IC- 22 - Reunion - Everyone

[aine]

“So much for our idea of escaping in the shuttle and running the gauntlet off this rock- there’s no fuel! Do you think Kiara could still be on the shuttle?”

[Mr. Handy]

"It's possible," says Sam, "but why didn't she respond to our attempts to communicate? And why did she leave her datapad?"

[Starspawn338]

Computer Use 30
1d100

Bonus Die
1d10

Regular Success.

Jojo will take the datapad from Sam and peel back his thumbnail which exposes a concealed data connector which he plugs into the datapad. He closes his eyes a minute as he runs the decryption program.

"There. I've got it."

[Mr. Handy]

"Well done!" says Sam, eager to hear what the message said.

[aine]

Nicole keeps an eye on the surroundings whilst Jojo fiddles wi the data pad.

[Mephistophilis]

After interfacing with the datapad Jojo loads it in its entirety into his internal memory bus and harnesses his own internal key decryption algorithms to brute-force attack the secure channel utilising the multiple parallel CPUs that make up his core computational architecture. While the encryption seed would normally be highly effective, and essentially uncrackable, the unique parallel architecture of a synthetic coupled with the ability to dump the entire datapad memory when physically interfacing is a recognised vulnerability that doesn't usually prove a problem in practice as the encryption is designed to secure the transmission channel rather than the datapad itself.

The last message from Kiara reads:

Extra-terran organism sample procured. Exfiltration in 12 hours from Waystation Facility.

Signal received from extra-terran artefact. Investigating. No further communication will follow until exfiltration.

Prior to that, a message was received around 20 hours previously. It seems that all received messages are deleted after they are read. But there is some meta-data that Jojo can uncover, some kind of communications handshake. Electronic fingerprinting suggests a 78% family resemblance with signatures used by the Walker-Hynix Corporation. It's not clear where the message was sent from, as far as Jojo can triangulate it came from somewhere between the Jupiter and Saturn systems.

Another message was received about 15 hours before that. This time it seems to have originated from Ganymede. A few hours before Kiara had sent another message, a datapacket, targeted at Earth as far as Jojo can see. The contents of the datapacket are intimately familiar to Jojo, it's the content of his memory dump.

The evening of the 11th March she sends a message targeting Earth again, it reads:

Waystation/Pumping Station 6 excavation implicated in tremors. Coordinates attached to this message.

Evidence of psychological impact on Benedict's Rest crew. Document titled Absolution by Colony Doctor Henry Holzer attached. Quotations from Security Sergeant David Montrose attached.

She has appended coordinates for Waystation and a copy of the document you found on Holzer's computer as well as some selected quotations from David Montrose. Sam, and Nicole recall him saying these things as they were present at the time, while Montrose was locked in his room.

Go away, I'm not well, I'm dying. Leave me alone, all of you, stay out of my head.

The voices, I can hear them all the time now, you're so small, so weak, worthless, and the images, beamed into my head.

Ignore me, I'm sick, I think I caught something, just fever dreams. Leave me alone. I just need some rest.

It's inside me, eating me. Fucking Waystation. I should never have gone to fucking Waystation.

The gate, the gate is across the sea, across Ligeia Mare, that's where I'll find Tawil at’Umr. I need to find the court of H'rada-Theka Pannakar.

No, no, I will not join you Ëka-Galä, you are not me, I am me, me, me.

A few hours later she received a message on the secure channel. Again, it has been deleted but the meta-data indicates that it was sent from Earth and shares the same electronic fingerprint of Walker-Hynix. It couldn't possibly be a response to the one she sent a few hours before, the turn around time for messages to Earth is days.

[Mr. Handy]

"So Kiara's been talking to a rival corporation," says Sam. "She told them that she's procured a sample of an alien lifeform. And she's planning to get off this rock in about ten hours. I think our best bet is if we go with her, presuming she's still alive down there. If not, we'll just have to go in her place. We'll have to monitor the datapad as we get closer to the exfiltration time, as that's when they're likely to communicate with her again. We're going to have to keep going, to try to find out what happened to her and that sample of hers, and to investigate that signal she found."

[aine]

“Unbelievable. Even with proof of what’s happened to Bernard’s Rest, she still has the gall to transfer this alien to Earth with no consideration to the consequences.
No wonder Richter Dynamics has quarantined the whole moon.” Nicole waves her arms about.
“We have to stop her.”

Btw, superb techy jargon by the keeper there.

[Mr. Handy]

"We do," says Sam, "but we also have to get off of Titan. That means playing along for now and making our move once we're safely out of the quarantine zone. We can't let her know our intentions."

[Starspawn338]

"So was Kiara watching me and she took the alien after I went through? How did I miss her?" Jojo says as he contemplates the meaning of it all. "Is she going to leave via the shuttle up top or some other way? We have the alien that attacked me to worry about also."

[aine]

“Didn't the datapad say there was no fuel in the shuttle? Should we try and refuel it ready for a quick lift-off- that’s if it’s possible to do so from outside the ship.” Says Nicole. “And then we can try and extricate Kiara. And dodge the alien.”

[Mr. Handy]

"Jojo, do you think you can access the shuttle?" asks Sam.

[Starspawn338]

"I'm not sure. My systems are badly damaged but I can try." Jojo replies. "But aren't we in quarantine so we will get shot down as soon as we try to leave?"

[aine]

“Well the only other option is to hide somewhere until this all blows over. But Richter Dynamics must have some inkling about what’s going on to quarantine in the first place. And they’re never going to let us leave if they think we’re contaminated.
I bet Virgil was contaminated, it’s just hard to tell from the outside.”
Nicole says mournfully.

[Mr. Handy]

"Walker-Hynix must have some plan to extract Kiara and the...sample that accounts for the quarantine," says Sam. "We may find more information aboard the shuttle, or maybe even Kiara herself. We should try to get aboard and look around, at least."

[Mephistophilis]

In order to access the shuttle Jojo would need to link in with the Waystation computer network. He could do that with the datapad. It would place him in contact with the local CENTRAL intelligence. Then to access the shuttle he'll need to pass a Computer Use roll, assuming it is powered up and connected to the Waystation network.

[aine]

“I think Is rather explore the shuttle than these alien tunnels.” Nicole agrees.

[Starspawn338]

"Well let me see. As I say, my internal circuits aren't in the best of shape." Jojo says as he tries to access the shuttle through the datapad.

Computer 30
1d100

"Nope. Sorry. I can't get though. From here at least."

[Mr. Handy]

"Maybe I can try to use the datapad to access the shuttle," says Sam. "We didn't have that when I tried to get through the airlock. If that doesn't work, we can try it at the shuttle itself."

[Mephistophilis]

Jojo disconnects his finger from the datapad and hands it to Sam. She connects up to the Waystation network. A greeting pops up on the screen from the CENTRAL intelligence, asking what she would like to do.

You'll need to pass a hard Computer Use roll to connect to the Shuttle, assuming it is powered up and linked in to the Waystation network.

-----

While Jojo and Sam stand around examining the datapad, Isabella is a few feet back down the corridor. 'Um, guys, did you hear that?' she asks before there's a rattling sound, like rapid cracks occurring one after another, accompanied by orange-white flashes coming from some distance down the corridor. There's another burst of clattering and strobing flashes, followed by one louder explosion.

That's the sound of gunfire. Not small arms. Military grade.