The crew meet in the office of Okram Switchback, the governor and the owner of Switchback’s World. As they look out the large picture window upon the city and rolling farmland beyond, the portly man introduces himself and those before him. Nannie, the marine, Dr. Realy, the scientist, and Orvin, the teamster. Each has talents that Okram waxes will help with the mission he has before them.

The mission; travel past the quarantine to The Deep, the abandoned Cloudbank Synthetics android factory now the home of the insane, human-hating super AI known as Monarch, delve into its depths and find his son, Caspar Switchback. Caspar is a piece of work. Drummed out of the colonial marines for all sorts of improper behaviours, he and fellow washout “spliff” hired a cameraman and a third marine (this one still an actual marine) and bought a synthetic to act as their packmule and decoy to set out on an “adventure podcast”. Caspar essentially goes to dangerous places, faces a challenge put to them by his subscribers, comes out on top, and finds something even worse next time. The challenge that brought him to the deep was to go in, get to Monarch, and flip him the bird. Okram plays a video, the last video that came out of the deep for the stream. It shows Caspar suckerpunching a rather basic looking android strapped into an elaborate throne-like chair. The synth then calls for the death of Caspar and his entourage, who flee. The android, Augur-9, falls behind and it is not long before the feed drops among the chaos.

Okram admits that he knows that his son is a boarish self-important ass, but Caspar is still his son. If possible, he wants him back, and is willing to initially pay 2mcr for Caspar’s safe return, 1 million for news and confirmation of his death. Dr. Realy manages to negotiate a ship, a raider that Okram is more than capable of supplying, rather than the success money. Okram provides information on the other members, Billiam the camera man, and Colonel Molson, an actual capable marine and Okram’s mole regarding his son’s activities. The plan is to launch the crew in a modified coffin lander from near the quarantine on a course with The Bell, a small ramshackle station that provides a rest stop for those who would go into the larger station, and there are many as Monarch is constantly churning out new tech ideas and innovations worth millions to those outside the blockade. Having agreed, the three head out and get ready to spend a few weeks in cryosleep.

They awake, get sorted, and are launched in their modified lander towards The Bell. Moments later their is a brilliant flash, and a loud rumble of a shockwave as the explosion of the ship that launched them reaches the crew. Hours pass until auto thrusters begin to slow the ascent of the lander and it eventually halts and catches itself in the inside of the thruster cone in the Bell. 

A man’s voice, thick heavy russian accent, comes across the coms. They identify themselves as Arkady, the steward of The Bell, he drifts out in his vacc suit as the crew dons theirs and helps them make their way back to the airlock. As the airlock is cycling, Arkady takes off his helmet…too soon!!  Arkady begins to choke, to suffocate…and he’s faking. The grizzled spacer chuckles, deflecting criticism at the fear he caused them saying that they do this to all new comers, or “shallow enders” as many of the divers call them. No harm or offence meant. He quickly gives them a tour of the station starting with “Lost and Found” , the only real social area/drinking establishment on The Bell, currently headed by Jensen of the Barrista’s Union. Lost and Found is also home to the only real place to buy new or used gear, some of it gently used, some of it not so much. Prices are much higher, but barter for things the bar and The Bell need is always an option.

Next Arkady takes them to the Chapel, lit by candles, an enormous fake whale skeleton in the “rafters”, a large crucifix with too many arms on one side, and a tabernacle on the other. A man mostly mechanical, floats in a kneeling position, Arkady names him “Ghost Eater”, and tells the characters that the man is a little strange and often best avoided. He introduces the crew to Noriko, who maintains the chapel as well as the Garden and is a devout follower of the Minotaur. This piques the attention of Dr. Realy, who has questions? Noriko explains that the Minotaur is the destined saviour of humanity, cursed by Monarch and imprisoned in both a frightful and hideous form as well as inside an elaborate labyrinth. She explains the sacrament of the minotaur, showing the Doctor a thin round wafer of the creature’s dried flesh stored in the tabernacle, and promises to put together an info packet for him when she has the time. 

The crew continues into the garden, a spherical chamber of short greenery with dozens of small shrines containing names and sometimes small knick knacks within. These Noriko says, are those who have come before, who the Minotaur could not save. Arkady brings a bit of clarity, explaining that each little shrine is for a diver who never came back from a Delve. Following the Steward of the Bell, Arkady shows them where his bunk is, with a warning to stay out of his stuff, followed by the Tank., a large poorly lit chamber with a number of sleeping bags taped to the wall, several individuals with SLF tattoos, androids in an unlikely place as well as a number of figures dressed similarly to Orvin. Veteran divers ready to venture forth to make their fortune on Monarchs advanced discoveries and inventions. Things in some cases beyond the human capacity to fully comprehend, and worth millions if not billions of credits.

The crew decides to get right to it and meets up with Arkady for his 7 o’clock (am ? pm? Who knows?) shuttle run to The Deep. They make their way over, seeing the enormous docking claws sit idly in the empty bay. Arkady reminds them that he will be leaving in about 15 minutes and won't be back for 12 hours as they settle down to enjoy the gravity shared by the factory with the docked shuttle. They make their way down several floors worth of concrete steps before  reaching the door and opening it up to reception

The sight that greets them is not encouraging. Torn and stained carpet littered with shell casings the walls show signs of one or more long forgotten gun fights, someone has spraypainted the words “One Way Out” on the wall. A desk largely intact houses a computer terminal, which is broken. A lone body sways subtly in the non existent wind. Dr. Realy checks the body, finding a flask shaped bottle of brown liquid. The words "ELIXIR OF FORGETFULNESS”. Orvin has less luck with the terminal, realizing that its damaged beyond what his particular expertise can do. They decide to take the door to the right, meandering though the concrete halls and eventually arrive at the cafeteria. The scene is a disaster zone with a small but apparently unsuccessful fort built out of tables and chairs. A door to the “south” opens and the pair find themselves before a security station.

The station with its stainless steel gates is defended by a generic near featureless security android, sitting in a clear plexiglass bubble in control of an autocannon. The malfunction weapon scanners go off indicating to it that the pair arm armed (though since Dr. Realy only carries a scalpel, “armed” would seem to be a relative term). IT informs the crew that they have 20 seconds to surrender their weapons or it will dispatch them. They back out give Orvin the weapons and the Doctor comes back in. This time the synthetic is not standoffish. It answers Realy’s basic questions with the minimal amount of “helpful” speech seemingly possible. When asked about a working terminal it suggests, after a few moments of thought, that he should continue to the cubicle farm and gives directions. Realy passes by and, navigating the bland concrete and metal hallways, arrives at his destination. He pauses, wondering both if he should go at it alone or find a way to bring the others around with him, and what bizarre sights that he may encounter behind this door? 

High Scores

Dr. Realy (1) Stress 4

Nannie (1) Stress 3

Orvin (1) Stress 3

Session 2

Dr. Realy opens the door to the “cubicle farm” and is immediately greeted by the smell of smoke and burning trash. Red emergency lights wash over cubicles converted into shelters and campsites. The fire burns from a barrel-like object in the center, around which multiple cans of food, some empty, some half full, are strewn. The cans have an all white label with the single word “peaches” in bold capital letters on the side. A door on the far end of this area appears to be openable only by keycard. The Doctor heads back, trying to find a way around the security android. He finds a storage room, which will not give access without a retinal scan. Believing his to not be on file, Realy continues on to the door across the hall.

Orvin, not wanting to wander and lose the Doctor, decides to see what he can find in the cafeteria. After kicking a few bags and wrappers around he start moving the tables and chairs that have been used to form a number of makeshift barricades. The first one he moves reveals a gruesome prize, two men in armor, seemingly Troubleshooters, are “nailed to the wall. Nails have not been used here, rather the fingers of androids have been pushed through them in dozens of places, rooting them to the wall behind. Orvin gets on the comms and raises Dr. Realy to let him know what he has uncovered.

Realy hears the message as he comes up to a door marked ”employee fitness center”. Orvin’s voice is a touch distorted and a bit difficult to hear, but he gets the message as he looks around the discarded weights, exercise machines, mats, and shattered mirrors. Thinking he might have some luck in the locker room, he goes in and starts scavenging, fining first a datastick, and then the unconscious body of a man in a vacc suit stuffed into a locker. Bringing the man to, he identifies himself as Dr. Luigi Aune. Luigi’s story is that he and his colleague Dr. Boyd came here to find on of Monarch’s artifacts - a diagram for how to build a Jump Drive engine that uses only half the conventional fuel that current top of the line models use. They made their way back up from deep within Level 3 and ran afoul of some Troubleshooters.  They ran in here to hide, and the next thing Luigi remembers is waking up on the floor with Realy standing over him. Luigi rubbs the back of his head frequently, wincing as he does.

The two doctors make their way back towards reception, Luigi has come here via a different path. Turning left in the hall they pass through a second security checkpoint. This one has been the scene of a brutal fight, bullet casings, holes in walls and barriers, scorch marks, melted bullet resistant glass. The android in the bubble has been torn to shreds and its machine gun slagged. The two are able to push the damaged barrier open so that it wont bend back and continue up the concrete stairs back to reception.

A little more time goes by in the Cafeteria when Orvin hears a sound from the direction they came. It is Dr. REady and Luigi. Introductions are made and stories are caught up. Luigi asks if they have been to the kitchen yet, and offers to show them “The Rat”. Inside they see a stature of a golden rat, roughly 18 inches tall, sitting at the end of a long stainless steel prep table. Before it are 5 cans of spaghetti, 7 cigarettes, and 3 clips for SMGs. Orvin is discouraged from moving or taking the rat, as taking the rat, according to Luigi, means that the stuff wont keep coming back. It all sounds a bit odd to Dr. Realy, as typically people leave items for an idol, not the other way around, perhaps this is some sort of psych experiment run by Monarch?

Another thing not quite sitting right with Realy and Orvin is Luigi himself. There is something off about him, something not quite right. Realy can’t place if this sense of wrong is something to do with Luigi’s intent, or if its just the scientist’s recollection that is off. He cannot put his finger on it, and realizes that they do not have enough understanding of the Deep to discern any inconsistencies as the trio continues towards the meeting rooms. The first has been the site of some sort of standoff. Fancy carpet and chais have been trashed, a beautiful meeting table is turn on its side facing the door. The greeting”Fuck Off” crudely carved into it. Behind it a backpack filled with stimpacks, shotgun shells, and a flashlight. Luigi leads the look into the next room. The furnishings and layout much less grandiose. Someone has torn and shredded dozens of books and tossed the paper all over the floor.

Orvin and Realy, digging through, make their own discoveries. Realy finds minicassette tapes, where ORvin finds an android logic core about the size of a fist. Taped to this however is an EMP grenade primed to explode when moved. The trio are not able to get away and all of their electronics are burned. This is exceptionally bad for Luigi as his eyes are cybernetic. After a bit of an outburst, which he apologizes for, the duo help Dr. Aune back to reception, where he feels his way around to start the climb back up to the docking bay.

With many hours before Arkady is to come back. Orvin and Realy decide to poke around the cubicle camp to see if any interesting salvage can be made before leaving. Dr. REaly discovers a laminated map of the second level of the Deep, with notations and “updates” written in marker. Orvin again discovers EMP grenades - this time though they are not part of a booby trap. He picks the pair of them up and the duo come up with  a bold and potentially lethal plan as they make their way back to the security android.

Before it can react, Orvin goes to throw an EMP grenade under it but the nerves cause it to slip out of his hands and fly backwards, doing nothing but drawing the attention of the security droid and its machine gun. Though some miracle it misses Orvins, bullets whizzing by so close he can feel the displacement of air. Adrenaline courses through the Teamster’s veins as his fight or flight response kicks in. He chooses fight and tosses the second grenade under, this time it explodes and  burns the synthetic’s synapses. It would appear, as Orvin enters the sphere and begins separating the machine gun from it, that the risky gamble has paid off.

Or has it? Dr. Realy, hearing multiple footsteps briskly approaching in an eerie lockstep, turns to see three security android, all carrying SMG’s rushing towards the checkpoint. Realy hurries to  try and get on the other side of the barrier before they arrive, and is unable to get behind it before the lead drone riddles his vacc suit with holes. Realy uses the barrier as cover and Orvin the dome. This works well for a while until a pair of drones concentrate their fire on Realy’s position. Their bullets punch though the cover and the Doctor as well, who rushes back to the cafeteria, bullets ricocheting off of the concrete walls as he flees.

Orvin is in a much better spot. Though the machine gun takes a little getting used to, he manages to slag one of the androids with a pair of well placed hits. The remaining two put their attention on him as Realy retreats to the cafeteria. It takes a minute or so, but due to Orvin’s superior position and firepower the end of the battle was never in question. The pair are able to scrounge the working SMGs some ammo and even an intact logic core before deciding that it might be a good idea to head back to the docking bay and rest until Arkady comes back.

While waiting they are able to converse with Luigi, whose eyesight is gradually returning but is still not 100 percent. They ask a number of questions to Luigi who answers seemingly innocently. The pair still are unsure about Dr. Aune, something about his story does not sit right, but their attempts to get to the bottom of it are stoked by the gaps in his memory and the lack of context the duo has. 

This gets even more confusing once Arkady arrives. Neither Luigi or Arkady have ever seen each other. The three tell Arkady Luigi’s story, and frustratingly what Arkady hears makes enough sense to leave the seasoned spacer just as uncertain as the other two. Arkady mentioned that though rare, others have gone from the blockade directly to The Deep, so it is not unheard of that someone could get there without him knowing, the bit about the troubleshooters also makes sense as Arkady mentions that this is a common point for them to storm The Deep from and they shoot first and never ask questions. Though a little uncertain, the trio make their way onto the Archeron and back to The Bell, their first delve over all a success, but leaving many questions and uncertainties about The Deep and their mission.

High Scores

Dr. Realy (2) Stress 3 Bends: 1

Nannie (1) Stress 3 Bends: 0

Orvin (2) Stress 8  Bends: 2

Dr. Realy and Orvin dock at The Bell, Dr. Luigi Aune gives them his thanks before floating onto the station, Arkady holds the pair back a moment, asking them questions regarding who he is, how they found him and what he told them. Arkady suspects that Dr. Aune may be an infiltrator, something that has not really come up prior to now. The pair ask the grizzled steward about infiltrators, if their mission is simply to get past the blockade. Arkady surprises them a little bit as he tells them that there is no understood uniform mission or plot, and to make matters worse the infiltrators themselves do not know their mission, or even that they are infiltrators, until they do. Almost, he tells them, as if a switch is flipped and information is suddenly there.

With this paranoia-inducing information, the pair drift up to the lost and found, where they find Nannie chatting with Jensen about what exactly he and the rest of the Barrista’s guild does here.  They are talking about possibly trading for the nail gun that Lost and Found is currently holding on to when the duro reconnects and puts a SMG down in trade. They also trade another gun for a hand welder as well as a can of spaghetti and the cigarettes they found for the rat for a few shots worth of machine gun rounds. News of the destruction of the second security checkpoint spreads giving the crew a bit of clout as they make their way around the station. Jensen tells them that if they can find some food, booze, and the "little things” that make the world go round, he will  offer them primo trades in exchange. 

Nannie ends up speaking a bit to a new arrival, the sole survivor on a shot up raider, while Dr. Realy approaches The Ghost Eater. The Ghost Eater is one of a number of people, according to Jensen, that will trade for functioning android logic cores. It takes the Doctor a bit of verbal gymnastics, but he is able to tease out that Ghost Eater uses the core to trap ghosts, the fragmented and deranged brainscans that occasionally wander the levels of The Deep. Satisfied, Dr. Realy enters negotiation around the logic core. They settle on the 1kcr that Ghost eater offers, plus some information on The Deep that The Doctor  has decided to wait on till there is a greater need.

Orvin drifts around the station, trying to get an idea about its construction. As he suspected, it is a number of sections repurposed and fused together by any means necessary to serve as a livable habitat. There are a number of areas that look like they are being held together by little more than chewing gum and a prayer. Overall the ingenuity involved is, Orvin concludes, fairly impressive but must require near constant maintenance. As if to confirm, Orvin floats across Arkady checking joints, the two speak and Arkady essentially offers the teamster a job helping him keep the place in one piece in exchange for payment in the occasional tradable good and tidbit of information. He gets Orvin some tools from Lost and Found and lets him know about a place on level 3 called “The Tool Shed” Rumoured to be a cache of valuable goods.

The next sortie of the Archenon come and the trio board the well used shuttle to return to The Deep, the first voyage for NAnnie and the new arrival Vere Williford, a former asteroid miner, they ask him a bunch of questions on the way over and it becomes very apparent that he has no idea what he is getting into, he’s not ever armed. He asks to tag along with the crew. They make their way through the horrorshow of the entry office at the bottom to the stairwell before making their way over to the Rat to show Nannie and to see what goods they can sweep up.

They make their way easily with much less of a headache than the first time and encounter a man, ratty looking like he’s been on The Deep for sometime. He is eating out of a plain white can that says BEANS in big capital letters on the side. The crew goes to reach for some of the stuff, which the man violently defends at the cost of several of his teeth and a severe beating by Nannie. The unconscious lunatic on the floor of the kitchen, the crew make their way back out to the cafeteria and decide to dive a little deeper, using the map Dr. Realy found of the second floor to guide them. What will this hold? What wonders, what horrors, will they discover and they continue further into Monarch’s madness?

High Scores

Dr. Realy (3) Stress 2 Bends: 1

Nannie (2) Stress 5 Bends: 0

Orvin (3) Stress 8  Bends: 2