rolled 7, 13, 12, 16, 10, 18, 19, 8, 18, 18, 13, 18, 13, 11, 9, 12, 19, 3, 17, 9 = 263

---

>>1119846
>on the assumption that Paprika's monster pal will be coming along with you in the ship, so anything left behind is fair game
The crew quarters are certainly spacious enough to accommodate another, and a construction assistant would be quite welcome on a ship in need of repairs.

>>1119846
>an exhilarating rush - skydiving or ski-jumping or sprinting for the sheer joy of it
>lost time
>Take 4 intellect damage
>Paprika's conundary contact can weave more of that fabric out of the translucent-pink-edible-hockey-puck material. Seems downright eager to, actually.
Huh. Did she... accidentally discover the extradimensional travel equivalent of a recreational drug? (Possibly only for insect-adjacent extradimensional powers? She only has the conundary and herself for reference). Natalina isn't going to stop their arachnid companion from partaking, but will council caution, in case it experiences similar symptoms.

>>1119856
> Warn a girl before you go disappearing like that. Are you ok?
"I didn't mean to! I was just curious if the cloth would would still sense me and go limp if I was out-of-phase. I hardly expected that[i/]," the arkus replies while returning the hug. "I'm well; I'm sorry to have worried you."

She [i]really needs some way to check which walls are safe to walk though- which are dangerous on the other side, or inside. Something like a specialized redlight chip or hoop staff?

>>1119858
>It's not actually goo, but rather some sort of stasis field.
Not interested in losing more time, Natalina is not going to attempt to wall-hack her way post those.

>>1119790
>Spots close to the floor that ought to be access panels are sealed tight, and climbing up higher risks triggering unidentified buttons with your feet.
"Oh! I found something that could help with that", Natalina says, showing the levitating hexagonal tables/chairs to Reiko. Seems simple enough to set one high-enough in-air to reach the upper panels.

rolled 16, 1, 16, 11, 2, 19, 17, 7, 8, 10, 17, 9, 6, 13, 20, 16, 9, 3, 10, 18 = 228

---

Hanger bay doors working means we can now attempt to seal and clear the rest of the zone. Start by clearing and organizing any junk scattered around the room. Search it, catalog it, and put it in some semblance of a stockpile. That seems like it will primarily be intellect, for searching and organizing, but might or speed may be involved as well? One level of effort for whatever is needed, +1 if it's intellect.

rolled 7, 7, 6, 16, 19, 14, 9, 12, 19, 12, 17, 2, 7, 15, 18, 5, 20, 16, 13, 12 = 246

---

After an hour of writing up inventory, Reiko concludes that there's no quick fix to the ship's motivity systems, but they can start working on helping the ship mentally. Maybe the ship has a solution in their databanks, but is too feverish to remember it.

Reiko spends downtime in the sub-datasphere using her Mechanic and implant to help the ship heal their mind. [Repair Numenera, Effort 3]

>>1119856
"Do we still have those salami burgers?"

rolled 15, 14, 4, 6, 2, 13, 17, 9, 1, 7, 3, 9, 18, 1, 15, 4, 12, 10, 11, 18 = 189

---

>>1119858
>Do you want to break part of the wall? You definitely could.
Hmm, no reason to go breaking all the furnishings already. I'll just make a mental note to ask Cricket to take a look at it when she gets a minute.

>Reiko explains that right now the engine room is not a good place for people who are made of meat to be breathing unfiltered air, or leaving skin exposed, if they plan on living to see the next week.
Paprika listens attentively to Reiko's entire explanation, though she doesn't really understand the blue light thing. "Well thanks for not letting me get myself killed, Reiko! This is all a little over my head."

>"Not directly," the conundary says, while slurping on that embroidered section like a popsicle.
Paprika watches with mild unease until something else catches her attention.

>>1119871
>"I'm well; I'm sorry to have worried you."
"It's alright. I'm just glad you're safe."

>>1119875
>"Do we still have those salami burgers?"
Paprika cracks open the crate in question and sits down with Reiko for a quick meal.

"I didn't realize the ship was alive. And sick too? I feel bad for hurting the poor thing." She shifts, a little self-conscious. "I think it's amazing how much you know about fixing spaceships. Honestly Reiko, I feel kinda useless. Is there anything I can do to help?"

>>1119871
>rolled 7
>Did she... accidentally discover the extradimensional travel equivalent of a recreational drug?
More like the telepathic equivalent of a second degree rug-burn, then a vampire bat licking the carpet clean afterward.

>She really needs some way to check which walls are safe to walk though
>rolled 13

>showing the levitating hexagonal tables/chairs to Reiko. Seems simple enough to set one high-enough in-air to reach the upper panels.
>rolled 12

>>1119875
>After an hour of writing up inventory, Reiko concludes that there's no quick fix to the ship's motivity systems, but they can start working on helping the ship mentally. Maybe the ship has a solution in their databanks, but is too feverish to remember it.
>Reiko spends downtime in the sub-datasphere using her Mechanic and implant to help the ship heal their mind. [Repair Numenera, Effort 3]
>rolled 7, 7, 6, 16, 19

Natalina can phase through any of those sealed panels, benefiting from Reiko's insight into the underlying design to know in advance which ones conceal potentially dangerously energies vs. which could benefit from some quick internal manipulation - or from leveraging previous goodwill with local datasphere-spirits to keep the noise down and let this ship's feverish mind re-focus, at least long enough to crawl out of bed without further tripping over the sheets.

>>1119872
>rolled 16, 1, 16

Cricket Moon finds three cubes of Quantium and five units of parts. Just as she's holding up that third cube into a sunbeam (to check that it's the real thing, rather than mere sparkly blue glass, or whatever the deal is with Paprika's heat-exchanger oddity), she sees a Locutus-class augmech descending the stairs with a huge crate full of wine bottles... and a shoulder-mounted slugthrower it didn't have before, which shoots that iotum right out of her hand.

Sixty seconds earlier, Cricket is careful not to distract her one-minute-younger self while pilfering the partially accumulated salvage, then scampering off to warn the others. So, overall net gain of five units of quantium, ten units of parts, and a brief head start on fleeing from Last Call, Lord of the Supernumerary Chairs.

By the time she's sprinted all the way back to the ship (along with one last case of tofu snacks, which somebody seemingly forgot)...

>1119933
>Is there anything I can do to help?
>rolled 15
...Paprika is sitting in lotus pose next to the door, with a long coiled tube linking the inside of her left elbow to a coolant duct in the disabled gravity-spotlight system. Apparently, to jumpstart the process of healing itself, ship needs something that can most readily be obtained from her blood. Supposedly it'll be a mutually beneficial trade, after everything's settled, but when Reiko warned that there might be itching (and importance of repressing the urge to scratch) she didn't say it'd be inside bone marrow. Or, intermittently, outside her own actual body, invisible stripes woven across the floor.

Wreckage disentangled. Tachyon halo spun up to minimal maneuvering power. The ship is as ready for departure as it's going to be today, or probably this week.

rolled 1, 12, 2, 4, 2, 3, 11, 13, 10, 2, 11, 13, 11, 2, 8, 15, 3, 19, 14, 15 = 171

---

"I believed I was being responsible, you know, leaving the culinary augmech at the bar, where it could be used, rather than appropriating it for good. How kindly restraint is repaid!"

As she offers her facetious complaints, Natalina rolls up her sleeve on one arm and applies the injectable speed boost cypher, followed by a sharp breath as she feels the drug take effect.

"I don't think I can fell that thing on my own, but I can take it's measure and delay it's arrival."

Natalina isn't going to be able to deflect metal slugs with her rapier—so she picks up one of the hexagonal metal plates to use as an off-hand shield. The prior-world chair disputes the usurper-mimic's claim to chair lordship! Assuming the Jack doesn't object, she'll also snag one of those cubes of quantium from Cricket as a fallback.

Phase sprinting to engage Last Call. Trying to see what the range on the slug thrower is; when it takes a shot, two level of Speed Effort, trained in Speed Defense, asset from a shield, and another asset from phase sprint should ease Speed Defense by 5 steps (which should cost zero Speed). Will also attempt to catch it with Scratch Existence as she passes. Unfortunately, that's Might-based so Speed Effort can't help there. The light-weapon attack-easing from her ancestral rapier might, if it's the scratching-implement of choice?

If we get that far in a single post, Natalina's plan is to switch to drawing attacks to cover allies once Last Call closes enough to fire on them.

rolled 16, 13, 13, 13, 18, 2, 4, 2, 10, 8, 10, 12, 7, 15, 2, 3, 20, 7, 11, 7 = 193

---

This is really bad. The last time Reiko had to deal with a homicidal gorilla-sized android chef, she was working with fourteen of Youngmason's seasoned glaives and they still took major casualties.
Whichever Arch-Nano cursed all culinary machines on the planet to have a small chance of going rampant at the mere mention of 'Crème Brulee' needs to be thrown into the sun.

"Aw damnit, not again! Need backup need backup need backup-"

Reiko rushes back to the neural interface throne, plugs herself back into her personal port, and speedruns a quick skim of the ship's abilities, looking for anything functional in its capabilities that could be used as a weapon or distraction.

[Intelligence - Max Effort]

rolled 11, 20, 10, 9, 20, 11, 17, 11, 6, 13, 12, 11, 5, 18, 11, 16, 17, 17, 5, 19 = 259

---

>>1119992
Let the rain fall.
Okay, got a lot of actions, and I'm not sure how many I can do before the mimic-bot shows up. First thing is to activate Kingfisher Shroud. 11/16 Int. Then, I need to put down Rising Riptide at the entrance it's coming through. Then, prep another debilitating poison. If it's a mimitan construct, that should disrupt it's cohesion. One on my wrist blades for if it gets close, one on my dart thrower. Then, hide near the entrance- her shroud should help her avoid injury and help deal with mimitans who get close. After her screw up with the mining laser, she's looking forward to this as an opportunity to prove her worth and regain any respect she may have lost. After that, if there's time left we need to strategize with Natalina. Want to prepare more area denial with Rising Riptide but avoid hindering Nat. Further, if she can land a hit and poison the big guy, they should be able to make short work of the small fry- is there some way for Nat to help her get an alpha strike off? I'd be happy to spend effort but I wanna stack as many bonuses as I can, so if Nat can distract it and Cricket Moon goes for a sneak attack, or if flanking provides a benefit, or anything like that, I wanna set up for a not-quite fastball special with her.

Awarding one extra xp to Reiko for her help getting the ship up and running.

Round 1
>>1120087
Natalina intercepts Last Call at the entrance to the docking tube, 150 meters from the ship.
>rolled 1, 12
>intrusion rejected, reroll
No time to build an adequate shield! Gotta work with what's already here. Nat lifts the (likely contaminated) tofu-snack box out of Cricket Moon's arms with her off hand, lobs it overhand, aiming to jam the augmech's forward sensor array in the manner of a slapstick pie while sliding between its legs, then grab the lid which broke off from Reiko's paint-mixer as it shook itself apart. Sturdy, buckler-sized, handle in about the right place, known with certainty to be indigestible to mimics.

This works out almost, but not quite, exactly according to plan. Rather than being directly blinded, Last Call slightly lifts the crate of wine bottles to parry. Tofu telefrag sends fermented fruit juice spiced with shards of wood and glass spraying everywhere except directly behind it, where Nat is.

>>1120286
>kingfisher shroud
>rising riptide
>rolled 11
In the moment of the explosion, something suddenly becomes clear that's been itching at the back of Cricket's mind since they dropped out of the elevator: it's far too quiet up here, and too dry. Fragments tear her exposed skin, dark vinegar soaks her clothing and hair, but rather than pain or disorientation it feels like coming home. Projectile from Last Call's shoulder-cannon clips her collarbone - the exact spot corresponding to that mounting point, as if acknowledging a peer. (Eight damage, reduced to six by armor. A 12 would have been enough to dodge.) With an act of will she picks up most of the spilled liquid that she's not already wearing, lifting it through the floor grating as if running the burst backward, gathers it into a ball to engulf and hinder Last Call's head and limbs.

Rounds 2 and 3
>>1120087
>Will also attempt to catch it with Scratch Existence as she passes. Unfortunately, that's Might-based so Speed Effort can't help there. The light-weapon attack-easing from her ancestral rapier might, if it's the scratching-implement of choice?
>rolled 2, 4, 2, 3

Oldest book in the family library, memory-crystal transcript of an incomprehensibly ancient original:
>The primary thing when you take a sword in your hands is your intention to cut the enemy, whatever the means. Whenever you must parry, hit, spring, strike or touch the enemy’s cutting sword, you must cut the enemy in the same movement. Is it essential to attain this. If you think only of hitting, springing, striking or touching the enemy, you will not be able to actually cut him. More than anything, you must be thinking of carrying your movement through to cutting him. You must thoroughly research this.
> —Miyamoto Musashi, The Book of Five Rings, The Water Book
Certainly thought she'd thoroughly researched that. Turns out if you think only of tragically spilled ancient vintages, and second-guessing every step you take to avoid stumbling through soft windows into hard vacuum, that ALSO means you will not be able to actually cut him.
Good news is, Nat did manage to draw Last Call's attention - even while Cricket's having a full-blown floating-amid-swirling-sparkles magical-girl transformation sequence (over there at the '120 meters from the ship' mark) - and that paint-mixer lid works great as a shield. A slug that otherwise would have hit bounced right off, and it's light enough to maneuver easily, yet hefty enough deflect what would have been a bone-jarring (or -shattering) kick after she returns to melee range.

>Trying to see what the range on the slug thrower is
It didn't try to shoot Cricket until closing to within about 30 meters, even though it had a clear line of fire, and started pivoting at the waist to engage Nat right about the same moment she got that close from behind (after equipping the shield). Low-velocity projectiles might need a relatively high arc that would've intersected the ceiling? Or it might have trouble tracking fast-moving folks further away than that.

>>1120286
>debilitating poison
>dart thrower
>rolled 20
Crushing it with hydrostatic pressure isn't working. No head-holes to drown or force-feed. A pair of mimetic horrors are trying to bloom from the wound on Cricket's shoulder - she absently crushes and twists them into a cloak of snow-white feathers, then stanches the bleeding. Aha, of course! If the armor's too solid, what you need is a drill. Shards of glass and frozen flash-distilled alcohol form up in a spiral around the humble dart launcher, the churning wine-dark sea around Last Call's upper body opens a narrow channel, liquid tendrils briefly link up as a hundred foot long single-use linear accelerator, ramming the dart through a weak spot on the pseudo-augmech's hip joint, then flooding the breach with nerve-disrupting chemistry.

The most potent poisons Cricket can formulate on the fly are only level 5, while Last Call is level 6. Imitation barbot remains sober.

As for physical injury... base 2 for a light weapon, +4 for major effect from the natural 20, +9 for maximum Effort on a single-target attack (which is free, also thanks to the 20) adds up to 15 damage, reduced to 11 by armor. Last Call stumbles, falls to one knee, grasping at the gaping hole where part of its pelvis used to be. One more hit like that, it'll be down for sure!

On its own turn that same round, Last Call lobs a slug at Natalina, which she parries (partly thanks to hindrance from Rising Riptide), and mimetic gel - along with some pink glassy stuff, halfway between cotton candy and fungal mycelia - pushes back into the wound, beginning to close it up, healing 2 damage.
Maybe... two more hits like that?
>rolled 11
Cricket's next dart plinks off of Last Call's armor ineffectively. It swings a leg out to kick at Nat while regaining its footing, and healing another 2 damage.

Looks like in round 4, it's going to spend its action tearing free of the Rising Riptide, then resume advancing toward the ship.

rolled 20, 9, 11, 14, 11, 20, 13, 3, 16, 10, 20, 13, 12, 18, 2, 2, 2, 8, 10, 5 = 219

---

>>1120308
Okay new plan, she gave it her best shot, and it didn't cut it.

Current pools are 7/13 Might, 17/17 Speed, 11/16 Int. Putting down Rising Riptide and using Fleet of Foot will hopefully allow Cricket Moon to outpace their assailant and make a fighting retreat. One speed effort on defense per attack, don't wanna burn my whole pool but should probably put at least a little effort into staying safe since she can't take two more of those hits.

"I don't think I can pull that trick off again, and my poison isn't slowing it down at all. We need to get back to the ship and group up or get out!"

Round 4
Last Call breaks free of the Rising Riptide, advances to 147 meters from the ship, heals 2 more damage.
Cricket Moon applies a new Rising Riptide, then retreats to 105 meters.
Natalina studies Last Call, setting up to apply Understanding next round.

Round 5
Natalina uses Scratch Existence, applying Might effort for more damage x1, more targets x2.
>rolled 11, 13, 10
Hits all three times, for 4 damage each, ignoring armor. Last Call's health is reduced to 5/22, but you're not sure it'll actually stay down at zero.
Nat continues past Last Call to 120 meters.
Last Call heals 2 more damage (7/22), and shoots at Cricket, who...
>rolled 20
...catches the projectile intact. Contaminated Slug Sample x1 can be immediately broken up for ten more darts, or brought back to a proper lab to formulate poison that'll be effective against Last Call, or salvaged for a random cypher up to level 6.
Cricket creates a third Rising Riptide at the 135 meter mark, retreats to 90 meters.

Round 6
Last Call breaks free of the second Rising Riptide, advances to 142 meters, heals 2 more damage (9/22)
Nat briefly meets up with Cricket at the 90 meter mark
Cricket retreats to 60 meters

Round 7
Last Call advances to 135 meters, gets caught in the third Rising Riptide, heals 2 more damage (11/22), spawns a slower-moving minion
Nat retreats to 60 meters
Cricket meets up with Paprika at the 30 meter mark

Looks like you've got at least five more rounds before it catches up, but it'll be back to full health by then.

rolled 17, 5, 11, 11, 5, 13, 10, 15, 8, 10, 17, 19, 5, 10, 17, 13, 10, 4, 1, 5 = 206

---

Paprika's been on her knees, teeth clenched, watching the fight in absolute agony. Fire seems to engulf the docking tube and all of Zone Ivory beyond and she can do nothing but watch another catastrophe unfold, taking two more people she cares about away from her forever.

>>1120398
>Cricket meets up with Paprika at the 30 meter mark
Paprika speaks in a low drawl, dropping her usual bubbly demeanor. "Girl, you tore that beast apart. You're really something special. Now help me pull this thing out of my arm."

>Looks like you've got at least five more rounds before it catches up, but it'll be back to full health by then.
Paprika will sever the transfusion, however she can.

>you're more than just a glaive.
Then she'll burst into flames. Revenge was never the point, though not a single day's gone by that she hasn't dreamed about it. The ninth world is full of monsters, and she needs to be ready to face them.

Change of plans! Sticking with flame blade. Gonna hack this thing into molten chunks. Fleet of Foot to close the distance, one speed effort on dodge actions. One might effort on attacks and three on damage. That should work out to 17 damage per hit, before armor. Here's the math:

8 (windslice spear) + 1 (combat prowess) + 2 (flame blade) + 6 (3 levels of effort) = 17!

rolled 5, 3, 9, 1, 7, 1, 11, 15, 7, 5, 4, 12, 18, 8, 17, 11, 8, 10, 10, 2 = 164

---

Reiko's review of the ship's offensive capabilities: it's a crate of lemons... that can talk. The comms systems are still functional. Every other weapon has some flaw or damage that can't be fixed in a few turns.
Would have been better if she'd just fought on the ground, but there's no time to regret her choices! Reiko uses the ship's network and hacks into Last Call to jam everything she can find with recursive code!

[Disable Machine, 3 Effort, Repeat until Last Call is dead]

>Paprika will sever the transfusion, however she can.
Before Paprika can, her girlfriend's gloved hand blurs into place on her arm, heedless of the fire. "Please. It's not worth hurting yourself."

>>1120400
>rolled 17
>inability at understanding numenera
>+1 to rolls when fighting alongside Cricket
>support from Natalina
That pink fuzzy stuff in Last Call's almost-fully-healed wound... you've seen it before, or heard of it at least.
>>1064824
>Actual structure is two layers of armor-grade ironwood sandwiching a layer of fluffy pink stuff - looks like cotton candy, tastes like itchy razor wire, completely inorganic but grows when exposed to fire, similar to (but even faster than) the way mushrooms grow when it rains.

hm... link formatting trouble. Should be https://questden.org/kusaba/graveyard/res/1064679.html#1064824

>>1120410
>Before Paprika can, her girlfriend's gloved hand blurs into place on her arm, heedless of the fire. "Please. It's not worth hurting yourself."
All of Paprika's fire, which had even started creeping up the handle of her spear, winks out in an instant. She's crying.

"Nat I'm sorry! Did I burn you? I'm so sorry...I don't know what to do! Should we run?"

>>1120411
>That pink fuzzy stuff in Last Call's almost-fully-healed wound... you've seen it before, or heard of it at least.
Paprika starts pointing at the approaching mimicbot and rambling on about meeting a slug who asked her to set a house on fire. Seems like her fury has fully reversed into panic.

rolled 5, 7, 3, 1, 20, 4, 7, 17, 15, 3, 16, 17, 17, 3, 17, 2, 18, 10, 16, 1 = 199

---

>>1120413
>I'm so sorry...I don't know what to do! Should we run?"
"I believe in you."

>Did I burn you?
Ah. That would have been hypocritical of her, wouldn't it? Thank goodness for fireproofed armoring cloth.

>what do
Going to take a recovery roll and proc Understanding while we let Last Call close to within Paprika's tether. When Paprika goes on the offense, Natalina's going to follow with Phase Sprint, and focus on drawing attacks.

rolled 6 + 3 = 9

---

Recovery roll.

rolled 12, 19, 10, 20, 10, 5, 11, 9, 10, 18, 7, 18, 9, 4, 10, 7, 15, 1, 11, 3 = 209

---

>"I believe in you."
Paprika's suddenly all steel and confidence again. She retreats back to the ship with Nat and Cricket, ready to lure Last Call into melee range.

Change of change of plans! For the sake of record keeping, after some discussion and in response to Nat's intervention, I'm going with Nanotech Defense after all.

Gonna cut this thing into room temperature chunks. No flame shroud, but effort applied in all the same places.

rolled 13, 20, 9, 20, 6, 6, 6, 15, 11, 5, 3, 9, 5, 18, 6, 1, 10, 2, 5, 14 = 184

---

>>1120424
Not sure if there's an "aid" roll? Cricket just wants to help back up Paprika and Natalina. At the very least, Paprika can gain a +1 from working with her.

rolled 17, 11, 19, 19, 10, 14, 2, 15, 12, 9, 14, 7, 12, 10, 14, 13, 17, 6, 11, 16 = 248

---

After a few rounds of trying to get something deadly on this ship working, Reiko taps into comms and blares things out.

"Bad news! I couldn't get the weapons systems online! Do you need me to come tank, or should I keep the engines warm?"

Just then, Reiko notices the pink goop. Roll to recall how to subvert it and relay sabotage orders that the girls can conduct. [Disable Device, 2 Effort]

The three of you stride forward as one, steady and confident.
>>1120417
Natalina raises her sword in a duelist's salute, leans slightly left to dodge a projectile, reverses her grip as if to re-sheathe the blade, then advances two more quick steps. Last Call swings at her with a lanky pseudo-mechanical arm, almost long enough to drag on the ground. Just before the impact, blip, she's suddenly behind it, facing away and upside-down, reverse-gripped blade plunging into the spot where a power core ought to be.
Last Call's overextended swing reaches through that same transient portal, grazing Nat's knee on the way to a more solid impact with the back of its own head.
>>1120424
Paprika clamps down on the sharp, isolating fire that's been her constant companion, drawing on contentment and connection with such deliberate, desperate force that it's like cranking back a heavy crossbow inside her own heart. Nearby lights on the metal mesh walkway flicker, and a tracery of frost forms on the thin clear-synth tube that borders the airless void outside. Just as Last Call's eyes dilate, adapting to low-light conditions while sweeping side to side (having lost track of Nat - as everyone but Paprika sometimes will), her restrained blaze is released in a brief, blinding flash. Before those optical shutters can close again, they're jammed by a spearpoint, hammered home thanks to Last Call's fist impacting the back of its own head.
>>1120516
Cricket Moon's battle-choreography isn't as polished, since she hasn't been together with the group as long, but her dark water and shining feathers smoothly fill the gaps between Paprika's flames, keeping Last Call's pratfalls synchronized with the plan, preventing it from regaining its balance. Once it's down, and Natalina has begun the work of methodically hacking it into smaller pieces while Paprika's perfume anti-cauterizes the open wounds, Cricket guards the approach, keeping mimic-slugs from merging with Last Call's remains to revive it, or worse yet, sneaking past to infest the ship.

At last, it's done. The lumpy, mangled heap of contaminated self-replicating materials has stopped trying to reform. A gleaming emerald roughly the size and shape of a mango floats to the top, debris refusing to cling to it, flawless apart from a thumb-switch which you think will trigger some sort of intense but repeatable psychic data-dump.

Nat's battered and exhausted - fighting toe-to-toe with a monster whose legs are each the size of your entire body is a hard workout, even when you win - but probably nothing that can't be fixed with a good night's sleep, a few meals, and a long hot bath.

>>1120522
Paprika's fireproofing artifact, however, seems to have some more serious problem. Rather than the familiar soft chirp and misty spray, it just produces an angry honk. Reiko looks it over, runs some tests, figures that catalytic reagents inside it were overstrained, forced to process too many doses too quickly over the course of suppressing Last Call's pyro-orogeny. Fortunately that'll be quite easy to repair... once the ship's molecular loom is restarted. Which needs to be done anyway! Ongoing blood transfusion has already been a great help on that front, pushed back globulin polymerization enough to spin up secondary and tertiary diagnostic encabulators, which revealed... well, the short, non-technical version is the ship is very hungry / thirsty, and that pond you encountered earlier - though toxic to humans - looks to be exactly the right sort of soup to nourish it. Land on top of that, slurp, problem solved. Probably.

Life support seems to be working fine, and the easiest low-energy orbit would have you grazing the upper atmosphere in about fifteen hours, which is quick enough (and interior is spacious enough) air wouldn't go noticeably stale even if the ship had no life support at all. Could dive faster, if you want to risk warming up the main engines, or delay if you'd rather rest and explore the ship's interior a bit more before bracing for re-entry.

rolled 5, 16, 20, 15, 20, 15, 2, 18, 11, 7, 1, 8, 14, 8, 9, 19, 12, 5, 2, 6 = 213

---

Reiko orders the ship to start up, but while the four are having a conference, she votes on a delayed re-entry. Everyone needs to triple-check the hull for any hint of a structural failure; one microscopic flaw, and entire modules will be set ablaze. Maybe even the core...

Reiko spends a few hours speaking with the ship, using stored multi-error-correction codes to fine-toothed comb the programming for software bugs generated by para-static. Once she's finally certain the self-diagnostics are stable, she runs the program once, then sets it to auto-scan until entry while she looks at anything on the ship with a stat out of place, even if it's a hundredth outside of the margin of error.

[I dunno what to roll so just apply maximum effort until her intelligence pool is reduced to half)

rolled 6, 16, 13, 7, 7, 17, 1, 17, 20, 7, 15, 7, 17, 4, 10, 17, 12, 15, 7, 13 = 228

---

Paprika kneels at Nat's side, carefully cradles Nat's head, runs her fingers through Nat's hair. "Babe, that was spectacular." Paprika stays with her girlfriend until the transfusion is done and Reiko has removed the tube from her arm. Then she gently lifts Nat, bridal style, and carries her to the ship's showers.

Performing a healing task, which mostly involves soothing Nat's bruises and scratches with her first aid kit, and tenderly cleaning all the mimic slime out of Nat's hair and off her body. Healing two points from each depleted pool - difficulty 4 task. Spending two levels of intellect effort and using the first aid kit in Natalina's inventory to ease the task to difficulty 1. Here's the math for my pool expenditure:

5 (two levels of effort) - 2 (edge) = 3 intellect points spent

After a long shower...

>>1125488
>while the four are having a conference, she votes on a delayed re-entry
"You're the expert, Reiko. And I think we could use a little time to recover from that fight."

>>11254841
Natalina falls to her knees in exhaustion and relief, not even able to muster the effort to begin wiping off her coating of spattered slug-slime. Ooh. That speed stim combined with being too tired to move is... tingly.

>>1125507
>Paprika kneels at Nat's side, carefully cradles Nat's head, runs her fingers through Nat's hair. "Babe, that was spectacular."
Natalina leans into the embrace, and gives Paprika a slow, slightly loopy smile. "You were beautiful, yourself. Landing an almost literal bullseye with effortless grace. You found yourself again."
>Paprika stays with her girlfriend until the transfusion
Resting sounds very good at the moment.

>Paprika is visibly very excited to show Nat the two-person shower.
>Then she gently lifts Nat, bridal style, and carries her to the ship's showers.
Being carried off for post-combat aftercare and shower time with her girlfriend sound too nice for Natalina to even feel embarrassed out.
>After a long shower...
Rolling 2d6 + 6 for Natalina's 10 minute and 1 hour recovery rolls.

>>11254841
>A gleaming emerald roughly the size and shape of a mango floats to the top, debris refusing to cling to it, flawless apart from a thumb-switch which you think will trigger some sort of intense but repeatable psychic data-dump.
"...not it. I know I've developed a track record for talks-with-machines, but I have no desire to chance a mental encounter right now."

>>1125488
>Reiko votes on a delayed re-entry
Seems reasonable. If nothing else, there are salvage sites we passed by to get to the ship. We could harvest some or all of those before heading back to down. (Well, less "we" and more "people other Natalina", as she's going to resting for a bit).

rolled 4, 4 + 6 = 14

---

>>1125515

>>1125507
>rolled 6
Paprika brings one of the translucent pink hockey-puck things into the shower (along with a small basket of other stuff) having mistaken it for a bar of soap. Under the warm spray, it puffs up like biscuit dough being baked, and without thinking Natalina takes a bite.
It's not the most delicious thing she's ever tasted - that would be two and a half years ago, medium-rare steak in white sauce paired with a '63 Rokeg pear brandy, paid for by a weasel-ish man trying to distract her from his syndicate's inferior tool-and-die work - but that shiver up her spine says it's easily hit top ten. Still sorta bland and chalky, but apparently something in there is exactly what Nat's body needs at the moment.

Mechanically speaking, five points restored by Paprika's medical care.

>>1125488
Sensor tusks are working, now. Passive scan yields a superb map of the night sky, and two-meter pixels across the earth's surface, while even at minimal power, active scans pick out sub-millimeter detail, along with esoteric resonances which can be interpreted as clues about molecular structure, from literal miles away. Even through some types of walls! Starting to dial up scan intensity further triggered an "are you sure?" prompt, warning how that type of 'missile lock' may be interpreted as a hostile act by twitchy military types - including, at full power, at least an order of magnitude further away than the Moon.
>rolled 5
Due to impatient idle tapping on an initially unresponsive button, the queued results of a dozen nested "zoom and enhance" commands have taught Reiko far more than she ever really wanted to learn about the inside of her own nose.
>rolled 16, 20, 15, 20
The ship's condition is... still far from ideal, but basically stable. Patched seals on the hangar bay door will burn through during re-entry, no question, but they'll retain air until then, proper aerodynamic orientation should be able to keep dangerous amounts of plasma from leaking in, Cricket or Paprika could provide a backup, and even if they fail, vital systems are rated to survive hangar bay interior being on fire for several more minutes than it should be physically possible for high-speed atmospheric compression to last. Well, at least, assuming you land in water or deep snow afterward. https://www.schlockmercenary.com/2016-10-08 How hard can that be? Dozens of miles around the intended destination are snowed-in to adequate depth, and even if you 'miss the barn,' rest of the planet is more ocean than not.

Scan For Iotum channeled through those sensors quickly spots some good loot within easy reach: ten units of Smart Tissue among Last Call's pulverized remains, and nine more Azure Steel, six Pliable Metal, 15x level-one Io in the terapede husk. Not to mention more Parts than you could reasonably carry. Signs of other good stuff elsewhere in Zone Ivory, and enough interference from those layers of scrap that you're fairly sure there's still more being overlooked.

Nowhere near enough Responsive Synth to rebuild a terapede's guts, though. Upwards of a hundred units would be necessary.

Maybe Natalina could sell that Scalar Boson Rod to the University of Doors for considerably (approx. 10x) more than fair market value, via some tricky contract language? "Oh, we only need enough Responsive Synth for this one little project... don't worry about courier costs, we'll head right over to Banded Mesa ourselves, make the trade at your outpost there, and the entire device we're trying to fix would easily fit inside the vehicle we'll be riding."

rolled 20, 1, 1, 2, 7, 15, 12, 11, 5, 4, 20, 18, 13, 4, 16, 10, 11, 16, 13, 14 = 213

---

Reiko spends some time querying the ship's logs, trying to find out how the repair crews used to work, and asks the ship to give her a runtime of all footage from its main camera. From her perspective, it starts out blurry, but Reiko talks to the ship to remove and edit frames to give a single continuous animation from a relatively stable standpoint. It's blurry and inaccurate, but the logs mooshed together give a general understanding of how life went before the Eighth blew up, and a few post-apocalypse movies after that.
Down on the ground the passengers and repair crews looked like ants, but Reiko manages to find the occasional large package being de-packaged in the hangar, with large plates then carried over to the ship.

Reiko rallies any teammates who aren't busy and explores the area that most of the crates of plating came from. With luck, she might be able to find a means of reinforcing the doors even further, or at least a repair manual.

A few scans for iotum along the way probably won't hurt. 2 effort each time to minimize the strain on her cyberware.

rolled 10, 20, 8, 16, 4, 4, 5, 8, 5, 1, 19, 7, 12, 9, 9, 2, 8, 13, 12, 6 = 178

---

>>1125515
>Being carried off for post-combat aftercare and shower time with her girlfriend sound too nice for Natalina to even feel embarrassed out.
Cricket Moon definitely isn't writing stories about the heroic encounters they've just gone through, or any steamy aftermaths. That journal is strictly for studying strategy to work better with everyone.

Long slow re-entry, with the goal being to head towards the chemical pool? What do we roll to make it happen? Presumably it's an intellect task, so, spending max effort on that, probably in concert with Reiko. Seems like something we'd really like to avoid getting wrong.

rolled 15, 8, 4, 10, 2, 4, 18, 12, 18, 15, 2, 14, 3, 6, 4, 5, 4, 15, 6, 16 = 181

---

>>1125515
>You found yourself again.
"I couldn't have done it without you, Nat."

>Being carried off for post-combat aftercare and shower time with her girlfriend sound too nice for Natalina to even feel embarrassed out.
Once Nat's fully pampered and tucked in somewhere comfy, and provided with hockey pucks and tastier snacks from the supplies we brought, Paprika gets dressed and reapplies her makeup. "I'm gonna go see if Reiko needs a hand. Take it easy, ok? I'll be back to check on you again soon."

>>1126029
>Reiko rallies any teammates who aren't busy and explores the area that most of the crates of plating came from.
Paprika will mostly act as an extra set of hands and eyes for Reiko, though she'd also like to do a little more exploring if Reiko and Cricket are up for it. Sweeping the crew quarters (lower maze) seems like a good idea:

>>1119790
>Sweeping the lower deck with certainty will take a lot longer, and probably at least three people.

I'm guessing I never found my way to cold storage?

rolled 20, 5, 11, 17, 13, 15, 9, 2, 14, 1, 17, 17, 9, 16, 10, 13, 10, 11, 16, 13 = 239

---

After a lengthy and relaxing couple's shower, Natalina swaps her brilliance cloth outfit over to a comfortable set of pajamas and fluffy bathrobe.

>A gleaming emerald roughly the size and shape of a mango floats to the top, debris refusing to cling to it, flawless apart from a thumb-switch which you think will trigger some sort of intense but repeatable psychic data-dump.
>Scan For Iotum channeled through those sensors quickly spots some good loot within easy reach: ten units of Smart Tissue among Last Call's pulverized remains
"Would someone like to help me claim our hard-won spoils, before we rest for the night or head back down?"

Headed back out to salvage Last Call's remains (applying Learned for temporary training and Understanding for an asset), with whoever's around and willing to accompany her (she's hardly going to disembark alone after all that). Reiko or Cricket would probably be the most useful, if someone else is going to make a second salvaging attempt to exhaust it.

>>1126151
>salvage Last Call's remains
>rolled 20
In addition to the described Smart Tissue, and level 5 Nachant Key artifact, Nat finds two units of Mother Marrow, and forensic traces implying that Last Call may have been created deliberately by that vector-algebra squidbot as part of discouraging or misdirecting pursuit.

>>1126117
>I'm guessing I never found my way to cold storage?
>rolled 15
In the center of the lower-deck labyrinth there's a roughly cylindrical block with notably thicker floor and ceiling, clear passages all around but only one entrance: a heavy vault door of reddish-orange metal that almost seems to glow in the dark. Some automated system keeps trying to close the door, but it's been wedged open with an incongruously ordinary hunk of wood, about the length of your forearm - irregularly curved and polished the way you'd expect from driftwood washed up on the beach, but intensely dry to the touch, despite lacking salt or char.
When you pick it up, underside of the hunk of wood turns out to be carved with the name of your lost hometown.

Interior of the cold-storage vault is laid out on a hex grid. Central pillar seems to be control panels, six hexes of open space around it, five short passages (plus the entrance) equally spaced around the perimeter, each leading to a walk-in closet with five alcoves. Each of the 25 alcoves seems to be a stasis coffin designed for a four-meter tall humanoid. None are currently occupied.
Those mummified folks from the elevator could probably be stuffed in here, with better results than just burying them in snow.

>>1126072
>rolled 10, 20
Cricket identifies an elliptical route which will allow initial stage of aerobraking to be followed by a stopover at Branu's Kiss, a 30-mile-wide distant relative of the Eye of the Sea (from back in Thread 1) in sun-synchronous orbit. That's an opportunity to validate water-cooling strategy before fully betting all your lives on it, plus the place looks beautiful and would be fascinating to see close-up.

>>1126029
>rolled 20
Terapede carcass has been transferred to the ship's cargo hold relatively intact - decision of whether to restore it or break it up for scrap can be postponed.
>rolled 1, 1
Proposed intrusions:
a) Scan has tentatively identified a source of Quantum Foam deep inside Zone Black; it's actually the environment suit worn by a neutron star dweller. Only plausible way to win a fight with one of those involves the ship's main gun.
b) Incident report and deep archive inquiries have drawn the attention of an ancient architect's datasphere remnant. If you fire the main gun into the station again, or maybe even nearby, it'll become hostile.

rolled 8, 4, 13, 17, 17, 10, 16, 15, 7, 8, 15, 12, 7, 1, 2, 15, 20, 16, 17, 13 = 233

---

>>>1126181
>forensic traces implying that Last Call may have been created deliberately by that vector-algebra squidbot as part of discouraging or misdirecting pursuit.
When Paprika hears about this, the air around her gets notably hotter and there's an intense gleam in her eye. Contrary to its intentions, everything the squidbot does just seems to make Paprika more ferociously eager to follow it to the end of the universe.

>underside of the hunk of wood turns out to be carved with the name of your lost hometown.
Even after all the time and space brainfuckery Paprika's experienced so far, this was enough to shake her. After a minor freakout, she finds something else to use to wedge the door open and brings the hunk of wood back to show her friends, also bringing up the stasis coffins.

"What do you all make of this? You think it could have something to do with that dimensional husk we ran into outside Jackson's Launch? It feels like a message."

rolled 6, 11, 17, 18, 12, 11, 16, 20, 1, 1, 19, 10, 9, 15, 4, 3, 1, 17, 16, 3 = 210

---

>forensic traces implying that Last Call may have been created deliberately by that vector-algebra squidbot as part of discouraging or misdirecting pursuit.
Natalina sighs. "That's frustrating, but with much trouble the misdirection was, I am glad to have defused and avoid conflict with the cephalodroid around civilians. No permanent harm done, at least."

>level 5 Nachant Key artifact
>you think will trigger some sort of intense but repeatable psychic data-dump
The arkus is inclined to leave that for a later date, when her pools are less depleted.

>underside of the hunk of wood turns out to be carved with the name of [Paprika's] lost hometown.
>"What do you all make of this? You think it could have something to do with that dimensional husk we ran into outside Jackson's Launch? It feels like a message."
"If it is, I don't know what it means. 'We were expecting you'? 'We know where you came from'? ...if you think it's important, you may want to store it somewhere safe, as you cannot currently fireproof it."

Natalina can try to check if it's like the dimensional husk; applying training in dimensional travel and perception to see if that curving and polishing could be indicative of interdimensional travel. (Could also try cross-referencing Natalina's training in history or trying to look Paprika's hometown up in the atlas- but that's unlikely to help. If there was a well-known Beanstalk-climbing hero from thereabouts, they'd know!)

rolled 13, 16, 12, 18, 14, 19, 16, 14, 20, 7, 9, 7, 10, 11, 8, 16, 17, 3, 8, 7 = 245

---

"Uh, girls? I may have, um..." Reiko's ears fold, and she looks to the side as she twiddles her fingers. "provoked the station's cybersecurity."

"Sorry," she squeaks. "Also, something dangerous is in Zone Black. I... don't think we're ready to fight it."

>underside of the hunk of wood turns out to be carved with the name of [Paprika's] lost hometown.
"That can't be good. But we should concentrate on getting out of here. Throw the wood in heavy storage, I'll check if it's a mimic later."

Reiko does a quick survey of the cold storage vault, tries to see if it might be possible for her to disassemble and reassemble it on the ship, or if the design can be reverse-engineered. If it's too fragile she'll leave it be.

>>1126272
>If it's too fragile
More the reverse - it's very thoroughly integrated into the ship. Reinforced structural elements double as passive shielding, subfloor conduits feeding the showers are tapped as redundant heat exchangers. Moving it around would be like trying to surgically relocate somebody's lungs into their feet.

rolled 8, 14, 11, 5, 19, 7, 4, 4, 1, 16, 7, 17, 12, 16, 6, 20, 18, 5, 2, 14 = 206

---

>>1126251
>"I am glad to have defused and avoid conflict with the cephalodroid around civilians. No permanent harm done, at least."
Paprika's grin is showing a few too many teeth as she stares intently at Last Call's remains. She seems a little distant. "Uh huh. Always good to avoid conflict."

>"If it is, I don't know what it means."
"Me neither, Nat. But it can't be a coincidence! Right?"

>>1126272
>"Sorry," she squeaks.
Paprika's all gushy over seeing Reiko act anxious and apologetic. "Reiko, what are you sorry for? It's amazing what you've done with those computers so far. We'd be lost without you. Is this going to interfere with our re-entry plans?"

>"Also, something dangerous is in Zone Black. I... don't think we're ready to fight it."
"Can I go say hi?"

>"Throw the wood in heavy storage, I'll check if it's a mimic later."
Paprika stows the hunk of wood somewhere safe where Reiko can access it.

(from discord)
>could try scrounging for reponsive synth in chainpod-accessible sections of Zone Black
Suddenly restless and a little manic, Paprika borrows a chainpod to check out Zone Black while the others are resting or making ship repairs.

>>1126279
>rolled 8,
Eight miles out along the transit rail, so chainpod air supply still at 97%...
>14, 11,
...you come to a thicker chunk of the station's structure,
>5,
...about 500m in diameter (bigger than the ship, but smaller than Zone Jaune) with four other tensegrity cables splayed out from the far side.
>19
Reiko's initial survey says it's mostly solid - too thick and irregular in composition to clearly resolve the interior, which is really saying something when you're talking about active scanners designed to help mine asteroids - but there's an intact-looking airlock on the side, leading to a hollow pocket with...
>7, 4
...intriguing signs of life and/or a large quantity of responsive synth.

Unfortunately, as soon as you've cycled through the airlock and opened up your chainpod to have a look, it turns out to be the oily mass of nanites known as "strut ooze," which lunges toward the scent of fresh organic matter intending to destructively analyze and collect data for some long-forgotten purpose.

>4, 1, 16
Interior is only about fifteen meters in diameter. Machinery embedded in the back wall seems to be continuously extruding more strut ooze, as well as keeping local air breathable, but could potentially be reprogrammed to secrete usable responsive synth instead. Assuming the ooze doesn't eat your face first.

Fire will probably work. Based on what the innkeeper-abbot told you, strut ooze isn't particularly heat tolerant, it always tries to avoid direct sunlight.

>Cricket identifies an elliptical route which will allow initial stage of aerobraking to be followed by a stopover at Branu's Kiss, a 30-mile-wide distant relative of the Eye of the Sea (from back in Thread 1) in sun-synchronous orbit. That's an opportunity to validate water-cooling strategy before fully betting all your lives on it, plus the place looks beautiful and would be fascinating to see close-up.
"An excellent idea, Cricket."

>>1126272
>"Uh, girls? I may have, um..." Reiko's ears fold, and she looks to the side as she twiddles her fingers. "provoked the station's cybersecurity."
>"Sorry," she squeaks. "Also, something dangerous is in Zone Black. I... don't think we're ready to fight it."
"Well, better to know it's there than to stumble across it unawares? Perhaps it will have relaxed by the time we return."

rolled 10, 2, 3, 1, 17, 5, 12, 16, 15, 18, 5, 11, 11, 11, 4, 16, 5, 4, 2, 15 = 183

---

>>1126369
Flame Shroud up! I'll use Fleet of Foot to move over to the machine and try to figure out a way to turn it off without breaking it. One intellect effort. Math:

3 Intellect points - 2 edge = 1 point spent

rolled 12, 13, 8, 1, 6, 12, 13, 4, 12, 15, 11, 7, 11, 12, 11, 13, 11, 10, 17, 2 = 201

---

Reiko instinctively goes for her arm. She quickly punches in a few commonly-known 'Factory Reset' and 'Sleep Mode' codes and sends the signals out across the zone, hoping that whatever accounts as a controller for this metallic goo will shut down. Best-case scenario, they might even be re-programmable. (Good thing these aren't the shutdown codes for the chainpods... right?)

[Disable Device 2 Effort]

Hiss of equalizing pressure as the chainpod unseals, pseudopod extruding itself in pursuit of an unfamiliar chemical gradient, together yield the momentary instinctive impression of a serpent lunging out of the shadows - but a heartbeat later, shadow and serpent both are revealed to be the same single nanomotile mass.

Paprika sprints across pockmarked nickle-steel walls (gravity here feels like it's barely more than a polite suggestion) curving above the vertical shore of an oily pond, dodging inquisitive tentacles all the way.
>>1126487
>rolled 12, 13, 8

Reiko's voice is in Paprika's mind, claiming to be able to see through her eyes. Burbling zen-garden waterfall - oilfall? - from which more strut ooze is continuously emerging, opposite the airlock, is surrounded for at least three or four meters on all sides by a control panel https://jayeaton.site/Art/RttS/Comics/BugFerretTerminal that looks like it was primarily designed for entertaining hyperactive alien children: smooth corners, oversized gripping surfaces, chunky stylized patterns in oversaturated colors from a palette slightly wrong for the human visual range.

>>1126470
Reiko explains that this isn't a totipotent fabricator, but the type of responsive synth they need in order to repair the terapede has a strict subset of strut ooze capabilities. Already uploaded a revision worm with deliberately flawed blueprints, but direct hardware access is necessary in order to clear ALL the local caches at once, prevent what's informally known as the 'three most terrifying...' https://thecodelesscode.com/case/225
>rolled 10
>inability in crafting numenera, salvaging numenera, and understanding numenera
Paprika is still hung up on how they're even talking. https://www.egscomics.com/comic/2016-03-03 Isn't there too much hard vacuum? She couldn't hear anything at all outside the chainpod on the way here.

Reiko says that's not important right now, Paprika just needs to pull the reset lever. Not that...! Yes, over there, teal-and-orange candycane stripes.
>rolled 2
>trained in all Speed defense tasks
Paprika is pretty good at dodging tentacles, but that expertise has limits when she's sufficiently distracted. Seven damage from the impact, reduced by armor to five.

>rolled 3, 1
>specialized in jumping
Likewise, acrobatics with knee-deep mud, even if it weren't actively pulling her in deeper. Fire slows it down, but doesn't make it let go. Has it covered her face, or is that just billowing oily smoke? Smoke should feel hot, should be stinging her eyes, coughing and choking, but there's only a faint tickle like she can't decide whether she needs to sneeze.

Is that the correct lever, in her hand now? Feels like the right shape, maybe, but Reiko was really insistent about colors, and right now Paprika can't see a damn thing.

Can barely hear Reiko's voice over the hissing. That spot on Paprika's elbow, where she gave blood to the ship, is itching like crazy, spreading out, like something's crawling up and down inside her arm.

Hiss isn't the airlock leaking. It's an argument. Natalina would know what the words [?] mean, but she's miles away. From the tone... "Give it back!" "I saw it first!" "the Boss likes me better!" "Viridian heretic!" That sort of thing. Demons, haggling over a lost soul. Presumably her own.

When somebody gets caught by strut ooze, sinks all the way in, usually there aren't even bones left afterward.

>rolled 17
>remote assist from Reiko
Time continues to pass.

Within Paprika's mind, vision and consciousness stop angrily avoiding each other. Their frantic reunion spawns a pounding headache.

Apparently that was the right lever. Room looks a lot more spacious with all the ooze gone, but smoke's still so thick, air is barely breathable.

Wordless hiss tapers off, coalesces into a glimmer: that oily thing couldn't [destructively analyze / eat] her because the ship called dibs.
Not sure if comforted.

rolled 2 + 5 = 7

---

Reiko takes a moment to catch her breath... did she forget to do that? She'll need a nap when they find a way out of this.

Reiko helps Paprika back into the chainpod and seal the door so they can all take a breath.

>How they're even talking.
"Oh, that was pretty awesome. You got some nanotech splattered around your face, and it started eating you at the microbial level, so I was poking shutdown commands left and right-" Reiko stops, realizing Paprika can't see her AR display. "sorry. Basically, I used my implant to order a few clusters of nanomites on your face to shut down, but then I realized I was somehow sending them direct, complex orders and they followed with precision! Which meant I could order one particular cluster of the goo to stop eating you and vibrate words instead. And the problem was I could only give commands to around three or four clusters at a time, and there were around five hundred thousand that I could see. And I tried to replace the nanomachine printer's schematics with bacteria-sized plushies but that only stopped further reproduction. I needed you to, well, 'attack the mainframe' to get the big machine to brainwash every visible nanomite cluster and then some!"

>Air's filling up with smoke
"Uh-oh."

rolled 8, 18, 5, 11, 9, 5, 1, 17, 15, 17, 3, 11, 16, 5, 20, 13, 8, 9, 12, 11 = 214

---

>>1126223
Cricket mutters, half to herself tracing the wood with a finger

"This whole thing feels like a trap. These "crew quarters" are unlike any barracks I'm familiar with. They seem more like some sort of holding cells. Reinforced floor and ceiling? Single entry? This vessel was for mining? Maybe the crew were not sent willingly? I am familiar with the practice of press-ganging for hard labor. Criminals, dissidents, foreigners... you all were press ganged yourselves, more or less, were you not? Perhaps this is a sort of poem. See how you now, crew of this vessel, have become trapped within its walls, forced to dangerous work, as the occupants before."

>>1126369
>>1126642
After Paprika's restless stunt leaves her at risk of permanently leaving the party, Cricket asks if there's any hold up to leaving? Maybe if we are going to get ominous messages and hounded on all sides by deadly space hazards, they could just... go somewhere else? You go off risking your life, not for honor but because you are stressed, yes? Maybe instead, come back, we can go off seeking adventure elsewhere, rather than run off alone into hostile environments without support? Please?

rolled 15, 9, 2, 12, 3, 13, 8, 4, 3, 12, 1, 1, 7, 5, 2, 19, 8, 19, 7, 5 = 155

---

>>1126756
>These "crew quarters" are unlike any barracks I'm familiar with. They seem more like some sort of holding cells.
"The smart-cloth privacy barriers seem unlike to hold anyone but me, and even then, only when unwisely trying to phase directly through." Natalina tries to reassure Cricket. "If anything, that the emergency medical area is so sturdy suggests compassionate or practical design."

>you all were press ganged yourselves, more or less, were you not?
"I suppose needing to avert planetary extinction is a form of duress. Though I do not believe it one our employeer is responsible for. That employment and repayment is offered at all, and that individual have been able to part from our company, feel like crucial differences."

>What's going on with Paprika
Bumping into Reiko later, the arkus is surprised and upset to discover something came distressing close to eating her girlfriend. Who may now be unable to return on her own, cut off across a long stretch of vaccum, preventing Natalina from running off after her, as her instincts immediately begin to clamor for.

Another chainpod docking in the same location would presumably be contaminated with the same smokey air. Can we rig up some kind of portable air canisters, or does the ship have some handy? An air purifier?

rolled 19, 1, 7, 5, 7, 13, 16, 11, 2, 17, 1, 15, 10, 9, 7, 5, 13, 19, 11, 11 = 199

---

>>1126642
Paprika focuses on the floor beneath her for a while. The rise and fall of her chest as she slows her breathing. "Reiko...thanks."

>Not sure if comforted.
Well, she's alive. If the ship also craves Paprika's supple flesh, she can cross that bridge when she gets to it.

>>1126697
>"Oh, that was pretty awesome. ..."
Paprika blanks out most of Reiko's explanation as she tries to ground herself. Something about plushies? She could use something to snuggle right now. "Uh...any idea why the smoke isn't making me cough? I feel weird."

>Bumping into Reiko later, the arkus is surprised and upset to discover something came distressing close to eating her girlfriend.
Paprika's gathered herself a bit by the time Nat comes into the conversation. "Reiko, can she hear me? Please tell her I'm fine. I don't want her to worry. And hey, now we'll have all the centipede guts we'll ever need!"

Can Paprika make heads or tails of the panel she just interacted with, now that she has a minute? Is the air replenishing, or is she on a time limit?

>>1126776
>Can Paprika make heads or tails of the panel she just interacted with, now that she has a minute? Is the air replenishing, or is she on a time limit?
>rolled 19
>inability at understanding numenera
>one level of intellect effort

Stuff Reiko said before is starting to make more sense. It's like... there's a printing press, but instead of paper, it prints on oil. Reiko sent a... hungry little caterpillar, through the datasphere, which snuck into the printer's office and stole letters out of the storage tray. Everything but the vowels, let's say. Had to pull that lever to break up the page currently being printed, so the burglar-worm could reach those last few consonants.

Now, when it tries to EAT YOU-EAT YOU-EAT YOU the closest it can get is EA O U-EA O U, and "O" is what you need to breathe, while "U-EA" is the stuff needed for rebuilding a terapede's guts.

Air does seem to be getting clearer... very, very slowly. Or at least it's not getting worse.

Maybe there's an air intake that's gotten clogged. You could speed along the cleanup process by swapping that clogged filter for a fresh one.
>rolled 1
...assuming you can find a fresh one. And don't accidentally break the machine by letting a big whiff of unfiltered smoke into its delicate innards.

rolled 6, 4 + 8 = 18

---

>>1126787
Paprika wants to meet this tiny burglar-worm.

>Air does seem to be getting clearer... very, very slowly. Or at least it's not getting worse.
"Reiko, I think I'm good to sit tight. I'm not in any immediate danger, but I may need a ride back. Just be careful, ok? The smoke...well, I feel fine, but it's pretty thick. I think that transfusion did something to me."

>And don't accidentally break the machine by letting a big whiff of unfiltered smoke into its delicate innards.
I won't risk breaking the air-giving machine.

Figure it's safe to say I brought water and snacks on this adventure, so I'm going to take both 10-minute and 1-hour recovery rolls while waiting for pickup.

Paprika sits down, carefully undoes her tight bun and lets her hair fall over her shoulders, down her back, long enough to touch the floor. She lets her mind wander to those couple days she spent in a maid dress, packed in a space elevator with that damn squidbot, and silly fantasies about it bringing her along and coercing her into cleaning its spaceship. "Let it go, girl. Gotta focus on saving the world. Wish I didn't get so hung up on things."

Making two recovery rolls!