Information Highway

A Cyberpunk Replay

Introduction

A few things should be said before we start. This is a "replay" of a solo play TTRPG. The system used for the mechanics was GURPS. The setting, Cyberpunk, as in the same setting as the other TTRPG (2013, 2020, Red) and the recent hit video game Cyberpunk 2077. Why GURPS and not the official game? It's because I'm already pretty used to GURPS, even if I'm not that proficient compared to other forum users. Also, ran multiple sessions of 2020, and it's a lot of fun, but there is are some things I think are handled better in GURPS. As for Red, the most recent version, I've still got to read through it. I've heard mixed things about it when it launched, though some of what I remember hearing seems to have been ironed out by now.

I have the utmost respect for CD Projekt Red, R. Talsorian Games, and of course, Maximum Mike Himself, Mike Pondsmith. Nothing written here is meant to be an attack on these corporations or the individuals behind them.

The Setting

This game will take place shortly after the events of Cyberpunk 2077. This means mostly the modern guns, weapons, gangs, and netrunning are all here.

The date is October 31st, 2028 as we start our game.

The primary location will be Night City, though I anticipate we may explore the rest of the country as time goes on.

The Characters

Our primary protagonist is named Travaris Seres. Born August 10th, he's about 29 years old when our story begins. He's got short red hair, green eyes, and a pale complexion. He's a ginger. He wears a suit with a vest, jacket, and gloves all made from a nanoweave armor technology. The outfit made complete with a set of armored mirrored shades.

Our two closest allies are Alice Caldway, a no nonsense fixer who is the primary director for the Night City branch of the Publick Underground, and Amiga, a netrunning savant who helps Travaris get into and out of situations he shouldn't be in.

Chapter 1 - The Heat of the Moment

The job was simple. One of the MOX has been seeing an uptick in harassment lately, and they've finally found the gonk responsible. A man, going by Vice Et. Has a nice place up in Westbrook. The goal was two-fold. Find out why he's targeting the MOX, and enough dirt to make sure he stops. I did my usual thing, case the joint and see when he'd leave long enough in order to snoop around. I had Amiga on the holo in order to give them access to the networks, making sure I don't set off anything in the process. What's strange though, this place is remarkably light on security. A couple of motion sensors, and a camera or two. Usually these rich pricks pack these places with more lead shooters than a Pacifica barbecue. After a few days I saw my opening. Vice had his calendar booked full on Halloween night. Figures, no on here was much interested in passing out anything for free, let alone candy.

Amiga takes down what little security there is. Once inside, I began searching the place, starting with the office. On his computer was some shocking details just left out in the open. He wasn't just targeting a single girl, his goal was to manipulate the MOX into a larger gang war, involving every other gang in the city. Projected casualties reaching the thousands. Weapon sales projected in the range of $780M to $1.6B depending on the length of conflict and markup placed on goods. Trauma Team was projected to likewise have record breaking profits from this ordeal. And who really comes out on top? Vice, of course, but something felt off. His stock values would skyrocket, but would be unsustainable, not to mention that even with all this money it's still a lot of death and chaos for just money. No time to search here, I've started a transfer to Amiga, it should finish within 5 minutes.

Is this a trap? YES!

Just as I hit the send button, footsteps alert me to someone entering the room. I could hear the pistol being pulled from a synthetic duro-plast holster, and his footfalls indicated he either needs to hit the gym or he's packing much more than he lets on. The command came through a booming synthetic voice box, "Freeze! Don't move or I'll put you on ice. Turn around slowly with your hands high!"

I do as he says, calm and gently. "Easy pal, no need to get touchy. I'm only getting a file for the boss man. He has many important meetings today and forgot something is all." My voice is straight and disarming, as best as I can make it. I've done this sort of thing enough times, these punks don't have what it takes to make me cower anymore.

Fast Talk-16 -- 11

"I've not see you around." His voice is still turned up to eleven. There is a slight shake in his hands as the hot iron is pointed right at my skull.

"I'm new. Started last week, but this is my first time here."

I could see the twitch in his eyes as he scans that simple mind for what to do next. My arms were nearly falling asleep when he finally holstered his piece and relaxed his posture a bit. "Alright, you did make it in without setting off the alarms. If you've got the codes, I guess it makes sense you're supposed to be here. Just make it quick and scram." He walks off and I won't be seeing him again this time.

Anything else to find here? - NO!

I wait out the rest of the clock on the transfer an book it to the car, my slightly modded Cortes V5000 Valor.

Any trouble in the streets? - NO!

Anyone call on the way home? - YES! - NPC List = Amiga - Character Motivation: Enemy Create

"Trav," Amiga shouts, "we've got trouble in our way."

"What is it Amiga? Something in the files?"

"Yeah, a name. A name that someone doesn't want found out. It appears in nearly every file you sent, so I started to run some background checks. Turns out the gonk put a watcher on the net for exactly that. As so as I hit enter my systems started crashing. I was barely able to keep them running long enough to see my last received email."

"What'd it say?"

"Stop searching." There was a brief pause. I could hear her take a sip of something on the other end. "Trav, we've got to be careful with this. I've not seen something like this in a long time. An unknown variable is the main ingredient for a chaos soup, and I'm not looking to get burned."

"I know, Amiga, I know. How long have we been doing this?"

"As a team? Or just in general?"

"Funny. Either way, I'll keep things on the down low. Perhaps someone at Publick may know something. I'll take this offline, while you look into the rest. Anyway, I'll chat more when I'm home. Got to make a quick stop."

We hang up as I pull up to the convenience store just a few blocks from my apartment. Inside is always surprisingly bigger than you'd think. They've got just about everything a late worker could want. Snacks, coffee, instant food, and of course, my smokes. As I walk through the threshold of the place I feel some static on the back of my neck, like I'm being followed. I know better than to make it obvious, so I just brows around some, despite only wanting my smokes. As I walk bast the refrigerated section, I catch a glimpse in my peripheral vision. There is indeed a man following me. Hard to make out details like this. I go ahead and grab a small case of beer, just to make this look more natural. While bent over I watched the man dip out of sight into an aisle. I take my case to the register and ask the clerk for my usual. As he's digging through the stock to reach my order, I happen to turn around to see who's been shadowing me. Skinny, probably five-ten, really doesn't want their face visible because they've got some scramble tech up. Trying to find his eyes, all you get is the glitched out tearing of a cybernetic void. I try and slyly tune my Kiroshi's to get a clear look, but it's no use, his tech far outweighs mine. I finish my exchange with the clerk and head out.

"Stop searching." The man says, now that we're out in the open. His voice is just as scrambled as his appearance.

"An who are you my stalker friend?" I say, trying to keep things light since holding my beer is going to make reaching for the sword a bit more difficult if he does pick a fight.

"You know who I am. That's more than you should know. This is your only warning. Stop." I don't get a chance to get a word in before he's walking off. There is a strange swagger to his movement. It's like the confident corpo walk you see up city central, but it's off somehow. Like a computer trying to render a walk cycle from corrupted memory.

I let curiosity get the better of me and start to shadow him, I figure I could use the case of beer as a distraction if things get harry.

Shadowing-10 (Hard) -- 14

It's to open out right now. There's no good way to appear natural with so few people on the sidewalk. He dips into an alley, and I anticipate a trap as I follow. To my surprise, he's just gone. I decided to search the area, maybe he dropped something I could use to find him later.

Search-14 -- 8

Object: Official Enormous

I found something alright. I almost wish I hadn't. It's a patented Arasaka cred chip. The kind of traceable ones they give out to contractors, spies, and anyone else they don't trust. Thing is, these never have such small amounts of eddies. I can't check here in the streets without getting found, but it could have anywhere from tens of thousands, to millions of eddies. I aught to get this to Amiga at some point. Maybe she can break the trace and reverse it, see who issued it and why. Either way, this has been more than enough for today. Time to get home and relax some.