STORY: Ryo straggles in and asks the nurse at the desk for an ice pack. She finds him one. He sits between Alejo and Tueller on the waiting bench.
STORY: “This is not how I expected my week to go.”
ALEJO: “It’s been something. I agree.” Alejo looks over to Tueller. “Being the boss suits you. I think you might just be ready for it. For real this time.”
STORY: “Jesus, no. Why do people keep offering me that job?”
STORY: “Under no circumstances do I want to run this planet.”
TUELLER: “I think he was talking to me.”
ALEJO: Alejo smiles.
TUELLER: “I have the same instinctive response.”
STORY: “Oh. Good. Yes.”
STORY: “Although it sounds like… I mean, what they’re doing in there? Maybe you don’t need to.”
STORY: “You know, if she’s coming out of there her normal self, you may want to be gone before she does.”
TUELLER: “I’m here for her. Good or bad.”
STORY: Tueller!
TUELLER: Yulp!
STORY: You hear a familiar clang as the door in the hallway that locks visitors in closes.
STORY: Alejo and Millie step into your view.
TUELLER: “Oh hey, deja vu.”
STORY: (It has been a few days)
TUELLER: “You got that stressed out lawyer with you?”
TUELLER: Tueller looks at them, pretty blase about being in a space prison on a volcano planet.
STORY: “Me?” Ryo calls from the cell next door.
STORY: “You know I’m in here, man.”
TUELLER: “Not you. The Ark lawyer who….nevermind.”
MILLICENT: “Oh yeah, I remember him.”
ALEJO: Alejo looks puzzled. “Since when are you a lawyer? I didn’t know . . .” He looks at Millie. “Did you know Ryo was a lawyer?”
MILLICENT: “Becker.”
TUELLER: “I deserved this. Nevermind. Anyway, hi, good to see you, you have any idea what’s going on here?”
TUELLER: “I’m glad they didn’t shoot you down at least.”
MILLICENT: “I assumed he went to law school, since business school is for primates and he has a passing ability to walk erect.”
ALEJO: “Yeah.” Alejo looks back at the door they came through. “Why is that? Exactly?”
STORY: Ryo mumbles, picking dirt off his boot. “I’m not licensed.”
TUELLER: “Ryo, the space lawyer businessman guy, is second in command. And possibly closer to actually in command.”
ALEJO: Alejo giggles. “Walk erect?” He whispers to Mille. “Really?”
TUELLER: “Except, ummm, Esi is…well, figurehead is the wrong word. She’s ostensibly in charge, but is a paranoid lunatic.”
TUELLER: “And I’m the heir.”
MILLICENT: “His posture is excellent.”
TUELLER: “Focus.”
MILLICENT: “Hmmm.”
MILLICENT: “Yes, right.”
TUELLER: Tueller brings his hands in the “focus on me” type gesture.
STORY: “Thank you, Dr. Breedlove.”
ALEJO: “Right.”
MILLICENT: “So.”
TUELLER: “Esi is in a bad shape, but designated me as heir to the Ya’Makasi… wait, Ryo, am I heir to the family, or all of the company?”
MILLICENT: Millie shakes her head a bit. “I need some help to give you help, Tueller. Are we supposed to pretend to be concerned for her or should we drop the pretense and convince you that you have a responsibility to take the reins of what amounts to a government away from a madwoman?”
STORY: “CJH. She’s been Chairman since everyone else went in the can.”
TUELLER: Tueller takes a deep breath.
ALEJO: He looks over at Ryo’s cell. “So. You need a plan now, I take it? After all that ‘we don’t need plan stuff?’” He smiles.
STORY: “I did not say you don’t need a plan. I said I wasn’t coming up with it.”
TUELLER: “Uh, Doc, do you think we’re being monitored right now.”
MILLICENT: “Oh, could be.”
ALEJO: “Esi is paranoid, apparently, and powerful. We’re being watched. Right?”
TUELLER: “Okay. Esi destroyed every terminal in her office and was going analogue. I’m not sure what that means. I’m primarily concerned about her mania–she thinks Sergio is trying to take over the company, which, uh, is almost definitely true. But she turned on me and she could order us shot.”
TUELLER: “Destroying all of her tech makes me suspicious, especially concerning our…ongoing concern, but mostly I just want to avoid us getting shot.”
STORY: Ryo pipes up. “There’s only like a… 45% chance that order would be carried out.”
ALEJO: Alejo takes a long breath and nods. Then he nods again. “Right. We’re not dead yet. So, she’s not turned on you as much as she could.”
ALEJO: Alejo looks over to Ryo’s cell. “Is that how we landed?”
STORY: Ryo nods.
ALEJO: “Does Esi likely know we’re here then? I mean, assuming that she’s got ears in here now, she might be a little slow to get the news if she’s really analogue.”
STORY: “One hundred percent, she knows you’re here.”
STORY: “She pays her own security staff extra – I haven’t been able to get in with any of them – and they keep her informed.”
ALEJO: Alejo nods. “So, that brings us back to . . . she’s not killed you or us, so she’s not . . . homicidally paranoid yet. And you said she named you her heir?”
TUELLER: “According to the lawyer over there, yes.”
MILLICENT: Could we have asked Dr Bolano for advice about dealing with paranoid people before we came?
MILLICENT: Because Millie just has no ground under her feet here
STORY: Sure, what would you have wanted her to tell you?
MILLICENT: How to deal with paranoid people? Is there anything we could do that Esi wouldn’t take as a threat? That kind of thing.
STORY: I would say it’s probably impossible for Bolano to have given you any specifics, but you can, like, google advice?
TUELLER: “This is going to sound very unlike me, I know, but I don’t want a coup. I…shit, I actually want Esi to be okay. Maybe get help from Dr. Bolano. It’s hard to see her like this.”
TUELLER: “I don’t want a shootout between the different factions. I think she should probably step down.”
ALEJO: “Why’d she turn on you? What happened?”
TUELLER: “It’s hard to see her like this, and not think that this was something done to her. Either by mental illness or sabotage. Sergio, or ghosts, or whatever.”
ALEJO: “So, seems like dealing with Sergio might be the best strategic move? I mean, if she’s really worried about him taking over, and if you think that’s likely, then maybe if we stop him, we can earn some good will with her so that you can have a real conversation and get her some help?”
ALEJO: “Seems like she’s not wrong to be a little paranoid? If we help remove the immediate threat, maybe that’ll open the door to . . . I don’t know, I’m not good at this shit, but a family reunion or something?”
TUELLER: “Man, that just makes me sad. Sergio had a really selfless act to get me out of prison. I thought we’d come to a new place for both of us.”
ALEJO: Alejo smiles softly. “You have really changed, friend. It’s a good look on you.”
TUELLER: “Ryo, have you been imprisoned before? Is this a thing she does, and cool off, and come back? Or is this an escalation.”
STORY: “Never. No idea what kind of ground we’re on right now.”
TUELLER: “Okay. Hmm. Shit.”
MILLICENT: “What if we get Sergio to agree to accepting a reduced role in a new org scheme?”
ALEJO: “He’s an opportunist. We give him a good, immediate opportunity. Could work?”
TUELLER: Tueller looks confused.
STORY: “He’d have to be placed to mitigate his potential to cause damage, if he decides he doesn’t like his position.”
TUELLER: “Work on the paranoid who thinks he’s manipulating things to take over the company?”
STORY: “I think they’re operating under the assumption that step one is removing your sister.”
MILLICENT: “I am not. I think she would react violently to any organized coup.”
ALEJO: “No. Fair point, T. It does make it harder to get Esi to buy into us really being on her side. But . . . if you really don’t want to put his head on a patter for her, it might be the only way.”
TUELLER: “She wanted me to assassinate him.”
TUELLER: “And then accused me of being a spy for him.”
ALEJO: Alejo nods slowly. “So, that’s why you’re in here.”
ALEJO: “Shit.”
TUELLER: “I know this puts us in a bad position, but I am not on board with Team Murder My Sister.”
TUELLER: “Especially as I fear she’s under a malign influence.”
TUELLER: Softer: “Even though she’s tried to have me killed before.”
ALEJO: “That woman was always way too hard on me. But I’m not on board with that either.” He gives Tueller and nod of solidarity. “Ideally.” He adds as a quiet afterthought.
MILLICENT: “I agree.”
STORY: “I meant take her to court and have her declared unfit, for the record. No one is killing Esinam on my watch.”
TUELLER: “It’s dangerous for all of us here, but I think we should help her. Doc.”
STORY: “I won’t pretend I could beat any of you in a fight, but I’d try.”
ALEJO: “So, how are we feeling about Sergio?”
TUELLER: “Eh. That I can be talked into.”
MILLICENT: “I’m concerned she might try to glass the planet the court is on.”
MILLICENT: “Are we not concerned about that?”
TUELLER: “Very. Our deterrent has always been her pride and joy.”
TUELLER: “But Doc, I’d love you to take a look at her. Medically. But we must be gentle with her.”
ALEJO: “So, again, I mean, not that I love the murdering idea, but if I–we–brought Sergio’s metaphoric head back on a platter, wouldn’t that, maybe, give us all a shot at (a) not having to go to court and worry about the glassing stuff, (b) earn some trust with Esi, and (c) maybe get T in charge.” He thinks about it a moment. “Maybe that order isn’t quite right, but you get the idea.”
MILLICENT: “Oh, you think she’s been chemically imbalanced?”
TUELLER: “Or…fucked with in her dreams.”
ALEJO: Alejo’s eyes widen. “Sergio?”
ALEJO: “Or that. Sure. Could be that.”
MILLICENT: “Hmmmm.”
MILLICENT: “I wonder.”
MILLICENT: Can I get Net service on my pad in here?
ALEJO: “But Sergio. . . I mean, if you were going to make a power move, destabilizing Esi with some sort of drug isn’t a bad way of going about it.”
TUELLER: “I was cavalier with her before, because of our history.”
MILLICENT: Can I look up some local Terran and lunar news to see if those leaders have been acting unstable lately?”
TUELLER: “So I think I need to go back. Go take her seriously. And see if we can help.”
STORY: Millie, going to need to be not in this hallway to plug in anywhere.
MILLICENT: “Do you want to go back to her before or after we try to get Sergio to accept a demotion?”
ALEJO: “Or kill him.” Alejo adds. “Maybe.”
TUELLER: Tueller picks his words carefully: “I’m sorry guys, I don’t think the Sergio demotion plan is a path forward.”
TUELLER: “And I don’t want to go directly to murder.”
MILLICENT: “Out of respect for Tueller and Sergio’s growth I’d prefer to avoid that option too.”
MILLICENT: “Okay, so you need to get an audience with your sister again.”
MILLICENT: “Would you like us to be there?”
TUELLER: “Doc, I want you to do your best medical evaluation on her, however we can make that happen.”
TUELLER: “And honestly, she knows you’re here. You shouldn’t skulk about. Come with me!”
TUELLER: “Uh, if we can arrange our freedom, and I’m fucked for ideas on that one.”
ALEJO: “I mean . . . getting you out isn’t the problem. Getting you an audience with Esi, that’s the trick.”
MILLICENT: Millie examines the cell surreptitiously.
ALEJO: “I definitely don’t think that busting into her office, unannounced and uninvited is the way to a fruitful and peaceable reunion. Again, I’m not a family expert or anything. But. Seems to me.”
TUELLER: “Ryo, can you have one of your hired goons get me some stationary and a pen?”
TUELLER: “Good stationary, please. Preferably from real trees.”
STORY: Ryo stands, groaning from stiff muscles. “Yonas, you hear that?”
STORY: A voice from down the hall. “Yes, boss. Give us five.”
TUELLER: “And a Fisher pen!”
ALEJO: Alejo rolls his eyes a bit at the pen pronouncement.
STORY: What do you write, Tueller?
TUELLER: He calls her Bwana, a name from their childhood, and writes an apologetic letter, apologizing for his flipness and rudeness before, and appeals for a second chance. He says he was blinded by their history, and was rude, and would like a chance to make amends, as she is the only family he has left. He signs it Tueller Ya’Makasi.
STORY: All right! Let’s have a FA + Influence and see how she takes it.
TUELLER: /roll 2d6
STORY: chris.stuart rolled 8
TUELLER: –At least Influence isn’t my dump stat.
MILLICENT: 7 would have worked as well as 8
TUELLER: SHUT IT.
TUELLER: JUST BECAUSE YOU’RE RIGHT DOESN’T MEAN YOU GET TO BE RIGHT.
STORY: An hour later, two guards come down and get you. They aren’t Ryo’s guys, and they’re not particularly gentle.
TUELLER: Before they take us, I pull Alejo close, and say just so he can hear, “If it has to happen, if it must, make it happen.”
ALEJO: Alejo nods once, solemnly. Then, when Tueller isn’t looking, he glances over at Millie. She isn’t looking, and he swallows hard.
TUELLER: A clasp on the shoulder, and Tueller pulls away.
STORY: All four of you are deposited roughly in chairs opposite Esinam’s desk. She sits coolly, surveying you.
TUELLER: Tueller looks concerned for her; it’s genuine.
MILLICENT: Millie reaches out her hand and holds Alejo’s.
STORY: “Go ahead.”
TUELLER: “Hey sis.” Quietly.
ALEJO: Alejo sits, unusually rigidly, but he squeezes Millies hand a second after she takes it.
STORY: “Have you reconsidered?”
TUELLER: “I’m sorry, I was flip early. Especially about Sergio, which I would love to talk to you about. I saw him in the library–he tried to cut off my hand.”
TUELLER: “But more than that, I’m concerned about you, and want to help you through this.”
STORY: “Why did you let him live?”
TUELLER: “I was out of practice. And he had a sword and I did not.”
STORY: “Coward.”
TUELLER: “Strike decisively, you taught me, but you also taught me to preserve the family. There are so few of us now, and we need our full strength.”
TUELLER: “As do you. Sis. Bwana. You know Doctor Breedlove, of course. She is a brilliant technical mind, and a doctor, of course. I hope she can help you with the problems you’re having with tech, and also help you get back to your full strength as well.”
ALEJO: Alejo squeezes Millie’s hand again, but he keeps his focus on Esi and the guards in the room with us.
TUELLER: “Talk to me, sis. You have a staff, you have guards, but how long has it been since you’ve talked to family.”
STORY: Esinam levels her gaze at you. “Family did me no good.”
STORY: “You were all too weak.”
TUELLER: Tueller leans back in his chair. “Maybe I am. I care about too many people. I take things too personally. I’ve lost too many people to want to do it again.”
TUELLER: “I don’t want to lose you, even. I think if I were the strong Tueller you wanted me to be, it would be the end of us all.”
MILLICENT: Millie nonchalantly pulls out her visor and polishes it using a specialty cloth.
TUELLER: “I am just this.” Tueller spreads his arms.
MILLICENT: There appears to be a smudge, so Millie holds them up to eye height to find it, scanning Esi quickly, then lowering them to continue cleaning.
TUELLER: “God help me, I love you, sis. Whether that’s a weakness or not.”
TUELLER: “And I think if the family can survive we have to be weak together.”
TUELLER: Tueller starts to speak and then stops, watching Esinam.
TUELLER: He starts up again.
TUELLER: “I don’t know what the Family means to you, what your position means to you now, but Akilah, when we were in jail together, reminded me that the Family is not only the family, but the people who benefit from us. The people we kept safe, the people we fed, the people we supplied. Our people. The Family means something more than just our money and power and weapons.”
MILLICENT: Millie watches Tueller, impressed.
TUELLER: “Anyway sis you look like you could use some help.”
MILLICENT: Millie raises her hand. “I hate to interrupt, but I’m almost certain you could use some help.”
MILLICENT: “Ms. Ya’Makasi, were you aware that you have a piece of non-Terran hardware wrapped firmly around the base of your brain?”
MILLICENT: “If I had to guess I’d say it’s semi-biological and has been interfering with your amygdala.”
ALEJO: Alejo’s eyes nearly pop out of his head.
ALEJO: “Well shit.”
TUELLER: Tueller looks surprised by that, but restrains himself from anything larger.
STORY: Esinam smacks her hands on the desk and stands, instantly raging and pointing at Millie. “GUARDS!”
MILLICENT: “The amygdala controls your emotional processing and survival instincts.”
STORY: Four rush in.
TUELLER: Tueller fucks them up.
MILLICENT: Millie stays seated. “I can understand this must be a very stressful bit of news to learn.”
ALEJO: Alejo jumps up and takes them on as well.
STORY: Tueller! Let’s have Launch Assault.
TUELLER: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: chris.stuart rolled 2 + 2 = 4
TUELLER: Oh wow.
STORY: “Throw this woman into the deepest hole we have!”
STORY: Alejo, help out + Physique please
ALEJO: /roll 2d6+1
STORY: ablair01 rolled 8 + 1 = 9
STORY: Okay, Tueller, you stand up to fight them off and immediately knock over and get tangled in the chair. Alejo springs up to help and knocks the head of one of the mercs against the wall, stunning him. Two more grab him and drag him into the hallway. You take the opportunity to shove the last guy and push him fully into the hallway as well, leaving you alone in the room with Esinam and Millie and Alejo struggling outside with three very unhappy guards. What do you do?
STORY: Oh, Ryo’s there too, I guess.
STORY: He got knocked over and is finding his footing.
TUELLER: Wait, okay, Alejo’s outside, and Millie and I are inside?
STORY: Yep!
STORY: I mean, the doors are open, you could let them come back in – but oh, there are four more guards coming in from the hallway too.
STORY: It’s dicey in that antechamber.
TUELLER: “Sorry Esi.”
ALEJO: Alejo gets between the guards and the door, closing the door if he can and fighting them back. “Lock it!” He yells as he closes it.
TUELLER: Tueller jumps on her and pins her down, “Doc, do something.”
TUELLER: “To the thing, please.”
ALEJO: “Ryo! Lock the damn door!” Alejo yells again, with the doors now closed.
STORY: Ryo gets up to lock the door and trips on the unconscious guard.
MILLICENT: Millie stands and puts on her visor, examining the device.
STORY: You hear his nose crunch as he hits the floor face-first.
STORY: Millie, Assessment + Interface please
MILLICENT: /roll 2d6 + 2
STORY: josh rolled 9 + 2 = 11
ALEJO: Wooohooo!
STORY: You get a clearer look at it, Millie, and it’s in there, wrapped around her brain stem and sucking on her amygdala. It’s definitely got biological parts and has tendrils that reach inside the major functioning parts of her brain. Removal will be very tricky.
STORY: As you scan, the two guards wrestling Alejo move to pin him. Alejo, what do you do?
STORY: You’re in an antechamber with six guards.
ALEJO: Kick their asses. Specifically, grab one of their stun batons and go to town on knocking their asses out.
STORY: You’re only going to be able to deal with the two on you, but go for it! Launch Assault
ALEJO: –Got it!
ALEJO: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: ablair01 rolled 7 + 2 = 9
STORY: You grab one of your captor’s stun batons and buzz him into sleepytime, then the other, then three of the remaining four guards turn on you and leap, piling on top of you.
STORY: Tueller, you are doing your best to hold your sister down, but you hear a guard enter the room behind you. What do you do?
TUELLER: Booming voice, “I, Tueller, Ya’Makasi, hero of Titan, heir to the throne, demand you put down your weapon and help us help Esi.”
STORY: FA + Influence please!
TUELLER: /roll 2d6
STORY: chris.stuart rolled 10
ALEJO: “Hero of Titan?” Alejo whispers as he’s being squashed by the three guards and trying to find a wrestler’s move to get him free enough to do something about it.
STORY: You hear the guard behind you stutter step, then halt. Then, shakily, as Esinam struggles and shouts: “W-what… do you want me to do?”
TUELLER: “We need to get her sedated. She has something attached to her amygdala. It’s an attack and we need to save her from it. We need to bring my sister–my real sister–back.”
MILLICENT: Oooooh, is it my turn?
STORY: Sure! The guard hasn’t done anything yet, but he also hasn’t shot either of you. What do you do?
MILLICENT: While Esi is focused on the guards Millie quietly gets up and walks around the desk, shuffling her feet on the exquisite carpet as she does so. She reaches out to a lovely crystal thing that looks like one of those plasma light display orbs from Spencer’s Gifts, but fancier and spacier. It’s got a solar system in it. Millie reaches out and, at the same time, touches the orb and Esi’s neck. The slight jolt of static electricity, magnified by the decorative orb, ought to short the thing out, at least make it cycle through a restart process.
STORY: Oh boy. Brain surgery through static electricity.
STORY: This is risky, but go ahead, make that FA + Expertise
MILLICENT: /roll 2d6 + 3
STORY: josh rolled 7 + 3 = 10
STORY: Okay, Millie, you deliver a shock that REALLY hurts – it’s dry as hell on this planet – and as you’re shaking out your sore forearm, you see Esinam tense and relax. She’s unconscious.
STORY: The guard watches this with utter bemusement.
TUELLER: “Millie, explain to this nice young employee of mine what we need to do and how it’s going to help Bwana Ya’Makasi.”
ALEJO: “It’s . . . okay. I . . . I . . . got this!” Alejo shouts in fits and spurts from under the pile of guards.
MILLICENT: “Get me and her to an OR or whatever’s closest to one here. Get me a call with your chief robotocist on the way, I’m going to need a mix of tools.”
MILLICENT: “Oh and stop beating on my boyfriend.”
TUELLER: Tueller picks up Esi gently and affectionately. “Lead the way.”
STORY: Ryo picks himself up from the floor, pinching his nose. “You three, cut it out! Escort Mr. Ya’Makasi please.”
STORY: The conscious guards un-pile themselves hesitantly and follow you, Tueller.
STORY: Oh, I see, there is no leader to this pack.
STORY: Uhhh, Ryo does.
STORY: hahah
TUELLER: Tueller leads them to the
TUELLER: Hey, this is my planet.
STORY: Good! Take us somewhere!
TUELLER: Tueller leads them to the family medical facility.
STORY: Tell us about it!
TUELLER: Which is not terribly far from the office, and is stocked with Earth, Mars, and Bilbo’s best.
ALEJO: Alejo springs up and brushes off. He looks around and realizes that everyone has left. He grabs one of the unconscious guard’s guns, tucks it away, tucks away the stun baton, and then follows after them.
TUELLER: it is a technological miracle, with shimmering grey metal floors and white bio cots that conform to the patient’s body. It is usually staffed by a team of doctors around the clock; I don’t know how that survived into this new era.
TUELLER: The grey metal is Bilbo’s own invention and it changes colors upon contact with bodily fluids, doing instant medical tests if anything falls on it.
STORY: You are almost immediately swarmed by doctors and nurses when you arrive with an unconscious Esinam.
TUELLER: It’s got a very well outfitted surgical suite.
STORY: “What happened?” They take her from you and get her on a cart, running tests immediately.
TUELLER: “Biomechanical attack; there’s something attached to her amygdala adversely affecting her.”
TUELLER: “Doc Breedlove will fill in the details. Get to work!”
MILLICENT: Millie shares her visor to give the doctors a look.
TUELLER: Tueller stands aside but assumes his best “I’m the captain now” stance.
MILLICENT: “I’m going to need a molecular photon scanner and a subcutaneous DW5578 cutter with the diamond bit.”
ALEJO: Alejo walks in, in time to see Tueller go into his stance. Alejo nods in approval.
STORY: The sweeping continues, bringing Millie with it, and they all disappear into a back room.
STORY: Ryo straggles in and asks the nurse at the desk for an ice pack. She finds him one. He sits between Alejo and Tueller on the waiting bench.
STORY: “This is not how I expected my week to go.”
ALEJO: “It’s been something. I agree.” Alejo looks over to Tueller. “Being the boss suits you. I think you might just be ready for it. For real this time.”
STORY: “Jesus, no. Why do people keep offering me that job?”
STORY: “Under no circumstances do I want to run this planet.”
TUELLER: “I think he was talking to me.”
ALEJO: Alejo smiles.
TUELLER: “I have the same instinctive response.”
STORY: “Oh. Good. Yes.”
STORY: “Although it sounds like… I mean, what they’re doing in there? Maybe you don’t need to.”
STORY: “You know, if she’s coming out of there her normal self, you may want to be gone before she does.”
TUELLER: “I’m here for her. Good or bad.”
TUELLER: “Alejo, Millie saved the day here. I just want you to know that because she probably won’t tell you, or won’t realize the significance of it if she does, but she saw the problem, and she macguyvered a fucking static shock to get it done.”
TUELLER: “She used a bechlian mood crystal to save the day.”
ALEJO: Alejo smiles again. “That’s the Doc.”
ALEJO: “She’s way outta my league.” He sits back. Then leans forward quickly. “But neither of you need to tell her that!” He leans back again.
TUELLER: “Oh she knows that.”
STORY: Ryo laughs, then winces and adjusts the ice pack.
STORY: “How is someone that handsome so insecure.”
TUELLER: Tueller walks over and helps himself to some drenomorph, as he’s still in pain from the fucking broken collarbone.
TUELLER: “Not my affliction.”
ALEJO: Alejo helps Ryo get the icepack in a better spot. “I’ve broken mine enough to be an expert at this.”
ALEJO: “You really think Esi is gonna be . . . well, Esi about it, if she pulls through this?”
TUELLER: “I have no idea. I meant what I said to her, regardless. About the family. About all of this. It’s something I grew up caring about, and it took Akilah to let me know that the Family is a whole web of people we help. Or hurt. We mostly hurt.”
TUELLER: “The real Esi might find that weak still, but I have to fight for it, and I think without that thing strapped to her anger and fear center, she…the Real She…might listen to me.”
TUELLER: “And if not, she might give us 30 minutes head start.”
ALEJO: Alejo nods and leans back again. “You’re gettin’ too wise, you know. It’s disconcerting.”
TUELLER: “But are we really not going to talk about that something put alien mindfuck tech in her head? Or are we just waiting for the Doc to deal with that data point?”
TUELLER: “Because that’s a mindfuck on me too.”
ALEJO: “My money’s on Sergio. But, I’m a sucker for a conspiracy plot.”
TUELLER: “I know I underestimate that guy but that’s a significant step up for him.”
TUELLER: “Alien tech. Alien. And tech.”
ALEJO: “I mean, if he’s gonna take a swing at the throne, he needed to up his game. Like. A lot.” Alejo mulls this for a second. “A whole lot. You’re right that his game was pretty weak sauce.”
ALEJO: “So who else? Or . . . what else?”
MILLICENT: Millie stumbles out, 14 hours later.
STORY: It’s a long wait. You all discover how uncomfortable the benches are to sleep on. The answer is very.
MILLICENT: An aide runs up and hands her coffee and a danish.
MILLICENT: She collapses into a chair next to the boys and noshes for a minute.
MILLICENT: “She’s fine.”
MILLICENT: “Well, she’ll be fine.”
TUELLER: Tueller waits patiently
MILLICENT: “Going to take some time to wash the biological components out of her system. I don’t envy her that. But the machinery is out.”
TUELLER: “What was it?”
MILLICENT: “It was tangled in there very well. Every part that could cling on did.”
ALEJO: Alejo pats her on the back affectionately. “Well done, Doc. Well done.”
MILLICENT: Millie nods and washes down danish with coffee.
MILLICENT: “I don’t know yet. I suppose I’ll either find out in one of these excellently appointed labs or die wondering, running from the wrath of your sister.”
MILLICENT: “She’ll be out for a while yet.”
MILLICENT: “Still, she should be her. I wouldn’t be surprised if she had some difficulty processing emotionally for a few weeks. There’s bound to be some swelling.”
MILLICENT: “But if she sticks to her anti-inflammatories it will help.”
TUELLER: “You get along well with her surgical team?”
MILLICENT: “I think they got the damn thing in through her neck. Which, to my eye, looks like it must have had some kind of basic programming. Attach and unfold or something similar. The entry hole is nowhere near the size of the full grown thing.”
MILLICENT: “They listened to me. That amounted to the same thing this time.”
MILLICENT: Millie finishes the danish and sips coffee, leans back.
TUELLER: “They’re good people. Cold, but good. Patched me up dozens of times.”
MILLICENT: “I hope like hell I can sleep before we have to run.”
MILLICENT: “I’m so knock down tired I don’t think I could suture a teddy bear right now.”
TUELLER: “We’re well rested on these benches. I can take the first watch.”
TUELLER: “If you two want to take a nap. The family guest apartment is nearby.”
TUELLER: “We’ve had plenty of opportunities to watch over injured family members here.”
TUELLER: “I’ll have the team ping us if something changes.”
MILLICENT: Millie nods. “Let me know if we have to flee or if her condition changes.”
TUELLER: “Ryo left hours ago but I can have him send over two of his more trusted guys to watch over the heir.”
TUELLER: Tueller goes to make arrangements and we all go to sleep.
STORY: Later! Ryo brings you a very tasty breakfast
STORY: It has like six courses! They’re all delicious.
TUELLER: Tueller looks at Ryo. “Esi might be coming back, but I am going to need you to help me consolidate power ahead of time. This is now my family as much as hers.”
MILLICENT: Millie pushes her French omelet forward and sips tea. She nods.
TUELLER: “She was under attack by people or aliens trying to destroy it. I need to bring it back and I need your expertise to make that happen.”
STORY: Ryo sighs and nods. “Yeah, all right.”
STORY: He looks unhappy but resigned.
TUELLER: “If it works out, there’s good money in it. There’s always good money in Ya’Makasi business.”
MILLICENT: “Do you have the pull to call the board and their aides? I’d like to examine them all for interference.”
TUELLER: “And the long term goal is we save the goddamn universe.”
MILLICENT: “All the top lieutenants.”
STORY: “There’s no board, Millie. There’s just Esinam.”
TUELLER: “And me, now.”
STORY: “And me.”
TUELLER: “And you.”
TUELLER: “And these guys, too. Sub rosa.”
MILLICENT: Millie pulls out her visor and scans them.
STORY: Everyone’s clean, Millie.
ALEJO: “T was right. We need to know where that thing came from. Who or what put it there.”
TUELLER: Tueller’s gloves glow.
MILLICENT: “I’m on that. Give me the science division and that young surgeon. Dr. Santos. She’s got a good eye.”
MILLICENT: “Give me the labs here and we’ll figure it out.”
TUELLER: “Doc, you have all the resources that my reputation as the hero of Encaladus will grant you. I’ll lean on the fuckers and hover over them cracking my knuckles.”
ALEJO: “And hero of Titan. Apparently. I need that story. Not right now. But someday.”
TUELLER: “There’s no story. Just pick a moon and call me the hero of it and let them fill in the details.”
TUELLER: “I’m Ya’Makasi. That’s enough.”
MILLICENT: “Okay, I’ll put together a team to investigate it.”
MILLICENT: “What do we do?”
MILLICENT: “Mr. Ya’Makasi?”
TUELLER: “We take over CJH and bend its will to take on the Collective, Millie.”
MILLICENT: “Shouldn’t be too hard, we’ve got three whole days.”
TUELLER: “It’s mine. Let’s do something good with it.”