Synthetic Substrate, Session 4: Downtime at Locke's
Session 4 of the scenario "Synthetic Substrate" for the Blade Runner RPG, where Locke takes some time off. Or does he?
Scene Setup
Countdown check
(D6): (2) => no event
Downtime Home Event roll
(D12): (4) => You are contacted or visited by someone involved in an old case.
My interpretation: either Kael or Kamarr contact me regarding the sabotage. On a d D6, 1-3=>Kamarr, 4-6=>Kael
(D6): (1) => Kamarr
Playing the scene
I’ve hit a wall. Wallace scrubbed the black op site clean, and Pentecost is clearly more afraid of them than of the RDU, so he won’t talk. What options do I have left?
Two come to mind. Dante could dig up something I can use to lean on Pentecost. Or, riskier, I could try reaching Kael and the underground. I’ll take some time at my apartment to mull it over. Better not to report back to Holden until I have a course of action. The Deputy Chief doesn’t like investigations stuck in a corner.
As I step into my dusty apartment, Greta, my animoid cat, pads over slowly and stares at me, not yet sure I’m worthy of her attention.
Before I can even pour myself a drink, the vidphone rings. No caller ID. Strange. I answer.
Libby Kamarr’s tired face appears on the screen, half-swallowed by static.
Kamarr: “Hello, Mr. Locke. It’s been a while.”
I can’t hide my surprise.
Locke: “This is… unexpected.”
She lets out a weary laugh.
K: “It shouldn’t be. The last time we spoke, you had a decision to make. In my book, you made the right one. How you acted on it is highly debatable, but I think we share some… common ground. Something we can build on.”
L: “Build what?”
K: “A mutually convenient partnership. I scratch your back, you scratch mine, when the need arises. Like now. Unless I’m mistaken, your back needs some serious scratching.”
Is there anyone left in this city who doesn’t know what I’m up to?
Still, I can’t let this slip. She might be willing to share what she knows about the farm. What she’ll want in return… that’s another matter.
L: “You may be right.”
K: “Wallace’s secret site at Farm 14. I have intel on it.”
L: “Which is why you decided to blow it up, I suppose.”
K: “Of course.”
L: “That was a risk. It must be something big.”
K: “Not so fast, Mr. Locke. I’ll need something in return for that intel.”
Here we go.
Cipher table roll
create + life => something related to mushroom farming
Evidence Descriptor roll
(1D6 + 1D10): (4 + 6) => residual. It is a trace of something left behind
Evidence Type roll
(1D6 + 1D12): (4 + 8) => Recording
K: “You have access to Farm 14. I need you to recover something for me.”
L: “Hm. You already have an informant in there, don’t you? Why do you need me?”
K: “Our mutual acquaintance is in a bad position. The farm manager suspects her. We can’t risk exposing her any further. Every move she makes, every file she touches, is being watched.”
That tracks. Pentecost will be keeping a close eye on Beck from now on. She can’t afford another mistake.
L: “What do you need?”
*K: “The crop records for Greenhouse B383. The past month.”
L: “Crop logs? Why? What’s growing in there?”
K: “The kind of crop Wallace won’t want anyone looking at, trust me. Not even with an official RDU request. You’ll have to get… creative. When you have the data, use the same signal you used with Kael. I’ll be in touch. Goodbye, Mr. Locke.”
The screen goes dark.
Crop records. Why would she want crop records? Could the black op be tied to whatever’s growing in that greenhouse?
Only one way to find out. I need to see those records, and I know just the man who can help. I dial Dante.
Dante: “Nate. Bit busy right now.”
A girl giggles somewhere in the background.
Locke: “This is important, Dante. Send your girlfriends home.”
He curses
D: “That’s extra on your tab. They don’t come cheap.”
He sends them away anyway. He can already smell sensitive data about to land in his hands.
D: “So. What do you want?”
L: “Crop records from a Wallace protein farm.”
D: “Wallace? Forget it. No can do.”
L: “Why not?”
D: “Wallace is paranoid about data. Even for small operations like farms. That stuff isn’t networked. You can’t pull it remotely.”
L: “I see. What if you had some help on the inside?”
D: “You’ve got physical access to the farm? Now that’s something. We’ve just gone from ‘completely impossible’ to ‘nearly impossible.’”
L: “Explain.”
D: “Say I give you a modified KIA running a little extraction tool of my own making. Say you walk into the farm and plug it into a data port. What do you think happens?”
L: “Why can’t anything ever be easy with you?”
D: “The A.I. running the farm is all over you in a millisecond. That’s what happens.”
L: “Oh. And… suppose that A.I. looks the other way?”
D: “What? You’re kidding, right? A.I.s don’t look the other way. Ever.”
L: “Leave that to me.”
He eyes me with suspicion.
D: “If you can really take the A.I. out of the equation… then yeah. I can do it.”
L: “Good. Get to work.”
D: “You’ll have the KIA in a couple of hours.”
I hang up.
Time to talk to Beck again. Not over the vid, though. Too risky. I’ll wait for Dante’s KIA, then head back out to Farm 14.
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
7- Crop records of Greenhouse B383