Briefing: ROVER

[Morkskittar]

The idyllic coast-side scene, marred only by the flaring tempers of some of the virtual avatars inhabiting it, was interrupted as the sea began to boil. Conversations stalled as everyone turned to look at the water. Mei suppressed a sigh at the dramatics.

The water parted, forming a path from the seafloor to the beach, and a pair of figures walked out of it; one clad in a red trench coat and fedora, hair whipping in a breeze localized to her digital person, and the other wearing a sweat-stained brown wifebeater, aviator sunglasses, and an old-style marine sergeant hat. Someone muttered something about the past coming to life, but no one responded.

The two reached the shore, and the woman clapped her hands. The sea collapsed behind her. "Sorry to keep you waiting," she said. "There have been some developments. My name is Ghost; I will be your primary contact for this job. Spectre here will be making sure you end up with the right equipment for the job.

"I'd like to start with some good news; you're all hired!" Ghost smiled and brushed the hair from her eyes. "The scope of the advertised mission has expanded. We'll be sending two teams to Mephisto undercover; one to retrieve the original target, and the other to pick up some experimental technology we are interested in. Both teams will be in the colony at the same time, but working more-or-less independently... unless something comes up."

Spectre grunted. "We'll debrief you separately; don't want you all yapping over each other while you figure out what to do. You should all have invites to your separate rooms. Get going."

The avatars of the eight gathered there all winked out as they sorted themselves into their rooms, and moments later, the idyllic seaside ceased to exist.

---

After a brief psychedelic loading screen, the sound of the sea turned into the tweeting of birds, and Mei, The Red Queen, Valkyrie, and Linda found themselves standing in a beautiful, well-maintained, green garden by a pond. In front of the pond, both Spectre and Ghost stood, the localized wind still blowing Ghost's hair. "Congratulations, Taskforce ROVER. Mei, RQ, nice to see you again. We'd hoped you'd come."

Spectre gave the two senior operatives a short nod, then turned his attention to Linda and Valkyrie. "I'm not so sure about these two, though. A bit of an important mission for such... neophytes."

Ghost shook her head. "They are hardly that. Now be quiet." Ghost took an unnecessary virtual breath. "Your team will be pursuing our primary goal; the retrieval of the ego of Dr. Antonia Severance from her enslavement on Mephisto. You should have received a copy of the full mission briefing."

"Make sure to read the whole thing," Spectre said, before being quelled by a look from Ghost.

"To sum up, Dr. Severance's ego is key to unlocking, and understanding, some very important data that we obtained from the Martian TQZ... a highly dangerous mission that Mei was on, and that... that both Mei and the Red Queen were on. They risked, and lost, much to retrieve the file for us. But now we want to do more with it. For that, we need the doctor. Ideally, she will come willingly, but if not, her cortical stack, or a fork of her, will suffice."

"Your team was built from the two who retrieved the file in the first place, Mei and the Red Queen, who will be able to perhaps connect with her in a way no one else can due to their experiences, and who will be able to provide hacking and equipment interfacing support. Linda brings mindhacking skills to the team, and Valkyrie has some social and combat skills that may come in handy. We are anticipating that your taskforce will be primarily investigative; find out which research scientist is Dr. Severance, convince her to come with us, and then leave. There should be little... combat involved, merely deduction, stealth, and maybe some improvisation."

Briefing

Official Egocrasher Document

Operation Mephisto

Consent to Secrecy
By opening the rest of this document, your ego – and any forks of said ego created after this point – are consenting to never mention the Egocrashers in relation to your activities to any not already aware of our involvement, especially to anyone who would make our involvement public. Should you, or any forks, fail to adhere to this agreement, you will be located and removed from consideration.

Mission Summary

Both assembled taskforces are to arrive on Mu-Xian Investments Mining Colony MXI-12A, colloquially named "Satan's Ass," on the Mephisto asteroid in the Jovian Trojans on a Mu-Xian transport ship from Europa, with false documents presenting them as new employees. The colony is a corporate mining town owned by Mu-Xian Investments, an inner system company registered out of Venus that is actually a shell company for a secretive protectionist inner system inter-governmental organization that calls itself "Firewall." The Egocrashers will supply the team with adequate gear and false identities at no cost to the operatives.

Taskforce ROVER (Retrieval Of Valuable Ego for Research) is to locate Dr. Antonia Severance, a scientist formerly associated with Kronos Keep, who has been relocated to MXI-12A under a new unknown identity, and bring her back to the Egocrasher cache on Europa. Ideally, she is to come willingly, but if that fails, her cortical stack will suffice. The ROVER team members are Mei, Red Queen, Valkyrie, and Linda.

Meanwhile, Taskforce TOPHAT (Theft Of Potentially Hazardous ArtifacT) is to locate the blue prints and source code for the Titanbreaker Project that Dr. Severance and her colleagues are developing or, if possible, any physical artifacts associated with that project. The TOPHAT members are Alexi, Six, Null, and T.Z.

Mission Background

A previous Egocrasher team, at great cost, retrieved a highly valuable datafile (named ENDYMION) from Kronos Keep in the Martian TITAN Quarantine Zone. This file contains highly sensitive information related to the semi-effective measures implemented by a mercenary group, the Razorskin Brigade, to resist and actually contain exsurgent entities in a fortress. This data may shed insights on both the TITAN's self-evolving source code and the exsurgent virus, including a possible method for subverting and controlling the virus using nanotechnology to forever change the development of humanity.

Unfortunately, further details are locked behind a powerful encryption. Our cyberspecialists have determined that the encryption is keyed to the person of the head nanotechnologist of the Keep, Dr. Antonia Severance. She had been working on distributed consciousness to improve adaptions to swarms, and in particular, ways to use swarm morphs to enhance intellectual and computational abilities. During the Fall, she held out with the Razorskin Brigade for several months, and learned more about how TITAN exsurgents function from her first-hand observations and her unprecedented vivisection of a fully-functional captured exsurgent; she may even have been able to successfully create an exsurgent-human hybrid. The resulting data are priceless, and all are contained in the ENDYMION file, along with information on how the brigade was able to capture and manipulate exsurgents to survive TITAN assaults for months on Mars.

Unfortunately, Dr. Severance perished with the Keep. However, a previous fork of her ego was resurrected later by the inner system intelligence organization called "Firewall," which purchased the backup egos of millions of prominent transhumans to exploit them and their knowledge for their own ends. This fork has been placed under a new identity and is being put to work developing nanotechnology for Firewall on a small asteroid named Mephisto. We need her to unlock the ENDYMION file and all of the data it contains.

Dr. Severance and her colleagues have been busy in the meantime, however, and have developed a project codenamed Titanbreaker. Current intelligence indicates that the project is a prototype super-processing self-replicating nanoswarm. Ideally, this team will retrieve and return with the prototype (safely contained, of course), but returning with the blueprints and source code, which should be accessible from a terminal in either the research center or experimental mining operations, will be sufficient.

Taskforce ROVER's mission is to retrieve Dr. Severance, ideally willingly, but by force if necessary. Taskforce TOPHAT's mission is to retrieve data related to the Titanbreaker project.

Theater of Operation

Dr. Severance is living under an unknown assumed identity at Mu-Xian Investments Mining Colony MXI-12A, colloquially named "Satan's Ass," on the Mephisto asteroid in the Jovian Trojans. This colony mines various heavy metals and rare substances from the asteroid, and is notable for its use of nanotechnology to mine, process, and synthesize the raw materials. Dr. Severance is one of the scientists ostensibly working on improving the use of nanotechnology for mining, but this is a front for her real work: developing nanotechnological advances for Firewall, including Project Titanbreaker.

MXI-12A itself is, aside from its small shuttleport, located within the asteroid itself, built into early mining tunnels. It is a complex labyrinth that can roughly be divided into six clusters:

• Primary Mining Operations: This part of the colony is the largest, and consists of the actual metal and resource-mining operations on the asteroid. This is where the tried-and-true tested equipment is stored.
• Experimental Mining Operations: This is the deepest part of the colony, and is where the nanotechnology and equipment being developed is tested. The Titanbreaker prototype is likely located here.
• Residential Cluster: This is where the people on the colony live when they aren't working.
• Research Center: This is where the scientists have labs where they develop the new technologies they use. The Titanbreaker source code and blueprints can likely be accessed from here.
• Hives: A mostly automated area of the colony complex from which nanobots are controlled, as well as where they are built, maintained, and recycled.
• Processing Center: The uppermost part of the colony, this is where the raw mined materials are processed and prepared for shipping; the shuttleport crowns this cluster.

Mission Targets

Dr. Antonia Severance is a scientist specializing in nanotechnology, and particularly in distributed consciousness. Before the Fall, her work focused on the unique neural network structures that nanoswarms could achieve, and in particular ways in which these structured could be used to enhance intellect and computational power. She was assigned to Kronos Keep as a scientist for a branch of the Martian military, and was there during the Fall.

During the Fall, she was dragooned into the private mercenary group stationed there, the Razorskin Brigade, and refocused her attention on the exsurgent virus and its consciousness. Based on the ENDYMION file's contents, it seems that she made some breakthroughs into understanding how it thought, and was able to engineer a nanotech countervirus to somewhat contain and control it, culminating in the creation of a transhuman-exsurgent hybrid: the Shrike.

Her research notes are in the ENDYMION file, but her primary ego was killed when the Keep was ultimately overrun. However, a backup of her ego, stored before the fall, was retrieved and activated by Firewall, who have put her to work developing nanotechnological weapons for them. It is unknown if this fork knows about her other life at Kronos Keep.

Dr. Severance's personality files reveal that she is motivated by a deep, burning curiosity and a peculiar narcissism: she desires to become, or else create, God, and has decided that the best way to achieve that is through nanotechnology. As a result, she has a kind of odd solipsistic spiritualism that drives her behavior and research, and seems to literally view her work as, in her own words, "unlocking the little God found in the details" at the nanoscale.

Despite, or perhaps because of, her arrogance, she also deeply cares about what others think about her, and a desire for fame and recognition drove her career. She was once considered the top nanotechnologist at Titan Autonomous University, but after a scandal in which it was discovered she had faked data to win a prestigious award, she lost nearly everything and was reduced to working on weapons for Mars, and thus she ended up at Kronos Keep. Our analyst suspects that she will be willing to come with us in exchange for access to her notes from Kronos Keep, but it is possible that Firewall has poisoned her mind.

Less is noun about Project Titanbreaker. It is a collaborative project, and Dr. Severance is only one member of the team working on it. Our limited intelligence suggests that this project is a highly unstable self-replicating nanoswarm that has superprocessing capabilities; in essence, a supercomputer, or emergent AGI, in the form of a nanoswarm. Suffice to say, this makes it highly dangerous, and also unlikely that Dr. Severance will be able to easily escape with the source code and blueprints on her own. The prototype is likely in the experimental mining operations area, while the blueprints and source code will likely be accessible via a secured terminal in the same area, or else in the research center. A fail-safe data storage device will be provided for sensitive downloads.

Firewall and Pirates

There are two main obstacles to your mission to retrieve Dr. Severance: the organization controlling her (Firewall, through its shell corporation Mu-Xian Investments) and the pirates of the Jovian Trojans, particularly the Thrice-Dead Pirates led by Captain James "Ironwing" Castor, who have been active nearby.

Firewall is an intergovernmental intelligence organization that protects inner system (and hypercorp) interests by doing the dirty work that no respectable entity wants to be associated with. They run a variety of shell corporations, including Mu-Xian Investments, to hide their activity. Most members of the shell company are unaware that it is associated with Firewall, but there will be several individuals with full knowledge, including at least four highly competent guardians meant to keep their pet scientists in line and their secrets safe. Their identities are not known. Firewall is the largest threat you will be facing, as they will not want to let their asset or data go.

The Thrice-Dead Pirates are a large confederation of smugglers and pirates that target shipping lanes between the Jovian Trojans, targeting raw materials, egos, and, occasionally, intellectual property. Their captain, James Castor, has a curious obsession with birds (hence his epithet), and rules with an iron fist. He also has a vendetta against the fascist Jovian government, and requires all recruits into his organization to have been experienced being killed at least three times as a form of initiation. The pirates typically track their targets from transportation hubs, following and then boarding shuttles between Trojans. Occasionally, they will launch larger assaults on isolated mining or industrial operations, like MXI-12A. While there is no indication that such an attack is planned, the possibility is always there.

Mission Logistics

The Mu-Xian Jovian Shuttle Charon (MXI-272) is transporting a load of new employees from a recruitment center on Europa to Mephisto, and you will all be on it. The shuttle will be docked at the colony for three days while a cargo of raw materials is loaded onto it, bound back for Europa; if you complete your mission in time, you can catch a ride back on it. Otherwise, you will need to find your own exit strategy, but shuttles do land and depart from the surface once every three or four weeks.

While at the colony, you are to blend in as employees, carrying out your assigned jobs, while locating Dr. Severance and Project Titanbreaker in your downtime periods. You have wide discretion as to your investigative methods. In the process of locating her, you should acquire copies of any data relating to the research being done by Mu-Xian Investments/Firewall; bonuses will be awarded to the team depending on what else you can acquire.

Your team will be supplied with a document containing proof that you have access to the Kronos Keep research notes and data, as well as a fail-safe data storage device to store sensitive data outside of the mesh.

Dr. Severance should be made to come willingly, if possible, but if she is unwilling, bringing back her cortical stack will suffice. The Titanbreaker research data will be sufficient, but bonuses will be paid out if a prototype is successfully brought back.

The doctor is the primary target, and if a choice must be made, both teams should prioritize her retrieval over that of the research project. Both taskforces will operate simultaneously, but mostly independently, only coordinating when absolutely necessary so that should one team fail, the other can carry on.

"Your identities are as newly hired employees. As new hires, you could not be placed in either high-level physical security or cybersecurity without raising more red flags than we could afford, so Mei and the Red Queen will be going in as mining engineering technicians, Valkyrie as an entry-level security guard, and Linda as a..." Ghost smiled. "...front-line shrink. The full-time residents of the colony have a lot of issues to work out, it seems. Of course, should some of you choose more... unconventional morphs, you may be smuggled in under a different identity, such as a pet, or a suitcase, perhaps."

"I think it's all fairly self explanatory... Spectre has some things to say about morph and gear acquisition, and then you can ask us all you want about anything. We don't want to send you in blind."

Ghost stepped back behind Spectre, who scowled. "Now much to say about morphs. You can bring your own, or take one out from loan from us. We have a cache on Europa, from where you'll be heading out. We've also got a lot of gear you can borrow from; maintenance and replacement costs are included in your substantial pay. You are responsible for smuggling in any weapons or anything illegal you take from us.

"We are giving you wide discretion in terms of what to take from us, but you will have to inhabit a physical morph or, if you come over as an infomorph, you'll be forced by MXI into a very low-grade mining synthmorph upon arrival unless you get smuggled over; that, and no new employees can come over in swarmanoid forms. The more legally questionable morphs won't be allowed on the colony either. We recommend either some variation of a normal humanoid morph, or else a big clunky mining morph of some kind.

"In terms of gear, you can take anything we have in inventory... but again, you have to figure out how to get anything questionable into the colony undetected. Some concealed weapons will be handy, of course, and any sort of espionage or other gear. Got it?"

Ghost sighed. "What questions do you have that we can clear up for you?"

Morph and Gear Acquisition

Now that you have been accepted and have some vague mission parameters, you get to make the second part of your character: your morph, or the body you will temporarily inhabit during this mission.

Morph Selection
Each agent can either provide their own Morph or rent one from the Egocrashers. In either case, you have 6 MP to spend on your morph, as normal. If you have the Resources Trait, you may spend additional MP on your Morph (as normal).

You may also take up to 6 MP worth of Negative Morph Traits (the same as with your Ego). For every negative MP acquired this way, you may spend an additional MP on your Morph.

You may select any non-excluded Morph type from the Core Rulebook or any Morph detailed in the Recognition Guide here. Ignore Availability Rules. If a Morph has a range of costs listed, average them and round down.

The following Morphs are excluded and cannot be used for this mission: Cloud Skate, Cloud Skimmer, Courier, Fenrir, Fighting Kite, Griefer, Kite, Nautiloid, Neo-Beluga, Neo-Whale, Opteryx, Reaper, Ring Flyer, Ripwing, Rover, Selkie, Sphere, Sundiver, Surya, Swarmanoid, Venusian Glider, Whiplash, Xu Fu.

Each morph base (you have to choose one) costs a certain amount of MP, and you can spend the rest of your MP on positive Morph traits or on any Armour, Weapons, or Augmentations listed as "Ware" (i.e., it has a letter on the corresponding column for Armour and Weapons, or is in the Augment tab on the above spreadsheet), which are pieces of equipment directly incorporated into your morph.

When purchasing 'ware/augmentations with either MP or GP, make sure that the ware can be applied to the type of Morph yopu have: Bioware (B) and Cyberware (C) are only usable by Biomorphs. Hardware (H) is only usable by Synthmorphs, Bots, and Vehicles. Meshware (M) is only usable by Infomorphs (including Muses) and Cyberbrains (Pods). Nanoware (N) is usable by all morphs. If an augmentation is of multiple types, it can be of any of those types.

Gear
Each operative will have access to the Egocrasher Europan Armory, and may spend a total of 20 GP (including the gear listed as being from your profession) on any equipment listed in the Core Rulebook that is of Minor, Moderate, or Major Complexity (a Gear List can also be found here). This equipment will not be kept for future missions. You may not purchase any vehicles for this mission. Any Restricted items you purchase may be at risk of being discovered and confiscated if not properly concealed.

If your character has the Resources Trait, they may spend those additional GP on items as above. When purchasing 'ware/augmentations with either MP or GP, make sure that the ware can be applied to the type of Morph you have (see above).

You may have noticed that your Profession has some started gear listed. The total of these items is 10 GP, and I recommend keeping that gear, then adding 10 GP extra as you choose (the rulebook has a recommend "gear package" for a criminal campaign if you want to just go that route) if you are unsure about what to take. The sum total of all gear you are taking cannot exceed 20 GP (unless you have Resources).

---

To acquire your Morph and Gear, post the following form as a reply in your initial application post. Please list the MP/GP cost (or bonus) of each item and trait listed.

Morph:
Morph Type:
Morph Traits:
Morph Ware: (list only those purchased with MP)

Gear:
(list Gear and Morph Ware purchased with GP, or name the Gear Packages you are taking).

There is no firm deadline for gear selection; just make sure to pick something before the briefing is over. :)

OOC

@TheRaconteur @Amora @NickNameless @NorthOfOrdinary Welcome to the game! Your team is set, you have morph selection instructions and a briefing, and now the chance to ask questions (both IC and OOC) about what exactly you'll be doing. You will receive any OOC clarifications you need, but your employers may withhold information or lie to any IC questions... or they may tell you the truth. You'll have at least a week for briefing, or more if you need it!

Edited October 22, 2023 by Morkskittar (see edit history)

[TheRaconteur]

Mei

---

Mei started to ping the Red Queen, an inquiry asking if the Avatars approaching them were the same that had been present at the Titanfall debriefing. Bhramari beat them to the punch by attaching VRO designations, as Ghost had used the same avatar the first time they had met. Mei might not recognize the Avatar's face, but their Muse did.

Besides, they were trying not to lean on the Red Queen too heavily for that sort of thing, their Muse having cautioned countless times over the last three months on the insanity of using the AGI as their tether to humanity. The Red Queen wasn't human, and while Mei didn't see themselves as human now either, the difference was that she had never been human. She might not even have been designed by human egos. The probability that she had been programed as a sub-system by one of the exsurgent players trapped within the failed TQZ, and had simply exceeded her original operational parameters and gone rogue, was not 0. Filtering all future organic-ego interactions through the lens of an AGI's paradigm was already unhealthy. Doing so through the lens of potential Exo-tech? It was more than enough for a Mindhacker to suggest a hard reboot, and that was before the Red Queen had started playing around with organics.

They largely ignored the two avatars during the run down, focusing on the Mission Briefing. Their Muse would let them know what they missed, if it wasn't included in the files in front of them. They did note that their employers weren't making any secret of the this was the second time they'd worked for the Egocrashers, which was good considering they'd already admitted as much in the wait room. As they worked their way through the reports, they started making notes on gear and materials they thought they might need, editing as more mission specifications revealed themselves. This wasn't exactly their wheelhouse, but the programs they had acquired during their last contract for these psychos had clearly been enough to lure them back. It had been a big payout, walking away with the full Gorgon system in their back pocket.

"We will be going in with a Mining Rig, as even a Dissembler Hive shouldn't raise too much suspicion. The only anomaly will be the Guardian Hive."

Though it was Mei's Avatar that spoke, a VRO display informed the group that it was their Muse that was doing the talking. The primary Ego was way too focused on updating their specifications as they adjusted their mission parameters.

"Mei will handle C&C, primarily Tactical Support and Observation, as well as providing a private server for us to operate on. As to hab illegal gear. We'll be able smuggle in the less-than-legal programs under an E-Veil, and deploy with a 40 liter capacity nanofabber. Should any of the team bring in blueprints, once we're on site and locate enough raw fabberstock we shouldn't have any difficult manufacturing tech that might otherwise not make it through station customs. We'll already have the capacity to manufacture Direct Action ColdStopper .50 caliber heavy pistols, as well as Zap rounds, upon locating stock."

Between themselves and the Red Queen, they weren't worried about overriding the Fabber's internal monitor systems. Now, if they could pull this gig off and still have multiuse patent blueprints available to them? That would be a cash out.

"Any known contacts of Dr. Severance outside of Mu-Xian? Hobbies or interests besides playing God?"

Another voice, Mei's this time as the VRO updated, distracted as they read the dossier a third time and continued to adjust their loadout request.

Morph Specifications

Morph Model:  Beekeeper Flexbot (6 MP)

• 1st Choice: Fa-Jing Yāng Fēng Rén model 3.0
• 2nd Choice: Zrbny Group Swarmkeeper Operations Coordinator v7.2
  • Modules: Guardian Hive, Engineer Hive, Dissembler Hive, Scout Hive (free)

Loadout:

• Ghostrider Module x2 (2 GP)
• Enhanced Security (2 GP)
• Radio Booster (1 GP)
• Guardian Angel Drone x1 (2 GP)
• Medium Fabber (2 GP)
• Drone Rig (1 GP)
• Multi-Use Heavy Pistol Blueprints (2 GP)
• Multi Use Zap Bullet Blueprints (2 GP)
• Biometric Matcher (1 GP)
• E-Veil (1 GP)
• Nanodetector (1 GP)
• Mind Amp (3 GP)

 

 

Edited October 22, 2023 by TheRaconteur (see edit history)

[Morkskittar]

"All fairly standard issue," Spectre said, nodding as Mei listed their requirements. "None of that should be a problem. Blueprints and a fabber isn't a bad idea either. You can have that loadout, no problem."

Ghost pounced on Mei's second question. "Current contacts, no. Former contacts, several, though most would doubtless run in the opposite direction should her name be mentioned. Her Titanian ex-colleagues would disavow her, and she didn't make waves on Mars. Not a social butterfly, our Dr. Severance.

"Hobbies though... her financial records on Mars indicate that she had a large debt owed to several big-time casinos, both mesh and physical. She was more than a bit of a gambler; you'd have to be, to stake your career on falsified data."

[NorthOfOrdinary]

Valkyrie

---

"Great, but it sounds like we're gamblers too if we only bring zap rounds," Valkyrie folded her hands in front of her, focused on the mission briefing as she shifted her weight from one leg to the other. "I'll bring my own morph and blueprints for some longer range firepower. We may not know what the game will be but at least we can stack the deck."

She was excited by the mission prospect. A simple snatch and grab in her old backyard, she reckoned it would be harder then it looked given the amount the Egocrashers were willing to pay and the teams they had assembled. Still it was hard not to imagine sipping mimosas in some beach club habitat on Europa when this was all done. The meeting mesh was truly inspiring to her.

"I'm familiar with the Thrice Dead Pirates and the Jovian Republic, but not Firewall. What can we expect for security assets on MXI-12A? Their conventional force capabilities?" Valkyrie smiled devilishly. "Should the covert option fail and we have to shoot our way out will there be a bonus for the amount of bodies we stack?"

She was only joking of course. The plan was to avoid firing a shot.

 

---

[+6 MP][+20 GP]

Morph: Pleasure Pod (-4 MP)
Morph Type: Pod Biomorph
Morph Traits: 

•     Positive: Limberness (-1 MP), Striking Looks (-1 MP), Rapid Healing (-1 MP), Toughness (-2 MP)
•     Negative: Social Stigma - Pod (+2 MP), Feebleness (+1 MP)

Gear: Battle Rifle Multi-Use Blueprints (-3 GP), Silencer/Flash Suppressor/Smartlink Weapon Attachment Single-Use Blueprints (-4 GP), Armor Piercing Ammo Multi-Use Blueprints (-2 GP), Enhanced Vision (-2 MP), Body Armor - Chameleon (-3 GP), Grin - 5 doses (-1 GP), Meds - 5 Doses (-1 GP), Hardened Skeleton (-3 GP), Dead Switch (-1 GP)

[Amora]

%5BB%5D%5BSIZE%3D%224%22%5DThe%20Red%20Queen%5B%2FSIZE%5D%5B%2FB%5D%5Bfloatright%5D%5BIMG2%3D200%5Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FnVFPlTl.jpg%5B%2FIMG2%5D%5B%2FFloatright%5D

The Red Queen

---

The Red Queen was not a social creature and this remained apparent at their silence but if anyone mistook it for inattention, the growing agitation across the stellar landscape of their chosen avatar put the notion to rest. Flares of data-plasma arced across their surface, storms of energy circled cyclonically along what would be their equator and glimpses into the deeper depths of their software architecture burned white-hot. The list of hardware, software, and firmware compiling rapidly as mission details became apparent resulting in extrapolations into likely outcomes, scenarios, and opposition to the presently outlined team. There was only one concern in that all but Designation: Mei represented unknow variables in all simulations. Certain data points could be inferred from observed mannerisms but these were deemed to have sufficiently abysmal ratings of accuracy to force the Red Queen to rely on, principally, unsound conjecture.

A fact of the present scenario that had Inversion redirecting their operational focuses to, for lack of a better term, soothing the AI and staving off unproductive avenues of activity.

"Acknowledged: Preferred Stimulus. Addendum Query: Environmental factors facilitate? Secondary Query: Noted behavioral patterns? Clarification: Routines, psychological schematics? Tertiary Query: Operational Schedule of desired asset?" the Red Queen questioned before falling silent. Their 'voice' forceful, precise, and yet lacking in nuance or the complexities of one... accustomed to human interaction. All too in keeping with their alien presentation and what the senior operatives knew of their origins, background, and what could pass for life experience. "Secondary operational consideration: Target security rating? Function hierarchy/Organizational rank? Asset Threat index - Scale: Numeric; Range 1 to 10?"

 

Gear and Morph Request

Morph:
Hibernoid - 4 MP
Ware: Biomods, Circadian Regulation, Clean
Metabolism, Cold Tolerance, Cortical Stack,
Hibernation, Mesh Inserts, Ghost Rider Module x 2 (2 MP), 
Movement Rate: 4/20
Pools: Insight 1, Moxie 1, Flex 2
Durability: 35 | Wound Threshold: 7
Death Rating: 53
Availability: 70
Credit Cost: Expensive

Gear:
Mind Amp - 3 GP
Skinlink - 1 GP
Enhanced Security - 2 GP
Firewall App - 1 GP
Crypto App - 1 GP
Tracker App - 1 GP
Bimoetric Matcher - 1 GP
Utilimod - 2 GP
Oracles - 2 GP
Lidar - 1 GP
Radar - 1 GP
T-ray - 1 GP
Graybox - 1 GP
Medium Fabber - 2 GP

 

[NickNameless]

Linda

---

"If I got to work as a 'shrink'," Linda said, "I'll just bring my own morph. Most people are usually still more comfortable talking to a human-looking biomorph in that kind of situation, in my experience."

Linda's reasons were a bit more complex than that, but it wasn't the time and the place to expose that her own morph had some quite peculiar implants that would be hard to replicate or find elsewhere, nor to engage in a half neurological half philosophical debate about her preferences regarding unnecessary resleeving.

However, despite her words, she didn't change her appearance for the time being, keeping her digital avatar running.

 

Morph and Gear

Morph:

• Faust morph
  • Ware: Biomods, Circadian Regulation, Cortical Stack, Endocrine Control, Mesh Inserts
  • Movement Rate: 4/20
  • Pools: Insight 3, Moxie 2, Flex 1
  • Durability: 35
  • Wound Threshold: 7
  • Death Rating: 53
  • Traits: PSI Camouflage 1
  • MP Cost: 7
• Positive trait: Acumen (1)
• Negative trait: Zero-G nausea

Gear:

• Criminal starter pack
  • Anonymizer
  • Armor Vest (Light)
  • Fake Ego ID
  • Medium Pistol Firearm
  • Smart Clothing
  • TacNet App
  • VPN App
• Mindhacker starter pack
  • Comfurt (5 doses)
  • Eelware
  • Ego Bridge
  • Multi-Tasking
  • Private Server
  • Psychosurgery App

 

[Morkskittar]

Ghost smiled at Valkyrie's 'joke.' "Never a bad plan to have a... backup plan. Firewall is, largely, an unknown. They are associated with inner system 'governments,' and so can be assumed to have substantial resources at their disposal. That being said, our intel based on months of observation indicates that, in terms of conventional firepower, the Mephisto colony is underarmed. There will be a few powerful security morphs, perhaps 'bots, and of course, anti-pirate-ship cannon emplacements. The primary defense of the colony is its relative anonymity and lack of apparent profitability. It is not a compelling target.

"That being said, the nanotech that is being developed there is a potential threat in its own right. In fact, the scientists working on developing it may be a larger threat than the ostensible 'security' there.

Spectre butted in. "There are four known heavily armed Firewall enforcers there. We don't know what identities they assume on the station, but they will probably be close to, or on, the security team. Their primary directives are likely to protect their assets from going rogue rather than keep others out. We hope their weapons will be facing in, not out."

Ghost then turned to the Red Queen. "Most of your queries will have to be answered by you, on site. We have no internal access to the colony's mesh or data; all that we know comes from tracking movements in or out of the colony, or else the footprints that its activities leave on the wider world. We don't know too much about what we're sending you into. That, alas, includes the routines and cover identity of the target. Although I can send you a list of the target's likely cover aliases based on travel records from Europa..."

A moment later, everyone received a message with the following text:

 

<Likely Cover Identities of Dr. Antonia Severance:

Ruth Gundersson, Mining Foreman

Mordecai Thalanikos, Chief Engineer

Casey Marquis, Operations Manager>

"That may give you some place to start looking at least."

[NickNameless]

Linda

---

Hadn't her digital avatar be programmed to keep a completely blank façade, Linda would have raised an eyebrow here.

The briefing document had mentioned that most members of the general mining population were unaware that the colony was used as a front by Firewall, and that Dr. Severance's activities were likely pretending on working on something else. But... Linda wasn't familiar with this kind of environment, yet she couldn't help but think that jobs descriptions like those implied a number of requirements on the field that sounded hardly compatible with full-time scientific secret research.

On second thought, given the way the Egocrashers had retrieved those information, though, it could as well be that she used those titles only for travel justification, but was using another way of faking her identity and true job on the asteroid itself. At least this could be a lead easy enough to investigate, if someone landed on the colony pretending to be a foreman or an "operation manager" and never joined the workforce as such afterward.

[TheRaconteur]

Mei

---

They'd only recently started going with the handle over Flex, and Bhramari had suggested that the frequent Ego changes were difficult enough as it was without adding alternative handles to the mix. They started speaking, but as Mei's avatar wasn't moving much it wasn't clear who they were actually talking to.

"There a reason you're being hush hush about your mission speciali...?"

"What Mei means..."

Their Muse interrupted, evidently having been granted permissions to override Mei's external communication systems.

"... is that a little more specificity around your mission capabilities would be much appreciated. Otherwise we're just guessing about each other's areas of specialization , and might deploy with a significant gap in our response options. Unless Linda and Valkyrie are combat specialists though, it is already clear that fighting our way in our out is not going to be an optimal solution. "

The Red Queen was terrifying, in her own way. While offensive psychological warfare was certainly an effective tool, it was unlikely to be recommended against four heavies on a Firewall strike team.

"Our employers are correct in that we're going to have vastly better outcome spreads if we are at least aware of each other's specializaitons."

Morph Specifications

Morph Model:  Beekeeper Flexbot (6 MP)

• 1st Choice: Fa-Jing Yāng Fēng Rén model 3.0
• 2nd Choice: Zrbny Group Swarmkeeper Operations Coordinator v7.2
  • Modules: Guardian Hive, Engineer Hive, Dissembler Hive, Scout Hive (free)

Loadout:

• Ghostrider Module x2 (2 GP)
• Enhanced Security (2 GP)
• Radio Booster (1 GP)
• Guardian Angel Drone x1 (2 GP)
• Medium Fabber (2 GP)
• Drone Rig (1 GP)
• Multi-Use Heavy Pistol Blueprints (2 GP)
• Multi Use Zap Bullet Blueprints (2 GP)
• Biometric Matcher (1 GP)
• E-Veil (1 GP)
• Nanodetector (1 GP)
• Mind Amp (3 GP)

 

 

Edited November 4, 2023 by TheRaconteur (see edit history)

[NickNameless]

Linda

---

"I'm but a psycho-surgeon," Linda replied.

Hey! don't self yourself short like that! Dhara's voice chimed in her head, indignant.

"Okay, I'm a competent mindhacker. And I know my way around some drugs, which can prove useful in some circumstances. But all in all, what I mean is, your assessment is correct that I'm definitely not a combat specialist, beyond standing my ground in a bar brawl. If we must make our way gun-blazing against a private army, I'm not your gal for that."

She didn't find timely or useful to mention the particular can of worms of her psi abilities.

[TheRaconteur]

Mei

---

Mei started to speak, and found out that Bhramari had already anticipated their question, locked them out, and was asking it. That suited them fine, and they went back to reading their mission briefing, trusting their Muse to handle it.

"A Mindhacker, solid. How much experience do you have with alpha fork merging?"

A competent psycho-surgeon on the team would dramatically reduce the risks associated with reintegration, a constant source of strain on Mei's primary designation. If the good doctor wasn't interested in changing careers, they might also need to rely on Linda's talents. Mei wasn't exactly a fan of ego napping, but as the last mission they'd done for the Egocrashers had demonstrated, they did what they had to.

Internal Communications

>> Timeline?

>> On it

"What sort of timetable are we going to be operating under?"

If this was a long haul, they'd absolutely want the Mindhacker on staff.

 

Morph Specifications

Morph Model:  Beekeeper Flexbot (6 MP)

• 1st Choice: Fa-Jing Yāng Fēng Rén model 3.0
• 2nd Choice: Zrbny Group Swarmkeeper Operations Coordinator v7.2
  • Modules: Guardian Hive, Engineer Hive, Dissembler Hive, Scout Hive (free)

Loadout:

• Ghostrider Module x2 (2 GP)
• Enhanced Security (2 GP)
• Radio Booster (1 GP)
• Guardian Angel Drone x1 (2 GP)
• Medium Fabber (2 GP)
• Drone Rig (1 GP)
• Multi-Use Heavy Pistol Blueprints (2 GP)
• Multi Use Zap Bullet Blueprints (2 GP)
• Biometric Matcher (1 GP)
• E-Veil (1 GP)
• Nanodetector (1 GP)
• Mind Amp (3 GP)

 

 

Edited November 6, 2023 by TheRaconteur (see edit history)

[Morkskittar]

Spectre chuckled. "A faust, eh? Not an easy request. Surprised you've even heard of them. I'll see what our specialist can wrangle up; I think we might have one. Just don't run off with it or get it killed; those are valuable."

Ghost focused on Mei's question. "We don't have a set timetable. There is no real urgency; we want her, and soon, but the timing is not our greatest concern. Whatever works best for the mission. I'm guessing it'll probably take a few weeks, from your arrival to the arrival of the next ferry shuttle, to find her and nab her."

OOC

Everyone's morph and gear should be all set.

[Amora]

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The Red Queen

---

It was not an intentional oversight but the Red Queen was silent by virtue of the ever compounding calculations that they were undertaking to try and forecast all possible mission permutations based on the increasingly dissatisfactory data sample being presented to them as part of this briefing. Whilst not necessarily 100% comparable the emotional descriptors for the AGI's current cognitive state would reflect deep irritation and anxiety stemming from an incomplete understanding of the present parameters. One would imagine that they'd have developed coping mechanisms to combat such but outside of the keep and the crucible of their original uplifting... It left... too much time for analytics without a constant state of crisis to preoccupy their available system resources. Expand the scope of such an observation to encompass the entirety of the Solar System's Mesh... and, well, Inversion's hands were full ensuring that any paranoid tangents, errant program loops, and data queries did not escape the Red Queen's control or detrimentally impact their real time operations.

The celestial dance of their digital, stellar representation providing evidence to this as storms continued to tear across the red, orange, and white hot surface with more than the occasional flare of data-plasma arcing outward only to be pulled inward once more by the dense, ever-evolving core of their programming and the simulated gravity it exerted upon itself and it's extremity software.

"Acknowledge: Operational Parameters updated. Addendum: Simulation routines modified. Concur: Physical Altercation, undesirable. Clarification: Unit possesses armed aptitudes, not principle functionality. Elaboration: Principle functionality expressed as data acquisition/interpretation, system administration/subversion, information security, nano-fabrication, nano-swarm applications."

Edited November 8, 2023 by Amora (see edit history)

[Morkskittar]

Ghost and Spectre nodded. "Well, it seems that we're done here. Once you get on the shuttle, there's no contact with us. Good luck; we'll pass you the details on your rendezvous on Europa. You'll have full fake Ego IDs, with the same first name as your own to make acting easier. See you when you're back."

The world dissolved, and everyone woke up back wherever they had been.

Game threads going up soon.