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>>30395877

(Basic rules: There will be a ten-minute voting period between posts, with the time starting after the first vote. Rolls will be requested on occasion, with the first three rolls counted and the highest used. Nat 20’s are Critical Hits, whereas nat 1’s are Critical Glitches. These results override all others, and Hits take priority over Glitches. Write-ins during votes are encouraged, and details therein will be included to the best of my ability.)

Every shadowrunner has his pre-run rituals. Some would take apart and reassemble every piece of gear they planned on using, cleaning each one meticulously to limit the chance of failure as much as possible. Some would meditate and train to make sure their skills were as sharp as necessary. Some would even pray for good luck. As far as you’re concerned, a steaming mug of genuine black-and-bitter on the morning before a run is the only ritual you need.

You take out your contacts (you still can’t believe you fell asleep with them in) and replace them with the display glasses on the nightstand. While Summer slowly wakes, you pick up your civilian commlink and re-insert your earbuds. Not wanting to bother with AR gloves or a cable, you wirelessly sync the commlink to your datajack.

A few minutes later, you and Summer are seated at the counter in the kitchen, mugs of fresh (and real!) coffee in hand. If the last thing you do before you die is have a nice cup of coffee, you’d be perfectly content. You still have a couple of hours before you need to leave, and the household drones will have your breakfast done pretty soon.

>You still need to read the information Jabir got you on the Johnson.
>You should check the news and see if information about last night’s indiscretions has been reported.
>Relax. You’re still not completely awake and you’ve flaunted your work in front of Summer enough.
>Other (write-in)

>>30395911
>>You should check the news and see if information about last night’s indiscretions has been reported.

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At the end of the last thread, someone requested a character sheet. I figured I wouldn't need to pastebin because Chummer exports to html, but 4chan won't upload it. I'll try the xml file in a second and see if it works.

>Also, writing

>>30395911
You can’t help but wonder if your little hack into the Data Processing Office of Ares Pacific Northwest made it into the news. You launch your browser, open a few display windows and start trolling for news stories. After a few minutes of searching, you have half a dozen articles open in AR.

It’s not front-page news, but the Ares Pacific Northwest hack was mentioned in a few places, mostly the blogs of employees and a single major newspaper in Bellevue. According to a public-relations manager, no critical or proprietary data was compromised and all personnel files are safe. The spider on-site (you shudder just remembering the word “spider”) has been severely reprimanded, and a full security audit of the Data Processing Office will be conducted over the next several days. To prevent news of internal tampering, an outside security consultant will be on-site for the audit and all non-essential personnel and equipment will be temporarily moved out.

Partway through reading, your kitchen drone delivers your food. Almost as luxurious as the coffee, breakfast this morning consisted of waffles slathered in (sadly fake) syrup. Once you finish reading, you look back up at Summer. She’s staring at you intently, and you can feel a twinge of irritation in her gaze.

>Be empathetic. Work’s kept you really busy and you haven’t spent as much time together as you’d like.
>Be optimistic. Talk about what the two of you will do once you’re done with this job.
>Be realistic. You went into professional mode the second Jabir told you about the meet. You could apologize properly once you were done working.

>>30396505
>>Be realistic. You went into professional mode the second Jabir told you about the meet. You could apologize properly once you were done working.

>>30396505
>Be empathetic. Work’s kept you really busy and you haven’t spent as much time together as you’d like.

Rolled 1

>>30396694
Okay, we have one vote for empathetic

>>30396798
and one vote for apathetic.

Deciding with a dice roll.

Rolled 2

>>30396954

Okay, I got those posts backwards. Let's try this again.

>>30396694
1. Apathetic

>>30396798
2. Empathetic

Wouldn't want the dice roll to look confusing or anything.

Rolled 2

>>30397004
And empathy wins.

>Writing

>>30396505
You’ve still got two hours until your workday starts. You close the news feeds and disengage you datajack’s connection. It would probably be another week until Summer got her boyfriend back. She deserved to spend a few minutes with you in “civilian mode” before you went to work.

“Sorry about that…” you sigh. “Look, I know this isn’t an ideal situation. Work’s been busy, for both of us, and I haven’t been able to spend as much time with you as either of us want.”

“I understand that. It’s just… I feel like we haven’t talked in weeks. Not really talked, anyway. I miss you, you know?”

“I know.” You look Summer in the eye. “How about this: once I’m done with this job, we can talk about what we want to do. I’m sure I can arrange a little time off.”

“Really?” Summer asks skeptically. “Like, really really? Don’t forget, the last time you said you would take time off, you got called out to Hong Kong for a month.”

“The NeoNET-ETC job…” You sigh. “Look, nothing like that’s gonna happen this time. I promise. No hacktivists running from Grid Overwatch, no old friends getting chased down by assassins, no PMCs recruiting for illegal cargo shipments. It’ll just be you and me.” You’ve never thought much of it before, but your work history sounds seriously glitched now that you’re actually talking about it.

“Right when this job ends, right?”

“Absolutely. Just… wait for me, okay?” Just saying it makes you feel sick. “Wait for me” is the kind of thing a guy says before walking to his death. You ran solo. If you went down out there, no one was coming to save you.

“Okay.” Summer nods. “I believe you. Just be careful, okay?”

“You got it.” You sync your datajack with the apartment’s central home node and check the time. “I gotta get ready to go.”

“I have to leave soon, too. I’ll hang around until you leave.”

“Thanks.”

(cont.)

>>30397357
You take a nice, long shower and give yourself a quick shave. Summer is already finished changing for work by the time you’re out of the bathroom. Dressed in a camisole and jeans, her hair tied in a ponytail and headphones covering her cat earmods, she almost looks like a normal person. You shoo her out of the bedroom and open the closet. Inside, hidden in a black bag, is your secret weapon for any corporate meet.

Back when you were a teenager, your father told you that every man who took himself seriously owned at least one nice suit. The first time you did a corporate gig, you thanked your old man for teaching you value of looking professional. Your zoé suit was a souvenir from the run in Hong Kong. It’s a solid black suit, with a subtle silvery pattern of circuitry along the jacket’s sleeves and circling the cuffs of the pants. In AR, a simple overlay makes the circuitry appear to glow electric blue. No suit is complete without a tie, and today you’re going with a blue silk tie with a silver diamond pattern. You only own one pair of faux-leather shoes, but this is just the situation for them.

Once you’re properly dressed, you give yourself a once-over in the mirror, combing your hair into something presentable. Everything about a meet is important to a runner. A locale like Bellevue, where it wasn’t uncommon for someone to be arrested just for looking wrong, told a prospective runner that it would be impressive for them to even show up. A high-profile location like the restaurant of a ritzy hotel meant that “business casual” wasn’t going to cut it. You had to look your best.

Now came the hardest part: how to arm yourself.

>Shock gloves and the telescoping baton. If you get into trouble, you’re just going to have to manage.
>That, plus the Ares Light Fire. Stick & Shock rounds only, of course.
>All of that, plus a magazine of regular ammo. You weren’t taking chances.

>>30397450
>>That, plus the Ares Light Fire. Stick & Shock rounds only, of course.

>>30397450
>>That, plus the Ares Light Fire. Stick & Shock rounds only, of course.

>>30397450
>That, plus the Ares Light Fire. Stick & Shock rounds only, of course.
Make sure our cover SIN has a license for them. We might get searched.

>>30397485
>>30397553
>Writing.
>Also, character sheet pastebin will be ready within the hour.

>>30397450
You have a simple black bag for occasions such as these. Inside are a few choice items: a metal baton that collapses down to pocket-size, a pair of shock gloves and an Ares Light Fire 70. This pistol was your sidearm of choice, and it’s been loaded full of Stick & Shock rounds. You weren’t looking to start a firefight, but every edge would count if you got into trouble. You put in an extra mag of S&S, just in case.

You emerge from the bedroom, properly-dressed and appropriately-equipped. You can’t help but feel a little satisfied at Summer’s shocked expression. Now that you think of it, she’s never seen you in a suit before.

“Well?” you ask.

“Oh my god… You look amazing! You’re, like, a completely different person!” One of the benefits of having a boring-looking face is that everything you wear makes you look like a completely different person.

“Let’s go. Neither of us want to be late to work.” You give yourself a final equipment check. Your work commlink’s riding in your inside pocket and set to Hidden mode, the civilian commlink’s in a pants pocket and slaved to the work link, your contacts are in, earbuds are in, AR gloves are on, a series of strategically-placed RFID tags say exactly what you need them to, and the rest of the gear you might need was stored in a duffel bag dangling from your arm. You give a last look to your apartment before seeing Summer off (she insisted on taking a cab to work. Better that she’s almost late than you being absolutely late) and heading to the building’s parking garage.

(cont.)

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>>30397790
Oh, right. The car. Sitting in the underground garage’s reserved parking space is a near-spotless BMW 400GT. This one started as a bribe. A job gone wrong resulted in the Johnson dead and the bribe meant for him up for grabs. Given that the bribe was a car and you didn’t have one, you saw no reason not to keep it. Over time, you had a mechanic modify it more and more to your liking until it became… well, a tricked-out monstrosity. Of course, that aspect of it made it perfect for getting into a place like Bellevue undetected.

You climb into the car and put the black bag into the glove box. You still had plenty of time, even with Downtown’s mythically-bad traffic. The engine lets out a satisfying roar as you start it up and sync up the Gridlink system. You personally upgraded the autopilot enough to feel comfortable letting the car drive itself.

It doesn’t take you long to get past the bustle of Downtown. The only thing standing between you and Bellevue is the Washington Lake Bridge and the checkpoint across from it. The car slows as you approach the checkpoint, and a security guard lightly taps on the window.

“Good morning sir.” The Knight Errant guard says sternly as the other runs a check on your SIN. “Hope you don’t mind, but we’ve had some security problems recently. Can I ask why you’re in town today?”

>Business. You’re here to deal with that “security problem.”
>Pleasure. You’re here meeting a friend or lunch.
>Other (Write-in)

>>30397945
>>Pleasure. You’re here meeting a friend or lunch.

Here's the pastebin link.

http://pastebin.com/cnrFSPT8

It was copied and lightly-edited from the Chummer file, so it still might look kind of ugly. Note: most of these numbers don't really mean anything with respect to the quest, and merely represent a general benchmark of Echo_TRACER's abilities. Also, it should go without saying, but most of those numbers will make a lot more sense if you've looked at or played Shadowrun before. I'll edit it to be user-friendlier later.

>>30397996
>Writing

>>30397945
>>>Pleasure. You’re here meeting a friend or lunch.

>>30397945
“I’m just meeting a friend for lunch.” You say mildly dismissively. You were dressed like a corper, and corpers were sufficiently important that security was just something they learned how to ignore, or became derisive towards if they couldn’t ignore it. Your heart catches in your throat as the other guard approaches the window. He nods to his coworker before returning to his post.

“Okay, you’re clear.” The guard announces. “Enjoy your lunch.”

You get a rush of adrenaline when the guards at the checkpoint wave you through. Despite a few hiccups, your SIN trick worked just as expected. You can scarcely believe the sharp contrast between Bellevue and Seattle City. Whereas the Downtown was diverse, cramped and cluttered, Bellevue was peaceful-looking, serene and completely homogenous.

The autopilot directs you to the parking garage of the Bellevue Hilton, a multistory spire of glass and metal. Once you’re sure that you’re out of range of the security cameras, you unzip the duffel bag and pull out your equipment. You slip a spring-loaded slide up your sleeve and test the digital mechanism to make sure it works. Once you’re sure it does, you attach the pistol to it and push it your sleeve. The pistol rests just above your elbow, and can be deposited into your hand with a thought.

(cont.)

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>>30398380
You walk into the building proper and make a beeline for the elevator. You know the right walk and the right look. You ignore any AR prompts about room reservations as well as any staff asking to assist you. Sufficiently-important people didn’t realize that less-important people even existed, and giving them recognition would instantly break the illusion. You take a few deep breaths as the elevator ascends. Come on, Echo_TRACER. It’s pro time. You’re a runner. You take one last deep breath as the elevator door opens, and step into the restaurant.

The soles of your shoes click against the onyx tile floor, polished so cleanly you could see yourself in it. A ring of windows around the room showed a panoramic view of the only urbanized town in Seattle that hadn’t fallen prey to urban sprawl. If you look closely, you could even see the sun. If only you weren’t disgusted just being here…

“Party of one, sir?” a waitress asks when you walk in.

“I’m expected.” You try for a combination of cordial and dismissive. Given that the waitress immediately backed off, you assume it worked. You immediately spot Rockwell. You make a show of giving the place a few more sweeps before walking towards her table. She didn’t know that you knew her face. First impressions were everything, and you’d need to tailor yours carefully.

>Be friendly. Show her you’re a team player.
>Be professional. Let her know you’re competent.
>Be truthful. Let her know how much you know about her.

Going to eat dinner. I'll be back in about 20 minutes. Last thing I'd want is to start slowing down due to hunger.

>>30398497
>>Be professional. Let her know you’re competent.

>>30398497
>>Be professional. Let her know you’re competent.

>>30398497
It seems, in my haste, I forgot to post the intel on the Johnson. Sorry about that.

You never did get a chance to check out Jabir’s intel. The electronic paper he gave you is still in your pocket. You unfold the paper and carefully read it over. Within is a small dossier on the Johnson and the environment surrounding her, including a few pictures. She’s a brown-haired woman in her late twenties with a penchant for Zoe suits and expensive cars. Jabir’s background check managed to turn up a name: Natalie Rockwell. Johnsons live in a world of misinformation and obfuscation. You don’t have to be a runner to know that she’s using a pseudonym.

”Natalie” lives in a luxurious apartment in Bellevue, and works as an executive assistant for an investment firm. You couldn’t think of too many reasons that an investment firm would hire a hacker to steal a drive from a AAA mega, but you couldn’t call it a lie quite yet. According to the dossier, the day she requested that you work for her, she was flanked by two heavily-augmented bodyguards. Their manner suggests that they’re ex-military.

Now I'm actually going to eat.

>>30398497
>>Be professional. Let her know you’re competent.

>>30398554
>>30398645
>>30398727
>Back and writing.

Also, it's storming like a bastard outside, so if I vanish too long, it's probably because my electricity went out.

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>>30398497
Rockwell’s picture didn’t do her justice. Sipping on wine with one leg crossed over the other, she has a cool and professional elegance about her. In a word, she was a shark. You’d need to be extra careful around her. You approach her table at extend a hand.

“Ms. Johnson, I presume?” you ask. “I’m the cybersecurity consultant you requested. My name is Echo_TRACER.” Rockwell’s a corp, and corps have a thing about professional language. If you killed people, you’d say you “retired assets.” If you were a hacker, you’d call yourself a “cybersecurity consultant.” Rockwell looks you up and down, taking in your appearance. During a meet, everything about a runner’s appearance was code. A Zoe suit for high-profile work, the circuitry pattern to show you were a hacker.

“A pleasure, Mr. Tracer.” Rockwell takes your hand and gives it a harder shake than you’d expect from a woman of her size. “Please, have a seat.” You oblige and take the seat across from Rockwell.

“My associate, Jabir, told me you required a consultant.” At this point, the greatest advantage you had over Rockwell was that she didn’t know how much you knew.

“Yes, Mr. Jabir spoke quite highly of you. He says your work record spoke for itself.”

>Tell only the most successful stories. Let her think that you’ve never made a mistake.
>Tell her a few of rougher ones. Let her know that you can handle yourself in unexpected situations.
>Tell her the roughest ones. Let her know that nothing in the Sixth World can keep you from getting the job done.

Also, as of now, you're on the "professional" dialogue route. That vote basically determined how your interactions with Rockwell will go during the meet, outside of any write-in suggestions.

>>30399453
>>Tell her a few of rougher ones. Let her know that you can handle yourself in unexpected situations.

>>30399453
>Tell her a few of rougher ones. Let her know that you can handle yourself in unexpected situations.

>>30399629
>>30399640

Writing.

>>30399453
“Independent contractors make up a somewhat strange group, Ms. Johnson.” You’ve never met a runner who wasn’t too smart for his own good or had a terrible personality. Maybe those were just the kinds of people who became runners lately. “In fact, one of my recent consultations took an unusual turn when a consultant hired by opposition broke into my office.” By “office,” you meant safehouse, and by “consultant,” you meant an augmented samurai with an assault-rifle in his arm.

“My. That certainly sounds troublesome.” Rockwell chuckles.

“It was nothing I couldn’t handle.” You assure. “Despite a small altercation outside of my office, I managed to slip away and set up business elsewhere.” There’s nothing quite like the sound of a fragmentation grenade exploding inside of someone’s cyberarm.

“Well, you certainly sound capable.” Rockwell nods to you. “Who was your client for this job?”

“It was Eastern Tiger Corporation.” You explain. “I was airlifted out to Hong Kong for it. It might have been the longest month of my life. And then there was the job in Berlin…” You spend the next little while telling Rockwell about some of your rougher jobs. You haven’t been caught too often, but it was always a chore to get away from the opposition.

(cont.)

>>30400081
“Well, now that that’s out of the way, we should discuss business.” Rockwell cleared her throat. “Oh, please feel free to order whatever you’d like. It’ll just come out of petty cash.” The best part of running in Seattle, and the thing you missed most during your run in Hong Kong, was the “Johnson foots the bill” tradition. This didn’t give you license to eat like a pig, but so long as you kept it within a certain budget you could get away with a surprising amount of food.

You order a medium rare steak (real beef was usually a little out of your price range) and a glass of real orange juice. You would take every luxury you could get so long as it didn’t piss Rockwell off.

“While we wait for our food, I’m sure you’re interested in the specifics of the work my employers have for you, Mr. Tracer.”

“Given that you called me all the way out to Bellevue for a job interview, I imagine that it’s something serious.”

“Extremely serious, Mr. Tracer.” Rockwell nods. “However, before we begin, I need to be assured of your confidence. You can understand that that my employers will be extremely displeased in the event that this information is leaked to the wrong party. Needless to say, this would be a great source of embarrassment for both you and me.”

>Assure her.
>Question her.
>Other (write-in).

>>30400200
>Assure her.

>>30400200
>I wouldn't dream of betraying a client who didn't betray me first.

>>30400200
>Assure
Betraying an employer only means no more jobs.

>>30400272
>>30400296
>>30400411
>Writing

>>30400200
“Make no mistake, Ms. Johnson, I wouldn’t dream of betraying a client who hadn’t betrayed me first.” You assure. “The client’s discretion is one of the key concerns of a consultant. You have my secrecy.”

“I hadn’t doubted you, Mr. Tracer. It’s just that these matters can be very sensitive. Now, with regards to the work that I have for you: There is a certain drive that was a recent acquisition of Firewatch. Now, officially, this drive is not officially in the possession of Ares Macrotechnology. My employers are very interested in acquiring this drive, but it would be somewhat untoward of us to enter Ares territory to retrieve it ourselves.”

“So, you need me to get it for you.”

“Exactly.”

>And why exactly are you hiring only one man for such a high-profile job?
>And why, might I ask, is Ares so interested to keeping this drive out your employers’ hands?
>Other (write-in)

>>30400735
>>And why exactly are you hiring only one man for such a high-profile job?

>>30400735
>And why exactly are you hiring only one man for such a high-profile job?

>>30400735
>other
"A consultation of this type usually involves a small team, not a single consultant. Is there a reason for only myself being brought onto this consultation?"

(Wait, what's the relationship between Firewatch and Ares?)

>>30400911
(Firewatch is the black-ops unit of Ares. They're like shadowrunners, but they get a steady paycheck and full access to the armory)

>>30400813
>>30400857
>>30400859
>Writing

>>30400735
“If I may, Ms. Johnson, a consultation of this type usually involves a small team rather a single consultant. I was concerned as to why I am the only contractor your employers are hiring.”

“Simply put, Mr. Tracer, we would like to limit the number of people aware of this matter to the furthest extent possible. While it’s true that a larger team would normally be necessary for a consultation such as this, we believe that a man of your skills would be all that is necessary. After all, you are here.” You couldn’t deny that you managed to infiltrate Bellevue with basically no preparation.

“Well, let’s hope your confidence is well-placed.” The sooner you finished this job, the sooner you’d be able to wash your hands of this.

(Cont.)

>>30401217
“With that out the way, let’s discuss my payment.” You lean in and take a drink. Pay was usually the last thing to discuss in a Johnson meet, and the subject that caused the most disputes. “I understand that my associate Jabir already received a brokerage fee for contacting me on your behalf, but this and that are unrelated matters.”

“Oh, I understand completely, Mr. Tracer.” Rockwell nods to herself. “I think you’ll find my proposed payment quite agreeable. Under ordinary circumstances, my employers would be hiring an entire team for this task, but I insisted that you would be enough. Therefore, my employers are willing to offer you an appreciable portion of an entire team’s pay.” Rockwell appears to be fiddling with AR windows for a moment before returning her attention to you. “My employers are offering a payment of ten thousand nuyen.”

You take a drink to hide your shock.

“If you accept, three thousand will be paid up-front, and the remainder following services rendered. Additionally, we’re offering an additional two thousand in discretionary funding; an expense account, if you will.” You need to consider this carefully. Ten thousand was no laughing matter. If this run paid out, your vacation was paid for and you’d have a nice rainy-day fund to back it up. If you didn’t, Rockwell could find someone else and you’d be left scrounging for shit work to make ends meet. Negotiating wasn’t even an option when the figure started this high. You didn’t have a choice here.

“I can start immediately.”

>>30401236
((You now have access to your Edge. Over the course of this quest, you’ll have a fluctuating pool of Edge points that interact with die rolls. You can spend 1 point of Edge following a dice roll to…
*Negate any Critical Glitch.
*Turn any Hit into a Critical Hit.
*Add +10 to any one die roll.

You will regain Edge under the following circumstances: Whenever Echo_TRACER gets a full night of rest, restore 1 Edge. Edge represents hidden reserves of effort as much as luck. Resting will help rejuvenate those reserves. Whenever you roll a Critical Hit or Glitch, restore 1 Edge. Part of surviving as a shadowrunner is recognizing how best to make use of the flow of luck. Fortune’s a fickle bitch, but even a poisoned apple will fill your stomach. Echo_TRACER starts with a full Edge pool of 3. If Echo gets into a bad situation or is considering doing something dangerous, don’t be afraid to use Edge, because any gained above 3 is wasted.

As a final note, Echo’s Encephalon unit, high Logic and Analytical Mind quality grant him great situational awareness. From now own, you will know the Threshold of any check you have to make.))

>>30401333
“Fantastic.” Rockwell raises her glass. “With that, you’ve all the information I have for you and may fulfill this assignment as you see fit.” She reaches into her breast pocket and holds out a certified credsticks and a small slip of paper. “Your advance, and the information regarding your expense account. The remainder of your pay has already been transferred into an escrow account, and will be transferred to your account upon the fulfillment of our contract.”

“Then I can assume Jabir was the one who gave you my account information?” You’d have to remember to get another black account after this job ended.

“Mr. Tracer, I am representative of a number of very powerful people. We have our ways.” Rockwell laughs. “So, regarding our timetable…”

>The Ares hack probably has the drive’s owner in a panic. They’ll want it out of the office before the security audit. If you act now, you can take it in transit. You can even play getting caught last night as a method to flush them out.
>Setting up a search of the entire Metroplex will be a pain, but there’s no guarantee that you can secure the drive before it reaches a safehouse.
>The drive probably won’t leave the building. It’ll suck on your own, but you’ll have to go in and get it.

>>30401364
>>The Ares hack probably has the drive’s owner in a panic. They’ll want it out of the office before the security audit. If you act now, you can take it in transit. You can even play getting caught last night as a method to flush them out.

>>30401364
>The Ares hack probably has the drive’s owner in a panic. They’ll want it out of the office before the security audit. If you act now, you can take it in transit. You can even play getting caught last night as a method to flush them out.

>>30401397
>>30401446
>Writing

>>30401364
“Yes, about the timetable.” You pause to take a drink. “Is right now too early?”

“Excuse me?” Rockwell gives you a shocked look. “Did you say ‘right now?’”

“Indeed.” You smile. “I had thought that setting our meeting in Bellevue would mean that my assignment would also be in Bellevue. Naturally, one of the highest-profile locations in Bellevue is the Ares Pacific Northwest building. So, when I took care of my way in last night…” you trail off, and let Rockwell mentally fill in the blanks.

“That was you?” Rockwell asks mirthfully. “Magnificent. You are exactly as Mr. Jabir described you.”

“I had intended on being part of the upcoming security audit at Ares Pacific Northwest, but that will no longer be necessary. The drive your employers want is too sensitive to left in the building during the audit. Naturally, it will have to be moved. I intend on intercepting it mid-transit.”

>Redmond shares a border with Bellevue, and is the perfect off-the-grid location to hide something.
>Snohomish is in the middle of nowhere. No one would ever suspect anything so important to be hidden there.
>Ares wouldn’t risk letting the drive leave Bellevue, which means that it’s still nearby.

>>30401753
>>Ares wouldn’t risk letting the drive leave Bellevue, which means that it’s still nearby.

>>30401753
>Ares wouldn’t risk letting the drive leave Bellevue, which means that it’s still nearby.

>>30401830
>>30401847
>Writing

>>30401753
“Allowing the drive to leave Bellevue would be too big a risk for Ares. It hasn’t left town yet.” One of the nice things about Bellevue was the town was kept so pristine and peaceful by driving all of the ugliness and crime out of the public eye. If you looked even a little under the surface, you could find safehouses all over the city.

“Then I suppose you won’t be staying for lunch.” Your heart sinks as you see the waiter return with your food. “Go on, now. You wouldn’t want to miss the convoy.” Your blood boils as Rockwell smirks at you. You begrudgingly get to your feet and give the waiter a nod as you leave the restaurant. You make a mental note to spend some of your expense account on dinner.

Once you’re out of the hotel, you return to your car. The time for the corporate disguise was over. You need running gear now, and that means some functional pants, comfortable shoes, and an armor jacket. Thankfully, the tinted windows of the BMW make for perfect cover. Even if you drive down the street dressed like this, no one would see you. You need to find this convoy, and fast.

>You’d hate to owe Jabir a favor, but if anyone knows about safehouses in Bellevue, it’s him.
>You knew an I.D. forger who occasionally did work in Bellevue. You could probably ask him about his safehouses if you called him.
>Two hackers are better than one, and you happen to know a man who loves getting into the Gridguide system.

>>30402226
>>You’d hate to owe Jabir a favor, but if anyone knows about safehouses in Bellevue, it’s him.

>>30402288
>Writing

Also, it looks like this thread is even slower than the last one. I was planning on going for a couple more hours, but I might call it after the next couple of posts.

>>30402226
As much as you’d hate to admit it, Jabir was your best bet. No one would know more about safehouses than a fixer. You open up a video window and send Jabir a commcall.

“Hello?” Like always, Jabir gives you a wide smile when he sees you. For whatever reason, you’ve never seen him without those sunglasses before. “Echo! What do you need, my friend?”

“Suppose you needed to hide something in a city like Bellevue, and you needed a safehouse that typical criminals won’t check.” While you talk, you run a tag eraser over your suit. Nothing would be worse than getting caught unawares because you forgot to disinfect your clothing.

“What? You have the drive already?” Jabir’s eyes widen.

“It’s only been about twelve hours, Jabir.” You scoff. “I’m not that good. Now again, where can I find an out-of-the-way safehouse in Bellevue?”

“You’ll want to head for the warehouses, my friend.” Jabir explains. “The warehouse district in Bellevue is entirely automated, no human or metahuman workers at all.”

“Thanks. I’ll buy you a drink the next time I see you.” You hang up before he can say anything else. You had enough to think about already.

>>30402226
>>You’d hate to owe Jabir a favor, but if anyone knows about safehouses in Bellevue, it’s him.

>>30402617
Just beyond a block of offices, the grassy lawns and nature parks gave way to concrete and metal. There was nearly a mile of empty space before you could see the warehouses. You took the opportunity to alter the access ID, license plate and color of your car. Let it never be said that you didn’t invest in success.

The warehouse security system was a joke to hack. For a block of storage facilities, the owners didn’t care much about their security. Once you’ve gotten a bird’s eye view of the warehouses from the camera feeds, you can look around freely. There! Out in front of warehouse 26, you spot a black van pull to a stop. You can spot at least two men in black uniforms, and there were sure to be at least two more. One of the men climbs out of the van and opens the back. As you suspected, two more uniformed men waited in back. Between them was a large metal case.

That was your target. You didn’t like the idea of four-on-one, but there was no way you were just walking away after coming this far. You smile confidently and crack your neck.

“Let’s ride, chummers.”

>>30402811
>CLIFFHANGER???

Okay, that's all for tonight, chummers. Shadowrun Hacker Quest will return Sunday afternoon at 18:00 EST. Next time, the run begins in earnest, we get into our first combat, and we find out about the drive Rockwell wanted us to steal.

As before, I'll be hanging around for the next hour or so for the post-mortem for any questions or feedback.

>>30402870
Thanks for running this!

I have to say I like your writing style and look forward to seeing if this Run goes sideways.

And archived.
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/30395877/

Man, less than a hundred posts in almost six hours. God this quest is lonely.

>>30402870
Thanks for running this, love me some Shadowrun.

>>30402958
Don't worry about it too much. Sometimes things can be a little slow, but you just need to press on!

Question:Do you have a twitter? I'm sure there are people who like the little updates as a reminder. Especially those who track multiple quests.

>>30402958
frankiemuniz.jpg

I bet it'll pick up as the stakes rise. I know other quests get their liveliness from "YOU ONLY HAD TO LISTEN" arguments about high stakes decisionmaking.

>>30403039
It occurs to me that I probably should get a Twitter, if only so news that I'm running goes somewhere besides Quest Thread General. I'll probably have on by the next thread.

>>30403137
Cool, looking forward to next time then.

>>30403137
I look forward to it and to hopefully not botching this job!