The city-state of Vanos lies in a perpetual twilight, and the appeal of the city lies mostly in the traditionally nocturnal activities found there. The club is a short distance from the port, down a busy boulevard. Neon lights flash above various storefronts, advertising everything from virtual reality shows to high-end pet shops selling imported animals of dubious legality. All around, people of various species, dressed in expensive clothing, laugh as they make their way beneath the pulsing lights. Many are accompanied by androids dressed in similar black uniforms, all with red collars around their necks.
Before you go to the night club, please roll a disguise check to try to make yourselves look like the usual clientele of a fancy nightclub.
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"Oh, by the Forever Queen, must I be so cursed with a lack of fashion sense?" K'Klacklun cries out in despair. Then, spying the barathu, the shirren notes, "Why, I say! That hat makes you look most dapper!"
Seeing the others, he notes, "If I may be so bold, though it is true that I have little fashion sense of my own, I'd like to think that I am rather capable of following instructions. Should you direct me on the proper accoutrements and details, I shall so try to do my best to help you complete your look."
His training in engineering no doubt provide him with the skill and discipline to follow precise instruction. K'Klacklun nods as he completes his help. b]"See, with proper instruction, I can help turn a faux pas into a faux possibility! Oh, but I do hope that it is enough!"[/b]
A series of downbeat whistles issue from the drone.
Ok, I'll roll a few aid rolls where a few of you didn't and those aid rolls might change the results.
So Compucast, Balloonboy, and Deloran made the check. I'll let you know later how this is significant.
When you arrive at Kozmos, a line stretches around the block, filled with eager concert-goers awaiting admittance. You easily gain interest using the tickets provided by Arvin. The large vesk bouncers give K'Klaklun, Kalkun, and Garven the 'stink eye' due to them not fitting in.
The main dance floor of Kozmos extends almost eighty feet from north to south. Two raised bars, tended by clearly augmented verthani, nest within raised platforms in the northwest and northeast corners, while two large vesk guard a door in the middle of the northern wall. Two androids with red collars tend a central bar, which serves as the main drinking station. Throngs of verthani and a handful of other species fill the dance floor, and the 10-foot ceilings barely rise two feet above most of their heads. A large stage covers the southern section of the room, flanked by ramps leading up from the east and west sides. Each ramp leads to a door, with the southern one guarded by an intimidating vesk who stands under a sign marked “Dressing Room.” A double door marked “Fire Exit” lies in the middle of the eastern wall, and the club entrance is the sole door along the western side.
A series of four sharp clicks and a chirp emanate from the drone within the pack.
The android bartenders just give Compucast a scared look.
Those of you looking around notice that the Verthani bartenders at the northern bars have X-shaped scars on their palms. The android bartenders at the central bar seem skittish. The vesk bouncers seem bored with their job. The customers seem to be having a good time.
The bartender in front of K'Klaklun keeps asking if he wants anything else.
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Upon the bartender's insistence, K'Klacklun concedes, "Why yes, I will take another nectar thank you." He pauses for a moment, then adds, "And I have noticed that some of your fellows are... well... technological in nature." He says pointing at the skittish bartenders at the central bar. "You wouldn't by any chance sell lubricant by the pint, would you?"
"Nah, the only lubricant here is the cheap stuff the boss uses when the andys need it, and they're not worth the good stuff."
"Nah, we just have to keep an eye out for those crazy Andi-activists."
To Compucast:
The android bartender looks around a bit to see who else can hear, and then answers you in a low voice while trying to appear like he's talking normally. "Those are used to make sure we obey. I've seen the results when they are turned on. I've had to help move the leftovers somewhere for recycling."
To Deloran:
"Nah, Mr. Bogdin wouldn't show stuff like that to us grunts. I'm pretty sure if he didn't mistrust his tin cans so much, he would prefer to use them as security instead of us. And unfortunately I'm not allowed to drink on the job. The andi-activists are the ones who try to convince everyone that tin cans are people too."
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Kalkan hears the conversation over his coms and approaches Compucast's Android. I may not be dressed the part, but I don't think the servant will mind. He speaks into the android's mind discretely. "Hello, friend. I am an Augmented,and I respect your people's strength through technology. How did you get into this situation?" The shirren listens intently, then leans in. "If you feel like the Stewards can protect you, you should run to them. I know of a few agents who could not be bribed by these scum. If you don't trust those authorities, we just came from a planet which would be sympathetic to your cause."
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With a bit of shock look on his face.
"You have not seen the art works? As security, I thought you would have free range of where you would go. How would you know if someone was trying to steal the art work or even if something is missing? I think you might have taken a peek haven't you.
I worked at a security firm before and we always were aloud to go through and see if there are any weak points in the security, I was the electronics guy. And you would be surprised how often that the owner thought his property was safe, then we would walk in and point out a bunch of ways that the system could be defeated. Some of the clients would see if we could defeat the security system that was in place. Many time the system would not even know that we were there.
If something happened, where would you got to make sure the art is safe?"
Still trying to befriend the guard
"I don't care about the art. I'm here from Bogdin's boss, here to watch the merchandise."
To Compucast: "The collars would have to be deactivated to be safely removed."
K'Klacklun, you don't think that jamming the signal is enough. These collars would have to be actually sent a signal to deactivate.
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"Those are used to make sure we obey. I've seen the results when they are turned on. I've had to help move the leftovers somewhere for recycling."
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He turns to the nearby K'Klacklun. "You ever hear of such a thing? Collars to keep folk in line?" he asks in a general chatting to a random person at a bar type of manner.
Absentmindedly continuing to sup his delicious beverage--[I]SO many drink choices!--K'Klacklun begins to respond, "Can't say that I have, but why is it that you aa...?"
Then, realizing that the question came from one of his fellow Starfinders, and recalling that he is on a mission, the shirren places a cred stick on the bar. "I believe that that should adequately cover my tab."
Excusing himself, the shirren makes his way around the bar, attempting to get a look ascertain just what Compucast had been referring to. Noticing (likely with help from Compucast) the collars on the androids, K'Klacklun attempts to get a closer look.
From within the shirren's backpack, there is a series of beeps followed by a whistle.
By putting all your heads together, you are able to figure out that the collars can deliver varying amounts of damage to android slaves who misbehave. They are also wired to consider any interruption of their connection to the commanding computer or attempt to remove the collar as a reason to deliver lethal punishment. You think that if you can find the program, you could disable the collars, and they could then be removed.
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K'Klacklun scans the room for a computer terminal.
The shirren approaches Compucast and quietly suggests, "I believe the collars can only be deactivated by accessing the proper program. However, I don't know where to find it. Perhaps, if we convinced one of the persons in charge that an android incursion were imminent, that may prompt them to reveal where the program is kept or accessed. Presumably, other valuables may be kept in the same location."