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>Dr. Winston Arran, chief of staff--KEY NOT ACQUIRED
>Dr. Alice Walker, head of Astronomy--KEY ACQUIRED
>Researcher Yorick Bentley, head of Biology--KEY ACQUIRED
>Researcher Samuel Ashcroft, Nanotech researcher--KEY ACQUIRED
>Researcher Eveline Joyce, Nanotech researcher--KEY NOT ACQUIRED
CNR Laboratory, Ceres
Feb 2nd, 2398
15:45 GMT
darkpaladin109 AKA David "Pirate Dave" SmithOvercome by tenseness, you struggle to form any words and instead just gibber incoherently. You raise a finger as if you finally figured out what you were going to say, only to witness the researcher being dragged into the office behind him by a pair of robotic hands.
Avis-Mergulus AKA Anton "Tosha" TeremnoiPiloting (2)Engineering Technician (1)Acrobat (1) [4] Slowly and carefully twisting the knob, you open a crack in the door to observe the situation with. One of your squadmates seems to be trying to tell the researcher something. Or perhaps he is simply distracting him! You move quickly to seize the opportunity.
You exploit the researcher's focus on... Dave... Dave Number Two?... Dave Number Two and grab him from behind, covering his mouth with your metal fingers and swinging him around and into the office with one swift motion. Dr. McDonald joins in, holding the poor researcher in place while you strangle the air out of him.
"Sorry old boy, just doing what's needed. Nothing personal," he whispers into the victim's ear. The researcher passes out and you snatch the key.
The Froggy Ninja AKA David "Dave" SteelInventor (2)[spoiler=Skills]
Engineering (1)[spoiler=Skills]
Cloud Combat (1) Cloud Health: 100%
Constructor [1/3]
[5] Not minding the sudden movements your squadmates seem to be making, as your HUD indicates, you focus on the work of constructing a device to build even more nanites. You ponder your options and settle on a microscopic 3D printer as your only viable option... fortunately, your background in Engineering helps you in this case!
[1+1/7] The nanites do not, unfortunately, have the precision necessary to craft a device capable of building more nanites. The nanites are not only microscopic, but they are made up of a composite of different metals and components. Crafting tiny circuits buried in layers upon layers of carbon fullerines and alloys is some high-level stuff, and you won't be able to do it without either a more precise Cloud or some advanced machinery.
Samarkand AKA Felicia Hasting---General Skills---
Observer (1)---Sciences---
Medic (1)Botanist (2)Chemist (1)---Thievery and Deception---
Saboteur (1)Scavenger (1)Sleight of Hand (1)Cloud Health: 0%
Nanofabrication [1/3][5] As the doctor grabs hold of a handle on the wall to slow her descent, you time your movements with the noise of her hand impacting the handle to snatch the keys and compress them in your hand before they rattle around. Knowing that they will make continue to rattle if you put them inside your suit's leg-mounted storage compartment ((think of Robocop's pistol holster)), you instead attach the keys to the side of your magnetic boot where they will stay put, remembering that you have them too and are in no way except from the lack of gravity. You will have to hide them later once you leave the doctor's side, however, as someone might notice the keys attached to your foot as you walk by.
You note to yourself that it doesn't
feel like there's a lack of gravity. A side effect of the mechanization process, perhaps. It could also be an illusion, which worries you as there are many other things that the doctors can manipulate to trick you. Perhaps, for example, you may not even have control over your body! If each movement you make goes through a computer, that computer can regulate your actions if there happens to be someone in control. Fortunately there doesn't seem to be such a scheme in place.
...
Dr. Walker manages to stand back up and regain balance, although she seems nauseous.
"Ugh, don't worry. It's not your fault. I just... I'm not used to zero gravity environments. It was all me..."She considers your question.
"Well unfortunately, there are no confirmed habitable planets that we can colonize in a reasonable amount of time. Reasonable meaning within an average human lifespan."She put emphasis on the word
confirmed in her previous sentence, leading into her next statement.
"However, once we get our Focal project underway, we will be able to use the sun as a gravitational lens and observe some of the closer exoplanets and get a better idea of their properties. With larger stars, it becomes more difficult to observe the properties of a planet for a number of reasons. With a telescope as powerful as Focal, however, we'll be able to get a crystal-clear image of anything within thirty lightyears."The scientist seems fairly eager to explain her ideas. You haven't heard of Focal, but the concept of using the Sun as a gravitation lens isn't completely foreign to you.
Comrade P. AKA Hamilton TeromoAmbusher (1)[spoiler=Skills]
Sidearms (2)Swordsman (1) [5] You slowly turn and leave the vicinity. You hear the door open with your enhanced hearing after you leave the hall, as well as the confused mumblings of the station's psychiatrist, but the stun baton has already disappeared inside your suit's storage compartment. You are already well out the door and heading to the Nanotech department to meet up with Avis and the two Daves. You just realized that you have two Daves in your party. That will have to be dealt with soon for the sake of avoiding confusion.
...
You walk past the security gates in the nanotech wing lobby and immediately start to look around. Your HUD paints two faces bright blue on separate sides of the room. One is Winston Arran, Chief of Staff. The other is Eveline Joyce, a novice researcher tasked with basic robotics prototyping.
Before you can think of a plan, you hear one of the security guards innocently ask a question to you from behind.
"Uh excuse us, but the gate reads you as part of security. I think there's been an error, but is there something you need to explain first before we check?"
Author
Topic: The Cloud - One Small Step... (Read 41943 times)