Tarran Smith, Harry Nakamuno, and Jordan Grey"What? Are there hostiles?!" Grab the med kit and rush towards James while trying subconsciously to remember what the carpet feels like.
You run back out of the bathroom and practically over Taric in your haste to make it back to the corridor. James' light is still standing and neither Harry or Jordan seem to be holding a gun on anything but James is down against the wall.
"What the hell happened?" You ask as you kneel beside James.
"No damn clue." Jordan says as he continues pressing his hands to various places on James' head and torso.
"He came out of there and rubbed at his head a little, then it got worse and he buckled." He sighs and moves his hands back along James' spinal column.
"He lasted another minute before he lost consciousness. Did this man have any pre-existing medical conditions or history of migraines?" You are unfortunately forced to tell him that you have no idea what James' medical history is, much to Jordan's disgust.
[Jordan Int 2+1] Jordan sits back and seems to be lost in thought for a moment, finally breaking his silence with a low whistle.
"Well... Nothing is wrong with him in the body that should be causing this. My first guess would be that he's having a bad trip, it would account for a lot of the symptoms... but I somehow doubt that he managed to smuggle stims with him and then managed to take them in front of me without my noticing." He spreads his hands wide.
"I've got nothing, and he's physically fine except for the pre-existing injuries. He's one of your men, but I can spare enough to dope him if you think he needs it."(Drugging James will use up one charge of the Medical Kit)
---
Taric SizierHack the system, bypass the main login screen and attempt to gain root access.
As Tarran charges by you to do some doubtlessly important do-right deed you crack your knuckles and prepare to slice into the emitter. [Mechanical 1 (Bonus Negated] Vs Firewall 5+2] You intently skim through the holo board, running through dialogues at blazing speed. As you prepare to bypass normal entry however you get punted back of the system without warning. Surprised and chagrined you try again, making only as far as the core router before the system rejects you again. [Int 1 (Bonus negated)] Puzzled you stop for a moment to consider your next course of action. Hmm... If you could impersonate the security system itself.. Your fingers blur as you put your new idea into action immediately, almost there, almost there... Done!
The screen blanks out into a plain field instantly. It also turns a dashing shade of scarlet. You think this may be a bad thing.
That suspicion is confirmed when the room's system begins yelling at you.
"UNAUTHORIZED INTERFACE ATTEMPT. REMAIN WHERE YOU ARE FOR SECURITY PICKUP. LOCALIZED LOCKDOWN INITIATED." Red emergency lights in the walls burn to life as every door leading out of the room slams shut simultaneously. Stupid mistake, stupid Technocrats, stupid, stupid, stupid...
---
Dominique WakemanDom turned and saw Tarran and Ash's medic running to take care of James. Eh... boss doesn't really know what he's doing, but three people'd be one too many. I might as well keep a lookout, stay out of their way or somethin'. She turned back to the door. "Yeah. Tell Adam he can kiss my scarred ass. Fuckin' computers." She flipped it off despite that not having any effect whatsoever on the situation and went back to Ash. Once the girl was done with that room she'd let her know this other door was being a piece of shit and refusing to open, and maybe some of those commands she had tried earlier would work.
Swearing at the idiotic nature of the program leave an obscene message for the dead owner, it's not like he'd care about you being rude anyway. The system thanks you sweetly for leaving a message and tells you to have a good day. You tell it exactly what it can have and what to do with it.
Grumbling the whole way you march back to the room Ash was searching, though as you come abreast of the door you hear the a commotion from the room over as the door to it slides shut without apparent aid. Eh. Taric probably found some asshole's private porn gallery. Shrugging your shoulders you enter the room to find Ashley sitting at the desk, staring at the screen as though it had just personally insulted her.
---
Ashley FeyGrr there has to be soem clue here, was the writing on the screen that bastard tormenting her, did he know where they were in the facility? She sure hoped not had one last look for something interesting, and tried to understand the message specifically"
You tap your fingers against the desk as Dominique arrives...
"When is a Raven like a Writing desk?" [int 1-1] You've got nothing, you vaguely remember the source from literary history, but other than that you're drawing a complete blank on this... You can't even tell if this is really a legitimate password that someone dreamed up or if this is some more exotic torment devised by The Father. With no better ideas you motion Dominique over to come and have a look at it.
[Dom Int 3] She too seems puzzled by it, which makes you feel a little better about not having any idea what it means.
---
James Evan"Augh! I knew they weren't letting me off, but I didn't know they were planning to kill me! Oh god... Oh god... What do I do to save myself?"
The shadow raises a hand to stop you from panicking.
"Easy there, try not to get excited right now, you might have a stroke if you raise your blood pressure too much while I'm keeping you under like this.""You tell me I have a fungus growing in my head and then you tell me not to panic?" You protest even as you make a conscious effort to control your breathing. Of course you also wonder what good breath control does in a dream.
"I could perhaps have handled that better" he admits
"but I do have an idea or two, that's why I needed to get a word with you. This... thing was put inside us in the medical bay of a transport by military personnel, and they were able to control from the medical bay of a transport."You start to see where you're going with this.
"So you think that if they can do that there, then we can pull it out with whatever medical facilities are here?"He nods in affirmation.
"Pull it out or cripple it. The only niggle is that we can't kill it, it's bonded too tightly. If it died while still attached the resulting stroke would probably kill us."There's silence for a moment before you pop the question.
"How long do I have if it... can't be treated?"He settles back into the chair resignedly before answering.
"Based on its current growth it'll exhaust the maximum free space in a little less than three weeks, after that it will start consuming grey matter to make room for itself. From there you'll go mad, then approximately a week after that I'll go mad. Seeing as I control little things like making sure your heart keeps beating we'll both be dead when I start losing it.""That... sucks.""Yeah."He gives you some time to think before speaking again.
"Just remember, we need a medical facility, so try not to let it get blown up if we find one. Now, you need anything else before you return to the land of the living?"(Your stand light has run out of power and is now dark)
Relevant ItemsMemory Stick (Dom)
Broken Pad (Taric)
Ident Badge (Taric)
Health: 83/100
Charge: 130/150
Carried Weight: 94/200 (-25%)
Attire: Plain gray under-armor padding. [10lbs] Heavy Combat Armor, 116/150. [45lbs]
Inv:
Leanashe Assault Rifle [22/30 18lbs]
4.73 mm Caseless box mags x2
Cirri Light pistol [20/20 8lbs]
Energy cell x5
Mechanical Bypass kit 5/5 [3lbs]
Arc implants, Planerian Implants
Stormcrow implants
Javelin Implants, Duelist Implants
Status: Primary Staff quarters, North Wing.
Harry Nakamuno
Health: Damaged
Charge: Half Charge
Description: 6'3", weighing three-hundred and fifty pounds Harry is the frontline muscle. Generally calm but a man who dislikes doing nothing, slow to anger he's been friends with Jordan since the Conclave gained their freedom.
Personality Complication: Just cause. Harry Believes in the work he does, and he believes hard. He won't hesitate to put a hole through anything in the way of his duty.
Skills: Melee 2, Soak 2, Brawling 2, Marksman 1
Attributes,
Strength (Str): 6
Dexterity (Dex): 3
Endurance (End): 6
Charisma (Char): 3
Intelligence (Int): 3
Willpower: (Will): 3
Staggershock implants,
Aegis implants, Lazarus implants
Samson Implants, Duelist Implants
Equipment: Heavy Combat Armor 111/150, Wolfkin SMG 15/18, .50 cal drum clips x3, HE grenades (2), Thermal Paste (2), energy cell x4
Jordan Grey
Health: Damaged
Charge: Almost Full
Description: 5'9'' Jordan is a slender blond man with the red scraggle of beard perpetually encroaching on his chin. Part of his memories were lost during translation, and all hope of recovering them lost in the second battle. His name is a combination of earth history and the book Grey's anatomy. His medical expertise remains intact along with his sarcasm and combat skills, but most of the rest of his life is hazy.
Personality complication: Hatred, he might not show it much of the time but Jordan holds a grudge against the... thing that robbed of the chance to ever recover his memories. He is determined to kill it, if it's the last thing he ever does.
Skills: Mechanics 2, Marksman 2, Dodging 3,
Attributes,
Strength (Str): 1
Dexterity (Dex): 6
Endurance (End): 1
Charisma (Char): 3
Intelligence (Int): 6
Willpower: (Will): 6
Javelin implants,
Spider implants, MD. Ande Suite
Toxicology and hazard recog, Arc implants
Equipment: Combat Armor 76/100, Laelaps Laser rifle 10/12 (15lbs), energy cell x5, Field Surgery kit 1/5, Advanced medical kit [4/5], basic medical supplies [3/5] , ORS pack 3/3.
Health: 110/115
Stamina: 87/115
Carried Weight: 99/200 (-25%)
Attire: Arbiter dress Uniform, pristine [10lbs] Standard Body Armor, 74/100. [35lbs]
Inv:
Abassy Heavy pistol -laser sight- [3, 8lbs]
Chimera Pistol [15, 5lbs]
Chimera Pistol [15, 5lbs]
Fuath Riot suppression carbine [7, 13lbs, Caustic load]
.50 caliber pistol clips x8 (7, 2lbs)
Jormungandr Assault Rifle (A30, E65, 16lbs,)
.220 gauss slugs x2 (35)
Smoke Grenades x1 (neg)
Field rations x2
Basic medical kit (2/5) (5lbs)
Data storage drive [Romance novels]
Status: Primary Staff quarters, North Wing.,
Health: 27/70
Stamina: 65/70
Carried Weight: 134/170 (-25%)
Attire: Technocrat Commander Dress uniform [11lbs] Standard Body armor, 66/100. [35lbs]
Inv:
Energy Cell x8 (3 lbs)
Frankenstein Versatility Rifle (A34, E69, 31lbs, in hand,)
.220 gauss clip x4
Basilisk pulse rifle 4/5 (13 lbs)
Piru Gauss Rifle (4/5 4/5 16lbs)
.45 Gauss slugs x2 (5)
Saun's Helmet (Partially Full of ants) (3lbs)
Box of terrible scrap components (20lbs)
Short Range Radio, (Off)
Memory Foam centerfold
colonist rations x5 (5lbs)
Tripwire emitter
Status: Primary Staff quarters, North Wing.
Health: 35/75
Stamina: 68/75
Carried Weight: 133/150 (-25%)
Attire: High-prelate Uniform [8lbs] Standard Body Armor 60/100. [35lbs]
Inv:
Ichneumon Anti-Armor Rifle -Scope- (1, 20lbs, 1 rounds in speed loader)
1' sabot packs x3 (2)
Chimera pistol (15, 5lbs)
Combat Knife (1lb)
Sleipnir SMG (A10, E40 9lbs,)
Sleipnir SMG (A10, E40 9lbs,)
3 energy cells
8 .220 gauss clips (35)
Basic First Aid Kit 5/5 (5lbs)
1 .220 gauss clip (25)
Jormungandr Assault Rifle (A35, E70), 16lbs, in hand)
Status: Primary Staff quarters, North Wing.,
Health: 38/75
Stamina: 52/75
Carried weight: 115/200 (-25%)
Attire: Exarch Dress uniform [8lbs]
Inv:
Renfield SMG (10, 10lbs, in hand)
Orb Lightstand (35 lbs 1/20)
Riot shield (10lbs 30/30)
Piru Gauss Rifle (E5/5 A5/5 16lbs)
.45 Gauss slug clip (5)
Dybbuk Flechette Canister Rifle (1/2 35 lbs)
20 mm flechette canisters (x2, 1 lb)
Energy cell
Status:Primary Staff quarters, North Wing., Drying out, incredibly Smelly. The Devil inside (unknown effect)