Move 6 (Chapter 1.6)

[yhlee]

Time: 361
Place: out-rift near Station Moongray

The Wasp's cockpit/command center
The Naxorian Rosemallow ship continues to hold position. Kaliyan notices it's now scanning the Wasp with some primitive [handwave] scan technology, focusing especially on the mothdrive.

The Wasp's Engineering room
Presuming a short interval of time has passed while Alaric consults as to moths' feelings about the hexarchate, the Wasp's moth repeats its query: the six hexarchate emblems in space ASCII, followed by the "1 / 0" for "???" Then after another short pause, it adds the Liozh emblem, followed by "1 / 0" for "???"

Meanwhile, Sasha's luck and guesswork regarding the Naxarat ship's encryption bear fruit. It appears that the Naxorians are discussing navigational difficulties. They've been trying to get information out of the Nirai station so they can find their way back home, but the Nirai are being closemouthed about what they've discovered about the rifts so far. There's also a brief mention of personnel shortages.

The Wasp's airlock, welcoming party
Andan Bokali still hasn't touched any of the edible fidget spinners, although Pavn is munching away on a third. "If you're ready, we'd like to invite you back to Station Moongray. Rii, you and your assistants"--Bokali's eyes flicker as they try to figure out just which people are "assistants"--"can see the space we have available for artistic displays, and as for the rest of you, surely we can offer you the conveniences of station while you dock with us. Honored inquisitors, I'm sure our station administrator would like to meet you as soon as convenient."

Bokali coughs delicately, then adds, with a glance at Ankat for being the only one in the airlock with a remotely military bearing, "The station will insist that all firearms be left behind."

[The GM would like to note in Ankat's direction that a calendrical sword is sufficiently future-tech that it probably will only show up as "weird device" on Moongray's scanners, not as "lightsabre-alike weapon."]

[Tentatively, I'd like to get y'all onto the station next turn (Move 7) unless something happens to cause y'all to abort. :p ]

Comments

Memos: Sasha to everyone: the second ship.

[zuhrovet]

[Sasha installed an encrypted memo system sometime during transit. Of course, if the wriggly virus or its ilk is virtually looking over our shoulders, that won't help.]

Memo: Sasha to all hands: Second ship

Analysis from myself, Yehan indicates second ship from alternate timeline where planet Naxarat never incorporated in heptarchate. Proceed with caution.

Memo: Sasha to Ashari, CC Kaliyan, Ankat, Sulen, Virmad, Yehan: Ship details

Markings on second ship indicate Rosemallow House. Group heretical even in Naxorian context in our timeline. Internal communications indicate interest in rift maps, more personnel. Yehan and I at significant risk for involuntary recruitment due to ethnic background.

Memo: Sasha to Ankat: Firearms restrictions

FUCK.

Re: Memos: Sasha to everyone: the second ship.

[yhlee]

[GM note: Have you read Greg Bear's Queen of Angels by any chance? There's this one part where the heroine uses nanite goo to create a gun when she's technically supposed to be unarmed in a foreign country. You could plausibly use the matter printer to try to work up something similar if you don't like the thought of being unarmed on not-necessarily-friendly territory. Or not--whatever you think would be more interesting!]

Re: Memos: Sasha to everyone: the second ship.

[pengwern]

[So can someone pick the matter printer up and run away with it? I had in mind something less portable, but we could always transport it down to the station with the rest of Ashari's displays, assuming none of the Nirai notice it, or if we make excuses about the high strung Andan temperament, which requires the materials for any potential repairs to their artwork on hand.]

[the matter printer and assemble-able weapons]

[yhlee]

[I was envisioning it as a little bigger than that, but, I mean, there are probably ways to shift machinery so we'll say it can be done. Or y'all can use the matter printer to create something smaller to carry with you that can be assembled later. Whichever y'all prefer!]

Re: [the matter printer and assemble-able weapons]

[zuhrovet]

[Hopelessly meta solution: could we use the matter printer to make a 3d printer? Something less versatile, but more portable?]

[making your own 3d printer from the matter printer]

[yhlee]

[Absolutely.

Tangent: I am in the process of saving up for a metal lathe because I want to learn to turn pens. I went on Amazon.com to search for books on Metal Lathe 101 for Dummies. Instead I found a book on how to make your own metal lathe from scratch, which, uh...]

Re: [making your own 3d printer from the matter printer]

[zuhrovet]

[Excellent! Now Sasha just needs to find some crafting time.

Our local makerspace has a metal lathe and offers classes in how to use it (I know because my spouse uses it to face die blanks for making medieval coins). Might be a similar resource near you?]

Re: [the matter printer and assemble-able weapons]

[vass]

[When I was a kid I used to read my older brother's Mad Magazines from the 70s and early 80s. There was this series of cartoons about different made-up types of vending machines. One of them was the Vend-O-Vend, a vending machine which sold vending machines. Can't think why that just came to mind.]

Re: Memos: Sasha to everyone: the second ship.

[zuhrovet]

[Oooh. Construction equipment is our friend! If Sasha can just go buy a staple gun on station, many of her fears will be allayed.]

[construction equipment]

[yhlee]

[I'm pretty sure Sasha could even cozen a helpful Nirai lab assistant into selling her a staple gun.]

Re: Memos: Sasha to everyone: the second ship.

[pengwern]

Mikodez will be helpfully puttering around with Ashari's displays for the duration of the visitors' conversation with them, dragging out the ship's finicky matter printer just in case anything goes wrong, and labeling them as the Bumblebee's property with a few pieces of sticky tape.

[Distracting arguments like a bunch of unprofessional and disorganized ship crew in full view of the visitors are welcome. Suggested topics: moving ship equipment around without authorization, the Scandrian whiskey being transported with the slightest of tremors, holding displays upside down.]

Re: Memos: Sasha to everyone: the second ship.

[zuhrovet]

[Wait, I thought we didn't trust the matter printer tolerances to create ammunition? If so, I'm definitely not making a gun with it. If only the ammunition is a problem I'm going to ask my dad about reloading and win the Family Bonding Experience of the Year prize.

I'm assuming the hexarchate's scan technology can pick up dangerous items made of plastic, glass, etc.?]

[weapons and security theater]

[yhlee]

[Yeah, that's probably right. I'm being driven nuts by the fact that I can't figure out how to search this comm other than manually going through some very long threads. I will try to set aside some time this weekend to index what's already been established, but it may be slow going, and unfortunately I'm also up against a work deadline.

Let's say it's just the ammunition that's a problem.

Scan tech will pick up obvious dangerous items made of plastic, glass, etc. but, I mean, Nirai are probably much less into security theater than the TSA. If you need to bring on crochet hooks, they're not going to confiscate those.]

Re: [weapons and security theater]

[zuhrovet]

[I might be able to find some wiki time this weekend, too.

How intrusive would Sasha expect their security measures to be outside "customs"? Would someone carrying an unidentified object in a holster be stopped? If so, would the primary worry be human security or a security program running on the station's grid?

On the family bonding front, my dad reports that fire doors are thus far the most lethal item on my wishlist.]

Re: [weapons and security theater]

[yhlee]

[Primary worry ought to be a security program. There will probably be some basic human security, but chances are that the Nirai are running low on qualified security personnel to study all the rifts and are dealing with maybe not the greatest people available.

Fire doors! So noted.]

Re: [weapons and security theater]

[venndaai]

[I'm willing to buy the comm an upgrade to paid account so we can do comments searches.]

Re: [weapons and security theater]

[zuhrovet]

[Happy to chip in as well!]

Re: [weapons and security theater]

[yhlee]

[...wait, comms can be paid accounts?!

(can you tell i suck at dw)

Thank you for the kind thought; let me consult with my husband about RPG-related spending and see what I can cover. :D ]

Re: Memos: Sasha to everyone: the second ship.

[talifabian]

Memo: Ankat to Sasha: Re: Firearms restrictions

I don't foresee anything going wrong immediately; even for a Kel, it's difficult to insult your hosts THAT badly.

Can you download station maps of the publicly accessible areas? Particularly airlocks nearby wherever the Nirai placed this dance studio, as well as residential areas. If I recall my Nirai station design, there should be a few public 'locks to access the experiments mounted externally.

[station maps]

[yhlee]

[talifabian, zuhrovet, Sasha should have no trouble accessing maps of publicly accessible areas and correlate them to scans of the station's external fixtures, etc.]

Re: Memos: Sasha and Ankat: the second ship.

[zuhrovet]

Sasha's first response to Ankat's memo is rage: I told you I was afraid Yehan would be kidnapped, and you're making Kel jokes?

As time passes, and the Rosemallow ship maintains position away from the station, her pulse slows. On third reading, the joke sounds friendly-- as if Sasha's part of the team, even.

Sasha's assiduous reading of safety documentation is useful on the map front: she has all of the airlock information, with evacuation paths traced for public areas, and paths inferrable for private ones. She color-codes her work, and sends it with a bow icon.