Heartbreak jumps back into the CTI network, easily marking the host and gaining access for the third time today. Now that he's in hot-sim mode, Heartbreak is confident that "Flipper" won't stand a chance against him. If Flipper can even find him, that is...
The real world seems to zip past him, impossibly fast, like a warp speed spaceship. He knows it's an illusion - just his brain compensating for the conflicting information it's receiving from his cyberdeck and his senses. It's not that he can't see the real world - it's more like he can only experience it as if it were a projection on a screen. The universe is flat, and reality is just printed on its surface, like a projector, giving it the illusion of three dimensions.
He could reach for things in the real world, but he knows from experience that his fingers would just pass through, like a ghost. His mind is in the Matrix, and his body's along for the ride. If you ask him, Heartbreak prefers the digital world over the meat one. In the meat world, he can run.
Here, he can fly.
Matrix Perception - (This action is used to spot a particular icon - the video file - and learn details about it, as opposed to "Matrix Search" which covers searching for information in general). He does not automatically spot the file icon even though it is in the same host (CTI) as him, because the file icon is running silent. One hit will let him spot the icon. Each additional hit will let him learn something about the file.
Computer + Intuition + Hot Sim bonus (Successes limited by current Data Processing value of 3) = 4 hits, reduced to 3 hits due to DP limit
Heartbreak learns the physical location of the device where the file is stored. It's stored on the internal memory of a computer in Kevin Flannigan's office, a mid-level Public Relations manager.
Heartbreak also sees a line of code linking the live video feed to the pre-recorded video file. Whoever designed the video made a "switch" that can be flipped to go from the live feed to the pre-recorded video. Heartbreak reaches into the file with his digital hands, and tears that bit of code away. The live feed can no longer be "switched" to the pre-recorded video.
Heartbreak easily found a particular icon (the backup video file) among millions, even billions of others in the CTI network. His mind is a machine. Better, even, as he searches uncatalogued files even faster than a computer could. It's still not enough, though. He knows he could be even faster. With his power comes a hunger for even more.
Heartbreak will eventually develop an addiction to hot sim VR. It is pretty much inevitable for any hacker, it's up to you how this plays out in-character, as the only consequences for this will be RP, not dice modifiers.
It's time to go. Flipper is nowhere to be found, and there's no reason to seek him out. Besides, there's a room full of hostages where Heartbreak's fragile body is sitting, and he realizes he probably ought to come back to reality and make sure everything is still ok.
Reluctantly, Heartbreak jacks out, and returns to the gray drab of meatspace.
His ears are ringing again. Saint must have shot someone else with that cannon of his. Blood is everywhere. People are screaming, but all Heartbreak can hear is ringing, like everyone else is on the other side of an interrogation room wall. Saint, Skinny, and even Casper are trying to talk to him, but he can't hear them. Judging by their urgency, something is wrong...
-
As Heartbreak activates hot-sim VR and his body slips into a drooling coma, Saint rushes through the the door. He shoves a hostage at the agent on the left, and fires at the agent on the right, making yet another corpse.
Skinny is next through the door, but he's too late. The agent has shoved the hostage aside to the floor, and activated his radio. Skinny hears the agent shout, "Corporate teams to the dispatch office! Man down, shots fi..." He dies as Skinny's pistols tear holes through the gaps in his protection - the shoulder, groin, stomach, and neck. (Saint has used 1 Edge. Skinny used 3; one for each shot. The 4th shot was not necessary, as the agent was already defeated.)
Casper is just a split second behind, but there are no targets for her to shoot.
The real security teams are coming, now. It will take them some time to get here, but how long is anyone's guess. Unless there's any urgent unfinished business to take care of, it's probably best to get the frak outta' here...
