We're All in this Together, Right?

April 7, 2005

Dick: The transbot slides quietly and swiftly to cruising speed. Scene begins. Everyone have 15 Perversity points.
Condi: Before things get exciting, what's the layout like? How many cars are there and what is in each one?
Dick: There are six cars. The front car is the engine. The second car is the sleeper car for the technicians, complete with a small hygiene chamber. The third car is a dining and living area. The fourth car is the sleeper car for the Troubleshooter team, also with a hygiene chamber. The fifth car is the cargo car for the humanitarian aid. The caboose is the cargo car for the nuclear reactor equipment.
Samuel: How much time do we have before we reach the station where the technicians are waiting for us?
Dick: That information is not available at your...
Samuel: Gotcha. "I am going to examine the bots for any signs of sabotage in the engine car."
George: "I'll go check to make sure the humanitarian cargo is secure."
Tom: "I'm going to examine the technicians' sleeper car for any signs of illegal surveillance devices or other sabotage."
Condi: "I'm going to check the food preparation facilities for any signs of toxic substances that might make a traitors' efforts to eliminate us easier."
John: "I'll examine the caboose for any signs of treason there."
Alberto: "Shouldn't you be examining the hygiene chamber?"
John: "Did you just say you needed a PHT, citizen?"
Alberto: "I suppose the security of the cargo is more important than the hygiene facilities, at the moment."
Donald scribbles some notes.
Alberto (ooc): Dammit. I did not just say...
Donald: Is that in character?
Alberto: No. Of course not.
Donald: Then I'd stop talking, if I were you. I might get confused...
Alberto: "So important, in fact, that I'm going with you."
John: "Excellent idea, Alberto-R."
Donald: "I will examine all potential points of entry into the transbot, starting with our sleeper car.
Alberto scribbles some notes. Donald rolls his eyes.
Dick: Okay, now that we've established what everyone thinks you're doing, you can pass those notes telling me what you're actually doing...
Seven notes slide across the table to Dick.
Samuel's note: Checking each bot's Asimov circuit. Are they all intact? Bot maint and programming are both 14.
Dick rolls 20, 10, 2, 12, 7, 14, 7, 9, 5, and 20.
Dick passes a note to Samuel: All the docbots seem perfectly fine. One of the jackobots has a defective circuit, though.
Samuel passes a note to Dick: Removing all the purely cosmetic parts from the bots. The jackobot with the goofy circuit gets turned off completely.
Dick: Have a Perversity point, Samuel.
George's note: Once no one is around, I'm going to inspect more of the humanitarian cargo.
Dick passes a note to George: You quickly get the impression that the only containers that actually have the advertised goods are the ones Peter-O's underlings opened for your initial inspection. There is some interesting stuff in the ones you open. You find three crates of semiautomatic slugthrowers and clips. One barrel is filled with cone rifle shells of various types. Another is packed tight with Laser rifle bodies. A third is filled with grenades. You also find a crate filled with explosives. One of the crates marked "jumpsuits" is actually filled with kevlar vests.
George (ooc): Well, *this* is certainly an interesting flavor of Hot Fun...
George passes a note to Dick: Pocketing a couple of the grenades and then closing all the containers.
Dick passes a note to George: What's your Sneaking/Stealth?
George passes a note to Dick: 10
Dick secretly rolls a 10.
Dick passes a note to George: You manage to close the last of the crates just as Donald-R arrives to check the entry points on the cargo car. You're certain he suspects nothing.
Tom's note to Dick: Using the film-fogger, eliminating any surveillance devices, and then bugging the hell out of the sleeper car. Surveillance 14.
Dick secretly checks against the Tension level of 4 and rolls a 2. He rolls the surveillance checks - 5 and 13. He makes several notes.
Dick passes a note to Tom: You install the bugs and cameras. Write a treason code 10 on your character sheet. What's your Sneaking?
Tom passes a note to Dick: 14.
Dick secretly rolls a 6.
Dick passes a note to Tom: You shut down the fogger just before Donald-R arrives to check the entry points on the transbot. You're certain he suspects nothing. Have a Perversity point.
Condi's note to Dick: I'm actually doing exactly what I claimed. I could spike the food with drugs, but as happiness officer, I don't need to. I'll spend Perversity if you look shocked and horrified, respond with a long note, and laugh at the response I give. Name your price.
Dick looks shocked and horrified, writes a long response, and passes the note back to Condi: 1 Perversity. 2, and I'll throw the treason code in for free and forget to keep it between just you and me.
Condi smirks, scribbles a response, and hands the note back to Dick: Do it.
Dick (laughing helplessly): And write a treason code 12 on your character sheet, too.
Condi (ooc): And *this* is an interesting variety of Cold Fun...
Alberto's note to Dick: Just watching John-R very carefully. He looks like he'll be an excellent scapegoat.
John's note to Dick: I'm silently and subtlety looking for good places to detonate explosives to produce the most brilliant light show.
Dick passes a note to both of them: The door to the caboose is clearly marked ORANGE Clearance Area. The space between the cars is connected by a single coupling, though a piece of black cloth prevents you from seeing outside of the transbot. There is a lever on each side of the coupling. What is your Hardware/Vehicle Ops?
John passes a note to Dick: 14
Alberto passes a note to Dick: 4
Dick rolls a 19 and a 6.
Dick passes a note to John: The levers are an emergency braking system. If you pull both levers at the same time, the transbot will stop as quickly as possible.
Dick passes a note to Alberto: The levers activate an experimental energy field that will protect the transbot car from lasers and heat in the event of an attack.
Dick (to Alberto and John): Either of you opening the door or pulling the levers?
John and Alberto (in unison): No!
Donald's note to Dick: I'm making a written note of the entrances where other people can slip in and a mental note of all the holes through which I could slip out with my mutation. I am also finding and examining as many of the surveillance devices as I can. I want to identify their blind spots. Security Systems 6, Surveillance is 10.
Dick passes a note to Donald: The security clearance of the caboose is ORANGE. Do you want to go inside?
Donald passes a note to Dick: Not now, no.
Dick secretly rolls for entrances and exits - 3 (engine), 6 (technician sleeper), 14 (common area(, 3 (Troubleshooter sleeper), and 10 (humanitarian cargo car).
Dick secretly rolls for surveillance - 4 (engine), 1 (technician sleeper), 16 (common area), 13 (Troubleshooter sleeper), and 4 (humanitarian cargo car).
Dick passes a note to Donald: You identify it all. Your teammates are be suspiciously unsuspicious.
Donald passes a note to Donald: I take some time out to make notes in my Loyalty Notepad.
Dick: Eventually, you all return to the common area.
Samuel: I come out with the bots in tow, one of which is deactivated and being carried by the others (all of which appear to have had the aesthetic parts excised). "I have uncovered Commie mutant sabotage. This jackobot's Asimov circuit has been deactivated."
George: "Excellent work, Samuel-R. I guess we will have to replace it when we get to the transbot station. I'm sure Tech Services will have a spare on hand. What have you others found?"
Alberto: "John-R and I were not able to inspect the reactor-related cargo, as the car exceeds our security clearance."
George: "Condi-R?"
Condi (to the tune of "Food Glorious Food"): "Fun - both Hot and Cold - all wait for our stomachs. It's all perfectly safe. No drugs were detected."
George: "Good. Tom-R?"
Tom: "No unauthorized surveillance devices, as far as I can tell. There was some brief electronic interference that interfered with my multicorder's recording function, however, but it disappeared before I could isolate its source. We'll have to be on the lookout for it in the future. I want nothing to interfere with the mission record."
George: "We must be on our guard. There are likely several varieties of traitor who want our mission to fail, and I suspect some would love to frame us for any treason they commit. Donald-R?"
Donald (shouting): "All exits and entrances have been duly noted, sir! I have sent a full text report to each of your PDCs."
George: "Excellent. I've confirmed that the humanitarian cargo is securely fastened. So far, I am inspired by how well we work together as a team."
Dick: At that moment, the transbot slows down as it approaches the station.
John: I check my schedule.
Dick: It looks like you depart this station in thirty minutes.
John: As soon as we arrive, I'm demanding a PHT of everyone on the team plus all the technicians.
Samuel: And I'm going to declare an RSI of the same. I trust NPCs even less than I trust PCs. At least PCs have some sense of self-preservation.
Condi (ooc): Have you been playing in the same group as the rest of us, Samuel?
Samuel (ooc): Yes, and that still provides some comfort. I'm at least reasonably sure that none of you is wearing an explosive suicide vest.
Dick whistles innocently.
Samuel (ooc): Dammit, people! Can't we have just one game without multiple TPKs?
Donald (ooc): The CIA tells me that the caboose is almost certainly loaded with WMDs, including the materials for building nuclear weapons.
Condi (ooc): But no one believes them, anymore, right?
George (ooc): Let's not dismiss the possibility out of hand. We have the choice of either believing the CIA or trusting the word of a madman, here.
Dick (ooc): I refuse to confirm or deny your accusations.
John (ooc): Yeah, but making half the cargo cars ORANGE clearance doesn't exactly make it easy for us to perform the necessary inspections, does it?
Dick: I'm not stopping you from inspecting the cargo. Besides, if there are WMDs on board, it's your team leader's fault for not inspecting the cargo thoroughly, John-R's fault for being late in the first place, everyone else's fault for dicking around with Jim-R instead of watching George-R to make sure he doesn't get you hosed, and everyone's fault for messing with your secret societies instead of going straight to the PLC warehouse. I'm just the GM. I'm on *your* side, remember?
Everyone in unison: I hate you.
Dick grins and reaches for his dice.
Everyone in a singsong voice: We looove you, Dick...
Dick (setting down the dice): That's better.

GM - Vice President Cheney
Alberto-R-GZS-1 (Alberto) - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales
Condi-R-ICE-1 (Condi) - Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice
Donald-R-UMI-1 (Donald) - Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
George-R-BSH-1 (George) - President George W. Bush
John-R-SNO-1 (John) - Secretary of Treasury John Snow
Samuel-R-BMN-1 (Samuel) - Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman
Tom-R-IDG-1 (Tom) - Former Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge