Mission 2a - What's New Pussycat?

Sam has no knowledge of fetish culture. Or clothing, generally. The best he can do is try a matrix search for the types of items Sato is asking for.

Sam Dekker carried out 12 launched of one d6 :

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Sam has no idea on specific clothing stores that might cater to this. Seems like a lot of the outfits are homemade. Doing a specific search for what Sato is asking for turns up an online costume store. it is not specific to this particular fetish, but sells what Sato had in mind.

Nobunaka snorts... "If it will help us bag the rabbit, then very well"

His head dips in yielding shame, "Let us disguise ourselves"

Sato selects items with the purpose of attracting the attention of a discerning artist with a hacker-fetish twist - long, flowing, glowing neon pink hair, tall boots with lots of straps and buckles and second-skin-style body clothing which hides almost nothing (but covers all his tattoos).  

The back of the torso piece is highlighted with a pink glow-in-blacklight fake tattoo of what at first looks like a huge scar tracing diagonally across his back from shoulder to opposite hip...but is actually a faithful reproduction of Rokudenashiko's work.

Disguise-wise, he goes for androgynous - he shifts the bones in his face to be a bit more feminine and applies eyeliner and other makeup to complete the look. ((I have no freaking clue how makeup works))

((can I use my above fashion roll or should I reroll?))

Con check for disguise

Sato looks at his new companions.

"We should discuss the plan before my gear arrives.  I'd prefer to just talk with her to understand what makes her tick and finish the job later.  However, if you guys want to be quick and clean, we could try to pull of a hit at the bar. Later today, I will do a crash course on avant-guard art to enable posing as a wealthy art collector/patron if we want to take that angle." ((I will spend Karma on 1 rank in the Art knowledge skill))

"Regardless, it makes sense for Sam to be our quarterback and advise me on the right lingo via comms while I patch him in to my contacts and earbuds.  I will not be able to even fake his level of expertise in 24 hours, so I will need him talking me through it."

"Nobunaka and Tetsu could probably join me - we could dress them up as martial artists or butlers and Nobu could show off his 'ware."

"I agree with the Orc, I'm not a fan of all this subterfuge.  And I certainly will not go anywhere without my axe.  However if we really think masquerading is necessary, I can dress up as a martial artist.

I have some security knowledge.  I can scout ahead and see what kind of trouble might be waiting for us.  I can look for the type of security the back door has set up, as well as find possible escape routes for either us if something goes south, or either of our targets should they try and escape.  I'm not sure if there is a good time to scout, but I would imagine a place like this would closed sometime during the day."

((The check doesn't really matter until you actually meet, but I'll remember you got 5 hits for when it happens))

As you discuss your plans, your meals come within 5 minutes of ordering them. The food consists of a bowl of rice with a generous helping of thinly sliced beef and onions that have been marinated in a sweet soy-sauce based marinade. Atop the beef is whatever toppings you ordered. It's tasty and cheap; the local equivalent of fast food.

The disguise is well within Sato's typical clothing budget ((disguise is free for luxury lifestyle)). There is an art historian at a local museum that features Rokudenashiko's art who can probably give him the crash course in art he needs for a modest fee of 500 nuyen.

"Being no man (or woman's) servant, I will go as a martial artist."

My katana would be part of the disguise, of course. Covering exits would be optimal, depending on how many there are in the Back Door.

Nobunaka tries to remember the layout of the Back Door, or if he has been there.
McThunder carried out 7 launched of one d6 :

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"Just remember, we only get paid if we take her out QUIETLY so this is a reconnaissance mission.  If we can somehow get lucky enough to get her alone and blackbag her, we will take it, but our primary mission is to gradually gain her trust so we can convince her to meet us somewhere where her disappearance would not create waves."

"Here's the outline of what I'm thinking:
(1) (at the bar) Establish the connection.  Appear to be a wealthy, knowledgeable fan with similar objectives...and make her think I want to fund her art.  She will be suspicious of course, but I will invite her to a very safe place for our next meet (3) - the best restaurant in town (one with legendary high security so she will feel safe).  
(2) She will no doubt do her research on me, so Sam will need to do some hacking to set up my profile appropriately.  I will mostly tell the truth, but some "augmentation" of my online profile will be required.
(3) (at the expensive restaurant) Flatter and charm her with art knowledge and hacker knowledge.  Follow through on promise in (1) to propose to fund her greatest piece of art yet - a giant mural on the side of a abandoned building that is visible from the highway (4).  Propose next meeting to scout it out.  Seduction is an option, but not required.  
(4) (at the remote building) Tetsu and Nobunaka set ambush.  Boom...headshot."


"What do you think? We need some way to get her out of a public area, so this is the best way I could think of."

"Yep, the Back Door is not ringing any bells" sigh

Nobunaka bobs his head smiling..
"I like this plan, very solid. Especially the part that goes boom"

* looks at Sato *
"Also, Do we have the layout of said 'abandoned building' or do we need to scout ahead?"

"Um. Yeah. I like, uh. The, um outline. Oh that plan. Uh. Maybe we can find a less, uh. Less murdery step four?"

"So here's the thing.. We let her live and word gets out that we are working with the authorities. We don't let her live and maybe word gets out that we are working with cops."

Nobunaka taps his foot and tilts head to side.

"I can either snatch her up by the neck or remove it.. your call.. or we can flip a coin, as long as we get paid."

"Sam, with your help, I'm hoping that we find out her side of the story. Perhaps she's just misunderstood and needs to find another outlet for her frustration."

"The cops were very specific that they wanted her eliminated, so even if we brought her in alive, that would just delay her fate at the hands of Our City's Finest."

"An alternative plan would be to convince her to stop and fake her death in some convincing way. If we can bring her to our side, perhaps she would even help out to save her own skin. She's probably smart enough to know that we're not the only team the cops will send after her."

Sam nods.
"Okay. So, let's call talking to her and getting her side of the story Plan A. And we can call the murder plan Plan L. And we can fill in the rest later."
((Read that with some Sam ums and stuttering. I'm tired. Goodnight, all!))

((I'm usually not so murder-y either, but I'm trying to sort out a plan that involves all four of us players so it will be fun for all of us.  The need to do this job quietly makes a hot extraction a poor choice, so ambush seemed to make sense.  Nonetheless, we haven't even done the legwork yet, so it's likely other avenues will expose themselves as we find out more))

Sato nods at Sam.  "Agreed.  I'm sure other options will present themselves.  We do have a giri ((obligation)) to finish the job within the parameters agreed upon."  ((Sato's qualities mean he has stronger than the the normal Japanese conflicted hero's problem of giri vs. ninjou (honor vs. human feeling) - he is honor bound to complete the mission as cleanly and professionally as possible - even though he has no love for cops - his rep is on the line, but it's also more than that.))

"So, it sounds like we are all set for step (1) - I'll head off to study up a bit, maybe Tetsu can work with Sam to make sure we have tickets to the event and evaluate any security the bar has and plot an exit in case we are made, and Nobunaka can consider options for costumes that augment his cyber."

((Technically, he doesn't need a trainer to pick up a R1 skill, he just needs to pay 2K (-1K=1K from JoAT) and spend the 1 day.  The trainer would reduce the time by 1 day per success on an Instruction test.  However, the trainer is RP appropriate considering they are in a hurry and he wants to focus specifically on Rokudenashiko's art, so I'm happy to pay the 500Y.  I will mark it in my character thread.))

Sato will ask his hotel concierge service to inquire about a table for 2 at a very trendy, impressive, exclusive restaurant.  It should be very safe and secure with excellent food and the appropriate discretion to leave two people alone when they want privacy to talk.  It should be a dinner reservation a few nights out.

"Sato, I don't know what Cyberware you are talking about... I'll have to get some faux (cosmetic) ware" ((Nobunaka has Bioware, not cyberware.. Hence it cannot be spotted easily, or at all

Nobunaka will visit a costume/clothing shop to get outfitted for the bar.

Thanks to his instructor, Sato manages to finish is crash course in 5 hours, fairly confident that he knows more than nothing but significantly less than everything about art. The following day at around noon, a package arrives at his home containing his disguise. A reservation is made at a nice shabushabu restaurant built on the top floor of a sky scraper in the Kinza district. The place is called, "Kinza 29", a bit of a pun as the words for 2 (ni) and 9 (ku) when said together sound the same as the word for meat (niku).

Nobunaka spends the day shopping for his disguise. He finds what he needs for about 100 nuyen.

The following evening comes and you are presumably ready to go to the club.

((can we rig a fake datajack as part of the disguise? since it's fetishistic it doesn't have to be functional - in fact, the more chrome the better.))

During his discussions with his art instructor, he focuses mostly on the work of Rokudenashiko and possible inspirations for her work in the larger context of art.

During this tutorial, does he get any insight into the motivations of the artist? Artistic expression is much affected by the lens through which the artist's own experiences with the world.

Is she attempting to break social convention around women's rights by shocking everyone (and eventually making the topic boring)? If so, why is she targeting just the police? Is she being playful and impish by poking fun at a stodgy establishment? Is she an anarchist who just wants to watch the world burn?

((Sam could probably rig up something that looks like a datajack that you can then glue on))

As you study her work, it seems that her message seems to primarily be that no other part of the body is censored. The vagina is no different than your hands, face or legs, yet it is never spoken about except as a dirty thing that needs to be hidden. Even the penis is freely spoken about while the vagina is completely taboo. This prevents women from being able to talk about and get treatments for medical conditions and also places them as secondary class citizens since they are not given agency over their own bodies and actions.

She originally created her art as kind of a joke, but the more opposition she got for it, the more she fought back. She has gotten a lot of outrage from both society and the law for her work, which she feels is unjustified and drives her to keep making more art.

The instructor knows nothing about Rokudenashiko's skills and motivations outside of her art. When asked about why she would target the police, she does not seem to have heard anything about it and any motivation she would come up with would be purely speculation.

Sam rigs up a thing. ((let me know if I should roll something to do it))
He's super ready to get this plot moving.