Europareich 2057 - A Cyberpunk CYOA

[Hellraiser]

Do we outrank Officer Orlowski or have specific orders to lead the overall investigation in preference to him?

I should probably clarify the legal situation in the TSZ, it's kind of like in occupied Japan right after WW2 ended. That is to say Vogler is the MacArthur and if he wants something the civilian administration (demokwatically elected and all that, in theory part of Poland but Berlin and the General in particular call all the shots) needs to bend over. Cops falls under civilian administration.

So this is an issue of "the case is important", the general wants it investigated for security reasons (his goal is after all maintaining order and stability). Orłowski has to cooperate with you, and frankly, considering that the military can do more, he has no issue with that.

 

[Hellraiser]

Ida Westgard's Squad Summary*

*sans Ida as she has a character sheet

Unteroffizier Paul Muller
- German
- good shooter
- has prior combat experience (Scandinavian front)
- decent driver, good behind the wheel of a van - reluctant to say where he learned to drive a van like that
- knows a thing or two about repairing vehicles and probably other stuff
- has a fondness for inappropriate jokes at inappropriate times
- has no cybernetic augmentations, despite the fact that the Army could have funded a Netlink or other minor implant
- trained, by the people who will not be named, in breaking and entering plus kidnapping
- took part in infiltrating Spain and kidnapping the hacker Carla Durante, took down a few jihadists and pirates along the way

Gefreiter Henri Beauvis
- French
- you schooled him on his shooting technique
- enthusiastic about duty
- authorized to drive the Neinmask Sieben Transportpanzer

Gefreiter Anna Mazowicka
- Polish
- had prior shooting experience, you helped her improve her accuracy further
- not a fan of extensive augmentations

Gefreiter Ludwig Osterhagen
- Austrian
- beefcake
- average shooter

Gefreiter Sara Smith
- English
- average shooter
- authorized to drive the Neinmask Sieben Transportpanzer

Gefreiter Sven Borg
- Swedish
- best shooter on the team after you and the Unteroffizier
- learned a thing or two during hunting trips with his Father back in Sweden
- interested in stalking people, no mention of a restraining order in the Bundeswehr Database
- trained, by the people who will not be named, in breaking and entering plus kidnapping - was very attentive during that training
- took part in infiltrating Spain and kidnapping the hacker Carla Durante, took down a few jihadists along the way

Gefreiter Oskaras Laukaitis
- Lithuanian
- average shooter (has yet to kill somebody with a gun despite all the opportunity back in Spain)
- got a degree in chemistry in Cracow, was fond of lectures about explosives from one of his professors (any similarity between that professor and Brunon K. is entirely coincidental Echelon, but no less amusing)
- beefcake
- authorized to drive the Neinmask Sieben Transportpanzer- trained, by the people who will not be named, in breaking and entering plus kidnapping
- took part in infiltrating Spain and kidnapping the hacker Carla Durante, took down a jihadist or two in manly hand to hand combat
- fascinated by cybernetic augmentation technology

Claudia Bosch
- German
- average shooter
- beefcake
- authorized to drive the Neinmask Sieben Transportpanzer

Gefreiter Otto Richter
- German
- terrible shooter, too terrible
- attempts to investigate how he got past basic despite his poor accuracy have resulted in finding nothing, also the hacker hired to dig up other stuff got spooked by someone or something

This is of course what you know so far. I'll link to the newest version of this post in the OP.

 

[Monty]

OK thanks for the clarification Hellraiser.

1 - Richter, Mazowiecka, Smith (For some reason I like the idea of a Europareich officer named Smith. And agree with the other comments, let's keep mixing the squad up a bit. Borg may be the best shot but has proven himself to be disturbingly soft and 'ethical' for the realities of the messy conflict we're engaged in. Let's keep him for clear-cut military operations and avoid using him for interrogations and civilian operations where we may have to be a bit harsh)

 

[Rumsfeld]

Hang on, so after all the trouble we went to over the goddam hacker, mingling with 3rd world scum, wasting good bullets disposing of ragheads, driving a cleaning van and bribing Spanish rent-a-cops - now we're going to believe her poor, sad story, tell her it'll all be ok now, how about political asylum and an apartment while we're about it? Of course we believe you, just a lonely inexperienced hacker making her way in a big bad world. My heart bleeds.

We need to make sure we get everything possible out of her. If that includes a bit of McKay's tender loving care then so be it, we could have lost soldiers getting her, we can't have even a 5% chance that she knows more than she told us and just let her go without making every effort. Send Borg out to the zoo or something so his delicate sensibilities aren't offended. We're in a war with enemies on all sides and terrorists in our midst. Chances are she knows nothing more, but I'm not prepared to take that chance.

3 - Get medieval on her ass. Bring Smith, Richter and Bosch along for the ride.

 

[Arpad]

3
Smith, Bosch, Richter

 

[Baltika9]

1)

Also, we should take Richter with us. It's time to try figuring out who the hell he is. Muller stays as he's the most experienced and this case is getting more serious. And Mazowiecka, while I would prefer Borg, it's better to rotate squad a little more.

Richter, Muller, Mazowiecka

 

[Storyfag]

1)
Richter, Osterhagen, Mazowiecka

I'd keep Muller out of our present roster, because he's the unteroffizier, and should be taking care of the rest of the squad!

 

[Arkadin]

I love this. The combination of cyperpunk and semi-plausible future European setting is intoxicating. I love the writing and images, too. Wish I were playing a computer game with this much incline.

1)
Richter, Mazowiecka, Smith. Let's

 

[Seerix]

I'd keep Muller out of our present roster, because he's the unteroffizier, and should be taking care of the rest of the squad!

I agree and after last mission, he may have useful experiences to share with them, I switch my vote from Muller to Smith.

So,

1)

Richter, Smith, Mazowiecka

We need to make sure we get everything possible out of her. If that includes a bit of McKay's tender loving care then so be it, we could have lost soldiers getting her, we can't have even a 5% chance that she knows more than she told us and just let her go without making every effort.

Yeah, let's torture some nobody's because we worked sooo hard to get them. She's useless and will only give Ida moral headache. You should worry about that, I think her mental health may be important factor later on in the game, definitely more important than random useful information that in best case scenario will only speed up McKay search a little.

 

[Rumsfeld]

Yeah, let's torture some nobody's because we worked sooo hard to get them. She's useless and will only give Ida moral headache. You should worry about that, I think her mental health may be important factor later on in the game, definitely more important than random useful information

For a start, if she is holding back on any 'useful information' then we definitely have to interrogate her further. As far as Ida's mental health goes, I'm not suggesting we start ripping off body parts or shocking her straight away. We'll make it clear that we mean business, give her a final chance to say more, then gradually ramp things up. Worst case scenario is only McKay's 'braindance', nothing physical, so the idea that a battle-hardened soldier like Ida will be more be more scarred by this than her front line experiences is laughable. We can keep the rest of the squad out of it if they're so damn sensitive.

You state that she is 'useless'. How do you know? Because she told you? I find it ridiculous to believe that the Europareich would go to such lengths to capture someone and then just back off as soon as she claimed to be mostly innocent. There's a chance that she is more involved than she claims, or has further information but is more scared of those behind the bombing than us. And we've done nothing to discourage that assumption. Let's start now.

And if she had prepared for an interrogation in case she was captured, what's the best approach? A cover story of course, containing some facts and half truths that will check out and convince us she's telling the truth. 'Yes, I was hacking, but only to find evidence of "sexual harassment". Yes their "damn good" system allowed me in so I could view "corp-slave" mails, but then prevented me actually accessing something useful or, er, turning off the power in that sector. Yes, I was hired for the job, but I don't know anything about them, just the company "Nattapong’s Old Book Emporium", here's some convenient bank details which prove it.'

And our response? 'Sure, that sounds reasonable. Sorry for the inconvenience. We'll track down that nasty old Nattapong's company who tricked you so cruelly, I'm sure those details will lead us somewhere useful and won't be just a dead end in Asia. Enjoy the rest of your stay in the Europareich.'

 

[Smashing Axe]

Wish I were playing a computer game with this much incline.

Oh man, could you imagine the level of butthurt from the PC crowd with this release? It'd probably at the very least be banned in Germany, Muslims would burn it in huge piles, and it'd be lauded by the KKK as the greatest thing since Ethnic Cleansing - The Video Game. What a beautiful sight it would be.

Far more likely it'd be toned down to some pseudo parallel to Islam that's taking over Europe. The Brotherhood or Nod or something.

 

[Stinkanator]

Can Mckay submit her to "braindance sequences" that give pleasure? It might take longer but wouldn't the stick and carrot approach offer better results?

 

[Seerix]

Okay, Rumsfeld. I switch my vote to 3. Choice of squad stays the same. I'm curious(if there'll be enough votes for interrogation) how Mazowiecka will react to this. Nothing should stop us from talking to Orłowski later, maybe even the same day game-wise if it won't take too long.

3) Richter, Smith, Mazowiecka

 

[Hellraiser]

Can Mckay submit her to "braindance sequences" that give pleasure? It might take longer but wouldn't the stick and carrot approach offer better results?

I'll just say the torture techniques got a lot more sophisticated since the CIA waterboarding of yore. Not just because it's all d2n (digital to neural), but also in the area of information extraction.

I think that even if this was ever adapted into any form, I would get a billion death threats from followers of the religion of peace.

 

[Esquilax]

I have an idea: Hellraiser, how much pull do we have with the brass after our successful black ops mission? Could we perhaps offer the hacker freedom in exchange for telling us more of what she knows and looking into Richter for us? Maybe there are other avenues here.

However, no matter what choice we make here, I feel like you guys are picking the wrong team for the job in both 1) and 3). If we talk to the cop and visit the bomb site we want Laukaitis with us because of his familiarity with explosives. Likewise, we don't want Mazowiecka with us if we opt for 3) because torturing a suspect that we illegally kidnapped from Spain with the help of some inhuman cyborg freak will absolutely piss her off greatly.

I've still yet to fully decide and I might flop, but right now I'm voting:

3) Smith, Bosch, Richter

 

[Hellraiser]

Esquilax

You could offer her freedom after you are done with her or cut her some kind of deal. The question remains, are you willing to trust her that she won't go to the media, and start blabbing on about how Europareich kidnaps people here and there? Now sure, Europareich has a bad reputation for kicking out all the muslims (I need to write a BT bit about that), and for its predecessor's involvement in the Oil War. Plus the usual "it's not really a federal Europe built on international solidarity when Germany calls the shots" and whining about trampling over the sovereignty of member states (more like vassals, as explained in the OP). But a row over kidnapping someone from a different country could piss off some people in the chain of command.

Considering all that I'll give you a choice what to do with Carla a.k.a. m3x14 after you are done with her*.

*I don't really think an NCO should be allowed to make such a decision, realistically speaking considering the potential political fallout, but it gives you something to argue which is why I'll go ahead with it.

 

[Seerix]

However, no matter what choice we make here, I feel like you guys are picking the wrong team for the job in both 1) and 3). If we talk to the cop and visit the bomb site we want Laukaitis with us because of his familiarity with explosives. Likewise, we don't want Mazowiecka with us if we opt for 3) because torturing a suspect that we illegally kidnapped from Spain with the help of some inhuman cyborg freak will absolutely piss her off greatly.

Variety is fun.

Seriously though, I don't think Mazowiecka will freak out watching some cyborg getting tortured by another cyborg. Her info clearly states she dislikes "extensive" augmentations, so in my opinion the biggest consequence of her being there may be that she'll start disliking them a little more, maybe be very adamant about never getting her brain modified, that sort of thing. Besides, we should get our team to face their issues.

But with Laukaitis, you're right. So, one more flop to replace Smith with Laukaitis.

 

[Stinkanator]

3 Smith, Bosch, and Richter

 

[Stygian Lurker]

1) Smith, Bosch, Mazowiecka

 

[Bohr]

Changing my vote from 2 to 1 as I have a bad feeling about the torture option. I think there may be repercussions we haven't considered, possibly reputational, squad morale or even Ida's own stability. Although perhaps playing a mentally deranged cyborg would be suitably codexian.

So my vote is : 1 Mazowiecka, Richter, Smith

 

[Infantryman]

You do realize Europareich is at war? I fail to comprehend how could Ida suffer any mental damage whatsoever from extracting information from someone, given that she's blown brains out of dozens of people already. It's not like she's going to have read through some freakin' Necronomicon. If she couldn't handle such relatively simple matter, she wouldn't really be an appropriate person for military service.

 

[Hellraiser]

The votes:

1111111111

3333333

Muller xxxxx
Mazowiecka xxxxxxxxxxxx
Richter xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Smith xxxxxxxxxxx
Beauvis x
Osterhagen xx
Bosch xxxxxxx

Expect an update tomorrow, here's the diplomatic "incident" I mentioned earlier:

Get a mortgage now, pay it off in half a century. Sounds fun doesn't it? Apart from the part where the majority of the money you pay is in fact interest.

 

[Infantryman]

15,3% on a 50-year mortgage? Europareich's economy must be really messed up, or inflation is around 10% and compensates for most of the interest. Was this ad from 2045 or 2057? It also makes me wonder how Ida managed to acquire ownership of the apartment she has in Norway. Inheritance perhaps?

 

[Monty]

Perhaps with mortgage rates so high and wars and terrorism everywhere property prices are quite low...

 

[Hellraiser]

Inflation is (or was) over 10%, as simple as that. We'll leave the reasons for that to the economists and not speculate on that.