Noctol Low Port responding.  Entry to port granted.  Sending guide coordinates.  Dock on Pad 142.  Eastern end of the pad.  Please send manifest and prepare for cargo inspection.  Please send PIDD for any disembarking passengers.

Welcome to Smoggy Town

The "Smoggy Town" is obvious even from orbit.  Noctol has been so industrialized, the only greenery on it is mold on someone's old soyprot breakfast sandwich moldering in the fridge.

---

Ullie sighs.  "So that's it then, huh?"

She's listened to the "official" version of what went down.  She shakes her head.

"Have you already sent words to the Noctol police?  Or are you waiting until we land?

"Also...this movie Relen was working on..."  She seems to have caught wind of it, probably from Oscar.

"...is there a copy of it I can download?  Since it was made with Black Sun funds..."

---

Maribell presses a hand against the port window and looks out at Noctol.  The clouds of smog swirl around it like angry bruises.

"I can't believe all that happened while I was stuck in my cabin.  You guys really do lead a full life, don'tcha?"

---

Fritz forwards the usual notices from the port.  Every time a ship comes to port, the local businesses are determined to get their ads out to the crew any way they can.

There's several bars and whorehouses of course.  Something called a 'putt putt golf course' which looks...odd.  Like golf in the middle of a theme park.

And there's a market apparently.  RARE TECH FAIR!  Personal Management Tech!  Defense Tech! Counter Intel Hardware!  Cheap, good prosthetics!  Come down and get a steal!  The Fair only comes around once every 8.62 years!  Don't miss this one!

Given a heist at a tech fair had been the catalyst for funding the Tia Ledo decided that while the film crew was offloading and the cargo hauling and mail hauling were being processed he and Tepha could peruse the tech fair. They weren't expecting to find anything useful but usually you can get bags of tchotckes and small useful items they could share with the rest of the crew.

If nothing else the free t-shirts made handy backup clothes for messy maintenance or could be used as grease rags in the repair shop.

Ledo and Tepha to the tech fair!

In reply to Ledo Typhin (msg # 2):

Let me know what the answer to Ulie's question is when you get a mo.  Thanks

Perhaps surprisingly, the low port has a fairly nice convention space.  Rich, deep red carpets lay along floors polished to a gleam.  A holo that may be an actual F'righazi original hangs on the wall.  The staff are dressed in crisp, clean outfits.  Even the service robots look out of your price range.

There are several greeters standing by the hallway leading from the lobby to the convention space.  One with a name tag that reads Salby greets you.

"Hi!" She smiles so wide you're afraid her teeth might pop out of her mouth.

"Welcome to the Fair!  If you want to register as a guest, you could win a prize!"  She gestures to several kiosks lining the hallway walls.  "But it's not required.  Are you here just to browse? Or are you looking for a specific type of technology?"

Rig was happy to stay back and enjoy the rest of the journey with Maribell. Especially now that she had been cleared of being a top secret cyborg assassin.

"It's definitely been interesting. Funny thing is I worked the tradelanes for decades and never saw half as much as I have in this past year on the Tia but at this point in my life I had to decide whether I was going to just settle down and turn to dust somewhere or take a shot at something big. Big rewards means big risks and at least I'm making a mark on the universe. Not quite the way I was expecting but we did get to save a bunch of people back on Wyltz. We disarmed a pirate base about to explode...at the time it is horrifying but if you can make it back to port it definitely puts a new perspective on things."

Silver was once again on "film crew duty" and just shrugged at Ullie's question.

"I don't know. I bet the captain downloaded it onto the ship but they're all busy with the docking and the trading and such. When he comes back from dealing with the locals we can see about getting you a copy. You know what I'll make a note of it now..."

Silver pulled out her commlink and began tapping on it to do her daily quests for the popular mobile game "Vargr Pirate Hunter".

Ledo gave a shrug and filled out the registration card. Traveling between planets meant you could stay one step ahead of the junk mailers. Companies were a lot less interested in spamming you when it cost then hundreds of credits per customer.

"No I think we are just here to browse but we'll take a map or something."

In reply to Gary 'Rig' Rigan (msg # 4):

Maribel grins and kisses you on the cheek Rig.  "I'm glad we met.

"But...you know.  We've only got one more stop.  Than my ride's over.

"Would you mind if I sent you messages?"

In reply to Silver (msg # 5):

Ullie watches you for a bit Silver, not budging from her spot.

Finally she says, "I'll pay you five thousand credits for a copy.  Now.  You can divvy out everyone else's shares later on.  When you tell them about it."

In reply to Bad Code (msg # 8):

Selby smiles at you Ledo "Certainly!  If you ping the kiosk with your commm link a map will be downloaded.  No need to sign in there.  Just tap the Map button."

She takes your card and waves you to a kiosk.  There is a map button and the download is nice, neat, and clean.

It looks like the fair is broken up into five sections on three floors.

Down here on the first floor are Household Goods and Prosthetics.

Second floor is androids and robots.

The third floor has security systems and personal armament.

Ledo immediately pointed towards the "weapons & toys" section of the map but Tepha held him back.

"You know how valuable Fritz has been. Let's see what it would take to give him a physical presence around the ship."

Taking Ledo by the arm she gently led him towards the second floor first. They didn't even need something with a complex AI built in, just a sturdy shell and the capacity for remote connections. Given Fritz had gotten onboard using a children's toy it would be interesting to see what kind of "forms" could be found for their newest crew member.

In reply to Tepha Pezal (msg # 10):

The robot and android section is both smaller than you might have expected and more diverse than you would have expected.

There aren't any typical service type units on the shelves.  Not even the usual humanesque android or 2R2D types.

There is a bot built for hostile environment construction.  It comes in three models: one about a meter, one the size of a cryo pod, and one about as big as a shuttle.  Obviously the larger the unit, the more gizmos it has. But they all have the same basic build:  A wheel frame body with sensor pods and arms hanging out each side off a central spoke.

There is an autochef.  Not that they are new, but this one is supposed to have more cuisines programmed into it, including K'Kree and Hiver.

It's a thin column that can rise in height to six feet or shrink to a base about two feet.  It comes with four arms, one of which has a knife at one end and another with a "food processor" of some type.  The other two arms end in four opposable finger like appendages.

There are a series of EVA assistant bots.  These are sold in clusters of eight.  Each cluster comes with two "tool kit" bots about three feet across and four small repair bots that come equipped with small sealant and hull repair type tools for use outside in vacc conditions.  What is so unusual about these are their high degree of manuverability.  They all operate on mag tracks and seem quite adept at moving around sharp slopes and tight angles.

The last offering is perhaps the most unusual.  Under the name "Sunsuit Bots" they are a series of bots designed to serve on resorts.  They definitely look high end and while the units specialize as porter, bartender, etc. any one of them can handle any steward related task.

Questions?

Ledo and Tepha considered the various robot models being shown off but ultimately they were looking to bring Fritz closer to the crew. A chef would be too limited in mobility and the hostile environment units would be more alien, not less.

"Rig would probably kiss you if you brought back the repair bots."

Tepha chuckled at the thought.

"Hmmm. Maybe we should consider the Sunsuit instead. I think Fritz would love being able to walk around with us like a personal porter."

Ledo tapped a few things on his comm to send a pricing inquiry for both the EVA bots and the Sunsuit. It was unlikely anything was in their price range at the moment but one never knew.

In reply to Ledo Typhin (msg # 12):

The Sunsuit bots are 300K credits.

The EVA bots are just BEST OFFER

Ledo considered the price and began tapping things to pull up his account information. He left his contact information with the Sunsuit bots and he and Tepha went off to the side to discuss things.

"300,000 is a lot..."

"You don't think he isn't worth it?"

"Of course not. The ship doesn't have any kind of contigency fund, it is just me. If we do this that wipes us out and puts us on the razor's edge."

"Aren't we about to collect a lot of paychecks from the people and cargo we are transporting?"

"...which needs to be used to get the next piece."

Tepha reached out and gently held onto his arm, using the physical touch to get his attention.

"And if we get stuck some place we will find some way to keep going. Think of how much he has saved us. How isolated he must feel being trapped in the wiring while we get to walk around and talk to people."

"What if we all pitch in? Split the cost."

Tepha gave a sigh.

"I don't have much share in the profits so I don't even know if I could afford it..."

Ledo paused and pulled out his comm's calculator and ran some quick numbers.

"What if we divide the cost by the charter? 60% to me, 20% to Rig and so on... let's see..."

He continued typing out the numbers and showed Tepha the result.


Ledo: 195,000
Rig: 60,000
Silver: 30,000
Tepha: 15,0000

This message was last edited by the player at 03:28, Thu 17 Mar 2022.

Tepha looked at that and then gave a nod. It was still a lot of money but all things considered she had to admit it was a pretty fair way to break down their group costs. Ledo was reaping the majority of the profits but not all of them so why not split costs the same way.

"Well, before we should do anything we should get his opinion on things. For all we know he would prefer the EVA robots."

She pulled out her own comm and signaled the local communication grid to connect her to the grid.

"Oh Fritz...we were looking at the tech expo and were wondering if something here might catch your eye..."

She took pictures and sent the specs of the Sunsuit and the EVA robots back to Fritz to see if either of them, or any of them really, caught his digital eye.

He gets back fairly quickly.

Really? For me????

Oh wow.  I don't know what to say.  I'm really grateful.

But can we afford stuff like that?  I mean the way Tia gets banged up and stuff...

I don't want to cause you guys trouble.  I'm just grateful you let me hang around.

Underneath this is a bouncing-happy-face emoji.

Tepha laughed despite herself. Leave it up to Fritz to express such a human like expression of joy. It was uncanny but Tepha wasn't one for philosophical debate. Fritz acted acted and sounded like a real person so he had to be real in her mind.

"We ran the numbers and we could make it work. It'll make us a little lean but it won't put us in any danger. Besides, that just means you'll have to stay on with us and work off your debt."

She grinned and laughed, throwing in a wink to make it extra clear that she was just kidding and this wasn't a serious attempt at any kind of indentured servitude.

"So, what has you interested? It doesn't have to be one of these though. Assuming we can afford it maybe we could put in an order for something and pick it up at our next destination."

In reply to Tepha Pezal (msg # 17):

Fritz is silent/non-responsive a moment and then comes back with

Hmmm.

I think something small could be useful.  Like when I was in the toy I could get in the ducts.  Something small like that could be useful.

But I would like something a little larger too.  So I could maybe look you guys in the eyes kind of thing.

I guess all I would like is something that can interact directly with you guys and people.

Also, what do you guys want me to do?  I mean on the ship?  Assist Engineer Rig?  Or fight with Silver? Or what?

Tepha saw that this might be getting a little out of hand so she tried to keep the conversation focused.

"Fritz, the whole point of this is to figure out what you want to do. We want you to feel like a member of the crew and that means you don't always have to wait for us to tell you what to do or how to be. If you want to be a child's toy we can get that for you. If you want to be a series of EVA repair drones we look into that as well. Just, think about it. We don't have to come up with a decision right this second. Ledo and I can continue to browse the tech expo, I know he wants to check out the weapons and armament section so just...just think about it, you know? When you're ready to make a decision we'll be here to support you as best as we can."

In reply to Tepha Pezal (msg # 19):

Thanks Tepha.  I guess I just have never thought about it much before.

I mean I know I want to break into the Second Capital Bank of Egypt and steal what's in Security Deposit Box O-4972.  Particularly what's in the Blue Folder.

But other than that...Just not sure what my hopes and dreams are.

Ledo had been listening in but that last comment caused him to suddenly take great interest in the topic.

"Wait, is that a joke? Do you really want to break into a specific deposit box?"

In reply to Ledo Typhin (msg # 21):

Absolutely.

I found some more subroutines in my programming that had been hidden and encrypted.  I decoded them and they seem to be about breaking into that bank for the contents of that specific security deposit box.  The routines are the oldest ones I've come across.  I think I might have been programmed for this one particular job.

Did I not mention this before?  Sorry.  With the whole 'learn or die' thing, I've been a bit preoccupied.

Ledo leaned back and started to process this information. He had wondered how a rogue AI had ended up on his ship in the body of a children's toy. It seemed like a few more clues were being teased out that he could begin making some speculations. A crew looking to bypass security in a novel way, a children's toy loaded with exeprimental AI with a focus on infiltration and cracking.

Have some kid bring him through security, then Fritz could find a way into the bank's security or possibly even into the vault itself. Perhaps they shouldn't have killed those toy dolls if they came loaded with super advanced infiltration gear.

"Well  we'll keep that in mind but that might be something to put on the back burner. If we're going to break into a bank for you it's going to take a lot of time and planning. Unless you happen to come with the plans already?

Anyway let's go check out the rest of the tech expo. Think long and hard about the robot chasis question. We can afford something but not everything if you get me."

In reply to Ledo Typhin (msg # 23):

You wanted the weapons, right?

The weapons section seems more like a garage sale.  A lot of what you see looks like old equipment that's been reformatted.

Make me three Edu checks please.

Ledo eyed his way at the weapons arrayed before him. He kind of wished that her had brought along Rig to provide a second opinion about the equipment as it was hard for him to tell just at a glance if any of it was worth bringing on board or not.



22:26, Today: Ledo Typhin rolled 6,8,9 using 3d6-1,3d6-1,3d6-1.  3 edu checks.

In reply to Ledo Typhin (msg # 25):

You get one weapon of your choice at a 30% discount.  Weapon type is subject to my approval so don't think you're going to get a thermonuclear grenade or anything.

You can also chose a second rifle type weapon at a 60% discount.  But it's going to have a serious defect.  Let me know what kind of rifle you might be looking at, and I'll let you know the problem.

Maser Pistol? TL 17 though...

In reply to Captain (msg # 27):

Maybe you blink Ledo.

There, in the depth of the bin is a Olaxian Corporation MSR 027.  What the hell is a Darian made weapon doing here?  And for so cheap?

Roll 2d.  Whatever number you get, that is the pistol's malfunction number.  You roll that, and even if it's a hit, the pistol malfunctions in some new and exciting way.

That's the deal

Ledo slowly pulled out the pistol and stared at it in disbelief. It seemed to be authentic but it was one of those things that he had only heard about in stories or in the vids....

Cautiously he approached the seller and inquired about the condition of the maser pistol.


09:03, Today: Ledo Typhin rolled 8 using 2d6.  what's your malfunction.

In reply to Ledo Typhin (msg # 29):

The seller studies the piece, as if he too is surprised it is there.  But he shrugs and pulls up the registration history based on the serial number.

It's not in the best of shape.  It might take some finessing.  But...

It is a Olaxian Corporation MSR 027.  In your price range.  Maybe.

Pulling the trigger? So to speak

How often do you get to put one of these in the armory. Even if he never pulls the actual trigger just having this strapped at his side could make someone think twice.

Sure thing! Price it up and I'll adjust their finances. Also need a final decision from Fritz what kind of robot body he wants. Granted he can always look up on the local internet so it doesn't have to even be something from the expo.

In reply to Ledo Typhin (msg # 31):

I'm going to punt the decision on Fritz back to you actually. He's your AI after all.

I need to find the price on the pistol.  Will get back to you tomorrow on that one.

Anything else you want to look at at the trade show?

OOC: Apologies for the long delay:

I think we're done with the trade show. For Fritz if he was designed to break into a safe then the distributed repair bots would be the way to go.

Ready to move on!

From the news net:

Authorities are cautioning any vessel heading out from orbit today.  There has been a high incidence of pirate jacks in the past few weeks.

While not all the situations were the same, many of them followed a similar pattern.  The ship  deboarded from the station and got authorization for an edge of system jump point.  On the way, the vessel was either surrounded by two corsair vessels or by a small squadron of fighter ships.  It should be noted all the targeted vessels had full holds with high payload cargos.

The incidents have raised alarm with Naval command, who has dispatched a warship to cruise the system.  However, Naval command is still cautioning all merchant vessels to be extremely cautious.

A reward has been offered for any information related to the recent spike in pirate activity.
 A bounty for each pirate ship has also been authorized by Naval command.  Parties interested in either the reward or bounty should reach out to station naval command post for further inforamtion.

Ledo gave a sigh when he saw that news report. It seemed like no matter how they hard they tried they couldn't get away from the pirates. Might as well make some basic inquiries. Nothing to serious that might tip off a spy but he had a plan to use the Tia to lure the pirates out and collect a payday and maybe find their base of operations. If the pirates have been taking a lot of high value cargo they must be sticking them somewhere.

As he got Fritz's new droid bodies and his fancy new Maser pistol bundled up he sent a request to Fritz.

"Can you quietly and anonymously look into the bounty on these pirates. If they are seizing ships they must have good intel here on the docks. What would it take to mock up a fake cargo manifest of something valuable for us?"

In reply to Ledo Typhin (msg # 35):

A fake manifest would be eazy peazy Cap'n Ledo!  How valuable do you want it to be?

From the chatter on the comm lines, the bounty seems legit.  I can't hack the Navy comm lines though.  At least not hack it and not have someone notice it.  Those navy guys keep a real tight eye on their comm lines.

Now the station dockmaster?  That's a whole different story.  By my count, there are twenty eight hacks on the dockmaster's system going on right now as we speak.  Oops.  Someone else just joined it, so twenty nine.  Well.  If we don't count my hack, then we're at twenty eight again.  Depends on your point of view I guess.

Anyhoo.  Looks like most of the hacks are checking shipping manifests.  Hmmm.  Seeing some chatter from some of them.  Looks like there's a few who are trying to figure out who the next target will be so they can follow them and capture the pirates.  And there's some that...what's price fixing?

Some are just being quiet.  Whaddya want me to do next Sir?

While Ledo had been shopping for his shiny new toy, Tepha had been arranging calls with local material suppliers. Given Nocotol was about as backwaters as could exist and still support a spaceport, it hadn't gone well. There wasn't even a global internet to help facilitate the kinds of trades that Tepha was doing and essentially she was left cold calling random companies.

In the end she secured a simple drop off of their common ore. Nothing exciting about the price but it wasn't a ripoff either and helped free up some cargo space and Ledo's rank and the Tia's role as a former pirate hunter meant it was easy enough to pick up their next batch of mail. It wasn't much but it was steady income with every stop they had.

As he listened to Tepha struggle to even find buyers for the rest of their cargo, he had an idea.

"Fritz, change of plans. Instead of acting like we are a target, can you sniff around and see if anyone else is a good target. If this is Siri's crew then we might get flagged and our trap might be reversed but if we can find someone else who is a good target we can stalk them and when the pirates make their move, we can swoop in and save the day. Collect a bounty, earn some goodwill, and have some backup in a fight. Let me know if anything fits the profile of a recent target."

In reply to Ledo Typhin (msg # 37):

I'll give you a choice.  You can roll this one or I can.

If I roll, I may or may not lie about the results.

I've always viewed Fritz as a literal Deus Ex Machina so it is only fitting for you to have fun with him :)

In reply to Captain (msg # 39):

Hmmmm.

I'd have to say....

Blows A Man Down.  It's a fat trader that looks like they're trying to hide their full cargo roster.  If I was a pirate, I'd think they're maybe moving something really good.

There's also Hannah Come Home.  She's taking lab equipment and medical supplies.  Them pirates sure do like medical supplies.

If I had to pick one more...I'd say It Itches Where I Can't Scratch.  Mostly cos I think the name sounds funny.  But that one has some weapons listed on it's cargo manifest.


This message was lightly edited by the GM at 04:54, Sun 22 May 2022.

Ledo nods to himself, knowing that A) Fritz doesn't really react to non-verbal queues and B) he's not anywhere near Fritz still in the process of getting his stuff transferred over from the expo.

"Let's plan on matching the Itches flight plan. If Siri is gearing up for outright rebellion it's hard to imagine a shipment full of weapons isn't going to be a high priority for him."

In reply to Ledo Typhin (msg # 41):

Fritz hacks into station's Flight Control and downloads a copy of the planned extra-system route Itches plans on taking.

Looks like they are headed Rimward.  There are three Jump Points in that direction.  Station Flight Control will assign one of them at random when Itches debarks.

Which should be in a few hours...

Anything you want to do before we head out into the void?

If not, we will plow ahead.

Ledo isn't the kind of captain that would grab a bunch of passengers and then go pirate hunting so onward and outward!