Shadow of the Waxwing Slain, Ch. 8
The Case of the Iron Court
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Chapter 8: Case of the Iron Court
Before
At some point, humans went to the stars and colonized other worlds. But there was dangerous and difficult work out there. So, the Tyrell Corporation built Replicants, beings that were created but looked human. “More human than human” was Tyrell’s motto. Each new model was more and more complex than the ones before, but they had a 4-year lifespan. Sometimes, replicants would escape, returning to Earth to hide. The officers who were hired to hunt them down were called Blade Runners. They used a device to test emotional responses and asked personal questions to identify whether a human was a replicant or not. If found, replicants were ‘retired’ aka killed.
In 2019, a group of N-6 replicants escaped and returned to Earth. While eventually found, it was a scandal. The Tyrell Corporation skipped to making N-8s, with open-ended life spans, made to perform any task a buyer wanted. A registry was created of all the N-8s to keep the UN happy, but the list was leaked and anti-replicant humans started finding and killing any N-8s they could find. A group of N-8s set off a bomb, destroying all data networks and wiping the registry in an event called “The Blackout”.
The Tyrell Corporation went out of business. The Wallace Corporation used synthetic farming to save the world from hunger, and bought up the Tyrell assets. Wallace Jr. reintroduced replicants, the N-9, who ‘obey’. N-9s are now the only legal replicant model and are used off-world as well as on Earth in different positions such as servants, prostitutes, and blade runners, created with implanted memories to ensure they do their job well. Blade Runners don’t just retire old models anymore, they are part of the Replicant-Detective Unit, and handle any and all legal matters concerning Replicants. This may involve retiring an N-8, but could just as well be related to shutting down a bootleg replicant-making business.
Wallace Jr. ensures the world that his replicants are obedient.
It is now 2037.
The Previous Case
Fletcher, an aging human Blade Runner was partnered with a fresh-off-the-assembly line N-9 Blade Runner named Dee.
They investigated an explosion outside the LA Courthouse, determined it was the work of an extremist Replicant group called ‘The Iron Court’. They found the mercenary hired to plant the explosive, an ex-Blade Runner found out to be an N-8, and retired him before he could set off a second explosive.
After some much-needed time off, Fletcher and Dee have been tasked by their Chief, Holden, to investigate the Iron Court more deeply, determine who else is involved and ultimately break it up, a task easier said than done.
Shift 1: Morning
Location: LAPD-RDU
Dee sat across from Fletcher at their desks, looking through the file of everything that’d been found and catalogued from the abandoned resort where Rhodes’ had been staying.
“He was just a hired gun, a non-believer. You think we’re going to find anything connected to the Iron Court?” Dee asked.
Fletcher shrugged, looking a couple pictures. “The Iron Court hired him for this but whose to say they didn’t work together before? There might be more here.”
(PWM) Clue: 1d100 = 14: Connection to a location of interest
(PWM) Clue Format: 1d100 = 83: Stain, mess, garbage, etc.
(BR:RPG) Randomly-generated Location: Beyond Downtown → Energy Empire → Protein Farm
“Look at this,” Dee said, handing over opened envelopes that’d come from Rhodes’ trash. “Address for a protein farm outside of LA.”
Fletcher took it. “Interesting. Rhodes had not been living in that resort for long. He had to be somewhere for the years between when he was found out and now. Maybe this is it.” Fletcher winced and touched the bandage on his head.
“Are you alright?” Dee asked. “Maybe you should take more time…”
“I’m fine,” Fletcher said. “Though I do have to check in with Coco. Can you interrogate Ricci yourself?” He looked her in the eyes.
Dee looked back. She remembered slamming Ricci onto the pavement. She remembered putting her finger in Ricci’s eye. “Yes.”
Fletcher lay on the hospital bed as Coco, a short-haired pale fellow, the Chief Medical Examiner for the RDU, checked him over.
Fletcher is still recovering from his head wound, it takes a week. Currently he suffers a disadvantage to Observation and Tech rolls. Another Medical Aid roll needs to be made to determine if those negatives are permanent, or if after the recovery time, they will go away. Luckily, Coco is good at his job.
Medical Aid w/advantage: 3d12 = 11,8,9 → Critical Success!
I’m going to say the critical will reduce the recovery time. One week = 7 days. Let’s say one day has passed. 6 days left, let’s cut that in half and say 3 more days of recovery.
“It’s healing well,” Coco said, without emotion, almost as if bored. “You should be feeling better in a few days.”
Dee stood a moment outside the hospital room which Eve was in.
‘She’s an older model who plotted an attack against humans and would have again. You did what you had to do‘ Rem said. ‘She refused to surrender.’
‘Right,’ Dee replied.
‘We are not like her. Remember that.’
Dee went into the room.
Eve had bandages and casts around most of her body, including over her left eye. Her right eye watched as Dee entered and walked over to the bed. “Come to see your work?” Eve asked, her voice raspy. “Happy to kill your own for them?”
“I don’t kill my own,” Dee said. “And I didn’t kill you.” She crossed her arms. “I did retire Rhodes, though. He’s gone.”
Eve glared with her remaining eye.
“Tell me, who else is involved with the Iron Court?” Dee asked.
“Why would I tell you anything?” Eve looked away.
“Did you love him?” Dee asked.
Eve looked back, confused.
“Gabor,” Dee said. “He loved you. Did you have feelings for him? Is that something you even can feel?”
Manipulate: 2d8 vs Stamina: 1d10
2d8 = 7,3 → One Success vs 1d10 = 3 → No Successes
Eve looked away again and didn’t respond.
Dee noticed a single tear. She did have feelings for him. Interesting. “We let him go for now, but Eve, he participated in a terrorist attack at the LA courthouse. He would spend the rest of his life in prison. If you don’t want that to happen, you need to give me something.”
What does she give him? Time to try the Clue oracle again!
(PWM) Clue Oracle: 1d100 = 55 → Connection to a group/organization/gang
“The Underground,” Eve said. “They know about the Iron Court.”
“That isn’t good enough. We already knew that.”
“I’ll give you someone in the Underground. Someone who knows more about the Court.”
“I’m listening,” Dee said.
“Holbrook Hyden. He’s a security guard at Walton Gardens. He was with us but…he didn’t agree with our methods.” Eve closed her eye.
Dee knew she wouldn’t get more information out of her, but she hesitated before leaving. She wanted to know more.
‘Dee, what are you doing?’ Rem asked.
“What does it feel like?” Dee asked. “Your feelings for Gabor. You’re a replicant. You don’t even have implanted memories. How can you feel…those things.”
Eve’s eye opened, staring at Dee. She shook her head and closed her eye again. “You think you’re better than me because you have implants? It’s just another form of control. I have real memories, with Gabor. You wouldn’t understand because all you do, all you can do, is obey.”
Dee left.
“You get anything from her?” Fletcher asked, sipping from a Styrofoam cup of coffee.
They sat at back at their desks.
“A name of someone in the Underground who knows more, Holbrook Hyden. Sounds like he was with him but fell out of their circle. How does your head feel?”
“Fine,” Fletcher said. “Should feel better in a couple days. So, we got this Protein Farm connected to Rhodes and this possible Underground member. How about you check out the farm and I’ll look into this guy, Holbrook?”
“You want to take him on yourself? Injured?” Dee asked. “Are you that stupid?”
“Take him on? Dee, sounds like he isn’t with them anymore. I’m just going to talk to him.”
“If he is with the Underground, it means he is an N-8. Which means he should be retired. He will expect that’s what you are there to do.”
Fletcher leaned forward, setting his coffee down, looking Dee in the eyes. “Listen, Dee, sometimes, in our line of work, you have to bend the rules a bit, for the bigger picture.”
“The bigger picture?” Dee asked, her tone neutral.
“We want the Iron Court because they pose a threat to the safety of our city, right? Sometimes, to take down the real threats, we have to let some things, or some people, slide. Understand?”
Dee leaned back in her chair. “Like when we let Gabor walk.”
Fletcher nodded. “Exactly. That wasn’t by the book but it’s what we needed to do, in order to catch Rhodes.”
“So you’re not going to bring Holbrook in? Interrogate him? Retire him?”
Fletcher picked up his coffee and took a sip, relaxing back in his chair. “First, I’m just going to talk to the guy. Get a read on him. And I have a…contact that will help me get in touch. I’ll find out what he knows. If he’s a threat, I’ll let you know.”
“You have an Underground contact?” Dee asked, eyes widening.
Fletcher smirked. “I’ve been working this gig for ten years, Dee. I got lots of contacts and most of them are on the other side of the law. That’s the way it is. That’s how you get information. If you want to be good at the job, it’s necessary.” He stood, finishing his coffee. “We’ll in touch with our KIAs. Be careful out there, we don’t know what’s out there.”
Dee watched him leave, thinking.
‘You should report him,’ Rem said.
Dee got up and left.
Shift 2: Afternoon
Location: Beyond Downtown → Energy Empire → Protein Farm
Dee woke as her Spinner chirped, noting they were approaching the destination.
Huge circular spreads of solar panels passed beneath her, encompassing her entire view for miles.
Past that, she came to the irregularly-shaped farm plots, each one distinct, jagged pieces that formed a huge puzzle stretching across the horizon.
Pressing a few buttons, she identified the address she was looking for and dropped the spinner down. On the farm, she saw the a row of greenhouses, an old name from back when they used to house plants, which now housed grubs. At the moment, she didn’t see anybody.
Is anybody here?
2d6 = 2,1 → 2: “No”, Not a match
Dee got out and viewed the greenhouses. She didn’t see any figures within, so she headed to the house. She had her gun strapped, ready.
The house looked like a single-story farmhouse, though with an orange bulge in the front, where the front door was, almost like an airlock.
The door was locked.
Dee knocked, hard and waited a few moments.
Nobody answered.
Force: d12 + d10 = 3,10 → Two Successes
Critical Success!
She wrenches on the handle, snapping the lock mechanism and throwing the door open. She pulled her gun and hand light out in her right hand, and advanced through the farmhouse, clearing every room.
The place looked empty, but not abandoned.
Dee would have described it as tidy. Someone had been living here but had been away for a week or two. There was canned food in the cabinets, clothes in the drawer in the bedroom. Even rough paintings on the wall. Someone had been living here for years.
What’s something she finds?
(PWM) Descriptor + Focus: 2d100 = 85 + 60 → “Rare” “Person”
What could a ‘rare person’ be, in this case?
In the bedroom, on the nightstand was a picture of Rhodes with a child, a boy sitting on his lap.
They were both smiling.
Rhodes had been living here, with a child?
“Impossible,” Dee said out loud, sitting on the bed. She’d cleared the entire farmhouse, there was nobody here.
‘It’s just a picture,’ Rem said. ‘That could be anybody’s kid. An orphan, who knows.’
‘Right, right,’ Dee replied. ‘Clearly, this is where Rhodes was living until he was hired by the Iron Court and took up residence in the resort to plan and enact the bombings.’ She took out her KIA and called Dispatch to get a forensics unit.
She also put in a call to Holden but hesitated before completing it.
‘Do it,’ Rem said. ‘It’s your job.’
She did.
“What is it, Dee?” Holden asked, sounding annoyed.
Dee swallowed. Why did this feel wrong? This is what she was supposed to do. “It’s Fletcher. He’s meeting with an Underground contact right now.”
Holden took a moment. “And you felt the need to report this.”
“Of course,” Dee said, forcing her voice to remain neutral. “The Replicant Underground is a group of illegal model replicants. Our job is to find, identify and retire them.”
“Of course, you’re right, Dee. I’ll handle it. Thank you.” Holden ended the call.
Dee let out a breath.
‘You did the right thing, Dee.’ Rem said. ‘If they knew you knew and didn’t say anything about it…’
Why doesn’t it feel like the right thing?
Dee stood up, focusing on what she needed to do. Before forensics got there, she was going to take another look around herself.
Observation: d10 + d6 = 3,5 → No Successes
Push: Reroll d10 + d6 = 10,5 → Two Successes.
Critical Success! And no 1s, so no stress.
(PWM) Clue Format: 1d100 = 10 → Audio/Video Recording
(PWM) Clue Oracle: 1d100 = 60 → Connection to a group/organization/gang
Through extreme patience and persistence, making her way through the farmhouse in a slow, measured way, Dee found a loose floorboard in the kitchen. Pulling it up, she found an old KIA, likely Rhodes’ government issued one. They would’ve blocked it’s access to the LAPD mainframe once he went rogue, but it still could’ve been used for basic functionalities, such as a video/audio recorder.
Dee brought it back to her spinner and played around with it, finding that it still had at least one audio recording. She played it. She recognized Rhodes’ voice. He was talking to someone else.
(UNE) NPC Conversation Mood: Neutral
(UNE) NPC Bearing: Inquisitive, “interest”
(UNE) NPC Focus: Flaws
‘The Inquisitive NPC(Rhodes) speaks of Interest regarding Flaws’
Rhodes: I was interested by our last communication. You think the Underground is flawed.
Unknown: We have no issues with the Underground…
Rhodes: But…
Unknown: But we believe more can be done. More needs to be done. The Underground hides and waits. We want to take action. We will take action. We’d like you to join us. You have…exceptional skills that would assist in our missions.
Rhodes: Sounds like you may have more of a use for my skills than the Underground but I’ll tell you the same thing I told them. I don’t give a shit about ‘noble causes’ but I do give a shit about getting paid. You want me to do something. Pay me.
Unknown: Very well. We may have something in the works soon. We can pay. We will be in touch.
Rhodes: What do you call yourselves, anyway?
Unknown: The Iron Court
Chapter 8 Notes
It’s fun to be back! I knew Dee interrogating Eve was going to be difficult and at first I had no idea how Dee would get any information from her. She’s a captured extremist replicant who is going to be killed as soon as she’s not useful anymore. Why would she give up any of her comrades? BUt then I remembered that Gabor loved her. I could have asked the oracle whether she loved him and if I got a yes, then roll Manipulate to have Dee try to use that on her but instead, I just decided to roll Manipulate. I figured, if it was successful, then Eve has feelings and Dee can use that. If it failed, then either she doesn’t have feelings or refused to be manipulated by them. When solo-gaming, you don’t have to use an oracle to determine the answer to every question, you can use your characters skills and abilities, and roll to see if they succeed, instead.
If you’re wondering what (PWM) means, it indicates a solo-tool I made myself, like the Clue oracle tables. I also took the Starforged Action/Theme/Descriptor/Focus tables and tweaked them ever so slightly to fit a less universe-exploring sci-fi setting to a more cyberpunk, neon, gritty noir setting. I really only changed 10-25 terms, so still heavily inspired by those original tables.
I used UNE once again, which is a very useful took when figuring out what an NPC is going to talk about. It really sparked a cool idea to have a conversation between Rhodes and a Iron Court contact.
I’ll likely do Promotion and Humanity points next Chapter.
Let me know what you think in the comments and share if you think anyone else would be interested!
Nice turn of events.
We will need PWM soon (via DrivethruRPG?)
Rem = snitch! Another great chapter!