Oh? Xander asks, intrigued?

In reply to Nightmare (msg # 975):

"You have a contract with them? Something in writing?" Muse says, then backtracks. "... Billy you don't need a job."

"All right, I'll butt out. Whatever works for you guys. Unless they put me on payroll, then I'll have an opinion -- has to be better than going back into hiding."

Billy sighs and rolls his eyes like someone caught in the act, "The IDA shuttle we came to Ceres on was bombed.  There's an argument to be made that the wreckage of that ship would be covered by salvage rights which, in Ceren space, are controlled by SAGE.  If they were to turn over the salvage rights to someone who used parts of that shuttle, even something like most of the hull, unaltered from its original configuration, to build a ship, that ship could be registered under a new ID owned by whoever had the salvage rights.  I kind of had a ship ID I wasn't using and may have taken the liberty of filing paperwork with my name on it to that effect," he shrugs innocently, "If the IDA wants to fight the legality of it they'd have to explain how they have a claim on the Ceren salvage when, officially, they weren't ever on the planet."

He turns and points to Muse, "I can't say I'm a secret agent if no one has hired me to be a secret agent.  I just don't need a paycheck."

In reply to Billy Laser Fist (msg # 979):

Nightmare snorts at this as it puts a huge grin on her face.  She tries to control herself but she can't stop giggling.  The laughter is a bit frantic but still genuine and all the more cathartic for the mood it breaks.

Ok.. OK... I've got one more thing.  Its important.  I have a safety deposit box that I need to retrieve.  It is rocket enabled and with my current misgivings about the 'IDA' I would rather not have it sent to their 'super secret base' I would like to intercept it on the way.

I asked Kayla to give me an intersection point.  What do you guys think?  Would you be willing to intercept it in space?  It will come with a tracker.

Either that or its run to Earth....
This message was last edited by the player at 19:48, Tue 28 Feb 2017.

In reply to Nightmare (msg # 980):

Muse points a finger back at Billy and bends then unbends his thumb, squints and makes a hammer-clicking sound with his tongue.

Xander lets out a laugh. Well played. Having our own ship is a great start.

In reply to Xander (msg # 982):

"We have months of supplies aboard, and a similar amount of fuel," Kayla reminds everyone. "We'll still have a good amount when we reach the Factory. We can go almost anywhere we want...as long as there are more supplies and fuel on the other side."

She grins slightly.

"This shuttle has military-grade engines. They are worth a FORTUNE, but without a military license they are extremely illegal. The good news is that, as I understand it, they would only be maybe the third- or four-most illegal thing about the ship or its occupants. And of course, as long as we have IDA tags, they're entirely legit."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:22, Tue 28 Feb 2017.

In reply to Kayla Wallin (msg # 983):

"No Earth, no Ceres, no problem," Muse says, dismissing himself and leaving the others to hash out coordinates.

"No, Xander's right, we need answers.  Going where we were ordered and laying low is our best option.  We just need a plan if they don't want to give us answers.  And if the asking is what gets us in trouble," he nods at Rebecca, "Is your box time sensitive?  Or a get out of jail free card?  If you don't want it sent to the Factory we may be better of grabbing it on our way out."

He looks at Xander, "And you seem confident that the director will tell us what we want to know.  I'd love to share your confidence in...Samantha?"

In reply to Muse (msg # 984):

"If you need someone to make a run to Earth for you, I'm not a wanted criminal," Kayla offers. "Though we could just as easily ping a mid-route rendezvous to the bank and scoop the package up en route. I'm good with anything, though I DO want to see the Factory."

She smiles at Xander.

"I've been told it's something of an engineering wonderland."
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 21:30, Tue 28 Feb 2017.

"A mid-route scoop works, but if you don't want it sent to the Factory, do you really want to carry it in either?" Billy looks at Rebecca as he addresses Kayla's options.

In reply to Billy Laser Fist (msg # 987):

She looks a bit sheepish.  Her voice is rough and husky.  She comments from her spot at Kayla's knee.

I don't know whats in the box, but don't believe it to be time sensitive or a get out of jail free card.  Though please bear in mind that this is NOT the same box as the one I gave to Kelce. Its a long story and I don't think I have more presentation in me today.  I can tell you the origin another time.

That one is a get out of jail free card and I think is time sensitive.  There was a strange unexplained orb.  I never figured out what it did, like I said it was a chain of command I felt guilty for even looking at it.  Now, I think he wanted me to have it  but I didn't realize it.

Xander clears his throat. I'm confident that she doesn't want us to come to harm. She may be playing close to her chest though. So. I'm confident that she's not our enemy, and hopeful that she'll share with the class.

"Uh huh.  Well," Billy peers at Xander, gaging the extent of his "confidence" in the director, "If we're done talking about what other people don't know about us, I guess we should address what other people do know about us." He turns to look meaningfully at Kayla.

In reply to Billy Laser Fist (msg # 990):

"Right, that's what I was saying earlier," Kayla chimes in. "We should agree on what I do and don't know so nobody gets in trouble when we reach the factory. Or tried for treason. Or court marshaled. Or...whatever it is that happens when agents like you tell someone like me more than the higher-ups think you maybe should've."

"I uh... That's not actually what I meant.  Kayla, how did my brother get six inches into a refrigerator wall?"

In reply to Billy Laser Fist (msg # 992):

"Oh," Kayla says softly, before furrowing her brow. "I'm...not entirely sure. I was hiding in the walk-in freezer, Charles tore down the door, I shot at him with my useless pistol, the bullets bounced off his armored hide..."

Her voice gets softer as she relives the moment.

"...I fled to the rear of the freezer and took what cover I could. By the time Charles reached the back, I could hear gunfire from Battalion. Lots of gunfire. Lots of yelling."

Kayla shrinks into the seat a little bit as she talks.

"I dropped to a squatting position in the back of the freezer, squeezed my eyes shut, put my arms over my head -- hoping what was left of my damaged clothing might protect me from those claws, I guess? It was instinct, I wasn't really thinking straight -- and then I heard a tremendous CLANG."

She shivers.

"When I opened my eyes, Charles was in the wall and a pair of Battalion's armored men were standing between him and me. I figured they'd done something to him. If they didn't..."

Kayla blinks, looking confused.

"...then I have no idea what happened."

In reply to Kayla Wallin (msg # 993):

Nightmare groans and she looks at Billy as she unfolds herself from her safe spot next to Kayla, looking like she is bearing the weight of the entire solar system on her back.

I don't think she knows... You never met Flux did you?

She looks at Xander and Kayla in turn

He had a major blockage about something and was never able to reconcile it... Here's hoping that you don't have the same.

As she says this she clomps over to the chair she was in and drags it back, scraping the whole way, to by Kayla.  She plops down in the chair with an exhalation as she impacts she sits knee to knee with Kayla in attempt to simultaneously be consoled and console.

Do you remember on the ship when everything went down with Olson, and she told me that I have 'The Sight'?

She says the last two words in a spooky campfire voice.

Turns out I can see more than ghosts.  I can see augers like us.

Allow me some latitude...

We started our travels with a man named Flux, he was a 'fixer' for ACE.  He was able to control localized gravity but had instability that caused multiple personalities to manifest themselves at different times.  Later when we were at the ACE facility we met another 'fixer' who claimed to have none of the instability of Flux.  She also was able to control localized gravity.

Then we meet you, who worked with Ace, has the same type of aura, and based on Charles getting embedded in 6 inches of steel apparently has unconscious control of localized gravity.

She keeps eye contact with Kayla in a match of who has the weirdest eyes of the group.

And queue death spiral in 4....3.....2.....1...
This message was last edited by the player at 18:58, Wed 01 Mar 2017.

Muse looks out through a porthole to see stars caveat the black epiphany of endless space.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:08, Thu 02 Mar 2017.

In reply to Muse (msg # 995):

Kayla remains quiet while Rebecca tells her story.

"That's...an awful lot to take in," she says at last, holding up her hands and looking at them as if doing so for the first time. "But it doesn't make any sense. I can't do the kinds of things you can do."

She puts her hands back down and slips them beneath her thighs, sitting on them.

"The files I saw aboard the Winze -- the ones I took to HR, and then lost when they were confiscated and I was fired simultaneously -- detailed a genetics programs on Mars. An aggressive one. They were growing the perfect laborer for that environment and for the business of mining."

"I didn't parse them carefully and I don't have any copies, but based on what I did read, there were cells that had escaped and were living in the mines. Rebels, of a sort. That's all in the story I told you when we first met, though. It's not news."

She shakes her head slightly.

"Now that you mention it, though, I do recall there being a section involving something called the Flux Initiative. I thought it was a buzzword, but you're telling me it was a man? An...auger? With gravity powers?"

Kayla furrows her brow.

"That's interesting, because I knew somebody at ACE who also exhibited powers like that. But she wasn't a man, and she wasn't called Flux. Her name was Cassidy, and she handled security around the Winze's test sites."

"I didn't think she had been...made...or anything, though. She looked normal. I figured she was a regular auger -- whatever that means. Someone they'd hired, you know? But to grow them? That's terrifying, but...not surprising, if that makes sense? If they can make molemen, they could make enforcers, too. But if they had that kind of technology, why not monetize it? People would pay a fortune to gain powers like you've described."

Her expression falls.

"Or maybe not. They'd have to be registered with GENOME...they wouldn't be able to trust their own bodies...there might be side effects..."

She shakes her head again.

"Regardless. You've got it all wrong. I'm not an auger, and I don't have magical gravity powers. I'm just...really, really lucky."

Kayla motions to the holstered pistol on her belt.

"I have to use this worthless thing to defend myself. You may have...anecdotal evidence, but I'm the one living my life."

She smiles incredulously.

"If I had powers like that, I think I'd have noticed by now."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:06, Thu 02 Mar 2017.

In reply to Kayla Wallin (msg # 996):

Muse re-enters the room on "powers like that." His tone is urgent.

"Kayla, are we picking up anything on our scanners?"

In reply to Muse (msg # 997):

"...D hasn't said anything," she says, snapping back into the present with Muse's arrival and question. "Why? Is something wrong?"

In reply to Kayla Wallin (msg # 998):

"I was certain I saw something. Guess not."

In reply to Muse (msg # 999):

We have encountered Cassidy, as well as Flux, and at least you don't have the blockage.  I'll catch you up on everything...

But now is not that time.

She gives the group a forlorn look the full weight of her emotional exhaustion hitting the room.

Right now, I've got a bag of mashmallows I brought from SAGE, and I am going to go to the galley and LITERALLY drink all of the hot chocolate in there.

She walks out the door pausing to throw back over her shoulder.

If any of you care to join me. 
This message was last edited by the player at 16:19, Thu 02 Mar 2017.

In reply to Kayla Wallin (msg # 998):

Everything is fine, Captain, Dynamis's voice calls over the shuttle's comms as the team meeting comes to an end. Nothing is ruined.

~~ END CHAPTER 06 ~~

Global Karma Breakdown

These are the global things that will affect everyone equally. Individuals will gain bonuses and penalties beyond these. I will not make those public :)

Baseline: +1000

Bonuses:
- Survival (Kayla, Charles, Gale, Redford): +300
- Redford/Gale Sabotage Arc Explored: +250
- Strigoi Arc Explored: +250
- Dr. Olsen Defeated: +500

Penalties:
- Preventable Death (Baxter): -500
- Ignored Redford's "DNR if Mutant": -100
- Significant property damage: -50
- Stolen property (SAGE, IDA): -100
- Party member defeated (Billy): -50

Adjusted Baseline: +1500
This message was last edited by the player at 16:31, Thu 02 Mar 2017.