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"Roofer Joro and Baker Joro? Is Joro a family name?" Skorpahlich asks trying to discern the relationships. "You say Baker Joro bakes, but what do you do?" the pale vesk asks. Having lived his entire life onboard a ship and station, the concept of a "roofer" isn't entirely familiar to him.
"I am Skorpahlich," he introduces himself belatedly. "I hope the food is zes-Tea," he adds awkwardly.
"I'm a roofer, I build and repair roofs."
"Zes-TEA, nice!"
Roofer Joro’s roommate enters with a tray of assorted mugs steeping various healthy teas along with some homemade, high-nutrition pretzels fresh out of the oven. The newcomer is a human who appears identical to Roofer Joro, except wearing a light blue blouse spotted with yellow flowers and sleek, khaki pants "Hi squad, here's some Tasty Twisties and some tea, and a Caf"
"Did I hear something about whizdisk? Bunny Ears are a certain to win the comp, Roofer may disagree, but then it's ok to be wrong"
The human looks you all over "Are you a band or something?" they note the multiple vesk, and a tiefling with interest "I'm Baker Joro, who are all of you?"
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Skorpahlich gratefully accepts the Caf and repeats his introduction to the Baker. He finds the drink agreeably palatable, but the pretzel not so much.
That's not an indictment of the baker's skills; rather, it's to be expected given his mutated taste buds. As he sips the steaming cup, he carefully eyes the two Joros still confused about their relationship.
"Even in vesk clutches, identical cluth-mates are rare. Are you twins? Is that common here?"
"And, no we are not a band," he answers looking at the other two vesk. "I for one have no musical talent."
"Oh we're not related, were clones. I have only fuzzy memories of my creation, like it happened a long time ago, but we all merged as adults with fully formed tastes and personalities and we all work together to build this community to our liking using materials from a network of food, water, metal, and chemical synthesizers located throughout the vault"
"Look I know it might be hard for you to work through as you aren't another clone like us, but you are one of us, and soon enough you will get oriented and find your spot" Baker Joro offers in a consoling tone.
"When you finish your tea would you can come upstairs and look around" they offer helpfully.
"We're a fairly big community - it will be easier to just see it"
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"Well I suppose you need a hobby then, because you can't just be all about calling and work all day, that would void your warran-TEA on sani-TEA!" they make more air pistols with their fingers to shoot home the punchline.
Seggas gives the man a slightly derranged smile, "Who says I still have my sani-TEA? " She gives an evil, crazed sounding laugh for a moment, then breaks into a smile and adds, "Naw, I love messing with genetics. It's all sorts of interesting. I mean that half-lavender lady over there wasn't lavender at all 10 mintues ago."
Seggas gets slightly giddy at the thought of having a group of not just one set of identical twins but a whole flipping COMMUNITY of them. So, SO, SO many possibilities to be had with that! Instead of playing her hand and possibly driving them away with like she's done in the past, surgical schools should tell you that maniacal laughter in the operating room is not kosher before you apply, she instead tries to causally ask, "So this communi-TEA is all genetically identical? Are do many of you have different body compositions? Is everyone in it a Joro? I'm sure there's plen-TEA you can TEA-ch us." She tries to hide her winces at her own terrible puns with a sip of the tea and a bite of the bread. She then remembers her failed trick this morning and pulls out the elephant trunk serum, asking, "Roofer, Baker, either of you want to ever have an elephant trunk? It'd be temporary only and it's almost at its 'use-by' date."
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It's only half an arm Seggas Celly countered. And I think it's starting to wear off ... could be because us aasimars are more resistant to diseases and stuff ... at least so I was told ... or maybe it was our nudest lifestyle. Who knows.
Anyway .... I'm looking forward to exploring this community ... see how it works psychologically.
"Great! You need to explore the area and experience the Joro lifestyle. There are a few divergent clones scattered throughout the community, so you might want to speak with them and they can help you integrate into the Joro community"
"I don't think we'd want a trunk, that might cause an unwanted catstroph-TEA"
They take you upstairs and you look out over the rest of the very expansive vault, you see an entire suburban neighborhood populated by copies of the same human distinguishable only by surface-level differences in hair and clothing. All the homes, stores, advertisements, and other details share the same aesthetics, tacky fashion, positive attitudes, and corny humor. The entire neighborhood appears like a utopia for this singular personality: food markets and restaurants all feature overtly healthy offerings, sports coverage of whizdisk dominates the media, jigsaw puzzle motifs decorate all the windows and many business signs, and most domestic drones look like cartoony whizdisk team mascots.
"Well?"
"There are a few divergent clones like you, but yeah mostly it's Joros"
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Somewhat taken aback at the sight of soooo much tackiness, Skorpahlich fails to catch everything that's said. Except for one thing that stands out.
"What is a 'divergent clone' exactly?" he asks their guide. "Someone like us that is completely unique, a clone of a batch not a Joro, or a Joro that isn't quite like the rest of you?" He shudders to think that there might be Joros that are even more tacky but supposes anything is possible.
"Could you take us to one? Their perspective on the community would be insightful for us."
"Like you, a clone, but not a 'Joro', but even if you aren't a Joro you can get into the Joro lifestyle. Head out and say hi to the neighbourhood, people are super friendly"
"The divergents are Relton in the Beg, Borrow, and Steel metalworks, Annalise in the Sketch sThat Kitcsh art studio; Finbar in the Whizdisk Stadium; Kenro in the restaurant Yo Gurt to Try This!"
***
WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD
Vault 341 consists of about one square mile of suburban-style neighborhood surrounded by a holographic perimeter disguised as greenery.
KEY LOCATIONS
Board Meeting: This communal building located at the center of the neighborhood operates as a library and play space for various analog games.
BoThumbs Up: A small whizdisk-themed sports bar a few blocks away from the metalworks. This popular local hangout doesn’t open for business until early evening.
In-Choir-Ing Minds: This small musical performance studio is located in the eastern part of the vault.
OuroJoros Hospital: A hospital equipped for minor emergencies located to the north, near the Whizdisk Stadium.
Beg, Borrow, and Steel Metalworks: Located along the vault’s southern perimeter, this scrapyard and outdoor workspace surrounds a set of spigots and valves that pump out molten metals used for construction and manufacturing.
Sketch That Kitsch: A glass-walled art gallery to the west displays and sells artwork created by vault residents.
Whizdisk Stadium: This massive stadium complex houses sports fields and serves as a bustling daytime hangout for whizdisk players.
Yo Gurt to Try This: This health-focused smoothie bar located on a residential street to the west currently offers free samples.
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And what do people do for night time entertainment around here? Or is it just the sports bar?
Skorpahlich gazes around him at the strange mono-culture and agrees with Celly. "I suspect their collective mentality sadly limits their interests to only the one sport and entertainment."
Let's try the smoothie bar first.
"Lead on, Celly," he says even as he knows that the smoothies will have no flavor to him.
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Seggas heads up stairs and gets stuck in fantastical imagines of her own over the idea of an entire colony of genetically identical clones, a genetic experimenters dream! She gives a very rare and very fervent prayer to any gods or concepts listening that they would all agree or at least a vast majority would agree to test out things. This was almost blowing her hopes to get chosen for a dragonkin pairing out of the water. She takes giddy mental calcualtions and observations on any physiological differences between the Joros. Were any of them heavier set than the others, did their differences in work have any impact on their bodies? A whizdisk pro and a builder might have different body compositions than a programmer or an office worker....
She follows the group around as they head to the smoothie bar, before she finally gets a good enough grip on herself to finlly comment on what they were here for. "Well I could kiss Arvin for this mission! But if we are to figure out what this vault was for and why it opened now, we should probably meet these 'divergent' clones. I feel we're going to get some surprisingly homogenous responses from the Joros given that they seem to share very similar interests and senses of humor. Makes me start to question how much of a personality is determined by 'Nurture.' Though I guess all of these people came from the same place, but there should be some more variation after leaving the cloning facility. I thought it human nature to try one-up each other. Unless that only works on something you can identify as 'other' and these clones see the other clones as part of their selves..."
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Arvin? Celly asked. Why Arvin?
She pondered what Seggas said. I would have thought different experiences would result in widely divergent personalities. It seems a bit odd to me that all these clones would only enjoy one sport for instance.
Maybe we should work out some sort of questionnaire to send to all the Joros and analyse the results. I'm also curious about these ..... anomalies. Were they introduced to stir up the gene pool? Or were they accidents?
To Skorpalich she replied, That seems a bit odd to me. Are they predisposed to whizdisk? Or maybe there have been no introduced alternatives. Maybe their art and library would yield some clues.
Seggas notes that hobbies probably have had an impact, but aside from the subsequent condtioning based on lifestyle, the Joros all look more or less the same.
"Night time entertainment? Well jigsaws, board games, and a range of other hobbies don't really need a night time venue, so the BoThumbs Up just caters to the sports fans, everyone else has places to be and things to do"
"Adult entertainment? Yeah we have board games, jigsaws, and a whole lot of other great hobbies - have you tried scrapbooking?"
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Seggas nods at the suggestion for a survey. "We should also add in a section about them consenting to genetic experimentation! See if there's differences in morals and values as well!" She then stops to ponder something, "Perhaps whatever is cloning Joro is also giving them nearly identical memories as well, only changing a few to give them some differentiation." She leans in close and whispers to Celly, "Maybe that is what this vault is testing? The importance of some memories? But there would then be ones that don't like the exact same things. There must be one who doesn't like tea for example."
She tries to test her theory by asking, "Hey Roofer, are there any Joros who don't like all the same things? For example one that is repulsed by tea or one that is indifferent to whizdisk?"
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What? No dancing? Adult entertainment? That sort of thing?
Seggas's eyes go wide at the tought for a second before leaning over. "No no no no NO! Think about it. They must have the same taste in , well, preferences. So either they fall in love with themselves (which would be funny but not too bad) or there's a massive war over the one non-Joro they all like!"
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Celly just facepalmed. I should have realised. Presumably you're all the same gender - although that doesn't matter to some entities
She blushed quite a bit. And no, I'm NOT going to explain that. It's too complicated.
In her head, Are they not aware that they are gendered? Or are they all genderless with no drive?
Yo Gurt to Try This
This frozen yogurt, smoothie, and healthy beverage restaurant appears to be a social hub among the Joros. About a dozen Joros are here gossiping about local happenings.
Listening in like typical Starfinders, you find these tidbits of information include complaints about the delays in shipments of new board games to Board Meeting after Forklift Joro sprained their wrist at the factory, and the drama spurred by Electrician Joro putting up a garish animatronic Bunny Ears display on their front lawn in a neighborhood of mostly Thumbs-Up fans.
The Joros quickly notice your presence and rush in to start asking rather predictable questions - "Heya new batch, you into board games?" "Any of you singers? There's a good choir!" "So, seen the new jigsaws?" "What's your thoughts on the Bunny Ears vs the Thumbs-Ups?"
A single korasha lashunta stands out from the rest of the staff, standing around looking at his giveaway tray and trying to appear interested.
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Skorpahlich adds one comment to the discussion of "adult activities" on the way to the smoothie bar. "They are clones, Celly. Born in a vat. There are no children that we've seen. I bet they cannot reproduce, and so have no need of a reproductive drive. They channel all of their energies into their work and their limited assortment of activi-Teas." he finishes with a long, low self-deprecating groan. "Ugh. They've got me doing it already."
At the yogurt stand, Skorpahlich only wishes to engage with the lashunta, not answer the inane mob. He rudely shoves past the Joros.
"Hello," he greets the so-called divergent clone lashunta. "We just arrived from the outside. Are you Kenro? I am Skorpahlich of the Starfinder Society and Absalom Station."
The lashunta sighs at the instroduction and sforces a customer service smile, but mutters under his breath "Starfinder Society from Absalom Station, oh great an amateur theatre group" he then forces the smile bigger and hits you with the sales pitch "Hello Skorp, would you like to try one of the advertised free samples? Like the name says, yo gurt to try this" - he looks a bit dead inside at having to say the words, no doubt for the thousandth time.
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He doesn't recognize the references, but how did he get here? the vesk wonders.
"Yes, of course, Kenro, I'll be happy to try it," Skorpahlich says as he takes a free sample. As expected, it takes like a funeral pyre to him.
"Kenro, could my friends and I chat with you some?" he asks gesturing back toward the team. "Do you get a break soon?"
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Celly also asks for a fruity flavour smoothie. She hasn't answered any of the Jora's questions as she's too busy trying to digest what Skorpahlich says. I guess I'm dealing with a society full of non-sexual creatures. Treat them as non-binary asexual androids. Seems about right.
Celestia Sol she says to the lashunta. So ... you from around here?
"Yeah I get a break, sure we can chat, let me guess you like the Bunny Ears" he delivers like he's so over it all and would prefer to talk about getting sawdust in his eyes.
"Am I from around here? Yeah, the vault, I love it. Yay." he delivers, but there is no indication he likes it one iota.
***
Tariana finds the Joros open up "There's some great games going on at the Board Meeting, there's a few favourites and you should come down and give them a go - but the delay of the new games is pretty scandalous - you got any good gossip?"
"I'm a divergent, like you. The answer is to go find your happiness playing board games or something, good luck with that. If you don't like puzzles or the 'joy' of board games then..." he looks at you with some defeated resignation in his eyes.
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Seggas strides up to the lashunta and gives him a flat stare. "You have as much genetic similarity to the other Joros as an airplane has to design wise a space ship. They might share some similar structures and names therefore but they function very differently." She then leans in closer and whispers, "What if I was to tell you that there was a world beyond what these Joros have created with things other than bad puns and tea and borad games? Oh, and sports other than whizdisk. But we want to talk to you, what you know, what you'Ve experienced, what you've thought, what you remember. You can gripe and complain to us about all your thoughts and feelings. We won't judge... within certain moral constraints, that is. Murder is still not something I would condone."
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Skorpahlich wonders what's really going on here. A lone lashnta claiming to be a clone but clearly disaffected and unhappy. Some kind of mind-control or something in the food, he wonders.
"I'm not really a fan of board games, and I gather neither are you. But I'm sure we can find something interesting to us all."
"This is a conversation we'd probably be better off having elsewhere, I got to get back to work - see you at the BoThumbsUp tonight" he seems a bit more upbeat. You can also tell that people are paying interest in who you are and what you are doing, there's not a lot of privacy.
***
Tariana draws a scandalised shock from the Joros - "Oh that WOULD be big news, we should discuss this at Board Meeting!"
"It's open all day, the big community centre"
"See you at the bar later, it kicks off in the late afternoon"
***
You head through the super-friendly town to the community hub 'Board Meeting'
This wooden building functions as a public library, except that instead of books, the Joros appear to share board games, card games, puzzles, and similar hobbies. The aisles are quiet to allow for concentration, but there are some hushed good-natured conversations occurring in the central area, where Joros staff play games and discuss strategies. The buzz appears to be related to a large banner announcing an upcoming imperial conquest match between Gamemaster Joro and Assistant Editor Joro that will decide if the latter can dethrone the former and earn the title of Gamemaster.
The Joros see you come in and eagerly invite you to their tables "Hey new batch! Want to try a new hobby? We can play in a demo of some new games!"
The Starfinders quickly find that the Joros are very sharp board game players and the games are reasonably complex, they are able to be handily beaten by the Joros they are up against. Tariana was looking good but even that wasn't enough for the dice crunching Joropocalypse.
"Batches are pretty rare, the population remains pretty stable. We age, we get sick, accidents happen. Things are pretty good here, but hey no one lives forever"
"Celestia? That's a strange name - don't you mean Star Joro? Are you an astronomer?"
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That's an interesting question actually ... but no. Celestia replies. I'm a diplomat in training as well as a councillor and dancer in my spare time. I also swim as well - a kilometre a day if I can to stay in shape.
That's not to say I'm not interested in the stars and stuff like that though. So I take it you do see stars in this Vault you say you're in.
She also looks though the game boxes to see if there are any good ideas that could be brought back to Absalom - even some that can be adapted for play underwater. Sometimes tic-tac-toe on the walls of her display tank with air-breathing opponents doesn't quite cut it for amusement value. Chess could be good though.