Chapter 3: on the station

[ybn1197]

Maddox heads over.

[ffilz]

Giotto will also head over.

[spanningtree]

Ringar:

Clearly not Chirree's people.... not sure this is part of the s$%t show but this looks more like a prison than a research station.

[Jernau35]

Jrec

Jrec raises his eyebrows when he sees the humanoids. "I wasn't expecting this. I thought it would be filled with..." He looks at Chirree and tries to think of a polite way to say it. "...more...natural...creatures. Y'know, like a ...zoo".

"Do you think we can communicate with them? " Jrec is about to raise his hand and wave to the group when a thought occurs to him. "If they start freaking out and reacting to us, and there's a camera watching them in there, someone might wonder what's going on down here ". He steps back from the observation port.

[SpinwardMarch]

As you are looking at the inhabitants of the globe, Chiree looks scared and confused. He tugs on Ringar's jacket and says, very quietly, They are talking to me in my head! They are prisoners, like I was. They just want out.

Ringar, as a retired Scout, you would have heard rumors about the Imperium's investigations into psionics and telepathy. Something about trying to develop instantaneous interstellar communication. You think this facility might have been part of that program. Also, according to rumor, it had been reduced, after the funding was cut.


Background Info for all players:

While the Imperium has been experimenting with psionics, it is mostly frowned upon, if not downright abhorred. The Zhodani already use psionics and could easily implement such a system, if it were developed, outpacing anything done by the Imperium.

What do you do?

[spanningtree]

Ringar:

Yeah, good point, they are on camera... if we doing anything we will likely alert someone.

Short term, let's stay on task and find Chiree's siblings, long term we can assess if we let them out before we egress the facility. Thoughts?

[ffilz]

Wait, we think they are on camera but there's no security cameras in the corridors? I'd expect cameras in both places or neither...

[Jernau35]

Jrec

"Well, if whoever is running this place is studying them - or keeping them prisoner - they'll expect them to stay locked up. Only the staff should be walking the hallways. You know what bureaucrats are like. They probably never put any money in the budget for cameras out here".

He nods at Ringar's suggestion. "Yeah. Let's worry about our objective and deal with these guys later."

[ybn1197]

Madox nods agreement to keeping on track of their goal.

[spanningtree]

Ringer:

Let's head another level.

Chirree, we will probably return to free these creatures but doing so right now would likely endanger us as well as them.

[SpinwardMarch]

(Chiree looks at the "people" in the globe and thinks an answer back to them, We will be back, but we must find my siblings still. )

So you head back to the elevator pod and go up to the next level's globe. As the door opens to the access shaft, you see...
a robot! It is 3' (1 m) tall, is sort of barrel shaped, and is wielding...

what looks like a vacuum cleaner wand attached to one of its arms! It has a wheeled trash bin attached to its "back." (Imagine a 3' tall, self-propelled programmable Shop Vac.)

It is making its way toward the globe (away from you), slowly running on two triangular tread mechanisms, and vacuuming the corridor as it goes. It does not appear to notice you.

What do you do?

[spanningtree]

Ringar:

Um... maybe we assume its working its way down, level wise. Maybe we check the level above this one and come back after a few minutes? Before it sees us?

[ybn1197]

"I agree," Maddox says.

[Jernau35]

Jrec

Jrec is just starting to reach for his shotgun when Ringar speaks up. He nods. "Very cunning. I like it. Let's go".

On the way up to the next level, Jrec poses a question: "If that thing is working it's way up from the bottom, or we meet another one, is there a way we can disable it quietly?"

[spanningtree]

Ringar:

Not sure, not well versed with robots... but we need to assume that was not the only one. There has to be some kind of security here, what if one of the creatures in the holding cells get out?

[ybn1197]

Maddox shakes his head. "I know nothing about robotics. I think I would do more damage than good if I were even to try."

[SpinwardMarch]

So you decide to skip checking Globe No. 10, for the time being, and let the Janitor Bot finish its tasks. It looks unarmed except for its cleaning attachments.

So far, this is the only moving thing you have seen outside a globe, and you haven't seen any living staff.

You all get back in the elevator pod and ride up to the next level without difficulty.

The doors open onto the passage to Globe No. 9, and you see a sign that says "Docking Bay." It looks like this globe might allow for underwater docking of a submersible! Do you explore it, or continue up to the next globe?

What do you do?

[spanningtree]

Ringar:

Explores the docking bay.

OCC: Does Ringar recall if the dub that brought them here is able to dock underwater?

[ffilz]

Ringar:

Explores the docking bay.

OCC: Does Ringar recall if the dub that brought them here is able to dock underwater?

I had asked about docking capability way back at the beginning. We didn't really get an answer.

[Jernau35]

Jrec

Jrec stays in the doorway for now. He's convinced there has to be some kind of alarm in here. He also keeps an ear cocked for the sound of the elevator in case the cleaning robot (or something else) shows up.