Ghost Cartels 2: Body Snatchers

[Joose]

I presume you are aiming to turn up on time. Just so im sure, who exactly is going, who is going in, and what are you taking in with you?

[Dog Pants]

Think it's just me and Leland going in. Don't know what everyone else is doing. I'll be taking comms, but I assume taking a hand cannon in is a bit of a faux pas.

[Joose]

I'll assume Leland is following your lead, to speed things up a bit.

You arrive at the place without issue, and enter the rather swanky entrance. The Matre’d discreetly checks your SIN and RFID chips, and shows you to one of the private dining rooms. On the way there, you notice Kenneth Brackhaven (ran for president in 2057) dining with some minor musical celebrities, and Derek Wiess, star of the hit sci-fi sim series “Dirk the Ebon” at another table, with a female elf. The elf looks a little uncomfortable. When you arrive at the room, the Matre’d shows you in and then leaves.

The room is lavishly furnished, with real leather seats and paintings on the wood panelled walls. For those of you with AR displays, you notice that there is absolutely no AR in the room, even down to the light switches being actual bronze switches on the walls. The only occupant of the room other than yourselves is a thin troll dressed in a smart business suit. You recognise him as the troll that was at the KondOrchid depot.

Good evening gentlemen. Please, take a seat. I’m afraid we do not have the time to stay and eat, but I can recommend a particularly fine Pinot Noir if you would like? My name is Kaz Yakamura, second in command of the Komun’go. I would like to personally thank you for the work you carried out for me last week, Dae tells me that you performed admirably. I apologise for having to put you through what must appear quite menial work. There were more significant ramifications than you could be told about, but really that was more of a test of your competence. I’m sure you understand.

It is on a more delicate matter that I would like to engage your team again. There was a local news reporter by the name of Jania Shields who was investigating the drugs trade in the Seattle Area. I was unconcerned, as her investigation didn’t appear to be uncovering anything substantial. Indeed, my sources indicate that she may have turned to being a user herself during the investigation. I say “was”, as she has, as of last night, passed away.

The authorities are only interested in crimes that the public are interested in, and the public are only interested in drugs when someone dies. At the moment, interest is low, and I wish to keep it that way. If it turns out that this Ms Shields has died of an overdose that would be most unfortunate. What I would like you to do is ensure that an autopsy does not occur. If it is too late for that, then you must also destroy the reports before they can be acted on. Dae leads me to believe that proper disposal of the body once recovered will not be an issue for you, is that correct?

He speaks quietly, but confidently. Sounds a little like James Earl Jones.

[Grimmie]

Edit: MNNNGH. TOO SLOW.
Let me edit this so it looks like I'm meeting up with the non-attendees.

PEEP PEEP!

Nikolai rolls up in Yelyena, hops out, and goes to meet up with those not attending the dinner-date.

Dobryj den' comrades! Sorry am late, was making last-minute upgrade to van!

His jacket is smeared with oil and grease, fingerprints on the tan leather showing where he'd hastily wiped it clean whilst fumbling around with various pieces of kit. If anyone were to take a look, they would spot a squat searchlight on the top of Nik's van now, and Frank would be pleased to see an extra gun-port sticking out of a back-door.

Not that he'd be interested in a swanky restaurant, Nikolai wouldn't be able to afford the suit for tonight's dinner arrangement anyway. He has new toys in the back of his van. Expensive toys.

I spend ten-kay on new drone! She is very pretty!

[deject]

Yes, we can get rid of bodies without too much trouble. How much do the authorities know about this Ms Shields at this point? Do you know approximately how much time we have to get rid of any evidence?

[The Shutting Downs]

Gah! I've missed all this speed as I was on shift since 3.

I was going to say that N-zo can go if its not Yak exclusive.

N-zo will be waiting for Al and Leland at the door. You guess its him purely on the basis that its an elf with short blonde hair.

He's wearing what looks like plain black trousers, and a chineese style sleeveless shirt. There is a pair of smart glasses and black gloves finishing off the look, and he is carrying a small breifcase.

His PAN blips to Al's and his SIN marks him as John Tyler - PA to whatever SIN Al is useing.

The Agency has sent me to assist you for the evening Sir, the lead is yours.

Yes... that is a diffrent voice to his normally.

[Roman Totale]

and Derek Wiess, star of the hit sci-fi sim series “Dirk the Ebon” at another table, with a female elf. The elf looks a little uncomfortable.

[Joose]

Gah! I've missed all this speed as I was on shift since 3.

I was going to say that N-zo can go if its not Yak exclusive.

If you retcon, and he is there, I'll give a description.

Yep, not a problem. Retconned!

Im afraid I could only speculate on how much the authorities know. I would imagine they know little, she has no criminal record that I am aware of.

As for timescales, it is simply a case of the quicker you work the simpler it will be. Docwagon are not known for their speed, post mortem. However, if LoneStar suspect foul play, an autopsy will be performed within 48 hours. As I mentioned before, you will not be penalized for recovering the body after the autopsy, but getting there before will mean you do not need to also recover the autopsy report. To be clear: Recovering the body but leaving an autopsy report will be considered a failure.

[Dog Pants]

In which case we should start right away. Since speed is of the essence you'll forgive me for abandoning the formalities of protocol when negotiating our payment. What information do you have for us, particularly the whereabouts of the body?

[The Shutting Downs]

I'll take a snap of our new Mr J, and record what SIN he and Dae are useing

[Roman Totale]

Are the rest of us listening in to this over comms? If so Chopper will jab Frank in the ribs...

Let's go find us a corpse! I'm naming him Bernie.

[Dog Pants]

[HereComesPete]

You realise in the sequel they used voodoo to bring him back yeah? That shit was funny until everyone started raising the dead for real.

I got one for ya Chopper. What do you call cheese melted over corn chips that you're not allowed to eat?

Nacho cheese.

Al, get an address off the dude. If time is of the essence then we can roll now and get eyes on soonest. Maybe Chopper and I can do some sneaky sneaky and get this shit dealt with before the day is out.

[Dog Pants]

In the timewarp that is a forum RPG, I've already asked for the location of the corpse.

[HereComesPete]

Indeed you have.


Joooose!

[The Shutting Downs]

Okay, lets search the corpse's name for info:

Browse+Data Search+Cerebral Booster+Limbic Nanoware=15 dice

6, 1, 4, 2, 6, 3, 4, 6, 4, 5, 5, 4, 1, 1, 3: 5 hits.

Address up guys, go scope the place out and we will meet you there.

Can't hurt to look whilst Al haggles the fee.

[HereComesPete]

I'll assume that the is good enough to provide us with an exact location.


After a quick snout at the back of nik's van

Nicely done N-zo. Lets move ladies.

With an admiring glance at the extra gun port on the back of the wagon, Frank jumps in and sends the address to the van's grid guide.

[Joose]

I'll assume that the Above is good enough to provide us with an exact location.

Yes and no.

I'm afraid I have very little information for you, other than this.

He sends you Janias DocWagon RFID number.

I hope that will be enough to get you started. Your fee will be 25k, half upfront, half on confirmation that the crisis has been averted. There is also a bonus 10k if you can recover the records of her report. Are we agreed?

However...

search the corpse's name for info

...gives you what you are looking for.

You get a fair amount of information on Jania, but little of it seems useful. She is a young, small time news reporter, and is survived by a mother and a younger sister.
Thankfully, you have got a location. The story is all over the local news, and there is some conflicting information depending on what feed you are reading. Some say she died of natural causes, some say that she was murdered. Some say she will be passed on to Lone Star for an insurance mandated autopsy within 24 hours, others say that she will be having an open casket at a Bellevue funeral home within the same time period. What there seems to be agreement on is that she is currently in DocWagons Tacoma waterside facility.

[Dog Pants]

I'll pass everything straight on. Do I think I can squeeze any more money out of this guy, or would I just be wasting time and pissing him off?

Negotiation 5 + CHA 5 = 10

4, 5, 4, 3, 1, 6, 1, 2, 5, 3: 3 hits.

[Joose]

I wont bother with in character stuff, but you get him to 27k + 10k bonus, 12.5 now and the rest later. A little bartering is expected with these things, so he's fine with it.