Play@YSDC

Day 2
12th March 2189
05:30 Earth Central European Time
Barnard's Rest Colony, Titan

As the door swings open Marshal Favre moves into Kingsley's office, sweeping her pistol from side to side. Her face one of intense concentration. Virgil steps inside the door frame and behind him Sam and Kiara look on.

Within the room, just inside the door, Dr Johnson is kneeling down beside what looks like a conference table tipped on its side. His arms bent and resting on the floor, head hanging down. Protruding from the centre of his chest is a jagged columnar fragment of rock or crystal. The shard is multifaceted and pearlescent in the patches where it is not oozing with blue fluid and a thicker white substance. A stub of crystal is visible sticking out of his back. More of the blue liquid covers Jojo's shirt and wells from his mouth, dripping into a pool on the floor. His clothing is torn around the shoulders and stained further.

Nicole looks down at Jojo, seemingly unfazed, 'What the 'ell happened to you?'

Anyone passing Mechanical Repair or Science - Physics,The blue liquid is hydrodynamic fluid, found primarily in high-end robotics.

OOC,Sam, Kiara, and Virgil will need to roll Sanity on seeing the state of Jojo - SAN loss 0/1d3

"He's an android!" gasps Sam. "That's hyrdodynamic fluid." This is even more disturbing to her than the thought that this had happened to a human, but she barely keeps it together.

Science (physics) 60 extreme pass,Rolled an 11 https://www.dholeshouse.org/Tools/DiceVerifier?RID=c322a352-f812-45fc-94de-250b2b2e99fe

SAN 64 pass,Rolled 28 https://www.dholeshouse.org/Tools/DiceVerifier?RID=e4aa4890-f8ad-4558-a156-ff7bf8fe0d21

Kiara states, fascinated, at Jojo.

“The workmanship is astounding...”, she whispers, momentarily forgetting that, when she saw him last, the doctor was a living, breathing, human being.

Ooc, SAN 50 roll: 19. Mech Eng 10 roll: 60

“An android. Bloody typical.” Virgil mutters sarcastically. “What’s the white stuff?”

Having glanced at Jojo’s body he then starts looking carefully around the room, especially at the ceiling, but doesn’t stray too far from the main door.

Jojo,Jojo is still 'alive', he's on 1HP and he has a major wound but he's conscious and still operating, just.

Everyone,Most people don't like synths. They usually don't quite look human but close enough to be unsettling. They're not supposed to be able to hurt humans, their programming shouldn't allow it, but that's little solace to the victims of the Io Mutiny for a start.

Kiara,It's far from Kiara's specialist area but she keeps up with some of the research literature and trade press and she is impressed by how human-like Jojo looks. He's top-end, probably a recent model, maybe even an AH-3000, statistically shown to be essentially infallible. Synthetics, androids like Jojo are much stronger than humans, and it looks like someone has really given him a going over, if he's still functioning it is only just. It might be possible to do some repairs if he is still operational. Otherwise he might have stored something useful in his auxiliary memory, which can be removed or analysed externally. Kiara knows that androids are very long lived and most are under contract to a corporation for a considerable duration. Their core programming means they cannot cause serious harm or, by ommission of action, allow serious harm to come to a human being.

Virgil,Virgil doesn't like synthetics, he doesn't trust them, they have allegiances to their corporate employer that are...difficult to negotiate. Looking around, one of the ventilation ducts at the far side of the room appears to be missing its grille. Beneath it there seems to be someone in a colourful patterned shirt slumped in a swivel chair. They're moving.

Anyone passing Spot Hidden,One of the ventilation ducts at the far side of the room appears to be missing its grille. Beneath it there seems to be someone in a colourful patterned shirt slumped in a swivel chair. They're moving.

Jojo lifts his head slightly to look at the others. He opens his mouth to speak but only manages to drool more hydrodynamic fluid. The effort drains him and he lets his head droop back down again, silently contemplating the shard in his chest.

Sam only has eyes for the creepy sight before her. "Should I fix him?" she asks. "It?"

Totally ignoring Jojo, and keeping a careful eye above, Virgil sidles over to the far side of the room. He bends down to a figure in a colourful shirt,
“Kingsley?” He says and puts his hand gently on the shirt.

Ooc, I may be posting a bit intermittently this week.

Spot hidden 37 fail,Rolled 44

Like Sam, Kiara is also absorbed in the android and thus barely registers Virgil.

“This is a serious piece of high-end kit. We should certainly try to repair it, or at least extract the backup memory and find out why it’s here.

"Right," says Sam. "I'll handle the physical parts, and you can get the computer bits in working order." She sets to work on repairing the physical damage, with priority to Jojo's speech center.

Computer use 65 pass, Rolled 55 https://www.dholeshouse.org/Tools/DiceVerifier?RID=6277ace6-3358-4eb9-a81e-905d6944515d

Kiara nods and sets to work.

Kiara and Sam can see that there is extensive damage to Jojo. He has lost a lot of hydrodynamic fluid and there is major destruction to his chest and shoulders. Where the shard of crystal penetrates his body there must be catastrophic internal injuries, likely even compromising his endoskeleton and essential subsystems. It is not going to be possible to repair him here. Usually androids are repaired in a cybernetic lab, like a cross between an advanced engineering facility and a medical centre. It might be possible to do some basic work using a combination of tools from the Engineering Centre and the Medical Clinic. But first they're going to need to remove that lump of rock.

Sam & Kiara,Roll either Spot Hidden or Science - Chemistry

Jojo,Jojo can resist them trying to poke and prod him, he can act normally now

As Virgil reaches out for the figure in the chair a hand shoots up and grabs his wrist. The man looks up, it is indeed Administrator Kingsley, his colourful shirt covered in blood and bulging in an odd way. Under his cap, Kingsley gives Virgil a twisted smile. His face is pale and strangely mottled. 'Change of plans' he hisses, breath stale but almost sweet, like rotting fruit.

Virgil,Roll Spot Hidden

Sam notices something.

Science (chemistry) 50 hard pass,Rolled 18 https://www.dholeshouse.org/Tools/DiceVerifier?RID=26f751a4-dc57-4bc8-ab14-60e6e550c5e4

As does Kiara.

Disgusted, Virgil tries to pull his hand away.

Spot hidden, 50 roll: 46

Virgil,Kingsley's shirt bulges in a strange, misshapen way, and Virgil thinks he catches sight of something under the shirt, a lump of something with regular straight edges, flat geometric faces, glistening with a kaleidoscope of colours

Sam & Kiara,The viscous white substance on the crystal shard doesn't look right. It doesn't move right. It seems to be slowly flowing, like it is being extruded from unseen holes along the length of the rocky fragment. It isn't just dripping down, it also seems to be flowing up. The gravity on Titan is low, but even then that isn't right

While Virgil talks to Kingsley and Sam and Kiara examine Jojo, Nicole is pacing the room, handgun still drawn. She seems agitated. 'Why is there a concealed synth on this investigation, and what happened to it?' Moses has been standing silently at the rear of the room. Not saying anything or showing any signs of emotion. Finally he says 'This isn't right. This isn't what I signed up for. what's going on?'

At this point two more people arrive in the room, Isabella and Li. Isabella blurts out, 'What the actual fuck?'

"I was looking for words to express my thoughts," says Sam. "Those will do nicely. I don't know what this white stuff is, exactly, but it's moving up the crystal, not just down it. That's...not natural. Not that any of this is. I think we have to consider the possibility that...the synth is...contaminated."

"JoooooJooooo" Jojo's words come out in bubbles. He attempts to stand but is unsteady with all the damage.

Ever the scientist, Kiara ignores the hubbub around her and concentrates on Jojo. Agreeing with Sam, she steps smartly away from the android.

“He’s contaminated alright.”

She jabs some keys on her datapad.

“Jojo, can you hear me? Can you connect wirelessly to my device so I can access your memory files?”

Virgil crouches down and whispers.

Kingsley, What happened to you? Where has it gone?

If he is able to, Jojo will divert power and send the auxiliary memory files where he preserved his investigation data to Kiara.

Jojo,Jojo's self-repair routines indicate that they are currently managing to isolate and contain the invasive substance, but he estimates that unless the source of infection is removed within the next few minutes his systems are likely to be overwhelmed. He can transmit his auxiliary memory file ----- Just make a note in a Spoiler for Kiara (and anyone she shows it to) with the main information he wants to share

At the back of the room Kingsley gets to his feet stiffly. 'I am quite alright. But the good doctor does not look so well. CENTRAL, summon a security detail here immediately.'

He pushes Virgil forcefully out of the way, 'Now if you will excuse me I have work to be getting on with. Please vacate my office and take... he gestures at Jojo's broken form '...this with you.' His usually gruff voice is harsher than ever.

He looks sharply at Virgil, 'Perhaps we can meet later when I have...tied up a few loose ends.'

"We'll need a stretcher," says Sam. "I can help carry it. We need to get Jojo to Engineering anyway to effect repairs. We may also need some equipment from the clinic."

Kiara looks askance at Kingsley: he seemed like such a nice guy yesterday...

“I’ll help you Sam,” she announces.

Virgil looks carefully at Kingsley’s chest to see if it is still strange. Something isn’t right; one minute the guy is dead and the next he’s walking around.
“I think you should have an examination before you go back to work.” Virgil says to Kingsley.
“Marshall, Administrator Kingsley has been though a terrible ordeal. Can we escort him down for a medical assessment?”

Spot hidden, 50 roll:10

Kiara, Jojo sends the following file: "To whomever may find this, I wish to preserve the data I have collected. I believe that there is an alien organism that is taking over people within the base. It appears that the pattern is for the organism to stab a crystal spike into the chest cavity of the victim and then inject them with a substance that then proceeds to take over the victim. I saw something consistent with this in my autopsy of Sergeant Montrose. I received a message purporting to be from from Virgil telling me to come to Administrator Kingsley's office. Upon arrival, I found Kingsley in his chair with the crystal spike in his chest, unresponsive and on the verge of death. I attempted to send a message but was blocked. As I went to leave, I found I was locked in. I believe CENTRAL is either compromised or under the control of an infected person within the Titan base. I also believe CENTRAL was responsible for sending me the message, locking me into the room and preventing my communication prior to the attack. As I was attempting to get out, I was attacked by the organism. It was in the vent and the attack was preceded by a click click click rhythmic sound. It grabbed me with pincers in the side and although I have been built with superior strength, I was held fast as the organism thrust the crystal spike into my chest. The substance that was injected was accompanied by an odor. My system identified it as an oily complex hydrocarbon with acidic traces. I have diverted all energy into maintaining life support and to prevent the substance from compromising essential subsystems. However, if the substance is not removed from my body within minutes, I fear I will be compromised." The file is accompanied by pictures and evidence that was recorded during the attack.

Virgil,Kingsley still has the odd bulge in his shirt

Kiara,Let me know if you look at all.the images, esp of Kingsley

Although initially looking concerned, when she sees the chaos and realises Jojo is a synthetic, Li rolls her eyes, turns and leaves without saying a word.

Moses stands there, his mouth half open, 'But what happened to the doctor? This...was it an accident? This is a health and safety nightmare!'

Nicole also looks confused at Virgil's request, 'Well, 'e looks okay to me. But the doctor, is 'e infected too? Is this how it happens?'

Isabella laughs, 'Thats not an infection, someone beat the shit out of him. And that's not easy to do to an android.'

Kingsley's face contorts, maybe in pain, maybe in anger, 'I am fine, I don't need medical attention. Leave my office. Now. I will not ask again.'

Moses scuttles out into the foyer and returns carrying a hefty chair, he's stronger than you'd expect. 'Stick him on this, I think a couple of us could lift him out.'

Kingsley walks slowly past Virgil and grips him tightly on the upper arm. 'Out. Now! You forget who is in charge of this colony. Take this wreck to the Medical Bay, Engineering, Waste Disposal, wherever.'

'CENTRAL, summon Nurse Richards here to remove the body of Doctor Johnson.'

After skimming the android's report, Kiara pockets her datapad and helps carry out Jojo.

"Thanks," she whispers.

When the opportunity presents itself, she shows Jojo's data to Sam and Virgil.

"Take a look at this; I think everything's about to hit the fan. Whatever got Jojo has also spiked Kingsley!"

OOC,Please read Kiara's spoiler above.

SAN 64 fail,Rolled 81 https://www.dholeshouse.org/Tools/DiceVerifier?RID=9581081f-ea65-4bb1-9daa-69d1942e4e66

SAN loss 1,https://www.dholeshouse.org/Tools/DiceVerifier?RID=c99a92e1-b890-4268-ab72-a87b0f812a91

Kiara's eyes widen in horror at the grisly sight.

Sam helps Moses place Jojo on the chair and carry it, glancing at the data when she gets a chance.

In turn Virgil grabs Kingsley by his arm, hoping to stop him from leaving the room.
“Help me, someone!” He gasps. “Administrator Kingsley you are temporarily relieved of your command until you are medically proven to be capable and in sane mind. The fact that you walking around ignoring that great crystal lump protruding from your chest is my justification for this!”

Sam leaves the chair for now and tries to help Virgil restrain Kingsley.

Sam and Moses deposit Jojo on the chair in the foyer. Sam runs back into Kingsley's office and tries to help Virgil restrain him.

Kingsley does not respond well to being grabbed, 'You're making a big mistake he hisses into Virgil's face as he draws what looks like a handgun with his free hand.'

Virgil and anyone passing a Firearms - Handgun roll, That's a DW CFL-X8 Pistol. A weaponised focused cutting laser repurposed as a concealable pistol for self-defence. It is highly illegal to be carrying an unlicensed concealed firearm.

Anyone passing Law,It is highly illegal to be carrying an unlicensed concealed firearm. No firearms are allowed on Titan unless carried by security or a marshal.

Nicole spins around and levels her handgun at Kingsley, 'Woah, let us calm down now, yes?'

OOC,If things kick off we'll go in DEX order, that's Jojo, Virgil, Nicole, Sam, Kingsley, Kiara, Moses and Isabella - just say what you want to do and I'll resolve it all in that order

"Marshal, that's a DW CFL-X8 he's got," says Sam. "It's a cutting laser turned into a concealable pistol. Unless he's got a license for it, he's in big trouble." She doesn't know anything further about the law on such matters.

Virgil raises his eyebrows at the sight of the weapon.
“Calm down, Kingsley. you know Richter Dynamics protocol; anyone in a position of responsibility must be medically fit. It’s standard procedure.
Now put that away before anyone sees it.”

Persuade, 60 roll:43

Kiara backs away slowly from the fracas, switching on the camera.

If she is able, she uses her datapad to send Jojo’s data to ‘Daddy’, before streaming as much of Kingsley’s actions as she can.

Computer use 65 extreme success, https://orokos.com/roll/887452

Jojo spies the cutting laser. He's not sure about the legality of the weapon but he understands it's possibility medically.

"Cut the spike." He croaks.

"Give me the laser, I'll do it," says Sam. "It's a lot more accurate than my cutting torch."

Looking down at the protruding shard Jojo sees the white viscous fluid start to congeal and flow up the crystal surface, back towards his chest.

Jojo,Roll a regular CON check that's 90% but the next one will be a hard check

Responding to Virgil, Kingsley lowers his gun, he looks confused, or conflicted.

Nicole continues to cover him with her weapon while Moses and Isabella look on, unsure what to do.

OOC,You want to get that gun off Kingsley you'll need a hard social roll (persuade etc) or to get it off him physically

Kiara,Kiara receives a message on her datapad in the open encrypted channel - 'We are processing this information. Standby for further communication.'

"Remember, the Company sent us," says Sam. "You don't want to get on their bad side. Now hand it over."

Kiara clutches her pad to her chest, as if it will somehow defend her against whatever infected Kingsley and Jojo.

“W-what happened to you?” she asks.

Jojo struggles to stay conscious while he waits for someone to get the shard out of him.

Jojo,This is it, Jojo's adaptive nanodefences are exhausted. He is relying on his innate self-repair systems which he estimates will be overwhelmed in the next thirty seconds. He does not know what will happen then but none of the different scenarios he has modelled look very good for him. He wonders why no one is trying to help him...

Kingsley looks more confused, he starts shaking his head, 'I...I am Administrator James Kingsley, I run the Barnard's Rest Colony, I work for Richter Dynamics...I...I, we, we...' his tone of voice changes, it is even more harsh and grating, like sheets of metal grinding together. 'We are H'rada-Theka Pannakar, we are Ëka-Galä. Join us across the sea. We will be waiting for you.'

Sam,Roll Power because that voice sounds very familiar and very compelling.

Immediately following Kingsley's words the room goes black. Pitch black. The lighting in the foyer and corridor must have gone as well. There is a scream from within the office and a thud. There is a confusion of voices and an unusual whirring noise.

Then the lights come back on. There is an ARM robot blocking the exit from the foyer into the corridor. It is not moving, it is just parked there. Nicole is sitting on the ground, rocking. Her handgun on the floor. Everyone else looks shocked and confused. Kingsley is no longer there.

Sam is overwhelmed by the voice.

“What the-?”

Kiara rushes over to Nicole, carefully picking up the pistol.

“Are you okay? What happened?”

“The damn thing’s escaped, isn’t it obvious?” Virgil mutters.
“Right, I’ll base myself here for the moment; we’ll need to come up with an excuse for Kingsley not being at work today; we’ve got to keep this quiet; we don’t want his security sniffing around. Or the staff panicking.”He gives the robot a hard stare.

“I need, er, want to get to Waystation today too. Any way you can patch that thing up? We still need a doctor on the team.” He indicates poor Jojo.

"I'd like to get to Waystation today as well," says Sam. "Kiara and I can try to repair Jojo in Engineering. We may need some equipment from the Medical Center too."

Helping Nicole to her feet, Kiara nods her assent.

“Way station is at the centre of all this, and I think we’ll definitely need Jojo’s expertise.”

Kiara puts out a hand to pull Nicole up but the woman just lies there rocking, muttering something quietly over and over again, 'I am not afraid of the dark, I am not afraid of the dark, I am not afraid of the dark...'

Isabella makes a move for the exit but her way is blocked by the ARM. It doesn't move and it's bulk quite effectively obstructs the doorway. CENTRAL, move this machine out of the way...'

There is no movement.

Moses joins her, 'CENTRAL, clear the exit, we need to get Doctor Johnson to engineering.'

There is still no movement and no reply from CENTRAL.

Something else seems strange, neither Nurse Richards nor security have arrived since Kingsley called them.

"Get it out of me." Jojo lifts his arm. "No time left!"

Sam readies her cutting torch.

OOC, Can I use the cutting torch to cut the spike without further damaging [b]Jojo[/b]?

Meanwhile, Kiara looks around for anything she can use to create an EMP to knock out the ARM.

Virgil looks at Nicole with consternation,
“Pull yourself together, Marshall! We’ve got a lot to do. CENTRAL is obviously under its command and it’s probably causing havoc while we’re stuck in here.”
He looks up at the ceiling.
“Maybe we can escape through the air venting system.” He says drily.

Sam,The cutting torch is a relatively precise instrument. Unless you fumble Jojo should be okay - not saying it will cut the crystal though. Roll against Mechanical Repair for this task (Brawl if used in combat).

Kiara,Roll Idea

Jojo,Hard CON check please, that's 45% I believe. You won't lose consciousness if you fail.

Surprisingly, Virgil's words of comfort don't seem to do anything to help Nicole and she continues to rock in a distressed manner, her arms around her knees.

'Arsehole' spits Isabella as she crouches down to look at Nicole.

Sam tries to cut the crystal, needing all her skill and a little luck.

OOC, I'll spend 2 Luck to make that a success.

Jojo steels himself as Sam attempts to remove the crystal.

Idea fail,https://orokos.com/roll/888995

Flustered, Kiara ums and ahs.

Virgil shakes his head and goes in search of an air duct cover in the ceiling. If he finds one, he’ll start pushing furniture around to stand on so he can reach it.

Sam carefully cuts through the shard with the torch, as close to his body as she dares. It takes much longer than she was expecting and it aerosolises in a disconcerting way, the smell is like a mixture of oil, alcohol, and acid. The crystal fragment clutters to the ground in a pool of white liquid and blue hydrodynamic fluid.

The centre of Jojo's chest shows a smooth, pearlescent cut surface.

Jojo,Still relying only on his innate self-repair systems, his adaptive nanodefences exhausted, Jojo's internal monitors register a slackening in the previously relentless stream of contaminating material. He has bought himself some time but he still estimates that his remaining defences will fail in the next 30mins unless the rest of the shard is removed. On the plus side his motor systems seem back online.

Kiara can't see anything that she could use to make some kind of EMP device. She does note that they have cutting torches, incinerators, and a handgun.

Scanning the walls, Virgil sees several ventilation outlets, all but one has a metal grille affixed to the front. They're not in the ceiling but high up in the wall. The metal ventilation ducting hangs from the ceiling. Virgil finds a side table and stands on it to try and reach the open vent. He notices some of the white substance on the edge of the vent.

"How are you feeling now, Jojo?" asks Sam, taking care not to touch the crystal with her hand. "Do you have feelings?"

Jojo looks down at the damage to his chest. He is able to stand now that the shard has been cut in half.

"I do have some feeling but I have to maintain most of my power to holding this contaminant at bay. What you did bought me some time but I must remove the rest of this foreign object from my systems or I will be compromised as was Administrator Kingsley."

Looking over at the ARM robot blocking their path, he continues. "Is anyone able to do a hard shut down on that thing?"

Kiara gingerly holds up the pistol she took off Nicole.

"We could use this I suppose?"

“Don’t even think about it.” Says a slightly muffled Virgil from the far corner.
“Bullets ricocheting about will bring security down in a shot. Can’t you cut a cable or something?”
“I think Kingsley went this way.”

"That would require getting uncomfortably close," says Sam. "What about the using the incinerators?"

“Bringing security here might not be a bad idea,” Kiara replies to Virgil as she eyes the ARM. “But you’re right, being sprayed with ricochets wouldn’t be ideal.”

“Are we all gonna chase after Kingsley through the ducts? Sam, I agree, we could burn out the ARM and get out that way.”

“Kingsley has left a trail of white goo; he can be tracked through the vents. We’ll lose him if we go any other way.” Virgil shrugs.
“If you’re happy to have him loose about the facility, popping up anywhere and converting one random individual at a time until the whole place is overrun by them then go ahead, Ms Khan.

Kiara clutches her pad to her chest defensively.

"You want to play the action hero? Be my guest. I think I'd be better suited to running tests on that spike Sam's taken out of Jojo and find out what we're up against. I'll need better facilities for that than those in here."

Virgil,Virgil can jump up to the vent like he did earlier. He's got time to pile up some furniture so he can have a bonus dice - roll Low/Zero G to get up there. If he takes his boots off he can have two bonus dice. I don't think he'll be taking his whole weighted clothing off in front of everyone!

OOC,The ARM is basically a robotic arm on tracks, controlled remotely by CENTRAL. It can have extra tools on it like cutters but it isn't designed as an offensive platform. That's said, if it tried to hit you it'd probably hurt a lot

“Fine. “ says Virgil shortly. “Give me the pistol and I’ll be on my way.”

Zero-G, 20 roll: 36, 7, 1. I’m not quite certain how bonus dice work.

Virgil slips off his shoes and rather gracefully leaps off a small pile of tables and chairs, he grips the edges of the open metal vent and hauls himself inside.

The only handgun is the one dropped by Nicole. Kingsley has presumably taken his with him.

Isabella talks in a low, soothing voice to Nicole but she continues to rock and sob.

Moses hefts his incinerator, 'Um, we can't really stand around here all day. The Doctor says he needs...um, medical attention? Will I torch this robot?'

Sam grips her own incinerator. "You mean, will we torch it?" she says. "I think we should, and I haven't heard anyone tell us not to, so..."

Virgil takes Nicole’s discarded handgun, checking it is loaded, and jumps up into the vent. Once inside, he looks for white goo and follows the trail if there is anything.

Listen, 50 roll: 52. Is it light enough to see?

'Shall we?' says Moses and he unleashes a stream of flame at the ARM, he sweeps the jet of inflammable liquid across the doorway, torching the dividing wall more than the robot, which just sits there, completely immobile.

Sam can use Firearms Flamethrower - which I think is 30% for her as she has another firearms 50% or above - she can have a bonus 1d10 roll (replace the tens die if it is better) since the ARM is stationary

-----

Virgil takes the handgun from Kiara and then jumps up and wriggles into the ducting, it is pretty dark but a little light comes in through joints in the vents and through some of the ventilation outlets. He can't hear anything over the noise of his own body crashing against the metal panels. Initially he finds it fairly easy to follow the trail of white viscous fluid, but as he gets deeper into the ducting he finds it becoming a tighter squeeze and harder to make out the fluid in the limited illumination.

Let's have a DEX roll to squeeze through the ducts and a Spot Hidden to follow the trail. Gun's loaded, 7 rounds in the magazine, one in the chamber

Sam unleashes a gout of flame at the ARM, immolating it.

Firearms(Flamethrower) roll firing the incinerator at the ARM:
d%
Bonus die:
1d10*10

“Good shooting, er, flaming,” says Kiara.

“Let’s get everyone out of here,” she continues, eyeing up the open duct. “In case Virgil doesn’t come back but Kingsley does.”

She turns to Isabella.

“If CENTRAL’s offline, now might be the time to try that reset? None of us are going to get very far if the system doesn’t obey us. I’ll help if you want.”

"Thanks," says Sam. "Do you think we should try to repair Jojo first?"

“Oh yeah, of course,” Kiara stammers.

The flames from Sam's incinerator lick around the ARM, charring the paintwork, while the cables and tubing at its base blacken and shrivel. 'Uh, yeah, that's what I was going for' says Moses.

Isabella helps Nicole to her feet, she continues to look unsteady and strained. 'I suppose now's as good a time as any, but let's get Nicole and Jojo some help first.'

"Then let's get them to Engineering," says Sam. "We may also need some medical supplies."

rolls, dexterity 70 roll: 3 spot hidden 50 roll: 36

The duct is cramped but Virgil’s strict martial arts training gives him the suppleness and mental discipline he needs and he works his way along the confined space following the goo.

Virgil is moving here

So are Kiara and Sam going to try and get Jojo out past the fried robot and on to Engineering? Who wants to go through first?

Once it looks like the ARM is cooling off, Jojo will move past it and head to engineering with the others.

Sorry, I seem to be having problems with my browser and the new update.

Kiara follows Jojo, gingerly edging past the ARM.

One by one they squeeze past the charred and still warm robot. It doesn't move or show any other sign that it is still functioning. Fortunately they don't need to try and heave Jojo through the gap as he is able to struggle through under his own power. Nicole takes a bit more coaxing.

As they set off through the Administrative Complex for Engineering they can see lights on in a few of the offices despite the early hour. Presumably the standard day-night cycle is less important on a mining colony.

Down the centre of the otherwise deserted corridor an ARM trundles towards them at walking pace.

Sam levels her incinerator at the ARM and takes aim until it moves into range.

"If we keep roasting these things, we'll run out of fuel way before we can get past them all..."

Kiara mutters, looking around for a control terminal.

"Perhaps we can access the command network..."

"We have no choice, it's in our way," says Sam. "It would be better to hack them, but if we run out of fuel, we still have the cutting torches, and the Marshal has her pistol. I'm just hoping they don't bill me for destruction of Company property."

As if hearing what was said the ARM immediately stops and then reverses back down the corridor at the same walking pace.

Kiara looks around for any kind of access point or control terminal but she can't see anything other than the CENTRAL fish eye lens in the corridor. 'Looks like we have it on the run' says Isabella. 'Are we going to run past or run it down?'

Moses hefts his incinerator gingerly, probably embarrassed after failing to hit the stationary robot last time he used it.

Virgil took the Marshal's pistol. Currently Sam and Moses have incinerators. Kiara has a cutting torch and so does Sam.

"If it doesn't interfere with us or block our path, I don't see any reason to destroy it," says Sam. "Let's just run past it."

“Yeah, agreed. No point causing a ruckus unnecessarily,” replies Kiara.

Jojo will attempt to move as quickly as possible past any other ARM's controlled by CENTRAL.

The six of them hurry down the corridor, Isabella helping Nicole along. The ARM stops and sits there outside the end office impassively, not moving. Before they get to the ARM they duck into the turbolift and ride down to the ground floor where they find themselves in the central hub station. It looks like there is a shift change and miners are arriving from and departing for the pumping stations.

They walk at a brisk pace towards engineering, noting several more ARMs parked around the colony, silent and brooding. Inside the Engineering Facility is less busy than when they last visited.



It remains a large open area but the usually cacophonous clanging and hissing is reduced to an occasional bang and crash. It is still hot and the smell is of combustible gases and a metallic tang. The air is hazy with smoke and condensing water vapour which glows a dull orange from the flickering lighting.

The floor is covered in patches of yellow hazard cross hatching and there are multiple red emergency stop buttons and flashing warning lights on the various workbenches around the space. These are scattered with tools; drills, hammers, etc

Piled against the walls are crates of different sizes along with stacks of rigid metal pipework and coils of flexible tubing. A few pieces of heavier machinery such as forklifts, heavy manipulators, large saws and drills, and a power loader are left standing around the floor.

Only a few engineers, all wearing large orange ear defenders, are tending to a few workstations. There is a metal walkway raised above the ground level with an office in one corner. Leaning on the railing outside the office is a figure that Sam and Kiara recognise, Chief Engineer Arnold White.

White looks down at the six of them with some interest but his face soon turns to anger as he stares at Jojo who still looks pretty beaten up, his clothing slick with blue hydrodynamic fluid which drips onto the floor. 'Get that thing out of here. Get it out of here now!' He gesticulates at Jojo and starts running down the metal staircase towards them. Some of the engineers look up to see what is going on. 'No fucking synths in my facility. Get out, take any equipment you need but you're not working on that...thing here.'

"I understand how you feel," says Sam. "We'll get the equipment we need and take Jojo to the Medical Center."

Smiling nervously at White, Kiara helps gather up the necessary equipment.