(game date: March 25, 2021)
I spent my morning arranging a meeting with, and hiring, a thief. I'd decided to go this route because the alternative method to retrieving the Ci from Gipson would likely be messy. As the Dragon had said, he would not willingly part with the thing. That, however, did not mean we should draw attention to ourselves if we didn't need to. I don't think Dragons believe in subtlety.
I reached out to one Steff "Novaspark" Camden, who has been our main contact with the Hoods since we noticed their activities at ER's benefit concert. She (or her comrades) did an excellent job planting the bug on General Stone, and she knows that she'll get paid when she deals with us.
Once we'd arranged our meeting, I transferred 1,000 credits to a datachip, which I handed over, first thing.
"That," I said, "is for your silence, whether you take the job or not."
She scanned the chip and made it disappear. "'Kay, you've got my attention."
I nodded once, then laid it out. "Our illustrious council leader has, in his possession, an object that does not belong to him. It looks like a handle, with nothing attached. My friends and I would like it back. He doesn't appear in public often. There are two instances coming up, that I know of. You would have free reign as to the how. You can use your people, and/or my people. You would have my gratitude. And at least one other rather powerful organization wants this done, too. I have some information on some expected public appearances, if it would help."She took a moment to reply. "You don't aim low, do ya," she said, flatly.
I had no rebuttal. The girl was not wrong. "I wish I could choose my enemies," I said. "I comfort myself that I can choose my friends."
We bantered a bit. I wasn't sure that she was going to take the job; the high profile of the mark seemed to spook her. I did what I could to assure her that my team would provide backup. In the end, the price tag for her friendship was a 20,000 credit advance, with an unspecified amount upon delivery. I chose not to haggle, and made the transfer.
---+++---
Vamir spent his morning interviewing for an executive position at SunTek. He hasn't said much about it, yet, but if I know my father, he handled the interview personally, and absolutely none of it consisted of the kind of empty questions that you can research on the Matrix. Vamir's background would have been thoroughly researched, and Dad would be investigating my motives for recommending him. The fact that Vamir was hired could mean any number of things, but I don't think for a moment that it means that we have fooled him.
---+++---
Aru was in self-imposed exile. He blames himself for leaving his family in a vulnerable position, and by way of atonement he has been performing all the scut work at the estate for several days now. He and I have very different responses to guilt. I invented a "silver bullet" that should ensure that the manor is never undefended again -- and I look forward to it being used on the next intruder, even if they are only trying to "test" us. Maybe especially then.
I am sorry to admit that I do not know anything about Gordianus' day. As the newest member of this team, and the least experienced, she deserves more of my time and attention. I'll have to try to correct that.
Varfana, while performing inventory that afternoon, found a bag of powder hidden in the shelves. She called for the employee on duty, Heznik.
"I found this in the back room, any idea what it is or where it came from?"
Heznik looked guilty, then he sighed and fessed up. "You know my son, Lorhig, he's been doing some of the deliveries. I found that in his things earlier today, and took it. I knew he was hanging around with the wrong crowd, but I was hoping getting him involved in the business would help to pull him away. I don't know what sort of drug it is, but it does not look like caffeine pills. I am worried. He is out on deliveries now. I was going to confront him about it when he got back."
The man probably thought that he was about to be fired, but Varfana isn't like that. She sympathized completely, and offered up Vamir's chemical expertise to analyze the powder. Heznig wasn't sure he wanted to know. He didn't seem sure about anything; the realization that his son was involved with this at all had shaken him. After waffling for a bit, he decided that it was best to know the truth, and Varfana called up Vamir.
It didn't take him long, even with his portable setup, to identify the stuff.
"The common street name is 'Ash,' but some of the more honest dealers call it 'Burnout.' It's a highly addictive, very powerful, stimulant. Makes the user feel invulnerable, but it brings a nasty crash when the high wears off. It's killed a few people." He pushed the bag away with distaste. "That's at least fifteen doses."
Varfana set her jaw. "The boy's mixed up with the Masques. They'd be the ones in this neighborhood with the hard drugs."
From what I heard later, Heznik didn't take the news well. He was angry, and worried, and he needed someone to blame for this, so for a couple of minutes he swung like a pendulum between blaming his son, to blaming himself, and back again. As Varfana was trying to calm him down, the kid returned from the delivery route.
Lorhig looked like a frightened slugbunny that had narrowly escaped a hunt, only to blunder into a nest of antkegs. He sported a nasty bruise on one cheek, and a wary expression in his eyes. He scanned the room, saw his dad, his dad's boss, a stranger in a lab coat, and he very nearly turned right around again. To his credit, he didn't, and the whole story eventually was revealed.
When Lorhig told his "friends" (that he was getting drugs from, to use) that he wasn't going to be able to hang out anymore (because of his dad getting him a job at Oakenshield's), they grilled him about the job and basically told him that he would use this new job as a delivery boy as a cover to deliver drugs for them, too. Or Else. The bruise on his cheek was an Or Else moment, when it was discovered he had lost some product -- that being the bag which Heznik had taken from Lorhig's things.
It was at that point when Varfana called the group to let us know what was going on. Katrya said she had a plan, and I (for one) was entirely too happy to let her (or anyone) handle planning. Especially since this particular situation was not likely to call for a lot of subterfuge nor intricate hacking.
EllieRocks had an earlier curfew, so I didn't get a chance to discuss much with her - another failing on my part. I'll have to check in with her soon - is it too late to see if she could entertain at the debutante ball? She would certainly hold everyone's attention, giving Novaspark the best chance if she should decide to pull the job then.
Ryatt has been learning what it's like to run a business. We did our best to set things up so that this doesn't take up the majority of his time, but it's not a good idea for him to isolate himself from it completely, because that would just make it too easy for unscrupulous executives to steal too much from him. I snagged a few minutes before he had to leave, and proposed that he and I design a drone for the upcoming Sunspot Games. He could list Rintendo as an official sponsor, it would be good publicity, and give us all a good excuse to be present at the Games if needed to back up our hired thief.
He agreed that it sounded like fun, although he seemed more interested in designing a VR game based upon drone racing - which, if I know anything about this kid, means that he will end up designing an intricate system for players to design their own drones, with race courses based upon the entire history of the Sunspot races (and a few based upon alternate laws of physics), and the resulting product will end up being used as a tutorial for future participants of Sunspot.
Which, in turn, probably means that I'll be the one doing most of the work on the actual drone we'll be using in the real-life race, but that's okay. His VR work will point toward the best design, if he completes it in time to be useful to us.
Katrya spent her day as she has several days since the SunTek job - avoiding being seen in public. She also made a point of having to stay outside of both planned events. When I asked why, she stared at me blankly. "Do you not read the news, Zeke?"
Apparently I don't, at least not often enough. Shortly after we all had our faces flashed in relation to the SunTek break-in, Border Patrol issued a 500-credit reward for information leading to Katrya's arrest. Specifically her. And I'd missed it.
500 credits seems a little insulting, all things considered. I slept on the problem.
The next day I started work on a new type of holographic projector. Actually, I built three mini-projectors into a necklace, and programmed them to project an image of a face over the wearer's own visage, approximating the same movements and expressions. It was finished by early afternoon, and turned out better than I expected.
Before turning the prototype over to the foxkin, I studied and documented my work carefully, and by late evening I was able to program the machine shop drones to duplicate it - they can turn one out every six hours, so in a couple of weeks each of us should own one. The materials are pricey, about 10K each, but if we ever get out of the saving-the-world-business, we could sell these on the black market for ten times that.
For now, though, I'm keeping this tek a secret. Well, I did take the first drone-assembled FakeFace to another meeting with Novaspark. I figured, with this tool in her kit, her chances of nabbing the Ci would be much greater. I made it clear that this bauble wasn't going on the market; it was just for her use, but she was so excited about the potential of the thing that she didn't care. She even offered to return the cash advance, which I firmly declined for several reasons (most of them relating to goodwill, but there are also expenses involved with ripping off the upper crust, and, as I said at the time, a girl's gotta eat).
So, that was my week so far. It could be worse. I could have a boring job.
..::Kai::..
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