Kusanagi. Grasscutter. Mower.
Hmm...
UR'S ANGELS, PART I
YOU ARE
The investigation had stalled.
Entirely inappropriate, but neither unheard of, nor insurmountable. The problem was that the digital trail had grown cold once it had left the Ziggurat servers, and physical tracking had likewise disappeared as soon as the thieves vacated the Temple grounds. Which meant it was time for an outside source, who could go where marked agents could not. An information request and more than a few eddies to Danger Gal had provided a quick analysis on several potentials, which had been backed up by my own, superior intelligence.
First file: Lieutenant Minerva Mower. A young officer formerly under Militech's employ, currently undergoing rehabilitation after a particularly violent breakdown. Regina Jones was handling the case, but it wouldn't take much effort to bring this woman under personal purview, especially if she had a bone to pick with her previous employers.
Second file: Sasha Yakovleva. A skilled netrunner waging a one woman war against Securicine. Which put her in opposition with Biotechnica, obviously, but also some smaller gangs. One of note were the Yellow Brick Road Gang, a bunch of posers full of tin-men and scarecrows. The thought made me chuckle, because the brain of the operation was neither. They pushed Emerald City, a derivative of a stolen alpha-product from the parent company, which carried symptoms of increased aggression and paranoid delusions, which paired well with the pain-numbing primary function for a combat stim. Still, individual in question had potential.
Third file: Lucyna Kushinada. A mysterious waif, who had seemingly emerged from the local landfill. No apparent background, but tier three conversions didn't just appear out of a pile of trash. No, there was a story there, carefully buried. Unearthing it wasn't particularly hard, and revealed a few interesting tidbits about Arasaka data-mining efforts. Whether she was an escapee, a sole survivor, or a sleeper agent was yet to be determined, but her actions let to particular avoidance of the Megacorporation. The confidence of the others could embolden her to act out, to decidedly delicious effect.
Fourth File: Motoko Kusanagi. An idiot savant which had more in common with the gremlin line of enemies from ELO than any of the previous potentials. Currently on a war path against both Maelstrom and the Scavenger factions for their kidnapping and mutilation of her person. A wide range of skills, and contacts as well, and no corporate associations, though files on her existed within several. I'd have rated her a gorilla, if it wasn't for the clearly artistic flair for some of her works. I'd have to keep them in mind for my vlog.
There was a theme with them all, I could tell, as were the markings of a specialist team. Little Michiko's pet project would probably try and scoop them up, unless I could get to them first. Deniable assets, especially ones with skill, were valuable. It was just a matter of curating those latent talents, to let the diamonds shine out from under all the shit. And I was very skilled in Gardening, after all.
Yes, I nodded to myself, they would do.
Mind made up, I turned to the other occupant of the room, who had just finished bringing over a cup of coffee. With a mental gesture, I flicked her the datapacket I'd built, and accepted the cup from her in turn. I savoured the smell and flavour of a fresh cup, so rare these days. The blend was from Biotechnica, from their Executive line, excellent as usual, but pricy. Perhaps that could be fixed.
"Sandra, I need you to find me a group of teens with attitude."