[Jack_Spade]

"Good man." She took the steak and began loading her plate with a baked potato and some kind of salat before walking away, handing the plate to a drone which instantly began to follow her.
The plopping of champagne corks announced shortly thereafter the arrival of the guests. The staff began to hand out filled champagne flutes while an assortment of  various rich and beautiful people began to fill the halls and the outsides. They were followed by a host of young people - all roughly between the ages of 16 and 20. All in all almost 40 people arrived within the span of 10 minutes. As big as the house had appeared it now was almost crowded. The young people flogged towards the north western room and bnc could see that they had started an AR disco, much like the one they had visited last week. The sound was only audible through datajacks and trodes, so that the rest of the adults didn't have to endure their music.

There were a lot of people exchanging fake kisses and even faker laughter during their greetings. Moments later they began to descent on the buffet and Torrent, Krestov and Bluebird found themselves in great demand.

On the plus side, bnc, Bluebird and Torrent were now free to move around to serve the guests and retrieve glasses and plates for the kitchen to wash.

Slobbertooth had lost sight of Eliza, but was busy supplying further steaks, ribs and other assorted pieces of dead animals to the guests.

[Volker]

"Don't bother. We can't afford another scene like last time. I will try and do my best not to get caught this time. Pray to GOD that he shut his eyes..."[/color}

bnc walks over to the chef in a hurry.
"Uhm, sir", she begins, and waits 'til his attention is on bnc. "Can I go to the restroom, please. It's kind of, well, urgent..."

If he permits, she'll go the the ladies' and locks herself in. There she boots her cyberdeck, makes sure that the stealth configuration is active and then goes off in search of Eliza Thorin's commlink and buzzer. She makes sure that her icon is somewhere close to the deck. In case someone would spot her, they would only get her icon's location, but still wouldn't have a clue who the real attacker was. She then inhales deeply, before she starts her attack.

[spoiler]I assume that the buzzer is slaved to the host as well and thus will not be easier to pick than the deck. Therefore, I go for the more valueable deck first.

Hacking on the Fly: 19d6t5 8 Booyah!
I have an effective Sleaze of 9, so I can use all the hits.

What can you tell me about the deck and its interesting contents?
Matrix perception: 13d6t5 2
If nothing indicates that I'm under pressure, I'll take a closer look:
Matrix perception: 11d6t5 5

[Jack_Spade]

[spoiler]
Resist: 15d6t5 1 [15d6t5=3, 3, 1, 2, 2, 1, 1, 3, 1, 1, 5, 2, 1, 4, 1]
Wow, almost a glitch.
So you not only have a mark but know practically everything there is to know about her link

[/spoiler]
bnc couldn't believe her luck - the tentative probe she had sent at the link met only nominal resistance. With just one click she had full access to the file structure on the link and by extend an entry code for the security host.

Looking at the files a few things came to her notice:
There was a R7 data bomb protected file that very likely contained the hardwired voice commands for the drone security. One successful edit would mean that her voice pattern could also be part of the command structure.
The other was the R6 protected contact list and the corresponding messages - a treasure chest for every blackmailer or investigator
But most important was she could now spoof a message to her link at any time she wanted - for example to have her go to a discreet meeting up in the media room.
The rest of the link contained a lot of business stuff. Bank statements (She seemed to be an exceedingly capable estate manager: Since the sellout the worth of the family had roughly doubled).
Most important was a plain text message from Commander Edmont Verres to Eliza Thorin four days ago: <<I have lost contact to two of my employees, handling case 01. Last time they reported in, they were in the process of wrapping up a late account. I'm investigating the details and taking care of the remainder of our contractual obligations. No MCT action as far as I can tell. I'll have a messenger in my employment deliver the details - keep him around for public events.>>

[SgtBoomCloud]

I think I'd rather be in a firefight...

The adjustment, orientation, and imminent implementation of Krestov's role in this party proved to be, at the best, harrowing.  The sous chef would not let him by with any iota of error, and the troll found his attention devoted to keeping the flow of shellfish cooking.  His durability proved fruitful...the heat from the pots made things easier, but the speed demanded gave him a few close calls with knives..

He heard the comm chatter in his head, but otherwise kept the channel clear for now.  After all, he was the contingency plan.  Keeping his eyes open, he watched the festivities unfold before him...

[SquirrelDude]

Slobbertooths' eyes almost flew out of his skull when he saw the news from Volker.
"We've got confirmation that Eliza has someone here for security that we won't see, and we've got a way to isolate her. Spot that agent. I want to know where he/she is before we isolate Eliza in her office.

"Torrent, start figuring out an exit strategy. I doubt we're going to have much time to chit chat with her."

[Volker]

"Check this out, dudes! Big V is on the hunt!"
bnc forwards Verres' message to the others.
"I might gain access to the security drone voice command system. It's toughly secured, though, and might ring an alarm if I screw it up. So I'd rather wait until it's really necessary.
What I could do, however, is to fake a message that might lure her into the media room. I might also be able to dig out some interesting stuff about her. Messages and stuff. However, I'd rather rip her commlink apart once I've got it in my hands. That way, I can't raise more suspicion and the data bomb is less likely to go off."

[Sabato Kuroi]

"Nice work V. You don't need to hack the voice command system. Just  find the voice patterns which have access to the command structure.I  can mimic any voice pattern and use the drones as backup while we make our exit. In the meantime I'm going to find that agent. Once I've spotted him I'll let you know and you can arrange a meeting with Eliza."

[spoiler]
Perception (spot the agent): 10d6t5 3
[/spoiler]

[Jack_Spade]

Torrent took a concentrated look around, but all people he saw acted more or less how you expected people to act at a party - enjoying themselves or working their ass off.
Flushing a trained discreet bodyguard out would need some kind of disturbance to make him reveal himself through his trained reactions.
Torrent knew that one dropping plate alone wouldn't be enough - a bit of screaming would be required too...

[Volker]

"V? V like vonderful?
That won't make a difference. I have to crack that bomb this way or that. Is is necessary at all? Will the drone be in our way?
Boss, you tell me when you're ready for the target to watch a trid.
I can't stay in the restroom forever."

[spoiler]Is it easier to hack the drones? Or do they basically have the same level of security? Their rating might be a bit lower.
Where is the drone patroulling? Do we need to get around it if we want to get to the media room?

[Jack_Spade]

[spoiler]
Yeah, the drones are also slaved to the host
Pilot 5 + Firewall 10 from the host as their defenses

And yes, since you are not scheduled for the upper stories, your bracelets will tell the drones that you are in fact trespassing. There are three drones up there, making their rounds.

The media room is the top most room, two flights of stairs up.


[/spoiler]

[Sabato Kuroi]

[spoiler]I can't remember which spells does Bluebird have that may come in handy...[/spoiler]

[Volker]

"I've got an idea. Torrent, you're able to impersonate basically any male norm, right? Can you manage to vanish into the restroom or something like that? There you change into someone important: Valmont or so. In the meanwhile I turn her commlink to mute, and spoof a message of Valmont where he demands or asks to meet her in the media room right fucking now.
You then approach her, ask her whether why she has ignored your message. She will double-check and find, indeed, a message from Valmont. You urge her to follow her NOW. This way, we assure that she doesn't have a lot of time to reflect about what's going on. Also, we'll have an excuse why she's not there. We have to decide about whom to impersonate, of course.
You can then drag her to the media room and do what has to be done.
Roger? Pointy-ears? Sempai? I haven't got a lot of time left. The cook's gonna skin me alive if I take too long.

[Jack_Spade]

[spoiler]
Since once again I seem to have navigated you into a corner, I'll allow myself to push this along by remote control

[/spoiler]
Torrent thought about a convenient way to reveal the operative while also staying true to his totem. And just thinking of Raven gave him an inspiration.
He activated the line to Krestov: "Big boy, I need you to smuggle me a life lobster on a silver plate with one of those warming covers."
All it took then was a little detour through the kitchen picking up the plate and walk into the main room of the house, easily accessible from the rest of the party - and more important within earshot.

A particularly heavy set woman with a pudgy double chin looked like she could produce the necessary volume he was looking for. He groped under the cover of the plate and removed the two rubber bands keeping the lobsters claws bound. Passing by the woman who held a plate filled with an impressive assortment of food, he managed to slide the crustacean onto the back of her dress.

He was already up two steps on the stairs to get a better overview when the plate crashed to the floor and the screaming started.

Heads turned at the blood curdling cries. Most looked startled, some - faster on the uptake began to laugh.

One person did neither. Both Krestov and Torrent noticed the other waiter emerge from the kitchen,looking around like a trained observer, taking in the facts of the situation - and having his hand near where Torrent would have worn a hidden shoulder holster.
The guy was large - at least 1.90m with broad shoulders, mixed heritage with black hair and very light brown skin tone. The man could have conceivably been from almost any nation on earth with maybe the exemption of the northern most countries.

The AR tag we wore identified him as Ryan Miller.
Torrent immediately relayed that information to the rest of the team.

[Sabato Kuroi]

"Ok team, time to move. We must draw Eliza to the media room. Perhaps a message from "Verres" could do the trick for both her and the agent. In case the agent suspects something I'll move in to intercept him. Krestov, you should be ready in case the agent gives me trouble. Bluebird, If this goes south, ready your sight removal spell, it will come in handy. "

[SquirrelDude]

"Copy. Volker, send the message and then join me in the media room."

Slobbertooth turned down the heat on the grill so that the meat wouldn't start burning while he was gone. He patted his concealed holster to affirm that his Ruger was where he left it, and headed upstairs to wait for Eliza's arrival.