S01E04

Season 1, Episode 4
Happy Holiday, Citizen

Staring	Fräulein Ärtzin, Garbo, Liam, Shirayuri
With	Saffron Cade
And	KANZAKI Kazuki, Jordan Muraro, Hyalmánúra Melehtë, Sharp
Introducing	AOYAMA Akari, Geneviève Bunker, Arthur Gold, HIMURA Aoi, Mukami Hyland, MIYASHITA Amethyst, WATANABE Nobutoshi
Previous Episode	S01E03 – Attention Renraku Shoppers
Next Episode	S01E05 – Medical Coverage Exceeded

Concerned that they may have revealed themselves and their allies during their brief captivity, the team lays low for a couple of days.

Once they're secure in the belief they haven't been found or followed, they head back out into the SCIRE. They're ultimately bound for the higher floors, hoping to find Shirayuri's family, but become embroiled in an inexplicable experiment along the way.

Session 1 - 2023/05/04

---

Scene 1
Laying Low, Making Plans

Who	Fräulein Ärtzin, Garbo, Liam, Shirayuri, AOYAMA Akari, Geneviève Bunker, Saffron Cade, Arthur Gold, KANZAKI Kazuki, HIMURA Aoi, Mukami Hyland, Hyalmánúra Melehtë, MIYASHITA Amethyst, Jordan Muraro, Sharp, WATANABE Nobutoshi
When	Monday, December 22, 2059 (Day 4) through Wednesday, December 24, 2059 (Day 6)
Where	SCIRE, Level 24‌

The team spends a few days making their chosen residence more comfortable, or at least more organized. Liam demonstrates his adept powers by knock down the walls between two office units, while Shirayuri and Fräulein cobble together a security system using the smartlink cameras they acquired.

They spend some time figuring out who's in charge should something happen when the 'runners are off-site. They eventually settle on Mr. Muraro being in charge — the Japanese and Renraku members of the team respect him as an elder, and the runners' apparent trust in him reassures the others. They also decide that a bowling alley on Level 22‌ will be the designated fallback point.

Garbo puts his organizational skills to use arranging training cadres for the new team members. It's both a way to get everybody integrated and working together and a method of shoring up the self-defense skills of the majority non-shadowrunning members of the group.

• Shirayuri — AOYAMA Akari, KANZAKI Kazuki, Arthur Gold
• Garbo — Saffron Cade, HIMURA Aoi, MIYASHITA Amethyst
• Liam — Hyalmánúra Melehtë, Mukami Hyland, Sharp
• Fräulein — Geneviève Bunker, Jordan Muraro, WATANABE Nobutoshi

Session 2 - 2023/05/11

---

Scene 2
Christmas Surprise

Who	Fräulein Ärtzin, Garbo, Liam, Shirayuri, Saffron Cade, MIYASHITA Amethyst
When	Thursday, December 25, 2059 (Day 7)
Where	Atrium, SCIRE, Level 31‌

The team, along with Saffron and Amethyst (who's sour nature has earned the nickname Salty Ami to distinguish her from Snobby Ami). She suggests heading towards the perimeter of the SCIRE, as they're typically open air affairs within a given superblock, so there's no provision for between-level security doors like the interior spaces have.

They have good luck avoiding contact between Level 24‌ and Level 31‌ — the three-unit Dervish patrols seem to be somewhat myopic, and may be more of a ready-reaction force than actual patrols.

In the atrium itself, they are spotted by team of four Blues on patrol and engage. When Shirayuri attempts to outflank them by using her speed to go around the central staircase, she stumbles on a group of Dervishes who activate and join the fight. They're able to fight off the guards and drones, though Fraulein is caught out by their gas grenades.

Just as they're trying to figure out next moves, a new type of drone leaps down from the level above.

Session 3 - 2023/05/18

---

Scene 3
Christmas Surprise, Continued

Who	Fräulein Ärtzin, Garbo, Liam, Shirayuri, Saffron Cade, MIYASHITA Amethyst
When	Thursday, December 25, 2059 (Day 7)
Where	Atrium, SCIRE, Level 31‌

The never before seen drone, which will later be dubbed a Medusa or a Killer Kangaroo leaps from a higher tier of the atrium directly into the middle of the group. Fräulein is still suffering from the effects of the gas grenades the guards attacked with, and has trouble contributing. When they discover the drone has some sort of electrically charged exterior, Shirayuri is disadvantaged.

Ultimately, the team is victorious, but not without effort. They head upwards, resting in a movie theatre on Level 45‌ before continuing further.

---

Scene 4
Carol of the Bells

Who	Fräulein Ärtzin, Garbo, Liam, Shirayuri, Saffron Cade, MIYASHITA Amethyst
When	Thursday, December 25, 2059 (Day 7)
Where	SCIRE, Level 55‌

On Level 55‌, the team hears a few isolated gunshots. They head towards it to investigate, but soon encounter security shutters. They scout the perimeter, determining that a 7-by-7 block of sectors is similarly sealed off by security shutters. A quick check of the nearest few blocks above and below indicates the cordoned off area extends from Level 54‌ to Level 56‌.

Fräulein astrally scouts the area. She finds a smaller group of seemingly wealthy citizens (based on dress), well-armed but showing obvious hunger, with a barricade protecting them from a larger number of well-fed but less-wealthy appearing people. She also notes that there are no children present — she pegs the youngest person she spots as 16 or 17. Rough math leads Amethyst to point out that there roughly 50% more people than expected in this area, and per the original SCIRE directory, this should be a blue-collar residential floor, so the wealthy folks are out of place.

The team decides to make contact; Shirayuri makes short work of the security shutters maglocks and they head inside. When they're discovered, Fräulein and Liam immediately go on the offensive. The citizens shouting something about the "rich bastards breaching their lines and flanking them" and respond in kind — with violence.

Garbo tries to get them to surrender, but there are too many of them and they're seemingly too angry to respond to his powers. Shirayuri doesn't understand why they're all so immediately violent, until she is attacked (ineffectually) by Amethyst. Discovering something is amiss, they fall back to regroup. As soon as they do, they're no longer feeling so angry or jumpy.

After some thought, they figure out that it's some sort of ultrasonic/infrasonic device that must be messing their anger impulses — Saffron never entered the area, Shirayuri was wearing her filter-equipped headphones, and Garbo was just lucky. Fräulein and Shirayuri cobble together a disruptor from a white noise generator and Shirayuri's headphones, though they anticipate the effective radius being limited.

Session 4 - 2023/06/08

---

Scene 5
Hark The Herald

Who	Fräulein Ärtzin, Garbo, Liam, Shirayuri, Saffron Cade, MIYASHITA Amethyst
When	Friday, December 26, 2059 (Day 8)
Where	SCIRE, Level 55‌

The team does another circuit of the perimeter, with Fräulein doing some astral sweeps. The rest of the floor appears unpopulated, at least as far as they were willing to explore. Once she has a better idea of where they are, Amethyst is able to determine there is a power transfer station at the center of the area. The group decides this must be the source of the signal, and even if it isn't, killing power in the area should kill whatever devices are generating the tone.

They decide to enter the area from the south, hoping that people there weren't awakened by their earlier incursion. They find another barricade and hit it with stunball spells and gas grenades. This precipitates the "Poor" attacking the "Rich", this group believing the 'runners are on their side rather than a flanking maneuver.

The team's counter-tone generator works just as well on the civilians as it does the 'runners. They are clearly confused by the change, but three of them fall in with the team and join them — Eloise Brady, her son Langdon, and OGAWA Ryōta, a Korobokuru.

Session 5 - 2023/06/15

---

Scene 6
Silent Night

Who	Fräulein Ärtzin, Garbo, Liam, Shirayuri, Eloise Brady, Langdon Brady, Saffron Cade, MIYASHITA Amethyst, OGAWA Ryōta
When	Friday, December 26, 2059 (Day 8)
Where	Power Distribution Room, SCIRE, Level 55‌

They reach the center of the experiment zone, and realize that they've approached the power room from the wrong side — they're looking at a wall. Knowing that all sorts of angry people are likely to be hot on their heels, Liam smashes through the wall... only to find a two meter gap (the between megalift space) and another wall. He smashes through the second wall, and they enter the power room.

They engage the guards and technicians on duty, initially having some trouble due to the guards superior positions and the extreme aggression of the technicians. Unknown to the characters, they had been equipped with autoinjectors loading K-10, remotely triggered.

When reinforcements being pouring in, Fräulein throws a massive lightning ball out into the hallway. It decimates their forces, but is large enough to backflow into the room. Two of the four generators overload and explode, causing shrapnel damage to everybody in the room as well, including much of the team, taking out Fräulein herself.

The last remaining threat is a magician that was among the guards. It takes the combined efforts of Liam, Garbo, and Shirayuri to take her down. With the facility damaged, the aggression-causing tones are no longer being generated, and the team makes their escape.

References

Episodes:

• Previous: S01E03 – Attention Renraku Shoppers
• Next: S01E05 – Medical Coverage Exceeded