I/O-HL3 "Isaiah"'s page

The Iron Federation is an ancient civilization, made up and run primarily by sentient AIs, mainly because some long-ago catastrophe shattered the original Federation, and what exists now is the descendants of that precursor civilization's infrastructure and automated administration. Driven by hard-coded impulses to create, maintain, and advance civilization, and possessed of a benevolence that surprises many, the Iron Federation nonetheless maintains a distance from most others, aware that the Collapse of the precursor civilization may be a mistake that they could end up repeating. They are ever searching for answers to what happened then, while simultaneously working to contain or destroy dangerous artifacts and rouge elements left behind by the Collapse. Their technology blurs the line between science and magic, sometimes quite explicitly, and they are masters of construction and creation.

IFS Inquiry is a young, AI driven scoutship from the Iron Federation, sent to investigate anomalous readings emanating from a distant planet... and which eventually traced them back to Halcyon City. While not strictly prohibited, its making contact with the natives was not the originally intended course of action for its mission, and Inquiry's excessive curiosity regarding this world is providing some annoyance to the command center to which it reports. Still, the massive concentration of anomalous events in Halcyon city is enough that Inquiry has reluctantly been granted permission to remain there in order to observe the locals, and has worked its way into a local super team through a humanoid Infiltration/Observation drone frame that goes by the name of "Isaiah".

"Isaiah" is quite gregarious and friendly, eager to find out about the endlessly intriguing organic natives of this world. 'He' is also surprisingly open about 'his' position as an alien robotic spy drone, at least to those cleared to know 'his' real identity.

Inquiry usually pretends to be no more than a spacecraft around those not initiated into its real nature, and spends much of its time nosing about at high altitudes, tirelessly scanning the city below.
Inquiry and "Isaiah" are actually the same being, connected by a quantum-entangled, sympathetically enhanced communications link. Its existence as a shipboard AI fully capable of being in more than one place at a time sometimes shows through in odd mannerisms and priorities.

Mechanically, This will be an Outsider making unusual use of the option for a personal craft.

"Isaiah" has all the strength, speed, and endurance that one would expect from a highly advanced robot (albeit a model not designed for heavy combat), and is capable of indefinite inertialess flight. 'He' also always seems to have just the right tidbit of strange pseudo-magical hypertech in 'his' pockets... probably because said pockets connect to an internal fabricator.
IFS Inquiry is equipped with a powerful array of advanced sensors-there are few things the scoutship cannot observe. It also maintains communications with its command center back home, and in a pinch can open up the line, either to link up to the central AI gestalt for information and processing power, or to transmit a powerful pulse of energy that can be utilized by the ship's fabrication systems to produce specialized equipment... including the ability to replace its "Isaiah" frame if it gets destroyed. Inquiry doesn't like doing this too often, though; the command center gets testy if it exceeds its allotted energy budget.

Outsider Powers:
Alien Weaponry;
Isaiah always keeps a couple of Saevolus-V8RTH varia-bolters tucked away for when he needs to fight; highly adaptable weapons capable of everything from non-lethal takedowns to anti-tank work depending on which loadout crystal he slots in. Inquiry, while technically unarmed, possesses a variety of weaponizable tools; not fit for starship combat, but typically plenty against human-scale targets. In truly difficult straights, it can even use its primary engines as a powerful short-range weapon, but this is expensive in fuel.

Radical Shapeshifting;
Isaiah is highly reconfigurable; like any proper infiltrator drone, he can be changed to match over a thousand different known species with only a few minutes spent inside Inquiry's bays, and smaller adjustments like alterations in apparent gender and ethnicity can be done on the spot. Inquiry itself can prove surprisingly malleable; while the ship can't truly alter its overall mass or basic capabilities, it can change shape and appearance drastically to blend in with its environment. With the addition of outside materials it can even mimic much larger vehicles and gain their capabilities through creative use of its manufacturing capacity, and it can mask its weight by keeping its drive systems online and compact down a surprising amount to pretend to be a smaller one.

From advancement:
Gadgetry and Hacking:
Isaiah/Inquiry have adapted to local computer technology enough to infiltrate and modify, and sometimes even control, human computers. Their methods are different enough from a conventional hacker that they can accomplish things that can't be done via normal hacking. They also have updated their fabrication protocols to be able to produce a wide variety of useful gizmos, carefully calibrated to not be beyond the capability of local science.

Power Negation:
Inquiry/Isaiah have gotten annoyed at their foes constantly teleporting, altering reality, and generally being a nuisance via powerful supernatural abilities, and have developed some countermeasures to deal with that. These can take multiple forms, though the core parts are difficult enough to make and power that Isaiah/Inquiry can only maintain a single manifestation at a time.

Possible manifestations:
-AM Canceller field
The AM canceller field shuts down the supernatural within a certain radius of its point of origin. The exact size of the field can be customized, but it is indiscriminate, negating the powers of friend and foe alike. Isaiah and Inquiry are mostly immune to the effects, but it does disable some of their powers as well, most notably the reactionless drives they use to fly, though Inquiry can use thrusters instead. The device is quite energy hungry, consuming fuel rapidly while in use.

-Lockdown beam
The Lockdown beam is a targeted weapon that nullifies the powers of its target. It requires a clear line of fire, and needs to be keyed to specific individuals, but is targetable and much more energy-efficient than the field. Breaking the beam breaks its hold over the target, so enemies can still escape by seeking cover. The device is also somewhat fragile and prone to requiring repairs if struck.

-Manavore circuitry
An alteration to the physical makeup of Isaiah and Inquiry's outer layers, allowing them to aggressively absorb Mana from others on contact. This device is a weaponized variation based on the same technology as the Mana Distillery. This is actually much more potent than the other forms due to having lingering effects, but requires physical contact with the target. Unlike the others, the operational components are either distributed or buried deep inside the body, presenting no visible target to disable it.

"Isaiah" is androgynous, though 'he' usually goes by male pronouns for convenience. 'He' actually appears perfectly human to most observers; only looking at thermal imaging, checking 'his' scent, or other such unusual measures reveal 'his' actual inorganic nature. 'He' usually dresses casually, but puts on a fancy, chrome-and-magic-runes holographic 'costume' when the time comes to do something heroic.

Inquiry Is a starship, a goodly thirty meters in length, and is sleek, smooth, and seamless. Faint traceries of strange geometric patterns are visible on close inspection.

Rogue Shards. Other leftovers of the Collapse of the ancient civilization, and not nearly as friendly as the Iron Federation. The Rogue Shards (as the Federation calls them; others name them differently) take many forms, whether that be a wandering fleet of genocidal warships fighting some long-forgotten war, a mass of rampantly self-replicating machines devouring all in their path, or a megalomaniacal AI driven to exterminate all that it sees as unworthy of inheriting the galaxy after the loss of its first masters. Regardless, the Iron Federation takes it as their solemn duty to stamp out these violent fragments... and the violent fragments often feel the same of the Federation.

❑ Belong in two worlds: You have the resources that come with your station. Whenever you contact your people, roll + Superior. On a 10+, hold 3. On a 7-9, hold 2. On a miss, hold 1, but your people make an uncomfortable demand of you. Spend your hold 1 for 1 to:
- receive a useful piece of alien technology that will allow you to use any ability from another playbook once (choose the ability when you spend the hold)
- consult your people’s knowledge to ask the GM a question about the current situation
- clear a condition through the comfort of contact with your home

Inquiry maintains a communications and energy-transfer link with its command center back home, and can request info, computational power, or the energy necessary to run its internal fabricator at full power. It is also expected to send back detailed and useful reports on its findings in exchange for these services any time they exceed its regular energy budget, though.

❑ Alien tech: When you alter a human device with your alien technology, roll + Freak. On a hit, you create a device that can do something impossible once and then fizzle. When you roll a 10+, choose one:
- it works exceptionally well
- you get an additional use out of it On a miss, the device works, but it has a completely unintended side effect that the GM will reveal when you use it.

Isaiah and Inquiry are capable of fabricating many nifty devices, and the energy cost is small if they keep the products small; this means that Isaiah can easily fab up a 'booster pack' for an existing device, using the local tech to make up the bulk of the item... but this tends to run the local technology far beyond its ability to withstand, and the product tends to be short-lived as a result.

❑ Kirby-craft: You have a vehicle, something from your home. Detail its look, and choose two strengths and two weaknesses. When you are flying your ship, you can use it to unleash your powers, directly engage a threat, or defend someone using Superior. Strengths: Fast & maneuverable, chameleon plating, powerful weaponry, regenerating, dimension-shifting, size-shifting, telepathic Weaknesses: Bizarre fuel source, susceptible to _______, easily detectable, slow and clumsy, unarmed, difficult to repair

IFS Inquiry is a bit of an odd example of this move. Technically, Isaiah is actually a remote drone piloted by the ship, instead of the other way around.

IFS Inquiry is a sleek craft, aproximately 30 meters in length. Its hull is seamless, and etched with faint engravings. At the fore end, Inquiry has a 'window' section that is actually a high-resolution screen, and is used to display images that either ally suspicion (an image of an empty/occupied pilot seat and such that one would expect) or express itself to those in the know (it can also project an 'eye' or 'face', typically intentionally artifical in appearance to avoid the Uncanny Valley). The tail end of Inquiry mounts the ship's drive system, and while most of it is internal, there is a pair of large plasma thrusters that make visible bulges on the sides and have directional thruster vents on the back. Otherwise, the ship seems to be a featurless, oblong shape, but panels can easily slide aside to expose various tools and sensors, or allow acess to the inside.
The ship mounts no explicit weapons systems, though some of its tools can be used to inflict harm if necessary. Additionally, the ship is fuelled by concentrated energy canisters that are difficult to aquire on Earth, though it can lean on its energy-requests in an emergency.
Inquiry has the strengths of being Telepathic and Self-Repairing (regenerating). Its weaknesses are that it is Unarmed and requires a Bizzare Fuel Source.

❑ Not so different after all: When you talk about your home, roll + Freak. On a 10+, choose two. On a 7-9, choose one. During the conversation, you: - confess a flaw of your home; add 1 Team to the pool - mislead them about your home; take Influence over them - describe the glories of your home; clear a condition On a miss, you inadvertently reveal more about yourself than you planned; tell them a secret or vulnerability you haven’t shared with Earthlings before now.

❑ No powers and not nearly enough training:
You’re always picking up new gear to keep yourself in the game. Whenever you pick up a new piece of gear, you can write it in as a new ability if this line is empty. _______________________________ The first time you use each piece of gear to directly engage a threat, unleash your powers, or defend someone, you can roll + Mundane instead of the normal Label.

Isaiah/Inquiry are capable of storing and repurposing a wide variety of gear. Having had a chance to acclimatize to the local technology, they can easily use just about any device created by human hands, even without having trained in it. Direct internet connections to search for operating instructions and manuals helps too.

Take another Outsider Move (Not so different)
Take a move from another playbook (NPaNNET)
Choose two new abilities from any playbook
Someone permanently loses Influence over you (Dr. Dread), and add +1 to a label
Unlock Moment of Truth