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[Draignean]

Tarran Smith

Go take a more thorough examination of the clerk offices.

   You head back to the clerks office and examine it more thoroughly. There are fifty workstations, arranged in a long five by ten grid and color coded for purpose. Unlike the Scanner offices, the workstations here feature only the black box of the computer core and a panoramic headset. The lack of holographic displays or any form of tactile manipulator makes the room look strangely barren. 
   There is a single door at the far end of the room, which, you would assume, leads into the personal offices for the group managers. [Int 2] You don't really know what you're going to find here, a young start in the life of a revolutionary has left your experience in the practical job market somewhat lacking. 

---

James Evan

"Hmm... Wonder if I'll find any old lunches." James first checks contraband storage, then attempts to sign on.

   Contraband storage is, as it should be, sealed. It takes two scanners acting in dual control to unseal contraband storage, or an executive access code from a coordinator or someone higher up the chain of command. You shrug and sit down at one of the desks, waving the terminal to life and inputting your first code. [Luck 4] Surprisingly, it works. Say what you will of them, but it's Technocrat bureaucracy that lets a man get up from a desk, travel light-years, and then resume his job on the other side without getting held up in red tape.
   Of course, considering that Technocrat bureaucracy just benefited you, maybe there should be more red tape.
   The system welcomes you as a guest and reminds you to get a permanent login from your supervisor. It also writes you up more citations that you can shake a stick at for being late to work, late to renew your identification, late for your bi-monthly review, et cetera. You get them out of the way and start looking for something more useful. [Mechanical 5] Scanners don't generally spend a lot of time at their desk, paperwork and reports on suspicious subjects taking second place to actually observing subjects, and the guest layout is fairly bare.  You do recognize everything well enough to generate a guest access code that will work on the contraband vault, and to find the calendar that will let you set up a meeting with one of the coordinators.

---

Dominique Wakeman

Dom ran a hand through her hair. "OK. I'm hoping I don't end up regretting this." She performed a few stretches, figuring warming up physically might help her warm up mentally, and focused on the mechanisms inside the door. I just have to swing this bit down, push that one over... rotate this one like... seventy degrees, I think... OK, that bit lifts up... move this to the left and turn it clockwise... "Might take a few minutes if you want to sit back down. There's a lot of little fiddly things in here that need to be moved," she said, letting Taric know she was working on the door and that it might be awhile.

    [A.Kinetics 2, 5+1, 3+1, 4, 3+1, 3+1, 4+1, 2, 3+1, 4+1, 4, 4, 1, 5, 4+1 Meets 50] (Stamina -75) Each individual action is small and inconsequential, but each action requires a dozen others to support it. You do your best, pinning, pulling, and twisting where necessary, but the effort is incredible. It isn't a question of strength, each manipulation individually wouldn't have been a danger to a stout champagne glass, but the unceasing precision required makes it something akin to balancing a dozen spinning bowls while dancing a particularly vigorous haka.
    The final piece clicks into place audibly, and you almost collapse from mixed relief and exhaustion. You feel cold all over, and you're more tired then you've been in a long, long time. This isn't the first time you've skirted the edge of your wall today, and even your exceptional levels of regeneration can't replace old fashioned sleep, but, at the very least, the soft rasp of the blast door sliding open seems to validate your efforts.
    Taric's unnerving smile stretches from ear to ear, and he squeezes his way through the still opening doors without so much as a 'thank you'. The immortal continues you heel him, leaving you alone. You stand wide and breathe deeply for a couple seconds. The effort was very close to what you were capable of, anyone with less skill or less staying power would probable have been killed in the attempt. As it is, you're too weak to throw so much as a psychic burp. You can still walk, talk, and maybe shoot if you don't have to do have to do any of it in a straight line, but a fight right now would probably push "in dire need of a bed and a beer" into "in dire need of a slab and coroner".

(Level 22 is now open)

---

Aaron White

"Next... floor... NOW!!!... Oh god it tastes awful, why did i take off my mask?"

Go up the stairs

   You order everyone to start jogging up the stairs again, making as good a hustle as you can through the slick foam. Just once you'd like the pull-apart-the-door-panel-and-hack-the-security trick to actually work like it does in the movies, right now it only seems good for giving away your position.
   The stairs stop at the next landing, making you very thankful for the dried corpse that's jamming its door open. You and Cale muscle the door the rest of the way open while Henry and Paula go through, then you kick the corpse out of the way and shut the door behind you. This way it'll at least lock if you need it.
   The glowing red arrows that you'd noticed on the stairs continue across this level, all across this level. Every single wallscreen that you can see has a large red arrow on it, all pointing to one path. [Observation 4] You hear a faintly cheery noise coming from the direction the arrows are pointing.
   Forgetting the arrows, the path branches into three parts ahead of you. The near right (leading away from the arrows) says it leads to the assemblymans offices, the near left (on the path of the arrows) leads to the elevators, and the far right (also leading away from the arrows) leads to the central office block.

---


Relevant Items
Memory Stick (Dom)
Security Card November (Dom)
Ident Badge -Kira Masse- (Tarran)
Ident Badge -Naomi Weiss- (Tarran)
Unpowered Pad (Tarran)
L1RF Key (Tarran)
Jake's Engraved Plate (Dom)
Radio (Dom) [On]

Spoiler: Aaron White (click to show/hide)

Health: 72/85
Stamina: 85/85
Carried weight: 92/180
Attire:Red Maintenance Jumpsuit, Heavily Modified Red Maintenance Suit (30/115, 45 lbs).
Inv:
Phoenix pistol (1/3) (9 lbs)
CFG bars x2 (3)
Crowbar (8lbs)
Simple Knife (2lbs)
Bone Spike (1lbs)
Gingerbread
Fenrir pistol 5/7 (6lbs)
Fifty feet of rope (10 lbs)
Homemade grappling hook (2 lbs)
D-Grade rations x4 (4 lbs)
First-Aid Kit 5/5 (5 lbs)
Energy cells x3
Status: Floor 9, fire retardant.

Spoiler: Companions (Aaron White) (click to show/hide)

Paula Ria
Health: 39/55
Stamina: 47/55
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. Manticore Pistol (9/10, 6lbs), .30 cal clips (10) x2, 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, ORS pack (3/3). 

Henry Myers
Health: 43/75
Stamina: 40/75
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, ORS pack (2/3)
 
Cale Levi
Health: 105/105
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, ORS pack (3/3).

Spoiler: Tarran Smith (click to show/hide)

 
Health: 63/75
Stamina: 75/75
Carried Weight: 146/150
Attire: High-prelate Uniform [8lbs] Standard Reindeer embroidered Body Armor 19/100. [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 x3
8 .220 gauss clips (35)
Basic First Aid Kit 3/5 (5lbs)
Jormungandr Assault Rifle (A16, E26), 16lbs. In hand,
Artemis Railgun (E 1/3, A 2/3, 18lbs)
.50 Rail Clip (3)
Credit Chit (Unknown)
Status: Floor 9.

Spoiler: Dominique Wakeman (click to show/hide)

Health: 106/135
Stamina: 9/135
Carried Weight: 135/210
Attire: Arbiter dress Uniform, pristine [10lbs] Standard Body Armor, 29/100. [35lbs]
Inv:
Dominique's Abassy Heavy pistol -laser sight- [5, 8lbs]
Stun club (50/50 11lbs)
Fuath Riot suppression carbine [5, 13lbs, Caustic load]
.50 caliber pistol clips x7 (7, 2lbs)
Jingle bell knucklers
Full Bottle of Wine x1 (1lb, sealed)
Jormungandr Assault Rifle (A35, E70, 16lbs.)
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: Floor 22

Spoiler:  James Evan (click to show/hide)

Health: 38/75
Stamina: 75/75
Carried weight: 111/240
Attire: Exarch Dress uniform [8lbs] James' Light Body armor 35/50 (50/50) [25lbs] An elf hat
Inv:
Renfield SMG (10, 10lbs)
Riot shield (10lbs 1/30, in hand)
Piru Gauss Rifle (E5/5 A5/5 16lbs)
.45 Gauss slug clip (5)
Simone's Song (6lbs 3/7 -Frangible Rounds-)
.50 caliber Frangible pistol clips (7) x1
Irin Combat Shotgun 3/6 (15lbs)
Dybbuk Flechette Canister Rifle (1/2 35 lbs)
20 mm flechette canisters (x2, 1 lb)
Status: Floor 9. Incredibly Smelly.

[Powder Miner]

James smirked a bit as he fed the access code into the vault, thinking about the calendar. "Yeah, set up a meeting with Mr. Ghost, why don't I."

[Tarran]

"Hm, maybe I should've paid more attention in that tour I had one time before I started shooting stuff." Tarran mumbled to himself.

Make a quick check of all the workstations to see if there's anything hiding anywhere before picking up and putting on a headset.

[SeriousConcentrate]

Dom, pretty much on auto-pilot as her tired brain recuperated from the ordeal, followed Taric as well, a hand reflexively on her Abassy. Just in case.

[Ahra]

"We are going to the assembly, i would like something held together by more than Duct-tape and prayers"

[Draignean]

Tarran Smith

Make a quick check of all the workstations to see if there's anything hiding anywhere before picking up and putting on a headset.

   [Observation 2] You find nothing of interest in any of the workstations you check. There are a couple personal effects, and a few bits and bobbles that you really aren't sure of, but nothing useful. Resigned, you sit down in a chair and don one of the headsets.
   The helmet blacks out your vision and it remains blacked out for a few seconds while you try to find the on switch. Then, when you manage to turn it on, it requests an access code. [Luck 3] "Password" doesn't work.

---

James Evan

James smirked a bit as he fed the access code into the vault, thinking about the calendar. "Yeah, set up a meeting with Mr. Ghost, why don't I."

 You get up from the desk and punch the access key into the door to contraband storage. Nothing happens. The door is probably waiting for the other code that will put the dual in dual control.

---

Dominique Wakeman

Dom, pretty much on auto-pilot as her tired brain recuperated from the ordeal, followed Taric as well, a hand reflexively on her Abassy. Just in case.

   You trail after Taric, methodically noting details without assigning much emotion to them. Behind the blast doors there is a room, not enormous, but filled with an almost suffocating sense of armored mass. Bright lights cast sterile illumination on everything, showing you a lab that dwarfs everything else here.
   The machine that Taric was after is set up in a corner of the room, a smaller version of the orientation machine that you've already gone through. You would have thought that such a device would have been the most important thing here, certainly the most deserving of the security given to it. Center stage, however, is given to something else. Exactly what else is difficult to describe.
   It's a tube, twisted and perforated in places. Shimmering bands of translucent gold suspend it a few feet above the floor, brighter and thicker than the ones that were used to bind you into the deportation shuttle. It's large enough that you could walk through if you bent double, and short enough that your hands and feet would stick out if you were to lie down in it. What it's made of, however, is a complete mystery to you. The surface is blackish-grey and soft looking, but the light makes it glint in ways that seem both metallic and crystalline. It's interior is several shades lighter, [Observation 5] and it undulates slowly as you watch. A tired and irrational thought makes you reach your hand out to touch it, and you recoil the instant your fingers graze its dark surface. The object's surface is freezing cold, cold enough that you're confident that anything damp would be frozen to it instantaneously.
    Taric whistles at you, already half-way to the orientation machine. "Come on, this is what we came for. I've showed you mine, and you've showed me yours, don't chicken out before it gets fun. We'll all go in together." He waves his arm to indicate both you and the immortal heeling him. He grins at you, and he either doesn't notice (unlikely) or doesn't care about the strange object in the middle of the room.

---

Aaron White

"We are going to the assembly, i would like something held together by more than Duct-tape and prayers"

   Paula looks at your very strangely when you speak, but she shrugs slowly and follows you with the others. You walk for a little while, following two other markers (and going against the arrows every time) before Paula speaks again.
  "You do know that the assembly doesn't actually have to do anything with assembling, well, anything, don't you? They make internal decisions, decide civilian matters, and a couple other supposedly essential things that nobody really understands."
  You grunt noncommittally and open the door to their offices. The door leads to another hallway, seven doors on each side. Each door has a holotag by it, identifying the assemblyman, or woman, by name.
   You don't recognize a single name. This strikes you as vaguely wrong.

---   



Relevant Items
Memory Stick (Dom)
Security Card November (Dom)
Ident Badge -Kira Masse- (Tarran)
Ident Badge -Naomi Weiss- (Tarran)
Unpowered Pad (Tarran)
L1RF Key (Tarran)
Jake's Engraved Plate (Dom)

Spoiler: Aaron White (click to show/hide)

Health: 73/85
Stamina: 85/85
Carried weight: 92/180
Attire:Red Maintenance Jumpsuit, Heavily Modified Red Maintenance Suit (30/115, 45 lbs).
Inv:
Phoenix pistol (1/3) (9 lbs)
CFG bars x2 (3)
Crowbar (8lbs)
Simple Knife (2lbs)
Bone Spike (1lbs)
Fenrir pistol 5/7 (6lbs)
Fifty feet of rope (10 lbs)
Homemade grappling hook (2 lbs)
D-Grade rations x4 (4 lbs)
First-Aid Kit 5/5 (5 lbs)
Energy cells x3
Status: Floor 9, fire retardant.

Spoiler: Companions (Aaron White) (click to show/hide)

Paula Ria
Health: 39/55
Stamina: 48/55
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. Manticore Pistol (9/10, 6lbs), .30 cal clips (10) x2, 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, ORS pack (3/3). 

Henry Myers
Health: 43/75
Stamina: 43/75
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, ORS pack (2/3)
 
Cale Levi
Health: 105/105
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, ORS pack (3/3).

Spoiler: Tarran Smith (click to show/hide)

 
Health: 64/75
Stamina: 75/75
Carried Weight: 146/150
Attire: High-prelate Uniform [8lbs] Standard Body Armor 19/100. [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 x3
8 .220 gauss clips (35)
Basic First Aid Kit 3/5 (5lbs)
Jormungandr Assault Rifle (A16, E26), 16lbs. In hand,
Artemis Railgun (E 1/3, A 2/3, 18lbs)
.50 Rail Clip (3)
Credit Chit (Unknown)
Status: Floor 9.

Spoiler: Dominique Wakeman (click to show/hide)

Health: 106/135
Stamina: 18/135
Carried Weight: 135/210
Attire: Arbiter dress Uniform, pristine [10lbs] Standard Body Armor, 29/100. [35lbs]
Inv:
Dominique's Abassy Heavy pistol -laser sight- [5, 8lbs]
Stun club (50/50 11lbs)
Fuath Riot suppression carbine [5, 13lbs, Caustic load]
.50 caliber pistol clips x7 (7, 2lbs)
Full Bottle of Wine x1 (1lb, sealed)
Jormungandr Assault Rifle (A35, E70, 16lbs.)
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: Floor 22

Spoiler:  James Evan (click to show/hide)

Health: 39/75
Stamina: 75/75
Carried weight: 111/240
Attire: Exarch Dress uniform [8lbs] James' Light Body armor 35/50 (50/50) [25lbs]
Inv:
Renfield SMG (10, 10lbs)
Riot shield (10lbs 1/30, in hand)
Piru Gauss Rifle (E5/5 A5/5 16lbs)
.45 Gauss slug clip (5)
Simone's Song (6lbs 3/7 -Frangible Rounds-)
.50 caliber Frangible pistol clips (7) x1
Irin Combat Shotgun 3/6 (15lbs)
Dybbuk Flechette Canister Rifle (1/2 35 lbs)
20 mm flechette canisters (x2, 1 lb)
Status: Floor 9. Incredibly Smelly.

[Draignean]

The above turn was written from a Mcdonalds in the mountains of Colorado. Thanks to these big rocky things that I'm surrounded with, I'll lose signal pretty much as soon as I leave. I'll be back home late on the third (12 hour drive), so you may get another turn then, but thou shallt not getteth thine hopes uppeth.

[Tarran]

Try the following:

123456
abc123
qwerty
password1

If all of these fail, look for anything in the room that has any letters or numbers written.

Also, look at the badges I have to see what job they have.



Also, do the identity badges I have have more than just names written on them?

[Draignean]

Try the following:

123456
abc123
qwerty
password1

If all of these fail, look for anything in the room that has any letters or numbers written.



Also, do identity badges have more than just names written on them?

You can try both badges, and I'll give both a luck roll.

[SeriousConcentrate]

"Yeah, we'll go in in a second. Have you seen this thing dude?" Dom asked, pointing the strange object out to Taric. He was already a smart guy and who knows what he had picked up when he was mind-melded or whatever; maybe he would know what it was. Once she had pointed it out to him, though, she went ahead and entered the Orientation machine.

[Powder Miner]

James tried to use another guest key on a different computer, grab an access key, and use that on the door.

[Tarran]

Try the following:

123456
abc123
qwerty
password1

If all of these fail, look for anything in the room that has any letters or numbers written.



Also, do identity badges have more than just names written on them?

You can try both badges, and I'll give both a luck roll.

Edited in.

[Ahra]

"You know, i dont recognize any of these names from when this place was working, how about you guys?"

[Draignean]

Tarran Smith

Try the following:

123456
abc123
qwerty
password1

If all of these fail, look for anything in the room that has any letters or numbers written.

Also, look at the badges I have to see what job they have.

   You run a couple of the most basic passwords through, hoping wildly that one will shake something loose.  [Luck 2] You sigh heavily as the last code fails. It was a long shot, and now you're back to square one. [Observation 4] Kira Masse's badge is badly stained from the puddle of blood that you pried it out of, but the words "IA Overseer" are still visible beneath her name. [Observation 2+1] The other badge is in good condition but it's for a bio-mechanics researcher.
    You try both, just to make sure, [luck 2] but no dice.
   [Failed roll not shown]

---

James Evan

James tried to use another guest key on a different computer, grab an access key, and use that on the door.

  Your access key continues to log on as a guest, and it continues to give you the same access key, no matter how many times you switch computers. Guest keys aren't that difficult to get a hold of, and the technocrats aren't quite arrogant enough to allow a major security loophole like the one you're trying to exploit.
    [Observation 3] You think you hear something from out in the hall.

---

Dominique Wakeman

"Yeah, we'll go in in a second. Have you seen this thing dude?" Dom asked, pointing the strange object out to Taric. He was already a smart guy and who knows what he had picked up when he was mind-melded or whatever; maybe he would know what it was. Once she had pointed it out to him, though, she went ahead and entered the Orientation machine.

   Taric stares at the suspended object quizzically, his scarily good humor replaced by genuine puzzlement. "I don't know," he says, touching the side of his head. "I have no memories of this... Those who worked on it have not yet been absorbed, or they were killed before their minds could be obtained." He frowns at the device and shakes his head. "There was a name a saw before I became... more. Argos. None of my newer memories mention it more than in passing, and few of those believed it more than rumor." Taric's quicksilver smile returns, bouncing back as if it had never left. "But that is neither here nor there. Come on, this'll be fun."
   You think that you might disagree with Taric's version of "fun" in most instances, but it isn't as if you can turn back now. You're committed, and you don't have the strength left to stop Taric if he decides to force the issue.
   You follow Taric slowly, casting the occasional glance at the strange device hovering in the middle of the room. The immortal that was following Taric takes the first pod of the machine, and Taric slips into the second. You take a deep breath and clamber tiredly into the third.
   The reclined position is relaxing, enough that you could fall asleep in here if you didn't catch yourself, but nothing else seems to happen for a few minutes. Restraints clamping over your wrists, ankles, and forehead take you by surprise, and an accompanying hum from the machine sets your teeth on edge. You body tingles softly, but, aside from pressure where the cuffs contact your body, nothing horrible seems to happen. Your head tingles, and you begin to feel a faint hope that this will be less mind wrenchingly painful than the first time.
      You try to scream when the first wave pulses into your body through the restraints, but you can't remember how to make your vocal cords work. Additional waves come on the heels of the first, burning through you, and taking a little more of you away with each cycle. They don't hurt, you don't remember how to hurt. Your name escapes you, the faces of your past are shredded away one by one. Your last thought, just before the last pulse destroys your ability to think entirely, is to wonder what you are, and in a detached but important way, what a Jeffrey is.

(You have ten skill points to spend on Anything from orientation)
(You have three attribute points from completing the mission)
(You are done until the next chapter)

---

Aaron White

"You know, i dont recognize any of these names from when this place was working, how about you guys?"

   Cale and Henry shake their heads, but Paula gives you another one of those strange looks and nods before speaking. "I know all of them by name, and eight by sight. I've even talked to Hailene and Luke in person. I wouldn't say I knew any of them personally, but I knew all them an what they did. You... you all didn't?" Paula's frown deepens when the three of you assent silently. "Jeezus"
   [Observation 3] The edge of a shadow flickers across the corridor behind you.

---

Relevant Items
Memory Stick (Dom)
Security Card November (Dom)
Ident Badge -Kira Masse- (Tarran)
Ident Badge -Naomi Weiss- (Tarran)
Unpowered Pad (Tarran)
L1RF Key (Tarran)
Jake's Engraved Plate (Dom)

Spoiler: Aaron White (click to show/hide)

Health: 74/85
Stamina: 85/85
Carried weight: 92/180
Attire:Red Maintenance Jumpsuit, Heavily Modified Red Maintenance Suit (30/115, 45 lbs).
Inv:
Phoenix pistol (1/3) (9 lbs)
CFG bars x2 (3)
Crowbar (8lbs)
Simple Knife (2lbs)
Bone Spike (1lbs)
Fenrir pistol 5/7 (6lbs)
Fifty feet of rope (10 lbs)
Homemade grappling hook (2 lbs)
D-Grade rations x4 (4 lbs)
First-Aid Kit 5/5 (5 lbs)
Energy cells x3
Status: Floor 9, fire retardant.

Spoiler: Companions (Aaron White) (click to show/hide)

Paula Ria
Health: 39/55
Stamina: 49/55
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. Manticore Pistol (9/10, 6lbs), .30 cal clips (10) x2, 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, ORS pack (3/3). 

Henry Myers
Health: 43/75
Stamina: 46/75
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, ORS pack (2/3)
 
Cale Levi
Health: 105/105
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, ORS pack (3/3).

Talisman

Spoiler: Tarran Smith (click to show/hide)

 
Health: 65/75
Stamina: 75/75
Carried Weight: 146/150
Attire: High-prelate Uniform [8lbs] Standard Body Armor 19/100. [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 x3
8 .220 gauss clips (35)
Basic First Aid Kit 3/5 (5lbs)
Jormungandr Assault Rifle (A16, E26), 16lbs. In hand,
Artemis Railgun (E 1/3, A 2/3, 18lbs)
.50 Rail Clip (3)
Credit Chit (Unknown)
Status: Floor 9.

Spoiler:  James Evan (click to show/hide)

Health: 40/75
Stamina: 75/75
Carried weight: 111/240
Attire: Exarch Dress uniform [8lbs] James' Light Body armor 35/50 (50/50) [25lbs]
Inv:
Renfield SMG (10, 10lbs)
Riot shield (10lbs 1/30, in hand)
Piru Gauss Rifle (E5/5 A5/5 16lbs)
.45 Gauss slug clip (5)
Simone's Song (6lbs 3/7 -Frangible Rounds-)
.50 caliber Frangible pistol clips (7) x1
Irin Combat Shotgun 3/6 (15lbs)
Dybbuk Flechette Canister Rifle (1/2 35 lbs)
20 mm flechette canisters (x2, 1 lb)
Status: Floor 9. Incredibly Smelly.

[Tarran]

Well, I do hope Serious won't have to wait long.



Try three last passwords:
Technocracy
Secret
Classified

If these fail, promptly take off the helmet and throw it across the room in mild frustration.