You'll start right outside the Stoker's Coffin Motel, the last place your brother stayed at. Go on inside. You'll be able to pick up Michael's things. There's just one problem... where are you going to get 250 nuyen?

Well, that's what Shadowrunning is all about. Leave the motel, and head up and to the left, to the Jump House, where you'll find Gunderson, the lowest of the Mr. Johnsons. This guy will give you the easiest, and least profitable runs-with one exception-see Shadowruns for details. These runs will give you the money you need to get ahead... and the karma you need, as well. I highly recommend against using the cheat code in this respect. You'll start out pitifully weak, unable to stand even against a pair of muggers... but from humble beginnings great heroes are made. Not to mention that the practice of playing these easy runs will acquaint you with the game, as well as the Barrens.

When you can finally afford to pay the fee Stoker demands, you'll find a scented letter, a wristband, a cyberdeck, and two holopix. The letter is from Michael's lover, Tabatha Shale. You'll be needing to track her down, eventually. The wristband is a wonderful tool. In this game, you can't die, permanently. Instead, you'll be picked up by a good samaritan, and dropped off at the nearest hospital-with your pockets picked. Hence, the use of the wristband. From this point on, when you "die," DocWagon, the private ambulance service, will pick you up and take you straight to Seattle General Hospital. The fee is 10% of your total funds, guaranteed not to exceed 5000 nuyen. Very nice.

The cyberdeck is an Allegiance Alpha, the cheapest deck in the game. But for a Decker (or Samurai with a datajack, or a Shaman with a hired Decker), even this cyberdeck is enough to start dabbling in matrix runs, for fun and profit.

The two holopix are of Dr. Ivanna Haversheen, who works at Seattle General Hospital, and Mr. Caleb Brightmore, a dapper elf chap who just happens to be the best Mr. Johnson in the game. He only employs the best-which ain't you, not yet.

And underneath all this, a credstick, containing a balance of 500 nuyen! Sweet...

Okay, now that you've paid for Michael's stuff, you can now call a Taxicab from any of the vidphones in the Barrens, and head off for newer and more interesting areas. Let's go see Tabitha Shale. The Tarislar City Inn, in the Pullayup Barrens. It's in the upper right corner of the Puyallup map. Not the most well appointed of love shacks, but...

Tabitha will tell you about how an unknown Johnson hired Michael through Caleb, about their usual Johnson, Mortimer Reed, and about Errascoe, the fixer. You can try to hire her as a Runner, but she won't accept. Either way, a bunch of VERY well armed thugs break down the door and hose the room down with automatic weaponry. You survive... but Tabitha gets a one way trip to join her lover in the afterlife. Nuts.

You'll find a holopix in the wreckage, of David William Owlfeather, of the Salish-Shidhe Rangers Wilderness Patrol. Another lead- the trail isn't cold yet. First, let's go find Errascoe.

You'll find Errascoe's Greenhouse in the Redmond Barrens, at the very top of the map. But then, if you earned your Karma the legit way, you no doubt delivered a couple of packages and escorted a couple of employers to/from the Greenhouse, so you didn't need to hear that.

BEFORE you go into the Greenhouse, get ready for a fight! This is the first "boss" battle of the game, and it's a doozy, if you aren't ready. If you don't have any friends, get one-at least to supply you with healing when you go down in the first barrage of fire (fights in Shadowrun, like real life, tend to be very short and brutal affairs). If you have magic, cast rockskin on yourself. You should be capable of going on Ghoul Hunts without having to resort to hit and run methods, and have some decent armor. Heavy firepower is also useful.

Boris Errascoe is a Fixer, a guy who gets things, arranges things, sets things up. He can give you information... for a price. He'll tell you about Owlfeather-including his Drekhead brother.

Now ask him about your brother. Apparently, Michael bought lots of weaponry and a truck from Errascoe, under the alias "Owlfeather." Then some Renraku hotshot came in with hired muscle looking for your brother. Renraku? Aren't they the guys who own the Arcology? Anyway, Mako Sochou seemed more dangerous than his guards. Interesting...

Suddenly, a Renraku Strike Team bursts into the Greenhouse. They aim for Boris, but decide you'll make for better target practice. You shift to outside the Greenhouse, for a big ol' fight against two very tough goons.

You're probably pretty shot up, after all this. So let's head to Seattle General Hospital, and we'll see if this Dr. Haversheen is as sexy as her Holopix suggests.

The Hospital is in the bottom right section of Downtown Seattle. Dr. Haversheen is right behind the front desk. You get the dubious privelage of informing her of Michael's death. She manages to control her tears and tell you about Stark's relationship with Michael. Stark, as it turns out, was your brother's best friend. They probably died together. Or maybe...

Anyway, let's go see Caleb Brightmore, now. Icarus Descending is the building directly above the hospital. They don't like you-prejudice is nasty, whether it's directed against Elves or Humans. Caleb's given word for you to be allowed in, though.

Caleb explains that the Run called for Michael's team to find a specific cave for an interested party- but he claims not to know the details. He was just the front for an Elf named Frosty. She spends time at the Puyallup Barrens, but that's all he knows about her.

Okay, we now have TWO leads to follow. On the one hand, there's that elf, Frosty, whom we need to find, and thusly, Michael's last employer. On the other hand, we need to find Mako Sachou, the Renraku man who's been trying to kill us.
Let's forget Frosty for a while and focus on Sachou.

Mako Sachou and the Renraku