>>650055
I would say yes. She said terrible things would happen to her if a moldie got away under her watch again.

...we need to figure out what to do about her family. Maybe we can make a deal with the nicer lady in power in the Bureau, to keep Monica and her family safe. Maybe we won't even be taking Monica with us.

Well i have no idea how we're going to prepare for the end game, except maybe...


>And now can we now combined the filament whip and shock spick now please?
You know what, No, Fuck it, I'm going to stop asking

Sorry, Monica. She's the only one of us you have to treat like people.

You okay?

>>650052
Tell me Monica, what did you think was gonna happen?
How's this supposed to go down with Sara? Monica, there WAS a plan to deal with these two, right? I mean, hopefully not kill them next. That would be awful. Please don't.
I just... I need to kill a real target.
Get me the next job, might make the Sosa and Tai visit easier on us.

You know how it is, Monica. Can't get too attached in this business. How were you going to stop them from finding out?
...Let's just get ready for the next mission.

>>650052
"Let#s get this over with" is definitely the order of the day, in more ways than one. Wanting to go straight after Sandman would be understandable for everyone at the Bureau.

>Monica's holding back tears. "Fuck fuck fuck."
Go sit with her, offer wordless moldie comfort. This is the result of her fuckup, but she blames herself for not preventing it, and for giving you the orders she just did.

Here's an anti-pep talk to use:
"When you kill people, there's always someone still alive left over that notices they're gone. That leads to 'blowback' against the murderers and the people who support them. It's why I'm sure the Bureau's business model won't die easily, if ever: Every time they kill 'terrorists' they make other people angry, and some of them turn into more 'terrorists' to kill later. It's one of the reasons I try to avoid civilian casualties, and that's probably also a reason Sosa and 38-3 don't like me being restrained.
"I don't fully know why I was ordered to kill Keisha Calhoun, and right now we need to stay frosty and prepare for both the follow-up operations and the blowback from that. Even if there's no blowback and no follow-up operations, we still need to get ready for the rest of our operations against the Fantomas. And then we have to be ready for 38-3 coming to visit. Come on Monica, I know people dying hurts you more than it hurts me but if you curl up and cry while the wolves are circling like this we're as good as dead. Now come on, according to Sosa's playbook I'm the gun and you're the shooter. Where are we aiming next?"

Even odds Pen is next once no-face shows up.

"Time to get back to work, Monica. Do we know where Sandman is and how to kill him in the next few hours, or are you planning to hand that job to 73-7 and 108-2?"

>>650077
>Well i have no idea how we're going to prepare for the end game, except maybe...

One last trip to the Black Stalls, to obtain all the counter-suppress shell upgrades they have available. Surely 38-3's body is infested with all the best tech that Sosa's patronage can buy, and we can now match that for ourselves and our allies. More to the point, we can't really afford not to.

Maybe pick up some other equipment too, and get DA's remote shutdown yanked out like a rotten tooth, as long as you're in there. Remember that ridiculous claw glove/dart launcher thing? You can actually afford to keep it loaded, now!

Wire 2015/06/24(Wed)12:50 No. 650470 ID: f68a09
File 143517542413.png - (13.50KB , 960x560 , 266.png )

"you ok?"
She swallows. "No."
"nothing we can do." 73-6 watches Penelope go. "except the job. sandman next, right?"

"What?" Monica snaps out of it. "Right. Right." She pulls her phone out and heads toward the door. 73-6 follows.
"Sandman Sandler. Last on the list." She's messaging someone. "Sara and I are preparing the briefing for him."
"how's sara holding up?"
"I don't know. Haven't told her yet, haven't asked if she's figured it out. We will jump that hurdle when we reach that hurdle." She stops and turns around. "This wasn't my call, 73-6."
"i know."
"This was not my idea."
"i didn't say it was."
"I never--" She trails off, looks at him almost pleadingly, then snaps her head back to her phone and keeps walking. "When are you thinking we do Sandman?"
"asap."
"There was a plan for getting him this weekend," she says. "Rally thing."
"needs to be sooner. before 38-3."
Her frail veneer of calm cracks. "Well I don't fucking know then."
73-6 obediently shuts up as they round another corner.
"You're probably right, though." She sheepishly puts her phone away. "We'll go over what we have on him and plot something out. It might have to be an assault on his office. Which would be bad."
"better than nothing."
"Better than nothing." She nods. "Look one assassination is enough for the day. And whatever Tai has to say to you tomorrow is important enough that we should wait on it. You're dismissed for now. Go-- I don't know. I'll be at Waterfall."

Go visit the armory. Invite 88-1 down too. It's planning time.

>It might have to be an assault on his office.
Doesn't he ever leave his office for lunch? Or to talk to other people? We might be able to hit him in transit.

...or when he has to use the bathroom.

>I don't know. I'll be at Waterfall.
I'll give you some time to think. I'll be around to plot, later. I'll make sure things don't explode with her.

>what do
Go talk with Penn. You got some 'spaining to do.

Like how Sosa ordered her girl dead as payback. Apparently he's upset about the baldie at the party who was shouting his name before you shot him.

Wire 2015/06/24(Wed)23:03 No. 650600 ID: f68a09
File 143521218561.png - (13.06KB , 960x560 , 267.png )

73-6 wires for 88-1 to meet him and Penelope at the armory and heads down, already prepping the loop he's going to need for the security camera in there.

"Hot damn," Penelope wires as 73-6 slips into the armory with 88-1 in tow. "We got us a little conspiracy."
"Hey." 88-1 leans on an empty gun rack. "I'm just the hired help."
"welcome penelope to the underground moldy railroad." 73-6 double-checks his safeguards. "probably this looping you in thing was overdue."
"No es nada. Can I just say how grateful I am that I'm apparently not the only one who thinks this is kind of a bullshit outfit?"
"seconded."
"I dunno." 88-1 shifts his weight. "Still has that new-leather smell."
"Here I thought we were all good little tin soldados."
"nope," 73-6 wires. "sandman is in all likelihood our last mission. whatever happens next has to happen before 38-3 shows up in three days or my suspicion is we're kind of fucked. sosa's the guy we're up against."
"He the one ordered the hit on Keesh?"
"he is. and dartline alchemist has agreed to help us out in exchange for his head."
"We killing Sosa, huh." Penelope grins. "This is getting exciting."
"now i have a safehouse we can hide in for a while," 73-6 wires. "that's where i've got keesh stored. i have dartline alchemist on our side, i have an embarrassing amount of cash, i have you two, i have the best hacking suite in the bureau, i have a famous bureau veteran on speed dial, i have maybe, maybe a favor with tai jiaying unless i torpedoed that, and i have the limited ear of a weird cyberspace ai."
"Chrome-plated," 88-1 wires, approvingly. "You got a plan?"
"i was getting to that," 73-6 says.

He clears his throat.
Does he have a plan?

>>650600
I wouldn't call it a plan but we do have a lot of money and we could go visit the Stalls. If we might end up needing to go frontal assault on Sandman, we'll probably need some heavy firepower.

>>650600
The stalls. Shopping trip. Go a little crazy.
Penelope, want to get in some some illegal upgrades? See if we can't make you into the Nobunaga to my NEO? I'd use a movie reference here, but the most renowned samurai for being fucking crazy overpowered is that power-mad Japanese son of a bitch Oda. Just so you know, that shell upgrade will be the worst goddamn thing you ever feel in your life.

88... uhh, well you know you're pretty much the Heavy if we're making class jokes, we should probably get in on that for you... so, I guess you're Hulk.

Okay, so Neo, Oda Nobunaga, and the Hulk walk into the bureau... and that's the plan.

The Bureau makes a business out of bringing people back, right? We've deduced that the 'new personality' thing might be entirely optional. When we get rid of Sosa, we gotta make sure there isn't enough left of him to fill even a robot body.

>>650600
I think it's time to start digging up dirt on the Bureau. If you know shit they don't want getting out, you can have that set up on a dead man's switch so if they off you, it goes public.

Dirt like "hey guess who killed all those rich folks".

Well, part of the plan is hacking into the bureau, here. We probably need some kind of virus in the personnel files at least (they can't kill Monica's family if everyone who actually worked with her is dead or bugged out and all their records are dead).

Penn needs to stay disgruntled, on the surface.

If we're gonna kill Sosa, we need to make an opportunity for that. How we getting to him?

Ok to make a plan we need to start thinking of Jericho as an enemy fortress. What are its defenses, security measures, etc? What's keeping us from walking in, taking Sara, and walking back out? If Monica is on our side at the last moment, would that keep us from being chased by drone agents? What about uh, her co-worker? We'll have to knock him out probably.

>>650605
Or we could get Pen a super-strength upgrade on top of her speed so she can go all RUULES OF NAAATUUUUURE and throw stuff thrice her size.

The only way we can safely extract Monica involves making a convincing 'hit' apparently killing her. We've got no other way to prevent the bureau from being vindictive besides destroying it and all its competitors that act like it (not likely possible) or convincing it that would be a waste of money with no point.

It's all a bit up in the air until you know where you stand with Tai. You can begin by putting together a plan for Sandman, securing Jericho and laying the grounds for a feint. They're all smart enough to know you might be up to something so it might be a good idea to give them evidence that it's something less incriminating than the real escape plan.

Step one: 73-6 explains to Deneb that Sosa and Tai disagree about how the Bureau should be run, but have thus far been unable or unwilling to resolve the disupute like civilized people due to their unfamiliarity with Blastlands and lack of appropriate equipment in the real world.

Step two: 108-1 infiltrates an industrial-scale automated fabricator that could conceivably manufacture giant robots, and Sara does the technical work of opening it up to subversion by a deranged transhuman AI.

Step three: 88-1 interrupts the executive mecha kaiju duel by obliterating Sosa with a shoulder-fired ATGM.

We could get Tai to agree not to come after Monica's family specifically, and leave her behind. Monica doesn't *have to* come with us. Pen has to go because Keisha can't stay, and Sara has to go because Sev can't stay.

As for killing Sosa, we have that plastic gun. Sev could hide it on his person, figure out some excuse to talk to Sosa face to face, then assassinate him. Really, the biggest problem would be getting out afterwards. 14-1 might be able to help there.

We dig dirt and try for a blackmail thing. If things go south, Pen contacts her old agency, causing a shitstorm, a mad AI takes serious offence to the Bureau, Dartline will probably be off making his own trouble, everyone else skips out.

>>650600
Figure out where To Go. You can't stay here after this, especially with taking all your friends with you. Maybe go out on permanent vacation with your moldie friend, maybe go to another nation that's hostile with this one.

You have lots and lots of money but no favors *and* you killed a room full of execs. I'm certain the EMP you put out probably scrambled most of the data but people are gonna be looking.

So the prereqs are nowhere that's gonna ask digging questions about the money, and nowhere that may dig into why that pile of executives died (or be able to) while simultaneously not having any active Branch in there.

This should leave only a few narrow possibilities. Plan out escapes getting to every single one, and how to arrange getting everyone out (or at least if they stay having them live).

One of the plans may require beating the ever-loving shit out of Monica on the way out, or making it look like a kidnapping. Remember though: She WAS your handler and presumably has a lot of sensitive information that they would really want back as opposed to a skilled thug.

There's also the matter of schlupping the money around to a safe place, setting it up so it can be accessed as necessary, etc, etc.

Wire 2015/06/29(Mon)00:36 No. 651600 ID: f68a09
File 143556341485.png - (10.90KB , 960x560 , 268.png )

"okay." 73-6 takes a breath. "this is all up in the air until i know what tai's trying to get a hold of me to say but:

"first and foremost we finish what we started and kill sandman. that'll buy us enough good will that we can do what we have to do without as much overhead.

"we gotta hack into the bureau mainframe at jericho, find anything incriminating we can to start getting a little bit of blackmail over on our bosses, and give dartline alchemist access to our systems, which is what i agreed to do. that's not going to be easy but we'll figure it out.

"from there i can do one of two things:

"i can deactivate the countermeasures to keep us from all basically getting the hell out of here and going rogue. i need to convince monica to come with us or at least let us go, which is going to be a bitch all its own. if i can convince her she can order off the drones but otherwise we're gonna have to punch through them. we can lay low in my safehouse and wait for an opportunity to kill william sosa, which is the other thing i promised dartline i would do. objections?"

"Hell naw," Penelope says.
"Nosir," 88-1 agrees.

"sweet. tai jiaying would take over after that and chances are she'll be a lot more amenable to letting us go than sosa. or if she doesn't then we just dismantle the entire organization to keep them from coming after us. i'll have to figure that out talking to her tomorrow.

"option 2: we can live dangerously and stay at jericho, all calm on the outside, in order to find an opportunity to whack sosa. it'll probably be a lot easier if we're still inside the organization and thought of as friendlies. the problem there is that 38-3 is visiting jericho in 2 days, and i have absolutely no idea what he's going to do when he gets here but it can't be anything good.

"at some point we should all go to the stalls and get fucking loaded on shell upgrades. i can camouflage my less than legal ones, but i'm not sure if you guys can do the same, and if we just randomly show up juiced to hell we will raise all kinds of red flags so we should be careful on that score. whatever. one thing at a time. yeah?"

88-1 nods. "Fuck yeah, dude."
"cool. i'm going back to my post now. we should stagger it so it doesn't look like we've been talking to pen. pen that reminds me: you gotta act really pissed off at everyone for killing keesh. can you do that?"
"Course, hermano. I'll channel my inner gangbanger. Vaya con Dios."
"cool cool cool." 73-6 cracks his knuckles. He's full of nervous energy. "keep frosty, guys. we are getting the fuck out."

Wire 2015/06/29(Mon)00:37 No. 651601 ID: f68a09
File 143556344222.png - (11.56KB , 960x560 , 269.png )

He steps out of the hallway, closes the door, and nearly runs right into Sara.

"Oh!" she says. "Sev! Hi!"
"hey."
"What's up?"
"oh y'know." 73-6 tries to play cool. "checking the, uh." He knocks on the door. "the guns."
"Coolio. How are theeeee guns?"
"very deadly looking. check plus."
"Check plus!" Sara smiles nervously. They haven't exchanged more than a sentence or two since the night 73-6 made his feelings known. "I'm just goin' in and grabbing a fresh transmitter. There was all this weird interference today."

73-6 realizes that he can either reveal his whole big conspiracy to his boss's new right-hand woman and hope she goes along or distract her by doing the one thing he is most afraid of doing, which is have a conversation with her.

>>651601
Confront your fears.

Let's be honest, Sara wouldn't be much help in the conspiracy and I don't think she has much reason to go along with it. She's got a noncombat job and needs the money.

Ask her what kind of weird interference she's been having issues with. I wonder if it has anything to do with what's been going down? Like maybe the frequency the private wire is on is conflicting with the frequency the Bureau is using here?

>>651601
Do the conversation.

Then.

Be as AWKWARD and TIME CONSUMING as possible. If you 'win' she'll stutter nervously and then run away.

Find out where this interference she is talking about is coming from. Could be something important.

Also just talk to her.

>>651601
Conversation. You need to feel her out before you can think of talking treason with her.

Because if you tell her and she doesn't go along, that means you have to kill her. Or worse, hack the shit out of her, take control of her systems, and leave her a silently screaming prisoner in her own body to preserve your cover.

>>651631
It's probably us. But it doesn't hurt to check. You might be able to cover your tracks even better with this information.
Embrace the awkward, Sev! No not literally, that is way too forward right now.

No-no, don't show her the cards just yet. One thing we all need right now is to look natural, like nothing is happening. Sara isn't an integral part of the escape plan (yet), she doesn't have to look all distressed and stiff for no good reason.

And come on, Sev. Fear can be exploited. Fear gives others ways to manipulate you. If you don't want to get over it for Sara's sake then do it for your own sake.

Wire 2015/06/29(Mon)23:26 No. 651857 ID: f68a09
File 143564558432.png - (10.65KB , 960x560 , 270.png )

"interference, huh? jeez. wow. that is wow. not good." 73-6 blinks. "do we know what caused that interference?"

"Uhh, yah." Sara says. "Right after you breached into the conference room. Remember? The EMP you mentioned I think did it and it just went like, booosh."
"oh. right. right. boosh."
"We couldn't even hear you for a few minutes. Now there's like kind of a ringy scratchy thing that happens. So I'm just gonna... replace it. So."
"so." 73-6 is rooted to the door.
"Sooooo can you scoot over a bit? It's in there."

Shit shit shit

Actually you know what she isn't talking to you about Keisha, you can broach that topic. Tell her you want to talk about that.

"Uhh... have you tried just turning it off then on again?"
You're running low on stall topics. Face your fears and just apologize. For... making things weird between you. (Even weirder than she may realize.)

Mind if I take a look at it for a second?

If we hack her to check the problem, we only need to loop or fake her sensors for a moment to give our buds the chance to leave our secret meeting without being seen.

Distraction! Actually, you need to talk with Sara for a second. About Monica. She seems really stressed out. Is there anything you should know? Duck in a side room.

Y'know what, let's just drop the whole act here and clue Sara in. Sabotage and deceit are for dealing with enemies, not friends, and we're planning on getting sara out too right? So lying now is gonna lead us to having to reveal the truth at an inopportune time and that's going to be a whole can of worms in and of itself. And we have to do it diplomatically as well, to show that we trust her, because that'll probably make her more open to what you're trying to do. Acting weathered and jaded by the whole series of events so far when you come clean will probably earn you sympathy points as well. Although, if she decides to rat us out, I'm pretty sure we can just knock her out and wipe her memories of the conversation with Sev's 1337 hax anyway.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaa look at those hips

>>651857
Hate to ruin the mood, but are you sure she behaves like Sara? And that this isn't 38-3?

>>651927
lol

>>651927
How do we know that's 73-6? Maybe we're 38-3.

>>651927
Sara's a robot, and one we've hacked before at that. Her systems show up on our hack-dar. 38-3 isn't a hacker- he couldn't spoof that without considerable outside help.

Wire 2015/06/30(Tue)19:14 No. 652113 ID: f68a09
File 143571688610.png - (9.25KB , 960x560 , 271.png )

"hhhhave you tried turning it off and on again?"
"I don't think so. Monica just wanted to compare between ours and a storage one."
"maybe i could take a look?"
"Do you think you could fix it?"
"maybe!"
"Cool. I'm just gonna grab a backup just in case and then we can go to the control room."

"actually um speaking um of fixing things." 73-6 can feel sweat sliding down the side of his trenchcoat. "about the there was the um i wanted to talk to you and apologize to you about the other night."
"Oh--"
"uh, so..."
"Oh, it's ok." Her mouth says smile and her eyes say panic.
"but no for real i'm sorry. i didn't mean to, uh, that is i hope that it didn't make things weird. or if it did that we can quickly move on, um full steam ahead, tooooo... yeah. sorry."
"No no it's OK. I mean I'M really sorry," Sara says. "I mean no it's totally OK. I'm not, like-- actually I was-- I was wondering if..." She trails off. "I was actually wondering if... um...."

Wire 2015/06/30(Tue)19:15 No. 652115 ID: f68a09
File 143571693338.png - (8.04KB , 960x560 , 272.png )

"You know I'm just going to go and I'm gonna try turning it off and on again and see if that works," she says, brightly. "That's-- we'll see if that helps. Thanks for the suggestion!"

"no problem."

"OK! Cool! I'll see you around, Sev! I mean you can come up and check and see if you want to fix it at some point if you want! And I'll be there to help! If you want! So um later skater!"

"bye. uh later."

"Bye!"

Wire 2015/06/30(Tue)19:15 No. 652117 ID: f68a09
File 143571693898.png - (6.29KB , 960x560 , 273.png )

That was a close one and also very weird.

She is just as nervous as you are about this stuff. Honestly keeping her in the dark as long as possible is probably the best idea.

Just make sure you protect her so that no one can use her as a hostage against you later.

Did you just die of embarrassment and awkwardness. Are you 73-7 now.

Congratulations Sev, you have successfully weaponized awkwardness!
Her offer is intriguing. Maybe we should take her up on it, after, uh, whatever thing we had to do. Did we have a thing? If not, we have yet to review the information we pulled off Sara's handler terminal. Search that for backdoors you or Dartline can use.

lol that was beautiful.

>>652115
Did, she, uh.

Invite you to her room? Well there's a possibly fun offer.

Between trying not to be brutally murdered of course.

Wire 2015/07/01(Wed)11:47 No. 652244 ID: f68a09
File 143577642266.png - (12.51KB , 960x560 , 274.png )

73-6 slips away from the Armory and tries not to think about Sara.
Instead, he takes the opportunity to use his down time going over the data he pulled from her internal Handler Terminal to see if there's something he can use.

With his master hacking, 73-6 can:
+Remotely lock any of his handlers completely out of their system at any time
+Spoof or deactivate the Control Desk's view of their cameras
+Overwrite, modify, or delete Jericho's current mission parameters or mission logs
+Overwrite, modify, or delete his or any other employee of Jericho's records or history
+Activate Emergency Security Protocols, putting out a distress signal and sending Jericho into lockdown
+Issue the outpost new high-priority orders, masquerading as a superior officer of the Bureau
+Send a maximum import message to any other Bureau outpost, including headquarters
+Change Agent permissions for Jericho's combat equipment and vehicles

Looks like the Drone system, automated turrets, and alarms are all controlled via a separate security kiosk system that he can't reach from here.
His influence is also mostly limited to Jericho itself until he finds a way into the Bureau Mainframe. Access to both of those places is strictly prohibited to all Reconstituted Assets.

It's close to midnight. The logs indicate 73-6 has an appointment with Tai Jiaying in eight hours.

Ok first order of business will be to protect family members from retaliation. If you can change the contact and address info of Monica's family it will make it much less likely that they can be quickly targeted later.

Second objective will be to get into the mainframe. If we are going to fuck things up getting you and Dartline access to the main systems will be vital. And if you don't trust Dartline that much you can always open it to your duplicate and his giant robot friend.

Oh and you need to hack yourself and turn of Dartlines backdoor in your head. You might not be able to completely remove them but if you can block the ports they use you can at least stop someone from activating them.

can we change those addresses without leaving some kind of automated log saying it was changed on x date?

We can use this to erase any dirt the Bureau has on Monica and her ties to us, so even someone knows about her they won't have the evidence to back it up.
Get some sleep so you don't look like a walking corpse for your meeting with Tai. -Oh, right.

Also, were you to be reverted to your non-DA hacking levels, what would you still be able to accomplish? (in other words, what could 73-6-2 do with this access?)

>>652244
I don't suppose we could send an import message in with a remote undetectable virus to get inside the Bureau mainframe digitally, right?
I mean, communication should actually be able to get us anywhere. The mainframe has to be connected to a computer at the main HQ, or else it's a useless mainframe.
Let's just get into there.

Shiiiiiiiit, try and get into Sosa's computer with a message. Maybe we can blow it up and kill him from his desk. He's a paranoid guy, he probably rigged with C4. But he's also stupid, so there's probably a webcam.

Could we insert fake orders from Sosa to kill 38-3, on a delay so they pop up as if newly issued about an hour before the face stealer is scheduled to arrive?

Are we not going to try to protect Monica's family by faking her murder? Altering their records can tip management off that something is wrong unless we scramble every record at once and make it look like a broad attack to screw with the information systems made by some third party.

Messing with Monica's file so her family is harder to retaliate against is something. But we need to be able to sync those records with the bureau's off-site servers (other bases and HQ will have copies). And that doesn't prevent them tracking her family down relatively quickly with real-world detective skills. There's an internet, and other governments records- without covering all the bases, this just slows a hit squad down until someone thinks to check online.

Also, we have to ensure Monica won't see her file and notice the changes in advance. (Put them on a timer?).

We might want to set a remote-trigger virus up, for when we get the hell out. Locking down the base, deleting their files on us, cutting out the cameras, etc.

Would it be worth reviewing any of the mission parameters and/or logs, see what they've been hiding from you?

Can we see the files on off-site assets? It would be nice to say, look up exactly what weapons and upgrades 38-3 has on record.

...I suppose the HQ mainframe is still out of reach? Too bad, I'd like to look at the secret files and see if the people running the bureau are all secretly undead. (Get powerful enough and you can moldie yourself back from the dead without the optional memory wipe, and spend the effort to make them still look cosmetically human).

>Oh and you need to hack yourself and turn of Dartlines backdoor in your head
Fuck yes. (Might be something 73-6-2 could help with?).

>>652244
Okay, how much of the personal data in Jericho's data banks is decentralised? See if you can find any signs of off-site backup programs or logs before changing anything, a discrepancy in the data may be flagged when it is compared to other backups.

Wire 2015/07/02(Thu)00:57 No. 652524 ID: f68a09
File 143582382872.png - (13.16KB , 960x560 , 275.png )

>Faking Monica's death / modifying her files
Entirely doable, with no fingerprints thanks to +SILENT RUNNING+. Getting her to agree to it would be the hard part. The other issue is that the main database has a second copy of her employee records which it syncs every weekend. If it detects a discrepancy it alerts an admin. Which would be bad. The next checkup is in four days; if 73-6 changes anyone's records he then has that long to find a way into Jericho's mainframe, use it to get to the Bureau database at large, and change it there too.

>Change addresses
Also doable, with the same caveat as faking Monica's death. It wouldn't stop the Bureau from finding them, but it might slow them down.

>Fake orders from Sosa to kill 38-3
73-6 isn't sure what the goal here would be since the only person he really cares about fooling is Sosa, but he guesses he can do that too.

>Creating a secret super virus e-mail that will go to Sosa and blow up his computer and kill him
Points for creativity, but not doable.

>Hack Dartline's backdoor in your head
73-6 has tried multiple times but he just can't find the fucking thing. He guesses it stands to reason that the shell upgrade that gave him his master hacking would also have a loophole letting Dartline hide. Or maybe he's just that good.

>Remote Trigger / Help from 73-6-2
Good thinking. 73-6 can create a simple console with any or all of these options that he can give to 73-6-2, letting his cyber-clone do all of the hacking at any time with the push of a button and none of the expertise required. That'll probably also be a good way to start triggering things remotely and quickly, since he can contact 73-6-2 and give the go-ahead at any time.

>Review the mission logs / try to find offsite ones
Looks like these are all Jericho; access to other outposts' mission history is gated to the Mainframe. and there's far too much data to go through right now. When 73-6 has a few more hours to himself he can try.

He should finish up here, decide on what options to save for later or give to 73-6-2, and hit the self-sterilizing polymer sack. Tomorrow is going to be just as hard as today at the minimum. There's a slowly-growing seed of dread in 73-6's stomach, tangled all up with his anticipation.
For better or for worse, the endgame has begun.

>>652524
I don't think we need to worry about sync errors. The next sync is in four days, and by that time everyone we care about will be either safe, or confirmed to be a renegade, or dead (let's face it, it's possible too).

Get something ready to go to revoke all Jericho permissions for 38-3 for equipment and vehicles and allow access to everything to you and friends.
Set up a lockout and camera spoof in case you need them.
Grab them mission logs. You want to know how much Sara and Monica have been covering for you.

Queue up edits for the personnel files, but don't commit them now. You're gonna need mainframe access for Dartline eventually anyways, you can push them then.

Do set up the triggers / backdoor for your doppelganger. Who you owe, by the way. You may have to help him with Deneb someday, if you survive this.

Don't bother with fake orders now. If you do set conflicting orders in the future, they need to come from Tia / Sosa. That could burn any bridge you might have left with her, but both of them should be all too willing to believe the other fucking with them.

Get some sleep.

>>652545
We do need some way to change all the historical incremental backups, and their driver's licenses, registered mailing address, and the damn phone book if we're gonna try to protect Monica's folks from being whacked by the bureau in any other way than convincing our former bosses she's dead.

Wire 2015/07/02(Thu)21:56 No. 652727 ID: f68a09
File 143589938881.png - (8.71KB , 960x560 , 276.png )

73-6 preps two switches for the personnel files. One scrambles Monica's information and one fakes her murder. He'll see which, if either, he needs.

He also sets up a lockout and camera spoof switch, as well as one that will grant him, Penelope, and 88-1 access to the entire suite of mission aids and equipment. He can't do anything about 38-3's access to that stuff because he's not on Jericho's roster.

He clambers into his bunk. 88-1 is reading something opposite him.

"what's that?" 73-6 asks.
88-1 looks across the barracks. "The Art of War."
"seriously?"
"Naw. How would I get a hold of that in here?" 88-1 tosses it onto the floor. "Just the operations manual for the hovercraft in case I need to drive it."
"that's some dry stuff."
88-1 shrugs. "What the fuck else is there to do?"
"good point."
"Night, Sev."
"night, dubs."
73-6 hits the trigger on his bunk and it slides closed, sealing him into a pitch-black metal coffin.
He tries to get comfortable before the gel comes in. He makes sure to keep his mouth shut.

"Initiating hibernation and cleaning process," a pleasant computer voice says. "Hold."
"holding, barbie," 73-6 says.

The bunk floods with cleaning gel, lifting 73-6 up and suspending him before flash-aerating and locking him in place. It's still possible to move but it's a lot harder. 73-6 wiggles to try and get enough room for a modicum of comfort.
The gel acts as his bed and as his shower, clearing away the dirt and sweat and replacing it with the acridly sterile scent of industrial cleaner.

He wakes up every morning smelling like a mortuary janitor's closet.

Wire 2015/07/02(Thu)21:56 No. 652728 ID: f68a09
File 143589941543.png - (9.92KB , 960x560 , 277.png )

"I'm not going to lie, 73-6."

Tai Jiaying's image pulses onto the conference room screen. Apparently her "visit" is a virtual one.

"I'm a little disappointed." She looks at him with bemusement. She doesn't seem particularly angry. "I think I remember telling you to shoot one guy. And your mission was to shoot another. That's two. Not an entire conference room. I think I also remember telling you those people weren't expendable."

73-6 nods, nervously.

"But hey." Tai shrugs. "It's not like I was there. Mistakes happen in the field. It could have been an emergent situation in those few minutes we lost track of you, it could be you forgot, it could just be that you're not quite as good as I thought you were. I felt like I should get in touch, give you room to explain your actions."

She leans into the camera. "So?"

To be fair, everyone keeps telling Sev to act more like a moldie. No witnesses is moldie policy. Those people were rich, but still civilian witnesses. Their station wouldn't matter to a moldie.

I thought "not expendable" meant "you don't have to kill these guys", and we just got told we should maybe kill more people. Didn't seem like there was much opportunity to separate the targets from the rest, anyway... and there was a slim chance wiping the room would keep Sosa from deciding we were working against him.

>>652728
We didn't have the chance to neatly separate the targets from the collateral damage before they were compromised. Moneybag's companion made us and started squawking about the bureau and name dropping people he shouldn't. We didn't have a choice but to abort the subtle and go in hard.

The little turd actually thought the exposure would make us abort. He just got more people killed trying to save himself.

tl;dr- Blame Sosa's guy.

"Not expendable" doesn't mean "don't kill if they find out things that they shouldn't know because Sosa's man couldn't keep his mouth shut."

Unless it does, in which case, she probably should have explained things a bit more clearly.

yeah, went in, one target said some names in earshot of the civilians, if they lived they would have talked. was ether let people talk about who did the job, or kill them.

>>652728
>>652737
And not only could they talk, they were rich people with a lot of sway. With information about Bureau business. The lesser of two evils and all that.

>>652728
Yeah mention the talking stuff and getting them to shut up.
At least now, people blame the riot and won't blame the Bureau. In the end, it was just a bunch of useless rich slub's that might have been useful later. Hardly any different from the poor occasional homeless person or gangbanger's girlfriend that a moldy's been asked to clean up as a potentially loose end. We've been told repeatedly in this job that it pays to be thorough.
This was one of those situations.

38-3's coming, probably to scold me, tell me I'm a defective weapon, and/or kill me, despite the fact that killing is what a weapon does. He's a hypocrite if he does that after what he told me. He's right after all, I AM a weapon as far as the bureau's concerned. And the bullet's they shoot don't always stop at the intended target, sometimes a stray bullet goes through a wall and hit's a poor 9 year old honor student across the street, it's part of the job.

Doesn't make the weapon defective, it makes the wielder responsible for that stray bullet. If the current head of the Bureau can't aim right and deal with the potential consequences, they shouldn't throw the weapon away, it's too damn good at killing to do that. I'm criticizing Sosa here, by the way. I would have shot up that entire room anyway if you never even told me about the contact, because, well, that contact's an idiot that thinks a moldy can be bargained with and just SAY he has contacts with the Bureau. He was a problem child the minute he opened his mouth. I wouldn't have done anything different. I don't even recall Monica or any of the mission briefing suggesting to not kill the others, so yeah, that room would be shot up regardless. Maybe she would have said something like that if the interference never happened, but that's a long shot.

We had secured what looked like the only exit from the meeting room. We were prepared to separate Moneybags from the rest after the meeting was over, bring her back to the outpost for a mindrip, and arrange a riot-related 'accident' for the other target. Then it became clear that they was going to leave through the window, using a hardlight emergency ladder which wasn't listed on the building's blueprints. Classic intel failure.

It was an emerging situation, as you said, and when the going gets tough the reconstituted assets stick to SOP. You said all those rich folks weren't expendable, so I went in with a plan which would have allowed us to avoid killing them. If you wanted to let them walk away even after witnessing me on-mission, you should have made that more explicit. With all due respect, ma'am.

>>652524
>73-6 isn't sure what the goal here would be since the only person he really cares about fooling is Sosa, but he guesses he can do that too.

Short-term, the goal would be to throw all of Jericho's assets at killing 38-3 without having to risk bringing them all in on the conspiracy. Potential useful side effects would be a 'just following orders' excuse for Tai, and isolating and discrediting Sosa. If he's seen ordering his most favored into blue-on-blue ambushes, everybody else will start second-guessing him, and that loss of cohesion will make it easier for a) you to breach his security and b) Tai to seize control.

When the fact comes to light that Sosa never actually issued such an order and the Bureau's most secure comm channels must therefore have been compromised, you can crack a joke about Dartline Alchemist retaliating for the death of his co-conspirator, Sekhmet. Ancient Egypt and alchemy both tend to feature that 'eye for an eye' or 'equivalent exchange' sorts of justice, and the bureau already knows DA has some pretty scary computer science up his sleeve.

That theory validates their existing suspicions about Keesh, and makes it seem like she already planted some tap in Jericho's mainframe, which they will then (hopefully) rip open in a frenzy of paranoia; as Jericho's computer expert, you could plausibly volunteer to help and thereby get the hardware access you need.

Wire 2015/07/05(Sun)14:05 No. 653225 ID: f68a09
File 143613034979.png - (9.00KB , 960x560 , 278.png )

"they were compromised," 73-6 says. "sosa's guy started talking and dropping some unfortunate names to try to save his own life. i used my judgment and decided to follow procedure."
"If you'd used your judgment better," Tai says, "he wouldn't have had a chance to talk. The fact that he did disturbs me."
"very sorry, ma'am."
"So that's the reason? Am I missing anything?"
"ma'am, with all due respect, if you had made it clearer--"
"I'm going to pause you right there, 73-6," Tai says. Her voice is dangerously quiet. 73-6 strains to hear her. "Because you sound very close to trying to tell me what I should have done. Which would be the latest in a string of deeply unfortunate mistakes. 'With all due respect' are four words a reconstituted asset should think very, very carefully about before saying them to a Senior Executive. Now think about how you planned to finish that sentence, and if you decide it's better not to, just don't say anything. And we'll rewind."

73-6 keeps his mouth shut.

"Very good." Tai sits back and steeples her fingertips. "I believe I've heard enough, 73-6. Thank you. William Sosa's agent is arriving at Jericho tomorrow, 73-6. I wish I could tell you what he intends to do.
"What do you suppose you'll do when he gets there?"

>"What do you suppose you'll do when he gets there?"
I'll do my duty, ma'am.

"I'll do as I'm told, ma'm."
This sounds like an executive decision.

Well, we fucked up by her, so she's cutting us free. From here on out, I think we'd best consider her as much of an enemy as the rest of the Bureau. Give her some nice lie. "Whatever is ordered of me. I serve the Bureau." Meanwhile, we need to kick our shit into an even higher gear. It's all coming down.

She's canceled her personal visit to make it a digital one instead? She's grilling you for any wrongdoing you may have done? She's straight up asking you what you're going to do when 38-3 gets here tomorrow? She's a known enemy of Sosa who wants to see her dead but instead she's enjoyed a rise to power?

Hello, 38-3. Long time no see.

>>653545
This is just a guess, of course, but at this point what do we have to lose?
Question whether there was ever a Tai at all, whether she's just a front by Sosa to ferret out his opposition.

>>653272
"I will do as my superiors order me, ma'am."

Wire 2015/07/06(Mon)19:01 No. 653581 ID: f68a09
File 143623450784.png - (6.31KB , 960x560 , 279.png )

"i'll serve the bureau, ma'am."
"Bullshit," Tai says. "You have a plan, 73-6. Don't you? You're a protege of 14-1. Margolis helped him get out and that's why she got the chance to open her mouth, isn't it? If you want out and you want my help this is your last chance to admit it or the door closes."
73-6's eyes narrow.
"I need your honesty, 73-6," Tai says. "No more tricks. We both know what's really happening here."
"i think we do," 73-6 says. "hello, 38-3."

Wire 2015/07/06(Mon)19:01 No. 653582 ID: f68a09
File 143623451994.png - (6.88KB , 960x560 , 280.png )

Tai's constant bemused smirk drops off her face.

"There it goes, 73-6," she says. "We won't see each other again."

Wire 2015/07/06(Mon)19:02 No. 653583 ID: f68a09
File 143623453431.png - (2.95KB , 960x560 , 281.png )

The screen goes blank.

Static on the Wire Thread 7 End Wire 2015/07/06(Mon)19:03 No. 653586 ID: f68a09
File 143623463232.png - (8.54KB , 960x560 , 284.png )

"Couldn't get it out of him. He knows.

"Understood.

"Tomorrow."

lock down, kill everyone that tries to come in.

Nah, too obvious. Stealth those base defenses but don't turn them on just yet. Then get a wooden table to the middle of the room, with two chairs. Maybe get a hardlight hologram just in case - and then get it to sit down. Then when 38-3 arrives, offer to talk.
Battle of nerves, see who Shadowruns first! Really helps that you're not actually there, and you have the whole base on your fingertips.
We'll be at the Black Stalls when shit hits the fan, and if Sosa wants to tango in the Stalls - Bureau is going to take a hit in rep.

Slight tweak to the plan: fake orders from Tai to kill 38-3 for impersonating her, misappropriating Bureau resources, &c.

>>653820
But anon, there never was a Tai Jiaying. She's 38-3 from the get-go. Sosa is playing puppetmaster.

>>653835
There was, though. The rest of the Bureau thinks she's alive. For instance, Monica does.

>>653844
Precisely. Monica could reasonably believe that, just after a private discussion with 73-6 about how his massacre screwed up intra-Bureau politics, Tai Jiyang's timetable for bringing down Sosa has been adjusted, and orders issued accordingly.

So "Tai" is a corpse stuffed with vile tech and lethal secrets, who would kill us given half a chance. So what? Tribranch told Pen to kill us. The Fantomas would've told Lockjaw to kill us if they weren't so utterly incompetent, and actually did hire DA to kill us. All three are now our friends. Turning the hollow shell of Tai Jiyang into our friend is the next logical step. Yes, 38-3 probably needs to be murdered first for that to really work; he's the one who insisted that Lockjaw's conversion be at swordpoint, so he's got no basis to complain when we reuse the technique.