Session 4

April 15, Session 4

5:10 PM

Janick gets another call from Zooey. Doesn’t want to make enemies, will meet at a location in an hour with Bijou and right hand man. Can bring party if wanted, or can come alone. (District is like Jamestown, industrial area east of West Seattle)

Edward Young is one of the guards, catches Jed sneaking around and tells him not to do it. He gives him a business card with a comm link and tells him to come back for sure tomorrow, after giving him a call. Jedidiah likes the guards.

Janick would rather make an enemy of this Corvus group than Aegis. Lorelai doesn’t know if Zooey is being truthful but thinks it’s probably a trap.

DM note: the sector should be dense, with multiple habitable (but not necessarily terrestrial) planets in each sector (it takes a max of one day to navigate a system).

Rowan has a contact (not in the Rods of Asclepius) with a safehouse. Aquila wants to play both sides. Lorelai says to meet in a café (Starbuck’s, not Starbucks)near the docks with everyone besides Janick blending into the crowd, and Rowan’s contact with the getaway truck ready. Zooey agrees to meet at a time (the amount of time to drive from the warehouse + 30 minutes, about an hour).

Janick and Jed have a conversation in the back of the cyber truck about Jed’s background and Janick having done things he’s regretted, and having done things he hasn’t regretted, and then start talking about guns. Lorelai asks Rowan about mind speaking, and Rowan gives a really creepy telepathic response talking about his future abilities. Transmit Thought and Facile Mind can be used to read Zooey’s mind and tell Janick.

Aquila says he’s crazy like a fox trying to get out of the present situation. He makes a comment about Lorelai being young to be good with those knives, to which she says she enjoys using them.

In the Starbuck’s, Aquila looks like he’s listening to music with what look like rudimentary headphones, nodding quietly (he looks crazy). Rowan is far away in the coffee shop (just needs to be able to see). Janick takes a central table, as does Rowan (who is sitting next to Janick). Lorelai is nearby.

Paper is weird because it must be shipped: there is some decentralized storage solution, probably called “the nebula” or something. Rowan opens a cloaked connection with Janick.

The grav vehicle from the warehouse pulls up. A bulky guy with a scar running from his collarbone, up his neck, and to his mouth (as if it sliced open his jaw) gets out, looks around slowly. The car pulls around, and Zooey (tall athletic build, shorter cut hair, cybernetics running along jaw line and back into her head) and Bijou walk out. Cybernetics seem focused on muscle centers rather than sensory input. Rowan opens up cloaked telepathic link with Zooey (can observe emotional states and communicate): Zooey seems nervous, going in with a sense of trepidation.

Flashback: Bijou was manacled in the warehouse, but she is uncuffed and Zooey informs her they’re trying to have a conversation with friends and that they need to go meet. Bijou asks if she’s being let go, but Zooey says that she’s trying to work out a deal and that Bijou’s friends have “done some damage” and seem “dangerous”. Right hand man is named Castillo and enters the café, just before Zooey and Bijou.

Janick flags them down and offers his hand to shake. Rowan knows that Castillo initiates a psychic ability: Zooey hesitates, but then shakes Janick’s hand. Rowan asks about the psychic ability, to which Zooey says Castillo was determining if the place was a trap first.

Zooey and Castillo are both Greek in ethnicity and get excited at the mention of olive growths. They’re probably from Sector north in the east. Olive Garden -> Olive Hydroponics, breadsticks still a thing, pasta still a thing. Everyone sits at the same table together. Janick says that Rowan is the communications officer and is gifted in psychic abilities. Castillo is a telepathic psionic, but he is mute: the psionic spike was Castillo telling Zooey that there are no traps. Callisto stole a chair from a nearby table, and the guy at the table moved away (Jedidiah joins him at the further-away table and tries to spread the gospel).

Zooey doesn’t want loss of life, and Janick doesn’t want to make immediate enemies (mentions it’s his first time in the system). Zooey lowers her voice, but Aquila and Lorelai can both still hear with effort. Zooey asks if they can reconsider the 8000 credits offer. Rowan mentions an “honor problem”, and Janick mentions the ire of the Aegis corporation. Rowan mentions being worried about John being hurt, but Zooey mentions needing to deceive her men. Zooey mentions needing John for a ransom, as he is a powerful member of the Aegis corporation. Rowan and Janick don’t sense any deception (Zooey’s emotions don’t change at all). Zooey wants to ransom John back for a frigate and strike fighters (she doesn’t want money/men/people).

Zooey mentions having Castillo and one other (Lewis) who are trustworthy, and having a brother and many other people who are untrustworthy. Janick and Rowan start talking about giving over John, and Callisto demonstrates that he can hear everything they’re saying. They’re worried about John having a spike thrower, but Callisto talks about being able to risk it. The pay will be negotiated lower and Callisto/Lewis will make it look like a proper kidnapping. Janick agrees, and Rowan lets it know that he’s a Brain Guard and that Corvus and Asclepius should be friends, to which Zooey seems happy.

There’s a thing called the Exchange, the intergalactic banking/communication system (based in Rannveig). They’ve set up a mailing system where mail gets cloned to a drone, and you get pinged for mail that’s for you in any system that gets drones (although it takes time to deliver). Janick gives Zooey his compad address. Rowan sees that Zooey’s face looks neutral because of cybernetics, because Zooey is actually very happy. Zooey gives Janick her compad address (Zooey Rapdus).

Janick tells Zooey that John is hiding in a bathroom or other unoccupied room (describes the spaces), and Zooey mentions that they know that Aegis arrives tomorrow. Janick gives a once-access code to get on the ship, and Rowan gives up his dock access key. Janick gets Zooey to agree to leave the spike thrower around, and Zooey offers 6500 credits. Rowan speaks to Zooey psychically, to which Zooey tenses up, but relents. They shake hands, and Zooey transfers the credits to Janick. Zooey mentions that this would’ve been a bloodbath a few weeks ago because her brother wasn’t dead.