Castamir's Flaxseed Station

Game Master Chris Marsh

The shirt is a custom Cirque D'Absalom shirt showing Rani in restraints and underwater with a caption saying "I can get out of anything .... except chores"

That's my favourite stunt she said.

An aasimar woman wearing casual clothing and a holy symbol of Hylax approaches the table and says discretely. Did I hear someone say that clothing should be optional on the Station? I'd be in for that but .... I'm not sure how well that would go down with some people. I've met agents that embarrass easily

Rani's personal comm unit started playing The Accountancy Shanty

Excuse me a minute she said stepping away from the table to answer it. Bordle. Hi. I take it you finished the job the First Seeker set you? How'd it go? Uh huh. Ziggy is up and about? Oh cool. And you're joining his faction? Of course I don't mind. Why should I? Yeah ... Tell you what, I'll meet you over there. I wanna see how Zigvigix is doing.

Yeah, the trip back was a bit rough, something weird happened in the Drift .... or to the Drift, not sure. I've sent the telemetry for analysis so I guess we'll find out what happened eventually.

That wouldn't be Big Jim from Jim Jams is it? Hm. Interesting. I got his number, might give him a call and see what he's up tae with the neighbours. Anyway, I'm on my way ... see you soon kiss kiss

She terminates the call and turns to leave.

Patrick enters the place nervously. He looks around and spots an empty table in the corner. Choosing the place where his back is to the wall, he sits and contemplates what to order.

Huh, it's rather quiet and empty in here he says to himself quietly. Maybe it won't be as bad as I thought

Bustling in as if she's late for a meeting, a shirren strides purposefully to the bar and orders herself a negroni before scanning the joint. Once she has her drink, she turns and makes a beeline for the only occupied table. Sitting down opposite its occupant, she confidently introduces herself. "Hello. I'm Anock. New-ish Starfinder recruit. And you are?"

Patrick looks up and notices a shirren at the table.

Professor Patrick Messier he replies How can I help you?

"Help? No. I don't need help. A bar with two patrons sitting alone is depressing. A bar with one couple at a table is quiet. I'd rather not be an integral part of something depressing, so I chose to sit here and meet you. So you're a professor? What is your academic field?" She takes a sip of her drink and stares at Professor Patrick Messier with an air of what might be 'bossy expectation'.

Astronomy, Cosmology, Quantum Physics. That sort of thing. I've actually got two Doctorates. He looks around. I .... see what you mean. To be honest, it is my first time here. I ... was sort of expecting it to be a bit more ...... occupied.

Sniffing dismissively, Anock concurs. "Yes. I'd heard this was a lively joint. At least it's clean. On my first mission, we started in the worst sort of filthy dive bar imaginable. Ugh! And people kept touching things, as if they had no idea how pathogens are transmitted. Now, I'm not a germophobe, but I have a healthy respect for anything that can cause an infection. I'm a medic by trade. That's how I got involved with the Society: I was patching up an agent, who gave me an introduction to the right people. So, how did you come to join?" She doesn't seem to notice that she's glossed over and forgotten about his answer to her earlier question.

Patrick just shrugs. I guess it was the urge to get out and explore. It's one thing studying the Universe through telescopes and such, but it's another actually going there and experiencing it up close and personal

He paused for a bit.

And hopefully make a few friends along the way. So, what mission was that?

"Oh, it was a Cantina Job. Someone was scamming folks, so we were tasked with finding them and bringing them in to pay their debts. I gotta say, they clearly weren't a professional. It was way too easy to catch them. So, what was your first mission like?"

My first mission? That was quite a while ago now. Five years at least He paused to try and remember the details. We were looking for a crashed Starfinder ship. Had to get the co-ordinates out of an Eoxian bone ship's computer, part of the Corpse Fleet I think it was. I cannot even remember who I was with. I remember being shot at or otherwise being in danger was scary back then because all I had was a few spells

"Spells? Huh. They're interesting for sure, but from what I've heard it's easy to run out of them. I guess you managed. Me, I rely on a blaster. It's hard to go wrong there." She glances around the room, hoping the cozy atmosphere will morph into something more lively soon. She gets bored with one-on-one conversations easily, especially when she can tell the other person won't be easily bossed by her.

I'm a rather poor shot with one to be honest

"Really? Well, practice makes perfect. Though I'd guess you're practicing other things, eh? Quantum physics equations? Magic spells? What kinds can you do?"

Oh ... just the usual. Magic Missile, Comprehend Languages, Dark Vision, See Invisible, Haste, Dispel Magic. Nothing special really

"Ha! 'The usual.' In some circles, I suppose, but magic isn't normal." She cocks her head. "Though I guess technology mimics it sometimes. Like what I can do. Here:" She releases a cloud of nanites, enveloping her and the empty space behind her. The features of everything in the space are blurred slightly. "It's nothing much yet, as my nanites are new to me, but I'm training to use this to heal allies in the field. We'll see how it goes." With a shrug, the cloud is sucked back into her body.

After seeing something like that ... and I add ... for the first time ... the magic does seem a bit ... ordinary. Plus I have been studying magic to see how it interacts with physics, especially on the quantum level. It too seems to have quantum laws that it must follow.

Anock nods knowingly. "Aaah. To the intersection of passions!" With that, she raises her glass in a toast, drains it, and announces: "It's been lovely chatting with you, Professor Patrick Messier. Now it's time for me to get back to my nanite training. Good luck to you!" She gives him a cocky wave and saunters out the door.

Erm ....... you too he replies

After she leaves
Well .. that wasn't too hard ... but I suppose it would be because she's an insectoid .. their females aren't so scary - might be a bit more difficult with a Vesk ... or a female mammalian humanoid

That's my cue!

Walking backward into the lounge, the "space station's little sister" Zoey argues with an unseen person outside I'm not a peanut, a peanut is much smaller than me!, almost knocking Anock over in the process.

I'm sorry, auntie. she apologises with a deep bow, I didn't see you there. The excuse is entirely likely, given the lack of omnidirectional vision of her species.

She doesn't waste time recovering from her embarrassment, and addresses the room with a cheerful Hello, everybody, I'm bright and sparkling Zoey!

The brightness and sparkliness is accentuated by the rather oddball glittery dress she is wearing, from which a label 'property of AbadarCorp Entertainment' was left hanging.

The pause she makes seems to suggest that she at least thinks she is somewhat famous. She then takes another, slightly less but still somewhat embarrassed bow, and with a light step slinks off to the side towards a near-empty table in the corner.

Patrick tries hiding behind his datapad

Zoey, assuming the camera of the datapad is on, waves cheerily and says Hello datapad! before holding a quite unavoidable cute face just behind it.

I would not be so crass to record someone's image without their permission young lady Patrick then pauses while lowering the datapad. It's screen currently shows part of an article on quantum physics Were you on one of Zo!'s shows? You ..... look familiar.

He then looks nervously around for the big burly boyfriend that he is quite sure has to be somewhere nearby.

Spot on! Zoey mimics Zo!'s trademark finger guns. I was on a pact world warriors team. They made a really good edit of the swordfight, they made me look almost as cool as Big Sister Momo! Did you watch it? I can look it up for you, she points at the datapad, frowning slightly at the squiggly characters and formulas on the datapad.

She makes some exaggerated air-sword gestures that indeed suggest her sword-slinging skills need a bit of editing. Cool, huh?

Oh, oh, oh! she adds, her excitement increasing, there also was this Ysoki auntie who was really nice to us!

Spotting the unease on the man's face, Zoey turns quiet and moves a bit further into the corner. You're... she whispers, you're not a renegade are you?

Since Venture-Captain Naiaj... he replied with an expression of annoyance ...saw fit to put me on one of his shows, I looked up other shows that Zo! made containing Starfinders. I actually enjoyed the zero-gee flag capture

What do you mean by a ..... renegade?

You know, like in the movies. Boronzar and Clyde-312?

In a universe... she makes her best impression of a trailer voice-over, ... one man is one the run from a gang of Apostae assassins...

I can be your sidekick! I was an extra in such a movie once. To hide from the bad guys you have to be really stealthy...

She somehow gives the impression stealthiness isn't her biggest feat as she only draws attention attempting to half-hide her colorful, glittery appearance under the table.

Never seen it. But no .... not on the run or anything like that. I am just here because my .... erm ..... life coach said it was a good idea.

Life coach? Is that like a manager? Zoey asks. She makes a brief glance in the same direction that Patrick was looking earlier. Instead of a burly boyfriend, there seems to be some older guy over there. He seems to be mostly minding his own business, but gives Zoey an acknowledging nod.

Mister Manager takes care of the schedules of all Abadarcorp trainees, Zoey explains, and he puts us on entertainment shows, and he makes sure we have a dorm to sleep is, and he makes sure we eat correctly. Sometimes I get two radishes!

Patrick relaxed a bit when he realised he wasn't in immediate danger of being beaten up.

Yes, basically he replied. I ..... am not a social person but I have been advised, for the sake of my mental health, to attempt it. Even VC Naiaj 'suggested' it

Radishes? Given your outfit, I had concluded that you were some sort of entertainer. What sort of entertaining do you do?

I'm a trainee with ACE! she says, pointing to the label 'property of Abadarcorp Entertainment' hanging from her dress, without commenting on whether the label refers to the dress or the girl. I want to be as good as auntie CAPTAIN*CARMINE she says, making sure to clearly pronounce the '*'.

Did something bad happen to you that you don't like to talk to people? Zoey asks directly, You sound a bit like my sister, she's very afraid of flying. Maybe you two should meet! Hee-hee! The girl chuckles at the thought.

And there's a lot of cool aunties and uncles to meet here, should I introduce to some of my friends?

Though I'm hugely enjoying this, we are spamming up the thread a bit - should I maybe set up a separate thread that we can link here for those interested?

It's ...... not people in general ...... it's women ..... and yes, you can say I've had ... bad experiences. I was supposed to see a counselor but .... sort of backed out at the last minute.

Zoey may notice that Patrick is looking more at the surface of the table rather than at her.

It ... sounds like you have accumulated a rather large family

No one else was using this thread, and anyone is welcome to join us - after all, this is supposed to be a social area

You all are welcome to roleplay it out. :P Gameplay posts are what keep the thread active so have fun.

The more the merrier in here I say. I did consider trying to get people in by two of my PCs talking to each other but then I thought it might be against the rules

Patrick is also using his datapad to find out just who this Captain*Carmine is. Oh. Star Sugar Heartlove ... or is it Strawberry Machine Cake?

When Patrick mentions Star Sugar Heart Love, Zoey intuitively performs the corresponding dance moves, making the heart gesture with perhaps a bit more gusto than the situation calls for.

Can you believe it's been more than four years since that album was released? There were sooo many people waiting in line. You know, I heard thery're actually touring again...

Shameless plug for my PbP Gameday game of 1-14 Star Sugar heart Love: sign up here (link)

Zoey gets a bit more serious when Patrick talks about his experiences that is strange... most people around here have bad experiences with telepathic alien monsters blowing space ships to pieces she says with an odd specificity.

Most aunties here are really nice. Maybe auntie Amy is around here, she was on my pact world warriors team... she saved me from a tiger once!

I hadn't heard no. It's probably all over the social media systems such as Spacebook. I .... deleted my account a while ago. No use for it.

Telepathic malevolent aliens I can understand and deal with. Women ... not so much. Maybe I've been unlucky. Or I'm doing things wrong. I did try asking a few out but all I go were 'No's' and even a 'I wouldn't go out with you if you were the last man on the station' That was during my student years. he sighed. Heck .... some of them don't like being looked at for too long. If you do, you're tagged as a pervert or something and even get complained about. I stopped going to the gym or pool because one complained to the staff, accusing me of looking too much. I wasn't even aware I was doing it. Didn't tell me, oh no. Otherwise an apology could have been given for the offense. No, had to tell me indirectly. I felt really offended and angry at that.

He sighed again. Sorry. I should not have unloaded all that on you Zoey. Maybe I'd better leave before everything turns to custard.

You do realise Amy is one of my PCs? She's currently in the Veskarium.

Yep, we were on the PWW game together, hence the shoutout.

Manager doesn't allow me to eat custard... Zoey says, knowing that's beside the point.

Ah mister, that's really hard for you. A lot of the girls at my company are like that, they are being a bit much. 'Step aside, shorty', they'd said, 'Get me some bread'. Or they make fun of my Akitonian accent. Or this one time they put chewing gum in my hear. That isn't nice! Zoey maintains a tone as if she's talking about daisies and unicorns, though it's not clear if it's real or just an act.

Maybe you should pretend you're not interested... she adds, then realises the guy has been sitting in a corner avoiding eye contact ...Ah! I see what you're doing, Mister is really smart!

You're from Akiton? So am I, although I left there to attend Qabarat University on Castrovel - and no, chewing gum in the hair is is not nice. I guess I got targeted because I was a bookish nerd. Still the area where I lived is now a protected Dark Sky site.

But no ... Naiaj said I had to see a counselor but, the one I had a card for, turns out she's a photographic model and also an exotic dancer. Found her online portfolio. I used to be an amateur photographer. To be honest, I'd like to hire her but ...... *sigh* still plucking up the nerve, even to make an appointment. Plus, I haven't tried glamour photography for years, however I have lots of photos of squoxes and planetary landscapes. Did I tell you the only reason I was on Live Exploration Extreme was that she put my name on the list.

He paused for a bit. So ... it sounds like the entertainment team are on a strictly controlled diet. One radish and no custard.

That reminds me ... you do realise that tiger you were saved from was actually an Akata?

Zindzja? Zoey exclaims with big eyes, Chal Mannassoyong!

I was a little peanut when I was on Akiton she adds, completely disregarding the fact that she just got called a peanut not more than ten minutes ago, so I don't really remember all that much. I really only remember the little toy space freighter that I used to play with

Beep beep beep, I'm a rocket girl... she sings.

It sounds like Naiaj is you manager? Mister manager put me on the list for Live Exploration Extreme as well, he puts me up for everything. I don't know why you want to take pictures of your counselor, though. Shouldn't you try talking to her?

Oooh, I thought she said 'a cat'. It sure looked like one. So instead of saving me from being eaten, she saved me from dying of a horrible infection? Awesome!

---
This is AbadarCorp Entertainment with a special infosphere announcement. We want to address recent rumours around mistreatment of AbadarCorp Entertainment trainees, including accusations of bullying and malnutrition. AbadarCorp Entertainment ensures that it has the commercial success of its trainees at heart, and denies all rumours strongly. Further spreading of these rumours will be met with legal action. Zoey wishes to apologise for any distress caused among fans. She will reflect and return with a better image. Please continue to show our trainees lot of love!
--- Abadarcorp Entertainment, communication division

Patrick also replies to the first bit in Akitonian. By now he has nearly lost his accent.

You are right. I should. I really should. But she looks so ....... intimidating ... as well as drop dead gorgeous

There's no need to be afraid, it's for counceling only... Zoey encourages. You just have to be confident in the outcome, like a hero in a movie. Have you seen 'return of the tentacled space abomination'? Did you see how cool Blastaszam ('the Tank') Mc Turtle was in that movie?

Zoey gets very excited again, and mimics the movie's protagonist with as deep a voice as she can muster Everybody has plan until get bitten in the face!

He never was scared, because he knew it would all end well. Just don't wear anything red, ok?

Why don't you make a call now... she scribbles something on a small, colorful piece of paper and slides it across the table Mister, fighting!

Well he had plot armour Patrick countered looking over at Zoey. Although I have got to admit I haven't seen that movie either.

He then sighed. Alright. I'll call. I'll do it now before I lose my nerve. Besides, I'll have Naiaj yelling at me again if I don't.

He pulled out his comm unit and a business card then dialled the number.

Hello? Is this Ms Celestial Sol? No? Oh ... could you please tell her Professor Patrick Messier called and wishes to request a counselling session. Oh? OK. I'll wait. Thank you Ms Chrysalis.

An aside to Zoey. Looks like I got her secretary

Oh .... hello. Yes. Yes. *sighs* Yeah ... I shouldn't put it off any longer ..... What? You can fit me in today? In an hour? Errrrr .... okay. Um. Yes .. I can find it ... Thank you. *click*

Well .... I am committed now .... maybe I should be committed. But are you referring to Red Shirts or is there another reason I should not wear red?

He picks up the piece of paper, folds it, and puts it in his left side shirt pocket.

Zoey does her best to nod encouragingly, making all the faces and fist gestures that are mandatory for such circumstances. She breathes a sigh of relief when the appointment is finally made.

Yaay! she says, and then to the 'red shirt' question Yeah, Red shirt, though you may want to ask your stylist as well. In Zoey's head, everybody has a stylist, apparently.

Stylist?

Stylist! she says as she stands up and twirls around the red (!), glittery dress, hitting the table with 'property of Adadarcorp entertainment' tag. Do you like my look today?

Warning ..... warning .... warning ... It's one of those questions

Er ... yes. So .... how often do you ... erm ... entertain?

Zoey is taken aback by the question a bit, which to her sounds a bit like 'how often do you breathe?'. Mwogga? she mutters.

Do you mean when my next appearance is? I don't know really, I should ask mister Manager. It's very on an off, sometimes I get a lot of shows in a row, and there's been times where I'm doing almost nothing for a full year! There's always smaller things, of course... like concourse concerts!

Hm ..... no matter .... should be on the Infosphere somewhere. Either that, maybe I could set up my social media account again and you can tag me. I better create an algorithm to sort out the wheat from the chaff too. Last time my feed was mostly full of ads, but that may have been because I was in contact with naff all people

Anyway I should get going if I am to make this appointment. Thank you for the conversation Ms Zoey. It was much appreciated

After his appointment, Patrick arrives back at Castamirs. He looks very thoughtful.

When the Professor return, Zoey is no longer at the table, but instead talking to a massive android bit booming voice, and the text 'DICEBOT KA-2000' printed on his side. The large robot just presents the small human with what looks like a very pinkish cupcake, causing Zoey to look a little flustered.

As soon as she spots the professor though, she waves and looks expectantly.