MILLICENT: “So, on the one hand the grell have the capacity to turn a large part of the galaxy into the third act of a horror movie. On the other hand the nahar have imprisoned an entire sentient race, used them to develop their technology, and literally eat them.”
STORY: Zura and Vorlou look at each other, the first time this has happened since you entered the room. They both nod. Vorlou: “More or less, yes.”
MILLICENT: Millie looks to Tueller. “I just want to be clear that solving a moral dilemma of two entire races isn’t what I had in mind when I proposed this job.”
MILLICENT: “This is outside of the scope of our original task and I intend to invoice accordingly.”
STORY: You’re back on board the Rookery, awake, having defeated the six lusus and rescued dozens of grell. Your memories of your time onboard and your frightening, dangerous journey to that final conflict come rushing back to you. Each of you, as well as each of the crew, nearly died during the hours you’ve been onboard. Tell me about one of them.
ALEJO: Alejo turned the corner, Jac covering him. He was expecting to sneak up behind the lusus, catching it off-guard as Tueller made a frontal assault on it. Unfortuantely, it had anticipated the manueaver somehow. It had gotten around behind Jac. It was shear luck that saved her. She missteped in the water, and went down just as it took a swipe at her that almost certainly would have decapitated her. Alejo caught sight of Jac falling before he even noticed the beast behind her. The sound of its tentacle bashing into the wall still rings in his memory. It was a split second from ending the life of one of his dearest friends. One of the few people he counts as family in the system. Alejo reacted fast and was able to hit the lusus with three shots to the head, not enough to immediately kill it, but enough to buy Jac time to recover, underwater, and fire another seven shots up, finishing it for good.
TUELLER: It’s weird, when you think about, that a space station with the environment of a swamp would have a bathing area, but the lusus we fought at the public baths seemed to favor it. Unlike the sultry wet environment of the rest of the station, the public baths consisted of porcelain white marble and utterly crystal-clear mineral water. Which saved our lives, because we could spot the lusus soaking in the area before it could strike. Alejo…well, we don’t know how he got there, but his quick thinking emergency venting the water slowed the creature down enough for us to make short work of it. Millie managed to toss a pool noodle down its throat, which it probably would have been able to clear out in a timely fashion, but all gave us enough time to shoot, stab, and otherwise beat it to death. And venting the water there gave us an idea on how to proceed further.
MILLICENT: Millie’s head pops around the corner. Almost immediately a slim hand shoots out from behind and pulls her back. A huge lusus, idly swinging the dead body of a grell against the wall, lumbers past. It seems to be whistling some gristly, atonal tune.
MILLICENT: “Can you be even a little careful, Doctor?” hisses Tariq.
MILLICENT: “We’re supposed to get caught!” Millie fires back
MILLICENT: “We’re not supposed to get caught HERE!” Remember,” hisses Tariq, “we won’t be brought to the control room unless we’re caught past the 3rd stairwell in the north quadrant. We’re not even halfway to RUN!” Tariq scrambles to his feet and hauls ass down the hallway.
MILLICENT: “That’s an awful sentence fragment, Dr. Guosin.” Millie chides playfully, until her face freezes. She turns slowly. The patrolling lusus slaps the grell’s corpse it’s holding into its other meaty palm. A huge mouth opens into a toothy, amused grin.
MILLICENT: “Yes,” it rumbles, “ruuuuuuuun.”
MILLICENT: Millie complies.
—
STORY: The center tube now empty, you find yourselves standing before Vorlou and Zura, both imprisoned.
TUELLER: “Whatcha doing in that tube, ma’am? Sir?”
STORY: Vorlou continues to meditate. Zura looks down at the floor. “Your man there stuck me in here.”
STORY: “Let me out, please.”
TUELLER: “Him too?”
STORY: “Only if you don’t mind me killing him in front of you.”
TUELLER: “Prefer not to have any killing just yet.”
TUELLER: “Not anymore, at least.”
TUELLER: “Been a lot of it.”
STORY: She rolls her eyes.
ALEJO: Alejo nods at this.
TUELLER: “Not quite the convincing argument I expected. I’m guessing you’re not the politician here.”
TUELLER: Tueller, of course, makes no effort to go to the control panel.
STORY: “I’m the revolutionary.”
ALEJO: “You’re the one who sent Veni to kill the governor, yeah?”
STORY: She nods.
ALEJO: “Why?
ALEJO: “What’d you hope to gain by that violence?”
STORY: “Governor Parnia would never set us free. She profits too deeply from our imprisonment.”
TUELLER: “There’s profit in this?”
MILLICENT: Millie nods tiredly.
MILLICENT: “Nahar technology is built on psychic energy and tech that we now know they don’t possess themselves.”
MILLICENT: “I assume they’re using the grell to power their species’ technological endeavors?”
ALEJO: “Psychic batteries?” Alejo asks this half to Millie and half to Zura.
STORY: Vorlou opens his eyes. “No. Nothing that complicated.”
STORY: “Some of us perform research, work with the nahar scientists.”
STORY: “We are working on a way to maintain the technology without our assistance. Or, were.” He looks over at Zura.
MILLICENT: “Are the grell compensated for their advances?”
STORY: Vorlou nods. “We are fed, clothed, kept safe and healthy. We are without need. Those of us who work on psychic tech do so voluntarily.”
TUELLER: “I know some people who’d pay more for that.”
TUELLER: “Significantly more.”
STORY: “The concept of payment is not one my people have use for.”
ALEJO: “And those who don’t? Are they free to leave?”
STORY: Zura nods. “Of course not.”
STORY: “We’re prisoners here.”
STORY: Vorlou responds to her. “For our safety and that of the nahar.”
STORY: “My people do not possess the control necessary to freely associate with other cultures.”
STORY: “If you doubt me, I suggest you think on the past few hours.”
MILLICENT: “Out of curiosity, when was this prison established?”
STORY: Vorlou answers. “A dozen lifetimes ago.”
ALEJO: “What the hell does it mean that you can’t control yourselves? Veni seemed to manage just fine.”
STORY: “Veni was talented,” Vorlou says.
STORY: Zura spits back, “Veni was useful. We deserve our freedom, slaver.”
ALEJO: “So it is possible to control yourselves.”
STORY: Zura answers quickly. “Yes.”
STORY: Vorlou shakes his head. “No.”
ALEJO: “Seems to me that even locked up, you run some risks of not controling yourselves. These lusus were here before we were, so this wasn’t about mixing with us.”
MILLICENT: “And when was the last time the nahar made any attempt to help the grell control themselves? Did experiments or tried new methods of science or discipline?”
STORY: Vorlou looks evenly at you. “What do you know of the natural state of my people, Dr. Breedlove?”
STORY: “On the planet below New Vesta, I mean.”
MILLICENT: “Not much. The nahar have not been an open book with regards to your people.”
STORY: He looks over at Zura. “We were animals. No language, no history, living in what barely amounted to tribes. We did not cultivate, we did not consider – we survived, we fled, we hunted. Only once we made contact with the Nahar did we awaken.”
STORY: “We do not grow to this size, we do not learn reason, on the planet. We are so different, the Nahar consider those of us there a different species.”
MILLICENT: “And how long ago was that?”
STORY: “Morkfish still live on the planet below.”
STORY: “It is our natural state. Only once we make contact with sentient species do we awaken ourselves.”
TUELLER: “Well, shit, the galaxy is full of sentient species.”
ALEJO: Alejo agrees again with Tueller.
TUELLER: “Maybe we can find one you can have a symbiotic relationship rather than a parasitic one.”
ALEJO: “Yeah.” Alejo nods at Tueller’s suggestion. “Ransoming your dignity for the illusion of safety isn’t freedom. Or safety. Seems to me, anyway.”
TUELLER: “I’ve seen my share of abusive relationships, and I have to say, keeping people fed and locked up on a spaceship wired to blow at any time if things get bad, well…” Tueller trails off. “I’ve seen my share.”
ALEJO: “You survive here. You can’t even flee. You eat, presumably. Seems a lot like . . . what you had. With less movement.”
STORY: Vorlou shakes his head. “I am unwilling to risk the lives of my people and the people they will hurt if freed. We have good lives here.”
ALEJO: “Not all of ‘your people’ seem to agree.”
STORY: “And how many of them were you forced to kill today?”
TUELLER: “Too many.”
ALEJO: “Way too many.” Alejo looks at the tube that housed Veni.
ALEJO: “But, again, that happened on this supposedly safe ship. Right? Why’d they change here, if this is a safe place? It wasn’t because of us. We weren’t here yet.”
STORY: “The ship does not keep us safe. It keeps everyone else safe.”
STORY: “Imagine, please, Mr. Soto – a lusus set free in a busy street on Nath.”
STORY: “Mr. Ya’Makasi, how many of your sisters would one kill before they stopped it?”
TUELLER: “None. You haven’t met my sisters.”
STORY: He smiles. “Perhaps not. But we cannot take the risk.”
MILLICENT: Millie laughs and looks surprised.
MILLICENT: “Sorry.”
MILLICENT: “Has this ever happened before?”
STORY: “There have been individuals who rebelled. None who managed to organize.”
MILLICENT: “Do the grell on the planet give themselves over to the lusus?”
MILLICENT: “The morkfish, excuse me.”
STORY: “A morkfish does not become sentient unless they are raised around other sentient creatures. Those who live in the wild are no risk to anyone.”
STORY: “I suppose when hunted they run, but so does any prey animal.”
MILLICENT: “Has a morkfish ever been raised among non-Nahar sentients?”
STORY: “Not to my knowledge. The Nahar have kept us hidden, understandably. To reveal us to the universe would be a terrible risk.”
STORY: Tux raises his eyebrows.
STORY: He slips over to Alejo, leans in to mutter in his ear.
ALEJO: Alejo was about to say something but pauses to listen to Tux.
MILLICENT: “Hmmm.” To herself, “It’s possible that the connection to the lusus is as a result of nahar influence. Not that it matters right now.”
TUELLER: “I’m not a space lawyer, but I’m pretty sure this entire ship is a violation of intergalactic law.”
STORY: Zura nods.
MILLICENT: Millie nods.
TUELLER: “It does also put a crimp in my plan to make a fortune exporting morkfish.”
ALEJO: “Gods!” Alejo whispers, realizing suddenly that he had a bite of one on the moon.
MILLICENT: Millie cocks her head to the side. “Sorry, I’m just putting this together.”
STORY: Vorlou smiles. “It is complicated, I know. As long as the morkfish have reached maturity when caught, they are safe to eat. They are like any livestock.”
STORY: Vorlou explains, “our innate empathic abilities are what make us people.”
STORY: Tux raises his eyebrows again and looks at Alejo.
ALEJO: Alejo takes him aside. “Excuse us for a moment.”
MILLICENT: “So, on the one hand the grell have the capacity to turn a large part of the galaxy into the third act of a horror movie. On the other hand the nahar have imprisoned an entire sentient race, used them to develop their technology, and literally eat them.”
STORY: Zura and Vorlou look at each other, the first time this has happened since you entered the room. They both nod. Vorlou: “More or less, yes.”
MILLICENT: Millie looks to Tueller. “I just want to be clear that solving a moral dilemma of two entire races isn’t what I had in mind when I proposed this job.”
MILLICENT: “This is outside of the scope of our original task and I intend to invoice accordingly.”
ALEJO: Alejo whispers to Tux. “Something happened in there. To you. And it almost meant that I couldn’t get you out. I don’t think pursuing research on a Grell is the right way to go, for you.”
STORY: Tux scoffs at you. “C’mon. Me?”
STORY: “I’ll be fine. Let me raise one, we’ll see if it turns into a monster.”
STORY: “I’m working on something.”
ALEJO: Alejo looks back at the conversation, trying to hear it and pay some attention to Tux. “What? What are you working on?”
STORY: Tux puts his finger to his lips and smiles at you.
ALEJO: Alejo grabs Tux’s arm. “Get over here. We’re not doing this.” Alejo drags him back to the conversation.
TUELLER: “Just to point out, pretty much anything we do with the grell is probably going to fuck up your treaty.”
TUELLER: “I’m mostly here for the trade opportunities and also because I bore easily.”
ALEJO: Alejo nods, as he steps back into the conversation, Tux in tow. “He really does.”
TUELLER: “This has not been boring.”
MILLICENT: Millie nods. “Yes, I suppose I should mention that in the interest of full disclosure I was hired to negotiate a treaty with the nahar for a technology exchange with Erde Meris.”
TUELLER: “Though it did get my girlfriend shot.”
MILLICENT: “I said I’m sorry about that!”
TUELLER: “I did not cast any blame. Merely commented on it, as if it were the weather.”
STORY: Zura laughs. “Technology exchange.”
STORY: “So you came here to lock us away.”
TUELLER: “Zura, you are a thoroughly unpleasant revolutionary. How did you get anyone on your side at all?”
STORY: “They understand that freedom is more important than anything else.”
ALEJO: Alejo smiles at this.
TUELLER: “Do you always choose the maximally shittiest thing to say?”
STORY: “When speaking to my enemies? Yes.”
MILLICENT: “We didn’t know about the grell when we arrived. We were unprepared for what we found.”
TUELLER: “I’m not quite sure how we got established as your enemies here at all. I didn’t sign up for that, at least.”
STORY: “You have not freed me, or my people. We are enemies until you remedy that.”
TUELLER: “You suck at diplomacy.”
TUELLER: “I’m not much of a negotiator but you are truly awful at it.”
ALEJO: “So, what is it that turns Grell into lusus? What happens that makes that happen?”
STORY: Vorlou sighs. “We don’t know, exactly. Lusus always emerge when a grell is dreaming. But since no one has come back, we don’t know what happens in the weave to cause the transformation.”
ALEJO: “Why was Veni, as I think you said, ‘talented’?”
STORY: “Veni was able to dream often, deeply, to train others. He came back every time. Well…” Vorlou looks sadly at the middle tube.
ALEJO: “I think that they opt to stay in that . . . dream place.”
ALEJO: He looks at Veni’s now empty tank again. “At least I’m pretty sure that’s what happened to Veni.”
MILLICENT: Millie rubs her temples.
MILLICENT: “We need to make a decision.”
MILLICENT: “Is there any room for compromise from either of you?” directed to Vorlou and Zura
ALEJO: “Maybe, but listen, if the Grell have more understanding of what happens and why, they might be able to figure out how to control this and take away some of the understandable concern that Vorlou has about . . . well eating the galaxy or whatever.”
STORY: Vorlou shakes his head. “I cannot allow the risk of my people being sent out to the corners of the galaxy. We are not ready.”
STORY: Zura shakes hers. “And I require my freedom, and that of my people.”
STORY: “Kill this traitor and let me out.”
TUELLER: “Zura, your plan was, as far as I can tell, get your minions to transform into monsters, and then, PROFIT! And now you want to be let out to kill that Uncle Tom over there, and then, again, profit. And Vor, your plan is to keep everyone locked up and keep collecting your rations.”
TUELLER: “That about sum it all up?”
STORY: “My plan is not your concern.”
ALEJO: “A little. Yeah. A little it really is.”
TUELLER: “I don’t think it was your concern, either. It’s a shit plan.”
STORY: Vorlou: “I do not understand your reference. I have no siblings.”
ALEJO: “Yeah, I don’t get it either. But he means you’re a collaborator.”
TUELLER: “‘Uncle Tom’ is a prisoner who sides with the jailers, basically.”
MILLICENT: “Slavers. Prisoners have to do something wrong to get into prison.”
TUELLER: “There’s some extra race stuff that makes it a little tricky so I wouldn’t use it on humans if you chat with them in the future, but that’s the gist.”
TUELLER: “I was trying to avoid the S word with Vorlou. He’s not inclined to like it.” To Millie.
MILLICENT: Millie shrugs. “I can see not liking it.”
STORY: “We are not compelled to labor for the Nahar.”
ALEJO: “What’s going to make you feel like your people are ready for their freedom, Vorlou?
ALEJO: “You said they weren’t ready. What will make them ready?
STORY: Vorlou sighs.
STORY: “I do not know. I know that it is our responsibility not to risk lives determining the answer.”
STORY: “Your crew. Your man here,” he gestures to Kahn. “These are not costs anyone should pay for us.”
ALEJO: “Look, it’s noble as a peach wanting to protect everyone else. Really is. But, as someone who has spent a lifetime trying to fix things as an adult that hurt me as a kid, I can say that sometimes you have to start looking forward. You’re not on the winning side of this. Make a concession. Work with us to find a solution that will, if not be perfect for you, bridge a gap between what you think is ideal and what is going to happen.”
TUELLER: Tueller laughs. It’s kind of a scoff.
TUELLER: “Sorry, Ejo. That just slipped out there.”
STORY: Tux raises his hand meekly.
STORY: “I had that idea.”
STORY: “Alejo, c’mon. You know it’s a good idea.”
TUELLER: “So, I haven’t conferred separately with my co-captains here, but I’m inclined to view Zura as a fucking terrorist who should be tried by whoever the appropriate authorities here. Her plan of insulting us until we let her out and she can flee the ship is shit and I see no reason to support an iota of it. But I’m not inclined to keep this space concentration camp a secret from the galactic authorities, either. The nahar aren’t handling you people properly. I come from a multi-system criminal organization with a biotech research wing and we treat people more humanely than this. That’s the low bar they’re failing to clear.”
TUELLER: “Sorry. Stepped on your toes, guys.”
MILLICENT: Millie nods. “This whole situation is a result of a lack of imagination.”
ALEJO: “Tux has an idea.” He guestures for Tux to share it.
MILLICENT: Millie smiles, turns to Tux.
STORY: “Let me take one.”
STORY: “A morkfish. I’ll raise it, we’ll see if it goes all,” he waves his arms around like tentacles.
MILLICENT: Millie nods, excited.
STORY: Tux gestures to Vorlou. “Your life expectancy is thirty years – how long until you reach maturity? Can’t be more than five.”
STORY: Vorlou bows his head. “Eight months.”
ALEJO: “So, we test this for eight months.”
MILLICENT: “Zura, can you wait eight months for this to play out?”
STORY: Zura shakes her head. “Absolutely not.”
STORY: “Free me, and those that wish to join me. We will be your test subjects.”
TUELLER: “Test where?”
STORY: Tux points to his chest. “My ship.”
STORY: “It’s not, you know, luxurious, but I’ve got room for a first mate. Or pet. I’m not really sure what I’m getting into here.”
MILLICENT: Millie makes a thinking face. “I could rig it to blow if the height or weight of the average crew member jumps above a certain point.”
MILLICENT: On whatever outraged looks come her way, “For safety.”
TUELLER: “Let’s be frank. Why are we involving Zura in this at all? She is a terrorist whose organization turned into monsters and we killed them all. She has no constituency, and has a trial waiting for her. Who needs her to agree to anything at all?”
TUELLER: “Vorlou is the administrator here, and the one the nahar trust and will listen to. He’s the one who has to think this is a good plan.”
MILLICENT: “She was able to raise all this,” Millie waves. “I don’t want to make her a martyr right now.”
STORY: “We will rise up again.” Zura stares daggers at Tueller.
TUELLER: “Yeah, you should definitely threaten another armed revolution. That’ll go good for you.”
STORY: “Parnia is dead. New Vesta is decimated. There is no returning to normal.”
STORY: “Let us finish what we started.”
MILLICENT: “Though I’m fine with throwing her or whatever she turns into in a dark cell for a year. She’s certainly earned it.
ALEJO: “Terorist is awful harsh, at least if we really think this is like slavery, don’t you think? Maybe not a great diplomat, but still.”
TUELLER: “They turned into monsters, and broadcast shit to make the moon go insane. Fucking terrorism.”
ALEJO: “They didn’t broadcast.”
ALEJO: “I don’t think.” He pauses. “Did you?” He looks at Zura.
TUELLER: “She’s taking credit for the decimation of New Vesta.”
ALEJO: “Taking credit and doing it are not the same thing. You know that.”
TUELLER: “Sure, but it’s not exactly an argument for NOT treating her like a terrorist.”
TUELLER: “Someone with terrorist aspirations.”
STORY: Zura looks at you proudly and doesn’t answer.
MILLICENT: “She should have known the risks. She has that responsibility at least.”
ALEJO: “I’m with Millie in thinking that this whole thing is pretty . . . slavey. So, I’m just not thinking terrorist is the best label. You know, in the interests of diplomacy.”
ALEJO: He looks at Millie, puzzled. “You have a very meandering sort of logic, sometimes.”
MILLICENT: “Truth resists simplicity.”
ALEJO: “I don’t like her anymore than either of you. But liking her and understanding why she was fighting are very different things.”
ALEJO: “I have good reason to believe she didn’t cause the plague. And if she didn’t, then that’s not on her, even if she claims credit for it.”
TUELLER: “Did I miss something? Did we NOT just see the broadcast equipment?”
TUELLER: “I’m not your tech guy, but I thought we just had some pretty strong circumstantial evidence.”
ALEJO: Alejo taps the tube with the butt of his pistol. “Did you do that? On the planet? I don’t much like defending a mass murder. So . . . maybe I should reserve judgment for a minute.”
STORY: Zura smiles at you.
TUELLER: “Now that I think about it, it was a pretty complicated plan; I don’t think this moron is capable of pulling it off.”
TUELLER: “She didn’t even have a plan to get off this ship.”
STORY: “Of course I did.”
STORY: “You’re going to take me with you.”
TUELLER: “The only lusus-in-waiting I would have let on my ship was Veni, and he didn’t make it.”
TUELLER: “And I kind of liked that guy.”
MILLICENT: “And she didn’t know we were coming.”
MILLICENT: “Veni was surprised to see us.”
STORY: “Of course I knew you were coming. I invited you.”
MILLICENT: “Wait, _you’re the one_ who invited Erde Maris?”
STORY: “Let me out and I’ll explain everything.”
STORY: “You know it’s wrong to keep me imprisoned. My people want their freedom.”
MILLICENT: “That sounds a bit too much like desperate bullshit.”
TUELLER: “I’d say it’s wrong to keep the grell locked up forever. You, you should remain in prison for what you’ve done.”
MILLICENT: “Also it doesn’t much matter to me. You need to be held responsible for your crimes.” Millie points to Vorlou, “And so do you, as soon we prove that what you did was unnecessary.”
TUELLER: “I’m not executing her.”
TUELLER: “She should be tried for her crimes, not just murdered.”
TUELLER: “If there’s ever to be any reconciliation between the grell and nahar, that’s a good first step.”
TUELLER: “I come from an organization of three families who are constantly thinking about how they might have to murder each other. It’s no way to run a society.”
ALEJO: “Fine, everyone gets tried. We maybe shouldn’t be looking too forward to that day,” he says self-consciously, “But fine. But how are we getting out of here?”
TUELLER: “Vorlou’s not a criminal. He’s just afraid. If Tux can prove he’s wrong to be afraid, I hope we can convince him to change.”
TUELLER: “The nahar trust him. That’s the way forward.”
MILLICENT: “Vorlou worked with a government of another people to keep his own people _in chains_.” She glances at Vorlou. “Ish.”
MILLICENT: “Saying ‘ish’ makes it diplomacy.”
MILLICENT: “Vorlou, if we can, through trial and experimentation, find a way to let the grell live freely without being a danger to the galaxy or themselves, will you show up for your court date?”
STORY: Vorlou looks confused.
TUELLER: “Where else would he go?”
STORY: “I do not intend to leave, Dr. Breedlove.”
STORY: “You can find me right here.”
STORY: “Preferably outside of this tube.”
MILLICENT: To Tueller, “_They can turn into six monsters stapled together with nightmares for teeth._ ” To Vorlou “The question is more about your willingness to show up peacefully.”
STORY: “To become a lusus is tantamount to death, Dr. Breedlove. I want life for myself and my people.”
ALEJO: “In chains? Are you willing to work with us on this experimentation plan?”
MILLICENT: “It would go a long way for support for this plan if you take part yourself.”
STORY: “I will not leave the Rookery. But I will support your plan to take a juvenile morkfish from the surface.”
STORY: “If–” he holds out a hand. “You give me your word it will not be set free in a city.”
STORY: “If your friend here will volunteer to risk his life for this knowledge, so be it. But he cannot risk any others.”
ALEJO: “And if it works? If we are able to figure out a way to handle this so that your people are reasonably safe — not perfectly because, well, nothing is perfect — you’ll go along with freedom for your people?”
TUELLER: “Guys, let’s no belabor the point. We got an agreement, let’s see where it leads, and then go there.”
MILLICENT: “Tux? Are you sure about this?”
STORY: Tux nods. “Always wanted to have a kid.”
STORY: “Or a pet.”
STORY: “Schroedinger’s kid, I guess.”
TUELLER: “Works for me.”
STORY: Tux crosses his arms. “Come to think of it, that’s a good name.”
TUELLER: “Erwin?”
STORY: “I mean, I was thinking Schroedinger, but sure, Erwin’s catchy.”
TUELLER: “Trust me, it’s good to have a short name you can shout when it’s absolutely necessary.”
MILLICENT: “Oh, _that’s_ why you do that.”
TUELLER: “Do what, Doc?”
MILLICENT: Millie grins at Tueller.
ALEJO: Alejo taps Vorlou’s tube. “You didn’t answer my question. I’m gonna belabor it.”
STORY: Vorlou looks calmly at Alejo. “When we reach that day, Mr. Soto, you and I can sit down and decide what to do.”
TUELLER: “Come on, Ejo. Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good here.”
MILLICENT: “Hang on, he’s right though.”
MILLICENT: “If Tux risks his life for most of a year with nothing to show out the other side but the joys of fatherhood it will still be for (mostly) nothing.”
STORY: Tux, in the background: “Aw, come on”
TUELLER: “Yeah, but I’m confused as to how what Vorlou’s saying isn’t what you would be saying in the exact same situation?”
TUELLER: “You’re a scientist, and you’re asking him to lock in his conclusions before the experiment even starts.”
MILLICENT: “I’m asking him to agree to act on the conclusions we find at the end of this experiment and not his admittedly strong biases.”
MILLICENT: “Will you agree to let the next generation of morkfish be raised outside of the Rookery?”
STORY: Vorlou stands, his arms crossed, thinking. “The wild morkfish are not in my purview, Dr. Breedlove. I am responsible for the people on this station.”
MILLICENT: “That’s a different question, then, isn’t it?”
STORY: “And given their existence as livestock, I’m not certain how complex negotiating the export, or perhaps we should say emigration, of the species will be with the Nahar.”
ALEJO: “I’m asking him to say he’s open to the possbility of a world he’s been pretty relunctant to even imagine possible.”
STORY: “There are more things in heaven and earth, Mr. Soto, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”
ALEJO: “Good thing I don’t know shit about philosphy.”
TUELLER: Tueller gives him a curious look after that.
TUELLER: “Hmph. Y’all get Shakespeare up here.”
STORY: “I apologize for the intrusion, Mr. Ya’Makasi; your education was too enticing not to borrow.”
TUELLER: “Best money could buy.”
MILLICENT: Millie looks surprised.
TUELLER: “If Vor’s reading my mind that deep, the rest of you should also know that he knows we need his say-so to get out of here, too.”
TUELLER: “Just laying that out on the table.”
STORY: “Indeed. I thought it would be rude to mention it before our negotiations were complete.”
MILLICENT: “Oh, of course.”
MILLICENT: “So, Vorlou, could you repeat our terms, please?”
STORY: “Tux will take a juvenile morkfish from the planet’s surface and raise it. Once it reaches maturity, I expect we will meet again to discuss his findings and how we should proceed from there.”
STORY: “Until then, I will continue to lead my people peacefully aboard this station.”
STORY: “And rest assured, we will try Zura for her crimes.”
MILLICENT: “Does that work for us, captains?”
TUELLER: Tueller nods impatiently.
ALEJO: Alejo nods, somewhat reluctantly.
MILLICENT: “Well, then. Though I hate to ask it, I am bound by my responsibilities to do so. Where does this leave our negotiation on behalf of Erde Maris?”
STORY: Vorlou holds out his hands. “I am not a representative of the Nahar.”
ALEJO: Alejo goes to the controls and releases Vorlou.
TUELLER: “Well, if soon-to-be-judged-harshly over there is to be trusted, we weren’t invited by the Nahar in the first place.”
MILLICENT: “No, but let’s not pretend that you don’t have some kind of say, oh, thank you Mr. Soto, some kind of say with the grell who currently aid Nahar technology.”
STORY: Vorlou dusts off his sleeves, which is a weird gesture given you all know rationally that he doesn’t have sleeves and is a writhing mass of tentacles with a brain on top.
STORY: He nods. “When the leadership crisis on New Vesta is resolved, I am willing to speak on your behalf.”
TUELLER: “It’s more than a leadership crisis on New Vesta.”
TUELLER: “It’s a crisis of nighttime violence, possibly from a signal from this ship. If that were true, shutting that down would go a long way to helping your case and ours. I hope.”
ALEJO: “It should have already ended. We freed Teka.”
MILLICENT: “Thank you, Vorlou. Yes, thank you, Mr. Ya’Makasi. It is ah. A bit more apocalyptic than a mere political struggle.”
TUELLER: Tueller gives Alejo a surprised look.
TUELLER: “We did?”
ALEJO: He nods.
TUELLER: “I’m going to need a cite on that.”
MILLICENT: “Oh. Well done, I suppose.”
TUELLER: “Oh yes, good job us! But still.”
ALEJO: “Thanks? I suppose?”
TUELLER: “You going to elaborate, Ejo?”
ALEJO: “Yeah, but this probably isn’t the time. Point is, she’s out. Nightmare should be overall ready.”
TUELLER: “Well then. Let’s see if we can prove that.”
TUELLER: “Let’s get back to the ship and talk to our armed guard.”
MILLICENT: “Are we sure the station is free of lusus?” Is there a terminal nearby I could scan with?
STORY: Vorlou touches his temple with a hand. “Forty-nine of my people, safe in the main hall.”
STORY: “There were two hundred sixteen of us this yesterday.” He shakes his head. “But you have saved us.”
TUELLER: “Shit.”
ALEJO: Alejo closes his eyes and sighs.
TUELLER: “Not quite decimation, but getting close.”
MILLICENT: Millie slumps
STORY: Vorlou shakes his head. “If what you say about the Nahar is true, perhaps it is what we deserve.”
ALEJO: “No. You didn’t deserve this. There’s plenty of blame to go all around. But no people deserves this.”
STORY: Shall we fast forward a bit?
TUELLER: Sure.
STORY: What’s the plan, friends?
TUELLER: I think in this order: Try to get in touch with Noma and Loll to see if there are reports from the surface of changes. Go to the door with Vorlou, ask to be let out. See what happens from there.
TUELLER: Anything I’m missing?
MILLICENT: I think that’s right
ALEJO: Makes sense to me.
STORY: You reach Loll onboard Peregrine, who sends a wave to the surface of New Vesta and receives a response from Lt. Rax: Teka has come out of the panic room, she is no longer aggressive, and the attacks have stopped. Noma is onboard Peregrine as well.
STORY: Commander Madro is openly relieved when you bring Vorlou to him, and unlocks the door. They bow to each other and speak quietly. You’re free to go.
STORY: What do you do?
MILLICENT: Millie checks in with Noma, then makes sure that the psychic control has stopped. Once that’s been cleared up, Millie is content to Be A Good Diplomat and talk to as many Nahar scientists as is respectfully possible.
STORY: Noma is fine, and experienced a crash that required a software reboot during the attacks on the Rookery, which is why she wasn’t in your suit when you woke up.
TUELLER: Tueller fills up cargo holds with morkfish.
STORY: Tueller: adult morkfish, correct?
TUELLER: The one that’s not crazy to sell as food.
ALEJO: –Kinda creepy to sell any of them as food, but hey.
TUELLER: —A man’s gotta eat.
STORY: — i’ll turn you all into vegetarians
MILLICENT: —yeah gross
STORY: Yeah, adults. Okay! You’ve only got one empty cargo compartment, but it’s now filled with morkfish
ALEJO: Alejo needs to talk to Tux, at some point.
TUELLER: We have two class 0 cargo from elsewhere.
TUELLER: And some weapons components, but I don’t think I want to introduce more weapons into this society.
TUELLER: Yeah, I’d like to trade the class 0 Cargo to try to get some better cargo.
STORY: Okay! First let’s establish that there are people on New Vesta who can trade with you and are, like, alive.
TUELLER: Sure!
STORY: You return to the surface and meet with Lt. Rax, who has gotten Teka to doctors to recover and start to cope with the magnitude of what she has done. Teka’s not really available for conversation or anything.
STORY: In the power vacuum that seems to have resulted with the death of Governor Parnia and most of the police force, Rax is temporarily stewarding things along.
STORY: She is willing to talk to you, if you like. Just to keep it in summary form, what’s the goal?
TUELLER: Well, I think first is Millie trying to establish diplomatic relations.
STORY: Sure. Rax is grateful to you for literally saving her civilization. What do you want to negotiate?
TUELLER: Millie?
MILLICENT: Sorry, I thought this was Tueller’s negotiation.
ALEJO: I think we are also trying to get the Nahar to agree to bite on the experimentation plan that could lead to a free Grell.
TUELLER: Tueller just wants to make some money.
STORY: Rax is wary of any kind of discussion of longer-term plans, but she’ll allow Tux to capture one juvenile.
MILLICENT: Yeah, it’s the experimentation plan with Tux and a juvenile morkfish
TUELLER: Not pressing, but I should probably ask and not just assume it’s morkfish, using my Acumen skill: “What is profitably exploitable here?”
STORY: it’s morkfish!
STORY: they’re delicious!
MILLICENT: If that goes through, Millie offers Erde Maris scientist help with designing a new way of running the Rookery through Erde Maris agents if the experiment works. Then a new generation of grell could be born and able to enter the outside world in a matter of a couple of years.
TUELLER: Tueller interrupts the negotiations to ask if there’s a trading organization on the planet that Tueller should touch base with to establish trade routes with the Ya’Makasis.
STORY: There was, but its leadership is dead, so they set up a meeting with some minor member of the house who can talk to you for now.
STORY: Millie, let’s have Face Adversity + Influence please
TUELLER: Oh good, my equivalent!
TUELLER: (Tueller also picks up the Gregor at some point, btw)
MILLICENT: /roll 2d6
STORY: josh rolled 6
ALEJO: –Can Alejo assist?
STORY: Alejo, if you’d like to help, tell me what you do
TUELLER: Inspirational speech!
ALEJO: He’ll go with Millie to the discussions and back her up with an impassioned speach about freedom, safety, and the need for a third-party neutral, like Erde-Mars, to help both Nahar and Grell find a new path to mutual benefit, trust, and freedom
STORY: All right! Let’s have a Get Involved + Influence please
ALEJO: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: ablair01 rolled 8 + 2 = 10
MILLICENT: —aw yeah
MILLICENT: —nice
ALEJO: –yay us!
STORY: Rax is hesitant to commit to anything and VERY wary of revealing the Rookery to outsiders, but she shakes your hand, Millie, and agrees to keeping the channels of communication open and will allow Erde-Maris to send a scientific delegation to start working with the Nahar knights on longer term plans.
STORY: Tueller, let’s see if you can get any trading done with that Nahar version of yourself?
STORY: It’s a straight Roll since your’e trading class 0 cargo
TUELLER: /roll 2d6
STORY: chris.stuart rolled 7
TUELLER: And again for the other?
STORY: Yep!
TUELLER: /roll 2d6
STORY: chris.stuart rolled 10
STORY: Nice. You find yourself in possession of one cargo container full of special morkfish from the southern coasts, which are known for their above average tenderness and flavor (Class 1)
TUELLER: And we can do standard morkfish? That counts as a straight class 0 acquisition?
STORY: and another cargo container full of morkfish -shells- which are shed as they grow and are used for jewelry on New Vesta. (Class 1, bizarre)
TUELLER: Ahhh.
TUELLER: Cool!
STORY: And yep you can also have standard morkfish
MILLICENT: cooool
TUELLER: So we swapped the filters for good quality morkfish and some morkfish shells.
ALEJO: –Well done Tueller!
MILLICENT: —Nice work, bud
STORY: you’re just laden with weird fish now
STORY: Alejo, if you’ve got time, we can quickly do a scene with Tux.
ALEJO: Okay.
ALEJO: I’m in!
STORY: Tux has a brief adventure going down to the surface to catch a juvenile morkfish, and returns tired and wet. He lands on New Vesta to finalize his preparations for the long journey ahead and has a few hours before departure.
STORY: He’s onboard his ship, a light skiff typically meant to have two to three crew and outfitted with his own modifications to be pilotable alone. He’s working on installing a tank so Erwin can be properly amphibious.
ALEJO: Alejo boards with a bottle of burbon that he took from Tueller’s stash.
TUELLER: —bastard.
ALEJO: He pours Tux a glass, hands it to him, then pours himself a glass.
STORY: Tux smiles broadly at you. “I’m not that cheap a date, Alejo.”
STORY: “You’re gonna have to take me out to see a sunset or something.”
STORY: He takes the drink and clinks glasses with you.
ALEJO: “Oh, yeah you are.”
STORY: “Fair.”
ALEJO: “What happened in that dreamspace place? Weave. Whatever it was called.”
STORY: Tux leans back. “Dunno. We got trapped, then we got ourselves untrapped. To be honest, I’m not a hundred percent sure we’re out of there.”
ALEJO: Alejo studies him for a moment.
ALEJO: “Maybe not.”
ALEJO: “Listen, assuming we are, I made a deal to get you out. Whatever was keeping us, didn’t want to let you go.”
STORY: Tux has just taken a sip, and chokes on it.
STORY: “You -spoke- to someone in there?”
ALEJO: He nods and takes his own sip.
STORY: He rolls his chair over to a console, and whips out an electronic padd, typing. “Tell me everything. What did they look like?”
ALEJO: “Looked like a lot of people. Aki. Millie. Cali. Point is, it wasn’t keen to let you out.”
STORY: He nods, typing. “So it could change appearance. What else?”
STORY: “Did it have other abilities? Did it know things you hadn’t told it?”
ALEJO: “Of course it did. It knew… stuff about all of us. It said that you had suspicions that were dangerous and that you would pursue them.”
ALEJO: “I promised that you wouldn’t.”
ALEJO: He puts a hand over the padd. Forcing Tux to look up at him.
STORY: Tux looks up. “What else?”
ALEJO: “I don’t know what you saw, or think, or… why you volunteered for this with… Erwin.”
STORY: “Wait, you promised what?”
STORY: “I volunteered because I want to know, Alejo.”
STORY: “Don’t you want to know what’s going on here?”
STORY: “They’re not telling us everything. We were in a different fucking -world.-”
ALEJO: “Yeah, ’course I want to know.”
ALEJO: “But I also want to be very, very careful here. It said that this was universe ending shit.” He sighs. “I don’t know what to believe, exactly, but it didn’t feel malicious. It felt earnest.”
STORY: “Universe ending…?”
STORY: Tux nods quickly and stands. “Okay.”
ALEJO: “Yeah, that letting you go, letting you pursue whatever is your suspicion should end… everything.”
STORY: He nods and puts the padd back into its dock on the console. “Yep, okay. Okay then.”
STORY: “Guess I should pack up, then.”
ALEJO: “Okay what, Tux?”
STORY: “Okay I’ll, you know, get going.”
STORY: He stands awkwardly, not continuing.
STORY: Looking around.
ALEJO: Alejo stands, then suddenly pushes him up against the bulkhead, getting very close. It’s aggressive but also intimate. “Okay what?” He whispers.
STORY: “Okay, you and I shouldn’t talk about this any more.”
ALEJO: Alejo nods. “And if you do something stupid, you definitely talk to me first. Yeah?”
STORY: He smiles, and gives a small nod.
ALEJO: “Serious, Tux. I don’t want to lose you. Or put a bullet in you.” He smiles. “I kinda like you.”
ALEJO: He lets go, and steps back.
STORY: Tux clears his throat and pushes up his sleeves.
STORY: “Okay, so. I gotta, uh.” He gestures to the halfway-installed water tank in the bay.
ALEJO: Alejo nods. “Be seeing you.” He starts to head out. “Be safe.”
STORY: He turns, saying halfway over his shoulder, smiling. “Give, uh. Millie my best.”
STORY: “Hey, Alejo?”
ALEJO: Alejo stops and turns halfway back.
STORY: “If you haven’t done something about that thing you keep thinking about and not doing with her, I’m taking her out next time I see her. And I’m gonna spend money on it. Like, baller money.”
ALEJO: He laughs. “’Course you are.” He turns and heads off.