Ice Cream Run
| Staring | Template:PCs |
| 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, who had recently extracted the target's mother from a Renraku facility in Japan.
With other 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
| Who | Template:PCs, Loki, Mae |
| When | Friday, December 19, 2059 (Day 1) |
| Where | SCIRE, Level 3, Mall |
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, and equipped with an internal air supply to protect the kid should the escape go sideways.
Run Run Rudolph
| Who | Template:PCs, Loki, Mae, KANZAKI Kazuki |
| When | Friday, December 19, 2059 (Day 1) |
| Where | SCIRE, Level 3, Mall |
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 Renraku 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 | Template:PCs, Loki, Mae, KANZAKI Kazuki |
| When | Friday, December 19, 2059 (Day 1) |
| Where | SCIRE, Level 3, Mall |
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. The team and their package escape upwards.
Behind them, the spider drones stow thier weapons and begin neatly organizing the unconcious.
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 | Template:PCs, Loki, KANZAKI Kazuki, Jordan Muraro |
| When | Friday, December 19, 2059 (Day 1) |
| Where | SCIRE, Level 3, Mall |
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Duis quis metus nunc. Fusce est libero, interdum vel iaculis et, blandit quis odio. Integer ac magna nunc. In quis libero purus. Praesent mattis eget justo in efficitur. Aenean tempor congue dictum. Mauris hendrerit nunc a auctor dictum. Maecenas auctor eu urna blandit lobortis. Aenean maximus ante vel pretium congue. Sed et turpis vel ipsum condimentum laoreet sit amet vel nisi. Nulla non vulputate arcu, sit amet pellentesque elit. Pellentesque ac tortor viverra, finibus est ac, varius urna. Donec sagittis, elit sit amet sagittis tempor, nibh arcu blandit magna, ut aliquam metus lacus non ligula. Vivamus et ligula quis magna luctus imperdiet.
Baby Please Come Home
| Who | Template:PCs, KANZAKI Kazuki, Jordan Muraro |
| When | Friday, December 19, 2059 (Day 1) |
| Where | SCIRE, Level 3, Mall |
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Duis quis metus nunc. Fusce est libero, interdum vel iaculis et, blandit quis odio. Integer ac magna nunc. In quis libero purus. Praesent mattis eget justo in efficitur. Aenean tempor congue dictum. Mauris hendrerit nunc a auctor dictum. Maecenas auctor eu urna blandit lobortis. Aenean maximus ante vel pretium congue. Sed et turpis vel ipsum condimentum laoreet sit amet vel nisi. Nulla non vulputate arcu, sit amet pellentesque elit. Pellentesque ac tortor viverra, finibus est ac, varius urna. Donec sagittis, elit sit amet sagittis tempor, nibh arcu blandit magna, ut aliquam metus lacus non ligula. Vivamus et ligula quis magna luctus imperdiet.