Play@YSDC

Day 1 - Arrival on Titan



The investigators are arriving on Titan in a chartered corporate shuttle, which departed from regional headquarters on Jupiter's moon of Ganymede. It has been a 70-hour flight, and while a corporate shuttle provides some comfort, the passengers are more than ready to stretch their legs and consume something other than pre-prepared meals and insta-coffee.

During the journey the team have had the chance to meet and discuss their particular areas of expertise and what they know about the situation on Titan.

OOC,Can you guys outline what the others might have learned about your character on the trip over. I'll introduce the NPCs below

The pilot is Ling Li, a small, plain looking woman in her late twenties, only ever seen wearing a flight suit. The other passengers have seen little of her as she has remained in the cockpit, even though most of the journey is automated.

Isabella Garcia is in her fifties, a fairly bland face, but tall and muscled, wearing very casual baggy clothing. She is sociable and quick to laugh and she has been regaling the others with her stories of her career as a consulting Systems Engineer, shuttling between colony worlds troubleshooting peripheral computer systems and the fiendishly complicated CENTRAL intelligences which run most bases. She seems more like a miner than a corporate type. She presumes she has been brought along in case there is a malfunction in the Barnard's Rest computer systems.

Moses Goodkind is in his late thirties, he's tall and well built, handsome but quite shy and awkward. He is the corporate Safety Inspector and wears the branded suit of a Corporate Officer. He tells the others that he started out as a Technician working in a mining colony and still feels out of place among the corporate ranks. He assumes the drop in productivity is due to mechanical failure somewhere and is focused on sorting this out without cutting corners or endangering any of the workers.

Samantha Golightly, who goes by Sam for short, is somewhat shy and reserved. She does not volunteer information, but if asked she will mention that she's an engineer who has worked offworld before and has mining experience, mainly on Mars, but this is her first time going to Titan. She is about thirty years old, tall and well-built, with red hair. She wears gray coveralls and has a toolbox.

"Name's Jojo. Although I'm sure you are all fabulous, I don't really find it interesting to talk to most people. I'm a doctor by trade with focuses in biological and chemical science and an interest in unusual forensic investigations. I can only hope that whatever is going on at Titan is worthy of my prodigious talents."

Jojo Johnson is a small man but rather stocky. He is usually wearing basic black slacks and a pullover turtleneck shirt in various rather loud colors. His fashion sense had definitely given way to a more utilitarian appearance of sameness that is often favored by those who choose to reserve their thoughts for something other than what to wear. His hair, however, is fastidiously combed and in place and he has a habit of always stopping and adjusting it whenever he passes by a mirror.

Kiara spends most of the journey keeping herself to herself, unobtrusively watching her fellow passengers in an attempt to size them up. Her clothing is casual and somewhat baggy, favouring headscarves when she isn't bareheaded.

When not buried in her data-pad, reading about the scientific processes behind the company's methane extraction process, she is happy to engage in polite conversation, but only if spoken to first. She reveals little about her background, save that she is a relatively new employee of the company's scientific department.

Bearing Isabella's stories with as much patience as she can muster, she steers the conversation to the facility's control systems - computing being one of her own fields of expertise. How are command and monitoring signals configured on Titan? Is there a central processing system or is it a modular set-up? Perhaps the current problem is a programming issue or a conflict between subsystems?

She responds positively to Jojo's rather blunt statement, as it appears that they share certain professional interests, and his happy to discuss aspects such as chemistry further. However her first proactive move is to seek out the engineer Sam.

"Hi, I'm Kiara Khan; company scientist and apparently 'fabulous' according to the doc. I'd be interested in your thoughts on the methane extraction pumps. I wonder if long-term exposure to the conditions on Titan have resulted in a loss of efficiency. I guess they need a lot of maintenance?"

"I'm Virgil Steinmann, I'm overeeing this investigation. As I'm sure you are all aware, Benedict's Rest, our destination, has suffered a drop in productivity from it's methane mines. You are professionals in your field so I see no reason why we should not quickly determine the problem, rectify it and be on our way back to Ganymede and onwards with as minimal fuss as possible. Whilst you are examining the technical aspects, I will be auditing the accounts and also touring the whole colony as a complete inspection for Richter Dynamics."

Steimann smiles briefly and focuses his gaze on each person a shade too long for comfort.

"Hi," says Sam, pleased to talk shop. "I'm Samantha Golightly - Sam for short. Yes, the pumps would need plenty of maintenance. With Titan's atmosphere, corrosion would be a problem. It's a lot easier to maintain equipment in space. There's less out there to interfere with it, though solar radiation can be a challenge in the inner solar system."

Moses interjects, 'With temperatures lower than minus 180°C and the presence of an atmosphere it is effectively colder than working in the hard vacuum of space due to the conduction and convection. Atmospheric density is high, leading to greater drag on moving parts, but gravity is very low. It will be interesting to see how this all affects the equipment but I'm guessing there will be issues with things becoming brittle and failing catastrophically.' He looks around for a moment and seems to shrink back into himself, he shrugs 'Well, that's my guess'.

"Don't mind me," Nicole speaks with a trick French accent. She has sat back relaxing and observing the others for all of the journey so far.

"I am Nicole Favre, I am a Colonial Marshal and I am 'ere purely to ensure that there are no suspicious circumstances in the death of the colony's doctor."

"More than likely a formality and another long trip for nothing," Nicole shrugs her shoulders and smiles.

"Once that's cleared up, I imagine that I will be on the first shuttle back to Ganymede. I am 'ere on my own remit, but there is no reason why my investigation should clash with your efforts."

Virgil gives Nicole a long, cool look as if trying to divine her inner thoughts. “So you are not here through Richter Dynamics?” He asks sharply.

Nicole returns Virgil's gaze with a smile, "Non, I am 'ere on the authority of the Colonial Administration.

"But do not hold that against me, we can still be friends, no?"

She shrugs once more, "As long as there has been no foul play, I shall keep my nose out of Richter Dynamics business."

Isabella pats Nicole and Virgil on the back, one with each arm, in a playful but quite firm manner, 'We're all friends here right? Got a job to do.'

OOC,Let me know when you're done with introductions and we'll land on Titan

Kiara spends the rest of the journey discussing the pumps and the various stresses they operate under with Sam and Moses, poring over any technical specs and blueprints that might be available.

OOC:   Ready to disembark when you are.

"Engineers..."Jojo mutters to himself and goes back to his datapad. "Best to not make eye contact." He thinks to himself.

OOC,I'm ready to disembark.

Virgil frowns, nods and pulls out a data pad. He spends the rest of the journey going through spreadsheets for the colony until the signal for landing flashes up.