Hot Blooded

 Phase One of our long con on SimSoft and SiNet had paid off, and just in time.  We had the new anthrodrone that we'd stolen from CyberTek, but until now very little money for outfitting them.  This was a big payoff for us.  Even with putting aside 20K for anticipated legal fees for Phase Two, that still left us with 10K each, and 10K for the group projects fund.  I had passed out the credsticks, and we were all a little giddy.  The entire group was at the Sanctuary, and it was as close to a celebration as

we've ever had.  Oh, sure, I was trying to pass on some advice, such as, "This might be a good time to invest in drone armor, weapons, and clothing," but I might as well have been saying "blah, blah, blah," for all anyone heard.  I'd already done a bit of shopping, but I don't think anyone else had much time for it yet.

This was unfortunate, because in the midst of our revelry, our comms spontaneously switched to a news report.  The 'caster was saying, "...terror in the streets as these strange, glowing figures are attacking everyone in sight. Law Enforcement has been alerted, and is working to blockade the area, but it's unclear how many people may still be in danger. If you're in the affected district, we advise you to stay inside, do not open your doors, and wait for an all-clear..."

All voices hushed, and we exchanged meaningful glances.  It had been a few weeks since we had received a bona fide Peaches mission.  I guess we were overdue.  The autochef itself hadn't spoken, but, as Katrya put it, "Does it really matter?  We know."

The Body Snatchers Job (Part 3)

(game date: 11/4/2020)

I didn't wait for us to arrive at Sanctuary before loading up the datastick and scanning the schematics.  I was searching for one specific thing:  built-in security tags.  Where to find them, how to best disable them.  I wanted that done quickly; I wasn't taking the slightest chance that we could be tracked with this load.

I'll say this:  There is no way that the same engineers who scribbled passwords on stickynotes, wrote this documentation.  It had to be Hilda's work.  I found what I was looking for before we even got halfway to the Gate, and had all the tags erased soon after.  Only the docs for the juggernaut gave me the slightest bit of trouble; they seemed much more disorganized, but in the end it really was the same basic principle.

Back at Sanctuary, we took a peek at our ill-gotten gains, and I dove a little deeper into the data dump.

The Body Snatchers Job (part 2)

(Game date:  10/29/2020)

The anthrodrone stood in the far corner of the room.  Looming at about twice the height of a human, probably steel and plasmer construction, and one forearm had a plasmer rifle in place of a hand.  Obviously built for security, so we had to assume that it included motion and sound sensors.  So we froze, no one else breaching the doorway.  

Ever so slowly, Vamir crept the rest of the way across to the door in the other wall, and opened it.  

Most of us couldn't see much.  Had it not been for the video link-up we shared, we'd have seen almost nothing from our angle.  But Vamir could clearly see inside.  

It was a combination warehouse and manufacturing facility.  Several crates were stacked, grouped by color (red, yellow, and white).  A catwalk, probably for foremen, stretched above the floor.  Further south, a large group of machines lay dormant.  

And, at various points, more of the giant security drones stood sentry.