Episode Nine: The Test Kitchen Job, Part 1 - kaseido/NeoTokyo GitHub Wiki

10-11 Minsky

It’s late morning, the day after the team’s night at the docks.

Carbide wakes up stiff, sore, and cranky from his fall off the roof and the shrimp-puff roofie-ing. Late morning he calls Iso to check in, following up on Iso’s report yesterday on the stakeout on his squat/workshop. They’ve moved his stuff to an empty warehouse they’ve got secured, and sometime soon he’ll come by and check all of it for bugs before moving it to the Hideout: “these are competent people” who are after him, he tells Iso. But that’s not today’s problem: his back is still not great.

Yesterday Star got a call from Camden Zemke (“Marmorealist”) at the Cybernetic Research Lab, about installing her next-gen EMP shielding, and suggesting she set up a meeting with Lina Bolovoi (“Borborygmi”) to talk about her digestive needs. Star just sends back a message, “yes, let’s schedule” – she refuses to be immediately available. They set up an appointment for later in the week.

Paragon runs a background check on Mica Khansa. She’s as clean as anybody on NeoTokyo, an experienced HVAC tech. She tells Carbide and Vir, and they brainstorm ways to put Mica to use. They’ll definitely pay her! Carbide can show her tech stuff, and Firebrand can definitely use her around Haywood Heights. Housekeeping won’t take up that much of her time, as the basement is off limits, and she’ll be told not to move any of Carbide’s stuff. So picking up Star’s room can’t take that much time, can it? And, she can help in the garden, which apparently Mango the cybercat considers entirely unsatisfactory.

The therapist/deprogrammer Night found for Jade, Allyson Desai, drops by to consult on the scope of her employment. After meeting the Team, she thinks they definitely have enough work for her to quit her day job at True Calling Counseling Associates, the firm that Star worked with. Firebrand is thrilled to have her onsite, and offers to get her hooked up with a studio/office space right away. Paragon wants Mango’s opinion of Desai: she’s all right, but definitely not worth leaving Star’s lap for. Meanwhile, Carbide’s “checking on the cyberware” on one of the kittens in his lap :)

The team decides to sell the two SUVs they came home in last night. Night negotiates a great deal that’ll pay for Desai’s salary for months. Asenath, the Vicar-General of the Church of the Outer Gods, calls Star, asking for guidance. Star is displeased – you do not get up in your goddess’s DMs! She tells Asenath to lead a virtuous life and cleanse herself of evil influences – and by the way, pass on all the organizational and financial data on the Church.

Star finds she’s inherited Ambrosio’s 12% of the stock of the local holding company. Paragon can’t get any traction on the majority stockholder, Arkham Consolidated Holdings, LLC. Star decides she’s going to need a dedicated business manager, and in the meantime, forwards the financials to her accountant.

Which reminds everyone: it’s time to get to work on experience design for the Church. They bring Shift and Friction in, for set design and costume design. Star tells them to build the other members of Happy Aura into her pantheon as a tribute to them. Firebrand tells the team that there’s a Dirty Hippie farmer’s market in the park, and suggests they check it out. Carbide stays behind to work with Shift on holodeck design, still complaining about his back (Vir, being still salty about the shrimp puffs, has refused to Speedheal him).

Star, Paragon, and Vir go – after Paragon puts a straw hat and bandanna on Dino, and Vir gives him a little tiny wicker market basket. Dino gets a strawberry put in his basket. The three meet Arlo and Skyler, the farm guys. Star asks for plants that would be “good for bees.” Hypothetically speaking. Skyler warns her about the wrath of ConBrands, but provides her a selection, and says that they’d be delighted to trade for… anything their garden produced.

Skyler offers to get Vir on the Dirty Hippie mailing list/bulletin board for gardening tips, and after clearing it with Paragon, Vir agrees. Vir picks out some catnip; Paragon puts in an order for sweet cicely.

Paragon realizes she can hit the nip! Everyone else promises to drag her back inside if they find her rolling in the grass out back.

The next day, Night warns the team that Dr. Goodbytes is here to discuss a potential job, with the Party being the client on this one. She promises she won’t take the Party cut of the payout: she’s not much of an accountant, but that would be exploitation of labor! It seems Goodbytes has gotten on Night’s next-to-last nerve, and it’s not hard to see why: Goodbytes is tripping balls. Vir discerns she’s on some mix of Boost, Blue Glass, and vodka, and if she were talking any faster, she’d go hypersonic.

The job is to find evidence to substantiate a rumor that Continental Brands has begun adding an untraceable psychoactive to their kibble that’s both mildly addictive and increases susceptibility to advertising. Everybody knows kibble is formulated to make you eat a lot of it, by triggering hunger reactions, but the addition of traceable addictive substances has always backfired on them. The story is that the move to low-end replicator food by the lower middle classes is hugely cutting into their profit margins: they only make pennies off of feedstock for replimats. So they’re feeling the bottom-line pressure and looking to get creative.

Carbide finds himself with his fingers in a bag of kibble scrounged from his pockets… Star calls her manager and tells him to run point-of-purchase ads in convenience stores.

Goodbytes offers that they could break into the Nutanix Hyperconverged Solutions corporate datavault in Koto City and steal surveillance data from the test kitchens: the Smoking Gnu collab tried to hack into the isolinear optical cables running to the Nutanix datacenter, but tripped an analog sensor and barely escaped the heavily armed security. So there’d be serious Netrunner cred in doing the job they failed at, and that’d be a huge boost to Paragon’s street rep.

But the team comes up with a much more elegant solution: they realize that Carbide and Paragon are the perfect target demographic for the new kibble. It’s not hard at all to get added to ConBrands’ marketing list, and then into a focus group, that afternoon in Koto City. The plan is, Paragon’s got great sleight of hand skills and Vir has a subdermal pocket – they can swipe a sample right off the table, and Carbide’s got the older stuff they can use as a control in testing. Star’s got an appointment at Shimizu University in a couple days -surely there’s someone there she can talk into doing a comparison and analysis.

After Goodbytes leaves, Paragon gets a call from Ebit, the Ferengi loanshark. He’s trying not to be frantic: somebody installed ransomware on his system, and got past her defenses! He wants her to clean it off and rebate your pay. But he needs her now! Paragon talks him into giving up his passwords and not putting the blame on her. She heads out, and the rest of the team goes with, just in case of trouble – and because they really don’t have anything better to do.

They arrive in the neighborhood, and as they’re walking to Ebit’s place, somebody hoarsely whispers “Olivia!” Paragon doesn’t react and walks on. The second time, Star turns and confronts the person, dressed as Snow White. She waves the others on, and says, “Olivia was just a character I played –“ Snow is unimpressed, but tells Star that she has a message for her teammate: she’s walking into a trap set by BSP. Star sighs: Bai Jie is so hot, but so evil. So conflicted! Snow adds that she’s been sent by a friend to provide an alibi and to pass on a memory stick.

Star waves the team over. Snow tells Paragon that she’s here to provide her an excuse for avoiding the trap – you got caught in the middle of a posergang fight (with the Sailors), and injured. She’ll work her over convincingly, so she can call Ebit and beg off. She gives Paragon contact info for a local security firm she can refer Ebit to if you want: GingerSec LLC – all redheaded guys in thick black glasses. It’s a marketing thing. And btw, here’s a memory stick. Hell no, she doesn’t know what’s on it. Now take a beating and call the Ferengi. She pops Paragon in the nose.

Paragon obliges, calling Ebit as the blood streams from her nose. She takes the stick, and declines Vir’s offer to secret it in her dermal pocket -she wants to keep control of it. She does agree to take an RFID sleeve from Carbide for it.

They head home, and Paragon examines the stick in the basement. It’s got a program to wipe it once read, that she can’t beat. It’s got copies of memos from the BSP Chairman of the Board to Bai Jie ordering the assassination of the Hyde family: “it must be complete, and done in such a way as to demonstrate our seriousness of purpose.” There’s also a memo from Jie to Tetsu Kura, VP of HR for BSP, clearing Paragon’s ex-fiancee for early promotion to head the division that her father had run. Finally, there’s a note: “Jie is determined to arrest and interrogate you: this is a top priority. Your parents’ deaths were ordered by a greater power; your survival, along with your strikes against the firm, position you as a threat to the Bai clan. You have a well-positioned friend within BSP. We may direct you at certain targets within the firm, particularly those related to Bai family interests. Avoid Senolytics. Snow will be your contact.” – along with Snow’s contact info.

Paragon heads up to the team’s secure conference room, ensuring that Night and the 4I people are not involved. Night buys and sells information, and has a political agenda: Paragon thinks it’s entirely possible that Night would sell her out for the right deal. She calls the team together and explains that when Snow was calling for Olivia, it wasn’t for Star, but for her: her real name is Olivia Hyde, and she and her family used to work for BSP. She summarizes the contents of the memory stick for them, and explains that she was framed for her parents’ murders. She doesn’t kill, ever.

Carbide asks what she wants from the team. If he knew what happened to his family, he’d definitely want a shot at the killers. Since he doesn’t – anything she needs. Star adds that as far as she’s been led to believe, her parents are still alive and in prison somewhere. She’s all in for vengeance.

Paragon tells them that she doesn’t hate the corp. That’s just how it goes sometimes. Star nods at that – business is business. She says it’s probably a bad idea for her to interact with Jie, but Paragon says that she should continue to act normal (well, act like herself) so as not to draw suspicion.

Vir, however, is furious at Paragon’s ex, for believing she’s guilty. Paragon doesn’t blame him, and notes that he gave her Dino. Vir’s not mollified at all – torture gets mentioned. Star asks to see a photo – he’s hot, and yeah, he looks like a corporate prince. He’s the nephew of BSP’s CEO. Star wonders if he’s one of the princes in the Disney posergang. Paragon gives Star permission to hit on him, but wants the details.

Paragon explains that she doesn’t want Night and her people to know. Star wraps up the discussion: as far as she’s concerned, only one person had a life before they met, and that’s her. They turn back to planning for the cult. Paragon wants a custom couch that she can hide in, and Carbide plans some designs, until it’s time to go do taste tests.

Star stays home to write a song about money, blood, and sacrifice, as subtext for her worshippers in the Church. The rest travel without incident into downtown Koto City – with Paragon wearing her cat ears – where they’re welcomed by a super-chipper marketing person.

They’re offered samples to taste-test, and ads to evaluate, then allowed to go “shop for free” in the company store. Carbide and Paragon are totally affected, and snatch up the new kibble. Nonetheless, the snatch-and-handoff goes flawlessly. The marketing team likes Carbide so much they offer him a six-month supply and a spot in a commercial. He turns down the commercial, and reluctantly has the presence of mind to have the kibble delivered to a drop address under another ID.

When they return home, Star warns Vir to clean the heck out of her subdermal pouch – “that’s how you get ants!” Carbide digs up a bag of control kibble, and Star takes both samples, to take with her to her meetings at the University.