You skirt the very realistic seeming blasts of Call to Honor for now and make your way to Doshko Legends.
Holograms in this booth feature lizardlike humanoids in heavy parade armor marching to a triumphant score, a seemingly normal promo vid for a game blatantly designed to appeal to the Veskarium’s sense of military pride.
HACTech clearly hoped to make inroads into the Veskarium with this “historical” game set during the history-absent Gap and featuring a cast of vesk heroes.
In stark contrast to the displays, a living vesk in plastic replica armor peeks out from behind a line of projections along the back of the booth, carrying a doshko—the traditional vesk weapon— with brightly flaring blades that hiss with heat. She whispers, “Help! You’ve got to come help me! I didn’t sign up for this at all!”
"Sure!" calls out Gliko, from behind its allies.
"What are you hiding from.. to be precise?"
"The path to the exit is clear! Come out and follow us, we'll escort you to the exit where you'll be safe!"
"Those birds, all the explosions, look I am a sports-model and aspiring acter, not a Veskarium warrior - this is totally not my bag!" she wobbles a bit of the plastic armour "I was supposed to just stand here and look menacing. I don't even know how to use this thing" she waves the Doshko "The one they gave me was just a prop, but now its actually hot, I think it has turned real!"
"There are some people hiding out in the toilets too" she points to the door behind you as she comes out of hiding, visibly relieved at the rescue.
"Okay, follow us... and maybe, hand over that flame Dosko... we wouldn't want you setting anything on fire accidently..." nods Glixo. That that he is offering to carry the huge weapon.
"And the toilets too you say? Right, we'll go check there next."
She offloads it in a heartbeat, "I have no idea what to even do with it. Yeah I could see them running into the toilets crying for help, they haven't left"
"Right, toilets it is!"
Chox takes the front, heading towards the toilets, then looks over the door.
Assuming nothing unusual is found, Chox will open the door, poke his head through and yell out, "Hello! We're the Starfinder Champion Rescue Squad! Anyone here?!? We're here to assist with evacuating you out!!"
"We're saved!"
This all-gender bathroom has several stalls and a row of sinks.
A dozen expo attendees are huddled in here, nearly senseless with fear.
"We fled the carrion bats that manifested in the Necromancer booth and have been hiding ever since. We need to be taken to safety!"
"Huh? What's that?" one of the attendees is holding what appears to be a glassy fragment of Eoxian‑style ruins, and it starts rattling and moving on its own as Ritta draws near.
"I got it at the Necromancer booth"
"I have trouble reading his lips, as he has none. Look, pal, it is a doshko, it has a sharp side and a blunt side. You take a swing and try to hit with the sharp side. Nothing crazy. But sure give it to us"
Ritta says and follows others to the bathroom, she looks at the ruins
"Throw it out the door, now! The rest, take cover!"
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The piece of glass is thrown but nothing happens. Ritta feels strangely drawn to it though...
Ritta looks at the thing and then walks closer to it. First she kicks it gently and then she raises it and puts it into her weapon. The crystal is sucked inside her ax.
"False alarm, nothing to see. You are safe now. Follow us towards the exit."
Err@r snickers, but is secretly glad the others have taken the lead on what to do in this crazy situation.
The 'Vesk warrior'/sports model and the guests in the bathroom make it out safely.
You head back to Call to Honor and examine the booth from a distance.
The stark, military-themed Call to Honor booth showcases an immersive, military-simulation first-person shooter game in which the main character, a decorated war hero, blasts their way through ravenous hordes of the fearsome insectile Swarm in high-action firefights. On one vidscreen, the game’s promo loops take the form of an in-world recruitment propaganda reel with old-fashioned closed captions, which is now periodically interrupted by the Hardlight Harlequin assuring viewers that the new game will give players a “true life-or-death experience.”
"Oh, that can't be good... can any of you see more hiding attendees in there?" asks Gliko. "I mean... true death... the game itself is great."
Chox will approach and look around, saying, "Hello? Anyone there? Rescue team here!"
Ritta follows the others she takes a few swings with her ax cutting through the air.
She looks around trying to spot something
You can't see anyone in there, Ritta can't smell anyone in there. Ritta can smell the scents of many people that have come through the stand, and the smell of artificial smoke that has been added for theatrics.
The projector continues showing action scenes of militaristic forces battling swarm.
"You know.. while we are here.." says Gliko... vines sneaking toward the booth of their own accord.
"We could just get in a quick try of the new game.."
"Okay, but just a quick peek then we move on, okay? I'm a Champion Squad person so I'll wait here and keep an eye out for any signs of trouble."
"3 O'clock, 5 yards, single enemy advancing on position - fire!"
A group of soldiers appear out of thin air, appearing to be defending a trench - a machine gun swivels and faces Gliko (and pretty much everything behind them!)
"Uh . . . . stand down, soldiers!"
"Bahh, we really need to have this is learner mode for the first combat..." says Gilxo. "You all sure you are not recording?"
"Oppse.. maybe that was the hard-mode setting. gulps Glixo.
"But better loot, I hope..."
"Stop! We're allies! Stand down and re-target that way!" commands Chox as he points away from the party.
Ritta holds her axe even harder than before
"Who's idea wast to play that?!?!" she says angry
The distinctive sound of machine gun fire fills the hall as very live rounds start pouring in Gliko's direction!
Attack vs KAC
Damage
Err@r dives to the ground, bullets whizzing overhead. Taking out his hacking kit, he tries to install a quick mod to change the machine guns into flower launchers.
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Err0r sucessfully switches the game into 'Farmville' tutorial mode and the shooting stops.
Searching the booth you don't find any more survivors, but some of the equipment used by the soldiers remain, made real by the Hardlight Harlequin’s reality-shaping program. These include four frag grenades II, two incendiary grenades II, and a mk 1 thermal capacitor.
"You okay there, Gliko? Need a breather?" asks Chox.
Chox then glances at the screen and sighs nostalgically... "Ahhh... Farmville..."
Unless anyone else wants them, Chox will hold onto one frag grenade and one incendiary grenade. "These might come in handy..."
"Oh boy.." sighs Glixo. "Time Out!" he cries a moment later as sap leaks from him. "I think they broke my nose!"
You head to Sensory Diversity.
This stylish booth sports a multitude of hardware options for HAC users with all manner of physical shapes, sizes, and abilities. Its visual displays feature customizable setting interfaces from a number of popular HAC titles, while a gentle voice at one edge of the booth clearly articulates a similar menu in audio format.
As you approach you see a wounded vlaka is taking cover in this booth coming out of hiding and waving to you. The nametag on his shirt identifies him as Aeru Wirgarah a senior technician for SDC.
He sniffs the air, "Help has arrived? You got the transmission?!"
"We got all kinds of things. Looks like Trouble hit you with a capital T." says Gliko.
"Which transmission in particular are you talking about?"
After filling his bag with merch, he also quickly chowed down on a Mk1 healing serum.
"The distress call, I beamed it off the moon on multiple frequencies, but the systems were collapsing so fast I wasn't sure if it got out"
The Vlaka speaks, but also uses sign-language at the same time.
"The distance between my booth and the central hub gave me enough time to react to the colossal failure of Jaype’s program, I had time to take
cover and rewired some of the booth’s equipment into impromptu defenses, plus an emergency transponder he used to send the distress signal"
"This is all Jaype's fault, though I don't think it was on purpose. I know Jaype — now technomagically transformed into the Hardlight Harlequin — has fled into the server room of HACTech’s HQ, where he is expanding the reach of his reality‑replacing program. My access keycard to the HQ and server room was destroyed during the initial explosion, so you might try hacking or blowing up the door instead. Alternatively, if you can find my colleague Mairso in the Champion Squad booth you might get his access card, but I haven't heard anything from the booth but the corrupted chatter of holographic demos since the disaster started"
"I'll recover soon enough once I get out of here"
"I mean the distress call, I beamed it off the moon on multiple frequencies, but the systems were collapsing so fast I wasn't sure if it got out"
The Vlaka speaks, but also uses sign-language at the same time.
"The distance between my booth and the central hub gave me enough time to react to the colossal failure of Jaype’s program, I had time to take
cover and rewired some of the booth’s equipment into impromptu defenses, plus an emergency transponder he used to send the distress signal"
"This is all Jaype's fault, though I don't think it was on purpose. I know Jaype — now technomagically transformed into the Hardlight Harlequin — has fled into the server room of HACTech’s HQ, where he is expanding the reach of his reality‑replacing program. My access keycard to the HQ and server room was destroyed during the initial explosion, so you might try hacking or blowing up the door instead. Alternatively, if you can find my colleague Mairso in the Champion Squad booth you might get his access card, but I haven't heard anything from the booth but the corrupted chatter of holographic demos since the disaster started"
"We., ahh... already found Mairso's card..." grins Gliko holding up the handy artefact.
"But directions to the server room... that would be handy. I don't suppose you can tell us anything handy about Jaype, or a weakness of this harlequin?"
"Sorry I am not aware of any weaknesses, all I knwo is that moments before he was a gnomish programmer set on building the ultimate game, next thing he's a character with giant scissors. Server room is off through the double doors behind the main stage - that will take you out to the HQ and then its easy to find the underground server room"
"Look, there's no easy way to say it, but Mairso didn't make it. We're sorry.
"However, your distress call has helped save lives. We received it and came in prepped for an emergency thanks to your quick thinking. But your message was garbled and we didn't hear it all. You said something about the software going out of control, something about something digitizing and something about the entire moon? Care to fill in the blanks? What was the full message you were trying to transmit?"
Chox will replay the transmission for Aeru so he's aware of what little we actually heard: LINK
Once Aeru has provided us all the information he can, we'll escort him to the exit to remain with the other survivors, then Chox will stay in front as the party moves to the next booth - HACTeach!
Ritta looks at Vlaka and signs "You did well, you saved number of lives."
She follows chox to next booth
“Anyone hearing this message help! Everything’s gone haywire, the software has gone out of control, digitizing everything here, if we don’t stop it, it will digitize the entire moon! Please someone, help!”
You escort Aeru out, he seems quite saddened at the news that Mairso has passed.
***
HACTeac
This area sports a spongy foam floor in high-contrast alternating squares, with bright decor and cheerful, boppy music. A holographic display shows a kasatha couple looking on proudly as their two children busily occupy themselves with glowing computer consoles and swirling magical effects. A soothing voice advertises the offerings, the words also appearing as colorful subtitles on the display. “Let HACTeach prepare your child for success in today’s competitive world. Our unique Intro to Technomancy interactive learning tools put real computers and real spells into your child’s hands for a bright future.” Beneath the calm voice is a muffled sound of a crying child.
HACTech’s educational arm, HACTeach, doesn’t actually promise parents it’ll turn their children into technomancers but strongly implies that it will.
The booth appears perfectly normal from the outside, but as you try to enter the space you find the effect is entirely an illusion placed over a barricade of tables.
"You must be the rescue party!" a relieved voice announces as the illusion wanes revealing the HACTeach staff harboring a small group of attendees in their haven here, including a number of children. "We're secure where we are, but we'd all be extremely grateful if you could escort us to safety. There are a few more people over in the toilets across from us too"
"You were smart to stay sheltered. But the path to the exit is clear, so we'll escort you out."
"Thank you! Here, have these" they offer you three leftover spell gems as you escort them to safety and pick up a couple of stragglersfrom the bathroom.
"And we have already rescued those in the toilets. Aeru sent a message that we picked up." adds in Gliko.
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After dropping them off to safety, Chox turns to the rest of the party wearing a puzzled look on their face, "Anyone else find it odd that so many people are fixated on the toilet survivors?"
Chox shrugs and again take point as the party heads to the Necromancer booth.
Ritta looks odly at Chox "They are simply concerned, that's all Chox."
She looks at the Necromancer booth and follows Chox
The Necromancer 157: Dead Air
This gothic booth is surrounded by tall walls of fluttering draperies of tattered black silk, made far creepier by the dim lighting in the expo hall. Startlingly cool breezes waft out from within. Near the entryway, a holoprojection of a undead humanoid dressed in a snazzy outfit and bearing a wide grin, holds a microphone and gestures toward the entrance. “Right this way, folks! Over two centuries of lost magic, upscale living, and haute couture will make your bones positively quiver with excitement, no matter how long you’ve been dead. Now available in your own HAC!” A holographic sign overhead flashes these last few words over and over.
The HAC experience at this booth is a licensed tie‑in with a famous, critically acclaimed show that ran for nearly 2 centuries (and has generatedalmost as many game sequels as seasons), by the undead media mogul Zo!. This interactive entertainment experience is produced by a third party and available on basically every platform, including several HACTech consoles.
Inside the booth are several ornate glass display cabinets with props from the show and games/
Ooh! Necro 157? I know it can't top 113, or probably not even 18, but I can't wait to play this one!" Err@r scours the booth and display cabinet looking for a version of the game or any collectibles that could plausibly "go missing". Oh, and he's looking for danger too. Sort of.
Gliko peers out, suspiciously, from t behind Err@r. "Don't see any more of those bats do you?" he asks.
"I'm not sure I really like that franchise so much any more..."
"I never played Necromancer series, is it good? " asks Ritta looking at Erro@r.
She looks through the display cabinets...
Chox also heads in and looks around for dangers or hazards.
One particular object catches Ritta's eye - a ring in a glass case in the center of the booth. This collector’s item is engraved with the number 157 and Zo!’s signature on the band.
Ritta reaches for the ring and puts it on. "Whatever it is, I like it as it has Zo!'s signature..."