Part 02: The Infinite Coast

pringerbeam · January 13, 2020, 01:28:52 PM

After getting situated in your respective vehicles and packing your gear, Jetz dropped the cargo ramp and set you on your way, making a quick stop at the makeshift hangar's control room to make a quick negotiation for a week long stay with the triad members. After coming to some kind of agreement, the hangar doors slide open to reveal crowded streets which your makeshift caravan pushes its way into.

It's barely a second after you emerge into the streets crowded with small vehicles and pedestrians that you find your AR senses overwhelmed with the mist of advertising floating through the cyberspace. Porn, beverages, prostitutes, banking, morph leases, casinos, all zipping through the public space like a school of ravenous fish. Within less than a minute you each accumulate a distracting cloud of adverts bombarding you with AR sensations in an attempt to win you over.

Your muses notify you that they are attempting to clear the adverts and you find mixed success. Jetz squints his eyes and flails at the adverts with one claw while his other swipes at AR screens of his own before settling down. "Fuck, I forgot how bad the Mist gets in some of these stations. Usually I barely leave the Flash12 enough for it to get on me. Is it true they don't have this shit in the outer system? "

[info] The Mist: Block C is the lower class section of the station and filled with AR advertisements of dubious sources. Whenever you enter into the public spaces or areas that lack a counter-mist ALI or something similar you or your muse will need to make an Interface test or suffer a -10 penalty as long as your AR functions are enabled.

Estella's muse was successful in staving off the Mist

Donovan's muse was not successful. Donovan can make their own Interface test to try and clear the Mist. [/info]

Asta · January 13, 2020, 08:16:30 PM

"It is certainly less pervasive..." Estella remarked, thanking her muse for clearing her vision.

Oath · January 15, 2020, 08:07:05 AM

The hustle and bustle made Donovan smile. It would be easy to hide here.

"Don't remember seeing any mist this bad. Don't hang around population centers too often though. I'm sure some people are somehow used to it."

[info] Interface. (20)
[blockquote]Rolled 1d100 : 89, total 89[/blockquote]
[/info]

pringerbeam · January 15, 2020, 01:34:41 PM

While Donovan was able to clear a window of space to see clearly, they are unable to get rid of most of the ads and are still swarmed by the distracting noises and sensations as your tiny caravan slogged its way through the crowds of biomorphs and clanks, winding through labyrinthine streets and ascending a few elevators until you come out into a high enough level to see into the "sky" and across to the other side of the cylinder. It's daytime according to the stations local clock but this end of the cylinder seems to be too far from any windows for enough light to penetrate, leaving it in a perpetual night illuminated only by the omnipresent glow of artificial lights.

Eventually you come to the communal residence: a squat apartment building with a single miniature palm tree sitting in a pot next to the door. The windows are barred and a security grill bars the door. Jetz looks around the neighborhood and the similar defenses the other buildings seem to be employing. "Real cozy place you picked us. Does it come with complementary parasite infestations?"

[info]Donovan suffers a -10 penalty from the Mist[/info]

Asta · January 17, 2020, 05:09:01 PM

Estella shoots a glance at him from the corner of her eye. "Look pendejo, you wanted a free low-key place to crash while we work this job. If you want to stay at the space Ritz-Carlton be my fucking guest."

Oath · January 20, 2020, 09:19:06 AM

"Home sweet home, I guess. What should our next step be? Should we try to stick together? Or split up to tackle what we need to get done."

pringerbeam · January 21, 2020, 01:01:52 PM

"Good question, but first maybe we should discuss this inside? Where it's... whatever it is exactly..." Replied Jetz with a look to Estela. "After you." He says with a jerk of his beak towards the door.

Asta · January 22, 2020, 12:52:41 PM

Estella cocked an eyebrow at Jetz, as if mocking him for being afraid of opening a door. She still opened it with caution, despite giving her compatriot a tongue lashing earlier for being skeptical.

pringerbeam · January 22, 2020, 01:19:19 PM

You entered into a dimly lit entryway. Sparsely decorated, the only obvious features were a door leading further in and a thickly reinforced window with curtains hiding what lay further in. As soon as the heavy security doors slammed shut behind you with a reverberating thud, the curtain shifted enough for a small camera to slither into view on a prehensile myomeric mount. You feel it scrutinize you all for a second and notice Jetz putting a nervous talon on the gun at his breast before a harsh voice comes in over a speaker hidden somewhere behind you. "You are Crabzilla's guests. Meet me inside." You hear the mechanical clicking of locks disengaging from the inner doors as the camera withdraws back behind the curtain.

Jetz, clearly even more unnerved by all this looked to the two of you. "I swear on an orangutan's nutsack if I get skinned alive and turned into some serial killers codpiece..."

Asta · January 27, 2020, 01:26:57 PM

"Oh quit your whining. What's the worst that can happen? We die... Again?" Estella replied, and proceeded to head through the door once it was possible.

pringerbeam · January 29, 2020, 12:59:39 PM

"Well..." Jetz started to say before you pass through the door. "Shit. Didn't see this coming." He finished as you ask step into a courtyard filled with various potted plants and lawn furniture and warmly lit by paper lanterns strung along the roof's edge.

"We're communists, not savages." You hear voiced from right behind you in that same harsh transmitted voice. This seems to have startled Jetz who squawks in surprise as he jumps up and promptly drops his gun in an attempt at trying to draw it. The clatter of the machine pistol punctuating the serene quiet of the courtyard.

Turning, you are met with a hulking serpentine synthmorph, its eyes glowing a dull red. The morph was larger than your average slitheroid, easily two heads above you in height, and possessing several extra sets of arms. It's primary(?) set of arms clasped in front of it as it leaned forward towards you all. It continued to speak "I am Sarah. Crabzilla said you would not know the ground rules. First, no violence. Second, respect the privacy of our comrades. Third, maintain the public spaces. Finally, no oppression of any other sapient beings. That includes taking advantage of any prostitutes forced to work under the oppressive yoke of the hypercorp. We're trying to bring some semblance of civilization to this godless capitalist hive. Understood?"

Asta · January 29, 2020, 07:38:36 PM

"Of course. You'll hardly know we were here." Estella replied, with a measured smile. "I'm sure these two agree." She motioned to Donovan and Jetz.

pringerbeam · January 30, 2020, 03:14:04 PM

"Ha Ha! Yeah no problems." Laughed Jetz nervously as he picked his gun back up. "Good." Replied Sarah as they loomed a bit closer to the party, their gaze focusing in on Jetz then other two of you in turn before returning to the avian. "You seem. Familiar." They said before rearing up to their full height, easily almost a meter above the two of you, even more for Jetz who even waddling upright on his feet was barely up to your waists. "Crabzilla's room is this way." Continued Sarah, as they began to slither across the courtyard with that uncanny silence that seems to have let them get the drop on you all.

Sarah leads you to the room and takes their leave as soon as they open the door, giving you directions to the communal kitchen and bathrooms before they go. The room is sparse with a bed, a couch, and a small table with an armchair. A single small window looks out onto the courtyard. After you all got inside, Jetz closed the door and put an ear to the door for a second. "Fuck that motherfucker creeps me the fuck out. Anyways, I guess back to Roland's question. Where to next?"