station72 | OBJECTIVE: MAKE CONNECTIONS

Entry tags:

OBJECTIVE: MAKE CONNECTIONS

CHARACTERS: All
WHERE: Concordia - VEN DIAGRAMS HQ + BOUT IT OUT PARLOR
WHEN: Day :022
SUMMARY: Plans are in motion. The hosts tackle their mission on two fronts - one group works to infilitrate the Ven Diagrams HQ in pursuit of hidden H+H1 information while another fights (literally) to get an audience with Bout It Out superstar and reluctant pro-synthetic activist Kun Adetokunbo. The only question is how will it all shake out?
WARNINGS: Will update as necessary.

YOU'VE PLOTTED, YOU PLANNED. Now it's time to do something about it. A last planning meeting is held late on DAY :021 in Bearings. Everyone's invited to submit any information or last minute modifications to the strategy for the following day; it's clear that though Nirad and Carata will of course be working with the other hosts, they are by no means leading these operations; in fact, at least one of the young hosts seems to have a specific goal in mind.

This is a team effort and everyone's expected to either help out or get out of the way because on DAY :022, the hosts will be dividing forces to pursue both the secure H+H1 intelligence on Ven Diagrams's secure servers and battling it out (with fists or wits) to make a connection with Kun Adetkunbo and - hopefully - gain a contact to the higher ups of the pro-synthetic organization, Mind Life.

Wish everyone luck; no matter which side of this you fall on, you're definitely going to need it!

OBJECTIVE: INFILTRATE VEN DIAGRAMS HQ
>Take a tour to scope out the HQ and/or acquire building blueprints off a (likely shady) source
>Acquire (borrow/steal/or hack the system to recognize your own ID as valid) ID clearance for high security zones in the HQ or plan a route that (mostly) avoids them
>Find and retrieve information
>Make your escape!

The VEN DIAGRAMS headquarters is a sleek 60-story building located in the ALPHA BLOCK of Concordia. It's one of the few corporate buildings in the block which maintains and enjoys a small circle of land around its building proper. In the front of the building is a pleasant fountain and a slate grey courtyard; the entry level of the headquarters is pleasantly sleek and minimal. There are a series of sitting arrangements for casual conversation and a number of cheerful looking plants, but it's clear that not much (if any) business happens on this lower level. The only truly notable feature in this lowest level is the security desk which is manned by a human in a uniform. The security desk dispenses temporary badges for visitors on the tour and watches over the three identical powerlift doors leading upwards. The guy behind the security desk is friendly enough, if clearly a little bored.

The scheduled TOUR runs at 9AM and 6PM today; it might be a good idea to hit the earlier one to give yourself plenty of time to prepare. Every guest gets a temporary badge. The talkative and heavily modified young person (gender indeterminate) leading the tour will explain that the badges communicate with VEN's advanced security system and temporarily flag anyone wearing one as secure for up to mid-level security access. From there, the guide will lead guests up the powerlifts and through a series of levels. Most of the HQ's floors seem to feature the same smooth, polished aesthetic. The first level is a theater room where guests watch a production that gives the general overview of VEN DIAGRAMS's company history and goals for the future. It includes a lot of buzzwords like 'innovative' and 'synergenistic'. From here, they'll see the #18 Research & Development Lab which features a wide array of technical equipment, computer monitors and pieces of tech that's already on the market and is being repaired or modified. They'll see a few floors of offices and then stop briefly in the Level 50 OPEN AIR GARDEN at the middle of the building. The ten floors above the garden surround it on four sides with a number of office windows overlooking the garden. Sun is bounced down into the garden with what looks like a series of mirrors; it's not as claustrophobic as it probably should be. From there, the tour will wind back down through a few more offices and stop in at one of the HQ's repair levels to see a technician dismantle, clean and reassemble a synthetic limb. As a last stop, the tour will meet with the CEO of the company himself in a comfortably appointed boardroom. Ahtaliah Ven is in his early forties and disarmingly charming. He's clearly a people person (or is at least good at pretending to be). He's also ridiculously handsome. Go figure. He pretty much only has time to shake hands and answer three or four questions though, so it isn't long before the tour is escorted back to the ground floor. Their temporary guest badges will be taken from them at the end of the tour.

So now what? If someone can pilfer or copy a temporary badge, Nirad says he can use it to access the HQ's security system and manually key everyone in for mid-level security clearance (weirdly enough, once he has the badge Nirad just... walks straight in past the security officer and into the powerlift.) He'll have to babysit the security terminal that he's jacking into so won't be able to maneuver away from it during the mission until it's time to go. Unfortunately, he also doesn't have the hacking ability to get anyone more the mid-level clearance which you'll need to access the top ten floors the traditional way. It'll be up to the rest of you to figure out how to get farther than that.

If you can manage to get higher-level security access, you'll be able to take the powerlift right up to whatever floor you want. If you don't get higher-level security access, you might be able to access the floors by an alternative method but an alarm will sound when you pass through any doorway. Once an alarm sounds it will take building security roughly six to eight minutes to reach your location.

The top ten floors of the HQ are a combination of form, function and comfort. Level 51 is the main security level. Above that is server housing, a series of top secret RnD labs, as well as the highest echelon of corporate offices. There's also a pool somewhere on Level 58. The server rooms are huge gutted floors with mazes of blocky hardware from floor to ceiling. They are kept purposefully uncomfortably cold. The super secure RnD labs, should you find your way into them, have swathes of prototypes. Most of them are highly stylized, crisp designs similar to what's already on the market; some of them are frighteningly real. In the very back of one of the secure labs is a heavy door which refuses to open. Meanwhile, the offices are a combination of stately and minimalist - traditional and cozy. Every office above Level 50 has a secure terminal with access to the HQ's data network, though they all have varying degrees of access. The surest bet might be find your way to Ahtaliah Ven's office when he isn't in it... which you know is going to happen at some point during the 6PM tour...

Alternatively, it's completely viable to get into the HQ after usual business hours. Please be aware that from 8AM to 9PM, the HQ is fairly well staffed and populated. In addition to an around the clock security staff, there are also a few technicians and employees who burn the midnight oil but any time after 10PM will see a significant drop off in the number of humans around to side-eye you.

OBJECTIVE: FIGHT YOUR WAY TO THE TOP
>Gain entry to the competition
>While host fighters duke it out toward the top of the competition, support hosts will pose as sponsors using their cover as Think Tank developers
>Get a meeting with 'Kun-Kun' and acquire a contact to the higher ups of Mind Life

Congratulations! You've bagged a slot for the Adetkunbo Exhibition Fight with a chance to go head to head with the esteemed Kun-Kun himself! ...is what it says when you manage to secure your slot in the BOUT IT OUT competition. On DAY :022, game parlors all over Concordia will be hosting brackets for BOUT IT OUT. The game parlors range from small, older, and more intimate spaces to huge, elaborate, and decked in neon. All of them are packed with a crowd. The most popular parlor is the REGAL STREET PARLOR GAMING where ninety percent of the competitive matches are planned to take place. Because of a few of Kun-Kun's personal reps at REGAL STREET, it's rumored this might be where the final will be held as well as opposed to simply being a match-up in Extraspace.

The other competitors are incredibly diverse, both physically and in terms of their BOUT IT OUT records. Some of them are hugely successful amateur fighters; there's one young man who's never fought a single match but clearly has an axe to grind with Kun-Kun. Otherwise they're every assortment of fully organic, semi- or highly-synthetically modified; roughly two-thirds of the fighters seem to be anti-Kun-Kun with only a handful of competitors as fans of the one time favorite.

Betting on BOUT IT OUT is completely legal and highly encouraged for this fight; 5% of all winnings will be donated to 'YOUTH SPORT OF CONCORDIA', a charitable organization that seeks to enrich the lives of impoverished children by making all kinds of sports accessible to them. Because of the betting and the high profile of the competition, the parlors hosting matches are packed. It wouldn't be hard to sneak around unnoticed, though of course the digital security of the matches are being carefully monitored and regulated. Any cheating (looking at you, Ilde and Petre) should will have to be non-tech based in nature.

Further, it's fairly easy to find conversation with Kun-Kun's representatives. The two of them are clearly there to foster good will and put up a good face for their client; one of them is running a merchandise table (all profit to Youth Sport!) and the other is announcing the matches that take place at Regal Parlor but will be available for conversation during the fights themselves. If you're going to schmooze your way as someone's sponsor with them, there's your opportunity. Carata will be accompanying the hosts to the fights and will happily assist with smooth talking (just about anyone) if you need it.

Regardless of whether it's by brawling or a little charm and saavy, the hosts will manage to get a meeting with Kun-Kun. After a grueling competition, one of the host entries will finally face off with Kun-Kun live in the Royal Parlor. Afterwards - regardless of the result of the fight - the host fighter and their "sponsors" will be able to meet with Kun-Kun on less competitive terms in one of the parlor's VIP rooms for a friendly post-match chit chat slash photo-op.

((OOC NOTES: This is the catchall log for both prongs of the mission activity on DAY :022. We've done our best to compile the plans built by you, the players, in the OOC plotting and planning post. While the groundwork is set, it's up to you to determine how it goes from here on out! We'll be keeping a close eye on things for places where it makes sense for Concordian-native NPCs to show up, but if we miss something or you have something specific in mind you'd like to do, don't hesitate to contact us about it! That said, feel free to autopilot NPCs if you feel you need extra rando's to populate your threads!

For both objectives, we've made a poll to determine an important facet of those missions. For the INFILTRATION OBJECTIVE, please GO HERE TO VOTE whether the hosts manage to gain higher level security clearance or if they set off the alarm. For the BOUT IT OUT OBJECTIVE, please GO HERE TO VOTE whether they meet Kun-Kun by fighting their way to the top or by schmoozing their way into a backroom meeting. The votes are in! You've voted to obtain high level security access for the Infiltration Objective and to reach the final round versus Kun-Kun in the Bout It Out competition.

If you have any mission specific questions, direct them to the OOC post here.))

NAVIGATION • SETTING • FAQ • MOD CONTACT • GLOSSARY

( CODE BY WHAMBAM )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

observing and strategizing ... or convincing her not to be stubborn

[It should hardly be surprising that a woman who has carried herself as a security guard since her arrival here might not mind a sport that involves hand to hand combat—even in a simulation. Her introduction to the event is met with little fanfare because she has done very little training in advance, having done a couple matches prior to get a feel for the controls and little more. Lexa, having figured it out, is stubborn not to ask for assistance. Even as the Commander, she refused to ask someone else to fight for her, and the thought that she might need assistance here makes her bristle at the very idea of it.

As the matches begin, she settles into a seat to observe, eyes taking in what pieces of information necessary. It isn't only the match that she watches, but the people present, curious about whether anyone who's on the anti-synthetic side of the equation would come here to try to interfere and further ruin Kun-Kun's name. It's what she would do.

Just the same, as her name is coming up (though it's a little bit away), she reaches out to the other Hosts. Her practice with the telepathy link is improving, making it so that her forcefulness makes itself clear:] ( I remind you that I won't need assistance moving forward. I intend to make it to the end on my own merits. )

[And, truthfully, that's in part because the other options available are men like Petre and Kylo Ren.

At least Lexa knows how to behave herself in polite company.]

schmoozing ... or ensuring that someone will be

[Not one to curb herself from dictating and telling people what to do (because Lexa loves doing that, even if she knows most people would rather not listen to her), she reaches out at another point to assess the situation.]

( We will need to secure a private meeting once we've won, under the guise of wishing to speak to our challenger. Who intends to manage this? )

[Lexa could handle it herself, but her cover would make it not make a whole lot of sense.]

misplaced petulance | closed to petre (though they may need someone to interfere)

[Ending up across from Petre hadn't been a part of the plans, but when the brackets had been set up for the tournament, it became immediately apparent that there was a likelihood of it. Tournaments aren't something that Lexa's unfamiliar with, given that Ascending to commander essentially involves one. Of course, this one has much smaller stakes. Given the infiltration group that's elsewhere (a thing that she's worried about, as she tends to worry about Bellamy and Angel these days), they do have other eggs in a basket.

Which isn't a metaphor she would use, but all the same.

Still, she doesn't expect Petre to give up easily. He is prideful, difficult to reason with, and sometimes foolish. She doesn't dislike him strongly, but she does find him to be someone who begins to spit nonsense when he doesn't have a way to win an argument.]

Fight well, [she tells him, and then shifts to the mind link, one they've shared many times before over both significant and insignificant matters:] ( I should win here today. I'm a better representative of our cause. I can't imagine that you will want to speak to him or his representatives. ) [The issue with Lexa's brand of diplomacy is that it's often a blend of reason and being too blunt.

Oh well.]

[ prideful, yes, and a mix of every other sin, charging up a childish and violent personality. It's what makes him give her a sort of offended look, like he doesn't fight well anyway, and once they switch to the mental link, his eyes narrow in annoyance. ]

( I don't care. I wanna win, so I'm going to. You can cry about it later, if you want to. )

( You realize there is more at stake than what you want, correct? )

[Perhaps she should have tried for a more plying, diplomatic approach, but she doesn't believe that there is truly an ideal way of approaching Petre. Perking his interest usually involves violence and murder (from her one time of accomplishing it), and that certainly doesn't have a place here.

Of course, she also doesn't want to risk him ruining the plan that she came up with involving a potential meeting with Mind Life.]

( So? What makes you think I can't pull this off? You're just scared. )

[ Inflated ego makes for stupidity, so Lexa will just have to knock it out of him in a fight to get what is best. Petre, on the other hand, just stands in a position geared up for the fight, avatar loaded up with its monstrous teeth and claws. ]

( I'm the one who got us in the competition. )

[Her avatar took some work, but it is obviously reminiscent of who Lexa is back home. It is a warrior in armor with decorative swords on her back, especially given the nature of this event. Swords don't have much of a place. She has a face that's animated to be painted.

She doesn't really flinch at his avatar. To her, it's just another picture.]

( Do you really want to negotiate a deal? Are politics really an area of interest to you? ) [This is her attempt at twisting things, but she will fight. If it comes down to that, she will win as well.]

( I don't need to negotiate. I just tell people what to do. )

[ His mind-warping ability is certainly proof of that. This is when the fight is announced at last, and the timer begins. Petre wastes no time, his avatar lunging right at hers to attack the throat. ]

( We are not here to force people to do things against their wills. There is no value in succeeding that way. )

[The words are harsh, meant to distract him as he lunges toward her, but regardless, she edges out of the way swiftly. Thankfully, her years of battle do give her some instincts here, even if the method of fighting is new. And less hands on than she'd like.]

( Then you're obviously not doing your job right. And that's why I'm going to beat you! )

[ Pointed with a battle cry, frustrated when she just edges out of the way and he's left in a corner, crouching and staring at her. ]

( Our job is to earn Kun-Kun's trust. Cheating will make people suspicious. )

[Lexa is not against sliding a knife into someone's back when it has its place.

But she doesn't think this is one such place.

She preps after a moment, considering his movements and his thirst for violence, and lunges forward, assuming that he will meat her half-way.]

( It's too late for that, princess. )

[ He does meet her half-way, claws aiming to wrap around her throat. ]

[She takes the hit, but isn't knocked down and out for ... as much as anyone is. There's a signal indicating that she's been marked, and she traces her steps back.]

( Commander. ) [Does she think he was using a title? No. Is she being pedantic on purpose? Yes.]

( Bitch. )

[ petre just stop

Another lunge at her, not a lot of variation in his attacks. He's just imposing and strong, going for the same repetitive tactics with claws and teeth. ]

[Her side of the link goes silent as she notices that the extent of his strategy is honed in on brutality with little aim or direction. Her years of fighting make her familiar with this style, as it's admittedly how it can get when one warrior fights another head to head. But her personal style is a little more calculating, and she does what she can to begin to avoid his strikes and strike where he leaves himself open—especially when he's being particularly rash or bold or violent with his actions. Lexa wants to use that against him.]

lexa | bout it out

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schmooozing, since I didn't get around to tagging her initial announcement??

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