|
"Excellent, excellent. And what mortuary, greenhouse, or potting shed should we leave the fertilizer at?" chirps Zlata, taking quick notes on her datapad.
"Well, a body to prove she's dead is one thing, but we'll need to make sure there's a life waiting for her afterwards too. After that we'll still need to set up a new identity/life for Ceren. That means crafting a new alias that's easy enough for her to fall into, it means making sure there are people who will pretend to her previous existence, it means tweaking publicly available records, wouldn't hurt to pull some strings to get her set up with something cushy either. The more of that we're able to take care of the better, but let's face it - time's a factor.
Having contributed his fair share to the completion of the group's mission, Carter decided to turn his skills towards obfuscation of her old identity and setting her up a new identity. His years working as a forensic accountant for AbadarCorp, one of the largest companies and one that dealt with endless levels of fraud, had taught him what to look for, so he just simply turned that train of thought around:
what would an accounting look for here? How can I make this look like a real person? What did Johannes do to get by his coworkers and completely cover his identity?
Carter's mind was awhirl as he accessed the Infosphere and got to work.
Yxov starts to discuss some possible alternative aliases with Ceren.
All the talk of fertilizer makes Doc Newblossom start to salivate some digestive enzymes. "Mmmmmmmm, didn't your seed-parent ever tell you not to talk about fertilizer on an empty stomach?"
The doctor happily agrees to the terms, and then heads to a hardpoint to log in, excited about the intellectual challenge of trying to find and edit records.
"For most of us, fertilizer is what we use to grow the food," Mao says with a chuckle, not really sure how she could contribute to the current operations, at least in a way that wouldn't get her into heaps of trouble.
"Mao, can you please take Ceren and help her get whatever she wants to take with her?"
Once they leave the room, Carter says "The only thing I can think of to help sell this that should work pretty well would be to burn her home down and leave the body trapped inside. If we can switch the dna identifiers, all that will be left will be to tie the body to a chair and pull out the teeth."
"Will do," Mao says before trotting off to help the soon to be "dead" woman move out.
|
"The only thing I can think of to help sell this that should work pretty well would be to burn her home down and leave the body trapped inside. If we can switch the dna identifiers, all that will be left will be to tie the body to a chair and pull out the teeth."
Acoria perks up. she claps her hands excitedly, hopping up and down. Flames begin licking from the sides of her massive grin. Yesss. Burn....BURRRRRNNNN!
Jubair's alone when you arrive back at the house, explaining that "Jida's gone. She wanted to gather what plants she could, and take cuttings of the rest, so she went to her plot in Jatembe Park."
Looking around as you all prepare to burn his home his mouth drops open for a moment as he asks, "Do you... do you have to?"
"I'd prefer we didn't, but it's the best idea that I could think of given the timeframe involved. If you have a better idea, then by all means, I'm happy to entertain it."
Urmfehrumah sets to work cheerfully on the corpse, as one might approach putting together a difficult but engaging jigsaw puzzle.
Yxov looks perturbed at Acoria's enthusiasm for arson. "It's also necessary to make it look like an equipment malfunction rather than dragon breath. Does anyone know that trick?"
He turns to Jubair. "It'll be all right. It's just a place. The physical is not as important as the spiritual."
"I have a fair idea, yes." answers Carter.
Jubair's comm chimes, and his face goes ashen as he answers. A quick toggle and Ceren's voice quietly murmurs out across the room to you all. "-me Jubair? See if you can find those Starfinders. I don't know if they're all following me, but I don't want you putting yourself in danger - there's too many of them. If you can find the 'finders, I'll try to make it over to that bridge near the picnic spot, but if you can't... I love you very much Jubair."
Jubair is very quiet, but Odd Ball quickly cuts in crinkly, wry tones, "Huh. Well. Good news. This fire won't have to look nearly as accidental if they're already on her. As long as we actually do save her neck, this really just makes her disappearance seem even more likely."
He gives a quick look around at the preparations and starts blasting a few scorch marks into the walls. "Go ahead and light it up, Hothead."
***
With the apartment-hab ablaze behind you you set off into Jatembe Park. The park sprawls across a wide portion of the station's Eye, offering some much needed natural terrain to the otherwise metal-clad station. Jubair's directions are enough to get you quickly headed towards the right bridge, a rustic span over the Magaambya river.
You can see Ceren there, tucked behind a small copse of trees, but clearly visible from your side of the bridge. Nearby and scanning the area are three rough looking types with batons and pistols at the ready.
They raise those same pistols as they see you approach. "What's your business friends?" the lashunta at the front calls out.
|
|
Acoria nods, and waits for Carter to prepare the wiring for her. Then she calls up her solar claws and shoves the plasma-like weapon into the wiring until it ignites. Once the fire spreads a bit she breathes dragon breath on it as she leaves, just to make sure it all burns.
Hearing that Ceren is in trouble, she rushes after the others to help.
Odd Ball quickly cuts in crinkly, wry tones, "Huh. Well. Good news. This fire won't have to look nearly as accidental if they're already on her. As long as we actually do save her neck, this really just makes her disappearance seem even more likely."
Doc Newblossom's petals twitch slightly, in confusion. "You mean we'll make it seem that her assailants have killed her? For that to work, don't those pursuing her have to be dead, so that they can't tell a different version of the story?"
Nothing about these thugs rings a bell, based on the Cultural Studies data crystals Urmfehrumah has read...but it's clear to her that the thugs are armed with nice, new pulsecaster pistols. Those'll hurt, for sure...but at least they're more likely to stun than kill. Still, I'd rather not get shot by one.
They pause to let a smoother talker reply to the thugs, but as they do, they step behind the massive Acoria and (out of sight of the thugs) slip a syringe between her scales. "That'll help you fly a bit faster, for almost a minute."
Doc Newblossom also looks around (casually, they hope) for sources of cover, once the firefight inevitably breaks out.
Yxov hustles along with the others, shaking his head that Voxy's missing so much. It had been a long day.
Seeing the toughs there in the gardens, he pulls up several paces away. "Haven't you heard? Strawberry Machine Cake is just on the other side of the park! They're signing posters and everything!"
"Yeah, I don't think these guys are regulars. Looks more like muscle hired for a hit," she says before stepping up and giving them a smile that is about as friendly as a sharks.
"Hey fellas, you'll have ta forgive the Upshafters. Seems like we're all just griftin' here, so no reason to go nuko, 'less ya wanna found out what dragon breath really feels like, ya keen," she says, letting her Downshaft accent get a little more pronounced as she speaks. "I mean, what would your boss say if you managed to cause a ruckus that brings the client down on all yer heads, eh? Assuming ya ain't just turned ta plant food in the trouble ya be bringing on ya."
"What the gentlebeings mean to say is, we have a dragon and you don't."
|
|
Odd Ball gives a bit of a half shrug, "That's one way it could play out. Depends how... determined they are to tell their side of the story."
***
For a moment it looks like they're about to open fire, but realizing how outnumbered they are, they begin to back off, the android muttering "I told you there'd be other crews on this!"
They don't take their hands off their weapons the whole time, but soon they've passed out of sight.
From her hiding spot in the treeline Ceren calls out, "Is it safe?"
"I believe so! For whoever it is you're becoming, at any rate. Ceren of course, died tragically today."
Doc Newblossom flexes their petals briefly, in what approximates a wink among Raxilites.
"Yes. 'Twas very tragic. An accident with a dragon I believe," Mao adds with a grin.
"We have Radaszam 'The Dealmaker' and Fitch left to go." says Carter.
Doc Newblossom nods. "The Dealmaker it is."
As with many of the Acquisitives he leads, Radaszam maintains certain... side projects as well. The most notable of these is his personal mercenary outfit, the Obsidian Spiders, who have a public-facing office in the luxurious Nyori Palisades.
You're already within the Eye of the station, and the Palisades aren't far from Jatembe park, so you're able to make the journey pretty easily on foot. Moving towards the more residential parts of the Eye means ever increasing security from both the Stewards and a wide array of private companies. Mao in particular is the target of a number of 'random' ID checks on the way, but the inconvenience is happily the worst of it.
Out front of a very expensive, spartan office a rudimentary courier robot awaits you with a giftbox. It contains a vac-sealed datajack and 200 credits as well as a frostbite-class zero rifle. A simple electronic message from Historia-7 indicates that the datajack is a token of thanks from her, "Especially since I only had to fix some of your work."
"Hnh. That's actually a compliment coming from her, believe it or not." Odd Ball quips.
***
The plain white doors of the office slide open to reveal a stark, dimly lit room. The chamber is nearly ostentatious in its emptiness—no vanities line its smooth black walls, and no signs of use mar its smooth black furniture. The only occupants of the suite are a bug-eyed tadpole wriggling in a glowing blue aquarium, a reptilian vesk seated behind an onyx desk, a slender human woman standing behind him, posture alert and ready. The vesk gestures to a number of chairs in front of him, his features sharply illuminated by the light of his desk’s green holoscreen. "The new graduates," he greets, in a low and pleasant voice, expertly modulated by the implant in his throat. "Good day. I am Radaszam, though since you are here, I should hope you already knew.
"I trust you are aware of our Society’s traditions, so I will cut to the point. I have a minor situation that needs resolution. One of our members, a human named Laboni, had a rather public altercation with a junk scavenger from the Spike. You might be more familiar with the scavenger than I, actually; he is a ysoki who fancifully calls himself Ratrod. I am told he runs a popular racing competition that has, hmm, several hundreds of thousands of viewers on the station’s infosphere. For some reason, Laboni felt the need to tell him that any ‘real’ mechanic could easily beat the garbage that Ratrod and his associates slap together. Now that Ratrod has issued an infosphere-wide demand that she race him and prove it, Laboni doubts she can back that claim up."
Radaszam's smile is silken, but his eyes are hard. "Embarrassing, isn’t it? Not really the sort of troublemaker that suits our Society. Perhaps she would be better suited to the bottom of a trash compactor... Well, we cannot afford to throw her out, not after so many Starfinders were lost in the Scoured Stars. More importantly, we can’t let people think we are so weak that we can’t control our own members, or that we cannot stand up to a scrapyard junker. No, I would like you to assist Laboni in winning this race. Show our detractors that even the least of our Society is not someone to be trifled with."
"Simar here will be assisting you. She's a prospective Starfinder, and has a particular expertise at being the face of an organization." Radaszam smirks a bit as he says this, though Simar doesn't seem to be amused by the joke. Odd Ball however, is visibly stressed, his fur practically standing on edge!
"Do we know the rules on construction of the racing vehicles? I have a few ideas i'd like to try out; some combined designs that I've read about recently."
All Mao can do as she's held up is give the others an apologetic look and submit to the checks.
====
When Mao hears they'll be heading down the Spike, she pales and slowly shifts behind Acoria and the others. The door looks very tempting as she tries not to think about how many people she'd ticked off when she left.
Simar...Simar...Oh!
Urmfehrumah lights up when they realize who their new comrade is. "You're part fo the Simar Communion, yes? I'm Doctor Urmfehrumah Newblossom. Do you do any bioengineering? I'd be fascinated to discuss your cloning techniques."
Then, turning to Carter, they add, "I'd love to see your designs. I haven't built much myself, yet, but I went through an accelerated sixty-three data crystal sequence of chemically-mediated engineering studies and I'd love to try it out."
Back to Radaszam, "This is an interesting project. I'm quite happy to help out with it. Can you explain more about what we've got to work with, in terms of supplies and budget? And is there anything you can tell us about our competition?"
"Well, it's more ideas about combining Endo and Exothermics to use the resulting explosion as a fuel source. In addition..." Carter then started down a line of thinking that includes both magic and technology.
Yxov sighs. "So I suppose a properly-crafted apology is out of the question? Where exactly are we supposed to get a racing vehicle? Or the parts, if Carter is going to be doing the assembly."
"Could always boost one," Mao mutters under her breath, really wishing she had a way out of this one. Maybe she could slip away while the others aren't looking.
Yxov turns to Mao. "You look very uncomfortable. Are there aspects of this mission that you disagree with? I wish I knew what Voxy would say at this point. She's usually quite good with cheering people up."
"Everyone has things in their past they don't wish to discuss. Let's leave Mao to hers."
Mao looks from Yxov to Acoria and wonders if she could come up with a convincing enough lie.
"I-I'm just nervous about going down spike, y'know? Not exactly a safe place to be," she says and hopes that and Carter's words would be enough to have the matter dropped.
|
Radaszam gives a smooth smile, explaining "I don't watch the junkraces myself, but I had Simar here prepare a dossier in case you weren't familiar with it either."
"Essentially racers and their pit crews are to build and improve their vehicles from the available scrap around the racetrack," Simar's words are precise and carefully enunciated, and her voice is a good deal gentler than her eyes. "Because vehicles built at previous junkraces can return, more established racers have a built-in advantage. However, politicking can be crucial, and newcomers may have advantages there. The weapons are non-lethal, but no junkracer can take the lead without taking some fire as well. Far easier for our young friend Laboni to be victorious if more of her opponents wish to see Ratrod defeated than her."
"Glowbug's got a point," Odd Ball still doesn't look calm, but is close enough to speak, "Do we need more than a convincing apology?"
Radaszam gives a sideways nictation, but the Simar cuts in before he replies. "It's not enough, Odd Ball. Right now especially, the Starfinders can't back down to a Junkracer. Our dear little friend hasn't given us room to maneuver, so since we can't back down, we have to back her up. If we don't stand by her it damages our reputation to the outside world, and worse," her gaze focuses intently on Odd Ball, "it tells other Starfinders that they don't need to protect one another. A dangerous precedent, don't you think?"