TUELLER: “What kind of scientific rigor do we need to establish that we have two genetic identical Alejos at hand?”
TUELLER: “That’s a long way of saying, do we need to take the head? Or merely borrow it?”
MILLICENT: “Well, the full-on head would be ideal. Rather dramatic, though. If all we were looking for was proof for ourselves that he’s been returned we could just get a sample of the DNA, but if we need to prove this to the system or the galaxy then we’ll need the full thing to prove where the samples came from.”
MILLICENT: “I suppose we could return it when we’re done? But I think we’ll all have more pressing concerns at that point.”
ALEJO: Alejo looks over at the box with his torso in it. “I’m no scientist, of course, but . . . don’t we have DNA now? Why do we really need the head, other than to make sure they’re not doing something gross or whatever with it?”
MILLICENT: “Attention galactic governments, in this beaker I have DNA from the man standing behind me and in this beaker I have DNA from the same man’s head which I pinkie promise was removed from his body no you can’t see it stop asking.”
STORY: We return to our heroes on their way to Titan.
STORY: You’ve got a lead on which base might be Exodus’s R&D branch for the Roti division, and are a few hours away.
STORY: Anything you want to do before you arrive?
TUELLER: Alejo used to work for Exodus’s earlier incarnation, correct?
ALEJO: Yes.
MILLICENT: Millie is researching the kinds of nefarious things people get up to with heads
TUELLER: That’s very Millie.
MILLICENT: It is!
MILLICENT: She had to create Extra Incognito Mode
TUELLER: “I know this is a general question, but anything we should know about these people, Ejo?”
ALEJO: “A lot of poor folks without other prospects who fancy themselves freedom fighters. The bosses are . . . well bosses. But the low-level people are mostly misguided. I’d really prefer not to kill anyone. I mean generally. But I’d really prefer not to kill Exodus toughs.”
ALEJO: “But, it’s been a long time since I was . . . I imagine a lot has changed.”
MILLICENT: “Is there anything they might want in exchange for your head?”
ALEJO: He shrugs. “I can’t imagine what they wanted with . . . my head in the first place. So, nothing’s coming to mind.”
ALEJO: “Any leads on what, you know, my head’s good for? Besides being pretty?” He smiles weakly.
TUELLER: “Either they wanted proof of your death, or your brain for something.”
MILLICENT: “Your head’s full of some pretty rare gear.”
TUELLER: “No more convenient trophy of death than a head.”
TUELLER: “I mean, that’s why we want it.”
ALEJO: He nods vaguely to them both.
MILLICENT: “They don’t put those sorts of implants in just anybody. If they can harvest the tech they might be able to use it again. Or even harvest data about its use.”
TUELLER: “Where’d the tech come from in the first place?
ALEJO: Alejo shakes his head. “I don’t know. I didn’t even know it . . . ” He trails off. He stands. “I need to talk to Cali.”
TUELLER: “Good luck.”
STORY: She comes in over the intercom. “What can I help you with?”
ALEJO: “You . . . your body had the same implants, Cali. I never knew about them. Not until Millie accidentally turned them on. You . . . I don’t remember you knowing about them. But when you showed up on the Jump Relay, you had them. What do you know about our implants?”
ALEJO: “How, and, for that matter, when did you get them turned on?”
STORY: “Mine were always on.”
STORY: “Were yours damaged?”
ALEJO: He squints and looks at Millie, raising his hands questioningly. “I don’t know.”
MILLICENT: “They weren’t switched off, they were unplugged. One of the dozens of times you’ve been hit in the head must have knocked something loose. All I did was restore the connection.”
ALEJO: “So, maybe this was done when we were kids?”
TUELLER: “Chandra had control over them. I don’t know how he got the signal, but he turned them off, right before I killed him.”
TUELLER: “Sorry, I probably should have chatted with him a little longer on that front before…” Tueller shrugs.
TUELLER: “I had to reboot you with a taser. It went about as well as you could imagine.”
TUELLER: Tueller makes a shooting gesture at the back of his neck.
TUELLER: “Pew.”
MILLICENT: “Let those among us who haven’t performed emergency surgery with whatever was lying at hand throw the first stone.”
STORY: “Yes, I assume so. I do not note a time when my reflexes improved, so it must be before I retained any memories.”
ALEJO: “If that’s right, then Exodus, or well, the precursor to Exodus, might very well have put this stuff in us.”
ALEJO: “Maybe they wanted it back?”
TUELLER: “So, Doc, what do we need for this proof?”
TUELLER: “What kind of scientific rigor do we need to establish that we have two genetic identical Alejos at hand?”
TUELLER: “That’s a long way of saying, do we need to take the head? Or merely borrow it?”
MILLICENT: “Well, the full-on head would be ideal. Rather dramatic, though. If all we were looking for was proof for ourselves that he’s been returned we could just get a sample of the DNA, but if we need to prove this to the system or the galaxy then we’ll need the full thing to prove where the samples came from.”
MILLICENT: “I suppose we could return it when we’re done? But I think we’ll all have more pressing concerns at that point.”
ALEJO: Alejo looks over at the box with his torso in it. “I’m no scientist, of course, but . . . don’t we have DNA now? Why do we really need the head, other than to make sure they’re not doing something gross or whatever with it?”
MILLICENT: “Attention galactic governments, in this beaker I have DNA from the man standing behind me and in this beaker I have DNA from the same man’s head which I pinkie promise was removed from his body no you can’t see it stop asking.”
MILLICENT: “It’s a matter of presentation.”
MILLICENT: “No one’s going to believe your corpse is yours unless we have the whole thing.”
ALEJO: Alejo shrugs again. “Okay. You’re the expert here.”
TUELLER: “I agree. It’s a presentation thing. We need you up there like Hamlet.”
TUELLER: Tueller mimes holding a skull.
ALEJO: “Dear Yorick.”
TUELLER: “Alas.”
MILLICENT: Millie cups his head in her hand
MILLICENT: On tiptoes
TUELLER: “Okay, so, this is going to be tricky, presuming we want to get a valuable piece of military equipment from a secretive religious organization and we don’t really have anything to trade, right?”
TUELLER: “Other than knowledge of the secret underpinnings of the universe, which sharing with people conscripts them in an unwinnable war.”
ALEJO: Alejo paces. “Yeah, it’s more than tricky. I . . . was a double agent who abandoned them. They are not going to be happy to see me.”
MILLICENT: “Well, one of us is the leader of the Jovian state. Basically.”
MILLICENT: “You don’t think they’ll want to deal?”
TUELLER: “Oh right. I forget sometimes I’m a monarch.”
ALEJO: “Yeaaah. No. I really don’t. I think they’ll want to take my head.” He pauses. Frowns slightly. “Again. And then kill you both.”
MILLICENT: “What, uh.”
MILLICENT: “I’ve let this be for a while, dear, but. What do they want?”
MILLICENT: “What’s their end game?”
ALEJO: He keeps pacing. “I mean, it’s not like they were a cohesive organization, at least when I was with them. They were more like . . . a loose affiliation of really pissed off, disenfranchised people who wanted to skewer people like,” he stops and looks at Tueller, “the Ya’Makasi’s.” He then turns and looks at Millie, “And probably you. They want radical wealth redistribution. They want . . . . some of them want revenge. Some want truth and reconciliation.” He shrugs.
ALEJO: “They want recompense for generations of poverty and mistreatment at the hands of the wealthy of the system. They are not a warm and fuzzy lot.”
STORY: “And they are the kind of people who put machinery into children for their aims.”
ALEJO: Alejo nods and points at a the ceiling.
TUELLER: “Maybe we should have sent Ryo instead.”
STORY: “They would likely kill Ryo as well. I believe you should sneak in.”
MILLICENT: Millie brightens. “Oh, a heist!”
MILLICENT: “Honey, we could do a heist!”
TUELLER: “It’s been awhile!”
ALEJO: Alejo smiles weakly. “Yay.” And he keeps pacing.
ALEJO: “Not much scares me. These people do.”
MILLICENT: “They’re zealots, right?”
ALEJO: “They . . . the vast majority of them are people who’ve suffered a lot. They’re not entirely wrong.”
ALEJO: “But the leaders have coopted that rage in ways that are zealot-like.”
MILLICENT: “It sounds kind of like you want to save them.”
ALEJO: “I was one of them?”
ALEJO: “So, yeah . . . maybe. Sort of. But not now. We’ve got too many irons in the fire.”
MILLICENT: “I was going to say.”
TUELLER: “Put it on your To Do list, keep working down the list.”
MILLICENT: Millie makes a note on her pad.
MILLICENT: “It’s on the list!”
ALEJO: He nods and smiles at her. “But we’ve gotta stay alive first. And that’s not gonna be easy here. These folks will kill us. Really fast and hard if they see us coming.”
MILLICENT: “Okay, so how do we get in?”
TUELLER: “So, anyone have a favorite heist plan they’ve been wanting to try out? Fire off the escape pod, put a log entry of a reactor problem, hid in the secret compartment, have autopilot bring us in for docking, and sneak out when it’s clear? It’s an oldie but goodie.”
TUELLER: “We did HALO style insertion for Io, so if we’re keeping things interesting we can switch it up.”
STORY: “I’ve always wanted to do secret identities.”
MILLICENT: “I always liked visiting inspectors.”
MILLICENT: “Clipboards, white coats, stern voices.”
TUELLER: “Ejo, what’s on your wishlist?”
ALEJO: “Inventing a teleporting device?” He frowns. “I think secret identities could work. The fusion generators in the main complex are old as shit. Nearly original gear from the first terraformers. If we could hack into the main line and cause an error, we could be the repair crew. I know a guy who can vouch for us and get us in the door, I think.”
MILLICENT: “If I hack the main line I could get us specs for the generators, we could get the right tools, and outfits. Oh! Jumpsuits! With our names on the breast!”
TUELLER: “I call ‘Walt.’”
MILLICENT: “Daisy!”
ALEJO: “But seriously, if they catch onto us, we’re in trouble.” He starts pacing again. He finally stops, after a solid minute. “I’ve got to get reaallly disguised up.”
STORY: “I may be able to keep their automated checks busy. However, it will occupy me during the heist.”
ALEJO: “Thanks, Cali.”
TUELLER: “Thanks”
ALEJO: “No body dies. That’s the plan. But . . . if things get ugly, let me . . . do what needs to be done.”
TUELLER: “We’ll keep on doing what we’re doing, Ejo.”
MILLICENT: Millie nods.
MILLICENT: “We’ve got this.”
ALEJO: “I know. We always manage to get it done. Somehow.”
MILLICENT: “So, we’ve got an in. How do we distract them so we can get to their labs?”
MILLICENT: “Presumably the reactors aren’t next door to the science wing.”
ALEJO: Alejo sighs and starts to pace again. “Well . . . I was thinking that we could start a catastrophic reactor failure. That would set off emergency evac alarms, cause a lot of chaos, and give us the opportunity to get where we need to get.”
ALEJO: “But, I’d really like to not actually kill anyone soooo. . . Can we do that without actually blowing the place to shit?”
MILLICENT: “Depends on the model, but if it’s new enough to be connected to the network but old enough not to have valve protection software we should be able to spoof the physical manifestations of a meltdown while the reactor is still running clean. Lots of steam and clanging rattles, but just cosmetic damage.”
ALEJO: He stops and turns to look at her. “You are absolutely remarkable, you know that?”
ALEJO: He looks away before it gets too awkward for anyone.
MILLICENT: “I bet you say that to all the fusion reactor technicians.”
ALEJO: “Just the really cute ones.”
MILLICENT: Millie smiles big. “Just wait until you see me in my jumpsuit!”
TUELLER: “You need me to leave the room, guys?”
ALEJO: “Alright, anybody wanna talk sense into us before we do this crazy plan?”
TUELLER: Just as a side note, Tueller and Noma have not spoken since they spoke early on in the trip. That’s probably been obvious to everyone.
MILLICENT: Millie shrugs, “I like it.”
TUELLER: Other than essential communication.
ALEJO: “I’ll reach out to my contact. But we should be on high alert. Remember, these people have a long history of training master spies. And there are folks sympathetic to Exodus all over Titan. So, every step, we have to watch our backs.”
MILLICENT: Can Millie and Tueller have a scene about that after this?
ALEJO: “God, I’m not looking forward to being home.”
ALEJO: Alejo will leave, actually, at this point, to go make arrangements with his contact and get a serious disguise in place.
ALEJO: So they can have the room.
MILLICENT: Millie puts a hand on his shoulder. “Sorry, dear.’
ALEJO: He briefly puts his hand on hers, smiles, and then leaves.
MILLICENT: Millie waits until Alejo leaves. “Noma, dear, would you give Tueller and myself a little privacy, please?”
TUELLER: Tueller flicks his gaze up at the speaker unintentionally, and then back down quickly.
STORY: “Yes, Millie.”
TUELLER: “What’s up, Doc?”
MILLICENT: Millie gives him a look.
TUELLER: Tueller returns the look.
MILLICENT: Bluntly, “Tueller, you’ve not said a word to Noma for days. And you’re getting that sunken in look you get when you’re working through something that’s a toughie, even for your stretched out brain.”
MILLICENT: “Would you like to talk about it?”
TUELLER: “I’m not sure there’s anything to do about it.”
MILLICENT: In a rote way, quoting their therapist, “That doesn’t mean you don’t need to work through your feelings about it.”
TUELLER: “Is Noma different with you, or is it just with me?”
MILLICENT: “She’s different, sure.”
MILLICENT: “She’s been through so much, so many versions of herself since I met you lot.”
TUELLER: “She’s so cold to me.”
MILLICENT: Millie nods.
MILLICENT: “I think it must be comforting to try and turn off at least some of your emotions, don’t you?”
MILLICENT: “Especially if you’re expecting to lose people you care about at the hands of your own people?”
TUELLER: Tueller is silent, considering.
TUELLER: “Well, shit.”
MILLICENT: “It’ so difficult, loving an AI.”
TUELLER: “Something they skip over in the holovids, I guess.”
MILLICENT: “People change slowly, if they change at all. AIs change instantly.”
MILLICENT: “It’s a difficult relationship, knowing that your partner might not be the same person tomorrow.”
TUELLER: “I thought…well, back on the relay it seemed pretty clear we were more than friends. And now I just miss my friend.”
MILLICENT: Millie smiles sadly at Tueller. “I know. I miss her too.”
MILLICENT: “I hope this is working for her.”
TUELLER: “I… hope it isn’t.”
MILLICENT: Millie nods.
MILLICENT: She reaches out to put her hand on Tueller’s.
TUELLER: “I guess I’ve had my share of relationships where someone gets treated like shit to make the break easier. Just didn’t expect it to come from someone I actually care about.”
MILLICENT: “I think she’s scared. And that’s got to be new for an AI.”
MILLICENT: “I know she wouldn’t want to hurt you, Tueller. But I think in protecting herself she’s tried to make herself oblivious to your hurt. It’s selfish, but. Can you imagine fear being a new concept?”
TUELLER: “Actually I can.”
MILLICENT: Millie looks quizzical.
TUELLER: “You think I’m afraid much?”
TUELLER: “This does make me think… make me afraid we might not be doing the right thing here, Doc.”
MILLICENT: Carefully, “I think you experience violence differently than I do.”
MILLICENT: “And that leads to differences in our experience of fear.”
MILLICENT: “But tell me about that fear.”
MILLICENT: “God, is there a way of doing therapy that doesn’t result in you sounding like your therapist?”
TUELLER: “No, that’s why it works.”
MILLICENT: “euuugh” Millie groans
TUELLER: “Noma says she considered killing us to stop us.”
TUELLER: “We’ve encountered a lot of utterly brilliant people along the way here, and they’ve all said we shouldn’t do what we’re working at.”
TUELLER: “You and Ejo convinced me back on the relay, but I’ve never been as on board as either of you, and it’s hard to have that conviction stick, in the face of…well, I guess I just don’t have sticky convictions in general.”
MILLICENT: Millie nods.
TUELLER: “All I wanted was to be happy. And to run a multiplanet crime empire.”
MILLICENT: Weakly, “Halfsies?”
MILLICENT: “I understand your reservations. I really do. I ah, I don’t sleep well.”
MILLICENT: “Before I contacted the Collective I slept like a baby. Mostly in the stacks of computers on top of a pile of wires, but very soundly, all things considered.”
MILLICENT: “Now, I don’t sleep so well.”
MILLICENT: “I have dreams of dragonships landing on the lawn of Erde-Maris University. Smashing the Admissions building.”
MILLICENT: “I watch diverse aliens and humans in loin-clothes and armor smash up my parent’s lake house during one of their summer parties.”
MILLICENT: She falls silent for a moment.
MILLICENT: Millie looks up at Tueller and smiles through tears.
TUELLER: “But I also remember Tux. And Elowyn.”
MILLICENT: She nods, unable to speak.
TUELLER: “And all the Nahar.”
MILLICENT: Finally, gasping it out. “It’s slavery.”
MILLICENT: Millie smiles at Tueller through sobs, nodding.
TUELLER: Tueller looks up at Noma’s speaker, and then back at Millie and nods.
TUELLER: “Still, I’m not good at losing something…that was so important to me.”
MILLICENT: Millie composes herself finally.
MILLICENT: She nods. “Sorry, I was here to listen to you.”
TUELLER: “Doesn’t mean you don’t need to work through your feelings about it.”
MILLICENT: She nods.
MILLICENT: “I take it you tried talking to her and it went badly?”
TUELLER: “It did.”
TUELLER: “It ended with her telling me I should treat her just as a ship’s computer.”
MILLICENT: “I feel like Noma could use a session or two with Dr. Bolano.”
TUELLER: “Well there’s an idea.”
MILLICENT: She shrugs.
MILLICENT: “Couldn’t hurt.”
TUELLER: “I’m not sure which one of them that would be harder on.”
MILLICENT: “Dr. Bolano, no question.”
TUELLER: “Oh, I don’t know, she’s got some tricks that would surprise you.”
MILLICENT: “Oooh. Kind of scared now.”
TUELLER: “She was a prison psychiatrist with an astonishingly good success rate on hardass motherfuckers.”
MILLICENT: “Fair! Let’s set them up.”
TUELLER: “Yes, lets. But first let’s go steal your boyfriend’s old head.”
STORY: All right!
STORY: Alejo! Tell me about your contact.
ALEJO: They are gender non-binary, named Jarrad Magana. They are from an old-line family on Titan, with a chain of small businesses. But they stay close to the actual work, even though they are reasonably wealthy. They had a small bodega near where Alejo used to hang out as a kid, which is how Alejo got to know them. They also own a series of service shops that specialize in fusion reactor repairs, among other things.
STORY: You’re on Titan, standing in front of them. They’re skeptical about this plan. “I don’t know about this, friend. Exodus runs things around here now. They catch me, I’m not just dead, my business is gone, my family is thrown out of the system. What is it you are going in there for, anyway?”
ALEJO: Alejo swallows hard. “My head.” He pauses. “Jarrad, you have to trust me, if we don’t get this, the entire system, including your family, Exodus, Titan, everything, is screwed. Who knew my head would be so important, huh?”
STORY: “Your… head?”
ALEJO: “Yeah. I’m a copy. . . clone. It’s a very long story, but anyone who travels through a jump relay has been cloned. We’re about to prove that to the galaxy.” He smiles. “It sounds batshit crazy, I know. But I wouldn’t be here if I absolutely didn’t have to be, old friend.”
TUELLER: Tueller looks with alarm at Alejo, where Jarrad can’t see.
STORY: Let’s have FA + Influence!
ALEJO: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: ablair01 rolled 10 + 2 = 12
ALEJO: “They’re putting everything on the line for us, T. They deserve the truth.” Alejo looks at Jarrad. “Goes without saying that this is the biggest secret in the galaxy too. So, for now, you want to keep a lid on it. Until we can break it right.”
STORY: Jarrad shakes their head. “You and your stories, kid.” They smile and wave their hand. “Don’t get caught, you hear me?”
STORY: “You want IDs? Tools? What else?”
ALEJO: “Never have. Never will.” He beams. “Yes and,” he looks at Millie, “what else do you need?”
MILLICENT: “Jumpsuits!”
ALEJO: “Oh, and we need access to the main line for the Exodus HQ reactors. Can you help us with that?”
TUELLER: “And a map.”
TUELLER: “Of the facility.”
STORY: A big sigh. “For you, yes. No one else.” They wave you into the back.
STORY: An hour later, you’re all kitted out.
STORY: Millie, what does your jumpsuit say?
MILLICENT: Gerry’s Fusion Reactor Repair
MILLICENT: “We Fix ’Em So You Don’t Blow It”
MILLICENT: On the back, on the front it’s the Gerry’s logo in an oval over the name Daisy
TUELLER: “I’m not sure I like an outfit I have to completely take off to pee.”
TUELLER: “We better get this over quick.”
ALEJO: “I think therapy after the mission.” He kisses Millie quickly but sweetly. “But I do appreciate you looking out for me.”
MILLICENT: Millie nods. “It’s very healing. Taking the time itself is an act of self-care GODDAMMIT DR BOLANO WHY CAN’T I SPEAK LIKE ME ABOUT EMOTIONS?”
ALEJO: “Maybe I’ll have to have my own chat with Dr. Bolano someday. But today, I’ve lost my head. Let’s go find it.”
TUELLER: “Yes, make an appointment to talk to the headshrinker.”