Vance

[kabukiman]

Make a idea roll.

[Mi-Go Agent]

Vance has a good idea of how he might start researching.

[kabukiman]

There is a library, in the chemical departement in the university that is used by all kind of nerds; surely some of them may help. And there is the bar "Confessions of a mask" used by all kind of fixer's and runners in real world that may help too to get some info.

[Mi-Go Agent]

Vance heads to the university library first. He's at home in a university setting, and using some old-fashioned books is a comfort for him.

[kabukiman]

You enter the library. There are 5 sectors: 4 of them are with computers and data bases and the fifth (a small room) is with books. It's full of nerds (some use actually glasses!), with an old lady who is probably the librarian.

[Mi-Go Agent]

Vance first tries looking at one of the computers to see what he can find himself. He plans to then peruse the books, ask the librarian, and finally try the geeks.

He is looking for any information that could help him find out more about the drug or the company.

[kabukiman]

Make two library rolls, a credit rating and persuade roll.

[Mi-Go Agent]

Vance thinks of a way to find information.

Here are all the rolls:,http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2068973/ The only one I made was the second library use.

[kabukiman]

The students simply ignore you. The librarian points you several books of biology, about eggs, the reproductive system of reptiles and birds, but it’s all pointless. Slowly you turn to mythological books, and in a small book called “Obscure and lost books” you find a phrase that calls your attention: a certain Jorge of Burgos, a Benedictine monk from the XIV century had written a treaty about the enemies of the Church (De hostes ecclesiam) and the ways to recognize them. He had once translated the fragments of a book called “Liber Ivonis” full of blasphemous content that he refused to quote, except the phrase: “even so, the world is full of dangers, but some of the worst are still lurking, awaiting a moment of distraction of humankind to recover what was once their domain, and they should be smashed when still in the eggs shell”. Unfortunely, no more data is available: the monastery (in the north of Italy) burned in the late XIV century, destroying the book from Jorge and no copies are know to exist.

[Mi-Go Agent]

Vance heads over to the computers. Perhaps he can look through news or the database for any other meanings or news about Eggshell or the Cannibal's Locust.

[kabukiman]

Make a knowlege roll divided by half.

[Mi-Go Agent]

Fortunately, Vance knows something useful.

[kabukiman]

You discover that the gang was from south Korea.

[Mi-Go Agent]

Interesting. It looks like I've exhausted the resources of the library, so unless anything else looks useful, I suppose it is time to check in with Patrick and Rubix.

[kabukiman]

You see Patrick appear.

[Mr. Handy]

"Hey, Vance," says Patrick, joining him and speaking quietly - in part because they're in a library, but also because he doesn't want to be overheard. "I found out some very interesting things. It seems that four people have died from taking Egg Shell from hemorrhages, and all of them were geneticists working for GeneEden. I think the drug may have been tailored as an assassination weapon, deadly to someone whose DNA matches a specific profile, but relatively harmless to anyone else. GeneEden was founded 20 years ago by millionaire James Darryl, but it was small time until around 2020, when it began taking market share from its chief competitor, BioSoft. GeneEden wants to improve humans and it entered the big time by selling cosmetic drugs and genetically engineering babies so their parents could choose their appearance. That's illegal in America and Europe, so guess where they have a big clinic and research center: North Korea. There are also rumors that they do experiments on the poor there. They're not known to make recreational drugs, and they're against mechanical enhancements as unnatural.

"BioSoft was founded in the late twentieth century, and it dominated the market until GeneEden came on the scene. They specialize in improving crops and livestock genetically, and they want to remove all physical imperfections. They used to modify pets, but stopped when animal rights groups raised a stink, though they still do testing on animals. They started cloning human organs, but it's very expensive and only the rich can afford it. Other companies do it too now, but BioSoft's organs are seen as having fewer defects. They do their experiments in South America.

"Both of these companies might have know-how to create something like Egg Shell. I think BioSoft is the more likely suspect, since GeneEden seems to be the target and the two of them are competitors. What did you find out?"

[Mi-Go Agent]

"The last think you'd expect in a library - the Cannibal's Locust is from South Korea. Perhaps Biosoft is using them to attack GeneEden, exploiting their patriotism. Other than that I haven't had much luck, although I've read an interesting, probably irrelevant quotes that could be the source of the name Eggshell - “even so, the world is full of dangers, but some of the worst are still lurking, awaiting a moment of distraction of humankind to recover what was once their domain, and they should be smashed when still in the eggs shell”.

Where to go from here? I don't know. Investigate GeneEden and the Locust, but how? Breaking and entering? There should be something else we can do first. "

[Mr. Handy]

"That is interesting," says Patrick. "I was considering digger deeper online, but I'd need to buy a better program to have a decent chance, and even then there's no guarantee. These companies don't have top security, but it's better than average. A better deck would really help out there, but I just can't afford one yet. Maybe the Cannibal's Locust has a presence online. I can look into that next. While I'm here, though, I can see if I can help find anything else." He tries, but he isn't as used to the outdated technology.

[kabukiman]

You see several journals still made in paper, but you lose quickly the interest. And you get your fingers dirt with the ink.

"Ping"- Patrick got mail.

[Mr. Handy]

Patrick wipes off his fingers, then checks his mail.