[IC] GURPS On The Verge

Michael Thayne · 05-28-2010, 10:14 PM

OOC: An adventure hook...

"June, when you go to the Oberon system, we're going to need a favor. On Lison they say the black market in cyberwear there is now controlled by Quentin Tryce. But Tryce is a ghost. A rumor. A regular Vor Jack. You find people who've heard people brag about knowing him but... who is he?

"The brothers on Lison are getting worried. They say there is too much talk for Tryce to be a rumor. But if there is an invisible man who took over cybergear on a planet out of nowhere? What does he do next?

"We need to figure out who Tryce is. But we need to be careful. Have restraint. This is not one of your ordinary jobs. After all, what is it to make a ghost disappear? Now, you find out the name of his favorite skin bar, maybe we can use that."

Annotations:
Oberon: A star
Lison: A planet orbiting Oberon. Rich in rhodium, in high demand because it's needed to make stardrives work.

MisterJuan · 05-30-2010, 07:39 PM

Orange.
Red.
Yellow.

All flashing in a stroboscopic waltz, setting the whole scene a blaze. All over the floor, numerous bodies danced amongst flames of light. Some were gracefully gliding; seemingly hovering about like they were stepping on clouds. Other were twitching painfully, their body apparently convulsing in painful manners, tingling with impulses no one was clearly meant to experience. Some were screaming, others chanting. A great many had fallen completely mute, a glaze over their eyes as they saw things only they could. The night club was packed to it’s fullest.

Glitch loved the place. Although always packed to the breaking point, it was one of the lesser known establishments of the city. With no advertisement, a barely glimpse of it’s existence here and there on the net, the place lived only by non regularized viral advertisement. In other word; you only heard about it from someone else, who heard about it from someone else who’d stumbled upon it. But now and then, you’d get a few patrons stumbling in, having chanced on the entrance, late at night, through a haze of whatever they had consumed earlier. The music was great, sure. But the fact the place was pretty much as underground as it got meant just getting “in” made it an experience in itself. Glitch could feel the heavy thump of the bass, the electronic music coursing its way through his entire body, almost punching clean out the air out of him. With each beat, he felt a wave of pressure hit him full front, minutely shifting his internal organs.

His neck was almost sore from the head bobbing he was barely aware of doing. The stims he was riding on made everything brighter, slowing the action down to an almost crawl. Glitch relished the moment, lived in it. It was a beautiful place. Sights. Sounds. People. Feelings. With each passing moment, the beat would get heavier and heavier, crushing the crowd as everyone bumped against one another. People drifted in and out of each other, briefly becoming something else entirely. They would then break off on their own, regain their individuality and drift off. It was like watching someone shake a bottle of water and oil.

Glitch stood, his back against the bar, resting on his elbow. Every now and then, he’d stop for a beat and realize that his eyes were closed. Stims and music did that sometime. He’d find his mind drifting miles and miles away from his body. Ridding himself of his restrictive meat gave him a rush he only found deep in the forgotten reaches for the Net. Out there, in the dark corners of cyberspace, between bytes, in grids no one went to anymore. Sometimes, he’d stay there, for hours on end, just drifting in zeros; going to the places were null was the norm and no data existed. He would float there and listen to white noise. Just like he was floating right now, his body pummeled by the beat and his mind far away.

His eye balls felt sticky as he remembered to unglue his eyelids from them. His mouth felt dry and his palms sweaty. Glitch did his best to swallow, but didn’t find anything. He looked down as his hands to find them shaking, twitching. He didn’t realize he was laughing until he was out of breath. And then the throbbing came, in the back of his head, just at the bottom of his skull. It wasn’t quite there yet, but it was well on its way.

In a few hours, he’d have to call it quits and crawl out of the club. Crawl on the sidewalks. Crawl on the alleys. Crawl into the dingy little place he had rented near the space docks. Crawl into his stiff bed, under the scratchy synthwool covers. And he’d dream of white noise and whiteouts.

Ever since he’d managed to crash himself on a netrun, getting within an inch of burning his entire brain in the process, Glitch hadn’t been quite the same. He’d earn his handle even more. Glitch. At first it was because he was good at finding them. Afterwards, it was because his presence in the net always went perfectly untraceable; leaving only faint glitches in the systems behind him. Now, it was a way to describe his body. Glitched. He’s pushed himself a microsecond too far, and had paid by frying quite a handful of neurons. Luckily enough and some said miraculously, he’d been left mostly intact… at the exception of some rather severe chronic migraines. A black clinic doctor had given him a full brain scan. The little black blotches of dead brain tissue looked almost aesthetic on the print out Glitch had taken with him. Battle scars no one would ever get to see.

Even though he didn’t really want to think about it, Glitch knew all to well he’d have to get at least a small fraction of his act tomorrow. Work had been a bit scarce these days, and at the speed he was popping stims, he’d soon be completely dry. That meant no more stims. That meant loosing his edge. And then the pain would come in.

And it was here, knocking at the back of his brain. Hello? Can I come in? Well, nevermind me, I’ll just make myself at home. It felt like someone was trying to squeeze his eyes out of his head.

Glitch pushed himself off the bar, an invisible hand guiding him through the crowd and towards the exit. Some water and some sleep would do the trick.

LemmingLord · 05-30-2010, 08:56 PM

The Pente Ante was big and beautiful and bought and paid for.

June Duran looked over the readout from the ships laundry console a second time. She needed to send a response soon with any questions she had in order to get the answers before shipping out to Oberon the following day.

She pressed the plunger on the sanitizer dispenser. She rubbed her hands together briskly.

June began. She tapped away at an ancient style mechanical keyboard plugged into the manual port of the laundry console, surprised she still a key-pecking sort of typist. CLACK CLACK CLACK...etc.

Mr. Biggs, we are heading close to Oberon soon. Would love to show the family the additional curtesy you mentioned before flying out for the verge of the unknown.

Me and my boys will make some gentle inqueries on Oberon. What do you know about their product or methods on Lison? Do you have some funds you could part with here on (whatever planet we are on) that I could use to bump some trees and take a closer look at their merchandise? It might get some conversations started. If we find the ghost, do you want us to arrange an introduction with local family? END TRANSMISSION.

June pulled up the cargo manifest. This help with the family would be pro bono.. and she still needed to find a way to make some money. This was a business afterall. With only a day until they would piggy back off a friendly bulk cruiser, the Pente Ante was far from being as loaded as she needed to be. The amount of cargo the Pente Ante could carry was greater than the amount June could afford at the moment.. so she had to rely on transporting the good of others for a few runs.

June pulled up her local leads, both honest and shady, to see if she could find any other sellers who might be interested in Oberon on short notice. As the Pente Ante hadn't made a name for itself, June had to find buyers who were willing to try something new... or... who were impressed by the captain of the ship.. He was the reputable sort.. a hero.. which was both good in that it brought some legitimatcy to the pente ante venture... at the same time, the more discreet were shying away from dealing with a ship captained by a boy scout.

June rubbed her hands with more sanitizer. She picked up the ear piece and rubbed it with sanitizer for good measure. She spoke into the communication microphone, "Captain's Quarters Hail. Captain's Quarter's Hail."

There was a chirp of acknowledgement.

"Caiaphas this is June.. We could still use some local sellers.. I don't suppose there are some veterans on planet who'd like a trip to Oberon? Also, as a reminder - it may not be too early to recall our engineer. Over.

Oh and there's one more thing I'd like to take care of on Oberon. I'll talk to you about it when you have a moment. Over."

Michael Thayne · 05-30-2010, 11:56 PM

A quick radio call to a local friend is enough for June to find out that the best people to sell rhodium to right now, assuming you want to steer clear of war zones, are the Ion Productions shipyards in Tendril and the Concord forces stationed in Hammer's Star. Well, some people would say Hammer's Star is a war zone, but whatever destroyed the Silver Bell colony hasn't made it hard to get in and out of the system.

Before the call, the Lighthouse was looking pretty useless: in system, but heading to Cambria, on the opposite side of the Verge from Oberon. But perhaps the Lighthouse could be helpful after all: plenty of Concord officials on board who might be talked into authorizing credit to buy rhodium on the Concord's behalf. Though June would have to check, Ion Productions also probably has an office on board. But to arrange something on such short notice? Why couldn't that cruiser be leaving a few days later? To much to do at the last minute, but this going to be life until the day when there are more big ships in the Verge.

Two hours before the cruiser is scheduled to leave, June receives a reply from Biggs:

I've sent a message sent to a brother in Redcrown about getting funds. He should have them for you in a day, but if not, there is someone in Tribon who you can talk to about that. Go to the Lift Spirits by the northern lifts on the upper tier and ask for Moe. He can also help figure out if any introductions are in order.

Annotations:
Tendril: The Verge system nearest the stellar ring.
Hammer's Star: A star system, home of the Silver Bell colony, which was wiped out during GW2 but is now being rebuilt. Nobody has been able to prove who was responsible for Silver Bell's destruction.
The Lighthouse: A city/space station/driveship... even people who live on it can be unsure what to call it. But it has the largest starfalling range of anything in the Verge.
Tribon: The capital and primary spaceport of Lison.

Dorin Thorha · 05-31-2010, 07:23 AM

Khatmutgar sits impatiently in his quarters on the Penny Ante. So far his new job hasn't provided much action. His robot headset rests on a table nearby. Suddenly a light winks on on the robot. It whirs, and then a red dot laser point appears on the opposite wall. It widens into a line, and then scans down the wall.

"The door of this room is closed."

Khatmut motions with his hand to silence the AI. "Desist, vexing clockwork."

"The correct form of that phrase should be 'Stop, annoying robot.'"

Khatmut sighs, gets up, and puts on the headset. "Might as well explore the ship."

LemmingLord · 05-31-2010, 09:17 AM

ooc: I see from the Glitch introduction post that he is "between jobs," how about we get him onboard.

June looked through her readouts, this time from the navigation and sensor suite. Cleanest room on the ship not open to vacuum.

June rubbed sanitizer on her hands. She typed up a message,

TO: gGlitch@remailer.rNET
Mr. Glitch. Thanks again for your assistance in debugging those documents for me. I was pleased to see that you are seeking employment. If your experience in shipboard maintenance is as good as you suggest, please call my personal comm 006-097-981E-6B and we will get you onboard as soon as possible for a complete tour of the ship and what needs to be done. END MESSAGE

June pulled off the earpiece to the intership dialer, "June Duran speaking. Final navigation checkout complete. I have some final business to attend to on the planet. Will me back in 90. If there is a noble escort onboard willing to join me, please disembark with me in 5."

Dorin Thorha · 05-31-2010, 09:58 AM

"Mayhaps there are some deeds to done on the planet!"

Khatmutgar fetches his shield, checks his saber, and hurries to meet June.

[ooc] M.A.L.F. has been building a readout of the ship from its scans. Soon this will be a program "Ship Bond" that can fit in its 2 point slot, and that grants +1 to Spacer and maybe other skills for the Penny Ante only.

Katelyn · 05-31-2010, 11:40 AM

Caiaphas' fingers rub idly against his chin as he stares at the wall directly in front of him. He returns June's call after pondering over it for a few moments.

"Listen, I don't know what they tell you people on the news these days, but I know as much about the veterans on this planet as you do - which apparently ain't a whole lot," he says gruffly, drawing a few lines through a page on his desk. "But anyway, I'm free when you've got the time so long as we don't get attacked by three-winged toadstools shooting fireballs out their arses while we're sitting here. Captain out."

LemmingLord · 05-31-2010, 02:26 PM

June meets Khatmutgar at the airlock.

"Ready to take a walk? We have a potential seller. We just need to show him great respect as a member of one of the honorable merchant houses."

Dorin Thorha · 05-31-2010, 03:28 PM

"Yes, mi'lady."

05-28-2010, 10:14 PM	#1
Michael Thayne Join Date: May 2010	[IC] GURPS On The Verge OOC: An adventure hook... "June, when you go to the Oberon system, we're going to need a favor. On Lison they say the black market in cyberwear there is now controlled by Quentin Tryce. But Tryce is a ghost. A rumor. A regular Vor Jack. You find people who've heard people brag about knowing him but... who is he? "The brothers on Lison are getting worried. They say there is too much talk for Tryce to be a rumor. But if there is an invisible man who took over cybergear on a planet out of nowhere? What does he do next? "We need to figure out who Tryce is. But we need to be careful. Have restraint. This is not one of your ordinary jobs. After all, what is it to make a ghost disappear? Now, you find out the name of his favorite skin bar, maybe we can use that." Annotations: Oberon: A star Lison: A planet orbiting Oberon. Rich in rhodium, in high demand because it's needed to make stardrives work. Last edited by Michael Thayne; 05-31-2010 at 09:25 PM. Reason: 'Verse info annotations.

05-30-2010, 07:39 PM	#2
MisterJuan Join Date: Feb 2010	Re: [IC] GURPS On The Verge Orange. Red. Yellow. All flashing in a stroboscopic waltz, setting the whole scene a blaze. All over the floor, numerous bodies danced amongst flames of light. Some were gracefully gliding; seemingly hovering about like they were stepping on clouds. Other were twitching painfully, their body apparently convulsing in painful manners, tingling with impulses no one was clearly meant to experience. Some were screaming, others chanting. A great many had fallen completely mute, a glaze over their eyes as they saw things only they could. The night club was packed to it’s fullest. Glitch loved the place. Although always packed to the breaking point, it was one of the lesser known establishments of the city. With no advertisement, a barely glimpse of it’s existence here and there on the net, the place lived only by non regularized viral advertisement. In other word; you only heard about it from someone else, who heard about it from someone else who’d stumbled upon it. But now and then, you’d get a few patrons stumbling in, having chanced on the entrance, late at night, through a haze of whatever they had consumed earlier. The music was great, sure. But the fact the place was pretty much as underground as it got meant just getting “in” made it an experience in itself. Glitch could feel the heavy thump of the bass, the electronic music coursing its way through his entire body, almost punching clean out the air out of him. With each beat, he felt a wave of pressure hit him full front, minutely shifting his internal organs. His neck was almost sore from the head bobbing he was barely aware of doing. The stims he was riding on made everything brighter, slowing the action down to an almost crawl. Glitch relished the moment, lived in it. It was a beautiful place. Sights. Sounds. People. Feelings. With each passing moment, the beat would get heavier and heavier, crushing the crowd as everyone bumped against one another. People drifted in and out of each other, briefly becoming something else entirely. They would then break off on their own, regain their individuality and drift off. It was like watching someone shake a bottle of water and oil. Glitch stood, his back against the bar, resting on his elbow. Every now and then, he’d stop for a beat and realize that his eyes were closed. Stims and music did that sometime. He’d find his mind drifting miles and miles away from his body. Ridding himself of his restrictive meat gave him a rush he only found deep in the forgotten reaches for the Net. Out there, in the dark corners of cyberspace, between bytes, in grids no one went to anymore. Sometimes, he’d stay there, for hours on end, just drifting in zeros; going to the places were null was the norm and no data existed. He would float there and listen to white noise. Just like he was floating right now, his body pummeled by the beat and his mind far away. His eye balls felt sticky as he remembered to unglue his eyelids from them. His mouth felt dry and his palms sweaty. Glitch did his best to swallow, but didn’t find anything. He looked down as his hands to find them shaking, twitching. He didn’t realize he was laughing until he was out of breath. And then the throbbing came, in the back of his head, just at the bottom of his skull. It wasn’t quite there yet, but it was well on its way. In a few hours, he’d have to call it quits and crawl out of the club. Crawl on the sidewalks. Crawl on the alleys. Crawl into the dingy little place he had rented near the space docks. Crawl into his stiff bed, under the scratchy synthwool covers. And he’d dream of white noise and whiteouts. Ever since he’d managed to crash himself on a netrun, getting within an inch of burning his entire brain in the process, Glitch hadn’t been quite the same. He’d earn his handle even more. Glitch. At first it was because he was good at finding them. Afterwards, it was because his presence in the net always went perfectly untraceable; leaving only faint glitches in the systems behind him. Now, it was a way to describe his body. Glitched. He’s pushed himself a microsecond too far, and had paid by frying quite a handful of neurons. Luckily enough and some said miraculously, he’d been left mostly intact… at the exception of some rather severe chronic migraines. A black clinic doctor had given him a full brain scan. The little black blotches of dead brain tissue looked almost aesthetic on the print out Glitch had taken with him. Battle scars no one would ever get to see. Even though he didn’t really want to think about it, Glitch knew all to well he’d have to get at least a small fraction of his act tomorrow. Work had been a bit scarce these days, and at the speed he was popping stims, he’d soon be completely dry. That meant no more stims. That meant loosing his edge. And then the pain would come in. And it was here, knocking at the back of his brain. Hello? Can I come in? Well, nevermind me, I’ll just make myself at home. It felt like someone was trying to squeeze his eyes out of his head. Glitch pushed himself off the bar, an invisible hand guiding him through the crowd and towards the exit. Some water and some sleep would do the trick.

05-30-2010, 08:56 PM	#3
LemmingLord Join Date: Jul 2005	Re: [IC] GURPS On The Verge The Pente Ante was big and beautiful and bought and paid for. June Duran looked over the readout from the ships laundry console a second time. She needed to send a response soon with any questions she had in order to get the answers before shipping out to Oberon the following day. She pressed the plunger on the sanitizer dispenser. She rubbed her hands together briskly. June began. She tapped away at an ancient style mechanical keyboard plugged into the manual port of the laundry console, surprised she still a key-pecking sort of typist. CLACK CLACK CLACK...etc. Mr. Biggs, we are heading close to Oberon soon. Would love to show the family the additional curtesy you mentioned before flying out for the verge of the unknown. Me and my boys will make some gentle inqueries on Oberon. What do you know about their product or methods on Lison? Do you have some funds you could part with here on (whatever planet we are on) that I could use to bump some trees and take a closer look at their merchandise? It might get some conversations started. If we find the ghost, do you want us to arrange an introduction with local family? END TRANSMISSION. June pulled up the cargo manifest. This help with the family would be pro bono.. and she still needed to find a way to make some money. This was a business afterall. With only a day until they would piggy back off a friendly bulk cruiser, the Pente Ante was far from being as loaded as she needed to be. The amount of cargo the Pente Ante could carry was greater than the amount June could afford at the moment.. so she had to rely on transporting the good of others for a few runs. June pulled up her local leads, both honest and shady, to see if she could find any other sellers who might be interested in Oberon on short notice. As the Pente Ante hadn't made a name for itself, June had to find buyers who were willing to try something new... or... who were impressed by the captain of the ship.. He was the reputable sort.. a hero.. which was both good in that it brought some legitimatcy to the pente ante venture... at the same time, the more discreet were shying away from dealing with a ship captained by a boy scout. June rubbed her hands with more sanitizer. She picked up the ear piece and rubbed it with sanitizer for good measure. She spoke into the communication microphone, "Captain's Quarters Hail. Captain's Quarter's Hail." There was a chirp of acknowledgement. "Caiaphas this is June.. We could still use some local sellers.. I don't suppose there are some veterans on planet who'd like a trip to Oberon? Also, as a reminder - it may not be too early to recall our engineer. Over. Oh and there's one more thing I'd like to take care of on Oberon. I'll talk to you about it when you have a moment. Over." __________________ Villain's Round Table

05-30-2010, 11:56 PM	#4
Michael Thayne Join Date: May 2010	Re: [IC] GURPS On The Verge A quick radio call to a local friend is enough for June to find out that the best people to sell rhodium to right now, assuming you want to steer clear of war zones, are the Ion Productions shipyards in Tendril and the Concord forces stationed in Hammer's Star. Well, some people would say Hammer's Star is a war zone, but whatever destroyed the Silver Bell colony hasn't made it hard to get in and out of the system. Before the call, the Lighthouse was looking pretty useless: in system, but heading to Cambria, on the opposite side of the Verge from Oberon. But perhaps the Lighthouse could be helpful after all: plenty of Concord officials on board who might be talked into authorizing credit to buy rhodium on the Concord's behalf. Though June would have to check, Ion Productions also probably has an office on board. But to arrange something on such short notice? Why couldn't that cruiser be leaving a few days later? To much to do at the last minute, but this going to be life until the day when there are more big ships in the Verge. Two hours before the cruiser is scheduled to leave, June receives a reply from Biggs: I've sent a message sent to a brother in Redcrown about getting funds. He should have them for you in a day, but if not, there is someone in Tribon who you can talk to about that. Go to the Lift Spirits by the northern lifts on the upper tier and ask for Moe. He can also help figure out if any introductions are in order. Annotations: Tendril: The Verge system nearest the stellar ring. Hammer's Star: A star system, home of the Silver Bell colony, which was wiped out during GW2 but is now being rebuilt. Nobody has been able to prove who was responsible for Silver Bell's destruction. The Lighthouse: A city/space station/driveship... even people who live on it can be unsure what to call it. But it has the largest starfalling range of anything in the Verge. Tribon: The capital and primary spaceport of Lison. Last edited by Michael Thayne; 05-31-2010 at 09:31 PM. Reason: 'Verse info annotations

05-31-2010, 07:23 AM	#5
Dorin Thorha Join Date: Oct 2009	Re: [IC] GURPS On The Verge Khatmutgar sits impatiently in his quarters on the Penny Ante. So far his new job hasn't provided much action. His robot headset rests on a table nearby. Suddenly a light winks on on the robot. It whirs, and then a red dot laser point appears on the opposite wall. It widens into a line, and then scans down the wall. "The door of this room is closed." Khatmut motions with his hand to silence the AI. "Desist, vexing clockwork." "The correct form of that phrase should be 'Stop, annoying robot.'" Khatmut sighs, gets up, and puts on the headset. "Might as well explore the ship." __________________ <>< Last edited by Dorin Thorha; 05-31-2010 at 03:29 PM.

05-31-2010, 09:17 AM	#6
LemmingLord Join Date: Jul 2005	Re: [IC] GURPS On The Verge ooc: I see from the Glitch introduction post that he is "between jobs," how about we get him onboard. June looked through her readouts, this time from the navigation and sensor suite. Cleanest room on the ship not open to vacuum. June rubbed sanitizer on her hands. She typed up a message, TO: gGlitch@remailer.rNET Mr. Glitch. Thanks again for your assistance in debugging those documents for me. I was pleased to see that you are seeking employment. If your experience in shipboard maintenance is as good as you suggest, please call my personal comm 006-097-981E-6B and we will get you onboard as soon as possible for a complete tour of the ship and what needs to be done. END MESSAGE June pulled off the earpiece to the intership dialer, "June Duran speaking. Final navigation checkout complete. I have some final business to attend to on the planet. Will me back in 90. If there is a noble escort onboard willing to join me, please disembark with me in 5." __________________ Villain's Round Table

05-31-2010, 09:58 AM	#7
Dorin Thorha Join Date: Oct 2009	Re: [IC] GURPS On The Verge "Mayhaps there are some deeds to done on the planet!" Khatmutgar fetches his shield, checks his saber, and hurries to meet June. [ooc] M.A.L.F. has been building a readout of the ship from its scans. Soon this will be a program "Ship Bond" that can fit in its 2 point slot, and that grants +1 to Spacer and maybe other skills for the Penny Ante only. __________________ <><

05-31-2010, 11:40 AM	#8
Katelyn Join Date: May 2010	Re: [IC] GURPS On The Verge Caiaphas' fingers rub idly against his chin as he stares at the wall directly in front of him. He returns June's call after pondering over it for a few moments. "Listen, I don't know what they tell you people on the news these days, but I know as much about the veterans on this planet as you do - which apparently ain't a whole lot," he says gruffly, drawing a few lines through a page on his desk. "But anyway, I'm free when you've got the time so long as we don't get attacked by three-winged toadstools shooting fireballs out their arses while we're sitting here. Captain out."

05-31-2010, 02:26 PM	#9
LemmingLord Join Date: Jul 2005	Re: [IC] GURPS On The Verge June meets Khatmutgar at the airlock. "Ready to take a walk? We have a potential seller. We just need to show him great respect as a member of one of the honorable merchant houses." __________________ Villain's Round Table

05-31-2010, 03:28 PM	#10
Dorin Thorha Join Date: Oct 2009	Re: [IC] GURPS On The Verge "Yes, mi'lady." __________________ <><