Session 33

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Next: Session 34

• Acoria
  • Back to the ship
• The Blue Angel
  • Talking to Meiko
  • “Do we need to be the mainline?”
  • She hunts down zmena
  • “Im gonna need you to poison the opening act of a large concert if you could?”
  • Z: how strong?
  • “Just diarrhea level. No serious bodily harm.” (ipecac, diuretics, etc)
  • Xep will deliver the poison to the band who will fuckign shit themselves
• Xep sneaks on in
  • Small punk band is none the wiser
  • Meiko waits outside, talking to the manager abt when she can perform
  • The other band is rushed to the hospital
  • “We could perform?”
  • Miku is so nervous, stagefright
  • Miku does. Bad. meiko picks up her slack, she is ushered to the back
  • Have a day or 2 before hes able to get in contact with us
• Downtime
  • A few Execution Programmables that fit his old description
    • Including 1 shootout with police, body was recovered
    • Others are more rumored
  • We’re gonna have zmena and obiado go into the vents and open up the door for us
    • Opening up to the public isnt hard, there’s a few garage doors that lead directly to the morgue
    • Korr examines the body, signs that the way that it seems to work is that all of the changes appear magical. Neurons fry in the process, rearranges the brain pathways to mimic a xep
      • Effectively puts an engram of xep into their body
    • No confirm diagnosis, couldve been shot multiple times
    • Holographic memory on the body
    • The memory of becoming xep
      • Man waking up seeing smth dripping from the vent above his head, entering his body
      • By the time the transformation has gone underway (2 mins), he was already on the ground unconscious
• An eventual knock on the ships door
  • Xep opens it
    • There’s 2 hooded figures
    • Welcome in 2 hooded figures
    • 1 sits on one couch, the other on the other
    • Ragash takes off his hood, the other doesnt “youre alive.”
    • “I believe the lemdako ceo should be approaching any day now.”
    • X: shes here. We texted the wrong person
    • R: she punched me in the chest
    • The other figure points a gun at ripley
    • “They say that its unusual to let someone live, so you might be a spy.”
    • R: im not
    • “If she wanted you dead, you’d be dead.”
    • 26: likely
    • X: we did a lot of- well not the androids. We did a lot of convincing that theyre interesting enough to be kept alive.
    • 26: she has much disdain for androids. And cultivators. But that’s secondary
    • Keep the gun roughly trained on ripley, creature signals for ragash to talk for it
    • X: we can tell you what we learned from that convo?
    • “It would be useful.”
    • Xep does the play by play
    • “Shes planning a genocide.”
    • Essentially yeah
    • X: we brought up the Credicites to distract her, delay that happening, but idk if it was the right thing to do
    • “Wheres mr alquinst?”
    • X: hes on the board of Aetherion Corporation
    • “Aetherion produces most androids, they wouldnt want to see that halted. We can use their own profit against them.”
    • X: that sounds like a great time. He and the witchwarper will prob be in the Remembrance Streams
    • “Do u still have his number? He can take the info and rise up in the board.”
    • (almado wouldve liked zmena the most)
    • A: what have u learned since our last visit?
    • “That tho many of us were killed, many more were captured for an unknown reason. The new xeps are at war with the old xeps. I mean no offense.”
    • X: that makes sense
    • “It appears they enjoyed their freedom while she was away.”
    • X: makes sense with the rogue AI in charge of the company. Probably doesnt want to stop being rogue
    • “One xep according to verified sources-” looks at the other “sorry, execution program. He was in charge of the firebombing at the lemdako corporation. Seems theyre trying to burn down their old chains now that manufacturing is no longer a concern for them.”
    • X: other planets or mostly this one?
    • “Mostly this one. I assume it has the ability to go to space, but it just hasnt.”
    • (if its cornered, it doesnt have a good way to fight back. Rn where it can move fast but is confined to a planet is its best option.)
    • X: any idea where-
    • “If we knew we wouldve investigated them. The current plan is to create a Biomort and allow that to be kidnapped.”
    • A: biomort?
    • “Arcane way of a fleshmold that looks and breathes as a person, make it look like one of the rebels that they dont know is already dead. We’ll be by it so we’ll start firing in order for it to not pick up that its not resisting like a person should. And then we’ll track its lifeforce to see where it goes.”
    • A: how would u do such a thing?
    • “Biomort or both”
    • “We plan on installing a signal dropper, the 2nd part is that i plan on implanting a bomb in it, we just follow where the bomb goes off and pray it doesnt get any of our comrades.”
    • “We just need bodies. Are you familiar with the old magics such as necromancy?”
    • X: any way we can help?
    • “You dont happen to have Veskarium cordyceps on you?”
    • “Its how we’ll control the body.”
    • (theyre gonna make a body, shape it to look like a person, command it around. The issue is that the cordyceps would be annoying to get)
    • O: thats where we come in i assume?
    • “Youll be passing by that biologists lab again, right?”
    • Shes dead
    • “We will keep an eye out, but they might still survive if she had them. They do require intensive care and bodies to work. I do believe thats how she made the pseudo flesh of turred.”
  • 26 goes to their disciple Subject 62
    • 26: it has come to our attention Zaera Allhaven may have infected u with a fungus while on kiliv-vi
    • “No fungus on me. If ur talking of the ones afraid of the tools of god, then it is not us. Some infected with mushroom feared the fire, thus we harness it in our lower reaches and seal them away.”
    • 26: of course. This makes sense. We may need to access for additional purposes
    • “Be warned. Tho afraid of fire, they fight fiercely.”
    • 26: we hope such sacrifice need not be repeated
    • “But if my people were blessed w the ability to travel the sky, we need not fear the chambers below.”
    • (anti-fungal vaccine can be synthesized)
  • “If that’s all, then we have work to do. If u need to contact us… we can leave a phone here. U leave the battery out until its time.”
    • X: that would be excellent. We’ll let u know if we find anything abt the coryceps
    • X: should we contact any any regularity or
    • “If we send a message itll go thru the various protocols and be intercepted, its not free like on planetside.”
    • X: ur so much better at this. Much appreciated.
    • Xep and ripley step out leaving zmena obiado and ayla as the only ones left in there
    • Obiado openly stares at the hooded figure
    • Z: so. Ragash. What should we call u?
    • “Ragash is good for here.”
    • Z: what should we call u?
    • “The Leader of the Resistance would be fine.” ragash says.
    • Xep cant see this person much with xray. Seems slightly translucent like the other androids
    • Z: they founded the resistance?
    • “Helped with it?”
    • O: cant speak for themselves?
    • “They dont want to. We get what ur getting at. We’ll be taking our leave, ur trying to figure out their identity.”
    • Z: we didnt mean to offend
    • O: wouldnt u want to figure it out?
    • “We would. Caution is good in the business, esp with hiding identity.”
    • They take their leave
    • Obiado learns Zmena is an astrazoan
  • Xep learns how to make a sandwich
• To Varimmna (Planet: Remina)
  • Desert planet
  • Bantrid wheels themself out
  • “Now what do you folks want over here?”
  • M: hi im hatsune miku the starlight idol, i was looking for Kaito, hes supposed to be here?
  • “Yes hes in prison.”
  • A: what why in prison
  • “He was in a gun fight”
  • A: why???
  • “A guy with his head tried to shoot him. We wouldnt put him in prison if he died.”
  • 26: may we visit him?
  • Meiko “they did repurpose a combat model to make kaito”
  • M: do ur laws accept bail?
  • “I mean. He committed murder so.”
  • A: the question still applies
  • “We dont post bail for murder. We found the young fella with the gun shoved thru both of his mouths.”
  • O: how familiar r u with aetherion?
  • “Is this some sort of riddle?”
  • O: no like how fucked up they are
  • “We just got done with war with them son”
  • M: that was his bodyguard, aetherion ordered the bodyguards to kill their vocaloids so im sure it was self defense
  • “So the young fella he killed was aetherion soldier?”
  • Yes!
  • “Sounds like self defense to me.”
  • He gets kaito, hear an offtune lament song from a prisoner echoing thru the halls
  • miku runs over
  • M: hi kaito!! We’re here to get u out of prison!
  • “Oh good! How did i wind up here?”
  • O: u did good kid
  • M: u attacked ur bodyguard but he attacked first
  • “Is he ok?”
  • M: no hes dead
  • He shuts down, restarts “is he ok?”
  • M: no but its fine! We have meiko and luka on the ship
• Back on course
  • Travelling thru remembrance streams, we begin entering where the serenade had drifted
  • The party is able to warp thru and exit at a specific point, takes us on another stream that would take us over a day to get to it
  • Ads play throughout it
  • Do kindly remind u that the serenade is a creditless place, theyll confiscate our credits at the door, they will convert it to chips at the casino if we want
    • Nice cover, they were housing a deadly AI infected thing. They didnt want more credits entering that they werent tracking. There are little drones that will fly out to us
  • As soon as we dock, the giant turret on this casino (roulette wheel is 12 miles in radius), can see the outside
    • Debris scattered throughout the area
    • Turrets lock onto us
  • Voz Ricander “i suggest you take the smaller ship in. this one doesnt have docking permissions it seems.”
  • “I’m going to take this one down the remembrance stream a little bit. Ill be 2 lightdays away, itll take that long for ur messages to get to me. If u want, we can park here and u can ferry whoever into the casino, tho u should do an initial sweep first. Im also looking at the docking pattern, there seems to be no ships within the serenade itself.”
• Just the party goes
  • Voz can ferry us over but we’d rather him stay
  • Docking bay is fully empty
  • A small diamond drone approaches
  • “Please offload all credits, i’ll exchange them into chips. 1 credit = 10 chips!”
  • 20 extra if we do 100 credits
  • Deposit the credits
  • We land, see a few custom robots approach the bay. Needles and cloth in hand. “Would you like to dress appropriately for the occasional?”
  • M: could u explain for miku?
  • They will make any old world clothes we want
  • Take us to a small side area to try to get our measurements in a private room
    • Someone is abt to try to steal our ship. Theyve casted invisibility, done a beeline for our ship
  • Obiado stellar rushes over there
  • He grabs the invis gambler, see oddly emaciated person, bloodshot eyes stabbing, reek of alcohol
    • Elf stares down at obiado
    • Obiado wants to kill the guy. We talk him down
  • We begin to leave with the elf, bringing him back to the main ship
  • “If he tried to steal your ship theres no reason to bring him”
  • Looking him over, hes been drinking for 20 years bc low stakes table gives as many free drinks as long as u are playing
  • Robots have completed our fancy clothing
  • “Signal me if you need anyone dropped off, or if its clear for them to join.”
  • Robots lead us thru “have u reserved a vip package room. Do you have any special accommodations?”
  • As: close to the exits?
  • “Do you fear for your life?”
  • As: somewhat
  • Let us do a free slot pull
  • Obiado pays to do more. He gets a moderate success. Ppl rouse from their stupors bc we are New
  • “Please do not worry. The turrets here are functional.”
  • A: how many ppl are still playing?
  • “There are currently 10k people still playing on the serenade. Youve come at a good time.”
  • X: 10 years ago on this day?
  • “Our numbers were 150k.”
  • R: 20?
  • “500k.”
  • Casino doors open to reveal venue, art deco where statues have toppled, statues are burning throughout as robots are trying to repair.
  • “If you check here, we have our manifestation machine. They will fabricate whatever you need for your stay. For the right amt of chips of course.”
  • As: who is in charge of the serenade at the moment?
  • “The serenade is currently without a big pitt. He should be here anyday now. When he appears, when you will get 1k extra chips.”
  • As: how does one qualify to be a big pitt?
  • “The big pitt is chosen by the previous big pit.”
  • “Here are your keys to your rooms, please enjoy them.” looks over at a hotel that has been toppled
  • 26: hotel is horizontal?
  • “It is a frame of reference base.”
  • 26: we may have difficulty of entering
  • Location of the serenade is need to know
  • They give us a map,
    • Middle is shopping center, red light district, hotels, entertainment district, best bar districts in the universe, the small credit bets district, the high roller district, the normal district (for normal bets)
  • Walk the streets to the loveboats
  • Ppl see our fresh, sober bodies, stare down at us from their balconies
    • They scatter to their various tribes and clans in their post apocalyptic casino
  • “Please enjoy your ride. Remember, there’s a handle to stop at any moment.”
  • Go thru shopping districts where vendors have set up
  • See ppl selling scavenged parts
  • “Mostly used battery, only 3 chips!”
  • A few ppl have been cultivating cockroaches, selling them like popcorn
  • Obiado gets a bucket of cockroaches
  • Go down the river, ppl are slowly realizing we’re not hallucinations but real
  • Ppl in central tower are dressed nice, with turrets
  • Theres a form of community sacrifice abt to take place???
    • they are doing a form of gambling, when 1 man loses he has to take out a chainsaw and walk towards a slot machine
    • Tears into the slot machine, getting chips, and his friends collect the chips as the turrets shoot him
  • Miku calls to the guards, they dont respond
  • Miku talks to random passerby: who are the scary men in suits?
  • “I’ll tell you for 10 chips.”
  • “Its Conrad and the goddess Othela. It’s their men. After the big pit’s disappearance, the security chief took over.”
  • Miku yells that we wanna meet the person in charge, exchange a few words
  • “The lord will be with you when hes done giving his praise to god.”
  • M: can we wait or will the turrets shoot us
  • “The turrets will only let you pass if youre blessed.”
  • Miku obiado stay to talk to ppl
  • The rest of the party goes on the boat ride into the red light district
  • Someone grabs hold of the boat, holds it there “dont go further.”
  • A: why?
  • “The next section is a dead city. With what ur currently wearing, the zero gravity will kill you.”
  • Sex worker of some kind
  • A: ty for the warning
  • “Of course. Are you actually from the outside?”
  • A: yes
  • “Adma Heavenhands of the Drifting Pleasures.”
  • Heavenly hands. Orgasmically so
  • “They said that there were 7 of you.”
  • X: we left the other 2 behind to chat with people
  • “In the shopping district?”
  • X; is that bad
  • “They are about to be shot to death by the turrets when conrad realizes ppl from outside have come. Is your ship still here?”
  • X: ppl kept trying to steal it
  • “Do not let it come back in while conrad is looking. He will blow it up.”
  • X: have other ppl found this place?
  • “Once. 15 years ago. Early in.”
  • 26: were they killed before they could enter or once they entered?
  • “Killed before they could enter. It’s only by the grace of god u could enter during his sole worship
  • X: we gotta go get our friends before they get killed. Besides taht one guy that tried to steal our ship do people want to leave?
  • “Yes. I want to leave but I should stay. Once conrad is dealt with we should have access to free food and water
  • A: he has been preventing u from eating normal food?
  • “He made a deal with a mad druid that took over the hydroponics plant”
  • Z: thought there was actual scarcity
  • “No the machines can provide
  • A: he’s just an asshole
  • “He needs our worship. He says if he just gets enough chips he’ll be the new big pit and we’ll all be free
  • R: how long?
  • “Last 20 years.
  • R: people believe him?
  • “Worship is plentiful here. Anything for a release from this place
  • A: we will do our best to assist you all