hexarchate_rpg | Move 21 [fixed numbering error] (at long last) (chapter 1.21)

yhlee posting in

Move 21

[GM note: PROFUSE apologies for how late this move is. The month of May got eaten by non-negotiable writing commitments and then health issues. So sorry!]

For easy reference:
- Move 20 Recap [wiki]
- the escape plan [wiki];
- Station Moongray timeline [wiki].

(Thanks to

zuhrovet for keeping this stuff updated for everyone's convenience.)

Year 361, Month Three, Day Seventeen (Monday), ~07:25

Confrontation at Administrator Nirai Paerani Shan's Office
Sulen and Virmad are facing off against Administrator Shan, having dumped a (friendly!) baby mothling (Crowned-With-Eyes) and faked evidence of Remi's "heresy" onto her desk, as per this thread from Move 19.

Shan makes a brief show of checking the faked datacube for the evidence, but she's clearly feeling pressured with two Rahal standing right there and it doesn't appear she finds anything out of order in the "evidence." "All right," Shan says. She pulls up an appropriate form on one of her data slates and signs over Remi and the mothlings to Sulen and Virmad's custody, then outputs it to a data cube and hands it to them. "Do you require assistance locating Nirai Remi? Or would you prefer to handle that yourselves?" Her expression is resigned.

On the "Bumblebee"

- Mikodez is in Sasha's bedroom, following this thread from Move 19. He is currently alone, trapped, and recuperating, apparently having dozed off.

- Sasha and Iawa have made preparations to talk to Mikodez (see above) as per this thread from Move 19. They have agreed to meet outside Sasha's bedroom and confront Mikodez together.

- Alaric is still currently closeted with Gerae (and Fluffy), continuing this thread from Move 19. Gerae looks abashed at Alaric's critique of heptarchate social control methods and says, "You're obviously very knowledgeable about us and our methods. Are you a scholar? I hadn't realized your team did research." (He's clearly fishing for more information about the Merry Crew he has fallen in with.) Meanwhile, Fluffy curls up on his forearm and appears to doze.

NPCs:
- Ashari is in their office.

- Kaliyan is still manning the cockpit in preparation for escape.

- Yehan graciously thanks Sasha for the box of Remy's journals and begins scanning them into the grid for further analysis; this is a process that can largely be automated so she has set the grid up to alert her if anything looks like it requires her immediate attention, and goes to get some more tea.

- Ankat is keeping an eye on Istradez, who is still woozy and concussed, as per this thread from Move 19. He is available if anyone needs an extra pair of hands.

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Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

zuhrovet

Sasha asks the grid to create a door to her room, and lets Iawa enter first. She walks inside a moment later. The door makes a soft, whirring noise. Sasha wishes she could have slammed it. Instead she whistles to the grid, to make it disappear again.

Sasha has a method for dealing with Shuos dropouts: she demonstrates her technical superiority, then hands them an alternative win condition, at which point they either prove their usefulness by getting some work done or turn out to be utter flakes and get themselves fired. She has been pretending, to herself as much as to Mishka, that this is a stranger round of the usual game.

Knots and wires! Time to stop lying. Sasha counts to sixteen to steady herself, then says, "Avrayen. Sit up and pay attention."

From:

vass

[Did Sasha frisk Mikodez at any point?]

Sasha had warned Iawa that she'd made the door go away. It's still... uncomfortable for Iawa, being trapped in a doorless room with two dangerous people.

She has her first aid kit, and a sedative ready to hand. She's clenching her jaw a bit. She picks a vantage point where she's not obtrusive, but has clear views of Sasha and Avrayen. She's standing a little closer to Sasha.

From:

zuhrovet

[Sasha hasn't touched Mikodez, but she did check the airlock scan, and if that's not accurate we have bigger problems. Ankat might have frisked him.

For the record, Sasha has a multitool, but nothing intended as a weapon. Her backpack with the heavy flashlight is in a locker in the gym.]

From:

yhlee

[Let's say Ankat did frisk Mikodez.

pengwern, what are the obvious things, if any, that he would have turned up? Basic frisk, not full-on cavity search and the like. :p ]

From:

pengwern

[Tape recorders, candy, felting needles, tangle of gadgets including a sharp edged ruler, sour plum candy, his space wrist display, a pen with a hollow compartment that has candy in it, chocolate. Glitter and googly eyes are in his pack, and anything bigger with them. He had a few space USBs somewhere with personal records in hidden pockets?]

Mikodez jolts to attention with a suitably chastened look, which just means he's not grinning outright at Sasha. After she left, he must have fallen asleep again, which fixed his eyelid mod, but it's not very likely Iawa's here with a first aid kit for that. She's holding it very nervously. Mikodez slides his gaze back to Sasha.

"Are we finally off the station?" He can't hear anything from outside the room, not the mothling, or the lower hum that Alaric identified as a full grown moth.

From:

zuhrovet

"Not yet. Ashari's monitoring the situation. I get to explain the ways you have fucked up. So. Starting with the things that would be childish and irresponsible if you were a twelve-year-old and this were a fucking scavenger hunt. First. The station called, because they caught you trying to hack into their systems, and you couldn't be bothered to cover your tracks. Second. You were wandering around with a conventional firearm, in blatant violation of the station rules, but without any fucking ammunition. Because you didn't coordinate with the team. Third. You let station security catch you hanging around Remi's lab. Fourth. You stole his journals and didn't report you had them. Five. You stole a baby alien."

Sasha pauses for a moment. She's speaking too fast, and too loud, and she hasn't gotten to the truly awful parts yet.

From:

yhlee

[We'll say that Ankat confiscated the following things: felting needles, gadgets, wrist display, and pen. He looked very confused when he found the glittery and googly eyes, but left them alone. He didn't find the space USBs; he's mostly concerned with things that can be Sneaky Shuos Improv Weapons. He'll hold these items for Mikodez until Sasha or Ashari authorizes returning them to him.

Also: Ankat is not bribable, although possible susceptible to other social engineering approaches to regaining the confiscated gear at a later point in time. Enjoy. ;) ]

From:

pengwern

Mikodez asks encouragingly, "Should I try to put it back?"

From:

pengwern

[Of course I would never countenance dog-napping, but: is his dog Yisran still around? Although I imagine Mikodez was totally out of it during the search, so he might go hunting in the wrong places for his gadgets later!]

From:

zuhrovet

Sasha hisses.

She explains the next part carefully and quietly. "Six. Imsayed met you, and explained that he's your little brother. You panicked and attacked him. He passed out. You didn't notify the ship. Seven. You moved your brother to the visitors' quarters and left him there, for hours, until someone from the station happened to find him. His brain could have been swelling, Mishka. He could have died. Or permanently lost vision, or self-control, or the ability to speak: Iawa can give you the list. And we don't know yet, if he will recover. So. Either you are criminally negligent, or you meant to kill him. Which one is it?"

From:

yhlee

[Yisran is still around. Let's say that Ankat delegated Yehan to entertain Yisran while he keeps an eye on Istradez. Yehan was only too happy to oblige.]

From:

venndaai

[Isn't it actually Move 21?]

"We'd appreciate your assistance in locating him, yes," Sulen says, hoping that Remi isn't up to anything that might make this more complicated. "And you should let the appropriate people know that we'll be removing the... flitterling environment."

From:

yhlee

"I can certainly do that," Shan says, back to being crisp and professional. She punches in a query on her slate. Her eyebrows slowly climb. "Well. Former researcher Remi appears to be...fending off shouting and possibly blows from his former research assistant, Nirai Vana. Security is already on the way. I'll have them hold him for your convenience. If you require additional assistance, Security has been"--her fingers flicker again--"instructed to cooperate in every way." She hesitates. "Is Vana implicated as well?"

Meanwhile, Crowned-with-Eyes appears to wake up and begins warbling again. Shan's mouth tightens.

From:

yhlee

[Oh, you're right! I apparently didn't scroll to the right part. Will fix, thank you!]

From:

pengwern

“I wouldn’t attack my younger siblings.” Mikodez doesn't manage to hide his grimace. There's no good way to explain he thought this was a simulation, or the kind of dream that ends with him slotting Shuos eyes through ranks of winnower scars. Sasha clearly wants to see a reaction, so he hunches smaller and turns to Iawa.

Did it mean anything that the Kel weren't with them? He may as well play along with Sasha's assumptions.

"What can I fix? I won't let the mothling go back for experiments. But...you're right, I shouldn't have baited security at Remi's lab. Although if you read his journals, he uses a different dating system from the high calendar. That's not something that anyone should have in their possession, ever."

From:

zuhrovet

Sasha asks gently, as if Mikodez were a very stupid tutor, "Is that so? The journals were so dangerous that you put them underneath your brother's float chair, and let Iawa escort them through security?"

She sits at the desk and opens a terminal. Reconfiguring the room should be straightforward--yes, that's the right set of commands. She tells the grid to retract the bed into the wall, slowly. [Does Mikodez get to keep a blanket and pillow, or does everything disappear?]

She spins the chair back, facing Mikodez again. "And you haven't answered my question yet. Why did you hide the fact that Imsayed was hurt?"

From:

yhlee

[He gets to keep the blanket and pillow, although I don't imagine they're going to save him from Sasha of all people!]

From:

lleullawgyffes

“Not at this time,” Virmad says, frowning a little at the mothling. Frown notwithstanding, this situation would be almost funny if it weren’t so dangerous. “But — and consider this an informal recommendation” — not that it makes much difference, coming from an inquisitor’s mouth, he thinks wrily — “I would suggest keeping an eye on Vana, and anyone else who has worked with Remi, in the future.”

He looks at Sulen, then, questioning. “In any case, we should probably go retrieve Remi — the less of a spectacle this is, the fewer questions there will be.” He smiles, a little grimly (intentionally so), and nods at Shan to include her in his next comment. “You know how Nirai can be in these situations — always asking questions, poking into research they have no business in. Best to keep things brief and to the point.”

From:

pengwern

Mikodez hops off the bed to perch on the side table as soon as he feels movement, leaving pillows and blankets blithely scattered. "To be honest, I was hoping for protocols or observations on hatchling habits, but it turned out to be some kind of handwritten book," he says.

Then he catches sight of the space granola bar Sasha left out earlier, and fidgets with the wrapper. He asks, unsmiling, "Did everyone's first missions include complimentary implausible clone twins, or am I just special?"

[Does Sasha want a white pseudo-dragon to hold in her lap]

From:

zuhrovet

"I got an entire fucking ship full of people who think I'm lawful property. At least Strashik's friendly. Or did you think he was going to steal your identity, somehow? Is that why you tried to kill him?"

Sasha makes the side table sink into the floor, and erases the closet doors for good measure.

From:

yhlee

Shan smiles thinly. "Yes, I will certainly keep an eye on Vana as well as Remi's other contacts. Among other things, despite appearances, shouting matches and physical violence are considered unprofessional ways of settling differences. That's what we have Kel for."

She does, at least, seem a bit mollified by Virmad's final remarks; her mouth softens in wry acknowledgment. Then she checks her slate again. "I'm informed that Remi is in custody. He's being transferred to the brig on Level Four. Lieutenant Kel Teo can handle things from there."

[

lleullawgyffes,

venndaai, feel free to fast forward to the brig. No one will impede either Sulen or Virmad's progress there, as Shan has sent out an alert that Magistrate Srs Business is afoot.]

From:

pengwern

"Blow it up?" Mikodez offers automatically, then winces. Sasha's hardly an academy acquaintance.

He mouths 'Strashik' to himself as he eyes Iawa for any reaction while sinking right into the ground. "I'm okay with him stealing my identity so long as I get to watch." Maybe the table will drop him on top of a ravenous Fluffy or a moth, and it will melt his eyes out, and he will get to flee this conversation.

"What kind of connotation does 'Strashik' have, anyway? How did he have the time to arrange for a tryst already?" Mikodez had read a little about Naxor after identifying Zuhrovet Sikandaret's origins, but he clearly had not paid enough attention to the language.

[I'm going to say he looked up the Kirrish and Naxor after overhearing Sasha swearing.]

From:

slybrarian

"Indeed, where I come from I am a scholar of some renown," Alaric said. Certainly there's got to be someone somewhere who reknows him, at any rate. "And I think the official description of most of us would be... entourage? Hangers-on? Whatever the correct term is for the regular people the faction members bring along to look pretty, maintain the ship, and push them around in float chairs when someone falls over drunk. The research is more of a hobby for when the Andan and Rahal are off doing whatever high-society things they get up to."

He wishes he could tell Gerae about the moth and his discovery - well, okay, his and Sasha's, but he gets first credit on the paper or there will be hell to pay - about moth communication, but that will have to wait until they're safely away.

From:

zuhrovet

"I'm not sleeping with your brother, Mishka. I'll thank you not to use that language again."

The shower disappears next, though Mishka probably can't see it: the door melds right back into a wall. "You still haven't explained why you didn't report that your brother was injured. You've got a finite number of chances. Ashari won't be as patient, and you'll find waiting for them very boring... Oh. You've got an augment, haven't you? I should do something about that. This should be an interesting exercise."

Sasha looks at Iawa and adds, "It might take me a little while, to get around the safeties. You don't have to wait, if you don't want to."

From:

venndaai

Outside the brig, Sulen pauses. "Security certainly located Remi very quickly," they comment to Virmad, while eyeing the walls and ceiling around them. They know they're unlikely to spot the cameras and bugs, but can't help themselves. "I'll follow your lead with Teo."