GM Blazej - SFS The Half-Alive Streets (Inactive)

Game Master Zynete

You have all been called together to move though the hectic halls within Lorespire Complex, headquarters of the Starfinder Society based on Absalom Station. Other technicians, analysts, and various specialists are moving about on various tasks. Much like yourselves as you have been contacted by Venture-Captain Arvin presenting a mission to you all. Details on the mission are scarce within the message itself, only saying that he is need of assistance investigating an unique technology.

The messages direct you through the halls of toward one of the reception rooms within the complex.

Jastrow is a short, brown-furred ysoki with twitchy whiskers and a big, green, cybernetic eye that looks like it was made out of leftover robot parts and scrap metal. He wears all sorts of tools and gadgets on his belts, and a survival knife strapped to his hip. All of his gear looks well-used, or recycled.

Jastrow skitters down the halls of the Lorespire Complex, stopping to pick up any trash, garbage, and lost things he finds and putting them into his huge, stuffed, overflowing pockets.

"Hmmm..." he wonders. "Wonder what this unique technology is. I hope it's eco-friendly. That ship they shuttled me here on was a gas-guzzler! Uh! Doesn't anyone speak for the trees around here?" He stops to pick up some litter and sticks in his pocket, then keeps walking.

"Oh, I'm Jastrow, by the way. From Akiton."

"Uh, ew... UH! WHAT'S THAT SMELL?" a tall, pale lashunta exclaims, pinching her nose. "This place stinks! How does anyone live in a place without proper fresh air?!"

She adjusts her green and yellow dress and hood and smiles at Jastrow. "You're a clever one! Back home many people 'speak for the trees' as you call it. As for this unique technology, I'd rather not know! I bet it's something troublesome or dangerous."

She points at his bulging garbage pockets. "What do you do with it all?"

A young looking, blonde human walks in and smiles at everyone. "Hey everyone, I'm Kai Starchaser." he wears two (different) pistols and carries a bunch of gear for adventure and exploration, mostly in his backpack.

The clattering of large insectile legs echoes down the halls of the lorespire complex as a ant-like humanoid makes her way into the room. She wears a bulky suit of Hellknight armor bearing the insignia of the Order of the Scourge.

The formian snaps to attention at the assembled crew. "Imperator Fexia reporting for duty as ordered. Seeking Queen Venture-Captain Arvin. Have you seen... erm... him?"

"No," Lilith answers the formian. "But, I hope he comes soon. I'd rather not be on this space station any longer than I have to."

A vesk fairly short by vesk standards strolls in leisurely. He's in a tacky purple suit with a white rumpled shirt and one spike on his head slicked back. He grins like a used car salesman and bows. "names schlack. I guess we're all waiting for venture Capt. Arvin." He takes a seat and makes himself at home.

Jastrow smiles at Lilith. "What do I do with it all? Well, I take whatever I can find and make it into something new. Or fix something with it. You never know what'll come in handy. And I NEVER buy new. Not when there's so much god stuff laying around."

He looks at everyone around the room. "What planet are you all from? I'm from Akiton. Dusty and dirty and dying, it is. I want to make it lush and green like Castrovel one day." He laughs. "Big job! Gotta start somewhere."

A small pink furred humanoid pops their head into the room, pushing the door open with a pair of arms while holding a tray of small food stuffs. "Oh!
You aren't supposed to be in this room!" She looks up at the party with a slight bit of shock before it turns into a delighted grin, "Don't worry, I can help! You are the group that Arvin called in. Follow me and I'll lead you to the room where he is waiting!"

She has a false start as she starts down the hall before doubling back to hold the door for you, the trays of food swaying all the while.

"Arvin will be so glad to see you. He said that the reception area would run out of food if you didn't arrive quickly, so I made sure to gather some more! Now you are here and there is more food!"

Within a minute you are guided to another room that is producing sounds like some ravenous beast slurping and ripping through a meal. The small furred humanoid announces your presence as she opens the door, "Arvin, the Starfinders you called upon are here!"

Inside you find the source of the noise to be a large vesk in a muscle shirt sitting at a table within the small reception room. He messily scarfs and swallows various finger foods and drinks. In between bites he gives out some half comprehensible compliments on Starfinder provided snacks. Venture-Captain Arvin stands on the opposite side of the table watching the poor table manners, visibly annoyed at the vesk, and turns to you as you enter with a definite sense of relief. "Thank you for your quick response. Some new technology has come to the Society’s attention." A moment doesn't pass as Arvin finishes the sentence the vesk clears his throat loudly, picking at his teeth with a satisfied grin on his face. Arvin's eyebrow twitches in irritation as he reluctantly adds, "Come to our attention from our... contact Julzakama." With yet more reluctance he turns to the vesk and asks, "If you would..."

The vesk, Julzakama, stands, pulling a battered gym bag out from under the table. As compared to the serious tone Arvin takes, Julzakama is flippant in dealing with the Venture-Captain. "Feast your eyes on this little gemling." He reaches into the bag and removes what appears to be a severed human hand. Julzakama waves the limb then offers it to Arvin to shake.

Arvin declines the offered limb.

Instead he rubs his temples as he returns to explain to you, "As you might have guessed, this is a prosthetic limb. It's a standard cybernetic augmentation, but this one was made with a new type of biotech, so well grafted that it’s almost undetectable without magic. Its special features are just as well hidden." Arvin takes the hand from Julzakama and runs his hands along the prosthetic, opening a nearly invisible compartment large enough to conceal a knife, several data drives, or a variety of other pieces of gear. "Such technology would be invaluable for covert and diplomatic operations, and the Society would like to find the specialist who crafted and installed it. But therein lies the difficulty. Julzakama, if you could explain the... circumstances of this discovery?"

Julzakama holds up his hands, saying, "Now, I wasn’t personally involved. Some vesk workers known to some of my customers got in a territorial dispute with some manlings." His hands move and flow as he directs them about, gesturing as though to point out the gear moving around in his description. "Stuff happened, one of these guys turned his winnings over to my customer to settle a bet, and here we are." Julzakama gestures at the hand, smiling ingratiatingly, and continues, "I thought you Starfinders might be interested."

"Indeed, we are." Arvin folds his hands behind his back. "Julzakama tells me that his acquaintances’ rivals had been known to acquire their gear from gray-market operations in the Freemarkets. As that is our only lead so far, I'd like you to investigate the area; even if none of the listed clinics are the source, they may have more information on who is."

You can present any questions you have. You can also make Culture checks to recall knowledge or Diplomacy to gather information to see how much you already know about the Freemarkets on Absalom Station. Open any spoilers you meet or beat the DC for.

my busy week starts today. Feel free to bot me as soon as everyone else acts, it's tactically convenient, or my PC can address the check at hand.
Pretty sure he can beat these checks with a take 10

"What's the first place we should visit, Sir?"

Previously unnoticed, a gaunt human with dark hair stands, leaning against the back wall, with folded arms. He wears a functional flight suit and an utility belt.

Fexia bows her head towards Arvin. "Reporting as ordered, my Queen."

She stands at attention through the entirety of his briefing, also giving a short bow towards Julzakama.

"My Queen, I fail to understand the term 'Gray Market.' I have been informed that the term 'Black Market' refers to illegal markets, which for the sake of the well-being of 'Legal Markets' should be purged. Am I to understand that a portion of these markets must be purged, or that the markets must be repaired? Or is the market actually the color 'Gray' and the term is meant to identify them by?"

She looks over the prosthetic with a certain degree of admiration. "Mission specialist Julzakama... these upgrades, if deployed properly, could strengthen the colony..."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (15) + 0 = 15

”It’s an honour to meet you all, fellow explorer. I am Rae’Van Morwynn, from Verces”
The lean man closes to the table, nodding his head to each of the presents.
”Captain, so the mission is to locate the manufacturer and see if he or she could be interested in being enlisted in our collaborators? Any of you, my companions, have any familiarity with the Freemarkets?”

Venture-Captain Arvin looks to Rae'Van and lets his mind think on the question a few moment before answering, "If I recall correctly, there's a directory of businesses near the entrance that's updated monthly; you could check that for augmentation clinics. The Markets have a high turnover rate though; businesses open and close all the time. It might be worth your time to check with the Market's AbadarCorp representatives for an updated list of operating permits."

The Venture-Captain is about to respond to Fexia before being cut off by Julzakama, who shakes his hands at the formian. "Hey, hey, hey. I'm perfectly fine not being purged here. Gray market just means we don't get permission from the people making the stuff we sell. Say a person sells a Vercitech datapad to me and I sell that back to someone else without involving Vercitech. That is all that is."

Arvin adds, "That doesn't mean they are acting in the right. But AbadarCorp regulates the markets themselves and conducts inspections. I doubt there would be any businesses flagrantly breaking the law."

Seeing Fexia's admiration of the prosthetic he concurs with her assessment. "While this is similar to other types of augmentations throughout the Pact Worlds, I haven seen none as well concealed as this. However the biotech nature binds it to a recipient's physiology and genetic structure. We can't simply transfer it to someone else. In addition that customization makes it difficult to reverse engineer. That we why, if we want Starfinder to have access to such technology, we will need you to find whomever created them."

Fexia looks even more confused than before. "Why would you need permission from the people making the product if you already purchased it? I don't see what is 'gray' about the market..."

She shrugs. "The prosthetic however... a colony soldier wounded in battle could offset their decrease in combat effectiveness by increasing their tactical flexibility. Also, common-tongue phrases like 'reverse-engineer' still seem odd. It would seem that if you execute orders, then execute orders to reverse them, you would be left with the original colony status. But I will admit, I have a hard enough time understanding why you have all of these gender and rank words... But I think I've figured them out!"

Lilith twitches her antennae in distaste -- first at Julzakama, and then at the hand. But, she keeps her complaints to herself.

Diplomacy (Freemarkets): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23

Lilith sighs. "Yes, I have heard of the Freemarkets. Have none of you? They are the Ring’s open-air retail space, where small businesses of all sorts showcase their products and services. AbadarCorp sponsors the area; the corporation’s religious doctrine mandates that they encourage the growth of free enterprise. It’s relatively easy to get a business permit, so many entrepreneurs get their start there."

"Most of the Freemarkets’ businesses are temporary operations, working out of stalls or carts. The most successful make enough of a profit to secure permanent stores or are acquired by larger corporations. Some manage to hold their spots in the Freemarkets long-term, while the failures melt away. While the majority of businesses in the Freemarkets are legitimate enterprises, fly-by-night operations and scam artists take advantage of regulation loopholes. If caught and shut down, they simply lie low for a time and then acquire new permits under false identities."

"It's a shopping mall where the stores always change and sometimes the shopkeeper are shifty."

She sighs. "I'm not excited our mission leads there. But, I suppose there are worse places to visit. We'll track down the hand's creator."

I always love Julzakama! But Lilith does not. Haha.

Jastrow smiles at Julzakama. "Hey, I know you! You run that Pawn Shop! You have lots of lovely scrap!"

When Fexia talks about purging 'gray markets' Jastrow shakes his head. "Oh, no! Don't do that! Gray markets are awesome! We should always re-use what we can -- not buy new! Gray Markets are much more eco-friendly than corporations and companies that make new goods all the time!"

Jastrow looks at the hand. "Hmmm... I hope I never need a prosthetic limb! Especially not a prosthetic HEAD! Yikes!" He pats his head a little bit in fear.

Schalk glances around the food hungrily. Then turns his attention to the conversion going on.

"Julzakama! Can I just call you Jul you seem like a smart vesk with good taste. Let me get this straight; you came to the society to find the owner, because this technology is too tricky to figure out, and you can't use it. What do you get out of handing it to starfinder other than us to do the tracking?"
diplomancy: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17
"Hmm Gray markets..I have some fond and not so fond memories of the freemarkets. Anyways, it's been a while but we may be able to negotiate for information. Do you know where the abadarCorps are located in the free markets?" He asks Captain Arvin.

Fexia looks even more confused than before. "Why would you need permission from the people making the product if you already purchased it? I don't see what is 'gray' about the market..."

Julzakama raises his arms with a triumphant roar. "Exactly! It is just a bit of mud those people like to toss at legitimate businesses like mine."

Venture-Captain Arvin's expression mirrors Lilith's as he holds his objections for another time. Instead he focuses on Schalk's question, "There should be several shrines and permit offices you might find AbadarCorp personal, but most will likely not be authorized to share anything aside from the information you have already publicized. I understand some of you might have already had dealings with AbadarCorp in the past," he nods the to group but gives special attention to Kai. "If you have any connections with anyone higher within the corporation, I recommend you make good use of them."

Meanwhile as Jastrow calls out to the vesk, he lets his grin grow wider on his face as he happily accepts the recognition. "Well I'm glad to have a repeat customer among you. Although I rather not call it scrap as 'refurbished building materials'. After this is all settled feel free to drop by, I got some new slightly used armor sets in and cleaned up. Barely can see the laser burns on them anymore."

His pride swells even higher as he takes a strong pose as he accepts Schlak's praise. "I have no interest in who put this together, and there aren't many buyers for an piece of tech that no one can use. But I have an eye for this sort of thing and could tell that you Starfinders would be the right buyer for this sort of information. I'm sure you all could put it to use for that right price."

You can slot boons for the scenario and list them in the discussion thread. If any of you have the "AbadarCorp Acquaintance [AbadarCorp Respect]" boon, it would be suggested to slot that boon. Otherwise you should slot boons to help in an investigation on Absalom Station. Let me know if you have any questions that might affect what boons you slot.

"I suggest to move together on a single vehicle, so we can talk about the elements we already have while travelling"

Rae'Van moves toward the automatic door.

"Let's gather our equipments and meet outside the hall.
Julzakama, thanks for the information: your collaboration will be will be rewarded...in due time. Starfinders never forget their friends.
Captain, are we free to go?"

"You are free to go. Contact me through normal channels if you have "

You are free to leave and go the to Freemarkets as anything you need to do before heading into the Freemarkets.

It is a relatively easy process to find your way to the Freemarkets on the station. Within the hour you are crossing gilded doors that separate the Freemarkets from the previous station sector. The entrance area contains a sizable shrine to Abadar to the right; to the left, an office issues permits, takes complaints, and receives petitions. Through the entry zone, a
giant signboard with a directory of businesses offers onlookers a way to locate their desired merchandise.

The walkways are laid out in an orderly manner, with lifts and staircases at regular intervals leading to the Markets' three retail levels. Kiosks sporting AbadarCorp logos offer carts for rent and advertise delivery services. Other businesses promote themselves in a riot of lights, music, and recorded ad pitches. Businesses are not grouped by type; food stalls operate next to jewelry stores, and specialists repair high-end electronics next to secondhand clothing racks.

Where do you wish to start the search?

Schlak reflects on the information given earlier. He looks at the freemarket and strolls right in.

hmm.. I suggest we check out the directory first. Maybe get a layout of this place. Figure out which shopkeepers to ask. He says seriously.

Also, try not to get distracted by all the shiny objects. He winks as he says this comment.

Voting to start at the signboard.

Rae’Van dismounts from his motorcycle-drone and turns on the group
”I think we could begin discreetly looking for shops or clinics dealing in cybernetic or biotechnological augmentation, or maybe in places where we could find people that can be interested in buying such stuff”
He starts looking around, faking interest in a small food stall selling candy glazed centipedes
”ops...sorry, Fexia...”

Looking through the vast directory gives a long list of names to sort through. Pouring through them gives a rough idea the organization of the markets. Larger goods and food stalls resting on the first level, and higher number of eateries, diners and other businesses of the sort on the third level. The greatest variety of businesses are within the second level, including various tax preparers, spellcasters, cosmeticians, and other businesses reside.

There appears to be little grouping to the businesses and many of the businesses don't seem to have any well defined presence on the infosphere and it is hard to tell what services each business provides. From the names though, there are five that stand out as likely related to biotech.

BioBoost, the Cytech Clinic, Metagenesis, Renew-You, and Synthasthesia. All of them are along the second level within this district.

The four-armed kasatha tender of the food stall Rae'Van glances at jumps on the interest and is immediately trying to hawk his variety of candied meats pointing out the variety of lengthy cooked critters. "Delicious treats, every single one! Made using recipies passes throughout my clan drawing reaching far back to Kasath itself!"

Rae’Van grabs a fatty looking candied vermin on a stick and throws some coin to the cerimonious food seller
”I will honour the death of this beast, as the recipes of your ancestors”
Biting a sizable chunk, he turns to his companions
”Let’s head straight to the second level. We have some shops to visit up there...”

My only boon is Exo-Guardians Champion

Jastrow also buys some tasty candied meat. "Yum!"

"I want to go to Synthasthesia first! Go ahead and say it! Doesn't it sound good? Yeah... That's the one! I can feel it."

Lilith looks disgusted that the others are eating candied meats!

"Synthasthesia? Yes, that sounds alright. Let's hurry."

”Let’s start from this strange sounding one! Anyway, the best move will be to make a first rapid recon to all of them, then we will concentrate on the more suspect ones”

Moving across the walkways you are able to use the information in the directory to lead you the location of Synthathesia. The signage is filled with various LED, but at the moment they are all unlit.

The windows are heavily tinted with a number of lounge chairs set in rows. Your entrance is barrred though with rolls of yellow tape that declares "CAUTION! DO NOT ENTER!". At the door is a clear and professional sign with large print from the Freemarkets office stating the business has been closed as an ongoing investigation into the business selling illegal substances.

Alongside that one is a sign from Absalom Station's own public health department requesting any former customers contact them.

Around both of those are a flurry of fliers taped to the building, all with different styles and prints, but each offering inexpensive legal aid in personal-injury cases or criminal defense.

As you look over the signage you hear a voice call at you from the next shop over.

"Not sure what you are looking for from there, but you aren't going to get much. They got shut down just this week. Good riddance too." The call out comes from a female ysoki. She has a black fur and wearing a clean set of appraisers clothing. Tools for cleaning items and magnifying glasses at easy access for her. She is setting up a display of a refurbished set of armor in her window. There is barely a pause as she continues. "Oh, apologies for my manners. You don't recognize any of you from around her. I'm Dot and this is my shop, Second Time Around. I buy, restore, and sell gear and been doing well enough last few years. But that sort of brazen illegal activity just raises my whiskers. They were in for a quick buck and all it does is make everyone else look more suspicious."

She moves back into her shop, raising her voice to keep herself heard as she checks on her inventory. The shop has a wide variety of gear. All showing signs of use, but very well refurbished, cleaned and sorted into clearly marked isles. Each item rebranded with the logo with the Freemarkets. "I tell you what though, I could tell they were trouble as soon as they set up shop."

She rambles a bit on her poor encounters with her former neighbors.

If you have any questions for her or wish to make a purchase. You can do so. If you want to ask a question you will need to make a Diplomacy check to help get a clear answer.

"Ah! So they were purged for corrupting the colony's well-being! Excellent! So... this shop... the Second Time Around... you are the Queen of this colony? What items does your colony offer for trade... er... purchase I think is how it referred to. And... how were you able to discern the nature of their corruption as soon as they... set up shop as you put it?"

Schlak looks at the signage on the entrance and listens to Dot.
He takes a flier for legal aid and stuffs it in a pocket. He listens to the little ysoki named Dot. Then follows her into her shop. He stares at the goods before beginning to chat.

"Looks, like very bothersome neighbors. We are not interested in illegal substances but, are interested in learning about and purchasing some *legal* biotech." he states truthfully.

"Though it sounds like they did illegal substances? that must be so difficult for legitimate businesses such as yours to put up with such neighbors. How do you handle it?"
He tries his best smile though it comes off a bit salesman like.

diplomacy: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10

"What were they doing that was illegal?"

Diplomacy: 10 + 6 = 16 GM, you can roll this for me if you're not allowing take 10 here.

"Hey, Jastrow, it seems that you've found a fellow collector! I'm sure that here you'll find some reusable shiny stuff: milady Dot here seems to have a golden touch to give back new life to things other people unrespectfully abandoned"

Rae'Van turns towards the other companions and whispers, to avoid Dot's ears:
"This lady can be a source of informations: maybe she knows something about this Synthasthesia, that appears so conveniently closed right now that we are investigating... Any of you has more knack with negotiation that I have? I always end up paying double price when I talk with merchants..."

The way Schlak Ers speaks sets Dot a bit on edge and gets her guessing and appraising whatever the vesk might be looking to sell.

"Well I take trade and barter as well, although Meriana always fights me on the standard pricing, trying to use her clans values on what things are worth. Puts more value on the dwarven crafted items she does." She speaks and rambles constantly just indulging on random gossip involving the neighborhood, largely irrelevant to your investigation.

"Oh, but how I knew they were up to know good was, even though they purported to sell medicine, they didn't have much of a doctor on staff. They said those medical degrees were unnecessary for being able to off their treatments. Now there are a few other people that do care for the ill without being a professional, but most are up front about it and don't try to hide behind any fast talk. I spoke with the investigators when they were round and it seems I was right to be wary. It seems that they were selling bad ingredients in their mixes that don't belong in the market and nothing you would find in my shop."

She wheels about back to Fexia transitioning back into the question about what she has in stock, "Well I have more than a little here and there. I buy and sell things from a lot of people that pass by. People who want to get something off their hands and need a little money. Computers, weapons, armor, spell gems, jewelry, knick knacks, armor, and most stuff you might need. Nothing too expensive, I let other stores handle that and, between you and me, many of the other pawn shops in the area that try that end up with having trouble selling stuff again; I'm happy to keep out of that level of business. That is how I managed to stick it out so long while others come and go."

"If you are looking for Biotech you are a bit out of luck. I have a few other augmentations people have traded in, but biotech doesn't sell to anyone other than the person it was made for. Now, that doesn't stop people from trying, I will tell you. You wouldn't have gotten any from Synthathesia either. They never dealt with any augmentations. I'm sure they would have sold them if they could, but none of them were bright enough to put together a normal augmentation and especially not any biotech."

She pulls a datapad off the shelf and connects to the infosphere as she points out a few more locations, happily bantering away. "I have had some recent customers pass through and sell me a few things they didn't need any more. Trying to raise enough creds to get biotech augmentations like you mentioned. Bantering around with them there are a few clinics that would sell that sort of stuff around here. Metagenesis and Renew-You were the ones that came up in conversation. Both have been around for a while but I would have lost a bet on Renew-You since I didn't think it would be able to hold up for another year. The owners came by several times selling bits and pieces to try to keep their shop afloat before their business hit their stride in the last month or so."

”Milady, you’ve been very kind and useful, and I’ve also put my eyes on that semi-new power transcoder....please keep it well hidden for me, I’ll come back when I’ll have the credit!”
After that, Rae’Van talks again with his fellow starfinders
”My friends, this Renew-You seems quite suspect: I would go pay a visit immediately, if you agree!”

"I agree we should go check them out. Lets see if anyone wants anything else. I'm kinda broke. As long as the dream is alive"
he says.
He glances at the wares and then heads out of the shop once the others are ready.

Lilith smiles at Dot. "Thank you. You've been very helpful. When I need to buy something next I'll come back. I feel like we'll be great friends."

After they leave she nods her head. "Yes, let's go to Renew-You next."

Jastrow looks through the shop happily and tells Dot she does wonderful work. Then she chats with her about referring stuff for a long time. But, then suddenly his friends are leaving!

"Oh, right! We have work to do! I have to go! See ya' later, Dot! I'll be back!"

With no hesitation she sets aside the transcoder for Rae'Van and after the Jastrow's arroval she take a bit of a joyful bounce in her step.

Along the way you catch sight of a higher level AbadarCorp employee, one of the bug-like shirren, in a very clean suit of armor set and designed to appear as a clear cut black suit and tie. Along the length are a few gold embellishments along some of the edges and that of the AbadarCorp Logo. Kai recognizes him from a previous encounter some time ago on another mission.

The party can continue on to Renew-You or approach the AbadarCorp Representative if they wish.

following along via RSS but definitely don't have time to post in a timely manner. Kai would engage the employee for sure and ask if he knows what's going on with the investigation and if he's heard about the prosthetics we're investigating. Feel free to roll any checks. If you're feeling like an overachiever you could read through Kai's posts to get a feel for his tone. He's young and naive and friendly, but bright

"I have been most interested in... erm... purchasing a new computer. It seems a shame to continue using small handheld devices when I could simply place a larger laptop in my pack and connect to it with a Datajack. Much easier than using those touch screens... My limbs are not quite the appropriate sizes."

If she has a tier 2 computer, Fexia would happily purchase one.

She turns back and notices Kai eying the AbadarCorp representative. "Is something amiss? You have been... keeping tabs as I believe the phrase is... on that well-dressed... Shirren?"

"Oh I have a few computers that people have sold to me. Some of the older models, but still working well after I cleared them out." Dot happily shows off a variety of the computers she has, nothing exceptional but as powerful as Fexia is looking for.

She has tier 2 computers including those with the miniaturization upgrade or two for easier transportation.

Kai responds to Fexia stating that the shirren was a person he had worked with before. "He is Philt and well connected member of AbadarCorp. He would be an good source of knowledge on the investigations here." Taking the moment to engage with the shirren, Kai greets the AbadarCorp employee while also introducing everyone else.

The shirren takes a long pause to appraise the party as his mandible flutters in thought before projecting his words into your minds.

"Kai Starchaser. Excellent to meet you once more as well as other of your colleagues. Hopefully your presence here doesn't present dire portents for the businesses here."

Kai does confirm that the party isn't looking to cause any trouble, but asks for more information about the investigation into Synthathesia as well as asking about your own investigation.

Philt keeps his posture still as he holds his hands in one another, appraising both Kai and the rest of the party before sharing those details.

"Synthathesia was found to be dealing with materials without proper licencing or staff. The investigation is into how aware various employees were of the situation as well as if any other businesses were affiliated. I have little to do with the details of that investigation however. There is another matter I'm looking into myself within the Freemarkets that have kept me busy. However, I recently did a review of their known customers and I was able to account for all of them."

"I am unaware of any particular biotech, but I believe there are some clinics in the area that deal with such technology. What is the cause of your own investigation?"

Whispering under his breath in Kai's ear
"Kai, can we trust this dapper guy, or is he one of those nosy ones that close their eyes - metaphorically, given the compound nature of them - only if oiled with some credits?"

Blinking an eye to Imperator Fexia
"Please, try not to be rude with that dandy: he could be useful for our search..."

Holding out his hand to the Shirren agent
"Rae'Van Morwynn, pleased to meet you. We suspect that an augmentation lab around here has been experimenting in dangerous technology. Did you have any sign of strange activities tied to augments and augmented people in the recent days?"

If Kai is able to answer the question of trust more specifically, but his encounter with Philt would indicate he among the more honest and loyal to his company.

Philt meets Rae'Van's hand with his own cool, practiced grip. "And I am pleased as well for this opportunity." His antennae twitch to attention as the issue of the dangerous experiments within the Freemarkets are brought up. "There haven't been any reports of any such events within the markets. Although, I will confide in you that my appearance here isn't for mere informal inspection. A number of customers to the Freemarkets have gone missing within the last couple weeks. It may be...", he pauses as he takes a step aside, drawing tablet and scrolling through records, his face showing growing interest as he reels through them. "This may be more than a coincidence. Looking through the social media posts of the missing individuals, the majority of them show that they have had augmentations installed recently."

With the tablet held down with his full focus on you again Philt asks, "What is prompting your own investigation here?"

"We found a very... Interesting... Augmentation and want to know where it came from. We'd like to know more about the technology. But these disappearances are concerning; I would like to find the root cause as well."

"Happy to meet you, Philt," Lilith replies telepathically to the shirren. "As Kai has said, the Starfinder Society wants to meet the creator of these new biotech augmentations in order to buy some."

"Oh, no! Those poor people! I hope you find them."

After seeing Lilith's post I realize I like that formatting for telepathic speech more so I'll be using that from here on out.

"I hope I find them well as well. It seems likely that our lines of investigation may very well be linked to one another." He returns attention to a datapad embedded into his armor, issuing commands through it while before he continues, "While your goals are not in line with AbadarCorp, I believe that it is likely that your own investigation would likely aid with my own into these missing individuals. If we had more time I would go through the appropriate offices more properly coordinate through our organizations, but alas we do not."

From his armor he finishes a few commands and releases a small insignia with the AbadarCorp logo, a key within a triangle. He presents the token to Kai while explaining, "Kai, based upon your previous cooperation, and my subsequent review of your history, I am within my rights to grant this temporary authorization on behalf of AbadarCorp. It hopefully will aid you within your own investigation and, therefore, assist in my own inquiry."

"It does not grant you any legal powers, but hopefully it makes others here give your words a proper amount of consideration."

Fexia mumbles to Rae'Van, "I do hope these folk don't mistake my inquisitiveness for rudeness..."

Listening to Philt laying out the issues, again, Fexia stands at attention. "I have had past dealings with a group known as the 'Augmented.' With such augmentations on the market, it would not surprise me to find them looking to buy. Although... the disappearances of civilians within the freemarket... that is... as Jastrow has... what is a good word... indicated.... yes. As Jastrow has indicated, this is even more distressing than the mystery of the the augmentations themselves. As I have been lead to understand, these 'Gray Markets' as they are referred, are excellent locations for the sale and purchase of items by their second and further owners. Loss of customers seems to be like a corruption within this colony... and the culprits must be stopped!"

At the moment everything is going fast and beyond schlaks comprehension. Hmm, it does seem like something is fishy. I guess there is only one way to find out if there is a link.

He stares out at the freemarkets while Philt talks telepathically. His eyes glazes over and he gets sleepy. He stares at the insignia and decides against asking and goes in for a cat nap.