IC - 9 - Commercial Sector - All except Jojo and Nicole

[Mephistophilis]

Day 1
11th March 2189
20:45 Earth Central European Time
Barnard's Rest Colony, Titan

The refectory dominates the centre of the street, it is the usual unadorned grey metal alloy. There are no windows on the outside.

Entering through the main doors reveals a large open space with several lines of grey tables and benches. Dozens of people are sitting there, eating from brown plastic trays. They sit in small groups or alone, most appear to be miners. At the far end of the hall is a canteen style counter where food is served and a few people are queued up.

The ceiling is high and there is silver ducting heading in all directions. These lead to several vents around the hall. The vents open at head height and what is presumably condensing water vapour can be seen diffusing out into the air.

There is an odd smell. Not the usual oil and alcohol scents found throughout the base, it is something more difficult to describe. Probably the aroma from the kitchen but it has a strange tang, almost like the sea

Anyone successfully rolling Spot Hidden,Sitting on his own at the side of the room is a large man with a bushy brown beard and bald head, he's dressed like a miner. While the other patrons of the refectory are showing no interest, he keeps looking up at the group and following their movements through the hall.

[jp1885]

Spot hidden 37,[dice]0[/dice]

Kiara’s too hungry to notice anything untoward.

[Mr. Handy]

"There's a big guy, bald with a brown beard, watching us," says Sam quietly. "I think he's a miner."

OOC,Spot Hidden roll (55% skill) in the Refectory: [dice]0[/dice]

[aine]

Spot hidden,[dice]0[/dice]

“Well you two don’t exactly look like miners; he’s naturally interested.” Says Virgil as he walks toward the serving area. “Anyone notice that odd smell? Like iodine perhaps.”

[Mr. Handy]

"It smells like sea salt coming from the kitchen," says Sam. "Maybe it's iodized."

[jp1885]

Kiara cranes her neck to see the bearded guy Sam is talking about.

“Huh, well he better not try anything...”

She sniffs the air, wrinkling her nose.

“Maybe I could take an atmospheric sample. I could recalibrate the sensors on my datapad maybe.”

[Mephistophilis]

They queue up and receive sloppy looking fare from the refectory serving staff. Sitting down in a free space on one of the long tables they tuck in to their dinner. Isabella let's out a low groan as she stands her spoon up vertically in the stodge.

Unfortunately, all food in the outer colonies is either freeze dried and imported or synthesised locally from engineered algal species. The off, salty taste suggests this gloopy mess started off as the latter. 'I think I've lost my appetite' sighs Moses, 'Perhaps we should have gone to the bar after all.'

The man with the bushy brown beard and bald head keeps looking at the investigators. Li whispers, 'He's signalling to us, look at his hands.' Sure enough, the man seems to be gesturing to them to come over, but he's trying not to let anyone else see.

[Mr. Handy]

"Let's go over to him," Sam whispers back, in between bites of the glop. She's had worse, she just can't remember when. "He may have some information for us."

[jp1885]

Kiara pokes the gloop around on her plate with a fork, wondering whether it’s worth taking a sample for testing, considering the strange events of recent days.

“I guess a couple of us should go over and see what he wants.”

[aine]

“I’ll go, I can’t eat this crap.” Virgil throws his fork down and goes to sit within earshot of Beardy whilst not actually sitting with him.
He nods marginally to the man.

Psychology,65 [dice]0[/dice] Can Virgil get a sense of how the man is feeling or thinking?

[Mr. Handy]

Sam is not exactly a people person, so she hangs back.

[Mephistophilis]

Virgil goes and sits near the man while the others hang back eating. The man seems to acknowledge Virgil and while he then looks away it appears he says something.

Virgil,[b]Virgil[/b] looks over the bearded man, he looks like a miner in the standard grey overalls of the company. He's probably in his thirties or forties but it's difficult to tell as he has a creased and careworn face with a few nasty looking scars. He acknowledges [b]Virgil[/b] with a slight incline of his head but then looks away from him and seems to be studying the rest of the room. [color=#FF00FF]'You the investigators from Richter Dynamics? You wanna know what's really going on, off the record?'[/color] His voice is mellow with the hint of a Russian or Eastern European accent. As far as [b]Virgil[/b] can tell this guy is trying his hardest to make contact with them without making it too obvious. However he has been sitting here a bit too long as all his food is eaten. He seems to want to talk but looks pretty relaxed about it.

Everyone except Virgil,If you want to hear what the guy is saying roll a hard (half) Listen

[Mr. Handy]

Sam can't overhear them.

OOC,Listen roll (20% / 2 = 10% base skill) to overhear the miner: 0

[jp1885]

Listen 20,0

Kiara can't make out what's being said over the general hubbub of the refectory.

[aine]

Beardy,“We are, and yes we do.” Virgil says casually, not looking at the man. “Always off the record.”

Virgil seems intent on examining the ceiling ducts.

[Mephistophilis]

Virgil and Beardy continue to talk under their breath while studiously avoiding looking at each other.

Virgil,[b]Beardy[/b] whispers, [color=#FF00FF]"Meet me in the booths at [i]'Jack's Play'[/i] in forty five minutes. Ask for [b]Sergei[/b]."[/color] That'd be around 10pm.

Beardy abruptly gets up and leaves.

[Mr. Handy]

"What was all that about?" Sam asks Virgil.

[aine]

“I’ve no idea.” Says Virgil. “He might have some information for us though. We’re to ask for Sergei in the Booths in 45 minutes. We need to look for Jacks Play. It sounds like your kind of place.” He adds dryly.

[Mephistophilis]

OOC,What would you all like to do now?

[Mr. Handy]

"Let's get there early and scope it out," says Sam. "Maybe they'll have something that tastes better than this glop."