Move 20 (Chapter 1.20)
Apr. 11th, 2018 09:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yhlee posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
hexarchate_rpg[Sorry for the delay!]
EDITED ONE MORE TIME: the escape plan, for easy reference.
Move 20
Year 361, Month Three, Day Seventeen (Monday), ~05:75
Just outside of Medical
The mothling Crowned-with-Eyes is continuing to purr rapturously from within Mikodez's pack, which is in Alaric's possession. Fluffy has finally piped down--maybe napping, who knows what her sleep cycles are? Mikodez is currently under Alaric's watch (so to speak). [The GM strongly suggests that players cooperate to keep Mikodez from escaping yet again as I'd like to get y'all off this station! *g* ]
Sulen gets to check their lokwor, which contains an updated message from Ashari reiterating that everyone should return to the Wasp ASAP. Ashari adds, rather ominously, that they authorize Sulen to "use any necessary force" to round up crew members; they would like Sulen and Virmad to contact the administrator from the Wasp once the two of them are on the moth again.
A thoroughly exasperated-looking male nurse (the one Alaric spoke to earlier) wheels Istradez (NPC) out on a float chair, accompanied by Iawa, whom the nurse has entrusted with further instructions for Istradez's care. Istradez looks like he's seen better days, and Iawa notices that his mind seems to be wandering again--a lingering concussion effect? It's too bad that the nurse seems thoroughly determined to get rid of them all and heads back into Medical at the first opportunity.
Sasha, accompanied by Ankat (NPC), can meet our merry adventurers just outside Medical, if she likes.
"Bumblebee" status
Kaliyan (NPC) is manning the cockpit. Ashari (NPC) has left the office [edit, continuity, sorry about that]. Yehan (NPC) is currently manning comms as well. The Wasp itself is currently quiescent, no doubt chewing away on magic squares (which Sasha gave it to think about in Move 19). Gerae is contained (for the moment) in his makeshift cell; video surveillance will reveal that he is slowly drinking his Space Nescafe, making everything last and looking as if it's the best coffee he's ever had.
After giving orders to crew members on the station, Ashari seeks out Virmad in the galley and tells him that they expect him and Sulen to prepare to call the administrator on the station so they can get the hell out of here as per the plan as soon as Sulen and the rest of the crew is back. Ashari suggests that Virmad draft the communication for Sulen's approval and adds, "Did you find out anything useful from Teo? Don't be shy, darling, every little bit helps."
EDITED ONE MORE TIME: the escape plan, for easy reference.
Move 20
Year 361, Month Three, Day Seventeen (Monday), ~05:75
Just outside of Medical
The mothling Crowned-with-Eyes is continuing to purr rapturously from within Mikodez's pack, which is in Alaric's possession. Fluffy has finally piped down--maybe napping, who knows what her sleep cycles are? Mikodez is currently under Alaric's watch (so to speak). [The GM strongly suggests that players cooperate to keep Mikodez from escaping yet again as I'd like to get y'all off this station! *g* ]
Sulen gets to check their lokwor, which contains an updated message from Ashari reiterating that everyone should return to the Wasp ASAP. Ashari adds, rather ominously, that they authorize Sulen to "use any necessary force" to round up crew members; they would like Sulen and Virmad to contact the administrator from the Wasp once the two of them are on the moth again.
A thoroughly exasperated-looking male nurse (the one Alaric spoke to earlier) wheels Istradez (NPC) out on a float chair, accompanied by Iawa, whom the nurse has entrusted with further instructions for Istradez's care. Istradez looks like he's seen better days, and Iawa notices that his mind seems to be wandering again--a lingering concussion effect? It's too bad that the nurse seems thoroughly determined to get rid of them all and heads back into Medical at the first opportunity.
Sasha, accompanied by Ankat (NPC), can meet our merry adventurers just outside Medical, if she likes.
"Bumblebee" status
Kaliyan (NPC) is manning the cockpit. Ashari (NPC) has left the office [edit, continuity, sorry about that]. Yehan (NPC) is currently manning comms as well. The Wasp itself is currently quiescent, no doubt chewing away on magic squares (which Sasha gave it to think about in Move 19). Gerae is contained (for the moment) in his makeshift cell; video surveillance will reveal that he is slowly drinking his Space Nescafe, making everything last and looking as if it's the best coffee he's ever had.
After giving orders to crew members on the station, Ashari seeks out Virmad in the galley and tells him that they expect him and Sulen to prepare to call the administrator on the station so they can get the hell out of here as per the plan as soon as Sulen and the rest of the crew is back. Ashari suggests that Virmad draft the communication for Sulen's approval and adds, "Did you find out anything useful from Teo? Don't be shy, darling, every little bit helps."
Re: In the medbay - paging Iawa, Istradez/GM
Date: 2018-05-01 03:45 pm (UTC)Ankat comes up to Iawa. "I can take it from here," he said. "I've done some field medicking, if you have other duties to attend to."
[Does this work for you,
Re: In the medbay - paging Iawa, Istradez/GM
Date: 2018-05-01 05:53 pm (UTC)Sasha looks at Iawa, at Ankat, at the box in front of her, and back at Iawa. "Can we talk about this over tea?"
[Pretty sure some sort of medical pods were on the initial list of Wasp equipment, should we want one later.]
Re: In the medbay - paging Iawa, Istradez/GM
Date: 2018-05-01 09:03 pm (UTC)[Yup, there are two medical pods to "freeze" patients in case of emergency, as listed here on the Wiki.]
In the medbay, steadily becoming more awkward - paging Iawa
Date: 2018-05-02 12:22 am (UTC)Oh, nested hells. Ankat's technically second-in-command right now; he knows Sasha's supposed to be talking to Mishka, and he must also know that Iawa trained with the Vidona. Sasha can't blame him for not wanting to get involved. It's not like that, she thinks at him. But who the fuck knows what it will be like, if Mishka can't stop acting like this is a giant game, and Ashari decides to intervene.
"Avrayen asked me whether what Imsayed told him was true," she says to Iawa. "Do you have any idea what that was?"
Indecision is Iawa's best stat
Date: 2018-05-04 03:17 pm (UTC)She brews the tea. If Avrayen's motive for attacking Imsayed is that Imsayed is his brother, that's information she shouldn't hold back. But if Imsayed knows Avrayen attacked him, and still doesn't want that information revealed... or wait, no, there are all sorts of reasons, good and bad, why he might be keeping quiet, other than free choice.
Iawa wishes she'd paid more attention to those magistrate dramas her father liked. Wasn't there a plot in one of those in which revealing the secret deprived the killer of his motivation for attacking again? One of these people is in no shape to make decisions or give answers, and the other one is apparently an ill-intentioned violent liar.
In a well run state this would be where she should turn over what she knows to the authorities, but the state is not well-run, this small group of revolutionaries is possibly also not well-run, and Sasha seems competent, but that's not the same as having her interests aligned with Iawa, or Imsayed, or the greatest good for the greatest number.
On the other hand, Iawa has recently had some lessons in how competent she herself isn't. Someone's life is at risk. Everyone's life, potentially.
She finishes whisking the tea powder forty-nine times, and clears her throat. "First of all, Imsayed had a pre-existing head injury, and I gather he hadn't told Ashari about it. Maybe hadn't told anyone in the resistance. And wasn't seeing a doctor about it either. Concussions can be... cumulative. Even after healing, you're more vulnerable to new ones. He told me he likes his privacy, and I'm violating that by telling you because I think he's put us all at risk by going into a dangerous situation without telling anyone."
She gulps some tea. "Which brings me to your question. Again, that's Imsayed's private business, but if Avrayen attacked him for it... He said Avrayen was his brother. Or rather, he blurted it out then immediately tried to hide it again. I don't know why they both want to keep that a secret, but that's the information I have."
Another gulp of tea, then a deep breath. "And in return for that... What's going to happen to Avrayen?"
high INT/low WIS is the most fashionable build
Date: 2018-05-04 10:21 pm (UTC)Iawa won't know which files she's supposed to have access to, and it's easy to flash Imsayed's onto the coffee-table display, just for a moment. The name is different, unsurprisingly, and the birth date-- Sasha double-checks with Mishka's file, and confirms Mishka and Imsayed (Strashik?) started out much closer in age than they seem now.
She's stalling, and Iawa surely notices. "About Avrayen: I don't know. I locked him into my room and took my own stuff out, since that's easier than hunting down all his Shuos toys. Ashari said that we should scare him, but not break him. But I don't know what that means. Ashari plays with their dagger like it's a fidget spinner. But I don't like making threats I wouldn't follow through on. And Avrayen-- he has fucked up very badly."
black tea goes with everything
Date: 2018-05-07 12:00 pm (UTC)Eight hells, there's an entire set of journals at the bottom, and those don't look like heptarchate dates. Someone's going to have to go through them.
"I need to give this box to Yehan," she tells Iawa. "And then talk to Avrayen." Waiting will not make this better.
[I'd like to set things up so Sasha (and Iawa?) can confront Mikodez at the beginning of the next move. But I worry I might be rushing you,
it worked the first time
Date: 2018-05-08 08:22 pm (UTC)Iawa, having suffered through Vidona introductory anatomy and physiology, is used to people fidgeting with knives and doesn't consider that necessarily a problem. As Ton's grandchild, her instinctive response is just so long as they don't fidget with powered rotary cutters.
The rest of what Sasha just said, though, is a problem. Ashari wants to scare Avrayen but not break him, and Sasha objects to this on the... philosophical? ethical? standpoint that she doesn't like making unsubstantiated threats.
But Sasha, despite her frightening anecdotes about trains, does not seem to have direct experience with torture. Certainly not as the Heptarchate practises it. And she said herself that she doesn't know what Ashari meant. That might have just been an unfortunate choice of words. Sasha might not mean that the way it sounded to Iawa.
Anatomy and physiology were not the only introductory courses Iawa studied with the Vidona. She knows the basics, at least, of how to determine whether someone's incurring permanent damage, physical or psychological, and how to skirt that line for as long as possible.
If you can't stand this, you shouldn't benefit from it, she had said once, before she had come to realise she herself could not stand it. She cannot stand it.
Iawa's hand moves toward the pouch under her clothes. She holds it still. She remembers what it felt like inside the rift that brought her to these people. Her stomach feels like it's back there.
"I want to be there when you talk to Avrayen," she says in a calm voice. "I'll bring my first aid kit in case anything happens."
Maybe she'll just need it in case Avrayen attacks someone. But just in case... she starts running dosage calculations in her head. She'll need something as safe as possible, something that won't interact badly with the stimulants Sasha's already taken. Above all something that will work quickly, though. She won't get more than one chance to sedate her, if it proves necessary.
There's an obvious hole in this plan, of course. Oh well. Maybe another rift will open right there and then, and she can grab the kid and pull him through it. Then he won't be danger to the Wasp's crew and they won't torture him. It's the best she can think of at short notice.
[What could possibly go wrong?]
wholesome childhood memories
Date: 2018-05-09 01:29 am (UTC)Sasha drinks her tea. It only burns her tongue a little bit. "Right. Meet you outside my room, in ten? You'll need me to make the door reappear."
Re: wholesome childhood memories
Date: 2018-05-09 06:25 pm (UTC)"I'll meet you there."
this is definitely the best time for presents
Date: 2018-05-10 11:49 pm (UTC)cake and first aid
Date: 2018-05-12 05:57 pm (UTC)Re: cake and first aid
Date: 2018-05-13 05:13 am (UTC)Three-faced saint, this is not the problem she needs to solve. Sasha stacks her teacup in the galley, picks up the box full of journals, and goes looking for Yehan.
[Yeah, literally just a flashlight. And we know it's not accidentally radioactive, because it didn't set off the airlock alarms.]
Re: In the medbay - paging Iawa, Istradez/GM
Date: 2018-05-04 02:44 pm (UTC)"Thank you," Iawa says. "Call me if there are any problems. I'll check on you in the afternoon."