Contract #1: Big Man, Japan!

[GM Nick]

The man grimaces. "Visitors are cleared 24 hours in advance and put into the system. Even then, you can only access the interior of the data-center if a technician is accompanying you."

[John]

Max is growing impatient,

"Alright, wage slave. We need to get in there. How do we do that?"

(( Gotta say-- I feel like you're cutting us off at every fucking pass here. ))

[Stephen]

Val responds to Sinjin's arsonistic query, mentally using text only so that Doc and Max's "guest" cannot overhear.

<Even if either of you could start an electrical fire without frying yourselves in the process, an electrical fire is damn hard to start, and the cavalry would likely arrive before it could actually do any lasting damage, 'mano. Of course, you'll want to disable the fire alarm first whatever you decide to do. I'm assuming since there's no gas that the kitchen's gotta have an electrical stove, right? If that's the case, how 'bout a grease fire? Almost burned down my apartment in Caracas with one o' those bad boys. Just find some cooking grease, heat the drek out of it, and toss in something squishy. Oh, and you might wanna do that last part from a distance...>

[GM Nick]

"I heard a rumor that some of the technicians sneak outside to smoke deepweed after hours. There's got to be a maintenance corridor or machine room that's exposed to the outdoors... er theoretically... according to the rumor..."

[John]

Max looks at the other runners with an obvious look on his face: we've gotten all we're going to get out of this guy.

Max responds to the man,

"Thank you for cooperating. I'm afraid, however, that it's nap time now. Don't worry-- we work with a guy like that."

The elf tightens his grip on the data employee. Moving his arms to a pacifying choke hold, Max puts out the lights.

With the man unconscious in his grip, Max suggests,

"Sounds like there's no implicit need for the biometric chip, but you never know. Doc?"

[Drew Buddy]

Doc takes the unconscious man's arm, and finds a vein. He sticks the hypodermic needle in and pushes the plunger all the way down.

"There, that should keep him out for a while. When he wakes up, he won't remember having ever seen us," Doc says, as the Laés spreads through the man's system.

Rustling about in his pack, Doc retrieves a scalpel from one of the medkits. It's really more of a disposable razor, but it will do. He sets to work on the man's hand, making a small incision around the biometric chip.

(( Medicine test, I guess ))

[Stephen]

Val clears his throat and nods to the scalpel in Doc's hand.

"Hey, uh. I know I'm just an employee and all, but... wouldn't it be a bit suspicious if a data center employee was found to be missing a biometric implant? This is supposed to look like an accident, right? They're sure to conduct some interviews when we finish... whatever it is we're doing. And who knows if that chip works for him somewhere else? No way it's disappearance is going to go unnoticed, unless we make the whole man disappear, but from what I've gathered, Doc's not too up for that..."

Val glances toward the rover's floor, realizing he might have touched on a sensitive subject. "Your call, 'manos, but I thought I'd throw in my two cents."

[John]

Max nods,

"Valid concerns, amigo. Way I figure it, after we're done, we beat the hell out of him, rough up his hand, and puts the implant back. He wakes up bloody, he's more than likely not going to question the nature of the wound specifically to his hand. And the chemical Doc just pumped him full of wipes his memory."

[Drew Buddy]

Doc nods,

"Exactly. We can give this guy a, uh, call it a physical alibi. He certainly won't know any better. He's going to wake up hung over, with no knowledge of the several hours preceding this. Who knows what he could have gotten up to during that time?"

He turns to the car's other occupant,

"Kato, unless you have any special knowledge of this data center, do you want to stay here and keep an eye on him?"

[Stephen]

Val groans inwardly, trying to imagine waking up in a strange vehicle with no memory of the last few hours, your only companion being this batdrek crazy Japanese nutcase.

"Sleep tight and stay that way. It'll be better for all of us in the long run," Val says to the unfortunate wage-slave under his breath.

[GM Nick]

Kato is holding the man's wallet. He glowers at the lack of cash or cred-stick.

"I guess so. You guys do what you guys do best."

[John]

Max opens the door to the rover by way of agreement and says,

"Sit tight, and try not to touch anything."

[Drew Buddy]

Doc thinks for a moment,

"Actually, I'm assuming none of us speak Japanese, except for Kato."
"Change of plans, bud. You feel like having an adventure?"

Retrieving the hypodermic case again, Doc chooses another syringe.

"I don't know if the Laés will keep him down while we're gone. I hate to waste this stuff, but we can't have him waking up while we're not here."

He injects the man with a needle-full of Slab, feeling his pulse as it feathers off into a near-death coma.

"Okay, let's go," He says, stepping out of the car.

[John]

Max isn't so sure,

"Don't know if that's such a great idea," Max says, giving the flamboyant Japanese man a look up and down, before continuing, "He doesn't exactly slip under the radar."

[Drew Buddy]

Doc shakes his head,

"We're going into the heart a Yakuza facility. A bunch of Gaijins who can't speek a lick of Japanese aren't going to get very far if we're confronted. Normally, we'd shoot our way past such a problem, but I don't think that's an option on this one," he grins.

[GM Nick]

Kato winks and gives Max the 'ol double finger-guns.

"Hey cowpoke, come on now. I been in sticky situation before. You see my ridiculous style now."

[GM Nick]

A noise draws Sinjin back to the grate overlooking the parlor's office.

Somebody is pounding quite vehemently on the door. The yakuza inside brushes a line of nova-coke off the table and wipes his hands on his pants. He hurries to the door and throws it open.

From his vantage point, the ork is unable to see who the person in the doorway is but it's clear that they're quite angry. The two men begin a back-and-forth exchange.

"Takeda, what are you doing in here? You should be entertaining our VIPS."

"You're not boss yet, Hanshiro. Don't let all this power go to your head. You don't tell me what to do."

"What's that on your nostril... have you been using the product? Are you crazy?"

"Get off my case, idiot, or you'll find yourself missing an internal organ!"

[John]

At Doc's response, Max sighs-- the disappointment plain on his face-- and trails off with a breathy,

"Yeah, I know..."

nodding at Kato, the elf says,

"Alright buckaroo-- get your gameface on."

[Elliott]

Tyros' mind flips through various options to set the building on fire, before settling on plan C: the building must have a heating system, and the only way to heat a building of this size is with a large furnace, which should have a sizable gas hookup.

With a quick mental order, Tyros directs the dishwasher to lead him to the furnace room.

[GM Nick]

(( Edited the yakuza argument to reflect Sinjin's comprehension, as he speaks Japanese. ))

[GM Nick]

Kato slides over the hood of the rover and begins striding towards the data-center.

"I got a number one idea, follow me, cowboys."

[Drew Buddy]

Doc looks at Val and Max, then at Kato, then back to Val and Max.

"Uh, you heard him. He has a number one idea."

He starts following the animated Japanese man.

[John]

Max keeps in step.

[Stephen]

Checking his gear in preparation to leave the rover, Val is struck with a thought.

"Just a sec guys. Nothin' like a little identity theft to take some heat off one's datatrail. He might not remember anything, but I'll be damned if anyone asking him will believe it when we're done with the place."

Val chuckles softly as he detects the unfortunate wage-slave's commlink node and analyzes it, looking for its Access ID.

[Conway]

((Thanks, Nick))

Sinjin relays the scene as it unfolds before him, describing the situation and providing a loose translation of the dialogue to the team.

Thinking on the spot, he adds
<Looks like there could be more motive behind this job than simple infighting between Shiawase and the Yaks. This joint could be a front for a drug trafficking operation, meaning Shiawase might have hired us to eliminate a bit of neighborhood competition. Tyros, keep your eyes out for any further leads...>

[John]

Max suggests over the comm,

<Maybe you guys don't need to make it look like an accident-- maybe you could just make it look like sabotage from within the organization. Jilted employees do some crazy things... >

[GM Nick]

Kato hunkers down and slinks along a planter at the perimeter of the building. He points to the rear corner.

"Scaredy guy said something about outdoors. Must be a generator or something that goes to data center."

[Stephen]

After ((presumably)) obtaining the wage-slave's Access ID, Val hustles to follow Kato and presses himself against the planter behind the rest of the team.

[John]

Max whispers to Kato,

"Is there a pointed reason why you want to run point on this, or should we be the ones to get our hands dirty?"

[GM Nick]

Analyze Test (4)

[Analyze (6) + System (6) = 8]
1 6 6 5 6 1 5 5 4 4 6 6

Val locates the ACCESS_ID node.

Spoof Test

[Spoof (4) + System (6) = 2]
4 1 2 1 3 6 5 1 2 2

A forged ACCESS_ID appears in his own list of programs--not perfect, but it should do.

[GM Nick]

Kato frowns.

"Hey, buddy. You ask me to come. By all means, go ahead."

[John]

Max moves into lead position and edges carefully toward the rear corner of the building.

[GM Nick]

[ Pachinko Parlor ]

The Yakuza bickering continues, the unique tone of angry Japanese echoing up into the ventilation duct and to Sinjin's eager ear.

"Don't you threaten me--I'll kick your ass!"

"I'd like to see you try. You couldn't kick anyone's ass!"

[Conway]

Hoping the confrontation will escalate to a physical brawl, Sinjin prepares to slip down from the ventilation ducting. If he can drop behind the desk while the men are distracted with one another he will be in a good position to surprise them. Slowly, he removes the vent cover and peeks further out for a better view of the room.

[Drew Buddy]

[ Outside the Yakuza Data Center ]

"I don't particularly care who takes point on this, as long as we get it done," Doc says.

He continues toward the hidden entrance of the data center.