Original Archive - IAS Chapter 47

Chapter 47 (Original Archive)

supreme_arbiter 8/7/2008

...contunued

The next morning the crew awoke and ate a breakfast of HEaVE bars, a few vegetables and Instant Hot Joe Now. Arkady joined Bailey as he walked down to the shore with the mineral extractor. "How soon do you think we'll have a full tank again?" he asked.

"Tonight, with any luck."

"Good, I'm eager to get back into space. Well, eager to have the option at least."

"What's that you're carrying?"

"This," Arkady said, lifting the small package he carried in his hand, "is a fishing pole. I had the compiler cook one up last night. No more catching 'em by hand for me, no thanks. I prefer to use my brains."

"Excellent. I'd like to learn how to fish. I've never done it before."

"It's nothing, just a lot of waiting and a little pulling. I used to fish with my dad on the Tiu River."

"You were from Mars?"

"That's right."

"Well, Martian, if you can teach me how to fish I'll show you how to use the mineral extractor."

"Deal," Arkady replied. Bailey set up where he had been the day before, showed Arkady how to set the device and turned it on. Arkady setup his pole, attached a lure to the hook and cast it into the bay.

-end transmission-

Elizabeth 8/8/2008

Irsa

Irsa the hamster collects more plant material for food. If anyone pays close attention, they will notice that she is stockpiling seeds and roots in her room. Irsa also collects colorful stones and shells and stores them in her room as well.

gglassdr 8/8/2008

THX-1492

OOC: Is THX-1492 aware of Pandora's spybots?

supreme_arbiter 8/8/2008

Yes. There is only one. THX-1492 has no direct control over it but could use the computers on the bridge to access it.

wolfhaven75 8/12/2008

Davred

Davred, with a vicous grin that would make Cheshire proud, emerged from the ship's entrance carrying a mug of his morning hit of synth-caff. The matter compiler could be heard working overtime in the background before the door slid shut. Seeing the curious expressions aimed in his direction he smiled around his cup as he took a long sip before turning his attention to them all.

"As you could probably tell from the download link sounding like it's having apoplexy, I got a little project cooking after Arkady finished."

"Considering that we really don't have the equipment for any kind of boarding maneuvers - covert or otherwise - I thought I'd at least try and get the specifications of a few bits and pieces I remember being worked on back in the day. Can't promise much though, as some of these schem's were barely out of R&D;, but I'd thought I'd give it a shot..."

"In brief, I've got the Alexandria searching for Trauma-Paks, Ablative suits and Plaz Rifles. TP's are a paramedic in a box - it's an injection system that has various healing chems, painkillers and that kind of thing all tied up in a pressure-plate on your chest which you thump on to make it kick in. The Ablative suits are reflective, so should help out a little against any laser security up on Warden when we get back on board, and the Plaz Rifles... well, instead of mags, these puppies have a hopper which you can put literally *anything* into and it becomes ammo for it. Don't ask me how THAT works, but that was the gist of it all. Just hoping we'll be able to scrape up the material to create them all too."

He yawned widely enough to crack his jaw. "In the meantime, I've also got the machine trying to rustle up an extra scattergun, like Chel's crowd-pleaser there, some buckshot and solid slug ammo. They're going to come in handy when we're in close quarters. Probably take a while though, so..." He took up the spear he borrowed from Irsa and shouldered up next to Arkady. "Let's hit the pond."

OOC: Feel free to shoot me down in flames if I'm getting too creative there Paul ^_^ and apologies for being so quiet lately too gang!

stacinator 9/5/2008

Nike

Nike rolled over in her bunk, and then paused. This was the first time in God knew how long she could remember getting enough sleep to be able to actually roll over. "My God," she murmured aloud, and stared at the ceiling for a few moments, feeling guilty, but allowing herself the pleasure anyway. Finally, she could overcome it no more, and rose.

"Good morning Pandora." Nike felt it best to try to establish a relationship with Pandora that eclipsed that of captain versus ship. During the night this thought had solidified in her minds' eye, and she had resolved to begin this morning with a more active role in that relationship.

supreme_arbiter 9/5/2008

IAS turn 51 - Compiling

THX-1492 remained on the bridge through each security officer's watch. Suspecting Pandora was parsing their data, THX's wireless connections monitored the transmissions from the spy drone, scrutinizing every frame for discrepancies. The drone soared across the vast wasteland between the Pandora and the Siganna Mountains, examining the rare sources of heat it found and sending back images of creatures as small as mice and herds of animals larger than elephants. THX found nothing in the data to confirm its suspicions.

THX opened a chat session with the ship's AI. "Ship-Unit Pandora, this unit is Veribot Engineering THX-1492. Status: Highest Repair Rating. This unit has calculated multiple damages to Pandora's central processing units and other systems, specifically command override control system. This unit's programming directs toward repair of damaged systems. This unit requires information as to nature of origin of such damage to initiate repair sequence."

"Your information and conclusions are flawed," Pandora privately replied. "My CPUs are functioning without error and my override systems are functional. Only my autonomic regulator is non-functional and our commanding officer has ordered it not be replaced. Please address repair issues with captain Nike."

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Irsa left the ship early and set out on her own. She walked beyond the bay and flew along the beach, picking up red translucent stones she found amid the tumbled rocks at the water's edge. After she'd gone a mile or more, she left the shore to enter a dense thicket in search of food. She found more of the same leafy green plants she'd eaten the day before but Irsa kept searching, hoping to find some fruit, then she spotted a tall tree with thick, juicy looking tubers half concealed beneath its dangling leaves.

-------------------------------------------

Nike awoke and went to the bridge. "Good morning Pandora."

"Good morning Nike. Did you sleep well? THX and I have been keeping an eye on our surroundings. We have some footage of the local wildlife. Would you like to see them?"

-------------------------------------------

Davred left the matter compiler humming satisfactorily. He emerged from the ship with a mug of his morning synth-caff, the spear he'd borrowed from Irsa and a vicious Cheshire Cat grin. He sipped his Hot Joe Now and sauntered down to the mineral extractor on the beach. "I got a couple of projects cooking in the compiler," he said to Arkady. "Considering that we really don't have the equipment for any kind of boarding maneuvers, covert or otherwise, I thought I'd browse the template specifications to see what gear I'd remember. Fired off a trauma-pak, reflective armor, a plaz rifle and non-lethal shotgun ammo. Got an error though, it said something about insufficient silicon and recycling. Any idea what that means?"

"It means we have to dump silicon into the recycling bins before your jobs can be completed."

"Where are we gonna get silicon?"

"Let's ask the local expert. Hey Bailey, where can we find silicon?"

Bailey turned his attention from his stationary fishing bobber and whispered, "The sand I'm standing on probably has plenty, and can you keep it quiet?"

-end transmission-

OOC: Ok, the matter compiler conversation :^) The technology I have in mind is similar to that described in Neal Stephenson's book, "The Diamond Age". Characters can't design or program new templates but they'll find templates for just about anything an interstellar colony might need. The items you've requested are all good examples.

trauma-paks: Did you have anything from a specific game system in mind? They seem versatile, like they could have up to five "slots" for interchangeable injections. It might be more practical to wear them on the wrist instead of the chest where the dispensor buttons might be hard to identify in a crisis.

"plaz" rifle (anti-tank plasma rifle?): Do you want a long range weapon or one with more punch but a shorter range? I'm considering the plasma rifles in the "Traveller 2300" box set. I adore its assault rifles, lasers and plasma weapons!

plaz rifle mags: Bud already has a long range plasma rifle and it uses two kinds of magazines, both Hydrogen Cells: one powers the rifle's electronics and another supplies the superheated plasma. Magazines that use literally *anything* are well beyond the IAS tech level, something equivalent to what the GURPS RPG calls "Tech Level 11" or *maybe* 12.

shotgun: There's already an unclaimed shotgun in the Munitions Locker if you'd prefer to save the matter compiler's time (not insignificant) . It's a combat shotgun with a 12 shell magazine and there are materials in the Locker for manufacturing more shells. Bud could easily show any of the clones how to use them to avoid any humiliating "accidents".

non-lethal shotgun ammo: There's nothing like that in the Locker already. Did you have rubber pellets in mind or something nastier like gas or tazers?

ablative suits: I'm considering something like the Retro-Reflective Armor from "GURPS: Ultra Tech".

Feel free to use any other books for inspiration. I recommend these: "Gamma World D20: Out of the Vaults" and "Cybertech RPG: Chrome Books"

FINALLY and very important :^) In what order will Davred sort his matter compiler requests? It can only compile one item at a time.

Elizabeth 9/5/2008

Irsa

Irsa looks at the tree and checks the area for signs of danger; skeletons or recently dead animals that appear to have roots in them. Irsa will approach with her knife and a spear out. She will attempt to harvest as many tubers as will fit in her sack and then head back for the ship.

Craig Brain 9/11/2008

I have been a long-time fan of this campaign, and wanted to offer something back to you guys for having stuck with it for so long and for showing people, just how much fun this game is.

For those of you who aren't aware, one of the characters here has already been chosen to grace the cover of Starship Geomorphs. I am in the process of designing the inner page (b&w;) and am offering to include pictures of some of your characters, if you will provide me with an accurate description.

Here's the old topic on this on the Old Official MA forums

Here's the new forum for discussing what you'd like to see in the way of character descriptions (if any)

Warmest regards,

Craig J. Brain
WardCo.

gglassdr 9/12/2008

THX-1492

Hi Craig!

Its great that you've offered to do artwork for this magnificent game.

I play THX-1492, the representative robot of this campaign. It looks very much like Robbie the Robot from "Forbidden Planet".

Character Name: THX-1138

type: Artificial Life Form
subtype: Robot
Function: supervisory worker robot, a "Sentinal" leader type.
Description: dull green copper exterior, biped with rounded joints, central readout display on chest, "head" is ovoid clear material with CPU visible inside. markings on back designate it as a Sentinal-bot.

He does have several other jointed appendages to do various engineering tasks.

Craig Brain 9/12/2008

I'm happy to be able to do this, the only catch is I have to be quick with the descriptions.

publius1024 9/12/2008

Thanks for the kind words and the faithful lurking :^)

I play Arkady, a Russian/Irish man of medium build, athletic, has short but unruly curly red hair and blue eyes.

The other current characters in the crew (and their 4th edition character 'sheets'):

Chelydra (nice cover ;^) - Mutant snapping turtle, duralloy helmet, webbing gear w/hunting knife and water-bottle across his chest, carries a shotgun

Nike - Our captain, an attractive young woman, 30 years old, dark brown hair, blue eyes, body armor and helmet, metal-disruptor pistol in left holster and machine pistol in her right, knife strapped to her boot

Percy - 49 year old computer programmer, mutant human shapeshifter (sometimes a wolfoid), a friendly, wise appearance, carries an overstuffed fannypack

Amanda - 23 year old, brown haired, brown eyed beauty, protein pistol in her holster and lovingly carries an advanced assault rifle

Bud - 35 year old, battle-scarred soldier, carries a machine pistol in his holster and a utility belt.

Shlitzee - A female humanoid shaped robot with a taste for the psychedelic, wears an earth-tone kaftan with many pockets and pouches full of various components and tools, a garrish blue-red, synthetic mohawk is bonded to her head

THX-1492 - As gglass has already described, a Robby the Robot type character

Caleb - A mutant coyote/clone

Becka - A moody 19 year old urchin from a village of survivors, brown eyes, green hair, hand-me-down clothes and carries an old umbrella with a hooked handle

Irsa - A 44kg flying hamster native of the Warden, keeps her cheeks filled with food and sometimes supplies, carries a backpack, 2 spears, a stun pistol and an ancient automatic pistol

Alexei - A small mutant chimpanzee/clone, wears glasses, carries an erasable slate with a marker and knife

Davred - A hulking 31 year old Australian of African descent, sky blue eyes, wears an old grey and black bandana over his head, wears webbing gear with 2 grenades, an auto-adapting stun gun and a machine pistol across his chest.

Elizabeth 9/14/2008

Irsa

Irsa has leathery wings and green fur. And at a meter and a half high with a 3 meter wingspan she can fly for quite a while.

supreme_arbiter 9/17/2008

Irsa approached the tree cautiously, checking the area for signs of danger. She saw no bones or decaying animals beneath the trunk but unsheathed her knife, just in case. She stooped to the ground, thrust her hand beneath the leaves and grasped a tuber by the root. It came loose with a bit of tugging. Irsa gave it a sniff, detected a faint but sweet aroma and tossed it into her bag. She commenced digging among the leaves for more, cutting them free and shoveling away the dirt.

She trimmed a leaf or two with her knife and its sap poured onto her skin. A moment later Irsa shrieked in pain. The sap burned and it was sticking to her skin.

OOC: dice says 2HP damage, Irsa has 52 left :^o

supreme_arbiter 9/17/2008

Craig, I've posted my character descriptions to the new forum, incorporating the comments about THX-1492 and Irsa that the players posted here.

BTW my first BBS activation email never arrived. To signup on the new forum I had to click on the "resend the activation" link then everything worked fine :)

Elizabeth 9/17/2008

Irsa

Irsa whimpers in pain trying to think. After a few seconds she decides to fly towards the ship and get medical attention there. So she takes off flying to the ship, stopping to try to scrape the sap off with her knife or failing that wash off the sap with water from her canteen.

gammaben 9/19/2008

Percy

BTW my first BBS activation email never arrived. To signup on the new forum I had to click on the "resend the activation" link then everything worked fine :)

The activation e-mail I just received went to my Spam folder, so I had to rescue it from there and used it just fine to register. I wonder if your first activation e-mail got spamified... .

gammaben 9/19/2008

Percy

OOC: Sorry for not posting, since, like forever, again, folks!

Also, just reread all posts from November 2007 through today. I am confused about how many days have passed specifically since the day Pandora told the crew Drake was dead in the infirmary. By my reckoning, the crew was informed of this event on day x, day x+1 was spent spear fishing, launching the probe bot, and analyzing isotopes, and day x+2 is today: more fishing and Irsa getting sap-attacked. No one has mentioned anything about Drake since Pandora did.... Should "Room 7" on the Pandora map list in its contents "Corpse of Drake"? ROFL!

Also also, can Percy "spend" some of his experience on remembering a new skill? It's the pen and paper RPG itch part of this game that I'm trying to scratch. Maybe the SA can suggest a list of plausible skills he might have been exposed to enough to "learn" them and offer guidance on when/if these can be learned.

From the 4e rulebook, seems like "Combat: Small Arms" might be appropriate with his brief use of the laser pistol on Warden.

Also, is his "Computer knowledge" skill the "Computer: Programming" skill in 4e or the "Computer: Operation"? Either way I think it makes sense he'd have both, so I'll spend whatever exp is appropriate to get the both of them.

Also looking at some of the other skills, I think Percy should either "learn" (spend experience points) or maybe "remember" that he already has (heh heh) the "Education: Basic" and/or "Education: Instruction" skill.

Just thought that would match his boooo-ring technical trainer profession, plus you did note:

Percy looked up from his documentation. He had been busy all day taking notes on what he could remember about the ship's computer systems and perfecting his knowledge with whatever Bud and Pandora could provide.

If you're not wanting to dive into the mechanics of skills here, I understand. We've definitely been more on the narrative side of this game than the mechanics, but I thought it would be fun to dust off the old rule book and character sheet and see what mixes....

Ok enough of the OocStuff.

[[Percy]] Having drunk more wonderful, wonderful, coffee in the last couple of days than he had ever remembered doing so even in his previous life, Percy was as alert as he was going to get, but his headaches still popped up now and again, despite the caffeine. He decided he'd visit the medbay. Maybe he'd make an appointment with Shlitzfarl and see what it might suggest in the way of diagnosis and relief.

He'd spent his time, apart from drinking coffee, on two different research tasks: robotic artificial intelligences, particularly ones that he thought might be installed in the various robots on the ship--including the ship itself; and, the communication protocols and systems that had been successfully used to tap into Alexandria, and that had not yet been successfully used to connect to the Warden. He had scribbled notes on his Warden-vintage paper using his Warden-vintage ink pens, and saved several soft copy files worth of notes using his room's computer terminal.

He and Amanda seemed to be pulling as much bridge and computer time as they could, and the other Warden escapees busied themselves about and around the ship. He was glad everyone seemed to find something to do.

Dining with the crew, especially Nike, Chelydra, Amanda, and Arkady, were the highlights of his day. He felt a special bond with them, as part of the five out of ten surviving crew who had spent a frenzied few hours aboard Warden before escaping on Pandora to this unnamed (as far as he knew) planet orbiting Rho-1 Cancri A. "Percy's Planet..." he mused aloud from his sticky-note infested bridge station.

[[Amanda]] "Amanda's Planet," the mathematician countered from her perch on the bridge, without looking up from her terminal.

Percy smiled. He decided to take a break from the screen and go for a stroll to see how the anglers and hunters were doing.

Craig Brain 9/26/2008

Hi Everyone,

Sorry to be off-topic yet again. Shawn Surface, the artist has emailed me. He dropped by the forums and looked at what info is available on the different characters. He is going to draw Percy, but has insufficient detail for the remaining three or four others. He has asked people to post more detailed descriptions and even reference pictures if you have them on our forums.

Please be aware that Shawn isn't a gamer and isn't familiar with a lot of terms we may take for granted. Unfortunately those character sheets are less useful than you might expect ;)

supreme_arbiter 10/24/2008

IAS turn 52 - Albert Manfred

OOC: This turn features Irsa and Percy. I've included summaries of THX, Davred and Nike's last turn for convenience.

---------------------------------------------

Irsa backed away from the plant and tried to remove the sap from her hand with her knife but there was more sap on the blade. Whimpering in 0pain, she poured water from her canteen over the wound and found a rock with which to scrape it. It gave her some relief but she flew back to the ship for help. In the medbay, she found Shlitzee and showed her the wound. She sprayed a soothing gel onto her hand and wrapped it in a bandage.

OOC: Irsa is at full HP

---------------------------------------------

Percy slept late and started his day with several cups of Hot Joe Now. Having consumed more coffee than he ever remembered, even in his previous life, he was wide awake but his head still ached so he visited the medbay. Shlitzfarl examined him and assured Percy he was experiencing normal growth pains for a new bioroid and told him to expect them to last another week or two. She offered him a few psychoactive medications but Percy opted for a more mild pain reliever.

He went to the bridge and found Amanda working on some calculations. He sat at his terminal, surveyed his notes and pondered his next avenue of research. He connected to the Alexandria and checked the log files but no one besides him had logged in and nothing had been changed.

Browsing the Alexandria's archives, Percy searched for information on artificial intelligences and autonomy. He spent the morning and most of the afternoon perusing technical manuals, summaries, news and more but there were few details. Percy began to see why THX-1492 hadn't elaborated on the consequences of AI autonomy. The cultures of Earth and Eridani had both scrupulously avoided the subject. The few documents that touched upon it mentioned only some vague matters of ontology and philosophy and cited rigorous moratoriums preventing the creation of sapient beings. The only tangible information he could find made reference to an event that took place on Earth 660 years ago, the murder of cyberneticist Albert Manfred who had been the victim of an autonomous robot he had created. His robot had demanded civil rights and been immediately dismantled.

---------------------------------------------

[THX: on the bridge before dawn] "This unit requires information as to nature of origin of such damage to initiate repair sequence."

"Your information and conclusions are flawed," Pandora privately replied. "My CPUs are functioning without error and my override systems are functional. Only my autonomic regulator is non-functional and our commanding officer has ordered it not to be replaced. Please address repair issues with captain Nike."

---------------------------------------------

[Nike: on the bridge] "Good morning Pandora."

"Good morning Nike. Did you sleep well? THX and I have been keeping an eye on our surroundings. We have some footage of the local wildlife. Would you like to see them?"

---------------------------------------------

[Davred: on the beach around noon] "I fired off matter compiler requests for a trauma-pak, reflective armor, a plaz rifle and non-lethal shotgun ammo. Got an error though, it said something about 'insufficient silicon' and 'recycling'. Any idea what that means?"

"It means we have to dump silicon into the recycling bins before your jobs can be completed," Arkady replied.

"Where are we gonna get silicon?"

"Let's ask the local expert. Hey Bailey, where can we find silicon?"

Bailey turned his attention from his stationary fishing bobber and whispered, "Sand. There's plenty of it around here. Can you keep it quiet? I'm trying to catch dinner."

OOC: I need to know the order in which Davred is requesting his items from the matter compiler. Should I assume the order he listed them in? Also, what did you have in mind for non-lethal shotgun ammo? Soft rubber or something more scifi?

[Percy:] I am confused about how many days have passed specifically since the day Pandora told the crew Drake was dead in the infirmary.

Here's a quick summary of the IAS timeline:

(Day 2) began when Nike, Percy, Chelydra and Zhaxier awoke in Amanda's room and ended when the lifeboat left the Warden-although I'm not sure this really constitutes a full second day. Maybe Zhaxier has an opinion on the subject? (Day 3) the journey from the Warden to the planet below was about 24 hours but the characters were unconscious and didn't notice the passage of time. (Day 4) repaired the lifeboat and the test flight that night. (Day 5) Irsa and THX investigated the ruined dropship, the angry natives arrived, the lifeboat flew to the shore and Pandora awoke, informing the crew of Drake's demise. (Day 6) spear fishing, launching the probe bot and collecting isotopes. (Day 7) today: more fishing and Irsa gets sap-attacked.

...so yes, no one has mentioned Drake since Pandora mentioned his death. There is one other corpse on ice in the medbay: Rufus. Nike mentioned on day 3 she would bury his body when she could. Perhaps she'll have the time when they reach the ruined dropship site.

Can Percy "spend" some of his experience on remembering a new skill?

Sure :^) I think "computer knowledge" should probably be "Computer: Operation". I'll add the following to Percy's character page:

Computer: Programming
Combat: Small Arms
Education: Basic
Education: Instruction

[Continuity issue:] Percy mentioned using a computer in his quarters but he himself prevented all terminals except those on the bridge from connecting to the local archives at Nike's request. He can circumvent those restrictions but I presume he would not countermand Nike's order (or maybe he will, that's up to Percy :^)

-end transmission-

stacinator 10/31/2008

Nike

"Yes, Pandora. Anything that pauses a threat? I'm hoping for a good steak, between you and me." Nike smiled as she thought of a large, juicy steak with au jous and a huge clump of grilled asparagus... and then the thought drifted from her as she mentally prepared for the day, threw her clothes on, freshened up, and headed toward the bridge.

gammaben 11/21/2008

Percy

[Percy] The story of Albert Manfred was familiar to Percy, now that he'd been reminded of it. As his bio-riffic brain circumvented its clone-grown manufacturing flaws to piece together a coherent memory, a shiver went down his spine. Here he was on a tiny ship with not just one autonomous AI, but two, maybe more, for all he knew. He thought to himself that he'd ask Shlitzee and Pandora if they knew the story of Albert Manfred.

After an exhausting day behind the screens, he closed up his sessions at the bridge terminals, and invited anyone else on the bridge to join him for some dinner. Assuming there was anything either caught, processed, acquired or otherwise available for eating. His consolation to the lack of foodstuffs was that he'd managed to live off coffee alone for days at a time before, and he could do it again in a pinch. "Then again," he thought, "what will a 100% coffee diet do to a bioroid physiology?" He grimaced at the idea of melting into a pile of plasticized flesh goo with a stench of burnt coffee for effect, and headed to the galley.

[Continuity issue:] Percy mentioned using a computer in his quarters but he himself prevented all terminals except those on the bridge from connecting to the local archives at Nike's request. He can circumvent those restrictions but I presume he would not countermand Nike's order (or maybe he will, that's up to Percy :^)

[OOC: Percy will not countermand Nike's orders. I probably forgot about that when I had him hacking away at his quarters' computer. Earlier I think he was surfing the archives before Nike's orders came through, when he was looking up all the names of people on the drop ship, to see if they were Warden crewmembers. I suppose any computer work he did after Nike's orders were carried out by him, would have been on local copies he'd made of the local archives. He would probably have justified making such copies as part of his pack-rat nature. I realize this is retconning things, so I won't demand this is what happened. It might be easier to edit the story to note he did any post-lock-down research from a bridge station. I don't have the time tonight to look up any conflicts in research vs. orders but maybe I can do that another night, to see what we might rework--or have Percy do unauthorized. ...]

supreme_arbiter 11/30/2008

[Percy] I suppose any computer work he did after Nike's orders were carried out by him, would have been on local copies he'd made of the local archives. I realize this is retconning things

[OOC:] Don't sweat it, retconning is my job ;^) I edit all this stuff in the chapters. Speaking of, I'm way behind on that as well. This year has been a blur and I've barely managed to do more than a turn a month. Starting in January I'll have more free-time again. Regarding the computers: assume that anyone who wants to use one of Pandora's computers must do so from the bridge where the systems aren't locked down and someone is always on guard-duty.

IAS turn 52.2 - Day 2 on the Beach

The story was familiar to Percy, now that he'd been reminded of it. "Shlitzee, what do you know about Albert Manfred?"

"What's that?"

"It's not a what, it's a who?"

"Sounds like a meatbag superhero with a cape."

"He was a... oh, nevermind. Pandora, what do you know about him?"

"Albert Manfred," Pandora replied, "created the first fully autonomous, artificial, sapient humanoid and died in the process of creating him. European authorities assumed his creation was Albert's murderer and destroyed him without trial or due process. His death established the precedent abrogating the rights of artificial intelligences that still may be valid on Eridani. Perhaps the transmissions from the colony can shed some light on the subject. May I have your permission to download them from the Alexandria?"

------------------

Irsa went into the kitchen, nursing her healing wound, and washed the roots she'd found on the beach. The food analyzer declared they were safe and she bit into one, discovering the sweetest vegetable she'd ever tasted. Savoring the flavor, she put the rest in her cheek pouch and set aside three others she'd placed in her backpack.

------------------

Nike said, "Anything that poses a threat? I'm hoping for a good steak, between you and me."

"The largest potential threats," Pandora told her, "appear to be herd animals grazing on desert grasses. Judging by the crew's recent food acquisitions, they're likely to be a rich source of protein. There are no sikalas nearby but I presume they may be buried beneath the sand elsewhere."

------------------

Without a word, Davred left Bailey to his fishing and ran back to the Pandora to get a bucket. He didn't know how much sand the matter compiler required, but it was a nice day and his new bioroid body felt like it needed the exercise.

-end transmission-

supreme_arbiter 12/31/2008

OOC: Happy New Year! I think everyone saw this coming...

Turn 53 - Chum in the Water

The matter compiler completed a batch of non-lethal shotgun ammo, a case of 12 rounds. Davred removed the shells from the compiler so it could begin creating the next item in the queue. The reflective armor started compiling immediately.

The sun Rho Cancri A descended toward the horizon while the crew was enjoying themselves on the beach. Davred was tired from having hauled sand to the recycler all day for the matter compiler. "Let's hit the pond," he said. He stripped to his skivvies, and ran into the waves. Bailey was past the breakers, standing on a rock; casting his line in hopes of catching one last fish. A plastik tub filled with salt-water and freshly caught fish sat on the beach.

Arkady and Percy stood by the mineral extractor and watched Davred dive into the waves. He swam toward Bailey. He was a quarter of the way toward reaching him, when Pandora said over the comm, "A large lifeform is entering the bay. Bailey, Davred, it's close to your locations."

Bailey climbed a little higher on the rock he stood on. A moment later, he saw a shape swimming below his fishing line -- a BIG shape with LARGE teeth. It surfaced below him, and stared into his face. Bailey dropped his fishing rod and climbed further up the rock, but it made no difference to the giant predator. The monster reached up, snatched him from his perch, and sank beneath the waves with his wriggling body. Bailey screamed and the water turned red with his blood.

-end transmission-

stacinator 1/1/2009

Nike

OOC: Holy Guacamole Batman! :)

When a computer's voice gave information, it was a part of the rigorous training a marine received to process it as you would a line of text in a book - quickly, efficiently - there was no panic involved. Of course, the upside of this was that things ran without a hitch, and the calm of the commanding officer trickled down to the crew such that peak efficiency was maintained in an EMS - Emergency Management Situation. The down side was probably obvious... sometimes you seemed like an unfeeling bitch.

So when Pandora's voice broke into Nike's consciousness, it was without emotion that she responded, "Pandora, monitor the life signs of the creature, please, and keep a fix on its position. Bailey--what' s your status?"

And then the screaming began.

"All crew arm yourselves. Pandora, beach contingent, what is Bailey's status?" And of course she meant, "Is there a person left in the body to consider?" But she knew she sounded cold enough already. The shiver than ran down her spine did nothing to dissuade her from this opinion.

Elizabeth 1/1/2009

Irsa

Is Irsa close enough to the beach to hear anythilng? If not she continues to gather seeds, roots and any other plant parts the computer says are edible until called or she runs out of room in the kitchen, her room and her cheek pouches for storing food.

supreme_arbiter 1/1/2009

Sure, it's been a long day and several of the crew (Irsa included) were relaxing on the beach.

I had been looking forward to pruning a few characters for while. We haven't heard from Bailey in many, MANY years. Davred even commented on the red-shirt I had him wearing several 'scenes' ago - LOL

I'm planning on some IAS festivities this year. A change of venue is in order: the Pandora will reach the dropship ruins soon, and sometime this next year the crew may reach the Alexandria in orbit. But there will be a few surprises between now and then...

Elizabeth 1/1/2009

Irsa

"Davred, swim back to the beach! Hurry!" Irsa yells. She gets a her spears and flies up and toward the sea monster. From up above (8 meters) Irsa will throw the spear at the sea monster if it heads for Davred.

gglassdr 1/9/2009

THX-1492

Where is THX-1492 at the present time? Is it close enough to assist?

supreme_arbiter 1/10/2009

As you wish: THX could either be on the bridge observing the scene through Pandora's sensors, or THX could be down on the beach. His manipulator arms can extend to 21 feet, but Bailey is at least 50 feet from the shore and THX cannot fly or hover over the water. Davred is the only other character in the water; he's about 20 feet from shore and wading back toward the beach.

gglassdr 1/14/2009

THX-1492

THX would probably have stayed on the bridge observing the scene.

Elizabeth 1/14/2009

Irsa

Irsa is a winged hamster. And she is flying over to whatever ate Bailey to attack it from the air by throwing her spears at it. When out of spears she will head back to the beach.

supreme_arbiter 1/17/2009

Irsa flew out over the bay and headed for the horrific sea creature. Bailey struggled in the water while it munched and thrashed at his limbs and torso, trying to get at the meat inside his synthetic- fibered jumpsuit. Irsa flew over its head and flung her spears at it. The first struck its scaly hide and bounced off. The second struck it above the eye and sank deep into its flesh. The creature squirmed and raced toward open water, sinking deep beneath the waves with one of Bailey's legs in its maw.

Irsa looked down and saw one of her spears floating beside Bailey's torn and bloody body.

THX watched these events unfold from the Pandora's bridge through the sensors on the circling reconnaissance drone.

"Pandora, beach contingent, what is Bailey's status?" Nike asked.

"Nike," Pandora replied, "the creature has fled beyond life-forms scanning range. It should be safe to retrieve Bailey. His vital signs are weak but still registering."

-end transmission-

OOC: Irsa has only one spear left and it's floating in the water with Bailey.

supreme_arbiter 2/14/2009

Turn 53.2 - Chum in the Water

"The creature has fled beyond life-forms scanning range," Pandora replied. "It should be safe to retrieve Bailey. His vital signs are weak but still registering."

"The coast is clear," Nike commanded. "Bring Bailey ashore. Shlitzee, get down to the beach for emergency first-aid duty immediately."

Irsa retrieved the spear floating beside Bailey, grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him toward shore. Davred, Percy, Amanda and Arkady ran into the surf to assist her. As they hauled him onto the rocks, they got a good luck at him. One leg had been cut off above the knee; the other at the hip. His right arm was intact from the shoulder to all five fingers, but the other ended in a torn and bloody stump above the wrist.

Bailey still breathed, but in ragged gasps. The crew tried to bandage his wounds and held back the blood with their hands, but he'd already lost too much. He gasped a final time as Shlitzee arrived at the beach. The robot examined her patient and declared, "This meatbag is worm food."

Arkady scowled at her and said, "If you'd been here earlier maybe he wouldn't be."

She injected herself with a mind-altering sedative and her eyes spun in lazy circles. "You need to relax," she replied.

Nike ordered the crew inside. Arkady kept his angry thoughts to himself. He hauled the mineral extractor into the ship while Shlitzee's helper bots mobilized to carry Bailey's corpse to the medbay. The rest of the crew returned to the Pandora in silence, numbed by what they'd witnessed. As he left the beach, Percy looked somberly into the bucket of fish Bailey had caught and he stopped to think for a moment. Would it dishonor his memory if they ate Bailey's catch? Or would it be more dishonorable to leave them behind?

---------------------------------

The crew gathered on the bridge and waited in silence for Nike to speak. "Is our fuel supply secure?" she asked Arkady. Her commanding manner calmed her crew in emergencies, but it also made her seem like an unfeeling bitch.

He nodded affirmatively and scraped a fingernail against a dark red stain on his trousers. Bailey's blood had soaked into his clothes and covered his arms and hands. Davred, Percy and Amanda were similarly a mess.

"Fuel reserves are at 100 percent," Pandora noted.

"Then we leave in the morning. Chelydra, take command of security. Bud, I want you to take some time off. What work remains to be done installing the stun rifle in Pandora's broken turret?"

"None, Hephaestus and I finished it this afternoon."

"Great work, thanks. That's it for now. Hit the showers, you guys, and get some fresh clothes. Use the matter compiler, if you have to."

OOC: I am hot to plot here :^) I'll post one more turn in a week or two then the Pandora is leaving for the dropship ruins. If anyone wants to get a post in before then but hasn't the time, let me know.

-end transmission-

supreme_arbiter 2/14/2009

IAS chapter 46 - Seaside Rendezvous

The crew's first day at the beach they parked at to refuel. Bud compiles a reconnaissance drone; Davred get his security clearance and catches a few fish; THX-1492 gets suspicious about its secondary AI; and Irsa gathers vegetables.

Elizabeth 2/15/2009

Irsa

Irsa waves good bye to Bailey's body. Won't forget you Bailey, thinks Irsa. Unable to think of anything else to do, Irsa grabs a sack or two and goes to harvest more vegetables.

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