PART 1 - "The Colony" [in character]

[atpollard]

9:00 AM District 0, Building 12 Bar & Diner


DJ: "Comms problems? That's just my thing. Do you mind if I take a look? Half the time it's something simple if you know what too look for. Bart can vouch for my credentials."

Alice: “Thanks, hon. That’s much appreciated.” Alice pointed DJ towards a door in the hall between the restrooms and the kitchen. It was labeled “MECHANICAL” and unlocked.

Once DJ spent a few minutes clearing away the “storage” that blocked his access, he was able to get to the COMM panels next to the ALARM and ELECTRIC panels … near the INSTANT WATER HEATER, HVAC equipment and the HEPA FILTERS. The Filters and Charcoal cartridges were the only equipment that was easily accessible without moving the accumulated boxes.

With access to the COMM, DJ could get to work …

This is a straight up "Rule68A roll". 2D6+Electronics skill.
On 6+ … you rig something to get it working for [2D6] days; it needs a part replaced.
On 8+ … you repair it: it will work fine for another 2D6 months.
On 10+ … you manage to upgrade the system: it works better than it ever did (+1 to Computer tasks) for 2D6 months before returning to normal another for 2D6 months (and then needing repair).
You are welcome to make all the rolls and just narrate the results if you want … or you can just make your roll and I can narrate the result if you prefer.

[Eris]

8:50 AM District 0, Building 12 Bar & Diner

Bart scrunched his face, trying to remember something “There was something in the news about silver a few months ago. I remember reading it, but …” Bart shrugged “… aww, I just can’t remember what it was. Stupid Comm connection.”

Val's from Beau, so does she remember seeing anything in the news about silver?

"Seems like y'all are having lots of Comm problems, both local and wide-area." Joe shakes his head and chuckles, "I don't like the idea of a dangerous job in the Artic, but a quick in and quick out might work if we're armed for bear...so to speak."

[shaidar]

DJ

Having finally cleared the way to the comms unit, DJ can see that it's a pretty standard system. This doesn't surprise him, as government contracts tend to go for the cheapest option, but that usually means the components are not specialised in any way and tend to be highly compatible with other units. He runs the unit through a set of standard diagnostics, and realises that the firmware is wildly out of date and is known to be full of bugs. Luckily he has the latest version in his kit, and even better the version he has has been modified to unlock some advanced features in that particular chipset. Although he has no doubt that at some point the company will probably force another 'upgrade' and undo all his work.

After installing the upgrade and rerunning his diagnostics he is happy the system is fully functional and returns to the bar.

"I ain't surprised you're having trouble with that piece of kit, they've been pretty poor at keeping it up to date, but that's the government, save money where you can. I've given you an upgrade, but I don't know when how long it'll be before they decide to roll out the next update and undo all my good work."

He looks over to Bart "Give it a try."

Rolls:

Electronics: [_2d6+2]=(3+6)=9+2=11
Upgrade duration: [_2d6]=(4+2)=6
Further working duration: [_2d6]=(3+2)=5

[TheMyth]

Gee, cuz, you've acquired some skills since the last time we hung out together," Val laughs.

[shaidar]

DJ grins at Val as he puts his bag down next to the other one (which has a red tag).

"I'm full of surprises, cuz, learnt a thing or two up amongst the stars."

[Eris]

Gee, cuz, you've acquired some skills since the last time we hung out together," Val laughs.

"Taught me everything he knows! He does the Electronic and I do the Mechanical and between us we can sort of work the Engines on a Starship." Joe says with a grin, "Yeah, Bart, give it a whirl and see what gives."

[atpollard]

9:20 AM District 0, Building 12 Bar & Diner

Encouraged by DJ and Joe, Bartholomew returned to his HandComp and attempted to reestablish a link. His eyes lit up at the strength and speed. Bart set the small box on the table and reconfigured the controls like they were set in liquid. Then his fingers danced across the controls as data scrolled along the flat surface.

“Silver Bullion, as a commodity item, appears to be in generally short supply relative to the general demand.” he glanced up briefly before continuing. “As a rule, users appear to lock in advanced sale contracts at a long-term average price of around 70 thousand credits per ton, while the long-term average street market price to purchase Silver Bullion is around 84 thousand credits. However, there is currently a bubble in the market that has driven the street price up to 91 thousand credits per ton.”

Bart then turned his attention to another column of display data “Now THIS is more my area of expertise.” [he grinned broadly] “There was a huge shakeup in the labor market about nine months ago when a transporter failed to deliver contracted materials and a processing facility had to shut down operations. The factory-town was impacted and the whole thing ended in lawsuits and court. It was three months ago that the final appeal was released and the default company ceased operations and was being liquidated to pay damages.” He looked up “I remembered that part because I had to help locate employment for some of the workers. As I recall, the whole issue had something to do with a broken transport … but the details are in sealed court records or confiscated corporate records.” Bart smiled “I like you, but not enough to go hacking official records for you.”

Bart turned to Val "Does that answer your question about silver?"

Computer-1 roll: [2D6+1 (+1 COMM bonus)] = roll [7] +1 +1 =9
Commodity Price Roll: [2D6] = roll [10]
( you didn’t really need Bart’s rolls … I was just testing out a system for displaying rolls. )

[TheMyth]

"Thank you, Bart," Val smiles bigly. "You've been a big help."

Val sits back and thinks. "So I guess the next line of inquiry is : Who would we be working for? The liquidator? A new startup? Or whoever is riding this bubble until it pops?"

[shaidar]

DJ

"If we had the creds we could buy what's left of the assets and be the new startup. But I ain't interested in jumping in without knowing what really happened to the previous company."

[Eris]

DJ

"If we had the creds we could buy what's left of the assets and be the new startup. But I ain't interested in jumping in without knowing what really happened to the previous company."

Joe nods, "One rule the Merchant Service teaches us is that when possible use OPM (Other People's Money) when financing a deal. And seeing as many deals turn sour, a corollary is save your own money for the quick get-a-way. However, we need capital and personally, I'd like to get a ship for a ride out of here sooner than later."

"So, Artic Repairs or the Silver production problem?" Joe raises his eyebrows, "Might need to do the former to finance the latter?"

[shaidar]

DJ

"That's what I was thinking. But there'd be a lot of caveats to take that repair job, like providing a g-carrier with spares and a full set of tools, plus permission to take weapons, or hire some kind of armed protection."

[atpollard]

9:25 AM District 0, Building 12 Bar & Diner

DJ: "That's what I was thinking. But there'd be a lot of caveats to take that repair job, like providing a g-carrier with spares and a full set of tools, plus permission to take weapons, or hire some kind of armed protection."

Trucker 1: " Laws are for cities. " came an unsolicited comment from the direction of a corner table. From their clothing, the women eating there appeared to be some sort of “truckers”. " There’s a lot more land than people. I read once that if they divided it evenly, your neighbor’s house would be a couple days travel away and over the horizon. "

Trucker 2: The second lady spoke up " What she’s trying to say is this … " (the woman removed a 1/3 meter long, 11 mm revolver with a scope from her shoulder holster and placed the oversized handgun on the table) " out on the road, folks protect themselves. Same with the small settlements that fall outside Government Protection."

Alice: " Dang it Tess, you know The Colony don’t allow concealed handguns. You should have left that in your vehicle."

Trucker 2 (Tess): " In the first place, I would like to see someone try and conceal this in a pocket …" Tess grinned "… and in the second place, I just feel naked without it. This ain’t ‘in the city’ and a big part of the reason I avoid going in the city unless absolutely necessary."

Trucker 1: " Anyway, the point is, you can hire mercs to protect you … [shrug] … or you can just pick up your own hardware outside the city. Nobody out in the middle of nowhere is going to stop you and ask to see your paperwork. There is something like 1 person per 20 thousand square kilometers of wilderness outside of the 50 or so settlements. Depending on where you are heading, I’d get at least a shotgun or heavy rifle to protect the vehicle and a sidearm … just in case."

[TheMyth]

"The wisdom of women," Val says with a nod of respect to the ladies at the next table.

Turning back to her own table, Val wonders, "Maybe we should look into other opportunities first. Get used to working together. Maybe find another friend or two to join us."