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Background

A chartered bus carries you from Kai Tak to a mid-range hotel in Tsuen Wan. All around you, the happy chatter of your fellow passengers fills your ears. You hear tech-speak in a variety of languages and dialects; talk about new lines of drones and decks, arguments over innovations in datajack technology, and baseless speculation about the next season of Urban Brawl.

Your guest badge -- a glossy slip of laminated paper emblazoned with a flashy logo -- hangs on a lanyard around your neck. Your ticket into the convention hall, and the only disguise that you should need.

The bus drops you in front of the Harbour Spires hotel, and you promptly circle around back to find a service entrance. Is0bel should be waiting for you inside.

--- Mission Complete ---
The bus trip back to Kai Tak is quieter than the ride in was. Your fellow passengers sit crumpled in their seats, barely moving, barely speaking. Their DeckCon 2056 T-shirts hang loose on their frames, and their once-cherished guest badges have been crumpled into their pockets. You've seen more lively groups on their way to the morgue.

Is0bel looks up at you, her eyes full of the same post-Con fatigue that you see in everyone else's. She gives you a small smile, and taps her temple with a fingernail.

You've got what you came for. The show is over. It's time to go home.


Karma Points

• [8]  Return to Heoi.

Walkthrough

After gaining enough trust with Is0bel (which can happen quickly), she'll tell you that she's found "some software that could help us," but she won't elaborate on what it is or what it does. If you agree to help her acquire it, then she'll send you a message on the mission computer entitled "Job Offer from Is0bel." In it, Is0bel will detail her plan, which will involve you attending DeckCon 2056 and tricking a decker named Rhombus into giving you what you need.

To get started, you'll need to take the MTR to Kai Tak, where you'll automatically board a bus for Harbour Spires, the hotel where the convention is taking place. You'll only be allowed to take two runners with you, including Is0bel, who is required. You can avoid combat in the mission, so the extra runner can be anybody. A rigger like Racter will give you an extra way to complete an early objective. Gaichu will generate a funny conversation when a convention goer mistakes him for a cosplayer (#10).

You'll begin the mission at the service entrance (#1). Is0bel will already be inside the hotel in the women's restroom (#7), but she'll contact you via your commlink. You'll have trouble hearing her because of interference from the convention booths, but she'll order you to find her a Catering Uniform, which will allow her to move around the hotel unhindered.

To complete this objective, you'll have to make your way to the staff break room, where you'll find a Catering Uniform hanging in a locker (#5). There are four basic ways to do this:

• With Decking 4, you can use an alarm panel (#2) to turn on the sprinklers in the kitchen (#4), which will cause the catering staff to flee and the door to the break room to unlock and open.
  
  
• With a rigger, you can send a drone through a vent (#3) into the break room, and use it to pick up a uniform for you.
  
  
• You can just walk into the kitchen (#4), where the kitchen manager will stop you. With the Corporate or Socialite etiquette, the manager will open the way into the break room for you, and allow you to take a uniform for free. Failing that, you can also buy a uniform from the manager for 500 (or 300 with Charisma 5) nuyen.
  
  
• Finally, if none of those options work for you, then you can just walk into the kitchen (#4), talk to the kitchen manager, and then head towards the convention floor. When you reach the kitchen door, a worker named Larissa will stop you. She'll tell you about an elf decker who hit on her and then tripped her, and she'll offer you a uniform if you beat him up.
  
  You'll find the elf on the convention floor (#12). He's the only person you'll be able to talk to. The elf probably won't be pleasant to you, either, but you'll be given two ways to handle him: you can either punch him or pretend to punch him. Nobody around you will mind either way (although you'll receive some applause if you really hit him), and Larissa won't be able to tell the difference. So regardless of your choice, when you return to Larissa she'll open up the break room for you.

With Catering Uniform in hand, you'll need to take it to Is0bel in the women's restroom (#7). Is0bel will put on the uniform to disguise herself, and then she'll head for the Admin Wing upstairs. You'll need to follow along behind her until she exits the convention floor (at #18).

While Is0bel is getting herself into position, you'll need to wander around the convention floor and talk to people. Most of these conversations won't really lead to anything, but you can do some shopping (#6, #17) and liberate some nuyen (#9) if you want. Eventually, Is0bel will contact you and tell you that she's figured out a way around the commlink problems. You'll just need to head over to the PerfectPersona kiosk and talk to her there. There isn't any rush for this; you can continue exploring the convention floor for as long as you want.

When you interact with the PerfectPersona kiosk (#13), Is0bel will contact you again. She'll quickly realize that Rhombus is already in a VIP suite, which means you won't need to escort him to one. However, before she can give you VIP access, hotel security will notice her, and they'll kick her out of the server room that she was in (#22). You'll then have to take control of Is0bel, and guide her back downstairs so she can get you into the VIP Level. This will involve navigating Is0bel through a gauntlet of potential pitfalls:

• When you move Is0bel into the elevator (Exit A), she'll recognize the decker in it -- Kein Ding -- whose actions six months ago killed a friend of hers. Is0bel will take an aggressive stance towards Ding, which will freak him out. If you can convince Is0bel to diffuse the situation -- by saying "I'm not a decker, honest" and "apologize to him" (the Biotech response isn't required) -- then you'll avoid combat. Otherwise, security will be alerted.
  
  
• Outside the elevator, Is0bel will run into two security guards dealing with an unruly troll (#19). If you can keep the guards focused on the troll rather than Is0bel -- by saying "I was just checking to see if anybody down here wanted a drink" and "my work schedule" (the Socialite and Intelligence responses aren't required) -- then the guards will go on their way and leave you alone. Otherwise, security will be alerted, but you'll have the troll on your side.
  
  
• Next up, Is0bel will encounter the catering manager (#20), who will of course wonder why Is0bel is wandering around a restricted part of the hotel. Meanwhile, a convention goer will come up behind you at the PerfectPersona kiosk and demand that you stop hogging it. Most of the dialogue here won't make any difference, although some of it can be amusing since Is0bel will repeat verbatim everything you say to the convention goer. You'll just need to claim that you're working for the hotel's owner. If you do this, then the catering manager and the convention goer will both be impressed and leave you alone. Otherwise, security will get involved.
  
  
• Optionally, Is0bel can also enter a conference room (#21), where she'll meet the Binary Bard -- and his deck, which she'll call "the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." If you let Is0bel try to grab the deck, then she'll fail, and the Bard will notice. Luckily, the Bard will be nice about the attempted thievery, and he'll allow Is0bel to examine his deck. If you choose this option, then you'll gain Paydata: Prototype Deck Info, which you'll later be able to sell for 300 nuyen. Otherwise, if you let Is0bel pull a gun on the Bard, then security will get involved. If Is0bel simply leaves, then nothing will happen.

If security gets called at any point, then you'll end up fighting two or four guards (depending on the status of the troll guards, #19), but you'll be able to bash open the security door next to the PerfectPersona kiosk (#14), and help Is0bel out. This will clear the way to the VIP elevator, but you'll skip the other encounters along Is0bel's path (which will prevent you from getting the paydata). So you'll only have to fight security at most once. If Is0bel makes it through the gauntlet unscathed, then she'll be able to open the security door for you at the end.

After going through the VIP elevator (Exit B), you'll end up on the VIP Level, where you'll find Rhombus' suite at the end of the hall (#25). Inside, Is0bel and Rhombus will start arguing with each other, but eventually you'll learn that the two of them were once friends, and that Rhombus helped Is0bel to lock away her memories of the Walled City. You'll also learn that Is0bel lied to you -- there isn't any software -- the entire mission was about Is0bel getting back the key to those memories.

If you keep Is0bel and Rhombus talking, then eventually Rhombus will give Is0bel the encryption key that she needs, and you'll be able to walk away without a fight. Otherwise, if you attack or threaten Rhombus, then you'll have to deal with four HKPF officers when they show up to rescue him. But either way, you'll just have to return to the elevator (Exit B) to end the mission and return to Heoi. This will earn you 8 karma, and when you talk to Is0bel in the future, you'll be able to ask her about her memories. You won't be able to sell any "metadata" about this mission to Maximum Law.


1 - Service Entrance


2 - Alarm Panel


3 - Vent


4 - Kitchen Manager / Larissa


5 - Uniform


6 - Men's Restroom

You'll meet a shady dwarf here who will sell you drugs.


7 - Women's Restroom

This is where you'll meet Is0bel at the start of the mission.


8 - Noodle Extruder

You'll meet a decker named Grimson waiting in line at the extruder. He'll tell you that getting noodles from the extruder is a DeckCon tradition. You'll learn more about the extruder in the Admin Wing (#23).


9 - Simsense Parlor

With Body 5 or Decking 6, or with the Corporate, Gang, Security, Shadowrunner, or Socialite etiquette, or if you knocked out the elf decker (#12) for Larissa (#4), you'll be able to convince the staffer here to let you into the parlor behind him. Inside, you'll find four distracted deckers whom you can pickpocket for 204 nuyen total.


10 - Headspace

You'll meet a troll decker named Headspace here. He'll try to sell you on the idea of using a cranial cyberdeck. This won't lead to anything.


11 - Gamege

You'll meet a non-decker named Gamege here. He'll be pretending to watch a demo. With Spellcasting 1 or Conjuring 1 (for astral perception), you'll see that he's a physical adept. With the Shadowrunner etiquette, you'll recognize that he's a runner just like you, and after comparing notes, you'll work out that your missions don't overlap. This won't lead to anything.


12 - Elf Decker

You'll meet a condescending, insecure elf decker here. He's the one you might need to punch for Larissa in the kitchen (#4). Nothing the elf says will lead to anything, even if you pass an ESP Control check and educate him on the merits of Blasthammer.


13 - PerfectPersona Kiosk


14 - Locked Security Door

You won't be able to go through this door until near the end of the mission.


15 - Turtle

You'll meet an aged decker named Turtle here. He'll tell you about the good old days. This won't lead to anything.


16 - Bierce, Harridan, and NovaHott

You'll meet three deckers here arguing about which company makes the best mid-range cyberdeck. This won't lead to anything, even if you impress the trio by passing a multitude of skill and etiquette checks.


17 - Mr. Lin

The merchant here will sell you decking gear.


18 - Locked Security Door

This door will remain locked for the entire mission.


19 - Guards / Troll


20 - Catering Manager


21 - Conference Room / The Binary Bard


22 - Server Room


23 - Computer

If you read the emails on this computer, then you'll learn more about the mysterious Noodle Extruder on the convention floor (#8).


24 - Cabinet

You'll find an Advanced Medkit inside this cabinet.


25 - Rhombus' Suite


Exits

1. Main elevator.
2. VIP elevator.