GM Silbeg's SFS 1-01 The Commencement (table 2) (Inactive)

Game Master Silbeg

"Computer specialist?" he asks, looking a little dumbfounded. "Naw, no 'puter specialist. Just me and my gramma here."

"We are sorry, then, to have bothered you." Aegis-9 responds. "However, before we depart, may we ask you... are you aware of any unusual activity that may have taken place in this neighborhood of recently?"

“Not so fast Young man! There is something that you are hiding. We mean no harm. “

Steev watches the android and the lashunta. He frowns. Then he spots the plant. "Crikey! That there is a florensis macciado, young man! This little fella loves the sunlight, indeed!"

Raia interrupts before Patterson could ask to meet the grandmother, so he watches with interest to see what the man's response will be.

The soldier clears his throat, breaking the silence. "Now, Raia. He seems to be a trustworthy sort, hey? However, hypothetically speaking, if he knew of some enterprising computer specialist who'd happened upon some useful information, he might be able to let that sophont know that we of the Starfinder Society would be able to help them with any...troubles, let's say, they might find themselves in." He smiles warmly.

The man looks at Patterson with a completely confused look on his face. "uh... what?"

"Florensis macciado loves a little roughhousing, eh, lad! They really hate it when you grab 'em by the roots and shake vigorously!" Steev' narrates.

The young man then looks at Steev with an even more stupified look. "What? Who are you people?"

"Oh, didn't we introduce ourselves? I'm Steev'Irwin, noted expert on living things! This 'ere's my comrades and we're from the Starfinder Society, mate! We're lookin' fer a hacker what stole a buncha data from corporate types who are probably lookin' to murder them! Bonzer! What a day!" Steev' explains!

"I am Aegis-9", says the android, "And what my companion says is true. We came to this location, even if it be by mistake, based upon information that someone present at this location had illegally obtained sensitive information--information that I am told certain entities may be willing to kill for."

The large android looks the young man in the eyes, "If that information has led us here, it is just as likely that the same could lead others with nefarious purposes here as well. I am afraid that your life and that of anyone else here, may be in danger."

"If that is the case, then perhaps we can help you.", he offers.

"Um... thank you?" he says, still looking quite confused.

At this time a wizened old woman in a blue and white abaya comes out of he house. "What is the matter, Jubair?" she asks.

"Nothing, Grand-mama." he replies. "These folks are looking for some hacker criminal, but they must have gotten the wrong address..."

"Crikey! Are you the grand-mama who grows these florensis macciado?!? Bonzer!" He lunges forward and vigorously pumps her hand in a handshake that might be called violent. Turning to the camera drone that hovers just beside his head, he notes "Old people HATE when you do this! It really gets their bones loose!"

The woman does her best to extricate her hand from the violent handshake. "Oh, deary me..." she says, "Perhaps we should step inside? I'll make some tea."

Fixit raises his eyebrows....that is not the reaction he expected from an old lady being almost, but not quite, assaulted by a vesk several times her size.

”Yes, some tea would be perfect right now.”

Steev' nods happily. "Tea! Blimey! The common tea plant is derived from alien bugs that inhabit the moons of Akiton! If you squeeze the blighters jus' right, they ooze tea blood, which can be dried into tea leaves! FACTS!" He grins into the camera, before following the Ysoki and the old lady.

Raia is very quite after she suspected that the boy was lying to her.

"Lady, I believe that it is time to tell us the truth. Where are you hiding the computer specialist? Or is it the boy?!"

Aegis-9 looks around, trying to ascertain whether there is some looming threat. After all, this all seems so... ordinary. Not at all what one would expect, he thinks, as a mission for a Starfinder on his Commencement.

He then follows the others .

Patterson follows, shaking his head. Scoured Stars really did gut the Society, if this is what they're sending out now. Me included.

As the woman pours the Starfinders some tea, she has Jobair set out some biscuits to go with. She looks to Raia, and asks, "So, what is the it that you were asking poor Jubair, here?"

And, to Steev, "Why, I don't know what sort of tea you've been drinking, but I assure you that mine is brewed from the cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis, the tea tree, with perhaps some aromatics added."

"Your pardon, ma'am, if this is a sore spot--why do you say 'poor Jubair?'"

"Oh, just that he's being interrogated for something he coundn't have done. He's just an innocent boy, and has been taking care of his invalid grandmother for some time now."

”I have a hunch that you are not telling us the truth or more accurately that your grandson is lying! You might want to consider that he is in real trouble!

"Raia, I believe the young man has been truthful with us. His grandmother was correct when she said that he was not capable of doing such an act.", Aegis-9 says to the Starfinder before turning to the woman. "However as for you, ma'am--I am sorry that I did seem to catch your name-- could it be that you are aware of someone who is capable of such a deed?"

Steev' looks hard at the old woman, whose mind has clearly gone bonkers if she things tea comes from trees! Why, how would you even milk a tree?!?

"Respectfully disagree, ma'am. Tea comes from the alien bug of Akiton, also known as the Lipton Beetle. Fact." He declares.

"If you say so, dear. That's not what the infosphere says, but you must know better." she says. She then gets a sort of... inward... look.

"How odd... it appears that my implants have some interesting files... and I don't know how they got there."

Jubair looks shocked by this revelation as she continues, "I have to admit, that in my younger days I was quite the hacker... one of the best. Unfortunately, age has gotten the better of me, and I am suffering from a degenerative brain disease, which forced me into retirement years ago. The augmentations in my brain have halted the damage, and keep me functional, but I still have large lapses in memory and is no longer as capable as I once was. I must have slipped into a younger mindset, performed the hack, and forgotten about it."

Raia eyes her.

sense motive: 1d20 ⇒ 15

Patterson grins, but quickly becomes serious. "Would you and your grandson accept the protection of the Starfinder Society in return for those files?"

"Blimey, YOU are the 'acker? Well... that is just AWESOME!" Steev' begins to pump the old woman's arm with eagerness, shaking his head. "Can ya do any other tricks? Are you secretly a gymnast?" He eyes the windows as if wondering what would happen if they threw her through it.

Raia just waits to see how this unfolds.

While Steev has the woman's attention, Patterson murmurs to the ysoki, "Any chance her augmentations might have woken up and started acting on their own?"

"Well, I honestly do not know how this happened, so I would gladly trade the information for our safety!" she says, indicating Jubair needs to be part of the deal. "If what you say is true, then it is only a matter of time before the corporations hunt me down to make an example out of me. Since there is no way that I can evade them for long, I ask that you and your Society fake my death, so that they have no reason to hunt us down."

"Well that sounds like a plan to me! Death faking! Blimey! D'you want to play dead or shall we clone ya?"

"If you are truly suffering from an illness," Aegis-9 responds, "then seeking proper medical care would seem to be the necessary order. Making an effort to treat your illness, would also look favorable to a tribunal that may be considering your potential prosecution for a crime of data-theft. Why not turn yourself over to the proper authorities? Surely, they would provide leniency due to your condition as well as any protection that may be necessary. Faking your death could be seen as an attempt to cover-up a crime--whether real or imagined--and may subject you to further prosecution by the legitimate authorities and force you to live the remainder of your natural days under a lie."

"I am sorry, you don't understand, sir. What was your name again?" she says, giving you look like a mother explaining herself to her young child. "The only authorities in this will be the corporations in the Bluerise Tower, and they don't worry about things like due process. They will send their corporate security to hunt me down, and kill me. That is their way."

She shakes her head, "And I am receiving what medical care as I can. There are some things that you just cannot fix."

"Just because something appears as if it cannot be fixed, does not make it so. It is when we stop striving to fix that which is broken, that we have most certainly lost." Aegis-9 opines. "As for my name, I am Aegis-9, Defender of the Pact Worlds and a member of the Exo-Guardians. I will not allow any harm to come to you or your youthful charge, if I can prevent it."

"Um, while we're discussing political philosophy and medicine the clock's ticking. Let's be getting these two squirreled away and safe, hey? Now, ma'am and sir, what would you like to take with you?"

Raia nods "Let us leave at once! We will need to assess the truth at a later point in time."

”Yes let’s book it and argue over the particulars when we are safe!”

"Well, I may be new at this, but how do ya fake a death? I guess ya need a body, and a cause o' death, but where do ya find them?"

Ceren(the old woman) has Jubair gather their things, and she tells you that shw will go to an old safehouse, and that she will meet you at a bridge in Jatembe Park in six hours.

Some ideas on what you can do...
Acquire a body, and alter it to match Ceren, or fake a death certificate.
She suggests you'll need to set her up with a new identity

Be creative!

Raia listens to a voice in her head and says "We could try to hack us into the registry and crate a false identity for Ceren. Let me check what I can do."

computers to create a false identity: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (19) + 9 = 28

Note: if it wasn't clear, you need to do both, and as many of each as you can.

If you struggle for ideas, I'll give some hints, but I'd prefer you try on your own for now...

"Well,it so happens I know some 'soki at this corpsegarden who might have a body that would work, y'know? Maybe we ought ta go find them, have a talk right?" Steev' scratches his scaly chin thoughtfully.

How can we fake a death certificate? What skill is that?

Patterson shrugs. "I don't have a lot of skills that would help, hey? But it seems to me that messing around with a body is going to be too easy to spot when the body is right there for them to look at as hard as they want to. How about laying a false trail? Plenty of ships leave the Station every day. Hack a database and make it look like Ceren lit out for, oh, Preluria. Someplace far away and hard to track through."

"I am... reluctant to engage in any fraudulent activities." remarks Aegis-9. "However, I am willing to help anyone who is attempting to turn over a new crankshaft, so to speak. Should Ceren or Jubair wish to find new, legitimate employment, I believe I may be able to persuade some colleagues of mine to hire them. It seems that the literary world is always in need of fine editors. And, it is likely that pseudo-biographical accounts of her youthful escapes may prove informative for application in security manuals, if not as diversionary entertainment. I would, however, be reluctant to recommend a job that grants unrestricted access to off-site computers."

Fixit follows Raia to the nearest terminal and hacks in to the deaths registry to add Ceren's name.

Computers (T10): 10 + 13 = 23

He also forges new papers for her using his own brand of electronic genius.

Computers (T10): 10 + 13 = 23

"I think that probably covers it on the electronic side of things. Now i think Steev is right, we need to have some more physical evidence. A body to be specific. Or maybe we can persuade some "witnesses" "

His only suggestion ignored, Patterson retreats to the entrance of the pair's living quarters and watches for corporate raiders and other assorted riffraff.