Disclaimer:
What follows is a discussion of how security in a near-future science fiction setting would work, not a how-to on breaking into a secure facility. Some of the information comes from my personal experience in working in public- and private-sector offices. The rest is imagination. Any similarity to a real location is coincidental.
Last time, I wrote about the layers of security that can be expected at a megacorporation in Shadowrun and Cyberpunk 2020. This week, how the layers respond,
Security response will depend on how far the PCs have gotten into a facility and the time of day. Ideally, heists are done when there aren't as many witnesses, but sometimes there's a deadline looming and a daytime break and enter is needed. Given the levels above, here's what the PCs can expect to run into.
During business hours, intruders will warrant a quiet response to avoid panicking workers. Last thing security wants is workers running through the line of fire. Security control will use cameras to locate the intruders Drones could be sent in to follow the intruders. A few guards, lightly armed and armoured, will walk into the area to isolate the intruders to deal with them away from the workers. If the intruders begin a firefight, the first guards will fight a holding action to ensure most of the workers escape and to hold the intruders in place until the second wave arrives. This new wave will be using firearms and won't care as much for collateral damage. Depending on the setting, heavily armed drones will accompany or even lead the way. If the intruders are able to make a stand, more guards will arrive, though the average team of expendables are going to cut their losses at some point.
Outside business hours, the first line of response will be armed drones. Unless there intruders area in an area of the facility that is in use 24/7, the drones won't hesitate to open fire, especially if the would-be thieves have obvious weapons. Guards will follow, more to confirm that the intruders are down than to get involved. The fewer live targets around, the more likely the drone will shoot intruders instead of guards. However, guards can't be hacked line a drone can be. Sure, there's social engineering, not quite to the point of, "these are not the droids you're looking for," but asking the right questions and carrying the right props can get an intruder into a facility past guards. Drones, thus, are second level response.
If the intruders get past the drones, then out come the heavy hitters, Heavily armed, heavily armoured. The intruders are after the expensive, core business, and need to be stopped. Traps are activated, lockdown and alarms go off, and security stops the pretense of caring about the average workers, though the braintrust and senior C-level executives get to see far more guards than normal. The goal becomes directing the intruders into a designated killzone and making sure none survive.
The elite guard, like Renraku's Red Samurai and Arasaka's elite corporate soldiers, are only going to be in areas that are mission critical. The average worker will know about them more from corporate propaganda pretending to me entertainment. If they're around and get called in, they will be calling the shots. They are the last line of defense. And they will be combat monsters. Player characters may want to think of running away if they hear that the elite guard are involved.
Shadowrun adds one more twist - magic. Cyberpunk 2020 is the near future, with today's society having been shattered and destroyed by unfettered capitalism. Pretty much today but worse, really. Shadowrun tosses in the return of magic, so it adds a twist to how security operates. The last thing any corporation wants is to be on the receiving end of a magical intrusion when they have no way to counter it. Given that magicians and adepts of any tradition are rare and are worthy of being protected by security themselves, those who go into security are worth their weight in Unobtanium. This means that they are never going to be part of the front line, especially in a setting where, "Geek the mage.first," is an altruism.
The security mage is going to be busy handling astral security, not physical or network. Full mages and aspected mages focusing on conjuring can create weak spirits known as watchers to keep an eye on out-of-the-way corridors and report on any activity and full strength spirits to patrol independently. The runners will have their own magical capabilities, so the corporations are going to try to get the magical edge. Magical research is one of those categories that could bring out the elite, though the researchers may be better at defending themselves.
Next week, an example run from security's point of view.
Friday, over at Psycho Drive-In, Alien Nation, the series.
Saturday, over at The Seventh Sanctum, Scooby-Doo (2002).
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