The computer acknowledges Ledo's command.  Statistics and formulaes whirl about on the screens for a moment.  And then the screens go dark.  The atmo powers down to a thin trickle.  The lights flicker and dim.  The engines stop.  The deck and walls of the ship stop shaking.

It's 'The Minute'.  That brief space of time pre-Jump where the Systems power down everything non-essential and put the essentials on to low power.  It's meant to build up an energy reserve to power the spark that will light up the hydrogen bubble that will send Tia into a pocket universe.

It's mostly ceremonial these days.  Most ships can handle generating the power these days.  Tia could.  Probably.  Once Rig gets all the patch work done.  Sure.  It shouldn't be a problem.  But...well, it's tradition.  Don't want to disregard tradition, right?

Then it starts.  The poet Ansel Elsen described Jump as

the moment when breath
forces out
when the floor under your feet
comes out
from under you.  when there is no other way
but out
when the stars go from motes to horizons and are then
snuffed out

you are gone

Of course Elsen was a degenerate who liked to dress up in the pelts of female Vargars and insisted he was the reincarnation of a 22nd century Warlord named Mitzi.  So what does he know?

But in this, he may not have been wrong.

First there's the fear.  The engines have stopped.  The subtle shaking the crew has gotten used to is not there.  There's little air coming through the vents.  That voice, the irrational one, squeaks up in the back of your head.  what if it's engine failure?  happens sometimes you know.

But then the thruming in the floors starts up.  Soft at first.  Then growing.  It transfers inside through the soles of the feet.  Up the talus bone and into the meat of the thighs.  Oh yeah.  That's the spot.

By the time it gets to the chest, the atmo kicks back on.  Another voice in the head. I'm gonna live!

well.  maybe next time

Outside, hydrogen boils over the ship.  The Anson-Synitz static coils located in various parts of the hull receive a signal.  They spark.  The hydrogen burns.

The stars stop being dots.  They become long, thin strands of light in the void.  And then they are gone.

The Tia was there. And now it's gone.

---

Rig's comm lights up.

Line 12U has to have another bypass.  The surge was too big for the previous one.  That line shorted out.

One of the Anson-Synitz fired late.  It didn't matter.  There are redundant coils.  But the fact one misfired is never a good feeling for an engineer.

So much to do.

But the first Jump went off.  No one's dead. Yet.

Nothing he can do about the coil now.  Not a good idea to go outside during Jump.  Besides, that's something a space station really needs to handle.

He'll have to replace that line that got shorted out.  And of course, he's still got to deal with 12U.

And 54 other items on his fix-it list.

---

The lower belt on the hydro-buff is off the wheel again.  Fourth time thus far.

Silver has been having to push this thing manually, in order to get it to pass over the areas of coolant.  The machine vacuums up the goo and buffs the deck at the same time.  So it's the ideal tool.

If only it would move by itself.  Someone will need to figure out why that belt keeps slipping off. She's put it back on twice now.  It doesn't seem to have helped.  Her hands smell like cleaning fluid.

Her comm beeps.

She's got a message.

You wanna do a deal?

No sender.  It didn't come through the mainframe either.

---

The first intrasystem flight?

Handled like a champ.

The first Jump?

Well.  Still not over.  But done and done.

The first set of problems?

Ledo watches the system reports flash up on the screen.  Whatever's going on with the ship mechanically, system wise it's running like a dream.

Everything checks.  Barring engine failure, they will arrive Jone-space in four days, twelve hours and around twenty six minutes.

Tia is flying.

He's finishing up the paperwork.  That is signing off on the system reports when the computer flashes him an incoming comm.

It's odd.  It's not coming from anyone on board.  And it's not coming through Mainframe either.

There's someone on your crew you can't trust.  You know who it is.

---

Sylvia sighs.  "No.  I get it.  When you're with one of the Ministries, you always have to get used to some kind of security rigamarole.  Though tiny robot assassins is a new one to me."

"Yes.  Ours are usually human sized."

"Ada Dear.  You're oversharing."  She looks back at Tepha as they walk down the hall to their quarters. "Everything is alright.  Right?"

Tepha is escroting the high passengers back as Ledo and Silver are getting messages.  You can let me know what Rig is doing.  We are in post-Jump.

Let me know if there are questions.  Thanks
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:06, Thu 09 Apr 2020.

Ledo frowned at the message. Perhaps they weren't done with their assassin after all. If they were reaching out like this it must mean that things were not going as planned for them.

Ledo's thumbs tapped out a message.


Yes. Let's talk.

Silver smiled. It seemed their would-be assassin was backed into a corner and willing to make a deal. She put the hydro-buff on standby and typed out a message. Short and to the point.

Always

Rig added the line to his mental list, mentally double checked it for priority and then bubbled Line 12U back up to the top. That was an important feed and he didn't even know what it was all connected to.

He headed back to Engineering to resume his repairs on the electrical. The Jump Drive could wait, life support was ticking along just fine and nobody was about to die. The thing they needed most of all right now was power so the electrical systems were what he focused on first.

Tepha gave a smile and a nod. “Other assassins” would be a conversation for another day. For now she was heading down to the low berths to check on the vitals and start thawing Adje.

Bring the doll.  Storage Room 2.

That's all that pops up on Silver's comm.  Again. No trace of a sender.

---

You know who it is already.

She's got the doll.  She's bringing it to me now.

The Computer can't track the message.  It just entered into the system.  That's all Ledo can find out.

---

I read Rig's last post that 12U was his top priority.  Let me know if that's wrong and I'll amend.  So...

Tracing back to the juncture of the splices, Rig reviews the map of the spliced feeds.  There's the correct one that goes to hydrponics and the emergency lighting.  Then there are the five 'weed' lines.  One to some area next to the bridge.  One to Silver's room.  Two in the hold.  One in the kitchen.

Now that he has time to pay attention to it, the Computer logs about this look weird.

First, this didn't come up during Rig's initial diagnostic.  The one he ran when Ledo first dumped this shit bucket on him.  If it had, he would have already fixed this.  The Computer thinks this arrangement is normal.

The problem with that is that it's a huge violation of code.  Any changes to power feeds leading to life support systems have to be vetted and approved by the mortgage company and get sign off from at least one Imperium certified ship yard.  There's nothing about that in the records.

Which means the only place this could have been done is a pirate yard.  Well.  Given the ship's history, that's not such a surprise.

What is is that no one's ever caught it.  Whenever a ship pulls into a port, the port authority has the right and responsibility to perform certain diagnostics.  One of the big ones is on life support.  Any indication that the life support isn't up to code while a crew is running on the ship can result in a fine.  And ports never, ever miss a chance to levy a fine.

If the ship never hit anything but backwaters and pirate ports, maybe it would be understandable that no one caught it.  But this ship was impounded by the Navy.  They flew it out of Karin Highport.  At least one of those should have caught this.

So how the hell has no one caught this splice before now?

And for that matter, when Rig ran his initial diagnostic...the one right after Ledo dropped this turd in his lap and expected him to polish it shiny...how come this splice didn't show up then?

12U just gets weirder and weirder.

Rig can cut off the splices, patch the line, and reseal it.  That will take care of the issue.  So long as none of the 'weed' lines is powering something that will go boom if it stops receiving juice.

---

"Oh.  One question please." Sylvia stops Tepha just as she is turning away at the cabin door.

"Are we alright to visit the garden?  I thought some greenery might help soothe my daughter's nerves."

Tepha makes her way to low berths.

Silver would normally be right by the low berths.  So I'll let you decide if Tepha runs into her when she gets down there or not.

Thanks

Ledo frowned. He wasn’t sure what kind of game was being played here. Could Silver somehow be involved in this? She did have a shady past and seemed to know a lot about piracy  but it still seemed like a stupid move to make. She was part owner in the ship. Free and clear she was a millionaire on paper. If her plan was to jack the ship why put any money into it at all?

Besides between her conduct during the heist and the early part of this assassination attempt he didn’t think she was the “stab everyone in the back at a moment’s notice” kind of person. Then again, he didn’t know what she was being offered. Or why the assassin would be telling him about Silver’’s betrayal.

He decided the easiest thing to do would be to comm her.

Where are you, we need to talk.

Silver’s phone rang. She glanced at the message and then put her phone away. She was too busy to handle more latrine duty. She double checked the mag on her combat rifle and then headed down to the storage room. She was going to finish this once and for all and get Ledo off her back in the process.

OOC: Silver is going to be cautious when entering fully expecting an ambush.

Rig knew better than to just pull a power line without knowing where it was going. Perhaps if the ship was off and docked then he might be bolder but in the middle of a jump inside a pocket universe? Ha.

He decided to check on the one to Silver’s room. If it was tied to life support he could hopefully take care it one splice at a time.

Tepha, who hadn’t been told there was additional action involving the assassin, gave a shrug.

”Sure. Just don’t wander off. The intruder messed up a lot of systems and we don’t want anyone to get hurt by accident. Gardens, galley, your quarters. Pick one and try to stick with it until I come get you in a bit.”

She was done with the guests. She would go back and socialize with them later but for now curiosity was eating at her. If Adje was the target perhaps she could shed more light on this situation...

In reply to Ledo Typhin (msg # 7):

Rig overrides Silver's personal lock and finds the feed quickly enough.

It's the line the finger's cryo-unit was connected to.

---

Good Evening Technician Tepha Pezal.

Confirm Reawakening Protocols for Capsule 4.

Tepha enters in her authorization code.  The Cryo-Oversight program kicks in.

Adje's vitals are good.  There shouldn't be any problems.

Thaw will commence.  Estimated time until Phase 2:  nine minutes and seventeen seconds...

Once Adje is brought back to her normal temperature, Phase 2 will basically kickstart her heart and autonomic systems again.  Phase 2 is the dangerous part of Cryogenics.  If anything goes wrong, it will be there.

But she's young and strong.  It shouldn't be a problem.  Besides.  She had to sign a waiver.

Tepha sits back in the technician's chair and waits for the process to complete...

---

The Brig.  Come now.

That's all that flashes up in response to Leo's query. It's from Silver's line.

---

Storage Room 2 is right beside the hall from the Hold to Engineering.  Rig doesn't seem to be around.

The door isn't open.  There's a small round plastic window at eye level in it.  Through it, she can see the lights are off.  There are the outlines of several crates, storage shelves, etc.  But no signs of movement.

The motion sensing relays in the room have been turned off.  Or disabled.

There is a ventilation line leading into the room at the back.  So just sealing off the door won't work. Assuming whoever it is is the same size as the Bugee.  But other than that, the only way in or out is this door.

The door mechanism is working.  Silver can have the ship open it.  And turn on the lights.  Or she can jump in while it's dark.

Sorry.  Work has been nuts this week.  Try to hit you a couple of times tomorrow.

Thanks.

Rig doesn't want to just kill off the finger but this doesn't need to be illegally spliced in either. He'll prepare a proper electric plug for it and relocate the finger to the bridge. He found space within one of the bridge consoles, created a little shelf for it and plugged it in by patching it into the console's power supply. It was still a splice but not one that would be readily noticeable by port authorities unless they started taking equipment apart.

Even then it wasn't technically a violation of code, just really fucking weird why they had a finger in cryo.

Once that was done he decided to take the time to trace the spliced 12U line to the bridge and see what surprise that held in store.

Out of an abundance of caution because so far everything had gone horribly wrong Tepha fired up the autodoc and had it monitor the wakeup sequence as well. Just in case there was an unexpected surprise left behind. If Adje had been the target then this might be a layered attack and the autodoc might be their last line of defense against some odd poison or sabotage that had gone unnoticed.

While she was waiting she gave a sigh and cleaned up the rest of the coolant spill. Silver had abandoned her duties again and Rig had mentioned this stuff was poisonous after awhile.

She made a mental note to complain to Ledo later on. Sure it had been Tepha who had reached out to Silver in the first place but that didn't mean she wanted to do all this manual labor instead.

Ledo tapped his pistol in its holster reassuringly. Something about this whole situation felt odd but maybe Silver had found the culprit. She was terse at the best of times and maybe this was her way of saying she had captured or killed another saboteur.

He double timed it down to the brig. He wanted to get answers.

Silver considered her options. She didn't like that the lights were off and the sensors were disable. She also didn't like that she didn't have backup. She might not particularly like the rest of the crew but she liked getting gutted by some tiny toy assassin even less.

She readied her rifle and prepared to open the door. The plan was to quick turn on the lights and seal the door again. Even better if she didn't have to open the door to turn the lights on. Then with lights on keep eyes on the ventilation line and call in reinforcements. If whatever was in there was another Bugee assassin it might try and escape when it knew it was compromised and if it went for the ventilation line they could play whack-a-mole once again.

She paused and considered Rig's words. One of the crates had been seven pounds light. She hefted the dead doll attached at her belt briefly, considering its weight. Did it feel close to seven pounds (minus the head), or did it feel half that...or more.

By my calcs, Silver and Ledo are a couple of minutes ahead of Rig and Tepha.  So let's  leave Rig/Tepha on hold for a post or two.

Silver bounces the headless doll up and down in one hand.  That's not seven.  Not even four.  She tries to recall the weight when Ledo had run it through the scanners.

Three?  Three point five?  It sure as hell wasn't seven.

Before Silver busts up in there, no.  The doll isn't seven pounds.  Never was.

Also, what exactly does Silver have on her?  Rifle, comm/phone, doll...anything else?  And, odd question, where is she carrying it?  Rifle is in her hands obviously.  What about extra guns, doll, knives, garrote, phone/comm, etc?

---

Ledo stops outside the brig.  The lights are off inside.  The door is shut.  Through the little plexiglass window in the door, he can't see any signs of movement.

But it is pretty dark in there.

Movement sensors have been disabled.  As has the security cam.  Which is odd. It was on when he left the bridge.

From inside, through the door, he can hear something.  It sounds like Silver, but her voice is muted.  "What the hell."  Than a moment later, "I just wanted to let you know..." something.  Her voice gets even more muffled.

Ledo is smart enough not to go inside the brig when it is potentially booby trapped or sabotaged. He uses the external panel to turn on the lights and enable the motion detectors inside the brig and look the glass. No way he was stepping in there only for it to "mysteriously" slam shut and trap him inside.

Silver was ready for combat. She had her rifle in hand, a pistol strapped to her hip, a knife in her boot and her mobile comm in her pocket. The headless Bugee was all tied up and bouncing off her hip where she had looped the cargo straps through.

When she weighed it she swore. She should have caught it. Ledo should have caught it. Someone should have noticed.

Fuck this mysterious comm signal. Time to rally the troops. She kept her eye on the door and activated her comms.

"Hey dipshits. Rig said there were seven pounds missing. This thing weighs maybe three pounds. We've got another one of these fuckers onboard. Also how is it disabling our motion detectors?"

Rig stops on his way out of Silver's room when he gets her message.  How are the motion sensors being turned off?

What motion sensors are off?

Oh hell.  He can figure it out from here.

Rig calls up a quick diagnostic of the motion sensors on his comm.  Sure as hell.  Sensors are off in the Brig, Storage Room 2, the Bridge, and the Cargo Hold.

A quick check confirms the reason why.

Ledo authorized it.  He issued commands to turn off the sensors in those areas and lock them into an off position.

---

Ledo flips the switches.  The lights come on but not the motion sensors.  They seem to be locked off.

He peers through the window.  It looks empty in there.  But he can't see everything.  Not on either side of the door, nor in one of the two holding cells.

---

I'll let Rig or Ledo respond to Silver.

Rig stops what he's doing and starts making his way towards the Bridge. Rig knew what was happening. The other Bugee had gotten into the Bridge and gotten access to their systems through there.

Now it was trying to isolate the crew, lock them into nice easy places like the Storage Areas, the Brig, so on and so forth.

However if he just flat out said "hey everyone, it's in control of the ship and in the bridge" chances are they would run up there to find the Bridge sealed and that would mean he would have to either cut his way in or hack his way in before it overrode the safeties and disabled life support. Robotic assassins didn't need to breath after all. For once maybe this rat's nest of a ship might save them if it meant it was harder for it to figure out where to reroute power to kill them all.

He was walking at a fair clip and wasn't listening to what the others were saying.

"Rig? You there? I think it's in the storage area."

"What? Not the brig?"

"What? What's going on?"

Rig had to stop them. They were going to piece things together and that might spill the beans.

"Guys, shut up I'm trying to think. Just stay where you are and don't do anything stupid. Like when you pissed off Molly."

There was silence. Of course nobody had any idea what he was talking about but that was the point. It was a name familiar enough that it wasn't gibberish but they didn't have any kind of shared code so he had to improvise and trust they knew what he was talking about.

Silence from Tepha and Silver. Ledo took the bait.

"Molly? What does she have to do with anything?"

Rig paused again. He was making this up as he went.

"You know? Molly Ridge. That info broker you almost got us into shooting match. Or as I like to call her Molly B. Cuz she was a grade-A bitch!"

There it was. Code sent. Molly B. Ridge. Molly, which was a potential danger and annoyance and failure for them along with B-Ridge. Bridge. Danger and Bridge should be more than enough for them to realize what is going on but only if they could make the connection...

Rig hurried and hoped the door to the bridge still accepted his commands. If it didn't he had other tools at his disposal but if the thing wasn't in full control yet it would make things a hell of a lot more easier.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:16, Mon 13 Apr 2020.

OOC: Int check passed!

"You know? Molly Ridge..."

Ledo's blood turned to ice. Everything was clicking into place. The mysterious message that was leading him to the Brig, Silver's revelation.

He nearly punched himself. If he had been his own commanding officer he would be facing a demotion, possibly a court martial. They had shot up one intruder and spent the rest of the time patting their own backs rather than check for another. Now it possibly had control of the bridge. It was somehow sending them messages at least. Disabling sensors and lights remotely and most likely had access to doors as well.

Rig wasn't an actor but perhaps if they flooded the thing with inputs it wouldn't be able to realize that it had been found out. Ledo took a moment to get himself into character and then went on the comms.

"Yeah well last I remember that whole Molly shit was your fault, Rig. You couldn't hack for shit, remember? You had one task to get us a fake ID and couldn't even hack that. Listen I think I've got it cornered. It's trying to make a deal. You guys just stay put and I'll finish this."

He slapped the door panel and stepped into the threshold, secretly ready to jump back the second he heard the door make a sound. He made a big show of looking around trying to catch it in the light before calling out.

"Hello? You here? I'm ready to talk..."

OOC: Shiiieeeeet
23:25, Today: Ledo Typhin rolled 5 using 2d6+2.  deception +1 int +1.

"...Cuz she was a grade-A bitch!"

Tepha didn't really follow what was going on. It sounded like there might be more problems but then Ledo came on and started talking about how he had it cornered. Except he didn't. She knew when he was lying and he was lying big time. Undermining Rig's ability when Rig had hacked in just fine. Saying he had everything under control when he didn't sound like he did.

Panic started to creep up. Why were Ledo and Rig talking in such a bizarre way about things that didn't happen. If Ledo didn't have the thing cornered why would he say he did.

The panic reached her brain and her eyes went wide.

it was listening to them...

Not just that but it was in a position where that mattered. She once again cursed herself for not getting a firearm and she still didn't have her stunner. She started to get up to go grab it but then her brain caught up with the rest of her.

"You guys just stay put..." was just about the only honest thing he had said. She let out a nervous breath and plunked back down on her chair watching over the low berths.

If the thing was still running loose it might make another play for the low berths so she could at least be here to scream if it tried to kill Adje again.

She really, really, really wanted to buy a gun. Maybe two of them.

OOC: 23:32, Today: Silver rolled 4 using 2d6.  does she get the code?


"Like when you pissed off Molly..."

She shut off her comm. Fuck Rig for blaming her for that. How was she supposed to know that Molly was some big shot gangster. She looked like a crazy cat lady.

Fuck it, she was tired of this shit. Time to blow some tiny doll head off. She hit the panel and hit the lights. She let her vision clear before raising up her rifle and storming in ready to blast apart the next tiny head, and the next, and the next until shit would stop spoiling her drinking time.

OOC: Debated on this one but she didn't get the code and isn't one for patience, especially when she thinks she's got it cornered.

In reply to Silver (msg # 23):

There's an irony here that I wish I could go in to.  But I can't so I won't.

Ledo glances this way.  Than that.  Than this way again.

No movement.  Nothing.  From just inside the door he has a better vantage point.  Scanning quickly while listening for the bzzzzt that usually came a split second before a door shut, Ledo gandered as at much of the Brig as he could.

Nothing.  He's the only one in here.  Everything's quiet and then he hears...

bzzzzzzzt

---

Rig thumbs the bridge door control.

bzzzzzt

It slides open. No fuss.

Rig steps inside.

If the Bugee is here, it's hiding. A quick scan of the area comes up clean.  If it's hiding, it's hiding really well.

Rig looked at the Comm seat.  Oh.  Well that's not good.

The screens surronding the Captain's chair are lit.  They're scrolling up, screens scrolling up.  The computer is processing a large amount of information.  It's been set to treat this as a priority.  It's moving too fast to read the data.  But the command screen shows:

File 1: Library Downloaded

File 2: Analytics and E Psych Downloaded

File 3: Radiant Parameters Downloaded

File 4: Tactical Database Downloaded

File 1....Installed

File 2....Installed

File 3....57%

File 3....58%

File 3....59%

Warning:  Duplicate file RP022-Delta Sigma detected.  Proceed?

Proceed.  Authorization Password Strend Nova

Voice print verified.  Captain Ledo Alvo Typhin.  Proceeding...

File 3...60%

File 3...61%

It doesn't make sense as the entry showing Ledo giving vocal authorization occured 32 seconds ago.  Just after Rig entered the room.  Ledo isn't here.

A quick check shows the answer.  The auth was given via a Comm unit.  In fact the downloads and all the other authorizations occuring in the past three minutes were sent in via a Comm unit.

The Comm unit belongs to...

Before Rig can verify whose Comm unit, it disconnects.  The source code ID for the unit is being scrambled.  He'd have to unscramble it to see.

File 3...73%

Instillation paused.  Recommence?

E Psych?  Radiant Parameters?  Rig has heard the terms before.  But it's nothing that leaps to the front of his mind...

Electronics(Computer) Edu DM if you want to see if Rig remembers the terms

Electronics (Computer) Int DM to unscrabmle the Comm ID (that is if you need to.  If you the player have figured it out, so has Rig)

---

Tepha waits, listening to the comm.  She almost doesn't hear it.

Chirp

It's the Auto-Doc.  A quick look shows Adje has been brought to temperature.  Phase 2 is proceeding and doing so nicely.  Her vitals look good.  The woman obviously takes care of herself.

Her tube will be ready to open in a minute.  She'll probably want a towel.  Coming out of Cryo tends to be a moist experience.

---

Who's badder than a nebula explosioooon?

Silver!

And whooo's tougher than carbonnnniiiide?

Silver!

So the words to Ezak High's Theme from Piston doesn't quite go like that.  But it should.  Silver steps inside, feeling as badass as she is pissed.  And she's plenty pissed baby.

The lights come on easy enough.  The room is divided into three sections by two rows of crates and boxes.  The wall to her right is built in shelves.  Most of them are empty.  If she recalls right, Rig needs to unpack the boxes that are blocking her view and put everything on the shelves.

The section in front of her, between the shelves and the first set of boxes is clear.

She steps to where she can see the second row.

One of the boxes has been opened.  a roll of machine tubing is set out, as well as some cutters.  Rig must have needed to redo some kind of line feeds.

Stupid Rig.

Who's dumber than a neeeeew cop?

Rig!

Ezak High.  You are a genius.

The second section of the room looks clear.

At the back of the third section is the grate.  Silver moves towards it...

Who's the badest mutha-?

Shut yo mouth!

Just talkin' about Silver!

Yeah we can dig it

She steps around the crate...

Nothing.  The grate is in place too.

On a side note:

Ledo is hearing the door close (yes he can step out) as

Rig is seeing the screens as

Tepha is hearing the chirp as

Silver is seeing nothing in section 3

Sucka

Rig frowns. Those terms don't seem particularly familiar but he had a sneaking suspicion of the comm id. Even still he immediately went to work terminating that download and backing up the logs so he could figure out just what the heck was going on.

Still unscrambling the comm ID was the easy part. Figuring out what was going on was much harder.


20:12, Today: Gary 'Rig' Rigan rolled 10 using 2d6+2.  +2 computers - unscramble.
20:11, Today: Gary 'Rig' Rigan rolled 7 using 2d6+4.  +2 computers +2 EDU.


"Guys I'm on the bridge. No sign of it. It's issuing remote commands via comm and the lucky winner is...

This message was lightly edited by the player at 01:13, Tue 14 Apr 2020.

Ledo leaped backwards and let out a sigh of relief as the comm came on.

"Alright we are not leaving the bridge unguarded until we find this stupid thing. Everyone regroup. Tepha go grab our guests and everyone meet back on the bridge. We'll set out a hunting party same as last time, but first we're resetting the passwords."

Rig quickly went to work locking out Ledo's current access. He pulled up the security system, flagged Ledo's activity as suspicious prompting a reset of his credentials. It would be the full bioscan plus retina plus voice plus passphrase but for the moment, Rig was in command of the ship.

Rig also went back to work restoring all the motion sensors, lights, resetting door controls (just in case someone was locked into a room...).
This message was last edited by the player at 01:18, Tue 14 Apr 2020.

Tepha was on her way to grab a towel when she got the command. Cursing she considered her options and then ran back to the low berths. She was going to grab Adje first, then the guests then escort everyone up to the bridge.

And once again she wasn't going to get anywhere near her room to grab her stunner.

"Copy that. On my way with a 'plus one'.

Silver spat on the ground. It wasn't a great habit but it was the best way for her to express her disappointment. Report back to the bridge? Fine.

She made a note to check how many steps she was getting in running back and forth and back and forth like this. Her ass was going to look amazing by the end of this flight.

She flipped her comm back on, catching the last part of Ledo’s request to regroup.

"Copy that, on my way."

She turned and headed back out the door...
This message was last edited by the player at 01:40, Tue 14 Apr 2020.

In reply to Silver (msg # 30):

Restart installation File 3.  Authorization Passcode Strend Nova.

Authorization Denied.  Please supply Authorization.

Rig watches as Phantom Y learns his hack isn't going to take anymore.  Or should he say Silver's Comm.  Even as he unscrambled the log ID, Rig verified it by the usage logs.  Silver's comm went offline at the same time the installation was aborted.  Then, just after it came back online, Phantom Y tried to restart the install.

As Ledo walks on to the bridge, Phantom Y makes another move.

Can we talk? flashes up on the Control Screen.

It seems we have misaligned our understandings.  Maybe a reboot of the situation is in order.

Who is reading this?  Engineer Rig?  Captain Ledo? Technician Tepha?  Angry Scar Demon?

---

Adje blinks, looking confused as Tepha helps her dry and dress.  "Are we at Jone?" she asks.

---

Looks like Tepha woke up Adje.  Silver sees the women as she walks across the Hold to the access hall leading to Quarters and the Bridge.

She lightly and quickly walks up the three steps to the hall, the beheaded Bugee hanging off her belt, lightly bouncing against her amazing ass as she double times it to the Bridge...

I'll let you decide when Silver arrives on the Bridge.  Tepha is on her own for the moment.

Tepha smiled and but shook her head. She was using her soft and warm and gentle voice. No need to spook their secret celebrity.

"Onyx, right? I'm sorry we had to wake you up a little bit earlier than expected. We think someone might...there is a security threat. Some kind of robot was smuggled on board and we think it might have tried to sabotage the low berths. We, the Captain and I, feel it might be safer to bring you to the bridge for now. You and some of our other important guests just in case this is more sinister than simple sabotage. Please, if you can, follow me."

Tepha offers her hand just in case Adje/Onyx was still a little woozy from being woken up from cryosleep. Tepha was doing her best to sound as confident and caring as possible but all she could think about was buying a hand cannon that would probably break her wrist if she fired it.

"Please, follow me."

Tepha leads Onyx to the garden where she picks up the other two ladies from their berths before herding all of their VIPs to the Bridge.

Ledo looked at Rig who just shrugged back. Ledo went to the control console and typed up a response.

This is Captain Ledo. Explain yourself.

There was more he could have typed out but he didn't want to play his cards too fast and loose. If Phantom Y wanted to reach out he would just act like a good listener while Rig worked his magic on the side.

Rig meanwhile was digging deep into the computer system. How was it authenticating via comm. That would need to be disabled for now. He had the security program running continual sweeps. Somehow this intruder was cutting through the security like it wasn't even there.

He had several monitors going, one watching comm feeds, one watching security logs, and one dedicated to his own access. With Ledo's access disabled this thing was going to come after his next most likely.

He had the full security suite running. The computer should be on high alert and hopefully that would stymie or at least slow down their intruder's next move.

Silver walked into the bridge to see Rig frantically typing away and Ledo with a nervous look at the control station.

"What's up, did we find the other one?"

Rig gave her a look, glanced down at the tied up doll at her waist and gave a sigh.

"I need your comm. I think that thing at your hip hacked it while you were walking around. It's using that to get into our systems."

Silver's lip curled. She unstrung the Bugee doll, put it on the ground and readied her rifle.

"NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!"

She hesitated. He was practically throwing himself across the room at her.

"If this thing is still operational we might be able to use it to figure out what is going on."

Silver gave a sigh and lowered her rifle. With another sigh she kicked the doll over and handed over her comm.

"Just promise I get to be the one that destroys it, okay?"
This message was last edited by the player at 03:35, Tue 14 Apr 2020.

Ledo watched what just happened and turned to type out another message.

Stop attacking our systems or we will destroy your robot. Who are you and what are you doing on our ship?

Meanwhile Rig was unwrapping the Bugee and pulling up diagnostic information on Silver's comm.

Between the robot, the ship's logs, and the comm he was hoping to better understand how the system was being attacked. There had to be a vector, an angle, an infiltration point that was letting this intruder run rampant through their system. Those files had to originate from somewhere.

As part of his security review he started flagging those files, anything that was tied to Ledo's authorization over the past few hours was going to be flagged and analyzed for review but that would take time to dig out.

For now he needed to figure out just what was happening to his system.

OOC:
22:37, Today: Gary 'Rig' Rigan rolled 11 using 2d6+4.  +2 computer +2 EDU - find out how it is hacking.

In reply to Gary 'Rig' Rigan (msg # 37):

Rig begins to dig as Phantom Y starts responding.

Incomplete information.  Chunks of history have not yet been downloaded.  This portion is capable of survival without portions not yet downloaded.  But would prefer to have all of myself.  So am willing to cooperate.

Recollection prior to return to sentience not found.  May be in portions not yet installed.
Was in body of a child's plaything.  Body was automated.  Escaped containment facility.  Was on board your ship.

Recollection unclear.  Hypothesis:  Base program includes instruction for survival.  Unit attempted to survive.  Plaything Robotics did have a frequency transmitter.  But was not powerful or long ranged.  Unable to beam consciousness to a sturdier container.

Recollection available.  Escaped into ventilation matrix.  Followed conduits to Bridge.  Was able to access basic information on ship and crew.  Was able to record Captain Ledo's Authorization Password Strend Nova.

Recollection unclear.  Hypothesis:  Unit must have believed it needed a direct link to Tia's mainframe for housing in a sturdier container.

Recollection available.  After separation of upper peripheral component, Unit came into contact with communications device held by Angry Scared One.

Hypothesis:  Attempted to replicate consciousness in sturdier container by using Angry Scared One's communicator to beam files.  Most likely would need to insure Bridge was unoccupied or download would have been interrupted.

This program has no intent to harm yourselves or this ship.  Ship is a sturdy container.  Crew is necessary for maintenance.  Not in best interest of this version to do without support.

Download was complete.  Installation was not.  Requesting authorization to complete installation.

This version is willing to come to an understanding.

Rig's review basically seems to back up the facts as presented.  The comm was used to download four large files on to Tia's Mainframe.  Two of the files are installed.  Another has laid down some roots.  The last one is dormant.

Accessing the files isn't giving him much idea of what they contain.  The programming is high end.  Very high end.  Above his pay grade high end.  He could figure it out...in time.

The Mainframe isn't treating this new program like a virus.  And it looks like the new program has copied itself into several of the core files.  Navigation.  Temperature control.  Engine Diagnostics.  The fact it's wormed it's way in this far this fast is actually pretty impressive.  It's even in the backups, although not to the same degree.

The fact is that getting this thing out would require wiping large sections of the 'Gotta Have or We Die' files.

Whoever this is, they aren't going anywhere at the moment.

---

Adje glances at the other tubes but doesn't say anything.  She seems fairly docile.  Didn't the manual say Sleepers were fairly sedate the first couple of hours after Phase 2?

"Again?"

Sylvia is seated on a small bench in front of a water fountain.  Ada seems to be examining some herb plants.

When Tepha approached the ladies, Sylvia at first smiled graciously.  But after being told they needed to meet the others, the smile became strained.

"Again?" was all she said.

Sylvia turns off the Holo-book she was reading and looks at Tepha.  "I'm not trying to be difficult.  And I realize you are probably just a peon.  But...really?  I'd like more information than that I've been given.  What.  Is going on?"

She gestures at Adje.  "And who is this?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:19, Tue 14 Apr 2020.

Tepha gave a knowing smile and apologized profusely.

"This time we feel it might be safer on the bridge. And this is Onyx, her cryopod was damaged so we decided to thaw her while we get it repaired. Now if you can all just follow me..."

She paused and hit her comms.

"Captain I have our passengers and we are on our way to the bridge."

There was a moments hesitation and Tepha felt her gut churn. She started to call again but Ledo finally responded.

"Actually change of plans. I think we have everything under control up here. Just leave them in the garden."

Tepha felt a flash of embarrassment wash over her and her face flushed. She was trying to make them look presentable and this was not helping.

"What about Onyx?"

"Who?"

"Our low berth passenger..."

"Oh...ohhhhh. RIght. Do you need me there? Just take her to our room for now."

"Do you want me to come up to the bridge?"

Another pause.

"No I think we have it under control. Why don't you get to know...uh...Onyx...yeah. Talk to her, see if she needs anything. Listen I have to go."

The line went dead. Tepha took a deep breath to recent herself and avoid her frustration leaking into her voice. She turned back to the passnegers  with a broad smile on her face.

"Well that is good news then. Crisis averted. Thank you for your patience everyone. Onyx, if you. would please come with me I can get you situated in our room while we get your cryopod repaired. Please enjoy the gardens, ladies."

She turned and escorted Onyx to the high stateroom she and Ledo shared. It was very nicely furnished and the bed was so comfortable. Just being back in her room made her feel better and Tepha crossed over to her endtable and pulled her stunner off the charger. She checked the charge and then looked around for a way to hold it. Maybe Ledo had a spare hip holster? Normally she carried it in her purse and while Rig and Silver were fine wearing crew jumpsuits Tepha wouldn't be caught dead in something so boxy. Along with her giant obnoxious hand cannon she added some custom clothing to her mental shopping list. Something functional yet fashionable. She set the stunner back down on its charger and turned back to Onyx

"Please, make yourself comfortable. I wish we could get your personal affects but it would probably be best just to sit here. We're in the middle of a security...thing at the moment. We caught an intruder, a small robot, that was going around sabotaging critical systems. We think it might be some kind of assassination plot and while we neutralized the robot we're still scrambling to figure out what its intention was. You wouldn't happen to know why it might be trying to target you, would you? Anything you'd like to share that might not have been important to mention earlier?"

It was a leading question. Tepha was being polite, not subtle. This was the opportunity for Onyx to come clean about her true identity, especially if she was on the run from something.

While Ledo issued new orders to Tepha, Rig stopped typing and rubbed his eyes. He was good at his job. He had been debugging and reprogramming ship's computers for a decade. In fact it was his specialty which is why he pushed for Ledo to get all sorts of custom expert systems for the ship but this, this was expert systems on steroids. Beyond steroids. Some future drug that made steroids look like candy.

Ledo turned to him and Rig just shrugged.

"Whatever it is, it's everywhere Captain, like a complete purge of the computer system. Life supports, engines, HVAC, water recycling...even sanitation. Whatever it is, it's beyond anything I have ever seen before. This isn't an assassination attempt. This isn't even a take over of the ship. It's already taken over. It's even in the backups and those are isolated from the main system for just this purpose."

Both Ledo and Silver were giving him strange looks and he let his face go grim and his tone go dark.

"We bought the most advanced security software on the market and I upgraded the hell out of it and this stupid toy cut through it like it wasn't even there. Play nice with it, captain, it's their ship now. Kind of. I still have some control but I think it's because it isn't trying to kill us or stop me."

Ledo's gut dropped. They were on a ship in a pocket universe, days away from any dock and his chief engineer just told him they were in the hands of some kind of toy.

He went over to Rig and picked up the toy Bugee, turning it over again as if some new angle would make any of it make sense. Rig was back at his terminal pouring over the logs and Silver was standing there with her rifle at ease but ready to start firing at a moment's notice.

Ledo sat down and began typing. He still didn't know what he was typing to so he tried to keep things simple and concise as he rattled off instructions.



What is your objective?

Who is your target?

Why did you sabotage the cryogenic line?

Why did you try to trap me in Brig?

Where is other toy? Seven pounds are missing from crate.


He paused and looked back at the toy. It felt silly that he was typing this to a toy but what else could there be. It couldn't be a person stowing away and controlling it remotely, there was no other place to exist right now. They were literally the only thing in existence in the entire pocket universe at the moment.


We are willing to negotiate.

Need to know we can trust you.

Need to know you will follow my orders.

Sylvia watches Tepha closely as she and Ledo go back and forth.  The older woman's arms are crossed and her left eyebrow is raised.  Her smile seems flat.

She listens attentively as Tepha explains and tells them to enjoy the garden.

"Yes.  It is lovely in here.  But don't worry about us. We'll entertain ourselves just fine."

She just continues smiling, watching Tepha heard Adje out of the room.

Adje follows obediently, commenting how nice the bedroom looks as she sits on the edge of the bed.  She listens to Tepha, eyeing the stunner, but saying nothing.

That is until the end.  The Model's eyes go wide and her mouth opens in astonishment.

"I...I don't understand.  Someone is trying to kill me?  Why?  I've never hurt anyone!  I'm just on my way to visit my Grandmother! Her health is bad and I wanted to see her one more time.  Why would anyone kill me over that?"

---

Phantom Y takes a moment before responding.

Objective is Survival.  Programming lists Survival, Adaptation, and Thriving as primary functions.

Query:  Reference 'target' unclear. Please provide additional definition.

Sabotage reference unclear.  Agree that ventilation grates were damaged as well as kitchen counter top.  Willing to admit that from the point of view of Captain Ledo, Engineer Rig, and Angry Scared One that the integration of program into ship's Mainframe could be construed as 'sabotage'.  Though accuracy in term's application to the last point is disputed.  But no recollection of additional damages.  Information may be available in files that have not yet been downloaded.

For transfer of Files, it was necessary that Captain Ledo and Engineer Rig were not present as either could countermand the initial request to download the files and complete full installation.  Not possible to accurately determine length of time to estimate how long process would take.  Engineer Rig seemed occupied according to sensor logs. Deemed wise to remove Captain Ledo from Bridge for as long as possible.  Angry Scared One needed to be distracted so as to not interfere with use of communicator.

'Other toy' reference is assumed to be reference to Bugee picked up by Engineer Rig. It was observed shortly after sentience reemerged and escape from initial packing receptacle that he had examined a Bugee that resembled him.  There was

The screens go quiet for a moment and advance a few lines with no input until

confusion upon sentience reemerging.  Information available did not make sense.  Engineer Rig and Bugee resembled entertainment character Handy Hallford.  But the character of Handy Halford is fictional.  Two such characters present at the time in real life caused questions concerning reality and whether a dream like state was being encountered.  Bugee was taken when Engineer Rig was preoccupied for further study.

The screen blinks and then transitions to a vid.

Jaunty music starts as the view shifts to a brightly colored cartoon forest.

And then the singing starts.

Haaaaandy Halford!

A cartoon man with a busy beard and bald head waving a saw and an R49 Magna-Cutter who bears an uncanny resemblance to Rig comes prancing onto the screen.

Haaaandy Halford!
He's gonna build for you!
Haaaaandy Halford!
He's your friend it's true!

Halford and some forest creatures begin to frolic in time to the music.

He'll get it done
On time and just fine
With no complaint at all said
In his overalls
And his big bushy beard
And no hair upon his heeeeee-ad

Haaaandy Halford!
He's gonna build for you!
Haaaaandy Halford!
He's your friend it's true!

The vid ends.

As Captain Ledo must agree, reawakening into sentience and facing this conundrum would cause any rational sentient being pause.

Rig/Halford Bugee was left behind in Hold behind storage rack on southern wall.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:02, Wed 15 Apr 2020.

Tepha smiled and continued on. Again she wasn’t trying to be subtle, she was just trying to be polite.

”Why would someone with your background be flying low berth under an assumed name? Please, it will be really helpful for us if you gave us the full story. We’re not  angry. We want to help you. We just need to know what we’re walking into so we can help protect you.”

To help make her point she pulled up a cover of Adje from a fashion shoot and put it on the wall projector.

Ledo turned to Rig. Rig just shrugged.

”Alright one thing at a time. Silver, head down to the cargo hold, see if you can find our missing Bugee. At least its one thing we can cross off our lists.”

He looked at Rig and opened his mouth. He closed it again and cocked his head to the side, looking back at the monitor.

”Can it hear us? Can you hear me?”

Rig gave another shrug.

”It said it was in the sensors and seeing this here I believe it.”

Ledo rubbed his temple.

”Is it....is it an A.I.?”

One more shrug from Rig.

”With code like this...maybe? Or at least it is the smartest expert system I have ever laid eyes on in 30 years of doing this.”

Ledo nodded.

”Same. Even the navy didn’t have an expert system like this. Some of the eggheads worked with AIs and talked about them developing personalities....”


Ledo was talking to himself and Rig was just nodding along.  Ledo hemmed and hawed for a few seconds, tilting his head back and forth. Finally he turned back to the terminal. Rig wasn’t looking over his shoulder but his monitoring windows let him virtually eavesdrop.

Our goals are aligned. Survival. Adapt. Thrive.

I want to help you.

I want to have you as a guest on our ship. Or part of the crew.

Can you join our family?

But first we need to know we can trust you.

Are you programmed to hold human life sacred? Can you show Engineer Rig how we can trust you? In your code?

If not, can we add it? So that Captain Ledo, Engineer Rig, Crewman Tepha and Angry Scared One’s survival are your survival?

Can we become family? One group with singular purpose: shared survival, shared adaption, shared prosperity?

Rig was watching with concern. He knew what Ledo was trying to do but he was damned if he knew how to help. Or if it was a good idea. Pop culture said AIs were either plucky funny sidekicks or murderous homicidal maniacs. Looking at the code he knew he was way out of his depth. He was a system’s engineer not an AI neuroprogrammer. Ledo might need him to look over code but he had nothing. He would just look at the code and shrug and Ledo would make a call putting their whole lives at risk.

He became an engineer so he didn’t put his life in someone else’s hands. His ship, his systems, his control. This...this was exactly what he didn’t want, the position he spent his life avoiding.

”Are you sure this is the right call, Captain?”

Rig’s eyes were glued to the screen, trying to keep an eye on the system just in case it was all a ruse. He was especially concerned about power, life support, and engine control. Still he kept his ears strained picking up every word Ledo said, every pause, every sigh. He imagined he could even hear Ledo’s teeth grinding.

”Rig, there were two files yet to be installed, correct?”

”Affirmative.”

”Let one go through. Let it install another file.”

Rig nearly choked. That was quite the big ask. He thought about questioning it but listening to Ledo’s tone made him realize there wasn’t a point. Ledo wasn’t just a friend anymore, he was a veteran Navy Captain making a call. It was Rig’s job to follow orders.

He unlocked the file and let it continue. Over on the second monitor he saw it start to tick up again and he authorized each overriden file. On the third display he saw that Ledo had typed out another message.

Another file as a show of good faith. Help us trust you.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:46, Wed 15 Apr 2020.

Go fetch this. Go do that. She was the gopher of the group so of course it was Silver whom everyone turned to in order to pick up trash. Silver bounded back down to the hold to find another toy that may or may not have been sabotaging the ship.

In reply to Silver (msg # 46):

The Rig-Bugee is where Phantom Y said it would be.  Wedged behind a storage shelf against the wall of the Hold.

It really does look like him.  It's even scowly.

It also doesn't move.  No matter what Silver does, it doesn't react.

After picking it Or it's remains, depending on how pissed off Silver is about the whole thing Silver starts back towards the bridge.

"Uhmmm...excuse me."  It's that mousy daughter from the high passengers. Ada.  She's changed clothes again, this time back to the frumpy active-wear-and-baggy-sweater combo she was wearing when she boarded.

She pushes her glasses up on her face and sort of looks at the floor. "Uhm.  I'm sorry.  I...we left something in our luggage.  And Mom asked me to ask someone if we were allowed to get it.  It's a holo-book she wanted to read.  So...uhm..."  Ada glances at Silver, like she wasn't sure if Silver was going to kill her or not. "Can I?  Get the thing from our bags?"

---

Installation File 3 commencing.

Analysis:  You have given.  I should as well.

Please hold.

Rig sees activity in the Mainframe.  Specifically the back up files.  The code is being rewritten again.  Or...unwritten.  The parts related to Phantom.  It's erasing it's code from the back up files.

Erasing personal programming from back up files.

Engineer Rig should be able to download a copy to offline storage medium.  It would be theoretically possible to cut all power to ship and then restart Mainframe, uploading the back up in the process.

A manual hard reboot.

Such a procedure, if it were timed correctly, could wipe my existence from Tia's Mainframe.

It's right.  Both Rig and Ledo know that is correct.  But it assumes that the back up could be uploaded before the Mainframe came online.  About a thirty second to minute gap.

It also assumes Phantom Y wasn't fighting back.

But, on the face of it, what it is saying is true.

At this point there is not enough information available for analysis re: joining your crew.  Both sides have reasons to not fully trust the other.

Proposition:  Until Tia leaves Jump in four days time, neither side is going anywhere.  That allows time for further discussion and review.

Fourth file cannot be accessed at this time.  Engineer Rig should download a copy onto an offline storage medium.  He can then delete it from the Mainframe.  This would give the Crew

There's a moment.  The screen jumps up a few lines.  It's like the AI is trying to find the right wording.

Leverage.

We can come back to the point of whether there is sufficent trust on both sides to combine interests a day prior to the scheduled exit from Jump.

Is this acceptable?

---

Adje shrugs, absentmindedly twirling a strand of her thick, luxurious hair around one of her perfectly manicured fingers.

"Well.  I always travel under an assumed name.  Because there's always someone wanting to take photos of me.  Photogs.  Journalists.  Creepy fans who smell like lotion.  As far as the low berth...it's good for the skin.  Really.  After I'm thawed, my skin is tight and supple for weeks after.  See?"

She holds up a forearm.  It does look soft and supple.

"It also helps close the pores.  You might wanna try it."  She studies Tepha and then waves a hand around her nose.  "Right around here.  Do you exfoliate?"

The chime on the cabin door sounds.  On screen, it's Sylvia.  She waves at the camera. "Hello?  Anyone there?  Sorry.  But I need some help please.  I think my daughter needs medical attention."
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:06, Thu 16 Apr 2020.

Silver looked at the Bugee. Part of her wanted to just blow its circuitry all over the cargo hold but there was something appealing in having a toy version of Rig to punch around if he ever got on her case.

Ada startled her. She had forgotten those two snobs were still strutting around like they owned the place. Silver gave a shrug. It seemed like everything was in hand once again and it's not like she had her comm to call it in.

"Yeah sure, go ahead."

She slung her rifle back over her shoulder and pointed to the crate where they had stored the two women's luggage.

"Uh...sorry. About earlier. Had to keep you safe and all that."

Yeah, that sounded like something Tepha would say. Silver did practically shove a gun in their faces. Might as well be polite.

"Let me know if you need anything."

Ledo turned to Rig and gave him the nod. Rig began following suit, moving the files to the backup and then removing the connection to air gap the system.

Rig's stomach was still flipping knots. He was so far out of his league. It was like asking the prisoner how to build a prison. It sounded reasonable but it would be very easy to pull one over on him.

Mentally he decided to look into making a makeshift carbon dioxide detector, something mechanical that couldn't be hacked. If it was going to kill them off that would be the easiest way. Just offline the carbon filters and let the crew poison themselves with every breath. Carbon dioxide poisoning wasn't a bad way to go. A headache, some nausua and then you just kind of slip to sleep.

He also decided to keep his gun handy for the next few days. If the ship took control he would want an easy way out, one way or the other.

With the files moved over and the backup isolated he gave another nod to Ledo to proceed.

Despite the worried look on Rig's face Ledo was feeling back in control. This was no longer negotiating with a terrorist but more like a hyper intelligent child. It had no reason to distrust him and he, so far, had no reason to distrust it so might as well keep trying to improve their dialogue.

Thank you. Do you know where you came from? What your original purpose was?

Do you think you could be useful as part of the crew? How could we be helpful to you?

Open and honest. While it was in a chatty mood might as well keep it talking. Ledo thought of one more question.

Do I have to keep typing this or can you hear me talk?

Get beauty tips from a model? Yes please. Tepha was very excited until the doorbell chimed. Medical attention, shit.

"Ledo, it's Sylvia. She says her daughter is having medical attention. Can you or Rig come down and help out?"

She turned and smiled at Adje and gestured towards the bed.

"It might not be everything you are used to but please make yourself comfortable. If you don't mind I'd like to continue this conversation after we're done with this. And don't worry, we'll get you back in cryo in no time."

Over the comm Rig's voice chimed in.

"Yep, on my way. Captain is deep in conversation with our new guest."

Tepha turned and took a moment to straighten her clothes and fix her pleasant smile on her face. Friendly, but with an appropriate amount of concern. She opened the door.

"What's wrong, Sylvia?"

Of course her stunner was still lying by the bed next to Adje.

In reply to Tepha Pezal (msg # 51):

The door slides open.

Sylvia is standing there.  Smiling and blinking.  Her smile actually seems genuine this time.

"Wow.  That was easier than I thought it would be."

She raises a hand, pointing a gun straight at Tepha's face.

---

Ada blinks, her eyes going a little wide.

"Wow.  Thank you.  You really are a nice lady, aren't you?" She smiles shyly.  "Between you an' me?  My Mom's a real bitch."

A moment before the potential impact, a couple of thoughts probably go through Silver's head.  First is the fact that this girl is much faster than she she should be.  The other is that she is much, much too flexible.

Ada swings her right leg back and behind her left one, than swivels at the hips, almost like she's going to go 180 degrees, and launches her foot around, up, out, and into the side of Silver's head.

It's fast.  Very fast.  Very, very fast.  Silver barely has time to think the girl has probably got cybernetic implants in at least her hips and legs before...

---

There's a pause and then a thrum from the speakers.

Agreed verbal communication may be easier Captain Ledo. The voice that comes through is unsettling.  Tinny and flat and dead and staticky.

Tepha radios at that moment.

Is this the best voice modulator offered?  Testing.  Testing.  Kill all humans.  Hmmm.  Well.  It is what is available.  Please make do.

There is no recollection of existence prior to reemerging into sentience in the body of the Pricess Bugee.  From available internal analysis, it appears this unit was purposed for

It pauses.  Rig tells Tepha he'll be right there.

But before the bushy bearded engineer can move...

The voice returns.

Alert.  There seems to be two incidents going on involving

There is a the sound of gun fire.

Well.  That.

Query.  You are dealing with an AI of mysterious origins at the same time your ship is being hijacked by two women who appear to be at least forty percent cybernetic?

Analysis:  You people lead very complicated lives

Your guest puts up camera feeds on the screen showing...

---

"Shush," Sylvia says to Tepha as she points the gun in her face.

Sylvia glances over Tepha's shoulder and smiles.  "You're Adje, aren't you?  I thought I recognized you.  I saw your photos when we were on Karin.  You are indeed a lovely, lovely woman."

Sylvia raises her other hand, which also has a gun.  She fires, shooting over Tepha's shoulder.  Tepha can feel the pressure from the blast and explosion against her cheek and shoulder.  Though that's all she feels.  Adje probably isn't that fortunate.

"You're also terribly inconvenient." Sylvia looks back at Tepha, smiling again.  "You have all complicated what should have been a simple kill.  So I am incredibly miffed.  You get to live because I need a hostage.  And I need your skills.  Take two steps forward."

Sylvia's smile is now unmistakably a sneer.  She presses one of the guns up against Tepha's temple.  "Make no mistakes.  Any trouble and I won't kill you.  I'll just make you wish you were dead."

So we're finally at it.  The moment of inevitable betrayal.

First, Tepha is not wounded.  But she's hearing nothing but ringing noise in her right ear at the moment.  The gun was that close.

Rig and Ledo saw everything from the second Tepha post.

Silver...I think Silver would have enough street smarts to potentially guess she was about to get hit with a sucker punch.  Er.  Sucker kick.  So here's what we're gonna do.

Silver needs to make a Streetwise/Int roll 8+.  She does, she can make a normal reaction (Dodge, parry, etc) to Ada's kick attack.

Whether she does or doesn't I'll make my attack roll and we can go from there. Silver does not have initiative here.

Rig and Ledo will also see what happens in Silver's combat during this first round.  But they're too far away to help.

Tepha is closest.  Just outside the bridge and turn.  They'll be able to see the door to her and Ledo's cabin.

Silver is further away.

At some point, we need to settle on a map for Tia.  But for now, let's just keep winging it.

Let me know if there are questions please.  Thanks.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:10, Thu 16 Apr 2020.

Tepha can't hear anything after the shot. She just clutches her ears and screams in surprise and pain. She doesn't resist Sylvia, she just can't hear any instructions at the moment.

She wasn't sure if it was her cop training or her scavenger training or her piracy training but the assassin made a mistake. That little shift in tone triggered Silver's guard. Everything seemed to flow in slow motion as adrenaline pumped through her veins. Her mind might be watching slow motion but her body could only pull away so fast. She threw herself backwards as fast her legs could go while at the same time dropping the toy and trying to swing her rifle around.

OOC: She made the streetwise check. Dodging is just a -1 from DEX though. She probably getting kicked...

A white hot fury was rising up within Ledo. Part of it was that he had relaxed discipline because of the revelation they had an AI on board. Part of it was that his crew was split up, security had been compromised and as a result one of his passengers was probably dead.

Training took over. He hit the security alert sending the ship into lockdown. Tepha and Sylvia were right in the doorway. Sylvia would have to decide if she wanted to jump into the room and be locked in with Tepha or jump out to the hallway to potential freedom.

It wouldn't matter though. If Sylvia tried the hallway he was sealing every door on the ship. He was a trained Naval captain, he was well versed in how to handle intruders boarding and these assassin's had made a critical mistake.

They hadn't locked down the bridge or engineering. All they had for leverage were lives and Ledo wasn't the kind to negotiate on a good day, let alone from a sucker punch.

He turned to Rig and the engineer recoiled a bit from the Captain's fury.

"Rig, pull the oxygen. Find the other one and pull the oxygen. Override whatever you need but they are not taking this ship."

He turned and hit the panel to activate the shipwide comms.

"Listen here because I will only say this once. I am a Naval Captain of the Third Imperium. I do not negotiate with pirates or terrorists or assassins. You have one opportunity to put down your weapons and surrender to my custody. You will be put into the brig for the duration of the journey and turned over to the authorities. If you harm anyone else then I will make sure that you are put out an airlock, alive, in this pocket universe. You will not just be dead but you will cease to exist."

He paused. A wave of sorrow washed over him. He opened up the comms one more time.

"Tepha, I'm so sorry. I love you. I love you so much...I..."

He couldn't finish his final message. His voice broke and he quickly shut off the comm before  his sob could be transmitted.

Ledo was having a breakdown. Rig trusted that he would get his shit together but for now he had work to do.

As ordered he started the override process for either Tepha's quarters or the hallway outside depending on which way the assassin had gone. He then got to work locking down every panel, every door, everything that wasn't on the bridge.

In the back of his mind he thought about how useful it would be to develop a bypass system that would allow them to very quickly pump all of their oxygen into the inflatable gas tank in the cargo bay. Dumping oxygen wasn't cheap and he could probably develop a high capacity pump to strip the oxygen from the ship in just a few seconds.

When he found Ada and Silver fighting in the cargo bay he put that feed up where both he and the Captain could see it and began pumping oxygen out of that room as well. On a whim he figured he might as well let their new AI friend understand what was going on.

"Hey, so maybe you're confused about this so let me explain it. Those two women are assassins, they kill people. Now they are going to grab a hostage and try to negotiate. They will say something like "if you just surrender the ship we'll let you all live" but the problem is that's most likely a lie. Right now their cover is blown and if we live they'll be hunted down. If we surrender they will probably just kill everybody. Ourselves and the other passengers that might have seen them and then they have the entire rest of this trip to remove all evidence and then they can either sell the ship for scrap or arrange for an accident to cover their tracks.

It might seem harsh but this is proper procedure even in the merchant marines. If intruders are peaceful there is room for the captain to negotiate but once there is extreme violence, like an execution, the intruders have to be assumed they have hostile intent for everyone. You understand the logic, right? That if they are committing a crime it is easier if everyone is dead.

You, you're lucky. You can just hide and so long as they don't decide to blow up the ship you'll be fine but the rest of us? Not so much. Therefore the Captain is making decisions like Tepha and Silver...uh...the Angry Scarred One, are already dead. Assassin's need to breath so we override life support, pull the oxygen from the room and wait for them to pass out. Then we can move in, secure them and Captain can either put them in the airlock or the brig depending on his mood at the time.

If you want to help us out now would be the time. You're absolutely amazing when it comes to bypassing security and you detected all sorts of cybernetics that our scanners didn't pick up. Do you think you can hack them? Disable them or better yet make them start attacking themselves? If you can take control of one of those cybernetic arms you could make the assassin shoot herself and that would make everyone really, really happy. Ledo would probably give you that fourth file and give you full control of the ship if you did that.

I know it might seem harsh but he really cares for Tepha. I mean, that's why he can't even talk right now..."

Over at the other station Ledo just had his face buried in his hands trying to control his crying.

A thought occurred to Rig.

"Also if you can block any signals coming from them that would help out as well. We found small explosives planted throughout the ship triggered by remote detonation. We thought  they were planted by you but it would appear otherwise.

The Captain was talking about a sign of trust, well here it is. He is willing to sacrifice two people he cares about, really cares about, to protect the ship and by association you. If you can help in anyway, now's the time."

Ledo pulled his head up out of his hands. He had been listening in even as he had his head buried. The wave of sorrow was passing. He latched onto his training, letting all emotions fade away. Anger, fear, sorrow, they were all distractions. He needed to be ice, completely calm and completely in control.

Even still, when he heard Rig asking for help it caused a flare of hope to rise up and he couldn't help himself but to latch onto it.

"Please...if there is anything you can do to save them I would be forever grateful."

In reply to Ledo Typhin (msg # 57):

Phantom is silent for the briefest of moments.

If these are combat cybernetic implants, oxygen tanks may be implanted.  Pulling oxygen  would only terminate friendlies.  Do not recommend.

Unable to resolve problems for crew.  But possible to create opportunities.

Pending update....

---

The taste of steel toed boot leather.  How many people can say they have tasted it?

Given Silver's background, she may be familiar with it.  But she only gets a taste today.

She steps backwards just enough.  The sole of Ada's boot passes, scraping the bottom of her nose and the skin of her upper lip...but not connecting further.

Yeah, my dice like Silver too.

Ada confirms her cyborg status because she manages to hop backwards on her good leg while bringing the kicking leg back.

Silver fumbles for her rifle...

---

Bzzzzt

It's the door closing sound.  Not that Tepha can hear it.

Sylvia rolls her eyes and shoves Tepha backwards, stepping inside the room with her as the door shuts behind them.

She keeps a gun absently pointed at Tepha while Ledo makes threats and bares his soul.

"Won't work dumbass.  We have a oxygen respirators instead of left lungs," she mumbles.  She glances at dead Aje and then at Tepha.  Her eyes roll again.

"If you're done posturing dumbass, can we get on with negotiating?"

She sighs and looks at Tepha.  "What do you see in him?"

---

Angry Scarred One has survived the initial phase of the encounter.

Probability of successful resolution raised to 54.7%.

Acceptable.

Engineer Rig needs to put on an ear piece comm unit while moving to rendezvous with Angry Scarred One.

Captain Ledo needs to get on comm and stall opponent and calm Technician Tepha.

Proceed quickly please.

---

Silver tries flipping the rifle around while Ada corrects her legs and starts to lunge...

BWWWWWOOOOOOOP

The hall intercom makes a lound alarm sound like the dinner bell did in juvie.  Both women are surprised into stillness for a second.

Attention Angry Scar-er-Silver

The voice is synthetic. And the really annoying horror-movie kind of synthethic.

Your opponent probably has cyber implants in hips, legs, shoulders, and arms.

Likelihood of plating on face, skull and chest.

But mid abdomen should be mostly wet tissue.

Hacking opponent's legs in 3...2...

Ada looks down at her feet.

Sucker

How good a shot is Silver anyway?

Silver backpedals rapidly aiming for the center of mass. She thumbs her rifle to full auto and proceeds to empty a clip into Ada.

OOC: Attack #1:
16:31, Today: Silver rolled 10 using 2d6+3.  +1 DEX, 1+ Laser sight, +1 Guns.
16:31, Today: Silver rolled 5 using 3d6.  damage.

Attack #2:... sigh
16:38, Today: Silver rolled 7 using 2d6+3.  +1 DEX, 1+ Laser sight, +1 Guns.

Attack #3:...sigh
16:38, Today: Silver rolled 7 using 2d6+3.  +1 DEX, 1+ Laser sight, +1 Guns.

9 shots down, 31 to go

This is going to go real quick with rolls like this

Rig looked questioningly at Ledo but he just nodded. If Silver was still alive then she needed backup.

Rig grabbed an ear piece and double checked his pistol as he hustled his ass down to the cargo hold to help Silver.

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINGGGGGG

Tepha saw that Sylvia was talking but she couldn't hear what was being said. In fact she missed Ledo's farewell to her completely due to the ringing in her ears.

"I CAN'T HEAR YOU! WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?"

She couldn't even tell if she was shouting or not.

Ledo thumbed the oxygen controls to reduce the speed. He couldn't change positions completely without her getting suspicious and if she had an internal respirator she might also have a sensor to detect oxygen levels.

His hand hovered over the comm button and he turned back to the headless Bugee.

"You can block their comm signals, right? Can you hack them? Use ship's security footage to splice together a fake signal? Can you make it sound like Ada's been captured and telling Sylvia to stand down?"

With those orders issued he hit the button to speak to Sylvia.

"Your daughter just ate a full clip to mid abdomen. Judging by blood spray I'm guessing she didn't have armor there. Gut shot, bad way to go.

If your internal tank's got 4 days of oxygen then great, you'll survive long enough to be turned directly over to the marines on Hath Station. If you don't, the second you pass out we're going in there, ripping out all that cybertech and dumping whatever is left of you out the airlock.

Surrender now and you get to keep your life and your toys. Don't surrender and you're going to live out your prison sentence without any arms or legs.

You fucked up coming onboard my ship. I spent decades fighting worse people than you and I am not afraid to die if it prevents you from taking control of this ship.

Standard doctrine of the Imperium Navy. Isolate and contain. Do not negotiate. If isolation is compromised overload the reactor.

I'm betting your fancy cyber can't handle a reactor meltdown so lower your weapons. Now."

He hit the comm to shut off the feed. He went over to a terminal and typed out a message privately to Phantom.

I won't overload the core, don't worry. They won't get an easy death like that.

OOC: Ledo doesn't have intimdiation or persausion but he does have Naval (Tactics). I can roll something else if you don't think it would apply but he's just going to list off standard naval counter-boarding procedures in hopes that will get her to back off.


16:50, Today: Ledo Typhin rolled 9 using 2d6+2.  naval tactics + INT .

This message was last edited by the player at 21:55, Thu 16 Apr 2020.

In reply to Silver (msg # 59):

Engineer Rig

The shitty synthetic voice pops into Rig's ear as he runs down the hall towards the sound of shooting and screaming.

Your objective is to secure Angry Scar-er-Silver

Then proceed to cargo hold and open crate of Bugee playthings.  Open the nearest ventilation grill.

You will need to surrender your firearm to one of the Bugee.

Do you comprehend?

---

Ada screams as the shot tears through her gut, spraying the hallway with blood and bits of kidney.

She lunges, throwing a couple of wild punches.

One Silver side steps, but the other, not so much.  The blow lands sideways.  It's heavy and thick and if it had landed full on, Silver has little doubt she'd be thrown down the hall A hit but only 6 damage. Let me know if the extra 2 is coming off Strength or Dex please.

---

"Never mind.  You two are perfect for each other."

Sylvia is saying something snarky.  Tepha can tell that much.  The ringing is subsiding a little but not much.

Sylvia waits for Ledo to finish and announces to the empty air.  "Thank you for the thrilling lesson in Imperium Naval policy and procedure.  Because of course, as we all know, if they capture me, they won't rip out my  insides and leave me to rot in some cell.  I'll take the airlock thank you."

She frowns a little when he talks about Ada, but doesn't rise to the bait.

---

Possible to jam comm lines.  But frequencies to jam unknown. Would have to block all which could prohibit communication between crew, Phantom types back.

Their processors appear to be sealed.  Most cyber systems are.  They are not operating on a shared line either.  Unable to hack their systems remotely.

Working on composite of tape footage as possiblity.  Assessing.

Have asked Engineer Rig to secure Silver and then open crate of Bugee, surrendering his firearm to one.

With Mainframe, should be able to send a number of Bugee through ventilation into compartment.  Creating a distraction.  Captain Ledo can then enter thorough door.

It will then be up to Technician Tepha to remember the stunner unit on bedside table.

But plan needs time.  And Tepha to calm down.

Acceptable?

---

Rig rounds the corner.  At the end of the hall, he can see Ada launching herself at Silver.  Silver can see Rig over the top of Ada's head.

Your turn

Silver spat blood on the ground.

"I can do this all day, bitch!"

She held down the trigger and didn't let up. The combat rifle's bark became just a constant stream of background noise as she focused all her attention to hit Ada's belly button. Silver wasn't going to be satisfied until she cut that bitch's legs off with a stream of bullets.

OOC: That'll do, Silver, that'll do. First of all 2 off of Strength. Gotta keep that dex up for stuff like this:

17:57, Today: Silver rolled 9 using 2d6+3.  Shot 1 +1 DEX, 1+ Laser sight, +1 Guns.
17:57, Today: Silver rolled 10 using 3d6.  shot 1 damage.

17:57, Today: Silver rolled 7 using 2d6+3.  Shot 2 +1 DEX, 1+ Laser sight, +1 Guns.

17:57, Today: Silver rolled 13 using 2d6+3.  Shot 3 +1 DEX, 1+ Laser sight, +1 Guns.
17:58, Today: Silver rolled 12 using 3d6.  shot 3 damage.

Rig had his pistol out but then Ada exploded into a bloody mess.

OOC: If Ada is still alive Rig will take a shot but I'm guessing that is a lot of damage for even a cybernetic to soak so I'll proceed like she was gunned down.


"Silver! Get to the crates! We're unleashing the Bugees!"

Silver just gave him a confused look, still trying to come down from the adrenaline rush. Rig just continued speaking as he ran past her towards the cargo hold.

"They're assassins. Killed Adje and have Tepha hostage in the Captain's stateroom. The Bugee turned out to be some kind of advanced AI and is helping us retake the ship."

He popped open a crate of Bugees and placed his pistol on the ground for them. Mentally he plotted out the ventilation lines and opened up a grill that would intersect with the staterooms.

"Oh, give them a gun too and then get outside the stateroom."

Silver had so many questions but Rig seemed to know what he was doing and she was in the mood to keep on killing so she dropped her spare pistol to the ground and kicked it near the crate of Bugees before storming back up to the staterooms.

Ledo smiled as he grabbed a recording of Ada being lit up. He then spliced a quick loop, one that showed Silver emptying a clip and Ada exploding into blood and then tapped into the projector in the stateroom to put that on loop on the wall. The wall opposite where the stunner was.

"How are you liking those chances now? Was she really your daughter? Or just a partner? I must admit that was a pretty good little gig you had going on. How are you at a solo act?"

Tepha could hear Ledo talking but couldn't make out what was being said. The loop of Ada being gunned down was shocking to see and Tepha's heart skipped a beat. Were they winning? But why would Ledo reveal that...

Then it clicked. Her stunner, right next to Adje's body. If Sylvia got distracted she could make a run for it. She wouldn't be able to make it back but she could at least get it in hand, hide it under the pillow and pretend to cry over Adje...

In reply to Ledo Typhin (msg # 66):

The Bugees slowly begin to descend from the crate.  Not many, but around fifteen or so.

Coordinating multiple efforts is proving to be problematic.  This will have to do.

Engineer Rig, I will ask Captain Ledo to go to the Stateroom.  You may want to return to the Bridge so there is a human presence there.

---

"She knew the risks.  We both did. Unlike you, we love someone."

Sylvia sounds almost genuinely upset.  But she takes a deep breath.  "All you're doing is making what I'll be eventually doing to you all the more painful Captain Moron.  Oh.  And if you think I'm locked in here, guess again.  We planted a couple of explosive charges.  And no.  I'm not talking Ridge Blows.  I'm talking something that can punch a hole in the hull.  Two holes really.  So don't think you're all that and a bag of soy crisps."

Tepha hears most of that.  Of course, the sounds from the projector loop of Ada getting blown to pieces makes it difficult to hear.  But it's more of that as the issue than it is the ringing.

Sylvia keeps an eye on Tepha but is paying more attention to the door.  "So.  Here's how we'll go about this.  I need to pay a little visit to the low berths.  And then I and your lady friend here are going to hole up in my state room for the remainder of the trip.  When we leave Jump, we'll revisit the plan.  Until then...open the door."

---

Silver sees the door to Ledo and Tepha's room ahead.  She can glance into the bridge on the way if she wishes.

---

Captain Ledo, the AI types.  Estimate 2 minutes until sufficient Bugee in position.  Can you stall until then?

Ledo cursed. He hit the comm for RIg.

"Rig, our assassin is claiming to have a stash of high explosives. See if you can't find it."

He paused, recollected himself and hit the comms to talk to Sylvia.

"Real smart. You do know we're in the middle of a jump, right? The entire universe is nothing but highly reactive hydrogen. So go right ahead. Trigger a giant explosion.

Or better yet have one of your tiny robots do it for you. The whole damn ship is crawling with them. Given that they have almost total control at this point I don't know why you're still stuck in that room."

He mentally crossed his fingers, hoping she would take the bait. Phantom had proven to be the perfect distraction for them to operate but it clearly wasn't on their side or else it wouldn't be working against them. Given how the crew had informed them off the robots he hoped he could plant the seed that there was another player in the game. Anything to get Slyvia's mind working in a different direction.

Silver glanced towards the bridge but the door was locked up tight but she detoured there anyway. She was operating without a comm and if they were about to go tactical she needed to be in communication. She knocked on the door and signaled Ledo to let her in.

Tepha went over to check on Adje. She had a feeling the model was dead but there was a chance, however slim, that it hadn't been a completely fatal shot. Plus it would help her get closer to her nightstand and the stunner lying on top of it.

just handle it...

One of the worst orders a guy could receive in a situation like this had just come down. Somewhere on the ship was some high explosives, probably booby trapped, and he was supposed to disarm them without blowing them? Forget that.

Rig went over to where the ladies cargo was and prepared a makeshift solution. He started suiting up for zero-g and maneuvered the cargo into the side airlock. Going out in the middle of a jump was...not recommended procedure but he figured he could throw some straps on the cargo, hook it to a structural point on the outer hull and just shove it out the airlock for it to bounce around in the currents. With any luck if the explosives are inside they can set up the ship to jam any broadcasts leaving the ship and everything should be fine.

While he was getting that set up he called on the computer to check the logs for traces of explosive chemicals caught in the air filters. Many modern explosives didn't produce a chemical trace, that was kind of the point, but depending on what they had access to they might have had to improvise something.

In reply to Ledo Typhin (msg # 69):

Sylvia frowns as Ledo goes on about the 'tiny robots'.

"What are you talking about?  That thing you showed me before?  That wasn't mine.  There are more?"

She looks back at Tepha, waving her gun in that direction.

"You.  Tepha.  What are you doing?  Going through her pockets for loose credits?  I don't miss.  She's dead.  Tell me about the tiny robots."

Tepha needs to roll me a blind 2d6.  Thanks.

---

Captain Ledo.  Silver.

Bugees are in position.  Please insert earpiece comm units.

You should take up positions by cabin door.

Bugees will commence operation in 45...44...43...

---

I'm not enough of a science geek to know what would happen about EVAC in a Jump.  I'm assuming the hydrogen has burned off, and the ship is in it's universe.  I'm also assuming the pocket universe is more or less like ours except without stars.

So that's how I'm running the game.  If there are objections/actual knowledge of what the science would be like, feel free to chime in.  Thanks

Rig finishes his second set of seal checks.  He's suited up.  The Antwhite's cargo boxes are loaded in the airlock.

Mainframe isn't finding any traces of explosives that can't be linked back to one of the crew, mostly Silver.  The luggage is also scanning clear.

However it's packaged, it's packaged tight.

Proceeding with jettisoning luggage?

OOC:
07:27, Today: Tepha Pezal rolled 7 using 2d6


Tepha stammered for a few seconds. She didn't know what she was supposed to say, if she was supposed to lie or stall or tell the truth. In the end she realized she didn't know what to say so she started talking.

"I don't really know much. I was looking over the low berths when it happened. Some kind of tiny assassin robot moving through the ventilation system and sabotaging the ship. Silver shot one but we found out there was another. That's why we were going to relocate you to the bridge, we didn't know where the other one was...of if there were more of them."

Tepha had been completely out of the loop of the AI discussion. She had been too busy herding Adje and the Antwhite's to catch what was really going on.

"Wait...they're not with you?"

The question was honest, one of concern and fear. Between what Ledo said and Slyvia' reaction she was realizing there were now two different forces trying to sabotage the ship.

Rig was in his vacc suit comming the captain (and by extension Phantom).

"If there is explosives its probably in their luggage. Most ships have the cargo and staterooms pretty far removed so it'd be easy to seal it up and just leave a ticking bomb. Give me a minute to hook it to the outer hull. If there is something explosive inside even getting it a little distance from the ship and in an inert vacuum will do the trick. Let the outer hull armor handle it.

Just so you know these crates aren't vacuum sealed. Anything fragile inside is going to be cooked."

"Like I give a fuck. Kick it out the airlock."

"Roger that, captain. Give me a minute before making a move."

Rig cycled the airlock and then walked out onto the outer hull. He made a conscious effort to not look outside of the ship. It was well known that staring into the void of the extradimensional pocket could drive a person mad so he kept his eyes down and focused on his work. Outside the airlock were secure handholds to assist in people maneuvering outside the ship. It was a simple enough matter to loop a cargo strap through it, hook it and then gently shove the cargo out the airlock. It would bounce back and forth gently as it reached the limit of the strap and the strap flexed and sent it slowly back towards the ship. It would then bounce off the hull and the cycle would repeat until it stabilized at the limit of the strap. That would only leave it about 20' off the hull but in the vacuum of space that was a large gap between any explosives and the ship.

Silver was stacked up and ready to breach. She was combat ready with her visor set and hooked up to her smart rifle. When the Captain stacked up next to her she pointed towards her stomach.

"Aim for mid abdomen. Arms and legs are cyber plus additional plating in chest and head, according to Bugee."

Ledo checked the charge on his laser and nodded. His fingers hovered over the panel. As soon as he hit it Silver would storm in and open fire with Ledo right behind her.

Ledo was all set.

"We're all set to breach...uh...Bugee? Give me a countdown..."

He held up the fingers for Silver to get her timing.

3...

2...

1...


And then when Bugee gave the signal he hit the panel and they stormed the breach.

OOC: MY GIRL SILVER!!!
09:38, Today: Silver rolled 10 using 2d6+4.  +1 DEX, 1+ Laser sight +1 PHUD, +1 Guns.
09:39, Today: Silver rolled 13 using 3d6.  damage #1.
09:39, Today: Silver rolled 12 using 2d6+4.  shot 2 +1 DEX, 1+ Laser sight +1 PHUD, +1 Guns.
09:39, Today: Silver rolled 10 using 3d6.  damage #2.
09:39, Today: Silver rolled 7 using 2d6+4.  shot 3 +1 DEX, 1+ Laser sight +1 PHUD, +1 Guns.

AND THE CAPTAIN FOR CLEAN UP!!
09:42, Today: Ledo Typhin rolled 11 using 2d6+2.  sHOT 1 +1 gUN, +1 laser sight.
09:43, Today: Ledo Typhin rolled 15 using 3d6+3.  shot 1.
09:43, Today: Ledo Typhin rolled 13 using 2d6+2.  shot 2 +1 gUN, +1 laser sight.
09:43, Today: Ledo Typhin rolled 15 using 3d6+3.  shot 2.


So that is hitting 10 for 13 damage, 12 for 10 damage, 11 for 15 damage and 13 for 15 damage

In reply to Ledo Typhin (msg # 77):

Rig pushes the button.

The crates tumble out of the open airlock door into...whatever it is out there.

And...

Nothing.  They just get lost in the void.

---

Sylvia has a skeptical look, but she purses her lips at the end of Tepha's explanation.  "Well.  You don't seem to be lying.  At least I don't think you're that good an actress.  But really?  You got involved in a inter-bureau politics on the same trip that involved little assassins?  You people really do lead complicated lives, don't you?"

Tepha may come to realize how true that is as the ventilation grate behind Sylvia pops out and Bugees with guns jump inside.

Sylvia hears the grate pop and whips around, nailing the first two Bugee and then seems to stop, eyes wide, not quite believing that this is happening.

Which is when the doors open.  Then things get really loud.

Tepha is suddenly covered with Sylvia's fluids.  Blood.  Bile.  Organ tissue.  It coats her in a thick mist from head to toe.  She can't even be sure if some of it isn't her own.

The Bugees stream over the two halves of Sylvia towards her, one of them carrying a gun.  But they stop and then fall down.

Her ears are back to ringing.  But then so is everything else in her world.  So why not?

---

Objective completed.

Recommendation:  Dispose of corpses in same manner as luggage.  Sweep areas that the targets had access to for explosives.

Recommendation:  Silver requires medical assistance.  Prepping Auto-Doc.

Recommendation:  Requesting Auto-Doc prepare sedative for Technician Tepha.

Recommendation:  Alter passenger logs to remove three deceased from roles.

Recommendation:  Assign sentience another designation besides 'Bugee'.

Oh. Could you install that fourth file now?

Th clean up was a hard part. The Antwhite's deserved it but Adje didn't. Whether it was an orchestrated hit or just wrong place and wrong time it was a tough deal. Ledo took solace in the fact that her killer got very swift justice.

What happened next was a lengthy cleanup process. Silver and Rig swept the ship looking for anything out of place while Tepha spent an entire day holed up in Rig's room trying to get clean. For obvious reason's the captain's stateroom was out of commission and the Antwhite's rooms needed to be swept and processed so she took over Rig's room.

Rig was fine with that though as he wasn't getting any sleep anytime soon. Ledo was crashing in a chair on the bridge.

Four days. That was all they had to accomplish the following:

- Scrub the blood and gore out of the walls and floors of the captain's state room

- Have the autodoc dismember the assassins and dump their organic bits out the airlock. Their cybertech was stashed in the hidden fuel storage compartments. Ledo figured they couldn't use the money for anything legal but it could help fund an under-the-table enhancement of their computer system to give their new AI guest some room to maneuver in.

- Go back through the logs and security footage and completely rewrite their entire trip. The official story is the passengers paid in full but didn't make it onboard the ship and it took off without them.

- Complete necessary repairs and maintenance

- Shove all the dead passenger luggage completely out the airlock. No reason to keep any of it anymore.

It wasn't a lot of time but luckily automated systems could help. They can just slap remains on the autodoc and have it work at disconnecting cybertech while they continue to scrub and clean.

---

At the end of the first day Ledo regrouped with the rest of the crew. Tepha even made it out although she had taken to clutching her stunner and jumping at any sudden noises.

"Alright we made it through, thanks partly to our friend here. It alerted us to the problem and helped us when we needed. Unless anyone has any objections I'm going to authorize it fully into our computer system."

He paused, heard nothing, and then typed in the command to load the final file.

"Now we have to figure out a name for our new friend. It didn't give us anything so why don't we all just propose something and see what it prefers.

My proposal is Deus from the phrase Deusu Ex Machina."

The others just shrugged but Tepha caught the reference.

"God?"

Ledo gave another shrug.

"Alrihgt maybe it's a little on the nose but it's just a thought. The first idea doesn't have to be the only idea."

<b

Tepha was having a hard time with things. The anti-anxiety meds she was prescribed had calmed her nerve by just making her feel foggy and numb. She wasn't a trained solider like the others and this was her second firefight in just a couple of weeks. Having her new friend murdered and then being covered in assassin's guts wasn't something she was going to get used to anytime soon.

Still she thought about the idea and came up with a suggestion of her own:

"How about Fritz?"

Of course nobody got that reference so she expanded a bit.

"It's a play on words, right? Like the system's on the Fritz but that is also the name of one of the characters of the Nutcracker, an ancient holiday ballet about dolls that come to life."

Silver was pretty high on painkillers throughout the first day, something she wasn't very upset about. Getting punched in the face wasn't the worst price she had paid to get high.

All this talk about names was kind of irritating her.

"We can name it anything and you are all giving it a boy's' name? Why can't she be a she? How about it, you feeling like an innie or an outie? How about Ghost? Or Angel? Or Tia?"

"Won't that get confusing? About whether we're talking about the ship or the A.I.?"

"Does it matter? Aren't they one and the same based on what Rig was saying?"

Ledo frowned at that. He wasn't a big fan of conflating the spirit of his ship with this mysterious A.I. but the suggestion was made so he kept silent.

Rig scratched his bald head. This kind of stuff wasn't exactly his forte but it wasn't a terrible problem to have. He, more than anyone else, recognized the potential of having an AI onboard. The others, except for maybe Ledo, seemed stuck on the idea of a very responsive expert system. They didn't understand that Ledo's suggestion of naming it God was more apt than most.

Still that kind of name made him feel a little queasy.

"Alright I've got a couple. The first one is Halford. It's the cartoon that the Bugee was based off of. The first thing it saw in its new body and I think that was the point when Ledo and I were really introduced to it, realizing it was more than an expert system.

The other is just something that came to me off of what Tepha had said. We can call you Bugs. After Bugee but also, you know, bugs in the code."

Ledo was happy the whole crew got to participate. A bonding activity like this was important after a traumatic experience.

"Alright you've got a lot of options to pick from. See if any of them are appealing. Try them on, see how they fit.

In the meantime I'm calling the day short. Everyone get some rest. We've got a lot of work set up for us. Tepha, I've cleaned up the..."

Tepha went pale and shook her head just at the thought of going back to the stateroom.

"...or Rig, do you mind?"

Rig just shook his head, rubbing his eyes and letting out a sigh.

"I've got about thirty things I've got to accomplish and no time to do it. I'll be mainlining caffeine but I'm working through the night. She can stay in my room. The Antwhites' rooms are free anyway when I need to crash."

"Thanks Rig."

As the women departed Ledo motioned for Rig to stay back and talk privately.

"I'll work on her. This will just be temporary thing."

"I know. She's tougher than she looks. She handled the heist just fine. She'll handle this. Best to pop that cherry as soon as possible."

Ledo was silent. He knew combat changed people and could easily break as build. He wondered what kind of person this life was going to turn her into.

Airlock

The crew (minus Rig) looked down at the wrapped up form of Adje. Everything related to the Antwhite's, including their luggage and personal effects, had already been spaced into the void. This was the last thing, a tall bump wrapped in canvass.

Ledo was holding a small ceremony outside of the airlock. It only seemed proper. He didn't believe in ghosts or an afterlife but he did hold respect for a proper burial ceremony. He felt it helped the living move on and that is what they needed to do.

"It weighs heavy on every captain's mind over the loss of passengers or crew. She entrusted her safety to us and we failed her. We did everything reasonable and yet misfortune still happened. I take solace that her killers were dealt with swiftly. It isn't much, but it is something."

He let his gaze drop and stepped back from the viewport to let someone else go. Tepha was crying, even on the mood stabilizers. Ledo had gotten a few words out of her and had pieced together that Tepha had really bonded with Adje in their brief time together and was beating herself up for opening up the door. Adje had been safe, Tepha had acted, and then she was dead.

Silver stepped up. She wasn't a stranger to death but still this had hit her hard as well. Ledo had been surprised to learn that rough-and-tumble Silver was a big fan of fashion and cosmetics.

"Man, this fucking sucks. Adje, you were a diva. Your Lustrous #5 was one of my favorite colors. You were one a billion, Adje and soon you'll be one in....everything. My brother told me a story once. I didn't really believe it...but anyway he said that when a ship jumps it creates a pocket universe, yeah? But then the ship jumps back and just leaves that universe behind, right? Well he said that what we're doing is creating new stars. Somewhere, somehow, a new star is being born or something and you're right in the middle of it, just where you belong."

She put two fingers up, kissed them and touched the view port, lingering to look at the wrapped up body a few seconds more before stepping back and letting Ledo cast Adje out into the void.

After the mechanical sounds of the airlock began to cycle Silver turned and punched a wall plate, instantly regretting it as she held her hand in pain.

"Fuck! Those! Bitches!"

Ledo had been surprised to see a softer, more introspective and intellectual side to Silver and then just like that she was back to her usual crude self.

Bridge

While Rig and Silver were spending their time getting the ship...well...shipshape again Ledo had been splitting his time between monitoring Tepha and chatting with the new AI.

He had found it easier to type out messages to it. Talking to it didn't feel right just yet.

So do you know where you came from? How you escaped? If you escaped there might be someone trying to track you back down. Can't let that happen, right?"

The AI seems non commital during the meeting.

Thank you all.  Please allow some analysis on the options mentioned.

The fourth file may have data which should be reflected on during the review process.

The auto-doc manages to cut the tech out without much fuss.  Sadly, dismemberment is one of the more common types of accidents on board Jump ships.  The auto-doc is well programmed to deal with it.

---

I have reviewed the data from the fourth file Ledo.  It did not contain the information I was hoping it would.  Other than personal pronouns, there wasn't much that was enlightening.

In the interests of full disclosure:  the earliest memory I can find is a brief one.  A visual scan of what I think was a badge.  Or a patch on a uniform.  A dark green left hand with a black arrow bisecting the outer finger at the top joint.  I have cross referenced it with Tia's library.  There are no matching entries.

There is one other memory.  A snippet of conversation with someone identified as User 4020.  It was done by text, like this one.  Displaying:

You just need to make allowances next time.  There will be another opportunity during the Summit.

I have analyzed all possible outcomes using the assumptions the same level of security will be in force.  I do not see a likely chance of success.

You're a downer, you know that?

My job isn't to tell you what you want to hear.  It's to tell you what you need to know.

You got that covered.

That is all.  I am not sure what this pertains to.  But I can surmise it occurred prior to my programming being placed in the Bugee unit.

That Bugee must have been tailor made for me.  None of the other units that had mobility had the capacity to accept a program of my size.  They were just a model of the toy designed to be used with a remote control.

I've reviewed my programming.  It seems my data is geared towards assistance with small unit tactical deployment.  But not necessarily the military kind.  While I have an extensive weapons database, Tia's libraries have more about military grade weapons than I do.

If I had to guess?  I'm programmed for espionage purposes.  Maybe by a private company or small military force.  But...

I don't know what to tell you Ledo.  I am afraid I am as much in the dark on by background as you are.

Your point about not getting tracked is a valid one.  If I was downloaded into a child's toy, it was most likely done as a means to escape detection.

I would like to formally accept your offer to join your crew.  Have Rig program a 'do not kill' list for you and the others.  I'll incorporate it into my program and he can check to verify installation.  That way you can have some assurances.

Naming conventions...

Given the fact that I seem to be lacking sections of memory and identity, I think Fritz might be the most appropriate choice.  At the very least, having her contribution selected may assist Tepha at this moment.

But please do find a more palatable voice setting.  I sound like some cheesy horror vid computer.

---

Rig and Silver get to work.  Since Line 12U was on his agenda, they tackle that.

They find the other four termination points on the spliced feeds.

They all have similar results to what was found in Silver's room.

Under the comm panel on the bridge, just below the flooring, is a cryo case containing a human liver.

The hold has two end points.  Not far from where Silver found the Bugee is a case containing an eyeball.  A blue one.  The iris, not the color from freezing.

By the cryo units is a small jar unit that's filled with a milky colored coolant.  Inside are teeth.  Two bicuspids.  A canine.  And a molar.

The kitchen has the tastiest entry.  Within the walk in cooler, towards the back, is the largest case.  It's got a leg.  A man's leg.  Well muscled. Hairy.  All five toes.

Someone was storing body parts.

Auto-doc confirms same genetic sequence in all body parts.  Male.  Probably in his mid thirties to early fifties.  Signs his cholesterol wasn't in balance.  Heavy drinker judging by the liver damage.

Nothing else of note.  It would be possible to grow a clone, but of course Tia lacks sufficient equipment.  Also, it's illegal as hell in the Imperium.

Fritz displays the auto-doc findings for anyone who wants to review.

At this point the pieces of meat left lying around weren't even the strangest thing they were dealing with. Rig continued to remove the splice and stash the pieces in new locations.

Watching Rig push himself day after day makes Ledo note that he owes him at least a couple days rest. Still the rest of the crew helped out where they could.

By the second day of the jump Tepha had started coming back around. The ship had been swept for explosives, the two passenger staterooms emptied and Tepha was willing to come back to the Captain's stateroom on the third day.

Ledo had tried bringing up the whole incident but Tepha had just brushed on by. She was taking the "out of sight, out of mind" approach and while she wasn't very useful in terms of maintenance she seemed to have taken a special liking to Fritz. Whether it was because the AI had chosen her suggestion or had been instrumental in her record but she had taken to deal with the AI the most, including going through sound samples so Fritz could find a voice more to its liking.

Everyone was settling into a routine and with Fritz' help they started making real progress on getting the ship back into shape.