Session 6 16

The bots in the room are starting up, and they do not look friendly. On the other hand, Zinda is right there, and the others have time to react…
[OOC] WC GM: Surprise round! Initiative order N/A for right now - take your actions in whatever order you like.
Zinda Tegram throws an EMP grenade.
Spyboy punches the 'ATTACK' button on his computer, which starts brute-forcing passwords.
[OOC] Spyboy: Plus jamming other frequencies, etc.
Metis steps between the bots and the Zinda.
Zinda Tegram: "…Metis? Uh…"
Zinda Tegram: "Can you take an EMP hun?"
Metis: "Yes."
Zinda Tegram: "O-ok."
Spyboy: "Now the only question is whether a bunch of Nephilim-designed robots are as well…"
[OOC] WC GM: Roll attacks/maneuvers/etc. Abraham?
Abraham: "But I admire the faith you obviously had before you threw it.
Zinda Tegram ducks back out of the door and tries to yank Metis back.
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: Aren't y'all on a lower floor?
[OOC] Metis: Now, see that might be important…are we?
[OOC] WC GM: Metis presumably ran up.
[OOC] Metis: Sounds impulsive, so probably!
[OOC] WC GM: Zinda's on the next-to-last floor; everyone else is belwo.
Zinda Tegram rolled up 4dF: 0 0 - + (Base: 5 Total: 5) (Gunnery. Compelling no defense because ro-butt's and EMPs.)
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: …Chessa? : O
Abraham recognizes the make of bot, and unless it's been upgraded it has a problem seeing through smoke. He throws two smoke grenades and yells "If you've got thermal optics, put them on" . ((Engineering to place 'Blind' on the Bots))
[OOC] WC GM: Go for it
Abraham rolled up 4dF: + - 0 + (Base: 3 Total: 4) (Engineering Maneuver to place 'Blind' on the bots.)
Metis rolled up 4dF: + - + 0 (Base: 3 Total: 4) (((Agility to place aspect 'Between Zinda and danger' on…probably the zone.)))
[OOC] WC GM: Actually on Zinda, since you move with her, but sure.
[OOC] WC GM: And Spyboy?
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: Was the compel accepted?
Spyboy rolled up 4dF: + + - + (Base: 6 Total: 8) (Communications on data attack on the robots.)
[OOC] WC GM: Yep
[OOC] Metis: On Zinda, then.
Abraham somewhat belatedly pulls down his Thermal Goggles.
The robots are of at least mostly Terran design - those being what standard fabricators were rigged to manufacture. While they are not completely offline yet, they will definitely take a while longer to become a threat to anyone but themselves.
[OOC] WC GM: Given the tactics, that scores surprise round #2. Go for it!
Spyboy follows Abraham; distracted, he's not as fast, but he does have Heggy with her energy pistol out in case they're flanked.
[OOC] Spyboy: Free move in last round, to stairwell outside room with robots?
[OOC] WC GM: Sure.
Heggy puts on her thermal goggles - the data feed off of Metis' eyes.
[OOC] WC GM: Metis dashed over the entire distance with a full-round action & maneuver, so getting to the debris-stairs while doing something else is legit.
Abraham studies the lay out of the room, taking in every detail he can observe, looking for ways to disable the intruder alert, rather than each robot individually.
[OOC] Abraham: Not sure what kind of maneuver that would be. Alertness?
[OOC] WC GM: I can dig Alertness.
Abraham rolled up 4dF: 0 0 + - (Base: 5 Total: 5) (Alertness maneuver to place 'observed' on the room.)
[OOC] Abraham: And Chessa cares not.
[OOC] WC GM: Results PMed to Abraham. Metis/Spyboy/Zinda, you're up!
Spyboy scans the EM results, the heat sources, and looks for the group of robots most likely to get up.
[OOC] Spyboy: Tactics to place 'called shot' on robots.
[OOC] WC GM: Actually, doubles w/Abraham's result.
Metis runs a schematic analysis on the robots, comparing to known designs and looking for flaws, discrepancies or 'ooh' moments.
[OOC] WC GM: Just need to get Abraham to tell you in his words.
Metis rolled up 4dF: + - + + (Base: 6 Total: 8) (((Engineering assessment on robots.)))
Abraham: "Everyone get to the exits. That ceiling is coming down."
Metis: "Oh."
Spyboy: "…Copy that - wait. The room or the facility?"
Abraham: "…Just this room. Probably."
Spyboy: "Damnit, Zinda!"
Spyboy bites his lip
Zinda Tegram: "…tch…"
Zinda Tegram: "Withdrawing."
Spyboy: "If the facility comes down on that computer, our mission has failed. Heggy, I need you to warm up the fighter. I'm grabbing the computer before it gets squashed."
Spyboy bolts back down the stairs, while Heggy heads up.
[OOC] Abraham: When it's Round 3, I'll bring down the house.
Zinda Tegram tosses another EMP into the room to keep the robots down a bit longer and starts working her way downward to help carry the machine.
[OOC] WC GM: Full round move action for Spyboy, then?
Metis: "How long do you need to extract the computer?"
[OOC] WC GM: If so, just need Zinda's attack.
[OOC] Spyboy: Yeah.
Spyboy: "Not long - it was on a cart, but I think we triggered the trap on the cart anyway."
On the one hand, the computer is on a wheeled dolly. On the other, rubble-stairs are not an even surface, and then there's the elevator shaft or the stairwell proper to navigate.
Zinda Tegram rolled up 4dF: 0 + - - (Base: 5 Total: 4) (Gunnery, same compel)
[OOC] Abraham: How big is the comp? Is it feasible for him to just pick it up in his arms and do a mad dash?
[OOC] WC GM: In both arms, sure.
[OOC] WC GM: Think a typical large watermelon.
[OOC] WC GM: Or any other torso-sized object, though denser than flesh.
[OOC] Abraham: Pretty sure we can find another cart if we need to somewhere else in the facility.
[OOC] WC GM: Actually, the top two floors have been picked pretty clean.
[OOC] Metis: If necessary, the inhumanly strong robot can carry the computer-melon.
Metis pinpoints the sections of wall most in need of encouragement to succumb to gravity's whims.
The robots gradually get their bearings - further EMP does not help, but the components affected by that are fried by now and the robots have routed around those. Slowly, weakly, they bring their weapons to bear…
[OOC] WC GM: Round 3! Init order: Abraham, Spyboy, Metis, Zinda.
[OOC] WC GM: And then robots, if they're still functioning.
Abraham does the math. Two…no…three grenades. There. There. And of course there. Rather than futzing with the timers to make sure they detonate in mid air, Abraham opts instead to go with sticky fragmentation grenades.
Abraham rolled up 4dF: 0 0 - - (Base: 6 Total: 4) (Science maneuver to place 'No longer a room' on the room.)
[OOC] Abraham: I will tag whate3ver I need to spite Chessa.
That…was a room…a load-bearing room, given the damage on other load-bearing parts. At least those robots will not be a problem any more.
[OOC] WC GM: Still combat time, if only because you're now on a timer. One floor collapses per round.
[OOC] Spyboy: Oh, I'm next. Got it.
Abraham: "Hm…I may have been Zinda-levels of enthusiastic on that…"
Spyboy listens to the rumble and bites his lip. Looking at the rubble-strewn 'ramp,' he turns to the computer, bends his knees, wraps his arms around the server, and starts a shambling walk back uphill…
Spyboy rolled up 4dF: + + - - (Base: 2 Total: 2) (Strength, tagging 'We've Gotten Out Of Worse Scrapes Than This')
Spyboy makes it most of the way up, but he is going to need help.
[OOC] Abraham: Strength? Do you mean 'Stamina'?
[OOC] Spyboy: I meant Strength, but it doesn't matter cuz I have neither.
[OOC] WC GM: Resolve, then? That's a +2.
[OOC] Abraham: Well, that's very interesting. I just noticed Stamina is on my pyramid twice. I'll deal with that after session.
[OOC] Spyboy: Eh, Zinda said she was on her way to help. Much more interesting that way.
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: Yep.
[OOC] WC GM: Zinda and Metis are right there, yeah.
Metis: "Michael, perhaps I should carry the computer."
Spyboy: "But…you're…a little…girl…"
Zinda Tegram: "Spyboy."
Spyboy: "Wouldn't complain…about…help, though."
Zinda Tegram: "…Men…"
Metis: "…that is true. However, I am also a nanotechnological frame that can exert more lift than your organic body."
Metis: "If I may?"
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: Metis just gendered herself!
[OOC] Metis: Shh, its a moment of stress!
[OOC] Abraham: A moment of stress where everyone is paying attention and will not forget.
[OOC] Metis: Well, yeah.
Spyboy: "Grab…that…end…anyway."
[OOC] Abraham: //Zinda will remember this.//
[OOC] WC GM: And this is how memories are made.
Metis grabs that end…of the computer. And lifts.
Spyboy soon realizes that he is not providing any force for his end of the computer. Reluctantly, he lets go.
[OOC] Abraham: And Spyboy fails to comment on how he found himself dangling about a food off the ground and was manly enough to just let go.
[OOC] Metis: Stamina roll, or are we good?
[OOC] WC GM: Autopass Stamina-wise.
[OOC] WC GM: Given the angles involved, I keep wanting to see this scene with the Zelda "item get" fanfare.
[OOC] Spyboy: Nah, Spyboy didn't have the strength to hold himself to the computer that well.
Metis balances the computer and moves out…after Zinda moves out.
Abraham: "Five."
[OOC] WC GM: Zinda's action to see how far they get, then.
Abraham: "Four."
Abraham: "Three."
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: Uh
Abraham: "Two."
[OOC] Abraham: Grenades are on a timer.
Zinda Tegram rolled up 4dF: + 0 - 0 (Base: 4 Total: 4) (Stamina)
Zinda manages to haul Spyboy out of the collapsed room and to the elevator shaft/stairwell, with Metis right behind, just as the floor collapses behind them.
Abraham belatedly says "One. Zero."
Through Heggy, Spyboy and Metis see that the collapse means the fighters are about to fall. Fortunately, Heggy made it to one fighter in time to start the warmup; the other two fighters may have to be leapt into mid-descent.
[OOC] WC GM: They're not falling yet, but they will be at the end of this round - too soon for anyone else to reach.
[OOC] WC GM: "This round" as in round 4. Actions?
[OOC] Metis: Same order?
[OOC] WC GM: Order irrelevant.
[OOC] WC GM: No potential enemy action.
[OOC] Metis: Abraham's fighter would have the most storage room for the computer, yes? The other two would have two passengers?
[OOC] Abraham: Reasonable.
Spyboy taps some keys on his computer, remotely triggering the start sequence of Abraham's fighter and the Stern Lanze. Belatedly he remembers that Zinda didn't give him her password…but maybe she won't notice.
[OOC] WC GM: The computer can fit in Abraham's or Zinda's fighters.
[OOC] WC GM: Spyboy's and Zinda's have two passengers each.
[OOC] WC GM: In theory you could try fitting the computer as ordinance on Spyboy's fighter…maybe not the best solution, though.
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: Zinda keeps dragging.
Zinda Tegram rolled up 4dF: 0 + + 0 (Base: 4 Total: 6) (Stamina, tag Abraham Bounty's Private Army)
[OOC] Metis: Definitely not. Abe, you get the computer.
Metis scans the structure, looking for the quickest way to position the computer into Abraham's fighter while still making it to the Stern Lanze in time.
The quickest way would be to drop it - gently, not with enough force to damage fighter or computer - behind Abraham's seat.
Spyboy: "The launchpad floor has collapsed. I have your fighters under remote."
Spyboy is dragged while sending off commands.
Metis slots the computer behind the Admiral's seat - just so - then scrambles with all due haste to the Stern Lanze.
[OOC] WC GM: How are you getting to the fighter?
[OOC] WC GM: You start the round 3 floors below.
[OOC] WC GM: End of round it'll start dropping to your level.
[OOC] Spyboy: Is there room for me to drop the fighters down to where we can get them?
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: …The top floors are in good condition right?
[OOC] Spyboy: get to them, rather
[OOC] Metis: For nowish.
[OOC] Spyboy: Nah, collapse is starting at the top and going down.
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: …is the pulley system in the shaft still there?
[OOC] WC GM: Technically, the bottom floor collapsed - but that means all floors above it went down a floor.
[OOC] WC GM: The pulley's still there, yeah.
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: …hook it up to that.
[OOC] WC GM: And power-pull?
[OOC] WC GM: Hook the party as well?
[OOC] Metis: Sky hook, awaaaaaaay!
[OOC] WC GM: I'll allow it, though it'll take a high Stamina check - someone may want to help Metis; the results add.
[OOC] Metis: Roll now?
[OOC] WC GM: Sure.
[OOC] WC GM: Add 6 from Zinda's roll.
[OOC] Abraham: I'll help. I've got two Staminas after all.
Metis rolled up 4dF: 0 0 + - (Base: 11 Total: 11) ((Stamina to assist in the not dying; +6 incorporated from Zinda's roll.))
[OOC] WC GM: And Chessa is "meh" on not dying.
Abraham jumps up and grabs the rope, letting his body weight do most of the work.
[OOC] Metis: On the one hand, fellow AI; on the other hand, hatred for all life. They balance, it seems.
Abraham rolled up 4dF: - - + 0 (Base: 4 Total: 3) (Stamina)
[OOC] Abraham: I knew I should have eaten more chocolate.
[OOC] Metis: 14 current. Is it necessary to invoke?
Spyboy is dragged. It's a good thing that Zinda may not have trained for weight, but certainly trained for mass.
[OOC] WC GM: Invoking one aspect will suffice.
[OOC] Abraham: I invoke 'Weight of Command." :P
Spyboy does, however, start maneuvering fighters in to ensure the team can drop down safely.
[OOC] WC GM: …accepted! :P
Metis braces itself; strength without leverage is meaningless, even for something inhumanly strong, then pulls, hardest.
The party makes it up and onto the starting-to-break-up landing pad just as the dust cloud from the collapsing facility explodes over their heads.
Metis: "…pretty."
Seconds later, the three fighters blast out of the cloud, just before the facility turns into a sizable crater.
Abraham: "It's only pretty because we don't have to clean it up."
Spyboy: "Too bad we can't keep the facility. It could have been useful."
ExecutiveOfficer: "Admiral? ADMIRAL?!? …oh, phew, there you are."
Spyboy: "Also, Zinda, I want to apologize for my remarks earlier."
ExecutiveOfficer: "We didn't see any signs of a self-destruct from here."
Spyboy: "I'd assumed based on past performance that you opening that door had set off a self destruct."
Abraham: "Yes I am here and shockingly still alive. Anything I should know, XO?"
Spyboy: "Again, I apologize."
ExecutiveOfficer: "…uhh…actually. Sensors are NOW picking up self-destruct armed. I'd advise you to exit the vicinity, but you are already doing so."
Almost belatedly, the crater turns into a mushroom cloud.
Abraham: "Yes. Thank you XO."
Zinda Tegram: "Hm."
[OOC] Abraham: Lot of belashion going on this session.
Metis: "Prettier. Now there is less mess."
Zinda Tegram: "Spyboy, I'll…think about it."
Zinda Tegram: "So, back to Oldziey then?"
Landing is almost anticlimactic, though the hangar crew is standing by - it is not clear whether that is respect, worry, or fear on their faces, but they quickly get to work on post-flight maintenance once the party has landed.
[OOC] Spyboy: Think about what? Accepting the apology for the 'damnit Zinda'? Granted, it was kinda backhanded…'Based on past performance.' =p
Spyboy: "Hard to say; right now, Oldziey will keep. It's stable, it's run by someone you can trust. The nanomachines are a dormant threat; we've found nothing that indicates that Kali's personality encoding actually worked."
Spyboy: "That said, if it did, Asago is under severe threat. Trigger massive catastrophe by fixing the terraforming systems, then trigger massive catastrophe by breaking them again…that does seem like Kali's style."
Spyboy: "My advice, Admiral, is to set course for the Oldziey jump point, just in case. I'll start working on the files on that computer."
Zinda Tegram: "…I'm going to be sure."
Zinda Tegram: "We're going to Oldziey."
Zinda Tegram looks at the XO.
ExecutiveOfficer: "…setting course. Admiral, engaging engines on your order."
Abraham: "Very well, XO. Engage."
[OOC] Abraham: It took a lot more than I'm comfortable admitting not to say 'Number One'.
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: Yes! The XO acknowledged me as an authority figure.
ExecutiveOfficer: "Yes, sir!"
[OOC] Metis: You can start the mutiny any time.
[OOC] WC GM: Nah, just as someone he suspected the Admiral would agree with in this case.
[OOC] Abraham: He saw my slight nod of the head.
It does not take long to return to Oldziey. Scans while passing through the jump point show no signs of remains of whatever was blocking the jump point earlier, though scrap just beyond the jump point is taken aboard for analysis, and quickly determined to be consistent with a Yorktown-class carrier.
Zinda Tegram: "…Well."
[OOC] Spyboy: How much progress does Spyboy make on the analysis?
Zinda Tegram frowns and leans back in her seat.
Zinda Tegram: "So, she was blockading the jump point with her carrier, and I…bombed it, huh?"
[OOC] WC GM: What details is he focusing on?
Zinda Tegram: "Can we determine if she was on board?"
Spyboy: "I'd say there's a low probability that Kali's ship was shot down by the defenders. It'd take an ambush to do it this close to the jump point. Yorktowns are small, but only for carriers."
Spyboy: "I'd say chances are she blew it up herself…"
Zinda Tegram: "No, remember? I crammed a Temblor through the jump point."
Zinda Tegram: "Something was blocking the warp tunnel, so I just…exploded it."
Zinda Tegram: "At the time we figured it was Oldziey natives, but it seems we were wrong."
[OOC] Spyboy: Focusing on Kali's upload protocol and the nanites afterwards.
Spyboy: "Not impossible…but I thought it was debris blocking the tunnel?"
Abraham: "Scan the debris to see if any logs or black boxes are retrievable."
Spyboy looks for the heavily-armored flight recorders. There should be at least three distributed throughout the wreckage - but how many were destroyed by the walls of the warp tunnel are anyone's guess.
Spyboy: "If she was on board, it was dead only. There's no way she survived the brain uploading."
Now that the party knows what to look for, Spyboy does in fact find one. Given the position, the others were almost certainly so destroyed.
Spyboy: "Got it. Sending out a drone to retrieve."
[OOC] Spyboy: * Spyboy looks meaningfully at Zinda.
Spyboy deploys the drone.
[OOC] Abraham: Is Spyboy calling Zinda a drone? Because if so, I need some popcorn.
[OOC] Spyboy: Only in OOC.
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: Heh.
The recorder is quickly retrieved.
Zinda Tegram: "Would that tell us if she was on board?"
Abraham: "Yes, unless the logs were falsified."
Abraham: "In which case, the answer will still be yes, but only after some work."
Spyboy: "Actually, I take that back."
Spyboy: "Or rather, you misunderstand."
ExecutiveOfficer: "Uploading logs from the black box now."
[OOC] Abraham: You /are/ calling Zinda a drone?
Spyboy: "I don't think she made it to her ship from the base on David."
Spyboy: "I think her physical body died there…which is a bad, bad sign."
Spyboy: "It's not impossible for her to have programmed her ship to take her to Oldziey on its own."
ExecutiveOfficer: "…umm. Sir? It's mostly blank."
Zinda Tegram: "…So, you think she was on board?"
Zinda Tegram: "What?"
Spyboy: "No, I don't."
Spyboy: "Not in physical form, anyway. Not after she went to David to do the upload."
ExecutiveOfficer: "The flight recorder. It was turned off months ago."
The XO frowns. "Which WOULD be a massive violation of protocol…"
Spyboy: "I just think it's unlikely that she'd have bothered to program her ship to take her on its own if she thought her brain would be in the swarm."
Spyboy: "So if her ship did go to Oldziey…it probably had her in it…just not physically."
Abraham: "…interesting. I knew it could be done, but I've never heard of anyone actually going to the nontrivial amount of trouble it would take…"
Zinda Tegram: "No, she wanted to be a distributed intelligence."
Zinda Tegram: "…I'm going to Asago. I'll find her."
Zinda Tegram: "Even if it's just a corpse."
Zinda Tegram walks out of the bridge.
ExecutiveOfficer: "There's a bit of data - seems she was faking having a fighter group. Even at Chandley, her squadrons were a bunch of drones."
ExecutiveOfficer: "It would have been just a matter of time until she was caught."
Abraham: "Hm…so she knew she was on a timer then. That explains why she was moving so fast."
Spyboy: "Zinda. You will not find a corpse on Asago."
ExecutiveOfficer: "Ah, there's a note at the end. 'If you're reading this, let no one else suffer. I will find a way to stand guard everywhere.'"
Spyboy: "You will not find a corpse because we buried it on David, and then the self-destruct wiped out what was lest."
ExecutiveOfficer: "I think Zinda means the nanites, sir."
Spyboy: "Not from what she was saying she didn't."
Spyboy: "You know what I was talking about, I know what I was talking about, but Zinda wants to punch Kali in the face so bad I don't know if she's willing to accept that Kali has no face any more, per se."
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: Zinda meant the nanites.
ExecutiveOfficer: "Yes, sir."
[OOC] Metis: Zinda punch nanite faces?
ExecutiveOfficer: "Admiral, set course for Asago?"
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: And mostly, Zinda wants to know what was cut off in that message.
Abraham: "Yes."
Spyboy: "…In any case, the fact that the kalibots came from David, were delivered and not manufactured by her face…means she's active and in control."
ExecutiveOfficer: "Aye aye."
A short while later…
Geoffrey: "Welcome back. In defiance of tradition I have not assumed complete rule in your absence. I get the feeling everyone here is just tired of all the fighting."
[OOC] Spyboy: Also he knows she'd win. She did last time, after all. Whether you mean Roseblood or Alfred.
[OOC] WC GM: This is true. Oldziey-style diplomacy does not always mean just guns and missiles.
[OOC] Metis: Sometimes there are clubs and knives?
[OOC] Spyboy: No, torches.
[OOC] WC GM: Pitchforks, even.
[OOC] Abraham: Badgers.
Zinda Tegram: "Thank you Geoffrey. What's the status on Asago?"
Spyboy: "Any movement from the kalibots?"
Geoffrey: "Stable so far. Your, ah, agents have taken over much of the water surface. No one's gone down to check on the climate control systems."
Spyboy: "If she's got a central consciousness, that's where it'd be…"
Spyboy: "…unless that's what she wants me to think…"
Abraham: "Of course, what are really the chances that she still has a central intelligence?"
Zinda Tegram: "Alright. I'm coming by to bring them in check."
Geoffrey: "Roger. You'll need to dig to the control center - I'll get some equipment on it."
Zinda Tegram: "Thank you, Geoffrey."
Zinda Tegram: "How are the asteroid groups holding up?"
Metis: "Once the technology exists for distributed consciousness, there is no reason for a central consciousness. All risk, no reward."
Geoffrey: "Shaken, and stirred. Their homes were reconfigured by force, and they're still cataloging all the material that was introduced to make that ring. That said, they've got some interesting designs for a ring-wide habitat. Opinion so far is to keep the ring, and repurpose it."
Spyboy: "Welp, if we ever had any doubts about ho made White and why, they'd be cleared up now."
Zinda Tegram: "Yeah, no kidding."
Zinda Tegram: "I'm not opposed to repurposing it. Just…make sure it won't get turned on."
Geoffrey: "A few colonists had the same thought. They've headed to White to consult with the people studying that, since there's been no contact for a while."
Geoffrey: "Although…there were a few more jump point transitions recorded when they left, than the number of ships in their group."
Metis: "Does that merit our attention?"
Zinda Tegram: "Well, they can do what they want. I've got some business to attend to."
Zinda Tegram: "It does. There's probably some Nephilim going with them, we'll need to nip that in the bud."
Zinda Tegram flies in above the estimated location of the climate control center, and also takes the time to take a look at what Geoffrey meant by 'taking over the water surface'.
Metis: "Buds always seem to need nipping. Why is that?"
Much of what was open water is now covered in greenish-black: vast solar panels and plant manufacturing, taking over Asago's ecosystem by force.
As Zinda watches, the oceans bulge in one spot - that would have been a tidal wave, but the plants contain it.
Abraham: "In this case, what is budding is a weed and needs to be nipped before it becomes a full grown problem. She is not referring to flower buds."
The "equipment" Geoffrey referred to is primarily a large version of Zinda's boarding torch, cutting through several meters of ice and snow instead of relatively-thin ship hulls.
Zinda Tegram mentally checks her control over the Asago plant life as she surveys the digging operation.
Zinda Tegram also does the requisite nanite scans.
[OOC] WC GM: Zinda: Resolve check.
Slipping one's mind into an entire planetary ecosystem, even a small one such as Asago's, is a new experience for Zinda.
Zinda Tegram rolled up 4dF: - - 0 + (Base: 5 Total: 4) (Resolve. Tagging Fruits of Tzimitche Station.)
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: So, 6.
Zinda Tegram gulps, and checks to see if she's still in control here.
It…takes a moment of adjustment, and distancing, to make sure she remains in control of herself from all the feedback. The planet - better concepts escape her mind for the moment - is willing to accept her orders, and micromanagement is theoretically possible, but to seriously attempt that like she does on the Roland would be to risk losing herself quickly.
Zinda Tegram: "Sheesh, what a pain…"
Zinda Tegram tries to take a few minor steps to reign in the overgrowth on the ocean surface and maintain the potability of the water.
The growth responds, and soon Zinda gets a text alert that the cities' water purification systems are being shut off because they are being flooded with perfectly pure water.
Or at least, as pure as they can quickly measure.
[OOC] Spyboy: Dun dun DUUUUNNNN
Zinda Tegram returns the text, apologizing for making the water too pure. She accidentally went too far.
Zinda Tegram shrugs and turns her attention to the dig site.
Zinda Tegram: "So, Kali…"
Zinda Tegram: "I know you're down there."
[OOC] Spyboy: They can get over it. Disengage the purification systems, put in safety interlocks to bring the back online if the zindaspores go rogue, and enjoy the water.
[OOC] WC GM: Honest, the zindaspores are not at this time actively attempting to assimilate the human populace.
[OOC] WC GM: And neither are they sending to said populace any instructions for a fruit yet.
Zinda Tegram sighs and starts scanning for EM signatures down in the climate control.
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: Instructions for a fruit?
There are faint ones, where there should be none.
[OOC] WC GM: Google it, if you've never read the series.
[OOC] WC GM: Or the distilled version: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/InstructionForAHelp
[OOC] WC GM: Is anyone following Zinda?
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: That series is pretty scary.
[OOC] Abraham: Only if she asks for help.
[OOC] Spyboy: Nah, I'm there.
[OOC] Abraham: Allow me to restate, only if she asks me to.
[OOC] Spyboy: As in, not following Zinda…preceded her to the site, with EXTRA paranoia.
[OOC] Abraham: That said, I will be in orbit.
Zinda picks up Spyboy's EM signatures. But then, she is not the one he is hiding from.
The digging has produced a tunnel, deep into the ice, into the ruins of the control center.
It was cobbled together and only somewhat working in its heyday. While there are scorch marks and some of the equipment is rubble, the place would have been repairable with Confederation technology…if any was available and asked for. The main problem looks to be that it was simply abandoned.
Headspace is low - all that ice has pushed the ceiling down - but some of the monitors glow dimly, and the computers are working.
Zinda Tegram wanders on down, ordering some of the virulent spores to stay at the entrance.
Spyboy hears Zinda's approach behind him.
Spyboy: "…Zinda."
Zinda Tegram: "Spyboy."
[OOC] WC GM: Is Metis there?
[OOC] Metis: Listening in, if there's a neu-comm stream, but not down on the planet.
[OOC] WC GM: So, what are Spyboy & Zinda doing?
[OOC] Metis: At the moment, they are deep into a zen-stoicism contest. They're trying to see who can win-by-not-winning first.
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: Finding Kali.
Zinda Tegram starts tracking any kali-motes with her EM scanner.
Spyboy is tracing the control systems. The kalibots must have done something to repair things.
Several motes are easily detected, latched on to various parts of the computer systems, inputting commands and receiving data just like one who is one with the computer.
What damage there is has largely been routed around - sometimes by finding existing redundant systems, sometimes by mote-to-mote transmission.
Zinda Tegram wanders up to the terminal and checks the display.
The display flickers, alternating between several maps of Asago and power and tectonic readouts. It was once meant to be the primary means of transmitting this data to the operator; now, it is a side effect of the motes' interactions.
Zinda Tegram finds the keys, and taps in "Hello Kali."
The display continues to flicker between displays for a few seconds more, then goes black, only displaying a blinking cursor. A few seconds further, then "hello" appears.
Zinda Tegram: "It's Zinda."
Zinda Tegram: "Your message in David cut off before I heard the end of it."
Zinda Tegram: "You look to be in a bad way."
Terminal: "so you have taken responsibility finally"
Terminal: "if you're here"
Zinda Tegram: "Responsibility for what?"
Zinda Tegram: "My system?"
Zinda Tegram: "It was always on the agenda."
Zinda Tegram: "I should probably tell you that your carrier is wrecked."
Terminal: "i know"
Zinda Tegram: "We have the computer you left the procedure in. We could probably reconstitute you."
Terminal: "trust your people to confuse 'ambush' and 'defense'"
Zinda Tegram: "To be fair, you left it in kind of a weird spot."
Terminal: "why would you do that"
Zinda Tegram: "Well, your attempted apocalypse here has failed, and you're not getting a whole lot done. I control pretty much the whole planetary ecology here."
Terminal: "is that what that covering is"
Zinda Tegram: "You seemed interested in getting your body back in that message on David."
Terminal: "i'd say you've put on weight but seriously a whole planet"
Zinda Tegram: "Careful what you say, bitch. I'm trying to play nice here."
Terminal: "why would you do that"
Zinda Tegram: "Mostly because you seemed like you had some interesting stuff to say, besides the racist drivel that usually comes out."
Zinda Tegram: "You left a message on David. After you mentioned my name, it cut out."
Zinda Tegram: "What did you want Abraham to tell me?"
Zinda Tegram: "Oh, and also, despite what you may think I'm not a murderous barbarian."
Terminal: "you're welcome"
Zinda Tegram: "Huh? Oh, you mean for fixing the planet?"
Zinda Tegram: "Yeah, actually, thanks."
Zinda Tegram: "Not even being sarcastic."
Zinda Tegram: "It's been really helpful."
Terminal: "and forcing you to finally confront roseblood"
Zinda Tegram: "Forcing me how?"
Terminal: "you're here"
Terminal: "he could no longer be ignored"
Zinda Tegram: "…Hahaha, you realize I killed him before I found your message on David right?"
Terminal: "good that you killed him"
Terminal: "the message was a backup"
Zinda Tegram: "…I see. Well, with Roseblood it was…personal."
Zinda Tegram: "You might be upset to learn I'm now queen, though."
Terminal: "that was the plan"
Zinda Tegram: "Oh, yeah?"
Zinda Tegram: "And what do you get out of it, besides losing yourself in a geo control system?"
Terminal: "revenge"
Terminal: "justice"
Zinda Tegram: "…That's a racket. What'd he do to you?"
[OOC] Spyboy: "not him" "you"
Terminal: "killed my husband"
Terminal: "forced my daughter to flee"
Zinda Tegram: "…Guess we're not so…"
Zinda Tegram: "Wait."
Zinda Tegram: "No fucking way."
Terminal: "forced me to help the confeds"
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: FUCK PLOT TWIST HAHA
Zinda Tegram: "…You're fucking with me."
[OOC] Spyboy: Now that
Terminal: "you never did check my personnel file, did you"
[OOC] Spyboy: That…would be quite the twist.
Zinda Tegram: "…I don't believe I ever had access to it."
Terminal: "ask spyboy"
Zinda Tegram looks back at Spyboy.
Zinda Tegram: "You knew?"
Terminal: "kali identity was created back then"
Spyboy: "…No, didn't even suspect. I think she means that…"
Zinda Tegram: "…I swear to fucking god nobody tells me anything…"
Spyboy taps three keys and pulls up Kali's file.
Spyboy: "I have access."
Zinda Tegram: "…Sorry for holding a torch to your neck."
At first glance, Kali's file seems normal, if a bit classified.
[OOC] Spyboy: Okay, three keys and a few thousand neucommed commands.
Zinda Tegram: "Then why fix the geo control system? You knew it'd screw over everyone on the planet, and you didn't know I had the means to fix it."
But now that Spyboy is looking for signs…sure enough, it seems like it could have been forged, wholesale. Kali was certainly present at Chandley; before that, a fairly nondescript record.
Terminal: "to get your attention"
Terminal: "to force roseblood to act"
Zinda Tegram: "…Mom, you're a bitch."
Terminal: "and i never did like the weather here"
Zinda Tegram: "Jesus fucking hell…"
Terminal: "mom-in-law get it right"
Terminal: "you're taking care of alfred"
Zinda Tegram: "Oh, great, so Dad had two then?"
Zinda Tegram: "Alfred is…"
Terminal: "around, trust me"
Terminal: "more of a survivor than i am"
Zinda Tegram: "Alfred went and got hooked up to that -thing- on Mu Cephei."
Zinda Tegram: "I dragged her out, but uh…"
Terminal: "how do you think i got inspiration for this"
Zinda Tegram: "She's a Lago, now."
Zinda Tegram: "…"
Spyboy: "So?"
Spyboy: "Not like you were having kids with her anyway."
Zinda Tegram glances at Spyboy.
Spyboy: "Also if you say that marrying a Lago would make you a bad person then I will punch you right in the face."
Zinda Tegram: "…I didn't say shit."
Zinda Tegram: "OK, fine. Well, I guess I have to get you a body now."
Terminal: "i did help raise you but i was told you were created not born"
Zinda Tegram: "What…? What's that mean?"
Zinda Tegram: "Dad said my mom died in Childbirth."
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: WC this is insane
[OOC] WC GM: You're welcome.
Terminal: "technically it did"
Zinda Tegram: "…God fucking…OK, what happened?"
Zinda Tegram: "Either way I'm here, and…mostly human, I guess."
Terminal: "project termination after creating…i do not know if you have any sisters, but you exist"
[OOC] Abraham: It occurs to me that I am the only utterly pure human in the group anymore.
Terminal: "you are human enough"
Zinda Tegram: "…Well, less so now."
[OOC] Metis: We're still going to Integrate you. Count your days.
Zinda Tegram: "Project?"
[OOC] Abraham: <Terminal> "ish."
Zinda Tegram: "Who's project?"
Terminal: "one of several supersoldier projects the confeds undertook"
Zinda Tegram: "…"
Zinda Tegram sighs and shakes her head.
Zinda Tegram: "So, I'm the prototype then?"
Terminal: "that admiral you hang around with probably knows about tolwyn"
Terminal: "the prototype of ours"
[OOC] Zinda Tegram: WC, is this your attempt to justify Zinda's super-human combat prowess?
Zinda Tegram: "…Well, I'm Tzimitche's production model now too."
Spyboy: "Out of curiosity, why would a Confederation supersoldier project be born in Oldziey?"
Zinda Tegram taps in Spyboy's question.
[OOC] WC GM: Nah, just bringing in a bit more series lore.
[OOC] WC GM: See Wing Commander 4.
Terminal: "out of the way"
Terminal: "less likely to be caught"
Terminal: "the official reason, anyway"
Terminal: "truth is we just stole it lock stock and barrel"
Terminal: "they had to let us get away with it or expose the project"
Terminal: "until it was inconvenient to allow its continued existence"
Zinda Tegram: "…So, basically, pre-blockade you were confed military, married Dad, manufactured me, Oldziey went to shit…no this makes no sense."
Zinda Tegram: "The project started on Asago, and you kept working on it for Harvest?"
Zinda Tegram: "Or you got me through the mine field, some how."
Terminal: "wasn't confed until roseblood"
Zinda Tegram: "…Then how'd you get to know Tolwyn?"
Spyboy: "I don't know that she married your father per se? I'm sure Roseblood killed a lot of men."
Terminal: "who do you think i stole the project from"
Zinda Tegram: "…You were a pirate."
Zinda Tegram: "And then…did you mine the jump point, too?"
Terminal: "oldziey's prime export"
Terminal: "mining wasn't my idea"
Zinda Tegram: "…Weren't you pissed at the crew you lost in the oldziey invasion? Or was that an act?"
Terminal: "i lost a lot of crew, yes"
Terminal: "i'd been out of oldziey for a while"
Terminal: "didn't know how extensive the defenses had gotten"
Terminal: "kept underestimating my home"
Terminal: "even this last time"
Zinda Tegram: "…This smells fishy. The invasions were before dad's execution."
Zinda Tegram: "Your timeline doesn't make it sense."
Zinda Tegram: "If you only flew confed after Dad was executed, then how could you command crew in the invasions?"
Terminal: "pirate, confed navy - sometimes these are less distinct than they seem"
Zinda Tegram: "…I don't trust you."
Terminal: "also, i was forced away before you were"
Spyboy: "Yeah, you keep assuming killing her husband was killing your father. She never said that."
Zinda Tegram: "…Whatever. You want a body, or do you plan to lose yourself in there again?"
Spyboy: "Not in there…out here."
Zinda Tegram looks at Spyboy and just glares.
Spyboy: "Look, I get the whole 'manufactured superhuman' thing is a big revelation, but neither of us was entirely human when we walked down here anyway, by our own personal volition."
Spyboy: "And finding out that your worst enemy is your mother in law isn't as big as finding out that your worst enemy is your mother."
Spyboy: "…heck, it's practically normal."
Terminal: "what i want is the truth"
Zinda Tegram shakes her head.
Zinda Tegram: "…Let's just get her a body."
Zinda Tegram: "How do you want me to collect your motes?"
Spyboy inserts a text question.
Spyboy: "What truth?"
Terminal: "what ARE you"
The terminal flickers again, and dies. From EM readings, the scattered motes have been collecting in the control center, and appear to be converging on Zinda and Spyboy.
[OOC] Spyboy: Log end?
[OOC] WC GM: Sure.

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