In reply to Demiurge (E) (msg # 100):

Yikes! Natural causes I hope?

In the absence of blood, I have to assume so. The police weren't saying, and the body was already covered with a sheet.

So...fingers crossed for a peaceful death? Wow, that sounds pretty dark for the start of the year.

I've lived in New York and Chicago, sometimes you see bodies. Just not in the lobby of your building typically.

What color is the environment currently in?

Follow-up on Monday's events: The deceased was in fact a neighbor from the floor below mine who I chatted with when I first moved in. She was on supplemental oxygen for emphysema, and her lungs just finally gave out. She’d felt poorly earlier that morning. Apparently the police were there just as standard operating procedure, the deceased called 911 for an ambulance and came down to wait in the lobby but died before they arrived.

That's horrible.  We're having a lot of elderly struggling our area due to RSV, so our hospitals have been packed lately.  I'm sorry to hear of your loss.

I can relate.  My Mom had COPD, and when the final time came she was kept on maximum oxygen and sedatives so she could pass in peace.  She had turned down the opportunity to go to the hospital for having trouble breathing, and the nursing home she was living in wouldn't let me enforce that she went.  I kind of blame myself for her passing because I didn't try to enforce that she go.

Sorry to hear that, it's never easy to lose someone.

Do the cyborgs in the area I'm in seem to react to what Advocate is doing elsewhere?  If so, how?  If not, that's fine too, I was just wondering how deep the virus is running more or less, how in lockstep these cyborgs seem to be.

In reply to Demiurge (E) (msg # 106):

Sorry to hear that, Demi.

:(

In reply to Spectre (E) (msg # 110):

Not particularly; they either remain on patrol or standing at guard without any sort of obvious response to Advocate's presence in the council chamber.

The virus has a subtle impact on them. Where they would normally be moving in perfect lockstep they seem slightly out; a casual observer probably wouldn't notice but once you have realized it's definitely there. Like when the sound is slightly out of sync with the picture when you're watching something.

Spectre; did you want to take an action before I move things forward?

Sorry, hadn't been following as closely as I should have.  I'm currently taking care of a friend that had a cyst removed and can't sit down.

Thanks for waiting for me to go first.  This should make the actions for the rest of you much more effective.

Sorry for the delay - just away at present but back tomorrow so shall move things along on or just before the weekend.

Alright, I hope all is well, and this is a pleasure trip you're on.

Cheers, was indeed a pleasure trip (family holiday) but now back in the normal daily grind.

Given Demi's absolute success that resolves the issue of the exploding droids rather neatly. Am I right in thinking the plan is for Demi to teleport the group out to that location and then Doc Zero will try and track down sources of radiation nearby? That's simple enough to not require any Overcome rolls but I just wanted to check there wasn't something you wanted to do instead or beforehand?

In reply to GM (msg # 118):

It would take a long time to accomplish, between the vast distances involved and all the solar radiation. Demi just kind of dropped them ~150 million kilometers above and below Earth, and Earth moves away from their stationary positions at its orbital speed of ~30 kps. So if we 'port spaceward within five minutes of the end of the fight, the cyborgs will have drifted 9,000 kilometers (a fraction of a degree at 1 au) from perpendicular. Between her Cosmic Energy and Awareness powers, honestly Demi could probably find all the little borg-buddy bits and 'port them back to somewhere safe on Earth.

Sorry, I meant teleport the players out there.

Nobody has any use for a floating cloud of exploded ‘borg bits I suspect.

I'm sure some alien species lurking in the solar system will be vaguely horrified when borg bits hit the viewport of their spacecraft. Freeze-dried borg bits, no less. Cooked and frozen at the same time. Some days you're the windshield and some days you're the borg.

Work has been very busy.  Sorry I did not post until today.

Who are we waiting on to post?

It's an important question.  Is this Doctor Zero and Demiurge comparing notes?  It is time for Spectre and Advocate to try infiltration?

Did we heal at all before coming here?

I was waiting for Demi to teleport us inside, or for the infiltrators to head in first.