Session Date: 9/7/2023
Emerick goes into the kitchen and Charley shows up. He asks Emerick how he and the group would want to go and help do some networking. Emerick says that sounds like it’ll be fun and he imagines the group would be fine with it so he agrees. He sends the information out to everyone with where to go and when and we get together.
While Emerick is hanging out, Alice and Ri are talking at one point while they’re in the lounge area. The TV flashes to the news and Emerick sees a posting about the raid on Omnitech Industries (late coverage) — previously the information was more or less covered up to hide how big of an issue this was — so the heat around us has been nonexistent, especially because Markov is the bigger issue. This is a follow-up piece when the trial is going to take place for what Markov was doing, an ethics board is going to get involved, and I hear Ri and Alice start chit-chatting (at first) and then they hear the trial and everything going on and Ri ultimately looks at Emerick and says we haven’t worked much but we’re making serious moves around here. Ri pays Emerick a compliment that he struggles to accept, but Ri is satisfied when he does.
Seo comes down the stairs and is clearly deep in thought about something but when he sees Emerick he brightens up a little bit. He notices Ri and Alice sitting at the couch and waves to them, then he goes to get a drink from the fridge. He sits at the table starts to scroll through his Agent, basically mirroring Emerick. Seo scrolls through some stuff and then Seo shows Emerick one of the documents he’d worked on for the failed company and the two talk about that for a while. It’s clear that this is not what’s on his mind — he’s saying this to have a conversation rather than because he needed to have a conversation. It’s a distraction.
When there’s a lull in the conversation, Emerick quietly asks if everything is okay. Seo hesitates, then looks up at Emerick and asks Emerick to go with him. They go to Seo’s room and Emerick shuts the door behind them. Seo sits down at his desk area and looks at Emerick and then he says he doesn’t know what it is, he’s been doing this for months, but every time that he has to go and — it’s Ri, his addictions are weighing heavily on him right now. He just got out of a conversation with Juice and getting more of his vices ordered for his brother. It hasn’t been the greatest. He sits there and puts his head in his hands and pushes his hair back and sighs and takes a breath.
Emerick asks if he’s talked to Ri about getting help. Seo’s thought about it but they don’t have much of a choice in the moment it feels like because there’s not much else they can be doing. Seo points out who we work for and the environment is in no way going to help keep Ri sober. Even if they were to get help for Ri it’s going to be a week, if that, at most, before he relapses. Seo seems very confident in that statement as he speaks it and it seems right on. Seo admits it wouldn’t surprise him if it wasn’t his choice and he can see Juice as someone who’s going to mold people a specific way and create his product that he wants.
Seo admits he doesn’t know what to do. He wants to, but the entire situation has to change first, and there can’t be all of this around them for change to be effective. As they’ve been talking, Seo’s grip on Emerick’s hands has grown tighter from the point that Ri’s relapse may not be by his choice. Seo is incredibly uncomfortable and upset with the thought.
Emerick offers to help in any way that he can and reminds Seo that he doesn’t have to do it alone. Seo smiles a little and thanks him and says that Emerick helps him so much already and he’s not sure he could have the conversation with anyone else. Seo admits that being able to talk to Emerick about it has helped him start to process everything a little bit better.
Seo says that he knows Charley was wanting to take us with them to network — Seo thinks they’re going to try to… Seo trails off as he goes to turn his chair but stops because we’re holding hands, but stops so that he can guide Emerick back to his desk with him. When they get there Seo opens his laptop and pulls up a flyer. He’s been trying to get this doctored up to look better but he’s been struggling, and he feels something is missing, and he needs to get it finished. Seo is hoping for someone to get the vibe of the band down at the flyer and so Emerick helps him with it. They get the flyers printed out and together.
Charley was thinking we’d get going around 4 or so to get set up, then 5 or 6 is when people start streaming in to actually hang out and vibe. This one will not be in the The Afterlife — we will be at a club called Tranquil Infiniti.
Emerick returns to the lounge area and just hangs out until it’s time to help them network.
Garf goes in to check on Cipher and make sure he’s okay. Net warns Trash Tablet about an exotic coming by. Garf does show up and is approached by a gang member, asking if they’re Garf. They said Net mentioned them and the gang member — Trash Tablet — said that Net mentioned she might show up. Trash leads Garf back to his place so that she can see Net and Cipher, who are hanging in the living space of the building.
Garf offers to rebuild Cipher’s cyberdeck. Garf gives Cipher her cyberdeck until she manages to rebuild it. Cipher isn’t sure what to say and tries to refuse the cyberdeck, but ultimately does take it and gives Garf his.
Garf says she doesn’t have the best relationship with death and she’d been brought back twice, so she’s gone numb to the idea of people around her dying.
After Cipher was jacked out unsafely she felt weird and Garf realized that this was the fear of someone she cares about dying. They have a moment talking about this and reassuring each other that they deserve to stay alive and neither should be put in direct danger and there was a side thing about who they think would give a shit if Cipher died. Garf asks Cipher not to do the thing yet again, stop it.
Garf asks who the fuck it was that brought her in and Net explains that’s Trash Tablet, and that’s who taught Net everything he knows. Garf asks how Trash Tab got the name, and opts for the bullshit answer: he was found in a dumpster. The real answer is that Trash Tab got the name because he found his Agent in the dumpster. Net admits he doesn’t even know Trash Tab’s real name. There’s a discussion about how Garf needs a fucking alias and then Net asks Tab how much time is left on Net’s sentence.
Tab says probably about 6 years last he checked. Net asks if he learned his lesson and Tab replies Net already knows the answer to that. Net admits that he promised to bail him out. Tab admits he expected that and he says that for all the shit Net’s gone through with him, Net always tries to do right. Net decides to go ahead and pay to get his uncle out of jail.
Garf comments that they need to get Net a car, and Net agrees that he needs to get himself a car. Garf offers to steal him one and Net says definitely not, and especially not here. Net mentions that stealing a car here will get you killed immediately, and recommends that Garf learn where the gang territory is if she’s gonna be driving around. She agrees that probably would be a good idea.
Net walks to the precinct while Garf drives Cipher. They arrive and Net is advised the bail is $2,000. He hands over a credit chip with the money and they begin filing the paperwork. The officer advises it’ll be an hour until he’s free, and offers for Net to wait. Net declines the offer and asks the officer to let him know that he won’t forget this, then heads out.
Omen asks Emerick to look more into Audun Bredall and the information surrounding him and where he’ll be. Emerick doesn’t do an amazing job and it’s not because Audun doesn’t post or anything — he definitely has a social media presence and talks a lot — but there is a lot of stories about the cyberpsycho controversy that lead to other issues and there’s so much to sift through. Emerick does know there is a small little conference at a local news outlet to let the police chief talk and answer questions to the press in a couple days. Audun Bredall and Miranda both will be there. Emerick grabs a media pass and lets Omen know about the event, as well as asks Omen to provide any questions or anything he wants to know so that Emerick can ask while there.
Omen otherwise runs into an Aldecado by the name of Jamie Meyers, a solo for them.
She’s very combat focused and well- versed with all sorts of firearms. A lot of the work that Omen went to her for was needing strong muscle to deal with things. She cares a lot about the communities of the surrounding area — not just the Aldecados, but perhaps even someone living out in the badlands. She is able to reach out to her network and ask around for information. Omen messages her and says he’s trying to dig up some dirt on Police Chief Audun Bredall and Officer Miranda Vasquez — he’s noticed they’re trying to expand their territory in the badlands and he wants to stop this (obviously). The response comes pretty quickly and she says yeah, NCPD has been thick and missions have been hard to pick up because of it.
They’re receiving word that the Badlands are completely lawless and they’re pushing for more forces out there to set up checkpoints and catch criminals. There are other things, though, that are throwing things for a loop: there was a certain sighting that happened a few weeks ago. A corps van left the city and ended up making its way out and a handful of the nomads around there saw something they shouldn’t have — Jamie doesn’t know what they saw, but after that had happened the NCPD pushed much more aggressively. The corpo van that had this item got pissed and flexed so that the NCPD would be far more aggressive, and they want to get rid of the unseen eyes in the badlands. Jamie’s been trying to discern patrol patterns, VIP people that walk through the area.
Audun takes a convoy every week and makes a huge patrol through the area. There’s no seeming pattern to it and he changes it in the moment rather than plan things out. He seems to be trying to think like a nomad but is doing it wrong so he’s in over his head. This convoy is his personal cruiser, a couple other cruisers, and a couple ATCs.
Omen updates his cousin on all of this, especially about Audun.