>>31140171
You buy five boxes of food from a tattooed orc with a nicotine-stained smile hocking fried tofu with Redmond-grown vegetables and beef-flavored soy. Even if it was low-quality, a filling meal with genuine vegetables could be a rare bounty during certain jobs. The man at the front desk of Leo’s doesn’t even look at you when you walk through the front door. You flinch a bit at the first breath of thick, tepid air in the main room. The crowd noise is greater than it was last night or this morning. You find Quetzal sitting at a desk in your block of pods, grinding a stone against a knife made of black glass.

“Got you lunch.” You say, putting the box of food onto the desk. He doesn’t take his eyes off of his work. A small pile of crystal glass builds up on a piece of paper atop the desk.

“Thank you.” The elf slowly nods. “What did you find in the safehouse?”

“The merc leader’s comm, for one thing.” You explain. “There was a piece of paper in the fridge with some interesting encryption, too.”

“A hacker was waiting inside of the safehouse.” Dreadnought says. “He ran off when he saw us, but he left his commlink and a combat drone behind. Echo saw fit to bring it with us.”

“Hmm.” Quetzal hums to himself. His work apparently finished, he blows the excess crystal dust from the edge of the obsidian blade and carefully examines it.

“How’s Harriet?” you ask, opening your own box of food. In your peripheral vision, Dreadnought’s already begun to dig in to one of his two.

“Angry.” Quetzal says. “She’s taking a shower right now.”

“Another one?” You sigh.

“I have a spirit watching over her.” Quetzal blinks. “What are our plans for this afternoon?”

>>31140185
>Crack the hacker’s commlink and try and find out what you can from it.
>Crack the mercs’ commlink and find out what you can about how Declan Futures does its Shadowruns.
>Look through the rest of Harriet’s data cluster and find out what you can about her.

(Also, the reason I'm starting early today is because I have something to do later. As a result, today's thread is only running for four hours. Tomorrow's thread will follow the normal schedule.)

>>31140203
>Crack the mercs’ commlink and find out what you can about how Declan Futures does its Shadowruns.

Since this is the first vote on a day I don't usually run, I'll be making the voting period for this one fifteen minutes instead of ten. I don't know if any of the usual lurker anons are around right now, but if you are, feel free to throw in your votes or just talk amongst yourselves.

>>31140185
>Crack the mercs’ commlink and find out what you can about how Declan Futures does its Shadowruns.

Well we have survived so far and just need to hold out a little longer.

>>31140287
>>31140471
>Writing

>>31140203
>Crack the mercs’ commlink and find out what you can about how Declan Futures does its Shadowruns.
Let's start with the leader, then we'll go through the hacker's comm.

>>31140185
“The Declan mercs took the time to set up a trap in case they were compromised.” You say. “It’ll take some time, but I should be able to recover whatever they had on it.”

“How long do you think that will take?” Dreadnought asks between bites.

“Cracking the comm, a couple minutes at most. Recovering the data will take a lot longer, but I’ll be able to keep working in the meantime.”

“Then we should wait until you are done before deciding our next move.”

“I’ve already decided it. There are a couple of people I want to ask about Declan Futures and their relationship with the shadow community. Before we hand Harriet over to these guys, I want to know more about them.”

“Then we should decide who else is going into the field with you.” Dreadnought says. You look between the Russian commando and the Aztec shaman, as well as your contacts list. For this brand of legwork, the most valuable skill set you could bring with you would be…

>Combat power and intimidation. Things could go wrong at any moment, and you want to be ready when they do.
>Invisibility and perception. You want your backup to be able to see things that you can’t, and do so without beings seen.
>Social engineering and adaptability. Not too many people would be willing to start a firefight in broad daylight, and a smooth talker might be able to dissuade the people who would.

>>31140657
>Invisibility and perception. You want your backup to be able to see things that you can’t, and do so without beings seen.

>>31140657
>Invisibility and perception. You want your backup to be able to see things that you can’t, and do so without beings seen.

>>31140657
>>Invisibility and perception. You want your backup to be able to see things that you can’t, and do so without beings seen.

>>31140697
>>31140708
>>31140839

>Writing

>>31140657
“Quetzal’s been on Harriet-watch for long enough.” You say, clapping the elf on the shoulder. “Dread, you keep an eye on Harriet while we’re gone.” Magic has always been one of the best resources you can have your on side in the shadows. A good magician can provide surveillance with more subtlety than a hacker, be as invisible as a ghost, talk their way through a room as well as a face, lay down the same firepower as a street samurai, or patch you up faster than a doctor. A great magician can do two or three of things at once. You know from experience that Quetzal’s pretty great.

Dreadnought nods almost imperceptibly as Harriet approaches the three of you. Her hair is still damp and she still has a cross look on her face.

“When did you get back?” she asks.

“A few minutes ago.” You shoot back. “We’re switching up the guard for the afternoon. Dreadnought here will be taking care of you until dinner.”

“What are you going to be doing?” she asks irritably.

“A little more work. There’s another lead I want to check out.” Harriet sighs and glances at Dreadnought, who holds up a box of food for her. She narrows her eyes before snatching it from his hand and taking a seat.

“You’re not a very good bodyguard, you know.” She grumbles.

“Trust me, the more information I have, the better I’ll be able to protect you.” At least until you hand her over to Rockwell in about ten hours. Once you’ve finished eating, you close yourself back up in your pod and plug the mercs’ commlink into your own.

(cont.)

>>31141014
As expected, Babylon cuts through the discarded commlink’s firewall like tissue paper. Using the access rights of the hacked account, you make yourself a real admin-level account on the commlink and log into it. It only takes a moment of looking around to see that everything except the operating system has been corrupted.

Well, cleaning up the corrupted files was well within your ability. It takes only a few moments to transfer the necessary files between your hacking commlink and the civilian link. With some assistance from the Servitor agent program, the civilian link will be able to automatically recompile and repair the damaged files from the backups in the commlink’s memory. The only problem, it will take at least a few hours before the repairs are done. With any luck, you’ll know what the mercs were trying to hide by tonight.

You stuff the pair of commlinks into your pocket and emerge from the pod. Dreadnought and Harriet are still chowing down, while Quetzal is only now wiping his mouth. You give him a nod of your head and he stands up immediately.

“Are we ready?” he asks.

“Absolutely. We’ve only got a few hours, so we’ll need to work fast.”

“Understood.” Quetzal nods robotically. “Where should we begin our search?”

With regards to Declan’s shadow activity, you’ve already got a little information, at least enough to know what the most potentially-valuable avenue would be.

>Fury. You know Declan tried to hire her, and the reason she refused might have something to do with their history.
>Jabir. He’s the one who got you this job, and you’ll have a chance to talk to him about last night’s safehouse debacle.
>Other. After a second thought, you remember something you hadn't previously considered. (write-in)

>>31141278
>Fury. You know Declan tried to hire her, and the reason she refused might have something to do with their history.

>>31141278
>>Fury. You know Declan tried to hire her, and the reason she refused might have something to do with their history.

>>31141278
>Fury. You know Declan tried to hire her, and the reason she refused might have something to do with their history.
Let's just hope she doesn't try to kill us.

>>31141361
>>31141372
>>31141389
>Writing

>>31141278
While you’re a little remiss to leave Dreadnought’s van behind, it wouldn’t do to bring your car into Redmond proper. With Walter the drone at your side and Quetzal trailing you half a block behind, you navigate the labyrinthine streets between Touristville and go-gang territory. Throughout the zone, AR graffiti marks where each gang’s territory begins and ends. You pass by territory markings for the Halloweeners, the Rusted Stilettos and a dozen other Redmond gangs. Though you can feel dangerous eyes on you the entire way, you manage to make it near the center of gang territory unmolested. Whether it’s because of the dangerous combat drone by your side or the dangerous mage behind you, you’re thankful to be able to avoid a fight.

The Axle is a shitty bar right at the center of Redmond gangland. You know the Erinyes, Fury’s old gang, used to own the area around it, and since they were killed, The Axle has served as a kind of neutral zone for the other gangs in the area to conduct negotiations without fear of a firefight. The same shitty faux-rock music has been playing ever since the night the Erinyes were purged, and at the same horrible volume as ever.

Of course, without any kind of gang affiliation, you’re stopped at the door almost immediately. A Japanese woman with gaudy cyberware on her face and arms and a hispanic orc with a bulky and dangerous-looking cyberarm stand between you and the door.

“Whoa there, schoolboy.” The woman says, recklessly brandishing a pistol in your direction while the orc gives a cold glare. “The fuck do you think you’re going?”

>Tell you’re paying your respects to the Erinyes.
>Tell her you’re a runner on business.
>Tell her you dog’s putting a bullet in her brain if she and Dingus don’t move it.

I'm doing that thing where my head moves faster than my hands again. I need to find a way to type at the speed of thought.

>>31141734
>Tell you’re paying your respects to the Erinyes.
We'll go polite first.

>>31141734
>>Tell her you’re a runner on business.

Rolled 2

>>31141951
>>31142012
We're deadlocked, so here's a roll.

1. Be polite
2. Be honest

>>31142147
>Writing

>>31141734
“I heard that Fury became a shadowrunner after Knight Errant killed the Erinyes.”

“Ancient history. What about it?” The Japanese ganger glances nervously between you and Walter.

“I’m here to talk business with her.” Just to punctuate your point, you rip down the shoddy security of the woman’s commlink. A message appears in her field of view advertising the ease with which you could shoot her with her own gun. The ideal way to deal with gangs isn’t to be polite or humble. It’s to show them that you’re stronger than them. You didn’t spend enough time in the Barrens to have a use for a reputation amongst gangers, so fear was a better door-opener than respect.

The orc makes a move to grab you with his blade-covered arm, but the woman raises a hand and slowly backs away.

“Go on in.” she say coldly. “And tell Fury that her bringing freaks like you coming in isn’t appreciated.” You keep the drone at your heels while you stride in, Quetzal a few moments behind you. The Axle is nearly empty at this hour. Were it not, you’d still be able to spot Fury instantly. Seated at the bar, a woman with a long black braid sips lazily at a glass of bourbon. Her red leather jacket is covered with patched up bullet holes and tears, and you can see the patchwork of scars along her knuckles. If you strain your hearing, you can hear her singing along to the music in a low voice. The last time you spoke with Fury…

>You were working with her.
>You were fighting with her.
>You were drinking with her.
>Other (Write-in)

>>31142382
Drinking

>>31142382
>You were working with her.

>>31142382
>>You were fighting with her.

>>31142382
>You were drinking with her.

>>31142516
>>31142550
>>31142573
We have a three-way deadlock. Since this is our first three-way tie, I'll wait five more minutes before throwing the die.

>>31142741
Or... Captain Brutus could arrive just in the nick of time to break the tie.

>Writing

>>31142382
The last time you spoke with Fury, it was over an Afghan Nuke at happy hour. You were out drinking with a few coworkers, and a biker chick with a bad attitude almost killed a guy for almost scratching her bike. You held her back, and she punished you by forcing you to drink with her until one of you passed out. The only reason you didn’t lose that one was because she was pretty far-gone in the first place.

You take a seat next to Fury at the bar and raise a hand to the bartender.

“What she’s having.” You say, nodding your head towards Fury.

“Echo_TRACER? A little out of your neighborhood, aren’t you?” Fury’s voice is a rough and dripping with barely-concealed rage as ever.

“I figured it had been a while since we’ve spoken. I’m working a job, and I heard my employers tried to hire you for it. Does the name Declan Futures mean anything to you?” Immediately, Fury’s grip on the glass tightens. A spider web of cracks extends out from her palm and fingertips.

“One of their thugs was ex-KE. Thought he could get away with talking about my old crew. Besides, I’ve heard nothing but bad drek about Declan. They never hire one team for a job when they can get three.”

“I’m guessing the third team usually kills the first and second.”

“That’s what I hear.” Fury shrugs.

“Typical.” You sigh. That explains the person at the safehouse and the hacker at the apartment. “I’m trying to dig up some information on them, and a bunch of mercs are killing anyone who goes asking.” As if to punctuate your words, a shot rings out. You turn your head just in time to see a muscular man in an armor jacket collapse to the ground with a smoking pistol in his hand and a hole in his head. Another four similarly-dressed men quickly scatter, each pulling a heavy pistol from a holstser.

>>31143104
As much as I'd love to keep going, I just got off the phone and my previous obligation has come up two hours early. As such, I need to go. While the thread was even slower than normal, I was still hoping to go for about another hour and a half. This will probably be the last time I try to quest before having to do something. As much as I'd like to say otherwise, Shadowrun hacker quest will return tomorrow at 1800 EST. For more updates, follow me on Twitter for schedule changes and be the first to know when the next thread goes live.

https://twitter.com/NullFearQuests

I'll be quick about archiving this and then I gotta slot and go. See you in the shadows tomorrow, chummers.