Mission 6d - Mission of Mercy

"Yeah, don't believe everything on the trid. That business is even dirtier than it sounds. The girls aren't slaves, they are living drones, robbed even of the dignity of a slave. While that headware is active they have no identity, no sense of self. They are literally animate meat. It's horrible, and even worse it's a byproduct of some other research, these girls are just an afterthought. It needs to stop. I appreciate the link, and in the future you need some additional hands look me up at the 5 elements community center. We have many interesting programs aimed at helping people live better lives."

Wujen thanks the man, and heads back to Nakamats house. On the way he finds a thread on the XYZ board about Nakamats, and posts a message there looking for help in dealing with the situation.

After she me discussion on XYZ WuJen fills in Sam on the potential ally, The Justice, and arranged a meet at everyone's earliest convenience.

WuJen settles comfortably in Nakamats house and leaves his body to update his astral recon of the Yakuza safehouse.

Sam notices a message from WuJen, and puts down his tools for a moment to respond.

>>>>>>I need at least two more days to fix Eula.
>>>>>>Set a meeting for then.
>>>>>>In the meantime, we should learn more about the compound.
>>>>>>I will go there now in the matrix and try to determine people based on their devices.
>>>>>>You go there and try to determine people based on their souls.
>>>>>>Or whatever it is you do.
>>>>>>Then we will compare notes.

Sam jacks into cold sim VR running silently, and heads over to the compound to see what he can see.

Sam examines the footage from his spy drone, as well as matrix space in general. There isn't much noticeable activity at the compound, though guards come and go, change shifts, etc. One person in particular can be seen waving around incense along the perimeter of the compound's walls. Scanning for commlinks, he picks up 10 devices.

Wujen meanwhile does an astral scan of the premises. There are slightly more guards now than he saw before as well as a fairly powerful patrolling fire spirit. As before, one of the rooms is masked in an astral barrier. In addition, someone appears to be in the middle of constructing a larger barrier around the entire perimeter. Luckily it's not done yet so he can still slip in and out without much issue, but it is only a matter of time before that changes.

Sam watches the commlinks for a little to find at least two commlinks that seem to be nearby to other commlinks. Ideally the two commlinks seem to be apart from each other, but nearby to other commlinks so that Sam can hear two separate conversations.
((1st commlink: 5 hits for mark, 9 hits control device
2nd commlink: 10 hits for mark, 9 hits control device))

He listens in on each of the new audio feeds for a little to see if he's getting any conversation. If not, he'll try another commlink.

Once he has successfully found and hacked a couple commlinks with people talking nearby, he loads up fly on the wall, and switches to AR. He sets an alarm to make his deck alert him when babymonitor detects his overwatch score above 33.

Then he contacts WuJen to compare notes on the locations of the commlinks Sam saw and the locations of people that WuJen saw. He shares one of the slaved mic audio feeds to WuJen for WuJen to monitor.

After comparing notes with WuJen, Sam sends the OpticX to circle the perimeter of the compound to try to get a view of the inside of the compound through a window. Sam is specifically interested in seeing into the windows of the master suite.

After monitoring the OpticX's flight, Sam gets back to working on Eula, listening to the second of the slaved audio feeds as he works.

The commlinks seem to be mostly in pairs. 2 at the front door, 2 constantly circling outside the wall, 2 circling inside the wall, and then the remaining 4 are in the house, relatively near one another.

He randomly grabs one from the pair at the door and one from the pair outside the wall. Neither is particularly talkative. What chatter they do have seems like small talk about weekend plans, girls they met, and other assorted things that people talk about to pass the time. None of it appears relevant to the task at hand.

A fly around of the building doesn't reveal much you don't already know. The bedroom windows have curtains up, blocking any view of the interior. He can see into some of the other windows, but they are just a view of empty rooms (other than the furniture in them). He does notice one person wandering around the interior wall with incense who does not appear to have a commlink on him.

Sam works on Eula until he gets an alert from baby monitor, or a shift switch

It's about 2 shifts in when Sam's drone spots an unmarked van driving into the property. A woman with bindings and a black sack over her head is brought into the the building by two men dressed in black jumpsuits with ski masks on.

Listening over the comms Sam hears someone say, "He's done with the last one. Just set her down in the front room and someone'll take her in to him when he's ready for her."

Sam jacks in to VR and goes back to the compound to watch the matrix space there.

He looks for commlinks that are approaching the master suite, where the woman has presumably been left in front of the door.

When he sees a commlink that is approaching the door, he hacks it and slaves its mic to hopefully be able to listen in on any interaction between the people on either side of the door.

Once the mic is slaved, Sam also checks for any devices on the guard that he may be able to get a video feed from. The commlink is almost certainly in the guard's pocket, so that probably won't give a picture of anything but pocket. Hopefully this guy has contacts or something.

((Max hits for marking and 8 hits for control device. I think current max is 9))

Sam manages to hack the commlinks and waits. And waits. And waits. Then decides to let Lycos take care of it before playing some video games and going to sleep sometime around 2 am. It is around 8 am when the alarm goes off and Sam just about snoozes through it. After the second alert or so, he groggily wakes up and listens in on the commlinks. As predicted, they are sitting in pockets so video is useless, but he hears  the following conversation:

"... alley. Doubt anyone will miss her."

"Alright I will get to work on her after breakfast. I trust no one has touched my natto?"

"Nobody wants your natto. Sit tight and I'll get it for you."

Some time passes, sounds of footsteps and movement.

"Here. You'd better get back to work. Boss says he has a client and the rest of the girls were stolen."

"Wouldn't be a problem if you could all do your jobs properly."

"Yeah, yeah. Pinkies were lost all around. Security is being tightened and the men know what's on the line. Won't happen again."

"See that it doesn't. I hate to see my work wasted."

A door closes

Sam types a transcript of the dialogue that he just heard, and sends it to WuJen.

>>>>>>That is our best confirmation that NakaMats is in the master bedroom at the compound.
>>>>>>Maybe we can access the bedroom from the exterior directly.
>>>>>>Then we may not have to encounter too many of the Yamaguchi.
>>>>>>I am suspicious of those windows.
>>>>>>They are not barred.
>>>>>>I think they are likely not normal windows.
>>>>>>Maybe The Justice will have an idea to access the bedroom directly, if the windows are not normal windows.
>>>>>>I am going to continue repairing Eula.
>>>>>>Continue to monitor the audio feeds I send you.

Sam slaves another couple commlink microphones, sends a link to WuJen for one of the audio feeds, and listens in on the other one himself as he goes back to working on repairing Eula.

At the Community Center
Sam finishes repairing Eula, and powers her back on. When she opens her eyes, Sam says, "Hello Eula. In the future, do not be so cavalier opening a door when a person is behind it with a machine gun."

At the Noodle Shop
Sam sends Eula ahead to the alley to see what is happening back there. He follows a safe distance behind. (i.e. doesn't turn the corner down the alley)

WuJen rushes to the alley, casting increase reflexes as be goes.

WuJen gives a mental request to Little Dragon to help the help the young man as he plants himself infront of The Justice. "I appreciate your enthusiasm, but this neighborhood requires a bit more nuance. Punishment should fit the crime, and you have wronged that man by inflicting far more punishment than his crime warranted. While you are in my territory and my invitation please restrain yourself. Besides, we have far more pressing matters to discuss. "

With the danger seeming to have passed, Sam steps into the alley.

"Hello, The Justice. I am Sam," he says.

He projects an image of the map of the compound for The Justice to see.

"Dr. NakaMats is being kept in the master suite. We have retrieved ten women that he has implanted with sophisticated pilot chips. The Yamaguchi are still bringing him more women to wipe their minds and implant chips into.
There is an astral barrier around his room. There is a larger astral barrier around the whole of the compound.
There are always at least 10 guards on the premises.
A pair patrols outside the wall. The change direction once an hour.
A pair patrols inside the wall. The change direction once an hour.
The pair inside the wall patrol in the opposite direction as the pair outside the wall.
The pair at the front gate do not leave the front gate."

WuJen gives The Justice a sour look "So long as you can properly prioritize we won't have much trouble, though I'd like to continue this more later. You are dangerous if that's how you dispense your justice. "

" I am concerned that there are still innocent girls on the premises, and that we avoid injuring them if we can. I'm still on the fence about Nakamats himself. I don't think he would choose to do this if he were free, though he obviously doesn't feel much moral conflict about it. If the only way to stop him is to kill him, so be it.. do you have any ideas on how to proceed? "

"Yes," Sam says. "The problem with that plan is disabling three sets of guards silently. If any of the six of them notice us before they are disabled, we will be quickly outnumbered. I would prefer to find a way to get directly to Dr. NakaMats with as little contact with the other guards as possible. Also, there is a fire spirit."