Oh good, I was kinda worried given it was my plan but it turned out... alright? But yeah I'd prefer if there wasn't a brewing gang war in the neighborhood.
So lets break it up and return the shit, Mitsu probably wouldn't agree to keeping the chrome so that's out too.
Taking a side now against a gang seems like a very bad descision especially without a set up home area. Letting them fight it out themselves might be the best option unless we can somehow help stealthily. Having a side win might seem safer instead of being caught in a crossfire between a gang in the future.
The third option seems just as bad for reasons stated by the person above.
Option 2 is probably the better choice, breaking off the tension, maybe we can be all the best of friends?
As an aside Yuuki's repair skill is pretty good, depending on the resources required it might be possible to sell the van for profit once it's fixed up.
So, lemme get this straight, Pauper knew their own people were going missing in the area, he had enough info about the Scavs to try and sell and had people that wanted to look into it free of charge and they still decided it wasn't worth looking into?
I realize it's not like the Scavs had the fact they're the culprits tattooed to their forheads (and we rolled bad), but if I was Pauper I'd be really damn embarrassed of myself once the evident gets put on the table.
If the Vendetta wasn't involved, I might give into the urge to mess with the Fixer over this and try to squeeze him for some cash, but as things stands it's not really worth it. Chances are we're better off with a neutral but positive reputation than taking sides with either of these gangs.
Still, all of that aside, it looks like clearing our new shop was a full success. We even got a soundproof basement out of it.
[X] [Showdown] Break up the fight with an explanation, and a return of Erika as proof.
--[X] Return the harvested chrome to the gangs
I realize it's not like the Scavs had the fact they're the culprits tattooed to their forheads (and we rolled bad), but if I was Pauper I'd be really damn embarrassed of myself once the evident gets put on the table.
Yeah, it's a bit flimsy of an explanation there, but I think that Pauper would be more focused on the Vendetta saber rattling and approaching the neighborhood than the disappearing folks. They've had to focus their efforts on trying to arm up the Secondborn Ronin first over worrying about the low-level members suddenly disappearing. Plus, worst comes to worst, they could always poke into it later after dealing with the Vendetta.
This didn't come up during bargaining with them because of the rolls, and remember, Pauper has no frame of reference of just who these two mysterious women are from out of town. Lycoris anonymity worked a little too well there, so they were suspicious and wary of this random offer to take care of the Scavs. Note that they didn't care if you went after them by themselves, only that perhaps they could sell some information for money to help get more guns into the hands of the Secondborn Ronin.
Plus, perhaps getting more guns into the gang could help stop the disappearances. So working at it from all different angles, nobody has the complete picture of what's going on (even the Scavs cuz they just got blindsided by the Lycoris going full MGS on them).
[X] [Showdown] Break up the fight with an explanation, and a return of Erika as proof.
--[X] Return the harvested chrome to the gangs
Well assuming that nothing goes wrong with the negotiations that should be everything and it'll be time to go home for the first time in the quest.
Neat. Hopefully any weapons lying around in the shop will be enough to round out the rest of the arsenal but they are scavs and not likely to have anything good. Would still be useful for sale fodder though, maybe some fun loot if there are dice involved and they cooperate.
Yeah, it's a bit flimsy of an explanation there, but I think that Pauper would be more focused on the Vendetta saber rattling and approaching the neighborhood than the disappearing folks. They've had to focus their efforts on trying to arm up the Secondborn Ronin first over worrying about the low-level members suddenly disappearing. Plus, worst comes to worst, they could always poke into it later after dealing with the Vendetta.
This didn't come up during bargaining with them because of the rolls, and remember, Pauper has no frame of reference of just who these two mysterious women are from out of town. Lycoris anonymity worked a little too well there, so they were suspicious and wary of this random offer to take care of the Scavs. Note that they didn't care if you went after them by themselves, only that perhaps they could sell some information for money to help get more guns into the hands of the Secondborn Ronin.
Plus, perhaps getting more guns into the gang could help stop the disappearances. So working at it from all different angles, nobody has the complete picture of what's going on (even the Scavs cuz they just got blindsided by the Lycoris going full MGS on them).
For what it's worth, I don't think this really needs much of an explanation. It's not a good look for Pauper as far as I'm concerned, but it's not so bad it streches believability.
Yeah, Pauper's rapidly approaching the back half of the 'Fuck Around -> Find Out' graph, but with someone as obviously partisan as them I wouldn't have expected it to go a different way in hindsight.
[X] [Showdown] Break up the fight with an explanation, and a return of Erika as proof.
--[X] Return the harvested chrome to the gangs
The tension in the scene was about to reach its apex. On one side, the Secondborn Ronin shakily held onto their assortment of mismatched weapons, many of them perhaps having deep regrets in their eyes about this all. On the other side, the Vendetta coolly raised their weapons into a ready position, eyes narrowing in a mix of focus and anticipation for their lifelong craft. La Peste tugged at their cuffs to roll up the sleeves while Pauper's electronic display began to glow brighter.
Then a voice called out that had heads snapping and weapons turning to point at the sudden interloper. "Good evening everybody," You calmly called out, holding your service pistol at the ready but pointed into the ground. "Might I have your attention please? Before you all decide to make a mess outside my new home."
There was a moment of stunned silence, with both gangs exchanging bewildered looks. La Peste tilted their head, the mask concealing any emotion their face was showing while Pauper's digital avatar flickered in a rapid and unsure pattern. You took the opportunity to gingerly open one of the van doors, letting the lifeless Scav body tumble out. "Right here are the culprits for this entire misunderstanding," You quickly explained. "Scavs working in the cracks between you, trying to pin the blame of the missing members on each other. They've had a pretty smooth operation going on here, but we've taken care of that now. So let's put down the weapons and resolve this like mature adults."
You held your breath, hoping that both sides would at least hear you out further now.
The Secondborn Ronin were first to lower their weapons, perhaps too hastily and gladly. The Vendetta soon followed, albeit with a reluctant and sullen tone to their actions. You let out a sigh of relief and holstered your pistol as a show of trust, tucking it back into your schoolbag. Then La Peste spoke, their mask's glossy eyes locked onto you. "Where are the missing victims?"
"In the basement, but if you're a Ripper, you might have something better to occupy your attention with." Your eyes lit up and you flicked a message to Mitsu. Barely a few seconds later, then your partner blurred onto the scene, carrying the unconscious Erika in her arms, the faint glow from her spine dissipating with the conclusion of its enhancements.
The response was immediate from La Peste. "Set her down!" Mitsu glanced your way and you gave a reassuring nod. The Lycoris obliged the Ripper's orders and quickly stepped back when the masked individual suddenly loomed over the former Scav victim. One of their hands split open to reveal an array of surgical tools that immediately got to work on the unconscious patient, prodding and injecting a variety of serums into the pale flesh.
"Are there any other survivors?" Pauper flatly asked and you solemnly shook your head. There was perhaps something like an exhale into a microphone, but it faded quickly. "I would like to ask permission to enter and retrieve the remains of Secondborn Ronin within. We have a duty to at least inform the next of kin and return the body, or whatever is left."
"Go ahead and," Your eyes flicked to Mitsu, who looked at you with an expectant look, "Take a look in the crates as well. The stolen cyberware's all there. It was yours in the first place, so go ahead and take them back."
"...very well." Pauper called out names and some of the Secondborn Ronin stepped up to handle the grim task. They weren't alone.
"We will also retrieve our stolen dead and our stolen chrome," La Peste declared without looking away from their treatment. A few of their colleagues stepped forward to accomplish the order. "I trust this is only fair."
"If I can have your word that the Vendetta will cease aggressively pushing into our territories."
"You have my personal word, though I cannot speak for individuals. I will try to speak to them at least about respecting your boundaries."
Given how Pauper seemingly accepted response, you guessed that was probably the best answer the Fixer could probably get from the Ripper. The two groups of gangmembers passed you with surprisingly respectful nods and Mitsu handled leading them down to the basement. Soon, bodybags and crates were being carried out of the former Scav Den and returned to the rightful owners. You watched the process with a sense of nostalgia about it all, though there was a bit of regret in there as well. That was a lot of chrome you were returning, you could have sold that at a black market for a nice markup.
Then you caught sight of Mitsu helping to comfort what appeared to be a grieving Secondborn Ronin and you shook your head. It had been all harvested cyberware, ripped from kidnapped victims of the Scavs. It was just as dirty as blood money. You couldn't in good conscience profit from such cruelty. You had to settle for giving the Scav bodies a look over to see if they had anything worth looting from them.
(Scav Loot: 7)
A bunch of chipshards with about a combined 800 eddies on them. That was all you found of value. You sighed, but added the funds to your account regardless. At least you'd likely put it to better use than what the Scavs probably intended to blow it all on.
+800eb (28400 +800 = 29200)
There was a prod at your side and you looked up to see Mitsu with a ghost of a satisfied grin. "Tis done. The displaced are home once more."
La Peste rose with Erika in their arms, whose skin was starting to look much healthier now. "Indeed. Our vengeance is...sated. You have brought righteous justice in our place." There was a slight note of disappointment in it, but they still inclined their head to the two Lycoris. Then both you and Mitsu blinked when contact details popped up in your vision. "Should you ever require the consultation or service of a skilled physician, I am open to scheduling a visit, if you can provide payment. Farewell."
The Vendetta departed without further delay, carrying their dead and their chrome back home. You watched them go and Mitsu beamed, looking quite pleased. "See? You have witnessed their honor, have you not?" She eagerly told you with an excited expression. "Perhaps it is buried beneath their bloodlust, but it is there!"
"I suppose they do have a code of honor, bloody as it might be," You admitted, then turned to face the lingering Secondborn Ronin. "How about you all then? Anything you're waiting on?"
"Only to finish crosschecking the identities against those missing," Pauper explained. After a minute, they were satisfied. "There All missing have now been accounted for. That's another worry off my chest now."
"One that you wanted to charge us for," You idly reminded and there was a slight hitch in the Fixer's breathing, followed by a reluctant sigh.
"Indeed, I...apologize for my brusque attitude with you two earlier. I had dismissed you as two idealist vigilantes at best, or reckless students at worst. For that, I am truly sorry." There was a moment of silence to let the words sink in. "It is clear now that I am dealing with two very capable mercenaries of considerable talent. I may have been distracted by the advancing Vendetta as of late, but I can now give you two the proper attention you deserve."
"Hm." Mitsu's eyes narrowed. "You speak loftily, but with little substance. Your words must be backed with action."
"I understand." Pauper hesitated for a moment, then made an observation. "You two are new to the city, and in dire need of contacts, business or otherwise. I can help you out there, and I'll introduce you to one for free for both of you. Just swing around the library when you can, tell me what you want, and I'll see what I can do."
Your eyebrow raised. "That's...not insignificant." For all the shortcomings, Pauper certainly sounded like the type to know good business contacts in the area, maybe even corporate or otherwise. It definitely could be something that could give your dream shop a shot in the leg. "I'll have to think about mine. I don't know if Mitsu would accept the offer though."
Your partner pressed her lips together, then looked at you.
Finally, she exhaled and looked at the projection of Pauper's avatar. "Very well! I do not wish to stir trouble in the neighborhood for Yuuki, so I will accept your apology. However, I will demand to use my favor now."
"Very well. Name it, and I'll see what I can do-"
"I wish to talk to a Vehicle Dealership of repute!" She slammed a hand on her thigh and nodded firmly. "I yearn for my own means of traveling about the city to deal justice, and it shall be a magnificent steed! Please introduce me to one, and you may consider my blade...available for the right price and duty."
"A Vehicle Dealership? Hm, I'll talk to some of the Secondborn Ronin, I do believe one or two may have family ties to a good Dealership nearby. I'll send you the details as soon as I get that sorted," Pauper promised and Mitsu nodded, satisfied enough to consider a working relationship now. "If that is all for now, I wish you a good night."
"Might be a long one with how we have to clean up our new place," You mentioned to your partner and she adopted a matching grimace. "Please tell me that you avoided shooting into where the Scavs were resting, or else we might not even have a futon."
"At least the tatami is padded?" Mitsu weakly justified and you groaned, already feeling the sore back in the morning from sleeping on the floor without anything to cushion it.
It was rather curious how you knew you'd get back pain from that instead of from dragging the Scav bodies into bodybags and zipping them up. Mitsu tried to help, but she was clearly uncomfortable with handling corpses compared to you. After watching her try awkwardly to pull a body from the van, you had mercy on her and sent her to just dispose of the ruined bedding. Now that she carried it out, you could see stains beneath the blood on the futons and strongly reconsidered your original plan of sleeping on those.
That and a myriad of other thoughts ran through your head while you idly bagged the bodies. There was a certain poetic justice to using the bodybags the Scavs had been using for their victims to clean them up, but the question now was what you wanted to do with the bodies themselves. There was always the tried and true option of tossing them in the dumpster and praying nobody looked, but that seemed quite wasteful.
You supposed you could also turn the bodies in to Shinohara Securities for proper disposal, thought it seemed more likely that said bodies would vanish to be used for Arasaka research projects. At least you'd likely be paid for the bodies then, through whatever cyberware they pulled from the corpses. But then there was a way you had been specifically taught in, a little odd lesson given to Lycoris cleaners as an emergency alternative to incineration.
Corpse recycling. You could take a corpse, add in a very specific ratio of chemicals and other reagents, then let the mixture get to work. Organic mass would be broken down and turned into something akin to fertilizer, though cyberware would unfortunately be severely damaged in the process so you couldn't harvest those for profit any longer. It was a procedure you were trained in but didn't fully understand enough to tweak, at least not without pursuing studies in chemistry.
Aside from the bodies, there was also the damaged shophouse in itself that needed repairs. You gave it a quick assessment and concluded it definitely need restoration work outside just patching up the bullet holes from tonight. The Scavs hadn't exactly kept the place in great condition and you needed to fix what they had either trashed or let fall into ruin. You'd have to do this before even thinking about opening a shop for customers, unless you were confident your product could convince others to ignore the very crude and obscene graffiti.
Finally, there was the van that had been shot up. You peaked under the hood and nearly wanted to write it off entirely. It was a bleeding and leaking mess, and you'd have a lot of repair work to do if it was ever going to be running again. Perhaps it'd be better to just sell the entire thing for scrap now, though if you did manage to repair the engine and patch up the body damage, there would certainly be more value. Or you could keep it for yourself to help with your business, it'd certainly eliminate your public transit fares and replace it with fuel purchases.
You closed the cover back with a shake of the head and paused. There was somebody standing awkwardly in front of your new home, a small mountain of futons and other assorted bedding covering their face. You approached slowly and raised your voice. "Hello?'
"A-ah! Are you...Yuuki?" A bespectacled face poked her head around the cotton pile. "This is for you!"
"For me?"
"Y-yes. From Pauper." Your eyebrows shot up and you realized the Fixer may have overheard your remark to Mitsu about the ruined futons. "They...they said it's a welcoming gift. Er...do you want it?'
You studied the gift and was immediately impressed. It was top shelf corporate products, looking damn-near immaculate and fluffy. Already, in your mind's eye, you could imagine Mitsu dive-bombing into one of these with a happy squeal. Though you paused and decided to quickly check through the stuff in detail, much to the girl's confusion.
(Bug Hunting: 44 +14 (Tech) = 58)
It was clean of any listening devices, so far as you could tell, and you let out a relieved sigh. "We'll take it," You declared and lifted it from her arms. "Pass Pauper our thanks."
"N-no worries!" She sputtered and your facial software idly activated in your opticware.
Your lips twitched and you nodded. "Have a good night."
"H-have a good night!" The unknowing unveiled Fixer replied and departed, leaving you to finally settle in to your new home and life beyond Lycoris.
To be continued
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- I'll have the continuation up soon, but seems fitting to cap off your little prologue. Hope everybody's ready to get into what the meat of the quest is going to be like, living week to week in this fun setting!
That was all you saw after you shifted a body about and there was an ominous click.
You knew you were awake and tried to open your eyes. You thought you did, but still, you saw nothing. Your body ached and burned all over, but it was the lack of vision that truly sent a chill down your spine. You could feel your hand moving about in panic, trying to grab a hold of something, anything-!
A soft hand grasped yours and you let out a sharp gasp from a breath you didn't even know you had been holding. Finally, your lips vocalized the question that leapt to the front of your mind. "Where...where am I…?"
"The medical ward back in Lycoris HQ," A young voice soothingly reassured and you felt the tension from your shoulders evaporate. "Please don't panic. You've just had shrapnel pulled out from all over your body."
"A-ah. That body...it was bobby-trapped, wasn't it?" You shakily asked with a nervous laugh. "That was pretty dumb of me to not check."
"Maybe, but it's not your fault. It's those who just want to do nothing but make others hurt." The unknown girl told, squeezing your hand. "You're fine, okay? Nothing's going to hurt you anymore."
"Okay." You sucked in a deep breath, then asked the big question. "I can't see. My eyes, are they…?"
"...I'm sorry. They couldn't save your eyes."
"Oh." Your hand suddenly lost all strength and fell limp as you stared at...nothing. "I..I see. Or rather, I can't," You joked, but there was a slightly hysterical note to it, like you were standing on the edge of some great abyss that was a bottomless and you were going to fall-
Suddenly your mind blossomed into a dizzying array of beautiful colors when something was abruptly shoved under your nose. Just a simple sniff and you felt at ease, the panic quickly dying down. You took in a deep breath and inhaled the floral scent. "This is…"
"Just a normal daisy I plucked from outside. Sorry!" Whoever it was cheerfully replied and you couldn't help it. You smiled and let the aroma lift your up from a dark place. "Oh, is it that time already? Sorry, I have to get going, but I promise I'll bring you a better flower next time!"
"I'm looking forward to it," The words tumbled from your lips and you could feel the radiant grin coming your way, like the sun. Then whoever it was left your side, leaving only the flower behind.
You held it close and let the smells guide you back to a restful slumber….
The smell of something greasy roused you from your sleep and you groggily blinked awake, feeling the muted rays from the sun warm your face. You sat up in the comfortable futon and rubbed at your opticware, letting the system reboot itself while you nimbly got dressed. The nightwear was tossed onto the futon as you lacked a dresser or hamper to store it in and you sighed, making a mental note to look into buying that and some other furniture for your room.
Perhaps after you patched up the bullet holes in the walls of the former Scav Den.
The smell of food was coming from downstairs and you trudged down to see your partner digging into what looked like a plate of takeout. She noticed your descent and waved a set of chopsticks at covered plate. "Morning!" Mitsu tried to say through a mouthful of food. "Breakfast!"
"Good call. I don't try anything that's been in that fridge. In fact, we better throw the entire thing out, it doesn't look airtight." You grabbed a set of chopsticks and opened up your own serving. It was some heavy mix of sausages, potatoes, and bacon that you poked and nibbled at. "Tasty, but isn't it a bit too much for the morning? What even serves this sort of food around here?"
Mitsu beamed and swallowed in one go to make sure you could hear her speak. "I traveled to experience an English pub! Twas a journey, but nothing a good jog can't fix!" She eagerly scooped up another portion to chew, likely famished from the aforementioned jog.
You weren't so hungry on account of not having gone on such a run. You ate a few more courtesy bites before setting your chopsticks down and washing the oil down with some bottled juice. "Right then. Let's review what needs to be done."
"Mmh!"
"First of all, this place absolutely needs to be cleaned up." You glanced about and wrinkled your nose. "We are definitely not going to be living like Scavs. I can probably patch up most of this stuff with some time, then it's just a deep clean job. You can help me on that."
Mitsu nodded, so you continued. "Next, we need furniture. The futons Pauper gave us were nice, but we need proper tables, seats, dressers, and whatever else. We'll have to go furniture shopping."
"Oh Leave that to me!" Your partner spoke between vigorous chewing. "Found some intriguing merchants on my jog. I'll return to browse their wares."
You considered it before nodding. "Fine. Could I trouble you to also grab some regular groceries? Not that there's anything wrong with takeout now and then, but we just can't splurge on every meal."
"Very well! I shall collect a tithe of rice!'
"Please don't stick up a supermarket," You dryly requested and sighed, chewing your lip. "Then I definitely have to think about what to do with the Scav bodies, they'll begin to rot soon enough in a week or so even with coolers. For that, maybe a visit to one of our new contacts would be a smart idea.
"Then there's also looking into fixing up the van or scrapping it for parts, thinking about getting a business license, maybe hitting the books to learn something-" You let your head fall onto the counter with a quiet slam and sighed. "...being an adult is suddenly a lot of jobs and responsibilities."
There was silence and you peaked to see Mitsu actually looking contemplative, having exhausted her plate of food. She thought on your words for a bit before nodding reassuringly. "One thing at a time, partner!" She told with a grin. "And it's freedom to do what you want, so if you don't want to do it, just do something else! You can always come back to it later if you really want."
"Unless it's time-sensitive like the rotting bodies in the back," You reminded and Mitsu winced. But her talk did pep you up and you straightened yourself up, feeling a bit more determined now. "Even then, we can handle what comes our way, one thing at a time. We just can't waste too much time, or else our accounts will be zero before long!"
"Agreed! We mustn't waste anything!" She cheered, then glanced at your mostly untouched plate of food. You rolled your eyes and pushed it to her with a smile. While Mitsu eagerly dug in, you began to make your plans on how you wanted to spend the first week of being an adult Lycoris Graduate.
Choose up to four (4) actions you'll carry out through the week
Shop Setup -[ ] [Shop Setup] Fix up the Shophouse: This place is an absolute mess, between the poor maintenance over time and the firefight to reclaim it. You'll need to put in some serious time to try and put things back together from the upstairs living area to the underground basement.
-[ ] [Shop Setup] Fix the Van: The Scavs had a cheap utility van that's gotten shot up pretty badly, but you think you could maybe fix it back up. It could be handy for either an infusion of cash to your new business or an asset for the business itself. Try your hand at being a mechanic for a bit.
-[ ] [Shop Setup] Install new Electronics: Whatever you plan on opening, it's going to require a complete overhaul of the service and customer areas. From installing new cooling systems to replacing broken television screens, it'll be a necessary expense with you spending some time wiring it all up.
-[ ] [Shop Setup] Finalize Paperwork: If you want to have a business recognized by the city of Kagoshima, you'll need to fill out the appropriate applications and paperwork at the city hall. This likely will come with its own set of fees and other undisclosed expenses, including a monthly license upkeep tax. But it'll nail down exactly what your business is for sure.
-[ ] [Shop Setup] Advertise Word: Go spreading fliers and putting up posters of your new venture around the neighborhood to try and drum up interest for the eventual grand opening. The more buzz you create, the more attention could be drawn to the big moment.
Shinohara Securities -[ ] [Shinohara Securities] Visit the Office: You've made a contact in the form of Security Chief Azumi, the leader of an elite corporate police task force. Pay her a visit to chat and see what opportunities she can offer you.
Secondborn Ronin -[ ] [Secondborn Ronin] Visit the Pauper: The Pauper is the Fixer of the Secondborn Ronin and is a bridge between the corporate world and streets. Go to the public library to chat with them about what opportunities they can offer you.
The Vendetta -[ ] [The Vendetta] Schedule a Ripper: La Peste is a mysterious but talented RipperDoc who has offered their expertise if you wish to see them for a health checkup or discrete cyberware surgery. See if they have an opening in their schedule to meet them.
Lycoris Graduate -[ ] [Lycoris Graduate] Call a Lycoris: There's times where you miss the organization, as unbelievable as that might sound given their grim task. You certainly don't hold it against any of the other Lycoris and want to have a chat with them to see how they're doing. --[ ] The Commander
--[ ] Misaki Arisu
--[ ] Nakaiji Momiji
Living Life -[ ] [Living Life] Browse the Library: The public library in your neighborhood has a wide selection of information datashards covering a variety of topics. You can read them to your heart's content in the facility, or you could pay a fee to make a copy and take it home to study.
-[ ] [Living Life] Find a Black Market: As so many things are restricted from sale or possession in Japan, you can only find these prohibited items at a black market somewhere. They're surprisingly common enough if you know where to look, though having some caution about the quality of their myriad of wares is a smart idea.
-[ ] [Living Life] Go Clubbing: Risk the nightlife of the city and visit one of the many neon hangouts around the city to experience something new, maybe even meet some fresh faces or have magical encounters.
Miscellaneous -[ ] [Miscellaneous] Scrap the Van: It's not worth your time or effort to patch it up. Rip it apart and find a seller for the parts.
-[ ] [Miscellaneous] Dump the Bodies: Forget doing anything with the bodies, they're a dead end. Toss them into the dumpster and let the city's disposal system take care of it for you.
- Keep in mind that the timescale of a 'turn' is essentially a week. For simplification, every month is four weeks.
- Mitsu is off doing her own thing while you do yours. She'll know to call you if trouble pops up that she can't handle, and you might see her if you happen to share an activity.
Four hour moratorium to come up with a life plan.
You studied the gift and was immediately impressed. It was top shelf corporate products, looking damn-near immaculate and fluffy. Already, in your mind's eye, you could imagine Mitsu dive-bombing into one of these with a happy squeal.
And for this image alone, Pauper is forgiven. Although, if she really just outed herself, she's sure setting a trend for herself.
As for what to do, some actions to get the shop into order can't hurt. Probably fixing it up and setting up the electronics. In comparison the van isn't that high a priority, and the paperwork does set leave us with a fee once we actually get to it. Although, it comes with deciding what the business actually is, which feel like it should be done before putting up advertisements and sooner rather than later in general.
Out of our contacts, getting back to Chief Azumi is probably the highest priority, both for the better vault access she was dangling in front of us and the potential help in getting rid of the bodies.
I do kind of want to make good on Mitsu's words on our freedom to do what we want to just unwind with her at the end of the week, but she's the only one without a dedicated option, so I'm not entirely decided between putting a third action into the shop, or pick something from live a life to mix things up.
On a more generous note, while it was by no means a nice dream, its addition was still a nice bit of character insight.
A very fun set of updates. We must fulfill Yuuki's dreams at all cost. Flowers ahoy!
So some preliminary planning, at minimum we have to deal with the bodies. Whether it's straight up dumping them or handing them off to a contact for them to do... something with.
-[ ] [Shinohara Securities] Visit the Office: You've made a contact in the form of Security Chief Azumi, the leader of an elite corporate police task force. Pay her a visit to chat and see what opportunities she can offer you.
Yuuki thinks there's some money to be made handing off the bodies to Shinohara, or more accurately handing the bodies to Arasaka to experiment on which seems dependent on whatever chrome they have installed, probable rolls involved but we shall see. Plus Azumi wants them on ops and patrols as contractors which does mean an avenue of cash while the shop is getting setup. That kind of work is inherently dangerous but it is Cyberpunk so no escaping it. If we wanted safe we should have stayed in Kyoto.
-[ ] [Secondborn Ronin] Visit the Pauper: The Pauper is the Fixer of the Secondborn Ronin and is a bridge between the corporate world and streets. Go to the public library to chat with them about what opportunities they can offer you.
Pauper will probably just help dump them but they are also our contact for corporate and street work which can really run the gamut of snooze fest to total fucking shit. And you know what they say, never trust a corp. That said probably some easy clean up jobs or other simple work available to take on.
Also they're an in with the Ronin and boy oh boy, what a clusterfuck that is. If that was the best muscle they could scrap together they really need a shot in the arm. Petty crime and potentially corporate fraud don't exactly need heavy weapons but holding territory means needing to defend yourself. From Pauper's intro their better muscle take the form of... something akin to school delinquents and might actually just be school delinquents. Surprised they haven't been punted out of their territory yet given what we've learned about them if Pauper is what the local rank and file consider a good fixer... ok but she is cute so I suppose she has that going for her.
As for shop stuff...
-[ ] [Shop Setup] Fix up the Shophouse: This place is an absolute mess, between the poor maintenance over time and the firefight to reclaim it. You'll need to put in some serious time to try and put things back together from the upstairs living area to the underground basement.
We are going to have to do this at some point and proper furniture is probably locked in action behind this (and also cost more money eesh). No point in delaying we get it done.
-[ ] [Shop Setup] Install new Electronics: Whatever you plan on opening, it's going to require a complete overhaul of the service and customer areas. From installing new cooling systems to replacing broken television screens, it'll be a necessary expense with you spending some time wiring it all up.
This is gonna cost money, something we can probably afford but it'll still cost money. Not exactly the most pressing concern and doesn't really do anything until the store opens. Will need to get done at some point but I think we can put it off for a week though not sure what we'd have Yuuki doing instead.
-[ ] [Shop Setup] Fix the Van: The Scavs had a cheap utility van that's gotten shot up pretty badly, but you think you could maybe fix it back up. It could be handy for either an infusion of cash to your new business or an asset for the business itself. Try your hand at being a mechanic for a bit.
There is a lot of freedom and utility in having a vehicle of our own. I'm not entirely keen on keeping the body van but it would be useful as a stopgap plus we can always sell it later for some cash. If we take 2077 as reference a secondhand vehicle of this class is something like 16k-18k eds which is more than half of Yuuki's starting budget.
Anyways plan wise I'm thinking...
[X] Plan I Have No Money And I Must Work -[X] [Shop Setup] Fix up the Shophouse: This place is an absolute mess, between the poor maintenance over time and the firefight to reclaim it. You'll need to put in some serious time to try and put things back together from the upstairs living area to the underground basement. -[X] [Shop Setup] Fix the Van: The Scavs had a cheap utility van that's gotten shot up pretty badly, but you think you could maybe fix it back up. It could be handy for either an infusion of cash to your new business or an asset for the business itself. Try your hand at being a mechanic for a bit. -[X] [Shinohara Securities] Visit the Office: You've made a contact in the form of Security Chief Azumi, the leader of an elite corporate police task force. Pay her a visit to chat and see what opportunities she can offer you. -[X] [Secondborn Ronin] Visit the Pauper: The Pauper is the Fixer of the Secondborn Ronin and is a bridge between the corporate world and streets. Go to the public library to chat with them about what opportunities they can offer you.
Taking both work options now so we know what to expect from them in the future. Van for either sale fodder or personal use and the shop cleanup is pretty self explanatory.
Given a turn is a week and 4 weeks in a month I'm thinking we open the shop either week 3 or week 4 with ads going out the week before. Though I suppose it depends on just how many shop actions there actually are.
[X] Plan Getting the Shop Set Up -[X] [Shop Setup] Fix up the Shophouse -[X] [Shop Setup] Install new Electronics -[X] [Shop Setup] Finalize Paperwork
-[X] [Shinohara Securities] Visit the Office
I'm still tempted by just going clubbing and seeing what happens, but with the results there being up in the air, I figure we might as well get the stuff we need to do to open up shop done. At least then we've earned some time to take it easy next week.
Pauper will probably just help dump them but they are also our contact for corporate and street work which can really run the gamut of snooze fest to total fucking shit. And you know what they say, never trust a corp. That said probably some easy clean up jobs or other simple work available to take on.
I'll actually say that for Yuuki's earlier idea of recycling the bodies into a fertilizer compost thing, she needs access to chemicals and reagents. Most can be found easily enough, but the catalysts are all fairly exclusive stuff that won't be found outside chemical processing plants or laboratories. Pauper, being the Fixer for the Secondborn Ronin, could try to get you access via university or corporate laboratories willing to pad their budget under the table. She might also have other ideas and contacts that could help your business if you wanted to spend your owed favor on that.
