-LEIDEN BASE, GALILEO SYSTEM-
-DOCK 1; SHIP CLASS: Series "DL" Border Worlds Transport-
-SHIP DESIGNATION: Wintermute-
-PILOT/CAPTAIN: Henry Dorsett Case-
{BEGIN LOG PLAYBACK}
Case: Another day, another haul... You boys enjoy this now, fresh from Malta. I paid top dollar for this batch, it's pure as you can get without going liquid. Just wire the credits into my tertiary accounts as per usual; I'll do the rest.
Dr. Julius No: Nice, nice. I'll definitely enjoy my cut. Credits should be transferred shortly, I'll get the dock crew to load up this here software in no time. Remember, it's fragile.
Case: I'm well aware. I'm almost at my hundredth trip back to Outcast space with these babies. In fact, I've got my own unit of counterfeit software package I've been tweaking.
Dr. Julius No: Oh, you do a bit of hacking yourself, huh?
Case: Yeah, from ever since I got my first Ono-Sendai deck from a Kusari dealer I've been learning what makes 'em tick. It's what got me interested in your lane of business in the first place, excuse the pun.
Dr. Julius No: Hahaaa, good one.
Case: Problem is, I hack real slowly nowadays without my cybernetics.
Dr. Julius No: You lost them?
Case: Yeah, earlier this year. I used to run some shady deals for the Hogosha. Feed my Cardamine addiction, you know? So there I am, smuggling guns and stolen goods around Kusari space for a few years in a DL series BWT. They underpaid me to hell, and my supervisor always skimmed from my pay, so one day, I get reeeeeeal jacked up while with a shipment, and think, "screw it, I'm done with this bullcrap". Hacked a couple mil from my supervisor, took the ship full of guns, and bolted.
Dr. Julius No: I take it this story doesn't have a happy ending.
Case: Heh. Damn right it doesn't. Take the guns to the Outcasts, trade it all in for Cardamine, and stash the ship with its cargo in Omicron Beta at Ruiz. Paid off an Outcast to keep her hidden. I know they're on to me at this point, hired a few assassins to come after me too. Bought myself a nice cheap Hayabusa from a Samuran dealer in the hopes of getting away. Turns out, the Samuran had already sold me out to the Hogosha, and as I undocked from the station, I was hit by a CD, and at least three Paralyzers. With no way of moving, I was taken to Kanagawa Station, and there, they literally injected liquid cardamine straight into my central nervous system. Not quite enough to kill me, but enough to royally [EXPLICIT DELETED] up my entire body, including my cybernetic interfaces. The bastards said something about "poetic justice".
Dr. Julius No: Oh man, that must of hurt.
Case: You know, I would have thought the same. But it was just numb. Completely numb. They left me there for around three days, and then began to torture me. I didn't feel a thing, so they shortly gave up. I was studied by them for a few weeks, then they just threw me aboard a Drone headed for Deshima. Thing was loaded with weapons. And that's when I regained control of my body. Slowly at first, but as the liquid cardamine began to wear off, it was as if all the pain I should have felt was being inflicted all at once. It felt as though I was as hot as a star, and then, in the next instance, it was gone. So, I broke open a crate, grabbed a pulse rifle, and wasted the crew.
Dr. Julius No: Gnarly.
Case: From there I took off to Omicron Beta, grabbed my BWT, got higher than I ever have before, and figured out what to do.
Dr. Julius No: And that's when you first contacted us.
Case: Yep. Outcast who was minding my vessel gave me a tip, told me where in Galileo to go, what frequency to broadcast on, and sure enough, you guys found me. Since then, I've been running under your contracts. While avoiding the Hogosha, of course.
Dr. Julius No: Hell of a story there. Well, since you're already smuggling for us, have you ever considered applying to join our ranks officially? We're always looking for a good, reliable smuggler, and with your background I'm sure you'd fit right in. Furthermore, the Hogosha wouldn't know you exist anymore. We could easily fake your death. Make it look legitimate.
Case: Well, the thought's crossed my mind a fair few times, but... Nah man, I'm ever since those damn Hogosha bastards ruined my cybers, I've been forced to revert back to using my hands to do everything. Makes things a bit slow, you know. I doubt I can even be fixed, and if it can, it's going to take a loooong time to save up the creds to do so.
Dr. Julius No: Well, Lane Hacker technology is second-to-none, as I'm sure you're already aware. We might be able to help you out with those cybernetics. And even if not, we could certainly help you get the funding you may require.
Case: Hmmm. You make a pretty valid point there. What the hell, I already know most of the faces here at Leiden, might as well learn some more, and then I can really help you kick Ageira's figurative backside all across Sirius.
Dr. Julius No: Perfect! Now, you will be required to take an entry exam, which you will submit to a Professor. You will also need to submit to a background check, but I'm sure I can just download the station's audio log, and you can submit that.
Case: Works for me. Show me to the examination room and I'll get started right away.
Dr. Julius No: Certainly, if you would just follow me down this hallway...
