Chrome Symphony - Chapter 2

Duncan, Shell, Renk, and Atlas had been searching all day for street doctors that could both tend to Renk's minor injuries and repair Shell and Duncan's badly damaged cybernetic gear, to no avail.

Renk had not been able to establish any radio contact with his superiors. Duncan had noticed that a large portion of the global network had been unavailable throughout the entire day, so he wasn't able to contact anyone for information on where to get help.

Atlas was looking noticeably worse for wear as he had been walking and helping Duncan stay off of his damaged knee all day. It was clear that he was close to passing out from exhaustion and malnutrition.

Their search for a street doctor took them into the shady part of town, where he and Shell had fought off Atlas at the Velvet Room just the night before.

Duncan tried to establish network connectivity as they walked down the poorly-lit alley ways, with civil twilight now upon them. Finally, Duncan was able to reach a deep web chat channel as he hobbled along with Atlas helping him along.

"Everyone!" Duncan exclaimed, "I've got a connection! Someone in this channel has some information!"

He communicated with an anonymous contact in the channel.

HereiMobArmy20101109:  So you want a street doctor, do you?

DuncanDonuts:  We're in a dire situation.  Anyone with cyber gear repair skills will 
do fine, thanks in advance.

HereiMobArmy20101109:  Do you know where to find the Velvet Room in the "Mob" district?

DuncanDonuts:   ...I'm familiar with it, yes.

HereiMobArmy20101109:  If you can get in the place without getting bounced, ask 
that bar tender, the one who's a dead ringer for Eclair Antares.

DuncanDonuts:  No clue who Eclair Antares is but I'm sure I'll know when I see her.

HereiMobArmy20101109:  Good luck, friend.

DuncanDonuts:  Thank you.

Certainly, the online handle of his contact filled Duncan with apprehension. Duncan was familiar with hackers from the seediest corners of society but he had a distinct aversion for working with known terrorist groups, even in moments of desperation. The HMA was about the most dangerous of all of them.

He looked at Shell and Atlas. "I was just told to head back to the Velvet Room, everyone. It's maybe not the safest place to be considering Crest's actions yesterday, but it seems Elise might be able to get us some decent aid."

Shell took a good look around them, getting a good picture of their surroundings. In their condition, they wouldn't be able to run if they were attacked by thugs or fight them off.

"The Velvet Room's just a few blocks back that way," she said. "It's dark now so we better get in there now. I hope Elise is working because we might otherwise have to deal with more of what we had yesterday and right now I know we can't."

They walked back to the building where the Velvet Room was. Walking inside, Shell saw Elise at the bar along with a woman in a red outfit with shoulder-length black hair and a large claymore sheathed on her back.

"We're in luck," Shell told Duncan.

Jess was sitting at the bar, talking to the Silver-haired woman. Jess was familiar enough with popular culture to know that the bartender looked exactly like Eclair Antares, which made her conclude that she was probably one of the "clones" produced through heavy modification to fulfill the role of the pop star with countless individuals, only to discard them after the next "Eclair" was chosen. Jess chose not to bring it up in the conversation.

Jess made a little more small talk before getting to the point. "So nobody knows exactly what happened with the EMA building, then." Jess replied to Elise.

Jess took a sip of water. She wouldn't order any other drinks as she never liked alcohol and looked way too young to order it anyway. "I was wondering where there might be someone looking to sell some information about the Herei Mob Army," she said. "I have a personal interest in figuring out what they've been doing lately."

Elise nodded. "Nope, not much better than a couple betting pools floating around places like the Shadowlands BBS over who's got the right guess." Nobody knew what had happened with the EMA building yet, but not many people were buying the official word, at least among the 'runner community. Speculation ran from EMA not lying and making a cover story, to them pinning it on the wrong terrorists, to a run gone bad, to just about anything and everything else.

"As for the Herei Mob, you can find enough people who've done a job for them here and there, but I'm not sure how likely you'd be to get much out of anyone. Consider it a sort of professional-client privilege. Some of the information brokers probably know a thing or two, at least." She thought for a while. "Can't say I really like them too much; they're a little too extreme for my tastes. I hear they're the sort to go for some really underhanded tactics, you know, arrange for someone on their own side to be 'martyred', that sort of thing. Still, big enough group of self-styled hactivists, they're not the sort to just hide forever. You can bet they'd claim responsibility for things by now if they could."

She looked toward the door soon after Duncan, Shell, Atlas, and someone she didn't recognize wandered in, all looking the worse for wear. "Didn't think you'd be back so soon," she called out from across the bar. "And you'll pardon my French, but you all look like s***."

Duncan smiled weakly as Atlas helped him hobble over to the bar. "We've had a rough day."

"Well, if you need a drink, you're at the right place," Elise replied.

"Actually, I'm more interested in getting this bum knee fixed."

"I don't blame you," she said without missing a beat. "Trouble is finding anyone who has the replacement parts for an older model. I'm not sure I know anyone who can manage that, but I do know a reliable place to get work done, if you'll trust the same clinic that handles my own 'ware."

Duncan looked down at his busted knee. "I don't have a large amount of funds but if I can get an affordable upgrade to something that's at least serviceable in the short term, that will work," he told Elise.

Duncan looked over at Jess. "Please pardon the intrusion but I couldn't help but overhear you mention the Herei Mob Army." Duncan carefully took a seat next to her. "You should really be careful about those folks," he told her. "Elise is correct; they're well known for using underhanded tactics. I've worked with the scum before, as awful as that is. Of course, I didn't know who I was working with at the time."

He could see that Jess's face was showing an obvious expression of disgust. "I take it you don't like them much, either."

Duncan looked up at Elise for a moment and thought of something. "Tell you what," he said, looking back at Jess. "I'd be happy to infiltrate them again and get some information for you..." Duncan looked at his knee again. "If you'd be willing to fund some repairs and upgrades for myself and Shell here."

Duncan looked over at Renk and Atlas.

"Oh, and if you can get this man something to eat, then I'll dig up whatever info you want if I can get it," he said, gesturing with his thumb back at Atlas.

"Whaddya say, Miss?"