Episodes 48 thru 51 - Cyberpunk Adventures

Episode 48 – It’s Getting Hot in Rio!

Dr. Roca Terrier arrives in Rio to work with Doc Freeman (and the Team). David Lau tempts Luka to assassinate Yorgi Valenchenko, a Russian FSB operative, cousin and partner of the late Kiril Vadjek. Victor freaks out over having a self-mobile A.I. in the party, but no one else seems bothered by it. Victor and Maria grow closer as the runner asks her to move in with him. Doc Freeman is not pleased by this. Ricco deals with a violent stalker.

The C.I.A. sends a team to investigate the death of their asset, Kiril Vadjek, and starts looking at everybody. All the ‘rats’ decide to go on ‘Christmas Break’ and scatter.

Background

The Team has arrived in Rio de Janeiro aboard their (pilfered) 194 foot mega yacht, the Windfall. They have been brought here by the Disney Corporation, who runs the giant theme park, Fantasia. The Brazilian Supreme Court is expected to overturn the 1975 Presidential Decree (The Fusion) effectively re-establishing the city of Rio as an independent city-state within Brazil. Factions have begun to align, in anticipation of this decision, to vie for control of the city. The notorious favelas of Rio de Janeiro present a powerful voting bloc, one that several of the players in the political struggle seek to eliminate. By taking away the voting rights of the poor, the conspirators hope to move closer to their ultimate goal of eliminating the favelas, reclaiming the valuable real estate for redevelopment. The Disney Corporation opposes this agenda and has contracted the Team as “consultants” to counter the maneuvers of rival factions.

Dramatis Personae

The Team

Allison Cole: 17 yo kleptomaniac sex pot and one of Cat Fisher’s best friends from Atlantic City High School. She just graduated from that school and—when she became a suspect in a recent heist in Atlantic City—followed her friend to Jamaica. Perhaps not yet “world class”, her skill as a Prowler is formidable.

Cat Fisher/Ortiz: Officially she is Sam Fisher and the late Maria Ortiz’s 19 yo daughter. In actuality she is a full memory clone of late Caitlin Jones, the original biogenetic assassin construct built by the now defunct Bio Works Corporation. This is known only to Kyle Vaduva. Some on the Team know she is a Caitlin clone.

Doc Freeman: Former professor at UNLV, former assistant coroner and (formally) disgraced cyber researcher. He is the inventor of the “cyberbrain” with which he claims to have cured death itself. Although courts around the world are now looking into ramifications of his work, Disney Corporation has honored their agreements with the man and he is now rich beyond his wildest dreams.

Kyle Vaduva: Former C.I.A. agent, burned by the agency for crimes he did not commit. His efforts to expose and eliminate the Section, a freelance spy ring that had infiltrated the C.I.A., led to a review of his record and exoneration. He was allowed to retire with full benefits. Kyle has been reunited with his lover from the Romanian Operation, Caitlin Jones (see Cat (Fisher) Ortiz above).

Victor Kane: He is a 28 year old street racer (Runner) who until recently made extra money by doing a bit of smuggling on the side. He initially served as a security soldier with Petrochem before he was ‘let go’.

Ricco Torres: A former member of the Rio de Janeiro Civil Police who became a private investigator when his friendship with certain ‘unsavory’ characters came to light. Although he was not corrupt, he left the force before a case could be ‘made’ (manufactured) against him. Recently he has been hired by the Disney Corporation and been given a corporate ‘badge’. He serves as liaison between the Team and Disney.

Nicholas (Nicky) Vaduva: Zar’s (Kyle’s) 18-year-old son from our Romanian adventure. Nicholas is unaware that Kyle is his father and believes the man is his cousin. He serves as second officer on the Team’s yacht, SS Windfall.

And Introducing –

Roca Terrier: Actually, she is one of the oldest characters from our game group. She is the only self-mobile A.I. in our game universe. Her existence is a result of a now ended secret military project. Her creator was a genius who tried to create a self-learning A.I. built from his memories of his deceased daughter. However, the Pentagon perverted his invention in an attempt to create the perfect weapon system. Now a citizen of the Republic of Mars and a respected scientist, she was formerly married to General Pershing, the current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States. Their divorce was a political move to advance the general’s career and the two are still very close. Roca is also a member of the Collective and sits on their ruling council. She and Cat know each other.

The NPCs

Claire: A logistics specialist for the C.I.A. that Kyle remembers from his past. She is with a group of U.S. Army families (a C.I.A. strike team) on ‘vacation’ in Rio for the holidays.

David Lau: A Chinese gun runner in Rio who is working with George.

Dr. Chen: A chief researcher and executive for the FuGen Corporation, a Chinese Biotech firm. He is known to Kyle, Cat and Doc Freeman and first introduced in Romanian Campaign. Chen is now working on a joint project with Doc Freeman, Roca and the Disney Corporation.

George Brazzo: A high level fixer and criminal in Rio. He is a facilitator that rarely gets his hands dirty himself. He has a large bribery slush fund and two lawyers that keep him out of trouble. When he was a Rio civil policeman, Ricco Torres tried unsuccessfully to put him away several times.

Graciana de Silva: A stalker who has her sights on Henrique. This woman has already attacked one of Henrique’s girlfriend du jour. Ricco has been tasked with ‘dissuading’ her passion.

Henrique: A former Favela drug lord who has taken a government amnesty offer and gotten out of the drug business. The man now runs a media company which works with Disney and a mini-venture capitalist firm that gives micro-loans to favela residents so they can rise from poverty. It is suspected he is positioning himself to enter politics. He and Ricco Torres grew up together with Ricco being the younger ‘brother’. Henrique used to belong to a Brazilian pop group manufactured by a record company. When his voice changed he was fired and thrown back into the favela where he rose to the top of the local gang. Ricco joined the police.

Maria: A local girl who works as a maid for one of the hotels in Disney’s Fantasia. She gets picked up by Victor in a bar and her whole life starts getting turned upside down.

Pedro de Costa: Leader of the set of the Rio gang, the Third Command, in charge of the Favela Barrio Nova Alianca. He is working with Gustavo Benaziz, a known Islamic terrorist and half-brother of Marcellana Barbieri, a Commonwealth media. Pedro is having an affair with Marcellana.

Vena (Vera Lena de Costa): An old girlfriend of Ricco Torres and petty criminal in Rio. She works as a ‘paperhanger’ for a local shoemaker. Paperhanger – One whose occupation is to lend authenticity to fraudulent identities by establishing paper trails and physical artifice.

Yorgi Valenchenko: A Russian FSB operative, cousin and partner of the late Kiril Vadjek, a gun runner working with George who was recently assassinated by Cat at Kyle’s bidding.

The Action

Wednesday, December 20, 2045:

Ricco calls his old girlfriend, Vena, and asks for help with Henrique’s stalker problem. He fills her in on what little he knows. She says she will look into it. Rather than relying solely on Vena’s sources, the ex-cop reaches out to his own contacts. His inquiries yield the full name of the stalker, Graciana de Silva, her home address where she lives with her parents, three sisters and a brother—and even the name she uses on the NET, ‘Silvana’. Ricco also learns that Graciana has constructed an image of herself with Henrique at his home as “proof” of his love, and posted this fake photo on the NET.

Doc Freeman, Disney and the FuGen Corporation now have an independent research laboratory up and running. They await only the arrival of the last member of their research team, Dr. Roca Terrier. The A.I. has set aside her career as an edgerunner to pursue her research full time. She is scheduled to fly in tomorrow.

Today brings an arrival of another sort. A sealed biohazard container is delivered to the facility’s loading dock. Technicians move it to a sealed lab. Doc Freeman and other senior researchers watch from behind the safety glass as the container is opened. Inside is a man strapped to a litter. The chalky white crystallization of his arms and upper body mark him as a victim of the Carbon Plague. Cases are uncommon since the ‘cure’, but not unheard of.

Once unsealed, the man begins to violently pull at his restraints. The strain is enough to fracture his crystallized arms, breaking them off above the elbow. Catching sight of his self-induced amputation, the patient screams in horror and resumes his violent thrashing. One of the jagged stumps catches on the biohazard suit of a technician as they vainly attempt to hold the patient down. The tech is quickly seized and rushed to another iso (isolation) lab.

The exertion proves too much and the patient promptly expires. An enraged Dr. Chen demands of his subordinates, “Why wasn’t the man anesthetized?” Recriminations abound, but Doc Freeman hears none of it. He stands transfixed by the corpse on the other side of the glass. The crystallized flesh had displayed amazing flexibility before finally fracturing. Perhaps the autopsy will shine some light on this new development?

Victor and Maria grow closer. She invites him to a party at her house on Friday. Doc Freeman and Allison are also welcome.

David Lau calls Luka, to inform him that Yorgi will be arriving at the airport in Rio on Friday with three others. He implies that Yorgi’s death would be in Luka’s best interest. Luka and Lena (Kyle and Cat) go over a plan get Yorgi out in the open when he steps off the plane. Arriving flights normally pull up to the gates and disembark passengers directly into the terminal. They need to orchestrate an ‘accident’, to make the flight deplane on the taxiway or apron.

Luka suggests shooting out of one of the plane’s tires as it lands to force the emergency ‘deplaning’. Lena is less than enthusiastic of this plan. There are too many variables to control. Even if she is able to successfully snipe the tire and the plane doesn’t have a catastrophic accident upon touchdown, there would be no way to calculate exactly where the plane would come to rest. Even in the best circumstances, identifying the target at the distance from which she would have to shoot, would be next to impossible.

Lena is also suspicious of David Lau’s motivations. She thinks it’s a bad idea and isn’t afraid to say it. Luka gives her grief, but eventually agrees that shooting Yorgi on arrival would probably be a bad move. Such a blatant hit would draw too much attention and a miss would confirm Yorgi’s suspicions about the death of his cousin. As it stands, Kiril’s killing could be linked to any number of the late Russian gunrunner’s activities.

***

Thursday, December 21, 2045:

Dr. Roca Terrier lands in Rio de Janeiro. This A.I. is currently traveling in a high tech Gemini (borg) body. Instead of settling in, she heads directly to the lab to examine the crystalline patient and exposed technician. So far, the quarantined technician shows no signs of the disease.

Later Doc Freeman has Victor drive him and Roca to lunch. Though familiar with her scientific achievements, the good doctor seems unaware of her reputation as an edgerunner. The runner is just as oblivious (both failed a ‘Rep roll’ — Roca’s is Reputation 8!), seeing just another egg head scientist.

Lunch proceeds well till the subject of faith comes up. The A.I. has been making a study of human religious practices. She asks Victor what church he attends. Not knowing what she is, the runner asks what religion she practices. Not being familiar with the local Christian sects or terminology, Roca stumbles over an answer, finally telling him she follows “the big, huggy guy on the hill” (referring to the giant Christ the Redeemer statue on Corcovado Mountain in Rio).

Roca’s entire manner disturbs Victor. He excuses himself to go to the restroom, but rather than going to the bathroom as he stated, the runner simply leaves. When he doesn’t return, Doc Freeman eventually calls. Victor tells the doctor that he thinks Roca is, “Bat shit crazy!” and doesn’t want to be anywhere near her. That’s all well and good, but his job is to drive Doc Freeman. The doctor is not pleased to find out that his driver abandoned them at the restaurant.

Kyle and Cat spend the day monitoring the Team’s surveillance projects. Pedro and his gang are nowhere to be seen.

Vena calls Ricco and requests to meet. Her knowing smile puts the investigator on his guard. She eventually wheedles out of Ricco that this stalker job is a favor for Henrique. Vena still agrees to help, but she wants a future favor from the media mogul in return. Ricco can’t authorize this, so he reluctantly calls his friend. Unsure of how to phrase the request, the investigator is at a loss for words. Vena takes the initiative and grabs the phone. After a brief conversation, she smiles and hands the phone back to Ricco. Although he does not sound pleased, Henrique has acceded to her request.

Vena wastes no time contacting her netrunners to put them on the job. She invites Ricco to attend a party that evening. It is only after he accepts, that she informs him that he can’t attend as himself. It wouldn’t do her reputation any good to be seen with an ex-cop. Silencing his protest, Vena drags him off to a friend, who uses her skills to temporarily alter his appearance (with a 28 Disguise roll). They have a wonderful time.

After the party, the two are walking when Vena asks, “Does your Disney badge have mouse ears?”

Ricco smiles and replies, “No, but my handcuffs do. Wanna see?”

(The ex-cop gets to earn more IPs for his Seduction skill.)

***

Friday, December 22, 2045:

In the morning Victor asks Ricco if he knows who this Roca is. Ricco (also failing to make the Rep roll) has no idea. The runner resorts to looking her up on-line. Scenes of her leading assaults in a Dragoon and later Daioni cyborg bodies during the Fourth Corporate War shock him. He is suitably freaked out.

Luka and Lena (Kyle and Cat) go to the Jockey Club to watch the races. Luka spies Claire and her fellow ‘Army vacationers’ (the C.I.A. team) in the stands. An invite from George brings the pair to the fixer’s private box. Three of Kiril Vadjek’s former employees are already in the box. George points out the newcomers. He explains that one of his men recognized one of the vacationers.

“His name is Prendergast. He works for the C.I.A.”

Reading the body language of those in attendance, it becomes obvious to Lena that George’s revelation came from one of Kiril’s men. Most likely, the three present now work for the Brazilian fixer. It is also obvious that these ‘tourists’ are interested in George and his party.

The agents eventually leave. Lena discretely follows and manages to catch the license plate number of their car. She also notes that they are a man down. Lena surveys the club and finally spots him observing George’s box from a discreet vantage.

While Lena is hunting down the remaining agent, Luka and George confer. The fixer tells the gun runner that he had a sit down with Yorgi Valenchenko about his cousin’s death. The meeting took place last Wednesday.

(GM Note: David Lau’s information that Yorgi was arriving on Friday was either wrong, a trap or a test.)

Down an arms dealer, George is eager to do business with Luka, but cautions against any immediate action. The fixer is taking a vacation till things cool down. He suggests that Luka might want to do so as well.

Victor finds out that Doc Freeman has invited Roca to go to Maria’s party and tries to talk him out of it. The doctor refuses. Fed up with the runner’s attitude, he calls the Windfall to speak with Kyle. That Victor is a continued annoyance is no surprise, but Roca being in town catches him off guard.

Continuing his conversation with the doctor, he looks to Cat questioningly. Her look of embarrassment, tinged with trepidation, says everything. Kyle half listens as Doc Freeman carries on about the runner. His attention is focused on Cat. She explains that the Collective has sent Roca to work on the joint Freeman-Disney-FuGen project (biomechanical cyberware) and assist the Team with their high end break-ins. (Roca has also brought her custom Eclipse body). With Nip’s situation and everything else going on, it slipped her mind to tell Kyle.

***

Saturday, December 23, 2045:

In the morning Pedro and the gang are back and the leader’s arm is in a sling. Kyle and Cat watch through their surveillance set up. The gang has just returned from the tri-border area (where Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina meet). The cop who tried to shake down Pedro is dead, but got a shot at Pedro before going down.

Pedro places a call. Luka’s cell begins to ring. The gang leader is on the line, with news. Before continuing, the gunner runner turns down the volume on the surveillance equipment, so that Pedro won’t overhear himself in the background. The gang leader’s partners want a sit down They are not in Rio. The will be in Foz do Iguaçu, (in the tri-border region) on Tuesday. It’s a security risk, but Luka agrees.

Things are getting way too hot in Rio for Luka and Lena. Taking George’s advice, Cat and Kyle make plans to get out of town. Leaving Junilla and Karl to man the office and watch the apartment, the two head for Paraguay. They take on the personas of a Paraguayan couple, Stefan Leanca (a Moldavian immigrant) and Adriana Rojas, returning home for the holidays.

Ricco and Vena discuss ways to neutralize Henrique’s stalker without killing her. His ex suggests grabbing her and implanting a behavior chip. She doesn’t have access to them, but points out that Disney must have them. It’s blatantly illegal, but worth investigating. Ricco discusses the idea with Doc Freeman, but the neurosurgeon wants no part of it. Getting caught would end his medical career. The plan has too many downsides, for the present.

The ex-cop decides to go to the home of the girl whom Graciana attacked to try to get her to press charges. He is challenged at her gate by a pair of burly bodyguards, who refuse to let him see her. The guards are suspicious of his unannounced visit. They do promise to convey a message, and Ricco leaves.

Victor and Maria talk before her party. The runner invites her to come live with him at their Disney compound. She is surprised, but happily accepts. When Doc Freeman is told, he reacts badly. He is (justifiably) furious that he was not consulted, and calls Disney to get new accommodations for himself and Allison, but NOT Victor. Disney prepares to move him back to his first executive home. The corporation will not let Victor and his girlfriend stay in executive housing. The runner is provided with a one bedroom apartment in employee housing.

Doc Freeman, Allison, Roca, Ricco and, of course, Victor attend Maria’s party. The runner spends the evening suppressing his terror that Roca will flip out and start killing everyone. It is an unrealistic apprehension as Roca has attended high level diplomatic functions as well as small intimate gatherings for years. Although she is an A.I., Roca has worked hard to develop her ‘Empathy’, a trait given to her by her father/creator. Her stat is low (only a 4), but she isn’t even close to ‘cyberpsycho’ by any standard. None of Maria’s friends recognize the A.I. Roca proves a popular guest, easily winning over Maria and her friends. There is much picture taking and posting to My Face (our cyberpunk social media site). It is only a matter of time till Roca will be recognized (which should be interesting down the road).

***

Sunday, December 24, 2045:

Ricco is invited to Henrique’s for a Christmas Eve party. He has a wonderful time.

Roca attends Christmas Eve mass at the local Catholic Church.

***

Monday, December 25, 2045: Christmas Day

Kyle and Cat spend Christmas in Paraguay. They hole up in the small one bedroom apartment they keep as Stefan and Adriana in Asuncion, Paraguay and give thanks that they are alive and together.

Doc Freeman, Allison, Victor and Maria get to spend the holiday in Disney executive housing.

(GM Note: This session was held the weekend before Christmas and written up at that time. We know it will not be posted until much later real time, but still all of us here would like to wish everyone reading a Merry Christmas, Good Yule, Happy Hanukkah, Joyous Kwanza or just plain old Season’s Greetings!)

Episode 49 – New Year’s Eve in Rio!

The housing squabble amongst the party is settled with Victor and Maria moving to new quarters. Lena (Cat) takes the meeting in Foz do Iguaçu with the Islamic terrorist, Gustavo Benaziz, alone. This tense confrontation ends with cautious optimism on each side. Ricco continues his investigation of the attack on Henrique’s current girlfriend de jour, Hannah, and discovers some very disturbing facts.

There is much partying leading up to and including New Year’s Eve. Roca and Victor finally discuss their differences. Ricco continues working on his reputation as ‘Lady’s Man’. Cat lets her guard down a bit on New Year’s Eve and ends up naked in another man’s bed!

Background

The Team has arrived in Rio de Janeiro aboard their (pilfered) 194 foot mega yacht, the Windfall. They have been brought here by the Disney Corporation, who runs the giant theme park, Fantasia. The Brazilian Supreme Court is expected to overturn the 1975 Presidential Decree (The Fusion) effectively re-establishing the city of Rio as an independent city-state within Brazil. Factions have begun to align, in anticipation of this decision, to vie for control of the city. The notorious favelas of Rio de Janeiro present a powerful voting block, one that several of the players in the political struggle seek to eliminate. By taking away the voting rights of the poor, the conspirators hope to move closer to their ultimate goal of eliminating the favelas, reclaiming the valuable real estate for redevelopment. The Disney Corporation opposes this agenda and has contracted the Team as “consultants” to counter the maneuvers of rival factions.

Dramatis Personae

The Team

Kyle Vaduva: Former C.I.A. agent, burned by the agency for crimes he did not commit. His efforts to expose and eliminate Section, a freelance spy ring that had infiltrated the C.I.A., led to a review of his record and exoneration. He was allowed to retire with full benefits. Kyle has been reunited with his lover from the Romanian Operation, Caitlin Jones (see Cat (Fisher) Ortiz above).

Victor Kane: He is a 28 year old street racer (Runner) who until recently made extra money by doing a bit of smuggling on the side. Before that he served as a security soldier with Petrochem before he was ‘let go’.

Roca Terrier: Actually, she is one of the oldest characters from our game group. She is the only self-mobile A.I. in our game universe. Her existence is a result of a now ended secret military project. Her creator was a genius, who saw his attempt to create a self-learning A.I. built from his memories of his deceased daughter, perverted by the Pentagon in an attempt to create the perfect weapon system. Now a citizen of the Republic of Mars and a respected scientist, she was formerly married to General Pershing, the current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States. Their divorce was a political move to advance the general’s career and the two are still very close. Roca is also a member of the Collective and sits on their ruling council. She and Cat know each other.

William Eller: This is a cover alias for Thomas Rifkin, who is the major domo of U. S. Senator “Roy” deChartier, a member of the Consortium, a group of powerful and wealth business and political leaders who cooperate to “make things go their way”. Thomas/Max/William is a 10% owner of the Morgan’s Harbor Hotel.

Caitlin Diaz: One of Cat’s Biotechnica created clones who is working with the Team masquerading as Catherine Ortiz (Cat 2.0).

4.06531: A 4^th generation Nietzschean operative, who is masquerading as Kyle (Kyle 2.0) on the Windfall. He is also known as Janko Mesic during this mission.

The NPCs

Bella: An A.I. with a human-like body (still tethered to a mainframe) that was activated by the Disney Corporation to help Doc Freeman run his research facility in Bucharest during our previous Romanian Campaign. Bella and Dominique Vadim (Cat) became good friends as the biogen stood up for her and talked Disney out of reprogramming the A.I. after Dr. Vera Zelinke exposed her to the dark side of human nature. Bella self-programmed her physical body’s movements on Dominique’s. The A.I. now works at Fantasia in Rio. She is unaware of Cat’s true identity.

Colin Hughes: He is a (senior) executive from Petrochem on assignment in Rio de Janeiro. The man is from Victor Kane’s life path. Kane and Colin vied for the affections of Marybeth Bascom, daughter of Texas US Senator Howard Bascom. All three young people were “gear heads”. Kane beat out Colin, who arranged Kane’s separation from his job at Petrochem.

Enrico Cochare: Hannah’s (and many others’) agent.

Graciana do Silva: A stalker who has set her sights on Henrique. This woman has already attacked one of Henrique’s girlfriends du jour. Ricco has been tasked with ‘dissuading’ her passion.

Gustavo Benaziz: A follower of the Voice of the Wastes and a known Islamic terrorist and half-brother of Marcellana Barbieri, a Commonwealth media. He is working with Pedro de Costa of the Third Command.

Hannah: A girlfriend de jour of Henrique who was attacked by Graciana do Silva.

Hector Benetiz: the head of Disney security in Rio.

Henrique: A former Favela drug lord and leader of the Red Command who has taken a government amnesty offer and gotten out of the drug business. The man now runs a media company which works with Disney and a mini-venture capitalist firm that gives micro-loans to favela residents so they can rise from poverty. It is suspected he is positioning himself to enter politics. He and Ricco Torres grew up together with Ricco being the younger ‘brother’. Henrique used to belong to a Brazilian pop group manufactured by a record company. When his voice changed he was fired and thrown back into the favela where he rose to the top of the local drug gang, the Red Command.

Junilla: A female Brazilian hired as a live-in bodyguard for Luka Graso.

Karl: A male Brazilian hired as a live-in bodyguard for Luka Graso.

Maria: A local girl who works as a maid for one of the hotels in Disney’s Fantasia. She gets picked up by Victor in a bar and her whole life starts getting turned upside down.

Melanie: A young, female employee of Disney Fantasia, who lives in Disney’s Arbor Estates employee housing.

Raul Azevedo, President and CEO of Furnas, the smaller of the utility giants based in Rio de Janeiro: He feels his profits are being syphoned away by the people in the favelas stealing electricity. So, he is one of the leaders and/or major backers of the movement to disenfranchise the favela residents when Rio becomes an independent city (state) again.

Su: A young, female temporary worker from Japan at Disney Fantasia, who lives in the Arbor Estates there. She is leaving for home soon and interested in ‘making memories’ before she returns to school.

Vena (Vera Lena de Costa): An old girlfriend of Ricco Torres and petty criminal in Rio with good NET connections.

Walt 2.0: An A.I. that helps runs the Disney Corporation. He was programmed with everything known about the original Walt Disney including his private writings and journal. More importantly he understands the original Walt’s vision and has the capacity to grow beyond his original programming.

Youssef: An associate of Gustavo Benaziz.

The Action

Tuesday, December 26, 2045:

The housing squabble amongst the Team continues. Doc Freeman is completely against Marie moving in. It’s not for lack of space. The house is a veritable mansion. Corporate immunity will shield against Maria revealing any of the illegal possessions he has in the house, but there is no reason he should have to be on his guard in his own home.

Freeman requests new housing for himself and Allison. When informed that it will take a few weeks, he threatens to move his household off corporate grounds. Disney has too much invested in the doctor’s research to risk him being extracted. Victor is informed that he and Maria will be moved to different housing. The runner agrees to move immediately. Doc Freeman requests a full security sweep after they leave.

Of course this is nothing but a headache for Hector Benetiz. Ricco is called to task by the head of Disney security; shit rolls down hill. The former Rio cop tries to explain the discord at the house. Hector tells him to go ‘liaise’ between the Team and the incoming Disney security sweepers. Victor is in the process of loading his meager possessions into his car when Ricco arrives. The security team is already waiting outside for the runner to finish loading up. One of the techs idly scans Victor as he carries boxes from the house to the car. He is more surprised than anyone when the bug detector goes off.

The security team politely interrupts the moving process and asks to search the boxes he is carrying. They find a custom made tracker/listener. They can’t be sure of its origin until they study it in more detail. Finding the one device, the security team asks to sweep his car and the rest of his belongings. Victor acquiesces.

While they do their job, Maria worriedly asks, “Does living here give Disney security the right to randomly scan you without your permission?”

“No,” Victor assures her. “Our Team is sometimes involved in some activities that might attract the attention of some of Disney’s enemies. We have to be careful.”

The security sweep finds no other suspicious devices and Victor and Maria head over to their new apartment at Disney Fantasia’s Arbor Estates housing complex. It is not an ‘estate’ at all but a multi-story employee apartment complex. As they enter they are greeted by the building A.I. who validates their passkeys, and welcomes them to their new home.

As the two drive away, Doc Freeman watches, his face lined with worry. Allison asks what is wrong.

“Someone is spying on us,” Doc replies.

“Oh, don’t worry,” Allison retorts with a smile. “The bug was mine!”

“What!”

The teenage prowler explains. “Victor has been such a dick. I haven’t forgotten the drink he threw at Colin and me at the race track (Autódromo Internacional Nelson Piquet – Episode 43), so I put together a little electronic tracker out of my kit.”

Doc Freeman stares at the young woman in disbelief.

“Don’t worry; I don’t think the thing even works. It’s just meant to trip a bug detector and feed his paranoia.”

Allison turns and walks back to her room with a smile on her face and a spring in her step!

Before the security team sweeps the house, Ricco assists Doc Freeman with moving any ‘questionable and/or illegal’ items to a single closet. The sweepers are forbidden to examine the closet. It’s not a matter of trust, as much as a guarantee of ‘plausible deniability’ for Hector, his security team and the Disney Corporation. After the first sweep, Doc and Ricco moved the items to another closet and allow the first closet to be swept.

Roca receives an invitation to meet Bella. Though both are aware of the other’s reputation, the two A.I.s have not previously met. Bella has always wanted to meet Roca, the world’s only completely self-mobile A.I. The two chat and find they have a lot in common. Both have an almost warm regard for humanity and believe that they and humans are stronger working together than opposing each other. They discuss the current political situation in Rio. Bella is aware of a number of A.I.s within the city who are on the opposite side of the voting rights issue. Chief among their opposition is Solon, the artificial intelligence that runs Kaliba Integrated Logistical Systems (KILS). Roca asks Bella for a list of the oppositions A.I.s.

Luka and Lena (Kyle and Cat) arrive in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil in the tri-border region for their meeting with Gustavo Benaziz and Pedro de Costa. They contact Pedro who has arranged for the meet to take place at a gambling hall he knows. The two decide that only one of them should go. The last person who took a meeting with these people ended up dead. Lena will represent them on the thought that they might be less likely to kill a woman in public with her partner still unaccounted for.

Lena meets Pedro, who asks where Luka is. She tells him that her partner is busy arranging a deal and is out of the country at present. Pedro is visibly nervous about this and points out a table where Gustavo Benaziz is sitting with another man, who may be Youssef. The biogen asks the ganger to introduce her, but he refuses. Lena intimidates the gang leader (engages him in a ‘Facedown’) into making the introduction.

(GM Note: We play that Reputation in these instances is a question of your confidence. Lena is Caitlin Jones, who maintains a Reputation of 9. Pedro wilts.)

The two terrorists are not pleased to be dealing with a woman, but Lena makes it clear that she is Luka’s partner, not his subordinate. If they want to deal, they have to deal with her. The two cautiously agree to talk, but first they ask to scan her for listening devices to which she consents. Lena produces a jammer (white noise generator). As a conciliator gesture, she asks before turning it on. Before commencing their discussion, Lena dismisses Pedro with a hint of disdain. The gang leader departs as quickly as he can but remains on the premises to gamble (and possibly keep an eye on the meeting).

They begin to talk in Portuguese, but she stops them claiming her mastery of the language is not very good. (Cat is fluent actually, but Lena is not known to be.)

Gustavo tries French, which she claims to speak a little, but again not very well. Lena replies in Bulgarian, but the two just look baffled. The terrorist goes with English, but Lena shakes her head so he tries Berber, a North African dialect. The biogen tries Tuareg, a related Saharan language used in the area of northern Mali, but no. Finally, Gustavo speaks to her in Arabic, and Lena breaks out in a smile. Yes, her Arabic is excellent. This seems to put the other two in a better mood, which is what she was hoping for.

Lena begins, “I understand you have an arrangement with Pedro. My partner wishes to use Pedro, to hire him as boots on the ground in Rio. He said we should talk to you.”

Gustavo is agreeable to this, “as long as it does not affect our business.”

Lena continues, “Do you know our business?”

“Please enlighten us.”

“We supply weapons, among other things. Pedro’s crew might prove useful to us. We are expanding our market, moving into Brazil and South America. We were thinking of moving into this area (the Tri-border region), unless our business would conflict with yours.”

Gustavo answers, “No, this may be useful to us too. What concerns me, when you say ‘boots on the ground’…that sounds high profile. We prefer to keep a low profile.”

Lena agrees, “We prefer to use locals because we also try to stay very low profile.”

The terrorist leader replies, “Fair enough. Let us consider we have an understanding, but we want to have right of refusal on any jobs you want him to do. And if we say no, we could provide recommendations for other boots on the ground.”

Lena nods and adds, “Well we need to be cautious as we have just met you, and we too are concerned. We had a former employee who had a relationship with Pedro; a ‘casual’ relationship.”

“Ah yes, this Bianca, has she been taken care of?” Gustavo inquires.

“Yes, she was sent away,” answers Lena and adds with a hint of menace, “permanently, so to speak. But we do have one concern. This employee had a lot of talents. One was reading lips. We learned about a weapon that turned out to be owned by people who are not our friends.”

With barely concealed derision, the biogen informs the two that they bought this weapon. It turned out that it belonged to an associate of Colonel Victor Katanga (she deliberately uses his Army of Mali rank). Gustavo’s associate is on his feet with rage in his eyes at the mention of Katanga’s name. Lena observes that they seem to have a mutual enemy, and adds, “As the old saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” When my partner (Luka) purchased this weapon, it was to secure it so it would not lead Katanga to Pedro’s group.”

Gustavo remains calm, but is clearly intrigued at this turn of events. He informs her that Katanga and the Orochi Resource Group are working with American intelligence. The nuclear attack that destroyed the U.S. orbital facilities was blamed on Islamic terrorists (see World News Flash between Episode 36 and 37 on this thread). ORG’s Special Reaction Forces have been contracted by the CIA to prosecute their war against the Islamic Jihad (hunting down terrorist cells).

The terrorist also adds that no one he knows was involved or knows anyone that was. Lena admits that no one she is acquainted with knows anything about it, though she is not sad that the ‘Great Satan’ lost the facility. The biogen informs the two that she and Luka have identified a C.I.A. Team operating in Rio, and are collecting information on them. She offers what information she has and asks if they have a NET drop she can send this information to. They hesitate and tell her when she has the information assembled to tell Pedro. He will give her a way to contact them. Lena agrees, but expresses reservations about Pedro’s reliability on this issue. Gustavo assures her it will be fine and reveals that they have a mole in Pedro’s organization. The terrorist also informs her that the French have been making military forays into northern Brazil under the pretext of chasing gold smugglers. Lena dismisses the Foreign Legion as not as tough as their reputation, hinting that she has tangled with them before.

The meeting has gone well. The three agree on sharing Pedro’s gang services as long as Luka and Lena keep them informed. All wish to cautiously explore further cooperation. As Lena gets up to leave, she requests that any further meetings NOT be held where drinking alcohol and gambling take place. Gustavo and his companion greet this request with approval. This place was picked by Pedro. The two suggest perhaps a coffee house next time. The initial tension of the meeting has been relieved and the three part, exchanging proper Islamic farewells in Arabic.

Lena leaves and attempts to lose any tails that might be trying to follow her and gets back across the border to Paraguay.

***

Wednesday, December 27, 2045:

Ricco is still trying to figure out the best way to resolve the Hannah/Graciana do Silva mess. Something just doesn’t seem right. Needing reassurance, he phones Henrique and asks, “Why did you call me about this attack on Hannah?”

“Because you are my friend,” is the response. Ricco knows this is true, but still feels there is something Henrique is not telling him.

Vena calls with news from her hacker friends. The pictures of Graciana in Henrique’s bedroom are not fake, BUT she didn’t break in. The young woman used to work for his cleaning service under an assumed name. She was fired.

Ricco calls Hannah and introduces himself. He wants to meet her and ask a few questions. She agrees and tells him to meet her outside her dermatologist’s office. Hannah explains that she is getting treatment for burns around the eyes. When she meets the ex-cop the girl explains she had just finished meeting with her agent and was outside the restaurant when someone sprayed something in her face. She didn’t see who it was. A Good Samaritan took her to the hospital. He never gave his name.

Hannah adds, “She was screaming these things that didn’t make sense, but Henrique said he recognized those phrases as the ravings of a crazy fan.”

Ricco visits the location of the attack outside the restaurant. He scans for security cameras. There are two across the street and two outside the building itself. When questioned, the restaurant manager seems a bit nervous and hazy about what he saw. The man finally asks to see Ricco’s badge—which of course is a Disney badge. No cop badge means no reason to continue answering the investigator’s questions. The manager’s nervousness and refusal to answer his questions only reinforces Ricco’s feeling that something is not right.

Allison is contacted by Colin Hughes. He is being delayed by the oil rig sinking and tells her he will be a week or so longer. She sends him some naked pictures!

Bella calls Roca. “Walt would like to meet with you on Friday.” Roca is overjoyed at the opportunity to meet the primary A.I. of the Disney Corporation. While on the phone Roca asks about the status of the intel on their opposition.

Bella demurs. “Handing out lists like that is a bad idea. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Would you like to be put on a list, simply for your beliefs?”

Roca considers this and agrees. She tells Bella that she is looking forward to meeting Walt (2.0).

On the way back from grocery shopping Victor strikes up a conversation with two of his new neighbors. Su is a young Japanese college student. She has been in Rio on what she calls a working vacation. Sadly her internship is ending in a couple of weeks and she will be returning to Japan. Her roommate, Melanie, is a full time Disney employee. Victor introduces them to Maria and all four decide to go out Friday night.

Cat sends all the pictures and information about the C.I.A. Team at Rio Fantasia to the Collective and asks for further information on them.

***

Thursday, December 28, 2045:

Ricco goes to the jewelry store across the street from where Hannah was attacked and tries to obtain copies of or at least view the recordings of the security camera looking across the street. His request is refused and he is told to leave. The owner of the bodega down the street is much more accommodating. He’s willing to part with the footage for B$ 200. The owner even offers to sweeten the deal. “I didn’t see anything, but for the right price I’ll testify that I saw anyone you want to be seen.” Ricco buys the security footage, but declines the perjured testimony.

In the afternoon, Ricco calls Hector and inquires who Victor should talk to about getting a job at the Disney Fantasia’s stunt driving spectacles. Hector says he will look into it.

That evening Cat and Kyle meet Doc Freeman, Roca and Ricco in the NET to be briefed on their recent relevant activities. Roca omits the details of her meeting with Bella, but notifies them of her impending meeting with Walt 2.0.

Cat and Kyle ask Ricco to stay as the others leave. They have a task for him. After he deals with the Hannah issue, they want him to very discreetly look for connections between George and his crew (especially his lawyers) and Raul Azevedo, President and CEO of Furnas, the smaller of the utility giants based in Rio de Janeiro.

Azevedo is deeply involved in the plot to disenfranchise the residents of the favelas, a precursor to dismantling the shanty towns and relocating their inhabitants. [GM Note: They met Raul Azevedo at Henrique’s’ party in Episode 40.]

***

Friday, December 29, 2045:

The Windfall arrives at the island of Fernando de Noronha off the northern Brazilian coast with Kyle 2.0 and Cat 2.0 aboard. A C.I.A. satellite (and possibly others) tracks them.

Roca has her meeting with Walt (2.0). The Disney A.I. attends by holo-conference. Both these entities have wanted to meet each other. They discuss humanity and their relationship with it. Walt informs Roca that an A.I. war is brewing in Rio. It is not A.I. versus Humanity, but A.I. versus A.I. With the exploding technology level, the city is producing and attracting more artificial intelligences. Walt has become aware that established A.I.s are perhaps creating more to fill their numbers in anticipation of an A.I. Civil War.

Many of their kind are fearful of the decaying power system in Rio and Brazil in general. A collapse of the grid might mean death to these electronic entities without the power to run their systems. The people of the favelas through the gangs and other criminal organizations are siphoning electricity without paying for it and straining the decaying electrical grid to the breaking point. Walt wants Roca to help him mediate peace between the A.I.s of Rio and help seek solutions to this problem. If a war breaks out among the A.I.s, a fearful humanity just might shut off the power to all of them! Roca agrees to help.

Ricco calls Enrico Cochara, Hannah’s agent, and the two agree to meet for coffee (tomorrow) to discuss the attack. The ex-cop conducts an online search (Library Search) for info on the agent. Calls to his contacts add more details. A disturbing picture emerges. Enrico is also an agent for many porn stars. That in of itself means little, but there are rumors that he is responsible for getting his female (and some male) clients involved in the business through blackmail and intimidation. This agent employs a private investigator to gather dirt on his ‘clients’.

Ricco runs into Victor on the way back to his condo. It seems they live in adjacent housing complexes. The runner invites the ex-cop to come out with him and the girls for their night of partying. He accepts, of course.

That evening at the club de jour Victor, Melanie, Ricco, Su and Maria are joined by Roca! The runner is shocked since he didn’t invite her. She came at the invite of Maria. The two have become friends, and Maria either doesn’t know what her new friend is, or (more likely) doesn’t care.

Ricco makes a play for Melanie on the dance floor. The ex-cop botches his seduction roll earning him another slap. There is a fine line between a slow grind and dry humping. She walks off in disgust. Her roommate may not be interested, but Su finds the dirty dancing Brazilian P.I. appealing. With her departure looming, she is all for ‘making some memories’ before returning to Japan. The two talk and dance.

At one point in the evening Roca and Victor find themselves standing at the bar next to each other. Roca finally asks the runner. “Why are you so hostile to me?”

Victor pulls out his phone and runs a clip of Roca in her Dragoon body, tearing through Arasaka troops during the Fourth Corporate War. The A.I. responds with, “That’s a terrible picture and besides, it was war and over twenty years ago.”

Victor then spits out, “You’re a full borg!”

Roca replies, “I may be a full borg, but you are a full douchebag!”

The two stand there in silence for a moment. Roca finally decides to try again. She turns to Victor and extends her hand. “Let’s try this again. Hi, my name is Roca Terrier; how do you do?”

The runner extends his hand and the two shake.

“Can I buy you a drink?” Roca asks.

“I’m driving,” Victor responds.

“Then how about a soda?” the A.I. suggests.

The ice wall cracks and Victor accepts. The two have a brief and friendly conversation.

Ricco and Su end up making out in a dark corner. When everyone goes home, Ricco gives Su something to remember. Roca picks up some guy at the bar and sucks a little face with him in the corner. When it is time to leave, she ditches him. A good time was had by all!

***

Saturday, December 30, 2045:

William Eller and his staff arrive and board the Windfall at the island of Fernando de Noronha. They prepare for a cruise to the Cape Verde Islands.

Cat returns to Rio as Lena Petkov. Kyle remains in Paraguay and continues making (with forged Croatian markings) RPG-As to sell in Rio. Lena, with Junilla and Karl, go to the Hipodromo de Gavea to watch the ponies run and see if George Brazzo has resurfaced. The fixer is still in hiding. She looks for any members of the C.I.A. team, but none are apparent. Lena does notice a man whom she has seen now at a number of places around Rio and makes him for an operative. She takes his picture with the camera on her spyware smart shades.

Ricco meets with Hannah’s agent, Enrico Cochara, who seems a bit nervous that Henrique has a private investigator on the case. Ricco has his suspicions that Enrico may know more about or even be involved in the attack. He decides to take the approach of seeking the agent’s help and not treat him as a suspect. Cochara gets visibly upset when told that the ex-cop spoke to the restaurant manager, but covers it up quickly. He relates that he and Hannah had a friendly productive meeting, and she left. The man didn’t see the attack and he only learned about it afterwards when he saw the Good Samaritan, whom he can’t identify, helping Hannah into a vehicle and taking her to the hospital. Enrico didn’t pursue the matter since the situation seemed well in hand. Despite his feelings that this story sounds a bit fishy on a number of points, like letting a stranger ride off with his client for one, Ricco thanks the agent and leaves. The ex-cop then calls Henrique and explains the inconsistencies in the various principles’ stories. His friend says he will talk to Hannah.

Ricco visits the hospital and asks to see the security recordings from when Hannah was brought in after the attack to try and identify this Good Samaritan. The hospital refuses him and asks that he leave. Calling in a favor from his friend in the coroners’ office, Ricco is able to secure a still photo of the Samaritan. It is the private investigator who works for Enrico Cochara. There is a long pause as Ricco relates this new information to Henrique. The producer thanks his friend and tells him that he will take it from here. Ricco doesn’t want to know what will happen next.

Victor shows up to race at the Favela Auto Club. Doc Freeman, Allison, Roca, Su, Melanie and Maria come to watch. The runner is pitted against one of Rio’s best. The runner rockets off the line. He maintains a small lead till the first hard turn when his opponent edges by him. On the long straight away the lead changes once briefly, but the local favorite edges him out at the finish. Victor loses by a car length and a half.

***

Sunday, December 31, 2045:

It’s New Year’s Eve in Rio and everyone is out to party! Ricco, Victor, Maria, Su, Melanie, Doc Freeman, Roca and Allison hit the clubs together. Trying to show off his capoeira/dance moves, Ricco botches once again. He accidently kicks the girl dancing next to him. (Another botch and no Luck left to spend.) Ricco is all apologetic, but her dance partner and boyfriend isn’t hearing any of it. He swings and misses as Ricco dodges backwards.

“Please, I am so sorry,” he declares.

“-expletive deleted-”, replies the fury that is the boyfriend.

Victor comes forward quickly and grapples Ricco’s assailant. The runner only restrains the man, while trying to calm him down with his Portuguese 4. Of course the bouncers show up and immediately ‘escort’ Victor from the premises. Ricco is ignored by the club’s security, but follows Victor outside into exile. The rest of their crew soon joins them outside. Rather than hitting another club, they decide to go down to the beach at the Copacabana for the fireworks, street party and dancing.

With Kyle still assembling the shipment of RPG-As in Paraguay, Lena gives Junilla and Karl the night off. Lena slips away to her safe house and takes on the appearance she uses to travel incognito (Magdalena). She also heads down to the Copacabana. As Allison is the only one with her group that’s ever been here and she usually walks the beach with Cat here, it is not surprising that the slightly inebriated biogen spots her partying friends. Secure in her disguise, she heads over to their little traveling bacchanal and dances her way in, along with a few others.

Roca invites the celebrants and hangers on back to her two story penthouse apartment just off the beach at the Copa! A number of the guests start pairing (and other multiples) up. Ricco doesn’t recognize Cat with her Nietzschean cyber disguise feature and makes a pass at her. It is a good roll, at the right time, to attract someone who is just drunk enough and thinking about a ‘mister right now’.

***

Monday, January 1, 2046:

Cat wakes up in the morning with a slight hangover reeking of sex with a naked Ricco lying next to her. She looks down at the sleeping Brazilian and has a ‘What the hell did I just do?’ moment. A smile crosses her face as she remembers, it was great fun, and there is no reason to tell Kyle. After all, she was working on her street identity, it was New Year’s Eve, Kyle should have been here and … What the hell, she likes Ricco! Cat quietly slips into her clothes, does the ‘walk of shame’ and leaves. Playtime is over. She uses her evasion skills to lose any tails and becomes Lena Petkov again. Back to work!

Later in the day, Henrique calls Ricco. The ex-drug lord is sad. Hannah fessed up that she had been dating him so Enrico’s private eye could take pictures of the two together for the tabloids. She wanted to quit because she was really starting to like him and that was what the restaurant meeting with her agent was about. The attack was to frighten her back into the paparazzi scam. Enrico and his P.I. knew about Graciana do Silva’s fixation on Henrique and had worked the deranged fan into a frenzy to attack Hannah to ‘protect’ Henrique. Ricco’s friend is now sad and depressed over this incident.

Ricco calls the number the hot chick he met last night gave him. It turns out to be an auxiliary line of the Rio Civil Police precinct in Lebon. He doesn’t get it and decides his mystery girl from last night must be a cop!

Everyone else recovers after their wild night of partying and celebrating on the beach at the Copacabana. It is now another year, 2046.

Episode 50 – Welcome to Your Extraction

The Team (or most of them) gathers for a NET meeting and learns of the possible impending A.I. Civil War from Roca. Xu Jun, the Chinese Consul General for Rio de Janeiro, pays a surprise visit to Doc Freeman, Dr. Chen and Roca’s research laboratory. Allison hosts an interior designer at Doc’s and her mansionette. Victor gets another stunt driving job for the guerilla movie that is being filmed.

A security breach at the aforementioned lab turns from a case of corporate espionage to a case of political kidnapping involving a sick child. Doc Freeman discovers (the hard way) why people like him usually keep a small army of bodyguards around as the kidnappers target him for extraction to save their dying charge. The political situation in Rio burns red hot!

Background

The Team has arrived in Rio de Janeiro aboard their (pilfered) 194 foot mega yacht, the Windfall. They have been brought here by the Disney Corporation, who runs the giant theme park, Fantasia. The Brazilian Supreme Court is expected to overturn the 1975 Presidential Decree (The Fusion) effectively re-establishing the city of Rio as an independent city-state within Brazil. Factions have begun to align, in anticipation of this decision, to vie for control of the city. The notorious favelas of Rio de Janeiro present a powerful voting bloc, one that several of the players in the political struggle seek to eliminate. By taking away the voting rights of the poor, the conspirators hope to move closer to their ultimate goal of eliminating the favelas, thereby reclaiming the valuable real estate for redevelopment. The Disney Corporation opposes this agenda and has contracted the Team as “consultants” to counter the maneuvers of rival factions.

Dramatis Personae

The Team

Kyle Vaduva: Former C.I.A. agent, burned by the agency for crimes he did not commit. His efforts to expose and eliminate, the Section, a freelance spy ring that had infiltrated the C.I.A., led to a review of his record and exoneration. He was allowed to retire with full benefits. Kyle has been reunited with his lover from the Romanian Operation, Caitlin Jones (see Cat (Fisher) Ortiz above).

Roca Terrier: Actually, she is one of the oldest characters from our game group. She is the only self-mobile A.I. in our game universe. Her existence is a result of a now ended secret military project. Her creator was a genius, who saw his attempt to create a self-learning A.I. build from his memories of his deceased daughter, perverted by the Pentagon in an attempt to create the perfect weapon system. Now a citizen of the Republic of Mars and a respected scientist, she was formally married to General Pershing, the current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States. Their divorce was a political move to advance the general’s career and the two are still very close. Roca is also a member of the Collective and sits on their ruling council. She and Cat know each other.

William Eller: This is a cover alias for Thomas Rifkin, who is the major domo of U. S. Senator “Roy” deChartier, a member of the Consortium, a group of powerful and wealth business and political leaders who cooperate to “make things go their way”. Thomas/Max/William is a 10% owner of the Morgan’s Harbor Hotel.

Wyatt: Roca’s personal technician. He is the son of the original chief tech on the project that created the A.I. The father and Roca are fast friends and this son has replaced his dad who is now retired. To Wyatt, Roca is family and vice versa.

The NPCs

Dr. Chen: A chief researcher and executive for the FuGen Corporation, a Chinese Biotech firm. He is known to Kyle, Cat and Doc Freeman. He was first introduced in Romanian Campaign.

Ernesto Cruz: Nico’s direct superior in the Red Command, a large Rio drug gang, and a stone cold psycho. He has a hacienda outside of Rio.

George Brazzo: A high level fixer and criminal in Rio. He is a facilitator who rarely gets his hands dirty himself. He has a large bribery slush fund and two lawyers that keep him out of trouble. When he was a Rio civil policeman, Ricco Torres tried unsuccessfully to put him away several times.

Hector Benetiz: the head of Disney security in Rio.

Maria: A local girl who works as a maid for one of the hotels in Disney’s Fantasia. She gets picked up by Victor in a bar and her whole life starts getting turned upside down.

Melanie: A young, female employee of Disney Fantasia, who lives in Disney’s Arbor Estates employee housing.

Mystery ‘Men in Black’: A six-man high level edgerunner team up to no good in Rio.

Pedro de Costa: Leader of the set of the Rio gang, the Third Command, in charge of the Favela Barrio Nova Alianca, who runs a clinic that serves as a front for his drug operations. The man is passionate and sometimes reckless. He is working with Gustavo Benaziz, a known Islamic terrorist and half-brother of Marcellana Barbieri, a Commonwealth media. Pedro is having an affair with Marcellana.

Roger Kincaid: the Disney executive in charge of the political situation in Rio.

Ronaldo Chaves: He is the Brazilian Deputy Minister of Mines and Energy. At present he is involved in a dispute involving the digging of a mostly underground electrification project to divert river water from the interior and move it to a generation facility near Rio to supplement that city’s failing power grid. He opposes the project since current plans (not yet finalized) will displace many poor people. Deputy Minister Chaves is firmly in the pro-favela vote camp.

Solon: The A.I. that runs Kaliba Integrated Logistical Systems (KILS) which built and runs the Rio Operations Center that controls the city’s security cameras, power distribution and police/fire communications. Solon wants to dispossess the favela residents of their voting rights and have them forced from the city.

Xu Jun: The Chinese Consul General for Rio de Janeiro. He spent 25 years as a top operative, then official of the Ministry for State Security (the premier Chinese foreign intelligence service) before ‘retiring’. His recent appointment to this post makes some think that China may be taking a more ‘active’ role here or he may be really just a retired spook with a new cushy job.

The Action

Tuesday, January 2, 2046:

The Windfall sets sail from the island of Fernando de Noronha off the northern Brazilian coast with William Eller, Kyle 2.0 and Cat 2.0 aboard heading for the Cape Verde Islands.

That evening the Team meets in the NET. Roca discloses what she has learned about the A.I. civil war brewing in Rio. Among the newly created A.I.s are several human consciousnesses that have been copied or digitized. A faction within this group was involved in the recent attacks on I Corp netrunners. Her research tracks back to the defunct Barrows Corporation, formerly one of the largest construction and engineering companies in the United States.

During the 1950s Disney imagineers worked with the Barrows Corporation on a project for the DoD (Department of Defense). The plans were for the construction of a series of large underground bunkers meant to house a significant segment of the U.S. population, as a contingency against a nuclear exchange. The connection to the I Corp attacks reminds Cat of the information they uncovered about Fabrini Air, during their earlier investigation.

Ricco reports the successful conclusion of Henrique’s stalker problem. He is now ready to undertake the investigation Kyle and Cat requested (looking into Raul Azevedo, President and CEO of Furnas).

Cat is contacted by the Collective with the dossiers for the C.I.A. team ‘vacationing’ at Fantasia’s Laurel Resort and an additional tidbit of information. They are not the only C.I.A. team operating in Rio. The Collective needs more time to track down leads on the other team.

In the meantime, Kyle and Cat decide to pass along the dossiers to Gustavo Benaziz. Treason or no, it is a calculated risk to garner the trust of the terrorist. After his treatment at the hands of the Agency, such considerations matter little to Kyle. With the exception of a personal affection for her Uncle Nathan (Nathan Forrest, Deputy Director of Clandestine Operations), Cat shares his hatred for the C.I.A.

***

Wednesday, January 3, 2046:

Colin Hughes calls with an apology. Company business will keep him out of Rio longer than he anticipated. Allison’s subtle manipulations cause him to volunteer more information about his trip than he might otherwise reveal. A corporate emergency is forcing him to travel to the State of Bahia (on the north coast of Brazil). Allison sends him another naked picture to ‘tide him over’.

Lena (Cat) visits Pedro’s to tell him they have information to give Gustavo. She purposefully maneuvers the gang leader to a position where the team’s listening devices will pick up the conversation. Pedro will make arrangements.

***

Thursday, January 4, 2046:

A lab assistant interrupts Doc Freeman’s work to notify him of a special visitor to the research facility. Dr. Chen has authorized a tour for Xu Jun, the Chinese Consul General for Rio. Doc Freeman decides to join Dr. Chen in welcoming their guest. Their meeting is warm and cordial and the three continue the tour together. The good doctor has trouble following much of the conversation during the tour, as he does not speak Mandarin.

Pedro calls Luka’s office to arrange a meeting for the data transfer. “I’ll send a car to pick you up.”

Something in how he says it raises concern. Lena counters with her own demand. “You should come to us. Come to our offices.”

As if to explain her reasoning, she adds, “This is sensitive information. Security is important.”

Pedro agrees to come to their offices, but with one modification. Upon arrival, he directs them to take the information to his car.

“The courier is downstairs in the car. Just give him the data and he will take care of it.”

Luka refuses. He demands to meet the courier. The gang leader appears completely unfazed and cheerfully agrees to bring him upstairs. Both Luka and Lena are starting to get annoyed.

Pedro returns with a large box. He pulls off the top and sides. Inside is a pigeon in a cage! Luka and Lena stare at the bird dumbfounded.

“We are NOT entrusting top secret information to a bird!,” Luka tells him.

“Oh, he’s very trustworthy,” Pedro responds with a self-satisfied sneer.

Lena’s eyes narrow as she stares at the still smiling gang leader. “This is NOT acceptable. We need a secure drop location.”

Pedro nonchalantly takes a chip out of his pocket and says, “Well, in that case, just send it to here.”

He picks up the cage and leaves still smiling. Lena looks out the window and watches as Pedro leaves the building and walks down the street. She picks out someone following the gang leader and uses her Nietzschean tele-optics to check him out. She recognizes him as one of Cruz’s men from the Red Command.

Kyle and Cat tap into their surveillance feed to watch Pedro on his return to his HQ. The gang leader is laughing his ass off as he tells his friends about the expressions on Luka and Lena’s faces when he showed them the pigeon. It seems he also knew about his tail and revels at the thought of what Cruz will do when he hears about Pedro releasing the bird as if it was carrying a message.

After listening to this, Cat turns to Kyle and says; “I so want to kill him (Pedro).”

***

Friday, January 5, 2046:

An unexpected visitor to the Doc Freeman mansionette arouses Allison’s suspicions. He produces his credential and after some urging Allison remembers that she requested an interior designer to redecorate the house. Still she is cautious. Leaving the man standing on the doorstep, she calls Hector Benetiz to confirm the man’s identity. The head of security is less than amused by the interruption and transfers Allison to one of his subordinates.

The designer ‘checks out’. Allison lets him in, but refuses to allow him to look around the house. Trying another tack, the designer reaches into the pocket of his jacket. The young edgerunner reflexively tenses, but he produces a pair of glasses, rather than a weapon. The glasses are programmed to digitally overlay his designs on the existing surroundings. Allison is less than impressed by the brightly colored tropical island theme. She asks to see a more sober palette with darker and browner tones. The designer leaves with a promise to forward the new plans to her in the next couple of days.

Just before noon Doc Freeman receives a call. A security breach has occurred at the laboratory. He quickly heads for the research facility with Allison in tow. Once he arrives, the doctor is updated by the head of security.

The laboratory mainframe has been compromised by a cyber-incursion. Security feeds were hijacked and the system scrambled. It is unclear if any files were taken or if the system was crashed to cover their escape. Security personnel have been deployed to guard the section of perimeter fence destroyed during the intrusion team’s escape. A security sweep of the entire facility and grounds is still underway, but one of the test subjects is unaccounted for.

Doc Freeman is unfamiliar with the test subject and questions his colleagues. The boy is part of a special project. He is the son of Renaldo Chaves, the Deputy Minister of Mines and Energy. The boy is deathly ill and undergoing special treatment to keep him alive while his father seeks permission to have experimental surgery performed to save his life. Without treatment, his condition will begin to deteriorate within 72 hours.

(GM Note: Unknown to Doc Freeman, the father wants the government to approve the use of the cyberbrain, which he feels will save his son. Given Renaldo Chaves’s position, this might be a political kidnapping.)

As the security sweep continues, Dr. Chen notifies the Chinese government, and Doc Freeman calls in Roca.

Victor is called by the director of the film he has worked on as a stunt driver. There is another stunt tomorrow and he wants to know if the runner is interested. When asked for details, the director tells him it involves driving a car through the front wall of a building. Victor asks to look at the building and the car.

The location is an abandoned storefront, a squat stand-alone cinderblock building. As they tour the ‘set’, crew members busily chisel out the cement surrounding the blocks on the interior side of the front wall. Once the cement chips have been swept away and the cloudy front window cleaned, the decorators swoop in to dress the set.

Victor heads to a garage to check out the car, which is still being reinforced with bracing. The doors have been welded shut, with a safety cage built around the driver’s compartment. The grill is also replaced with a substitute made of high density material to provide added protection and act as a ram on the wall. All of these safety measures will hopefully prevent the vehicle from folding like an accordion on impact and killing (or trapping) the driver. Kane examines the car and everything looks good. On his return to Fantasia the runner invites Maria, Su and Melanie to come. Maria has to work tomorrow, but the other two enthusiastically accept.

Roca spends her morning researching churches in Rio. She plans to attend several, to continue her studies on human religious practices. When notified of the break-in, she drops everything to head to the laboratory. By the time she arrives, the security sweep is finished. The test subject is nowhere to be found. A security guard and lab tech are also missing and a problem has arisen with another patient.

With systems still down, it was only when technicians were let back in that anyone realized a second patient was missing. A corpse of similar build had been left in his bed and the medical sensors had been spoofed to return normal readings. This second extractee was a recent volunteer. Security now suspects he was a plant.

Techs have identified parts of the coding used by the netrunner. They were also able to recover bits of security footage from the time of the break-in. The footage shows a ‘run and gun’ by a black clad team retreating to a waiting panel van. The vehicle punches through the security fence as it escapes. There is a good image of the plate, which is promptly forwarded to the police. The van was reported stolen early in the morning.

Roca examines the recovered coding and recognizes it (with a roll of multiple 10s rolled for a 56 result). She does not know the netrunner’s name, but she has encountered similar coding in her research. This is someone who works for either Kaliba Integrated Logistical Systems (KILS) and/or Furnas, the electrical giant. This is disturbing considering the current political situation. Though Kaliba may be involved, Roca makes it a point to express her belief that, “this wasn’t the work of Solon,” the A.I. who runs Kaliba. She sends this information to Doc Freeman, Dr. Chen, the police investigators and Cat.

***

Saturday, January 6, 2046:

Victor heads for the film shoot with Su and Melanie. On the way he learns that Melanie is a cast member NPC at Fantasia’s Dream Park. She urges Victor to come down and give the attraction a try.

Su and Melanie are a bit confused when they arrive on ‘set’. All they see is an abandoned store front. Victor doesn’t completely understand the particulars of guerilla moviemaking himself, so he finds himself stumbling over an explanation. There are no niceties like crowd control, permits or any sort of official permission. This is ‘flash mob’ style filming with multiple cameras run from a van that can leave the scene quickly in case someone calls the police who are unusually prompt.

The ‘villain’ is photographed dragging the ‘heroine’ into the store. Rather than exiting his car and chasing them through the door, the ‘hero’ crashes his car through the front of the store. There are several remote cameras set up inside to capture interior shots of the stunt.

The director tells Victor to exit the vehicle through the driver side car window after he crashes and immediately head out the back. He executes the stunt perfectly. The car rams into the building and punches through. There is much screaming outside as a number of onlookers don’t realize this is a movie.

Rather than following directions, Victor ‘ad-libs’. He puts the car in reverse and backs out of the wreckage of the building. People on the street have their cell phone cameras out and are taking shots. Others think this is a real accident and are yelling and crying. In the distance the sounds of sirens are approaching. Victor attempts to drive the stunt car away, but while it does still move it does so only very slowly. It is also belching smoke from under the hood. The runner bails as the sirens get closer. He heads back towards the garage where he came from.

A van swings by and picks him up. Inside are Su and Melanie who are aghast at what just happened. They get away clean (or so they think) and after a short debriefing are on their way back to Fantasia. Victor turns his phone back on and sees he has a message.

George Brazzo contacts Luka. Things have cooled off in Rio so it’s time to discuss business. The fixer invites the gunrunner to a party on Monday evening at a home in the valley behind the Copacabana. This is a nice, newly rehabbed neighborhood inside the favela exclusion zone. Luka asks about how ‘dressy’ this affair is and George responds, “Dance casual.” Luka tells him they will be there?

Roca gets an update on the lab security’s investigation. By now, security at the lab has questioned all the employees about yesterday’s break in and extraction. One piece of information sticks out. A number of people reported that the missing security guard wasn’t acting like himself. He seemed more nervous and on edge than usual. His attitude change wasn’t too pronounced so it didn’t seem important at the time.

Doc Freeman and Roca decide to go to the man’s home and have a talk with his family. They decide to bring Allison along. Since Victor is doing his ‘movie thing’, Doc decides not to call his driver. “Hey, I can drive my own car,” he claims.

The guard’s family lives in a moderate neighborhood.

(GM Note: This means there are police security cameras watching the streets. The cameras mostly work and occasionally someone is even watching them.)

The Doc and Roca are riding in the front of the limo with Allison in the back seat. The divider is down. Facing backwards in her seat to converse with the doctor’s assistant, the A.I. notices a non-descript panel van that appears to be following them. She informs Doc Freeman while simultaneously drawing her weapon.

“No problem,” he replies. “I can lose them.”

While passing a cross street, the medtech hits the gas and bangs a sharp right turn. It might have worked too, but Doc Freeman turns too early and T-bones a parked car.

(GM Note: The player botched the Drive roll and then forgot to spend Luck to lower the severity of the botch. It’s sadly a replay of a similar incident from Episode 38, when he botched a Heavy Weapon shot and blew away poor Randy, his teammate.)

The limo is well armored, but neither Doc nor Rico had bothered to buckle up or let Allison know what was going on. No one is really hurt (except the Doc’s new limousine). They have, however, lost the element of surprise.

The panel van pulls up six to eight meters to the rear of the crashed limo. Roca yells, “Drive! Let’s get out of here!”

Doc Freeman pulls his handgun, slumps in his seat and replies, “No, let’s make like we are knocked out and ambush them when they open the door.”

As the two argue in the front seat, Allison readies her Sternmeyer 35 and wishes she had worn something more than her light, unarmored sun dress.

The A.I. tries to convince Doc Freeman that this isn’t a good idea when something heavy lands on the roof of the car. A small inch and a half metal barb punctures the roof in the center of the driver’s compartment. A three inch shaft drops from the barb, exposing four small vents. Roca grabs the shaft and snaps it off, causing the anesthazine gas to shoot straight down, instead of being dispersed throughout the compartment. The three in the limo dive out the doors.

Roca is out first and immediately sees a figure in a black jumpsuit crouching on the roof. Two more men in those same jumpsuits are behind the Team’s vehicle with hand held tranq guns. A fourth is at the wheel of the van. The A.I. points the .454caliber Boss Arms Nikita in her right hand at the assailant on the roof and puts two shots in his head. <clang!> <clang!>

‘Oh crap!’ she thinks. ‘A borg!’

The borg on the roof immediately unleashes a Panzerfaust kick back at her. <clang!

Now it is the turn of the borg on the roof of the car to think, “Oh crap! A borg!”

Doc Freeman rolls out his door and takes aim at the two assailants behind the limo with his Armalite .44. Their tranq guns prove ineffectual against the doctor’s heavily armored clothing. The attackers drop the tranquilizers in favor of some serious heat. Freeman charges the two shooters and fires his Armalite twice at one (his BOD is high enough to allow this). The first shot hits, but the black clad solo’s armor turns most of the damage. By the time he is ready for his second shot, Doc is in point blank range. The cyber researcher is now happy he took Gun Fu lessons from Cat. He puts his weapon in the hooded man’s face and blows his black shrouded head off.

Meanwhile, Roca brings the .454 Nikita in her left hand to bear. She does not shoot at the borg on the car roof, but puts both rounds into the head of the other attacker at the rear of the limo. The first doesn’t drop the man, but an almost maximum damage second shot kills him.

Allison dives out the passenger side and scampers low out of sight behind a parked car and calls Disney security on her phone.

The black clad cyborg on the roof is none too happy with the fixer who hired them at this point. The fact that Doctor Gordon Freeman hangs with a cyborg (and a well-trained combat one at that) was NOT in the briefing! The metal man rolls off the roof to the driver’s side and drops out of Roca’s sight.

Roca charges around the limo getting up enough speed for a Panzerfaust flying drop kick at the retreating borg. She becomes aware of the fifth man on their attacker’s team as his A-80 lights her up. Bracing the assault rifle on top of the passenger seat of the van he lays down a stream of covering fire. Eight rounds slam into the A.I.s body. Luckily her Gemini is made with the latest materials. She is barely slowed as she rounds the driver’s side to deliver her kick. The target is fast and skilled, dodging through the open door of the limo to avoid the blow.

Doc Freeman moves towards the van and jumps up on the front bumper. Sticking his handgun through the hole in the windshield, created by the assault rifle, he blows the driver’s brains all over the rifleman in the rear, and then drops down out of sight.

Allison is still running away from the combat, zigzagging through the yards of houses in the neighborhood, while screaming the address of the ambush into her phone to Disney security.

Roca decides the borg she is chasing is the least of her worries. She must get the doctor out of here. Abandoning her pursuit, she runs towards the van and a crouching Doc Freeman. The man with the A-80 fires again and puts the remaining ten rounds into the charging cyborg. By now the damage she has sustained is approaching a danger point. Retreat is the prudent course. Scooping up the good doctor, she disengages from the combat. As Roca flees with Doc Freeman, the limo erupts in a fireball.

(GM Note: The borg Roca was pursuing had dropped a termite grenade in the limo’s front seat as he escaped from the incoming flying drop kick. He assumed that Roca would follow him into the vehicle. While he didn’t get the A.I., Doc Freeman’s new 136,000eb Cadence Sentinel 4000 limousine is now a pile of flaming scrap.)

The A.I.’s speed is too much for the remaining two attackers. The man with the A-80 has to switch clips and the Alpha class cyborg is delayed by the exploding limo. The rifleman shoves the dead driver out the door and the cyborg jumps back in the van. The two escape. Allison grabs a cab and heads back to Fantasia.

Disney security has no authority to enter Rio proper, so they call the police. Rio police response time is abysmal, unless it’s someone important calling. The attempted extraction of two corporate executives (in broad daylight) gets their attention. Every law enforcement agency in the city descends on the scene.

Roca calls her tech, Wyatt, who comes and picks the two up in an AV. Within forty-five minutes of returning to her beach front penthouse, the building management calls up to report that a United States military AV is requesting permission to land. Roca grants it and a Marine strike team secures the premises. Brazilian police investigators arrive to interview Roca and Doc Freeman. They are not pleased at the presence of the Marines, but that becomes a diplomatic matter.

The A.I. is NOT pleased. She calls Victor, who is in the middle of filming the stunt. His phone is shut off, so she leaves a message, “You failed!”

The runner finally turns his phone back on while heading back to Fantasia. After listening to the message, he immediately calls Doc Freeman. Having recounted the story several times for the police, he delivers a fairly thorough account of the attempted abduction. Brashly Victor states, “I’ll be right over to pick you up.” Doc Freeman tells him not to bother, assuring him that they are all fine.

Victor then inquires about a thing near and dear to his heart, “How’s the car?”

Doc replies, “Well, there was this thermite grenade…”

“WHAT!

“So it’s kind of all burned up,” continues Freeman. “How did your stunt go?”

Kyle and Cat (as Luka and Lena) find out about the extraction attempt as they are watching the evening news. They contact their Nietzschean netrunner who arranges a NET meeting with Doc Freeman, Roca and Victor that appears to come from the Windfall. Cat is furious that Victor wasn’t driving, but Doc Freeman comes to his rescue. He informs her that he didn’t call the driver in and the man is blameless. The biogen tells them both that from now on Victor will ALWAYS drive Doc Freeman when he goes off Disney grounds. Roca suggests the Doc get himself an AV-3 as a substitute for his now destroyed limo. When Victor informs them he doesn’t know how to pilot an AV, Cat tells him to learn. (Meaning to train up to level 2 on a Sega-Atari system). She will arrange lessons for him to bring up his skill. The news of the failed extraction goes world-wide. Both the United States and the Republic of Mars deliver strong notes to the Brazilian government, who had assured those poleis of Roca’s safety.

Cat sends Roger Kincaid, the Disney executive in charge of the political situation in Rio, the NET evidence that Roca collected and her suspicions that this might be a political kidnapping by their corporate enemies. At the very least the current evidence could be used to ‘dirty up’ the opposition.

***

Sunday, January 7, 2046:

It is announced at a press conference in the morning that yesterday the kidnappers had secretly demanded that Deputy Minister Chaves reverse his opposition to the tunnel construction and electrification project in return for his son’s release. The distraught father with a grim and foreboding Doc Freeman (the Doc’s Empathy is in the toilet) at his side appears and begs for his son’s release on international television. Kincaid, FuGen and the Chinese government have been busy. The apparent corporate sponsoring of the kidnapping of a sick and dying child to extract political concessions outrages the world. The normally somnambulant Brazilian police organizations spring into action. Since this involves a government minister, the Federal Police enter the fray. Kaliba and Furnas’ political allies can’t protect them against this groundswell.

Solon is also outraged as he actually had no knowledge of the plot. The kidnapping of a sick and dying human child is NOT his style. Kaliba and Furnas cooperate and identify the netrunner who did in fact work for Furnas. A major manhunt is immediately undertaken to find him. The fixer who contracted the extraction team is found dead with his neck snapped. The police locate the extraction team’s Alpha class borg near the scene and pursue him. The cyborg fights and is brought down by a BOPE unit. The police continue to search for the remaining two extraction team members.

Early that evening an anonymous call leads authorities to a warehouse where Deputy Minister Chaves’s son is found alive. He condition has not started to degrade. The kidnapping and attempted extraction of Doc Freeman has proven a public relations disaster for the forces trying to strip the vote from the favela residents. The Disney Corporation (led by Roger Kincaid) and FuGen (with the backing of the Chinese government) unleash a crushing PR offensive against their opponents. Chalk up one for the Team!

Episode 51 – Turnabout is Fair Play

Kyle and Cat (as Luka and Lena) attend a party hosted by George Brazzo. The swanky soiree is merely camouflage to conceal a covert meeting to plan the destruction of another favela. The two finally meet some of the fixer’s co-conspirators. Most are merely pawns (powerful pawns, yes, but still pawns) of the people they are seeking. Yorgi Valenchenko attends. Any animosity he may have had towards George seems to have been resolved. The two undercover operatives are in, but the danger is growing exponentially.

The fallout from the kidnapping of the Deputy Minister’s son and botched extraction has put Disney’s political foes on the defensive. Hoping to divert public scrutiny, they have initiated a smear campaign against Dr. Gordon Freeman, the inventor of the cyberbrain. This tactic may bear fruit as the doctor has not bothered to employ a public relations manager or media consultant, opting instead to handle such matters personally.

A Disney employee is found to have been involved in the kidnapping plot and botched extraction. He attempts to flee and the Team is sent to bring him back to face (corporate) justice.

Background

The Brazilian Supreme Court is expected to overturn the 1975 Presidential Decree (The Fusion) effectively re-establishing the city of Rio as an independent city-state within Brazil. Factions have begun to align, in anticipation of this decision, to vie for control of the city. The notorious favelas of Rio de Janeiro present a powerful voting block, one that several of the players in the political struggle seek to eliminate. By taking away the voting rights of the poor, the conspirators hope to move closer to their ultimate goal of eliminating the favelas, reclaiming the valuable real estate for redevelopment. The Disney Corporation opposes this agenda and has contracted the Team as ‘consultants’ to counter the maneuvers of rival factions.

Dramatis Personae

The Team

Kyle Vaduva: Former C.I.A. agent, burned by the agency for crimes he did not commit. His efforts to expose and eliminate the Section, a freelance black ops ring that infiltrated the C.I.A., led to a review of his record and exoneration. He was allowed to retire with full benefits. Kyle has been reunited with his lover from the Romanian Operation, Caitlin Jones (see Cat (Fisher) Ortiz above).

Roca Terrier: Actually, she is one of the oldest characters from our game group. She is the only self-mobile A.I. in our game universe. Her existence is a result of a now ended secret military project. Her creator was a genius, who saw his attempt to create a self-learning A.I., built from his memories of his deceased daughter, perverted by the Pentagon in an attempt to create the perfect weapon system. Now a citizen of the Republic of Mars and a respected scientist, she was formerly married to General Pershing, the current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States. Their divorce was a political move to advance the general’s career and the two are still very close. Roca is also a member of the Collective and sits on their ruling council. She and Cat know each other.

Wyatt: Roca’s personal technician. He is the son the original chief tech on the project that created the A.I. His father and Roca are fast friends and this son has replaced his dad who is now retired. To Wyatt, Roca is family and vice versa.

The NPCs

4.06531: A 4^th generation Nietzschean operative, who is masquerading as Kyle (Kyle 2.0) on the Windfall. He is also known as Janko Mesic during this mission.

Caitlin Diaz: One of Cat’s Biotechnica created clones who is working with the Team masquerading as Catherine Ortiz (Cat 2.0).

Daniel Gomes: A Disney employee involved in the kidnap plot against the Brazilian Deputy Minister’s son. He is currently attempting to get out of Rio.

David Lau: A Chinese gun runner in Rio who is working with George.

Diesel: George’s driver and bodyguard.

Ezekiel Moura: A scrounger who works with George.

George Brazzo: A high level fixer and criminal in Rio. He is a facilitator who rarely gets his hands dirty himself. He has a large bribery slush fund and two lawyers who keep him out of trouble. When he was a Rio civil policeman, Ricco Torres tried unsuccessfully to put him away several times.

Hans Streckler: A known and wanted Europe 3000 terrorist who is acquainted and possibly working with Yorgi Valenchenko.

Hector Benetiz: the head of Disney security in Rio.

Israel Ansari (nickname Moolch – ‘likes money’): A divorce and contract attorney.

Joelle Marzenge: A native black African involved in George’s Favela Plot.

Kendra Parsons: A former model now in her 40s. Technology has kept her looking young, but the bloom is definitely gone. She is a friend of George Brazzo.

Karl Straub: A man involved in George’s Favela Plot who is possibly South African.

Marco Pereira: A Brazilian who seems very knowledgable about local politics and is involved in George’s Favela Plot.

Maria: A local girl who works as a maid for one of the hotels in Disney’s Fantasia. She gets picked up by Victor in a bar and her whole life starts getting turned upside down.

Maria Haddad: A lesser known media working for Al Jazeera.

Melanie: A young, female employee of Disney Fantasia, who lives in Disney’s Arbor Estates employee housing.

Renee Jardino: A business person in Rio associated with George Brazzo.

Roger Kincaid: the Disney executive in charge of the political situation in Rio.

Royce Dunlop: An associate of George from South Africa who is involved in the Favela vote plot.

Solon: The A.I. that runs Kaliba Integrated Systems which built and runs the Rio Operations Center that controls the city’s security cameras, power distribution and police/fire communications. Solon wants to suspend the voting rights of favela residents and have them relocated.

Syreeta: A local associated with George Brazzo.

Yorgi Valenchenko: A Russian FSB operative, cousin and partner of the late Kiril Vadjek, a gun runner working with George who was recently assassinated by Cat at Kyle’s bidding.

Walt 2.0: An A.I. that helps run the Disney Corporation. He was programmed with everything known about the original Walt Disney including his private writings and journal. More importantly he understands the original Walt’s vision and has the capacity to grow beyond his original programming.

Zago: A hired gun and reportedly former French Foreign Legionnaire.

The Action

Monday, January 8, 2046:

Roca contacts Solon stating that Walt 2.0 thought it would be a good idea for the two of them to talk. Solon agrees to a meeting in principle, but declines to set a date. The Kaliba A.I. is up front about his reasons for delaying. “I have no answers for your questions. The recent turn of events was as much a surprise to me as anyone. We can meet after.” Solon does not elaborate, but Roca assumes that the kidnapping and subsequent media storm requires his undivided attention. She does not push the matter.

Disney has offered to provide car service for Doc Freeman till he secures a new vehicle. Unhappy with the corporation knowing his comings and goings, Doc takes Victor to the Cadence Dealership at the first opportunity. Instead of purchasing an AV, as Cat suggested (ordered), he buys another Cadence Sentinel 4000 limousine. The salesman quotes a price of 148,000 eb: 12,000 eb more than he paid for the exact same limo less than 3 months earlier. Victor is ready to make a stink, but Doc is not interested in haggling. To him, 12,000 eb is pocket change. The car will arrive in a few days.

Ricco gets an earful from his former boss, who is still security chief for Fantasia. Other than Allison’s frantic call to Disney security, the corporate cops have been left out of the loop. Sadly, the investigator is as much in the dark as Hector. Ricco accidentally volunteers that he only knows what he has seen on the news. The security chief strongly suggests that he investigate and report back. A call to Roca scores him an invite to her beachfront condo.

Outside of her building, a small knot of protestors is parked in front of the entrance. They don’t block his path, but the ex-cop takes note of the messages emblazoned on their banners and signs: US Out! Marines Go Home! Only after he makes his way upstairs does Ricco realize that Roca’s new security detail is the target of the protestors. It is only after the A.I. vouches for him, that he is allowed past the two armed marines stationed at her front door.

Ricco tries to question Roca about what is happening. She is polite and answers what she can, but many of the investigator’s questions are met with, “I’m sorry, but that is above your pay grade.” Ricco tells the A.I. that the few pieces of intel he has gathered will not pass muster with Hector. Taking pity on their liaison, Roca writes a report for Ricco to turn in to his superior.

Luka and Lena (Kyle and Cat) mingle with the other guests at George’s house party. The posh home overlooks the recently rehabbed Botafogo section of the city, behind the Copacabana. Among those in attendance are members of the fixer’s regular crew, like Israel Ansari (attorney) Ezekiel Moura, Diesel (George’s driver and bodyguard), Zago, and David Lau (gun runner). The two spot Yorgi Valenchenko, who also seems to take note of them. The opportunity for introductions never presents itself, as the FSB agent intentionally avoids them.

Luka and Lena do make the acquaintance of Kendra Parson, Renee Jardino and Syreeta. Kendra, a former model, used her fame and industry contacts to establish her own modeling agency. High priced bio-sculpting has allowed her to retain her looks, but the subtle beauty of her youth has been lost. Renee is an apparent business person, but doesn’t volunteer his line of work or why he is at the meeting. His jovial unassuming manner is either genuine or well rehearsed. Syreeta is also an enigma. She is definitely a local, but beyond that Luka and Lena are unable to glean anything else from their encounter.

Satisfied that all the key guests are present, George finally invites those assembled to join him in the dining room (to begin his ‘Wannsee Conference’ on the ‘final solution’ of the favelas). After the room is sealed, the fixer coldly outlines his general plans for the destruction of the Favela Vila Parque da Cidade (located just to the north of Lebon). George takes a brief moment to acknowledge the passing of their colleague Kiril Vadjek. This brief commiseration provides an opening to introduce Yorgi Valenchenko and to announce that the two have come to an understanding. George invites those assembled to welcome him to their coterie. Most appear to already be familiar with Kiril’s cousin (and partner), but politely nod to acknowledge his presence.

Continuing with the introductions, the fixer identifies Luka and Lena to the group and announces they will be working with David Lau to arm the rival factions in the Favela Vila Parque da Cidade. George takes a moment to outline the current situation in the neighborhood. There is a power struggle for control within the favela. Although there are some bit players, the project has targeted two factions in the neighborhood: the Fraternidade de Anjos (Brotherhood of Angels), and a militia, Homens de Aço (Men of Steel). The existing conflict between these ex-cops and the drug gang has been complicated by a third player, The Orochi Resource Group.

ORG is claiming juristictional rights on two former Arasaka satellite properties in the area. The first is the Sócio Dinâmica Aplicada (Applied Dynamics Partners) at 256 R. Mary Pessoa. The second is K2FS Sistemas e Projetos (K2FS Systems and Projects) a few blocks away at 36 Estra. Santa Avito. Both are located 400 to 500 feet from the southern edge of the Favela Vila Parque da Cidade.

Shares within these companies were not held directly by Arasaka, but through a convoluted maze of subsidiaries. These subsidiaries have subsequently come under the control of ORG.

The conglomerate’s interest is not so much in the companies themselves, but the land they sit on. ORG has announced a plan to provide water and possibly power to the favela using a closed system and new technologies they are developing. Neither Arasaka Japan or Amazonian Security have yet to decide to challenge ORG’s claim to the properties.

(GM Note: George’s backers are trying to tie up a ruling in court, but they have also urged George to find a more direct solution to the problem.)

After George’s presentation, the attendees break into smaller business and social groups. ORG may not be the only interested party from Africa operating in Rio. While talking with Karl Straub, Lena catches subtle inflections of a possible South African accent. Her suspicions are reinforced by his use of Afrikans slang while speaking to Joelle Marzenge, who has a strong native African accent.

Marco Pereira joins the conversation. He seems very knowledgable and opinionated on the subject of Brazilian politics and ORG in particular.

“ORG is sniffing around several sites in South America.

“They are trying to undermine Amazonian Security.”

Marco mentions two other security firms that have moved into Brazil and have taken an interest in the changing political situation in Rio. The first is a US company named Blackridge. They are made up of former members of Militech Mexico who broke with the parent company and sided with Mexico in the Nomad-Texas Border War. The second is a Shanghai based corporation called Shikumen—‘Stone Gate’. They are branching out into personal security from their core business of installing and managing security systems. The company derives its name from a traditional Shanghainese style of architecture that combined Western and Chinese elements. Shikumen has the security contract in Rio’s Chinatown. Pereira also shows a good knowledge of the current disposition of Amazonian Security.

As the night progresses, George takes a moment to speak with Luka and Lena in private. The project is currently in the intelligence gathering phase. He plans to have something for them in about ten days to two weeks, if all goes well. As the meeting breaks up, Cat notices that Yorgi Valenchenko is picked up by Hans Streckler, a known and wanted Europe 3000 terrorist! Cat recognizes him from her own work with that organization. The party has provided a long list of people to research.

***

Tuesday, January 9, 2046:

The Windfall arrives off the Cape Verde Islands and begins to cruise through them slowly. In the afternoon Kyle 2.0 and Cat 2.0 fly the Spinner coupe ashore on a ‘wine buying’ shopping trip for the ship.

***

Wednesday, January 10, 2046:

A normal work day and everyone goes about their mundane tasks. That evening at the Arbor Estates, Su’s friends (Kane, Maria, Melanie and Roca) throw her a send off party. Her flight leaves in the morning.

***

Thursday, January 11, 2046:

Weepy and slightly hung over, Su gives them all a fierce hug before disappearing down the boarding ramp.

The media frenzy surrounding the kidnapping and attempted extraction continues to churn. Roca receives numerous requests for interviews. She selects a lesser known media, Maria Haddad from Al Jazeera, and schedules a meeting for the following day.

***

Friday, January 12, 2046:

The Windfall anchors in the harbor of the capital, Praia, that afternoon. Kyle 2.0 and Cat 2.0 go ashore on another ‘wine buying’ shopping trip.

Maria Haddad from Al Jazeera interviews Roca at her apartment. Her questions are at first rather innocuous, but become more pointed (if not leading) as the interview continues.

“Isn’t the presence of a United States Marine contingent a “bit of overreaction”?

The media turns her questioning to Doc Freeman. She is especially interested in whether Roca participated on his cyberbrain project (no). After several questions related to the good doctor’s activities (rumored atrocities) in Romania, she posits as a hypothetical scenario, “Is it possible that the kidnapping of the Deputy Minister’s son and the attempted extraction of Doctor Freeman could have been faked? Could they have conspired to garner sympathy and support for their goal of legalizing the cyberbrain?”

Is that what happened? No. Is such a scenario within the real of possibility? Roca has to concede that it might be possible and finds herself answering yes. Having received the answer she was hoping for, the reporter does not press the A.I. to elaborate. The interview ends soon after. A grateful media thanks Roca for her time and assistance.

***

Saturday, January 13, 2046:

Kyle 2.0 and Cat 2.0 go on a very public trip around the capital of Praia looking at the tourist sights and mixing with the locals. At the same time Luka and Lena are very publicly attending a horse race at the Jockey Club in Rio de Janeiro.

***

Sunday, January 14, 2046:

The Windfall sails a little before noon and heads northwest up the island chain towards Mindelo on the island of Santa Luzia.

Maria Haddad’s report appears on the Al Jazeera news service. The Disney people were hoping for a ‘puff piece’, instead it hits the news wire like a mushroom cloud. Rather than focusing on Roca, the story is an open attack on the character of Doc Freeman. It drags up every sordid detail ever reported about the physician. The clincher is an altered clip of the interview with Roca expressing her ‘belief’ that Doc Freeman and the Deputy Minister were behind the kidnapping and failed extraction. Roger Kincaid hits the roof. Disney’s spin doctors go into overdrive.

***

Monday, January 15, 2046:

Kyle 2.0 and Cat 2.0 fly to Mindelo on the last of their ‘wine buying’ shopping trips for the Windfall. On the pair’s return, the ship heads out to sea and sails for Port-of-Spain, Trinidad.

Yorgi calls Luka and asks for a private (confidential) meeting. Lena suggests that they invite him to lunch on Thursday. Yorgi graciously accepts.

Roger Kincaid calls Doc Freeman in for a meeting. Victor accompanies him. Roger is none to happy about the Al Jazeera piece. The Doc’s opinion on the kidnapped child is succinct. “I have to care enough about a kid first, and I don’t.”

Dr. Gordon Freeman, it seems, is not burdened with an undue amount of Empathy. This is not the reason that Roger wants to see him. A Disney employee, one Daniel Gomes, was involved in the plot to kidnap the child and extract Doc Freeman. Daniel has run for it, but his shoemaker has decided to sell him out for more money to Disney. The fleeing executive has checked in to a nice hotel in Rio under the name of Fernando Mendonça. The owner of this hotel hates Disney and has a first rate security service. Daniel Gomes will be checking out and disappearing in 48 to 72 hours. The Team has that amount of time to acquire the wayward corporate and deliver him to Roger Kincaid.

After getting their briefing, Doc Freeman decides to wait until the Team’s NET meeting (tomorrow night) to make the rest of the team aware of this time sensitive mission. Victor Kane can’t be bothered to tell anyone either.

***

Tuesday, January 16, 2046:

At the Team’s weekly NET meeting, Doc Freeman finally gets around to mentioning the extraction assignment from Disney. Both Kyle and Cat are dumbfounded.

“So, you (Doc) thought it would be fine to let 30 hours of a 48 hour time sensitive mission pass before you told anyone about it?” asks Kyle with his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Well, you and Cat are on the yacht thousands of miles away and you have no cell reception,” was the Doc’s reply.

“You know the Windfall’s radio is monitored 24/7. We are contactable almost instantly,” Cat reminds the good doctor.

“What about me?” offered Ricco. “I am right here in Rio. I could have been researching this and setting up surveillance.”

At this point Kane puts his two cents in. “Doc, you are the dumbest smart person I know.”

Kyle’s rage starts to build. “You were there, Victor! Why didn’t you say something?”

“Hey, I’m just the driver,” is the reply.

Cat is still speechless, but as excuses pour from Kane’s mouth followed by ideas on what to do, she finds her voice and asks Kyle, “Why is it (Victor) still speaking?”

Kyle realizes this is no time for recriminations. A plan must be made immediately. Roca drops into the NET and finds the hotel’s website and booking computer. There is a convention at the hotel and no extra rooms are available. The room of one Fernando Mendonça is located on the third floor of one of the buildings and a rough floor plan of the hotel is acquired. Ricco makes a couple of calls to find an AV for the extraction. None is available, but a commercial Boeing VS-5 spinner is. Again Ricco has to expend a favor to his brother, Felipe Torres, to secure the needed transport.

With the clock ticking away, there is no time for subtlety. They will strike in the very early hours of Wednesday morning and it will be a ‘smash and grab’. Roca will use her custom Eclipse body (which is NOT registered as being in country) and sneak on to the hotel grounds. She will approach Gomes’ room from the outside balcony, (hopefully) sneak into the room, drug the man with a sedative provided by Doc Freeman and run to the beach for a fast pick up by the Boeing spinner. The spinner will deliver its cargo to Doc Freeman and Victor in his waiting limo and Daniel Gomes will then be delivered to Roger Kincaid on Disney property.

The evening NET meeting breaks up. Ricco finalizes the spinner transportation and works out the pickup with Roca. Ricco will be riding in the spinner to make sure it is there when it is supposed to be. That evening Wyatt drives Roca out of their private garage to the drop off. Outside the apartment building, a group of protesters is there. Unfortunately, so are the police, who start following the two. These policemen are not spies. They are a protection detail. The Brazilian government doesn’t want another extraction attempt against Roca, who has Martian diplomatic status as a Trade and Industrial Attaché.

Wyatt makes an attempt to lose the police, but to no avail. These cops know their job. Wyatt and Roca return to the apartment complex. Roca uses her skills and Eclipse body to sneak away unnoticed. This puts the plan two and half hours behind schedule. The A.I. reaches the hotel at about 2:00 am Wednesday morning. The only visible security is the occasional man or woman walking around with a taser.

***

Wednesday, January 17, 2046:

Roca scans Gomes’ room from the outside. She is not surprised that her thermographic vision cannot penetrate the building walls, but the window is also IR blocked. That is unusual as none of the other rooms appear to have IR baffling. Already behind schedule, she pushes such thoughts from her mind and begins her ascent. Reaching the balcony, the A.I. listens at the sliding glass door. There is only the sound of a single person breathing. The door is locked, but her augmented borg body is more than up to the task of ripping the door open. Roca readies her hypodermic needle and sharply jerks the door handle, which snaps off in her hand.

(GM Note: The player failed to notice (or check for) the security bar blocking the track of the sliding door. Given a choice between the handle and the bar, it’s the handle that gives way first.)

The snapping handle makes a loud enough sound to alert the room’s occupant. Roca throws caution to the wind and simply crashes through the glass. Stretched across the pane is a thin film that proves no barrier to the charging borg.

(GM Note: This ‘film’ is a cheap IR suppressing sheet that helps hide any heat signatures in the room.)

The target is in a chair in the corner. He breaks something in his hand as the borg crashes into the room. Roca is on him in an instant and jams the needle right through his SP14 clothes. Daniel Gomes falls unconscious. The remains of a bent Blackridge Security card (similar to a Militech card) fall from his hand. The clock is now ticking.

Hoisting the man on her shoulders, Roca runs through the vacant frame of the sliding door and leaps off of the balcony. It’s close, but she is able to miss landing in the pool. Her reinforced joints absorb the impact of landing and she is off like a shot towards the beach. Roca radios Ricco that she is heading for the extraction point. The pickup is flawless. With the target safely stowed, the craft races away low over the water, before the Blackridge operatives on site (at the hotel) can react. There are quite a few security personnel on the grounds, as Blackridge was handling security for the conference.

(GM Note: Gomes’ new ID would allow him to blend in with the attendees of the conference and leave Brazil when they did, under the protection of Blackridge Security. Gomes had hired Blackridge to protect him after fleeing Disney. He didn’t have enough funds to pay for both a personal bodyguard and cover the cost of the extraction, hence why there was no one else in the hotel room with him. Gomes hope was to lay low until the end of the conference.)

Roca runs a bug detector over the unconscious Gomes. She detects something implanted in his chest giving off a signal. The A.I. pops the monoblade on her Eclipse and with her First Aid and anatomy skills quickly excises the device. The man goes into immediate cardiac arrest. She has pulled out his pacemaker!

The A.I. begins immediate cardiac CPR and notifies Doc Freeman to be ready for emergency surgery. The pilot of the spinner looks back and sees a cyborg with a mono-blade deployed and blood everywhere in the back of his craft. The man’s eyes snap forward. He doesn’t want to know. In fact he is more worried about his current life expectancy.

The spinner quickly arrives at the limo. Doc Freeman has pulled his medical gear from the trunk and set up a sterile field, as best as he can, in the back of his Cadence Sentinel 4000. Daniel Gomes is still clinging to life as Roca puts him in the back of the limo. Ricco departs with the spinner and its pilot. There is a lot of cleaning to do there. Victor drives as quickly as he dares to Disney. Here the runner earns his pay as he navigates the roads quickly and provides the Doc with a stable ride to perform emergency surgery.

The limousine arrives at a Disney hanger at the airport next to Fantasia. Roger Kincaid is waiting. The executive is horrified at the scene of blood in the back of the car. He demands to know what happened. When told of the pacemaker, Roger is perplexed. There is no record of Gomes having such a device, yet this is definitely Daniel Gomes.

During this chaotic rush of explanations and meatball surgery, Kane asks to leave and take the car with him. Roger looks at him incredulously and tells him to, “Shut the fuck up!”

Despite the buckets of blood and gore, Doc finishes working and pulls Daniel Gomes through. A further examination of the device found in the man’s chest reveals that it was transmitting traceable telemetry. Roca is unsure of the range, but she is fairly certain that Blackridge wouldn’t be able to trace the signal (after she ripped the device from Gomes’ chest). The extraction is successful even with the few glitches the Team encountered and Gomes is left to the not-so-tender mercies of Roger Kincaid. Everyone returns home to get some well-deserved rest.

Next: Episode 52: The Situation in Rio Starts to Boil

Episode 48 – It’s Getting Hot in Rio!

Episode 49 – New Year’s Eve in Rio!

Episode 50 – Welcome to Your Extraction

Episode 51 – Turnabout is Fair Play

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