June 4, 3200 - The Seeds of Amir (Michael/Malachi)

[Marullus]

Malachi grabs her arm and deftly uses her mass to swap places with her, him inside and her moved closer to the ladder. "Michael is below; he came to rescue you. Don't dawdle."

He doesn't devote much time to her beyond that... either she goes down and gets in the truck or Michael comes up and we steal the seeder AND the girl. As long as the girl doesn't need to be liquidated later, either is fine by him. Things are simpler having both acquisition targets here in one location.

He centers his attention on the panels, focusing on the pretech controls and allowing his cyberware to acclimate. His fingers begin moving across the controls deftly, perhaps more rapidly than a normal person should, testing to find the function of each and specifically to access the navigation and drive systems.

Seeder: [2d6+1] = 2+1 = 3

Specialist reroll:
Seeder: [2d6+1] = 10+1 = 11

Success!

[Coleridge]

Michael, Xenobiologist

Michael rushes up the ladder. Gives Zedra a quick hug, and then brushes past her to examine the seeder controls.

"Zedra! Where's Kleinsmith? Is she still out there?"

Do I need to make a roll for the Pretech check?

[Mister-Kent]

Yes please

[Coleridge]

Pretech skill check [2d6+1] = 5+1 = 6

If I failed, let me know and I'll try the "Like a charm"

[Mister-Kent]

Certainly, you can try again!

Michael
"I saw her run for the truck--" Zedra says, pointing off to the now-smoking ATV. Zedra curses, then buries her face in the seat and screams. A thought might cross your mind--would it even be much of a loss to the sector's scientific community of Dr. Kleinsmith never made it back?

The first time you examine the dashboard it resembles a glittering electrical panel with no cover, just wires and lights without particular buttons, all arrayed around the central holographic display. The map has symbols on it noting various points, but you can't decipher their meaning. An upward-pointing triangle symbol, larger than any others, begins to flash, and the ground beneath the seeder begins to swell once more. And rise.

"It's doing it again!" Zedra shouts.

[Marullus]

Certainly, you can try again!

You saw my roll above, right? Do we BOTH need to burn our specialist rerolls on this one?

[Coleridge]

Michael Hilkowitz, ace xenobiologist
Michael stares out into the raging storm and sighs. Kleinsmith isn’t worth his time as a scientist, but she’s still “technically” human. The young scientist quickly turns and pulls Zedra into a long kiss, bending the nimble artist, before releasing her.

“I think you can handle the seeder mate,”Michael says over his shoulder to Malachi “I’ve got to go rescue a loser before she gets her comeuppance.”

He then quickly slides down the seeder ladder, calling up “Smoke me a kipper. I’ll be back for breakfast,” before hopping into the waiting vehicle and gunning it towards Kleinsmith;s truck.

Assuming a purple worm or something isn’t about to pop out of the ground….
Sorry. I couldn’t resist the Red Dwarf reference.

[Marullus]

Malachi sputters as Michael leaps from the seeder, about to call him back but with the raging storm it is quickly too late. "Fucking hell," he curses. "Your god-damn hero is going to ruin the whole thing."

He sets his expression grimly and focuses on the seeder's controls, trying to set it into motion.

[Mister-Kent]

Michael
Zedra shudders as you leave her gloved embrace, then retreats into the seeder.

There's no sign of motion in the truck, which is now fully engulfed in smoke.

Malachi

"Your god-damn hero is going to ruin the whole thing."

"That's what heroes do," Zedra replies breathlessly, and braces herself as you pull a lever to get the seeder in motion. It's tracks grate, then the whole vehicle lurches ahead.

Here's what we heard about the seeder cockpit so far:

Within the seeder, the dashboard control panel of the seeder is a circular screen and a panoply of blinking lights. It seems to show a semi-holographic terrain map of the immediate ridge area, and brightly blinking lines denote some sort of effective range.

The first time you examine the dashboard it resembles a glittering electrical panel with no cover, just wires and lights without particular buttons, all arrayed around the central holographic display. The map has symbols on it noting various points, but you can't decipher their meaning. An upward-pointing triangle symbol, larger than any others, begins to flash, and the ground beneath the seeder begins to swell once more. And rise.

"It's doing it again!" Zedra shouts.

With your combined knowledge, here's what you would have figured about the seeder, based specifically on its control system. The seeder seems to be in some sort of "overdrive" setting, spewing nano-machines into the soil and sky and terraforming the local environment at this very moment. From the numbers churning on holographic display, seeder output is set to Eco-gineering Level 12, whatever that means. There's a running list of text data in Arabic alongside the numbers.

The upward pointing triangles appear when the ground shakes and the ridge moves. In addition to the local surface, atmospheric change is also indicated on the panel. If you press your finger on the symbols, you can slide them around the map display. You think--it might take some tricky maneuvering--but you think that you can move the ground below and the storm above you!

Where do you intend to drive the seeder? Just generally "away" for later pickup?

[Coleridge]

Michael, Xenobiologist

Michael pulls the vehicle to a shuddering stop a few yards away from the truck and quickly sprints over, looking for Kleinsmith.

“Yo, pantsuit? You in there?”

If she is indeed still in the truck, he will attempt to drag her from the cockpit and back to his waiting vehicle.

Survey scanner of any use here in case the truck is about to explode?

[Marullus]

Where do you intend to drive the seeder? Just generally "away" for later pickup?

The original plan was to punch in coordinates to cause it to run out into the deeper green zone for later pick-up. I would set it to beacon on specific frequency starting in 48 hours in case we need to find it. With this plan, Michael and I would hop back in our truck and continue on for the survivors, getting them back to cover. We hope our heroics win accolade as a cover, and the missing seeder can be blamed on storm malfunction long enough for us to escape with it.

The revised plan, with his chicky-poo IN the seeder, was that we just take off with it. It had some extra risk in that our action is a bit more obvious. Since he then left the cab, this is defunct.

So... yes, I think we're: 1) setting it to run away into the green zone, then turn off, at a location we can later pick it up; 2) setting a coded beacon for 48 hours, just in case it doesn't get to the right location; 3) turning the terraforming off in this particular seeder (from 12 down to 0 on that lever) to save our butts and also help it turn off per part 1.

Then Zaedra and I escape down the ladder and hopefully back into Michael's truck...

[Coleridge]

Don't worry. We got this.

[Mister-Kent]

Michael
There is a subtle moan from within the vehicle--Dr. Kleinsmith lies across front seats, her hand draped limply on the steering column. The right sleeve of her jumpsuit is burned. It looks as if dahsboard shattered when the van was struck by lightning, as pieces of the console are strewn around the front.

You are able to drag her to the truck. She groans deliriously, but seems to recognize you as you toss her inside. You swing back around to pick up Malachi and Zedra...

Malachi
You are able to turn down the eco-gineering level to 1, but there is a cool-down period before it will turn terraforming completely off. The power of these machines--to the right buyer, they could be priceless, able to remake entire worlds from nothing. You direct the seeder towards the treeline, and before it reaches to jungle Michael pulls alongside the seeder in his truck. You let Zedra down first, and she leaps eagerly into the awaiting cab. After you depart the moving seeder, you see it rolling over effortlessly through the first line of trees into the jungle. The ground beneath it moves like a wake of water behind a speedboat, the grass and soil shifting like waves. Even after the seeder has passed, the ground remains deformed...

It will travel a few miles ahead, then go into idle mode.

[Coleridge]

Michael, Xenobiologist
“Right-o. Back to the safe house I guess?”

Michael points the vehicle back toward the bunker.

“You guys want to check on Kleinsmith back there? I’ve got a lot of questions for her when we get back.”

[Marullus]

Malachi watches the seeder roll into the distance, pensive. As Michael interrupts his reverie he snaps to and checks Kleinsmith's condition.

Medical [2d6+2] = 2+2 = 4

[Mister-Kent]

Kleinsmith seems as if sleeping--her vital signs appear normal despite her unresponsive state.

The storm subsides as you approach the bunker. The sky opens up as if all the dark clouds are being dragged away by an invisible hand. Your deactivation of the seeder seems to have created a growing calm on the ridge--gradually the bio-engineered avians return to the jungle treetops.

The shielded door opens as you roll up, and the Vizier of Cultivation runs up to your driver's side window. "What happened?" he asks excitedly. "The storm has ceased..."

[Marullus]

As the clouds begin to clear, Malachi uses the comm gear to confirm the signal interference has lessened with it. (I hope!) Before they reach the garage, he sends a burst transmission, encoded and on the Cat's Cradle frequency, to notify them of immediate cargo pick-up at the green zone coordinates. I just hope that little Mr. Miagi fellow can get the seeder onto the ship...

As the Visier comes to the window, he puts back on his best Displeased Military Officer face. "What happened? Situation FUBAR and we saved their lives. Congratulations, Visier, you might just get a medal for your leadership here. Get your medics to look at this woman, stat." He indicates Kleinsmith in the back seat, then makes room by exiting the car and trying to lead the Visier away, his tone lower and concerned. "I might be able to downplay the report on violations of Article IV and XII, but the Article VII violations are MUCH more difficult..."

[Mister-Kent]

Malachi
You find the comm signal still slightly fuzzy, but stronger now as the storm recedes. You send the burst, and hopefully it reaches the Cradle.

Vizier of Cultivation Bjorn al-Ahmed is sweating profusely. As you rattle off the list of potential legal infractions, he steps away from the vehicle and gestures for assistance. Several of the vizier's aids with medical training rush in to gently carry Kleinsmith inside.

"Violations? No!" the vizier protests as you lead him away from the vehicle. "Yes, it's true...we knew this sort of surge was well within the seeders' capabilities, but we did not act recklessly! This is simply how the Green Zone expands. How it's always--"

Engineer Tobin Thrace steps up to interrupt the politician. "We'll need to refuel the trucks, and make sure Kleinsmith is stable before we head out, but we can make it home to Oasis by sun-up," he announces. The vizier sighs and heads inside.

Thrace steps closer to you, and looks over at Michael as well. "The seeder-storm has broken...did the seeder shut down on its own, then? Or did it have some help?"

Michael
Zedra Rubin shakes her head as she climbs out of the truck. "That was not what I had in mind when I craved a sigt-seeing tour. But as far as second dates go, it was interesting."

[Marullus]

"We rescued her from the control room of the machine," he nods to Zaedra as he replies to Tobin quietly. "The other was not as lucky at finding shelter when her truck was reduced to a smoking husk. Let us take a moment to be grateful for the still-living, hmm?"

He moves back as quickly as possible to continue working the visier.

[Coleridge]

Michael, Xenobiologist

To Tobin: "Something tells me, this kind of thing has happened before. What's the deal man? Where did you get these seeders and who's been programming them?"