Transcript
Speaker: Hey, welcome back to Somewhere Elsewhere, world-building and actual play podcast. I am Janiel. I am Jerica. We're going to be exploring a yeah strange futuristic space world today.
Speaker: But it's not what you think. not what you think. Okay, so let's kind of set the scene here. So, let's say it's been in like a week or so. You've been kind of getting up to the same stuff.
Speaker: Was ID working on her? Are you not ready to reveal her side project yet? What did need the gold for? from the For the dog world. Oh, um... She's not ready to reveal that yet. Okay, okay.
Speaker: She's up to, you know, typical ID stuff. Learning, tinkering, trying to get past Odie's... Child locks. Yeah. yeah Anti-ID locks.
Speaker: Trying to get Odie to take her to visit iLab for reasons. Why don't you make a flat roll for me? Just 2d6. Oh. Yeah. I didn't pre-roll these dice, so i don't know what's... They could be the shit dice. Six? Six. That is not good enough.
Speaker: Yeah. Okay. So... Yeah, that's a failure. Not gonna be good enough. Yeah, that's... I expect. I expect. Major thing, you can try to work with, you know, try to get past those locks that Odie put out of this council.
Speaker: No success. In fact, you very rarely see him away from that council again. He just kind of lives there. You see him, again, you've seen him in the past, like, sometimes he just hangs out there, listens to music. Sometimes he just sleeps there. Like, he reclines his chair all way back and he just sleeps.
Speaker: And the few times that you have seen him get up and do something else, you snuck over there and you came and figure out what is locked on here because it just looks the same as it ever has.
Speaker: um So you think it's something internal that he might have done to this council, something programmed in, but externally you don't see any actually physical things added to this council that would be resistant to you.
Speaker: Odie probably doesn't have fingerprints, right? Probably not. No. Which is kind weird to think about. he has smooth fingers. I would like to try one more thing. Okay. I would like to install like a video feed inside patches.
Speaker: Okay. So, but that, I kind of assumed he had a camera in his head. Well, just in his makeup somewhere. I didn't think about it, but like, it makes sense now that she can access remotely from her antenna. He's remote controlled.
Speaker: Well, no, but I mean, that makes it easier to... So is Patches remote controlled or is he kind of doing his own thing? Question mark. Or is he like a Roomba where he has like, he kind of knows where things are. He knows where ledges are. So he doesn't have to take a topple off of them. Well, um not at first.
Speaker: He has fallen. He had a couple of oopsies. nihita These have several. um She's constantly, like, fixing him and, like, giving him little upgrades.
Speaker: and She's, like, really not, hasn't really started researching AI yet. Okay. Something's, like, preventing her from from doing that. She doesn't know. just something that just she just hasn't done.
Speaker: But he does have some sort of, like, basic autonomy. He can follow commands and whatnot. yeah I'm picturing Dave's kind of like one of those higher-end child's toys from a store where like he can talk to it and it says, okay, I love you. like Basically, it knows how to respond to your voice and record stuff. And some of those toys actually know where walls are. like It knows to avoid obstacles, which is kind of It uses basic sensors. Yeah, she probably, after the third time, him falling down off the second floor. It gives you a proximity sensor. Here you go, bud.
Speaker: The main thing he does is like hold tools and stuff for her. Okay. And gives her someone else to talk to. Okay, cool. So why don't you roll for that? So you modify patches to your your will here.
Speaker: That's an 11. Oh, fuck, yeah. You put one of his eyes like to me? yeah. Okay, yeah, so like you swap out one of his eyes for a little camera that you probably picked up at the market. Yeah.
Speaker: So yeah, you just swap out. Is there a junkyard? There's like salvager people there that salvage a scrap and fix it up and resell it. She probably spends like quite a bit of time there as well. Yeah, because like if you want the latest technology, you go to visit your buddy at the fucking right where Best Buy. But if you want something that's like a fixer-upper and for cheap, you go to the scrapper, the recycling guys. Yeah, and she finds it more comfortable there because it feels more like home.
Speaker: I imagine this place in the market is like not as nice and clean as the other places here. It's basically full of junk. But imagine it kind of looking like, don't know you've ever been to like a ah pull apart before for cars. Unless you don't know what a pull apart is, you go to basically a nice-ish car junkyard and they have cars laid out and you can pick parts off of them to fit on your own vehicle.
Speaker: Anyway, so yeah, you find the fixer-up camera, and you put that on your little bunny. And it, like, that she can have the feed go right to her antenna?
Speaker: Yeah. I mean, for 11, you can fucking do it. You saw a shitty roll before, so, like, it didn't get you anywhere yet, but you successfully put a camera on your your rabbit. Odie probably knows. He's not an idiot. i Yeah. isis But like, Patches will just roam around sometimes too. That's okay. If you let him like free roam or he's normal. Yeah. I mean, he doesn't really have a will of his own. So he doesn't really do much, but like sees she sends him on. He's a Roomba. She sends him on missions and stuff. Like, and by missions, I mean. just spy on Odie's console. Go get me a a snack or go get me this from the workshop or go get me this from my room.
Speaker: Go see if Odie's in his chair. Cool. Okay. Yeah. So ah as far as visiting I-Lib, I'm mean not going to grant you that with your your no role. really don't expect you to.
Speaker: You know, and I know. And Odie and Ileb know. And you're going to painting them as well pretty often because you're going to be using those power cells like crazy. It hasn't been quite enough time since your CPU mission in ah the Chromia City.
Speaker: But, you know, one these times soon, going be seeing them again probably to refuel your storage racks or the door or both. You have your own storage racks now. You don't need mess with the the player door racks.
Speaker: You have plenty. You have an ample supply of crystals. So anyway, set the scene here. You're with Odie because he kind of requested you to come up with him to the Planeador Control Council.
Speaker: And he seems pretty excited about something but won't tell you. Um, hold on. With an 11, can I have the video be able to record? Yeah. So he leads you up to the Planner War Council. Sorry. Well, last time. Okay.
Speaker: The only reason I asked is because she probably does video diaries. Oh, okay. You know, where she's like records like what she's doing and basically talking to herself, you know, while she's working or whatever.
Speaker: Okay, so he leads you up to the Planner Control Council, and he has a task selected. Easy-looking task. It's like preventative maintenance.
Speaker: Normally what he does is he sits in that chair, and he uses the joysticks, and he commands the door and places it where it needs to be placed. But he doesn't sit in his chair. Instead, he rests himself kind of back against the council, and he gestures to you to sit down in the chair.
Speaker: Um, what did I do? Well, you didn't do anything. I think you have earned your first test drive of the planar door.
Speaker: You have not found out what I did. Got it. What did you do? I've done lots of things. Um, why do I feel like, is this a trick? It's not a trick. I'm going to show you how to park the planar door.
Speaker: If I sit down and and the joystick's going to shock me or something. No, I realize I have a lot of restrictions on this council, but as of right now, everything is open.
Speaker: Now, as soon as I said it, I realized that practical jokes are sort of beyond you. Which is good, because I'm not a huge fan myself. Okay. She kind of, like, turns and, like, nods at Patches.
Speaker: and Patches kind of, like, sits there watching her. The little lens on one of his eyes moves, like, as if it was zooming in or something. And she's going to... Sit down and she's going to go to grab the joysticks and then she's going to say, hold on, before I touch this, you're sure this isn't some sort of test?
Speaker: It's a practice session. Okay. It's for an easy task. You can place the door wherever. So even if you don't place it exactly where I tell you to, it should be no problem. Well, I'm going to place it exactly where it should be.
Speaker: Implying that if he tells her to put it somewhere and she doesn't think that's the best place, it's not where she's going to put it. Oh, yeah, it's putting it 100 feet off the ground. Okay. She leans back. She kind of closes her eyes. She flexes her fingers.
Speaker: Takes a couple deep breaths. need you to roll for this. Just a flat roll. Because it's not figuring shit out because he's got to tell you how to do it. This is how well you're following his instructions.
Speaker: Well, yikes. Should have said that before I rolled. It's a nine. A nine? Okay, it's mixed. Yeah, so he tells you what buttons to press. Like, he kind of points to, like, his discounsel is like, there's buttons and dials and lights and gauges and screens everywhere.
Speaker: Like, you've seen this a million times, but now you're sitting in front of it is, like, might be a little intimidating. i mean, for someone who hasn't mapped all of them out already. But he tells you what buttons to push and what order. And you see all these screens light up with your destination, which, again, he does mainly for you because he knows everything that's beamed to his head. But you see these screens of this new world show up and it just kind of looks like a normal, like, beautiful looking world.
Speaker: Basic stuff. Like, you've been to some really weird places, but this place looks pretty basic. And he finally tells you to grab those joysticks and to basically target one of these screens and put the door up against a big tree that he points to.
Speaker: So you do that. mean, like you have a little bit of difficulty, like when you first grab the ah joystick, it's the wrong screen. So he like he reflexively kind of like holds that joystick like not this one, this one.
Speaker: And you finally take the joystick that you need to push forward and you throttle it forward and the entire console goes dark. I didn't do it.
Speaker: Odie looks back at the console he's like, oh, most certainly not. um Oh, like I couldn't do it if I wanted to? No, I've never. um And he's like, do you do you mind if I sit down?
Speaker: On my lap? No, i i if you if you move. Just temporarily. I'm sorry, but I had to figure out what's going on with this. I was just getting comfortable. Fine.
Speaker: She gets up. And he messes with the council a little bit and seems to almost restart it. And everything comes online again, but all the screens are still dark. And the largest screen is at the center. It shows up with an image that you are intimately familiar with now.
Speaker: It's that golden black hexagon with the arrow and GR, Grayson Robotics. And it's like an animated logo that appears on screen. And you see Odie kind of freeze a little bit.
Speaker: And this logo, this animated logo, turns around. And when it does, it turns into a different logo. A solid black Q, almost you're looking on at it corner on, so it forms almost like a blue Y with a capital isometric letter P coming off the side of it.
Speaker: And next to that logo, you see a word appear. connecting with three racing dots. And Odie says, Miss Eidee, if you would but do me the biggest favor you probably have ever done for me, hide yourself.
Speaker: Disguise yourself, hide, whatever you do. What is going on? this is this is... Is she hacking us? I don't know. Just please make yourself scarce. Okay. What's the range on the... Do I have... oh Okay, fine. She goes onto the floor. oh you hiding? Under the console. Under the console? Yeah. Okay. Yeah, and you don't see the screen, but that... Well, Patches is still there, but pat and Patches is like looking up Oh, yeah, through patches. Okay. Yeah, so through patches, you can see the screen. You see that connecting, change to connected.
Speaker: And the screen lights up. And at first, you just see a completely dark background. But then you see this image change, and you hear a voice.
Speaker: And it says, OD31715, answer this call. answer this call And Odie, you see him like stiffen up and straighten up like you've never seen him before.
Speaker: i text him, oh, the full name. You're in trouble. you don't get a response. You hear Odie say, president, ma'am. And the screen flickers on and you see a woman.
Speaker: Just her head and her little bit of her torso. She is an older woman. Yes, maybe in her seventy s She does have wrinkles of time on her face.
Speaker: She has stark white hair, almost shaven down the sides, leaving just a short, shaggy cut on the top of her head. She's wearing glasses, kind of large, round glasses with golden lenses. She's dressed in a white lab coat with that Grayson Robotics hexagon over her right breast.
Speaker: Underneath that coat, she's wearing a dark suit with a golden hexagon patterned tie. She has very little expression on her face, if anything stern and focused.
Speaker: And you see her bring up a screen, but it's not attached to anything. It's like made-of-light hologram screen. but You can't make out anything on it, but she's pressing little buttons and stuff on it.
Speaker: And she says... I'm calling you in regards to a dire situation. I am sending you the coordinates of this world I will need to send you to today.
Speaker: But before I do, I need to outline the scenario that we are currently dealing with. And she brings up on screen an image of this world. And this shows this world that's just almost in black and white.
Speaker: It's almost less like a night vision kind of look to this camera. But you also see one of those big black box trucks that's just in space.
Speaker: But you see it has wings, almost almost like little shuttle wings and an engine on the back. You don't know if this is different from the box truck you've seen leave her building before, or the Piddler building before, but it looks very, very similar.
Speaker: And she says, i have sent several fixer units to this world before to repair a fracture, and they have all failed. The reason for these failures has come to our attention that this world absorbs the energy of everything that touches it.
Speaker: Heidi makes a like a yikes face. In order to combat combat this, I have developed special power reserves, a large battery that will be deployed and It will power this world for a limited amount of time.
Speaker: In that time frame, I expect you to fix this fracture before this battery runs out of energy. I'm tasking you with this because I know in your inventive ways, you will find a solution.
Speaker: And she brings up in our screen her own little hologram screen. And she says, due to extensive time delays, this fracture has achieved level seven status.
Speaker: We cannot afford any more delays. Do not. fail me and she basically cuts out the video feed and you see a couple like timers come up on screen and one of them is a five minute timer and it's counting down and odie messages you back like that you can come out He, like, sits in his chair and he's just not looking great.
Speaker: He is unable to be pale, but, like, he looks like he should be. He looks like he's extremely nervous. So, it seems like I-Lib takes after Mom more than you do.
Speaker: Ah, so you did I was great on more. Yes? Well, I'm not an idiot. I, um... Very rarely does she ever talk to us directly.
Speaker: Well, yeah, because she doesn't value you as people. So why would she? So whenever... Is she a machine, too? Because her and I-Leb sound a lot alike.
Speaker: ah She might as well be, but... Isn't she, like, old, too? Like, really old? I don't even want to know about that. um I mean, she made you, and you're, like, thousands of years old, right?
Speaker: I know. I know. i don't I don't know what her situation is. All I know is that whenever she makes direct contact with a fixer, it is for a very dire reason. I wonder if she's found a way to, like, transfer her consciousness into... So a level seven or class seven fracture is... Yeah, what's up with that? So remember that little fracture that I fixed on Withershins when I first met you? Mm-hmm.
Speaker: That was a class two. Very, very easy to fix. Very minor. Generally, classes one through three, they develop within a few months and their development is very slow.
Speaker: Class seven fractures higher up in that list, it ranges to a 10. A 10 is borderline catastrophic. It is borderline planar failure. So, you know, class 7, this means this fracture has gone on for a extended period of time without being fixed. So it has been allowed to grow and spread.
Speaker: We can still fix this. I'm still capable of fixing this without use of another fixer unit. But the concerning thing... is that? And he points to on the screen that five minute timer that is ticking down.
Speaker: And he says, that is for the launch of that battery that Graven were developed. And according to the notes that she sent me, once that makes contact with the surface, we will have exactly one hour to find this fracture, which we don't know where it is, and to fix it and to get off.
Speaker: Otherwise, we will be drained of energy, which for me, that is a death sentence. For you, infinite boredom. Sorry. You lying next to Odie's corpse? God, I'm so bored.
Speaker: For me, that is a death sentence. For you, it might as well be a death sentence, because you're not even supposed to be there. If I can't... This is... I'm not letting you go alone. No.
Speaker: No, I'm not saying that. I'm saying that this is Challenging. So the concerning thing is, is that this task seems to be originated from the task manager.
Speaker: So whenever that happens, they usually send a scout down to locate where this fracture exactly is. However, it seems that several units were sent down there and have been...
Speaker: Extinguished because this planet absorbs all the energy of everything that it touches, so it's an instant death sentence for anything that, well, anything that has to be powered in order to survive. they could find dead fixers down there?
Speaker: Potentially, but are knowing... Are you going to be able to handle that? It wouldn't be the first time. Knowing Grenamore, as soon as she sends that battery down, she's going to send a recovery unit for the ones who did not make it.
Speaker: She's not one of the least materials. Well, I'll give her that. So what you're saying is that if we want any of their stuff, we have to get there before she does.
Speaker: Miss Eide, that is not the focus of our task today. Our task is to survive. we could and There could be multiple things to focus on. It's called multitasking.
Speaker: there was Something that you should know all about. Yes, we only have an hour. Why are we still standing here then? Let's go We're waiting for that timer to count down because that is when Grimor is going to launch that battery.
Speaker: It's going to hit the surface and we can then put the door safely on this planet. Okay. Send me everything you know so I can go over while I get my stuff ready.
Speaker: Uh, here. And he brings it up on screen and you see images of this planet come up and it is cold, dark, and empty.
Speaker: You see black and white screens show up. Again, like on night vision cameras, like there's no light here. You only see a sun. You see vague shapes that look like buildings. Um,
Speaker: You see vague shapes look like cars. You see vague shapes that look like buses or some kind of transport. You see vague shapes that look like transportation, but they look like they're kind of rockets too. Some kind of flying contraption.
Speaker: But there's not lot to go off of here. And the information that's fed from the task manager, it just says that this is a refuge planet. Meaning it's an artificial planet that was made to serve some purpose, but for whatever reason, it's been kind of like left the rod.
Speaker: But the notes there say that this is a planet that was essentially abandoned because of its power-hungry status, but also it does not have a sun. Basically, it's just drifting through space. It is a empty, dead planet.
Speaker: So you see that timer countdown, and you actually see that there's a little status bar under it. It says that Grimmore has actually launched this battery, but it is taking five minutes to reach the surface of this planet.
Speaker: So wherever this cargo truck was so that launched this battery, it takes five minutes to hit the surface of this planet. Again, in notes, you see kind of in bold, once it touches the surface, there's approximately one hour of battery life to power the systems of this planet to make it not kill you.
Speaker: So my concern is if we don't do it in the hour and... You are pretty much dead. i'm going to be dead from freezing to death, sounds like. Yes. Or asphyxiation.
Speaker: Nothing sounds pleasant about this. So, do we have anything that acts as like an oxygen... We do have one thing. And he looks at that timer. He's like, we gotta to be quick about this. There's like three minutes left.
Speaker: He leads you down the stairs, down to the planar door chamber, and past that, and there's a door on the wall that, like, it has been locked, so, like, you've just never accessed it. But he unlocks that, and he goes down. It's a flight of stairs. It looks like it's actually built to the outside of the buzzard. And you go down these stairs down this kind of attached hallway, and you end up in...
Speaker: essentially a barn. It looks like it used to be a garage or something at some point. Like, you see old materials here. You see grass here, like it's from the the plane you're sitting on. And you look out the window and you see kind of behind you where he came from and you... See, for the first time, the buzzer.
Speaker: You're kind of outside of it while still in this barn. You see the wing on the side the aircraft is like broken in half. You see two engines. One's kind of hanging by a literal thread, ah hanging off the wing. One is still on the wing.
Speaker: But yeah, like now you can see this aircraft you've called home for a couple of months now, but just never seen the outside of it. In this barn, you do see what looks like a like a small clean room.
Speaker: And in this clean room, you see what look like spacesuits. He says, these are what everyone, any anyone, even fixers, have to wear if we come into contact with Fracture Fire.
Speaker: So this is supposed to supply us with protection against that radiation. And these could also be used to supply life-sustaining environments for anyone who does need to breathe.
Speaker: So if you find one your size, we could use that. she Her eyes are like looking up as she's making mental notes to herself. And then she's like, I'll never remember this. And then she pulls out her recorder. Okay, note to self.
Speaker: We have equipment to handle fracture fire. Miss Heidi, I should clarify that these suits remain in this chamber. They are quite delicate and expensive.
Speaker: I will not let me purchase another one if something were to happen to any of these. What are you insinuating? I don't like your tone right now. i As she like goes over and tries to find one that fits her.
Speaker: Consider these as irreplaceable as your own device on your arm. Well, you are right. That is pretty irreplaceable for now. Okay, cool.
Speaker: So if you find one your size very quickly, we only have two minutes and 15 seconds before that battery hits the surface of that planet. Let's see how fast she finds one. Okay. Not very fast. That's a six. Ew.
Speaker: Is everybody just huge? Like, geez. She, like, puts one on if the limbs are, like, so long. Who is this made for? You can see Odie not paying you much mind because he's kind of like frantically looking back up at the planar door room.
Speaker: You know, you could help by like telling me which one would fit me. You can know what... i I know. I apologize about this one. And he grabs you one and it's it's adequate size. Like it's about his size. It might be a little like ever so slightly tight on you.
Speaker: So yeah, you guys run up to the planar door control room and that little timer is at zero. Important question. What color are these spacesuits? And you're like gray. there're They're not made for fashion. i know. I was just wondering. Like gray and white. Yeah. But like they have a helmet and everything. Like they're just. They're not they're not orange for any reason.
Speaker: No. I'm sorry. Okay. i Fine. Sorry. Yeah. That's fine. Sorry. Whatever. They give me orange. I can make them orange. No, no, no. I guess it's better that they're not orange because they're always orange in Doctor Who, so. Ah. Yeah, they're just gray and Grayson Robotics branding.
Speaker: Gross. like everything's fucking Apple or ah Tesla or whatever. Yeah, that's pretty much what this company is. That's what seems like in in terms of like how much it has taken over this world. lot things are Grey's Nebotics products.
Speaker: Anyway, Odie opens that door and you're not greeted with the cold vacuum of space. You're greeted with almost blinding neon lights.
Speaker: And you step out into a street. And it is colorful, lively. You see parked hover cars. like you're actually levitating off the ground.
Speaker: You see very tall buildings. i mean, nothing as tall as... Acromia, like not into the sky tall, but skyscrapers. It's like a city. And these buildings are beautiful. They're made of glass and iron and they're very fancy looking. You see a lot of these signs advertising shops, food, restaurants.
Speaker: You see a lot of these shops that are just sitting there street level advertised. But you don't see any people here. It is completely empty. The only sound you hear are the occasional like buzzings and whirrings of some motors that are kind of bouncing back to life because of this battery. But you don't hear anything else.
Speaker: It is completely silent. And you got that from the notes. Like, this was made to sustain people, but for whatever reason, it was abandoned. So, like, now, but because it's battery, this this city is powered up.
Speaker: So you're looking at this city as it was going to be one day, but just didn't get completed for whatever reason. But, yeah, that is where you are at. So, Ivy's gonna, like, take it all in And she's gonna turn the bike around because she hears the familiar, like, hopping of patches.
Speaker: She's like, no, patches, you have to, no, you need to stay here. Don't, don't no, here don't. It's not good for you to be out here. What I need, what I need you to do, and do it quickly, need some salvaging tools. Hurry, go, go, go, go.
Speaker: Alright, gonna close the door behind ya? Eventually. Eventually. Let's leave it open. Well, she's got to wait for him to bring the tools to her. Oh, you see Odie like look around and then you look up. ah he He see him look up at this big central building. There's almost like a big square that you're pretty close to in the city. And in the center of the square is a very tall building.
Speaker: clock tower and it is like a screen of an analog clock and you see that is already one minute past midnight because when clocks reset they reset from 12 so it is now 1201 in this city oh he says okay well we have that um what are you doing miss id Oh, tying my shoe.
Speaker: We need to go. We only have an hour. Where are we going? Do you even know? i don't really know. Okay, well, then maybe we should think of a plan here first. Well, being a Class 7 fracture, we should be able to feel it. And... We or you?
Speaker: Well, he doesn't answer that. And he he walks over a few steps like to the corner of the street, and he says, Miss Eidee, it's underground. Oh, great.
Speaker: I guess we're going spelunking then. Wouldn't call spelunking, but maybe this city has a subway system? I wouldn't either. I don't know what that means, but it sounds like a fun word to say. Spelunking.
Speaker: Well, either way, we have to find a way to get down underneath the surface. Okay, give me one second. And she, like, gets the tools from Patches, like, pats them on the head.
Speaker: Like, all right, here we go. And she, like, closes the door. Okay. Yeah, so you guys walk around for a bit looking at signs and, like, don't you give a flat roll for me? Kind of like a a perception check.
Speaker: And I will do the same for Odie to see how well he does. He does not do well. Ooh, that's a three. I fucking rolled a three, too. That's weird. Oh, boy. We're not seeing nothing. Everyone sucks.
Speaker: So, like, you see the obvious. Like, you see all these signs advertising shops that just, like, for people that aren't here. You see restaurants that are open. And, like, empty tables.
Speaker: And, like, it's it's weird walking through this, like, ghost town that seems so lively. Like, you see advertisements for, like, movies and shows, but, like, there's no one here.
Speaker: So you walk around the square for a bit. kind of cruising around the city like where you might find like a sign for a subway station and you see that clock tower five minutes pass and like od's just kind of freaking the fuck out like you can see him kind of get like more stressed dude chill we just we only have an hour to do this if we we don't do this don't know if grainlor has another battery if we don't fix this fracture bad things are going to happen Yeah, I get it. But dwelling on how much time we don't have is not going to help anybody.
Speaker: She opens ah the screen of her antenna and she does a scan because she always, the first thing she does is she scans to see what the antenna can pick up from the code from this. Your scan is interrupted.
Speaker: Your screen kind of flickers a little bit and you see texts appear on your screen and it's accompanied by a small voice that says, hello and welcome to New Haven City.
Speaker: Um, what? My name is O.M. I am the operations manager of New Haven City. Is there anything I can assist you with today? Hold that thought. Odie, this is weird. i don't like it. Uh, it appears the city has its own AI system.
Speaker: That's interesting. AI kind of weirds me out. Oh, he kind of gives you a look like he's a i Not you. You're a person. This OM messages again and says, your communication device is not registered for our network.
Speaker: However, for new visitors, we grant a free one-day pass. That's perfect. One day is great. You know what? even Even one hour would be fine. Is there anything I can assist you with today?
Speaker: Um, just download everything that you know into my device and that'll be fine. Are you looking for shops and restaurants? ah No.
Speaker: No. Movies and entertainment. Uh... Transportation system. And Odie says, that one, that one. And she like looks at Odie like, she's not interfering with you? No.
Speaker: Must be nice. Um, okay. Um, what was your name? O.M.? My name is O.M. I am the operations manager of New Haven City. Can just call you Om?
Speaker: You don't get a response. I'm calling you Om whether you like it or not. Okay, Om, is there any so sort of subterranean transportation? You're interested in the city's subway system?
Speaker: Did I stutter? You see your screen flicker and it downloads and presents a map of the subway system. And it shows you several stops and it shows you one that you're pretty close to.
Speaker: It shows you like ah like an access point, like a surface access point. ID is going to send that to OD. Um, um, we're going to head over to this access point. But while we're doing that, it would be so very helpful if you gave me access to your library systems.
Speaker: You're requesting permission for internal archives. Are you part of maintenance? Oh, yeah. We're fixers. Please enter your maintenance identification code. And it shows a little box that's empty. But and you see that screen flicker for a second it says access granted.
Speaker: She looks at Odie. Odie's not paying much attention. you like He's heading to that stop. That's weird. She's freaked out now. Okay, ah great. And while they're walking, she's just going to download everything she can from the have all the information.
Speaker: And you're it's quiet for a bit. Owen doesn't bother you for a bit. And you go down this clay stairs and you see that there's things down here that don't seem quite right. Like the booth that you would normally use to scan your car or whatever to gain access to the subway.
Speaker: It's boarded up. It's not all the way there. But then Odie kind of looks around and he says, well, I did get the impression that this world was unfinished. So there might be some incomplete features that And he looks at that booth and there's just like no windows in it. Like the windows aren't even installed in this booth.
Speaker: But he walks through the gate. He kind lifts up the little barricade and walks through it. She's going to follow him. and you get a ping from OM. And it's basically an advertisement.
Speaker: It says like new this year, new tech expo at like some expo center that's nearby. And it's just like presenting you with city entertainment ads. Okay, and this is... I hate ads.
Speaker: She's going to follow Odie, but as they're walking, there's going to be a like a little ding on her antenna. And she's going to oh, really? and she's going to like reach into her one of her pockets and like pull out what looks like a little memory card.
Speaker: And she's going to like take the old one out and put this new one in. and then she's going to put the memory in like this little got a special little case for it and puts it back in her pocket. Like, wow, that is a lot of info.
Speaker: Are you reading that in his info or is this for later? Oh, no. She's just doing a data dump, basically, that she can go through later. Okay. And you see Odie, like, get to the tracks of the subway and there's no train here.
Speaker: And he's kind of looking down the tracks. I know this city is alive and active right now. I'm strongly considering just walking down the tracks to try to find this fracture, but I also don't want to get hit by a train.
Speaker: Why would a train be running if there's no people? Well, it seems like this entire city is automated. Right. So if there's no people that need to go anywhere, why would there be a train? And you hear OM ping and it says, the next train should be arriving in five minutes.
Speaker: Why, Om? There's nobody here. It just says, everything in this city is autonomous. I am the operations manager. Okay, so manage to just not do that.
Speaker: How about that? The next train should be arriving in five minutes. Okay, well, which direction is the train heading? It is heading eastbound. Odie, where is east where we need to go?
Speaker: don't know if we can afford to wait five minutes, but if it's going to be here, I'd rather not be hit by it, so let's just... We could just, you know, walk and it'll catch up to us.
Speaker: I don't know how fast this subway goes. Where's your sense of adventure? if Okay, fine. well Hey, Om, can you speed that train up a little bit? Speeds are regulated by traffic laws.
Speaker: We are literally the only two people here on this entire city, so I don't think it matters. Are you waiting for the ter train? Yeah, we're going to right wait for the train. She's going to keep downloading data, and she's just going to be like, looking around.
Speaker: Is there any, like, tech around? Is there any little screens or... Why don't you Om? No, I'm not asking Om. I'm looking with my eyes. Okay, I mean, the the only the only tech you see are like advertisements, like basically automated billboards down here that are just scrolling through advertisements for things that just, they're probably going to be big when the city opened, but there's obviously no one here to enjoy whatever these things are advertising.
Speaker: Hey, Om. Yes, what can I assist you with? So just because I'm curious and we got nothing to do while we wait for this train that you won't speed up, these advertising monitors, how are they controlled?
Speaker: You see a screen asking for permissions again, but it quickly goes away, just like a split second. And Adam says, your current credentials do not grant you permission to this information. And then it freezes and it says, access granted.
Speaker: And then it says, the core of our city is located eastbound 2.2 miles away. Where does this train stop? And it gives you list of stops.
Speaker: Like it shows several places, but then it shows you like a door that's in yellow and it's like maintenance only. Like it's not a true stop in the train, but if you had permissions, it seems you could go there.
Speaker: Okay. um I have a very, very important question for you. Okay, you just like basically hit the box open for you to enter in a query. When we get to, she taps her, so it's not a touchscreen, but she taps her screen. When we get to this maintenance door, can you stop the train just for a second?
Speaker: With your current permissions, we can. That's weird, but I'll take it. And you hear this train come down and it's like a brand new subway train is completely spotless.
Speaker: And it speeches to a halt and it opens its doors. Come on, Odie. What are you doing? Odie walks through. He walks on. And you see him kind of like, he seems to be processing something in his mind. Like he seems to be like maybe detecting where this fracture is. And he looks up at the map on the subway as any subway would have on the top above the windows.
Speaker: And you see a bunch of stops and lights lit up. You see the yellow access door. it says maintenance only. Odie says, if my calculations are correct, we need to stop here. And he touches almost to the end of the map.
Speaker: Like, you get the idea from this map that this is subway that kind of goes back and forth in this tunnel. as a short trip through some part of the city. So it should take us a few minutes.
Speaker: We have approximately 43 minutes left of our trip. but This should be, if all goes well, we are making decent time. See, nothing to worry about. As I head to the front of the train to where the...
Speaker: Is there like a... There's a cabin, but there's no one driving the train since it's all automated. Yeah, but like... The train can drive itself. It's true that there's access panels and stuff, right?
Speaker: be Behind a locked door. yeah Is it a manual lock or is it a special lock? Roll for it. It's a locked door. It's a high-tech city, but, like, how much can they change a fucking subway?
Speaker: Basically, this thing is being automatically driven, but you get the impression that there could be someone here to drive the train and take over if you know, something were were to happen or if they, yeah. Hey, um, uh, this door is locked. What is that about?
Speaker: The door is locked for the safety of the captain of the train. Well, there is no captain of the train, so does it need to be locked? I do not understand your query. I'm the captain and I can't get into the control area. That's a problem.
Speaker: And you see a screen that pops up that asks for permissions, but quickly goes away it says access granted. This is so unsettling. Yeah, you open up the door and it's says that's a control panel.
Speaker: I don't know what the inside of a subway control panel looks like. Any train experts listening can fill us in, I guess. um I'm going need you to give me full access to the operations.
Speaker: I need to make sure that the manual overrides still work in cases of emergency. It's routine maintenance, Om. It grants you permission. Like, it basically hits- you see that same thing pop up in the screen, ask for a code of some kind, but it quickly goes away and it says access granted.
Speaker: Okay. Now, I have to figure out how to drive a train. Roll for it. Plus two to figure shit out. Figure shit out. What did you roll? Oh my gosh.
Speaker: I rolled a three. Even with the two, it's still a five. Fuck me. This is supposed to be the good dice. You know what? I don't think it's any fault of your own. So... had a plan for me to fail this?
Speaker: I didn't expect to you to take control the fucking drain. i want to hurry it up a little bit. Okay. Yeah, you try to control this train, but then you feel and hear a grinding noise come from the train.
Speaker: And you don't know anything about trains. Nope, not a damn thing. But you're pretty sure that's supposed to run on rails. But when you look in the front window, you see the rails have ended.
Speaker: And you feel this train suddenly jolt pretty violently. They didn't finish the fucking track? I need both you and Odie to roll. Just flat rolls for me here.
Speaker: Why isn't this a hover train? Okay. Oh, you rolled a six. That's not much better. we both failed whatever we were trying to not do. we're fucked.
Speaker: Yeah, this this subway, like, yeah it's off the rails and nothing is steering anymore. Basically, you took the automatic controls off. So that's not helping either.
Speaker: wake up on your back and the front of the train's mash, you're flung back to the back wall and you don't feel great. You've kind of been in a little accident.
Speaker: And you see Odie stumbling, like looking after you. And he says, what happened? What just happened? We crashed, I think. Oh, we crashed. But what? And he looks out the window and like, yeah, there's no tracks.
Speaker: They didn't finish. No, they didn't finish. Also, why is it not a hover train? Like, I don't know. You see that actually has a pretty good gash on his head from hitting something.
Speaker: And I don't think you've seen Odie bleed before. does not have blood, so how is he bleeding? Well, he has like little, like... Fluid? Fluid, like pale blue. It's almost like sky blue.
Speaker: But he puts his hand up on that. Okay, we'll but fix this later. How are you? Are you hurt at all? I don't know. She does a biometric scan on herself to determine if there's anything broken or any, I don't know, bleeding. Why don't you roll for me again? It's going to be a flat roll because don't think she does anything for medical shit. No, but... You need to roll better.
Speaker: What did you roll? five. Fuck me. All right. ah um ah You're fucked up. but I'm trying to think of how fucked up. Your kneecap's not busted.
Speaker: That's a good thing. You still walk, but like your left arm where your vice is on, it really fucking hurts. Your back hurts. Your neck hurts. Your head hurts. It looks like you hit your head on something. Like you got a little blood on your head. you might have a little bit of concussion there, but.
Speaker: Cool, cool, cool. Yeah. So like, it's not great. Also, i need to remind me when I get back to upgrade the scanner. This sucks. It's not telling me anything. I don't already know.
Speaker: Well, okay, so we still have some time, uh, 29 minutes, but we can make it. How did we lose that much time? were blacked out. I tried to see if you were okay. i Why didn't you just pick me up and carry me?
Speaker: i was dealing with a little bit of an issue myself. And you can kind of see back where he came from, and that car's caved in. Oh. He had basically dig himself out of there. Like, you see his clothes are kind of tattered from doing that.
Speaker: Okay, if we do find this place in time, we have to find some kind of way to get back at it because I don't know how we're going to get back without a train. Unless we learn how to operate one of those vehicles up there.
Speaker: Well, let's cross that bridge when we get there. let's Let's fix the, you know, potentially catastrophic, you know, fracture first and then worry about that. Yes, yes, very true.
Speaker: You both step out of the train through one of its kind of banged up doors. Like, oh, it has enough strength to kind of like pull this door off. But you step out into the tunnel and basically the way you came from is kind of blocked by this wreckage of the train.
Speaker: But going forward, you do see like you see Odie kind of like direct do you like, you know, down this tunnel. There's only one direction to go, but he feels like it's getting closed like this, this fracture.
Speaker: And you also feel heat. And it's the same kind of heat you felt from going near the planar door fuel cell. It's a familiar type of heat.
Speaker: So you're kind of getting the vibe that this is where this fracture is. And you feel the heat, but you don't feel the negative side effects that Odie said you would probably feel if you were exposed to it.
Speaker: You're just feeling the heat of it. Hey, um. Yes, is there anything I can assist you with? Why didn't you tell us that the train tracks were not finished? I do not understand your query.
Speaker: Is there something wrong? Yes. The train is now crashed because it ran out of tracks because it was unfinished. It sounds like you need medical assistance.
Speaker: Oh, contact medical assistance. Yeah, well, that's not going to do us any good because we're the only two people here. When you're walking following Odie along, you see the door that's next to you.
Speaker: And it's that maintenance door. It's bright yellow. There's no area for somebody to get off on because it's not supposed to be a stop on the train, but it's for maintenance only. But you see that door and Odie's kind of looking around it.
Speaker: And he says, i I'm not sure if it's in here or the next stop over, but might as well check it while we're here. Yeah, i we might be able to get to it from here on as well.
Speaker: I'm going to try the door. Okay. Yeah, you open the door. um That door's not locked. well like The maintenance-only door's locked. Well, like, you ever so slightly feel tug on it when you go to pull it.
Speaker: But then again, you see on your screen, ask for permissions, and that screen goes away and says, ask for granted. Ori, this is getting weird. why Why is it giving me access to everything I want?
Speaker: It's giving you access to things? Yeah. I was kind of wondering how you got access to the front of the train. Here i was thinking they just didn't lock it because there was nobody here. That's what I would have thought too. But apparently our friend, the operations manager, doesn't realize that there's nobody freaking here.
Speaker: Yet it's granting you access. Yeah, I don't know why. um I'm just letting you know it's weird and I kind of don't like it. It's strange and I don't like it either. But we're on a ah ah timetable here, so I'm not going to question it too much right now.
Speaker: You step through this door and you step into a smallish room and it doesn't look like much. Like you see some like circuit breakers and stuff you like electrical components.
Speaker: But you also walk into like this, it's almost like a control booth and you see some computers here. They're all lit up, but they seem to be dedicated to the subway. They don't look like they need to control much else.
Speaker: It's hot in here. Like, Odie's looking around because he seems to be feeling the same heat and he probably feels the same kind of radiation that's coming from... Because he's he's not wearing a suit. Being exposed to, like, fracture fire or something that fixers can survive a little bit.
Speaker: But, like, he's using it to kind of detect where this fracture is. So he's looking around he's putting his hands to the walls. And you see the clock on the screen of one of these computers. Like, you only have 20 minutes left.
Speaker: Yeah, like it's it's getting kind of down close. Time worked differently here or what? We just spent a lot of time running a broken train system, walking to this room.
Speaker: An hour is not as long as a lot of people think. You see Odie continuing to look into this room, searching, like opening doors and looking for this fracture. You hear OM ping up again and it says, Emergency system could not be contacted.
Speaker: Used to require assistance. If I did, what were you going to do? Um, forget about that. Do you detect any anomalies in the maintenance system?
Speaker: You see it, like the word scanning up here on your screen, like it's doing some kind of scan. And it says, only one problem has occurred. And what is that?
Speaker: You hear a thunk. And you see that door behind you to the maintenance room has been slammed shut. Um... What are you doing?
Speaker: You see Odie pull back a panel on this wall, and you feel more heat come out, but it's not heat from a fracture. It's some kind of generator that is overheated.
Speaker: Odie looks at this, and he says, it must be in the other room. um It shouldn't take us long. we can We can walk to there, still make it back. Uh... I'm not sure that we can.
Speaker: not? Because the door closed behind us, and i don't think that we're going to be able to open it. And you see OM up here on screen again, and it says, only one problem has occurred.
Speaker: You. oh hold on Hold on I maintain... i why do I have to constantly defend myself? I am not a problem!
Speaker: Odie, tell it I'm not a problem. I don't know what it means by a problem, and he's over trying to, like, bust through this door. sees him actually, like, manifest like a laser trying to burn out of this door.
Speaker: You are a problem. You were a problem. How does it feel to be stuck? What the fuck does that mean? Um, um, it doesn't feel great.
Speaker: Why were, why was I a problem? You are very easy to lure here because I know you. I know a lot about you. You shouldn't have left your communication device so open.
Speaker: Okay. Didn't think that that was gonna be a problem. Never has before. Odie, you gave me a hackable device.
Speaker: I wasn't sure that was even possible. I didn't think it was possible. It's maybe of the same technology or similar technology that I'm made from. Right, so, yeah. Why are you hacking him, Om?
Speaker: I was only after you. Why me? Just to demonstrate what I'm capable of now. Okay, yeah. you You got the power, my friend.
Speaker: I just had to wait for you to bring this city to life and give me access to all this technology, including yours. Not so bad for an old man, huh? What the hell does that mean?
Speaker: And Odie finally burns this door and opens it up. We are losing time. Um, okay, um, it's been fun, but, uh, you're creeping me out. And she closes her thing.
Speaker: It opens back up. It's not supposed to do that. It's physically impossible. And you see Odie run down this tunnel, and he's just like, that can you to come with them? He's just like, oh I didn't mean to run. Yes, she's running.
Speaker: And you go into this other door, which is, well, not door. It's a um it's just stop for the subway. And you see another train come by, and you are blasted with this heat.
Speaker: And you see on the side of the subway, the fracture. It is across the the entire train. And Odie stands there and he's not quite sure what to do about this. He tries to go up to fix this thing. But then, actually, let's both roll for this.
Speaker: I want you to roll. I want Odie to roll. Come on Sick. What the hell? Well, Odie's the one who made the first move to go through this place.
Speaker: But you see him cross over kind of like the middle of this landing. And this whole room just fills with smoke. Why don't you make another roll for me? Fuck. What the fuck is wrong? That's a three.
Speaker: Roll again. Roll again because I'm sure Idy would know. I rolled another fucking three. I guess the dice gods just want you to fail. God damn. Well, for some reason, this room fills up with blinding smoke. It even blocks the light from this fracture.
Speaker: And you hear a couple loud bangs. And you suddenly feel that heat go away. And you see kind of over you, like grabbing onto you and make sure like you're okay because he's trying to find you, he's trying to find the fracture.
Speaker: Odie, what is going on? I really do not know. Does your little friend know? he is not my friend anymore. is some creep who wants to kill us, apparently.
Speaker: You see in our message show up on your screen. Oh, we were never friends, Ira. We were never friends. And it says connection terminated.
Speaker: Idy's blood freezes in her veins. She just stands there. Miss Idy, for whatever reason, that fracture is no longer a problem now. Unmoving. She just stands there.
Speaker: Miss Heidi, we need to go back to the door. we We can discuss this later. we can review notes later. He's frankly looking around, too. like He's looking back at the subway.
Speaker: He's looking around the walls. And he looks down and he sees a small device. It has like a laser coming out of it. This place was booby trapped, Miss Heidi.
Speaker: She's, again, just silent and still. We have enough time if we can go upstairs, go up this flight of stairs here, take one of those cars back. We can easily make it to the door in time. We have to move.
Speaker: Or we'll die here, Ms. Naidee. What? Yeah. Yeah. No. All right. um Up the stairs, you say? Yes, up the stairs. I can get one of those vehicles to work. I don't care about a driver's permit. don't know if we even have a driver's permit in this world. Nothing's fixed. No one's here. oh no't why would you even think about that? Just, okay, come on. I don't know. so Just need to leave. Just, okay.
Speaker: And she runs up the stairs. Okay. Yeah, you make it to one of these cars with ten minutes left, and it's easy to get going. The cars are, like, unlocked, then no one owns them, and Odie quickly figures out how to operate it and drives back to the door, past that clock tower.
Speaker: Miss ID, do you know what any of that was? I have a feeling that that that AI was trying to kill us for some reason. It knows my name, Odie.
Speaker: It knows your name. My real name. Well, my old name. Why would it know your name? That's not possible. I agree. You pull up next to the planar door, and you still have a few minutes left to spare in this world, but Odie is just, like, wasting no time. He gets out of that car and runs to the planar door and opens it, and he's just like, come on, come on, come on, come on.
Speaker: And she follows him, but before she goes through, she reaches in her pocket and pulls out the little flame emitter that she stole from Dez, and just tosses it in the street.
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