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The Shadow Knows! (Final Update 6/3/04)
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<blockquote data-quote="The Shadow" data-source="post: 1373642" data-attributes="member: 16760"><p>As long as I'm posting campaign material anyway, what's a little more? <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> Here's the writeup I gave SP on the Shadow's base, though it rambled on to a few more subjects as well. As you will see, some of this stuff will be very worth knowing in just a couple episodes.</p><p></p><p>The bit at the end refers to some endnotes on "A Night Off" that I clipped when I posted here for heightened dramatic effect. Here they are again, for the sake of posterity:</p><p></p><p>[ Gaming note: Carlos has gained a good deal more confidence over the succeeding months. He won't be nearly this nervous over changes in routine or in the Shadow's moods. This was the first time they had really done something together other than fight crime. Nowadays they might take a night off for a movie or dinner every couple months, and play cards for an hour or two on slow nights. The hat on the banister knob is a firm ritual, btw. If it's not there, it is an infallible sign that "The Shadow is IN."] </p><p></p><p>[ The refurbished base has a vastly improved security system, of course, but it's pretty inobtrusive. It scrutinizes your irises, retinas, fingerprints, DNA, mental signature, and three or four other things that Garrity will tell you to "never mind" about, all as you approach the stairwell. If you pass, you just walk down the stairs and open the door. If you don't, you'll never even see the stairwell, just a blank wall. A perfectly solid blank wall. A more than perfectly solid blank wall - a howitzer might scuff the paint, but then again, it might not. Doc Griswold visited the place before Hal worked his magic, btw, so his knowledge, while compromising, isn't quite as much so as one might think.] </p><p></p><p>[ By the way, I discovered while writing this that Alex likes to cook. He says a chemist needs to keep a hand in with cooking to avoid hardening of the mental arteries, even if at the expense of the physical ones. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> He is a methodical, disciplined, but mildly inspired culinary artist - the sort of guy with an organized spice rack and neatly stacked cup measures he always knows where to find. But when he gets going, it's almost a meditative thing for him. I suspect that David as a bachelor will look at the varied contents of his cupboard and ask himself, "What would Dad do with this?" much the same way I ask myself what my mom would do. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> ]</p><p></p><p>--------------------------- </p><p></p><p>The Shadow's base has the following twelve features: Communications, Concealment, Defense System, Gym, Hangar, Laboratory, Living Space, Power System, Reinforced Structure, Security System, Super-Power (Mental Invisibility), and Vehicle. Since the Living Space feature is quite limited (enough facilities for, oh, four people tops rather than ten if a few more cots are unfolded), I feel justified in having the Laboratory double as a chemistry Workshop. The Mental Invisibility is derived from the Shadow himself - Garrity has arranged that he can spread his "Vanish" effect over the base at will through the medium of his commlink, provided he's within a range of 35 miles. </p><p></p><p>The place doesn't have a mainframe, so the Computer feature is not needed. There's a couple desktop computers networked together, though - one in the main room and one in the lab. Alex uses these for research notes and a database of his contacts and enemies. Carlos uses them to play games. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> </p><p></p><p>There are four basic rooms (not counting a good bit of storage space). The largest is the main living area. The first thing you see as you come down the stairwell is the computer desk, where Carlos usually sits when he's on duty. Off to the side there's two desks (one for Alex, one for Carlos) and Carlos' cot and living space. (Alex offered to set him up in the gym room so he wouldn't be quite as "exposed" to Alex's movements, but Carlos likes to be in the thick of things. More space here, too.) There's a screen set up that Carlos can dress behind. He's rather whimsically put several Shadow posters on the wall - from the recent movie, and older sources as well. There are several photographs of his family members there too - the one of his mom is especially treasured, but the one taken of him and the Shadow against one of the base's walls (by a timered camera) is second only to that. There might also be a picture or poster of his latest heartthrob. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> The fridge and stove are against the far wall, as is a sink. </p><p></p><p>The more distinctive bits of the Shadow's costume, like the cloak, are hung on hooks next to the stairwell, save for his hat, which inevitably is on the banister knob. There's a shelf stocked full of chemistry references by his desk, though these often migrate into the lab. There's also a small collection of favorite books for slow times, which Carlos is also encouraged to read. </p><p></p><p>A door leads to the gym, where there is a well-equipped set of weight machines, a free weight bench, and a mat for martial arts practice, tumbling, and meditation. The bathroom and shower are in here, as are a washer and dryer. </p><p></p><p>How the Shadow got the water working before the place got "Garritied" is a good question. [Snip. The GM and I worked this out. The place is the basement of a condemned hotel that the syndicate that kidnapped David used as a safehouse. Since the syndicate was utterly destroyed by the Shadow and the Forbidden, they're not using it any more... and nobody else knew about it, so. They had arranged for the hotel to be zoned for "minimal occupancy" - which is why the water and lights still worked before Hal worked his magic. The Shadow has Lance Reston quietly making sure that the place doesn't get slated for destruction.] </p><p></p><p>A door from the gym (on the wall to the right of the other door) leads to the lab. This room is off limits to Carlos except for routine maintenance like emptying wastebaskets - there's just too many things that can go wrong if you bump into something or whatever. As a reminder of that fact, the door is kept locked, although Carlos has a key. There's a crisp white lab coat and a pair of goggles hanging from a hook on the door. (When in use, the Shadow's cloak and hat hang there instead. You don't want to wear such things when working with chemicals.) </p><p></p><p>Another door off the gym (across the room from the main door) leads to the hangar. This is nothing more than an open space (with tools and such) surrounding a Garrity-modified elevator shaft that now goes up to the roof, and stops nowhere else. Please note that while the elevator is in operation, the door to the gym will not open - and that when it is not in use, it is no easier to break into than the rest of the base. The comm panel user can keep this door locked remotely, and can also check the atmosphere inside for contaminants. (The seal on the door is airtight.) </p><p></p><p>The hangar holds what Carlos jokingly calls the Shadowmobile, though the "Shadow cycle" might be more appropriate. It looks and acts like an ordinary (if high-quality) motorcycle, painted jet black, with only a few exceptions. First, it doesn't use gasoline, but draws off the base's power supply to recharge its astonishing batteries (which allow up to 24 hours of continuous use). Second, it has no ignition, and will activate and respond only for an approved user - preferably one with a commlink, though this is not strictly necessary. Third and most importantly, it flies... </p><p></p><p>The Shadow-cycle is bought like an ordinary motorcycle, except Garrity went for lighter-weight materials, lowering its Hardness slightly - Movement 7, Hardness 7, Armor Bonus 0. (Thus it has a cruising speed of 35 feet/round tactical, 128 mph travel.) It has a secondary mode of "air" movement, and the following features: Invisibility +2 vs. radar and sound (the engine is incredibly quiet), and a commlink. Total cost: 12 points, as required - 7 for movement, 1 for the secondary mode, 2 for Invisibility, 1 to extend Invisibility to sound, and 1 for the commlink. </p><p></p><p>The commlink allows the Shadow or Carlos to give the cycle simple remote commands - such as "Hover at 50 feet," "Go home," or "Come to my commlink beacon, avoiding obstacles." Note that since the cycle is technically part of the base, the Shadow can extend his Mental Invisibility over it at will through his commlink if he is within range. In fact, a common tactic is for him to tell it to hover inaccessibly high, cloaked in invisibility. Who's gonna go looking for a motorcycle suspended high in the air, after all? </p><p></p><p>The Shadow has a black helmet to wear, but he rarely does if he's going flying, which he generally is. He generally keeps it in the boot. His hat goes in there as well. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> There is also a bottle of herbal pills there, as well as extra ammo and knives. </p><p></p><p>Carlos' job is to 1) keep the place up, 2) run whatever errands the Shadow needs done, and 3) man the communications panel while the Shadow is on the job. He cleans, keeps the furniture in repair, buys food, and so on. He not uncommonly runs messages to people like Maria, and also keeps up his own friendships and contacts on the street. Originally he was little more than a janitor and was paid $8/hour or so (more than he was making flipping burgers), as well as room and board, but as he earned the Shadow's trust (fairly quickly, actually) he has been given more responsibility and now commands a higher salary - flat, not hourly - than he could expect to get anywhere else at his level of education. </p><p></p><p>In any case, Carlos has been in it more for the intangible benefits than anything else. The Shadow has grown uncomfortable thinking of him simply as an employee, too. He's come to rely on Carlos to relay data to him through the (Garrity-provided) commlink and throat-mike he wears when in the field - and, as mentioned, the lad has pulled him through some rough situations. You can't set a dollar value on that. (Plus, of course, he's grown extremely fond of the kid.) Still, the ritual of payday - in cash, of course - gives structure to their relationship and the formalities of employment provide a sort of high ground to retreat to when the Shadow gets nervous or Carlos gets overwhelmed with emotion. </p><p></p><p>It's a pity that Carlos can't list the Shadow as a reference, as he's learned a number of marketable job skills in the base. Custodial work and carpentry, yes, but he's also become a skilled receptionist. Yes! The Shadow's base has not just one, not two, but three phone "lines". Loosely so-called, as they are not physically connected to the phone system, and thus are completely untraceable and unbuggable. (This was too much for Alex even after getting to know Hal. "Garrity, how is that POSSIBLE?! The phone system is a switched, station-to-station network!!" "Well, y'see, the trunk lines are... Oh, never mind!" <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> </p><p></p><p>The Shadow got the idea for setting up dummy corporations for his own purposes after Lance set up the "Clara Gutierrez Memorial Foundation" as a channel for Carlos to anonymously help the families of the guys he shot. (It only helps those two families, but nobody's going to find that out without a subpoena, and it's all quite legal. By the way, the name would be hard to tie to Carlos, as his mother and father were never married and she never took Jorge's name. The only reason HE uses the Gutierrez name was due to the pettiness and spite of his aunt and uncle, who insisted on it to constantly remind him that he was not "really" part of the family. Plus, Lance checked - there was an actual girl killed in a gang shooting some years ago named "Clara Gutierrez", it's a pretty common name.) </p><p></p><p>Anyway, there are two perfectly legal corporations created to serve the Shadow's ends. Their phone numbers lead to the phones in the base (more of Hal's wizardry) but their mail goes to P.O. boxes which Carlos collects from daily. Lance has done his job well; nobody is going to tie the names of the (purely honorary) CEOs, CFOs, boards of directors, and so on to him, Alex, or Carlos. One is "Nightshade Enterprises", which basically acts as the Shadow's front in the legal realm and also gives his contacts like Maria a means of contacting him. The other is the (wholly unrelated) "Penumbra Foundation", which he uses to funnel ill-gotten gains he's seized from scum to charitable causes and individuals he thinks deserving of a break. (He never keeps such funds for himself, another point Lance will make much of if he should ever come to trial.) One such cause is the Clara Gutierrez Memorial Foundation, though it's a tossup whether Carlos knows that or not. </p><p></p><p>People who know that Nightshade Enterprises is related to the Shadow are supposed to ask for "Mr. Castaneda" when they call. If they don't, something has gone wrong somewhere. There really is no way for anyone to ever know that the Penumbra Foundation is related to the Shadow short of getting the knowledge from the Shadow himself, from Carlos, or from Lance. Calls there will usually be related to the details of disbursement, and Lance usually handles that himself. (He's a lawyer the Foundation has hired, all above board, to handle such things for them. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> </p><p></p><p>Here's a sample phone conversation, Carlos speaking in crisp professional tones: "Nightshade Enterprises, this is Charles. How may I help you? ... The 'Shadow'? I'm not sure who - oh, do you mean 'Mr. Shadwell'? He's just stepped out, can you hold for a moment?" Then, switching back to the Shadow's commlink, "We've got trouble, sir..." "Shadwell" has become their private codeword for trouble from an unexpected direction. (Now that I think of it, I suppose Carlos could list Shadwell as a reference. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /> It's not like companies do background checks on previous employers, and it's a genuine corporation in any case. Maybe Carlos isn't paid in cash after all - he might just get a check from the company!) </p><p></p><p>The third phone line is used for the Shadow to make utterly untraceable calls with, and for him and Carlos to call in with and leave messages when they're out. David has also been given the number (to memorize) to get ahold of his dad in DIRE EMERGENCY. Nobody else should ever know it. Carlos never picks up that line, but lets the answering machine take it first. (Carlos can patch any call through to the Shadow's commlink, btw. Oh, and the security system has Alex's pager number recorded in a way only Alex can get to. Carlos can give the system a command to dial that number in case of dire emergencies and send a given text message. They have a code worked out for such situations - for example, "Call Castaneda about overruns," if the base is being attacked.) </p><p></p><p>In addition to the three phone lines, there's also a broadband Internet connection that works by similar black magic. The computer with the connection is not connected to the base network in any way, but this is really just paranoia on the Shadow's part - I don't see how it could be hacked past Hal's highly-unconventional "firewall". <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> (Yes, true, even if it's untraceable, perhaps a hacker could send bits once the Shadow made first contact, and his computer could potentially execute them. But first off, the thing runs on Garrity's home-brewed operating system - the base network uses Linux, because Alex cut his teeth on UNIX, but he wanted something "special" for the connected computer - and second off... but, well, that's enough, isn't it? <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> Carlos frequents a number of games and chatrooms, but is too conscientious to let anything untoward slip. </p><p></p><p>There are a number of websites all claiming to be the "official" site of the Shadow, btw. All false, of course! Alex and Carlos get some riotous laughs out of these. One of Carlos' more wearisome duties is to periodically check up on what people are saying on the message boards of those sites and others that track vigilantes. He gets the occasional belly-laugh out of it, but mostly it's a lot of poorly-spelled trash. </p><p></p><p>By the way, the Shadow's commlink does not operate by radio waves - it's been "Garritied". "What is it, then, Hal? Neutrinos?" "Of course not, nobody'd use neutrinos, they're too fidgety, everybody knows that. Obvious, too. I don't like being obvious. Got to take the time to do things right..." "What IS it, then?" "Well, it's sort of like reversing the phase of... Oh, never mind!" </p><p></p><p>As already mentioned in "A Night Off", the concealment, security system, and structural integrity of the base are pretty amazing - and if that weren't enough, the Shadow can extend his invisibility over it and everything in it, and even over the entire hotel, if desired. He doesn't have to actually be present - he can do it through the commlink simply by willing it. The defense system is non-lethal, but has a variety of potential effects, limited only by Hal's fertile imagination. Restraints and stun beams, mostly, though he took into account the possibility that some people might be immune to those. If a command word is given, or a "panic button" pushed (there's one in each room, covered with a panel so it isn't accidentally bumped), the place will go all-out against everyone but the Shadow or Carlos (or David, who has been keyed to the system without his knowledge), which could conceivably be lethal. Fortunately, the defenses have never yet needed to be used. Another command word directs the defense system to revoke "guest" status on a particular person and act accordingly. (Both the Shadow and Carlos know how to "introduce" someone as a "guest". Only the Shadow knows how to permanently key someone to the system and how to give or revoke the ability to give orders to it. The system verifies the identity of a speaker before following his orders, and is smart enough to recognize the use of coercion and fail to cooperate. It even checks the mental signature for traces of mind control.)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="The Shadow, post: 1373642, member: 16760"] As long as I'm posting campaign material anyway, what's a little more? :) Here's the writeup I gave SP on the Shadow's base, though it rambled on to a few more subjects as well. As you will see, some of this stuff will be very worth knowing in just a couple episodes. The bit at the end refers to some endnotes on "A Night Off" that I clipped when I posted here for heightened dramatic effect. Here they are again, for the sake of posterity: [ Gaming note: Carlos has gained a good deal more confidence over the succeeding months. He won't be nearly this nervous over changes in routine or in the Shadow's moods. This was the first time they had really done something together other than fight crime. Nowadays they might take a night off for a movie or dinner every couple months, and play cards for an hour or two on slow nights. The hat on the banister knob is a firm ritual, btw. If it's not there, it is an infallible sign that "The Shadow is IN."] [ The refurbished base has a vastly improved security system, of course, but it's pretty inobtrusive. It scrutinizes your irises, retinas, fingerprints, DNA, mental signature, and three or four other things that Garrity will tell you to "never mind" about, all as you approach the stairwell. If you pass, you just walk down the stairs and open the door. If you don't, you'll never even see the stairwell, just a blank wall. A perfectly solid blank wall. A more than perfectly solid blank wall - a howitzer might scuff the paint, but then again, it might not. Doc Griswold visited the place before Hal worked his magic, btw, so his knowledge, while compromising, isn't quite as much so as one might think.] [ By the way, I discovered while writing this that Alex likes to cook. He says a chemist needs to keep a hand in with cooking to avoid hardening of the mental arteries, even if at the expense of the physical ones. :) He is a methodical, disciplined, but mildly inspired culinary artist - the sort of guy with an organized spice rack and neatly stacked cup measures he always knows where to find. But when he gets going, it's almost a meditative thing for him. I suspect that David as a bachelor will look at the varied contents of his cupboard and ask himself, "What would Dad do with this?" much the same way I ask myself what my mom would do. :) ] --------------------------- The Shadow's base has the following twelve features: Communications, Concealment, Defense System, Gym, Hangar, Laboratory, Living Space, Power System, Reinforced Structure, Security System, Super-Power (Mental Invisibility), and Vehicle. Since the Living Space feature is quite limited (enough facilities for, oh, four people tops rather than ten if a few more cots are unfolded), I feel justified in having the Laboratory double as a chemistry Workshop. The Mental Invisibility is derived from the Shadow himself - Garrity has arranged that he can spread his "Vanish" effect over the base at will through the medium of his commlink, provided he's within a range of 35 miles. The place doesn't have a mainframe, so the Computer feature is not needed. There's a couple desktop computers networked together, though - one in the main room and one in the lab. Alex uses these for research notes and a database of his contacts and enemies. Carlos uses them to play games. :) There are four basic rooms (not counting a good bit of storage space). The largest is the main living area. The first thing you see as you come down the stairwell is the computer desk, where Carlos usually sits when he's on duty. Off to the side there's two desks (one for Alex, one for Carlos) and Carlos' cot and living space. (Alex offered to set him up in the gym room so he wouldn't be quite as "exposed" to Alex's movements, but Carlos likes to be in the thick of things. More space here, too.) There's a screen set up that Carlos can dress behind. He's rather whimsically put several Shadow posters on the wall - from the recent movie, and older sources as well. There are several photographs of his family members there too - the one of his mom is especially treasured, but the one taken of him and the Shadow against one of the base's walls (by a timered camera) is second only to that. There might also be a picture or poster of his latest heartthrob. :) The fridge and stove are against the far wall, as is a sink. The more distinctive bits of the Shadow's costume, like the cloak, are hung on hooks next to the stairwell, save for his hat, which inevitably is on the banister knob. There's a shelf stocked full of chemistry references by his desk, though these often migrate into the lab. There's also a small collection of favorite books for slow times, which Carlos is also encouraged to read. A door leads to the gym, where there is a well-equipped set of weight machines, a free weight bench, and a mat for martial arts practice, tumbling, and meditation. The bathroom and shower are in here, as are a washer and dryer. How the Shadow got the water working before the place got "Garritied" is a good question. [Snip. The GM and I worked this out. The place is the basement of a condemned hotel that the syndicate that kidnapped David used as a safehouse. Since the syndicate was utterly destroyed by the Shadow and the Forbidden, they're not using it any more... and nobody else knew about it, so. They had arranged for the hotel to be zoned for "minimal occupancy" - which is why the water and lights still worked before Hal worked his magic. The Shadow has Lance Reston quietly making sure that the place doesn't get slated for destruction.] A door from the gym (on the wall to the right of the other door) leads to the lab. This room is off limits to Carlos except for routine maintenance like emptying wastebaskets - there's just too many things that can go wrong if you bump into something or whatever. As a reminder of that fact, the door is kept locked, although Carlos has a key. There's a crisp white lab coat and a pair of goggles hanging from a hook on the door. (When in use, the Shadow's cloak and hat hang there instead. You don't want to wear such things when working with chemicals.) Another door off the gym (across the room from the main door) leads to the hangar. This is nothing more than an open space (with tools and such) surrounding a Garrity-modified elevator shaft that now goes up to the roof, and stops nowhere else. Please note that while the elevator is in operation, the door to the gym will not open - and that when it is not in use, it is no easier to break into than the rest of the base. The comm panel user can keep this door locked remotely, and can also check the atmosphere inside for contaminants. (The seal on the door is airtight.) The hangar holds what Carlos jokingly calls the Shadowmobile, though the "Shadow cycle" might be more appropriate. It looks and acts like an ordinary (if high-quality) motorcycle, painted jet black, with only a few exceptions. First, it doesn't use gasoline, but draws off the base's power supply to recharge its astonishing batteries (which allow up to 24 hours of continuous use). Second, it has no ignition, and will activate and respond only for an approved user - preferably one with a commlink, though this is not strictly necessary. Third and most importantly, it flies... The Shadow-cycle is bought like an ordinary motorcycle, except Garrity went for lighter-weight materials, lowering its Hardness slightly - Movement 7, Hardness 7, Armor Bonus 0. (Thus it has a cruising speed of 35 feet/round tactical, 128 mph travel.) It has a secondary mode of "air" movement, and the following features: Invisibility +2 vs. radar and sound (the engine is incredibly quiet), and a commlink. Total cost: 12 points, as required - 7 for movement, 1 for the secondary mode, 2 for Invisibility, 1 to extend Invisibility to sound, and 1 for the commlink. The commlink allows the Shadow or Carlos to give the cycle simple remote commands - such as "Hover at 50 feet," "Go home," or "Come to my commlink beacon, avoiding obstacles." Note that since the cycle is technically part of the base, the Shadow can extend his Mental Invisibility over it at will through his commlink if he is within range. In fact, a common tactic is for him to tell it to hover inaccessibly high, cloaked in invisibility. Who's gonna go looking for a motorcycle suspended high in the air, after all? The Shadow has a black helmet to wear, but he rarely does if he's going flying, which he generally is. He generally keeps it in the boot. His hat goes in there as well. :) There is also a bottle of herbal pills there, as well as extra ammo and knives. Carlos' job is to 1) keep the place up, 2) run whatever errands the Shadow needs done, and 3) man the communications panel while the Shadow is on the job. He cleans, keeps the furniture in repair, buys food, and so on. He not uncommonly runs messages to people like Maria, and also keeps up his own friendships and contacts on the street. Originally he was little more than a janitor and was paid $8/hour or so (more than he was making flipping burgers), as well as room and board, but as he earned the Shadow's trust (fairly quickly, actually) he has been given more responsibility and now commands a higher salary - flat, not hourly - than he could expect to get anywhere else at his level of education. In any case, Carlos has been in it more for the intangible benefits than anything else. The Shadow has grown uncomfortable thinking of him simply as an employee, too. He's come to rely on Carlos to relay data to him through the (Garrity-provided) commlink and throat-mike he wears when in the field - and, as mentioned, the lad has pulled him through some rough situations. You can't set a dollar value on that. (Plus, of course, he's grown extremely fond of the kid.) Still, the ritual of payday - in cash, of course - gives structure to their relationship and the formalities of employment provide a sort of high ground to retreat to when the Shadow gets nervous or Carlos gets overwhelmed with emotion. It's a pity that Carlos can't list the Shadow as a reference, as he's learned a number of marketable job skills in the base. Custodial work and carpentry, yes, but he's also become a skilled receptionist. Yes! The Shadow's base has not just one, not two, but three phone "lines". Loosely so-called, as they are not physically connected to the phone system, and thus are completely untraceable and unbuggable. (This was too much for Alex even after getting to know Hal. "Garrity, how is that POSSIBLE?! The phone system is a switched, station-to-station network!!" "Well, y'see, the trunk lines are... Oh, never mind!" :) The Shadow got the idea for setting up dummy corporations for his own purposes after Lance set up the "Clara Gutierrez Memorial Foundation" as a channel for Carlos to anonymously help the families of the guys he shot. (It only helps those two families, but nobody's going to find that out without a subpoena, and it's all quite legal. By the way, the name would be hard to tie to Carlos, as his mother and father were never married and she never took Jorge's name. The only reason HE uses the Gutierrez name was due to the pettiness and spite of his aunt and uncle, who insisted on it to constantly remind him that he was not "really" part of the family. Plus, Lance checked - there was an actual girl killed in a gang shooting some years ago named "Clara Gutierrez", it's a pretty common name.) Anyway, there are two perfectly legal corporations created to serve the Shadow's ends. Their phone numbers lead to the phones in the base (more of Hal's wizardry) but their mail goes to P.O. boxes which Carlos collects from daily. Lance has done his job well; nobody is going to tie the names of the (purely honorary) CEOs, CFOs, boards of directors, and so on to him, Alex, or Carlos. One is "Nightshade Enterprises", which basically acts as the Shadow's front in the legal realm and also gives his contacts like Maria a means of contacting him. The other is the (wholly unrelated) "Penumbra Foundation", which he uses to funnel ill-gotten gains he's seized from scum to charitable causes and individuals he thinks deserving of a break. (He never keeps such funds for himself, another point Lance will make much of if he should ever come to trial.) One such cause is the Clara Gutierrez Memorial Foundation, though it's a tossup whether Carlos knows that or not. People who know that Nightshade Enterprises is related to the Shadow are supposed to ask for "Mr. Castaneda" when they call. If they don't, something has gone wrong somewhere. There really is no way for anyone to ever know that the Penumbra Foundation is related to the Shadow short of getting the knowledge from the Shadow himself, from Carlos, or from Lance. Calls there will usually be related to the details of disbursement, and Lance usually handles that himself. (He's a lawyer the Foundation has hired, all above board, to handle such things for them. :) Here's a sample phone conversation, Carlos speaking in crisp professional tones: "Nightshade Enterprises, this is Charles. How may I help you? ... The 'Shadow'? I'm not sure who - oh, do you mean 'Mr. Shadwell'? He's just stepped out, can you hold for a moment?" Then, switching back to the Shadow's commlink, "We've got trouble, sir..." "Shadwell" has become their private codeword for trouble from an unexpected direction. (Now that I think of it, I suppose Carlos could list Shadwell as a reference. ;) It's not like companies do background checks on previous employers, and it's a genuine corporation in any case. Maybe Carlos isn't paid in cash after all - he might just get a check from the company!) The third phone line is used for the Shadow to make utterly untraceable calls with, and for him and Carlos to call in with and leave messages when they're out. David has also been given the number (to memorize) to get ahold of his dad in DIRE EMERGENCY. Nobody else should ever know it. Carlos never picks up that line, but lets the answering machine take it first. (Carlos can patch any call through to the Shadow's commlink, btw. Oh, and the security system has Alex's pager number recorded in a way only Alex can get to. Carlos can give the system a command to dial that number in case of dire emergencies and send a given text message. They have a code worked out for such situations - for example, "Call Castaneda about overruns," if the base is being attacked.) In addition to the three phone lines, there's also a broadband Internet connection that works by similar black magic. The computer with the connection is not connected to the base network in any way, but this is really just paranoia on the Shadow's part - I don't see how it could be hacked past Hal's highly-unconventional "firewall". :) (Yes, true, even if it's untraceable, perhaps a hacker could send bits once the Shadow made first contact, and his computer could potentially execute them. But first off, the thing runs on Garrity's home-brewed operating system - the base network uses Linux, because Alex cut his teeth on UNIX, but he wanted something "special" for the connected computer - and second off... but, well, that's enough, isn't it? :) Carlos frequents a number of games and chatrooms, but is too conscientious to let anything untoward slip. There are a number of websites all claiming to be the "official" site of the Shadow, btw. All false, of course! Alex and Carlos get some riotous laughs out of these. One of Carlos' more wearisome duties is to periodically check up on what people are saying on the message boards of those sites and others that track vigilantes. He gets the occasional belly-laugh out of it, but mostly it's a lot of poorly-spelled trash. By the way, the Shadow's commlink does not operate by radio waves - it's been "Garritied". "What is it, then, Hal? Neutrinos?" "Of course not, nobody'd use neutrinos, they're too fidgety, everybody knows that. Obvious, too. I don't like being obvious. Got to take the time to do things right..." "What IS it, then?" "Well, it's sort of like reversing the phase of... Oh, never mind!" As already mentioned in "A Night Off", the concealment, security system, and structural integrity of the base are pretty amazing - and if that weren't enough, the Shadow can extend his invisibility over it and everything in it, and even over the entire hotel, if desired. He doesn't have to actually be present - he can do it through the commlink simply by willing it. The defense system is non-lethal, but has a variety of potential effects, limited only by Hal's fertile imagination. Restraints and stun beams, mostly, though he took into account the possibility that some people might be immune to those. If a command word is given, or a "panic button" pushed (there's one in each room, covered with a panel so it isn't accidentally bumped), the place will go all-out against everyone but the Shadow or Carlos (or David, who has been keyed to the system without his knowledge), which could conceivably be lethal. Fortunately, the defenses have never yet needed to be used. Another command word directs the defense system to revoke "guest" status on a particular person and act accordingly. (Both the Shadow and Carlos know how to "introduce" someone as a "guest". Only the Shadow knows how to permanently key someone to the system and how to give or revoke the ability to give orders to it. The system verifies the identity of a speaker before following his orders, and is smart enough to recognize the use of coercion and fail to cooperate. It even checks the mental signature for traces of mind control.) [/QUOTE]
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The Shadow Knows! (Final Update 6/3/04)
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