Move 11 (Chapter 1.11)

[yhlee]

Year 361, Month Three, Day Sixteen (Sunday), evening
Station Moongray

On the Station, at The Bar on Level Three: Virmad

[lleullawgyffes, it's up to you whether you want to say that Virmad gets caught up with Teo and/or matters on station overnight, or whether he will take care of matters with Teo quickly enough to join the others at the "Bumblebee" below.]

Per this thread, Teo has just greeted Virmad in the bar. To recap for your convenience:

The Bar on Level Three really is on Level Three. There are helpful directories pointing the way, but the fact that a number of people are heading there, and the cheerful clamor of people talking, and music, would have made it easy to find regardless.

The bartender is a trim woman with her hair hanging about her face in fantastic coils; the combs and hairpins look like they're about to escape. She's pouring a drink for a slouching Nirai technician when Virmad arrives. "You're new here," she says. "What can I get you?"

Kel Teo is sitting at a seat where he has a clear view of all exits. (Very Kel.) He's had a chance to change out of his uniform; he's wearing a sleek suit in shades of deep brown, and he's also embellished himself with gold-and-amber jewelry. He waves when he spots Virmad, smiling.

Teo adds that he's happy to pay for Virmad's drink--the first one, anyway, and some of the local grub. "I recommend the fried pork fritters with barbecue sauce," Teo says, "But maybe that's not ascetic enough fare for a Rahal?" (He's teasing.)


On the Station, on the "Bumblebee": Sulen, Sasha, Iawa, Alaric
Also probably: Ashari?, Mikodez?

Recap:
Remi has explained, at Sasha's insistence, that the baby moths were hatched in captivity from eggs stolen from the parents by a heptarchate expedition, and that the parents are likely dead. He claims that this all happened before he himself arrived on the station, and that he's been advocating for humane treatment of the baby moths.

Alaric has just explained that he discovered the Wasp's "moth" is a sentient starfaring being and has been communicating with it using pictures [Move 10].

Moving on:
Remi's response to this is to stare at Alaric in horror. "Do you seriously want me to believe that you were using a living being as your spaceship and didn't even check for sapience? I thought that was basic protocol...unless," and his expression sours, "it was convenient for people to hush it up?" He stares at Alaric. "Well, I can't blame it for wanting to adopt the young of its kind, but that's a high-security enclosure..."

[Remi might well be responsive to helping them kidnap the baby moths, assuming the whole conversation doesn't blow up in a completely different direction, but he's not going to offer unless someone else brings it up. There's plenty of opportunity for people to opine on what should be done about the baby moths, whether Alaric has been behaving appropriately, who Sasha should have notified, etc. If you need help brainstorming on your action, please let me know and I'll get back to you when I can; others players might also have thoughts.]


[GM suggests that Ashari and Mikodez could either have returned to the ship for the meeting with Remi, or else could teleconference in.

smokedetective: Ashari probably wants to be present in some form for the discussion, not least for possible/likely pending confrontation with Sasha per zuhrovet's notes. If teleconferencing, Istradez will be happy to cover for them with any pesky people.

pengwern: If Mikodez prefers not to be involved in this discussion, he could plausibly be investigating the nonresponsiveness of the Kel at the moment after they helped Sulen stow Gerae, or assigned to keep an eye on Gerae, who might be feeling confessional while everyone else is occupied.]

---

Active in Move 10: Sulen, Virmad, Sasha, Iawa, Alaric, Mikodez, Ashari

Inactive: Yehan, Ankat, Kaliyan

Comments

what was Remi even thinking?

[zuhrovet]

Sasha brings her tea into the common room and sits down again, a little bit farther from Sulen.

"So," she asks Remi, "you contacted us because you were concerned about the treatment of the baby moths, but you didn't make plans to extract them. What, precisely, were you expecting to happen?"

Re: what was Remi even thinking?

[yhlee]

"I was hoping," Remi says, bristling like an affronted cat, "to barter my expertise in exchange for your organization's assistance in opening up a hole back to gate-space and returning them to their native habitat after they were old enough to survive. I can't open a way to gate-space myself with the resources I have available on the station. And as long as the moths are too immature to fly on their own, Vana will probably follow my guidelines and exercise some restraint in taking care of them. The expedition's notes indicated that there are predators that eat moths in their native habitat. They appear to be young by the standards of their kind. I honestly wasn't expecting you to show up with a moth of your own, let alone one that wanted to adopt the mothlings immediately."

Re: what was Remi even thinking?

[zuhrovet]

"Well. Our only path to gate space is our moth. Would you like to explain exactly what the high security consists of?"

Re: what was Remi even thinking?

[venndaai]

[Sulen is angrily shotgunning coffee, and thinking longingly about the whiskey. Also, beginning to imagine a horrible future where Remi and Sasha release Mothra into the wild and strand everyone here. And seriously wishing Ashari were here, or really anyone else.]

Re: what was Remi even thinking?

[smokedetective]

Ashari leans against the doorway for a couple of moments, quietly watching the scene unfold. The problem with a cover as an artist was that it had the unforyunate side effect of them getting a little too into it. And now this. For someone who made a living managing other people’s time tables, they should really get better at managing their own.

This whole deal with the moths was.... news. Not necessarily good news. But they couldn’t afford to act like they had been out of the loop.

“Barter your expertise?” they say finally, trying to put as much amusement as they could into those three words.

it's a date!

[lleullawgyffes]

[since I'm 75 comments behind I'd be happy to let Virmad obliviously wander in the next morning to whatever chaos Remi has left in his wake. (EDIT: I mean, maybe he'll totally ruin things with Teo, so I guess we'll see, but.) if we need to make a hasty exit before then, I assume they have some means of contacting Virmad that will be sufficiently disruptive of...whatever he's doing that it will get his attention and get him moving.]

“We aren’t all cloistered calendrical theorists, or high-minded magistrates,” Virmad says with a laugh. “Pork fritters sound fine. Was the rest of your day reasonably productive? What do they actually have you doing on this station, most of the time? I can’t imagine your services are needed for station security every single day.”

Re: it's a date!

[yhlee]

"What, all Rahal aren't identical?" Teo says with a wink. He calls out to the bartender and puts in a double order of pork fritters and a recommended beer [unless Virmad indicates that he wants something else to drink].

He thinks about Virmad's questions for a moment. "To be honest, most of my job would be extremely boring if I were a more action-oriented Kel. When there are rift visitors, I keep an eye on them--that's no secret. Our prior visitor, that ship that's been hanging around, is one example. Standoffish bunch, didn't like them much, but then it's not my job to handle first contact." He shrugs.

"On a daily basis, I oversee the people who keep an eye on the security feeds. And I read the research digests. I don't have the background to follow the gory details, of course, but I was reasonably good at science in academy--for a Kel, anyway." Teo grins.

"How about you? Has your day been productive? I heard you ran into our...local disgrace." He grimaces, clearly referring to Gerae.

Re: it's a date!

[lleullawgyffes]

[Virmad will have a beer, I think, but probably not more than one.]

“Oh, we have our share of differences,” Virmad says. “Some of us actually have lives outside of work. Some of us even have hobbies, shocking though that might seem to an ordinary citizen.”

[then, re Teo's description of his work:] “Sounds enthralling,” he says with a laugh. “I’ve never really had a head for the kind of higher math the Nirai — and even parts of my own faction — are always going on about. My work is usually a little more hands-on, in that it generally involves dealing directly with legal issues rather than calendrical mechanics.”

He pauses then, trying to figure out how much he should say about his work day — that is, how much it would be appropriate for him to comment on what is at least ostensibly an open investigation. “I’m not sure,” he says finally, “how productive or unproductive it was. We did encounter the esteemed former magistrate” — he uses an “honorific” indicating deprecation or irony — “and his pet. I probably shouldn’t say too much about an ongoing investigation, but I will say, I don’t think this one will be ongoing for much longer.”

He allows himself to grimace slightly. “You’d have a better sense than I would — how’s the local population handling the news?”

Then he checks himself. “No, never mind, forget I asked — the work day’s over. I prefer to try, at least, to maintain some kind of...what’s the phrase...‘work-life balance’, I think they call it. When I can. What do you do for fun? There can’t be too many diversions on a station this size — although with Nirai I suppose one never knows.”

Re: it's a date!

[yhlee]

[Smart man, Virmad. *g* Teo has already had one but probably won't have more than two.]

"What kinds of hobbies do you have? Especially when you're traveling?" Teo says. "Doesn't look like a lot of room on that ship you came on."

[re: the investigation] "I won't say anything to prejudice you regarding the investigation," Teo says, "but I don't think it will matter one way or another if I tell you that Magistrate Gerae's attachment to that little lizardling is quite sincere."

He's clearly glad to leave the subject of Gerae and talk about something more fun. "As you might have guessed from Magistrate Gerae's example, there are a lot of pets. Or pet plants. Half the problem with the space slime molds..." Teo glances around, then lowers his voice conspiratorially. "The administrator allows it because her people get squirrely without things to do, but there are competing breeding programs to breed faster, hardier slime molds. Not because they're useful, but because of the local slime mold races. There's betting, too."

Teo shrugs. "Or if you're more of a traditionalist, we watch the dueling championships when they're broadcast, and the dramas. Or there's always the firing range"--his teeth flash--"but I don't know that everyone considers that fun." He regards Virmad speculatively. "I don't suppose you're a duelist...?"

It's a good thing I'm not Kel, because then this would be a Powerpoint

[zuhrovet]

[Wiki notes on the ongoing attempt to form an escape plan. Happy to make corrections as needed!]

Re: It's a good thing I'm not Kel, because then this would be a Powerpoint

[yhlee]

[Thank you for this, and I apologize for my own delinquency. We ordered pizza for dinner two hours ago (I have con crud so was not up for cooking) and it still has not arrived. My husband gave up and made pasta, but I'm waiting until I have actual blood sugar (and a brain) before I respond to anything.]

Re: It's a good thing I'm not Kel, because then this would be a Powerpoint

[zuhrovet]

[Honestly I am awed you were still typing in complete sentences. The ability to skip meals without wanting to kill everyone any more than usual is my character's most blatant wish-fulfillment trait.]

OT: food

[yhlee]

[I react horribly to low blood sugar! Mainly in the form of becoming completely unable to think. It's really sad. :p ]

[brainstorming for escape, continued]

[yhlee]

[Okay, here are some thoughts for the group, especially venndaai and lleullawgyffes. Feel free to nab any ideas from this, or to use them as springboards for your own thoughts. I'm not personally attached to anything here. :)

As Rahal, even Rahal from another timeline, Sulen and Virmad can always appeal to higher authority. So if they uncovered a horrifying heresy or irregularity, they can always say, "You guys are in big trouble and we need to consult with higher-up Rahal." There are no higher-up Rahal at Station Moongray, but there are definitely higher-up Rahal elsewhere in the march. They can use this as an escape to order the "Bumblebee" to leave the station.

In particular, especially if they lock up Gerae (or otherwise secure his cooperation), Sulen and Virmad can claim that questioning Gerae has uncovered a deep-seated heresy (they can handwave this) that they need to take to higher-up Rahal.

If you want to extract Remi and/or the mothlings, maybe they can frame Remi as also being involved in this heresy, something that questioning Gerae has only now uncovered. It is entirely plausible (to Nirai, anyway) that weird Lovecraftian monsters that muck about with the space-time continuum would screw with the high calendar. Sulen and Virmad could arrest Remi and confiscate the mothlings "for further study by higher-ups." They'd have to move fast--Vana in particular is going to be an obstacle--but Ashari might be able to intimidate Vana into cover-your-ass mode.

This also has the advantage of not antagonizing Kel Teo, whose natural inclination is going to be to defer to authority. Alaric and Remi can probably fake up some kind of plausible-looking report showing the mothlings' corrosive effect on the high calendar, and Sasha would be able to hack the system to plant the evidence in Remi and Vana's data.

Mikodez is established as on-station until the very early next morning, so you probably want to plan for the escape to happen after that so he can be extracted too. :p Pragmatically, you'd probably need the night to set all this up anyway.

And if Iawa is keen on using that first aid kit, I'm sure we can arrange for an injury in the course of the escape so they can demonstrate their skills! :)

I hope some of this is helpful--please let me know if you have other questions. I'll remain active in the brainstorming to help y'all out.]

Re: [brainstorming for escape, continued]

[venndaai]

[That’s GREAT, thank you so much!]

Re: [brainstorming for escape, continued]

[yhlee]

[No problem, glad to help! :D]

Re: [brainstorming for escape, continued]

[lleullawgyffes]

[agreed, this sounds perfect! I would love for Virmad and Teo to part ways on good terms still.]

[pengwern]

While waiting for the last of his fishing attempts into Station Moongray's encrypted files to fail, Mikodez starts to idly assign stats to his current position. In his inventory is a Lack of Snacks. On the Wasp, the approval of the crew remains fairly low, with Ashari one of the higher ones (in their own ineffable Andan fashion), while his own impressions of them in return -- well, if only he could figure out what Imsayed was meant to reference.

The Kel are two, the Rahal as well. Two cannons, two towers. There was bound to be some game with this number of pieces - take Sasha and Alaric as the equivalent of Nirai, that left one obvious Andan, himself for the Shuos, and no obvious Vidona. The three left could be keeping their faction affiliations hidden, or they could be regular citizens. Rebels. Regular, run of the mill heretics. But who's playing, and to what end? Was the one crew member who vanished prior to the Wasp's journey through the rift an eaten piece?

Far simpler to assume he's the player of this simulation, with an occasional surveillant here and there. Improbable, glitchy cousin Imsayed for one, and that straightforward announcement of Instructor Zehun's appearance as 'Andan' Bokali for another. Sometimes Mikodez had his doubts about whether Crowned with Eyes existed as a signifier, or if it was just easier to use it as an excuse to purge inconvenient Shuos. He couldn't think of anything he or the Vauhans had done to warrant this, but it's probably too much to expect fairness from the Hexarchate.

As he reviews what little he could glean, Mikodez pauses at the amount of supplies coming in. Animal research that needed to be carried out on a station, rather than more efficiently on a planet. What was Remi's research on, again? He pulls up a schematic map of the station, matches it with scan that the Wasp had taken earlier, and tries to locate the regions he hadn't seen on tour with where the directory says Remi's lab is, and the distance from that to the dance studio where Ashari and Bokali presumably wait.

[HI yay a Remi glad to see the interstellar tea party continues with 0 poisonings Mikodez has to go get mauled by moth babies or fake Andan now bye]

[vass]

[On the Wasp any minute now...
"Wait a minute, where's the kid?"
"What do you mean? I thought he was with you!"
"Oh shit, we left him on the station!"]

[zuhrovet]

[Also, how is Ankat going to react when we point out that the range is the only room where the ventilation meets code for radioactive occupants, and will he still bring us the special bubble tea?]

[yhlee]

[I have received no response from Ankat's player so he's continuing inactive, but as a GM call I don't think he's going to take it well. :p ]

[yhlee]

[I expect this to dissolve into hilarity soon. *g* ]

[pengwern]

[,,,,the Home Alone kid got into Shuos Academy on early decision. (Anyone on the Wasp want to strand Mikodez on Station Moongray yet)
Remi won't be happy if the crew goes William Tell with the mothlings, but maybe they could be taught to do Kel appropriate tricks.]

[yhlee]

There are indeed sections of Remi's lab that don't match up with what the public directory claims. The dance studio is, interestingly, just below it on another level. You could plausibly eavesdrop on the lab from the dance studio if you ran a bug up there.

[pengwern]

Mikodez mimics the hunch of a fifth year cadet at the end of the year (minus the faction-red sclera from the occasional smoke bomb) as he takes a scenic route to the dance studio, face bent over his tablet while he keeps searching for accessible local systems. The handful of Space USBs he'd filched off printers and desks during the tour, which he planned to dump on Sasha when he got back to the Wasp, had been filled on first glance with nothing more than presentation and poster files.

There was one clandestine betting file on "races" for something that required breeding records and list of occupied names. He decides to stay on that line of investigation - there was no indication of what type of organism in question was being raised, and while the order forms for biologicals looked official enough, who knew what the Nirai, even simulation Nirai, did in their spare time.

His attempts are mostly directed towards finding shared data folders that could be disrupted, equiptment inventories for anything that resembled weaponry, and holding cells, and he tries one last time to inveigle his way into surviellance records from the docking bays.

The mention of a Pentarchate had to be a reminder of what the stakes were, as well as a gauge of his attachment to the Shuos, but Mikodez did want to see if the simulation was detailed enough to come up with a logo for Vidona-Kel. Floofy stingrays? Ashhawks with bodies that morph into flappy mint semi-circles?

As an afterthought, he looks up Andan Bokali’s record.

[To GM, it’s probably reasonable to have all of this be over his skill level, but I think Bokali, like Remi would have some publically available stuff? I can’t recall what Mikodez knew from Ashari/Sasha about Remi, so. I’m fishing for merchickens.]