3A - To Heir is Human

The woman makes a look like she doesn't quite understand what Sato is talking about when he asks about smoking areas. She says, "With the exception of non-smoking private rooms and the non-smoking sections of our restaurants, everywhere in the hotel is a smoking area."

The elevator requiring his key card to access, Sato swipes his room's key card and tries to get to the roof. The panel flashes red with a message reading, "Access temporarily denied for storm preparation."

An aerial shot of the roof is not difficult to come by. A quick search on the matrix brings one up. There is a small bar, pool and open area there. The usual things you would expect are up there, pool chairs, tables, umbrellas, etc. Though it is hard to tell from a top down satellite image, there appears to be a wall or fence around the perimeter of the roof floor. You can't tell how high it is, but presumably high enough to prevent people from falling after a few too many drinks.

((ah, I should have known we are in 1980's Japan, not today's Japan.  1980's Japan = best Japan))

Sato sends a DNI message to Chougou to request a drone flyby of the roof (subtle!) just to get a few extra details of fence height and the location of any access points - obviously the bar is one, but is there a hut for the elevator maintenance and is there a separate fire stair for outdoor guests?  Is there room to land the glider for a relative novice?

Sato makes mental note of the conference room for later reference ((using his Adept power to capture 36 cubic meters))

((@chougou - Landing would be easy. Taking off again would be more of a problem. It's basically a hang glider with some electronics built into it for extra maneuverability, not VTOL at all. Also it only seats 1, so I'm not really sure what your plan is with it as only one of you would be able to make use of it at a time.

Sato - Actually current Japan is pretty smoker friendly. So long as you don't litter your cigarette butts, you can usually smoke in most areas. Some cities have begun to be a little more restrictive, but even there, restaurants and hotels are usually smoke filled with only specific designated areas for non-smoking (which are usually full of smoke from the smoking area) ))

The roof is the size of the whole building floor, which is plenty to land a glider. Landing it elegantly is a different story, as there are obstacles on the roof such as the pool and bar to deal with. At least the staff seems to be packing up the chairs, tables, lounges and other loose things so it will be easier than normal to land for now, provided you aren't trying to do it in the middle of a typhoon. Once they set everything up again, your best bet for a landing is to just dive into the pool as opposed to trying to navigate around any furniture in the way.

A flyby of the roof shows that the fences are about 10 feet tall with straight vertical bars to make it more difficult for potential climbers to find a foot-hold. It could be scaled of course, provided one is careful not to end their climb with a most certainly fatal swan dive.

Access to the roof (and any other floor for that matter) is primarily by the elevator. There are 2 identical ones adjacent to one another (essentially at the same place). There is also a pair of emergency staircases, but they are locked with one-way doors that set off alarms once opened. The bar doesn't have any other access off the roof than the same elevator everyone else would use.

Sato sends a DNI message to Chouguo to see if he can determine if the emergency exit doors could be disabled by the grenades we have.

“Torpor and I may have to extract ourselves separately. Torpor through the roof and me through the basement using your plan with the van.”

Chougou mentions over DNI that if they can find the room that the target is in, he can attempt to send a sewer snake through the plumbing that could possibly deploy a gerbil drone or a kanmushi into the room to get more information ((how feasible would that be?)) so that they won't have to walk in totally blind.

Chougou also asks if Sato can deploy the kanmushi that he is holding somewhere as close as possible to any target and Chougou will sneak around for the night to see what he can learn.

((I guess I was thinking that the Nightwing could be remotely piloted onto the roof for the escape? If that's not feasible then we'll have to re-evaluate our options I suppose. If Chougou was still tiny maybe he could have flown it in manually and been carried in a baby papoose on the way out! ))

((That’s a brilliant idea...I will assume your Kanmushi can go under water))

Before leaving the conference room area, Sato Asia the woman if he can use the restroom.  While there, he ensures there’s Matrix connectivity and then goes into the stall to get some toilet paper to blow his nose ((IIRC blowing the nose in public is a no-no in Japan)). While there, he subtly drops the Kanmushi crawler in the toilet.

DNI : “Chougou, can you have it crawl up through the pipes a few floors into the penthouse?  It would be good to see if it’s occupied and what sort of security is there.  Don’t risk discovery though - we don’t want to tip them off.”

(( not avoiding communication, just not sure what to as at this point. Lol. Wow))

((I’m waiting on the GM to let Choigou and me know if this is possible))

((Lol, I'm not sure if the Kanmushi can swim or survive the water, but I will try to get him to crawl along the top of the sewer lines since most of the water pipes have a slant to them and they aren't usually fully pressurized I imagine even at a busy hotel?? ))

If Chougou can get control of the Kanmushi he attempts to have it grasp anything in the toilet bowl and starts to make his way...up?

((If my phone can go underwater today, then your “future where magic exists” drone has to be able to...if we are talking physics, the chief issue is the water blocking your wireless signal,...but maybe it’s pilot is smart enough to crawl for 10 feet and then position itself to check in))

Ok, Chougou will find a toilet as near as possible to the hotel and flushes the sewer snake with a kanmushi installed in the smuggling compartment.

((both drones have gecko tips so either can climb up the building. The kanmushi is tiny and less likely to be noticed, since the sewer snake is the size of a snake (it's a small drone) while the kanmushi is insect sized (a micro drone). You could get the sewer snake and send it through the pipes while you sent the kanmushi up the wall. In any case, we can handle that all after heading over to see Carl so lets head over there.))

As it is starting to get close to the meet with Carl, you all decide to head out together to meet near the church. You chat a bit about possible means of access and/or surveillance along the way and eventually make it to the church at around 6. The sun is fairly low in the sky as you spot the smoking silhouette of a cowboy standing near the church grounds, skin covered as always.

Sato releases the single Kanmushi he has per Chougou’s request. “Perhaps you can scout the roof deck directly and camp out there? It would be good to have eyes on the ground and they may not sweep the closed areas.”

Sato looks around to ensure Carl is alone. If so, he’ll walk up to him, lights a cigarrette and smokes for a few moments. “Tough day pardner?”

((oh, okay. so they haven't been released yet. If you don't have a smuggler compartment in the sewer snake already, you'll have to modify it, but that takes days to do.))

Carl says, "Not yet. But I reckon it don't hurt none to prepare for rain, yeah? A storm's coming and I ain't looking to be getting wet none. It should probably go without saying that I won't be able to take in any more guests for the time being."

He takes a deep drag of his own cigarette and says, "Anyway, I ain't in no trouble yet, but them Cowboys are coming up with a device that'll be a thorn in my side if they get to finishing it. I'm gonna be needing the device, its research notes and anyone who has worked on that project to disappear. I reckon you probably are in contact with the type of folk that might make that happen. From what I hear, its still a few weeks away from a working prototype, so no rush. I'll send along some details once I've got more info on the matter."

"Totally understand.  Looks like the cowboys needed a scapegoat and some folks just ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Sato takes a long draw of his cigarette and blows out a thin stream of smoke, angled well away from Carl.  He taps off the ash.  After a few more moments, he makes eye contact with Carl.

"I wanted to meet in person so you could hear it from me, man to man.  We screwed up.  Things we have done have brought you into our business.  I need to apologize for that."  

He takes another long draw from his cigarette, and exhales, face pensive.  His eyes stare off into the distance and then return to Carl's.

"We needed a cover to 'disappear' a girl from the cops.  They had hired us to kill her and we found out she didn't deserve it.  We took the easy way out and used an illusion of the ghouls we rescued to make it look like she died running from them.  The cops needed to make a show of something and they seized on that to start this mess.  That's on us.  We owe you."

"Whatever happens, after we finish our current job, we will do what you request.  We owe you at least that much."

Sato expertly flicks the half-finished cigarette into a puddle.  It hisses briefly.  He keeps talking, eyes flicking to the sunset in the distance.  The vestiges of the last puff leave his mouth as he speaks.

"We may have something else to make it up to you.  One of ours, a doctor, has had an encounter with a spirit.  This spirit had reason to give him a 'gift' and he chose to learn a cure for a condition called 'HMHVV III' that you may have some passing knowledge of in your travels.  We don't have all the pieces yet, but we have the formula and we have a partner who probably can put the pieces together."

Sato makes eye contact with Carl again.

"What I'm trying to say is, maybe this will be useful to people you know.  You have my commitment that we will follow through on putting the pieces together and bring it to you.  Then you can make the choice on what to do with it."

Sato extends his hand for a handshake.

"Stay safe, friend."