The Lucky Penny, IC flashback thread

[happyturtle]

This thread is for the IC adventures of the crew of the Lucky Penny prior to the start of the game.

[Moral Wiz]

Lucius winces as the girl plunges the device in. At her comment on his status, he thinks quickly

Not all captains wear their stars. Makes you a bit of a target in combat situations "Oh look, an officer, kill him!" Any men I'm working with know who I am. That's enough.

He fingers a few indicators on the holocard, making sure he can work it, before detaching one of the blue Outsider Leads from his gauntlet, and plugging it into a small hole in the card (that the cable flows into, reshaping itself to fit) before finally opening the Air Car's door.

You ready then, miss, for the final test?

[Sicarius]

OOC: Clark's files are about as encrypted as you'd expect a trillion dollar black-budget program. As far as the holo-display of BIANCA's vitals are concerned, you're almost positive that human beings don't have that many organs.

IC: BIANCA jumps up and down happily. "Yes, I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready! I'm hungry too, but I can wait!"

[Moral Wiz]

Lucius

The old navigator takes the aerial car through the rocky valleys, moving somewhat in the direction of Topside, but keeping away from major routes. He keeps 15ft above the ground at all times.

See that rock? There, to the right, just shy of the peak.

In five seconds, I'm going to start an approach. I will be driving irregularly, as though under fire. Your task is to hit that rock.

According to the scenario, we are under attack from multiple sides. I am to drive the car appropriately. In consequence, any angle will be temporary, and

Signify your understanding

[Sicarius]

BIANCA

"That's it?!" BIANCA looked incredulous. "That's easy!"

[Moral Wiz]

Lucius

Heh. Confident. Alright then.

The aircar swerves and bends through the sky. It heads vaguely in the direction of the target, but not well.

After a few seconds, the navigator guides her outright in the opposite direction for five seconds before swinging her. He barely keeps to a single direction for two seconds straight. He takes care to keep at least 60 ft away from the rock he'd indicated..

[Sicarius]

BIANCA

Standing rather comfortably despite the change in direction, one of BIANCA's hands stayed outward to steady herself while the second went to one of her pistols. She moved with an unparalleled smoothness in her motions, keeping balance as nimbly as a cat while drawing the gun. A skilled gymnast had the ability to adjust as the surface changed angles and velocities. Balance was about controlling your center of gravity, and that's exactly what BIANCA could do, even without her dense bones.

Her aiming, too, was unnaturally precise. Too careful for a person being jerked about on a shaky ride. Drawing a bead on the target in less than a second, the still air sounded with the ricochet symphony of a semi-automatic weapon being emptied into a solid surface. The gun's muzzle flash was quite reduced from that of a comparable piece of weaponry, and the venting was top-notch. An impressive piece of equipment, to say the least.

Suffice to say, a soldier had a decent time hitting a target at 60 feet when he could use the sights. At 30 feet, you didn't even need the sights. But in much tougher situations, BIANCA had to strike with unrelenting precision or fail the test. Failing the test was bad, it meant more painful things. So she never failed a test once she knew the consequences.

And she wasn't going to fail now. The rock appeared pockmarked with bullet holes and shrapnel as she turned to reload. "Piece of cake"

[Moral Wiz]

Lucius

Well done. I can't confirm the result yet, but ... well, if I was you, I'd be happy right now.

Lucius beams at her, trying to keep her in this happy mood. With a flick of the controls, he changes the car's direction, taking a circular route that he knows will take him to a major lane to Topside.

So tell me, miss... err....

He's obviously a little out of place in this situation

What would you like me to call you, miss?

[Sicarius]

BIANCA

"Everyone calls me Prototype!" She exclaims cheerfully, obviously oblivious to what the name actually means. "Or they call me B-I-A-N-C-A." She spelled out every letter of her acronym. "And sometimes, they call me Unit 1."

BIANCA effortlessly performs a tactical reload on her pistol, leaving one round in the chamber and inserting a new clip. "Is there anything more we need?"

[Moral Wiz]

Lucius

Well, I'll go with Bianca, if that's ok.

He smiles, bu doesn't pronounce it as an acronym.

And the test is over. That's definite

He joins the main path now. One or two other vehicles, most on the ground, are now in sight. The light is bright now, but secracy is no longer essential. Blue Sky's security wasn't that intrusive.

Well, might as well start now as any other time. At least sow the seads

What would you say if I told you there'd be no more tests now? At least, not anything like ones like you've been doing before. Would you?...

He leaves his sentence unfinished.

[Sicarius]

BIANCA

"I know! Dr. Clark said there would be no more tests if I passed the last one." She nods in assent of her version of the facts. "Where are we going?" She looks in awe as to what lies ahead.

[Moral Wiz]

Lucius

Patience, Miss Biance. You'll find out soon

Just as soon as I've thought of something

The city came in to view then. Topside had been built on a flatterned out mountain peak. It wasn't as high as it had been before the settlers came, but still made an impressive sight, especially with a clear sky. The corporations who funded this place knew how to make an impression. The higher skyscrapers required life support systems.

They speed through the street's air zones at some speed, before coming to a minor area, a little away from downtown, in a quiet neighborhood. A very small house, semi-detached (Not everyone built skyscrapers, even now). Looked barely lived in, but then so did the neighborhood. It was a prety quiet place, mostly full of homes held by colos, families who could still trace themselves back to the first landings. A quiet lot, who didn't bother nabours. Something Lucius was appreciating now.

They landed in a garage who's door opened for them, with out Lucius even having to utter a word.

Jamie is his sole word of explanation, as the air car drifts to a halt.

This is my house. I've got some work to do with Jamie right now. Analyzing your results for one thing. You want to relax a bit for a few hours? Watch a show or two on the player? I've got a few collections.

After I'm done with work, we can talk about what you'll do next

[Sicarius]

BIANCA

BIANCA looked very confused at Lucius, but didn't say anything as she was led into the house. The room she was led into was small, with no desks, cryo-tubes, or training areas, so nothing that BIANCA was used to. There was some comfortable chairs, one much longer than the other, which was big enough for BIANCA to lay down on.

Since the mission was over, BIANCA was supposed to go back to sleep, so that meant she needed to find a cryo-tube. However, she was also supposed to do what she was told, and she was supposed to wait until he talked to her again. Which meant that she was supposed to just wait for him.

Waiting was boring, and it didn't even take a minute for BIANCA to get antsy and restless, fidgeting on the chair she was sitting on. She was used to constant attention when awake, from Dr. Clark and everyone else. Waiting was so dull! She tried as hard as she could to wait, but eventually, she started to feel like the entire world was moving too quickly and so she stood up. She held her breath, but no one came in to yell at her, so she wasn't doing something bad. Now, she started to explore the new-found surroundings, with all sorts of things around.

The first thing she found was some sort of light, but not like the overhead lights at the lab. This was on a table, and it had really pretty patterns on it. BIANCA touched it, then started to run her fingers all over it, tracing the patterns. She smiled. Having a supernatural sense of touch made these feelings so much more rewarding, but BIANCA never saw it that way. She instead found it as something amazing to touch, so she touched harder, trying to maximize the pleasurable sensory impulse.

*CRASH* came the unexpected result as BIANCA's pushing knocked it over, off the table, and into pieces on the floor. BIANCA looked surprised and sheepish when she realized she had broken it.

Why was something so fragile even allowed? Didn't they realize how EASY is was to break it?

[Moral Wiz]

Lucius

As soon as he got out of the living room, Lucius strode to the "Work Room", which was kept meticulously clean. Papers were pined up across the walls, and Jamie's central unit and Holo-board took pride of place.

Jamie?

The holo-board flickered to life, and the familiar face appeared, in it's customary neutral expression.

Hello, Master Lucius. May I...

Skip. Give me status on the...

CRASH. Lucius jumped, then sighed

Continue decrypting the data. Take it slow, and keep a back up. Watch for viruses too.

He strode back into the main room to the sight of the ruins of his new, Star-lamp.

Keep calm. She's not used to this environment.

Bianca? What happened?

[Sicarius]

BIANCA

"I pushed the light and it fell..." She looked like a kid caught breaking a vase, sheepish and ashamed.

She had broken equipment before. Her biomonitor was not the first to be administered to her. Neither were any of her vibroblades. Once she tripped after receiving muscular implants and destroyed much of what resided on Dr. Hanto's desk. She tended to break things, and each time, she was chided to be more careful, but generally it was accepted that because she was doing very active things, sometimes equipment for broken.

This was different. This was a conscious effort of something she was doing, not the rigors and stresses of the mission wearing down on equipment. This was new and unfamiliar territory. She never had new things like this before and now she broke it. That meant she wasn't going to get new things any more.

[Moral Wiz]

Lucius

Lucius sighed, more at the look on BIANCA's face than at the loss of his lamp. Her worry seemed to distress him more, mostly because he wasn't quite sure what to do with her. He bent down to look her in the eyes, and patted the top of her head gently.

Look, don't worry about it. Just... try and be more careful. Ok?

Would you like something to eat? Or should I put a Vid up... oh.

She's been brought up as a weapon. She's probably never been outside a lab.

Do you even know what I mean by that?

[Sicarius]

BIANCA

"Negative, Captain!" She giggled as she saluted. "I am hungry though. I haven't eaten in forever! And thirsty. I'm very thirsty." She sat down and tried her best to behave.

[Moral Wiz]

Lucius

Lucius was glad that he's removed his helmet at this point. He needed the air for dealing with BIANCA.

Sure. Let's see what I can do.

He strides quickly off into the small kitchen area.

Ok. At least she's in a good mood. Get her something to eat and drink. Then see if...

Damn. What can I do? I'm in so over my head here. This... well, I'm guessing this little girl has the ability to be... somewhat destructive. Of more than that lamp. And if the military find her here, I'm toast

Ok.... Focus. One thing at a time. First, a meal of some sort. Then talk.

You want water to drink? As for food... is there anything you want, or shall I just cook something and see how you like it?

[Sicarius]

BIANCA

"I need to write down what I eat and how much it weighs. Where is your scale? And because you don't remember a lot, make sure to remember the medicine too. Dr. Clark says I need the medicine." BIANCA completely ignored the question, as usual. It was like she had no sense of answering non-prototype related questions. She sat for all of thirty seconds before she got antsy again, fidgeting uncontrollably. Knowing she wasn't supposed to touch anything, she settled for touching the thing she was allowed to touch, namely the chair she was sitting on. She poked it, pushed it, and in no time had found the zipper to keep the stuffing in and unzipped it.

[Moral Wiz]

Lucius

The ex-navigator looked.. slightly suprised by the girl's reply. He'd expected it of corse, but... well, it was still offputting

O...K. Don't worry about nutrients for now. I'll just cook something to keep you going, and get you water to drink. That good?

Assuming a semi-positive response, he'll duck back into the kitchen, and whisper quickly into his gauntlet

Jamie, see if you can get anything on "Project Medication" or anything like that. There should be something. If you get results, let me know. I'll want a full briefing on all decrypted files later.

With that, he gets to work. The kitchen isn't that advanced, a simple gas cooker and freezer being about it's limit. A little primitive, but well made, and generally regarded as "retro" Lucius withdraws a pre-frozen stake from the freezer, and quickly flings it onto a trey, and into the oven. He then puts a saucepan full of peas on to boil, and...

Heard the sound of BIANCA unziping the chair

He strode quickly back into the main room and sighed at the stuffing that had fallen everywhere.

This is getting repetitive.

Bianca? You did this?

Spoiler

Show

Is there anything on this medicine? Jamie should hopefully be able to get something by the time the meal's done, can't see that as that heavily encrypted..

[Sicarius]

BIANCA

"I was trying not to touch anything..." she says with a slight whine to her voice. "The chair didn't look as fragile as the light, so I wanted not to break anything else."

She tried in vain to put the stuffing back into the cushion, but it was rather difficult to get ahold of it, as was it's nature. At least it wasn't a beanbag chair.

Spoiler

Show

BIANCA's medications are rather straightforward. She takes the following things every 24 hours of activity.
Nutritional Supplements - Her hyperactive liver and kidneys can process much more poisons than the average human. However, this activity comes at a price, sometimes they filter out needed nutrients as well. The supplements are designed to counteract this.
Anticoagulents - Due to the high platelet content in her blood, which aid clotting when she is injured, she has to take anticoagulents in order to prevent blood clots.
Hormonal Suppressants - This suppresses much of BIANCA's non-epinephrine based hormonal systems, as well as preventing her reproductive system from working.

[Moral Wiz]

Lucius

Lucius sighed, and bent down to look her in the eyes

Look, Don't worry about it.

He keeps his gaze level.

You don't like resting, do you? You want something to do whirl I'm cooking?

[Sicarius]

BIANCA

"I'm awaiting orders, Captain!" BIANCA saluted again.

[Moral Wiz]

Lucius

Lucius smiles at the young girl

First thing first, you don't need to call me Capitan. My name is Lucius Oclaris. Call me Lucius.

Secondly, you don't need to take orders from me. I'm going to try and help you from now on, but you should feel free to act on your own initiative

He looks at her before continuing, expecting that this won't be that simple.

[Sicarius]

BIANCA

Completely oblivious to what he said metaphyscially, BIANCA focused on everything that she could understand. Which of course, was one thing. "Affirmative, Captain Lucius." She saluted again. Children had the uncanny ability to simply ignore that which they did not understand, and well, she didn't understand, so it made sense. "So where are we going now?"

[Moral Wiz]

Lucius

Does she even...

He sighed, but smiled.

We're going to see Jamie. She's... well, you'll see when you get there.

Assuming now that she'll follow, he starts walking out of the room, towards the "War Room", where Jamie was kept. As he walked, he talked behind him

Tell me, Miss Bianca, do you know what "stories" are?

[happyturtle]

OOC:

Spoiler

Show

You guys look like you are doing fine on your own, but if you need a referee for anything or any background info, or whenever you decide you are ready to meet up with the party, just let me know.

[Moral Wiz]

OOC Banter

Spoiler

Show

Thanks. What's entertainment tech like? Holo-vid series? And is Lucius' kitchen ok with Tech Levels?

Sorry BTW Sicarius for dragging you into this, and keeping both of us away from the main game for now.

[Sicarius]

BIANCA

She was cheerful, almost too cheerful, with her simple answer. "Negative, Captain Lucius. Is my next mission to fight one?" She followed him obediently, making sure not to touch anything.

[happyturtle]

OOC:

Spoiler

Show

Holo-vids are freely available, as are computer games. Even if Lucius wouldn't normally have a collection, Jamie can easily download whatever you think might entertain Bianca. Whether that might be My Little Pony or a graphic documentary about the Kzinti wars is an exercise for the players.

Your kitchen is definitely retro. Most people have an autokitchen where you type in what you want and it pops out ready to eat food a few minutes later.