[Ryo]

You were elite soldiers, members of Ares Firewatch, the best of the best sent to solve problems where failure was not an option. Maybe you have been best friends since you were kids in the sprawl together, growing up in the corp, or maybe you only met on the mission, barely knew each other beyond a voice over the Comms. Whatever the case may be, your relationship changed forever after Operation Lost Call.

Your Firewatch Team was sent into a top secret Ares research facility, responding to an imminent threat to incredibly important corporate research. The place technically didn't exist, and you were told the scientists there were working on cutting edge communications technology, technology that absolutely could not fall into the hands of a competitor. Shadowrunners were in the building, they had already accessed the host archive, and Ares had every intention of bringing the hammer down. You were called in to make sure nothing escaped the facility.

You went in. The runners put up a fight, but they were completely outgunned. Your team had split up into two groups, and while the rest of the team was laying down fire on most of the runners, you two had cornered their decker in one of the labs. He was taking cover behind one of the prototypes, something the brass was telling you absolutely could not under any circumstances be damaged, and making threats to hack it or smash it unless you let him walk. One of you made a call.

Your memory of what happened next is hazy. There was an explosion like nothing you had ever seen. A searing agony that felt impossible, seemed to eat at you from the inside out, like psychotropic black IC trying to cook your brain. And after that, nothing.

You both woke up in a delta facility in separate rooms, but you knew the other was there. You could feel them. Hear them. You were mentally linked, a connection that you've since had to grow used to, a connection which the eggheads were extremely interested in studying, and the brass wanted to exploit. Officially, you're both dead. Declared KIA, posthumously awarded medals for your achievements and given funerals befitting heroes. Unofficially, you've been put on a new team now, a team of two. They've ran out of ways to test you in the lab. Now its time to test you in the field.

-----------------

This is a Prime Runner campaign designed for two players, who have been given a special connection due to an accident on their last mission. The players share a telepathic link, able to hear one another's thoughts, feel their emotions, transmit sensory data and more. This connection does not seem to be affected by Noise or Background count, has seemingly infinite range, and the scientists studying you have yet to find a way to eavesdrop on it, or turn it off. There will be mechanical benefits to it as well, but that will be covered in the eventual OoC thread.

Who you are: You are former members of Firewatch, and are now operating as secret agents for Ares, going on missions that are off the books. The kinds of missions that are firmly in the shadows, but Ares wouldn't trust shadowrunners to do. You have a mental link to one another as a result of a lab accident, and you've had to deal with this link for the past few months while Ares ran a number of tests on you, and now they're wanting to deploy you as a team to test you in the field. Maybe you're satisfied with this, and you stay loyal to Ares. Or maybe you don't like the idea of being a pair of lab rats the rest of your lives, and are plotting a way to escape the corp's clutches and disappear into the shadows. What happens is up to you.

Who the players are: I plan to be more selective about who I pick for players on this, since there's only two players. My preference will be towards people who are in the same time zone, or at least are active on the forums at roughly the same time as one another, and who are able to post fairly frequently. It's also very important that the players have a good rapport with each other, since they are basically mind melded.

Character Creation will use the Prime Runner rules on page 64.
You both have the Corporate SIN negative quality with Ares for 25 karma. Following the Prime Runner rules, you have 15 karma worth of negatives you can still take.
If you are mundane, your Priority array is AABBE
If you have Magic or Resonance, your Priority array is AABCC. You can be initiated/submerged at creation. If you want to be a technomancer, please note that I will heavily house rule how technomancers work to be less awful. For example, I give Technomancers the ability to form PANs, and Direct Connect to any device they touch. Most echoes are also heavily modified.
You can take Skills and Skill Groups up to 9 at creation, 10 with Aptitude.
As long as you remain active members of Ares, gear manufactured by Ares that is Forbidden is instead Restricted for you.
For Ares gear, the Maximum Availability you can get is 20.

So if you're interested in this, pitch me your character concepts. You don't have to make full character sheets yet, just post your archetype and some background and what have you if you want to be considered. Feel free to talk amongst yourselves and figure out how your different characters might interact if I end up picking you. What was your relationship like before the accident? How has it changed after? How are you coping with having someone else in your head all the time? etc. etc.

[Scawire]

I'll make a mage / Decker for submission to the game.

Concept would be a smart hermetic mage / decker that would be a Paranormal Investigator style mage. Information is ammunition, and he knows how to get the info.

My Time Zone is GMT.

I will be on daily to post daily, not always sure what time of day I can post at, but will be able to post at least once a day.

I will get building a character to play then post more about my Mage Decker.

If you find two other runners better suited for the role that is ok since I am in two full time games and one slow pace game. It is your call Ryo

EDIT Put in a bit of a concept, not much yet will make him and see how things go.

[Poindexter]

I kinda feel like this would be more fun if one character was gung-ho corp-uber-alles and the other one was more "fuck this. I'm out as soon as i get the chance"

I also kinda feel like a third character who doesn't have the mindlink and isnt with ares, like a local contact sorta thing, might be neet-o as well.

I was kinda thinking of playing a sadistic asshole who grew up on corp propaganda about how he's just better than other people and entitled to better treatment and yadda yadda. It'd be cool to contrast that against someone who was more empathic and had actual feelings for the underdog and shit like that. I kinda feel like playing a blonde haired blue eyed straight up asshole.

[Novocrane]

Also considering applying; I'm looking at background for an animal handler / mimicry adept. It's still fairly loose, and I've been reworking inside that outline as more questions pop up. "What if one character is a compulsive liar?" "How would a (constant?) real-time mind transfer affect someone? What kind of messed up would you have to be for that to be an improvement?"

Timezone is GMT+10, though my hours and time to sit infront of a computer vary somewhat. (always have my phone, though it's inconvenient for longer posts)

 It's interesting you picked Firewatch & Ares for this; there's a few paragraphs in Corporate Downloads (Running For Ares) that talks about how organised and disciplined they are, (collateral damage notwithstanding) while the same section talks about their non-uniformity, gender / meta-racial openness and how they recruit for Firewatch from other elite units. (ie; Sioux Special Forces)
 All up, while there's no place that's good to suffer a catastrophic experiment failure ... Ares is higher on the list than I thought it would be. It also sounds like that exists in a way that might not help dealing with a loss of mental personal space and (potentially) individuality.

[Scawire]

I'm fine if we run two Ex Ares and one none corp. Thing is if you are dead set on only two runners I would suggest wait tell you get the two PC runners, then make an NPC that fills in any gaps the two runners have.

My Mage / Decker is good at magic and decking but is missing a Face and Wheelman slot so a driver and a talker would help out my character a lot.

I have My mage / Decker almost all done. I should be able to post him tommorow for people to look at. I'm still thinking I will post him with out knowledge skills and contacts so I can flesh them out with the other prospects on this forum.

[Ryo]

It's always good to have a good dynamic between the two, and contrasting personalities that make them a foil for one another is probably the best way to go about that. It's a classical story structure, and it's why every buddy cop movie is always about putting two completely different people together; The old veteran and the young newbie, the by the book cop and the reckless loose cannon, the family man and the bachelor with nothing to lose, the loner and the team player trying to get him out of his shell, the man cop and the lady cop, the hardass black guy and the nerdy white guy, Tom Hanks and a dog, Whoopi Golberg and a T-rex. Etc, Etc.

I'm not opposed to moving the team up to three people, however the third person might feel a little left out, since there will be major mechanical benefits to the mental link that will put the two firewatch cops at a significant advantage. It also only really works if the Linked pair are planning to get away from ares and into the shadows, since there's no reason Ares would send an unaffiliated person along.

[Ryo]

It seems like it might be relevant for people coming up with character ideas, so I'll explain the nature of the mental link more.

You have had the link for a few months, during which time you were both basically locked in a lab, only allowed outside when a test required it, and subjected to constant tests by Ares scientists. You know from all the tests they've been running that the nature of your connection doesn't seem to be Magical or based on Resonance. They've stuck you in background counts, they've stuck you in two separate Faraday cages, they've launched one of you into space while the other stayed in the lab, and numerous other tests to see whether there was any actual weakness to the link.

Everyone has so far refused to explain anything about the lab you were in when the accident occurred, or what the machine that exploded was, or how it worked. You have no idea what you were exposed to, or how it resulted in this mindlink. And if the scientists have any idea how this happened, they haven't let you in on it.

From all the testing, you know the following facts about the link. (so far)

The link has two states: Passive and Active.
In both states, the link is unaffected by background count, noise, or range. Whether on opposite sides of the planet or in space, contact has remained constant and instantaneous. The furthest distance they've tested has been 15,000 kilometers, putting one of you into orbit while the other remained on Earth. Even when the entire Earth was between you, your connection experienced no degradation, latency or interference of any kind. Your connection to each other easily outperformed every other means of communication the ground forces had with the spacecraft at the time. The scientists were thrilled with the results of this test.

Passive Link:

• While the link is passive, you have an automatic, uncontrollable empathic link to each other. Whether you want to or not, you are constantly aware of the other's emotional state and mood. At this level you get no specifics, just general feelings. Happy, sad, stressed, afraid, in pain, in danger, etc. It is extremely hard for you to lie to each other as a result, and you get a +4 bonus to Judge Intentions or an opposed Con when dealing with each other.
• You are constantly aware of the general location of the other person in the link. This gives you both direction and distance. This is a vague sense of location; you don't know anything specific about orientation, position or anything like that. So A will know that B is about 30 meters behind him; he won't know if he's facing towards him or away, whether he's standing or laying down, or anything like that.
• As a Free Action, you can project your thoughts at each other, allowing telepathic communication. This is as easy for you as talking, possibly even easier.
• Due to having your minds connected, you resist Mental manipulation spells better. You both get +1 to defend against such spells.

With a little effort, you can focus on each other and increase the connection between you to an Active link. This requires both of you to spend a Free Action. If only one of you is trying to forge the connection, it is a Simple Action. If, for whatever reason, one of you does not want to switch to an Active Link, it becomes an opposed Charisma + Willpower roll. The one who initiates uses a Simple Action, and the one resisting uses a Free Action.

Active Link:

• While the link is active, you have an automatic, uncontrollable telepathic link to each other. Beyond the emotional state of a passive link, you are now constantly aware of the other's surface thoughts, communicating telepathically even if you don't want to. Because it is so easy to communicate like this, you are able to have entire conversations in fractions of a second, and make complex plans in very little time. It is even harder for you to lie to each other in this state, granting +8 dice to the opposed roll.
• You are constantly aware of the exact location of the other person in the link, down to precise positioning. A is not only aware that B is 10 meters up on the balcony above, but that B is in a crouching position facing east with his sniper rifle at the ready.
• As a Free Action, you can project your senses at each other, allowing you to share senses like you had a Sim Rig. You can see through each other's eyes, hear what the other hears, taste what they taste, and so on. This includes senses only one of you may have that the other does not, such as Astral Perception.
• Since your minds are more strongly connected, you resist Mental manipulation spells even better. This is treated as a Teamwork test, where one of you rolls your own resistance dice, and you add your hits to the target's dice pool to resist the spell. Even if both of you are being targeted by the same spell at the same time, you roll teamwork for each other, then roll your resistance.
• You are able to read each other's minds to a degree that you can partially borrow the skills of your partner to enhance your own. This works like a Teamwork Test on virtually any roll. Even if one of you does not have the skill, if the other does, you can borrow his knowledge to help you on your roll. So if A doesn't know how to pick locks but B does, B rolls Agility+Lockpicking, and then A rolls Agility-1+B's hits.
• After spending a Free Action to share senses, a spellcaster with an active link can target spells through the senses of his partner.
• As a side effect of this more intimate link, some feedback occurs whenever one of you suffers an injury. If the damage was Stun, the partner resists half the damage (round down) as well. If the damage was Physical, the partner resists the full damage as Stun. This includes drain, especially when casting through your partner's senses.

While it is fairly easy to establish an Active Link, it is difficult to sever it again and return to a Passive Link. It requires both of you to spend a Simple Action to return to a Passive Link. If only one of you is trying to sever the link, it's a Complex Action. If, for whatever reason, one of you does not want to sever the link, it becomes an opposed Charisma + Willpower roll. the one who initiates uses a Complex Action, and the one resisting uses a Free Action.

You do not know if there is a deeper connection above Active, as you haven't attempted to forge one.

[Scawire]

Here is a look at the Mage / Decker I had in mind. Let me know any suggestions you have. Enjoy.

Have fun sleeping if we are linked. Ok I could change that Negative Quality if you want.

Image of Stix


INFO

NOTE: PRIME RUNNER W/ AABCC for priorities

Karma
Start with 35 – 11 Contacts – 10 spells  - 12 P Q, + 35 N Q, - 25 Gear, - 12 Bonding

Priorities
Race: C (Human, 5 special Att.)
Attributes: A (24)
Magic C (Hermetic Mage, 3 magic and 5 spells)
Skills:  A (46 and 10 SG’s)
Nuyen: B (325,000 Y)

Street Name: Stix
Name: Ken Ryudo
Fake SIN Name: Ginko Sato
Movement: 8 / 16
Swim: 0
Karma: 0
Street Cred: 0
Notoriety: 0
Public Awareness: 0
Japanese Human Male Age 32
Height 5’9” Weight 179lbs
Composure: 8
Judge Intentions: 8
Lift/Carry: 6
Memory: 13
Nuyen:110 + 4d6 X 100
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown
Skin: Asian

Attributes
BOD: 3
AGI: 4
REA: 3
STR: 2
CHA: 4
INT: 5
LOG: 6 ( 8 )
WIL: 5
EDG: 4
MAG: 5 (7)

Derived Attributes
Essence: 5
Initiative: 8 + 1d6
Astral Initiative: 10 + 2d6
Matrix Initiative: 8 + 1d6 (AR), 5 +DP +3d6 (cold), 5 + DP + 4d6 (hot)
Physical Damage Track: 10
Stun Damage Track: 11
Armor: 12 + 2 (otho skin) + 2 (helmet) = 16

Limits
Physical 4
Mental 9
Social 6 (+1 with Argentum Coat)


Active Skills (180 Karma Via GM Gift Upgrades in RED)
Cracking SG 9
-Cyber Combat
-Electronic Warfare
-Hacking
Engineering SG 1
-Aeronautics Mechanic
-Automotive Mechanic
-Industrial Mechanic
-Nautical Mechanic
Computers 9
Hardware (Cyber Decks) 1(3)
Software (data Bombs) 1(3) 4(6)
Spellcasting (Combat) 9 (11)
Counter Spelling (Combat) 9(11)
Summoning (Man) 1(3) 4(6)
Binding (Man) 1(3)
Automaics (SMG) 8(10)
Sneaking (Urban) 1(3) 4(6)
 
Perception (Visual) 3 (5)
Chemistry 1
First Aid 3
Locksmith 4
Pilot Ground Craft 1
Etiquette 2
Con (Fast Talking) 3 (5)
Negotiation 1
Assensing 3
Gymnastics 3
Artisan (Flute) 1(3)
Unarmed Combat 1
Astral Combat 1
Banishing 1
Enchanting 1(SG)
-Alchemy
-Artificing
-Disenchanting



Knowledge Skills (22 free)+ (30 Karma Give from GM)
English N
Data Havens 6
Magic Theory 5
Engineering (Electrical) 4(6)
Magic Threats (Insect Spirits) 3(5)
Security Design (Matrix) 1(3)
   
Parazoology 2
Spirits 2
Police Procedures 2
Corp Procedures 1
Corp Politics 1
Matrix Gangs 2
Forensics 2
IC Identification 2
Matrix Security Procedures 2
Cannibalizing Hardware 2
Chat Rooms 1
Data Brokerage 2
 


Contacts (24 Free + 11 Karma)

Name: Akimi and Genji Ryudo
Job: Ares Wage Mages, in the field of Magical items creation
Race: Human (Both)
Age: 52 and 54
Knows Stix Via:  Mother and Father to Stix
C: 5 L:6

Name: Zack “The Hack”
Job: Works as an ARES Spider in ARES CIA Organization
Race: Elf
Age: 32
Knows Stix Via: Close Friends since they both grew up together in ARES w/ Shaun too.
C:8 L:4

Name: Shaun Johnson
Job: Works in ARES Magical R&D Department
Race: Human
Age:32
Knows Stix Via: Best friends and grew up together in ARES w/ Zack too.
C: 7 L:5



Spells (5 free + 2 (10 Karma))
Stun Bolt: Type M Range LOS Damage S Duration I DV F-3
Lightning bolt Type: P Range: LOS Damage P Duration I DV F-3
Mind Probe Type: M Range: T Duration  S DV F
Increase Reflexes Type: P Range: T Duration: S DV F
Improved Invisibility: Type: P Range: LOS Duration S DV F-1
Physical Mask: Type: P Range: T Duration S DV F-1
Influence: Type M Range LOS Duration P DV F-1

Tradition Hermetic Drain Will +Logic = 13


Qualities
 Positive ( 12 Karma)
Focused Concentration R3

Negative (35 Karma)
Insomnia (Nightmares)
Corp SIN (Ares)

Gear (325,000+ 25 Karma 50,000

Lifestyle (7,000 Y)
Middle (Linked To Fake SIN)
House In a nice Neighborhood
Cost 5,000 / Month
1 months paid for (5,000 Y)

Low (Linked To Corp SIN)
Appartment # 402
Cost 2,000 / Month
1 month paid for (2,000 Y)


Cyberware and Bioware (76,000 Y)
Bioware 0.9
Cerebral Booster R2 (63,000 Y)
Ortho Skin R2 (12,000 Y)
Cyberware: 0.1
Datajack (1,000 Y)

Armor (4,300 Y)
Mortimer of London: Argentum Coat AR 12 / +4 (3,600 Y)
-Custom Fit (Stack)
-Concealablity
-Electrochromic Clothing (500 Y)

Helmet AR +2 (100 Y)
(A Black Fedora)

Helmet AR +2 (100Y)
(Black Raiden looking Hat)

Armor AV total 16

 Weapon(4,090 Y)
Unarmed Attack 2S

HK-227 (730 Y)
Acc 5 (6) (7) DMG 7P Mode: SA/BF/FA RC 3(4)  Ammo: 28 ©
-Built in Retractable Stock
-Built in Smart Link
-Built in Sound Suppressor
-Laser Sight (125 Y)
-Gas Vent R3 (600 Y)
-Sling (15 Y)
-Spare Clips (4) (20 Y)
-Ammo APDS (30 Rounds) (360 Y)
-Ammo Stick and Shock (280 Rounds ) (2,240 Y)

Commlink (217,725 Y)
Name:
Renraku Tsurugi (214,125 Y )
Device Rating: 3
Attribute Array: 6/5/5/3
Programs: 3
Common Programs (400 Y)
-Browse
-Edit
-Encryption
-Signal Scrub
-Virtual Machine

Hacking Programs (2,250 Y)
-Armor
-Baby Monitor
-Biofeedback
-Biofeedback Filter
-Defuse
-Exploit
-Lockdown
-Stealth
-Track


AR Gloves (Black Leather) (150 Y)
Micro- Transceiver (100 Y)
Trid Projecto (200 Y)
Satellite Link (500Y)



Magic (37,000Y)
Power Foci F 2 (Bound) (36,000 Y)
Magical Lodge Materials F2 (1,000 Y)

Drugs ( 1,150 Y)
Psyche 1 (200 Y)
2 Stimulation Patches R4 (200 Y)
Medkit R3 (750 Y)

Ears and Eyes (2,325 Y)
Goggles R6 (300 Y)
-Vision Enhancement R1 (500 Y)
-Image Link (25 Y)
-Flare Compensation (250 Y)
-Vision Magnification (Optical) (250 Y)
--Low-Light (500 Y)
-Thermographic (500 Y)

ID (19,500 Y)
Fake SIN R5 (Ginko Sato) (12,500 Y)
Fake License R5 (Mage) (1,000 Y)
Fake License R5 (Cyber Deck) (1,000 Y)
Fake License R5 (Automatic Weapons) (1,000 Y)
Fake License R5 (Concealed Carry) (1,000Y)
Fake License R5 (Matrix Software) (1,000Y)
Fake License R5 (Restricted Cyber and Bioware) (1,000Y)
Fake License R5 (Private Investigator) (1,000Y)


Other (5,800Y)
Tool Shop (Electronics) (5,000 Y)
Tool Kit (Electronics) (500 Y)
Respirator R6 (300 Y)

Vehicle
I need a driver. Anyone want to volunteer?

Description

Human with short brown hair, wears a suit Long coat, Black Japanese style shirts (like a karate gi), black pants and a blue or black sash.. Loves smoking his Ares Gold Cigs likes hates not having them.

Background
Birth: Stix was born to two Ares Corp wage mages, Akimi and Genji Ryudo. The three lived in a corporate complex. This complex helps to make sure that Ares personal assets are safe and that Ares can keep an eye on them.
Age5: Stix went to a normal Ares run school.
Age 10: At the Ares ran school all the kids had to go under magical assessment regularly from age 8 forward. It was at age 10 that Stix had his magical talent spotted. Most of Ares suspected that Stix would be an awakened kid since both his parents are Full Hermetic Mages. Once his mystical abilities where spotted Stix was put into a Special Ares ran Magic based school. This is where Stix met his best friend Shaun who is also a Full Hermetic mage. The two became best friends and are still best friends to this day.
Age 12: Stix had shown get skills with computers and a keen mind for figuring out the Matrix. Since Ares wanted to bring out all the latent talents their corp kids have, Stix was put in an advanced matrix training class.
Age: 13: A new kid to the advanced Matrix class showed up, a  guy by the name Zack. Stix, Zack and Shaun started to hang out together a lot. Since all three kids where stuck in the Corp Ran housing Complex most of the time, the three would spend most of their time together both at school and at home.
Age 16: The three friends where given part time jobs in their field by Ares, Stix and Zack picked Matrix jobs, and Shaun picked up some magical work.
Age 18: Still with part time jobs the three friends went to a University ran by Ares where they honed their skill farther. Shaun and Stix spent 4 years in magic training, and Zack went into studding the matrix.
Age: 22 Zack went on to special training for the intelligence agency of Ares. Shaun went into the R&D department for magical gear. Stix went back to the University to get 4 more years in the field of the Matrix.
Age 26: Stix begins work full time at Ares. Some think this would be the year of beginners luck but not for Stix. This was the year he was on a job for Ares and him and the team he was a part of come in contact with an Insect Shaman. The sights he saw in this crazed Shaman’s layer have never left Stix to this day he will get attacked by Insect Spirits in his dreams. There is hardly ever a night that goes by without Insect Spirits trying to feast on Stix in his dreams.
Age 28: With the work Stix had done and the contacts that his friends had made, give Stix an opportunity to be added to a secret lab that Ares owned.  This is where Stix is now assigned to, but he has proved himself to the personal there to give himself a lead job in Matrix security for the sight. It seems having magic and matrix skills does help you get some cool jobs.
Age 32: Well that is now let’s see what the GM has in store for Stix.
Oh ya all his friends call Ken Ryudo Stix since he most of the time has a nic-stix in his mouth.

Concept

Brainy Mage / Decker. The Nice guy, bit of a push over at times..

NOTES
180 Karma Active Skills bought:
30 Karma Knowledge Skills Bought


EDIT: Added Limits and got 2 Lifestyles one for Fake SIN one for Corp SIN, encase we want to make a run for it.
EDIT: Added His 180 Karma Active skills and 30 Karma Knowledge skills, his contacts and a few tweeks. (Sept 19, 2014)
EDIT: Tweeked Stix's Skilss (Sept 20,2014)

[Scawire]

@ RYO if you do go for 3 characters, I would be fine with volunteering as the odd man out (not mind linked). If that is fine with you I would have to change my Corp SIN, some of my knowledge skills (Corp stuff) and I would most likely change my low life style to maybe 2 squatter safe crash pads and put 1,000 into something else. This of course this mean my contacts would be something I have to think over too.

[Novocrane]

It also only really works if the Linked pair are planning to get away from Ares and into the shadows, since there's no reason Ares would send an unaffiliated person along

Why wouldn't Ares send an unaffected one of their own along? 'Eyes on the ground', as opposed to a hidden tail or a desk jockey. I can't imagine an operations manager not wanting to maintain as much oversight as possible, given the situation.

[Ryo]

It also only really works if the Linked pair are planning to get away from Ares and into the shadows, since there's no reason Ares would send an unaffiliated person along

Why wouldn't Ares send an unaffected one of their own along? 'Eyes on the ground', as opposed to a hidden tail or a desk jockey. I can't imagine an operations manager not wanting to maintain as much oversight as possible, given the situation.

That's certainly doable, and you will definitely have reoccurring NPCs working with you. Poindexter specifically said they weren't linked and weren't with Ares, though, which as I said, only works if you're bailing on Ares.

[Scawire]

Opps looked over Poindexter's build he wants the Blonde blue eyed dude, I'll change my guy to a Asian.

Well it is up to the GM and group. I could be 1) Unlinked and work for Ares as magic and matrix support, or 2) I could be Unlinked and not linked to Ares and have contacts to help the two linked Corp Kids get away to greener shadowy pastures.

[Ryo]

I see a third person working one of two ways.

1: The third person is part of Ares and is working as part of the team's support system. May or may not be supportive of any attempts to leave Ares.

2: The third person is separate from Ares, and is basically a contact on the outside that you are coordinating with to get you out. You've heard that they're planning to deploy you in the field and you're using this as an opportunity to escape, and the third wheel is there to assist.

[Zweiblumen]

I'd like to throw my hat in the ring here.  I've got a shooter that I could modify to be a driver that is currenlty written up to be an ex-Ares gun designer.  He'd be really fun as a mind-linked character especially as he's got Aspergers.  It would also work well for him to be the third (if you decide to go that way) that's possibly helping the pair get out.  I've got a short write-up for him, and a standard runner char sheet I could modify to be a Prime Runner.

Gunter, AKA Waffe is an accomplished weaponsmith from Germany.  Only problem is he suffers from Aspergers.  He used to work for Ares designing firearms, but his mouth often got him in trouble.  He ended up with a burnt SIN and living on the street.  Waffe, as he calls himself on the street, is more than capable of handling himself, but his Aspergers often gets him in trouble.
He's a decent looking elf, but a really shitty personality.  It's lucky for him that he's so talented in both shooting, and building firearms.
He has four guns that he currently treasures that he built himself.  Semi-automatics Lefty and Righty based on the Ares Predator line, and Machine pistols Zippy and Spitty based on the Ares Crusader line.  He's also custom designed his own body armor.

He's currently moderately cybered (essence of 4 right now) and I think he'd be a lot of fun to play, especially with that mind-link.

I'm in California (GMT -7 right now), and am usually able to post most of the day and parts of the evening.  I spend all day in front of a computer, and have no problem posting a few times a day during the week, and a few times over the weekend (more in the evening for me).

[Ravensoracle]

This definitely seems like a game that I would be interested in. I might even have a 4th ed character that I could resurrect for the game. He's a Part of Firewatch that came up through Knight Errant as a Detective. He's mundane, has the brains to back up the ability to kickass. He's not a face but he's a naturally born leader. He just screams professionalism and pragmatism.  But he isn't the nice guy of the group. He is a glass half empty personality. He's all business and is a workaholic, which has cost him many a relationship, both romantic and just friendly.

Stat wise, he'd be a Firewatch Operative. Trained in all weapons and firearms to some degree. Has knowledge in chemistry, forensics, and demolitions.   He has some training in the medical field and can kill you with a bullet or with his brains. He's in shape and can do some second story work if needed. He could play the third wheel sent from Ares or one of the two linked together.

I am in Central Standard Time for the US. and tend to post every day when I can. Let me know what you guys think.