Welcome back to Seattle, have some NERPS

So it’ been a while since I last wrote one of these things. Much of that has been due to relocation, Yep, we left behind awesome exciting classy and cool New York to return to dingy grey acid rain smog and volcanic ash filled Seattle. Yeah, I know it doesn’t seem like a fantastic move, especially given that in the process we gave up a luxury penthouse apartment with swimming pool and all that, but there was some actual logic to the decision.

As cool and awesome as New York is, it’s Runner population is still rather small and insular (Plus they’re all weirdoes) and tends to only operate within the bounds of New York itself. Conversely, Seattle is the Runner capitol of North America, and Its Runner population is accordingly higher. It’s also where Johnsons go to recruit for jobs not just across the city but across the continent and, yes, worldwide. So as boring a city as Seattle is compared to New York, it’s so much better for our job prospects.

Besides, now that Dayglo’s real personality had returned, she was more than a little cranky about us essentially squatting in her place without her knowing.

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.

Sixth World theme parties

There is nothing more dangerous then a wounded Megacorp. If one is in trouble, then the others will step up their actions against it, eager to exploit the weaknesses. Aty the same time, that corp will also lash out on its own, trying to buy time and cover their own problems by making things worse for the others. This means a lot of work for people like me, mind you, though it tends to be in the 'high risk' category. That'll happen when you're dealing with people who have nothing to lose.

NeoNET is very much in a bad place right now. While they've done their best to keep their lid on what's happening in Boston, the loss of their headquarters and a huge chunk of their resources contained within is hurting them bad. Renraku has been getting particularly vicious, given that the two companies have a rivalry going back to the old days of Fuchi (Cue Lightspeed being old and Cranky). And we've been getting involved in it.