01 - Dinner and a Meeting

[Ndreare]

Splitting up the team was hard but it had to happen. So many personalities in one place was starting to wear. The last standard month on the ride back to Center however did give some opportunities for catching up, relaxing and preparing for the next job.

However arriving on Center and getting the opportunity to acquire HAL was amazing. She has turned out to be quite the AI once installed and functioning. The mission was an overall success and along the way everyone was able to take advantage of an opportunity or two leaving them with a little extra credits so the pressure of taking the first desperate job to come along is gone. This next one should be good. Well, with the party over it is time to head down and find a job and Castruccio says he has a nice job lined up that will cover the next few payments on The Remorseless.

As you leave the ship and head into the docking station the loud voice of who ever recorded the announcement can be heard drowning out everything in a clear precise Trade 6. “Welcome to Center. You are in Station Agridon, Section 13, Pier 42. Please take note of your birth number for when returning.” The voice then carries on again in Trade 3, 4 and 5 with the same message before cycling around to Trade 6.

Generally everyone liked getting a berth at Agridon station. The moorage fees were manageable, the restaurants where only a little more expensive than most and security was good. Making their way through the station the crew feels like things are getting stale enough it is time for a job, no one makes money sitting around after all.

The hard part is getting scheduled through a gate but you were able to get one set up for the team and have three hours to grab a bite to eat and head down. Thinking about it as you ready yourself to head down you have a chance to grab a delicious bit to eat and visit a bit with each other before heading to the Naruni Free Trade Zone.

After your meal you head down to the center of the space station where the technicians operate the machines that rift people into and out of center. Waiting in line should only take half an hour and then you will be on the easy track to Level 4.

As you arrive through the gate you are again in the true economic center of the the megaverse. Phase World and Center in particular is at the center of three Galaxies that have been trapped by each others gravity for eons and will remain trapped together for eons more. With direct gate to hundreds of dimensions and functioning gates to thousands of space stations orbiting the planet. The 600 millions residents of Center are accessorized by fully the same number again that many in visitors every year. This time you happen to be among them. As you arrive in Level 2-A you find it is crowded with tens of thousands of visitors at any given time and sector you find there is little room for anything more than walking. The journey to 4-A The Free Trade Zone would normally take a over an hour of walking and riding as you fight the crowds, navigate the public transportation and the checkpoints. But luckily with Malcolm in the team such a trip can be done in only a dozen minutes.

Approaching Nickel Tower as you prepare to meet with Castruccio who’s office and central place of business is located on the 12th floor of the tower that runs from floor to ceiling. The phase field operating around the tower have always given a bit of a off feeling to those with dimensional sensibilities. But when you owe the Naruni you know you come when they have contracts.

Instructions

Help fill this scene by answering in character,
Are you staying on the ship or going down to help on the mission?
What kind of place does your team consider ideal for eating on the way?
What delicious meal do you eat on the way?
Once you arrive in center how do you react? Is your character hardened to such multiracial multicultural situations or is he awed by it?

As everyone starts talking about heading out Lady Arsenal says she doesn't want to go (she never does). But she would really like you to please bring her back her favorite dish (PD, what is her favorite dish?).

INCLUDE A NOTICE ROLL for the Free Trade Zone.
As a note in my game do not roll Notice with every post. If you do you will be wasting your time because outside of combat I only use the first notice rolls of a Scene.

Rewards From Prelude

Each of you made a little bit extra on your trip to grab HAL. If you rolled a success in the mission you acquired an useful bit of gear valued up to 10,000 credits. If you rolled a Raise then you scored an item worth up to 20,000. Go ahead and include in your post what it was. This gear can be anything available in Center.

I was going to grab some teasers from your prelude post Jon style. But I needed to get this out quick and failed at my objective.

[Nimbus]

Notice 5

Notice [dice:30nfh7hn]45635:0[/dice:30nfh7hn]
Wild Die [dice:30nfh7hn]45635:1[/dice:30nfh7hn]

Nimbus always dresses for the part. He gets up early for the meeting, takes a shower and has the Auto-barber trim his hair and beard exactly to his specifications. He puts on his nicest suit and a pair of brand new sneakers with orange trim. Once he is satisfied he puts on his shadow coat, a nice looking corduroy jacket, tucking the shard pistol into a specially designed inside pocket designed for this very purpose. Once the rest of the crew is assembled, they depart. While some might be overwhelmed by Center, Nimbus loves it. A wanted man by several large and violent groups, the bustling crowd offers him the anonymity that he desires. He spots a Zekkinke's Buffet and suggests the group stop there. Not only does Zekkine's have a diverse menu catering to the crew's various palettes, but it also has a lot of exits and windows which can be used to spot a team of bounty hunters if they decide to descend. Nimbus's travels have exposed him to almost every type of food out there. He's at the point where he only eats for the sake of nutrition, so He grabs a Soylent Brown dark chocolate nutrition shake and quickly wolfs it down. As soon as he finishes he sits there, content to be awash with the noise of the other patrons.

[Power Dump]

At the moment of departure lady Arsonel figited a bit with her hands, ” Uh yeah Agridon station is super fun, but I got to clean up after that party we through Death in the bildge.” She cracks a smile, ” You don’t want to know how I am going to remove that much pink glitter from the waste extraction manifolds.”

From the pockets of her metalic engineering suit she produces 4 talismans. Each one is slightly different and they all have some kind of circuitry and crystalline matrix look to them. She walks over to power dump giving the biowizard borg a slight smile that is lost on his souless eyes. She pulls out his jacket flaps giving his chest thing commonly known as syemour a small pat. ” Ok PD, standard load out. Vanish, Acane detection, quantum box, ACCT... “ She takes a ray gun straight from the 1960s earth, silver with a thin tip surrounded by three translucent rings off her belt and puts it into one of the attachments on PD’s jacket. ” And the god gun.” She steps back leting the jacket fall. Its black leather hide does little to disguise Power Dumps black bio tubes or his chest thing but it was sure handy for all the gear he was packing. Lady Arsenal touches Dump’s ashen face wiping some dried spittle from his cheek. ” Wish I was going, sharpened your blades, cleaned your armor nice and fresh. I know space wasp is your favorite...”

Power Dump’s eyes go all crosseyed and his chest thing snarls. Power Dump’s growl cutting her off, ” The Code... “ Swiftly he runs to the bathroom with his favorite book Dragonheart in hand leaving his lady mid sentence.

Lady Arsonal chuckles to herself wondering how the heart chooses who you love. She cocks her head to Malcom, ” Take care of the big lug will you Malcom? Make sure he brings me back some of that earth pie you introduced me too. Keylime has the fucking tang.” She hands Death a vile of pink glitter, ” Thats all that was left from the party. I don’t think it was exactly your birthday, but Hal was talking to PD last week about throwing you a party. I think Hal was trying to thanks.” She nods at the rest of the team wishing them luck and then heads to the bilge for cleanup duty.

I’ll post for PD later on in the week

[Malcom Young]

Notice 6

Notice: [dice:33jjf63s]45676:0[/dice:33jjf63s] (No penalty, Skill die type naturally +2, SPC Danger Sense)
Wild: [dice:33jjf63s]45676:1[/dice:33jjf63s]

"Of course, Lady Arsenal. To the pie and keeping eyes on PD," Malcom consoles the worried altera.

When PD returns with Dragonheart, Malcom whips out his molecular edged katana and swishes it about fancily.

"Hey you big lug, did I ever get a chance to show you this fancy blade I snagged from those naruni bastards?" Malcom asks and then he says, "It may not be a fancy magical-fury-whatever sword, but it still cuts things just fine."

At the buffet, Malcom keeps an eye on the crowd while his friends load up on food. When they're all seated in one spot, he blinks around the buffet grabbing lots of fish, cheese, eggs, and other foods high in vitamin D. With his plate stacked up high, he teleports back to the table and listens to their banter while watching the suroundings. Malcom only truly feels safe in this new world when he and his friends are hurtling through deep space in a tin can.

When everyone's done, he spends a few extra credits to get a to-go bag of pie for Lady Arsenal, then he takes point on leading the team to their destination. The crowds dont bother him - if anything it makes it easier to remain anoymous. Returning to the free trade zone so soon after their previous visit, however, wasn't the greatest idea, so Malcom was on high alert for any danger.

[Power Dump]

Power Dump stows his book and his three arms, each with black tubes pumping only splurg knows what, pull out a sword faster than the way can see. He grins at Malcom’s display, ” Well done Pathwalker, a molecular katana... I too found that the Naruni had something to offer. My virtue was strong when I was gifted a photon sword, white like the fire that burns in my breast! I had Arsonel add a UV laser light to it so I can see if the effects of sunlight against your skin are true or merely rumors.” He pauses trying to smile but he merely snarls, ” Last night while I read to the sleeping Mox of The Old Code I extrapolated the method that the head chief in the everything buffet was going to use to cook you. I am curious if this revelation brought on by the words of the code are true.”
@Mox
@Malcom Young

[Mox]

Notice 5 (+2 if related to traps)

Notice: [dice:3t1z4dxg]45766:0[/dice:3t1z4dxg]
WD: [dice:3t1z4dxg]45766:1[/dice:3t1z4dxg]

Prelude Award

Force field, Personal
Ultra Tech. A personal force field typically worn as a belt (worn as a broach the size of a silver dollar coin). Provides +4 Armor against all types of attack (except arcane). It’s powered by enough energy for 24 hours of continuous use, then must be recharged for one hour. Force fields stack with all other types of armor except other personal force fields, and are not affected by AP.

He pauses trying to smile but he merely snarls, ” Last night while I read to the sleeping Mox of The Old Code I extrapolated the method that the head chief in the everything buffet was going to use to cook you. I am curious if this revelation brought on by the words of the code are true.”
@Mox
@Malcom Young

Mox remains largely quiet during PD's discussion with Malcom. The amalgam had indeed witnessed the gun brother's reading, but not while 'asleep' as PD suggested. It had left the shell of its repair armor earlier in the evening, leaving it upright on its mounting brackets. Truth be told, Mox had slipped away to spend some time interacting with their newly acquired artificial intelligence, HAL and had returned from a lengthy (especially by compute standards) discussion on the nature of beings and quirks in behavior when it returned to see PD reading from a novel out loud to the upright suit. The gun brother read with such conviction and passion that Mox didn't wish to disillusion its traveling companion and instead returned to share the experience with HAL and engage in a lengthy discussion on the engine harmonics and what algorithm best suited various simulated loads. Once done, Mox returned to its bunk space in the early 'morning' and proceeded to plug itself in, regenerating off the electrical energy coursing through the ship.

With Lady Arsenal volunteering to remain on board the ship, Mox realizes the opportunity to join the others in leaving the ship. It gathers itself and falls in line with the others. When they disembark, Mox looks on at the frenetic activity of the Center with eyes more mature than when it first set foot. The amalgam spares a glance back at the ship. We will get our mission and then onto the stars. I will see you again soon.

Mox is uncertain if its thoughts are in longing of the fantasy of travel and wanderlust, or if it is speaking to HAL, the newly acquired artificial intelligence now stowed away aboard their vessel. Regardless, Mox realizes the importance of securing a paying mission to continue their livelihoods.

Without enough experience in fine dining, Mox defers to the others when it comes to deciding where to eat. Watching the amalgam eat would be disorienting if it had not adopted the mannerisms of those around it. Instead of a flurry of nanites methodically buzzing, swarming and disassembling the organic matter that is required to feed it, Mox 'chews' and 'swallows'. At the buffet, Mox is modest in its consumption. Not truly understanding the need to eat for sensation, Mox is machine-like in concluding its meal when the necessary organic material has been acquired. Once done, Mox continues to be a student of behavior and watches not only the others, but also the other patrons as they eat.

"Seems not all the servings are made for all customers. Different people and races have different preferences for what they consume. I suppose in order to cater to a broad swath of the population, they need to stock the grand assemblage of choice the owners of this establishment have provided. Curious though. I have noted that many choose to eat larger quantities of sustenance than their body requires. Is that because they are still in the growth phase of their development?" Not needing to hide behind any personage among his teammates, Mox's inquiries are surprisingly analytical. It is as though the amalgam is trying to parse out the intricacies of 'why' people do what they do. Broadly, Mox finishes its meal without incident and joins the others entering 4-A the Free Trade Zone.

Not having been privy to such opulence during his time thus far on Center, Mox concedes the interactions initially to others and studies how the demeanor of wealthy individuals differs so dramatically from that of the poor, simply trying to scrape by. By the time they reach Castruccio's office, Mox has adopted a more upright and entitled posture. It has also made multiple mental notes on the nature of dress among those with means and its mind buzzes with ways to create reasonable facsimiles.

Since it was not the one to procure the invitation for the contract, Mox remains in the backdrop, allowing others to prompt Castruccio for the details of the mission.

[Death Otter]

"Nimbus, you fucking maniac, who goes to a buffet and gets a meal shake?" Death Otter demands. She digs out the container of glitter that Arsenal gave her and shakes it at him warningly. "I will use this. You won't know when it's coming."

She dunked it back into a pocket, then leaned back and adjusted the polarization on her sunglasses to make them totally opaque. From there, Death Otter spent the rest of lunch playing a quick round of Blortfight with her mind, and cackling as she schooled a bunch of twelve year olds with her mad technopathic skillz.

On the way over to meet the Naruni rep though, she seemed to have gotten the worst of it out of her system. With her black armored bodysuit secreted under loose purple top, blue pants and a sort of cream colored vest, she looked almost normal except for the hair. And the occasional bursts of wild patterns that blossomed over the smartfabric's surface momentarily, at unpredictable intervals. Of the cosmopolitan crowd, she seemed to have no trouble moving through it, and didn't bat an eye at the spectacle.

She and Center were old friends, oh yes.

"Boy, it's a good thing Big N would never recognize us like this, right?" she said with a gleeful wryness. "It'd be a bit awkward if they did...right???"

It would have been easy to think she wasn't paying attention, but anyone who knew her would know that those quick eye movements and twitchy little twists of her head meant that she was actually keeping very, very aware of her surroundings. Joking about it or not, she was quite ready to GTFO if Naruni actually did come after them.

Notice 11

[dice:1i3ihq4i]45796:0[/dice:1i3ihq4i] or [dice:1i3ihq4i]45796:1[/dice:1i3ihq4i]
Ace [dice:1i3ihq4i]45796:2[/dice:1i3ihq4i]

[Ramson Gourdaine]

OOC Comments

Notice [dice:1bydavu7]45800:0[/dice:1bydavu7]
Wild Notice [dice:1bydavu7]45800:1[/dice:1bydavu7]

Darksight [dice:1bydavu7]45800:2[/dice:1bydavu7]
Wild Psionics [dice:1bydavu7]45800:3[/dice:1bydavu7]

Bah. Technical Difficulties: [dice:1bydavu7]45800:4[/dice:1bydavu7]
Glitch: -1 to activate Psionics using the armor--so for Darksight and Farsight.

Everyone suffers from the Psychic Scream, some people get Shaken, we get over it and keep going.

Ransom dons not only his standard kit, but also slings the new hoverboard over his shoulder. It's not likely to be needed--but better safe than sorry. He bids Thissok to keep a watch on the ship, and heads out with the others.

*************

He chuffs at Mox's questions about dining. "Eating is a source of pleasure for all of us with solid bodies, as well as a means of sustenance. Flavor is personal--not merely by specie, but among individuals, as well. A race may be naturally carnivorous, but they will often have individual preferences as to the kind of meat they eat. Now, a place like this, which is meant to cater to natives of thousands of worlds, of nearly infinite variety, is forced to aim broadly--the provide fish and sea-plants for creatures from aquatic planets, but they cannot possibly cater to every individual. So instead of being sated by a small taste of precisely what they seek, they compensate for the inadequacy by indulging in quantity. It is a lower pleasure, to it takes more to achieve some degree of satisfaction. In some cases--for reasons of economy, or habit, or what have you--this becomes their primary outlet."

He, himself, eats very modestly; he takes small samples from a wide variety of offerings, using them to create flavor combinations that the individual dishes could not have produced. It is an oddly effete process for one so gruff and harsh in his manner away from culinary matters. After the meal, he gets a to-go box full of live Malthusian rats to take back to his companion.

*********

As they step out of the restaurant and make their way to the meeting, caution causes the captain to attempt a bit more care--he wants to be able to see in the shadowy areas around them. But unfortunately, the presence of so many alien minds in close proximity sets up an interference pattern, and the feedback washes over the entire crew, before it finally fades. There's a faint whiff of ozone coming from the armor's helmet.

"Dammit. I'll have to have Lady Arsenal tinker with it when we get back to the ship. Sorry about that."

[Axel Krowe]

Notice 10 (12, if using +2 to visual Notice rolls)

Notice [dice:3fctd8sw]45805:0[/dice:3fctd8sw]
Ace [dice:3fctd8sw]45805:2[/dice:3fctd8sw]
Wild [dice:3fctd8sw]45805:1[/dice:3fctd8sw]

Food is a welcome suggestion to Sa'Maku. The Seljuk prefer fresh, raw meat, in great quantities. Shipboard rations, while nutritionally sufficient, do not satisfy the predatory craving for a fresh kill. In fact, if something still living was on order that would be even better.

Of course, some races find these eating practices abhorrent. Especially when it becomes know Seljuk warriors consider it a great honor to consume their fallen opponents.

Smiling and salivating at the thought of food Sa goes along with any suggestion but sticks to raw raw meet out of respect for mixed company. When the server appears he hisses hungrily, "Do you serve meet by the kilogram?"

Shopping holds little interest for the Seljuk. His money is best saved for his eventual legal defense. Just as soon as he finds proof of the incident in the Pirate Expanse. While the others seek baubles and treasures, Sa'Maku follows along silently keeping an eye out for trouble.

[Jarle Vargr]

Notice

[dice:16tztxfa]45822:0[/dice:16tztxfa]
Wild Die [dice:16tztxfa]45822:1[/dice:16tztxfa] Vision, Hearing and Smell are at +2

Jarle gazed out of one of the viewports as the ship eased into its magnetic moorings in the berth at Agridon station.

He remembered something his father said to him as he went off to join the CAF.

If you are lucky enough to have lived in Center as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life it stays with you, for Center is a moveable feast.

Although the exotic food and drink held nothing for Jarle’s further mechanically dulled canine taste buds (he could and usually did sustain himself on just about anything), the sights of the city that was the hub of the Three Galaxies was something he could not pass up.

Still, they were walking into a ‘business negotiation’ and in this crew’s business, you always had to be prepared--and in this situation being prepared meant displaying the merchandise of their client. The Naruni loved it when they saw they appreciated their tech. Jarle hung his hammer on his left him and made sure his coat was seemingly innocuous pushed behind it so it was visible. He did the same for his primary sidearm, adjusting the shoulder rig so the grip poked out to reveal the NE stamp on the bottom. He made sure all of his NE cartridge holders were full and threw on an extra bandolier. There was nothing to be done about the Grav-Rifle as he affixed it to its magnetic scabbard on his back, but he doubted their clients would care. Still the ion blaster went into a hidden holster on the small of his back--no sense advertising that and if he had to use it, they were in a world of PD’s specialty anyway. As a final added touch, he strapped the NE-RV01 Ripper Vibro-Knife he picked up recently to his right thigh. He chuckled to himself as his crewmates all went googly eyed over phase-tech.

You may have to use a little more force with this, but it’ll do a hell of a lot more tissue damage to organics. Besides, you can never have enough knives.

Now ready, he joined the team going down. They were abuzz about dinner.

“There is nothing wrong with a meal shake. Like Sa’Maku, I’d prefer fresh, non-vat grown, meat but sustenance in the end, is sustenance.”

Realizing what he just said, Jarle scowls.

“Don’t even think about it, Death Otter. If i hear one comment about dogs eating their own shit, I will force feed you Power Dump’s next one. I prefer a properly aged raw mammalian steak, if we can get it. Seems though Center restaurants are switching more and more to insectoid meat as the microbial prevention in other meats is more difficult”

[Death Otter]

"Jarle my boy," Death Otter said, a slow grin spreading under her mirrorshades, "Thanks to you, I no longer need to say anything. You just trolled yourself. Congratulations, my work here is done."

[Power Dump]

Center was just like the splynn dimentional market in many ways. The people all were bustling and hunstling. A lady with a three eyed dog game the finger. A grackle twice the size of Sa’m shot me a look that said he knew Daniel T. Striker. Then their their was Zenkkie’s Buffet tried and true flavors that would make ones intential issues seem like a thing of the past. Nuimbus knew their deal and knew how much I loved their speciality: fried space wasp. It was the only thing that seaymour really loved beside a little scritch on the tongue.

Power Dump stare’s out into the pathways of center and follows the group in and arround. He keeps a special eye out for trouble in the free market heeding the words of many that coming back to the Naruni might be a costly mistake.

While at the eatery he gets a large plate of space wasp and half smiles at thew group. But its more of a barring of the front teeth in a half way unpleasing manner. You all know what this means... He digs in feeding both mouths!
He chest thing mutters veraciously, ” Nom Nom Nom... More, more more.”

As for the meeting the bio borg hangs back as he tends to frighten children, babies, and grown men as much as anything else. Something about his lack of empathy, chest amalgate, and lack of social manners. That’s why I dig blind chicks.

Notice: [dice:2kek5m70]45882:0[/dice:2kek5m70] wild [dice:2kek5m70]45882:1[/dice:2kek5m70]