SPEAKER_00: Hello and welcome to Sparks of the Past. We are now in Game 3. Last
SPEAKER_00: game, we had a bunch of people who have now gone to the warehouse and
SPEAKER_00: started getting things prepared. But Maru realized that she needed to
SPEAKER_00: charge her batteries as she was particularly active in her combat. She
SPEAKER_00: only has A three-day kind of activity charge. If she has a little bit
SPEAKER_00: lower activity, she probably can get a little bit more. And they
SPEAKER_00: remember that they only have three days on the Identity Veils entirely,
SPEAKER_00: so that was the second day, and today is going to be the third day. A
SPEAKER_00: group of people went to the Hall of Future Choices, and they saw a
SPEAKER_00: Social Solidarity team denying a SoulSec team from doing the
SPEAKER_00: investigation. Emma also realized that there was an expector, Marc
SPEAKER_00: Valois, who was a sole second spectator that she knew,
SPEAKER_00: part of genetic crime and alien biology, and that him being there seems
SPEAKER_00: unlikely that he was just there for the assassination group. The team
SPEAKER_00: was able to get inside and extract a mobile data tube that
SPEAKER_00: Dr. Luke Moreau put into the toilet. And this data said that Mercer
SPEAKER_00: was killed for information that was passed on to him, and that
SPEAKER_00: information was decoded in the player's half. Sashi
SPEAKER_00: recharges from a police mech during a public shaming in the Grand Axis,
SPEAKER_00: and the other members of the team go and buy survival gear, they create
SPEAKER_00: modified burner communications, and they meet Lucian, a data broker.
SPEAKER_00: Lucian trades them a... Two trikes
SPEAKER_00: and future goodwill in exchange for doing a daylight delivery from the
SPEAKER_00: farms to the basically vice president, Chief Helene
SPEAKER_00: Marchand, secured residence. The package they find out at the very end
SPEAKER_00: contains a corgi. When they get back to the warehouse and break down
SPEAKER_00: all the codes to get the data from the Modal Dale Tube, they realize
SPEAKER_00: that the data that the original person who was assassinated seems to be
SPEAKER_00: talking about is that the genetic matching of
SPEAKER_00: Jardin may have found a way to create psykers. And that
SPEAKER_00: this experiment started about 40 years ago. But the nature of the
SPEAKER_00: psykers that are created are also not necessarily clean
SPEAKER_00: humanoid Soleimani DNA. So you might
SPEAKER_00: be corrupting the people by making these psykers. There might be other
SPEAKER_00: things involved. There's a lot of kind of little hidden details and
SPEAKER_00: notes in the document that they have. Is there anything
SPEAKER_00: that someone would like to add that I have forgotten? Was it two
SPEAKER_00: trikes or one? I thought it was just one. Yeah, maybe just
SPEAKER_00: one trike. Yeah, because we had to even have other people hang on. So I
SPEAKER_00: think it is just one trike. I think you are correct. Okay.
SPEAKER_00: And, yeah. So, big issues that are going to be coming up today is at the
SPEAKER_00: end of the night tonight, as everyone wakes up, the veils will no longer
SPEAKER_00: work. You also have the same information of
SPEAKER_00: you can communicate with the Dolphin, you can start working on your new
SPEAKER_00: relationship with Lucian, you could try to speak to the SolSec
SPEAKER_00: investigator that seems to know some information about it. You still
SPEAKER_00: have the original assassinated guys, Senator
SPEAKER_00: Mercer's, basically his iPad, But it only has a certain amount of
SPEAKER_00: attempts to log into it. You also were thinking about
SPEAKER_00: having Lucian get you guys ammunition, and you've prepaid for some of
SPEAKER_00: it, but you have to pick it up at the Transar section exchange. Those
SPEAKER_00: are a few things to kind of throw out, but if anyone has anything they
SPEAKER_00: would also like to do, they can feel free. Anyone have a
SPEAKER_00: burning need, or would you like to pick from the crowd?
SPEAKER_01: I think we should talk it over, have a group discussion. Perfect. Would
SPEAKER_01: you like to start the discussion, Josh? I didn't, but I will.
SPEAKER_03: I didn't think my character is that guy, but sure. So, yeah, what are we
SPEAKER_03: going to do? So, I guess the question is, are we going to
SPEAKER_03: be pushing for... I guess we need to have short-term and long-term
SPEAKER_03: goals. And I feel like, you know, there's a lot of us,
SPEAKER_03: but having a direction would be helpful. And perhaps we should agree.
SPEAKER_03: You know, are we trying to find the information and exonerate ourselves?
SPEAKER_03: Like, is that a long-term goal? Is that a short-term goal? Are we trying
SPEAKER_03: to get into SoulSec and see what they know? You know, I think...
SPEAKER_03: Are we just trying to lay low? At that point, maybe we should prioritize
SPEAKER_03: disguises because that seems like perhaps a pretty
SPEAKER_01: good short-term goal. What do people think?
SPEAKER_01: I mean, obviously,
SPEAKER_02: I think that exonerating ourselves is – Does Emma know stuff
SPEAKER_02: about SoulSec?
SPEAKER_01: I know a couple things.
SPEAKER_02: I don't know, GM, do I know, do I feel like I have an inside person?
SPEAKER_02: I have 101 contacts, but they're all little blue-collar.
SPEAKER_00: I feel that you could go to this guy, and if you had the upper hand,
SPEAKER_00: you're like, hey, we have this conversation where we have a sniper
SPEAKER_00: pointing at you. How about we have an open conversation now? You can
SPEAKER_00: definitely do that.
SPEAKER_02: I don't really feel like that is going to help me.
SPEAKER_00: No, you're like, I... I don't want you to rat us out, but we need to
SPEAKER_00: have an open talk.
SPEAKER_02: Right, and then the moment he's out of sight, he does not help us,
SPEAKER_02: because now he's just reporting us. I don't understand how that helps at
SPEAKER_02: all.
SPEAKER_00: I know. I saw it as a method to gain information, but any plan that you
SPEAKER_00: have, I'm happy to hear.
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think if we pick a right spot to isolate him, or to approach him
SPEAKER_02: when he's isolated, maybe Faraday cage location, and then... We could
SPEAKER_02: present what we have, or one of us could present what we have to him.
SPEAKER_02: And the fact that they are cutting SoulSec out implies that there is a
SPEAKER_02: nefarious plot afoot. Okay, maybe I misunderstood things. I'm like, we
SPEAKER_02: need somebody's help, not somebody's information. Exactly. You know, I'm
SPEAKER_02: right here with you. But when we have information that I think would
SPEAKER_02: help us so far, like, but it's all...
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
SPEAKER_02: But it's also lack of concrete, right? Like from
SPEAKER_02: the information from the tube that we pulled from the toilet and stuff
SPEAKER_02: is evidence that could assist us without being, you know, nothing's a
SPEAKER_02: knockout blow for us yet.
SPEAKER_03: So, I mean, I guess when you say you know a little SolSec, I mean, if
SPEAKER_03: you know some random SolSec person, but like maybe they can't fix the
SPEAKER_03: problem, but like information leads to knowing how to fix the problem,
SPEAKER_03: right? Like, that's how it is, right? Knowing is half the battle. Like,
SPEAKER_03: SoulSec Joes, right?
SPEAKER_02: SoulSec Joes?
SPEAKER_03: It was like a G.I. Joe reference. It wasn't good. Oh, I genuinely...
SPEAKER_03: That was terrible. Sorry about that. I did pick up what you were putting
SPEAKER_03: down, Josh. I guess it would have been better if I said Soleimani Joes.
SPEAKER_03: Maybe that would have been better.
SPEAKER_02: Soleimani Joes, yeah. So what if, though, we didn't approach as
SPEAKER_02: ourselves? What if we approached as someone who had inside information
SPEAKER_02: from the Hall of Possibilities and were leaky? I'm so confused. Are we
SPEAKER_02: asking someone for help or are we asking them for just information? For
SPEAKER_02: help. I've said help repeatedly. I'm talking about help.
SPEAKER_03: So I love help, but if it's your people who you know who are connected,
SPEAKER_03: it's your choice. I don't know about these spy shadowy people. My
SPEAKER_03: understanding is when you shake their hands, you've got to count how
SPEAKER_03: many fingers you have after you shake their hands. So you're the person
SPEAKER_03: who would know. Does your character make a face when I say that?
SPEAKER_02: I'm just like, well, yes, because why would you have to count your
SPEAKER_02: fingers? I'm not taking your finger.
SPEAKER_03: You never heard that reference? Like, after you shake someone's hand,
SPEAKER_03: you count your fingers?
SPEAKER_02: Man, apparently you're just full of things I've never heard of tonight.
SPEAKER_02: No, I've never heard of that.
SPEAKER_03: It's like when someone's super shifty, like, obviously you're not losing
SPEAKER_03: a finger, you don't realize, but it's like the person is, like, that,
SPEAKER_03: like, greasy that, like, you can't trust anything when you walk away
SPEAKER_03: from them. It's, like, even more than, like, check to make sure your
SPEAKER_03: wallet's there.
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so I've heard count your rings. I've never heard count your
SPEAKER_02: fingers. I
SPEAKER_02: haven't heard it, but I like it. I'm using it.
SPEAKER_03: So does your character make like an angst, like a face, like I'm being
SPEAKER_03: jerky about it? Because I still don't know that you're a soul set
SPEAKER_03: person. I'm like, you know, these are people that we know exist in
SPEAKER_03: society who are always watching us. But I have no reason to assume that
SPEAKER_03: any of us are those people, is my thing.
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I would have made a face, I guess, because I've just never heard
SPEAKER_02: of that phrase, and since you brought it up, I guess I make a face,
SPEAKER_02: like, in that I'm just like, I don't, it would be kind of an incredulous
SPEAKER_02: face, because I'm just like, why are you?
SPEAKER_03: Okay, I'm sorry. I see that I've overstepped. No, you're fine. I get
SPEAKER_03: that your soul sex spook is like, is like a, I'm sure they're a good
SPEAKER_03: person. I'm sure, you know, the rest of them, you know, you gotta watch
SPEAKER_03: your back. But I'm sure this person is good, and my thing is, is, Even
SPEAKER_03: though you're not part of that world, you're the next best thing. So if
SPEAKER_03: you think that we should ask them for help, then we should. But if you
SPEAKER_03: think we should just ask for information, then maybe that information
SPEAKER_03: will lead us to the person who needs the help. The important thing is,
SPEAKER_03: is I don't really want to be a criminal because, you know, it's hard to
SPEAKER_03: trust criminals. And the last thing I want to say is, you know,
SPEAKER_03: Cass, you said about how there's something suspicious going on. So the
SPEAKER_03: question is, is it the SoulSec who are suspicious or the other side who
SPEAKER_03: are suspicious?
SPEAKER_02: It's definitely the Hall of Possibilities. They wouldn't let SoulSec
SPEAKER_02: investigate it all. I mean, they set us up. They were the ones there
SPEAKER_02: performing the setup. They were the ones that shut us down, shut down
SPEAKER_02: the outside information, and now they're keeping SoulSec out. This is
SPEAKER_02: entirely an operation for...
SPEAKER_03: Quite possibly. I mean, but let's just flip it because I've been
SPEAKER_03: watching these spy thrillers, right? Let's say that you were good and it
SPEAKER_03: was your building and then someone hacked your building and they tried
SPEAKER_03: to make you look bad. Of course you're not going to want people up in
SPEAKER_03: your business because you know that you didn't do anything wrong and
SPEAKER_03: it's the other people who are doing the bad thing.
SPEAKER_02: Except we retrieved the bug and the data when we went back and checked
SPEAKER_02: out that building that confirms that this is an inside job.
SPEAKER_01: Okay. See, I don't understand that.
SPEAKER_03: My mind is more esoteric, and by
SPEAKER_03: more esoteric, I mean literally fixing things. But if you want us to
SPEAKER_03: make a power core to charge you, Saichi, I think we could do that. I
SPEAKER_03: mean, I think I could do that. But as opposed to everything else, yeah,
SPEAKER_03: I mean, I'm a smart guy, but this sort of thinking is new to me.
SPEAKER_02: So Victor will step up and, like, have this cup of coffee because I'm
SPEAKER_02: assuming this is, like, first thing in the morning. Everybody's rolled
SPEAKER_02: out of their bedrolls. We're trying to plan out our day. And he goes,
SPEAKER_02: wait a sec. How does finding the bug prove that it was an inside job? I
SPEAKER_02: think I have missed a step there. We got the data from the bug and the
SPEAKER_02: message that was sent with the bug that, you know, they were leaking
SPEAKER_02: from the inside, leaking the information to the...
SPEAKER_02: The party member or the organization that was trying to
SPEAKER_02: take over and push out the
SPEAKER_02: syndicate as well as handle the assassination because the
SPEAKER_02: official was more on the side of open information
SPEAKER_02: and continuing to fall in line with Soleimani
SPEAKER_01: So
SPEAKER_02: the bug was a plant from someone inside the organization who's trying to
SPEAKER_02: commit the murder? No, there was – okay. I
SPEAKER_02: apologize. I, Michael, am a little confused on this. I'm trying to get
SPEAKER_02: the information in character to kill myself.
SPEAKER_03: I'm a little – But I don't want to push it, so I just accepted it
SPEAKER_03: because I didn't get it. And I was like, I'm sure you're right. So I
SPEAKER_03: just backed down off of it.
SPEAKER_02: I'm trying to explain it in character clearly as well.
SPEAKER_02: So do you remember what happened yesterday when we came back and we told
SPEAKER_02: you about it?
SPEAKER_03: Wait, wait. Can we explain it out of character first? I'd be fine with
SPEAKER_03: that. So then it'll be easy for me to understand it in character if
SPEAKER_03: that's not obnoxious. Otherwise, we'll just do it in character.
SPEAKER_02: No, let's do it in character. Okay. You came
SPEAKER_02: yesterday with a bug that was a small recording-type device with
SPEAKER_02: data on it that you got at the Hall of Possibilities after you
SPEAKER_02: infiltrated there the day after everything went down. So you
SPEAKER_02: came back from the Hall of Possibilities with a bug. With the data, yes.
SPEAKER_02: With the whole robot thing, yes. The little bomb that I defused, like
SPEAKER_02: all of that, yes.
SPEAKER_01: Okay. So yes, I remember that.
SPEAKER_01: So what? Go on. Maybe we go over the information on the bug
SPEAKER_02: again then.
SPEAKER_03: Oh, so wait. Yeah, let's do that first. Go ahead. Sure.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm sorry, it's been two weeks. I don't remember this data point.
SPEAKER_01: I'm pulling up the bug data.
SPEAKER_02: I'm trying to pull. My laptop's up to 7%. I'm trying to open up the
SPEAKER_02: foundry. Yeah, I have the
SPEAKER_02: notes on Dr. Mercer on the information from the flash
SPEAKER_02: drive, but I didn't write down the stuff from the bug, apparently.
SPEAKER_02: That's what he means. Yes. And there was also the email that we entered.
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I have the email. Yeah, I think they were talking about the
SPEAKER_02: intercept, the email intercept, but the bug was a bomb.
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, the text message says, this is the last time I can communicate.
SPEAKER_02: They killed the sender for attempting to announce the information
SPEAKER_01: we gave him. Lose my number.
SPEAKER_01: And the bomb was going to...
SPEAKER_02: Come on, open up for me. Okay, so the email is, okay, they found us out
SPEAKER_02: and killed the senator. Yes. The email is separate from the bug, though.
SPEAKER_02: The bug is the bomb. The bug is the bomb. The bomb was going to...
SPEAKER_02: Because we have that information.
SPEAKER_03: Wait, so the email where they said they found us out. Who are the two
SPEAKER_03: parties that are included there with the they? Do we know who either the
SPEAKER_03: two parties are or neither?
SPEAKER_02: We know the one is a guy there in the Hall of Possibilities, I forget
SPEAKER_02: his name, who was having to do the work. He
SPEAKER_02: was the inside man.
SPEAKER_03: Okay, so someone in the Hall of Possibilities... He knows that someone
SPEAKER_03: tried to kill them because they were going to release the research, but
SPEAKER_03: he doesn't know who that someone is, correct?
SPEAKER_02: So he knows that someone was killed
SPEAKER_02: and that he doesn't want to be a part of this anymore.
SPEAKER_03: Yes, but he doesn't know who killed the senator, right?
SPEAKER_03: Well, at least he doesn't allege who killed the senator, right?
SPEAKER_02: He doesn't allege who kills the senator, yes. He probably knows, or at
SPEAKER_02: least knows who's responsible.
SPEAKER_01: Okay. We could hunt him now.
SPEAKER_01: Assuming he's not dead already, but yeah.
SPEAKER_00: I think that— That guy, just to remind people, that's his name, is the
SPEAKER_00: guy who had the data tube.
SPEAKER_02: I was saying, I kept looking for Vincent. I thought it was Vincent. I'm
SPEAKER_02: going to copy this down because apparently I didn't do that before.
SPEAKER_02: That's the guy who sent the text message, correct?
SPEAKER_00: The guy who had the mobile data tube from his ARM computer and
SPEAKER_00: flushed in the toilet that the players then, you guys pulled it out of
SPEAKER_00: the toilet.
SPEAKER_02: Right, and it was a bump. I just want to make sure that's the guy who
SPEAKER_02: was in the bathroom, right? That's not who he was texting. That's the
SPEAKER_02: guy, yeah.
SPEAKER_01: That's the guy. Okay.
SPEAKER_01: Okay. I don't know why I didn't write his name down.
SPEAKER_00: And also, to be clear, you guys don't know exactly who he was sending it
SPEAKER_00: to.
SPEAKER_02: No, it just says that they killed him and lose my number. It doesn't say
SPEAKER_02: who's losing his number.
SPEAKER_01: Right.
SPEAKER_03: Um, so, okay, so we have a doctor who we do know, who knows that someone
SPEAKER_03: was killed before he releases the data. He's kind of, I don't want to be
SPEAKER_03: part of this, whether, and is trying to get away from it. He may or may
SPEAKER_03: not know who the people are. And then there's, I guess we'll wait for
SPEAKER_03: Kolb to find his stuff. Um, In the meantime, perhaps since we
SPEAKER_03: live in a delightful police state that keeps all of us safe, generally,
SPEAKER_03: maybe we want to start with, you know, seeing if that
SPEAKER_03: mammalian can extend our IDs so that we
SPEAKER_03: don't get flagged everywhere we go?
SPEAKER_02: Our facial protection. Right, but he wanted us, he was going to do that
SPEAKER_02: on terms of us working for him.
SPEAKER_03: Oh, I hear. We don't have to do that. I agree. I don't want to be a
SPEAKER_03: criminal. What are we going to do in 12 hours when we need to go outside
SPEAKER_03: otherwise, is my question.
SPEAKER_01: Be criminals. I hate working with criminals. What should we do?
SPEAKER_03: We are criminals, so we have to work with criminals. No, no,
SPEAKER_03: no. We're up against a wall. Criminals are people who want to do crimes.
SPEAKER_03: We're people who are forced to do crimes.
SPEAKER_02: Really, it's alleged. We're allegedly criminals. We're vigilantes is
SPEAKER_02: what we are.
SPEAKER_03: You have a poor concept of what criminals are.
SPEAKER_02: If we were stopping other people from committing crimes, then we would
SPEAKER_02: be vigilantes.
SPEAKER_03: We're stopping the government from committing these crimes eventually in
SPEAKER_03: the future, probably. Also, almost all criminals are people who have
SPEAKER_03: their backs against the law. That is what crime is. It's a necessity.
SPEAKER_03: They're people who want to destroy society and rip it down from the
SPEAKER_03: insides, who have no respect for law and order. Ah, that's, uh, you were
SPEAKER_03: wrong. You were wrong. Yes.
SPEAKER_02: No, no, he's not. I've definitely met people who want to just watch the
SPEAKER_02: world burn.
SPEAKER_03: Yes, but this is a small number. Most criminals need to be criminals to
SPEAKER_03: get back.
SPEAKER_02: Not really.
SPEAKER_01: Not in my experience.
SPEAKER_03: Okay. I just want to say out of character, you do not associate my
SPEAKER_03: personal beliefs with my characters' beliefs. It may be vaguely
SPEAKER_03: divergent. Game respects. I'm judging all of you as players.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, game respects.
SPEAKER_00: I'm taking notes. I'm going to come back at all of you later.
SPEAKER_01: Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_03: This is all sarcasm. We understand. So, Emma,
SPEAKER_03: I hear what you're saying, and I don't want to be a criminal either.
SPEAKER_01: So, I guess my question is, if we don't go to him, what are we doing
SPEAKER_01: instead? I... I don't have any better ideas,
SPEAKER_01: so I... Yeah, I agree.
SPEAKER_02: Like, I... I'm of the mind that we have a potential
SPEAKER_02: ally in SoulSec and we have leads that we can
SPEAKER_02: feed them. I think that would help mobilize them
SPEAKER_02: towards clearing our name, but it's about how do we approach and pass
SPEAKER_02: upon this information. Okay, who is this potential ally? Are you talking
SPEAKER_02: about this Luke Moreau who was in the bathroom? Because he seemed to
SPEAKER_02: want nothing to do with anything anymore. No, I'm talking about the
SPEAKER_02: SoulSec that I heard being denied entry there.
SPEAKER_03: Oh, I thought you meant your SoulSec person. I'm sorry. I misunderstood
SPEAKER_03: that too.
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so when I was there, I snuck up on them. I wasn't that close
SPEAKER_02: enough to overhear the conversation. SolSec was trying to get in and
SPEAKER_02: investigate, and they were being denied access. Yeah, I kind of
SPEAKER_02: remember this.
SPEAKER_00: That's Inspector Mark Valois.
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so I think Inspector Mark already has an
SPEAKER_02: intention to investigate, and if we can— Perhaps feed
SPEAKER_02: him this information through a third party or help him to stumble across
SPEAKER_02: it that we could motivate him towards uncovering the truth without
SPEAKER_02: necessarily exposing ourselves. I see where you're headed. You want to
SPEAKER_02: feed him some breadcrumbs to push him towards where we want him to be to
SPEAKER_02: – as a – Byproduct of where his investigation goes being
SPEAKER_02: the clearing of our names. Precisely.
SPEAKER_03: Eventually, we will have to meet this man in person, no? No.
SPEAKER_03: So, later on, Cass is going to tell us the information when he
SPEAKER_03: unravels it. But in the meantime, we want to find this guy and see if he
SPEAKER_03: can be an ally. And if not, we can kind of squeeze him By basically
SPEAKER_03: being like, listen, you're gonna get killed like us if you don't help us
SPEAKER_03: anyway, right?
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_03: Not by us, but by other people. See, that was an
SPEAKER_03: absolutely cold killer idea. How do you say that you are not criminal?
SPEAKER_03: Are you trying to, you know what, I'm starting to think maybe 2-3% of
SPEAKER_03: criminals actually don't want to be criminals. We're those 2-3% is what
SPEAKER_03: I'm saying. That's what I'm saying. Yeah, I think you might be a
SPEAKER_03: criminal. That was very brutal. Listen, right, like, if he
SPEAKER_03: doesn't want to help fix our society, what is he doing anyway? Yeah, no,
SPEAKER_03: don't worry. I'm proud. I'm seeing you blossom into this new life. It's
SPEAKER_03: inspiring. So here's my proposal. Let's go and we'll ask him to help us.
SPEAKER_03: And then if he doesn't want to, we mention how maybe he'll die terribly,
SPEAKER_03: you know, like we probably would. And then, you know, push him a little
SPEAKER_03: further. And then we go and get, you know, new identification so that,
SPEAKER_03: you know, If someone tries to leak back to the fake IDs that we're using
SPEAKER_03: now, we already have new ones. See, I think that
SPEAKER_02: that is an approach. I'm not sure that is the approach that I would
SPEAKER_02: throw my weight behind. I would prefer to air gap.
SPEAKER_02: Right. And we just so happen to know an information broker that we have
SPEAKER_02: met. Who owes us a favor.
SPEAKER_02: Well, we've got goodwill with him now.
SPEAKER_03: Goodwill. Whatever we wish to call it. We have it
SPEAKER_01: with him. Kind of. His name is Lucent. He's a red prick.
SPEAKER_02: Now, the other side of that is... We have these veils that last for
SPEAKER_02: another day. If we did want to push a contact with us...
SPEAKER_02: Right now, while we have these veils, but then we need to make sure that
SPEAKER_02: he thinks that we are not us if we approach him in veils not as who we
SPEAKER_02: are. Do the veils—this is a question for Patrick—the veils I know
SPEAKER_02: protect us from electronic observation. Do they change our face
SPEAKER_02: appearance from when we're standing next to each other? Yes. Okay. They
SPEAKER_02: are like full chameleon droughts.
SPEAKER_00: They are— Genericizing your faces.
SPEAKER_01: Okay. Very cool.
SPEAKER_00: Because there are cameras that are not necessarily computers that are
SPEAKER_00: still going to be recording. They have to make sure that those just
SPEAKER_00: record generic people. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02: Does anyone here think they might be able to fix it? What did you say?
SPEAKER_02: I'm sorry. Yeah, I don't know why I keep that, like, intermediate. It
SPEAKER_02: keeps ducking in and out. Does anyone think that they would be able to
SPEAKER_02: repair them?
SPEAKER_01: Is it a computer thing?
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, Keith, you're a fucking whiz kid,
SPEAKER_03: right, with a wrench? Yes, you've said you are good at fixing things.
SPEAKER_03: Is this a computer thing or is this a mechanical thing? Mechanical
SPEAKER_03: things I'm all about. Computers I know how to turn on.
SPEAKER_00: So I just want you guys to know this is like things that are made in a
SPEAKER_00: factory. So you guys might be able to get another day or two out of them
SPEAKER_00: with really fancy rolls. But if the rolls aren't so fancy, you would
SPEAKER_00: break them now.
SPEAKER_01: I see. Oh, rolling them dice!
SPEAKER_03: So I can try and... You're saying with a mechanics roll, I can maybe
SPEAKER_03: extend it, is what you're saying.
SPEAKER_00: Well, I'm saying it is... You would basically need three layers of
SPEAKER_00: success on mechanics and another person to do three layers of success on
SPEAKER_00: computers to get a day out of one. Aren't we like computer dummies,
SPEAKER_00: though? What? Aren't we like computer dummies, though? I think we are.
SPEAKER_00: And then every day that you try to extend it, you need to get to a
SPEAKER_00: higher level of success on both. So today, to
SPEAKER_00: get the fourth day, you need three and three. Tomorrow, to get the fifth
SPEAKER_00: day, you need four and four.
SPEAKER_01: I'm
SPEAKER_03: hearing that we have them for this last day. I'm hearing that we're
SPEAKER_03: having them for maybe one more day.
SPEAKER_01: Could I fix it?
SPEAKER_00: I could. You could also just try to jury-rig them when they're broken.
SPEAKER_00: Yes. Like, then you at least have pulled them as long as you can. And
SPEAKER_00: then just try to be like, hey, I got nothing better to do while I'm
SPEAKER_00: sitting in the warehouse.
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, put something around with some broken gear to harvest it or use
SPEAKER_03: it.
SPEAKER_00: While they're currently working, don't follow my excuse and update the
SPEAKER_00: BIOS while you still need to use it.
SPEAKER_01: I've done that. I have done that.
SPEAKER_00: When you have a spare, yeah, feel free to mess with them.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, so what I'm hearing is that it's too difficult to fix them and
SPEAKER_02: that it's very distasteful for a lot of us to go work for a mobster. But
SPEAKER_02: we're not coming up with any alternative plans.
SPEAKER_00: Let me bring up one of the plans that hasn't really been brought up. You
SPEAKER_00: guys could go to the corporation at TransStar. Oh, right. In
SPEAKER_00: TransStar, you are automatically going to be... As long as you stay in
SPEAKER_00: the trans or sexual exchange, you are completely free from the law.
SPEAKER_01: Interesting.
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we might want to go do that, if only so it gives us more time to
SPEAKER_02: work on things.
SPEAKER_03: Can we turn off our veils while we're there so we preserve the hours we
SPEAKER_03: have, or no?
SPEAKER_00: Well, the moment a veil is activated, the timer starts. You can take it
SPEAKER_00: off your face so people see you for real, but... It's like a glow
SPEAKER_00: stick. That's a better way of saying it.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_02: Do they even make glow sticks still? Man, those were so...
SPEAKER_03: They do for emergency stuff. I have children. Yes, they do.
SPEAKER_01: They still make them. Agreed, agreed.
SPEAKER_02: I had one on my wrist on July
SPEAKER_00: 4th. I'm uninformed. I only have a child. Everyone's like, I have
SPEAKER_00: children. I know these children. I go to Burning Man events. They are
SPEAKER_00: everywhere.
SPEAKER_03: When you get to be a little older, Patrick, you will see them again.
SPEAKER_03: Don't worry.
SPEAKER_02: That makes me so happy. I loved those as a kid. I thought they were just
SPEAKER_02: freaking magic. Sorry, I didn't mean to derail, but that was totally
SPEAKER_02: just a hot nostalgia moment for me. No, don't worry.
SPEAKER_03: You didn't derail. I'm still reeling. They're not magic?
SPEAKER_02: Magic's not real. By the way, is my microphone better if I turn off my
SPEAKER_02: camera?
SPEAKER_03: You sound great. Yeah, it's similar, but we still hear
SPEAKER_03: you.
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, most of the time
SPEAKER_03: we hear you.
SPEAKER_02: It was more that it kept cutting in and out for me, and I just was like,
SPEAKER_02: I think I was just stressing things a little too hard.
SPEAKER_01: Sure.
SPEAKER_02: We'll make it work. I didn't want to be in the room with the AC man,
SPEAKER_02: that's all I want in life.
SPEAKER_03: Okay, so I'm sorry that I tried to get us to be criminals. I see that
SPEAKER_03: that did not go over well. I just worry that we can't
SPEAKER_03: in 12 hours, you know, travel freely. But I hear, let's not do that. So
SPEAKER_03: what do you all want to do first? I suggested three things. One, we go
SPEAKER_03: to the guy who sent the email and kind of pressure on him. Two, we try
SPEAKER_03: and go to the Zolzak person. Three, we try and get the new veils. And
SPEAKER_03: so if no one wants to do those three, that's fine. Let's do something
SPEAKER_03: else. I'm open to it. I'm doing whatever you guys think that is
SPEAKER_03: mostly moral, and let's do it. I think if we're looking to do
SPEAKER_03: morally good things, try and head back into
SPEAKER_03: our previous lives and our previous standing, I think Inspector
SPEAKER_03: Valois is an interesting move. I do not know how to do this air-gapping.
SPEAKER_03: That we are speaking of. So I put it in the good faith that I have of
SPEAKER_03: those intelligence people who we do have here, it seems, in some number.
SPEAKER_03: We do? I'm just guessing. I'm just drawing contact clues from what
SPEAKER_03: they're saying. Oh! I misunderstood! Great big scope.
SPEAKER_03: They immediately went off to go collect information. They called it
SPEAKER_03: intelligence. They got the crazy hypertech information. Like, they're
SPEAKER_03: very good at their jobs. I'm sure they would also be good at doing this
SPEAKER_03: Inspector Valois business. I will help what I can. I did make those
SPEAKER_03: communication relays that we should all still have on our persons. He
SPEAKER_03: points around to the group. Everyone remembers their radio?
SPEAKER_01: Victor Nod. Okay. That's good.
SPEAKER_01: I have no idea how we would
SPEAKER_03: do the inspector stuff. Someone else would have to do that. I can keep
SPEAKER_03: security on that to make sure that we stay safe, but it does sound like
SPEAKER_03: a sound idea to try and,
SPEAKER_01: you know, the fucking feds are trying to investigate the weird
SPEAKER_01: corruption
SPEAKER_03: in the feds.
SPEAKER_02: I don't understand air gap either.
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it seems difficult to try and make this man our ally without ever
SPEAKER_03: meeting him to tell him what has happened. But I don't know, I don't,
SPEAKER_03: you know, that there could be a way to do that that I am unaware of. If
SPEAKER_03: I may, what I
SPEAKER_02: think Cass is putting out here, and Cass, correct me if I'm wrong, is
SPEAKER_02: if we go and approach the SoulSec guy directly as ourselves... If it is
SPEAKER_02: later found out that he knew that we, when we were wanted criminals, met
SPEAKER_02: with us and then didn't turn us in, that puts him and everything
SPEAKER_02: he's done right in the wood chipper.
SPEAKER_03: That's a risk we should be willing to take, but I understand if we don't
SPEAKER_03: want to do that. I understand.
SPEAKER_02: Well, if he's able to get us our lives back, and then two days later
SPEAKER_02: they go, oh... He met with them when they were criminals. He's a
SPEAKER_02: criminal. Everything he's done is criminal. We lose our lives again.
SPEAKER_02: Whereas if we insulate him from us, if we have an intermediary interact
SPEAKER_02: with him, then we can give him the breadcrumbs to get him
SPEAKER_02: to take the steps necessary for us to clear our names
SPEAKER_02: without him having directly interacted with us. Thus, he is not a
SPEAKER_02: criminal for having interacted with us.
SPEAKER_03: So the step we need to take then right now, if we want to do that, which
SPEAKER_03: we could do, is go to Lucen. That's the info broker that you mentioned
SPEAKER_03: before when you brought up this idea before. Yes, Lucen. That is the way
SPEAKER_03: I would approach it. And that's what people would count as their
SPEAKER_03: alternative to working with this Delphine fellow.
SPEAKER_02: Well, I was actually going to propose that
SPEAKER_02: When we give him that information and let him do some of that work, that
SPEAKER_02: we do go to the Dolphine and see what kind of jobs need to
SPEAKER_01: happen to
SPEAKER_02: keep us in veils until this is resolved.
SPEAKER_03: I like the idea because it's dangerous, but I know other people might
SPEAKER_03: not. That is... Dangerously close to double-dipping. Who knows
SPEAKER_03: how the people that we would be treating for help would feel about that,
SPEAKER_03: but I find that interesting and fun.
SPEAKER_02: I just would rather not commit crimes that when our names are cleared,
SPEAKER_02: we are then held accountable for the crimes we committed.
SPEAKER_01: That is true.
SPEAKER_02: That just seems a little self-sabotaging.
SPEAKER_03: If we go to an inspector and say, oh, we're innocent, and then go blow
SPEAKER_03: up some apartment building, that's going to be difficult.
SPEAKER_02: Well, that's why I think talking to them, figuring out what type of jobs
SPEAKER_02: is the key. Because we've already delivered a dog to a guy, and that
SPEAKER_02: seems super sketchy, like there was something else going on. If there
SPEAKER_02: are... Low-grade transportation, oh, we don't really know what's going
SPEAKER_02: on jobs that keep us alive while other people
SPEAKER_02: try to clear our names. I think there's some validity there. And if
SPEAKER_02: half of us don't want that, then the other half of us get a little dirty
SPEAKER_02: to keep us
SPEAKER_01: all safe. Barely a crime.
SPEAKER_01: I do want to
SPEAKER_02: state that I do hear what you are saying, Emma, that you are concerned
SPEAKER_02: about life after this as well. I guess I'm a
SPEAKER_02: little in the, I want to get through this. And I'm looking at
SPEAKER_02: the tree right in front of me. And you're looking at the whole forest,
SPEAKER_02: which I appreciate. No, and I was going to say something similar in
SPEAKER_02: that, like, I don't think we're necessarily talking at cross purposes,
SPEAKER_02: but we're coming at it from multiple angles, and we need to focus our
SPEAKER_02: attention on fewer angles.
SPEAKER_03: Alright, I can focus our attention on fewer angles. We can do the
SPEAKER_03: Inspector Valois thing, and then, after hitting his information, a good
SPEAKER_03: place for us to stay safe from a number of our threats would be
SPEAKER_03: Trendstart.
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I like that idea best, at least for now.
SPEAKER_03: Go to Lucen... Have Lucen reach out to this Inspector
SPEAKER_03: Valois, make our way towards Transtar, be ready for people still to
SPEAKER_03: maybe come for us if we stay too long, you know? It's Transtar, that
SPEAKER_03: means there is no law there, which means Delphine will have easy access
SPEAKER_03: to Transtar as well. So if we piss off Delphine in whatever we do
SPEAKER_03: with talking to Inspector Valois, there is still very ample
SPEAKER_03: opportunities for Delphine to come knock at our door and be like, So,
SPEAKER_03: what's up? What are we doing? Stuff like that. But, if he does,
SPEAKER_03: we'll kill him.
SPEAKER_01: So,
SPEAKER_02: that's fine. Whoa! You always jump to the, like, most violent
SPEAKER_02: conclusion?
SPEAKER_03: I think, what, if I'm counting correctly, it's five years of expert,
SPEAKER_03: competent, and loyal service to, you know, Solar Marines.
SPEAKER_02: I get it. When you're built like a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
SPEAKER_02: But keep that in the far back of your mind, you know? That's a
SPEAKER_02: last resort option. We have many other avenues to explore first.
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, let's call that Plan K, Plan Kill Ever 1. We still have
SPEAKER_02: A through J to go through before we get there.
SPEAKER_03: I love this. Great double joke. Yes, yes, yes. So, you may have noticed,
SPEAKER_03: Emma, that I've been looking at you a little hard for the
SPEAKER_01: last minute.
SPEAKER_02: Okay. I am pretty cute.
SPEAKER_01: She is pretty cute.
SPEAKER_02: I just make eye contact in a kind of, like, what are you looking at kind
SPEAKER_02: of way, but I don't think I would say anything about it.
SPEAKER_01: Not yet, anyway.
SPEAKER_01: Okie dokie. I mean, unless you...
SPEAKER_02: Is there some... Are you doing something that looks suspicious? Like, I
SPEAKER_02: don't understand. I'm just like, what?
SPEAKER_03: No, it was after he said, like, basically that you're a spy. So since
SPEAKER_03: then, I've been, like, looking at you very...
SPEAKER_01: No one said she's a spy. No one said she was a spy.
SPEAKER_03: No, no, no. Yeah, it was Peter. Yeah, he was definitely like,
SPEAKER_03: you're the spy person because you know all the stuff. He was super,
SPEAKER_03: super obtuse about it.
SPEAKER_02: I thought he just said that you were the intelligence person.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
SPEAKER_02: That's not a spy. That can be a government worker.
SPEAKER_03: I understood what I understood. If your character comes to the
SPEAKER_03: conclusion that that means spy, I'm sure your character could do that.
SPEAKER_03: That is not what he said. He said intelligence. If you want to be
SPEAKER_03: technical, her job is counterintelligence, which is the opposite of
SPEAKER_03: being a spy. That's true, I don't know the difference in any of these
SPEAKER_03: things. Exactly, right? You do not have a good grasp of what
SPEAKER_03: intelligence would mean, so if someone says it, I can very much see you
SPEAKER_03: going, he means spy.
SPEAKER_01: There's a spy. I see what you're saying.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know, I appreciate
SPEAKER_02: that apparently everyone knows my background, I just wanted to, I'm
SPEAKER_02: supposed to be a spy, I was trying to keep it secret, but like,
SPEAKER_01: You are.
SPEAKER_02: No, I don't know. I don't know anything. It just keeps thrown around.
SPEAKER_02: So, like, I don't know. Maybe I just dropped the whole pretense of
SPEAKER_02: illusion.
SPEAKER_01: You don't have to do anything.
SPEAKER_03: You can explain that he didn't say, like, later on when we talk, you can
SPEAKER_03: be like, he didn't say spy. He said intelligence. Because I know some
SPEAKER_03: intelligence people. And then I'd be like, sure.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: I think the other thing to remember is probably two-thirds of the people
SPEAKER_00: have worked for SolSec in some point of their entire career.
SPEAKER_00: Everyone has sold out something. Few people have sold it to the point of
SPEAKER_00: being the actual administrator.
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, Cass is leading the way on feeding information to SoulSack.
SPEAKER_02: And Victor's on board with that, and
SPEAKER_02: backing up Cass with the funneling it through a third party. Yeah, I
SPEAKER_02: feel like that's at least a good first step. It gets us moving it out of
SPEAKER_02: this circle that we're kind of
SPEAKER_03: stuck in. Okay. Yeah, I don't want to push things that people don't want
SPEAKER_03: to do.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah. I met Lucen over in...
SPEAKER_03: There is a very well-made write-up on this entire district that he
SPEAKER_03: resides in. It is the one with the... The Great Big Travel Hub, which
SPEAKER_03: might be the location of TransStar as well. Like, they might be right
SPEAKER_03: next to each other. I have to find the district, though.
SPEAKER_01: It's in the southwest, I believe. You mean the Customs and Immigration?
SPEAKER_01: Yes. Yeah,
SPEAKER_01: he's clicking. It's to the left of the TransStar sector.
SPEAKER_03: Yes. Because that is where he was doing a bunch of his
SPEAKER_03: brokering, and we chatted him up on his wares, criminal
SPEAKER_03: seller, and then he was like, oh, I have a job.
SPEAKER_00: When we have time, I would like to hit up my
SPEAKER_00: contact in the other world and ask him about the dolphin and the
SPEAKER_00: random man that we decided to work for that we found in an alley.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's a dolphin that helped us, and this random man that we found
SPEAKER_00: in the alley that everyone wants to work for instead. So, the random man
SPEAKER_00: who works for an alley, your contact says, is like three tiers below the
SPEAKER_00: dolphin, but he works for the same organization. Okay. So.
SPEAKER_01: You're not crossing the strings by working with him. No.
SPEAKER_01: Which is interesting
SPEAKER_03: for us to know. It means that we know for a fact that Delphine is going
SPEAKER_03: to know that we are doing this.
SPEAKER_01: Let's cut out the middleman. Well,
SPEAKER_01: I think one
SPEAKER_00: of the other kind of important things to think about is when you go to
SPEAKER_00: the president of a corporation, you have to kind of make better returns
SPEAKER_00: versus if you go to a middle manager. If I learned one
SPEAKER_00: thing from
SPEAKER_03: playing MMOs, you always go to the head of the organization to get all
SPEAKER_03: your quests. Is it?
SPEAKER_03: Okay.
SPEAKER_02: Well, then you become the head of the organization.
SPEAKER_01: Is there a difference? I mean, they're all criminals, right?
SPEAKER_03: I mean, I'm assuming we're still following through on our... Yes. Yes.
SPEAKER_03: Perfect.
SPEAKER_03: Kiernan makes the goddamn link, and he will bring, I
SPEAKER_03: believe, Kolb's character over to kind of voice this
SPEAKER_03: plan a little bit more, facilitate this conversation.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so it sounds like there's, like, two at least break-off groups.
SPEAKER_00: One is going to try to get you guys access into TransStar. One is going
SPEAKER_00: to try to... Communicate with the Underworld people to send data to
SPEAKER_00: SolSec. Is that kind of the slip that we're seeing?
SPEAKER_01: Yes. Sounds reasonable. Who wants to be in what group?
SPEAKER_02: I will be a data broker.
SPEAKER_01: Keenan will be a data broker.
SPEAKER_00: I'll be in whichever group feels they could use a little extra security
SPEAKER_00: support.
SPEAKER_01: I'll be in whichever group the group wants me to be in, because I get
SPEAKER_01: along. I'd like to try the
SPEAKER_01: Transtar piece. Yeah, I'll do that as well. Okay.
SPEAKER_01: Victor, whoop. Okay.
SPEAKER_01: And...
SPEAKER_01: I want to get caught up.
SPEAKER_03: What are we doing in TransStar and what are we doing in SoulSec?
SPEAKER_00: So, just real quick... Oh, go ahead. You probably want to
SPEAKER_00: have the ape do the Underworld stuff since he's going to be less
SPEAKER_00: genetically supported.
SPEAKER_01: Okay. If we're thinking about that stuff.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, so we have Josh and
SPEAKER_01: Annette and Kiernan as
SPEAKER_01: the other people to be kind of organized.
SPEAKER_01: I'll do Underground as well. Okay.
SPEAKER_01: So, as Josh wants to be more up and up, you probably should go to
SPEAKER_01: Transtar. Sure.
SPEAKER_01: And Kiernan, where do you want to go?
SPEAKER_03: He's going with the Data Broker. He knows this person
SPEAKER_03: from our last interaction. So he's more familiar in this space. And it
SPEAKER_03: could also go bad.
SPEAKER_00: Okay. So you go off and you ride... You're the group who's taking the
SPEAKER_00: trike. Because you want to be able to get in and out if you need to.
SPEAKER_01: And... Let me get to...
SPEAKER_01: Okay. So you go to the same alley,
SPEAKER_00: and you see a man
SPEAKER_00: coming out from the alley, but you do not see Luce in there.
SPEAKER_01: Right.
SPEAKER_00: Are you going to go deeper in the alley, or are you going to send the
SPEAKER_00: droid? What are you going to do?
SPEAKER_03: Honestly, not a very bad idea. Though I do not
SPEAKER_03: think we need panic such yet. I don't know if we need to go deeper
SPEAKER_03: into this alley, or we should maybe just, you know, walk the block, see
SPEAKER_03: if he hasn't set up somewhere else. There's no reason to think he hasn't
SPEAKER_03: just ended
SPEAKER_01: up in a different part of the neighborhood. I would like to recon,
SPEAKER_01: please. Okay.
SPEAKER_01: Kieran is just looking around to see if anyone is watching us.
SPEAKER_00: You see another version of your guys' exact trike down the street.
SPEAKER_01: Hmm. Okay.
SPEAKER_01: So they make a model down the street, and he's just saying this kind of
SPEAKER_03: absentmindedly to the rest around.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, because it's stolen, and they said he didn't think they were
SPEAKER_01: coming looking for it.
SPEAKER_01: So what does that mean? So you guys are going to walk up to it? They
SPEAKER_01: could have took another one. Maybe they did come looking for it.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_02: I'm going to ask Coach if I'm just hanging out with me while they go
SPEAKER_02: check it out.
SPEAKER_03: Yeah. I'm gonna just shrug, remind myself where my shotgun
SPEAKER_03: is.
SPEAKER_01: Well, who's coming with me?
SPEAKER_01: Would Streetwise roll help us out here?
We're gonna roll, or what?
SPEAKER_01: Oh, gosh, I'm having to roll streetwise. If you want me to roll
SPEAKER_01: streetwise, too, I
SPEAKER_00: got it. There is a cantina up
SPEAKER_00: ahead where it is parked called La Porte Fiel, The Wallet.
SPEAKER_01: Well, let's hope they don't have a
SPEAKER_01: check-in locker. He's going to head for the building.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: So you guys walk on up, and there is a big cybered-up
SPEAKER_00: bouncer outside of it. And he says,
SPEAKER_00: you're here for business or pleasure?
SPEAKER_03: And at this point, do we still have our veils?
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
SPEAKER_03: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: This is when you go...
SPEAKER_03: We never got like a... I'm not just forgetting a code word we may have
SPEAKER_03: gotten. For some reason, I've got that in my mind. Did we ever get
SPEAKER_03: something like that? I'd have to look in my... It's Fidelio. It's
SPEAKER_03: Fidelio. Okay.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, we know his name is Lucen.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if we drop it right at the door.
SPEAKER_03: He looks at the other two and is like, am I being the spokesman? Okay,
SPEAKER_03: it's me. Pleasure. Pleasure.
SPEAKER_02: Other two, I'm staying back. I'm waiting for you guys to scout it out.
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we're doing pleasure.
SPEAKER_01: Pleasure then, huh? Got day's pay burning in my pocket. Come on in.
SPEAKER_01: He opens the door. Walks right in. Are we all going
SPEAKER_01: through?
SPEAKER_00: Doesn't sound like it. Unless you're next to him, he's going to ask
SPEAKER_00: everyone else who comes by.
SPEAKER_02: No, I am not going to enter the facility.
SPEAKER_00: Okay. You're like, I'm a robot. I don't know business nor pleasure.
SPEAKER_01: Exactly. I will stand and stare. Okay.
SPEAKER_01: Is anyone going in with Peter? I'll go in with
SPEAKER_01: Peter. This is the group that I'm not with, right? That's right. You
SPEAKER_01: want to not be a criminal. I'm trying to avoid it, but I'm more open to
SPEAKER_01: it than, let's say, Emma. Okay.
SPEAKER_01: So, I guess also is, Damien, are you going in? You had the
SPEAKER_01: Streetwise role. Yeah, I'll go in with Twitter.
SPEAKER_01: Yes. Okay.
SPEAKER_00: So, as you guys go in, you see people laying
SPEAKER_00: back in reclining chairs up against the wall as
SPEAKER_00: very bass-heavy music is being played with flashing lights. One of the
SPEAKER_00: things that does seem a little odd, though, is there's not a lot of
SPEAKER_00: people moving around. Almost everyone is either sitting in a chair or
SPEAKER_00: leaning up against a bar.
SPEAKER_01: I just glance at Zoe and
SPEAKER_03: walk around. The bouncer does not follow us. We are not being led by
SPEAKER_03: anyone. We are in this space. We are not being led. Okay.
SPEAKER_00: If you do nothing for a few moments, you can see that a waitress would
SPEAKER_00: be coming your way.
SPEAKER_03: Sure. He's doing his best not to be caught unawares or anything like
SPEAKER_03: that. He is just scanning the room looking for Lucent.
SPEAKER_00: Okay. I'm happy to take a recon roll. It is going to be with the Bane
SPEAKER_00: with the flashing lights and the loud music.
SPEAKER_01: All right. Recon.
SPEAKER_01: Bane. Okay.
SPEAKER_01: Wow. You had a perfect roll even with the Bane. Yeah. Oh, my. Okay.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, something just takes over a little bit. He's
SPEAKER_03: regarding this.
SPEAKER_00: You see him standing... Well, you see him sitting in a chair next to
SPEAKER_00: two other people, and you see he's rifling through one person's pockets.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, um...
SPEAKER_03: He will communicate that he's a spotted Lucid and what he's doing to
SPEAKER_03: Zoi, and just be like, I say we
SPEAKER_03: circle the establishment, wait for him to finish whatever business that
SPEAKER_03: is, and then,
SPEAKER_01: you know. Well, he doesn't
SPEAKER_01: seem
SPEAKER_00: to be slow, or... He's taking his time rifling through these
SPEAKER_00: people's pockets and poking at their phones and putting their phone
SPEAKER_00: back.
SPEAKER_03: Okay. All right. Shit. Zoe, anything? I
SPEAKER_03: mean, I'm just going to go up and tell him that we have others who have
SPEAKER_01: to speak with him about more business.
SPEAKER_01: All right. Yeah, we should just go up and talk to him.
SPEAKER_03: Fuck yeah. I mean, there you go. He speaks. And then he will start in
SPEAKER_03: that direction, mission-focused, just kind of, you know, if anyone was
SPEAKER_03: sharp of eye. He's very loose and oriented.
SPEAKER_01: He's a straight line to him. He's, like,
SPEAKER_01: surprising to see you here. From
SPEAKER_01: Upright Simpson to Going into a drug den. Ah, well,
SPEAKER_01: you know. A forgetful face is easy to go many places.
SPEAKER_01: Well, how can I help you?
SPEAKER_03: We have more business for you that hopefully will be of some intrigue
SPEAKER_03: to you more than these pauper's pockets.
SPEAKER_01: Is this something you would be amenable to?
SPEAKER_00: Sure, but don't ever think that a pauper's pockets is
SPEAKER_00: lacking of value. Many of these people have important friends.
SPEAKER_01: Ah, you know. To the expert goes the spoils, I presume.
SPEAKER_01: Come with me. Where are we going?
SPEAKER_01: Outside. Hmm. I'd rather do our business in here.
SPEAKER_01: Can you find us a private space while I get my friends?
SPEAKER_00: Sure, but trust me, there's not a lot of witnesses that are awake here
SPEAKER_00: as he slaps the guy next to him. And the guy's still totally conscious.
SPEAKER_03: All right. And I will ask you to refrain from that kind of stuff in the
SPEAKER_03: more queasy company of mine. But... Yes,
SPEAKER_03: yes, I will go get them.
SPEAKER_01: We're safe in here, right? It's a drug team.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, he looks at you like, what? That's why I'm here.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, turns around. Okay, so
SPEAKER_01: you're going to go outside and get people who didn't come in? Which I
SPEAKER_01: think is just a nap. I think it's Annette and
SPEAKER_01: Colt. Either way, he gets them both. Yeah, Colt was hanging out.
SPEAKER_03: Me and Sonchi. Hey, he gets back to the pair and kind of just
SPEAKER_03: looks expectantly. Okay, we're in.
SPEAKER_01: Okay. You come with me now. Yep, we'll follow. All right.
SPEAKER_01: It's a drug bin. It's unsafe. Be ready.
SPEAKER_01: I'm immune to most drugs, but I'll
SPEAKER_02: keep my eye out.
SPEAKER_03: I was mostly talking to Caspian. I have remembered your
SPEAKER_03: good work that you've done in our previous service.
SPEAKER_01: I trust you, do not worry.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, yeah, I am not immune to most drugs, but I will keep my eye out.
SPEAKER_03: I'm also more afraid of you getting stabbed rather than drugged, though
SPEAKER_03: you might get drugged or stabbed or shot. Gee, thanks. This is
SPEAKER_03: instilling a lot of problems. Don't worry. Big slap on the shoulder.
SPEAKER_03: Don't worry. Between, I think, between the two of us, close to a
SPEAKER_03: thousand pounds of fucking fury.
SPEAKER_01: So, we're good. Or you're good.
SPEAKER_02: As you lead the way inside, he mouths to Sochi behind your back. Help
SPEAKER_02: me.
SPEAKER_01: Don't let him take me. I wave with my fingers.
SPEAKER_00: So, as
SPEAKER_00: everyone else notices and they go in, multiple people are taking these
SPEAKER_00: Inhaled kind of packets that they suck in, and as they suck in, they
SPEAKER_00: kind of fall back almost as an opium den kind of response. You
SPEAKER_00: occasionally see a leg twitch or a person's eyes bolt up and they look
SPEAKER_00: around, and then they lay back down.
SPEAKER_03: Union has to absentmindedly push someone away
SPEAKER_01: who's reaching at him. He's just like, eh, dumb, shoo.
SPEAKER_00: So he takes you to the back and you see
SPEAKER_00: a can of gases all on these piped areas and they're basically the
SPEAKER_00: hand pressed to fill up the individual
SPEAKER_01: drug packs.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_02: Is your guy here?
SPEAKER_03: Yes. He will be scanning the room once again for Lucen.
SPEAKER_03: Hopefully at this point it is of no difficulty to find him. He does so
SPEAKER_03: and brings you to it.
SPEAKER_00: And by the way, here's the picture of the drug packs. They're like the
SPEAKER_00: ones from Minority Report.
SPEAKER_01: Good God. Okay.
SPEAKER_01: He's like Yeah, he's still searching pockets.
SPEAKER_00: No, no, he's taking you to the back area where they're packing the drugs
SPEAKER_00: because you wanted
SPEAKER_01: a private area. Okay, cool. Uh...
SPEAKER_01: All right, uh, Lucid, this
SPEAKER_03: is, um... A friend of mine who is trying to make a new friend himself.
SPEAKER_03: And as such, we are in need of a man who knows people, which you have
SPEAKER_03: already declared this night, and every night that I have known you is
SPEAKER_03: what you are. So, I will turn it over to my good friend here,
SPEAKER_01: and we may have a very beneficial... So you vouch for him?
SPEAKER_01: Hmm? So you vouch for him? I do. Okay. What do you got to
SPEAKER_01: say?
SPEAKER_02: I have information that I need to get to a
SPEAKER_02: Solta inspector investigator through an intermediary.
SPEAKER_01: If I can't know who I am, I just need to receive this
SPEAKER_01: tip. Is the information allowed to be known by
SPEAKER_01: the Courier?
SPEAKER_03: I narrow my eyes at that, and I just kind of raise my eyebrows at Cass.
SPEAKER_02: It'd be safer if he didn't. Yeah, it'd be safer for the courier than if
SPEAKER_02: he didn't. Exactly. It could be dangerous knowledge.
SPEAKER_00: Right, but many couriers don't want to be also delivering their own
SPEAKER_00: death sentences. Oh, no.
SPEAKER_00: Sure.
SPEAKER_02: I was just to... He can deliver
SPEAKER_02: it and leave, but the courier can know it. But the courier cannot be
SPEAKER_02: attached in any way to
SPEAKER_02: the Hall of Government or several organizations. So I'd prefer if the
SPEAKER_02: courier was an unattached party.
SPEAKER_01: He's going to be connected to this one. Okay, okay.
SPEAKER_00: Is it a digital piece of information or is it a packet you have?
SPEAKER_02: I have digital information as well as physical evidence that we can be
SPEAKER_02: relayed through a dead drop, but we need to
SPEAKER_02: coordinate the dead drop.
SPEAKER_00: Okay. So you want him to get this information that may or may not be
SPEAKER_00: faked or processed to lure him to a dead drop Where you will then
SPEAKER_00: convince he's going to provide, he's going to get this information and
SPEAKER_00: you guys are going to then jump him or kill him or something?
SPEAKER_02: No, no. No, we want him to have the information. Yeah, we just want him
SPEAKER_02: to have the stuff. We want to make sure that he receives the information
SPEAKER_02: as well as the physical item.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so you want me to have my intermediary give him the item?
SPEAKER_02: As long as your intermediary is, you know, not connected elsewhere,
SPEAKER_02: then yeah, we can arrange that.
SPEAKER_01: Okay. And you know the name of the SolSec operative you want me to do
SPEAKER_01: this to?
SPEAKER_01: Yes. Yeah, sorry. Siri activated when I was trying to answer you. Yes, I
SPEAKER_01: know the name. Okay. And
SPEAKER_01: do you want to pay or do you want to cash in your favor? As he
SPEAKER_01: looks towards Damien.
SPEAKER_01: Let's cash in our favor. Okay.
SPEAKER_01: Not a problem. How soon are you undone?
SPEAKER_01: Today. The sooner is better. Okay. And I presume you also want him to
SPEAKER_01: get the information in a non-public area? Yes.
Okay.
SPEAKER_01: Included area.
SPEAKER_00: If you're willing to have it be later tonight, I could have someone
SPEAKER_00: break into his house and leave it on his kitchen table. If
SPEAKER_00: you want it sooner than that, I know a friend who's into drones who
SPEAKER_00: could deliver it to
SPEAKER_01: his car. I like Plan A.
SPEAKER_01: Which one would draw the least amount of attention, do you think? Well,
SPEAKER_00: I think in his own home creates a sense of urgency versus it slipped
SPEAKER_00: into his car.
SPEAKER_03: B&E sounds nice.
SPEAKER_01: Yes, I don't know about you guys, but I like Plan A too.
SPEAKER_01: Well, when you guys have a consensus.
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I mean, sounds like we're
SPEAKER_01: agreed. Yeah, leave it in
SPEAKER_03: his house. Put that shit right on his bed pillow if you want.
SPEAKER_00: Okay. Yeah. Okay. He pulls out a kind
SPEAKER_00: of sci-fi-looking Ziploc bag, and he kind of opens it up and is like,
SPEAKER_00: dump whatever you want him to get in there.
SPEAKER_01: Looks to... I hand over the package.
SPEAKER_02: It's got the tube, the data file, and what we've gathered.
SPEAKER_00: By the way, who had Mercer's original pad?
SPEAKER_01: I do. I was going to give it to the dolphin.
SPEAKER_00: As everything's being put into the bag, it puffs up and... Gets
SPEAKER_00: filled with a chemical, and then it expels the chemical, and he's like,
SPEAKER_00: it clears out any DNA residue that might have been on any of you.
SPEAKER_02: I'm here for that. I appreciate that level of discrepancy.
SPEAKER_01: Sounds awesome. Discretion, that level of discretion. All of a sudden,
SPEAKER_01: the lie starts buzzing. Okay. Who?
SPEAKER_01: It's the pad. Yeah. Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_00: I look at the pad. It says, find my
SPEAKER_00: data pad has been activated. Oh, we need to be somewhere else.
SPEAKER_00: Cool. I look at him. This needs to be somewhere else, too. You don't
SPEAKER_00: want to be around it. We don't want to be around it.
SPEAKER_03: Wait, what's going on?
SPEAKER_00: Now. No, no, no. Do you have a Faraday cage easily accessible? Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah. Yeah, he pulls out another plastic bag. Put this in there.
SPEAKER_00: He puts it in there and it does this little seal thing and you see the
SPEAKER_00: signal on it basically fade to zero.
SPEAKER_03: We should all be somewhere else.
SPEAKER_01: What was that?
SPEAKER_03: Later. Right now we all need to be somewhere else.
SPEAKER_01: Do you want this bag? Yes.
SPEAKER_00: Oh yes, please. Okay, so he gives you guys the bag with the pad in it.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: And you guys are making a run. Yes. Now, you have two choices on how to
SPEAKER_00: do this. One is you could have one person do a streetwise and all of you
SPEAKER_00: are going to follow what they say.
SPEAKER_03: Okay. The other method...
SPEAKER_00: Is someone could do a vehicle kind of drive roll.
SPEAKER_00: By the way, Sashi, you get to just like, because you just run up a
SPEAKER_00: building. Yeah. So you do see the police are coming,
SPEAKER_00: but you're like, they can't really catch me. Yeah, I care about my
SPEAKER_00: friends more than I care about whether or not I get caught. I want to,
SPEAKER_00: we're a Scooby gang. Okay, for your Scooby gang, someone should roll
SPEAKER_00: then a Streetwise, and if that Streetwise is at least two successes, you
SPEAKER_00: guys evade the police. At one success, they are following you, but they
SPEAKER_00: have not caught you. At zero successes, you are caught.
SPEAKER_01: Shit.
SPEAKER_00: Okay. I do not have vehicles or Streetwise. I am not that type of smart.
SPEAKER_00: That is two successes on Streetwise. Okay. Okay.
SPEAKER_00: Like I said, we need to leave now. We're going this way. Stop asking
SPEAKER_00: questions. You get on the trike, you know exactly the way to drive off
SPEAKER_00: of the freeway entrance where the police would be coming. As you guys
SPEAKER_00: make two turns, you hear the police pull up to the drug den and you are
SPEAKER_00: long away.
SPEAKER_03: Kiernan is surprised at how easily it is for him to fall into. Go this
SPEAKER_03: way, go that way, go, go, go.
SPEAKER_00: So, we are now at the Transar Sector Exchange with Dan, Victor,
SPEAKER_00: and Emma. Yes. As you guys come up to
SPEAKER_00: the street area, very similar, kind of like going into the Mexican
SPEAKER_00: border, they have those metal gates that you have to kind of push your
SPEAKER_00: way through. And there is a woman standing
SPEAKER_00: at the booth as you guys are walking by.
SPEAKER_02: I didn't realize if there would be an actual checkpoint. I don't know
SPEAKER_02: what I thought. They weren't going to wave us through, but yeah.
SPEAKER_00: Well, but you're not seeing security cameras.
SPEAKER_03: Can someone explain to me what we're doing here, just so I can
SPEAKER_03: understand this?
SPEAKER_02: We're trying to secure, essentially, housing because this is an
SPEAKER_02: independent situation that the rest of the government can't touch
SPEAKER_02: inside.
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, this is like international waters, but on a planetary scale. And
SPEAKER_03: so, there's no law that has jurisdiction.
SPEAKER_01: Well, there's law. Well, it's their law, not Jordanian law. Yeah, it's
SPEAKER_01: extraterritorial. You're
SPEAKER_01: under corporate law here. Okay, thanks.
SPEAKER_02: Okay. All right, well, I'll approach.
SPEAKER_00: It, uh, The person has a little badge. It says, Reena Kessler. And
SPEAKER_00: it says, hello, what is your business inside the
SPEAKER_00: Transar sector exchange?
SPEAKER_01: I'm looking to explore a business opportunity.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, are you looking at coming to one of our famous shops or are you
SPEAKER_00: looking to gain a job?
SPEAKER_02: Probably gain a job, although I would like to do some shopping now that
SPEAKER_02: you've mentioned it.
SPEAKER_01: Wonderful.
SPEAKER_00: I imagine you are a Soleimani citizen.
SPEAKER_01: Yes, of course. She looks even like a gasp that she would not be.
SPEAKER_01: Put out your hand. I just told you I'm a citizen.
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely. Then what's the problem?
SPEAKER_01: Just please put out your hand.
SPEAKER_02: I just told you I'm a citizen. I don't understand why I have to have
SPEAKER_02: that confirmed I just told you.
SPEAKER_00: This isn't a confirmation. I absolutely believe you're a citizen.
SPEAKER_01: Well, then what is this that you're doing?
SPEAKER_00: I'm giving you your pass stamp.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, then I look chagrined. I'm like, I'm so sorry. I thought you were
SPEAKER_02: challenging my... And I'm very sensitive to that. That's on me. I
SPEAKER_02: apologize.
SPEAKER_00: No, no. Basically, you have a three-day pass to come in and look for
SPEAKER_00: work, file your resumes, be able to kind of see where you might be able
SPEAKER_00: to help the Transar greater corporate organization. And in three days,
SPEAKER_00: the stamp will fade. And you can leave if you have that, or you will
SPEAKER_00: have a permanent Transar ID if you find work here.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, I appreciate your patience with me, and I'll put my hand out.
SPEAKER_00: Not a problem. So she stamps it.
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: I imagine Dan and Victor are standing right behind you like... Yes.
SPEAKER_01: Yes, I'm like...
SPEAKER_02: That's how this is done. All right. I would lead the way and show them
SPEAKER_02: how it's done.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, by the way, and Varian is right behind you guys too, because he's
SPEAKER_00: now arrived.
SPEAKER_01: That's true, yes.
SPEAKER_02: Assuming then Emma is in fact let through and passes, Victor will step
SPEAKER_02: up a moment later and present himself as well.
SPEAKER_00: Are you here for purchasing or are you here to try to find a job?
SPEAKER_02: I'm here to try to find a job.
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely. And you are a Soleimani citizen? I am indeed. Wonderful.
SPEAKER_00: Please put out your hand. I put out my left hand, and she does the
SPEAKER_00: stamp. By the way, it's like a holographic ink, and it has a little
SPEAKER_00: TransStar logo.
SPEAKER_02: Now, I apologize. I have not tried to apply for work in TransStar
SPEAKER_02: section before. Is there a series of computer terminals, or should I
SPEAKER_02: talk to recruiters? Perhaps you are not the right person. I'm just
SPEAKER_02: curious.
SPEAKER_00: Well, it kind of depends on your experience. If you're an ex-Navy
SPEAKER_00: person, there are certain aspects that you could go through the flying
SPEAKER_00: simulators and you could get a job being part of the shipping crews. If
SPEAKER_00: you're more of a broker, there's a particular kind of financial area.
SPEAKER_00: And then we also have a different area for those who feel they have a
SPEAKER_00: great expertise with the administration paperwork or executive
SPEAKER_00: functions. And for those who have no skills such as that, there's always
SPEAKER_00: a need for... Loader drivers. Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_02: Well, I have some experience with astro-navigation calculation, so
SPEAKER_02: excellent. That was my hope that there would be a job here. Thank you
SPEAKER_02: very much for the information.
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely. Okay, and then... And Victor will continue past? Would I be
SPEAKER_00: next, or is someone else next? It'd be Dan, and then you're last.
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
SPEAKER_03: Um, I am interested in a job, but, uh, What's this about buying? Perhaps
SPEAKER_03: I might be interested in that also.
SPEAKER_00: Well, there's a lot of aspect as Transar is the primary corporation of
SPEAKER_00: this sector of space. We are able to sell particular goods at a
SPEAKER_00: different tax level aspect of those who are outside of the Transar
SPEAKER_00: family.
SPEAKER_01: How could I become part of the Transar family?
SPEAKER_00: If you have a TransStar job, you are definitely given an employee
SPEAKER_00: discount. Your employee discount is based on your rank inside TransStar.
SPEAKER_00: As a new level employee, A. Grunt. You're allowed to get 5% off of our
SPEAKER_00: particular goods. But every year of experience, you're able to get 0.5%
SPEAKER_00: more off of all of your goods. Now, some particular people who pass the
SPEAKER_00: executive training course are able to possibly get a 25% discount even
SPEAKER_00: off of goods right away as a signing bonus.
SPEAKER_03: Oh, how can I take this test? I... This sounds very interesting to me.
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely. She's like, in those tall corporate offices right there, you
SPEAKER_00: can take tests to be in the junior executive program.
SPEAKER_01: Be a junior executive.
SPEAKER_00: Yes. It is important to understand, though, that people who do become
SPEAKER_00: employees of TransStar do lose their citizenship inside the planet
SPEAKER_00: of Jardin. And are merely corporate employees at that time.
SPEAKER_03: Does that mean that you would no longer be able to leave the sector?
SPEAKER_00: Well, you would be able to leave the sector on corporate business and
SPEAKER_00: you'd be able to leave the planet. But you'll get all that in
SPEAKER_00: orientation. That sounds excellent. There also is a period of time where
SPEAKER_00: you're allowed to go back and forth while you're under evaluation. So
SPEAKER_00: you're able to say goodbye to your family and possibly tell them of the
SPEAKER_00: wonderful experiences of being a TransStar employee.
SPEAKER_01: I always consider myself a company man. Thank you.
SPEAKER_00: Okay. And she gives you the stamp. Okay. And then... Can I determine
SPEAKER_00: whether this
SPEAKER_03: stamp is actually taking our DNA or
SPEAKER_00: not? It definitely doesn't look like it's taking her DNA. She is
SPEAKER_00: stamping you with a rubber stamp. Whether the stamp is some type of
SPEAKER_00: drug, you would need to have a chemical lab or something, but it doesn't
SPEAKER_00: seem like her stamp has any way to read something.
SPEAKER_01: Fair enough. So then we walk in? Well,
SPEAKER_01: we have one more person. Alan. I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_01: You are currently on mute, Alan. I am back.
SPEAKER_00: Sorry. So, you would like to come to the TransStar.
SPEAKER_01: Is this for employment, or are you looking to make a purchase?
SPEAKER_01: I heard about the test. You feel that you would be
SPEAKER_01: executive material? What was that?
SPEAKER_00: Well, she looks at you and she, because the test was about the executive
SPEAKER_00: position. You feel that you would be executive.
SPEAKER_01: Retired Navy captain. I am a war hero. I am a very good
SPEAKER_01: pilot. Yes, there are many jobs for
SPEAKER_00: people in shipping goods. So absolutely, there might be work for you
SPEAKER_00: here. So she says, please give me your hand.
SPEAKER_01: And she's going to stamp your hand. Yeah. Okay,
SPEAKER_01: I give my hand. Okay, so she stamps it.
SPEAKER_00: Is there a test? Well, you'll find a test in the department that you're
SPEAKER_00: looking to join. Tell me about my department.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not that particular person. If you just walk down the line, if you
SPEAKER_00: go towards the ships, you would probably find someone to help you with a
SPEAKER_00: ship test. If you go to the corporate offices, you'd find people who are
SPEAKER_00: much more bureaucratic. If you want to go
SPEAKER_00: over to the loading docks, they also would test people who are skilled
SPEAKER_00: at the loading mechs.
SPEAKER_01: I understand. Thank you. Have a wonderful TransStar Day!
SPEAKER_03: I will.
SPEAKER_00: I hope you have wonderful TransStar Day.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so all of you are inside TransStar. Now, as you guys are walking
SPEAKER_00: around, there are police forces here that are dressed differently than
SPEAKER_00: the Jordanian police forces. Their uniform is...
SPEAKER_00: The Peacekeepers. The Peacekeepers. The Peacekeepers. The Peacekeepers.
SPEAKER_00: The Peacekeepers.
SPEAKER_01: I was wondering if that's where you were going, because...
SPEAKER_01: Okay. Did you stop it?
SPEAKER_03: You said you wonder if it was going there, and then, like, did you say
SPEAKER_03: more, or did you stop talking?
SPEAKER_02: I stopped talking.
SPEAKER_03: Okay.
SPEAKER_02: But now I'm going to say, like, Since we're all in, I'd kind of like
SPEAKER_02: pull us over to the side together if possible to kind of have a
SPEAKER_02: conference. Unless someone is just dashing over to the corporate office
SPEAKER_02: to try to get a job suddenly.
SPEAKER_01: I hear a little salt there.
SPEAKER_02: No, I...
SPEAKER_02: Victor steps over with you easy enough. I mean, we got through hurdle
SPEAKER_02: one. It seems reasonable to... Group up real quick and plan part two?
SPEAKER_02: Yes. So, did you hear this?
SPEAKER_01: We can get off planet, guys.
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I heard that too. Like, that's the thing that I'm wondering if
SPEAKER_02: that's, if it's really that simple. Because we can always clear our name
SPEAKER_02: by coming back, but, like, we're going to lose these masks in a matter
SPEAKER_02: of hours and none of us seem to really want to join a mobster. So maybe
SPEAKER_02: going off planet is,
SPEAKER_01: at least, buys us time.
SPEAKER_01: I agree that it certainly buys us time. It gives us other options.
SPEAKER_01: Making sure that everyone else gets here.
SPEAKER_02: I'll be honest, I don't know if our robot friend counts as a Soleimani
SPEAKER_02: citizen or not, though. For the purposes of all this.
SPEAKER_01: She might be able to come in as somebody's property, though. Fair.
SPEAKER_02: Well, okay, so if we can get off-planet, I think we still need to figure
SPEAKER_02: out how much it's going to cost to get us off-planet, because I have a
SPEAKER_02: feeling unless we get very particular jobs, the getting off-planet isn't
SPEAKER_02: the most likely of outcomes.
SPEAKER_01: Well, we have a good navigator. I am pilot.
SPEAKER_01: We have someone who can direct mission. I think that we are a
SPEAKER_01: very capable group, don't you think?
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
SPEAKER_02: Yes, but again, getting all assigned to the same ship potentially
SPEAKER_02: becomes a problem. Um...
SPEAKER_01: Unless someone becomes executive and makes sure that we are all on the
SPEAKER_01: same vessel.
SPEAKER_03: I was thinking that sort of thing too. With a higher level clearance,
SPEAKER_03: then you can... One administrator who is also known as the,
SPEAKER_01: you know, diplomat. Oh, God. One who would join us on mission.
SPEAKER_01: Okay. Um...
SPEAKER_02: It probably means then that I would have to go to the shipping yard and
SPEAKER_02: try my hand there. And then if I can get an executive
SPEAKER_02: position, I can choose my own team. And then voila, it's all of
SPEAKER_02: us. What is wrong with my eyeball? Sorry, I got cat hair in my eyeball.
SPEAKER_03: Are these exams based much on education? I missed what she said. She
SPEAKER_03: said, sorry, I got what? And then I missed the end of it. I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_02: I said I have cat hair in my eyeball.
SPEAKER_03: I forgive you.
SPEAKER_02: I ask if these tests are more for intelligence or are they
SPEAKER_02: more based on education? I have zero idea.
SPEAKER_01: Do I have an idea, Patrick?
SPEAKER_00: I would say people could do an admin with a bane to
SPEAKER_00: try to think about information from Transdar. Okay. I could do that.
SPEAKER_00: Could I try? Yeah.
SPEAKER_01: Sure. So then I make roll type Bane.
SPEAKER_01: Roll. Okay, you got a one, and then
SPEAKER_01: Laura, let's see yours.
SPEAKER_02: I'm trying to pull my character sheet up. It's not being very helpful.
SPEAKER_02: There it is. I'm also going to have to go rinse my face. Oh, thank you.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, no, that's Steinbach. Well, that's Steinbach. Yep. I rolled very
SPEAKER_01: badly. There we go. Okay. StarTran?
SPEAKER_01: I got a minus six. Oh, my God.
SPEAKER_03: Listen, stick to what you're good at, okay? I'm great at some things,
SPEAKER_03: but I'm also terrible at other things.
SPEAKER_00: Rolling dice is not one of those things. Okay.
SPEAKER_03: I'm good at rolling the basic things I'm good at, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Okay. So Varian knows that there are
SPEAKER_00: about six different tests based on what type of department you want to
SPEAKER_00: get into. Now, if you succeed at a test, you can
SPEAKER_00: basically double down where you're willing to try a harder test to get
SPEAKER_00: to a higher position. But if you fail the higher test...
SPEAKER_00: They don't offer you a job because they think you're too risky. How
SPEAKER_00: interesting. Because if you're like, hey, I'm the best pilot on this
SPEAKER_00: side of the galaxy. They're like, okay, well, do your role. You're like,
SPEAKER_00: I did it. They're like, okay, you want to double down? And they're like,
SPEAKER_00: yeah, I did it. And the moment you actually say you want to double down,
SPEAKER_00: you failed. Obviously, you would have been then too risky to transport
SPEAKER_00: goods.
SPEAKER_02: Right. So score high your first time and then don't travel or...
SPEAKER_00: Or no, you can keep every time you do it, it is a promotion. But you
SPEAKER_00: have to understand that you have to know your own limits.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
SPEAKER_02: Do we know what those criteria are, like intelligence or...
SPEAKER_00: The thing is, at a one, that's the information you get. At Laura's
SPEAKER_00: level, she knows that there are different tests for different
SPEAKER_00: departments and that people are... Sometimes people test all the way to
SPEAKER_00: become an executive in one go.
SPEAKER_01: So maybe you only should. Write checks on your resume, ignore all
SPEAKER_01: instructions, move me up to the next level.
SPEAKER_03: I got to go
SPEAKER_02: rinse my eyes.
SPEAKER_03: The question is who should take this executive test or should everyone
SPEAKER_03: try?
SPEAKER_00: Well, you definitely also get the vibe of you're only allowed to take
SPEAKER_00: one test, and if you fail that test and you still want employment,
SPEAKER_00: you're a loader.
SPEAKER_03: So here's my thing. We should all try and get as high as possible,
SPEAKER_03: right? Because we can all be loaders, right? They need loaders to take
SPEAKER_03: things to other planets, right? But if we want to be in charge, we got
SPEAKER_03: to... I'm not saying that I'm a gambler, but I think this is the
SPEAKER_03: time to roll the dice. And if we succeed, we don't have to be criminals.
SPEAKER_03: And if we fail, I guess we're going to have to bite that bullet. Looks
SPEAKER_03: like no one promised us good life if we fail. I mean, or we could live
SPEAKER_03: here for the rest of our lives, which is, you know, something. Could be
SPEAKER_03: worse. You could wait in line and be first to go.
SPEAKER_00: Even if you have a job as a loader, you at least can live in the
SPEAKER_00: exchange. Which would keep you guys safe even after you lose the veil.
SPEAKER_03: That's the point. That's the fallback. But winning is
SPEAKER_03: the executive position. I like winning.
SPEAKER_01: What are your thoughts, Victor? No,
SPEAKER_01: no.
SPEAKER_02: I think worst case scenario... We can all live here as loaders.
SPEAKER_02: If the worst case is we can still be safe here as loaders, that's a win.
SPEAKER_02: Everything above and beyond that is gravy. And gravy is
SPEAKER_02: good. So I think we should. Everyone try for their best
SPEAKER_02: fit. And let's hope we get one or two with an exec level that can help.
SPEAKER_02: Nudge everybody into keeping working together.
SPEAKER_02: Great idea. So I think everyone should strive for what they are best at.
SPEAKER_00: Because you're on that plan, do you want to use your secret
SPEAKER_00: communicators to tell the other part of the party to grab all your gear
SPEAKER_00: and at least get to Transar before the bails fail?
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think that's a smart call. Okay.
SPEAKER_00: Who would like to make that call just so you guys can say that
SPEAKER_00: conversation in character?
SPEAKER_02: Victor will pull out his phone and... Secret Secure Weave Jury...
SPEAKER_02: ...and call over to Cass. Actually, no, I'll call the robot. I haven't
SPEAKER_02: talked to the robot yet. I'll call the robot. And you plug in.
SPEAKER_00: As you guys are successfully evading the police, you get a phone call.
SPEAKER_03: Yeah. Did Saichi ever get charged? Is Saichi, like, charged up or, like,
SPEAKER_03: running out of battery?
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
SPEAKER_03: He is charged. I helped. I helped. I helped.
SPEAKER_02: This is Saichi. If you all are done with
SPEAKER_02: your objectives, I highly recommend that you Come over to where you
SPEAKER_02: knew that we were going to be. Just be polite, be kind to them,
SPEAKER_02: and we will meet you inside the gates. We'll be there as soon as we
SPEAKER_02: evade these authorities. Please do not bring Party
SPEAKER_02: Crashers to this event. Okay, sounds good.
SPEAKER_02: And then I'll relay that to the rest of the team. If things are
SPEAKER_02: critical, let us know,
SPEAKER_01: and we'll see what we can do to help.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, thank you very much.
SPEAKER_00: I have a feeling like, so she's
SPEAKER_00: going to be great. She's just going to finish every phrase. Thank you
SPEAKER_00: for using TransStar Robot Services. Oh, no.
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so Victor will hang up...
SPEAKER_00: Free will only to get a service job.
SPEAKER_02: Victor will hang up and you all just see his hands slowly come up to his
SPEAKER_02: face and like rub on the one eye just a little bit,
SPEAKER_02: hard face palm style, and say, they are being pursued by the police.
SPEAKER_03: They'll be funny. Oh. They'll be funny. Did they get like new veils or
SPEAKER_03: anything?
SPEAKER_02: No, Sochi did not indicate any success in their mission. They might
SPEAKER_02: have. It was a brief conversation. But being pursued by the police does
SPEAKER_02: not fill me with happiness.
SPEAKER_03: Did you tell them to come here?
SPEAKER_01: No, they cannot come.
SPEAKER_03: Listen, Sochi is fully loaded.
SPEAKER_01: Do not worry. Be happy. I wonder if we could write
SPEAKER_03: a program for Saichi so Saichi can get drunk. I was just thinking about
SPEAKER_03: that. That would be kind of interesting, right? Almost like a temporary
SPEAKER_03: virus. Why?
SPEAKER_00: What?
SPEAKER_03: Never mind. I'm sorry. I was just thinking. I thought it might be
SPEAKER_03: interesting for Saichi to be almost a little human.
SPEAKER_02: And as for your question a moment ago, you all heard what I said.
SPEAKER_02: Please don't bring party crashers here. Meet us where they knew we were
SPEAKER_02: going to, and we would meet them inside the gates. Like, without saying
SPEAKER_02: where we were, I told them where we were, and that they should not bring
SPEAKER_02: cuffs with them.
SPEAKER_03: I didn't hear the other side, so it's hard for me to figure out exactly
SPEAKER_03: which part went on which. But I get it, man.
SPEAKER_02: Fair enough. Brevity, I thought, was a good thing in that moment.
SPEAKER_03: Brevity is the soul of wit. Are they safe? So... Yeah, I mean, are we
SPEAKER_03: supposed to be going helping them, or do we feel fine that they're going
SPEAKER_03: to get here on their own?
SPEAKER_02: I said that if they need help, give us a call. We will do what we can.
SPEAKER_02: But other than that, they are evading. We will let them handle it until
SPEAKER_02: they call us and say that we need to help them.
SPEAKER_03: Okay. So who's excited to be part of this organization, which is almost
SPEAKER_03: as good as being a regular Soleimani person?
SPEAKER_02: I mean, I'm looking forward to having a trans-star day. I'm
SPEAKER_02: happy to not have bullseye on our backs, you know? Yeah. I'm not
SPEAKER_02: so excited about becoming a corporate shill, but I do appreciate the
SPEAKER_02: luxury of anonymity that it provides.
SPEAKER_01: This is home. How big is the area?
SPEAKER_00: So, 2.1 million people live in the trans-star exchange. That could be
SPEAKER_00: Manhattan.
SPEAKER_01: That's a lot of people.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah. No, that's kind of... Manhattan's actually probably a great
SPEAKER_00: example. It is probably... I would even go all of Manhattan. I'd say
SPEAKER_00: it's... Half of Manhattan. Yeah, it's basically from the park
SPEAKER_00: south to the water.
SPEAKER_03: That's depressing, being trapped in that tiny little area. I mean, the
SPEAKER_03: truth of the matter is you could live the rest of your life in
SPEAKER_03: Manhattan. Like, that's the truth. But conceptually... It wouldn't even
SPEAKER_03: be a bad life. That's true, exactly. You could still get great food,
SPEAKER_03: great nightlife, great music.
SPEAKER_00: You could have a Trans Stardet.
SPEAKER_03: But you could never go to the Brooklyn Bridge Park.
SPEAKER_00: No, but you could see it. You go to one of the skyscrapers and look at
SPEAKER_00: the park over there.
SPEAKER_03: You can see it from across the water.
SPEAKER_02: Shall we try to find out what we can about these tests?
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, let's go, man. That sounds good. Yes, let's do it.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe we can help our comrades before they get here. Okay.
SPEAKER_00: So, there's an executive test for the junior executive. There is a
SPEAKER_00: spacing test. There is an arm guard test.
SPEAKER_00: And there is... We'll bet. So...
SPEAKER_03: Do we know what you need to know to take these tests, I guess, is
SPEAKER_00: the question? That was, many people have attempted roles to answer those
SPEAKER_00: questions, and no one has succeeded those roles to the level that
SPEAKER_02: that was
SPEAKER_00: done. I had a moderate success. Just to learn that the tests had a
SPEAKER_00: purpose. To actually know the individual stats for every single test?
SPEAKER_00: No.
SPEAKER_02: Okay. Can we make another role, maybe, to deduce which test we should
SPEAKER_02: take? No.
SPEAKER_01: The problem is, while I want to be an executive, I suspect that that's
SPEAKER_01: going to roll off.
SPEAKER_01: Which I have a minus three in. Can you say the tests again, which is
SPEAKER_01: which?
SPEAKER_00: Okay. Executive, base, combat, loader.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, sorry. Instead of loader, we'll do broker. We'll say everyone who
SPEAKER_00: fails can be a loader. But, broker... Executive, Spacer,
SPEAKER_00: or Combat?
SPEAKER_03: As pilot, I look at my friends. As pilot, do you think I should do
SPEAKER_03: Spacer? Yes, you should do Spacer. Okay. That's what I will
SPEAKER_03: do.
SPEAKER_00: Does any other PC want to do Spacer?
SPEAKER_02: I will do Spacer, but if possible, I'd also like to pep talk my crew and
SPEAKER_02: maybe see if I can do a leadership role. To give them bonuses on their
SPEAKER_02: test.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you should be executive. So you only can do that for people who
SPEAKER_00: are doing the same test you are, just as you know.
SPEAKER_01: Cool. Let's take it together.
SPEAKER_00: The tests are not near each other, by the way. So, spacer, broker,
SPEAKER_00: loader, and mech? No, combat. Like, you're basically a mercenary. You're
SPEAKER_00: armed guard.
SPEAKER_03: So, Spacer, I mean, I have Jump Drive, like a three or something like
SPEAKER_03: that. I don't know. That's pretty solid. Yeah, but is it Jump
SPEAKER_03: Drive? Or is it flying a plane? You know what I mean? It's not so
SPEAKER_03: easy.
SPEAKER_02: Well, I'm sure it's a pretty broad-spectrum test. They'll need multiple
SPEAKER_02: positions. It's not like they're only hiring for the one.
SPEAKER_01: Well, you're right. Maybe there is hope.
SPEAKER_01: Broker sounds like I'd be terrible at it because I don't have a broker
SPEAKER_01: role. Does it show that I'm still logged
SPEAKER_01: into the app? Yes, it does.
SPEAKER_03: I didn't close it, but I don't know where it is. It's so weird.
SPEAKER_00: I think there are two people who want to do Spacer, so we can do the
SPEAKER_00: Spacer role while you guys decide the other ones, right?
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I guess I'm going to do the executive because that's the whole
SPEAKER_02: plan is to try to get us all on one ship by having an executive say
SPEAKER_02: that. And I'm not really the best spacer. I have space things. I'm
SPEAKER_02: space adjacent because I have piloting, but I have zero other skills
SPEAKER_02: in the space realm.
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I have a lot of... I don't know. So spacer or... You know, I'll
SPEAKER_03: come with you, Laura. Let's go. Don't worry about it, guys. If everyone
SPEAKER_03: gets loaded, enough parts will fall off the back of a truck for some
SPEAKER_03: fixed ship underneath the ocean. We're going to win.
SPEAKER_01: We'll build our own spaceship.
SPEAKER_00: It's the movie where people fall off fixed trucks. Hey, Steinbach,
SPEAKER_00: can you do your leadership role so we can see how many you're going to
SPEAKER_00: give Alan?
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: Because Al's the other one doing Spacer. Wow. He has three boons he can
SPEAKER_00: take.
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that was pretty great.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
SPEAKER_02: Okay. Comrade, you did well. I should have come. I should have come.
SPEAKER_02: Hey, and you know what? You're going to do well on this test, too. I
SPEAKER_02: have faith in you.
SPEAKER_03: Listen. It's all in the hands of something else.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so you go into, Alan, you go into a VR simulator kind of dome.
SPEAKER_00: You basically walk in and the dome is there. As you begin to kind of go
SPEAKER_00: in almost like a holodeck style, it begins to create a layout
SPEAKER_00: of a far trader and a seat,
SPEAKER_00: and multiple seats come up. Do you want to try to sit in the captain's
SPEAKER_00: seat? Do you want to sit in an engineering jump seat?
SPEAKER_00: Can I sit in the pilot seat? Yeah.
SPEAKER_01: Can I sit in the pilot seat?
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, man, I could have
SPEAKER_00: done this. Is this a spacecraft? Yes, it is a spacecraft. Excellent. Do
SPEAKER_00: I make a spacecraft roll? You are making spacecraft plus education, and
SPEAKER_00: you have a boon in it because of your leadership thing. So what do I
SPEAKER_00: add? Okay, so I do... So you go spacecraft, you click on spacecraft.
SPEAKER_01: Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_00: And then roll type, you click boon, and you hit roll.
SPEAKER_01: Uh-huh. Roll type boon, and then roll.
SPEAKER_01: Nice.
SPEAKER_00: You have reached pilot level one, grunt pilot. Are you going to attempt
SPEAKER_00: to roll again? Of course. Okay.
SPEAKER_01: The pilot seat disappears. Oh. What's left?
SPEAKER_01: All the other seats that you would imagine on a spacecraft. Um, can I
SPEAKER_01: choose the... Is
SPEAKER_01: there a... flyer seat?
SPEAKER_01: What do you mean flyer seat? You just piloted. Oh, sorry. So, um...
SPEAKER_02: Let's see. Is a mechanic seat available?
SPEAKER_00: No. Let me just clear it for you. Okay, so there is a jump drive
SPEAKER_00: engineer seat. There is a power seat
SPEAKER_00: for engineer. Well, I guess there's an engineering seat. That's going to
SPEAKER_00: be one role in engineering. There's one role for electronics. And
SPEAKER_00: that's it. Oh, and there's an astrogation seat. I'll do the... And I
SPEAKER_00: still have a boon, right? Yep, because you have three boons because of
SPEAKER_00: Steinbach's Super Bowl on you.
SPEAKER_02: I'll do an... I'll do an
SPEAKER_02: Engineer seat this time.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, and give me a second.
SPEAKER_01: Man, I would have done so well on this, I could roll on all of these.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, J-Drive roll. Oh, so I actually clicked J-Drive.
SPEAKER_01: Yep. Okay, J-Drive, Boon. Yep.
SPEAKER_01: Nice. Nice. Success.
SPEAKER_00: Okay. The J-Drive, the engineering seat goes away. There is now only
SPEAKER_00: electronics astrogation left.
SPEAKER_01: I go to electronics. This is my last Boon, correct? Yep.
SPEAKER_01: Yep, roll the computer roll. Man, you're lucky.
SPEAKER_01: Wait, can you stop if you wanted to?
SPEAKER_00: Yep, and... Okay, that seat goes away, and that was the exact number of
SPEAKER_00: successes you needed for it, by the way. You needed three or more. The
SPEAKER_00: last seat there was Astrogation. Wow. You did it!
SPEAKER_00: If you roll Astrogation, and you do have that stat, you would need four
SPEAKER_00: successes. If you do get four successes, though, you basically have
SPEAKER_00: passed all the entire pilot test.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, I think I'm on a roll, and I'm going to do it.
SPEAKER_01: Okay. All right. Roll it, and you do not have a boon.
SPEAKER_01: You do not pass. You need four. You got three.
SPEAKER_00: What happens now? Welcome to being a loader.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, damn it.
No!
SPEAKER_00: I was like, don't do it! It was so good.
SPEAKER_01: Yes. That test begins. What would you like to sit in?
SPEAKER_02: Is there an electronic sensor role?
SPEAKER_00: So, electronics and engineer... I actually roll a 1d4, and
SPEAKER_00: whatever that number is, is the one that it requests.
SPEAKER_01: Ooh. Okay.
SPEAKER_02: You know, honestly, I think that's... I'm going to go a different role
SPEAKER_02: on this entirely. I'm going to sit in the captain's
SPEAKER_01: chair first. Okay, sit in the captain's chair, roll your leadership.
SPEAKER_01: You need at least a 1. You do not get it.
SPEAKER_02: Welcome to Loader Status. Yep. Wow, I rolled a one and a two on the die.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, no. This is going so well.
SPEAKER_03: Let's not go back to Draenex, Victor. Let's not go back to Draenex.
SPEAKER_00: Okay. So now we have Emma
SPEAKER_00: and Keith in the junior executive room.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah. As you guys walk in, it is not a
SPEAKER_00: you walk in Hollow thing, it is you lay into a pod that surrounds you.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, okay. And it begins
SPEAKER_00: to start having a situation as you kind of are, you are
SPEAKER_00: currently dealing with a problem employee. Now...
SPEAKER_00: Uh, the first roll is Persuade.
SPEAKER_01: Alright.
SPEAKER_01: I can't apparently alphabetize these. There it is.
SPEAKER_01: Alright,
SPEAKER_01: figuring out my loader status.
SPEAKER_02: Oh my god!
SPEAKER_00: Oh wow!
SPEAKER_02: I'm super good at that!
SPEAKER_00: So, you have made your way up to now be a paper pusher. Do you wish to
SPEAKER_00: go to the next role?
SPEAKER_01: Do I know what the next role is?
SPEAKER_00: No. That's the problem with the executive. Pilot, you know
SPEAKER_01: where to sit. I feel like
SPEAKER_01: I have to because being a
SPEAKER_02: paper pusher isn't going to be able to allow me to work with my friends,
SPEAKER_02: essentially.
SPEAKER_00: Yep. So the next one is a carouse roll.
SPEAKER_02: Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_01: You're good at that, right? Yeah, I am. I'm going to fail all of these.
SPEAKER_00: I should have dropped that three. Damn it. Would you like to roll again?
SPEAKER_01: Oh, fuck you. What am I now?
SPEAKER_00: You are a middle manager organizing paperworks back and forth.
SPEAKER_03: Probably the next one is gonna be diplomacy.
SPEAKER_02: This is making me think of the stupid character generation and they hate
SPEAKER_02: everything about it.
SPEAKER_03: I was thinking it reminds me of the character generator, but I like the
SPEAKER_03: character generator, but I think it's not on my side for this.
SPEAKER_02: I don't like having unknowns. They make me itchy.
SPEAKER_03: I mean, the problem is there's a lot of roles that could be. It could be
SPEAKER_03: admin. It could be diplomacy. It could be Advocate even.
SPEAKER_01: All right, I'm going to try it. Yeah, I will. It
SPEAKER_01: is Advocate. Okay, sweet. You got
SPEAKER_01: that also? That's amazing. Awesome. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: No way.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm amazing.
SPEAKER_00: You are a project organizer. There's only one more role, and the
SPEAKER_00: higher role is
SPEAKER_01: you are a leader of a division.
SPEAKER_01: Did I already roll carouse? Was that a thing? Yeah, I did. Okay. I'm
SPEAKER_01: like, leadership of a division.
SPEAKER_01: Sorry, I'm not trying to be quiet.
SPEAKER_02: I'm just trying to... I'm looking at my stats and thinking, like, how
SPEAKER_02: far should I... What do you think
SPEAKER_03: and use your brain?
SPEAKER_02: See, like, one of the things that I'm kind of relying on is that my base
SPEAKER_02: stats are pretty good. So even if I have a zero in something, I'm still
SPEAKER_02: rolling, like, plus ones. And, like, if it's education, it's plus three.
SPEAKER_00: It's definitely better. By the way, to totally cheese it, I kind of
SPEAKER_00: thought you guys should have broughten Steinbach to the executive
SPEAKER_00: meeting. He six fails, but his leaderships would have each given you
SPEAKER_00: boons.
SPEAKER_02: Oh, that would be a good idea. Oh, well.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03: Oh, that one's so good. Especially because I think I'm going to flub all
SPEAKER_03: of these roles. I'm going to try it.
SPEAKER_02: I'm going to go big. Okay.
SPEAKER_01: Which I think I do have. I don't know how to spell, though. I do have.
SPEAKER_01: Okay. You got it. No way.
SPEAKER_01: Wow, Laura. Yay. Seven levels of success.
SPEAKER_02: Hell, yeah. Oh, my God. My palms are sweaty, though. Knees weak. Arms
SPEAKER_02: are heavy. Does that mean Laura's in charge now? Is that what's
SPEAKER_02: going on? Emma's in charge? I'm afraid. I don't want that. I
SPEAKER_02: specifically set out... Girl, boss, too close to the sun.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, girl, you got it. Gentlemen, we will start calling Charles.
SPEAKER_00: I'm in charge. So we need Josh to do his crazy role.
SPEAKER_03: I'm going to fail all of these. I don't have any of these. I have minus
SPEAKER_03: threes on every single one. I really...
SPEAKER_01: What did you expect? Huh? What roles did you think they'd be?
SPEAKER_03: I thought maybe that I could... Because I thought
SPEAKER_03: maybe leadership, maybe diplomat, you know, some of that. But it's okay.
SPEAKER_03: I came more for moral support. None of the roles seemed exactly
SPEAKER_03: right for me. Although, ironically, I would have done super well in the
SPEAKER_03: other roles. That's the ironic thing.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so let's start
SPEAKER_03: with Persuade.
SPEAKER_00: It's okay. I can't get less than a two, right? Persuade.
SPEAKER_01: You did get less than a two.
SPEAKER_01: Only when you do minus three. Okay.
SPEAKER_00: You have reached the executive of the loaders.
Oh, no.
SPEAKER_00: Okay. Now, we are waiting now just for... So those
SPEAKER_00: are the four people who went, right, to that location? Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: Okay. So, now that they've done that, and the other group has
SPEAKER_00: kind of prepped that, I imagine Emma is going to tell the rest of the
SPEAKER_00: group that she's become an executive.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah. I'm just a warden.
SPEAKER_00: Okay. So, the
SPEAKER_00: rest of the gear is being brought over. And the other party is at the
SPEAKER_00: entry exchange. So I imagine Siren is going to be
SPEAKER_00: probably first or Cass.
SPEAKER_01: Sure, I'll walk up there.
SPEAKER_03: And I mean, I'm there in X-Cort.
SPEAKER_00: And it says, Hello, welcome to Transtar. Are you a Soleimani citizen?
SPEAKER_02: I am a Soleimani citizen. How are you today? Are you having a
SPEAKER_02: Transtar...
SPEAKER_00: I'm having a transtar moment. Are you here to purchase goods,
SPEAKER_00: or are you here to look for your work?
SPEAKER_02: I'm here to submit my resume. Wonderful. Please give me your hand.
SPEAKER_01: Sure. And she gives you a stamp. Excellent. I feel like I belong.
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
SPEAKER_00: And... You guys do realize you have a robot and an ape with you.
SPEAKER_02: That's true. I have my mechanical assistant here
SPEAKER_02: with me. May she gain entry as well.
SPEAKER_00: Well, if you're here to be employed by TransStar, you would not be able
SPEAKER_00: to have a previous personal property. She'd become a TransStar piece of
SPEAKER_00: property.
SPEAKER_01: She said to you,
SPEAKER_03: That is why we are searching for jobs. We do not have one here at
SPEAKER_03: Transtar yet, but that is good to know, thank you.
SPEAKER_01: May she have entry. May they have entry.
SPEAKER_01: Let me look at the paperwork. And starts rifling through some papers.
SPEAKER_01: Kirin will glance at Saichi. Did I get that right? Where'd I fuck up?
SPEAKER_00: Any of you can attempt to roll an advocate roll to find the proper
SPEAKER_00: authorization to get her through in a better way? If not...
SPEAKER_03: Let me find my advocacy, which will be negative three. I don't need to
SPEAKER_03: look, but I am going to look. Advocate.
SPEAKER_00: At least Cass Penn's only running negative two because he does have
SPEAKER_00: jackalot traits. Negative three. I want to roll a negative two, too.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_02: I'm going to encourage you to
SPEAKER_02: delve into your mind. I know you've got a solution. What do you think,
SPEAKER_02: Elias? Okay.
SPEAKER_01: So, roll your leadership.
SPEAKER_01: Marginal. That's none.
SPEAKER_01: Level success is the number of boons they get. Oh, okay. Oh!
SPEAKER_01: And that's a thing you can do in a leadership role. Yeah. Do you have a
SPEAKER_01: leadership? Ironically, I do. Let's
SPEAKER_01: see how this goes. Social of Eight.
SPEAKER_01: They are shaken by your leadership.
SPEAKER_01: You're like, I bet better advice is inside.
SPEAKER_00: You just got to get inside, right? Okay. So who wants to roll a bad
SPEAKER_00: admin? Or a bad advocate?
SPEAKER_01: Zoe has. Yeah, I did. I rolled a bad one.
SPEAKER_00: Okay. So there's no paperwork that you guys are able to authorize to
SPEAKER_00: figure out how. The paperwork that comes up is they will have to be with
SPEAKER_00: a restraining collar and a tag that will guarantee that they're either
SPEAKER_00: part of Transdar property or off the facility in three days.
SPEAKER_01: Fine. Okay, that buys us some time. Are you okay with that, Sochi?
SPEAKER_01: That should work. It should work.
SPEAKER_00: They reach into a box, and they take out a restrainer thing, and they
SPEAKER_00: connect it to your port. You feel that all your guns are powered down
SPEAKER_00: while the port is connected.
SPEAKER_02: Okay. Yep. Guns offline.
SPEAKER_00: Okay. Then, they just kind of give you a stamp on your
SPEAKER_00: chest.
SPEAKER_02: Yay! It's sparkly, though. I'm safe!
SPEAKER_00: Now we come to the question of when you guys are bringing the Zoi and
SPEAKER_00: they're like, so you're not a Soleimani citizen.
SPEAKER_01: I forget what the legal status is exactly.
SPEAKER_00: You're not a Soleimani citizen. That's the legal status. Oh, okay. I'm
SPEAKER_00: authorized to work. You're a resident alien. I'm authorized to work.
SPEAKER_01: You're authorized to work. Can I see your work papers?
SPEAKER_00: And you're like, oh, yeah, those ones in my identity I'm currently
SPEAKER_00: faking?
SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
SPEAKER_02: They're in my other pocket. Sorry about that.
SPEAKER_01: What do you get a second? Can I deception to try to get them passed?
SPEAKER_01: Yeah. Yeah. Let's see.
SPEAKER_01: You're like, hey, you know, he already is a TransStar employee, but
SPEAKER_01: those monkeys, they always forget their paperwork.
SPEAKER_00: Question is, does Zoe, like, nod and agree with the random station?
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely. Okay. Yeah. I'm sorry, I was just embarrassed.
SPEAKER_03: I don't want to admit it. It's the third time I forgot it, so I came
SPEAKER_03: into this entrance, the one I usually do.
SPEAKER_00: Get out of here! So they let you in, but they don't
SPEAKER_00: stamp you.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: Okay. So you're able to meet up with the other people who've just
SPEAKER_00: come out of their tests, and they can explain the bit to you.
SPEAKER_03: What is the bit? Hi, we had quite the time. What has been going on here?
SPEAKER_03: We are all looking for work.
SPEAKER_02: We got jobs.
SPEAKER_03: You got jobs?
SPEAKER_02: Yes. The idea being is that if we get legitimate jobs, we can get
SPEAKER_02: off-planet. And that will buy us time.
SPEAKER_01: Damn. Okay. No, spacing.
SPEAKER_03: Hey, that's what I was doing. You know, that's what I was going to get
SPEAKER_03: back to doing before this. Sure. Fine. Great.
SPEAKER_02: So there are multiple tests. They're a little on the tricky side.
SPEAKER_02: I'm trying to remember, there's Spacer, there's Executive, there
SPEAKER_02: was Combat, and
SPEAKER_03: Broker,
SPEAKER_02: thank you.
SPEAKER_03: Kiernan looks rather dedicated and nostalgic for a bit, and he's like,
SPEAKER_03: oh, fuck, yeah, the aptitude tests. These suck. I have to do these
SPEAKER_03: again?
SPEAKER_02: Well, to be a train start and flee and have a train start day, yes.
SPEAKER_03: And we're actually having a TransStar Day? Like, we're not just...
SPEAKER_02: Well, I'm assuming there is no... We're having the greatest of
SPEAKER_02: TransStars Day. We're drinking the Kool-Aid as deeply as we can.
SPEAKER_03: Okay. I guess I would explain to them what things we're testing
SPEAKER_03: on the test that I took.
SPEAKER_02: Sure. And Victor will explain
SPEAKER_02: his experience with the... Spacer test. Although, of course,
SPEAKER_02: Alan Watt got further along than he did.
SPEAKER_01: It's okay. Don't be eager. Don't reach sun too quick.
SPEAKER_03: Wait, what was the advice? Give that again. No, yes, I need the advice.
SPEAKER_03: I don't remember.
SPEAKER_01: Don't reach sun too quick. Stop when
SPEAKER_03: you can. Oh, oh, oh, okay. And you can't take a second test, right? You
SPEAKER_03: can only take one test? Yeah. I figured. I figured.
SPEAKER_00: So, by the way, the key reason why this is occurring is to understand
SPEAKER_00: your risk concept. You have to know how good you are and not risk
SPEAKER_00: their merchandise or their ships.
SPEAKER_01: Sure. Very much. Or you could just fail on your first roll.
SPEAKER_03: I knew I was going to fail before I took it. Really, as soon as I saw I
SPEAKER_03: was going to sit in, I was like, I don't want to take this test. But I
SPEAKER_03: didn't think I could back out of it and switch.
SPEAKER_02: Hearing all these horror stories, like, Emma is like, yeah, I made
SPEAKER_02: executive division head.
SPEAKER_03: What does executive division head mean? And is there any way that you
SPEAKER_03: can jury-rig the courses for us with that position?
SPEAKER_02: I doubt that. Shit, dammit.
SPEAKER_03: Fuck. I don't want to take these tests again. I don't know if I can take
SPEAKER_03: these tests again.
SPEAKER_01: We shall see. Is there any
SPEAKER_01: chance anyone saw... Is there any chance anyone saw a space crew job
SPEAKER_01: description crewman?
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you can just be a loader if you want. They have a combat option.
SPEAKER_02: Why would you not choose the combat option?
SPEAKER_03: Damn, combat option? Why didn't you say so?
SPEAKER_02: I did say so.
SPEAKER_03: Oh. I must have been... Wasn't there also like a loader
SPEAKER_02: test or something like that? No, you can just be a loader. No, there was
SPEAKER_02: like a mech test or something? Oh, a mech test.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but then I realized there had to be a broker, so we replaced that
SPEAKER_00: with broker. Oh.
SPEAKER_03: I could also be do mech stuff, if want. But combat. It
SPEAKER_03: is what I was doing before.
SPEAKER_00: So I imagine you're going to go to combat, and
SPEAKER_00: Elias, you're going to go to what? Obviously, they're not going to give
SPEAKER_00: a robot independence, so you don't need to take a test.
SPEAKER_00: But Elias can take a test.
SPEAKER_01: So what test are you going to take?
SPEAKER_01: Are the people going in there to take the combat tests, do they have
SPEAKER_01: leadership? I do. Where are you
SPEAKER_01: going, Kolb? I'm going to a spacer. Okay.
SPEAKER_00: So my plan is, hopefully, the first test, the low gun skill, we'll get
SPEAKER_00: it passed. Then... See if Recon and Stell can get past any other
SPEAKER_00: tests, like, you know, they need, like, scouts or someone to check a
SPEAKER_00: room before they clear it, that sort of thing.
SPEAKER_01: That sounds like combat. Yeah, but it's corporate security combat.
SPEAKER_00: So, since Kolb is going to the one that no one else is going to, let's
SPEAKER_00: do yours first, Kolb.
SPEAKER_01: I can. All right.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe I should go to combat, if they're going to combat. Both of you
SPEAKER_02: guys are going to combat?
SPEAKER_01: Maybe?
SPEAKER_02: Well, if both of you are going to the same place, I'll go with you, and
SPEAKER_02: then I can leadership you. Sure. I don't know why you wouldn't go to
SPEAKER_02: combat, Kieran.
SPEAKER_03: Oh, no. I didn't know that there was one, and he's going to combat.
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: It's much more Cast and Elias where they should go. Yeah. Is Saichi able
SPEAKER_00: to participate in this, or am I just... You're in as a piece
SPEAKER_00: of property, because you're not wanting to tell them you're
SPEAKER_00: psychologically independent, right? Right, yes. I
SPEAKER_00: will be a coat rack. I'm happy to load all day, all night.
SPEAKER_03: Do not worry, Saichi, I can attest to your combat readiness.
SPEAKER_00: I don't need to prove myself. I just wanted to help.
SPEAKER_03: No, no, no, you do not.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, so all combat...
SPEAKER_02: Yep, I will leadership you guys. You guys can do it. I believe in you. I
SPEAKER_02: think that you're going to get promoted.
SPEAKER_01: You're going to be heads of security somewhere. Holy shit. Heads of...
SPEAKER_01: All right.
SPEAKER_03: You know what? I'm going to take that advice to heart.
SPEAKER_00: Wow. Six boons.
SPEAKER_02: Wow. Holy crap.
SPEAKER_00: Boons.
SPEAKER_02: Six boons.
SPEAKER_00: So, as you guys are walking up, they say, are you guys all taking the
SPEAKER_00: test? And we scream, fuck yes, because we've been inspired
SPEAKER_00: by a god.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: So, they bring you all in the room at
SPEAKER_01: the same time. Oh. Sick.
SPEAKER_00: Now, here's the way the combat mechanic works. I'm going to give four
SPEAKER_00: different roles that you guys can pick from. The problem is, not one of
SPEAKER_00: you can pick the same role the other person is picking.
SPEAKER_01: Okay. I like this.
SPEAKER_00: And, if you've passed a test with a role, you can never do that role
SPEAKER_00: again.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: Okay. The first role is... Tactics, Military. The second
SPEAKER_00: role is Gun Combat, Energy. The third role is
SPEAKER_00: Recon.
SPEAKER_01: The fourth role is Medic. Okay.
SPEAKER_01: Right off the bat, the highest I think I've got out of those is a Medic
SPEAKER_01: of one.
SPEAKER_03: The rest are zeros, though. Pretty balanced in a little bit. So
SPEAKER_03: Kiernan's just kind of happy to be directed to which one he will
SPEAKER_03: communicate.
SPEAKER_02: Kiernan, you're on first aid duty.
SPEAKER_01: Perfect. Cracks. Does anyone here have
SPEAKER_01: the military tactics skill?
SPEAKER_02: No, I'm a tactics of zero with the military.
SPEAKER_00: But none of you have it at negative, I think, is the key thing. Yeah,
SPEAKER_00: that's pretty nice. And so a person with a boon who doesn't have a
SPEAKER_00: negative is kind of an angle you guys are going to want to move to.
SPEAKER_01: We have six of them. Does anybody... Do either
SPEAKER_02: of you have a military and zero? I do. Mine's negative, so...
SPEAKER_02: Okay, you should take a military then. Tactics military. Get a zero,
SPEAKER_02: because you've got the boon to roll. Alrighty. I'll roll
SPEAKER_02: Gun Combat Energy, because I have that at one, but I don't get any
SPEAKER_02: boons. That's the only thing I have worthwhile of those.
SPEAKER_01: Okay. What's left?
SPEAKER_02: Or Medic.
SPEAKER_03: Yes, Medic.
SPEAKER_00: Or Recon. One's a Gun Combat, one's a Recon, and one is Tactics
SPEAKER_00: Military. Those are the four rolls of this turn.
SPEAKER_03: And I am going to roll the tactics now. Three, two, one.
SPEAKER_00: And you're booning it. Yep, you got it. Okay. And that is a failure.
SPEAKER_01: Why did it... Oh, but that wasn't me. Okay. Okay.
SPEAKER_01: Okay. Now, we need Elias and Golds.
SPEAKER_01: That is a pass for cold. I wanted to save this for a second roll, but
SPEAKER_01: all right. Oh, well, we got all those boons, so what am I talking about?
SPEAKER_01: We have six, too. Yeah, you each have six.
SPEAKER_00: And that's a pass for game. Okay. Are you guys going to
SPEAKER_00: try to rise higher than Private Grunt?
SPEAKER_02: Yeah. Let's go one more. We still got tons of boons left. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I would like to roll energy with the boon if that's all right.
SPEAKER_00: No! Every turn is different rolls.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, okay. Different boar, okay.
SPEAKER_00: Okay. Oh, okay. So, this turn is
SPEAKER_01: melee blade, heavy weapons man portable,
SPEAKER_01: investigation, And...
SPEAKER_01: Drive... Actually, no. Electronics comps.
SPEAKER_02: I have electronics comps. Does anybody have anything else there? At
SPEAKER_02: least a
SPEAKER_03: zero. I have a blade of one. Oh, I have a blade of one. Which
SPEAKER_03: means we can switch around. Okay, we had Blade, Electronics...
SPEAKER_01: Peter, you already failed. So I'm out. You're out.
SPEAKER_01: Good to know. Alright, I'll do
SPEAKER_01: Blade, I guess, with a boon. Okay.
SPEAKER_01: Bam! Bam, bam.
SPEAKER_00: Well, you did a recon for some reason. But you also won with your melee,
SPEAKER_00: and Cole won with his electronics. Okay. Now, the next
SPEAKER_00: level would be the lowest level. So that was basically a sergeant. The
SPEAKER_00: next level is part of a heavy weapons team. The level after that is
SPEAKER_00: you're leading a squad, and then the last level is they give you a
SPEAKER_00: battlesuit.
SPEAKER_01: You guys want to keep going? Zoe, you still have tons of boons left to
SPEAKER_01: roll if you want to keep rolling.
SPEAKER_00: He's going to roll one for every time. Because there's only one of you,
SPEAKER_00: so
SPEAKER_01: it doesn't matter. Are you willing to risk it?
SPEAKER_01: No. Because right now I'm the only one
SPEAKER_01: allowed to walk around carrying a gun, right? Because everyone else
SPEAKER_01: failed? No, I passed. Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_01: Probably not. I don't think I'm going to have the skills to keep going,
SPEAKER_01: even with the boon.
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so knowing that there won't be a heavy weapons portable, but
SPEAKER_02: you're part of a heavy weapons squad tempts me, because I do
SPEAKER_01: have vehicle heavy weapons.
It's up to you.
SPEAKER_01: No, I'm going to stop. I don't get boon, so. Okay.
SPEAKER_00: So, all you guys stop. Two of you guys are sergeants. The other guy is a
SPEAKER_00: loader. Okay. Everyone has done their
SPEAKER_00: signing up for jobs. And you are all given a
SPEAKER_00: note that you are to meet Elaine Moreau. Sorry. Claire Bouchard.
SPEAKER_00: Claire Beauchard is going to organize your living
SPEAKER_00: accommodations and get your assignments prepared.
SPEAKER_00: So you guys can all go in as a room as she kind of breaks that down for
SPEAKER_00: you.
SPEAKER_02: Sorry, I was muted. My nose was running. I said, okay, I'll go there
SPEAKER_02: then.
SPEAKER_00: Okay. Does anyone want to, while they're getting there, want to think of
SPEAKER_00: a plan of what they're going to do in three days for Sashi?
SPEAKER_02: I was going to appropriate her as part of my signing package.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, yeah. With your role, yeah. There's not going to be a problem with
SPEAKER_00: that.
SPEAKER_01: That was my thought, yeah.
SPEAKER_00: Okay. So, all of you guys go into a very HR-looking
SPEAKER_00: room, and... Claire Burchard says, thank you all for joining
SPEAKER_00: TransStar. From the highest
SPEAKER_00: executive to every single person who loads the data that we need
SPEAKER_00: on, TransStar is built up by every employee that we have. Now, we've had
SPEAKER_00: a little bit of difficulty in reading your faces for your employee ID.
SPEAKER_00: I bet she has. Are you willing to fill
SPEAKER_00: out a small questionnaire
SPEAKER_01: as she starts handing out pads?
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I'll see what it is.
SPEAKER_02: Like, maybe it's just shit like, are you allergic to something? I mean,
SPEAKER_02: it's probably not, but you never know. We're in so deep now.
SPEAKER_03: Is there any chance that we can set stone the identity of the person who
SPEAKER_03: took this test so that if it turns out that I have a different identity
SPEAKER_03: later, I can take the test again?
SPEAKER_00: That's up to you. You guys can try to vague that around. I like that
SPEAKER_00: idea.
SPEAKER_03: I think he introduces himself as Jim Robinson.
SPEAKER_00: You're like, hey, I need a new veil, just so I can take my testing.
SPEAKER_00: Quick, quick, quick. One more veil. So, as you guys
SPEAKER_00: have a pattern of the state, it says, are you A, an enemy of the state,
SPEAKER_00: B, a race traitor, C,
SPEAKER_00: a member of another corporation,
SPEAKER_01: I like how it's multiple choice. Do you have to be one of those things?
SPEAKER_00: Well, because your identity is hidden. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01: Oh. For D, none of the above? Are you a criminal?
SPEAKER_01: Hey.
SPEAKER_03: Notably, it does not say that they're not willing to do
SPEAKER_03: business. Oh, yeah, yeah. They're still hiring you. They just want to
SPEAKER_03: know who they're hiring.
SPEAKER_00: It's a French Foreign Legion vibe here. But I definitely like the idea
SPEAKER_03: of taking the test again with a different identity.
SPEAKER_00: I want to do that, actually. We're just being framed is all.
SPEAKER_03: Kiernan is looking at almost
SPEAKER_03: for permission to sign from people. He's like, we're doing this.
SPEAKER_01: This is the bit.
SPEAKER_01: I have a different name on my cover. Race Trader and
SPEAKER_03: Foreign Company, right?
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
SPEAKER_03: I mean, of those, Race Trader seems the least objectionable. Yes,
SPEAKER_03: I think officially we are enemies of state, correct? If I remember from
SPEAKER_03: the news report? I don't say this out loud. I'm asking for memory of
SPEAKER_03: that news report. What did they call it? Oh, excuse me.
SPEAKER_03: We're like rebels or something.
SPEAKER_00: One could construe the most truthful answer is probably enemies of the
SPEAKER_00: state.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's what I thought. Yeah, like with an asterisk.
SPEAKER_03: Unwilling, unwilling enemies of the state. Sure, I mean, I'm happy to
SPEAKER_03: underline that. I do believe that, but are we like signing this? Is this
SPEAKER_03: a thing we're confirming? Yeah.
SPEAKER_02: I'm just going to go for it, and I'm going to put Enemy of the State,
SPEAKER_02: because the worst that they can do is throw me out and fuck it at
SPEAKER_02: this point.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, you click Enemy of the State. It says, you do need to, and then
SPEAKER_00: you see a contract kind of appear. You do understand, as a TransStar
SPEAKER_00: employee, terrorist actions will not be tolerated. You will not be able
SPEAKER_00: to assault or cause conflict in the greater Soleimani nation.
SPEAKER_00: Understanding that every employee is valuable to TransStar, your
SPEAKER_00: personal beliefs and disdain of the Soleimani government must be kept
SPEAKER_00: privately into your mind, or we will erase it for you. Be a TransStar
SPEAKER_00: employee today. And it's basically saying, yeah, that's fine. We just
SPEAKER_00: need to know what type of bad you were. Okay.
SPEAKER_02: Cool. All right.
SPEAKER_00: Okay. Now the contracts appear. Now, the contract
SPEAKER_00: is, they say, we start with an open employment policy
SPEAKER_00: where for the next 30 days, you have the full authority to leave your
SPEAKER_00: transtar as we have the full authority to fire you. In 30 days, you will
SPEAKER_00: then make an agreement to stay for either two, four, or
SPEAKER_00: six years as a term. And at that time, you will no longer be able
SPEAKER_00: to Leave outside of your personal off work hours.
SPEAKER_00: But we understand that being a TransStar employee every day is not
SPEAKER_00: necessarily for everyone. And that's why we have this waiting period
SPEAKER_00: where people can choose to join TransStar or not.
SPEAKER_01: This is perfect for our needs. Great. Yes. Wonderful.
SPEAKER_00: Now, You will be charged for your housing, your food, your
SPEAKER_00: accumulation of space, and the cleaning of your
SPEAKER_00: objects. All of these will be
SPEAKER_00: taken out of your salaries before you receive them into your employee
SPEAKER_00: badge and credit cards. So she starts handing employee badges off to
SPEAKER_00: you, and you see they have your real faces.
SPEAKER_02: Cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool. No doubt, no doubt.
SPEAKER_00: Because when you guys went in the VR machines, they were able to do full
SPEAKER_00: body scans.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_00: We understand that you might be hesitant to walk around with your
SPEAKER_00: previous identities, but understand, as a TransStar employee, as long as
SPEAKER_00: you're in the TransStar Exchange, you are immune to any aspect of
SPEAKER_00: Jordanian prosecution. And as long as you're on a transtar ship, you
SPEAKER_00: also cannot be stopped by Soleimani, Solsack, or any other member of
SPEAKER_00: the greater
SPEAKER_01: Soleimani Armed Forces. I mean,
SPEAKER_01: that kind of works. Fantastic. It's still corporate
SPEAKER_01: shill, but...
SPEAKER_00: Now, you've also been already assigned housing blocks based on your
SPEAKER_00: particular test scores, but it seems that you're all a
SPEAKER_00: cadre, would one say, right?
SPEAKER_01: What is that?
SPEAKER_00: Words of brothers and sisters.
SPEAKER_01: Well, yes.
SPEAKER_00: So, you all could attempt to live in the executive location
SPEAKER_00: by your associate here. She is in,
SPEAKER_00: she has a suite in floor 162.
SPEAKER_03: It in looks with the puppy dog eyes of
SPEAKER_03: a corgi.
SPEAKER_00: By not using your assigned locations, you will gain back 3% of your
SPEAKER_00: salary. Fuck yes! Holy shit!
SPEAKER_01: 3%? Marginal? I sleep on floor! I start
SPEAKER_01: IRA.
SPEAKER_02: I do think we should ask our boss if she's okay with that before we just
SPEAKER_02: say we're going to do that. I look back with corgi puppy eyes. Yeah, I
SPEAKER_02: would appreciate keeping everyone together. And how long do we work
SPEAKER_02: in our current position before perhaps testing into a different role?
SPEAKER_02: Seeking promotion?
SPEAKER_00: Well, normally after you work on a particular project, your supervisor
SPEAKER_00: can request for you to have a promotion or be tested into another
SPEAKER_00: scenario.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, excellent, excellent, excellent.
SPEAKER_00: Now, the project that we are going to be having you work on is Aquatic
SPEAKER_00: Salvage.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: Now, the reason one might wonder why we need military-ized support is
SPEAKER_00: there is a rogue group of dolphin extremists that are attempting to stop
SPEAKER_00: our salvage techniques, and they need to be eliminated while our
SPEAKER_00: individual employees are protected.
SPEAKER_01: Happy to help. And
SPEAKER_01: by eliminated, you mean just
SPEAKER_02: the threat neutralized and they're set off somewhere else, right?
SPEAKER_00: Oh, if they're not causing a problem, we don't care how that's solved.
SPEAKER_00: If you kill them, you kill them. If you scare them off, you scare them
SPEAKER_00: off. As long as we are not losing credits, we don't care.
SPEAKER_01: Okay. Okay.
SPEAKER_00: Now, at the end of the 30 days, we will do a reassignment to a different
SPEAKER_00: group, but this project only has about 60 days left in it, and that's
SPEAKER_00: why we thought it would be a good place for you to be able to understand
SPEAKER_00: where the loaders can assist the group, where we can have some military
SPEAKER_00: support, and those of you with your spacecraft aspect will be piloting
SPEAKER_00: the submersible, which has a very similar floor plan to a FAR trader
SPEAKER_00: just without the jump traps.
SPEAKER_01: All right. So I'm starting, like, right now?
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, just stippling my fingers and nodding my head. Yeah, just... Oh,
SPEAKER_00: no, no. We definitely want you to make sure that you're able to
SPEAKER_00: experience tonight and bask in the globe, now being a TransStar
SPEAKER_00: employee. You'll be starting tomorrow at 4 a.m. Ooh!
SPEAKER_01: Do we get cool
SPEAKER_00: uniforms? Yes, you do get TransStar uniforms.
SPEAKER_01: Awesome! We'll dance early!
SPEAKER_00: So... Owl!
SPEAKER_01: Are they color-coded unitards or jumpsuits?
SPEAKER_00: They are going to be... Well, except the military people, yes.
SPEAKER_00: Color-coded jumpsuits. Also, you guys are going to have color-coded
SPEAKER_00: vac suits to go into the water.
SPEAKER_01: But yes, you're like, you know...
SPEAKER_00: Being a unified member of Transtar at least keeps us off from being
SPEAKER_00: criminals of the state.
SPEAKER_02: Yeah. It gives us an opportunity to buy back time. And be a
SPEAKER_02: corporate show.
SPEAKER_03: The question that has been on Kiernan's mind, are we wrapping up?
SPEAKER_03: I don't know where we're at. He'll ask this question in character as
SPEAKER_03: well. How long are we planning to do this? Is this a career change? Are
SPEAKER_03: we just doing this until our names are cleared? Have we just indentured
SPEAKER_03: ourselves?
SPEAKER_02: Well, we've definitely indentured ourselves. It's just a matter of
SPEAKER_02: how...
SPEAKER_03: How long? So we have to clear our names in 30 days now. It doesn't sound
SPEAKER_03: like we're indentured. Can't we leave, didn't they say, in 30 days? For
SPEAKER_03: 30 days. Yeah, 30 days. If we can't clear our names in 30 days, we're
SPEAKER_03: contracted for two years at the minimum.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: I would like to also explain a little of how we're going to run your
SPEAKER_00: TransStar employment time. So, we are going to start it
SPEAKER_00: with, there is going to be one key event each week of your employment,
SPEAKER_00: okay? Then, you guys have your days off, okay? On your days off,
SPEAKER_00: you're obviously going to be trying to clear your name. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02: This feels so episodic, like a serial, like I'm a WB.
SPEAKER_00: I'm here for it. It's the TransStar season. And
SPEAKER_00: as you guys basically learn what's going on in the TransStar scenario,
SPEAKER_00: you're also going to gain access and you're going to meet other
SPEAKER_00: TransStar employees and find out about different ships that you guys
SPEAKER_00: might be able to have and the like while you guys are trying to clear
SPEAKER_00: your name. But it's obviously going to be harder to clear your name as a
SPEAKER_00: weekend side gig. But you're at least safe. You don't have to
SPEAKER_00: worry about Veils. You don't have to worry about whatever, your
SPEAKER_00: TransStar employees. People can not just fuck with you for no reason.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
SPEAKER_03: Except their own people.
SPEAKER_00: And you guys will begin to see the aftermath of the SoulSec guy getting
SPEAKER_00: the data that was sent to him, because that was already done.
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, because you guys were freaking creepy and sent it to his house.
SPEAKER_02: Like, why would you do that? Send the message. The other option was to
SPEAKER_02: have a drone delivered to him in his car.
SPEAKER_01: Like, set the fire under his head.
SPEAKER_02: At least that's not what, like, people, like, you're gonna give them
SPEAKER_02: paranoia of suicide. Like, oh, they're always watching me. I better not
SPEAKER_02: be here.
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, you know, I mean, this guy is hard-boiled. Yeah, he's the guy that
SPEAKER_03: usually does the watching.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I want to circle back to something. He said, no one can screw with
SPEAKER_00: us, except for the people
SPEAKER_03: who work here. They still got to fill out requisition forms to fuck with
SPEAKER_03: us, right? So it's not as bad as that's your...
SPEAKER_00: So, did people enjoy tonight's TransDar game? Yes.
SPEAKER_00: Most definitely.
SPEAKER_02: Where are we going to put Carla? Is she going to do the tests too?
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm just going to have her do the military test because she's
SPEAKER_00: likely to win the military test. Okay, cool. Because if I give her
SPEAKER_00: three choices on that in escalating things, I easily can imagine her
SPEAKER_00: getting to two or three. Okay. And then we'll see if she loses.
SPEAKER_00: After missions, we can try advancing again? No, no, no.
SPEAKER_00: After... Like, the C thing is done. Then they'll put you in... Your
SPEAKER_00: boss can recommend you for another test.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: So, unless you guys want to be Transstar for the Chronicle, or ditch
SPEAKER_00: your guys' contract halfway through, no one's getting a new test.
SPEAKER_03: Okay. Kiernan's not lottery. He's ready to leave already. Yeah. Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_03: And...
SPEAKER_00: Obviously, once you guys get your identities back or you find the
SPEAKER_00: criminals or whatever, and Transtar also has records and stuff.
SPEAKER_00: Obviously, people ought to be shipping stuff back and forth. Also, you
SPEAKER_00: can, let's say you guys do choose to give up. You could just, now that
SPEAKER_00: you're Transtar employees, you could just save all your income from
SPEAKER_00: Transtar to quit at 30 days and pay for a flight off.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_00: That works. And then you're still enemies of the Soleimani State, but at
SPEAKER_00: least you're not here. So there are a few kind of
SPEAKER_00: avenues and angles you guys can go. But the transfer was
SPEAKER_00: always meant to be basic. It's the net. Like, you guys could have kept
SPEAKER_00: running around without veils. You guys could have... Gone super
SPEAKER_00: criminal. You guys could have done a lot of kind of angles. The
SPEAKER_00: TransStar one is no matter what, you guys were going to hit that net if
SPEAKER_00: you had no other choices.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, we just all seem very, well, I don't want to say all. The
SPEAKER_02: majority seem very against working with a mobster, and I count myself as
SPEAKER_02: one of those. Because, again, I just felt like trying to clear our
SPEAKER_02: names, but then having done terrible things was counterproductive.
SPEAKER_03: If we don't get caught, then we never did a crime.
SPEAKER_00: In Germany, it's not against the law to try to break out a prison.
SPEAKER_02: That's true. That's very true.
SPEAKER_00: But did people have fun? Yeah.
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I wish I had rolled higher than a three on
SPEAKER_02: my... I was only going to try two rolls, so...
SPEAKER_03: If I had gone to the other test, I may have done very well on it,
SPEAKER_03: actually. What would have been
SPEAKER_01: the fourth one? For the space. For
SPEAKER_01: space, let me pull up the sheet.
SPEAKER_01: Wait, no.
SPEAKER_00: So the space one, all the seats were there. It was leadership. Yes, you
SPEAKER_00: did the fourth role.
SPEAKER_03: You failed on the fourth one, didn't you? I failed on the fourth one.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so you did all four. Right. The fifth is you actually did
SPEAKER_00: leadership, too.
SPEAKER_01: That would be the captain's chair.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's captain, it's pilot, it's basically electronics, and it's
SPEAKER_00: engineering. Those are the five seats.
SPEAKER_03: I could have done each and every one of those roles. It's all sad.
SPEAKER_02: What would have been the next for the combat?
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, what's the third combat been? The next for combat... Let me pull
SPEAKER_00: it up. So the next for combat was going to be
SPEAKER_00: athletics strength. It was going to be
SPEAKER_00: a drive, and I was going to roll random on a drive. It was going to
SPEAKER_00: be... Vax
SPEAKER_00: suit, and it was going to be a gun combat slug.
SPEAKER_02: Gun combat slug would have been good for me, but... I might have been
SPEAKER_02: able to go
SPEAKER_03: Vax suit, but with the variant, okay.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but hey. You roll Vax suits also on battle suits, that's why it
SPEAKER_00: starts there.
SPEAKER_01: Yes. Okay.
SPEAKER_00: Okay. But yeah, and then the like
SPEAKER_00: last ones of that was like I tried to make each one of the tests also
SPEAKER_00: different. So it wasn't like the fact
SPEAKER_00: that the the space when you got to pick your seat and the executive one,
SPEAKER_00: it was an unknown every time. And then the combat one, it was a combat
SPEAKER_00: team. It was tried to give each one a different vibe.
SPEAKER_00: It was pretty cool. I like it. Okay. So I'm happy to let people go, and
SPEAKER_00: we can do in two weeks, and I will start writing more TransStar stuff,
SPEAKER_00: because I have, like, one page.
SPEAKER_02: I thought it was a secret place that we could go hide out. I didn't
SPEAKER_02: necessarily think it was going to be a three-day pass to Disney World.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, you guys also didn't need to take the test.
SPEAKER_00: You guys could have just, like, slept in the streets with
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I suppose.
SPEAKER_03: We could have just said purchasing or something
SPEAKER_00: like that. This is solving problems. We've solved some problems. Yeah,
SPEAKER_00: exactly.
SPEAKER_02: The recruitment video was too good. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: Corporate estimates. I want to be a part of the team. I
SPEAKER_00: actually have some television commercials already prepped when you guys
SPEAKER_00: are, like, watching TV. Join me. I'll do my part.
SPEAKER_00: There's going to be one about how one kid was
SPEAKER_00: pulled out for being special and that he was able to do all these
SPEAKER_00: particular things and we need to understand that every single person in
SPEAKER_00: the Salmon Nation is important. And then there's going to be another one
SPEAKER_00: about, oh, you know, through a shipping accident, this man lost his wife
SPEAKER_00: and And he lost his brother. But
SPEAKER_00: now he's given us support by the Solomani Nation and we've
SPEAKER_00: given him free housing and all these other things because you're part of
SPEAKER_00: the Solomani family. And I've like, I think, 10 commercials
SPEAKER_00: written up. Wow.
SPEAKER_02: You're prepared for our hijinks.
SPEAKER_00: Hijinks. You guys went corporate chill at least for 30 days. Or you guys
SPEAKER_00: can leave tomorrow. By the way, you guys can just leave in three days,
SPEAKER_00: too. It's you have any time within 30 days to leave. Right.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: No, there's definitely a... As soon as we clear our names, we can go.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah. Like, hell, you guys could just not show up to work and wait for
SPEAKER_00: them to, like, fire you. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02: Well, my thought was, oh, we do the submarine mission until we get
SPEAKER_02: the... I'm assuming this is related to the rumors we heard of the ship
SPEAKER_02: being sunk in waters. So we, you know, I kind of want to just sub until
SPEAKER_02: we can get the ship out and steal the ship. But then we're now stuck in
SPEAKER_02: a ship that Transstar would then be after, so...
SPEAKER_00: It's a little different than you think. It's basically... Mike, not to
SPEAKER_00: give all of it away, Transtar is involved in something in the water, but
SPEAKER_00: because you have an executive there, she can keep pushing resources to
SPEAKER_00: get you guys also working on the ship while she's trying to cover up you
SPEAKER_00: guys are doing the Transtar project.
SPEAKER_01: Oh.
SPEAKER_00: And when aren't guards or escorting loaders carrying stuff around, who's
SPEAKER_00: going to ask a lot of questions? And the fact that you guys
SPEAKER_00: also have so many loaders, no one's going to think that you guys are
SPEAKER_00: doing anything hijink. You're like, we were told to load this to here.
SPEAKER_00: That's what the paperwork says. And we have an
SPEAKER_00: exact that can make the paperwork look real. And those security guys
SPEAKER_00: already cleared it. What are you guys complaining about? Right. And I do
SPEAKER_00: think that, like, Annette being, like, the guard of the executive, like,
SPEAKER_00: who's gonna fuck with her? Because she gets... By the way, you can just
SPEAKER_00: take out her restrainer bolt now. So, like, anybody who wants to fuck
SPEAKER_00: with you can be like...
SPEAKER_02: Yay, guns!
SPEAKER_00: It's, uh... Oh, and by the way, the vibe of Transtar is supposed to be,
SPEAKER_00: like, CCP from RoboCop.
SPEAKER_02: Oh, okay. Okay. I got a very Disney vibe from them, but I think that's
SPEAKER_02: the whole, like, have a magical day kind of bullshit.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I tried to make it a little between, like, CCP and Boeing.
SPEAKER_00: That's the Disney feel you're getting.
SPEAKER_02: I guess that is a Disney. Boeing is very corporate. Yeah. Happy, yeah.
SPEAKER_02: Boeing is mother, Boeing is father.
SPEAKER_00: Okay. I'm going to let you go. I'm going to kill the recording, and I
SPEAKER_00: will see you all in two weeks.
SPEAKER_01: All right. Thank you, guys. Good night. Good night.