02A- Riveira's Apartment

[Dom]

The man wakes up with a start at the slapping. He looks around confused and frightened for a second. Then he steels his gaze. Reaver knows that it's the Ranger conditioning kicking in, reminding him that he needs to be aware. The man was most likely a patrol ranger, the type that trek through the martian expanses for days at a time. Those guys never sleep at ease, or at least the good ones don't.

He starts surveilling the room, looking at everything. Then he gazes directly at Reaver, hate filling his eyes. He doesn't make a sound, almost as if he hadn't noticed the gag on his mouth anyways.

[csr556]

Reaver looks at the ex-Ranger.  "Don't look at me like that.  I didn't shoot you.  So, are you going to cause a fuss if I take the towel out?  I'm willing to play nice if you are.  I just want some answers."

Sir, I think you need to step aside and look at this message.

I'm a little busy here Jeeves.

I believe it may be important.  But I suggest you step away.

Reaver sighs and walks into the small bathroom.  Ok Jeeves, what is it?

As Jeeves plays the message, Reaver starts to sweat, then pieces of memories start flooding into his head.  Memories of battle armor, other soldiers firing and dying, and something....... at the back of his memory that he can't quite see.   Something horrid and baleful.

Reaver suddenly buckles and starts vomiting into the toilet.

[Mckma]

Zeeb walks over to the door of the bathroom, with an eye back towards the prisoner.  "Hey, you alright in there?  Because if you aren't, I'm not quite sure what to do with this guy.  Shooting him was about the extent of my abilities in dealing with situations like this."  He says quietly through the door.

He pulls away from the door, muttering under his breath, "Why couldn't he be a robot, things are so much simpler with robots..."

[csr556]

Reaver waves Zeeb off.  "I'm fine" he manages to croak.  After taking a moment to calm himself, Reaver stands up, flushes the toilet then cleans his face off. 

Jeeves, what the Hell was that!

It appears to be edited memories coming back.  The TITAN message seems to have triggered them.

 

[Robot Master]

[Incoming transmission from Oriole...]

"Change of plans. I am going to move from my current location to the location of this apartment. I would only interfere with Ace's meeting with his contact. I should not be long."

Oriole is going to hail a cab or tail a rail, whichever will work faster, to get the the housing block.

[csr556]

Once finished, Reaver enters the room with the prisoner.  "Now, where were we?  Oh yes, are you going to play fair and I'll take the gag out, or do you want to do things the hard way?"

[Dom]

Oriole and Friction arrive to the apartment complex, sharing the same cab. Friction stays outside to survey the area while Oriole goes inside to Riveira's apartment.

*****

The man gives a slow nod of agreement, staring intensely at Reaver. Reaver removes the gag from the man's mouth, he stays silent for a while before speaking.

"I know you, you're that Direct Action mercenary. I was posted outside the Zone, patrolling the perimeter. A merc team was leaving the White Zone; I stayed back and watched you shoot your own teammates while they were distracted, then burn their cortical stacks one by one.

His voice progressively goes from calm and collected to maddening whispering. His eyes are open, with a death stare aimed at Reaver.

"I still remember your face, murderer. I told command about you and they threatened me with expulsion. You're the reason I'm out on the streets, no rep nor credits, with my memories edited to shit."

Spittle flies from his mouth as he progressively raises his voice.

"But I managed to remember, I remember now everything that happened."

He glances at the Key vial that Zeeb is holding, then shouts.

"You ruined my life you son of a bitch. I don't have anything left now. I don't even have a back-up insurance. Kill me like you did with your teammates. I'll never rest until you're dead."

[csr556]

Reaver just stares at the man in shock.

Jeeves, check everything you can!  See if those memories might be hidden like the others.

Reaver starts to shake his head, "I wouldn't do that.  I knew those guys.  We fought the TITANs together.  They were my friends."

[Robot Master]

Standing near the closed doorway, Oriole can't help but take a peek outside to see if the man's yelling is generating attention outside. His motions precise and practiced, the rock-red clad Firewall agent moves to stand in view of the conversation.

"Possible mnemonic tampering." Oriole says, glancing towards Reaver. "Do I understand correctly that this man's memories are not what he claims them to be? I would not judge you if what he is saying is true."

[Mckma]

"Hunh, wow...  Not really sure about the context, but those are some pretty serious accusations..."

[csr556]

Reaver looks visibly shaken.  "I don't know if he's lying or not.  When you guys sent the file about the zone, it triggered memories of me fighting........................something, I don't know what.  A group of people were fighting beside me.  I can't see their faces, we're all in heavy armor.  When I try to remember....................it's like I'm chasing the shadows of ghosts.  Nothing comes back.  There's a 10 year memory blank in my life.  I have no idea what I have done, or to whom at this point." 

[Robot Master]

[Ripley? We need to be -very- careful when looking through these files of Jakuta's. I don't know if you're seeing this at the moment but it appears that memories are starting to be affected. Unfortunately, we need to get through those files and see if anything triggers for both memories and former military action against the TITANs.]

"So you may have been tampered with as well." Oriole says flatly from his position by the wall. Folding his arms, he gets a far-away look on his face while he's working on something. "I would advise everyone to make sure that their firewalls are at maximum security and if any intrusions are detected to alert the rest of us."

[Research Roll (53+10 aid from Ripley)]Rolling 1d100:

(36): Total = 36

[Dom]

Ripley searches the files that Jakuta has, yet finds no trace of a virus. "The virus scans shows nothing, and if there had been a virus it would have activated by now, for better or for worse. It's safe to say that the files are clean."

***

Jeeves finds nothing in his memory banks. "I'm sorry sir, but my data files have been severly edited and I cannot confirm or deny his assertions."

***

The man stays silent while the Firewall agents discuss this change of events. He looks like the angry outburst drained him, the tiredness barely contained by the Ranger conditioning.

[csr556]

"My memories have nothing to do with an attack.  They are part of my past.  When I came to Mars from Earth during the Fall, I was arrested and placed in a holding cell.  The next thing I know, it's 10 years later.  Since then, I've found work as an ego hunter.  I had skills that I never remember having.  I've never fired a seeker weapon, but I can disassemble one, put it back together and tell you what range is best for an airburst.  I've found that things will trigger memories, most of them useless until today.  Most of the memories are vague, like shadows moving in the corner of your eye.  Today, when the message was sent, it must have caused their surgery to fail.  Those memories were vivid and clear, like they just happened yesterday.  Something about this has happened before, or is related to it.  Unfortunately, I don't know what or how."

[Robot Master]

Staring at Reaver across the span of the living room, Oriole slowly lowers his head and raises his eyes to the man. It's a serious gesture, bearing a bit of professional weight to it. "Please alert us to what we need to know about your condition if the need arises. I would rather you take caution on this matter."

Turning his eyes back to the hostage in the room, Oriole frowns. "My scan of the terminal shows no evidence of a virus, so the data is secure, and it appears that this gentleperson has suffered tampering as well."

"Sir?" Oriole says, trying to get the hostage's attention. "It appears that both you and this gentleman are the subjects of some form of mnemonic tampering. I would consider your memories about this man, at least for the time being, as being implanted for some sort of directive. You said your memories were shot to shit, then this means that your memories about this man could also be implanted. In your luck we are not murderers, so let's try to figure this out. Can you think to why or who told you to come to this apartment?"

:Persuasion 15Rolling 1d100:

(80): Total = 80