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Mailing List Logs for ShadowRN

Message no. 1
From: ANGLISS BRIAN EDWARD <angliss@****.COLORADO.EDU>
Subject: News from Haven
Date: Wed, 4 Oct 1995 12:19:55 -0600
>>>>>[It has fallen upon me to inform you all of what happened this
morning at Haven. In case you don't know me, I am one of Pat's, er,
Valentine's aids and fellow teachers here at Haven, and am also one of
the first children he ever pulled off the street and gave a new life to.

You can call me Mozart.

Classes started as usual....well, wait a minute, I may have access to the
camera logs. They would tell the story far better than I can.... Ahhh,
here we are....

+++++Uploading Camera logs+++++

The time on the logs says 7:30, and classes for the day have just begun.
Children, late as always, are still filing into their classrooms, and
various camera shots show teachers beginning to teach music, magical
theory, mathamatics, english, etc. Nothing happens until about 7:45,
when you hear in the audio feed something. It sounds like an attention
notice.

"Attention, please. All students and instructors, your attention
please."

You recognize the voice of Valentine/Patrick O'Kennedy, and if you aren't
mistaken, he sounds sad and very disappointed.

"I am very sorry to disturb you so early in the morning, especially with
news such as this. No, I am not letting you out early today." and you
hear groans of disappointment from the kids.

"I am, however, receiving several guests in 15 minutes, and it is
possible that they will want to talk to me for a while. I may be leaving
Haven for an unknown time.

But do not dispair, children, I am with you, in spirit if not physically,
and you will be expected to continue your studies and to attend classes
whether I am here or not. That is all, and may the gods bless you all."

You see on the moniters and hear on the audio the low rumblings of
children talking to each other. You also notice several of the teachers
talking to the senior students and leaving them in charge of the class,
while they head out into the halls and to the teacher's lounge. However,
like Val's office, the lounge appears to have no cameras or audio taps.

Another 15 minutes passes, and on an external feed, you see a large van
drive up. It is un-marked, but to those of you who know, it has all the
markings of concealed weapons and heavy armor. Out of it step 5
individuals, wearing otherwise normal clothing and packing no visible
weaponry, but also identified by the International Police badge. The
only other identifying feature on all but 1 of them is a shoulder flash
showing them to be members of what is arguably the nemesis of the
shadowrunner community: the sword and shield over a black star of
InterPol's Special Branch. The fifth member, however, is blatant in his
identifying features. Long snout, fangs, vertical slitted eyes, spined
back, spiked tail, claws, and unusual legs. There is only one individual
this could possibly be: Commander Drake, Head of Operations for Special
Branch.

The five head up to the main door, only to find that it will not open. A
computerized voice says "check all weapons at the weapon check.
Admission to Haven will not be allowed unless weapons are checked."

Drake, obviously not taking this questioning of his authority well,
reaches over to the telecom panel. "This is Commander Drake of
Interpol. I have a court order to serve claiming custody of one Arial
Borimer. Admit us or we will force our way in."

Coming out of telecom you hear Valentine: "Not through those door,
Commander, but since I will not allow weapons into Haven except under
very special circumstances, I will come to you."

"Bring Arial with you, Mr. O'Kennedy."

"Of course....after I verify the veracity of your court order."

On the internal camera moniters, you see Valentine exit his office and
head to the young child's dormatory. There you see a little red-haired
girl playing with an unusual pet, a Century Ferret. With her is the
young Japanese elf, Little Dragon. "Come Bruce, come Arial. The men are
here to see you now." "Ok, Uncle Pat."

The look on Valentine's face is very pained, but you don't know if it is
for Arial or for some other reason. The three of them walk to the main
door and open it, stepping out onto the landing.

"Commander Drake, this is Arial. Please excuse Bruce, but he has taken
himself to be her big brother and naturally wanted to be here. The court
order, please."

Drake hands Val the document, which he opens and reads carefully. You
notice that not only is Arial hiding behind Little Dragon, but the
century ferret is curled around her shoulders. It's eyes seem a
little....unusual.

Valentine sighs, and hands back the court order. It appears that
everything is in order, Commander. Unfortunately, I cannot let you take
Arial until my challenge to your order in the District Court is heard. I
filed the motion last night as soon as I heard. It should have been
first on the docket this morning."

"Mr. O'Kennedy, it was. And I use the past tense intentionally. It was
thrown out of court for not following proper filing procedures. You do
know, don't you, that you must file such challenges during normal
buisness hours? And were you also aware that because it was thrown out,
you cannot file another one for 24 hours? Well, until then, we have
legal custody of Arial. And during a custody battle, because we are
challenging your fitness to raise her in this environment, we will be
able to retain custody of her.

Arial, would you care to go for a ride with me?"

Arial, probably afraid of the dragon-faced man, pops her thumb in her
mouth and shakes her head.

"I will not allow you to take my ward, Commander." Valentine literally
places himself between Little Dragon and Arial, and the Interpol agents.
"You have no right, legal or otherwise, to claim custody. You plan on
using Arial to get to her mother. You are using an innocent child and
the motherly love of Lissa for Arial, to catch a criminal. I find that
morally and ethically repugnant, regardless of it's so-called
'legality'. I will not let you take her, Commander."

"As you wish, then." Drake pulls out a second document from his custom
vest, and hands it to Valentine. "I had hoped not to need to use this,
but what you hold in your hands is an arrest warrant for one Mr. Patrick
John O'Kennedy, on the charges of aiding and abetting known felons,
harboring fugitives, conspiracy, and numerous lesser charges. You are
under arrest, Patrick O'Kennedy. As per the local laws, I am required to
read you your rights under the UCAS Constitution. You have the right to
remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a
court of law...." and the Miranda rights go on. Val nods, sad and
obviously very disappointed, and turns to present his hands to the agent
who has produced a set of hand-cuffs. They appear to be about to gag
Valentine with a mage-mask when he says "That is not necessary. I am an
honerable and law abiding individual. I will not attempt to escape."

Drake turns to the agent, shakes his head, and the agent puts the hood away.

"I warned you, Pat. You shouldn't have tested me. Now, Arial, please
come with Mr. Drake."

Arial continues to shake her head, and backs up as Drake advances
slightly, holding out his hand. In a movement that nearly catches Drake
and everyone else off guard, Little Dragon blurs into motion and strikes
out at Drake's hand. If he had surprised Drake a bit more, or if that
particular arm hadn't been a cyberlimb, he probably would have shattered
the radius, ulna, and elbow. As it was, there is only a very hard
sounding 'Whack' as Little Dragon's hand hits Drake's.

"Drek! Get him!"

One of the agents closes his eyes and appears to cast a spell. Little
Dragon suddenly stops moving, appearing paralyzed, but radiating anger
and hate through his eyes.

"Bruce Tokagawa! Stop immediately!" Val yells, and Little Dragon goes
limp, only to be picked up and held tightly in the expert grip of one of
the IP agents. "No violence here!"

Obviously, the players on the steps are so involved in their goings on,
that they have failed to notice the children gathering around the steps
and on the grounds. And the number is growing, and with the children are
thier teachers, apparently leading them outside via the side doors.

"Come, Arial. I know you want to take a ride."

And suddenly a new voice is heard, seemingly from nowhere. "She has made
it clear she does not wish to go with you." A floating voice, almost
elven, but not female. It takes you a minute, but you finally realize
that it is coming from the most unlikely source: the century ferret. "I
suggest you leave lest you instigate something here you would not be able
to finish."

"Who are you to 'suggest' anything to an agent of the law?"

"I am myself, and the girl's protector, by her own wish as well as my
own. She does not wish to go with you, so you shall leave without her."

"Get the fraggin animal, Rhett." And one of the agents steps forward
only to face a century ferret that no longer is a ferret. In a blink of
an eye, it's form changes from a small forest creature to a large elven
man, dressed in hand-stiched leather, wearing a ferret's skin on his left
arm, and carrying a feathered spear in his right. It appears to be one
of the rarest manifestations of nature, a Man-of-the-Woods.

The instant change obviously surprises Rhett, but not the mage in the
group, who whispers something to Drake.

"That would not be wise, good magician. Especially in this place of
peace. I would suggest you leave, without Arial."

Drakes slitted eyes grow noticably narrower, and he turns to Valentine.
"Control your spirit, Pat."

"He is not mine to control. He is free to do what he pleases, and he has
made his choice, much as I have. Look around you, Commander. Look at
all the children. They will not stop you, as they know this place, but
no-one enters or leaves Haven's grounds except by their own free will.
And there is nothing you can do about that. It is the nature of the site
as I have created it and influenced it with magic for years. But even if
you were able to get Arial off the grounds, would the gangers out there
painting your van let you take her away? Here there is peace and
safety. Past that fence is safety only because the gangs have decreed it
to be so. They can just as easily decree it violent again. Because they
honor me and what I stand for and what I believe, you would not be
harmed, but neither would you be allowed to leave with Arial.

I'm sorry it has come to this confrontation, Commander. I had hoped to
avoid this, but you chose your own path and it led you here. Now you
have a choice to make. I am going with you freely, will that be enough?"

Drake is frustrated, and you can hear him swearing in multiple languages
under his breath, and then he turns and marches out of Haven, off the
grounds, with Val and the agents in tow.

"Remember what I said, children. I'll be home soon."

+++++End download +++++

As you can see, Patrick is under arrest. He's being held without bail,
due to the sheer number of charges against him, in the Redmond
correctional facility.]<<<<<
-- Mozart <12:18:41/10-04-56>
Message no. 2
From: ANGLISS BRIAN EDWARD <angliss@****.colorado.edu>
Subject: News from Haven....
Date: Sun, 22 Oct 1995 01:32:51 -0600 (MDT)
>>>>>[We have power now, thanks to many people, and things are going back
to normal, more or less. We've had many problems, injuries, and some
things will never be the same. But I will let my comments and the
footage spirited away from several Lone Star surveillance drones speak
for me. Keep in mind that we had no power, and so these logs were
recorded on a battery powered audio recorder. Don't complain too much.

+++++ Begin Log 1, Time: 21:21:33 +++++

I don't know if anyone will ever see this, but I feel that it is
important that I record my impressions until either we here are either
rescued or destroyed.

For the record, my name is Jennifer Lynn Grahm, and I am known on the
private, and perhaps only partly legal, system Shadowland as Mozart. I
am a hermetic magician who was once a joygirl for the NOva Rich gang of
Bellevue. I was rescued by Patrick John O'Kennedy when I was 15 and he
taught me the ways of Power. I went to college, and decided that his
plans and ideals for Redmond were something I could believe in myself. I
am now 37 and one of the resident instructors at the Haven Home. I teach
magical theory, English, and Physical Education--volleyball. I am
recording this for posterity in the necessary case that I am killed. If
this happens, then I desire this to be considered a "deathbed" statement
and used as evidence against those who are responsible for my death.
This said, perhaps I should go on. But where to start....

Haven is under seige. Ever since the day that the first Veirte Reich
(refered to as VR from now on) ganger showed up on our doorstep demanding
that we pay protection, things have been deteriorating. Until then we
had been a happy, well respected, and honorable institution. We are
still honorable, but I wonder about the respect, and we are certainly not
happy. Nor are we safe. In the weeks since that dreadful day, we have
been under siege. But it was not until recently that the noose began to
close. First to go was our communication lines, then our food trucks
were harassed to the point that they have refused to deliver food any
longer. Then our water was cut off, by Shiawase Envirotech itself. They
had received notice that we were late on our payments, for the last 6
months no less, and as we had no proof this was untrue, we lost our
potable water. However, after three days ago, we no longer would have
recieved it anyway. It appears that the VR had physically cut the water
mains as they had the optical fibers, and then the power grid
connections. Until yesterday we had enough fuel for the generator to
keep us cooking and the security systems operational. But that failed as
well. And we had a backup system for the communications, a satellite
link, until the VR targeted it with rifle fire.

Since about 2200 last night, we have been totally cut off from the
world. And I have just recieved notice from some of the children
watching out the third and fourth windows that there is movement off in
the distance, in the directions we know the VR to be.

Further, some of the children have artificial hearing and have described
what can only be the sounds of vehicles reving up, and the distinct whine
of a chopper's engine. If the VR has access to a chopper, we are
doomed. Even Haven's spirit will not save us. It's simply not powerful
enough yet to do so, at least not with Pat's guiding presence.

I and the others have attempted to perform astral recon, but to no
avail. Within the physical borders of Haven we are unimpeded by
anything, yet as soon as we leave this realm, the Astral becomes almost
painful. It is strange, and terrifying. We have all run into things we
hate to conceive of. If only I were a higher grade than I am, I might
have been able to identify the creature that lurks about the fringes of
Haven, yet seems to be unable to enter the grounds. But there are also
at least 2 VR magicians, and they have several elementals who patrol the
area as well, for the express purpose of stopping us from leaving in this
manner. We nearly lost Malcolm to an Earth elemental, and he will be
long in recovering from his wounds, if he ever will.

The background count continues to rise on the outside, and now I fear
that it will begin to impinge upon Haven's aura. In that event, all
Pat's 30 years of work will be for nothing and we would have to destroy
Haven and start anew. Yet Haven seems strong at this point. But I feel
the press of magic and spirits who are....bent. And there is a presence
that seems both old and powerful, yet I cannot understand it. It is
almost as if it is a shamanic totem, but I cannot know a Totem.... And
there remains something I do not recognize, yet fear and, dare I say it,
hate? Pat taught me, and the others, that hate is a weapon to one's
opponent and only weakened the spirit. Yet it scares me so that my
primal instinct is to destroy it before it can destroy me and those I
care for.

I have just recieved notice from another one of the kids that there is
more movement, all around us this time, and that the vehicle noises have
faded away into the distance. There were many trucks to the east of us,
where the sound of the chopper came from, several days ago. Perhaps they
were related? I do not know. But I must get all the children into the
basement and interior rooms. They will be far safer there than they will
anywhere else. We still do not...**BOOM!!!!!!**

Oh know, it's started! I.....

+++++End of audio log+++++

Now for the video. My many thanks to the unknown decker who deliverd
this to us. It is definately appreciated.

I'll warn you, though. It may cut off abruptly. If it does so in the
middle of the clips, then forgive us. We are still having power
fluctuations and the optical fiber splices are noisier than they used to
be. The remainder of the clip will be forthcoming.

+++++Begin Surveillance Logs, Time 22:04:17+++++

**This message is integral within the logs. They already have been
edited and thier content remains complete as well as could be maintained.**

You see, from an angled viewpoint, the sprawl known as Redmond. Below
you, moving relatively quickly, are shantys, abandoned buildins, fires
inside barrels, and occasional movement. It is cold tonight, and the
forgotten squatters huddle together for warmth far more than for
companionship or human contact. These people have long since been
forgotten and left to die by the megacorporate world, and have learned
the ways of the streets: Trust no-one, survive by any means necessary,
and you'll never escape the Barrens. Up ahead you notice something
unusual. Several dark shapes moving along the ground, and another in the
air. But the movement is purely within the visual spectrum. The sensor
systems of the spotter drone register nothing larger than a sparrow, and
even visually the only way you notice them is through the way they block
lights. But soon they move on, heading in a generally easterly
direction, and the spotter drone is itself heading northwest toward a
block and a building.

>From the air even, Haven is distincive. But as the magnification of the
images change, you recognize a very different Haven than when Charlie
Fingers visisted. That Haven was happy, with a fence, no graffitti, and
no noticable blemishes. Well, that was then and this is now. And now
Haven looks like a building that has gotten itself on the wrong end of a
HMG with attitude. Most of the windows are broken. The white picket
fence is more grey than white, where it still exists. And the outside of
Haven has more than it's fair share of swastikas, crossed hammers, and
anarchy symbols, with all the verbal graffitti in German. The VR have
been working overtime here, and if the movement you see is any
indication, they have decided that it is time to finish Haven off.

With no warning, the camera angle changes enough to indicate a totally
different drone, or a major time lapse. But checking the indicators
shows the time is actually only about 2 minutes later. Here you see some
new things, including two sensor blips large enough to be small tanks,
and moving at a rather extreme velocity. These blips are more than
enough to alert the drone's onboard intelligence, and it begins
broadcasting an attention signal to the local rigger, whom you assume
relays the information to Lone Star Security downtown. There you can
only assume that Lone Star's array of experts are beginning already to
formulate a plan of action regarding the operation of non-Lone Star
panzers within Seattle. You crane but cannot make out through the gloom
the insignia on the panzers. All you can tell for sure is that they are
heading for Haven as well, and thier ETA appears to be about 4 minutes.

Another major location shift, and you are to yet another drone. This
one, however, has it's unblinking eye upon another group of people
totally. This group is dressed in colors, riding bikes or in cars, and
also heading for Haven. All told, you estimate the number of gangers in
this troupe to be more than 50, but less than 80. Due to the cars, you
cannot guess better than that. Yet their ETA is approximately 2 minutes.

Switchin again, you find yourself in the familiar environment of the
immediate Haven area, and you see that the VR have begun thier attack on
the poor children and teachers of Haven Home.

+++++Cease transmission of camera log (y/n)? Y
+++++Transmission ended+++++

I am sorry, but we are about to shut down the system for a complete
security check. More later.]<<<<<
-- Mozart <01:30:40/10-22-56>

Further Reading

If you enjoyed reading about News from Haven, you may also be interested in:

Disclaimer

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.