Play@YSDC

Day 2
12th March 2189
04:00 Earth Central European Time
Barnard's Rest Colony, Titan

Jojo gently turns the door handle and it clicks open. Very slowly he opens the door. The room is dark but the light from the foyer shines in through the doorway. Inside, the conference room table is pushed against one wall. Towards the rear of the room there is a desk and behind that a swivel chair facing the wall.

As Jojo steps into the room the lights flick on.

Jojo,Test Spot Hidden

OOC,Spot Hidden 50 0

Jojo looks around as he opens the door.

"Virgil?" He says quietly. "The door wasn't locked."

Jojo hears that clicking sound again, three clicks in quick succession, but he can't localise where it is coming from.

There's no answer to his greeting but he does notice that there seems to be someone sitting in the swivel chair, facing the wall at the far side of the room.

Jojo looks around at the sound but seeing nothing, he announces himself loudly from the doorway.

Virgil? It's me Jojo. The door wasn't locked. What's going on?"

There is no response.

Jojo enters the room and goes to the chair and swivels it to face him, not knowing what to expect.

As Jojo crosses the room he sees a piece of bent and twisted metal on the floor behind the table. Looking up it seems to be the grille that should be covering one of the ventilation ducts.

Approaching the far side of the room, he can see what looks like a spray of blood against the wall. Someone is clearly slumped in the chair but they don't respond to his calls.

Reaching out, Jojo pulls the chair around. It rotates towards him revealing a bloody figure, the head hangs down onto the chest, a cap preventing him from seeing the face. The colourful patterned shirt is wide open to halfway down the chest. In the centre a jagged columnar fragment of rock or crystal penetrates the flesh. It is multifaceted, glistening with a kaleidoscope of pearlescent hues. Blood oozes from around the wound and a strange network of reddish veins spreads out across the skin.

The figure's head snaps up and looks Jojo in the eye, 'Help me!' It is Administrator Kingsley.

OOC,Jojo recognises this pattern of injury, it is similar to what he saw on Montrose. He needs to check sanity for an injury or attack unlike anything he's ever encountered - I'll roll it here: 0, that's a pass with his enhanced sanity, he'll lose 1 sanity. [ooc]Everything on the site went a bit squiffy for me for a while so I deleted this post to see if it helped - it didn't - but everything seems back to normal now. I previously rolled the dice above an Jojo passed so loses 1 sanity[/ooc]

Jojo reels back momentarily in shock but quickly composes himself.

"My god man. Why didn't you tell me you were infected earlier? I'm not sure if I know what to do when the infection is so advanced. Can you tell me what happened?" Jojo replies. His mind is beginning to go through what needs to be done. Unwilling to trust CENTRAL, he sends a message to Nurse Richards on his datapad.

"Nurse Richards, we need another containment module at Administrator Kingsley's office immediately."

Kingsley's eyes glaze over and his head slumps. Jojo is unable to get any more out of him.

Using his datapad he tries to send a message but he is unable to access any of the usual communication channels.

Jojo checks to see if he is still alive and attempts to stabilize him if it is at all possible.

OOC, First Aid 75 [dice]1d100[/dice]

OOC:   Where are the dice?

Looking at Kingsley's injuries it is clear to Jojo that he is about to die and there is nothing he can do to stop it. He is surprised that Kingsley is even able to move or talk at all given the massive trauma to his thorax and mediastinum.

OOC,Fortunately, this time, Jojo didn't need to pass anyway. I'm not sure what's happened to the dice roller, it seems to have gone in other scenarios too so it's a site wide thing

Jojo will head back to the medical clinic to get a hazardous containment unit for Kingsley.

Trying the door handle to leave Kingsley's office he finds it is locked.

From somewhere nearby he hears a tapping sound, like something hard drumming on metal. This is followed by a higher pitched noise, click-click-click.

"Hmm, I was certain this wasn't locked before." Jojo mutters to himself. Then he looks around to find a way to get out.

OOC, Is the door breakable or is there a way I can see to unlock it?

Jojo looks over the door. The is no evidence of a keyhole or other locking mechanism. The door itself has a superficial resemblance to wood, but it is obviously some kind of reinforced polymer. It seems pretty strong. The walls are made of a similar, perhaps slightly thinner material, while the windows are the usual polycarbonate type. Breaking them down would be difficult and require significant strength, quite possibly more than even Jojo can muster.

The tapping draws nearer, it seems to be coming from high up above the room, there is a certain regularity to it. Every now and then the tapping is interrupted by the click-click-click.

OOC,You could try a Physics or Chemistry roll for ideas on breaking out. Either roll on a dice roller elsewhere or at home and just post the result

Seeing that the doors and windows are made of polycarbonate, Jojo ponders how to get out of the room. He is becoming increasingly unnerved by the beeping and clicking.

Looking at the fabric of the room, Jojo can see there is no point targeting the external walls which are likely to be connected to the bulkhead and be thick material, possibly metal. The walls and doors facing the foyer are just internal dividers and therefore feasible for him to break through, eventually. The weakest parts are probably where the door meets the doorframe and the polycarbonate windows. Since he cannot see any locking mechanism he is not sure how he might unlock the door from the inside, unless CENTRAL would help. It is possible he could use his brute strength to try and force the door or break a window but he thinks that would prove difficult. Using something with a narrow point of impact would make it easier to break through the thin polycarbonate by focusing the force and Jojo also knows that many solvents will weaken polycarbonate and other polymers, as will heating them.

The tapping is quite near now, inside the room, Jojo thinks it is probably in the vent ducting overhead. The clicking is also becoming more frequent, click-click-click...click-click-click.

OOC,It would require an extreme STR success to force the door or break a window, that's 16%. If you can come up with ways to weaken the material or otherwise boost your chances I'll either decrease the difficulty or give a bonus die

Jojo will go over to the conference room table and turn it onto its side and then push it over to the door. Lining it up so that the narrow top of the table lines up with where the door meets the frame, he will slide it into the door like a battering ram.

Sliding the table back and forth across the floor, Jojo gets some momentum and then crashes the table into the door where it meets the frame. There is an almighty smash but when Jojo peers over the end of the table he can see that the table itself has buckled and concertinaed against the door which seems only lightly scratched.

Jojo notices that the tapping and clicking noises seem to have stopped.

OOC,That was a hard STR roll so Jojo failed

Jojo will take a piece of the broken conference table and begin hammering on the door. Hit, hit, hit, slam, slam, slam, hit, hit, hit. He hopes someone will come by and notice. He will also scan the ceiling just in case something emerges from the vents.

OOC,Ah, crossover in posts

After a minute of pummeling the door and walls, Jojo stops and regards the intact door standing between him and freedom. A strange feeling comes over him. He finds it hard to classify but suspects that organics would call it 'unease'. If synthetics had piloerection the hair on the back of his neck would be standing on end. Without any other warning Jojo feels himself being seized from behind, something grabs his shoulders and sticks in. He catches sight of an iridescent spiked claw-like appendage and his internal monitors register tissue damage and extreme tensile strain in his shoulder girdle endoskeleton with two further superficial injuries either side of his lower back. There is an odour, oily complex hydrocarbons with acidic traces. Immediately behind him he hears click-click-click.

OOC,Mechanically we're into a combat round, the creature has higher DEX so goes first. It has managed to grab Jojo, I haven't allowed Jojo to Dodge/Fight back against that first attack due to the surprise.

Jojo feels himself being dragged backwards, he fights against the vice-like grip but it is immensely strong, even compared to his synthetic servosystems.

OOC,Jojo is about to be attacked again, he can't dodge because he can't see what is happening but he can fight back with a manouevre to try and free himself from its grip - you can roll either STR Vs STR or Fighting Brawl vs the creature's attack. Otherwise Jojo could try and fight back against the creature (e.g. kicking back) with a Fighting Brawl roll and a chance to do damage if he wins

OOC, I want to break out of it's grasp.

Jojo struggles to get free.

Jojo pulls with all his strength against the creature, feeling his surface tissue tearing in its razor sharp grasp. But it's no good, he cannot get free, and he feels himself drawn further back, the oily smell getting stronger. Click-click-click.

Then Jojo's systems register critical damage, heavy tissue destruction, compromise of core system modules...He looks down to see a sharp point of glistening crystal rip through his clothing and protrude out of his chest. A gush of thick blue hydrodynamic fluid cascades down his shirt.

OOC,Although Jojo got an impressive extreme success so did the creature. So Jojo has taken 14 points of damage (minus one for the weighted clothing he's wearing), that's a major wound and leaves him with only 2HP, test CON to stay conscious

Jojo is surprised that the creature is stronger than he expected and attempts to calculate his next action. He focuses on staying conscious as he contemplates the crystal spike protruding from his chest.

Despite extensive damage to his physical infrastructure, hydrodynamic systems, and electronic submatrix, Jojo is able to redirect power to his core systems and maintain cognitive functions.

He looks down at the multifaceted surface of the spike, the shifting pattern of colours obscured with a thin film of blue hydrodynamic fluid. His pattern matching algorithms register the close similarity to the rocky column sticking out of Administrator Kingsley's chest. He considers starting off some background processes to cross-reference and model the structure of the crystal and compare it to the samples from Montrose but decides his currently limited computational resources would be better spent elsewhere.

Reviewing self-repair and monitoring subsystem diagnostics Jojo estimates that he has suffered catastrophic damage and calculates that he cannot tolerate a further attack without irreversibly compromising structural and computational integrity. He needs to extricate himself from this situation immediately.

Jojo still has only limited information on his assailant, which continues to grip him between four razor sharp appendages buried in his soft tissue and an impaling spike of crystal.

OOC,It is Jojo's action. He still has the same options as before, try and free himself using STR or Fighting - Brawl. Attack whatever is holding him from behind using Fighting - Brawl. Or something else you decide. Jojo realises he can override his normal operating limiters to ramp up power output with the consequence of burning out his servos. Mechanically this means he takes 1HP damage for a bonus die to STR for one test only. That would leave him on 1HP.

As he seems to be held fast, Jojo tries to fight whatever is holding him from behind but is has no leverage and is unsuccessful.

Despite writhing and twisting Jojo is unable to pull himself free and he feels the sharp grip tighten further.

OOC,Lose another HP from the superficial tissue damage

His self-repair and monitoring subsystems caution about a foreign material being released into his body and he sees a white viscous substance leaking from the length of the crystal shard.

OOC,Jojo stays conscious but please roll a hard CON check. Jojo realises what is being pumped into his body, check Sanity - loss 1d2/1d4+1

As Jojo feels the fluid being dispensed into his body, he musters the last of his energy to try to keep his internal systems operable. His emotional subroutines have been shut down by the damage and he observes dispassionately as his energy ebbs away.

Jojo uses his remaining energy to divert all his internal resources to intrinsic repair routines. He is in no fit state to resist his assailant any further and he just clings on to remaining minimally operational. The likelihood is that he will receive a final, terminal attack within the next 45 seconds.

-----

The shard in his chest twists and there is a degree of torsion throughout his thorax. Then he feels the grip on his shoulders slacken and release. Click-click-click. He collapses to the floor like a ragdoll. There is the sound of something hard scraping against the metal floor and then silence. The crystal shard continues to protrude from his chest, slick with blue hydrodynamic fluid, and he feels more of it bubbling up from his throat.

Jojo contemplates the shard protruding from his chest as his systems attempt to repair the damage. He is certain that he will not be successful without it's removal but he is unable to remove it without help. He wishes he had been able to leave a message to the others and attempts to preserve an intact copy of his investigation of the office in his memory unit.

While he files his investigations in an auxiliary memory system, Jojo is physically unable to do any more than remain immobile on the floor.

The door in front of him clicks and then starts to swing open.

OOC:   Moving here