Anthracite Solstice (Cyberpunk d20)

BMR · Post by **BMR** » Mon Feb 13, 2017 1:35 pm

"Ah, of course, the question of money. Of course, you understand that we cannot be seen to be doing... questionably legal business... with outsiders. Thus, we cannot have anything leading too direct a paper trail back to us."

He reaches for his briefcase once more and retrieves a small box and places it onto the table. It makes a rather heavy-sounding thunk as he does so. He presses a few buttons on the box and a green light flicks on. He then turns it towards you and opens it, revealing some sort of microchip.

"This processor, along with six others, was stolen from us recently. Unfortunately, although we captured the culprit, he refused to tell use where he had hidden or sold them off. It was not too great a loss though, as insurance managed to cover us to some extent. Each one alone is easily worth the price of a luxury car. Granted, even seven of these might not sound like much, but we are throwing in a little incentive.

"Seeing as how there was a rather unfortunate incident at the facility involving a reactor leak, we have had to dispose of much of the equipment, seeing as how it is now unsafe for use. And being the law-abiding businessmen that we are, we have filed the proper papers regarding our losses and reported the accident to the proper authorities, essentially writing off pretty much all equipment in the facility that isn't nailed down and easy to carry off to be sold on the black market."

Post by **Bob the Hamster** » Mon Feb 13, 2017 3:21 pm

"So we can loot whatever we find... even if some of it might glow a little bit?"

BMR · Post by **BMR** » Mon Feb 13, 2017 3:36 pm

The man rolls his eyes and says:

"Do read between the lines, my dear, there is no radiation leak. It's simply our cover story. But yes, you may loot whatever you can carry out. But this is a one time thing, do not presume that you can scurry in and out slowly emptying the place. You can take whatever it is you can carry out, but only after you've dealt with the AI, and only this once."

Post by **Bob the Hamster** » Mon Feb 13, 2017 8:27 pm

Tokamak drops her foot off the table and leans forward.

"Hey! Don't you roll your eyes at me you patronizing slime! It's not my fault you explained it that way! You're the ones who screwed up so bad that you need OUR help cleaning up the mess."

She doesn't leave though.

Gizmog · Post by **Gizmog** » Mon Feb 13, 2017 11:09 pm

The doctor interrupts, hoping to prevent a fight. "Tell me more about these forklifts.. will there be instructional material on site or are they pretty self-explanatory? And those delivery vans, surely a big company doesn't still waste time with drivers? Any chance of the driver AI's going rogue on us?"

It sounds like a slimy job, but for a delivery bay full of military grade weapons and mad science? You can try anything once.

BMR · Post by **BMR** » Tue Feb 14, 2017 5:11 am

The man seems unimpressed by the little outburst. He gestures to the room around him and says:

"Spare me the temper tantrum. We are in Silver's Hole, everyone here is either desperate enough to do anything, or on the express lane to getting there. If you don't like the terms, I'm certain there's someone else here willing to take the job."

He turns to Dr. Greg and says:

"Much of the equipment within the facility is automated, yes. But the ones above ground are manually operated and have no connection to the AI at all. If you can get them running, then feel free to use them to navigate the facility. The hallways should all be large enough for a forklift, although I doubt they would offer you any sort of speed advantage what with how slow they are. They're built for strength, not for speed. The delivery vans will be much too big though, but I they're not connected to the AI either, so you might find a use for them."

Gizmog · Post by **Gizmog** » Tue Feb 14, 2017 5:51 am

Piperman feels like there's something they're not being told (pretty natural for this type of work), but can't think of a good question. He takes a box out of his labcoat pocket and sets it on the table. The box is made of shiny foil and adorned with a variety of official looking asian texts. There's only two words written in English, printed dead-center and in a whimsical typeset: "Knick-Knack".

It opens easily and the doctor slides a featureless brown brick from inside. He slides the entire brick into his mouth and begins sucking.

Post by **Bob the Hamster** » Tue Feb 14, 2017 1:00 pm

Tokamak scowls daggers, but let's the topic drop.

"Fine. Anything else? Time's wasting."

BMR · Post by **BMR** » Tue Feb 14, 2017 2:02 pm

"No, I believe that covers the gist of things. Should you need further information, consult the device I've given you. It should have a catalog of most of the items within the facility, as well as basic background on the corporation I represent. Will you be heading for the facility on your own, or would you rather I arrange for you to be dropped there?"

Gizmog · Post by **Gizmog** » Tue Feb 14, 2017 11:31 pm

Greg reaches into his mouth, carefully sliding what's left of the brick out. Most of the chocolate has melted, revealing a small porcelain owl hidden within. "Another freakin' bird...". He shakes his head and throws the owl, chocolate and all, over his shoulder.

Back to business! He flips his glasses back to the jiggling butt channel. How much fluid did he put in their bags? Probably enough for 110 hours, but definitely not enough for two weeks. "I think I left my stove on. Any chance I can stop home first? Few things I oughta pick up too.." he trails off. Really need to hire a receptionist.

BMR · Post by **BMR** » Wed Feb 15, 2017 4:15 am

The man shrugs again and says, "Sure, why not. Remember though, you are on a time limit."

He takes a card out of his jacket and places it on the table.

"This is the address of the facility. You should all meet there when you're ready. There's also a number on the card. Call it, and within fifteen minutes one of our people will arrive at your location to take you to the facility. But only to the facility."

With that, he gathers his things and nods to your group.

"If there is nothing else, I will be taking my leave."

Post by **Bob the Hamster** » Wed Feb 15, 2017 7:35 pm

Tokamak waits for the man to leave, and then looks at her two new co-workers.

The kid hasn't said much, so she ignores him.

She looks at the doctor.

"So, you got a plan for this, smart guy? What was your name again?"

Gizmog · Post by **Gizmog** » Thu Feb 16, 2017 2:51 am

The doctor gives the businessman a wave as he leaves, content with the answers they've been given so far. "Doctor Greg Piperman and you know something? I do have a plan."

Greg stands up and moves over to where their employer had been sitting. He gives the chair and table a cursory examination for listening devices and a once-over with his metal detector. If he doesn't find anything, he'll proceed, taking the position of authority at the table. He solemnly removes his glasses, folding them onto the table and fixing his icy blue eyes onto Tokamak's.

"Ma'am, there's no easy way to say this. I think we should steal the AI."

He turns his gaze to the kid. "How many kids do you think you can scrounge up at the high school?"

Taco Bot · Post by **Taco Bot** » Thu Feb 16, 2017 2:56 am

Scott narrows his eyes. "I don't attend high school."

He gets up from his chair and gives the table another once-over to make sure the doctor didn't miss anything.

"And I think stealing the AI would be a great idea, as long as we could get away without being found. This corporation looks like it has some serious firepower. If they found out we were disobeying them, we'd be dead meat. I'm not sure what sort of copy protection that thing has, but if we get to it, I can do my best to make it ours."

Post by **Bob the Hamster** » Thu Feb 16, 2017 3:03 am

Tokamak is taken aback.

"I... I... Hmmm."

"That's not bad!" She concedes. "That guy was a slimehole. Yeah, let's do it. I'll bet if we tell a security bot we are there to help the AI escape, it'll probably stop shooting at us."