So during an upcoming run GUMBO (the Guild of United Murderhobos for the Betterment of Others) is going to be posing as "Duraplast Cliffs" shredding services until we are caught and have to start shooting our way out (so, y'know, 20 seconds, 30 on a good day). As a result I find myself pondering what sort of services such a company would provide and what sort of things might us "Company representatives" be trying to upsell?
There are many...
Now in a semi-paperless future there's still HUGE demand for grinding up hard drives and smashing back-up tapes but there's also the magic to consider. What sort of astral signatures or weird magical thingamajigs might need to be wiped down and what sort of ways can you keep an enterprising dumpster-diver from using psychometry on a broken chair that has "seen too much"?
Not so sure about the "grinding" of drives. Storage is not an issue anymore as it is now, electronic devices have almost unlimited storage by themselves in SR. But there is still "hard copies" that need to be destroyed.
What you are talking about are Astral Signatures.
In a Nutshell, Astral Signatures are the emotive impressions left on object from either magic, or intense/sustained emotion. A Diary on the astral plane couldn't be read, but an astral viewer could pick up on the "hopes, dreams, fears, and desires" contained within the book and 'know' that the book is a Diary, without actually knowing what it says.
An empty lot on the physical world could look... empty. but on the Astral, it's still alive with auras and emotions from the rock concert that was there the night before.
There are ways to remove magical astral signatures. But to remove the emotive signature (also known as background count) usually means removing the offending emotion from the area (and toxic wastes). There are ways to reduce a background count.
And then there is "Smudging" which seems to be what you are looking for....
SMUDGING
(MANA, MATERIAL LINK)
Smudging is the purification or cleansing ritual for people
or places. It often involves the burning of herbal reagents
specific to the magician’s tradition and culture
(mugwart, white sage, etc). Smudging removes psychic
imprints left on the astral plane on places and objects.
It’s frequently used to ward off “evil spirits” that may
be attracted to negative imprints by removing those
imprints. Smudging is also used in cleansing objects
after a crime for resale (legally or illegally). Some mistakenly
believe that smudging can remove spirits such
as haunts and bogies, but attempted cleansings of this
type only piss them off.
As noted in Psychometry (p. 144), this ritual permanently
reduces the psychic imprint by number of success
for the ritual. Smudging also reduces the existence of all
astral signatures by number of successes within the area
(p. 312, SR5). The Smudging ritual cleans an area equal
to the ([leader’s Magic Rating + initiate grade] x Force)
in meters. It takes Force x 30 minutes to complete the
ritual. Requires Cleansing
Just keep in mind, there are areas that are toxic areas of despair in SR that show no signs of getting better, even in the case of some after a century of being cleared of the abusing emotions. The old WW2 concentration camps are known 'hotspots' of BGC. As is the Shattergraves, and the Containment Zone. - Some things just can't be cleaned it seems.
Now, I fully understand that psychometry is pretty explicit; PCs only get what the GM gives them and the GM shouldn't give them anything game-breaking. But in-universe corporate security doesn't care about that, it cares about plugging any potential leak no matter how tiny (as long as it's within budget). What ways, if any, could you wipe the memories off of a pen cap? Would burning it to ash do it? Can they burn everything to ash or does that become problematic with larger objects?
Smudging works. Ash is not an object. Ash is what is left of an object... Also the object matters. I seriously doubt they would worry about a pen cap
unless it was on the pen when that pen was used to stab someone to death.
But the chair someone sat in while they "ask questions", yea they just might burn that... Or stick it in storage for a week for the aura to wear off... Or just keep using the same damn chair for every time they "ask questions" and just make sure they ask those questions on Corp grounds where using pliers, a blow torch and a gerbil are considered legal questioning tools.
What other magical detection/investigation tricks could spies use that information security would be blocking? How would they block it? Sure there'd be mana barriers and spirits, but what else? Perhaps some kind of service exists where a spirit summoned by company A. This spirit watches over things or destroys data and has a formula for summoning it (that's a thing, right?), and that formula can be provided (rented, for a fee) to Company B so that Company B can summon the spirit and verify, "did Company A do everything it was supposed to, is the data destroyed/did the people take their doses of Laes?" or whatnot.
Don't mess with Spirits.
Seriously. Do. Not. Mess. With. Spirits.
They know all, they see all, they hear all. Every Spirit
knows what you have done in the presence of each and every of spirit. Forever. (see Spirit Reputation)
In theory, all one has to do is summon a spirit ask it, "Did a spirit summoned by Phil Mcdickslap burn those files like they said they would?" to get an answer.
(Did I say it before? Do. Not. Fuck. With. Spirits!)
Further questions percolating through my insane ramblings: document companies do more than shred and destroy. They also store offsite backups, Hold data in escrow (essentially) and the like. What sort of magical documents and recordings would a document-handling company STORE? Can you keep mana-pictures of astral signatures? Can you store stolen memories? Are there literally magical documents? I freely admit there's a LOT of books I haven't read so perhaps these are silly questions, but there they are.I don't know, idle thoughts at midnight lead to ridiculous forum posts. But what's important is the betterment of others...by a hobo, with a shotgun.
Magical thesis. These are made by people undergoing Initiation as a way of reducing the karma cost. But they act as a direct material link to the caster! As such they are often kept very secure!
Spell Formula. These are about as valuable as drug formulae as in theory. if you develop and patent the "Ass-plosive Spell" that gives the target violent liquid shits instantly, you are entitled to by paid by every mage that wants to learn that spell! (imagine how rich the inventor of Fireball is!!)
Spirit Formula. Needed to make an ally spirit... and can be used against an ally spirit....
Spirit True Names.
There are lots of things...
and some of them don't like dark cages. Or the people who try to put them in them.
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