1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:27,720 This is Zach Flash with KSAF, your last bastion of free and independent news in Seattle. 2 00:00:27,720 --> 00:00:32,480 Click with us, jammers, as we bring you the breaking news of a run-a-war at an Auburn 3 00:00:32,480 --> 00:00:37,040 stuffershack that left a local woman in shock after a trope. 4 00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:42,360 I repeat, a troll used her baby as a meat shield against gunfire. 5 00:00:42,360 --> 00:00:43,360 Can you imagine? 6 00:00:43,360 --> 00:00:49,360 What is our beloved Metroplex coming to when criminals can run a muck on our streets? 7 00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:50,360 Zach Flash! 8 00:00:50,360 --> 00:00:54,400 Signing off with the latest from Concrete Dreams. 9 00:00:54,400 --> 00:01:12,080 Joy, Ome! 10 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:17,440 Welcome to episode one of the Hard Knock Sorority podcast, the Shadowrun 4th edition actual 11 00:01:17,440 --> 00:01:19,160 play podcast. 12 00:01:19,160 --> 00:01:21,560 My name is Paul and I am your host, N'Giun. 13 00:01:21,560 --> 00:01:28,800 The player characters are given voice and agency by Veronica, playing Cecile, aka College 14 00:01:28,800 --> 00:01:34,760 Girl, a literal college girl who finds herself abruptly entangled with the sixth world's 15 00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:36,000 shadows. 16 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:42,920 Elizabeth, playing Grace, aka Nightingale, a literal pony on a quixotic self-imposed 17 00:01:42,920 --> 00:01:46,240 research expedition to the sixth world. 18 00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:54,560 Valerie, playing Ollie, aka Boxer, ex-merk and literal catwoman who now applies the shadows 19 00:01:54,560 --> 00:01:56,720 in search of redemption. 20 00:01:56,720 --> 00:02:02,600 And finally, Kat, playing Deandra, an elven ex-cop who is in search of her brother in 21 00:02:02,600 --> 00:02:07,120 Seattle and is literally prettier than an elf has any right to be. 22 00:02:07,120 --> 00:02:15,440 Alright so this is chapter one, which I am calling Revenge and Redemption. 23 00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:20,160 So reasons which will become clear. 24 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:25,240 And like all good modern computer games, we're going to start with an opening cutscene that 25 00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:26,800 you can't skip. 26 00:02:26,800 --> 00:02:27,800 Beautiful. 27 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:30,000 This is the way. 28 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:32,520 Alright, the dark and snowy night. 29 00:02:32,520 --> 00:02:37,480 A single yellow sodium bulb is shining over an old wooden pier, creating a bright circle 30 00:02:37,480 --> 00:02:40,560 of light and plunging all else into darkness. 31 00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:42,280 Flurries blow through the cone of light. 32 00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:45,760 The white flakes glow brightly against the almost black water. 33 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:49,720 The sound of a diesel engine drifts out of the darkness and then a small fishing boat 34 00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:51,680 pulls into the light. 35 00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:56,800 It swings smartly into the pier and a figure in worn and dirty foul weather gear, a heavy 36 00:02:56,800 --> 00:03:00,600 sweater and a wool cap, secures the boat with practiced motions. 37 00:03:00,600 --> 00:03:05,400 On the aft deck, a dark stain is spread across the dirty white surface. 38 00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:08,440 At its center lies a creature. 39 00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:13,720 This torso and legs are that of a man, but its head is that of a shark. 40 00:03:13,720 --> 00:03:18,400 The black shaft of a massive harpoon protrudes from the chest of the creature. 41 00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:23,760 The diesel cuts off and the figure steps off of the gun wall onto the dock. 42 00:03:23,760 --> 00:03:30,240 As it does, the glow of a cigarette, sprite ember, glows in the darkness outside of the 43 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:31,800 bulb circle of light. 44 00:03:31,800 --> 00:03:34,160 The fisherman hesitates, almost imperceptible. 45 00:03:34,160 --> 00:03:38,960 And he says, you must be doing well for yourself if you can afford that natural leaf. 46 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:40,760 It's more of a statement than a question. 47 00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:44,120 The cigarette flicks through the cone of light into the black water. 48 00:03:44,120 --> 00:03:46,800 A man in a heavy black overcoat steps into the light. 49 00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:51,640 And he never did shake the habit, he says, in a slightly accented voice. 50 00:03:51,640 --> 00:03:55,840 The collar of the coat is pulled up around the thin, long face of a human male. 51 00:03:55,840 --> 00:04:00,360 In spite of the weather, his head is uncovered and his black hair is blowing into his dark 52 00:04:00,360 --> 00:04:01,400 blue eyes. 53 00:04:01,400 --> 00:04:04,440 He glances at the corpse in the boat and grimaces. 54 00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:09,960 The fisherman seems to be of the same age, with the face worn by exposure to the elements 55 00:04:09,960 --> 00:04:15,640 and bearing unusual blue tattoos in the shape of spirals on his cheeks and forehead. 56 00:04:15,640 --> 00:04:18,760 His pale blue eyes gleam in the light, as he asks. 57 00:04:18,760 --> 00:04:21,040 You're not here to exchange pleasantries. 58 00:04:21,040 --> 00:04:25,440 Say what you have to say, slight pause, or do what you have to do. 59 00:04:25,440 --> 00:04:28,000 The man in the black coat shakes his head. 60 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:29,640 He's not like that. 61 00:04:29,640 --> 00:04:30,640 He never was. 62 00:04:30,640 --> 00:04:32,680 I've always regretted what happened. 63 00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:35,120 I didn't see you running for your life. 64 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:38,520 Your friend's dead and the price on your head and the fisherman responds. 65 00:04:38,520 --> 00:04:40,840 That's how the shadows work, Ice. 66 00:04:40,840 --> 00:04:42,040 You know that. 67 00:04:42,040 --> 00:04:47,520 As well as anyone the man in black replies, think, I have known where you are for at least 68 00:04:47,520 --> 00:04:48,520 10 years. 69 00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:50,760 If I can find you, they know where you are. 70 00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:56,400 The fact that you are still alive means that anyone who did the gear is gone or moved on. 71 00:04:56,400 --> 00:05:00,280 Now, can we get inside and talk like adults? 72 00:05:00,280 --> 00:05:02,920 Ice pauses for a moment, then shrugs. 73 00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:06,120 I can't think of anything we need to talk about Procop. 74 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:08,240 That's the thing about you, Ice. 75 00:05:08,240 --> 00:05:10,560 You never did see the long game. 76 00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:15,680 I wouldn't be always the way out here if I didn't have something to meet it to you. 77 00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:21,120 He steps towards Ice for the first time, saying, Ateem, I work with God's hands on a piece 78 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:25,120 of paid data unrelated to the runs they were on. 79 00:05:25,120 --> 00:05:26,640 This image was part of it. 80 00:05:26,640 --> 00:05:32,080 Procop hands what appears to be a hard copy image to Ice, who reluctantly takes it. 81 00:05:32,080 --> 00:05:34,800 It's a grainy, somewhat blurred image. 82 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:37,480 Ice looks at it for several long seconds. 83 00:05:37,480 --> 00:05:43,040 Then he spits demonstratively into the black water and says, Well, there's a wood stove, 84 00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:45,600 pot of chowder and a bottle of whiskey in the cabin. 85 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:47,080 I'm going to need a drink. 86 00:05:47,080 --> 00:05:50,800 And then you're going to tell me where this fragging piece of dreck is so I can finally 87 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:53,000 do what should have been done back then. 88 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:54,600 That's the end of the cutscene. 89 00:05:54,600 --> 00:06:01,440 Summer sweeps out up into deep dark space, pans around and focuses on a bright light 90 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:05,200 on the west coast of the North American continent. 91 00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:07,240 Zooms in and we're back in Seattle. 92 00:06:07,240 --> 00:06:10,480 It's an unpleasant February morning on a Tuesday. 93 00:06:10,480 --> 00:06:12,320 It's miserably cold and damp. 94 00:06:12,320 --> 00:06:16,480 The sky is overcast and gray and trying to make up its mind whether it wants to rain 95 00:06:16,480 --> 00:06:17,480 or sleep. 96 00:06:17,480 --> 00:06:19,320 It seems to be settling for both. 97 00:06:19,320 --> 00:06:23,920 That might improve the air quality as it reduces the particulate matter in the air. 98 00:06:23,920 --> 00:06:27,240 But the dreck has to go summer and that means on you. 99 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:32,640 Veronica, please give us a description of Cecile, where she is and what she's doing 100 00:06:32,640 --> 00:06:33,640 right now. 101 00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:35,560 What time is it? 102 00:06:35,560 --> 00:06:38,400 It's Tuesday morning, say 9.30. 103 00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:39,400 10. 104 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:48,320 Cecile is probably sat down at a table on the University Washington campus going through 105 00:06:48,320 --> 00:06:51,240 records. 106 00:06:51,240 --> 00:06:55,000 She looks very focused on her work. 107 00:06:55,000 --> 00:07:00,360 It's not a good day out, but you know, she figures that no one will bother her if she's 108 00:07:00,360 --> 00:07:01,360 outside. 109 00:07:01,360 --> 00:07:04,680 Which seems to have been true so far. 110 00:07:04,680 --> 00:07:12,240 She's currently wearing a white blouse with like a tan Bolero cardigan over with a pleated 111 00:07:12,240 --> 00:07:19,280 skirt, some tan tights and some normal flats. 112 00:07:19,280 --> 00:07:24,120 She's very well made up today as she is every day. 113 00:07:24,120 --> 00:07:30,160 She has a short bob with bangs and a headband attached and she's, you know, idly flicking 114 00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:33,000 with her arm through things. 115 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:35,200 Did you see she's outside? 116 00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:38,520 Yes, at least for the moment. 117 00:07:38,520 --> 00:07:42,120 So I take it she's in like a pavilion or a cupboard is to stay out of the rain. 118 00:07:42,120 --> 00:07:46,480 Yeah, no, she's not going to let the shit rain on her hair. 119 00:07:46,480 --> 00:07:48,760 Yeah, I didn't imagine. 120 00:07:48,760 --> 00:07:55,760 Plus, you know, the rain and the sleet is basically filtering the soot and ash and other 121 00:07:55,760 --> 00:07:57,200 pollutants out of the air. 122 00:07:57,200 --> 00:08:01,040 And so your clothes wouldn't last very. 123 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:05,800 She has her bag near her, like all packed up and ready to go. 124 00:08:05,800 --> 00:08:10,320 She looks basically like she has a class in an hour and she's just killing time. 125 00:08:10,320 --> 00:08:13,880 All right, Val, what's Ollie doing? 126 00:08:13,880 --> 00:08:18,280 All right, 10 in the morning on Tuesday. 127 00:08:18,280 --> 00:08:24,840 It is a shitty day to be outside, but then there's always shit to be dealt with. 128 00:08:24,840 --> 00:08:26,840 What's a little rain? 129 00:08:26,840 --> 00:08:34,720 Footsteps are heavy through the rain and what little mud or whatever it is rests upon the 130 00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:35,720 ground. 131 00:08:35,720 --> 00:08:42,760 The splashes she leaves in her wake are soul marking of her passing. 132 00:08:42,760 --> 00:08:49,680 It's not even anything she's just watching where are we in the street as if she's vaguely 133 00:08:49,680 --> 00:08:52,080 expecting something to happen. 134 00:08:52,080 --> 00:08:56,960 There's no one to empty would want to be out now. 135 00:08:56,960 --> 00:09:08,720 Her eyes violet and growing gently in the light show over a rebreather, a nice one, 136 00:09:08,720 --> 00:09:10,440 surprisingly nice for that area. 137 00:09:10,440 --> 00:09:19,520 And it says though she had some particular interest in keeping herself healthy, safe 138 00:09:19,520 --> 00:09:20,520 from the pollutants. 139 00:09:20,520 --> 00:09:24,440 But she doesn't seem to have any particular destination. 140 00:09:24,440 --> 00:09:26,720 She's just wandering. 141 00:09:26,720 --> 00:09:28,440 What does Ollie look like? 142 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:32,760 At the moment, it's hard to make out many features. 143 00:09:32,760 --> 00:09:35,080 She's covered in a poncho. 144 00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:36,080 It's opaque. 145 00:09:36,080 --> 00:09:40,320 Can't make out much of her figure, clothes. 146 00:09:40,320 --> 00:09:44,440 All that's really visible is her head and some of her clothing. 147 00:09:44,440 --> 00:09:52,840 What is beneath is, well, it would be pretty easily confused with being male even, but 148 00:09:52,840 --> 00:09:54,880 there are tales. 149 00:09:54,880 --> 00:09:59,800 If one were to look closely enough at the poncho, one would see the faintest outline 150 00:09:59,800 --> 00:10:02,840 of a tail long and thick. 151 00:10:02,840 --> 00:10:09,200 If they were to scrutinize with extra care from a particular angle under the hood of 152 00:10:09,200 --> 00:10:17,600 the poncho, they would see the hint of ears beneath another hood, this one that of a hoodie. 153 00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:21,840 And they would see, actually wait, how expressive are cyber eyes? 154 00:10:21,840 --> 00:10:24,360 They can be as expressive as you want them to be. 155 00:10:24,360 --> 00:10:25,920 They're pretty easily customizable. 156 00:10:25,920 --> 00:10:28,440 Okay, that's good. 157 00:10:28,440 --> 00:10:36,880 And hard eyes, kind of eyes that you'd expect of someone who's seen a bit more than someone 158 00:10:36,880 --> 00:10:42,600 who's trudging about the street at 10 a.m. on a Tuesday morning as they have nothing 159 00:10:42,600 --> 00:10:44,520 better to do. 160 00:10:44,520 --> 00:10:48,240 So she must have something better to do, watching. 161 00:10:48,240 --> 00:10:52,520 All right, Liz, do you want to introduce Grace? 162 00:10:52,520 --> 00:10:54,160 Yes. 163 00:10:54,160 --> 00:10:57,960 The weather outside is utterly frightful. 164 00:10:57,960 --> 00:11:04,240 Grace, she's not going to take country roads into Seattle, even if she had something to 165 00:11:04,240 --> 00:11:07,040 be doing on that day. 166 00:11:07,040 --> 00:11:15,880 I imagine at some point she very exasperatedly as it kept up and it just kept getting harder, 167 00:11:15,880 --> 00:11:24,240 mumbled to herself in Pona, something about, oh, she finally gets it. 168 00:11:24,240 --> 00:11:30,160 It makes so much, sorry, hold on, give me a second. 169 00:11:30,160 --> 00:11:35,600 Yeah, he misses the weather bureau. 170 00:11:35,600 --> 00:11:41,040 He'd always get a little frustrated with them whenever they bring in rains that would get 171 00:11:41,040 --> 00:11:51,160 in the way of her schedule, but having nature decide its own timetables a little less. 172 00:11:51,160 --> 00:11:53,000 It's even more inconvenient. 173 00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:58,960 The weather bureau being the Pegasi who control weather in a question. 174 00:11:58,960 --> 00:12:07,040 With nothing better to do her day and no service owed to the community and no functions going 175 00:12:07,040 --> 00:12:08,440 in the community in pines. 176 00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:20,200 I imagine she would have in a oversized windbreaker with some warmer, hailer clothes underneath 177 00:12:20,200 --> 00:12:26,000 it go out into the rain, perhaps with an umbrella and some tools. 178 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:32,720 She spurred whenever she saw the first worm wriggling on the grass trying to escape suffocation 179 00:12:32,720 --> 00:12:40,640 and she's probably now taken up a place beneath the shade of a tree and is gathering worms 180 00:12:40,640 --> 00:12:48,800 up as they come with her magic and looking at them, maybe taking to, with her calm link, 181 00:12:48,800 --> 00:12:55,120 nestled in a pocket, taking verbal notes in Polish. 182 00:12:55,120 --> 00:13:03,960 She probably hasn't seen worms until now I'm reckoning because well there's thick grasses 183 00:13:03,960 --> 00:13:07,400 and perhaps it's not that she hasn't seen them, it's that she didn't bother with them 184 00:13:07,400 --> 00:13:11,600 before but they're interesting little creatures. 185 00:13:11,600 --> 00:13:16,240 She's probably kind of concerned that they don't have any features at all externally 186 00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:18,120 as far as she can tell. 187 00:13:18,120 --> 00:13:19,120 How do they eat? 188 00:13:19,120 --> 00:13:21,360 Because they're obviously animals. 189 00:13:21,360 --> 00:13:22,360 Obviously. 190 00:13:22,360 --> 00:13:27,040 Or perhaps they're a kind of mobile plant, she hasn't heard about anything like that 191 00:13:27,040 --> 00:13:30,760 to Google or what would the search engine be? 192 00:13:30,760 --> 00:13:36,720 It probably depends on the local net that you're on, what corporation sponsoring it 193 00:13:36,720 --> 00:13:37,720 or if it's- 194 00:13:37,720 --> 00:13:41,720 It would, you have a browse program so it would really depend on the browse program 195 00:13:41,720 --> 00:13:45,480 that you have or the OS that you're running. 196 00:13:45,480 --> 00:13:50,480 Well you'd probably go and search that up now, do plants move, question mark, question 197 00:13:50,480 --> 00:13:57,920 mark and go on a short tangent there as she looks it up and then just back to effectively 198 00:13:57,920 --> 00:14:00,920 playing in the mud and with the worms. 199 00:14:00,920 --> 00:14:05,320 Taking herself very seriously as she does so. 200 00:14:05,320 --> 00:14:06,320 Awesome. 201 00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:16,120 All right well Cecile your calm suddenly lights up and it's an incoming text from your not 202 00:14:16,120 --> 00:14:24,000 friend Kirsten and it's labeled with a high priority, Nova hot, call me ASAP kind of 203 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:26,520 priority level. 204 00:14:26,520 --> 00:14:36,160 Cecile just like text back the equivalent of like what I imagine Cecile has gotten one 205 00:14:36,160 --> 00:14:42,120 of these calls before that wasn't nearly as important as Kirsten thought. 206 00:14:42,120 --> 00:14:49,440 Yeah, you know you probably think that this is probably, you know that you've got an exam 207 00:14:49,440 --> 00:14:55,080 coming up in a little bit and she's probably going to try to readle your class notes again 208 00:14:55,080 --> 00:14:58,840 at something that just irritates you about her is that she doesn't come to class and 209 00:14:58,840 --> 00:15:03,320 she doesn't take notes but then she expects that you're just going to give her access 210 00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:06,360 to your notes that you've you know studiously taking. 211 00:15:06,360 --> 00:15:10,360 Yeah Cecile is not happy about those kind of wasters. 212 00:15:10,360 --> 00:15:15,760 No, she texts back immediately. 213 00:15:15,760 --> 00:15:19,040 Meet me off campus at the soy bucks right now. 214 00:15:19,040 --> 00:15:22,560 Cecile quickly sends back. 215 00:15:22,560 --> 00:15:25,320 I have a class in like an hour I can't. 216 00:15:25,320 --> 00:15:26,880 It comes she comes right back. 217 00:15:26,880 --> 00:15:28,560 You have to it's very important. 218 00:15:28,560 --> 00:15:30,400 I need to talk to you right away. 219 00:15:30,400 --> 00:15:35,640 It's filled with her usual type of half words abbreviations and emojis. 220 00:15:35,640 --> 00:15:42,240 So Cecile probably puts it down for a second and just like I Italy goes back to what she's 221 00:15:42,240 --> 00:15:45,000 doing thinking about how to respond to that. 222 00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:52,680 Your calm lights up again and it's at this point it's not it's not Kirsten. 223 00:15:52,680 --> 00:15:56,440 It's the lab manager. 224 00:15:56,440 --> 00:15:58,960 You call him Dr. L. 225 00:15:58,960 --> 00:16:03,600 But his actual name is Peter Lafontaine. 226 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:10,200 He's not a real doctor that you know the students just call him doctor to you know out of respect. 227 00:16:10,200 --> 00:16:13,040 Yeah respect and or you know respect. 228 00:16:13,040 --> 00:16:18,800 He's an older orc and he just sort of manages the lab. 229 00:16:18,800 --> 00:16:24,480 He's you know he's an evil so you know he's more he's a cross between the lab manager 230 00:16:24,480 --> 00:16:28,480 and and quite frankly is sort of the custodial staff. 231 00:16:28,480 --> 00:16:33,200 He unlocks the those other things that just keeps the lab running and you get a text from 232 00:16:33,200 --> 00:16:38,400 him and then it's basically just asking you whether you're going to be in the lab soon. 233 00:16:38,400 --> 00:16:44,680 Cecile text back heading there now was just finishing finishing up some archival work. 234 00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:46,880 OK thanks. 235 00:16:46,880 --> 00:16:56,560 Cecile starts heading for the lab and text back to Kirsten Kirsten essentially. 236 00:16:56,560 --> 00:16:58,840 Yeah I'm going to the lab they need me there. 237 00:16:58,840 --> 00:17:04,200 I can if you want to talk you'll have to meet me on my way there. 238 00:17:04,200 --> 00:17:07,160 All right no response at that point. 239 00:17:07,160 --> 00:17:08,560 Cecile brushes it off. 240 00:17:08,560 --> 00:17:10,960 Yeah you head for the lab. 241 00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:17,160 It's the lab is was sponsored and built with the money from Evo Corp. 242 00:17:17,160 --> 00:17:22,480 It's a Evo Washington University collaboration program. 243 00:17:22,480 --> 00:17:24,120 It's a big building. 244 00:17:24,120 --> 00:17:26,040 It's very modern. 245 00:17:26,040 --> 00:17:33,160 Lots of windows light and airy you know obviously some attention has gone into making it very 246 00:17:33,160 --> 00:17:36,120 open and friendly and accessible to all. 247 00:17:36,120 --> 00:17:38,120 So we're going to cut from there. 248 00:17:38,120 --> 00:17:43,440 We're going to cut to Boxer as she's seems to be meandering amiously down the streets 249 00:17:43,440 --> 00:17:44,440 of Auburn. 250 00:17:44,440 --> 00:17:50,920 Boxer your calm lights up with a text message from a contact that you have entered as quote 251 00:17:50,920 --> 00:17:53,840 unquote downtown barista. 252 00:17:53,840 --> 00:17:59,000 And you don't remember immediately who this is but you obviously took the time to save 253 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:06,600 them and the message is labeled Nova hot and says hey Boxer this is Kirsten remember 254 00:18:06,600 --> 00:18:11,840 me you said I could call you if I ever got into trouble again please call me as soon 255 00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:16,200 as you and you can make a memory test at this point to see this. 256 00:18:16,200 --> 00:18:18,200 All right. 257 00:18:18,200 --> 00:18:20,600 That is a three. 258 00:18:20,600 --> 00:18:28,960 All right so you do remember this girl that you met it's a couple of months ago. 259 00:18:28,960 --> 00:18:30,760 It was downtown. 260 00:18:30,760 --> 00:18:35,880 It was near near the university campus. 261 00:18:35,880 --> 00:18:41,600 You were doing a job you remember the job more than you remember the girl you were tailing 262 00:18:41,600 --> 00:18:42,760 somebody. 263 00:18:42,760 --> 00:18:49,600 You remember right there was a woman had called you and asked you to follow her husband. 264 00:18:49,600 --> 00:18:52,200 She had some suspicions about him. 265 00:18:52,200 --> 00:18:58,720 You he's basically hanging out at the around the campus wherever students were going like 266 00:18:58,720 --> 00:19:04,160 the soy soy and trying to pick people which you know didn't bother you so much you were 267 00:19:04,160 --> 00:19:09,560 there for the money and you were taking pictures of him but when you saw him assaulting a young 268 00:19:09,560 --> 00:19:15,720 woman in the alley behind the soy blacks you interviewed you remember you did exchange 269 00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:17,760 calm numbers basically. 270 00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:22,320 You're Samaritan you're good Samaritan complex or your vigilante complex kicked in and you 271 00:19:22,320 --> 00:19:28,160 did tell her that you know if she ever got in trouble again she could call you so apparently 272 00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:30,400 she's calling that favor. 273 00:19:30,400 --> 00:19:32,040 That's who's calling. 274 00:19:32,040 --> 00:19:34,160 She answers promptly. 275 00:19:34,160 --> 00:19:36,440 Sorry she answers promptly. 276 00:19:36,440 --> 00:19:40,880 You hear the sort of breathless voice of a young woman on the other end of the line and 277 00:19:40,880 --> 00:19:45,280 she says box her I'm so glad you called me back. 278 00:19:45,280 --> 00:19:47,400 Is it is it okay that I'm calling you. 279 00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:53,280 I know you said that I could call you if I got into trouble and I need somebody's help 280 00:19:53,280 --> 00:19:55,360 somebody take yourself. 281 00:19:55,360 --> 00:20:04,280 This is my work phone and by competence well I do assume that you are aware of my area 282 00:20:04,280 --> 00:20:05,640 of competence. 283 00:20:05,640 --> 00:20:12,200 You hear a sort of a nervous laugh but yeah maybe a nervous laugh on the other end and 284 00:20:12,200 --> 00:20:19,240 she says I remember how you handled that creep so I owe you one but I need your help again 285 00:20:19,240 --> 00:20:24,680 it's actually not for me a good friend of mine is in trouble I can't I can't get through 286 00:20:24,680 --> 00:20:27,320 to her and I was hoping you could come down here and help. 287 00:20:27,320 --> 00:20:31,800 And I assume your suspicions as to the reason for her lack of contact. 288 00:20:31,800 --> 00:20:38,160 You hear a sigh on the other end she's like well I think it's just personal but I know 289 00:20:38,160 --> 00:20:39,800 she's in big trouble. 290 00:20:39,800 --> 00:20:45,720 Yeah I do I owe her she's helped me out a lot so I know she's in trouble and you're the 291 00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:47,440 only person I could turn to. 292 00:20:47,440 --> 00:20:51,560 Is there any chance that you can meet me here at the university at this sort of box where 293 00:20:51,560 --> 00:20:54,400 you were we first met. 294 00:20:54,400 --> 00:21:01,240 Outside of it I know how they are inside about people who look the way I do. 295 00:21:01,240 --> 00:21:08,320 She sighs yeah right maybe meet me behind back in the alleyway first met and if you have 296 00:21:08,320 --> 00:21:13,760 any other friends that that work that do the kind of work that you do that would probably 297 00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:14,760 be really helpful. 298 00:21:14,760 --> 00:21:20,000 Yeah all right you get there all right I'll be over at room play. 299 00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:21,680 You have a vehicle right. 300 00:21:21,680 --> 00:21:22,680 I do. 301 00:21:22,680 --> 00:21:27,520 Because I think if my friend Cecil's in trouble the way I think she's in trouble we're gonna 302 00:21:27,520 --> 00:21:34,600 need to get her out of downtown and she she signs off. 303 00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:38,800 And she quickly texts. 304 00:21:38,800 --> 00:21:43,000 Sorry I'm having a dirt right now. 305 00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:48,240 She quickly attempts texts Vicente can't finish my rounds. 306 00:21:48,240 --> 00:21:52,160 May need to cover the gap emergency situation come up. 307 00:21:52,160 --> 00:21:55,960 You get a prompt text back saying I'm on it. 308 00:21:55,960 --> 00:21:58,960 But this is better be worth it. 309 00:21:58,960 --> 00:22:05,360 And she sets off towards home to her bike and well her other tools or her trade. 310 00:22:05,360 --> 00:22:14,160 But as she walks or briskly jogged as it is her thoughts asked about the people she 311 00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:17,800 knows someone she knows. 312 00:22:17,800 --> 00:22:25,400 She has gotten a sense for the sort of things that are helpful in finding people getting 313 00:22:25,400 --> 00:22:27,680 people out especially that kind of location. 314 00:22:27,680 --> 00:22:33,400 Well she is uncomfortably aware of what she lacks magic. 315 00:22:33,400 --> 00:22:39,320 So when finding someone and needing magic well who better than someone who could track 316 00:22:39,320 --> 00:22:40,320 her down. 317 00:22:40,320 --> 00:22:48,920 She she still has the contact of that strange pony that called her up to interview her and 318 00:22:48,920 --> 00:22:54,440 well the pony seems like she needed work and didn't seem like she had anything more important 319 00:22:54,440 --> 00:22:55,840 to do. 320 00:22:55,840 --> 00:22:57,920 So she gives her a call. 321 00:22:57,920 --> 00:23:00,480 No wait she sent her text. 322 00:23:00,480 --> 00:23:02,360 Let's see. 323 00:23:02,360 --> 00:23:07,080 Hey you interview chick. 324 00:23:07,080 --> 00:23:16,520 You up for perhaps some work in the line of what we discussed and she had sent grace. 325 00:23:16,520 --> 00:23:22,840 You're out and about in the pines enjoying the fog that is rolling down on the cities. 326 00:23:22,840 --> 00:23:26,720 You're pretty sure that Miss Magnum Lightfoot is out as well. 327 00:23:26,720 --> 00:23:33,280 She really enjoys a good fog bath when she can get one and your calm lights up. 328 00:23:33,280 --> 00:23:34,400 Urgently at you. 329 00:23:34,400 --> 00:23:40,040 I imagine she like drops the worm she had been holding in her psychokinesis. 330 00:23:40,040 --> 00:23:45,600 She had been observing how it's a it's muscles worked on its body to try and escape her grasp. 331 00:23:45,600 --> 00:23:54,360 She glances down she tugs aside the the collar of the windbreaker she was wearing and proceeded 332 00:23:54,360 --> 00:24:00,960 to fish out the calm with her her magic and it takes her a moment longer to find the stylus 333 00:24:00,960 --> 00:24:06,400 she typically uses for it and she the ringing is very incessant so she doesn't even bother 334 00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:14,320 and after a moment she just bonks her nose against the accept call button. 335 00:24:14,320 --> 00:24:15,320 And there's rain. 336 00:24:15,320 --> 00:24:16,880 It was a call right? 337 00:24:16,880 --> 00:24:17,880 That was what I understood. 338 00:24:17,880 --> 00:24:18,880 It was a text. 339 00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:21,240 Sorry I I flip flopped. 340 00:24:21,240 --> 00:24:22,720 Oh okay. 341 00:24:22,720 --> 00:24:26,640 She pulled it up and she she gives a look at it. 342 00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:32,040 She swans and then she proceeds to actually find the stylus. 343 00:24:32,040 --> 00:24:35,640 It was in the bottom of the pocket where she probably wouldn't have been able to actually 344 00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:36,640 see it. 345 00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:40,040 And she can you repeat the text for me please? 346 00:24:40,040 --> 00:24:41,040 It was in effect. 347 00:24:41,040 --> 00:24:48,480 Hey you, person I vaguely know, are you perhaps interested in work that is in line with what 348 00:24:48,480 --> 00:24:53,480 we discuss and well I'm sure you can infer what was discussed. 349 00:24:53,480 --> 00:24:59,840 The text back, all question mark question mark with a question mark emoji. 350 00:24:59,840 --> 00:25:06,520 And she gets a call promptly. 351 00:25:06,520 --> 00:25:08,600 Grace, Grace picks up. 352 00:25:08,600 --> 00:25:13,800 I imagine the the sound of rain is already cacophonously apparent. 353 00:25:13,800 --> 00:25:16,080 And she's like, Hi. 354 00:25:16,080 --> 00:25:17,440 Hi. 355 00:25:17,440 --> 00:25:20,360 Your name is boxer right? 356 00:25:20,360 --> 00:25:21,360 Hi. 357 00:25:21,360 --> 00:25:25,720 I'm a what's what's going on exactly? 358 00:25:25,720 --> 00:25:30,160 Where where is this going on the work question mark? 359 00:25:30,160 --> 00:25:35,520 Are you familiar with the also don't shout. 360 00:25:35,520 --> 00:25:39,320 It's not good for a profession. 361 00:25:39,320 --> 00:25:46,120 Anyhow, it is the story box if you're familiar outside of the Washington College. 362 00:25:46,120 --> 00:25:49,280 I said it's a Washington College. 363 00:25:49,280 --> 00:25:50,280 Are you familiar? 364 00:25:50,280 --> 00:25:51,280 Am I kidding? 365 00:25:51,280 --> 00:25:53,640 You've maps use the maps. 366 00:25:53,640 --> 00:25:56,240 Can you send me an address? 367 00:25:56,240 --> 00:25:58,680 Also do you is this is this now? 368 00:25:58,680 --> 00:26:00,520 Do I have to come out now? 369 00:26:00,520 --> 00:26:03,920 This is as soon as you can manage. 370 00:26:03,920 --> 00:26:06,520 So the roads are like drowning. 371 00:26:06,520 --> 00:26:11,440 I am tall enough to not drown. 372 00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:14,160 So are you up for it or not? 373 00:26:14,160 --> 00:26:18,400 Okay, I'm tall enough to not drown, but my car is my car isn't. 374 00:26:18,400 --> 00:26:22,840 Um, uh, what's going on exactly? 375 00:26:22,840 --> 00:26:24,880 What do you need me to do? 376 00:26:24,880 --> 00:26:26,280 There's a job. 377 00:26:26,280 --> 00:26:28,880 Someone's friend is apparently in trouble. 378 00:26:28,880 --> 00:26:31,920 You're getting paid to check it out. 379 00:26:31,920 --> 00:26:33,360 How much are we getting paid? 380 00:26:33,360 --> 00:26:40,240 That is something we will have to figure out later. 381 00:26:40,240 --> 00:26:41,240 Okay. 382 00:26:41,240 --> 00:26:46,320 Um, were you really going to do anything else with your morning? 383 00:26:46,320 --> 00:26:50,800 He proceeds to pick up another worm from the grass and she says, I was doing some very 384 00:26:50,800 --> 00:26:53,600 important research zoology. 385 00:26:53,600 --> 00:26:55,280 You see, right? 386 00:26:55,280 --> 00:26:58,280 Like the last time when you were testing what a paper was edible. 387 00:26:58,280 --> 00:26:59,280 Come on. 388 00:26:59,280 --> 00:27:00,280 Fine. 389 00:27:00,280 --> 00:27:07,240 I'll, uh, I'll come over once I finish up and then she curses, well, not curses, but 390 00:27:07,240 --> 00:27:13,560 she, she, she says some expletive in a language that boxers never heard is the worm wriggles 391 00:27:13,560 --> 00:27:14,840 out of her grasp again. 392 00:27:14,840 --> 00:27:20,160 And she says, I'll, I'll just send her the address so she can put in the navigator thing. 393 00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:21,520 And she does so. 394 00:27:21,520 --> 00:27:22,520 She said that. 395 00:27:22,520 --> 00:27:23,520 All right. 396 00:27:23,520 --> 00:27:32,080 I think we're going to cut back over to Cecile as a boxer and nightingale make their seal. 397 00:27:32,080 --> 00:27:34,680 You're heading into the lab. 398 00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:40,200 And as you enter the lab where you've been working on, um, what were the studies that 399 00:27:40,200 --> 00:27:41,840 you were working on again? 400 00:27:41,840 --> 00:27:48,520 Ceil is currently, uh, for her internship or for her university studies. 401 00:27:48,520 --> 00:27:49,520 For her internship. 402 00:27:49,520 --> 00:27:50,520 Okay. 403 00:27:50,520 --> 00:27:56,200 So she's been working on digitizing some arcane texts and then also she's basically 404 00:27:56,200 --> 00:28:01,360 doing the arcane equivalent of like large data algorithmic work. 405 00:28:01,360 --> 00:28:02,960 What would the lab look like for that? 406 00:28:02,960 --> 00:28:03,960 Do you think? 407 00:28:03,960 --> 00:28:08,280 Oh, it, it would basically look like an office. 408 00:28:08,280 --> 00:28:16,920 It wouldn't be like, it would be like, uh, a library, but very much for pages very full 409 00:28:16,920 --> 00:28:18,880 of themselves, lots of wood. 410 00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:19,880 Okay. 411 00:28:19,880 --> 00:28:21,880 So what things? 412 00:28:21,880 --> 00:28:24,880 Natural materials, art on the walls. 413 00:28:24,880 --> 00:28:29,280 Um, probably not lit too brightly, right? 414 00:28:29,280 --> 00:28:31,360 Probably not too brightly. 415 00:28:31,360 --> 00:28:35,280 Comfortable furniture, cubicles for when you really need to put your head down and work. 416 00:28:35,280 --> 00:28:39,000 You know most of the people who work there, right? 417 00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:43,000 So you, you know, you've been in the program for how many months now? 418 00:28:43,000 --> 00:28:50,080 Oh, she probably would only have been in this internship for a month or two. 419 00:28:50,080 --> 00:28:51,680 Um, yeah. 420 00:28:51,680 --> 00:28:52,680 Okay. 421 00:28:52,680 --> 00:28:57,520 Since, since she's only been past like one semester and she probably didn't get the internship 422 00:28:57,520 --> 00:28:58,520 immediately. 423 00:28:58,520 --> 00:29:01,320 So it's a pretty recent job. 424 00:29:01,320 --> 00:29:06,840 As you enter the lab, um, looking around at the, at the familiar faces and, you know, 425 00:29:06,840 --> 00:29:10,320 trying to remember everybody's name so that if they do come up and talk to you, you're 426 00:29:10,320 --> 00:29:17,600 ready off in the background, you see Dr. L talking to some other, um, students and staff 427 00:29:17,600 --> 00:29:20,240 members, interns and staff members. 428 00:29:20,240 --> 00:29:26,560 And, uh, you get the, you suddenly have a feeling of, of unease. 429 00:29:26,560 --> 00:29:32,720 Um, it's similar to the feeling that you sometimes have when you're on a particularly challenging 430 00:29:32,720 --> 00:29:40,280 data trail, a slight tingling along your spine, sort of a, almost a soft, soft, soft 431 00:29:40,280 --> 00:29:44,520 lithering sound. 432 00:29:44,520 --> 00:29:49,280 Sometimes when you're like, when you're really into the data and you're following some trail, 433 00:29:49,280 --> 00:29:54,080 you hear you, you know, you get this sort of sensation about you as if, you know, you're 434 00:29:54,080 --> 00:29:55,080 on the hunt. 435 00:29:55,080 --> 00:29:58,760 Um, and you get that feeling now, but it's not quite the same. 436 00:29:58,760 --> 00:30:02,720 It doesn't have quite the same exhilarating thrill as when you're, when you're deep in 437 00:30:02,720 --> 00:30:09,000 the data and you're starting to see patterns and, you know, some of the, uh, information 438 00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:10,400 is revealing itself. 439 00:30:10,400 --> 00:30:15,080 This is more of a, something's, you feel almost like something's wrong and, uh, you can make 440 00:30:15,080 --> 00:30:16,600 a perception check if you, 441 00:30:16,600 --> 00:30:17,600 Oh gosh. 442 00:30:17,600 --> 00:30:18,600 Okay. 443 00:30:18,600 --> 00:30:20,000 Uh, what's perception again? 444 00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:21,000 Oh, right. 445 00:30:21,000 --> 00:30:26,320 I just roll perception because the skill never understood by the always half perception 446 00:30:26,320 --> 00:30:27,320 of the skill. 447 00:30:27,320 --> 00:30:29,600 Uh, that's four guys. 448 00:30:29,600 --> 00:30:33,240 I need a little, uh, oh geez. 449 00:30:33,240 --> 00:30:34,240 Okay. 450 00:30:34,240 --> 00:30:36,240 That's four hits. 451 00:30:36,240 --> 00:30:37,240 Nice. 452 00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:38,240 Yeah. 453 00:30:38,240 --> 00:30:40,800 I think something's different about the lab today. 454 00:30:40,800 --> 00:30:45,920 There's far fewer people in here than normal and, and quite a bit less noise. 455 00:30:45,920 --> 00:30:52,680 And, um, the old work, um, Dr. L, um, seems a little nervous. 456 00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:58,360 He seems to be, he's sweating and he's, uh, you know, he's just, uh, something about 457 00:30:58,360 --> 00:30:59,360 the lab. 458 00:30:59,360 --> 00:31:02,560 There's a tension in the lab that you, you know, isn't abnormal to you. 459 00:31:02,560 --> 00:31:05,360 You can't put your finger on what's going on. 460 00:31:05,360 --> 00:31:06,960 Nothing seems to be a mission. 461 00:31:06,960 --> 00:31:12,360 But you definitely get a sense of tension and, and, uh, you know, it's, it's to you, 462 00:31:12,360 --> 00:31:13,360 it's almost palpable. 463 00:31:13,360 --> 00:31:17,800 You get that sort of slithering feeling that something's not. 464 00:31:17,800 --> 00:31:23,360 Cecil's suspicions have been considerably raised and you said she was going to walk 465 00:31:23,360 --> 00:31:26,200 up to Mr. L. I mean, Professor L. 466 00:31:26,200 --> 00:31:27,200 Uh, you can. 467 00:31:27,200 --> 00:31:28,200 Yeah. 468 00:31:28,200 --> 00:31:31,160 If you want, or you could just go for, go to your cube and start working. 469 00:31:31,160 --> 00:31:32,160 He did. 470 00:31:32,160 --> 00:31:35,240 He had asked you, he had sent you that text asking whether you. 471 00:31:35,240 --> 00:31:41,920 Cecil doesn't really move and kind of starts shuffling back towards the exit and sends 472 00:31:41,920 --> 00:31:51,160 a very quick text to, uh, Kirsten saying, did you involve me in something? 473 00:31:51,160 --> 00:31:59,360 Um, it feels like backing up towards the entrance and kind of going, starting to get 474 00:31:59,360 --> 00:32:00,360 on the matrix. 475 00:32:00,360 --> 00:32:06,280 Look at some cameras or something because her, her mystery instincts have started to 476 00:32:06,280 --> 00:32:07,280 kick in. 477 00:32:07,280 --> 00:32:08,760 She's like, I know this scene. 478 00:32:08,760 --> 00:32:10,600 I've written this scene. 479 00:32:10,600 --> 00:32:11,600 Yeah. 480 00:32:11,600 --> 00:32:17,120 You don't get a text, uh, you don't get a text message back from Kirsten immediately. 481 00:32:17,120 --> 00:32:22,600 So if you wanted to go into, uh, AR at this point and take a look around. 482 00:32:22,600 --> 00:32:23,600 Yeah. 483 00:32:23,600 --> 00:32:24,800 Cecil would do that. 484 00:32:24,800 --> 00:32:30,240 You see, you know, most of the normal icons that you see, um, obviously all the terminals 485 00:32:30,240 --> 00:32:35,720 in the lab are on and the various personal access, uh, networks of the people in the 486 00:32:35,720 --> 00:32:36,720 lab. 487 00:32:36,720 --> 00:32:42,080 Um, you see the, uh, there are, there are plenty of cameras in the lab. 488 00:32:42,080 --> 00:32:43,520 They're, they're not new. 489 00:32:43,520 --> 00:32:50,720 You've seen these, um, and, uh, that's, uh, from a matrix AR perspective, um, you're 490 00:32:50,720 --> 00:32:54,840 not seeing anything that's triggering any alarm bells to you. 491 00:32:54,840 --> 00:32:59,000 So right now you can't, you're not, nothing seems to be wrong. 492 00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:03,640 You're just a feeling that you got walking into that room that there was a, uh, a heightened 493 00:33:03,640 --> 00:33:06,000 level of anxiety. 494 00:33:06,000 --> 00:33:10,720 At that point, uh, Dr. Al notices you and, and looks a little bit relieved and starts 495 00:33:10,720 --> 00:33:16,400 motioning you over to him, you know, sort of raising his hand up over the cubes going, 496 00:33:16,400 --> 00:33:17,800 you know, come over here, come over here. 497 00:33:17,800 --> 00:33:20,240 What does the look on his face say? 498 00:33:20,240 --> 00:33:21,240 It's relieved. 499 00:33:21,240 --> 00:33:24,080 Um, you could do, uh, judge intentions role. 500 00:33:24,080 --> 00:33:25,840 That would be charisma plus intuition. 501 00:33:25,840 --> 00:33:26,840 Yeah. 502 00:33:26,840 --> 00:33:27,840 That makes sense. 503 00:33:27,840 --> 00:33:33,040 You can just clicky on your, oh, I'm gonna look at my sheet. 504 00:33:33,040 --> 00:33:34,040 Like judge intentions. 505 00:33:34,040 --> 00:33:35,040 All right. 506 00:33:35,040 --> 00:33:42,520 With two hits, you definitely get the feeling that he is feeling a sense of relief at seeing 507 00:33:42,520 --> 00:33:43,520 you. 508 00:33:43,520 --> 00:33:49,200 Um, you do not get any, uh, sense of malice or ill will towards you. 509 00:33:49,200 --> 00:33:55,000 The seal, once she realizes she's been noticed, very quickly like snaps into that smiling. 510 00:33:55,000 --> 00:33:56,000 Yeah. 511 00:33:56,000 --> 00:34:00,000 So, you know, he's getting his fine kind of look and starts walking over. 512 00:34:00,000 --> 00:34:06,680 So Dr. El is standing by a, by a terminal and, uh, he, uh, the, the two, uh, lab assistants 513 00:34:06,680 --> 00:34:10,800 and interns that are with him, he, he sort of motions them to, to go away. 514 00:34:10,800 --> 00:34:15,640 And when you get to him, he, uh, he greets you for, rather formally. 515 00:34:15,640 --> 00:34:17,560 Uh, good morning, Cecil. 516 00:34:17,560 --> 00:34:19,120 Um, how are you? 517 00:34:19,120 --> 00:34:22,600 Oh, I just finished up some archival work. 518 00:34:22,600 --> 00:34:24,880 Is something wrong? 519 00:34:24,880 --> 00:34:30,360 He looks, uh, for a moment, a brief flicker of concern crosses his face and he, he says, 520 00:34:30,360 --> 00:34:33,800 no, I was wondering if you could tell me of something. 521 00:34:33,800 --> 00:34:35,440 Um, no, it's, sorry. 522 00:34:35,440 --> 00:34:38,200 I thought I noticed something. 523 00:34:38,200 --> 00:34:42,960 Uh, probably going to spend a couple hours in the lab today, just going over some of 524 00:34:42,960 --> 00:34:46,600 the texts that I was finishing up with last time. 525 00:34:46,600 --> 00:34:53,960 Well, uh, the reason I ask is, uh, Dean Petrov has, uh, requested that I escort you to his 526 00:34:53,960 --> 00:34:54,960 office. 527 00:34:54,960 --> 00:34:55,960 You're not in any trouble. 528 00:34:55,960 --> 00:34:56,960 Are you? 529 00:34:56,960 --> 00:34:58,920 I certainly hope not. 530 00:34:58,920 --> 00:35:01,480 I do my utmost not to be. 531 00:35:01,480 --> 00:35:08,600 Um, Dean, Dean Petrov is the, the head of the, the Evo Washington University collaboration 532 00:35:08,600 --> 00:35:09,600 program. 533 00:35:09,600 --> 00:35:12,280 He's in charge of the, uh, the entire Evo facility. 534 00:35:12,280 --> 00:35:15,800 Um, you've met him at some social functions. 535 00:35:15,800 --> 00:35:22,400 Um, very briefly, you know, he's introduced himself in the lab once or twice, sort of 536 00:35:22,400 --> 00:35:28,880 a stern Russian, older Russian man, quite tall, uh, you remember, but he's also very, 537 00:35:28,880 --> 00:35:33,400 uh, you also remember that what you've heard of him and what you've seen on him, he's a 538 00:35:33,400 --> 00:35:38,600 not just a, an administrator, you know, involves himself heavily in the day to day abs and 539 00:35:38,600 --> 00:35:40,680 is quite competent with the lab work. 540 00:35:40,680 --> 00:35:45,160 So, but you've never, you know, said more than, you know, introduction and, you know, 541 00:35:45,160 --> 00:35:48,000 maybe some superficial sentences to the man. 542 00:35:48,000 --> 00:35:54,520 And Cecil looks relieved at this and says, well, I can only hope that this means that 543 00:35:54,520 --> 00:35:55,520 it's good news. 544 00:35:55,520 --> 00:35:58,080 Maybe he's taken note of my work. 545 00:35:58,080 --> 00:36:03,040 You wouldn't happen to have overheard anything about the reason why. 546 00:36:03,040 --> 00:36:04,440 Did you? 547 00:36:04,440 --> 00:36:06,000 He didn't tell me anything. 548 00:36:06,000 --> 00:36:07,000 Yes. 549 00:36:07,000 --> 00:36:08,880 I mean, you have been doing exceptional work. 550 00:36:08,880 --> 00:36:11,680 Oh, you're such a flatterer. 551 00:36:11,680 --> 00:36:15,120 I hope I don't know why I thought something was wrong. 552 00:36:15,120 --> 00:36:20,840 That was just so unusual for him to, uh, text me directly like that, but he did request 553 00:36:20,840 --> 00:36:22,840 that I bring you up as soon as I saw you. 554 00:36:22,840 --> 00:36:26,120 So, um, if you wouldn't mind following me. 555 00:36:26,120 --> 00:36:27,120 Certainly. 556 00:36:27,120 --> 00:36:28,120 Certainly. 557 00:36:28,120 --> 00:36:29,120 All right. 558 00:36:29,120 --> 00:36:30,120 You head out. 559 00:36:30,120 --> 00:36:36,160 I should say Cecil, um, is never one to walk into a conversation unprepared. 560 00:36:36,160 --> 00:36:43,280 She is, uh, now in AR via like D and I, like, because she's wearing her headband with the 561 00:36:43,280 --> 00:36:50,160 trouts on it, um, she is searching the matrix as hard as she can for something about what 562 00:36:50,160 --> 00:36:51,320 is going on. 563 00:36:51,320 --> 00:36:55,040 She needs to know how to present herself walking in. 564 00:36:55,040 --> 00:36:56,040 Okay. 565 00:36:56,040 --> 00:36:59,680 Um, curious how deep you'd have to go. 566 00:36:59,680 --> 00:37:01,680 How long does the walk over? 567 00:37:01,680 --> 00:37:06,040 Uh, it'll be probably a good close to 10 minutes. 568 00:37:06,040 --> 00:37:11,360 You're going to have to go up a couple of, uh, you're going to have to go up a couple 569 00:37:11,360 --> 00:37:17,640 of floors by elevator to get to the administrative level where the dean has his offices. 570 00:37:17,640 --> 00:37:22,480 Cecil could probably make a fair number of like data search checks. 571 00:37:22,480 --> 00:37:30,800 Um, are you going to attempt to crack or hack into any of the more confidential file systems 572 00:37:30,800 --> 00:37:32,720 for the university or Evo? 573 00:37:32,720 --> 00:37:35,320 Oh, that's a good question. 574 00:37:35,320 --> 00:37:40,440 I'd say that for the moment, she's only going to be searching for like anything surface 575 00:37:40,440 --> 00:37:42,680 level just to start. 576 00:37:42,680 --> 00:37:46,800 He doesn't want to, like if this is a promotion, she doesn't want the first thing she does 577 00:37:46,800 --> 00:37:50,920 to be like break into the systems of the place she's getting promoted. 578 00:37:50,920 --> 00:37:52,920 That might be bad. 579 00:37:52,920 --> 00:37:55,920 Um, let's see. 580 00:37:55,920 --> 00:38:00,160 What are the, what are the kind of keywords that you're going to search for? 581 00:38:00,160 --> 00:38:07,640 Oh, she'll definitely be searching for her own name, Petrov, um, possibly she'll start 582 00:38:07,640 --> 00:38:08,640 with those. 583 00:38:08,640 --> 00:38:13,400 She wants to know everything about her, everything about this man. 584 00:38:13,400 --> 00:38:18,080 Even if it's just like getting a little bit of background on the guy, she needs to know. 585 00:38:18,080 --> 00:38:19,080 Okay. 586 00:38:19,080 --> 00:38:26,080 So that would be a, let's see, a response. 587 00:38:26,080 --> 00:38:33,920 Let me pull off the rules quickly for, for the matrix stuff. 588 00:38:33,920 --> 00:38:44,520 Uh, data search, browse or other, um, data search plus browse. 589 00:38:44,520 --> 00:38:45,520 Okay. 590 00:38:45,520 --> 00:38:46,680 That's a lot of dice. 591 00:38:46,680 --> 00:38:52,880 Um, so that's a 13 dice I would, I'll be rolling. 592 00:38:52,880 --> 00:39:00,120 Give yourself a minus two because you're walking and Dr. L is chattering nervously at you. 593 00:39:00,120 --> 00:39:02,000 That's 11 D six. 594 00:39:02,000 --> 00:39:05,360 I'll be rolling out who not her best work. 595 00:39:05,360 --> 00:39:08,840 No, you've got two hits on 11 dice. 596 00:39:08,840 --> 00:39:13,200 You did not glitch, although you've got a couple of ones there. 597 00:39:13,200 --> 00:39:17,800 Um, but with two hits, you know, you're, you're getting the, you're getting the data that 598 00:39:17,800 --> 00:39:23,720 a lot of it you've already found because if I knows the seals character, she's already 599 00:39:23,720 --> 00:39:28,080 at some point, you know, done a search on just about every staff member that she's come 600 00:39:28,080 --> 00:39:29,080 in contact with. 601 00:39:29,080 --> 00:39:30,080 Oh, absolutely. 602 00:39:30,080 --> 00:39:37,480 Um, so a lot of what you're getting back on, on Dean Petrov is, uh, you know, the promotional 603 00:39:37,480 --> 00:39:39,640 stuff from the university and from Evo. 604 00:39:39,640 --> 00:39:47,080 Um, you know, the, the man is a, a brilliant, um, um, magical researcher. 605 00:39:47,080 --> 00:39:52,120 Um, he's had some, you know, exceptional breakthroughs for obviously a rising star with 606 00:39:52,120 --> 00:40:01,120 Evo and, uh, he is, he's originally from, from Eastern Russia, um, speaks a lot of languages. 607 00:40:01,120 --> 00:40:05,160 I should note that this is an extended test. 608 00:40:05,160 --> 00:40:07,360 The rules are slightly different for four E. 609 00:40:07,360 --> 00:40:08,360 Okay. 610 00:40:08,360 --> 00:40:13,480 Um, you have to remember the rules for extended tests off the top of your head. 611 00:40:13,480 --> 00:40:17,560 Uh, you can roll again. 612 00:40:17,560 --> 00:40:18,560 Every hour. 613 00:40:18,560 --> 00:40:19,560 I know. 614 00:40:19,560 --> 00:40:20,560 I'm sorry. 615 00:40:20,560 --> 00:40:21,560 I'm thinking of something else. 616 00:40:21,560 --> 00:40:23,560 I'm thinking of a frame for Sturches. 617 00:40:23,560 --> 00:40:24,800 Yeah. 618 00:40:24,800 --> 00:40:27,920 She's probably, okay. 619 00:40:27,920 --> 00:40:31,440 So the interval for the entire matrix is a minute. 620 00:40:31,440 --> 00:40:37,720 Um, and that there's a little table here for general knowledge versus limited versus 621 00:40:37,720 --> 00:40:41,200 hidden and it goes six, 12, 24. 622 00:40:41,200 --> 00:40:46,400 Um, so she could probably like get through the node. 623 00:40:46,400 --> 00:40:51,040 She's on easy, um, or signal area. 624 00:40:51,040 --> 00:40:52,760 Let's say she's only searching the signal area. 625 00:40:52,760 --> 00:40:56,080 She doesn't need to find like things all across the internet. 626 00:40:56,080 --> 00:41:04,480 So she's going to be making like what in 40, let's see, in 30 seconds, she'll be making 627 00:41:04,480 --> 00:41:07,040 10 rolls. 628 00:41:07,040 --> 00:41:15,200 Well, let's, let's abbreviate that slightly and let's just go ahead and make five roles. 629 00:41:15,200 --> 00:41:16,200 Okay. 630 00:41:16,200 --> 00:41:19,440 Uh, that should give you enough spread that you can get. 631 00:41:19,440 --> 00:41:22,320 I'll still take the minus two on each of those. 632 00:41:22,320 --> 00:41:25,240 So that's 55 D six. 633 00:41:25,240 --> 00:41:28,440 Uh, that might be difficult to count. 634 00:41:28,440 --> 00:41:45,000 Uh, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 635 00:41:45,000 --> 00:41:49,880 19, 21. 636 00:41:49,880 --> 00:41:50,880 Nice. 637 00:41:50,880 --> 00:41:51,880 Yeah. 638 00:41:51,880 --> 00:41:55,660 So you know pretty much everything that is available in the public domain. 639 00:41:55,660 --> 00:41:57,160 So what was it? 640 00:41:57,160 --> 00:42:01,120 Six was public 24 was hidden. 641 00:42:01,120 --> 00:42:07,480 So, so if she had like a couple more seconds, she would be getting to hidden or to leave 642 00:42:07,480 --> 00:42:12,360 erased, but only within a signal area or the node. 643 00:42:12,360 --> 00:42:13,360 Yeah. 644 00:42:13,360 --> 00:42:19,040 So I think what happened really was, uh, once you guys entered the elevator, um, there was 645 00:42:19,040 --> 00:42:23,120 just enough interference signal interference there that for the most of the elevator ride, 646 00:42:23,120 --> 00:42:27,640 you, you didn't get very far and you basically just started listening and responding to Dr. 647 00:42:27,640 --> 00:42:31,040 L's, you know, in name chatter. 648 00:42:31,040 --> 00:42:35,520 But you know, you know that Dr. Petrov or Dean Petrov is on site. 649 00:42:35,520 --> 00:42:38,200 Um, you know, cameras have picked him up. 650 00:42:38,200 --> 00:42:40,760 So that information was out there. 651 00:42:40,760 --> 00:42:46,520 You know, everything about his persona, uh, you know, that he lives in Seattle, that he's 652 00:42:46,520 --> 00:42:50,360 been in Seattle since Evo built the, built the facility here. 653 00:42:50,360 --> 00:42:55,880 You've got your own files that you were able to pull up your, um, your student records 654 00:42:55,880 --> 00:43:04,440 and, uh, nothing there is, um, and you're searching your name and Dean's name. 655 00:43:04,440 --> 00:43:05,440 Yeah. 656 00:43:05,440 --> 00:43:10,040 Just any kind of connection between the two or for either of those. 657 00:43:10,040 --> 00:43:11,040 Okay. 658 00:43:11,040 --> 00:43:17,840 Um, I don't know if you're going to get a whole lot more, um, out of that, but you do get 659 00:43:17,840 --> 00:43:27,080 a sense, let's put it this way, you do get a sense that both your files and, uh, Dr. 660 00:43:27,080 --> 00:43:33,160 L's have been, shall we say you get a sense that they've been clean. 661 00:43:33,160 --> 00:43:37,920 Oh, like they may not be the original files. 662 00:43:37,920 --> 00:43:46,160 They may be facsimiles that somebody has placed around to make it look like everything is 663 00:43:46,160 --> 00:43:47,160 okay. 664 00:43:47,160 --> 00:43:52,640 This sentence alarm bells ringing in Cecil's mind because she is a mystery author. 665 00:43:52,640 --> 00:43:58,600 So she's, she's not quite as gullible as the rest of the population, or at least she doesn't 666 00:43:58,600 --> 00:43:59,600 think so. 667 00:43:59,600 --> 00:44:00,600 Yes. 668 00:44:00,600 --> 00:44:04,000 There is something, there's certainly something afoot. 669 00:44:04,000 --> 00:44:09,320 Um, either the files have been tampered with or they've been replaced in such a way as 670 00:44:09,320 --> 00:44:11,680 to obscure something. 671 00:44:11,680 --> 00:44:12,680 Okay. 672 00:44:12,680 --> 00:44:15,360 So Cecil is now going to exit the restroom. 673 00:44:15,360 --> 00:44:19,480 Um, does she see anything amiss when she comes out? 674 00:44:19,480 --> 00:44:27,240 Uh, Petra or, um, no, Dr. L is, uh, awkwardly leaning on the counter, uh, make trying to 675 00:44:27,240 --> 00:44:31,080 make small talk with the blonde receptionist. 676 00:44:31,080 --> 00:44:36,360 Um, and her demeanor is basically turning his hot soy calf into ice. 677 00:44:36,360 --> 00:44:43,880 So, uh, he's quite relieved to see you come back, um, because he's getting frostbite next 678 00:44:43,880 --> 00:44:44,880 to her. 679 00:44:44,880 --> 00:44:50,960 And, uh, you also get the sense that she is relieved, not relieved to see you, but, 680 00:44:50,960 --> 00:44:55,120 um, you know, it puts things back in the right order for her at least. 681 00:44:55,120 --> 00:44:57,880 And she says, go right on in. 682 00:44:57,880 --> 00:44:58,880 They're expecting. 683 00:44:58,880 --> 00:45:00,960 And she does say they are expecting. 684 00:45:00,960 --> 00:45:07,600 And while they're walking, Cecil is going to, as subtly as she can, like go up next 685 00:45:07,600 --> 00:45:12,320 to L and like whisper in his ear, they're going to fire you. 686 00:45:12,320 --> 00:45:14,200 He drops his coffee. 687 00:45:14,200 --> 00:45:15,280 What? 688 00:45:15,280 --> 00:45:17,720 What are you talking about? 689 00:45:17,720 --> 00:45:18,720 You stopped. 690 00:45:18,720 --> 00:45:20,200 I didn't say anything. 691 00:45:20,200 --> 00:45:26,320 It's like, who me to try to communicate with the look like play it cool. 692 00:45:26,320 --> 00:45:27,320 All right. 693 00:45:27,320 --> 00:45:31,720 And he's, he's sweating profusely and he's fumbling about trying to pick up his coffee 694 00:45:31,720 --> 00:45:38,000 and you know, he's looking at you suspiciously and he's like, just a moment, I'll be right 695 00:45:38,000 --> 00:45:42,240 back and he shuffles back to the receptionist area. 696 00:45:42,240 --> 00:45:47,440 And the woman behind the reception desk is looking at him quite annoyed at this point 697 00:45:47,440 --> 00:45:54,080 and she's like, good grief, Mr. Lafontaine, pull yourself together, get rid of that cup 698 00:45:54,080 --> 00:45:56,600 and then get, get into the Dean's office. 699 00:45:56,600 --> 00:45:59,200 He's not going to be happy with your performance here. 700 00:45:59,200 --> 00:46:04,240 And he throws away the cup and he comes back to you looking a little bit like a beaten 701 00:46:04,240 --> 00:46:05,240 dog. 702 00:46:05,240 --> 00:46:06,240 Okay. 703 00:46:06,240 --> 00:46:07,240 Seal like. 704 00:46:07,240 --> 00:46:08,240 Go ahead. 705 00:46:08,240 --> 00:46:09,240 No, you first. 706 00:46:09,240 --> 00:46:14,320 The two security officers have just been standing there watching you and they sort of glance 707 00:46:14,320 --> 00:46:18,960 at each other at this whole scene and then smirk. 708 00:46:18,960 --> 00:46:22,400 Cecil is impeccably cool right now. 709 00:46:22,400 --> 00:46:26,880 She, I just want to say to an outside observer, she would look fine. 710 00:46:26,880 --> 00:46:27,880 All right. 711 00:46:27,880 --> 00:46:28,880 Make a composure test. 712 00:46:28,880 --> 00:46:31,720 Oh, a composure test. 713 00:46:31,720 --> 00:46:32,720 I shall. 714 00:46:32,720 --> 00:46:34,720 Composure seven. 715 00:46:34,720 --> 00:46:35,720 Nice. 716 00:46:35,720 --> 00:46:38,520 Let's hope she's holding it together. 717 00:46:38,520 --> 00:46:39,520 Two. 718 00:46:39,520 --> 00:46:41,040 Well, she's not falling apart. 719 00:46:41,040 --> 00:46:43,040 Let's put it that way. 720 00:46:43,040 --> 00:46:49,480 She may feel like she's the ice queen, but maybe the outside of to an outside observer, 721 00:46:49,480 --> 00:46:54,040 some telltale signs that she is a little bit nervous at this point. 722 00:46:54,040 --> 00:47:19,400 She's imagining herself as the heroine in one of her novels. 723 00:47:19,400 --> 00:47:25,880 The Topps Company Inc. has sole ownership of the names, logo, artwork, marks, photographs, 724 00:47:25,880 --> 00:47:31,240 sounds, audio, video and or any proprietary material used in connection with the game 725 00:47:31,240 --> 00:47:32,240 Shadowrun. 726 00:47:32,240 --> 00:47:37,200 The Topps Company Inc. has granted permission to the Hard Knock sorority podcast to use 727 00:47:37,200 --> 00:47:42,680 such names, logos, artwork, marks and or any proprietary materials for promotional and 728 00:47:42,680 --> 00:47:47,360 informational purposes on its website, but does not endorse and is not affiliated with 729 00:47:47,360 --> 00:47:51,840 the Hard Knock sorority podcast in any official capacity whatsoever. 730 00:47:51,840 --> 00:47:56,880 The music for the Hard Knock sorority podcast was written and performed by Trace Mineral. 731 00:47:56,880 --> 00:48:02,120 The Hard Knock sorority podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons license 4.0, meaning 732 00:48:02,120 --> 00:48:19,160 you are welcome to use the material as long as you give us credit.