(Fugitive) All Roads Lead to the Circle

Apr 19th, 2019 11:35 AM

Kaze and Langdon suddenly remembered that the name of the rehab group downtown was A Better Way.

Water systems are a complicated thing, especially when systems are created layered on top of older less sophisticated ones. What Shodan does know though is that if the water feeds in from somewhere before the exploded apartments, and Susan's building is further down the same plumbing line, then checking the pipes that feed into the site of the explosion and the pipes that send water out would tell him if the abyssal taint came from ground zero or further up the line.

I'll leave it up to you guys if you want to stay at 4 or invite someone else to replace Aurora.

**Langdon** · Apr 21st, 2019 12:40 PM

"O, it was the ah." The Moros taps his thigh. "A Better Way? Something like that right Kaze?" Langdon shakes his head. "I should have been taking notes as well. But I think that's something to look into as well."

"I can try to get some water from the building. I hope that its only that one because frankly I have no idea how to handle that sort of thing quietly." A worried glance at Winter before Langdon looks at Shodan. "If people are getting sick for no apparent reason... Well I hope its just a fluke from the arcana used for the explosion and that someone is not deliberately spreading abyssal taint." The Guardians have their place as do all five points but that doesn't mean Langdon wants to embrace any of their methods.

Apr 21st, 2019 03:23 PM

Shodan eyes Winter carefully "I don't know what you expect to find, but whatever" there's a milion ways an abyssal taint can manifest, so as far as Shodan is concerned it's little better than guesswork. Still, he knows better than to openly defy the Sentinel "It'll be fun anyway"

But first, he has other computer-centered things to do.

First, this rehab group "Better Way, huh? Can't say I've heard about them" he says to Langdon an Kaze "You say they are connected to our man how exactly?" Details, people! So far it's been all circumstantial, the kind of 'connection' you have with your mom-and-pop grocery store. Still, worth a try. And an extended Google search for things like location, leadership and timetables "A sample would be helpful. We could even go pipe-hunting to check what is the point of origin of the abyssal taint, buuut... I don't think we have the time for that"

2 successes

Second, Shodan's contacts. He posts a message on one of the discussion boards in the shady corners of the Web. It reads as follows:

From: Blitz
So, Agent J and Agent K all over Sacramento, CA. Exploding shit. Word is they have outposts all over the city. Any one of you upstanding citizens know anything about that? Don't know about you but that amount of suits per sq. mile makes me antsy as fuck.

2 successes

And finally, third - worming his way into the inner systems of a certain hospital. Although there's a plethora of health service providers in the area, Shodan figures a good first shot would be Sutter Medical Center - it is, after all, relatively close to the interesting area and big enough to provide conclusive results. Having no way to access the network directly, the Libertine decides to use the best tool in any hacker's arsenal: human stupidity. Like, you know, an email. Totally coming from the city hall. And absolutely not containing a trojan that turns one computer into a zombie, and then another, and another... no sir, that'd be illegal.

Still, even if that plan succeeds, sifting through that amount of data is going to take some time.

30 successes for hacking, incl. 2 exceptional

Date	Action	Roll	Result
2019-04-21 14:51:51	[08] Shodan rolls 10 to Hack into the hospital (Int+Comp+Specialty+Eq.Bonus) (10 Again)	9, 6, 2, 7, 6, 6, 8, 8, 5, 10, 5	4 successes
2019-04-21 14:51:51	[07] Shodan rolls 10 to Hack into the hospital (Int+Comp+Specialty+Eq.Bonus) (10 Again)	3, 6, 5, 2, 6, 10, 6, 1, 10, 1, 4, 2	2 successes
2019-04-21 14:51:51	[06] Shodan rolls 10 to Hack into the hospital (Int+Comp+Specialty+Eq.Bonus) (10 Again)	10, 8, 3, 6, 4, 7, 2, 1, 10, 8, 5, 10, 3	5 successes
2019-04-21 14:51:51	[05] Shodan rolls 10 to Hack into the hospital (Int+Comp+Specialty+Eq.Bonus) (10 Again)	5, 7, 10, 10, 10, 4, 8, 7, 7, 8, 5, 3, 5	5 successes
2019-04-21 14:51:51	[04] Shodan rolls 10 to Hack into the hospital (Int+Comp+Specialty+Eq.Bonus) (10 Again)	9, 1, 3, 3, 4, 6, 9, 3, 1, 9	3 successes
2019-04-21 14:51:51	[03] Shodan rolls 10 to Hack into the hospital (Int+Comp+Specialty+Eq.Bonus) (10 Again)	8, 6, 1, 5, 6, 2, 9, 10, 5, 3, 2	3 successes
2019-04-21 14:51:51	[02] Shodan rolls 10 to Hack into the hospital (Int+Comp+Specialty+Eq.Bonus) (10 Again)	8, 1, 5, 7, 10, 4, 1, 7, 6, 8, 9	4 successes
2019-04-21 14:51:51	[01] Shodan rolls 10 to Hack into the hospital (Int+Comp+Specialty+Eq.Bonus) (10 Again)	6, 10, 2, 4, 5, 8, 2, 10, 6, 7, 4, 10, 6	4 successes

Matrixchild

**Winter** · Apr 21st, 2019 05:24 PM

"So, uh", the Guardian thinks the Libertine might need a more "scientific" approach, and what better than a bold faced lie followed by scientific curiosity?, "you're really green at this aren't you", he says gesturing to the whole room. In his head, the image of what he's going to say next takes form amid the currents of Arcadia.
"Can't believe you've never heard of err...", but the Guardian can't t hink of anything plausible, "uhm, of Abyssal cooties before", the Libertine wouldn't drink something so dumb.

1 success

failure

Stats

**Winter** · Apr 21st, 2019 05:25 PM

Bookkeeping

**Kaze** · Apr 22nd, 2019 09:49 PM

Kaze nods at Langdon's recollection. "Right, that was it, 'A Better Way'." he says. "The woman we talked to was the witness on the list they had, and she said that she saw a young man come out of the building right before it blew up. She said that she didn't think he had anything to do with it, because he was 'a good boy', and then she said that he had an uncle who lived somewhere else, who worked with some kind of rehab center downtown called, 'A Better Way'. It was wierd though, cause she talked about the uncle like he might have somehow upset the young man. I wish we'd had a picture of the guy you got, to ask her if it was the same guy." he says thoughtfully.

Kaze doesn't comment or react to Winter's statement on 'Abyssal Cooties', apparently figuring it as some kind of continuation of the constant back and forth between the older mage and the younger, Free Council member, Shodan.

Apr 24th, 2019 02:37 PM

Very easily Shodan found that there was a rehab group handling outpatient meetings and classes under the name A Better Way. The group was run by a man named Charles Burns who had been managing the group since its inception fifteen years ago. Shodan also found its address: [location].

The Dark Web. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. And information. But as Shodan cast out his request, he luckily got a response:

[@Blitz] I saw some suits scopin out this place on over by [location]. They ain't gonna get my peps thoug. Fuck the war on drugs!

It would seem the agents were also taking an interest in A Better Way.

A gullible nurse clicked the wrong link on an unknown email and access had been granted for Shodan, at least long enough to get some information before his link was cut. What he could confirm was that since the explosion cases of an unknown sickness, that started with coughing but ended with patients bleeding from the eyes, was spreading. And every single patient was from an apartment that was located down drain from the incident building, with the more serious cases coming from those closer in distance.

**Langdon** · Apr 24th, 2019 09:16 PM

"My first guess would be that the blown up building is the source. If not then we'd probably want to get a few Theurgists and play who can find the abyss." Bad joke? Probably not great for the room. Langdon mouths "abyssal cooties" but doesn't say it out-loud. That has to be a test....right?

"Thanks for remembering that Kaze, when you pointed out the abyssal.."A glance between Winter and Shodan. "The abyss I kind of uh forgot that stuff."

Apr 25th, 2019 02:55 AM

"No, I have never heard of abyssal cooties before, because abyssal cooties are not a thing" He speaks a bit more sternly than before. The Guardian still scared him, but this was just god-damn stupid, and a testament to Winter's opinion on Shodan's intellectual qualities "Jesus Christ Winter, I already agreed to do what you want, learn to take 'yes' for an answer"

The Libertine is likely too submerged in the digital world to make much sense of what Kaze is saying, but when the results pop up some pieces fall into place "This uncle... he wouldn't look like that, would he?" Shodan points to the older guy's image summoned on screen "Charles Burns, he is the boss of this group you mentioned. And they meet here" He taps the laptop's screen on the place where the facility is, according to Google Maps.

Then a 'ping' is heard, the sign of an incoming response from his contacts.

"Aw, man. Looks like our agent friends take an unhealthy interest in this group as well. Staking the place out and whatnot" It's helpful, but not unexpected. Damn goverment, always where you don't want it to be!

And the challenge of the hour? It went as smoothly as expected. What is it with people clicking shit they ought not to click? "Turns out you were right, Winter. Sort of. There is a kind of Abyssal sickness in place starting from the exploded building. You start coughing, like it's a common cold, but you end up... bleeding from your eyes? God damn, that's nasty" He shakes his head "Also, get this - every single case reported is from people who live along the same drain pipe as the building that started all of this, but they vary in severity - the farther you go, the milder the sickness gets" At last some silver lining in this damn mess.

"Plan?" He looks to Winter, Langdon and Kaze, in that order. That is - based on how likely they are to tell everyone what to do.

**Winter** · Apr 25th, 2019 07:51 AM

The Guardian slumps in his seat, his face buried in his hands, pinching the bridge of his nose. He needs to think. After a minute he talks.
"This is bad", he says serious, "water is a confirmed vector, but we can't ignore the possibility of the disease transmitting by other means. Which means the hospital, and the FBI agents sticking their noses around, are living ticking bombs".
"At the same time we don't know how this virulence would react in presence of another Awakened, that makes examination of the disease a difficult, possibly lethal endeavor", yet another pause as the Guardian ponders their next moves, "we need to split, a group will have to trace the source, while I evaluate what to do with those Sleepers", they couldn't let the taint spread further, quarantine, cure or in the worst case, destroy.

Stats

(Fugitive) All Roads Lead to the Circle

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