Network Zero: ATTN Chris

As Chris logs into the Network Zero web site, he receives a PM. The sender is from 'Cypher', a respected Network Zero who has been online at the site for nearly 3 years. Glancing at the PM, he notes that it is a transcript.


"Did you see this?" A woman spoke.
"Yes, I have." A man replies, calmly.

"You recognize the danger."

"I do not. It is a simple report-"
The woman interrupts. "Brother, do not lie to protect her."

"There is no lie. She is simply doing what we do - manipulate the government to get what what we need."

"And what does she need?"
"The same thing we do. Protection. The city's officials will be where our protection comes from if the humans notice the saboteur."
"Does it matter that she uses her grand niece's name?"
"We have used our descendants in the past, when we think they need the help."
"Yet in this case, the girl is in no place to join us."
"No, sister, she hasn't included me in any plan to make another. I see what you are angling at. If anything, we should aid her in subverting the city officials."

"Fine. Lets do that." The woman states. "But be careful, brother. They attack at our flesh, first."



I found this tape in my mail box, Cypher writes. I am certain the city official's mentioned are in my city, the city of Detroit. Whoever gave this to me knows who I am. But a greater worry is that these self proclaimed inhuman schemers are plotting against the city officials. From your latest blogs, I'm assuming you are also in Detroit. Perhaps we should work together.

-Cypher

Almost forgot the article, Cypher PMs back a copy & pasted article published by a Laura Lawrence. It is a heavy handed political article with inside mentions that you can't quite understand, even after the second and third readings. But what you do understand is that the journalist is implying impropriety at the City Council - specifically about a closed session meeting held last week.

Lawrence alleges that she obtained memos from the meeting - and that it states shifting funds from police and first responders towards earmarked city beautification projects, such as a new park and a new fountain placed by City Hall.

Accountants I have consulted warn that allocating these funds away from our emergency services could result in disaster in the event of unforeseen rise in crime or emergency health care, Lawrence ends on this dire warning.

Meeting with someone tomorrow about tape. I'll keep you in the loop, you do the same

-Cypher

Walking back and forth between the sarcastically small office and the kitchen while holding the phone in a sweaty hand, he hears the little bling that tells him he has another incoming call. He ignores it. His boss, Officer McKenna, was the meanest man on earth, and reporting to him was always a nightmare.

Later when hearing the message his interest is once again peaked, but hopes in silence that it won't be as "exciting" as the last job. He gives the other hunter, John, a call and asks if he might be interested.

The day after, he shows up at the coffeehouse to meet Chris.

Chris is sitting at a coffee table with a manilla folder in his hand. He wears his typical trench coat and has a disheveled look about him.

"Thanks for showing up. Please go ahead and sit down." He mutters as he pauses to take a gulp from his black coffee.

"Look, I don't know if you knew this, but I'm part of a loose network of individuals that go about investigating and exposing paranormal phenomenon. Most of the tips I get are bullshit, but I recently got a tip from a credible source, and frankly it is downright terrifying."

"Here's the problem though Gary. Yesterday I woke up in the middle of some road, and all of the evidence I'd gathered about Gillen had either been stolen, or tampered with, And the last thing I remember was leaving the city morgue with you."

"So here's my question. How can I trust you? How do I know you aren't working with some government conspiracy that is messing with my memories? How do I know that you aren't working for the monsters?".

Gary sits down while quickly asking a waitress for a black cup of coffee, as hot as possible. While listening to what Chris is saying, a worried line appears on his forehead.

"I think I may have heard of networks like yours. You're mostly doing a good job, but that's me personally saying that. I'm working for the government, and as doing so, revealing classified information to the public is a crime, and most of my officers would probably want me to steal your evidence and erase your memories somehow if they knew about us cooperating. Thing is, they don't know that.

I'm out here as much for my own sake, as for my bosses. What we do is needed. So I can only tell you that I don't know who erased your memories, and I have no idea what kind of creature or thing can do that.

And to answer your question, no I don't think you can trust me. But I can't trust you either, but keep answering your calls anyway. You gotta do what you gotta do."

Gary takes the folder and starts to flip through it.

"And with solid you mean... I mean dude, I barely even own a camera. My job is tracking down bad people, and finding enough evidence to stop them. That's also what I'm good at. "

"I'm not saying I won't do it, but the pictures you'll get are going to look like smeared out pidgeon crap" Gary adds with a smile.

It doesn't have to be pictures, documents, audio recordings, the name of an eye witness - anything that will help us document and report what is going on."
He gestures to the folder. "What you are looking at is a transcript of an audio file. My contact believes that the conversation is related to some odd developments in the city council."

"As referenced in the accompanying article."

Reading the file, Gary's forehead wrinkles. "Unearthing conspiracies isn't exactly my bread and butter... But sure, I'll see what I can find. Any ideas of where to start looking?"

"The audio log mentions that something is trying to influence public policy with the city council, so I would start there. Good luck Agent." Chris decides to get up and head back to his apartment to do what he does best.

[16:57:18] Ulfsark : Gary keeps sipping on his coffee while studying the transcript again.


Chris:
[16:57:36] Seratone : Chris hops on his computer and checks in with Network Zero's forums and email.
[16:58:33] @ Seryna : As Chris navigates Zero, he spots three unusual taglines from other bloggers. Each of three headings are 'increased muggings in Detroit'.
[16:59:33] @ Seryna : Yet none of that involves the city council. As he scans the screen, he is surprised to see more activity than normal. What is he looking for precisely?

[17:00:31] Seratone : "Muggins, that could be anything." He checks to see if Cypther has sent him anything else.

[17:04:40] @ Seryna : As Chris checks his PMs, he notes a new PM from Cypher. "Meeting panned out," Cypher responded. "- I met with the reporter who wrote the article. yet she claims she didn't write the article! She claims that someone posed as her and posted the article to her editor. She's alarmed that someone hacked her files. I'm having her check her history and email me back. '

[17:05:19] Seratone : Chris starts doing computer research on the city council, focusing on the recent odd decision, and who was involved with the alleged weird decisions of the chamber. http://sheetgen.dalines.net/wiki/WikiDiceRoller?hash=d37545cd (2 successes)

[17:06:03] Seratone : He ponders the odd development and responds to Cypher. "Very odd. Putting my contacts in play, will get back later."
[17:09:04] @ Seryna : Chris turns up an article penned by a Laura Harper . 'It is clear that the council is moving away from what it was promised. Instead of lower taxes and conservative spending, we're having funds allocated from services we need to beuatification projects? And am I mistaken, or is there already construction going on outside of City Council?

[17:12:36] Seratone : "Damn, its too bad I don't have any friends up there on city hall." But he did know the next best thing. Professional contacts. Chris figured he could work that network until he found a reporter that was convering City Hall.

[17:12:39] Seratone : http://sheetgen.dalines.net/wiki/WikiDiceRoller?hash=c75110d2

[17:12:45] Seratone : (2 successes)

[17:16:28] @ Seryna : Chris recieved an email back in response to his query from another journalist. "Ben Rose has to have contacts. Serious contacts." Lisa responds. "No one ever heard of this guy, but all the council voted him in. Have to wonder who his daddy is- seems like we can't get anything on him. Whitewashed history of scholing- but no idea who his parents are."

[17:20:28] Seratone : Chris forwards the email to Gary's email. Assuming Gary has a smart phone, he'd be able to get that right away. Tagline FYI.

[17:21:39] Seratone : After that Chris checks his watch. He had other more mundane things to do. besides, Gary was going to work the oty Council angle anyway.

Gary:
[16:58:35] Ulfsark : After a while, he gets up and hails a cab and asks to be shipped to the closest library that would give him access to public records of city council employees and such.

The cab driver drops him off at the library within moments. After a brief conversation with the librarian, he is guided to an area that records public votes.

Gary: The cab driver drops him off at the library within moments. After a brief conversation with the librarian, he is guided to an area that records public votes.


Ulfsark : http://sheetgen.dalines.net/wiki/WikiDiceRoller?hash=33e3c780

Gary sits down and starts going through records, noting down anyone that has entered public office in the last five years, and also jots down any names that drawed any sort of special attention to them while going through the records

Gary does note that there appears to be no new faces in council in the last five years- up until last month. Two new council members, Nancy Bellanger and Ben Rose, were voted in as new council members - and two sitting council members were ousted.


[17:12:33] Ulfsark : Following his gut, he heads over to a computer and searches the library database for Nancy Bellanger, and then for Ben Rose.

@ Seryna : Nancy Bellanger showed up a career of politics- from New York. She entered Detroit five years ago and was not a serious player until the recent vote. Ben Rose, however, was a complete digital ghost. No record of him at all..

[17:18:37] Ulfsark : Gary gets up from his seat and walks around in circles for a while in shear frustration. Ben is a dead end, would probably be more trouble than its worth. Nancy it is. Gary sits down again and searches the internet for any form of contact info for Nancy Bellanger, her office, her secretary or anything of that shape or form.

[17:20:28] Seratone : Chris forwards the email to Gary's email. Assuming Gary has a smart phone, he'd be able to get that right away. Tagline FYI.

[17:22:12] Ulfsark : Gary's phone makes a familiar noise, and Gary sees the email as he picks it up. Opening it, he smiles to himself. "Awesome" he says out loud.

[17:22:42] Ulfsark : "As I thought," he thinks to himself.

[17:22:49] @ Seryna : Gary turns up a web site for Bellanger and a number to contact her office. Seems that there was no way to get a personal line to her.

[17:25:16] Ulfsark : Immediately calling up the phone-number, he takes an annoyed look from a librarian, but ignores it and waits for someone to answer. "Hello is this the office of Nancy Bellanger? I'd like to schedule an appointment for meeting her. Today."

[17:27:17] @ Seryna : "I'm sorry, who is this?" A female voice inquired. "The Councilwoman's schedule is full for the week.."
[17:29:15] Ulfsark : "Yeah, this is Agent Goedken of the FBI. I just need to talk to the councilwoman, Im sure she doesn't mind."

[17:29:39] cobrawax is Disconnected on Wed Feb 02, 2011 5:29 pm

[17:33:45] @ Seryna : "Oh, and how can she help the FBI?" You hear pages turning, hopefully in a date book.

[17:33:50] @ Seryna : As Gary ponders this, he recieves a beep that he has recieved an email entitled 'Whose Who' from 'CouncilWatch'. Opening it, he sees a high res photo of a Caucasin man with brown hair and a fine suit standing outside of the City Council building. He stands looking at a newly finished fountain, apparently bemused by it. 'Ben Rose,' The sender writes. '- seems to have a wonderful resemblance to Laura Harper, doesn't he?" Another photo - this one a stock photo of a smiling brunette - is attached to the email. There was a definite resemblance between the two, as close as brother and sister. 'Yet no published contacts between the two. Laura also publically disagrees with the Council's decision to allocate funds in her recent article. Who are these people?'

[17:34:54] @ Seryna : "The Council woman can see you tonight at 7 P.M, at her office..." The speaker states.

[17:38:42] Ulfsark : "7 pm? Sounsd great, thank you." he says and hangs up while looking at the photos.

[17:40:06] Ulfsark : Gary sends an immediate email back to "councilwatch" asking: "Who are you?"

[17:42:42] @ Seryna : "You've heard of 'sources, havne't you, agent? Sources tend to die when they get exposed. But I hear that you're assisting Chris. Is that true? If so, take a closer look at Ben Rose. I took the photo I sent you with a special camera. This is a picture of him with a normal one.' The picture attached was of the same fountain - yet where the man should stand, was a smudge. Perhaps a finger over the lens...

[17:42:58] @ Seryna : {Thats an email}

[17:45:54] Ulfsark : Gary flips between the two photos now on his phone, and opens his mouth in awe. Putting down his phone, choosing not to answer right now, he sits down at the internet again, to do a little research on a certain Laura Harper.

[17:46:42] Ulfsark : http://sheetgen.dalines.net/wiki/WikiDiceRoller?hash=8b9579e2

[17:49:25] cobrawax has joined the chat on Wed Feb 02, 2011 5:49 pm

[17:49:37] @ Seryna : Laura Harper was a local girl - born and raised in Detroit, although she attended and graduated from Ohio State where she studied Journalism. She had moved back to Detroit after graduating and had moved in with her aging mother, where she still lived today. You find a handful of her articles on googling her name. She seems to focus primarily on human interest pieces.

[17:49:51] cobrawax is Disconnected on Wed Feb 02, 2011 5:49 pm

[17:50:50] @ Seryna : Oddly enough, your research throws up another Laura Harper - a Laura Harper who was killed in the 1960's in the well to do area of Detroit.

[17:53:00] Ulfsark : Getting a chill down his spine, he searches for news articles about this death, hopeful to find a picture to compare.

[17:56:41] @ Seryna : As he searches for news articles, he found another article about Laura Harper. It seemed that she was killed in a car accident caused by another driver that ran her off the road. The obitary said that she was proceeded in death by her sister, who had been killed the year before in a mugging. She was survived by a brother, Henry, and his wife and thier child Mary.

After spending some time pounding the keyboard and doing some marketing research for Google, and paying a few bills, Chris decides to get back on the case at hand.

He shoots an email to some of his contacts in the city entertainment industry.

[Does anyone know of any bars that are popular after work hang outs for city council staffers? Much appreciated.]http://sheetgen.dalines.net/wiki/WikiDiceRoller?hash=07264ef7 (2 successes)

After nearly an hour, someone replies to his email. "There's a nice Italian place called Ciao Bella. Staffers practically keep it in business."

Any check on Ciao Bella shows its in a small shopping center book ended by a Yogurt Mill and a Hair Before Beauty Salon.

Chris didn't mind the delay. The hour gave him some time on his net job. Even with the success of his blog, he had a stack of bills on his kitchen table that were piling up.

When he gets the email, he decides to head over to the Italian Place. He looks for the bar, and takes a seat ordering a ginger ale and some onion rings so as not to be too conspicuous.

He looks around the place and waits for someone to come order a drink so that he would have an opening for conversation.
.

Chris waits for several minutes for someone to come to the bar. As he glances around the restaurant, he notes a familiar face - Laura Harper - lunching with a man and a woman. As they converse, you recognize one of them - Ben Rose, the new council member. You do not recognize the second brunette woman, although you see a strong resemblance between her an Laura Harper.

Laura excuses herself from the table and approaches the bar, standing next to you. "Two Sam Adams." She requests from the bartender.

Chris seems perplexed by what he sees. He was expecting to get a disgruntled staffer talking, but Ben Rose, and Laura Harper, together?

He decides to strike up a converssation with the woman.

"Hey there, you wouldn't happen to be Laura Harper, the reporter by any chance would you? And is that Councilman Ben Rose?"

"Sorry, this may come off as a bit rude but, I saw that article that you wrote and it looked like you really butchered the guy, how'd you manage to get lunch with him after an article like that?"

http://sheetgen.dalines.net/wiki/WikiDiceRoller?hash=417734b9 (socialize, 1 success)

Laura looked surprised when you addressed her, but she relaxed when you asked that question.

"No, its O.K." She replies, sliding onto the bar stool beside you. "I hear that all the time. I may disagree with the Council's decisions- especially the latest vote on allocation of our taxes- but I disagree with the decision, not the person. Besides-" She gives a wry grin.

"Those two over there are my cousins. You can't stay mad at family, can you?" She gives you a curious glance.

"You a follower of my paper, Mr...?"

"Always good to meet someone else in the business." Laura replied easily. Her beers arrived, but she dallied, replying to you.

"The Harper Clan is big on family," Laura replies. "- most of us stayed in Detroit. But the Rose branch drifted out to New York back in the '80s. They aren't really big on politics. Sort of surprised he got into politics - but Uncle Carson supports him, sees something in him. I sort of think Ben's in it just to make Uncle Carson happy.

You know how those older folks can be, with their expectations." Laura shakes her head. "How about you, Chris? You got any family in the area? Detroit can be a lonely place. Seems more so lately, with every one starting to stay in at nights due to that flu going around."

Chris frowns visibly at the mention of family. "I've been divorced for about two years now, with one kid. They're still in the area, but I don't see em much. The rest of my family is still out in Ohio. So I guess you could say I'm pretty much on my own out here."

He quickly checks his watch, pretending to remember something important. "Well I should get going, it was nice meeting you Laura."

On his way out, Chris hits a button on his cell phone which causes it to ring. He picks up the cellphone, and carefully positions it to take a picture of Ben Harper and company, while it looks like he is talking on the phone. Chris figured this was the best way to document the events of the day without drawing too much attention.

http://sheetgen.dalines.net/wiki/WikiDiceRoller?hash=a4dcc701 (4 successes)

Laura smiles and bids you goodbye. She collects the beer and returns to the table as you snap the photo. The table remains unaware of your actions as you depart.

Chris drives back to his apartment and gets online. Something just didn't feel right about the meeting with Laura.

He goes back and looks through the transcript. He focuses on a piece of the transcript.
Does it matter that she uses her grand niece's name?"
"We have used our descendants in the past, when we think they need the help."
"Laura, Councilman Rose, and whatever the hell is talking in the message. They've got to all be connected somehow. It has to be the family." He mutters out loud.

He starts running searches for "Carson Harper Detroit" and "Carson Rose Detroit"



http://sheetgen.dalines.net/wiki/WikiDiceRoller?hash=42c683b1 (1 success)

http://sheetgen.dalines.net/wiki/WikiDiceRoller?hash=af5f8bfa (0 success)

http://sheetgen.dalines.net/wiki/WikiDiceRoller?hash=15b3eb68 (2 success)

OOC: Can yu clarify for us what time of day it is? (daylight or night time, thanks)

Chris's computer search on 'Carson Harper Detroit' turns up two results. The first is an obitary dated 1889, one that had been featured in a 'Whose who' section - a newspapers tribute for the passing of a wealthy benefactor. The paper detailed that the family business had donated to charity for decades, since its founding in 1845. Carson was preceded in death by his parents, Henry and Elizabeth Harper and his wife, Nora Horton - Harper. He is survived by his two sons, Harold and Matthew Harper, thier wives and a grand son and grand daughter.

The second result was a society page dated 1985 which focussed on a new wing of a hospital being named Harper - Rose in honor of its late benefactor, Rebecca Rose - Harper. The article detailed that Rebecca was an heiress to the Harper fortune. Her husband asserted that the family would continue the Harper legacy.

Chris noted a few dozen hits of 'Harper' and 'donation' over the last decade. There was also an odd page entitled 'the curse of the Harpers'.

[The meeting had occurred at 5 P.M. It would be evening now.]

The web site appeared to be a broken family tree of the Harpers. It was incomplete, featuring a snap shot of a family every fifty or so years down the line- with a 'victim' of the curse.

• 1849 & 1850 featured Carson and Charlotte Harper
  
• 1911 featured Susan Kellog, wife and mother
  
• 1958 featured Matthew Rose, who died at the age of 35 in a burglary
  There were no recent entries, although there was a collection of snapshots of the 'current Harpers' up for the 'curse'. Among them was Laura Harper and Ben Rose.

Cypher got back to him nearly instantly with another private message.

"You have a bit of a kink in the story. Laura Harper was the name on the article, let Laura claimed to me that she doesn't remember writing it. Reading the article, you can see a sense of her writing style... but I sent it to a colleague in Literature. He wonders if it couldn't have been plugged together with an algorithm of Laura's writing style from her other articles. It's an oddity, but its helping Laura's popularity. I personally think she should just shut up with the 'I don't remember writing it' angle.

Oh yes, the Harper family are sort of celebrities in certain circles. They do donate a lot of money.

That reference to Carson Harper is real; there was a Carson Harper who died in 1849. It was a kick off to what is considered 'the curse of the Harpers'. Carson's younger sister Charlotte died in 1850 due to a terrible drowning accident. Her body was never recovered. Only Henry, the youngest, survived to adulthood and began the *legendary* generosity of the Harpers. But just as *wonderful* as the family were in making and giving away money, nearly every one in the family died young.

Henry's first born son and his wife were killed when they were 30 and 39 - in a gruesome double murder. His two daughters died before they saw thier first gray hair at 50 and 55. His niece Susan was abducted from the home she shared with her husband and young children in 1911. She is presumed dead, although no body was ever found. The curse seems to strike randomly. Its a grim joke in some circles that there is a 'population stop gap' of Harpers as when the Harpers numbers swell after marriage or the birth of a child, some other relative seems to die.

Do you have any particular interest in the Harpers? My room mate works for them, she's a gold mine of information.

~Cypher