”What part of ‘poof’ don’t you get? The lab disappeared—no warning, no bodies, nothing!”
Boron looks at the Vesk: "You guys... gals?... need some real work? Wanna tag along with us and leave 'poof'-dude here?"
The Vesk all look at one another and shake their heads.
”He pays well.”
"Poof!'
Scuttle swats away Jacob’s attempts to treat his wounds.
”Get your grubby mitts off of me! You’ve already poked in my head, I don’t need ya pokin’ my body either!”
The Vesk aren’t as confrontational to Jacob as the ysoki.
Scuttle strains his glass-slashed neck to look at Xagyg. ”Gods, you’re a single-minded one, ain’t ya?"
The ysoki then turns to address the rest of the group. "Lemme give you all some advice—free of charge from ol’ Scuttle: Eclipse is a powerful enterprise; gettin' rid of the transmitter may set things back a few days—or more, depending on how many of the things there are—but they’ll be able to bounce back from such a minor inconvenience.
"Also, and this is none of my business, but do you guys honestly expect people to listen to you with such a cockamamie story like the one you guys told me? The average person has a little box that they like—their little comfort zone—and if anything or anyone threatens that box then they get defensive; no matter how convincing a stranger off the street may sound, at the end of the day they’re still a stranger spouting stuff that would put ‘em in the loony bin. But that’s just the two cents of one black arms dealer in the shady part of town; who am I to judge how ya live your life?”
Scuttle presses a button again and the metal shutters screech open once again. ”Stupid thing’s in the back room. Do whatever you’re gonna do then get outta here! Gonna have to go underground sooner than I thought…”
|
Xagyg smiles wryly.
"Actually, that happens more often than you would think... I remember one time on Absalom Station, I ran across a hive of bodysnatcher slimes who had set up a dehydrated food company - they had hit upon away to powder their spawn, and then integrate them into the meal production line. No-one wanted to believe me then, either... and whilst it sounded insane, it proved to be the truth. That encounter is basically the reason that I don't eat any more."
He then shrugs.
"It goes against my grain to fabricate data, but you are right - sometimes, people just can't stand the truth..."
To his friends, Boron says:
"Let us find this one.
Then, at least we can analyze this box, and maybe make something to try and locate the other boxes.
With that we set Eclipse back by a few days... and use those days to take Eclipse down."
Scuttle’s back room is a massive pile of clutter. Spare parts litter the floor, and crates of new shipments intermixed with boxes of unsalvageable junk are piled nearly to the ceiling.
Sticking out from the various junk and parts is a single shiny and new signal transmitter.
Deactivating the transmitter seems simple enough—whether by disabling it or by sheer violence.
Boron checks out the stuff Xagyg points out, and listens to the explanations about the different type of signal.
He then gets working on the thing itself, with Vroni.
"Let's hope I don't spend another 15 minutes just hacking in..."
But, no, he gets in quite... well, he gets in.
"Sadly, I don't think it'll be possible to track the other transmitters.
But what we can do, is track the signal back to its original source.
I assume that'd be the Eclipse black site.
Sadly, in order to accurately triangulate the signal to its source, we have to hack into two more of the transmitters... so, back we go."
Boron looks around: "When we're done triangulating, we can come back here and disable this thing."
If, and when, Boron's comrades are okay with taking down the transmitter, Boron will try to deactivate it--
--and then use Lava to slice it into un-reactivat-able pieces.
Bang Chop Slice
Boron successfully disables the transmitter.
When they return to the front room Scuttle gives the party the stink eye. ”Ya done? Great. Now get outta here!”
As the group leaves they see the sign in front of Scuttle’s shop change to show a neon red “Closed.”
The group returns to their hotel to rest before going out the next day.
*
The Lizard Lounge, despite knowing the location, was rather difficult to find—the nightclub in a city of eternal twilight is located on the thirtieth floor of the Apex Building in Cuvacara’s South Facet. Two circular bars made from a hard, green acrylic stand on either side of an open dance floor. A bass rhythm thrums as a sea of patrons moves to the beat. To the east and west of the dance floor, blue leather couches positioned around tables made of the same blue acrylic offer more private places to relax, though the music’s volume makes conversation difficult.
"I forgot me earplugs... so, who's gonna go in there?"
"Maybe we wait until it is closed, less people?" Volcklon listens to the thumping beat. "Or maybe that will be easier to look around." He pulls out his credstick. "While I don't drink maybe one of you can use that to have a look around?"
While he was practiced and willing to join the Order, something seemed off about Volcklon. Those voices in his head had gotten to him, causing him to do things he wouldn't normally do, like threatening people, breaking into buildings and deceiving businesses.
"It'll end up with us sticking a bladed-device in his ear anyhow... but, I'll come along for the show."
|
Jacob adjust's his goggles.
May i suggest a more... believable story? Claim that we where hired by a side tech company or something of the sort to exploit the eclipse program. We can show them what we where going to do, but we need access to the transmitter to do it. For a modest fee, we'll show them, then leave, having "Failed" our mission.
He gives a faint grin.
Of course, once we have access to the transmitter, Boron can shut it down... and if they resist? We'll just do it the hard way.
"Good idea!"
Boron slaps Jacob on the back.
"But why a --modest-- fee?"
A bouncer, a female vesk who seems to be on a break, shakes her head.
”Boss is busy at the moment, but the DJ is a friend of mine, I’ll see if I can get him to play something with less bass.”
She immediately turns and starts making her way toward the DJ.
Boron looks up at Xagyg: "And you believe her? You don't think this is some conspiracy, trap?"
Volcklon thinks it over. He wasn't much of a planner but this seems sound. "Let's get in and take a look around while the bouncer is away."
Volcklon thinks it over. He wasn't much of a planner but this seems sound. "Let's get in and take a look around while the bouncer is away."
A bouncer, a female vesk who seems to be on a break...
»Or let’s buy her a drink. Or one of us. I can volunteer. We are meeting a lot of lady Vesks. And... ouch! »
Vroni jolts Boron.
»Or not. »
"I am sure your boss will not be pleased learning he missed out on making some good credits." Volcklon waves his credstick around. "Maybe you can make a few as well for setting up the meeting?"
”Oh…um…that’s different, but I’ll see if I can get you in to meet her.”
The vesk moves around the corner through a swinging door marked “Employees Only.” A few minutes later she returns and beckons. ”Come with me. Boss wants to see you.”
The vesk leads you all through the swinging door into the kitchen/storage area. She continues toward a door near the back and leads you through.
The small room is rather unremarkable save for the desk at the far end. A vesk woman sits at the desk, a holoscreen before her that she makes movements with her hand to ineract with the screen. The vesk takes a large puff from an e-cigar in her hand and turns her head slightly to exhale a large amount of smoke out the cracked window next to the desk before returning to the holoscreen.
”I’m told you wanted to meet me? I am Zurnala. How has your time been at the club? Have you tried the tonight’s drink special?”
Zurnala’s voice sounds cordial enough, but she never looks up from her holoscreen other than to take the occasional puff from her e-cigar.
|
|
Xagyg inwardly smiles when he sees what the boss is up to, but refrains from commenting.
"A pleasure to meet you, Zurnala. Your facility is top-notch! I am Inspector Xagyg.
Time is money, so I will be brief: We have reason to suspect that Eclipse Innovations has managed to install some surveillance equipment in your Club; equipment which we fear may have additional, secondary functionalities. We are currently trying to track down the clandestine facility running affairs, and to do that, we need to access the transmitter feeds, incidentally shutting the device down. Now, we would not be so gauche as to expect you to take us at our word; we would be more than happy for you and yours to watch us, every step of the way, to make sure we don't do anything untoward, and potentially even remunerate you for the inconvenience."
"Hm." Zurnala takes a swift puff from her e-cigar and sends it out the window. "I was under the impression that I was handling a complaint about the music."
”That’s fair. Still have no idea what you’re talking about, though.”
Boron looks at Volcklon and mumbles: "even remunerate you for the inconvenience, What? WE were supposed to get paid for doing this!"
Volcklon tries to get a read on the woman to see if she is lying about having no idea what they are talking about. Though he is also distracted by the Solitaire game.
"You see....This transmitter is going to cause a lot of problems with your music. It could block the signal which would cause customers to leave. We wouldn't want that and neither would you. If we could take a quick look around we could help you out."
”How very interesting. I haven’t heard anything about the music until just this moment—not even from my DJ.”
"That's why we're here. Would you be able to show us to the new equipment installed and we will be out of you hair. You won't have to worry about any interruption in your music."
Zurnala takes another puff. "Can I see some credentials? There are quite a few disruptive people in this city; better safe than sorry."
Boron and Vroni listen to Zurnala.
Legitimate question, Boron thinks.
Zurnala takes the credstick placed on her desk and quickly checks the amount on it.
The vesk puts her e-cigar down and, with a flick of her wrist, she dismisses the holoscreen and, for the first time since entering the room, she looks her guests in the eye, folding her claws onto her desk. ”Katara. Some privacy, please.”
The vesk bouncer that brought the party into Zurnala’s office turns heel and exits without a word.
”You ask too many questions,” she says. Her face contorts into a smirk filled with razor-sharp teeth. ”I like that. Curiosity is a sign of intelligence, and that’s what separates us from the animals. Let us start from the top: My name is Zurnala. What do you need to know?”
|
|
Xagyg nods.
"I know this may sound a bit crazy, but we really *do* have reason to believe that Eclipse Innovations has set of a series of transmitters/receivers at points around the city... and that their purpose is far from benign."
He then pulls out the remains of the previously disabled transmitter.
"We expect that it will be something like this. All we ask is that you let us look for such a device, and if we find it, to send a tracing signal, so we can try and triangulate the position of the receiving station, and then disable it."
”I’m sure you do, but like I said, I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about. But I know someone who does. Check the bar right outside the kitchen. Look for the one person who isn’t drinking like they just became of legal age. Thank you for the info; I’ll find out whatever I can about this transmitter. Now, is there anything else I can help with? Perhaps turn down the music?” Zurnala winks as she adds that last sentence.
Volcklon fully expects some push back or a fight and is pleasantly surprised when neither happens. "Much appreciated Zurnala. Glad we could come to an arrangement." Volcklon will follow Xagyg out into the bar area, though not too close as he doesn't want to seem like they are ambushing this young man. Instead he will hand back near the edge of the bar and keep an eye out for anyone else watching the man as well.
Boron follows along: »The original plan was that she would pay us! »