Chapter 3.4: Breaking down the base

[zuhrovet]

As the meeting ends, the team members move to their assigned tasks.

Dar, Deyna, Seyli and Sulen collect some heavy-duty servitors and begin transferring supplies to the Cantata.

Alaric, Reshad, Shess, and the Cantata's drone prepare to remove the harness from Ankat's moth, The Sedulous Eel.

Back on the Cantata, Sasha goes to her office and starts remotely wiping memory nodes on the base's grid. Jedao is in the Communications/Gunnery room, controlling the weapons. Xiulan acts as his backup. Remi has been instructed to look for patterns or causes of the missing interstellar signals.

Meanwhile, Hana and Eddox look after the mothlings, perhaps joined by Mafyyil, who for some reason has not received clear instructions. Gerae and Ione divide their attention between the mothlings and the nest of pseudo-dragons.

[Welcome to a new move!

I know that things are stressful and uncertain for all of us right now. Please don't fret if you suddenly find yourself with less or more free time than usual--we will adjust! If you would like to give your character a node of peace where they drink tea and admire baby aliens for the next while, this can be arranged. Conversely, if you want a plotty distraction, we will bring you one!

My own focus is unreliable of late, but I'll work on a recap of the previous move as I can.]

Comments

Re: Transfering supplies and breaking shit down

[venndaai]

"I believe you have more experience with this than me," Sulen says. "I defer to your opinion. Er- are you familiar with- I believe these are called servitors, is that right? What are their capabilities?"

Re: Transfering supplies and breaking shit down

[chomiji]

"Yeah, these're a kind of servitor," says Dar. "I know there are some little ones on the ship, you've seen 'em around on base, too, right? They're mech animals, kind of. They're pretty smart."

She patted the metal hulk, seemingly with affection. "I've never worked with one this big, but yeah, you tell them what to do, and they'll either do it or signal somehow that they can't. This one should be able to load stuff and transport it."

Re: Transfering supplies and breaking shit down

[flowersforgraves]

"I'll help with the heavy lifting," Deyna says. "That's my day job anyways. Where do you want me to start?"

She has an affection for servitors as well, but it surprises her that Dar is so openly appreciative. Where Deyna's from, it's a mark of status to not notice servitors -- she'd never get to that point herself, but she knows well enough how to pretend.

Re: Transfering supplies and breaking shit down

[yhlee]

The "metal hulk" blinks peaceful blue lights and makes a metallic beeping sound--almost as though in response to Dar's pat.

Re: Transfering supplies and breaking shit down

[chomiji]

Dar grins at the apparent response, at ease with the machine and a strictly practical task. "C'mon," she says, and strodes off tpward where the grid has shown her the frozen/stabilized food supplies.

Re: Transfering supplies and breaking shit down

[yhlee]

The servitor trundles after her, blinking in a placid combination of blues and soothing purples.

Re: Transfering supplies and breaking shit down

[kese_seyli]

"Are we splitting up?" Seyli calls after Dar once she starts walking away with the servitor. "Food or meds are where we should start with," they repeat. "Where are you headed?"

[Also...are we splitting up? when does this scene happen vs when Sasha is like "hey people look for Remi.]

Re: Transfering supplies and breaking shit down (paging Sasha)

[yhlee]

[I had assumed that this is happening around the same time Sasha puts out the call, but maybe zuhrovet has a different idea?]

Re: Transfering supplies and breaking shit down

[chomiji]

"I'm heading for the food storage," Dar calls back. "From that talk we got, I don't think being ready to run is optional. Seem's like everyone else is already lookin' for Remi. You can go if you want. Me and Big Guy here can manage."

Honestly, she thinks, why in the universe is one flaky science dude more important that getting all of them what they need to survive another drop through a time rift?

Re: Transfering supplies and breaking shit down

[zuhrovet]

[I didn't intend to steal everyone! Just Deyna and maybe some folks like Xiulan or Mafyyil who don't have a scene with other PCs yet.

What's your thinking OOC, Cho? Do you want some quiet time for Dar to get to know the servitor, or would it be better to keep Seyli & Sulen & Dar together?]

Re: Transfering supplies and breaking shit down

[chomiji]

[if it doesn't mess up your refereeing/management, I think folks ought to go where they think their characters would go. I certainly don't want to force anyone on what would seem to be a boring supply run while there's a mystery afoot. And if others have bonded with Remi, it makes more sense that they would get distracted. Besides, ordering this crew around is like herding cats, from what I've seen!

Dar genuinely is spooked by the idea of taking a dozen-plus people into hyperspace/time rifts without sufficient supplies, BTW.]

Re: Transfering supplies and breaking shit down

[zuhrovet]

[Got it!

The previous chapters have been fairly early in the hexarchate/heptarchate timeline and we haven't previously interacted with servitors, so establishing a working relationship with them is potentially plot-relevant, too.]

Re: Transfering supplies and breaking shit down

[chomiji]

[. :-)
TTFN ... I worked a full week so it's bedtime now. ]

Yo, Seyli ...

[chomiji]

[Does Seyli join the Remi hunt or come with Dar and Big Guy the Servitor?]

Dar and Seyli in the Kitchen with a Servitor

[kese_seyli]

[Seyli's going to go with Dar]

"I guess it's just you and I," Seyli says, sighing heavily as they come up longside of Dar and the heavy duty servitor. "We'll get the essentials, I'll follow your lead, but I grew up working in my parent's food stand, so I at least know my way around a kitchen."

Re: Dar and Seyli in the Kitchen with a Servitor

[chomiji]

Dar looks back and smiles.

Thanks for comin' with," she said. "It really is better t'have a couple of us. Big Guy can do a lot, I bet, but there's always smaller stuff that's easier to pass on down to the loader. I've never run one this large on my own, but I'm good with smaller ones, and I've seen what these big guys can do.

"And I really am gettin' worried about how much we'll be able t' load on the ship before we gotta blow this joint," she adds.

Paging GMs - Re: Dar and Seyli in the -Warehouse- with a Servitor

[chomiji]

[So yeah, I mean, I can make up what they find in the station storage and how they work with the servitor? Should I do that? ]

Re: Dar and Seyli in the Kitchen with a Servitor

[kese_seyli]

"It seems shit hits the fan fast around here, so I think we should focus on the essentials and get it on the Moth as fast as possible," Seyli says, shaking their head as they hit the kitchens. "I've never worked with one like this, but I've worked with the big guys," they say, borrowing her phrasing.

Re: Transfering supplies and breaking shit down - taging Sulen

[kese_seyli]

Seyli looks to Sulen. "One one us should go wit Dar and the other with Deyna, we can't completely stop breaking things down just because someone vanished."

Splitting the group- Paging Sasha

[venndaai]

On the one hand, this is absolutely correct. On the other hand, an unexplained disappearance feels like both Sulen's direct responsibility and something they know how to react to.

"I will go with Deyna," they say, "unless you have an objection."

They ping Sasha on their augment to see if she's available to call.

Re: Splitting the group- Paging Sasha

[zuhrovet]

"Here," Sasha says, with the dead calm that substitutes for screaming.

Re: Splitting the group- Paging Sasha

[venndaai]

Sulen is still angry with Sasha, for how she provoked Ashari this morning, but they have plenty of experience working with people they're angry with. Hopefully, if Sasha rightfully blames them for not paying better attention to Remi, she can be professional about it also.

"Have you investigated his quarters yet?"

Re: Splitting the group- Paging Sasha

[zuhrovet]

"He took his tablet, a bag of clothes, and a couple of days' supply of ration bars. The signal from his tablet cuts off at the same time as the grid's record of his presence. I have not been able to trace it."

There's an uneasy triple of possibilities: either Remi meant to stow away on one of the other moths, or he planned to be lost with the fragments of the station, or he is in a different universe entirely. Sasha wishes that third option seemed less likely.

Re: Splitting the group- Paging Sasha

[zuhrovet]

After a long pause, Sasha adds, "I convinced him we would keep the mothlings safe. But he didn't believe I would protect him."

The knots in this tangle are all of her own making.

Re: Splitting the group- Paging Sasha

[venndaai]

"I am going to catch up to Deyna, and then I would like to look at the room myself."