Ice Cream Run
| Staring | Fräulein Ärtzin, Garbo, Liam, Shirayuri |
| With | Loki, Mae |
| Introducing | KANZAKI Kazuki, Jordan Muraro |
| Next Episode | S01E02 – Observe Safety Precautions |
Fräulein Ärtzin, Liam, Loki, and Mae were hired to extract a child from the SCIRE. The Johnson displayed signs of Ares ties, but pre-run research indicated it was more likely they were on the payroll of MCT. Shadowrumor said the target's mother had been recently extracted from a Renraku facility in Japan by agents in the employ of Mitsuhama.
With previous teammates like El Caballero and Lachenzo unavailable, they brought in some extra talent for this high-risk/high-reward job. Garbo's reputation in the shadow community indicated he was a smooth talker with expertise in disguise. Shirayuri is another resident of the SCIRE and somebody Mae knew from her legitimate life and the shadows alike.
Session 1 - 2023/01/12
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
The team has been in place for a few days, under cover as a contracted holiday photography crew. They arranged placement on the third floor of the Renraku Mall, one level above the cherry blossom garden and one superlift in from the eastern edge.
Garbo is playing the role of Santa Claus with Mae as the photographer. Liam as Hermey the Christmas Elf and Loki as a Rudolph-expy from the Spitfire Resurrection Holiday Special, are working as queue attendants and processing payments. Fraulein's stature and a series of disguises prepared by Garbo allow her to mix in among the children waiting to be photographed. Shirayuri is monitoring the surrounding crowd in the guise of musical entertainment, playing her violin.
Security procedures within the arcology limited the equipment the team was able to bring in. Limited weapons were able to be smuggled inside, concealed among electronic gear that could reasonably be explained as their photography gear. One of their crates is actually a box to conceal the child in — padded, armored, scan shielded, and equipped with an internal air supply to protect the kid should the escape go sideways.
Run Run Rudolph
| Who | Fräulein Ärtzin, Garbo, Liam, Shirayuri, Loki, Mae, KANZAKI Kazuki |
| When | Friday, December 19, 2059 (Day 1) |
| Where | Mall, SCIRE, Level 3 |
The target shows up nearly 15 minutes after he was expected, and without his nanny's escort. They team immediately realizes that he's carrying a backpack and not wearing appropriate clothes for a holiday picture session.
Loki and Fraulein assense him, with the expected results — he's an unmodified, mundane human in good health. He's clearly in fear, but it's multilayered. The immediate surface fear feels time related, like he's afraid of being late for something, but it's over some kind of existential dread. Shirayuri moves to follow him through the crowd, able to visibly identify his fear and anxiety. She think's he noticed her, but his lack of reaction makes her uncertain. Once he's close to Loki, he seems to recognize him and looks relieved at the sight.
Just then, things go sideways. Garbo and Mae are showered in concrete bits as a Gaz-Niki Kensetsu-Jū Work Spider drops from a hole cut the ceiling (breaking one of it's legs on impact). Other Spiders arrive from multiple directions, along with a cacophony of screaming, shouting, and breaking glass.
Liam immediately springs into action, destroying the one closest to the team with his bare hands. Garbo, still in the guise of Santa Claus, begins gathering the children around him in an effort to escort them to safety. Shirayuri, who is far from the team and her weapons, engages one with her cybernetic fists. Meanwhile, Mae reports that all the systems she was monitoring just rebooted and kicked her out.
While the group engages spiders with guns and spells (including Shirayuri taking out two with a Jean-Claude Van Dam-style cheerleader split kick), more Work Spiders enter the area. While they are big and strong and armed with fearsome looking cutting implements, they appear to be herding people towards the exits. They're certainly defending themselves from the team's attacks, but they're not showing much skill in fighting back.
Session 2 - 2023/01/19
Christmas at Ground Zero
| Who | Fräulein Ärtzin, Garbo, Liam, Shirayuri, Loki, Mae, KANZAKI Kazuki |
| When | Friday, December 19, 2059 (Day 1) |
| Where | Mall, SCIRE, Level 3 |
Realizing she'd be even more effective with her weapons, Shirayuri shucks her holiday boots and uses her skates and jacks to make it to the team's gear stash (inside the photography equipment crates). Liam tosses her swords to her, then grabs the rest of the gear and makes for the exit. Loki takes primary custody of the kid, while Garbo continues guiding civilians.
Roughly 50 meters from the exit, in the next superlift block, the team discovers the Work Spiders were herding the mall shoppers towards the hunters — a drone they'd later call the Dervish. Over a dozen deploy in trios from storage crates staged around the area behind pipe-and-drape curtain. They initially appear in their standing configuration, a gyroscopic system providing propulsion and serving to keep them upright on casters on the end of each leg. They immediately begin moving through the gathered crowds, rapidly firing a flechette cannon.
The team attempts to push the crowd towards the exit, fending off the drones. Fraulein casts ice sheet in an effort to slow the approach; it helps, but they realize it won't be enough. Shirayuri picks up the short-legged, slow moving gnome and heads for the exit. Mae takes Liam's hand and tells him to "steer" so she can drop into VR, her SK Subsume[1] implant capable of keeping her body mobile at the same time.
As they near the exit, the security shutters slam closed, sealing them inside. At the same time, Mae collapses and the team loses their communications link. Garbo picks her up, freeing Liam to use both hands to fight.
Shirayuri points out another group of Dervishes, closer to the exit and a children's orchestra appear to be firing less discriminately — she realizes that the darts they're firing must be laced with toxins, and they're trying to avoid overdosing the kids. Liam pops off a grenade at the group of Dervishes ahead of them. It mostly ends up attracting attention instead of severely damaging them. Loki, who had been invisible most of this time, drops that illusion and switches over to Chaotic World. Fraulein pops off a lightning ball, then switches over to improving Shirayuri's reflexes.
The group performs a fighting retreat towards one of the elevator shafts. Shirayuri pulls the door open, then tosses their crate inside. Her magnetic system allows her to catch the crate with a foot, hold Fraulein under one arm, and climb with her other two limbs — all at the same time. They others quickly fall in behind her.
As the team and their package escape upward, the spider drones behind them stow their weapons, and begin neatly organizing the unconscious.
Session 3 - 2023/01/26
Full names in Japanese are always said with the family name (surname) first, personal/given name second. In most cases, one would address someone by their family name, even if they would call them by their personal name under the same circumstances in English. Personal names are generally only used among family and very close friends. In any case, attaching the correct suffix is important, too.
| Suffix | Usage |
|---|---|
| san | General purpose, gender neutral, equivalent to Mr./Mrs./Ms. |
| kun | Often with male students, and with male friends (children and young adults). Occasionally used with both males and females of lower rank. |
| chan | A diminuative or informal/friendly suffix, used with/by young children and with/by close female friends. Also sometimes used with pets and other cute animals. |
| sama | Very similar to "san", but more polite. Used for those with a much higher rank. |
| sensei | Literally "one who has gone before", used with teachers, professors, doctors, and masters of any trade. Often simply used in place of the person's name when addressing them directly, or when it's obvious which teacher you're referring to. |
Mr. Muraro, who is deeply familiar with Japanese/Renraku culture via his wife would refer to Shirayuri as Yoi-san if he knew her real name and would address KANZAKI Kazuki as Kanzaki-kun.
By contrast, Kazuki (if and when he decides to speak) is likely to call her Yoi-chan, but will almost certainly address Mr. Muraro as Muraro-sama.
What's This?
| Who | Fräulein Ärtzin, Garbo, Liam, Shirayuri, Loki, KANZAKI Kazuki, Jordan Muraro |
| When | Friday, December 19, 2059 (Day 1) |
| Where | Elevator Maintenance, SCIRE, Level 10 |
The team exits the elevator system on the 10th floor, through an elevator maintenance shop. The room is 16 m (52 ft) on a side, with a crane to lift cars out of the tubes. There are a dozen cars in storage or various states of repairs, arranged around a conveyor belt.
Garbo drags Liam up at the last moment, just before he crashes from attribute boost drain. Loki and Shirayuri hears what sounds like a boot dragging across the floor — he casts Invisibility on himself, while she sneaks up on the sound. One of the elevator cars near slams shut. Shirayuri attempts to open it, but is forced to jump back as a blast of plasma comes out the elevator door, sealing it shut.
Loki calls out to whatever is in the elevator, asks if they're meat or metal. Garbo moves the unconscious Liam and the Kid to a safe position, and covers them. An older ork man bursts from the opposite side of the elevator car, trying to reach the shaft, but Fräulein hedges him out with a physical barrier spell.
They're eventually able to calm him down and explain the situation. They realize that he was locked in the shop at the same time things were going down in the mall. They're uncertain how long they can hole up here, but they make the room as secure as they can — they weld plate over the vents, move an elevator car to block the entrance door, and use the crane to load two disabled cars into the access shafts.
Meanwhile, Shirayuri uses a stimpatch to bring Liam up. He does not respond well to the news that Mae is dead. He takes his frustration out on an innocent dumpster. He doesn't have any problem when the group divvies up her possessions, as it's the practical thing to do and she would have approved.
They take a few hours to figure out where to go and what to do, eventually deciding to check out the VTOL exits on Level 6 before thinking about any more specific rescue plans. While they're strategizing, they determine the Kid did know they were coming, though he doesn't actually speak to them (he only shakes his head or nods).
Baby Please Come Home
| Who | Fräulein Ärtzin, Garbo, Liam, Shirayuri, Loki, KANZAKI Kazuki, Jordan Muraro |
| When | Friday, December 19, 2059 (Day 1) |
| Where | Residential Sector, SCIRE, Level 10 |
Once they're ready to head out, Shirayuri bypasses the maglock keeping them in and they head out. Almost immediately, Loki stumbles over a lifted edge of the hallway carpet. Shirayuri realizes that the carpet is wrong for this floor. Mr. Muraro claims it didn't look like this when he got to work in the morning; together they realize it's somehow be set back to "original factory specifications". At this point, Mr. Muraro requests a gun. They give him Mae's H&K XM30, and he seems comfortable with the complicated weapon system.
The group fans out to inspect the immediate vicinity. They discover none of the standard door nameplates have any information on them — they usually indicate who lives in each unit. Shirayuri gets them into the one of the units, which appears to be reset just like the hallways. The fridges are full of neatly arranged foods, the closets are full of basic clothing for a family of four, and so on. They check a couple more rooms, and find the same. They figure its a good opportunity to load up on provisions.
From there, they move to the next section, looking for a stairway. They're only briefly stopped by the security gate, quickly realizing none of the mechanism has been installed — just the gate itself and the control panel. They easily lift the gate and make their way into the rest of the SCIRE.