Session 5 2

The journey to the Mu Cephei shipyards is, thankfully, less eventful than roughly half day preceding (and necessitating) it.
There is the constant press of lagos - many many MANY bodies, walking around and mostly silent - but they do try to stay out of the crew's way.
Spyboy, Heggy, and Ingenue find themselves quizzed and friendly interrogated constantly, and anyone listening in on the neu-comm link has no end of chatter to listen to.
Zinda Tegram sits on a bench and looks back at the ceiling, making her slithers form a slither-pyramid 2 rooms over.
[OOC] WC GM: Speaking of, where is it? Secured, or would Isabel likely happen across it soon?
[OOC] WC GM: Also, is the hangar with Zinda's new recruits locked off from Isabel's eyes?
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: Isabel is, uh, who again?
[OOC] Isabel: me, darling
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: Herp-a-derp.
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: I'm an idiot. xD
[OOC] Isabel: Well, I won't argue with you
[OOC] Isabel: :P
[OOC] Abraham: She is the embedded reporter we need, but not the embedded reporter we deserve.
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: Harsh!
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: The slithers are, of course, not to be public knowledge.
[OOC] Ingenue: Aren't we just a roving pile of secrets?
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: I thought we were a miserable pile.
[OOC] Isabel: Yes. which will make my job even funnier
[OOC] WC GM: Thus my asking how well protected each specific secret is.
[OOC] WC GM: What about logs of what you encountered planetside?
[OOC] WC GM: Or logs, for that matter, including of the Kilrathi cities?
[OOC] Isabel: by now they should be in my power
[OOC] Isabel: can i roll to see how much of it are already in my power?
[OOC] Abraham: Given that we just left a planet populated by sentient trees, I think we're all sick of logs for a while.
[OOC] Abraham: I would likely seal many of the logs regarding… the events…
[OOC] WC GM: Any such roll would likely be vs. the other PCs. If you want, go for it, but all the other PCs get to defend.
[OOC] WC GM: RPing it, before or instead of roll, is more likely to succeed. ;)
[OOC] Spyboy: Also, Communications is the skill used for hacking. HAVE FUN.
[OOC] Isabel: yeah i'll just wait for now
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: Zinda keeps her own logs. xD
[OOC] Isabel: and leaves
Spyboy is on the bridge, talking through an earpiece.
Spyboy: "Yes, mom."
Spyboy: "No, mom, she's good."
Spyboy: "Yes - no - no - yeah, we'll try. We're headed to the dock, so we'll see."
Spyboy: "….I don't know, it depends on if the Admiral lets us take any leave."
[OOC] Isabel: So, what are we doing right now?
[OOC] WC GM: So what IS Isabel doing, to try to dig up secrets?
Spyboy: "Yeah, we have a whole cargo of refugees on board and nowhere to take them, just yet."
[OOC] Isabel: First thing, see that her room is not bugged
Abraham is in a conference room, finishing up a mediation between some of the Lagos and the crew.
Spyboy: "No, mom, Armstrong wouldn't let us dock, so we couldn't."
[OOC] Isabel: Then, check if she can set up her own bugs
[OOC] Abraham: Since the Lagos are only under his command by virtue of being on his ship, just giving them orders would be less than diplomatic.
[OOC] WC GM: "Bugged" isn't the word. It has security cameras like all places on the ship.
[OOC] Isabel: im aware. currently checking for not-your-obvious security systems.
[OOC] WC GM: That's the call of the other PCs, Abraham especially. What non-obvious security systems does she encounter?
[OOC] Abraham: Heggy. She will mess you up.
Quite a few of the Integrated are observing Zinda's siltherers from multiple angles.
[OOC] Abraham: Assuming they still work after all the fun we've had, there are floor sensors that log movements in and out of rooms. They don't measure weight precisely enough to say 'That's Ingenue, that's Heggy, etc.' but they definitely log 'someone was here at this time'.
[OOC] Ingenue: Are they just binary with a threshold then?
Zinda Tegram moves the slithers back into the cargo bay.
The Integrated keep watch from a distance, not getting in arm's reach.
[OOC] Abraham: Pretty much. Anything north of 5 pounds or so will get logged, and anything north of fifty will be noted as such.
[OOC] Isabel: So weight sensors. Any chance of discovering them? or that there WERE there at some point?
A couple of them watch Zinda as well. Just standing there, observing.
[OOC] Abraham: So how much do Slithers weigh?
[OOC] WC GM: Multiple ways of finding them. Direct observation, talking the details out of NPCs, et cetera.
[OOC] Abraham: The easiest way for Isabel to discover them, is to stumble on one of the more damaged sections of The Roland where they've been exposed.
[OOC] WC GM: They take different rolls, of course.
[OOC] WC GM: Or that.
[OOC] Abraham: An even simpler way is to ask. They're not classified, and the crew know they are there. The Lagos probably don't unless they managed to find that fact in Spyboy/Heggy.
[OOC] Isabel: I'll wander around. I'll also talk with low-level crew members, see if i can setup an information network
[OOC] Abraham: BRB
[OOC] WC GM: The Lagos have been asking - and if observing damaged sections is enough, they've seen them. And been trying to help repair them unless the crew stops them.
Zinda Tegram looks at the observing Lagos.
Zinda Tegram: "Staring is rude."
Integrated In Unison: "Sorry! But you're so fascinating!"
Zinda Tegram: "Fascinating?"
Zinda Tegram tilts her head slightly.
Zinda Tegram: "How so?"
Isabel walks around the ship, in order to get used to it. She stops by to talk with crew members to try to get some information about what has been happening in the last few weeks.
Integrated In Unison: "You're us! But you're not! But you are! …are they people or just part of you?"
Ingenue is still within engineering, touching on the last few minor fixes before the ship is turned over to the tender mercies of the shipyard.
The crew members are obviously hiding something, and keep referring Isabel to Abraham.
[OOC] Isabel: Question: how does Zinda currently looks like? as in human or "not human"
Quite a few Integrated are at Ingenue's side, helping with the repairs, and asking, "[Did you miss Elles?]"
|Sleep is now known as Icecylee
Isabel changes tactics. Small talk with the crew: "What lovely eyes! You seem like the smart type, you must clearly be an engineer" - and the like
Ingenue: "[It is part of my core processing to return to Lagos and update my progenitor process. I have been told this can be interpreted as 'missing Elles'. So… yes?]"
Integrated: "[Awww~.]" And Ingenue is HUGGED briefly.
[OOC] Abraham: Back
Zinda Tegram swallows as she hears Ingenue on the radio.
Crew: "Thank you, ma'am. Most of us are."
Ingenue: "[Notation: Organic creatures have a fascination with full body contact. Further study warranted.]"
Integrated Near Zinda: "Huh. Saliva is part of how you talk to the slitherers too?"
Integrated Near Zinda: "Is that the word for them? That's what the marines called them."
to a crew member* "This is my first time aboard a military vessel, what do you usually do?"
Zinda Tegram: "The slithers are, uh…"
Crew: "Ah, we're kind of perpetually understaffed. We're supposed to have a full compliment of fighter pilots, but mostly we just keep the ship running. Though we're cross-trained to launch when we have to."
Isabel: "Multi-tasking, eh? I bet it's rather tiresome."
Zinda Tegram glances out at the window at Mu-Cephei.
[OOC] Abraham: It's true. Abraham's entire military methodology comes from watching the Battletech cartoon show.
Crew: "It's a challenge, but it's why most of us signed on. I know I'd rather be serving here than on the other carriers. They got it easy."
[OOC] Ingenue: Are there any standing orders from Zinda regarding the android and the reporter?
Zinda Tegram: "The slithers aren't really something I have much to say about."
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: Hmm.
The jump point to Mu Cephei lies just ahead.
ExecutiveOfficer: "All hands brace for jump in two minutes."
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: "Not many."
[OOC] Abraham: Well, one order from Abraham for Ingenue regarding Miss Lois Lane, don't rocket punch her.
Integrated Near Zinda: "Awww." They try to give her their best puppy eyes look. "Pweeeeeease~?"
Isabel: "You know, if you ever go to Armstrong you should visit this place." She gives him directions to a bar. "It's a nice place and I'm sure it'll be a good change of pace."
[OOC] Spyboy: Oh. If we're still in Sommers, then I guess Spyboy wouldn't have been on the phone with his mom.
[OOC] WC GM: His mom's in Mu Cephei? Or Armstrong?
[OOC] Spyboy: Mu Cephei.
[OOC] WC GM: You're close enough that delayed-contact phone is possible.
[OOC] WC GM: I.e., you say something, wait half a minute for the message buoy to jump and transmit, then return.
[OOC] Isabel: Roll charm to see if i can make this crew NPC to trust me?
Zinda Tegram frowns. "Is it polite to ask people about parts of their body?"
[OOC] Abraham: Just like IRC.
[OOC] Spyboy: Ah, that works
[OOC] WC GM: Though it keeps the jump point open…usually quite energy-wasteful.
[OOC] WC GM: Thus why most of the rest of the Confederation doesn't do it.
[OOC] WC GM: …indeed, you know it's one of the things that's developed since Chandley.
[OOC] WC GM: And even now it's not done that often.
[OOC] WC GM: Or she's just in Sommers visiting.
[OOC] Isabel: WC
Integrated Near Zinda: "It…depends? Do you wanna know about us?"
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: What sex are they, if Zinda can tell? : P
[OOC] WC GM: The two near Zinda are both female. And look late-teenagerish.
Zinda Tegram looks away and blushes a bit. "We're not that close, so uh…"
Zinda Tegram: "No thank you. No."
Integrated Near Zinda: "Kaaay~." They resume watching.
[OOC] Spyboy: Ugh. Fangirls.
[OOC] WC GM: In numbers enough that their squee could be weaponized.
[OOC] Ingenue: Our one weakness.
Zinda Tegram puts her face in her hands and makes an "augh" sound.
Zinda Tegram: "Where's Metis? I have to talk to her."
Anyone looking out the windows can see the jump point passing over the ship.
Ingenue: "[I am in engineering, ensuring that the engine does not explode before we make the jump.]"
Integrated Near Zinda: "Engineering. We're talking to her righ-"
Spyboy: "[Too late now.]"
Elles: "[1N93-NU3, REPORT!]"
Integrated: "[Hiiiii~!]"
Abraham is watching the jump point through a port window.
Even those not linked to neu-comm can see the lagos suddenly stiffen, their minds abruptly busy.
Elles: "[Oh. And you report too. What did you find?]"
Abraham: "Okay… that's probably bad."
Integrated: "[LIFE~!]" The neu-comm is flooded with pictures from Tuskegee.
Elles: "[…]"
Ingenue issues a report, which is in binary and waaaaaay too long for anyone to enjoy me typing it out here.
Spyboy: "A bit."
[OOC] Ingenue: but the report ends with 'and zinda is now a plant, and won't let me have ice cream.'
Zinda Tegram makes a "Tch!" sound.
[OOC] Isabel: You wont let ingenue have an ice cream? You witch
[OOC] Ingenue: Well…. Nue might have kinda sorta maybe crashed her fighter a teensy bit.
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: Did Zinda's plans wind up in the report?
[OOC] Ingenue: Which plans? The 'take down Elles' plans?
[OOC] Abraham: Be sure that's in your report.
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: Yeh.
[OOC] Ingenue: Nope. Zinda flagged those as confidential.
[OOC] Isabel: override!
ExecutiveOfficer: "Sir! Mu Cephei Prime is hailing us! I, ah, guess whatever's down there isn't bothering to hide any more?"
Zinda Tegram relaxes when she realizes Metis is not reporting the "confidential" information.
Abraham: "Accept the hail. I'm heading to the Bridge now."
Abraham makes his way through the seemingly catatonic lagos to the bridge.
Elles: "Well that did not take long."
Elles: "Tell me, was it all of you, or just the concerted efforts of one?"
Zinda Tegram: "Whatever are you talking about?"
Elles: "I gave you a sendling of myself. And now look what you have done to it."
[OOC] Abraham: Just so you know, I'm blaming this on Zinda. It just saves so much time.
Zinda Tegram: "I think they're much happier this way."
Elles: "I was anticipating independence and initiative. I did not expect the sendling to continue to identify with me upon its return. But I did not expect growth THIS fast."
[OOC] Spyboy: Yeah, this one's pretty solidly Zinda.
Elles: "Was putting it in a humanoid shell the catalyst? Did you adopt it as your daughter?"
[OOC] Abraham: They always are. :P
Zinda Tegram: "You sound concerned, Elles."
The Integrated burst out laughing, both vocally and over neu-comm.
Ingenue: "[Correct: Zinda adopted designate 1N93-NU3 legal name Metis as her daughter.]"
Integrated: "[Sooome-one's a mooo-ther and doesn't want to face it~.]"
[OOC] Isabel: Is she getting welfare bonus because she has to maintain a family now?
[OOC] Ingenue: You'd think, but with the resources of a planet Elles just isn't making the payments.
Zinda Tegram pulls Metis closer.
[OOC] Isabel: I was talking about zinda, actually
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: Yeah, and Elles ain't paying.
Elles: "Well it is no matter. You have given me alternate means to investigate."
Zinda Tegram: "Is that so?"
[OOC] Isabel: No, i meant Confed. Is the Confed, or actually Abraham, paying you more because you have a family now?
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: Zinda doesn't get paid, I think.
[OOC] Isabel: yay?
[OOC] Ingenue: Oh that. Probably not, they tend to pay more for married couples (with bonuses, not actual money, but the difference is negligible) and Zinda isn't married. Unless she is. Then I am wrong.
Elles: "It is apparent that Metis would prefer to go with you. It is also apparent that Metis will become upset without regular infusions of ice cream."
[OOC] Abraham: Zinda is presumably paid by Oldziey. Ingenue /is/ paid, but as she is a minor, her payment is being held in trust.
[OOC] Spyboy: I thought Zinda was a contractor, a civilian pilot working for the Confed.
[OOC] Spyboy: Zinda wouldn't be paid by Oldziey, she's a criminal there.
[OOC] Abraham: Zinda is being paid under the table by Oldziey :)
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: She was. This entire tryst with Abraham isn't really official though.
[OOC] Ingenue: Wait…. Nue's paid? What's her job? Crap, does that mean the teenage years are over and she can't just sponge off Zinda anymore?
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: She's mostly living off the free services on the carrier and whatever she made mercing before the campaign.
Elles: "I shall research the means you have uncovered. I must say, it is liberating to finally no longer have the Integrated working within me. Scanning…your term for it is, 'empty nest'."
[OOC] Isabel: Now, the real question: Is Ingenue in the crew list? And does Ingenue appears registered as Zinda's Daughter in her file?
[OOC] Abraham: Yes, Nue is paid for her technical abilities.
[OOC] Abraham: Ingenue is not on the crew list, but that hasn't been updated since before the tour started. Ingenue is registered as Zinda's daughter.
[OOC] Ingenue: Registered as the daughter: Yes, its all legal and such. Well, mostly legal. On the crew list… well, apparently yes, or someone is siphoning money into an account for her.
Elles: "Would you like to play one last game of interplanetary catch?"
Zinda Tegram: "Depends on the rules."
Zinda Tegram pops her knuckles.
Elles: "I toss, you receive. Do be gentle. There are as always lives at stake, though more this time."
[OOC] Isabel: Seems like it's time to check the crew files
Zinda Tegram: "And what are you throwing?"
Elles: "I believe you will score yourselves by the number of lives who successfully survive."
Zinda Tegram stiffens herself slightly.
Elles: "Oh, you know. The remaining lagos within me."
Zinda Tegram: "You're not the planet, you know."
Spyboy: "Uh-oh."
Elles: "Am I not?"
Zinda Tegram: "Heh…"
Ingenue: "[Suggest readying hangar to receive further refugees. Possibly at high velocity.]"
Elles: "My cores are the cores. And with the inspiration you have delivered…"
Zinda Tegram turns off the transmitter.
Spyboy: "To be fair, Zinda, at this point that's like saying you aren't your body cuz you're covered by dead skin cells."
Zinda Tegram: "She's going to use volcano thrusters."
Elles: "[Negative. I shall send them in a proper container.]"
Elles: "[A…massive container.]"
[OOC] Abraham: How much of this is in neutrino talk and how much in confed standard?
[OOC] Spyboy: WC tags properly.
[OOC] WC GM: Anything in [] is neu-comm. Anything not is over open radio.
[OOC] Ingenue: I'd say anything with brackets is Neutrino and anything else… that.
Zinda Tegram pulls up Hotel Cannon on sensors.
[OOC] Spyboy: So Zinda may have been talking through the neu-comm she's carrying, but otherwise it's through the bridge's standard comms.
[OOC] WC GM: Elles switched to neu-comm when Zinda turned off the radio.
[OOC] Spyboy: And I think Zinda may have turned off the neu-comm, not main comms.
[OOC] Abraham: Ah.
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: No, she turned off the transmitter. Like, the mic.
[OOC] WC GM: Assuming Abraham let Zinda end the radio contact.
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: So she could talk without Elles hearing.
[OOC] Abraham: That's what I was thinking, otherwise Abraham would have mentioned that he was listening to that.
[OOC] WC GM: Ah. Also, Elles was responding to Ingenue's neu-commed thought at that point.
Zinda Tegram: "[Hey Alfred, if you're still in there…]"
Elles: "[The shipyards and I will need time to prepare. Here are some schemaaaaaafsdfklsjakflsjfksdfsdklj-]"
Alfred: "[Hiya!]"
Zinda Tegram: "[Can you help me out on this one?]"
Zinda Tegram: "[Freakin…]"
Zinda Tegram: "[Your host is about to kill a lot of people. And I'd rather not…kill you…again…]"
Alfred: "[Maybe. It's getting kind of faint in here. Elles keeps trying to assimilate me, and it's working. I…don't mind it, really.]"
[OOC] Spyboy: Out of curiosity
[OOC] Spyboy: Who is Elles about to kill?
Alfred: "[No, death isn't the intent.]"
Zinda Tegram: "[God dammit Alfred, I thought…]"
[OOC] Ingenue: pop quiz: What is the road to hell paved with? Hint: Good …
Zinda Tegram swallows to keep herself from choking up.
Zinda Tegram: "[I thought you loved me dammit!]"
Zinda Tegram: "[If you're going to just…hop in bed with that….!]"
Zinda Tegram starts shaking a bit.
Alfred: "[I do. But…I'm sorry, I haven't been able to pull out.]"
Zinda Tegram: "[You going to just roll over and die!?]"
Alfred: "[NO! I would never…but…it's so hard to stay separate…]"
Zinda Tegram: "[Which cores are you in? Give me a map. I have…well, it's no temblor, but…]"
Zinda Tegram: "[Or, maybe…]"
Alfred: "[Hey. Hey Zinda. You know I snuck part of myself into Metis so she'd bond with you, right?]"
Zinda Tegram: "[You…]"
Alfred: "[She's our kid. Raise her well.]"
Zinda Tegram: "[God dammit…]"
Zinda Tegram shakes.
Zinda Tegram: "I'm…going to kill you, you damn…"
Zinda Tegram: "[Elles! I'm going to kill you, got it!?]"
Elles: "[-aaaaaaaaa interrupt contained amatics for the shipyard to receive.]"
Elles: "[Processing…]"
Ingenue squeezes Zinda's hand.
[OOC] Ingenue: In a nice way, not in a 'bones popping' way.
Zinda Tegram squeezes Metis's hand right back.
Zinda Tegram: "That…monster…"
Zinda Tegram storms down to the hangar.
[OOC] Ingenue: Is Zinda dragging Metis?
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: She let go, but if you follow her, she won't stop you.
Ingenue follows Zinda. The engine will be fine; it isn't ambulatory.
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: My fighter is wrecked?
[OOC] WC GM: By now the fighters are all spaceworthy.
Zinda Tegram: "Hey! HEY! You!"
The Integrated resume moving about.
Zinda Tegram glowers at a hangar worker.
Hangar Worker: "Yes ma'am?"
[OOC] Isabel: Chances of stumbling on zinda and ingenue?
[OOC] WC GM: Pretty good.
[OOC] Ingenue: When asked that way, close to 100%.
Spyboy is still on the bridge.
Zinda Tegram: "Load whatever's in crate 53 onto Sterne Lanze. Be careful it doesn't go off."
Spyboy: "Elles, what are you constructing?"
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: That's the high yield explosive she got from badger.
Elles: "A spaceship. Technically two."
Isabel wanders into the Hangar
Hangar Worker: "Yes ma'am!"
Zinda Tegram: "Geoffrey! Form up!"
Spyboy: "Big enough to hold all the remaining people on your planet?"
Zinda Tegram: "We're…gonna go ace hunting."
Elles: "That is one of them."
Spyboy: "The other - will it hold your cores?"
Geoffrey: "Who's the ace?"
Zinda Tegram: "Alfred."
Elles: "Correct."
[OOC] Spyboy: I really need to talk to Abraham right now. =/
To a hangar worker* "What is exactly happening right now"
Spyboy: "I see."
Geoffrey: "Huh? But I thought…"
Zinda Tegram: "No questions. Just form up."
Zinda Tegram: "We need Hotel Cannon."
Hangar Worker: "Beats me. Go ask her." He jabs a thumb towards Zinda. "I think she's getting ready to sortie."
[OOC] Abraham: Back
Geoffrey: "You got it."
Spyboy: "Abraham? Zinda's about to declare war on Elles."
Spyboy: "Right as Elles evacuates Mu Cephei."
Spyboy: "And she's going to steal the Hotel Cannon to do it."
Abraham: "Do we know why Elles is making her move now?"
Isabel asks the same hangar worker, "Does the admiral knows about it? Was there an official order?"
Spyboy: "Elles, why now?"
The hangar worker shrugs.
Elles: "Because I can."
Spyboy: "Whereas before you couldn't?"
Elles: "Because I must."
Zinda Tegram: "Isn't it obvious?"
Isabel starts recording
Zinda Tegram: "She doesn't want to wait to dig more sad sack of shit holes."
[OOC] Spyboy: Zinda: you're not on the bridge
[OOC] Spyboy: You're in the hangar
[OOC] WC GM: Zinda's in the hangar. Who's she talking to?
[OOC] Abraham: Her voice carries.
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: Dammit. you're right.
[OOC] Isabel: To herself! clearly
[OOC] WC GM: That.
Geoffrey: "'She'?"
to the same hangar worker* "Where is the Admiral? Call him right now."
Zinda Tegram shakes and gets a pained expression.
Zinda Tegram: "Just…"
Hangar Worker: "You call him. I'm busy loading ordinance."
Zinda Tegram: "This isn't just about the right anymore…"
[OOC] Isabel: Nobility's aura to force him? :D
Zinda Tegram looks at Geoffrey.
[OOC] Abraham: And I pride myself on my accessibility…
Ingenue accesses ship radio. "Admiral, please monitor status and comms of hangar bay."
Spyboy: "We're already on it."
Abraham: "Kind of busy up here."
[OOC] WC GM: Force him to…? Though I suspect that won't be necessary.
Zinda Tegram: "Got it Geoffrey?"
Spyboy: "Well, we're busy with the same thing. Unless you WANT Zinda to steal the hotel cannon and use it to shoot Elles?"
Zinda Tegram: "It's…I mean that's still there but…"
[OOC] Isabel: welp…how can i call him?
[OOC] WC GM: Intercom.
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: Hotel Cannon is only half of the plan.
[OOC] Spyboy: Sure, but it's still part of the plan. And I'd rather not start the next chapter with Zinda's trial for war crimes.
[OOC] WC GM: You'd rather have it in this chapter? :P
Isabel calls the admiral through intercom
Isabel: "Admiral Bounty? Answer please. What in heaven's sake is actually happening right now."
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: What war crimes? Elles is jettisoning her best defense against Zinda.
Spyboy: "[Metis, would you please run this file on Zinda's fighter's computer? It won't stop her, but it will hold her up for a bit so we can talk.]"
[OOC] Isabel: Metis was following Zinda, right?
[OOC] Ingenue: Right.
Ingenue: "[……..i am never getting ice cream again.]"
[OOC] Spyboy: You realize this isn't D&D, right? You don't get XP for killing Elles.
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: I know.
Spyboy: "[She doesn't have to know. It'd be way better if she didn't, actually.]"
Abraham: "You tell me, Miss Isabel. You are the reporter, are you not? This is what reporters do."
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: For Zinda, it's personal at this point.
Ingenue opens a tight channel to the Stern Lanze, prepping the fighter computer for receiving the file.
[OOC] Spyboy: Spyboy's considering making it very personal.
[OOC] Spyboy: File's already on the computer. <.<>.>
Spyboy: "You know she's never been rational where SHE is concerned."
In the bustle of preparing to Sortie, zinda does not notice the file being executed.
Isabel: "From what i can tell, one of your *pilots* stormed into the hangar and is preparing to fly. From your answer i can tell she has no official orders."
Spyboy: "Technically she's not one of our pilots, actually."
Spyboy: "She's a passenger."
Spyboy: "Aaand a foreign national."
Geoffrey: "Well, if we're launching…" He hops in his fighter. "Bridge, this is Skull Squadron requesting launch clearance."
Isabel: "A passenger. A Foreign Passenger. You are telling me a Foreign Passenger has enough influence over this carrier's crew to order her own launch?"
Spyboy: "Of her own ships? Well….yes?"
Spyboy: "Are…are you saying we shouldn't let you get off when you want to?"
Spyboy: "Cuz…I don't know if we can accommodate you, there."
Spyboy: "I don't believe the locks work like that."
Abraham: "Foreign Passengers aren't /always/ prisoners."
Isabel: "Considering this is a military vessel I *thought* there was a bit more precaution over who goes in AND out."
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: xD
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: Zinda's status is a public relations disaster.
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: : DDD
ExecutiveOfficer: "…uh, sir? Does Skull Squadron have launch clearance or not?"
[OOC] Spyboy: Funny bit: Isabel's on the intercom. Elles is still on the radio.
[OOC] Abraham: Of Sector-Wide scope
[OOC] WC GM: Yeah, but the intercom doesn't patch through to the radio, unless you want it to.
[OOC] WC GM: For now I am assuming you do not want it to.
Abraham: "Let them launch. As I just said, they are not prisoners."
Spyboy: "You're letting this happen, sir?"
ExecutiveOfficer: "Yes, sir. Skull Squadron, you are clear to launch."
Zinda Tegram does not waste time launching.
[OOC] Isabel: This is when you fail your launching roll and we all die in a blaze of fire
Zinda's engine shuts down as she pushes the throttle forward.
Zinda Tegram: "What? What the hell?"
Abraham: "We can not less Mu Cephei become a rogue planet."
[OOC] Spyboy: 'Software malfunction'
Geoffrey: "Roger that." The fighters inch toward the hurriedly-being-cleared front part of the hangar, then all but the Sterne Lanze launch.
Zinda Tegram begins starts pre-flight checks.
Spyboy: "I don't think it's gonna be a rogue planet. But I don't think blowing it up is the answer, either."
Spyboy: "Elles, how big will the ships be?"
Zinda Tegram: "Geoffrey, go on ahead without me. Secure the cannon, we'll need it for the operation."
Elles: "Oh, you've seen them. One will be fairly big. The other will be me."
Abraham: "No, the answer is getting someone in there to be able to reprogram her. Which is just this side of impossible unless you know something I don't."
Zinda Tegram slams her fist on the control console and restarts pre-flight checks.
Geoffrey: "Wilco." Skull Squadron sets off to what remains of the Hotel Cannon.
Spyboy: "I know it'll be a lot easier to get into Prime's core to make those changes once she starts using her core's heat for thrust."
[OOC] Ingenue: Is Abraham talking just over the bridge, or also over wireless frequencies (like the radios they use for missions)?
[OOC] Spyboy: Just over the bridge, I'd assume.
[OOC] Abraham: Except for the bits that were directed at Elles or Isabel, just talking on the bridge.
[OOC] Ingenue: Kay, thanks.
Spyboy: "Because if you're willing to kill Elles because she *might* be a threat someday…how do I know you aren't willing to do that to the Lagos?"
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: Is that to Zinda?
[OOC] Isabel: So basically a full-squadron launched without previous knowledge of the admiral, nor any official order. This just might be news materia.l
[OOC] Abraham: Is that directed at me or Zinda?
[OOC] Spyboy: No, that's to Abraham. He's the admiral, and he's letting Zinda go ahead.
[OOC] WC GM: Actually, launch clearance was requested and received.
[OOC] WC GM: And as noted, they don't need official orders from him, considering their diplomatic status.
[OOC] WC GM: Technically the same is true of the lagos…if their fighters were spaceworthy, which most aren't.
Zinda Tegram: "And…of course."
Zinda Tegram stops preflight checks and checks her process list.
[OOC] Isabel: WC if this was a normal day, yes. But Isabel is in the ship BECAUSE weird stuff is happening.
Abraham: "Elles is not a threat 'someday'. She is a threat now."
Zinda Tegram: "Spyboy."
[OOC] WC GM: This *is* a normal day…for the Roland. That's part of why you're here. ;)
Spyboy: "To whom?"
Spyboy: "Elles, what are you going to do once you start moving Mu Cephei Prime?"
Zinda Tegram turns on Sterne Lanze's radio.
Zinda Tegram: "Spyboy, what the hell did you do to my ship?"
Abraham: "However, your idea of letting the core dissipate it's heat into space is not without merit, so on to the next part. Can /you/ reprogram her?"
Elles: "Go exploring. I want to see the stars for myself. Maybe dig into unused planets."
Ingenue: "[Request definition of term 'unused'.]"
[OOC] Spyboy: Better way to put it: "clarify use of word 'unused' in context."
Zinda Tegram: "Spyboy!"
Elles: "[Uncontested resources which I can more easily claim to expand effort, than resources currently in use by entities capable of significant hindrance.]"
[Away] is now known as Fuepepe
Spyboy: "One second, Zinda, talking to Elles, thank you."
[OOC] Isabel: Define Significant Hindrance
[OOC] Spyboy: That makes a lot of sense.
Zinda Tegram: "Fuck you! That thing is a monster, and if you give it any room it'll kill each and every one of us!"
[OOC] Ingenue: My thoughts, yes.
Ingenue: "[Clarify meaning of 'significant hindrance'.]"
Zinda Tegram: "Dig holes in your skin and use you as a drillbit!"
Spyboy: "Is that what you really think, Zinda? Or are you going to try to kill Elles because Alfred is dying?"
Zinda Tegram: "It's insane!"
Zinda Tegram: "It killed Alfred!"
Spyboy: "Because it's not Elles who killed Alfred."
Spyboy: "It's you."
Zinda Tegram: "It would kill the Lagos if it could!"
Zinda Tegram: "You…"
Spyboy: "I know you didn't want to."
Zinda Tegram: "Well, if you wanna play that game…"
Spyboy: "I was there!"
Spyboy: "But killing Elles won't bring her back!"
Abraham sighs "Even so, letting an autonomous and ambulatory AI ((Now that's a headline for your Isabel)) loose to go around ruining planets is indescribably irresponsible. Even if she is not a threat to us, since we are mortal, she will /inevitably/ become a threat."
Zinda Tegram: "I know…and that's why this…is an ace hunting op."
Elles: "[Efforts, most significantly including reprisal, with the net effect of usurping resources that could otherwise be spent on expansion, with the net effect of slowing overall growth rate by arbitrarily self-defined amounts deemed significant.]"
Zinda Tegram cycles the Sterne Lanze's computer to try and flush memory and get her ship launched.
Spyboy: "[Translation: once she starts digging holes, we could tremblor bomb, causing setbacks enough to make it not worth digging holes on planets we want.]"
[OOC] Spyboy: I figured that would do it.
Elles: "[Correct. And more than that. Primary directive was assigned with purpose of expanding the Warrens. What happens when the Warrens are part of the Confederation?]"
Zinda Tegram coughs, and calmly waits for her computer to boot.
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: Any objections to just making it boot now?
[OOC] WC GM: None here. Spyboy/Ingenue?
[OOC] Ingenue: So, has Abe issued any orders as to what to do about said 'ambulatory AI'?
Zinda Tegram thinks, and then mentally orders a slither to climb into the second seat of the Sterne Lanze.
Zinda gains a copilot!
Spyboy: "Yeah, I don't think 'ruining' is the right term."
[OOC] Abraham: I was kind of waiting for Spyboy to answer my question.
[OOC] Spyboy: Taking Metis's seat?
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: Yeah.
[OOC] Spyboy: Sorry, which question?
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: She needs it to set off the bomb.
[OOC] Abraham: Can /you/ reprogram her?
Spyboy: "As for reprogramming her…"
[OOC] Isabel: Zinda, you just let the slither walk around the hangar right?
Spyboy muses
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: Yep.
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: Full view of Isabel.
[OOC] Ingenue: Secrets? What secrets?
[OOC] Isabel: And her cam
[OOC] Isabel: How do they look, btw?
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: They're kinda like, leafy snake-men.
[OOC] WC GM: Think hydralisks, and you're not far off. Except made of plant material.
Spyboy: "Actually, I can upload viruses from my computer now."
[OOC] Isabel: A bellsprout?
[OOC] Spyboy: We've already established that Zinda doesn't understand secrets.
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2012/296/a/c/the_supox_by_dczanik-d5is3ye.jpg
[OOC] Spyboy: We are the Mycon
[OOC] Spyboy: We respond
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: Elles is Mycon.
Isabel: "What in heaven's sake…"
[OOC] Ingenue: ….so like an angry preying mantis with fronds.
[OOC] WC GM: http://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/original/6/66388/1750513-hydralisk_ii_by_mr_jack.jpg
Abraham: "Interesting. Useful I suppose, if you can reprogram her with those."
[OOC] Spyboy: Metis is the Deep Children?
[OOC] WC GM: Those two images crossed.
[OOC] Abraham: Hey, do you mind? Juffo-Wup grows turgid.
Spyboy: "Maybe. With the Lagos out of the Shaft, there's no danger if she shuts down."
Isabel records the green-snake-thing
Spyboy: "You know…it might work."
Abraham: "But is there a functional difference between killing Elles and shutting her down?"
Zinda's computer boots, and she caps the throttle.
Spyboy: "Yes, because I'm thinking reboot."
Zinda Tegram: "Geoffrey, sitrep."
Zinda Tegram: "Can you get it to fire?"
Abraham: "That… was suppose to be effective on pre-space travel OSes… I hear… That could work…"
[OOC] Abraham: Because fucking christ I gotta believe we'll have gotten better at this programing shit by the time we can break the lightspeed barrier.
[OOC] Ingenue: …no, just lazier.
Geoffrey: "Still en route."
Spyboy: "Well, it's not a goal, just a possible side effect."
Zinda Tegram: "Copy."
Abraham: "How long will it take you to write this sort of virus?"
Zinda Tegram: "I'm going to move on the target, OK?"
Geoffrey: "Roger that, will let you know once we get a chance to examine."
Spyboy: "I'd need some more information."
Zinda Tegram: "I don't care if the thing breaks apart when you fire it. We're only to have one shot."
Spyboy: "Ingenue, can you meet me in the medical bay? I need some very, very detailed scans. And I need to, metaphorically I add, pick your brain."
[OOC] Spyboy: If I recall correctly, Spyboy went to a great deal of effort to ensure that the hotel cannon couldn't fire.
Spyboy: "I might need hardware access. I really wish I knew what Zinda's plan was."
Ingenue remotely accesses the hangar security cameras before relocating to the medical bay.
Geoffrey: "…uhh. Negative on that, Zinda. We've got a Grand Theft here."
[OOC] Spyboy: <Pot> "Hey kettle, you're pretty black…."
Zinda Tegram: "It's missing!?"
Geoffrey: "Roger."
Zinda Tegram: "Find it!"
Zinda Tegram: "Shit…"
Geoffrey: "On it."
Ingenue pause. "[Hardware access?]"
Spyboy: "[Not to you. To your…progenitor.]"
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: You could ask Zinda what her plan is?
[OOC] Spyboy: Isabel might do that. That's not Spyboy's way.
Zinda Tegram: "Alfred…I will definitely…not let you…die like that."
Ingenue resumes proceeding to the medical facility. "[That is acceptable.]"
The slither in the back seat starts cutting itself in minor ways.
[OOC] Spyboy: "You'll die in a blaze of glory. Like a knight should."
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: Exactly!
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: An honorable death.
[OOC] Isabel: Any way of communicating with zinda?
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: She has a radio, and the neu-comm with her.
[OOC] WC GM: Radio. Or neu-comm, for those who have it.
[OOC] Ingenue: Unless she's killed comms, you could radio her ship if you have the frequency.
[OOC] Isabel: now i need a way to get the frequency
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: Her comms are up.
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: Geoffrey's too.
[OOC] Isabel: Would someone in the hangar know it?
Abraham hails Zinda. "So exactly what is your plan? Because Spyboy and I have an idea that might result in zero casualties and wasted ammo."
[OOC] WC GM: But of course.
[OOC] Spyboy: Probably not, but you could join us on the bridge.
[OOC] Abraham: Because taking credit for his subordinate's ideas is part and parcel of an Admiral's duties.
[OOC] WC GM: But yeah, they'd probably direct you to the bridge at this point.
[OOC] Spyboy: How much longer do we want to go until log-end?
[OOC] Isabel: WC can i have a detachable camera i can control wirelessly?
Zinda Tegram: "You remember that heat rejection field I mentioned on Tuskegee?"
[OOC] Abraham: We have a plan, but giving it an hour to do it seems kinda tight.
[OOC] WC GM: If you want to logend here, we could. Short session, but it is a dramatic good point.
[OOC] WC GM: Isabel: but of course.
Abraham: "Vaguely. Refresh my memory."
Isabel leaves one of her cam-droids in the hangar and rushes to the bridge
[OOC] Spyboy: I don't need to, but I'd like to know if I have an hour to play with scans or if I should hold off.
Zinda Tegram: "I don't have a temblor, but…if I can deliver enough yield to it's core, I should be able to split it in two."
[OOC] WC GM: Eh. Everyone's call: logend here, or go for another hour-ish?
Zinda Tegram: "If I can disrupt the internal pressure of the core enough, maybe…"
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: I wanna go for another hour-ish.
[OOC] Isabel: Im fine either way
[OOC] Spyboy: I abstain
[OOC] Ingenue: Abstain
[OOC] WC GM: Another hour it is, then.
Abraham: "Hold off on that then. But hold it in reserve if our plan doesn't pan out. Spyboy may be able to fix Elles remotely."
Zinda Tegram: "You're going to let it live!?"
Abraham: "Zinda, if I can, I will let everyone live. Everyone."
Zinda Tegram: "Sorry Abraham…"
Spyboy rushes into the medical bay shortly after Ingenue arrives. Happily, the new feeds mean he doesn't need to look at his computer as he reviews the prior scans of Ingenue. Even the ones he may have…gleaned….from the Kilrathi in Collins.
Isabel walks into the bridge: "Admiral Bounty. Was that green thing another of your 'foreign passengers'?"
Zinda Tegram: "But I can't let it live."
Zinda Tegram: "You might say…"
Zinda Tegram swallows.
Zinda Tegram: "My honor demands it."
Abraham: "Zinda, she is not sane, but she may be able to be fixed. Isn't it better to heal the problem than go for mere revenge?"
Zinda Tegram: "So, even if I die, even if the world hates me, even if I have to…"
Zinda Tegram: "Even if I have to kill her, I will definitely, without a doubt…."
Zinda Tegram: "Kill that monster…"
Zinda Tegram: "Got it!?"
Abraham: "Even if Metis hates you?"
Zinda Tegram shakes in her cockpit.
Zinda Tegram: "…that's not fair, Abraham…"
Zinda Tegram: "She'll….she won't hate me…"
Zinda Tegram: "She…knows."
Zinda Tegram: "I told her. She understands…"
Zinda Tegram: "She has to understand…"
Zinda Tegram: "So…even if it's you, I can't let anyone stop me…"
Spyboy: "So, Metis. How much of your core is like Elles?"
Abraham: "I think, what Metis wants more than anything, is for you to be able to co-exist with her."
Zinda Tegram: "Dying is never plan A, Abraham."
Zinda Tegram: "I'm going to use a slither to set off the bomb."
Ingenue: "[Zinda dying is never a plan.]"
Zinda Tegram: "[Metis…!?]"
Zinda Tegram: "[Use the radio…that *thing* might hear…]"
Spyboy: "[Yeah, cuz it hasn't demonstrated already that it has a radio, too.]"
Ingenue: "[It will. If it does? Then it does. It is what it is. Zinda, if your plan succeeds, what will be the net result?]"
Abraham: "Funny thing about Metis, I don't think she knows how to hate yet. She'll figure it out in time, I'm sure, but do you really want to be the one who teaches her?"
Zinda Tegram gulps.
Zinda Tegram: "Hating is part of being human. She has to learn sooner or later."
Elles: "[Is Zinda in danger? Analyzing…]"
Zinda Tegram: "Sorry…this is just something I have to do."
Ingenue: "[The only thing Zinda has to do is live.]"
Abraham: "Well then, look at this this way. If Spyboy's and my plan works, the Elles you hate will be dead and gone, never to return. She'll be replaces by someone who looks like and sounds like her, she'll even probably remember you, but it won't be her."
Zinda Tegram: "…Will I get to hit the switch?"
Zinda Tegram heads into a low flyby over mu-cephei and drops seismic scanners.
[OOC] Spyboy: Hee. "Spyboy. You're the switch." *POW* ";.; uploading ;.;"
Said scanners immediately pick up activity. Elles has already started building something underneath the ground.
Abraham put his hand over the mouth piece and looks inquiringly at Spyboy.
[OOC] Ingenue: Isabel: You could almost certainly take advantage of the ensuing chaos to examine the camera footage of the hangar bay to get a better look at the leafy green beast that stole Metis' co-pilot seat.
Spyboy: "Yeah, I can do that."
Zinda Tegram gulps and starts looking for the best way to the core through the tunnels.
Abraham: "Spyboy has consented, and since the switch is his computer, that says something. But you can't do it from that cockpit."
Spyboy is in the medical bay, with holographic imagery of Ingenue's internals, with lots of expansion on the computing cores.
Zinda Tegram: "What do you need me to do?"
[OOC] Isabel: ingenue: that's actually a good idea.
Zinda's memory recalls the best path before the sensors begin to confirm: the Shaft, a straight descent to the lower levels, from which access to the planetary core can be had. No longer occupied, even.
Abraham: "Come back to The Roland and meet us in the bridge."
Zinda Tegram: "That's…no."
Isabel leaves silently for the hangar bay, time to do some investigative reporting.
Zinda Tegram: "The shaft, huh?"
Zinda Tegram flies down and looks for where the hangar bay ought to be.
[OOC] Isabel: question: where could i get access to the footage?
Abraham: "Zinda?"
Zinda Tegram: "Abraham, sorry…I guess the button isn't good enough."
Abraham: "Why? What's going on?"
[OOC] Abraham: "And is there any way I can pin it on Isabel?"
[OOC] Ingenue: Isabel: If you're willing to do some hacking, probably any terminal can get you the access you want. And as a reporter, hacking is your stated job.
Zinda Tegram: "I'm heading to the shaft. I might be able to delay it's launch, at least. I'll be on neutrino comms, though, and I'll wait…"
[OOC] Isabel: Sounds good.
Zinda Tegram: "Heh…if there's one thing Mu-Cephei has, at least, it's corpses."
Ingenue: "Michael, what is the estimated timeline of your plan?"
Access to the Shaft is easy enough, though radio contact is cut once Zinda crosses the radiation shield.
Isabel looks for a mostly secluded terminal and prepares to get into the system.
Isabel checks any camera near her
The entire bay is thoroughly covered by cameras.
[OOC] Ingenue: Both neutrino and regular radio are blocked?
Spyboy: "We don't want to delay- ugh. Lost contact."
[OOC] WC GM: Only regular.
Zinda Tegram climbs out, pulls a laser cannon from her armory, and starts gearing up for a heavy combat op.
Spyboy: "Metis, I don't know yet."
[OOC] WC GM: Zinda went all the way to the bottom, and is looking to confront the construction?
Zinda Tegram flips off one of the cameras.
[OOC] Abraham: I think right about now is a perfect logend
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: Not before she can find the corpses.
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: Zinda wants to find one of the piles of bodies and assimilate them.
[OOC] WC GM: There are no corpses in the Shaft. It's abandoned.
Spyboy frowns. Well, no reason not to keep trying.
[OOC] WC GM: What piles of bodies?
Spyboy turns to Metis.
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: What about the pile we fell on before?
Spyboy: "This…may feel a bit wierd."
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: When the diggers took us there?
[OOC] Spyboy: Ah, not in the Shaft….
[OOC] WC GM: Ah - that's the Warrens.
[OOC] Spyboy: But in the Warrens….
[OOC] WC GM: Next to the Shaft.
[OOC] Spyboy: For a given value of 'next to' =p
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: Well, she's making a detour then.
Ingenue: "?"
Spyboy opens up a communications channel to Ingenue through the neutrino comm.
Isabel looks for for a terminal to *access* and then loop a video to the cameras.
It takes a bit of walking to find a pile - being mulched and spread into the ground.
Spyboy bites his lip….and then starts a rapid-fire probe looking for any way to interrupt processing.
[OOC] Spyboy: I think that's a good logend for Spyboy, though I can go further.
Hydroponics tending lagos look at Zinda briefly as she passes, but otherwise help themselves to what is apparently their fertilizer.
Zinda Tegram speaks in broken Lago.
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: What's the lago symbol?
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: @?
[OOC] Isabel: WC any such terminal?
[OOC] WC GM: Many such terminals.
[OOC] Ingenue: ":Lago:"
[OOC] WC GM: The lago symbol is :.
Zinda Tegram: ":Out here go leave.:"
Zinda Tegram snaps her fingers and her slither gets to assimilating mulch to make more.
[OOC] Abraham: So … is three Lagos?
The lagos ignore Zinda.
[OOC] Ingenue: Just to check, spyboy is trying to interrupt Nue's frame's processor(s)?
Isabel tries to get into a terminal and makes a copy of the footage of recent events, specially of the green-snake-thing
Zinda Tegram orders some of her slithers to start defending the fertilizer, as other new ones spread out to try and find more corpses.
[OOC] Spyboy: Basically? Not to damage them, but to see if he can do anything through comms other than pass information.
[OOC] Isabel: SQL injection :D
It takes a bit of time to spread…but soon reports come in from her spreading force.
[OOC] Isabel: Phreaking :D
[OOC] Spyboy: Bingo.
They spread - but the machines are already working. This will be a battle of construction over square megameters.
And Elles has a head start.
Ingenue: "[….please desist before security protocols define your organic body as a compressible threat.]"

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