The Plot:
(this plot is to occur around the time of the adding of Matrix code to the dome.)
Somewhere on Gold, a couple of blocks have just been opened up, and construction of a large facility has begun. The facility looks as if it will have formidable security and border defense surrounding a central office building. Meanwhile, a temporary structure has been erected on-site, a small two-story pre-made building assembled on site, guarded by secops, possibly hired off of Terra or possible WJF members. Men and women in business suits with some exotic tattooing and piercings will be seen entering and exiting this building, at all hours.
Meanwhile, a man who identifies himself as Leopald will have appeared on Red, looking for significant quantities of hallucinogenics. He is dressed smartly, in a business suit, and will be seen to have some of the same tattoos as do the others around the construction site on Gold. He won�t be looking to buy the drugs all in one go, but in a series of purchaces, diversified among as many dealers as he can find so as not to draw too much attention to the quantity he needs. Leopald �After about three-four weeks, depending on how busy the GM�s are and how quickly area building may go, Leopald will have made at least ten independent purchases, and will no longer be seen on Red for the time being but may be spotted on at the construction site, which will have reached near-completion, only some of the top levels of the towering office building left unfinished in a tangle of rebarb and concrete-laying druids. At this point, the corporation constructing this building will make itself known to the public-
Osaka-NeoTek, a corp mainly invested in Matrix ventures such as providing connections, space, and consulting. At this point they�ll reveal that they have been arranged with Withmore Council Officials to provide Matrix tech to the Dome once more, and they�ll start advertising and such over SIC and through NLM. Osaka-NeoTek will be hiring security ops, whether through WJF services or a secondary group like TERRA, and using them to secure the perimeter of their office complex. Very tight, and somewhat suspicious. As for jobs within, it will seem that Osaka-NeoTek have imported a complete staff, and aren�t looking for any native support whatsoever.
The truth of the matter is, Osaka-NeoTek is more than just a corp, they are also a cult. Only certain employees are chosen for membership, but the Dome facility is special in that it will be comprised entirely of cult-members as an experiment in the functionality of such an arrangement, for the first time anywhere. The cult itself is focused around the Matrix and the use of hallucinogenics- they believe that through meditation and alteration of the mind, one can see the face of God on the Matrix and thus be enlightened. They capitalize on reality being nothing more than the exchange of information, with some Buddhist influence but a good dose of power-lust. The tattoos seen on their employees are ritual, as are the piercings, and they denote the station of the employee within the Cult and the Corporation. Leopald will be the primary street-contact of the group, the go-between who is charged with getting the substances needed for the cult�s rituals. He is relatively trusted within the cult and cannout be bought- but he could be threatened, or drugged himself. He might also be tricked.
If players investigate Leopald and connect him to Osaka-NeoTek (which shouldn�t be hard, considering the blatant tattooing) and choose to do a heavy research into Osaka-NeoTek itself, they�ll learn little directly, but then be contacted by an Osaka-NeoTek cult member directly, probing to see if they are looking to join the cult. If the players respond negatively, then the cult member will shrug and walk off, not explaining themselves, but leaving a card with a cell number at which they can be contacted later on.
At this point, construction of the office will have been completed, rumor will start to surface among the decking community that there�s something BIG and scary going on inside Osaka-NeoTek�s offices. Attempting to crack into Osaka-NeoTek�s system will be outright impossible; the ice is very very tough, and whoever�s guarding the system is impossibly good. So good there are whispers floating around about AI. Osaka-NeoTek will begin employing a few deckers and manual laborers to install facilities and coordinate the over installation of Matrix tech back into Withmore.
Now, should someone want to get into the forbidding, aloof, intriguing Osaka-NeoTek buildings�
-Getting in from the Street: the building perimeter has one two gates. Each have a station where one must have their DNA tested against a database in order to open a door and gain access to the inside of the facility. At this point, they�ll be reviewed by secops. In order to gain entrace, PC�s would have to either crack the machine with a deck, which would be VERY hard, use the flesh of someone who is listed in the database (ie- an unfortunate employee) then they would have to either fool the secops, which would be equally difficult because they will personally know just about everyone who works in Osaka-NeoTek, or they�ll have to take them out. They�ll be armed with heavy guns and durable armor. Furthermore, if any of the secops is killed, an alarm will sound, triggered by heartmonitors, and it will be deep shit time for the PC�s.
-The Cult: if the players (or player) joins the Cult, they�ll be debriefed on the workings of the Cult, and brought into Osaka-NeoTek as an acolyte. They won�t be told much for a couple of weeks, and if they are still participating faithfully, they will then have explained to them the inner workings of the Cult, including the existence of the AI. This would provide them with free access to basically all the facilities, and give the PC�s the easiest entrace- but it would also give Osaka-NeoTek the most information on the PC�s to give out to hitmen and other agencies should they be betrayed.
-The Sewer: if the players stop to try and figure out an alternative entrance, they may discover that there is an entrance to the facility through the sewers below Gold. The only defense here will be a couple of locked grates. This will gain them entrance to an unguarded basement of the building. If they search the building, they�ll encounter cult members plugged into wall trodes and using the hallucinogenics Leopald has collected for them, as well as vast databanks and supercomputers. On the top floor is one huge open room, encompassing the whole floor, in which is enshrined a single black cube, made of an indeterminable material, hooked to a large cable running into the wall. There will be several cult members here, keeping the room spotless, and becoming quite upset if the PC�s disturb the cube. If they do take the cube, an alarm will sound, and the PC�s will have to make a dash for it to get out of the building, through the sewer once more. The front entrance will be barred by guards, and the inside will be scoured by enraged cult members, screaming bloody murder about blasphemy and attempting to beat the living hell out of the PC�s.
If the players escape with the Black Cube, they�ll want to figure out what it is, no doubt. If they plug it into a deck and log in, they�ll find themselves face to face with- you guessed it- an AI.At this point, Osaka-NeoTek will be in somewhat of �a fix. The AI will be obviously of an illegal grade for a civilian corp to own, so they won�t want to draw attention to themselves� but they�ll really want it back. So they�ll send hitmen after whoever has it, to retrieve it. They�ll be too afraid of discovery by rival corps in Withmore to work through the WJF. The players at this point have many options. They could sell the AI for virtually any price they asked.. they could use it for their own purposes as a powerful decking tool, they could turn it over to the authorities and have Osaka-NeoTek shut down. (if they are corporate minions themselves, this is a possibility.) Keeping it themselves could be highly unsafe of course, but then at this point the players had better have some sort of an idea how to misdirect Osaka�s hitmen, or they�ll be very dead.
Needed to run this plot: Various generic Osaka-NetTek employees/cult members, Leopald who will be a fairly developed character, the actual Osaka-NeoTek facility in its three stages, quite a lot of chyen for Leopald to spend on hallucinogenics, and possible for someone to buy the AI off of the PC�s hands, some ads and such to establish Osaka-NeoTek�s presence, and of course the implementation of the Matrix.
Involvement: This plot should involved a good many players. It would be possible for PC�s to actually Join the Osaka-NeoTek cult if they so desire, secops and/or WJF to guard the perimeter of the complex, deckers and manual laborers for help implementing the Matrix, at least a couple of fixers to deal with Leopald, possible gang members or street samurai to protect PC�s from Osaka hitmen or even to assist on an assault on the building to gain entrance, possibly anyone part of a corporate zaibatsu sent to investigate the strange facility of an enemy corp, anyone who might be left with/ or purchase the AI, which will be HOT and very much wanted back by Osaka-NeoTek, as well as deckers who might unwisely run up against the O-NT databases and try to get past the AI-guided ice.
Potential problems- Player apathy is always a big one; the plot requires some significant building, the plot will require GM attemtion for playing Leopald, and playing/dealing with the AI. The break in to O-NT could be potentially player-deadly, and this should be clear to the PC�s. The Cult needs to be developed, or it might seem shallow. There need to �be- sources for Leopald to go to to get hallucinogens.
