Dramatis Personae

• Derrick K. Ratnam aka Legerdemain (NPC Ally): Spin doctor and media liaison for Project VANGUARD. Twin to Bo. Tagline: “Well, actually that’s not how it happened…”
• Layla A. de Blackburn aka Nox (NPC): CIA-trained child assassin all grown up to be Daddy’s Little Monster. Maybe a little mad. Argues with her shadow often. Tagline: “No, we shouldn’t do that…should we?”
• Stainless Steel Rat aka “Sir” (NPC Ally): Bo’s best friend and assistant. A sentient drone in the shape of a stylized shiny metal rat mindlinked to Bo. Specialties are rapid repair construction and modifications. Imagine if K-9 and R2D2 made a baby and it looks a bit like a rodent. Tagline: “Repairs and upgrades in progress.”

Previously . . .

Things continue with Wirerat tapping the copper phone lines with SSR’s presence, tracing the signals to an old payphone line system, while all the old payphones may have been ripped out the lines were still left connected. There’s not much that he can make out from the signals being transmitted so he just ends up attaching a monitoring device in case it ends up being used again by getting into the building and into the walls for the wires so it’s not set right where their opposition has their hardware. Whisper ends up following SSR around, keeping out eye out for the small bot and for potential problems, listening to team comms with her end muted.

Paranoid,  Paranoid And Everybody Is Coming to Get ME

Nyx, Threshold, Wirerat, and Whisper
Old FDNY Engine 299/Ladder 152 Building aka New Base
Monday, May 4th, 2020, 1500 hours (EST) 
61-20 Utopia Pkwy, Fresh Meadows, NY 11365

Threshold, back at the HQ, goes over the paperwork and tries to get things set up for the new hires alongside Gimmick and patrolling.

Nyx and June are also at the HQ, with June tinkering on her devices. Nyx apologizes for June’s apartment and offers her the pictures of her mother that he’d taken from August’s apartment. He tries to reassure her and jokes that he probably should be telling her that it’s much too dangerous for her to investigate her father’s disappearance. Instead he’s just going to tell her that she just needs a helmet which she scoffs at.

Nyx then prods Wirerat to investigate the analog data that he’d gathered for him. Getting him to investigate the data, the stuff from the programs that Duncan had installed captured a bunch of VOIP numbers. Nyx suggests, based on his knowledge of burner phones, that VOIP numbers need accounts of some kind of sign up for and those generally need IP addresses or device addresses. Searching through those databases, Wirerat finds them sabotaged but the code used points him towards a grey hat hacker named M0le_Tr0ll who’s able to duplicate himself for coding purposes. He’s. . . not a healthy person.

Wirerat calls down Threshold and Nyx, with Nyx grabbing some leftovers on the way through the kitchen. Once everyone is inside the room, he turns off the internal recording devices and gives them a rundown on M0le_Tr0ll that he’s a darn solid coder and a possible technopath. He’s not usually the lethal type which is how he’s been able to stay out of jail. Threshold asks if there’s some way to locate him, which Wirerat suggests that the best way to track him is the analog method. Known previous addresses, pictures, and known police/public records while trying to figure out who to contact on the dark web to get into contact with the guy. Nyx just asks if they can’t just imitate the guy’s code and post it on that Stack Overflow site as a job ad.

Threshold and Wirerat compile a psych profile and set up bait on a website while they try to figure out who to set up as a contact and for the life of him, Nyx cannot imagine anyone whose brain he wants to see explode if things go wrong. Eventually it’s suggested that they just set Whisper up with a phone and an alias. Bringing her into the meeting, they explain things to her that he’s a grey hat and it’s not really necessary to cause him any major issues. Nyx and Wirerat get a cover story and ID set up for her with her giving a few pointers while Threshold gives the psych profile.

They also inquire after June and where she’s going to stay as well as education which dissolves into Wirerat hacking into the Meraki School for Institutional Academies to confirm that she’s actually graduated learning that she graduated with a single Ph.D and refused to sell them or let them look over her tech. As for her living situation, there’s still some arguments going on about it.

Whisper, Wirerat, and Legerdemain manage to get the data file responded to, M0le_Tr0ll is not happy with it being online and calls. Threatening Whisper that she’s made the worst mistake of her life and that she will regret it. Whisper ignores his ranting and goes straight into a recruiting post and how the last guy was horrible and moves into a rather vague description. While speaking, he comments on how attractive she is and to look at the camera and wave. She undoes a button on her blouse in return and starts vamping for the camera, trying to get him to think with his little head rather than the one on his shoulders causing groundhog noises to come from the other end of the phone line and then suggesting they meet up somewhere, giving the address of a pizza place across the street from the firehouse. She feels almost violated by end of the phone call and goes to take a shower before the meeting.

Wirerat makes sure to sweep the pizza place for bugs beforehand while they each prep and Whisper gets into the role, getting into the pizza place at the designated time. She sees someone short, fat, and greasy wearing all black with a turtleneck. She stands at the end of the counter waiting for her food to get to her, looking pretty annoyed. M0le_Tr0ll approaches her, commenting on the amount of pizza she ordered, calling it quite a bit for a girl. Outside, there’s at least two other versions of the guy looking around outside, having arrived in a Klube. She convinces him that she’s dealing with a stalker, Derek and convinces him to destroy his life for free. While Wirerat starts laughing as Derek’s life is virtually slowly destroyed, Whisper makes the gesture for them to come in.

Threshold warps in, motioning for M0le_Tr0ll to come closer while Whisper claims that Threshold is one of Derek’s henchpeople leading to him calling in the two M0les outside as Threshold frog-marches one of them. Wan Shi Tong, who was nearby, subdues the other two and drag them into the firehouse asking for their cooperation and not for them to run as then he may have to take his leg off so he can’t run. M0le_Tr0ll is still annoyed by what’s going on and confused.

Threshold explains what he’s doing, and that he’s committed a crime and that they are considering arresting him if he doesn’t cooperate. He mentions that M0le_Tr0ll was involved in an event that caused the Queens Bridge to blow up which causes him to seemingly freak out, but not enough to hand over his password when Wirerat asks for it. Threshold obliterates something unimportant on the desk while Wirerat has SSR copy the hard drive, literally, out of thin air. Threshold continues to intimidate the man who claims he just did a simple comms package for and he’s not even sure that the guy needed it as he contacted him directly over his machine, without an invite.

Aftermath

Threshold suggests that he’s maybe been set up as a fall guy, but M0le_Tr0ll can’t actually explain why he’d have been set as a fall guy if he was being paid. Whisper calls him the first domino while Wirerat comes out of the basement and reaches out his hand to M0le_Tr0ll, introducing himself, impressing the M0le_Tr0ll. Explaining that the bandages on his head were perhaps caused by what the grey hat did. They start getting into some psychological help regarding M0le_Tr0ll’s name. He offers them the old computers, he uses a fresh one with each client and he can give him the old one that he’d been contacted on stored in faraday cages. They give him the option of either helping. . . or not and they really don’t suggest the latter options. Whisper introduces herself properly and asks if they could brainstorm with Wirerat to determine how to properly defend someone with the brain exploding. He says it’s possible, that occasionally a kicked dog will kick back, but he’ll need someone to come back with him just in case to which Whisper volunteers and SSR is sent along.

After Action Report (GM)

There was a lot going on here – a lot of it wasn’t even noticed until a day after the session had concluded and was pointed out by Chris D. to the others who instantly began drawing their own conclusions. As I am want to do in my games there are lots and lots of layers to peel back and not peeling them back doesn’t cause the game to falter. The main thread is what keeps you trucking and everything else is just fine lace added to the campaign’s tapestry. You don’t need it, but it is nice.

I think I set things up nicely with what I had in mind and lots of RP was had – some shading was required but it wasn’t terrible. Overall, a good session and I think everyone got to do stuff on some level and really that is what’s important. This was a good one and I hope we have many more like it.

Other Notes

Bonus Report from Rory.

Soundtrack

“Flagpole Sitta” by Harvey Danger
“The Spy” by the Doors