Tarran SmithGet Taric over here so he can flash his light around the rooms to the sides.
You call Taric over to help you clear the additional rooms. One set of eyes, particularly a set of eyes that has only a layman's knowledge of the mechanicals, isn't enough to clear this place out. Taric may be little more than a brain with an oversize sex drive adjunct, but he's an observant brain with an oversized sex drive.
---
Dominique Wakeman"He's in there, huh? Ah, shit. I better go keep an eye on him. You hang here with Jake, all right?" Dom said to Taric, mulling over his words. The power went off before the water got blown up, but it was still on? It was probably significant, but to her... well, she just moved heavy shit. And hit dumb shitheads. And recently added shooting mechanical shit to her repertoire. She knew people were still alive in here, Jake was proof of that... there had to be some connection, somewhere. Thinking about it, she headed through the door. "Boss, you in here? Hold on, I'm on my way."
You head into the back of the restaurant and start to shout to Tarran a split second before he calls back to Taric. Taric, who you just told to hold back with Jake, shrugs and tells Jake to hang back with James before following you. The coward who is about as well armed as a mite is guarding a comatose psychic. Absolutely nothing can go wrong with this plan.
You and Taric slosh through the preparation area, the combination of the water and Taric's light playing strange tricks on your psychic vision. Tarran isn't hard to find, standing in the middle of a small mechanical bay. [Mechanical 4] You've worked with its like on occasion, not enough to really know how to use it, but enough to now that it would require enough power for a direct line. [Int 5+1] You glance up, easily picking out the ridge you're looking for. That ridge, scored in places where hidden access points had been opened and shut repeatedly, would lead back to the system breaker that controlled it which, in turn, would usually be located with the rest of the local power control systems. If this place has any sort of auxiliary power, that's where you'd go to turn it on. Trouble is that the ridge leads back the way you came, away from the trail.
---
Taric SizierBe the lightman
"Calling out for other men when you're alone in the dark... You sure there isn't anything you want to tell us?" Taric asks deadpan, grinning lopsidedly at Tarran as he sloshes in behind Dominique. He doesn't wait for any answer beyond a scowl before giving the drone bay a cursory inspection and sweeping his light over the split passage and the lift. [Observation 2+1] He shrugs.
"There's stuff that way, it looks green, but that's more an emerald city deal," he adds, bringing absolutely nothing helpful to Tarran's earlier assessment.
---
Aaron White"All for getting up says ´get aboard`, would you kindly? now: "GET ABOARD FOOLS!!!"
Empty elevator versus hallways that are about to be filled with things that want to kill you, it ain't exactly a hard decision for you. You half shout, half shove everyone else into the elevator. It's comfortably roomy and well lit. Barely audible music designed to lessen the stress of being trapped in a metal box plays counterpoint to the twisted corpse that you threw in here. You press the door close button about five times per second.
The first of the deadhead security force rounds the corner as the doors start closing. They move two abreast and are a good deal healthier looking than the ones you just killed. [luck 4] You have enough time to watch them draw disruptor pistols before the elevator doors cut you off, protecting and caging you.
The elevator sits silent and unmoving for a couple seconds.
"Ookay, where are we going no-" Cale is cut off when the button for floor thirteen flashes, glowing brightly as the elevator hums into motion.
"I guess that's where we're going," he says faintly.
You press a button for another floor experimentally. It flashes once, then dies back to idle as soon as your finger leaves it. The controls are out of your hands. The good news is that you're going seven floors in a direction that you want to go, the bad news is that you have no idea who is taking you there. The only thing that's for sure is that you're going to have to do something now if you don't want to meet whoever is pulling your strings.
"I hate being railroaded," someone mutters from behind you, too faintly for you to tell who.
---
James EvanJames didn't particularly trust either of these two at the moment... and his shadow had even earlier admitted that would trigger hyperfungalgrowth or something and kill him. But he wasn't going to go with the torturer's idea either. That wasn't remotely an option- the torturer had been trying to kill him, too. "That's the chemical combination you said would kill me!" Instead, James looked for anything he would recognize as being able to hinder it... if such a thing even existed.
"I know what I said," your shadow growls, gesturing at the fallen woman.
"But those were his words, not mine!" You grimace and start whipping through the cube's displays again, looking for anything that you might have missed. The topless woman says something else, the gist of it being that your shadow is as good as insane right now (not that she has a lot of room to talk), and that you should really be listening to her. You ignore her. [Int 3+1] Nothing new pops out at you, but you can put something old in perspective. The "Sample 18 status" tab, one of the many tabs that you flicked over only briefly due to it being confusing as hell, recommends "increasing acetylcholin and anandamide production", just like your shadow did. It isn't much, but it lends some credence to his opinion.
[luck 3] The flying knife, still zipping around like a homicidal starling, flies within about three feet of one of the jet black pillars. Tendrils snap out immediately, seeming not so much to move as to simply and suddenly exist in the knife's path. The blade doesn't come out the other side. You swallow hard as the tendrils continue to descend and grow in a carnival of shadows.
---
Turn RecapTarran is calling
Dominique is looking around
Aaron is on an elevator to floor thirteen
James is running out of time.
Relevant ItemsMemory Stick (Dom)
Security Card November (Dom)
Broken Pad (Taric)
Ident Badge -Pyotr Ivanov- (Taric)
Ident Badge -Kira Masse- (Tarran)
Ident Badge -Naomi Weiss- (Tarran)
Unpowered Pad (Tarran)
L1RF Key (Tarran)
Health: 73/85
Stamina: 85/85
Carried weight: 81/180
Attire:Red Maintenance Jumpsuit, Heavily Modified Red Maintenance Suit (46/115, 45 lbs).
Inv:
Phoenix pistol (2/3) (9 lbs)
CFG bars x2 (3)
Crowbar (8lbs)
Simple Knife (2lbs)
Bone Spike (1lbs)
Fifty feet of rope (10 lbs)
Homemade grappling hook (2 lbs)
D-Grade rations x4 (4 lbs)
Status: Floor Twenty
Paula Ria
Health: 39/55
Stamina: 34/55
Description: Short, brown haired. The years she spent as a researcher at Delphi added lines to her face, the year she spent as a prisoner here added a decade and stole what weight she had from her frail body.
Personality Complication: Soft. Despite her recent hellish ordeals, Ria was a born and raised Technocrat. She's gotten conditioned to hardship, but the pain and the cold decisions that need to be made in her new life still stun her.
Skills: Mechanical 3, Intuition 1, Dodging 1
Attributes,
Strength (Str): 1
Dexterity (Dex): 3
Endurance (End): 1
Charisma (Char): 4
Intelligence (Int): 9
Willpower: (Will): 3
Equipment: Light Body Armor 36/50, Stained Labcoat, Military grade night-vision goggles. Chimera Pistol 15/15, Diagnostic pad, energy cell x2, Light Plasma Torch (60/100), Basic Medical Kit (2/5), Fifty feet of rope, Homemade grappling hook, D-Grade rations x4.
Henry Myers
Health: 13/75
Stamina: 16/75 (Light Bleeding, -3 stamina per turn)
Description: An emaciated man of average height. He's mostly bald now, thanks both due to a receding hairline and to a chemical spill that permanently injured his scalp.
Personality Complication: Maudlin. Henry has a dark streak a mile wide, and he usually shares it at every available person. He's a good man, but the tendency to vent every depressing thought that runs through his head makes him a little irritating.
Skills: Soak 2, Marksman 2, Stamina 1
Attributes,
Strength (Str): 6
Dexterity (Dex): 6
Endurance (End): 3
Charisma (Char): 1
Intelligence (Int): 3
Willpower: (Will): 4
Equipment: Maintenance Jumpsuit, Heavily Modified Maintenance Suit (23/90). Kapre Light Rifle 9/15, .30 caliber clips (15) x2, Pack of Flares, Fifty feet of rope, Homemade grappling hook, D-Grade rations x4.
Cale Levi
Health: 102/105
Stamina: 105/105
Description: A tall young man, blond and brown eyed. He's in fairly decent shape, considering his recent lifestyle.
Personality Complication: Young, and kinda Stupid. Cale is a young man, and though time has aged him quickly, he still occasionally acts on wild impulse.
Skills: Mechanical 1, Melee 2, Dodge 1
Attributes,
Strength (Str): 3
Dexterity (Dex): 6
Endurance (End): 6
Charisma (Char): 4
Intelligence (Int): 3
Willpower: (Will): 1
Equipment: Maintenance Jumpsuit, Heavily Modified Maintenance Suit (78/90). Sleipnir SMG (5/30 | 35/60), .223 clips (30) x2, Energy cell x2, Crude Combat Blade, Neuroflash grenade x2, Fifty feet of rope, Homemade grappling hook, D-Grade rations x4.
Health: 60/70
Stamina: 70/70
Carried Weight: 138/140 (-25%)
Attire: Technocrat Commander Dress uniform [11lbs] Standard Body armor, 66/100. [35lbs]
Inv:
Energy Cell x6 (3 lbs)
Taric's Frankenstein Versatility Rifle (A30, E65, 31lbs, in hand,) (Can't use laser)
.220 gauss clip x3
Basilisk pulse rifle 4/5 (13 lbs)
Piru Gauss Rifle (4/5 4/5 16lbs)
.45 Gauss slugs x2 (5)
Disruptor Pistol (4/4 4lbs)
Saun's Helmet (Quarter full of ants, enclosed.) (3lbs)
Box of terrible scrap components (20lbs)
Short Range Radio, (Off)
Memory Foam centerfold
colonist rations x5 (5lbs)
Tripwire emitter
Status: Restaurant, back rooms.
Health: 75/75
Stamina: 75/75
Carried Weight: 146/150 (-25%)
Attire: High-prelate Uniform [8lbs] Standard Body Armor 48/100. [35lbs]
Inv:
Tarran's Ichneumon Anti-Armor Rifle -Scope- (1/1, 20lbs, 1 rounds in speed loader)
1' sabot packs x1 (2)
Combat Knife (1lb)
Sleipnir SMG (A0, E25 9lbs,)
Sleipnir SMG (A0, E25 9lbs,)
Energy cells x4
8 .220 gauss clips (35)
Basic First Aid Kit 3/5 (5lbs)
1 .220 gauss clip (25)
Jormungandr Assault Rifle (A4, E39), 16lbs. In hand,
Artemis Railgun (E 3/3, A 3/3, 18lbs)
.50 Rail Clip (3)
Credit Chit (Unknown)
Status: Unknown Restaurant, back rooms.
Health: 109/135
Stamina: 115/115
Carried Weight: 135/210 (-25%)
Attire: Arbiter dress Uniform, pristine [10lbs] Standard Body Armor, 20/100. [35lbs]
Inv:
Dominique's Abassy Heavy pistol -laser sight- [6, 8lbs]
Stun club (50/50 11lbs)
Fuath Riot suppression carbine [6, 13lbs, Caustic load]
.50 caliber pistol clips x7 (7, 2lbs)
Full Bottle of Wine x1 (1lb, sealed)
Jormungandr Assault Rifle (A35, E70, 16lbs. In hand)
LR Jormungandr Battle Rifle (13/35 A, 8/15 E, Damaged, 17lbs)
Artemis Railgun (E 3/3, A 3/3, 18lbs)
.220 gauss slugs x1 (35)
.220 gauss slugs x1 (30)
Smoke Grenades x1 (neg)
Energy cells x3
Energy cell (90%) x1
.50 Rail Clip (3) x1
Field rations x1
Phoenix Pistol [2, 9lbs]
Basic medical kit (1/5) (5lbs)
Data storage drive [Romance novels]
Unknown Chemical Hypo x3 (Neg)
Partially sorted (1/3) stack of Technocrat stamped papers (Bad novel)
Status: Unknown Restaurant, back rooms.
Health: 30/75 (Dreamspace HP 75/200)
Stamina: 75/75
Carried weight: 105/240 (-25%)
Attire: Exarch Dress uniform [8lbs] James' Light Body armor 47/50 (50/50) [25lbs]
Inv:
(Dreamspace: Satyr Light pistol 9/18)
(Dreamspace: Eldjötnar shotgun (A 4/4 | E 12/12))
(Dreamspace: ORS 3/3)
Renfield SMG (10, 10lbs, in hand)
Riot shield (10lbs 30/30)
Piru Gauss Rifle (E5/5 A5/5 16lbs)
.45 Gauss slug clip (5)
Simone's Song (6lbs 4/7 -Frangible Rounds-)
.50 caliber Frangible pistol clips (7) x1
Dybbuk Flechette Canister Rifle (1/2 35 lbs)
20 mm flechette canisters (x2, 1 lb)
Status: Unknown Restaurant. Incredibly Smelly. Regenerating 3 DHp per turn. (1)
Author
Topic: Deviation-22. The End of All Things. (Read 526706 times)