"Alright. I'll try." With Attenuate's medical support at the ready, Reynar shifts the focus of the gravitational forces to the parasitic ooze.
Tightening the focal point of the gravitational field, the fingers of his outstretched hand waggle as he plucks at individual field lines, causing them to vibrate like the strings of a guitar.
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Reynar tries to focus his gravity on the ooze to pry it loose, but it slips his 'grasp'. The android falls to the floor and comes up swinging at Mercy with a frost covered knife. She can feel the bite of the cold spread from the resulting slash.
The half orc shrieks and struggles against her restraints.
Attenuate, having started undoing the half-orc’s restraints last round, continues working on them. He focuses his custom microlab on the Android, assessing its level of health and trying to help Reynar figure the best way to extract the ooze from the unfortunate host.
Muttering a curse under his breath at his ham fisted attempt to grasp the gravitational field of the ooze, Reynar renews his focus and tries again to work the ooze free. He knows he doesn't much time.
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Attenuate frees the half-orc's hands. She immediately tries to roll of the table toward Kyzin. Her feet stay put and she stops, twisted awkwardly at the waist. Her upper body is a sagging, cantilevered off the end of the table.
Reynar lifts the android and tries to gravitationally pull the ooze out again. He doesn't succeed, in dislodging the ooze, but maintains control of the android.
Mercy winds up, but then holds back a little as she swings in with a massive haymaker. She's cognizant that if she hits too hard, it's the android puppet that's going to take the brunt of the hurt.
She takes a step back.
Kyzin bellows at the android when he sees the half-orc struggle.
He reaches out to strike again, trying to hold back his rage.
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Kyzin strikes across the table but the android's slow roll is so unlikely any combat technique the shabhad's seen before that his attack is wide and glances harmlessly away.
The android twists in the air and slashes at Moira again. The knife digs deep and momentarily the android has an anchor. They lever themselves upright and facing the party.
Keeping an eye on the Android and giving advice to Reynar to best extract the ooze, Attenuate snaps at the half orc and says, "Undo your right foot--I will do your left."
Action to free the half-orc's left foot.
Mercy growls as the knife cuts in once more "That's enough." She focuses on her burning heritage to guide another powerful but carefully placed punch.
"Guh. This isn't working. Lets lure 'im out and surround him."
She backs off with a guarded step again.
Kyzin roars again and climbs over the table, putting himself between Mercy and the android.
“NO! You will stop NOW!”
"Wait! I know I can do this!" Reynar calls through gritted teeth.
Arm outstretched before him, fingers plucking at the invisible strings of the ooze's gravitational field, he attempts to remove the creature from the android one last time.
"Gah!" he shouts in frustration at his poor technique. "It's time for the finale," he says, stepping into the room with determination.
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Attenuate frees the half-orc's left foot. The half-orc sags further off the table but somehow jack-knifes themselves up to rip and tear at the strap on their right ankle. Incredibly the frantic motions loose the strap and they fall off the table and unto the floor.
Mercy retreats a step while giving tactical advice.
Reynar continues to be frustrated in his quest to more peaceably separate ooze and host.
Mercy's retreat leaves the android without an anchor or immediate target. Kyzin fills the space Mercy left behind and plasters the android with a punch that also oxidizes the android's skin. Kyzin then fills the chill of teh android's blade.
... C; critical staggered)
Half pulling, half assisting the frantic half-orc out of the room, Attenuate remarks, "Avoid the ooze, citizen. Perhaps you should depart the premises," as he points towards the way they came in.
Attenuate continues to focus on the android, assessing its wounds and giving advice on how to best force the ooze out of it.
Preparing a first aid syringe, Attenuate readies to shoot the android if it goes down AND the ooze comes out of it.
Mercy assesses that the infested android (probably) doesn't have much fight left in him and rushes right back in, ready to deliver a slightly softer uppercut to take him out. She taps her affinity for fire to guide her swing.
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Moira's uppercut lands and snaps the android's head back. It also sends the android tumbling head over heels, although its still held in place by Reynar.
The green patches bulge outward, then flatten back down as a green sluglike form extrudes from the android's mouth. Clearing the android's lips it expands into a fat sausage.
Minor booster biohack adds 1 ho to healing if Attenuate can get a 15 on a medicine check to render first aid…
“You are NOT listening to me. You are a BAD listener. I will rip you out of that android!”
Struggling to find the dexteeity needed to manipulate the strands of gravitational field, Reynar throws his all in to a last ditch effort to extract the ooze from the unfortunate android.
Continuing to waggle the fingers of his outstretched hand, Reynar abruptly closes his hand in a clenched fist and yanks it back toward his chest, pulling in the ooze with all his might.
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Despite the half-orc bumping into him and fouling his footwork, Kyzin tries again to strike. He has a clear target this time and smooshes the ooze back against the android's face.
Reynar can get a separate grip on the ooze and throws all his power into dragging it toward him. The ooze lengthens and its diameter shrinks as it's yanked out of the android. It flies toward Reynar, then drops to the floor halfway between Mercy and Reynar.
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The ooze makes a break for the door, or is it for Reynar?
A psuedopod-like limb stretches out and slams into the pahtra's knee.
Then it begins to climb him.
With the ooze gone Attenuate dives down to help the android. The android's wounds are not life threatening, and the medical robot's ministrations easily revive it.
... B plus grab)
Grab (Ex)
Source Alien Archive 4 pg. 154, Alien Archive 3 pg. 152, Alien Archive 2 pg. 151, Alien Archive pg. 155
If the creature hits with the indicated attack (usually a claw or bite attack), it deals the normal damage. If the attack roll result equals or exceeds the target’s KAC + 4, the creature also automatically grapples the foe. (If it equals or exceeds the target’s KAC + 13, the creature instead pins the target.) The creature doesn’t need to have a spare limb free to perform this grapple as long as it can make the listed attack, and it can potentially grapple more than one target if it has more than one attack with the grab ability. The creature can maintain the grab either with another successful grab attack or by performing the grapple combat maneuver normally.
Format: Melee claw +8 (1d6+4 plus grab).
With the ooze out Mercy stomps flashily before flinging herself at the goo. Her solar gauntlets blaze bright as she swings in.
But her enthusiasm is not matched by her accuracy.
Attenuate focuses his custom microlab on Reynar and selects what he hopes will help the Solarian the most. He delivers a Bolstering Aid biohack, restoring some vigor and says, ”Don’t let it enter any of your orifices!”
"Ufff!" Reynar grunts as the ooze pummels his leg. "Oh no you don't," he says as the ooze begins to climb him.
Reaching out, the pahtra draws on the energies of gravity and, pinching thumb and index finger together, he attempts to grasp the ooze and drag it away from him.
As the fight continues, the primal energy keeps changing Kyzin's body and mind. The vines curling around his torso and arms grow bulkier, and his skin adopts a greenish tinge. Acid oozes from the vines’ thorns.
His eyes take on a wilder look as he sees the ooze try to infect Reynar.
“NO MORE! DIE THING!!!!!”
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Shouldering the half-orc aside, Kyzin grabs the ooze. It squishes and fluid leak between his fingers Foul acrid vapor drifts from its tissues at his touch while it writhes in any attempt to escape his grasp.
After a long second or two, it goes limp.
Seeing the ooze on the floor near Reynar in the doorway, the half-orc clambers back onto the treatment table and retreats to the northern wall.
"Easy." Mercy glares at the oozy remains "More or less."
She looks over at the ooze's previous host and next victim "What was going on here? What happened? We heard this place was good for cheap medical treatment, but we come here and there's... this!" She stabs a finger at the ooze.
"Ah-ah-ah!" Reynar recoils from the change in sensation on his leg. "Help me get it off!"
After Kyzin's swipe knocks the creature to the floor, Reynar speaks a word in pahtra and a longsword appears in his hand. Striding the short distance to the limp ooze, he repeatedly thrusts the blade deep into the creature, not taking any chances. "That was not right!" he shudders.
Attenuate turns his attention to the half-orc, then uses his the advanced med-kit to check for any injuries. He also spares a glance for the Android, happy to see only light remaining injuries. He leaves the questions to others.
Mercy looks expectantly at the half-orc she addressed. "Well?"
If the half orc looks too shaken up to talk, she heads over to the android and sees if they're aware of themselves and their surroundings now that the ooze is gone.
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The half-orc is still a little hysterical. "... He, it was going to get a friend! Said I'd be happier serving a higher will. ..."
After a few seconds subcutaneous LEDs cycle under the android's scalp. Another few seconds and it becomes aware. It looks around. "Friends, it seems I owe you a debt of gratitude for my freedom. The damage you inflicted is self-repairable and a very small price to pay for self-determination. " He addresses Attenuate directly. "In particular thank you for your ministrations."
As the ooze decays, Kyzin’s breathing slows and the vines recede. His eyes gradually return to normal.
“That ooze was weird. I think it wanted to take you over, Reynar!”
”You are most welcome, medical attendant. Please tell us how the ooze came to possess you,” says Attenuate, acknowledging the appreciation for healing.
Mercy holds the half-orc's shoulders firmly "No ooze's gonna make you serve a higher will today. How did it all happen?"
She also asks "Do you know where its "friend" is?"
“That ooze was weird. I think it wanted to take you over, Reynar!”
Flicking the remnants of the ooze from his sword with distaste, Reynar shudders again. "Thanks. I owe you one," he says to Kyzin, sheathing his weapon. "I think the fine print on that lease agreement would have been particularly nasty."
"And it sounds like there are more out there."
Seeing Mercy and Attenuate busy with the medical attendant, Reynar walks toward the bed and attempts to calm the half-orc. "It sounds like you had other plans for your happiness, though," he says, gently. Smiling, he continues, "You did it. You held your own - you were strong. It's over now. You came through."
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”You are most welcome, medical attendant. Please tell us how the ooze came to possess you,” says Attenuate, acknowledging the appreciation for healing.
The android replies evenly, "My identifier is Quadrant-2. I came here seeking treatment for circuitry aberrations that caused symptoms similar to depression in organic sentients. The ooze was the treatment. You could say it worked because I had no depression after that. Merely an enduring feeling of horror and fear."
Mercy holds the half-orc's shoulders firmly "No ooze's gonna make you serve a higher will today. How did it all happen?"
She also asks "Do you know where its "friend" is?"
Although calming somewhat, the half-orc is still wound up. Her voice shakes a little. "I came through the door to find out why patients weren't being served. They left us out there over an hour with no word. I saw the last staff leaving through the door at the end of the hall. Then someone smashed the back of my head."
Quadrant-2 adds, "I'm afraid that was me, or rather the ooze controlling me. I am not usually a violent person. The staff are all controlled by oozes. They thought the clinic was becoming too suspect and left. My ooze was assigned to cover up the operation and make sure there were no records.
There were two host-less oozes in the warehouse across the lobby. Unless the staff circled back through the lobby, the oozes are probably still there."
"You investigated bravely and you're in one piece now. We'll take it from here." Mercy flexes for the half-orc, grinning. "If there's two more oozes on the other side, its past time for us to go take them out. Question is, is there a way to work out where the rest of the staff went. We don't want a whole bunch of bodysnatchers wandering around on the station."
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Several stacks of crates fill much of this roughly forty-foot by sixty-foot storage room. Dim-lights shine from the ceiling some twenty feet above. Some of the crates lie on their sides, spilling out tiny white crystals onto the ground. Thin pools of citrus-smelling green liquid dissolves the edges of these spills. A computer terminal blinks against the northern wall. An exit door leads out to the east, while a larger exit is visible to the south. The western wall opens up near its center to allow further access into the rest of the clinic.
While this area was originally intended for storage, its current contents are somewhat out of place for a medical clinic. Each of the boxes contains a large quantity of sugar.
DC 12 Medicine, or Attenuate to open this:
DC 17 Computers to open this:
other major purchases on record.
check grants the PCs a +2 circumstance bonus to Perception
checks to note the presence of the bodysnatcher slimes
(see below) due to a heightened sense of concern about the
mysterious sugar.
Creatures: A single bodysnatcher slime remains in this area
(two in Subtier 3–4), awaiting its time to be bonded with a host.
The slime in area B3c readies a host for the slime in this area. The
slime in the warehouse meanders, using Stealth to remain hidden
among the boxes of sugar crates. Once the PCs enter the area,
the slime uses its blindsense (vibration) to track the PCs. Once
the PCs get close enough, the slime attempts to surprise the PCs
with a slam attack against a target to lead into a grapple so that
it can use its bodysnatch ability.
A PC who identifies the bodysnatcher slimes using Life Science
can also recognize that these slimes often gorge themselves on
sugar while unattached to a host.
Attenuate chimes in, ”Greatest risk of the oozes are infection and loss of cognitive control of one’s own body.”
Thinking like a doctor wanting to protect against an infection, he adds, ”Are there PPE supplies here that can be sealed and worn to block ooze possession? Is there an agent tolerable by us that the oozes would find inhospitable should they try to enter us?”
”We are also keen to extract oozes from their hosts without damaging the host—have you seen any oozes being forced or lured out of their host?” he asks Quadrant-2.
”We may also want to configure a medical analyzer to scan for embedded oozes if it is not obvious who might be infected,” adds Attenuate.
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"Hosts sometimes rejected the slime on their own. I don't know why. I was surprised when my slime fled. It was the first time in its occupation that it felt fear and pain. Perhaps that's what drove it out. I don't know of any substance that repels them, but they do like sugar when they are outside a host."
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"Sugar? They've got a bit of a sweet tooth, huh?" Mercy smirks "Shame it doesn't work like salt on snails, but maybe it could be a distraction." Sobering up a bit she adds "Punchin' seemed to do the trick to get the one in Quadrant-2 out, as rough as it was. But if they leave when spooked, if someone had some spooky magic we could get them out."
"I like the idea of a suit to block 'em, and it doesn't seem out of place for a doctor's place like this. Lets do a quick sweep. If we find something that might work, we try it. If not we go to the other side of the building before the oozes start hunting for hosts on their own."
Without any good help to be found on this side, Mercy leads the way toward the warehouse half of the building. On the way she addresses the people in the lobby "Just stay where you are. We're sorting this out. We found the lady that went to investigate earlier. She's fine." She waves off any questions and continues eastward.
Mercy stands on guard while someone else takes a look at the computer terminal. She comments "There's our sugar. They were really stockpiling." She keeps an eye out for any oozes or other hazards.
Attenuate scans the green pools to see if they could be ooze-related (result of 32 if actually a life form). He looks around for any hidden oozes as he moves to the terminal.
”There are no medical supplies here to actually run a clinic—all the credits have been used to purchase sugar,” summarizes Attenuate.