STORY: You find the room relatively quickly. You can see a smallish man inside the machine, prone, not moving. It’s on.
STORY: A large glass window and a locked door bar your entry to this room.
RYO: Ryo is with Millie.
RYO: He looks for something to break through the glass.
STORY: Ryo, there’s a cart with some equipment on it nearby, about hip height, looks liftable.
MILLICENT: Millie points.
MILLICENT: At the room they need to get into.
RYO: Ryo dumps the equipment and heaves it through the glass.
STORY: The cart bounces off the glass and rattles on the floor, its contents scattering everywhere.
RYO: Ryo looks at it for a long moment. Then adjusts his glasses. He looks a Millie and shrugs. “Other ideas?”
MILLICENT: The teacher’s aide slides into the co-pilot’s seat as the shuttle tosses and bounces around. “What’s going on? This was supposed to be a field trip to the asteroid belt. Where in the heck are we?”
MILLICENT: The pilot blinks at the screen, then gasps. “It looks like the asteroid belt, but way farther out. She squints at the screen. “This can’t be right. Computer says that’s 20000 Varuna. Which puts us in the middle of the damn Kuiper belt! But that’s impossible, I used the Erde-Maris Educational Alliance coordinates.”
MILLICENT: A slightly abashed 13 year-old Millie steps forward, leaning on the back of the pilot’s chairs as she gazes lovingly into space. “Don’t be cross with Mr. Stuebens, Ms. Edwards. I may have hacked the school’s computer and made a couple of modifications. I just thought it might be more educational to take a trip out here. I mean, who hasn’t been to the asteroid belt?” Millie looks out the window and sighs happily.
—
STORY: You left your second trip to Mercury with a new destination: Luna, your best guess as to Bilbo’s whereabouts. Your trip will take a few hours, enough time for everyone to, with some effort, talk through things together and remind each other of their acquaintances and their feelings. What do you do to try to find Bilbo?
TUELLER: Also, question: does everyone talk Tueller into having a sense of fear again?
RYO: Ryo tries. Very methodically.
MILLICENT: Millie tries, with less patience and probably less success.
TUELLER: And Noma/Calixta? How thoroughly do you teach him about her?
MILLICENT: I think there’s enough stuff there that isn’t Millie’s business. So she states the basic facts of Noma’s existence, Tueller’s basic history with both parties, and states that they may have had a more personal connection that Millie didn’t want to pry into. She hopes it will come back to Tueller with time.
STORY: To be clear, just starting to talk about these things lets you remember. You don’t have to be completely retaught.
STORY: So you start to remember her.
TUELLER: Okay.
MILLICENT: Millie spends some time alone, gathering herself.
TUELLER: Cool. Okay, finding Bilbo. Tueller was hoping that Millie’s contacts would help us.
MILLICENT: This was a pretty big blow, I think. Millie’s confidence is a cornerstone of her personality.
TUELLER: Tueller has described Bilbo as best he can: tech genius, utterly amoral but friendly. Has a twee affection for the Lord of the Rings, and insatiably curious, so probably not able to stop working much.
RYO: Ryo makes tea for everyone. He takes a cup to Millie, as she likes it, but he doesn’t pry and push. He simply offers her the tea.
MILLICENT: Millie guardedly accepts tea.
MILLICENT: She also reaches out to her former colleagues that she has a friendly relationship with, including Admiral Randd.
STORY: Asking what?
TUELLER: Tueller loads up his tea with sugar and half and half.
MILLICENT: She’s looking for anyone who’s come into their circles trying to throw big money weight around on travel or cloaking tech.
STORY: Okay. You’re within wave distance, and you get one from Randd.
MILLICENT: Millie takes it on the bridge.
STORY: “Good to see you, Millie.”
STORY: Randd is sitting at her helm, smiling, but arms crossed.
TUELLER: Tueller sits at weapons control, his typical place on the bridge these days.
MILLICENT: “It’s very good to see you, Emma. How are you?”
MILLICENT: She smiles, probably the first real one since the doppleganger.
STORY: “Ambivalent.”
STORY: “You wouldn’t be asking for my help while transporting an intergalactic fugitive, would you, Dr. Breedlove?”
STORY: “Surely you’d see how that puts me, a flag officer of the Erde-Maris navy, in an impossible position, right?”
MILLICENT: “Of course, Admiral. We happen to be flying on an Arc-sanctioned legal matter at the moment.”
STORY: “With or without Ya’Makasi?”
TUELLER: “Not a Ya’Makasi anymore.”
TUELLER: “For what it’s worth.”
MILLICENT: “I don’t happen to have a manifest in front of me oh good you’re just going to start talking to her”
STORY: She regards you, Tueller, then nods slowly. “Nice speaking to you, Millie. I’ll remove this call from the logs. Don’t make me come for you.”
STORY: The call shuts off.
MILLICENT: Millie leans forward and smacks Tueller in the back of the head.
TUELLER: “I forgot. I’m sorry.”
TUELLER: “In my defense, so did you, and you’re smarter than me.”
MILLICENT: “I’ll remember to make you hide under your bunk next time we call anyone.”
TUELLER: “So it’s more your fault than mine.”
TUELLER: “Shall I leave the room and you call her back?”
MILLICENT: “Heavy is the head. Okay, so Erde-Maris help is out. But their systems might still be helpful.”
RYO: Ryo smiles at this. He then sits at a terminal and starts trying to look for any money or paper trail that might suggest where Bilbo is. Specifically, he’s using his family access to shipping information to see if he can spot any large shipments of scientific equipment of the sort that Bilbo might use.
TUELLER: “It’s worth a shot.”
MILLICENT: “No, I believe she’ll erase the call, but she won’t help us.”
TUELLER: “You sure?”
MILLICENT: Ooooh, maybe I can assist Ryo?
MILLICENT: Millie nods, answering both.
STORY: Ryo! Assessment + Expertise, please.
RYO: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: ablair01 rolled 5 + 2 = 7
STORY: Based on what you have been told by Tueller about Bilbo’s business interests, you think you have a lead – a large order for magnetic converters and very expensive conduit tech, large enough to suggest someone’s building a hub or a home base on Luna. Paid for with cash, no name on the purchase order – but you have an address for the company that sold it.
RYO: Ryo tells everyone about this.
RYO: “A thread to pull?”
TUELLER: “Any idea what this could be used for, Doc?”
MILLICENT: Hmmm, do I?
MILLICENT: “That’s an awful lot of computer processing power. That’s what I’d build with it, anyway.”
MILLICENT: “Let’s see if I can get into the purchase order system of the company they bought all this from.”
RYO: Ryo nods and stands up, letting her at the terminal.
TUELLER: Tueller sits by uselessly.
STORY: Millie, you’ll need to be on Luna to try that access – Erde-Maris security protocols don’t let you access Luna’s systems unless you’re planetside.
MILLICENT: “Oh right, we’ll need to be on Luna to get that kind of access. Erde-Maris security protocols are designed to keep up with, ah, belter hackers.”
MILLICENT: Millie shrugs. “Sorry, Tueller. No offense.”
RYO: Ryo raises an eyebrow at the word “belter,” but he says nothing.
RYO: “Well, unless someone’s got a better idea, I say we get to Luna.”
TUELLER: “We’re after a belter hacker.”
MILLICENT: “Yes. True. Well, I burned all my Sol contacts last time we were here and then again, very recently,” she side eyes Tueller, “so does anyone else know a friendly port?”
TUELLER: “Tycho has always been good to me.”
TUELLER: “They just don’t seem to give a shit there, and no one ever cared to clean them up.”
STORY: There’s a slum in Tycho! Tueller, you’ve done some business there and know a few shipyards you may be able to dock at who won’t ask too many questions.
RYO: “Money sometimes opens doors and keeps mouths shut as well.”
TUELLER: “I know some shitty dive bars in Tycho Under, too. They’re wonderful.”
MILLICENT: “Well, if any of them have a half-way decent terminal I might be able to make some headway there.”
STORY: Going that way?
TUELLER: Tueller defers to the captain.
STORY: Who’s bringing her in to port?
RYO: Figgan is flying, yes?
STORY: Sure. She brings her in relatively smoothly, into a spaceport Tueller points out. Nobody gives you much flak, but the guy working the door tells you he needs your spot empty in two hours.
STORY: “You take longer, I sell her for scrap.” He looks leeringly at Ryo.
MILLICENT: Millie rolls her eyes and passes him. “Come on, Tueller, I’ll buy you a pint of this moon’s worst beer.”
RYO: Ryo nods, solemnly. Then he walks over and gives him a rather large tip. “Until then, please see that no one bothers us much, and I’ll double this when we return.”
STORY: He nods, licking his lips at you.
TUELLER: Tueller whispers “Doc…maybe don’t use my name,”
MILLICENT: “Sorry.” Cough, “Tyler.”
STORY: On Luna, most folks are human, it’s rare to see anyone of another species, so it’s a little uncomfortable for you spacefarers, who are used to more diverse fare.
STORY: You settle into a dive bar and find an open console, Millie. It doesn’t have much in the way of features, but you might be able to make it work. Let’s have an Access roll to see if you can get into the wholesaler’s database.
MILLICENT: /roll 2d6 + 2
STORY: josh rolled 6 + 2 = 8
STORY: Okay, you’re in, but you’re detected. You’ve gotta work fast before they lock you out or send the cops to you, or worse. What are you looking for?
RYO: While she works, Ryo gets them all a drink. Whiskey. He keeps it simple.
MILLICENT: I’m looking to cross reference the shipment of parts they made to the unknown buyer with any power surges across Luna.
MILLICENT: Going on the theory that a supercomputer is going to need a super power source, which Bilbo would strain.
STORY: So you’re looking for information on the shipment?
MILLICENT: Yeah
STORY: You find the purchase order, and the record shows the parts were delivered to a post office – the kind where someone comes to pick up the shipment, so there’s no address to follow. But you do find a note on the PO, under payment terms: “BARTER. Parts traded for Ship, the Shadowfax.”
MILLICENT: “Well, I’ve gotten us a region.”
MILLICENT: “He had the parts delivered to a post office. We could go check with them, see if anyone saw anything nearby?”
TUELLER: “How long ago?”
MILLICENT: “Or we could find that ship!”
MILLICENT: Can I search docking documents?
TUELLER: “He traded the ship in.”
STORY: Yes, but after this you need to log out or you’re almost guaranteed to get caught. If they called the cops, they’ll be here momentarily. You search…
STORY: The company sold the ship to a junkyard a few blocks away.
RYO: “Sleuthing is fun!” Ryo finishes his drink.
MILLICENT: Millie logs out.
RYO: “Well done, Doctor.”
MILLICENT: “So, I’ve found his ship. Which might have some information on his next steps still on it?”
RYO: “Or we find a lead on the person who bartered parts for it. Either way, seems like the next step, though we’ve got to hurry. Clock is ticking on our dock.”
TUELLER: “I’ve always been a people person.”
RYO: Ryo stands, assuming that our plan is to go.
MILLICENT: We zoom away!
STORY: The junkyard is closing up for the night when you get there, and the owner is walking away from the locked gate as you reach it.
RYO: “Hello!” Ryo greets him with a wave.
STORY: He waves you off. “Closed, come back tomorrow.”
STORY: It’s still weird to get used to the idea of there being a night
MILLICENT: Millie gives Ryo a look like, “WELL, Mr. Business?”
STORY: He’s not gone yet, just leaving.
RYO: “So sorry to catch you late. But we can make it worth your time for a few more minutes.”
TUELLER: Tueller steps up, “Actually we’re looking for my uncle who sold you the Shadowfax.”
STORY: He hesitates, raising an eyebrow and looking back at you.
STORY: Shakes his head. “Don’t remember ship by that name.”
STORY: Walking slowly back your way.
STORY: “Maybe sounds familiar…”
TUELLER: “It might not be known under that name, but it’s a Yoshiba racing prow with modified cargo hold, and I can see it right now.”
STORY: You can’t, actually!
TUELLER: I know!
STORY: He narrows his eyes. “Sounds maybe familiar. Hmmm… thinking on it…” He peers thoughtfully up at a streetlight, reaching subtly out with his empty hand.
TUELLER: Tueller nudges Ryo.
TUELLER: “500 is the going rate here, so triple that, please.”
RYO: Ryo gives him the bribe. “The carrot.” He says this pointedly.
STORY: “Ah. Man didn’t sell me that ship, he gave it for some parts to the wholesaler who sold it to me. It’s in the back there, but you’re gonna have some trouble looking around it, she’s a cube. But tell you what I heard, maybe, for a little more.”
STORY: He rubs his fingers together.
RYO: Ryo smiles. He hands him another 1500. “Do make it worth it, please.”
STORY: “Your man’s looking for an axionic deflector shell, the kind that used to come standard in those old Capital-class junkers but they don’t make em no more.”
STORY: “The company asked me if I had any, but I’d just sent my last one to the chop shop, they like to take em apart for parts. Wager he looked there for it.”
TUELLER: “Who’s running the chop shop these days?”
STORY: “The one I work with, that’s Bidden. Careful, you go sniffing around in there.”
STORY: “They don’t like cops.”
TUELLER: “Neither do we.”
STORY: He chuckles. “Good friends, then. Goodnight, not cops.” He shuffles away from the gate, leaving you in the dark.
TUELLER: “Well that’s dispiriting.”
MILLICENT: “Good night!”
MILLICENT: “It’s another lead. I thought you’d be more comfortable around these criminal types.”
TUELLER: “No, he thought I was a cop!”
TUELLER: “That’s rough.”
MILLICENT: Millie pats his shoulder.
MILLICENT: “That’s just how it is for us law-abiding citizens.”
TUELLER: “Let’s go to a chop shop and not look like cops.”
MILLICENT: “Watch out they don’t sign you up for jury-duty next.”
RYO: As they are walking away, Ryo leans over to Tueller. “Pretty sure he thought she was the cop.” He nods towards Millie.
TUELLER: “Millie.”
TUELLER: “Doc.”
TUELLER: “Come on.”
TUELLER: “I’m going on trial in a couple of months.”
STORY: How are you going to find the chop shop?
STORY: Anyone? Bueller?
MILLICENT: Millie looks in the phone book
STORY: Like most illegal operations, it’s not there.
MILLICENT: Millie looks up from the phone book. “It’s not here.”
RYO: Ryo frowns. “Dive bar? Ask around?”
TUELLER: Tueller scans the street, looking for drug dealers or other unsavory types.
TUELLER: “Hang back. Let me give this a shot.”
TUELLER: “Actually, give me 5,000, just in case.”
STORY: You see an unsavory type turn the corner into an alley!
RYO: Ryo gives it to him.
TUELLER: Tueller takes whatever money Ryo gives him and makes it disappear into his pocket like magic.
TUELLER: “Be right back.”
TUELLER: Tueller follows an unsavory type into an alley.
STORY: The unsavory type notices you and is unhappy about it.
TUELLER: Unsavory how?
STORY: You tell me!
TUELLER: Bubbles, from The Wire.
TUELLER: In need of a fix, frenetic, not strong at all.
STORY: Ok!
TUELLER: Tueller hurries up on him without running, but faster than the guy can get away. “I’ve got money if you’ve got a moment; I need to find a guy and I’m not from around here.”
TUELLER: Tueller slides out a 1,000 credit note and waves it in front of his face.
STORY: Bubbles looks VERY surprised, but tracks the note with his eyes.
TUELLER: “This is yours just for listening to me.”
STORY: “Wh-who are you looking for?”
TUELLER: “I know you don’t need the story, so here’s it straight. I need a part from Bidden, and I don’t know where that is.”
TUELLER: Tueller puts the note in his grimy pocket, and brings out another, which he flashes and then makes go away for a moment.
STORY: “Bidden? The chop shop?”
TUELLER: “Indeed.”
STORY: He points down the alley, quickly giving you directions and taking your money. “Don’t tell him I told you.”
TUELLER: Tueller takes out a third note, gives it to him. “I don’t even know who you are.”
TUELLER: “But if you’re wrong, I’ll find out.”
TUELLER: “Okay?”
STORY: He nods, takes the third note, and runs off.
TUELLER: Tueller comes out and says to the rest, “Come with me.”
RYO: Ryo follows.
MILLICENT: Milie follows
TUELLER: Tueller leads.
STORY: You arrive at a chop shop on the other side of the slum. How many people are there? Is it open or closed? How hard is it to get in?
MILLICENT: There are three people out front from playing checkers on a woven mat on top of an overturned spindle.
MILLICENT: They’re very Sopranos
STORY: One stands and greets you. “Help you?”
RYO: Technically, the place is closed, but there are lights on inside and lots of sounds spilling out.
RYO: Ryo lets Tueller keep up his good work and steps aside.
TUELLER: “Sorry, I was told this was the place to go for a axionic deflector shell.”
TUELLER: Tueller puts up his finger to say wait a second.
TUELLER: “Which I’m not looking for, but I’m looking for the guy looking for it. He’s family.”
STORY: One of the guys looks at the other, looks you up and down.
STORY: The second guy stands up. He’s as large as you, Tueller.
STORY: A rarity!
TUELLER: “One who owes me, too. That type of family.”
STORY: “We don’t share that kind of info, buddy.”
STORY: “You wanted the shell, we might be able to help. But our client list is selective. And secret.”
TUELLER: “Though you do confirm that you have that info, which is great.”
STORY: “Wouldn’t know without checking the books.”
STORY: “And you don’t get to see those.”
STORY: “Now unless you’re buying or selling, scram.”
TUELLER: Tueller looks back at Ryo.
RYO: “We are buying.”
RYO: “Information. That seems like a good deal for you. You get money. And you don’t have to part with anything you can’t resell.”
STORY: He narrows his eyes, looking down at you.
RYO: “I appreciate you business ethics. But surely we can find a way of making it worth your while.”
STORY: Let’s have FA + Influence on that
RYO: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: ablair01 rolled 9 + 2 = 11
STORY: Nice!
STORY: The big guy looks down at you. He smiles. “Six hundred and I’ll look into it for you.”
RYO: Ryo smiles back and hands him the money. “We do sincerely appreciate it.”
TUELLER: Millie, if paying attention, might have realized that Tueller almost stepped in to try to beat the information out of the guy before turning to Ryo earlier. Your call!
STORY: The guy takes it, takes out a little tablet, and clicks around on it.
STORY: He chuckles. “Ah, it is that fuckin part.”
MILLICENT: Millie puts a hand on Tueller’s elbow.
STORY: “Some guy came here last week looking for the same thing. Said he’d pay anything for it. But the ship we’d just scrapped with that part, we already moved it. I’ll tell you what I told him – that shell’s the property of the Erde-Maris Alliance Hospital, Luna Prime branch.”
MILLICENT: “Oh come on.”
STORY: “Their equipment’s all outdated – they pay primo rates for used shit.”
STORY: “When we get one of those in we can barely hold on to it long enough to turn it over to them, they want it so bad.”
STORY: He laughs at Millie.
TUELLER: “What they use that for?”
STORY: “Who knows! Probably some x-ray machine or some shit.”
MILLICENT: “Lexorian imager.”
MILLICENT: She smiles, “Just a guess.”
RYO: “Any idea where we could find the guy who was looking for it.”
RYO: Ryo casually hands the fellow another 500.
STORY: “Nope, but he went up to the hospital to buy it from them.”
STORY: “Keep your money.”
TUELLER: “We’ll be back when we need to refit. Thanks.”
RYO: Ryo nods, gratefully. “I appreciate it. Good evening.”
STORY: He gives Millie a slap on the back. “Good luck, honey.”
MILLICENT: “Thank you. Sir.”
RYO: “I take it back, sleuthing is hard work.”
RYO: He says after they’ve walked away.
TUELLER: “Assume you know where Luna Prime is, Doc?”
MILLICENT: “It’s the capital, home of art and education.”
MILLICENT: “I also happen to have a former colleague who works there.”
MILLICENT: Through gritted teeth, “Dr. Ceinwen Gage.”
TUELLER: “Who sent us on to dreamland earlier. Got it.”
RYO: Ryo looks back and forth between them, starts to ask a question, and then shakes it off and keeps walking.
RYO: “We have a plan?”
STORY: You’ve got just enough time to get back to the dock before your ship is impounded.
MILLICENT: “She, Mr. Hanaka, wrongfully, believes herself to be my rival.”
RYO: “How dastardly.”
MILLICENT: “She is a haughty, imperious, overly educated, but not overly clever,” Millie stops and sighs, rubs her temples, “mirror of myself from my time in academia.”
RYO: Ryo smiles thinly at this. “We need to get back to the ship. Or, at least, one of us does. Shall I go move it? Or, rather, have Figgan move it and meet you someplace?”
MILLICENT: “According to the alumni newsletter she has recently been put in charge of the xenobiology and practical surgery departments, which house the Lexorian imagers.”
MILLICENT: “New city, new parking place. We’ll all go.”
TUELLER: “Indeed.”
RYO: Ryo nods, relieved.
STORY: You fly over to Luna Prime! It only takes a couple minutes. Parking is easier here, but also more complicated – they want a crew manifest.
MILLICENT: Millie makes one, including a Tyler Namaste.
STORY: Okay! That’s probably fine unless you get in trouble, at which point you’ll be in way more trouble.
STORY: You head into the hospital?
STORY: Tell me about the facilities!
TUELLER: This is all you Millie.
TUELLER: Otherwise I’ll just do the hospital from Firefly.
MILLICENT: It’s Ariel. Blue and white and bloodless.
MILLICENT: Oh hey I mean why mess with a good design?
STORY: All right! We all have sufficient mental pictures of that one.
MILLICENT: There are colorfully lit lines on the floor that lead to different wings.
MILLICENT: Xenobiology and practical surgery departments are in the green wing.
STORY: You head that way! There’s little security here.
STORY: You can find the main station, but Dr. Gage’s office is behind doors that require someone to admit you.
TUELLER: Tueller looks at Millie, “You’re going to have to call her.”
MILLICENT: Millie frowns at the doors for a few minutes
MILLICENT: “Fine.”
STORY: You buzz her office. She answers, audio only. “Yes?”
MILLICENT: “Good afternoon, Dr. Gage.”
STORY: “Who’s this?”
MILLICENT: “This is Dr. Breedlove.” She grits her teeth and smiles, “I do hope I’m not calling at a bad time.”
STORY: You hear her laugh, a short, imperious chuckle.
STORY: “So good to hear from you, Dr. Breedlove! Please, do come in. I’m in 177B.”
MILLICENT: Millie pushes through the door.
MILLICENT: “Come on, then. Don’t gawp.”
RYO: Ryo follows her.
STORY: The three of you head in. It’s the same sterile hallways, but this hall has many large machines in rooms behind large glass windows, and you spot a number of nonhuman patients walking the halls.
STORY: You come to Dr. Gage’s door.
TUELLER: “Feels closer to home.”
MILLICENT: “Now, just.” Millie wheels on them in the hallway. “I’m going to need some emotional support for this. It’s. Humiliating to have to ask for her help.”
MILLICENT: “And you,” her voice sharp as she points as Ryo, “I don’t even know that well.”
TUELLER: “You’ve got this, Doc.”
TUELLER: “Do it for me, or for Noma.”
MILLICENT: “So just follow my lead and we’ll get some answers and afterwards I’ll be expecting absolute silence about this experience from both of you.”
TUELLER: Tueller nods.
RYO: Ryo raises his hands in surrender.
MILLICENT: She nods, “Fine.”
MILLICENT: She leads the way.
MILLICENT: Millie opens the door. “Ceinwen, congratulations!”
STORY: “Dr. Breedlove! So wonderful to see you!” Gage is effervescent, smiling at the three of you.
MILLICENT: Millie steps forward and gives a formal handshake.
STORY: She returns it.
MILLICENT: “These are my colleagues, Tyler, who is tall and fit, and Ryo, who is apparently quite good as business.”
STORY: “Pleasure, I’m sure.” She shakes both your hands, and maybe leers a little at Ryo.
RYO: Ryo shakes her hand politely.
TUELLER: Tueller manages not to look uncomfortable at how much Ryo leering there’s been on Luna.
MILLICENT: “We were hoping to hear about the acquisition of your new Lexorian imaging suite and how you managed to snag those very rare parts, particularly, has anyone else been asking around about them?”
STORY: Gage stares at you a long moment, with a curious look on her face – like she’s trying not to fart. Finally, after a long silence, she bursts out laughing.
STORY: “Oh, I’m so sorry, I just – I can’t believe you’re here asking me for help. Sorry. All right. The axionic deflector shell, you mean? You’re here looking for Bilbo?”
TUELLER: Tueller makes an almost imperceptible movement.
TUELLER: A stiffled response.
RYO: Ryo smiles, impressed.
MILLICENT: Millie blinks.
MILLICENT: “Sometimes I forget that you also tested off the charts.”
MILLICENT: “It’s very annoying talking with someone who is nearly as clever as I am, I’m starting to sympathize with my colleagues.”
STORY: “Oh, the poor dears.”
RYO: Ryo shakes his head a little and adjusts his glasses. “Good to see that your confidence has fully returned, Doctor.”
TUELLER: Tueller coughs.
MILLICENT: “Shut up, tall handsomes.”
MILLICENT: “Yes, we’re looking for Bilbo.”
MILLICENT: “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to help out an alum from the same phd class?”
STORY: She nods. “Well, I’m very impressed. But I’m afraid you’re too late.”
STORY: She leans in. “I’d love to tell you about our work together, though.”
MILLICENT: “Oh would you?”
MILLICENT: “I bet you would.”
STORY: “I mean. Yes, I would. Would you like to hear about it?”
MILLICENT: “Yes, I would. Thank you.”
STORY: “Wonderful.” She brings up a diagram on the screen behind her. Millie, you immediately recognize that it’s a machine, at least partially designed to read brain waves.
STORY: “Bilbo came to me for a part, but I asked him why – and, well, we really got along. He’s an incredibly smart man.”
TUELLER: “Indeed.”
MILLICENT: “Oh goodness.”
STORY: “He’s interested in how an intelligence is absorbed within the Collective, and whether our ban on creating further AI extends to FHI. I reviewed the pertinent materials, and I believe we’re ethically in the clear. So, knowing he’d be forced to remain on the run as long as he remained in a physical existence, he and I worked to build – well, we don’t really have a name for it yet. We’ve been calling it Gertie.”
STORY: “Gertie’s job is to extract his full neurological map and translate it into code. You understand?”
MILLICENT: “Ceinwen.”
MILLICENT: “Please tell me you’re not trying to turn him into an FHI.”
STORY: She claps. “Isn’t it exciting?“
MILLICENT: Millie looks at the ceiling and audibly counts to 10.
MILLICENT: “Are you at all concerned that the Collective will, how shall I put this, kill us all?”
MILLICENT: Millie shoots eye daggers at Tueller.
STORY: “I don’t see why they would. Bilbo intends to join them immediately.”
MILLICENT: Millie sputters.
TUELLER: Tueller looks at Millie not quite following the eye daggers.
MILLICENT: “Did it ever occur to either of you that they might see this as, I don’t know, an invasion?”
TUELLER: “Oh they absolutely would.”
STORY: “Oh, please, Millie, where’s your sense of the unknown? Of adventure?”
MILLICENT: Millie turns to the two dummies in the room. “Bilbo’s trying to turn himself into code so he can join the AI collective.”
MILLICENT: Millie continues to sputter.
TUELLER: “Which the AI Collective would, I don’t know, transform the sun into a supernova in response to, because THAT’S WHAT THEY DO.”
MILLICENT: Millie points to Tueller.
RYO: “Oh, is that what Dr. Gage meant when she literally just said that? Thank you for the translation.”
TUELLER: “We were being quiet out of respect, not because we didn’t understand the supervillain plot.”
MILLICENT: Millie shakes herself out of it and address Ryo. “I. Listen, I don’t know how much science education you’ve had. I can only infer it’s less than mine.”
TUELLER: “But this is dangerously stupid and genocidal towards the solar system, which I actually still like, despite it all.”
MILLICENT: “I have to explain myself constantly to you neanderthals and I catch shade the first time it’s not needed?”
RYO: “You do seem to infer a lot, don’t you. For a scientist, it’s odd how little you rely on empirical evidence.”
TUELLER: “Doc,” Tueller says admoninshingly, “Come on, let’s focus here.”
MILLICENT: Millie shakes her head.
TUELLER: Tueller points towards Gage. “Let’s focus on the person who will cause the extinction of the human race.”
MILLICENT: “Fine, yes.”
MILLICENT: “Ceinwen.”
MILLICENT: “How does Bilbo intend to contact the Collective with his application?”
STORY: “As soon as Gertie’s finished with him, he’ll be online – and able to reach them.”
RYO: “Where is he now?”
MILLICENT: “He’s here, obviously.”
MILLICENT: “As the new head of xenobiology and practical surgery, Ceinwen could hide the power spikes needed to adjust the communicator.”
RYO: Ryo smiles thinly. “Well, Doctor, then obviously you should lead the way to him, since you seem to know where he currently is, so that we can stop this madness.”
RYO: Ryo gestures for her to lead the way.
MILLICENT: Millie stands. “Ceinwen, please take this from someone who knows. This is such a bad idea.”
MILLICENT: She reaches over and squeezes Dr. Gage’s elbow. “It’s okay, sweetie. Some day you’ll look back on this as a turning point.”
MILLICENT: “Tueller, disable Dr. Gage’s ability to call for help. Ryo, with me.”
STORY: She shakes her head, looking at you like you’re crazy. “Why would I allow you to stop our w– what?“
TUELLER: Tueller hits whatever looks like a communicator.
MILLICENT: Millie turns and heads out of the room, looking for the place where she would put a communication device powerful enough to reach the Collective.
STORY: Assessment + Expertise please!
MILLICENT: /roll 2d6 + 2
STORY: josh rolled 6 + 2 = 8
STORY: You find the room relatively quickly. You can see a smallish man inside the machine, prone, not moving. It’s on.
STORY: A large glass window and a locked door bar your entry to this room.
RYO: Ryo is with Millie.
RYO: He looks for something to break through the glass.
TUELLER: I’m with Gage, because that’s what Millie asked, but she can radio me if she changes her mind.
STORY: Ryo, there’s a cart with some equipment on it nearby, about hip height, looks liftable.
MILLICENT: Millie points.
MILLICENT: At the room they need to get into.
RYO: Ryo dumps the equipment heaves it through the glass.
STORY: Ryo! FA + Physique, please
RYO: /roll 2d6
STORY: ablair01 rolled 2
STORY: The cart bounces off the glass and rattles on the floor, its contents scattering everywhere.
RYO: Ryo looks at it for a long moment. Then adjusts his glasses. He looks a Millie and shrugs. “Other ideas?”
STORY: In Gage’s office, Tueller, the doctor becomes distraught. “Please – you have to listen to me, Tueller. If they take him out of that machine, they’ll kill him.”
STORY: “They need me if they want to safely shut it down.”
TUELLER: “Doc, Gage says you’ll kill him unless she helps you shut it down.”
MILLICENT: Millie grabs a chart from the pile on the ground and accosts a nurse who is gawking. “Got a light?”
TUELLER: To Gage, “Honestly, killing him isn’t the best thing but stopping him is the most important thing. Because the Collective will kill this system.”
STORY: The nurse shakes her head and moves along.
MILLICENT: To Tueller, “That’s what I’d say too.” Off-hand, “Although she’s probably right. I’ll do what I can do save your uncle.”
TUELLER: “And if we don’t stop him, you will have killed humanity. The only consolation you’ll have is that no one will know it was you or remember you at all.”
MILLICENT: She looks to Ryo, “What about you? I bet you’ve got a lighter, if only to light the cigarettes of desperate ingenues.”
TUELLER: “So if you’re serious about this, lead me there. But if you try to get away, then he’ll definitely die.”
STORY: She nods urgently, gets up, and hesitates before crossing in front of you – she’s clearly physically threatened by you.
RYO: He smiles. “I’m all about the ingenues, I’m afraid.” Then he goes about looking through the equipment that just spilled out of the cart for something that might light the paper.
STORY: There’s a pack of matches on the floor!
MILLICENT: Millie throws her hands up in the air and looks for two chemicals in the -oh good that’ll do
STORY: It’s just sitting there, like you’re in a Lucasarts adventure game
RYO: Ryo grabs them and lights one for Millie.
MILLICENT: Millie lights a chart on fire and hands it to Ryo. She points at a knob on the ceiling. “Hold this there.”
MILLICENT: She runs back to the door.
RYO: Ryo pulls a chair over and does so.
TUELLER: Tueller follows Gage, hopefully to the right place.
TUELLER: “Lets go Gage.”
RYO: “Is this just to see me wet, Doctor?”
MILLICENT: “I am not one of your desperate ingenues.”
RYO: “Oh, they are never desperate.”
MILLICENT: “This is a hospital. All the doors unlock in case of fire.”
STORY: Within seconds, the fire alarm is going off, sprinklers on, and Gage running through a wet hallway towards you. Millie, your hunch pays off – when the fire alarm goes off, the doors all unlock, a safety feature the Luna hospitals all include.
STORY: Gage arrives just as you open the door to Bilbo’s room. You see a live console counting down – there are eleven seconds left in the upload process. You have to act now, or not at all.
STORY: What do you do?
TUELLER: Tueller sees Bilbo and goes to pick him up.
STORY: He’s attached to many, many wires.
TUELLER: If no one stops him, he’s going to literally rip him from the machinery.
MILLICENT: Millie runs in and hits the kill switch on this thing.
MILLICENT: No other priority.
RYO: Ryo steps aside, letting the others take the lead on this.
STORY: You do, and it does. The machine powers down and Gage slides down the door frame, weeping, as the water coats all of you.
STORY: Bilbo’s vitals fade, then stop returning any data.
TUELLER: Tueller rips Bilbo out as this happens.
MILLICENT: Millie tries to save him.
STORY: He’s dead before Tueller touches him, Millie. There was no way he could survive a shutdown without the proper process.
STORY: So, remember the fake name you used to check in your ship?
STORY: If they find out you pulled this fire alarm, they’re probably going to have some questions about that.
STORY: Also, you just killed a guy.
STORY: What do you do?
MILLICENT: Millie leans back from Bilbo, turns to the terminal. She erases the parts of the code only a genius could write. She can’t stop herself from taking note of them, but she erases them. And she leaves enough that the forensic computer department should be able to tell what was going on here without being able to duplicate it.
STORY: Done
TUELLER: “Gage, you should come with us. With Bilbo. We can talk in more detail about exactly what you did. I swear, you’re going to want to have this conversation.”
TUELLER: “Doc you’re going to hate this, but Dr. Gage needs to understand.”
MILLICENT: Millie uses Scapegoat to extricate Ceinwen from the repercussions of this. This was Bilbo’s fault.
STORY: “Fuck you! You just destroyed the greatest project I’ve ever – I will ever work on!”
TUELLER: “No, if you come to us, you can meet AI and understand the project even further.”
RYO: “Doctor Gage, your project may not be over.”
TUELLER: “And not make the mistakes you don’t know you made.”
STORY: “I’m not coming with you, I’m waiting for security to get here so I can tell them all about what you just did.“
MILLICENT: /roll 2d6 + 2
STORY: josh rolled 3 + 2 = 5
STORY: Well, the good news is, Bilbo’s dead, so it doesn’t really matter that he knows you did it.
STORY: But you’re not able to hide the evidence of Gage’s involvement.
MILLICENT: “Ceinwen, listen to me for a moment, please.”
MILLICENT: Millie pushes the terminal away and faces her.
STORY: It’s loud in here, with the alarms and the water, but Gage is shouting above it. “Don’t take another step towards me or I’ll scream loud enough for all the patients in this WARD to come running.”
STORY: “You’re going to pay for this, Breedlove! I knew you were jealous of my work! I knew it!”
STORY: “And now you’ve killed a man to prove it!”
MILLICENT: “I’ve been right where you are.”
RYO: “Tueller?” Ryo looks at him, “We don’t have time for this.”
TUELLER: “Ryo,” Tueller says, and then points at his ring.
MILLICENT: “I swear to anything you’ll believe.”
RYO: Ryo nods. He uses the ring to knock her out.
STORY: FA + Physique, please.
MILLICENT: “Come with me now or else you’re going to forever jail.”
RYO: /roll 2d6
STORY: ablair01 rolled 8
STORY: You knock her out, but to complicate things, she screams bloody murder the moment you start moving towards her. Someone is going to be here in seconds.
STORY: You’ve got an unconscious doctor, a dead fugitive, a fire alarm, a lot of water, and the three of you.
TUELLER: “Time to go. Leave her.”
STORY: What do you do?
RYO: “I think we should take her, but . . . ” Ryo is already moving to the nearest exit.
TUELLER: Tueller leaves Bilbo behind.
MILLICENT: Millie pauses for a moment, looking down at Ceinwen.
MILLICENT: “I tried, dear. I hope someday you’ll see like I did.”
MILLICENT: “Come on, boys, shuffle it!”
STORY: You rush out, but the fact that you bailed immediately and your Crime Instincts guide you well and you manage to avoid any security attention. You make it back to your ship wet but unaccosted.
TUELLER: “Millie, you need to tell everything to Randd immediately. I don’t care if she comes after me. Gage cannot start up again.”
TUELLER: “Let’s try to go back to the Ark.”
MILLICENT: Millie nods, reluctantly.
MILLICENT: “I agree, I just.”
MILLICENT: “I got a second chance.”
TUELLER: “You’re a better person than her.”
MILLICENT: She sighs. “Get out of here. I’ve got to make a call.”
MILLICENT: “Admiral Randd. Pleased to see you. I hope you’re doing well.” She smiles weakly and relates what she knows.
TUELLER: Tueller goes and sits in his room for a little bit with the door open. He just sits with his hands clasped together, breathing in and out regularly.
STORY: Randd accepts your information, pointedly does not ask where you got it, and signs off quickly. She wishes you well and asks that you not contact her again until you have sorted out your legal entanglements.
MILLICENT: There’s a scene of Ryo coming into an empty mess with just Millie in it. There are two glasses of whiskey at the table. “Mr. Hanaka, come in, I have something I wanted to tell you.”
RYO: Ryo enters and takes a seat.
MILLICENT: “Regarding the indiscretions of youth…”
MILLICENT: Millie spills her past with the Collective.
MILLICENT: “I felt it was time you knew.”
RYO: Ryo listens attentively. After a pause, he nods once. “I’m grateful you confided in me. Surprised, perhaps. But grateful.” He raises the glass to her.
RYO: “To the indiscretions of youth and the wisdom to try to set them right.”
MILLICENT: Millie nods and drains her glass. “I suppose so. I just wish I could have given her a second chance.”
TUELLER: Tueller comes out after awhile.
TUELLER: “Hey. You guys are my surrogate conscience right now because I didn’t actually grow one while a kid. So I need a hand.”
MILLICENT: “Lay it on me.”
RYO: Ryo refills the glasses. When Tueller walks in, he gets a third and fills it, passing it to him.
TUELLER: “I was supposed to bring Bilbo back, with the hopes that they take him rather than me, and obviously I didn’t. And I feel like I should still take credit for his death and also if I tell everyone what he was doing people will respect me for stopping that and, you know us saving mankind but that seems like maybe a bad thing to do, to point out that humanity might have been wiped out there.”
TUELLER: “So. Uhhh.”
MILLICENT: “Well, I’d call it half a feather in your cap.”
RYO: Ryo looks a Millie. Then at Tueller. “I don’t think that it’s your responsibility to protect humanity from the fear that it might destroy itself. I think that if your attorney believes you can benefit from having been there, from having helped stop doom, and from bringing your uncle to some sort of justice, you absolutely should use it.”
MILLICENT: “Sure, absolutely.”
RYO: “I am, by the way, sorry about your uncle.”
MILLICENT: “The question is.”
TUELLER: Bilbo is an Indian guy.
STORY: Not even remotely related.
MILLICENT: “Esinam?”
TUELLER: “I don’t know.”
TUELLER: “I don’t know how to take her. At all. She has an entire moon to herself. And I’ve never been able to best her.”
MILLICENT: “The good news is, champ, this time you’re not alone.”
RYO: “It would, if we could apprehend her, set you free.”
TUELLER: “I’m…I have my sense of fear back. And it’s raging.”
RYO: “It’s not my call, but I think that the reward is worth the risk. At least for you.” He pours another round of drinks. “For me . . . ” He smiles and then drinks his.
TUELLER: “I can’t. Let’s go back to the Ark and take my lumps.”