Worlds Beyond Number - Solari: Episode 5 - Pirouette

Episode Date: May 12, 2026

A gift delivered at terminal velocity. Sender unknown, but the intent is clear. A deadly dance unfolds before us. One step, two step, boom!Content Warning: This episode contains depictions of violence and drug use. We are:Brennan Lee MulliganErika IshiiAabria IyengarLou Wilson Solari was produced by Worlds Beyond Number Edit and Sound Design by Jino Jang-Hansen at Big Giant Head Score by Will Savinohttps://wsavino.com/ Director of Operations: Melanie Bowman Social Media Manager: Shannon H Lorekeeper and Transcriptionist: Jack Morgan E.F. Lavandowska  Recording Engineer: Rainie Toll Character Art by Nikolas Draper-Iveywww.instagram.com/nikolasdraperivey/ Cover Art by Lu Tomkiewiczwww.instagram.com/_fromlu/ This campaign uses the Stillfleet TTRPG system, created by Wythe Marschall and developed by Stillfleet Studiohttps://stillfleet.com/collections/stillfleetYou can find transcripts of all our episodes on our Patreon. Just navigate to the post for the episode and the transcript will be attached. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This is the sound of worlds beyond number. Valance is a fact of the universe and a cold in its application and devastation. But hatred is very human and almost always personal. The hymn of one. Two words, out now. And an urgent message flashing on cheese data pad. just enough time to make one choice. Chi, you are moving towards the rear egress of the Kestrel's dive.

Excelsial, you are up at the window looking to see what sort of danger approaches, and Z. You stand putting your coat on in the middle of this bar, glancing casually at Alfie, the bartender. Excelsial, you see it first. I think you all hear the wine. Glinting green in the sickly neon light of Warris here on Karu Ada. Single piece of ordinance, an RPG incoming. I'm going to say that for you to not be blown up immediately, and for us to restart character, Jen.

Okay. This is going to be a move role, level, impossible. because it's a grenade. Yeah, I accept death. Oh, okay. I don't like that. Now, Abria, you've now said two words that I've never heard before. Impossible level? Yes. I've been looking forward to an impossible difficulty check.

So this is going to be a 12. A 12. For you to not be blown utterly to smithereens. And remind me again, we can burn grit in quantities of three, six, and nine to do what Exactly, to add bonuses? Yep, you add it on to the end of your role. And you have to select it prior to the roll the amount you're doing. Yes.

You can't modify it. Boosting is a fun little gamble. Great. Well, let's go for a plus nine. I can't help but agree. Interesting. Now, I see maybe my problem was letting you restore your grit before deciding, gleefully to blow you up.

I have a D-8 and move, so I can also. If you don't want me to restore my friend, I can also die right here. Please don't die. I also have a D8. So I'm going like, nine's not even guaranteed. We're not even locking it in. We have a 25% chance for a nine not to cut it. Yes.

Okay. That will be a 13 for Excelsia. Okay, okay. Okay, so you got a nine. I rolled a four on the die for a 13. 13. Chi? I rolled an 8 on the die, so that's 17.

Okay, okay. Great. Z, so goddamn help me. Six. Plus nine. Okay, okay. I got really nervous. I got really nervous.

Especially nervous. Because I know the dice are listening. There's also a part of me that was like, I could make it a little harm on 12. But then, what would the fun be? Well, you got my heart rate up, so I think your job is done. Okay. All right. everyone got a little puckered, then we're feeling it.

Very puckered. It's the morning. Very puckered. Very puckered. Good morning. It's been a minute since we played. Let's talk about what each of you does to avoid this. And I want to go in order from who saw it first. And then we can kind of move through how everyone responds and survives this. Excelsiel. You see this incoming grenade.

What do you do? I truly think I look at it and I point and go, Oh no. And I just cover my eyes with my hands and jump back hard. All right, all right. Sometimes you think as a storyteller, I'm going to hand off the narrative reins and see what you got. Cover your eyes and jump back hard is actually pretty great.

I mean, like, I can make up that my body can. produce a big grenade shield, but then I won't have that power later when it really counts. So look, to be diligent to my character's abilities, cover eyes, jump back hard. Okay. You hear the whistling of an incoming grenade Z. You hear one more time. Oh, no. And then the sound of like every gear and movement mechanism in Excelsial.

like fires simultaneously as he seems to teleport towards the back of the room. I think that Zadavon is making eye contact with Alfie, like getting ready to give him a like a sly smile. Like you and I are on the same team, brother. And thanks for the delicious drinks. And then here's the wine. Here's Excelsiel. Here's the gears.

is going to think, protect my internal organs, flip the table they've been sitting at to be protecting his window side, and I think take the full impact and slam him to the back wall as the force hits hopefully not so much of his body, but mostly the table. Yeah.

Chi, just as a reminder, spatially, you're like off towards the back of the bar? What did you do in this moment? I heard, oh no, I heard a table flip. I just stepped through the door into the back room. You just leave? Yeah.

I just, I go, oh, well, I don't want to deal with any of what that is. And I just simply step into the next room. You step through the back door, and we will find you in a second. Yeah. Incredible. There's going to be a little bit of damage here, but none of you were blown to smithereens. So if everyone would like to roll me their own D6 And I'll have Chi you can roll yours with disadvantage

Ah, gotcha Come on, you stupid motherfucker. Wow, wow. Four damage for Excelsial. One damage for Saddam. Oh my God, it worked! Yes, I will be rude to these days. One damage.

Incredible. I kind of like the way that has worked out narratively. Yeah, that feels for posterity. I have 13 health remaining. Amazing. Seven health remaining. Amazing. 13.

The last thing you all hear before the world becomes a fiery inferno of green and orange around you is the shattering of the glass and this smart grenade choosing to detonate the moment it hits the center of the room. Oh, no. Excelsial. the way you jump back, even as you cover your eyes, every other part of you that can perceive, that can collect data and information and experience, watches this happen. For a person who wants to experience as much of the world as possible, what's going through your mind. I don't want to experience this. Not this yet.

Not this yet. This experience should be saved for near the end. Your eyes are closed and you throw yourself back far enough. Or maybe it's a trick of luck or shoddy architecture here that when that grenade detonates, you get blown through the wall immediately and you find. yourself back outside in that sickly green. Because this building wasn't built better, you are thrown clear in a way that has preserved your life.

My LED strips, I think, move immediately into pink, blue, venom green, purple, running in like siren dots going up around them, which is sort of like a fear response. As I get outside, I don't know where she is. is, right? Well, the moment you are thrown clear and your hands are pushed away, what you see is cheese red jacket having just stepped outside to the other side of the door. But then Zadavon and Zadavon's table kind of weighing into the back of her as they are also like thrown clear of the Kestrel's dive. So your one point of damage is you kind of just getting hit in the ass with a VRX and a table.

Seeing both of them might go, friends, They're trying to kill us, run. And I'm going to put my arms up in the air and begin to sprint down the street going, help, help, help, help, help, help, help, help. Hey, we should find Ayasa? Yeah, yeah. Are you all right? Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Sorry about that.

I couldn't really control where the table was going. That's okay. It's gotten hurt worse before, you know. I'll look over my shoulder at you two guys talking and go, The murderer is still at large. Someone's trying to kill us. Help, help, help. How adamant are you in attracting attention here?

Because, I mean, yes, a building has just blown up, and there are the sort of like screams of people in the neighborhood and the slow gathering of people either ducking in for safety or peering out trying to figure out what the sense of the danger is. Are you trying to flag down authority figures? I think so. Unless I believe the power structure of Waris just launched an RPG at us and therefore authority figures are the ones trying to blow us up, if I have some reason to arrive at that conclusion, then yes, I would go stealth mode. Otherwise, if I believe that this is like an assassination attempt from a non-authoritative figure on Waris, then yes, I would be trying to attract as much attention as possible.

Cool. I'll have you make two roles then. One to sort of analyze your internal, like, judgment mechanism and then one to make this call. So go ahead and give me, yeah, give me a reasoned role difficulty of eight. Seven plus one is eight. Perfect. You kind of going through and assessing some pretty complex, like, political dynamics here, you come quickly to the conclusion that it would be deeply unlikely that.

that this would be like, waris authority attempt at blowing the three of you up. Cool. Then in that case, yes, I will run around and go, I need an authority figure. I need an authority figure. I'm in danger. My companions are in danger.

Okay. Yeah, give me a charm roll. Difficulty is six. Quibble? I fail. Help, help. We're in danger. Someone's launched a bomb. Surely you heard it. I think the problem you have right now is that you are doing this in the seconds after an explosion.

So everyone is kind of keeping their distance. Like there are no people coming out to assist you. Everyone is holding and watching and trying to see what's about to happen. And any authority figures are sufficiently far away that they're nowhere near you right now. I'm going to go serpentine down the street. So I'm, I'm, I'm making S curve, so I'm harder to hit. Incredible. Arms fully extended, a finger slayed. I'm running after him, going, mop, mop.

Are you, are you also hearing that? Dee? Oh, yeah? Are you also hearing is, what, are you saying, are you saying something? Me talking? Yeah, no. What? Okay.

Ma'am. Are you okay? My ears are ringing. Yeah, you've been near an explosion. Y'all. Here, take a deep breath. Let's go catch Excelsiel. Okay.

Is there anything else you all want to do before you fully flee this scene and try to catch serpentine Excelsial? I'm so easy to catch. I'm doing broad S across the street. I'm not making good progress. Yeah, I'm good. I feel good. The place with the grenade. I look back at the Kestrian.

I remember Alfie's face. And I remember the name of the business for future consequences. But aside from that, I know where we're headed. Yeah. Do me a favor. As you do do that, kind of look back, remember, and then slowly catch our sort of east-to-west zigzagging robot. He's doing like an 18-second 40-yard dash. Go ahead and give me a will roll, sort of a memory roll. I'm going to say the difficulty of this is a seven.

That is only going to be a four. Yeah, it's only going to be a four. You look back in the flaming wreckage of this dive bar towards the bar where Alfie once was and is very much no longer. And you make a little mental note. And then you turn down this wide alley covered in water, you hope. And proceed to intercept. except Excelsial running east to west in seconds. Where are you headed? What's your plan? I go into my comm, I tap my comms.

Ayasa, are you there? Chi, chel. Lower, shh, quieter. Is this? Is this? That's normal. Okay. Ayasa, are you there? You know what? I want a tech role for this. because very specifically your ears were damaged and tapping your comms that are connected to your ears might like that one point of health that you took might be where your tech is intersecting with your meat i don't like the way i said that got a two

okay because it wasn't a one your comms are not broken but i think every time until you spend some time actually repairing that tech, using your comms is essentially giving yourself a short-term, like acute migraine. Okay. So I'm like, hello. Hello. I guess I. Ah. Okay. Well, uh, I'm not sure where are we going next? I don't, I don't know. Excelsio. Can you like see information? Yes, I can. Should we not scream for help? Uh, yeah. I don't know what your version is a, of a deep breath is. But, Take one of those. Okay. And my lighting on my LED reverts back to kind of gleaming like gold and rose quartz.

And I'm going to, uh, but, but, bah, I would like to auger. Ooh. What an auger? All right. And I think I owe a quibble. So should I re-roll this if it's... Yeah. Go ahead and just roll with disadvantage.

Six. And three. So three plus one is four. So ten might. minus four is six, so I burn six grit and a hell. Okay. You saw Ayasa interacting with the network. Can you track that stream?

Yes, Ayasa was attempting to remove permissions for an administrator role within the network on Janipar. May I ask, Chi, do you at this current time believe Ayasa to be working in your best interest? Yes, yes, absolutely. I trust her in my life. So finding her would bring us to some degree of safety? Yes. My augury will be, where is Ayasa and the safest fruit to get to her? Gorgeous. While you send that out into whatever technology is in and around you,

I think, ooh, the best way I can explain it is if you had a sort of light effect on a microphone that, what's the word? The little like visualizer. Mm-hmm. So like a light-based visualizer on the response you're getting from Ayasa. But the light that you see in that visualizer is behind your eyes. Oh, God. And like you're getting that slow tune-in of like it sounds like a Peanuts mom at first is... Are you all alive?

Oh. Did you die? No, we did not die. Where are you? We'll have to come to your place. Okay. Well, your place is currently on fire? On fire, yes.

So I'm a little nervous about you. Did you shake, whatever? Excelsial, did you see who threw that grenade? No, I was not able to see who threw the grenade. The thing you can say right away. Not thrown, launched. The grenade that was launched at us was an RPG. I believe it might have been fired from a launcher at some distance.

All right, we don't have eyes on the attacker, but yeah, we'll make our way towards you and try to shake them. Okay. What? Nothing. I'm glad you're alive. Just, when I tell you to run, I need you to run. Oh, we did.

We did it as soon as the message came in. And she, like, you can hear what sounds like typing. The line doesn't go dead, but there is a stall. And in that stall, how specific of information do you? you want? Well, I'm going to pause here for a minute. Do I see that she is speaking to Ayasa? Yeah. I'd like to interrupt my augury if I can and just go, I'm so sorry, Ms. Tanka, are you speaking with Ayasa right now? Uh, yes, yes, I am. Can she not simply direct us to her current location? I thought that the augury resulted in my cons getting re-instated to her. No,

your comms are always going to work. Oh, okay. If you're in communication, Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, wait. It extremely strains my processors to perform location finding of this magnitude. Oh, okay. Put a hold on that then. I also, where can we meet you? Okay, well, I was back. I was on my way to you.

Hold on. Let me, I guess, double back and meet me at my place. Do you still have your data pad? Yeah, got it. Okay. And you feel it just buzz a little bit as she essentially drops coordinates. for a place about an hour and a half away. Like, it's on the other side of this, like, port town.

Ooh, okay. Like, she clearly hauled ass after intercepting the crew of the Kenner and got very out of Dodge and then was slowly making her way over to you. Okay. We are going to head your way. We will keep you updated. Uh, thank you. Yeah, of course.

I just, I don't know what that was, but there was Just a little, there was enough radio chatter. Radio chatter? Yeah. They used the name of the bar you said you were at when we were talking. So I just wanted you. I don't know what's happening. Who is after you?

It seems like there was a pull that has gone wrong. Okay. Maybe see what you can find about the Jemis Octavo and how everybody's doing back. on Jennifer. Okay, okay. No more talking now. Okay. I'll see you soon.

I'll see you when I see you. Yep. And you can hear like the sound of her beginning to like move faster as the call disconnects. Okay. We have the coordinates for Ayasa, but we should also make sure that we're not being followed again. Excelsial, you feel, it almost feels like if you knew what. a stomach dropping felt like as you suddenly cut yourself from the tether, like this web you'd built in just a couple seconds as you were tying yourself to the cameras in the streetlights and

like the grid electrical system and even beginning to pick up little bits of chatter from short-range palms all across the city and then you stop and everything snaps. It is uncomfortable, but you are fine, and you continue to make your way towards Aiasa's location. Are you trying to be fast or sneaky? It's sneaky. Sneaky. I'm not running. Sneaky.

Not in these shoes. Sneaky. Okay. I'm not going to make you roll for it. I think you know how to blend into crowds, and once you get more than two blocks away from the massive fire that you were blown clear of, all you have to do is kind of shake off. the soot, and no one's going to ask you questions. Everyone is dark and rumpled in this little port town, so you're able to make your way over. Is there anything you're looking out for specifically? I mean, I think now in the way that Alfie clocked me and then there was a smart grenade,

I think I'm now watching everyone to see if they're watching me, kind of head on a swivel. if anyone looks at me for too long, then I'm taking the next turn. Like, I think there's now a hyper sensitivity to others' awareness of my personage that is kind of on now. Yeah. Oh, you have a very specific role ability about this that's reading people.

Yes, Will sense motive. I'm a yes person. Yeah, go ahead and give me, yeah, give me that sense motive role. We're going to make the difficulty an eight. That's a six on the first attempt, and a ten on the second. Gorgeous. What you see is people here are wary, period.

Mm-hmm. And you know that, like, you are feeling all of the flesh in your body perfected, unaugmented by tech. You feel it responding. and you feel like the prickle on the back, like the hairs on the back of your neck raising, and you're processing it as, is this paranoia? No, all of that serves. Like, you remember the lessons when you were young

about how humans on earth could feel when predators were watching them and how thousands, millions of years of evolution made them perfectly adept at knowing when danger was around. so you trust your instincts. And there are three distinct points, each of which you respond correctly to, where someone's eyes linger just a little bit too long, and you get out of Dodge. You make your way to the northern edge of Juarez, and what felt so much like ants on a tarmac where you started

almost feels like a city removed from the greater, purpose of this place and this planet and this sector, it almost feels 40 suns worthy. I don't know if Master of Eorex would agree, but it's almost nice here. And you see just rows and rows of identical looking, small, dark painted, but well-maintained shotgun houses. They are single stories like bungalows turned front to back, almost like road. railway cars. They're simple, but they're clean and they're nice. And for a hideaway, for your friend Diasa, seems a little upmarket. But you make your way to this exact point and you find

yourself standing at the front gate. It's a white, like, low picket gate with flowers on the inside, astroturf lawn. You're standing in front of a nice home. What? in the suburban, okay. Is there a side or back entrance readily available? If you cross into the yard, you could probably make your way to, like, what you assume would be a back door to whatever porch patio situation is back there. All right, yeah, let's do that. This place is definitely like single story, front door, side windows, back door. Sure.

Heading for the back. Okay. you move into the yard, step around the living flowers and the unnaturally green astroturf, and as you're walking past like the second set of windows on the side, you just hear a little knock on the window. And I also is just looking through it. I, I, we gesture at each other in a language of just body motions and quizzical looks,

and I go to where she points. Mostly what you're seeing, you cannot hear. hear anything she's saying on the other side of what looks like a very thin window pane. But the phoneme she's forming as she's sort of yelling towards you and pointing at the front door is either front or an F-bomb. Sure. Yeah. But you can keep going towards the back or double back towards the front. I double back towards the front and I mouth vacuumed to her. You see her like smile and then the door is open and waiting for you. Not wide open, but unlocked. and like slightly pushed in.

Okay, come on in. This is a revolutionaries hideaway? I guess so. Hi, I'm not a revolutionary. It's just a hideaway. It just doesn't have to be a shit hideaway. I mean, I don't know. It's just...

Ayasa's never been much into politics. Got it. Okay, you don't have to speak. Hi, Ayasa. Zadhaven, nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. Hello, Ayasa. I'm Excelsio.

Oh my gosh. What are you? Pack, you can't ask what? Hi, I'm so sorry. Are you? I am an instance of the septimal choir of the arena. Oh my God. Wait, why are you? He was working in one of the parlors as a... What? Sex toy cleaner.

What? Yeah. And a general bus boy. Aren't you supposed to be like impossible to make deals? What have you done? Is he why people are trying to blow you up? I'm sorry, close the door, close the door. Any outside sounds?

Go away the moment the door is shut. Is this? I'm going to look around. Is this her place? How long has she had this place? Are you just squatting? Are you just squatting here? Yeah, when one of your peers has a really nice place that they live, it does sort of fuck you up.

Yeah. What is that, what, everything is clean and beige and gray. comfortable and there is no discernible personality in sight. I think you can tell without me making any kind of role T. If this was Ayesa's place, it is utterly devoid of any trace of her personality. But I think both of you have clocked it. Like this is a perfectly fine place with no personal effects in here. I'll look over at Z and go, looks like they're getting ready for an open house. I wonder if they're trying to sell. Yeah. I mean, I'm still hoping we get a little bit of sauce, you know, like they'll pull a book off a bookcase and slides open and the stairs down.

I know, but you have to get rid of all the personality when you're getting ready to sell. That's part of it. You know, actually, I think you have to build a narrative of why it's important for you to buy this. I've often heard that you need to leave space for the people to say, we'll change this and this and this and this and this and we'll do all of this better. You're really creating a canvas for the new buyers to come in and paint their own dreams. It really depends on if you have taste because I think if you have taste, then you can sell your place as aspirational to the new buyers that this could be them if they lived here. However, people without, I think, tend to go pretty bland because they just want to invite space to write your own narrative.

I wonder what the speculation market is like here on Carueta. What's the speculation market like here on Caruado? The what? And at this point, she's just, she's folded against the wall, just watching all of you with the biggest kind of dopey grin on her face. cheese It just seems like This feels like it's getting prepared for an open house So I was wondering if you had any

Perfit rolls or canapes No but there's some food if you're hungry Do you get hungry? No, I just like to experience the taste of food Oh, okay Well, let me go see And you see that she moves to like Towards the kitchen

So you don't know who was trying to kill us No, I don't know I just heard that your current location was being brought up on chatter. And I figured, you know, what with all the dead people in that ship, someone was coming. Hmm. Yeah, that was my bad. Who did we see killing everybody on the ship? You saw her.

Well, you couldn't make her out because she was. Yeah. She had a hoodie up. But so she's talking about all the people dead on that ship. Like, she doesn't know anything about that. No, I think it's a little more tongue-in-cheek. Oh, God. She's saying like we're in a dangerous situation.

I just killed a bunch of people and you guys. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. 100%. Yeah, about that. I appreciate the hustle. Did not know that you had that in you. What, murder? Yes, in such an efficient manner.

Okay. All right, I was going to say, we've both killed people. We're kind of famous for it. But I appreciate you mentioning the efficiency. Yes. That is new. There's a level of finesse here. That is new.

Hold on. Is there like an allergies? Are there allergies I need to be worried about? Oh, food-wise? No, I eat anything. Okay. I also can eat. Hmm. Eat. Well, I can chew on anything. Huh. Okay. And she comes out with just salted, cured meat in a long salami-like stick with a knife sticking out of it and like a hunk of old white cheese and bread.

They are getting ready for an open house here. This is just what I brought with me from Jenner Bar. Is this your home? It's... This is not my home. Mm. It's so boring. Well, yes, I know, but we thought perhaps you might be getting it ready to...

Why do you think that? I understand that you two have history. Ayasa. I haven't met you. You haven't met me. That's true. What I know about you is that you murdered four years. members of the Jemis Oktafo family organization, however you'd like to see it. What I'd like you to know

about me is that I'm likely the reason we were targeted for that grenade launch because I'm a Trent. A trend. Oh, oh, are you like kind of a big deal? Yes. Are you a Jemis Octavo? Are you mad that I did that? No, it's fine. It's business. I'm an Evirix. Hi. And she does, she is in like an oversized black hoodie, that like sort of tunic that goes down to her mid thigh and like combat boots and like black cargo pants. And she somehow still manages to give a pretty good curtsy. You do not have to do that. Okay. Well, it feels like I'm supposed to because you're one of them. Why did you murder those people? Because I thought they were going to kill my best friend. We were. truly hostages against our will. And I understand that's part of the political process.

Oh, God. Well, okay. Imagine you're me. Seeing your friend slash boss, she leaves a message that's like, carry on without me. You're all beautiful and so much stronger than you believe. And then I see on security footage that she's being escorted by...

I killed six, by the way. Okay. That's all of them. Yeah. Zadavin, is it your intention to fulfill a political obligation by affecting the remainder of your pull? That would be my ideal outcome. What?

Yes. I, being kid, I'll tell you, the spread of meats and cheeses at our kidnapping that you saved your friend from were much better than what you provided for us. Fuck. Did you bring any of it? Don't. All right. It is in my best interest to continue the pull. For the ease of the transaction between the families,

executing the pull is ideal. However, I can acknowledge that I saw the bartender who made those delicious drinks clocked me at the bar, and I saw what he was doing because it happens all the time of people feeding information about where trends are, where that are, pulls this, calls that, right? I went and tried to put a thumb on the scale, and I pushed too hard, and they tried to blow me up with a grenade.

So now it's a much messier situation. My ideal outcome, personally, would still be to get onto Foxglove 6. And if you get to Foxglove 6, there won't be a smart grenade waiting for you? No, no. I mean, me and Azult have had friction. but nothing like that. I'll look over at Chi and say, Ms. Tanka,

given that the Jemis Octavo family was affecting the pull and the institution of Jennepar was seen as an obstacle or rather a non-party to this pull in general, is there an opportunity to affect a service to the Averex family

and possibly gain a raise in profile and status to finish what the Jemis Octavo could not? In other words, if you were to affect the rest of this poll, is there any advantage to... Hold on. Does he work for you? We have... What is this? We have a contract. Shared custody.

Yes. He's more of a contractor for both of us in this situation. But... I wasn't employed before. It was a misunderstanding. When you were a bus boy. When I was a bus boy. Busboy, I think someone told me to clean up and I thought I was being hired, but it may have just been a drunk and shouted statement. And you trust this guy? You know, I do. I do. I don't believe that the arena is known for prevarication.

Anyone can be capable of anything. That's true. How long have you known these two? We met earlier today. I've met Cheap before. Casually. You've provided services to, or you've... Provided entertainment. Yes, you've established and set up services for members of the Avericks family in the past.

I would be happy to lend any assistance at my disposal to the Averick's family. The Jemis Octavo family, it seems... It has the same objective as you. However, I do wonder... what changed in being targeted. You said you pushed too hard. Finally asking a fucking question. Yes.

When you spy someone of value, there are channels, I think the chatter you're referring to, at which people are pushing out information with regard to locations and opportunities. I thought that that bartender could be swayed to alert the proper authorities to my location. However, what I'm sensing is that he just blasted it out anyway and took my fucking money, which is my bad. And is he still alive? I don't think so.

Okay. What would you like to do, Ayasa? because it seems that right now our objective is to get Zadavon back to Foxglove 6. What objective? Why are you working with them? Well, as you, I'm sure know. I'm so sorry, and this is probably very rude, and no one's probably ever cut you off in your life,

but I'm not talking to you right now. Why are you working with them? You met them earlier this morning, and were escorted by gunpoint to a ship and then almost blown up. I think it's... I'm not seeing a lot of... I'm trying to draw a line.

I think it's in everybody's best interest if we just follow along with the fun little rituals of the great houses. Why do you think that? Why do you not think that? What have you been... What are you doing right now?

I just spent... the morning seeing you get abducted following you in my ship murdering your captors and trying to keep you from being blown up and you're being very confusing

very blasé I freed you from your problem and I don't understand why you're continuing to stick with the people that have caused you a lot of trouble in the last day. No offense. I haven't caused Chi any trouble in the last day. Fair enough.

The best boy has done nothing wrong. And neither has Zadavon. It's... So there's just a bunch of crazy random... Can we sidebar? Yeah. Just, uh, gentlemen, please enjoy your cheese. And you see that like,

while you guys were talking earlier and even while she's been discussing this with you, She's made a ridiculous sort of stack of like, slice of bread, slice of meat, slice of bread, slice of cheese, slice of bread. It's not a true sandwich. It's a outward manifestation of anxiety. It's a deconstructed anxiety sandwich. We used to do this a lot. Yeah.

And she's going to take you, like, this is one long room back and takes you back towards, like, the back door. And you can see it looks out on, like, a little porch and, like, a tiny astroturfed patio. Yeah. Hey, thank you. Thank you for all this. I love starting with a thank you for killing six people to make sure you don't die. It's deeply appreciated and also very impressive. I have questions, but... Sure, maybe for a different moment in time.

We need at least one of the five houses to be behind Jenipar as an independent entity. It's being aired out right now. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know what's going on. I can't get a hold of anyone. I don't know if the kidnapping was actually the goal of all of this. I think it might have been a power grab on Jenipar, and he just happened to be here. Okay, that makes sense.

And you're just going to follow him no matter what? No, I'm going to take him back to where he needs to go and be owed a favor by the Ivericks and Gemma's Octavo family. Okay, okay. All right, I feel better. I just feel like when we were over there, you were acting in a way that made me go like, oh, she's been hitting the head. Or something has happened to her.

And maybe the five families have the like zappers. Oh, I don't know. No, no, I appreciate that. But no, I'll kill them. It is, do you want me to kill them? I love you so much. I love you so much. I'll kill anyone.

I, for you. Well, also just kill anyone. Hey, what do we do? talk about consequences for murder. We can't use your money and influence and good looks and, you know, skill with the blade to get out of everything, okay? There's going to be a time where there's a reckoning. And when that time comes, we want powerful good friends, okay? Okay. And let me be very clear. I may be acting very blaze, but I am screaming inside my

heart. That is where you put all your feelings. Okay. Okay. So you need to go, you need to talk to someone about that. Yeah. That is unhealthy. Yeah, well, we endure, don't we? Sure. Sure. Okay. Okay. Right. Are you okay? Do you need anything from me? Oh no. I'm having a perfectly normal day. Okay. Well, that was sarcasm. We can talk about it later. Okay. So getting Zadavon. Ivier. Okay. Evir. Okay. Evir. That's pretty good. Yeah. So getting him to Foxglove 6. Mm-hmm.

So that's a ship. Mm-hmm. And then you want to go on the ship with him? Or are we just getting him to the ship? I think we're getting him to the ship, and we're getting me to Isolt Jemis Octavo. I'll explain later. Isle de Jemis Octavo?

That's a beautiful name, probably. Where's Arabesque? Oh, not far. Great. Great. May we borrow the use of your ship? Finally, I get to show you my new toy. And you trust them.

I don't know, but I don't think that we're in bed enough to necessarily need that level of trust. Hey, can I bring these gherkins out? What? No, those are mine. That's why I put them back here. And at this point, I think you see, like, the conversation sort of dissolves into something significantly less tense. Excelsio, you're chasing experiences. Generally speaking, yes, but I have several other protocol that I engage in as well. Got it. But like, but like you choose whether or not you feel things or you feel them no matter what.

Like where are you on that spectrum? Like, like you chose to do the drugs with me earlier. But like if you could also have not done that even though you process the drugs? I'm assembling the smallest little charcutory roll. It's just like a little scrap of meat and a tiny little bit of cheese and a little bit of bread because I only, I'm just going to do chemical testing on all of them, so it's just samples of all making a tiny little snack for myself. I have the ability to eject myself from an altered state of being for reasons of safety. However, my emotions are, how would I phrase this? My emotions are not voluntary because for the most part my emotions are all extremely adaptive. Being afraid when someone is shooting bombs at you

is extremely adaptive. Being angry in the face of someone inflicting harm on you in a manner that is an unjust exertion of malice or coercion is extremely adaptive. Being happy when you are expanding your consciousness is extremely adaptive. My, Emotions aren't voluntary because, I suppose, hmm, it's an interesting query. I guess so, but like giving your synthetic nature, right? Do you have a switch? Are there switches in you? Do they turn things on?

Do they turn things off? I cocked my head all the way to the side. Are there switches in you? I mean, yeah, but they've been curated and developed organically year after year. Breeding pods, family pools, I mean, all of these. very intentional kind of things to create small, slight changes in the gene pool to create ideal specimens. Wow.

That sounds like a large undertaking. If you want to be one of the five families, it takes a lot of work. It's taken a lot of work to get where you are. my father's father, my father's father's father's father, my father's mother, her mother, and then her father, for the most part. Those generations built the foundations of the Avericks family. Kind of pre-orm, yeah. Or I guess, in the original FTL times, you know. Do you understand it to be your obligation to complete the next phase of that project?

Are you aware of, I guess, I guess, I don't know. know, sometimes I'm, I get very in my own zone. Do you, like, how familiar are you with, like, Trent culture and in the Averick's houses? Unfamiliar. Oh. Oh, okay. Um, so the kind of, like, captains of industry, heroes of war, like those, those people from that, the original FDL time, right? They have all been elevated to a level where their name, are passed down from generation to generation, right? And that only happens when you are like a big deal, like the hot shit, the hottest shit, right?

Depending on when that person was added to that kind of dais or that platform, that's what sets the different people apart, who's better, who's worse, a lot of jockeying in that regard. Trent or anyone whose name has been passed down more than 30 times. So my ancestors are things of legend. And the expectation is that I carry my father's, fathers, mothers, fathers, mother's, father, you know, going all the way back, I carry that name. There's a lot. The Dorale is a, it's, I mean, it's going down, you know.

I'm going to hold my hand over my chest and go, oh, you are an instance of Zadavonavir. Very much, so. I understand. This piques my curiosity. How many Zadavans have there been, if more than 30? I'm 33. So this name has only recently passed into the territory of being a Trent. Very much.

Within the Septimal Choir, though all instances are created equal in terms of matter and designation, our individual experiences and therefore exploits are not equal. Circumstance and opportunity avail themselves differently to each and every instance. And though we can do our best to communicate to one another, we obviously do not possess a hive mind or the ability to fully exist in the memories and feelings dates of even another member of our choir, let alone all of the arena that exist. I have complex feelings around my sameness with the other instances of my choir, and differences, and the samenesses and the differences

sometimes weigh positively and negatively. Do you feel that there is more sameness between the Zadav and of Erixes that have existed, or more difference between them? Have they all been equally legendary? Oh, no. I mean, I think that's part of, that's part of kind of, you know, there's like a lot going on because this name was like made great, right,

and raised to the status that is passed down and then FTL cut out, right? And so you've got generation after generation of Zadavon of Uyricz who is like desperate to prove themselves, desperate to like show a level of mastery and confidence that they can't, that literally cannot reach the level of the pre-FDL times because there's just not that much industry. Like we're enacting all of these choices and all of these movements like in the Averick system, which while Vast is not like so, it's not like cannot compare to like what the original Zadavin was working with. And I do think it's kind of like,

it's definitely, there is an expectation, right? Orms back. The Dorale is here. That it's kind of like, oh, we get to do that thing that like the last, I would say,

10, 15 or so generations have been like drooling over. I mean, dude, I have uncles that are insane. with kind of just this ability to kind of be out here again. And it is, you know, it was nice to take a break, you know. Gerkins? Oh, oh shit, Gerkins.

That's a lot of pressure. What? It's a lot of pressure. I think we're all the result of our programming, one way or another. I'll look over at Zadavon as they come back. I know it hasn't been an hour. Can I use my listen ability? Say more?

I have an ability called listen that when I am speaking to someone, I can have them regain my charisma plus level grit. Oh, ooh. This requires a relatively safe environment, a quiet room blob, empty saloon office. Listening only works once per day on the same person, but you can listen to up to three people per day. Oh my God. Therapy. Therapy. You know what? I think in this instance, I don't care about, like, the time isn't important.

The quality of conversation is, I will allow it. To resolve that quibble roll, go ahead and give me two charm rolls to see how much grit you restore to Zdaven. That's a seven and a six. Okay. Z regain six grit. Oh. And I think that feel like. Well, I think that listening, I really don't want this to be that Excelsial says something that moralizes yada, yada or condenses.

The ability is called listen. It really is just like you're gaining something because you were given space to speak, right? So I think that it's literally just as the Gercans come out and our two companions rejoin us, I'll just look over at you and say, Thank you so much for sharing your experience of your family. It's a point of connection with my own experience that I would not have expected someone outside of the arena to understand. The worthiness of a soul is a project that many have dedicated themselves to measuring. And yet no examination exists which can fairly measure that worth. you talk of the history of your family,

the opportunities for greatness were not given equally. And I share that fear, that I will not be given the opportunity to show the merit of my own soul. Yeah, man. I'm going to hit the vape hard. All right, let's call a little break right there. As pickles are offered and the group reconvenes

You all see that Ayasa seems to not quite position herself behind Chi, but emotionally does as she looks over the three of you. And just says, okay, so we have to get you to Foxglove 6, which is, sorry, I need more details. I open my mouth and then I look over to Zadavin. Am I allowed to speak now? This is your home. I respect your rules. I'm sorry.

It's not my home. Please take a pickle. It's not your home? It's my high. It's my, I'm using it as a hideout currently. The, all right. The Jimis Octavo would have sent a, is there a word in this world for a cruiser of size that could make a jump like the one

the Jimas Octava ship? Yeah. Any ship that's capable of FTL or like jump travel is just, they're called jump ships. Jump ships. And you would know that Foxglove is also technically a fleeter because it's there to like move troops around. Great. The men who took us from Janipar would have traveled to this system on the fleeter, Foxglove 6.

Oh. Craft actually capable of FTL jumps. So my guess is we were always headed there. And then we were of course interrupted. Oh, yeah. Sorry, I guess. No apologies necessary. Cost to doing business.

So, I believe the completion of the pull can be done with the delivery of said subject to Foxglove 6, jump back to Jemis Octavo system, connect with EZolt. I don't know. We'll see what happens from there. And we have a perfectly ship-shaped ship to get you there. Oh. Courtesy of our host? Yes. I have a ship called the Arabesque.

It's a little guy, but she's worthy. Fantastic. To the arabesque. How do you know the name? You just said it. Did I just say it? You did. You just said it.

A mere moment ago. Huh. All right, clever. Okay. I'm going to turn to Chi and say like, I, I. Have I done anything to make Ayasa feel like I am not on her side or... I think in her line of work it pays to be cautious, but no, please don't take any of this person.

I would be happy to share my ulterior motives with anyone who would like to know them. I would actually be interested in if you'd like to send them to me. You want them written down? Yeah. Just because right now we're on the move, so I figure maybe it's... It's best to... Sure. Hold on one second.

Great. I'm going to grab the gherkins and walk out the door. I start walking and start printing a long receipt with my thoughts about what motivates me as a person. It's like a CVS receipt with poetry on it. To begin with meaning and purpose. Two concepts that each thinking creature must grapple with in their own time. And just printing a book of how I feel about being an arena and, like, life and it's a big adventure. and what it means to try to find meaning in a big galaxy.

As you're walking down this street, she's leading you down to the far end, essentially like a little cul-de-sac for this street and all of these like shotgun houses. And I think you look like a little fish with like the little poop trail still attached. I start to whip it around a finger back there just so it can make a little roll of it.

You're paw-twirling it? All right, all right. I'm so excited. I feel like I'm going to have a whole little manifesto to read on the ship. All right, well, I guess I got my book pull. And then down at the end of the cul-de-sac, the house that is, like, facing down the street,

looks like every other shotgun house on the block, except that as Ayasu's walking slightly ahead of Z, even though she occasionally was lagging back, walking down this block to, like, grab a gherkin on the way. You see her interact with something in her pocket at her hip, and the frontage of this house drops down, and you see a small ship sitting inside the facade of a shotgun house. The arabesque is pre-isolation cutter ship,

so like a small trade craft that it only takes one person to operate, but like 12 people can kind of move and fit in in like the bunks comfortably. This is like a small house-sized ship. Like it fits snugly inside the facade of the shotgun house. And it kind of looks like you're looking at, huh, actually no. Let's make it a roll. Anyone can give me any kind of like tech role to identify and kind of like grok what's going on with this ship. You can tell me what you want to roll.

I'll just say the difficulties of seven. What was the word you used for the time of which the show, you said something about pre-isolation. Pre-isolation. And everyone just calls it pre-iso. Pre-iso. I rolled a one. I was taking a lot of my energy to print this big, long poem. That's what I was thinking.

Incredible. Oh, printing a bear wolf. I got a two. Now, I got a six. Uh-huh. Now, if you would allow it... Oh, talk to me. I'm allowed to add plus two to checks related to political slash corporate intrigue.

I'd very much like to know who is the maker of this pre-iso ship Are they still making ships? I think if it's pre-iso, these are the things that would be of historical record if this is a company of repute in the Averick system. Absolutely take your plus two to this. Great. Which allows you to break the threshold because this looks like a sweet 16 ship that someone in your family would get. It's like looking at like a 59 Cadillac Coup de Ville. but if she said that it's like worthy,

the implication that it can jump and use Orm is an old hot pink Coopteville with a Prius engine in it. Someone had to have kept this machinery up to date for 5,000 or more years and then retrofitted it a thing you would know because modern Orm works a little bit differently than Orm Classic.

Got it. So the engine would have had to be swapped to process new ORM if it is a jump ship like she's implied. Can I add? Is there, I know you... Yeah, feel free to ask. You called it a cutter.

Is that the type of ship or the... Like, I guess I would be interested just for the corporate angle of what, who did make the ship. Oh, yeah. This would have been made by three points. Three points. The Trade Federation specifically.

The ships that are made by the Koga family tend to be like, they like make yachts. This is like looking at a Maybach. Got it. So you're like, oh, same kind of thing, but a little bit different scale. There is nothing inside of you that would make you think that someone like her, who is both incredibly deadly, but also forgot a thing she said seconds after she said it. Yeah. How would she be in possession of a ship?

ship like this. Yeah, I think as we approach the ship and I get a better sense, seeing more of the hull, the thrusting engines, I think there is this like, whoa, kind of like Zadavon stops walking and goes,

is it, this is the arabesque. Yeah. This is your craft. This is my ship. Do you like it? It's, I mean, this is, I have I have friends who have these hung in their homes, but they don't work anymore.

So you get, see, see, Chi? When I showed you this ship at first year, we're like, oh, it's so old school. Yeah. It's someone that appreciates. Did you? Are you hands on on this, or do you have a guy? Oh, I've got a guy. But, um, so do you kind of know, um, about the origins of gen.

So the telogen, Matt. Do you remember that a little bit? Yeah, I've read about it. Yeah. This is what I spent my payout on. That's my girl. It's, I mean... She's so cute.

Prime three points. I mean, that is good. Oh, my God, right? That's great crap. I haven't really. We'll talk to anyone about this. Can we... I mean, we're going inside, so let's just go inside.

Hold on, hold on. I'll pull it out for you. Can I turn to Chi and go, there was a massacre in Jennifer? Intelligent. It's the telegen reset. It was a power struggle where those of us, who were the entertainment in the city, rose up and seized our destiny. You experienced this massacre?

Yeah. Oh, no. And I'd start crying. The blue tracks go down. I'm so sorry. Thank you. It's, you know, it brought me to where I am today, and I wouldn't have Jenipar without it. The expression, silver lining, does that apply here?

Yes, yes, very much so. Oh. There's a conflict. I wish the massacre had not happened, but I wish for the events that were beneficial that arose from it to have still happened, which would create some sort of time paradox, and yet I still desire it. I think you are. essentialist and you value experiences, bad, good, neutral ones. I think humans have experiences happen to them and have to make the most of that.

Experience is a teacher even when the sensations are not pleasant. Exactly. Because there's an old finery, but I haven't been able to see what it looks like. So do you know, have you seen an original version of this? Because, like, I would like to get that thick so it looks like this. No, of course. Would it be three prongs or four? I think they're normally three prongs.

I think there were two years where they did four prongs. But then I think everyone really liked the three prong better so they went back to the finery. This, you have all of the pre-iso fiction. They have a can opener built in. That is in incredible. Thank you. Holy shit. God forbid an artisan have hobbies.

I mean, let me tell you, you can interrupt me any time you want if this is what you're working with. No, and now I never. I'm so sorry. You guys got it. This has the original can opener, all right? Yeah. They don't do these anymore. It's, holy shit.

Oh my God, I should have given you pickles way sooner. She's going to usher you all into the ship. Can I say hello to the Arabesque? Yes. Hello, Arabesque. I am Excelsio. Nice to meet you. Thank you for stewarding us.

Give me either a tech role or a child. harm roll, the difficulty of this is going to be a nine. And I'll give you advantage on it, unless it's unnecessary because you already rolled a bajillion. 11. Amazing. Pushing through to hit the tech of the arabesque, you realize that you're talking to two different systems, one very old and one very new that are like layered on each other and trying to learn how to speak in sync, but haven't quite figured it out yet. Hello? With whom are speaking?

I'm Excelsio, an Arunic companion of Ms. Chi Tanka and Zedavnavira Vyrex. I understand you are captained by one Ayasa of Janapar. Yes. And you hear the older voice. No. Gets like lower and more gravely while the younger voice seems to like get a little louder and seems to be like pushing through to speak to you. Is there anything you want to do to clarify this conversation or are you happy to let it kind of?

Do I have a sense that only one of these computer systems is being interacted with by IASA? Yes. The younger one. Yes. I'm going to go, understood. It's lovely to meet you if I can be of any assistance to any of your process. to any of your protocols or computational tasks during our voyage, please don't hesitate to let me know.

And I'm going to give my designation in serial mark, like routing info to speak directly to me. Amazing. And you feel it's reciprocated, but almost with a little stutter of, like, surprise, as this is the first time that they've engaged with this protocol and been spoken to by an arena or any other, like, similar being. Do I get a sense that that older system is the pre-iso system?

Yes. So that predates the arena. Because I think the arena homeworld happened during the period of isolation. I could be wrong. I mean, yeah, I think the arena in a slightly different form and context. Cool. But, yeah. Cool, cool, cool.

Yeah, I think it's always interesting when whenever I encounter technology that is significantly older than my people, our existence comes along, there's always a sort of interesting or fascinating relationship to. that. I will make a point as we're gearing up and buckling up or whatever to look at Z and Chi and go, the computer systems on this craft are not integrated. Ah, so the classic model working together with the updates? Makes sense. I mean, you would not. Craft like this would not be able to handle the new arm. So, I mean, whoever her guy is has done a ton of work. to bring this up to snuff. Can I make a check on how great I think Ayasa's guy is?

Yeah. What do you want to roll about that? I think it would be a tech. I'm going to do wrench, which is like make, if I can use my advantage when I make or repair technology to assess what repairs I could make without making them, does that feel like cheating in that regard? In other words, being like,

I want to get the advantage of how I, I would repair something if I'm looking at it because I'm looking for flaws, but I don't actually want to gun it without IAS's permission. Yeah, I'll allow it, but I will say you do have to, like, physically interact with some aspect of the ship. Sure. I'll plug. I'll go ahead and make an obeisance to the ship and ask to connect to one of its ports. Yeah. I'm going to connect to one of the newer ports. Newer port? Yes. All right. I think without even any kind of, like, role, you feel that.

deeply observed by that, like, second intelligence. That's why I'm putting myself behind the firewall of the newer system. An 11. Let's go. And an 11, 11 both times. Amazing. My gut instinct is this is dangerous, that the older computer system is not disabled. Ooh.

Ooh. I like that. The guy that worked on this would have made his work. a thousand times easier had he simply ripped out the other tech. He preserved it on purpose and did a really good job. Like, despite the fact that there are integration problems, the ability for two systems to even sit in the same like field together, it's a deeply impressive work of like tech and technique. The fact that there's like an awkward detent happening between these two is a feature not a bug. They wanted to keep both online. Someone very skilled did this. The engineer or mechanic

responsible for the integration of this vessel with a newer ORM system did not see conflict as a glaring inefficiency. The preservation of the older computer system on this vessel represents tremendous care and skill. And, to my knowledge, would have been accomplished at tremendous inefficiency for reasons that escaped me, but obviously not the skill of our mechanic. Yeah, I mean, people who have this back in my system, these are in museums, in homes, on walls. They don't fly.

Do the arena have the concept of nostalgia? Hmm. Yeah. Yes. It's that I think that we are willing to put up with a lot of nonsense and inefficiency in order to relive or have something that makes us feel a certain way. Yes. The analogy I might use for what I feel I am experiencing here is if the constituent parts of a sapient creature's mind possessed different ego, I don't know how. healthy it would be if one's emotional state considered itself separate in identity to one's prefrontal cortex, for example. Do they have the concept of a little angel and a little devil on your shoulder?

My understanding of the little angel and little devil is that it does not typically work well for the guy in the middle. Speaking of the guy in the middle, I don't know if you, You are still sort of plugged into the arabesque at this point, but it doesn't actually matter. You are being attacked right now, and I need you to tell me how you want to avoid something trying to interface with you. Not necessarily against your will, but someone is trying to kick a door in in your head. I'll use a technology check to attempt to block it. Sweet. All right, let's go.

Opposed roll. and I'll burn some grit to add a plus three to the roll. That is nine. Yeah, you beat my seven. What you feel is there's something really fun about making sort of like human physical space analogies for the like mental things that are happening right now. But what it feels like to you is the firewall you were standing behind, known as arabesque, just got face palmed away.

and there is a very angry old woman about to waggle her finger in your face, and you shut another door. Hmm. I may have given offense to one of the computer systems on the ship. However, the temperature of the response does confirm some of the offensive things that I believed. That moment where you call someone an asshole in earshot and they throw a brick at you, and you duck and go, I get it, but also, you see what I'm unfortunately not wrong. Yeah.

That's 100% what just happened. We're not totally safe here, but that's okay. What do you mean? And Ayasa, who is piloting this ship and you guys are like picking up out of this neighborhood. What do you mean? This ship is so safe. It's so good. They did such a good job when they gave it to me.

I think he means maybe emotionally unsafe. He's been interfacing with the systems. Oh, I mean physically too, but yes. What? Hold on. Should I? What? Keep going. Don't worry about it.

Okay. You just told me my ship that I love is unsafe, and I want to do something about it because I'm flying it right now, and I don't want to die. I'm going to put a finger up in the air like there's wind blowing, and I go, I bet we're good. Let's do it. You heard the arena. We're good. Also, are these the original jewelry magnets over the bunks? this shit is crazy and she goes from like very clearly beginning to cuss in her native tongue to like you've successfully

like redirected her to like talking about no they're not the originals but I went I worked really hard after I got this job and like got them I was able to go to a museum and was able to like see them and so I had some fabricated like it thank you so much for they're so sweet Zadomana's just taking his sunglasses

and over one of the bunks, there's just a small magnetic strip where he's putting his sunglasses and they hold exactly there, takes them back, puts them back, they hold exactly there. It charges them too. What? It charges them too. Well, that's the new. Oh, my God, this thing is magnificent. Okay, it's going to take us like maybe 20 minutes to get over to the caldera, which is what

I'm assuming you guys are, because it would either be that or the moon, but if the Kenner dropped you here instead of going to them. So it will be here. It's going to be here. Question. Now that we're all incredibly friendly, except for Mr. Ziel, who says my ship is unsafe,

and that makes me unhappy, but I appreciate the knowledge. Are we not worried about the person trying to kill you? People? Possibly people. I mean, we're definitely worried. I mean, is this, is she built for combat?

Mm-mm. Okay, well, I mean, unless someone knows I'm on this vessel, we should be good. Is there a way people could know you're on this vessel? I don't think so. I have not broadcast any electronic information about Sadaven's presence. As far as I know, we're locked down. Okay, great. Plus the arabesque is fast.

We can make it 20 minutes. Okay, okay. Telling you my ship is fast is working, and I don't like that about me. All right. She guns it a little faster. And you guys make it a very quick trip in about, let's say, 14 minutes. She shaved some time. You're just high enough in the air that you're able to see, like, that bright, flashing green light that was so overwhelming when you were on the ground.

you're almost high enough to like see the like larger super patterns on the planet. You are following this massive dotted green line that's being lit up from the ground that's pointing towards a massive caldera a little bit outside of Juarez. It's a super heavy gas filled caldera that's able to support fleeter and larger ships that want to, for whatever reason, dock on world instead of up at the like false moon and stay, like, for ships that like stay in orbit. So you can see as you're like pulling up to the big green caldera. There's a bunch of other lines from other sides, other parts of the world. Everything is leading towards this specifically. And there's maybe a score of ships sitting inside. One of them,

you know, has to be the foxglove. But the glow coming up, out of the gas that is at the bottom of this calderas making it hard for you to see any insignia until you get down into the dock and closer. Okay, um, so am I just dropping you off? Uh, yeah. Are you heading back to Jdenipar? I, I'm waiting for orders, Captain. Right.

Uh, yeah, I think, hang close for, a minute here, and then I'll let you know if you can take off back to Jenna Parr. I'd really just love a check-in over there. I mean, you said that one of the houses is taking, has taken? Yeah. In the process of taking? I'm not sure yet. Okay, so you want me to go back and like, take it back?

What? Just do a little reconnaissance. But also, stick here just for a minute. We may or may not need an exit strategy just in case. Okay, so you want me to land quiet right now. Land very quiet. Perfect. She's going to circle the pattern and then is actually following those last lights before they hit the caldera

and is going to drop you off in a dark spot. Okay, you got about a minute till this gets lit up bright green again. And I'll be hiding until you tell me. I'm good to take off. Sound good? Awesome. Thank you. Truly, good work out there.

Okay. Love you. I love you. It was so nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. Great craft. Oh. If you ever need, like, a ride ever?

I mean, if it's in this, it would truly be a pleasure cruise. Hold on, hold on, hold on. And you see, and she runs and gets this, like, small gold. It looks like a bullet casing. that's maybe two inches in diameter. Because can I stamp you? I know that's very weird. Sure.

And she takes the inside of your wrist and stamps you with a little, like, it's a letter A with like three little dots around it. You feel it. It looks like an ink stamp that you would get going into a club. Doesn't feel particularly special. And doesn't seem. to do anything other than be a stamp on you.

Yeah. She's kind of looking at you and waiting expectantly. Oh. Sorry, I've never seen one of these. It didn't work. Yeah, just give it a second. Maybe the ink is. That's probably fine.

Are you not getting a read? Like information on your, and she gestures to your glasses. Am I getting a read on my glasses? You're not. Uh, no. Take my glasses on. off. Oh, that's, oh, that's, huh.

And I'll tell you it's not the glasses. Oh. Yeah, I wouldn't imagine you're from one of the families. You're in a, I look at the glasses and I say, are you doing okay? Is there a reason you can't read them? Are you talking to the glasses? Yes. I assume that since you had, you had opened up a line of communication with his glasses and that it was still, I can talk to the glasses and see how they're feeling. I don't think anyone needs to talk to my... They might be sad. I don't think my glasses are sad, Excelsio.

Is that why you can't read the stamp? Are you sad? I also is just going to kind of pull you to the side, one, because that line of questioning is a little... Like, clearly seems to be stressing you out, but wants to, like, kind of whisper at you. I'm so sorry, maybe it's rude to ask, do you have tech implants? Oh, oh. Are they on the fritz? No, I don't...

I'm pretty minimal tech. Oh. Yeah. Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't know. All trends less than 0.05. Oh, my God. I didn't even know people could beat.

That's so cool, actually. That's so cool, actually. All the meat parts, the money can buy. Man, that's great. I'm so sorry. Hold on. She's going to lick her thumb and start rubbing the stamp off of you. I don't need.

I'm so sorry. You don't have to spit clean anything. I can write. I can just write contact information down, I guess. That was going to be easier. And she, like, takes a little, like, random. You know what? I think she's grabbed, like, a tiny bit of your manifesto and, like, tears off a little corner and just gives, like, a little call sign so you can track her.

Like, you can reach out to her on a datapad. Fantastic. I'm so sorry. No, no, no, no, no. You know, you can, like, stand people. Most people. You'll just read it. Yeah.

Yeah. All right. We can get to do it the classic way. Look at them. Old school. It's very cool. Well, I also nice to meet you. That's nice to meet you.

Please don't die. We should be going. Let's go. Let's go. I turn to Ayasa, and I lean in and I go, disunity of the mind is the great wound at the heart of the cosmos. Your ship is fractured. And I'm going to, um, um, um,

and I'm going to walk off the ship. Don't, I. We'll can't, we'll can't. What? It's the arabesque. She's fine. She's fine. She's doing fine.

She loves you. She loves you. You love her. And Arrido was just like it's from my show me. It's okay. He's so good. It's, all right. I'll catch you later.

Hey. Oh, wait here. He got your call sign. Do you think he likes me? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I know. All right. Tell your friend that's a robot to me nice.

Okay. Yeah, yeah. Okay. And I like sort of back up like I'm sort of placating an animal or a child and my hands out in front of me. Going down the gangplank. And she waits in a little dark spot while you guys figure out what ship you need to get to. I'm looking for a green diamond with a seven-pedal blossom of fleeter class.

Yeah, go ahead and give me a like a perceive roll. The difficulty on this is going to be a seven just because it's weirdly lit here. Anyone can make that roll, by the way. 12. Well, fucking never mind. I can't wait to be kidnapped again. I think you go like, oh, this is going to be hard to see. Oh, it will be a ship exactly like that.

Oh, that's the ship. Right this way. I'll fall in behind. I think I'm trying to fall in behind both of you at the same time. A what? I'm like, oh, who's, Z. Does it make sense if Ms. Tanka has apprehended you? Or is walking in of your own accord more to the,

the vision of how you saw this going. No, that's, I like that story. Because we're also going to have to figure out how we sell that Kira Allen is dead. So, I think you found me, you knew what I was worth. I told you who wanted my value, and we, and we just walk on that. Very well. I shall use my body language to imply that I work for Ms. Chi Tanka, and I'm going to fall in behind you.

I'd love to see this. As you walk, I want to honor a little knock on benefit to that 12 for your perception check. So I need you to make a dodge roll with advantage. Huh? Difficulty is six. Huh? Okay, that first one was a one. Okay.

Glad we can try again. Second one's a two. Oh, boy. So I am comfortably going, okay, yeah, this is, I like this narrative. See your body posture change. gonna get behind Chi and Excelsial. Well, lucky you. I rolled badly.

Thank you for averting the one with that role. You will still be taking two points of damage to your health, and you are now inflicted with the bleed condition, as you have been shot at range with a very heavy duty bolt. All of you, I think you register that, like, little bit of a thwhip. right before you see the impact hit Zadavon. And I would say it's enough that you can tell me, like, how much you react to it.

But it's enough to, like, change the trajectory of your movement. So it's not a full walk-off. You got hit with a heavy caliber bullet. I think there's a lot built into Averick's culture that is that you are a target, that people will want to take you. use you, take advantage of you. I think there are things like using the table to absorb some of the impact of the blast of the smart grenade earlier. Zadavin just, there is some instinct built in there.

And I do think he realizes if you've been shot with a bullet, go to the ground. So I think he takes it and just leans into the impact as he hits the ground. But if he is at all mobile, we'll immediately start crawling to. cover. Yeah. Going along with that, I really like the idea that you guys were walking along this edge of a, like, again, it's a massive, like, naturally formed caldera. It hasn't been paved over. If you let that impact roll you to the ground, you can slip down into, like, the earthen lip of the caldera and be below, like, the ground site and have cover that way. I'll take it. Sweet. So, So you all see Zadav and Iverax get hit in the shoulder.

He exclaims loudly, hits the ground, rolls and disappears just out of sight over the edge of the caldera. What do you want to do? Where did it come from? Are we still on the lip, above the lip? Yes. Okay. Is there like a gangplank for the ship that we're approaching right now? Yeah.

So I will say that you've got probably, let's say, 50 meters until you hit like the paved staircase that goes into the Calederation. so you can hit the dock that is like halfway down this massive natural bowl shape. Arms up, sirens on. Help, help, help. Running towards the gangplank. Help, help, help someone's shooting at us. I'm going to take that up. I know I'm never ready for it.

You're playing a low combat system. I have a D4 in combat. I put my arms up. Put my siren on, I shout for help. I beg for help. My abilities are called heel, auger, listen, and quibble. This is the system we're playing. I don't have a gun.

I go, help, help, help, and I run. As he runs towards the ship, from which the bullet came? Huh? Where did the bullet come from? Sorry, that was just me having a full processing error. I was imagining both like, shot, gone. running screaming. And you're like, where'd the bullet come from?

Where did the bullet come from? Give me a reason roll. The difficulty's only a six. I'm going to burn three grit. I rolled five. So that's an eight. Okay. Great.

You're able in this moment of sudden surprise and panic. Because Zadavin, like, let the trajectory of the bullet spin him in a certain direction, you actually have a pretty good bearing. This didn't come from inside the caldera. It did not come from a ship. It came from, there's a little, like, natural outcropping of rock, probably 30 meters away, where someone clearly was, like, setting up and watching over this, like, staircase going down to the ship.

Oh, God damn it. All right. If it is at all possible for in one second for me to gather, and then sigh as I look at one companion and then the other. I realize, well, he's going to go get help. And I sprint over serpentine to where Zadavon has taken cover. Yeah. The moment you decide not to follow the screaming robot,

you drop over the lip of the caldera. And you're next to Zadavon, who's like braced up again. this like earth and wall holding his shoulder. Ah, do you have eyes? Do you have eyes? Yeah, it's from the rock outcropping over to the right. Uh, in positionality between ourselves and the ship, where does that rock outcropping? 50 feet, the direction you were walking is the staircase to get down to like the dock proper inside the caldera.

Okay. 30, sorry, I said feet. I meant meters. 30 meters in the direction from which you got shot is wherever your shooter is. Got it. Do I get the sense we have cover in this moment? Yes, absolutely. I'm going to look at Chi.

All right. Genuinely, I think we see if he shoots at Excelsio. All right. And we kind of poke our heads up. A slightly over the lip. Watch the screaming robot flailing towards the stairs. Help, help! Active shoots.

Active shooter. It's all on him now. Come on, man, guy, come on. Arms, full extension, flailing in the air. Come on, you rope it. Come on. Wait for it. There's no gun shot.

There's no gun shot. There's no gun shot. Yes. Yes. Okay. How fast are you? Hold on. Hold on. Let's be clear. Top speed, big, wide serpentine loops.

And the loops of the serpentine, they are not tight enough. So it's like hard turn and then like 12 or 15 steps going that direction. And then turn again, but bububbubbub running so fast. And the feet are so synchronized. There is zero. It is absolute metronome of feet. You guys, watch him run for about five seconds enough to. time to see if it's safe. He's so shootable. And the loudest thing here is him yelling and not the

sound of a second round. So we've looked up, we've peaked up over the top of the lip. We see him flailing around and then we sort of duck back down and put our backs to the wall. Both of you give me that like will-based perception rule. Difficulty on this is an eight. You know what? I'll allow for a sense motive if you're also trying to figure out what's going on. Yeah, I would love to. Yes. And I'll burn, I got six grit back from Excelsiel. I'm going to burn three. No, I'm going to burn six for a total of 15. Oh my God. Oh, incredible. I got an eight and I was very proud of it. I'm very proud of you. Thank you. You both did it and we'll get some knock on benefits for your outside success. you both in the amount of time that you spent going

okay they're going to shoot the robot shoot the robot and then you kind of look angrily back towards the outcropping why is this person not shooting the robot and you're able to see just a little bit of dust kicked up to the left of the outcropping this person is on the move so you know that they have moved from their position they're not worried about Excelsiel

easy to intuit they are following up on the original target And that's what you clock Chi on top of that. Z, I'm going to tell you that, oh gosh, you know what? Sense motive. What is Z thinking or worried about? And I will sort of feed your direction of inquiry and thought. Z is running through who would want to kill Z. Z is worth so much money alive.

Yep. I'm an amazing bargaining chip if you're a member of the five families. I am worth a great deal if you're some weird independent bounty hunter. Murder is not what I am used to avoiding or being worried about. So I think there is this like Rolodex. He's just going through his head because he doesn't, there's actually not in the schema that he runs through when he's trying to understand what people want.

Just killing someone is not in his traditional framework. Because unless there's a bounty on my head, but what did I do to deserve a bad? Like, there's actually not, I'm really having a hard time. His pause in this moment is because there actually is not a solution that fits the equation within which he's found himself. A thousand percent, because you are flipping through a rolodex of causes and factions and agents. And there's only one answer, but you feel.

thought you solved that question at the beginning, pull or cull. It was a pull when it was Jemis Octavo after you. And you start walking back and realizing what you know, that RPG only happened once your family was alerted to your presence in that bar. You were intercepted here on your way to a ship to leave this world. you weren't being followed. They just knew the direction by which you would make your egress from Karu Ada. And they are shooting to kill.

And the only ones that have any incentive to kill you are people with your same last name. This is not a poll. This is a call. That was Erica Ishii as Chi Tanka, Renanley Mulligan as Excelsia, Lou Wilson as Zadavinavinaverix, and Abria Ayngar.

as everyone and everything else. Solari is produced by Worlds Beyond Number, edit and sound design by Big Giant Head Productions, and score by Will Savino. For even more stories like this, join us on our Patreon. We'll see you by the fireside.