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 There’s been a murder in the neon abyss. A man dead as hell in a place where he should never have been and a woman who says she did it but clearly didn’t. Donny Chan was a corporate drone, mid-level but rising fast. He was on the ExecTrack career advancement program at H-Brand, so how he got away from his handler and off the corp compound is a mystery. But he turned up dead in the bowels of the red light district, and now his body’s cooling in the morgue. Meiling’s a street food vendor, working long, hard hours for gently caress all money. Sure, maybe she really did see one too many rich guys walk past her cart, follow him into an alley, and stab him to death with one of those chef’s knives of hers -— but anyone who knows her knows that she didn’t. No way. So why did she walk into a police station and confess? The world's moved on. Already looking for the next big thing. But me? I need The Truth. I care. Better hope that chink in my armour doesn’t get me killed as dead as Donny. ---- It's a cyberpunk CYOA! It's set vaguely in the cyber-future, in a Hong Kong filtered through the fact I've never been to Hong Kong but I have seen Blade Runner. Cyberpunk tropes will include a lot of neon, cybernetics, and a professional criminal class who act primarily as deniable assets for the corps and other large power blocs. Other tropes may or may not pop up as they become relevant. Behind the scenes I'll be using The Sprawl as inspiration and a vague mechanical structure. Voting will be done by simple majority, with any tie breaks done using the closest random number generator to hand. This is my first one of these and I want to keep things simple. That said! Here's your first slate of choices, cyber-goons: Who am I, anyway? 1. I need a suitably cyberpunk handle for our protagonist. 2. I need you to vote for a specialty as lifted from the Sprawl rulebook: The Sprawl Rulebook posted:
3. Why do we care? Choose Donny or Meiling and specify: were they a friend, a lover, necessary for a scheme, or [your write-in vote here]?
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Aug 19, 2016 15:04
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| # ? May 5, 2024 18:53 |
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DRAMATIS PERSONAE Also corporationae. H-Brand is the first Chinese zaibatsu, a huge and sprawling conglomeration of smaller enterprises owned by a single extended family. H-Brand has fingers in almost every area of commercial enterprise, although the bulk of its value is in chemical processing and pharmaceuticals. ---- Miranda is a prostitute, currently working for the pimp known as Big G. She's a great source for the goings-on in the red light district, provided she gets paid. Ada Cheung is an old flame who works in forensics for the HKPD. Luckily our time together was more good than bad, so a little charm can often swing favours. Donny Chan was a rising star at H-Brand, and now he's dead. Poor, poor Donny Chan. Meiling sells steamed buns from a food cart down at street level. She said she killed Donny Chan, but that's so out of character it can't be true. Can it? potatocubed fucked around with this message at 14:59 on Aug 23, 2016 |
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Aug 19, 2016 15:04
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Reserved
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Aug 19, 2016 15:04
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1. Butler 2. Pusher 3. Meiling, my wifi-waifu. Donny, my alcohol handler
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Aug 19, 2016 15:15
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1. Hsu 2. Reporter 3. Meiling is a childhood friend
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Aug 19, 2016 15:16
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1. I am bad with names. Someone else come up with a good name. 2. I am a REPORTER. The corporate factzines never have the real story; for that, you need someone like me. I can't change the world by shooting it or by hacking it, but I can drat sure tell the truth. Maybe that's still enough. 3. I care because Meiling is my friend. At first she was just a source; a valuable set of eyes and source of gossip. You'd be amazed how careless a midlevel corp can be when he's in the middle of a good meal - and Meiling's meals were good, better than you'd expect given the ingredients she usually had to work with. But over time we became pals. We had more in common than not, and for someone in my job a good friendship - and a good cook - is hard to find.
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Aug 19, 2016 15:17
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1. Hana Naser 2. Reporter 3. Because no one else cares; because it's a slow news day; and because Hana hates herself enough to want to look into it.
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Aug 19, 2016 15:35
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1. Real Name: ??? Online Alias: Praxis 2. The fixer DivineCoffeeBinge posted:3. I care because Meiling is my friend. At first she was just a source; a valuable set of eyes and source of gossip. You'd be amazed how careless a midlevel corp can be when he's in the middle of a good meal - and Meiling's meals were good, better than you'd expect given the ingredients she usually had to work with. But over time we became pals. We had more in common than not, and for someone in my job a good friendship - and a good cook - is hard to find.
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Aug 19, 2016 15:43
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1) [abstaining from name vote] 2) Hunter 3) DivineCoffeeBinge posted:I care because Meiling is my friend. At first she was just a source; a valuable set of eyes and source of gossip. You'd be amazed how careless a midlevel corp can be when he's in the middle of a good meal - and Meiling's meals were good, better than you'd expect given the ingredients she usually had to work with. But over time we became pals. We had more in common than not, and for someone in my job a good friendship - and a good cook - is hard to find.
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Aug 19, 2016 16:00
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DivineCoffeeBinge posted:1. I am bad with names. Someone else come up with a good name. I like this. 1: They call me Block, I've never been good at condensing a three page story to a half paragraph. The details are important.
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Aug 19, 2016 17:27
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Name: Mas’ud Quade “Mask” Speciality: Reporter Motivation: It’s a story. Danny might’ve been on the fast track, but he was mid-level. He didn’t have the kind of pull to make killing him necessary, if the person responsible was just looking to block his advancement. No, it’s more likely that the ambitious Mr. Chan found something, a secret so damning that paying him off wouldn’t be enough. They had to close the loop. Paying someone else to take the fall though? A humble noodle vendor passing out cheap grub to horny jerks? If the person who paid for the hit had connections to H-Brand, they could make a prison stay seem very lucrative to a young, desperate woman, so long as she’s young enough to avoid the standard life sentence. The secret is hushed again, and the police have a killer, so nobody asks questions. Nobody except me. Because there’s a killer on the loose, and someone has to give a drat. Just have to watch my step, because whoever is in back of this has already killed once to protect their secrets. Twice wouldn’t be much of a leap. Justice Grieves fucked around with this message at 18:21 on Aug 19, 2016 |
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Aug 19, 2016 18:16
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1. Lee Sykes, aka "Hugin" online. 2. Reporter - Or at least, that's what I'd like to call myself. The Ad agencies pay extra to slant things in their favor, and I've got to make rent somehow. But after I get the daily drivel out of the way I go looking for the real stories, the ones that go up on the Underground Blogs, where you don't sign your name, just your handle. That's what I really consider my job. DivineCoffeeBinge posted:3. I care because Meiling is my friend. At first she was just a source; a valuable set of eyes and source of gossip. You'd be amazed how careless a midlevel corp can be when he's in the middle of a good meal - and Meiling's meals were good, better than you'd expect given the ingredients she usually had to work with. But over time we became pals. We had more in common than not, and for someone in my job a good friendship - and a good cook - is hard to find.
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Aug 19, 2016 18:25
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DivineCoffeeBinge posted:1. I am bad with names. Someone else come up with a good name. Voting for this
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Aug 19, 2016 19:10
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We are We're basically a serial Killer that targets mega capitalists, the bigger the better. You do you - most people aren't lucky enough to love their job. As for Meiling, well, she's a business partner and a true friend. Waste not want not.
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Aug 19, 2016 21:01
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Results are in! We're overwhelmingly a reporter, and we care because Meiling was our friend. A source at first, developing into a solid friendship. The RNG selected Mas'ud 'Mask' Quade for a name. ---- I close the blind against the blue skies and sunshine outside. Doesn't seem right, somehow, that the day could be so nice. Meiling's tiny studio apartment only has the one window -- part of the tradeoff that lets her keep the cart in the lockup downstairs -- but it only seems dark now she's not here. End of the month the landlord's going to sling all this stuff into the landfill: the TV, the little paintings, the photos of her family, the postcards from her brother, the three hand-written cookery books lying askew on her bedside table. She's got a real passion for food; I recognise the drive -- same thing that keeps me raking the muck, even though I could have been someone else -- but I think Meiling's expression of it is heathier. Except now she's locked up awaiting trial -- no bail, no visitors -- because she confessed to a murder I know drat well she didn't commit. Woman can butcher a chicken faster than I can spell chicken, but she doesn't have it in her to kill a man. I've met killers. I know. A smarter man than me would let it drop... but we all know I'm not going to do that. Instead I'm going to slump on the couch in Meiling's place and look at the detritus of her life, and I'm going to unpick this one thread at a time. That's what passion does to you. I review what I know so far: Donny Chan is the stiff. An up-and-comer at H-Brand, he was stabbed a bunch of times in the red light district. No surveillance footage -- the only video you get down there is what you pay for -- but the weapon was a cook's knife and witnesses saw a Chinese woman fleeing the scene, covered in blood. Next day Meiling heads into her local cop house and confesses. The police aren't going to turn down that kind of gift, so they rubber-stamp it and into the system she goes. My finely-tuned bullshit detector is ringing off the hook just thinking about it. Question 1: What was Chan doing off the compound? H-Brand take care of their ExecTrackers, and that includes sex workers if that's what they want. Question 2: What was Meiling doing in the Red, covered in blood? Assuming that was her and not one of the other billion Chinese women on Earth. And if it wasn't her, who was it? Question 3: What could drive her to confess to something she didn't do? Plus the biggies like 'why?' and 'what the gently caress?' There are too many loose ends. Too many leads. I need to narrow my focus and start finding some answers. ---- Should we:
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Aug 19, 2016 22:12
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Hit the crime scene first, don't want anyone to move away clues without us seeing it.
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Aug 19, 2016 22:12
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AnAnonymousIdiot posted:Hit the crime scene first, don't want anyone to move away clues without us seeing it. Voting for this. Maybe switch to doing a.b.c. format, so votes are easier to make and to count?
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Aug 19, 2016 22:19
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Butt Discussin posted:Voting for this. Maybe switch to doing a.b.c. format, so votes are easier to make and to count? You're probably right; I'll switch to that for the next update.
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Aug 19, 2016 22:20
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AnAnonymousIdiot posted:Hit the crime scene first, don't want anyone to move away clues without us seeing it. Seconding this. Also seconding the letter-vote format, as long as there's a write-in option. 
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Aug 20, 2016 00:04
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Check her recent communications and financial records, if we can Probably no need to do that before hitting the crime scene, though.
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Aug 20, 2016 01:09
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Ralith posted:Check her recent communications and financial records, if we can Yeah, a brief overview of our personal capabilities, connections, and tools would be helpful in terms of being able to suggest courses of action. I doubt we would be able to check her records ourselves, but maybe we know someone who could do it for us?
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Aug 20, 2016 01:42
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I think a reporter would go to the cops first, but the crime scene is a limited time opportunity, so I'd say hit up the scene, and pester any cops we see around the area. So Crime Scene (with a side of annoying cops or nosy neighbors or anyone who might have witnessed anything.)
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Aug 20, 2016 05:18
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mistaya posted:I think a reporter would go to the cops first, but the crime scene is a limited time opportunity, so I'd say hit up the scene, and pester any cops we see around the area. A reporter would go to the cops if they trust the cops, and they think they can get any useful info from them... but this is a cyberpunk setting. Unless we're employed by a corporate-sponsored news source - in which case we're probably not going out and investigating anything, we're getting our stories handed to us by the corp, we're there to be a pretty talking head - then we're likely more of an 'underground' journalist, meaning we're not going to be afforded the same kind of respect and access that a modern reporter might see. We may have one or two friendly sources, but the official line on us is likely something along the lines of 'you're not a real reporter, get out of here.' (this is my read on the matter, at least; potatocubed may see it differently, in which case they'll hopefully say so)
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Aug 20, 2016 05:49
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Are we a guy or a girl or a cybernetic porpoise? Either way do we have a regular lay down at the cop shop we, uh, pump for leads? We should hit that up after visiting the crime scene.
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Aug 20, 2016 06:51
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AnAnonymousIdiot posted:Hit the crime scene first, don't want anyone to move away clues without us seeing it. Giving my vote for this.
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Aug 20, 2016 18:49
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Outrail posted:Are we a guy or a girl or a cybernetic porpoise? Either way do we have a regular lay down at the cop shop we, uh, pump for leads? We should hit that up after visiting the crime scene. Mas'ud is a masculine name, so a bloke we are. And when we get to the cop shop sure, maybe we can hit up an old flame for some leads. Or maybe we'll do something else. Butt Discussin posted:Yeah, a brief overview of our personal capabilities, connections, and tools would be helpful in terms of being able to suggest courses of action. I doubt we would be able to check her records ourselves, but maybe we know someone who could do it for us? Let's check our character sheet! We're a reporter, so our strengths are charisma and telling bald-faced lies. We can front like we're dangerous, but in any sort of violent situation we're going to be horribly outclassed. We've got a hand taser in our pocket just in case, but we're always going to be better off talking our way out of things. We're also perceptive and know how to dig dirt; we can read people and situations, and if we've got access to information we can quickly find the relevant bits and understand what they mean. But our big advantage is that we know people everywhere. No matter where we go or what we do, we're going to be able to find someone we've met before or who follows our feed. We've got a basic cybernetics package suitable for someone in our line of work: an implant phone, enhanced vision with a standard AR package, audiovisual recording and live streaming capabilities, and limited internal storage. A standard wifi connection for casual matrix browsing and a neural interface jack on the back of our neck for the hardcore stuff. We're pretty mediocre in the matrix, but we can use it. There is the small matter of the Triad shark we took a loan from to afford all that stuff... but we'll deal with him when he becomes relevant. DivineCoffeeBinge posted:A reporter would go to the cops if they trust the cops, and they think they can get any useful info from them... but this is a cyberpunk setting. Unless we're employed by a corporate-sponsored news source - in which case we're probably not going out and investigating anything, we're getting our stories handed to us by the corp, we're there to be a pretty talking head - then we're likely more of an 'underground' journalist, meaning we're not going to be afforded the same kind of respect and access that a modern reporter might see. We may have one or two friendly sources, but the official line on us is likely something along the lines of 'you're not a real reporter, get out of here.' Pretty much exactly this. Anyway, crime scene post incoming. potatocubed fucked around with this message at 20:03 on Aug 20, 2016 |
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Aug 20, 2016 20:00
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I leave Meiling's place and catch a rickshaw ride to the Red. The runner's had his legs replaced with custom, all chrome and red metallics. I think they're hideous, but they're effective -- we're down in the alleys near the Glaxo tower in minutes, and the moment my feet are on the ground he's off chasing his next fare. I grab his email from the rickshaw before he's out of range; a good cab number is always worth having. I ignore the girls in the windows and the AR billboards advertising all kinds of lurid services as I walk the rest of the way to the crime scene. That's not what I'm here for, not today. I keep an eye on the bulked up guards in doorways and alleys, though. It's not unknown for one to supplement their income with a little mugging here and there. When I get to the alley the police tape's still up but there's no one here. Just an automated recording asking for witnesses to come forward, which I can't imagine inspires anyone to speak to the police, ever. I duck under the tape and take in the scene. Beneath my feet are old paving stones, cracked and grimy. Grass pokes up here and there between them, shockingly green against the grey. To my left is the wall of a brothel. To my right the wall of a pawn shop. Overhead, blotting out most of the sky, is the Glaxo tower. Hundreds of those shiny glass windows could see down to where I'm standing, but I'll bet not one of them was looking. Ahead the alley ends in a dumpster and a chainlink fence, a wide brown stain on the slabs where Donny met his end. With the dumpster right there I wonder why the killer didn't hide the body, then I realise I know why: with the body hidden Donny would have been missing -- hell, down here he could have been missing indefinitely -- but this way he was dead. It was important that he was definitively deceased. Oh, there's more! Something's gleaming down in the grime. A silver hoop earring, about an inch acro-- Jesus gently caress! It's still got a piece of ear attached to it! Ugh. I dig an old gig flyer out of my pocket and wrap the earring-and-meat in it. It's hardly conclusive evidence -- it could be anyone's ear -- but it's fresh enough that it could be from Donny's attacker and the violence angle fits. My intuition tells me this one's important. So, I'm up one earring, about one eighth of an ear, and a little insight into Chan's murder. I've had worse crime scenes. ---- What now? A. Dig into Donny's situation. What's the big difference between dead and missing? B. See what we can get from the cops. C. Hit up a hacker we know to see if we can get Meiling's phone records, etc. D. See if the sex workers next door noticed anything. E. See if the pawn shop owner noticed anything. F. Write-in option.
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Aug 20, 2016 21:15
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It's a toss-up between the two locations, but I'd say visit the brothel. Ask them if they saw or heard anything, maybe keep an eye and ear out for someone patching up an ugly injury.
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Aug 20, 2016 21:56
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Talk to the sex workers, strippers and hookers hear a lot. Since we are an investigative reporter I know we have some seedy contacts. Anybody in the local sex industry nearby we can tap for knowledge? Also we need more cyberpunk slang, what is this drek?
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Aug 20, 2016 22:33
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I say talk to the Pawn Shop Owner. Even if they didn't see anything, they might know Donny. Find out if he hangs out here often or if this is the first time he's been down here. Does he frequent the shop? He might have had debts if he did. Also have them appraise the earring. See if it's expensive or some synthetic cheap crap, and if they recognize it. (Same questions for the sex workers if that's the more popular choice.)
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Aug 20, 2016 22:53
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D. B is fruitless. There are, in the police's minds, no domestic journalists, and we don't want to get nailed for messing with a crime scene. A and C can be done anywhere and are only mildly urgent so why spend time to do them here. ^ ^ ^ E isn't an inherently bad idea, but pawn-brokerage mostly works on almost ideally imperfect information - knowing anything at all about the provenance of an item is dangerously close to knowing too much, and even the facts and truth inherent to an item are a disservice to 'buy low, sell high', especially when bullshit can inflate prices so much better. They might report signatures and serials for items that come through their shop (possibly only those already known to be missing/stolen) as a condition of being allowed to operate but that's about it. Come to think of it, trying to find out what the deal with the earring is might be a really bad idea if it's unique enough that Donny's death fired off such a missing/stolen property notification. Without A we might not be sure but our continued existence probably implies we're savvy enough to not take the chance. dont be mean to me fucked around with this message at 00:07 on Aug 21, 2016 |
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Aug 21, 2016 00:05
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D
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Aug 21, 2016 02:15
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Oooh, cyberpunk noir thriller! Nice. Also, D
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Aug 21, 2016 02:24
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D. The kind of reporting we do, the sex workers are probably already on a first-name basis with us anyways.
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Aug 21, 2016 02:33
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DivineCoffeeBinge posted:D. The kind of reporting we do, the sex workers are probably already on a first-name basis with us anyways. D Have sex with a prostitute while asking her about the crime. Also, do we know anyone who can do a DNA read on the ear?
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Aug 21, 2016 20:26
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Gotta agree with D. We know all the down on their luck types.Outrail posted:Also, do we know anyone who can do a DNA read on the ear? We must know a couple of shady back-alley doctor types who could get us a trace? Who knows if anyone we know would have access to the databases to search it against. But if it's possible, this is my write in.
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Aug 21, 2016 21:07
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D Let's hit up the brothel and see if they know anything. Maybe a bouncer was standing in this alley when it happened. With regards to the ear we could try to hit up a street-doc or we could try our luck with Ada Cheung. Even though our relationship did not pan out in the end it had some good moments and her job at the forensic's department of HKPD would make her the expert on these matters. Plus she might have insight into the investigation. We'd just need to convince her to run this for us and not tell her superiors.
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Aug 22, 2016 09:18
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Fathis Munk posted:With regards to the ear we could try to hit up a street-doc or we could try our luck with Ada Cheung. I like Ada Cheung, forensic investigator. Let's add her to the list of contacts... ---- It's always worth checking what the working girls know. I bang on the metal door and wait until the tiny window slides open, revealing a black man's scowl. "Bit early," he says. His voice is deep, textured with first-thing roughness. I shrug. "Cash is cash," I say. "Even at--" I check my internal clock "--eleven in the morning." I guess we're all night people round here. The man grunts, slams the window shut. I hear locks going inside, then the door swings open just wide enough for me to slip into the waiting room. No windows here, just a closed box with 'alluring' decor -- all drapes and red fabric -- and dim enough lighting to hide the wear and the stains. The TV in the corner is paused in the middle of some hyper-violent Korean action movie, a man with a hammer making the 'violence face' through a mask of blood. Once I'm in, the man closes the door behind me. He's huge -- gym time layered on top of crappy subdermal plating, giving him that weird 'square pecs' look even through his t-shirt. The giant chrome handgun stuck in his belt will be mostly for show, but even tacky guns can kill. "Not many girls up yet," he rumbles. "Wait here. I'll see who I can get." He heads for the stairs but doesn't get up them -- a girl is coming down, and it takes me a moment to recognise her in clothes and out of makeup. "Miranda? I thought you were working for the American." "He's dead." Miranda shrugs -- that's the way it goes, sometimes. "And there I thought you'd come all the way down here to see me." "This a social call?" Giant Man puts the same inflection on 'social call' as other people might put on 'poo poo on my doorstep'. He can see his cut disappearing and he doesn't like it. "Same deal as usual, Quade." Miranda's talking to me but placating him. "Pay me for my time, and we can do anything you like. Even if it's just talk." She gives me an arch look. "Again." I bring up my bank balance on my visual display, and try not to groan at the small number. An hour of Miranda's time would cost me a significant chunk of my ready cash, but I can afford it -- and Miranda's never let me down before. ---- What do? A. Pay up. It'll be worth it. C. Sweet-talk Giant Man. Somehow. D. Keep my money and leave. E. Write-in option.
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Aug 22, 2016 12:12
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A. Yes, it's a lot of money, but Miranda's a valuable contact, and you don't go around pinching pennies with people whose help you might need again in the future. Besides, we might get lucky; when she learns we're looking into Meiling's case she might give us a discount. Good food vendors are hard to come by; no one wants to see their favorite chef go to prison, especially if it means their replacement might be the Sewer Rat Souffle guy.
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Aug 22, 2016 12:18
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A Make sure the girl knows what's at stake, too. I'm sure everyone knows Meiling well enough to not trust the official story.
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Aug 22, 2016 13:58
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