sev-Three than Sandman ever could.

>>615511
Good point! Yeah.

Warbucks.

A dead political figure will attract more attention than we want or need. The fallout from killing Sandman will almost certainly be a mess of it's own; it'd be best if everything else fantomas-related was sorted out before then.

>>615512
Changed my mind.
>>615521
Interestingly enough, this convinced me: We want to steal the money when we AREN'T being scrutinized horribly close. We're still planning to kill all three, of course, but let's go after the politico.

>>615629
Dont count on ever not being scrutinized again. We were watched last mission, we have an observer this mission. At what major step of bringing down an entire enemy organization are you expecting to be left to our own devices? The final one?

No, even if the plan is to do something shady with money guy, better him now than him later. Dont start making bad tactical decisions because you want to get greedy with the long term plan.

>>615629
>>615644
Yeah I don't think we're going to be able to go unwatched. It's possible we might end up having to send part or all of the money to the Bureau, but we're likely to have a better chance now of ferreting away secret cash than later. This is why we have silent running, so that we can potentially pull something like this. Although, do we have anything like an online bank account that can't be traced to us? We probably need to look into that...which might mean we need to visit the Black Stalls. Do you think this next mission will be a good enough reason to justify a visit?

Wire 2014/12/26(Fri)15:39 No. 615651 ID: 337362
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"So Warbucks," Monica says. "Turns out to be a Wardoe, actually. Magnolia Margolis. I can't imagine that's her real name. Big big time power broker. The Fantomas aren't her only client. She has little people, big people, legal people, terrorist people..."

"Found her!" Sara says, leading Penelope down the catwalk."
"Hola." Penelope cinches her belt, nervously. "Just taking inventory of myyyy weapons."
"Siddown," Monica says. "You too, Sara. This will be multi-agent I think. We need good handlers."

73-6 hasn't spoken with Sara since the other day at the reconsituter. This feels weird.

Wire 2014/12/26(Fri)15:40 No. 615652 ID: 337362
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"This is how we get to Warbucks," Monica says. "She's somehow an even harder nut to crack than Lockjaw, because she's been very careful about what she gives to the Fantomas. A lot of her is actually startlingly open, but a lot else is entirely closed off. She has friends in high places. No ID, no location, no pictures, just the name and her weekly meetings. Which is how we get to her."
"meetings?"
"Slash parties," Monica says. "Every week she rents out some nice building and throws a rager. Rich people. Anyway while that goes on, Ms. Margolis meets with all her clients in a little dinner-and-business thing somewhere else in the place. All we have to do is listen in, identify which one is her, and kill her. Boom."
"Easy," 88-1 says.
"Wellll, not really," Monica says. "This is the place she's using this week. The Canery Building." She pulls up a hologram of it. "Everything but the first floor is entirely sealed off. The windows are alarmed. No breaking or opening them. Not from outside. The only way we can get in would be from the top or the bottom. There are some places on the roof outside of eyeshot from outside the building where you could cut through the concrete and make an entrance. Then it's a long sweep of the building, though, and we don't actually have any idea of where the room is. It would immeasurably help us to have eyes and ears in the party itself. It's invite only but that won't be too hard to fix. Fortunately for us, we have a number of agents who could easily pass as party attendands. 73-6's new shell upgrade could do it, Pen can if she disguises her wire, which is doable, but there's an angle I was thinking of that could work even better. It might be time for Keisha Chalthoum to earn her rent."
"how's that?" 73-6 asks.
"There's live music," Monica says. "A few different acts. And they get staff access, which means THEY can go upstairs. With guards, obviously, but Keisha's smart. She could lose them, open a window, bam. We're in. Sekhmet is hot right now. I'll bet they'd love to have her."
"Wait." Penelope looks shocked. "Y'all know about Sekhmet?"
"Pen we're a friggin' intelligence agency," Monica says. "Of course we do. What do you guys think?"

>>615652
Seems cool, as long as we aren't putting the civilian in danger. And if we're careful, there shouldn't be any danger to her. To us, sure, but that's cool.

>>615652
I like all these plans. Let's do all of them.

Have Sev infiltrate in disguise, 88 break in from the roof, and Keisha let Pen in through a window. Since we're not sure where the target is, there's no way to tell which entry location can get us where we want to go. This will also ensure that at least one agent can penetrate security unnoticed. If one gets caught, it'll take the heat off the others, and since this is an assassination mission only one agent needs to get to the target.

>Of course we do. What do you guys think?
There's a lot of room for possible collateral damage, or hurting civies at a party. Do we know who else is invited, and how much we care about their safety?

>use Keesh
Biggest drawback there is we're putting a non-agent asset in the field and potentially in harm's way. ...and if she's outed working for us, we're basically stuck babysitting her forever.

That said, inserting her and Sev under hologram is probably the easiest approach, if we're careful.

Yeah, man, we gotta look out for Keisha.
Does Tai want to ride along? Might be fun. Shit, Sosa could come along. They're both rich, fancy people that could blend in. Might be fun to have a front row seat to the slaughter. Sosa will love the second act once Penelope does her Crazy 88's routine. Maybe everyone should just pack guns and claim a kill. Any contracts out on any of the other guests? We could make this into a downright smash contest. Sev vs. Pen vs. Double-8 vs. Tai vs. Sosa, each target has a score worth their bounty. Highest score wins.

That probably sounds incredibly stupid. But fun. Then again, Tai, you like to observe? Then we should bring popcorn for you instead of a gun.

Is there any chance of 88-1 getting the Heel Face Turn upgrade and outright passing as Lockjaw for infiltration purposes? Just tell the guards he's not dead because Saul Batista here (at this point slap 73-6 on the back) figured out the ambush and extracted him from the APC right before it exploded. Of course he's been laying low since then, and didn't announce his attendance at this party far in advance, due to someone having made an extremely competent attempt on his life. Fairly ironclad cover story, apart from memory loss.

Wire 2014/12/26(Fri)18:15 No. 615691 ID: 337362
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"i like all those plans," 73-6 says. "keesh and i come in from the floor, double 8 takes the roof, and then we let pen in through a window. spread out and at least one of us will get through."
"Great," Monica says. "Pen, go get Keisha. We have to prep her."
"Can you do me a favor," Tai says, "and go to her? I'd like the conference room."
"Oh!" Monica says. "Um. Sure. Let's go, everyone."
"You can leave Sev-Three here," Tai says. "I'd like some face time. Mano a mano."
"Um." Monica looks pleadingly at 73-6. "OK. Yes. Got it. Catch you later, Sev."
"bye," 73-6 says.

Tai sits back as everyone else clears out. She rests a finger on her chin and gives 73-6 that weird inside joke grin again.
"Sosa likes you, 73-6."
"that's good."
"No." She shakes her head. "That's bad. That's not good at all. Sosa destroys everything he likes. That's how he works. That's how men like Sosa work. You've met 38-3. You saw what he turned into. That's what happens when Sosa likes you."
"um." 73-6 doesn't know what to say.
"Do you need a friend, 73-6?" Tai asks.

>Do you need a friend, 73-6?
That depends. I know what Sosa does to people he likes- what do you do with friends?

>>615691
Can weapons have friends? Tell her you would accept any assistance she has on not being destroyed.

"Friends are always good, yes."

...This sounds like a play.
As in, the higher ups have different toy chests...And you want me in yours.
Sosa's scary, sure. But who are you? Sure, he's crazy, but he told us he's crazy. As for you? You seem nice enough...But there's something to be said about being honest.
Besides, I'm a toy, made to be played with until I'm broken.

Wire 2014/12/26(Fri)18:51 No. 615704 ID: 337362
File 141964871229.png - (9.50KB , 960x560 , 182.png )

"what do you do with your friends?"
"I remember what they do for me," Tai says, "and when they need me, I return the favor. Sosa's a gregarious guy. He likes to give the impression that he is the Bureau. The truth is that he's not the only voice on the board of directors. The loudest; not the only. There are those of us who believe that maybe all the reconstituted field agents who serve us with unquestioning loyalty deserve some loyalty back. And that maybe those assets don't need to be treated like mindless bullets just because they do a bullet's work so well. And that maybe the chair of CEO might be well served by a fresh infusion of new blood."
"new blood like yours?"
She beams. "Would you ever believe me if I denied that?"
She punches a few buttons on the underside of the table. "This is why I'm here. First I'm here to tell you that you're not alone against the monolith that is the Bureau. You're against the rabid lion that is Sosa, but most people with consciences are. Second."

A projection of a man fizzes up from the table's holographic projector.

"I'm here to ask you to kill this man," Tai says. "Pierrot Delacour. Kingpin, murderer, ganglord... I don't want to bore you. The reason nobody has beaten you to the punch is that he is Sosa's man. Sosa would never admit it, of course, but under the table their partnership is highly useful to him. And guess whose party Pierrot is going to be an honored guest at?"

"warbucks'?"

"Bingo." Tai snaps her fingers. "There are going to be a great many important people in that meeting room with Ms. Margolis. Most of them aren't expendable. Mr. Delacour, on the other hand, is. Sosa isn't just the spooky Wizard of Psychopath Oz. The man behind the curtain can be touched. This is one way. Scratch my back, 73-6. When I reciprocate, I can promise you'll enjoy it very much."

>There are those of us who believe that maybe all the reconstituted field agents who serve us with unquestioning loyalty deserve some loyalty back. And that maybe those assets don't need to be treated like mindless bullets just because they do a bullet's work so well.
If that's what you stand for, why is Monica so obviously terrified of you? (This will probably get a laugh, but it's a serious question).

>I'm here to ask you to kill this man
Biggest problem is if he dies at that party, Sosa is going to know who was responsible. We're being sent there, and you're overseeing us.

...and as you were keen to point out, I like friends. Friends who aren't exactly untouchable.

>Also
We're going to need indepent information about bureau politics fast, if we're going to survive here. All we know about her, and Sosa, or any of the bigwigs, are what they tell us about themselves, or each other. That information is very biased. We need to find out what they've actually done, and what they stand for so we know we can trust, and who to back.

...we need hacking and data mining, here. Sev, you started going through that handler stuff you stole from Sarah yet? If we can get access to higher level bureau records, we need them.

>>615704
"88-1 may enjoy that more, but I appreciate and will take up the opportunity. Accident, disappearance, or whacked?"

>>615704
Ask her if this could in any way be considered you turning against the Bureau.

Also definitely double-check her information, via some source outside the Bureau.

>>615688
I missed this before, and it might be too late to use this, but pretending Lockjaw never died and was just laying low out of paranoia is a really fun idea. Even gives us an excuse to be seeking out Moneybags directly.

Hunh. This changes things.
On the one hand, if this all works out, you get the seat, Sosa goes away, happytimes for everyone.
But...This smells.
Do you have a follow-up? Does this happen in the Bureau often?

Basically I'm seeing a situation where she has us killed to keep herself clean/hangs us out to dry to excape punishment.
Flipside is, we take this offer, we go the way of 14, she gets to be clean, we get free, everyone wins...Hard call.

Tell her that she is putting you in an awkward position. If she had just told you to kill this guy, he would be dead. By telling you the reasons behind it, she is asking you to take sides in an internal power struggle you are totally ignorant of. And she is asking you to side against the guy you thought of as your boss this morning. Gonna need some assurances here.

Wire 2014/12/26(Fri)20:36 No. 615753 ID: 337362
File 141965498810.png - (6.19KB , 960x560 , 183.png )

"if you want to make friends so badly, why is monica terrified of you?"
Tai laughs. "Because I'm terrifying, honey."

"you kind of put me in an awkward position by telling me why i need to kill him. you're asking me to take part in a power struggle."

"Is that what you think?" Tai tuts. "Sev-three. I've put you in an awkward position by coming here. Sosa knows about it. And he knows exactly why I'm here. He can read people. He's read both of us. I'm lightning, Sev-Three. The thunder is already coming."

73-6 swallows.

"The question is whether you'll have someone in your corner when it arrives. With me and mine on your side he'll be under scrutiny for what he tries to do. What's he going to be able to do? Punish you for taking out a notorious criminal on top of your target? Torture your friends to death for information just because you and I had a harmless little convo? Ridiculous. Not the Bureau's Golden Boy. But if I'm not there to watch out for you..." Tai's smile hasn't moved. " I'm doing you a favor, in a way. I didn't pick you out randomly. I know what you're trying to do. We both do. Agents don't act the way you do. And when he makes his move, it won't be a choice. That's what I'm giving you.

"It's time to take a side."

>a choice. That's what I'm giving you
She's kind of giving us the ogre's choice, but yes, technically.

>It's time to take a side.
I guess it is.

...if she pushes you to say more: it's a deal signed in blood. It won't mean anything until you've stuck your pen in the Pierrot.

Then holy crap, we need a way to find some indepenent information on these two before we trust one. They've both promised to be your friends and look out for you in different ways, and we have no reason to believe we can trust one over the other. Or either of them. We need data, stat. Can we hack anything ourself? Ask our Deneb-clone to data-mine for us? Ask Monica?

>>615753
Wait, she thinks/knows you're trying to pull something? So, she thinks your services are more valuable than your long-term loyalty.

...regardless, take her offer. She's at least lying to you about thinking moldies are more than weapons and that she'll petition for their rights. That's more than we're getting from the other guy.

One final question, you should ask her how you're behaving that's different.

Have you hacked yourself yet, Sev?

I misunderstand why I'm considered a golden boy just doing my job. We have other's here that have survived multiple jobs, we have 14-1 here to Penelope, also incredible agents, and I assume there's other golden agents in other outposts.

What do I do that makes me stick out? It ain't just being a good killer. Those are a dime a dozen here. There's the mercy I afford those civilians I suppose, one a current asset and another a handler. But I hardly recruited them. Chance did. I did bring Penelope in, and I would argue she's a better killer than me. Half of my competence in the mission comes from Handler intelligence.
This isn't modesty. We're all killers here. Good ones. We all could blend together. I've died six times. This body doesn't even have a perfect record.
I succeed because success means survival. We don't have a 73-7 because I always succeed. It's that way with any other agent.

How do I know that this isn't some sort of test?

>>615757
Well either Dartline Alchemist or Deneb could give us the outsider angle we need on all this corp politics.
And as for the double target angle - find out who else could be extra 'targets' for us to get, so that the rest will think that this was not some planned strike against those two targets, but a shooting range. Or at least it's a planned strike for all those targets.

Wire 2014/12/26(Fri)22:07 No. 615786 ID: 337362
File 141966046713.png - (42.46KB , 960x560 , 184.png )

"i guess it is," 73-6 says.
"Just something to keep in mind when you're out in the field," Tai says.
"how am i behaving differently?" 73-6 asks.
"You could start by killing more people." Tai stands up and heads for the catwalk. "And taking fewer of them home with you."
"how do i know this wasn't some kind of test?"
"You don't," Tai takes one last sidelong look at him. "You'll need to trust me, Sev-Three. Good hunting."

She leaves.

"Are you all right, Sev-Three?" It's Monica, over his wire. "Come to the sortie room. We're hashing out details."
"who the hell is tai jiaying?"
"Trouble is Tai Jiaying," Monica says. "She hates Sosa. Scuttlebutt is they were a thing and then he did something."
"what kind of something?"
"A sociopath kind of something. I don't know. But even he probably regrets it. She's crazy and brave enough to be a public dissenter and now she's a nucleus for everyone else who has a problem with him. How she's stayed alive this long I have no idea. What did she tell you?"

>>615786
"that i am in a lot of trouble for being too nice"

>What did she tell you?
Basically that there's a war coming between her and Sosa and to pick a side.

...I think we're in deep shit, Monica.

(Um, tell her this in person. Not over the wire, unless you hack the connection super-secure).

>what else do
We need information. If we can hack bureau records? We need them, now. Failing that, we need people who know these people. Can we get in contact with 14-1 again?

And we need to start planning to have an axe to hold over people's heads, instead of being held over ours. You need to plan on hacking everything. Get all of the higher ups deep dark secrets. And then pass them to 73-6-2. They ain't never gonna be able to stop Deneb's disciple from ruining them and getting the data out if they off you or your friends. A clone with a crazy computer god make a good dead man's switch.

She gave me a secondary objective and more paranoia than anyone should ever have to process. Be there soon.

>>615786
...Monica is terrified of her BECAUSE she's Sosa's enemy, isn't she?

Tell Monica she said you weren't acting like an agent. Also you're thinking about asking for 14-1's contact information.

Welp. Odds of someone listening in on any conversation we have over wire? Pretty damn high.

There's no doubt Sosa already know's she's here, but, hrmn. Even saying that the chat was about the current mission would probably be a bad idea.

I guess just tell her you had a private chat and that you have a lot to think about.

>Welp. Odds of someone listening in on any conversation we have over wire? Pretty damn high.
Unless we hack it secure. We made a secure connection with 88, we could do it with Monica. Probably easier than we could make sure a room had no bugs or eavesdroppers.

I think we need help here. We need information, which means we need to tell her. She knows shit, and she can get ahold of 14-1, who has more information.

We're gonna get people killed trying to work in a vacuum.

Wire 2014/12/26(Fri)23:29 No. 615806 ID: 337362
File 141966534652.png - (14.57KB , 960x540 , 185.png )

"hold on," wires 73-6 to Monica. "i'll tell you when i see you."

He makes a mental note as he goes to check over the data he downloaded from Sara earlier and start making a dead man's switch for 73-6-2.


She's waiting for him out in the hall. "she told me there's a war coming, basically," he says. "and that i should pick a side."

"Shit." Monica leans in the doorway and glances back into the conference room where everyone else is waiting. "Do not get between those two, Sev-Three. It'd be like 2 bull mastiffs tug-of-warring a chew toy. OK, get in here."

"Ay, 73-6," Penelope says. "She give you her number?"
"she didn't give me anything but an acute case of paranoia," 73-6 says, finding a seat.

"OK," Monica says. "Party's in three days. Before then we have to Get invites. It's a card-at-the-door kind of thing. Easiest way through is to track down some lowlifes with tickets already in pocket, kill them, and take them. I've already got 63 and the interns working on squaring that away." She pulls a face. "Interns. Anyway. Brainstorming, people. What other prep work do we do?"

We need to make our own side.

With blackjack and-wait.

Anyways, we should kidnap this guy she wants us to kill and hide him somewhere.
Or something.

>>615806
We should probably visit the Black Stalls. We might be able to buy some information on this party, and 73 still needs to do something about being probably full of Bureau tracking equipment.

>Do not get between those two, Sev-Three
Problem is, we already are. Either we kill that dude or we don't, either way picks a side. There's no third option.

We need info, on both these two. Anything we can hack, or if Monica could put us in touch with 14-1, he might be able to tell us about them. He played the bigwigs to get out.

>What other prep work do we do?
We need to make sure no one working security notices lowlifes with tickets start not showing up, or being reported dead or missing. A smart observer might pick up on that as a bad pattern.

...I'm going to need party clothes. I can make a holoface, but I can't change my duds.

If we could get access to the building early, during a lower security event, I could start hacking in advance. Get us into their systems before things get hot, give us breathing room. You know, actual setup, for once.

Crazy idea, but does anyone on their side know Lockjaw is dead? One angle we might be able to play is he was being paranoid and lying low after an attack before he shows up to confront his partner. 88 would need makeup but, maybe.

>start making a dead man's switch for 73-6-2
We need really good data the bosses would never want to see the light of day, to put in his hands.

Also we might need to offer something in return. A trade. Maybe we could buy him a robot body from the stalls? Or we'd owe him a meatspace favor, when he needs one.

>visit the stalls
Covertly. We need an excuse to be out, then we hack our trackers and hack our hologram to give us a new face to sneak around in.

Well, at the very least, we need to go get fitted for a tux or whatever.

After that, it might be possible to shop for an invitation at the black stalls. Buying an invite would almost certainly raise less flags than killing off other guests, and we might even be able to set ourselves up as a client or whatever and have a reason to meet with warbucks in person.

Buying information is hilariously inadvisable, though - warbucks is almost certainly well-connected enough to catch wind of someone shopping for info about her.

...and, of course, we could get some off-the-record shopping done while we're there.

But before we do any of that, we need to chat with monica, private-like. She needs to get brought up to speed on all the details of this nonsense, and it may well be time to call 14-1 for some advice on how to deal with the bureau higher-ups.

If the room isn't bugged, talking about it in person is an option, but even then it's probably best to set up a secure connection to her like we did with 88.

Like it or not we have to make a choice this next mission. I think it might be good to let the rest of the team in on what she is asking you to do. They can help you get information on both sides and will help them prepare for any fallout.

Of course we need to secure the room if you are going to openly discuss things.

Either way we need info on the primary target and the secondary. And info on both of our warring council members.

Wire 2014/12/27(Sat)00:19 No. 615821 ID: 337362
File 141966837613.png - (12.13KB , 960x540 , 186.png )

"do they know lockjaw is dead?" 73-6 asks. 88-1 blinks.
"Even if he's not, he ain't invited to the party," Monica says. "This isn't a Fantoma thing. Margolis isn't officially part of their organization."
"man i was planning something cool," 73-6 says.
"It's ok," 88-1 says. "I'll be there in spirit."
"we need to go shopping," 73-6 says. "a tux and some black stall stuff."
"A tux?" Keisha raises her hand. "Is this the 21st century or something? Naw. This is where you need me. I'm playin dress the moldie."
"also to the black stalls," 73-6 says. "maybe we could buy an invite. it'd raise fewer red flags than killing someone."
"Does that mean we ain't killing anyone?" Penelope asks. "Because I was onboard with that."
"we'll see. and casing the building beforehand would be a good plan. maybe hacking some stuff? some actual setup for a change would be nice."
"You'd want some kinda disguise," Sara says. "Maybe like janitors?"
"We'll see," Monica says. "I'll look into it. Sounds like first thing is getting that shopping trip out of the way. Sev, take 88 and Chalthoum with you. He needs experience and she has the aesthetic eye."

"can i talk to you for a second?" 73-6 asks Monica, as everyone else files out.
"What's up?"
"i need to get in touch with 14-1 again. about these higher-ups."
"Do you? Are we sure that's a good idea?"
"can you do it on the down-low?"
"Making contact with him again at this time screams bad idea to me," Monica says. "I could barely convince my bosses to let me do it last time. Unless you're asking me to go behind their backs?" She folds her arms.

>>615821
Tai just about said that if we didn't pick her side we were going to die, and if we pick a side we are going to die. So picking a side gets us killed, picking no side gets us killed, there are no options here for us.

Of course not, but if things come to a head, there's nobody's advice I'd trust more. More than that, he might be able to bail her out if everything comes falling down around Jericho. Someone's gotta look out for the not-super-zombie-cyborgs around here.

>Unless you're asking me to go behind their backs?
Uh. Well, considering I was going to ask him for information about our bosses, maybe that's not the worst idea.

...I know you you said not to get between them, but I'm not really being given that choice. I either do what she says and piss him off, or don't do what she says and piss her off.

Sorry, I shouldn't be putting you in this position, I just worry things are going to go bad going into this blind, and he knows these people, right?

(If she agrees, we could offer to hack something secure for her).

That'd be the idea, yeah. We're getting to the point where we're going to be stepping on someone's toes regardless of what we do, and it'd be best to get 14-1 in the loop before things are properly fucked. We'd be able to hack things to help keep things discreet, if necessary.

...though, we'd still want to sandbag enough that monica won't suspect we have upgrades beyond what we're supposed to have. Gotta keep that under our hat for as long as possible.

Wire 2014/12/27(Sat)00:59 No. 615831 ID: 337362
File 141967079420.png - (6.50KB , 960x560 , 187.png )

"look. monica. tai said if i don't pick a side i'm fucked. if i do pick a side, i think i'm also fucked. basically i'm convinced i'm kind of fucked. i don't want to put you in this position but if things come down around me they'll come down around everyone. i can't go in blind."

Monica takes a deep breath. "God damn it. OK. I'll try and get him to contact you. I've stretched so many regulations for you, 73-6, but this is the first time I think that I've broken one."

"i appreciate it."

"Good. Now go shopping. If I can get 14-1's ear I'll ask him to call you."

Wire 2014/12/27(Sat)01:00 No. 615832 ID: 337362
File 141967082172.png - (13.02KB , 960x560 , 188.png )

"Carry this." Keisha puts another box in 73-6's arms. "Keep up. This my kingdom. You already look like a corpse. We don't need to put you in some funeral shit."
"Are you sure it's that kind of party?" 73-6 asks.
"Monica called it a rager." Keisha is striding through the mall with regal purpose. "Her words. And even if it ain't dirty dancing at the beginning, it is going to pop when Sekhmet comes through. I got a reputation to uphold."
"Shouldn't he be trying this shit on first?" 88-1 glances at the bags piled on 73-6 and slung around Keisha's arms.
"That shit's just for me," Keisha says. "We ain't even got to Sev's look."
"We've been here an hour," 88-1 says.
"Be good and I'll get you some fuckin tinker toys, new blood," Keisha says.

Wire 2014/12/27(Sat)01:00 No. 615833 ID: 337362
File 141967083166.png - (8.19KB , 960x560 , 189.png )

"Um excuse me you can't go into the dressing room with him," protests the store rep.
"Stop me," Keisha calls, as they find an unoccupied stall. "Aight, spook. Strip."

"Um." 73-6 puts his hand to his zipper.
"Don't be a pussy," Keisha says. "I'm a lesbian now and Double 8 too short to be in your league."

>Dress 73-6 for his big party debut!

Apollo 2014/12/27(Sat)01:40 No. 615837 ID: defceb
File 141967321256.png - (10.81KB , 960x560 , PartyCentralSev.png )

The fishnet is for comfort. The glasses are the disguise.

Arhra 2014/12/27(Sat)02:06 No. 615841 ID: 6aacb0
File 141967478136.png - (5.69KB , 450x600 , 73_degrees_kelvin.png )

He cleans up nicely.

>>615833
don't believe her, if anything she's bi probably.

>>615837
that should have been a steveshirt. so rare that it's actually applicable in a quest

>>615851
But The Steveshirt doesn't come with pants.

LimeBreaker 2014/12/27(Sat)03:58 No. 615853 ID: 2a1897
File 141968152013.png - (49.66KB , 960x560 , sevthree.png )

You can't bring yourself to give up the trenchcoat look.

On the subject of casing the building... any chance 73-6 could walk in well ahead of time, stand around with stationary invisibility, and watch them secure the perimeter around him?

>>615853 is cool, but >>615841 is probably more forgettable in a crowd. (Drawing a blank drawing anything else.)

Weekfag 2014/12/27(Sat)12:35 No. 615924 ID: a2f9bc
File 141971254780.png - (10.95KB , 960x600 , gokupants.png )

effurt

>>615924
believe it!

Suggestion 2014/12/27(Sat)14:34 No. 615958 ID: 2d5639
File 141971966931.png - (8.19KB , 960x560 , Dicks.png )

The deed is done.

FRACTAL 2014/12/27(Sat)14:46 No. 615959 ID: 6b7ea4
File 141972040182.png - (15.31KB , 960x560 , sevduds.png )

safely generic but appealing enough to make people like you? plus you already have a bit of a greaser curl so let's just run with that

Riotmode 2014/12/27(Sat)14:50 No. 615962 ID: a19cd5
File 141972062863.png - (11.46KB , 960x560 , elegance.png )

I think we should go with something a bit more... elegant.

Toxoglossa 2014/12/27(Sat)15:28 No. 615977 ID: 557bac
File 141972288514.png - (64.00KB , 651x559 , sevlongcoat.png )

Gotta keep the long coat, otherwise you'll lose your cyberberpunk hype and all the mid 90s hacker types will laugh at you.

Wire 2014/12/27(Sat)17:15 No. 615998 ID: 337362
File 141972934093.png - (13.98KB , 960x560 , 190.png )

"This is cool," 73-6 says.
"Yea." Keisha shifts her weight. "Not everybody can pull off leather outside the dungeon. You lucky. Now give it to me and drive me back."

"You want to come to the stalls?" 73-6 asks.
"Not fuckin ever," Keisha says. "I get enough freaks in hoods at my shows."

Wire 2014/12/27(Sat)17:15 No. 615999 ID: 337362
File 141972935035.png - (9.72KB , 960x560 , 191.png )

"You acknowledge that refunds are not guaranteed, and any harassment of Stall Vendors is grounds for immediate removal."
"i acknowledge."
"I acknowledge."
"You acknowledge that the authority of the Stall guards is absolute, and you will obey them at all times."
"i acknowledge."
"I acknowledge."
"You acknowledge that the violation of these rules can result in your immediate execution, and waive all responsibilities and rights not afforded you."
"i acknowledge."
"I acknowledge."
"Welcome to the Black Stalls, Agent."

"she doesn't want me to get into trouble," 73-6 tells 88-1 over the wire, as out loud they repeat the usual spiel.
"Penelope and Keisha are a thing, I thought," 88-1 wires.
"yeah. i don't know. keisha and sara were roomies but they approach that kind of thing a lot different."
"Maybe once you're out on the other side?"
"i don't know. i'm worried i fucked up the other night."

Wire 2014/12/27(Sat)17:17 No. 616001 ID: 337362
File 141972947522.png - (9.53KB , 960x560 , 192.png )

"How so?" 88 asks. They exit the elevator into the black stalls proper.
"i came on too strong, i think. she got freaked out."
"She told you she liked you, though?"
"yeah."
"And called you Boo that one time?"
"she did."
"I think it's you're worried about your new fuckin' face, man. It's kept you humble and now you're worried that because you look good, you'll get perceived different."
"you think? she liked old me, though. she said she was going to tell me after i came back from killing you."
"Old you new you is bullshit, man. There's only moment you." 88-1 looks down at himself. "Unless you get shot in the chest and reconstituted but that's different. There's no reason you can't hang on to what she likes. And that's that you're genuine, bruh. Seize it, bake it in, remember who you are under the aug and the betraying-your-bosses shit. The good parts, yeah? Just forget about like trying to be slick or anything right now and be her friend. No overcompensating or anything. I think all the cards are on the table. You know? It won't do you any good to go fish."
"maybe."
"And then hey. Bide your time. When you get out. Right? Check again. All casual like. It doesn't sound like a front to me. It sounds like mushy gushy star-crossed love shit. Feel me?"
"i think so."
"Hey." 88-1 turns around. "You and I are going to rediscover the lost pre-reconstitution art of the bro hug. We are going to bro hug now. Bring it in."

Do it.
Laugh or stammer if you must, but do it.
New guy's taking you to school and everything, still do it.

>>616001
Oh lawdy he sure is compulsively trying to be your friend alright. (that was kindof immoral, maybe you should tone it down or something) Give him a hug anyway.

>>616001
I am okay with this.

Where's our first stop? Juler? The Transhumanist Emporium? Are we allowed to be talking to him since we came down together? And I assume the Stalls are jamming our wire, but can 73 give everything a quick once over to be sure we aren't bugged with like, an audio recorder or something stupid like that, that could get us in trouble just for this conversation?

Where do we go for more...off grid Shell stuff? Do they do surgery down here?

Do it.

...this is weird. I don't remember if I've ever even had a hug, before.

Wire 2014/12/27(Sat)19:07 No. 616047 ID: 337362
File 141973606950.png - (13.73KB , 960x560 , 193.png )

"this is weird."
"Hug it out."
A street samurai looking guy on his way to the elevator looks at them, and then hurries on.
"it's out. i've hugged it out."
88-1 slaps 73-6 on the back. "It's an art, buddy. Not a science."

What should the agents look to buy? Between what he got from DA and didn't spend on a safehouse and his stipend, 73-6 has 29,750 credits onhand.

>73-6 has 29,750 credits onhand
Could we have that total split that into money the burea knows we have, and money they don't?

I'd like to know what the official budget for an invitation is.

Also, I think we owe Jules some footage, don't we?

Shopping wise, we're looking for a ticket for the party, maybe gear, and a way to get in contact with our internet-clone.

>>616053
We need to do some browsing but things that should definitely be on the list to LOOK at: Invitation, shell upgrades, some kind of weapon for 88 maybe, tools for jacking into VR or something? Like something we could use to contact our internet clone, yeah.

Do shell upgrades come in other flavors? DA apparently cooked his own up, so are there other people down here who do that kind of thing? And again, do they do the more invasive sort of upgrades, like surgery down here? We also could maybe grab some stuff that we could use to set something up in the building ahead of time, like that little portable shotgun turret we had once, or other stuff, I dunno, let's look around and be creative.

...did the bureau really not give us any money? Are they expecting us to buy our invite with money that they don't know we have?

Whatever. The invite is the first thing we want to look at. If it's too expensive, we'll probably want to save our money for things that'll help us out later on over something that will make one mission potentially easier.

Beyond that, weapons and tech are kinda out because we aren't supposed to have money to buy stuff with, so even if we did buy any toys, we wouldn't be able to use them on-mission or anywhere where the bureau might see us.

...So I guess we're looking for shell upgrades that we can hide with hacking, potentially of the illegal variety. Or I guess we could maybe go shopping for a sweet robot body for 73-6-2. That'd be a hella sweet ace to keep up our sleeves, especially if we could holo-disguise the body to look like 73-6.

And it might be a good idea to buy something for 88-1? We kind of have his undying loyalty, so. It'd probably be a good idea to do him right and not abuse that.

>>616047
You know what you could do with that money? Buy a Strix. You shouldn't though. That would be such a big red flag you wouldn't be able to set foot in Jericho without getting shot at. But gaze longingly at one. Maybe whisper "soon".

Look for things that will go under the radar.

Look into invitations, hacky stuff, completely secure and undetectable methods of communication, weapons, and a way to let your dead man's switches know you're dead. Also keep in mind you're off the grid down here if you want to hack yourself at some point.

Wire 2014/12/27(Sat)20:38 No. 616104 ID: 337362
File 141974152102.png - (11.92KB , 960x560 , 194.png )

>>616053
29,000 of it is Sev's own. 750 credits are from the Bureau to find that invite. Any change is due back, obviously.

They stop in first at the Inculcation Station, 73-6's favorite weapons vendor in the Stalls.

"you're closing?"
"The stalls are changing, Seventy-Three Six," mutters Juler. "More places like Cybranicon. Records! Background checks! Some of the old guard remain behind and celebrate the business channels widening as they offer their amoral alternatives." He shakes his head. "But I cannot sell in a place that betrays my strict principles of disregard for human life and law. So I am relocating. Probably to somewhere on the West Coast Ecologies."

He sticks a shotgun in a box. "You have been one of my finest customers, Seventy-Three Six. The work you did with that filament whip sent goosebumps up my spine. My arsenal is still available to you:

The automatic shotgun. Screaming buckshot death. Five thousand credits.

The corner rifle. Twist it round the bend and your enemies will see their entrails on the floor before they see you. Seven thousand.

The smart gun. Lock on and let her do the work for you. The little darling. 45 caliber and Rated out to one deadly mile. Nine thousand.

A laser rifle. Bulky profile, silent running, zero recoil. No drop. Forget science fiction: This little number's beam is invisible. And where it touches, it makes neat little burning holes. Turn up the intensity to cut away armor or turn it down to leave lovely surface burns. Ideal for torture! Find out what cooked human smells like! Ten thousand credits well-spent.

And of course the legendary weapon that needs no introduction: Twelve thousand for the Strix."

>>616104
...is there any way to buy any of this and expect the Bureau to believe you didn't use stolen money to buy it? You already used the stipend excuse once.

Is your apartment on the way back so you could hide the weapons you buy today? That would work. You wouldn't be able to use it on the mission today, but...

Keep in mind, sev, you aren't trained in the use of a Strix. It would fuck over your mobility and mobility is important. The laser rifle is cool though. If we're gonna splurge, buy that. The corner rifle seems perfect for 88's skillset. On the other hand 17k out of 29k is a lot...

As tempting as the Strix is, it's probably going to be a pain to try to hide. Even if we manage to get it without anyone questioning how we got it, it's still the primary weapon of 14-1, so there'll probably be suspicions if we do things too similarly to him.

Damnit, that's TWO guns that would be sweet for our buddy the support guy if he wants to take sniper overwatch. The Strix and the laser (provided a good scope) both sound excellent for 88. See if he wants one of them for later.

The corner and smart gun both sound like 73's speed. Smart gun is fun for the tech savy, especially if you can use hacking to remote fire it or get creative like that.

Get the laser for 88

Ask him if he would recommend the laser rifle as a lock melter as well? The ones we can't just hack open, you know?

Otherwise I want that corner rifle. Too damn much have corners downed a good agent.

If we start spending all our money the second we get it on shiny toys we wont have any for emergencies.

Although it would be nice to have a long range weapon if you could figure out a way to explain where you got it.

Hmm if the next mission is a building full of rich people we might be able to restock our money with some careful looting.

Would love a Strix but is hard to use it if we have to keep it hidden all the time.

>...is there any way to buy any of this and expect the Bureau to believe you didn't use stolen money to buy it?
Tell a half truth. A buddy needed to skip town, so he sold a bunch of stuff for cheap.

Damn, the end of an era. Is there any way you can get stuff mail-ordered? Take a closer look at the corner rifle and the laser gun. The smart gun is obsolete because of our HUD tracker and we already have a Close-quarters Clusterfuck gun, and the strix is so not our style I wonder why we consider it so frequently.

Wire 2014/12/27(Sat)21:49 No. 616118 ID: 337362
File 141974578562.png - (7.58KB , 960x560 , 195.png )

>>616108
73-6 can drop any of these weapons off at his safehouse before his return, yes.

"What's the scope like on the laser rifle?" 88-1 asks.

"Computerized," Juler says. "You could melt a butterfly from 2000 yards."
"could it melt locks?" 73-6 eyes the boxy gun.
"It could melt anything," Juler says. "It fires around once a second. There is no ammo or reloading required. Expose her to light for an hour and she'll give you 100 beams of death."
"I love this," 88-1 says. "This is a sexy gun."
"can you put it on reserve for us?" 73-6 asks. "it and the, uhhh, corner rifle. i want to keep looking around."

"For my favorite zombified murderer?" Juler bows. "Anything."

Where to next?

...something occurs to me. Why was 73-6 this guy's favorite customer before he even bought anything the first time? I mean, wasn't sev using standard Bureau equipment until we bought that whip and flechette?

Sev, what did you buy from this guy before then?

Transhumanist Emporium? Still really want to know more about shell upgrades and just how DA put his own together.

The kind of place that might sell invitations, probably. We should check up on that.

Also looking for someplace with creepy deepnet connections. Need to make contact with your doppelganger somehow.

There has to be somebody here specializing in forgeries. In the meantime, hack yourself. You're off the grid down here so you should go unnoticed.

Wire 2014/12/27(Sat)22:50 No. 616126 ID: 337362
File 141974945230.png - (10.41KB , 960x560 , 196.png )

>>616119
Just mission-specific weapons. It was all on the Bureau's dime so they took it when it was over.

>>616122
Creepy deepnet stuff sounds like Cybranicon's bag. 73-6 hates that place but what can you do.

>>616124
They find a public events forgery place. There's an invite for sale there for 1000 credits.

73-6 ducks into a grimy corner and tries to hack himself. 88-1 keeps watch over the sea of strangers and neon.

73-6 quickly realizes there's frustratingly little he can do. Most of his shell upgrades can't be overclocked and have been more or less coded to the metal to fulfill their function. He can't change his face or power up his magnets or anything fancy like that; there's not enough wiggle room to without purchasing a shell upgrade. And most of the stuff the Bureau did to his brain they baked in while he was reconsituting.

Here's what he can do:
+Mess with the audio logs, rerouting his over-the-wire voice to the recorder so that what he says and what his handler hears are two separate things
+Falsify GPS information to make it look like he's anywhere other than where he is
+Sever himself completely from the Bureau network
+Set up private correspondence and data transfer

>>616126
>audio logs
...this sounds useful. I assume this means you can falsify the transmission on the fly so that you can say things out loud without your handler hearing them?

The other options don't appear to be things we should be fiddling with yet, but will be most certainly useful when the shit hits the fan.

>hacking ourself
The last one is the only immediately useful one. We'll need that for covert hacking of the bureau, and for communicating with 73-6-2, possibly 14-1, and any other would-be covert allies.

We might have specific circumstances where we need to falsify our audio logs, or the gps, but not right now, I think.

Obviously severing ourself is an endgame move, if we get that far.

>They find a public events forgery place. There's an invite for sale there for 1000 credits.
See if we can haggle that down of offer anything in trade. If not, we'll have to pay full price and just lie in our logs.

Welp the only one we should do now is make it so we can alter what our handler hears at will, and also it sould be nice if we could hack the other two for quick access.

Since we have decent cash we should get some black shells (at least one) for sev and a shell or two for double 8, he doesn't have shit right now and he needs some for this op. Personally I think a smart gun for double 8 and maybe a gun for sev, (a strix would be invaluable as the only gun capable of taking out vehicles if things go to shit later, so consider that.) For now lets see black shell prices and get double 8 to take some standard shells.

Hmm, if we could get a shell upgrade, could we use it to make more 'wiggle room'?

...I'm curious about something. Sev, can you tell if you HAVE a loyalty compulsion? Or were you somehow made without that crucial detail, and is why you are able to make all these plans to gtfo?

>>616146
Actually, yes. This is important. Even if you can't alter this kind of thing, you should look at the current state of things.

What's do your loyalty controls look like? Can you compare them to the ones you saw being applied to 88? Why are you even allowed to act the way you do- you shouldn't be.

Wire 2014/12/27(Sat)23:55 No. 616151 ID: 337362
File 141975334060.png - (13.40KB , 960x560 , 197.png )

>>616146
73-6 has no way of knowing. That stuff all happened during reconstitution and directly affected his organic bits. Too risky to put it in software. It's baked into the folds of his undead brain.

When 73-6 inquires about Black shell upgrades from Hoxton, he scoffs. "Homebrew upgrades are dangerous and unproven as a strict rule," he says. "We don't sell those here."
"where could i get them?"
"If you insist on it, I could recommend a place," sniffs Hoxton. "An old associate of mine runs it. She is... eccentric. Her furnishings do not inspire confidence. But hers are the best. So they say. There's no storefront name; just a door. West-2 stack, on tier 6. The roof is corrugated tin and the walls are synth-tac ply. There will be loud music."


There is loud music inside. Also a one-armed woman propping herself up on her desk with a rubber-capped stump. Just above it, on her forearm, is a tattoo of a little gravestone with REST IN PEACE PIECE written on it. She leers at 73-6 when he comes in with a mouth full of crooked teeth and snakebite piercings.
"A fucking rogue moldie," she says. "That's something you don't fucking see. That fuckass Hoxton send you?"
"he did," 73-6 says.
"You know your bosses are going to blow your brains out if you take one of my things."
"i've got it handled."
The fluorescent light is punishingly bright. It illuminates a cooler in the middle of the store floor, swinging lazily from a rope stuck through the lid.
"This is some trap house shit," 88-1 wires.
"you can, uh, fix me up with some black stall shell stuff?"

"That's right, moldie. Ten thousand creds a pop for the top shelf shit. You can chug it right in the store. If you ain't satisfied, all your money back. That's the Holden guarantee."
"are you holden?"
"Not right now but I know a guy." She leers even wider.

>If you ain't satisfied, all your money back.
...somehow, I get the idea that if something went wrong with the dose, I wouldn't be in a position to ask for money back after.

Honestly, I'm somewhat suspicious of someone selling black market medical mods who can't afford to get themselves a prosthetic or a graft or something.

>>616151
Well, she came recommended. Down the rabbit hole we go.

"got any advice on which enhancements WON'T liquify the inside of my head? looking for more hacking and hacking accessories."

I mean, really, what else do we really need at this point? Improved physical abilities? We can get guns from elsewhere and have friends now. Good friends. Dangerous friends, whom we can buy guns for.

...we're gonna need them.

If Hoxton says she's the best, he's probably right. Weird as hell place to do business out of, though.

How does one become dissatisfied with a shell upgrade? As far as I know, you can get unlimited upgrades, right? So it can't just be shit upgrades that come with it.

Can hackers hack shell upgrades? I mean, DA somehow did. I don't know if he has a homebrew lab or not. I mean, what are shells even MADE of?

Wire 2014/12/28(Sun)00:23 No. 616159 ID: 337362
File 141975501910.png - (398.54KB , 960x560 , 199.png )

"what is this even made of?" 73-6 gets an upgrade from the cooler and sloshes it around.
"Cum," maybe Holden says. "Drink me."

73-6 does

FU++++C++++++K THIS +++++HHURRTTT+++++SS SO BAD+++++ AF+++++G++G+G++++++

PICK YOUR SHIT

+YANK+ The magnets in 73-6 become supercharged electromagnets. He can climb on walls and ceilings, yank the weapons out of people's hands, and (in an age when ammunition has mostly abandoned lead for copper) stop bullets in their place.

+INVISIBILITY BUT LEGIT+ 73-6's invisibility startup time is shortened to 3 seconds. More importantly, he no longer needs to stay still while using it, though sudden movements and muzzle flash will give him away.

+COMBAT HAX+ Same as what DA offered him. 73-6 gains a suite of combat-oriented hacking subroutines, making hacking in the middle of a firefight viable. Hacking is now instant, wireless, and requires no interfacing software, allowing 73-6 to use it in combat scenarios to jam electronic weaponry, haywire systems, and cause various other forms of havoc. In order to gain the effects of +Silent Running+, 73-6 sill needs to be touching the object, however.

I am torn between combat hax and supermagnets. Those are both pretty awesome.

YANK is going to eventually kill you and you're going to fry so many hard drives by accident Sev.
Go with combat hacking.

If the Bureau finds out and you need a quick exit, they'll know you can hack stuff. But will they be expecting you to stop BOOLET? Yank it is.

>>616159
On the one hand, combat hax and invisibility is cool; but 73 already has a new face and invisibility along with demonstrating he can move pretty damn quietly.

Let's go with Yank, and maybe think about getting Sev-three some speech and acting classes so he can actually lie to people.

And smile in such a way that people don't wonder if that's a monowhip in his pocket.

Noone can outrun bullet. But if you can stop a bullet in midair, you don't have to. Yank!

>>616159
A vote for Invisibility here.
Because we need to go full predator.

Don't forget to see if we can have the shock spike and filament whip combined. Whip on one end, spike on the other, both can be electrified independently.

MAAAAAGNETS

Also yank.

>>616166
Yes, this.

Voting magnets. Happy retirement from the Bureau would require a miracle, and you know what they say.

It occurs to me that the reason we didn't buy the Strix last visit is that it doesn't mesh with 73-6's up-close-and-personal style of killing; it's a long range support weapon. Now we've got a support-specced buddy, that reason no longer applies.

Downvoting magnets. They are too overt, and hard to explain to the brass how we are moving up the side of a building or doing that junk, which means limited immediate utility on it.

I'd be okay with either of the others. Those are not things that are easy to track.

>>616222
well yeah, we pretty much aren't going to be able to use any of these on-mission.

These are for when shit goes south with the bureau and we need extra tricks up our sleeve. Guns or whatever are nice, but we might not have the luxury of being able to run to the safehouse and grab them when we actually need them. The upgrades obviously stay with us at all times and are undetectable until we use them in an overt manner with the bureau watching us.

That said, I'm voting invisibility. We probably won't be able to use it on the mission, but it might be possible if we spoof gps data to make it look like we're not moving. Outside of missions, though, the combination of invisibility, gps spoofing, and undetectable hacking pretty much allows us casually walk into any secure area we want to.

Invisibility seems like the most useful for our skill set right now. And will not stick out like a sore thumb.

We need SOME combat, so magnets.

>>616169
Changing vote to invis

We already have invisibility. I'd rather have super magnets than slightly improved invs.

I can't remember, is it only invisable to sight?

voting for yank, because magnets are miracles.

Wire 2014/12/28(Sun)11:46 No. 616246 ID: 337362
File 141979601988.png - (7.22KB , 960x560 , 198.png )

73-6 goes with +YANK+.

Then he sits up.
At some point this upgrade literally knocked him on his ass.
"You cool?" 88-1 asks.
The tips of 73-6's fingers pulse and tingle. The cooler bends toward him as the trace metals in the shells within try to reach him.
"yeah," 73-6 says.
"That's 10,000," maybe Holden says.
73-6 pays her. "can you not afford to buy some kind of prosthetic or graft when you're charging this much?"

"Actually," maybe Holden says. "Enough people have asked me that that eventually I caved and got me a little something just for them."

With a little click a tiny plastic middle finger comes out of her stump and blinks on and off. "Now fuck off," she says. "Go enjoy your superpowers."

73-6 has 19,750 credits left.

>>616246
First, that's kind of funny.
Secondly, she has to be one of the ugliest chicks I've ever seen.
Third, ELECTRIFIED FILAMENT WHIP SPIKE COMBO!!

All right.

We still need to see about getting that invitation we actually came here for (and either haggling down the price or lying about what it cost).

We also need to follow up on the deep net stuff, see if we can make contact with our digital doppelganger.

>>616234
>slightly improved invisibility
clearly this voice has never played a game with invisibility mechanics. The difference between stationary invisibility and mobile invisibility is not "slight," it's more like two, maybe three times as useful.

>>616253
agreed. No more time to dawdle, better get to what we are here for.

Wire 2014/12/28(Sun)14:40 No. 616278 ID: 337362
File 141980644506.png - (10.25KB , 960x560 , 200.png )

>>616253
73-6 manages to haggle the invite down to 800 credits, but no lower. He can just lie on the logs. He has 18,950 credits left.

To get in contact with 73-6-2, he's going to need a personal VR machine hacked to connect to the undernet. He knows exactly where to go for that.

"I remember you," the saleswoman at Cybranicon says. "You're that wirehead who wanted the DA info. BBS says he jumped his gig after that. Was that you?"
"kind of."
She smirks. "You survived cyberspace. Cute. What do you want now?"
"i need a way to get back," 73-6 says. "a vr uplink to get on the deepnet."

"Baby's first deck, huh?" the saleswoman says. "The basic models run at 5,000 credits. If you want a hacked and ready model with the kind of hardware to zap you back out if you're killed inside, that's 8,000."

Wait. Question. If illegal shell upgrades are available, why have all our procure on site ones we've stolen from the fatomas been of the legal variety?

I'm now wondering where the Fatomas are getting supplied. Or why the bureau doesn't object to field upgrades, since there's no way to know we didn't pick up a hacked one.

>He can just lie on the logs.
You'll have to edit 88's logs, if he was in a position to overhear, too.

>deck
Couldn't we hack the unhacked model ourself? Or we could get the other us to do it, since the deepnet should be his playground.

How big is a deck? Can we carry it around with us? Are we gonna need to set it up in a safehouse? (We'd have to gps spoof ourself and 88 for that). How easy is it to conceal?

You definitely want to enable private correspondence and data transfer for yourself when connecting through the deck.

>>616246
2750 is still flexible if we are picking up the laser and corner rifle. That's enough for two invites, unless only one's for sale.

Still.. what Juler said is worrisome. Is the forgery place one that keeps records? It could wind around and bite Sev in the ass later.

>>616278
well can you hack it together yourself and just get the hardware?

>>616283
Had the same thought, but this might be one of those times you buy the ferrari and customize it instead of the honda you intend to customize. I also dont want to leave out a feature due to ignorance rather than lack of skill.

>>616279
>Wait. Question. If illegal shell upgrades are available, why have all our procure on site ones we've stolen from the fatomas been of the legal variety?
Presumably, legal upgrades cost less than 10k, and the Fantomas are cheap. Or maybe creating knockoffs or minor mods of legal upgrades is easy, but creating a whole new shell upgrade is much harder.

If we can hack it ourselves, then get the regular.
Oh and ELECTRIFIED FILAM ah fuck it, just go get the laser gun for 88 (welcome gift) and corner gun for you, if asked how we got them we can say the laser was on hold for Lockjaw and the corner gun was a closing down gift.

Uh, the basic model doesn't come with the 'If you die in the game, you die in real life!' blocker hardware. That's pretty important.

Get Babby's First Deck Deluxe then head back and get the laser rifle. Maybe see if you can haggle down the software price since you'll want to customise it instead of just running the stock stuff.

Wire 2014/12/28(Sun)20:29 No. 616361 ID: 337362
File 141982735867.png - (7.54KB , 960x560 , 201.png )

73-6 just gets the basic board. His hacking is good enough by now that he'll be able to mod it as he pleases.

"Normally you'd need some kind of visor too," the Saleswoman says. "But it should work for you without. You have the imaging tools for it. Try not to fry, moldie."
"thanks," 73-6 says.

Wire 2014/12/28(Sun)20:29 No. 616362 ID: 337362
File 141982736054.png - (7.68KB , 960x560 , 202.png )

From Juler he buys the laser rifle, bringing his total down to 3950 credits.

"it's the end of an era, juler. sad to see you go."
"I'll miss the place," Juler says. "The stall will be empty for a while, but someone with connections and credits will come along eventually to take over. I pray they have the homicidal spirit we share."
"me too," 73-6 says, shaking Juler's weird, clammy hand as 88-1 caresses his new, high-tech rifle. If 73-6 can't think of a way to explain it away, they'll be able to swing by his safehouse first and store it away from Bureau eyes. The deck should probably go there too.

Unless there's anything else he should buy, they're done here.

>>616362
Ask if you can just... touch the strix. You'll never see it again.

...maybe you could say you took the rifle when you ambushed some Fantomas dude carrying it away from the black stalls? Or would the Bureau take it?

Might be a stretch but we possibly could play the gun off as a gift to Sev from the stall merchant as sentimental thanks for all the bussiness over the years since they're closing out. Dunno if they'd let us keep it but could be worth a shot.

Is Hoxton still selling regular shell upgrades for 2k or less?

Also you could always try to wrangle funding from the Bureau for the laser? Tell Tai it's selling cheap and will help ensure proper closure on this upcoming mission.

>The deck should probably go to the safehouse
Don't forget to hack your and 88's gps so you don't give the location away. And to put it back to normal when you get back towards base.

...will we have time to set the deck up, hack it, and try to make contact over the deepnet, or if we stay away that long will it look suspicious?

>If 73-6 can't think of a way to explain the new, high-tech rifle
Lockjaw's paranoia working in our favor. One of the vendors 'recognized' 88 when we were window shopping. I'm not sure the guy had ever even been to our local stalls, but he had a weapon on backorder- just in case.

I wonder what else might be out there? Too bad people will probably stop offering once word gets around he's dead.

Explaining it will be easy if you're actually supposed to still have your own money left; because Juler needed to skip town so suddenly, he had to offload most of his merchandise. If there isn't supposed to be enough money around to say you got it for a steal, leave it at the safehouse.

Wire 2014/12/28(Sun)22:32 No. 616388 ID: 337362
File 141983474124.png - (8.09KB , 960x560 , 203.png )

"can i just..." 73-6 hesitates. "can i touch it, juler? the strix?"

Juler nods. "I will not get in the way of this."

Goodbye, Strix. In another life.

>>616374
This will probably work, especially since if Monica cares to check she'll see that it's true Juler's leaving. Of course he'd NEVER offer a deal, ever, but she doesn't know him like 73-6 does.

73-6 and 88-1 exit the black stalls. Time to stash the deck at the safehouse and report back.

Wire 2014/12/28(Sun)22:32 No. 616389 ID: 337362
File 141983474785.png - (27.80KB , 960x560 , 205.png )

It's the day before the operation now.

73-6 pulls his cart across the convention floor. It sloshes with water.
Above him, the chandelier hums quietly. The crystals around it oscillate back and forth, casting geometric pools of light onto the floor. The walls 73-6 guesses are artsy?

This is a cool place. He's assuming the tables will be gone? He doesn't know much about "ragers".

As far as hackable things, there's a register at the bar, but 73-6 is hunting for bigger fish to fry.

Wire 2014/12/28(Sun)22:32 No. 616390 ID: 337362
File 141983475469.png - (17.26KB , 960x560 , 204a.png )

He doesn't find anything here, but the upper levels or basement both sound very promising.

The elevator is guarded by a guy in a white suit.

"Just the main floor today, brother man," he says. "Private crews cleanin' everything else. Sorry. Can't let you through for security's sake. The big-dick richies are doing some shit tomorrow."

>>616390
"Aight. Wish they had chosen to tell me. Anywhere else I need to stay away from?"

E.g. where are we going to break into first.

>>616390
Hmm, maybe try and be all "Man, I gotta move these tables somewhere, don't I? Storage is in the basement."
That is assuming you didn't discover evidence to the contrary in your investigation.

Start doing some actual cleaning for your cover. Keep your eyes peeled for opportunities to get where you're not supposed to be. Someone will walk away, or we can take a bathroom break or something.

...all you really need to do is go invisible near the door at some point. Wait for him to then go looking for you, and then duck through.

Wire 2014/12/29(Mon)00:17 No. 616410 ID: 337362
File 141984106860.png - (9.30KB , 960x560 , 206.png )

"All right," 73-6 says. "Someone coulda told me but all right."
"Sorry, man." The guy scratches the back of his neck. "I know the hours are important to you. They told me to keep an eye on you, get you out as soon as you were done. Man, fuck that. You wanna like polish the tables twice or something I'm not gonna stop you."
"Anywhere else I should be keeping out of?"
"Everywhere, I think. The upper levels are gonna be swarming with rich white people, the basement's got all the breakers and the security kiosk..."
"Storage is down there too. Where do I move all these tables, then? Storage is in the basement."
"They say just drag em into the foyer," the guy says. "I know, I know. I trust you. But you know how they get. Need me to help? Hold the door or something?"

Get him to hold the door while you move the tables through, yeah. See if you can lock him out somehow by hacking the door to make it "stuck".

Hmm. Right, so it sounds like the stuff we want to hack is in the basement. And we know the tables are going down there.

Pity we don't have a remote hacking platform or something we could stick to a table to be carried down.

...maybe after cleaning and moving tables we could hang under-neither one and go invisible? Let ourself be carried down? Although then we'd need to sneak out without blowing cover or killing anyone.

What's metal around here? Possibly we could sneak in somewhere with yank, or use magnetism to cause a distraction.

Use this as an excuse to borrow and hack his phone. We forgot ours at home or something. What use is hacking his phone? Who knows, but it's the sort of thing we should take advantage of while he's offering to help us.

Aww man what are people going to think seeing tables piled up in the entryway?

Bunch of rich people going to complain and guess who gets the blame? Not the security guys upstairs that's for sure. I could loose my job for this.

Cant you just follow me down? Its like 6 trips and I can just pile them in the hallway near the elevator.

Wire 2014/12/29(Mon)13:34 No. 616508 ID: 337362
File 141988889134.png - (7.27KB , 960x560 , 207.png )

"Couldn't you follow me down?" 73-6 asks.
The elevator guy shrugs helplessly.
"OK," 73-6 says. "Just help me move the tables out I guess."

The first table the elevator guy moves out, 73-6 hacks the door locked.
The longer he takes now the harder this is gonna be to explain.

>>616508
well time to put a backdoor in the security stuff in the basement. also, what are they gonna do, fire you?

Is there any way you could be able to hear and speak by the door while you work in the basement? Then you can make like you're trying to get the door open, and it won't look like you left. Either way work fast.

Wire 2014/12/29(Mon)14:42 No. 616532 ID: 337362
File 141989297216.png - (11.98KB , 960x560 , 208.png )

"Um," the guy says. "I think you locked me out."

"Oh, did I?" 73-6 pushes a speaker toward the door, and pushes his palm against it. The thing's already wireless; hacking it to carry his voice is child's play. "Shoot. Hold on."

Wire 2014/12/29(Mon)14:43 No. 616533 ID: 337362
File 141989299524.png - (16.61KB , 960x560 , 209.png )

"Maybe try pushing it?" 73-6 asks, as he takes the elevator down to the basement.
He sprints to the security kiosk and speed-types his way in.
"Naw man it's an electronic lock. Shit. My keycard isn't working. Is there like a card on the table up there? I think at the bar there's a spare under the tabletop? Can you try it?"

With his master hacking, 73-6 can:
+Disable or loop the cameras
+Lock or unlock any door
+Download a complete schematic of the building
+Sound, disable, or amplify the fire alarms to debilitating levels of volume
+Turn on the sprinklers
+Lock down any individual conference room, putting blast shields over the doors and blocking any wireless signal in or out
+Lock down the armory on the 28th floor
+Disable the elevators
+Take the building off the grid and switch to emergency power or no power at all
It looks like most of the individual window and door alarms are just isolated noisemakers; 73-6 can't get to them from this terminal.

73-6 can also reroute the functions this computer gives him to his own hud, and remotely slip inside his new back door any time he's in the building.

Can't take too long right now,so grab remote access and, if that's quick enough, the building schematics.

Well, we pretty clearly want to reroute the functions for use later. The schematics are pretty tempting, but we really don't have time for it.

Reroute and sprint back. Move the speaker back to where it was. If there actually is a card on the counter, grab it and unlock the door with it. Or pretend to unlock the door with the card and just hack it open. Whatever.

When that's done, I guess we try to download the schematic while we're finishing cleaning, if that's possible?

>>616533
Just do the reroute then get back in the elevator. Tell him you'll go look for the card. Actually do go look for the card once you're up there, then make it look like you used it to open the door. Don't forget to push the speaker back though!

While you're doing things, download the schematics.

>>616533
>reroute the functions this computer gives him to his own hud
Just do that for now, then race back, replace the speaker, and apologetically let that guy in "with the spare card".

Wire 2014/12/29(Mon)18:00 No. 616636 ID: 337362
File 141990481171.png - (14.90KB , 960x560 , 210.png )

73-6 grabs the floor plan and routes all these options to his internals.

Then he sprints back to the elevator, takes it to the show floor, and pushes the speaker back to its spot. He grabs the card from the bar for appearance's sake and unhacks the door.

"FUCK," the guy on the other side says as it swings open. "Hate these things. I think my card got demagnetized or something."
"That sucks," 73-6 says.
"It's replaceable," the man says. "Now let's finish up here. Leave the partying to the rich assholes."

Wire 2014/12/29(Mon)18:00 No. 616637 ID: 337362
File 141990483821.png - (47.77KB , 960x560 , 211.png )

It's the night of the op. Time to finalize the plan.

You can now give commands to any individual field agent.
Which will you start out as?

So, 73-6 has an invite to the party, a disguise to find the target without raising alarm, and all the hacks to get things done quietly.

Really, with all the prep we've have done, I imagine he'll probably be doing most of the legwork on this operation, with 88 and pen around in case things go horribly wrong.

...and we still gotta decide what we're gonna do about Tai's offer.

anyways, votan' 73-6.

also voting 73-6!

Sev-three.

Hope that guy doesn't recognize us later.

73 is a go.

Wait, we haven't heard from 14-1, yet. We've still got no advice on how to handle the two higher ups playing tug of war, and we need a decision tonight. Shit.

Sev, obviously.

Wire 2014/12/30(Tue)00:10 No. 616733 ID: 337362
File 141992705861.png - (25.76KB , 960x540 , 212.png )

Outside the party, the crowd screams their vocal chords raw as they wave signs of protest. Occasionally one tries to go over the barricade and gets something broken by a security Outside the party, the crowd screams their vocal chords raw as they wave protest signs and chant slogans saying fuck the rich or eat the rich. Occasionally one tries to jump the barricade and gets a limb broken by a securiy flunkie.

"In position on the roof," Penelope tells 73-6. "Say hi to Keesh for me. Waiting on your go, Sev."
"roger."
"These people outside really aren't forgiving you for party rocking."
"Jeezo," Sara says. "Apparently this kind of thing happens every week. They haven't stopped it yet."
"That's people power for you," 88-1 says. "We could use it, maybe. In an emergency. I'm in position at the west corner building, Sev-three. Tell me when I got an opening."

Wire 2014/12/30(Tue)00:11 No. 616734 ID: 337362
File 141992707402.png - (129.34KB , 960x560 , 213.png )

"i'll try," wires 73-6. "i can't hear shit from in here."

He sits at the bar, looking out across the mass of sweaty people.

"Ay," Keisha says, walking up to him in a weird hentai butterfly ballerina getup. "I'm on next."

"Nervous?" 73-6 asks.
"Bout the performing or bout the fucking black ops?" Keisha asks. "Cuz the first part I ain't got a problem with but I could live without the second."
"Don't worry," 73-6 says. "If you can't manage it we can still finish the mission. Stay safe and be careful or Pen will kill me."
"Imma have to perform sober," Keisha says. "I hate that."

73-6 has an incoming call from 14-1.

Neat. At some point we should ask him what he knows about Sintek agents trying to subvert Bureau moldies. I'm pretty sure Dartline Alchemist has legitimate backing.

Wire 2014/12/30(Tue)00:34 No. 616745 ID: 337362
File 141992847479.png - (12.61KB , 960x560 , 214.png )

"14-1?"
"The same, brother. Monica told me you were asking for me. She sounded more skittish than a cat at a kennel. Figured I'd take the time out of my busy schedule."
"thanks."
"No problemo. How goes the hunt? What are y'all bugging out about up there in spook town? Forgive me if I eat in the middle of this. There's a weenie here that is being roast to unbelievable perfection and they're best hot."

Inform that top brass has taken an interest in you, and it is making you nervous. You are hoping for some kind of insight on them and the infighting at the top.

"The high-ups decided to play chess for control over the Bureau. Do masterminds usually talk to their pawns or inform them of their plans? Because suddenly everyone shows great interest in me".

"Sosa and Tai Jiaying are getting ready to tussle and both want me on their side of the board, and I think they'll maybe both get rid of me even if they win and I'm on their side. Also, I think Sintek might be trying to bust moldies out of the Bureau. Which I also don't trust."

>73-6 has an incoming call from 14-1
Make sure to put it on a secure channel, and the bureau can't hear you.

>Forgive me if I eat in the middle of this.
That's cool, I'm actually at a party myself. I'm sure there are little weenies on a stick somewhere. The people they have you kill, huh?

>What are y'all bugging out about up there in spook town?
Got a problem with bureau brass. The dogs started playing tug of war, and I'm the favorite chew toy, apparently.

I've got Sosa on one end, and Tai Jiaying on the other. Both have made offers of friendship and support, and implied they know what I'm up to. Which doesn't make much sense. And now Tai gave me an extra mission to kill someone of Sosa's, and they both know it. Meaning they're forcing me to pick a side.

And I can't trust anything they say about themselves, or each other. Biased, untrustworthy sources and all. You pulled something on the bosses to get out though, didn't you? You know them? I need to know who I'm dealing with.

>other question
...I don't suppose the higher ups are secretly zombies? (Since we found out the modlie memory wipe might be optional).

>>616745
this conversation is secure, right?

>>616745
Ask him about the guy Tai's asking you to kill.

>>616745
We're caught in the middle of a fight between two higher ups that used to be a thing. I think the highest ups. They've noticed me and want me. One's a sadistic psychopath and the other is hard to read. Sosa and Tai. Maybe you had other higher ups you dealt with, so I don't know if you know 'em.

Just saying that these two are legitimately terrifying and taking a side is a mistake and not taking a side is a mistake. Pretty much am going to have to take a side whether I want to or not and it's about an optional kill. I don't take it, I'm with Sosa, I take it, I'm with Tai.

>>616780
It SHOULD be, since we're really good at setting up secure comms and 14-1 knows that anything we would call him about would be...probably a big deal and something we wouldn't want to talk about and potentially be overheard.

But yeah, Tai wants us to kill Pierrot Delacour, one of Sosa's guys. If we kill him, we're on her side, which is gonna get us killed. If we don't kill him, we're on Sosa's side, which is gonna get us killed.

I think the only way to stay neutral to the conflict, is to pick a third option, such as abducting the guy where we arent following what tai says but arent pissing sosa off entirely. If we do have to pick a side, tai is slightly more promising.

Wire 2015/01/01(Thu)20:40 No. 617394 ID: 337362
File 142017362189.png - (120.58KB , 960x560 , 215.png )

"what do you know about tai jiaying?"

"Tai Jiaying. I remember her. Poor girl fell for William Sosa."
"i've met him."
"Then you can guess how that ended up for her. One of the few toys he didn't manage to break. Her and me."
"what do you think of her?"
"I respect the hell out of her. I respect the hell out of William Sosa, too, in the way you respect the hell out of a great white. My time at the Bureau, Tai was the face, kind of. She really believed in what we were doing, you know? By the time I got out, she was a scared girl with a fresh knife in her back and zero friends. Word was she'd slept her way to the top and carried the naive baggage that the bureau was the good guys up with her. But now years later she's built herself all the way back up again right under Sosa's nose. These days she's not his equal but she's the closest thing there is anymore. Takes a heavyweight to do that. Whether she's kept any of her soul intact is a good question."
"she wants me to kill someone. it's a power play."
"You say power play, executives probably say weekday. Who's on the hitlist?"
"pierrot delacour."
"Rings a bell. Kingpin man. And you want my advice?"
"yeah."
"You kill that man, you're showing Willy your hand. You can expect him to respond. But having Tai Jiaying at your back. Hmmm. That's something I would have killed for."
"is she really that powerful?"
"Not when I left, but these days? Just about everyone in the bureau has picked a side, whether they're public about it or not. Letting anything close to infighting happen would make Sosa look very, very bad, so he's hamstrung. Tai's smart. She picked a good target. Delacour is Sosa's guy, not the agency. Not at all bureau affiliated. Sosa can't get at you for his death without making his own misdeeds public. That's very good for Tai."
"so she wins either way."
"That's right. Sosa stays quiet and she's knocked out his agent. Sosa brings hell down on you, she's aired out his dirty laundry."
"should i go for it?"
"If you do, it will accelerate things. Tai will help you and Sosa will hate you. You'll want to be ready to move fast. If you don't, Sosa will be reassured you're on his side, maybe calm down and give you breathing room, but you've obviously severed Tais. Heh. I guess the question is how ready you feel, 73-6. There's a moment to seize. Scary moment but a moment."

Wire 2015/01/01(Thu)20:40 No. 617395 ID: 337362
File 142017363505.png - (68.49KB , 960x560 , 216.png )

"What the fuck is up Canery Building" Keisha calls from the stage. As soon as her set is over and she opens up the window, 88-1 will be in motion. Penelope is still waiting on 73-6's call.

"I said what the fuck is up," Keisha yells, and the audience surges and screams in response. "You rich-ass bourgeois-ass fuckin cunts?"
The audience cheers even harder.
"Aight this one's called Poromeric," Keisha says. "Move like y'all got souls, fuckboys!"

The bass bubbles up into monstrous life.
73-6 has 20 minutes before they move.

"What the sam hell is that in the background?" 14-1 asks.
"the entertainment," 73-6 says. "i'm at a party."
"I prefer acoustic," 14-1 says. "This sounds like a serious situation you're in, brother, so I'll stay on the line. You need a chaw and a chat you call me."

>>617395
...I think we should kill Tai's target. Question is, how do we do that without fucking over the mission? Look for a place you can hide the body where it won't be found until after the party is over. Then we just have to figure out how to lure him there, alone.

Oh, ask 14-1 how long it took for him to get used to the Strix. You had an opportunity to buy it today, but... you got a shell upgrade instead. You've upgraded a BUNCH and the payoffs just kept getting higher, so... now you can stop bullets.

If we can figure out a way to kill the mobster and make it look like a accident it would be nice.

Say he over doses on some drugs or gets drunk and falls off a balcony. Sosa would not be absolutely sure that we did it and might give you a bit of breathing room.

So keep a eye out for opportunities like that. We might just have to stab him and shove him in a closet but maybe you will get lucky.

The first step will be to find both our targets and come up with a plan from there. Keep a eye out for body stashing places and security flaws.

Oh, ask 14-1 about the Bureau not being the good guys. Are there ANY good guys?

>I guess the question is how ready you feel, 73-6
We're close. I wish we'd made contact with 73-6-2, and we'd starting hacking into the bureau's databases, but we're not too far off from the point where we could make a plan. I'd prefer more time to setup, but maybe 14-1 is right. Tai could be helpful enough that we might have to accelerate things. (Unless of course she's gone completely darkside since he left).

I'm leaning towards killing him now. We have to figure out how we're getting close to the target(s) and eliminating them without blowing our cover, though. We don't want collateral, or to get caught up with security.

>If we can figure out a way to kill the mobster and make it look like a accident it would be nice.
There are no accidents. If he suffers a heart attack after a lifetime of cholesterol and seven generations of family history tonight, it'll still be on us.

Wire 2015/01/01(Thu)22:44 No. 617416 ID: 337362
File 142018104438.png - (60.35KB , 960x560 , 217.png )

"are there any good guys, 14-1?"
73-6 hears a drawn-out laugh that turns into a choking cough. "Aughg. You made that weiner go down the wrong pipe. Hah. You're a good guy, 73-6. So am I. Your friends, maybe they're good too. The rest of the world is fucked. You want to live long and happy, brother, give up on them."
"that's pretty grim."
"So's the planet, Sev-Three. Get as good a life as you can out of it. Heck, we can't have kids. No use worrying about what we leave them. Especially not when everything's getting worse every generation. My advice is find a little corner of the world that ain't terrible yet and nest down in it. Now focus on your mission, brother."

"88, pen, you read me?"
"Loud and clear," 88-1 says.
"Yea," Penelope says. "That music sounds sick. I want to be in there."
"as far as the mission is concerned right now, we want it done as completely as possible. get it?"
"Got it," 88-1 says. 73-6 has told them both about Tai's request over secure comms.
"ok. stand by."
"We been standing," Penelope says. "I want to stab someone tonight, Sev-Three."
"noted."
"Just letting you know."

73-6 wades through the crowd, hiding from the spotlights the fixtures occasionally fire down.
"HEY," someone a few feet away from him yells. "EIGHTH FLOOR."
"IT'S TIME?" someone else responds.
"IT'S TIME."

>>617416
Hey, schematics. What's on the eighth floor?

Hell, can we just pull up where the target is using the schematics?

What's happening on the eighth floor?

And how are we getting the two of them in? Dub-8 is coming through the wall, Penny is... what? Gonna jump off the building and stick her sword in to stop herself at just the right floor when we open a window? (And between Sev and Keesh, who's letting who in?).

If you look around, can we make either target in the crowd? We need to have eyes on them before we can make them dead.

Lotta moving pieces on this op.

Wire 2015/01/02(Fri)00:13 No. 617434 ID: 337362
File 142018639434.png - (13.25KB , 960x560 , 218.png )

73-6 checks his schematics of the building.

It's 24 stories tall. There are 20 conference rooms inside. Two of them are on the 8th floor.

Penelope will be able to enter the building via the rooftop doors. They'll be locked, but 73-6 can unlock them easily. 88-1 needs a window opened for him to get in; that's Keisha's job. As soon as she opens a window he can zipline into the building. He's currently on the 6th floor of the place next to this one. 73-6 is on the first floor. He's not sure how he could go higher. The only way out of this hall is the elevator, a stairwell, and the exits out into the foyer. All of those are guarded, two guys each. They're private security like 73-6's friend from the other day.

Keisha finishes Poromeric and smashes into the next one on her playlist. 14 minutes until she's off the stage and in a position to get 88-1 in.

>>617434
...sounds like you should just let Pen in. Do hacky things in her favor from the dance floor. 88-1 can zipline in and meet up with Pen at the 8th floor. It's gonna take a bit for Pen to get down from the roof, after all.

Uh, better keep an eye on these guys and the eighth floor. There's a good chance someone else is running an operation. Maybe the protestors?

>>617434
leave eighth floor for pen and 88-1, your job is to find the secondary mark. any way to look through security cameras to find him?

Okay, first things first. Tap into the building's security feeds. See what's going on, and start collecting tape to use for loops, later.

Our first goal should be getting Penny in. Which means we need to head up. Maybe we could tag along with those guys going up to 8? Otherwise, we might need to use our suborned security system to cause a distraction. Some small problem that will pull a guard away to deal with, so we can get through a door.

>>617408
>There are no accidents. If he suffers a heart attack after a lifetime of cholesterol and seven generations of family history tonight, it'll still be on us.

What if it's on a completely different agency? Penelope has a holdout that the bureau (and therefore Sosa) doesn't know about. If Pierrot Delacour gets flagrantly sworded into a million pieces and somebody drops a Tribranch stimpack in the puddle, that seems like it could be a pretty solid misdirection.

For that matter, what if he dies in an unrelated incident sometime next week?

Considering we have an ex-Tribranch operative, I'm pretty sure Sosa will correctly assume we were behind it if we tried to make it look like them.

Killing him a week later? Kind of a weird play. It would buy us more time with Sosa, but by the time it happens, Tai may no longer be in a position to help us (or want to). Worst case, we might still end up on Sosa's shit list, without any help. Also there's the question of how we pull it off.

>>617496
Hack Pierre's phone or something to make it a tracking device. Explain to Tai that you didn't want to grease him right there at the party because, in her own words, "...a great many important people in that meeting room with Ms. Margolis. Most of them aren't expendable." Part of the work that 73-6 does so much better than an average bullet is not hitting the wrong target by mistake.

If she doesn't buy that, admit to being scared of Sosa and point out that anything which makes it look less like Outpost Jericho killed Pierrot on Tai's orders also makes Sosa less likely to consider Tai as much of a threat to him as she actually is. He can read people's intentions, sure, but he also looks at results.

The other thing I was thinking of is to do something at the party which kills Pierrot later on, in some way that's difficult to trace back to the source. Ricin or polonium or whatever. Kinda late to set that up now, though.

We should use Yank to drop a floodlight on his head. That seems pretty accidental to me!

Wire 2015/01/11(Sun)00:50 No. 619445 ID: e30e12
File 142096623959.png - (13.34KB , 960x560 , 219.png )

"pen, you're go. i'll stay on the ground floor to try and find our mark."
"Love and kisses, Sev-Three. I won't letchu down."

73-6 spends the rest of Keisha's set resetting up all the back doors he placed in originally.
With his master hacking, 73-6 can:
+Disable or loop the cameras
+Lock or unlock any door
+Download a complete schematic of the building
+Sound, disable, or amplify the fire alarms to debilitating levels of volume
+Turn on the sprinklers
+Lock down any individual conference room, putting blast shields over the doors and blocking any wireless signal in or out
+Lock down the armory on the 28th floor
+Disable the elevators
+Take the building off the grid and switch to emergency power or no power at all

"IT'S OVER," Keisha yells after her final song. "I'M OUT."
A surge of wild applause.
"YOU AIN'T MY PEOPLE," Keisha yells. "MY PEOPLE OUT ON THE OTHER SIDE OF"
They cut her mic off.
"THE BARRICADE" she finishes. "Awww, fuck em."
She turns around and storms offstage.
"don't attract unnecessary attention, keesh," 73-6 warns, over the wire.
"It's what they was expecting," Keisha says. "Gala crackers love gettin yelled at by their fucking underclass zoo. Fucking rich fucks."

On the 24th floor, Penelope has found a grating and is getting ready to breach.

Keisha is escorted to the 2nd floor changing rooms by two suits. Judging by the camera feeds, as a civilian with no real training she seems uncertain what to do to shake them.

Download the schematic first, that kind of intel makes all sorts of stuff easier. Can the fire alarm thing be limited to a specific area?

Tell Keesh what you're planning, and do a five-second countdown. Relevant cameras (and a few random ones, as smokescreen) glitch out on 'three,' she starts running on 'two', hands up to the sides of her head on 'one,' alarm to make the escort's ears bleed on zero. Mess with the electricity just enough to make the lights flicker, and people will pass it off as some momentary technological problem.

We already got the schematic when we were here last time.

We need a distraction for Keesh that doesn't blow her cover. She should go into a bathroom or the changing room or something, and while the guards are waiting around impatiently, we hack some distraction to lure them away. A false alarm or something.

>>619445
Hey, I have an idea. Sev could sound the fire alarm to create a distraction, at which point he could likely get past the guards and be able to provide direct support. Keesh may be able to shake her escort as well.

Just turn it back off after a minute, so that people come back into the party.

Wire 2015/02/19(Thu)09:23 No. 625632 ID: 186341
File 142436662952.png - (17.28KB , 960x560 , 220.png )

"I'm starting a fire alarm," 73-6 wires. "Pen, be on the lookout for erratic activity up there. Double 8, keep an eye on the exterior. Keesh you gotta get ready to run."

"Shit shit shit," wires Keisha.
"You signed up for it," 73-6 says.
"I know. Shit shit shit. This is nuts."
"Ready?"
"Do it."
"On three. One, two--"

73-6 silently counts three and sets off the fire alarm.
It's kind of hard to hear it over Keisha's followup act, but he can see the security put fingers to their ears and then start trying to clear people out. He has a straight shot to the elevator if he's careful.

Keisha breaks from the guards in the hubbub and bolts down a hallway, whispering "Shiiiit."

++

"Still in position," Double 8 wires. "Looks like some people are starting to come out. The protesters are not reacting positively. Someone just threw like a tomato at one of the guests."

++

Penelope starts round a corner to reach the elevator but there's two rent-a-cops in the way.

"That's the fire alarm," one of them says. "We gotta fucking go."
"Not until we get orders to," says the guy. "It's probably a false alarm or some punk pulled it. Don't worry about it."
"We're on the top floor. If it's real--"
"Don't worry about it," the guy repeats. "Stay frosty. Watch the crowd."

"Whaddo I do about these chucklefucks?" Penelope wires.

73-6 checks his schematics. There's a stairwell the other side if Penelope doubles back but it's a fire escape so it might be populated the further down she goes, and it'll be slower going than the elevators.