[GURPS 4e, IC] The Dying of the Light — Infection

[Inglenook]

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1THE DYING
OF THE LIGHT

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1

[Inglenook]

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1
Chapter 1:
INFECTION

Chapter 2:
LOCK AND KEY

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CURRENT PLAYERS:
Salomon "Ese" Fierro
Maxwell Adams
Steve Bovio
Tal Faulkner

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OOC — Recruitment

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1

[Inglenook]

Chapter 1:
INFECTION

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Then no matter where you are, in a crowded restaurant or on some desolate street or even in the comforts of your own home, you'll watch yourself dismantle every assurance you ever lived by. You'll stand aside as a great complexity intrudes, tearing apart, piece by piece, all of your carefully conceived denials, whether deliberate or unconscious. And then for better or worse you'll turn, unable to resist, though try to resist you still will, fighting with everything you've got not to face the thing you most dread, what is now, what will be, what has always come before, the creature you truly are, the creature we all are, buried in the nameless black of a name.

And then the nightmares will begin.

— Johnny Truant, House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

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1

Friday, June 08, 2012. 12:17 AM.

Captain Morten Rendahl was not having a good day. Or a good week. Or a good year, for that matter.

He sat in one of the pilot chairs of the cruise ship Calypso Queen, a heavy tumbler of scotch in one hand and his captain's hat in the other. The displays of the control console in front of him glowed and blinked, but Morten ignored them, instead staring out into the darkness through the slanted windows of the bridge. His fingers traced the embroidery on his hat almost tenderly.

It would not be his hat for very much longer.

I hate this ship, Morten thought, as he'd thought so many times before. All his misfortune, all that had happened the last few days, it all seemed to come back to the Queen in one way or another—the damnable Queen whose fate was so closely tied to his own. He had once found it bleakly humorous that, as the captain, his career was going to "go down with the ship". But it wasn't so funny now.

The Calypso Queen was by far the oldest cruise ship in the fleet, not to mention the shabbiest. Renovation was not an option, and at this point the only repairs allowed to be made were those that would keep the ship floating until April of next year—when it was scheduled to be decommissioned and scrapped.

The Queen's wiring and electronics were over twenty years old and poorly maintained, so the occasional hiccup was expected. Morten hadn't been surprised when the satellite system for communicating with the mainland had failed two days into the seven-day cruise; it had happened before and would certainly happen again before April. There was no internet or cell service, sure, but as long as they had the GPS and the VHF radio, the cruise could continue as planned.

That was before people started getting sick, though.

It had begun with a passenger, an elderly man from New York. Less than a day into the cruise he had snapped, attacking his wife and several other passengers and crew before being restrained by security. The old man was screaming and snapping like an animal. And less than fifteen minutes later he was dead—a massive heart attack. Dr. Bruckner speculated that the man had had an undiagnosed brain tumor that had caused the sudden aggression, but Dr. Holm was less certain. In any case, the shaken wife had gone ashore in Nassau to return her husband's body to the States, and it seemed that the cruise would return to normal. And for a while, it had.

But over the next few days, several hundred passengers and crew also fell ill. The night that the ship was ported in the Cayman Islands, three people suffered seizures and died, and several others had … well, they'd gone mad. Just like the old man.

The sick were hospitalized in George Town, and many others left the ship after hearing from the Caymanians about what was going on back home: reports of rioting in the major cities, possible terrorist attacks. Something big was happening, something horrible, although no one was sure exactly what it was.

With a skeleton crew and only a few hundred passengers remaining aboard, The Calypso Queen had set sail immediately for Miami. As they passed Cancún, the VHF had picked up a single message from the Mexican port authority played on repeat: "¡Peligro! Cuarentena—No entre en esta zona sin autorización."

Morten downed the rest of his scotch and grimaced. The world was going to hell and he was sitting here worrying about being unemployed in a few months? Typical. You deserve this, he told himself bitterly. You deserve every single thing—

A noise from behind him cut his thoughts short. Morten, quite drunk by now, rose unsteadily to his feet and turned to see what it was.

The door to the hallway had been pushed open. In the doorway stood a person outlined from behind by the bright lights of the hall, their features hidden in shadow.

"Stig? Stig, is that you?" Morten slurred in Norwegian, recognizing the silhouette of his first mate. The figure lurched forward, revealing itself.

Stig Claussen had been a lean, handsome man in his late thirties, but all traces of his former good looks were now gone. He was nearly unrecognizable. The skin of his neck and face was swollen horribly with great purple bruises, and the blood vessels in his eyes had burst, covering his scleras with a film of red. His face was fixed in an expression so pure, so unexpected on the normally sheepish Stig, that it caught Morten's breath in his throat and froze him where he stood.

Rage. Perfect, undiluted rage.

Stig screamed—a mad, unearthly sound—and leapt at Morten, teeth bared and fingers outstretched like claws. It happened too fast for Morten to think, to even breathe, and his body reacted on pure instinct: he threw the heavy tumbler in his hand as hard as he could at Stig's face.

There was a snapping sound as Stig's nose broke. The glass shattered, shards embedding themselves in his face. Stig flew backward, still screaming, but Morten was already moving. Past the helm, past Stig's writhing form, and into the hall, not stopping until he made it to the metal bulkhead door that led to the cabin area of Deck 10. He slammed the door behind him and leaned heavily against it, collapsing to the floor. His drunkenness was gone, doused in the sudden flood of adrenaline and surreality that washed over him. And as Morten listened to the thing that had once been his friend shrieking from behind the door, he did the only thing he could think of:

He put his face in his hands and wept.

[Inglenook]

ESE

You're exhausted. With the ship running off a skeleton crew, you've been been forced to work double shifts. Your double shift was supposed to end at midnight (almost twenty minutes ago), but Hank Ewing, the engineer who is supposed to be taking over for you, has yet to show up to relieve you.

You're in the main engine room in the bowels of the ship (#15). The massive engine takes up most of the room, while a gangway (which you're standing on) hugs the walls. It's extremely loud in here. A ladder leads up to the ceiling, which comes out near the stage of the auditorium on Deck 05.

Up the stairs to your right is an elevator which connects with Deck 05 all the way up to the Viking Crown Lounge, the highest point on the ship (#14). Your cabin is 6523, although you're not supposed to leave until Hank arrives.

Past the elevator is the locker room, a few offices, several maintenance corridors, some more elevators and ways into the ship proper, and things like the boiler room, pump and sewage room, etc. Your coworker and roommate Lurch is back there somewhere—he's an odd fella, but nice enough.

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1
JOHN

Your room is 3508, located on Deck 03. You're sitting at your room's tiny desk methodically assembling your sniper rifle. The captain said that the ship will arrive in Miami sometime tomorrow morning or afternoon, so tonight has to be the night. If you time it right, you can make your kill and be off the ship in the morning before anyone realizes that your mark is dead.

If your mark is still on the ship, that is—a lot of people got off at Cayman Islands.

There are still a lot of sick people on board, and you can hear the occasional screaming in the distance. Whatever bug they've got, it seems to be causing them a great deal of pain.

Outside your room and down the corridor to your right is the main staircase and elevators. There's a map of your floor by the elevators. Further down, you remember, is the Centrum, which is like the main hub of the ship.

---

1
MAXWELL

This conference has been a disaster so far. Cruise ships aren't your cup of tea in the first place, and this particular ship is far tackier and more unsanitary than normal. You have to wonder why the board of directors chose this ship of all ships. Perhaps the fact that the CEO is a notorious skinflint has something to do with it?

But yes, a disaster. First the internet and phones go, then over half the crew gets sick, including several of the conference attendees. Earlier today you heard a maître d' whispering to a server that several people had died last night. If this is the case, the cruise line might be the target of some heavy lawsuits in the very near future.

More troubling, though, are the rumors you heard from the islanders in George Town—news of riots and violence in the U.S.

Your room is 1040, but right now you're on Deck 07, which is almost completely deserted as far as you can tell. Near the bow are some cabins. Near midship are some conference rooms, the main staircase, the elevators and the Centrum. There's a map of the Deck near the elevators. Near the stern is the Bolero Lounge, more elevators and stairs, and the balcony level of the Sound of Music Lounge and Auditorium.

Right now you're sitting in the Bolero Lounge. It's large square room, raised slightly from the rest of the deck, and one of the less ugly bars on the ship (certainly less hideous than the nautical-themed Schooner Bar). There are only two people aside from yourself in the entire bar.

The bartender is a pretty but serious young woman who is wearing her dark blonde hair in a tight chignon. Her name tag says "Rebecca".

Seated at the bar is a woman of indeterminate age, with dark hair that looks as if it's recently been dyed purple at the tips, probably in the ship's beauty salon. Her face looks drawn and haggard, with too-protuberant eyes and a puckered mouth. She is very clearly drunk, and occasionally tries to talk to Rebecca, although she doesn't make much sense.

---

1
SARAH

This is something akin to torture. The Calypso Queen has had a lot of "issues" over the last few years—things like norovirus outbreaks and unhygienic food preparation. Your assignment was to document whether there was any improvement, and if not, to write an exposé on the matter.

Meanwhile, the rest of the world appears to have gone mad. A journalist's dream and you're stuck on this crummy ship.

Your cabin is 2507, but at the moment you're on Deck 11, enjoying the sea breeze. It's been a hot day, and though it's still pretty humid, the temperature is much more tolerable. A lot of the sick people left the ship already, and from what you can tell, the deck is mostly abandoned. You can hear the whirr of a hot tub and the occasional small splash, and from above, you can hear the sound of a guitar.

From what you can recall, at the bow of this deck are two restaurants: Jade Steakhouse/Sushi and The Windjammer Cafe. Closer to where you're standing at midship are the main stairs and elevators, some bathrooms, the swimming pools and pool bars. Near the stern are more stairs and elevators, a basketball court, and a teen area with an under-18 club and an arcade.

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1
TAL

Your mini-vacation has turned out to be not so relaxing after all. Not only because of the horrible state of the ship, but also because of what you saw on the news in the Cayman Islands: a fuzzy video showing people running through the streets, swarming over other people who were trying to get away. The Los Angeles skyline was quite recognizable in the background.

Your cabin is 6094, but right now you're on Deck 12. The sea air is invigorating and helps clear some of the dark thoughts from your mind. You've lugged your guitar Marie up there and are sitting underneath the Viking Crown Lounge (#14) playing it.

From bow to stern, you seem to remember the deck having the following: the upper levels of the Jade Restaurant and Windjammer Cafe, stairs that lead up to the ships "wing" or "spoiler", the main staircase and elevators (with a map of the deck nearby), a jogging track that encircles the deck, the Viking Crown Lounge elevators and stairs, and a rock-climbing wall.

A heavyset black man in his late forties or early fifties is lounging in a deck chair a little bit down the deck, reading a book. He appears to be the only person on the entire deck aside from yourself.

He doesn't seem to appreciate your guitar-playing. After shooting you several irritated stares, he sighs noisily, slams his book, and begins to walk past you in the direction of the main stairs.

[Drynwyn]

After assembling his rifle, John hides it in his room. After making sure his bulletproof vest is on and concealed under his suit jacket -you can never be too careful- he'll head to the map of the ship. He needs to make sure that he has a good spot to kill his target, one of the businessmen on board for a conference.

Spoiler

Show

Not our player who's in board for that event, but aside from that, whichever member the GM finds appropriate. I'm assuming John would know where his target is by now.

[Asherion]

Maxwell swirls his drink around disinterestedly, checking his phone for an internet signal again - nothing yet. Damn this boat. I'm not an idiot, he thinks, but I can't understand how the phone signals and the ship's net signals are all out at once. I wish I could get hold of Dixon, he could tell me what's what, probably knows more than any techie they have on this bloody boat... but then that'd take a phone, wouldn't it.

He sighs and looks up at the bartender, pausing to glance at her nametag. "So... Rebecca." he arcs an eyebrow at her "Do they tell you anything that happens around here? I've been hearing about people dying, and a whole lot of them are sick, everywhere you look, it seems like. What's going on?"

[Stegyre]

Tal looks after the departing reader. Wow, buddy! he thinks, I did not realize this was your deck.

He remembers the grainy tv scenes in the Caymans. LA. In chaos. I wanted to leave all of that behind. Don't think about them, nor about her. Damn this cruise! So much for not spending my time feeling sorry for myself. It's probably a good thing I haven't had 'net access this whole time. At least I've gotten up on deck more than I otherwise might.

. . . and I still have my health. It is creepy, how many people have fallen sick, and the attacks.

Maybe when he's done practising, he'll put Marie back in his cabin and go to the Cafe for a sandwich. Or maybe not: Could it be the food? Heaven help us if it is.

At a loss for what else to do right now, he fingers a G and begins plucking. G to Am to G to Bm to C to G, and starts singing, softly,

Suzanne takes you down
to her place near the river
you can hear the boats go by
you can spend the night beside her
And you know she’s half crazy

. . . .

And you want to travel with her
And you want to travel blind
And you think that you can trust her
For you've touched her perfect body
With your mind . . . .

Spoiler

Show

Linky, because, hey! Leonard Cohen.

[xen0phile]

Ese checks his watch yet again, swears to himself. He is feeling a craving for a smoke, a shower, a meal, a nightcap, and some sleep (all in that order). Deciding that he will radio Hank, Lurch, or anyone else with a walkie-talkie to see when relief will come, he removes his ear muffs, hangs them around his neck, then begins to ascend the ladder to the auditorium above (since down here, it would be difficult for his voice to be heard over the engine noise).

[Inglenook]

ESE

You climb the ladder. About thirty feet up it leads to a small hatch in the ceiling. The sign on the hatch reads "MAINTENANCE TUNNEL: SOUND OF MUSIC LOUNGE. DO NOT USE FROM 7 AM–11 PM." You recall that the maintenance tunnel is only to be used at night, because otherwise the loud noise of the engine might disturb any shows or speakers onstage.

It's within the acceptable hours, but technically you aren't supposed to leave the engine room whatsoever. If Hank shows up while you're in the tunnel, you'll be in pretty big trouble. The choice is yours.

From this angle you can see Lurch through the soundproof window of one of the offices. It's hard to read his mood because his face is always so expressionless, but he appears to be flipping through the engineers' work schedule.

---

1
JOHN

As you walk down the corridor toward the main stairs and elevators, you reflect back on what you've learned about your target over the last few days of watching his activity aboard the ship.

Harmon Schultz. 64. CEO for a well-known banking company. A kind-looking, grandfatherly man, who seemed in good health for the first few days, but you later noticed him leaning heavily on a cane. He leaves his room (1510 on Deck 10) each morning at 7:45 on the dot, always accompanied by one of the other board members, a gaunt, ugly man named Speck. The meetings run off and on until 4 PM, at which point Schultz usually retires back to his cabin. Once or twice you've seen him eat dinner at the captain's table, and he occasionally leaves to wander the upper decks late at night. But otherwise he keeps to himself. You haven't seen him since the Cayman Islands, and there's the distinct possibility that he might have left the ship already.

You arrive at the map of Deck 03. Aside from the cabins and the bottom floor of the Centrum, there's not much here. There's a small art gallery just down the way, and at the stern is Vincent's Dining Room. The ship's restaurant manager shut it down yesterday for unexplained reasons, so it should be empty.

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1
MAXWELL

Rebecca's eyes flicker for a fraction of a second before affecting a look of rehearsed disinterest. "I don't know about any of that," she says flatly, polishing a glass. "People are sick, but no one has died. It's just a stomach bug."

"Bullshirrrrrt," the drunk woman sitting nearby blurts out. Rebecca frowns but says nothing, grabbing a rag and heading across the room to wipe down tables. "I saw irrt," the drunk continues. "And they didn't jurrst die; they were kirrlled."

---

1
TAL

With the departure of the reader, you're alone on the uppermost deck. You can hear muffled music from the Viking Crown Lounge above, and looking over the railing to the deck below, you can see someone in the hot tub and a young woman with a cane standing alone, staring out at the ocean.

[xen0phile]

Noticing Lurch, Ese decides to ask him what's up. Ese climbs back down the ladder, re-dons the earmuffs, then begins to walk toward the office.

[Inglenook]

ESE

Lurch looks up from the schedule as you enter the office, flooding it with the din of the engine. Shutting the door behind you reduces the noise to a pleasant hum.

Standing at over six-and-a-half feet tall with mournful, hooded eyes, it's easy to see how Terry Hrabowski obtained his nickname. He's been your assigned roommate aboard the ship ever since you began working there, and though he's a little odd and quiet, he's given you no reason to complain. He never plays loud music, never drinks, never brings women in.

"Where are Maggie and Hank?" he asks, tossing you the schedule. Hellos aren't really Lurch's thing. "They were supposed to be in for us twenty minutes ago. I tried to get Maggie by radio," he holds up his walkie-talkie, "but she didn't answer. Have you tried Hank?"

[Drynwyn]

Hmm. Let's review my options. Possibility one: Target has disembarked before planned point. I report that the hit became impossible. Irritating, and I don't get payed, but it happens to the best of us. Possibility 2:He's alive and in his cabin. 3; he's wandering, 4, he's sick.


I bet one of the other meeting attendees would know...
On this plan, John will leave to search the decks for someone else who's been at the meeting. This "speck" fellow, or anyone dressed for a meeting.

[Inglenook]

Spoiler

Show

Which decks would you like to search, Drynwyn, and which way would you like to take to get there?

Using this map:

1 - Medical Facility
2–12 - Accessible decks; 2 through 10 are the only decks with cabins
13 - Open-air officers' deck, not open to passengers
14 - Viking Crown Lounge
15 - Engine Room

Green = stairwells. Yellow = elevators.

On the left side of the map (sternward) is the secondary staircase and elevators. Midship is the Centrum, a five-story open area that cuts through decks 3 to 7. The elevator here is glass. On the right side of the map (bowward) is the main staircase and elevators.

[Asherion]

"Hmm." Maxwell says, eyeing the bartender speculatively. "Are you sure you've not heard anything else? Can't hurt to shoot the breeze about rumors, can it? I'm just curious, is all."

Spoiler

Show

Fast Talk (14): (3d6)[1][6][4](11)

Thus far, he appears to have heard the drunk and chosen to disregard her. He swallows down his drink and turns off and pockets the somewhat useless phone.

[Stegyre]

TAL

With the departure of the reader, you're alone on the uppermost deck. You can hear muffled music from the Viking Crown Lounge above, and looking over the railing to the deck below, you can see someone in the hot tub and a young woman with a cane standing alone, staring out at the ocean.

Perception check to see if he notices the cane is white: (3d6)[14]

Spoiler

Show

OOC: Mm, depending upon how obvious it is and how well lit, that may or may not succeed. I'll assume he does not notice it.

Caressing the curve of her body one last time, Tal puts Marie back in her case and fastens the latches.

Since she's not looking at him and there is no one else to make note of it, he takes another look at the woman on the deck below. Not that anything would ever come of it, but I like how she improves the scenery.

Then he heads forward to the central elevators to ride down to his cabin on deck six and stow the guitar. Six flights of stairs are too many carrying a guitar case. It would look funny. I'll take the stairs back up. If nothing else is going on, I can walk around the deck and at least enjoy the breeze, looking up, and the stars.

As he heads forward, he murmurs another song under his breath,
A long, long time ago,
I can still remember how that music used to make me smile . . . .

[xen0phile]

Removing the ear muffs again to properly converse with Lurch, Ese lets out a frustrated sigh upon hearing Lurch's query. "Oh man, I was gunna ask the same. No idea." Ese offers an exacerbated shrug. "Let me try to call for Hank." He sets the schedule back on the desk, turns his back to Lurch (so that there will be less feedback from using two walkie-talkies in the same room), pulls out his radio, depresses the PTT button, "Hank? ¡Oye, Hank! Are you there, bro?"

[Inglenook]

ESE

Nothing but static. Lurch frowns. "So what gives? Neither of them was sick. You don't think they're … ? You know." Looking sheepish, he makes a crude gesture using both of his hands.

You're in the small, cramped office of the chief engineer Lukas Haas. Several filing cabinets stuffed with maintenance records line the walls. On the desk is a battered desktop computer, a blotter calendar, some photos, and an old-fashioned Bakelite telephone connected to the intra-ship telephone system.

---

1
MAXWELL

Rebecca looks around uncertainly, dropping her rag to the table. "You promise you won't say anything, right? I need this job, and I don't want to get fired for …" She sees the look on your face and decides to continue.

"Okay, so I'm not sure how true it is," she says, keeping her voice low so the drunk woman doesn't hear, "but I heard that a few of the sick people have died so far. Seizures, bleeding out, that sort of thing. My roommate said she heard that one of the doctors thinks it might be a strain of ebola. The weird thing is, some of the other sick people just went crazy—like "hurting people" crazy. They said that a woman got torn apart in the Deck 05 bathrooms last night. A few of the crazies are supposed to be locked up in the brig, and a lot more are restrained in the med facility?"

She gives a nervous laugh. "It's crazy, isn't it? Like something out of a zombie movie."

---

1
TAL

Spoiler

Show

Yeah, you didn't notice the white cane.

As you step into the elevator, you make note of the Deck 12 map.

As you exit on Deck 06, and spot the Deck 06 map. And your room is right beside the elevators, which is very convenient.

Shortly past your room is a sheet of unbroken translucent plastic stretching from floor to ceiling. Over half the deck has been cordoned off for "renovation", although it doesn't look to you like anyone has worked on it in quite a while. Beyond the plastic is darkness, mitigated only slightly by the light of the Centrum from the other side of the ship.

The deck is otherwise quiet.

[Asherion]

Maxwell nods. "Of course I won't say anything. And listen, I'm sure we're going to be just fine, here. The captain knows what he's doing." he says, with a false reassuring voice. "I'm going to head up for a smoke and some fresh air. Thanks for the chat." he says with a smile.

Maxwell stands, sliding his glass and a tip onto the bar, and strolls out of the room (assuming no further contact by the others).

If uninterrupted, he will continue up the nearest elevator or stairs to the top deck (unless there's a better place nearby that he'd already know, with a sky view and such).

[xen0phile]

Ese stiffles a chuckle at Lurch's suggestion. "Ay, qué conchudos. Puesss... did you try to call her cabin?" Ese asks, motioning to the old phone on the desk.

[Stegyre]

Shortly past your room is a sheet of unbroken translucent plastic stretching from floor to ceiling. Over half the deck has been cordoned off for "renovation", although it doesn't look to you like anyone has worked on it in quite a while. Beyond the plastic is darkness, mitigated only slightly by the light of the Centrum from the other side of the ship.

The deck is otherwise quiet.

Tal nudges the plastic sheeting with the end of the guitar case. Or maybe I explore the dark, creepy area of the deck that has been sheeted off just down from my cabin and am never seen again, he thinks. Wasn't there a Dr. Who episode like this? Loads of Cybermen hiding in the "under renovation" section of a building?

He opens the cabin door and puts the guitar away. "Marie, if anything happens to me, remember that I always loved you most. I want you to have everything -- except the hiking stick and the iPhone."

He grabs the hiking stick, just in case, And because hiking sticks are cool, and because hiking sticks are cool. iPhone in hand, . . . he hears a noise in the hallway outside his cabin.

[Drynwyn]

John decides to start by searching the deck he is on. May as well. He'll start by checking the centrum, then the any open-air portions of the deck.

[Inglenook]

ESE

Lurch punches in the number to Maggie's room. No answer. "What's Hank's cabin number? 2082?" he asks, dialing. No answer. One-by-one he tries the numbers of each of the other engineers: Luke, Dattatraya, Bob, Sue, Zhao. No answer.

Out of options, Lurch looks at the list of emergency numbers printed on the side of the phone, and calls the ships' bridge.

No answer.

"This … isn't normal," Lurch says at last, staring at you with unreadable eyes. "What do you think we should do?"

---

1
JOHN

It's pretty unlikely that one of the bankers at the meeting would still be wandering about in business attire, given that the meetings end at 4 in the afternoon and it's past midnight now. But aside from visiting Schultz's cabin and seeing if he's in there, it's the best shot you have at the moment.

You make your way to the Centrum: an open lobby in the center of the ship that cuts through several decks. It's almost mall-like, with some of the decks having small shops that ring the lobby.

Deck 03 is the bottom floor of the Centrum. There are a few people sitting on benches and walking up the stairs—far fewer people than normal, you note—but no one is dressed especially dapperly.

There's not much else on this deck aside from the adjoining Art Gallery (a rectangular room which anyone may wander through at any time) and Vincent's Dining Room further toward the stern. You can see a "Temporarily Closed" placard in the doorway.

The nearest open-air deck is Deck 07, which is has a walkway encircling the ship. The larger open-air decks are 11 and 12.

---

1
MAXWELL

You leave the bar and make your way to the secondary elevators near the stern, making note of the Deck 07 map.

There's a door in the wall near the elevators, and you suddenly realize that you won't need to go to the top deck after all! Deck 07 has an open-air walkway circling the ship.

You step through the door and out onto the deck. The ocean and sky are dark, but the ship is brightly lit and you have no problem seeing.

You are on the starboard side of the ship on the walkway of Deck 07, close to the stern. No one else appears to be here.

You remember from your mandatory orientation shortly after boarding the ship that this is where the lifeboats launch from. In fact, the lifeboats hang directly over your head, blocking the sky somewhat, although if you move toward the stern a little bit (or go all the way to the bow), you'll have a clear view.

---

1
TAL

As you are in your cabin putting away Marie and grabbing your walking stick, you hear a strange rustling and tearing sound coming from somewhere outside your cabin door.

The door closed behind you and locked automatically. There is a peephole in the door.

Spoiler

Show

You might wanna edit out the latter half of your post about going into the dark area. Things may be happening soon. :c x

[Stegyre]

TAL

As you are in your cabin putting away Marie and grabbing your walking stick, you hear a strange rustling and tearing sound coming from somewhere outside your cabin door.

The door closed behind you and locked automatically. There is a peephole in the door.

Workers? Maybe, they could have them work late so as not to disturb the passengers.

He pauses to think that through: No. The cabins would be occupied at night and empty during the day, so it would make sense for them to work during the day so as not to disturb people trying to sleep.

And I looked: there was no light down that way. "Workers" wouldn't be working in the dark.

Maybe someone else thought they'd explore, but if so, they sure aren't trying to be discrete about it.

This is creepy.

Holding the stick tightly in hand, Tal puts his eye up to the peephole to see what he can see.

[Inglenook]

TAL

From the narrow view of your peephole, you see nothing but the opposite wall of the corridor and the cheap runner on the floor.

Suddenly, in the distance, you hear what sounds like a furious roar followed by a child's scream. From outside your door and to the right, you hear the thump of feet, which fades quickly as whoever it is sprints in the direction of the roar and scream.

[Asherion]

Maxwell paces down the deck slowly, towards the stern, until the sky is clear above him, scanning the deck and any other area of the visible ship as he walks for any nearby people in sight or hearing.

When past the lifeboats, etc, he leans against the rail, retrieves a cigarette and his lighter, and lights his cigarette up.

Spoiler

Show

If needed for looking about the ship and noticing things:
Per(10): (3d6)[3][5][5](13)

[Inglenook]

MAXWELL

You glance around as you pace the deck, creeped out somewhat by the stillness. Aside from the breaking of the sea against the ship and the steady thrum of the engine, there is no sound.

As you reach the stern and light up a cigarette, you catch the briefest whiff of … something. Strangely, it reminds you of the times right after college when you opened up your bank branch: the smell of pennies.

There are two small staircases near the stern on Deck 07 that lead to the emergency exits of the Sound of Music Lounge balcony level. Sniffing at the air, you peer around the corner of the staircase nearest you.

A man lies on his back near the ship's railing in a large pool of blood.

[Asherion]

Maxwell puts away the lighter hurriedly, and begins to move towards the man, wondering if he is dead, or in need of medical help. Then he pauses, falters in his forward movement, and recalls the bartender's words:

"but I heard that a few of the sick people have died so far. Seizures, bleeding out, that sort of thing. My roommate said she heard that one of the doctors thinks it might be a strain of ebola.

Maxwell hesitates. Ah... man. He takes a drag on the cigarette as he turns and rushes towards the stairwell,

Spoiler

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Where would be the nearest place to get crew help that Maxwell would be aware of? Or would he know?

, calling out "Help, anyone around here, there's a man hurt over here!"

[Inglenook]

MAXWELL

There doesn't appear to be anyone within hearing distance. And with the engine and propeller being almost directly below you, the noise drowns out your calls quite a bit.

Normally you would report any injury to the nearest crew member and they would contact the medical facility, but you haven't seen any staff since talking to Rebecca in the bar.

If you continue up the stairs, you'll enter the upper balcony (Deck 07) of the Sound of Music Lounge through the emergency exit.

The man does not appear to be moving that you can tell from this distance. You notice a few splatters of blood past the man that appear to go around the stern toward the port side of the ship.

Spoiler

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Holy cow, I'm dumb. The dice roller on this forum throws me for a loop.

[Asherion]

Looking up the staircase, and still listening for passerby, Maxwell will begin to jog up the starboard side of the ship, on this observation deck, looking for people, and occasionally calling out for help.

Damn. I know there's a sickness going around, but... where is everyone? Maxwell begins to worry, now, in earnest, and as he passes the lifeboats again, wonders where exactly the ship is located, and what's going to happen if it really is ebola, or something as bad. A lot of those diseases are hardly controllable, and it's certainly not my choice of ways to go...

[xen0phile]

Ese's initial look of amusement at the suggestion of intra-crew fraternization turns to puzzlement, then fear. "Pues. J****... I'm, pues... I'm worried now. Okay. I'm going to go topside, run to the bridge, but I...", he lets out an anxious sigh and begins unconsciously grinding the beads of his rosary with his left hand, "I think you should prepare that we might evacuate the ship. Osea the bridge not answering the phone, I'm worried something bad is happening. I have the radio, so I can update you."

Spoiler

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The route he plans to take to the bridge is to first climb the ladder into the auditorium, head to the elevator, go up to deck 12, walk across the deck to the bridge.