Zaibatsu - by Paul Elliott

14:31 APRIL 7 2030

0 INTRODUCTION

1 STREET SAMURAI

2 ZAIBATSU

3 COMBAT

4 TECHNOLOGY

5 THE YAKUZA

6 TOKYO

7 LIFE IN JAPAN

8 THE MISSION

JUNE 21 2030

APPENDIXES

APPENDIX 1: CITYSPEAK

APPENDIX 2: REFERENCES

APPENDIX 3: HARDWARE

BASICS

ATMOSPHERE

COMFORT

ADMINISTRATION

7 LIFE IN JAPAN

TRAVEL & PHONES

A network of subways and surface trains crisscrosses the central areas of Tokyo. The Shinkansen, bullet train, is an intercity train.

Subways
Tokyo has an extensive subway network connecting most inner districts and sub-centers. It is fast, clean and safe and possibly the best way of getting around Tokyo (but avoid the crowded morning and evening rush hours). Tickets are obtained from vending machines, punched on entering the subway and collected at the other end.

The Yamanote Loop Line
Circling the whole of central Tokyo and interconnecting with many railway and subway stations, this is an extremely useful line. Running much of the time on elevated tracks, it is a good way to see the city. Yamanote Line trains are light green for easy recognition.

Buses
Very efficient. A flat rate of ¥200 is charged for each journey, but the routes are complex and defy even residents.

Taxis
Cruising taxis are plentiful all over Tokyo. Basic fare is ¥500 for 2km plus ¥200 for every extra km. Vacant taxis show a red light. The passenger door opens and closes by remote control. Some are auto-taxis with robot drivers.

COMMUNICATIONS

Most telephones in Japan are audio only; all take finance cards as payment. Some are viewfones and either stand-up booths similar to normal phones, or sit-down booths with sound-proof glass doors. Tokyo calls are ¥10, intercity calls are ¥100 and international calls are ¥500.

USEFUL PHRASES

PRICE LISTS

Players have a tendency to overload their agents, especially with weapons. As a rule of thumb assume that an agent (whatever his Strength) can comfortably carry EIGHT items. An item is an object that can held in one hand (like a pistol). Larger two-handed objects (eg. Bullpup, Laser) count as two items. Some items (smart cards, armour etc.) are either too small, or counted as being worn. Being encumbered results in half speed and - 2 all physical actions. If referees want to follow ammunition use closely, then allow agents 10 items. Ammo is listed below for those referees who require it.

COMBAT GEAR

Flak Jacket ¥20,000 Non-concealable, military and police armour vest. Civillian use illegal.

Combat Suit ¥200,00 Includes armoured body-suit, gas mask, helmet, radio and night-vision sight. Military only, civillian use illegal.

Claymore Mine ¥10,000 Directional mine firing forwards in a 90 degree arc. Roll Demolition+3 to set correctly. Damage is 2d out to 40m. Comes with 50m radio detonator and booby trap option. Might be spotted first.

Limpet Mine ¥25,000 Victims 6d if within 3m, or 2d if within 10m, can be set to detonate up to 24 hrs ahead, or command detonated from 50m; easy to use, allow +3 on the Demolitions roll to set.

Self-Defence Spray ¥2,000 D-Gas spray, roll 8- to use if surprise achieved, range 3m, 5 shots

MEDICINE

Alpha Wave Unit ¥5,000,000 Fits in an MPV. Analyses and identifies different brain waves, and personalities; and everyone's brainwave pattern is different. Also used to edit clone memories

Freezer Box ¥30,000 Used in memory retrieval. Portable cryo-unit. Can freeze single human head or six tissue samples on mounting plates. Handle and cardlock included. Battery with 48 hour charge.

Meditech Kit ¥2,500 Used by paramedics to prevent a wounded or dying patient from actually dying.

Voigt-Kampff Empathy Machine ¥100,000 A lie-detector, also detects clones that have been "force-grown" and are faking their emotions

CYBERNETICS

Biomoniter Suite ¥500,000 This subdermal battery of sensors monitors temperature, blood pressure, synaptic activity, sugar levels and a host of other vital information. The read-outs show up just below the skin on a forearm as luminous figures. They can subtly alter these levels if imbalances occur, reducing stress, alcohol and drug levels. Anyone with the Suite gains +1 on all Wound survival rolls.

Cortex Bomb ¥2,000,000 A small explosive charge has been surgically implanted into a patient's neural cortex. Often booby-trapped, these bombs are sometimes triggered by ultrasound or X-rays. They can be command detonated at a range of 100m and also through the telephone if the patient picks up the phone. It will kill him instantly and inflict 2d damage on anyone within 3m.

Personal Data Transmitter (PDT) ¥80,000 A PDT is a transmitter implanted into the chest, arm or leg which lies dormant until activated by a remote transmitter. When this is done (when the patient has been kidnapped, for example) the PDT gives out a steady signal strong out to about 5km. It can also hook itself through the nearest phone. It gives no vital stats other than location. Internal batteries keep up the signal for one week.

Simstim Rig ¥1,000,000 A neural processor at the base of the skull monitors and transmits the user's sensory perceptions to a Simstim Edit Deck. This includes eyesight, smell, hearing, motion and touch.

Skinwatch ¥10,000 A real status symbol, this is a luminous watch display below the skin on the forearm.

FOOD

VEHICLES

Armoured Car ¥20,000,000 A six-wheeled military patrol vehicle. The turret mounts a minigun and grenade launcher. It can carry 6 well equipped troops who are able to fire out of slits along the sides and back. Counts as Light Armour.

Armoured Limo Lightly armoured and luxurious zaibatsu runaround. Equipped with hook-up to the Matrix, drinks, mini-TV and phones. Any car can be lightly armoured. Multiply base cost by x2.

Main Battle Tank ¥75,000,000 A purely military tracked heavily armoured vehicle equipped with forward minigun and grenade launcher, turret mounted minigun and 150mm gun (with 35 shots which are each equivalent to a Guided Missile), and a smartgun mounted on top of the turret that may be overridden by the tank commander.

MPV ¥1,000,000 Multi-Purpose-Vehicle/Spacewagon/Toyota Privia with interchangeable interior, from 8 seat transport to large capacity van to 6 seat office, to something in- between. Highly valued by the zaibatsu.

Hover Car ¥5,000,000 A standard sedan car built on to a jump jet chassis, these flying cars are becoming very popular in Tokyo. Each seats 4 with a small amount of luggage space

H-Wagon ¥20,000,000 This cargo jump jet resembles a jet-propelled helicopter and is used by zaibatsu and the military for important cargo or personnel transport. Eight passengers. Counts as Light Armour

CYBERSPACE

Desktop Computer ¥150,000 A standard desktop computer with cyberspace link, printer and other peripherals. Space for 4 programs

Palmtop Computer ¥6,000 Play-back unit for smartcards. Sound, visuals or text can all be instantly accessed. A basic read, write, listen and watch hand terminal. Used to access video, text and audio recordings

SOFTWARE

Business Package ¥100,000 Most offices require a certain piece of business software, tailored to their own particular needs to operate efficiently. This is it.

Computer-Aided Design ¥150,000 A useful package enabling the user to design almost anything. If he hooks this up to an auto lathe or auto machine shop, then the system with make it for him too.

Data Compiler ¥30000 This software scans cyberspace for relevant information and produces a handy document

Icebreakers: Grade One Icebreaker ¥5000, Grade Two Icebreaker ¥7000, Grade Three Icebreaker ¥12,000, Grade Four Icebreaker ¥20,000, Grade Five Icebreaker ¥40,000, Grade Six Icebreaker ¥60,000, Grade Seven Icebreaker ¥150,000, Grade Eight Icebreaker ¥300,000, Grade Nine Icebreaker ¥600,000, Grade Ten Icebreaker ¥1,200,000

Image Manipulation ¥50,000 A piece of software allowing the alteration or enhancement of video or photographic images

Personality Simulator ¥100,000 By inputing a range of parameters, this software can try and predict the possible effects or actions of a person. The accuracy depends on the data available

Publishing Package ¥10,000 A comprehensive piece of writing and printing/publishing software

Techmeter ¥25,000 A useful diagnostic program which helps (+2) to repair any damaged piece of electrical hardware

Video Conference ¥20,000 This allows a user to interact with others to meet in cyberspace. Each can see and hear the others and show each other documents, photos, graphs and charts. All in real-time.

Voice/Sound Analysis ¥150,000 A complex program which can monitor sound waves and can then ID people via their voice, or produce a report of their estimated stress-level and emotional reaction. A crude lie detector. Not perfect

PERSONAL ELECTRONICS

Camcorder ¥40,000 Records sound and video onto smartcards, it can also play audio/video smartcards

Mimetic Polycarbon Suit ¥200,000 All-over body suit complete with hood, this military combat suit is able to colour itself according to its background. Only works when stationary, otherwise the wearer is seen as a blur and can be shot at, stabbed, flamed etc. Power cell keeps the suit active for one hour. Any tear or cut shorts the system and it reverts to its bold grey colouring.

Phone Unit ¥15,000 This is a combined viewfone, fax and answering/recording feature

Radio Scanner, Hand ¥20,000 A portable radio frequency scanner with a range of 10km, it has 20 channels, and has selective traffic monitoring

Radio, Headset ¥4,000 A concealable mike/earpiece setup with a useful range of 50m

Simstim Player ¥50,000 Most homes have a 'player' that allows users to receive simstim transmissions or play rented or bought simstim cassettes at home

Simstim Editor ¥500,000 A professional's simstim deck designed to receive the sight/hearing/touch/smell of a person rigged up for simstim. The range of this is 120m. This deck can store the data on datacard and then be used to edit the simstim broadcast into a more entertaining feature

Smart Goggles ¥100,000 These distinctively military night-vision goggles are wired electrically into the user's gun and are mounted with an integral targeting computer. This calculates range and wind-speed and puts crosshair where your barrel should point. They provide a +1 to hit.

Thermal Imagers ¥300,000 These bulky monocular-type goggles actually "see" heat emissions. Capable of looking through walls, although this may disrupt the image. Good for spotting enemies through thin walls and doors, but poor as an observation device - they incur a penalty of -2 on sight rolls

TOOLS

Grapnel Gun ¥30,000 Rifle-sized grapnel launcher, 20m range, with powered winch to haul the user up .

Laser Tool ¥2,000 A small portable battery-powered unit for cutting and or welding

SECURITY EQUIPMENT

Bug, Video ¥5,000 With fisheye lens, these micro-cameras give a distorted 180 degree view as well as recording sound. They are often disguised as a button or part of furniture. They transmit out to 100m for 24 hours.

Bug Unit ¥25,000 This pocket-sized unit is a receiver and a recorder of bug transmissions and cable taps, it can also be used as a bug detector to sweep rooms and search for bugs.

Cable Tap ¥10,000 This unit transmits all information that it picks up from a fibre-optic cable within 2cm. It can transmit the signal out to 100m indefinately.

Card-Lock Decryptor ¥80,000 This make-shift unit is able to access card-locks and re-route the data to try and fool the lock's onboard processor into believing that it is the correct card. Allows a person with Counter-Security skill to try and break through a card lock.

Disguise Kit ¥25,000 A case full of polycarbon skin and hair grafts, contact lenses, and other gear (such as false teeth etc) which can be used by anyone with Deceive to transform their appearance into someting totally different. Includes a variety of living 'false faces' grown on collgen and shark-cartilage polysaccharides. These seem utterly real but can only be worn for 3-5 hours at a time before they begin they deform

Infra-Red Motion Sensor ¥10,000 Portable unit that can be stuck to a wall or door. It sends a unique signal if tripped, to a cell-phone, or it can just give off an audible alarm. Can pick up motion through the door or wall if not too thick.

Jammer ¥80,000 This hand-held unit has a 100m range and will disrupt most radio signals within that range. It will also interfere with security motion sensors, jamming their frequencies. The Shinobizawa Com-1000 is an advanced military version with a 3km range. It is however backpack sized and costs ¥1,000,000

Laser Ear ¥120,000 This rifle-like piece of gear can be pointed at a wall or pane of glass and it will pick up any nearby conversations. It's range is line of sight. It comes with a table- top tripod that can be folded within-it for ease of mobility and comes in a black acrylic case

Laser Blinder ¥5,000 This lecturer's aid is a laser pointer that can temporarily blind many types of security camera. It is barely the size of a marker pen and has an effective range of 50m.

Optic Probe ¥5,000 Fibre-optic lens and cable attachment for camcorders that can be pushed under doors, round corners etc. for surveillance purposes

Remote Piloted Drone (RPD) ¥1,200,000 A miniature robotic airship with camera, mike and thermal imager used by security companies to protect properties by overflying the area. It has a 2 hr endurance, and moves 50m/turn

Scrambler ¥10,000 Such a unit fits over any telephone or hand-held radio and scrambles the message before it relays it to another phone or radio. The receiver must also have a unit set to the same code. Not a brilliant coding system, but far better than none at all. Will stop the casual listener.

Vocal Counter-measures Unit ¥500,000 A slimline box that can be placed in a prominent position and activated. It will then broadcast "pink" noise that will turn the input of bugs, recorders, and mikes etc. into static. It has limited range, only 5m and lasts only one hour before it requires a re-charge.

ILLEGAL SERVICES

DESIGNER DRUGS

LIFESTYLE

Apartment/week: Subsistance ¥3,000, Lower Class Corporate ¥10,000, Mid-Class Corporate ¥20,000, Senior Class Corporate ¥40,000, Executive Class Corporate ¥60,000

Hotel/night: Deluxe Hotel/night ¥40,000, First Class Hotel/night ¥10,000, Business Hotel/night ¥7,000, Youth Hostel/night ¥4,000, Capsule Hotel/night ¥1,000

FINANCES

Virtually all commerce in ZAIBATSU is conducted with finance cards that act like modern "debit cards" such as Switch or Connect. Besides a PIN, a fingerprint check is also required. Many phones can be hooked up to smart card readers and thus used by finance cards. In this way banking can be done over the phone, and used to move funds from one card in the reader to a second - while being verified and acted upon in the virtual bank.

A type of finance card is the "cash card" with a set balance, often used by zaibatsu. One or more people are listed as users and any of these can access it just like a normal finance card. But only withdrawals are made. There can be no deposits, cash payouts or interest. It is used as a business account card, logging everything that is purchased. If a card is lost or stolen the bank must be informed, they will freeze your account and give you a new card within 24 hours. Anyone trying to use your card will be arrested by the store, since the autotill will tell the till-user that the account is frozen.

The Japanese currency is the Yen. There are coins up to ¥500, and bank notes of ¥500, ¥1,000, ¥5,000 and ¥10,000.

EATING

Alot of international food is available in Tokyo, but the most popular national dishes are sukiyaki and tempura. For more adventurous eaters there is sushi and sashimi, both of which feature raw fish ("If I want to die of mercury poisoning, I'll swallow a thermometer!"). Prices of various meals are given in the price lists. Travellers often eat from bento boxes, full of things to eat and available on platforms and trains. Also used as a "packed lunch". Department stores often have whole floors of restaurants and cafes, and the numerous rail stations around the Yamanote Line are usually ringed by streets of restaurants of all kinds. Major office buildings usually contain basement restaurants catering to sararimen and in Shinjuku there are plenty of restaurants on the top floors of the skyscrapers there, with cool views of the city. O-Cha, green tea, is often served free at Japanese style restaurants.

Sukiyaki : is prepared at the table by cooking thinly sliced beef together with various vegetables, bean curd and vermicelli.

Tempura : is food deep fried in vegetable oil, after being coated with a mixture of egg, water and wheat flour. Among the ingredients used are prawns, fish, vegetables and dried seaweed.

Sushi : is a small piece of raw fish placed on a ball of vinegared rice. The most common ingredients are tuna, squid and prawn. Cucumber, pickled radish and sweet egg omelet are also served with the rice.

Kaiseki Cuisine : is the most gourmet food in Japan. The dishes are mainly composed of vegetables and fish with seaweed and mushrooms as seasoning base and have a refined flavour.

Yakitori: is a small piece of chicken meat, liver and vegetables skewered on a bamboo stick and grilled on an open fire.

Shabu-Shabu : is tender, thin slices of beef held by chopsticks and swirled in a pot of boiling water before the guest.

Soba and Udon : are two kinds of Japanese noodle. Soba is made from buckwheat flour and udon from wheat flour. They are served either in a broth or dipped in a sauce.

ENTERTAINMENT

In Tokyo there are tens of thousands of establishments invariably called bars, cabarets, night clubs, snacks, discos, beer halls etc. Some of them are expensive and only cater to local businessmen with an expense account (multiply prices by 1d+3!!!). Others are patronized by the average zaibatsu office worker who after a long day in the office needs a couple of drinks, snacks and laughs. Within this category there are hotels' cocktail lounges and bars, local bars and cocktail lounges, beer halls and summertime beer gardens on the rooftop of office and department store buildings. Night falls at around 7pm in summer, 5pm in winter. The neon lights begin flashing their messages long before it gets dark, beckoning the thousands of zaibatsu office workers (sararimen) to the city's nightlife. Possible destinations include:

Japanese Pubs (Aka-chochin): Also red lantern places; generally inexpensive and serve beer, sake and whiskey as well as a wide range of tasty snacks like yakitori or barbecued chicken and grilled fish. Other types of pub are Yakitori-ya specializing in yakitori snacks and robatayaki, where ingredients are grilled at your table as you eat and drink.

Western Pubs : More standing room than Japanese versions. Serve a wider variety of drinks together with Western food.

Beer Halls/Gardens : Safe, resonably priced eating and drinking houses. In summer they are joined by a number of beer gardens which spring up in unlikely places (such as office roofs).

Wine Houses: Becoming very popular and a number of good ones are found in Roppongi and the Ginza offering wines and meals at reasonable prices.

Bars, Cabarets & Nightclubs : in Tokyo tend to be expensive, as in other big cities. These places frequently operate with hostesses and charge handsomely for it. Most of these places are only for expense account zaibatsu entertainment. If in doubt stay away.

Video Games & Pachinko : State of the art video game arcades are found in Tokyo using 3D VR technology. The traditional game is pachinko, Japanese pinball where hundreds of players sit at their upright machines in row after row feeding steel balls into the things in the hope of winning small gifts.

THE WORLD VIEW

The setting for ZAIBATSU is 2030 Tokyo, the capital of Japan. This nation is the financial leader of the world. Using developing deep ocean mining techniques it has begun to exploit the resources it hitherto lacked. Japan has much more independance in this respect and has expanded its economic sphere. The Kazan-Retto islands in the Pacific are home to the Amaterasu aquatown. In Korea, Japan has resolutely expanded its operations with the zaibatsu eating up much of the failing economy there during the war. Most of the Korean multinationals are now subsidiaries of the zaibatsu, or do not exist at all. The old Korean Communist Party has begun a terrorist campaign against the capitalist zaibatsu, a move which has allowed the zaibatsu to deploy combat troops around their Korean concerns. Japanese business interests are highest in Korea, the Philippines and Hong Kong which is now a Free Trade Zone. The zaibatsu prop up the Liberal Democrat government of Prime Minister Yasumori Manabe, and organized crime (the Yakuza) is being pushed out of politics by the Special Justice Commission (SJC), funded by the zaibatsu to keep the Yakuza clans out of power.

How do you do?	Hajime-mashite?
How are you?	O-genki-deska?
Good morning	Ohayo gozaimasu
Good afternoon	Kon-nichi-wa
Good evening	Komban-wa
Good night	Oyasuminasai
Please	Dozo
Please help me!	Tasukete kudasai
Thank you	Arigato
Excuse me/ Sorry	Sumi-masen
No, I don't understand	Ii-e, wakarimasen
Get a doctor for me	Isha o yonde kudasai
I'll tear you in half!	(insult) Mapputatsuni hiki sakuwayo!
Where's your makeup you geisha!	(insult) Okesho wa doshitano geisha-san!
You're sushi!	(insult) Sashimi yaro!

Cyberdeck	Spaces	Cost
Amstrad C-22	Spaces 2	¥20,000
Toshiba Paraline 3030	Spaces 3	¥50,000
Hosaka Goldstar-4	Spaces 4	¥100,000
Hitachi Netspace-5	Spaces 5	¥200,000
Ono-Sendai Cyberspace-6	Spaces 6	¥500,000

1990+	The First Corporate War (or 'fukushu') is fought during the 1990s between two zaibatsu: British Airways and Virgin.
1995	Kobe earthquake on Jan 17. Destroys much of the city and surrounding area.
1997	Catastrophic collapse of the Yamaichi zaibatsu kicks off an economic downward spiral that leads to the global Collapse of 2000. Japanese zaibatsu become increasingly efficient and competitive to survive.
1998	Akashi Kaikyo bridge, world's longest suspension bridge, opens..
2000	The Collapse is triggered by the meltdown of the South Korean economy. The Second Korean War erupts with the USA on the side of the south. Japan provides limited economic aid, effectively guaranteeing itself a huge lice of the Korean economy at war's end.
2002	The zaibatsu begin development of a unified Korea. Several expand their limited presence on the island of Karafuto (Sakhalin) causing an international incident with Russia and her allies. This turns into violence in 2010.
2008	Second Corporate War. Shinobizawa and Sony battle it out over 2 years, dragging in allies and rivals. Zaibatsu rituals and terminology are established during this turbulent period. Shinobizawa reigns supreme.
2010	The Karafuto Conflict. Russia and Japan come to blows over land rights on the island of Karafuto/Sakhalin
2011	Hong Kong repression results in a mass exodus and several violent incidents between local Chinese forces and United Nations peace-keepers. 80,000 end up as permanent floating refugees in Tokyo's New Honk floating shantytown.
2016	Delta-2 viral agent contaminates Tokyo killing thousands; thousands of newborn are without limbs "quads". Sons of Oedo terror group formed in response to this techno-nightmare.
2022	Special Justice Commission estb. by zaibatsu to keep Yakuza out of Japanese politics. Yak fight back; war declared with the zaibatsu for control of the National Diet. IRL terror group begins a violent bombing campaign.
2023	Yakuza rocket attack in Roppongi kills 11.
2025	The Korean Communist Party attacks Japanese businesses in Korea using guerrilla warfare. The zaibatsu fight back with company troops.
2030	NOW!!!