004: The Mean Streets of Aki

[Tiglath]

Garvin says "I'll make the call. There is one other way to run this down an' it turns on weather the crate maker saw the contents. We might be able to eliminate that possibility by checking their route - if our two find the gear, go back an' buy the crate, then load up at the "hide" an' come straight back then the bloke's never seen what they've nicked gettin' loaded up. That's the sensible way an' these guys are pro enough to plan a murder. If that's the case then we're done. If not an' e's seen the gear then we could use the ship to cover the ground, get back there, make 'im think about what 'e saw an' read 'is mind. I think I could do that now. Whether all that effort takes us much further forward I don't know an' as things stand we 'ave an appointment to keep with a lady".

He shrugs "I mentioned it just to show me workin'. For me Psi powers are a whole new toolkit".

[terrymixon]

Garvin says "I'll make the call. There is one other way to run this down an' it turns on weather the crate maker saw the contents. We might be able to eliminate that possibility by checking their route - if our two find the gear, go back an' buy the crate, then load up at the "hide" an' come straight back then the bloke's never seen what they've nicked gettin' loaded up. That's the sensible way an' these guys are pro enough to plan a murder. If that's the case then we're done. If not an' e's seen the gear then we could use the ship to cover the ground, get back there, make 'im think about what 'e saw an' read 'is mind. I think I could do that now. Whether all that effort takes us much further forward I don't know an' as things stand we 'ave an appointment to keep with a lady".

He shrugs "I mentioned it just to show me workin'. For me Psi powers are a whole new toolkit".

Assuming you make the call, that's exactly what the tacturn man on the other end says happened. Two strangers came to get boxes made, paid far more for his old grav hauler than it was worth, and left, never to be seen again. You could spend time tracking what happened to the hauler at the down port, but odds are it was sold or abandoned. You have a bit over an hour for the probe to get back, so you can probably find it.

Let me know if you want to nail that down. I'll post something for Madam Treegarden's arrival at the up port after lunch.

[Tiglath]

Garvin will use the probe's return time to track the grav hauler. If found his goal is to search it for evidence and swab/sample the interior for DNA profiles of our suspects. However, this is not a priority / acceptable risks task so he's willing to abort (for example to avoid further conflict with locals).

OOC: Not sure if we have a sample for both or indeed if it would be any use but I suppose it might.

[terrymixon]

Garvin will use the probe's return time to track the grav hauler. If found his goal is to search it for evidence and swab/sample the interior for DNA profiles of our suspects. However, this is not a priority / acceptable risks task so he's willing to abort (for example to avoid further conflict with locals).

OOC: Not sure if we have a sample for both or indeed if it would be any use but I suppose it might.

The previous owner gave you a decent description and a cloud of spybots will find it parked near the loading area. From all appearances, it has been abandoned. Getting into it and getting swabs is easily done and you can pass the swabs on to Jaelah. Done.

[terrymixon]

The trip back up to orbit comes off without a hitch. As you've already paid for docking, you're able to get into your bay immediately and Roscoe can begin the process of loading the cargo he's purchased. He wants to get an early start because he's uncertain what the schedule is going to look like after Madame Treegarden gets there.

Based on her message, she should be along over the next few hours, so if there's anything you want to accomplish before she arrives, now's the time to speak up.

With those few hours have passed, you'll get a message from her saying that the destroyer has arrived and that she is on her way over to the station. Twenty minutes later, she arrives in the docking bay--alone--and signals that she'd like admittance to the ship. Her appearance leads you to believe that she has discovered what you'd left for her to find because she seems jittery and almost bouncy. Definitely not the calm, cool, and collected woman that you are all familiar with. Whatever she found has definitely knocked her off her game.

Once you let her into the ship, she will proceed immediately to Roscoe and ask for a drink. Something strong. She'll also ask that he locks the ship down and make certain that it is secure from any monitoring, including anything she might have brought aboard. Roscoe indicates to her that she's been scanned since the moment she came aboard and is clear.

She lets out a deep breath and sits down at one of the tables. "What you left for me has changed everything. You have no way of knowing what the condition of various finds have been that our department has handled, but nothing compares to this. Nothing at all. But then again, I suspect you knew that before you left the device aboard that ship."

She takes a deep drink of her alcohol and then casts her glance across all of you. "Normally, I wouldn't reveal what was discovered but I already know for a fact that you knew all about it before you spoke to me in the first place. Under other circumstances, I might be angry about the deception, but it's hard to feel that way when the greatest find that has ever been made in the field of Ancients study is dropped into one's lap. Before we discuss what needs to happen next, I need to hear you say the words. You knew that I was going to find that device that allows for travel across uncounted parsecs, didn't you? Before you think to lie, you're not going to get in trouble for it. This is only me you're talking to. What's said here stays between us. I'm not going to report it to my superiors and you're not going to get in trouble for it. I just need to know the truth.

"As I said, you need not fib for my sake. We sent probes through the other side just to get an idea of what we were looking at and I spotted a couple of areas that looked like they had had recent activity. Weapons discharges that destroyed things. If you're planning on pretending that you've never been somewhere, might I suggest in the future that you not blow things up? Once I got the idea in my head, I couldn't get it out so I co-opted a forensics kit and went through on my own and looked for something that I thought someone would've touched that was close to the entrance. It took me half a dozen tries, but I finally got some DNA. Human DNA. I don't know which of you is, but it is male. As there is no sign of anyone else being on that world, I feel pretty confident that if I were to compare it to you, I'd find a match. Tell me I'm wrong. If you're willing to admit to that much, then we've got a lot to talk about."

[helvorn]

William speaks over the neural net. "I say that we admit that we know about the gates."

[terrymixon]

William speaks over the neural net. "I say that we admit that we know about the gates."

"It seems she already believes that, and she likely could prove we do, so that doesn't seem too big of a risk," Roscoe said back over the net. "The harder questions will come later, and we may not have much time to come up with a consensus when she asks what else we know about. Now is the time to settle that. Now or we make it up as we go, and she will surely spot the lie."

[Tiglath]

Garvin appears to have used the time before Madam Treegarden's arrival for some grooming of his casual chic (which is perhaps his métier) pairing his black "working" denims with a waft of Brut (no call for "weapons grade" cologne in the workplace! )

In response to the neural conversation he replies "I'm goin' with me instincts that's she's good people. Seein' as we can just be away like long dogs in the best getaway car ever I can't see a downside. My call - if it goes bent I'll sort it. We were all suited an' booted on the "otherside" no way we left DNA be'ind - she's frontin' us out. Ruddy magnificent!"

Apparently feeling a certain level of responsibility Garvin clears his throat. "Madam Treegarden, welcome aboard from us all, an' please don't be cross. You may 'ave misunderstood when I said I reckoned the chances of you findin' somethin' you might like were "Odds on". You're a powerful an' impressive Lady an' with me not quite knowin' yer preferences perhaps I didn't quite 'ave the confidence to call it a "Dead Cert". So, if I may, you could swap out "deception" for..." he appears to search for a term then continues guilelessly " ... "prophylactic chivalry" an' we're golden! On our be'alf I'm sure that we're willin' to overlook the perhaps obvious but nevertheless potentially unfair bias that it was us... wot dun it. Unless that was you frontin' us out Madam Treegarden? Now that would be underhand... if not slightly naughty".

He smiles appreciatively "There's also the "tripwire" that if we contest your finding we admit to knowing what you suspect". Then his smile turns into a grin as he says "Roscoe please pour Madam Treegarden another o' them" as he then continues "But you still yet might 'ave your sample an' yet 'ave made a copper's mistake an' overlooked "no matter how improbable" when framin' up the "usual suspects" instead of searchin' for the truth". He then studies the Lady's face to see if she fathoms the unfathomable.

[terrymixon]

Garvin appears to have used the time before Madam Treegarden's arrival for some grooming of his casual chic (which is perhaps his métier) pairing his black "working" denims with a waft of Brut (no call for "weapons grade" cologne in the workplace! )

In response to the neural conversation he replies "I'm goin' with me instincts that's she's good people. Seein' as we can just be away like long dogs in the best getaway car ever I can't see a downside. My call - if it goes bent I'll sort it. We were all suited an' booted on the "otherside" no way we left DNA be'ind - she's frontin' us out. Ruddy magnificent!"

Apparently feeling a certain level of responsibility Garvin clears his throat. "Madam Treegarden, welcome aboard from us all, an' please don't be cross. You may 'ave misunderstood when I said I reckoned the chances of you findin' somethin' you might like were "Odds on". You're a powerful an' impressive Lady an' with me not quite knowin' yer preferences perhaps I didn't quite 'ave the confidence to call it a "Dead Cert". So, if I may, you could swap out "deception" for..." he appears to search for a term then continues guilelessly " ... "prophylactic chivalry" an' we're golden! On our be'alf I'm sure that we're willin' to overlook the perhaps obvious but nevertheless potentially unfair bias that it was us... wot dun it. Unless that was you frontin' us out Madam Treegarden? Now that would be underhand... if not slightly naughty".

He smiles appreciatively "There's also the "tripwire" that if we contest your finding we admit to knowing what you suspect". Then his smile turns into a grin as he says "Roscoe please pour Madam Treegarden another o' them" as he then continues "But you still yet might 'ave your sample an' yet 'ave made a copper's mistake an' overlooked "no matter how improbable" when framin' up the "usual suspects" instead of searchin' for the truth". He then studies the Lady's face to see if she fathoms the unfathomable.

To your eye, she looks tired. You doubt she got much sleep over the last day, and what she managed was likely under trying circumstances. An old destroyer isn't made for comfort, much less passengers.

"Perhaps deception is too strong a word, though I don't think I prophylactic chivalry--if that's even a thing--really covers it. I meant what I said when I told you that nothing that is discussed here will leave this room. Not unless you take it out. I'm showing you a great deal of trust in the hopes of understanding what we're dealing with and trying to get in front of it. I'm a big admirer of the way you can play with words, Mister Slade, but this isn't the time for subtly dancing around the point. We need to lay our cards on the table because what you've given to the Third Imperium is far and away the most amazing find--both in scope and relative usefulness--and that's going to bring attention to you that you might not want.

"Perhaps I pegged you wrong, but you seem to be the type of people that would rather keep your heads down and not be the center of attention. Well, when it comes to light that you've handed over a way to not only travel across the entirety of the Zhodoni Consulate in the veritable blink of an eye, but also delivered a relatively intact Ancients city for examination, my superiors are going to be turning their full attention to you to find out what else you've been hiding.

"Oh, keep your secrets from me if you must, but know that I can tell that there's more to the story than you're sharing. I mean other than the stash of advanced weapons you've got somewhere on this ship. You're very clever people, but the folks that I work for are clever, too. They'll see right through the smoke screen you're putting up and they will want detailed answers, and they won't be afraid to detain you to get them. Personally, I'd rather avoid that because I am fond of you."

She took another drink of her alcohol and cocked an eyebrow. "This is really good, Roscoe? Where did you get it?"

"Mad dog instructed me to buy the best alcohol that I could get my hands on," Roscoe said. "He was very specific that money was no limit, so we have quite the selection. And because Doctor Metz has developed the fabrication technology that he has, I was able to deconstruct every bottle and create a pattern for it. We will not only have the very best drinks in the subsector, but we will never run out."

"That must be nice," she said with a sigh. "I'll bet the same thing goes for food. I already know for a fact that you are an excellent cook and you're going to be able to make the perfect meal and then serve it time and time again. You see, it doesn't take a genius to realize that what you've developed is going to profoundly change Imperial society, Doctor Metz. Maybe you don't see that yet, but I do. Once you get your business formed, if you're ever looking for outside investors, I'm more than willing to dig deeply into my personal savings to invest. I think all of you are going to go far. If, of course, you don't run afoul of the Omicron Division."

She once again looked at each one of you. "Let me fill you in on what the Omicron Division really is. It is our mandate to guard the imperium from threats other than military ones. That includes having Ancients technology fall into the wrong hands, but it's not limited to that. If a crisis came up where a rogue computer virus was threatening civilization, it would be our duty to find it and stop it by whatever means necessary. Similarly, if any group inside the Third Imperium--or outside it--posed a direct threat in a manner that was not military, it would fall to us to deal with them. A devastating trade war? We would intervene. Unexplained madness taking over certain planets? We would see that they are isolated and understand the problem. Our mandate covers the entirety of the Third Imperium and all those threats, however nebulous they are.

"In a way, the changes the fabrication technology that Doctor Metz has paired with the deconstruction technology that already existed is going to completely alter things inside the Third Imperium. It's going to take time, but this is the inflection point that many will look to and say that this was when things changed. After that technology begins circulating, the Third Imperium will move towards being a post-scarcity society. If you haven't heard the term, it means that people will shift from having to scrabble for everything they need to being able to focus their attention on other matters because their basic needs are taken care of. As long as they have a fabrication unit and sufficient raw materials, they can make anything they need to survive and thrive. Frankly, that's going to be a much bigger change than the Ancients city you presented to us, but as of right now, it's not something that the Omicron Division needs to be for worried about. That will change, but it is a good example for me to point out. I'd hop on that as soon as you can. Once it's in the open, it's much harder to suppress the technology. See? That's me showing that I can work with you.

"As I said, you need someone that can protect you, and I am willing to be that person, but to do so, I need to have an idea of what I'm working with. When it comes to the Ancients technology, I find it very unlikely that you located that ship right where you said it is or that all the cargo that was aboard it was originally there. Once again, you don't need to reveal all your secrets to me, but if I can ask those questions, you can rest assured that my superiors can and will do so as well, and more forcefully. I'm asking you to place some trust in me. There's a risk involved with that, but I will point out that if I was of a mind to do so, I could've showed up with dozens of people in battledress and taken you into custody.

"Coming alone to discuss this without any prying ears is me putting my fate in your hands. After all, if my superiors find out that I'm working with you, they will not be pleased. I did so because I believe that there is more to gain by working with you than working against you, and that there are some secrets that perhaps the Third Imperium isn't ready to hear. I, on the other hand, am willing to listen and keep my mouth shut if you are willing to tell me the truth. Or even part of the truth. We have a very brief window in which I can perhaps secure a patron that will protect all of us. There are very few people that the Omicron Division won't move against, but there are some, and if we strike quickly, you might be able to convince one of them to be your ally and protector, but only if you start telling me what's really going on."

[Thumper]

Walt via Neurolink:
”We should have just run under the radar. Dang. How much do we reveal? Going through the teleportal, certainly. Taking a few things…but leaving examples of the same behind, sure. About moving the ship and the moon base? We haven’t truly explored that yet.

I am not hard over on keeping the moon base for ourselves. That big gun saw to it someone would eventually come looking. I would like to sift through it for useful items before handing it over to Treegarden. That is, if we do.

Perhaps we offer to take Treegarden, and only her, on a private tour of the moon base. While she’s shown the big gun and the teleportal complex, we could be inspecting the rest of the place and getting samples of things we want. Use the bots to touch them though so as not to leave more DNA and other evidence.

This is spinning out of control fast. I think we give it up and trust her. Otherwise, this could get much worse…fast.”

[terrymixon]

Walt via Neurolink:
”We should have just run under the radar. Dang. How much do we reveal? Going through the teleportal, certainly. Taking a few things…but leaving examples of the same behind, sure. About moving the ship and the moon base? We haven’t truly explored that yet.

I am not hard over on keeping the moon base for ourselves. That big gun saw to it someone would eventually come looking. I would like to sift through it for useful items before handing it over to Treegarden. That is, if we do.”

"I believe we should only reveal what she can infer," Metz said. "If we reveal everything, she will take it all and we'll still end up incarcerated somewhere. It's just too much. No to the base or the teleportal we have to the pocket universe. No to what the Ancient did to us. We had directions, like we told her and when we found the ship, we knew we couldn't keep it. I have a tech device I invented that lets us activate psionically controlled devices. That's even true. No telling her what was done to this ship or about Bilis. Hold the line, even if she expresses doubt. She wants to know everything, but she isn't us. Until she's in the same boat as us, we have to be cautious. As for what was found at the base on the surface, I still bet they found a different disintegrator emplacement. Make her tell us about that. She wants to know what we know? She'll have to tell us what they found.

"To be clear, I do think she's on our side and this isn't a trick. I've known her a lot longer than you have, and she is painfully direct at times. When she said she'd have come with troops in battledress to take us into custody if that was her intent, I believe that. She wants to find a middle ground, perhaps because she likes us, or she is hoping for more when we loosen up. That said, unless she is in a position where her shapely ass is on the line with ours, we have to keep the big stuff to ourselves. She says she can get us a patron. I believe that, too. Ride the line and tell her only what we must and let's see where it takes us. If we are forced to give up more later, then we will. Don't panic and give it away now. If push comes to shove, I can give them a technology that could get us loose with ironclad agreements, but I'd prefer not to reveal everything to them. Or even most of it."

[Thumper]

Walt-
”I can agree to that. Absolutely NOTHING about the ship and what it’s connected to! And the moon base is off limits then. I’m persuaded to agree to that.

So, her questions:
1) Yes to exploring the Ancients’ city…and taking a few weapons? In doing so, nothing was denied for her discovery.
2) What do we say about moving the ship. We found it, took it for a joy ride…that was fun, realized we’d never be able to keep it, the right thing to do was to give it to her?

So, where did we find it?

What else?

[joertexas]

Walt via Neurolink:
”We should have just run under the radar. Dang. How much do we reveal? Going through the teleportal, certainly. Taking a few things…but leaving examples of the same behind, sure. About moving the ship and the moon base? We haven’t truly explored that yet.

I am not hard over on keeping the moon base for ourselves. That big gun saw to it someone would eventually come looking. I would like to sift through it for useful items before handing it over to Treegarden. That is, if we do.

Perhaps we offer to take Treegarden, and only her, on a private tour of the moon base. While she’s shown the big gun and the teleportal complex, we could be inspecting the rest of the place and getting samples of things we want. Use the bots to touch them though so as not to leave more DNA and other evidence.

This is spinning out of control fast. I think we give it up and trust her. Otherwise, this could get much worse…fast.”

Jaelah pitches in over the link. "Tell her all of it. If we prevaricate with her, she will know it. We need an ally, and this is the best we will ever have, and the best time to secure her."

[terrymixon]

Walt via Neurolink:
”We should have just run under the radar. Dang. How much do we reveal? Going through the teleportal, certainly. Taking a few things…but leaving examples of the same behind, sure. About moving the ship and the moon base? We haven’t truly explored that yet.

I am not hard over on keeping the moon base for ourselves. That big gun saw to it someone would eventually come looking. I would like to sift through it for useful items before handing it over to Treegarden. That is, if we do.

Perhaps we offer to take Treegarden, and only her, on a private tour of the moon base. While she’s shown the big gun and the teleportal complex, we could be inspecting the rest of the place and getting samples of things we want. Use the bots to touch them though so as not to leave more DNA and other evidence.

This is spinning out of control fast. I think we give it up and trust her. Otherwise, this could get much worse…fast.”

Jaelah pitches in over the link. "Tell her all of it. If we prevaricate with her, she will know it. We need an ally, and this is the best we will ever have, and the best time to secure her."

"That is a huge risk," Roscoe Metz said. "If she is trustworthy, perhaps it will work. Perhaps we could hedge our bets. We can't make her like us, but we could offer to tell her more if she takes a concrete step to prove she is serious. If Bilis makes an Archive of her and she gets all the upgrades we have, she will be partway in our orbit and will have skin in the game. It would be a risk for her as she knows nothing about it, but it would be much harder to back out with our hardware inside her and Bilis as the one responsible for reanimating her if she dies. We wouldn't tell her about Bilis ahead of time, of course. Then she would be part and parcel of what we are doing, and we could give her the grand tour. If that is what we decide is best."

She seems to be aware that you are discussing things and is sipping her drink without saying a word. She seems prepared to wait for whatever you decide. Of course, the fact you are delaying does confirm that you have something hidden.

[Tiglath]

Walt via Neurolink:
”We should have just run under the radar. Dang. How much do we reveal? Going through the teleportal, certainly. Taking a few things…but leaving examples of the same behind, sure. About moving the ship and the moon base? We haven’t truly explored that yet.

I am not hard over on keeping the moon base for ourselves. That big gun saw to it someone would eventually come looking. I would like to sift through it for useful items before handing it over to Treegarden. That is, if we do.

Perhaps we offer to take Treegarden, and only her, on a private tour of the moon base. While she’s shown the big gun and the teleportal complex, we could be inspecting the rest of the place and getting samples of things we want. Use the bots to touch them though so as not to leave more DNA and other evidence.

This is spinning out of control fast. I think we give it up and trust her. Otherwise, this could get much worse…fast.”

Jaelah pitches in over the link. "Tell her all of it. If we prevaricate with her, she will know it. We need an ally, and this is the best we will ever have, and the best time to secure her."

Garvin punts across the neural link "Doc you'll end up incarcerated - arguably because you should be and, equally arguably, because they won't understand yer mad genius. Talkin' of which if you "operate" on 'er without 'er consent to "burden" 'er with our troubles just to fix our problem then you an' I will 'ave "artistic differences" that will challenge the skitter bots. So don't. Don't deny that you've already thought of it - so just don't! Red line o' mine - don't cross it".

He then adds generally "What if we just take 'er with us to Weiss? There's simply too much Tech to talk about an' we need to go there. Technical debriefs in the detail she'd need would surely take months? So we can easily pad out a week in jump with that an' give 'er all the evidence to secure our "Get out of Jail Free card" and our Patron. Otherwise she's soon goin' to get trumped by a career wanker whereby we end up in a shootout with Imperial Marines an' then 'ave to go on the run. Isn't stayin' put but maintain' the option to run just easier?"

"As to any other issues with the "provenance" of our finds if she deals with and "establishes" them then we're less prone to scrutiny".

Jaelah pitches in over the link. "Tell her all of it. If we prevaricate with her, she will know it. We need an ally, and this is the best we will ever have, and the best time to secure her."

Garvin agrees "She trusts us and 'as put 'erself out for us. Already she could 'ave played it so many different ways - but didn't. I've presented the cold professional argument earlier but I'll admit I more than like 'er an' so I'm compromised but I'm with Jaelah 'ere. This is just so much easier".

[joertexas]

"That is a huge risk," Roscoe Metz said. "If she is trustworthy, perhaps it will work. Perhaps we could hedge our bets. We can't make her like us, but we could offer to tell her more if she takes a concrete step to prove she is serious. If Bilis makes an Archive of her and she gets all the upgrades we have, she will be partway in our orbit and will have skin in the game. It would be a risk for her as she knows nothing about it, but it would be much harder to back out with our hardware inside her and Bilis as the one responsible for reanimating her if she dies. We wouldn't tell her about Bilis ahead of time, of course. Then she would be part and parcel of what we are doing, and we could give her the grand tour. If that is what we decide is best."

She seems to be aware that you are discussing things and is sipping her drink without saying a word. She seems prepared to wait for whatever you decide. Of course, the fact you are delaying does confirm that you have something hidden.

Jaelah turns to look at Roscoe, but still uses the link. "If you were her, would you try to double cross us?"

[terrymixon]

"That is a huge risk," Roscoe Metz said. "If she is trustworthy, perhaps it will work. Perhaps we could hedge our bets. We can't make her like us, but we could offer to tell her more if she takes a concrete step to prove she is serious. If Bilis makes an Archive of her and she gets all the upgrades we have, she will be partway in our orbit and will have skin in the game. It would be a risk for her as she knows nothing about it, but it would be much harder to back out with our hardware inside her and Bilis as the one responsible for reanimating her if she dies. We wouldn't tell her about Bilis ahead of time, of course. Then she would be part and parcel of what we are doing, and we could give her the grand tour. If that is what we decide is best."

She seems to be aware that you are discussing things and is sipping her drink without saying a word. She seems prepared to wait for whatever you decide. Of course, the fact you are delaying does confirm that you have something hidden.

Jaelah turns to look at Roscoe, but still uses the link. "If you were her, would you try to double cross us?"

"Not if I knew what I was dealing with, but my judgement is questionable. I don't have the experience to know for sure and people do things that I find baffling all the time."

[terrymixon]

Walt via Neurolink:
”We should have just run under the radar. Dang. How much do we reveal? Going through the teleportal, certainly. Taking a few things…but leaving examples of the same behind, sure. About moving the ship and the moon base? We haven’t truly explored that yet.

I am not hard over on keeping the moon base for ourselves. That big gun saw to it someone would eventually come looking. I would like to sift through it for useful items before handing it over to Treegarden. That is, if we do.

Perhaps we offer to take Treegarden, and only her, on a private tour of the moon base. While she’s shown the big gun and the teleportal complex, we could be inspecting the rest of the place and getting samples of things we want. Use the bots to touch them though so as not to leave more DNA and other evidence.

This is spinning out of control fast. I think we give it up and trust her. Otherwise, this could get much worse…fast.”

Garvin punts across the neural link "Doc you'll end up incarcerated - arguably because you should be and, equally arguably, because they won't understand yer mad genius. Talkin' of which if you "operate" on 'er without 'er consent to "burden" 'er with our troubles just to fix our problem then you an' I will 'ave "artistic differences" that will challenge the skitter bots. So don't. Don't deny that you've already thought of it - so just don't! Red line o' mine - don't cross it".

"I'm not talking about doing anything without her consent," he said waspishly. "All I'm saying is that we tell her we have access to things we are very reluctant to speak of and offer a trade. We show her how we have changed by making her mostly like us. Admit up front that we won't share the details in full ahead of time and see what she says. If she really wants to be part of this, she'll accept. If not, well, that says something, too. Hell, make it easy. Ask her if she'd like to live forever. With the anagathics, she'd be in the boat with us for sure."

He then adds generally "What if we just take 'er with us to Weiss? There's simply too much Tech to talk about an' we need to go there. Technical debriefs in the detail she'd need would surely take months? So we can easily pad out a week in jump with that an' give 'er all the evidence to secure our "Get out of Jail Free card" and our Patron. Otherwise she's soon goin' to get trumped by a career wanker whereby we end up in a shootout with Imperial Marines an' then 'ave to go on the run. Isn't stayin' put but maintain' the option to run just easier?"

"As to any other issues with the "provenance" of our finds if she deals with and "establishes" them then we're less prone to scrutiny".

"And what if her timeline doesn't involve going to Weiss?" Metz asked. "One way or the other, we are at her beck and call until this is settled, no matter what the killers do."

Jaelah pitches in over the link. "Tell her all of it. If we prevaricate with her, she will know it. We need an ally, and this is the best we will ever have, and the best time to secure her."

Garvin agrees "She trusts us and 'as put 'erself out for us. Already she could 'ave played it so many different ways - but didn't. I've presented the cold professional argument earlier but I'll admit I more than like 'er an' so I'm compromised but I'm with Jaelah 'ere. This is just so much easier".

"I would prefer to be honest as well," Roscoe said. "There is little need to obfuscate if we convince her this is too dangerous for anyone else to know about."

Metz scowled at Roscoe. "I think I made you too honest," he grumbled. "Sometimes is makes sense to bind people to you rather than just trusting them. Whatever. I'll go with what is decided."

[Tiglath]

"That is a huge risk," Roscoe Metz said. "If she is trustworthy, perhaps it will work. Perhaps we could hedge our bets. We can't make her like us, but we could offer to tell her more if she takes a concrete step to prove she is serious. If Bilis makes an Archive of her and she gets all the upgrades we have, she will be partway in our orbit and will have skin in the game. It would be a risk for her as she knows nothing about it, but it would be much harder to back out with our hardware inside her and Bilis as the one responsible for reanimating her if she dies. We wouldn't tell her about Bilis ahead of time, of course. Then she would be part and parcel of what we are doing, and we could give her the grand tour. If that is what we decide is best."

She seems to be aware that you are discussing things and is sipping her drink without saying a word. She seems prepared to wait for whatever you decide. Of course, the fact you are delaying does confirm that you have something hidden.

Garvin sends "Roscoe, fekkin' ethics! As a rule we do not fill people full of things they do not consent to or know about! This extends into the relationships discussion Doc still clearly hasn't 'ad with you [Metz gets a neural glare] an' by way of example would include our own body parts... but also would include pianos, Ancients super tech or much more specifically cargo crates which I know we covered in detail. It's the same ruddy boundary! There are exceptions but "it's just convenient" just isn't one!"

[terrymixon]

"That is a huge risk," Roscoe Metz said. "If she is trustworthy, perhaps it will work. Perhaps we could hedge our bets. We can't make her like us, but we could offer to tell her more if she takes a concrete step to prove she is serious. If Bilis makes an Archive of her and she gets all the upgrades we have, she will be partway in our orbit and will have skin in the game. It would be a risk for her as she knows nothing about it, but it would be much harder to back out with our hardware inside her and Bilis as the one responsible for reanimating her if she dies. We wouldn't tell her about Bilis ahead of time, of course. Then she would be part and parcel of what we are doing, and we could give her the grand tour. If that is what we decide is best."

She seems to be aware that you are discussing things and is sipping her drink without saying a word. She seems prepared to wait for whatever you decide. Of course, the fact you are delaying does confirm that you have something hidden.

Garvin sends "Roscoe, fekkin' ethics! As a rule we do not fill people full of things they do not consent to or know about! This extends into the relationships discussion Doc still clearly hasn't 'ad with you [Metz gets a neural glare] an' by way of example would include our own body parts... but also would include pianos, Ancients super tech or much more specifically cargo crates which I know we covered in detail. It's the same ruddy boundary! There are exceptions but "it's just convenient" just isn't one!"

Whoops. I misidentified the speaker. That's Metz, who you have already stated has ethical issues. Please restate aimed at Metz.