(20) I'VE GOT A NEW ADDITION TO MY EXECUTIVE COLLECTION, MR RETIARIUS! "The government keeps making such a big fuss about the fact that kidnapping is down. What they don't tell you is that under the new laws, snatching a person is only kidnapping if they are unemployed or a C.E.O.. You take anyone else and its theft" - Red Square. When the P.C.s arrive back at Retiarius' apartment, Bram Lockwood will already be there. Retiarius contacted him and, as he expected, the Samurai agreed to side with him instead of Sarracen. Lockwood will be standing behind the door, firearm at the ready, just in case the P.C.s are someone else. Anyone with Combat Reflexes will instantly realize that he is there with a successful vision roll. We can only hope the no trigger-happy P.C. spots him, fast-draws, and guns him down in the belief that this is an ambush. It isn't - although that doesn't guarantee that things won't turn nasty. John Smith is, of course, absolutely terrified. He understands none of this and will passionately affirm his lack of knowledge at any opportunity. "This is all some kind of terrible mistake!" will be his catch-cry. If the P.C.s have not already done so, then Bram Lockwood will bind and gag him with strips made out of torn bed sheet. Now the P.C.s will want their money (or this isn't Cyberpunk!). Retiarius is happy to oblige - but the money isn't here. There's no big problems though. He can direct the P.C.s and Bram Lockwood to it via communicator. Bram has a communicator - and if any P.C. has one, they can listen in too. The P.C.s may start to argue. If they do, that's understandable - when they cut the deal, the netrunner never said anything about them having to go get the money. However, Retiarius will stress that it is vital that they go now. He has just arranged for more personal protection to arrive. It will be Goldenboys who have changed sides, and he thinks they have heard from Sarracen that it is people fitting the P.C.s descriptions who have rubbed out their co-gangers. This is a half truth - the protection will be Goldenboys, but it was from Retiarius that they heard descriptions of the P.C.s. The hacker simply enjoys double-crossing people. It makes him feel superior. The P.C.s may also argue about having to take Lockwood with them. Even if the P.C.s don't argue, Lockwood will. He fails to see why he needs to hold their hand, since he is not getting a cut. The reason Retiarius gives is that the money, alas, happens to be in a buried case slap bang in the middle of gang territory. They shouldn't worry too much - The Plaguerats rarely pack firearms and aren't much of a gang in any case. However, he would feel a little more comfortable if Bram went with the P.C.s, just to be sure. Lockwood will grumble, but he will go - deep down he is loyal to those he sees as his allies, even if he doesn't always choose his friends well. If the P.C.s refuse to take Lockwood with them, Retiarius will press the matter even further. "Listen" he will insist "there is more in the case than just payment for the runners. I need you to collect it for me, Bram. I didn't want to mention it, and I don't want to say anything about what it is in front of them now. But I do need you to go". Retiarius will thus only direct the players to their payment if they take Lockwood with them. If they agree to go, go to (21) Excavating With Lockwood. [In Cyberpunk, instead of anyone with Combat Reflexes being able to make a Vision roll to notice Bram immediately, allow anyone with Combat Sense to make an Awareness/Notice roll to notice Bram immediately]. [In Shadowrun, instead of anyone with Combat Reflexes being able to make a Vision roll to notice Bram immediately, allow anyone with a Reaction score of 5 or above to roll against Intelligence to notice Bram immediately]. (21) EXCAVATING WITH LOCKWOOD "You won't know what it is to be a cyberpunk until a 12 year old girl points a gun at your head and takes aim. And believe me, sooner or later its going to happen. And afterwards, you will stand there wiping brains off your pants and say to yourself 'so that's who I am'" - Sidhe. Bram will insist on going to get the treasure at night. He has no wish to be seen transporting large quantities of cash, and believes that the darkness will help. The party will eventually be directed to a large building site in a bad part of town. Almost nothing has been achieved at the site other than creating a wide hole three feet deep in the middle, and the whole affair is surrounded by a wire fence surmounted by barbed wire. It would be hard to climb - Climbing -2 to do it without taking 1d-1 damage from the barbed wire. On the other hand, it wouldn't be too hard to pick the lock on the gate. Failing that, the P.C.s could always shoot it off - but even with a silencer, that will be rather noisy. If they don't shoot the lock off, The Plaguerats will still show up, but they won't have guns. If they do shoot the lock off, The Plaguerats will go get some firepower. The P.C.s will be directed to dig in the middle of the hole, thirty paces south from the north-east corner, and thirty five paces west. Then they will be told to dig. It shouldn't take long - the box isn't deep. During this time, vision rolls by anyone already on watch will begin to show silhouettes flitting in the shadows beyond the fence. Anyone with equipment or cyberwear that allows them to see in the dark will catch the form of bedraggled youngsters carrying large knives. If the lock was shot off, they will also notice a few carrying handguns. Its impossible to say how many there are, or how many have firearms. They will not attack at the moment though. They just want to watch and wait. Bullets fired into the air will make them pull back, but will not get rid of them. What the P.C.s eventually dig up is a black briefcase with a bulky silver lock. It feels heavy enough to have bricks in it. There is a letter combination on the lock. Retiarius will give the combination - "I.O.U.". If the party tries to leave with the case instead of opening it there and then, a reedy voice from The Plaguerats will call out, telling them not to be stupid, and just to put the case down and leave. There will be 4d6 Plaguerats in all. They average around 16 years of age and are sickly and undernourished. Consider them to have ST 9, DX 11, IQ 9, HT 9, Spd 5, Dodge 5, Parry (Knife) 4, thrust 1d-2, swing 1d- 1, Climbing -13, Guns (Handgun) -12, Knife -12, Stealth -14. They purposefully dress in the most tattered rags that they can find, always in dark colours. The gang's signature weapon is a large knife with a jagged, chipped blade and a crude rat drawn on the hilt. The knives do 1d-1 impale. They are good at hiding, but probably won't present much danger in combat if the P.C.s have guns (and this being Cyberpunk, I somehow suspect that the P.C.s will have guns). However, if the P.C.s shot the lock off the gate, or otherwise made gun-noises, 2d6 of the Plaguerats will have procured some cheap weapons before the P.C.s are finished. They are CY or HT= sporting pistols / CW= Patriot Arms Model 5 auto-pistol (a very cheap knockoff of the SOG Strassen Shutz 9mm kurz at -3 Acc! Sells for $125) / LC= Caracas Hobgoblin .38 auto-pistol. As a special effect, Plaguerats ignore the barbed wire at the top of the fence - they know it so well that they have no chance of getting snagged on it. As soon as the case is open, a gray gas will hiss out. At first, it will seem to have no effect. However, anyone with Analgesic Glands, and that includes Bram Lockwood, will start to feel drowsy in 1d seconds and will collapse HT/2 seconds later. The gas cannot be resisted. The case has bricks in it, surprise surprise. The P.C.s may well decide to shout some choice words down the communicator at Retiarius, but he will assure them that he has arranged for their payment. He will explain that he will take care that Lockwood's friends never find anything out about tonight's activities. The P.C.s, in turn, should avail themselves of the unconscious samurai's very valuable cybernetic arms. They will earn a pretty penny on the black market, he assures them. However, they should hurry up in dealing with the sleeping Bram, as he will awaken in a matter of minutes. In fact, as can be seen in GURPS Cyberpunk, the arms are worth $25,000 each on the legal market. However, without a good look at the internal workings of the limbs and a roll against either Electronics (Bionics) or Mechanic (Bionics), it will not possible to tell that. Moreover, given that the limbs are used and illegally acquired, they may well get considerably less. Without a successful Physician roll to remove them, you can halve the value just for a start. Anyway, if the P.C.s kill Bram Lockwood and take the limbs as payment, the adventure is over. If the characters decide to go back to Retiarius' place in anger, it may well be wise to wait for Lockwood to wake up. This will take 20-HT minutes. Bram will be very angry, and more than willing to accompany the P.C.s back to the netrunner's apartment to "sort things out". With or without Bram Lockwood's help, go to (22) Showdown. [In Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0., The Plaguerats are INT 5, REF 7, CL 5, MA 7, BODY 6. They have Climbing +6, Handgun +4, Melee +4, Stealth +8. If they have guns, the guns are Dai Lung Cybermag 15 light autopistols. Instead of downing anyone with Analgesic Glands, the gas downs anyone with a Pain Editor - causing it to edit just a little too much. The price for Lockwood's cyberwear will be as appropriate for its type and value in Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0.. See his character below for what chromes his zones in that game]. [In Shadowrun, The Plaguerats have Body 2, Quickness 4, Strength 3, Charisma 2, Intelligence 2, Willpower 2, Essence 6, Reaction 3. They have Climbing 4, Handgun 2, Melee 2, Stealth 6. If they have guns, the guns are Colt America L36 light pistols. Instead of downing anyone with Analgesic Glands, the gas downs anyone with Wired Reflexes, unwiring them quite nicely for a while thank you. The price for Lockwood's cyberwear will be as appropriate for its type and value in Shadowrun. See his character below for what implants bring him spiraling ever closer to Essence 0 in that game].