Given that one of our runs is too hot to talk about, and the other was botched due to competition, I suppose I’ll start with our latest run. I got a call from Silver saying that he had a run for our crew if we were interested. We were told we could meet the Mr. Johnson at a club called Matchstick’s downtown. Being the jazz enthusiast I am, I’ve been there on an evening or two. It’s only lucky an elf doesn’t own the place, or they’d be serving carrot juice. Our Mr. Johnson is an elf woman who gives us the usual spiel about how this is a simple snatch and grab. The group exchanges wary looks when she tells us that the run is going down in the Tir. We listen anyway, and she lays out a plan that seems thoroughly planned and well supported. In fact, I’ve never seen nor heard of the group getting so much intel from a Johnson before. When she satisfies us all that maybe this will be at least “simpler,” we accept, but with a slightly higher fee given that we’re crossing borders and walking into unfriendly territory for us.

The plan involves us all receiving fake ID’s and travelling as landscaping consultants. She writes down an inventory list of everything we think we’ll need for the mission and promises it’ll be delivered once we’re in-country. Just to be on the safe side, we spend the following day tracking down what information we can on our Ms. Johnson. We eventually track down that her streetname is “Banshee.” Seems she used to be a runner herself, but may have retired to the middleman biz. She also seems to have been a singer for some band, although she must not have made enough noise to have recorded anything. We get back to studying the plan, which involves grabbing some intel from a Universal Omnitech facility, and destroying their research lab.

Whoever our corporate sponsor was behind Banshee, they certainly had some pull. We had our fake ID’s and plane tickets in hand the following day. That indicates a whole team of drek-hot hackers slipping background information into key places and what not. We packed our bags and headed for the airport and Tir Tairngire. Security on our side of the plane ride wasn’t terribly noteworthy. When we landed, however, customs pulled Doc and I aside at the luggage carousel. It seems that they do not allow combat fetishes nor armor of any kind. I don’t know what spells Doc keeps on his fetishes that got him tagged, but I was fairly taken aback that they would bother with the armor I brought. These were my every day wear, and frankly the clothing of most corporate types in the ‘Plex. I managed to cajole the customs agent to let me keep my Auctioneer clothing, but they insisted on holding onto the form fitting armor. These elves must keep their back to the wall everywhere they go if they don’t allow armor.

That done, we debated going to the motel that Pariah had thoughtfully booked as a back-up if things went south, but we decided things hadn’t gone wrong yet. We headed to the Rose Branch Inn that had been booked for us by our sponsor. I’m not sure why we had to be here days in advance of the run, but here we were early in the week and stuck waiting for the weekend. Over a dinner at a nearby Elven restaurant, we discussed our next move. With so much time on our hands, we decided to find out more about Banshee, as our trail of information led here. With her having made the move to the corporate world, we went to a hot spot frequented by corporate types where I asked around for anyone who knew her. When that didn’t help, we tried a hangout for medical types since our target was some biotech research – still nothing. Next, we headed towards the slums in search of anyone who knew her from her shadowrun days.

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I think that we are too relieved to have escaped Renraku at all to want to look back on it. The guys told me their story about fighting block by block through an army of zombies and vampires once, and maybe the Arcology is my own little horror story, if it hasn’t replaced theirs, as well.

Aside from the small business of cashing in on the Draco Foundation’s reward for information on room 1835 in the Arcology, I’ve spent the rest of my time finding a cure for whatever Doc and I picked up in there. Lucky Doc, he seems to have cured himself by passing it on to his unlucky wife. At least I know that there is plenty of medical interest in finding a cure. I haven’t gotten any results back from the magical community, either. One shaman offered that we could be turning into wendigo’s, but when none of the symptoms fit the idea, I’m not sure why he even bothered.

Even though I’m not terribly interested in the distraction of another shadowrun just now, when I got the call that Red had scheduled a meet with a Mr. Johnson I gathered my gear and headed over. My “gear” now includes a briefcase full of field rations so that I can keep up my strength. Even though I’m eating ravenously to keep up my weight, I can only imagine the toll this “disease” is taking on my body.

Once everyone has met up at the HQ, we pack into Drake’s van and head out. The only big change I notice is that Pariah, who had gone missing for most of the two weeks since our return, has shown up with a flat top. I made a joke about him re-joining the army, and the way he tip-toes around in his response seems to raise everyone’s eyebrows. He’s not forthcoming, so we quickly change the subject to the mission at hand.

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Shortly after our departure from the Renraku Arcology,we, absent Pariah agree to meet with Nadja Daviar, Speaker for former President Dunkelzahn at the local headquarters of the Draco Foundation. We are all eager to know why they were so interested in learning what was hidden in the Arcology, but from our discussions with them, it doesn’t seem that they will let us know even after they decrypt the information. We leave with several hundred thousand Nuyen apiece.

About two weeks later Red informs us that she has a new potential client that she has been referred to by her secretary. The client’s name is Zilch and wants to meet at a dive bar in Renton, called Lenny’s, not far from where I used to live at the Renton Ambassador Suites. I remember traveling past the joint before, but never frequented it.

We meet up at the appointed time, and enter the place, where there is none of the pat downs that I have become used to when entering such establishments. Actually, it is a little disconcerting to me, as it gives the patrons a little better sense of security when people are asked to hand over their arms.

We meet with the client Zilch, who informs us that he learned of us through his sister, who is apparently friends with Jenny. One of his customers apparently kidnapped his son Cooper because they claim to not have received product that they paid for. Also, Jonathan, his hired muscle has gone missing. When asked further, we learn this product was organics. I can’t say I have never tried it, after all I did attend a public university.

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[2061.04.11]
I get back from Los Angeles, and the whole crew is razing me about my haircut. Seriously, they act like it is the next big thing. Did you join back up in the army? Yep, I sure did, and my first mission is to come back home and do nothing. That’s the convenient part of re-joining after going AWOL in the first place, they actually give you a promotion and then let you go back home and relax. Additionally, the gracious pay of 3500¥ a month is much better then the petty mil-and-a-quarter we made at the Arc earlier this month. Zany could come in with a 8-inch spiked mohawk and they all just say hi, and not bear it a second glance. I get a haircut, and it is the Spanish inquisition. Speaking of which, she is still a little mad at me cause I took a few days to head down south to talk to Case. She disappears for days on end while siphoning money off of me to pay for treatment for a psychotic friend that tried to kill me and I should accept that, but I am in the doghouse for taking an opportunity to head out of town for a few days to catch up with a friend. Women.

While I was away, the crew had met with some bigwig exec from the Draco Foundation to see about the information that we acquired from behind the mysterious door #1835. It’s not that Renraku hadn’t paid us for our job, but I admit when you look at how much they paid us, it seems like a drop in the bucket to them. We managed to recover the Arc for them, saved tens of thousands of lives, and all I get to hear on the news are both the UCAS and Renraku are bickering over who liberated the Arc. It’s kinda insulting to hear them argue over which one of them is the hero of the day, so, I do not feel too guilty on cashing in on our side project while we were in there. Evidently, they seemed pleased with what Peregrine extracted and paid us in full, no questions asked. There is some speculation within our crew to what that intel was, but they are not forthcoming about it. As agreed, we split Peregrine in for an equal share. While Rook still appears to be affected by whatever Deus did to him in the Arc, Doc seems to have gotten over it. He actually is able to maintain a normal appetite. Sadly, Dot is now showing the same symptoms as Doc was only the day before. It is as if the effect simply jumped from one to the other. Since we are still in the dark to what it is that has been affecting them since their ‘infection’, it is frustrating that they cannot medically address the effects, much less figure out what it is. They have seen several standard and specialist doctors, and more recently, alternate avenues, such as voodoo and holistic medicines, all to no effect. There is speculation, but nothing that seems to fit their conditions. It seems unlikely that they have become wendigos or vampires, as more recent theories have suggested…

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This is going to have to be a quick journal entry, but I feel I should put something down now, before it’s too late. I’m starting to get the feeling that I’ve signed on to a suicide mission. When we found out that Drake’s sister and some family members of Tovarich’s were trapped inside Renraku, we approached them about doing a rescue mission. No, not just a rescue mission, we offered to restore the arcology back to their control.

I had to blow some serious smoke up the Ren Corps’ hoops to let our ragtag band take the mission, but if we don’t do it they’re sending in the military and none of us think that’ll bode well for any survivors that may be inside. The problem is that no one knows whats going on inside – not even Renraku. The closest we can figure, based on the scant information our research has uncovered, is that the automated security system has taken over. What’s more, it’s like the system has gained an AI and is enslaving the residents with some kind of forced cyber implant.

This isn’t my usual kind of op. When we couldn’t turn up any security armor I took a step back and it started to really hit me. I mean, I’m so drekking freaked out about getting turned into some kind of techno-zombie that I was scrambling for military grade body armor. When did my training ever involve military assault? The rest of the DV-8’s are doing their prep work before we go in, packing all kind of ordinance; and her I am with a pistol. No time now to train for anything bigger, even if that were my style.

I saw Pariah pull down a rocket launcher off the wall in the armory and give it some serious consideration as to how to get it into his backpack. I guess I’m not the only one that’s a bit worried about where this is going.

What I’m really wishing right now is that I had more time to scrounge up some capsule rounds with a stun agent. If they really are giving the residents a cyber-lobotomy, I don’t want to be shooting them with live rounds. I’m worried that I’m going to have to before I can save any of them, though…

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Prep Work

After that night with Pariah, Dot and Zany, the thoughts of entering the Renraku Arcology weighed on my mind. No doubt this would be a dangerous undertaking, as several groups had already attempted this endeavor and failed. There would be huge rewards gained. Not only would there possibly some monetary reward, that I could use towards my projects, there was also the reward of possibly saving family members of some of my friends, and the reward of reinvigorating the city of Seattle, putting this nightmare behind us.

Over the next week, I began to do a little research about this topic and also on honing some of my magical skills and adding a couple of spells to my repertoire. Two weeks after our last mission, we were going to regroup and Pariah and I would be presenting our ideas to the group.

We all meet at the Clubhouse; well I and Dot pick up Rook at his new snazzy place. When we arrive there, we unpack some of our bags, and meet in the common area. We begin by questioning Drake about why he had never mentioned his sister before. He said that he really hasn’t had the urge to confide in any of his team members about much of anything – well obviously except for Dot and Zany. His sister had been a researcher for Renraku Computer Systems and resided there as well. She has not been heard of since the day of the shutdown.

Drake then recounts the history of Casualty Count that his father had been involved with. Who knew?

Rook seems interested in pursuing this further too, but mostly to pay his new enormous rental fees. We take a vote on whether to undertake this endeavour, and vote unanimously that this is something we want to taken on. Hopefully, we don’t regret this later.

Rook is miraculously able to schedule a meeting with Renraku officials, and schedules it for the afternoon. We have to go back Downtown now to meet them at their temporary headquarters at the Convention Center.

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We were next standing outside with the rest of the crowd of people waiting in line to get into Reno’s. Pariah then mentions, I will call my old buddy Stan Lemansky and see if he can get us in. After a few brief moments of waiting afterwards, a woman comes forward towards us. She extends her hand to me, and says My name is Madelena Santiago and we have been waiting for you. We follow her, skirting around the line and receive some jealous glares from the others waiting outside. We follow her through the bouncers and then into a side door, and up a staircase to the floor above She raps on a door and soon after we meet our new Mr Johnson. The man is also of Hispanic descent, but when I see the little jaguar figure on his lapel, I know that we are meeting with someone from Aztechnology. My mind flickers back to our time in the jungle and to that massacred village and of course Dot’s rants about the company. Am I going to be working for the enemy this time?

They begin by saying that they are having some issues here in Seattle that they would rather remain contained here, and news not get back to Tenochtitlan. Several of their facilities have been hacked into and attacked over the last few months and some of their personnel has been killed. The more the situation is described to me, the more it makes me think that I know who is involved in this. She wouldn’t really do that, would she? I know she is good with that gun, and hates Aztechnology, and he would probably do her bidding, but would she really kill someone innocent?

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Only about ten days after I had gotten home, Pariah gives me a call and says Tovarich has contacted me with some new jobs; come down to the Clubhouse so we can discuss it. Dot was off to work, so I sent her a message and got my gear together. Though I didn’t necessarily want a new job right now, I have bills to pay and more dreams to fulfill. Besides, I kind of want to experiment with this new found power that I have. He tells me that the second meet is downtown several hours after the first, so I should be able to come back here to rest a bit.

When I get to the Compound, the gang is there: Pariah. Red and Drake. It is strange to not have Byk there anymore and the place seems quiet now. We already had a vote on whether we should ask Rook to join us on our next missions, if he was so willing. The vote is unanimous and was enthusiastic. After we briefly discuss what has been learned about these new missions, and after Pariah gives Rook a call, we agree that we will pick him up on our way to Puyallup. The location for pickup isn’t too far from my new apartment.

We arrive there and pick him up under the I-5 overpass near Sunset and Third and head towards Puyallup to meet Mr. Yin. Puyallup looks much the same as it had for many years, fields of ash and abandoned buildings. Who would willingly live here? We arrived at our destination, or at least what the GPS said. “This is it, this is number 1523.” When I look around, I see that there are a few ork gangers and a wall that has some odd looking, almost medieval barbs sticking out of it. When I get to look a little closer, with everyone else, we kind of make out a pagoda style building in the distance, barely visible from this angle. Drake pulls around and hits the “call” button. When we confirm who we are, the gates open. Drake says he doesn’t feel comfortable leaving his baby here like this, the rest of us get out and enter through the gate. There is a well manicured pathway heading towards the structure we saw. The pathway is flanked by various potted plants. Beyond, is a field of what looks like obsidian, with intermittent pillars of black glass sticking up. As we get closer to the pagoda, we notice that there are sumptuous gardens and ponds closer. As we approach, we are greeted by a man, who bows before us. Taking our cue from Red we bow in return. He beckons us to wait here while he fetches his master.

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