[Mercy Merchant]

@Cynthia   When you wake from your nap, you find a message waiting on your 'link.  >>Hello.  Nice work with the mark.  That was pretty smooth of you.  Would you like to meet for coffee somewhere and compare notes?  Send a response to the attached code.<<

The second sprite you sent out is apparently still working on your task.

[Imladir]

[Cynthia Rawson - Sunday June 10th, 2075; Somewhere in the Matrix] #16

*Huh... A meating? With someone I don't even know? And for something I'm not even supposed to do?*

Cynthia is a bit torn. Her curiosity would lead her to accept. Her caution, to refuse. After all, he might be an independent, but that's hardly comforting. He could be quite sensitive about all of this even if the tone of the message doesn't indicate anything of the sort. But who trusts that?

*And I've got this appointment with...er...what's her name again? Oh yeah, Marissa. Wait maybe I can ask him if he knows the Digital? That would be safe.*

<<I have an appointment sometime today. After that, maybe... You know the Digital?>>

*If he doesn't know, not my fault! Good. I hope he doesn't know. Or do I? Huh...*

Cynthia will drop this line of thoughts, avoiding potential headaches. Since her sprite is still looking, she will hide it by Threading and sustaining a Static Veil and Threading a bunch of low level Cleaner to remove GOD's concerns: that way, the Sprite will be able to continue until it is asked to stop. After that, she looks at what she found up to know, to try and make sense of it, unearth hidden gems she might have missed earlier, etc.

[spoiler]The Digital is a bar I added for one of my contacts, its patrons are mainly hackers since you first need to hack the host (to retrieve the file with the invitation for example) without being caught. It organises live sports shows and game nights regularly. Can of course be renamed any way you want - I went with the first that came to mind, and it could be better ^^ - or modified to be something you already have in the campaign naturally.[/spoiler]

[VegasRigged]

"That must be an unfamiliar feeling for a women of your poise and education. I look forward of course to helping however I can, but please tell what it is you need."

This is either good or bad, depending on the job she has for me. But doing a favor and doing it well should earn me a fair deal of respect.

[Mercy Merchant]

@Eva   Tanya turns her head and looks at you from quite close.  She licks her lips and says, "It is a matter of some delicacy and trust and I am not sure I should get you involved.  I am told that you are quite skilled, but I have a need for skill and discretion and the job might be more than you want to take on as it involves more than convincing a rather vacuous woman to buy a specific cabinet for her home."


@Cynthis   >>Know it?  Sure I know it.  Send me a call when you finish your appointment.<<

There is a ton of information about the doctor, from his college years to his rise at Mercy General to his three failed marriages.  He seems to be a stand up guy, except to his ex-wives, who all claim he has a hidden mean streak.  There is very little on the girl, who seems entirely to be just what the press is putting out.  She is a part time university student working her way through without scholarships.  She has a largish family consisting of three older and two younger brothers and her parents.  The other man is mostly a mystery.  He is tied to a PI sort of business, a partner in Raleigh Investigations, or something like that.  But little is found about him before he popped up in the firm.

[VegasRigged]

"Whatever you need Tanya, I can very delicate when the occasion calls for it."

I'm still flirting hard but I need her to make the first move here, whether it giving me a job or making out, I am the outsider in her home and the initiative is hers. I do discreetly send a message to Sylvia asking if she minds if I make out with a princess.

[Mercy Merchant]

@Eva   Tanya smiles.  Her breathing is calm, but there is a certain excitement in her eyes.  "I am an adventurous woman and willing to take chances to feel in the moment.  I have a job to offer you, but would like to know more of your talents and desires before offering it.  My friend tells me that you are awakened.  Are you willing to tell me what you can do?"

[Imladir]

[Cynthia Rawson - Sunday June 10th, 2075; Somewhere in the Matrix] #17

*Damn. No more excuse then. Well, not a good enough one anyway. Yet. I might think of something before that. Still, anything's good to escape being bored I suppose...*

<<Sure.>>

Cynthia considers what she found.

*The woman is just a random victim. Well, looks like it anyway. There should be more on her though. Doesn't really matter I suppose. No use spending time on her, at least not without nothing more interesting. The doctor... Weird that his three wives all claim the same thing. He doesn't feel that important in all this though. The only thing to note is his statement about the courier. Hardly something interesting. The Hero now...*

Cynthia displays all the data she has on him, organising it as best as possible.

*Probably a past less than overboard. Maybe retired from the Shadows? Maybe from some kind of black-ops or something. Would explain the skills and the sudden appearance anyway. But I WON'T dig that way. If either of those are true... BAD things.*

Cynthia shivers. Even the excitement about finding stuff about the shadows or black-ops isn't enough to overcome her cautiousness here.

*There would be another way though: Raleigh Investigations. That said, there's probably a million persons who thought about it before me. All normal paths will have been considered. I have to be smart about it, or find something else.*

She considers the problem a moment. Pulling some quick data about what a PI would need, how they work. Only glancing at the results from time to time.

*Hey wait. There might be some way. If you want to be a successful PI you have to be reasonably good in the 'trix. Or you'd need someone that would be. Someone that would know the best ways to find data. One of them must be data havens. If I go there, I might be able to find something. Good thing I know a lot of them.*

She prepares to look for just that, but stops.

*And how exactly am I to find traces of users in this kind of Host exactly? There won't be some file tagged with a "Last seen by RaileighSuperHax0r: so and so. Oh and RaileighSuperHax0r is there.". Stupid.*

Cynthia groans. She prepares herself a soycaff, and switches music, from an Opera to some Maria Mercurial.

*So. Data on Raileigh investigations. List of employees? There's probably some kind of declarations in multiple places. IRS? No way, too dangerous. Wait, maybe they pay public transports to their employees. I heard some did it. Or taxis. Maybe parking? Shouldn't be too difficult to access, I don't imagine it's that protected. So, go to the hosts, look for Raileigh's invoices and hope? Seems like a plan. Yeah Maria!*

Now decided on a course of action, Cynthia slips back to the Matrix. She'll compile a Crack Sprite and then visit the Hosts of some transport affiliated companies. There, she will look for invoices (or open accounts, but invoices will probably be less secured and will give her the same data she's looking for) paid by Raileigh Investigations'. Hopefully, those invoices will have the names of the people they're paid for. And maybe, associated vehicules or logs of each trip. Maybe on the invoices or in some other file in the same Host.

[spoiler]
I'm still feeling my way around the Matrix so if what I'm suggesting is complete nonsense, just say it ^^

Oh and just thought that it might be interesting if there was another bar called "Analog" with the same principle. And maybe the "Astral" or something
Not that Cynthia would know, it's just a rumour among the patrons anyway.
[/spoiler]

[VegasRigged]

"Perhaps... you would prefer... If I showed you." I raise a hand up for her to take.

[Mercy Merchant]

@Eva   Tanya looks at you for a moment then takes your hand.


@Cynthia   Raleigh Investigations is registered with the city's licensing bureau and the BBB.  The papers from both agencies indicate that the firm is headed by two partners; Quentin Raleigh and Benoit Christianson.  There are two employees listed; Jacob Villars and Barbara Benton.  Moving into other search areas, you find that Jacob was listed as an investigator while Barbara was information management and data research.  A snippet from a news feed indicates that the investigative office had been attacked by an unknown number of gunmen, leaving Jacob dead and Raleigh missing.

[Imladir]

[Cynthia Rawson - Sunday June 10th, 2075; Somewhere in the Matrix] #18

Cynthia purrs *Yeah, I'm good!*. After a few seconds of enjoyment *Well let's not be carried away shall we? It was not that hard, all of KE already knows about it, as well as probably hundreds of people. And I got lucky to find stuff about the licensing and BBB since I didn't think about it at first. Should have, dumbo. Still, nice to know more! So, our hero has a name: Mister Benoit Christanson. What kind of name is that?*

She pauses, considering *Er...unless this Ben is someone else entirely and the hero is someone off the books?* She looks at the snippet regarding the attack *Whatever this is, someone really wants it and doesn't care about costs...Or the body count... I wonder what this is all about...*

Lost in speculations for a bit, Cynthia shakes herself. *Ok, next step: weak link. Jacob's out. In all senses of the term. Benoit can obviously hide his tracks, so probably no weak link. Raleigh? He disappeared too. Either he's dead and no one found it, kidnapped as a bargaining chip by the attackers or just hiding in the deepest hole he could find. That leaves Barbara. Probably never in the field, and often in the Matrix. Which would mean that unless completely paranoid, she didn't really hide her tracks before yesterday. I'll still have to look for data about the others, should be easier now that I have time, but I'll just send a sprite for that; when Marissa is here.*

Floating around in the Matrix, not really paying attention to what's going on, she considers her next step. *So focus on Barbara. Look for private data about her. Now that I have her name, I can probably look into transports logs, to find area of interest, maybe where she lives. If she's still free, she probably went underground though so no use finding her home or anything like that. Information management and data research hey. So, she's at least somewhat capable in the 'trix. There must be something to do here: she must know how to contact the others, and she must leave more traces than the others on the 'trix. If she's like...well... Like any hacker I know, she wouldn't be able to keep away from it for long. Maybe even checking some stuff she shouldn't on the job. Just quick and fast, thinking it's no big deal.*

Cynthia pauses at that a bit unsure. *That's a big assumption but... She's doesn't seem like a field agent, and not a partner so lower on the totem pole. With only four people working there, she might not be that good. Under pressure, in a situation she's probably not used to, and maybe a bit green? She might slip. If she's in hiding, she just might be bored and want to play. I know I would. If she's running and dodging bullets though...*

Here Cynthia needs a bit of time. She was never under fire. So has no idea what she would do. *Anyway, she can't dodge bullets for long: either they catch up or she escapes. So, back to hiding. Bored. Let's say she does slip. I still have to know where she could, before I find it. So first step would be to know more about her, to try and identify what she could want to check while hiding. And I might just find her comcode in some newsletter subscription or whatever. I wouldn't be able to trace it just like that, but maybe I could send her some trojan or whatever. Or contact her to chat? Nah, that would be cheating.*

So, first step first, Cynthia will switch to a Data Sprite, and look for as much data as possible about one Barbara Benton and more specifically her matrix habits. Maybe an account to a news service that PIs like due to their neutrality or whatever. If possible, with a comcode. By itself, it wouldn't give her much, but she might think of something. In combination with a subscription to some automatic news service, she would probably be able to do something.

And she will be very careful now, checking for marks regularly, making sure no one is paying attention to her and so on: she enjoys this hunt as a game, a challenge. Looking for these people is fun. But she has zero intentions to bring heat (or more heat) on their heads. Bragging about it though... Well, when it's finished, she doesn't want to be the prey in this game, thank you very much.

[spoiler]I didn't see anything in the rules regarding what can be done with a comcode, except send messages there. From a persona / device you can get it's comcode with a perception roll, but as far as I know, to trace a device to the physical world, you'd need a mark on the device: knowing the comcode is useless, you can't even find the device in the matrix based on its comcode. Did I overlook something?[/spoiler]

[VegasRigged]

I cast force 3 euphoria, hold it for a moment then release her with a satisfied smile.

"That's just a small taste of my abilities, and they extend far beyond the bedroom. Anything you want done I can do. Anything."

I am already kicking myself for not going through with reading her. If I'd pushed the euphoria further I could probably have gotten into her mind without her even knowing. Perhaps if she pushes things further, goodness knows I've given a hell of a taste to get her craving.

[Mercy Merchant]

@Eva   Tanya looks a bit shocked.  "Oh my.  You are just too bloody dangerous, aren't you?  Whatever you just did to me.............can you do that to anyone?  I was already half wanting you, but now it is hard to stop just ripping my clothes off and taking you to bed.  Is there anything I can do to protect myself against this sort of thing?  And by the way, please do not do that again.  But I would definitely go to bed with you with no real provocation.  Wow!  This is amazing.  Any side effects and how long to wear off?"

Just then you get a return message from Sylvia.  >>Girl, you do not need permission from me to flirt with anyone.  Just be careful.<<

You also get pings from the calendar, reminding you of your appointments with your client and then Cynthia.


@Cynthia   It is fairly easy to get the surface information about Barbara Benton.  She is the only child of a priest and a nun and had been given up for adoption as a baby.  Her parents were lower class wageslaves, but they doted on their daughter.  She had excelled in school, but had been mostly of the sort of girl most people overlooked.  That changed when she hit puberty.  Her chest just exploded and the rest of her body did not quite keep up.  Her newer pictures show a very busty young woman with the type of physical attributes that would get her noticed.  She has worked a variety of jobs before settling in with Raleigh Investments. 

Her fingers are all over just about every piece of research the firm has done since she joined.  She has subscriptions to a number of data services and you are able to get to some of her private messages in various public chat rooms.  She is engaged, but doing a quick check of the man as a matter of course leads you to believe that he is not being faithful to her.  Also, he has run off from the apartment they share.  Your sprite informs you that there are two personas watching her apartment.

[Imladir]

[Cynthia Rawson - Sunday June 10th, 2075; Somewhere in the Matrix] #19

*Huh... Rough... Men are Assholes. Yeah for team small breasts, at least I never had those problems.*

For a moment, she considers doing something about the two personas. But she decides not too for two reasons: 1) she doesn't believe Barbara would come back, and if she did well... There's no saving Dumb and 2) if they could go that far, they obviously know more than the mass, so they might be good. Of course, just for monitoring, it might be peons but you never know.

*Ok. She has subscriptions. I can use that. Always wanted to try that something.*

Cynthia will procure a message that was sent by one of the services about the current situation. She will use it has a base, and create an update, presenting a bit more data about the subject. Doesn't need to be much, just a bit more than is really known in general. Then, it gets tricky. She asks her (data) Sprite to hide another file in the one she has created. This file doesn't need to do (or even be) anything.

Then, by threading a Resonance Veil on the Host of the service, she will make it believe that it received the (legitimate) order to send the data file she created to Barbara. The nice thing about all of this is that since she bas marks on the hidden file, she knows where it is in the Matrix : and that will probably be in Barbara's comlink.

[spoiler]No idea if it's even remotely possible. Seems plausible to me but...[/spoiler]

[VegasRigged]

I grin and levitate her off the bed. As she rises I stand and begin to change into my suit "Their are ways to defend oneself against such assaults, though I can't imaging why you'd want to. The types you should be more worried about are the fear and foreboding spells. They are far more common and serve a simaler purpose."

I finish my change and gently turn her in the air so that she is sideways over the bed, our faces at an even level and check to see how much time I have, noting that my next meeting is in only an hour and I have prep to do beforehand i sigh "Now I have to go take care of two somethings, together they are libel to take hours, so I suppose I won't see you again until tonight at the club. We can talk more then about the job and all the wonderful thing I can do for and to you."

I take the outfit for the club and prepare to depart, Tanya still hanging over the bed.

[Mercy Merchant]

@Eva   Tanya actually giggles a bit as you levitate her.  "OK.  This could come in handy.  Say, it just came to me, have you ever had sex while floating?"  She lays prone while levitating above the bed, watching you prepare to leave.  "I will see you later.  Teninsh at the VIP entrance.  That frock will look smashing on you.  By the way, you are going to let me down, right?"


@Cynthia   You can accomplish your task, but you realize that this would be much harder if you had to force yourself onto a host.  As it is, it is child's play since the host offers marks to just about anyone who asks.  You can send off the file within the file and now it is just a matter of time before she opens it and lets you know where she is.  And now you wait for the trap to spring shut.