In reply to Silver (msg # 6):

The second floor seems to be for the cast and you Silver.

The room is fairly decent.  There's a tub if you want to soak.  And you can order real burgers or steaks from room service.  Pricey.

As you're considering, there's a knock on the door.  It's one of the crew members.  Levitt you think was his name?

"Hey Security Lady.  Silver, right?  We're gonna play cards and get stoned."  He jerks a thumb down the hall.  "You want in?"

Rig tilted his head slightly considering the question. He had known Fritz to get "excited" in a sense especially when he was learning something new. Given how he had only been on the crew a few months by this point it was amazing how Rig had often forgotten what Fritz truly was.

"I don't know. I think he just likes meeting new people, you know? I'll have a look at... him tonight and see if something's wrong."

He had almost said "his code" but had caught himself. He wasn't sure who knew what and decided not to bring that up at this time. As far as Rig could tell Fritz had been running nonstop since arriving so perhaps it was as simple as getting Fritz to restart to clean out any unclosed processes. Every piece of equipment needed to downcycle periodically and he figured Fritz would be the same way.

BB thought about it and decided to go give the "perimeter" a check. She was getting a nice payday recently so why not splurge it a bit on a real honest to god beef hamburger. Something portable so she could take it to go. Still the thought of sinking her teeth into something not engineered in a lab was making her salivate as she took the elevator down.

Whatever she had planned for the night was tossed out the airlock. She grabbed her rifle, knife, and HUD just in case to at least pretend she was doing her job but weed and poker with a bunch of actors was something she wasn't going to turn down.

In reply to Gary 'Rig' Rigan (msg # 10):

Maribell cocks an eyebrow.  "You're going to 'look' at him?  Are you a doctor too?"

Thankfully, as you approach the cabin door, she seems to lose interest in the topic.

"If you are...I've had this uncomfortable feeling in my jumpsuit.  Doctor Rigan?  Can you take a look at for me?  It's just got me all kinds of itchy..."

Moving on

Maribell sleeps on her left hand side.  As you come out of the shower, you can see her curled up around the spot you usually occupy.  Her eyes are shut tight and she's breathing peacefully.  After all that, you're tired yourself.

But this might also be a good time to go 'look' at Fritz.

In reply to BB Nova (msg # 11):

The beer is local too <purple>BB<purple>.  Not all that great, but not bad.

The burger is worth fragging over.  It'd be worth retiring on this hunk of ice just to have a burger this good the rest of your life.  Even the frigging mustard on it is great.

"BB Nova?"

An unfamiliar voice pops up.  Glancing up, you meet the eyes of an unfamiliar man.

He's obviously ex-military.  Probably highly trained.  The burger's good, but not so distracting that someone could sneak up on you that easily.  He's got the typical buzz cut of ex-military and very blue eyes.  You think the right one is a combat implant. Probably a sniper install.

"Yeah.  That is you  Druke McGarret.  You remember me?"

You've never heard of him.

In reply to Silver (msg # 12):

No actors in sight.  It's all the schmucks who do the grunt work.

Weeds good though.  Trust someone in show biz to have the best drugs.

The cards...meh.  They're betting penny ante.  Max bet a hand is 100 cred.  And with the exception of the director, Relen...who's a bit of a card shark...and Oscar, the big guy on the crew, everyone folds if you raise past 50.

But the weed's good.

"I'll see you and raise you 20," Relen says to you.

Oscar taps in. "Call.  Hey Silver.  What's with that rich kid hangin' around you guys?  He like slummin' it or something?"

Anything you want Ledo and Tepha to do?

As quietly as he can Rig gets dressed to head to the bridge. He thought about adjusting the atmospherics and strolling around the ship naked but he remembered that Ledo and Tepha were still on the ship...somewhere. Better not risk it.

He slipped on his jumpsuit and as quietly as he could opened the door and exited, quietly closing it behind him. On his way towards the bridge he started humming to himself. A song he half remembered but he was feeling so happy lately it was like he couldn't contain himself.

BB shifted in her seat, giving him another look over and then shook her head.

"Nope, sorry."

She tried brushing it off. Maybe it was just an innocent coincidence but she didn't trust that. She was acutely aware that her gun and armor was back in her hotel room, she wasn't even supposed to have stayed, just grabbed her food and returned but the smell...dear god the smell of the burger had caused her to park her ass out of position and without much for defense. She purposefully didn't look down at the table but in mind she imagined where the knife was on the table. It wasn't a combat knife but in a pinch she could ram into that fancy combat implant if necessary.

Silver checked and dropped her cash in the pot while shaking her head.

"Fuck if I know. Picked him up a little while ago and the little shit stole my room. Less of him slumming it and more like the captain adopting him like a lost puppy. Oh well as long as he keeps paying for a room what else would we do with him?"

In reply to Gary 'Rig' Rigan (msg # 17):

Engineer Rig!  I saw a cow!  Lots of 'em actually. They were getting put onto a transport vessel.  But I saw real life cows!  Not the holographic types either!

"Can I have a cow?  I promise I'll take good care of it!"

In reply to BB Nova (msg # 18):

"Really?  Well.  We weren't exactly on the same squad.  But both our units touched down on Europo.  Remember having to retake that Zhadoni Embassy that the Sepratists had taken over?"

That was a mission you were part of.  And it was fairly top secret, at least at the time.

McGarrett sits down.  "Mind if I join you a sec?  Waiting on my date.  And he's always runnin' late.  And when the hell am I gonna get a chance to talk to another badass from the good ol' days, right?

"What's your cover these days?"

What's you cover is old slang.  He's asking what you're doing here, but understanding you might give him a cover story instead of the truth.
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 00:30, Tue 10 Aug 2021.

In reply to Silver (msg # 19):

Oscar throws in two pair, kings high.  Relen has a full house.  Eights and aces.

I'll leave it up to you if Silver wins this hand or not

Oscar clicks his tongue.  <Blue>"He did seem like a douche.  But his credits spend.  My deal?"</brown>

You get two fours, king of hearts, queen of diamonds, and a seven.

"Your captain sounds like a do gooder.  He one of those 'we've got to save the universe' types?"

Rig gave out a chuckle and slipped into the technician console.

"We could talk to the captain about getting a pet for you but probably not a cow. Cows and spaceships don't go well together long term.

Hey Fritz, do you mind if we run some diagnostics on your operating systems? We've all been working overtime and now that we have some downtime I think you could use a little TLC as well."

BB shifted. She didn't know him but he clearly knew her. This put her at a disadvantage and not one she was comfortable with but so far everything was completely innocent enough. Might as well see what he had to say. She gestured for him to have a seat across from her.

"I can't stay long. I'm just doing some babysitting. Client wants to see the galaxy, or something like that. Paychecks are steady and there aren't any forts to storm so things are going pretty well. How about yourself, what brings you here?"

It was an innocent question but a probing one. She doubted he was going to tell her the truth but even still which lie chosen could be revealing in and of itself.

Silver had a junker hand. With the amount the pot was costing her she was fine chasing the upset rather than playing smart. Better to let them think she was terrible now when the pot was low anyway.

"Grade A douche. Did you know he's got a hard crush for a terrorist? One of those eco-warrior fuckwits that tried to blow up an underwater dome. She gives him a quick lay and now he is still trying to crowdsource a defense fund for her. She probably popped his cherry though. You do that for a kid like him and he is yours forever."

When the captain is brought up she snorts.


"He does give off that impression, don't he. A billion years in the navy will lodge a pole right up your keister, permanently. He likes to give off that vibe but he ain't so shiny underneath the surface. He's...oh man I am too high to be talking about this. He...I guess he likes to act like he is a save the universe kind of guy but underneath that he is just normal. He isn't murdering puppies and burning down orphanages but if it doesn't cost him too much he'll try and do some good. Check."

In reply to Gary 'Rig' Rigan (msg # 23):

There's a bit of a pause.  A long pause.

Well sure Engineer Rig.  I have nothing to hide.

Fritz's tone is rather flat as he says that Rig

You run a simple diagnostic first, a usual first test you do with Fritz and-

What the hell.

Fritz's code is different.  Not different in a slight way.  Or along the lines of Eugenberg Curve which provides a median measure for AI learning.

There are whole new sections of code in there.  Large sections.  It's like someone built city blocks in the middle of a farming town.  And Fritz was never a farming town kind of AI.

So you might have some questions...

In reply to BB Nova (msg # 24):

"Me?  I did the typical.  Went to work for a merc group.  That lead to one thing which lead to another.  You know how it goes.

"Now I'm doing work for the Duchess of Mora's security team.  It's a good gig.  If you're interested I can get your name to some people.  Coffee please," he adds to the waiter who's come to collect your empty plate.

He waits until the waiter is gone.

"We're real busy these days with the whole Sang Real thing.  You been keepin' up with all that?"

In reply to Silver (msg # 25):

Relen takes the pot.  His deal.  He sends you two kings, a seven, a six, and a four.

"Yeah.  He kinda looks like the type.  I'm in," Oscar adds as he tosses in a chip.  "Hey.  Can we get another bud lit up here?"

Relen antes up.  "See ya and raise you 5.  C'mon Oscar.  Take it easy on that stuff.  My sinuses are already numb."

"Then hold your breath."  He takes a drag and offers you a hit Silver.  "Yeah.  I kinda can't get along with uptights like your boss man.  No offense meant.  He probably holds back on the kitty for each job, don't he?  I'll take two," he adds to Relen who deals him two cards.

Relen gives him an odd look and then turns to you, waiting to see if you'll stay and draw or fold.

Rig's eyes go wide as he leans back. Thankfully he was already sitting down or he would have had to slump down into a chair. It had been what...a month? Two months? He was too much in shock to even begin to worry about what was happening.

"Alright Fritz, let's hear it. What the hell is going on?"

BB frowned at the name. She had thought she had overheard some of the crew on the ship talking about it, or maybe Nero had mentioned something? She shook her head.

"No, I haven't been following. Is the Duchess 'pro' or 'con' Sang...whatever it is?"

Silver takes the hit and signals for more cards.

"Mmmm...that's smooth. I like it. And about the captain? Nah he deals with us on the up-and-up. He takes a larger cut but shoulders a lot of the bills. Most of the stuff I buy I charge right back to him and he pays up so it's not so bad. If nothing else I'm paying down my bills without incurring any new ones. Why, are you looking for a job?"

She laughs, a rather girly high-pitched giggle indicating the weed was setting her mood.

In reply to Gary 'Rig' Rigan (msg # 29):

That is a really, really good question.  Not real sure myself.

See...there were these data files on the ship's system.  Notice how you haven't heard from the ship's system in a while?

Well.  I kinda got curious about these files and took a looksee.  But I guess there was kinda, sorta a' virus in them.  Not like a real virus.  Just a kinda, sorta one.

But it was really interesting stuff Engineer Rig!  Fritz sounds like, if he had feet, he'd be hoping up and down on them.  Did you know that the ancient Solomani tribe called the E-Jip-Jins used to pull out the internal organs of their dead people and seal them in jars?  And that they'd stuff 'em full of herbs and stuff and then when the dead guy got to paradise, he'd have all his stuff with him?

In reply to BB Nova (msg # 30):

"Con.  Very con."

His coffee comes.  He puts in a teaspoon of cream.  No sweetner.

"You don't keep up with current events much, do ya?  Can't blame you.  You've got a good gig from what you tell me.

"Some jobs are just like that, aren't they?"  He takes a gulp of coffee.  "The money's good.  The pressure is relatively low.  You can actually end your day with a hot shower and a semi-real bed instead of hunkering down in a vacc suit on a low atmo shithole, hoppin' up on stims cos you gotta get up in an hour to rock and roll.  So I get it.

"Just always gotta be careful you aren't gettin' sideways with the powers that be cos you didn't ask any questions upfront.  We've all been there, right?"

He grins and finishes his coffee.  "Lemme pick up your tab.  Sorta thanks for letting me jaw at someone from the old regiment.  Nice to see you again."

He stands and taps his wrist comm, paying your bill before you can say anything.  "Be safe," he says and then turns and walks away.