TOPHAT: Mostly Work with Some Play

[TheFred]

---

Aeos, Psychosurgeon
DUR: 0/30, LUC: 0/30, Wounds: 0, Traumas: 0
Pools: Insight 4/4, Moxie 6/6, Vigour 1/1, Flex 2/2

---

"Sure," Aeos say. How have Six and T.Z. picked a fight already? And Maria is also some kind of criminal or spy?

TacNet

Aeos: Why are you killing her?

Aeos: Never mind. We're on our way.

"Sounds great. We should go and get ready." They look at Surya... probably best if she doesn't find out about Maria. "Are you coming, or do you want to stay and... chat... for a bit? We can always meet you later, when we're going to the party."

Left alone with Danika, who knows what will happen? Perhaps they'll wind up doing more than chatting... which would be ideal, even if Surya is probably being taken advantage of, what with the pheromones and all.

[Dr Jackal]

T.Z.
Properly Paranoid Infolife Survivalist
Savant Morph

 

T.Z. lines up its shot. "An interesting offer, but a bit on the low side. I decline," it says. "Also I'm not ... how should I put this? I'm not much of a team player."

It unloads another burst.

"Incoming fire!"

OOC: Burst fire for +damage. EDIT: If Maria is still up, T.Z. will burn a Flex point to reload.

Edited February 4 by Dr Jackal (see edit history)

[Serge Skunk]

Null

---

For most of the conversation, Null had opted to remain silent as they considered everything they had learned while following them. When their Nanodetector had pinged them, they had gotten further lost in the new information, looking over it for awhile as Aeos and the others talked amongst themselves over plans for a possible party? Their thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the TacNet notification of their fellow crewmember's sudden death, which honestly surprised Null that they had fallen into danger that fast already. They were about to ask questions when Aeos replied to the group once and Null almost immediately picked up on the possibility that if Surya didn't know then it might be bad for her to uncover what had currently been going on.

 

"I was actually looking forward to touring more around the facility. And, I don't know if I'm invited to the...party. If you are still up for it Surya, would you be inclined to show me around more?"

TacNet

Null (Message to Aeos): If we need to keep them distracted, I could use this opportunity to learn and record more information.

Null (Both Team Chat): If we do go deeper into the facility, we should be careful, they've got Nanobots Spying in the deeper areas and relaying information.

[Morkskittar]

  T.Z.

Even with the shouted warning, Maria still failed to move in time, T.Z.'s second shot hitting her directly in the head. Thankfully, he missed where her cortical stack likely was stashed, but transhumanity had a hard time shedding old habits; even in a synthmorph, most processing circuits were located still in the head.

Maria's menton remained standing for a good two or three seconds after T.Z.'s shot severed its internal wiring, and then the morph crumpled. With less caution than they probably should have taken, T.Z. strode over to the fallen Maria and quickly surveyed her. The morph was still alive, it seemed, but badly damaged, likely incapable of speech, and certainly paralyzed. She might still of have mesh capabilities, but T.Z. was doubtful of that. She was certainly not a threat anymore.

The activated sprinklers and damaged terminal were larger threats at this point, as well as whatever software she had wormed into the suite's security systems. T.Z. wondered how long it would be before someone came to inspect the broken terminal and see what had set off the sprinkler system.

---

Null//Aeos

Surya was only half-listening to Aeos, her attention on Danika. "Hmm? Yeah, you go back, I'll stay here."

Danika looked surprised that Null showed any interest in the party at all. "Um, we don't discriminate, like you said. We do have some... e-drugs from synths like yourself. Not as good as being in a biomorph, but pretty close." Surya glanced over at Null, uncharacteristically frowning. Aeos wondered if Danika's pheromones were making her see Null as a threat for Danika's attentions, and had to stifle a short laugh.

Surya glanced aside at Danika. "Well, I don't know much about the place... Danika, where else is worth seeing?"

Aeos dithered a moment longer to see if Null would follow, then took off to head off whatever problem T.Z. was having, letting Null decide what to do on their own. They may be on the same team, but they barely knew each other.

---

Null

Aeos vanished back the way they'd come, and Null decided to take one for the team. After all, they barely knew each other, but would have to learn to work together. They decided to stay behind to make sure Surya was distracted while T.Z. and Aeos cleaned up.

Danika grinned, then looked thoughtful. "Where else is worth seeing? Well, you've already seen the cafeterias..." A slySavvy Check vs. 33: 31. look entered her eyes. "Wanna see where the VIPs live?"

Surya looked doubtful. "Is it that exciting?"

"Well, it seems that way, and we can't get in directly, but..." Danika grinned widely. "I have another way in. And they have some cool stuff in there."

Danika turned to Null. "What do you say? Wanna go see the luxury rezzes?"

Null had very little experience with people, especially organic ones, but their danger sense tingled. This Danika had an ulterior motive of some kind here, and it was not a pleasant one.

They just had absolutely no idea what it was.

---

T.Z.//Aeos

Aeos drew more than a few eyes as they rushed through the habitat, only getting turned around once. She passed by a much more languid pair of maintenance employees, one inhabiting a simple pod and the other an octopoidal pivo, muttering something about "another short circuit" in... their suite. She picked up her pace to make sure she got their first.

Thankfully, she did, with at least a few minutes to spare, and slipped into the door, making sure it hissed shut behind her. T.Z. spared her barely a glance as she took in the carnage.

The common room's terminal was smoking and sparkling, the sprinklers were covering the entire room in a light mist, and both Six and Maria lay (presumably) dead on the floor near the door. Their couch was also full of bullet holes and singed cloth.

And maintenance was on its way.

OOC

Two bodies and a damaged couch to find something to do with. :)

[Dr Jackal]

T.Z.
Properly Paranoid Infolife Survivalist
Savant Morph

 

"Very good. You're here," T.Z. says, barely looking up at Aeos. "Now, if you'll be so good as find some ethanol and light the couch on fire, I'll take care of the bodies."

He sets about dismantling the fallen morphs.

OOC: T.Z. was a scavenger. I submit that this often meant having to quickly and messily disassemble things, in order to get the good stuff before competitors got there. I'd like to burn an Insight for +20. T.Z. is going to fillet the two bodies so the pieces can be hidden inconspicuously around the suite.

[TheFred]

---

Aeos, Psychosurgeon
DUR: 0/30, LUC: 0/30, Wounds: 0, Traumas: 0
Pools: Insight 4/4, Moxie 6/6, Vigour 1/1, Flex 2/2

---

 

"What have you done?" Aeos hiss. They move to help T.Z. pop both Maria and Six's stacks. "We're supposed to be undercover!" They

They glance at the smoking terminal... that'll surely have flagged up somewhere. How are they going to explain that?

TacNet

Aeos: Please do; the suite is a mess and the last thing we need is Surya coming back and seeing it.

"Can you at least shut those sprinklers off?"

[Dr Jackal]

T.Z.
Properly Paranoid Infolife Survivalist
Savant Morph

 

"Undercover ... yes. Quite so," T.Z. agrees, jamming a bouquet of flowers into what had been previously been Maria's right calf. "Our 'roommate' had her own agenda. I proposed non-interference with each other's affairs. Unfortunately, she felt that she needed to establish dominance. A decidedly problematic state of affairs."

T.Z. sets the "vase" onto a countertop, looks at it for a moment, then slides it 3cm to the left with the grace of a practiced interior designer. "In the end, dominance was established," it says, with an uncharacteristically simple inflection. "The problem with playing at being a villain is that occasionally one encounters a real one."

OOC: Shutting down sprinklers. T.Z. would leave them on and try to explain it that way, but if Aeos has a plan ... then sure, let's do what the organic brain wants to do. Not going to burn any points prior to roll, though.

[Morkskittar]

  T.Z.//Aeos

Aeos barely had time to pop Maria and Six's cortical stacks, hiding them on her person, before T.Z. set to work with ruthless efficiency. Aeos watched in a kind of sick fascination as T.Z. completely disassembled Maria's synthmorph using only twisted bits of the morph itself, transforming it from a fully functional body that had once housed a living thing into several neat piles, which T.Z. then easily squirreled away.

Disposing of a biomorph was less simple. They had no convenient cutting implements, and using one would create a very bloody mess than would be difficult to clean up. Still, no one would be looking for Six yet; they had plenty of time to stow the body away and dispose of it later. There was surely an organic recycler somewhere. T.Z. hefted up his former companion's body and went into his room, throwing him onto the bunk. After a moment of consideration, T.Z. covered Six with their blanket to make it look as if they were sleeping, a tactic that may have been more effective had Six's head been resting on the pillow instead of his feet. T.Z., not caring what exactly organics used pillows for, keyed Six's door shut. That should easily allay any suspicion for now, safe for the couch, which T.Z. noticed Aeos still had not incineratedThough I am not sure you have readily accessible materials for that. :P despite receiving clear instructions to do so.

At Aeos' concern, T.Z. made a token gesture to disable the sprinklers, which had a surprisingly robust firewall, perhaps in case of fire. And did not immediately yield to him. T.Z. didn't think it was worth the effort to try again, no matter how wet Aeos was getting.

OOC

In this case, disabling the sprinklers would be an InfoSec check (which is 65 in T.Z.'s case, so just missed it) rather than a Know: SysAdmin. If T.Z. wants, they can swap the digits by spending Insight or Flex to successfully shut them off (making the roll into a 7).

Any attempt to stop the smoking terminal would require a Hardware test; I'll accept Robotics. There is also a slug embedded in said terminal that might be found, depending on the approaching techs' competence.

Said techs will be arriving soon. :P

[Dr Jackal]

T.Z.
Properly Paranoid Infolife Survivalist
Savant Morph

 

With a buzz of irritation, T.Z. forces the fire alarms off with a one-time override code, then sets to fixing the monitor.

OOC: Burn Insight for the Infosec roll. Rolling Robotics for the shutdown. I will Insight to flip number if it helps. EDIT: I will flip that number if the extra success gets the bullet out.

Edited February 14 by Dr Jackal (see edit history)

[Morkskittar]

Still, T.Z. was unwilling to be bested by a mere sprinkler system. The sprinklers shut off at his command, and he then turned his attention to the terminal. He reached inside delicately and extracted the slug before performing some hasty makeshift repairs. T.Z. secretes the slug into their hidden compartment and then works in quickly rewiring and forcing the components of the terminal back into place.

The device still doesn't work properly, but it no longer looks to have been shot; it looks more like a small electrical fire erupted inside it.

Only half a minute after T.Z. finishes their cleaning and repairing, there is a knock on the door. "Maintenance here. You've got a busted terminal in there and a small fire. Get decent, we're coming in," said a tinny voice, likely from a pod.

Then there was a pause as Aeos and T.Z. scrambled to look inconspicuous.

"Why is there an unauthorized digital lock on this thing? Open this door at once!"

As far as Aeos and T.Z. knew, they had not put a lock there that could keep staff out; that must have been something Maria had installed somehow, and Aeos had inadvertently activated when she came back into the room. Or perhaps it had triggered upon her death. My, she had been busy.

OOC

Insight burned for sprinklers and to swapped those digits to remove the evidence.

 

Edited February 14 by Morkskittar (see edit history)

[Dr Jackal]

T.Z.
Properly Paranoid Infolife Survivalist
Savant Morph

 

T.Z. gestures toward Aeos then at the door, as if to say, Well? What are you waiting for? Start explaining already.

[TheFred]

---

Aeos, Psychosurgeon
DUR: 0/30, LUC: 0/30, Wounds: 0, Traumas: 0
Pools: Insight 4/4, Moxie 6/6, Vigour 1/1, Flex 2/2

---

 

Aeos move swiftly to open the door.

"Oh, that was quick!" They say, smiling warmly at the technicians. "We just got back to find our terminal malfunctioning. Can you take a look at it?"

[Morkskittar]

The door opened on a pair of custodians; the same ones Aeos had passed en route to their suite. In front was a simple case, their mechanical hand reforming into a utilitool, and behind it an octopoidal pivo balanced delicately on two of its arms carrying an old-fashioned toolbox.

T.Z., from his place in the middle of the room, immediately recognized the case: it was Archibald Wagner, or "Prince_of_Shadows111401;" the custodian who had been in the room where he and Six had picked up their loot, and who had invited T.Z. to his CYBERNECROTIC server. The invite still blinked in a corner of T.Z.'s vision.

Archibald seemed to take the lead and responded to Aeos' misdirectionPersuade Roll: 49. You're good. :). "Yeah sure, we can take a look. Should have reported it in sooner." The case knelt by the terminal and began work, his tool//hand reaching into it and poking around. The pivo hovered by anxiously. The two worked in silence, likely exchanging private message chatter, and stood up after less than two minutes.

"You've got some nasty burnt wiring in there; its shorted out and melted and broken. That was some malfunction." It was only then that the pod noticed T.Z. standing back in the room. Their eyes locked for a moment, and then the case turned away. T.Z.'s server invite refreshed itself a moment later. Persistent. Or addicted.

"We have it in rough working order, but we'll be by while you're all on shift tomorrow to make a more permanent fix." The case then gestured to the door and instructed the pivo to reset the digital lock, which took all of ten seconds from this side of the door.

"Anything else we need to know?"

OOC

If either of you have anything to say or ask or do to the custodians before they leave, now is the time! Otherwise, we move forward.

Alas, Null has to bow out, so it is just T.Z. and Aeos for TOPHAT... for now. Null will shortly meet their fate, but are currently out with Surya and Danika. :)

Other than custodian chatting, is there anything else Aeos or T.Z. wanted to do before moving forward to working tomorrow? Aeos can attend the party if they want, and T.Z. has that invite, or both are welcome to ignore their invitations and just move into tomorrow. Or if there was anything else you both wanted to set up or do before work, now is the time.

 

Edited February 19 by Morkskittar (see edit history)

[TheFred]

---

Aeos, Psychosurgeon
DUR: 0/30, LUC: 0/30, Wounds: 0, Traumas: 0
Pools: Insight 4/4, Moxie 6/6, Vigour 1/1, Flex 2/2

---

 

 

"We just got back," Aeos explain with a shrug. It's true, too - like all the best lies. "We're new here - some of the other staff were showing us around."

They eye the duo as they inspect the lock, then glance back at the terminal.

"It's not, uh, dangerous, is it?" They ask, concern showing on their face. "Do malfunctions like that happen often? You have fixed it properly this time, I hope?"

[Dr Jackal]

T.Z.
Properly Paranoid Infolife Survivalist
Savant Morph

 

T.Z. pulls Archibald aside. "I may have been ... 'experimenting' with a predictive algorithm for the third stage of Chi Omega. You are using pr3tty_p0ny's ALI mod, I presume?" T.Z. says in a low voice, referring to a notoriously difficult boss with infuriating RNG-based mechanics.

"Unfortunately the terminal hardware was not up to the task. You wouldn't happen to know if anything with a bit more processor power might be, say, in the station's lost and found?"

Edited February 21 by Dr Jackal (see edit history)