4504/What is lost: The Stranger

What is lost: The Stranger
Date of Scene:	02 September 2016
Location:	Transhuman Territory <EP>
Synopsis:	A Hyper Corp CEO named Debra Doyle comes to the Daedalus Initiative about a job to recover her long missing twin sister and offers a payment in mapping data for the work.
Cast of Characters:	Kotone Yamakawa, 571, 673, Corona Arclite, 319, Staren, 411

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Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Mitre station is easy enough to board though all multiveral natives would have to go through decontamination. They don't want to bring over say an off world version of the common cold or worse to get lose here. The group would get looks from the natives some might even whisper wondering about some being aliens or flats. No one's rude per-say but everyone's getting scoped out pretty hard. Some people are chattering and given some of the people's arriving history with this world? Anyone checking the local mesh would find some talk about the group arrival and down to even a few /fans/ thankfully nothing too insane but some people do clearly have fans here.

The station is Zero G and people might have a bit of an issue but mag boots are available and shockingly there shouldn't be trouble for anyone getting ones that fit, then given how wildly varied transhuman bodies /are/? It makes an odd kins of sense.

Kotone herself is already at the meeting point sitting din in a chair wearing smart clothing and she's talking with a woman who has electric blue hears and is wearing fairly casual clothing at least for here though one might notice a patch on her jacket's shoulder that looks a heck of a lot like NASA's logo on it.

"Curious miss Yamakawa you worlds rate of development on nanotechnology technology and robotics is honestly stunning. I would be curious to speak to your cousin at some point should this job work out."

"Might be but as I said we're a bit of a group of oddballs don't worry though there's no little green men."

"Though we may have a humanoid fox and lizard."

"Morphs of some sort?"

Kotone shakes her head.

"Nope they are naturally evolved on their home worlds..."

"The Multiverse is truly fascinating."

The woman looked young but that really didn't mean a thing with a world where people could stop aging after all.

Alexis Maaka (571) has posed:
    Maaka's come bringing smart-clothing of her own. Zee-G plus trench coats tend to be a bad mix, after all. The mag boots are appreciated, since she can't take the boots off her own STALKER suit after all, and the cyborg's been fiddling with technology in her head regularly, mostly remotely toying with camo settings for the cloak she'd just found again after it was seemingly lost.

    As she arrives, she's quick to throw Kotone a casual wave while she notes the client, quirking an eyebrow. "This the client?" She'll head right over to greet the woman, holding out a gloved hand. "Alexis Maaka, I'm one of Miss Yamakawa's associates. I'm glad you've given the Initiative consideration for whatever needs you have." She's a rough and ready merc, but Alexis isn't without her experience talking to business types as well, so she's keeping prim and professional, while polite to a degree.

Rory White (673) has posed:
Of the people here, chances are Rory White's the one who's navigating the microgravity environment the best. She's chosen to use her bluenette Synth body, and... while in micrograv, the flowing robes design has sort of clung tight to her body to avoid snagging on things. She floats along perfectly parallel to handholds on the walls, seemingly uncaring towards the difficulties or nausea that the manuever would inflict on most people. She is a robot, after all. Maybe she doesn't get dizzy.

    "If you aren't acclimated to microgravity, keep one thing in mind. No big moves. Small ones are always enough. Big motions will leave you tumbling out of control. Always stay near something you can grab. The magboots do solve that problem quite well though."

    She's just not magnetized hers because floating along effortlessly is more efficient.

    She only lightly taps the wall and floats 'upright' with boots on the 'ground' and energizing when they're very near the meeting point...

    And immediately Rory pings the Mesh for this person's profile while adjusting her semi-floating mass of blue hair. A loop forms quickly on her clothes and lashes it down...

    She hasn't been in micrograv for QUITE a while.

    "Hello! Hope second watch is treating you well." There's no real need to state her name, because Rory White's profile is very public and immediately available.

Corona Arclite has posed:
Did someone mention humanoid fox? Because yep, there is totally a humanoid fox. That arrived in a spaceship. With an exterior designed like an old-time steam engine.

"Muh ears are burnin', someone talkin' about me?" Corona drawls as she ambles in, smirking. Considering how sharp her ears are, she possibly actually heard the comment on her way, rather than being the usual metaphorical use of that phrase. Her arrival also comes with it's own sound, in the form of a click and clattering to her steps. A sound one might reconize from old westerns as the noise of spurs. Because it's the magnetic spurs strapped to her boots that lets her walk on the surface like it was normal gravity.

She stops, lowering the anachronistic looking hammer from her shoulder to rest the head on the floor and lean on it a bit as she tips her brass plated stetson from atop her head in a sort of rustic bow. "Corona Arclite, at yer service."

Fayt Ravus (319) has posed:
    Fayt's here, and surprisingly, while most would expect to see the tiny trader fumbling about in Zero G. Fayt is doing surprisingly well, having taken a pair of mag boots and moving along via a combination of walking and pulling himself along handholds. Apparently as far as low gravity is concerned? this isn't his first rodeo. Though that makes sense when you consider that as a trader in the multiverse? Stuff like this isn't too unusual for him.

    Fayt glances around as he approaches the group. "Sorry if I'm a touch late. Travel here was... interesting." He frowns a moment. "So, what exactly is going on?"

Staren has posed:
    A SMALL CASTLE drops out of FTL. If it fits the dock, great, otherwise, Staren is comfortable with a short EVA to get to the airlock (he has a light smart vacsuit ready for himself, as well as one for Twilight -- Ever since Night Bright's visit to SELENE, he's made sure to have a pony spacesuit available.) "Are you able to push yourself with your telekinesis? If not... Maybe we should stay connected by a rope or something."

    Once he's in atmosphere, the smart vacsuit retracts, leaving him in his normal clothes, plus magshoes (magboots are also available for Twilight, if telekinesis isn't suitable for Zero-G movement.) His normal appearance isn't that alien, tails are far from unheard of in zero-G, and people who want cat ears are also probably common enough. As they go through contamination, Staren mutters, "I have medichines, you know..." but he doesn't seem that annoyed. Dawn informs him about the mesh traffic... he's not sure what to make of it, but it's probably a good thing (he may have spent a bunch of time earlier today playing the Last Myth: Record Keeper mobige from Afterus trying to unlock himself and level himself up.)

    He arrives to catch the tail end of the conversation. "That's saying something, considering this world's incredible rate of nanotech and computer development... then again, perhaps my world was just entirely too focused on military development. I'm Staren, by the way, nice to meet you miss Doyle." If the local mesh isn't already supplying her with an AR nametag, Dawn supplies tags for him and Twilight. If some amount of personal info is standard-available over local mesh, Dawn also fills in their profiles with appropriate information.

    Staren smiles and takes a seat near Kotone. "So, how can we help you?"

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Miss Doyle grins at Maaka.

"Associate? Mmm I'd say your group is far closer than that from what I have seen on the mesh and been able to dig up on my own."

The woman grins at Alexis for a moment, it's not an unkind one. she seems fairly relaxed however she does peer at Corona for a moment tilting her head.

"Miss Yamakawa was not jesting at all. You look like you just stepped off a SCUM steam punk Live Action Role-play barge."

Rory's search would bring up Debra Doyle CEO of Apollo Aerospace INC. It seemed it was formed from remnants of a prefall aerospace company and survivors of the old American nations NASA space program. The Company had a history of making it's out of date designs open source after a time and the board had had some ties to the Argonauts for some time. The company also was quite big into gate crashing and exploring the warp-gate network as well.

"Ah miss White I presume? I am Debra Doyle CEO of Apollo Aerospace. You must be wondering why have come to you?"

Staren is looked over for a moment it's clear the woman is sizing him up for a moment.

"Mr. Wiremu, your reputation proceeds you."

Additionally the woman was actually old /very old/ her birth predated the creation of stacks. She's also worked for Nasa herself and had only survived the fall due to being off world at the time.

I will not mince words as what I know of all of you that would be the best way to be insulting. My twin sister long ago was in a car crash and was frozen in the hopes of being healed in the future. Her unit was lost some time before the fall and by some miracle after a group of freelancers found it. They had arrived at a hab and had been brokering a deal for the exchange but it went dark before I could head there to make the arrangements. I do not know what has happened at the hab I could send my own security personnel but the odds of success and survival would be much higher with the likes of you. If you are successful? I am willing to pay in information. Maps of what worlds both by Pandora Gate and Warp gate that my company has explored."

Kotone nods for a moment.

"Any idea why the hab went dark?"

"None, that's why I'm worried about it. Family actual family is ... almost unheard for for one as old as I. I want my sister back..."

Alexis Maaka (571) has posed:
    Alexis can't help but grin back, with a bit of pride. "We're a good team, she and I, not gonna deny that." She gives Kotone a wink, before hands are shook and Maaka takes a seat, producing a thermos from her matter manipulator, a cup following as she pours herself some coffee. "What do you know about where the hab was set up? Might be a chance there's a history of these sorts of things occurring to the odd colony here and there." She asks, taking a sip of delicious, warm Costa Rican brew.

    Mentioning the fall does cause Maaka to quirk an eye. She doesn't know exactly how long it's been since that occurred, but she knows it was a LONG TME. That's enough for her to wonder just how old Ms. Doyle really is, likely centuries at the least...and that's being conservative with the estimates.

Twilight Sparkle (411) has posed:
     People with cat ears or fox muzzles might make the appearance of a fully quadrupedal unicorn less of a surprise. "Of course. Levitating with telekinesis was part of my studies." Twilight says to Staren when he asks about it, but she takes a set of mag boots and attaches the rope anyway. "It is difficult to do without the Element of Magic, though." she explains after a moment.

     When they emerge into the station, Twilight is wearing a space suit with the helmet off. It might be a sealed environment, but Twilight is one to be prepared. She floats along fairly easily, especially with Staren's help. Once they reach the meeting, Twilight takes a seat and listens to the briefing. She was told this was a Daedalus Initiative mission, but it sounds more like a Gatecrasher mission. That doesn't mean she doesn't want to help, it's just something that crosses her mind.

     "I am sorry to hear that, Miss Doyle. But, you don't have to worry. We will find your sister and discover what happened to the hab." she says, then blinks. "Oh! I am Twilight Sparkle." she adds, smiling. She looks around at the others after that. "It looks like we will have plenty of capable support." she says, waving lightly to those gathered around.

Fayt Ravus (319) has posed:
    Fayt blinks slowly as he takes a seat "Hmmm..." He doesn't say much, the others seem to have things under control so no need to speak up just yet. Instead he simply watches, head darting about as the other speak.

Corona Arclite has posed:
"Yeah." Idly Corona folds both hands over the end of her hammer handle, as if leaning on it. Though it's more like she's holding it against the floor than it supporting her, due to the 0G and the only reason she's even on the floor is the magnetization. "Ah'm sure yer security folks are perfectly capable fer most things... but with all the poss'ble reasons for somethin' goin' dark as ya put it, sounds like yer gonna need a.. more specialized group," meaning themselves, of course, "to get to the bottom of this."

Staren has posed:
    Staren gets a determined look once it becomes clear what the mission is. He already wants to do it, clearly.

    Staren looks over at Twilight, then back to Miss Doyle. "I dunno about a Gatecrasher mission, and I certainly want to do it anyway, but it sounds to me like this is more of a rescue mission than a research one. If I may ask, why did you seek us out, specifically, rather than appealing directly to, say, the Union or the Syndicate? Just curious."

Rory White (673) has posed:
"Exactly so on both counts." Rory answers gently and simply. She would ask, but she doesn't need to - Doyle gets right into the thick of things....

    And the situation is... troubling, to say the least. Rory finds herself fidgeting briefly in place at the idea of rescuing someone's sister. Why would that bother her? Only a few people might be able to tell what's going on in her neurals.

    "An entire hab went dark? ... This does not bode well... nevertheless..." She literally has eyes in the back of her head here, and doesn't even need to turn around to see the looks on others' faces. Because Mitre's own internal cameras are already hers to view. Everyone's to view, really.

    The expressions of everyone else tells her something important. They want to do this.

    Which means... "It's a fair exchange, that information is very important! Though I do not wish to imply lives have prices." Her method of speech can be a bit odd sometimes, but.... she's an AGI. Expressing sympathy in a way that can be understood is sometimes a challenge, so she's doing well as many of them go!

    "We have the skills to handle this mission, though any more information about the hab would be a boon. Location, leadership, connections?"

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Miss Dyole looks at Maaka's alien technology with interest but she knows better than to ask about it.

"It was a refugee hab, somewhat far out of Lagrange Point Three, it was simply the choice of the Freed lancers to meet up at a neutral point to do business. I can not fault them but I fear they may have unwitting brought something back or something else has befallen the station.

She halts for a moment to look at Twilght with interest and watches her for a moment. She's seen strange things but someone like Twilight is a new one to her.

"Your reputation in the multiverse and to be blunt the hand many of you had exposing what certain parties did to leave hundreds of thousands of people to die at the hands of the Titans who might otherwise have been saved. I can trust your judgment to not be tempted should any thing undue. I like to deal with known Factors. I am hesitant of the Union due to it's history with in the multvierse to formally deal with them. I mean no offense to those of you who work with them. As for why? This may lead to further ventures but I would also wish to keep ... most here in Sol unaware of my sister until she is safe once more. Someone capturing her would be uses as leverage against me. I do not mean to do that. If there is something that has befallen the hab? By all means help them. Do I look like a woman who puts credits over people's lives. Sometimes stacks make life far too cheap these days. The hab itself generally dealt with ... recovery of salvage in Lunar Orbit and some from other locations about the system. They also did produce various hardware for sale to other habs, they seemed to like to keep to themselves for the most part."

She pauses for a moment looking at Fayt.

"Mr. Ravus? It is a pleasure to meet you, I'd been hoping to speak to one such connections as your self about separate business matters but that can wait until my sister is found or her fate confirmed. The Station maintains a small Militia but nothing special it's to deter pirates to go looking elsewhere and maintain security. Yes your group has a mix of skills I can not find here and access to powers that are ... almost fiction. You are also an unknown factor unlike such as good as they are? Direct Action.

Kotone speaks up now

So we're an wild card that if there is something foul going on we would have an edge native hires would not.

Correct. I will provide all the information I can and should this be successful I would be interesting in gate crashing operations with your organization. I'm sure the Argonauts would be happy with a Hypercorp that values long term profitability over short sighted cash garbing sort like most After all many of us were part of NASA before the fall.

Corona Arclite has posed:
Corona Arclite tilts her head a little to one side. "In other words, she wants to keep this onna lowdown one of the 'big' groups or factions wouldn't be able to manage." Makes what could be a shrugging gesture, it's kind of hard to make out in the lack of gravity because she doesn't want to dislodge herself from her position accidentally. "Also, this way she's got more control over who's act'ally picked for the mission, instead of just whoever one of the bigwigs would send."

Don't let the space texan drawl fool you, Corona's a good bit smarter than she usually lets on. Or it's a situation she's probably familiar with dealing with back home. A bit from both columns, maybe.

Alexis Maaka (571) has posed:
    "It's what I'd do. I wouldn't exactly trust a group chosen by some out of touch execs when I know who's better suited for an op." Maaka muses, trying to keep her coffee in her mug as she drinks. The zero-g does make it really hard for her to really keep it all together, but she manages with some effort. "Any hostile elements like pirates or mercenaries set up shop nearby recently? Might be nice to know if we're going into hostile space, and all."

Fayt Ravus (319) has posed:
    Fayt actually pauses for a moment as he's outed. "Hmm? Oh um. Thank you. I'll be sure to keep that in mind, but yes, more important matters first." He gglances around at hte others. "If any of you need something special ofr this, please let me know. I'll see what I can pull together on short notice."

Staren has posed:
    Staren scratches his head. So, they've been invited here as the Flotilla Remnants, rather than as the Daedalus Initiative. Still, it's a start. "If you don't want anyone to know about her, should you really be talking about this in front of public cameras," he waves a hand at them, "in the middle of an 'Information wants to be free!' hab? In any case..." He rests his hands in his lap. "Obviously, we'd do this mission anyway, just because it's the right thing to do. And we are perhaps better equipped than most to deal with the manners of 'unknown hazards' that could befall a habitat in this world. We'll do what we can to save your sister... although, I have to caution you that whatever happened may have already... Yeah." He hangs his head slightly.

    Then brightens a bit. "Future Gatecrashing missions, huh? The Daedalus Initiative's skills do make us better equipped to deal with the unknown. Maybe we should focus a bit more on exploration and rescue when advertising ourselves, then..."

Rory White (673) has posed:
"Chances of anyone else deploying to visit the hab are slim. A hab that simply went dark completely... that is the kind of situation you do not walk into without plenty of trustworthy help." Rory explains to Staren. "We will be there and investigating before anyone else has even finished making preparations and arrangements. I trust that the requisite security measures are in place, in any case."

Twilight Sparkle (411) has posed:
%      Twilight blinks in surprise when Staren mentions the Gatecrashers. Was she thinking outloud without realizing it? She shakes her head lightly then listens some more. She nods in agreement with the others. "I don't have a lot of experience with space and zero gravity, but I will do my best." she says to the others, then hops to her feet. Which of course sends her flying upward. She really doesn't have much experience with zero-g...

     Twilight lets out a surprised 'h-hey!' as she floats upward, then her horn glows and she slows down quickly before coming to a stop. "Erm...hehehe..."

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
The CEO shakes her head.

"I can only guess there's nothing confirmed what I can do is give you the docking codes I was going to use when I was planning to make the pickup it may help you board the station and get past any drones or defence platforms they may have."

She tilts her head smirking a bit.

"They know the value of distression or delaying on the relase of information."

Also she knows given their abilities are not fully known it may put pressure on some group that may have caused the issues with the hab.

"Humm if you need to train in micro gravity I have a cargo hauler you can use the hanger of for such training. We do so for when we recuit martians or other others with little experiance in such enviroments.

"Miss Maaka you see where I am coming from."

Corona Arclite has posed:
"And maybe we'll find out just why the place went dark while gettin' yer deep sleepin' sister out, too," Corona sums up. She can't help but snicker a little as Twilight loses herself in the lack of gravity. "Don't worry miss, ya get use to it. Eventually."

Fayt Ravus (319) has posed:
    Fayt goes back to quietly watching the others, occasional nodding as he mentally takes some notes. At one point he does suddenly frown for several seconds, seemingly for no reason. Maybe it's something he heard over radio?

Twilight Sparkle (411) has posed:
     Once she is back under control, Twilight Sparkle looks at Miss Doyle again. "Oh, I guess we should ask. Are you wanting us to recover her even if she is still frozen? Or, are we simply to secure the hab and hold it until another team can move in?"

Rory White (673) has posed:
"Well. This group certainly has all of the required skills... and some that defy all categorization. If what we seek remains on the hab - and we have no reason to doubt it does - then we should be fine, so long as we exercise caution. I am most orried that TITAN technology is behind the blackout, since it's a station for refugees..." Rory frowns rather heavily. If there's TITAN stuff aboard, they'll REALLY need to be careful.

Staren has posed:
    Staren acks and reaches for Twilight as she floats away, but she's got it handled. He looks between Alexis and Rory. "I was less thinking someone would try to steal the objective out from under us, than that they might threaten to sabotage our mission -- or attack us after to steal her."

    He looks to Twilight. "I think recovering her cryopod is the idea... She was frozen because back then they didn't have the medical technology to heal her. If something has deactivated the cryopod..." He looks down at the floor.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Miss Dyole nods

"Yes, get her out if she can be moved. I have medical personel and a morph that's been standing by for her for some time in stasis. Afer all she is my twin."

She notes somewhat sadly.

"I can provide some small arms and gear if there is any thing you lack for this operation. Yes part of why I have asked for you is you have skills that do not exist and experiance with the multiverse. Yes, this is why I request you use analog communiaitons technology with me when you deploy. Should there be something .. I will handle calling for more aid and containment. However most of you haver been to earth and came back with the bodies you took down. So that speaks /very/ well of your skills."

Corona Arclite has posed:
Corona Arclite muses that over for a moment or two. "Ah can pro'ly whip up somethin' in case we need to move the cryopod an' keep it runnin' on the go." Leave it to the engineer to consider the potential technical and mechanical problems first.