Vestigial Memories, Session 10: Tsingtao

Scene setup

Scene check
[D8]: [5] => Challenging.
Requires one or more skill rolls to proceed. The witness is reluctant to answer your questions, or their answers are evasive; the crime scene is a mess, and requires a careful and lengthy search; finding the data you seek can be done remotely, but requires a requires a TECH roll 

Scene category
[D12]: [4] => examine
Analyze evidence closely for subtle evidence, to interpret data or digital traces, MEDICAL AID to to examine forensic clues 

Clues
Clue table 1: Meaning
[D8]: [3] => Affirms a previous fact or clue 
Evidence Descriptor
[D6 + D10]: [2 + 3] => Corrupted.
It has been tampered or degraded. 
Evidence type
Must be (data) Device

I park the Spinner a block away. Walking helps clear the fog in my head, even if every step is a reminder of my cracked ribs. Above, the sky is a chaotic grid of automated heavy-lifters—flying hornets carrying cargo containers the size of city blocks.

I take a seat at a nearby noodle stand, the steam from my miso ramen mixing with the frigid rain. I watch. I wait.

Q: Do I see something/someone unusual entering or leaving the hub?
Question check roll:
[D10]: [4] => no

Nothing unusual, just a fee workers going in or out.

The Infiltration

I finish the ramen and adjust my battered trenchcoat. Time to put the Cityspeaker to work.

The lobby of Hub D is cold and sterile, guarded by four men who look like they were grown in a vat for the sole purpose of standing still. I scan the reception desk. One woman looks sharp, experienced—a gatekeeper. Beside her is a kid, barely twenty, eyes darting nervously between his terminal and his mentor.

Insight Check: [D12 + D12[: [9 + 10]
Critical Success. The kid is drowning. He’s my way in.

I wait for a delivery driver to distract the woman, then I loom over the boy’s desk, projecting the aura of a man who hasn't slept and has a very short fuse.

Locke: "Auditor Bryant. We spoke last week. I'm here for the fire-suppression check. I really hope you fixed those foam sprinklers, because if I find a dry pipe, this whole facility is getting red-tagged."

Manipulation check
NPC skill level roll:
[D8]: [1] => unskilled [D6 + D6]
Opposed Roll: Manipulation vs. Insight
Situation:
Advantage for insight roll, disadvantage for cracked ribs
[D12 + D10] vs [D6 + D6]
[11 + 3] vs [4 + 1] => 2 successes vs 0 successes => critical success

The kid’s face goes white. He looks at his colleague, but she’s buried in paperwork. He looks back at me, his lip trembling.

Locke: "Come on, kid. I've got two other Hubs to hit before I can get a drink. Don't make me write down your name and employee number as the reason for my delay."
Receptionist: "No! No, sir... sorry. Of course. We were... we were expecting you. I'll call a guide—"
Locke: "Don't bother. I've been here twice this month. Just give me a master badge so I can get through the Tsingtao gate and get out of your hair."

He practically fumbles the badge into my hand. I don't thank him. I just turn and walk into the belly of the beast.

The Discovery: Container 412

The warehouse is a cathedral of steel. Rows of containers stretch into the gloom. I walk with purpose, pretending to inspect fire alarms, my eyes scanning for anything that isn't corporate-approved.

Observation roll:
[D10 + D10]: [8 +9] => 2 successes
Critical success table roll:
[D8]: [4] => Intimidating: Cause an NPC to falter or hesitate.

Question: what do I notice?
Cipher table roll:
[D6 + D12]: [4 + 12] => infiltrate + passion

Near the west wall, I see it. Two men in worksuits, arguing in hushed, frantic tones. They look around, then slip inside a container. I move like a shadow, my hand hovering over the blaster in my pocket.

I reach the heavy steel door. I hear voices—desperate, hushed. I don't knock. I kick the door wide, my weapon drawn but hidden in my coat.

Critical success effect:
The men freeze, paralyzed by the sudden intrusion.

Q: is one of the men Kael?
Question table roll:
[D10]: [8] => yes

Q: What is inside the container?
Cipher table roll:
[D6 + D12]: [2 + 2] => aid + connection

It’s Kael. Beside him is another man, older, with the hollowed-out look of a man who has already accepted his death.

Kael: "Locke."

Locke: "Let's talk, Kael. This time, there’s nowhere to jump."

I glance around. The container is packed with Wallace Corp crates. Biosynthetic components. The raw materials for a new generation of ghosts.

Locke: "The data drive. I know you have it. Hand it over."

Kael’s shoulders slump. The defiance is gone, replaced by a weary resignation. He gestures to an emergency kit on the wall. I open it. The drive is there—cold, heavy, and full of enough secrets to burn the city down.

The Conspiracy

Kael: "Think carefully, Locke. If you take that back to the LAPD, Vestige just moves to another shadow. I stole it because I wanted to strike the final blow. They have another production site. They need this data to start the next batch. Without it, they're crippled—but some of them know the process. They might try to rebuild it from memory."

Locke: "So why keep it?"

Kael: "I wanted to alter it. Sabotage the code so subtly that the entire next batch is born defective. It would burn their funding, their reputation, their future. But I don't have the skills, and I'm out of time."

Locke: "And then what? You just hand the poisoned data back to them?"

Man: "I do."

The second man speaks for the first time.

Man: "I'll be 'caught' trying to escape with the drive. They’ll think they recovered their prize. They’ll use the data."

Locke: "And you'll be dead."

He nods. Acceptance in his eyes.

A moment of clarity hits me, sharper than the pain in my ribs. I think of Zhao. I think of the "Bird" who attacked me. I think of the copies of copies being born into a life of slavery.

Locke: "I know someone who can alter the data. A ghost who hates the system as much as you do."

Kael stares at me, disbelief etched into his synthetic features. A Blade Runner crossing the line.

Kael: "Why?"

Locke: "Because Zhao was right. This madness has to stop. And Holden doesn't need to know how the fire started, as long as it burns the right people."

I take the drive.

Locke: "The phone booth near the place where we last met. When the data is ready, I’ll mark it with three X's. When you see them, meet me at the Snake Pit. 10 PM."

I turn and walk out into the rain. I don't look back. I have the drive, I have a plan, and I have a very dangerous conversation waiting for me with Dante Riggs.