Episode Seven: The Going Too Farr Job, Part 1 - kaseido/NeoTokyo GitHub Wiki

date: 5 Minsky

Over the past two weeks, Starscream’s been avoiding the Team, doing some radio shows and podcasts, and being an adorable popstar and not an Associate of Wanted Criminals. It seems to be working. The Team’s been working on the Hideout, along with Firebrand’s contractors: it’s getting towards good shape. Carbide hasn’t moved his workshop in: he’s been busy on rewiring and installing supports for the heavy gear, and with Dome Ops and BSP both gunning for him, being off the streets seemed like a good idea. Vir’s been dropping by the synth halfway house down the street. Paragon’s pretty happy in her basement.

Friction drops by the Hideout early one morning, and checks in with everybody before rounding up Night for a team meeting. She stays in the doorway as she says hi to Carbide: he’s working on his bathroom plumbing, and there’s plaster dust everywhere.

In the planning room, she tells the Team that she was approached at a party last night by someone she recognized at Thieu Linvaa, the pretty waiter who turned out to be a Netwatch agent. They passed on a card to be given to Night: actual rag paper, it just contains a comm code. Night asks the Team if they should place the call, or move halfway across the planet? Carbide’s glad he worked on secure comms before the plumbing, and adds that Linvaa was a decent waiter who doesn’t like fascists, so that’s a plus. Vir says that running won’t solve anything. Friction isn’t so sure: she’s a grad student in Synthetic Computing (“we don’t say AI, but AI”), a program that’s under constant Netwatch scrutiny. She’s pretty scared at having been approached.

They place the call. Linvaa greets them. Their employer has a missing persons case, which is outside their expertise, and which they’d prefer to resolve without recourse to their typical methods. If the Team is in, they’ll be hired by a legitmate firm as contract investigators at an appropriate but generous rate. They’re free to decline. If they want details, take the 10:00 train to Shimizu Mega-City Pyramid Terminal. The Team decides to take the next step. Carbide calls Star on a burner phone to tell her they’ve been offered a job, and to be on the same train as them, and “maybe don’t come fancy.” Star’s baffled for a few moments (“…so, do you want me to come?”), then resolves to go shopping at a normal-people store to pick something up. She catches the train, but definitely doesn’t sit with the rest of the Team.

At the station, the non-Star Team is met by a severe-looking blonde woman in combat gear and no ID, as another collects Star. They’re hustled into a shabby, graffiti-covered van – which turns out to be a Faraday cage, shutting down all their electronics – including Star’s entire body. Carbide’s blind. They’re driven around for a while, then escorted out into a parking lot, up an elevator, and into a conference room. The enforcer, Iolanthe Barrett, stays in the room, giving them a disgusted look. Carbide glares furiously back at her. Starscream just stands by a wall, flexing her hands, reassuring herself that she can feel her body again.

When Linvaa enters the room, Carbide angrily complains about the ride, saying the team will only take the job if that never happens again, and if they get a “transportation bonus.” Linvaa apologizes and offers NB10,000 for their troubles, whether they take the job or not. Linvaa explains the circumstances. The job is to find and recover a Netwatch analyst, Stridev, who disappeared on his way to the spaceport to head home to Vulcan for… personal leave. He explains certain peculiarities of Vulcan reproductive biology to the Team. It’s a personally delicate matter, in addition to the political ramifications, so they want discretion in finding him. They explain that Stridev may be irrational and violent, and provide Vir with a tranquillizer capable of subduing him.

While most Netwatch agents live in the offworlder enclave in Odaiba, Stridev lives in University Heights: he’s an advocate for better understanding the culture Netwatch is policing. He was apparently last seen at Kyourakutai, a soba shop near the University, but didn’t return home after – the night before last. They’ve conducted a thorough data search, but turned up nothing. Given that Stridev’s well trained in counterintelligence and Netwatch’s security is absolute, it’s possible his disappearance is just regular violence, unrelated to his job.

Stridev has an NB1,000,000 insurance policy, so the Team’s employer of record will be Loving Hands Insurance (a subsidiary of Zephyr Wildner Unlimited). Loving Hands will pay NB10,000 if they have to pay out on the policy, and NB25,000 if they don’t, and Stridev is safely returned. Additionally, Netwatch will pay another NB10,000 for his safe return and any data the Team finds. Of course, violation of the NDA will result in their deaths, and the deaths of their families, pets, friends, and favorite baristas.

The Team accepts the deal (with the “transportation bonus”) ,but Starscream asks about the insurance policy: is that ordinary? and who’s the beneficiary?

Linvaa explains that it’s customary for Netwatch employees traveling offworld to take out insurance. The beneficiary is the Feral Feline Benevolent Association of University Heights.

At that, Friction breaks into uncontrollable giggles. She tells the Team she’ll explain later.

Carbide says they have one more condition. He gets in Barrett’s face, telling her that his friend Starscream is a full body replacement due to trauma, and that Barrett owes them personally for putting her through a nightmare. She nods in agreement. With that settled, the Team will take the job.

Friction asks Linvaa why they approached her. They reply that, since she knows the neighborhood as a University student, she’d be helpful. Friction suspects there’s more going on, but agrees to accompany the Team.

Paragon’s ready to “chase down a nymphomaniac Vulcan – there’s porns that start like that, but of course I can’t access them because we’re all still locked down!” Linvaa tells them they’ll have a secured ride into town – but no Faraday cage.

They’re dropped off by Kyourakutai. It’s lunchtime at the popular near-campus hangout, so there’s a line. The Netwatch chauffeur heads inside a moment, then waves them in from the doorway, bypassing the line. The Team is of course terribly worried “the freshmen are angry at us!” Star notes that one of them “is going to make a passive-aggressive tweet about some people not waiting in line!”

As they enter, the waving maneki neko in the window catches Vir’s eye. She’d been waving back at it, but caught a flash of a cybereye! She whispers to the Team, “it’s looking at us!”

Paragon tells Dino he needs to be able to wave, too. Carbide offers to make Dino animatronic, but Paragon explains she’s trying to Velveteen Rabbit Dino into sentience. Carbide…. lets that drop.

The proprietor, Mr. Hasegawa, welcomes Friction, calling her Mitsui-san, and seats them at the counter. She introduces the Team as her friends, insurance investigators.

They ask about the maneki neko: he’s baffled. It’s a standard souvenir, always been there. Star recovers it, and says hello to it. She sets it down in front of Carbide, who dissects it, to Hasegawa’s bemusement. Carbide identifies the kit as standard hardware, about five years old, and installed in a regular souvenir cat, not custom-made for the job. It might have been there all along, or swapped out at some point – no way to tell. But apparently it’s been sending data for at least a year, since the last OS upgrade.

Paragon connects it with an actual cable to Dino, who can read it as a peripheral. It’s apparently recording and storing video for burst transmission every two days – but it’s focused at ankle level!

The Team thinks they’ve found a foot fetishist – but Starscream points out that cats are short. At that, Carbide wants to know why Friction laughed at the cat beneficiary.

She explains that she’s a Masters student in the cybernetics school at Shimizu University. The augmentation program has long had a capstone project: the student has to build and install a cybersuite in a cat, and then let it loose to survive in the city for at least two weeks. Yeah, it’s kind of cruel and gross – it’s not her department! But the program’s been running forever. There’s an urban legend that there’s a long-running sociology project studying the kittyborg colony, but nobody’s ever admitted to it or published anything.

The kittyborg are a common sight in University Heights. It’s not banned technology: it’s the same sort of kit everyone has, so it’s not of concern to Netwatch. But it’s kind of bizarrely hilarious that a Netwatch agent would want to leave the kittyborg a fortune.

They ask Hasegawa about Stridev. He comes in regularly for dinner, almost always orders hot soba with grated radish. Hasegawa usually sends him home with a thermos of sobayu – it tastes a bit like plomeek soup, and he thinks Stridev’s cold a lot. Stridev’s very nice, and brings occasional gifts for himself and his granddaughters. And the local cat, Chieko-chan, often sits with him: she’s an excellent judge of character. Chieko-chan doesn’t come by during lunch: it’s too crowded and chaotic, but she’s often around at dinnertime.

Hasegawa offers the dissected maneki neko to the Team, if they’ll just buy him a replacement. Star offers to do that. Hasegawa asks if she’s Starscream-sama: with a sigh, he says that his granddaughters have been watching her concert video nonstop. Of course, she’ll sign a copy of her latest album for them.

Once she’s left, Vir asks Hasegawa if he can make Starscream’s boba tea for her. Alas, he doesn’t have the specialty equipment. She heads down the street to pick up another maneki neko from a souvenir shop down the street – and notices she’s being followed. The kittyborg trails her back into the restaurant, and jumps up onto her lap. Starscream proceeds to interrogate her – getting results when she offers a menu. The kittyborg, whom Hasegawa identifies as Chieko-chan, pats the tempura fish on the menu. So, Starscream places an order – hopefully in return for some answers.

Poor Mr. Hasegawa’s completely shorted out, absently tying a linen napkin into knots as he watches the scene.

While it’s challenging to interpret Chieko-chan’s “mew”s, they gather that she’s concerned about Stridev, notes the offer of a link to Dino – and wants to be hand-fed. Star appreciates the princess attitude, but won’t go past sliding the plate into reach. Kitty purrs are being good therapy for her, though.

While Chieko-chan eats, Carbide goes for a walk, letting the sensors in his arm scan for local networks. He finds two mobile nets at kitty-height, to his surprise, on different frequencies. On return, the Team speculates that one may belong to the University researchers, and the other possibly to the cats themselves.

Hasegawa tells Friction that he’s never seen her come by with someone special, and if she does, he’ll break out the good sake he gets from Earth. It’s certainly been…interesting meeting her new friends.

The Team walks over to Stridev’s apartment, with Chieko-chan following Starscream. Stridev lives in a nice apartment block – but his analog lock is subtly vastly better than standard. Carbide pops it, but it takes all his skill.

The small one-bedroom is neat and spartan. Carbide and Paragon are drawn to the desk and monitor, while Vir and Starscream search the rest of the place. Chieko-chan jumps on top of the fridge, and pushes an open bag of kitty kibble off. Before it can dump on Star, Carbide catches it. It’s a really good brand, better than he eats much of the time. And, it’d be an ideal place to store something. On searching through the bag, he finds a small device he recognizes as an analog data encrypter.

Meanwhile, Paragon takes on his Net architecture. It’s got a really high password, which she manages to crack – only to find herself confronting a Black ICE Dragon. Rather than fighting it, she “strips naked,” shutting down all her programs, and passes it to grab the files. On exit, she finds only one file, labeled README. It reads, “There is nothing here. – Stridev.”

Having been sensitized to unusual electronics inside ordinary devices, Starscream turns over the incense brazier on Stridev’s small altar – and finds a data chip. Carbide connects it to the encrypter, and a light blinks from red to green. Paragon sticks the decrypted memory stick into Dino’s mouth, and finds a lengthy set of email correspondence. Paragon identifies it as being with one Alayna Hohstadt, a professor at Shimizu University.

When Paragon mentions the name, Friction screams – that’s her graduate advisor! Paragon has Dino holographically project the emails. Friction scans through them, intrigued at first, but then screams and starts swearing loudly in Cantonese. She does have the good sense not to attack Dino, but Paragon shuts down the projection. Friction sits with her head between her knees trying to calm down, and Starscream comes over to plop Chieko-chan in her lap.

After a few minutes she tells the group that it’s a highly technical discussion of human personality storage – the single most illegal thing on the planet. They’re dead for even knowing these emails exist. She looks up as if she expects to be fried on the spot by a space laser.