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Mailing List Logs for ShadowRN

Message no. 1
From: Jaimie Nicholson chicken@********.net.nz
Subject: Enquiry
Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 09:08:37 +1300
*****PRIVATE: Lynch
>>>>>[You should know... which government agency is currently dealing with
bug infestations?]<<<<<
-- Ronin <16:37:23/02-16-61>
Message no. 2
From: Paul J. Adam Shadowtk@********.demon.co.uk
Subject: Enquiry
Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 21:50:17 +0000
*****PRIVATE: Ronin
>>>>>[At the moment, the bughunters are chopped through SOCOM. Us.

So, if it's bugs, I might want the work after all, and if I don't I know some
teams who do.

What you got, Matt? And how's life?]<<<<<
-- Lynch <21:49:37/02-16-61>
Message no. 3
From: Jaimie Nicholson chicken@********.net.nz
Subject: Enquiry
Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 05:34:38 +1300
*****PRIVATE: Lynch
>>>>>[Someone I know has some info, and wants it put through to the right
people fast, without he himself becoming directly involved (you can probably imagine why).

+++++Include file bug.dat
[Being the address and other details relating to a warehouse in Tacoma]

+++++include file bug.ftg
[Being a badly produced shot of what could be a wasp true-form spirit
flying out of the warehouse at night.]

I've checked it out a little - I didn't want to waste your time, but on
the other hand fast movement is required - and it looks possible.
Disappearances are up 10% in that area, and there's a fair amount of
activity at the warehouse, which is in an area that's not exactly
thriving at present. Let me know if there's anything in it - and BTW, my
source asked me to find out if there's any cash to be had.]<<<<<
-- Ronin <10:54:39/02-17-61>
Message no. 4
From: Jaimie Nicholson chicken@********.net.nz
Subject: Enquiry
Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 09:08:37 +1300
*****PRIVATE: Lynch
>>>>>[You should know... which government agency is currently dealing with
bug infestations?]<<<<<
-- Ronin <16:37:23/02-16-61>
Message no. 5
From: Paul J. Adam Shadowtk@********.demon.co.uk
Subject: Enquiry
Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 21:50:17 +0000
*****PRIVATE: Ronin
>>>>>[At the moment, the bughunters are chopped through SOCOM. Us.

So, if it's bugs, I might want the work after all, and if I don't I know some
teams who do.

What you got, Matt? And how's life?]<<<<<
-- Lynch <21:49:37/02-16-61>
Message no. 6
From: Jaimie Nicholson chicken@********.net.nz
Subject: Enquiry
Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 05:34:38 +1300
*****PRIVATE: Lynch
>>>>>[Someone I know has some info, and wants it put through to the right
people fast, without he himself becoming directly involved (you can probably imagine why).

+++++Include file bug.dat
[Being the address and other details relating to a warehouse in Tacoma]

+++++include file bug.ftg
[Being a badly produced shot of what could be a wasp true-form spirit
flying out of the warehouse at night.]

I've checked it out a little - I didn't want to waste your time, but on
the other hand fast movement is required - and it looks possible.
Disappearances are up 10% in that area, and there's a fair amount of
activity at the warehouse, which is in an area that's not exactly
thriving at present. Let me know if there's anything in it - and BTW, my
source asked me to find out if there's any cash to be had.]<<<<<
-- Ronin <10:54:39/02-17-61>
Message no. 7
From: Paul J. Adam Shadowtk@********.demon.co.uk
Subject: Enquiry
Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 19:53:56 +0000
*****PRIVATE: Ronin
>>>>>[Hey, Matt, you know that hive in Tacoma? It just burned to the
ground and isn't there any more. Crispy critter time.

+++++include credit transfer: >>respectable sum<<

Pass that on to your source, with the thanks of a grateful Government,
and all that happy crap.


So, how's life treating you?]<<<<<
-- Lynch <19:53:45/02-20-61>
Message no. 8
From: Jaimie Nicholson chicken@********.net.nz
Subject: Enquiry
Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 20:50:39 +1300
*****PRIVATE: Lynch
>>>>>[Excellent news.

My source will be very happy.

Not bad. So what's the story with you not being dead? When I first heard
about it, I was vaguely tempted to arrange some payback for that
compound fracture you gave me, but when I tried to call up the hard
assed trogs with the pliers and blow torch, all I could find was a dwarf
with some tweezers and a zippo, so I didn't bother.]<<<<<
-- Ronin <02:20:57/02-22-61>
Message no. 9
From: Paul J. Adam Shadowtk@********.demon.co.uk
Subject: Enquiry
Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 21:54:25 +0000
*****PRIVATE: Ronin
>>>>>[I've been not-dead before. It was no fun then and I didn't much like
it that last time either.

Short version, I got shot down and pretty badly banged about. Couple of
months of physio and reconstruction to get me back on my feet. We took
the opportunity to change IDs and I came back as Some One Else, in order
to advance a case we needed fixed. (Your employer for the bus job, as a
matter of fact, though that was just part of the deal)

That sorted out, in suitably nuclear fashion, I could stop being dead and go
back to being me.

And don't diss Zippos. You'd be amazed what you can achieve with a
Zippo, a Leatherman tool and a roll of duct tape.


So, you working or retired now? Enjoying a comfortable life of luxury on
your ill-gotten gains, or finding you miss the edge too much to leave
it?]<<<<<
-- Lynch <21:44:36/02-21-61>
Message no. 10
From: Jaimie Nicholson chicken@********.net.nz
Subject: Enquiry
Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2000 10:00:10 +1300
*****PRIVATE: Lynch
>>>>>[So who was this case?

You expect me to tell a government employee whether I'm currently
working the shadows? Of course I'm not, and I resent the
suggestion.]<<<<<
-- Ronin <15:23:17/02-22-61>
Message no. 11
From: Paul J. Adam Shadowtk@********.demon.co.uk
Subject: Enquiry
Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 22:43:43 +0000
*****PRIVATE: Ronin
>>>>>[The guy who hired you for the bus job was The 'Farmer', right? He
worked for a serious scumbag, name of Nar'moh'ach, who'd been a pain in
the posterior for a decade or so. You briefly met the guy yourself, on a
_teocali_ on the Black Amazon. (Did he stop to say 'thank you, Matt'? <g>)

I'd like to say that your case was the vital key to the whole affair... but it
wasn't. It did help some, though: bad guy dead, good guys won this one.


And of _course_ you're not working the shadows. I would never so insult a
man of wealth and means like yourself by suggesting he might be a career
criminal. I was just curious as to whether you were happily retired, or still
interested in certain forms of gainful employment.]<<<<<
-- Lynch <22:43:52/02-21-61>
Message no. 12
From: Jaimie Nicholson chicken@********.net.nz
Subject: Enquiry
Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2000 18:46:33 +1300
*****PRIVATE: Ronin
>>>>>[Huh? There was a connection between the bus thing and that circus
down south?

And how did you know I was a man of wealth and means now? I thought I'd
hidden all my money from the taxman. But yes, I still like to keep
busy.]<<<<<
-- Ronin <00:41:37/02-23-61>
Message no. 13
From: Paul J. Adam Shadowtk@********.demon.co.uk
Subject: Enquiry
Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2000 22:08:24 +0000
*****PRIVATE: Ronin
>>>>>[Welcome to the big bad world, Matt <g> It's a pretty
complicated
story.


The guy who hired you for the bus job, was Doctor Nar'moh'ach. A
renegade Tir Taingire mind-warfare expert who'd worked for the UCAS,
been caught being a _very_ bad boy, and had scooted to Aztlan where he
carried on his grudge against us.

His people captured the commander of a UCAS covert-ops team going into
the Yucatan, tried to condition and program the guy, and then planted
him on us. The bus job, and you in particular, was there to give
Lieutenant-Commander Mitchell a chance to be a hero.

The dice were loaded, of course. Three buses got rabid psychos who loved
the idea of hosing down the passengers. The one Mitchell handled, got
you: because Nar'moh'ach was fairly sure you would at least hesitate over
massacring helpless civilians, giving Mitchell more chance to ride to the
rescue. I think you were meant to either escape, or more likely be killed
in the crossfire (didn't the bozo squad he lent you, try to kill you?).

We broke up the operation in the UCAS, and Aztlan got so annoyed with
Nar'moh'ach's misbehaviour they expelled him. Which took him to his
Amazonian stronghold, which is where you got to (briefly) meet him when
you burned him out of _there_.

Mitchell, though, got made as an enemy agent, so he ran for his life. Hit
the shadows, as 'Serpent'. And on the 13 February, 2060, you and he were
part of one of the biggest armed robberies North America's ever seen.


How do I know all this? Because we pulled a switch at the start, and _I_
was Mitchell, right up to the point where we killed Nar'moh'ach in his lair
and vaporised it with thirty kilotons of instant sunshine.


Which is how I know exactly how much you got out of the Mistral's vault
<g> If you're _not_ a man of wealth, you must have an amazing talent for
pissing money away...


Take care, Matt.]<<<<<
-- Lynch <22:08:47/02-23-61>
Message no. 14
From: Jaimie Nicholson chicken@********.net.nz
Subject: Enquiry
Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2000 15:23:03 +1300
*****PRIVATE: Lynch
>>>>>[Huh? Mitchell didn't play hero in the bus thing, that was you. Or did
I just penetrate your cunning disguise? As for this armed robbery, and mistral's vault,
well, I don't know anything about that ;p]<<<<<
-- Ronin <20:52:09/02-23-61>
Message no. 15
From: Paul J. Adam Shadowtk@********.demon.co.uk
Subject: Enquiry
Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2000 22:59:26 +0000
*****PRIVATE: Ronin
>>>>>[Gah, old age, senility and brain damage are sneaking up on me...

You're right, you're right, the bus job was me as myself. Same principle,
get the public at large used to the idea that a Guvmint death squad can
be a Good Thing that saves lives when relying on cops gets people killed. A
few months later, we were playing similar games with me as Mitchell,
which is why I got them mixed up.

Scouting a library that got hit with mustard gas, on a hot summer's day...
not nice. The idea was that Heroic Commander Mitchell would solve the
case in dramatic, photogenic style. Sticks in the mind, rather... that's
what confused me.


The Mistral? Yeah, I was mistaken there. Neither you nor I were ever
anywhere near the place, and that's official :)

I'm getting out of the large-scale saving-the-world business, but I'll still be
looking for talent off and on. OPFOR for exercises, mostly, some small-
scale stuff. You likely to be interested?]<<<<<
-- Lynch <22:58:52/02-24-61>
Message no. 16
From: Jaimie Nicholson chicken@********.net.nz
Subject: Enquiry
Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 13:38:44 +1300
*****PRIVATE: Lynch
>>>>>[Old age... consider yourslef lucky, it starts at twenty-five out
here... it must be nice to have a pension plan. Not that I'm bitter, you understant, after
all I'm one of the luckier ones. Anyway, that's not important...

Small scale stuff, yes I might know some people, or be able to help you
out myself, but only if it's strictly legal - and I don't want to have
to be anywhere near any kind of official scrutiny, oversight commitees,
juries, any of that drek. I've got a fair amount to lose now.]<<<<<
-- Ronin <02:31:04/02-26-61>
Message no. 17
From: "Paul J. Adam" <shadowtk@********.DEMON.CO.UK>
Subject: Enquiry
Date: Sat, 12 Jul 1997 00:27:40 +0100
*****PRIVATE: Blade
>>>>>[Hiya, Matt.

Let's see... I'm in Philedelphia. Lilith's in Seattle teaching some CAS
jet-jockeys to fly Sasha's MiGs for reasons too classified to mention.
Quinn's still sneaking her new-found friends into Britain for reasons
she tries valiantly to explain.

Boston, huh? We might well be by soon, that's only an hour in the
Mistral from DC. Good to hear you're still OK, Quinn'll be glad.

We might have some work for you in a month or so. We might have a crisis
job for you starting yesterday. Interested in either?]<<<<<
-- Lynch <00:27:52/07-12-58>
Message no. 18
From: Michael Broadwater <mbroadwa@*******.GLENAYRE.COM>
Subject: Re: Enquiry
Date: Mon, 14 Jul 1997 09:28:10 -0500
*****PRIVATE: Lynch
>>>>>[Work? Sure. I said I was getting respectable, not retiring
<g>.
And the jobs you offer never fail to be interesting. Tell me where you
need me to be. I can probably be in Philly with little to no hassle in
short time.]<<<<<
-- Blade <10:27:52/07-14-58>
Message no. 19
From: Jaimie Nicholson <jaimie.nicholson@********.OTAGO.AC.NZ>
Subject: Enquiry
Date: Wed, 26 Nov 1997 10:59:44 +1300
*****PRIVATE: Ronin
>>>>>[A mutual friend wanted to know whether you've carried out the op yet
and if so how it went without him, and to apologise for his absence. Reply
to here.]<<<<<
-- Troglobyte <14:55:44/11-25-58>

>>>>>[I think you're wrong, Ronin, about such prcedures eliminating
racism. It seems to me that almost inevitably, the children would be
seperated by metatype, because of differing physical requirements. This
would obviously increase racism.]<<<<<
-- Troglobyte <14:56:28/11-25-58>
Message no. 20
From: Jaimie Nicholson <jaimie.nicholson@********.OTAGO.AC.NZ>
Subject: Re: Enquiry
Date: Thu, 27 Nov 1997 10:54:12 +1300
*****PRIVATE: Troglobyte
>>>>>[I presume the mutual friend is Ice? If so, he'll know how to decrypt
this (as, no doubt, will you and most other deckers, the encryption is
amateur at best. But if said friend is not Ice, then you probably don't
want to know the info here, so it'd be a waste of time cracking it).

+++++Include file howitwnt.enc
[How'd it go? If I said "perfectly", I'd be lying. We entered the building
okay, at about 0200 I guess. Marlowe and I were on the ground, Michael in
astral support. Marlowe did the elctronics on the door and lift systems,
and we got to the target floor without any trouble. In his scouting,
Michael had spotted that the stuff was stashed in a hidden room which used
to be a spare bedroom berfore the door was covered over, but he wasn't sure
where the door was, nor how to open it from the outside. So we waited, and
he eventually spotted the door, popping up visible to show us where it was.
Neither Marlowe nor I couold see how to open it even when we knew where it
was, and time was passing, so I asked Michael to have a spirit push it open
from the inside, so that's what he did. I hear this weird creaking and
cracking and the wall opens up, and standing there is this titanic marble
statue of a woman the size of a troll. Earth elemental, I guess. Then
Michael's shout of "get back" gave me a tiny fraction of a second to move
before a pop-up LMG spayed about fifty flechette rounds around the room,
three or four of which tore into my chest as I fell back and around, a
couple more of which tore chunks out of my left arm. Luckily I wear armour,
lot's of it, so I lived, and I had my medkit on hand for some swift
treatment. Marlowe looked a bit surprised (whether at my survival or at the
LMG I don't know), I felt a little distraught, I don't know what Michael
thought. Strangely enough, there was no noise from the weapon. Michael told
me later there was a low radius silence spell locked at the firing
mechanism. Anyway, I sat down and had a rest while Marlowe and Michael
figured a way to spoof the weapon's fire control system. In the end they
forgot the subtle approach, and Michael decided to have another earth
elemental cover it up and bash it to bits. He called it "engulfing" like
there's a technical term for it. You mages, I don't know... anyway, the LMG
was disabled (and I gave what was left a pretty solid kick on the way past)
so we cautiously moved inside, through a little fire corridor, to the
storehouse, wherein we found the stash. The two earth elementals assumed
the role of pack mules, and we started loading them up with as much as we
could. Then Michael appears again, telling us that there are five security
guards on the way up in the elevator. I look at my multiple bullet wounds
and think "fighting would be hard right now", Marlowe says something about
leading them off, and I lead the elementals into the emergency fire
stairwell, which was a mistake with hindsight, the fragging fire alarms
went off when I opened the door. Everyone looks at me as if to say "good
one, Ronin, now look what you've done", which was fully deserved, but I
wasn't thinking too clearly with all the blood I'd lost. So Marlowe, the
pack-mule elementals, and I start to run like hell down the stairs, and
even wounded like I was, with wires on I can move pretty damn fast down
stairs. Luckily I avoided falling over, and we got to the ground before
anyone else in the building had even gotten out of bed. Unfortunately the
van was in the basement parking area, so we had to bust our way through a
gate to get to it, and then drive off, but Michael's elementals were
covering our escape and leading the security guards a merry chase through
the building. We drove off quietly, and in the confusion, I don't think any
of the guards even saw us leave.]

What the hell is Ice up to, anyway? I presume you've seen him, or at least
talked to him.]<<<<<
-- Ronin <14:50:48/11-26-58>
Message no. 21
From: Jaimie Nicholson <jaimie.nicholson@********.OTAGO.AC.NZ>
Subject: Re: Enquiry
Date: Thu, 27 Nov 1997 10:56:55 +1300
*****PRIVATE: Ronin
>>>>>[He came charging in here with some jap corp biff, wanting to buy a
couple of false SINs and two tickets on a smuggler plane to Indonesia. I'm
busy getting that sorted now, and he's cooling his heels here until he can
leave. Dunno why he's so het up about getting there, but het up he is. And
he's paranoid about touching his mail, or astral flight beyond our wards,
and physical movement beyond the boundaries for that matter (which means we
can take shameless advantage and get him teaching twelve hours a
day).]<<<<<
-- Troglobyte <17:20:54/11-26-58>
Message no. 22
From: Jaimie Nicholson <jaimie.nicholson@********.OTAGO.AC.NZ>
Subject: Re: Enquiry
Date: Mon, 1 Dec 1997 13:31:40 +0100
*****PRIVATE: Ronin
>>>>>[More news on Ice... he managed to mislead his woman as to when he
was leaving, and no-one around here talks to her much because she's
japanese and corporate, so he got away without her. She was pissed bigtime,
but what could she do? Nothing. So she's going down to the city to get her
corp to move her back to Seattle, she's going to tell them she was
kidnapped or something, I don't know. Anyway, her name is Lena Tait, she
works at Fuchi Seattle HQ in data management, give her a call if you want
to find out more about what Ice was up to. I don't know whether she'll talk
to you, and whoever was chasing him might get to her first, but give it a
try if you feel lucky.]<<<<<
-- Troglobyte <17:22:12/11-30-58>
Message no. 23
From: Jaimie Nicholson <jaimie.nicholson@********.OTAGO.AC.NZ>
Subject: Re: Enquiry
Date: Mon, 1 Dec 1997 15:48:11 +0100
*****PRIVATE: Troglobyte
>>>>>[Where was Ice going?]<<<<<
-- Ronin <19:42:20/11-30-58>

*****PRIVATE: Ronin
>>>>>[He told me not to tell anyone. And he's going to be moving on from
there anyway, as soon as he can. I have no idea of where his final
destination is going to be, but I know he's putting a large number of
twists in the trail to maximise pursuit time.]<<<<<
-- Troglobyte <20:32:47/11-30-58>

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These messages were posted a long time ago on a mailing list far, far away. The copyright to their contents probably lies with the original authors of the individual messages, but since they were published in an electronic forum that anyone could subscribe to, and the logs were available to subscribers and most likely non-subscribers as well, it's felt that re-publishing them here is a kind of public service.