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15:08, 22nd May 2024 (GMT+0)

The Game: Chapter 10 - A Titanic Mandate.

Posted by The WatcherFor group 0
Xander
player, 951 posts
On the Shoulder of Giants
Wanted
Tue 6 Mar 2018
at 18:42
  • msg #897

Chapter 10 - A Titanic Mandate

MEANWHILE

Xander twirls pasta around his fork daintily, ensuring that no sauce splashes onto the table or his EVA suit when he takes a bite. He closes his eyes as he enjoys the flavor of slightly-higher-than-usual-quality protein.

The inaudible sounds of a psychic explosion rock through his mind. He ignores it.

His gaze falls back down the the plate, where another two or three bite's worth remains. These he twirls similarly, focusing on absorbing as much of the sauce as possible. He raises another bite to his mouth, savoring it.

The sounds of arguing emanate from the open door behind him.

He dabs the corner of each mouth delicately.

The voices reduce in volume from shouting to angry talking.

The takes the last bite, washing it down with just a nip of scotch, which he reclasps and tucks back into a hidden pocket.

Damn. That was some good pasta.

Slowly he stands, wandering back into the now-crowded hallway. He crosses his arms and leans nonchalantly up against the corridor near Kayla's shoulder.

Did they finish measuring already? he asks her in a stage whisper. Who won?
This message was last edited by the player at 19:25, Tue 06 Mar 2018.
Kayla Wallin
NPC, 348 posts
Captain, Mechanic, Pilot
Occasionally Weightless
Tue 6 Mar 2018
at 18:55
  • msg #898

Chapter 10 - A Titanic Mandate

In reply to Xander (msg # 897):

"I think so," Kayla says quietly, grinning at Xander. "If anyone won, it would be Hadrian. He got those new baby blues and access to Muse. Plus, Billy and Fiernas don't look like they're about to shoot him at the moment. But things change. We'll see how it goes."

She shakes her head and grows more serious.

"You got here just in time, though. I think we're about to get back to planning."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:56, Tue 06 Mar 2018.
Nightmare
player, 2492 posts
Easier to mourn than to
fix the mess left behind
Tue 6 Mar 2018
at 19:03
  • msg #899

Chapter 10 - A Titanic Mandate

In reply to Xander (msg # 897):

Lets get back into the conference room so we can breathe a bit instead of a closet?  Everyone Ok with that?  I'm getting a bit claustrophobic.

As the group files out she stays back with Hadrian.  She touches his shoulder and runs a hand down his arm to rest on the stone for an instant.

We need a pair of scissors, long hair suits you but you look like an evil wizard from some horrible novel.  We need to at least trim you up.

Do you think you can face Apex alone?  What will you do afterwords?  Will you stay or come with us...me?

She smiles shyly.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:24, Tue 06 Mar 2018.
Fiernas Holm
player, 630 posts
Why no puppies
in space?
Wed 7 Mar 2018
at 01:18
  • msg #900

Chapter 10 - A Titanic Mandate

"He's not Amgine," Fiernas answers from his perch in the corner, in response to concern over Muse's origin.  "Or Roshak, or anything like that.  I saw him... be born, I guess?  His origin.  His story's on the level."  He scratches his chin.  "Granted, using my sight inside Muse is a little unfamiliar, but I'm pretty confident in it."

quote:
Oh and there is something that Hadrian has to tell us that... I certainly didn't know... and I don't know if you do either.

The afterthought is aimed at Xander


"All right, spill."
Nightmare
player, 2495 posts
Easier to mourn than to
fix the mess left behind
Wed 7 Mar 2018
at 01:24
  • msg #901

Chapter 10 - A Titanic Mandate

In reply to Fiernas Holm (msg # 900):

Can we plllleeeeeze go to the conference room first?

She fidgets cute, but uncomfortable.
Hadrian
NPC, 62 posts
Dr. Harvey Ryan
Accelerated Diagnostics
Wed 7 Mar 2018
at 13:57
  • msg #902

Chapter 10 - A Titanic Mandate

In reply to Nightmare (msg # 901):

"She is referring to something I already alluded to in the recording Kayla showed of my conversation with Apex recently," Hadrian says. "Project:Avatar didn't create complicated AI from nothingness. It transferred consciousness from one source to another -- in this case, from a human to a computer."

"Ethics aside, that means this AI you're presenting as a neutral third-party mediation solution is anything but. And I fail to see how stacking the deck in such a way is any different from using the Roshak gems to coerce a favorable diplomatic outcome against another party's will. Which I feel we all believe would be wrong."
Fiernas Holm
player, 632 posts
Why no puppies
in space?
Wed 7 Mar 2018
at 16:44
  • msg #903

Chapter 10 - A Titanic Mandate

"What are you saying?  Sophia... is a real person?"

<Fiernas is fine walking to the conference room or wherever.>
Nightmare
player, 2497 posts
Easier to mourn than to
fix the mess left behind
Wed 7 Mar 2018
at 17:11
  • msg #904

Chapter 10 - A Titanic Mandate

In reply to Fiernas Holm (msg # 903):

Over the course of the conversation she keeps looking over her shoulder, at the spot where her last breakdown was.  She pushes everyone out of the closet and towards the conference area.
Once out of the closet she seems even more relaxed than she was when in the closet, which in turn is more relaxed than you have ever seen her.

She gives Fiernas a thankful look on the way out.

When she gets back to the conference room she usurps Hadrian's partially eaten plate and tastes the food on it.  She looks amazed despite having tasted it less than five minutes ago.

This tastes better now!

She declares to herself and looks over as Hadrian walks in and pushes the plate back to him.

Sorry....

She mumbles.

So... knowing this about Sophia do we feel comfortable with the plan as constituted?  Or is it too late to go back to the drawing board on this one.

Hadrian can you please elaborate on Project Avatar?

She says this and you notice that now despite Sophia's calculations her eye contact with Hadrian has dropped significantly as she intently looks at the food on the table tasting various items.  When she does catch his eye or looks at his face she now fidgets uncomfortably.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:12, Wed 07 Mar 2018.
Hadrian
NPC, 63 posts
Dr. Harvey Ryan
Accelerated Diagnostics
Wed 7 Mar 2018
at 19:48
  • msg #905

Chapter 10 - A Titanic Mandate

In reply to Nightmare (msg # 904):

"I already told you what there is to tell. It's an old Braeburn project that got the plug pulled because it didn't actually work," Hadrian says. "The data I recovered from the Crucible suggested that consciousness could be isolated and pulled, but it could not be returned properly. The subjects went either mad or vegetative, and the whole thing was shut down."

He adjusts his glasses.

"I'm willing to bet they didn't have much oversight regarding what to do with the consciousnesses that were left behind once they were pulled from their hosts and that host decayed. Sophia may be one or many such consciousnesses, all that remains of people long dead. She was apparently installed into a mech that was already experimental for other reasons, which Xander stole, and here we are."

Hadrian turns to Fiernas with a shrug.

"Whether that makes her human or not is, I suppose, a matter of interpretation. But she is not a neutral third-party either way."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:49, Wed 07 Mar 2018.
Fiernas Holm
player, 634 posts
Why no puppies
in space?
Wed 7 Mar 2018
at 19:55
  • msg #906

Chapter 10 - A Titanic Mandate

"Maybe, maybe not.  From what Billy and Xander said, the aliens ran tests on her and said she'd do.  If everyone at the negotiation thinks she's solid, then that's all the proof we need.  Besides, if we're talking about actual bias, it matters less what she is and more what she thinks she is.  She's not prejudiced in favor of humanity if she doesn't think of herself as human, right?"
Billy Laser Fist
player, 2289 posts
After market upgrades
fix all life's problems
Wed 7 Mar 2018
at 20:05
  • msg #907

Chapter 10 - A Titanic Mandate

"That's...not really how bias works, but he's right.  They agreed to it.  It was one thing when I thought we were innocent, but if we call in a different arbitrator Apex's actions could damn us all.  We'd prove the Roshak were attacked and our entire case would have to be that Apex, or at least Braeburn doesn't represent our whole species.  It's...not an argument the aliens like to hear."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:06, Wed 07 Mar 2018.
Nightmare
player, 2500 posts
Easier to mourn than to
fix the mess left behind
Wed 7 Mar 2018
at 21:40
  • msg #908

Chapter 10 - A Titanic Mandate

In reply to Billy Laser Fist (msg # 907):

/ooc assume any errors are on my part not hers.  I've been keeping pace as best I can but my brain is not as good as it should be lately.

She wipes the sauce off of her chin as she prepares to speak.

You notice, she doesn't seem to spit the word Roshak anymore, it rolls off her tongue with much less theatrics.  She writes on the board as she talks.

OK, so lets recap just to make sure we are on the same page...

quote:
1) The Lith and Roshak are on their way here with the IDA and SAGE forces, and will arrive here in a few weeks.

2) Sophia has been designated the arbiter of this case.  While she may or may not be neutral she has been agreed to.  One major advantages is she understands humanity's heterogeneous nature.  We are currently in possession of a film designated by her to be over 99% accurate.

3) We are lacking both a ship and Apex's videographic evidence of what happened, and the noose is closing around us as Apex will continue to hunt us.

4) Goals as currently stated are: Get the video, get the ship, get off the planet and rendezvous with the IDA.

5) Plan as currently constituted is that Hadrian will go with someone from the away team (likely Billy) to retrieve the video.  They will return telling Apex that they harried out Abe and his organization rescuing Harian in the process.  At this point Hadrian has offered to confront Apex directly regarding the video.

6) A separate team consisting of at least Fiernas, Kayla, and Nightmare (possibly Xander for Abraxis) will retrieve the ship of convenience.  We will be able to leverage Abe's project Zord at this point.

7) The teams must rendezvous before taking to space to meet with the IDA/Alien Forces.

8) Sophia will render her judgement, at which point we will need to determine an amicable resolution.

Does this sound right?
This message was last edited by the player at 00:59, Thu 08 Mar 2018.
Billy Laser Fist
player, 2291 posts
After market upgrades
fix all life's problems
Thu 8 Mar 2018
at 00:48
  • msg #909

Chapter 10 - A Titanic Mandate

"SAGE isn't coming," Billy volunteers a clarification, "That'd just make this an even bigger political clusterfuck.  I'd also suggest everyone not going after the video with me and Hadrian be on the team after the ship, if this happens you're probably not going to be able to hide much longer.  If anyone has a suggestion about the orbital bombardment issue that'd help too," He looks at Xander and Kayla, resident tech experts and pilots for input, "Do the zord mechs fly?  Do they have ejector seats?  They'd make for pretty big countermeasures if we can remote control them."
Nightmare
player, 2501 posts
Easier to mourn than to
fix the mess left behind
Thu 8 Mar 2018
at 00:53
  • msg #910

Chapter 10 - A Titanic Mandate

In reply to Billy Laser Fist (msg # 909):

As suggestions and corrections fly she makes the appropriate markings on the board encouraging more.

Does anyone have an outline for a plan that is different from this one?  Now is the time to explore ideas. 
Nightmare
player, 2502 posts
Easier to mourn than to
fix the mess left behind
Thu 8 Mar 2018
at 00:54
  • msg #911

Chapter 10 - A Titanic Mandate

In reply to Nightmare (msg # 910):

Do we have any idea of the capabilities, quantities and locations of the orbital lasers?  Are there any battlements on the base capable of firing upon the satellites?
The Watcher
GM, 3073 posts
Knows, Sees, & Tells All
Above: 2 Truths, 1 Lie
Thu 8 Mar 2018
at 14:53
  • msg #912

Chapter 10 - A Titanic Mandate

In reply to Nightmare (msg # 911):

"If there are actual laser satellites up there, that's not public knowledge," Abe says. "I've always thought the holo showed something more akin to a broadside from a capital ship's batteries. With the ships deployed much further out now than they used to be, hopefully it won't be an issue."

He clears his throat.

"Of course, hope is not a particularly useful strategy. We should confirm it for certain if we can."

Abe glances over at Hadrian, but the boy merely shrugs.

"The mechs are capable of short-range flight -- hops, the pilots call them. Good for rapid deployment across a low-G surface like this one. With enough fuel you could probably get one into orbit, but they aren't spaceships and will not do well up there. A starfighter or two could probably chew through the lot of them pretty quickly."
Hadrian
NPC, 64 posts
Dr. Harvey Ryan
Accelerated Diagnostics
Thu 8 Mar 2018
at 14:54
  • msg #913

Chapter 10 - A Titanic Mandate

In reply to The Watcher (msg # 912):

"There are anti-siege weapons in place on the Compound itself. Ground and air defenses," he says. "You probably saw them when you came in, but in case you were wondering, they are not for decoration."
Xander
player, 952 posts
On the Shoulder of Giants
Wanted
Thu 8 Mar 2018
at 21:23
  • msg #914

Chapter 10 - A Titanic Mandate

Xander listens intently to Hadrian's background on Project Avatar, though doesn't offer any commentary, either lost in thought or speaking directly with Sophia.


After a time, he speaks up. What Billy said. The alien delegates didn't seem to mind that she was human in origin. What mattered to them was that her cognitive framework was structured such that she was capable of sound rationality. Whether or not she's...human...in any sense beyond that is likely irrelevant.
Nightmare
player, 2503 posts
Easier to mourn than to
fix the mess left behind
Thu 8 Mar 2018
at 21:33
  • msg #915

Chapter 10 - A Titanic Mandate

In reply to Xander (msg # 914):

Good!  She beams.

Anyone have a dissenting opinion? 

She waits a moment before, if no complaints are raised, she crosses it off of the board saying

That is one less variable to be concerned with.

Does anyone know anything about the constellation of ships around the base?  I assume they would all be outward facing...

Also, I think Apex wants to keep our activity quiet.

She tells the team about the short lived alarm after Barachial blew the airlock in the Hadrian escape.

Does anyone have a map of the defense locations relative to the suspected location of our ship?  Or at least can draw us a near to scale map?
The Watcher
GM, 3074 posts
Knows, Sees, & Tells All
Above: 2 Truths, 1 Lie
Thu 8 Mar 2018
at 23:15
  • msg #916

Chapter 10 - A Titanic Mandate

In reply to Nightmare (msg # 915):

"It's best to assume the entire base is monitored by video and audio surveillance," Abe says. "If there are internal defenses like weapon turrets or electrical fields or whatnot, I am not aware of them."
Fiernas Holm
player, 637 posts
Why no puppies
in space?
Fri 9 Mar 2018
at 01:58
  • msg #917

Chapter 10 - A Titanic Mandate

"If the ships are too far out from orbit to hit the surface, then they shouldn't be a worry.  We can just skim ground around the curve of the moon until we're in an unguarded part of the globe.  They don't have the whole moon blockaded."
Nightmare
player, 2504 posts
Easier to mourn than to
fix the mess left behind
Fri 9 Mar 2018
at 13:35
  • msg #918

Chapter 10 - A Titanic Mandate

In reply to Fiernas Holm (msg # 917):

OK Good.

So lets run through the plan and lets pause at each of our blocks.

quote:
  1. Billy and Hadrian will return to the base, victorous having routed Abe's fledgling insurgency.  Unfortunately Xander was lost in the battle?
  2. Billy and Hadrian will acquire Apex's videographic evidence and supporting documnets as needed.
  3. Hadrian confronts Apex regarding the other videos.  I have major concerns around this step but we can confront them if this becomes a firm part of the plan.  Hadrian would you remain on base or attempt to leave with us?
  4. The remainder of the team will attempt to liberate the ship...


She stops writing here.

And now we encounter our first problem.  Where is the ship, how can we access it?  How many hostiles are we likely to face?

I can fly... and I think Kayla can to now....

She smiles privately at Billy and Xander as she lets this land.

Fiernas, the pups, Abe, Huck, and Candy are on foot.

Xander whats your ability?

When Xander replies she adds it to the board.

Abe, what are our vehicular assets to access our ship?  Are we proposing a full frontal assault here?
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 13:35, Fri 09 Mar 2018.
Hadrian
NPC, 65 posts
Dr. Harvey Ryan
Accelerated Diagnostics
Fri 9 Mar 2018
at 14:19
  • msg #919

Chapter 10 - A Titanic Mandate

In reply to Nightmare (msg # 918):

"Their ship is in the inner hangar," Hadrian says. "I highly doubt it has been moved."
Barachiel
NPC, 51 posts
Goes Where He's Needed
But Not By Choice
Fri 9 Mar 2018
at 14:20
  • msg #920

Chapter 10 - A Titanic Mandate

In reply to Hadrian (msg # 919):

"I'm on foot, too," Barachiel says. "As are Bradford and Whitney, I'd imagine."
The Watcher
GM, 3076 posts
Knows, Sees, & Tells All
Above: 2 Truths, 1 Lie
Fri 9 Mar 2018
at 14:21
  • msg #921

Chapter 10 - A Titanic Mandate

In reply to Barachiel (msg # 920):

"We only have a handful of hovercraft, plus Topstation itself," Abe says. "A frontal assault is a terrible idea, as is any plan that involves being in the air. We do have access to a tunnel system that leads to the Compound, though. It has masked our comings and goings thus far."

He frowns.

"Unless Milton screwed that up on the last run."
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