Lost & Found:Chapter One

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(Into theme song: In Hell I'll Be In Good Company, The Dead South)

The Case Of The Curious Cube

Characters

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M E M O R A N D U M

DESTINATION: SYSTEM 73 (ORANGE ORANGE VIOLET)

STABILITY ASSESSMENT: HIGH

RISK ASSESSMENT: MODERATE

LOCAL SUPPORT: LONG TERM - MODERATE

LOCAL CONTACT: "LEDBETTER"

REVIEWER NOTES: HIGH SEMANTIC UNIVERSE. EXERCISE CAUTION. "EVERYTHING IS CODE. CODE CAN BE HACKED."

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ASSIGNMENT: RETRIEVAL  

SOURCE: MAINTENANCE  

OBJECTIVE: VIGNETTE - "THE JOUNEYS OF KIROTE SAMA"; 6 CENTIMETER CUBE; MINERAL

UNIQUE IDENTIFIER: CHAPTER LXIV - KIROTE SAMA DEFEATS THE SAMURAI OF THE WHITE MOON

Game Sessions

2024-04-22

The PCs are assigned to System 73 to obtain an art object. On-site resources will be provided by the local Lost & Found operative, Mr. Ledbetter.

Before they go, Dmitri (Rary's boss) wants to meet them. His office is on the top floor of the left-hand elevator (the buttons of which are conveniently, if precariously, Dymo-labeled).

Dmitri appears to be a Lugosi-style vampire by way of Val Kilmer as Jim Morrison. He chats with PCs, then sends them on their way.

On the way to System 73, the PCs encounter Doctor Tollerberry and his assistant Lugh. Doctor Tollerberry appears to be a massive ogre with the voice of a dotty gnome scientist. Lugh appears to be a gnome with the voice of an enormous ogre (although he doesn't talk much).

Doctor Tollerberry provides Technological Counseling. Want to know how to bypass a quantum lock? Need to visit a crowded pre-germ theory metropolis, but don't want to get dysentery? Want to set the time on a videocassette recording device? Doctor Tollerberry can find out for you! He also has an extensive library of official and unofficial manuals for various devices. Bob promises to visit.

Suitably attired in dark PVC clothing with neon pinstripes, and haphazardly equipped with whatever is at hand in the vestibule, the PCs enter Meridian, a major city in System 73. They arrive in the establishment of Mr. Ledbetter, a shop called "Temporary Objects". Ledbetter is a fussy, pear-shaped man who appears to be surprised to see them. They explain their assignment while Ledbetter rummages through his desk. He eventually finds several "slabs", which he presents to the PCs -- a combination of wallet, phone, and laptop. The slabs each have a local identity attached, with a modest quantity of available credits (ᖬ).

The PCs quickly familiarize themselves with the devices. They learn that the vignette of Kirote Sama was due to be sold at auction in a week's time, but it has been withdrawn due to the murder of the owner last night.

The victim, Mr. Garrett, was an "exotic logistics expert" according to his death notice. The early morning cleaning staff found his office open and in disarray. Security Enforcement determined that Garrett had been de-rezzed at that location 197 cycles earlier. His data was declared unrecoverable at {timestamp}. Theft has been stated as the probable motive for the murder. Security Enforcement has not yet announced the apprehension of the guilty party.

The PCs ask Ledbetter if he knows anything more about Garrett.

"I'm afraid I can't help you. I've never met the man."

The PCs endure a harrowing taxi ride to Garrett's home and office, which is three quarters up the side of a metallic midnight burgundy skyscraper -- one neon-highlighted spire among many. The taxi platform connects to the edge of a semicircular courtyard carved from the side of the building (the view is spectacular). The featureless double door at the far side of the courtyard has a bright yellow "X" across it. As they approach, they can read the black letters scrolling across the bars of the neon yellow "X":

SECURITY ENFORCEMENT -- ACCESS DENIED

Jackal's sceptre of office allows them to bypass the security cordon, and assistance from Bob clears the log entry of their entrance.

The PCs find Garrett's office and bypass another security cordon. They locate the vignette, which has been disturbed from its display stand, but not stolen.

The vignette looks like a cube made out of 27 smaller cubes, each made from a different transparent gemstone. The small cubes are 2 cm tall. The vignette is a cube 6 cm tall. It appears to be lit from within.

One accesses a vignette by looking into the object containing it. They are each unique works of art, but the principle is the same. It is similar to a "magic eye" poster in concept. Once "seen", the vignette is a fully immersive virtual experience. The observer, who is immobile while experiencing the vignette, can end the experience at any time, but they can't change it. Any significant "real" sensory input will disrupt the experience.

This vignette is experienced from the point of view of Panuza Sanjō, Kirote Sama's servant. This particular vignette is set to prevent fast-forwarding through scenes that have not yet been experienced by that observer, and to prevent rewinding entirely. The full vignette is just over three hours long, so the PCs decide to leave Garrett's and examine the vignette at their leisure in a hotel.

The PCs also discover a concealed wall safe. Bob makes a token effort to open it, but he is unsuccessful.

Having obtained the vignette, the PCs decide to withdraw and examine their prize at a secure location.

2024-05-06

As the PCs prepare to leave Garrett's home/office they are confronted by a mysterious woman with iridescent turquoise eyes and a vaguely Eastern European accent (Lupita Nyong'o). She and the PCs face off briefly, both sides claiming to belong there, and both knowing that it isn't true. She relents, and stands aside as the PCs make their exit.

She identifies herself as Madame Le Fanu, and she displays mild disappointment that the PCs do not reciprocate. However, she follows the PCs outside, and she watches, apparently fascinated, as they lock up behind themselves and restore the Security Enforcement cordon.

Their lack of conversation is interrupted by the arrival of a Collector: a large Security Enforcement vehicle. It hovers in the air a few meters away from the edge of the courtyard platform, some 200 storeys above the ground. A beam of blinding light illuminates the PCs and Madame Le Fanu, rendering the small courtyard in stark black and white.

A loud monotone voice demands that they remain stationary and identify themselves. With preternatural speed, Madame Le Fanu slips behind Bob, into the pitch-black shadow cast by the Collector's spotlight. Her hand reaches from behind him, holding a shiny black business card over his shoulder for a moment before dropping it.

Bob catches it and puts it in his jacket pocket.

Doors appear at the left and right sides of the Collector, and four Security Enforcement officers debark, two from each side. They are dressed in glowing scarlet armor which conceals their features behind tinted face plates. Glowing rectangles appear beneath their feet, giving the appearance of a floating staircase. As they descend from the Collector, their staves begin to crackle with menacing energy.

In the pitch-black of Bob's shadow against the exterior wall of Garrett's office, only Madame Le Fanu's iridescent turquoise eyes are visible. But they are not eyes: they are some kind of biomechanical insect, like two iridescent turquoise cockroaches with paper clips for legs. She blinks, and suddenly there are hundreds of them -- no, thousands of them -- scattering in every direction.

Bob tries to initiate a dialogue, but the Security Enforcement patrol is not interested in conversation. Violence ensues.

The Lost & Found operatives make short work of the four enforcers and then flee before the Collector rezzes up its weapons. Jackal and Basingstoke find that their powers are less potent in System 73 than in their home universe, but Fern doesn't notice any difference (she is from a high semantic universe, as is System 73).

The PCs meet up at "Temporary Objects", which is locked and closed, with Ledbetter nowhere in sight. They enter and re-secure the store front, then discuss their options.

Bob examines the gleaming black business card dropped by Madame Le Fanu. The front has a logo in gold script: "Serenity". The back has what appears to be a handwritten note in silver ink: "bring your friends".

As Bob reads the card, it de-rezzes, and its code joins his. He learns the location of Serenity and the timecode of the invitation, along with incidental information like the locations of nearby amenities.

A newsfeed search informs the PCs that Serenity ("by Le Fanu") is an extremely upscale theming salon and spa. Think of the virtual-world equivalent of very high end plastic surgery, fashion design, and cutting-edge and possibly unethical/illegal rejuvenation treatments. All in an environment of unrivalled luxury and privacy.

The appointment is an invitation to a party, but it's not for a kilocycle (aka tomorrow), so the PCs table that line of inquiry.

Bob volunteers to spend three hours experiencing the vignette, and no one objects. Jackal keeps an eye on Bob and periodically peeks out at the street. Collectors seem to be patrolling in force, but no one displays any interest in Ledbetter's shop.

Basingstoke attempts to use his electrical power to hack the code of items in Ledbetter's shop. He destroys a dozen or so random objects in the process, but he does manage to change a neon blue lava lamp into a neon pink lava lamp. That wasn't his goal, but it's something.

Fern spends the time exploring and examining things. This is how she finds what appears to be a life-size image of Ledbetter, rather like a glowing, two-dimensional cardboard cutout of him. Like Madame Le Fanu's business card, the object is rigid but nearly two-dimensional. The front shows Ledbetter's front, and the back shows Ledbetter's back. The PCs put it back where Fern found it, and they add it to the list of things they can follow up on later.

Bob finally reaches the crucial chapter of the vignette:

UNIQUE IDENTIFIER: CHAPTER LXIV - KIROTE SAMA DEFEATS THE SAMURAI OF THE WHITE MOON

Unfortunately, this vignette has the traditional story:

The Journeys Of Kirote Sama and his servant Panuza Sanjō

The plot revolves around the adventures of a merchant who reads so many samurai romances that he loses his mind. He believes himself to be a samurai named Kirote Sama. He recruits as his servant a simple farm laborer, Panuza Sanjō, who brings a unique, earthy wit to Kirote Sama's lofty rhetoric.

In Chapter 64, Kirote Sama battles the Samurai of the White Moon on the beach. Defeated, Kirote submits to the prearranged terms: the vanquished must obey the will of the conqueror. He is ordered to lay down his arms and cease his acts of bushido for a period of one year, by which time his friends and relatives hope he will be cured of his madness.

This vignette is not the one they were sent to retrieve. Analysis of its code reveals the hidden signature of the artist who created it, along with a brief statement that this is an authorized reproduction of the original, created by request of the original's owner.

The PCs return to Garrett's office, intent on searching it more thoroughly, including the concealed safe. While they are working on the safe, they hear someone break (not hack) the security cordon on the front door. It's Ledbetter.

Ledbetter says that he narrowly missed them at his shop, and he guessed that they might have gone to Garrett's office. Seeing that there is nothing the PCs need from him, he apologizes for the interruption and leaves (calling a taxi and waiting for it at the platform at the edge of courtyard).

Garrett's safe does not contain a vignette (real or fake), but it does contain records of Garrett's business dealings and personal correspondence.

Bob demonstrates one of the reasons Rary recruited him: he is a wiz at paperwork. He sifts through in fifteen minutes what would have taken the rest of the team hours to parse, and he presents his findings:

• Garrett despised someone named Krattok. Garrett believed that art should be viewed, not hoarded -- the implication is that Krattok feels the opposite.
• Garrett learned that Krattok coveted the vignette. Garrett didn't want Krattok to have it, and he was concerned that Krattok would use a straw purchaser. Garrett canceled the auction on the same day he was killed.
• Apparently unrelated to that, Garrett had commissioned the duplicate vignette 15 kilocycles (two weeks) earlier. Bob doesn't find any evidence of malfeasance on Garrett's part. It appears that Garrett sometimes had duplicate art objects created for display and security purposes.
• Garrett and Madame Le Fanu appear to have been friends, at least intermittently, going back a half-dozen megacycles (15 years or so). They had a complicated relationship, but they were rival art collectors, not enemies. They periodically had dramatic public arguments but they always reconciled.
• Madame Le Fanu appears to share Garrett's contempt for Krattok. Their correspondence implies that Le Fanu has some kind of leverage against Krattok, which protects her from him (at least up to a point).
• Garrett and Ledbetter were also acquainted, although it is clear that their relationship is more businesslike. Ledbetter and Garrett would periodically pool their resources to locate art objects, or to verify their provenance. Their correspondence goes back a few megacycles (around five years).

The PCs ponder what to do next.