Move 9 (Ch. 1.9)

[yhlee]

Year 361, Month Three, Day Sixteen (Sunday), evening / day Seventeen (Monday), morning

On the station's carapace
The ammunition drone reports to whoever is listening that it has not exactly caught a spacegoing slime mold; rather, the slime mold has clogged up its legs and it's clinging rather precariously to the station's carapace. It is requesting, as forlornly as a nonsentient drone can, that somebody repair it. Until someone does something, it's...stuck.

On the station, during Mikodez and Iawa's science tour
Pavn, having noted Iawa's interest in the question of sonciousness, adds, "If you like, the researcher is probably busy at this hour, and he's in one of the classified labs, but I think that research assistant is currently off-shift. I could introduce you to her, if you like. She's always happy to talk about philosophical questions."

On the station, during Sasha, Yehan, and Alaric's science tour
Pavn looks quizzically at Yehan during the tour. "You remind me of some of the other visitors we've had recently," he says, in a friendly enough fashion. "You may have caught sight of their ship on the way in. Granted, phenotypes can be so misleading. Where did you say you were from?"

On the station, visitor's lounge, later
Sasha and Alaric are debating over carbon-fiber sculpture aesthetics when a ping comes in from the lokwor to indicate that Sasha's program has picked up more information on Remi. [Edit: sorry, hit post too soon.] He's not in his lab, but has signed out a spacesuit and has apparently gone for a walk outside the station. The lokwor has no idea why--it wasn't able to ferret out that information without Sasha's hacking guidance.

On the station, Rahal Gerae's office
Armed with an extra slate containing information about Rahal Gerae's known black market dealings, Sulen and Virmad head to Rahal Gerae's office. [Feel free to insert any preparations you may have wanted to make beforehand in a thread of its own.] The door is neatly labeled in a peculiarly Rahal style of calligraphy, recognizable despite the drift of time. There is a potted plant outside the door, its elongated flowers wilting.

More problematically, the door isn't locked. It appears to be stuck halfway open.

On the station, Nirai Alissa's dance studio
Before Ashari can say anything one way or the other to Alissa, a short man, dark-skinned, their shaven head covered with gold mesh-tattoos, stomps out of the office. He glares at Ashari. "I always knew you would be sucking up to any 'artists' who showed up on the station," he says. "Excuse me. I'm artist-designate Kwor, and I simply must demand that you authenticate yourself."

Alissa closes her eyes and looks pained. "Ah, yes," she says, "our resident artist-designate..." She leaves it at that.

[An artist-designate is basically the station's arts & entertainment coordinator, and in particular it means that Kwor is not an Andan but sort of secondary artist hired through the Andan, because a real Andan couldn't be arsed to come out to this posting.]

[Also note that Istradez is lurking in the background in this scene, if you need to borrow him.]

On the station, bubble tea stand 4:30 Monday morning
The bubble tea cafe is already open, or maybe always open, based on its sign. Mikodez and anyone else who decides to come here will notice several people sipping their bubble tea or coffee in a small area with seats and tables and decorative floating lanterns. There are many flavor shots offered, from mango to orange creme to root beer.

The barista frowns when she sees Mikodez. "Excuse me," she says. "Where are your parents?"

---

Character status
- Active characters as of last post: Sasha, Alaric, Yehan, Sulen, Virmad, Ashari, Mikodez, Iawa

- Currently inactive: Ankat, Kaliyan
Inactive players should feel free either to jump in wherever it feels logical, or to message me asking for an updated storyline so they can rejoin in a graceful fashion.

Comments

paging virmad

[venndaai]

[Are there any preparations we want to make? I think Sulen's ready to go straight there.]

Re: paging virmad

[lleullawgyffes]

[Virmad wants to talk about the meeting Teo thing, but he's probably as happy if not happier to do that in the magistrate's office.]

Re: paging virmad

[venndaai]

[onwards, then.]

Sulen comes to a stop six feet from the office, when they see that the door's open. They stand very still, trying to hear if there's anyone inside. They gesture at Virmad to go around to the other side of the door.

Science tour: paging Yehan

[zuhrovet]

It had been a favorite game among the Junior Mining Engineers to see how long you could spend telling Sasha she wasn't really Naxorian before she tried to hit you. By the age of 14 her record was around 35 minutes [more like 20 if you're not keeping hexarchate time]. "You look less Naxorian than this completely Kirrish person standing next to you" is new in Sasha's experience, though, and she's surprised how much it stings. She stares fixedly at the art display in front of her-- it's an infinite arrangement of circles, somewhere between bubbles and spiderwebs-- and hopes Yehan has a lie in readiness.

Re: Science tour: paging Yehan

[yhlee]

Pavn's eyes flicker to Sasha. His expression doesn't change, but it's likely that he's noticed something about her reaction, whether or not he knows the exact reason.

Re: Science tour: paging Yehan

[yehan]

Yehan's heart stops for only a tiny moment when Pavn addresses her. She hasn't been out in the field for way too long, she thinks ruefully, but knowing of the Rosemallow ship's presence beforehand she'd already had time to think about how to answer this question. She names a small, heavily populated planet on the other side of the hexarchate from Naxarat, one she spent some time on during her research on minority linguistics. Even if Pavn happens to be familiar with it, her feigned accent fits the story well enough. "I didn't recognize the ship you mentioned, though," she adds, hoping that ends the line of questioning.

The whole interaction makes her uneasy. Naxorians and Kirrish folk aren't easily mistaken for one another. Are there Kirrish people on board the Rosemallow ship? And--this is what makes her particularly anxious--in what kind of capacity? All these time jumps and alternate timelines are confusing, but she doesn't trust a Naxorian from any time or place too much. Some times and places, though, are notoriously worse to be Kirrish than others.

Re: Science tour: paging Yehan

[yhlee]

"No reason you should recognize the ship, I suppose," Pavn says. His face is turned away from her at the moment as he leans over to examine a mysterious set of petri dishes and their numbered labels. "Some of them looked very similar to you, though." Pavn straightens and smiles self-deprecatingly. "It's a big universe? They definitely had some very interesting tech, although apparently not compatible with our local calendar. It was causing them no end of conniptions last I heard."

Witty Commentary

[slybrarian]

[Wow, look at that list of character locations. Don't you know, you never split the party. Clerics in the back, keep the fighters hale and hearty....]

Re: Witty Commentary

[yhlee]

[LOL, I won't total party kill unless y'all ask for it for whatever reason...]

Re: Witty Commentary

[zuhrovet]

[I was just contemplating the drama caused by the fact that Alaric has the highest CHA score on our science tour. Where's Istradez when you need him?]

more serious planning

[zuhrovet]

[Looks to me as if, assuming they survive the tour, Sasha and Alaric need to head back to the ship shortly thereafter to investigate Remi and the errant drone. I'm assuming that leaving the ship again triggers another security scan, so somebody needs to sleep in the visitors' quarters with our cache of illegal weapons. Unless talifabian has a better idea, I'm thinking that means Ankat.

Sasha's set of heretical superstitions includes "you shouldn't drink by yourself" and, at a higher level of difficulty, "you shouldn't pour your own alcohol"; getting a shot of whiskey is becoming its own minor quest.]

Back on the ship: paging Yehan and Alaric

[zuhrovet]

That evening, Sasha drags Alaric and Yehan back to the ship, and Yehan at least up to the galley. She puts whatever image she can glean of Remi's space walk on a monitor, and makes a mug of very sweet tea.

"Yehan, would you mind alerting Ashari and the Kel of Remi's movements? And I'm going to pull the Rosemallow crew list and cargo for you. I didn't hear them talking about any Kirrish on board, but there's something weird happening, definitely. Really, let me know whenever you want data? You're the actual intelligence analyst, here."

Sasha does as promised and then starts trying to figure out what Remi is doing: can she guess where he is going? Does she have any way to get a message to his suit without alerting the station?

Re: Back on the ship: paging Yehan and Alaric

[yhlee]

It looks like Remi is headed toward some instrumentation affixed to the station's carapace. What its purpose is, she's not exactly sure. She can try to message his suit without the station listening in, although they might be able to trace if afterwards if they get suspicious.

Worldbuilding: crew list categories

[zuhrovet]

[I'm starting to suspect that the Rosemallow crew list won't follow a pattern Sasha knows at all. But here are the categories of House associates she'd expect to see on a crew list:

• House shareholders
  
• House employees
  
• House-supported. This includes children, as well as anyone else receiving room, board, and clothing but not drawing a formal salary. Much of Sasha's parents' household fell into this category.
  
• Indentured servants.
  

There's a fifth category, for individuals whose financial or moral debt was so great it could only be discharged by the sacrifice of legal personhood; such people would be on the cargo list, which is why Sasha's grabbing both.

Sasha would only describe people in the fifth category as slaves; I'm assuming that Yehan, and for that matter the Kirrish Liberation Front in Sasha's day, would draw the line differently. (Sasha takes a lot of awful things for granted; if this starts becoming stressful in out-of-character ways, or if you want an excuse to take her to task in-character, do let me know.)]

During the science tour (paging mod, attn Sasha)

[vass]

"I would be delighted to make her acquaintance at the end of the tour," Iawa says.

While Pavn continues to explain some detail or other to Avrayen, Iawa receives Sasha's message about mold cleanser. It doesn't sound that urgent, cleaning mold off something, but Sasha knew Iawa and Avrayen were on the tour, it might be a pretext to get them over where she is. And besides, Iawa's cover is a general ship hand, it's supposed to be their job to run come and go when they're called.

As Pavn is about to continue to the next section of the tour, Iawa says "Actually, is Supply near here? There are some things I'd like to pick up if I could, and if I do it now while I remember, it won't matter if our talk with the research assistant should run on."

They want a first aid kit as well as the sputter -- one small enough that it can be concealed in their clothing, but still useful for stabilising critical injuries long enough to get a person to better trained people with better equipment.

The longer they're on the station, the more the reality of this mission and its dangers is sinking in [no one ever accused Iawa of being a slow learner, but they should have] and they're scared. It's occurring to them now that until Sasha messaged them, they couldn't have known for sure that all the other Wasp crew but Avrayen hadn't disappeared into another rift and left them stranded here.

Maybe they'd better not tell Pavn specifically what they want, the first aid kit or the sputter.

They want to touch the pouch under their clothing where the mirrorweight web piece is. They hold their hands by their sides instead.

[Let's say all Vidona cadets learn some first aid as a general faction education requirement, whether or not they're going into medicine]

Re: During the science tour (paging mod, attn Sasha)

[yhlee]

Pavn's expression is sympathetic. "Ah, so you're their equivalent of a graduate student, heh? Not a problem. Supply will be happy to provide you with basics."

[Vidona cadets and first aid, sounds good.]

Supply is staffed by a taciturn alt who appears to have replaced most of their face with implants. It gives them the appearance of wearing an ornate, jeweled insect-mask. They offer Iawa a choice of three different first aid kits, two of which are Nirai standard and one of which is designed for field use in combat. "Kel surplus," the alt says in a dolorous voice. "We always get stuck with Kel surplus." They also give basic instructions on how to use the splutter, with a better you than me tone to their voice.

After Iawa has grabbed whatever they need from Supply, Pavn asks, "Do you want to see more labs, or head to the research assistant? I think she usually grabs coffee and a taro cake around now."

Artist credentials (paging Sasha? also GM?)

[smokedetective]

[Sorry, I've been out of it for way too long! Going to try and jump back in. I don't wanna break the flow of what's going though, and was wondering if either credentials are something Sasha would have forged in advance or if Ashari can call Sasha up and demand credentials lmao?

Failing that, does Kwar belong to a faction, and if not, does that automatically put him Ashari in perceived social status if it comes to, say, enthralling him?]

Re: Artist credentials (paging Sasha? also GM?)

[zuhrovet]

[I think you should definitely enthrall him. Or at least let your eyes glow a little and threaten it.

On the boring and pedestrian front, you probably showed some sort of identity documents on arrival?]

Re: Artist credentials (paging Sasha? also GM?)

[yhlee]

[Kwar doesn't belong to a faction. While he does have some standing as someone officially appointed by the Andan, an actual Andan will outrank him. He'll be stubborn about it, but you can have fun browbeating him. *g*

Per below, Sasha would have forged credentials in advance and station security didn't blink at them, so you're in the clear.]

messages from Sasha, 20:25 Sunday: paging command, Sulen, Iawa

[zuhrovet]

Sasha sends the following lokwor messages. They're encrypted, but she's not sure who might be reading over people's shoulders.

To the Captain (Kaliyan)

where are you?

To Andan Rii (Ashari), cc assistant (Imsayed/Istradez)

A Nirai who indicates interest in potential artistic collaboration is visiting Bumblebee at 21:00. Would you like to show him your project?

To Anaz (Ankat)

have lead on possible passenger. meeting soon, will fill you in tomorrow morning.

To Rahal Dar Chresh (Sulen)

I found the accounting software you asked for. Understand that was urgent; please return to Bumblebee for installation at your earliest convenience.~Tech. Bayan.

To Jaghan (Iawa)

could really use some help cleaning ship from reception. please come back asap.

She can't figure out how to send a message to Virmad that's appropriate reading for the middle of a date with the chief of security (the logic of this decision escapes Sasha, but perhaps Virmad can keep Teo from checking surveillance logs for a few hours?)

Re: messages from Sasha, 20:25 Sunday: paging command, Sulen, Iawa

[vass]

[Iawa's gathering background on Remi, will receive this page after or during that conversation, depending on how said background-gathering interview goes, and then rejoin the party asap. I know I'm really slow, thank you for being patient.]

20:35 Sunday: panic: rebellion research edition

[zuhrovet]

Ten minutes after sending her messages, Sasha feels the familiar catch of adrenaline as she breathes in and out. She hasn't heard back from anyone yet, and Yehan's gone somewhere quiet to analyze the Rosemallow crew list. Sasha's becoming increasingly concerned that she and Alaric will be talking to Remi on their own. On the bright side, if she fucks this up, maybe Pavn will kill her before the rebellion can.

If they do manage to extract Remi and the baby moths, whom will Sasha have to explain to? Crow? Or was Crow just the spokesperson? Remi doesn't strike Sasha as the sort of person who will be satisfied with an explanation like, "We'll fly through the rift and talk to... someone."

Sasha runs a search on all the personnel files, looking for Crow's name, or repeated evaluative comments from some other person. Then she pulls up Ashari's files and skims through them in reverse time order, trying to determine whether Ashari's missions have been directed by the same person or group of people.

Re: messages from Sasha, 20:25 Sunday: paging command, Sulen, Iawa

[smokedetective]

Ashari: Will be there.

In the land of milk and honey iced tea

[pengwern]

A glance around at the cafe showed several individuals in the same solid neutrals Mikodez was wearing, and no-one on the ship had looked at his side braid oddly. He was ninety percent convinced that he stood in ancient times, so maybe an antique false beard...?

"No matter what they've been complaining about, my cousin's only in loco parentis, you know," he tries. He has his pad, a stylus, and a hangdog expression of bleakness in the best note-taking form, and was prepared to sit there all day long to give random passersby an opportunity to accost him.

[If Remi boarded the Bumblebee overnight, then there's not quite as much reason for him to stay put, besides the desserts.]

Re: In the land of milk and honey iced tea

[yhlee]

[Let's introduce some complications so that the Bumblebee can't escape overnight before Mikodez gets to have some fun with overly concerned baristas. :) Let's have a bit of foreshadowing.]

"Still," the barista says primly. "Some of the, ah, supplemental drugs available in the drinks are not appropriate for youngsters. If you're looking to get high while your cousin isn't paying attention, you've come to the wrong place. We take station regulations very seriously."

Some of the onlookers are shifting and stirring in bemusement. It seems entirely possible that Mikodez has run afoul of the single barista who actually cares about the regs.

Just then a woman with prismatic lenses runs up, panting. "Gehera," she says to the barista, rather rudely cutting in front of Mikodez, "have you seen Remi anywhere? I can't get a hold of him and we have...an emergency."