Moravia Orbital Colony, Ulysses | 237d/3008AD | Von Hapsburg System
Moravia Lobby Alpha, Floor 3
Heated Combat! (All initiative rolls default to a [1].)
Megacity Time: 6:20Deuce nodded. Interesting. "Sucks if they won't help you guys. Is it back up and running yet? If no, when's it supposed to be done?"
Keep talking and helping. Stall leaving if he heads out.
"We got a replacement, but the old one's tanks were try. Nobody realized it was just venting the tanks into the air until we had to refill them three times before schedule."
A group of technicians walks by, glancing at a schematic model of the regulator on a tablet held by one of them. A few of them glance at you, but seeing you helping the worker they don't stop to say anything.
A utility robot wheels by. It looks like it has big, sturdy arms which it could use to move the cart around. Why the station still depends on an archaic manual labor force is beyond your understanding.
The robot in particular seems to be carrying glass vials of some sort of thick fluid in a tray. One of the vials has a noticeable tannish tint to it, which you catch at the last moment before the robot darts around a corner.
Another technician walks by holding a large radiator-like device. He briefly chats with another technician who is just standing around.
"On shift?"
"Nah.""What are you here for?"
"Picking up some oxygen. You know..."Yet another technician carries something out of a supply closet. It's a box full of "Door controllers," based on the label.
McMarlo began sliding over to the blob-man, real stealthy like.
"Hey, are you a real Glorb? I've never seen one of you before. Is it true the inside of your suit is made of nitro-hydrogen jelly?"
Action: Chat up the blob! Spy on the message!
The creature doesn't noticeably respond to you, but perhaps that's because it doesn't have eyes. Or a face.
Instead, subtle lights and flashes seem to be going off inside the blob creature's body, visible through its unsuited extremities. Its coat is one large spheroid, with several 'sleeves' through which it can emit pseudopodes. It's hard to believe that it's sapient, maybe it's the fish's pet?
Then you hear a robotic voice.
"No, I am not composed of jelly. My body is mostly composed of water saturated with oxygen. I do not know what this glorb species is."Meanwhile, you hear the fish conversing with the broker through the glass walls. You also see them talking, and the broker is making all these weird hand motions, clapping and pointing places. The glass walls are a really questionable design choice, to be honest.
"You see, your shipment is just more of the same stuff. Supply and demand, you know? Here we depend on food imports to spice up our diet, not to meet the bare essentials.""But humans don't like eating algae. Surely anything is better!"
"True, but that's because we have standards. Aetolian Tuna just doesn't meet the standards for the subsidies we have set up. Try Zeonian Lobsters or something exotic and edible."This place is... intriguing.
Stealthily wander away from Atlos while observing the surroundings.
[5] In the store with Atlos, you find little that is not normally present at a store. A booth where a young human male advertises the local merchandise, suited hunchbacked non-humans laughing with each other, and a single, fat entertainer taking selfies of himself in front of women.
Outside the store, there is just a bit more action. A human (exhibiting signs of decompression sickness) is being rushed across the mall in a levitating stretcher (presumably held up by magnetic forces).
Additionally, a trio of SpaceInc employees (identified by the black and yellow uniforms) are discussing matters with a single individual dressed in a zebra striped robe and a gas mask. You turn up your audio receptors.
SpaceInc Employee 1: "Do you have intel on the targets?"
Stranger: "Lives are at stake. We don't have much, but we know what they are and how they work. The robe I'm wearing is designed specifically to throw off target recognition systems. Robots are pretty vulnerable to that."
SpaceInc Employee 2: "I see, that's smart."
SpaceInc Employee 1: "I believe it might be difficult to convince my superiors. On the other hand, we can bring the rest of your team into the headquarters to discuss it."
Stranger: "That would be great!"