We check with Slammo, everything is on. Slammo will confirm that we are acceptable guests, then open Gabel's room. Bianca and Derek will head in. They will need to show ID. Bert and I will hang out in the mall on the lower levels.
Just after lunch we head in. Bianca and Derek head in. There are security guards in black uniforms. They slot their credsticks, their identities are confirmed and they are sent up to to floor fifteen to see Brandt Kommerand. As they approach the door unlocks. They step inside.
The place is mostly empty. Depressions in the carpet betray missing furniture. As they explore Derek comes across a drone which opens fire on him. He dives out of the way. They back away.
Bianca looks for something to distract the bot with. The bathroom is also empty, but it occurs to her to search the drain in the shower. She recovers from hair, presumably Gabel's.
Derek grabs a leg off a broken table in the entry way. As he does a small drawer falls out. Taped to the bottom is something.
Derek throws the table leg to distract the drone. Bianca dives in and behind the drone. She finds the power switch and turns it off.
Also in the room is a locked truck. The lock is a combination lock.
Derek flips the drone over. There is a beep, then a moment later a click. Derek quickly drops the drone into the bathroom.
"To whoever has found this message, please be aware that you have gotten our attention. If this was your goal, you have succeeded. I suggest you leave quickly."
Bianca pries open the trunk. There is a bunch of professional clothing, all in need of repair, spanning the last twenty years. Digging through Bianca finds an envelope with an optical chip inside.
The thing taped below the drawer is another envelope holding an optical chip.
There is an explosion from the bathroom, it seems like the drone was boobytrapped. Smoke billows out of the bathroom, the fire alarms go off.
Bianca and Derek head out. The alarms are going off, a voice tells people to leave. We do.
Derek looks into purchasing some decryption software. We've now got three encrypted optical chips. Derek leaves a note for Slammo to get in touch.
Jane heads off to see her brother. He is happy to know that their mother is alive. He is going to send some money.
Derek talks to Slammo. Slammo estimates 12 hours at 1,500¥. Derek will be in touch in the morning.
Derek looks at the chips. He decrypts one from Gabel's, the one hidden under the drawer. It's the business records for the Buffalo Jump. The records cover from 2058 through 2060.
The second chip is from the trunk at Gabel's place. It takes until early in the morning. It contains a journal. It covers the 2050s, from 2055 through 2058.
Derek hacks on the last one, the one from the Latern, all night.
Derek pays Slammo for the run, then returns to hacking on the encrypted file.
The data file proves to be small. The file is bout Kit Hofsteader. There is information on Kit's past, his work with MIT2000, his work with Mitsuhama. Apparently he was transfered to the Shimshan branch of Mitsuhama. They were creating an infiltration unit for their Unusual Assets branch, he was transferred there to support it. The group was to research anti-government, environmental groups in Simshan and Sallish-Shee. According to the file his most recent location, around August, was in Seattle. Kit was staying at the Portside Sheretan with a retinue of MCT (Mitsuhama Computer Technologies) officials.
Lady Jane uses the hair from the shower drain as a component to magically track Gabel. With Bianca's help she performs the ritual. They begin early in the morning. Early in the evening they contact something. Magically she is lead to a portion of Simshan.
Bert's fixer friend calls him. She's got some potential work; we're to meet the Johnson Thursday. The pay for the run will be in the neighborhood of 35,000¥.
I check with Wrench: for a reasonable price we can get into Tsimsham on Friday. Given this, I'm willing to wait until Thursday to hear from the Johnson. The Johnson might be a distraction, but it's worth checking out.
We place some orders for gear from Takada. Bert asks about the Johnson since we're paranoid. Takada says that they are beyond reproach. She admits that this is the same Johnson who hired us to bodyguard the geek in the hotel. She is willing to stake her reputation. She offers to have her people at the restaurant. Bert declines.
We meet at the restaurant at 13:00. The meeting is at the Big Rhino. A few minutes after we're seated a small Japanese man arrives. He is wearing a dark purple suit verging on black and a red tie. The fellow has close cut hair. The tie has a flower pattern done in silver.
They want information and equipment taken from a company in Tir Tangire. The company is Genentech. They have a complex outside of Portland.
To gain access to the computer system the suggest using a tailored computer virus. The virus can be injected through a contracter in the Seattle area. The virus will tell use where the data we need is and will set "don't worry" flags for our real run. The data itself will be in off-line storage.
During the run we'll exact the actual information, then take a single piece of moderately delicate gear. The gear will fit in roughly a duffle bag. They do not anticipate there being travel gear available to use. They have an idea of what it looks like, but are not certain.
We're offered a retainer of 10,000¥. The virus must be in by one week from Friday. Information on when to do the extraction will be forthcoming.