rolled 17, 2, 18, 15, 8, 1, 13, 19, 1, 3, 8, 7, 20, 7, 4, 14, 9, 10, 5, 19 = 200

---

>>1116090
Natalina doesn't begrudge the good woman her reaction, they were fishing in her home, a share of the catch is only fair! And not braving below freezing temperatures with wet hair was the correct decision. Reiko caught a cold without even entering the water, despite the heat belt!

>>1116267
>During her most elaborate attempt yet, Nat emerges into an unused closet in the aeon priest's clave to find Paprika already waiting for her in the cramped space. "I like this game. Did you already have a plan for what we'd do alone in the dark tiny closet together?"
"Paprika!" Natalina answers in a scandalized whisper, verging on giggles. "What did you even say to explain needing to hide in here?"

>>1116398
>One of those distant scrap piles has tipped over, punctured a window, and air is slowly but visibly leaking out.
Oh... ancestors. That's not good at all, is it?

Natalina quickly moves to investigate. Two level of Speed Effort on traversing the unstable scrap safely, training in perception (and assessing flaws!) to examine the damage, with Understanding applied.

>>1116403
>Natalina quickly moves to investigate. Two level of Speed Effort on traversing the unstable scrap safely,
>rolled 17
No sweat, hopping and flickering from one small stable platform to the next.
>training in perception (and assessing flaws!) to examine the damage, with Understanding applied.
The windowpane seems to already be healing itself, it's just stuck because one girder in particular is porous, like sponge or bird bone. Just need to pull that one back out of the way, or push it the rest of the way through... It'd be a lot easier and safer to move a little stuck pipe like that if you had firm footing, and more space to maneuver. There's a solid, wide-open platform right there, in plain view, less than two steps away.
>rolled 2
Nat hesitates, a heartbeat before starting to phase through the window. Better leverage wouldn't be enough to compensate for lack of anything to breathe.
>rolled 18, 15
Given that the material is self-repairing, that spiderweb pattern is probably some equivalent of scar tissue, stronger than the transparent parts, rather than weakened fractures as it would be in inert glass. Might be as simple as bracing boots against the window and putting your back into it? Or could rig up a block and tackle, to be extra slow and careful. If this pile got tipped over during the fight, it's been leaking continuously for almost a week, so you can probably spare a few more hours.

rolled 9, 6, 10, 4, 6, 19, 17, 18, 8, 6, 20, 20, 1, 1, 15, 8, 4, 7, 4, 2 = 185

---

"Hmm."

Reiko looks around, comparing her Gravity Changer plates to any of the nearby apparatus. There might be some kind of immediate transport between the two gravity-based zones, potentially the kinetic kind.

Also, Reiko casually looks for iotum in the direction of the Dig Site. [Scan For Iotum, Effort 1]

rolled 20, 6, 8, 16, 4, 11, 20, 1, 2, 2, 3, 2, 16, 14, 7, 16, 11, 13, 1, 11 = 184

---

>>1116403
>"Paprika!" Natalina answers in a scandalized whisper, verging on giggles. "What did you even say to explain needing to hide in here?"
"UGH, priest's had his nose buried in his books the whole time I've been here. Saw you coming, told him I had to take my clothes off, he just nodded, so I left and wandered til I found the room you looked like you were headed for."

>>1116400
Paprika's reshaped her brilliance cloth into a rubbery skin-tight suit. Covers wrist to ankle, with a belt and a little skirt that hugs her thighs, boots and gloves to complete the look. Space outfit! She's attached her new diamond-shaped lightning mourn patch just above her left breast.

Paprika will stick with Nat, maybe give her a hand moving that girder.

"Ensign Prika reporting for duty! Can we explore the space ship first?"

rolled 12, 14, 3, 2, 9, 19, 18, 9, 16, 7, 2, 12, 15, 20, 2, 11, 6, 16, 16, 4 = 213

---

Cricket is awestruck. Not really sure what to do with herself. The whole ride up she was second guessing, feeling like an unwanted add-on, a chore being brought along out of some sense of unearned pity. Now that she's actually up here... she just sits, and waits, and watches. When she's able to scrape her jaw off the cloor a bit, she starts trying to gather some of the fallen supplies and make camp. Part of her wants to investigate the millipede, but she's honestly afraid to even look at it, lest she accidentally messes something up and ruins the whole trip.

For now, just stay quiet, small, and out of the way. Be useful and unobtrusive, and don't mess anything up.

rolled 2, 7, 18, 5, 3, 19, 17, 4, 7, 13, 13, 16, 12, 3, 1, 16, 10, 6, 15, 2 = 189

---

>>1116405
>Nat hesitates, a heartbeat before starting to phase through the window. Better leverage wouldn't be enough to compensate for lack of anything to breathe.
Now that she can walk though walls, Natalina really needs to work on making that kind of instinct habitual.

>Or could rig up a block and tackle, to be extra slow and careful.
Extracting the girder quicklymight be problematic if the window-healing is slow... and the sudden change in pressure or airflow might cause the rubble-piles to shift or fall, which might make standing nearby unwise. Using rope to extract it from further away would be prudent.

Applying Understanding, Learned, a level of Intellect Effort, possibly borrowing Reiko's book on Crafting, and cooperating with Paprika.

>>1116412
No active artificial gravity anywhere inside, far as you can tell. It's working entirely by centrifugal force - like swinging a rock on the end of a long string.

Lot of good potential salvage in all those piles of scrap, though, particularly the terapede.

>>1116435
>investigate the millipede,
>just stay quiet, small, and out of the way.
>rolled 12
Turns out the terapede's interior has been almost entirely hollowed out - it's spacious enough to walk around in there.
>rolled 14
Someone else, similarly shy, apparently also thought it would be a good hiding space. They whisper something about being lost and hungry, but they don't...
>trained in perception
...have an...
>trained in detecting falsehoods, piercing illusions or disguises, and seeing past facades.
...actual face, as such, under those shadows and rags.
>rolled 3
Even without the benefit of surprise, sluggish ambush predator stretches bonelessly and bites a chunk out of her forearm. Six damage, reduced to five by armor. Now it's about 25% larger, and has the shape of Cricket's face - her entire body above the waist, actually, clothes and all.


>>1116267
>aeon priest is still examining the anhedon head
>Any new info?
The head's clamped to a workbench, holes drilled in at several points and copper probes inserted. Apparently those red beams can distinguish trace chemicals, instantly and nondestructively, with incredible detail and nuance, so he's running through a long backlog of oddities and contaminated samples to see what the new data can reveal.

Speaking of contaminated samples, doppel-Reiko's saliva, urine, and even blood contain virtually no water, and the aeon priest suspects that drinking any significant quantity of pure water would be very bad for her health. Conversely, the opalescent cobalt-blue antifreeze her alien organic chemistry IS using as a solvent has well-studied ill effects on the human nervous system - mostly temporary, assuming you survive the seizures, but not something anyone made of normal meat should be casually messing around with. Fortunately there's an abundant local supply, provided she doesn't mind using a hazardous waste dump as an oasis.

>>1116440
>Using rope to extract it from further away would be prudent.
>Applying Understanding, Learned, a level of Intellect Effort, possibly borrowing Reiko's book on Crafting, and cooperating with Paprika.
>rolled 2, 7
Incredibly frustrating to limit herself to moving slowly enough to stay in Euclidean space, while under an audible time limit. Knots keep clipping through themselves due to some hasty gesture and needing to be re-done. Attachment points on irregular pieces of metal have to be chosen with exquisite care, to both balance the center of mass, and avoid ropes abrading on sharp edges. Worst of all, those "how to move heavy things" diagrams in the book almost all assume some stable fixed point to start from, but the entire indoor portion of Zone Ivory doesn't seem to have a single load-bearing pillar!
>>1116414
>Paprika will stick with Nat, maybe give her a hand moving that girder.
>rolled 20
There's a second door in the ceiling, just like the one you arrived through, but wedged open with another piece of debris: a wrist-thick iron bar about four meters long with a small mangled gear at the midpoint, broad flanges on both ends with elaborately textured black synth padding around the rims. similar to https://flakypastry.runningwithpencils.com/comic.php?strip_id=971 or a pugil-stick https://www.schlockmercenary.com/2003-05-11 sized for a giant Adequate anchor-point for the comealong to clear the punctured window. Once it's pulled out, window seals up and cuts off the jet of twinkling crystals where air was escaping into the void, and the disembodied greeter-voice returns.

Normalisation de la pression barométrique. Libération du confinement d'urgence.

Second elevator door swings wide, padded axle drops out like a cigar from the mouth of someone gone slackjawed in shock.

Le blocage de la porte a été éliminé.

...which apparently means "both sides of the Beanstalk are now open for business."
Another 1 xp for everybody, and the more flexible transit timing means Zone Ivory is now within range of diplomatic downtime actions from Jackson's Launch.

rolled 3, 9, 14, 18, 16, 18, 12, 4, 10, 16, 7, 12, 19, 7, 6, 12, 9, 5, 11, 3 = 211

---

>"both sides of the Beanstalk are now open for business."
Now somehow even more sunshiney after that win, Paprika bounces back across the room. What do the south and east paths look like?

rolled 3, 15, 9, 10, 10, 15, 20, 17, 6, 9, 10, 19, 10, 11, 17, 20, 14, 13, 2, 14 = 244

---

Reiko spends a little time salvaging bits and pieces across the station, casually making her way up to the terapede once Cricket calls out and confirms the metal beast is a 'desert skeleton'.
[Salvage Numenera, Effort 2]

Unfortunately, it takes her a while to realize that Cricket is screaming her head off. Rushing to the terapede, Reiko takes one look at Cricket's mangled arm and the blood-jawed Cricket doppelganger, and promptly shoots at the exoskeleton of the terapede, intending to cave the skeleton upon the enemy doppelganger to subdue them without killing them outright; maybe Cricket can get a cute body double of her own - or maybe she'd like to get revenge personally. [Iotum Beam, Effort 2]

rolled 2, 8, 8, 8, 2, 5, 16, 12, 18, 16, 3, 16, 16, 8, 13, 6, 17, 17, 13, 4 = 208

---

>>1116469
>doppel-Reiko
Does this mean the alternate was conscious and well, conversing, before we headed up the beanstalk? It would be interesting to know if she came from a similar situation. Though given respective supernormal abilities, Natalina is at least a little surprised that if any of them were to stumble across an alternative self, it wasn't her.

>has the shape of Cricket's face - her entire body above the waist, actually, clothes and all.
...surely you can't jinx things by thinking about about them.

To avoid a classic dilemma, applying training in perception, detecting minor differences, and detecting flaws (in the works of shapeshifting mimics) to differentiating Cricket and the ambush predator. Zipping over to Cricket with phase sprint and pulling her back, assuming a defensive posture (trained in speed defense, one level of speed Effort), mainly against further attacks by the ambush predator, but also to reduce the risk of mistaken friendly fire.

rolled 9, 5, 11, 2, 18, 20, 14, 20, 13, 5, 1, 3, 13, 16, 8, 18, 13, 2, 7, 19 = 217

---

>>1116469
Cricket, cursing herself for exploring the millipede when she knew better, attempts to lash out with a poisoned arm blade (debilitating poison applied right before reaching the top of the elevator, just in case) and then uses fleet of foot to dart away backwards as part of the same action. I'll apply a level of whatever effort is appropriate for attacking (speed? might?)

>>1116502
Zone Ivory - East has a majestic staircase leading up to a landing with a reception desk, then those stairs split and curve back around, hugging the windows. It's the main route up (for centrifugal values of "up" which are actually closer to the planet's surface) to Zone Jaune, a fancy restaurant / lounge under a dome for viewing the night sky unobstructed. The earth hangs directly overhead, appearing 80 to 85 times wider than a full moon.

Zone Ivory - South has the tallest piles of scrap, and is where you got banished to another dimension at the end of your previous sightseeing visit. That rift is long since closed, but there's some sort of active energy source...
>rolled 3
...which you can't quite identify, apart from being fairly sure it wasn't there (or at least wasn't active yet) last week.
>>1116562
>rolled 2, 8, 8, 8, 2, 5, 16
Nat circles back through the south side to check out that anomaly, but ends up getting turned around and lost, only finding her way out in response to Cricket's distress call.

>>1116514
Reiko rips an entire leg off the terapede husk, harvesting five units of parts and one of Azure Steel in the course of expediting Cricket's escape.

>>1116591
Cricket is treated to the unsettling sight of a mockery of her own face melting away into shimmering, sickly rainbows as the poison takes effect, then splitting into multiple independent slug-like portions. She sprints to the opposite end of the hollowed-out interior space in five seconds flat, but isn't effectively pursued; by the time she and Reiko return to observe the site of the attack, those little mimetic monsters have either retreated into inaccessible crevices, or found something else to disguise themselves as.

rolled 8, 2, 4, 12, 13, 18, 11, 3, 15, 20, 15, 9, 12, 11, 4, 20, 8, 17, 15, 9 = 226

---

>>1116469
>Paprika's reshaped her brilliance cloth into a rubbery skin-tight suit. Covers wrist to ankle, with a belt and a little skirt that hugs her thighs, boots and gloves to complete the look. Space outfit! She's attached her new diamond-shaped lightning mourn patch just above her left breast.
Natalina's outfit is more reminiscent of her original adventuring garb, with a pillbox hat, blouse and trousers- and an ample selection of pockets for useful items not stored in her pack. The color scheme is differs though- predominantly creams and tans over a darker layer, with the occasional highlight or embellishment in blue. No longer needing to accommodate the leather jerkin acquired by the eye of the sea, she is instead adorned by a set of jewelry on her wrists and ankles comprising her otherspace anchor. The aesthetic is reminiscent of some of the mechanical life the duo encountered on their previous visit—automatons with sleek ivory shells, with colored markers, gylphs and lights. And of course, the arkus is displaying her new patch as well.

>>1116604
>only finding her way out in response to Cricket's distress call.
"Oh, you poor dear."

Natalina will pull out her first aid kit to clean and bind the bite on Cricket's arm, we certainly wouldn't want that getting infected (fortunately, with Cricket around, there's not shortage of clean water). Healing action with one asset.

>those little mimetic monsters have either retreated into inaccessible crevices, or found something else to disguise themselves as
The arkus gives the delegged terapede husk a considering look. "Well, if it can be repaired and cleaned of biting creatures, a cargo hauler could be useful."

"We might want to salvage what we can from the piles of debris now, so later we can push away what's left without worry. If we are to use this location as a base camp, we wouldn't want so many places for ambushers to hide."

> a majestic staircase leading up to a landing with a reception desk
Reception often include information for guests. Does the desk include a computer interface? If so, Natalina would like to apply her familiarity with the area's datasphere to see if it is reporting anything of interest. Local crises, damage reports, alerts, things of that nature. A map or directory? (If information is not displayed using truth or Uxphonese, willing to activate Babel).

rolled 6 + 5 = 11

---

>>1116604
>>1116608
>Natalina will pull out her first aid kit to clean and bind the bite on Cricket's arm

Cricket Moon initially jumps back, leveling a blade and dropping into a defensive stance. After some assurances that Natalina isn't a shapeshifter, she lets her examine the wound. Still flinches away from your touch instinctively, but something tells you that's not related to the mimic.
Using my first recovery roll. Can I choose to take my 10 minute roll now, and save the 1 action roll for later?

rolled 18, 16, 14, 19, 4, 1, 4, 2, 8, 7, 12, 6, 6, 18, 1, 19, 20, 10, 18, 6 = 209

---

"Nat, I left the Microhealer in the chainpod. Bring her over and healing Cricket will be easier."

If Cricket agrees, Reiko helps carry Cricket back to the chainpod, hooks the Mechanic artifact to herself and Cricket, and assists with the healing process.

Afterwards, Reiko stores the Azure Steel, and tries to invent some kind of mimic lure. If they can capture these creatures, they might be useful as a cross-reference for maintaining Doppel-Reiko's health, and they might know things about this station. [Crafting Numenera, Effort 2]

rolled 5, 6, 3, 2, 11, 12, 19, 20, 19, 16, 7, 5, 17, 9, 14, 8, 19, 19, 4, 5 = 220

---

>>1116591
>Zone Jaune
>The earth hangs directly overhead, appearing 80 to 85 times wider than a full moon.
The party hears Paprika's awestruck shriek echo throughout Zone Ivory - Central, and then she's gone. Leaping up stairs as fast as gravity will allow in order to check out Zone Jaune.

If the lounge is less cluttered, it might actually be better to set up camp here?

rolled 9, 1, 14, 10, 16, 9, 6, 3, 4, 10, 3, 12, 20, 3, 19, 11, 13, 4, 7, 18 = 192

---

Cricket awkwardly plays along as Reiko tries to take care of her, then creates a hasty, almost comedic distraction- "wait, did you hear that? What if a mimic got into the medibot and is waiting to ambush us!" then slips away while Reiko looks it over for bugs.

Seeing Paprika bound away, she hesitates- they shouldn't be splitting up, and if any of them get separated who knows if they'll show up with a stolen face... but she should really try to clear out the threats here, and help set up camp before they can regroup...

She goes after Paprika anyways. Following more closely behind than usual; hanging back in the shadows is an easy way to get stolen away without anyone realizing. Looking up at... that place hanging in the sky makes her skin crawl. All that water... it's like she can feel the moisture in her guts, in the air, like she can't get the feeling of pulling, tugging, off of her skin...
she snaps back and tries to focus on what's in front of her. Threat assessment first. Check the angles, the dark and hidden places she would scamper off to. Stay in line of sight to each other at all times. Another dose of debilitating poison on her arm blade, held at the ready just in case.

Searching the room for threats, applying a free level of intellect effort to the task.

>>1116608
>Reception often include information for guests. Does the desk include a computer interface? If so, Natalina would like to apply her familiarity with the area's datasphere to see if it is reporting anything of interest. Local crises, damage reports, alerts, things of that nature. A map or directory?
>rolled 8
Most of the interesting stuff seems to be locked away behind security barriers, or just broken, but there's a map of the facility as originally designed, and a toggleable screen which initially appeared to be surveilance cameras is actually a set of remote controls.
>rolled 2
Natalina can't figure out how to extract those controls from the desk while retaining functionality, or where the things they're controlling are located, besides one.

As for the map, apparently what's now known as the Cloud Giant's Tomb was originally three similar-sized zones, arranged like a layer cake: Zone Black for industry, Zone Ivory for docking and freight-handling, and Zone Yellow for tourists. Following the alchemical symbology, "Zone Red" would then be the remaining length of the Beanstalk. Industrial infrastructure expanded and compounded over time, so now Zone Black is classifiable as a planetoid while the other two stayed as they were.

>>1116658
>If the lounge is less cluttered, it might actually be better to set up camp here?

It's less cluttered, but not by quite as much as Paprika was hoping. Roughly half again as many chairs as there should be - none individually in incongrous spots, just crowded around tables and booths so there's not quite enough elbow room for convenient dining or server access. At least one table has a full set positioned around it normally, upright on the floor, and then another full set inverted as if for closing time.

A three meter tall Locutus-class augmech, equipped for bartending, waves hello and speaks in an oddly-modulated but recognizable version of Natalina's voice. The real Nat is operating it remotely from that desk Paprika sprinted past.

>>1116649
>hooks the Mechanic artifact to herself
>invent some kind of mimic lure
>rolled 18

Reiko unpacks the Mechanic, turns away for a moment to grab a tool needed for fully integrating it with her personal implants, then looks back to see six seemingly identical instances of the artifact in a tidy vertical stack.

rolled 6, 11, 10, 3, 3, 20, 17, 7, 20, 13, 4, 4, 16, 1, 13, 6, 3, 19, 18, 8 = 202

---

>>1116663
"Hey Nat!"

>Roughly half again as many chairs as there should be
Weird! Paprika will poke multiple chairs with her spear. If none of them grow teeth and bite her, she'll run up to the bar.

"Straight whiskey, please. And Cricket's drinks are on me tonight." Paprika waves Cricket over. "Stack up all these chairs, push em off to the side. Much easier than moving all the junk downstairs. And we get to take in the view. What do you think?"

rolled 3, 10, 2, 8, 5, 11, 12, 11, 4, 6, 8, 13, 6, 4, 15, 11, 1, 16, 12, 16 = 174

---

Luckily, Reiko Machine-Bonded to the Chainpods and the Mechanic already... but the party should try to tame the creatures before shooting them.

First things first, Reiko sends a subtle command to the Mechanic, getting a response that lets her know which of the cases is the real artifact (if any).

Then, Reiko throws out a few different cheap objects, and some extra food. Stuff that's not worth picking back up off the floor.

Finally, Reiko gets into a defensive position [Might], and waits for the mimics to de-morph and eat something in the pile. If they try to eat her, she's going to counterattack with the halberd and then direct a chainpod to bowl the mimics over.

>>1116669
>Paprika will poke multiple chairs with her spear.
>windslice spear + combat prowess for base damage 9
>rolled 6, 11, 10
Targeted chairs are either unaffected, or obliterated, depending on how much force you're putting into those pokes.
>If none of them grow teeth and bite her, she'll run up to the bar.
>rolled 3, 3
Squeezing between a pair on the way to the bar, both chairs do in fact grow teeth (1 Might damage each, after armor)...
>rolled 20
...and are swiftly dispatched.
>rolled 17
Paprika reaches the bar without further incident by hopping across tables.

>>1116673
>Reiko sends a subtle command to the Mechanic, getting a response that lets her know which of the cases is the real artifact (if any).
>rolled 3
All six respond exactly as the real one should.
>waits for the mimics to de-morph and eat something in the pile
>rolled 10
Reiko might actually be able to beat a mimetan's patience, but under the circumstances that'll probably result in sitting and staring until someone else gets involved.

rolled 14, 20, 3, 6, 20, 8, 10, 9, 19, 11, 20, 6, 11, 10, 2, 3, 10, 12, 4, 1 = 199

---

> A three meter tall Locutus-class augmech, equipped for bartending, waves hello and speaks in an oddly-modulated but recognizable version of Natalina's voice. The real Nat is operating it remotely from that desk Paprika sprinted past.
Oh, an augmech! Remote controls (especially those fixed in place) are less exciting than piloting from a cockpit, but that's still a gladdening discovery. Natalina quite enjoyed the time with Milaconi's cousin.

>"Hey Nat!"
>"Straight whiskey, please.
Caught up in the moment, and having been cooped up for days, Natalina can't resist playing along. The bar-bot curtseys in Paprika's direction. "Of course, madam. Coming right up."

Rolling to, well, provide drinks! Presumably this variant provides augmech shifts to bartending actions? Assuming the locutus can locate or provide uncontaminated, human-safe refreshment, she'll mix drinks (such a specialized model should have sensors for that kind of thing, surely?). If there's nothing useful on tap, she'll have the bar-bot offer a polite apology- catering will be delayed while the freight elevator's delivery is being unloaded.

rolled 13, 12, 7, 20, 5, 10, 2, 7, 9, 20, 19, 20, 14, 9, 16, 13, 20, 7, 5, 11 = 239

---

>>1116676
Okay, time to systematically clear the room. Cricket (hopefully with Paprika's help, so they both get a +1 on the roll) will get something long with minimal value- a pool cue from the lounge or something similar, and start testing various pieces of furniture to check for hidden bugs. 1 Level of whatever effort is appropriate. Intellect maybe? Two, if it's intellect.

rolled 14, 17, 19, 11, 3, 15, 1, 17, 8, 8, 8, 13, 1, 7, 14, 15, 19, 9, 14, 1 = 214

---

>>1116676
>Targeted chairs are either unaffected, or obliterated, depending on how much force you're putting into those pokes.
I'll go with "obliterated"

>>1116738
>hopefully with Paprika's help
"I am not doing shit until I finish my drink. Come on, sit down!"

At Cricket's insistence, Paprika takes the simpler option of activating her flame shroud and hacking away at all the furniture in the room until every chair is in at least two pieces.

rolled 20, 10, 12, 8, 14, 7, 5, 9, 5, 2, 15, 5, 10, 3, 18, 13, 10, 14, 16, 3 = 199

---

Reiko continues to wait and stare at the mimic stack, but also tries to call the party back.

Reiko attempts to communicate with the mimics in the meantime.

rolled 6, 1 = 7

---

>>1116738
>rolled 13, 12, 7, 20
>>1116739
>rolled 14, 17, 19, 11
From the stairs to the bar Cricket and Paprika clear a slightly circuitous path of chairs, tables, or any other suspicious objects. Resulting route is wide enough for chainpods, and crosses a small dance floor, but ends up needing to avoid several chest-high walls topped with potted plants, which Paprika simply jumped over on her initial traversal. Zone Jaune is mostly laid out to favor conversational privacy over rapid movement.

Rolling for how many units of mimetic gel you manage to gather over the course of those hours.

>>1116754
>Reiko attempts to communicate with the mimics in the meantime.
>rolled 20
They're not particularly smart - they can imitate the repair device's superficial syntax, and its physical shape down to details finer than a normal person's eye could see, but utterly lack the technical expertise encoded in nanoparticles of machine-phase matter. Which means they also don't quite understand what it can't do. After what amounts to a rigged game of Simon Says, the five fakes have de-stacked and slithered into the barrel of a rusty but (probably) repairable paint-mixing machine. Reiko could reconnect a few frayed wires and push a button to puree them into an additional unit of mimetic gel.

rolled 17, 18, 6, 9, 12, 1, 8, 7, 10, 6, 12, 13, 19, 17, 4, 1, 13, 14, 7, 6 = 200

---

After what feels like days of contemplation, Reiko decides to puree the mimics. They could be useful pets - if not for the threat of them eating their owners alive and replacing them for a few days to reproduce and spread out into the wild. No, not worth the risk, especially with their lack of higher thought. Hopefully none of the surviving mimics are smart enough to learn from this treachery.

Reiko grabs her artifact and the paint barrel for good measure, and follows the trail of footprints after Cricket and the lovebirds. If they get paranoid, she can just demonstrate her new 'trick'. They have a mimic-eliminating strategy now, they just have to ration it out between rooms.

rolled 5, 4, 12, 2, 1, 12, 15, 17, 17, 12, 5, 18, 4, 6, 18, 1, 7, 18, 9, 9 = 192

---

>>1116734
Natalina discovers the bar isn't stocked with whiskey per se, but does offer ethyl hydroxide, similar to the innkeeper-abbot's shelter ( >>1040931 ) along with non-perishable flavorings for mixed drinks. And the bar-bot is more than up to the task of providing refreshment to the heroic mimitan-clearers.

The arkus-driven-augmech also offers Paprika a brief dance in the cleared space; it's not often Natalina will be the taller of the pair and in a position to lead (a dance).

>the innkeeper-abbot
>Wonder if any of my monster friends can help
Does the reception area have access to internal communications? If so, Natalina could try dialing the life-shelter they visited before, check in with the proprietor. Let them know we're back in the area, inquire if Milaconi's cousin made made it back to her berth (thank them again for the loan) and see if they have any new information on the local situation to share.

>what do
Zone Ivory and Juane have a mimitan-infestation of unknown size remaining: which makes them navigable with caution, but makes the prospect of establishing a base camp (or sleeping here) more perilous. For the moment, can we close the elevator doors, to prevent mimics hiding among (or consuming!) the food supplies we brought along?

There’s still more salvage to collect in the local area, but that could be done at our convenience.

Investigating the hopefully-a-starship is mission critical, but perhaps we should examine the energy source in Zone Ivory South first? It might be someone (or something) else arrived since our last visit, or some system failed or activated.

rolled 20, 16, 8, 10, 10, 8, 14, 20, 4, 11, 5, 19, 14, 1, 16, 13, 9, 10, 13, 2 = 223

---

>>1116920
>From the stairs to the bar Cricket and Paprika clear a slightly circuitous path of chairs, tables, or any other suspicious objects.
Paprika wipes sweat from her forehead. "I think that's a good start!"

>>1117102
>refreshment to the heroic mimitan-clearers.
Paprika almost cries sipping the colorful cocktail. "It's really smooth! I haven't had a drink like this in ages. Thanks Nat."

Paprika nudges Cricket and gestures up at the Earth. "That's where I'm from! City of Needles." She points at where she thinks it should be. "And when I was nine my house burned down and I moved there, Hallux. It felt like another world at the time, but the distance looks so small from up here..." Waving her finger around in a small circle, "Then when I was about your age, I left Hallux and went to all the small towns round the city to perform. I never got as good as my mom, she was famous. But I scraped together enough to get by. Never thought I'd end up going on some grand adventure in space."

>dance in the cleared space
>not often Natalina will be the taller of the pair and in a position to lead (a dance).
Paprika jumps into the augmech's arms to be carried out onto the floor. She's very mushy about it.

>can we close the elevator doors, to prevent mimics hiding among (or consuming!) the food supplies we brought along?
Paprika will try to help ferry our food back up into the elevator, if that's the plan we end up going with.

>perhaps we should examine the energy source in Zone Ivory South first?
"I can't figure that thing out. I'm sure Cricket and Reiko will know what they're looking at. I can show you where I found it."

>>1117014
>[Reiko] follows the trail of footprints after Cricket and the lovebirds
>They have a mimic-eliminating strategy now
"Reiko you are so incredibly smart. Do you think you can get all the mimics to climb in?" Paprika gestures at the thousands of chairs in the room. "We think there's a lot of them."

rolled 3, 11, 5, 14, 9, 14, 9, 15, 1, 16, 4, 3, 4, 2, 12, 10, 1, 3, 4, 5 = 145

---

>>1117257
>when I was nine my house burned down and I moved there,
Cricket blinks.
"I'm sorry." she says, quietly- "I know what that's like".

>"That's where I'm from! City of Needles."
Cricket takes a moment, then points to a small island off the coast of the main continent.

"In a city by the coast, there was a road. The Lord who ruled this city built his offices along the road, and trade was good. Because of this, his neighbors saw his bounty, and they killed him, and his brothers, and sons, and they took what was his and demolished what they could not take. The new lords, not being fools, built a castle on the bones of the trade office, to prevent their neighbors from doing the same.
Of course, the first lord was not as foolish as you might think- the office, between two rivers, was a poor space for a castle. The ground was swampy and cramped, and so they built using an unusual design- a spiral, to make the smallest space require the longest routes to reach the heart.
It was here, in the heart of the blood soaked spiral of a castle on an office on in a swamp, held tight in the claustrophobic grasp of the twin rivers, that I was conceived. I do not remember much of my time here, but I was bathed in something unnatural and otherworldly. My birth was... not natural. I am half native, of the ninth world, half... something else. When I was six, a nursemaid disguised as my mother stole me from that place. We fled for four days and four nights. I grew up in a no-name fishing village, hiding and hoping our pursuers would not be able to find us. When I was caught..."

She trails off, staring off into space (literally!). As she does, she absentmindedly forms a small globe of water in her hands, seemingly pulling it out of thin air, turning it over and over like a worry stone.

"Anyways, once I was older, I had learned all I could from watching others. I decided I needed to set out, to see more, to do more, understand more. I think one day I may go back to that castle. But not today yet. There is so much in the world I still do not know and understand."

After the couple have their fun dancing and drinking, Cricket will silently get up from her spot of contemplation under the bar, and work with Reiko to continue the project of trying to isolate and remove the mimics. One level of whatever effort is applicable, two if it's intellect.

>>1117257
>Do you think you can get all the mimics to climb in?
>inability at understanding numenera
>rolled 20
That specific trick only worked because the mimetans were already in the shape of a machine which they didn't know couldn't climb around like that, but did know Reiko had remote-access credentials for. Maybe... if you could get a bunch of the mimic-chairs to switch to copying the bartender augmech? Somehow? ...but then what would you tell the copies to do, that a mimic can, and a Locutus-class non-obviously can't?

After the dance, Nat climbs out of the augmech's cockpit (yes, even though she was remotely piloting it from the reception desk dozens of meters away, and has no recollection of entering said cockpit - compared to some of the distracted mishaps she had as a teenager, that's nothing) at which point Paprika notices a hexagonal scrap of greenish-yellow paper stuck to the back of Nat's shoulder. It's a note from that shy, spider-ish construction-assistant creature you met in the haunted-house dimension.

>"Hi! Your world has a lot more open space than I'm used to. It's kinda scary, but awesome! Sorry about [untranslatable]ing you >>1116604 I panicked and I've had almost nothing to eat since I squeezed through to here three (?) lighting-cycles ago"

rolled 10, 3, 2, 18, 16, 16, 5, 15, 11, 14, 3, 19, 2, 1, 17, 5, 15, 6, 5, 5 = 188

---

Reiko brainstorms a few ideas, but nothing that can kill the mimics all at once. If they kill a few in the vicinity of others, they risk the other mimics learning 'these are not your friends' and just attacking as a ravenous horde. The party wouldn't stand a chance.

However, they can mimic delivery units. Units that go nowhere important - the risk is the point. Trick the mimics into pretending to be beverage transport units, of some kind, feed them in exchange for whatever garbage they retrieve (and then pretend to make booze out of it, to sell the deception), and send them on increasingly long delivery jobs through rough, elementally-saturated terrain until they get bored and mimic something else somewhere elsewhere, or die walking through a deathtrap.

We can fool them into marching into deathtraps for us. Win-Lose.
[Come up with the plan above or better, Intelligence, Effort 2]

>>1117257
>>1117663
Reiko shrugs and chimes in. "I'm from a tribe of nomads, but..." she points at a small desert, out in the east. "Most of the time, we'd live around there. It sucks as much as you'd expect, but that was kind of the point. Sometimes we took a bad job and needed to let the heat blow over. Sometimes we stooped to raiding what we wanted. People would want us dead, but most bounty hunters and mercenaries would give up before they'd chased us a few dozen miles into a sandstorm.

For a long time, we were just your average, everyday, chrome-obsessed gang. And then we overdosed.

See, my tribe knew about the Vault hidden within the desert. Every other tribe that ever crossed that desert knew all about it - knew just how many foolhardy adventurers died to its automated defense systems. I think it even had an anti-missile defense matrix, or whatever that crown of lights was. Like the other intelligent tribes, we learned how to camp around it, how to convince it to treat us as a neutral entity. We'd spend a few weeks basking in the light of its protection, but leave before it started getting paranoid about our presence.

We happened to be the ones nearest to the Vault when the machine-spirits in charge dropped dead. Scout drones fell out of the sky, the main defense cannon crumbled and crashed to the sands before our eyes. Every light powered down. We only wasted five seconds of jaw-dropping before the War-horns sounded and my battle-brothers devolved into whoops and moans, leaving most of our camp in the sand-dust.

We rushed into the vault, barred one of the entrances with our own defenses, and relentlessly cannibalized the Protector Spirit we had depended on for so long. We craved the Vault's power, and now that its inhabitants had finally died, we stopped caring about our 'sacred pact' with it. After all, at least two other tribes had the same exact idea, invading from other entrances. We were all competing to see who could strip-mine the place the fastest.

We were fools. We wasted no time taking anything that wasn't welded to the floor and welding it straight into ourselves. That's how mad I was when I begged to have a technology-infused spike jammed directly into the back of my head.

And then everything went red.

I woke up in a different part of the desert. Whatever we did destroyed the Vault, or something, because all that's left are a few defense towers and half-forgotten stories. I don't know how much time I lost, and I don't know how I lived, but I never saw a hint of my tribe ever again. Still trying to find out if any of them survived."

Reiko also points at a specific city. "And that's the headquarters of House Youngmason. You could wander the halls for a century and never find everything they've collected down there. I guard the hallway leading to the room of the 'crown princess'." Reiko licks her lips. "Well... when I'm not guarding the inside of the room."

>>1117839
>[Come up with the plan above or better, Intelligence, Effort 2]
>specialized in raider tactics
>rolled 10
Occurs to Reiko you don't really need to wipe out ALL the mimetic horrors, and make this place permanently safe to camp in. If there's a working ship docked here, immediate objective is to load your stuff (plus incidental loot, as opportunities permit) into that ship and go; if there's a broken ship, only need to stick around long enough for necessary repairs.

rolled 10, 3, 4, 11, 9, 19, 12, 11, 2, 17, 1, 9, 10, 15, 15, 4, 2, 13, 20, 3 = 190

---

>>1117663
Paprika quietly listens to Cricket's story. For just a second her eyes fall on the wound on Cricket's arm, move up to the girl's face, then Paprika turns to look back up at the Earth.

"Well with all you've been through, sounds like you'll have no trouble facing down whatever horrors we find up here. I'm glad to have you along, Cricket."

>>1117664
>...but then what would you tell the copies to do, that a mimic can, and a Locutus-class non-obviously can't?
Well, plenty of things spring to mind. Extend its arms? Climb around on the walls? Combine into some kinda augmech megazord?

>Nat climbs out of the augmech's cockpit
Still right where Paprika knew she'd be. Starting to feel like Nat's a fixed constant and the world just moves around her.

>note from that shy, spider-ish construction-assistant creature you met in the haunted-house dimension.
>had almost nothing to eat since I squeezed through
"You think she's got an appetite for mimics?"

>>1117839
>average, everyday, chrome-obsessed gang
>mad
>begged to have a technology-infused spike jammed directly into the back of my head.
Paprika feels a little uneasy after hearing Reiko's story. "Why'd you do it? I mean...what made you want that? If it's something you can explain."

>"Well... when I'm not guarding the inside of the room."
"Nice, a princess? How'd you go from a gig like that to working in Hallux?"

>>1117934
>immediate objective is to load your stuff into that ship and go
"I've been dying to check out that ship since we got here anyway. Anyone else ready to go take a look with me?"

>>1117946
>"You think she's got an appetite for mimics?"
Those lack essential nutrients, to say nothing of aesthetic appeal. It would be like a human trying to live on a diet of dry rice, clay, and seawater.
Also your contact doesn't know how to salvage the useful gel from them. Could be taught, as a downtime action.

>>1117946
>"Why'd you do it? I mean...what made you want that? If it's something you can explain."
"Peer pressure? Yeah, peer pressure. My tribe worshipped augmentation. When I was a cub I got to see a live heart transplant. I got my arm before my period. My first 'boyfriend' replaced his junk with a fleshlight. It was - it was heresy to reject augmentation.

And then the Vault died. We had the opportunity to graft ourselves with the stem cells of a god. We weren't thinking straight, we thought we could become demigods, and only if we were faster at augmenting ourselves than the other tribes.

I guess the threat of eternal madness and incomprehensible brain damage wasn't as scary as some other tribe seizing the full godly power of the Vault first, and then torturing us with madness and mutilation anyway because we had committed the grievous sin of being in their way."

>"Nice, a princess? How'd you go from a gig like that to working in Hallux?"
"Social tip: there's no law against baking pastries with alcohol. Well, maybe there is, but the aristocracy doesn't care for it. I nabbed a few croissants at the banquet gala I was on guard duty for. Not sure what was in them that got me hammered, but by the time I realized something was wrong, it was too late. Last thing I remember was getting frisky with some visiting business-guy's concubine. Still don't know why that got me banished; she was into me for some reason and covered in tattoos that would have made a barbarian recoil at the crass language on display! Definitely not the wife. I dunno, maybe I spilled Youngmason secrets to her, or maybe I got even more drunk and barged back into the gala. Point is, I accidentally got drunk, and did something that pissed my employers off. So I got 'banished' from the Youngmason Estates. Again. I wandered around for a few months, did some merc jobs here and there, but I was getting close to broke. Hallux had help wanted ads posted all over the entrance gates, they offered a six-month contract for apprentice mechanics. I thought it would be a good skill to learn. And then one day, he fired all the other mechanics! And he blamed me for screwing up, and it was never his fault that I couldn't finish my apprenticeship and learn half of how the Volcano Tamer worked! And I wanted him to hire the mechanics back, but he punished me for asking by making me do even more mechanical work across the spa! He and his wife would gossip about me all the time, and that meant the whole town looked down on me! I can't tell if he was senile or if he hated me for existing, but I bet it was both!" Reiko realizes she's been ranting about Paprika's home. "Sorry, I had to vent that out. I'll stop."

"I'm really glad Tayle and your mom are in charge now. I always knew Hallux could be more, but the old farts held it back. Now they've got new blood, newer cornerstones, and a living god for a patron. My tribe prospered under those conditions, and I think your home will too."

"Say, your siblings are pretty... energetic. I saw them doing some kind of hopping dance for a whole hour. What are they planning to be when they grow up? Dancers, or glaives?"

rolled 6, 8, 13, 18, 16, 7, 16, 16, 7, 1, 15, 20, 10, 16, 19, 14, 17, 4, 8, 9 = 240

---

>>1117950
>Those lack essential nutrients, to say nothing of aesthetic appeal. It would be like a human trying to live on a diet of dry rice, clay, and seawater.
>Also your contact doesn't know how to salvage the useful gel from them. Could be taught, as a downtime action.
Sounds like we need to find our spider some food first and foremost. Is the conundary perceivable, or in the same room as us? Feel like I would know this IC since we met before, or at least have an idea, but I haven't looked up the monster manual entry or anything. Would be nice if we could get a message down the beanstalk and have the town send up some livestock.

>>1117958
>"Peer pressure? Yeah, peer pressure."
>"brain damage wasn't as scary as some other tribe seizing the full godly power of the Vault first"
"I see. That makes a lot of sense."

>"So I got 'banished' from the Youngmason Estates. Again."
"Well if it's already happened once and you found your way back into their good graces, maybe you can do it again? Sounds like this princess really likes you, at least. In the meantime, I'm glad we get to travel together."

>Reiko realizes she's been ranting about Paprika's home. "Sorry, I had to vent that out. I'll stop."
"Hey, it's fine. I still have a lot of mixed feelings about that place. Nothing you said surprises me. Small towns are like that, just nonstop gossip. And I remember the mechanics who worked at that volcano tamer were always complaining about how it was run. Sorry you had such a rough time there."

>"I'm really glad Tayle and your mom are in charge now."
Paprika groans, "I really hope they didn't end up going through with that organ harvesting scheme, but it's out of my hands now. Maybe you're right though, all those big changes might be good for the town in the long run."

>"Say, your siblings are pretty... energetic. I saw them doing some kind of hopping dance for a whole hour. What are they planning to be when they grow up? Dancers, or glaives?"
"Hahaha, hard to say! Their dad's a flute boy, maybe he taught them some moves. My biological mom was the dancer, she died in the fire. I don't think Mia could dance to save her life."

"The 'glaive' thing was always kind of a joke. Saoirse started calling me that when I was basically playing bodyguard for her. That girl just loves getting herself into trouble. Guess she did it to make me seem more intimidating. It worked! She's really good at making things stick."


>what do?
spaceship spaceship spaceship

rolled 9, 2, 7, 10, 7, 10, 7, 3, 2, 14, 18, 12, 1, 15, 5, 12, 3, 1, 2, 7 = 147

---

>>1117257
>Paprika almost cries sipping the colorful cocktail. "It's really smooth! I haven't had a drink like this in ages. Thanks Nat."
"I'm more partial to tea myself, but this does make a nice treat. I'm glad you like it."

>>1117663
Cricket was a princess? Well, associated with one or both of two ruling families, at least. Small (ninth) world.

>I think one day I may go back to that castle.
"I remember 'saving the world' being pitched as an excellent opportunity to restore familial legacy."

>>1117839
>guarding the 'crown princess'
Small ninth world indeed.

>>1117664
>Nat climbs out of the augmech's cockpit
Oh, it does have a cockpit, wonderful! Hmm. Do the remote or internal controls take priority, Natalina wonders, if they're both used at once?

> a note from that shy, spider-ish construction-assistant creature you met in the haunted-house dimension
> I've had almost nothing to eat since I squeezed through to here three (?) lighting-cycles ago
Ah, back to the game of talking out loud and waiting for an indirect response. "Should we offer them something to eat?" Preparing a meal for a larger-than-human would put a dent in our supplies, but from the sound of it, they may not need to eat as often as we do. If they require live meals, we'll have to get more creative.

If they accept the offer, Natalina will attempt to prepare something for them; one level of Intellect Effort and an asset from the cookbook.

>>1117950
>Also your contact doesn't know how to salvage the useful gel from them. Could be taught, as a downtime action.
The idea has merit. If they plan to settle in this area, that could help control the mimitan population, and provide the shy spider with iotum trade-goods. Something to consider the next time we're on a downtime cycle.

>>1117963
>I really hope they didn't end up going through with that organ harvesting scheme
"I tried to dissuade master Tayle by explaining the drawbacks when the ethical concerns escaped his notice. Your loud and public condemnation of the plan might have done more to prevent it."

>what do
>spaceship spaceship spaceship
Assuming Paprika's spider-contact was the energy signature, there's checking the spaceship is probably a higher immediate priority than clearing all the salvage sites in the vicinity, or delving deeper into the orbital installation.

>>1117966
>checking the spaceship is probably a higher immediate priority
>rolled 9
Seems like a clear, open path down the five-meter-wide docking tube, but before you get within a hundred meters of the ship, a spotlight on the ship's underbelly swings over. Clear synth walls ripple like a sail in shifting winds as it passes, and when it shines on you, you soon feel too heavy to move.
>>1117963
>spaceship spaceship spaceship
>rolled 6
Paprika sprints past, trusting in her antigrav conditioning to push through what seems to be a level 7 gravity turret, but instead falls flat on her face and can barely breathe - it's almost like partly negating effects of gravity made the problem worse.

Neither of you are injured, and the immobilizing excess weight dissipates after a minute or so, but accessing the ship seems like it'll require more effort than just walking in the front door. Could try zigzagging to evade the spotlight, or circle around through the airless outdoors, or maybe something else?

Ship is resting on a flat grid of girders which becomes steadily more sparse as it extends further from the pressurized region of Zone Ivory - portions right outside the window mesh tightly enough a finger could barely fit between them, but further out there are gaps wide enough for those solid segments of the ship's gradually-rotating halo to slip easily through.
There are four contact points - arranged in an oval or diamond - between the mottled semi-organic material of ship's main hull, and the dock's vacuum-welded steel: the narrow end, the wide end (with the halo), and two tusk-like protrusions flanking the ship's arched midsection. Under that midsection are the two visible entrances: a horizontal iris door on the flat underside, thirty meters above the 'ground,' which the clear synth docking tube leads up to, and a much larger vertical... cargo bay, possibly? ...resembling Venetian blinds, or the mouth of a baleen whale.

rolled 16, 9, 2, 15, 8, 13, 1, 4, 12, 20, 14, 13, 11, 19, 11, 19, 1, 12, 20, 1 = 221

---

>Could try zigzagging to evade the spotlight
Doing it! Three levels of speed effort.

(cost 7 - edge 1 = 6 total)

>>1118308
>fleet of foot
>speed pool 18/18
>rolled 16, 9, 2
This time, Paprika successfully crosses about four-fifths of the horizontal distance before that spotlight catches and pins her. Oddly, it doesn't interfere at all with the return trip. Her Speed pool is down to zero, though, meaning she's impaired, and she got close enough to see for sure that there's no ladder - just a tube of open air roughly the size of a ten-story building, straight up to the hatch. Need to fly, or maybe jump, unless somebody trusts those flimsy-looking clear synth walls to bear weight.

rolled 9, 6, 9, 5, 6, 19, 15, 18, 10, 8, 14, 5, 16, 1, 11, 5, 13, 17, 13, 14 = 214

---

>>1117966
>Ah, back to the game of talking out loud and waiting for an indirect response.
No response? Perhaps leave a note accepting the apology and asking if they need help with a meal.

>>1118307
Oh that's terrifying. If that catches her while she's not entirely here, she's going right through the floor into the void.

Is there just the one turret? It might not be able to handle a spread out group. Or can we see anything that looks like cameras, or other sensors it might be using for targeting?

rolled 3 + 3 = 6

---

Chest heaving, drenched in sweat. This is the most disheveled Nat's seen Paprika since the two got tossed into the sky in Hallux. Paprika collapses at Nat's feet with as much elegance as she can manage, "hah...just needa... minute..."

Recovery roll! All to speed.

>>1117966
>Natalina will attempt to prepare something for them; one level of Intellect Effort and an asset from the cookbook.
>rolled 2
Results are disappointing - tolerable enough by wilderness-camp standards, maybe, but you've got fresh ingredients and, in the backrooms of Zone Jaune, a nearly intact commercial-scale kitchen!
>>1118329
>No response?
>rolled 9
>trained in negotiation

After some further discussion, Natalina figures out that the conundary is deliberately teasing to get a rise out of her, and further manages to deduce that its nutritional needs are at least as much mental as physical - can't feed effectively on mimetans, despite their potential to be transformed into almost any material substance, because their minds are too simple.

>Is there just the one turret? It might not be able to handle a spread out group. Or can we see anything that looks like cameras, or other sensors it might be using for targeting?
Looks like there's a ring of emitters, maybe six or seven spaced evenly around the hatch. No more than one of them lit up at a time, though. Might be able to disable the whole system by severing that ring? Assuming you don't mind risking damage to the airlock of a ship you're planning to ride around in.
As for sensors... during Paprika's run, Natalina kept an eye on the spotlight's procession, and she knows as well as anyone how Paprika thinks mid-fight. Each time, another emitter started to light up as soon as she decided which way she'd be going next, before there was any clear outward cue. Consistently aimed ahead of her, at the next place she was intending to go, without regard for feints. Only reason she managed to dodge as far as she did is it's absurdly slow at ramping up to full power, or traversing to track lateral movement after having done so - much too slow for something actually designed as a point-defense weapon, considering what shinspinners managed with their own energy cannon.

rolled 18, 9, 14, 10, 6, 2, 6, 19, 19, 10, 20, 2, 15, 7, 11, 13, 17, 13, 19, 7 = 237

---

Cricket hesitantly tests the chameleon cloak- seems like it detects thoughts in some way, rather than relying on visuals, but more test data couldn't hurt.

Also... can we see if it can tell the difference between a mimic and a normal object? Applying a level of intellect effort to see if we can successfully test that.

JamesLeng 2025/12/03(Wed)20:41 No. 1118415 ID: 5f5c2b
File 176482329520.png - (94.63KB , 268x251 , The Nightcraft's hangar bay.png )

rolled 86 = 86

---

>>1118401
>rolled 18
>trained in stealth
>trained in understanding numenera
Cricket casually strolls down the gangplank to a point directly underneath the ship's hatch, occasionally kicking a five-gallon clear synth barrel full of angry mimic so that it continues rolling on ahead of her, being careful to think only of the present and the next single step. So far so good, no response from the spotlight. Now for the tricky part.
>chameleon cloak eases sneaking and hiding by two steps
>rolled 9
Silver wings unfold and Cricket flies straight up, pointedly staring at the floor as it recedes under her feet. Something moves in her peripheral vision - from all sides at once, panic-flinch of "surprised, surrounded, where am I going?" disrupting her concentration, spotlight starts to flicker on... but she's already through, inside the ship.

Entry hall is almost as organically curvilinear as the outside. Roughly trapezoidal, two stories high. About as wide as a small palace or two basketball courts awkwardly wedged together. Circular patterns on the floor seem to imply the central hatch could be made to open up MUCH wider, if necessary, and some of those fixtures on the ceiling vaguely resemble what Paprika and Natalina said about the shrine where they found Milaconi's Cousin.

There are four other visible exits, all on the second floor, which otherwise seemingly consists only of two relatively small balconies or stair landings. A recessed track across the ceiling leads from the sole door on the narrow wall, to the middle door on the wider side.

Rolling for chameleon cloak depletion. On a 2+, it's fine.

rolled 7, 9, 20, 3, 5, 10, 9, 9, 17, 12, 2, 5, 8, 1, 11, 11, 16, 4, 13, 15 = 187

---

>Well if it's already happened once
"Fifth time. No, what really worries me is if Saharnya makes good on her promise to ensure my banishment. I like Saharnya, so I'm not going to drag her down. I have to rise up alongside her, prove I'm not expendable to the company."

>Sounds like this princess really likes you, at least.
"...Yes. That is literally the point I was trying to make. I'm gonna be blunt: I don't expect we'll get married, but I'm shooting for a spot in her future harem."

>Cricket was a princess
"Wait what? Is that what - wait, where'd she go? Again?"

"I wonder..."
An eye that stops the one thing that it stares at.
A room full of mimics.
An artifact that's too tempting to the mimics to resist mimicking.
And an anti-gravity plate to climb the ladder.

Reiko lets her ears twitch mindlessly as a plan comes together. By the time she's ready, another clutch of mimics have amassed into a stack on top of the Mechanic.

Reiko's plan is simple: Order the mimics to move (in a silly, David O'Reilly's Everything kind of way) in a spaced line formation towards the big juicy saucer. (Make sure the Mechanic artifact doesn't get taken along for the ride, that would be expensive.) Observe the effects, see if the ship escalates its response or is forced to stall each mimic one at a time.

rolled 1, 8, 18, 19, 15, 13, 11, 8, 2, 8, 1, 12, 2, 6, 2, 5, 8, 19, 16, 3 = 177

---

>>1118415
>About as wide as a small palace or two basketball courts awkwardly wedged together
Cricket Moon has frame of reference for at least one of those comparisons.

>There are four other visible exits, all on the second floor
Alright, time to put her Jack skills to use. Sneak in first, disarm the traps, unlock the castle gates, and let down the drawbridge. Lets try the entrance that seems to go towards whatever she guesses the "bridge" is, try and shut down the grav beams first. If she can't find any obvious controls to let the others on up, work clockwise through the rest of the openings until she can find something useful to do.

Lets say 3 levels of Intellect and Speed Effort (Intellect for disarming and figuring out the controls, speed for if that goes wrong). That should cost me 4 int and 6 speed, putting me at 13/11/12. Ha, funny that.

rolled 9, 3, 19, 11, 12, 6, 9, 4, 2, 11, 12, 16, 6, 14, 11, 6, 10, 12, 16, 12 = 201

---

>>1118309
>Paprika successfully crosses about four-fifths of the horizontal distance before that spotlight catches and pins her.
>Her Speed pool is down to zero, though, meaning she's impaired
Natalina sighs in relief when the spotlights make no effort to prevent Paprika's return, not stranding the arkus where the rest of the ground can't reach. "Are you all right? You're looking winded there."

>>1118340
>Natalina figures out that the conundary is deliberately teasing to get a rise out of her
Well, understandable, if they're bored and hungry up here. (Of course that's how one of Paprika's friends reacts).

>>1118415
>cricket is goat
"I'm not sure if applauding would be the correct response? That was impressive, but it feels somehow inappropriate to express appreciation for stealth with noisemaking."

>>1118459
>I'm gonna be blunt: I don't expect we'll get married, but I'm shooting for a spot in her future harem.
Caught off guard, Natalina lets out an undignified giggle. "Well, ah, it's good to know what you want?"

>Order the mimics to move [...] in a spaced line formation towards the big juicy saucer.
"If the mimitan haven't managed to board the ship, perhaps we shouldn't help them board? Though occupying all the spotlight emitters with distractions might allow someone else to pass."

If the beams truly are intent based, Natalina might be able to pilot the bartender bot into approaching remotely- her intent would be by the control panel rather than approaching (assuming the the remote controls reach that far outside the bar). Doesn't seem worth attempting at the moment though- she doubts that flimsy synth could support the large machine attempting climbing.