006: Alors on Danse

"Dit famine, dit tiers-monde
Qui dit fatigue dit réveil

Encore sourd de la veille

Alors on sort pour oublier tous les problèmes

Alors on danse."

*- Alors on Danse* by Stromae

## Session Summary

Downtime: What was that like? The past few days had been so packed with actions and deeds and tasks that it had been impossible not to see the way forward. But now, with current goals fully met and greater tasks still in the planning stages, it seemed like the Runaways (Bit Chaos, Fridge, K2, Nova, and Smoke) were all experiencing a rare moment of quiet. That meant different things for different people. Fridge took the time to let himself recover more from his recent surgery (though, Doc Hazzard did send him home with a temporary morphine pump.) Bit Chaos and Smoke spent the time at Kerry Eurodyne's house, taking the time to upgrade his inferior security system. Nova spent some the downtime with Foxy, and while some matter of business may or may not have been discussed, it was also clear that the visit was personal (and probably intimate) in nature. K2 also spent some time with The Mox, though it was as a performer in Lizzie's Bar, spreading their fame just a little farther each day.

Kerry offered to "cook dinner" (aka, order delivery) to his villa, and the Runaways were invited to join up for the meal. They all met at Villa Eurodyne, and what started as a dinner of pizza quickly turned into a private party after Kerry offered drinks, and Bit tried to describe a particular beverage that she had been trying to rediscover after being told the name of it years ago in a language she didn't speak. The offer for drinks quickly segued into an offer of harder substances, with K2 taking him up on the offer, and receiving "Polka Dots," a club drug designed to look like candy buttons, a sugar candy popular in the 1990s. Fridge passed out fairly early in the night, probably due to mixing alcohol and morphine. Bit Chaos soon disappeared into her van, and was not seen for the rest of the night. Nova enjoyed her inebriation, and even sent a few emotional and endearing (if hard to translate at times) texts to Foxy; it was unfortunate that Nova would be too drunk to recall the night's events. Smoke invited over a few Valentinos, who respected the house and their host, while also bringing a bigger party mood; Later Smoke was seen disappearing into the only bedroom in the house with one of the Valentinos. Kerry eventually retired to an open room in the house, and fell asleep on the futon mattress overlooking the city night lights.

The next morning brought sobriety, with everyone in various levels of recovery. Interestingly, Bit Chaos emerged with a box that she had created in her van workshop. Even more interestingly, she had absolutely no idea what the box did. It did have a big red button in the middle. And, after Smoke scanned it with a Geiger counter, they discovered that it emitted a significant, not entirely unsafe amount of radiation, suggesting that it had some sort of power source. Beyond that, the Runaways spent much of the breakfast hours theorizing what the box did. (The most popular theory seemed to be that the box had stolen Nova's memories of the night before, suggesting that maybe it had some sort of sentience?)

With no certain plans for the day, Bit asked the group to help her out with dumpster diving (the main way that she procures parts and tools). Kerry declined but said that he would take care of the sleeping Valentino boys that were still in his home. After a brief consideration, Bit decided to take the group to the junkyards at the edge of Night City to see if she could catch any unique finds. While there, some of them were even able to find a few unique things, especially K2 who found a 1970s Fender Stratocaster among the rubble. Also drifting up from the rubble, though, was the unusual sound of music; the sounds of a Russian ballet piece. Smoke immediately recognized it for what it was and started to track down the source, calling on the others to help them out.

Under the rubble and junk, they revealed a bunker hatch hidden deep underneath. There was a faint light coming from within, but there didn't appear to be any modern tech for the doors or any other equipment inside. Smoke picked up the vague signal of netrunner gear, offline, coming from inside. The Runaways opted to open the hatch, and found a self-contained survival shelter. There was a small potato farm along with storage and a place for sleep, with one larger door still closed at the end of the hall. Popping it open had the Russian opera and ballet music pouring out at an insanely loud volume. The Runaways entered and found an unconscious individual on the floor. She had been carrying a pot of boil potatoes when she clearly collapsed. Blood and CSF were draining from her nose and ears, the tell-tale signs of a cybernetic signal attack.

The Runaways worked quickly. Smoke proceeded to jack into the stranger's neurolink, looking for her DSI in the .net architecture. Working together, K2 and Nova stabilized the stranger's body. remembering similar symptoms in Smoke when she was attacked outside Afterlife. K2 used their audiodeck to jack into the sounds of the .net, and they were all able to communicate with the stranger despite the state she was in. The name she gave them all was "Pusik." It was revealed that she was a spy working for Russia, who was collecting reconnaissance on Night City; specifically on their infrastructure as operated and managed through Night Corp. She had been attacked cybernetically, despite the fact that, for this very reason, she had no remote link in any of her hardware. Smoke pointed out that it had to be another AJ4X attack, since AJ4X and/or Alt seemed able to attack and hijack links, no matter their remote capabilities. Together, the Runaways matured her back to mental and physical health enough for her to regain consciousness.

Now up and moving, they all agreed that they needed to get her out of there, since the bunker was clearly compromised. When asking Pusik further questions, they all discovered that apparently she could not talk due to some sort of issue with her trachea. Any effort to talk out loud met with rough, rasping noises in the back of her throat, and an inability to talk. It was pointed out that she probably would need to report to her superiors soon, and when asked where they were, she pointed up. Smoke concluded that it meant that Pusik's superiors were in space, and, since they were both after the same thing when it came to taking down Alt, that space was clearly the next stop.