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[WillowLuman]

((I want to see this to its conclusion but I've reached the stage in the academic year where my memory and attention span becomes hit-and-miss, so I may forget what I'm doing. But, I am invested. You should perhaps PM everyone on this mission.))

[Toaster]

((I like this, but my attention span is kind of limited these days.  Somehow I keep missing this thread, despite me regularly checking the "your updated topics" list...))

Time to end my career here.

Fall behind then duck around a corner and get away when the opportunity presents itself; ditch the rifle somewhere I can find it again.  Find a place to hide with the laptop and connect to the security wireless, preparing to mess with the controls.

EDIT:  Per request, shut down the water and force a manual reboot.  Lock it down and delay it as much as possible.

'Guys, this is Deuce.  I've broken away from the security employees here; they tried to draft me into some sort of militia.  I figure I've got one or two shots to cripple the physical controls here; water, power, atmosphere.  What do I need to hit?'

((Since you've got a front row seat you can probably tell better than Deuce))

[WillowLuman]

"The water. Shut down the water!"

"Akatin, how well do you know your way around here?"

[~Neri]

"Do not cripple the controls to the water, just shut it down. Power is a bad idea, there are several adaptive biomasses on the loose and Nerin and I are the only members of the team who can see in the dark, excluding Mechanical Units such as WARDEN. Atnosphere is also a bad idea, we aren't supposed to cause major civilian casualties. Shut down the water, then shut down control of the water systems. Make sure that it's possible to reboot control, just make it hard."

[Toaster]

'Got it!'

((Edit in above))

[_DivideByZero_]

((Huzzah, it lives!

I didn't notice this yesterday as I was at school for most of the day. I should be able to update later this afternoon. I have to go now, though.))

"The water. Shut down the water!"

"Akatin, how well do you know your way around here?"

"Uhhhneh somewhat. I've forgotten most of the passcodes and whatnot, and they change every week anyway. But I do know that the administrative offices are a few levels up, near the inner part of the ring, and that layer is divided into private rooms, conference halls, and server farms for the most part, with a couple of lounges for the aux workers. There's a private shuttle docked on the inner ring, we could use it to escape if necessary."

[WillowLuman]

"Well which way can we flee that won't be a dead end?"

[~Neri]

Inspect in every spectrum possible. The ruptured pipes should allow light of various spectrums to refract inside them. If located. Have them shoot it. If not. Keep bloody looking and see if there's a way to lockdown the vents.

[_DivideByZero_]

Moravia Orbital Colony, Ulysses | 237d/3008AD | Von Hapsburg System

Megacity Time: 8:21

Alpha Lobby
Mobs (+1 Stealth)

((I like this, but my attention span is kind of limited these days.  Somehow I keep missing this thread, despite me regularly checking the "your updated topics" list...))

Time to end my career here.

Fall behind then duck around a corner and get away when the opportunity presents itself; ditch the rifle somewhere I can find it again.  Find a place to hide with the laptop and connect to the security wireless, preparing to mess with the controls.

EDIT:  Per request, shut down the water and force a manual reboot.  Lock it down and delay it as much as possible.

'Guys, this is Deuce.  I've broken away from the security employees here; they tried to draft me into some sort of militia.  I figure I've got one or two shots to cripple the physical controls here; water, power, atmosphere.  What do I need to hit?'

((Since you've got a front row seat you can probably tell better than Deuce))

[5] Fortunately, the perfect situation arrives to cover your escape: a lunatic throws himself among the guards, and in the chaos the former maintainence workers back away and then tackle the lunatic after realizing he is unarmed. The guard works to subdue the man, and as everyone's attention is focused on the situation, you head back into that garage area, stowing the rifle inside a bright red locker with many drawers normally used to store power tools. You figure that nobody will be using them for the time being.

The room contains many workbenches with smaller storage lockers built into the bases. These workbenches also provide great cover, so you hide behind one after brightening the lights in the room. Someone had turned them down, but the glow from your laptop screen was fairly obvious in the dim light. Too much of a risk.

On the work laptop you start sending commands to shut off the water supply across the entire station, including the central HQ level. The command starts to go through each time... but after running a status check you notice that the system had been reset. You decide to write a quick program to send repeated messages, then leave it running while checking the status report. This time it shows up disabled every time.

The teal-colored AI thing you encountered before pops up on your screen.
"You are sending unauthorized commands! I request that you stop immediately or I will be forced to report this computer to the authorities! Further noncompliance will result in confiscation and potential disciplinary action."

The AI does not threaten to disable the computer or the program, however, perhaps because it is incapable of doing so.


AI's have not been well-trusted since the end of the first Space Age. The rise and fall of the great machine intelligence Heraclitus was, at the time, the greatest lesson mankind had ever learned since he discovered that steam can turn a flywheel. The lesson was simple: The risk posed by an AI system is directly proportional to the amount of power it has. When Heraclitus was tasked with the management of a system-wide von Neumann fleet in anticipation of the first interstellar colonists, the expedition hardly had time to refuel and flee to warn Earth of what had happened.

The Arcturan AI wars were long and difficult, but the forces of Earth were eventually victorious over several decades, culminating in the construction of the first Worldgate and the subsequent triumph of Earth's coalition fleet in one final surprise attack against overwhelming odds. Never since has an AI been entrusted with human lives, except in the most controlled environments.

...

Headquarters, Floor 3
Professional Atmosphere (+1 Intellect)

"Well which way can we flee that won't be a dead end?"

"The HQ's a ring. We can keep running in one direction until your fishbowl runs out of juice, for the most part. But personally I'd go for a spaceship or the trams so I can get out of here as soon as possible. This part of the station rotates too quickly for mass docking bays, so the only ships docked are private shuttles inside the mooring fixture upstairs.

We could sneak into the secure part of the station. I overheard a conversation between some guards and an odd fellow wearing a black-and-white poncho. They mentioned that security was compromised. Maybe we can hide in a closet or such until the outbreak gets controlled."

As you speak, blobs bounce everywhere and attack people, contracting and flexing to launch themselves a couple of meters. Some draw energy weapons and splatter the critters into the ground, forcing the blobs to exercise ambush tactics. So far nobody has yet been infected.

"Oh yeah, there's also a hospital. The gravity down here is higher than below, and humans don't reproduce well past 0.7g, if you didn't know that already. Since that's important to them, they've probably set up a safe haven there."

Maintenance Shafts
Hidden (+1 Stealth)

Do organics still believe that myth that robots are weak to water? "Not going to work, I'm afraid. Now then, what would your motive be for infecting the water supply?"

Heat up my laser to try and intimidate the captives. Try to get unstuck again.

[2] You remain stuck.

Your laser doesn't "heat up" without firing. And incinerating your lens caps is a bad idea, by all means. You instead start to burn the floor in front of yourself, setting small and temporary fires while reducing the flooring material to a black and sticky mess. [4] You detect fumes, which apparently the humans are reacting negatively to, starting to cough and wheeze.

Guard Impostor: The robot came from the back! Let's get over there...
He dashes forward, but trips on the flooring and doesn't get back up.

The original suspect does not move from his position. Based on body language analysis, you conclude that both humans have passed out from the fumes. A cursory datanet check reveals that the chemicals found in the fumes do in fact cause paralysis and temporary loss of consciousness.

...

Moravia Lab
High Security (-1 Stealth)

((Thanks for requoting))

Inspect in every spectrum possible. The ruptured pipes should allow light of various spectrums to refract inside them. If located. Have them shoot it. If not. Keep bloody looking and see if there's a way to lockdown the vents.

[2] For the most part, you don't get much reflection. The blob isn't emitting the radio waves from before (which would pass through the pipes unimpeded if it were emitting them). The pipes are coated on the inside with a polymer mix that not only has diffuse optical properties, but absorbs a large percentage of the light. You do pick up traces of infra-red anomaly, but that doesn't allow you to track the blob. Although it does bring to your attention the fact that gels and liquids tend to conduct heat easily. Areas where the blob passed should be warmer, although the spider-legs will reduce the signature to a bare minimum. It's a start to tracking the thing, but you'll need to get inside the shafts, and there really isn't much leg room inside to work with. If only you still had that rat that came along... you haven't heard from him in a while.

The blob might not escape into the rest of the station too easily unless it can break through the pipes. The diffusors on the pipes can be shut or opened quite easily by hand, but if your knowledge of human design principles is correct, ventilation systems are often isolated by section, passing through sophisticated air filtering systems that are unlikely to leave the blob unscathed. There is no need to connect multiple sections of the station together as it just facilitates the spread of pathogens and disease. Space habitats are notorious for being unsanitary.

Simply speaking, as long as you close off the access points on the ceiling and watch the breach, the blob won't get far unless you are vastly underestimating its abilities.

[WillowLuman]

Flee for the secure part, providing covering fire with the defense laser on the way out. Perhaps what little sting it provides might save someone's life.

[~Neri]

"Can't track it. Isolate the vents and piping and make sure everyone has an airtight suit. Hopefully it doesn't evolve further and bypass the isolation."

Nerin monitors the datafeeds for anything abnormal an any mention of potential biomatrix outbreaks.

[Toaster]

'Okay team, the water system is disabled.  Something's trying to bring it up and I'm likely to be locked out soon, so I can't guarantee how long it'll actually be down.  Anything else in the system before I'm locked out?'

[HighEndNoob]

Good. Now they can be taken for interrogation...if i can get unstuck.

Try once again to get unstuck. Use my thrusters to aid in my escape. Once unstuck, pull the 2 suspects into the maintenance shaft.

[_DivideByZero_]

Moravia Orbital Colony, Ulysses | 237d/3008AD | Von Hapsburg System

Megacity Time: 8:25

Alpha Lobby
Mobs (+1 Stealth)

'Okay team, the water system is disabled.  Something's trying to bring it up and I'm likely to be locked out soon, so I can't guarantee how long it'll actually be down.  Anything else in the system before I'm locked out?'

"Helloooooo? Are you listening to me? Do you really care about your job? Oh, bother..."

Your program seems to be holding up quite well. You haven't been locked out just yet, although you detect a new account on the network... a network administrator! You have access to his device, perhaps you could pair your work laptop to your own and run some of the open source hacking programs Guild employees bring along. Direct connections are a vulnerability, after all.

...

Headquarters, Floor 3
Professional Atmosphere (+1 Intellect)

Flee for the secure part, providing covering fire with the defense laser on the way out. Perhaps what little sting it provides might save someone's life.

[4] Despite being in a rather large tram, you arouse no suspicion among the steadily-increasing (yet still sporadic) concentration of guards. After all, it makes sense to run toward the people with large guns that can zap blobs into a crisp.

Your laser works well to dissuade the blobs from attacking. On your way, you encountered a cluster of blobs leaping toward a pair of EMT's rushing a man on a stretcher to the hospital. The man was missing a leg, and he happened to fall off the levitating stretcher as the blobs were chasing the trio. Your laser kept the blobs at bay long enough for the EMT's to haul the man back onto the stretcher and get on the vehicle themselves, using it to sled away to safety.
It does not, however, actually kill the blobs. It only seems to burn through their outer skin layer, which then gets taken inside the blob and recycled. Perhaps a chemical weapon would do better at disrupting the blob's function, although electricity is most successful as demonstrated by guards using plasma rifles to one-shot the blobs.

You start to wonder where all the tiny bouncy blobs are coming from. There are so many of them they couldn't have originated from that single source you discovered in the pond.



The 'secure part' of the station isn't as restricted as Akatin had mostly implied. You observe the surrounding restaurants and lobbies to morph into offices and conference rooms, worker lounges, and . There is no explicit 'off limits' banner, and for the most part it's all deserted. You roll past a single conference room and hear a pair of high-ranking employees talking about the state of the city.

Employee 1: I've invested nothing here. Nothing worth saving. I'm just looking for a ticket off this merry-go-round.
Employee 2: We can't just steal company property, they'll go after us. Orbital watch is still on alert. Lockdown is going into effect soon. No ship goes in or out.
Employee 1: Then we should just disable the fleet control computers. I could just use one of the corporate viruses we keep frozen, I've made a few copies for my own... personal use. The CS Geeks are a lot better at coming up with viruses than protecting against them.
Employee 2: You can't possibly have the clearance to get into the server farm.
Employee 1: Well... we can hope. Got any weapons?
Employee 2: Now you're just talking nonsense. We'll never get into the armory. Explosives are out of the picture.
Employee 1: Nobody's manning the cameras... I say we're fine.
Employee 2: Hmm... if a guard catches us we're screwed, though.

"I'd suggest we tail them. You got any way to track them? Radarts? Tracking bugs? Remote spiders? Any of that corporate espionage stuff?" whispers Akatin.

Maintenance Shafts
Hidden (+1 Stealth)

[2] Nope. Can't pull yourself out. Not even with the thrusters, although you do elicit a scream from the other side of the restroom door. Looks like somebody was just about to walk inside.

As you contort yourself into strange positions to try and get out, you hear some noise coming from one of the stalls. A thoroughly frightened citizen? A hidden accomplice? You look closer, but cannot see through the stall. Only once it emerges do you know what it is--it's a teal colored blob, elongated along one axis and slithering around on the floor. It begins to approach the two disabled humans.

...

Moravia Lab
High Security (-1 Stealth)

"Can't track it. Isolate the vents and piping and make sure everyone has an airtight suit. Hopefully it doesn't evolve further and bypass the isolation."

Nerin monitors the datafeeds for anything abnormal an any mention of potential biomatrix outbreaks.

[6] On the headquarters: Oh, it's bad. The water has been shut off, but infections are turning up left and right. Foot traffic density is rather low, but there are blobs hopping all over the place according to some accounts and Tweets.

((Let's say that Twitter became open-source and formed the basis for a new generation of decentralized social networking platforms following the beginning of the Space Age.))

[3] In the lobby: Nothing's broken out, not yet at least. The riot is still going on, and guards are constantly being shuttled up from the headquarters to deal with the rioting. This leaves fewer guns on hand to vaporize blobs with inside the headquarters.

The labs get shut down for the most part, and [5] no infections turn up inside the store! Outbreak contained, except for that one spider-blob. Venting hot gas through the vents could kill it, but that would also threaten the lives of everyone in this wing, so ultimately all you can do is wait.



Dr. Chance, pleased at the outcome, although miffed at the damage to the structure, commends you two for your efforts.
"Well done, gentlemen. The guards should be able to handle it from here. Now we can focus on stabilizing the situation in the station."

A guard captain rushes into the clinic, shouting at people and demanding to speak to the chief staff member present.
"That would be me."
"Fantastic. It looks like you've contained the problem. Now we need most of the lab workers assigned to task forces. We have more guns than we have hands and our manpower has been strained. Also, I suggest you make some observations of the host planet. There's a bloom going on."
"Yes, a bloom..." she glances at Nerin and Valrak as she speaks, as if reluctant to continue.
"You can have the lab workers. I'll ready the scope so we can have a forecast. And you two--" she turns to Nerin and Valrak.
"Business is confidential past this point. Company secrets, you know? I've got to make some meteorological observations to make sure the station isn't threatened. If you give me your cargo ID's I can arrange for compensation to be transferred to your possession soon enough."

((Cargo ID's are given to all incoming travelers. They are a way of managing ownership and accounts, and are for the most part not confidential as you can only transfer stuff to a cargo ID, not remove stuff from its possession.))

[WillowLuman]

"I'd suggest we tail them. You got any way to track them? Radarts? Tracking bugs? Remote spiders? Any of that corporate espionage stuff?" whispers Akatin.

(Crap, do I?)
(Also, yay! Saved someone's life!)