Open plan offices: the Runner's worst nightmare

So in order to stop this while Crazy Digital Murder God CFD conspiracy thing, we needed to steal a piece of prototype software from a NeoNET research facility. While that does seem to be a pretty routine run, there were some caveats (of course) that meant it would be a hell of a lot harder.

The biggest problem was that the research facility in question was within NeoNET's New York headquarters. That meant that security was going to be super-tight and the instant that the shooting started there would be HTR teams on their way. And I don’t mean 'coming straight from the district HQ' on the way, more of the 'they're within the building' on their way which meant that we'd have an escape window so slim as to be near impossible. And while I know I could take them, there were issues like the fact that we wouldn't have Drone support and that I'd have to drag Neon through the line of fire.

So that ruled out the go in shooting approach, as fun as it would have been, Instead, it was time for something a bit more subtle.

We went in with a simple-ish plan. The Bulldog was disguised as a delivery van, and me, Freddie and Neon were dressed in utility jumpsuits. The idea was that Neon would fake us up a delivery and we'd get inside then sneak her to a terminal where she could get the software. That seemed simple enough, right? Naturally, nothing went even remotely right. Of course.

NeoNET - Don't mention the war. And by that
we mean Boston

Me and Neon snuck in while Freddie waited outside. A bit of clever work on my part got us part a security gate and into the bowels of the building, where she found a terminal to play with. That was when we hit our first obstacle and complete rewrite of the plan. The software was here all right, but it was being kept on a separate device isolated from the rest of the NeoNET system for more or less exactly this reason. Added to this, the device was currently in their high-end software development lab on the sixtieth floor, a place that was some insanely locked down that we'd have no chance of breaking in there by burrowing in from another less secure floor.

We rendezvoused inside to figure out a new plan. At Freddie's suggestion Neon hijacked one of the lifts, slapping a fake maintenance order on it so that we could ride around with minimal chance of being overlooked (while also explaining some of its eccentric movements). We got our way up to the sixtieth floor to do some light recon via me prying the doors open a bit and our peering out. What we saw was as discouraging as all hell.

It wasn't just that there were security guards basically right at the front of the floor. It was that everything else was designed to ensure that nobody was getting away with anything. The floor was based on a circular layout with an external ring that the guards could walk around and look in at what was going on at all times. The interior walls were all entirely clear glass with no frosting or other hints of privacy. Oh, and there were several of those odious little rail drones circling the floor as well. Specifically, the sorts that use their rails for both power and hardline control, so you can't just hack them to take them over.

It was a fragging fortress. And I had a brilliant idea.

A quick side trip to a storage floor bought us three labcoats in more or less our sizes, as well as a few accessories to make us look like regular researches. A quick change of hairstyle made me fit the part even better to me look more corp then runner. And so a few minutes later the three of us stepped out onto the sixtieth floor acting like we owned the place.

The guards, to their credit, immediately confronted us. I replied in full con mode, introducing myself as being Doctor Erika Rosso from one of the many strange European subsidiaries of NeoNET that most people have never heard of (even those within the company) and are how NeoNET formed in the first place (See? Knowing your corp history is useful for some things). I explained that I was here to aid on a high-profile research project and that this was all supposed to be cleared and that they should just let me in. While I was doing all that, Neon was screwing with their comms so they couldn’t scream for help.

And then I went into full social engineering mode, tossing the word 'Boston' around while talking about the project and why I was here. This had a pronounced effect as one of the guards began to get visibly upset while the other was becoming distracted, constantly glancing between us and his partner. I kept on the pressure with more Boston comments and switching to some high-speed German for extra persuasion. The pair of them relented with one of them on the verge of tears and the other happy to let us through if only to take the pressure off.

Basking in my awesomeness, we headed on down to the office we were after. Inside was a middle-aged beardy Dwarf Who probably had been there since the Fuchi days. He was clearly lost in a world of AR while working form an insanely high-end deck that Neon confirmed held the program we were after. She was also drooling all over it, but that was besides the point. This proved to be the easiest part as I just simply dropped a stranglehold on the unaware Dwarf, then shoved his unconscious form into a supply cupboard. Freddie put the deck in his delivery box and the three of us were out of there before anyone was any the wiser. On the way out, we even thanked the guards, one of which had been reduced to tears.

We made a quick change in the lifts and then were out the door in the Bulldog without a problem. Things actually were looking good for whole seconds before we got a panicked distress call from Julian Simmons at the Williamsburg Bridge hideout. Somebody had managed to track him down, and now there were a trio of Lone Star Patrol cars outside the place with the officers trying to break their way in. I told him to sit tight and that we were on our way.

Now normally driving across Manhattan in traffic would be a nightmare and the antithesis of 'fast'. However, Freddie was one step ahead and dived into Hot Sim, pushing his Bulldog like he'd never driven before. I swear, he was breaking all the laws of fragging physics or something, because there was no way he should have been moving and weaving through traffic like that. Neon was throwing out high-speed colour and license changes on the fly in order to ensure that we couldn't be chased. At best, the cops would be getting reports of about a dozen different Bulldogs flying across the city.

Chrysler-Nissan Patrol-1

Drone recon told us the full story; there were three Lone Star patrol cars and a half-dozen armed officers surrounding the safehouse entrance, with one of them going for the door. Given that this wasn't even a Lone Star district, I immediately knew that there was something wrong, and figured that it was safe to go full lethal force on these clowns. While Neon was jamming their comms (and checking for where any outgoing signals might be going) I told Simmons to get as far back from the door as possible.

Freddie didn't so much pull up as he vaguely slowed down. I leaped from the van, executing a fantastic roll to get behind some cover before opening up with a Neurostun grenade form my Alpha. While they were ready for gas attacks, I did get the one by the door while leaving several more of them reeling.

Freddie sent in his Rotordrones, spraying the area to suppress those still on their feet and keep them away from the door. I was moving form car to car, firing short, quick bursts to take out the cops still standing while trying to get to the door. Once there, I found that we had a new problem; they had been trying to blast their way in, and the door had a charge in place. No way could we get in or Simmons could get out without setting it off.

Freddie came up with a brilliant plan to get past this problem. He pulled the Bulldog up and unloaded Thinman from the back. Jumping into him, he defused the bomb through the drone with ease. What made it even more amazing was that Thinman didn't get blown up in the process. We grabbed Julian and pulled him out, heading away before anyone else decided to join the fray.

Now we had the software and we had Julian. What we needed was an infection victim who was not yet fully taken over and would be somewhat cooperative. Fortunately, we had one. Unfortunately, it was Abigail Hudson, whom we had left at Doctor Sleep's surgery and house of horrors.

Which meant that we needed hack a hostile AI infection and get into its foundation. And our working environment was an underground chop shop run by a ghoul. This just keeps getting better.