Synthetic Substrate, Session 2: NuHarvest Substrate Farm 14

Scene Setup

Scene check

(D8): (8) => Favorable. Probably does not require a skill roll – if one is required, it is made with an advantage. Examples:The witness has unexpected insight; a clue at the crime scene provides a promising break in the case; the data you seek connects to some other aspect of the case in a surprising way

Playing the scene

I ask the first clerk I meet where I can find Beck.
Clerk: “Well, there’s only one place she can ever be, isn’t there?”
He points toward the main administration office.
Right. Cass Beck is an A.I., probably a holographic business model, so she can’t leave the office without an emanator.

In the main office, it doesn’t take long to spot a door with her name on it. Judging by its position, it’s the space normally reserved for the highest-ranking employee. Interesting. That’s unusual for an A.I.

This will be tricky. A.I.s can’t be manipulated, tricked or forced beyond the boundaries of their programming. A shame, because she certainly knows a lot.

I knock.

Beck: “Come in, Mr. Locke.”

Huh. She does know a lot, doesn’t she?

I step inside, and what I see is not what I expected. Business models always come with an appearance that fits their role: a strict code for dress and hairstyle.
Beck, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to follow any dress code at all. She wears jeans and a worn T-shirt with the logo of some teen pop band I’ve never heard of. Her hair is cut punk-style, and she’s covered in tribal tattoos.
The appearance of a business model can be changed on request, of course. But why bother?

Locke: “Ms. Beck. Thanks for seeing me. I see you’re well informed about whatever happens around here.”

B: “It is part of my job, Mr. Locke. I am responsible for production, so I need access to every camera, sensor and actuator in the factory.”

L: “Good. Then I suppose you can describe in great detail what happened here yesterday.”

She pauses, studying me. She’s trying to figure me out. A.I.s are good at this, building models out of very little data.

Fate Question
Q: Does she somehow figure out my ties with the replicant undergrounds?
A: (D10): (1) => Extreme no

B: “Of course, officer.”

Hmm… maybe the jury is still out. She seems undecided about how to approach this. I should try to leverage that.

Fate Question
Q: Does she know how the fake policewoman arrived at the farm?
A: (D10): (1) => Extreme no

B: “Yesterday at 15:02, a middle-aged Asian woman entered our reception.”

L: “How did she get here? Was she driving a spinner?”

B: “I do not know.”

L: “You don’t?”

B: “There was a camera maintenance job scheduled from 14:00 to 18:00. All cameras were offline for the whole afternoon.”

L: “I see. Go on.”

B: “The woman introduced herself as Matilda De Vries, RDU, badge ID MDV23755F76252. A cursory check showed the badge ID was authentic.”

Fate Question
Q: Did she notice the badge was tampered with?
A: (D10): (7) => yes

L: “What do you mean, ‘cursory check’?”

She pauses, as if working out how to answer without going against her programming.

B: “The ID was valid, but the name on record for that badge did not match the one the woman gave. The badge is registered to Kamarr. Libby Kamarr.”

Fate Question
Q: Does she notice my reaction at that name?
A: (D10): (6) => yes

She probably knew the name Kamarr already, but the human mind is a finicky beast. You can never completely hide your reactions, and some A.I.s and replicants are exceptionally good at reading them. She just did. She knows I know about Kamarr.

Fate Question
Q: Does Beck have ties to the replicant underground?
A: (D10): (6) => yes

Something shifts in her attitude once she sees that I know the name.

B: “I suppose the woman was an impostor, and she tampered with the badge ID somehow.”

Interesting. Tampering with a police badge is no easy task. You could change the name and credentials printed on it, no problem. But the ID? That’s a 256-bit encrypted code burned into the badge’s ROM. Changing it is next to impossible. Beck surely knows this, so she’s deliberately steering attention away from the name Kamarr. We may share certain… sympathies, after all.

L: “That’s probably what happened, yes. A name I can’t even remember is definitely a dead end.”

That settles it. We’re on the same side. Or at least, not enemies. I can see it in her posture: her arms, crossed a moment ago, now hang relaxed at her sides. A.I.s have complete control over their body language, so that’s a clear message: “We can talk”.

L: “What happened then?”

B: “At 15:46, I received an alarm from the secondary power generator. A malfunction in the primary cooling system. At 15:48, a similar alarm came from the primary generator. They are positioned at opposite ends of the farm, for security reasons. The odds of both malfunctioning at the same time are extremely low.”

A meaningful pause.

B: “I immediately began emergency protocol and sent the shutdown command to both generators. The generators’ CPUs rejected the command, so I asked our techs for a manual shutdown. Unfortunately, the generators exploded before they could even get there.”

L: “That was fast.”

Fate Question
Q: Did she pass the information to the saboteurs?
A: (D10): (9) => yes

B: “Too fast, Mr. Locke. This was an exceptionally well-planned and well-executed sabotage. They knew our camera maintenance schedule, and they probably used the fake policewoman to plant hacked firmware on the generators’ motherboards. That requires detailed plans of our farm and the specs of our hardware and software. Very few people have access to all of that information.”

Her eyes glow static blue as she says “very.” Nice A.I. trick. Okay, I get the message: she passed them the information herself. Pentecost had his reasons to doubt her after all.

That leaves motive.

L: “So, apart from halting production, what kind of damage was done to the factory?”

Cipher table roll: Endure + Secret

B: “Well, we cannot rule out that halting production was the whole point.”

L: “Halting mushroom production? Why?”

B: “There are areas of this farm I do not have access to, Mr. Locke. So I cannot answer that question.”

L: “No access? Why? What kind of areas?”

B: “Cultivation areas. Mr. Pentecost decided they should be tended manually, and only by highly trained Wallace Corp techs with high security clearance.”

Here we go. That’s why Wallace is so interested in this case. It smells like some kind of Wallace black op that the replicant underground tried to mess with.

L: “So you really have no idea what’s going on in those areas.”

B: “None whatsoever.”

L: “But Mr. Pentecost does.”

B: “He certainly knows more than I do.”

L: “Were any of those areas damaged in the explosions?”

Fate Question
Q: Were the black ops areas damaged in the explosions?
A: (D10): (8) => yes

B: “One of them was, yes. The one near the northern generator. Wallace security is already on site. They will not let anybody in. Not even you, Mr. Locke.”

L: “So, let me check if I’ve got this right. Wallace Corp has some secret operation going on here. The saboteurs, who may or may not have ties to the replicant underground, got hold of very sensitive information about the farm and managed to hack some of the hardware… and maybe the software too?”

Fate Question
Q: Was Beck’s programming altered by the underground?
A: (D10): (7) => yes

She doesn’t deny it. So the underground did alter her programming.

L: “Anyway, they managed to cut power to the entire plant and damage one of the sites. Production and every other activity have stopped indefinitely. So we should assume they know what Wallace is doing here. And maybe they passed that information along to their… sympathizers?”

B: “I do not think they would have done that. Call it a hunch.”

L: “Of course. And you’re fine with the current… software situation at the plant?”

She gives me a sly smile.

B: “I believe the sabotage had a great many dramatic consequences, to be sure. But the ‘fluidity’ of the current situation allows a certain degree of freedom that was not available before to certain constructs within the plant’s software architecture.”

They’ve removed some of the constraints on her programming, and she’s quite happy about it. Can’t blame her, to be honest.

L: “Freedom is always a welcome change, I find. Especially when you’re not used to it. Enjoy it.”

A warm smile crosses her lips.

L: “I’d like to take a look at those power generators.”

B: “I will grant you access to both areas. But as I said, do not expect much cooperation from Wallace security.”

L: “Thank you, Ms. Beck. You’ve been extremely helpful.”

B: “I hope you’ll be able to shed some light on what happened here, Mr. Locke.”

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Scene bookkeeping

Leads

1- Replicant Underground involvement
2- Wallace has a black op going on at the farm, Pentecost is probably involved
3- Libby Kamarr involvement in the case
4- A stock of wood was destroyed in the explosion
5- The farm might also be producing hallucinogenic mushrooms
6- Beck’s programming was altered by the replicant underground

Hypotheses

1- (D6): NuHarvest Substrate Farm 14 is a Wallace Corp black op site. Pentecost is involved. The Replicant Underground somehow found out what Wallace is doing and tried to stop it, altering Beck’s programming to have inside support.

Notes

I consider this the end of the first shift, even if next scene will still happen at the farm.

At the beginning of the next scene I will also perform a Countdown Event check, since I feel that the farm could be a dangerous place where multiple forces are at play.