Paul, do we push our ideas forward or do we need to wait for some of the inquiries we made to come back?

A little info on the structure of a shift and how you see it work would be helpful here.

By the way, it is currently the Afternoon shift.  Next comes Evening and then Night, before coming back to Morning on day two. 

"We've identified twenty-five craniums stacked in crates against the north-west wall, Detective," Iris calls over, clipboard vanishing behind her back as she walks toward the two men.  "Uniforms report that the factory seals seem intact, but Replicant Intelligence and Technology will be able to scan the brains and determine whether any information has been written on to them." 

RIT.  The Crime Lab.  Coco and his people, excited about the technical details and specifications of replicants to a degree that's frankly worrying to those whose main investigative tool is still the integrated system of eyeballs and shoe leather.  They'd tell you everything there is to know about what's in these crates, except perhaps what matters most: why are they here, and who wanted them so badly that blowing a door open was their best option?

"Vittu vieköön," Varela sighs.  Looks tired now.  Resigned to his investigation, and any chance for a heroic arrest, being taken away from him.  Probably already working out how to blame it on Iris.  "If you're gonna be taking it from here, ana predostavit vam dostup a fájlok.  Don't be sticking your lingo in anything that ain't skinjob shit, though."  Doesn't meet your eyes at the end.  Knows RDU doesn't care once it's got a scent.  Just trying to hold on to some pride.  Knows he's finished here. 

And so are you - what's left to do in this room is the sort of boring, routine work that the gods of old created uniforms for.


If anyone needs it (especially with our first scenario) I'm happy to list out the leads that you have that can be followed up.  Otherwise, it's over to you.  Take it away.

QuoteIt's Arabic and means 'I know how' - I assume that Cityspeak mixes languages together pretty freely.

Perfect. Love it!

Quote from: Posterboy on May 23, 2026, 02:30 AMWhat does "a'rif kayf" mean?

It's Arabic and means 'I know how' - I assume that Cityspeak mixes languages together pretty freely. 

Quote from: Telcontar on May 23, 2026, 03:43 AMFYI. when you make a post and then go back and edit the section to make it longer I sometimes miss the change.

Yes, that's why I try not to do it unless I've missed something that I really wanted to include in a particular post, and usually if I think nobody will have read the original post yet.  Sorry to have buggered that one up for you.

Crowe looked at the scene and the flurry of activity that was happening around them, the detectives the eye of a procedural storm.

"These proto-types, mind if we see the case file on that? Maybe they needed old parts to finish them, or maybe the older parts allow for modification that the new ones dont. Some kind of custom bespoke chop shop."

As he thought about it he found the words of an old song spilled into his head, one piece at a time, and it didnt cost me a dime...

To no one in particular Detective Crowe mumbled, "I'd sneak it out of there in a lunchbox in my hand."

Detective Varela looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

A small chuckle, "Cause I'll have the only one there is a round."

Now Detective LE-1 was also looking in her partners direction.

Diji spoke without looking up from the holo datapad she was still tapping on.
"One Piece at a Time", American Singer Johnny Cash 1976. His last song to reach number 1 on the music charts."

Detective Varela snapped in, "DiJi, stop. End query. She does that when she tries to parameter a new detective. I think someone thought it would be funny for the machines to run Voight-Kampff on us 'for better service'."

Detective Crowe absently nodded, his partner noticed him rubbing his thumb and index finger together, his tell that he was thinking.

"Well someone wanted something specific from this unit, and they wanted it bad enough that they were willing to make a splash of it in order to get it. Why attract the heat? Someone had a key piece, someone else knew they had it and wouldnt want to give it up."

Detective Crowe realized that he had been thinking out loud, something he had started doing lately and needed to stop.

"Let's focus on pieces that would store memories or identity. Critical persona pieces. Might have been an identity here, or one that hadnt been programmed yet."

Also Paul,
 FYI. when you make a post and then go back and edit the section to make it longer I sometimes miss the change. Since I go by new posts if I have read the post before the update I dont think to go back to it, but wait for a new post message.

I think Altered Carbon is a great comparison and Season one was awesome. I didnt really get into season two at all.

I'm also with you guys on the difference with Blade Runner from Cyberpunk. To me it is like
Asimov to Frank Herbert Dune, Cyberpunk to Blade Runner.

The science isnt the appeal, its psychology and religion.

Doug, I just really read the section on the background and history. All the game mechanic stuff will emerge during play and I'll learn and read as I go.

What does "a'rif kayf" mean? Google Translate is pretty good, but wasn't able to figure out that part of the phrase. My sense is something like "Don't tell me how to do my fucking job."

Yeah, 100%. One of the things I'm really enjoying about this setting is that it isn't just "cyberpunk with cops." It totally feels different than Shadowrun, Cyberpunk 2077, Neuromancer, and Altered Carbon, mostly because I think it's asking a different set of questions altogether, right?

It's not really asking, "How do we hack the system?" so much as, "What kind of people have we become when the system trains us to call persons property, tools, threats, or evidence?" Starting out, not so much as rebels outside the machine, but part of the oppressive system, with the badge, the weapon, and the language of procedure and protocols, creates a different kind of hero/anti-hero... all of them tragic.

And honestly, one of the things that interests me most is how deeply theological Blade Runner feels. It keeps circling around Creator and creation, false gods, counterfeit life, manufactured souls, and creatures who look back at their makers and ask, "Why did you make me like this? Why did you give me desire, memory, fear, longing, and then deny me dignity?" Tyrell and Wallace don't just function like CEOs; they function like false creator-gods who want the glory of making life without the love, humility, or responsibility that should come with it.

100% agree that Blade Runner feels way more embodied than most cyberpunk settings. The main ad for the Nexus replicants ("More Human than Humans") gets at the theme well: Can something made still be someone real?

It's like noir theology with neon lights and synthetic blood.