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[IC] Drowning in Shadows

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AalithHUN

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« on: <01-31-12/0323:50> »
Everett. The northernmost and disputedly the most beautiful district of Seattle, known for it's planes, ships and stormy weather.
There is a saying here, "If you can see the Space Needle, it's going to rain, if you can't, it's raining."

The date is June 10, 2072, the first day of the week and it seems there is a chance for clear sky all day long...

AalithHUN

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« Reply #1 on: <01-31-12/0406:20> »
Nina Fourleaves:

The rising sun finds Nina on the road to work. It's been a rough week for her - she needed to work double shifts because of the emergencies, her grandfather started acting up and needed new medication and there was that committee meeting, maybe that was the most horrible event of all.
There are checkpoints on the road, one stops the bus for a "standard" inspection - the KE officers are quick and efficient, always polite and smiling. Once, the scanner beeps and everyone turns, expecting trouble...But it's just a drowsy wageslave who forgot to broadcast his SIN, despite the signs on the bus. He quickly adjusts his link, and then the officers are out, wishing pleasant days for everyone (It would seem they were instructed to behave this way, KE is trying very hard to get and remain in the good graces of the public).

After this, Nina arrives to the hospital without any more stops, changing her clothes to scrubs and the sunny weather for the artificial light of the sterile corridors.
Her supervisor drops on her immediately, requesting status update on the patients. Nina transfers the data from the last shift and then starts checking on them.

Mr Avery looks like have been finally discharged. He was in a very bad car accident, lost his wife and child when the Gridguide malfunctioned and several vehicles collided. There is an ongoing investigation for possible foulplay.

Now, on his bed is an inmate, Mike Ravier, transferred from the Darrington Correctional Facilities with symptoms for poisoning. Normally they would treat something like this in-house, so this one must have some pull in higher circles. There is a guard sitting nearby, reading news on his commlink.

Only three patients are inside the containment rooms. They are mostly security personnel from the Federated-Boeing company, treated with radiation poisoning. They were the most severe ones of the 21 people involved in the terrorist attack 4 weeks ago. It failed, but they still managed to detonate the dirty bomb, polluting the northwestern area of Everett with radioactive dust. From their readings, these patients are improving well, but one of them needs surgery later.

And then comes the flood of people with headaches, old people with various problems, youngsters needing detoxification after the night, and so on and so on.

Nina gets the feeling this is gonna be a busy day...

AalithHUN

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« Reply #2 on: <01-31-12/0642:00> »
Mike Aisle:

A well suited, well built Ork strolls East Pacific Avenue, on his way to the hospital. Unfortunately, he caught a minor infection and it needed treatment immediately, otherwise his condition could turn it into a raging war inside his own body. This was the day for his last check-up with his doctor to confirm and get a clean bill of health, and it looks like even the weather was smiling on him.
The traffic was usual, even the KE patrols seemed to merge into it, after all, they were here for almost four weeks now - patrol cars, drones, even the occasional pair of uniforms among the pedestrians. They didn't bother him - or lets say Thomas Gramarie, UCAS citizen - other then the look what his custom tailored suit demanded, but he kept his distance from them anyway. The invisible scans looking for weapons or illegal cyberware were routine issue these days, and it was better to avoid unnecessary questions.
It seemed his unlucky streak was finally broken when he saw the "Seattle Naval Hospital" writing on the walls of the large, cube-shaped building. He made it this far without any incident, he just needs to find Dr. Jerry Peton in there...

Netzgeist

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« Reply #3 on: <01-31-12/0949:24> »
Quote from: Gear being carried
Mike is not wearing Form-Fitting Armor(it would be awkward during a medical exam), and neither his Greatcoat, since he thinks the weather does not call for it and he is not "working" right now. The only weapon he has with him right now is his Yamaha Pulsar (Miyoshi), and he is carrying no spare clips for it. Apart from his commlink, there's nothing worth noting on his person right now.

Infections... Mike remembered that before he got any implant, he was healthy as a bull; but afterwards, he got a strange and annoying propension on getting sick. Usually, it's nothing that bad, but even this small infection made the doctor prescribe him some rest if he wanted it to be cured in the proper time. And Mike didn't like being idle for too long.

At least, the weather was good; not too hot for June, and the sun had decided to show himself - walking the almost three hours which separated his appartment from the hospital was a good exercise, especially in this days in which he was trying to observe the medic prescription and missed jogging, sparing and all the training he usually did on his spare time. The time of the walk was also good to take a clear observation on how well the neighborhood was adapting to KE. Lone Star usually allowed a more easy time. Mike wonders if KE is just showing up their work during this first days or if they are really toughter as it's being said.

By the time he reach the hospital, his earbuds stop playing Howlin' Wolf's How Many More Years. The weather and time was not exactly fitting for blues, but hell, the song was more than a century old and it still was as good as new. With a smile in his face, the ork made a mental command and shut down the song. It was unpolite to talk to people without paying attention to them.

Hospitals are the kind of place he would never get used to. It's usually a sad place, and even worse, very controlled.

He walks in the reception, and tells the receptionist in his deep voice: "Good day, ma'am, I've got an appointment with Doctor Jerry Peton; the name is Gramarie, Thomas Gramarie. I believe I'm a little bit earlier than I should." His 'link was already broadcasting the SIN belonging to a Mister Gramarie, but he always thought it was good form to properly give his name in person. The woman face clearly showed her surprise with the ork in front of her ("This guy appears to be just out of a historical trid... nah, probably he just went out of the Matchstick's. But doesn't it open just at night? And his clear and healthy face does not appear to be of one who spend this night awake. Whatever.") But then she regained her composure and directed him to a waiting room, where he should wait to be called.

AalithHUN

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« Reply #4 on: <01-31-12/1002:10> »
Maria De La Vega:

"Search. Find. Look. Listen"

These were the only thoughts running in Maria's head for weeks. Finding one person in a city of 3+ million was an impossible task, more so when living in a time, where people could jump on a plane and be on the other side of the globe in hours.
And if that wasn't enough, a few weeks ago, after that bombing incident, KE started to swarm the streets (at least it felt like to her) making it harder and harder to hide her true identity. She was stopped three times already, two routine checks and once a patrolling astral presence saw her magical aura and alerted the mundane security. Her papers held out so far, but with every inspection, the chance of finding out who she was increased substantially.

People who had valuable informations also had things to hide - and the KE patrols made them more paranoid then ever. They did not respond well to Maria's questioning, because as it turned out, KE was searching for someone too. More and more doors closed before Sammy, the trail was getting colder and colder...

Currently she's sulking in a bar in Fairmount. This time her "informant" just took her money and doesn't even bothered to show up and give her some tale about Jemina. On the trid, an attractive pair of newscaters talk about "the latest" pretty loudly, but she doesn't mind sitting in front of it, in fact, it's perfect for her this way.

As always, it starts with a summary, then the average everyday and sports news, followed by the weathercast, then finally come the "big" news which everyone have been waiting for all along.

They discharged two more people from the hospital today. They were victims in the bombing incident now known as "Dirty Tuesday", but, with the sponsorship of Federated Boeing, they are now cured and can go back to their families.

Relatives of the victims involved in the big car crash one week ago plan to sue the operator company of the GridGuide system. There were 11 deaths and 10 seriously injured with more then 20 additional people needing medical assistance that night at the intersection of 99 and 526.

The joined weather cleaning operation entered into the third stage yesterday. The project between the NAN and Emerald City will clear the sky from the pollutants, drastically reducing the effects of acid rain. Manufacturers of the various clothing and chemicals that protects from the rain, stamped the project as a fraud which serves only to amuse the masses and they provide data that diminishes the efficiency the government hopes for.

In connection to this, a week from now, Paul Coal, the Executive Director of Ares' new division, the Seattle Operations moves into Seattle with his family. Exclusive report on this provided later.

farothel

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« Reply #5 on: <01-31-12/1617:21> »
She decided to give the informant about half an hour to show up, otherwise she would be gone from here.  He had her commcode, or at least one of her commcodes, so he could leave a message.  She watched the trid, trying to keep herself informed of the latest issues.  It happened from time to time that work of the shadowy kind was linked to news and she wanted to know up front.  Also it you could never know if Jemina somehow showed up on the trid, even if it was just in a Jane Doe add from Knight Errant ('if you know this person, please tell us' kind of thing).  She sipped the beer she had ordered, wanting a Revain '63, but they didn't have any wine worthy of the name in this dump.  At least her magic would keep her disguised.

When the news was done she was just idly browsing the matrix, looking for something to do with the rest of her evening.  Some theatre show or something, she thought after checking the movie selection and finding nothing that really interested her.  theatre was considered by many a bit old fashioned, but with a bit of AR you could actually do a lot and she had thought about trying for a role at Broadway at one point.  Before her life turned upside down that was.  Browsing around a bit she found an amateur theatre company not far from her home doing an afternoon show with a replay of a '50s show with the profit of the show going to a local charity.  That might be something, although she had to leave in 20 minutes.  Well, so be it, she thought as she ordered a ticket online.

She had even managed to get back home for a quick shower before leaving for the theatre.  Without disguise and dressed simply in jeans, T-shirt and jumper and her armour underneat (and coat of course, even though it was nice weather you could never be sure it stayed that way) she walked towards the location the show would be in.  It turned out to be the main auditorium of a local highschool.  Well, some of those were actually quite nice for these kinds of shows.  she walked in and the system automatically checked her ticket and she got the AR guidebook to the play.  She was quite late so she had to sit to the site, but she didn't mind.  Opening the book in an AR window, she started to read until the lights went out and the play started.

Quote
carried gear at the moment:
-form-fitting half-body suit, armoured vest (can be worn under clothing without showing any bulk according to the base book)
-Ares predator (concealed, unless that's not allowed, then visible), 2 extra clips in handbag (1 with stick-n-shock)
-my foci (those will be pieces of juwelry or something simular, I'll work them out tomorrow)
-commlink of course (actually both commlinks, they aren't big, so they should fit in a handbag of some sorts)
-respirator
"Magic can turn a frog into a prince. Science can turn a frog into a Ph.D. and you still have the frog you started with." Terry Pratchett
"I will not yield to evil, unless she's cute"

AalithHUN

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« Reply #6 on: <02-01-12/1000:13> »
Nina:

The labwork isn't done on Ravier yet, but it seems apparent that there are more then one substances involved. When she asks the nurses about the radiology patient, she learns that the surgery is already scheduled and they say something like "by a real doctor".
At 11:30, when most of the staff is on lunch break, Nina prepares to end her shift by checking on every admitted patient of hers together with her superior, Dr. Frider, to make sure there were no mistakes in the treatments. The three contaminated patients are fine so they make their way to Ravier by the elevator, going down one floor, to the second. There's only one person inside, a rather stylish ork...

Mike:

After waiting for a while, with nothing more to do but listening to blues, a nurse steps to Mike:

"I'm sorry Mr. Gramarie, Dr Peton is very busy with administration and asks you if you would mind coming to his office - he said that you are only here for your final prescription, and that he can give it to you after a verbal examination."

She then escorts him up to the office on the fifth floor, where Dr. Paton apologizes again and he asks some questions about his health, mood any remaining symptoms and such. It seems he's satisfied with Mike's answers and hands him a prescription with his last bottle of antibiotic written on it. He can get that from the hospitals pharmacy on his way out, so Mike steps into the elevator, which stops at the third floor, where a muscular ork women in scrubs and a smaller doctor in glasses with salt-and-pepper hair step in.

"Second floor please" - the doctor says.

[spoiler]I need a hearing perception test from you two against a threshold of 3[/spoiler]

Netzgeist

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« Reply #7 on: <02-01-12/1110:25> »
Quote from: Hearing Perception Test
4 (Intuition) - 1 (Defaulting Perception) + 1 (Hearing enhancement) + 3 (Audio Enhancement) = 7 dice pool = 2 hits

Mike felt a little dissapointed that the doctor thought he still needed a last dose of antibiotics - but at least now there was no reference to resting, which was quite good. He was planning to get back home running, as a way to compensate for the lack of exercise from last week.

Now it's just a matter of going to the pharmacy and he can forget the hospital, at least.

When the elevator stops at the third floor, "Thomas", as the others can see in his broadcasted System Identification Number, greets the people who get in, nodding to both of them.

"Good morning, sir; ma'am."
« Last Edit: <02-01-12/1117:13> by Netzgeist »

AalithHUN

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« Reply #8 on: <02-01-12/1410:10> »
The elevator slows down, but before it opens it's doors, Nina can hear some voices above the electrical noise and the elevator music. She cannot hear what they are saying, but the tone is angry enough to warn her a little.

When the doors open, everything seems to happen very fast and very slow at the same time. There's a woman in the nurse's uniform, a security guard whose nose is bleeding, and behind them a patient with a gun in his hand.

[spoiler]Surprise tests for everyone:
Ravier (9d6.hits(5)=4)
Nurse (6d6.hits(5)=2)
Sec. Guard (7d6.hits(5)=4)

Ravier INI (9d6.hits(5)=4)
Sec INI (7d6.hits(5)=3)
Nurse INI (7d6.hits(5)=1)
Nurse is actually rolling 6 dice so her INI is 6.

Sometimes it's possible that I'm going to roll for you guy in cases like this, just to speed up things, but now you can roll your own suprise tests, Nina gets +3 because of the successful perception test.[/spoiler]
« Last Edit: <02-01-12/1538:51> by AalithHUN »

AalithHUN

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« Reply #9 on: <02-01-12/1422:47> »
After the play, Maria finds a message in her commlink.

"Sorry I wasn't able to show up, KE is bustin' my chops! But I did find somebody who knows somebody who knows this awesome bro who can help you. He's got eyes over the city, literally everywhere and he really knows how to use 'em! Anyway, the code is here if you wanna contact him. And...thanks for the money, I hope we cool :) "

[spoiler]
At the end of the message, you do find a commcode, but nothing else. And please deduct 500 Nuyen from your account - this is the money you used up in the search so far, including this informants money. [/spoiler]

Netzgeist

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« Reply #10 on: <02-01-12/1502:14> »
Quote from: Surprise Test
4 (Reaction) + 4 (Intuition) = 8 dice = 3 hits
I'm using the unaugmented attribute right now since Mike has not activated his Move-by-Wire system while on the hospital

Quote from: Initiative
4 (Reaction) + 4 (Intuition) = 8 dice = 2 hits, Initiative Score = 10

AalithHUN

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« Reply #11 on: <02-01-12/1548:00> »
Quote
Resolve:
Surprise roll order:
Ravier
Sec. Guard
Mike
Nurse
Nina

INI order:
Ravier 13
Mike 10
Sec G. 10
Nina 8 - wired reflexes must be turned on so - 2 dice
Nurse 6

AalithHUN

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« Reply #12 on: <02-01-12/1559:38> »
It somehow looked like they were arguing, but as soon as the elevator door opens, the guy with the gun turns and raises his arm. He's very fast. The gun is aimed at Mike, and it looks like a taser - must be from the guard.

"Get out!" - he says with a cracking voice, somewhat loudly.
The nurse looks like she's gonna run, but then when she sees that Ravier is in control of the situation, she shushes him.
"Pipe down, will you?! Do you want everyone to come here?"
The guard just stays where he is and tries to stop his nosebleed with his sleeve.

[spoiler]All of them delaying their actions for now.
It's your turn to act.[/spoiler]

farothel

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« Reply #13 on: <02-02-12/0135:17> »
Maria looked at the message and sighed.  This change with KE would mess up business for some time to come.  They would eventually settle down, but in the mean time they would have to adapt.  Well, there's not time like the present, she thought as she called the number provided.
"Magic can turn a frog into a prince. Science can turn a frog into a Ph.D. and you still have the frog you started with." Terry Pratchett
"I will not yield to evil, unless she's cute"

AalithHUN

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« Reply #14 on: <02-02-12/0437:38> »
On the other side of the aether a guy named Watchmaker answers. Apparently, he's a drone expert and knows a few people around the city. He had missing person cases before, and he's quite frank about it - "there's little chance after this much time" - he says with a sympathetic voice - "but if you're willing to try, I'm ready. Not gonna be cheap, though."