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>>31605674
Yeah, this guy is definitely a hacker. From the lame graphic shirt down to his awkward, gangly build. It also occurs to you that this guy was the one from the mercs’ apartment building who graciously “gave” you a drone. You make a mental note to send the picture to Neurophage for identification.

You steal a handful of Harriet’s fries (which earns you an insult and a disapproving glare) and pull up your commcall application. Your previous trace on the sniper girl earned you more than just her location and access ID. You get an answer on the first ring.

“Hello?” the sniper girl asks.

“Glad to see you survived our encounter back in Redmond.”

“What do you want, Echo_TRACER?” The girl’s voice turns cold. “You’re not exactly my favorite person right now, especially after you narced on my hacker.”

“I feel like we started off on the wrong foot. The gun-pointing wasn’t very mature of either of us, and I feel like we both got the wrong impression of each other.”

“I don’t think I’ve got the wrong impression of you at all, TRACER.” The girl growls. “I don’t know what you’re angle is, but unless you’re planning on giving me the girl, I’m skipping threatening your samurai next time and just shooting you.”

>Tell her she can have Harriet so long as she can meet on your terms.
>Tell her you’re willing to settle this like gentlemen and fight her, so long as she can meet on your terms.
>Tell her she has the opportunity to get back at the people who killed her teammate, and you know where they’re going to be.
>Other (Write-in)

>>31605699
>>Tell her you’re willing to settle this like gentlemen and fight her, so long as she can meet on your terms.

>>31605699
>Tell her she has the opportunity to get back at the people who killed her teammate, and you know where they’re going to be.
And they're also going to be erasing her, too.
So really, it's in no one's advantage to keep this feud going, so let's be professional about things.

As before, the first vote of the thread will have a voting period of twenty minutes instead of ten.

>>31605831

Second

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>>31605699
“I’m not planning on giving you the girl,” you say, “but I do have a pretty good idea about the people who killed your teammate. I know where they’re going to be, and I know you can get a shot at revenge if you play your cards right.”

“That’s a load of bulldrek, hacker. You’re just trying to lure me into a trap.”

“Listen, this goes way deeper than just a run for some investment firm. The people who killed your teammate and the people who hired you are probably working for the same boss, and I have as much interest in confronting them as you.” The girl doesn’t speak. “They’ll be at the Seattle Marina tonight at around 10:30. I plan on being there too. If I’m really lying, than you can feel free to shoot me right then and there.” You don’t give the girl the chance to answer and hang up.

“Smooth.” Harriet says sarcastically.

“Shut up. I’m working with what I have.” You grumble. “We’re leaving in four hours, so do what you need to before then.”

“What are you going to do?” Harriet asks.

>Take a nap. You’re exhausted. (Returns one (1) Edge point.)
>Look at the remainder of the intel Neurophage found on Harriet.
>Call someone (Choose between Logan, Summer, Jabir, Neurophage, the rest of the team, or Rockwell)
>Other (write-in)

>>31606458
>Look at the remainder of the intel Neurophage found on Harriet.

>>31606458
>>Take a nap. You’re exhausted. (Returns one (1) Edge point.)

>>31606458
>>Look at the remainder of the intel Neurophage found on Harriet.
Sorry Im late to this party

>>31606651
>>31606807
>Writing

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>>31606458
“Just a little homework.” You say, flopping down onto the other bed. “By the time I’m done, we’ll probably be ready to roll.” Harriet gives a monosyllabic response and returns to her food. You access the data cluster Neurophage gave you and begin reading over Harriet’s information. The cluster labeled [SOCIAL MEDIA] reveals that Harriet’s circle of connections is fairly large and homogenous. They’re almost exclusively made up of corp youth, but from multiple corporations. Looking deeper reveals that, while Harriet knows plenty of people, very few of Harriet’s acquaintances are acquainted with each other.

In terms of video and audio files, Harriet’s appearance and voice appear in plenty of her friends’ liveblogs, there are a few whose media profiles don’t include her at all. No pictures, no videos, no nothing. A little cross-referencing reveals that the only acquaintances who display no information about Harriet have been reported dead within the last six months.

Next up is the [POLICE REPORTS] cluster. Within this cluster, a number of heavily redacted police reports have been organized in chronological order. At the top of the list is a reported auto incident from a five years ago. Two parents a child (names redacted) killed in what appeared to be a Yakuza hit. As expected, representatives of both the Shitozumi and Shigeda clans denied involvement. Not long after, the investigation just closed. Following that are reports of a string of murders over the last five years. The only oddities present are consistent use of the same murder weapon (ballistics indicate that it was a handgun chambered for rifle ammo), and the fact that all of the murders occurred in either the Ares Pacific Northwest arcology, the Aztechnology Pyramid, or the Mitsuhama zero-zone.

(cont.)

>>31607337
You burn a couple of hours reading the files on Harriet. Once your reading is complete, you try and put together the evidence and make heads or tails of it. The mention of double-cyberleg prosthesis in the medical records from before indicates that Harriet was the patient mentioned in the reports. That, combined with the other information you have leads you to believe that…

>Harriet is a former child soldier with Ares looking to break Declan’s hold on them without unnecessarily angering the Corporate Court.
>Harriet is an operative from Declan who wants to defect and plans on using the company secrets as leverage once she leaves the country.
>Harriet is a former corp kid orphaned and crippled in a Declan operation, and she's planning on using what information she’s pried from them to get revenge.

>>31607542
>>Harriet is a former child soldier with Ares looking to break Declan’s hold on them without unnecessarily angering the Corporate Court.

>>31607542
>>Harriet is an operative from Declan who wants to defect and plans on using the company secrets as leverage once she leaves the country.

>>31607542
>Harriet is an operative from Declan who wants to defect and plans on using the company secrets as leverage once she leaves the country

>>31607684
>>31607697
>Writing

>>31607337
There are other possibilities, but you find it most likely that Harriet is a Declan operative looking to send the most dramatic letter of resignation this century. You have little to no reason to tell “Harriet” that you’re on to her, but the knowledge that she’s a trained intelligence agent is enough to make you even more wary of her. You move the cluster onto a data chip and encrypt it so tight it would take military software to crack it. When the time comes, you plan on giving this to someone you trust. This is officially the most glitched job you’ve ever taken, and the information on the chip is the only evidence that you have.

Within the hour, you’ve gathered your gear and met Dreadnought by the back entrance to the hotel. You paid enough up-front to keep your car parked safely for a few days, and, in the event that things went south at the meet-up, Dreadnought’s van has enough armor to take a shot from an anti-material rifle with barely a dent. Through the thick Seattle clouds, you can see the orange glow of the sun setting. It will likely be dark by the time you get the marina.

“Are we ready?” Dreadnought asks.

“To hold off Declan until Harriet can get on the boat? Absolutely.” You roll your eyes. “Between the four of us, there’s no way we can possible be ready.”

“I beg to differ.” Dreadnought flashes a wicked smile. “During our downtime, I returned to an old safehouse of mine. I thought that I might need some old equipment.” Dreadnought opens the back door of the van, and you feel your jaw drop.

(cont.)

>>31608100
This is going be awesome

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>>31608100
Armor doesn’t begin to describe it. Though it looks compressed, you know that, standing up, it would be over eight feet tall. Its mottled color scheme ranges from light grey to gunmetal black, and its helmet is stylized in the image of a horrible beast. Leaning up against it is a drum-fed machine gun, a modified Ruhrmetall SF20. You don’t even need to ask where Dread got this stuff. You can already guess that this is his Loadout from his time in the Russian military.

“Okay.” You say, dumbfounded. “Maybe we ARE ready.”

“I thought as much.” Dreadnought nods. “Shall we depart?”

“No time like the present.”

>Get there early. You’ll want to do a full sweep of the area and establish as much of a perimeter as you can.
>Get there just in the nick of time. You’ll be able to get Harriet to her ride before the Declan forces know what hit them.
>Coordinate your arrival with the sniper. This may be your last chance to really make peace with her.

>>31608311
((Also, taking a break for dinner. Will be back in about twenty minutes))

>>31608311
>>Get there early. You’ll want to do a full sweep of the area and establish as much of a perimeter as you can.

>>31608311
>Coordinate your arrival with the sniper. This may be your last chance to really make peace with her.
Professionalism!

>>31608311
>Coordinate your arrival with the sniper. This may be your last chance to really make peace with her.

>>31608443
>>31608711
Back, and

>Writing

>>31608311
You and the team pile in to the van and depart. Dreadnought informs you that he plans on arriving at ten PM sharp. It will be immediately apparent to Rockwell that you’re betraying her and she’ll likely dispatch the Declan forces on the marina immediately. You’ll need as much time to establish a defense perimeter as possible. While Dreadnought drives the van and Quetzal rides shotgun, you’re in the back with Harriet and the gear.

Before you get too far, you pull up a call window and ring Sniper Girl again. If you’re planning on being in the same place at around the same time, there was no point in not communicating.

“What now, hacker? I’m busy.” The sniper’s demeanor is ice-cold.

“I wanted you to know that I’m on the way to the marina with my team. We’ll be there at ten, sharp.”

“Thanks for telling me. Are you giving me Blondie when I get there?”

“Absolutely not. The guys who killed your teammate are probably not going to like you shooting them, so I thought we might want to work together.”

“That’s sweet, but I don’t think two commcalls and a gunpoint negotiation is enough to convince me to run through a field of flowers with you. I’ll kill the bastard who got my rigger killed tonight, and then I’m taking the girl with me. Once I get my money from the slitch who double-crossed me, I’ll kill her too.”

>Tell her that you know more than she does and she’ll get her vengeance faster if she lets you help her.
>Tell her that Harriet’s worthless to Declan and trying to kidnap her will just be a waste of her time.
>Ask for her name, or at least an alias.
>Other (Write-in)

>>31605674
Holy fuck I caught one? I love this quest but I've never been able to be in thread.

>>31609254
>Other
"You realize that they're going to shoot you as soon as the girl gets in their sights, right? You need to stop thinking with your emotions and think about what will get you out alive."

>>31609303
Welcome aboard, chummer. Glad you could make it for one.

Also, because this is the first vote since I came back from eating, the voting period will be five minutes longer than normal.

>>31609254
>"They won't pay you jackshit. They need all the loose ends gone and you happen to be a rather large loose end."

>>31609339
>>31609616
>Writing. I'll combine these two

>>31609254
“Rockwell’s not gonna pay you shit, Sniper.” Your patience is starting to run dry. “Declan’s eliminated every loose end in their operation so far and they’re not going to stop. You know enough to be a very large loose end.”

“It doesn’t matter whether or not she wants to pay me.” The sniper’s cold demeanor is rapidly heating up. “If I have the girl, she won’t be able to afford to ignore me. She’ll pay whatever’s necessary to get the girl back. After that, I don’t care what happens to her.”

“And then what?” You bark. “You realize that they’re going to shoot you the second they’ve got the girl in their sights, right? They don’t want to secure Harriet. They want to kill her. And if bumping you off gives them the opportunity to get to her, they’ll be killing two birds with one stone. You need to quit thinking your emotions and start considering what’ll keep you alive, or you’re going to get yourself, and your team, killed.”

“…” The sniper is silent, but you get the idea that she’s seething behind the mic. You feel like you should say something.

>“Too many people have died because of this job already, and, despite our rough first meeting, I’d prefer that you not join them.”
“Finishing this job won’t bring back your rigger, but keeping Declan off your back will at least keep the rest of your team alive.
>You’ve said enough. If she wants to behave rationally, she can make that decision on her own.
>Other (write-in)

>>31610097
>“Finishing this job won’t bring back your rigger, but keeping Declan off your back will at least keep the rest of your team alive.

>>31610097
Whoops, forgot to greentext that second option. Oh well.

>>31610097
>“Finishing this job won’t bring back your rigger, but keeping Declan off your back will at least keep the rest of your team alive.

>>31610146
>>31610175
>Writing

>>31610097
“Your rigger got killed because of Declan. I know how painful losing a team member can be. It’s one of the reasons I solo most of the time. Finishing this job won’t bring your teammate back, and it won’t make their death worth it. You’re a leader. Your responsibility is to the rest of your team and you have to do what you can to keep them alive. Right now, fighting against Declan is the only way to do that.”

“…” The sniper stays silent for a few moments longer. “Maybe you’re right. I don’t need the girl to fight Declan.”

“I’m happy to hear th-”

“I don’t need you, either. I’ll fight tonight, but I don’t want to be your friend. We’ll each fight Declan on our terms. If you can’t handle that, than we have nothing to talk about.”

“It’ll be safer if we work together.”

“No, it won’t. Like you said, I’m a leader. I don’t know you well enough to trust you with my team. I won’t go up against you so long as we’re gunning for the same target, but I’m not gonna start working with you just because we have a common enemy.”

“I guess I can live with that.” You sigh. “I suppose I’ll see you soon.” You reach out a hand to close the call window.

“Hold on. One last piece of advice.”

“I’m listening.”

“I bet Blondie doesn’t trust you anymore than I do. If you’re not careful, she might sacrifice you just to cover her escape.” The line cuts out. You sigh and look soberly towards Harriet.

>Reassure her. “Just one more hour, and you’re home free.”
>Ignore her. You have more important thing to think about.
>Confront her. “Harriet, we need to have a talk about why Declan wants you dead.”

Looks like we're slowing down for night. I'll plan on wrapping up tonight's thread in the next post or so, then.

>>31610744
>>Confront her. “Harriet, we need to have a talk about why Declan wants you dead.”

>>31611026
>Writing. Double-post upcoming.

>>31610744
>Reassure her. “Just one more hour, and you’re home free.”

>>31610744
“Harriet, we need to have a talk about why Declan wants to kill you.”

“I’ve already told you everything that I can.” Harriet says evasively.

“You didn’t tell me that you work for them, or that you were connected to at least ten murders around the Seattle Metroplex.”

“How did you-?”

“You’re a Declan intelligence agent, a corporate spy. And now you’re trying to jump ship. Why quit now? Declan seems pretty determined to contain you, so I have to imagine that you did something to piss them off.”

“It wasn’t that simple.” Harriet says, smoothing out the wrinkles in her skirt. “I’m a field agent. Technically, I’m not supposed to know who signs Declan’s checks. Yes, stealing company secrets is a business worth billions of nuyen, and I knew that going in. I never imagined that the work I was doing was so… critical. This is so far beyond just money it begs disbelief. I understand that it was wrong to lie to you, but what was the alternative?”

“We’re too late in the game to argue about you keeping secrets.” You’re still pretty pissed off, but there wasn’t a lot you could do about it. “What are you going to do when you get to Hong Kong?”

“I’ll put the evidence I have on a dead-man’s trigger. That way, Declan won’t be able to kill me without exposing their secret.”

“I should probably do the same.” You mutter. The vehicle comes to a stop. Moments later, the back opens up. Dreadnought wears a grim expression and motions for you to leave the van. Once you’re out, he climbs in to put on his armor. Quetzal is still in the passenger seat, apparently doing something with his spirits. You check the time. It’s nearly ten. This was about to be the longest half-hour of your life.

[THREAD 9 END]

That is all for tonight, chummers. Shadowrun Hacker Quest will return next Sunday at about 1800 EST. Be sure to follow me on Twitter to get schedule updates and be the first to know when the next thread goes live.

https://twitter.com/NullFearQuests

As usual, I'll be around for the next little while for the postmortem and I'll archive the thread in a little bit.

Also, Harriet's name and profession is a reference to the novel Harriet the Spy. I'm sure no one cares. Just pointing out my own references.

>>31611724
Thanks for running, Null.

>>31611724
Do you have something already planned to run after this quest?

>>31612492
I do. I have a friend who insists that I run Fantasy Accountant Quest, wherein the thread portrays an accountant in a fantasy world who has been called upon as a financial consultant for a city facing poverty. At first, I was somewhat reticent, but the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to do it. I figured I'd do Shadowrun Hacker Quest as a kind of warm-up, and so far I'm enjoying the Quest-Runner experience.

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>>31612718
>wherein the thread portrays an accountant in a fantasy world who has been called upon as a financial consultant for a city facing poverty

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>>31612718
>Accountant
This kind of Accountant?

>>31612815
Sadly not, though I will readily admit that The Accountant was by far the best character in that movie.

>>31612887
What movie is that?

>>31613002
Drive Angry.