<> <> <> (Crew? What crew?) (We Had A Wonderful Time Alone With No Outside Contact, Preston. Ho. Ho. Ho.) (Hoo hoo hoo) * Amadeus is on the ship. In fact, he doesn't seem to have left... an advantage of having sleeping quarters (assuming he used them). And he's in the lab, performing tests on the samples they've gotten from yesterday. Has he eaten yet? Who knows, really. * Tomas arrives with a bag of oranges slung over his shoulder and his ballcap pulled low and proceeds to drop the oranges on the lounge table before looking around for the others. * Hestia is... checking her mail! And combing the sleythinpedia which is her default activity, nowadays. That, and... well. * Zeke has to push his way through the crowd again, since he was dumb enough to leave. <> (FILTHY MORTAL GERMS ZEKE) (SLAY THEM ALL) * Hestia sits cross-legged on the couch, tapping away at a pad, and then just shakes her head after a period of searching about on the Red Internets. "Just like I thought they would be. Weirder and weirder..." <> (I've splurged. They're from Florida.) (.... seriously?) (That's a splurge from hell.) (It's that bad? pfah.) (Because you can do that, but that's on the order of the bottle of wine Tia got sent last session. Which you CAN afford, it's just a hell of an impulse buy.) * Zeke walks into the room, box on back. "I would be very pleased if they would go away." (Real actual oranges grown on Mars in floating terrariums are cheaper but better than DunnOranges.) (Tomas believes in his food.) (Much, much, better.) (Fine then. I didn't expect that kind of markup. They're Fauranges. They're more like a citrus-y potato.) (!) (Well, nobody lives on Earth except rich people, and as such fruit grown there is "artisian") (You could still get real oranges though!) (Yup!) (They'd just be Martian mind control citrus.) * Tomas pulls out a faurange and begins peeling it, "What's that, T?" They weren't kidding about the Supernova and the Black Orchid. Their records are almost exactly like ours and their employers are telling the people about as much, which is to say, nothing at all. * Tomas huhs. "Have you tried cross-referencing their destinations with the sleythin database?" * Tomas takes a crunchy bite. (I think I already did that, didn't I?) (Or rather I went one better and cross-populated the GalReg database of known planets with the sleythinpedia.) (Yes, Tia's got the best data on any planet out there.) (Editing now.) <> * Hestia blinks and picks it up. Hello. <> "Hey, brah, it's Darnell! You remember, from the bash on Indi Epsilon!" <> <> (Darnell was... xtreme sports guy from Random Q. Spaceship?) (He was on the Dunno crew.) Oh. Uh, yes, I d-- * Hestia turns and looks at the other two phones going off basically at the same time. * Tomas raises an the eyebrow and answers. <> * Zeke's holoface frowns and he just answers his in the suit. The power of suit! * Zeke also moves towards the comm system. "I think something is going wrong," he says to the crew. <> "I had no idea they'd do this. You have to believe me, I'm a businessman, this is just ludicrous; I don't know how or what they're expecting to happen." ...what can I do for you, Darnell? <> * Zeke replies to Preston with, "I appreciate your concern, but you need to clarify." He says out loud, "Check news sources, now," as he moves to do the same. <> "... are you watching the TVNet, Tomas?" <> "Brah, if you're not watching TVNet right now you really ought to be." (TO SCREAM 'OOSHA!' AND 'VATER!' OVER AND OVER!) (Does that mean I turn on the TVnet first?) * Hestia pulls her phone away from her ear for a second, looks at it, and then turns toward the TVNet. Which turns on with a thought! Suck it, Project Natal! * Tomas crunches another bite, "Not at the moment, what's up?"" (Damn!) <> "I'd never throw you under the bus like this. You need to believe me. I tried all the other numbers, but they were all busy." (... zeke is Project Natal?) <> "... you should really just turn on the TV." * Zeke replies to Preston with, "They were busy because we are being called by a great many people at once." (OKAY HOLD ALL RESPONSES FOR A SEC) * Amadeus finally picks up the phone. "Hello?" (PAUSE FOR DESC BOX) (Otherwise I will go mad trying to keep track while I desc the TV) (NO SIG YOU WILL TELL ME NOW.) <> "Well, Suesby, I just don't know how irresponsible they could be, wandering into such a ruin. I mean, even if they managed it once, occasions like a possible first contact should be handled by the appointed officials from GalReg." "But Steverson, you can't tell me you wouldn't try to maximize your profit vector. Priceless alien technology? What a coup for an investor!" "It was reckless and irresponsible, and if I were ATC I'd press on GalReg to revoke their license and then string them up on charges." "But there's not even any evidence they're a threat to us." "Are you a scanny jabberwockson, Suesby? They blew one of their own to fucking smithereens! Would they have any compunction about doing the same to us?" <> <> "Amadeus, you should turn on TVNet if you haven't already. It's ... pretty important." * Hestia puts her phone to her ear and says, in a falsely cheery singsong, "Lemme call you back." Then she hangs up. (And Cham's BP drops.) "Kay bra-*click*" * Amadeus blinks. "Sure. How have you been, Dr. Borenstein?" he asks as he heads into the lobby to see what's going on from there. "I've been stellar, lad, truly stellar. I'm ... kind of worried about you, now." (... we are significantly lacking information.) * Zeke replies to Preston with, "... what did they decide?" * Tomas watches before replying, "huh. It's about time they released that info." <> "If you've got the TV on you've seen it. They just threw it all out there, and they blamed you as the ones who woke them up." <> <> "Is it true? Did you wake up something bent on our destruction?" This will not help with the crowds. <> * Amadeus continues talking: "I've been surprisingly fine, despite a few close brushes. But we've discovered some amazing things. Just today, I've been looking into changing DNA - swear to Space Jesus, you HAVE to see this research - it will blow... your..." he gets a good look at the feed. "What the FUCK?" I don't think they were asleep and, regardless, they just told us to stay away. They didn't seem to keen on visitors. * Hestia just crosses her arms over her chest. "They were already pretty disturbed. Let's be fair, here." <> "No, my boy, no. I imagine it won't." <> "What the fuck indeed, Amadeus. What have you been DOING out in space?" <> "But ... the news does not just lie, do they?" (I'm kind of glad I'm half into this bottle of wine now. This hurts my head a lot less than I thought it might) * Amadeus turns to his crew members, Borenstein on the line. "What the hell's going on here? Did you see the rest of this program?" He turns back to the phone. "We came into contact with an alien species, a *hostile* species, and we contacted the major corps so they could figure out what to do with them." * Zeke says, out loud, "I am highly uncertain on the course of action to take. Full data release seems like the most likely response." * Hestia mutters under her breath, "Did anyone think to mention the sleythin already knew about them?" (It's too bad Zeke got the Preston call so he can't make an insight check on his claims about buses.) * Zeke tilts his head at Hestia. "Are there any mentions of Sleythin in the coverage?" <> "Looks like what they decided was to blame you." <> "What, release all our info? At this point they'll merely think you're trying to save your hide." * Tomas hmms, "You have a point. I should go talk with the others about this." then waits and clicks. <> "Goodbye, brother. I wish you luck, even if you actually did it." * Amadeus keeps talking on the phone. "Well, that's fucking... typical." He sighs, flopping onto a chair. (Impostor! That is much too formal of a salutation for my brother!) * Tomas yells down the hall, "A-man! You see the news?) I'm right here, Tomas. (oh wait. I missed the part where he came to us) <> "Typical of those without true academic rigour, Amadeus. Yes it is. I should let you go, so you may figure out what you're doing." * Amadeus waves from the lobby, because well, he snuck in. (But when Hestia checks, we'll find out the Sleythin weren't mentioned!) * Tomas turns and scowls at Amadeus, "Sneaky, sis." "Thanks. I'll keep in touch... really did find some amazing stuff recently." (I was checking. Are they mentioned?) <> (Fuckin' Avalon.) "Good luck, my boy. And remember; rigour above all." * Hestia drums her fingers on the couch's arm. "No mention of the sleythin. Backwater Venutian hicks asking for us to be crucified. It's not like we led an invasion fleet back, for fuck's sake." * Amadeus snickers a little despite himself. "You got it, Boresntein. Space Jesus knows we'll need it." He hangs up and starts slapping his palm against his forehead, only stopping once he's sufficienly dislodged his glasses to the point where he needs to fix them. (Yes, but the last two times there was any live contact humanity didn't fare that well. Though most of them can only remember the Bugs.) (The Cloud doesn't count! The sleythin are nice! We're actually on an even slate!) * Zeke says, out loud, "What does that gain us if we are able to make the Sleythin support our story?" (MOST OF THOSE ARE SECRET) (I AM JUST SAYING) Ow- ow- what? As in, 'oh, could you admit you've been hiding information from humans all this time, to save our necks? We know that pride and honor are very important to you as a species but suck it up just this once?' That's my clever way of saying "They won't do it." ( Cute. Cute, but no.) * Hestia holds up the pad. "Look at what we went through just to get THIS." <> * Zeke tilts his head, then asks Preston, "How likely are we to suffer the negative various consequences? We cannot ask the people you work for directly." God damnit, *what now*. * Hestia checks her caller ID this time! <> (...of course it is.) (Speaking of!) * Hestia just... stares at her phone, lets it get to within one ring of voice mail, and then answers it. "What interesting timing you have." <> "It's hard to say. You will probably get missions regardless, but whether they'll be the same caliber... I just don't know." * Amadeus calls to Zeke, "Ask him who we work for, anyway!" (I can't tell if this is 'jumble of voices long shot' or 'Charlie's Angels successive split screen barrage') <> "[I RISKED MY CAREER TO GIVE YOU THAT FILE AND YOU WENT AND DID IT ANYWAY!"] And now you're yelling in Sleythin. (lolwut?) * Amadeus keeps watching TVnet. Man, is he in a sour mood. (We actually didn't get the sleythinpedia until AFTER DuekTales eps, yes?) (Yep.) (Yup!) * Zeke listens to Ama's yell, then replies to Preston with, "That is not an acceptable outcome. If you will let us talk to our benefactors directly, we may be more likely to make our case." * Hestia sighs and throws herself back on the couch with a *wumpf!* "The courier hadn't made it. We actually got given that assignment before we ever got the data." (Aaaahaha one sec I need to ref the wiki) <> "[... Chaiyo'sihr reigning. It was bad luck, then, and even my intervention couldn't stop what was probably destiny."] <> "Do you really want to know how the sausage is made? You're not going to like it." (Ha!) * Hestia loses the religious ref but gets the tone, at least. In an effort to be at least a LITTLE diplomatic she switches languages. "[Nobody else had access to this, did they? Just us?]" * Zeke's response is only to Preston as he replies, "I am indifferent to sausage. But it seems that at the moment our options are extremely few. If you wish to support us, information seems key." (Have I said I love Zeke today? No. Okay, I love Zeke.) (haha. NO SAUSAGE FOR ZEKE, HE IS INDIFFERENT) <> "[None that I am aware of. I meant to give you the file to keep you away. The planets are all well-marked.]" (hahahah. Lets visit more duekti.) * Amadeus continues watching TVnet and trying to spontaneously generate an additional SCA mutation that will allow him to telekinetically rearrange the faces of the corp representatives. <> "Fine. You're for hire. Literally, for hire. I take highest bidder every couple of days, they provide a planet, I do some minimal research to ensure safety, and you go find a planet which has carboxy life and contains specimens worth trillions of credits. Most of the time I don't even know who's actually paying the dues, just a name." <> * Hestia sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose. "[There's two other ships. They're visiting the same sorts of planets... ones with life on them. You're sure there's no way anybody could get that information besides us?]" She does not add: all it took was autographed photos because you're a fangirl, so it's PROBABLY LIKELY. (some days I do love this game) (I enjoy conjuring up the visuals of it in my head. That's true of all the ATCs, though.) * Amadeus stares, shakes his head, stares again, wonders where the information they had also sent concerning the bug invasion of the Duekti system went, remembers who he's watching, and shakes his head again. * Zeke looks at the Bug Religion cults as he says, "It would be appreciated if you could deliver to us this information. However, due to the lack of direct oversight, this means that our only major concern is GalReg." <> "[The only other person who had access was my superior, at least as far as I know, and he is adamant that you as a species could never keep your fingers out of a] panta'yar [hole if it was clearly labeled to you.]" <> "I'll do what I can. Most of it's garbage information. I don't even know the real name of the man you carried to a planet full of Bugs. Right now, though, I think you ought to lay low. Take a vacation somewhere. Maybe out of the solar system." * Hestia completely deadpans, "[I'm going to be looking that word up. Consider that someone who hates humans would be likely to send us to a Duekti-induced early death.]" * Zeke says to Preston, "That seems reasonable." We will be awaiting your contact. (If the ATC1 crew band was 80s rock then the ATC3 crew band is like, Darling Violetta.) (Man, I hate the shit of pale carpet. That stain's never coming out.) <> "I'll be in touch. Good luck." * Zeke hangs up, then looks to Amadeus and says, "His answer to your question was very enlightening, but not very helpful." (did Sho'ryuken have any more or did she hang up on me?) * Amadeus breaks his attention from TVnet. "What did he say?" * Tomas raises an eyebrow. <> "[He doesn't hate you. A] panta'yar [is a small tasty insect which has a fierce bite. Reaching into their holes is dumb, one should lure them out with a rhythmic drumming instead. But anyhow, he wouldn't try to exterminate you.]" [That's comforting, but just as a reminder, even enlightened sleythin can have] douchebags [in their population too.] (That must be entertaining to the rest of the room. "Blah blah blah DOUCHEBAGS blah.") (AAAAHAHAHA) <> "[I know, I know, but ... it doesn't make sense. Who sent you there, if you didn't go on your own, and you didn't have our data?]" * Zeke looks over at Hestia on the phone, then back to Amadeus. "I will clarify once the other conversations are completed." Sure, thank you. * Hestia switches the phone to her other ear, the one away from Amadeus and Zeke. "[We don't know but I intend to find out. Let me call you back.]" Then she hangs up because this conversation was going nowhere. Luke, we have company! Preston says that we are purely for hire. He does not know all who contracted us, and I told him to inform us of all the information he had. He said he would. That can't be right. We're supposed to believe that random employers could give us the consistency of destinations that they have? Wait, what does he mean, 'purely for hire'. He just CONTRACTS US OUT at random? * Zeke nods with Tomas' statement, then, "Yes, Hestia. This makes our consistent behavior extremely unlikely. But it does explain how we could have been sent to the Duekti system and Bug-covered moon." * Amadeus blinks. "... Wait, what? So... we're basically for contract. Like mercenaries?" That is what Preston says. Okay. One, remind me to shoot him in the kneecap if we ever see him again which, Suit Boy, is never going to happen. If he's smart, he took his money and booked it. He seemed sentimental and somewhat heavily drinking. I bet. * Amadeus pushes up his glasses and rubs at his eyes. "Does Preston have any, I don't know, point of contact with our various employers? (You would be too, Zeke. If you HAD EMOTIONS.) That will, one hopes, be in the information he gives to us. * Hestia cracks her knuckles. "Fuck that. I'm not waiting around. Can we get this thing into orbit?" (Man, Zeke can't just SAY 'otherwise, we will have to use espionage'. He's a scientist, not a secret agent.) (Lucky you, I'm a hacker.) * Amadeus sighs. "What about Lexi, Tia? And Kyle? They're not here." If being in space is the safest option, we can retrieve them with the lander if necessary. * Hestia looks around. "Whoever was feeding Preston info for us MUST have been doing it for the Cosmic Supernova and the Black Orchid. I can just feel it." * Amadeus nods. We need to... acquire information on those ships. Via illicit means. Where do you propose? GalReg itself? * Zeke looks to Hestia, then instead of protesting, says, "It seems likely there are several factions, given our momentary competition with the Black ORchid." Unless that was a test. You know, I don't think there are. I think there's one faction that's playing all three of us against each other. Possible. We need more information. * Hestia looks at Zeke, briefly, like he's an idiot, because: "I think I just said that." Yes. * Zeke's holoface smiles. "And I agree." (AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH) (1000 DEAD PUPPIES) ... ...that was the creepiest thing I've ever seen. * Zeke tilts his head. "What is wrong?" Was there an error in the projection? ...in a manner of speaking. (Oh god, cannot stop laughing) (Well, now that's over, Tomas' question is a good one.) * Hestia leans back and sighs, looking back at Tomas. "Good question. Their Preston-alikes probably handled all the money transfer, didn't they? I'm trying to think of where the paper trail would go." (Only snag is we can't do much more than plan today, or do things that don't involve leaving the planet.) (Yeah, that's fine. I just wanted to get this out of the way so next session can be some action) * Zeke replies, "Once we determine who their... agent is, you may have better luck. Either GalReg planet registrations or a hiring attempt seems likeliest to achieve that goal." * Hestia nods. "We can at least find out who their Prestons were." * Hestia tilts her head at Amadeus. "We're probably seriously endangering your next tenure meeting, Professor. You could probably plead the fifth, cut a deal with GalReg..." * Tomas hrms, "A paper trail. Preston makes the deposits to our accounts. Somebody has to be making the deposits into his account." * Zeke looks to Tomas. "We will not have to acquire that information ourselves. It would be best to believe Preston until he gives us reason to not. Networks of support are key to surviving." (Since he said he'd give us info.) * Hestia glances at Zeke. "You're pretty optimistic that Preston's going to do what he said and not just ditch us to save his hide, you know." * Tomas nods, "And that he'll actually give us all of the information." (INSIGHT CHECKS oh wait this isn't 4e yet) It does not seem to benefit him to do otherwise. I doubt he has superior monetary opportunities. Our success is his success. (This is a day after we enlisted spies, yeah? So they can't have any info for us yet?) (Correct.) He probably doesn't need them. I suspect just a few of our 'discoveries' alone set him for life. This is possible. <> * Zeke looks away a moment, then back to Hestia and Tomas. "But even if he does not support us, I believe there are other options for survival. And if I am correct, he will be even more loyal afterwards." (So when does Red Glenn Beck arrive.) (Commie Glenn Beck?) * Hestia gets up and goes to sit down at a ship terminal, cracking her knuckles. "No point in not following Tomas' suggestion... I'm not sure it's going to get us anywhere, but better than doing nothing." She pauses, then adds: "Shorya'nartha is Very Distraught with us, by the way." (Tia: That's on a different channel. Actually, noibody's changed the channel yet.) (Wait, what suggestion is she following?) (GalReg, I believe.) (I was just making sure it wasn't the 'let's look into Preston's moneys' thing.) (Probably ought to wrap up.) (No, it WAS the Preston's money thing. Tia doesn't buy that Preston's going to help them mostly because if she were him, she and the ship would be halfway to Omicron Persei VIII to watch Single Female Lawyer by now.) * Amadeus shakes his head at Tia. "Look, if you're going to do anything illegal... just figure out what you're doing and do it when I'm not around." I can't say anything if I don't know. (That's what Zeke disagreed with! He thought that betraying Preston was a bad plan.) (Well then Zeke is dumb!) * Hestia smirks, then sits back. "Maybe we should wait for the others. Lexi's the daughter of CEC's CEO... lord knows if he's going to send a goon squad to 'collect' her after all this." * Zeke speaks up to say, "I suggest investigating the other ships first. That information will be necessary either way." (I was wrapping it up! You went and ruined it!) (IT'S WHAT I DO.) (It's true.) (Also, I can't remember if the lander can dock with us in the air.) (And I can't remember the wiki.) (I would assume it can, isn't it like the Captain's Yacht on the Enterprise-E?) (I was gonna say 'Let's go take off', but without wiki, I don't remember.) (It's not been covered. Let's assume it can.) * Zeke looks over to Amadeus, then to Hestia. "Should we take off and retrieve them with the lander, then?" (Man the next few sessions write themselves) (Giving you more time to drink.) (YES) (wait) <> <>