Finally the conclusion of the eighth session of my
Apocalypse World game, the Climbers. Violet's followers are in disarray, November just slept with the leader of the Militia, Jarhead took on a job, and Gator is about to join the game.
We are now a third of the way through my planned 20+ session run for this campaign. The world is getting more developed but major questions remain about the psychic maelstrom, the 'gods', the Militia and other forces working towards remaking this world. This session is my long-planned ‘talkie’ session where everyone has Hot and/or Sharp highlighted. My players very much delivered despite the large amount of babbling by my infant son.
As in my earlier actual play reports, small green text indicates out of character talk, mechanics and other game aspects outside of the fiction.
Our main characters are:
- Gator (the Gunlugger) is an assassin and part-time bodyguard who wears customized scrounged armor made from Kevlar and ceramic inserts. Camouflaged for the jungle, his face was ruined in a fight with an alligator. His eyes are always sizing things up and his brutal life has left his body a hard sheet of muscle. He recently save a little girl named Memo and obtained a gang of mercenaries.
- Jarhead (the Savvyhead) is a thing African-American man with a short goatee, long dreads, and clothes covered in pockets and gear. Travelling around in an old news van, he repairs items for a living. He is investigating a device that can bend space and time. He has also obtained employees in the form of a young woman Allison and her brother Waters.
- November Orleans (the Skinner) is descended from a family which left New Orleans before it sank. She is a beautiful woman of mixed heritage with dark eyes and skin, a sweet face and lush body. She dresses herself in a mix of scavenged clothing that somehow works together and wears a necklace made from rows of antique coins which jingle and shine as she moves. Her main profession is as a dancer, especially belly dancing, but she has a sideline business in cooking and animal training.
- Violet Jefferson (the Touchstone) is descended by survivalists and her clothing and gear reflects her origins. Plain looking but fit, she carries a pocket copy of the Federalist papers and founding documents of the United States of America, an idea she hopes to revive. Her followers are demanding her help putting on a mission to liberate Miami from a tyrant.
Highlighting is as follows:
- Violet (Hard, Hot)
- Jarhead (Hot, Sharp)
- November (Hot, Sharp)
- Gator (Cool, Sharp)
Talking It Out, Part II
We start with Jarhead
Jarhead tells the woman in white, "no, we need a different one."
The Music Bowl cultist heads off to find something more appropriate, while he slips the part, a display for luxury car, into the pile of bits that just won't work for this project.
Basically he's skimming off the top.
The tinkerer goes back to working on the two-wheeled vehicle. With the latest haul, he had half an engine, two wheels, and a pile of bling.
Slowly he becomes aware that someone is watching him.
He turns to find Allison standing nearby looking at him and ringing a rag in her hands.
“Grab me that wrench,” he tells her.
She grabs it quickly, thrusting it in his face. He takes it and starts loosening the bolts on some of the parts.
“Where have you been?” he asks.
Her mouth opens slightly. "I've been watching my brother."
“Oh how has he been?” Jarhead says absently.
"He’s better," she chokes out. "I guess."
“Good, I need him.”
Her mouth clamps shut as she stares at the hyper little man.
"Did you take notes like I asked?" he asks oblivious to her expression.
"I took notes," she says her soft voice hardening.
“You can leave them over there," he says pointing by Memo. He catches Allison's gaze and adds, “Oh that’s Memo.”
The girl waves, her naked feet kicking back and forth as she sits on the gurney. Allison drops the notes and leaves the loading dock.
A quarter-hour later she returns with her brother Waters. The young boy totters behind her, bandages covering his head and shoulders.
“Waters, we are here,” the fair-haired woman says.
Jarhead looks up from the suspension system he is rigging. Other than the bandages, the boy looks fine. Jarhead puts his tools down and grabs a helmet fitted with an array of magnifying glasses.
The tinkerer looks the boy over while Waters stares at him blankly. “You look to be alright," Jarhead says. "Not that I’d know. Can you hear me?”
Jarhead taps on Waters's head.
"My head hurts," the boy says calmly.
Jarhead stops poking him. “Well good to have you back.”
"They took out parts of his brain didn't they?" Violet asks.
"Something was removed."
“So your head hurts? That’s it? How is the rest of you?”
"My back hurts but they say that the medication will reduce the pain," Waters says flatly. Allison hovers behind him, wringing her hands.
"Good," Jarhead says. "Better living through chemistry."
“They say I should rest a bit before I do any heavy work.”
"Go over there for now," he directs the boy, pointing to the back of the van. He hands him a set of goggles. "Here. Fiddle with that for now. Don’t break it.”
This would be the night vision goggles he's promised Gator.
Jarhead turns to Allison. “What you are still standing here? Shouldn’t you be doing-” He looks around frantically, grabbing his makeshift taser. “Here.”
Allison taking the device in both hands, her eyes fixed on Jarhead. “Didn’t you see that he’s changed? He’s...so cold.”
Jarhead touches the boy’s skin. “Feels warm to me.” He shrugs to Allison. “A lot of meds will do that to you. He’s still healing.”
“I suppose you wouldn’t understand,” she says sourly.
Jarhead steps away from his work stiffly. “You are going to be stuck on this all night aren’t you?”
The woman’s reserved demeanor vanishes as she says, “you don’t care about us at all. We are just tools to you!”
As she storms off, Jarhead sighs and puts down his tools. He walks over to Waters, tilting the boy’s head and letting his mind open to the psychic maelstrom.
Jarhead Opens his brain and gets a 10.
I start with some questions. “Where did you learn to do all of this? Your general techie skills?”
Jarhead explains it started with him learning to build cars from his uncle. After that he moved to next town to learn another skill. He just kept doing that, eventually learning to access the psychic maelstrom via a process of trial and error. He admits he probably wasn't as spacey and unemphatic before he did that. “You poke at the Maelstrom, the Maelstrom pokes back”.
”Who does Jarhead care about?”
”At the moment Memo. He loves the tech but it’s not used right with her. It wasn't done right and he feels bad about it.” Basically it bothers him that she wasn't a willing participant in what happened to her.
”Isn't that what you did to Waters?” Gator (recently joining us) comments.
”No I left him in the care of the hospital.”
Jarhead’s mind skips through his memories: working on a rusty pickup back home, his first time on the road, learning to solder. He thinks of Memo, of what happened to her, and how wrong it was. Feelings of resentment and bitterness well up. As he struggles with his emotions, he realizes the truth.
None of this is true of Waters. The boy lacks any feelings, positive or negative.
”He is now a Vulcan,” I joke.
”I’m going to have to teach him the neck pinch,” Jarhead says.
I quickly bring Gator up to speed. I spend a bit of extra time on Jarhead’s ‘requisitions’. “I just want to point out that November saw Jarhead take that gurney with the straps to Memo and she was totally okay with that.”
”That’s creepy,” he says. “It probably wouldn't even occur to me until way later. Ew.”
”I thought you found a girlfriend,” November says.
Also we establish that Gator’s gang is fully formed:
15 violent bastards with scavenged and makeshift weapons and armor (2-harm gang small +rich 2-armor). They are well-armored, self-sufficient, and loose-knit, with members coming and going as they choose.
As he describes them, “they are a loose knit bunch of mercenaries flocking to the most stable power around. Morgana is my first lieutenant and I rely on her to do the day-to-day managing of the unit. Her business sense really appeals me and is my main point of respect for her. They are currently a wandering service for hire and as such have no home base. The nomadic lifestyle makes it difficult to keep members and some may find the grass is greener right where they are at that moment. One of the requisites for joining up is an inspection of arms and armor. If the recruit doesn't gear up to keep themselves alive they are just a liability to the squad.”
He adds, “they can take care of themselves with minimal overhead from me.”
I also point out that with his moves he can take out his gang by himself.
“That was actually one of the things I considered.”
Gator spends the day inspecting the new recruits of the Free Company, tossing out anyone without a credible weapon or real functional armor. That just leaves skills, he considers.
Around midday, he approaches Barnum. He finds the head nurse organizing a group of nurses to retake the East Wing. The green combatants are checking their few firearms and readying a firehose.
“Oh, Gator,” Barnum greets him as Millions leads the scarred warrior over.
“Howdy,” Gator says, looking over the ‘troops’.
“I heard you were involved in getting the lights on in the East Wing,” Barnum comments. “It sounds like it was a bit of a challenge.”
“Eh, it wasn’t too bad,” he says ignoring the ache in his shoulder. “There’s some interesting things in there made by the computer.”
The nurse nods. “That’s why we like to keep it from acting on its own as much as possible.”
“It seems like a wise decision,” Gator says. “We got the lights on but there is stuff still in there.”
“Yes I expect as much.” Barnum turns to look at him. “Any particulars you know of?”
“There’s a wheelchair monster with wires in his hands,” he says conversationally. “He seemed pretty tough. Metal stuff sticking out of him. I did take out the spider lady.”
“Alright,” Barnum says nodding slightly.
”He has no idea what you mean by that," Jarhead comments.
”Right,” I add. “He’s like ‘I believe you. Why would I doubt you fought a spider lady? What do I gain from that?’”
“It may be tough,” Gator says. “I could offer the services of the local mercenaries.”
“So you’ve become their spokesperson?”
“Of a sort.” Gator gestures to the crowd of nurses. “You could lose some people, it’s up to you.”
Barnum follows his gaze. “I suppose it would be better outsource this to trained professionals. So what are these mercenaries’ rates?”
“Well this will allow you to access a whole wing,” Gator says thinking quickly. “I’m going to tell you there is a monster in there that would probably kill at least half of the nurses you send in.”
Gator rolls Manipulate a person and gets a 7.
Barnum rubs his chin. “We can come up with a deal here. Let’s say you take care of whatever left alive in the East Wing and I pay you and your mercenaries three barter for your foray. But these things are going to get acclimated to the lights on in there pretty soon. They might learn to open the door. So I’d appreciate you getting these mercs to work pretty soon.”
Gator replies, “How about this? One service per man. Not including recovering from the job.”
“Alright but get that place cleared out.”
To the gang.
The noise and laughter of the Free Company fills the corner of the cafeteria. Over a dozen dangerous looking men and woman sit playing cards, eating, or joking. Gator approaches Morgana.
“How’s it going?” his lieutenant asks.
“Pretty good,” he says. “I think I’ve got us a gig. There’s some nasty things over in the East Wing.”
She finishes his sentence, “and they want us to take them out?”
“Yes, I worked out a service for each man that goes in,” he tells her. “It’s worth at least a barter for each of us.”
“That will be handy later on,” she says. “Unless we play it really smart.”
He nods. “It’s a good security blanket.”
“Alright when do they need it done?”
“Nowish.”
The woman climbs up on her chair. “Alright guys stop with the game! We’ve got work to do.”
Grumbling, the crowd gathers their gear and quit what they were doing.
“I was winning too,” Wire says.
“No you weren’t,” the woman across from him tells him, throwing down a winning hand.
To the East Wing.
The fighting in the East Wing is quick and messy. In the bright white halls, the few horrors left have little room to hide. Gator’s gang sweeps it room by room, while he watches and evaluates them.
I have him roll Acting under fire to manage the gang. Nothing in there does more than 3-harm or works as a gang, so his gang can’t actually take any significant harm. He earns experience and gets a 9.
The wheelchair freak manages get its electrified hands on Wire, leaving the warrior twitchy for the next hour. Another inmate bashes Morgana into a wall before dropping from a dozen rounds to the head. They find his bones have been replaced with surgical steel. The only real damage happens to Road. The soldier sloppily forgets to check the air ducts. A little old lady with knives for hands divebombs him and cuts him up pretty bad.
“Hopefully he learns his lesson,” Gator says to Morgana outside the wing as Wire helps the wounded man back to get some stitches.
The East Wing is now resolved as a threat.
Gator’s eyes pick out Allison standing a short distance away. Her mouth keeps curling down into a frown as she looks to him.
“Say your peace,” Gator tells her.
“My brother, the hospital is done with him.”
“Excellent,” Gator says hesitantly. “He’s not dead is he?”
“No,” she says quivering. “But he’s not the same.anymore. It did something to him. He doesn’t smile or even seem to care about me anymore. Jarhead doesn’t seem to care either.”
“Jarhead doesn’t care about you?”
“He doesn’t seem to care that Waters doesn’t get sad or angry,” she says loudly.
“Well Jarhead not really good on the person stuff,” Gator explains. “Look on the bright side, he’s not dead. Maybe he’ll snap out of it.”
“I hope.”
Gator nods to her. “I guess that’s all you can do right now. Sorry to hear that.”
Allison nods and turns to go. She stops and adds, “Jarhead’s focusing mainly on that weird girl. He’s got a bed with straps for her.”
”It’s really not that weird of an assumption that I made,” November says.
Gator blinks. “Thanks for letting me know.”
He heads for the loading bay.
”I’d probably have killed somebody,” Violet says.
Mox enters the lobby. The large man looks over the heads of the nurses and patients before settling on the woman scribbling notes between glances into a tiny book.
November sends Mox to deliver the message to Violet that A.T. will be ready to meet her in an hour in gardens. I figure this uses up the last of her hold over him.
He walks over. “You are Violet?”
“Yes that would be me,” she says looking up.
“I’m Mox, November wanted me to let you know she and A.T. will meet you in the garden in an hour.”
“Alright I’ll be there.”
Mox shrugs and wanders off, thinking about the dark-skinned dancer.
Later.
November and A.T. enter an isolated part of the gardens. Overhead, the storm continues to pelt the glass enclosure. Violet is waiting for them in the gloom.
“So Violet have you made any more plans since I spoke to you last?” November asks. “I really think you two should join forces.”
“She’s probably right,” A.T. says.
Violet nods. “Here what I’ve been able to determine so far.” She fills them in on her plan to gain intelligence on the Big Ship. Someone will sneak aboard and learn who within White’s gang is truly loyal to him. “After we neutralize White, we use those we can to keep things stable until we can arrange a town charter to be drawn up and conduct a proper election.”
Violet rolls Manipulate a person assisted by November (who gets a 10 on her help roll). Violet gets a 12 with the extra +1.
November says that if she had the move Radiant (which she plans to get soon), Violet would have turned A.T. into a permanent ally.
Gator states he has an advance now. He still has to decide it though.
The older man nods at the appropriate places during her speech. “That sounds like a good idea. From what I’ve heard they have some heavy ordnance on board. Regardless of whether you find supporters, that intel could be crucial to taking the Big Ship. I’ll let you have your shot.”
”Now A.T. is not a direct threat to you,” I tell her. “Not until the election!”
We switch to the loading dock.
Gator steps into the loading dock. Jarhead’s workshop has sprawled out to fill twice its normal area. Beside the van, Memo lounges on a gurney, watching Jarhead work on a vehicle of some sort. Waters lays in the van, tinkering on a set of complicated goggles. Jarhead whistles to himself as he bolts together an engine.
“Jarhead,” Gator calls out to the oblivious mechanic.
“Hey what’s up?” the thin man says, looking over. “Your goggles are not ready yet.”
“That’s okay.” Gator gestures to him. “Come over here I want to talk you for a sec.”
Jarhead sighs, picks up a piece that needs polishing and follows Gator away from the others.
“What’s up?” the mechanic says as he scrubs off some tarnish.
“I just want to make sure we are clear,” Gator says, tipping his hat up. “You are not to harm that girl in any way.”
Jarhead raises his eyebrows. Gator stares at him like a piece of granite.
”What’s with the gurney?” the gunlugger asks.
“Ooh that, her mind is connected to the psychic maelstrom and not in a good way. And oh yeah it wasn’t my fault. Hey look at this.” Jarhead takes Gator over to Memo. “Memo remember Gator. Friend right?”
She nods.
“He wants to see how your smile is,” he tells her. “Show him your smile.”
As she forces a smile, Jarhead shifts her hair back, exposing the two data ports. “See she’s got a really lovely smile. Thanks Memo.”
Jarhead then takes Gator a short distance away. “Yeah that was weird,” he rabbles. “I guess the computer did it to her. It’s cool but not so cool that it was done to her. I don’t know how to get it out of her so we are going to leave it in there for now. Oh and she is connected to the psychic maelstrom.”
“We are all connected to it,” Gator says.
“There’s a difference. See you hear it when you force your way into it. I hear it kind of sliding into it. She hears it yelling at her all the time.”
“That’s not good,” the mercenary says.
“Yeah that’s not good. The gurney thing is because last time I tried to stop it she tried to kill me. So it is so she doesn’t try to kill me. So yeah, ew. Don’t be gross on me.”
Gator Reads a person and gets a 9 plus experience.
“What do you intend to do with Memo?” Gator asks bluntly.
“I intend to stop the voices from bothering her,” Jarhead says. “Specifically one voice.”
“So not experiment on her?”
“Nah,”he tells Gator. “Though if I see anything interesting I’m going to pay attention. It’s all incidental.”
“Just as long as you don’t hurt that girl we are okay,” he warns him.
“Jeez Gator, you are caring dude,” the mechanic jokes, putting down the polished part. “Chill. You know what’s cool? Well not cool at all but interesting? Come here, take a look.”
Jarhead leads him back to the van to the boy. “Waters sit up.”
The mechanic unwraps some of the bandages. Red scars crisscross his forehead. “They removed some of his brain. He doesn't feel emotions anymore. It’s neat but not so neat.”
“Allison is a little worried about that,” Gator says.
“I don’t think I can fix it,” Jarhead says.
“I’d ask you a health question but I don’t think you could help.”
“I’m not so good on the health thing but I’m working on it.”
Jarhead wants to add life support to his workshop.
He decides to Read a person on Gator. He gets an 11 and an experience.
“Why do you care about Memo so much?” the mechanic asks.
What are you really feeling?
“She’s a little girl,” the gruff warrior says. “She needs to be protected.”
“What you want me to do?” he asks.
“Just don’t cause her any harm or distress.”
November says, “it’s almost like he’s saying what he feels. Craziness.”
”That’s cause he’s Easy to trust,” I quip.
”Wow you are not holding anything back,” Jarhead says.
“What do you intend to do with Memo?” Jarhead asks, surprised at Gator’s openness.
“I hadn’t really thought about it,” the scarred man says. “I guess I want to get her help.”
Switch to November and some bad stuff.
As evening settles on the Autodoc, Shadow approaches November. The dancer turns from her conversation with one of the cultists of the Music Bowl.
“Where have you been?” the bare-chested warrior asks, his hair slick from the rain.
“I have been helping Violet recruiting the Militia to her cause,” she explains. “What have you been up to?”
“I’ve been scouting around outside, exploring this new land.”
“Any more signs of zombies?” she asks.
“I did see something,” he tells her glancing about the lobby. “There were some strangers who arrived a little while ago. One of them had an eye piece like your mystic Jarhead. The other was a woman with red hair.”
“Yes, those are people who have been working with Violet,” she tells him.
“I saw them come from the South,” he says in a low voice. “It was suspicious so I crept closer. I saw them talking with a strange individual. He was wearing an unusual crown.” He mimes the shape of a brimmed hat with a high flat top.
November describes White’s emissary, the black man with a painted face and top hat. Shadow nods.
“That is interesting,” she says. “Let’s tell the others.”
November and Shadow find Gator in the loading dock, watching as Jarhead and his crew work on sort of device.
“Hey!” November calls out. “How’s your recovery coming?”
Gator grins. “It’s just a scratch.”
November draws close to him. “Shadow saw something that I haven’t told Violet yet, which might complicate your deal with her. Scarlet and Joshua, who have been working with her, came from the South. They didn’t say that they had been to the Big Ship. They also didn’t mention that they spoke with the voodoo priest whose working with White.”
“Voodoo priest?” he asks. “I know about the zombies but not any priest.”
November Reads a person. Gator rolls to hinder and gets a 10. Despite the -2 penalty, November gets an 11, marks experience, gains an advancement and picks up Radiant. Now everyone’s Manipulate a person moves have been advanced, with a special effect on a 12+.
Gator Reads a person back. November also hinders and gets an 8. After the -2 penalty, Gator gets an 8. He marks experience and picks out his earlier advancement: Indomitable.
“You haven’t seen him but he’s been here almost as long as we have,” November tells him. She briefly describes the odd figure. “It’s possible that Scarlet and Joshua have made a deal with him. He approached me to make a deal not to interfere with White’s plans here. And now we find these two. Frankly it’s hard to tell because some of the people who work with Violet don’t seem very helpful. But they could be plants.”
Or fungi, I think to myself. Looking forward to springing that on them.
Gator says, “oh really.”
“I wasn’t too concerned with what the thin man was doing here,” She continues. “But now it does bother me. How could I get you to intercede with the thin man in your own special way?”
Using one of her hold from Read a person.
“You could pay me.”
”But you love me”, she says.
”You have not reciprocated my love,” he tells her. “It’s been a while. I am a consummate business man.”
”Haven’t reciprocated! I gave you a rocket launcher.”
”I did try to give you a pretty gun and you turn me down.”
”Never hurt the murderous psychopath’s feelings,” Jarhead says.
Violet adds, “sometimes they have some sensitivity under all of that murderous intent.”
”That’s about the nicest gift I could give somebody,” Gator says. “A weapon.”
November takes a half step back. “I guess I misjudged you.”
“I guess so,” he says, ice leaking into his voice.
“What do I think I should do Gator?”
”That’s a tough question,” he says. “This is very personal for Gator.”
”Yeah with all of these squishy feelings and things,” I say.
”I wish you would show me some attention," he says. “I did love you in the beginning.”
”He tried to give you a nice shiny gun too!”
”It hurt.”
“Maybe you should pay attention to those close to you,” he says, his scar twisting painfully. He turns away. “What you think about Violet and her revolution?”
“I believe in the cause,” she says. “But I’ve had to do a lot to help Violet move on this issue. It’s forced me to neglect those close to me.”
”This is truth stuff,” he admonishes.
”It is true,” she tells him.
Gator looks back her way. “So you think these two are plants from White? We’ve got to make sure they don’t report back.”
“I’m concerned because one of them was espousing the point of view that we should put someone on the Big Ship,” she says. “It sounded like a good time at the time but now I know that they might be reporting to White I’m worried. I think Violet was thinking of taking them up on that suggestion. She could be walking into a trap.”
“That would make sense,” he says, looking around for Violet.
November continues, “since I’ve convinced the Militia to stand down and let her infiltrate, it’s now important that that part of the mission be successful.”
Gator’s gaze snaps back to her. “We’ve convinced the Militia to stand down?”
“Yes, I’ve made friends with A.T., the Militia leader,” she explains.
Gator considers it. “He’s reasonable.”
”What do you really think?” November asks, “about being friends with A.T.”
”I’m jealous,” Gator replies.
I point out so is Mox.
”Shadow is jealous,” she adds.
”No it hasn’t dawned on him yet.”
Jarhead comments, “November is playing with a lot hearts here.”
November sees the tightness in his face.
I’m losing him.
Gator comments, “it definitely makes it more difficult if White does know the plan.”
“They were still debating the plan when I left,” she says. “I don’t know if Violet was planning to go herself.”
“Let’s go find her.”
This scene occurred mostly out of character but is needed to make the in-character stuff make sense.
The trio spot Violet in the hall outside the loading bay.
November asks, “Violet could you come over here for a moment?”
“Sure,” she says, following them into the loading dock.
“We need to know if you are planning to go on the Big Ship yourself and who else knows about it?”
“I’m not intending to go myself unless I have to,” she says. “A good leader must be delegate. Anyway I just finished my plan. I haven’t told anyone except you and A.T.”
“Who knows that you hired me?” Gator asks.
I explain, “There is an assumption that Violet hired him but not for what. The only important person who knows Gator is here to help and that Violet is trying to take out White is A.T. And he’s signed off on it.”
“I don’t think anyone besides the people we came with know that,” she says. “However I think White knows why we are here.”
“Why are we here?” Jarhead interjects.
Gator looks around their group of five to the kids by the van and the nurses walking past the entrance. “How about we move off to the side a bit?”
”Hey Jarhead do you have any loud machinery you can turn on?” November asks,
Jarhead pushes the button on a nearby circular saw. As the roar of the machine drowns out all but the closest conversation, November asks Shadow to step away a bit.
“What does White know?” Gator asks.
“After everybody left, I was doing some thinking about how we should proceed,” Violet says over the sound of spinning metal. “I also opened my brain to try to see what I could figure out about the ship. I don’t think I did a very good job because I’m pretty sure White was doing the same thing. He saw me. I don’t know how much he learned from that but he said something like ‘now I know.’”
”And knowing is half the battle,” I add.
”The other half is Gator,” Gator says.
“That’s rather ominous,” November says.
“So how much did you know at the time you looked?” Jarhead asks.
“I hadn't really decided anything,” Violet says. “I just decided to look.”
“But it was just a few hours ago so you had already made your deal Gator,” November says.
“Though I hadn't decided how it was going to be carried out. I have a plan now though.”
“What’s the plan?” Gator asks.
“We need know what the situation is on that ship,” she explains. “We need intelligence on who is loyal to White and who is simply working with him to save their own skin.”
“Who did you get that idea from?” he asks.
“No one specific person suggested it. AOL suggested learning more about White. Joshua and Scarlet suggested going aboard the ship. The reality is we do need to know what is going on in there. We need somebody we can trust and who White won’t recognize.”
Gator nods. “I happen to know a mercenary group that is available for recon.”
“We could do that for the time being,” Violet says. “I have a friend named Kim on the ship I trust. If we can get in contact with her we might have a chance. Perhaps we can set up a network.”
Violet decides to use her hold to establish a friend on the Big Ship, Kim was the one who was mauled by a boar and she brought to the Autodoc to save her life.
”You saved her from a giant radioactive boar,” I state.
November says, “I dated a few of those.””What kind of network?” Gator asks.
”A spy network!” I say.
”Get out here Shadow, it’s a sensitive situation.”
Violet continues, “once we know the situation, we can isolate and recruit people while we get a charter drawn up. Once the infrastructure is in place, we setup the means to take out White.”
“What infrastructure?” the mercenary asks.
“We need to keep things from getting crazy. When we take out White we need to make sure there isn’t somebody waiting around to take his place. We need people to keep things calm while we conduct the election.”
“Alright. I see what you are getting at,” Gator says.
“We don’t want any riots, we don’t want anybody getting hurt, We don’t want a new dictator.”
“So you need to get some friends in there,” Gator says. “I happen to know a mercenary group who would be willing to provide some peacekeeping.”
And that’s where we ended it.
End of Session
Then we raise Hx:
- Violet gives +1 Hx to November (“Apparently I get goofy after opening my brain,” Violet adds)
- Gator gives +1 Hx to November.
- November gives +1 Hx to Gator (“I don’t know that Violet even knows what I did for her cost,” she says after debating between her and Gator.)
- Jarhead gives +1 Hx to Gator. The Hx resets to +1 and Jarhead reveals a secret.
Jarhead reveals that he has qualms about mixing kids and tech. He loves knowledge and dislikes seeing it misused. What it boils down to is a lack of consent.
He first touched the psychic maelstrom without any training as a teenager early in his journey. That experience is what made him weird/spooky intense. He’s okay with what happened but resents never being given the choice.
So now we have an origin story for Jarhead.
November then reveals she has an involved origin story. “She left home at 12.”
Of course she never told me about any of it so now I need probe deeper.
