IC - 19 - Surface of Titan - Everyone except Kiara

[Mephistophilis]

'No transmissions over the radio since Kiara' says Moses, but anyone inside the cabin can see him exchange a glance with Isabella. 'If there's no one in it let's just get going, we still have a lot of ground to cover and hours to go.' His voice sounds a little higher than usual and he's speaking more rapidly.

[Mr. Handy]

"Yeah, let's get moving as soon as Nicole gets back," says Sam.

[aine]

“Roger that....We’ll leave the suit...might be contaminated...I’m coming back.”
Nicole takes one last look at the suit and the surrounding area and then turns to come back.

Spot hidden 60 roll: 01!

[Mephistophilis]

Just before she starts back towards the surface rover, Nicole notices something poking out the left hand of the suit. Moving close enough to look but without touching she can just about make out something small and colourful held between thumb and forefinger and resting on the glove. It seems incongruous out here in the orange snow, a spray of tiny yellow flowers, protruding in dense clusters from a short piece of stem. The flowers themselves frosted by Titan's freezing atmosphere.

[aine]

“Hols on...something odd...” Nicole will try to pry the flowers away from the suit.

[Mephistophilis]

As soon as her gloved fingers touch the flower it shatters into hundreds of frozen shards and the little pieces gently float down to settle on top of the methane snow.

[aine]

“Huh.”
Nicole retraces her steps and climbs back into the truck to sit with the others.
“An empty suit holding a posie in a barren landscape. Go figure.”

[Mr. Handy]

"That is weird," says Sam. "What could have happened to its former occupant? Were there any tracks nearby?"

[Mephistophilis]

Isabella slaps Nicole on the back of her surface suit. 'Maybe better off not knowing, eh?'

Moses looks restless, 'Let's just go, we've got a lot of ground to cover.'

The radio clicks on in silence again.

OOC:   There were no footprints

Perhaps the radio wasn't completely silent, was that a faint sound? Almost like a whisper.

[Mr. Handy]

"Yeah, let's keep going," says Sam. "Did you hear that? It sounded almost like someone whispering on the radio just now."

[aine]

Sorry, I posted a long report of the suit and the radio yesterday but it obviously didn’t go live.

“I heard that blip on the radio too. Any chance we can amplify it next time it happens?” Nicole says, sitting back down.

[Mr. Handy]

"I'll try," says Sam. "It only happened briefly, though."

[Starspawn338]

"Let's keep going." Jojo says. "We are on a countdown timer yet."

[Mephistophilis]

Moses puts the rover back into gear and starts back into the rust-coloured mist. The vehicle rumbles along, outside there's occasional creaking, thumping sounds, probably just pressure shifts. The landscape is barren, without any distinguishing features, and it is hard to resolve anything, the relentless fog blurring the vision. Sam and Nicole can feel fatigue starting to weigh heavy on their eyelids but Jojo continues to sit dispassionately staring out the window. Moses and Isabella say nothing.

There's a dark shape ahead, just to the right. It is hard to make out exactly what it is but it is small, compact, almost organic. Then it seems to move, like it is looking up, looking at the rover. Then the shadowy shape flows and expands, stretching out wings. It turns and lifts off into the air, disappearing in the orange haze. If you didn't know any better you'd say it was a bird.

OOC:   Roll Sanity 0/1

The radio crackles again.

[Mr. Handy]

Sam tries to amplify the signal and is too busy to see anything.

Spot Hidden roll (55% / 2 = 27.5% skill) looking out the window:
d%

[aine]

Nicole has her eyes closed in a power nap but wakes up when she hears the radio crackle.

Spot hidden, 60 roll:69

[Starspawn338]

Spot Hidden 50
1d100

Jojo watches the bland terrain pass by outside seeing nothing outside of what he would expect.

[Mephistophilis]

Out the window there's a movement, a small shadow that seems to be on the ground ahead and then flits up into the orange sky. Probably just a trick of the light.

As the radio crackles Sam hits the record button on the communication equipment. Then plays it back...

Give me a Computer Use roll

[Mr. Handy]

Sam does a decent job.

Computer Use roll (55% skill) trying to get the signal:
d%

[Mephistophilis]

Playing back the recording just repeats the silent pause in the static. Sam tries to amplify the signal, initially all she gets is noise and she fiddles about with the gain and a few deconvolution algorithms, trying to sharpen the audio. Eventually she's done the best she can and plays it for everyone.

The audio quality is very poor but through the hissing and popping she's introduced through her attempts to clarify the signal, there is something there, quiet, barely perceptible, and grating, but definitely speech, it says a single word, 'Come'.

The audio quality is very poor. Sam has introduced harsh hissing and popping sounds in her attempt to clarify the signal. There's nothing there they can make out.

'Well I can't hear anything' says Isabella.