"I could use a rest too. That robot made me feel all prickly and it still hurts."
Janebok shrugs "I can procceed or resst."
Locket grunts and nods. "Catch your breath before we move on." He crouches by the destroyed robot, absently sorting through some debris. "No telling what we'll run into next."
While they rest, Janebok engages Zetara. "Your species, if I may call it that, is a fascinating intersection of bleeding edge technology and cultural integration. May I ask your personal origin?"
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Zetara is surprised at the question, and something flutters in the background locked-off memory area. That definitely wasn't good.
She says, very robotically,
Apologies, that information is unavailable due to a voluntary memory wipe. The bare facts are that I survived a world wiped out by the swarm, then when scavengers came and rebooted me, I was sold to slavers, and subsequently was freed in a raid. That is all I know of my previous life, and all I want to know, clearly, since I purposely blocked the rest of it out.
Then, remembering she likes Janebok, she adds
Err, how about you?
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Janebok nods in agreement. "The Swarm is a plague upon us all. It is counterproductive for the Veskarium and Pact Worlds to do anything but unite against it." She moves to the personal. "I hatched in a space station in the Veskarium and grew up in low gravity." She gestures along her form down to her feet. "That is why I am longer and weaker than most of my kindred. There I learned many secrets of technology and a few of magic. When I learned the threat of the Swarm, I came to try to help the Pact Worlds work with the Veskarium, specifically through working with the Stewards."
Uchurtai settles down, taking a breather while jamming out to some shobhad heavy metal throat singing.
Curious about Senk's zoomboard, he nods to the shirren, "So, that zoomy contraption there, how'd you make it?"
Responding to Janebok, Zetara says
Interesting. The Stewards were the ones who restored me to freedom after my period of enslavement. Obviously they aren't enforcing anything in this hellhole... I mean, rather, in this semi-anarchic environment, but if you need to communicate with them, I could probably ask around to my former associates and find you an offworld contact.
She wonders where that emotionally colorful speech was coming from. Obviously some blocked memories had been stirred up and she needed to lock things down a bit more. A maintenance period would be welcome.
The corridors within this crash have become silent. The racket that the security bot was making is gone. Nearby you is a door, and the fading graphics on the door seem to indicate that it leads to the ship's galley.
|
Uchurtai settles down, taking a breather while jamming out to some shobhad heavy metal throat singing.
Curious about Senk's zoomboard, he nods to the shirren, "So, that zoomy contraption there, how'd you make it?"
Sen grooves along with Uchurtai's music, banging on her zoomboard with a pair of wrenches.
"Oh, zoomboardin's a whole scene! Building your own board an' personalizing it with your own scrawl and flair, learning to do really dog tricks on it, and grinding terminal in back-alley races! Some of the scene's gotten a bit TOO glinty, though. Some of the primos like Bouzigge an' Tonki Augerwing got mainstream attention, started doing races with corpo sponsors and stuff, and now you got coves just BUYING zoomboards from an AbadarCorp! Can't grind terminal without doing at least a LITTLE kitbashin'..."
Sen stops drumming along as she descends into a long-winded, rambly complaint about the gentrification of her sport tinged with perhaps a dram of snobbery.
To distract herself from unwanted emotion, Zetara moves to look into what was probably a ship's galley.
Gath shakes his head and uses the wall he was sitting against to help him stand. "Sen's going to make me a board some day. It looks like fun."
Uchurtai chuckles, "Well, you had me with the back-alley races and tricks, but lost me with the corpos. I tell ya what, I mighta misjudged the sport. I'll cut you a deal. Once this is all over, I'll give zoomboardin' a try, and in return you give a go at a shobhad death-race."
Led by Zetara, many of you begin looking into what appears to be the galley of the Stellar Flare.
Several square, steel tables with attached stools fill this room.
A row of automated food dispensers takes up the eastern
wall, though all of them have cracked fronts and appear to be
nonfunctional. One has toppled over. The floor around it bears
the lingering stain of some liquid long since evaporated.
Following the others into the Galley, Locket murmurs, "Looks like someone gave these a work-over."
He pauses to give the room a closer inspection.
Janebok nods her head. "Thank you for the offer. As it happens, I joined the ssstewards three ten-days ago. This is my firssst sssolo asssssignment."
Janebok moves forward with Locket. "Interesssting. I wonder what made the food dissspensssers nonfunctional." She moves toward them to try to find the cause.
Previously:
Zetara looks at Janebok strangely, wondering if she knew that she was also a Steward, but undercover. ... And wondering if she was going to learn anything at all with someone openly part of the Stewards as part of the group.
Nothing for it now, of course, but perplexing that they would assign someone else here.
Gath follows Locket into the galley and then moves past him toward the tables.
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Janebok moves forward with Locket. "Interesssting. I wonder what made the food dissspensssers nonfunctional." She moves toward them to try to find the cause.
[dice=Computers, engineering, or physical science would all be the same bonus]1d20+10
[dice=Perception]1d20+6
Nothing is going to make these food dispensers work again. Perhaps they cracked when the ship crashed. You do take note of two things: there is lots of rotting food inside the dispensers (actually, it rotted LONG ago, but there is still residue). Also, there are parts that can be salvaged from the food dispensers, at least for scrap.
Seeing another door down the hall, Zetara moves up and attempts to open it.
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Janebok starts collecting scrap and handing parts to the shobhads.
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Seeing another door down the hall, Zetara moves up and attempts to open it.
The door where Zeetara stands is stuck, though it is partially open. Beyond is only twisted metal and raw earth. Though there are some small voids where a bit of conduit or a collapsed wall or ceiling is, there would really be no way to enter this area unless you were only a few inches tall.
Zetara finds that door broken, and leading nowhere, so she continues down the hallway further to try the next door.
Reaching the stuck door, Locket pauses to briefly peer out at the world beyond before accompanying Zetara to the next door.
Zetara and Locket have discovered what was once some sort of supply closet.
Rows of shelves crowd this chamber, though some have
partially collapsed. Most stand empty. The equipment once
stored here was either looted or dissolved into rust ages ago.
Glancing around the closet warily, Locket strides in for a better look.
Zetara waits for a moment to be sure that Locket is safe, ready to pull him back if necessary...
However, if all goes well and nothing happens to Locket, she enters as well, looking around for anything salvageable.
Gath follows Locket but doesn't want to shoulder past Zetara to get into the room. He waits in the corridor and tries to look over the android's shoulder to see what Locket is doing.
"What's in there, Locket?"
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Zetara pokes around inside the room. There seems to be a loose panel on one wall. Peeking behind it reveals some sort of weapon--a very large hammer!
Janebok eyes the hammer. "Fassscinating...but not ideal for me."
Locket slides the hammer out from behind the wall panel. He hefts the weapon to test the balance and nods in satisfaction.
Walking back to the door to the hall, he thrusts the hammer through. "Either of you want this?" he asks the shobhads.
Gath's eyes light up at the sight of the hammer. He reaches for it greedily, then turns and offers it to Uchurtai first.
Uchurtai grins as he grabs the hammer, "Absolutely rippin'."
He gives it a few swings and nods, "Oh yeah, I like this one," he nods to the spear on his back and says to Gath, "Interested?"
Gath tilts his head while he thinks. "That's a nice offer, Uchurtai, but I think I'm better off with my club. Now isn't the time to try to learn a new weapon."
Zetara finds another hallway with two doors. She glances at the others to see if they have a preference, and then tries the one on the right.
Janebok steps as the Shobhad's heft and swing their weapons around in demonstration. She sighs and rolls her reptilian eyes and waits for the demonstration to end. Then as she limps past them, she reaches up a long arm and pats each on the shoulder "Very good, very good. Sssave it for disssruptors of productive sssoccciety."
Uchurtai laughs, "Look at me. Whaddya think I am?"
He gives a toothy grin before saying, "I kid. Mostly. Well, only a little."
The shodhad gives a nonchalant shrug before hefting the hammer over his shoulder, ready to put it to real action.
Gath nods agreement and lays his club over his shoulder in similar fashion.
Zetara investigates another room, and sees the following when the door to the chamber is pushed open:
Two rows of metal tables occupy this room, all bolted to
the floor. Though emergency lights flicker overhead, the
lamps attached to each table remain dark. A haphazard pile
of moldering plastic chairs rests in the southeast corner.
Several vidscreens hang on the walls, some cracked, others
blinking occasionally on and off to show serene outdoor
panoramas. The northeast and southeast corners of the
room hold a pair of completely dark side chambers.
Seeing nothing immediately threatening through the door to the right, she steps across the hall to look into the room to the left .
She wanted to check out that north room further, but first she wanted to make sure that both rooms were clear of danger.
Ready to follow his android companion into the room, Locket is surprised as he almost walks into Zetara as she departs the room on her way to the door opposite.
Perplexed, the pahtra slowly leans through the doorway to peer at the room inside. His eyebrow raised, he shrugs and follows Zetara's lead to investigate what lies behind the next door.