Begin a Session(15)Flashback reveals an aspect of another character, place, or faction
Alan had been playing poker for almost 12 hours. He was neither winning nor losing, it seemed like he and his companions were simply shuffling chips around. He looked out of the window of the saloon. People rode by on horseback or covered wagons. In the distance he heard the whistle of a steam train. Across the dirt track that passed for a main road he saw the bank and the doctor's office. Same as it had been for the last 11 hours and 45 minutes.
A stranger rode into town. He rode up to the saloon, hitched his horse to the hitching post, and stepped inside. He swaggered up to the poker table. "Jim Jones?" said the stranger.
"Who's askin'?" said Alan. The saloon went deathly quiet - the pianist stopped playing his song and everyone's attention was on the scene at the poker table.
"You got a price on your head, boy. I'm here to collect."
"Why don't you try it?" said Alan.
Both men drew their revolvers, but the stranger fired first. Alan slumped back in his chair, bleeding out. As his vision began to fade to black, he saw that three other outlaws had joined the fray and the stranger was gleefully blasting them all.
Finally, 12 hours had passed. The words 'Shift Complete' flashed up in Alan's field of view. The virtual world slowly faded away as reality came flooding back in.
He started taking off his equipment. "How was your first day?" he shouted over to the young man in the next cot over.
"Terrible. I was a level 2 skeleton guarding a chest in a dungeon. I had to just stand there in the dark until someone came along, and then they'd hit me in the head with a sword and I'd die and have to start over."
"We all have days like that." laughed Alan. "Just wait until you get to be the boss in a boss fight, that's when the real fun begins."
Tranquilo was the name of the city, and Tranquilo was the name of the planet. The planet was a vast, unending desert, but the city was a shining jewel. It was a pleasure city, where people with money to spare came to gamble, visit illicit dens of narcotics and other vices, watch spectacular live performances, see the gladiator arena, and of course take part in The Array.
Other VR games boasted incredibly advanced AI, but they still couldn't compete with real human interaction - The Array boasted just that. By linking people's brains directly to the mainframe, The Array was able to feature real human NPCs - the only facility in the galaxy to do so.
The entire backend was located in an underground complex - customer terminals were of course located in arcades throughout Tranquilo. Basement Levels 2 and 3 were for regular workers - people who entered The Array in exchange for a paycheck. People who were okay with being stabbed, beaten, and shot for 12 hours a day for other people's amusement. People like Alan.
Levels 4-6 were for debtors. In the casino city of Tranquilo debt is a crime, and the punishment is working in The Array until you earn your way back up to zero. Debtors were kept in cells on-site to make sure they didn't try to leave town and skip out on their debt.
Levels 7 and 8 were for regular criminals. Murderers, thieves, card counters - anyone who broke Tranquilo's flexible laws ended up here. They didn't get to clock out at the end of a shift; they were trapped in the virtual world for their entire sentence without rest or sleep. Behavior-modifying compliance chips were implanted in their brains to ensure they stayed in character at all times.
Level 9...well, you learn pretty quickly not to ask what happens there. Level 9 is where Sofia Legrand would have ended up if the gang on Paxton Memorial hadn't recognized her tattoos. Maybe she'd have been on the shelf next to Failsafe's missing sister. But Failsafe is dead, so I guess we'll never find out which shelf that is.
Momentum:9 → 10
"Well." says Eris when they drop out of warp at Pyla. "That's not good."
"Don't be so pessimistic, Eris. This could be a great find. They'll pay a bundle for this location at Paxton Memorial."
They are looking out over a huge ship graveyard. Hundreds of dead ships are in orbit around Pyla.
"You do remember that you're wanted in connection with two murders on Paxton Memorial, right?" says Eris.
"Oh yeah, the murders. I probably shouldn't go back there, should I?"
"I'm more concerned with why there are so many destroyed and abandoned ships here." says Eris. "I don't want The Irony to end up as the latest one."
"We should do a bit of scavenging" says Jett. "We're getting low on supplies and maybe we can get some answers too."
"I thought you wanted to go down to Pyla?"
"That was when I thought the pyramid was found in the asteroid field. But now we're here, it could have come from any one of these ships."
"We don't have time to search every single one of these ships for clues, Jett."
"Well, we need some supplies. We weren't able to resupply on Port Koshiba. I'll pick one small ship and get what we need, then we can run some scans and figure out what to do next."
"Fine, but be careful - we don't know what's going on here."
"It'll be fine, you'll see."
Starship Name(18)Eclipse
First Look(22)Heavy armor
Ship type: Multipurpose
11a - Get Supplies from The Eclipse
Jett selects a ship that is the same type as his own under the assumption that a similar craft would have similar needs for supplies. The ship, The Eclipse, is heavily armored but otherwise unremarkable. Jett docks with the ship, puts on his EVA suit, and prepares to go aboard.
Secure an Advantage(Wits)—6 vs 4|6
He cycles the airlock, and steps into The Eclipse.
Undertake an Expedition(Wits)—10 vs 2|10 11a - Get Supplies from The Eclipse +1 (3/10)
Starship(29)Engineering
Peril(12)Erratic utility bots
Jett finds himself in the Engineering section of the ship. Everything seems normal, except for a couple of utility bots which are flying in strange patterns and coming within inches of hitting each other but never actually colliding. They don't appear hostile or dangerous, but Jett keeps his distance from them anyhow. He looks around the engineering section for anything he can scavenge.
Resupply(Wits)—4 vs 2|2match Supply:3 → 5
Jett finds plenty of equipment that his ship needs - this is exactly what he was looking for. He even manages to deactivate the utility bots - they'll be useful for barter later, or perhaps he can repair them down the line. Maybe even give Eris a little body so she can join him on his adventures.
Jett decides to keep searching the ship - he wants to see if he can find any information on what this ship graveyard is.
Undertake an Expedition(Wits)—7 vs 10|6 11a - Get Supplies from The Eclipse +1 (6/10) Momentum:10 → 8
Jett is weighed down by the equipment he is carrying, he is forced to move slowly as he explores the ship.
Starship(77)Operations
Jett makes it to the cockpit of the ship. He stops to take a look around and see if there are any clues as to what happened here.
Explore a Waypoint(Wits)—6 vs 4|2 11a - Get Supplies from The Eclipse +1 (9/10)
Descriptor(16)Chaotic Focus(48)Lifeform
Jett finds some ships logs. Most of them are garbled, but he does see multiple references to some kind of 'chaotic lifeform', presumably on the surface of Pyla. Jett gets that strange feeling, like deja vu, once again. He is an agent of order fated to oppose the forces of chaos. If there's something on the surface that's responsible for all these derelict ships, he has to investigate and do what he can to stop it.
Find and fulfil my destiny +1 (1/10)
Jett heads back to The Irony.
Finish an Expedition(track)—11 vs 9|4 discoveries +1 (0/10) 11a - Get Supplies from The Eclipsecompleted
He gets back without incident, stows the supplies and the utility bots, and undocks from The Eclipse. He runs a detailed scan on Pyla.
Gather Information(Wits)—6 vs 2|8 Momentum:8 → 9
The ship graveyard is not confined to orbit - there are wrecks and derelicts on the surface, too. As Jett looks at the crash sites he starts to notice something odd. The ships are laid out in intricate patterns of loops and whorls, visible only from orbit. It's as if something is using spacecraft to make an enormous art piece, half the size of a planet.
"Do you see it, Eris?" Jett says.
"See what?" Eris replies.
"The shapes. The shapes in the ships. They're laid out like this deliberately."
"Did you hit your head on that derelict? They're just crashed ships."
"You can't see it, but it's there. There's a pattern. And the center is right...here." Jett points to one specific derelict ship on the surface. "That's where I need to go."
Find and fulfil my destiny +1 (1/10)
"I'm afraid that's not going to be possible." says Eris. "Look at the scans - the atmosphere on that planet is corrosive. You'll need an exosuit to walk around down there. I'm not sure you could even land the ship for extended periods of time without sustaining damage."
"Then how are the wrecked ships not dissolving?" says Jett.
"I don't know. One of the many mysteries of this strange planet, I suppose." replies Eris.
"So, what do we do now?" asks Jett. "Is there anything you want to do?"
Character Goal(31)Fight injustice
Revealed Character Aspect(31)Determined
"I want to get you to that damned planet and stop those damned pirates." says Eris. "Let's go back to Port Koshiba, do whatever jobs we can pick up, and save up enough to get you an exosuit."
Connection: Eris +1 (3/10)