Original Archive - IAS Chapter 30

Percy sat at a computer terminal, silently writing Post-It notes and sticking them around the monitor. "You're gonna run out of those. They're probably antiques now," he said as [Arkady] gave Percy the food.

"Alright: chow, baby!" the droopy-eyed technically oriented Warden crewman cheered.

"Ciao, baby? I just got here, don't say goodbye already!" The pilot's humor was dry; it matched the air of the planet they'd landed on.

"Ha ha!" Percy scarfed down the food. "Everything on Warden is an antique," he said, barely intelligible with a mouth full. "We'll just go back and get some more if I run out." He stopped chewing, thought about what he'd just said a moment, and started chewing again, this time more slowly. "Do you think we'll ever go back to Warden? Or was this a one-way trip?" It was more rhetorical than anything. But he wasn't ready to give up on Warden. "I know, I know, first things first, save this ship, then save the mothership. Right."

After several minutes the sound of Terminus' tap-ta-tap-tapping began again. It gradually got louder. Soon the robot emerged from the depths of the reactor. "Reactor repairs... Complete," it intoned. "Please test, warm engines..."

Arkady looked at the clock on Percy's computer screen. Five hours had passed since Nike had told them she was taking a nap. "Radio on. Nike, this is your wake up call. Are you awake? It's me, Arkady. The reactor repairs are complete and we're ready to test the engines. If we can lift the ship and set it down on level ground, we should consider moving our guests to the cockpit where they'll be safely seated and we can keep an eye on them."

Percy nodded his head approvingly. He smiled at the surround sound broadcast he was receiving. "I wonder if we can send just a one-way transmission. You know I love hearing you talk in my head, but what if you wanted to whisper sweet nothings or something?" Percy was oblivious to Arkady's feelings; it was just an example. So he didn't wait for any kind of reaction from Arkady as he wasn't expecting any.

[Amanda] "Ah, hi folks. I just woke up a few minutes ago. Any word on our plans for the daycycle?" [Nike] "Roger that," Nike said, her mind swiftly coming to an alert state. "Meet you in the mess in five minutes to discuss ship operations."

Percy swallowed a bite, then waved to Arkady to get his attention. "I'll meet you in the chow room in a bit, Arkady. I'm going to query something on the computer first." After Arkady departed for the mess hall, Percy asked the computer for full instructions on how to use their built-in radios, including one-way transmissions, any kind of off-switch, the whole schematic.

[later]

Nike entered the room. Percy, Arkady, Bud and Bailey had already arrived. At last, all the ship's occupants were together: Horatio and his students, the clones and the two recently thawed Warden crewmates.

"Thank you all for coming. First item on the agenda," Percy said before anyone else could take control of the conversation, "is radios!"

[OOC: Percy explains what he learned from the ship's computer about the radios, assuming he had discovered anything. He also plans to order up at least one new one for Horatio if not his students, too. Otherwise, he just smiles and re-introduces himself without too much distraction.]

publius1024 6/3/2005

Arkady

"Do you think we'll ever go back to Warden? Or was this a one-way trip?"

"I sure hope so," Arkady replied.

"I wonder if we can send just a one-way transmission. You know I love hearing you talk in my head, but what if you wanted to whisper sweet nothings or something?"

Arkady just smiled. He naturally assumed Percy's comment was directed over the comm device to Nike or Amanda.

supreme_arbiter 6/7/2005

"Thank you all for coming. First item on the agenda," Percy said before anyone else could take control of the conversation, "is radios!"

Horatio, the students, the clones, Bud and Bailey all gave Percy their attention.

"I got a lot of information about them from the computers, they're very informative! At first I was unable to find anything about the comm devices directly since I didn't really know what they were. But then I had more luck by searching for the command words. The interface was..."

Nike coughed politely.

"Oh, sorry. Well, anyways, there are several commands. You can tell it 'radio receive off' to stop getting messages so you can get some sleep while everyone else has a chat fest; then you can say 'radio receive on' to get messages again. You can also say 'radio', uh... nevermind," he said waving his hands. "'Cancel'. I don't want to trigger anything just by explaining them." He got out his Post-It Notes and began writing commands on a single sheet.

He wrote 'radio receive on', 'radio receive off', then 'Cancel'. "Cancel aborts a command." Next he wrote 'radio [NAMES] [priority] on'. "This sends messages only to a specified name, names, groups or any combination. If no names are given, it sends messages to everyone. If you say 'priority', the message will override everyone who has 'receive' turned off so you can wake someone up in an emergency."

'Radio [NAMES] off'. "This stops transmitting to a specified name, names, groups or whatever. If no names are given, it stops sending messages to everyone."

'Radio appellation NEW-NAME terminate'. "This sets a user's name."

'Radio group NAMES terminate'. "This creates a group of names so you don't have to specify a long list."

Percy scratched his head for a moment. "There were some other commands, but I've forgotten them already. There was a command, for instance, for changing the keywords, so in case you don't want to use the word 'radio', um..." He paused and considered how his next words would be interpreted by the comm device. "Cancel. We can change the 'R' word to anything we want." Percy handed the Post-It to Nike. "The uppercase words are variables, the lowercase words are literals and words in square brackets are optional," he explained proudly.

"Oh, and one other thing. I learned these systems were surgically embedded, probably before we were, um, born." Percy looked at Horatio who was hanging on his every word. He wondered how much he understood and if they should order up at least one new external comm device for Horatio if not for his students too. "The internal devices," he continued, "were restricted to the Alpha Sequence Project and high ranking security officers."

With wide eyes, David spoke softly to Horatio beside him. "Fallen ones are like a mystery."

"Verily," he replied.

"Radio appellation Arkady terminate," Arkady said experimentally.

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

OOC: I finally updated the IAS archive with the current posts. I was behind by nearly a month, sorry.

stacinator 6/10/2005

[OOC] P--Nike and Percy's players will be out of town until next weekend... so if there isn't a new post by them then, it's not for lack of enthusiasm! ;)

gglassdr 6/10/2005

THX-1492 concludes that the dropship was crashlanded on this planet long ago. A battle must have been fought on this little ship which either caused the crash or resulted from the crash.

If it were human, the engineerbot might have deduced from his recent experience that its recent dimensional travel might occur again. And it might consider that such a dimensional occurrance might occur within this dropship.

But THX-1492 was not human. It was entirely mechanical, and its circuits demanded logic. Without further information, nothing further could be deduced from the doomed dropship.

The robot exited the dropship, up the narrow path to re-explore the surroundings of the ancient temple.

supreme_arbiter 6/12/2005

Thanks for the notice Nike/Percy - enjoy the timeoff

If it were human, the engineerbot might have deduced from his recent experience that its recent dimensional travel might occur again. And it might consider that such a dimensional occurrance might occur within this dropship.

OOC: LoL, good guess G :)

THX left the cockpit and headed down the hall toward the exit. It neared a door in the corridor through which it had come after passing the corpse. The door, broken and useless, was permanently open. THX flashed its spotlights around to illuminate the path before it.

Suddenly, the corridor burst into bright white light that overwhelmed its sensors. THX quickly switched to infrared vision. The entire corridor glowed with an even, consistent warmth. The door in front of it, as well as the doors to the communications room and cockpit were all closed and also glowed with the same consistency.

THX switched back to the visible spectrum. The corridor looked just as THX remembered it: the walls and floors were spotless. The lights in the ceiling glowed brightly. Just then the door in front of THX opened and there stood a man that THX immediately recognized as First Lieutenant Ken Matahachi, formerly of the Warden.

"Hello THX, is everything ok? We don't have any scheduled software updates, or much of anything else for you to do here for the time being."

supreme_arbiter 6/17/2005

OOC: [This message applies to everyone except THX-1492] The characters have reached a crossroads. The ship's engines are ready to be fired up and the players/characters must determine where to go next. There's a big planet outside the lifeboat to explore, but the characters know very little about it. I thought a little recap might be helpful, so I've included below what the crew has learned about the planet they are on [BTW there's bread, dried fruits and meats courtesy Horatio's students for the crew to eat since there's nothing else in the galley :)

[known by everyone:]
"We've been chatting a little," Bailey said over the radio. "They're training to be priests of some sort. When we press them for details, they start spewing words like living light, the word of Galt, scriptural exegesis, miskatonicalogical mumbo jumbo and a bunch of stuff I can't understand. They said one thing that seemed odd: they said they were too old to be priests in Eden. They also described their home. Sigai sounds like a small but well protected farming community in the hills nearby."

[known by Chel, Bud, Ark and Bailey:]
the students talked about the Sigai and their families. They also spoke of Eden. None had yet been there but they all hoped to one day make the pilgrimage

[known only by Nike:]
Nike asked, "Can you refresh my memory on how your people came to be on this planet?"

Horatio looked confused for a moment. "Well... Long ago, our people lived in a great city called Earth, but Earth was a wicked place and doomed. They left Earth and settled in a place called Eridani. One day, a great metal bird called Warden arrived. She, too, was from Earth. When Earth was swallowed by fire, she carried a great many people away. But Warden had been badly injured by the poisonous clouds that arose from the city. Many of her passengers were sick and dying, but Warden mysteriously flew away into the wasteland before they could join us.

"Our ancestors took a solemn vow to save Warden, or die trying. They followed her for many years, but somehow lost her trail. They arrived at an oasis in the wilderness where they expected Warden would eventually arrive. The place was called Cancer. They waited and searched the skies, but she didn't come.

"Then one day, a demon appeared from the wilderness. He looked and spoke like a man, but our ancestors were not fooled. For six days, the demon tried to convince them to abandon Warden. He tempted them with gold, treasures and worldly pleasures. Each night he returned unsatisfied to the wilderness. On the seventh day, the demon attacked their camp. When they fought back, the demon revealed itself. He had the body of a man and the head of a wild beast, like a dog or a wild pig. He was terrifying to witness, but he was no match for our ancestors and they destroyed him.

"That night, an amazing thing happened. Everyone shared the same dream. Each ascended toward a bright light. There they found themselves surrounded by family and friends. They were told they had won a glorious victory and would be rewarded. When they awoke from the dream, they were in a beautiful garden filled with plants and animals. They settled there and called the place Eden."

"Eden is surrounded by desert," Horatio continued. "In vain, we sought a way past it. Our people grew and formed new villages, like the Oasis at Sigai where we are from, but we are still surrounded by sand. We dream of finding Warden one day." [...]

Nike: "Do you have anything in Eden like a library, a place with records, books, or histories?"

"Oh yes," Horatio's eyes sparkled. "At the seminary in Eden, there are many books: histories, documents, maps, scriptures, all precious and rare. They are jealously guarded, but the priests will probably let you see them. They'll be eager to talk to you."

gglassdr 6/17/2005

THX-1492 asks, "Lt. Matahachi, this unit has just experienced spacial- time disorientation. Can you describe current status of ship and crew?"

mikejohnson_lordofdance 6/18/2005

Bud

Belches quietly after a few fistfulls of dried fruit and chunks of bread.

(to the priest-ish guests) "Mighty fillin' grubbs, thanks."

Bud gives and "Elvis" finger point and wink towards Horatio as he fires up the 'medicinal marijauna' clandestinely provided by Shlitzee moments before. After a few starter puffs, he passes the peace spleef clockwise and speaks:

"If we've got the juice, let it loose..."

Bud looks around the faces at the table, continues mostly towards his fellow Wardeneers-

"...and by that...I say spool this puppy up, let's have a look at this rock from on high. Maybe see if 'mammabird' is returning our calls at the same time?"

(More towards Horatio and his students)

"How would you guys like to move from 'gonnabe' priests to cardinals and bishops in a week?"

Waits for a moment

"Sounds crazy, but I bet we could show you some things that would blow the folks away back home, interested?"

As his buzz kicks in a bit, Bud's thoughts drift to Plaser field training...and the lovely wreckage after each discharge...

katrinalieff 6/25/2005

Amanda

Amanda watches curiously at the folks smoking.

supreme_arbiter 6/25/2005

OOC: I've been busy these last few weeks, but it's always a pleasure to come back to y'all. Special shoutout to Mike, welcome back, Bud :)

turn 15.95 - The Conference

"Lt. Matahachi, this unit has just experienced spacial-time disorientation. Can you describe current status of ship and crew?" THX-1492 asked.

"Time disorientation? That's curious, isn't it?" Matahachi asked in return.

"The engines are not working," he continued. "The dropship is grounded and the crew are all gone. There's a new mission. I am here to supply you with new software and a new piece of hardware."

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

"I say spool this puppy up," Bud said. "Let's have a look at this rock from on high. Maybe see if 'mammabird' is returning our calls at the same time? How would you guys like to move from 'gonnabe' priests to cardinals and bishops in a week?"

"Bishops? Cardinals?" the students said in confusion.

"Sounds crazy, but I bet we could show you some things that would blow the folks away back home, interested?" As his buzz kicked in a bit, Bud's thoughts drifted to Plaser field training and the lovely wreckage after each discharge...

Arkady was seated next to Bud. He looked from the burning spleef to Nike. He handed it back to Bud, silently mouthed the word 'later' and smiled. In a louder voice he said, "It's still dark out, but if the engines are functioning and we can get some lift we might be able to use radar or something similar to scan the surrounding terrain. Getting a look-see while it's still dark might give us an advantage if we want to keep our location a secret for the time being. What do you think, Nike?"

end transmission

gglassdr 6/26/2005

THX-1492 responds to Lt. Matahachi's order by lowering its arms and turning its torso so that its commander can access its software download connector and its hardware installation panel.

"This unit is ready to access new orders and instrumentation, Lieutenant."

supreme_arbiter 6/27/2005

"Ok," Matahachi replied. "Very well. I need you to shutdown. Do you have any final questions?"

gglassdr 6/30/2005

"Negative, Officer Matahachi"

supreme_arbiter 6/30/2005

"Very well. Please shutdown THX-1492. I hope to see you again very soon. Until then, pleasant dreams," he said smiling affectionately.

supreme_arbiter 7/5/2005

turn 16 - The Bottom of the Rabbit Hole

THX-1492 shutdown all its systems. Then there was nothing. No color, sound, touch, phenomenon. There was void and no void.

Then there was the word, and the word was BIOS.

Basic Input/Output System loading...

New hardware detected: Global Positioning Satellite Receiver

Drivers installed: "Rho1 Cancri II" ver 1.1.2.1

New software installed: Skycar 3 - piloting

New software installed: Skycar 3 - routine maintenance

"readme.txt" found in startup. Opening and moving to backup

directory...
The UWSC-CS Warden has arrived in orbit. Some of her crew are 
landing and require your assistance. I will transmit their location 
to you on a frequency bookmarked in your radio as 'Warden Crew'. I 
will continuously transmit their location until you make contact. If 
their location changes, my transmission will be updated. Their 
projected landing site is significantly far from your current 
position, so you will need a vehicle. Nearby you will find several 
Skycars in fine working order and sufficiently fueled. Their 
location is marked on your GPS.


Trust your instincts and good luck.


AM

THX-1492 reread the message while its sensors turned on. The robot was in the same familiar corridor. It looked ruined again. The human corpse in combat armor lie just past the door exactly where THX remembered it.

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

end transmission

OOC: I will post a substantial new turn for the lifeboat crew soon.

gammaben 7/7/2005

OOC: Sorry I didn't post before now!

Taking a turn at Bud's peace "pipe" for lack of a better catch phrase, Percy indulged a puff and recalled that he'd given up smoking a while back to make himself more attractive to the Warden recruiting corps. "Ah the sweet smell of *COUGH GASP WHEEZE*!" He passed the cancer stick along. "Well," he said to the assembled. "I guess they don't *GASP* clone smoke-resistant lungs like they *COUGH* used to, eh?"

"I say spool this puppy up," Bud said. "Let's have a look at this rock from on high. Maybe see if 'mammabird' is returning our calls at the same time? How would you guys like to move from 'gonnabe' priests to cardinals and bishops in a week?"

Eyes watering, Percy offered that he'd tried to find a working commline back in the medical bay to no success. However, with the whole team assembled to focus on one task, maybe they could push something through. "Surely someone has to be listening. Or at least watching us on radar, telescope, or something. I have to beleive Zhaxier must be trying to find us." He trailed off in thought, but snapped back to the topic at hand.

"But frak yeah, let's fire up the engines! I think we should work with our resident radioactive robot, Terminus, that we found in the engine room. He's been helping us repair the damage to the engine."

He looked to Horatio and the other natives. "In the meantime, I bet you have lots of questions. I know we do. We're obviously all human--mostly, anyway. Wanna play 20 questions? You can start first, being the visitors...."

OOC: I imagine the SA can handle the Q&A--with; the assumption that we're not going to lie to them, so we don't have to pause to let the players answer the questions. Then again, are we going full disclosure on our side of the story or are we going to hide stuff from them? On the other hand, I have some questions I think Percy would like to know answers to...

supreme_arbiter 7/8/2005

turn 16 - The Conference

"In the meantime," Percy said to Horatio and the other natives, "I bet you have lots of questions. I know we do. We're obviously all human--mostly, anyway. Wanna play 20 questions? You can start first, being the visitors."

"Ok," Horatio began. "Who are you? I mean, what tribe do you belong to?"

While the clones looked at each other questioningly, Bud said, "My name is Bud and we're the Crew!" He made a loud, undulating noise with his tongue that sounded like, "li li li li!"

"Hoo boy. I can see where this is going. I'll try some now, thanks," Arkady said as he took the peace pipe from Percy. He drew deeply from it and handed it back to Bud.

"Bud of the Crew, what lies beyond the sands?"

"Beyond the what? Is this some sort of koan?" Bud asked.

"He means the desert." Nike bit off another piece of bread.

"Oh. Well, I don't know really. We came from straight up." Horatio's students gasped and muttered to one another. "What did I say?"

"Please forgive my students. They think you are angels."

While Bud pondered the implications, Nike swallowed her mouthful of bread. "Bud of the Crew means our bird was blown off course. We are not familiar with your land."

Horatio nodded his understanding. "Where did you come from?"

Arkady exhaled and said proudly, "I'm from Mars. Born and raised in New Eden."

"I'm also from Eden," Horatio said excitedly. "I didn't know there was a New Eden. Where is Mars?"

"Oh, well I, uh... Mars is a planet," Arkady replied, which only caused more confusion.

"New Eden is a different city," Nike explained, "and Mars is a place that is far, far away. The rest of us are from Earth, except for Bud here."

"Triton," Bud quickly replied with a secret gesture.

"Horatio has informed me," Nike continued, "that Earth has been destroyed." The crew stared at her in disbelief. Bailey muttered something unintelligible through a mouthful of bread that suddenly seemed to taste like ashes.

"Destroyed by fire," Horatio explained. "That was many centuries ago. How could you have come from there?"

"The Crew tribe left there long ago," Nike explained.

"Ah, just like our tribe," Horatio nodded. The crew considered the awful news in silence. The Earth was gone! Was it true? How could it have happened? How could these backward natives know what had happened to Earth? In the awkward silence, Horatio stared at the patch on Percy's coveralls. He understood the words 'Warden' and 'Crew' marked clearly in red. "What about the Warden?" he asked. "What happened to her?"

"Why do you want to find the Warden?" Nike replied.

"To save her, of course. She was wounded. We have been taught the great metal beasts live for millennia but they can't heal themselves."

end transmission

stacinator 7/10/2005

OOC: Forgive me for the long delay in posting... it has been a crazy summer!

IC: "Horatio, is there some kind of library, or collection of ancient texts, or repository of knowledge that you could show us?" Nike asked, beginning to wonder if the Warden was connected to these humans...

supreme_arbiter 7/10/2005

Forgiveness is unnecessary :D

"Horatio, is there some kind of library, or collection of ancient texts, or repository of knowledge that you could show us?"

OOC: Nike already asked Horatio this in Chapter 27 when they were in the operating room:

Nike: "Tell me, do you have anything in Eden like a library, a place with records, books, or histories?"

"Oh yes," Horatio's eyes sparkled. "At the seminary in Eden, there are many books: histories, documents, maps, scriptures, all precious and rare. They are jealously guarded, but the priests will probably let you see them. They'll be eager to talk to you."

OOC: The crew also already knows that Horatio is from Eden and he's a priest.

stacinator 7/12/2005

OOC: DOH! IC: Nike turns to Horatio and asks, "How long and difficult would a journey be to the library you spoke of earlier?"

OOC: Let's hope Nike hasn't already asked that one!! LOL

supreme_arbiter 7/19/2005

"Eden is several days journey by foot through the desert, but the journey is dangerous. Sand Sikalas live in the dunes and snare those that come too close. The journey along the ridge is just over a week. Normally the ridge is safer, but the Zinhala that graze there are mating now and can be dangerous if approached. I wish we had mounts to speed the journey but there are none in Sigai."

publius1024 7/25/2005

I recently read two of the better known generation ship novels. For a change of pace I thought I'd do a little book review.

I very much liked Non-Stop, the British version of Starship, by Brian Aldiss. I thought the British version added to the alien nature of the story with many British words, such as spanner instead of wrench. Maybe Starship uses the same words, I don't know. I've read that there's a newer version of the book written by the same author: the only difference I know of is computers play a role in it (they're absent from the first edition.)

There's not much I can say about Non-Stop without giving too much away. The book has a lot of surprises. I can say it's set in a vast ship with over 80 levels. There are mutants of various sorts, but most are simply malformed and piteable creatures. The ship has been taken over by plants. The primitive tribes earn a hard scrabble life by cutting them down for food, etc. They slowly explore the ship as they do so. In the beginning of the book we learn that the tribes fear other tribes almost as much as they fear the nearly mythical, non-human races: the giants, the others and the forwarders.

Non-Stop is fast paced and reveals many mysteries. At its heart is an epic dungeon crawl in space that conveys the sense of a vast sprawling spaceship with plenty of space to hide.

I also read Robert Heinlein's Orphans of the Sky. I like Heinlein's work in general, but this one not so much. I found it to be too cartoony for my taste; two-dimensional. The mutants are circus sideshows. The ending is, as the author himself says in the text, improbable. The ship itself doesn't seem very large at all. The only good things I can say about the book is that it's very short (novella length) and I very much liked the description of the cockpit.

stacinator 7/29/2005

"Percy, Arkady, Bud--if you had to give me your best estimate on how long it will take to get this hunk of bolts off the ground and back to Warden, what would you say?" Nike said. Percy stammered, but before he could interrupt, she moved on, "I realize any estimate would be based on insufficient information, Perce. But I need the best estimation you can give me based on what you know right this second."

publius1024 7/29/2005

Arkady

"Assuming this hunk is like other launch vehicles," Arkady replied, "it might take close to an hour to get into orbit plus time to locate and maneuver to her."

stacinator 7/30/2005

"And how long until we're ready to launch?" Nike persisted.

gglassdr 7/31/2005

THX-1492 decides not to interpret all the fluxes it has experienced in the time-space continuum and concentrate on doing its job. The robot searches around for the nearest Skycar which it will enter, activate, input the coordinates for the warden crew, and activate the skycar.

supreme_arbiter 8/2/2005

Turn 17: To Your Stations

"And how long until we're ready to launch?"

"We're ready now," Percy beamed.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's spool it up!" Nike replied. Bud whooped and cocked his fist back in a celebratory manner. Nike led the way through the corridors to the cockpit. The students' jaws dropped as they gazed at the impressive array of technology. Even Horatio was unable to completely hide his awe.

Nike took a quick head count and asked Bailey to help their guests find a seat and fasten their seatbelts. She took her seat at the center console. Percy took his at the Post-It festooned computer console. Arkady sat on Nike's right, Amanda on her left and Bud took the last console seat. Chelydra took an aisle seat and kept an eye out for trouble. "Bud, will you please search for transmissions?"

"Roger, Big Momma!"

Nike checked the ship status indicators. She patted the console affectionately. "Come on Pandora," she whispered, "speak to us." She fired up the engines while Arkady craned his neck to watch her.

The ship trembled. The students cried out in terror and frantically tried to remove their harnesses. "Be just and fear not," Horatio intoned. His words soothed their fears although the rumble of the engines continued to increase. Elsewhere in the bowels of the ship, Terminus basked in the engines' radioactive warmth.

The ship rose with a jerk as it broke free of the sand then settled into an even ascent. "Fuel level 48 percent," Amanda said.

The sky was too dark to see anything through the cockpit windows besides the twinkling stars. However, a large holographic projector in front of Nike's console was visible to all. Percy managed to turn it on. It showed a large model of the lifeboat. He found the zoom control and the model shrank to no larger than a thumbnail. "The projection is displaying visible light right now," Percy said, "but we're not running with any lights. I should be able to... Ah, here we are! This is the radar image." The hologram instantly changed to a more abstract view. The ship model remained the same, but the dune sea below appeared as an evenly lit topographical map. As the ship continued to rise, the dunes steadily shrank and expanded in all directions. Foothills arose from the dunes in the east and became a small mountain chain in the midst of the desert. It intersected a larger chain of mountains further east.

Nike stopped the ship's ascent. The projection displayed the mountain range surrounded by a vast desert. "What other viewing options do you have there, Percy?" Nike asked.

"Oh, well, um..." he said, quickly adding another Post-It Note to his console. "There's visible light." The projection went black except for the ship model and a few tiny groups of light in the mountains.

Nike examined the projection for a few moments. "Anything else?"

"Ultraviolet." The view changed to a perfectly uniform purple image.

"Hmm," Nike said as she contemplated the view. "No rad spikes besides normal background radiation. Anything else?"

"Life form detection doesn't work at this range. The last option is infrared." The view changed again. There were a few bright spots of heat in the mountains that correlated to the visible lights, and a few others where there had been no lights at all. Columns of warm air rose from all of them.

Nike pondered the hologram and their situation for a moment. "Percy, have you been recording the holographic view?"

"Ever since we took off," he said proudly.

"Anything from momma bird, Bud?"

"Negative. I've tried all the standard frequencies, but Warden's not broadcasting on any of them. I'm scanning the dial manually. If there's anyone else out there broadcasting it might take a while to find them. Damn it, Jim," he mugged. "I'm a security officer, not a comm expert! Or a programmer for that matter."

"Fuel level 47.5 percent."

"Nike, these systems look more familiar to me now," Arkady added. "She's an entry vehicle. We won't be able to get her off planet. She lacks the thrust to reach orbit. I hope I'm wrong, but we probably have to find an alternate route home."

Nike pondered their next move. Before she could speak, Amanda excitedly cried, "there's a vehicle approaching from the east." The crew turned to look at the hologram. A bright, but very small heat source appeared. It was flying only a few hundred meters lower than their own altitude. They watched it move over the mountains in their direction, then it flared brighter.

"Nike, it's scanning us with a laser."

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

THX-1492 decided not to try and interpret the flukes it had experienced in the time-space continuum. It concentrated on doing its job instead. It examined its new internal GPS. Just as the readme.txt had said, there was a waypoint not far from the robot's present location. It rolled out of the dropship and into the clearing outside. It followed the waypoint until it stood in the clear, uneroded excavation it had examined last. On the side of the dark ruin, the large rectangular shapes that had glowed warmly in the infrared spectrum now opened into a large hollow space that served as a garage. Several skycars were parked inside.

The robot chose the nearest skycar, opened the hatch and climbed in. THX was right on top of his present waypoint, so he saved it for future use and searched for the radio frequency labeled 'Warden Crew'. The signal sounded clear as a bell. THX programmed the broadcast coordinates into its GPS. The journey would be long, but the skycar was sufficiently juiced. It activated the skycar and set off on its journey.

The path took THX-1492 westward. The skycar chased the sun for many hours but it lost the race and the sun sank beneath the horizon. Night blanketed the landscape. THX noted the planet's benighted surface. There were no cities, electric lights, stoves or even campfires. The journey continued for several hours.

The fuel gauge steadily fell. It was nearing empty, but there was still more than enough fuel to reach the 'Warden Crew' waypoint. Already THX-1492 was nearly there. The invisible landscape below was mostly flat interrupted only by small dunes, but now the skycar's radar showed the land was rising up into mountains. At last THX saw small pockets of visible light and heat tucked away in the mountainous foothills, possibly indicating intelligent life. Other small areas were marked by heat and rising smoke but no visible light.

The skycar came within range of a large object hovering at several thousand meters on the other side of the mountains. THX-1492 compared the object's location to that of its waypoint. It was only off by a few dozen meters. The robot turned the skycar's ladar on the ship. It scanned it with an invisible laser that resolved the ship in much more detail than the radar was capable of. The ladar clearly showed that the ship was a Buffett class lifeboat, most likely from the Warden.

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

OOC: I would have liked to have completed my world map by now, but such is procrastination :) I'm going to use ProFantasy's Fractal Terrains to create the maps. In the meantime, please bear with me. If my explanation of the mountain ranges, the terrain and the orientation is confusing... please let me know and I'll try and clear it up.

stacinator 8/2/2005

"Scan his ass right back, and tell me what the threat level is." Nike said. "Are shields operational?" She said to no one in particular. "Hail them, if possible."

gammaben 8/3/2005

"No return flight..." Percy said in a mumble, pondering what that would mean. He had hoped this space bucket would get him back to Warden. He was glad he didn't tell the Watcher they'd be back for dinner. It looked to him like it was going to be planet food for a while. He'd missed the Warden vending machines, and he realized he'd be missing them for a while longer, not too somberly. "By the time we get back, Zhaxier oughta have Warden all fixed up," he said optimistically. "If he managed to escape the Watcher 'bots," he said somberly.

"Scan his ass right back, and tell me what the threat level is." Nike said. "Are shields operational?" She said to no one in particular. "Hail them, if possible."

Percy looked for instrumentation that dealt with communications, shields and scanning. Assuming he found any, he reported as such to Nike of its availability and of his usage of it. He chuckled at Nike's style of ship captaining.

While he was reintroducing himself to the computer console, Percy continued his note taking and posting. He also reviewed the damage scan for any structural problems that would prevent them from actually flying. "After all, we did crash," he thought. Taking off was one matter and he was thrilled they had accomplished that. Zooming off to explore the dunes was another and he wanted to make sure the ship was up for it.

gglassdr 8/4/2005

THX-1492 attempts to hail the ship. It sends a message:

"Engineering Bot THX-1492 communicating with Warden lifeboat. Response is requested"

supreme_arbiter 8/4/2005

Percy chuckled at Nike's style of ship captaining. [..] "Shields are fully powered. I don't see any other scanners besides those I showed you: heat and radiation. Life form detection is short range only, maybe 50 meters. There's a camera zoom but it's already zoomed in all the way. Communications... ah, here it is! Looks like I have the same interface as Bud, and the same problem too. What channel are they receiving?"

He tried one at random, "Hello? Approaching craft, do you read me?" He listened for a moment. He heard static only. While he tried broadcasting on another frequency, he continued to reintroduce himself to the computer console. [...] Happily, he found no structural problems, or any damage of any sort. All ship's systems were green, except... "Oh yeah," he recalled to himself. "The ship's AI still has a damaged autonomic regulator. But we don't need that for flight!"

Meanwhile the craft grew nearer and larger in the hologram. It resembled a small, red sportscar on jets. It looked like it might seat two. One seat seemed to be occupied by a large robot.

supreme_arbiter 8/4/2005

THX-1492 attempts to hail the ship. It sends a message: "Engineering Bot THX-1492 communicating with Warden lifeboat. Response is requested" Aboard the lifeboat, Bud and Percy heard a beep and saw a message flash on their consoles. Someone was sending them a message on the Warden's traffic control frequency.

mikejohnson_lordofdance 8/7/2005

Bud

Aboard the lifeboat, Bud and Percy heard a beep and saw a message flash on their consoles. Someone was sending them a message on the Warden's traffic control frequency.

-Bud, with his buzz-enhanced sense of humor tunes into the traffic control frequency and broadcasts:

"Four Adam Twelve, Four Adam Twelve...this is 'Thrustercat Charlie Five,' do you copy?"

To his companions: "Looks like the spiffy lil' redrod is tuned to a Warden Traffic Control Frequency. I've just given a level 2 security codespeak," Bud stifles a giggle as he thinks of how ludacris many of the security protocols of 23rd century humanity had become.

"We're on an unsecure channel, and I seem to remember some mention of a 'Watcher.' Let's see if we get a message in kind."

Part of Bud continues to monitor the transmissions while preparing the ship's offensive capabilities (if any exist). Another part gives a cursory reflection to the possibility that the Earth has finally taken the final step in stupidity...he is not, he discovers, shocked in the least: A substantial portion of his life has been spent with Expatriated Earthers aboard the Warden, not to mention his own family having left the homeworld generations ago. On some level, the collective consiousness of the species was telling it to find a new home because the old one wouldn't survive its children's long adolescence...

Bud pulls a 'radio-on' and signifies all crew (including shlitzee) as recipients: "Looks like we're not the only ones with cool toys in the neighborhood," he nods toward the hologram, "but it also seems like the best toys are relics. Did anyone else notice the lack of modernity in those settlements, if the utter lack of artificial signals on the comm channels is any gauge?"

Secretly, he wonders if the Warden bioengineers would have played some nasty tricks and made it impossible for clones to cop a buzz...

supreme_arbiter 8/8/2005

Oh yeah!

Part of Bud continues to monitor the transmissions while preparing the ship's offensive capabilities (if any exist).

...and was dismayed to discover there were none!

"Did anyone else notice the lack of modernity in those settlements?"

"Yeah," Arkady replied. "They look pretty small. I don't see any sign of a power grid of any sort anywhere."

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

THX-1492 soon received a response on the wavelength it was broadcasting: the Warden's traffic control frequency. "Four Adam Twelve, Four Adam Twelve. This is 'Thrustercat Charlie Five', do you copy?"

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

OOC: I'm not quite sure what this meant:

the Earth has finally taken the final step in stupidity...

On the face of it, the stupidity seems to be self annihilation. But in the context of Bud's character, does it mean settling on a planet instead of remaining in space? Sorry to be so thick :D

mikejohnson_lordofdance 8/8/2005

Bud

"Yeah," Arkady replied. "They look pretty small. I don't see any sign of a power grid of any sort anywhere."

-Still using the subvocal implant comm, (sorry if I only implied it was meant to be secret from the natives), Bud replies to Arkady/group:

"Looks like things haven't gone so well here in colonyville... to paraphrase the old 2-D icon Charlie Heston: "...look on the bright side, if these are the best they have to offer, we'll be running this planet in a week."

"Assuming the aircar is friendly, can we bring it into our cargo bay in mid-air?" Bud asks the group.

On the face of it, the stupidity seems to be self annihilation. But in the context of Bud's character, does it mean settling on a planet instead of remaining in space? Sorry to be so thick :D

OOC: That's a good question, Paul.

Bud does have a fairly pronounced view on 'flatlanders' but in this particular case, it was the surface-level interpretation: self annihilation as the ultimate act of stupidity. -Mike/Bud

P.S. I'll be away from my computer for the next couple weeks (vacation). Take care all/look forward to continuing the game!

supreme_arbiter 8/9/2005

I've gotten a couple of requests to bring mutants back into the game. I think I was wrong to exclude them. I now want to include all the MA character types: Mutants (human, animal, plant), Humans (clones, primitives) and Robots. Mutants can also be clones of course.

I will soon change the newcharacters.html page on the IAS archive. I haven't worked out the details yet, but here are my thoughts:

The character attributes will continue as they are: HP, STR, DEX, MR, RR etc. (BTW, none of the current characters have AC. I'll have to bone up on the MA1e rules to rectify that soon :)

For skills, mutations, and equipment I want to be flexible and facilitate creativity. I am open to ideas from other RPGs, books, etc. besides MA1e. Some of my favorites are Gamma World, Traveller (particularly 2300AD), GURPS: (particularly Transhuman Space, Robots, Ultra-Tech and Space) and the CyberPunk Chrome books. This list is by no means exclusive. I'm open to anything but I reserve the right to modify for game balance.

New clones will still start with three skills. New mutants will start with three mutations. I'll allow more only if the character has mutational defects or disadvantages.

Any thoughts?

gammaben 8/11/2005

Sounds great to me; I know you'll creatively bring each new character regardless of class/race into the game without making it seemed forced. The way you've brought all the most recent characters in was very clever and I look foward to seeing where this new crop of mutants comes from--another Warden escapee bunch, or perhaps mutants on the planet? Sorry for my posting delays, too!

gglassdr 8/11/2005

THX-1492 registers the unusual greeting from the speaker of the cramped lifeboat. Originally designed for humans, the control console was a tight fit for a large engineering robot such as it. If he had been programmed to consider comfort, THX would be unhappy with how its metallic rear had shredded the soft corinthian leather of the lifeboat's command seat.

"Four Adam Twelve......" repeated the speaker. THX-1492 accessed its memory files. Several decades ago while exploring the Warden looking for access into the command centers, THX-1492 had come encountered an ancient communication bot in the Warden's delapidated library-COM center. The library bot's maneuvering circuits had malfunctioned and engineerbot THX-1492 had performed its primary duty well in restoring the ancient bot to full maneuverability. In gratitude, the librarybot had insisted that THX stay and appreciate sharing in its favorite pastime, watching ancient vids from the library's vast archives.

The Warden's builders knew that boredom & loneliness would be a primary threat to the morale of the colony ship's occupants, so they uploaded every scrap of recorded entertainment available to twenty third century man. This librarybot's favorites happened to be ancient TVid programs from the late twentieth century: programming having to do with the olde society of the Americans, which if the TVid was accurate, was a violent society filled with heavily armed roving bands of rebellious youth escaping from equally heavily armed units of corrections officers. Vigilantes named "Rambo", "Chuck Norris", and a famous politician by the name of "Ahhhhnold" were obviously very popular in those ancient days.

THX wasn't entertainted, considering such a violent society to be unordered. However, the documentaries dealing with the early years of outer space exploration were excellent. One documentary dealt with a famous deep apace vessel with its sex starved captain and mutant pointy eared first officer. THX had especially liked the serial documentariy about the poor lost family in space and their immensely talented Robot.

Obviously, the members of this crew were TVid historians themselves and the very unusual queary obviously required a similar password response.

So THX-1492 accessed its memory banks of the TVid program that had been shown to it and responed:

"Thrustercat Charlie Five, Four Adam Twelve response as follows: "Adam-12, Adam-12, A two-eleven is in progress on fourth and broadway streets. Repeat a TWO-ELEVEN!! All units to respond. Ambulance and firefighing units in route. SWAT team is on standby. News 24hr chopper is overhead. The govenor has placed the National Guard on standby as well. Acknowledge Adam-12"

supreme_arbiter 8/22/2005

We've got one more mutant that'll be entering play next turn. His name is Caleb. Anyone else want to belly up to the bar for an Obb Beer?

supreme_arbiter 8/26/2005

Turn 18

"Engineering Bot THX-1492 communicating with Warden lifeboat. Response is requested."

"Four Adam Twelve, Four Adam Twelve. This is 'Thrustercat Charlie Five', do you copy?"

"Thrustercat Charlie Five, Four Adam Twelve response as follows: Adam-12, Adam-12, A two-eleven is in progress on fourth and broadway streets. Repeat a TWO-ELEVEN! All units to respond. Ambulance and firefighting units en route. SWAT team is on standby. News 24hr chopper is overhead. The govenor has placed the National Guard on standby as well. Acknowledge Adam-12."

While the robot awaited a response, THX-1492 detected an object rapidly descending from a much higher altitude. It observed the red hot object as it fell. The object fired thrusters then deployed a parachute. Its descent slowed. Its surface suddenly cooled. THX-1492 targeted it with the ladar and watched as it landed in the dunes below. The parachute gently draped the object and the surrounding dunes.

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

"Assuming the aircar is friendly, can we bring it into our cargo bay in mid-air?" Bud asked the group.

"We might be able to in an emergency," Nike replied, "but it's too dangerous."

"Fuel level 47 percent," Amanda intoned. Everyone waited uncomfortably for for someone to speak, offer a suggestion or make a decision.

Lights suddenly flashed on all consoles. "What's going on?" Chelydra asked.

"Incoming object!" Percy and Bud shouted simultaneously.

"Is that aircar attacking us?" Nike asked.

"No," Bud replied. "This is something above us and descending."

"Rapidly," Percy continued. "It's red hot! The ship has calculated its trajectory; it's not going to come too close to us."

The hologram projection in front of Nike showed the falling object. It was indeed very hot and heading for the dunes. A few thousand meters before impact, there were a series of rocket thrusts that slowed the object's descent. It deployed a parachute and fell more slowly. The object suddenly cooled and they lost sight of it.

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

Caleb awoke on the Warden in a cloning pod. He was cold and disoriented and shocked to learn that he was no longer entirely human. His hands were malformed and he had fur like a coyote. For two days he wandered through the ruins of the cloning facilities. He made his way into an endless warren of residences. The corridors were often unlit. Trash littered the floors. He scavenged through several rooms but the only useful item he found was a Duralloy axe with an alluminum handle. After two days the halls echoed with the sounds of distant fighting. Caleb hid inside a residence and closed the door behind him. The room he was in had a window. While the battle raged elsewhere, Caleb gazed out at the empty streets of Epsilon City. He wished he could find a way down there.

The fighting went on for many hours. After it had been quiet for a while, Caleb thought it might be safe enough to set off looking for a way downstairs. But before long a group of hovering robots stopped and attacked him. He ran but they pursued him relentlessly. In a desperate attempt to lose them, Caleb climbed into one of a series of holes he found along a long wall.

Inside of the hole there were a couple of seats and several buttons. As Caleb heard the robots coming closer, he pushed at the buttons hopefully. A door with a small window closed over the top of the hole and lights began flashing. Caleb covered his eyes but nothing happened. Then there was a loud noise and the space he was in shook violently. Caleb opened his eyes. The lights had stopped flashing.

The gravity dissipated. Caleb floated around the cabin. A panel lit up with an image of a seatbelt on it. He awkwardly managed to get himself into a seat and fastened the seatbelt. He stowed his axe where it wouldn't fly freely. Caleb's arms drifted weightlessly for a long time before the pull of gravity gradually returned. Through the small window he saw stars and, as the vessel turned, he caught sight of a rising sun edgewise through a planet's atmosphere. As weight returned, it grew hotter in the cabin and the window glowed red. When it seemed like it couldn't get any hotter, the cabin roared and shook more violently than before. Caleb felt like he weighed a ton for a few short moments. Then it ended as suddenly as it had begun. The cabin began to fall again. There was a noise above. The cabin jerked downwards and slowed its descent. A white sticky foam covered the outside of the window. A minute or so later the cabin thumped to a stop. It dragged forward a few meters and came to rest at a slightly off kilter angle. Caleb unfastened his seatbelt and looked out the window. The foam had flaked off. He saw a brief hint of sand before a large sheet of material covered the landscape and the window.

Caleb found a bright yellow lever recessed into the wall beside the window.

end transmission

Katkin_Kalvin (John) 8/26/2005

Caleb found a bright yellow lever recessed into the wall beside the window.

"I am lucky to have escaped those robots" Caleb thinks as he looks around the strange and yet oddly familiar room in which he finds himself. He then picks up his axe and walks over to the bright, yellow lever. Taking hold of the lever with one misshapen paw/hand, he pushes against it........

supreme_arbiter 8/26/2005

Taking hold of the lever with one misshapen paw/hand, he pushes against it...

The lever moved. The seals around the door broke noisily. The door made a loud swishing sound as it slid past the fabric covering the vessel and landed in the sand below.

Caleb cautiously peered out the gaping hole but the fabric blocked his view of the surrounding area. It was dark outside. By the faint light from inside the cabin he could see the sandy ground less than a meter below the doorway. He had landed on a slight incline.

Katkin_Kalvin (John) 8/26/2005

Caleb cautiously peered out the gaping hole but the fabric blocked his view of the surrounding area. It was dark outside. By the faint light from inside the cabin he could see the sandy ground less than a meter below the doorway. He had landed on a slight incline.

Caleb pushes the fabric out of the way and climbs out the doorway. He jumps down to the sandy ground and puts nose to the wind. Sniffing the fresh air, he attempts to learn everything he can about this new place.

supreme_arbiter 8/28/2005

Caleb pushes the fabric out of the way and climbs out the doorway. He jumped down to the sandy ground.

The fabric covered him like a tent. He held it up with one hand over his head to see farther. Caleb could not see the end of the material, but he could not see very far at the moment.

Caleb puts nose to the wind. Sniffing the fresh air, he attempts to learn everything he can about this new place.

The air was hot and stale. In the silence, Caleb heard something thrashing against the fabric. It was only a dozen or so meters away.

Katkin_Kalvin (John) 8/28/2005

The air was hot and stale. In the silence, Caleb heard something thrashing against the fabric. It was only a dozen or so meters away.

Caleb moves towards the thrashing sound with axe in paw.

What does the "something" smell like?

gglassdr 8/29/2005

Silence from the lifeboat suggested to THX-1492 that his identification signal had not worked. In computing the most logical response, the robot decided on the simplest one.

"Warden Lifeboat. Engineering bot THX-1492 reporting. This unit is attempting to contact officers of Warden Colony ship. To any human, mutant, or robot, please identify selves."

supreme_arbiter 9/3/2005

Caleb moves towards the thrashing sound with axe in paw.

He followed the sandy incline down toward the sound and farther away from the vessel that had carried him. It became harder to keep the fabric over his head as he drew closer because whatever was making the noise was near ground level and pulling at the fabric. Soon he was crouching. Caleb tried to see ahead, but the fabric was too close to the ground and it was too dark. He sniffed the air and smelled a hint of pine.

publius1024 9/3/2005

Arkady

"Warden Lifeboat. Engineering bot THX-1492 reporting. This unit is attempting to contact officers of Warden Colony ship. To any human, mutant, or robot, please identify selves."

"Thanks THX-1492. This is Arkady Dmitrivich, pilot from the UWSC Colony Ship Warden."

Katkin_Kalvin (John) 9/5/2005

He followed the sandy incline down toward the sound and farther away from the vessel that had carried him. It became harder to keep the fabric over his head as he drew closer because whatever was making the noise was near ground level and pulling at the fabric. Soon he was crouching. Caleb tried to see ahead, but the fabric was too close to the ground and it was too dark. He sniffed the air and smelled a hint of pine.

Using his axe, Caleb cuts the fabric and steps out into the night breeze.....

supreme_arbiter 9/6/2005

OOC: I've updated the New Characters page with guidelines for all types of characters: humans, mutants, robots and clones. There's a few new images in there of mutant types as well:

Using his axe, Caleb cuts the fabric and steps out into the night breeze.....

The light of a nearly full moon lit the surrounding hill. Caleb could see the fabric stretched out around him. It covered the escape vessel and the surrounding dunes. He was standing near the top of a shallow ridge.

Caleb looked down the sloping dune to where the source of the sound was. The fabric was being thrashed about in several places. As he watched, he gradually became aware of the location of several large somethings below the fabric. They were close to the ground, perhaps even below it. In some places they were clutching at the fabric and pulling it down. In others they were tugging at it or tossing it into the air.

Katkin_Kalvin (John) 9/10/2005

Axe in paw, Caleb begins to walk down the sloping dune in order to get a better look at the several large somethings.

supreme_arbiter 9/12/2005

The sand shifted uneasily beneath his feet. As he neared the closest thrashing thing, he felt close to losing his balance in a cascade of sand knocked loose by whatever was beneath the fabric. In the moonlight he saw a dark tentacle which had torn through the thin material. It was pulling the surrounding fabric into a gaping maw lined with razor sharp teeth.

Elizabeth 9/13/2005

Hi. I'm Elizabeth. Can I join the ongoing game? I have a PC made up for the game. Mutant Hamster with wings and a curiosity streak. I'll submit stat tomorrow.

supreme_arbiter 9/13/2005

Sure! I'll keep an eye out for your hamster :)

BTW, I'll be posting a new turn this weekend.

Katkin_Kalvin (John) 9/14/2005

The sand shifted uneasily beneath his feet. As he neared the closest thrashing thing, he felt close to losing his balance in a cascade of sand knocked loose by whatever was beneath the fabric. In the moonlight he saw a dark tentacle which had torn through the thin material. It was pulling the surrounding fabric into a gaping maw lined with razor sharp teeth.

Unsure if this thing is a threat, Caleb tightens his grip on his battle axe and move towards it.

gammaben 9/14/2005

Unsure if this thing is a threat, Caleb tightens his grip on his battle axe and move towards it.

Unsure if it is a threat? What part of "razor sharp teeth" did you think wasn't a threat? HA HA! Welcome to the game, by the way, and no hard feelings. I just got a good laugh out of this!

Ok ok, new move this weekend, I better post before then. SORRY for the POST JAM lately! I'm behind in all (most?) of my online games. Work is making me insane!!!!

Katkin_Kalvin (John) 9/14/2005

Unsure if it is a threat? What part of "razor sharp teeth" did you think wasn't a threat? HA HA! Welcome to the game, by the way, and no hard feelings. I just got a good laugh out of this!

No worries ;). One hopes the thing doesn't like to use it's razor sharp teeth on coyotes and prefers to eat fabric, therefore not making it a threat to our intrepid hero but we'll see.... ;)

Thanks for the welcome to the game :)

gammaben 9/18/2005