Session 01: Terra Nova

You rest for two hours back on the starship Sigmund Freud. Before you rest, Charles heals all wounded characters 6 more points (up to your maximum).

Everyone gets to refresh 4 GENERAL abilities EXCEPT HEALTH to full.

John, I drained your medic skill to zero, so you'll want to refresh that.

Investigative skills refresh between adventures, so what you spent there is still spent.

THE CONTRACT

The Lasers are to travel to the Terra Nova’s last known

position, ascertain its status, investigate the cause of

the disaster, and provide a full report to the company.

They also want any survivors evacuated if possible. The

contract is a private one, served by Tiara Cruise Lines,

the owner of the vessel. No salvage rights are given.

You've met two of the five survivors:

Aime Antla, Washed-up entertainer. Amie had some fantasy about this cruise being the start of her comeback, but she's not seeing things clearly. She has a drinking problem and the shock of all the death and destruction hasn't helped anything.

Cheshire-U, Independently wealthy cybe coder. Bio Signatures showed that he had the nano-bots inside of him, but he confided to Garth that they make great thermal insulators when rendered inert. He's polite, but would only open up to Garth in private.

The other three survivors are: Theodora Simon: Vas Mal Physician and Xenobiologist, Enha Riverwend: Balla Diplomat, and Cody Mason, System's Engineer (who has been on the ship for decades).

You found

• The ship had be sabotaged by the nanobots.
• The nanobots vented every occupied suite into space.
• There is a "Bubble Generator" attached to the Engine Core in the Engine Room. It was made by a consortium known as "Project 12."
• The Bubble Generator creates death fields that annihilate matter and energy. It is designed to render a 1 light year radius sphere a death trap.
• Hearing "Project 12" made Charles turn white. He mumbled something about the Mohilar war and secrets.
• The official schematics of the ship do not show the Bubble Generator, or the Henry Tubes that provide quick access to different parts of the ship.
• The security drones were not your friends.
• The ship was fabricating more security drones until you destroyed the 3D printers that were making them.

Remaining Mysteries:

• Who is controlling the nanobots?
• Why? What's their motive?
• Why is there a secret weapon of mass destruction on board a passenger liner?
• Where are the remaining survivors?
• What does the white powder taste like when licked?
• And what else?

The airlock cycles as the first wave of Lasers return to their ship.

The hologram of Sigmund Freud drops his cigar. “Gott im himmel! Vat happened to you?”

“Security Drones.”

“Powering up the sickbay now.”

Charles nods and shepherds the wounded down to his clinic.

“So vat happened over in dat space hulk?”

The lasers tell Ziggy the story. He’s heard of Cheshire-U and Aime Antla. “Ve have some holos of Ms. Antla as Inspector Marlene, Psychic Detective. I've thought it got a little stale in its fourth season, but so?”

When the lasers fill Ziggy in on Ms. Antla’s condition, he shakes his head. “Charles, you are trained in reformatting the neural network of addicts’ brains. We can cure her.”

Charles nods. “Only if she wants to be cured.”

“Sad, but true. Now, we have the other matter.” The hologram consults his pocket watch.

“Oh?”

“Ja, the bubble generator. Assuming it doesn't kill us all, then? Vhat you do with it will affect our reputation. Selling it on the black market,” he glares at Gus, “would be a significant black mark.”

“If it got out.”

Ziggy waves a hand. “It alvays gets out. Even handing over to the Combine will anger the Bleedists.”

“What if we keep it?”

Ziggy shakes his head sadly. “No one’s penis is so small as to make you want to wave this terrible weapon around the bleed. We’d be hunted down. There must be other options.”