"Yesterday/Today/Tomorrow" : A Cyberpunk Play By Post Game.

[Sardukhar]

"Yesterday/Today/Tomorrow" : A Cyberpunk Play By Post Game.

Hello! Welcome, Chombatta, to the Yesterday/Today/Tomorrow Cyberpunk 2020 Play by Post game! Rules and discussion found here . GM (Ref, for you CP2020 hardcore) text is this. Please use double brackets: ((Message here)) for all Out of Character, Dice Pool and Chat-Room results.

Remember to post clearly, with conciseness. If adding images, unless quite small, use Spoiler tags.

When entering a Scene with another Player or Players, try to do so within the flow of the game and scene. Don't grab the spotlight or overturn other Player's actions without good reason - and probably a skill check.

Players are absolutely encouraged to interact with each other, form Teams and make friends.

Remember also: Have fun! Help others have fun!

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Tonights Theme Song:

Screamsheet Headline:
{Night City Today!} SladeMcCallanII sptd Metalstrom! MahanJns Roof-Toss Ftge Conf! AdltOnsetNP:4mr dead! RMycb VP Tearfully Cnfs 'DanceAddict! ***** BODYLOTTO: 23 - Winners pay off at 5:4 *****

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For once, the sky above Night City is clear. Empty-glass clear, nothing-to-see-here clear. You can actually spot what you think are stars flickering far above, up beyond the retinal afterimages from vectored-thrust-powered Suits, Trauma Team med-evacs under load and the ever-present barrage of adblimps, Screamsheet holos, bus-sized vidboard and high-rise gunfire.

The stars. So clean, so secure. So far away. You will never see them, never know their cool purity or god-like isolation. Never gaze down upon the dirty, bloody streets from above and breathe a sigh of relief to have escaped. You will die here. You know that. Mostly, you're okay with it.

After all, it's not the destination, it's the Trip, right, choomba?

Shots echo to the north, that sharp aural bite the audiotechs can never quite capture correctly, not in the Holos or the old 3D. You see a Combat Cabb headed north, rarely a good sign. You glance around, spotting a couple members of Maelstrom leaning against a burnt-out Dataterm, watching you. Only two and out of their turf; probably not a big deal. Probably.

Time to get moving. The night has just begun and you have a lot to do before it's over.​

 

[Suhiira]

Shots echo to the north, that sharp aural bite the audiotechs can never quite capture correctly, not in the Holos or the old 3D. You see a Combat Cabb headed north, rarely a good sign. You glance around, spotting a couple members of Maelstrom leaning against a burnt-out Dataterm, watching you. Only two and out of their turf; probably not a big deal. Probably.

Nogitsune stays to the shadows knowing her clothing and baggage paint TARGET in neon letters all over her.
And to think just hours ago she thought today was the best day of her life when she graduated from the University in Tokyo. Then a flight, First Class even, to spend a few days with her family at their new posting here in Night City before reporting to her first real job with the same corp.
How had it all gone so wrong so fast? And just what had happened?

Not long before touchdown a frantic call from her mother ...
"Don't come home! Run! Hide! They've killed you father, your sister, they're coming up the stairs now for the rest of us. We've been set up and betrayed by the Company ... *CRASH* Nooooo! Not my children they're innoce ... *BANG BANG BANG*"

So here she in in a city she doesn't know, in a culture she doesn't know, in a situation she doesn't understand. What to do? Where to go? At the very least she needs to find someplace to change out of her business-wear.

Spoiler

((Sard ... we going for a 24 or 48 hour turn-around? Or just play it by ear? ))

 

[kanonite]

Spoiler

Simple hires one of his gang buddies to drive him to the gig he is supposed to guard tonight, in exchange for a favor later.

He is dressed in full kit, including his Gibson Battlepants, his tacky-ass hawaiian armorjack and his decorated metal gear helm

Spoiler

Throughout the ride, he chatted with the driver.

Spoiler

"So....this Jade..."Spoke the fellow ganger. "She hot, right?"

"Yeah, ese. As porcelain as they come."

"Gonna make a move on 'er?"

"Nah. Gonna do it old-fashioned and keep it pro for the first night."

"You keepin' it pro!? That's a first."

((I should mention I respecced him, but I need to get on the laptop that has the new sheet.))

 

[andrewmeythaler]

Wallace sat up, the cold concrete of the curb was starting to bother him more than the stars were. He always hated the way people talked about them. Like they meant something, as if they were more than a bunch of hot gas. Fate was a load of shit and he knew it. Glancing over at the Maelstrom meat heads, Wallace frowned. This wasn't their turf... Were they watching Wallace? Were they working for someone else? Surely they had to be with the Meter-Maid that has it out for 'The Fang'!

'Time to leave before they report in...' Wallace muttered to himself, as he entered the driver's side of his VMW Cohort. He sighed looking into the rear view mirror as he turned the key; letting the car sputter to life. Tonight was going to be different. Tonight was the start of the rest of his life. He promised himself things would change.

Shifting into first gear, Wallace set out to see if anyone at the Short Circuit bar had answered his help wanted ad. Most were asleep by now. But Wallace could not sleep for fear of what comes in his dreams, and an even greater fear of what happens if he were to stop swimming. Now was when the other sharks came out, and he needed them.

 

[Suhiira]

Glances over at the Cohort as it comes to life but continues down the sidewalk telling herself not to scurry, not to make herself even more of a target, but knowing she wasn't listening ...
She thanked Buddha for the cybereye she'd gotten last year, it allowed her to see into the very shadows she was attempting to hide in, shadows she knew didn't conceal her any more then they concealed anything from her ... now if she could only make herself listen. Suddenly she could almost hear Sensei Aiwas' soft voice - "If you have no confidence in self, you are twice defeated." For a moment shame caused her to flinch deeper into the shadows then her chin lifts and her pace steadies as she sees a glowing sign ahead ... "Short Circuit".

She stops just outside the door to "Short Circuit" and glances back over her shoulder at the streets behind her ... now that she's seeing "what is" rather then "what she imagines" they're not nearly as grimy and threatening as she'd thought. In fact this area could easily be mistaken for downtown Tokyo and her clothing not only doesn't stand out, it blends in.

Spoiler

"Thank you Sensei." she whispers to herself as she feels confidence replace fear.

One last glance to insure no one is directly behind her as she enters the door and pauses to survey the interior and it's occupants.
A couple heavily armed men at the bar ... not a good sign ... wait ... this is America ... she just shakes her head.
A woman, performer? Maybe, maybe not. Not much difference between street clothes and stage costumes anymore, and from what she's heard and seen that's especially true here in Night City.

She adjusts the obviously armored backpack she wears, other then the armor and being a bit larger it's no different then you'd see on any student at any university as they scurry from class to class. Her left hand an holds an oversize briefcase, small suitcase? And her right hand, empty, hangs next to the butt of the handgun strapped to her thigh.

Spoiler

The holster is not exactly what one normally sees on your average urban corp, a poser that watched one to many Tri-Vids? It's the sort someone who knows what they're doing, and how to do it might use. Both weapon and holster show tiny signs of use and careful maintenance. Hummm ....
She makes it a point to momentarily catch the eye of anyone that looks in her direction as she enters, not a challenge, just an acknowledgement that she knows she's been looked over and a return of the "favor".

After her eyes adjust to the interior lighting and she's seen, and been seen, she makes her way toward a booth/table with a view of the bar and door and deposits her baggage next to it as she glances at the chair to insure it's clean before sitting ((if it's not clean she takes a napkin and spreads it on top before sitting)) and waits for the service staff to arrive.


====================
For those without access to the Night City sourcebook this section of town is referred to as "Med Center" due to the concatenation of health-oriented businesses. Upscale and one of the most crowded areas of the city, the skyway may even eventually be completed. The area is clean, security is tight. Neighboring buildings include: Night City Convention Center, Trauma Team Tower, Crisis Medical Center, and The Jellical Inn.
The neighborhood gang is known as "Silver Slash" and is a guardian Chromer gang. That means they protect the neighborhood and it's residents from undesirables (think the "Guardian Angels").
====================
((**Finishes stepping on Sards toes**))
====================

 

[kanonite]

The ramshackle pick-up pulled over by the bar, standing out like a sore thumb amid the less garage-built vehicles on the sidewalk. The passenger door swung open and out stepped Simple.

"Thanks for the ride, Choomba!" He says to his buddy, closing the door and letting him drive off.

He looks around, noticing a woman in richwear walking up to the club. Her looks are odd for the neighboorhood, and her face has that "fish out of water" expression that tends to attract trouble.

As easy of a mark as she looked, he has buisness to attend to and ignores her, entering the bar and sitting down at a stool at the counter, his helmet coming off and being placed on it.

The Chippendale looking black bartender sat up from his chair and asked:

"What'l it be, Choom?"

"Nothin' now, ese. Waitin' for someone. Do ya tab people for waitin'?"

"Yep. 5eb per hour"

Looking around shiftily, he leaned in and whispered. "Do pretty faces like mine get a freepass?" Followed by a seductive lick to the man's left ear.

The bartender looked wide-eyed, only to sternly reply. "Nah, broomshover. Ya pay like everyone else or I have ya kicked to the pavement. Kepish?"

"Kepish." With a dissapointed look, he payed the 5eb.

 

[andrewmeythaler]

Wallace stopped in front of the door, straightening his tie. His black suit clung to his thin frame. Adjusting his mirror shades he pushed open the door and walked up to the counter. He put 5eb in cash on the counter, partially to order a can of Smash, partially to show why he was there. He began to glance around the room, looking to see if anyone there was going to be of use to him. And who was going to cause him trouble.

 

[Maligna]

WARNING: Huge Image!

Spoiler

Effie Amada sat alone in the broom closet that the "Short Circuit" bar tried to pass for a dressing room. The single light above the cracked mirror was much too dim, but she had applied her stage make-up in more difficult situations. By this point she could really do it in her sleep. How many shows in dive bars was this now? At least a couple hundred. She wondered if she'd ever make it big, make a difference or change the world in even the smallest way. Still, performing was all she knew and she was good at it. At least she had a skill. That's more than a lot of the people living in the dredges of Night City could say.

A knock at the door.
"Jade! We're on in 15 minutes.", Came the voice of Benny Hashimoto, the drummer in her band and Effie's best friend for the past few years. "Aren't you supposed to work out the details with your security detail? Might wanna go find him."

"Yeah, sure. Be right out!", Effie yelled back through the thick door. She sat back on the single stool that was provided and pulled on her red boots, sliding them up over her calves. Then she slipped her hands into pink latex fingerless gloves and attached the silk ribbons that connected the gloves to her arms. One final tug on her red vinyl "wet look" half top and matching leggings to make sure everything was snug and she was nearly ready to go.

She shivered briefly as she suddenly felt a draft. Below her waist Effie was only half covered. The entire ensemble was designed to tantalize and titillate more than do anything practical. The leggings fully covered one leg and her pelvic area, then they tied off at the hip in two places leaving one leg (and one ass cheek) completely naked. But Effie really didn't mind strutting her stuff on stage in addition to singing. In fact, she liked almost any kind of attention... as long as it wasn't violent. Besides, she found dressing more proactively increased the amount of albums she could sell after the show.

It was time for the final touches. Effie took a can of hair dye spray and colored one shock of jade green into her medium length brown hair. After clasping a choker around her neck she then put on a pair of gold hoop earrings and flicked them once for good luck. Then finally, she grabbed a green silk robe off the back of the dressing room door and covered herself up. Since she was going to go look for the hired help out on the bar's floor, she didn't want to give away her identity to the crowd.

Preparations complete Effie, now Jade, left the back of the bar and walked out among the people. From what she remembered, she thought she was looking for someone named, "Simple"...

 

[kanonite]

Oh. The person he was waiting for was already there. Could have saved himself 5eb if he entered by alleyway.

Mildly annoyed, he grabs his helmet and approaches the stage, waving at her and stepping onto it, then walking backstage donning the helm and drawing his handgun.

Spoiler

"Will get to know ya better after show, chona." He states with a smooth, choomy tone, checking the magazine to make sure he remembered to load his gun today.

A thing she might notice is the fact that his left arm seems to end in a pitch black clawed hand, and apparently has spikes bulging out of but not piercing the coat.

((What would be a good place for set security?))

 

[Maligna]

Jade scanned the room for a moment before she finally spied a tough looking man with a clawed hand wave in her direction. He began making his way over to her. As he did, her eyes instinctively followed his hand as it drew his pistol. Her heart skipped a beat as this stranger continued to come straight toward her. Had someone put out a hit on her? She stumbled backwards a few steps, ready to turn on her heels and run for her life. Damn it, if only her hired muscle had got here on time...

"Will get to know ya better after show, chona."

She stopped retreating and blinked, confused for a moment before finally clueing in that this man must be the one she had hired. She started breathing again and felt her body begin to relax, hoping he hadn't noticed her freak out. She wondered if she would ever get over the night that her mentor was killed by a booster gang on stage right in front of her. It had obviously messed her up. Some kind of PTSD for sure.

As he began inspecting his weapon and seemingly ignoring her, Jade reached out and gently touched his arm with her finger tips to try and get his attention. "Hey wait... shouldn't we confirm the terms of your employment? How does 15% of my take from tonight sound?"

((We'll get to where he should stand after we work out the fee. ))

 

[kanonite]

This was turning out to be quite awkward. First he comes in expecting her to enter the same way he did. Then, he barges onto the stage expecting the show to begin right away.

"Oh. Were uh... not starting right away? Fuck."

He turns around to face her now, feeling like an idiot in his mind but doing his best to look and sound composed.

"Yeah. 15% sounds good. Also, sorry for spookin' ya with the piece."

He then holsters the weapon and extends his now free right arm. "Simple Man, the hombre you hired."

 

[andrewmeythaler]

Wallace notices the exchange between the star and her security. This leads to all kinds of nasty questions flooding his mind, namely whether or not it would be needed in a bar like this. Wallace scans the room with his awareness notice. [Easy skill check. Skill pool of 18 to 17. (9 int, 7 awareness/notice, +2 from cyberoptic)]

 

[Doomblade403xxx]

Spoiler

Monkeywrench exited the expressway and hit the inner city streets slowing to the posted speed limits. The highway was safe and serene. Just you and the road, and whatever was in front of you. After a certain speed the road hypnotized a rider and allowed them a certain inner peace. An escape from the mortal world and all it's troubles and dangers.

She always laments the loss of that highway ride. Hitting the city streets you have to slow down, and just slowing down makes you a target. A target for any gang banger or dorph addled psycho who wants to shoot off a gun. Getting shot at tends to interrupt one's low profile living, and the last thing Monkeywrench needs in her life is drama. Cruising along slowly she spots the Maelstrom near a burned out car, and they spot her as well. Keeping her cool she rides on and parks her home built dirt bike in the parking lot of the Short Circuit. She alights the bike and pulls her pack of tools from it's cargo carrier.

Leaving her helmet on she walks towards the entrance, then heads inside. Only then does she remove the head armor and clip it to her pack. She smiles and heads to the bar. A few eyes glance her way as she walks and the Armalite on her curved hip seems to only add to her mystique.

Monkeywrench: "Hey...Appletini please?"

The bartender sizes her up briefly before punching her order into the autotender behind the bar. While technology is wonderful, wrench silently laments that one day, there won't even be a place for a flesh and blood bartender.

 

[eraser7278]

Brock Cursed unintelligibly as he trudged through the night. Another night of striking out at the Afterlife, how could there be nobody in this rathole of a city that needed shooting? he checked his phone, still no callback from the HR lady at Redcab. oh sure, there were plenty of jobs out there, in all his old haunts and hot spots across the globe... if only he could GET there. That fucking bitch had really outdone herself this time, flagging an upstanding killer for hire such as himself in a state department computer as a potential terrorist? So now he was stuck in this shithole with no work, his savings depleting and the rent coming due before long.

as he saw the glittering lights of the Short Circuit glittering overhead, a desperate thought crossed his processor. maybe, just maybe there was some geek inside looking for some protection. of course, their had to be, no there WOULD be! now armed with the power of positive thinking, Brock hung a right turn towards the front door. he stopped just inside, hugging a wall and taking it all in before venturing further. the asian girl sporting corp-wear might make a good mark... although the iron she was strapping suggested otherwise. a few more folks by the bar, rubbernecking like they were expecting someone. then off to his peripheral he heard a familiar voice ordering an appletini...

 

[Sardukhar]

The Short Circuit Bar stands atop the Barbican Building, holding the main offices of Argus Inc. It's gleaming black sides spattered with crusted effluvium and acid rain streaks, the elevator entrance to Short Circuit lies on the north side. Cameras watch as bar patrons enter and leave.

Rising up to the top floor, you are witness to Night City's Downtown stretched out above and below you. A layered cake of 20th and 21st century buildings buttressed and reinforced or replaced with brand new structures.

The City is a mosaic of advertisements for Bodyweight Life PReservation, MTC, Techtronica and IEC, to name just a few of the hundreds of brands within eyesight.

A steady stream of AV-4s flow past the top-floor bar, nearly all bearing the logo of Trauma Team, the emergency evacuation company.

As you step onto the main floor of the bar, which is shaped in a symbol recognizable to anyone with good electronics skills, ((Electronics or Programming or Interface 6+)),

Spoiler

as a relay switch sequence that acts as a code gate for something

the bar floor begins to rotate clockwise.

Two Slavic-looking men wearing armoured dusters and carrying short autoshotguns stand near the elevator doors as you step off. Another pair, a lean woman in a mix of hard and soft armours over a pants suit and a heaver man wearing a tux and carrying a massive sidearm, are pushing their way through the crowd towards a man wearing an armour jack emblazoned with a tacky Hawaiian pattern.

The vast bulk of patrons here are dressed tech-professionally, moderately armoured and carrying sidearms. Most seem to have a deck of some kind and several dozen are currently plugged in.

There is a stage at one side of the rotating floor. The bar is a two-story affair, with the balcony half-story above filled by booths. Several doors lead out from there, as along the sides of the main floor. There are thirty or so tables in front of the stage and booths along the walls.

((Okay, we'll go with roughly twenty-four hour response times to posts - if you aren't in a separate scene by yourself or it's not just dialogue. Don't have monologues please, this is so you can have casual conversations without waiting for everyone else to go get their drink or talk to their partner or whatever.

Any Easy A/N checks reveal what I typed above, as well as that there are two more security sitting at the bar itself. ))

 

[Doomblade403xxx]

Wrench takes the computer mixed drink from the bartender, and sips as she looks around nervously. Crowds and clubs weren't exactly her scene. As a matter of fact she would rather be in a dead end alley someplace, or old warehouse, fixing something or cobbling parts together. The prospect of a social life is somewhat horrifying, but a prospective job could pull her into a place like this without too much trouble. She muses to herself after the first sip.

"Well this club is better than the last one..."

She then notices Brock down the bar and smiles. She shoulders her pack, picks up her drink and moves to greet him. Brock was better than a friend to her. They practically had a brother and sister relationship back in the day. It has been a year since she has seen him, and the last she heard about his adventures he was trying to lay low.

"How the hell are you?" She says placing her drink on the bar before giving him a huge hug. "I heard you got killed by the Slaughterhouse in the zone you asshole! No phone call...no text..." She pauses. "Wait I would have to have a phone wouldn't I?"

 

[Suhiira]

Catching the attention of a server takes Nogitsune longer then it would have in Japan. She mentally slaps herself, she needs to remember here in America people have little to no concept of duty, they have "jobs" not "obligations". The little show a moment ago near the stage between the performer and what is apparently her security is not encouraging.

She orders a non-alcoholic drink and a light snack ... Buffalo Chicken Wings ... whatever those are. And starts to jack in, then pauses, while this club looks fairly secure she has no idea if it's only secure for those known to the owners or all patrons. She looks around, noting the rather obvious club security ... and near them a man who's just arrived, bearded and somewhat unkept ((Brock)), but what else would one expect from American "muscle"? As she starts to signal him a woman in black leather (What is it with Americans and black leather?) begins to converse with him. So she continues scanning for someone else she can hire.

She sort of glosses over Wallace, adequate suit, but apparently not muscle.

 

[Maligna]

"Simple Man, the hombre you hired."

Jade raised a quizzical eyebrow toward the large man. She was having a hard time figuring him out. He seemed a bit confused and maybe a little absentminded, but maybe there was a reason they called him Simple... No matter though. Hired muscle was just that, muscle. Smarts weren't always necessarily part of what you paid for. She accepted his hand shake and flashed him a half smile, making sure to squeeze his palm in hers firmly. A good handshake was one of the best first impressions you could make. Her mentor, Whisp had taught her that very early on.

Instead of letting go of him, Jade instead came around to Simple's side and hooked her arm into the crook of his. "Walk with me a moment?" She requested, in a gentle voice.

 

[eraser7278]

Brock returned her embrace heartily once the shock of seeing her had worn off "Well damned if it isn't my favorite grease monkey, heck it's been at least two deployments since we crossed paths. but no, as you can see rumors of my death have been slightly exaggerated as usual. hell i wish i had your number, I've been shaking every tree i can find for some work... but damn it's good to see you again, seems you've been taking care of yourself. anyone been giving you trouble? because you know uncle Rusty will throw em a beating, just say the word."

 

[Doomblade403xxx]

She looks a little less awkward now that she has ran into someone she knows. Brock/Rusty is a little older and carries alot more experience in the field of black ops. Alone in the workplace is a terrible thing. When you go into a job blind with unknowns, you have no idea what your going to get. Her last job was a great example of this. Setting up electronics surveillance in a strip club to find a guy had been robbing employees after close. Even just watching a monitor in the broom closet, she left the place smelling of peach body wash and sprinkled with glitter.

"Well I got turned onto this place via a message board entry." She pauses. "If your into oriental...a lotus blossom near the bar was checking you out until I walked up. She even took a step this way till she saw me." She shrugs. "Hope I didn't scare off a prospective Aunt Rusty."