Chaggo flexes and shrugs his arms and shoulders, appearing to revel in the feeling of the restraints being released.
“First, you should know that I didn’t ‘steal’ anything from Synthcorp. The upper managers are spreading rumors it belongs to them, but it doesn’t. Belonged to a friend of mine.”
Chaggo walks up the basement stairs, clearly intending the others to follow. When he reaches the living room, Chaggo approaches a fireplace and reaches inside, up the flue. When he pulls his hand back out of the flue, he’s holding a small plastic protective case, with an electronic chip protected inside.
“This is what I came to Fortnight for. There’s a Black ICe protecting some of the data on this chip, stronger than Fortnight says he’s ever seen. It’s my understanding that Black ICe is guarding operations details, accounting reports, and debriefings from some of the most heinous, evil shit Synthcorp has pulled off. I can’t get past the ICe to prove it, though. Fortnight flat out refused to even try. Says the ICe is strong enough to kill a man, like actually kill his meat body.”
Chaggo brings the chip to Goethe, and hands it over. “Not all the data is protected, though. Chip came from a drone’s AI, decommissioned by Synthcorp after the agent it belonged to died suspiciously. Dead man’s name is Oliver Tantus, and he was a friend of mine. He was a Shadowrunner, and a technomancer. He had a drone was sort of like a pet, followed him everywhere, even had a name - Spark. Go on, put the chip in your comlink. The ICe won’t attack unless you try to access the encrypted stuff. The unencrypted part is a video, a message from a dead man.”
Goethe puts the chip into a universal data slot on his comlink. His comlink broadcasts the video to Nail and Donovan, and even Seneth can witness the broadcast through telepathy with Goethe.
In the video, a man’s voice says, “Spark, begin recording,” over a black screen. Immediately a face comes into focus, a man who appears to be about thirty. He’s thin and tough looking, with a nose that appears to have been broken and healed many times. The angle zooms out, and it becomes clear that the man is very physically impressive. His muscles are well defined, and street gang tattoos across his shoulders and arms testify to his difficult upbringing. There is a muffled, unidentifiable voice somewhere out of view of Spark’s camera, and frantic sounding pounding.
“My name is is Oliver Tantus. I’m a technomancer, hired by Synthcorp to erase evidence of an environmental disaster caused by the company, which has resulted in thirty-eight deaths among the Chinook Nation. I completed my assignment, and am now the only person in possession of knowledge that could ruin the corporation. The data chip containing this recording also contains the evidence I was hired to destroy.”
The camera pans away from Oliver, and toward the sound of the pounding and muffled screams. In the camera shot is a huge, thick window, revealing a factory floor with complex machinery on the other side. Finally, a second figure comes into view, standing on the other side of the window. It’s Chaggo, screaming and slamming the glass with his expandable baton weapon. The thickness of the glass is enough to reduce Chaggo’s voice to a dull, muffled whisper. His attacks are not enough to even crack the thick reinforced glass.
“Spark, over here,” Oliver says, and the drone’s camera turns back to the technomancer. “Right now, I am being murdered by Synthcorp,” Oliver continues. “They released poison into the factory, and locked us in. I was able to contain the release to only this room, but I am now trapped inside. In moments, I’ll be unconscious. If you find this recording…” Oliver’s calm and composed demeanor suddenly breaks, and he vomits a black, tarry liquid onto the floor. A seizure suddenly envelops him, and it’s clear he’s trying to speak through the tremors enveloping him, but only screams escape his lips. The seizure lasts another minute, and then a peaceful calm comes over the dead man’s features. The video ends with Spark’s camera panning back and forth with obvious stress and indecision.
Moments later, a robotic voice comes from behind the camera view, saying “Permanent deactivation engaged. Erasing memory banks,” just before the image goes black again.
Chaggo’s grim face greets the members of the group as they’re pulled back to reality, away from the horrifying scene on the chip.
“I was Synthcorp’s rep on his mission,” Chaggo says. "Worked with him three days. Synthcorp didn’t care I was in that building with Oliver, they just gassed us both. It took a lot of persuasion to convince the corp that I didn’t know anything, and that I thought the gas leak was an accident. They didn’t know I knew better, that Johnson himself ordered the murder.
It’s been ten years since that run. I had to fake being a loyal dog, doing everything I could to come face to face with Johnson, but the bigger Synthcorp gets, the further away Johnson is. So, I waited. Didn’t even know about this recording, til I came across Spark in a pile of scrap meant to be melted. I learned Arry might be able to design agent programs strong enough to defeat the ICe on the chip, so I took him. Also, found a corporation that hates Synthcorp as much as I do - Universal Omnitech. For them it’s nothing personal, they just want a competitor destroyed. They’re willing to pay big for it, too.
Do I have to spell it out for you guys? Synthcorp is evil, and Universal Omnitech will pay you like a prince to get rid of them. Sounds like a perfect arrangement to me. Only thing I want out of the deal is a chance to kill Johnson."