[X] Call on and burn favours among the Traditions via TradWiki contacts to try to find out what's going on and if it's really as bad as it looks, try to get as much help for your students as possible. You don't mind if that means that you might have to head off to somewhere else to help someone with a demon problem to pay off favours. If it's that bad, you're going to have to move on from Miami anyway to protect them from the threat you pose to them.
-> [X] DSci 2 + Forces - She's earned a few favours from Virtual Adepts in her time, and knows about TLDR (The Leek Dimensional Router) which allows obscured extradimensional access to the internet. And thanks to the Shadow Ministry funding the add-on, TLDR has a psi-login option.
A coherent idea that doesn't involve us running straight for the Chantry.
Bastion labels this entire debacle as a write-off, and files a report suggesting that the Tyrants were merely being tasked to assist various flashpoints throughout the world using an experimental sociological predictive model.
[-] Jaron Belltower-Anomalies
Jaron and the Tyrants spend a month and a half running around in the world, but their targets are one step ahead, and there are always inconveniences. They end up in gunfights with Rogue Council terrorists. In one case, an intelligence breakthrough gets them retasked to hunting Nephandi for two weeks. The Tyrants suspect enemy action, but with no actionable evidence, they leave this off of their report to Bastion. In the end, all they get are vague annoyance and a couple of dead Rogue Council terrorists. Bastion labels this entire debacle as a write-off, and files a report suggesting that the Tyrants were merely being tasked to assist various flashpoints throughout the world using an experimental sociological predictive model.
Most people wouldn't like to admit when they're in over their head. Alice isn't one of those people, and can't be. Damian saw to that. As much as she hated her schooling, and how they casually played with the children there as if they were toys, manipulating them to become perfect little cogs in the machine, they taught many lessons a lot of her friends might have done well to learn. A few of those friends are even alive today. Cracking her knuckles, Alice boots up the old Trinary laptop. Even for a hypercomputer the size of a first generation X-Box, it loads slowly. But then, it's a piece of tech from the early eighties, even if it's about on par with most modern smart phones in performance.
She's an Orphan, technically, and worse, a Hollow One. It means that even Traditions that the Hermetics don't like or respect get to play petty high-school style games with her. It's a wonder the Traditions manage to survive at all with how they spend a lot of their time in petty maneuvering for nonexistent political points. At least after 1999, most of those assholes have gone to the Rogue Council, rather than bother her here.
She logs on to the TL;DR with her username and password. The Leek: A Dimensional Router is a clever little Virtual Adept tool, a Virtual Web access pathway that lets her get internet access from the Umbra in a stealthed fashion. She types a post up on one of the forums she frequents, asking for help.
GothicPsychicChick said:
[Assistance Required]Technocratic Wet Works Team in Miami, Florida
Spotted a Technocratic Wet Works team in Miami. Can confirm at least 1 attack helicopter, 1 sniper, almost certainly more. High-end equipment. Seem to be hunting me in particular. Chantry is at risk. Want some help please. Will repay any assistance provided.
She doesn't know why she said they were hunting her, but something makes her feel that way. It might be the chill of death around her, the dark psychic shadow that some powerful dead hand is manipulating these events, trying to force her into a confrontation with the Technocracy. Maybe it's because Blanc was always chasing her, and this feels, somehow, like his doing. Even if he's dead and has been dead for 15 years. She checks that her address is still obscured, and she starts to browse the news.
There's a news article about Detective Mills, and how he was shot several times by a gang while off-duty and is at the hospital in critical condition. Alice laughs, a bitter hollow laugh. No doubt the hospital is a Technocratic facility, no doubt they just want her to go there to visit, so she can be killed quickly and silently. A life for a life. They're asking her to sacrifice herself for him. And she doesn't know if she can live with herself if she doesn't. They wanted to make her into a monster, a killer like her father, a killer like her tutor, just another machine made out of flesh and bone. She's done all this to spite them. She met Mills when he was trying to solve an unsolvable case-unsolvable by Sleeper tools. She gave him the evidence he needed, found it in the Umbra. They've been working together since.
She should have warned him. But that was 2009, long after Blanc and his hitmen stopped coming for her. And he probably wouldn't have believed it, either. The man was nice, but he probably either wouldn't accept anything Alice spent years hiding from was a real danger to him-or worse, he'd get overly protective. How do you break it to someone that you might be hunted by a hidden international conspiracy?
And now she's paying the price. She's paying the price for getting comfortable, for getting complacent. She hates it. She hates it because Damian taught her that, and she hates Damian even more for being right about how fucked her life is. Whenever she thinks she can run away from the past, it catches up to her, and people around her get hurt.
"Fuck you, Blanc." Alice snarls. "Fuck you and your idiot sociopath lackeys who never ask questions. Fuck you and your stupid grudge." He can't hear it, of course, but she feels a little better after saying it.
She keeps browsing TradWiki and VALeaks for information on what's going on. It seems odd that they've brought in so much heavy equipment for Miami. A few people mention it's like Moscow. The Technocracy, all of a sudden, with no seeming reason, brought in some heavy gear and started clearing out Reality Deviants, leading to a Nephandic summoning and the deployment of nuclear weapons. Alice shudders. She doesn't want to see Miami nuked. She'd rather die. There's a handful of skirmishes between them and Pentex, and some of the posters theorize that they might just be cleaning Pentex up because something they did forced the Union's hand.
She doesn't believe them. She thinks that's a cover. A post-hoc rationale to justify why they're bringing in hardware. But why is she the target? She isn't important. She's behaved herself for years and years. There are far more dangerous people around, like the Marauders who keep visiting Florida and wreaking havoc. There are important sites where those assets could go to. She thinks that all of the theorizing is wrong, but she can't figure out why they might target her in specific. Or maybe she doesn't want to.
There's a handful of responses to her initial plea for help. She starts to read the first one.
JackKnife49 said:
Contingency 5 would like to assist you in taking the fight to the Technocratic Union. They think they can fuck with anyone and anything, but that's not happening. Not today. We will accept your favors in exchange, or tass at a reduced rate due to our concern about increasing Technocratic influence in the word. We will provide sufficient support to turn this attack aside and ensure that the Technocracy will think again before trying such a blatant display of intimidation against any freethinker who refuses to buy their party line.
Alice looks at it for a moment. She doesn't know if she's desperate enough. Contingency-5 could help, yes. They've helped before. Possibly even turn this around. Let her rescue everyone. If she's willing to pay the price. It's not much of a price, either. Just accepting that people will die, because of a choice she made. She hates that she can't deceive herself about the human cost and she hates that she doesn't feel bad about accepting it even more.
There's a few friends willing to give minor support free of charge-just keeping her updated, monkeywrenching the Union in ways that don't put them at risk. She's thankful for them. There's one who's willing to give up some personal time just to bail her out. That's always nice, she thinks. Risky, but she's not going to want to put them in real danger anyways. And then there's the oddballs and mercenaries. Some street hero and defender of justice who wants to strike a blow against corrupt institutions. The Knights of Radamanthys.
She takes a look at the list and pauses to make a decision.
Alice's Favors:
Alice has 4 points for favors. Choose any choices that total up to 4 or fewer points.
[ ] (0.5x) Contingency-5 (4 pts): Contingency 5 is a Virtual Adept cell made up of old Technocratic defectors, mostly ex-Iteration X. Contingency-5 is a direct action cell, which often works with Virus Hunters in situations where they need to bring out the big guns. If Virtual Adepts typically are cyberpunk protagonists in the vein of Shadowrun, Contingency 5 is the cybered-up troll with an anti-tank bow or the cyborg ninja who suplexes a giant robot to death. They've also saved your life a few times in the past. This would make them a shoe-in for help, except for a few small issues. Despite the official mostly-peace between the Technocracy and Traditions as of 2015, Contingency-5 is still considered a terrorist group to be shot on sight by the Union, namely because they consider the system their enemy. Normally calling them in would take a lot more, but they're giving you this relative freebie because they want to fuck the Man up. Choose If: You want to be a hero. If you want REVENGEANCE for the Union fucking up your life. If you want to tell them that they fucked with the wrong lady.
[ ] LouCypher52 (1 pt): You don't know who Lou is in real life, you don't care, and most of the people who talk to him don't either. The last time you had contact with him, he was helping you with an experimental VR game that ended up killing several of its players. He's a VA Reality Hacker, whose name is part ironic Matrix callback and part "people who he fucks with think he's literally Satan." He's not anywhere near Miami right now, but being several thousand kilometers away means he's fairly safe, and he can do some pretty interesting things by hacking reality. He's made doors and boarded-over exits where they didn't exist, created gas main explosions, and various other fun things. Choose If: To run away from G-Men in suits while the operator whispers in your ear. To hide from patrols.
[ ] (0.8x) Juan Mendoza (2 pts): Juan Mendoza is a stern man in his 50s who fought a holy war against the Technocracy until the end of the Ascension War as one of the many Choristers (what a funny Tradition, where the Tradition itself barely manages to get along most of the time). His name is obviously false, and he bears scars that are clear evidence of more than one close brush with Technocratic high-energy weapons, as well as scars from his multiple experiences with paradox spirits. With the end of it, he's chosen to retire quietly to preach at a small church, preaching pacifism, kindness, and love for all. He doesn't like the Tatterdermalion paradigm at all, but paradigm isn't everything and you get along pretty well nevertheless-he exhorts his followers to help the homeless and fight against wickedness, and some of that aid goes to you for both causes. And you're fairly sure he didn't give up all those weapons of war. He might not be as fast or strong or tough as he was when he was in his prime, but he might be able to provide more than just shelter. Choose If: You want a place of refuge for your surrogate children. If you want to have a retired badass take up a sword for what might be his final brush with the Union.
[ ] Steel Tiger (2 pts): Superhero by night, "Steel Tiger" is a Li-Hai Akashic who embraces the old ideals of the Youxia-a Chinese Knight Errant. A wandering force of nature, a veritable tsunami of fists, which rains down on the unjust and corrupt to right the wrongs of the peasantry. He or she (you can't tell, that armored costume is pretty good at hiding any identifiable traits) wears an enchanted suit of ancient Chinese armor, enhanced with impossible material strength and incredible lightness, and wields a sword and throwing knives with lethal force. You've worked with them in the past-whoever he or she is, they're sympathetic to your ideals and quite helpful, but bailing you out of this situation can't come cheap. Choose If: Akashic Bat(wo)man. Seriously. Akashic Bat(wo)man. If you want to pitch rugged individualism against an unstoppable juggernaut of a cybernetic machine.
[ ] Knights of Radymanthys (2 pts): The Knights of Radymanthys are magical PMCs. They don't ask questions, they take their job, they listen to the orders you give them, and they do their job to the best of their ability. They generally accept payment in tass, or large amounts of hard currency. They combine personal arete with Grecian alchemies and cutting-edge weapons and technology. Some might say that this resembles New World Order operatives more than a little. These people are generally smart enough to not say it to their face. You have a good enough reputation to outweigh being a Filthy Orphan that hiring them on is entirely valid. Choose If: You want no-nonsense tactical support.
[ ] (0.8x) Michael Lopez, Urban Shaman and Lupe Fast-Fingers, Bone Gnawer (1pt): Lopez is a Dreamspeaker techno-shaman who you know from having to deal with a spirit possession gone terribly wrong, has worked with you fairly often, and awakens and enhances the spirits of everyday things, like computers, cars, and other interesting technology. You know he's a fairly powerful shaman (Spirit 4, Matter 4) and he's a friend so he'll do this for minimal payment. He also has a werewolf buddy, who might come in handy. After all, what are friends for but to bust you out of a situation or die? Choose If: You want to risk your friends rather than risk yourself. Hero.
[ ] Equipment Loans (1-4 pts, specify amount): There's those Traditions magi who are willing to loan equipment out for favors or in return for things you did to help people in the past. You can get almost anything from this eclectic mix-you just need to provide general ideas of what equipment you need. Choose If: You don't want to put anyone else at risk.
The Next Step
[ ] (2.0x) Rescue your Chantry. (+8.0x if Contingency-5 is chosen).
Note that there might be personal reasons involved here but the reason Contingency-5 adds such a high number to the multiplier is also because they provide a fairly solid chance to succeed on this. Or, put another way, it becomes merely "difficult" rather than "suicide mission."
[ ] (0.5x) Rescue Mills. (+4.5x if Contingency-5 is chosen).
[ ] Try to gather information on what's happening here.
[ ] (-0.2x) Contact Victor, your own tech consultant. He's going to be put at risk, but you need his help.
[ ] Try to trawl the news and everything else yourself.
[ ] (1.5x) Try to figure out what undead thing was responsible for that strange feeling.
[ ] Try to figure out what's going on in the vampire world. That was what triggered the Moscow incident, wasn't it? Are there some Baali around here?
[ ] You know a few vampires who are a bit... uncomfortable with how the Camarilla does things, as well as their own unlife. They might be able to help pass you rumors. The ones you know are generally decent sorts-so they don't actually have power or influence, but they have working ears and working brains.
[ ] You could always find one of the places the mainstream vampires hang out and actually try to get something from them. Of course, there's always a risk there that they might sell you out.
[ ] (0.5x) Make a break for it.
Mundane:
Alice has been trained as an Operative and is quite gifted at it. Much like her real mother and father, she is at least okay at almost everything, although she's got some of her own eclectic knowledges and isn't quite as good at direct combat or social manipulation as Jamelia, mostly because she hasn't been enhanced with anything more than standard low-level Technocratic genetic tweaks (which are why she can easily look ten years younger than she actually is, seems to never get sick, and will probably live a very long natural life if she decides to get old normally like most mages don't). Willpower: 8/8 Health Levels: -0/-0/-1/-1/-2/-2/-4/Incapacitated
Mystical:
Alice has Arete 5. This is the same as Enlightenment 5. Her spheres are: Death 3
Dimensional Science 3
Forces 3
Life 3
Mind 4 (Control)
Time 3
Alice's paradigm is a mishmash of whatever-works combined with her psychic abilities. Much like any other Orphan, she has a fairly eclectic casting style for low level effects, although for any serious workings she generally ends up going back to the NWO psychic paradigm. She pays for the flexibility in being able to do "whatever works" paradigmically by not having a favored sphere.
Contingency-5 has survived for 30 years crashing vans into major government buildings and shooting every man, woman, and child. This is probably not going to kill them and if it does, good riddance.
I'm definitely leery of going with Contingency-5 for a few reasons. It's risky, for one thing. There's probably a certain amount of risk involved in anything Alice does here, but the kind of direct confrontation that choice seems to imply plays into the Technocracy's strengths. Perhaps more importantly, we should consider the opportunity cost, since we'd be passing up the chance to try to find out more about what's going on or go to ground. Also, while they might succeed in immediately rescuing her friends, I suspect it will get Alice put on the list of people to be shot on sight by the Technocracy, which is bad for her long term prospects. It rules out any chance that she'll be able to return to not being actively hunted by the Technocracy even if Miss Clock is dealt with. Also, it costs all her points for favors, so it would rule out all the other options.
In short, a very big no to Contingency-5, unless someone can come up with a very convincing reason otherwise.
Contingency 5 is a big no no, unless we figure out Just what is it is hounding us IC wise and that we can actually get rid of them by smashing their faces in.
Contingency-5 has survived for 30 years crashing vans into major government buildings and shooting every man, woman, and child. This is probably not going to kill them and if it does, good riddance.
They are also the only faction we could call in whose reaction to being thrown into the Panopticon meatgrinder is rip it apart from the inside with their bare hands as opposed to CURSE US WITH THEIR DYING BREATH, and you know, make future favors rather difficult. Also they have a decent chance of succeeding in smashing local Techno infrastructure while they do this. If we can give them a good point from which to start they are a solid choice.
Why is that a good thing? Even from Alice' PoV escalating against the technocracy (E.G, smashing the local Techno Infrastructure) is not a good thing, much less from ours.
Well if we only want to run away, and potentially that could be the path of least collateral damage, then Lou would be the way to go. Maybe adding the Knights or Steel Tiger to help provide the punch needed to get out of the really sticky situations or if Lou's magic gets jammed.
My thoughts: Mike and Lupe definitely sound like the right kind of help. (Spheres the Technocracy doesn't have and EDE goodness). So does LouCypher. (GTFO specialist). Both are cheap at the price. Not sure what else fits, but we WILL want more physical help that's not strictly aimed at FIGHTING the Technocracy because fighting isn't our goal. Probably the Knights, but Juan may fit the bill depending on what he brings to the the table.
Answers From Tradition is a question and answer section, allowing any member of the Traditions, associated Crafts or Orphans to share knowledge and help. Remember, there's no ultimate answers so don't assume that other people are certainly right. Keep your minds open, and be excellent to one another.
Article:
NOTICE
Okay, guys, Answers From Tradition is going to be trialling the new upgraded Blind Oracle software. Thanks to Thig4Life and EnLOLcian for implementing this and bug-fixing that little defect when it tried to liaise with the client-side verification.
What does this mean? For you, not very much. It just means that your answers are being checked against the Akashic Records and the Tenemos (EnLOLcian's idea for dual-verification) which should allow smarter sorting of useful info. If you don't want that to happen, don't post.
Okay, guys I ran into a werid thing in a techno base. Not a proper construct or at least it wasn;t built on a node but it had their defences up and running. We were doing a little bit of monkeywreching in New York in an old Technofacility which was being started up again. A friend decided to go in first to plant some bugs and get some backholes in before they got the defences fully online again, and I tagged along. When we were going thriugh the labs it burst out of a tank of green fluid! It was really fast and tough and strong and two friends got really hurt before we collapsed the roof on it - and that didn't stop it. It was sort of alive, but wasn't alive. It bled when we shot it, but didn't seem to care. I thought it might have been a vampire because of how it burst through a door, but then it followed us outside. In the end, we had to eat the dox and burn it to ashes.
What the fuck was it?
asked 17 days ago BlueBlueBlue
It's probably a HITMark under repair. No vital signs - HITMark whose biosign emulators have broken down. Room temperature body - HITMark whose reactor isn't running high, or maybe who's been fitted with batteries. Excellent combat skills, but lack of motor coordination - damaged HITMark. Simple.
answered 17 days ago
kufuwiz
it wasn't a HITMark HITmarks don't bleed like that and they don't have bone only metal
posted 16 days ago
BlueBlueBlue
Then why didn't you tell us that in the OP? That's need to know! Okay, then, some kind of combat homunculus. Simple.
posted 9 days ago
kufuwiz
Are you sure it was actually a person? ItX holography can be pretty good. They're running decoy drones in a lot of places now, to make you panic.
answered 8 days ago
BobTheRogueBob
yes they were a person, at least in the body after we burned it up.
posted 5 days ago
BlueBlueBlue
I agree with Bob. How much of what you saw really happened? WHen they fyuck with your senses with NWO/ItX stuff, it can get pretty confusing
posted 3 days ago
GapTheMind
it really happened trust me I'd know if they were doing things anyway my friends were wearing emsight goggles
posted 2 days ago
BlueBlueBlue
Hmm. You said it was a green tank of fluid, right? I know this is a long shot, but that sounds like a White Tower unit. You younguns have probably never seen one, but they were 70s and 80s bioroids made from human corpses. Tough, fast, and with a strange spiritual presence caused by the defilement of the dead corpse. The spirits of the dead were angered by being treated like that, and the modifications the Technocracy did to them deliberately enraged the spirits, thus giving them the power of the unquiet dead when hunting their murderers. Except the Technocracy controlled them, and tricked the dead into going after their foes. Such is the wickedness of the secular tyrants of the world, that they would deny the dead their rest.
answered 4 days ago
AllPraiseTheLord
The Technocracy doesn't believe in ghosts. How could they do that?
posted 4 days ago
BobTheRogueBob
The Technocracy does believe in ghosts! It just lies to others! This is the wickedness of the tyrants! They are wiful hypocrites who would deny the fruits of reality to all save themselves!
answered 3 days ago
AllPraiseTheLord
What do you expect from the Secret Masters who have usurped reality and now reign over this Fallen world? Beware Panopticon, who serve the Secret Masters in the name of the Eye. Panopticon and its white-clad Minister acts even now, for the gaze of the Eye has fallen upon the most sublime, highest of the high, and it shall not rest until its adversary is destroyed and its seed is scattered to the winds.
answered 2 days ago
NoVayHeck
Maybe it was a vampire. Technocrats sometimes chip and use them as shock troopers. I know you said it didn't burn, but they have magick suncream which protects against UV radiation, which is what makes vampires burn in the sun.
answered 12 days ago
DrQueenOfFrance
Psuedoscientific crap. Vampires don't burn because of UV. You can test it with a UV lamp. Downvoting
posted 12 days ago
Li9001
They damn well do. Follow the link for my field tests using a high power UV lamp. Point is, 'Crats use high power suncream on shock trooper vampires.
posted 10 days ago
DrQueenOfFrance
Are you sure they're technocrats. maybe they were nephrandi working with corpses possessed by demons
answered 7 days ago
theDemeans
It was a giant ape. The Technocracy has used transgenic apes for a long time, and this is just another example!
answered 4 days ago
PithHelmetedMan
it wasn't a fucking ape seriously i'd have said that
posted 4 days ago
BlueBlueBlue
... oh, wow. I'm really sorry. Sorry about that. I was having a minor fit of Quiet a few days ago - found myself back on the Savvanah, being chased by the damn Technocracy apemen again. See them everywhere when that happens. But I can't seem to delete the post. Do you know how to do that? I guess I'll have to find a moderator. But sorry, sorry.
posted 0 days ago
PithHelmetedMan
Sounds like a Promethean to me. Watch out - they heal with electricity, but take extra damage from fire. The worst thing is that the Divine Fire coursing through them means that you might not have killed it permanently - sometimes they revive as the fire within them flares again. From the immersion in the tank, it may be an Osiran - they are linked to phelgm as their humour and to the element of water. They're not quite alive, not quite dead, and fuelled by their alchemical bodies empowered by the divine force of human... well, human something. The Awakened don't really understand them.
answered 1 days ago
NoVayHeck
Uh... okay. So this is another Hellraiser sockpuppet, but... uh, the Blind Oracle thinks their posts here are 'possibly true'. So we're going to leave it up, but be aware that it's from a Marauder.
posted 1 days ago
BaptismOfFire(moderator)
... I have no idea how this happens. Obviously we couldn't test it on Marauders. Maybe they're right. Or maybe fooling the Tenemos. Somehow.
Maybe it was a vampire. Technocrats sometimes chip and use them as shock troopers. I know you said it didn't burn, but they have magick suncream which protects against UV radiation, which is what makes vampires burn in the sun.
answered 12 days agoDrQueenOfFrance
Psuedoscientific crap. Vampires don't burn because of UV. You can test it with a UV lamp. Downvoting
posted 12 days agoLi9001
They damn well do. Follow the link for my field tests using a high power UV lamp. Point is, 'Crats use high power suncream on shock trooper vampires.
Why is that a good thing? Even from Alice' PoV escalating against the technocracy (E.G, smashing the local Techno Infrastructure) is not a good thing, much less from ours.
It's a good thing because it means that a lot of their heavy assets will end up being tied down keeping their Constructs safe instead of being used to murder Alice and everything she loves. Also, Contingency-5 doesn't generally target Technocratic assets. They target the Sleepers who keep the Technocratic world safe and then smash any Technocrats who get split into penny packets to guard these Sleepers, then they fade away before they can be localized and killed. The Technocracy finds it moderately inconvenient when the Sleepers who make the world they created work start dying.
Panopticon and its white-clad Minister acts even now, for the gaze of the Eye has fallen upon the most sublime, highest of the high, and it shall not rest until its adversary is destroyed and its seed is scattered to the winds.
Hmm. You said it was a green tank of fluid, right? I know this is a long shot, but that sounds like a White Tower unit. You younguns have probably never seen one, but they were 70s and 80s bioroids made from human corpses. Tough, fast, and with a strange spiritual presence caused by the defilement of the dead corpse. The spirits of the dead were angered by being treated like that, and the modifications the Technocracy did to them deliberately enraged the spirits, thus giving them the power of the unquiet dead when hunting their murderers.Except the Technocracy controlled them, and tricked the dead into going after their foes. Such is the wickedness of the secular tyrants of the world, that they would deny the dead their rest.
Oh my... Well, Death2 allows for warding against ghosts, and Death 3 allows for exorcising them or making them flee. Now if we could only figure out a way to get Choi to show up...
More seriously, that implies that Ms Clock's forces may also be using White Tower units... which kinda makes sense by symmetry.
I just had a crazy idea, which would be vastly amusing, if highly unlikely. What is the chance of getting Stephanie Heck to show up in Miami? She would have to mis-recognize Alice as some variant of Jamelia, of course...
