A lot happened in these few months. The crew continued to do runs, all while they grew ever closer to finding Shay's location. In this time, Ken's investigation led him to the truth about Laura. And it wasn't anything good.
Ken visited a variety of locations in his desperate search, both familiar and unfamiliar - Laura's treehouse (where he found tons of old photos, and his old acoustic guitar, which Laura apparently had been keeping there), Liquid Steel's recording studio, a club that her bandmates would frequent...He managed to track down a few of her bandmates this way and get some information. Despite Ken's natural earnestness, most of them weren't thrilled to speak with him. It turned out that Laura had lied about what happened, pinning Ken as the reason they split. He was able to convince some of them of the truth, but regardless, he was able to discover that she'd told them she was going to her parent's house for a while to break from the band. Smarts aren't Ken's strong suit, but even he knew that didn't sound right - Laura had always been cagey about her parents, and had a clear contempt for them.
On top of this, through various accounts Ken learned that she had been a nightmare to work with as Liquid Steel in the past year or so after quickly shooting up to fame. She was self-destructive, she was irritable, she drank more than her weight in alcohol...Clearly she was spiraling down, but Ken knew that he didn't want her hitting the bottom. Her bandmates also noted odd behavior, but waved it off.
A couple more memory spells being lifted, video logs, and other sources finally brought a fuller picture into view; Laura was working with Sint Holo for unknown reasons, and she had made a deal with a very powerful dragon. If there is one rule in the world of Shadowrun, it's this: Don't make a deal with a dragon. Her tattoo was revealed to be the mark of the Runechildren - Mages who had made a pact with a dragon named Arkship in exchange for immense power. Throughout their runs, the Good Samaritans had run into these dragon mages on several occasions, and they were not to be trifled with. The Runechildren were working with Sint Holo under the command of Arkship, as they had some sort of mutually beneficial agreement in place, and they, too, were not fond of the Good Samaritans' meddling. A few explosive encounters made this, and the scope of their power, very clear. This power was not without a cost, though. With the evidence Ken had gathered thus far, including details in his own memories that he had forgotten, the cost of that power was revealed: Laura was dying.
The time was ticking even faster for Ken now. He had to find Shay before something terrible happened to her, and he had to find Laura before her time ran out (and before she helped Sint Holo's plans come to fruition). Despite everything, despite all she had done, despite all of his complicated feelings about her at this point, in his heart he knew that he still loved her - For better or for worse.