IC: Time to Visit other worlds (Alternity Dark Matter)

[farothel]

Cynthia

"I'm sure they will, even if it's in a more 'traditional' way," Aina said with a grin, "well, there is little to do for you for now. You can walk around, but please don't try to leave."


Alexandr

"I'm sure there are somewhere," Ginny said, "but I'm not sure what we need. I know what is missing as I've seen the inventory and I recognise most of the other items. But I don't know exactly what it looks like or how to make one if needed."
You have never made one yourself, but you do know what they look like.


Leo

While explaining the theory of artificial insimination and checking what items they have and which they need to get, he gets some more information about the virus.

[DataNinja]

"Of course not, that would be rude," she says. "And probably quite dangerous." In more ways than one, most likely. They likely would prefer to not let her leave with knowledge here. At least for now.

She debates trying to find somewhere to send a report back to HQ, but dismisses that as a bad idea while she's likely still being watched to determine what she's doing. So, instead, she wanders around, just trying to get an overall sense of the place, and what people do and feel around here.

[CateranEnforcer]

"I will start here then. I want to see if constructing our own inverter is a possibility. You are welcome to help, and I may need it since I am unfamiliar with this facility and it's power needs."

Aleksandr begins to work. He remembers enough to get started and have an idea of what he is going for, but this task ended up being much more difficult than he had expected. It didn't help that some of the women came in during his work. He was polite but it was a strange feeling recieving that much attention. Maybe under different circumstances he'd be more appreciative, but he really was trying to provide them with a long term solution to their problem. Normally pretty stoic, the former spaceman couldn't help but be slightly embarrassed, given his position, which didn't help his concentration.

[farothel]

Cynthia

You wander through the complex, seeing people at work, doing all the jobs that need doing in a community. There's also a class with mostly young girls, but also a few boys. You don't see any men, but you haven't seen all the rooms.

Some people do come to you with some questions about where you come from, which you can easily deflect.


Alexandr

It takes you longer than expected as you try to work through the distractions and try to remember some schematics you have seen years ago, but in the end you prevail and you create a schematic with easy to get (you hope) components to build a PV-convertor. Ginny looks at the schematics and while she's not an electric engineer, she does know the basics and she tells you that they should be able to get all the components.


Leo

After an afternoon of explaining, Leo also comes down with a list of stuff he would need. Luckily it's a small list, as medical stuff would be more difficult to get than electric stuff.


Party

In the evening you come back together in the mess hall for dinner. The food is simple, but quite good. Better than on the ISS or in the military in any case.

[DataNinja]

"So, hopefully your guys' days went well," Cynthia says. "I'm going to be heading out with Aina over the next few days to try and establish if our friends are in specific places. We'll have to figure out things from then. I have no idea what's going to happen."

[CateranEnforcer]

"It was tiring, but promising. Despite having never built one before and a number of people coming to check on me every half hour, I think I have a useable desgin. I hope this will provide sufficient power for their needs. I have not run the numbers yet but...." Aleksandr stops himself before he continues to ramble. "I take that to mean that you have not been able to get any privacy yet. Maybe there will be a party searching for us soon! I hope you remain safe, I doubt they will risk our lives by letting us come with you."

[DataNinja]

"Doubtful," Cynthia replies. "Not only would that put you in too much danger - I'm the expendable one, after all -," she gives a slight smile, "but also that would likely be highly irregular, and would likely incite suspicion. Not good for any of us if we're planning on getting our people back."

[farothel]

"I would play along for now," Leo said, "and try to get a contact report off tonight when we're in our beds. Hopefully we get seperate rooms."

[DataNinja]

"That was the hope. I imagine that you both will, at least," Cynthia says. "Both for safety, comfort, and to enable... other activities. Could go either way for me. Keeping an eye on is likely... which, that's understandable, but it would be nice to get across that we mean them no harm, here. We just want our people back."

[CateranEnforcer]

"I will continue to look for an opportunity as well. We seem to be in no danger here. I cannot say the same for you on the outside. Be careful out there."

[farothel]

After dinner you are shown your rooms. The two men get seperate rooms, small but comfortable. Cynthia gets a bed in one of the common rooms together with seven other women. You can move anywhere in the base, but they say that at night it can be quite dangerous outside, so they lock themselves in at night, with a guard.

From now until you want to go to sleep, you are left to your own devices, although the two men do get different 'solliciations' during the evening.

[DataNinja]

Ah, well, she'd been worried about that. With seven others, likely curious about her, probably not going to be able to get anything out. She does her best to try and look for somewhere, anywhere, that's private enough (but not suspiciously so) that she can at least get a quick signal out saying to not send another team after them.

[CateranEnforcer]

Aleksandr isn't sure if he really could get enough time alone without being bothered. He'd have to ask about the protocol of these solicitors. Are all the women trying to get pregnant? Surely you'd need some to preform other jobs besides child bearing. Was there a system? And how many generations would it take to fix the population imbalance. He wondered if anyone had done the calculations. Would the next generation face the same dangers of the virus? He'd have to ply someone with questions tomorrow.

Spoiler

Show

If he feels he can have privacy long enough, Aleksandr will try to send off a quick message.

[farothel]

Women will signal availability, but they won't come in your or Leo's room uninvited, at least not the first night. You can get a message off to the MALP, which will send it through when the connection opens.

Cynthia can also send a message, especially if she waits a bit until a number of people have gone to sleep and there is less movement.

Spoiler: question

Show

What do you send out?

[DataNinja]

Cynthia's relieved that she's able to finagle a message out, but she keeps it short so as to not risk discovery as much.

"Arrived safely. Enclave of locals taken us in. Agents possibly located. Investigating over next few days. Virus in ecosystem, causing men to go crazy. Civilization deteriorated, men are few and valued. Do not send more. Prep decontamination measures for return. Leo hopefully will have more info on virus. Reports may be far between; want to keep good relationships with enclave. Hope to have good news soon."

[CateranEnforcer]

Aleksandr is also nervous about being watched so keeps his message brief too.

"We are safe but under watch by locals. They have agreed to help us in exchange for help of our own. We are exercising caution. Men will require gas masks in this place."

[farothel]

Soon you all get a message back.
"Message received, will put decon procedures in place. Other measures approved. Be careful."

[farothel]

Leo and Alexandr

The night passes without any problems. In the morning, after breakfast, Leo takes Alexandr with him to the sickbay as he needs some 'raw material' so to speak. All the other men, four in total, are also there as requested. And Alexandr has to check the freezer so it is sure it will keep working.


Cynthia

Cynthia is taken by Aina and three other women take one of the up-armored pick-up trucks, but with a white flag attached, to a nearby group. They drive slowly over the bad roads. Cynthia can see that there are not many people living in Atlanta, as most buildings are in various stages of ruination. Some are kept well and around them the pavement has been broken up in places to make place for vegetable gardens. After about two hours of driving, including some checkpoints where you are let through, you arrive at the location you were going for.

Two women were waiting for you and are greeted by Aina. You are introduced to Mariko and Jessica, who lead in this location.
"So, you want to have a look at our newest assets," Mariko said, "you're quick. They're only here for a few days."

[DataNinja]

Cynthia's trip is mostly spent observing the state of the world, and wondering how exactly it got to this point. Was the virus a biological weapon? Something natural? How did everything deteriorate so quickly, even with the madness aspect. Are humans really that prepared to go off the deep end, and refuse to rebuild in the same way?

Okay, yes... from experience, those who have power tend to refuse to relinquish it until someone comes along and makes them do so. Even down to petty bureaucrats. And clearly now some people here have considerably more power than in the beforetimes. It is sobering to see it on such a scale, though. Just the desolation compared to the once-thriving city. She wonders what the rest of the world looks like. Was it just North America hit like this? Or is the entire world like this...

She's interrupted by arriving at their destination. It's funny, the nervousness never really hit her until just now. Maybe it was just all the shock dissipating and unfamiliarity finally settling in. Nothing about this was really the same, after all. Similar enough to be unsettling, though.

In this situation, though, the best practice is to follow the lead of the one who knows what she's doing. At least until she has something to point out.

[CateranEnforcer]

Aleksandr appears as requested and cooperates with Leo's procedure. He will introduce himself to the other men and is curious about how they feel about their lot in life, if they are feeling talkative.

In any case, his purpose is to provide power for this endeavor, so he will take a look at the freezers. He also would like to contact Ginny to inquire about the parts needed for the inverter. It's probably too soon to say, but he'd like to put those plans to the test.

Spoiler: Technical Knowledge

Show

17/8/4 (1d20)[9] to examine the freezers.

[farothel]

Cynthia

Aina explains that they now have a doctor who knows about artificial insimination and while it's not as fun, it means they can spread the gene pool wider without all the difficulties they have now. But of course they will need to donate 'samples'. Mariko looks at both of you and you are brought inside to where the men are. When they arrive, you immediately see that these are not the men you're looking for.


Alexandr and Leo

The freezer just need some small repairs to make sure it works perfectly (as long as there's power of course).

The men explain that except for the not going out unless under guard and with a gasmask, life isn't so bad here. At least they have food and they don't have to do too much work.

Leo explains to them what is required to get some samples. The two nurses listen to the explanations so they will know what to do once the team is gone.

Spoiler: OOC actions

Show

Alexandr can roll a repair check.

[DataNinja]

Cynthia does idly wonder about if there will be those who pushback against an activity being less fun... quite possibly, seeing the dearth of what might be considered enjoyable in this time and space.

It's a great disappointment to see that none of the men there seem to be those that they're looking for. Well, it was only a 50/50 shot, it seems... couldn't just be that easy. Not that getting them out'll be easy.

She looks at Aina. "I don't feel that strongly about any of these," she says, shaking her head. "So, I'll defer to you." Aina's a smart cookie. She'll probably get it.

[CateranEnforcer]

Aleksandr is still positive that he would not want to spend longer here than he had to, even if the men were treated well. He doesn't say as much however and he is hopeful to avoid contracting anything while he was here to bring back to his own world. The longer he was here the more at risk he was. Perhaps they'd need to study the virus to make sure it doesn't happen.

But for now, he had to help others if he wanted to help himself. They were kind enough to help them after all. They could have made them prisoners for life. Not quite the apocalypse he'd have though of either, if Hollywood was to be believed.

Putting his thoughts aside, Aleksandr gets to work on the repairs.

Spoiler

Show

Repair Check 15/7/3 18 - 4 = 14

[farothel]

Cynthia

"They look nice," Aina said, "we'll have to have them over to us for a while. I hope by then to have some new technique... well, old technique so we need them only like one or two days and then we can use their material for months on end."

The other women were interested and launched into a discussion about the artificial insemination, for what little Aina could explain. At one point, they look at you for more information.


Alexandr and Leo

It takes a while, but you get the freezer back to working order. Leo lets it cool down for a while before he gets you all (himself included) to donate the first batch of material that gets placed into the fridge.
"We'll need some extra material," he said to Alexandr, "to make sure they can do this when we're gone. And some things you can use only one time or they have to be made from specific materials. I hope Cynthia can help us get that stuff."

[DataNinja]

"Basically, at it's simplest," Cynthia says, only really knowledgeable about the bare basics of it anyways, "instead of using the entirety of the genetic material at once on one person, you're able to collect it, and then disperse it to many people in a more effective manner - keeping it contained, even, as Aina said, if you're not wanting it all used immediately and ending up with a whole swathe of children all at the same time. I don't really know much more about it personally, though, so I unfortunately can't go into detail."

[CateranEnforcer]

Alexander nods at Leo, sweating from his exertion. He directs a question at him and the other men. "With this done, what do we do now? I do not think I would be comfortable doing nothing. What are your duties?"

[farothel]

Cynthia

It is clear that they are not completely following, but Aina changes the subject. They talk for a few minutes about other things and arrange for an exchange of certain items, before leaving back to the compound.
"So no luck here," Aina said when they were alone in the truck.


Leo and Alexandr

Both of the men help with the hydroponics bay they have in the bunker, where they have a mushroom farm.
"I still have to get to question all the women," Leo said, "to know when best to do the insemination."

At that moment Ginny came in.
"Hey," she said to Alexandr, "we got some electronics stuff in. Can you have a look at it?"

Spoiler: rolls to do

Show

Cynthia: you can do an Interaction(bargain) to see how the negotiations went
Alexandr: if you decide to help, you can do a technical knowledge check to see what they have.

[DataNinja]

"No..." Cynthia says sadly, shaking her head. "I'm afraid not. Hopefully tomorrow's pans out. If that doesn't work out, not sure what we'll end up doing. Guess we'll cross that bridge if it arrives..."

"I hope that you were able to at least get something good for you all out of this journey, so that it wasn't just a wasted trip."

[CateranEnforcer]

Aleksandr nods to Ginny, "Certainly. I did not expect to have some material soon. I will see you later, Leo. Now, show me what you have. "

Spoiler

Show

Technical Knowledge 17/8/4 (1d20)[2]

[farothel]

Cynthia

"I've had worse, I've had better," Aina said, "well, hopefully you have better luck tomorrow. And at least we will have something to eat other than mushrooms and bread tonight."

Spoiler: OOC

Show

You feel the deal has been fair. She might have gotten more, but you also know that pushing might make people less inclined to deal next time.

Alexandr and Leo

Leo has to interrogate all the women of childbearing potential on the base, or at least have the nurses do it, so Alex soon goes back to Ginny and the generator room. The stuff they have is quite interesting. Mostly basic items which can be used in lots of places, but also about half of the items needed to make the convertor. This was a lot better then you had expected.