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1

Beyond the Stellar Sphere / Re: [BtSS] Treasure Hunting (Closed, for now)

« on: November 01, 2016, 10:45:24 AM »

"Hmmm..."

Zen took a minute to consider his options.  As much as they needed information, they also needed to find paying work, since they excursion hadn't turned out to be immediately profitable.  Maintenance was kind of tricky on a ship that had as much modified and replaced as The Thesius; he couldn't exactly take it into a standard repair pad, so he had to make sure he had the supplies he needed to do it himself.

"Take us to the Gate.  Err, that'd be Mars Halo," he added, unsure if Qara would be familiar with the nickname.

Mars was a planet only the wealthiest and/or best connected could afford to live on, so naturally they turned their nose up at the idea of letting just anyone land on their planet and, heaven forbid, walk within sight of someone who didn't want to see them.  So Mars Halo was constructed to serve as a buffer between the planet and the rest of the system, a waypoint into the giant gated community that was Mars.

2

Beyond the Stellar Sphere / Re: [BtSS] Treasure Hunting (Closed, for now)

« on: October 19, 2016, 07:49:20 PM »

"So...a more than fifty year old finger with an intricate design that doesn't match anything on public records.  The mystery deepens."

He was starting to get a bit excited again; sure, fifty years wasn't too long ago, but it was old enough that it had to be something rediscovered, not developed.  After all, the lab records were only three years old.

"Guessing searching that diamond symbol is going to turn up empty as well--or set off a ton of flags on the system.  If you look it up, be careful; I don't want some shady group tracing a search back here.  In any case, we might be hitting the limit on what we can research; let's get my body fixed so we can do some legwork."

3

Beyond the Stellar Sphere / Re: [BtSS] Treasure Hunting (Closed, for now)

« on: October 19, 2016, 05:45:51 AM »

"Hmm...if you got visuals from my body, any way of estimating how old it is?"

In a way, he knew he was distracting Qara from fixing his body by continuing this train of thought, but he couldn't help himself; he had to this to its conclusion.  It would make it easier if he could pull up information and visuals on his own, though.

"See, the way I figure there are two possibilities for how they got this thing: the first is that the owner died recently, or at least lost a hand, and was either knowledgeable enough to make it himself or wealthy enough to have it privately commissioned by an individual or small group.  This wasn't something made by a group capable of mass production; that's why the corporation that got a hold of it was so careful--they probably had an idea what it did, knew it was highly illegal, but not what it was fully capable of.  You don't test something on a secret facility on a random asteroid if you've got a handle on what it is already, and if it was produced by any major company--even as a private commission--they've been able to find someone who knew what it did.  My first thought was it probably belonged to a machinal zealot, but no zealot would have tolerated it if it could affect other machinals.  So if this first scenario is the case, my best guess?  Martian, one with mechanical augments--maybe even ones no one knew about."

It was surprisingly irksome not to be able to do any of his usual critical thinking habits; he wanted to tap on desks, pull up displays, pace using his magnetic feet, any number of things that helped him focus.

"The second possibility is that this isn't something built recently; rather, it was built some time ago, maybe before there were a lot of regulations on Wyrd tech and interactions with it.  Something found in some old vault, or on a recently discovered corpse, or something of that kind.  It would explain the precautions--technical analysis would give an idea what it did but not the full scope, and you wouldn't want to risk testing something highly illegal and dangerous and with unknown quantities in your expensive, state of the art main facilities.  No, you pick the most out of the way location you can for testing, a place that you can seal off forever and write out of the books if something goes wrong."

4

Beyond the Stellar Sphere / Re: [BtSS] Treasure Hunting (Closed, for now)

« on: October 15, 2016, 09:33:44 AM »

He was pretty impressed she could get all that using only the basic sensors in his body.  "Remind me to get those video-feed goggles fixed next time we're in port," Zen said was he watched Qara put together a pretty representation of what he'd seen.  He rejected the idea of having a camera installed in him on principle but something he could wear was another story.

As far as the notes were concerned, his memory of the last few minutes before passing out was a little fuzzy, but it started to come back to him as Qara talked.  "Right.  Though, I wonder; given how secure that place was, someone higher up the food chain must've at least theorized it could be used on a larger scale.  Maybe Dr. M acted on his own ideas; maybe his bosses figured he was the guy to talk to if they wanted to try something even shadier.  Even if not...that's still a pretty invasive tool they were testing there.  Not to mention super illegal."

The more he thought about the situation, there was a conclusion that made sense:  "Here's the thing: why make it in the shape of a finger if you're not going to attach to someone to test?  I don't think they made that thing; I think they were testing something they found, something that probably used to be part of a machinal's body.  Which begs the question, where did they find it?"

5

Beyond the Stellar Sphere / Re: [BtSS] Treasure Hunting (Closed, for now)

« on: October 10, 2016, 05:41:46 PM »

"I have an idea how it worked," Zen replied, "I could feel it start to affect me through my spine...my guess is the research team thought it could only affect Wyrds; they didn't realize that, to a lesser extent, it could affect anything with a partly mechanical nervous system."

Which was definitely a vulnerability he hadn't considered; hell, as far as he was aware that should be impossible with current technology.  Most Machinals were all too aware how vulnerable being mostly machine made them--which was why just about all artificial bodies did not have any kind of external network connected to their mechanical body's functions; even though Zen had some gadgets in him that operated on a network, like his communicator, they weren't connected with anything that came even close to running his body.  Anything that managed to take it over was basically taking over his watch and phone--potentially annoying but likely not dangerous.

This was different, though; somehow simply having a mechanical spine had given it an "in" to his brain, which was, if he was honest, completely terrifying.

"What do you think it was meant to do?  Other than make people go crazy, I assume."

6

Beyond the Stellar Sphere / Re: [BtSS] Treasure Hunting (Closed, for now)

« on: October 10, 2016, 10:01:26 AM »

"I did?"  Zen frowned, trying to recall exactly what happened.  "Huh; it was more powerful than I thought.  Damn, somebody probably would have paid good money for those records.  Not that there was a lot too them; no indication of who was really running it or the true purpose behind it.   Just a symbol and some basic notes."

The symbol was certainly intriguing.  A conspiracy?  Some corporation's black ops unit?  A secret governmental agency?  Whoever it was clearly hadn't wanted to broadcast who they were and what they were doing, in any case.

"Might be for the best I fried everything; selling even the info could attract the wrong kind of attention, though I'd sure be interested in who would bite..."  If he was alone he'd consider shaking things up a bit and seeing that fell out, but he was reluctant to drag Qara into that kind of risk.

"So, we can both see pretty clearly how I'm doing, how about you?"  She may have only been influenced by that device for a few scant seconds but it was made to affect Wyrds; he'd had the benefit of a slow creep in emotional distress and even he'd succumbed to it in just a few minutes.

7

Beyond the Stellar Sphere / Re: [BtSS] Treasure Hunting (Closed, for now)

« on: October 09, 2016, 07:51:37 AM »

Fortunately for Qara, Zen kept a set of instructions on repairing various parts of his body on the ship's computer with fairly detailed diagrams on how everything worked--the last he thing he wanted, he'd noted before, was to have something break down in space and not be able to repair it or get himself to someone who could.  Which begged the question on how he got by before Qara came along, but it was a question he'd been reluctant to give a straight answer to.

Eventually, as Qara repaired and replaced, she'd hear a raspy voice from nearby: "Well...isn't this pleasant."

8

Beyond the Stellar Sphere / Re: [BtSS] Treasure Hunting (Closed, for now)

« on: October 06, 2016, 07:07:24 PM »

Zen was breathing, if lightly, his peaceful slumber in stark contrast to the manic emotional discharge he'd displayed before.  But he wasn't waking up.

Given the state of the room, it wouldn't be difficult to guess the problem: something in his mechanical body broke or shorted out from the massive magnetic discharge he'd unleashed on the area.  No doubt, even built for magnetic use and insulated as it was, there was a limit to what he could wield before it affected himself as well.  Chances were an attack of that magnitude hadn't been necessary to destroy the device, but then again he obviously wasn't in his right mind at the time.  In any case body was most likely running on minimal power, perhaps even emergency power only--just enough to keep him alive (if unconscious).

Fortunately, Zen was nothing if not prepared.  He kept all the tools necessary for maintenance of his frame on his ship, and even spare parts that he could reasonably store.  If the damage was completed devastating, it would be possible to repair him enough to at least wake him up, if Qara had the know-how for it.

9

Beyond the Stellar Sphere / Re: [BtSS] Treasure Hunting (Closed, for now)

« on: October 05, 2016, 06:38:55 PM »

"Shut it down...yeah...hahahaha..."

He stalked towards the airlock, laughing all the while.  How much would someone pay for this?  Enough that could he buy any ship on the market (and many off-market as well) and still have enough to live on for years.  He knew of nothing like this in the system; even the strongest Wyrd implant couldn't influence another Wyrd like this, let alone creep into Machinals as well.  Would it effect even an unmodified human?  A full droid?

No, he realized--that wasn't the way.  However much he could make by selling it paled in comparison to what he could do if he kept it.  He charm and trick his way into anywhere.  No vault was unassailable.  No person beyond his influence.  He'd be in legends for generations to come.

He could even accomplish what no amount of money could buy.  He could walk into the most fanatical Machinal stronghold and have them tear each other apart.  He could march into any corporation in the system and have corrupt executives feel the weight of every life they ruined, until they all took swan dives off the roof.  Any Martian that looked at him like he was trash would be crushed by the hollowness of their own existence.

Every act against him would be retaliated.  Every wrong he'd committed could be made right.  A manic sob escaped him.  Everything that went wrong in his life, everything that went wrong with him could be fixed.  All he needed to do was disconnect it.  Power it down, and it could all be his.

He stood before the pedestal, like a priest before an altar.  Heat radiated from his spine, a fire spread, a desire like nothing he'd ever felt before.  Oh, he hadn't even thought of the possibilities for his love life.  If no one could resist his charms he'd never need to lay alone in bed again.  Even on his ship, he had the intelligent, beautiful Qara...

Qara, whose sobs still echoes out of his earpiece.

The heat began to fuel rage.  Rage at himself, for now knowing that part of him wanted to be everything he hated most, and all it took was a mental push from a mechanical finger.  At the device before him, the evil emitted, and most of all at whatever twisted mind conceived of it in the first place.

"I...will not...BE CONTROLLED!" he screamed and, overriding every safety in his arm, blasted out enough magnetism to fry a small starfighters hull at the mechanical abomination in front of him.

And then Zenniker Kylos crumpled to the ground, like a puppet with its strings suddenly cut.

10

Beyond the Stellar Sphere / Re: [BtSS] Treasure Hunting (Closed, for now)

« on: October 04, 2016, 06:12:58 PM »

So that's how it was.  The experiment triggered a contamination warning, which in turn triggered a lockdown of the facility; his guess was those working in the main area never even knew what was down here, just that if something were to go wrong that they were to evacuate and not look back.  The map was probably altered in order to convince anyone looking around that the airlocks were just that: passageways onto the asteroid's surface.  And the bomb...he guessed someone's last ditch idea of extra insurance, given the way it slapped on the outside of the airlock rather than integrated with it.

But...something was wrong.  There was no way anyone would staff a research time entirely with Wyrds to test a device that was mentally affecting Wyrds; that would've been a special brand of stupid.  Which meant...

"Aww hell," he muttered as he felt a twinge in his spine.  He turned around, his first instinct being to assume it was...well, instinct, but the room around him was as lifeless as before.  And the feeling only continued to grow.

"I am not going out like this.  Okay, keep talking out loud, hearing my thoughts lets me control them, or so I'm going to hope.  Can I run?  How far does it reach?  Probably to around where the airlock was upstairs if that's where the locked everything off and shut everything down, so, pretty far.  Can I make it in time?  Not worth the risk, especially as if I'm already insane when I get out I'm just putting Qara in danger.  Okay, Plan B then--get in there and wreck it before it wrecks me.  That's the kind of plan I can work with.  Airlocks are locked, but I bet the main console opens them, just got to find the command."

A grin crept onto his face, and his voice started to crack with laughter.  "I'll be the joke of Machinals everywhere if go down to anti-Wyrd weapon."

11

Beyond the Stellar Sphere / Re: [BtSS] Treasure Hunting (Closed, for now)

« on: October 04, 2016, 10:57:21 AM »

"Do not let it in!" Zen commanded, the authority in his voice undercut by the lump rising in his throat.  Damn stupid girl!  If he had even considered that she could Wyrd nonsense this far into the facility then he'd have ordered her to shut her damn brain off!  "This is some kind crazy, evil experiment that's killed people, you don't want it in your brain.  Until we know exactly what this is, back off, and don't even think about trying to tell me that you'll find out by linking your mind to it, or I will burn every last dress you own and you'll be wearing plain white jumpsuits for rest of your goddamned life."

Exactly how Qara, back in the ship, could project her consciousness all the way down here when every other Wyrd he'd known had to be pretty damn close (or risk bouncing their mind off a bunch of relays or something, an experience they definitely didn't like) was a question he didn't have time to consider.  Bracing himself for the worst, he attempted to get the camera feeds on the auxiliary terminals while he pulled up the notes on the main one; just because he wasn't a Wyrd didn't mean he couldn't multitask like a normal person.

12

Beyond the Stellar Sphere / Re: [BtSS] Treasure Hunting (Closed, for now)

« on: October 03, 2016, 01:13:10 PM »

The dead air hit him like a wave, causing Zen to briefly recoil.  The stench permeated even through his (currently sealed) helmet, far stronger than anything that had been in the waste disposal.  Blood, decay, waste--in short, the stench of death.  People had died in here, though he didn't immediately see any corpses.  Were they hidden?  In the chamber?  Or had this place been without airflow for so long that even with the sources long removed the smell remained, stuck to every surface?

"They have power here," he murmured.  That was strange; the power seemed shut off leading up to this place, all the wiring inactive.  There must have been a generator down here somewhere; either that, or there was some other connection the main facility that was running power to here.  Emergency lighting lit the room, along with the red glow of whatever it was observing.

Zen took a quick stroll around the room, confirming its circular nature and that there were to entrances to the center--both locked.  He couldn't see inside, and unless he was lucky enough that one of the consoles had a still-working camera he likely wasn't going to unless he found a way to open the doors and ventured inside himself.  He double-checked that his helmet's sensor were detecting radiation of any kind; if whatever was in there wasn't machinery, it at least wasn't radioactive enough to affect the observation room.

What it was, though, was still a good question.  One he hoped the main console could answer for him, along with why this facility was abandoned and why it smelled like an entire research team had died in here.

13

Beyond the Stellar Sphere / Re: [BtSS] Treasure Hunting (Closed, for now)

« on: October 03, 2016, 09:05:43 AM »

"Don't know if it's dangerous yet, but..."

With everything unmarked, he was forced to check the rooms one at a time.  Not that he would've have checked them if they were marked, but he tended to be a little less careful if he was walking into a restroom as opposed to a factory floor.  His searches didn't turn up anything interesting on this floor, for better or worse.

"Why change the map when it's obviously not right?  Why leave that section on almost no power when the rest of the building gets emergency lighting?  Because you're not trying hide it; you're not intending to come back to it, so you treat it like it doesn't exist."

As he descended the stairs, the facility more or less ended and tunnels began.  This where they were working, where they were digging before everything was abandoned.  They'd wired everything up for excavation, lighting, doors, but now it was all disabled; except, maybe, for the airlock door at the end of the tunnel.

"If you're going to trap a door, why do you place the trap on the outside of it, where anyone who comes across it can find it?"

Before he continued, he investigated the tunnel carefully, making sure there were no side tunnels that would be easily missed with the only light coming from his helmet.  When he was satisfied that the only ways into or out of the tunnel were back the way he came and the airlock before him, he checked his gear--mostly simple tools, useful for tinkering with equipment or making simple repairs.  No real weapons to speak of--he was weapon enough for most opponents, if it came to that, and not carrying a weapon helped avoid fights with the paranoid.  Deciding he was as prepared as he was going to get, he approached the airlock.

"The answer is, because you're not trying to keep people out." 

He couldn't help but grin; this was the feeling he was hooked on.  Standing on the threshold, that moment of discovery.  He might end up rich.  He might up dead.  He was likely to end up running for his life.  But there was only one way to find out.

"You're trying to keep something in."

He pressed the button to open the airlock.

14

Beyond the Stellar Sphere / Re: [BtSS] Treasure Hunting (Closed, for now)

« on: October 03, 2016, 08:04:17 AM »

"We might have to if we run out of fuel because of you," Zen grumbled.  For the time being, all necessary purchases were being made by him, and would last at least until Qara stopped being smug about using their money on a dress instead of supplies.

His decision to save his oxygen proved to be wise when he finally found a hatch and climbed out into the mysterious sector, discovering there was no air filtering through the place; he was forced to start using his helmet's internal supply, which was limited.  He could go quite a bit longer without air than a normal human, but not "explore an abandoned complex" long.

With the power almost completed gone, and the only illumination came from from the light on his helmet.  He hoped there was at least enough running to open the doors, or exploring this part of the facility was going to get tiring fast.  Fortunately, it opened with minimal coaxing, and he found himself on the other side of the airlock.  He started to consider what he'd encountered so far;  an airlock with an explosive...a sector not on the map, completely shut down...it was exciting, but...

It told a story.  Ultimately, that's what treasure hunting was about: stories.  No one went to great lengths to hide anything without an interesting reason behind it.  Illegal activities, secret treasure, abandoned complexes and ruins...the key to figuring out what you were encountering wasn't being a tech genius, or an unmatched pilot, or a skilled marksman or fighter--though those certainly helped.  But no, ultimately the key was to pick up the clues to the story you were following and let that inform you of where to go, what to do...

...and what precautions to take.  "Qara, get the ship warmed up, we may need to make a quick exit.  And turn the local scanners on; if you see anything approach from in here that isn't me, either lock everything down or take off, whatever you think is safer."

15

Beyond the Stellar Sphere / Re: [BtSS] Treasure Hunting (Closed, for now)

« on: September 29, 2016, 07:03:08 PM »

"On my way," Zen replied, choosing to ignore the comment.  He was too excited to care about Qara's barbs at the moment; he was close to finding whatever was here, whether it was something lucrative, dangerous, or both.  A quick trip through waste disposal and he'd be able to see just what.  Though  it was a good thing that he'd already confirmed that there was more facility than met the eye; he wouldn't put it past Qara to try and trick him into jettisoning himself into space for a laugh.

Waste disposal was an ill-maintained mess, and he suspected this was the case even before the facility was abandoned.  It led credence to the idea that the mining facility was meant to be a front, not a real functioning platform.  Though it was also possible that they just had poor maintenance standards.  You could never tell with some of these start-up mining ventures.  Thankfully, at least the abandonment meant any human waste was long gone; all that was left was garbage and rust.  He considered turning the filters on in his helmet, but he wasn't about to waste air over terrible smells.

Smells that only got worse when he pried open the waste pipe.  "Let it never be said this job is always glamorous," he said as he ducked into the pipe and began crawling through to the unmapped sector.