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615083 No. 615083 ID: 337362

Wiki: http://tgchan.org/wiki/Static_on_the_Wire
QuestDis: http://tgchan.org/kusaba/questdis/res/72481.html
Previous Chapter: http://tgchan.org/kusaba/questarch/res/586467.html

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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."
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."
No. 615090 ID: 337362
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88-1 dreams.

He doesn't know why he's called 88-1, but he is.
No. 615092 ID: 534cc4

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

So you awake there 88-1?
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."
No. 615098 ID: 742b4a

"When is the right time?"

Well, great. When you wake up, be grumpy.
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.
No. 615100 ID: 5f402f

Think to yourself that this is a very weird dream.
No. 615101 ID: 5f402f

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.
No. 615102 ID: 2ec61a

assault, you are a big guy, make the most of it.
No. 615104 ID: 534cc4

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.
No. 615106 ID: 28a808

Support, we have enough close-up characters, I think.
No. 615107 ID: cf8e95

Support seems good.
No. 615109 ID: 1071f4

i'm gonna say support, we don't have that one yet.
No. 615111 ID: bb78f2

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.
No. 615113 ID: ecd0ab

Thermal vision, sharpshooting solutions, and signal interceptors all sound pretty useful. Gonna say support. Exploding teeth bullets seem kind of silly.
No. 615116 ID: 534cc4

(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.)
No. 615121 ID: 524a6f

So long as the next upgrade Pen gets is dual-wield, I'll go with Support.
No. 615124 ID: cf8e95

These seem far more general than what you are thinking of.I net this pick is all three "paths"
No. 615130 ID: 534cc4

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.
No. 615140 ID: 0f3813

so what is it about agents designated as 88 that they let em keep their hair?
No. 615146 ID: 89b2a2

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

Pick Support.
No. 615156 ID: 216d55

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.
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."
No. 615251 ID: 5f402f

88: after the handler leaves, give Sev-three an appraising look and say "You don't look like I expected."
No. 615257 ID: bb78f2

Got it, M.
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.
No. 615267 ID: 5f402f

>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.
No. 615273 ID: bb78f2

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.
No. 615274 ID: 8e294c

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?
No. 615286 ID: 534cc4

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.)
No. 615297 ID: a2f9bc

Hopefully nothing, but when and if the time comes, come along for the ride.
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."
"what should i call you?"
"Is 88-1 not good?"
"you want to know your old name?"
"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."
"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.
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?"
"Good." Keisha gets back to work. "We outnumbered round you tall skinny ass motherfuckers."
No. 615302 ID: 337362
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"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.
"Speed the newbie through the rest and then get to the waterfall control room. We got guests. Um, bigshot guests."
"Big big shot guests. The kinds of guests we dealt with last time kinds of guests."
No. 615306 ID: 5f402f

>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?
No. 615307 ID: 8e294c

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.
No. 615328 ID: 2ec61a

gotta remember, monica is the only person you refer to with a pronoun, we just call each other 'agent' or by our numbers.
No. 615333 ID: 6c42b7

this, let's not screw ourselves by mistake
No. 615334 ID: 742b4a

Ask what's the occasion.
No. 615335 ID: a2f9bc

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.
No. 615356 ID: 534cc4

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?)
And yeah tell him to just try to call people by their number or agent, otherwise certain folks might get pissy.
No. 615382 ID: 6e79d4

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.
No. 615384 ID: 742b4a

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.
No. 615386 ID: 5f402f

Not anymore.
No. 615394 ID: 534cc4

He's just a drone now I think.
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.
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?"
No. 615504 ID: 337362
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"You mentioned something about letting her strip me bare?" 88-1 whispers.
No. 615505 ID: ecd0ab

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.
No. 615507 ID: 5f402f

Okay, that settles it. The higher ups in the bureau are all undead. I mean look at her. She practically screams scary sexy vampire.
No. 615508 ID: 1071f4

say the wrong thing and they'll deactivate you, 88. then they'll deactivate 73-6 just for standing near you.
No. 615509 ID: 5f402f

We obvious left the fear and libido knobs in the wrong position when reprogramming your brain.
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?
No. 615511 ID: 6aacb0

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.
No. 615512 ID: 89b2a2

"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."
No. 615514 ID: 5f402f

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:

...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.
No. 615515 ID: d88e0c

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.
No. 615521 ID: 5f402f

Secondary objective: we should hack this guy's bank account and take as much money as we possible can.
No. 615556 ID: ecd0ab

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.
No. 615612 ID: e8f2d2

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.
No. 615618 ID: 8f01e8

>"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.)
No. 615619 ID: 8f01e8

Which is exactly why Warbucks would make a better 'friend on the outside' for Sev-Three than Sandman ever could.
No. 615624 ID: 742b4a

Good point! Yeah.
No. 615628 ID: 2a1897


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.
No. 615629 ID: 89b2a2

Changed my mind.
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.
No. 615644 ID: 3a9b59

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.
No. 615649 ID: ecd0ab

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?
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.
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."
"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?"
No. 615654 ID: ecd0ab

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.
No. 615657 ID: 742b4a

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.
No. 615658 ID: 5f402f

>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.
No. 615663 ID: bb78f2

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.
No. 615688 ID: 8f01e8

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.
No. 615691 ID: 337362
File 141964651546.png - (72.46KB , 960x560 , 181.png )

"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.
No. 615694 ID: 5f402f

>Do you need a friend, 73-6?
That depends. I know what Sosa does to people he likes- what do you do with friends?
No. 615695 ID: 742b4a

Can weapons have friends? Tell her you would accept any assistance she has on not being destroyed.
No. 615696 ID: a19cd5

"Friends are always good, yes."
No. 615698 ID: acd64c

...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.
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?"


"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."
No. 615706 ID: 5f402f

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.

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.
No. 615708 ID: 89b2a2

"88-1 may enjoy that more, but I appreciate and will take up the opportunity. Accident, disappearance, or whacked?"
No. 615717 ID: 742b4a

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.
No. 615718 ID: 5f402f

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.
No. 615722 ID: 246006

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.
No. 615731 ID: 3a9b59

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.
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."
No. 615757 ID: 5f402f

>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?
No. 615758 ID: 742b4a

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?
No. 615763 ID: bb78f2

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.
No. 615764 ID: 6e79d4

How do I know that this isn't some sort of test?
No. 615774 ID: b7bdcd

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.
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?"
No. 615788 ID: 89b2a2

"that i am in a lot of trouble for being too nice"
No. 615789 ID: 5f402f

>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.
No. 615790 ID: 3a9b59

She gave me a secondary objective and more paranoia than anyone should ever have to process. Be there soon.
No. 615791 ID: 742b4a

...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.
No. 615802 ID: 2a1897

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.
No. 615805 ID: 5f402f

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.
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?"
No. 615807 ID: ecd0ab

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.
No. 615808 ID: ecd0ab

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.
No. 615811 ID: 5f402f

>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.
No. 615813 ID: 2a1897

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.
No. 615818 ID: d90668

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.
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.
No. 615823 ID: ecd0ab

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.
No. 615824 ID: a2f9bc

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.
No. 615826 ID: 5f402f

>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).
No. 615827 ID: 2a1897

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.
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."
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.
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!
No. 615837 ID: defceb
File 141967321256.png - (10.81KB , 960x560 , PartyCentralSev.png )

The fishnet is for comfort. The glasses are the disguise.
No. 615841 ID: 6aacb0
File 141967478136.png - (5.69KB , 450x600 , 73_degrees_kelvin.png )

He cleans up nicely.
No. 615850 ID: 1071f4

don't believe her, if anything she's bi probably.
No. 615851 ID: 1071f4

that should have been a steveshirt. so rare that it's actually applicable in a quest
No. 615852 ID: c5b0dd

But The Steveshirt doesn't come with pants.
No. 615853 ID: 2a1897
File 141968152013.png - (49.66KB , 960x560 , sevthree.png )

You can't bring yourself to give up the trenchcoat look.
No. 615861 ID: 8f01e8

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?
No. 615918 ID: 4a20fa

>>615853 is cool, but >>615841 is probably more forgettable in a crowd. (Drawing a blank drawing anything else.)
No. 615924 ID: a2f9bc
File 141971254780.png - (10.95KB , 960x600 , gokupants.png )

No. 615928 ID: 1071f4

believe it!
No. 615958 ID: 2d5639
File 141971966931.png - (8.19KB , 960x560 , Dicks.png )

The deed is done.
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
No. 615962 ID: a19cd5
File 141972062863.png - (11.46KB , 960x560 , elegance.png )

I think we should go with something a bit more... elegant.
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.
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."
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."
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?"
"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."
"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."
No. 616003 ID: cf8ccd

Do it.
Laugh or stammer if you must, but do it.
New guy's taking you to school and everything, still do it.
No. 616004 ID: 742b4a

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.
No. 616005 ID: ecd0ab

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?
No. 616031 ID: 5f402f

Do it.

...this is weird. I don't remember if I've ever even had a hug, before.
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.
No. 616053 ID: 5f402f

>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.
No. 616062 ID: ecd0ab

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.
No. 616079 ID: 2a1897

...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.
No. 616089 ID: 742b4a

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.
No. 616092 ID: 6e79d4

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.
No. 616104 ID: 337362
File 141974152102.png - (11.92KB , 960x560 , 194.png )

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."
No. 616108 ID: 742b4a

...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...
No. 616109 ID: 16700f

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.
No. 616111 ID: 3a9b59

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.
No. 616112 ID: 945fb0

Get the laser for 88
No. 616114 ID: bb78f2

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.
No. 616115 ID: d90668

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.
No. 616116 ID: 6e79d4

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.
No. 616118 ID: 337362
File 141974578562.png - (7.58KB , 960x560 , 195.png )

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?
No. 616119 ID: 742b4a

...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?
No. 616120 ID: ecd0ab

Transhumanist Emporium? Still really want to know more about shell upgrades and just how DA put his own together.
No. 616122 ID: 5f402f

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.
No. 616124 ID: 6e79d4

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.
No. 616126 ID: 337362
File 141974945230.png - (10.41KB , 960x560 , 196.png )

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

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

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
No. 616130 ID: 742b4a

>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.
No. 616132 ID: 5f402f

>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.

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.
No. 616138 ID: 890dfb

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.
No. 616139 ID: ecd0ab

Hmm, if we could get a shell upgrade, could we use it to make more 'wiggle room'?
No. 616146 ID: 742b4a

...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?
No. 616148 ID: 5f402f

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.
No. 616151 ID: 337362
File 141975334060.png - (13.40KB , 960x560 , 197.png )

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.
No. 616153 ID: 5f402f

>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.
No. 616154 ID: 89b2a2

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.
No. 616155 ID: ecd0ab

If Hoxton says she's the best, he's probably right. Weird as hell place to do business out of, though.
No. 616156 ID: bb78f2

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?
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++++++


+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.

No. 616160 ID: 5f402f

I am torn between combat hax and supermagnets. Those are both pretty awesome.
No. 616161 ID: bb78f2

YANK is going to eventually kill you and you're going to fry so many hard drives by accident Sev.
Go with combat hacking.
No. 616163 ID: 6aacb0

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.
No. 616164 ID: 89b2a2

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.
No. 616165 ID: ecd0ab

Noone can outrun bullet. But if you can stop a bullet in midair, you don't have to. Yank!
No. 616166 ID: 2fa6f4

A vote for Invisibility here.
Because we need to go full predator.
No. 616167 ID: 7aa8c3

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.
No. 616169 ID: 646979

No. 616175 ID: 3181a5

Also yank.
No. 616207 ID: 4a20fa

Yes, this.
No. 616215 ID: 8f01e8

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.
No. 616222 ID: 3a9b59

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.
No. 616223 ID: 2a1897

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.
No. 616224 ID: d90668

Invisibility seems like the most useful for our skill set right now. And will not stick out like a sore thumb.
No. 616231 ID: 20afaf

We need SOME combat, so magnets.
No. 616233 ID: 646979

Changing vote to invis
No. 616234 ID: dd4ed3

We already have invisibility. I'd rather have super magnets than slightly improved invs.
No. 616238 ID: 5e00ee

I can't remember, is it only invisable to sight?
No. 616244 ID: 2839a0

voting for yank, because magnets are miracles.
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.
No. 616251 ID: 753c6f

First, that's kind of funny.
Secondly, she has to be one of the ugliest chicks I've ever seen.
No. 616253 ID: dd4ed3

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.
No. 616272 ID: b4b8f5

>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.

agreed. No more time to dawdle, better get to what we are here for.
No. 616278 ID: 337362
File 141980644506.png - (10.25KB , 960x560 , 200.png )

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."
No. 616279 ID: dd4ed3

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.

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.
No. 616281 ID: f562ed

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.
No. 616283 ID: 1071f4

well can you hack it together yourself and just get the hardware?
No. 616287 ID: 4d4284

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.
No. 616291 ID: 2f4b71

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.
No. 616293 ID: 753c6f

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.
No. 616359 ID: 6aacb0

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.
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.
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.
No. 616365 ID: 687279

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?
No. 616366 ID: 216d55

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.
No. 616368 ID: 6aacb0

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.
No. 616372 ID: dd4ed3

>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.
No. 616374 ID: 6e79d4

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.
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.

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.
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.
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."
No. 616391 ID: 89b2a2

"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.
No. 616393 ID: e607cd

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.
No. 616394 ID: dd4ed3

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.
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?"
No. 616414 ID: 687279

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".
No. 616448 ID: dd4ed3

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.
No. 616449 ID: ecd0ab

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.
No. 616451 ID: e6e219

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.
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.
No. 616509 ID: 1071f4

well time to put a backdoor in the security stuff in the basement. also, what are they gonna do, fire you?
No. 616513 ID: 6e79d4

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.
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."
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.
No. 616538 ID: 6aacb0

Can't take too long right now,so grab remote access and, if that's quick enough, the building schematics.
No. 616541 ID: 2a1897

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?
No. 616542 ID: 687279

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.
No. 616545 ID: 4a20fa

>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".
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."
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?
No. 616648 ID: 2a1897

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.
No. 616650 ID: 6b7ea4

also voting 73-6!
No. 616654 ID: 724518

No. 616689 ID: 6e79d4

Hope that guy doesn't recognize us later.

73 is a go.
No. 616700 ID: dd4ed3

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.
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."
"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."
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.
No. 616740 ID: a2f9bc

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.
No. 616745 ID: 337362
File 141992847479.png - (12.61KB , 960x560 , 214.png )

"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."
"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."
No. 616747 ID: e607cd

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.
No. 616754 ID: 00fd2f

"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".
No. 616756 ID: a2f9bc

"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."
No. 616777 ID: dd4ed3

>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).
No. 616780 ID: 381e24

this conversation is secure, right?
No. 616802 ID: 687279

Ask him about the guy Tai's asking you to kill.
No. 616817 ID: bb78f2

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.
No. 616893 ID: ecd0ab

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.
No. 617001 ID: 534cc4

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.
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?"
"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."
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."
No. 617397 ID: 687279

...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.
No. 617398 ID: d90668

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.
No. 617400 ID: 687279

Oh, ask 14-1 about the Bureau not being the good guys. Are there ANY good guys?
No. 617408 ID: dd4ed3

>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.

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.
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."
"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.
No. 617418 ID: 687279

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

Hell, can we just pull up where the target is using the schematics?
No. 617424 ID: dd4ed3

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.
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.
No. 617448 ID: 687279

...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.
No. 617457 ID: 256d52

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?
No. 617470 ID: 780763

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?
No. 617486 ID: dd4ed3

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.
No. 617488 ID: 8f01e8


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?
No. 617496 ID: dd4ed3

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.
No. 617570 ID: 8f01e8

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.
No. 617681 ID: ecd0ab

We should use Yank to drop a floodlight on his head. That seems pretty accidental to me!
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
+Turn on the sprinklers
+Lock down the armory on the 28th floor
+Disable the elevators

"IT'S OVER," Keisha yells after her final song. "I'M OUT."
A surge of wild applause.
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.
No. 619531 ID: 8f01e8

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.
No. 619532 ID: 69ab8d

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.
No. 621277 ID: 687279

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.
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."
"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.
No. 625633 ID: 88960e

Hmm. Slowing her down I'd bad. Killing rent-a-cops (or leaving off target bodies at all, especially early in the op) is bad.

Could you make the lights flicker? (Or a bulb to burst?). If you time remote opening the doors and if Penny abuses her new running speed, they won't even know they missed anything going past.
No. 625634 ID: 8f01e8

Couple of options for Penelope. Plan B is to stick her sword in the more coolheaded guard, since the panicky one would be less likely to resist effectively and trivial to chase down if he flees. Hide the bodies on top of the elevator car by opening the door while it's one floor further down.

Plan A is ask them to come over and look out the window, claiming that a protester just threw a milkjug full of gasoline or something, then sneak into the elevator while they're distracted and/or complying with fire escape instructions.
No. 625667 ID: bb78f2

Penelope can you start a real fire and freak them out a bit?
No. 625692 ID: 752fce

Can you fake a transmission? If yes then order those guards elsewhere.
No. 625858 ID: 256d52

Does the fire alarm have a 'This is not a drill!' function? Hit that.
No. 626679 ID: d1df95

Pen, what are the odds these rent-a-cops have some kind of life readings feedback in their channel? If they stop breathing, is it likely the rest will notice?
Don't wanna blow the cover for everyone here. Might have to go stealthily.
No. 626723 ID: 1f2a28

If it's at all possible to get a list of people who are there that it's not alright to kill, everyone who isn't specifically on that list could get taken out. That way the whole 'you aren't killing enough people' issue is unlikely to come up for a while, and there's a chance that the CEO won't take the killing of his asset as a declaration of war, but rather as collateral damage from his golden boy's awesome killing spree.

If that were possible, I'd go killing these guys.
No. 628402 ID: d958ad

Hey, I just realized, we don't actually need Keisha to open the window anymore. Sev can go up and do it. He can avoid guards by being invisible, and can defend himself if need be.

As for penelope, she can just go down floors one at a time and check other elevators. These guards were unsure- maybe some of the other elevator door guards left. Also can't she run really fast now? Stairs might actually be FASTER.

Plus, once Keisha is outside, she can rile up the crowd.
No. 628403 ID: e30e12
File 142593270027.png - (41.19KB , 960x560 , 221.png )

"hold on, pen."
73-6 flexes a neuron and bursts a lightbulb.
"ok go go go elevator."
Penelope's a fucking blur as she shoots through the narrow opening 73-6's made for her. He loops the elevator camera feed just in time; she's invisible to the security kiosk.
"In the first elevator to the left," she wires. "Floor 8 here we come, motherfuckers."
No. 628404 ID: e30e12
File 142593272252.png - (9.12KB , 960x560 , 222.png )

"keesh, you don't have to open a window after all," 73-6 wires. "i'm coming up there myself. i can do it."

"Boy I kinda fucking wish you'd told me that thirty seconds ago," Keisha responds, "Cuz I just did it."
"whatever, that's fine," 73-6 wires.
No. 628405 ID: e30e12
File 142593272999.png - (149.52KB , 960x560 , 223.png )

"i'm coming up."

On the ground floor, people are running all over the place, trying to decide whether they can stay inside or whether they need to go outside at the mercy of the picket line. Nobody's paying attention to 73-6/

He allows himself a moment to look badass as the elevator doors close on the ground floor. He's unarmed, but 88 has his weapons and his trenchcoat if he wants to go bulletproof.

The team is about to reunite on the eighth floor.
No. 628442 ID: d958ad

Let's kit up, yes. Once we find the right room, seal every exit except the one you're entering from. Actually you might want to outright seal the room until you get there, assuming they're in there now... Or did everyone evacuate with the fire alarm? In that case, you could hide out next door, turn off the fire alarm, then wait for the meeting to convene at which point you go out and crash the party.
No. 628446 ID: 5db52c

Feels kinda silly we smuggled keesh in and she had nothing to do.
No. 628515 ID: e30e12
File 142595878029.png - (10.49KB , 960x560 , 224.png )

"hey, team," 73-6 says as everyone links up. "good job so far. that was the hard part."
"I just chilled in a building for a while then crawled on a rope." 88 tosses 73-6 his stuff.
"Glad I got in before the fun," Penelope says.
"i feel kind of dumb bringing you here for no reason, keesh," 73-6 says.
"The fuck you mean?" Keisha puts her hands on her hips. "I opened your shit, didn't I? What's next? You got a gun for me?"
"no offense, keesh, but i think there's better uses for you," 73-6 says.
"Good," Keisha says. "Cuz I got the shakes just running away from these bitches let alone killin' em."
"can you rile up the crowd out there a little more?" 73-6 asks. "we're gonna need an exit and a riot would make it a lot easier."
"You want a riot?" Keisha hits the button for the elevator. "I'll give you a fuckin firestorm."
No. 628516 ID: e30e12
File 142595878513.png - (13.56KB , 960x540 , 225.png )

While Keisha heads down to rabble-rouse, the three agents creep down the corridor to the closest of two 8th floor conference rooms.

There's three guys in front of it. The one closest to the door has hissing hydraulic power armor on. Some dude in a thermal cloak poncho is fiddling with a console in front of the door.
"Someone must've pulled it," he's saying.
"Well find it and stop it," says the third guy, some suit who looks like an employee. "We're getting insane complaints from the rooms."

"hq," wires 73-6.
"Ya?" It's Monica. 73-6 almost hoped it would be Sara.
"what are the rules of engagement? as far as casualties?"
"Weapons free, Sev-three," Monica says. "The building is under Warbucks' employ."
"they didn't exactly know what they were signing up for."
"I'll light some candles for them back here," Monica says.
No. 628522 ID: d958ad

You know, if you kill everyone you find here, it'll be much easier to explain away how you killed your optional target...

88 can blast through that power armor, I expect. Flechettes can take out the thermal cloak dude. Penelope can either knock out or slice up the suit, that's her choice. ...is there enough ROOM for all three of you to engage in combat maneuvers here?
No. 628528 ID: 5db52c

I feel kind of guilty murdering rent a cops for rent a guarding a building.

Consult our hacking stuff. What's the locations of targets one and two? Who and what do we need to go through to get to them?
No. 628533 ID: 948196

i don't suppose you can get into the power armor guys systems? if you shut him down you could lob a grenade set to stun around the corner. as a bonus, you will be able to tell the story of the one time you used the stun setting.
No. 628538 ID: e607cd

What is that dotted line by power-armor's feet about?
No. 628557 ID: 8f01e8

If you can remotely access the power armor, insert a sign error into the control code. Next time he tries to move, the power assist jerks in the opposite direction, likely breaking a bone or dislocating a joint. He flinches in pain, same thing again, situation rapidly escalates until somebody hits an emergency shutdown and rushes him to a hospital. Just like the fire alarm, it's a plausible glitch and massive distraction.
No. 628570 ID: 85eace

I agree on puppeting the power armor, but on how, I disagree.
Let's make it so that the guy bumps into the other two, and double chokehold... then we toss the stun nades, and lock the servo on the power armor guy's everything. Make it so that they're facing another way while we disarm and duct tape them, we can't be seen by witnesses nor allow them to communicate. Then we waltz in the lift, leaving behind three stun-nade booby trapped goons.
How does that sound? Extra stealth, extra nokill.
No. 628585 ID: fb17e6

Blast door
No. 629525 ID: ecd0ab

...How fast do those blast doors close? Would it be likely to cause serious damage to armor guy? He looks like he is standing on it.
No. 629531 ID: ecd0ab

If nothing else, closing that blast door would probably distract the hell out of those three, allowing you to get them from behind.
No. 629534 ID: e30e12
File 142656499581.png - (6.00KB , 960x560 , 226.png )

73-6 feels a pang of guilt about maybe killing these guys, then wonders why the hell he felt that.
Judging from a quick camera check, this room is the one. The other conference room is unoccupied. 73-6 can't see his targets by face (and it occurs to him that he doesn't know what the hell Warbucks even looks like) but they're in there.

No way of getting into power armor dude's power armor remotely. 73-6 took SILENT RUNNING and YANK instead of COMBAT HACKING.

That is indeed a blast door. 73-6 can control it, if that'll help. He's not sure how fast they go.

Oh right, his grenade. 73-6 fishes that thing out. He's never used the stun on this sucker.
No. 629552 ID: d958ad

Try the blast door. It'll serve as a distraction even if it doesn't hit the guy. Then while everyone's looking at the door you all pop out and shoot/punch out those three.
No. 629740 ID: bd8b82

okay, you roll out and hose the armor guy, pen comes around the corner and slices the near guy's head off. and your buddy fires at the far guy.
No. 629908 ID: b3ff00

toss that fucker in, barge after it blows. standard entry protocol.
No. 629939 ID: 948196

if anyone asks about the stun grenade, say you've always been kinda curios about the stun setting, and these guys are the first hostiles you've encountered who you wouldn't have to execute anyways.
No. 630061 ID: e30e12
File 142683443251.png - (10.33KB , 960x540 , 227.png )

"y'know i've never tried the stun on this motherfucker," 73-6 wires to his comrades.
"Why would you?" Penelope asks.
"just wondering if we should let these guys live."
"If it's a vote Imma kill em," Penelope says.
"double 8?"
"Pragmatism, chief. Not idealism. I don't think my laser thing has a stun setting."
"ok. we flash then i take armor, pen takes suit, dubs takes poncho. ready?"
"Do eet."

"nade out."

Penelope rushes in after it, spinning so her back is to the light.
No. 630062 ID: e30e12
File 142683444247.png - (87.89KB , 960x560 , 228.png )

When she spins back, her blade pushes through Suit's back and out the front of his ribs.

88's laser whirs and Poncho's poncho melts in a mess of smoke and bubbling rubber. The invisible beam goes straight through him and leaves a scorch on the wall.

73-6's flechettes turn the armored man's face into tomato sauce.

They are all firmly down for the count.

The only truly loud noise was the flashbang going off. 73-6 isn't sure about the soundproofing on the conference doors, but even if they heard him, there's only one way out.
Door's unguarded now, at least on this side.
No. 630068 ID: 8d99f5

Can Armor's armor fit Pen
No. 630074 ID: bd8b82

(pose like a team cause shit got real)

what's on that console?
No. 630100 ID: fb17e6

That would slow her down, she needs to kill fast and bullets too slow.
No. 630104 ID: 296917

Take positions at the door, be ready to breach or react to security forces coming from the other side.
No. 630109 ID: 948196

we should lead with a grenade, and then hose the room. we kill the extra target and it looks enough like he was collateral damage that sosa might not be 100% it was intentional.
No. 630123 ID: 2cc14c

...that's a terrible idea. If there's one person the bureau doesn't want you killing in there there could be a lot more. Shooting indiscriminately into a crowd of rich VIPs is not going to win you any favors.
Take it tactically, breach the door, and control the civilians. Check the cameras to see if there are any guards inside.
No. 630206 ID: e30e12
File 142692600107.png - (11.99KB , 960x560 , 229.png )

The console is just another security console thing. 73-6 already has it on lock. Looks like Poncho was fiddling with it and trying to get the alarm to shut down. They may suspect some tampering.

He checks the cameras into the next room.

One security guard, at the door. Doesn't look like he's aware of anything.

Seven people are at the meeting. 73-6's man Pierrot is in the middle of the far side of the table.

At the end is a woman in a black pantsuit with platinum blonde hair pulled back into a tight bun.
Could Daddy Warbucks be Mommy Warbucks?

The rest of them look like standard rich assholes, with one exception: There's a woman with an orange mohawk sitting nearest to the blonde. She doesn't look armed or anything, but she sticks out like a sore thumb compared to everyone else.
No. 630208 ID: 296917

Seems pretty easy. Guard's gonna die basically immediately. The known target will die next. Then you can find out who Warbucks is... or just kill everyone. Actually maybe you should find out who the sore thumb is before killing her.
No. 630224 ID: 1f2a28

Grenade followed by picking off the survivors slash double-tapping seems like a good idea here. Small area, no real cover, and as long as it doesn't land on the table there's no real way for them to dodge the explosion.
No. 630228 ID: bb78f2

Fill the room with bullets like amateurs.
You're supposed to be a weapon after all.
If two of this group are bad seeds, high chance of others being them as well. The company you keep reflect's oneself after all.

Wait a minute, is that mohawk woman the girl who sold us YANK?
No. 630229 ID: b3ff00

i'm guessing they're all on the kill list? or are only the targets? what were the orders again? i can't even remember.
No. 630234 ID: 8f01e8

Idea: grenade directly *under* the table. VIPs get their legs shredded, demobilizing those without super reflexes. Anybody who does have super reflexes has to go upward to get away from the blast, meaning they're basically skeet for the next second or three. On the off chance there's somebody at that table who needs to survive the night, well, leg and lower torso damage tends to be less instantly lethal than brain or chest vitals.
No. 630284 ID: 2ea233

Thats not bad. Wouldnt hurt to listen briefly at the door and see if you can get a priority target identified, but yeah.
No. 630318 ID: ad7bba

We're supposed to kill civvies who see us anyway. Rich assholes are still civilians, pretty sure. Maybe they're antagonists instead, considering they're attending a fundraising meeting for our target slash enemy.
No. 630320 ID: 256d52

As far as getting Warbucks and covering your tracks goes, the most expedient option would be killing everyone in that room.
No. 630325 ID: 8bd2b1

While you guys are right, massacring everyone in that room could have unforseen political consequences. These are presumably wealthy and powerful people, yes? Won't their friends/family/companies want to track down who offed them?
No. 630410 ID: fb17e6

Seconding not going in like an automatic weapon. Can we get any signals from the people, any magnetic buzz we can feel from here?
No. 630467 ID: e6e219

Blowing everyone to hell is a option but its a bit extreme to start.

Might want to confirm who the other people in the room are first before you hose everyone with bullets.
No. 636339 ID: b19c9a

I saw we charge in, pop the guard, scream "WHICH OF YOU IS MANGOLIA?", and wait for any kind of reaction. There's only two things I can think of. Either the platinum bun woman is warbucks, as she might like to live extravagantly, or she is the sore thumb, and uses that look to throw people off on who she really is. Watch for reactions between them, and who ever "flinches", metaphorically speaking, you cap. Then pop the guy on the hit list. It's better to save him last so they don't realize you're trying to murder V.I.P.s. And if you say the guard is a dead give away, he is an armed man. ANYONE, literally ANYONE with ANY agenda to go to that room would kill him. It's logic, plus they would probably all be so surprised, a flinch from the real Warbucks would come easily. Nobody keeps their cool when armed men suddenly bust the door down unexpectedly. And even if she doesn't flinch, one of the other rich idiots might point to her in fear.
No. 636342 ID: ec4981

i somehow think murdering everybody sounds like an incredibly Bad Idea.
ok, the woman at the HEAD OF THE TABLE is probably the Warbucks considering where she sits and how it seems like she's running the show!
but lets not murder everyone. thats kind of...yeah lets not.
No. 636397 ID: b19c9a

But that's just it. If Warbucks has evaded an INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (Being the Bureau) this long, what makes you think she'd just blatantly advertise herself like that? Logically, that would make her the Sore Thumb, something nobody would fully expect, just an out of the way, faceless stranger. But, maybe she has gone soft, and unlike Lockjaw, does not expect the Bureau to be after her, and would willingly wear such flashy, sign giving clothes. That's the conundrum. We have NO IDEA if Sore Thumb is Warbucks, or if Mrs. Platinum is. We NEED a way to determine who is Warbucks. That's why I propose you use your element of surprise to make everyone cast off any chance of a poker face, and try and make Warbucks herself visibly flinch, giving away her identity.
No. 636679 ID: 8f01e8

Is there a hackable speaker in the conference room, or close enough to be audible in there? Shut off the fire alarm, announce "Magnolia Margolis please report to the principal's office," and see who gets a highschool flashback. Or who everybody else in the room suddenly stares at, that could work too. Costs you a little bit of element of surprise, but what are they even going to do while you own the only exit?
No. 636884 ID: b19c9a

While stupid, it gives me an idea. Is there anything to hack that's INSIDE the room? Something that can give things away? Like a speaker, or kind of portable info device?
No. 644414 ID: f68a09
File 143313765601.png - (25.37KB , 960x560 , 230.png )

73-6 steps into the room and the flechette gun jumps as he fills the guard full of microperforations.
"which one of you is mangnolia" he says and the woman at the end of the table with the silver hair visibly jumps.
No. 644415 ID: f68a09
File 143313769624.png - (39.30KB , 960x560 , 231.png )

So too jumps the mohawk woman (who as it turns out has two bionic legs); on top of the table she goes, pulling a hefty shotgun from some secret place under the furniture and firing it directly at 73-6.
No. 644416 ID: f68a09
File 143313770794.png - (44.83KB , 960x560 , 232.png )

It's only due to the guard's falling body absorbing a couple pellets that 73-6 manages to duck back behind the door unscathed.

"Through the window," he hears a voice saying from the other side, probably the bionic woman. "Go."
No. 644419 ID: bd8b82

slashing motion while firing, make a line of death to anything squishy.
No. 644434 ID: e114bc

I think we should just toss a frag in there. Hosing the room down with flechettes might work too.

If she manages to get out the window, 88 can probably snipe the target.
No. 644514 ID: 8e0b6a

If someone's trying to get out and around, we have teammates who could cut 'em off.
No. 644555 ID: b19c9a

Well...turns out the two are related. The mohawk girl appears to be Mongolia's bodyguard. She want her to go out the window. Someone needs to get outside NOW.
No. 644703 ID: be24a8

Hang on, out the window? Aren't you on the eighth floor?

Sev, keep the bodyguard busy, Pen get in there and slicy dicey. 88, shoot anyone who is getting too close to an exit.
No. 644714 ID: 2a7417

There are only two people (not counting the bodyguard) we want to kill, and the rest are not only civilians, but very rich ones! We can't afford indiscriminate force in here, quite literally.

Switch back the revolver and aim for her trigger hand. Hell, we could even put a shot down the barrel if we wanted.
On the defensive, our upgraded magnets also allow us to stop the bullets in their tracks, or if the pellets are too many, to just wrest the shotgun away from her.
No. 644762 ID: f68a09
File 143327701106.png - (7.60KB , 960x560 , 233.png )

"double find a way to see their exit," 73-6 says. "lock it down."
"On it."
"penelope can you--"
Then he remembers his magnets.
"Can I?" Penelope asks.
"hold on a second," 73-6 says.
He activates +YANK+. His fingers tingle. That's a good sign, right?
Time to see if whatserface's mod actually works.

73-6 flips round to the door again and right into the sights of Mohawk's shotgun.
As she fires he throws a hand up in front of his face

and the pellets freeze in midair.

"What the fuck?" Mohawk says, then 73-6 shoots her in the hand.
The shotgun goes flipping out of her grasp. The pellets tinkle to the ground like alloyed rain.

"NEO" Penelope screams.

One of the windows has retracted and a hardlight emergency ladder's extended down from it. Before a single rick exec can make an escape, a section of the window over melts and an angry scorchmark appears on its opposite wall.
"FREEZE," 88-1 shouts, from the hallway. He's sticking his laser out a window and covering the exit.
No. 644764 ID: e114bc

Well I wanted to keep YANK secret but ooookay. Maybe tell your teammates to keep that under their hat.

Time to eliminate the targets. Ask Monica if we should kill the others or extort money out of them. Or both, haha.
No. 644773 ID: 2a7417

The Bureau will already have suspicions about our equipment, such as how we bought 88's laser rifle. If anyone asks, we hacked those bullets.

Now, serve up three holes in the head for the honchos and henchman.
No. 644790 ID: 409b75

"I hacked away your bullet wounds". Yeah, noone's goning to buy that. I hope we can doctor the security camera records before anyone can get to them.
No. 644815 ID: b19c9a

I say we test our +YANK+ capabilities. Use them on the bodyguard's legs. Either make her fall on her ass, or just completely rip them off. They ARE bionic.
No. 644825 ID: 8e0b6a

We can lie and keep it out of the report. (We just stormed the room with Penn while 88 covered the back). Problem is if we leave witnesses.

If we just kill our targets, we don't piss off extra rich people connections, but the ones we spare might talk. If we kill them all, we keep the secret, but we make more enemies.

>what do
Make sure the room is secure, then execute your target(s). Are they both here?

Undecided if we kill everyone else, yet.
No. 644908 ID: f68a09
File 143331509908.png - (13.18KB , 960x560 , 234.png )

73-6 +YANKS+ again and the henchwoman's legs flip out from under her, bringing her sliding across the floor to his feet.
He plants a foot on her chest and shoves his flechette gun into her face, then wires, "pen, get in here. we have the room."
But all he hears is a scratchy feedback sound.

It appears that using +YANK+ has the added effect of blowing out his communications.
A quick check on his diagnostics indicates no permanent damage, but while they demagnetize there'll be no audio incoming or outgoing from his Wire.

Maybe it's for the best that he's dropped off the Bureau radar for a second, he thinks, turning his attention to the huddling, terrified room.

"magnolia margolis and pierrot delacour," he says, his voice buzzing and monotone. "step here." He gestures with his snubnose.

"For fuck's sake," Magnolia says. "How did you get me? Is it the Russians? Sencorp? No, they wouldn't-- oh my God you're Bureau. It was the Fantomas Fucking Vengadores, wasn't it?" She shakes her head in disbelief. "Those fucking amateurs. I knew this was going to bite me in the ass. Why did I-- Listen. Sir. If--"

"Magnolia Magnolia," Pierrot says. "There's no need to worry. Now see here, Agent:"

"Pierrot," Magnolia says. "Shut the fuck up, Pierrot."

"Now see here, Agent:" Pierrot repeats, folding his arms. "You tuck your tail between your legs, and go on back to your headquarters, and tell your boss Mr. Sosa that
No. 644909 ID: f68a09
File 143331510979.png - (75.28KB , 960x560 , 235.png )

73-6 shoots him in the forehead and he drops wordlessly to the ground.

"Oh fuck." Magnolia doesn't move. She makes eye contact with 73-6.

"Listen. Sir. Listen. I have already severed ties with-- well I will finish entirely severing ties with the Fantomas Vengadores and I acknowledge it was a heinous, heinous mistake to work with them in the first place, both on moral and sheer common-sensical grounds. I will never, ever work with crazy pigfucker homegrown domestic terrorists again and you have my word on this and you also have my word that if you lower your weapon and lower the weapon you have trained on my personal assistant Ms. Violet down there--"

73-6 looks to the bionic woman. She holds his gaze with not so much fear but a certain level of professional respect. His trigger finger itches.

"IF YOU if you do this," Magnolia says, desperately trying to catch 73-6's eye again, "I will shave my head, and buy a wig, and a nosejob and a new identity, and I will ensure that not a single person here myself included breathes a syllable of what you have done and further more I can make you the richest, most well-connected Moldie in the fucking world. You have my guarantee on all of this."
No. 644911 ID: bd8b82

"if you gonna be so good at disappearing, how can i be sure you will still deliver?"
No. 644915 ID: e114bc

Sigh. May as well ask out loud if Pen or 88 heard that so they can ask Monica. If they didn't hear what she said, maybe they can say "She's offering money and a promise to sever ties with Fantomas in exchange for her life- actually she says she mostly cut ties anyway. How true is that?" State for the matter that you have no opinion on which way it goes. (but secretly, you're hoping you can let her go and get rich/make the Bureau rich)

...if their wires aren't working either then uhhhhh wellll... I'm not sure we should believe her. Does she have any proof she was severing ties with Fantomas?
No. 644922 ID: a19cd5

"you are very bad at making a compelling argument. I have no reason to let you go."
No. 644944 ID: b5b419

Guys remember the last time we tried to go peaceful. And as she's been providing money to these murderous people, it is a straight up fact that she supports their ethics and approach.

Don't say anything for the moment. Just shoot her, glance around the room and look at the remaining executives.

"You all get to live for being cooperative. This time." We specifically asked for Pierrot. Making them keep their gabs shut is worth quite a bit. Good thing we blew out comms beforehand.
No. 644957 ID: d9e5af

Bullets are the best answer.

You're already going to be coming under enough scrutiny. Do you really want both sides of the Bureau to think you'll throw out the mission for the promise of a few quick bucks?

According to Tai most of the people in this room 'aren't expendable' so you can't really afford to put the squeeze on them either.
No. 644958 ID: 82d576

I don't think we've asserted ourselves just enough yet.

"You are in no position to haggle for the life of your trained assassin, Ms. Margolis."
Then blow up Violet's head.

Watch her reaction and see if you can hack into anything she has on herself or on the table they were sitting. We're looking for bank account data, personal information, anything that can make her hold up her end of the bargain, IF the bargain is to happen.
No. 644960 ID: 88960e

We aren't here to make ourselves rich. Sure we could use the money, but we're trying to do a good job in a crooked system. That means not letting the rich bitch funding terrorists walk. She doesn't deserve our mercy or sympathy- she made her bed, she can take a bullet in it.

No words, shoot her. (Or if we really want to freak her out, have 88 step out and do it- she knew him).

...maybe if you take her cards or ID you or your digital fork could hack the shit out of her accounts and get rich, anyways.

After Penny's in the room, maybe get off the bodyguard. Announce that if nobody else does anything stupid, you don't have orders to make them dead. Sorry about this, but it looks like they're gonna need new employment. And to get out of town. (Professional knod- this was just business).

Also, we now have an excuse for killing Sosa's dude. He dropped a name he shouldn't have known in the field, in front of hostiles. Can't tolerate a threat to our execs.
No. 644962 ID: 0fc976

Turn Violet's torso to mush with flechettes (bionics, gotta be thorough), and see if Mongolia Magnetoil ups the ante. (Not that we're actually planning to spare her.)
No. 644976 ID: d9e5af

Don't talk about who it's OK and not OK to kill and don't kill the bodyguard for the sole purpose of making a point to the person you're going to kill anyway.
No. 644977 ID: 2a7417

That's not the only reason to kill her. She could still be a threat right now, and she could come after us if we let her live. You think she'll join us after we kill her boss or something? The point of getting Meningitis Mallcop to talk is to make her let something slip we may be able to collect on when she's dead.
No. 644983 ID: 1ca00c

Remeber that your a moldie and nothing she says has to be true and none of it you can aford to trust. I'd suggest proding out some information or some immediate favors. Then kill her or somesuch.
No. 644984 ID: f68a09
File 143335080828.png - (9.67KB , 960x560 , 237.png )

73-6 says nothing. He shoots Ms. Violet in the head.

"Fuck!" Magnolia says, and then "Think! Think! You wanna do this as your day job? You want to be doing this when you're 50? Do you want to get out? I can help! I can. Have you heard of of of Cesar Guerrero?"
"You'd know him as as as 14-1," she says. "He did a little job for me, I got him a one-way fucking ticket to America del Sur. I have names I have money I have influence I can"
"you know 14-1?"
"I made 14-1. Figuratively."
"i have no compelling reason to think you will follow through."
"Track me. Put a fucking chip in my neck or something. Come with me. You need a ride? Do not listen to that fuckhole Sosa. Do you know what happens if--"
"give me your phone."
"OK. OK. I'm reaching into my pocket. Phone."

Magnolia hands her phone over. 73-6 takes it and effortlessly hacks it.

Magnolia Margolis herself is a multi-millionaire. This is interesting in a place where most of her clients are most likely billionaires.
The real value is in her contacts. 73-6 sees people even he recognizes; the names of a third of the Council Cabinet are in the phone, and if Tom Guridian is the Thomas Guridian he's thinking of she's on a first name basis with the emperor of Europe.
In the G section he sees "Cesar Guerrero".

With his advanced hacking, 73-6 can:
+Transfer the 500,000 liquid credits from Magnolia's account to a traceless spoof account he can set up and withdraw from at will
+Put an undetectable tracker on enough elements of Magnolia's digital signature that no information or phone change will shake it
+Save this entire contact list and send it to the Bureau
+Steal Magnolia's identity (her current one, anyway)

No. 644987 ID: a19cd5

remember that bossman said 14-1 was a fluke. they might have built safeguards againts magnolia's meddling after that.
it'd probably be smart to find our own way.
No. 644988 ID: 88960e

>Cesar Guerrero
Call that number. Let's see if her story is complete bullshit. If 14-1 doesn't pick up, she dies. Instantly.

If she's telling the truth, then we have to make a decision to make a deal, or just kill her and hacking her money. Obviously, if we hack her funds before making a deal, that could ruin the deal before it goes through.

>Save this entire contact list
Hell yes. We want that. Don't forward it to the bureau yet, though. Till we've finished this standoff.

Yes, but only if we don't shoot her. Waste of time, otherwise.
No. 644991 ID: bb78f2

Magnolia, I'm going to call Caesar right now.
You have made me doubt your usefulness, not only have you revealed your connection to 14-1, you have given me everything I could use against him. You not only have the ability to make him, but unmake him. You were even caught by the Bureau and are begging it for mercy. How am I supposed to take that? If I were to use you, you would be a loose end. And now you're one of Caesar's loose end. He's spared my life once, so I own him, but in the end, I can't help but feel that maybe he would understand my position here.

Tell me, Magnolia, who was that fool I just killed right there? Can you understand the consequences of his death? How about the cyborg, or anyone else in this room?
There are my allies, around me, seeing you beg, RIGHT NOW. They could be lining up a shot to kill me for the Burau as well. The Bureau may be following me and have sniper pointed on us right now just to hear whether I say yes or no. There's a window right there, it can happen. Hell, a strix could go through a wall.
No. 644992 ID: 2f4b71

The problem with taking her up on her offer is that it means an immediate split from the Bureau. No time for planning or setup or protection for anyone we know. Right under the personal observation of Jiaying and with Sosa keeping tabs too. Even with 73-6's wire knocked out, 88-1's and Penelope's are still live.
No way is it going to work.
No. 644995 ID: 2a7417

Download contacts (save them for now), hack the money, and steal identity. Why? Because orders are orders, and she's a dead woman walking.
No. 644996 ID: 88960e

That's a reasonable point.

Also, if she had to cut a deal with 14-1, that means she didn't clean up her act any since then. And even if we don't like how the bureau treats us poorly, or Sosa uses them for his own agenda, we do like the killing bad guys part. She still looks pretty bad.
No. 644997 ID: f68a09
File 143335414495.png - (6.69KB , 960x560 , 238.png )

73-6 calls Cesar Guerrero.

It rings for a while.

"This is C," 14-1 says. "Thought we agreed we were out of each others' hair, Mags."
No. 644998 ID: 2a7417

"She'll be out of it for good in a moment, 14."
No. 644999 ID: 88960e

You still have your hair? Lucky.
No. 645001 ID: e114bc

How about a new deal. She lives, she pays us, we get all those contacts she was promising, we monitor her forever and if she ever deals with Fantomas again she's dead. Or any other terrorist group, for that matter.

Tell 14-1 that she's Warbucks. Ask what favor he did her. How long ago was she giving Fantomas money, anyway?
No. 645002 ID: 88960e

The real problem with any deal is letting her walk out of this room alive and the bureau not knowing. We aren't ready to run just yet. We still have people to get out if Jericho. And we need to stick it to Sosa.
No. 645003 ID: e114bc

...it occurs to me we can steal her money, so that's one thing she can't offer us. We can probably steal her contact list and then do more hacking to get dirt on everyone she knows, and thus leverage to get them to do what we want, so... that's another thing she can't offer us.

...can she actually offer us anything we don't already have at this point?

Also WHY did she give money to Fantomas to begin with? What reason could she have to do that?
No. 645011 ID: 334db2

Guys, those contacts aren't any good if we can't use them. Stealing her identity won't work if anyone finds out she's dead. Also I'd hate to put 14 into any danger if Magnolia is indirectly protecting him.

"She started working with, what did she say, 'crazy pigfucker homegrown domestic terrorists' so now she's in MY hair. "
No. 645012 ID: 88960e

The contacts list is still useful. We could squeeze them for payoffs, or we could use them to make our exec at the bureau look really good / be very happy with us. It's useful Intel, wether we try to exploit it ourself, or sell it.
No. 645018 ID: 2c029d

Why are we here again? I forgot. wasn't there another head of the Fantomas Vengadores
No. 645023 ID: bb78f2

Hi C, it's Sev, honestly thought this woman was bullshitting me. Sorry about touching one of your contacts. But she still has your number, which means she isn't out of your hair.

Any requests, 14? Wipe your contact info from her phone, for example? Or does that put you in a position you don't like?
No. 645024 ID: f68a09
File 143336310556.png - (7.87KB , 960x560 , 239.png )

73-6 shoos Penelope and 88-1 out of the room so that their unfried wires won't catch his conversation with 14-1.

"hey, 14," he says.
"73-6? That you?" 14-1 says. "Damn. Two calls in one day. Miss me that bad?"
"your friend magnolia's in my hair now."
"I didn't think you had hair."
"i didn't think you did either."
"Fair enough."
"she's warbucks. with the fantomas"
"She is? What's she doing fraternizing with the Fantomas?"

"why the fantomas?" 73-6 asks Magnolia.
She shrugs helplessly. "Friend of a friend put it forward as an investment. Said they had some of incredible extortion plan in place with this hacker? Darty Alkaline or something. Stupid stupid mistake. I ended up bankrolling far too much I shouldn't have then when I pulled out everything but the skeleton of the funding they threatened to blow my office building up."
"you believed them?"
"Of course I didn't," she says. "I laughed in their face! I told you. I was almost finished severing ties."

"What's she saying?" 14-1 asks.
"a bunch of stuff," 73-6 says. "i'm here to kill her."
"I remember," 14-1 says. "Welp. Ashes to ashes."
"what favor did you do her?"
"Killed a man."
"what man?"
"Lord if I remember. Some defaulting fella, guy who doublecrossed her, that kinda thing. Didn't know she was in with the Fantomas then."
"is she dependable?"
"She's rich. Rich people can't afford dependable. But a few years ago she had her function for me. No idea how she knows my number these days but that's power brokers for you."
"what'd she give you?"
"Protection, cash, and a ride," he says. "Hooked me up with this guy in Acapulco who did narcotics and smuggled me outta the sprawls, then kept me on retainer for a couple years. Guess she thought she was buying an assassin. I killed a few more guys for her and then spooked her into calling us square."
"Told her I'd shoot her in the face."
"that's a coincidence because that's what i was gonna do. what do you think?"
"Your choice, brother. You're the man with the gun."
No. 645040 ID: bb78f2

Shoot her in the face.
She's pathetic. We can't even use her right. Any favor she can pull isn't worth the risk.
No. 645043 ID: 2a7417

I can't think of a witty reply to that so just shoot her in the face.
No. 645046 ID: e114bc

Shouldn't we at least tell Monica she's claiming she's pulled out (almost all of) the money?
No. 645050 ID: 8e0b6a

Yeah, keeping her alive is just too many moving pieces. We're not done at base, and we need to get us and our allies out cleanly. There's no way the bureau won't notice, soon, if we let her live. Sucks for her, but her carelessness has gotten a lot of people hurt and killed (some of whom we kind of gave a damn about). We've killed for less. Do it.

Later, brother. Maybe I'll see you on the outside.

Absolutely rip money for your personal account, steal her identity (you never know if it will be useful), and copy the files for the bureau (and keep a copy for yourself).

When you're back on the wire, blame the coms blackout on cyborg. She did a magnet thing. Too bad for her you were shooting them and not hacking them.

...nuke the phone once you've gotten what you need off it.
No. 645051 ID: 2f4b71

She's got no in with the Bureau then. They don't want to let another 'asset' go, and we're going to need more than a guy to smuggle us out of the country to shake them off. Plus the Bureau already traced her accounts to find her here, they can do it again,
No. 645056 ID: 409b75

"Cesar says you hired him to kill someone. In a manner of speaking, the Bureau hired me to kill you. These things happen in your line of business."
"Sorry, but you stopped being a rich influential person the moment you became my objective. "Sorry" is a figure of speech here, by the way. I'm not actually sorry."

As you say that, pull the money from her account. In case her accounts become disabled if her biometrics suggest death or something.
Let that sink in, and blow her brains out.
No. 645059 ID: bd8b82

she just tried to play him like everyone else. down she goes. make sure you do that money transfer too.
No. 645106 ID: e607cd

Given present voting trends I fully expect this woman to die, but before that happens I want to point out that what she has to offer in exchange for her life is one of the most flexible and powerful tools available in influencing the world. Not money or guns or data but CONTACTS. She has an in with some of the most powerful people on the planet, and that is not something we are going to be able to hijack with a contact list and a holographic face.

Don't get me wrong, we could go a long way on our own, especially since she was going to be getting a new identity anyway. But there is a difference between having information on paper and actually knowing a VIP.
No. 645108 ID: 31303f

Insanely this!!

Also if we kill her we need to kill everyone else in this room because they just heard an incredibly incriminating conversation and I don't think we want to kill a room full of rich people, despite the psychopaths suggesting it earlier in this thread.
No. 645113 ID: f68a09
File 143338328346.png - (107.82KB , 960x560 , 240.png )

"thank you," 73-6 says. "later, brother. hope i'll see you on the other side."
"Hope so too, Sev-Three."

73-6 hangs up the phone and with the push of a couple buttons starts the money and contact transfer.
"What did he say?" Magnolia asks.

73-6 shoots her dead.
Two down, one to go.

One of the other meeting-goers screams, then clamps both hands over her mouth.
73-6 almost forgot they were here.
Their ladder's still dangling out the window. None of them have moved for it.
No. 645114 ID: 0ee153

Cry a river.

They die.
No. 645116 ID: b19c9a

Shoot the assassination target...then leave without a word. Like a fucking badass.
No. 645118 ID: b19c9a

Um...double check on that. Instead say "You...never saw me." in your most badass, gruff voice, then leave...like a badass.
No. 645119 ID: bb78f2

Guy on the right looks familiar.
Might be Sosa's agent that you worked with. I don't know why, he really shouldn't still HAVE that face, but maybe...
No. 645131 ID: e607cd

Is it possible guy on the right look familiar because you saw him in >>644415 ?
No. 645133 ID: 8e0b6a


>Witnesses saw you contemplate treason
>you talked openly with moneybags and 14-1 in front of them, not over the wire
You done screwed up, Sev. We're fucked unless we kill them too.
No. 645136 ID: ad7bba

Whoops, better kill everyone. Witnesses are against policy.

This has been kind of rudely drawn out, if I think of it.
No. 645137 ID: e607cd

"We only had one target, and none of the rest of you tried to stop us. Congratulations. Keep your business dealings on the level or we'll be back for you."

I mean, I guess we have a room full of potentially influential people here, we could try threatening them too, but eeeeh.
No. 645139 ID: e114bc

Bureau policy is no witnesses. We were not explicitly told to let people see us here, so kill them.
No. 645141 ID: 8e0b6a

Also, we need a pile of dead witnesses so we can claim we killed Sosa's guy by accident. We need deniability.

Sucks for these guys, but they were doing business / hanging out with a terrorist-funder.
No. 645142 ID: ad7bba

Adding to that, the "no witnesses" policy is the only thing that will even thinly allow us to get away with hitting the bonus target Sosa doesn't want dead for even a moment. We kill him and leave other survivors, we are super-fucked. Our "friend" we made the kill for will not be able to protect us, as we'd be handing Sosa ironclad "broke policy by leaving witnesses" justification, which he already barely needs.
No. 645144 ID: 0fc976

We'z going to kill 'em all and not feel a thing. We'll wrap this up by the book fellas.
Geez Sev, if I didn't know better I'd think you're slipping.
No. 645145 ID: f68a09
File 143338687180.png - (8.61KB , 960x560 , 241.png )

73-6 shoots them all.
"Smoke em?" Penelope pokes her head in. "Oooh. That's a visual."
"yeah." 73-6 lowers his gun. "no witnesses is the policy."
"Well they don't call it drywork, Sev," 88 calls from the hallway.
"can you call it in? wire's not working."
"Roger dodger," Penelope says, then wires it in. "She says to ask you what the fuck is going on with your wire, Sev."
"the bodyguard did some kind of ecm thing and knocked it out of commission."
Penelope raises an eyebrow. "K. She says good stuff and it's time to come home."
"did you tell her about the collateral damage?"
"Hold on. Monica, did you--" She listens over the wire, then shrugs. "Business is business."
"that it is." 73-6 says.

"Oh, and Keisha says if we need an exit she's got the riot brewing fit to storm the building," Penelope says. "Could be some useful cover. If we're ok with some more civvies getting the shit kicked out of them for a smokescreen."
No. 645148 ID: 8e0b6a

Start making an edited copy of moneybag's list. Make sure 14-1 isn't on it, or Dartline, or anyone who has a connection to you.

You can give Monica the edited contacts list when we get back to base.

Well, it's not killing them. It's workable, unless anyone has an idea for a cleaner exit.
No. 645149 ID: 0fc976

Good. Now, the eternal question: Did they drop any good loot?
No. 645150 ID: 2a1897

Yeah, we're cool with that if the bureau's cool with it. we need to get the fuck out of dodge before we fuck anything else up.

And jesus dick, guys, we want to turn coat and leave the bureau while they still think we're working for them. 's gotta be a surprise. We do not want to wait until they're onto us and then try to run away with an army of assassins on our ass.

Oh, and grab everyone else's phones for hackin'. Steal all the money, get all the contacts. And I guess maybe try to hack bionic chick? See if we can do anything with her.
No. 645151 ID: 0fc976

They'll want Dartline Whathisface's contact, for whatever lead it might bring them. As for 14-1, they already have the guy's number, why bother? They can't touch him, he's made sure of that. This woman didn't have any power over him anymore, there's nothing the Bureau could use against him.
No. 645152 ID: e114bc

Hang on, check the window exit. Can we just use that to leave without being spotted? If not, then sure, riot cover.

...I wonder if the Bureau will have expected us to be able to hack money out of Magnolia's account. Or if they were monitoring her account and saw the money go somewhere. If that's within the realm of possibility then give it all to them. Joke about a finder's fee.

Also, after the wire is up again, tell Monica how Magnolia tried to beg for her life, saying that she had already pulled out most of the funding from Fantomas. Was there any truth to that? Don't mention 14-1 at all.
No. 645160 ID: f68a09
File 143338830605.png - (11.25KB , 960x560 , 242.png )

"ask keesh if we're looking at potential civilian casualties, 73-6 says.
"Roger," Penelope says, as 73-6 picks up the phones on the dead rich people he merked.

He scans them quick.

Holy shit.

Between all of them 73-6 can steal the kind of money that you stop bothering to measure numerically.



"Did you hear me?" Penelope asks.
"sorry what?"
"I said that keesh said that they waving around guns out there," Penelope says. "But they always do that. Nobody's gonna get killed on purpose but you know how it goes. 50/50 shot. Why is your face like that?"
No. 645161 ID: 8e0b6a

>Why is your face like that?
Over our secure, hacked, no bureau listening wire: Got me a pile of rich people phones to hack. We're gonna be rich.
No. 645163 ID: bb78f2

You got a swiss account for this shit?
Make the transfer's untraceable.
No. 645165 ID: e114bc

What about the window exit? Ladder?

Steal money, give to Tai to make her less upset about killing all those people we were told were NOT expendable.
No. 645171 ID: b5b419

Steal identities that would suit you (look like and you could fake), swipe the liquid assets from those identities and leave the rest alone.
No. 645173 ID: 0fc976

That's more money than we'd know what to do with. We're gonna line our apology basket with it.
Save a reasonable (read: more than we've ever seen in our entire un-life) stipend for ourselves, of course. Something you could count on your fingers, if you had millions of fingers that is.
No. 645176 ID: 2a1897


>Most of them aren't expendable.

Right, well, it's a good thing we have piles of money, because we sure don't have friends in high places anymore.

With the money and invisible hacking, we have the resources to GTFO to some random tropical country. The problem is that Sara and Monica are back at base, and things won't end well for them if we try to run now.

So we have to go back to base to get them.

The safe bet is that the bureau is gonna try to us the second we step back on base, so we have to be prepared to go in guns blazing. We have three trained killers and fucking magical hacking, so we might not die horribly.

From there we do as much damage as possible, round up sara and Monica, steal as much information as possible, and then steal an APC or something and GTFO for good.
No. 645180 ID: f68a09
File 143338981327.png - (13.07KB , 960x560 , 243.png )

73-6 steals everything his moldy little hands can carry.
He is rich now. This is sick.

From a cursory glance the window opens out to the front of the building. They are going to be eminently visible from it unless something changes.

"--Ev-Three? Sev-Three."
With a blast of feedback, Monica's back in his ear.
"This is your every thirty second where the fuck are you," Monica says.
"here. here. sorry about that."
"What'd she hit you with?"
"i don't know. it was like some kind of explosive and it shot my systems to shit."

"Ay Sev is that you?" It's Keisha, with a shit-ton of crowd noise in the background.
"We ready to go on this?" Keisha asks. "Cuz I got em eating out the palm of my hand out here. One rock thrown and shit's going to hit the fan."
No. 645182 ID: e114bc

Yeah, wait a minute though let's get closer to the floor where the riot will happen.
No. 645183 ID: 0fc976

Secret exit my decomposing arse. Let's riot!
No. 645184 ID: bb78f2

This riot will cover up the deaths of those rich folk above, at least to the public.
Only the Bureau knows what truly happened in that room.
But warn Keisha this will likely mean the end of her career. She'll be crucified in the news. A lot of well connected people just died and everyone will think it's the riot and Keisha's fault.
No. 645186 ID: 2a1897

Nix the riot.

It'll be easier to deal with undistracted guards in the (thoroughly hacked) building than rioters and riot police in the streets.

if we must, we can provoke the riot once we're outside of it, but as it is, a riot would just put another barrier between us and escape.
No. 645188 ID: ad7bba

Maybe save the riot for if there's a checkpoint we somehow just can't get through.
No. 645191 ID: 2a1897

As for actually getting out of the building, it seems like the ground floor will still be heavily guarded.

Head down to the second floor and find a spot to hop out a window that won't land us in the middle of the mob or in front of a guard.
No. 645197 ID: e114bc

I guess we can at least go check out the feasibility of using a second floor window.
No. 645213 ID: f68a09
File 143339638101.png - (25.99KB , 960x560 , 244a.png )

"we gotta get closer first," 73-6 wires. "hold the riot."
"Wonder how they'd feel if they knew they were smokescreen for corporate espionage," 88 says.
"Used," Penelope says. "And not in a cool way like how we're getting used to kill people."
"we'll be careful," 73-6 says.

He hotfoots it to the elevator and gets everyone inside.
They take it to the second floor.
There's a window right next to the elevator.

That was weirdly easy. The guards must all be downstairs trying to figure the protest out.
The crowd is right up to the walls of the building now, with a narrowing circle of calm around the entrance. Keesh knows how to work a crowd.
No. 645214 ID: f68a09
File 143339638887.png - (11.12KB , 960x560 , 244.png )

"uhh that was easy," 73-6 wires. "ok, keesh. we need an exit."

"Word," Keisha says. "AY PORKY."
73-6 flinches. "keesh your connection is still--"

"GET TENDERIZED," Keisha yells, and hucks a rock at the riot line.
No. 645215 ID: f68a09
File 143339640219.png - (9.55KB , 960x560 , 245.png )

It ricochets off a cop's head and knocks him on his ass.

The protest goes riot mode.
No. 645216 ID: f68a09
File 143339643403.png - (155.45KB , 960x560 , 246.png )

The tear gas is flying as 73-6 turns on his civvy face, unlocks his knees, and hops out the window.
He rolls when he hits the ground and nearly collides with a guy in a hoodie and the remains of a picket sign, who steps around him and charges the shield line. Behind him Penelope and 88 hit the pavement.
"let's get out of here," 73-6 says.

Nobody notices the trenchcoats leaving in the haze of chaos and gas that quickly shrouds the front of the building.

"That went well," 88 says.
"hmm." 73-6 puts his sunglasses on to protect his eyes.
"You cool?" Penelope asks.
"Cuz I know a mi no me gusta gunning down noncoms," Penelope says. "There's better parts of the job."
"like swording down noncoms?"
She slaps him in the back of the head. "You know what I mean, pendejo."
"i'm frosty."
"Cool." Penelope finds Keisha's shoulder and steers her out of the mob. "Sev-Three you know I'm with you, right?"
"Like we make a good team. I got your back, ese."
"thanks, pen. why mention it?"
"I dunno," she says. "Just getting tense vibes from you."
"Think we should wire for a ride, bossman?" 88 asks.
No. 645220 ID: 2a1897


Best case, neither Tia or Sosa are pissed enough to try to off us immediately. Worst case, they try to off us immediately, but we still gotta get Sara and Monica out of Jericho. We need to be prepared for things to be a trap literally every step of the way, though.

So, yeah. We head back like everything went by the book, and we're good little agents.
No. 645223 ID: e114bc

You haven't told Pen that you're planning to spring them out of the Bureau. Ask if she's ever considered taking a non-combat job. What would she do if she wasn't working for the Bureau? Sortof sidle up to it.
No. 645224 ID: f68a09
File 143339967974.png - (10.90KB , 960x560 , 247.png )

On the ride back 73-6 asks Pen, "what would you do if you weren't doing this?"
"Like, if I wasn't a spook?"
"Realistic answer? Gangbanger or junkie, dude," she says. "Tribranch found me with needles in my veins and death on the brain. Changed my prescription and pointed me at a different kind of hood."
"but what would you want to do?" 73-6 asks. "like after this."
"Ain't no after this. You know that."
"if there was."
"Hm." She cocks her head. "Didn't think much about that."
"anything you can think of."
"Anything." Penelope purses her lips. "I think I'd take care of dogs."
"like be a vet?"
"Sure. Or I don't know. A dog walker. I like dogs."
"you can be anything in the world and you'd be a dog walker."
"What's it matter, idiota? I wanna be Queen of Shiba. This gig's for life."

73-6 isn't sure what he expects to be waiting for him at base.
Turns out it's Sara and Monica in the entrance hall, just outside the long subterranean walk to Jericho.

"That was awesome!" Sara says. "Singing, rioting, gunfire. It was like an Appalacian wedding!"
"Remind me never to visit Appalacia," Keisha says.
"Are we gonna party?" Sara asks. "Celebrate number two on the list?"
"In a little," Monica says. "I gotta talk to Seventy Three Six first. One on one. Sev? Can you come with me?"
No. 645225 ID: e114bc

"Am I in trouble?"
No. 645226 ID: ad7bba

Tell her that you respect her and think she's great, but that that kind of fraternization isn't appropriate in the workplace.
No. 645228 ID: a19cd5

oh god this can only end in tears. throwing in 100%
No. 645237 ID: f68a09
File 143340219055.png - (8.99KB , 960x560 , 248.png )

"monica i think you're great but this kind of fraternization isn't appropriate in the workplace."

Monica gives him the chilliest smile he's ever seen and opens the door. "Come on, Sev-Three. The rest of you wait in here."

"am i in trouble?" 73-6 asks as they cross the footbridge to Jericho.
"On the record?" Monica is walking quickly. Her flats click against the rock. "No. The mission was a success. The target's eliminated and all evidence of our involvement is scrubbed." She taps a couple of options on the tablet under her arm and spins around. "OFF the record I need to know what the FUCK happened in that room, 73-6."
"As you were coming back I got a notice from Tai Jiaying. SHE says she's coming here. Again. Tomorrow. And guess who's coming here, to here, this base, the day after that? On a temporary basis as a Jericho agent?"
"I'll give you three hints: He has two 3's in his name and zero conscience, he has NO FACE, and he's Sosa's PERSONAL FUCKING SERIAL KILLER."

"those were actually four hints."

"What did you do, 73-6?" Monica is shaking with anger. "What have these people gotten you into?"
No. 645243 ID: e114bc

...it occurs to me that if mister face-steal is coming then you have to worry about him stealing the appearance of one of your friends, and you winding up telling him something you shouldn't.

Tell Monica it's politics. If she wants details past that, tell her you're being used as the rope in a game of tug of war. Tai wanted you to kill someone Sosa had ties with. You figured if you killed everyone in the room you could get away with it being collateral damage maybe. Mister spooky is going to be here to find out for sure, I expect.

Ask for her help. Promise you'll try to protect her too.
No. 645245 ID: ad7bba

Tai wanted you to kill someone Sosa didn't want dead, but Sosa never told you he didn't want them dead, but Sosa knows Tai came to you for something, and now the person Tai wanted dead because Sosa didn't is dead.

In fairness, it was also your job to kill them.

Kind of stuck between both of them not being happy with the execution and having half of a defense playing dumb.
No. 645246 ID: 6c8858

I think we can afford some truthfulness here.

"Short answer? I'm doing the wetwork in Sosa and Tai's power play. Not by my choice, seems I just happened to be good enough a resource. Long answer: my target said a lot of things that could get our asses grilled, and there were witnesses that had to be silenced. Among them was a guy who Sosa counted on staying alive, and Tai placed a bounty on. Off the record".

If she throws a fit and asks if we think we're some kind of bounty hunter, say that those usually don't pick a side. Not taking a side wasn't really an option here.
No. 645249 ID: f68a09
File 143340396448.png - (8.37KB , 960x560 , 249.png )

"it's politics," 73-6 says.

"It's Politics?" His words roll off Monica's tongue like two iron cannonballs. "What's politics, Sev?"

"tai wanted me to kill someone that sosa didn't want me to," 73-6 says. "in the meeting with warbucks. so i killed the whole room to make it look like he was collateral damage. i think that's why 38-3 is coming so i need your help."

"You need my help."

"i can get us out of this. i can protect you."

"You can protect me?"

"monica, will you listen to me?"

"You need to listen to me, 73-6," Monica says. Her voice is tungsten sheet metal calm. "I think we've forgotten what we are. With the buddy-buddying and the bring your civilians to work day and the Politics. I am your handler, you are a reconstituted asset, and we both do our jobs. And as long as we both do exactly that, maybe we are going to get out of this with our heads intact. Which is why I need you to do this next job, which I was told to assign to you, absolutely obediently."


"Your friend Sara Dalton proved herself an effective handler," Monica says. "We did a background check on her, she passed, she's clean, she's fine, and we're going to retain her. Keisha Chalthoum, on the other hand, did not, is not, and we are not. She dated a member of the Fantomas Vengadores for six months. She has been all kinds of places she shouldn't have. And all that money? That Sekhmet money she got? While she was living in a hab-block? Went to an anonymous charity fund that has four other donors. Three of them we still haven't located and the fourth, according to the data you found in cyberspace, is Dartline Alchemist. She knows far, far too much, and she is far, far too toxic an asset who has stayed with us far, far too long. Take her from Jericho out somewhere remote, put a bullet in her, deal with the body, and come back."
No. 645251 ID: 0ee153

Agree. Whether or not you mean it is something else entirely.
She's not funding DA from the info so far, DA is funding something she also is.
No. 645252 ID: 46984a

Oh fuck.

So that's why Mr. NoFace is coming. To make sure we do this "right".

Ask her if she's sure Keisha wasn't framed.

But 38-3 is due in two days. Tai comes before. Did she say why she's paying us a visit?
No. 645255 ID: a19cd5

this IS mr noface. monica already knows about all this.
No. 645258 ID: 0ee153

Use your hacking to fuck up whatever bionics he has and shoot. Think it's worth asking what he did with Monica?
No. 645259 ID: 46984a

Wait, you're right. Can't believe I fell for that :<
No. 645261 ID: ecd0ab

wouldn't killing Pen's girlfriend kinda fuck us over? she can deflect bullets with her sword, monica

No. 645262 ID: a19cd5

play along like this though, no sense tipping the hand
No. 645267 ID: f68a09
File 143340681104.png - (8.96KB , 960x560 , 250.png )

"how do i know 38-3's not already here?"
"What?" Monica's voice is dangerously low and harsh.
"i told you about tai. you knew something like this might happen. why would he wait two days and not come here now?"

"Are you listening to yourself?" Monica asks. "Can you fucking hear yourself? Yes you told me about Tai but I never. Ever. In a Million Years. Thought you would CLEAR A ROOM FULL OF THE MOST POWERFUL PEOPLE IN THE SPRAWL BECAUSE OF HER, 73-6. And now you think I'M 38-3? Why would he send 38-3 to tell you to do this when he can just TELL ME TO TELL YOU TO DO THIS? And what if I was him? What if? You'd still have to do exactly what he'd tell you because HE WORKS FOR OUR BOSS. WE ALL WORK FOR OUR BOSS. Who do you think fucking sent this order down? He saw what we were; he saw that you were acting too much like a human and I was-- I don't know WHAT I was doing and he sent you this to PUNISH US, Sev-Three. To punish you. And you need to take your punishment, and if you do then MAYBE when 38-3 comes in 2 days he won't PAINT THE WALLS WITH US."

She turns away from him. "You tried. You had a good run. You played the fucking game. You were never supposed to. You didn't--" Her voice breaks. "Fuck, Sev. Fuck fuck fuck. I thought I was your friend. I thought you were human. I told myself never again after 14-1. I'm so fucking stupid. He made me be his friend and he fucking used me and I said never again. And you almost had me do it a-fucking-gain. Do you know what they'd do to me if I was responsible for the second moldie in history in a row to escape? What they would do to my family? You have to wait the fuck up, 73-6. This is not a motel six or whatever you think it is. I am not 38-3. I am Monica. And you are a fucking number."

She turns around.
There are tears rolling down her face.

"Now go do what we made you to do."

She storms off to Jericho.
No. 645268 ID: a19cd5

"I didn't know."
No. 645269 ID: ecd0ab

It seems Keisha has to disappear. Fortunately we are now in possession of a very great deal of illegal cash. Making her vanish should not be hard. Hell, we could probably put something together like a credible 'corpse', with this kind of money.
No. 645271 ID: e114bc


Also, we are going to interrogate the shit out of her on the drive out.
No. 645293 ID: 1a1808

It's too bad we're still not in contact with DA he could help her disappear, or maybe that mother AI thing from deepnet could help. Also we need to tell Monica that there is probably going to be a split, a power struggle between the two top dogs at the head of the Bureau, our own corporate civil fucking war, and we have knowingly picked a side for this whole branch. Now things can't go back to the way they were, Sosa will sweep through here and change things but you have a choice: close your eyes and pretend everything's back to normal, look the other way and hand us over to the scary man with no face and hope all you get is a stern talking to or help me and we can try to get through this together. As friends.

And now can we now combined the filament whip and shock spick now please?
No. 645295 ID: bb78f2

Okay, new plan.
Purge the bureau brass and take over the bureau with a bunch of moldies.
With this new revelation, it's obvious the danger we would have put Monica in if everything went according to plan and we eventually escaped even if we didn't kill that entire room and only the objectives.

Obviously killing Keisha isn't an option, that would break off our connection to Penelope AND Sara. We HAVE connections, it's just not the one 14 were talking about. He didn't HAVE a team of badasses willing to help and kill for us, that were loyal. He could only get himself out.

The only option is to burn the Bureau to the ground as we knew it, and remake it.
Pull your cards Sev. Any card you can think of. That money? Use it. Buy motherfuckers. Take it down. TAKE IT ALL DOWN.
No. 645297 ID: 88960e

Haha, what a surprise. Monica isn't down with plan "betray the professional murderers we work for and get my family killed.". She's right, though. Our poorly though out exit plan doesn't give her any safety. We need to slow down and replan, or decide if we're willing to consider someone who always helped us an acceptable loss.

>what do
We need to take Keesh into the desert and have a talk. Depending on what she says, we either have to kill her or fake her death.

Next up, we need to have a secure conversation with Penn. She can tell something is up, and we need to bring her in. And get ahead of her finding out what happened to her girlfriend before that bites us in the ads too.

Medium term is surviving Tai and Sosa. And getting the last Fatima boss.
No. 645306 ID: 46984a

And speaking of short-term, we should pay a visit to the Stalls. We're looking for something that can disrupt holographical illusions. Something portable, concealable, and working within a couple meters. Would they have anything like that?
No. 645321 ID: 2a7417

Penny needs to be brought in on this, now, because we're about to make her girlfriend disappear.
No. 645334 ID: b19c9a

I think...we need to think bigger on our escape plans...like bringing people along. Also speed up the time on when we pull it off. Cause I think our time limit is now two days. Two days to worm our way out. Two days to save everyone. Can we do it...most likely not. Are we going to try anyway. ...probably yeah.
No. 645335 ID: b19c9a

Also 38-3 works on actual fucking skin and flesh disguises, not holographical.
No. 645336 ID: b5b419

Hey, so. We just stole a bunch of money and identities.

How many people can we kidnap.

It's either do that or kill a bunch of people and deal with the itch between the shoulder blades as someone watches us careful for the rest of forever.
No. 645338 ID: 2a1897

nnnnnnnn unless we can get a secure line to Pen like right now without anyone noticing, any contact with her is gonna be super fucking suspicious.

Honestly, it'll be pretty fucking suspicious anyways; it's hardly a secret that Pen has the hots for Keesh, and she'll be expected to react accordingly to, well, everything. And, honestly, I'm not sure how much I trust Pen's acting skills.

Somehow we haven't already been killed for incompetence, so lets at least do our damndest to look like we aren't trying to pull one over on the bureau at every fucking possible turn.

>"Now go do what we made you to do."
Is ironic/foreboding as hell, considering what happens here >>615088

...Gotta wonder what purpose 14-1 had in mind for us.
No. 645341 ID: 88960e

>unless we can get a secure line to Pen like right now without anyone noticing
Didn't we use our n-level hacking to set up our own secure / secret wire comms channel?
No. 645364 ID: 334db2

This is why we could have used them alive. That money is of no use if we can't use it to buy our lives back.

Alright, It'll be tricky, but we should be able to disappear her. Our hacks allow us to falsify a lot, and a shit ton of cash can go a long way. We need an excuse to get her out there alone and not get killed by Pen when we return.
No. 645379 ID: d4a543

Go find Sara right now, give her $10^10 and a firewall that only you and her can get through.

Deneb can hack the Bureau's internal comms and adequately impersonate Monica's voice. Can we sell it some of our stolen data and have it go all Serial Experiments Lain with phone calls and e-mails from the dead people to make things look like they're not really dead? Cover-up might buy some time, and even if it doesn't, deepnet AIs with meatspace resources seem like one of the few things the Bureau brass might be legitimately scared of. Who else have you got to fill the role that the new Bolivian government filled for 14-1?
No. 646777 ID: d4a543

Bring Keisha to the Black Stalls, tell her everything. Buy a RealDoll modeled after Sekhmet, one of the super creepy ones with animatronic joints and fake blood, and as many shell upgrades as Hoxton and "Holden" can provide. Keisha knows politics, better than 73-6 does at least. Her insights and all those upgrades will probably open up exciting new options.
No. 646870 ID: b19c9a

Also I suggest we adopt a hardened, straight face for the rest of the quest. Not because you are a robot, or a killer, or a fucking number. No, because you are now a man with business. And business comes first, pleasure later. Fuck the system. Fuck the Bureau. Fuck 38-3. And most importantly, FUCK...SOSA. We're going to beat this, get everyone we love out, and live our fucking lives. We won't be the SECOND moldie to escape the Bureau. We'll be the FIRST one to escape with FRIENDS. But first we need to look the part.
No. 646872 ID: 347fc1

Or maybe we'll be the first moldie to LEAD the Bureau.
Hey, think big, we could really reform this business to be more moral-friendly. Maybe the Bureau could still be a place where you order your hits, but with less political string-playing. Make it clean, make it clear that the Bureau cares not for politics or power.
Just need a number and location.
No. 646920 ID: 9ebc55

well that's easy, we just gotta fake her death. shouldn't even be all that hard.
No. 646936 ID: aa9364

Man, if we get a chance to TALK at Sosa, I keep coming back to how easy it would be to fall back on Bureau policy and what 38-3 said at the end of that mission with him >>/questarch/610445 . Bureau policy is to kill all witnesses while you are on an op. That is fact. Then a superior gave us a secondary objective on that last mission, and we had no conflicting orders from anywhere. Seems easy. I hope we get that chance to throw that back in his face before everything hits the fan.

And because I foresee it coming up soon, I do want to remind everybody that Sev does have the ability to say one thing in meatspace and make it sound like he said something else over his wire. He should probably be able to spoof his mission telemetry too, since his hacking has improved since last time he thought about hacking himself.

...At least Keisha should be set for living expenses wherever we stash her.
No. 646940 ID: 334db2

We'll give her a shitton of money and all the dirt we have, but she'll have to do the disappearing act herself.
No. 647086 ID: b19c9a

So it seems to be an agreement then? Fake Keesh's death so she can "get out" so to speak? Well that's good and all, and I believe we should go for it, but one problem...she's gonna oppose it...very much likely. We need to convince her somehow.
No. 647143 ID: e114bc

"Do it or I'll have to kill you."
No. 647643 ID: f68a09
File 143397880614.png - (10.50KB , 960x560 , 251.png )

"i didn't know," 73-6 says, but she's too far away to hear him or just doesn't acknowledge.

He steps outside again, his head buzzing.

"you all can come inside," he tells everyone. "i'll catch up."

"Are you OK?" Sara asks. "You're--"

"fine. thanks, sara."

"C'mon, Sara," Penelope says, quietly. "C'mon, Keesh."

"actually can keisha stay behind for a second? i need to ask her something."

Penelope studies 73-6's face. He tries to keep it neutral. "All right then. Catch you later, Keesh."

"Word, Pen."

They go inside. Penelope shuts the door.

Keisha sits on the ground and leans on the cave wall. "What's up, Moldie?" She squints at him. "You lookin moldier than usual."
No. 647645 ID: d90668

First of all make sure to check for the positions of any recording devices. Need to be ready to hack them at a moments notice. If we want to fake her death its going to be tricky in the base like this. You might have to come up with something creative to get this to work.

Because if you can't fake it then the next few minutes are going to be painful one way or another.
No. 647646 ID: e114bc

Ask her if she knows someone called Dartline Alchemist. Or anyone with the same initials.

Regardless of the answer, tell her you and her are gonna go on an errand. There's a little side job she's gotta do. If pressed, tell her that DA wanted to talk to her for some reason. Once the drive out starts, start asking about where her money goes, and the other stuff in her background check. At some point, hack her phone and start sending texts to it explaining the situation. That's a secure line of communication. Also, y'know, grab as much data off the phone as you can to confirm any story she gives you.
No. 647647 ID: 334db2

It may be impossible to to this from inside the base, they'll expect a body. but there's still a way out. We can interfere with any asset reconstitution so she's as much like Keisha as possible.
No. 647649 ID: a19cd5

No. 647650 ID: e114bc

Guys we're not even supposed to kill her in here. Go read our orders again. We're supposed to drive her out somewhere remote THEN kill her.
No. 647653 ID: d90668


Derp reading is hard. Forgot that Monica is having us wander into the forest with snow white and we don't even have to bring back a fake heart.

Well with this bombshell out of the way we just need to spin a convincing story to have her follow us. Something that will look good on tape later if anyone looks into it.

Ask her if she minds going on a walk with you for a bit. You need someone to chat with about some stuff that came up during the mission and you need her unique perspective.
No. 647655 ID: ecd0ab

We aren't supposed to do this in the base at all.
No. 647673 ID: 0fc976

Hmm, excuses, excuses... Uhh, we found a lead on the guy who blew up your apartment. I want you to tag along to ID the guy. it should be made clear, though not stated, that this is not a request.
No. 647678 ID: e607cd

Well, you said you have something to ask her about, may as well get to asking.

I wouldn't start with DA, start with asking about the charity. That's just good interrogation. You start by pulling on the end of the thread, not the middle of the sweater. The idea is to get them to admit to as much as possible before they know you are on to them. But my gut says the charity is just some poor people's rights group that is causing civil unrest, and it just happens that DA has a similar set of motivations.
No. 647738 ID: f68a09
File 143400552156.png - (14.46KB , 960x540 , 252.png )

"got an errand we have to do," 73-6 says. "little side job."
Keisha raises an eyebrow. "Aight, then. Sssounds good."

The hovercraft glides across the city streets. Cars stop and pull over to let it past because otherwise 73-6 can just hop them and then their radios blow out. The Bureau hovercrafts have a reputation.

"so keesh," 73-6 says. "what do you know about dartline alchemist?"
"Dartline?" Keisha says. "Ain't that the hacker dude we was looking for? Who blew up my apartment?"
"All I know is his name sounds like a bad cocktail," Keisha says.
"i was wondering about sekhmet."
"What about her?"
"where does all that money go?"
"To the mind yo own business foundation."
"what if i told you you had to tell me."
Kiesha looks up at him askance. "Damn, moldie. Keep your leather panties on. It goes to charity, ok?" She smooths her skirt down. "Hooker with a heart of gold. Or whatever."
"what kind of charities?"
"Why the fuck are you asking me these questions, Sev-Three?" Keisha asks, her voice veined with suspicion. "And what exactly kind of errand is this?"
No. 647746 ID: e114bc

Lock the doors. Pull out your gun.

Tell her you haven't decided yet. She should really answer the question. What sort of charities?
No. 647747 ID: 82d576

>And what exactly kind of errand is this?
The kind that'll make you happy that the person tasked with it was me and not any other agent. So what kind of charity?
No. 647756 ID: 2a1897

>And what exactly kind of errand is this?
Not sure yet.

Why don't you tell me a little about this charity of yours, and we'll see where we go from there.
No. 647762 ID: a19cd5

Do the gun thing, but gesture with your eyes back towards base in the vague hopes she gets the hint.
No. 647788 ID: 88960e

Hack the Shit out of the car. Make sure you own any listening devices in range.

>And what exactly kind of errand is this?
The kind of errand where my soulless bosses have started asking ugly questions about you. And they only really have one way of cleaning up messes.

Look, you helped save my ass. I haven't forgotten that. But I need to know what's going on, if something is going on.
No. 647792 ID: bb78f2

The "I need your help to figure out the truth" kind of errand, and I can't do that on Bureau property. Somehow, that Sekmet money has fallen into Famatoma hands, helping them, and I need your help to finding the money trail, who's doing what, where the transfer's start, who you give it to, etc. It's a serious situation, Keisha. I found it out hacking Warbux's phone. It's not a complete network, so I need your connections to figure out what's going on with the Sekmet money.
No. 647798 ID: 2a7417

Grilling her while she's in the car? Alright. We need to step outside to "dispose" of her, though. Wouldn't want to ruin the upholstery. (Or be in range of surveillance devices that pick up our conversation.) We also need someone, or something, to hit the ground like a sack of bricks when our conversation is finished. If used without stabbing someone, can the electricity on our spike stun then non-lethally? Drive her out to a field with tall grass, so we can say she was attacked by wild Pokemon.

More thinking ahead. When Keesh disappears after a long drive with an assassin, our friends will need more than our word under the table to console them. Once she's made it clear of the Bureau's sights, we should have a dead drop ready for her to leave some parting words for her friends. She leaves a message at anonymous number/net address we set up, and we have a recording of her voice as proof she's still alive.
No. 647805 ID: e607cd

No, DON'T do the gun thing. We are talking right now.

Do the this thing.

Whoa whoa whoa. Nobody anywhere ever has said the money is going to the Fantomas. That wouldn't even make SENSE. Are you the trying of a clever ruseman or what?
No. 647807 ID: 6cfee4

>And what exactly kind of errand is this?

"Look, I'm gonna level with you, Keesh, because I'm sick and tired of playing these mindgames. This is the errand where the Bureau tells me to blow your fucking brains out through the back of your head. But you know what? I don't want to do that. I really don't want to have to do that. And I might not have to, but if you want to have any chance to get out of this alive, you need to listen to me, do what I say, and trust me. But most importantly, you need to tell me just where all of Sekhmet's money is ending up. Now."
No. 647808 ID: f225e4

thisssssssss do u all SERIOUSLY think MOTHERFUCKIN /KEISHA/ is gonna take any gun shit from ANYBODY? yall we are not supposed to antagonize her if we want to do this right
No. 647816 ID: a19cd5

ah, true. retracting votes for gun stuff.
No. 647823 ID: bb78f2

Yeah, I was trying to ruse some stuff. I want to know more about the charity, so I was thinking setting up a money transfer with a virus and trailing down what was going up with the money. So far, it's the entire reason Keisha's under suspicion, and I have great reason to doubt her.

If she runs while we try to trail the money, or fights it, then she's got a guilty conscience and sensitive knowledge, if she calls bullshit on finding info from warbux, she's got at least sensitive knowledge, if she cooperate's completely, there's a chance she's just ignorant and out of the loop (or the Bureau is coming up with excuses to prove our loyalty and it's a crock of shit).

So, we can lie to her or tell her the truth. I think Keisha would attack us whether she's (sort of) innocent or not if we were straight with her, even if we were super reasonable sounding. We've cornered her, if she thinks she's in the slightest bit of danger, she's the the type to bite back hard regardless of intentions.
No. 647857 ID: f68a09
File 143406444222.png - (8.33KB , 960x560 , 253.png )

73-6 turns off his personal wire, and while he's at it does a quick scan for bugs all over the hovercraft. He finds two and swaps out the audio feed for ambient road sounds.

"i'm gonna level with you, keesh," he says. "it's the kind of errand where i take you somewhere remote and shoot you in the head. but--"

"Son of a fuck," Keisha says. "I fucking knew this was fucking gonna happen. Some spook shit like this. I told Sara this is why you don't work with fucking crackers and you don't work with G-men."
"The fuck did I even do? Be too nice to yo moldy ass? Fucking try it, bitch. TRY it."
"I will knock yo punkass so hard your shell upgrades come out your dickhole, motherfucker!"
"keesh. i'm not going to kill you."
"Well you coulda fucking led in with that!" Keisha kicks the back of your seat. "I nearly pissed my fuckin' pants with your moldy ass skull and crossbones ass voice pulling that shit."
"but if you want to come out of this alive you have to trust me and listen to me. ok?"
"I done fucking trusted you and listened to you from day one, mold man," she says. "And it's put me in the back of a death jeep to Headshot City."
"you gotta tell me where that money was going."
"Is that what this is fucking about? The money?"
"i think so. among other things."
"Fuck me," Keisha says. "For real fuck fuck me."
No. 647858 ID: f68a09
File 143406445184.png - (10.55KB , 960x560 , 254.png )

She sighs and leans forward. "It's just to a school, OK? My old school."
"St. Joe's Magnet. Outta old Cambridge."
"all that money to a school?"
"Well if you the only one keeping it afloat turns out schools ain't fucking cheap," Keisha says.
"why the anonymous stuff?" 73-6 asks. "the charity's unlisted."
"It's not on the level," Keisha says. "There was this councilman who was its biggest patron and then one day outta the fuckin' blue he shut the whole place down, struck the chartar, everything."
"so you're funding--"
"Guerilla education and shit. Yeah."
"and you didn't feel the need to tell anybody?"
She scowls. "Even if it was legal it's some mind your own business level shit. You know how ridiculous it is tryna make some kinda social change happen?"
"you remind everyone you meet, so yeah."
"So fuckin' yeah, I don't go around telling people I'm spending pop star level guap on a cause as lost as anyone under the age of 15," Keisha says. "Makes me feel like a fuckin' idiot. And look like a hood-ass Robin Hood."
"why are you?"
"Call it an obligation."
"it seems incongruous," 73-6 says.
"See this is why I didn't tell your fuckin' organization about it," Keisha says. "Cuz I knew you wouldn't believe me and I wanted to keep it on the low."
"i guess that's not an option anymore."
She purses her lips. "Guess not."
"why is dartline alchemist funding this place too?"
"Search me," she says. "I thought I was the only one."
"there were four others," 73-6 says. "and dartline."
"Well son of a fuckin' bitch," Keisha says. "Keisha's mantra of 'don't help anybody or your ass is getting bit' proves itself right for the billionth time. Think your bosses gonna be convinced?"
"Me neither. Are you?"
73-6 watches the road. "i'm thinking."
"Think," Keisha says. "So what now?"
No. 647864 ID: d90668

You know if dartline is funding the same place you are there is a good chance that he went to school with you. Getting a hold of him might be the safest way to protect you.

In the short term we need to drive you to a secluded spot and fake your death. Then we get you somewhere safe and hidden and you spend the next month or two watching netflix and not going outside.

Also I have to find a way of letting your girlfriend know whats up without getting stabbed. Because she is most likely going to know about me "killing" you before I have a chance to explain things.
No. 647870 ID: e114bc

>call it an obligation
Explain. Was the school really that good? ...wait, who's the councilman that shut it down?

Also, we should investigate this. Grab her phone, hack the fuck out of it, get more information. Put trackers on her so that she can't just run away once we let her loose.

We need to figure out what to tell Pen. Ask if there's any sort of phrase or word that she uses in private with her that might tell Pen that everything's fine without alerting the Bureau. Oh, Sara too. ...I suppose we could just tell them Keisha is working undercover and won't be around for a few weeks? It's a believable explanation and will last long enough for our rebellion to bear fruit.

...I've got half a notion to put Keisha somewhere safe, drive back to the Bureau and "kidnap" Monica alongside everyone else, then find out who the last Fantomas target is and ice them independently just before fleeing the country. This assumes that there aren't a shitload of defenses we have no chance of getting past on the way out. An alternative is to hack the shit out of the base so that all the defenses are ours, and become a splinter group. Basically, we would be a mercenary group under the Bureau, so that they can't give us orders but can still give us jobs. ...I kindof like that alternative better as we have no guaranteed method of fleeing the country, but the main problem is the Bureau could probably just send in a group of suped-up agents from other bases and overwhelm us to reclaim Jericho. They would likely try reclaiming the base at least once before backing off and accepting our terms, which means a very difficult fight and weakening the Bureau at large. On the other hand if they DO send agents against us and we win, we can revive them and have them loyal to only Jericho.

One last thing- don't leave the bugs transmitting boring shit for too long. Keisha asked you a question, it would be out of character for her to just wait while you say nothing. You're gonna have to get some real conversation done while the bugs are listening.
No. 647878 ID: ab7529

>73-6 turns off his personal wire
Are we spoofing it or anything? What happens if Monica tries to check up on us? What will she see?

>So what now?
Well, unless you feel like taking a bullet to the head, we need to fake your death.

I can hack you a fake ID, and get you cash to disappear with. Anyplace you've ever wanted to go?

...you can lay low, right? If Sekmet pops up somewhere a month after I report putting her down, heads are gonna roll.
No. 647879 ID: 334db2

Kiesh, you probably know the drill, you have to disappear. That means don't call anyone and no donations no matter how much money you've got, you hear? Pen & Sara are already going to fucking murder me, so do not cock up and give my bosses reason to bring me back and kill me again.

hack her phone so everyone thinks it's gone silent, then give her the money and dirt.
No. 647899 ID: 0fc976

The safe word is Frijoles. :3

This school is a fascinating link to unknown factors that we definitely must investigate sometime. Informing the bureau and hoping they send us to investigate is a long shot, but I'm not sure we should tell them about it at all. Let them figure it out themselves.

So, we are going to go somewhere (a park? a bus stop outside the sprawl?) away from prying eyes, and we're never going to see Keesh again. She is going to keep her head down and not get either of us killed for real. Again, I'd like to set up a number where she can leave some parting words for Penny and Sara, because they will be furious about this.
No. 647900 ID: ab7529

>Penny and Sara [..] will be furious about this
You know, we're probably gonna have to tell Penny the truth just so she don't kill us. But Sara's not that great an actor, even with the robot face. We might have to actually let her think we killed Keesh to not out ourselves.
No. 647917 ID: 164c83

"What now? Now we gotta figure out how I can bring back acceptable proof on the level of your severed head of you being dead without you actually being dead, real quick.
"After that, if you like Sara or any of us at all we've got a problem to solve: Internal politics in the company is breathing heavy down everyone's neck, fight for control of the junkyard between the two meanest dogs. They're too mean to survive being around while they're fighting, so we gotta evacuate everybody worth a half a damn from the office. Anyone left behind will look incompetent, suspect or both when the one that's sending a hit team to clean me up and all traces of my tendencies for independent thought arrives. I'm smart enough to know that this assignment to take you out in the desert and kill you is busy work to keep me distracted from the fact that the hammer is alredy falling."
No. 647918 ID: d4a543

Dartline Alchemist had a tracker on Sara, feeding data into a dead-drop somewhere, right? See if you can contact him through that channel, get some independent confirmation. Other sources too of course, as available, but he's the big one. Keesh doesn't sound like she's lying, but she's really good at lying, and even otherwise honest people will say just about anything when there's a gun to their head.

Also, is this councilman the same as the third target for the Fantomas takedown?
No. 648042 ID: b19c9a

"We're going to make you "disappear", all that fake death and what-not. First I gotta contact some people, set some things up. Then when that's taken care of, I'm gonna "shoot you in the head" but not really, then wire it in. You stay safe, nobody else has to know." When she tells you about her and Penelope being more than "just an item", or some shit like that, tell her it's either she disappears for the time being, or he really DOES have to shoot her in the head. Then add "But you WILL see Penelope again. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But you WILL see her again. I...I promise you." Next, we have to figure out how Penelope and Sara are going to take this, because as far as we can tell, they can't know, or the Bureau might find out. If we can be sure the Bureau won't find out from telling them, we must tell them. THEN we just have to worry about Keesh or Penelope secretly trying to visit each other. Cause if they fuck this up, it's all over.
No. 648043 ID: b19c9a

Also if we contact Dartline Alchemist, consider saying this: "I know you told me not to look for you...but this isn't Bureau business. It's mine, and I got the money to pay for it, ten fold. How does 3 billion sound? Up front? The job is I need you to make someone "disappear". As in "fake their death". It might be someone you could be concerned about. What do you know about St. Joe's Magnet? In Old Cambridge? I know you and 5 other people make donations to it through an unlisted charity. And I have one of them with me. She's the one who needs to vanish, and we need to make it look GOOD."
No. 648338 ID: f68a09
File 143426701572.png - (8.13KB , 960x540 , 255.png )

"now i figure out how to pretend you're dead," 73-6 says. "and you disappear."
"Where to?"
"i don't know."
73-6 thinks:

+He could try and contact Dartline Alchemist and see if he has an idea. Seeing as he and Keisha spend their money in the same place, who knows? There's a terminal in his safehouse he could use.
+He could leave Keisha with some friend or family or something and trust her to keep a low profile. She's sharp.
+He could stow her in the safehouse he's got set up. There's enough food there to last her a month or so before he has to resupply her.
+He could drive her outside the sprawl, into the Northeastern wastes or even the dusts beyond it, but unless he drives until he hits the West Coast there's no free cities where she could just blend in.
+He could just leave her in the wilderness with like a knife or something.
No. 648340 ID: 2993af

Try and get on to Dartline and failing that stow her in the safehouse. Can you give 73-6-2 a spending account and ask him to handle any supplies Keish needs? Do they still do deliveries in the orange cyberfuture?
No. 648343 ID: d90668

Lets try Dartline first and then safehouse second.

Leaving her in the wastes with a knife? What kind of crazy thought is that? Would rather quickly finish her off with a gun than pull that sort of crap. We would not even try that nonsense for our enemies much less our friends.
No. 648381 ID: 0fc976

Try to contact DA. Failing that, she can stay in the safehouse.
No. 648400 ID: 8bd2b1

Be careful with deliveries to the safehouse; those could be tracked. Also, don't we have an insane amount of resources now? Couldn't we find a way to buy a new safehouse by spoofing the funds through a construction company and purchasing some small place adjacent to one of their sites, so it'll go unnoticed? Then we could buy all the supplies she'd need as part of the initial purchase. Also, we should get some kind of untraceable internet connection for her so she doesn't go insane, cooped up in there.
No. 648403 ID: 409b75

Bear in mind our hovercraft is most likely tracked from a satellite. If we leave Keisha in the middle of nowhere with only us as a reliable way transportation, she's pretty much trapped if our employers decide to check out the safehouse.

Call DA, let's hear if he can help us out.
No. 648406 ID: ab7529

>+He could just leave her in the wilderness with like a knife or something.
Please offer this as a joke. Moldie-affect means she's think you're being serious for a least a minute.

...is there even a wilderness left in the grim organgeness of the future? Is it filled with mutant cyber bears or what?

>what do
Dartline seems worth poking as a first choice. I would start the conversation off as a courtesy call, asking him why he's got money in an account connected to a bureau investigation. I thought we were staying out of each other's hair. Then maybe we bring up Keesh if we like his answers.

...remember, Dartline did try to kill Keesh and Sarah. He might not have known who Keesh was, but he might have. There's no guarantee he'll actually want to help her. Be cautious.

Remember, we still need to drive the car out to the desert, at some point. We need plausible deniability, and that's where we're supposed to take her to kill her.
No. 648454 ID: e607cd

I mean I'm not gonna say DON'T try to contact DA, but like the last thing he said to us was "Don't try to track me down."
I wouldn't go into this expecting a friendly reception.
No. 648455 ID: b19c9a

Which is why I PROPOSE we offer money. And LOTS of it, to soften him up.
No. 648470 ID: e607cd

I believe the safe house was described as a cheap hab block apartment in the sprawl. Meaning it is more or less equivalent to the one we found her in.
At this point I don't like only having one place though. We should start getting more bolt holes locked down. Like, a couple rooms in the same building in several different regions of the sprawl. Money is no object, after all.
No. 648476 ID: 6cfee4

Stow her in the safehouse for now, make up a cover story. Once all the dust has settled, approach both Dartline and any other contacts Keisha might have (ask her about that) to see whether we're able to figure out a more permanent solution with outside help.
No. 648634 ID: d6d7e7

they'll look into friends and family, that's dumb.

wilderness and out of the city will get her killed.

dartline alchemist.. it's a gamble. he might prove useful, we made a deal once, he might be willing to make another. or he could just go to the bureau and give them the both of you in exchange for them to call off the hunt. or he could pretend to accept and then when he has her he's got two bargaining chips - both the threat and a hostage.

the safehouse (hurray forethought) is the most reliable, risk-averse option. if they're about to find the safehouse there's not much we can do even if we know. there's nowhere for her to go.
i say put her in the safehouse, give her a secure line, rent another safehouse somewhere nearby and if shit gets dangerous you can tell her to go there. the new place might be even more dangerous because it's a place that got rented on the day of her 'death', but if they're already aware of the one hideout the new one might give you some extra time.

any way to hire mercenaries? tell them to stay in a nearby neighborhood, don't tell them exactly where or who they're guarding or who you are. backup would be nice but it's a potential security leak. i say get mercs but minimize what they know, and more importantly - what an adversary can learn from there being mercs in the area.
No. 648635 ID: 334db2

DA won't be happy to see us, Kiesha won't be happy to see him. Tell her to go to the safehouse.
No. 648673 ID: 31f075

i think we should send her to the safehouse, but still contact DA. He hates the Bureau and it looks like we'll be in conflict with them soon, so we should make allies wherever we can.
No. 648849 ID: d4a543


He was supporting the Fantomas, who had blackmail on him, and even then leveraged his scruples about targeting civilians to extort additional money for the job. He's not working for the Fantomas anymore, and that blackmail is gone, partly thanks to 73-6's involvement. DA expressed gratitude for that involvement with several generous gifts, among them the intel which made the current decapitation strategy possible.

In summary, DA is a mercenary who's had mutually beneficial interactions with 73-6 in the past, and is not known to be currently employed by our enemies. Sounds like exactly the guy we want to call.

Don't lead with how much cash you have, though, that's bad negotiating tactics. Describe the mission requirements first, without specifically identifying Keesh, and let him ask clarifying questions and run his own numbers for how much it'll cost. If the quoted price seems excessive, then you can try to haggle by bringing up the personal connection, offering alternate forms of payment, and/or reducing the requirements.
No. 648853 ID: ab7529

The money trail says Keesh has some kind of connection to Dartline. We don't know what that is, and, supposedly, neither does she. It's possible he wanted her dead for more than the fact is was convenient to the fatomas- that could have been him being clever and getting paid to kill someone he might have wanted dead anyways.

As long as we don't understand the nature of their connection, we can't safely assume it's benign.

His past work with the fatomas, and common interest to Sev are immaterial to that.
No. 649514 ID: d4a543


If that were the case, why the high-pressure negotiating tactics?
For that matter, why did he flee when Sara started shooting at him, instead of taking cover, reloading, and firing another rocket to finish the job?

We heard from Monica that Keesh, DA, and three unknowns are putting a lot of money into this charity thing. Keesh confirmed that she's giving it pretty much everything she's got, and DA presumably has quite a bit to contribute as well, but neither of them are plutocrats. Keesh says it's an educational thing, and the Bureau doesn't know what it's actually for one one way or another.

So, plausible theories: 1) Keesh is telling the truth, it's a harmless charity for kids. 2) Keesh is embellishing the truth, it's a group which has legitimate educational goals but is pursuing those goals in a hard, messy world, sometimes by ruthless means which would somewhat justify the Bureau's paranoia. 3) Keesh is bullshitting, both her and DA are compromised by a purely self-interested blackmailer, paying with a mix of cash and favors that would completely justify the Bureau's paranoia.

We need ways to distinguish between these scenarios.
No. 649557 ID: f68a09
File 143478443240.png - (13.38KB , 960x560 , 256.png )

73-6 takes her to his safehouse. He spoofs his signal so it looks like he's driving the hovercraft to the edge of town to kill her.

The place is bare and utilitarian. Fridge, sink, console, a couch, couple chairs made of slick woven polymer.

Keisha opens the door. "Oh word. Everything's dehydrated."
"just add water."
"Couldn't have any like, ground beef and shit?"
73-6 shrugs as he crouches at the console. "no stove."
"Sick," she mutters. "Wasn't planning on eating this month anyway."

The mechanical keyboard clacks and chitters under 73-6's expert touch. With a little bouncing off his relative signal to Sara he dives into a thicket of hazy proxies and dead ends where the Dartline makes his home.

This is going to take a while.
He works for a good half hour, until he needs to sit down cross-legged in front of the terminal and his phantom hovercraft has arrived at its destination. Keisha hydrates what is meant to be a burrito and watches with silent indignation as her repast unfolds itself, spongy and grayish.

Then finally 73-6 hits it. The snake's tail laid out of its little cryptotechnological lair. He pulls, and a tasty raw connection comes up.

He has a direct line to Dartline Alchemist. He thinks very carefully about the message he wants to send. Spook the guy and he'll submerge even further, and 73-6 doesn't have the timing window right now to find him again.
No. 649583 ID: e114bc

Lead with the MONEY I HAVE MONEY and telling him you have a job for him- you were ordered to kill Sekmet, who happens to be one of your friends, and you don't really want to, so you were hoping he could help with getting her off the grid.

Don't mention the charity at all. You don't want him to know you have any sort of information about his life, at least at first. Later you should let slip that she was marked as suspicious partially due to donating to the same charity he does.

...I wonder if we should donate a bit to the charity as well.
No. 649585 ID: a19cd5

"Ayyy wanna buy some viagra"
No. 649609 ID: 334db2

Alright, convince the paranoid guy to leave hiding without making him think it's a trap. Right.

Tell him you're not after him and if he doesn't trust you that's fine, but there's someone I think we'd both rather not see dead. Also, I have money.
No. 649611 ID: e607cd

DA's last communication with us was:
>I think we're alike.
>Are you trying to get out?
>I am.
>You've got it harder than me. These things will help. Don't try to track me down, moldie.

So open with "Yeah, you're right. I'm getting out."

Also: sudden realization of implications that have been there for ages. Is DA an actual Sintek agent going rogue?
No. 649628 ID: f68a09
File 143482649245.png - (12.39KB , 960x560 , 257.png )

you were right. i'm trying to get out.
i get if you don't trust me but there's someone with me i don't think either of us want to see dead and i'll pay you good money if you help me.
i need help erasing her from the grid. it's not something i can do from inside the bureau.

He bundles the message in the filaments of deep net and bowls it straight through Dartline Alchemist's ice.
He watches the screen tensely, waiting for the hacker to bolt.

Instead a voice, dry and scratchy like it's too close to the mic, pipes directly into his brain, making him jump.

"Told you not to track me down."
"it was an emergency."
"Now it's an emergency." 73-6 hears a way-too-hidef crunch, and then the sound of DA chewing. "Guess I shouldn't be surprised. I'm the one who gave you the toys. Now you went and made me take them away from you."

73-6 feels a pressure growing behind his right eye. Several of his subroutines return error messages. What the fuck did Dartline Alchemist put in his brain?

"she donated to st. joe's," he says. "st. joe's magnet in cambridge."
DA stops chewing. He carefully swallows. "What's her name?"
"keisha chalthoum."
"Keisha Chalthoum. Son of a bitch.

"All right, Moldie. The paradigm has changed. This situation I thought I had washed my hands of but if I'm in for a penny you're bringing the pound. I'm going to help you, and you're going to help me. She goes off the map; I work with you to ensure your escape vector is plotted and your friends are kept safe; you pay me five hundred thousand credits."
"Not finished. Money isn't all I want. You are now a double agent. You work for me at the same time as you work for the Bureau and the first operation is named Operation Powerfuck The Bureau. You're going to get me access to their systems, and then you are going to kill the man named William Sosa for me. And then I disappear."
No. 649630 ID: ab7529

Dangit. This is what we get for not hacking the shit out of our own systems, and making sure we owned absolutely all of them.

Start trying to see if you can track what he did, and how his backdoor works.

So you do want to help her, right? Are you aware she was in that hab-apartment the fatomas had you blast a rocket into? (Maybe we can guilt him a little- he owes our side for preventing that).

>the deal
...well, I have no problem killing Sosa. He's a major asshole, and he's already threatened me and the people I care about. He ordered Keesh's death, in fact. I'm already on his shit list anyways, after I offed one of his assets.

How exactly are we fucking the rest of the bureau though? I don't like the way they always operate, or how they've treated me, but I do kind of approve of the whole killing people who need killing thing. ...I mean, the other modlies are kind of family. Running out on them is one thing. Getting them all killed is really another.

If he questions or pushes in response to that: hey look, I'm cutting lose here. I think I deserve to know if it's worth getting killed over or not.
No. 649641 ID: ad7bba

"Not that I'm complaining, but what makes Keisha so important? It wasn't so long ago you blew up half her apartment."
No. 649643 ID: bd8b82

ask to have those 'toys' turned back on then.
No. 649645 ID: 0fc976

He can't track us down if he's dead. (Not that that's stopped you from doing your job.) Agree, and put those subroutines back up asap or your new asset could get compromised when the spoof we were running fails.

We already have data we pulled off of a handler's terminal, an examination of that might show us a way in to their systems.
No. 649646 ID: f68a09
File 143483373780.png - (318.50KB , 960x560 , 258.png )

"why is she so important to you? you blew up her apartment."
"the fantomas hired you."
Another pause.
"Didn't know that was her."
"i thought you knew everything."
"I do."
"well it was. i've saved her life twice now."
"you're welcome."
"Now you're going to save yours." Dartline's voice is flat. "I brought you back from nothing and I can put you back there just as easily. You and your friend the robot. I've forgiven you dragging me back into this but my forgiveness never strikes the same moldie twice. Try anything that might touch me and I'll end both of you. Understand?"
"i have no problem killing sosa," 73-6 says. "i'm already on his shitlist. give me back my upgrades."
"Done." 73-6 feels his subroutines kicking back up. "I can do worse to you."
"i get the fucking message, dartline. what's going to happen to the rest of the bureau?"
"I don't care," Dartline says. "Which means now you don't either. I'll keep Chalthoum safe. I need more info on my half of the job. Got to know your timetable on leaving and who you're trying to take with you. The last Fantoma lead I gave you. Politician. Are you planning to finish the job?"
No. 649648 ID: e114bc

Yes, as soon as possible.

...wait what was that about bringing you back from nothing? He isn't talking about the toys thing is he.
No. 649652 ID: 6cfee4

>Are you planning to finish the job?

"Depends. Is it important?"
No. 649653 ID: e114bc

Oh, right, and we're probably going to try taking Monica, Keisha and Penelope, 88-1, and Sara.
No. 649680 ID: 14179d

monica's got a family tho! are we getting them out too?
No. 649690 ID: 0fc976

Who we're taking: Sara, Penelope, 88-1, and... Monica. Timeline: The reaper's coming to greet us in three days, and we'd be a fool to think he isn't going to make his arrival a surprise.
Finishing the Fantomas job isn't our call, but yeah, we were expecting to.
No. 649692 ID: 334db2

She'll get forgiven once the leadership changes. That's when we ask for an out for everybody.

Make sure everything is still being spoofed since he shut down your subroutines.
No. 649694 ID: 0fc976

The other contestant for Bureau leadership "appreciates moldie assets" just as much as the current one. In other words, she is going to be in deep trouble with the bureau because of us either way.
No. 649716 ID: c3a57c

-Fuck Fantomas
--Look like a loyal employee longer
--Causes chaos which should distract Bureau leadership by hunting/making new business when contracts for taking down Fantomas are done

-Maybe you should care about what's going on in the Bureau
--Infighting between William Sosa and Tai Jiaying
--Taking down Sosa promotes her
--Opportunity to mess with their infighting to distract both and really mess with Bureau leadership
No. 649717 ID: ab7529

I'd like to. I don't know if Sosa will give me enough time to do so, but I'd like to. I don't think either of us disprove of hurting fatomas.

>Got to know your timetable on leaving and who you're trying to take with you.
Specify we don't know how many we're actually gonna get to go along with this. Monica's the biggest hurdle, especially since she has a family. Dunno, it might be easier to hurt the bureau such or badly enough they don't care about her.

Penny and Keesh are... involved, if that affects who's getting out where.
No. 649783 ID: f68a09
File 143487352994.png - (111.47KB , 960x560 , 260.png )

"i think so," 73-6 says. "i'm trying to get myself out, 88-1, 108-1, sara dalton, and my handler, monica."
"Jesus, moldie. You want to get the janitors while you're at it?"
"that's my price. reaper's coming in 2 days. i want it to be before then."
"And you're taking down the last target?"
"that's right."
He shakes his head. "This is going to be tight. You'll have to do what I say. And your final op has to be tomorrow at the latest. Screw up hard enough and I sever ties, rip out your upgrade, and leave you in the shitpile of your own invention."
"i won't."
"I know you won't. That's the only reason I'm even considering this." The signal starts to weaken. "I didn't come this far to fail at the last hurdle. I don't think you did either. You've made mistakes, lately. You can't afford to make any more."
"what mistakes?"
He's gone.
73-6 slaps the side of the terminal. "piece of shit."
No. 649784 ID: f68a09
File 143487354491.png - (14.64KB , 960x560 , 261.png )

He sits on the floor in front of the terminal.

Keisha tips about half of her burrito into the garbage. "If Imma live here I need more clothes than this sweaty-ass stage getup," she says.
"i'll... figure it out." 73-6 rocks forward.
"Hey." Keisha crouches next to him. "You good?"
"i hope so."
"I don't say this shit much to like anybody ever at all ever," Keisha says. "But thank you, moldie."
"huh? no problem."
"You been yanking my ass outta the fire repeatedly. So even though you kinda fuckin' put it there in the first place--" She sighs. "Thanks. You're a friend."
"good friend?"
"Don't push it." She sits on his bare floor. "Good friends got a futon at least. And some takeout. Guess I'm sticking around here for a while. What you gonna do now?"
No. 649785 ID: 26d95a

Ask about the school. Say you got through to the DA but he really raked you over the coals. Anything she can tell you might help.

Tell Keesh to sit tight. You're working on the escape plan, it'll be soon and you need everyone to be ready to go.

Can your AI clone help at all?

Also get on to Monica. Tell her you're about to complete the mission but you want to check: how exactly are we spinning this to Pen? you don't want to get shanked.
No. 649787 ID: b5b419

Reaching the end game. No. We're done here and on a secret time limit to boot. We go back, we make ourselves the Dead Man Walking, we Follow Orders, and if someone mistakes us for a drone in the making then we're playing the role right.

Stay safe, Keesh. If things go horribly wrong get yourself the fuck out.
No. 649789 ID: 0fc976

Priority: Penultimate Preparations. Placate Penelope, privately ping partners, and prep for Politician pacification.
No. 649796 ID: e114bc

Tell her she'll be out in 3 days. Be ready.
No. 649818 ID: ab7529

>You've made mistakes, lately. You can't afford to make any more.
Uh, pissing off Monica and seriously compromising her friendship, alienating Sara, killing that entire room of people instead of using the party to find a way to isolate Moneybags and Sosa's asset, calling 14-1 on an open line and openly discussing treason aloud in front of witnesses, getting an upgrade that leaves you helpless against an external hacker...

There's probably more, but those are the ones that jump out in memory.

>What you gonna do now?
Endgame. Gotta work on getting people out of the Bureau before it decides to kill us all.

...short term, I need to make it look like I killed you. And good enough the Bureau doesn't question it. And I gotta somehow sell this well enough to convince them without Penny trying to cut me in half when she hears.
No. 649972 ID: f68a09
File 143494378189.png - (12.93KB , 960x540 , 262.png )

"now i work on the endgame." 73-6 stands up. "and how to keep your girlfriend from cutting me in half."

The hovercraft tears pavement on the way back to the Bureau.

73-6 takes the opportunity to armor himself in firewall and wade into the deepnet, just far enough to get in touch with 73-6-2.

He explains the situation. "anything you can do?"
"for now?" 73-6-2 sounds confused. "i don't know. dartline's been back here. he's talked to deneb."
"what have they talked about?"
"i don't know. asked deneb but you know how he is, dude. i don't have all the upgrades you've been getting over in meatspace but i do have access to shit. i can try to track dartline alchemist's moves here, see if i can report on what he's up to. i can't imagine we got a great working relationship with him."
"i'm trying to make it work."
"well good luck, dude."
"thanks, dude."
"i'll be in touch. if there's anything in particular you can think of that i can do for you or convince deneb to do hit me up."
No. 649973 ID: f68a09
File 143494381697.png - (11.30KB , 960x560 , 263.png )

73-6 nudges his course so it syncs up with his dataghost and then merges with it. He's back on the radar.

He parks inside Jericho and climbs out of the hovercraft as it slowly lowers into its berth.

There are voices from the docking bay doors.

"--elope you are out of line."
"That's fine if you don't wanna tell me! That's FINE. Cuz I just heard mi mejor amigo 73-6 pull in! WHY don't we go ask HIM?"

The door slams open and Penelope strides in, hand on the hilt of the sword at her hip. "Hola, Sev-Three!" Her voice is bright, brittle, and full of a demented enthusiasm. Monica rushes into the doorway behind her.
"Penelope!" she yells. "Sev-three, I tried to--"
"Heard you went out with Keesh, buddy." Penelope's fingers drum against her katana's handle. "Friend o' mine. Amigo. Hey between two pals: Where the FUCK is she?"
No. 649977 ID: d90668

She has the basic wire yes? We need to send her a quick encrypted message that no one will see saying "She is safe and I will explain later but you have to sell this next part or we won't be able to keep her safe. Please no nut shots ;)"

Then openly tell her that Keesh was up to no good and was working with Fantomas. So you did what had to be done.
No. 649978 ID: ab7529

>if there's anything in particular you can think of that i can do for you
You know, if there's anyone you can trust to hack you, and try and cut the strings Dartline has on you, yourself is a pretty good place to start.

>What do
Immediately wire Monica- order your handler to get clear of a potential combat situation now. She's failed to contain this, we'll do what we can. Hang up on her immediately after.

That protects her if this goes bad, and we're more free to talk not in front of her.

Then wire Penn, secure-hack so the buera doesn't know you're doing it.

Verbally: This standoff looks awful familiar. Didn't we do this on a rooftop once before?

...what have they told you?

Wire: She's safe, I promise, but our bosses ordered her dead. Stay mad, the only way she stays safe is if we sell this.
No. 649980 ID: 26d95a

Hey Pen, we kind of end up in this situation too often. Remember when it happened on the helicopter way back when we first met?
(When Sev said he'd look for another way if Monica told him to take Pen out)
She's left, Pen.
No. 649983 ID: e114bc

Don't wire shit, we have no secure line. I doubt there's any way we can GET a secure line, either. You'd have to talk to her while on a mission.

Lie, a whole lot. Tell her you were ordered to move her to a Bureau prison. Keisha will remain alive so long as Penn remains cooperative.
No. 649985 ID: ab7529

We totally can. We hacked a secure line to talk treason with 88, earlier.
No. 649986 ID: e114bc

We had access to him while he was in a pod. Not so for Pen. We'd have to reach out and grab her wire, methinks, and that would be... uh...
No. 649988 ID: ab7529

Yeah, but we didn't have Dartline's illegal hacking shell upgrade then, yet.

If we can't hack the shit out of the bureau's comm equipment the one time lives literally depend on us having an un-overheard conversation, we've basically wasted our time specializing there.

The bureau needs to think Keesh is dead, or we die. Penn needs to know Keesh isn't dead, or we die and/or kill her.
No. 649989 ID: 334db2

Either don't wire her immediately or tell Monica to go inside first before spoofing everything. Explain what happened. If Monica isn't there, start with that Keisha is fine and end with how she has to punch you to make it look convincing.
No. 649990 ID: ecd0ab

She's busy.
No. 649991 ID: 0fc976

Monica needs to leave. For her safety, of course.
Damn, if we had brought some kind of proof we could show Penelope, physically, digitally or otherwise, this wouldn't be so down to the wire! (Heh. Wire.)
No. 649995 ID: e607cd

>Yeah, but we didn't have Dartline's illegal hacking shell upgrade then, yet.
We totally did. We picked that package up on the way back from the mission to kill him.
The whole thing with the wires is they are monitored from both ends. We'd need that wireless combat hacking upgrade we never got to hack a secure line to her from here.

Something like this is about the only option. She doesn't have to get the reference right away, but I really wish Pen had actually mentioned that frijoles thing >>647899 said
No. 650026 ID: e607cd

>but I really wish Pen had actually mentioned that frijoles thing
>Pen had actually mentioned
erm. Keisha.

Anyway, yeah. "Pen, some shit is about to go DOWN around here, and helpful as she has been, she was a civilian. We had to get her clear."
No. 650031 ID: a19cd5

We really shoulda asked keesh for some kinda keyword or sommat that might help pen piece together what's going on.
God there are so many ways this can go wrong and no way I can see to make them go RIGHT.
No. 650035 ID: 6cfee4

Wire Penelope:

"Don't worry, I'll explain everything once we're somewhere without eyes and ears other than ours. And no, don't give me that 'I deserve to know now!' bullshit, you try that kind of thing and both of us are going to end up dead because of it. Now follow me."

Follow this up by leading her to either somewhere inside or near Outpost and tell her where Keisha is, and that you have a plan to get everybody out, but don't tell her any specifics: this is a need-to-know basis. Return to Monica and act like you've managed to placate Penelope for now.

You might have some explaining to do for Monica as well so that she knows why you were able to pacify her so easily, but Monica doesn't trust us, so we can't tell her that Keisha is alive, just say: "I did what you asked me to, and it wasn't easy. Now, I have something to ask of you. Do you trust me? Well, you're gonna have to. Sosa's man is coming in 3 days and he's gonna kill all of us, don't kid yourself. I have something planned, but I'm going to need your help to pull it off. More importantly, I need you to stay silent. The op happens after we get out last target for the Fantomas."
No. 650051 ID: f68a09
File 143495649424.png - (9.18KB , 960x560 , 264.png )

73-6 takes two bounding steps toward Penelope and plants one hand firmly on the hand on her sword to keep her from drawing it.

At the same time, now that he has contact, he lightning-fast puts a private line on her wire just like the one he has for 88-1.

"she's ok. she's ok. don't talk out loud. don't look relieved. keep trying to draw your sword. she's alive. she's safe."
"Wh-" Penelope says.
"we've been here before, penelope," 73-6 says out loud. "on the rooftop. you were seconds from death then and you're seconds from death now if you don't stay fucking frosty. keisha has left. that's all i'm going to say."
"What the fuck is going on, ese?" Penelope wires.
"they told me to whack keesh and i didn't. she's in a safe house. i will explain everything i promise but now is not the time."
"Oh my God." Penelope's voice on the wire almost breaks. "I thought she was fuckin' dead, Sev. You got her out?"
"and we're next. i'm getting out and i'm getting you out. now you need to punch me as hard as you can."
"I could fuckin' kiss you, Sev."
No. 650052 ID: f68a09
File 143495650048.png - (9.37KB , 960x560 , 265.png )

Instead she delivers a roundhouse so hard it knocks 73-6 right on his ass.
Monica takes a step forward.
"leave her!" 73-6 scrambles back to his feet. "leave her." He rubs his jaw. "you get that out of your system, 108-1?"

She stares at him, breathing hard.
"I'll be in the armory," she wires.

Then she stalks out of the room without a word.

Monica's holding back tears. "Fuck fuck fuck."
No. 650053 ID: 26d95a

Time to try and make up with Monica. Sit her down. Get her a coffee or something. Once she's calmed down a bit, ask her what the game plan is. Talk about accelerating the schedule and taking the last Fantoma backer down - results might speak for themselves when the big boss comes. If she seems receptive, might be time to bring her in on the exit plan.
No. 650054 ID: e114bc

Tell Monica you would like to finish the job. The next target, how soon can you go kill him? You'd like to get that done before 108-1 stabs you in your sleep or something. Or before 38-3 does.
No. 650055 ID: b19c9a

And then should we wire her? Would we be a liability if we tell her?
No. 650060 ID: e114bc

I would say yes. She said terrible things would happen to her if a moldie got away under her watch again.

...we need to figure out what to do about her family. Maybe we can make a deal with the nicer lady in power in the Bureau, to keep Monica and her family safe. Maybe we won't even be taking Monica with us.
No. 650077 ID: 084f2d

Well i have no idea how we're going to prepare for the end game, except maybe...

>And now can we now combined the filament whip and shock spick now please?
You know what, No, Fuck it, I'm going to stop asking
No. 650082 ID: 88960e

Sorry, Monica. She's the only one of us you have to treat like people.

You okay?
No. 650085 ID: bb78f2

Tell me Monica, what did you think was gonna happen?
How's this supposed to go down with Sara? Monica, there WAS a plan to deal with these two, right? I mean, hopefully not kill them next. That would be awful. Please don't.
I just... I need to kill a real target.
Get me the next job, might make the Sosa and Tai visit easier on us.
No. 650094 ID: 2a7417

You know how it is, Monica. Can't get too attached in this business. How were you going to stop them from finding out?
...Let's just get ready for the next mission.
No. 650121 ID: 2f4b71

"Let#s get this over with" is definitely the order of the day, in more ways than one. Wanting to go straight after Sandman would be understandable for everyone at the Bureau.
No. 650141 ID: ab7529

>Monica's holding back tears. "Fuck fuck fuck."
Go sit with her, offer wordless moldie comfort. This is the result of her fuckup, but she blames herself for not preventing it, and for giving you the orders she just did.
No. 650163 ID: c3a57c

Here's an anti-pep talk to use:
"When you kill people, there's always someone still alive left over that notices they're gone. That leads to 'blowback' against the murderers and the people who support them. It's why I'm sure the Bureau's business model won't die easily, if ever: Every time they kill 'terrorists' they make other people angry, and some of them turn into more 'terrorists' to kill later. It's one of the reasons I try to avoid civilian casualties, and that's probably also a reason Sosa and 38-3 don't like me being restrained.
"I don't fully know why I was ordered to kill Keisha Calhoun, and right now we need to stay frosty and prepare for both the follow-up operations and the blowback from that. Even if there's no blowback and no follow-up operations, we still need to get ready for the rest of our operations against the Fantomas. And then we have to be ready for 38-3 coming to visit. Come on Monica, I know people dying hurts you more than it hurts me but if you curl up and cry while the wolves are circling like this we're as good as dead. Now come on, according to Sosa's playbook I'm the gun and you're the shooter. Where are we aiming next?"
No. 650179 ID: ad7bba

Even odds Pen is next once no-face shows up.
No. 650243 ID: d4a543

"Time to get back to work, Monica. Do we know where Sandman is and how to kill him in the next few hours, or are you planning to hand that job to 73-7 and 108-2?"
No. 650247 ID: d4a543


One last trip to the Black Stalls, to obtain all the counter-suppress shell upgrades they have available. Surely 38-3's body is infested with all the best tech that Sosa's patronage can buy, and we can now match that for ourselves and our allies. More to the point, we can't really afford not to.

Maybe pick up some other equipment too, and get DA's remote shutdown yanked out like a rotten tooth, as long as you're in there. Remember that ridiculous claw glove/dart launcher thing? You can actually afford to keep it loaded, now!
No. 650470 ID: f68a09
File 143517542413.png - (13.50KB , 960x560 , 266.png )

"you ok?"
She swallows. "No."
"nothing we can do." 73-6 watches Penelope go. "except the job. sandman next, right?"

"What?" Monica snaps out of it. "Right. Right." She pulls her phone out and heads toward the door. 73-6 follows.
"Sandman Sandler. Last on the list." She's messaging someone. "Sara and I are preparing the briefing for him."
"how's sara holding up?"
"I don't know. Haven't told her yet, haven't asked if she's figured it out. We will jump that hurdle when we reach that hurdle." She stops and turns around. "This wasn't my call, 73-6."
"i know."
"This was not my idea."
"i didn't say it was."
"I never--" She trails off, looks at him almost pleadingly, then snaps her head back to her phone and keeps walking. "When are you thinking we do Sandman?"
"There was a plan for getting him this weekend," she says. "Rally thing."
"needs to be sooner. before 38-3."
Her frail veneer of calm cracks. "Well I don't fucking know then."
73-6 obediently shuts up as they round another corner.
"You're probably right, though." She sheepishly puts her phone away. "We'll go over what we have on him and plot something out. It might have to be an assault on his office. Which would be bad."
"better than nothing."
"Better than nothing." She nods. "Look one assassination is enough for the day. And whatever Tai has to say to you tomorrow is important enough that we should wait on it. You're dismissed for now. Go-- I don't know. I'll be at Waterfall."
No. 650471 ID: 2a7417

Go visit the armory. Invite 88-1 down too. It's planning time.
No. 650474 ID: ab7529

>It might have to be an assault on his office.
Doesn't he ever leave his office for lunch? Or to talk to other people? We might be able to hit him in transit.

...or when he has to use the bathroom.

>I don't know. I'll be at Waterfall.
I'll give you some time to think. I'll be around to plot, later. I'll make sure things don't explode with her.

>what do
Go talk with Penn. You got some 'spaining to do.

Like how Sosa ordered her girl dead as payback. Apparently he's upset about the baldie at the party who was shouting his name before you shot him.
No. 650600 ID: f68a09
File 143521218561.png - (13.06KB , 960x560 , 267.png )

73-6 wires for 88-1 to meet him and Penelope at the armory and heads down, already prepping the loop he's going to need for the security camera in there.

"Hot damn," Penelope wires as 73-6 slips into the armory with 88-1 in tow. "We got us a little conspiracy."
"Hey." 88-1 leans on an empty gun rack. "I'm just the hired help."
"welcome penelope to the underground moldy railroad." 73-6 double-checks his safeguards. "probably this looping you in thing was overdue."
"No es nada. Can I just say how grateful I am that I'm apparently not the only one who thinks this is kind of a bullshit outfit?"
"I dunno." 88-1 shifts his weight. "Still has that new-leather smell."
"Here I thought we were all good little tin soldados."
"nope," 73-6 wires. "sandman is in all likelihood our last mission. whatever happens next has to happen before 38-3 shows up in three days or my suspicion is we're kind of fucked. sosa's the guy we're up against."
"He the one ordered the hit on Keesh?"
"he is. and dartline alchemist has agreed to help us out in exchange for his head."
"We killing Sosa, huh." Penelope grins. "This is getting exciting."
"now i have a safehouse we can hide in for a while," 73-6 wires. "that's where i've got keesh stored. i have dartline alchemist on our side, i have an embarrassing amount of cash, i have you two, i have the best hacking suite in the bureau, i have a famous bureau veteran on speed dial, i have maybe, maybe a favor with tai jiaying unless i torpedoed that, and i have the limited ear of a weird cyberspace ai."
"Chrome-plated," 88-1 wires, approvingly. "You got a plan?"
"i was getting to that," 73-6 says.

He clears his throat.
Does he have a plan?
No. 650601 ID: ecd0ab

I wouldn't call it a plan but we do have a lot of money and we could go visit the Stalls. If we might end up needing to go frontal assault on Sandman, we'll probably need some heavy firepower.
No. 650605 ID: bb78f2

The stalls. Shopping trip. Go a little crazy.
Penelope, want to get in some some illegal upgrades? See if we can't make you into the Nobunaga to my NEO? I'd use a movie reference here, but the most renowned samurai for being fucking crazy overpowered is that power-mad Japanese son of a bitch Oda. Just so you know, that shell upgrade will be the worst goddamn thing you ever feel in your life.

88... uhh, well you know you're pretty much the Heavy if we're making class jokes, we should probably get in on that for you... so, I guess you're Hulk.

Okay, so Neo, Oda Nobunaga, and the Hulk walk into the bureau... and that's the plan.
No. 650631 ID: 0fc976

The Bureau makes a business out of bringing people back, right? We've deduced that the 'new personality' thing might be entirely optional. When we get rid of Sosa, we gotta make sure there isn't enough left of him to fill even a robot body.
No. 650632 ID: e114bc

I think it's time to start digging up dirt on the Bureau. If you know shit they don't want getting out, you can have that set up on a dead man's switch so if they off you, it goes public.

Dirt like "hey guess who killed all those rich folks".
No. 650645 ID: 88960e

Well, part of the plan is hacking into the bureau, here. We probably need some kind of virus in the personnel files at least (they can't kill Monica's family if everyone who actually worked with her is dead or bugged out and all their records are dead).

Penn needs to stay disgruntled, on the surface.

If we're gonna kill Sosa, we need to make an opportunity for that. How we getting to him?
No. 650650 ID: e114bc

Ok to make a plan we need to start thinking of Jericho as an enemy fortress. What are its defenses, security measures, etc? What's keeping us from walking in, taking Sara, and walking back out? If Monica is on our side at the last moment, would that keep us from being chased by drone agents? What about uh, her co-worker? We'll have to knock him out probably.
No. 650654 ID: 7aeb02

Or we could get Pen a super-strength upgrade on top of her speed so she can go all RUULES OF NAAATUUUUURE and throw stuff thrice her size.
No. 650656 ID: 37adba

The only way we can safely extract Monica involves making a convincing 'hit' apparently killing her. We've got no other way to prevent the bureau from being vindictive besides destroying it and all its competitors that act like it (not likely possible) or convincing it that would be a waste of money with no point.
No. 650669 ID: 53a13f

It's all a bit up in the air until you know where you stand with Tai. You can begin by putting together a plan for Sandman, securing Jericho and laying the grounds for a feint. They're all smart enough to know you might be up to something so it might be a good idea to give them evidence that it's something less incriminating than the real escape plan.
No. 650707 ID: d4a543

Step one: 73-6 explains to Deneb that Sosa and Tai disagree about how the Bureau should be run, but have thus far been unable or unwilling to resolve the disupute like civilized people due to their unfamiliarity with Blastlands and lack of appropriate equipment in the real world.

Step two: 108-1 infiltrates an industrial-scale automated fabricator that could conceivably manufacture giant robots, and Sara does the technical work of opening it up to subversion by a deranged transhuman AI.

Step three: 88-1 interrupts the executive mecha kaiju duel by obliterating Sosa with a shoulder-fired ATGM.
No. 650708 ID: e114bc

We could get Tai to agree not to come after Monica's family specifically, and leave her behind. Monica doesn't *have to* come with us. Pen has to go because Keisha can't stay, and Sara has to go because Sev can't stay.

As for killing Sosa, we have that plastic gun. Sev could hide it on his person, figure out some excuse to talk to Sosa face to face, then assassinate him. Really, the biggest problem would be getting out afterwards. 14-1 might be able to help there.
No. 650713 ID: 334db2

We dig dirt and try for a blackmail thing. If things go south, Pen contacts her old agency, causing a shitstorm, a mad AI takes serious offence to the Bureau, Dartline will probably be off making his own trouble, everyone else skips out.
No. 650714 ID: b5b419

Figure out where To Go. You can't stay here after this, especially with taking all your friends with you. Maybe go out on permanent vacation with your moldie friend, maybe go to another nation that's hostile with this one.

You have lots and lots of money but no favors *and* you killed a room full of execs. I'm certain the EMP you put out probably scrambled most of the data but people are gonna be looking.

So the prereqs are nowhere that's gonna ask digging questions about the money, and nowhere that may dig into why that pile of executives died (or be able to) while simultaneously not having any active Branch in there.

This should leave only a few narrow possibilities. Plan out escapes getting to every single one, and how to arrange getting everyone out (or at least if they stay having them live).

One of the plans may require beating the ever-loving shit out of Monica on the way out, or making it look like a kidnapping. Remember though: She WAS your handler and presumably has a lot of sensitive information that they would really want back as opposed to a skilled thug.

There's also the matter of schlupping the money around to a safe place, setting it up so it can be accessed as necessary, etc, etc.
No. 651600 ID: f68a09
File 143556341485.png - (10.90KB , 960x560 , 268.png )

"okay." 73-6 takes a breath. "this is all up in the air until i know what tai's trying to get a hold of me to say but:

"first and foremost we finish what we started and kill sandman. that'll buy us enough good will that we can do what we have to do without as much overhead.

"we gotta hack into the bureau mainframe at jericho, find anything incriminating we can to start getting a little bit of blackmail over on our bosses, and give dartline alchemist access to our systems, which is what i agreed to do. that's not going to be easy but we'll figure it out.

"from there i can do one of two things:

"i can deactivate the countermeasures to keep us from all basically getting the hell out of here and going rogue. i need to convince monica to come with us or at least let us go, which is going to be a bitch all its own. if i can convince her she can order off the drones but otherwise we're gonna have to punch through them. we can lay low in my safehouse and wait for an opportunity to kill william sosa, which is the other thing i promised dartline i would do. objections?"

"Hell naw," Penelope says.
"Nosir," 88-1 agrees.

"sweet. tai jiaying would take over after that and chances are she'll be a lot more amenable to letting us go than sosa. or if she doesn't then we just dismantle the entire organization to keep them from coming after us. i'll have to figure that out talking to her tomorrow.

"option 2: we can live dangerously and stay at jericho, all calm on the outside, in order to find an opportunity to whack sosa. it'll probably be a lot easier if we're still inside the organization and thought of as friendlies. the problem there is that 38-3 is visiting jericho in 2 days, and i have absolutely no idea what he's going to do when he gets here but it can't be anything good.

"at some point we should all go to the stalls and get fucking loaded on shell upgrades. i can camouflage my less than legal ones, but i'm not sure if you guys can do the same, and if we just randomly show up juiced to hell we will raise all kinds of red flags so we should be careful on that score. whatever. one thing at a time. yeah?"

88-1 nods. "Fuck yeah, dude."
"cool. i'm going back to my post now. we should stagger it so it doesn't look like we've been talking to pen. pen that reminds me: you gotta act really pissed off at everyone for killing keesh. can you do that?"
"Course, hermano. I'll channel my inner gangbanger. Vaya con Dios."
"cool cool cool." 73-6 cracks his knuckles. He's full of nervous energy. "keep frosty, guys. we are getting the fuck out."
No. 651601 ID: f68a09
File 143556344222.png - (11.56KB , 960x560 , 269.png )

He steps out of the hallway, closes the door, and nearly runs right into Sara.

"Oh!" she says. "Sev! Hi!"
"What's up?"
"oh y'know." 73-6 tries to play cool. "checking the, uh." He knocks on the door. "the guns."
"Coolio. How are theeeee guns?"
"very deadly looking. check plus."
"Check plus!" Sara smiles nervously. They haven't exchanged more than a sentence or two since the night 73-6 made his feelings known. "I'm just goin' in and grabbing a fresh transmitter. There was all this weird interference today."

73-6 realizes that he can either reveal his whole big conspiracy to his boss's new right-hand woman and hope she goes along or distract her by doing the one thing he is most afraid of doing, which is have a conversation with her.
No. 651603 ID: e114bc

Confront your fears.

Let's be honest, Sara wouldn't be much help in the conspiracy and I don't think she has much reason to go along with it. She's got a noncombat job and needs the money.

Ask her what kind of weird interference she's been having issues with. I wonder if it has anything to do with what's been going down? Like maybe the frequency the private wire is on is conflicting with the frequency the Bureau is using here?
No. 651608 ID: b5b419

Do the conversation.


Be as AWKWARD and TIME CONSUMING as possible. If you 'win' she'll stutter nervously and then run away.
No. 651631 ID: d90668

Find out where this interference she is talking about is coming from. Could be something important.

Also just talk to her.
No. 651632 ID: 88960e

Conversation. You need to feel her out before you can think of talking treason with her.

Because if you tell her and she doesn't go along, that means you have to kill her. Or worse, hack the shit out of her, take control of her systems, and leave her a silently screaming prisoner in her own body to preserve your cover.
No. 651635 ID: 2a7417

It's probably us. But it doesn't hurt to check. You might be able to cover your tracks even better with this information.
Embrace the awkward, Sev! No not literally, that is way too forward right now.
No. 651832 ID: 409b75

No-no, don't show her the cards just yet. One thing we all need right now is to look natural, like nothing is happening. Sara isn't an integral part of the escape plan (yet), she doesn't have to look all distressed and stiff for no good reason.

And come on, Sev. Fear can be exploited. Fear gives others ways to manipulate you. If you don't want to get over it for Sara's sake then do it for your own sake.
No. 651857 ID: f68a09
File 143564558432.png - (10.65KB , 960x560 , 270.png )

"interference, huh? jeez. wow. that is wow. not good." 73-6 blinks. "do we know what caused that interference?"

"Uhh, yah." Sara says. "Right after you breached into the conference room. Remember? The EMP you mentioned I think did it and it just went like, booosh."
"oh. right. right. boosh."
"We couldn't even hear you for a few minutes. Now there's like kind of a ringy scratchy thing that happens. So I'm just gonna... replace it. So."
"so." 73-6 is rooted to the door.
"Sooooo can you scoot over a bit? It's in there."

Shit shit shit
No. 651862 ID: e114bc

Actually you know what she isn't talking to you about Keisha, you can broach that topic. Tell her you want to talk about that.
No. 651866 ID: 0fc976

"Uhh... have you tried just turning it off then on again?"
You're running low on stall topics. Face your fears and just apologize. For... making things weird between you. (Even weirder than she may realize.)
No. 651896 ID: 88960e

Mind if I take a look at it for a second?

If we hack her to check the problem, we only need to loop or fake her sensors for a moment to give our buds the chance to leave our secret meeting without being seen.
No. 651902 ID: 53a13f

Distraction! Actually, you need to talk with Sara for a second. About Monica. She seems really stressed out. Is there anything you should know? Duck in a side room.
No. 651903 ID: 6cfee4

Y'know what, let's just drop the whole act here and clue Sara in. Sabotage and deceit are for dealing with enemies, not friends, and we're planning on getting sara out too right? So lying now is gonna lead us to having to reveal the truth at an inopportune time and that's going to be a whole can of worms in and of itself. And we have to do it diplomatically as well, to show that we trust her, because that'll probably make her more open to what you're trying to do. Acting weathered and jaded by the whole series of events so far when you come clean will probably earn you sympathy points as well. Although, if she decides to rat us out, I'm pretty sure we can just knock her out and wipe her memories of the conversation with Sev's 1337 hax anyway.
No. 651918 ID: e607cd

aaaaaaaaaaaaaa look at those hips
No. 651927 ID: 409b75

Hate to ruin the mood, but are you sure she behaves like Sara? And that this isn't 38-3?
No. 651933 ID: e645e1

No. 651972 ID: 2a7417

How do we know that's 73-6? Maybe we're 38-3.
No. 651980 ID: ab7529

Sara's a robot, and one we've hacked before at that. Her systems show up on our hack-dar. 38-3 isn't a hacker- he couldn't spoof that without considerable outside help.
No. 652113 ID: f68a09
File 143571688610.png - (9.25KB , 960x560 , 271.png )

"hhhhave you tried turning it off and on again?"
"I don't think so. Monica just wanted to compare between ours and a storage one."
"maybe i could take a look?"
"Do you think you could fix it?"
"Cool. I'm just gonna grab a backup just in case and then we can go to the control room."

"actually um speaking um of fixing things." 73-6 can feel sweat sliding down the side of his trenchcoat. "about the there was the um i wanted to talk to you and apologize to you about the other night."
"uh, so..."
"Oh, it's ok." Her mouth says smile and her eyes say panic.
"but no for real i'm sorry. i didn't mean to, uh, that is i hope that it didn't make things weird. or if it did that we can quickly move on, um full steam ahead, tooooo... yeah. sorry."
"No no it's OK. I mean I'M really sorry," Sara says. "I mean no it's totally OK. I'm not, like-- actually I was-- I was wondering if..." She trails off. "I was actually wondering if... um...."
No. 652115 ID: f68a09
File 143571693338.png - (8.04KB , 960x560 , 272.png )

"You know I'm just going to go and I'm gonna try turning it off and on again and see if that works," she says, brightly. "That's-- we'll see if that helps. Thanks for the suggestion!"

"no problem."

"OK! Cool! I'll see you around, Sev! I mean you can come up and check and see if you want to fix it at some point if you want! And I'll be there to help! If you want! So um later skater!"

"bye. uh later."

No. 652117 ID: f68a09
File 143571693898.png - (6.29KB , 960x560 , 273.png )

That was a close one and also very weird.
No. 652124 ID: d90668

She is just as nervous as you are about this stuff. Honestly keeping her in the dark as long as possible is probably the best idea.

Just make sure you protect her so that no one can use her as a hostage against you later.
No. 652125 ID: ab7529

Did you just die of embarrassment and awkwardness. Are you 73-7 now.
No. 652131 ID: 0fc976

Congratulations Sev, you have successfully weaponized awkwardness!
Her offer is intriguing. Maybe we should take her up on it, after, uh, whatever thing we had to do. Did we have a thing? If not, we have yet to review the information we pulled off Sara's handler terminal. Search that for backdoors you or Dartline can use.
No. 652216 ID: 8bd2b1

lol that was beautiful.
No. 652221 ID: b5b419

Did, she, uh.

Invite you to her room? Well there's a possibly fun offer.

Between trying not to be brutally murdered of course.
No. 652244 ID: f68a09
File 143577642266.png - (12.51KB , 960x560 , 274.png )

73-6 slips away from the Armory and tries not to think about Sara.
Instead, he takes the opportunity to use his down time going over the data he pulled from her internal Handler Terminal to see if there's something he can use.

With his master hacking, 73-6 can:
+Remotely lock any of his handlers completely out of their system at any time
+Spoof or deactivate the Control Desk's view of their cameras
+Overwrite, modify, or delete Jericho's current mission parameters or mission logs
+Overwrite, modify, or delete his or any other employee of Jericho's records or history
+Activate Emergency Security Protocols, putting out a distress signal and sending Jericho into lockdown
+Issue the outpost new high-priority orders, masquerading as a superior officer of the Bureau
+Send a maximum import message to any other Bureau outpost, including headquarters
+Change Agent permissions for Jericho's combat equipment and vehicles

Looks like the Drone system, automated turrets, and alarms are all controlled via a separate security kiosk system that he can't reach from here.
His influence is also mostly limited to Jericho itself until he finds a way into the Bureau Mainframe. Access to both of those places is strictly prohibited to all Reconstituted Assets.

It's close to midnight. The logs indicate 73-6 has an appointment with Tai Jiaying in eight hours.
No. 652249 ID: c2fb88

Ok first order of business will be to protect family members from retaliation. If you can change the contact and address info of Monica's family it will make it much less likely that they can be quickly targeted later.

Second objective will be to get into the mainframe. If we are going to fuck things up getting you and Dartline access to the main systems will be vital. And if you don't trust Dartline that much you can always open it to your duplicate and his giant robot friend.

Oh and you need to hack yourself and turn of Dartlines backdoor in your head. You might not be able to completely remove them but if you can block the ports they use you can at least stop someone from activating them.
No. 652267 ID: e645e1

can we change those addresses without leaving some kind of automated log saying it was changed on x date?
No. 652273 ID: 2a7417

We can use this to erase any dirt the Bureau has on Monica and her ties to us, so even someone knows about her they won't have the evidence to back it up.
Get some sleep so you don't look like a walking corpse for your meeting with Tai. -Oh, right.
No. 652274 ID: 2a7417

Also, were you to be reverted to your non-DA hacking levels, what would you still be able to accomplish? (in other words, what could 73-6-2 do with this access?)
No. 652275 ID: bb78f2

I don't suppose we could send an import message in with a remote undetectable virus to get inside the Bureau mainframe digitally, right?
I mean, communication should actually be able to get us anywhere. The mainframe has to be connected to a computer at the main HQ, or else it's a useless mainframe.
Let's just get into there.

Shiiiiiiiit, try and get into Sosa's computer with a message. Maybe we can blow it up and kill him from his desk. He's a paranoid guy, he probably rigged with C4. But he's also stupid, so there's probably a webcam.
No. 652277 ID: d4a543

Could we insert fake orders from Sosa to kill 38-3, on a delay so they pop up as if newly issued about an hour before the face stealer is scheduled to arrive?
No. 652279 ID: 6b0329

Are we not going to try to protect Monica's family by faking her murder? Altering their records can tip management off that something is wrong unless we scramble every record at once and make it look like a broad attack to screw with the information systems made by some third party.
No. 652286 ID: ab7529

Messing with Monica's file so her family is harder to retaliate against is something. But we need to be able to sync those records with the bureau's off-site servers (other bases and HQ will have copies). And that doesn't prevent them tracking her family down relatively quickly with real-world detective skills. There's an internet, and other governments records- without covering all the bases, this just slows a hit squad down until someone thinks to check online.

Also, we have to ensure Monica won't see her file and notice the changes in advance. (Put them on a timer?).

We might want to set a remote-trigger virus up, for when we get the hell out. Locking down the base, deleting their files on us, cutting out the cameras, etc.

Would it be worth reviewing any of the mission parameters and/or logs, see what they've been hiding from you?

Can we see the files on off-site assets? It would be nice to say, look up exactly what weapons and upgrades 38-3 has on record.

...I suppose the HQ mainframe is still out of reach? Too bad, I'd like to look at the secret files and see if the people running the bureau are all secretly undead. (Get powerful enough and you can moldie yourself back from the dead without the optional memory wipe, and spend the effort to make them still look cosmetically human).

>Oh and you need to hack yourself and turn of Dartlines backdoor in your head
Fuck yes. (Might be something 73-6-2 could help with?).
No. 652381 ID: ed1fd2

Okay, how much of the personal data in Jericho's data banks is decentralised? See if you can find any signs of off-site backup programs or logs before changing anything, a discrepancy in the data may be flagged when it is compared to other backups.
No. 652524 ID: f68a09
File 143582382872.png - (13.16KB , 960x560 , 275.png )

>Faking Monica's death / modifying her files
Entirely doable, with no fingerprints thanks to +SILENT RUNNING+. Getting her to agree to it would be the hard part. The other issue is that the main database has a second copy of her employee records which it syncs every weekend. If it detects a discrepancy it alerts an admin. Which would be bad. The next checkup is in four days; if 73-6 changes anyone's records he then has that long to find a way into Jericho's mainframe, use it to get to the Bureau database at large, and change it there too.

>Change addresses
Also doable, with the same caveat as faking Monica's death. It wouldn't stop the Bureau from finding them, but it might slow them down.

>Fake orders from Sosa to kill 38-3
73-6 isn't sure what the goal here would be since the only person he really cares about fooling is Sosa, but he guesses he can do that too.

>Creating a secret super virus e-mail that will go to Sosa and blow up his computer and kill him
Points for creativity, but not doable.

>Hack Dartline's backdoor in your head
73-6 has tried multiple times but he just can't find the fucking thing. He guesses it stands to reason that the shell upgrade that gave him his master hacking would also have a loophole letting Dartline hide. Or maybe he's just that good.

>Remote Trigger / Help from 73-6-2
Good thinking. 73-6 can create a simple console with any or all of these options that he can give to 73-6-2, letting his cyber-clone do all of the hacking at any time with the push of a button and none of the expertise required. That'll probably also be a good way to start triggering things remotely and quickly, since he can contact 73-6-2 and give the go-ahead at any time.

>Review the mission logs / try to find offsite ones
Looks like these are all Jericho; access to other outposts' mission history is gated to the Mainframe. and there's far too much data to go through right now. When 73-6 has a few more hours to himself he can try.

He should finish up here, decide on what options to save for later or give to 73-6-2, and hit the self-sterilizing polymer sack. Tomorrow is going to be just as hard as today at the minimum. There's a slowly-growing seed of dread in 73-6's stomach, tangled all up with his anticipation.
For better or for worse, the endgame has begun.
No. 652545 ID: 6c8858

I don't think we need to worry about sync errors. The next sync is in four days, and by that time everyone we care about will be either safe, or confirmed to be a renegade, or dead (let's face it, it's possible too).
No. 652549 ID: 53a13f

Get something ready to go to revoke all Jericho permissions for 38-3 for equipment and vehicles and allow access to everything to you and friends.
Set up a lockout and camera spoof in case you need them.
Grab them mission logs. You want to know how much Sara and Monica have been covering for you.
No. 652557 ID: 88960e

Queue up edits for the personnel files, but don't commit them now. You're gonna need mainframe access for Dartline eventually anyways, you can push them then.

Do set up the triggers / backdoor for your doppelganger. Who you owe, by the way. You may have to help him with Deneb someday, if you survive this.

Don't bother with fake orders now. If you do set conflicting orders in the future, they need to come from Tia / Sosa. That could burn any bridge you might have left with her, but both of them should be all too willing to believe the other fucking with them.

Get some sleep.
No. 652643 ID: 6b0329

We do need some way to change all the historical incremental backups, and their driver's licenses, registered mailing address, and the damn phone book if we're gonna try to protect Monica's folks from being whacked by the bureau in any other way than convincing our former bosses she's dead.
No. 652727 ID: f68a09
File 143589938881.png - (8.71KB , 960x560 , 276.png )

73-6 preps two switches for the personnel files. One scrambles Monica's information and one fakes her murder. He'll see which, if either, he needs.

He also sets up a lockout and camera spoof switch, as well as one that will grant him, Penelope, and 88-1 access to the entire suite of mission aids and equipment. He can't do anything about 38-3's access to that stuff because he's not on Jericho's roster.

He clambers into his bunk. 88-1 is reading something opposite him.

"what's that?" 73-6 asks.
88-1 looks across the barracks. "The Art of War."
"Naw. How would I get a hold of that in here?" 88-1 tosses it onto the floor. "Just the operations manual for the hovercraft in case I need to drive it."
"that's some dry stuff."
88-1 shrugs. "What the fuck else is there to do?"
"good point."
"Night, Sev."
"night, dubs."
73-6 hits the trigger on his bunk and it slides closed, sealing him into a pitch-black metal coffin.
He tries to get comfortable before the gel comes in. He makes sure to keep his mouth shut.

"Initiating hibernation and cleaning process," a pleasant computer voice says. "Hold."
"holding, barbie," 73-6 says.

The bunk floods with cleaning gel, lifting 73-6 up and suspending him before flash-aerating and locking him in place. It's still possible to move but it's a lot harder. 73-6 wiggles to try and get enough room for a modicum of comfort.
The gel acts as his bed and as his shower, clearing away the dirt and sweat and replacing it with the acridly sterile scent of industrial cleaner.

He wakes up every morning smelling like a mortuary janitor's closet.
No. 652728 ID: f68a09
File 143589941543.png - (9.92KB , 960x560 , 277.png )

"I'm not going to lie, 73-6."

Tai Jiaying's image pulses onto the conference room screen. Apparently her "visit" is a virtual one.

"I'm a little disappointed." She looks at him with bemusement. She doesn't seem particularly angry. "I think I remember telling you to shoot one guy. And your mission was to shoot another. That's two. Not an entire conference room. I think I also remember telling you those people weren't expendable."

73-6 nods, nervously.

"But hey." Tai shrugs. "It's not like I was there. Mistakes happen in the field. It could have been an emergent situation in those few minutes we lost track of you, it could be you forgot, it could just be that you're not quite as good as I thought you were. I felt like I should get in touch, give you room to explain your actions."

She leans into the camera. "So?"
No. 652729 ID: ad7bba

To be fair, everyone keeps telling Sev to act more like a moldie. No witnesses is moldie policy. Those people were rich, but still civilian witnesses. Their station wouldn't matter to a moldie.