Awakening Apocalypse - Chapter 2: The End of the Beginning

The room Heartbreak wants to work in is highlighted on the other runners' comlinks, as well as the locations of the security teams. Casper is the first to realize that there really isn't any way to approach the security team without having the echoing footsteps of her partners warning the team well in advance. Maybe it would work if Heartbreak could make the guard's comlink malfunction and blare music or something, but otherwise she just doesn't think it's likely she could get close enough to taze him, unless she did it alone. And it seems like Heartbreak has enough on his mind already to worry about causing a distraction...

Meanwhile Heartbreak is subjected to another attempt by the patrol IC to find him.

Patrol IC roll - 2 hits
Heartbreak roll - 3 hits

He stays hidden for now, but even with the huge skill disparity between them the IC is bound to get lucky eventually.

Heartbreak analyzes one of the drone icons at random. He's able to get a lot of information about them. First, he realizes the drones can absolutely function independently of the operator, so just taking out the human won't stop the threat of his drone team. In fact, it looks like the drone operator is only there for raising the alarm if his team comes under attack. Second, he sees that the drones can be remotely shut down. This is strange, as there is no device on the handler which could do such a thing. Maybe the kill switch is in the security office? Third, the drones have been modified to fire only non-lethal ammo, instead of having the option to switch between lethal or non-lethal as Heartbreak originally thought. Instead of having a reserve set of ammo, the drones are equipped with a camera. They're not networked, either, so Heartbreak would have to shut down each camera individually. The cameras are not actively monitored, and the feed isn't wireless, so the cameras are only useful for someone who is reviewing something that already happened, not for real-time.

Saint draws his silenced weapon, quickly does a press check by moving the slide back just enough to see a chambered round, then starts making his way towards HB's desired destination. He constantly checks behind him to insure HB is on his tail. He will try and take the route with the least amount of resistance but if that fails then he will strike the security team in the best suitable location, prioritizing the human.

"Skinny," says Casper as she examines the layout. "There's no good firelanes on this guard until we're close. Let me go first, be close enough to back me up if things go bad but not so close he can hear you. I want at least one shot on him where he has no idea anything's wrong. Once I take that shot, anything goes as long as it's quiet. Soka?"

Over the comm she then asks, "Saint, what's you and Heartbreak's plan?"

Saint is the first to respond,

"We're headed for a secluded room close enough for HB to work his magic. I still have my eyes set on taking the security room but that can wait."

Heartbreak

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[sblock=OOC]Current Deck stats: Attack 1, Sleaze 4, Data Processing 3, & Firewall 3. Running Virtual Machine with Exploit and Sneak.[/sblock]

Saint nods,

"Alright, Mark that security room and let's see what the resistance is like."

Heartbreak

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[sblock=OOC]Current Deck stats: Attack 1, Sleaze 4, Data Processing 3, & Firewall 3. Running Virtual Machine with Exploit and Sneak.[/sblock]

Heartbreak (somewhat reluctantly, to his own surprise) reboots his device, yanking him back to the cold gray of reality. (Heartbreak is experiencing a pretty common phenomenon among hackers, who almost universally end up developing an addiction to VR over their lifetime. Heartbreak is not addicted yet per se, but he'd probably have a hard time understanding why such an addiction would be a bad thing...)

The few moments that it takes his deck to reboot are very uncomfortable to Heartbreak, as he and Saint start making their way toward the Security office. Now that his senses are fully grounded in reality, the echoing of their steps sounds like thunder in his ears. Saint's breathing sounds like a fog horn. Even the movement of the fabric of his clothes seems harsh and over-loud.

Finally! The cyberdeck lights all indicate a successful, fresh reboot, and Heartbreak is back in business. He marks the host again without too much trouble, but there's something different this time as Heartbreak strolls back into the sports-arena style network host. The atmosphere is more tense. Where before the host had simulated a brightly lit summer day, the sky was now overcast and oppressive.

There is a flicker of movement just out of Heartbreak's periphery. As he turns to look, he catches the outline silhouette of a tiger, as it shimmers into translucent invisibility. A moment later, Heartbreak's mark is erased from the host, and the lights of icons throughout the host flicker off as Heartbreak loses the ability to automatically detect them. Heartbreak knows he is no longer the only person in this host. He is now being actively hunted.

The CTI Security Spider (an actual person in the host, possibly nearly as skilled as Heartbreak himself) has noticed the intrusion into the CTI network. Heartbreak witnessed the Spider switching to silent mode as he found Heartbreak's mark on the host. The Spider then erased the mark. The rules for operating within a host while the host is not marked are not particularly clear in the book, however for this campaign it means the following: Heartbreak no longer automatically succeeds at spotting icons within this host anymore, and must make matrix perception tests to see things that are further than 100m of real-space away.

Heartbreak must mentally prepare himself to be caught and forced into cybercombat with the Spider and the legions of IC that will accompany him. Heartbreak can dedicate his effort to finding and knocking out the Spider if he feels confident enough. Or, he can simply continue his previous style of hacking, and deal with the Spider if/when it finds him.

For now, Heartbreak succeeds in spotting the icon for a surveillance camera in the hallway outside the security office. Through the camera, he sees that the hallway is populated with a few workers going about their business. None of the drone teams are guarding this particular room.

Heartbreak can't find an icon for a security camera inside the security office, which makes a kind of sense. Why would security want to watch security? However, he does find a closed-circuit comlink meant for communicating with the security teams. He marks the comlink, and is able to listen in on the radio traffic between the security teams.

"Control to Team 1."
"Team 1. All quiet here."
"Flipper reports possible unauthorized access, stairwells 29-A and 29-B. Cameras in the area are down. We're bringing them back up now. Please investigate."
"Team 1 copy. I'm on the way."
"Control to all Security teams; network security has identified a vulnerability that may have allowed unauthorized access to secure areas. Initiate 100% company badge compliance measures at this time." Heartbreak notes that the voice sounds bored, as if this type of increased security isn't exactly rare.
"Team 2 copy."
"Team 3 copy."

The Spider must have found the door alarms and cameras offline, and alerted the physical security team. The cameras Heartbreak originally shut down will be brought online momentarily, which would allow security to see them on the stairwell landing. The runners all meet together at the bottom of the stairwell, and move through the door just before the security cameras come online and sweep the area. Heartbreak, Casper, Skinny, and Saint are now all together, making their way toward the CTI security office.

Heartbreak must now decide whether to keep his marks on the security office hallway and comlink radio so he can continue to monitor them, or erase his own marks so that the Spider won't find evidence of where they're heading next...

(OOC :: I was waiting for HB to inform us that trouble was in route but at this point I'm just going to assume he's said something.)

Saint readies his weapon and begins moving towards the Security room.

"We need to get moving, fight through any resistance we can't avoid and get this show on the road. If we just sit here they'll find us."

Heartbreak

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[sblock=OOC]Current Deck stats: Attack 1, Sleaze 4, Data Processing 3, & Firewall 3. Running Virtual Machine with Exploit and Sneak.[/sblock]