Session started at 6:48 pm on 11/21/2006
Attending players: Michael, Ben, Sarah, and Eva
Presiding GM: Aaron
(Ben is bringing in a new character called Yorick this session.)
"I deal only with the living, thank you."
~ the doctorThe doctor and I spend a little time looking around the warehouse that night. It is full of boxes. Long, coffin shaped boxes. I open one and discover a drained, withered corpse. The doctor confirms that he died of essence loss. That's enough for us, we get the hell out of there and back to the hotel. The girl is still passed out.
Ajax gets back to the hotel around 4am having torched B's body and the rental car. It's hard to believe B is really gone.
When we check out in the morning we leave the girl behind with a credstick and a slightly threatening note. Maybe she'll think twice before getting stupid high in a public place again.
We stop at a breakfast place around 8am before we head out of town. Ajax talks to the Johnson. She seems satisfied, if perhaps a little sad that her associates are dead. She tells him that our payment is in the Seattle airport parking. Cool. I guess the van came through.
We get the choice of a normal flight or a sub-orbital. We go for the normal. I haven't been entirely comfortable with the sub-orbital since the hijacking, but I'm not going to tell Ajax that.
The guy sitting next to Ajax is getting friendly. I can barely hear them since I'm a couple of rows back. The doctor says it's a spirit. Uh... that worries me a bit.
(It is in fact the spirit that got away. It's trying to talk Ajax into something, something vague and unpleasant.)
("I'd really like to stay in this world. You don't know what you've got here."
~ the evil spirit
"Yea... popcorn is great."
~ Ajax, trying not to pay attention to the spirit)After some discussion that I can't quite hear, it gets up and heads towards the back of the plane. Ajax confirms that it was the spirit that got away. Fuck. I move up to sit next to Ajax. He's already three drinks in from the empty glasses, but he seems mostly okay. I stay there just in case.
The rest of the flight is uneventful. The spirit doesn't come back.
When we land we head over to the parking structure. The promised van is there. It's a fuggly color of orange, but it looks pretty decent otherwise. When Ajax turns it on, we are all greeted, in Portuguese. Huh, this'll be exciting.
Ajax is a bit loud and confusing. I can't find any interface but audio on the thing and he's yelling something about sprites. He eventually gets to the part where the agent that greeted us isn't really an agent. It's some sort of techno-spirit that is inhabiting the car. He wants me to ask it why it's here.
Since it's some sort of spirit it seems like I should call it by an actual name. I ask and it tells me a huge identifying number. It might be a matrix address? I manage to get the spirit to agree that I can call it <16> (<> now means in Portuguese). <16> says he was put here by his friend. From his description, I think his friend was killed in the van. It sounds like someone tried to save her but couldn't. He thinks of everything in terms of programs and hardware, not the meat world at all.
"I'm going to go in the back and stunbolt myself until this is all over."
~ the doctor, jokingAjax wants to go to a safe house he's found. I talk to <16> for a while and make friends with it. I introduce it to my friends and it agrees to drive us over. It's going to be interesting having a van that only I can talk to.
(Meanwhile, Yorick has just arrived in Seattle and is trying to talk to some contacts to find a street doc.)
("Best to start looking now while I'm not bleeding in the street."
~ Yorick, on finding a street doc)("You're honest. I like that. Maybe you'll get over that before you're dead."
~ Phenix, talking to Yorick)(The doc works in the Barrens at a shop called Altered Minds. It's actually a tat shop and she works illegally in the back room. Yorick is directed there by Phenix to find a street doc.)
(Ben reminds us that he is going to be unable to game between Dec. 1st and 10th.)
Ajax asks me to talk to the van and the doctor needs to go into work, so we head over there, leaving Ajax at the safe house. I'll stay outside in the van and talk to <16> while the doctor checks in at work.
("There's a guy waiting for you in your waiting room."
~ Zeke, the doctor's boss
"Alright. Is he armed?"
~ the doctor)(Yorick is there waiting for her. They talk about her professional services.)
("Pst, ask her if she installs cyberware."
~ Aaron, to Yorick's player
"Not on a first date."
~ Michael)The doctor tells me there's a weird guy coming my way who she wants my opinion on. He looks like a pretty clean cut ork kid. He's obviously armed but seems nice enough, if a little naive. I give him a ride back to a taxi stand in a nicer part of town. We chat a little. He's guarded but polite to the weird pushy woman asking him questions. Not a bad sign. At least the doctor doesn't need to worry about him.
After about an hour of talking to <16> the doctor and I head back to the safehouse.
(I'm going to call <16> dezzy from now on. Don't ask.)
When we arrive the doctor tells Ajax about the weird meeting with the ork kid. Apparently his name is Yorick and he was asking about her medical care for a later date. Ajax seems to think he might be a new runner. I could see that. I approve of professionalism in noobs.
We all get some sleep and in the morning Ajax asks around about the kid. Apparently some woman called Phoenix referred him to the doctor. He sets up a meet with the kid at the Ork with the Gold Tooth bar tomorrow evening.
In the mean time, I have a conversation with dezzy about meat people languages. He's sort of understanding. I'm very sure his previous "friend" spoke native continental Portuguese though, as she doesn't seem to have brought the idea up at all. Ajax grabs some English tutorial stuff for him off the Matrix. Hopefully we can get him some linguasoft soonish.
"Never ever accept payment in another language."
~ the doctorThe kid shows up on time. He's very... well honest is probably the word. At least not too forward.
"We're looking for a bullet sponge. I hope you have really high essence, 'cause that was the problem with the last one."
~ the doctor, partly jokingI'm not sure the doctor and I should ever be allowed to talk, especially when we are a bit punch drunk. Surprisingly the guy still takes the position. Ajax isn't amused by our references to wedding cake.
It's going to be weird having a new guy on the team. I suppose he'll probably warm up a bit after a while, but it's still weird. While we're talking to the guy, Ajax takes a phone call. He's got a meet with a Johnson person for us in about seven hours.
I still don't get Ajax's obsession with meat-food. I mean it's not like he even gets good stuff. Bah.
We hang out for a few hours. When we go to head over to the park I have to explain to dezzy that Yorick is our new friend, so that it will let Yorick into the van.
The doctor checks out the park but isn't seeing much of anything out of the ordinary. About five minutes before the meet time a small commuter 'copter deposits a single guy in the middle of the park.
Unfortunately, when I ask dezzy if it can drop us off in the park it is a bit... upset. It is apparently uncomfortable in open spaces. That would explain why it wouldn't go in to the Matrix earlier. I try to talk it into dropping us off, but it really doesn't want to. After about a minute of unsuccessful negotiation, we decide to walk. I think I'm being tasked with the role of psychological councilor for a techno-spirit when our meet is over. Joy.
The Johnson is a tall and dark skinned human; very dignified. He apparently wants a distraction out in the Sound. It sounds like we will be distracting the harbor patrol and customs for a few minutes. It doesn't sound too bad. He's offering 2000 NY now and 7000 NY when their ship is safely past.
After a little bit of discussion we accept the job.
(Aaron is surprised that Ajax doesn't negotiate up the price.)
We walk back to the van and leave. I spent most of the ride trying to coax dezzy into telling me why open spaces make it uncomfortable.
End of Session