Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: You.
A cargo class ship completes the complicated security protocols before it's allowed to dock on the unregistered station. Out the right window, the pilot can still see the large sphere of the planet. The station orbits your next destination. So few people get the clearance to know that the planet or the station even exists, let alone travel between them. But you, you're one of those few. But first, you've got to see that the supplies for the station get unloaded, and then they'll load planet bound cargo. So while you oversee this unloading process, Dixon, why don't you describe yourself?
[00:00:42] Speaker B: So, Dixon Myers is a average guy of a very average looking build.
He's got dark hair that's borderline graying in certain areas due to the stress of, I don't know, space traffic and just cargo times and perhaps even boredom. Stress, because I've heard of that recently. He's got a bit of a stubble going on, tired eyes.
He wears a hat of some sort. Definitely one of those vests with, like, a million pockets and a belt. That means business.
[00:01:29] Speaker A: It takes some time, but eventually your cargo hold is emptied out. And you see a team of people wiggle in a large, sealed container about half the size of your hold. They never send more than one down to the planet at a time. The first few times, this experience was intriguing. The contents of the crate, mysterious, especially when it would hiss or rock when you found out what was in the containers. Well, that was certainly an exciting day. Frightening, exhilarating, exciting.
But it's been two years now of the exact same trip and the exact same cargo, and the thrill has worn away to routine.
And today, crate isn't even moving.
What do you do while they're loading it up?
[00:02:25] Speaker B: I do not pay much attention because this is honestly the usual. I mean, by no means is what I'm doing on this job anything extraordinary. Perhaps the most extraordinary thing is the cargo itself.
I'm like the third party middleman. I'm not even the middle middleman.
The one that comes after, or rather, I guess you could say before just another day in, day out kind of scenario. I don't even think I need to count or properly check inventory. I feel like the tech is high enough, or that is even perhaps, above my pay grade, considering how precious the cargo is. I literally am just there to make sure that it doesn't get too jostled on the trip and that it gets to and from. So I'm probably just sitting.
[00:03:26] Speaker A: Yeah, you are doing all of that. Or rather, not doing any of that.
There's a moment where the team that is moving the crate fall out of sync with one another. Somebody slips their shoes, starting to lose traction and it sort of just swings the crate towards you a little bit. The head of security is standing there overseeing this entire process as she always does. Cassidy Ellis. Alyssa, would you like to describe your character as well?
[00:03:59] Speaker C: Yeah. So Cassidy Ellis stands sort of watchful nearby. Dixon nearby the crate unloading. She's a tall, broad woman, close to 6ft, wearing standard issue sort of personnel armor, rigid padded vest, ballistic pad.
[00:04:25] Speaker B: Like.
[00:04:25] Speaker C: Clasped to her hip is a stun baton.
She has very standard issue shaved hair. However, non regulation are the piercings in her face, both eyebrow and nose.
She has done this enough that it's.
[00:04:45] Speaker B: Not.
[00:04:47] Speaker C: I think that she's not on the sort of high alert that she was when she started at this position, but is alert enough that when the box starts to tilt, when someone loses their footing, she sort of moves to jump in if necessary.
[00:05:10] Speaker A: Yeah. So you see it moving towards Dixon.
Dixon, what do you do as the crate comes near you?
[00:05:20] Speaker B: Oh gosh.
I think what happens is it's like I can't decide. Like my body wants to do one thing, my brain wants to do another, and then I want to do something completely different from the three. So it just kind of looks like. It looks like a hesitant dodge. Help. Where one arm is kind of flimsily trying to keep it from falling onto me whereas my feet move out of the way. And so it's like half, my lower half of a body is out of the way, my upper half is on the other one. I am standing in a strange diagonal and then I just kind of go, watch it. That shit falls over to my paycheck, not yours.
[00:06:11] Speaker A: Any response from Cassidy or from the administrative. The administrative overseer. Overseer is the wrong word too, but we're going to go with it. Who is also standing by to manage the paperwork of this transfer, as she always is. Every transfer comes in, makes notes on the paperwork.
[00:06:30] Speaker D: Yeah. Ruby is woman in her probably mid 30s, sort of slight build, long dark hair that's currently pulled back into a tight bun, impeccable makeup, wearing a nice pair of dress shoes, black slacks and a black button up shirt with currently the sleeves are rolled up to her elbows. She was wearing a very nice jacket earlier, but it's a little warm today here so kind of ditch that and I've got pad in my hand making notes. I look up at the commotion and just kind of huff a little bit and make a note on the pad. And then look back down, that thing falls.
[00:07:18] Speaker C: Dixon, we have a bigger problem than just your paycheck.
[00:07:22] Speaker B: Yeah, but that thing falls, and it's my paycheck that goes first, not me.
[00:07:27] Speaker A: You see one of the other security people who have been moving the crate kind of like try to elbow you out of the way and straighten up the crate. And as they do, they sort of move around the back corner of it to pull it straight again and realign it with the ship.
And, Dixon, you probably wouldn't notice this because you get elbowed just enough that you're turned to talk to Cassidy, who is reprimanding you.
Cassidy, though you can make an observation role for me.
[00:08:09] Speaker C: That is three.
[00:08:11] Speaker A: Three successes. Yeah.
You see that some point between the moment when the crate shifted and was pushed back and Dixon pushed away from the crate, made contact with the crate and pushed away, that there is now this growing, rapidly growing hole in the side.
And I think that is about all you get to see before this almost spear like object punctures through that hole, blasting it further open and pierces through your chest. Dixon.
So I need everyone to take stress as the tail starts to yank Dixon back against the crate and is trying to pull him through that very small hole in the crate that not meant for a human body, but it is getting bigger.
[00:09:21] Speaker B: What do you do? I spit out blood and buffoon.
[00:09:26] Speaker D: Ruby sees this, and it's a slight panic.
Am I able to do any kind of lockdown from my tablets?
[00:09:38] Speaker A: Yes, you can enact a lockdown. You would also have on hand either you or Cassidy. One of you would have on hand a little signal box that's supposed to react with the neutralizer.
But you haven't ever used one before. But one of you should have it on hand.
[00:10:04] Speaker D: Cassidy, which one of us do you think has it?
[00:10:07] Speaker C: You.
[00:10:08] Speaker A: Okay?
[00:10:09] Speaker D: And this is supposed to neutralize the thing?
[00:10:14] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:10:14] Speaker D: Seeing it, never having used it before.
[00:10:17] Speaker E: But being told that this is what.
[00:10:19] Speaker D: I need to do if this happens, it's probably in the pocket of my slacks or something, and I'll grab it. And if there's a button to press, I'll press a button.
[00:10:31] Speaker A: I'm going to need you to make me a mobility check in this moment of high stress as you watch the blood splurt from your coworker not 2 seconds ago and containment has been breached in that moment of taking the stress and need to roll mobility check in order to dig it out of your pocket quickly and without dropping it, I.
[00:10:58] Speaker D: Rolled a one on that stress.
[00:11:02] Speaker A: Make a panic roll even though you can only get one result here, but go ahead and roll it anyway.
[00:11:08] Speaker D: So I got nervous twitch. Your stress level and the stress level of all friendly pcs within short range of you increases by one.
[00:11:16] Speaker C: Can I declare now that I hate you so that I don't take stress?
[00:11:19] Speaker A: Yeah. So everybody take more stress as you pull out the neutralizer and you drop it and it goes skittering across the floor.
Cassidy, what are you doing?
[00:11:31] Speaker C: Cassidy is not even thinking of the neutralizer. She grabs the sun baton from her belt and is going to attempt to shock the tail, hopefully like getting it to stop moving.
[00:11:43] Speaker A: Okay. It is punctured through Dixon. So whatever you shock of a tail will probably also affect Dixon. So honestly, you're not sure if you're getting Dixon back out of this anyway.
[00:11:54] Speaker C: I was going to say it's punctured through his chest. I do not have high hopes for this man.
[00:11:59] Speaker A: There's a doctor on board.
She's busy, but she's on board. Yeah, go ahead and make a close combat role for me.
[00:12:09] Speaker C: Okay, so that's zero successes.
[00:12:12] Speaker A: Zero successes.
[00:12:14] Speaker C: What does push do?
[00:12:16] Speaker A: Push means you can roll it again. Anything that was not a success you can reroll, but you take stress before you roll it.
[00:12:23] Speaker C: Okay, I will push this attack.
[00:12:26] Speaker A: Do it.
[00:12:28] Speaker C: That's two successes.
[00:12:30] Speaker A: Two successes, yeah. You bring down the baton against the tail and it shocks through both of them.
There is a fun little thing about these particular creatures is that they're immune to most things.
But you do hear it, like scream on the inside. Not a scream of pain. This is just a scream of annoyance.
And you see claws reaching through on either side of that hole that it's trying to pull Dixon through, wrap around the outside and start to pull it open and drag in Dixon a little further. Dixon, what are you doing other than dying? But like.
[00:13:24] Speaker B: Well, firstly, I'm able to come back enough to look at Cassidy and go, fuck.
And I think what I'd like to do is I'd like to pull out my gun and attempt to shoot at it. Like I'm trying to still escape thinking that I could totally survive this flesh food.
[00:13:50] Speaker A: Yeah. I'm going to need you to make arranged combat roll at a minus two because you're aiming for something behind you that you're blocking most of the way to get to it. And also you've been stabbed. I should make it minus three. Frankly I should, but I'm being a little kind because we just started.
[00:14:12] Speaker B: Okay, one success. Not on the stress. Die.
[00:14:14] Speaker A: Okay. You at least get to shoot.
What is pulling you into the crate and you manage to shoot it and not yourself, but you feel in this moment very confident that you knocked it off.
Yeah. So you managed to impact it. And we're going to jump back to Ruby.
[00:14:44] Speaker D: I'm going to run after the neutralizer because, yeah, if I have to put a thing on lockdown, that's paperwork.
[00:14:55] Speaker A: You already have paperwork. You have a corpse.
[00:14:58] Speaker D: You don't have paperwork. But then it's going to be more paperwork if I have to put it on lockdown.
[00:15:03] Speaker A: Yeah. And the fewer corpses, the less paperwork, and hopefully not you. You would like to not join the corpses?
[00:15:08] Speaker D: Yes, I would not like to join the corpses. So I'm going to run after the neutralizer and attempt to grab it.
[00:15:12] Speaker A: Sure. Give me another mobility check as you do.
[00:15:16] Speaker D: That is two successes.
[00:15:18] Speaker A: Two successes, yeah. You run, you skitter across the floor, you scoop down, you pick it up, you press the button across the way. Dixon, you feel acid burning through your uniform, burning through your skin. Metal is cutting against your flesh as you're being pulled through the opening. You are feeling the harpoon essentially in your gut, like just tightening around you. The shot that you did sprayed you with acid, which is burning you from the back.
And the opening is like, it's way too small, so you're kind of being crunched through it. There is a screech from within. Cassidy, take us away. What's the last thing you do here?
[00:16:08] Speaker C: I think the last thing we see is Cassidy picking up.
Cassidy lifts up that sunbaton and attempts to basically jab it between the claws and the crate in a last ditch effort to get it to not be ripping this crate apart.
[00:16:28] Speaker A: Give me one last close combat role.
[00:16:32] Speaker C: Two successes. One? Oh, no.
[00:16:36] Speaker A: Three successes.
Yeah. So you drag it in there, you push it through, and between the sparks of electricity and the actual force of the thing and the neutralizer maybe starting to take effect, there is a moment where the flurry inside the crate intensifies, and then all at once, it goes still and Dixon's body falls to the ground.
And in that silence, we will leave you all.
Mother, mother may I, may I take to the sky?
Mother may I leave you here lonely not may I leave here alive not you know you don't own me may I, may I, may I, may I, may I go home? Hello, listeners, and welcome back to the cold, unfeeling expanse of space. Goblets and gays have returned to the world of alien using free league Press's incredible alien rpg with this, the second season of Mother, may I, my name is Ferris Ayushi. Her pronouns. And I am honored to be back as your game mother. This is episode one. Paycheck goes first.
Now, then, we have a new crew to meet. Please say hello to the stalwart crew of the USCC Hera.
Hello.
[00:18:29] Speaker E: I am Dusty. I use they he pronouns, and I'm going to be playing Caroline Lowe, who uses she her pronouns, and is the mercenary.
[00:18:44] Speaker F: Hello, I am Navarre. I use he him pronouns, and I am going to be playing tank metchi, who also uses he him pronouns, and he is the pilot.
[00:18:57] Speaker G: Hello, I am Mimi, also known as Michelle Jones, and I am going to be playing Daniel Strauss, the company man.
[00:19:08] Speaker A: You want to know a fact about space?
Light travels 300,000 meters/second rounded up sound doesn't travel at all, and the stars we look out at, some of them have been dead longer than we've been alive.
Facts about space.
They can make you love it, but there's not a fact in the world that can make space love you back.
But you should know that already, shouldn't you, Daniel?
Sitting across from you, Daniel, in a packed, tiny office that smells like cigarette smoke and sugar, is Cynthia Bugsley, union representative and captain of the USCC Hera. More than that, she's one of the people who built the union. Dressed in well worn but clean mechanic coveralls, her five two height may fool you, but they are strong enough to throw a man. And built like a power lifter, squeezed in behind your tiny chair and the door, is Caroline Lowe, your bodyguard, though at the moment her presence isn't maybe as comforting as you want it to be. Bugsley snaps a pocky stick between their teeth, then continues.
Now, if I had it my way, you wouldn't be here, not sitting across from me, not getting on my ship, and certainly not coming along. But the company insists that what can I do? I'd like to just chuck you out the airlock and call it a systems malfunction. She glances at Caroline.
Lucky for you, I'm nicer than the company.
[00:20:44] Speaker G: I'm going to choose to ignore that last comment.
[00:20:50] Speaker A: Shesh, you've got three rules to follow here. One, you do what I say, when I say, and we'll do just fine. Same goes for anyone I deputize in my place, should the situation arise. Two, keep your evangelizing between your ears. I don't want to hear about how great the company is, and I don't want to see you telling anyone else about it, either. We already know all we need to know.
Three, if anything happens to me or my crew after this. Accidents, disappearances, firing.
I want you to think long and hard about how many friends you think you really have and how many friends you think I have. Just do a little math in your head before sending any reports off.
Same goes for you, low.
I had to kick a valuable crew member off this mission to clear space for you too. So I expect weight to be pulled and rules to be followed. Space ain't gonna love you and neither am I. We clear here?
[00:21:57] Speaker G: Yes, Mrs. Bugsley, we are clear.
[00:22:00] Speaker A: Then piss off and send the rest of them in.
[00:22:05] Speaker F: What?
[00:22:06] Speaker E: A bucket full of joy.
[00:22:10] Speaker A: Out.
[00:22:12] Speaker G: Dan just gets up and heads to the door and just on the way know the reason I'm here is to ensure there are no accidents. Out. I see the look out.
[00:22:28] Speaker A: Dan. You step out of the cramped office that was probably originally a storage closet into a busy, noisy ship hangar. The scent of metal and grease and coffee fills the air in a tangy, weird blend. To one side, sparks fly off a ship as someone dangles off the side, welding apart into place. Another person shouts at them three or four times before they hear a cutting torch cuts off as they redirect their attention below and just under their perch in a lovingly stenciled script, you can read the words USCC Hera. Immediately outside the office waits a group of three spacers standing around chatting in low voices. They all give you a very hard stare as you pass by.
Daniel and Caroline, would you kindly describe yourselves?
[00:23:21] Speaker G: Yeah, Daniel is about five, 9510, average height guy, so pale you're not sure he has seen the sun in years.
He's wearing this very nice tailored suit.
He's got a gold watch. It was gift from the company. Leather briefcase.
His hair is like short brown, gelled back in this very slick, very clean cut look.
And he stands tall a little bit.
He, as a teenager, probably was forced to pay a lot of attention to his posture, and it's just stuck with him for the rest of his life.
[00:24:25] Speaker E: Caroline is a little bit on the taller side, I'd say maybe like six one or so.
Definitely like dark tan skin, but you don't really see much because she's wearing.
[00:24:40] Speaker F: Like a full.
[00:24:43] Speaker E: Basically like a jumpsuit, but it has some mishmash of weird digital camo going around it. Wearing basically combat boots that go knee high, that have the shin guards on them. Very sleek, black and polished, like they've been taken care of.
And she has long blonde hair in one of those long ponytails, but like, it still goes down to the shoulder.
Looks like she has like a twelve step makeup routine, face care routine, because she does.
And that is also contrasted with the heavy assault rifle that she's carrying on her shoulder.
[00:25:33] Speaker A: What is to be do as you leave the office of Bugsley?
[00:25:38] Speaker G: So I think I'm just trying to stay as out of the way as possible.
And when there's no one, like, if indirect ear, um, I say to.
I. I'm used to people not being excited to see HR, but this is something else.
[00:26:03] Speaker E: Really.
You didn't think a bunch of spacers would be very upsetty to see HR?
[00:26:15] Speaker G: I feel like there's a lot of misconceptions about what it is that HR does, and really, I think if they would just hear me out, we could avoid a lot of hostility.
[00:26:28] Speaker E: Oh, I can't wait for someone to hear you out.
[00:26:33] Speaker G: Thank you.
[00:26:35] Speaker E: Do they have like a lounge or something?
[00:26:38] Speaker A: Yeah, because this is a planet side hangar. Not quite a public hangar, but not quite a private hangar either. So there's like a communal cafeteria, there's a little lounge area with like a single pinball machine that doesn't always release the ball at all when you do the little slot thing.
But if you shake it hard enough, sometimes it'll work. If you shake it really hard, you don't even need a quarter.
[00:27:09] Speaker E: Well, maybe we should go to the lounge.
If we're out of their way, the faster they could get us on the ship.
[00:27:19] Speaker G: Yeah, sure. It'd be nice to get a cup of coffee.
[00:27:24] Speaker E: You're going to love this. Coffee has the same consistency as tar.
[00:27:30] Speaker G: I mean, I've had break room coffee before. I'm sure it can't be that bad.
[00:27:37] Speaker E: It's going to be fun.
[00:27:39] Speaker A: It is that bad.
[00:27:45] Speaker G: Dan takes about two sips and it goes just like very. Just puts down the cup without saying anything and it's just like.
[00:27:52] Speaker A: So anyway, Hank, you watch the company rep and his actual bodyguard walk off.
The hera's engineer, Benton, watches them leave without comment. Not an unusual occurrence for him. But Martin, the ship's science and communications officer, can't quite do the same.
Tugging at the disheveled tie around his neck, he says, can't believe Bugsley's actually letting them on board.
[00:28:23] Speaker F: Well, I imagine he's got a good reason.
[00:28:31] Speaker A: You might, but, jeez, it's just gross.
[00:28:40] Speaker F: I agree, don't get me wrong, but we all got jobs to do, and if we just got to add a little extra space for somebody, then. Got to add a little extra space for somebody. That's what Bugsy says. That's what we got to.
[00:28:56] Speaker A: Know, adding a little space for two of them means one of us probably not on it anymore.
[00:29:01] Speaker F: That's true. That's true. It's a good thing I'm the.
[00:29:05] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. You're sort of indispensable. I'm aware. It's going to be me. It's going to be me. It's going to suck.
[00:29:13] Speaker F: Well, listen, if it is you, and I'm not saying that it is you, because. I don't know, I hope you enjoy your time here.
[00:29:22] Speaker A: Yeah, right.
She's going to have a cow if we stand out here any longer.
[00:29:30] Speaker F: Yeah. I guess I should go do some systems checks. And I think Tank is going to head towards the ship to do whatever I have to do to get them.
[00:29:39] Speaker A: Before you do, you should probably check in with Bugsley, as you know that she was waiting to talk to you all after she spoke with the company reps. But go ahead. Actually, Tank, describe yourself as the three of you squeeze into Bugsley's tiny office, a place which, let's be honest, you probably wouldn't be having the conversation here were it not for Daniel Strauss and his bodyguard. You would be sitting comfortably on the hara, probably with beers, but no. Anyway, take it away.
[00:30:10] Speaker F: Yeah, I think especially in this small space, tank takes up a lot of it.
He's six foot one and he's pretty jacked.
He has, like, these high cheekbones and this gap between his teeth.
And he's a black man with a low fade. And he has these very pleasant smile lines around his eyes.
And I think he's just kind of, like, in some utility pants. He has boots on and, like, a skin tight long sleeve.
And he carries two pistols on either side of his hips and walks into Bugsy's office.
[00:30:54] Speaker A: Benson and Martin squeeze in next to you.
[00:30:59] Speaker F: And I don't think tank notices or acknowledges how much space he takes up with his broad frame, for sure.
[00:31:07] Speaker A: I think on the ship it's barely even noticeable. It's just in this tiny little office.
And Bugsley looks dejected isn't the right word. Something in the realm of irritated and depressed.
And she pulls out a fresh pocky stick and just kind of, like, snaps it into pieces before eating each little piece, and then finally says, you've all had the chance to meet our guests. Get your griping out now, because I don't want to hear any of it out there.
[00:31:44] Speaker F: I don't think tank moves like his eye contact. He just is, like, waiting for her to go on.
[00:31:50] Speaker A: Yeah, I think Martin does start complaining, just like oh, my gosh. I can't believe we're going to do this. This is not working. It just goes off for just, like, 30 seconds before Bugsley raises a hand and he falls silent.
Benson, for his part, doesn't outwardly complain.
In private, he'll have a word or two, but mostly he's going to keep it to himself.
And then Bugsley continues. I've already told Wix she's on leave. Is unfortunate, but we've only got so many sleeper pods.
This is pretty surprising news to you, I would think. Because even if you did already do the math, namely because Wix is Hera's medic. In fact, you had, I would assume, figured this conversation was going to be finding out who was getting left off the job.
Wix is the last person you were expecting?
[00:32:49] Speaker F: Give me bugs. Leap. Are you suggesting that you're not concerned about any medical needs with the crew?
[00:33:00] Speaker A: Bugsley kind of taps a finger on the desk and then says, I won't go that far. It's more of a matter of what else I think will need more. So if it comes down to it, I can step in. I'm not just good for running things around here.
Now, our company representatives aren't the only complication with this one.
Officially, it's a salvage job way out of the frontier.
Unofficially, I don't know exactly what kind of salvage we're going to find. I wanted to do this off the books, but company wouldn't give me enough leave to do it on my own time, so I'm doing it on theirs.
This doesn't leave this room. Understood? And she gives all of you, like, a really hard look.
[00:33:51] Speaker F: Yeah.
[00:33:51] Speaker A: Tank nods, and the other two nod as well. Martin almost, like, starts to speak, and then realizes no one else is speaking and draws it back in.
Bugsley continues. I got a message a couple weeks back, and I'll be upfront. I don't know how legitimate it is, but coupled with some other messages I've gotten last few years, I'm willing to find out firsthand. Any of you ever heard of the.
[00:34:21] Speaker F: Uh.
Yeah. That has.
Captain Lee, correct?
[00:34:27] Speaker A: Yeah, old whalen Yutani freighter, a few decades back.
Vic Lee was an old friend of mine.
Well, it vanished about the same time Vic and I started investigating the death of my old man from company time.
I didn't find it until around two years ago. A handful of messages came in.
Messages from Vic.
Of course, Vic was long dead by the time they sent, but still something I've been holding on to until the time was right. To use against the company.
Anyway, you might have heard of the signal satellite phenomenon.
Martin gasps excitedly and is, like, full fledged about to launch into a whole conspiracy theory about it. Almost, but quilts his enthusiasm when, like, gives him a look like, this is not the time for that.
And she continues and says, it got solved around the same time I got the messages. Some research vessel, RSS Medea, figured out the cause was none other than the Amekinos. So I looked up some of the crew, and according to them, the Amekanos fell to mechanical malfunctions.
Let's just say Vic did not agree.
Which brings us to a few weeks ago. I get this.
And they rotate their computer around to face you all. And on the green tinted monitor, you see a message that reads, if your intent remains the same, the secrets of the amaconos and the downfall of the company can both be found here. Sincerely, the hollow one.
Then there's some coordinates, and Bugsley turns the computer back around and waits.
[00:36:24] Speaker F: Is there any information about who that hollow one is?
[00:36:28] Speaker A: Nothing that I can find.
[00:36:31] Speaker F: No registered crew member that could have sent it from that ship?
[00:36:38] Speaker A: No.
I mean, as far as I know. As far as I can tell, there's no one on the mechanos left alive. It didn't come from the mechanos, I don't think no one on the Medea seems to know anything about it. Or if they do, they're not telling.
I don't know.
I can't find the pseudonym or nothing about it anywhere.
But clearly, they know something about me and have some sort of a vested interest in the same things I do.
[00:37:12] Speaker F: I see. Well, chief, I have a lot of respect for Captain Lee from everything that I've ever heard about him, especially when it comes to the.
You know, I can't say I'm gonna help you solve this mystery, but I can get you there. You can count on me.
[00:37:35] Speaker A: Good.
Vic was my.
And more than that, I know the company sent Vic out on that job today.
But if any of you want to back out on this, no hard feelings.
But if you are as sick and tired as I am of the way this company treats people, of the accidents and disappearances and the God knows what else, well, then, you know, when we leave and she leans back and then dismisses you all with a tired nod, they've been in this fight for a long, long time.
Maybe for the first time, you see it starting to wear on her.
But I think Benson opens the door and bleeps the way out of the office.
[00:38:29] Speaker F: Yeah. Tink follows and is going to turn to Martin and clap him on the back and say, I guess I was wrong. You are coming.
[00:38:42] Speaker A: I totally get it. Come.
This is bad, though. In other news, the lack of medic, I can't say that fills me with a lot of confidence, all things considered.
But, I mean, they're going to come, so how dangerous can it be? It's like a salvage job.
[00:39:03] Speaker F: Yeah. I hope it isn't dangerous for your sake and for everybody else on the crew.
Well, of course. But it just seems odd to send that kind of worry about myself in this situation.
So that said, I think we ought to get ready.
Seems like you're going to be stuck with the company people for a while, so just bear that in mind. Save those complaints as we have a long travel to go, which above table, because if I remember correctly, there was like this whole 20 year sleep that the other crew did. How long is it going to take for us to get out there?
[00:39:51] Speaker A: Do we know long enough that you will be in the stasis?
I don't remember what alien universe calls it, but cry.
But it won't be a long shift asleep. It's out in the front here. You're probably somewhere in the outer room, so give or take a couple months maybe, which will pass blinking eye for all of you.
But, yeah, I think. Benson gives a contemplative nod and then says, yeah, I'm fine.
[00:40:33] Speaker F: We certainly can't go without a medic and without an engineer. I think we've already made some tough choices in this lineup, so I'm glad you'll be here as well, Benson.
[00:40:47] Speaker A: Someone's got to make up for the company people.
[00:40:50] Speaker F: This is so true.
[00:40:56] Speaker A: Martin kind of like waffles for a little bit, but he's already super interested.
Held back a little bit by the lack of a medic. But it's like Bugsley wouldn't send us if she didn't know what she was doing, so she knows. First eight at least, minimum, probably.
I've never seen it, but, like, probably, yeah.
What is it now? I gotta know. I gotta know.
[00:41:29] Speaker F: Only one way to find out.
[00:41:33] Speaker A: And three rotations later, the hera takes flight, and every single one of you are on board.
You spend most of the trip in stasis before the onboard mother system wakes you, about an hour before you're expected to arrive.
Bugly, it seems, is already up their pod, empty. What do the rest of you do to get ready for whatever it is you're going to find when you arrive?
[00:42:04] Speaker E: I think when Caroline gets up, the first thing that she does is grab, like, she has, like, a duffel bag and goes to the first restroom or whatever with the sink in the mirror and stuff, puts the duffel bag on the counter, takes out a gun, like, some extra clothes, and goes through it, and then takes out this big roll up bag that just has all of her skincare routine because she's been asleep for a couple of months and it's not like she needs to re up.
So she does the whole routine, which takes about, like, half an hour before she says hi to anyone. If anyone goes past, she doesn't say anything.
[00:42:56] Speaker G: Daniel is packed like it is.
Like he's on a vacation. He's got, like, a rolling suitcase and a suit bag.
And once he's out of his sleep.
So where am I rooming?
Is it a bunk situation or how are we doing it?
[00:43:23] Speaker F: When Dan asked that question, tank, coming out of stasis, is going to go and just say, I'll show you where it is. So tink sleeps in the front, like, by the door on the bottom bunk.
And when I lead Dan in, it's going to point to the very last bunk on the top and say, this is where you will.
[00:43:52] Speaker G: Love a top bunk.
Reminds me of summer camp.
[00:43:57] Speaker F: Very good.
Have we met properly? I don't think we have. So Tank is just going to go. Very good.
I'm the pilot. My name is Tank. Tank Machi.
If you need anything regarding the flight, just let me know.
[00:44:17] Speaker G: Daniel Strauss. Friends call me Dan. It's great to meet you.
[00:44:22] Speaker F: Great to meet you too, Daniel. And is going to walk back to the cockpit.
[00:44:29] Speaker E: I think at this point, Caroline walks and is like we're having a slumber party and no one told me.
All right, then.
Where are you sleeping?
[00:44:44] Speaker G: I point to the very last far end of the very last bed on the far end of the top bung. I've been assigned back here.
[00:44:55] Speaker E: Are we assigned?
[00:45:00] Speaker F: It was open.
You can choose any of these beds up here in the front. They're all available. I don't think anybody else has made a decision yet.
[00:45:10] Speaker A: Martin and Benson both very quickly move to their usual bunks and just throw their stuff down.
[00:45:20] Speaker E: All right, well, got to keep close eye on you, Daniel. So I'll be right with.
[00:45:28] Speaker G: Mean.
It's fine on the ship. I think you can take it easy a little. It's not until we get to where we're going that they need to worry.
[00:45:39] Speaker E: Oh, Daniel. The last time I took it easy, I lost this pinky. I got it.
[00:45:47] Speaker G: Know I am sorry about the pinky incident. I have apologized.
[00:45:52] Speaker E: I know.
[00:45:54] Speaker G: I'm going to change. I'm going to, uh. Dan just goes over to the corner, like, takes his suit out of his suit bag to change out of the hyper sleep pajamas. They're in undies.
[00:46:08] Speaker A: Cloth, basically. Just undies?
[00:46:13] Speaker F: Yeah. I think tank, as he's walking out, will also just get dressed, get his stuff, and head to the front, which I think, just as you said, we're about an hour out, so he's just trying to do calculations. You make sure everything's aligned, everything's good.
[00:46:27] Speaker A: With the ship, all that stuff in the cockpit. You find Bugsley is sitting there just going over some paperwork and gives you, like, a nod when you come in.
Everyone else up?
[00:46:47] Speaker F: Yeah, they're all getting there. How are we looking.
[00:46:51] Speaker A: On course?
Don't see much of anything yet. Just planet coming up there, but might be where we're headed. Hard to see it so far, but we'll know when we get closer.
[00:47:07] Speaker F: Sounds good. We'll just stay on path.
[00:47:13] Speaker A: You're better with the navigation equipment.
Do you see this planet anywhere on it?
[00:47:24] Speaker F: Do I see the planet on the charts?
Oh, I don't know. Do I see the planet on the charts?
Do I need to roll something for that?
[00:47:35] Speaker A: But I got to have you roll for it because I want to. Okay. Why don't you roll me a comptech roll?
[00:47:48] Speaker F: Okay, so I just double click on Comptech? Is that how this works?
[00:47:51] Speaker A: Yeah. If you just click on the word itself, it should roll both your ability and your skill together and give you the result.
[00:47:58] Speaker F: Okay. One success.
[00:48:00] Speaker A: One success is all you need.
No, you don't see this planet on the chart anywhere. You see the physical planet out the window, in the distance, like, it's off far enough that you're like, that's probably a planet, but it's kind of distant. But there's nothing on the charts anywhere nearby that has a planet. Certainly nothing within range of where you're physically seeing one.
[00:48:27] Speaker F: Can I talk to the mother? The ship? We can do that, right? Hey, mother.
Why is this planet not on any of these charts?
[00:48:38] Speaker A: What planet are you talking about?
[00:48:41] Speaker F: Planet that we're flying to.
[00:48:43] Speaker A: There is no planet listed at those sequoia that location.
[00:48:49] Speaker F: I think tank is going to pause for a second and look over at Bugsley. It's going to bugsy. Does this match the information that you had the idea of the information that you had? I guess.
[00:49:08] Speaker A: Well, I guess a secret planet would certainly be interesting.
I don't, off the top of my head, can't think of what that has to do with the mechanos or Wayland Yutani. But suppose we'll find out when we're closer.
[00:49:30] Speaker F: I suppose so.
While we're flying that direction, without announcing it, I would like to add the planet to the charts.
[00:49:42] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:49:45] Speaker F: Even if it's a separate chart, like, maybe just like a chart only for the ship or something, but something that, where it's like, we can catalog this.
[00:49:54] Speaker A: Yeah, I would say that's easy enough for you to do.
Are you going to name it?
[00:50:06] Speaker F: No, because I'm terrible at naming things. Okay, I guess we should name it after the ship that we're trying to save or look at for. Yeah, let's do that. That's what he's going to name it.
[00:50:20] Speaker A: That's going on my notes. It's going on my notes.
Okay, great.
Secret planet is now named a mechanode.
[00:50:36] Speaker F: I know it's not on the charts, but in terms of radar and whatever other scanning stuff, we're still able to.
Everything's showing up the way it's supposed to show up.
Any obstacles in space are showing up the way they're supposed to. None of that is wrong.
[00:50:54] Speaker A: Yes. And no other things. Yes. The planet. Not on the computer screen at all. It is not registering.
[00:51:05] Speaker F: And then. Sorry, last question. Are we flying into the planet?
[00:51:09] Speaker A: Not into it. But you do seem to be on trajectory.
If not directly on it, then within orbit of it.
[00:51:18] Speaker F: Okay.
All right, well, I'll just let everybody know.
Hey, everybody, in, like, 45 minutes, we're going to have to buckle up, because I won't be able to fly with the instruments. So the eyesight only. You'll probably want to be in a seat.
[00:51:38] Speaker A: Bugsley just kind of claps you on the shoulder in a trusting kind of way.
[00:51:47] Speaker G: Dan whispers to Caroline, is that normal?
[00:51:53] Speaker E: No.
Just make sure you have all the seatbelts on, please.
[00:51:59] Speaker G: Yeah, I know how to buckle a seatbelt.
It seems weird that we'd be landing without instruments.
[00:52:09] Speaker E: Yeah, no, you were 100% correct. Maybe even against protocol.
Who could say?
[00:52:17] Speaker G: Oh, you could say, hey, listen.
[00:52:25] Speaker F: I'm.
[00:52:25] Speaker G: Not a safety inspector, all right? And if I see some safety violations, it's technically not my job to report.
So as long as everybody comes out in one piece, it's okay.
[00:52:44] Speaker E: Oh, Daniel, you're so fun. I'm going to go see what's going on, though. You just don't get in trouble. Yeah, don't get in trouble.
[00:52:54] Speaker G: How would I get in trouble?
[00:52:57] Speaker E: Caroline has walked out the room, I think. Yeah, Caroline would like to go to.
Does she have access to the pilot's deck or the cockpit or whatever? The bridge?
[00:53:12] Speaker A: I think at the moment, since there's people in it, you can walk in pretty easily. Like, the door isn't locked.
[00:53:18] Speaker E: Yeah, I think Caroline will just basically head straight there. He's like, question, why are you going sight only for this landing? That's, like, definitely pretty whack. Right?
[00:53:33] Speaker F: Well, this planet is given our sensors some trouble, and so in order for us to be able to land safely, I got to be able to do this on my own, with my own eyesight and my own ability to pilot, which happened to be very good at. So it's not meant to worry you or anybody else on the ship. This is just keeping your safety in mind, because without those systems, I have less time to see what's coming, and so I have to react as they come.
[00:54:16] Speaker E: What planet exactly are we landing like? Look, I know I'm the stranger here. I'm just like, hired gun. I don't know a lot. I think I'd like to know a little bit more now.
[00:54:31] Speaker F: Well, this planet is called the. What is it? The Amekinos.
[00:54:37] Speaker A: The Amekanos? Yeah. That's what you named it?
[00:54:40] Speaker F: Yeah, this planet is called the Amekinos.
[00:54:44] Speaker A: I think Bugsley gives you, like, a side eye at that, but does not say anything.
[00:54:49] Speaker E: All right, and what are we looking for?
Because if things are not working, this has shitty written all over it.
[00:55:05] Speaker F: Yeah, I'm sorry, what is your role here?
[00:55:10] Speaker E: I am the bodyguard. Yes, I know.
[00:55:13] Speaker F: I just need you to understand that the things that we do, the three of us that are here in this cockpit before you arrived, this is it. We understand our jobs. We know what we're doing.
The company pays for us to do our jobs, and so I think it would be in everybody's best interest if we were able to do them without question. Now, I don't mean to be rude, but as we approach this thing, I do need to concentrate. So please go make sure Daniel is secure in some seat. And no offense to you at all, but we got to make this work the best we can with the tools that we have, including us flying this plane.
[00:56:04] Speaker E: No, I didn't think everyone would be so gun ho about this. Fine, I'll go. Don't worry. I want to file an HR complaint, then they're going to leave you alone for now.
[00:56:17] Speaker F: Hank is going to type in an HR complaint to file away for later.
He's just going to draft it and then put it away in a file that's so funny.
[00:56:35] Speaker A: Yeah, I think the last, like, 30 minutes or so pass fairly uneventfully.
And then you come up on the coordinates that Bugsley got from mysterious hollow. One message, and you find that they stop at a point where this big white and blue planet is taking up the entire left side view. Coal, probably.
And you've already noticed this, that it's not on the computer screen at all, but it's really weird up close, and it's still not on the computer in any way. It's not pinging anything. Anything that should be pinging, not pinging.
Which is, honestly a miracle that you didn't fly into it, considering the computer didn't know it was there in the first place. But then, directly in front of you, another computer anomaly. A space station on the smaller side. And without so much as a name scrawled on the exterior, a completely dark space station, except for one single light coming through a window near the top. Dimming and brightening and dimming and brightening.
And this station is sitting at the exact point of those coordinates.
[00:58:05] Speaker F: I think tank's going to look to Bugsley and say, that's our destination.
[00:58:15] Speaker A: Bugsley, like, squints at it real hard and then says, well, that's different.
[00:58:26] Speaker F: Yeah, well, unfortunately, everything that we're reading off of this is showing up.
Um, but if this is where we need to go to find out what happened to Captain Lee, then I'll land us there if you want me to.
[00:58:45] Speaker A: Let me call the crew real fast.
Buckley makes an announcement over the loudspeaker.
That's just crew. Can you report to the cockpit, please? Just crew only crew.
Thank you.
[00:59:03] Speaker E: That's not us.
[00:59:08] Speaker G: That seems a little exclusionary.
We're also here on this mission, so right now, we're crew.
[00:59:17] Speaker E: Right? Caroline is, like, filing her nails and just like. You're so right.
Should we do about.
[00:59:29] Speaker G: I. You know what? As far as the manifest for this mission is concerned, I'm crew. I'm going to go to the cockpit.
[00:59:40] Speaker E: Is Caroline going to go sees Daniel? And thinking about it, and just.
[00:59:48] Speaker A: Her.
[00:59:49] Speaker E: Smile just suddenly drops, just like, all right, fine. If you're going, I'll go with you.
[00:59:56] Speaker A: I think by the time you get to the cockpit, the other ones are like, the other crew members are already in the middle of the discussion. And then you walk in, and Bugsley's face is just, like, real annoyed. But you see them kind of file something away, and they don't stop you from joining.
And they even give a little recap, which is, so, salvage job is this station over here.
As you all can see, it is of unknown status, which is to say, we're not entirely sure what's over there or who's over there, if anything's over there, other than salvage for traditional safety measures, some of you are new. We usually send about half the crew over to do a little reconnaissance and then send over whoever is necessary to get the job done.
Given the nature of it, I'll ask volunteers. Or we can draw for it.
[01:01:05] Speaker F: Yeah, I think just, like, given what's going on, I think tank can see the need of why we're here and trying to retrieve everything. And so I think tank is going to volunteer to go. I think it would make sense to go, Daniel, not to take away your bodyguard, but having somebody else who can handle themselves if we need to, that would be a good idea.
Offering up to bring Caroline.
Sorry, I thought it was crew.
Well, you walked into the room, so what did you think?
[01:01:46] Speaker E: Well, Daniel walked into the room, and I'm protecting Daniel.
[01:01:52] Speaker F: Which brings us back to the thing.
[01:01:54] Speaker G: It sounds like your skills would be useful here.
And is this even a Waylon Yutani? Satellite.
[01:02:07] Speaker A: Intel says. Yeah, actually says without any clue whatsoever.
[01:02:14] Speaker E: Caroline, like, rolls her eyes and just like.
All right, yes, I understand.
I'll go with you. I could definitely take care of myself.
I could help take care of you as well.
[01:02:31] Speaker F: And I think it would be good if either Benson or Marin came along, just because if we can get the ship or station the satellite back up and running, that would be helpful to have power and get sensors and all that stuff.
[01:02:49] Speaker A: Martin is very excited to go.
He is vibrating in place. He has not had any coffee yet, but you would never guess he has that energized vibe of someone who started their day with three espresso shots and is already thinking it's following it up with a red bull.
[01:03:14] Speaker F: You and me both, Martin.
Yeah. Okay. Yeah, so I think, yeah, tank kind of makes sure. Well, I stopped the land, but just like. All right, well, if we're taking count, then that puts us at three, right? Myself, Caroline, and Martin.
[01:03:37] Speaker A: I hope Bugsley looks at you, Daniel, and says, you know, we've got the extra space suit. Consider it job shadow opportunity.
[01:03:50] Speaker G: I know my way around a comtech.
I did say I would make myself useful.
[01:03:56] Speaker A: So this is that weight that needs pulled.
[01:04:01] Speaker F: Sure.
[01:04:01] Speaker G: I'll go along as well.
[01:04:05] Speaker E: Airline was upset.
[01:04:07] Speaker A: All right, rest of you know the drill. Go over, scope it out. Any problems, come straight back.
[01:04:16] Speaker F: Hell, yeah.
[01:04:17] Speaker A: Think mine is up.
[01:04:20] Speaker F: So I have a talent called full throttle. Okay, that if I have to roll to decelerate, I get a plus two. I don't know if would this be a situation that counts?
[01:04:32] Speaker A: You would have to decelerate so that you can line up the two airlocks of the space station and the, what's called the wrong ship and the Hera.
Old habits, man.
And then you have to get them into linked orbits around the planet so that you can extend the umbilical between the two of them and have that be a steady connection that won't tear out halfway through. So it takes a lot of skill. So by all means, give me that role, and you can add your plus two.
[01:05:07] Speaker F: Okay, so how does that work?
[01:05:09] Speaker A: So, if you right click on piloting, it'll let you add a modifier, and you can add your two. That way, just make sure you don't add 20.
I see 20 dice running across the screen.
[01:05:27] Speaker F: It's still going to be a lot. I'm very good at this. Yeah. Three successes.
[01:05:32] Speaker A: Stunt at a stunt in time.
The little mechanical icon next to your skill, if you click on it'll tell you all your stunts you can have, and you get one stunt per extra success. So you rolled three successes. You only needed one. The rest of them are stunts.
[01:05:52] Speaker F: Gain a plus one modification to a later school role. So a later piloting role.
[01:05:57] Speaker A: So a later piloting role, you'll get a plus one. You have to remember that, because I never will. And then you also get to show off.
[01:06:04] Speaker F: Plus one, two piloting.
Yeah. I think especially, like, having Caroline question whether or not it would be safe for me to be able to fly the ship in and land.
There's very much like we kind of come in, and I think the satellite just gets bigger and bigger and bigger, faster than people who aren't pilots are comfortable with. And then we decelerate. And as we decelerate, I'm assuming that the ship follows the same rules as the Expanse. So just bear with me where it's like we have these little air throttles that kind of float us in the direction we need to go. And so as the satellite is slowly rotating in space, we're rotating with it and kind of land as both vessels are moving.
And it's smooth.
[01:07:04] Speaker A: Yeah. You get locked on right on with the same trajectory of the station, and line up the airlocks perfectly. The umbilical extends out like a dream, hooks across the other side, and now all that remains is for those who want to go, is to suit up and get across.
[01:07:30] Speaker F: Yeah.
I think as we're like everybody after we land, and everybody's getting ready to leave. I'm going to pull Carolina aside real quick and let the other two walk on by.
I just wanted to apologize.
[01:07:50] Speaker E: You're totally fine. Look, I don't like Wayland Yutani. I think y'all being so gung fu ho for them is a little silly. But it's your job. It's good to be proud of your job.
[01:08:04] Speaker F: Oh, you misunderstand. I'm apologizing for the fact that you have to work with Daniel.
[01:08:09] Speaker E: They, like, put their hand over their chest.
[01:08:12] Speaker F: Thank you.
It's so hard.
I can tell.
But at least he's got you to keep him alive.
[01:08:26] Speaker E: At least I need to make sure they don't go walking to any carnivorous plants.
[01:08:33] Speaker F: Just don't do your job too good. And then claps you on the shoulder and walks out with, like, a very soft chuckle.
[01:08:42] Speaker E: Yeah.
[01:08:43] Speaker F: And takes him. Go get suited.
[01:08:45] Speaker G: Yeah.
[01:08:47] Speaker A: The four of you suit up.
Daniel and Caroline and Tank and Martin Estrada.
And you wait for the airlock to do its thing. You cross through the umbilical. And as you gaze at the dark door on the other side, with the rest of the crew focused on your walk and not really paying attention to anything else, I don't think anyone really notices the shadow that darts past the only light at the top of the station.
It's a little early, but I think we'll end this episode here.
So thank you for joining us here in the cold of space. Remember, no fact in the universe will make it. Love you. I have been your game mother. And we have been goblets. And gaze adjacent with the incredible Michelle Jones and Navarro. Joining myself and dusty, you can find us at godless and gaze all across the Internet, including Twitch, Navarro. Michelle, where can we find you?
[01:09:54] Speaker F: Mimi, please go first.
[01:09:57] Speaker G: Okay.
Most places I want to be found. I am Alesha kills. That is A-L-E-S-H-A-K-I-L-L-S.
Except for on the terrible website that used to be called Twitter.
[01:10:14] Speaker F: And you can find me at Navar S p. That's N-A-V-A-A-R-S-N-P on Twitter and blue sky. And the SNP stands for seeking her podcast, which has been sleeping for all of this year. But it's going to wake up something fierce.
So pay attention, secret nrd social. And be excited.
Yeah, that's it for me.
[01:10:42] Speaker A: Keep an eye on the vents. You never know what's lurking in them. Say goodbye, Eric crew.
[01:10:48] Speaker E: Bye bye.
[01:10:50] Speaker F: Bye.
[01:10:52] Speaker A: You don't own me.
May I, may I, may I, may I, may I, may go home close.
