TUELLER: “So the plan is to put us in the system as new hires, go in, ace our interview, and then take the Director, some unspoken fifth step, and then, profit!”
ALEJO: “It’s been a while, but seems like one of our better plans, honestly.”
TUELLER: “One of the best plans we’ve come up with in at least 18 months.”
MILLICENT: “It has six steps!”
MILLICENT: “I’m optimistic!”
STORY: Millie, Tueller – you stand, in boarding armor, near the edge of Peregrine’s cargo bay, the door open for docking, and you find yourselves looking at Alejo Soto, in a tan janitor’s jumpsuit, mopping the deck. He stands about thirty feet away from you in a large, empty room. He got a haircut.
TUELLER: Tueller senses Millie stiffening up when she sees him first, and comes up in a defensive stance.
TUELLER: “Huh.”
TUELLER: “Hi.”
ALEJO: Alejo looks at them for a moment. Then drops the mop.
MILLICENT: Does the boarding armor have a weapon on it?
TUELLER: Only if you’re carrying one.
MILLICENT: Millie exhales. It’s kind of a grunt.
MILLICENT: A puff of air.
MILLICENT: She’s genuinely speechless.
ALEJO: Alejo moves towards them. “You . . .” He shakes his head. Then he smiles hugely and moves faster. “Took your sweet time.” He is now at a full run, moving very, very fast.
STORY: You don’t hear any movement behind you, which is what makes it genuinely shocking when Calixta rushes past you, running between the two of you and colliding with Alejo, a knee raised for impact. Alejo, you weren’t ready for this, and she knocks you to the ground, pinning you with one knee on your neck and the other foot holding down your gun hand, her full weight on your chest, holding you down. She looks down at you, and announces casually, “What’s the best way to the train station?”
STORY: It’s your passphrase.
MILLICENT: Millie makes a surprised noise.
TUELLER: Tueller was lowering himself to brace for impact himself and is wrongfooted by everything now.
TUELLER: “Forgot what this was like.”
ALEJO: “With your right hand tied behind your back.” He smiles at her, and then reaches up with his free arm and hugs her knee and leg awkwardly.
MILLICENT: Millie makes another surprised noise.
TUELLER: “That’s…a non sequitur.”
MILLICENT: Another noise. It’s becoming a Tim Allen retrospective.
ALEJO: “Nice move, sis. But you can get off me now, please.”
STORY: Calixta looks dumbstruck and grabs the hand that’s under her foot, pulling back the sleeve to inspect your wrist – confirming the scar from your bouldering accident on Europa is still there.
STORY: She stands suddenly.
STORY: “Wh–”
STORY: She isn’t in boarding armor. Must have run down here in a hurry.
STORY: She pulls her hair back from her face, drops it again, pacing. “What the fuck?”
MILLICENT: Millie audibly inhales through her nose, exhales through her mouth. It sounds tinny and hollow through the suit.
ALEJO: Alejo kips up. “I know. I’m Schroedinger’s cat. Or some shit.”
TUELLER: “When did we last see each other, Ejo?”
TUELLER: Tueller has eased up out of his deep crouch.
ALEJO: “On our way to Chandra’s. To rescue Kahn and Millie.”
STORY: Calixta turns to you, Millie, pointing at Alejo, asking wordlessly for you to science explain this.
MILLICENT: She shakes her head and absently answers Calixta. “We saw bathrooms on the schematics. We knew it was crewed. Makes sense that the Collective would just recycle the DNA info of sentients who’d passed through the relays recently instead of putting out a Help Wanted sign.”
STORY: Alejo, you hear someone walking down the hallway towards the door opposite you. You’ve got maybe five seconds before they arrive. Calixta hears it too, and slams her hand on the button that closes the airlock, which sllllllks shut behind you instantaneously. She grabs Millie and Tueller by the straps on their chests and hauls them against the wall alongside the door, hoping to keep the three of them out of sight from whoever is coming.
STORY: She puts a finger to her lips silently, looking at Tueller and Millie to be sure they understand.
TUELLER: Tueller goes with Calixta, and helps Millie along as well.
ALEJO: Alejo grabs his mop and puts himself between them and the arriving person. He starts to mop.
MILLICENT: Millie grunts, but tries to stifle it and goes with it
STORY: The door slides open. On the other side is Bruce, a mechanic you know casually. He’s an amiable guy. He nods to you and starts to enter, but you block his way – and he sort of stagger-steps, waiting for you to move. “Alejo, how’s it going buddy? Mind clearing a path?”
STORY: He’s got his toolbox and belt.
ALEJO: “Bruce! How you doin’ buddy? Sorry, big spill in here. Give me a couple minutes and I’ll have it all cleared up for you?”
STORY: Alejo, make that a FA + Influence please!
ALEJO: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: ablair01 rolled 6 + 2 = 8
STORY: Bruce furrows his brow. “Spill? What kind of spill? This room’s always empty, man.”
ALEJO: Alejo shakes his head and frowns. “Yeah, totally my fault. I was careless and dropped some cleaner. Then like a fool, I put water on it, so it got slippery as shit.”
ALEJO: He shakes his head a smiles. “I should be better at this by now, right?”
ALEJO: He shrugs.
STORY: He nods. “Just what I was gonna say!” He slaps you heavily on the shoulder. “All right man, I gotta pee anyway – I’ll give you a few. Back in ten?” He looks at his wrist, where there’s no watch. “Ah, old habits.”
STORY: “Back in a bit, man.” He leaves his toolbox in the doorway and walks off, presumably to the bathroom.
STORY: The doorway stays open, leaving any conversation you have in this room potentially eavesdroppable.
STORY: What do you do?
ALEJO: Alejo spins and moves quickly back to the others. “Look, I know. Questions. Doubts. But we’ve got to get you out of sight. There are a lot of innocents here, and the management does not take stuff like . . . well, you breaking in lightly.”
MILLICENT: “Buh buh buh. Why you?”
STORY: There is a sudden and loud kaCHUNK as the station shifts slightly under your feet and you hear what all three of you immediately realize is the sound through that airlock of Peregrine detaching and departing.
MILLICENT: Whispered, “Who’s driving that?”
STORY: Calixta looks at the empty wall where the airlock door had been. “Oh, fuck.”
STORY: Then immediately to Alejo. “Where?”
ALEJO: “My quarters. It’ll be tight, but we can regroup there.” He spins and leads the way.
STORY: “I’ll take rear, GO.” Calixta gets ready to move.
TUELLER: “Lead on. Doc, on my ass.”
STORY: Alejo, you’re leading this – give us a FA + Mettle to see how you do.
MILLICENT: Millie nods and tries to move as quietly as possible given that she’s in boarding armor she doesn’t understand.
ALEJO: Alejo takes a familiar lead, using the signals that they practiced long ago.
ALEJO: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: ablair01 rolled 10 + 2 = 12
STORY: Ding! Tell me what happens!
ALEJO: Once outside of this room, Alejo moves them quickly past the bathroom where Bruce is. There’s a touchy moment when Bruce walks out, but Alejo has them past the door, and fortunately, Bruce doesn’t turn around. He just heads to the room. After that, things go smoothly. It’s one floor up and a few twisty hallways away, but they navigate it without running into anyone. He opens the room, which barely fits them all, and slides the door shut behind them. He’s standing very close to Tueller now. He cranes his neck up, smiles at him, and gives him a warm nod. “It’s so, so good to see you friend.”
TUELLER: Tueller gives him a warm enthusiastic hug.
TUELLER: He doesn’t say anything, but cries.
ALEJO: Alejo laughs, his eyes watering as well. He hugs Tueller back for a long time.
STORY: Does he take his mop and bucket with him?
ALEJO: He takes the mop.
ALEJO: He pushed the bucket up against the wall in the room.
MILLICENT: Millie is shedding her boarding armor gloves and helmet, with some difficulty.
STORY: Calixta’s in the back. She reaches past Millie and pushes them both against Tueller to try to reach Alejo for a hug. Millie, your helmet donks against the back of Tueller’s armor.
ALEJO: Alejo sees this, gives Tueller a final squeeze, and then finds Cali for a hug.
STORY: She eventually just ducks down and goes through Tueller’s legs.
ALEJO: “Thank you,” he whispers to her and then lets her go. Then he looks at Millie for a long moment. He’s now close to her.
MILLICENT: Millie finally gets detangled from the boarding armor and pushes Calixta aside and looks defiantly up until Alejo’s eyes.
STORY: Calixta clocks the change in temperature, and hollers out from behind Tueller, who is really way too large for this room. “NOT WHILE WE’RE ALL IN HERE PLEASE”
STORY: “I KNOW THIS FEELS URGENT BUT I CAN LITERALLY SMELL TUELLER’S BREATH OKAY”
STORY: “AND HE IS IN A SPACE SUIT”
STORY: Tueller, you have to tilt your head to avoid hitting the ceiling. This room is barely larger than a closet.
MILLICENT: She, not that she will tell anyone this, matches the freckles in his eyes to her memories, then she leans into him and breathes in deeply through her nose. She is crying, but just with her eyes. She holds him as tightly as she can manage given the small space and cramped quarters.
ALEJO: He hugs her tight, tears now streaming down his face. He laughs and cries. But he doesn’t stop hugging her.
STORY: Calixta looks up at Tueller, bent neck and all. Conspiratorially, “What’s going on over there?”
TUELLER: Tueller is trying to be as out of the way as possible.
STORY: That mostly means being in Calixta’s way, and she’s already leaned back with half her butt on the sink.
TUELLER: “You died, Ejo.”
MILLICENT: “Don’t think this means I’m not going to run every test at my disposal on you. I just.” She can’t speak anymore, just cries and hugs.
STORY: “We watched you die.”
ALEJO: He laughs. “I so want you to run all the tests. All of them, several times. Please.”
STORY: “Cinco.”
STORY: “We watched you die.”
STORY: “What the fuck happened?”
MILLICENT: “You have to tell us.” Hiccup. “Everything that happened.” She says this while still hugging, still crying.
TUELLER: “We know what happened. He died. He was cloned. Here he is.”
ALEJO: He shakes his head. “I don’t remember that. But I don’t doubt it. Tux doesn’t remember dying either. He lost a lot of time.”
TUELLER: Quietly. “Oh shit.”
TUELLER: “Anyone else here?”
TUELLER: “We know?”
STORY: The door slides open, and four heads turn to the doorway to see Tux standing in the hallway. His eyes widen, then he looks to his right and you hear someone greet him. “Hey!” he nods, unnaturally cheerful, moving quickly into the room and closing the door behind you.
STORY: There are now five people in a closet that should reasonably fit two.
STORY: It’s getting warm.
STORY: “New friends, Soto?”
MILLICENT: Millie reaches over, unwilling to leave her hug with Alejo, trying to pull Tux in. This doesn’t work so she pats him on the shoulder.
STORY: You can definitely reach his shoulder, everyone’s smooshed together. “Hi, nice to meet you ma’am.”
ALEJO: “Hey Tux. You might not remember Millie.” Alejo sort of half gestures with an elbow as Millie does this.
MILLICENT: Millie straightens.
STORY: “M– wait, these are your friends from outside?”
MILLICENT: “You don’t know who I am.”
ALEJO: “Tux doesn’t remember New Vista.” He gives Millie a sympathetic look.
ALEJO: “But I’ve told him the big beats of what happened.”
MILLICENT: “Did Tux travel with us through a relay?”
MILLICENT: “After we picked him up?”
ALEJO: “Before, I imagine.”
STORY: Tux is starting to sound panicky. “Soto – how did these people get here?”
ALEJO: “Don’t panic, buddy. This is our rescue. We’re gonna be alright.”
TUELLER: “Okay, I think we should focus on big broad points of interest here and then fill in the gaps later.”
STORY: “Rescue? What?”
STORY: “How the fuck did they get here?”
ALEJO: “Tueller is absolutely right. This room isn’t big enough for long talks.” He cranes his head to look at Tueller. “I’m not sure. How did you get here?”
TUELLER: “Peregrine.”
ALEJO: “Where is ‘here’, by the way? I mean, we call it Purgatory. For . . . obvious reasons.”
TUELLER: “The Sol jump relay. The relays take copies of everyone who goes through. And occasionally makes those copies.”
STORY: Tux just looks knocked cold.
MILLICENT: “Right. But why occasionally?”
TUELLER: “What do y’all do here?”
MILLICENT: “Wouldn’t it make sense to make copies every time to maximize educational and advancement opportunities?”
ALEJO: “Well, if that’s what . . . I am. Tux put me on a list, right, Tux?”
TUELLER: “Sentient beings are expensive, resource-wise.”
STORY: “I just…”
STORY: Calixta groans from her spot half-perched on the sink. “Could we maybe prioritize finding a safe way out of this room?”
ALEJO: “Oh, and the dragon ships are here.”
STORY: “We know.”
MILLICENT: “Unless they scan the memories of the subjects as they jump and don’t update copies with versions that have learned too much or might otherwise have reason not to be compliant.”
STORY: “HEY!”
STORY: “MY ASS HURTS, COME ON.”
MILLICENT: “Right, sorry, dear.”
ALEJO: “Yeah. Way out.”
TUELLER: “Dragon ships.”
MILLICENT: Millie holds up a hand.
MILLICENT: “Let’s regroup.”
TUELLER: “Peregrine uncoupled.”
MILLICENT: “We didn’t come for you two, as pleased as I am to see you both.” A tear comes down, but she continues.
MILLICENT: “We came to get proof of what the AI Collective is doing with the relays.”
MILLICENT: “We’re not leaving here without it.”
STORY: Calixta grunts and adjusts her position. “From the schematics we had access to, if there were a dragon ship onboard right now it would’ve been attached to the same airlock we hooked up to. So without a way to contact Peregrine, we’re stuck here for now anyway.”
STORY: “Which means we need cover. Cinco, what have you got?”
ALEJO: “For now, let’s get to the conference room on L3. It’s small too, but bigger than this. Nobody ever uses it. Or I’ve never seen anyone use it. It’s close. Ish. Then we can talk about your proof, but I think we might have something on that front too.” Alejo moves towards the door, squeezing by Tueller.
ALEJO: “Tux. Can you step out and make sure that the hallway is clear, please?”
STORY: Tux nods. “Miss on the sink, check the panel just behind your right elbow, there might be a spare suit in there. You’ll attract less attention in a uniform.”
STORY: Tux hits the door button and it slides open. He steps outside.
STORY: Two knocks on the door. All clear.
STORY: Calixta opens the panel and finds a tan jumpsuit Tux’s size, which means it’ll fit only her.
STORY: “What about these two?”
ALEJO: Alejo nods to Tueller, who is the closest, to step out. Once he’s out, the rest of us can move more freely.
TUELLER: Tueller unsardines out of the room.
TUELLER: Checks both ways.
TUELLER: “What type of response is appropriate if we run into others, Ejo?”
ALEJO: “We’ll keep them out of sight as best we can. I can find them jumpsuits, if we need them, after we get to the conference rom.”
STORY: Tux looks up at you, Tueller. “Let’s not run into anyone.”
TUELLER: “My preference, too.”
STORY: Alejo, Calixta grabs your arm as the room is clearing out, and cocks her head to get you to stay a moment.
ALEJO: “Let me and Cali try to smooth it over. If that doesn’t work . . . ” Alejo shrugs. “Knock ’em out. Like I say, most of the people here are innocents, so let’s not kill ’em.”
MILLICENT: To Tueller, sotto voce, “What a small room.”
TUELLER: “He’s lived in smaller.”
ALEJO: Alejo lets the others exit and holds.
STORY: She slips off her shoes and climbs into the jumpsuit. “She hasn’t been the same since we lost you. None of us have.”
STORY: “I’m glad to have you back. But be gentle with us. With her especially. Okay? We need to survive this.”
ALEJO: He smiles softly. “We really do.”
STORY: “Okay. Also I’m Noma now too. I’ll explain later.”
STORY: She zips up her suit, opens the door, and steps out into the hallway with the other three.
ALEJO: “Thank you for . . . ” He trails off, tilts his head for a second, then shrugs as she walks out. “Badass.” He smiles and follows her.
STORY: Alejo, leading the way?
ALEJO: Yes.
STORY: FA + Mettle!
STORY: Sneak sneak sneak!
ALEJO: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: ablair01 rolled 11 + 2 = 13
STORY: Yeeeessssss
STORY: ALEJO IS BACK EVERYBODY
STORY: Tell us what happens!
MILLICENT: —there he is! there’s our guy!
ALEJO: Alejo takes point again. He’s smiling the entire time. The team moves quickly and quietly, with the exception of Tux, who isn’t great at stealth. But Tueller shepherds him along. They make it to the stairs, without issue. Then they head up two long flights. At Level 3, there’s a security guard strolling the hallways. But they deftly avoid him and get to the conference room without any problem. And, there’s a cart of leftover food outside, which they raid on their way into the room.
TUELLER: “Janitors and conference rooms was not what I expected here.”
ALEJO: Alejo sets a pot of coffee down in the middle of the conference room table.
ALEJO: “Yeah, it’s a strange ass place.”
STORY: Calixta flops down in a chair, one leg tucked under her and holding half a sandwich in her mouth as she re-ties a shoe.
TUELLER: “Coffee, dragons, AIs, and the resurrected.”
MILLICENT: “I must try the coffee. I have to know.”
TUELLER: “This is going to be something I work over with my shrink.”
MILLICENT: She pours herself a cup.
STORY: Tux stands fearfully near the door.
MILLICENT: How is it?
STORY: Sure, Millie gets a Close Up
ALEJO: Alejo raises his eyes at Tueller.
MILLICENT: how is it?
STORY: Oh, it’s fine!
STORY: It’s not, like, great. But it’s good.
STORY: Actually, the aftertaste is bad. Astringent, maybe… oily.
MILLICENT: “Hmmm.” She frowns. “Interesting.”
TUELLER: “Yes, I have a shrink. A lot’s changed.”
TUELLER: “We can go over THAT later.”
TUELLER: “You should see her. She’s great.”
STORY: Calixta’s eyes raise. “Oh.”
STORY: “She must have been flying the ship.”
MILLICENT: “That wasn’t you?”
ALEJO: “There’s a shrink flying our ship?”
STORY: “Or uncoupling the airlock. I can’t do both.”
MILLICENT: “Also when I asked for her qualifications she did not mention she could fly the ship.”
TUELLER: “Huh.”
MILLICENT: “That’s concerning.”
MILLICENT: “I’m concerned.”
STORY: Tux raises his hand. “I’m also concerned.”
TUELLER: “I’m tentatively building a case towards being concerned.”
TUELLER: “But that comes later.”
MILLICENT: “Wait, back in that closet you said you had proof of what they were doing here?”
STORY: “Who are you and what are you doing here and what the FUCK are we supposed to do to hide you?”
STORY: Tux steps forward, waving his hands in front of him. “No, first that. We need a plan. I’m not getting more people killed. I’m not getting US killed.” He looks over fearfully at Alejo.
TUELLER: “I don’t think we need Robert’s Rules of Orders here, but let’s take inspiration from the conference room and try to do this more systematically.”
TUELLER: “First, the situation. Then, the plan.”
MILLICENT: Millie nods.
ALEJO: Alejo puts a hand on Tux’s shoulder. “These are my crewmates. You met Tueller once. Hard to forget him. That’s Doctor Breedlove. I told you about her. She’s a genius. Smarter than you. And that’s my sister, Calixta. And Noma. Same person now. But the latter part is new to me. So, she’ll have to explain that part.”
STORY: Calixta waves to Tux. “Chandra knocked me on the head, not entirely his bad. Instead of letting me die, he asked Noma to help, fed her into the wiring we have in there – you know about that, right Cinco? – and she and I became me and we’re stuck together now. There’s also a part that lives on the ship that I can interface with but I can’t all fit in this body or on the ship anymore. It’s… flexible.”
ALEJO: Alejo nods at this. “Nice.”
TUELLER: “The situation that we know about here on the station is that the AI Collective copies people when they go through the relay and brings them back occasionally. You two are them. How many others are there here?”
MILLICENT: “We’re here because we found out about these places. And more than a year ago we landed on a planet where the babies that are born here go to live out their life in some kind of sociological experiment.”
ALEJO: He then looks at Tueller. Then Millie. “Quantum entanglement.” He says this knowingly. Then smiles and laughs. “No idea what the fuck that means. But . . . ” He takes off his shoe and retrieves a piece of paper. He unfolds it and slides it to Millie.
TUELLER: “Definitely more than a year. I spent over a year in jail.”
MILLICENT: Millie examines it
ALEJO: “Duplication?” He corrects himself and looks at Tux for help.
MILLICENT: Absently, “Maybe two years.”
STORY: Tux points to the equation copied onto it. Millie, you recognize it as well.
MILLICENT: She frowns.
TUELLER: Tueller takes a look at it on the off chance that he knows it.
STORY: That’s why the clones have their memories, their scars.
STORY: Alejo wasn’t grown, he was copied. This is him, the same one. And so was the one who came to rescue you and died on Alpha Centauri.
STORY: They opened the box, and instead of a dead cat or a living cat, it was both.
STORY: Tux clears his throat. “I think the way it must work is–”
MILLICENT: Millie kicks a chair
MILLICENT: “Goddammit.”
MILLICENT: She throws her coffee against a wall
STORY: Tux jumps.
ALEJO: Alejo’s eyes widen slightly. He looks at Millie and then Tux, awaiting an explanation.
MILLICENT: “The jump relays don’t move you, they don’t move anything but data! They break you down into data, including your brain wave activity. So it’s a perfect copy of you at the state of the jump. But they’re not just sending the data, they’re making duplicates. Every single fucking time we used a relay they made a carbon copy of us down to the farts.”
MILLICENT: “This means two things: we have no idea what they’re doing with our duplicates and the Collective have an ansible.”
TUELLER: “We are the duplicates.”
STORY: Tux shakes his head.
STORY: “Not possible.”
STORY: “That’s impossible.”
MILLICENT: “They can perfectly send data faster than light.”
STORY: Calixta nods. “That’s science fiction, Millie.”
MILLICENT: Millie looks at Tueller. “We’re not the only duplicates.”
TUELLER: “And the originals sometimes keep around.”
TUELLER: “Well, the older copies by this point.”
TUELLER: “I’ve jumped two dozen times, at least. Which means I’m Tueller Mark 24, at the least.”
MILLICENT: “Not sometimes. If this algorithm is correct then it means that by-product of the transmission is a perfect duplicate at or near origin every time. In addition to the traveler.”
ALEJO: “Holy…” Alejo sits.
STORY: Tux stops leaning on the table, standing, pacing a bit. “This can’t be.”
STORY: “This can’t be. It’s impossible. Ansible technology would revolutionize… everything.”
STORY: “Why would they keep it to themselves? Why do this whole rigamarole to hide what they’re doing?”
MILLICENT: “Because it would make the jump relays less valuable.”
MILLICENT: “And they need them for. Something.”
STORY: Calixta laughs. “That’s your question? I want to know what they’re doing with the copies.”
STORY: “Where are the other 23 Tuellers?”
MILLICENT: Millie nods. “We need to know what they’re up to.”
MILLICENT: “And if the answers should be here.”
ALEJO: “Mopping fucking floors?” Alejo sits back.
TUELLER: “It does seem like a lot of work to make janitors.”
TUELLER: “And…what do you do, Tux?”
STORY: “I’m also a janitor. It’s not all janitors, though.”
MILLICENT: “We’re going to need to get to the control room. To the centralized database. We should be able to figure out where the copies are going from there.”
ALEJO: “There’s a gigantic computer bank here. Largest I’ve ever seen.”
ALEJO: “That’s where we got that.” He points to the paper.
TUELLER: “What’s our security like here?”
STORY: Tux runs his hands through his hair, not believing his situation. “Twenty guys, give or take. They never let us see the whole staff all at once, but I think there might be a hundred people here.”
ALEJO: Alejo shrugs. “Twenty-five. Moderately armed.”
TUELLER: “Twenty-five guys. Just humans? No mechs or anything like that?”
ALEJO: Alejo shakes his head. “Not that I’ve seen. And I’ve seen most of this place, I think.”
MILLICENT: “Who’s in charge? Is there an AI here?”
TUELLER: “I do not understand this place at all.”
ALEJO: “The Director. That’s who’s in charge. I’ve only seen him a handful of times. Tux, what else do you know about him?”
TUELLER: Tueller shakes his head. Tueller is not his normal self. He seems very lowkey.
STORY: Tux shakes his head, a blank look. “Nothing. We only see him during our initial interview and then at… all staffs.” He looks very uncomfortable with the last bit.
ALEJO: “All staff meetings occur when they kill someone.” Alejo says this softly.
TUELLER: “Okay. That’s what I was waiting for. This place isn’t a hotel, it’s a prison, and not a good one.”
ALEJO: “Yeah.”
TUELLER: “The enforcers are also inmates? Or are they the jailers as well?”
STORY: “What’s the difference?” Tux is staring into the middle distance.
ALEJO: “Tux, tell us more about the list you put me on. When I first arrived, you said you’d put me on a list.”
STORY: “It was just a prompt. I snuck into the server room, I found an open machine. Someone was coming, the prompt was asking for a UUID. I needed help. I knew yours.”
STORY: “I guess it was a manual entry point to seek out people to pull from the general list of travelers.”
MILLICENT: “Tux, what did you need help with?”
STORY: “I… wanted to be rescued.”
TUELLER: “You can make requests? Excellent.”
MILLICENT: Millie nods, gently, “We can help with that. But we need your help first.”
MILLICENT: “You are one of the most courageous men I’ve ever met.”
STORY: Tux looks angrily at Tueller. “We’re not putting anyone else on that list. Not to bring them here.”
TUELLER: “Of course not. For one, we’re not waiting around that long.”
STORY: He looks, confused, back at Millie. “I’ve known you an hour, lady.”
STORY: “I think you’ll find I’m a big coward.”
STORY: Calixta has been zoning out, stuck inside her head. She’s tapping a finger on her bent leg.
MILLICENT: “I knew you for a while out there. You found something you believed in and you didn’t let anything get in the way of protecting it.”
ALEJO: “Tux!” Alejo looks at him annoyed. “Stop it. I’ve already told you this. And you damn well are smarter than this. Another apparently perfect copy of you knew Millie. So just be less of an ass, okay?”
MILLICENT: Millie holds up a hand to Tueller, leans in to Tux. “You can do this and we need you. It’s time to step up.”
STORY: Calixta clears her throat. “Do what?”
STORY: “What’s our plan?”
STORY: “We can’t hide in conference rooms until someone finds us.”
TUELLER: “25 kapos and no other back-up?”
STORY: “We don’t know that.”
STORY: “No visible back up isn’t the same as no back up.”
ALEJO: “I think we break back into that server room and figure out what he can about what’s happening to the copies.”
STORY: “That’s what we want. It’s not how we do it.”
TUELLER: “Goals aren’t plans.”
STORY: “How do we get Tueller, Millie, and I some cover so we can stop hiding in closets?”
MILLICENT: “A distraction on the other side of the station?”
STORY: “A distraction only works if we have an exit strategy.”
STORY: “We need long haul safety.”
STORY: “We have no idea how long we’re going to be here, but we don’t currently have a way out.”
ALEJO: “What was your original exit strategy?”
MILLICENT: “Peregrine.”
TUELLER: “Hopefully Peregrine is within hailing slash docking distance, but yes, we can’t count on that.”
ALEJO: “Maybe have a better exit strategy next time?”
ALEJO: He smiles.
TUELLER: “We didn’t expect our ship to leave us.”
STORY: Calixta throws her sandwich wrapper at you, Alejo. It bops you on the back of the head.
TUELLER: “I’m going to have to have a conversation with my therapist about this, one way or another.”
MILLICENT: “If we can get to that control room even if the Peregrine is gone we should be able to hail a ship that’s still in that queue.”
ALEJO: “Okay, we can get jumpsuits and keep you hidden for awhile, but that’s not going to fly for more than a couple of days, so priority one is figuring out a way out of here, I agree.”
MILLICENT: “Do you know a captain in the ’verse that would turn down a request for a ride from a relay?”
TUELLER: “Doc, we had to assemble special docking materials for the dock, and know exactly where to go.”
STORY: Tux clears his throat. “They don’t have beds.”
TUELLER: “We have coffee!”
TUELLER: “And you have rooms.”
STORY: “What I’m saying is, there’s nowhere for you to go.”
STORY: “Yes, we have our room, which demonstrably does not fit all of us.”
TUELLER: “Oh you were SHARING that room?”
TUELLER: “Yikes.”
ALEJO: “We can sleep in shifts. This place is pretty quiet, and we know the routine. Like I said, we can’t hide everyone for long, but we can make it work for a couple of days.”
TUELLER: “Well, yikes.”
STORY: “And if someone notices we don’t belong?”
ALEJO: “Yeah. I know. It’s small.” He uses sotto voce and smiles at Millie. “Yeah, I heard that.”
STORY: “Three new janitors don’t just materialize.” Calixta finishes her sandwich.
MILLICENT: “Are there any spacesuits on board? You must have to do external maintenance from time to time?”
STORY: Tux shakes his head. “Maintenance crew, maybe. We’re strictly clean up and restocking.”
ALEJO: He raises a hand. “Jesus. I forgot how intense ya’ll are!” He smiles.
TUELLER: “I’m coming off intense? Oh man, I’m sorry.”
TUELLER: “I’m working on that.”
MILLICENT: “So, if there are spaceships we can make it to a ship.”
MILLICENT: Millie turns to Calixta. “Do you ever get the feeling no one can hear you?”
STORY: Calixta puts out a hand. “Millie.”
ALEJO: “No, you’re actually super chill. I’m really impressed!”
STORY: “You’re trying to solve step five.”
STORY: “We’re on one.”
STORY: “How do we stay on this thing long enough to get done what we want to get done without getting caught?”
STORY: “We’re not at the escape yet.”
MILLICENT: “Why should we stay longer than an hour? I don’t understand why we’re planning an overnight.”
MILLICENT: “We have work to do.”
TUELLER: “Well, let’s just put down what we want to get done.”
TUELLER: “Go to the server, get what we need, broadcast what we need, get out? Right?”
TUELLER: “Not get killed or kill anyone else while doing it, if we can.”
ALEJO: “Goals.” Alejo smiles at this. “Love ’em.”
MILLICENT: “Right.”
STORY: Tux looks lost. “What do we need?”
STORY: “From the server?”
MILLICENT: “We need proof of what’s going on here. We need to know where the duplicates are going and preferably why. We need to find out ship or another so we can get out of here.
ALEJO: “Okay, so I appreciate the goals. I really do. But we’ve been stuck here for a year. I don’t know of any spacesuits. If I did, I’d have used them. I don’t know of any communications devices. Again. If I did, I’d have used them. Now maybe the server room will have some communication system that we can use, but I think that we need to be mindful that this isn’t an hour-long jaunt and then we get out of here. I mean, maybe. And if so, I’m the worst copied spy in the history of spying. But we need a backup.”
STORY: Tux looks exhausted. “We can’t even get in the server room without a passcode.”
ALEJO: “And that.”
MILLICENT: “Okay, let’s listen to the locals.”
MILLICENT: “We need a fallback.”
MILLICENT: “Is there anywhere on the station people avoid?”
TUELLER: “Because it’s unpleasant, not because it’s fatal.”
ALEJO: “So . . . Tux, you’ve been here longer than me. If you’ve got an idea, now’s the time.”
ALEJO: “The server room.”
STORY: Tux holds on to his head. “They’ll know.”
ALEJO: He says this matter-of-factly.
STORY: “If we go into the server room, someone’s coming. There must be a silent alarm or something. They were there too quickly last time.”
ALEJO: “Yeah, I agree. So, help me think about how we get out of here. If we have an escape plan that works, we can deal with the guards that come. I’m just at a loss about getting off this station. You got any ideas?”
ALEJO: “You used the server room before. Are there communications? Will Millie’s idea work?”
STORY: He shakes his head. “I don’t… I don’t know. But I don’t think so. This whole thing makes no sense. The security is just to keep us in line, there’s nothing keeping us here except… you know, the vacuum of space.”
STORY: “It must be in the tech. The real security must be once you start using the computer systems. This seems too easy.”
MILLICENT: “We’ve got something for that, but we’ll need Peregrine.”
STORY: He holds his head again. “But there wasn’t even a password on the terminal you used, Soto.”
STORY: “I don’t fucking understand.”
STORY: “But I bet I know who does.”
ALEJO: “The Director?”
STORY: Tux nods.
STORY: “The direct approach is going to get someone killed, no question.”
STORY: “But it’s going to get us answers too.”
ALEJO: “So, maybe a new plan. We kidnap the Director?”
STORY: “How do we get him? I never see him.”
ALEJO: “Well, what if I ask?”
TUELLER: “You’ve only seen him when you arrived, and when someone was going to be killed.”
ALEJO: “Yeah. And Tux says they don’t like questions. But if I make a ruckus and ask to see the Director — bait — we can draw him out. Trouble is that this could get messy.”
MILLICENT: “Wait, why are people killed here?”
STORY: Tux looks distraught. “That’ll get you killed, Soto. No.”
TUELLER: “Yes, we might see the Director when he comes for your execution.”
STORY: “No.”
TUELLER: “Perfect opportunity to grab him, and then all of us get killed too.”
MILLICENT: “Yeah, this idea sucks.”
ALEJO: Alejo sighs. “The woman whose code we used to get into the server room was killed for . . . using her code to get into the server room.”
STORY: Calixta picks at a nail. “What about the other time?”
STORY: “Arrivals?”
TUELLER: “We can put in a request for a new hire?”
STORY: Calixta touches her nose.
TUELLER: “And get him when he comes in for orientation?”
STORY: “Or we put ourselves in. Two birds.”
STORY: “Cover, and we get to meet the man.”
MILLICENT: “That means creating a copy of one of us.”
TUELLER: “Put ourselves in the system, and then BE the people added?”
STORY: Tux holds up a finger. “Wait.”
STORY: “You’re on to something.”
TUELLER: “That’d solve our rooming issue.”
STORY: “We don’t have to make a copy – we just have to make the system think you three are new arrivals.”
STORY: “I… think I could hack that.”
STORY: “I’d need help. And we need access to the right terminal.”
ALEJO: “Where is it?”
ALEJO: Alejo stands, ready to do this.
STORY: “Then you get onboarded as new crew. You’d have to pass the interview yourselves.”
MILLICENT: Millie purses her lips and nods.
MILLICENT: “So, we pass the interview and then we meet the Director?”
STORY: “He’s the last bit.”
TUELLER: “And then we grab him?”
STORY: “I guess so, yeah.”
MILLICENT: Millie nods. “Okay.
TUELLER: “Okay so there are points of this plan that I really like but I’m fuzzy on some of the details.”
TUELLER: “I like not all having to stay in Alejo’s room because there’s waaaay too much sexual tension in there for all of us.”
STORY: Tux scoffs. “We resolved that years ago.”
TUELLER: “Oh sweetie.”
ALEJO: Alejo smiles and shakes his head, glancing quickly at Millie and then away again.
ALEJO: “You’re worried about what we do with the Director after we have him?”
MILLICENT: Millie looks down, then back up thankfully.
MILLICENT: “I imagine we intimidate him into answering.”
MILLICENT: “Well, we.”
MILLICENT: “One of you spy tough types.”
TUELLER: “Do the new hires meet the Director together?”
STORY: “Not usually, but I don’t know if we’ve ever taken more than one person from a crew before.”
MILLICENT: She looks at Tux. “It seems like everyone these days has super spy training, have you ever noticed that?”
STORY: Tux nods. “I do computers.”
TUELLER: “I farm.”
MILLICENT: “Right, of course.”
ALEJO: “Really?” Alejo looks at Tueller, impressed. “Nice.”
TUELLER: “Cheese, mostly.”
ALEJO: “Alright, my biggest worry with this plan is that, once we nab the Director, we run the real risk of having all of the guards try to kill us. So, while I like this better than being the bait myself, seems like we sort of wind up in a similar place. Ideas about keeping that from happening?”
ALEJO: “Or are we hoping that he’ll just be able to tell us how to escape this place with enough time to avoid a fight?”
ALEJO: “Element of surprise and all.”
STORY: Calixta shrugs. “Protracted hostage situation?”
TUELLER: “Well our alternative is just accepting our place here in gen pop and figuring out a new plan from there.”
ALEJO: “Back to your worry about reinforcements, but yeah.”
ALEJO: “I think we don’t want to go the gen pop route. Believe me, this place isn’t as fun as it looks.”
MILLICENT: “So it seems like the Director is our best bet at leverage and a shot at figuring out where the Peregrine went.”
TUELLER: “It looks like the second worst prison I’ve been in, yes.”
ALEJO: “Agreed. And our backup plan is protracted hostage situation. I’ll think of a good place for us to hold out, if that’s what it comes to.”
TUELLER: “So the plan is to put us in the system as new hires, go in, ace our interview, and then take the Director, some unspoken fifth step, and then, profit!”
ALEJO: “It’s been a while, but seems like one of our better plans, honestly.”
TUELLER: “One of the best plans we’ve come up with in at least 18 months.”
MILLICENT: “It has six steps!”
MILLICENT: “I’m optimistic!”
TUELLER: Tueller looks at Alejo with a slightly wet eyed look, and then shakes his head and turns away.
MILLICENT: “So, we need a terminal.”
ALEJO: “I’ve missed this.” He smiles and looks at each of them. “A terminal. Yes.” He stands.
STORY: Tux exhales. “Okay. We need access to the server room, we need to find the right terminal, we need to get in and out clean. Separately. Soto, you need to get someone on the onboarding crew to owe us a favor, and deliver it.”
ALEJO: “Done and done. Well, the first one will be done. We need a code, yeah?”
STORY: “That person has to take these through whatever process it is new hires go through to get to the interview. I don’t remember anything before I found myself sitting in that room.”
STORY: “Yeah, we need a code. And listen, Soto. We may be fuckin clones, but these people are alive too. They deserve to live. Don’t get anyone killed with this shit.”
STORY: “Okay?”
STORY: “Don’t give me another reason to have nightmares.”
MILLICENT: Millie nods. “Everyone here is worth protecting. No killing.”
ALEJO: “Alright. So, a code from someone who won’t be killed and a huge favor from an onbaording crew member. Makes sense.”
STORY: Calixta puts a shoe up on the table, leaning back in her chair. “Yeah, and all that before someone comes into this room and finds us sitting here.”
STORY: “Still glad to see us?” She smiles.
TUELLER: Tueller also grabs Alejo by the shoulder. “Just so you know, when you died, it was my fault, and I’m not going through that again, so I’m definitely going first this time.”
ALEJO: Alejo meets Tueller’s eyes. Then he smiles. “I don’t know what happened, but I love you. I will always trust you to have my back.” Then he turns to Calixta. “Glad to see them, anyway.” He gives her a wry smile.
STORY: She winks at you.
MILLICENT: “So is anyone going to tell us where we’re going first or.”
STORY: Calixta stands. “All right, I need to stretch my legs. Which job is mine?”
ALEJO: “Alright, Cali, someone comes to this room, you’re the only one who looks like you might belong, so it’s on you.” He looks at Tux. “Well, you and Tux, but Tux isn’t great at lying so . . . ”
MILLICENT: Big smile.
STORY: “Leave Tux in here, I’ll get your code.”
STORY: “You two, get out of that armor, you look ridiculous.” She smiles, knowing she’s the one who told you to put it on.
STORY: She walks to the door, cracking her knuckles, shaking out her arms and legs, bending her neck.
STORY: “Wish me luck!”
ALEJO: He shrugs. “Be safe.”
STORY: “That was lukewarm, Cinco.” Calixta pushes the door button and slips out.
TUELLER: Tueller starts getting out of his armor, stacking it formally on the table.
ALEJO: He shakes his head after her. Then he looks at the others. “Family.”
MILLICENT: Millie starts taking off her boarding armor. “Are we really going to let her go alone?”
TUELLER: Soon he’s in a tank top and flannel pants.
ALEJO: “Well . . . yeah?” Alejo looks at her confused. “She’s got it covered.” He looks at them. “I don’t think you should wander around without jumpsuits. And we need that favor to make this work, so sit tight. Enjoy the coffee. I’ll be back soon. Tux, you keep them safe, alright?”
TUELLER: “Tux, we’ll keep you safe.”
STORY: Tux shrugs cartoonishly. “How the hell– yes, fine, I’ll keep them sa– thank you Tueller.”
ALEJO: Alejo gives Tueller a thankful nod. “Back in a flash.” He steps out.
STORY: Alejo! What’s your plan
ALEJO: Go to Maxine’s room. She’s one of the only people on the station that Alejo knows works in Onboarding.
ALEJO: And he’s eaten lunch with her precisely one time. So this should be interesting.
STORY: Maxine’s there, but due to the weird hours they have you working, she’s asleep. You know she’s also currently without a roommate.
ALEJO: Alejo knocks softly.
STORY: You hear movement inside, and a bleary-eyed Maxine answers the door in her jammies.
STORY: “Alejo? What…”
STORY: “Is everything okay?”
ALEJO: “I’m so, so sorry to wake you up. I . . .” He looks down and then back up at her, tears welling in his eyes. “I’m sorry. I can come back. Or . . . this was stupid. I’m sorry.”
ALEJO: He starts to turn away, but not very quickly.
STORY: “Oh my gosh, no, come in, come in. What’s going on?”
STORY: What’s the ploy here?
ALEJO: Well, maybe I should be clear about what favor we need. We need her to onboard our three people, right? That means she’s going to know that they aren’t ‘real’ new hires?
STORY: Correct!
ALEJO: Assuming so, the ploy is to first get her to trust Alejo. He’s going to talk about his memories, then see if he can get her to talk about hers. From there, he’ll build up trust and simply make the ask, if he thinks that she’s just an innocent who is here like he is. If, on the other hand, she’s loyal to this place, he’ll take a different tactic. But first, he’s going to try to decide if she can be an ally.
ALEJO: No time to build her up as a traditional asset.
STORY: She’s for sure an innocent, and she’s nervous about talking about any of this – she has that same sense of foreboding everyone has had instilled in them by the frequent executions.
STORY: So let’s do FA + Influence to see how you do!
ALEJO: I believe that I had a closeup from Ryo? May I use that here?
STORY: Sure!
ALEJO: /roll 2d6+3
STORY: ablair01 rolled 7 + 3 = 10
STORY: PHEW
STORY: SQUEAKS it in
ALEJO: –Yessss!
STORY: You speak for a few hours, and build her trust in you, and get her to share as well, and by the end you’ve hinted and nudged and moved her enough that she’s on Team Alejo. When you give the signal, she’s ready to fake the arrival of your three friends.
STORY: Tueller! Millie!
STORY: What do you get up to in this conference room?
TUELLER: Chatting, I guess.
STORY: It’s weird to talk to Tux, someone you know so well, who has only one memory of having briefly met you before, Tueller.
TUELLER: “You’ve been here quite awhile, haven’t you?”
STORY: Four years! He has no memory at all of Millie, and you gather that he was snatched up on his way to New Vesta.
STORY: He’s adapted well here, but it’s really maximized all his most cowardly instincts. He was a lot braver and bolder when he was hanging with your crew.
STORY: He’s curious about what you knew of him, and what his relationships with each of you were.
STORY: And bemused about Erwin, which Alejo told him about and he finds bizarre.
TUELLER: Tueller kind of fades back and let’s Millie take the lead on that.
MILLICENT: Millie tells him everything
STORY: He’s really charmed that you and he had a brief thing.
MILLICENT: She talks about how proud she’s been of how Erwin’s grown. She credits Tux.
MILLICENT: Her theme is simple and honest, he’s better than he thinks he is.
STORY: Oh, pish tosh
MILLICENT: She also says, probably an offensive number of times, how nice it was to have someone who was conversant in basic computer science (read: phd level esoteric knowledge)
TUELLER: “She doesn’t think my degrees count for anything.”
STORY: Let’s have a FA + Influence to see how well she convinces him to be brave.
STORY: Tux asks what kind of degrees you have and from where, and you can tell that he silently agrees with Millie on their merit.
MILLICENT: /roll 2d6 + 0
STORY: josh rolled 5 + 0 = 5
MILLICENT: haha
MILLICENT: hey fair
STORY: Tux seems flattered by your insistence that he’s a big damn hero, but utterly unconvinced.
TUELLER: Tueller is left just grumbling that the University of Callisto is the Ivy of the Outer Planets.
STORY: All right – about an hour in, Calixta returns, looking a little disheveled. She says she’s got the code, and also that she probably shouldn’t go out there again.
STORY: Anything else while you wait?
TUELLER: Nope. Tueller meditates for awhile.
STORY: All right! Alejo comes back after a few more hours. It’s just about time for the next shift to start waking up.
STORY: What do you do?
ALEJO: “All set on my end.” He looks at Calixta and before she does anything nods. “Looks like we’re ready for the next phase? Server room?”
STORY: Calixta nods. “Got a code off a security guard. Very… enthusiastic, that one.”
ALEJO: He smiles and raises his eyebrows. “Hmm.” He turns to the rest of them. “I think that this is all-hands on deck. Millie and Tux are up once we’re inside. I’ll get us in and out. Cali and Tueller have our exit, yeah?”
TUELLER: “Uh, I guess.”
MILLICENT: Millie nods. “Let’s go.”
ALEJO: Alejo goes.
STORY: You slip back to the server room! FA + Mettle to see how this heist goes!
ALEJO: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: ablair01 rolled 8 + 2 = 10
STORY: I keep waiting for Alejo to roll not 10
STORY: apparently it’s just not going to happen
ALEJO: –Not tonight!
STORY: Alejo leads the party over quickly and quietly, Calixta provides the code, and Tux and Millie are in. Calixta takes up a post outside the door, Tueller, what do you do?
ALEJO: –Alejo 2.0 has better luck than the original, so far.
MILLICENT: —Just tugging on Superman’s cape, ain’t we?
TUELLER: https://media1.tenor.com/images/d7dbdf8e69fad08b5b592128ab8bafbe/tenor.gif?itemid=5300513
TUELLER: Tueller slips in just inside the door, saying to Cali “Knock twice if you need me. Three if you really need me.”
STORY: She nods.
STORY: As soon as the door closes, you hear three knocks on it.
TUELLER: Tueller comes out lightning fast.
STORY: She holds up her hands defensively, smiling. “Okay, okay, kidding. Next time it’ll be for real.”
STORY: “You’re very fast for a guy that big.”
TUELLER: “I guess the boy who cried wolf story never made it out your way.”
STORY: “He had a good time until the wolf showed up.”
TUELLER: Tueller rests a hand on her shoulder for a moment as he goes back in. “Sure he did.”
STORY: As the door closes between you, a weird thought occurs to you. Wait. Is she flirting with you?
TUELLER: You didn’t really need to make that clear.
STORY: Millie!
STORY: Time to hack.
MILLICENT: yar
STORY: Ready?
MILLICENT: YAR
STORY: Oh, I forgot to describe this room! I forgot you guys haven’t read that session.
MILLICENT: Describe!
STORY: It’s dark, and vast, in here. It smells sterile and metallic. You doubt very much that any human has been in here in months, maybe years. Screens punctuate the wall roughly every 3 meters, and ladders lead up 5, maybe 6 stories, all with similar layouts – small two-foot-wide balconies in front of more rows and rows of screens. They’re on both sides of this hallway, and you look down another direction and see more and more. There must be thousands of machines running here. They all click and buzz silently, doing who knows what kind of work. Massive fans turn in the ceiling, and below you in the floor, keeping a moderate breeze going up throughout the entire space, carrying the hot air out and letting fresh cool air in. Your hair dances in the wind it creates.
STORY: Tux counts columns in his head, pointing to each as he does. “That one. Four in, third level. You get to that terminal and put in the UUID for the three of you. I’ll find the machine that enters us as recent arrivals.”
STORY: Alejo, what are you doing?
ALEJO: Alejo takes up a position near the terminal, listening and watching for any threat.
STORY: Millie! Let’s have FA + Interface please
MILLICENT: /roll 2d6 + 2
STORY: josh rolled 8 + 2 = 10
STORY: Damn!
STORY: You get them entered without incident, and zip back down to the entrance, where Alejo’s waiting, keeping an eye on things.
STORY: Tux is still somewhere, finding his machine.
STORY: After an agonizing couple of minutes in which no one dares speak, Tux comes back around the corner and gives you a thumbs up.
ALEJO: Alejo lets out a breath, smiles, and guides them to the exit.
STORY: As you exit, Tux catches sight of a security guard and breaks off from the group, acting as a distraction, greeting her with a friendly familiarity. “Jun! Hey, I meant to ask you…”
STORY:
STORY: Calixta exhales. “Onboarding?
ALEJO: Alejo nods and leads them quickly away from the guard and the distraction.
TUELLER: Tueller nods and doesn’t say anything else.
STORY: You meet up with Maxine, who’s prepared for you and has sent her partner away on some fake errand. She meets the three of you quickly and rushes you into a locker room, where you’re given showers and jumpsuits and she tells you to pretend you don’t remember anything between being on a space journey and sitting in the interview room. She talks you through the right ways to get through your interviews, and what your best shot is with each of the people who will be interviewing you, then calls you “comrades” and pats you each on the shoulder as she departs.
STORY: Alejo, there’s nothing left for you to do but return to your room and hope your friends make it through this alive.
MILLICENT: Millie does some breathing exercises
ALEJO: Alejo gives them one last look and a quick thumbs up, and then goes to his room.
TUELLER: Tueller meditates again. Uneasily.
STORY: Millie! You’re taken out first. That leaves Tueller and Calixta sitting together in the silence.
MILLICENT: Millie shuffles, is confused
STORY: Millie, they take you through some conversations about your experience, your capabilities, you get asked to work through a few proofs, and everyone seems very impressed. You’re told to wait for the Director to come meet with you but things look good.
STORY: Tueller, you’re taken to a gymnasium to go through some training exercises and be assessed as to your fitness as a guard.
STORY: You also do well, and are told to wait.
STORY: Calixta is taken to unknown places.
STORY: Millie, you’re cleaning off the whiteboard where you had drawn out your last proof when the door opens, and a man enters. His movements are familiar, immediately knocking down something deep in your gut.
STORY: Nikau Manaaki sits opposite you.
STORY: He looks shocked. “…Millie?”
MILLICENT: Millie falls down.
MILLICENT: Like, legs stop working falls down.
