[VegasRigged]

I try not to, but even as we weave through the crowd, connected in mind and body, my thoughts drift on her question back decades to my youth.

Janice bluer had talked a bunch of us into sneaking out from the Academy for a night of fun before we graduated. In truth I'd been not properly invited, I'd stumbled in on the discussion how to get away from the watcher spirits and been drafted into the escape without much chance to object.

I'd tried to dress for occasion, but as soon as I met the others in the reagents hall I knew the night was doomed. Everyone else was wearing jeans or skirts and I looked like I was on my was to give a report, buttoned and pressed, like always. A perfect student and a boring person. I still vividly remember coming around they corner and the snickering spreading across their faces like a plague. Oh if they could see me now.

Getting out hadn't been all that hard in the end, we'd cast a barrier around the summoner on watch and left under my invisibility spell. Since the barrier kept the spirit from reporting our disappearance we were well of campus and gone before anyone knew anything.

The club had been a loud, dark, intense kind of place. For a straight edge student with anxiety issues, a nightmare. Everyone had split up once we were inside, some going to the 'boyfriends' they'd been cultivating all year, others to the bar to have strangers but then drinks. I had put on my bravest face, dismissed the look the bouncer had given me as meaningless and marched out onto the dance floor.

Aperntly I had danced, apparently I'd been pretty cool, because everyone had come out and joined me or taken trideo recordings. It wouldn't be until later that they would confess the desire to get me off the floor and away from the eyes of the patrons before everyone realized that we weren't supposed to be here. I spent the rest of the evening ignored in the corner, a few people asked me to dance, but I don't think I could have gotten up after my humiliation.

The memory is hard to feel, the lost and embarrassed little Eva is still hard to think about sometimes, though in truth I've given very little thought tonthatbpart of my life since I got out of it. Soon would follow my days working in Mana theory, the discovery of my affinity and the theories that would lead to the spire. I hold Sylvia a little tighter as i realize the last time I was in a club was very nearly the last time I was a outsider.

Part of me wonders if I'm becoming that again, becoming unknown. Eva died in a cell, betrayed forgotten and abandoned. Part of me wants that girl to be dead, and part of me wants to help her, and part of me is starting to panic at the profound breach of my life's continuity.

What if I'm still that girl, what if I've dreamed all of his in the corner of that dingy little club? I can barely manage the words now, the beat is pounding into my head and as god as this feels I need it to stop or I have no idea what's going to happen next.

"Sylvia-" I say into her ear, but my voice is a little shaky and I cannot explain what's happening. I can't tell her. Not all this, not now "this is nice, but let's get another drink."

The old self talk starts again, the gears spinning in comfortable ruthenium 'Good, divert the moment, give yourself a goal. You can manage this, too much is riding on tonight for you to lose your shit. Just keep it together, everything will be fine'

[Mercy Merchant]

@Cynthia   Tanya smiles when you talk about her link.  "I think the details are for you to find out.  If you can.  When you are done, I would deeply appreciate it if you return my systems to me intact and without any tracer marks.  But I would also like to know what the weaknesses are."  It is not that hard to determine that her 'link is on the Emerald City Grid and you go to work on it.  Hopping to the correct grip is easy for you this time and compiling the Crack Sprite seems incredibly easy.  Everything goes smoothly and you have access to her 'link and its files, most of which seem to be records of conversations with other people.  Really boring conversations at that.  Wow, the inane stuff the idle rich find to talk about.  Every message is about the current styles people are wearing, the best party locations, and a bit of gossip about who is sleeping with who.  Boring, boring, boring.  You do find one file that resists your efforts for a bit then opens for you.  Nothing in it.  Wait........it is a pulse file that links to a second implanted comlink and seems to only go from this link to the second.  This new comlink is on a different grid than the first one.


@Eva   Sylvia does not hesitate, but takes your hand and beelines for the exit from the dance floor to the main room of the circle.  It is almost like she knows something is off.  Once free of the crowd, she leads you to a quiet spot against the wall and looks at you closely.  "Are you alright?  Remember, I am here to help.  You are not alone.  Please be brave enough to share."

[Imladir]

[Cynthia Rawson - Sunday June 10th, 2075 - Dante's Inferno] #81

"If I can eh? Are you trying to taunt me into doing it?" she grumbles "That's not nice to toy with me like that you know."

Despite her best efforts, her interest seems piqued though. Probably by the second 'link she found. *Note to self: having Arsène put Marks is bad. Only Arsène has a Mark, and I can't do a thing now. Ok, let him finish his copy of the files, it might be needed later on if I ever meet some of those people. At least I would know some stuff about them... As he does it, I'll check out this new 'link.*

After a second or two, she adds "And I'm not in the habit of wreaking havoc everywhere I go you know. The best hack is the one where no one knows it happened."

Even if it doesn't seem to be in Tanya's PAN - or the file wouldn't be needed - and even if, given the circumstances, Tanya's Persona is with her Caliban, she doesn't want to take the risk of doing anything to the implanted 'link alone. She will have to take another risk of course, but... While Arsène does his job, she will study quite extensively the implanted 'link without touching anything. She will try to cross-reference what she finds with implanted 'links specifications she finds on the 'trix, hoping to identify the model. And hopefully, any "known" weakness.

She coughs a little "That is, I suppose it is the best hack. You know, if I ever hacked anything. Which I don't do. And never did of course..."

Once Arsène has finished, she'll ask it to drop the Snoop he's doing on the Caliban: it's not useful at all. *And it was a waste, I should have waited a bit. Damn sneaky people with multiple 'links* She'll drop the Resonance Veil too, since Arsène goes back to the Resonance, and the mark vanishes. *Not sure that was useful either, but better safe than sorry I suppose. Despite the hit.* Thinking about it, she rubs her neck with a small grimace.

Completely absorbed by what she's doing, and trying to pull the wool over Tanya's eyes, Cynthia bumps into a thirty something man. Absent mindedly, not even looking at him she apologises "Sorry, didn't see you."

*Ok. Round two now. I really, sincerely hope that the main defence was the Caliban though... And that there's something in the air that makes me quite good at compiling Arsène tonight... No wait... I'll use Saint Exp for this. I don't need Arsène's suppression, but I could need Saint Exp's Cookies... Ok, here goes... Huh... Nice. There's definitely something in the air. Or it's the juices? Frag, I should say something...*

"By the way, where are we going now? Looking for Marissa?" she looks around, as if she was indeed looking for Marissa. Frowning at the man she just bumped into, wondering where he came from. *No way she'll believe I'm not doing anything. We'll call it plausible deniability... Doesn't matter, I never pretended I was a Con Artist. Anyway... Let's do this. If I fail, I'll just have to make the 'link believe it was someone else... And if I don't, I'll be able to look into it by myself. As soon as I'll have removed any trace that pesky GOD would use at least. And I'll have to hide the Mark too. Fun times...* She scowls for a moment.

{Ok Saint Exp, here's our target. Let's do this.}

[spoiler]
More rolls!
By the way I made (yet another) mistake previously: I took the attributes of the sprites as being their equivalent for a living persona (for example Logic equal to Sleaze and so on). Wouldn't have changed much but still... Let's hope I will manage to not make any mistakes this time

First roll is mainly to identify the Grid the implanted link is on. The other rolls are just there to get as much details from the 'link as possible.
I supposed it could be considered as retries so with a 1d penalty each time.
Matrix Perception (implanted link): 13d6t5 3
Matrix Perception: 12d6t5 5 11d6t5 3 10d6t5 5 (limit is 5, so it's ok)
Not bad. Depends on the opposition of course, but should allow to get at least some info.

Courrier Sprite [6] (Compiling, defence, Fade): 12d6t5 5 6d6t5 2 13d6t5 5
Cynthia might consider coming to the Dante each time she has a level 6 sprite to compile...
Note that it's a glitch on the sprite's defence roll (less Fade? More services?).

Hop to implanted 'link grid (HotF, Defence): 12d6t5 7 6d6t5 3
Seven successes... Let's hope I didn't use all available successes for the night. I'll need more soon...
And a glitch on the defence roll here too. If that could continue, it would be awesome!

HotF (Teamwork test, Courier): 12d6t5 2 Yeah. Could have been better...
HotF (Teamwork test, Cynthia): 16d6t5 6 Just my limit (5 Sleaze + 1 teamwork test)
Hopefully this is enough. Fingers crossed!
[/spoiler]

[VegasRigged]

I have to swallow the mad urge to hiss at her like an angry cat. We've know each other three days and SHE PRESUMES TO KNOW ME SO WELL?!

Anger and distrust boil in my chest like a star, but as always, I smile and the gears step into the spotlight and operate the features I present to the world.

"I'm sorry, I used to take lessons in another type of dance. I had this one partner who meant a great deal to me... I haven't thought about him in a while.... I  do mean it about the new drink  though, I'm enjoying myself already and intend to continue."

I may correct that story later, or I may not, for now I can be confident that she will buy the story long enough for me to get things back under control.

[Mercy Merchant]

@Cynthia    The second Caliban is on the Renraku Global Grid and has an active Agent program that is continuously searching for attempts to get past the firewall, which seems to be a bit improved over the normal specs for the 'link.  You jump to the correct grid and begin your stealthy assault on the device.  This one is much harder than the first but  you are a skilled hacker and eventually manage to get a good mark on the 'link without setting off any alarms.  It certainly helps that your sprite seems to be more willing to help you than normal.  Perhaps it is the location or perhaps you are just getting better.......or luckier.  You can get into the files and these are far more meatier than those on the first device.  In fact, you are able to find a corresponding file on the second 'link for every conversation that you captured from the first one.  You note that there is a difference in what is stored and that most of the recorded conversations are just not the same between the two sets of files.  The second set also includes personal details about the people she is talking to.  Names, ages, lovers, etc.  There is a lot of information about everyone she talks to.


@Eva   Despite your outward indications, Sylvia seems to glean something from your body language.................or maybe she is just intuitive.  In any case, she backs off from saying more and nods before heading over to the first circle bar.  She orders a fruit juice blend, eschewing an alcoholic drink.  The ARO on her wrist informs the man behind the bar that the drinks are covered.  He slides a tall glass of an orange liquid to Sylvia and turns to you.  "And you, Miss?  What may I get you?"

[Imladir]

[Cynthia Rawson - Sunday June 10th, 2075 - Dante's Inferno] #82

*Frag, another Caliban... Those should be forbidden...*

Most would probably feel like they struck gold finding those files. Especially given the details. To Cynthia though, it's mostly boring. She doesn't care - at all - what others do with their life. She's a tiny bit curious about what the differences between the two sets of recordings are, but she will get a copy and study them later. Or maybe she'll just send the files to Tanya and not even bother looking into them? Just as a proof that she got them?

She will spend a couple of seconds looking at what is in PAN with the implanted 'link mostly regarding other implanted stuff, getting all the specifications she can, but won't try anything else on what she finds.

Now... She will initiate a Snoop, once again helped by Saint Exp. Once again, she doesn't care about what she could get here, but it's probably expected at this point. She'll have to hide the Mark for a while, and probably take a small hit doing so, but that's par for the course.
Once it's done, she's glad she didn't take any hit: she can now completely pay attention to what's going on, while keeping Saint Exp around in case she needs anything sometime later. Maybe to tag an interesting implanted device like 'eyes or something.

She looks expectantly at Tanya, waiting for her decision.

[spoiler]
Matrix Perception: 13d6t5 5

Snoop (Teamwork test, Courrier's roll): 12d6t5 2
Snoop (Teamwork test, Cynthia's roll): 14d6t5 5

Resonance Veil [5] (Hide Mark, Fade DV4): 13d6t5 6 13d6t5 5 (fixed, I rolled one more die than I had on the first roll)

Hopefully enough hits here to beat the Agent, and more importantly no Fade this time around, which is cool.
[/spoiler]

[Mercy Merchant]

@Cynthia   The PAN you are looking at seems to consist of only the pair of Caliban 'links.  Your initial search does not reveal any other devices on her that are connected in any way.  However, there is a slight blip on the PAN exactly six seconds after you access it, as if it was resetting itself for some reason.  And then again, ten seconds later..............and eight seconds............and fifteen seconds.  The timing of the blips seems to be completely at random, so maybe there is some sort of glitch in her 'link she is not aware of.

[Imladir]

[Cynthia Rawson - Sunday June 10th, 2075 - Dante's Inferno] #83

Cynthia frowns *Huh? What's that? A glitch? Could be. Or...*

Cynthia silently monitors the pattern for a minute. Mostly gazing into space, responding mostly in single words to any prompting. She should probably try to keep the charade going but...she completely forgot about it. Completely absorbed in this anomaly, she tries to find it's source. If it's really a glitch, she would be better off asking help from Nikola, her Machine Sprite. But first... She wants to make sure it's just a glitch. And not something more nefarious. Or simply some hidden protocol. Yet another defence layer?

[Mercy Merchant]

@Cynthia   Bingo.  An examination of the entire limited PAN takes a bit of time but Tanya does not seem to mind.  She even sits down on a bench with you and lets you do your thing undisturbed.  Your search leads you to the conclusion that all of the files there are synced to the blips except one.  That file is innocuously labeled as MISC JUNK.

[Imladir]

[Cynthia Rawson - Sunday June 10th, 2075 - Dante's Inferno] #84

Cynthia sits, studying the files. Trying to understand what is the exact purpose of the blips.

After a while, she blinks and looks at Tanya. "Err... Sorry?" She smiles ruefully "I suppose there's not much use pretending nothing is going on and that I'm just... er... a bit tired?"

While she refrains from touching the file itself for now, she studies it, trying to determine how it is protected. Expecting a high level of encryption, and maybe even a Data Bomb? Maybe... Maybe she could try to circumvent the protections on the file by having Saint Exp use his Cookie power to identify what exactly is going in and out? And hopefully, finding the destination.

[Mercy Merchant]

Tanya smiles and shakes her head at you.  "Not really, dear, no.  But you are quite good.  I think that if I were not expecting it that I might not have detected you yet.  You are doing better than anyone else so far..  Do you like the challenge?  Not bored, I hope?"

[Imladir]

[Cynthia Rawson - Sunday June 10th, 2075 - Dante's Inferno] #85

Cynthia grunts, stopping what she was doing. "In fact... A bit... It's starting to be. Especially since I don't care about those files of yours and their juicy bits." Her tone is clearly disdainful when she says this, but she doesn't pause "I suppose some people... Ok, a lot of people... Would be, but I'm not." She shrugs "Given that you already know what I was doing, there's no point in continuing since I already failed." she grumbles a bit "I'd done better in VR."

With a sigh, she starts to clean herself and Saint Exp of their Overwatch Score. "What now? Hum wait, I'll delete the copy of the files I took."

[Mercy Merchant]

Tanya smiles.  "Giving up?  The idea is not that you need to find everything, but that you can point out to me what you did find and how you did it so that I can have those holes plugged.  Even better if you can plug the holes.  You have already earned 5K Y for doing what others have not been able to do.  I would double that if you continue and find out more.  If you need to go to VR, I can watch over you while you are gone."

[Imladir]

[Cynthia Rawson - Sunday June 10th, 2075 - Dante's Inferno] #86

Cynthia looks at Tanya, silent for a bit. She seems a bit depressed, almost - but not quite - affronted "I don't care about nuyens you know." She frowns "Let me rephrase that. I don't mind having more nuyens. But I don't need them, I wouldn't even know where to spend them. As a consequence, it's not a very good incentive for me."  She mutters "Maybe that's part of my problem. Would be easier to find something to do with my life if I did."

She sighs, then shakes her head "Fine. But not here. Maybe in the suite, but certainly not here."

[Mercy Merchant]

Tanya nods and rises from the comfortable bench seat.  "Far be it for me to force you to take my money.  We can return to the suite and wait for Marisa to return so you can have your chat with her."  She is quiet as the two of you make your way up from the fourth circle but just as you climb the ramp leading to the first, she stops and asks, "So, would you be willing to tell me what would be an incentive?"