Intermission 1: The Darkness steps back

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Jan 10, 2024 4:54 pm
Wolf makes a "hmph" sound and takes a second to stare at Declan before extending his own hand to accept the handshake. The gauntlet clicks as its claws withdraw into their slots, to avoid accidental stabbing. "Perhaps. It's usually not a good sign for me, but as long as you are not in the business of holding grudges, neither am I." Nikolai looks over the man's attire with a thoughtful look. "Although you don't seem like a mercenary type. At least not the variety I used to work with." He frowns slightly and squints at Declan's face again. "Do you happen to have connections in The Union, perhaps?"
Jan 10, 2024 10:24 pm
"You could say that. Former rich kid here, I used to be in the party scene, but that was a lifetime ago. Grew up and got out.", says Declan shaking Wolf's hand.

"Maybe we ran into each other at a bar or club?"
Jan 10, 2024 11:24 pm
Each time someone spoke Corvin slowly zoomed out, panned to face, and took a closeup profile shot. When Wolf told him to examine his feelings Corvin smirked. He waited as Declan and Wolf quipped over past engagements. The emotional exchange subtle, but it would be of great interest to the viewer.

"Devour to survive, Wolf. So it is, so it has always been. Though, you seem to have strong feelings against ascenscion, lets meet later and discuss."

Turning the camera to Matsuki he waved to catch her attention. "Rearguard you say? Could you clarify for the viewer what you mean by that?" No stranger to hostilities Corvin asked confidently and clearly. "Only those familiar with my work would have an inkling to the implication." He explained his inquiry.
Jan 11, 2024 1:16 am
First it was freezing my junk off, now black stuff? Ascension? What is it with you people here? I’m as fair game for an honest days work as anyone but this is just… Abi glanced suddenly at Corvin and the camera he still held. I mean to say, sounds like everything’s well in hand here. I can see why folks are so eager to make their way here. And what a welcome! Couldn’t have asked for better.

Abi did his best to put on a smile, but he was clearly irritated and off-put by the conversation. His lip twitched almost imperceptibly and his eyes flitted from one person to the next, looking for reassurance.
Jan 11, 2024 9:59 am
While everyone is introducing themselves and shaking hands, Ms O'Reilly continues to gaze over her computer screen with an expression of impatience and concern. Her eyes flicks up as the words "Ascension" and "Black Mold" are exchanged. With a lazy gesture, she speaks, eyes settling on the movie star.

"Mr Abdullah Al-Jabir, is it? I heard a lot about you. You are a paradox here. One of high importance, yet, is to only receive the basic privileges of the common worker. Do forgive me for the diversion from our usual welcome, one that my senior is competing to take from me.
"


She then extends her hand to shake the three new arrivals.
"My name is Samantha O'Reilly. I am the Assistant Officer of Communications. Responsible for checking that messages and reports between here and back home are arranged properly. As for why you are now seeing me, it's because I have gained the privilege of speaking privately with you all after my successful solving of an untreated problem. I want to form a team, one that is ready to go out to confront problems that would be preferable to be handled discreetly. With my signature, I can officially form a casual team of bodyguards for the VIP, where you get to work together without suspicion from any third parties."

She then looks to Corvin with a stern look.
"As Wolf here have shown suspicion, we have faced a problem in regards to a secret organisation that is best described as a bio-terrorist cult. They call themselves the Visage Conversation Club, and are responsible for the spreading of insurgent ideals and biohazardous materials we call Black Mold. Apparently, disturbing dreams were also suspected to be a plague here. I don't normally care to listen to people's dreams, but if yours are vividly strange, it could be a sign of this plague affecting you."

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https://i.imgur.com/XbN5M9g.png
Jan 11, 2024 12:03 pm
"Look, I had a weird dream during cryo sleep too, but how could the plague be effecting is us? We haven't been here a day yet. Even if the mold stuff was on the transport ship, aren't our crypods supposed to free of disease or something?", Declan says with a concerned look.
Last edited January 11, 2024 12:07 pm
Jan 11, 2024 12:20 pm
Corvin's keen eyes caught the microexpression. Even if he hadn't had years of sociological study and psycotherapeutic training he would have seen through the tablet that Samantha both understood more than she was letting on, and also not nearly enough to see it objectively. He pursed his lips and drew a box around her face, letting a group of lenses passively read her mannerisms.

Declan's prosaic and artful dismantling of the counter point brought a slight flush to Corvin's cheeks. As handsome and economic with words as Declan was, roused some jealousy that had long been buried. But with the jealousy, came inspiration. Swallowing pride, Corvin set the focus on Declan, and nodded emphatically with his point. They had only been in the station for minutes - minutes exposed in the transport ship - days in the sterile gasses of suspended animation. "Nah, we aren't infected. If this thing is virulent enough to best my immune system, we are already dead."

"Yeesh, *that* is a codename." Corvin chuckled sardonically. "You obviously want me to liase with the Opposing Force." There was an emphasized distinction in how he said OpFor, abnegating the word terrorist. "My integrity and legal protection is based on impartiality. This documentation only has value based on my unimpeachable character. I cannot, and more importantly will not spin doctor, or otherwise muckrake. The Worlds deserve to know both sides of this truth, and I will give them it straight up." This exposition was clearly meant for everyone but Samantha. Corvin made clear but gentle eye contact with everyone. "As far as my dreams, they are quite pleasant, warm, familiar, welcoming, and enriching if not a bit esoteric. Hardly your "plague." Fear of any sort is lending material aid to The VCC, if they are terrorists as you claim. Terrorists win when you are conquered by fear. Fear exists to be conqured." He looked about again, grinning quite pleased with himself. "What are you afraid of at any rate?"
Last edited January 11, 2024 12:29 pm
Jan 11, 2024 10:00 pm
Matsuki sharply breathes out as of Corvin's ignorance of the scale of the problem. She stands up and calmly states
Have you ever seen a colleague or a friend vomit black goo. Turning to you, their eyes turning blank. Attacking you from one moment to the other like being controlled by some foreign force? And with their last shred of free will begging you to free them?
Believe me. Sometimes there are not two equal sides, but one that tries to erase the other. And the moment we forget that, there will be dead people. Even you can fall victim to this disease, regardless of how strong your immune system is...
Jan 13, 2024 2:40 am
"Yeah actually, my first documentary was about terrorism, seen a lot of atrocities committed. Mostly because the so called "good guys" refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of the "bad guys" case. In turn, they retaliated with weapons of mass destruction. At the end of the day, the "good guys" won a pyrhhic victory. All the heads of either side ended up in prison. The war continues today, only worse, because for every father the good guys killed, they radicalized all his children, brothers, cousins, for every city glassed they earned the hate of every other free system. Fuckin' depressing but, that's reality. Being afraid of it means you lose, they win." Corvin focused the camera on the feigned calm display of Matsuki. No amount of poise could disguise the fear in her words. Changing tack he fell back on psychoanalysis. "Its clear you have some strong feelings, fear, anger, guilt - there's nothing wrong with feeling these things. It's natural considering the gravity of your experience. That was good exposition though, you missed your calling as a writer. We should talk about your comrade, your feelings, your experiences later if you like."
Jan 13, 2024 12:39 pm
Declan quickly glances at Corvin. He remembers the documentary and the travesties it conveyed. It was a very well made doc.

"Probably because he's always working.", thinks Declan.

He turns back to their new companions, "Hey look, if you need us to test for goo. I'll test for goo. No questions. We just haven't been here all that long. If one of us is infected, that is one nasty disease."
Last edited January 13, 2024 12:40 pm
Jan 13, 2024 3:48 pm
Wolf grimaces at the conversation about the black mold, but offers no comment and lets it go on without his participation, only his gloved fingers twitching slightly at Matsuki's vivid recollection of what had transpired back at The Face. He watches impassively as her and Corvin engage in what to him seems like an ultimately pointless conversation - if the journalist chooses to underestimate the threat, then it's his problem, - and only speaks up when Declan does.

"As long as you don't feel a sudden desire to start worshipping a talking skull or stab something pointy in our backs, I don't care if you're infected." He shrugs, waving his hand at the door to the office in an abstract gesture. "Everyone here might be infected as far as we know - it's hardly a conventional disease, and I doubt it's easy to diagnose. Aside from the mold, it's mostly contained in one's mind anyway. What I do want to know, however," Wolf pointedly looks at Samantha, "is what exactly are we expected to do about it."
Last edited January 13, 2024 3:50 pm
Jan 15, 2024 9:55 am
Corvin pull back the frame, noting Declan's glance gives Declan a thumbs up. But returns immediately returns back to the screen. Drawing over to Wolf as he began to speak.

As his body language indicated Samantha, he slowly panned to her. As Wolf asked pointedly, he changed the filter to "warm." The light scatter was enhanced and filtered orange. The redness of the room, as he tuned the filter became as deep as blood. Bathing Samantha in a most sinister light, considering the nature of their task.

He considered further the emotions that had flared, the subject of dreaming, the gravity of the name of the bioweapon. In the pause, he keyed an underlayed background track, black noise. Knowing the human brain was keyed to focus on its almost imperceptible droning, which in turn kept a mind engaged in a hyper analytic mode.
Last edited January 15, 2024 9:55 am
Jan 16, 2024 3:19 pm
Samantha at first narrowed her eyes in thought at Declan's explanation. Then she widens them with a look of surprise and impressed-ness at Corvin's argument.

"You're right that this plague isn't conventional. If you're affected by symptoms so early and distant from your arrival, it proves that what we are dealing with is, I'm afraid to say, potentially supernatural. Since I have brought us all deep in this shit together, I might as well not beat around the bush.

What we are really dealing with is an alien threat that have so far negatively impacted our people working here. Forget whatever media you have recently watched or read about, none of the depictions you have seen is relevant here. This alien threat is ancient and complicated, one that overpowered our ancestors a thousand years ago, and looks about ready to do so again as we returned back to the worlds we once occupied. We know near nothing of our greater history, but we have seen ghosts of our past presence mining this planet called Mersk. If these aliens can erase buildings from existence, who can know what more they can do, or their grander plan?

And so, to avoid more panic than there already is, I have to work with carefully navigating my words here. My bosses know something is wrong, but are afraid of acting more. I have already poked the bees nest by sending teams out to the bizarre location we call The Face. Perhaps that is how the moldy skull appear in the hands of that janitor, turning him into the leader of a cult. However, while my first team might have caused the cult to start, my second team was able to bring back some important information.

The video recordings of that journey taken by that rockstar is now studied by a local worker as per my request. It have tested her sanity, causing her to produce a list of theories I will not trouble you with knowing. But the concrete truth is that The Face is actually a scientific research facility of our forefathers. Somehow, the aliens behind the Black Mold managed to mimic human faces and thoughs. It is definitely not perfect, but shows that they able to understand and manipulate not only deceased bodies, but the minds of the still living. Maybe the aliens are the Black Mold itself possessing intelligence, instead of being a weapon of theirs.

Now that you are all up to date on what I know, I trust that you can keep this a secret. Not only do we want to avoid panic, but the followers of the aliens can still be around to jeopardise my efforts.

I know that you must be thinking why am I doing all of this. While I do get to improve my standing and trust within the United Advancement by stopping threats against our productivity, I am more concern about looming disaster this spells for us. We are accelerating our development and expansion like a charging spear, but we have made ourselves too complacent in this, and we have become too naked in our reach into the stars..."
OOC:
The next part, hopefully soon, I'll explain what you can do next.
Jan 17, 2024 9:28 pm
Talking skulls, sentient black mold, living corpses!? This would make a better movie than anything his producers were coming up with about the common workers here. Abi was half tempted to ring them up and tell them about it, but that would cut him out of most of the profits for any future ventures. He decided to keep the idea to himself for now. Perhaps his method acting work here should be as action hero and not worker bee, to prepare for the next smash hit Night of the Living Black Mold Corpses from Space! which he would write, direct, produce, and star in. His eyes glittered gold at the thought of all the awards and money. All he said out loud though was Of course you can count on my discretion. I know a movie star probably isn't high on your list of people you trust to keep their mouth shut, but I promise my lips are sealed! For now, he added to himself.
Jan 18, 2024 4:33 am
When Corvin briefly focuses his camera on him, Wolf graces the lense with the most deadpan stare in his arsenal, his hackles rising slightly at the idea of being filmed all the time. He wouldn't care usually, but if this actor is truly as much of a star as context clues imply, Nikolai is running a real risk of being noticed by a lot of people he's rather not know his current location - his family, for once. It's already bad enough that as he rakes through his memories, Wolf is starting to suspect that Declan wasn't just a random bar acquaintance; it's possible, but... Either way, he just have to make sure not to attract too much of the reporter's attention. Thankfully, their employer has it handled. Speaking of which.

"You've sent someone to The Face again?" Wolf sounds openly skeptical. "I sure hope you equipped them with something packing a punch, because the last two times someone went here ended up in bodies each time. Walking bodies." He sighs. "And now you think that the mold is sentient. At this point you should just declare quarantine and hunt down the cult before we lose the number advantage."
Last edited January 18, 2024 4:33 am
Jan 18, 2024 5:12 am
"The mold can think and create zombies? And here I thought I was just going to work the docks.", says Declan and then thinks, "What kind of contract did I sign? Well, at least it will be interesting"

His starts to tap his figure, a habit from his gambling days, thankfully his hands were fully back in his pockets.

"So you want us to what? Stop the ooze? Why not? I'm in."
Last edited January 18, 2024 5:13 am
Jan 18, 2024 7:59 am
Corvin began to take notes, the old fashioned way, using his tablets stylus he scribbled down "ancient threat," "The Face?," "Ghosts of the Past," "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic," "research facility," he stopped scrawling notes and looked up from the tablet.

"I pursue anthropology as a hobby. Have you heard of the Stoned Ape Theory of Consciousness? Seems highly and especially relevant to consider in this case. It is a well observed theory, that back when we were bound to Earth-what-was Homosapiens Sapience evolved from an earlier hominid consuming the fruiting body of a Psilocybin and Amanita spore. Magic Mushrooms, now I can't help but see a parallel here."

Knowing the power of visual on higher primates, such as humans, Corvin quickly searched for interpretive art of the theory and cast it to a nearby screen.

https://i.imgur.com/Nie3Lup.jpg

"There is a lot to be drawn from the psychedelic experience. Most of it allegory to the heroe's journey, other concepts such as ascenscion, the chosen one, and other religious or philosophical enlightenments. You can see the sum of human history in this image. We as higher primates, are only higher, because we got high on drugs for the majority of our evolution. My own culture has an ancient text, preindustrial human, called the Havamal "The Utterances of the Most High" and they meant high on mushrooms. The content of which deals primarily with the invention of law and how it as our fundamental technology spurred all future advances. You can see both fungi represented in this picture, sacred geometries, religious icons, and our technologies that lead us up til now. What may be interpreted as the sinister designs of a death cult trying to kill everyone, might just as well and easily be the birthing pains of a new "higher primate.""
Last edited January 18, 2024 8:04 am
Jan 18, 2024 3:48 pm
"This must be all too insane to take in at once. I don't mind if you want to choose denial as a reaction, but at least be aware of the situation I have brought you in. I will leave you to deal with this information however you see fit, just know that not everyone is aware of the exploration video and the nature of the Club is just recently declared as being a radical group in possession of biohazardous material. Officially, we also said that the group is disbanded and higher security is enforced. So while it may be easier to shut down all work and quarantine the place to fully solve the issue, the higher ups wouldn't allow it yet due to lack of proof that the situation is severe enough to stop productivity.

As for the teams I sent, the four of you were the second team. R.I.P. to our veterinarian. The first team was our local staff. Two of which turned into zombies, one into some kind of cocoon, and the last one somehow having his skull teleported into our base.

As for Corvin's attempt at empathising with our cultists, I am afraid I have to discourage such efforts. You can make use of this in interacting with them, but to suggest to us that they have a point in pushing human evolution through fungal psychedelics? I would laugh, if I still had the humour in me to do so. No, I don't think we humans need any additional ascension, especially with the help of unknown forces that creates quote unquote zombies. We have yet to closely study them, but if what we know of zombies are to be true, they will spell doom to our civilisation.

I shan't argue on this matter any further. Maybe you're right in rationalising what these cultists believe, but I'll let you know here first that whatever they are doing will be against the work of this station.

As for now, you all get to treat this as some crazy story until I call on you again. You can choose to investigate this matter, or find work on this station. So far, the nothing new have came up yet for me to point you all to.

You are free to leave now, unless you still had questions."


She then goes to Matsuki.

"I almost forgot to mention, but you all are free men now after accomplishing your mission to satisfy my request. Matsuki Magumi, you are now allowed to return to Darst without fear of being sent to prison. However, our government may still keep an eye on you."
OOC:
You can choose to find a way to work for the "cultists". Other than a new direction the story can take, there may be some issues with the party group becoming fractured. This will be resolved by a private thread being made for sharing of information and actions if need be.
As mentioned, you will now be doing "down time". Time will move in blocks of a week.

You can find a job to do. The pay starts at 1d6 x 100 credits per week if the work is safe. If the job have some risks, it will be 1d8 x 100 credits per week. Risk can be injuries, or it can even cause complications like upseting a local faction or cause damages that require you to pay. I will roll 1d6 per week if so. On 1, you will suffer something.

You can choose to investigate the matter of the Cult, and find where the surviving members are hiding and their potential plans(or investigate something else as you wish). You have to describe how you are doing it. I'll then decide what saving roll this requires and the meaning for it. You then roll it to confirm your action.

You can choose to spend your time doing anything else, such as dating/befriending a local or receive training. Further discussion on this may be needed.

Lastly, I will do a "random encounter" each week. I'll roll a d6 for probability, and on a 6, I'll roll another d6 to determine result. The results will involve Samantha contacting on you all to gather for a secret meeting again.

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Jan 18, 2024 9:54 pm
"Thanks, no questions here. See you all later.", Declan says and looks for a hole in a wall with good food.

After eating, he goes to the docks and sees if he can pick up work hauling in spaceships, unloading and loading cargo, normal Space Docker stuff.

He spends the week working, and getting to know his fellow Dockers.

During this time, he asks his fellow workers if they've heard any rumors about the cult or the Face.
OOC:
Could Declan work a job and casuallly investigate for cult activity? If not, Declan would definitely try to pick up work at the docks. I would like to do a safe job, but realize asking about the cult might be a risky endeavor.
Last edited January 21, 2024 4:36 pm
Jan 18, 2024 10:22 pm
Corvin spends a week befriending the local law enforcement, perusing records on recent cult activity, and training in pistols.
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