Session 19: Out of Their League

From The Whereabouts

Shadowrun

Chapter 2

Chapter 1

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

F.A.T.E. PCs

Briefing

Max Litten's Comlink

Dimitri successfully hacks into Max Litten's Comlink back at FATE HQ, though as would be expected of any competent shadowrunner it is not stock full of useful information. The comlink is filled with a large amount of data including limited information on previous shadowruns, some personal information, and a wealth of irrelevant data accumulated from running as an active comlink. Dimitri has sorted the information before presenting what he deems the important information for FATE agents to look over.

  • Max negotiated a contract to do shadowrunning work for a Mr. Johnson on March 21st, 2073. The contracted team includes himself, Tameka Umberger (Elf Hacker), and Tempo (Orc Street Samurai). Fiancial records show the shadowrunners were paid 30,000 nuyen upfront for the work. There is no information on the comlink about payment to be received after the run was complete, though shadowrunning practice dictates that most of the money would have been paid after completion. No details on the run itself are included, which is expected.
  • Copies of the viewed Coast Guard files fromt he security breech on April 2nd were found on the comlink. The information is mostly the information that we expected to find, most notably the usage data on 11 coast guard vessels including the one FATE used during the platform harvest mission. Cargo manifest data was also obtained, however none of that data pertains to FATE.
  • A copy of the uploaded video feed that Dimitri posted to lure the shadowrunning group to the coffee shop was found on his comlink. The video on his comlink appears to have been slightly modified and enhanced in an attempt to get more information about the people and boat shown loading a crate from the platform, it does not appear he was able to get any information regarding FATE identities. However closer examination allows for a knowledgeable person to identify the model of boat shown.
  • Travel records on the comlink show that Max and his crew were in Los Angeles from March 20th - March 30th, they arrived in San Francisco on March 31st. Prior locations are unknown.
  • Among his known contacts is a comlink number to contact the Mr. Johnson that hired the crew for their current mission, however the comlink number has been deactivated.
  • All three shadowrunners, Max Litten, Tameka Umberger, and Tempo were using fake SIN's and do not appear to have a registered SIN under any database FATE has access to.

Finances of Eve & Research Companions

Though it takes Dimitri some time, he is able to hack into Eve Ballentine's financial records. While Eve is certainly a moderately wealthy individual she ahs shown no abnormal debits or credits to any of her accounts within the past 6 months.

Over the course of several days Dimitri find the same information about the other researchers at MIT&T, DIMR, and Mandyne. Though other forms of payment that cannot be checked over the matrix can't be ruled out, any major purchases made within the last 6 months with an untraceable form of payment would have shown up in Dimiti's searches.

Dimitri Hacks Clayton Osmun

Financial records on Dr. Clayton Osmun are not easy to come by, but eventually Dimitri get access to the records. Once he finds them he is left with unexplainable data. While almost all of the other scientists had significant assets and cash to represent their professional standing; Dr. Osmun, likely with the highest professional standing of any of the mentioned names, seems to be on the brink of poverty. Considering it is a well known fact that Dr. Osmun is very happy with his position at Harvard University this seems a rather unexplainable phenomenon. Though he spent significant time in search Dimitri was unable to find any other financial information.

Dr. Osmun lives in a moderately nice apartment near Harvard's campus and drives a shockingly ordinary white sedan. (Middle Lifestyle) Dimitri is able to acquire the address, he lives on the 9th floor of a 20 story apartment complex. Access to the complex is restricted and security is reasonably high for the quality of apartments within.

Clayton Osmun is a registered SIN with UCAS. He is listed as a single Caucasian human male, age 64. Hair, white. Eyes, gray. Listed at 5'9" tall and 155 lbs.

Dr. Osmun has employed private security for himself since he was extracted by MCT in 2065. He does not appear to have a contract with a security company, rather has individually hired body guards who have no affiliation other than to him.

Dr. Osmun has an office and performs his research within the Harvard Scientific Research Center. His research is all considered to be classified. Dimitri is unable to penetrate Harvard's security barriers.

Team 1's Physical Recon

Team 1 is able to spend a reasonable amount of time on recorn work for Clayton Osmun, though they are cut off from gaining access to the two most important locations in Clayton's life. (Harvards Scientific Research Center and his apartment complex.) Without access to these locations their information is somewhat limited, but they have compiled a daily schedule:

  • 6:30 AM - Departs his apartment for Harvard University, driving his own white sedan with a ride along body guard. Possibly a follow car with additional security, but consistent pattern can't be identified.
  • 6:45 AM - Arrives at Harvard University. Parks in a secured, underground parking garage at Harvard's Scientific Research Center.
  • 6:45 AM - 7:00 PM - Spent at the Harvard Scientific Research Center. (End time varies slightly, but rarely by much.)
  • 7:00 PM - Departs Harvard University in white sedan with ride along body guard. Possibly a follow car with additional security, but a pattern cannot be identified. Typically either goes straight home or stops at a near by restaurant to eat dinner alone.
  • 9:00 PM - Back at his apartment no later than 9:00 PM. Often as early as 7:15 PM if he goes straight to his apartment from Harvard.
  • 9:00 PM - 6:45 AM - Does not appear to leave his apartment after returning home for the night.

Lone Star

Eric's contact gets back to him on Monday morning, Eric and Bastien discuss what exactly they are looking for without going into more detail than Eric was comfortable given the sensitivity of their current mission. Bastien of course understood, and Bastien was at least somewhat aware with Eric's position with The Department of Homeland Security, though probably less about FATE itself. Bastien reveals that Lone Star in CFS has been completely locked out of the investigation, and any help Lone Star UCAS has asked for CFS has had difficulty providing. Neither the PCC government nor CFS government has wanted to allow any outside investigation. He'll see what he can get from UCAS and pass it along though.

Bastien is able to pass the following information on to FATE:

  • Lone Star has confirmed the operation to steal the device was carried out by a group of 11 unidentified targets, believed to be shadowrunners or a terrorist organization. The group showed significant organization within itself to carry out the mission while dodging or overpowering security, however their rough tactics did not show signs of significant inside information. Not ruling it out, but inside knowledge was not required for the theft.
  • The device was equipped with a tracking device that sent signal to private secuirty until it was deactivated at the Boston Harbor. The location of deactivation (or blocked signal) indicated the device left the city by sea. Lone Star did not originally consider this a sure fire thing, but given the size of the device and the difficulty of moving it they believe it is no longer within Boston. This cannot be confirmed.
  • Financial records on the primary researchers at MIT&T, DIMR, and Manadyne are clean. Lone Star has failed to acquire necessary evidence to investigate the financial records of any other employees at any of the organizations.
  • Questioning of related personnel at each organization revealed that those outside of the research group at MIT&T and DIMR were unaware of the project's significance. Where at Manadyne the project had gained a certain level of attention, even among employees outside of the research group. While this only broadens the suspect list, it shed some light on where the leak may have taken place.
  • Note from Bastien based on Eric's specific mention of Dr. Osmun: Dr. Clayton Osmun was not questioned or brought up as a suspect of espionage in this case. However Bastien was able to pull a file from UCAS Lone Star on Dr. Osmun separate from this case.
    • A majority of the information provided is of little importance to us or repeats over information we already have.
    • Archived files from his 2065 kidnapping indicate that after 24 hours missing his bank accounts automatically emptied themselves to a still classified fund. Osmun chose to never discuss the matter with Lone Star, the funds were never recovered nor was it determined where they went.
    • Archived files show a brief investigative detail was launched into the sale of Dr. Clayton Osmun's private holdings to an unspecified buyer in 2069. Holdings included significant shareholdings within a broad spattering of corporations, mostly located in UCAS and/or Boston. Companies included but were not limited to: Novatech, Lunar Mining, Trans-Oceanic-Mining, The Arcanum, Fuchi Orbital, Intersciene Inc., T99, Manadyne, Marine Technologies, and Maritech Enterprises. Compensation for the sold shares was not publicly disclosed and Lone Star's investigation was stopped before further information could be gathered. It is thought, but unconfirmed that The Corporate Council investigated the sale. If such an investigation took place information was not shared with Lone Star.
  • Lone Star attempted to investigate the Platform Harvest incident to search for relation to the possible terrorist incident that occurred at MIT&T, but both CFS and PCC governments shut the investigation down before it began. This particular file has been reopened, but with little progress, in recent days. A video of leaked footage from the Platform Harvest incident has been added, the video shows a crate being removed from the platform before the arrival of the PCC navy.

Notes

  • Anastasia and Wex have the potential of suffering -1 dice pool penalty if symptoms of radiation poisoning recur.
  • JP has secured the agents a safe house to use in Boston through a former CIA contact, the safe house is theirs for the entire month of April should they need it.
  • Tyrone Chausse is a local fixer in Boston who should be relatively friendly to our cause should the agents need additional supplies or equipment.

Session Synopsis

After spending the week gathering information from a variety of sources and debating the best plan to move forward in their investigation, Team 1 decided to enlist Dimitri's help in breaking into Dr. Clayton Osmun's apartment so they could mind probe him about the device and Platform Harvest incident. Once Dimitri created a backdoor into the security system the plan was in motion.

Doc picked up a directional jammer from Tyrone Chausse which Eric, Anna, and Doc planned to use to keep Dr. Osmun from contacting help during their break-in. Dimitri was able to create fake guest passes and a request from an apartment for the three guests to be let into the complex, successful fooling the guards in the lobby. The three FATE agents were able to walk directly into the complex and to the elevators, though they left any weapons that could be detected by MAD scanners behind. Having already done the research to find Osmun's apartment, entering was a simple task with Dimitri unlocking the doors through the security system.

Eric, Anna, and Doc burst into the apartment quickly, finding a bigger room than expected that appeared to be attached back to other apartments, luckily they found Dr. Osmun alone and working at his desk. They told him to keep quiet and they wouldn't harm him, but Dr. Osmun quickly called for help. Eric stunned bolted him but didn't quite knock him unconscious, Anna quickly knocked him out with a punch to the head. While Doc was dragging the Doctor's body to the couch where they could more comfortably mind probe him, Osmun's bodyguard came in through a door the appeared to lead to the adjacent apartment. Eric quickly hit him with a stun bolt, bot the guard was not knocked out. The guard quickly pulled his gun and shot Doc once while Anna returned fire by putting two slugs straight into the guards forehead. The guard was quickly dispatched but the gunfire had no doubt raised the alert.

Eric proceeded to mind probe Osmun and ask him questions about the device and incident, meanwhile Dimitri discovered the apartment had risen and alert and was in the process of shutting it down.

Questions to Dr. Osmun:

  1. Do you know of the device that stolen from MIT&T, DIMR, & Manadyne?
    1. Yes, he is aware of the device and its purpose. Heard that it had been stolen, from their lab.
  2. Do you know about a conspiracy to steal the device?
    1. No.
  3. Do you know where the device was tested?
    1. Yes, at Platform Harvest.
  4. By whom?
    1. Novatech.
  5. Who knew about the testing of the device?
    1. Neva Atkison, Darren Bigley, Lance Tutor, Penelope Melius, Clinton Scurlock.

Dimitri sent word that they were out of time and they would have to make do with the information that was given so far. The group left Dr. Osmun tied up on his couch and took his comlink with them as they left the complex in a hurry. With an elevator already on its way up to the 9th floor with guards in it, Eric had the other elevator sent to the 8th floor while the group hurried down the stairs to the floor. Meanwhile Dimitri covered their escape by obscuring as many cameras as he was able. The group took the elevator down to the garage level, which appeared to be less heavily guarded at this point.

When they arrived on the level and attempted to merely walk past the guard, he stopped them by telling them that residents would have to remain in the building until the security alert was lifted. Since this was obviously unacceptable, Eric quickly fired off a powerful stun bolt and knocked the man out. Team 1 hurried towards the exit and their escape vehicle outside on the street, the guard working the booth attempted to stop them but another stun bolt from Eric prevented him from doing any damage.

Dimitri did his best to erase as much of the information as possible about the Team and their infiltration, he deleted most of the camera information as well as his own tracks in the security system. Some images were left of the Team which left them as wanted criminals within Boston. As a result they decided that returning home to San Francisco was the best course of action. They had discovered who was responsible for stealing the device and funding the terrorist attack on Platform Harvest. While the situation could not be put finally to rest, JP had gathered the information he needed.

Aftermath

To Post

  • Dr. Osmun's Comlink:
    • Dimitri is eventually able to crack into Dr. Osmun’s comlink, though it features some of the tightest security Dimitri has ever seen out of a comlink. Several days pass before Dimitri is able to crack the comlink and mine the information out of it. However it does yield some enlighting results, though obviously Dr. Osmun is smart enough to keep his most important research off his comlink.
    • You are given a wealth of different names and contact information. Some names you recognize, most are unknown to the organization. Though Dimitri does a bit of research on some of them as well. Besides a number of generic contacts, names of his research team which is rather small are included. All of the novatech names that Eric obtained via mind probe are included, as are several other linked to either Novatech or NeoNET. Several members of the MIT&T, Manadyne, and DIMR research teams are included there, but so are a number of other names in the research field. Which is expected.
    • A very small amount of research data is included, it is expected that more information might be accessible from the terminal he was working on in his apartment, and certainly a majority of the information would be at Harvard’s Scientific Research Center. The data enclosed mostly confirms the general statements Dr. Yau gave about his areas of study, Osmun is largely considered one of the leading minds in alchemy research in the world. However his personal interest and tastes seem to be focused more on space based research.
    • Dr. Osmun’s Comlink also reveals several things about his finances that Dimirti was unable to uncover during the mission. They specifically show that Dr. Osmun’s apartment, body guards, and a number of other significant assets are paid for out of a lucrative grant fund that funds his research at Harvard. Information on the comlink does not reveal the origin of Dr. Osmun’s research funding. This leaves Osmun’s research as a large question mark overall. His area of research is classified, though its known to us to involve both alchemy and orbital science. Further his funding source is largely hidden and appears to come from outside Harvard to a large extent, while Harvard pays him a reasonable salary many of his assets appear to be hidden within the grant funding that funds his research.

According to Dr. Osmun these Novatech Employees have knowledge of the testing of the stolen device at Platform Harvest, this list may not be all inclusive as there may be employees within Novatech Dr. Osmun is unfamiliar with who have knowledge of the incident. Several other names were given, according to Dimitri’s research they are mostly unknown lower level employees.

  • Neva Atkison:
    • Novatech Employee - Assistant Regional Manager of R&D in UCAS
    • Neva Atkison is a human female, age 39 who works in the R&D Division of Novatech centered in Boston, UCAS. She has duel master’s degrees in Chemistry and Business Administration from MIT&T. Employee records show she worked for Interscience Inc. , a subsidiary company of NeoNET, before being employed by Novatech.
  • Penelope Melius:
    • Novatech Employee - Senior Researcher
    • Penelope Melius is a human female, age 42 who works as a Senior Researcher in Novatech’s R&D department. She has a PHD in astrophysics from Harvard.
  • Clinton Scurlock:
    • Novatech Employee - Senior Researcher
    • Clinton Scurlock is a human male, age 33 who works as a Senior Researcher in Novatech’s R&D department. He has a PHD in Thaumaturgy from MIT&T, he is known to be awakened.
  • Darren Bigley:
    • Novatech Employee - Liaison to LaGrange Point - NeoNET Lunar Obital Mining Facility
    • Daren Bigley is a dwarf male, age 46 who works out of Boston UCAS as a Liaison to NeoNET’s Orbital Mining Facility on the darkside of the moon.
  • Lance Tutor:
    • Novatech Employee - Director of Orbital Mining Operations
    • Lance Tutor is a human male, age 54 and is the Director of all orbital mining operations within NeoNET. A role that heavily involves LaGrange Point by definition, outside of that little is known about him.
  • End Results:

Results

Status: Complete.
Dates: April 7, 2073
Quote of the night:
Nuyen: 7,500¥ Mission Reward.
Stipend: 2,495¥ (-4,000¥ For Directional Jammer) Remaining.
Karma Awarded: 7
Additional Awards: N/A