Iteration-177 inquires as to Miss Chiff's own adventures within the Society's ranks, eager for more perspectives and more stories (and more inside information!).
Meanwhile Cournae tries to engage Ykris with some exceptionally oblique and general statements about a recent mission, eventually causing the corporate representative to cut her off. "With how you're talking, you could be describing anything from a Starfinder Society mission to the latest CeriCorp board meeting. There is absolutely no reason to be so vague. You can trust that any Society secrets will not leave my lips under any circumstance."
||| Social Round 7 Standings|||
Iteration-177 - Influenced!
Naiaj - Influenced!
Royo - Influenced!
Ykris - Intrigued (2)
Zo! - Influenced!
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Zye is flush with continuing success when talking to Naiaj, but Ykris seems to still be a tough nut to crack. Even getting into the symbiote's head (or vice-versa), the ysoki isn't quite sure how to connect with him. Flustered, he tries to spend another few minutes getting a read on the corporate honcho.
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Mustachio isn't interested in talking to the walking parasite, but decides some diplomatic backup is in order. He shoulders his way into the conversation.
"Excuse me, I couldn't help overhearing discussion of CerciCorp. That company has a fine reputation, I believe, with an extremely altrustic board of directors and a true desire to help the common sentient being. A coporation to be lauded, and the Starfinder Society would enjoy working with you whenever the opportunity arises."
Gods, I hate these big-money corporations so much.
|
"Frankly, Ykriss, I'm interested in your perspective. I mean, do you experience events twice? See things through multiple lenses. The same for your host. Also I understand that you're the controlling partner Ykriss, but I presume that your host has some say as well."
I know its hard to believe, but I'm actually good at this stuff.
Despite keeping a close eye on Ykris, Zye doesn't manage to come to any new conclusions. The corporate rep is clearly amenable to hearing rumors about the Society (Culture) or discussing the intricacies of the technology that Cericorp develops (Life Science or Medicine). Beyond that, he listens politely but doesn't seem deeply swayed.
Mustachio's attempt to butter up Ykris by appealing to his company's reputation has the rep narrowing his eyes at the actor. He manages a "That is... very kind of you to say. Now, if you'll excuse me..." and brushes Mustachio off.
Donovan doesn't fare much better, with Ykris answering his questions in a fairly matter-of-fact fashion. "We share a single viewpoint, and while our personalities are not the same, we have been together for long enough that are priorities are very much aligned. While, as you say, I control our actions, it is not without Heiru's full acceptance." As he explains, you get the sense that prying too far into his relationship with his host is not exactly considered a very polite topic.
While the three of you struggle with Ykris, you can see Miss Chiff over to the side hitting it off with Iteration-177. The android laughs heartily at her dramatized and exciting retelling of her recent mission.
||| Social Round 8 Standings|||
Iteration-177 - Influenced!
Naiaj - Influenced!
Royo - Influenced!
Ykris - Intrigued (2)
Zo! - Influenced!
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Zye takes a deep breath, then walks back up to Ykris. Hello again! he greets the symbiote. I have to say, that was an honor earlier. But I have a question about the bonding process. Is there even an issue with getting a host and you to connect? I mena presumably you certainly would want to bond with whomever, since you'd start the process, but what happens if the body doesn't agree with the mind? Would certain drugs of vitamin regimens be able to make the host's immune system more sympatico with a symbiote?
Ykris listens politely to Zye's questions, but from the way he occasionally frowns slightly, you can tell he's not entirely happy with the topic. "There are typically no issues with bonding to a host, as long as both sides are completely willing. And bonding with an unwilling host? That would be obscene." He frowns outright for a moment before corporate geniality paints itself back on his face. "In any case, drugs and vitamin regimens are not needed. But I'm happy to hear that you've dedicated some thought to this topic. Please continue to study it. The Society surely needs bright new minds such as yourself."
----
In the middle of speaking with Ykris and Iteration-177, each of you suddenly hear a beep from your comms. You excuse yourselves and notice a message from Radaszam: "Come to the northern service hallway. We have an issue."
Once there, you see the burly vesk pacing back and forth and reviewing something on his datapad. With you all assembled, he looks up. He doesn't mince words. "We've got a situation on our hands. I'd been following rumors of a somewhat notorious assassin, a shadowy individual known only as Triloteya. Recent rumors place them somewhere near or on Absalom Station, and unfortunately, one of my contacts just brought to my attention a posting on the dark-info-sphere: a quick and dirty hit on this gala. The posting was up for only a moment, but its not out of the question that Triloteya took it up. This is exactly the kind of flashy job they like based on their reputation."
"So here's the thing. With my Obsidian Spiders here, I'm confident that we can deal with any assassin if they try anything. My girls and guys are the best security outfit on the Station, after all." He stands up a little straighter at that statement. "Might be a bit of a scuffle, but no one should be in too much danger. Plus, if they go after Luwazi, well... that girl is no stranger to a fight. On the other hand, if we do have an assassin springing an attack mid-gala, even if we deal with it immediately, it's going to look bad for the Society. All the higher-ups would lose face... you know how that is." He shakes his head at their foolishness.
"Now, if a team of crack Starfinders were to investigate my information, locate and unmask the assassin, before they can try anything... well, that'd make for a pretty nice show, don't you think? Defeat the assassin in style, impress the investors, make ourselves look good in the process... What do you say?"
"From what my contact saw of the posting, it was a 'hit the First Seeker, cause as much chaos as possible' kind of deal. The kind of thing Triloteya is known for."
"Unfortunately, other than some of the famous killings associated with them, there isn't too much anyone knows about them. We can certainly make some assumptions based on past events: they're humanoid for certain, for example. What we know is no one has physically caught or identified them before. If you're to apprehend them in action, you're going to need to work off behavior rather than appearance."
Miss Chiff and Donovan look up Triloteya on the Station's infosphere and find little more than rumor or hearsay. The most prominent rumor is that Triloteya is actually multiple individuals working together. Another rumor involves Triloteya being a Deep-Eox plot to undermine the other Pact Worlds. Unfortunately, there's nothing on the infosphere you feel you can really rely on.
As Mustachio's question, Radaszam nods. "Right. While you've been chatting it up at the gala, we've done some investigation on suspicious activity in the last day. Visitors, public records, the works. Historia-7 does some good work." He barks out a laugh. "I have a lead for you. An engineering bay down in Sparks was rented for three days. The person who rented it supposedly never showed up to claim it, and following up on their identity just brings up some guy who died a few years back. Smells like some shell game, and the dates line up as well."
"Check out the bay and report back with whatever you find."
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"Not to fret! I, Mustachio Marino, am a experienced investigator, having solved numerous crimes under my infamous persona, Dr. Muztazio Mazino, premier medical examiner in Absalom Station. With help from these less qualified associates, I will soon crack this case. To the Sparks!"
Then he turns to Donovan and asks quietly,"Ummmm... the Sparks? Is that to the left or right?"
Miss Chiff (and anyone else succeeding on a DC10 Culture check) knows that Sparks is an Absalom Station district down on the Spike. It's known for being a warren of industrial facilities, dry docks for starship manufacturing, and power conduits for servicing the Station.
Radaszam listens to Miss Chiff's question with a stern look and responds with "Posted a couple of days ago, though my contact's crawl of the dark infosphere archives didn't pick it up until today."
Before you leave, Radaszam mentions "No need for that robo-taxi. You'll be taking the heavy-haul lifts down. And before you go, here's something Luwazi prepared in case you were needed to do some heavy work. Make good use of it." He brings out a huge metal briefcase and passes it on to you. Inside the case are two screamer grenades I, a tactical arc emitter, a set of business stationwear armor, and 1600 credits.
-----
Travel down to Sparks takes about 15 minutes, giving you time to rest (to recover stamina or otherwise) and do any research you're interested in attempting.
----
After the journey through increasingly industrial elevators, you arrive in a rough-and-tumble section of Sparks. The air carries a distinctive metallic tang of mechanical industry, sharp chemical smells, and the stale odors of countless living beings crammed into too-tight spaces. The corrugated metal corridors are cramped, with ceilings only 10 feet high and lit only with stark LED lighting strips; the grinding, clanging, clattering sounds of countless engineers at work carry through the halls.
It takes only a few minutes of travel from the elevator to reach the address Radaszam provided. The stained plastic door of this particular engineering bay is no different from the dozens lining the grimy hallway. A glaring LED lighting strip illuminates the address code imprinted along the doorframe. Every few seconds, this light, along with all the others along the corridor, flickers briefly. Though the sounds of industry still echo through the corridors, this section clearly sees less traffic and is currently devoid of passersby.
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Zye taps away and his comm system for much of the journey down, but sturggles. guess tall the way down here's not great on the signal strength As they move down the halls towards the listed address, the ysoki agrees with Cournae.
I've seen worse. But not in a while. He looks up at the flickering lights. Power seems bad too. Which you'd think would be a bad thing for someone who needs to use the super-secret-secure networks.
Looking at the door, Zye frowns again. I'm not quite strong enough for the 'burst down part'. But maybe there's a vent? Or I could try to trig the door open.
Miss Chiff doesn't find any signs of tampering, but she does notice that the door appears to be locked. From the look of the lock and the keypad, a skilled engineer or hacker might be able to bypass it.
A quick search of the area doesn't reveal any obvious or accessible vents, but it does reveal that the engineering bay has a second entrance from the south side. This one also looks to be locked by the same type of security.
As you ponder over your next steps, the overhead lights flicker out, putting you in darkness for a full second before they buzz back to life. You notice that during the brief power outage, the keypad lock sparks slightly and remains powered.
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"Renting this unit would take time, Miss Chiff. And not to mention, that sounds... terribly boring! Starfinders shoot first and rent things second!"
Mustachio pulls his huchket rifle off his back and goes with Cournae. He makes sure it is loaded.
"This reminds me of a film I starred in, "Arms and Loaded". The adventuring party takes a two pronged attack, in two doors, rushing the bad guys. Of course, my portrayal as Corpse #10 was spot on, and spawned a whole series of corpse offers from the studios. So not to worry, friend Cournae, you are with the guy who knows what to do."
As Cournae and Mustachio split off (but before they get to the southern-side door), Zye steps in to work some hacking magic. But the moment the ysoki touches the keypad, the entire access panel discharges a blast of electricity into his body!
Accompanying the surge of electricity, the lights in the hallway flicker out once more, but hum back on within a second or two. As the smoke clears you see two things: first, that the blast has also served to cycle the power on the door's security system, disabling it; and second, that the well hidden metal contacts used for integrating the shocking trap have broken off from the access panel.
Cournae (just barely) finds a similar trap set up on the southern door, but concludes that the last power surge when the western door's trap discharged also served to disable the southern door trap. Both doors should now be safe to open.
With Cournae and Mustachio on one side and the rest of the team on the other, you open both doors simultaneously. Beyond, you see a badly damaged engineering bay.
Rusted crates and plastic barrels crowed this cramped workspace. Discarded R2E packaging, beverage pouches, and packing material litter the space. A ledge along the south wall holds a stack of rubber mats in an approximation of a bed beside a high-quality industrial backpack. Ragged wires droop from exposed conduits along the northern wall and along the floor in the center of the room. The open conduits spark intermittently with electricity, in time with the flickering lights in the hallway outside.
Floating in the air next to the exposed wiring are two winged, serpentine creatures! As the doors slide open, they turn to watch the source of the movement with their bulbous blue eyes.
---
Mustachio and Cournae to the south are the quickest to react when the the creatures start sparking menacingly!
||| INITATIVE |||
Cournae
Mustachio
SerpentA
SerpentB
Miss Chiff
Zye
Donovan
Bold are up
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Seeing the vicious-looking creatures, Cournae immediately taps into the Akashic plane. Her mind whirls, gleaning scraps of knowledge until she finds an old favorite - the complete history of Castrovellian cheeses. Siphoning this knowledge, she psychically injects it into the closest flying serpent, melting its mind with the knowledge of 100 generations of elvish dairy farmers.
The serpent lets out a shriek as it is overwhelmed by more cheese-related knowledge than its poor, rudimentary mind can handle. Meanwhile the serpent takes a rifle shot through the wing!
Though injured, the red serpent creature swoops towards the west-door trio and lets out a burst of electricity!
And the blue serpent, haunted by nightmarish images of cheeses, swoops down at Cournae, trying to slap her with its tail. The spiny tail strikes her clean across the head as she attempts to duck!
---
||| INITATIVE |||
Cournae (-10)
Mustachio
SerpentRed (-4), get 'em applied
SerpentBlue (-9)
Miss Chiff (-7 or -3)
Zye (-7 or -3)
Donovan (-7 or -3)
Bold are up
As Donovan moves past it and into the room, the serpent creature tries to bat at him with its tail. Expecting such a move, he manages to duck away from it. His follow up shot with his laser rifle is a narrow miss !
Meanwhile much of the rest of the team attempts to heal and protect themselves. Cournae feels much better after a healing potion and some inspiring words from Mustachio.
The red serpent turns and chases after the most obvious target: Donovan! It swings its spined tail at his chest and strikes a solid blow. Meanwhile the blue serpent tries to do the same to Cournae. Thankfully it only succeeds at slapping the nearby storage crates, causing them to crash to the ground.
||| INITATIVE |||
Cournae (-2HP)
Mustachio
SerpentRed (-4)
SerpentBlue (-9), get 'em applied
Miss Chiff (-7)
Zye (-7)
Donovan (-10)
Bold are up