Session 2

Prev: Session 1
Next: Session 3

• News
  • Solaran Emperor has put reward of 10k credits minimum for the deaths of any immortals killed to fulfill a citizens sacrifice! Citizen and status of scar not verified. Immortality of sacrificed individuals will be!
  • The hyperrail cars will be outfitted with temporal sentry turrets. Riders are advised against doing violence as they are programmed to target those who fire first and fare evaders
  • Voquari Ascendant Yarveinthi the Golden has been spotted outside Tse and Ifont dragging people into the burning sun. satellite imagery has shown mass corpses posed to point into the light
  • Water treatment handled by nanomachines that cling to dirt and boil water. Citizens are advised to not fall into the treatment plants due to their sensors not being able to tell living flesh from contaminating material
  • Security: Aetherion Corporation has started offering higher tier weapons to those who can pay beyond prev legal limit
  • Technomancer gang said to be behind [error: data corrupted]
• Checking on the other bodies Suimin, Denpakant
  • All killings are consistent
  • 1, taller, resisted the poison and got into a fight. Person got a few blows on the attacker but eventually succumbed
  • All vents tampered with
  • Lashunta man also at the scene
    • “Who are you?”
    • Neighbors
    • “I see. Friends with the woman?”
    • I: we all know where we were at the place of the crime even tho we hadnt spoken much before
    • “Might i ask why you give a shit?”
    • I: i dont want to be murdered. And i’m really curious
    • Ko: i dont but these guys are fun
    • I: shut the fuck up! We gamers gotta stick togehter
    • S: this is part of my job
    • “There’s one good excuse. Would a serial killer be so bad in a world such as now.”
    • I: yes!
    • “Why???”
    • I: everyone deserves to live and they died painfully
    • S: an excess of murders mean there are less people when the next scarring happens
    • He pulls out a notebook “you dont happen to be aetherion do you”
    • S: i am!
    • “Have they been taking proper tally of their dead?”
    • S: indeed they have (debts are sent to the next of kin)
    • “Can i get access?”
    • S: i can put in a request, who are u
    • “I’m part of the census bureau”
    • (hard to verify, very much gives you a reason to go to any place)
    • Konbini analyze target
      • Missing fingerprints on right, but able to get ones on his left
      • Tall 6’2” when not slouched
      • Has a few implants, autorecognition lenses and enhancements that let u move faster
      • Theoretically lashunta that can do slight mind reading
    • H: any id?
    • He hands over his ID to Haven, who thinks its legit, who hands it over to Ithax
      • Marlow Tensvey
      • Might be a bureau worker, def not underworld related thinks
    • “Can i see your ids?”
    • S: of course!
    • “League of leisure?”
    • I: hell yeah!
    • “Why?”
    • Ithax starts infodumping for an hour and he doesnt seem annoyed at all
    • H: how’d you get in?
    • “I was in when the building closed.”
    • (27ish hours ago)
    • V: why were you in the building?
    • “Because I heard there had been murders on the first 10 floors”
    • Odd, they would be more interested in the living
    • Konbini does background checks on him with sacraments phone
      • First thing is that his name Is listed on govt database, no picture tho
    • I: keen to get out or u wanting out?
    • “Someone has to keep track of the dead.”
    • Ko: what happened to ur fingers?
    • “Used to work blackops.”
    • V: for what?
    • “Aedryn. Its why i’m an employee for their govt now”
    • Ko: pay well?
    • “No.”
    • S: does it ever
    • “Better than aetherion. At one point i was in their bases watching them to gacha pulls to get ammo to stop me.”
    • I: what have you found about the bodies?
    • “They had names. This woman killed her own children.”
    • S: scarring or before then?
    • “Part of The Scarring.”
    • Ko: plural?
    • “Three.”
    • Ko: all three for the scarring?! Anything abt the other dead? Did they do any morally correct things
    • “One was a serial cheater.”
    • S: all perform immoral actions?
    • “I’ve only seen three. But yes. One was a cheater, one sold hard drugs.”
    • P: did you hear about the one that was abusive?
    • “That would be the cheater.”
    • S: how did you find out this info? Their misdeeds?
    • “I contacted the abuser’s wife, she wrote about it. For the dealer, i saw it. It was hidden in his drawers. Alongside a lockbox of credits.”
    • S: possible someone’s doin it out of a sense of justice?
    • “Maybe.”
    • V: vigilante style
    • He tries to not speculate abt the serial killer
    • “There’s a qr code on the back of my id, you can contact me thru official channels if necessary.”
  • Next is the taller man
    • Vesk
    • 7’1”
    • Eskov
    • Background check
    • Able to see same bits around the vents, same telltale
    • Runs over to the couch, takes off the couch cushions
      • Foot of killer went thru, see where springs went up instead of down
      • Come to conclusion: foot didnt go thru, his boots pulled spring up. To get thru vents hes wearing magboots. Give killer a rough extra 5-6inches of height
      • Still smaller than the vesk
    • Other victims normal height
    • Range of killer would be about 5’10-6”
    • Using fingerprints to open his phone, checking to see texts, cursory search
      • Dubious if wrongdoing, did blackmail aetherion corp a few times
      • Worked as security consultant, whenever aetherion man paid him to ignore concerns, then blackmailed them abt reporting further up the chain
  • Last person
    • Konbini sees that the person doesnt have a phone or anything. Seemingly lives off the grid, but u do have to pay rent digitally
    • Seem to be local worker for various charities
      • Some are derided by aetherion
      • Otherwise charities dont seem harmful, worked at foodbanks
    • Pantry is fairly well stocked, no sign of hoarding or starvation
    • The gamers fuck up the body, the sutures unravelling
    • Rocks dont react weirdly to being taken out
    • Patch takes some of the rocks
    • Body will seem altered
    • Eyes ears lungs, joints (behind the knees and elbows), and finally the heart
      • Weight of all the rocks equals out. 2 for lungs, 2 dense for eyes and ears
      • Rocks are obsidian-like substance, sooty like obsidian
    • S: given the nature of the killings, this does match typical MO of the silence. Cult. they think sensory organs blind ppl to their god. Dark between stars. When they kill ppl theyre found in sensory deprivation tanks. Cult injects them with a neurotoxin to perform some kind of divination. Seems similar to that
      • Differences, the ppl there are alive for the process for longer
    • No sensory deprivation chambers in this building
    • Silence typically grab any passerby, but some group has some methodology.
      • One is using prev victims divination to determine the next victim
• Go back to floor 37
  • Going to missing neighbor, kaspar fails real bad
    • We all bungle this
  • We need to take a rest to do this
• Sending ithax into the vents
  • He video calls us
  • He needs more rope so we pull him back
• Ok Save Point Convenience
  • Bored teenager Al
  • H: rope. You got it?
  • “What alloy do you need?”
  • Basic 2 credit for 50ft
  • Al can we get a discount, turrets move toward him “i cannot”
  • “Does your friend like anime?”
  • Ko: vintovka do u like anime
  • V: it doesnt exist on my planet
  • “She doesnt know [insert anime]”
  • Ko: we’ll watch it on Discourse later if u can fix my phone
  • “Did you know theyre making a Dr. Vesk flavored Hero Energy Drink soon”
  • Ko: yeah but sure. Anyway my phone
  • “I’ll be right back.”
  • He hands back unlocked phone
  • Ithax demanding konbini to look at her phone
    • He saved some fingerprints in the backlog. He mightve downloaded info off of it, unsure
  • Ko: sacrament-sama cover ur ears. He probably just downloaded the porn of his anime i have on my phone
  • I: ok go ask him
  • Ko: hey next time u wanna download porn off my phone can u just ask first
  • “I’m sorry. I just saw bullet choir and got excited. U know how i feel abt idols.”
  • He explains Bullet Choir, idol anime that takes place in a war zone
    • Vintovka does look vaguely like one of the idols
  • Ko: u havent seen anything weird have u. With all the killings. Anything sus abt the butcher
  • “Not really? I tend to not pay ppl mind. I tried to talk to him but he seemed wildly uninterested in the Graveyard Shift at [smth]. He seems like the type”
  • Manager to here now runs Circuit Lab, no manager in the building who can access the computers
    • We can use konbini to impersonate later, once we’ve seen them
• Go to Ogar Butchery and Produce
  • Onmagakar waves at us
  • “The big one’s finally come for meat. Would you like something on the house?”
  • S: i dont believe im allowed to accept charity
  • “Its not charity, its a donation. Any preferences?”
  • S: no anythings fine
  • Try to distract him with sacrament trying meat, he doesnt get distracted
  • “U couldve just asked.”
  • Konbini gets a tour
  • Many vents
    • Incredibly clean, nothing seems to stand out, keeps meat away from it
  • The knife he keeps on him could be used, standard steak knife. Made with a nice mithril blade
    • Small shirren engravings
  • A lot of the meats hanging are rare and preserved, bron tusk, ironhide, scorchtail, nebula manta. Fancy, all of which are super expensive. Typically served to ppl who come in
  • Primary way he makes money is grocer himself
  • “Do you want something of it? I could give a slice and cut it up.”
  • “It’s not like it’s been easy for anyone.”
  • (kaspar did know abt his son, hes a single father after his other 2 partners died in a crash. He is helpful and nice to the community. His son allegedly died in the scarring.)
  • (he is pregnant. Technically. Tube pod is opaque, to simulate warrens they grow in.)
  • P: how far along is your baby?
  • “Not a baby. Its a memorial to him.”
  • I: What happened to your son if I might ask?
  • “He died”
  • V: seems a bit too recent to talk more further
  • “You all are lovely people but it seems inappropriate for us to discuss this further. You first tried to sneak into the back under false pretenses to look at my wares.”
  • Ko: Sorry I’m a little shy
  • “No you aren’t”
  • We buy some meat as an apology
  • “You haven’t offended me so bad as to make me redact my previous offer. Is there anything you want?”
  • H: I don’t have a budget for anything super high end. Do you have anything better than that.
  • “Have you ever had super high end? I have starless ham. The pigs are grown in zero G, allowing them to fatten up in every direction.
    • Blade is made to cut through flesh, slightly vibrates so it doesn’t get stuck
    • Knife could’ve been used in the murders
  • Whats up w the engravings on ur knife
  • “Steadfast in my belief of the future. Best translation.”
  • K: did you do that urself?
  • “My son did it for me.”
  • (the rocks were engraved. The writing seems similar like its by the same hand. Same stylization at the end, same acid burns to create the engravings.)
  • Father’s handwriting Does match son, slightly different tho
    • Analyze
      • No fingerprints (bug)
      • Voice modulator
        • Not common
      • Has internal & external injuries from being a soldier
  • Ka: i did lose my mom in the scarring, i do understand how difficult losing ur family is
  • “It doesnt have to be the same. The pain is real regardless.”
  • Ka: we’re all in this together. We’re around. If u need anything let us know. Let me know.
  • “Of course. I’m very well capable of handling violence, but you seem a capable group. Its exciting to see young take initiative in a forgotten part of town. At least it feels that way.”
  • (dad is a bit more blue than the son. Son had smaller eyes, as far as face portrait seems)
• Patch and Pray
  • Woman waves “howdy. You come here for smth? What work yall need done?”
  • Serath Ka, the doctor. The closest thing to an official doctor, but everyone visits patch for a reason. She’s less than gentle
  • I: weird request, could we look at ur north store room
  • “Thats service entrances and exits, should be closed. Why?”
  • I: saw someone sneaking around, we want to investigate goings on
  • “I could give u a wildwise graft if you need”
  • Could we just pay
  • “Sure. i havent gotten much since the scarring. Ive been doin much more combat focused stuff. I never thought i’d be let go from Mr. Stud duty. Its how i got my kill.” (3 mr stud implants, 1 was a bomb)
    • Penile enhancement
  • Any lens fittings
  • “Less and less, mostly aetherion corpo ladder. We do do loans. Buy now, pay double later. No interest.”
  • We pay 5 credits
  • I: could we look around the back
  • “Now why would i let regular customers look around the back?”
  • We asked nice?
  • “U did. But my regulars pay 500credits”
  • Backrooms are effectively service hallway, lets cargo trucks go thru and offload as need be
    • In the back, smth odd abt the vents. Someone does climb up thru them, but also they have set up maintenance switches to activate despite them being on standby. Vents are modular. Covers up tracks
  • Konbini tries to analyze, but obfuscation implant
• Back to the vents
  • Goes to the red light blaring, blinding him from looking down
  • Able to see the red blood
  • Seems to not be where the killer is, shines flashlight down into a storehouse. Not conveniences
  • Next blood
    • Stares down into the butcher shop
  • Turns around, his rope is cut but still taut on the party’s side. Taped to the side of the vents
  • We can hear pain noise as ithax is getting jeff the killed
  • He begins strangling as his last action in the vent
  • Ithax tries to change shape, he holds him, compressing body down
  • “I am so sorry. I am not a bad person, i swear. I really hoped it wasnt you who found me out. I know that you are a good person. And i do look forward, if it comes to this, to you being part of the body. Why did this have to happen to us?”
  • I: dont do this. There’s still hope. Please
  • “There is. Youre just going to take yours to your grave.” snaps his neck. Ithax gains dying condition
• We are Sprinting Over To The Butcher’s Shop
  • Patch and sacrament get there first, she kicks open the door
  • Goes to where the vent is, pulls down
  • Others manage to get here, ithax and the killer spill out of the vents
  • Patch stabilizes
  • “You have good friends.” lets go of ithax’s dead bodies
  • S: why did you do that
  • “I jsut want to stop the scarring.”
  • S: by killin more???
  • “Aye. by being a killer.”
  • S: how is that gonna stop the scarring??
  • “The killing wont. The rituals will.”
  • S: what. How???? What rituals????
  • “I could tell you. I’d have to kill you.”
  • S: like you killed all those others? Why them??
  • He walks around. “Its your first day on the job, isnt it?”
  • “Seven are going to come for me for the seven kills, no?”
  • Yeah
  • “Then i was right in waht in what i did.”
  • S: how does that make it right?
  • “Hard to explain. Esp to someone like you, tho ur lovely.”
  • He explains, the dc is smth he barely passes tho so hard for even us
  • “Could we wait for the others then?”
  • “Im killing people. Youre going to punish me.”
  • He uses prepared action to put vial into gasmask
  • Cant see his face under gear and hood
  • Do see red dripping down behind the mask
    • A form of self sacrifice used in rituals, vaporized hydrochloric acid hes pumping into his face and eyes.
    • Make it hard to identify, but necessary for the ritual
  • Coughing thru it “lets begin”
    • He’s a spellcaster
    • Special abilities:
      • Ritual poison
      • Fairly strong
      • Poison hes taking will weaken him as the rounds go on
    • Analyze target
      • No fingerprints
      • Losing face due to the hydrochloric acid
      • Definitely a shirren
    • Stabbing people with his son’s knife
    • Turns to vintovka “do you worship a god?”
    • V: only god i worship is the bullet
    • “It’s a bad god to worship in my opinion.”
    • “It’s a shame to do it to a good doctor.”
    • Vintovka gets the kill
  • He seems to grab onto the pod as he goes down, and holds on tight.
• 1 potential level up
• Sacrament carrying konbini
• He had fake blood packs
• Past the courtyard, thru the trees, ithax can see the lights go out in various apartments
• Taking his mask off, his face is seared but still recognizable
• Everyone was injured at least once…..

Plans:

• Text or call vossk abt the situation
• Check out his room
• Think really hard about the ritual
• We gotta go fuckin rest