Stats list check:
- +1 military
- +2 scientific
- +1 informational
- -1 political
- BONUS: Scientific designs get one die automatically 4
- BONUS: D7s are rolled on anything relating to Wenton Celling
- Fingerprint scanners on military base doors
- Uplifted dogs
- Lobotomized child soldiers called “Cherubs”
- Plans for a shield against Andantesite wormhole disruption, although power-intensive and requiring a lot of Andantesite
- Large, cracked Andantesite shard, ready to link
- Radio-frequency Andantesite disruptor - 14.03 hour working time
- Loading of wormhole onto SFN Pylos planned, to follow Magellan back home
- Hammerspace parrot
- Venomous implants for dogs
- Hammerspace disruption masers, although in control of Padelheb Fansworth
Plot points to be resolved:
- T. Levin inspecting Tommy DeMarco’s memory removal, then leaving for America
- Interrogating captured rebels
- Order of the Stick
- Padelheb’s remaining supporters
“Alright, it’s been arranged,” says Enir Nest. Quill is standing on a balcony in the capital complex. He gazes thoughtfully past the brick and concrete buildings, staring into the distance, watching the sun set over the ice sheets of Antarctica.
“T. Levin is going to be exiled to America,” Nest continues. He speaks softly but clearly, barely audible over the cold night wind. “He’s been allowed to recruit from our prisoners, minus the ones accused of treason.”
“No hitches, seriously?” asks Quill. “Nobody trying to stop me from letting him ride off into the sunset?”
“Some strings had to be pulled, believe me, but the only person here that outright ignored your input was Padelheb,” Nest answers. “There’s precautions, but Levin has been astonishingly cooperative so far. And if it changes anything, he’s traveling by boat.”
“That’s good,” says Quill. He turns around and walks into the building, Nest following alongside him.
“The people want your word that the Cherub program will be instantly disbanded,” Nest says.
“Well, obviously-”
“But I’m sure that they’ll understand that while Levin’s actions cannot be condoned, the results of his work can be used,” says Nest. “If that’s what you say. The Cherubs have proven themselves to be a formidable fighting force, and rehabilitating them into civilian life could be difficult. Honestly, the best option might be to keep them.”
“And you think the people will be okay with this?” Quill asks.
“Perhaps they don’t need to know,” says Nest.
Quill says nothing. Changing the topic, he asks, “What about that scientist I told you to keep an eye on, Fallas d’Florist?”
He knows the answer. Of course, he knows the answer, it’s sitting in a dimly-lit room in his brain, but-
“He’s departed on a ship for Argentina,” says Nest. “With a bunch of assistants and soldiers. Said something about genetic modification or resurrection, or both.”
“When did he go?”
“A few hours ago,” says Nest. “He’ll arrive in around three days. You could probably catch up with him if you wanted to return to Argentina. Speaking of which, are you planning to?”
“Probably, at some point,” Quill says. “And one more thing. With the wormhole packed up to go to England, we’ve got to figure out another means of rapid communication with the other continents.”
“We’ve already tried sending radio signals,” says Nest. “No dice. The curvature of the Earth’s too great to get a direct connection, and there’s too much noise coming off the aurora for the ionosphere to be any use as a reflection point.”
“How about… just run a telegraph cable across the Drake Passage?” Quill asks.
Nest goes silent for a moment. “Now, I’m no oceanographer, but… the Drake’s full of violent currents. You sure it won’t just snap? Could you even drive a cable of that length?”
“It’s unlikely, but I’ve got some ideas planned out. Inductance and current leakage are going to be problems, so we’ll probably wrap the cable in several layers of insulating rubber, and…”
What do you do about the Cherubs?A: Have them disbanded, rehabilitated, and returned to their families as soon as possible!
B: Refuse and continue the program.
C: Say you’re going to disband them but don’t.
What do you do about Fallas?A: Follow him back to Argentina!
B: Have his boat tracked down and stopped!
C: Stay in Antarctica, work on the submarine cable project, and handle issues there.
D: Have the parrot hammerspace you to Antarctica. This is risky and may turn a few heads on both sides of the fourth wall, but Fallas somehow arrived instantly, and this is the only way to catch him.
(ALERT: B and D have a chance of retconning the events of Fallas’s ressurection attempt)