# [Shadowrun] Seattle Calling (Chp 2 - Completed 2/8/2009)



## Zen_Pollo (Jan 11, 2009)

*Seattle Calling: Chapter 2*

This story hour chronicles the continuing exploits of our characters surrounding a special election in Seattle.  This campaign uses Shadowrun 4th edition rules.

The Characters:
*Alexander McQueen*, an Elf Shaman/Face Man
*Darien Slone*, a Troll Meat Shield/Cyborg Killer
*Carlito Lontoh*, a Human Scientist/Technician

Resources:

Seattle Calling Wikispace

Complete Chapter 1 PDF

Complete Chapter 2 PDF

GM Notes:
1)  This Chapter is based off the adventure, Born To Die, written by Aaron Pavao


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## Zen_Pollo (Jan 11, 2009)

*Seattle Calling Chapter 2: Vignette*

_GM's Note:  This Vignette was printed and read aloud by the players at the start of the adventure.  Its purpose is to illuminate some of the more obscure plot elements to the Players, if not the PCs_​


_Setting:  A grimy 2-D motion picture theater which was old at the turn of the century.  The worn-out seats had patches of fabric were the chair was too gross even for the rats to eat it.  Playing on the giant screen was skin flick with a title no one remembered.  The theater was empty except for a couple seated in the middle seats of the middle row.

The woman was tall and long limbed like a dancer.  She had short spiky black hair and pale gaunt features.  The woman sat with her feet propped up on the seat in front of her._

Bergnier:  So, how did the excursion go last night?

_Seated next to her was a tall white-haired creature that looked like an ape._

Parker Peavelez:  The extraction went well.

Bergnier:  Excellent, so you’ve recovered the samples?

Parker Peavelez:  Not yet, there was a complication with the extraction

Bergnier:  Humph, go figure.  What sort of complication?

Parker Peavelez:  The salaryman’s accomplices escaped.

Bergnier:  Really, I didn’t know that – it wasn’t like the job was SPLASHED ALL OVER THE GOD DAMN TRIVID LAST NIGHT!

_With lightening quick alacrity, the women had a clawed hand wrapped around the creature’s throat.  Bergnier pulled Parker close to her face and calmly sniffed his fur while she stared at him with wide-open eyes._

Parker Peavelez (Gulp):  I’ll take care of it.  I’ve already put a plan in motion.

Bergnier(Still sniffing Peavelez’s  fur):  When can I expect those samples back?

Parker Peavelez (Whimper):  Soon...Yes…Very Soon.

Bergnier(Standing up and walking towards the aisle):  Even better!  I’ll set my watch for “Very Soon”.  And Parker?

Parker Peavelez:  Yes, Ma’am

Bergnier(wagging a finger):  Don’t be late.  It makes me grumpy when people aren’t punctual


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## Zen_Pollo (Jan 14, 2009)

*Seattle Calling Chapter 2:  Born To Die*

_London calling to the imitation zone
Forget it, brother, you can go at it alone_
The Clash, _London Calling_​
_Setting:_  A family establishment in Renton affectionately known as the Orc with the Golden Tooth based on a poster plastered over the plate-glass window.  The patrons of this eatery all seem to share a preference for obvious weaponry and armored clothing.

_And that’s just how I like it_, thought Slone whom had recommended the joint to his teammates.  The troll was still black and blue from yesterday’s impact bruises.  _Those drones’ assault rifles hurt – hurt real bad_, thought Slone.

The troll sneered at the elf sitting across the Formica table from him.  The elf coolly returned the troll’s gaze from across their booth.  “What?” remarked Alexander as he shrugged his shoulders.

"You’re looking at me -- I'm looking at you," replied the troll.

“What’s that even mean?” queried Alexander.

"It means the only thing you’re good at is looking pretty and running away," sneered the disgruntled troll.

“Whatever.”

“Let’s not get into this now,” reasoned Carlito, “if anyone should be mad – it’s me – you both ran off and left me hung out to dry.”  Carlito continued, “It doesn’t matter anyways – we all got out of there alive and we still have the samples.  The real question is what are we going to do now?”

The elf shrugged, “We did our job – I say we destroy the samples like Tommy wanted and move on with our lives.”

“Drek on that!” replied Slone, “We should find out what that sample is – I’m nobody’s sucker and we were setup to fail on that mission.”

“I agree, that sample was in a level 4 biohazard unit – I bet it is a bioweapon,”  Carlito exclaimed.  “In fact, if we can, we should send the sample in for testing and determine whether or not we can track down Patient zero.”

“Huh?” remarked the troll.

“Patient Zero is the first person infected with the bug – the person whom had this blood sample taken,” explained the elf.

Carlito nodded in agreement, “I might have a friend who can get us into a lab to do the testing.  I’d send the sample to her, but I think that would be foolish.”

“Yeah, but if we don’t send it we will never know what all this was about,” Slone reasoned.

“What about the other samples?”  asked Alexander regarding the samples Carlito had sent out yesterday morning before the run.

“The samples were normal human blood – it looks like Tommy really wanted us to plant a decoy,” replied Carlito.  “Anyhow, we can’t just send these samples to my contact – it’s too dangerous.”  _I would never forgive myself if something happened to Sadie_, thought Carlito, _Besides, she should never get involved in this sort of life._

_This is lunacy_, thought Alexander, _That sample is a poison pill which will get all of us killed.  I’m done with this Shadowrunning business – I should get back into legal practice._  As Alexander was about to tell the others his decision, his commlink popped-up an Augmented Reality Object with a vid-link.

The ARO displayed the features of a well-kept middle-aged red head.  Alexander could immediately tell the woman was an executive at a mega-corp – she had the sort of makeup and hair only those with plenty of disposable income could afford.  The overall effect was tastefully balanced – provocative enough to lend Red feminine heat, but subdued enough not to attract undue attention.  “How may I help you?” purred Alexander over his commlink’s dermal microphone tapped to his throat near his vocal cords.

“I’m Paula Peterson, Tommy Toledo’s director at the United Corporate Council,” replied Red.

_Just another ivy-league lobbyist_, thought Alexander.  

“Mr. McQueen, I’ll get right to the point – we’ve found Tommy.”

_Here comes the pitch_ thought the elf; yet Alexander smiled at Red and replied, “Excellent, I hope he is doing well.”  Slone and Carlito saw that Alexander was engaged in a vid-call and continued debating whether or not to send the samples to be tested – “It’s too risky – We gotta know the Truth!”

“Actually,” stated Red, “Tommy is in a bit of a bind – He was kidnapped from the ferry after meeting with you.”  

“Really, we lost sight of him during the fire,” equivocated Alexander.

“I see.  In any event, once I discovered his location, I arranged for an extraction team to retrieve him.  Unfortunately, they are encountering stiff resistance and that is why I am calling you,” Red continued, “I need you and your team to lend back-up to the extraction unit immediately.  Based on your commlink’s GPS, I see that you are only a few minutes away from the other team – I need you to go to them right now and get Tommy back from his captors.”  

_Wonderful, now they’re tracking my commlink _, groused Alexander to himself.  Nevertheless, the elf said out loud, “What’s the pay?”

Red smiled, “Pay, Mr. McQueen? I believe you have been paid for the month on retainer prior to your last mission.  If you wish to continue receiving your retainer as well as your health benefits, you had best get moving towards Tommy – Here’s the address, Good-bye.”

Red AROed Alexander the physical address and then terminated the call.  As Red turned her attention to another matter, she thought to herself, _I wonder if I can trust this Alexander McQueen._

Alexander relayed the assignment to his colleagues whom greeted it with enthusiasm – they were both fond of Tommy.  When Alexander looked at the address, he thought to himself, _The Redmond Barrens – Drek it all – I shouldn’t have worn my good suit!_

_The ice age is coming, the sun's zooming in
Meltdown expected, the wheat is growing thin
Engines stop running, but I have no fear
Cause London is drowning and I, live by the river_
The Clash, _London Calling_​


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## Canaan (Jan 14, 2009)

This story hour is written in a very engaging style.  I am enjoying it.


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## Zen_Pollo (Jan 26, 2009)

*Cab Ride to Hell*

_London calling - and I don't wanna shout
But while we were talking I saw you nodding out_
The Clash, _London Calling_​
_Setting:_  A taxicab traveling towards the Redmond Barrens.  The driver was a Khalsa Sikh wearing a turban, an iron bracelet and a kirpan.  Seated next to him in the front seat of the cab was a fashionably-dressed elf sitting with his arms crossed staring out the window dejectedly.  In the back seat, a giant troll occupied much of the space while a thin human sat next to him wedged in between the troll’s flank and the door.

“It will cost you double to drive to the barrens, good sirs, and double for the troll as well” stated the Sikh.

“Double, what are you talking about?  It is only six miles to the address,” grumbled Alexander.

“Sir, do not play me for a fool.  I am not a stupid man.  That address is inside the Redmond Barrens and I will not willingly drive into the barrens without being compensated accordingly,” reasoned the Sikh.

Slone casually placed his Ruger Super Warhawk on the back of Alexander’s seat in front of him, “Nobody's calling you stupid, just shut-up and drive.”  The troll waved the gun in Alexander’s direction, “Besides, he's payin’.”

The Sikh either accepted Slone’s offer or decided it was wisest to comply with the troll’s demands.  In any case, the taxi continued on towards the Redmond Barrens.  As the cab drew near, the obvious signs of decay and lawlessness became more pronounced the closer they came to the barrens.  First, the neighborhood merely looked extremely poor with boarded up houses and cars on blocks.  Then, the houses had gaping holes in the brick walls and the cars on blocks were obviously burnt at sometime in the past.  Next, the cars were still on fire with squatters standing around them warming their hands.  Finally, a sign read, “Warning:  No Police Protection or Emergency Services Rendered Beyond this Point – Enter at Your Own Risk”

“So this is the Barrens,” remarked Carlito – he had never traveled to this side of town.  The buildings and streets had obvious signs of disrepair – walls knocked down, spaghetti cable running aimlessly between structures, cracked asphalt and broken pavement on the sidewalks.  But it was the throngs of people which caught the scientist’s attention.

The Redmond Barrens was a veritable sea of humanity living without SINs(Social Identification Numbers).  Entering the barrens, there were throngs of people shopping at vendor’s stalls on the sidewalks and alleyways. The trio noted that almost anything was for sale – guns, drugs and chips.  Joytoys roamed the streets plying their illicit trade – the oldest trade.  The people of the Barrens did not register on any demographic chart or census, but lived without the yoke of corporate tyranny.  Such was a life without SIN.

An ARO popped up in Alexander’s commlink, _MetroLink Wireless Signal Terminated: No Matrix Connectivity Available_  The elf thought to himself, _Great, looks like there’s no calling for backup._  The elf couldn’t decide whether that was good or bad.

As the cab drove deeper into the barrens, the more obvious the urban decay became and the fewer people there were loitering about.  Something nagged at Carlito’s attention, but he couldn’t quite pin it down.  After a few more blocks, the scientist realized what was wrong – there were no AROs, no pop-ups, no social networking hits from anonymous strangers seeking to hook-up.  

Carlito felt the world was a very frightening place without digital AROs to provide context his experiences.

Slone was oblivious to the lack of wireless networking – his commlink was busted half the time anyways.

When the taxi turned the corner towards the street with their destination, the road was strangely empty except for the hulk of a broken-down CityMaster Urban Assault Vehicle parked in front of a storefront.  As the taxi came to a stop, the trio noticed a red van turning the corner down the road – driving towards the highway.  Otherwise the street was empty and silent.

“That will be 400 Nuyen, sir”, the Sikh requested.

“400?  For six miles?” stated Carlito in disbelief.

“Double for the Troll, Double for the Barrens -- Plus Tip. Thank you very much,” replied the Sikh.

_Or we can just kill him_, Carlito thought for a moment and then shook his head, _What’s happening to me, Mother?_

“Fine,” said Alexander as he paid the driver via his commlink and stepped out of the car.

Trio began investigating the scene as the taxi drove away.  It was clear whatever had happened here had come and gone without leaving any witnesses.

_The residents must’ve heard the firefight – that’s why no one’s around_, thought Slone.  The troll examined the disabled husk of the CityMaster – whatever had been here had ripped off the doors and the hood of the van.  Strangely, the inside of the vehicle was spotlessly clean.  The troll ran his finger over a gash in the metal frame of the doorway where the hinges had been shorn off from the door.

Meanwhile, Carlito and Alexander walked up to the structure.  The sign on the outside read, _Friendship Church | Friendship Travel._  Carlito thought to himself, _Doing God’s Work must not pay all the bills._ 

_Say the Rosary again, Carlito, until you are repentant for what you’ve done_,  Carlito’s migraine headache surged again, _Yes Mother._ 

Alexander walked into the building – the plate glass front door had been ripped off its frame, but no broken glass was visible.  Inside, the furniture of the church-travel agency had been overturned.  The elf could smell industrial solvents in the air, but also the faint smell of cordite and blood.  However, there were neither bullets nor bodies left to tell the tale.  

“There must’ve been a fight here; looks like we’re too late though,” mused the troll coming in behind Carlito whom was rubbing the bridge of his nose.  Alexander examined a large indentation on the wall where something obviously caved in part of the drywall. 

Slone motioned over to a door in the rear of the main lobby, “Let’s check out that backroom.” 

The trio scoped out the rear office.  A desktop commlink sat on the remains of a table.  Slone always had had bad luck with machinery, “Carlito, you check it out.”  Carlito squatted down beside the remains of the commlink and pulled aside the plastic outer casing.  "The commlink’s gutted,” the scientist observed.

“Great. Now what?” Alexander asked his teammates.

Slone pulled up a chair and sat down, “I dunno, this was your job, call your Johnson.”

The elf shrugged his shoulders and called Paula Peterson.  Then, Alexander remembered that his commlink had no signal in the barrens.  “Frag it All,” cursed the elf as he explained his predicament to his comrades.

Slone laughed, “She called you on purpose; this was a setup from the beginning.  Let’s get out of here."

A cold voice whispered, “Vengeance.”

“Who said that?” asked the elf.  Slone and Carlito shrugged.

“Vengeance!” exclaimed the voice.

Slone jumped up from his chair, “What the frack? Who said that?”  

“VENGEANCE!!!” roared an apparition as it swiftly rose from the floor.  The apparition was in the form of a short human in a long flowing coat.  The apparition rushed towards Slone and engulfed him before passing through the giant troll.  Slone shivered, _Hot Drek in the morning, what was that?!?_  The troll yanked out his Ruger as the apparition moved through him.  Slone shakily aimed the handcannon towards the spirit but Alexander knocked the weapon aside.

“You can’t hurt a ghost with one of those,” reasoned the elf, “Let’s hear what he has to say.”

“Who are you?”  Carlito asked the agitated apparition.

“Who am I?  Who the frack are YOU?, FLESH BAG,” roared the apparition, “I bet you're the backup team. Fat load of fraggin' good you slots turned out to be! You're as useless as my glitched-up chiphead slitch of a sister.”

The apparition began wailing and slowly curled up into a fetal position on the floor.  The ghost whined, “You're too late, watcher-brains, we've all been killed. Oh, spirits! I've been killed! I’m dead! This is the end! There's nothing left! I am dead! I’m dead!” 

Alexander moved to sooth the apparition, “Sorry, pal, we got here as first as we could, what happened?  Where’s Tommy?”  Gingerly, the elf motioned as if to pat the ghost’s back.  Alexander’s asinine gesture apparently worked, as the apparition shortly calmed down.

“I'm Sobriquet; I was the magician for Ice's Irregulars,” explained the apparition, “I'm sorry about that, I'm afraid I'm new at this whole being dead thing  -- First time for me."  The apparition sat up on the floor cross-legged.

“What about Tommy?” the elf persisted.

Sobriquet continued, “Tommy? Well, Tommy’s dead.”

“What happened?” groaned Carlito as he thought to himself, _Now, we will never know what we are supposed to do with the samples._

“We found Tommy here – his handlers were about to transport him to another location,” explained Sobriquet, “My team busted up the handlers pretty well.  Tommy told us that he had managed to glean some paydata from the handlers regarding what this was all about; he had it loaded in his headware commlink”

_We need that commlink; It’s about time for some straight answers_, thought Slone approvingly.

“…And then we got hit,” continued Sobriquet, “I didn't see it coming; I was doing astral overwatch at the time. All of a sudden, I felt violence and fear, and when I came back to look, I caught a glimpse of a magically active aura when I felt my body die.”  The apparition trailed off as he recollected the experience of dying; it as the most painful thing to ever happen to him, and now, that was the last feeling he would ever have.

“Where are all the bodies?  Where are Tommy’s remains?” prompted the elf.

“So painful…so painful…” Sobriquet mused and then shook his head, “Look, I don’t have much time.”  The apparition continued, “After I died, I hid, and the thing that killed me vanished as quickly as it had come. Later, a truck pulled up and about a half a dozen people came out. I manifested to see what was going on and they were cleaning! For a second I thought I was freaking out, but that's what they were doing. They took the bodies and cleaned the place up, and took off. It was very strange.”

“Did you get a look at the cleaners?” queried the troll, “What’d they look like?” 

Sobriquet shook his head, “Nope, they all looked the same to me – or maybe I just had other things on my mind – like being KILLED! VENGEANCE! VENGEANCE!!”  

The elf soothed the apparition once more and Sobriquet regained his composure, “Anyway, the truck was red. One of the body bags they used had a logo, though; a pale man in a puritan costume,” the apparition continued, “Look, I have some loose ends to tie up in my personal affairs, Can you slots do me a favor?”

“Sure,” replied Carlito, “What do you need?”

“Finish the job – get Tommy’s remains back to the Johnson,” Sobriquet requested, “Also, one more thing, I had this Power Focus on my body.  Can you give it to my sister?  The Johnson will know what to do with it.”

“Sure thing, chummer,” dubiously replied Alexander, but he thought to himself _I’m not going after that glitch-head’s body.  Who does he think we are?  Shadowrunners?_

_The ice age is coming, the sun's zooming in
Meltdown expected, the wheat is growing thin
Engines stop running, but I have no fear
Cause London is drowning and I, live by the river_
The Clash, _London Calling_​


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## Zen_Pollo (Jan 26, 2009)

*Discrete Disposal*

GM Note: This post features graphic imagery and religious connotations; read at your discretion.​
_London calling to the zombies of death
Quit holding out - and draw another breath_
The Clash, _London Calling_​
_Setting:_  The squat concrete building sat the middle of an empty lot utterly devoid of life – even weeds.  The structure had four rolling garage doors and a smaller office door with a broad window showing the well-lit office.  Inside a strained-looking human woman played virtual _SolitARe_.

Alexander shook his head, _I thought I wasn’t going to get involved with this nonsense?_  But the others had been very persuasive.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_Alexander and Slone had been arguing in front of  the Friendship Church | Friendship Travel while Carlito attempted to fix the broke-down CityMaster.

“We were asked to do a job – we did the job – we’re done here,” reasoned Alexander.

“Look, you dandelion-eating nancy-boy, we need to find out what happened to Tommy,”  argued Slone, “Besides we still have those fraggin’ samples”

“Yeah, we need to do testing on those samples,” agreed Carlito as he squirmed on the ground underneath the engine block, “I bet they are some sort of bio-weapon and Tommy was trying to figure out what it did before he was killed.”

“So what, vatjob?  Like I give a frack about those samples.” Alexander stated; he was tired of being pushed around.

*VROOM*

“Alright!” exclaimed Carlito as he finished bringing the dead CityMaster back to life.  The scientist crawled out from underneath the van and moved to sit in the driver’s seat, but the troll blocked him out. 

Slone stated matter-of-factly, “I Drive; You ride in the back.” Slone grabbed the scientist by the scruff of his neck and casually tossed him into the rear of the vehicle.  The troll turned to Alexander still standing petulantly in the road in front of the church-travel agency.

“Alright, Fancy-pants, if you want to walk out of the Barrens on your own, that’s fine,” said Slone; the troll had had enough of elf’s behavior, “This CityMaster’s going to find Tommy’s corpse.  What’s it going to be?”

Alexander looked around his literally Barren surroundings; then, the elf climbed into the CityMaster, “I’ve got shotgun.”_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been relatively simple legwork to find the company associated with the pale puritan logo.  It turned out the company was an outfit from Tacoma called _Discrete Disposal_.  When Carlito had datasearched the company on the Matrix, an ARO had popped up with the address and short vid-link promotion showing a comely woman zipping up an industrial red jumpsuit.  _When you need Discretion AND a good Cleaning, Call us.  Available 24/7!_ 

Alexander had made a few calls to some of his contacts and discovered the organization specialized in cleaning up after wetwork.  The company was not affiliated with any particular corp or underworld group – everyone had secrets to bury – even the corporations running the police.  

_Strange that I couldn’t find out who owns the company, though_, thought the elf, _Someone has to be in charge of this outfit._

And so the trio stood in front of the lot, about to infiltrate the cleaning company which had disposed of Tommy’s body.  The plan was to pretend the team was the group which originally ordered the clean-up and that they had discovered additional information which required them to search the remains.  Carlito had hoped they would be able to examine the body and discretely download the contents of Tommy’s commlink via a wireless connection.

“C’mon, moonlight’s burning,” gruffed the troll as he stepped onto the lot and headed towards the office door.  Carlito followed closely behind.

Alexander moved to follow and, as he stepped onto the lot, a sublime sense of foreboding overcame him.  While the elf was a shaman, Alexander was not exactly the spiritual sort; In fact, the elf’s selfish demeanor often ran afoul of his shamanic leanings.  Yet, even the elf could sense that something in the background was not right with this establishment.  

The elf’s liked to envision his magical abilities were a clear pool of mojo from which he pulled down spells as though drinking from a straw.

This building felt like someone had taken a steaming drek in his pool of mojo.

The elf mentally shifted his perceptions to the astral plane.  The mundane world slid from his gaze and the transcendent astral world came into view.  The buildings and pavement faded away and became almost transparent.  However, the meat in front of him – Carlito and the troll – grew brighter; their moods popped out at him as colors washing over their auras.  Slone had the tightly-coiled aura of someone poised for violence.  Carlito’s aura was spikey and geometric, yet had a maelstrom swirling inside that threatened to burst out at any moment.  _I wonder what will finally set him off the deep-end?_ Alexander mused.

But it was not his companions’ aura which interested the elf; it was the booming voice which thundered from the astral depths of the building, “Now that's interesting,” it said sonorously, “Most people would flee this place. Why don't you and your friends come inside? I think I would very much like to meet you.”

_What the frack?_ thought the elf; but he merely said to his colleagues, “We’ve been expected.”

“Great,” replied the troll as he opened the office door and stepped inside.  The twenty-something blonde looked up from her virtual game of _SolitARe_ floating in the air above her desk.  “Can I help you?” the receptionist asked eying Slone dubiously.

“Yeah, we’d like to see the boss,” Slone replied nonchalantly.

“And see him you shall,” exclaimed a tall man standing in the entryway to an office.  The tall man wore a conservative black suit and long flowing black coat covering translucent white skin.  Strangely, the man wore a black puritan’s hat with a silver buckle.   

Carlito could have sworn the man was not standing there a moment before he spoke.  _And why is Alexander sweating so much?_ thought the scientist as the elf stiffly walked into the office.  Carlito hadn’t seen the elf so anxious since they had had to flee the containment unit at the STTC.

The Puritan ushered the trio into the office and gestured to two chairs in front of a sleek industrial desk made of glass and steel.  “Please sit.  May I offer you refreshment?” asked the Puritan as he sat behind the desk   AROs popped-up in Carlito’s and Alexander’s commlinks with small menus for beverages and snacks available for clients.  Alexander vehemently declined, while Carlito thought to himself, _Why not?  This place is so sterile and clean, unlike most places we frequent!_  The scientist didn’t even pause to wipe down the seat as was his usual custom.

Slone opted to stand.  _When are we going to find an office with furniture I can use?_ 

“So what can I do for you gentleman?”  asked the Puritan.

Alexander decided to come clean, “You have cleaned a job site recently and we would like to examine the remains.”

The Puritan frowned, “I clean many job sites; After all, it is our business.”

“This job was in the Barrens,” persisted the elf.

“The Barrens?  I perform many jobs in the Barrens,” replied the Puritan evasively.

At that moment, the receptionist entered the office with a small tray carrying Carlito’s order:  gelid Fuzzyglug, still in the can.

"We have a video timestamp on one of your vans leaving the site," stated the scientist as he popped the top and took a sugary swig.  Carlito recalled the red van leaving the scene of the Friendship Church | Friendship Travel massacre.

Changing his tack, the Puritan replied, “Why should I help you?”

Slone retorted, “Cuz you’re a nice guy and you wear a cool hat.”

The Puritan guffawed, “A cool hat indeed!”  The Puritan decided at that moment that he liked this trio.  _Metahumans are so unpredictable_, thought the Puritan, _After all this time, they can still find ways to surprise me._

The Puritan stood up and motioned for the group to follow him.  The tall man led the trio back to the reception area and down a corridor towards a cubicle farm where accountants, deskjockeys and other wageslaves plied their trade.  Through a glass wall in the rear of the office area, the trio could see several red vans parked in the motor pool.

The Puritan stopped at a large metal door with a reinforced frame and three separate maglocks.  Sitting in front of the door was a security specialist wearing full body armor and carrying a light machinegun on a gyromount.

"Stand down Percy,” said the Puritan.  The tall man gestured to the maglocks and the security guard used his maglock passkey to unlock the door.  Once finished, the SecSpec stepped back from the door and readied his LMG.

“Once you enter, I will lock the door behind you for safety reasons,” explained the Puritan who then smiled knowingly at the elf, “Alexander will let me know when you are ready to leave.”  Alexander gulped and nodded curtly.

“What’s down there?” asked the troll.

“You will have to see for yourself.  Good luck,” the Puritan replied and stood aside.   Carlito positioned himself to stand behind the door as it opened while Slone stood ready to confront whatever came out.  Alexander stood in the rear with his arms folded. _What a cluster-frag_ thought the elf, _This place is a toxic nightmare.  The Puritan is leading us to our doom._

Carlito nodded at Slone and then pulled the door open.  Immediately, a wave of stench so profound that it registered in Alexander’s astral senses washed over the group.  The troll grimaced but kept his composure, _Yep, there’s dead bodies in there._  The elf turned his head away from the door in a vain attempt to avoid the smell.  In his peripheral vision, Alexander noticed the cube-dwellers nearest to the door donned surgical face masks to cover the odor.  However, Carlito bent over and voided his Fuzzyglug all over the floor.

Behind the security door was a stairway leading down into a basement.   Slone noticed small bits of decaying flesh and excrement smeared on the steps and walls.  It was clear that no light sources existed in the basement.  Fortunately for the troll, his natural thermographic vision would register any unfriendlies in the area.

Once the scientist recovered himself, the trio gingerly made their way downstairs.  Slone led the way since he was the only one whom could see.  The elf was next – Alexander had the same low-light vision as other elves, but it was his astral perceptions that guided him.  Carlito followed in rear-guard; the human could not see anything and had no vision-enhancement cyberware to augment his perceptions.  The scientist kept his hands on Alexander’s shoulders so he wouldn’t fall over.

As Carlito made it onto the stairway, the Security Specialist closed the door behind the trio; the group heard the three bolts slide into place as if three thunderbolts sealing their doom.  As the door closed, all the ambient light from the first floor faded and the team was sealed in darkness.

As the group traversed down the stairway, Slone told his teammates, “We should lay waste to this glitched-up hole.”

“I hate places like this – this is low rent,” muttered the scientist.

Alexander agreed, "This basement is beyond low rent – way beyond.”  The elf could see the background toxicity levels through his astral perceptions.  If the parking lot was an astral wasteland, the basement was ground zero.

Slone rounded a corner in the stairway to his left.  In his thermographic gaze, the room underneath the complex opened up.  Vague body-like shapes with little heat-differentiation covered the entire floor of the 25m by 25m area.  Slone could see a few forms amongst the heaps of bodies still had normal body temperatures.  _Must be the fresh meat; Good thing Carlito can’t see this or he would freak out_, thought the troll.

The troll stepped onto the floor and made his forward.  Following close behind the troll, the elf reached the floor and slipped – there wasn’t enough light for his lowlight vision to kick-in.  So Alexander perceived the room in astral space.  It quickly dawned on the elf that the bodies littered about the floor were the remains of the _cleaning_ jobs performed by the Discrete Disposal.  _I might end-up here one day if things go south_, Alexander mused.

Carlito clung to Alexander, completely lost. _I’m actually glad I can’t see what I’m smelling right now_, thought the scientist as he shivered.

The troll had his trusty Ares Alpha in one hand and his combat axe in the other.  Slone approached the closest body that had a heat signature.  Slone stood over the form and nudged it with his axe.

And that is when the ghouls struck.  

Lightening fast, the heat forms Slone thought were corpses jumped up and ran towards the group still near the stairway.  Slone counted at least 9 ghouls running to surround the team.  The ghouls howled as they rushed the trio, jubilant at the opportunity to feed on some fresh meat instead of the dead fare the Puritan regularly fed them.

Alexander and Carlito screamed in response to the guttural howls, but the troll simply kicked in his synaptic accelerator and the world slowed down; as fast as the ghouls were, they were no match for the augmented reactions of the troll’s biotechnology.  Slone brought his Ares Alpha to bear and launched a grenade from the underbarrel mount into the midst of the rushing horde.  _Good thing Carlito helped me disable the safety timer on the grenade launcher_,  thought the troll as the salvo hit his impact target and blasted five ghouls in its effect radius.

Unfortunately, the ghouls were not laid low by the explosion and were still able to surround the troll and engage him in melee.  Soon, the troll was fighting for his life fending off no fewer than five ghouls in hand-to-hand combat.  The troll was forced to sling his Ares over his shoulder to free his other hand for melee.

Two ghouls on the right flank were outside Slone’s grenade blast and immediately set upon Alexander with savage swipes of their elongated claws.  The elf screamed as the ghouls tore chunks of flesh from his forearms.

In the flash of the grenade blast, Carlito witnessed the utter horror of the scene; piles of bodies being eaten by gaunt, pale ghouls and glimpses of the chaotic melee unfolding in front of him.  The flash from the grenade imprinted the skirmish upon his retinas; so the scientist did the only thing he could – he took aim at the last known position of the closest ghoul and let lose with his Yamaha Sakura Fubuki light machine pistol.

In the staccato flashes between bullets, the scientist saw his burst tear into Alexander’s back!

“You glitched-up son of a slitch!” the elf cried out as he stumbled under the burst.  Luckily, the elf’s form fitting body armor absorbed some of the damage, but between Carlito’s burst and the ghoul’s attacks, Alexander knew he was in big trouble, _Frag it all, I’m not going down like this!_  The elf ran to left and bowled over two ghouls approaching from that side.  As he ran, Alexander pulled down the mojo, even through it felt like reaching into a toilet bowl after an epic bout of diarrhea.  The shaman formed a Control Action spell targeting the closet ghoul on the left flank and put his back to the corner of the room.  The astral aftereffect of the spell made the elf vomit in his mouth.

Meanwhile, Slone was having no luck fighting off the five ghouls in melee.  Although the giant troll outmatched any one of the ghouls in combat, the group of five coordinated attacks so that Slone could not easily strike one without opening himself up to a blow from a flanking ghoul.

The five ghouls also had little luck in taking down the troll – the combat axe and Slone’s naturally long limbs kept most of the ghouls at bay.  The few skirmishers that were able to land blows could not penetrate Slone’s armored jacket, dermal armor, and titanium bone lacing; not tot mention the troll’s tough hide and bulking physique.

In short, it was a stalemate, an impasse, Ai Uchi – the state of mutual kills.

From his hiding spot in the corner, Alexander directed the ghoul under the effect of his Control Actions spell to attack the ghoul adjacent to him.  The two ghouls on the left flank immediately started scuffling with one another.  The elf attempted to ensnare a second ghoul, but the effort required to maintain his first spell and the pain of his wounds impeded his casting.

One of the ghouls on the right flank charged the scientist near the stairwell.  The ghoul knocked Carlito down and jumped on top of him to finish the job.  The panicked scientist tried to maneuver his light pistol around to fire at the ghoul on top of him, but his bullets found nothing but air.

Slone, hearing the burst from Carlito’s machine pistol, turned around and witnessed the scientist’s predicament.  The troll rushed back towards the stairway and took a giant leap.  Leading with his combat axe, Slone landed a furious double-overhand blow to the ghoul on top of Carlito, instantly severing his spine.

The remaining ghoul on the right flank attacked Slone to no effect.

Bleeding from the ghoul’s initial assault, Carlito crawled out from under the body of the ghoul and kicked off the nanites of his SaviourMedKit to start first aid on himself.  _Sweet Mother of God, that was close!_ thought the scientist.

Slone pivoted in place and tore the ghoul on the right flank in half with one mighty stroke of the combat axe.  However, the other five ghouls quickly joined the fray and surrounded the troll once more.

Meanwhile, more forms crawled up to reinforce the ghouls.  One in particular stuck out in Alexander’s astral perceptions.  _Great, a mage-ghoul_, though the elf.

But Alexander was not the only one with astral perceptions; the mage-ghoul pulled down his own mojo and lobbed a powerball towards Alexander.  Drawing deep from his will, the elf batted the magical assault aside with a counterspell.

A second ghoul spied Alexander in the corner and rushed him, but could not land a claw.

Seeing the ghostly image of the powerball streak towards the elf, Slone knew what he had to do; rushing through the crowd of ghouls engaging him in melee, the troll charged the mage-ghoul and struck.  The deadly combat axe cleaved the mage-ghoul from crown to crotch.

After his assault, Slone saw another opportunity.  The ghouls who had clustered around the troll before had not yet caught up with him – the synaptic accelerator allowed him to travel at greater speeds than mere ghouls could follow.  Slone retrieved his Ares Alpha once more and let loose with a second grenade.  This time, three of the five dropped immediately from the lethal blast.

Huddled on the stairway, Carlito cringed at the second blast even though he was partially shielded from the effect by the ghouls in front of him.  The scientist saw five ghouls remaining; one fighting Alexander, two running towards the troll and two ghouls still fighting each other nearby.  _This is madness, I can’t even see who I’m shooting!_ thought the scientist.  So Carlito instead launched a Scan program from his commlink to attempt to lock on the wireless signal from Tommy’s headware.

Alexander maintained his focused concentration on the fighting ghouls and once more cast a Control Action spell against the ghoul attacking him, but to no avail.

The two charging ghouls rushed Slone with vicious claw strikes, but the troll easily knocked the blows aside; with his own backstroke, Slone struck down both attacking ghouls in one mighty swing.

The ghoul on Alexander decided to switch targets and charged after the troll.  Slone easily defended himself against the lone attacker.  _Who does this guy think he is?_ thought the troll – somewhat offended at the ghoul’s terminity.

Freed from melee, Alexander ordered the remaining ghoul still under his control to run off up the stairway.  _I am tired of being the whipping boy of this outfit_, grumbled the elf.

As the ghoul ran past on his way up the stairs, Carlito got a lock on Tommy's headware; it was located in the far corner of the room near a chute which led up to the motorpool.  _It must be where they dump the fresh bodies_, thought the scientist.

Seeing only two ghouls remaining in combat, the troll performed a quick double tap with the combat axe and both ghouls fell to the ground.

Alexander surveyed the carnage in astral space.  The elf noticed several living forms huddled along the walls, but the remaining ghouls chose not the engage the group in combat.  _I guess ghouls aren’t completely brain-dead_, thought the elf.  The shaman continued scanning the area and was able to locate Sobriquet’s butterfly broach Power Focus.

Meanwhile, the scientist gingerly made his way across the room.  Carlito could still hear scuttling noises and the sound of bodies moving around the periphery of the room, but the remaining ghouls must have realized this prey was too tough and chose to hide instead of attack.  While the scientist knew that he could wirelessly download the contents of Tommy’s commlink, he also knew that he could not leave Tommy’s remains to rot in this literal hell hole.  _I’ll have to sever the head_ Carlito grimly concluded.

Once he reached the eviscerated form of Tommy, Carlito knelt beside him and began whispering a quick prayer, “Our Father, who art in Heaven…”

As the scientist recited the Lord’s Prayer, he placed his hands on either side of Tommy’s head to get a firm grip.  “Hallowed be thy name…”

Carlito could tell that several strands of muscle tissue still bound the head to the rest of the corpse, so he started wiggling the head back and forth to loosen the sinews and tendons.  The scientist concentrated on his words to avoid thinking about what he was doing, “Thy Kindom Come, Thy will be done…”

As Carlito pulled at Tommy’s head, flashbacks from childhood rose from the depths of his consciousness.  _*SMACK* Recite the Lord’s Prayer properly, Carlito, *SMACK*_

Bile rose in his throat, but Carlito grunted out the words to keep from dry heaving.  “On Earth as it is in Heaven…”  But the vertebrae would not give up their connection to the skull so easily.  Carlito realized he needed something sharper to finish the job.  _Don’t be a sissy, Carlito, use the knife like you’re supposed too_,  Carlito’s own skull started pounding, _Yes, Mother._

“Give us this day our daily bread…”  The scientist pulled the top of Tommy’s hair and stretched out the remains of his neck.  With his other hand Carlito pulled out his Yamaha Light Pistol and took aim at Tommy’s throat.

“And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those that trespass against us…”  Carlito blasted away at Tommy’s neck to sever the remaining tissues.  _You’re going to Hell, Carlito, You’re going to Hell if you don’t repent!_  Little Carlito whispered, _Sorry, Mother._

“And lead us not into temptation…”  With a load pop, the head came free from the remains; Carlito vomited profusely and collapsed weeping over Tommy’s corpse.

Slone grimly finished Carlito’s prayer as he stood behind the scientist, “But deliver us from evil.  Amen, brother.”

“Let’s get the frack out of here,” said the elf.

_The ice age is coming, the sun's zooming in
Meltdown expected, the wheat is growing thin
Engines stop running, but I have no fear
Cause London is drowning and I, live by the river_
The Clash, _London Calling_​


----------



## Zen_Pollo (Feb 8, 2009)

*Fast Times at Redmond High*

_London calling, see we ain't got no high
Except for that one with the yellowy eyes_
The Clash, _London Calling_​
_Setting:_  The Redmond High School was built in the late 1960’s.  The structure had been built along a 1960’s aesthetic with brick walls and a ranch-style layout; but one hundred ten years of service and having its neighborhood turn into an economic and environmental wasteland had transformed the once-proud institution into a run-down pit of despair.

_Yep, this place definitely reminds me of my high school days_, Slone reminisced.  The troll surveyed the boarded up windows, crumbling brick facade, and rampant graffiti.  _It probably doesn’t look much different than when students actually came here to school_.  

Carlito pointed the face of a gleaming white skull at Alexander, and quoted a quatrain from _Hamlet_:

_Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio, a fellow of infinite
jest, of most excellent fancy. He hath bore me on his back a
thousand times, and now how abhorr'd in my imagination it is!
My gorge rises at it._

“Stuff it, chiphead,” replied a dour Alexander, “I’m not in the mood.”

“Haha!  I can kill you right here,” exclaimed Carlito who pulled up his shirt with his empty hand to flash the elf the nanite-infused hypodermic syringes attached to his abdomen like tiny plastic leaches suckling at his artificial teats.

“So what?” replied the disgusted elf, “I can make you walk off a building.”  In spite of the scientist’s mad ramblings, the elf grumbled and muttered to himself, _Why the frack do I keep going along with this nonsense?  I should be home putting together my resume_.  Yet, Alexander had once more let his companions get the better of his judgment.

~~~~~~~~~~

The previous night, the Puritan had opened the door when Alexander had astrally projected and had communicated that they were ready to leave the Ghoul’s Basement.  The trio trudged through the office a Discrete Disposal – all of the group covered head to toe in blood and ichor.  Carlito cradled Tommy’s severed head like a baby in his arms, softly cooing at it.  

The office workers hardly glanced up from their work.  As the trio walked through the receptionist’s area, the blonde briefly glanced at Carlito’s pet head and returned to the Augmented Reality Object hovering over her desk: SolitARe.  _Must get used to some weird mojo working in this drek-hole_, thought the troll. 

The Puritan followed the trio through the front of the office and stood in the doorway as they left the premises.  “I am sure I will see you again,” stated the Puritan, “One way or another.”  

Alexander shivered and turned to walk away.  The team crossed the parking lot and stopped by their busted-up Ares CityMaster.  

“Sure you don’t want to leave?” Alexander asked.  The elf had had enough and witnessing the scientist’s breakdown had unnerved something deep in the lawyer.  _If Carlito cracked under the pressure, so might I…_

“What and leave him here by himself?” Slone replied, pointing over his shoulder at the mad scientist.  The troll would deny it if pressed, but somewhere along the way, Slone subconsciously had shifted his loyalty from his old corp to this ragtag crew.  

Meanwhile, Carlito had placed the severed head on the curb next to the CityMaster and began programming a nanite application on his commlink.  Beaming the instructions to one of the syringes hanging from an artificial nipple on his abdomen, the scientist loaded a nanoschematic to alter the programming on his hard-nanite Cutters.  Carefully removing the syringe from his body, Carlito deftly sprayed the contents of the syringe on the decaying flesh of Tommy’s head.  The Cutters had been reprogrammed to seek and disintegrate only the soft tissue rather than bone and metal.  Carlito watched as the flesh of Tommy’s severed head melted away in gory rivulets to reveal a completely clean and sanitized skull.  Shortly, the scientist could see the top of a shiny metal skull cap where Tommy’s head-mounted commlink had been installed.

Picking up the pristine bone-white skull, Carlito’s Mnemonic Enhancer recalled a bit of Shakespeare from his school days – the bioware increased the density of gray matter in the scientist’s brain aiding his short and long-term memory.  Carlito spoke the quotation from _Hamlet_ aloud:

_O, that this too too solid flesh would melt,
Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew._

As Carlito spoke the quotation, the entire 3924 lines of the play disgorged into his consciousness at once via his bioware.  _Memorize the lines if you want a good grade in your English class, Carlito_, the scientist recalled, _Yes, Mother._

While the scientist was massaging his sinuses, the elf shook his head and pulled down the mojo to form a Detox spell; normally he used the spell to sober himself up after a hard night of partying – Alexander didn’t know if the spell would work against the communicable HMHVV strain which causes Ghoulism, but he figured it would be worth a shot.  _Better than turning into one of those…things_, thought the shaman as he contemplated the Ghoul Mage from the basement.

Noticing the elf was still badly injured from the fight, Carlito set to work with his Savior MedKit.  Between Carlito’s expert medical knowledge and the nanotech-powered medical injections, the scientist was able to repair most of the damage from the fight in the basement.  _Good thing these site nanoinjections work so well at repairing blunt force trauma_, thought the scientist, _I feel kind a bad about shooting Alexander in the back._  Shortly, the Alexander’s blunt trauma and blood loss was repaired – from the inside-out.

Watching the scientist work on the elf, Slone brushed off the blood and guts from his duster – he had walked through the melee unscathed.  _All that fighting for what?_ thought the troll.

Slone asked Carlito, “Hey, what’s in Tommy’s commlink anyways?  We went through all this trouble, I wanna find out this run is all about.”  The scientist obliged Slone by downloading the contents of Tommy’s headware commlink.  The only piece of paydata worthwhile on the unit was an invoice for a bunch of medical equipment to an address in the barrens.  _That’s odd, _ thought Carlito as he examined the details of the invoice, _I could have sworn those two MT-432 Genetic Stabilizers were mostly useless for research purposes…._

“So what’s next?” queried the troll after Carlito relayed his findings to the group.

“Nothing’s next, we got the head – now we call Paula and deliver it,” replied the disgruntled elf.

The scientist held the skull close to his ear and said, “Tommy says, ‘He wants to pursue this lead he died for’”

“Oh for the Love of Pete!  Can you get a load of this chiphead?  He’s one slot short of a motherboard,” an exasperated Alexander exclaimed, “Besides we’re on a retainer – that means we do what we’re told.”

“We can end up off of retainer really quick,” Slone reasoned, “I think we should pursue whatever lead is in Tommy’s commlink – otherwise we’ll never be more than a tool for your Johnson.”  _Wait, that didn’t come out right, _ the troll mused.

Smirking, the elf replied, “Alright then, let’s pretend this is a still a democracy and take a vote.”

“I vote we follow the lead,” voted Carlito, “But Tommy thinks we should call Paula, doh!”

“We should call in the job, but then follow the lead,” Slone voted.

“Fine, I’ll call Paula,” noted the elf, _And then I’m done with this lot!_

Shortly, Alexander found himself on an ARO vidlink with Paula Peterson.  “What can I help you with Alexander?” queried Red – it was late, but she was still at work.

“We’ve found Tommy’s remains – and we have the headware,” replied the elf.

Red asked the lawyer, “Is there any data retrievable from the commlink?”

“No, there was nothing,” Alexander lied, “but we did find a power focus from one of the members of the extraction team.  Do you know his sister?”  

_He’s lying to me_ thought Red.

“I don’t know what you mean – I don’t know who the sister might be,” Red lied in return.

_She’s lying to me_, thought Alexander.

“So what do you want us to do?” asked the elf.

“Nothing, return the head and the power focus to me,” replied Red as she terminated the call.  _What is his game?_ wondered the salarywoman.  

After the call, Alexander relayed Paula’s message to the group – as well as his misgivings.  “The lady doth protest too much, methinks,” a smirking Carlito quoted from _Hamlet_ once more.  

“Good,” Slone remarked, “This means we’re on to something – we can figure out where this lead ends up and try to get ahead of this mess.”

“Fine, you can track this down on your own time,” Alexander stated, “_Pro bono_ work is for suckers.”  

~~~~~~~~~~

The following morning the group met over breakfast back at the Orc with the Golden Tooth.  Slone had convinced Alexander to show up in spite of the lawyer’s reticence – “You have to eat breakfast anyways,” the troll had reasoned.  

The group ordered breakfast from the ARO menus projecting from the booth.  Slone noticed the price of food had gone up significantly since their last meal yesterday.  _Must be the food shortage_, reasoned the troll.

After the trio placed their orders, Carlito explained that he had been able to determine that the address from the medical invoice in Tommy’s commlink was the old Redmond Barrens High School.  The lawyer had some contacts whom knew a thing or two about the barrens; so Alexander relented to his companions and made a few calls.  The elf discovered that the high school was being squatted by some corporate group – vehicles entered and left the compound, but no one who ventured onto the grounds returned alive.

Meanwhile, Carlito and Slone resumed their argument over sending the blood samples from the STTC to get tested. 

“No way, I’m not going to risk sending the samples,” argued the scientist, “You know they’ll get stolen!  And then who’s going to get hurt?  My contacts?   No way!”

“Better them than us!” exclaimed the troll, “Besides, if we don’t know what the samples are, we can’t figure out who’s behind all this business.”

Eventually, Slone was able to wear down the scientist’s refusal to get his lab involved; hence, Carlito found himself on an ARO call to Sadie Berkman.  The scientist’s call disturbed Sadie in the middle of a complicated lab procedure.  Carlito’s heartthrob looked peeved on the scientisit’s vidlink.

“Carlito? I’m busy” Sadie stated crisply from the ARO hovering in front of him.  The lab tech had not had much sleep the previous night and was not in the mood to placate the sometimes demanding prima dona.

“Umm, Sorry for bothering you, but I have a favor to ask,” replied the scientist.

“What is it?” asked Sadie; she had little time for such errands, but Dr. Samrartha had been explicit regarding Carlito’s requests for assistance.

“I have some samples I need to get tested,” replied Carlito, “Can you help me out?”

Sadie’s mind flashed to an odd memory of the smell of incense and a man’s musky odor.  “Sure Carlito, Sure…I can help.”

So Carlito arranged the details of sending the aluminum cryo-case via courier to the lab at EVO Corp.  The scientist attached an RFID tag to the package so he could track the delivery en-route.  Carlito also sent instructions for Sadie to destroy the samples after testing.  The scientist glumly told his companions about the arrangement, “This is not going to end well.”

Slone, looking sated from his double portioned breakfast and the rhetorical victory over Carlito, replied, “Well, that settles that, let’s head back to school.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Later that night the trio found themselves in front of Redmond High School.

“I’ll wait by the truck,” Alexander told his companions.  _No way, I’m getting involved in this farce._

“Suit yourself,” replied Slone.  The troll was tried of placating the moody elf.  Besides, Slone’s gut told him something was in the school that would make sense of this mission and he intended to find out what it was.  Looking over his shoulder at the elf, the troll decided to needle the lawyer a bit, “Besides, if you stay put, you can guard the CityMaster from the Go-Gangers we passed earlier.”

A startled Alexander looked around the school parking lot and scurried after the duo as they approached the front entrance to the high school.  “You’re mad,” the elf shot back, “This is a trap, are you blind?”

"Though this be madness, yet there is method in 't,” Carlito quoted from _Hamlet_.  

And so the trio entered the remains of Redmond High School.  The school had definitely seen better days.  The entire building reeked of human waste and garbage.  Used syringes, plastic bags, and other less sterile by-products of drug-addicts’ habits lay strewn about the hallways.  The trio walked by wrecked classrooms filled with 55 gallon drums used for trash fires.  The hallway lockers had been gutted and their metal doors torn off the hinges to be sold as scrap metal.

The team moved up a stairwell to the second floor of the building.  More bedpans, surgical tubing and IV bags littered the floor, but this area began to take on a more sterile scent.   _Smells like a hospital_, thought the troll.  

As the team walked through the hallways, their apprehension slowly mounted.  Passing classroom after classroom, the sense of palpable dread grew out of proportion to the situation.

For Carlito, the hallways took on a fiendish quality, as if his worst memories of high school had come back to haunt his waking perceptions.  The hallways seemed to stretch onward to infinity; the ends of the corridors twisted to and fro like a bad acid trip.  The scientist wiped the sweat from his brow, compulsively crossed himself three times and pulled out his gun.  _Why are you so afraid all the time, Carlito? Quit acting like a baby! _ recalled the scientisit, _Yes, Mother_

Even the normally unflappable Slone seemed shaken.  The flickering shadows seemed to contain no end to enemies hiding just out of sight, waiting for the troll to turn his back.  Slone normally was a glutton for battle, but the eerie surroundings had damaged his inner calm; _Frak, this is all wrong, all wrong, man!_

Only the elf seemed to maintain his composure, but Alexander noticed his companion’s unease.  Carlito was cradling Tommy’s head closely to his body and had pulled out his Yamaha Sukura Fabuki Light Machine Pistol.  The weapon visibly trembled in Carlito’s grasp as the wide-eyed scientist stared down the hallway in front of him.  The troll nervously grasped his trusty combat axe – wringing his hands back and forth along the shaft.  Slone was licking his lips and was startled each time the trio passed an open doorway.  _What the frak has gotten into these two?_, thought the elf, _NOW, they choose to flake out on me!_

“Do you know where my mommy is?” asked a six-year old girl suddenly standing in the middle of the hallway in front of the team.  

“What the frak?” exclaimed the jittery troll.  _Where’d she come from?_ panicked the troll, _She jumped outta nowhere!_  Spooked by the sudden appearance of the waif, Slone reared back his arm to hurl the combat axe at the urchin. 

At the same time, Carlito cried out and attempted to point his pistol at the young girl.  

But Ariadne was not having any violence unleased upon her – the girl simply raised her tiny hand and pointed her open palm at the trio.  Instantly, Slone felt as though he had hit a brick wall.  But the six-year old girl’s steely gaze burst through the troll’s consciousness.  A simple command flowed from the girl’s mind to Slone’s: _Stop._ 

And the troll obeyed.

For Carlito, the command seemed to originate for the voice of his mother: _Carlito, I told you to stop!  Yes, Mother._

But Alexander saw the truth of the situation; the girl had cast a Mob Mind spell on his companions.  The shaman was able to counterspell the mojo for himself, but Alexander felt even more apprehensive, _What kind of glitched-up six-year old knows how to cast spells?_

“Do you know where my mommy is?” repeated Ariadne.  The human-looking girl wore an off-white frilly dress that had a few bloodstains at the hem.  _Is she an elf or a human?_ thought Alexander; but the elf couldn’t tell.

“No.  What kind of slitch birthed you, Little Daemon?” replied the horrified shaman.

_Protect Me_, came the command to Slone’s mind; so he turned to face the lawyer and brandished his combat axe menacingly.

_Carlito, don’t you love me any more?_ came the voice of his Mother, _Why are you letting the bad elf hurt me?_  The scientist turned towards Alexander with a mad glint in his eye.

“Just great,” muttered the elf as he raised his hands and slowly backed away from the ensorcelled duo.

Seeing her opportunity, Ariadne cast another spell and ran to the wall on her left.  The six-year old Gecko Crawled up the wall to an open ventilation duct.  The urchin seemed to move with superhuman speed and agility.  Pausing to snarl at the shocked elf, the girl darted into the duct and scurried away at inhuman speed.

When the Spell’s line of sight had been broken, Slone and Carlito snapped back to conscious control of their actions.  

“HOT DREK IN THE MORNING!” exclaimed the deeply perturbed troll.  Slone had never lost control like that, and he decided right then that the girl must die horribly.

Carlito on the other hand simply fell to his hands and knees sobbing.  _Sorry for disappointing you, Mother_, thought the crazed scientist.

After the duo recovered themselves, the group continued onward.  Ahead, the trio spied an over-turned gurney sitting in front of what was once the school library.  Approaching the double-wide entrance to the library, the team was greeted with an utterly grotesque scene inside the large room.

For situated in the library were dozens of hospital beds.  Row upon row of beds arranged in neat columns filled the entire length of the room.  Next to each bed was a dripping IV bag dispensing glowing chemicals into the veins of the bed’s sad occupants.  At the top of each stretcher was a small commlink recording the vital signs of the subjects.  The beds had stained sheets; blood, feces, urine, vomit – no bodily fluid was absent the bedclothes.  At the end of the room a larger central workstation wirelessly collected and processed the data from the commlinks.  Carlito noticed a large red button in the center of the console.

But the rest of the team stood transfixed by the occupants of the beds.  Each bed was taken by a naked woman in some stage of pregnancy.  The team could see stitches and surgical scars lining the women’s swelled abdomens.  The women groaned and thrashed about in narcotic-driven nightmares – oblivious to their squalid surroundings.

“What have you led me to?” asked the elf to no one in particular.

“Still think we should have left this lead alone?” replied the angry troll, _When I find the slot responsible for this, I’m gonna…_

Carlito started walking down the central row between cots towards the console at the end of the room.  Alexander moved to the left to examine one of the women more closely; the unconscious orc had features contorted in pain.  Slone remained transfixed near the entrance.

And that was when the troll was attacked.

Slone glimpsed movement out of his peripheral vision.  _Alright, time for some payback_, thought the disgusted troll.  But the blur moved even faster than the cyber-enhanced troll.  In fact, the troll only had seen such fast movement by corporate razor squads sporting bleeding edge black-market cybertech.  So Slone was still trying to bring his combat axe to bear when the diminutive blur flanked him from the right and proceeded to strike a blow straight to the troll’s groin.  Slone felt like a lamp post had fallen straight onto his genitalia.  As the troll doubled over, he noticed a nine-year old boy smiling and laughing at Slone’s pain.  The boy’s hands glowed with a red pulsating aura.  _That can’t be good!_ thought the troll as he slumped to his knees.

Meanwhile, the Ariadne popped out from underneath a gurney near the scientist and cast a Control Thoughts spell upon the nearly defenseless human.  _Protect me from the nasty troll, Carlito_, came the command and once more the scientist thought the orders originated from his Mother. _Yes, Ma’am_.

Alexander saw the young girl and immediately launched a stunbolt in her direction; but the girl’s will was stronger than Alexander’s and she easily countered his blast.

Finally, Slone’s synaptic accelerator kicked in and he attempted to strike out at the boy.  Yet, Theseus batted aside the combat axe as if it were made of paper instead of carbonized steel and titanium.

_Carlito, hit the big red button_, came the order.  The scientist looked back at the console and began to walk towards the back of the room.

Laughing at the troll’s vain attempts to defend himself, the lightening fast Theseus kicked Slone in the groin.  As quick as the troll was, the boy was faster still – it seemed to Slone as if he moved in water while the elusive boy was a fish literally swimming around him in deadly circle.  _Or maybe a shark_ thought the badly injured troll as he feebly tried to protect the family jewels.  The troll cried out in agony and collapsed to his side on the floor as Theseus’s foot found its mark again on Slone’s groin.

_The button, Carlito.  Hit the button!_ came another command from Carlito’s Mother.  The scientist had reached the console and stared at the glowing red device.  _But Mother, if I hit the button it will kill all these women!_ 

But Ariadne already had turned her attention to Alexander.  The waif launched a wicked bolt towards the shaman.   _A Decrease Charisma Spell?_ thought the puzzled elf; then he realized the girl was attempting to disable his ability to soak magical Drain.  _That no good slitch of a six-year old!_ thought the shaman as he countered her blast.

Slone could only watch helplessly from the floor as Theseus jumped up in the air faster than a hummingbird and came down leading with one heel straight to the troll’s groin.  Slone’s eyes rolled back into his head and he momentarily lost consciousness.

Alexander saw the troll go down; so the elf attempted to turn his next spell towards Theseus.  However, the boy was too fast; as soon as the lawyer had looked his way, Theseus scurried away to hide underneath some of the cots on the right hand side of the room.  The boy’s mocking laughter was the only trace of his presence in the room.

_Kill the dirty whores!_ came the command from Mother, _Do it, Carlito!_  The scientist’s hand trembled as he extended it to the red button.

Yet, Ariadne could not press the issue – she was attempting to launch another blast at the lawyer.  The second spell might have laid the elf low except something failed in her casting and both the Control Thoughts and the Decrease Charisma spells fizzled.

Slone momentarily awoke to see the hiding boy underneath one of the gurneys.  Lying on his side, the troll reached into his coat and pulled out his trusty Ares Alpha.  Squeezing the trigger, Slone unloaded a narrow burst into the side of the boy.  Theseus screamed in pain and shock as the bullets tore into his ribs.  However, the boy was an adept and his skin was hardened by Mystic Armor.  

Yet, another nefarious effect was also in play – somehow the boy withstood the troll’s burst.  _Tough little slot_, Slone wondered, _How did he survive that?_

Suddenly, Carlito found himself free of the compulsion to hit the red button.  The scientist twirled around to face his mental captor.  In Carlito’s mind, the girl took on the visage of his Mother.  Screaming aloud, the scientist recited one final line from _Hamlet_:

 “Frailty, thy name is woman!”

Carlito fired a narrow burst from his Yamaha into the back of the six-year old girl.  The bullets tore the young girl in half.  Girl-bits pasted the wall next to Alexander as the young sorceress was split asunder under the scientist’s savage attack.  _Screw you, Mother!_  thought the crazed human.

Seizing the initiative, Alexander located the boy from the blood stains on the floor nearby.  The elf pulled down some mojo to cast a Control Actions spell on the battered whelp.  Theseus was caught in the shaman’s grip as his life’s blood slowly leaked out from his torn ribs.

While Alexander sustained his Control Actions Spell, Carlito recovered his composure and then moved over to the injured Theseus.  The human quickly restrained the boy using some surgical tubing.  The human patched Theseus’s wounds and injected the adept with one of the nanite-infused hypodermic syringes.  _Just in case_ thought the scientist.

After Carlito had finished with the youngling, Slone finally managed to pick himself up off the floor.  Shambling over to the boy, the troll loomed large over Theseus’s recumbent form.  Raising his foot, the troll leveled a hard boot-heeled thrust to the adept’s forehead.  The boy dropped like a sack of suet.

Snarling at the whelp, Slone spat out, “Never hit a grown man in the balls!”

_The ice age is coming, the sun's zooming in
Meltdown expected, the wheat is growing thin
Engines stop running, but I have no fear
Cause London is drowning and I, live by the river_
The Clash, _London Calling_​


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## Zen_Pollo (Feb 8, 2009)

*Epilogue*

_Setting:_ Outside the remains of Redmond High School a large semi-tractor trailer and several black Ares CityMasters were parked.  One of the CityMasters had seen better days.  A tall red-haired woman wearing a black trench coat and a shawl over her head directed crews loading several stretchers containing women in various stages of pregnancy into the trailer.

Red was up way past her bedtime this evening.  Usually the workaholic left the office around 10 pm and arrived home in time to plug into her Novatech Sleep-Inducer by 11pm.  The sleep-inducer modulated Red’s brain activity so that she only required 4 hours of sleep to get a complete night’s rest.  But on this particular night the salarywoman had received a call she could not send directly to voicemail.

_I hope that wild bear I heard about on the news isn’t around here_, Red thought, _I should activate my hazard pay clause._

Turning to the huddled group on the school’s stairway, Red glared at the source of her frustration, a handsome but callow elf named Alexander McQueen.  Red felt like confronting him about the etiquette of calling one’s director at 1 am on a weeknight, but decided to let the matter go.

After all, the salarywoman was witnessing the final proof of Tommy’s hypothesis.  Red pondered the implications of Tommy’s outlandish conjecture, _So this hell hole must be the mythical ‘Farm’._

_If the boogey-man that Tommy had obsessed about is real_, Red contemplated, _Then perhaps I should insert additional resources between me and Tommy’s Adversary?_

Red glanced once more at Alexander, _But can he be trusted?_

Two security guards dragged a nine-year old boy wrapped in a straight jacket and wearing plasteel restrainers into one of the armored vehicles.  The boy kicked and screamed obscenities at the group on the stairway as the guards pushed him into the back of the CityMaster, “You’re DEAD, You slot-brained GLITCHES, I WILL KILL…”  The boy’s curses were muffled as the guards closed the CityMaster’s door.

_That one shows some promise_, Red smiled approvingly, _Perhaps I might have another option if this group proves unreliable._  Red’s medical team had found the boy possessed both adept powers and bioware – somehow the Essence depleting effects of the bioware did not impede Theseus’s magical abilities.  _Maybe the scientists we caught hiding in the basement will yield more answers,_ thought Red, _If this research turns out promising, I should ask for a performance bonus._

Nothing made Red smile more than money in the bank.


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## Zen_Pollo (Feb 8, 2009)

*Chapter 2 Completed*

This chapter has been completed.

The complete PDF of this chapter:

Complete Chapter 2 PDF

Coming Soon: Seattle Calling Chapter 3


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## Broccli_Head (Feb 9, 2009)

*I'm Mad I tell you, Mad!*

Love playing Carlito. He's becoming a right, proper sociopath. 

Can't wait to make Tommy a floating skull..


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