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The Gadget - Pt 1
46 Plays6 months ago
It's here! Part one of our season finale! The Fixer and company land in New Mexico, on one of the most important dates in human history: the testing of *the first Atomic Bomb.*
Join Brand Osorio, Caiden MacCoyne, and Pandora Beatrix, along with GM Casey Jones as Team TARDIS try to save History by ensuring it gets blown to smithereens!
*Do* stick around for interviews with the players. Your ears are in for a treat! If you'd like to run a game of D&D or Doctor Who of your very own, find Casey on StartPlaying!
Come say hi on our Discord! Be sure to subscribe and leave a question or comment! Don't forget to follow us on Twitter and BlueSky for more updates!
Send your questions and fan art to [email protected]!
Music by Tabletop AudioTheme by RJ Pirchinello
Zencastr Offer Link: https://zen.ai/mkprJopWW73CH-zo_n6zJw
Zencastr Discount: anywherebutnow
With tabletop gaming as a storytelling tool, the show features the Doctor Who roleplaying game from Cubicle 7, powered by the Vortex System, designed by David F. Chapman.
Game Originally Created by David F. Chapman
Addl. Game Writing by Will Brooks, Zak Dale-Clutterbuck, Eleanor Hingley, Andrew Peregrine, John Sewell, Chris Spivey
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Learn more about Cubicle7!
Website: https://cubicle7games.com/doctor-who-the-roleplaying-game-second-edition
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cubicle7
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Cubicle7Entertainment
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Transcript
Podcast Introduction
00:00:05
Speaker
Time travel, sci-fi adventures, and risky rolls of the dice lie ahead. Hello and welcome to Anywhere But Now, a Doctor Who actual play podcast.
Meet the Crew
00:00:15
Speaker
I'm your host and GM, Casey Jones. The next hour and a half or so holds a thrilling adventure in time and space.
00:00:23
Speaker
So let's dive in. With me is the daring crew of our time-traveling machine. Playing the Fixer is the charming and resourceful Brandisorio. Hello, Brand. Hello. And joining him is Maeve Sullivan, played by the ebullient Caden McCoyne. Welcome back, Caden. Hey there. Finishing the TARDIS team is Pandora Beatrix as the delightfully chaotic Calamity Hap.
Game Rules & Sponsorship
00:00:51
Speaker
Hi.
00:00:53
Speaker
Can I play? Can I play?
00:00:56
Speaker
Are you all excited? Do you feel that energy? I hope so, because we are ending things with a bang. We play with the second edition of Cubicle 7's Doctor Who rulebooks. House rules mean our players begin the game with five, count them five, story points each. However, because they have accomplished several long-term goals, last time in the ruling class, all three players are starting today
00:01:24
Speaker
with six story points. We are recording today's episode and every episode on Zencaster, an excellent resource for podcasters, both amateur and pro. And if you'd like a discount on your Zencaster membership, simply use the discount code anywhere but now, all one word, link and details in the doobadoo.
Listener Engagement
00:01:44
Speaker
Get ready for a collaborative, immersive storytelling experience and stick around after the game for interviews with the players.
00:01:53
Speaker
A bigger on the inside thank you to our listeners. Time is truly a gift, where it wouldn't be the present. We thank you for spending yours with us. If you like what you hear, leave a review, rate the show, and follow us on Blue Sky and Twitter at anywhere but now. Join us on Discord, share the show with your friends. Word of mouth is a huge help.
00:02:17
Speaker
Have questions or lovely fan art you want to share? Send them our way on Anywhere But Now, podcast at gmail.com. And if you'd like me to run a game for you, find me on startplaying.games. Brought to you wherever you're listening in time and space. This is Anywhere But Now.
Pilot Exam Anxiety
00:03:12
Speaker
We begin with the fixer at Gallifreyan University, where it's hard not to be a little anxious.
00:03:20
Speaker
Fixer, they've posted marks for the first round of piloting exams. No surprise, the Hexad has taken top marks. They've got some hotshot pilot in their cloister. Dodger got an incomplete, as he still hasn't come back. And then there's you.
Boarding the TARDIS
00:03:37
Speaker
You're in the hall, leading to Garage 12. Your TARDIS is waiting for you on the platform, along
00:03:45
Speaker
with your assigned TA. Sudden, fresh-faced ginger you've seen around campus a lot. He's waiting with his back to the doors and just bouncing on his feet by the TARDIS. Hello, hello. Yes, you are the Fixer, am I correct? That is correct. And you are? The Altitor, charmed. I'm assisting Professor Piria this decade. Sansa regrets her year is rather full this week. Still, you are right on time.
TARDIS Chase Begins
00:04:15
Speaker
Have you been aboard?
00:04:15
Speaker
Not yet, no. Oh, after you. And the TARDIS doors slide open. Step inside and just marvel at the immense beauty of it. Your TARDIS is pristine. Glistening plexiglass pipes are spotless. The console gleams in the light and the dispatch sits waiting. Opportunity is everywhere, Fixer.
00:04:44
Speaker
And yet, something is missing. It's so close to perfect. Yes, the Model 60s are quite a step up from some of the... ...lusine pieces that have gone missing in the previous. Regardless, I'm happy to be along with you. Since you're here to observe, we should get you something companies sit on.
00:05:06
Speaker
I'm sure there'll be time for that later. As it is, I don't wish to hover, of course, but I do want to be able to witness your piloting first-hand. I've heard good things from mostly reliable sources. Yeah, well, you know, I've been putting a lot of work into it and a lot of effort, and sometimes effort really pays off, and sometimes it doesn't quite pay off like one hopes, but I'm sure more effort will make up for that.
00:05:32
Speaker
There is an enthusiastic and optimistic, you know, from the bells. The auditor raises an eyebrow and turns his head like, oh, hasn't made that sound before. We must be in good company. And he gives you a friendly pat on the back and
00:05:51
Speaker
you reach for the console and we cut to the present where you are in a chase alarms are sounding the whole ship trembles and shakes the TARDIS warps into the vortex en route to a week ago
00:06:10
Speaker
when it slams into another ship in the vortex. Everyone, please give me a coordination roll to stay on your feet.
Turbulence and Coordination
00:06:22
Speaker
Clue the auditor. That's a one on those dice. That's not super. Okay. If it's just coordination, Calamity has a seven with nothing special. Okay. That's great. Maeve, Big Sur, how did we fare with our coordination rolls?
00:06:37
Speaker
I got a one and a four for a total of eight. I also got a one and a four. How do you like those odds? Ooh. Well, I got a one and a five for a total of nine. Okay. Yeah. With the exception of Calamity, who is the only one among us that did not have a one in those dice, Fixer, Maeve, and the auditor go flying as the TARDIS and Toto does a 360.
00:07:06
Speaker
on a vertical axis. Calamity, you fall on your butt however you land on that rolly uh roll ottoman that you specifically wanted to see about getting for the TARDIS and it just rolls you right past the console. Give us another coordination check to see if you can grab on for that. Nave and Fixer, please give me a strength check to get back on your feet. This time I got a two and a one for a five.
00:07:35
Speaker
Oh, calamity. Okay. Yeah. You, like, it's almost in reach and time seems to slow. It's like, oh, there it is. And your hand just brushes right past it and you smack off the console platform and fly into
Intense Vortex Turbulence
00:07:56
Speaker
nothing good. There are several corners of the TARDIS that have been padded.
00:08:02
Speaker
buy things various. Laundry from past adventures, packaging leftover from things delivered from late-night impulse buys with a fully stocked Snack'em's card. However, the corner that Calamity lands in is not one of those padded corners and lands hard on your hip. You're going to be at a minus one to walking-related strength speed checks for an hour. Hey, Fixer, how you guys doing?
00:08:29
Speaker
Oh, I did okay on this one. I got a 6 and a 2 for a total of 11.
00:08:33
Speaker
Magnificent. I got a five and a four for a total of 11. 11. Okay, so with both of those 11s, Fixer and Maeve grab onto the hand roll rails and pull yourselves aloft where you see that the internal scanners are going all sorts of topsy turvy. The controls, the actual piloting controls are in dire need of some hands. Fixer, can I get a piloting ingenuity and transportation roll from you?
00:09:02
Speaker
Maeve, can we get an ingenuity and technology role from you for checking on the TARDIS sensors? I got an 11 with nothing special. Got a 14 with nothing special. Fixer, you have never been in
00:09:20
Speaker
Vortex turbulence like this. You have flown away from temporal rifts. You have flown away from subspace distortions caused by the swarm. You have taken very short hop skips and jumps around time. This turbulence, this intense around the TARDIS is unlike anything you have faced before.
00:09:41
Speaker
Okay, that's not terrible. The auditor has to climb up to give some assistance right the ship. Maeve, with your eyes on the sensors, you can tell that the ship has been buffeted into the wake of this other time-faring ship. The words time spur, time spur.
00:10:07
Speaker
are flashing in red and black blocks across the screen as the entire ship goes home. And then almost as in lockstep. Alarms are going off. Calamity, you stick your head out of the gym. Can we get a presence and convince roll from you for the TARDIS, which is panicking loudly?
00:10:29
Speaker
Okay. I have a 15 with two threes. The average is average. We love it. We love to hear it. You've heard the TARDIS have these kind of like nine sentient panic attacks before. And like, you know where to give it a nice pet on the banister and tell it that things are going to be okay. And it knows your voice. It trusts your voice. And the alarms soften to a dull roar.
00:10:59
Speaker
This is absolutely not your fault and we will get through it together. It's all good. Fixer, we need a new piloting role from you to successfully materialize the ship. Maeve, can we get another ingenuity and transportation role from you? Because the sensors are also trying to lock onto the ship ahead of you that has stranded you when it's waking. Ooh, that's a one and a two for a seven.
00:11:28
Speaker
The external sensors that try to lock onto the ship of head of view, jam, and there is a spark and a flash almost blinds you in one eye. Maeve is going to have difficulty concentrating and will be down one point on ingenuity rolls for the next hour starting now. Fixer, how are we doing on that piloting check? We are looking at a 15 with nothing special on the dice. Do you want to spend a story point or two?
00:11:57
Speaker
Yes, I would absolutely like to spend two story points if possible. I want to make sure that we safely, safely handle this temporal anomaly. So your muscle memory kicks in. You have studied, you have trained, you have been practicing piloting this ship for quite some times.
00:12:17
Speaker
your hands reach out. It's almost like you're being pulled, like your hands are being pulled in strong directions. Give us, please, Awareness Roll Fixer and add two for Time Lord. Okay, we're looking at 11 with a two and a two on the dice. Without
00:12:38
Speaker
further insight, all you can recognize is a hint of something that you've sensed before, but only now it's much more intense. When you were on Caspian Six, and in the presence of nascent temporal significance about where important things were about to converge into something, that might have been like two parts per million,
00:13:06
Speaker
in your time senses where this is an order of magnitude more intense. Those are snake eyes. Next to you the auditor gets a nosebleed and suddenly grips his head in splitting pain and falls to his knees.
00:13:24
Speaker
I'm afraid to take my hands off the console controls, but I just need to yell out to the auditor, are you okay? Somethings. What was that? Where are we? I can't, I can't feel anything outside the ship. Maeve, the external sensors, the screen has cracked. Can I get an awareness and technology role from you please to make out what it's saying? That is a six out of five for a 15.
00:13:54
Speaker
The screen clears for a moment and the words fixed point are legible along with the year 1945. That is all you get before the static covers again.
00:14:11
Speaker
Calamity, you hear overhead as you climb the steps, off-rhythm, janky tumbling through the tubes that are now cracked and frosted with smoke damage as a canister rattles its way down to the dispatch and promptly gets stuck. Okay, well that's fine.
00:14:36
Speaker
I think somebody's trying to tell us something, but there's a problem. It's fine. I'll deal with it. Calamity will run over,
1945 Robot Confusion
00:14:41
Speaker
and I guess she's not really sure if the tubes count as part of the TARDIS proper, so she's a little leery about physical abuse, but she's just like, this may hurt a bit. It's just for a sec. And then she's just gonna start, you know, whacking the tube, trying to shake it loose. You give it one good whack. The canister pops loose and falls into your hands with, like, sizzling
00:15:06
Speaker
on both ends. You look up from your hands holding the canister, and the canister itself is still lodged in the dispatch, and a little scroll tumbles into your hand. It reads, you are in a time spur. We're in a time spur! I don't know what that is, but it sounds great. The screen was flashing that, and it says we're at a fixed point in 1945.
00:15:34
Speaker
Oh good, it's a fixed point, so we've already made it better. It'll be fine. There is another choo-choo-choo-choo-choo as a third copy of the same dispatch canister lands and out of the clearly broken dispatch and it tumbles open and a scroll inside tumbles out that says, you are in a time spur. What is it, a time spur?
00:15:57
Speaker
Did they teach us about time spurs in school? Oh, they did give us ingenuity, knowledge, plus two for time, Lord training, Cebu play. I'd also like to just help the auditor over to his recliner and make him a cup of coffee. I love it. By very small miracle, the coffee machine is intact. Well, that's good. Good sign. So we're looking at a total of 14, but with a one and a four on the dice.
00:16:27
Speaker
So that is going to be a yes, but.
00:16:30
Speaker
Fixer, sometimes, no matter how much care a time traveler takes, paradoxes occur, often as a result of taking inexperienced passengers on temporal joyrides. If a paradox occurs and is relatively localized, reality protects itself by creating what time travelers refer to as a spur. It cuts the area out of the space-time continuum to let it work itself out
00:16:59
Speaker
until a conclusion is reached. Unfortunately, the but here is you do not remember at all what the circumstances are around a time spur that also involves a fixed point in time. In the fixer's own words, how important is a fixed point?
00:17:21
Speaker
There are definitely certain things that have to happen. And in the case of certain of those things, while they are terrible or heartbreaking or disappointing, they may lead to some greater good later.
00:17:35
Speaker
And you would never have that achievement of any element of that greater good if it wasn't for the unfortunate suffering that leads to the action to create that greater good. So I guess you'd have to have fixed points in time just to keep things flowing in a way that benefits the majority of species.
00:17:53
Speaker
perspective, fixed points must happen because of how many things they set in motion because of cause and effect. And the more important the event, the more crucial it is to the events that follow, the more fixed it must stay. However, the words fixed and spur, i.e. cut off from all of its surrounding time and cause and effect, do not sound like
00:18:21
Speaker
handy bedmates. Yeah, Fixer. With the sensors on the half blink, please give us an awareness and technology roll, please. Plus two for Time Lord. So we have a 13 with a one and a five on the dice. Whoops is blessing us.
00:18:39
Speaker
The boot is blessing you up, down, left, and right. As yet another, you are in a time spur. Canister comes down and chokes the dispatch. Sparks and static clear on the screen long enough, Fixer, for you to read the words, New Mexico, 1945. July. Ugh.
00:19:05
Speaker
Okay, so we need to get out of here soon, quickly, fast, as fast as we can. More sparks pop on the console, letting you know the TARDIS is not going anywhere without repairs. Okay. Auditor, we have to begin repairs immediately, but I worry that the repairs won't be enough unless we make sure that the time spur resolves itself at the same time.
00:19:30
Speaker
Wait a minute. We followed another time ship in to a fixed point. He looks around at the smoking damage from the landing. We can't both be occupied with fixing the ship. You have to focus on repairing time. I'll focus on repairing the time machine, yes?
00:19:53
Speaker
Besides splitting headache, tinnitus, nosebleed, I'm in no position to be going anywhere outside of this capsule. And he gives a thoughtful kick to a console and compartment opens up with a little tool belt. I can at least start repairs on the TARDIS so it can eventually do what we need it to do, but I'm no good to you out there right now.
00:20:16
Speaker
pull over one of the rolly pieces of furniture and make sure that the auditor is safely on that and can wheel around on it. So if they do fall over, lose consciousness from the bleeding from the nose, it at least won't fall too far. Look them in the eye and say, auditor, yes, getting out of here is very important. But if at any point that your condition progresses beyond what you are feeling right now, promise me you're going to pause and rest.
00:20:46
Speaker
I'll do my best. Calamity, what were you saying?
00:20:50
Speaker
Oh, I was just gonna say that I was gonna grab the medkit from the console room and go over to the auditor and just see if there's anything that I can do to help them out, even mildly or temporarily. Okay. Obviously, there's some kind of inside the head thing going on, so that's tricky, but we're in the future, so whatever. I mean, sort of. Sort of. Give us an ingenuity and medicine check, please. And plus two for the Gallifreyan first aid kit.
00:21:19
Speaker
That is a 19 with nothing special. Holy crap. Yeah, you are able to find a Device that looks like a pair of foil gold foil Band-aids attached by a wire and like yeah, does this help? Oh
00:21:42
Speaker
Oh, that's much better. Calamity, please add one story point for excellence. Field medicine, well done. Hey Maeve, the TARDIS is not looking so great when the door to the outer chamber lists open. I'd like to go just look through the window outside.
00:22:04
Speaker
you poke your head out into the outer shell of the TARDIS and find you are surrounded by large wooden shipping crates with stencils that read Trinity Base. Okay, so bad news. All the watches are gone. Good news. We have new things from Trinity Base. I don't know what that is or where it is.
00:22:30
Speaker
Me neither. Quickly grab the console controls and do scans for nearby radiation sources and making sure that radiation isn't spiking outside. Give us an ingenuity and technology role, Cebu Play. Can I see what's in one of the greats?
00:22:48
Speaker
They're not shut. The lids have been haphazardly left on. You open it up and find military grade powdered laundry detergent. The room you step into is warm. You can feel heat and moisture of industrial sized military grade laundry machines just... And by just a stroke of luck,
00:23:13
Speaker
The crates in the room bar the line of sight to the TARDIS. So at least you're not sticking out as quite the sore thumb as you usually are. You hear the chainsawing of machines nearby as they slowly wind to a halt. We're in a laundry room. A laundry room? Huh.
00:23:35
Speaker
Yeah, a really big one with a lot of really powerful machines. So is it just like a super important laundry room? Like some sort of royal cape is being laundered here and if we don't fix it. With that reading you can in fact recognize that there are samples of uranium within a half mile.
00:23:57
Speaker
The good news is that it is all being properly shielded. The bad news is that your your sensors are largely screwed both from the mixed success of the landing and the attempts at looking outside the ship.
00:24:15
Speaker
Okay, just want to confirm that the radiation source Walwell shielded is not rapidly approaching our location. No, no, no, you're good. Ah, that's such a relief. Well, I have some good news. We should be fine exploring this area. Okay, but like, what is it? Well, if my suspicions are correct, we are at a military base nearby a commonly used testing site for, let's call them experimental weapons.
00:24:41
Speaker
Alright. The nice part is it appears as though we actually are in the laundry and not in a replicated laundry designed to see what would happen if the weapon was tested on a place that had a laundry. Big relief! Maeve, you're the one that's actually got a foot or two outside TARDIS and can hear men's voices carrying from the laundromat proper.
00:25:02
Speaker
talking about that groves is a real piece of work real hard case the other one says I can't wait to tell we're out of here glad that wrapping things up and the other one darkly chuckles oh yeah wrap it up with a real big bang that's not funny Tony that's not funny squeal open in the squeal shut of doors as they walk out and walk off
00:25:26
Speaker
I'll head back in and say, I think that there is something going on here. It sounds like they're wrapping up a project or something? Wrapping up a project? Wrapping a project at this site right here?
00:25:41
Speaker
Yes. They said you had a big bank. Okay, remember how there was that whole talk of relief a few moments ago? Relief has now left the building. Make sure that the phones that we use to communicate work. I'm going to turn to the auditor and say, if at any point you hear me yelling for you to run through this, you need to leave. And if the TARDIS isn't able to leave with you, we'll have to figure something out, but you will have to leave. Do you understand me?
00:26:09
Speaker
The screen flickers July 15th, 1945, and the auditor just nods. I understand. Hesitate for a moment, give the auditor a giant hug, then turn to Maeve and Calamity and say, we are on the clock. The clock? As in it's ticking away?
Cloister Bell Alarm
00:26:29
Speaker
Or why? Not good things. But don't worry about it, because we're going to figure it out. And we will heal this time, Spur, and make everything right with this fixed point.
00:26:39
Speaker
It'll be great. It's going to be great, Maeve. It's going to be great. Fixer, you say it's going to be great. It's going to be great. And the cloister bell peels and will continue to peel once every 30 seconds or so. It may not be great. No. All I know is that we are approaching, like, I think we're setting a new record for the number of capital letters that I have heard in people's words in one thing. So that is usually a good time.
00:27:10
Speaker
That is usually a good time.
Exploring Trinity Base
00:27:12
Speaker
Palamity, you step out of the TARDIS, start looking around, and are the first to see this. Well, that's inappropriate.
00:27:26
Speaker
Oh my. Oh, oh my. Very specific laundry-based, um, I wouldn't call it erotic exactly, but it's, you know, certainly adult. We may also want to, uh, dress a little more carefully than we do in most places. The locals here can be very judgmental.
00:27:43
Speaker
silhouettes of large fit men carrying assault rifles march past a glass window, marching steadfastly. And that's when your eyes fall on an open bin of clean military laundry. Fixer, add a story point for picking up what I'm putting down. I think there's even some jumpsuits in there, Calamity.
00:28:11
Speaker
Time to get dressed! Does it look like the laundry have any ranking insignias or anything like that? Only got a 9 with nothing special on the dice.
00:28:33
Speaker
The best you're able to do is some rather drab 40s era clothing with a convenient pocket for your psychic paper. Okay. Maeve Calamity, can I get an awareness check from you guys? And throw intuition on me. I've got a 15 with a three and a six. And I have a 15 with something special.
00:28:51
Speaker
Maeve, you are able to find some unflattering uniforms. The skirt is not great, but it is era appropriate. With the six on the dice calamity, you do in fact find an olive green jumpsuit with a black stripe down both arms and give you a plus two to be ignored. Nobody talk to the janitor.
00:29:16
Speaker
Maeve, the people we're about to interact with, they may remind you of some of the stuffiest people that you used to have to navigate. The challenge is they have an entire military behind them that will put us in a cell and never allow us the light of day if we get them angry. I'll tell you what, if I start doing what I do, just step on my foot really hard.
00:29:41
Speaker
Maeve, I love what you do. Oh, I worry for Maeve's toes. But understood and I will follow that. From the, there is a map posted inside the laundry facility giving the basic layout of Trinity Base. Fixer, your mission should you choose to accept it is find out why
00:30:06
Speaker
and how this fixed point has become severed in its own little time spur and get to the bottom of it sooner rather than later. A calendar hanging nearby confirms that it is July 15, 1945. In less than 24 hours, a very momentous experiment will take place.
00:30:30
Speaker
As a suggestion, maybe if we headed to the cafeteria, we could overhear some of the hubbub on the base. Hear if anything's out of order that your average Joe might know about. And if nothing piques our interest there, maybe head on to the physics laboratory. I could eat. So yeah, you step out onto the quad of Trinity Base. It is hot, sunny, flat. An entire town has sprung up around this dread endeavor.
00:30:59
Speaker
to ensure no one has any need to go anywhere. Men and women walk at a hurried clip through the streets. Everyone is buzzing with activity.
00:31:09
Speaker
Nothing on the map is labeled laundry. Where did we start exactly? Just so we know where we parked. You are currently situated building M, which is directly beneath building A on the map, directly south of it. That is the primary boiler house and also the de facto laundry. As you leave the laundry, a truck rolls by with
00:31:32
Speaker
a extremely large canister that can only be described as jumbo rolling through town. As it rolls there are men and women who just stop and watch as it goes by.
00:31:48
Speaker
up the road, a handful start clapping as it rolls its way out of town. Fixer, give us a ingenuity and knowledge rule, please. 13 with a 1 in the 4 on the dice.
00:32:02
Speaker
Yeah, your earth history is decent, but not perfect. You have an ominous feeling that that thing that just rolled by is in some way affiliated with the gadget, but you do not remember enough details about whether or not it's going to be used tomorrow or ultimately what it is going to be used for, but it is a rather ominous
00:32:25
Speaker
visual reminder of what lies in store. Turn to Maeve. Maeve, did you overhear how long they said until everything wraps up? I didn't. I just thought it would be with a bang.
00:32:38
Speaker
Wow.
00:33:00
Speaker
Yeah, can I get a coordination and subterfuge roll from everybody to walk casual, but don't look like you're walking casual. Can I use my specialty of intrusion here? Oh, absolutely. And if we don't have the thing at all, then it's disadvantage, right? Correct.
Meeting Richard Feynman
00:33:17
Speaker
I got a five and a four for a total of 16. A four and a five for a total of 14? Calamity has a five with a one and a two.
00:33:27
Speaker
Okay, Maeve and Fixer are both doing a fairly decent job of keeping their mouths shut and walking along and keeping comments on the down low. Calamity just shouts rather loudly, so this is Earth, huh?
00:33:49
Speaker
Wow! Nearby, stepping out of the cafeteria, close enough to be in earshot, a tall man with wavy hair and a surprisingly carefree expression on his face, is it an earshot to hear calamity say loudly, so this is Earth, huh? Wow! And he just... I scarcely believe it either.
00:34:16
Speaker
God, he holds open the door for you guys as you head in to the cafeteria. Thank you.
00:34:25
Speaker
Welcome. He's never seen your face before. I thought I knew everybody. Uh, apologies. Yeah, Richard Feynman. Oh, hi. Calamity hat. It's a pleasure. Calamity. Are you in the right place? He just looks slightly as scant as the Fixer. So, Fixer,
00:34:48
Speaker
I presume that a Time Lord has heard the name Richard Feynman before. I could be wrong. How is the Fixer looking standing this close to someone he may or may not have heard of? In what sense? Because I don't actually know that reference, the name reference.
00:35:06
Speaker
Feynman was a theoretical physicist, a practical joker, and one of the more influential thinkers on the Manhattan Project. Oh no, that's perfect. One of the bad boys of theoretical physics, you know, remembered fondly as a man with a sense of humor and an open mind. Okay, then walk up so excited, hand outstretched, happy to shake his hand.
00:35:30
Speaker
Hi, yeah, no, don't worry, I put my pants on one leg at a time, just like everybody else. Although I suppose if I started sitting down and pulled him on simultaneously, it's not that idea. And he starts just rattling off ideas. Sir, it is such an honor and such a pleasure. Oh, thank you. Thank you, Richard Feynman. And you are?
00:35:53
Speaker
Well, pull out the psychic paper, flip it to him as if I'm trying to show him in clearly not the rest of the cafeteria. Let's just say I've been brought in to fix certain challenges before everything goes off. You've met our top mechanic, Calamity Hap. I know, I know, not your usual mechanic, but as you know, it is very hard to get people that can pass all of the clearances necessary to do this type of work.
00:36:19
Speaker
You're preaching to the choir. They had to interview my kindergarten teacher to get me clearance. It was ridiculous.
00:36:24
Speaker
Yeah, no. Atomic research. That's huge. Okay. Please don't mention our arrival to anybody. The people who are supposed to know know. And of course, we were so excited to meet you. I gotta be honest, when I was assigned to this, this was one of the real joys of being able to serve proudly in this moment, to get a chance to meet someone like you. Give me presence and convince, plus two, for the psychic paper.
00:36:52
Speaker
I'd also like to use two story points. Okay, we're looking at an 11 with a 1 and a 3 on the dice.
00:37:07
Speaker
And that's plus the two? Oh yeah. Can I offer a story point by just walking up and going, oh yes, and I may have still been unassisted. Would you like to add two story points, Maeve? Sure. Yeah, I can add a couple stories. Okay, good. Because there's just a pause of that ain't right.
00:37:30
Speaker
on his face before Maeve comes in and shines up behind you and is like, okay, yeah, no, sure. I mean, if I'm a theoretical physicist who says you can't be atomic science, yeah, just, okay, stay out of Bainbridge's way, stay out of Grove's way. I mean, I'd say stay out of Oppenheimer's, but like, his head's in the...
00:37:47
Speaker
cloud. If you guys need anything, I'm going to be in the physics lab. Before you go, one quick thing. You know, the boys back home were hoping we might be able to take part in one of your legendary pranks. So if you have someone specific, you tell us and we'll try to fit it in on the schedule. But of course, you know, only because it's legendary.
00:38:07
Speaker
He gets a whole series of expressions on his face and he says, yeah, they actually don't like me doing that anymore since I tried to slip a noisemaker into the initiator. They did not find that funny. So I'm gonna be on my best behavior, but I wish you luck. Why wasn't it funny? You know, you'd think they'd have a sense of humor about projects this big, but no, they left their sense of humor back in Washington.
00:38:36
Speaker
So, I guess that's not too much of a surprise. Well, we certainly have it. So if you decide to not do this... Well, and it gives you a little nod. Fixer, add one story point for being that extra little bit helpful. That was a wonderful idea. So yeah, you guys enter the cafeteria proper. It is the middle of the afternoon, so it's between the lunch rush and the dinner rush, so the place is more or less empty.
00:39:05
Speaker
There may be one or two people seated at a table talking quietly to themselves. They glance up at you just a little bit as you enter, but there are more of those anti-paranoia
00:39:20
Speaker
Watch yourself, posters in here. Calamity, you follow your nose to the kitchen window where they still have some mostly dried out salsberry steak and some mashed potatoes that probably were pot powder at one point. Ew, great. I mean, are they dishing them out or is it just like self-serve? At this point it's in the afternoon it's self-serve.
00:39:41
Speaker
Okay, then yes, she will start serving herself. I think this is meat and white stuff. Conda. Can I get an awareness check from Calamity as the one closest to the kitchen please? Just awareness? Throw intuition on there.
00:39:58
Speaker
That is a 13 with nothing special. There are utensils, pots and pans and everything. In the kitchen proper, all appears to be stainless steel. It looks like someone might have dropped something on the floor that is also stainless steel that is near one of the refrigerators in the back. Fixer, can I get an ingenuity and intuition roll from you, please? Absolutely. And Maeve, can I get an awareness roll from you, please?
00:40:27
Speaker
I was going to ask, um, these people who are at the table talking, can I take a seat kind of near them and just keep an ear out? Sure. But this qualify is, uh, finding a lead. Oh my yes. Looking at a 14 with nothing special on the dice. Fixer, your senses are all over the place. You have personally never been in a fixed point before. You've been taken to the swimming pool and pushed into the deep end.
00:40:55
Speaker
when up to now you were only ever up to about your neck in time shenanigans. So you're thinking at a mile a minute about a ton of different things. Why has this place been severed from the surrounding time? If you're not the only ones here, where are the occupants of the other ship? Because, like, just walking around out there, you saw no sign of anything
00:41:21
Speaker
out of the ordinary. Whoever was on that other ship, you have not seen any sign of them here yet. And, uh, Maeve, what was your awareness world, please?
00:41:32
Speaker
two and a three for a total of 12. And I'll spend a story point if that will help. It will help. You take a seat with a cup of really bad coffee from the tureen and sit down and pretend to nurse it. And a dark haired man in a button-down shirt and a lab coat
00:41:53
Speaker
is just finishing off what is clearly not his first cup of coffee. There are bags under his eyes. The woman opposite him just reaches out and puts a hand on his arm. It's like, Kent, you've got to take a rest. You're just pushing yourself way too hard. And he yawns and says, it's not an option.
00:42:18
Speaker
General Groves has been insisting that everything be ready and everything is finally ready. We're going to make our last checks today and by sunrise. We're going to make our own sunrise. He slurps up the rest of his terrible coffee, stretches, yawns and starts to get to his feet.
00:42:38
Speaker
Calamity is gonna just set her tray down and then I guess like look for the door that leads into the kitchen area proper because it's important to keep a tidy workspace and if there's things on the floor somebody could trip and maybe that would be bad I don't know so we should go pick it up
00:42:55
Speaker
You skirt into the kitchen and are not noticed at all because you're wearing a janitorial jumpsuit. You look around and they're between shifts or something. You're the only one really back here right now. And you lean down, you get closer, and there's something on the floor.
00:43:19
Speaker
probably the size of a small rat or a large mouse and you bend down to pick it up and it skitters away from your reach. It is not particularly fast, but it starts inching away, ignoring you.
Kitchen Robot Mouse
00:43:36
Speaker
So, you know, I don't want to be a problem, but Calamity's grasp of Earth history is very, very mild. She's not really aware that they don't have robots right now. So she's not sure that this is a problem anymore. It's just like, oh, okay, it's a floor robot.
00:43:54
Speaker
Yeah, so she's gonna ignore it and she's gonna go back out and get her food and talk to the others. Okay. I'll probably remark on it when she gets there though. I love it. Calamity, add one story point. For the most chaotic reaction of all, which is no reaction, I've missed playing with you.
00:44:12
Speaker
The dark-haired man kind of gets to his feet and stretches a yard. It says to a woman, if anyone needs me, I'm gonna be over in fabrication. You know where I'm gonna be. And he lists off past you. And she just says, bye, Mr. Bamberidge. Head over, grab a tray, put some food on it, sit down next to Maeve, and begin making a mashed potato castle.
00:44:40
Speaker
Well, Maeve doesn't look good anywhere they go now, so... Probably for the best, probably for the best, yeah. I'll just lean over and whisper, um, they said by sunrise, they'll make their own sunrise? Does that mean anything to you? Quick question, should I do another test to see if this helps me figure out exactly where in time we are? Mm-hmm. Okay, this time an 18 with a 5 and a 6 on the dice.
00:45:05
Speaker
You catch the name Bainbridge when the lady wishes him well, and the fact that you met Richard Feynman outside, and the fact that you are on Trinity Base in New Mexico on July 15th, 1945, you realize that the man that just left is responsible for assembling the first atomic bomb.
00:45:29
Speaker
turned to Maeve and say, well, you remember how I was talking about a clock ticking down? That's the clock we're worried about. That device we saw rolling outside is one of the first attempts at one of the most impressive and most terrifying technologies that humanity will unlock. What is it? Calamity sits down. They have floor cleaning robots in the kitchen. We should get one of those. Floor cleaning robots. Yeah, that's a great idea. We should have a floor cleaning robot in the garden. Very cute.
00:45:58
Speaker
Yeah. Wait, wait, wait, what? Floor cleaning robots? Calamity. She's a little shiny one. Looks sort of like a mouse, so that's cute, right? If it's picking up crumbs in the kitchen, right? Mouse-sized robot. Yes. I don't know if they've had robots. I mean, they didn't have them made to 90, but I mean, it's 1945. They don't have robots in 1945. Let me clarify. None that could be utilized in that way. Oh, wow. That is weird, then. That is weird.
00:46:24
Speaker
Yes, let's go check out that kitchen. Maybe they'll have some coffee at that. Maeve, can I please have an awareness and intuition role from you? Fixer, can I get an ingenuity and technology role from you? Is Calamity coming with? Oh yes, she'll go to help point it out so she can catch sight of it again. Calamity, can I also get an awareness and intuition from you? Absolutely.
00:46:54
Speaker
I got a double three for a 13. Okay, the averages average. Nice. And a four and a one for a 13. That's definitely yes, but territory. I have a 12 and also averages average.
00:47:06
Speaker
great. Maeve and Calamity, you step back into the kitchen proper. There's a large pot of hot water on the stove. Even though you're not professional cooks, even though you don't spend a lot of time preparing food, you do
00:47:29
Speaker
know what steam smells like, and there is something slightly off from the steam wafting off of the giant pot of water. Calamity. You do actually kind of recognize a little bit of that smell. It's something that's not the Church of Woops, but other, less morally upstanding organizations might slip a little
00:47:57
Speaker
something that you can smell into potable water to open mines. I don't judge, but it does seem odd. Like, there's nobody here. Like, the kitchen staff has gone and they've left their drugs cooking on the stove, which is just irresponsible. They're drugs? I feel like made before before Calamity said that, I'd gone over to take a closer sniff of this thing. Drugs!
00:48:20
Speaker
You take another waft and realize that that same waft was coming off the coffee you did not drink. It does smell like the coffee of it.
00:48:32
Speaker
Fixer with your yes, but you are not focused on the olfactory. You are focused on the visual. Yes, you are able to locate the squeaking mouse sized toy, but it is nowhere nearby. It is squeaking its way towards the exit.
00:48:57
Speaker
Okay, take a quick look around to make sure that there are no workers that we're just out of sight or any cameras or anything else that might catch me pulling this out. And if it is safe to go, I'll pull out my Sonic stylus and I want to take a scan of the robot. Go ahead and give us an ingenuity and technology roll plus two for Sonic. A 15 with a four and a one.
00:49:16
Speaker
You are able to get a scan off of that creature, but at this range you are not able to get it to stop. You look at the programming, it's very rudimentary. This unit was programmed to
00:49:34
Speaker
distribute something into the water and then remove itself. Okay, immediately check the nearby boiling pot of water. You do a scan of the water and detect that there is a simple but effective agent in the water that leaves the imbibers in a state of easy suggestion.
00:49:57
Speaker
Well, it appears as though whatever's boiling over here, and possibly the coffee, and possibly anything else that are serving the workers this liquid, has been tainted with something. Something that is going to make them easier to control. Do you think that it has to do with this thing that you said they're creating? Maybe they wouldn't actually create it, but they're being told that they should? Possible. What is it, actually?
00:50:21
Speaker
one of the most destructive weapons that I've seen humanity deploy probably about a thousand years and up to about a thousand years in the future. Well, we can stop it, right?
00:50:33
Speaker
We can't. So humanity developing that technology will kick off a variety of events that are absolutely necessary for a bunch of really important, important people. I mean, eventually some of the technologies being used here will be used to fuel humanity's traversal across the stars. So while not something I would approve of if I was given the choice, humanity made that choice without consulting me.
00:51:03
Speaker
Would it still count if they just did it the one time then stopped? Because if everybody's been taking the, you know, the hooray drugs, then you could just sort of suggest to them that they sort of temper down after this, but that's up to you, I guess. The other challenge is that this technology will proliferate across the entire planet. And if they only test it once, it doesn't proliferate across the planet, which means instead of a Cold War developing, a Hot War will.
00:51:28
Speaker
I don't understand quite what you're talking about, but I understand it. We have to allow this test to go off. We have to allow it to be a success. And we have to make sure that whoever put that machine in here doesn't get their final goal.
00:51:45
Speaker
Okay, well first thing, if at any point someone is indisposed and someone has to press the button, I call dibs on the button. Second, is there any indication of when that bot might have come from that would help us figure out who might be here messing with things? Check the readings on the sonic screwdriver, any additional information I'm able to discern. I'm happy to spend a couple of story points.
00:52:08
Speaker
You read your scan. Okay. There are trace elements, like you could follow a red crumb trail behind this thing if you so chose. It looks like it has left the kitchen proper. Shall we trail our first lead? We could. I also overheard that there's a man named Kent going to Fabrications and he's been drinking a lot of coffee. If we were going to suggest something to someone, me.
00:52:39
Speaker
might be more open to helping us. He might be. I think that's a wise idea, Maeve. If we can figure out exactly how they're putting pressure on certain people to get a desired result, perhaps we can figure out what their plan is. Since we have these readings, we can trail this creature or this mouse later if needed, but we may have limited time to affect anything they've already put into motion.
00:53:15
Speaker
to fabrication.
00:53:25
Speaker
You lovely people trying to get to electronics. The good news is it is a clear shot. The bad news is it is a clear shot across the open quad. We are going to need a new round of coordination and subterfuge roles to pass for locals. Got a four and a six for a total of 15. Nice. I got a 14 with two fours. I got seven with a one and a two. God bless it.
00:53:55
Speaker
She does not have a subterfuge score, so this is all with disadvantage. I know, it's wonderful. So yeah, once again, you step out into the broad daylight and be in discreet and walking along.
Crossing Trinity Base
00:54:11
Speaker
Calamity just loudly I've never been to 1945 on earth before and just again gets you looks from passers-by and unfortunately this time none of them is particularly good-natured Calamity can I get an awareness roll from you sure intuition that is a 12 with a average average
00:54:34
Speaker
This feels pretty normal, like you guys sneak onto some sort of base, you do a great job of keeping, you know, keeping on the down low, people are following you, like this is all pretty average. Fixer, Maeve, Calamity, you cross the open quad of Trinity Base looking around and surprised at how almost normal
00:54:57
Speaker
this place looks like it is bustling like a small town there seems to be a lot of busy energy coming and going and in not too much time you are able to reach
00:55:12
Speaker
the technical warehouse where they are doing last fabrication. This place is secured. There are armed guards at the entries and we will need presents and convents from the Fixer and your psychic paper to get the three of you past security. An 11 with a 2 and a 4. Okay. I can definitely toss some story points on there if needed.
00:55:38
Speaker
Yes, an 11 is unfortunately firm no and territory. Spending two story points will get you past these gentlemen, but they will be keeping an eye on you. Hmm, let's see if we can swing that to our advantage. Hello gentlemen, fine day we're having today. Uh, yes sir.
00:56:00
Speaker
Yes, sir. I.D. Absolutely. Pop out psychic paper. Hold it to him. You're with the Atomics Commission. Let's see. They trade looks and nod and one of them nods over your shoulder and they
00:56:14
Speaker
open the door after you, sir. Lean in as we're about to go in and say, as I'm sure you're aware, the importance of this project goes above all other projects being worked on right now. Understood. We would appreciate you summoning someone to accompany us. I want to ask some questions of someone who is trusted by internal security, if you understand my meaning. Way ahead of you, sir. And he nods again over your shoulder at the pair of military police.
00:56:40
Speaker
that have been following at a discreet distance since Calamity shouted what she shouted leaving the cafeteria and says, these gentlemen will be happy to escort you. Thank you, sir. Turn to them. Gentlemen, I'm excited you're along. Today is a momentous day. Yes? They narrow their eyes, nod and
00:57:02
Speaker
Yes, sir. Yes, it is. A most auspicious day. Excellent. We need to check on certain things in fabrication, and while we're heading over there, I'd like you to break down for me all of the sightings you've seen on base in the last week. Sightings of what exactly, sir? You know what I'm talking about. Bluff, presence, and convince. This is going to be contested. Did not roll terribly well. It was worth a try. 4-1 for a total of 10. I got a 4-1, too!
00:57:30
Speaker
Oh man, it was fours and ones today. Maybe a calamity can break this tie if she just chimes in and says, oh, yes, like me. Just, you know, you notice, you notice this walking, right? So just anybody, maybe like me. They say on the contrary, security has never been tighter, sir, ma'am. And as they walk you into the warehouse proper, they say we would be the first to know if anyone that wasn't supposed to be on site was on site.
00:57:59
Speaker
Yes, I know. That's why I'm talking to you. That's why I asked for you all specifically. So you're really telling me your team hasn't reported any of them to you? There's been nothing to report, sir. Give me an awareness and technology role, please. Okay. Can we chive at you? What if our role here is to test your internal security so it is a bit alarming you haven't noticed anything when we have been checking for quite a while?
00:58:27
Speaker
He hears you and narrows his eyes and says it's a full-time job. Suppose you've been drinking a lot of coffee then, eh? We pulled some all-nighters for a fixer. Thirteen with a one out of four. You don't notice anything out of the ordinary. You're good. You step into the manufacturing wing of the warehouse. It is warm.
00:58:48
Speaker
in here. Engine grease. The smell is pervasive along with the scorch in the air of wires that have been soldered and metal that has been cut. No space here has been wasted. Everything is in its place and a large bowl of
00:59:13
Speaker
approximately, let's say, nine feet across. It sits open on the floor. It is surrounded by markers for people to keep a safe distance as on a large and intricate work table, a device roughly the size of what could fit comfortably in a thermos, a cylinder with smaller pieces of cylinder
00:59:43
Speaker
within. This is where the magic happens. This is where the pieces are put together. And the doors squeal loudly. The doors are made to squeal loudly around here so no one gets snuck up on. And working at the table, Ken Bainbridge just turns over his shoulders and, oh, great, poor backseat drivers.
01:00:12
Speaker
pours more coffee into a thermos as he continues working. Fixer, can I get an ingenuity and technology role from you, please? Absolutely. Maeve, can I get an awareness and intuition role from you? And Calamity, can I get the same from you, please? That's a six and a one for a 14. I have a 16 with nothing special. 14 with nothing special.
01:00:41
Speaker
So, Maeve and Calamity, you are vaguely aware something is off. Like, you get the guards being guardy, but you've been around guards. You've snuck around security.
01:00:58
Speaker
Like, even when things went right, there's just, there's something a little off about these guys. You don't know if it's just because of the time zone you're in, but they do seem a little stiff, a little slow on the reaction. Fixer, you said you got a 14 with nothing special? Yes.
01:01:15
Speaker
So you are from this distance only able to see so much of what Bainbridge is working on. Glancing over his shoulder, he says, don't worry, we're gonna get the urchin right this time, and continues work on assembly. The guards make no attempt to impede you, but you are being watched as you enter the main room.
01:01:42
Speaker
And you said the name of the gentleman was Bainbridge? Ken Bainbridge, yes. Ken Bainbridge. Ken Bainbridge! It is such a joy to finally meet you in person. I apologize for being so loud. I know it's very precise work you do in here. Uh, hello? Hello. This is an extremely delicate operation and it couldn't be more. Did Groves send for you? I told him I was gonna have it ready by deadline and it's gonna be ready by deadline. We know. We have faith that you will get it done by deadline.
01:02:12
Speaker
Great, then why are you here? Oh, security didn't alert you. Security didn't alert me about what? I apologize. So the boys back in Washington, flipping out the psychic paper, asked us to come down and assist. Not that they have any questions about your skill or your talent. It's more because we know there are certain enemy nations that would like to see projects like this one ruined to embarrass the nation.
01:02:38
Speaker
Now they don't know this specific project, but we know that they have agents operating in many areas. Yeah. I'm sure you've seen some of the suspicious things around base in the last week. He takes off his glasses and pinches the bridge of his nose. Yeah, you wouldn't believe.
01:02:54
Speaker
the lengths some reporters would go to to try and break in here. And I don't trust that Fuchs. There's something shifting about him. Otherwise, no one's been allowed to leave. You think someone else is gonna sneak past these guys who are watching like frickin' Hawks? I don't think so. And he just
01:03:18
Speaker
Also, allow me to introduce my assistant, Maeve Sullivan. Maeve knows everything there is to know about the very types of journalists that you're worried about. Yes, I'm quite nervous. I bet. She's in counter journalism. Fixer, give us an awareness role, please. And intuition. And throw Time Lord's senses on. And throw Time Lord's senses on? Okay, so we got a four and a one on the dice for a total of 12.
01:04:04
Speaker
feels entirely right, things feel just off top to bottom. It does not escape your notice, however, that there is a pool on one of the chalkboards up, wagers on the final kilotonage of the gadget.
01:04:08
Speaker
hard for the course. You're doing great.
01:04:21
Speaker
ranging from zero to 18 kilotons. The zero has been circled repeatedly by an angry hand in chalk. Bainbridge says, I know what they're afraid of, that we're going to throw away a billion dollars worth of uranium on some kind of fizzle. That's not going to happen. OK, I have not been working on this as long as I have to
01:04:47
Speaker
Drop the ball now. It's been made perfectly clear to me what the stakes are. I'm not happy about any of this, but I'm doing what I've been told to do. All right? And Ken, you're doing a great job. Again, I want to emphasize that we are here to help you. We are not here in any way to get in your way.
01:05:07
Speaker
You say we are not here in any way to get in your way. Can I please get strength rolls from all three of you, please? That was exciting. Just strength? I'll say athletics. Strength and athletics. Cool. So then would I roll at disadvantage since I don't have athletics? Mm-hmm.
01:05:36
Speaker
Four and a five for a total of 13. Okay. A three and a three for a nine. I've got an 11 with a six. So as the Fixer is talking about how they're not here to impede your progress at all. That is when all three of you feel arms.
01:05:58
Speaker
Grab you from behind on the shoulders basically keep you where you're standing Calamity you are also Gripped but you can tell that the person holding on to you is not holding terribly tight You think that they have underestimated how much strength that requires to keep you where you are Fixer that's when you hear the clump clump of heavy
01:06:26
Speaker
footsteps emerging from the labyrinthine stacks of equipment and shelving in here. As a voice says, we know you are not here to stop us. You have tried several times and you have failed.
01:06:50
Speaker
Every time a man in a silver suit that can only be described as boxy circuitry attached and fused to its chest marches slowly out of the shadows. The face is covered completely in white fabric black dead eyes stare out from this featureless face as the
01:07:17
Speaker
horizontal slip of a mouth opens but shows no actual signs of speech. Bars like L-bars connect from both ears onto a large light source on top of the dome which currently
01:07:34
Speaker
is off, but a cyberman with a little cybermat squeaking past its feet marches out of the shadows and points to the fixer. We have been aware of you. We have stopped you before. We will stop you again. Is anyone else reacting like, oddly to that?
01:08:02
Speaker
like the guards and the and the guy working on thing or they just like shrug that's a great question as this cyberman emerges the guards just stand a little taller and grip you a little tighter fix her out of the corner of your eye you catch the glint of
01:08:17
Speaker
silver in one of the MP's ears, which may suggest some of how they have been keeping control, but Bainbridge just slowly raises his coffee to his lips, sips it, and puts it down.
Cyberman Confrontation
01:08:33
Speaker
Yes, it will be ready on time. Master, we have made the necessary
01:08:40
Speaker
updates and he just quietly goes back to his wire work. So the earpiece means that they are not fully converted into Cybermen yet, right? Correct. Okay. In the doctoral program, did they teach us anything about disrupting Cybermen's control attempts when they haven't fully upgraded their victim yet?
01:09:02
Speaker
Disrupting cyber signal is tricky. You certainly would have taken at least the rudimentary course in it. However, it would actually require you to be able to reach your sonic and make the attempt to disrupt the signal on one or more of the men in the room. Go ahead and give us a coordination
01:09:25
Speaker
Roll if you be so kind to try and reach your Sonic you are at disadvantage because you are being held as you're trying to reach your hand slowly in your pocket. The Cyberman announces... Your collision with our ship has not created an insurmountable difficulty.
01:09:48
Speaker
We have arrived with ample cultivation. We will harvest the explosion and harvest the power we need.
01:10:10
Speaker
Got a 9 with a 2 and a 2 on the dice. That is not enough to successfully jam. However, you do reach in and try to activate the Sonic. You almost get the switch
01:10:28
Speaker
When the guard grabbing you gives you a simple shake and the sonic tumbles from your hand and clatters to the ground. The cybermat skirts closer to it, squeaking like a rusty toy and pokes against the sonic mave calamity.
01:10:48
Speaker
You are watching as this strange automaton is joined by another figure emerging from shadows that appears to be the same condition as this one, some horrible gauze-faced monstrosity. And they check her back and forth. Bainbridge continues slow laborious work on The Gadget. What do you do?
01:11:15
Speaker
First question is, have I ever heard of these guys slash things? Give us awareness and knowledge, and throw two on for being an experienced traveler. Nate has it, but this doesn't seem good, so I'm going to stomp as hard as I can on the foot of the guy holding me.
01:11:37
Speaker
You've never seen one this old before? Like this old-fashioned? This thing looks like it walked out of a B-movie sci-fi reel. The general construction, the bars, like you have seen amateur footage running the other way of people fleeing cybermen before. You know that they are dangerous. You don't know exactly how dangerous because, I mean, someone must have survived, otherwise they wouldn't have heard of them. But you know that these things don't belong here anymore than you do.
01:12:07
Speaker
Okay, second question. Is this place just have like mechanical assembly stuff or are there like chemical supplies or anything like that like in the on shelves or benches or whatever? Give me an awareness role in intuition. Are you looking for something in particular?
01:12:23
Speaker
Well, my thought was that if Calamity could figure out a way to... a straight-up antidote seems like very optimistic given the time constraints, but just literally any chemical combination that might disrupt whatever the drug was that she recognized in the water, and that seems like it might help in general principles.
01:12:47
Speaker
Fair. Give us that awareness and intuition roll. Maeve, what did you roll with strength and conflict to try and stomp the foot of the guard? I've got a 17 with a 6. That's good.
01:13:03
Speaker
I got a 6 and a 5 for a 15. Oh, that's gorgeous. So yeah, I did not roll so well for the guard in question. So what happens? Maeve SPAMPS hard on the foot of one of the MPs and he reacts throwing his arms wide.
01:13:20
Speaker
Mrs. trying to recapture you. Calamity, the MP holding on to you, sees Maeve has slipped her captor and without thinking, lets go of you to go and try and grab Maeve. I'm going for the stylus.
01:13:38
Speaker
Okay, Maeve goes for the sonic style as well. Calamity, you race to the nearest shelf where you don't see chemicals that could help snap someone out of a brainwashed state, but you do see a very large fire extinguisher. But yeah, you turn that and are able to...
01:14:02
Speaker
at the MPs and get it in their faces enough for them to even let go of the fixer. Fixer, please give us a coordination rule to avoid getting a face full of flameciller. Might I add athletics to that? Oh, please do. Samaib has seen the stylus be used before, but this is her first time. She's going to try and use it on one of these guys that were holding them.
01:14:25
Speaker
I love it. At disadvantage, go ahead and try and use the Sonic. Go ahead and do this ingenuity and technology plus two for the Sonic at disadvantage. I won't really argue with this advantage. 15 with a six on dice. Six and a five. Without really knowing what the heck you're doing, Maeve grabs the stylus and just points it at the nearest
01:14:53
Speaker
Cyberman, the lights on its boxy circuitry blink on and off and on and off and he falls over. Fixer, give us an awareness and technology role plus two for Time Lord, please. Absolutely. And I did end up getting a three and a three for a total of 11 on the not getting the fire extinguisher in the face. Average to average will do. This is cool. I want one.
01:15:24
Speaker
Calamity, the other Cybermen in the room turns and raises rubber-gloved cans at you. No, no, no. You will not want us. We have defeated you before. Lurching towards you. Fixer, you have been freed. What was the role you got with awareness and technology, ingenuity and technology?
01:15:52
Speaker
Ingenuity in technology. Okay, then it would be a 15 with a 5 out of 3 in the dice. Glancing with that oh so special Time Lord vision just getting a snapshot to think about in a quiet moment when you're not being chased by Cybermen and their puppets.
01:16:07
Speaker
You realize, just at a glance, that the circuitry that has been inlaid to the urchin, to the initiator that is at the heart of this thing, has been sabotaged. There is technology lacing the exterior of it that has no business in the 1940s.
01:16:28
Speaker
There is a lattice work on the exposed bowl of the explosive that you are able to see is very subtle, but nevertheless not supposed to be in the 40s. You have seen this kind of circuit work before. This is to transfer energy and lots of it. The Cybermen, one of the Cybermen is reaching for MAVE.
01:16:56
Speaker
Seven plus strength. Ooh, that's a 14. That's not bad at all. Can I get a strength roll, Maeve, to stay out of the clutches and feel free to throw conflict in there? The number you're trying to beat is 14. I got a six and a five for a 16.
01:17:12
Speaker
For just a heartbeat, this thing gets clammy, cold rubber gloves on your arms. And there is a spark as this thing is trying to power up some kind of attack, and that's when you pull back in disgust. Calamity, your friends are being attacked. A cyberman has fallen over. What are you doing? So I have a question.
01:17:36
Speaker
Gonna be a little weird. Um, the Cybermen, the way you describe them, are they... Does it seem like they're just, like, have a hard shell? Or is it, like, shiny clothes that they're wearing, sort of? They're wearing shiny clothes. The fabric, the fabric moves. They are wearing ballistic strength materials. Okay, excellent. Then I am just going, uh, Calamity is just going to, uh, not even try to not be grabbed. The main thing that she's going for is to pants one of the Cybermen.
01:18:06
Speaker
they are wearing a jumpsuit uh so it's so unfortunately okay okay so yeah pantsing them will just tug on their armpits that is too bad you can pants one of the mp's well no see there was a very specific and involved plan uh involving that poster that we saw in the beginning uh it's okay uh
01:18:25
Speaker
Okay, um, so, then yeah, do I, so I still have the, uh, I still have the fire extinguisher, right? Yes. Okay. I am just going to, uh, yeah, I'm just gonna try to, like, cloud it in the face with the fire extinguisher. Okay. It's not gonna go great, but... Are you trying to spray it or, like, bash it? I'm assuming that the spray would not do a lot to a robot-ish person. Give us a strength and conflict roll with plus two for the fire extinguisher to clock this thing in the face.
01:18:55
Speaker
excellent i'm gonna go ahead and throw a couple of story points on there because okay so yeah i do not trying to beat right now is uh 1320 that does seem unlikely uh
Calamity vs. Cyberman
01:19:08
Speaker
okay so yeah i'm you know i'm i'm at disadvantage here because i don't actually have conflict ooh tight i've got a six but two ones
01:19:17
Speaker
I feel like Calamity is very much in the spirit of fair play and would say, hey light bulb face and chuck it. You know to give him that slight heads up. Sure. Unfortunately because you announce ahead of time and throw the thing, even slow as they are with warning the remaining standing Cybermen.
01:19:37
Speaker
the fire extinguisher out of the air and it actually pelt back and hits you in the ankle. You're going to be at a minus one to strength related speed for the next hour, so you are sadly no faster than the Cyberman now.
01:19:53
Speaker
It's hard to see any kind of anger on a face as blank as this, but the Cyberman turns to calamity. Your expector will not stop us. We are prepared for new calamity.
01:20:17
Speaker
The other one is slowly getting to its feet while the MPs are getting extinguisher dust out of their faces. Fixer, what you doing, friend? I'd like to look around for what type of fabrication equipment they have in this room. You see soldering irons, you see a Waldo or two, like there might even be a forklift in the back somewhere. What specifically are you looking for?
01:20:40
Speaker
Oh, if there's a little bit of wire along with that soldering iron, I have an idea. You tell me if it works. Grab a little bit of solder. Grab the soldering iron. There's wire for days. Grab the wire. I'd like to, as the Cyberman is attacking Calamity and Maeve, I'd like to step up behind it and reroute the power going across those things on its head.
01:20:59
Speaker
I love it. I absolutely love it. You locate wire and a soldering iron. Give me an ingenuity and technology roll plus two for Time Lord. Ah, a fourteen with a three and a one on the dice. But I will happily toss my last remaining two story points in if it will help us save the day. I'm gonna say hang on to your story points. You got it. You...
01:21:23
Speaker
reach out and attempt to solder the headset connection on the standing most Cyberman in the room and even as like you haphazardly hurriedly try to divert some of its power like it wavers.
01:21:51
Speaker
And it wobbles, but doesn't quite fall down. And the second Cyberman rising to its feet says, you not understand. Time is our ally here. And that is when Stump
01:22:17
Speaker
Stomp! Stomp! From the shadows emerge upgraded Cybermen. These are not the cloth-faced models, but instead look like a single molded piece of plasteel. They move a little stiffer. They have fingered gloves of three instead of full dexterity. They are no faster, but they are
01:22:45
Speaker
Fulkier and the wiring along their arms appears more aggressive. The second generation Cyberman marches up beside it and says, Eaters, go look. We have upgrades. Crackle, crackle, crackle. Their hands are crackling with electricity. They look poised to jolt you. Maeve, what is going on?
01:23:13
Speaker
The MPs, do they have those silver things? Can they potentially be ripped off? Like, you'd have to be dexterous to, like, pull it out. Yeah. Yeah. I want to try it. Are you doing this with the Sonic? Are you doing it with your fingers? What are you doing? I want to try it with the Sonic. I'm used to it once a day. You did. This is going to be dexterity and subterfuge because you're trying to be a little slippery right now. Coordination and subterfuge.
01:23:43
Speaker
That takes it a 1 for a 13, but I will put story points on this. Okay, for one story point, you can successfully Sonic the nearest MP with Silver in his ears. Haphazardly, not really understanding what's going on. And the nearest MPs.
01:24:05
Speaker
and screams in nice silence as sparks fly from his ears and he just takes a knee in agony. Calamity, can I have an awareness and survival role for you, please? Sure. Quick question, Casey. Is the device something that can be physically transported by a person without them being exposed to radiation?
01:24:25
Speaker
Which part of the device? Because, like, it's laying in pieces right now. Specifically the part... Yeah, the urchin. The parts that were upgraded. The urchin. There are pieces of lead casing on either side of it. It looks like with the work of a couple of seconds, it could be bundled up and assembled safely and carded. Does that answer your question? That does. That does.
01:24:52
Speaker
Oh, so I got a six with a one on the dice. Okay. That's good, right? Well, calamity. You are drawing a blank for ideas. Fire Extinguisher has rolled away. Your ankle is killing you. Strange roboticized men are attacking you and your friends near a atomic bomb. Maeve, can I get an awareness and survival role?
01:25:20
Speaker
A 5 and a 5 for a 15. Beautiful. With the powdered flame killer from the fire extinguisher still misting in the air and the crackle from the hands of these approaching monstrosities, you are the one to notice that this place has a sprinkler system.
01:25:40
Speaker
Ooh, how would one activate that? Can I see how? You glance up, you see the pipes, wires, and cables, and you see a box with a easy to pull grip bar nearby. Oh yeah, I'm going for it. While you are going for it, do we have any talkers before the second generation Cyberman attempts to attack? And Maeve, you said you're moving.
01:26:08
Speaker
Yes. You're moving towards the wall, okay. Fixer, Calamity, any moving or doing in this round? Yes. When the one Cyberman addressed her by name and said that they were prepared for me, Calamity has never been more offended in her life.
01:26:26
Speaker
So she's like, oh yeah? She is literally going to just lunge towards random wires. She's not even looking. She's just going to grab and tear and then like give Cyberman a big old hug. She is throwing science at the wall to see what blows things up.
01:26:45
Speaker
You are tackling a Cyberman to hug it with wires in your hands, yes? With, ideally, wires that are, you know, have electricity in them. I mean, that's the idea here. But yes, she has zero concern for her own personal safety here. This is about making a point.
01:27:01
Speaker
the point is about to be made so because you're in a facility working on the first atomic bomb there are not live cables just lying around for obvious safety reasons there are cables one may even be denuded that you can pick up it is not live thank goodness but you can
01:27:20
Speaker
jab it or hug in an attempt to try and short-circuit something, you will be in proximity to it when that happens. Are you prepared for that? Yes, I mean, the whole idea here is that I am doing something that ideally they are not prepared for. No one's prepared for calamity after. Give us a strength and conflict role, please.
01:27:46
Speaker
Any chance I can use science instead of conflict? I feel like as angry as she is in that moment and incensed. Fair enough. I mean, you aren't trying to science it to death. It's not awful. So yeah, I have a seven with nothing special, but I do have a significant number of story points.
01:28:03
Speaker
You are going to need them because with a seven against quite a little more than seven, because I rolled a seven not including the combat, which is an extra two or the strength, which is another seven. So that's nine plus seven is 16 calamity.
01:28:19
Speaker
you grab for the cable and Say those famous words. Oh, yeah And with the cable in one hand and a bear hug and
01:28:35
Speaker
You wrap your arm around this Cyberman as it is trying to attack you, which is about the same time that Maeve gets to the wall, and I presume is pulling on the cord. While that's happening, I would like to run over to the table and try to scoop up the device inside the, the urchin specifically, inside the containment device.
Time Loop Chaos
01:29:03
Speaker
This is going to be at disadvantage just because you're under duress, trying to do a lot in a little bit of time. Give us coordination and technology, please. Plus two for timelord. Got a five and a six on the dice for a total of 18. Here is what happens. Calamity.
01:29:18
Speaker
Oh yeah? Grab this thing with the cable and Maeve pulls the cord. The amount of electricity that goes through calamity as she closes the circuit and this thing tries to fry you with the water from the sprinkler systems.
01:29:44
Speaker
Immediately showering you both, you wind up frying each other. The bulb atop the Cyberman's head pops with an explosive burst as the bulbs on this chest, to which you are directly pressed, pop and burst and explode. Electricity courses.
01:30:08
Speaker
through Calamity and the two of you collapse to the ground in a smoking pile. Calamity, everything goes black and then even darker. Like you don't even register the pain of the jolt of just, oh yeah. Maeve, you watch in terror
01:30:38
Speaker
as with your own hand on the fire alarm, on the smoke alarm, as the water pelts down and contributes to your friend electrocuting themself, Fixer, you reach out and snatch your hands around the urchin and hear that mechanical click of it shutting.
01:31:03
Speaker
electricity lances through you. Water from the sprinklers bombards you all, and the electricity courses from the dying Cyberman across the floor and up through your ankles, your calves, electrocuted jolt, and you are frozen, fixed to the spot. There is absence of sound. Everything goes dark.
01:31:33
Speaker
you hear the cloister bell. Calamity, you sit up on the floor of the TARDIS and open your mouth and smoke emerges. What is calamity's religious experience of dying and being looped back around in a time spur? What does that look like from her point of view? I mean, technically, it looks like Tuesday.
01:32:05
Speaker
Given where she came from, that's just sort of how things worked there. Usually people didn't remember it too much, but it was basically accepted that there was no past and no future. Everything just sort of kept happening and nobody ever really died.
01:32:22
Speaker
Um, that said, she's probably like, I was afraid of this. You look down and still have scorch marks where you touched naked cable hugging a Cyberman. Maeve, you are equidistant from calamity as you were in the warehouse, but now you are standing that same distance away in the TARDIS console room.
01:32:49
Speaker
The damage has not changed. It is still sparking. There are cracks in the glass and the auditor sits up from the console where he was on his back on the rolly thing saying, what? Fixer. You remember the time you were stuck.
01:33:09
Speaker
in the awful place with the terrible old man. The difference here is that that same loop sensation of going back to the start of something, you've never had that experience in your own time capsule before.
01:33:26
Speaker
the screen of the sensors flash new mexico 1945 july 15th as a another canister shunders down the pipe and falls out cracking open you are in a timed spur what is the fixer feeling in this moment
01:33:46
Speaker
Huh. Well, truth be told, a lot of complex emotions because the terror slowly overcoming the Fixer at the thought of being trapped in another time loop is almost overwhelming except for the fact that it means that we saved Calamity. So worth the most terrifying, horrific, traumatic experience of the Fixer's life because Calamity makes it through. Yeah.
01:34:11
Speaker
And the auditor concernedly looks to the Fixer and Maeve and Calamity and says, what just happened? You all just stepped outside not 10 seconds ago. Yeah, it did not sound like a thing with, you know, with the Victor, like where we had done things out of order. The way they were talking, it did sound kind of like we had done things several times. They whom? Uh... Who?
01:34:40
Speaker
Auditor, there's a Cyberman infestation on this base.
01:35:05
Speaker
And that's where we're gonna stop things today.
Session Reflection
01:35:08
Speaker
Folks, that was The Gadget, aka The Cyber Manhattan Project. We are going to go around the table, talk with our beloved team, and deal out those precious, tasty experience points. And if they're lucky, some story points too, because those didn't reset. Caden, how would Maeve report on today's events?
01:35:28
Speaker
I think Maeve is incredibly confused and right now feeling an incredible amount of guilt for electrocuting all of her friends. I think at this point there's nothing to report besides this is really weird and horrible. I can just see the headlines now of the new space Toledo Chronicle. Strange things happening. Weird shit question mark.
01:35:59
Speaker
made Sullivan a murderer? Dora, what does Calamity make of today's bizarre twists and turns and brush with mortality? Yeah, so Calamity is just like, yeah. She wasn't really counting on time looping and coming back to life, though she had thought about that previously. No, she was literally just, she was doing the whoops thing that, you know,
01:36:29
Speaker
This was a direct religious insult, and she had to respond. Though now she's sort of extra depressed about that, because it means every time she successfully does that, that's one less random thing that they won't see coming, right? It's sort of a vague, hopeless, it's just going to get worse as it keeps repeating, and that's a new kind of, you know, that's a new kind of religious horror for her.
01:36:58
Speaker
Yeah, the Cyberman was fully ready to swat the extinguisher out of the air when you threw it at them. And I love that you picked up on, oh, wait, they're just going to know we're going to do that for the next time. So thank you. Time spurs. Fixer, Brand, what surprised you most about today's mod? Ooh, I think the Cyberman in general being involved was a wonderful, didn't expect it coming. So that was kind of exciting.
01:37:28
Speaker
Yeah, I've known since I had the idea for this mod that the Cybermen were going to be the ones pulling strings. I just hadn't really figured out, I hadn't finalized on which model of Cybermen to use, especially since we're going back to the 40s and want to keep things, you know, at least aesthetically consistent. But since time travel's involved,
01:37:50
Speaker
and they can paradox things, and by me- that all means they can pick up some further models down the road of themselves for a little backup, because that's the kind of crap storm you guys are in right now. And oh, I gotta say, I'm really delighted that you have put us in a module where the wind condition is, cause an atomic explosion. Alright!
01:38:17
Speaker
I debated whether or not this mod was in good taste or not. Then Oppenheimer came out and I was like, yeah, no, we can do it with some taste, some respect for the devastation to come. But this is as fixed as a fixed point gets, my friends. I guess just something to know for the next time would be, would the fixer know whether or not the EMP given off by a nuclear weapon would disrupt cybermen?
01:38:45
Speaker
that's a very good question and something you will be in an informed position to check out the next time because just as you are caught in a time spur with them they are caught in a time spur with you the general this is timey wimey this is wibbly wobbly
01:39:03
Speaker
The rules of a time spur are basically that until you get things right, until things are fixed, you are not going anywhere. And when something catastrophic happens that makes victory impossible from that point, that's when it starts over. And Calamity taking lethal amounts of electricity right there on the floor with it. Oh yeah!
01:39:30
Speaker
Calamity, thank you again. Take an extra story point, because if that doesn't earn you one, I don't know what does. But yeah, there are historical figures that permanent harm cannot come to. You guys are rather important to saving the day. The fortunate thing is you have a time capsule to come back to. That's good. Right? Right side? That's good. Right side? Really?
01:39:55
Speaker
Thank you guys so, so, so much for playing with us today.
Season Wrap-Up
01:39:58
Speaker
It means a lot to me that you've stuck with this as long as I have, especially with things like the Crown Grant coming our way. A lot of work has gone into this and a lot of play, and you all have been delightful to play with. So I wanted to say thank you as we begin to wrap up our first season. Aww.
01:40:17
Speaker
And finally, to our listeners, another great big thank you for sharing your precious time with us. If you feel it's been well spent, please share Anywhere But Now with your friends who are looking to enjoy themselves. If you like what you hear, leave a review, rate the show, and follow us on Blue Sky as well as Twitter at Anywhere But Now and wherever you get your podcasts. Send your questions, fan art, and theories if you got them to Anywhere But Now podcast at gmail.com. Don't forget,
01:40:46
Speaker
If you want me to run a game of your very own, find me on startplaying.games. Links to everything in the doobly-doo. From all of us, I'm Casey Jones. There's exciting things to come, my friends. I am glad you're along for the ride. Thanks so much, and have a great day.