Nightshade nods agreement. “Yes, I knew going back home might be dangerous–but trying to bust into Psycare without some of the stuff I have there would be more dangerous. The car sounds good–besides the anonymity, I can throw more in the trunk than in my saddlebags, and avoid a second trip if I make any guesses on what I’ll need that turn out wrong after the recon. First trip risks an ambush–the second one virtually guarantees one. Nail, are you good to ride shotgun? Sinthia, you can follow by air or ride in the back, your call.”
“I’ll ride in the back, though I am still not entirely sure what my jobs will be on this task.”
Rescigno says, “Just make sure anyone who might be waiting for Nightshade at her apartment has a really, really bad day.”
“I pretty much have everything I need either in my pack or on the bike. So I can either assist Nightshade, or I can drive out to the Psycare facility and start surveying them. If I assist Nightshade, I can take my own bike to assist Nightshade and canvas the surrounding area while the rest of the team goes to her place directly. We probably have enough people assisting Nightshade at this point, so I would lean towards surveillance, but I’m fine either way.”
Regardless of which way Goethe ends up going, he will take his own bike. On the way to his destination he will call Aleks on his commlink to find out if anything out of the ordinary has occurred at or near his condo building in his absence.
“Make the call.”
“Shotgun!” Nail calls out when asked.
“Fine. Let’s go.”
Goethe rides to the Psycare facility. Along the way, he calls the number for security as his condo.
“Aleks,” the voice answers gruffly. Goethe is used to the no-nonsense dwarf’s direct tone.
“Goethe,” the ork says in response. “I’m following a lead. Just want to make sure it’s not following me, too. Seen anything suspicious lately?”
“Nothing stranger than you, anyway,” the dwarf replies.
“I’m being serious,” Goethe says. “What’s the word?”
“All quiet, pal,” Aleks says.
“Pal?”
“Yeah. You’ve been upgraded from ‘turd’.”
Goethe nearly laughs out loud. “I’m surprised you have a sense of humor in that miserable little old fat body.”
“Least I don’t have to file any tusks.”
“Alright, you win. I’ll check in later,” Goethe says.
“Yeah, how about sometime other than when the heat’s on?”
“Yeah. Sometime.”
Goethe has arrived at the Psycare facility. Next to the building is a museum celebrating Dwarven culture. He glances upward and sees the museum has a 5th floor balcony with perfect line of sight to the access panel at Psycare.
Well, I guess a little culture couldn’t hurt. Goethe enters the museum, where a portly young dwarf woman looks at him suspiciously.
“You look like a Runner,” she says.
“You look like a tekkie*,” Goethe replies. “Sometimes, stereotypes are wrong.”
The dwarf woman’s glare turns hostile. “You want in? Fifty credits. Leave your guns here, and you better not walk out with anything you didn’t walk in with, understand?” Goethe glances to a sign which reads ‘entry: 5 credits’. She notices his glance, and says, “That’s normal price. Today’s special is fifty.”
The woman’s tone has brought the attention of several other patrons and employees of the museum. Goethe has the uncomfortable impression that he is assumed to be at fault in the disagreement. He is towering uncomfortably over the girl, who is nearly the same weight as him but manages to look frail in comparison. By the looks of all around him, Goethe can tell orks are definitely not welcome here.
How the hell did that happen? Goethe wonders.
“What’ll it be, chum? You want in, then pay up. If not, take a hike.” Her tone clearly indicates she is hoping he will take the latter option.
*Tekkie - a stereotype of a dwarf, who is obsessed with machines or inventions. It’s a slightly derogatory term, implying one neglects basic things like personal relationships or hygiene, and is singularly driven to a silly obsession.
Nightshade and Nail are riding in the front seat of Rescigno’s nondescript sedan. Sinthia is in the back seat. Nobody is comfortable with the arrangement, and there is awkward silence in the vehicle.
Nail can’t help but allow his mind to wander. I’ve seen Seneth pull off some outrageous magic, he thinks. Nothing like controlling hordes of people’s minds, though. I know for sure he died, anyway. Checked it myself, right when it happened. Seen enough bodies to know when it’s hopeless. He can’t help but doubt himself though. Everything happened so fast. The Chinook, the cyborg, the *other *cyborg, Goethe acting like a brute, Donovan celebrating like something good just happened…it was overwhelming. Maybe even distracting. Enough to make a ridiculous error, like mistaking a live person for a corpse?
“Stay sharp,” Nightshade warns, apparently seeing his mind wander. She’s right. We can’t be sure what’s waiting for us at her place.
So far, Sinthia has remained silent. It’s easier to ignore the glaring, obvious questions than to actually press her to answer them. Who are you? Why do you and the Dark mage have so much in common? What do you know about Seneth? Nail catches himself in this train of thought, and snaps back to attention before Nightshade can scold him again.
This group will arrive at the apartment soon. You have plenty of time to discuss plans for how to make your entrance, otherwise I’ll just proceed with each of you walking in normally.
Goethe looks at the women and says “One minute.”
Going outside, he takes his AK and secures it inside one of the storage bins of his bike. He then strolls back in and walks back up to the dwarf, releasing his heavy pistol from it’s arm slide as he lifts his arm he presents it to her butt first with the barrel pointing towards himself, at the same time he ejects the clip cleanly into his other hand. Dropping the pistol on the counter while he pockets the clip from his pistol, he then transfers 50 Nuyen to the woman, and not even acknowledging her walks past her into the museum tossing off as he does so:
“I expect that back in the same condition I gave it to you.”
He also secures his shock gloves in the bike with the AK.
Butcher stands before 4509. He’s nothing like what 4509 expected. Butcher is a troll, although remarkably small for his race. He speaks eloquently, shattering a million stereotypes with a single sentence.
“It is an honor to stand before what I consider to be my greatest achievement,” Butcher says. The odor of his breath is nearly overwhelming. “Truly, you are proof that a man can be much greater than his meat.”
Rescigno clarifies, as 4509 glances at him questioningly. “Butcher has been off-the-books with UO since before your…liberation,” Rescigno says. “It was he who first recognized your nearly unique capacity for artificial enhancement. I won’t say you owe your current form to him…but this troll has been your strongest advocate in the company, even when those of us with more subtle taste objected. Don’t take it personally that you’ve never been introduced; only a select few of us were even privileged to know of Butcher’s existence.”
“They tell me you don’t say much,” Butcher says to 4509. “But you rarely have need to speak with your voice, I suppose. This-” Butcher makes a wide gesture, indicating the entirety of 4509’s body, “-this speaks more than any words could.” He comes closer to 4509, a mini-computer in one hand. He reaches into a coat pocket, and brings out a multi-purpose tool in the other hand. “Now, let’s look under the hood,” Butcher says as he reaches toward the cyborg with long, wiry, gray-tinged and hairy arms…
The Butcher may be working towards a brave new world but he isn’t its prophet. The cyborg has a strange respect for him but he’s still almost entirely organic. 450902603 doesn’t say anything and merely lets the troll get to work. After what happened the last time a tech took a look at him 4509 is more cautious and he extends his armblades just in case.
**Let’s do this. If something is waiting for us, we’ll just have to deal with it. **
“We’ll park in the back,” Nightshade says, “and watch for a few minutes before we get out. Anyone hanging around back there is a tenant or a target–it shouldn’t take long to figure out which is which.” She looks at Sinthia. “We’ll check with our eyes while you scan the Astral. Knowing what we do of our opponent, you’ve got the best shot of giving advance warning.”
“If everything looks normal, we’ll move on into the building. This isn’t a 'run, and we’ll scare the neighbors if we barrel in like commandos. Me, then Sinthia, then Nail to watch our backs. As soon as we can confirm that the apartment is clear, you two will be heading right back out to watch the car while I grab what I need. We should be in and out within three minutes.”
She looks doubtfully at the experimental weapon from UO sitting on the seat beside her. “A bit big, but I think I’d better bring it for now. Too bad there’s no way to make it look less conspicuous.”
“Any questions?”
“Nope. Sounds good.”
Sinthia, who has been silent for the most part, speaks up.
“Yes, or at least more of something you should know. I can create extremely elaborate illusions. I wonder if I should create some kind of creature or object outside the building that will assist us. Or perhaps something that goes with us into the building. If not here, then perhaps that will be useful over at the psi-ward.”
Nightshade tries not to roll her eyes. “Yes, that will be very helpful, here at least. I won’t know about what to try at Psycare until I have more information.”
“You saw me riding my sport bike from UO to the safe house, right? Can you make an illusion of me riding up to my apartment just like that, and walking in? If there’s an ambush, that should spring it. I’ll point to where to do it when we get there.”
“Also, I’d love to hear about what else you can do. I’m sure your powers are quite remarkable–and beyond that, they could save all our lives.”
If Butcher notices 4509 extending his arm blades, he doesn’t seem to be bothered by it. 4509 sees that the troll appears to take genuine pleasure in his work. He is actually excited by 4509’s cyberware, and not the least bit afraid of the cyborg.
In fact, 4509 is quite sure the troll’s behavior is not simple eccentricity. The troll knows something I don’t, 4509 realizes. He glances up to Rescigno, and now recognizes the UO executive’s usual smooth confidence in the presence of 4509 for what it really is. Smugness.
There’s only one explanation; Rescigno and Butcher both are absolutely sure that 4509 can not possibly harm them.
As 4509 comes to this realization, Rescigno comes to stand in front of the cyborg.
“I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this,” Rescigno says.
The sudden realization that 4509 has been betrayed causes the cyborg to attempt to leap upon the pitiful men before him. But 4509’s cyberware will not respond. Even his meat muscles have betrayed him. Butcher happily continues working on 4509, as the cyborg simply sits, idling like a revving engine in neutral gear.
“I suppose you were bound to realize it sooner or later,” Rescigno says. "Yes, I had a kill switch built into your new bioware upgrade. Did you honestly think there were no strings attached? You are UO’s greatest asset, but you’re also criminally psychotic, and almost completely out of control. There was no other choice. Walken was happy to use you like a fucking nuclear bomb, destroying anything you touched. That’s not my way, and it’s not the way of the future for Universal Omnitech.
Let’s get some things straight," Rescigno says, coming nearly nose-to-nose with 4509. “I see what you see. I feel what you feel. I can read your goddamned thoughts, you sick fucking monster. If you take even one miserable step, one thought, out of line; I’ll flip the damned switch, and the world will be a better place for it. Understand?”
Control over 4509’s vocal cords has been released, and the cyborg is now free to speak if he chooses. The cyborg notices Rescigno sub-vocalizing a command immediately prior. *So, that’s how he does it, *4509 realizes.
“You’re damn right,” Rescigno replies, even though 4509 didn’t say anything aloud. “Forget any ideas you might have to subvert the switch. The kill switch is connected to a heartbeat monitor, too. If I die, you die. So, do we have an understanding?”
“I know you’re not here for the art, you phony!” she says as Goethe walks by. The dwarf is displeased, but realizes she can’t hope to keep the support of the crowd after Goethe’s completely reasonable response.
True to the woman’s prediction, Goethe ignores the exhibits of dwarven art and inventions, heading toward the elevator. I’m watching you, the dwarf woman mouths silently to him as the elevator doors close.
Goethe arrives on the fifth floor, and sees the balcony is inaccessible to the public, on the other side of a door marked “staff only - not an exit!” Through a small window on the door, Goethe can see that the balcony appears to be an employee smoking break area.
There’s an excellent chance Goethe can walk through the door without being noticed, but it will require a minor test of his infiltration skill to avoid being seen by any of the staff. Goethe glances around, and sees the dwarf greeter at the entry seems to have abandoned her crusade against him, and has not followed him.