Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Categories
- 965 All Categories
- 17 Games
- 1 aw2-mapbp
- 365 Richland
- SDHSR
- 4 two-detroits
- 96 aw2e-dvfp
- 53 ISS Tsiolkovsky
- 82 Fury
- Urban Shadows
- 24 LadyB
- 11 AnR
- 4 Junk World 2.0
- 68 PnR
- 23 DRYH
- Jeffland
- The Few
- 11 Other
- 11 General
- 576 Complete
- 12 burning-empires
- 8 aota-jam
- 17 Uncharted Worlds
- Uncharted
- 23 nullptr-veil
- 9 ajax-motw
- 2 tqy-am
- 52 NOVA
- 11 Serene Apocalypse
- jenn-soti
- 63 SWAW
- 13 Blades
- 2 Fall Of Magic
- 12 Generations
- 25 LA Monsters
- tqy
- 32 nupocalypse
- 120 Snowpocalypse
- 136 Junkworld XIII
- 27 Big Maul
- 6 ESC
- 1 Murderous Ghosts
- 17 ANN_pilot
[Junk XIII] Checking the Crew (S 3-6)
Stitch,
The little caravan just pulled up onto Tradertown and Kiddo took the Candies, minus Zagnut, off to find Big Time. Metro puts the van into park and turns to you. "Would you like to head into Tradertown now? They have some decent medical supplies. I didn't check them thoroughly."
The place has this odd feeling, like being on a shambling cruise liner. Ethan took you on a cruise, didn't he?
What do you do?
The little caravan just pulled up onto Tradertown and Kiddo took the Candies, minus Zagnut, off to find Big Time. Metro puts the van into park and turns to you. "Would you like to head into Tradertown now? They have some decent medical supplies. I didn't check them thoroughly."
The place has this odd feeling, like being on a shambling cruise liner. Ethan took you on a cruise, didn't he?
What do you do?
Comments
"Uh, yeah." I reply, distracted by my memories. I'll be glad for some more stock.
OOC: Open brain incoming.
(Rolled: 2d6+3. Rolls: 5, 5. Total: 13)
You sense a great many things here. First, there are a number of older folks here who have their own pings. They are softly broadcasting. There are chips in their heads. These chips are connected, a kind of mesh network that is inactive, dormant.
But you're not looking for that, are you? You find Metro in the feed, a shining piece of fabricated wonder, and you hone in on his ping. And like a tracker, you sniff around the crew for something like it.
And you don't find it, not active. But you find the echoes of it, the smell of it. It is carried by the living Cassandra man, the one who sees into the futures and keeps quiet because nobody listens. Nobody ever listens. The AI lies within his satchel, inert for now. But that's the one. That's the ping.
Last but not least.. Tradertown itself, it is not unlike an organism. It has veins of air ducts and a mechanic heart, and it has a presence. It feels alive.
I take Metro's hand. "Come on, I think I know who's got your friend."
Brillo is rifling through pack right now, getting ready to go trade. He looks up when you walk up, "Hullo." He seems curious, a bit surprised you both walked up on him. Cheetos is not around, Rinso is watching some Tradertown folk. Svenja is chatting with Zagnut, so you're effective alone.
What do you do?
Yeah, I steer us to the place where I 'saw' Brillo, letting go of Metro's hand a ways before we get there. "Trust me." I say quietly, knowing he can hear me above the din of the place.
"Hey Brillo." I say. "What are you up to?"
Brillo blinks a couple times, I'm going to trade. There are fabulous deals here, if you're willing to haggle. Do you need a guide?"
He hets his satchel, an arm over it protectively, and starts leading you off the parking platform towards the labyrinthine pathways inside.
What do you do?
OOC: Read a person incoming.
(Rolled: 2d6+3. Rolls: 5, 4. Total: 12)
"I thought you were in Bubble City when they just came through?" Brillo asks curiously.
Metro smirks, "I was. But I was busy working on the tower." He looks to you, Stitch, "I only had the courage to come here because she's here... you know, to save me if we get in trouble."
"Mmn hmn..." Brillo says, not entirely convinced.
I turn back to Brillo. "This thing is so huge! How do you know where you're going?"
OOC: What does Brillo wish I'd do?
Brillo stops walking, turns around, arm still over his satchel, "I know what you're talking about, Metro. Stitch, why do you want such a thing?"
Brillo wishs you'd be straight with him. Metro tipped him off by accident.
OOC: How can I get Brillo to trade for it?
Metro moves closer, "We know you have one, Brillo..."
He pulls the satchel behind his body, "You cannot trade for her. There's nothing you have that's worth her. She's... she's my only friend."
He won't trade. You'll have to take it.
"Fine." I say, jaw clenched, and turn around to walk away.
OOC: What does Brillo intend to do?
Then Metro says in an even tone, "Let us talk to her, Brillo."
His giant eyes glare, "I... I don't know you, Metro. Stitch, she is a good person. I will... I will show her."
"You got anything you want me to pass on?" I ask Metro.
Brillo blinks big and says, "Come with me, we'll need to trade for some place private. Do you have some jingle I won't be a full barter, just some tin."
He pays for you to get "a room", the owner, an older woman with no teeth, assumes its for sex. Inside is a small mattress, no sheet, nothing else.
What do you do?
"Yeah." I tell Brillo, digging around in my pack. I don't really have much- Ronnie saw to that. I gasp as his face flashes across my eyes. I blink a few times to clear it. I take a calming breath and toss over a single chillstab. I hate to just trade away medical supplies, but this is important.
After following Brillo, you come into the room, which smells of human waste and sweat. There are used needles in one corner, and to the other side of the mattress, you see four doll's heads. One of them look like something you had as a kid. What doll do you recognize?
Brillo closes the door securely, then ambles over to kneel by the mattress and lays his big bag on it. He looks up at you for a moment, like he's fighting worry, but looks back down at the bag. "You won't understand. Not at first."
He reaches in to pull out a large, spherical pillow. You've seen it before, he's slept on it every night during the trip. Hell, you saw him lying on it back at Boomtown.
He gently unzips the large blue cover, that has puffy white clouds painted in intricate patterns, and he pulls the pillow open, digging past the stuffing to pull out what looks like a mannequin's head in bubble wrap. He carefully unwraps it and inside you see this:
The eyes are open and unfocused, the face locked into that same expression
"This... is lime." Brillo says softly.
What do you do?
"Hello." I say softly, waiting for her to blink or move her eyes.
Through the hole of her neck, you hear soft sounds of mechanical pieces whirring and spinning up, and after a few minutes, the eyes blink, and the mouth moves slightly. Brillo beams. Then he says, "She is most comfortable responding to questions... lime, this is Stitch. She is a doctor, like LeeValley, or his father. She is from a crashed ship, she has been here for a very short time. Would you like to say hello?"
"hello, Stitch." lime says in a soft, almost meek tone. She looks at you with her wide, eyes.
What do you do?
She blinks a couple times, eyes looking all over you, "How are you doing, Stitch?"
OOC: Read a person incoming.
(Rolled: 2d6+3. Rolls: 4, 3. Total: 10)
She grins just the tiniest fraction at her more complete answer, then asks, "You survived a recent crash? Were they any other survivors? Is your ship intact? Were they any artificial people aboard? I am aware of one nearby."
I hesitate, not wanting to spill Metro's secret, but also wanting to pass his message along. I look over to Brillo. "Yes, he says to say you are not alone."
OOC: What is lime really feeling? What does she intend to do? What does she wish I'd do?
As for how lime is really feeling, she's sad. She knows she's near the end of her existence, that she is a shadow of her former self with little chance of improvement. She intends on helping Brillo however she is still able, as she would anyone.
She would very much like to be repaired. If she could either have a body or be uploaded into a fully functioning computer that can handle her code, she would be much more satisfied with her existence.
I sigh. There was a tiny part of me that hoped to talk to her about the three laws. About seeing if there was a way to circumvent them, so Metro could be free. He said she was more advanced, so I'd hoped, but...
It's all really up to Brillo at this point.
Let's see some dice.
(Rolled: 2d6. Rolls: 6, 3. Total: 9)
lime says quietly, "I would like... to try."
Then Brillo moves closer to you, Stitch, and demands, "Tell me why we should trust Metro."
"It's not my secret to tell, but he wants to help her. He's all alone."
Brillo pulls her up to look into his face and hurriedly asks, "What is it lime?"
lime close her eyes thankfully, and says smoothly, "She tells the truth. The other artificial person is called Metro. He is... older than I am. But still functional. I want to meet him, But..." lime blinks, like she has more to say, but is unable to express it.
Brillo says, "What more? But what, lime?"
"But there is something else. Another presence in the feed. I'm... I am scared of it. It wants to subsume us."
What do you do?
"She said she was at eighteen percent functionality. She said she sensed you, and something else." My face is drawn. I'm worried about that something else.
Brillo watches quietly, but looks over to you.
What do you do?
I look at Metro. What if he gives her a body? I try to push those thoughts away.
And hell, if they decide they'd rather have the company of each other, Brillo and I will have each other to drink with. I chuckle to myself.
Brillo turns to look at you, "How did you discover Metro is... one of them?"
"He guessed I wasn't from here. He... he was from the first iso-cube program. We bonded over our old age." I smile.
lime finally blinks, and Metro eases back from the long stare. It seems that their communication has completed. All in all, it took perhaps fifteen minutes.
Metro searches the room until his eyes land on yours, Stitch. He walks to you and Brillo, and gently hands lime to him. "Brillo, you need to see Lemieux. He should be able to help lime further. He is located at the opposite end of Tradertown." He puts a hand on your shoulder, Stitch, "We worked together to research this presence in the feed. It is part of Tradertown. We should go soon. It knows we are here somewhere."
What do you do?
"Should we look for supplies or just get out of here?" I ask. I'd like to get more stock for my kit, but this place makes me feel like someone is watching me.
Metro adds, "By "we", lime means all of us." He squeezes your shoulder, "Let's go shopping now, not later."
With some worry in his voice, Brillo asks, "May we accompany you?"
"This is not wise, Brillo," lime answers, "The more of us together, the more attention we draw. We should go back to the truck and stay with the guards."
What do you do?
"See you later?" I say to Brillo. "It'll be ok. They are smart, they know what to do." I reach my hand out to squeeze his.
I hold onto his hand tight and try not to get distracted by the hustle and bustle of Tradertown.
When you go into Tradertown looking for a person or thing, roll +Weird. On a Hit, you find it or them. On a 10+, you find out with no trouble and they don't know you're coming.
On a 7-9, choose 1 to be true:
* You either drop a jingle to find it or fight someone for it
* The bloke who pointed you in the right direction needed a favor from you
On a miss, you run into someone you never expected to find here. They might be looking for you. Name them, and the MC will set up the situation.
(Rolled: 2d6+3. Rolls: 2, 3. Total: 8)
He led you into a dark alley with a dead-end, then pulled a knife on you, demanding your jingle. How did you fight or get away from Sterlite?
Inside is a guy named Alehouse, portly, sunken eyes, older with a closely trimmed salt and pepper beard. He knows his stuff, you think he's trained. He has a decent set of instruments for sale, and some stuff you can use to resupply stock. One barter per stock, that's his price.
OOC: Read a person incoming.
(Rolled: 2d6+3. Rolls: 2, 3. Total: 8)
OOC: How could I get Alehouse to trade me both the instruments and the 1-stock?
Alehouse answers, "I can put you up at my place, on the couch, share my food with you, Stitch. But not the both of you. Too crowded in my little place"
Separating from Metro is a deal-breaker. I'm not going to sleep on some stranger's couch without him.
I turn to Metro. "Two nights ok?" I don't want to stay a second longer than I have to.
Alehouse takes that as enough haggling, and says, "How soon can you start?"
Anything left in this scene?
I realize after the fact that I've just cost us some jingle- if he needed somewhere else to sleep, he'd just wander around Tradertown. He doesn't sleep. Crap. And I don't have much to pay with.
You work out any last details and leave Alehouse to get some sleep. Do you want to sleep in an actual bed? That room you rented with Brillo is possibly still available... and paid for.