Part 37: Tensions in the Night

Part 37 - Tensions in the Night





NEW MUSIC:



(We're once again in Director's Cut territory and as usual Everist's atmospheric tunes are worth giving a listen.)




It's almost like coming home again... an abusive one which you've cut ties to and stayed away from very much on purpose. Last time we spent an eventful evening at a local hotel looking for Green Winters. That didn't exactly end up being a dream vacation, and this visit is not promising to be much better.



If they rub it in any harder it's gonna leave a mark.

Hey, chief! Ready to do this thing?

Yeah. Say, Blitz...? I've got a couple of questions for you.

Yeah?



...What's up?

Enjoying your soykaf?

Oh, uh, sure, chief... nothin' like a nice hot mug of soykaf on a cold night!

You're telling me, Blitz.



If there's one thing we've learned over the course of the last few days, it's that adventuring is a real overrated profession and largely died off for a reason.

How did I let you talk me into coming back to this hellhole?

[There is a long pause before he responds.]

Well, um, you recognized the fact that I needed your help... and then you, uh... volunteered... because you're a good leader?

You owe me for this, man.

[He sighs.] Yeah, chief. Yeah, I do.



It says a lot about this run that that not even Blitz himself can really understand why we agreed to it. But well, here we are. Despite today's objective being rather mundane, there's actually quite a bit going on under the hood in this mission.

But for the time being all we can do is to head on to the back door of the Landenberg Ring's office to get things underway.



Oh evening sir, sure is a nice and quiet evening for a casual stroll here in this er, feces-ridden alley.



I might be. Do I know you?

No, you don't. But you're about to. My name is Hasenkamp. I'm Mr. Grinder's accountant.

Great, two minutes in and it seems like the Blitz Express has already started going off the rails. Is it too late to take a taxi instead?

What a remarkable coincidence.

[He nods with a deadpan expression.] Mr. Grinder sent me to ensure that the money transfer goes according to plan. When you enter the building, I'm going in with you.

I don't think so. I don't bring strangers along on runs, period.

Well not unless someone promises to make it really worth our while. Which is like, the literal opposite of this particular job.

[The old man chuckles softly.] If you want to get your pal off of Mr. Grinder's hit list, I'd suggest that you reevaluate that position.

[Blitz's voice crackles in over your commlink.]

What the hell is this? Grinder didn't say anything about his accountant tagging along!

[Hasenkamp grins wryly.] Mr. Grinder doesn't have to explain himself to you. You're in his pocket, remember? If you want back out of it, you'll do what he says.


By the way, this run comes with a decent chunk of alternate dialogue and much of it is pretty good so I'll cover the more worthwhile bits. Had we chosen to be more agreeable to Hasenkamp's request to come with:



Tell me the truth, Blitz. Did you know anything about this?

No, chief! If I did, I'd've told you!

Your pal left Mr. Grinder a message about an hour ago. It had a complete breakdown of your plan, including which door I should use to meet you.

Blitz?

Well, it wasn't like *that*... I mean, *yeah,* I ran the plan by Grinder, but I had to do that! I mean, it wouldn't have made sense to go on the run without making sure that it had his blessing, would it? How could I even be sure that this would get me off the hook if I didn't ask?

...And so, to find out, you let a homicidal loan shark know exactly when and where to find me.



Forget Lofwyr, if you're really concerned about your ongoing personal safety in Berlin then the person you should avoid first and foremost is this man right here.

I hate to interrupt, but if you two are finished, I'd like to get this show on the road.

[He glances at his wristwatch.]

I wanna get back home before my grandkids go to bed.

You have grandkids?

[He shrugs.] My daughter married young. You got a problem with that?

No. Fine. Whatever. Let's just get this over with.

Amen to that. Now tell your pal to work his magic.

You heard the man, Blitz. Get that door open so that we can get this thing done.






(It dawned on me that I never linked the Matrix theme in this LP so I might as well do it now, but it remains unchanged from Dead Man's Switch.)




So this mission is a little different from the usual fare in that it's fully divided between meatspace and Matrix sections, with Hasenkamp and Rosa doing the legwork while Blitz sits on his ass at a cafe and handles the unusually high amount of hacking required for Team Miserable to make progress. This is primarily why I wanted Blitz to be level 5 and therefore have his Fairlight Excalibur before doing this run.



This area is riddled with the arcways that serve as area transitions in the Matrix, but they're purely for show and the only path Blitz can actually take is the northwest one which is blocked by IC.



Usually the only way to deal with IC is to blast through it, but in this run Blitz can also engage in some cyberdiplomacy.



VISITOR :: IDENTITY UNKNOWN :: PLEASE PRESENT SECURITY CODE STRING.

Let's see here... "override security access :: root command :: trapdoor."

[There is a brief pause, then the IC flashes twice.]

ACCESS GRANTED.

Yeah, that's what I thought.

Even without any hacking experience it seems pretty clear that what you just did does not even remotely warrant that level of smugness.



The next area is quite sizeable and holds four rather conspicuous and ominous-sounding Auto Turret nodes which Blitz can't currently reach due to the uninteractable IC in front of them. Ah well, it's surely nothing to be concerned about.



Instead he'll focus on the ones in the center which are blocking the cyberway forward.



Check my credentials with your friend back there. Go on, I can wait.

[A moment later, the Watcher IC flickers apologetically.]

SECONDARY SECURITY VERIFICATION :: APPROVED. SUPERUSER STATUS VERIFIED. QUERY: HOW MAY I HELP YOU TODAY?

Just step aside, pal. I'm in a rush.

So can you wait or are you in a rush, make up your mind man

[The program obediently moves aside.]

PROCEED, AND HAVE A PLEASANT DAY!

Don't mind if I do.



Moving on, the next area holds the control node for the noble alley door valiantly trying to stop us from committing the grave error of actually proceeding with this plan. There's also a path going further ahead, but it's blocked for the moment.



By a literal firewall no less. Well, they were designed to keep out unwanted nuisances after all.



With nothing else to see here, Blitz hacks the node without issue...



...and we switch back to our on-site members. The excitement in the air here is palpable.

Aaaand that should do it, chief. You're good to head on inside. The main server should be just ahead.



Yeah, think we've started to figure out the secret of his ongoing survival, somehow managing to convince other people to take all his well-deserved bullets for him.

Don't listen to this asshole, chief. He shouldn't even be here.

He *wouldn't* be here if you hadn't spilled the beans to Meat Grinder.

Unfortunately for all of us - me, especially - I *am* here. So let's just get this finished, and then we can all get back to disliking each other on our own time.

Alternatively:


Fine by me. Anything else that we need to know, Blitz?

Yeah. I've hit the first firewall in here - I'll need you to get in there and install that bypass for me.

Got it. We'll go find a terminal.



We'll cut the update a bit short here. Next time we'll get our grand heist started and find out whether our dysfunctional duo will end up strangling each other before reaching their goal, or if they'll manage to hold out for the sake of getting their hands on the one who brought them out here in the first place.