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Post by Spwack on Nov 30, 2021 11:37:00 GMT
"... weird." The guy seems a bit concerned, but helps you get out of the mess of boxes.
Stashed! Be careful with that, if you break it it'll be impossible to put back together.
You leave the briefcase behind, with the label sticking out of it so it can be clearly read, and waltz away. Are you trying to leave it where someone will steal it, and potentially get caught with it?
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Post by red_kangaroo on Nov 30, 2021 14:18:34 GMT
You leave the briefcase behind, with the label sticking out of it so it can be clearly read, and waltz away. Are you trying to leave it where someone will steal it, and potentially get caught with it?
Yes, and I would like to keep an eye on the briefcase until it is stolen and shadow that someone who steals it.
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Post by Spwack on Dec 1, 2021 16:03:13 GMT
You keep a close eye on your bait, and it doesn't take long for it to be hooked. A smartly-dressed business woman talking on a headset spots it, spins around on one of her very high heels to take in the crowd at a glance, picks it up and keeps moving! It looks like she is heading for the elevators, what do you do?
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Post by red_kangaroo on Dec 1, 2021 20:10:29 GMT
I will try to get to the same elevator as her.
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Post by Spwack on Dec 3, 2021 0:38:38 GMT
Ok! You hang back while she waits for an elevator to arrive, then dart forward at the last second as the doors slide shut. She's pressed the button to head to Ring 2 (the general residential area). "Can I... help you?" she asks slowly.
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Post by red_kangaroo on Dec 3, 2021 18:32:53 GMT
"Maybe?" I smile. I point at the briefcase: "What is that? Or more specifically, who is it from and why are you interested?"
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Post by Spwack on Dec 4, 2021 6:27:02 GMT
"I, uh, it's my, uh, I was just returning this to, uh-" stammers the woman, blushing immediately. "Don't you know that, um, bags and cases that are left unattended are, uh, against station rules...?" she ends on a hopeful high-note that you'll except this ruse for what it is.
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Post by red_kangaroo on Dec 11, 2021 20:32:33 GMT
I press the STOP button and smile.
"True, true. You do know that you've taken that briefcase in a monitored, public area? That your pictures are bubbling through the system right now, and it is only a matter of time before there's an alarm somewhere in the infosec offices? An agent will pull up your file and they will punch a button and look directly at you from this very camera." ((If there's an obvious camera in the elevator, I'll point at it, otherwise I'll just point at a random corner.)) "Life will soon get very fun for you for a... well, very short time."
"Orrrr," I draw it out, "you can start talking to me. And if I like what you're saying and if I believe you, I can call my FRIEND and we can stop the pictures. A little surge in the system, a little data corruption. It happens. No face recognition, no alarm, no agents behind every camera."
"So, please, why are you interested?"
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Post by Spwack on Dec 12, 2021 8:55:25 GMT
The elevator screeeeches to a stop. Her face drops, and drops further. "Oh god. Oh god. Oh god oh god." She stares at the camera as well, stricken.
"I swear on my life, I'd never seen this before. I just need some- some cash, you know? It's hard getting by in the Stacks, I was, I was going to sell whatever it is and head to," she grimaces, but plows on "the casino, try and buy a nicer place for my mum or a ticket out of this dump or just," she shrugs desperately. "Anything. If I had something to work with, I can figure it out. But not this! I didn't want any of this!" she thrusts the briefcase towards you. "Please believe me! I didn't mean to, to get mixed up with this! You have to help me!"
((The casino is technically illegal, and she thinks you're some kind of cop, so...))
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Post by red_kangaroo on Dec 13, 2021 16:36:40 GMT
"Well, believe it or not, you might be in luck, then. We are looking into the local casino business right now and a knowledgeable asset would be a boon. If you are willing to cooperate and provide us with information - locations, layouts, passwords, schedules - we can forget all about this and in addition, we can provide transport off this station. A witness protection relocation ship will be leaving from here soon, and there should still be room for you and your mother. Provided you can supply us with truthful and useful intel, of course.
Shall I count you in? Do be aware that this is a time-limited offer, please."
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Post by Spwack on Dec 14, 2021 12:40:59 GMT
"What? I can't do all that! I mean, yes, yes I'm in! What was the, uh, mission again?"
Sweat has broken out on her forehead.
"Please, just call your friend, and we can sort this out... right?"
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Post by red_kangaroo on Jan 13, 2022 13:10:03 GMT
"Of course." I partially turn away from her, touch my ear and pretend to talk on a subvocal phone.
"And done. Now, the mission is that you get me inside of the casino and give me all info you have on its inner workings. Can we go now, or is there something you have to do beforehands?"
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Post by Spwack on Jan 14, 2022 7:34:32 GMT
"Umm. Thanks? Well. Not really... we can just... go there now?" she reaches out a hand and tentatively pushes the button for Ring 5. Gentle elevator music starts playing, absolutely failing to break the awkwardness even a bit.
Do you say anything, or just wait in silence?
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Post by red_kangaroo on Jan 14, 2022 11:29:47 GMT
"You can call me Pipi, by the way. And you are?
What information can you give me about the casino? Anything helps, every data point further calibrates the planning and supervision AIs."
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Post by Spwack on Jan 17, 2022 6:07:54 GMT
"My name is Alice" she says, somewhat absentmindedly. Then she pauses for a second. Then continues. "The casino is um, on Ring Five. Ring Five still isn't repaired but you can reached it with these, like, tubes. It's run by the mafia, or some gang, or someone. They only use solid-state credits, no transfers. The, uh, the drinks are good? Apparently?"
She pauses for a bit longer. "How come you didn't know my name, Pipi?"
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Post by red_kangaroo on Jan 17, 2022 17:56:45 GMT
"Do you know what microreaction reading is? I ask you about something I already know the answer to and whether you lie or tell the truth, I can gauge your reactions and use that to detect lies to later questions I don't know answer to. And the best thing? It works even when you know I'm reading your microreactions, because the knowledge makes you more nervous and thus more prone to giving me tells.
But don't worry, you're doing great. You're cooperating, you're holding it together. You should've seen some of the supposedly 'scary types' that we approach and they just fall into pieces."
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Post by Spwack on Jan 18, 2022 7:17:05 GMT
"Oh. Oh. Ok... Thanks?"
Alice is definitely falling to pieces.
The elevator dings, and Alice hurriedly steps out, taking a few deep breaths. You're standing in what looks like a disaster relief zone. Yellow tape with the word VACUUM is striped across nearly a dozen nearby doors, and a loose section of the tape has fallen off and drifted across the floor. Yikes. There's broken power tools scattered across the floor, random sheets of hull plating, shattered plastiglass litters the grubby grey floors. In the distance, you can hear thumping music. Alice leads you towards it, opening each door with agonising slowness. You have to pass through clear tubes every so often, crawling across vertigo-inducing vistas. The only thing between you and the outside is a thick tube of metal-banded plastic.
The Outside. Shit. Jupiter seems like it's about to fall and crush you at any moment, an angry orange orb, but that is nothing compared to the sheer black void yawning underneath your feet and hands. Your palms go uselessly sweaty, and then you're through, back into the safety of the station. Are you actually safe, though?
As you approach the far end of the Ring, you can see the casino itself. The whole structure is halfway to being completely detached from the rest of the station, it's a block of salvaged structural modules built into the reinforced central ring. Everything else has been blasted or sheered away, you can still see scorch-marks on the hull plating. Three long tubes of the same plastic material stretch from the casino down to the rest of the ring. Looking ahead, you can see a small crowd of relatively well-dressed civilians. Beefy looking security guards loom over the lot of them, one with a chunky cybernetic taking up half his face. It looks like they are scanning people as they enter the casino.
What's your plan?
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Post by red_kangaroo on Feb 22, 2022 11:05:15 GMT
The three tubes are where we are heading? The only entrance? Or are the tubes an alternate entrace from somewhere else?
Are the guards openly armed? Do I see any cameras and such?
"If you can get us in, I will consider your part of the deal fulfilled, and you and your mother can get off this station. Do you know what are they scanning for? Are weapons forbidden inside, or is it just co-processor chips and other gambling implants?"
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Post by Spwack on Feb 24, 2022 2:25:52 GMT
The tubes all head into the casino, keeping it partially separated from the rest of the station. The three tubes are three different entrances, attaching to various parts of the damaged ring structure.
The aren't armed with assault rifles or anything like that, but they look big and strong, walnut-cracking biceps, one of them has a zap-prod on his belt.
"God, I don't know!" Alice wails. "How should I know? Probably?? Maybe they read your mind and see if you've got an addictive personality! Maybe they launch nanobes into your brain to make you dream of slot machines!" She's on the verge of breaking, a few of the other customers nearby give the two of you odd looks.
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Post by red_kangaroo on Mar 2, 2022 21:44:45 GMT
I grab her and turn her around. "Thank you, you have done enough. Go back to your mother. We will contact you soon." And I push her back the way we came.
Then I walk past the guards and into the casino alone.
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Post by Spwack on Mar 3, 2022 11:15:48 GMT
She stumbles, turns around and looks at you, then turns tail and flees without another word.
You make it to the front of the queue eventually. The security guards look you over, the one with the implant taking the lead. "Drop the weapon off when you get up the tube." he says, bored.
You crawl up the plastic tube, mindful of the syringe in your pocket. Space looms below you. Part of your mind reckons that it's designed to unsettle customers. The rest of your mind is yelling. After about a minute, or a century, you make it all the way up to the casino. There's a coat check where people are passing over stunners and a few blasters. Beyond, the noise of the casino-proper ripples through your feet.
Through the door, you can see a richly decorated gambling hall, all red velvet. The centre is dominated by a massive circular, huge vats of beer, wine and liquor in bubbling vats. Everywhere are craps tables, roulette wheels, card tables, and a huge crowd of sweaty desperate people in their Saturday best. In one corner you can see what looks like a boxing fight, and there are mysterious guarded doors scattered about the area, especially in the upper floors.
What do you do?
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