S01E08

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It was last edited Tuesday, March 19, 2024 by Arcology Expert Program.

Season 1, Episode 8
Valid Identification Required

Staring	Fräulein Ärtzin, Garbo, Liam, Shirayuri
With	Dropbox, Lab Lady, Optics, Rocksteady, Snapshot
And	Saffron Cade, MOMOKU Shinko, HOTARU Invae
Introducing	deepColour
Previous Episode	S01E07 – Incompatible Atmospheric Conditions
Next Episode	S01E09 – Success Requires Sacrifice

Session 1 - 2024/02/08

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Scene 1
Winter Holiday Break

Who	deepColour
When	Friday, December 19, 2059 (Day 1) through Friday, January 2, 2060 (Day 15)
Where	Skate Park, SCIRE, Level 1‌ and Residential District, SCIRE, Level 66‌

When the Shutdown first began, Alejandro Cruz was wasting time in the skate park, preparing to enjoy his winter holiday break with some friends from outside the Arcology. One of them has just arrived when all hell breaks loose. Alejandro loses him in the chaos, but manages to avoid being tranquilized by a Dervish and swept up by the spiders.

He spent a few days hiding in the air ducts within the mall levels, sneaking out to gather equipment, supplies, and information before trying to find his way higher in the arcology. It took him just over a week of dodging patrols and moving at night to reach his home on Level 66‌, only to find the entire floor abandoned, without power, and his mother missing.

From there, he heads out with the aim of getting higher in the arcology with hopes of finding his mother and getting a signal to the outside world, to let them know what's happening.

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Scene 2
Class Is In Session

Who	Fräulein Ärtzin, Garbo, Liam, Shirayuri, Saffron Cade, Dropbox, Lab Lady, Optics, Rocksteady, Snapshot
When	Saturday, January 3, 2060 (Day 16)
Where	Educational District, SCIRE, Level 68‌

As the group arrives on Level 68‌, Fräulein spots a human male with high-grade cyberoptics and a human female in a high-fashion overcoat setting up outside a room. From whispered conversation, they appear to be talking to at least two others, prepping to jump a lone Blue.

Knowing that Blues never travel alone, always in groups of four, Liam attempts to intercede, revealing himself two two more individuals — a dwarf woman in a suit armed with an assault rifle and an ork male wielding a stun baton. Believing they are being ambushed from behind, there's a brief exchange of violence before Liam and Garbo are talk them down. A fifth person, likely their leader, somewhere in the shadows with a high-power rifle puts a laser sight on Shirayuri's chest but gets her people to stand down.

It only lasts long enough for Fräulein to reveal herself. Her small size makes them believe she's one of the Whites, and violence resumes. Liam is able to bring it to a halt again when he recognizes the group of five as other shadowrunners — Optics, Lab Lady, Dropbox, Rocksteady, and presumably Snapshot hiding in the dark with a rifle. When he identifies himself, they recognize the name and Rocksteady (the one who called out at Fräulein's arrival) realizes who Fräulein is, apologizing profusely.

Throughout this whole back-and-forth, deepColour attempts to remain unengaged and uninvolved, but find himself trapped square in the middle of the battle lines. Once it cools down though, he introduces himself to both teams and helps them find a better place to hide out while they exchange information.

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Scene 3
School's Out For The Weekend

Who	Fräulein Ärtzin, Garbo, Liam, Shirayuri, Saffron Cade, Dropbox, Lab Lady, Optics, Rocksteady, Snapshot
When	Saturday, January 3, 2060 (Day 16)
Where	Educational District, SCIRE, Level 68‌

Hunkering down in a different unit, away from the main stairwell, they two teams share what information they know. The five runners explain that they're here because a sixth member of their team, thier mage Twilight, called them about an hour and a half before the shutdown began. She was married to and has a child with a Renraku SINner, and her child had gone missing — something that should be a virtual impossibility in the SCIRE. They're underequipped (both Lab Lady and Dropbox usually operate as drone commanders), because they had figured they would be meeting Twilight in the arcology to gather information then follow leads elsewhere.

They also relate what they know about the Greens, Blues, and Whites. Most of it is information the runners already had, though confirmation that there are multiple Whites beyond just Oracle gives meaning to a statement made by Saoriko. They still don't have any information about why the Whites all seem to be children or why they appear to be in positions of authority.

Fräulein, Garbo, Liam, and Shirayuri explain their encounters, including what they've learned of the drones — the other team has seen Work Spiders and Dervishes, but has not yet run afoul of a Medusa. They've also managed to avoid any traps like the honeypot and maze on Level 61‌. They also talk about how they haven't been able to use elevator shafts or stairways to access Level 71‌; all the shafts they've found are welded shut at or just above the floor, and any elevators they have been able to

Tapping deepColour's knowledge of the SCIRE's layout, the two teams decide different routes. Fräulein and company (including deepColour) plan to use one of the three-level hydroponic lab facilities to bypass the tightly sealed Level 72‌, while Snapshot and her team will head for the perimeter and try to ascend via one of the exterior atriums.

Session 2 - 2024/02/15

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Scene 4
After School Activities

Who	Fräulein Ärtzin, Garbo, Liam, Shirayuri, Saffron Cade
When	Sunday, January 4, 2060 (Day 17)
Where	Hydroponics Lab, Level 71‌ and Level 73‌

Currently in a populated area of the arcology, the team travels at night. They find a pair of Work Spiders posted directly outside the laboratory they need to access, but swiftly determine they're in charging mode and in truth they offer little threat to Shirayuri or Liam. deepColour and Shirayuri prove to be a good team, breaking into the lab in record time.

Inside they lab, they discover equipment similar to the gardens, just scaled down in quantity — hydroponic racks, aeroponic planters, and smaller hydroponic tree orchards — plus algae cultivation vats, individual scientific workstations, and offices and private laboratories for higher tier scientists. The main work floor has a catwalk one level up, and a mezzanine above.

They swiftly notice that one of the private laboratories, on the catwalk level, appears to be occupied. They attempt to sneak past without arousing notice. As the person makes their way towards the upper level, too, lights turning on as they move. The group realizes that the lights must be PAN-based, activating and deactivating as the person moves — their lack of wireless signals is why the lights don't respond to them.

While the person disappears into a room on the Level 73‌ mezzanine (a bathroom, unknown to the group), Liam spots four Blues on patrol. Most of the team hides, but Shirayuri, perhaps seeing combat as inevitable, readies for battle. deepColour deploys his jammer to prevent the Blues from sounding the alarm immediately, but it is ultimately in vain. During the fight, the Green technician is able to move freely and one of the four Blues gets far enough away he's able to call it in. Shirayuri gave chase, but even she cannot outrun wireless signals.

Session 3 - 2024/02/22

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Scene 5
School Yard Bullies

Who	Fräulein Ärtzin, Garbo, Liam, Shirayuri, Saffron Cade
When	Sunday, January 4, 2060 (Day 17)
Where	SCIRE, Level 73‌

The group is chased from the lab entrance by two groups of Dervishes. They're able to destroy the triads, but the only way out is back the way they came, so they press deeper into Level 73‌. deepColour's knowledge of the SCIRE layout lets him know there is a main stairwell only three megalifts away.

They press on through another laboratory section, blowing through another Dervish triad and entering an office sector. They find heavy resistance to their presence, likely arriving via the same stairway they were hoping to use. There are nearly two dozen regular Blue security forces, including two high threat response units. The volume of fire and the heavy armor of the HRT troops brings thier progress to a standstill, and in fact starts pushing them back.

From behind them, a female voice calls out in Japanese, claiming that she can help them, if they promise to help her friend. The only one in position to respond, Fräulein agrees. The woman uses magic to make the group invisible to the Blues, and the team escapes in the confusion.

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Scene 6
Saved by the Belle

Who	Fräulein Ärtzin, Garbo, Liam, Shirayuri, Saffron Cade, MOMOKU Shinko, HOTARU Invae
When	Sunday, January 4, 2060 (Day 17)
Where	Elevator Hub, SCIRE, Level 75‌

The woman leads the team into the elevator system, guiding them through the transverse shafts into an elevator hub, a single megalift filled with nothing but elevator shafts and transfer gear, designed to facilitate horizontal transitions around the various human-occupied spaces.

At one point, she steps across open air without a thought. Despite having assensed her as mundane, this leads Fräulein to believe she may be a free spirit, rather than a magician. There would have been some indication of casting if she were using levitation magic.

The woman, who introduces herself as Hotaru, leads the group to her friend (Shinko), who is lying unconscious on a collection of metal plates strung up on cargo netting between the elevator rails. Fräulein uses her astral senses to attempt to diagnose the issue: she realizes that he has heavily augmented musculature plus some headware, and he is unconcious because he's starving... and he's a ghoul. Saffron immediately backs away at the revelation, while Liam has dealt with ghouls before and is more reserved.

Fräulein explains the situation to the group, and convinces Shirayuri to go out and find something for him to eat. While she's gone, Hotaru explains that she and Shinko escaped from higher in the arcology "about three counts of hands" ago, and that he believes they'll be able to find a way out once they reach the ground floor. Once Shiranyui returns, Hotaru takes care of the butchering and the feeding.

The group takes the much-needed opportunity to sleep, though Fräulein's sleep regulator allows her to skip it for the evening. Astonishingly, she realizes Hotaru is asleep which doesn't fit with the earlier free spirit guess. Fräulein examines her on the astral again, discovering that Hotaru is not a free spirit, but invae, a bug spirit.

Session 4 - 2024/02/29

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Scene 7
First in Class

Who	Fräulein Ärtzin, Garbo, Liam, Shirayuri, Saffron Cade, MOMOKU Shinko, HOTARU Invae
When	Monday, January 5, 2060 (Day 18)
Where	SCIRE, Level 73‌

Mothers and Queens

 ^[edit]

Liam and Garbo are aware of two different structures within the invae — hives and nests. Both are initially created by a metahuman insect shaman, but how they develop from there differs slightly.

Hives are lead by a queen, summoned by the shaman into a specially chosen host. Once the shaman has brought over a queen, his usefulness is usually at an end — he can only ever bring over a single queen. The queen takes over the entire hive, sometimes even killing the shaman. Every spirit in the hive is subservient to the queen and almost directly under her control. Killing her kills any true-form spirits, leaves hybrid- and flesh-forms bereft of guidance, and destroys the summoner's capability to use magic forever.

Nests are a much smaller affair, some even so small as a solitary spirit. Individually, nesting invae are far more independent, intelligent, and adaptable than hive-based invae. Instead of a Queen, a shaman of a nesting insect spirit can turn an existing nymph into a Mother. The death of a Mother doesn't have the same destructive effects as the death of a Queen, except for the shaman. In fact, while a shaman can create more than one Mother, most do not, as the destruction of any one has the same consequences for the shaman as the destruction of a Queen.

Fräulein decides to wake up Liam before the others to inform him of her discovery. Liam's experience with bug spirits makes him think something is off; the only way a bug spirit should be "asleep" is if something knocked the entire hive, including the queen, into torpor. As they were discussing things, deepColour, Shirayuri, wake up and eventually Shirayuri chimes in about why Shinko was not eaten.

Shinko the reveals that he's been awake for quite some time, and they could just ask. He explains that he has been held in a lab up in the 200s for the last eighteen months, since he was exposed to Kreiger-strain HMHVV on the job. He does not think normal Renraku guys are in charge ; as a chauffeur and bodyguard for Renraku Johnsons, he was part of the security apparatus and their behavior doesn't match the Renraku playbook anymore.

When asked how he got free, he explains that about two weeks ago — placing it right around the time the shutdown began — there was a failure in the lab's security system. Hotaru was able to escape her cell and Shinko promised he could get them both out of the arcology if they worked together.

While this conversation is going on, Garbo has surreptitiously drawn his weapon. Fräulein and deepColour notice, as does Hotaru (who responds by hiding behind Shinko, despite that fact that she's nearly immune to handguns). After a tense moment Garbo, is convinced to join deepColour in working on jury rigging an elevator car.

Shinko goes on to explain that there is extensive construction between Level 130‌ and Level 150‌, and doesn't think the team will be able to penetrate that level — he and Hotaru only made it by virtue of her magical concealment abilities.

Shinko also mentions his heavy armored Limo down below. T

Shinko realizes Hotaru is not a name, but a label, but Hotaru things Hotaru Invae is her name because it was on her door. Shinko and Hotaru will go down to Garage and try to leave there way, group is going to continue up.

References

Episodes:

• Previous: S01E07 – Incompatible Atmospheric Conditions
• Next: S01E09 – Success Requires Sacrifice