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[Tubobutts]

My crew had learned that the newest shipment of Structuro Nano-Trucks was being held down at the docks. Someone didn't want to pay for something or another, and bro, you know Goro knows an opportunity when he sees it. Back when we were small time, we ran those docks my man, Strolling and Patrolling and even a little Grooving when we got a chance. So I hopped on my hawg and scoped the place out. It was empty dude, not a guard in sight. So I called my crew down and we busted into the place. And what do you know? It was the wrong warehouse! That geek hadn't told us he meant the new warehouse district. Hats off to the hard working man, huh?

When we found the right warehouse, security was real tight. These weren't normal dock guards and you know the corporate armies don't mess around. But they still gotta hit the can my man. I knew this chick who worked the cafeteria where the corporate guards ate, and I convinced her to put a little something extra into their next meal. That thinned out security real nice. I called in a pal of mine, the kind of dude who can get in and out of a place with no one the wiser. I told him that all we needed was a few of the trucks anything extra he picked was his to keep. Hell his old pal Goro would be happy to fence it for him and do it at friend prices.

So next time you see a truck with Tom's Hotdogs painted on the side, why don't you stop by and ask "What's grooving bro?"

 

[justjim89]

Greatness

I fucking love you, Tiamat.

 

[Bowlie]

A-a-aah, i really feel better by giving you that opening.

 

[Tubobutts]

I fucking love you, Tiamat.

---
Okay so I'm confused about one thing. That was to link me to Bowlie, do I now have to write another thing to establish a link between me and the next person(Jim?) or since he already wrote his do I just say "Goro set it up probably"?

 

[Bowlie]

Yeah. From what I understood:

- sproutella began something and I completed;
- I began something and you completed;
- you'll begin something and Jim will complete it;
- Jim began something and Xam will complete it, and finally
- Xam will begin something and sproutella will complete it.

Furthermore, if any of those 5 corporate stories sound interesting to the others, they can chime in and say "I was in that run too, since...".

 

[Jintor]

Yeah it's _your_ job that the "next" character helps you out on basically

 

[Jintor]

BTW did you guys like the googledocs last time to keep track of stuff? I can rock that again probably

 

[Tubobutts]

Ok got it.
And google docs worked fine for me.
--
If you need something I can get it to you bro. And if I cant find it I know some one who can.

One of my customers came to me looking to get his paws on some unregistered decks. This guy was a real geek but he always paid me on time so I told him I could help him out. Old Goro knows that if you want to get fresh decks, you gotta grab them while they're still on the boat. And it just so happened that one of my pals could get me in with the next shipment of Jijaros. 'All you gots to do is get yourself a security pass, find your way onto the ship, and you can walk them babies right off the boat and forget to get them scanned" he told me. Only problem was, old Goro gets seasick!

But like I told you before I know a guy.

 

[Jintor]

so that's against TOR heavy industries then?

 

[Tubobutts]

Yes sir.

 

[Jintor]

Awesome. I have a couple of questions I want to throw around when you've allfinished linking and then I can start plotting it some possible vectors. I'm hoping we can get into the swing of things a little faster than dw

 

[justjim89]

If you need something I can get it to you bro. And if I cant find it I know some one who can.

One of my customers came to me looking to get his paws on some unregistered decks. This guy was a real geek but he always paid me on time so I told him I could help him out. Old Goro knows that if you want to get fresh decks, you gotta grab them while they're still on the boat. And it just so happened that one of my pals could get me in with the next shipment of Jijaros. 'All you gots to do is get yourself a security pass, find your way onto the ship, and you can walk them babies right off the boat and forget to get them scanned" he told me. Only problem was, old Goro gets seasick!

But like I told you before I know a guy.

If I could I'd make myself hate Goro, but he's an infectious bastard. He's genuine in a time where that's harder to come by than a streetwalker with a natural chest, and I suppose that counts for something in my book. So now and then, I'm inclined to give him a hand at the friends and family rate.

This job was about securing a load of unregistered decks from a ship down at the docks. Walking on and walking off without being noticed. Goro insisted that the reason he needed my help was because he gets seasick, but my money is that old Goro isn't the stealthiest chap on the block. Have you seen the strut on that guy when he walks around? Not exactly the inconspicuous type. But hey, we all have our strengths.

Straight infiltration jobs usually aren't up my alley, but they are adjacent I suppose. Just means I have to leave my rifle at home and pack my concealed pistol. This one was easy enough. After an hour or so of waiting, one of the guards to the ship took a stroll around a corner to take a piss. He ended up taking an involuntary nap, and I walked back around the corner with his uniform and security pass. An infiltrator I knew told me about the uniform trick. Said he must've used it 47 times. You'd be surprised how far you can get with the right outfit and a purpose to your walk. If you act like you're supposed to be there, everyone else is too wrapped up in their own shit to give you grief or question it. So I walked on, and I walked off with an armful of of unregistered decks. Clean as a whistle. Old Goro was a happy camper when I delivered them to him. Bro this, bro that, and so forth. There may have also been grooving involved.

---

I also appreciated the Google Docs last time.

 

[Jintor]

You have no idea how happy you duckers make me. I'm having so much fun and we haven't even begun proper yet

 

[Xamtheking]

Will work on links soon

 

[Jintor]

Quote for googledoc link and put it somewhere on your drives



that should work. you'll have to fill out them yourselves mostly, though I half-finished goros before my head conked out.

 

[Bowlie]

Done!

Jim, you are precious.

 

[Tubobutts]

I think I finished what was left on my sheet too.

And I don't know about these blatant video game references Jim. It really breaks my immersion

 

[Bowlie]

All my [gear] during infiltrations are going to be soda cans.

 

[Bowlie]

Xam? We're waiting for you.

 

[Xamtheking]

Xam? We're waiting for you.

Yarp, busy week, but it will get done today

 

[Xamtheking]

In cyberspace, I groan as I read the text from my military friend. Really giving me only 45 minutes to get this done? If it were anyone but me, they'd be fresh out of luck. Thankfully, I've got the tools and planning to get this done. What this does mean is I won't be about to poke around in WBN's juicy servers, but that's a job for another day. I make my way through the murkiness of cyberspace, bouncing from data storage to control unit as a way of getting to my ultimate destination a bit faster: UHNB-5A3Z. A client of mine had some less-than-savory connections on said server, and he wanted me to get rid of them with extreme prejudice, which amounts to just nuking it from orbit cyberspace-style. Since these server farms are obscure and meant to be hidden, security is extremely light. Cybersecurity is expensive these days, and the less you need to buy the better. I get in, delete the incriminating data, and I'm about to leave the server when I see something that catches my eye. I check the time and find I still have a cool 20 minutes before I have to start worrying about enemy interference, so I go check on what appears to be a glowing red skull. Upon reaching it, I find it's a list of people to be interrogated for information, but what they are going to be interrogated for is hidden behind top-of-the-line security. I could crack it given enough time, but that's the one thing I don't have enough of. However, I take a picture, leave the server farm, jack out, and contact my client. A job well done, I get a nice bit of spending money, and with a list of Very Important People who could be ransomed off to WBN for quite a bit of money, so I send the list off to a "femme fatale" friend of mine who I know can snatch them up like snatching pennies off the ground.

 

[Jintor]

Goro, tell me about your gang - who's in it and how did you meet them?

Troseph, who owns the military (openly or covertly), and how did you get back into the private sector?

NanICo, how did you build your rep as an infiltrator?

Duchess, who was the first person you killed and why?

Crowley, what's this fascination with FRKLyft you have?

---

If I'm reading Xam's link correctly he's combined ending Troseph's job with beginning a new run against WBN that sproutella needs to finish, correct?

 

[Tubobutts]

Goro, tell me about your gang - who's in it and how did you meet them?

You want to know about the Strollers & Patrollers bro? It used to be just me, Akio, and Tetsuya you know. We go way back bro, we've been grooving on geeks ever since we were kids. The rest of them? Most of them joined after this kid wrecked the gang that was running the docks, bro. The low level members were looking for somewhere to go and Old Goro's always been the generous type so I thought I would give them a hand my man. It didn't hurt that having no competition and some new member would put the Strollers & Patrollers on top bro.

 

[Bowlie]

NanICo, how did you build your rep as an infiltrator?

I grew up as a nasty kid in the slums: with no purpose in life and ashamed of my height, I'd always create trouble for myself and for others. Until someone - never asked her name - came to me and said that I was smart, that she appreciated my stature, and asked me to use it to do a run instead of wasting my life. That's when I found out that I am pretty good at crawling through vents!

For the thrill and for the money I decided to do another run, and another run, and another run...

 

[justjim89]

Troseph, who owns the military (openly or covertly), and how did you get back into the private sector?

On the surface, it was just your standard national military. You know, the kind our taxes pay for. But if you spend enough time on the front lines, and you look in certain dark corners from a certain perspective, you can see the hands pulling the strings.Who the hand was attached to, though, is a harder question to answer. Who's to say it was only one hand pulling the strings? For a while, I know, it seemed as though the powers-that-be were bending knee and appealing to Palmar for some kind of deal on new uniforms, and we did get new uniforms.

The end of my service came a few years back when I was dishonorably discharged. As those type of affairs go, it was relatively tame. No criminal charges, no jury, no big production, just go the fuck home and don't come back. The official reason is repeatedly disobeying orders from a superior officer, but that has a much worse connotation than what it really was. Truth be told, even as a sniper, even as one who essentially hunts humans for a living, there were times when I simply refused to go for the kill. Much like the situation with the server technician, I've always been one to see a middle ground where others did not. So in situations where my CO was screaming at me over the radio to shoot to kill, I would opt to aim for the knee or the arm on occasion. The higher-ups would condemn my actions as cruel and unusual punishment, but is it really more cruel than taking a life?

Don't get me wrong, I've killed many people in my day. Some deserving, some less so. Why would I be in my line of work if I couldn't shoot to kill? But if an opportunity presents itself to avoid unnecessary death, why not take it? A corpse can't be interrogated. A corpse can't be used as leverage in a negotiation. A corpse can't be used to occupy a guard's time as they help him to the medic's quarters. So tactically speaking, a breathing body, even that of an enemy target, can be a lot more useful than a dead one. But my superiors didn't ever see things my way, so I parted ways with the military.

 

[sproutella]

At a wedding today, so not a ton of time to write stuff up, but I'll try and get a post a little later

---

I grew up in an apartment complex, more a hive than a proper living place. My parents were wage-slaves, in low level positions barely keeping their heads above water thanks to the mandatory purchases of Corp goods taken from their paychecks. At a young age I found work in a kitchen at an eccentric restaurant/club called Earl Applebee's Inn. The eponymous Earl was quite the character and had a middle sized smuggling and black market operation that he ran out of the club. Once after close, while cleaning up, shouting began to erupt from the backroom. A deal was souring, threats were being made. Shots rang out. A Blue Sun gangster burst from the room with fistfulls of credchips. I grabbed the sawdoff under the counter and fired the buckshot into his chest. I was promoted within the week.
--
I'm always looking to make opportunities for myself, so I've got standing relationships with a host of people to send useful Intel my way if they think there's profit to be found. I'm sitting at sushi bar when a message from a hacker comes through, it seems during a run through the net he came across hints of something that WBN wants to keep secret, as well as some subcontractors who may know something about that secret. I fire off a message to a couple of friends, asking if they know anyone thats pissed off at WBN and wants an angle on them. I pay my bill and walk out the door, flexing my right hand in anticipation.

 

[Jintor]

Waiting on: Xam answer to [query]

---

So one last question before we begin, one for each of you: not just options on a sheet, but full on stories. Why did you get part of your body replaced with metal and chrome and steel? and What was the cost?

(If your answer is "For the job", then the question is: "Why are you so committed to your job that you'd get part of your body replaced with metal and chrome and steel"?)

 

[Xamtheking]

Crowley, what's this fascination with FRKLyft you have?

I've always had a fascination with the logistics of transporting things, with the end goal being acquiring said things. Imagine what life would be like if you could have everything you ever wanted shipped to you for free and no-one would ever be the wiser.

 

[Jintor]

Duchess, Troseph, and Xam, please fill in your character sheets; quote this post for the link.

Also, answer one of these questions that hasn't yet been answered by another player: (there should be one left over)

• What kinda place are you all meeting in, and what's the deal with this place if you know the right people?
• How did it come to be that you're all working together on this job?
• What's the normal way in which someone might arrange to meet a contact? Was it followed this time, or does something feel a little... off?
• Who's your usual contact for getting this kind of job, and what's different about them tonight?
• What's the name of the entertainment that's providing the covering noise for this little get-together, and why are they/why is it so popular in this part of town?
• This is definitely a no-weapon place. Why? On what authority?
  

 

[Tubobutts]

So one last question before we begin, one for each of you: not just options on a sheet, but full on stories. Why did you get part of your body replaced with metal and chrome and steel? and What was the cost?
--
What's the normal way in which someone might arrange to meet a contact? Was it followed this time, or does something feel a little... off?

Look bro, if you're in the business of getting people what they need, you've gotta make a few sacrifices. The way I see it, if someone wants something and you don't got it, the best way to get your hands on it is to snatch it off some unsuspecting geek. Five finger discount bro. I figure the geek with most stuff is the company that's in charge of shipping everything around to people, and as far as I know that's FRKLyft. One of my pals had the idea that if we could find a way to track the shipments we'd have no problem hijacking the stuff we needed. Everyone knows about FRKLyft's DriVR, but what they don't know is that if you try to get an install from a corp they come filled with all sorts of bad crap my man. You think you're just tracking and packing your stuff but they're tracking and packing you my man.And you don't even want to know about the other rumors I heard bro. I'm talking buildings full of corp slaves all hooked up to DriVRs and they don't ever get to leave.

So me being the bright guy I am says if we want all the benefit with none of the costs, all we gots to do is nab a crate of DriVRs and get an alley doc to install them. Hell, I know I a guy who could even add in a couple of modifications. All to keep us off the grid, my man. So anyway, we find out about a shipment of some new Cybereyes coming in, real, prototype stuff you know? We grab them without a hitch in the plan, bro. Get this guy I know to install them and throw in a comiplemof extras. Of course Tetsuya thinks we shouldn't have left any witnesses at the warehouse, but what do you expect? Goro ain't a bad guy. And it's not like a mega-corp is going to hold a grudge against us small timers.

Right?

---
I told you bro, you want to get into contact with Goro all you gotta do is find one of our trucks and say the password. This last time though, something was weird. This geek didn't say any password, he came up to the truck and asked for me by name! Like he's an old pal or something. Let me tell you though I never met this geek in my life, but he paid up front and Goro's always been the helpful sort.

 

[Bowlie]

One of the things you learn by growing up in a poor neighborhood is to take advantage of every opportunity in front of you. Not my fault if you let food in front of a starving kid then, not my fault if you leave a valuable object in front of me now.

After the first runs, I started to... like these opportunities; that thrill you get when you get away with something? I'd make my own job harder, by either putting myself at risk or trying to take more than what I was hired for, in order to make things more interesting.

So when I ran that job with the Duchess and I found those prototype lenses, I of course stole them. It'd improve my skills in my resumé and make the next runs more daring.

---

Most of these questions are hard to answer because they assume we already are on a job, Jintor. Like "This is definitely a no-weapon place", what place?

 

[justjim89]

Why did you get part of your body replaced with metal and chrome and steel? and What was the cost?

My Cyberware chip slots were installed in my military days. Once I reached Sergeant, they gave me a few options for augmentations as part of the promotion. At the time, the military was my whole life, and anything to help me do my job better was a no-brainer. I opted for chips to enhance my capabilities in both firefights and breaking and entering, both invaluable skills to my trade even today. It didn't necessarily cost me anything directly besides my time and toil as a soldier, but if they're ever malfunctioning or giving me trouble, I have to get them looked at by a military-certified doctor at the Veteran's Clinic. The line is long and the people are shitty, so that's reason enough to take care of my Cyberware.

---

What's the name of the entertainment that's providing the covering noise for this little get-together, and why are they/why is it so popular in this part of town?

There's a big event within ReNew Life tonight, and anyone who's anyone is wired in and attending. Some type of gala ball, with everyone paying real money for virtual tuxedos and dresses. But hey, in this part of town, people have a lot of money to blow on frivolous shit. Even frivolous non-tangible shit in this case. Call me a crotchety old man, but I still find the whole thing absurd. Still, it's emptied out the streets nicely here in the rich neighborhoods; there's no one on the street. As I walk into the club, though, with the music blaring and the lights low, I see where everyone is. A full club on a Saturday night is no strange sight to see, but in this case they're all jacked in. Dozens of people all dressed to the nines, sitting on couches and laying in loveseats, with those damn headsets on their heads. Mouths agape, arms limp at their sides, all completely lost within the virtual space. Why are they all here and not at home if they're just gonna be in VR? I mutter to myself "I'm getting too old for this shit."

---

OOC: I filled in my character sheet.

Most of these questions are hard to answer because they assume we already are on a job, Jintor. Like "This is definitely a no-weapon place", what place?

I think Jintor wants us to determine that kinda stuff cooperatively instead of telling us. Everyone answers a question and together it paints a picture of the scenario.

 

[Bowlie]

That wasn't clear. I'll make stuff up.

This is definitely a no-weapon place. Why? On what authority?

ReNew's security guards are frisking anyone that enters this event, making every single one of these consumerist customers comfortable. They wouldn't want guns blazing in the middle of an auction.

 

[justjim89]

That wasn't clear. I'll make stuff up.

This is definitely a no-weapon place. Why? On what authority?

ReNew's security guards are frisking anyone that enters this event, making every single one of these consumerist customers comfortable. They wouldn't want guns blazing in the middle of an auction.

OOC: ReNew Life is like a VR social game, so I was going for a scenario where everyone was at home jacked into their headsets while the streets and meeting place was empty. But I can modify my post to be that everyone attending the event in VR is still physically sitting in the location we are.

 

[Tubobutts]

OOC: ReNew Life is like a VR social game, so I was going for a scenario where everyone was at home jacked into their headsets while the streets and meeting place was empty. But I can modify my post to be that everyone attending the event in VR is still physically sitting in the location we are.

OOC:A bunch of people showing up to a place and then only interacting with eachother in VR sounds exactly like our dark Cyberpunk future.

 

[justjim89]

OOC:A bunch of people showing up to a place and then only interacting with eachother in VR sounds exactly like our dark Cyberpunk future.

You're not wrong. I kinda like my post better now.

 

[Bowlie]

Haha, sorry, Jim: I imagined a club full of average people with their headsets on, while their virtual avatars are super fancy and elegant, and went with it.

Maybe the headsets are expensive and those people can't buy one, so they come to this place to rent them for a few hours. Like a cyberpunk version of a drug den.

 

[justjim89]

It's all good, that idea actually makes a lot of sense! See? Cooperative world-building.

 

[sproutella]

So one last question before we begin, one for each of you: not just options on a sheet, but full on stories. Why did you get part of your body replaced with metal and chrome and steel? and What was the cost?
(If your answer is "For the job", then the question is: "Why are you so committed to your job that you'd get part of your body replaced with metal and chrome and steel"?

No matter what line of work you are in, no matter whether you live and work in the gleaming corp towers or the crumbling morass of Neo City One, you have to better in some or many ways than someone else if you don't want to end up worthless and dead. There are no middle ground in this city, there's predator and prey. I got my targeting implants so I could keep eating, so I can have the edge on the person on the other end of my gun. The next mods though, it was more than that. It's not just about being good at what I do, it's about becoming the apex predator. Someone needs to be at the top of the food chain after all.

It means getting corp docs and techs to do the job right and get the good shit. I'm not desperate enough to trust my nervous system to some twitchy street surgeon, nor do I think the warranty is all that good from Plutarch's Pawn Shop. If it means I get a ping every once in a while and get some no questions asked wetwork - so be it. I just got to be smart when dealing with these corp ghosts, can't let them fuck me over too hard.

---

Also, answer one of these questions that hasn't yet been answered by another player: (there should be one left over)
How did it come to be that you're all working together on this job?

Some trashy hustler from the docks somehow got a hold of my contact info and sent me something like 26 texts in 10 minutes.

<<BADDOOD69>> 13:15:25
HEY BRO NEED YOURE HELP FOR AN OP. HERE YOUR THE BEST IN THE BIZ
<<BADDOOD69>> 13:15:27
BRO I NEED A TUFFF DUDE TO COVER ME 2NITE AT RENEWS PARTY. MEETING A SHADY BUT VERY RICH DUDE. MADD DOUGH IN IT 4U
<<BADDOOD69>> 13:15:30
BRO I GOT THE $$$ IN ADVANCE
<<BADDOOD69>> 13:15:31
(money emoji)(hot dog emoji)(tree emoji)
<<BADDOOD69>> 13:15:32
YES?
<<BADDOOD69>> 13:16:12
YES?
<<BADDOOD69>> 13:17:45
YES?
<<BADDOOD69>> 13:18:51
YES?

etc...

<<duchess>>13:25:11
send payment to 23.3534.93481
<<BADDOOD69>> 13:25:12
YESSSSS BRO WERE GONNA KICK ASS

After asking around it turns out he has a surprisingly legit operation. And he was paying triple my rate.

I have to assume the process was similar for the rest.
---
OOC - Tiamat - feel free to redo any of the dialogue if it doesn't fit Goro.
Also not sure how well all of us (non-linked at least) know each other before this mission, but I can already have met Goro if that works better and the exchange can be reasonably similar.

 

[Tubobutts]

Thats an angle to Goro being the worst person in the world that I hadn't considered. So it's great

 

[Jintor]

i dunno i kinda think he's the best

 

[Jintor]

what are everybody's timezones? I am GMT+10 and usually active about 6-7am, 12-1pm (on mobile), 7-11pm. not sure what that translates to but I can plug it into a universal clock later.

 

[justjim89]

I'm in US Central Time, which I believe is GMT-6.

 

[sproutella]

Currently Central Daylight Time (CDT), UTC -5
Standard time (Central Standard Time (CST), UTC -6) starts November 6, 2016

My main posting time is before work (~7-9 am), lunch (11-12), and after dinner (8-10 pm).

 

[Tubobutts]

I'm in the same time zone as GBWest which is currently GMT -7. On Nov 6th it changes to -8.

 

[sproutella]

I hereby move to make swatch .beats internet time the universal time of sprawlgaf and the universal time of all cyberpunk

I'm seconded by the honorable Jeffrey Gerstmann

All in favor say yea

Now redoing my earlier post

Current time zone -250 .beats (meaning midnight in my timezone is 250 .beats)

Time zone on Nov 6th -291 .beats

My main posting time is before work (541-625 .beats), lunch (708-750 .beats), and after dinner (83-166 .beats). Just add 41.666 beats to all these on Nov 6th.

See here and here for how to convert. Welcome to the future.

 

[Bowlie]

Mine is gmt-2 (for the next few months, daylight saving time)

 

[Jintor]

My aim is to get a good cycle going where I can come back at a given time and hopefully see five posts to respond to at once

 

[Xamtheking]

GMT-5, working on answering last question

 

[Jintor]

Bump