The Found Arcana – Chapter 6 [IC]
-
The Found Arcana – Chapter 6 [IC]
-
“Scouts, sir!” Mato answers reflexively, before remembering that he’s supposed to be Ute/PCC. He silently kicks himself.
It’s not like “Sioux Scouts” would have been a great answer anyway. The Scouts are a paramilitary youth organization that teaches basic military tactics, firearms handling, and survival skills. Their more benign public role is helping old ladies cross the street, selling cookies at fundraisers and planting trees. Most Sioux children, even Anglos, are enrolled in the organization when they start school. But to a military hardass, the Scouts are a fart in a stiff wind.
Military service in the Sioux Defense Force is compulsory at 18 years of age, but some citizens are so woefully out of shape, incompetent, or unmotivated that they “test out” of conscription during screening. Mato was all three prior to his cyberlimb enhancements and was screened out on his first day. Testing out got him a black mark almost as bad as holding a criminal SIN when it came to employment, which is part of the reason he left the Sioux Nation even after turning into a cyber singularity seeker. But, of course, this is the ‘real’ story and not the story of ‘Ignacio Severo’.
Mato backtracks, trying to cover things up with details from his dossier while not suggesting too much more expertise than he actually has. Hamington seems like the efficient type who wouldn’t want his life story anyway. “Pueblo Security Force, sir. Company A, 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry. SecForce specialties included scouting and recon.” After a short delay, he adds another “Sir” at the end for good measure.
-
AM assenses the man while he speaks, and she freezes when he undresses her with his eyes. She is not used to that kind of attention, perhaps its the new clothes she thinks: Mato’s pep talk, and Florence’s precision, and matter-of-factly remark about guests taking what they want without permission. Stress her, and the drone gives her time to think – and regain her composure.
She remains silent for the briefing, nodding, and following the man’s instructions to receive the clearance she needs.
“What kind of deck are you sporting Mr. van der, Bloom?” she asks to break the silence. Uncertain if it is the best question, but the way he dismissed her deck makes her wonder – besides – she reasoned he’ll probably be happy to speak about his deck.
Spoiler:Assensing: 10d6t5 3
-
“Tea? That would be lovely.” Jawsey allowed a touch of emphasis on the last word. “Except I may need to be on duty for the next several hours straight? In which case I’d probably best spare myself the embarrassment of standing with crossed legs. But you would have a better understanding of the expectations and flow here.”
-
Hammington looked somewhat molyfied at Mato:
“Excellent. Always knew you Reds made good soldiers – with the right officers.” The implicit, unspoken part of this sentence was that these right officers were in his opinion old white men.“So, just to be clear, while we are in the house, we don’t wield anything bigger than a handgun – and I expect you to keep it in your holster unless there is a serious threat around. On the grounds we patrol with rifles – don’t hessitate to deal with trespassers, but keep your AR view on at all times. We don’t want any accidents with the guests around here.
Familiarize yourself with the building. Your shift starts at noon. Come here at ten for the morning briefing with the others.
Any questions? Otherwise: Dismissed.”
Van der Bloom appears to have quite a bit of cyber in him, although it’s barely noticeable – most of it concentrates on his head and his left arm is a full cyber prosthesis.
He smiles at the question: “In my sparetime I’m using a modified 720, but around here I have direct access to the host – Sleep regulator means I’m online for most of the day anyway, so don’t hessitate to call on me if you have any questions.
So, tell me about yourself – how did you get into security decking?”
McElroy’s tea was excellent as he served Jawsey and gestured to him to sit with him at the panorama window overlooking the grounds behind the mansion:
“So you are a qualified mage? Your potential suggests you still have some potential for growth. How good is your ritual game and your summoning skill?The couriers around here are responsible for maintaining the astral security. There are three layers of defense: The outer perimeter around the grounds is patrolled by watchers and bound spirits. The building itself has a strong anchored barrier that we have to patch up now and then. Finally there are the family quarters which both barrier and watchers are guarding – as well as us in astral form every now and then. I prefer unregular spot checks.
What other spells do you have? It would be great if we had another Detoxer around here – the holidays usually require that we get that spell out quite a bit.
Are you good at assensing? We regularly check our guests to make sure they are healthy – and who they appear to be.”
-
AM responds honestly “I do not have much experience in security or decking. I mostly do matrix research, and I like building and fixing hardware. I like decking, but I never had capable hardware for that. I tricked a comlink back at the time, and recently I bought the Erika to get into the decking business hoping to upgrade my pay. Got to spend money to make money, and that kind of logic”
-
“I see, well, you might learn something then.” Van der Bloom answered with a small smirk.
“Fixing hardware is one of the more important things to do around here.
Anyway, we can talk virtual again once you had breakfast. On the way there, go through the spa area and replace the ARO marker RFID there – you’ll know which one it is – it’s glitching and destroying the illusion of the grotto.”
-
“One last thing… May I ask who is the one with the roto-drone?”
-
“I didn’t actually know that I was awakened until a few years ago. Before then everyone just told me that I had lucid dreams that I should stop talking about, when actually I was astrally projecting every night. I’d built quite a bit of skill in astral perception and interactions before I even knew that that was what I was doing. However I’m still very much in catch-up mode with the non-astral side of my magic. Quite backwards from most mages as I understand it.”
“I’m afraid that I’m still building my strength, learning more spells, improving my skills, all of it. I do know detox, and can levitate things if that is useful.” He didn’t feel that astral armor and clairaudience were particularly relevant, so didn’t mention them at the moment. “I can summon modest spirits of man, but I’ve not yet learned the techniques to bind them. I’ve started studying ritual magic, but I’m still very much an apprentice in that area, able to offer some help to those of the shamanic tradition but I’ve picked up ritual spells yet.”
He offers an apologetic shrug, and admits “You’d probably find me more magically useful in another six months. I’ve been making my way more with words than with wizardry, but my magic is beginning to reach the point where I can start working with it more regularly, which helps to strengthen it.”
-
Mato thinks for a moment about compliment and blowing smoke up Hamington’s hoop about being ‘the right officer’ but ultimately decides against it. A man too busy to read his file is a man who wants to move things along at a brisk clip. Mato gives a crisp “Yes, sir. Understood!” then clicks his heels, spins, and departs. The casual racism is lamentable but – on the scale of things – tolerable. It’s certainly better than whatever AM has to deal with, given her Chastity Zippers.
Leaving, he considers the notion of handguns and rifles. His stomach dips a bit at the prospect, as his expertise is in automatic weapons. Well, too late to do anything about that now.
The thought crosses his mind: What if shadowrunners make a play for the Blue Admiral?! It’s certainly not outside the realm of possibility. Of course, given the setting it’s also equally likely that he could be investigating a murder mystery – Professor Plum in the study with the candlestick… – or helping Hamington dispose of an innocent bystander who got on the wrong side of his hounds.
Mato heads to the armory, hoping that there will be an armorer on staff who can provide him with house-approved hardware. He’s not expect the rifle until he’s out on patrol, but perhaps he can get a pistol for his holster before he starts scouting the grounds. Mostly for show, he thinks to himself, but the house guests will expect him to be armed for their protection…
-
Kurt replied to AM: “External conscience. I’ve got trouble relating to people properly, so I found a technical solution. Helps me with ethical decisions. Have to keep it separate from the house network though. The folks here really dislike drones.”
McElroy replied: “Detox is likely the most important spell you can have here.” He chuckled. “Not to worry. I pride myself to be an excellent teacher. We’ll get you in shape for this job in no time.”
Mato reached the armory where another Chasseur was currently busy stripping, cleaning and reassembling handguns.
“Aye, mate, what can I do you for?”
“Ah, handgun you need? We got the latest Walther P118 – Friend/Foe recognition, biometric security system. Do you have a smartlink implanted? Otherwise you get some contact lenses and a trode net to use the smartgun feature.
Loaded with gel, but you get two additional magazines with Ex-ammo.
Or would you rather have a heavy pistol instead of an auto? In that case I have the Savalette for you. Get back here after breakfast and I’ll take you to the shooting range for a quick certification before the daily briefing. I’m Brad by the way. Brad Burns.”
-
AM seems impressed, “Do you mean its an AI?”
-
“Not exactly, but a very, very sophisticated agent. I call him Raphael, my personal shoulder angel.
Now, run along or there won’t be any breakfast anymore.”
Kurt replied
-
Mato returns the greeting. “Severo. Ignacio Severo. It’s a pleasure, Brad.” He’s a bit relieved that not everyone is stiff and formal.
“Not implanted – my eyes are one of the few organic bits I have left – but I already have the contacts and the trodes to support a smartlink.”
He decides to talk shop, both because Brad seems receptive – well, friendly enough to introduce himself, at least – but also to start build some personal connections. It will make the week easier, and Mato is finally coming around to the concept of ‘you are who you know’.
“We don’t get many Walthers on this side of the pond,” he says. “The Savalette is a fine weapon – superior to the Predator in almost every way except magazine capacity – just as long as you’re willing to do the maintenance on the micro-gyro system.” This is said in sympathy, with the understanding that it would be the responsibility of Brad.
“How do the guests react to a monster like the Savalette? I would think that it’s intimidating but maybe it’s reassuring.
“And tell me more about the P118. How’s the response without the trigger? It reduces the unpredictability from muzzle pull, I bet.” This is a statement of the obvious, but gives Brad an easy opening to pitch the weapon’s particulars and share his own personal experience.
-
Brad shrugged: “Most of them couldn’t distinguish between an L-shaped piece of soap and an assault rifle. Those who can, usually know better than to bother an armed guard about their gun.
And the Savalette isn’t so bad to maintain. The difficult parts are well contained and if they break… nice thing about this employer is that you usually have budget to just get replacement parts overnighted.”
His eyes lit up at the question about the gun: “Took a good while of convincing the old Hamfist to give a Kraut gun a chance. But as far as out of the box experience goes, I really love how the Walther handles. Fires at a thought – precise as anything. Sure, you can empty the mag in less than two seconds – but that’s two seconds after which barely anything will be left to gainsay you. And it’s pretty neat that you physically can’t shoot anyone designated as friendly. Makes bodyguarding just that tiny bit less stressful.
So, let’s get you imprinted to your new gun.”
Brad got up and pulled a gun from a rack that pretty much looked like a black L, but wasn’t made from soap. He led Mato to an adjacent room that smelled hot and stuffy, due to the huge amounts of insulation material. At 20m distance there were a series of ever smaller targets lined up.
“I’m enabling showroom mode. Just connect with the icon and let ripp at the first target. No aiming, just instinct, so I can get a realistic reading from its sensors.”
-
Mato/Ignacio tuts pleasantly at the joke. “Heh, yes, an L-shaped piece of soap. Very droll.”
He follows Brad and accepts the gun, syncing it with his PAN. Once he’s connected to the icon, he follows Brad’s instructions, mentally signalling a burst at each of the ever-smaller targets in turn. Then he lowers the weapon.
“I guess you just need to trust the friend/foe designation, and hope your wireless security is up to snuff. And if it doesn’t work… you can always hit throw it at them.
“Speaking of throwing… and contingency plans… is there anything available with a sharp point?”
-
He didn’t want to pull his manager away from What seemed a fairly easy-going nature, but Jawsey wasn’t entirely comfortable with ‘other duties as they arise,’ so he sought a bit more structure. “What is the routine for our small group? I assume some sort of schedule for sending out spirits and in-person astral patrols, as well as for the watcher rituals. Ward rituals as needed. Someone on call at all times for issues magical as they arise– possibly including, but not limited to, detox spells. And other escort duties at times?”
“I assume you will provide the schedule? Is there anything else that I should be familiarizing myself with?”
-
Right she answers, and takes a new RFID tag. She uses Cunnigman’s map to reach the SPA area before going for breakfast. If she finds a faulty tag, she’d replace it as instructed, and then head to breakfast.
-
Brad replied: “We got sharps when the Gentlemen decide they are bored enough to Duell, but I guess you want something more substantial than a dainty Florette.”
He pulled open a cabinet drawer: “Have a look at our skalp takers. I prefer a classic k-bar – or if we go out – a sapphire knife. Makes going through other security a lot faster, if you know what I mean.”McElroy shrugged: “Honestly, I don’t hold with fixed plans. To easy to fall into routines and being predictable. The main thing for us couriers is to be on standby and keep the defenses going. Only when things go wrong – like a spirit intrusion – we have to scramble and go on the offensive. I am employing Task Spirits to do readings for me. Although their results are usually vague, it nonetheless provides us with a good forewarn time.
I can teach you more about that later on – joint summonings are another task you might be called on by me from time to time. Alright. You should be able to pass through all barriers here that you are supposed to. Go and relief yourself and explore the surroundings astrally. I’ll call on you when you are needed.
Use a recliner in the Courier common room until your room is ready.”AM found the Spa area and was immediately hit by a wave of hot humidity. Someone had gone to great lengths to create a tropic paradise down here – including a bit of artificial beach with a bar and a coconut tree. AR enhanced the experience by extending the walls into a stunning natural panorama. Except for one wall that seemed to warp back on itself like a bad acid trip. Pinpointing the faulty chip made clear, that she’d have to very carefully balance along the edge of the pool or risk falling in to reach and replace it.
-
“I do know what you mean!” Mato readily agrees. “Plus nothing says style like self-defense with a precious stone. Who cares if they’re synthetic. And you can say, ‘No, it’s not bloody, it’s a ruby!'” He laughs.
The comment about ‘scalp takers’ is a bit much but he’ll let it slide mostly because he’s never seen a sapphire knife in person and he really wants one.
Mato accepts the P118 pre-loaded with gel, and also pockets the extra magazines of explosive ammo.
“Hamington wants me to do a walkabout to familiarize myself with the house. I’ll come back after breakfast for the certification on the shooting range before the daily briefing.”
-
AM reaches for the chip, carefully balancing herself to avoid falling into the pool, and uses a low-level levitation spell as a fail-safe to staying dry.
Spoiler:
Log in to reply.