Part 10: Voting leads to grinding leads to voting

Voting leads to grinding leads to voting

Okay, I guess naming programs wasn't so much about voting as about making suggestions from which I arbitrarily pick.



So these are the winners(?)!



Meanwhile, missions can not only have that (N) descriptor but also a numerical one. For this particular mission, we have to steal not one but three files, all without triggering a red alert! Of course, stealing a file is a pretty routine task that we can do reliably anyway, so doing to two extra times isn't actually any harder. So basically, it's free money and skill points for the higher difficulty.



Two things to note:

1. Multiple contract files can be in the same Datastore.
2. Look at all this! Jazz music, country music, videos, books... where's the Shadowrun RIAA or MPAA to shut down these pirates over at Generic Genetics? And I'm supposed to be the criminal? Sheesh!



Anyway, we make bank. At least, relative to other rating 1 server contracts. With our skills, hardware, and software, I think we're ready to step things up a notch...



In the dystopian future of Shadowrun, Kellogg's and Post joined forces to combat the behemoth General Mills for control of childhood obesity.



And a rating 2 server means some rating 3 IC to deal with. Their rating 2/2/3 is no match for our 3/4/4, though. (That is, the server rating of 2 twice over plus the IC rating of 3, against our hardware of 3, Hide/Deceive of 4, and Stealth skill of 4.) (I should not have to explain notations I make up as I go along. )



Next up, even more daringness! I must admit I got greedy here; I saw a Design Assistant in the marketplace and wanted to jump on that. A rating 1 Design Assistant cuts your project time in half!



Not only do we own that shit, but our Reputation goes up as a result! Probably because word gets out that we cut off the alarms just before a propane explosion destroys a store. Not to mention a month's rent and enough skill points to raise Stealth or Programming by one.



In my rush for money, I almost miss Santa Claus! Well, it looks like Santa to me, but I guess it's supposed to be a detective in a trench coat. The point is, this is a new type of passive IC: Trace. Trace IC will attack like other Attack IC, but on a successful hit, they start tracing your connection point to the server. You can abort a trace by using a Relocate program, or by crashing the Trace IC, before the trace completes. Once it does complete, however, all IC in the server will automatically be hostile to you, and you take massive penalties to Defense and Stealth.

In more advanced servers, we can find more specialized Trace IC (much the same way that we can find Hardened or Phasing IC instead of normal Attack IC). Each will start a second trace after the first completes, which attempts to find your Matrix connection point, i.e. your real-world location. Trace & Dump IC will, when the second trace completes, disconnect you from the Matrix. Trace & Fry IC will send an electrical surge to your deck, which can damage your hardware permanently. Both secondary traces also have a chance of reporting your location to the authorities, who come arrest you. In case it needs pointing out, being arrested is an instant game over.

So yeah, don't get traced.



Instead, get a Design Assistant! Half the design times from here on out (until we get higher rated assistants that lower it EVEN MORE)! I took the opportunity to make some new programs that also need names.



Holy shit look at all those skill points! Well, it's appropriate; we're beyond rating 1 servers both in difficulty and reputation, so it's time to move up in the world. We're going to choose our path to glory now, so think before you vote.

Voting time!

First of all, we need names for Analyze, Scan, and Evaluate at rating 4!

Second of all, vote on a skill package:
A - Attack and Defense: Because there's no game that can't devolve into violence!
B - Stealth and Analysis: Because we are invisible amongst the sheep of wage slaves, fighting a war for information blah blah cyberpunk!
C - Programming and Chip Design: Because we are, in the final assessment, goons!

Remember, the winning option here will be our focus for the rest of the LP! Or until this character dies. Whichever comes first.