The setting is my own, custom interpretation of the Shadowrun Universe that I'm currently running a group of players through. We can only meet every couple of weeks though and I was looking for something to scratch my RP itch in-between. I started this story out originally to just test the system and ended up having a blast with it! I'm legitimately excited to see how the rest of the story will unfold. Hope you guys get some enjoyment out of it as well.
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CHAPTER 1 - Stalker in the Shadows
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A young man rests, back against a flickering street lamp, cold blue eyes staring out into the darkness of the street in front of him. A cigarette is held firmly in his right hand. A tuft of bright blue hair falls down his forehead from an otherwise bald head. He glances down at a high-tech watch worn on his wrist. It begins to beep. The man mutters under his breath, "They're late."
Does he see anyone coming down the street?
(50/50 | 6[d10]) Yes, but...
The darkness breaks at a nearby intersection as a vehicle turns onto the roadway. The man gives a paranoid glance toward the headlights. "About damn time," he grunts. The vehicle passes quickly and the man gives a disappointed sigh, "Guess not."
Looking down once more at his watch, the man becomes noticeably impatient. He drops the butt of his cigarette onto the ground and smashes it with his foot. With a swift tap on his right temple, the man feels a short rush of energy as the implant embedded under his skin activates. A close examination of his eyes would show faint glimmers of scrolling text and flashing icons. The man perceives it as reality around him. Through mere thoughts he is able to pull up a list of his contacts and dial the number for someone listed, E. Holden.
Does E. Holden answer?
(Likely | 10[d10]) Yes, and...
A near fraction of a second after the call is made, the communication line is connected. A faded blue image of an older man appears through the younger's augmented vision. A thick, white beard decorates his face along with rounded, black goggles covering his eyes. He speaks with a deep, raspy voice, "Judgin' by that look on yer face, things ain't goin' so well. What's the problem, Ice? You pick up the goods?"
The younger man responds, his voice as calm and collected as he can make it, "They're no shows, Eric. I've got a bad feeling about this. I'm bouncing before trouble finds me."
The older man lets out a slight groan, "Figures. Just when things seem to be lookin' up fer us, too. We need that payday, Ice. Emerys is due in fer another surgery this month. Doc says she can't miss no more if she wants to keep pluggin'."
As Holden speaks, the younger man gives a quick upward glance. Within the augmented reality system, a new window pops open containing information about the accounts he currently has access to.
How much money is in the accounts?
555 = 30[d100]+8[d100]+89[d100]+19[d100]+92[d100]+45[d100]+44[d100]+55[d100]+77[d100]+96[d100]
The total from the several accounts comes to 555 nuyen, not even enough to make the month's rent. With another twitch of the eye, the account information flies out of view. "We'll find something soon. Reach out to your contacts. I'll hop on over to The Circuit Breaker and see what I can dig up."
"Rodger that, Ice," Holden's face disappears from view as the line disconnects. The younger man places a finger to his temple again, deactivating the augmented reality overlay. He hastily walks through the dark streets occasionally tossing a paranoid glance over his shoulder as though he was being followed. He plunges a hand into a pocket of his jacket and retrieves another cigarette.
Is Ice being followed?
(50/50 | 10[d10]) Yes, and...
PERCEPTION TEST
33 = 5[d6]+5[d6]+4[d6]+5[d6]+3[d6]+6[d6]+5[d6]
Through one of his backwards glances, Ice is able to make out a shadowy figure that appears to be tailing him from a distance. He picks up his pace a bit, nervously taking drags off his cigarette in quick succession.
LED advertisements and bright neon street signs begin to illuminate the road forward as the young man continues his trek. Large mega-structures dominate the skyline, some spouting huge, billowing clouds of black pollution out into the atmosphere. The faint blue glow of the city can be seen reflecting off the night sky. The increased light seems to come as a bit of a comfort for the young man. He stops just outside a 24-hour service, convenience store kiosk on top of which is mounted a large, rectangular sign. It is back-lit in red with bright yellow letters reading, `NEO-STOP`.
Ice stomps out what little remains of his cigarette and once again taps the side of his head to activate his neural implant. The augmented world beams to life in front of his eyes. As the connection stabilizes, his vision of the physical world around him begins to dim around a bright white glowing box. A short video begins to play:
The white box flashes and re-appears as a dark red gradient that seems to be zooming slowly outwards. A stoic, somewhat eery female voice begins to speak, "Our state of the art kiosk was designed with your convenience in mind." As the video continues to zoom out, a hint of blocky, yellow lettering begins to pan into frame. "When you shop, remember NEO-STOP." The image has now fully zoomed out to the highly recognizable NEO-STOP logo. Ice's dimmed vision fades back to normal as the logo hangs mid-air. After a few seconds, the logo fades out.
The young man's eyes begin a series of rapid movements as various texts and icons begins flashing across his vision. He directs his gaze back in the direction he was coming from, the direction of the stranger who seemed to be tailing him. He searches his field of vision for a camera icon.
MATRIX PERCEPTION TEST
21 = 4[d6]+3[d6]+4[d6]+4[d6]+1[d6]+2[d6]+3[d6]
Does Ice find a camera icon?
(Very Unlikely | 2[d10]) No.
As he scans the various icons filtering through his eyes, Ice is unable to locate any devices in the vicinity that could give him a better look at his pursuer. He gives a slight shrug of his shoulders and deactivates the AR before continuing forward toward the heart of the city.
The streets of the downtown sector glow bright as day from a wide variety of LED signs and fixtures. Heavy traffic fills the roadways, spewing a hefty amount of smog into the air. Despite the best efforts of a small army of Sanitation drones, garbage and waste still manage to still collect on the walk-ways and alley-ways. Large groups of people, solemn and down-trodden expressions draped across their faces, move about slowly from place to place. More shady characters lean up against the buildings in darker alleys and signal to various passers that they are looking to sell. Corrupt security forces can occasionally be seen strong-arming and intimidating the locals. Ice barely notices the grim scene anymore. He keeps his eyes focused in front of him and marches onward.
The scene outside The Circuit Breaker is jubilant anarchy. Wild characters with all manners of brightly colored hair and absurd fashion litter the courtyard and spill into the large, open doorway of the night club. Random drunken shouts fill the air accompanied by the recognizable scent of beer and hard liquor. Some gangs of noticeably young hoodlums run about, occasionally trying their luck at squeezing past the bouncers standing in the doorway only to be promptly tossed back out minutes later. From inside the club emanates a low, bass-heavy rumble in a fast-paced 4/4 time. Various merchants have set up booths containing all manners of illegitimate cyber-ware and cheaply produced, knock-off devices.
Ice pushes his way through the mass of bodies that has gathered in the courtyard and approaches the entrance of the club. Blue and white LEDs flash outward around the doorway in a magnificent, pointed arc. The floor glows a deep, electric blue which is caught and reflected back by the faces of the patrons. Several large trolls stand in black, lightweight body armor, arms crossed, watching the entryway closely as people move freely in and out of the club. Ice embraces the thunderous wave of noise which overcomes his ears as he proceeds through the doorway. All around him he can feel the deep pulse of the music and the crowds of people around him swaying to it's beat. For a moment, he nearly forgets where he is and what he's doing.
The young man feels a faint vibrating sensation in his skull. He snaps back to attention and immediately gives a tap to his temple. The music in the room quickly fades out of his ears as the faded blue portrait of Eric Holden materializes in view. Ice can still feel the pulse of the bass line penetrating his skin. "Please tell me you have good news?"
Was Holden able to set up a job?
(Somewhat Unlikely | 10[d10]) Yes, and...
The older man begins speaking somewhat hastily, "Tony Bay says his boss down at MiraTech stiffed em on pay again. Third time this quarter. Says the business ain't doin' too great, but the workers... they're suspicious. They want us to get access to the MiraTech accounts, get them the info they need to know what's really going on."
Ice gives a small nod, "What are they paying?"
"They've only pooled up 3,000 between the lot of them. But Tony says he's got a guy in accounting, someone who'd be able to help cover our tracks should we want to liberate some funds for ourselves."
The younger man grimaces, clearly displeased by the sound of the situation. "Seems too easy. Things are never that easy."
Holden gives a short sigh, "Course they ain't. But it's what we've got right now, so I suggest we get working. I'll run ops from here, you poke around at the MiraTech network and let me know what you find."
"Rodger that," Ice says begrudgingly as the call disconnects.
The volume of the nightclub music returns to normal for the young man as he makes his way over to some covered, luminescent booths that decorate the walls of the main room. With a few twitches of his eyes, a stylized drink menu appears electronically in his field of vision. "Your cheapest whiskey," he mutters as the menu flashes out of vision and is replaced by a smiling, cartoon robot face who cheerfully exclaims, "Thank you! Your order will be out shortly!"
Did the stranger follow Ice into the club?
(50/50 | 7[d10]) Yes.
PERCEPTION TEST
19 = 6[d6]+3[d6]+2[d6]+2[d6]+1[d6]+4[d6]+1[d6]
Was Ice able to notice?
(Very Unlikely | 5[d10]) No, but...
Ice shoots a paranoid glance around the large room, curious as to whether his tail had followed him all this way. He is unable to distinguish the particular features of each individual in the crowd as they move with the beat of the music. Out of the corner of his eye, he spots a larger man wearing a dirtied jumpsuit with the MiraTech logo stamped across the back. He whispers under his breath, "Well, look-y what we have here."
The young man quickly shifts his eyes causing a mangled mass of icons to suddenly appear in the vicinity of the room. Quickly and efficiently the AR system begins filtering out the majority of the icons, until only one remains. A simple, circular version of the MiraTech logo rotates within a green circle near the man in the jumpsuit. With a blink, the augmented reality opens a generic information window about the icon.
MATRIX PERCEPTION TEST
27 = 3[d6]+5[d6]+6[d6]+3[d6]+1[d6]+3[d6]+6[d6]
Text begins flowing across the window. It displays a generic, default message from MiraTech that contains general contact information for the company. Another blink shows that the personal network behind the icon is registered to a Nathan Killian, administrative assistant in the R&D department for the company. There are faint, electronic smudges that appear on the icon though are fading quickly. Ice mutters softly, "Looks like I'm not the only one interested in you here, Nathan."
As the man finishes his scan, a very thin, elven waitress approaches the table. She drops off a short glass filled about a quarter through with a dark brown liquid. She gives a wink and a smile before moving along to her next table. Ice gives a suspicious look toward the woman. He picks up the glass and slams the entire contents outright, nearly choking to get it all down. With a vigorous shake of his head, he returns his attention back to his AR and Mr. Killian's personal network.
HACKING TEST
32 = 1[d6]+4[d6]+5[d6]+5[d6]+2[d6]+2[d6]+2[d6]+6[d6]+5[d6]
Does Ice succeed in hacking Nathan's PAN?
(Very Likely | 7[d10]) Yes.
The outline of a light blue cube traces itself over the other electronic smudges on the MiraTech icon as the words "Access Granted" appear within the man's vision. A directory listing opens and Ice immediately begins scanning through the files.
Is Ice able to find credentials for accessing the MiraTech internal network?
(Unlikely | 1[d10]) No, and...
Mid-way through perusing the file system, the directory window suddenly closes. "What the..." the man gives a confused look. As he re-focuses on the MiraTech icon, he can see his blue cubed mark slowly fade away. He gives a close examination of icon, looking to see if he can identify who or what just gave him the boot.
MATRIX PERCEPTION TEST
21 = 2[d6]+1[d6]+3[d6]+2[d6]+3[d6]+4[d6]+6[d6]
Is Ice able to see any other marks on the icon?
(Unlikely | 5[d10]) No, but...
As Ice is busy examining the icon in close-up, he does not notice that a rather tall, charismatic elf has approached the table. The elf is dressed in a long, flowing, silk gown extravagantly embroidered with several gold and green dragons. He wears a silver, seven-pointed star pendant around his neck. He speaks out with a smooth, soothing voice, "Taken some interest in MiraTech, have we?"
Ice jumps at the sound of the voice, immediately bringing a finger to his temple to deactivate the AR world. "It's dangerous to approach a man like that around here."
The elf cracks a small smile as he gives Ice an up and down glance before sarcastically replying, "I'm shaking." His face takes on a more serious expression, "You would be wise not to meddle in MiraTech affairs. At the very least, you should be more discrete about it."
"Gee. Thanks for the advice." The young man appears annoyed, "Who are you and what do you want from me? Whatever you're selling, I don't want any, so beat it."
INTIMIDATION TEST
8 = 1[d6]+6[d6]+1[d6]
The elf grows impatient, "Now listen here, little boy. You will show respect in my presence, and you /will/ do as I say. I'm holding solid evidence of your recent breach into a MiraTech employee's personal network and I know what it is you were after. I know a nasty little spider over there. Sadistic, mad thing he is. Wouldn't hesitate to fry you where you stand should he feel you're posing a threat to his company. You are in no position to bargain here."
Ice blinks, his face expressionless. "Then by all means, have a seat... sir." He gives a robotic motion of his hand to the seat across from him.
After a slight bow of courtesy, the elven man takes a seat. "I'm not here to interfere with any of your current work. Work with me, and the evidence I've got on you will be erased. Do you understand?"
The man nods slowly, "And what services may I provide to you?"
"You were outside Mooney's place earlier tonight. Expecting a delivery, no doubt. Consider it a blessing that the package was never dropped off or we would be meeting under entirely different circumstances. I need that package and you're going to get it for me."
"Heh!" Ice lets out a snort of a laugh, "Didn't take you for the drug dealing type. Anyways, Mooney's gone AWOL and his crew's nowhere to be found. As far as I know, that package I was supposed to pick up never existed in the first place. Why don't you just go buy your shipment elsewhere. There's loads of dealers down at the docks."
"I've warned you once, my friend, and I don't intend to start repeating myself. Locate my package. In 48 hours you will receive word of a drop location. You will be there the following midnight, package in hand. Should you fail to show up on time, then expect your friends from MiraTech to come knocking." The elf stands up and disappears into the crowd.
Ice, a bit shocked by the event that had just occurred, immediately reactivates his AR and attempts to contact Holden.
Does Holden answer?
(50/50 | 9[d10]) Yes. +Twist: NPC / Appears
The faded image of Eric Holden appears in front of the young man, "That was fast. What were you able to dig up on MiraTech?"
"Nothing yet, there's something else though..." Ice pauses to think for a moment.
As he's pondering to himself, a young, scantily clad woman, decked out in high-tech cybergear comes running up to the table. She leaps and gracefully lands in a squat on the table. Her voice is high pitched and melodic as she speaks, "Hey there, big boy. You look like you could use a dance."
Holden snorts, "Look, Ice, if you're busy right now. By all means... do your thing."
Ice, frustrated by the lack of privacy he seems to be enjoying this evening, snaps out at the woman, "Get out of here! Can't you people let a man be for five minutes!"
The woman looks offended as she lazily hops off the table. The sound of hydraulics can be heard pumping in her legs as she walks away. She calls out, "Chub-Chaser in booth 3, ladies! Steer clear. Marco! Maybe you should give him a shot?" Ice pays no attention to the woman's words.
"Look, Holden, we've got a bit of a problem," Ice nervously looks around the room for any more encroachers. "We need to find Mooney, and we need to find him fast."
Holden gives a confused look, "They were no-shows. We ain't on that job anymore. We need to be focusing on MiraTech. Fuck Mooney and his crew. I need to get paid!"
"If we don't find Mooney, we're toast. Some uppity bastard's been following me since the pick-up. He's got heat on me, and he seems like he's got connections. He wants whatever the hell we were supposed to pick up tonight and he's not playing around." Ice glances at the time. "I've got about 50 hours before I'm supposed to make the drop or shit will hit the fan. We have to figure out where Mooney went, Holden, and we need to do it quickly."
The older man sighs, "The hell you've gotten us into this time, Ice? Look, I'll start looking for leads on Mooney. We've already agreed to the MiraTech job, we can't back out now. You focus on nabbing that account data. Better take Tony's offer and see if you can lift us any additional resources while you're in there. We're going to need them if we hope to track down a guy like Mooney."
"Rodger that," Ice mutters. "I'll see what I can do." The communication line flickers closed.
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