Beta Model (Matt Mason)

[jemmus]

Mason looked Weston in his barbarous eyes and nodded his thanks. But he didn't say a word that would risk causing the Telusians to think Weston was some kind of collusionist.

In the hut, he hit the chest button the the Protek, hoping that would turn it on and it only activated by what it thought was danger. He didn't want the eavesdropping Telusians to hear his report. "Tigard was right, we astronauts don't read the manual. Who has the time to? The manual on baking a Cake, Chocolate, Unfrosted is 70 pages long, for Bob's sake. And every time you hit a hyperlink, the cheap government contractor's website circles you back to the FAQs page. Not the contractors' fault."

He tuned into HQ's channel, with Tigard and the science lab on mute. No, unmute, the situation was desperate, all useful or partially useful info needed. Mason to HQ, sitrep: I have landed on Topus II-- repeat Topus II-- without incident. The inhabitants are Topusians-- repeat, not Telusians-- Topusians. He hears an audible gulp on the science line, waits for Tigard to confess that he missed that gaffe in his reconfirmations too. None are forthcoming. Just a silence and a kind of audible gulp. "Dang bureaucrats," Mason thinks.

Anyway, you need to think fast, HQ. The Tolusians are upset and going tails-down. Sitrep, next mission: Look for Weston with LingoScene. He or she is the Tolusian contact the next delegation needs.

Mason sits in the hut and turns off the Prosek. "Maybe not so different than Indiahoma, Oklahoma, Weston and Tolusians?" he thinks. He's hopeful at least.

[Grognardsw]

With a jolt and the sucking sound of air displacement, Major Mason activated the Protek inside his hut. In darkness within the force field, the astronaut radioed Prof. Tigard with a report.

"Topus? What's this about Topus? Have you cracked Mason? It's Telus VI," said an exasperated Tigard. "Topus was where we lost Atwood. Do we need a robo-psych analyst unit as part of the Protek?"

Mason thought back...

“That’s what Atwood said before he left for Topus III. Never heard from him again. Mason, can you turn a knife thrust from the rear? Protek can. Do you have eyes in the back of your head? Protek does. We’re not going to risk $2 billion worth of equipment because you might be uncomfortable.”

Was he cracking up?

"Don't worry about a thing. Primitive peoples always overestimate the potency of their strength, weapons and "magic." Nothing can hurt you in the Protek. The good will of the natives can be regained. But a billion dollars worth of equipment can't."

When Mason signed off, it was dark outside. Campfires burned low and he could hear the call of night creatures. The astronuat was tired. He nibbled some concentrated food and sipped water. He unstrapped his heavy equipment, excluding the unremovable Protec, and settled down to sleep.

Mason dozed off and seemingly minutes later the Protek went violently into action. Wearily he fumbled for the control and turned it off. The hut looked exactly the same; there was no source of attack. Had a Telusian tried to spear him through a window? Then Mason saw a tiny baby green-furred animal (the pets he had seen upon entering the village) scuttling away frantically. The little beast probably just wanted to get warm. The Protek could not overlook such an alien danger.

Mason fell asleep again and dreamt that he was locked in a prison of bright red sponge rubber. He could push the walls out and out and out, but they never yielded. At last he would have to let go and be gently shoved back to the center of the prison. Over and over this happened until he felt a jolt and a shunt and awoke withing the Protek's lightless field.

He groggily felt about in the dark for the release button, shut the field off, and searched for the source of the new attack. He found it. A stick had fallen from the thatch roof above and had tried to land on him. The Protek, of course, had not allowed it.

Morning came and with it the village ghost doctor Occip. He looked very solemn and a little disturbed, his orange tail swishing nervously.

"There were odd sounds from your hut during the night. Were you wrestling with a devil? Did you pray for purification last night and for release from evil?"

Can you see the image in post #20?

[jemmus]

Mason was a little groggy in the morning from the bad night's sleep. Still, he was still alive, which was saying something, considering the scene with the Telusians the night before.
He stood up and raised a hand to Occip in a gesture of greetings and peace. No, good sir, no wrestling with the devil. My machine, (he indicates the Protek) turned itself on and off a few times last night. It does that on its own sometimes. And yes, I did pray for further goodness and for blessings for the fine people of Telus. Mason the astronaut didn't much like lying to the ghost doctor. But for Mason the diplomat, lying was part of the tools of the trade.

Pray tell, my good man, what exactly is involved in an initiation? Mason had a feeling that he was still pretty far from being out of the woods here on Telus.

[Grognardsw]

Can you see the image in post #20?

"Purification dances, prayers, song, eating, more prayers, that sort of thing," Occil answered Major Mason. The Telusian's fat orange tail swished politely. "If you can't be initiated, you'll have to be destroyed you know. We made that quite clear?"

The initiation was held in front of the great bonfire in the village square. Messengers had been sent out during the night and ghost doctors from many villages were there. Some had come as far as twenty miles, said Weston, to take part in the rites and to see the alien with their own purple eyes.

Prayers were intoned, food ingested, dirges sung. The ceremonial drum had been taken from its secret hiding place and was now booming solemnly. The villagers watched, chattered together, laughed. But Mason could detect an undercurrent of nervousness and strain. There was a long series of dances. Mason watched apprehensively as one dancer swung a glass-studded club around his head. He approached nearer and nearer but then moved away. The Protek didn't go on. The dance ended with a roar of approval from the villagers.

Finally five hours later, the Telusians pounded their last tail on the ground and paid close attention. Reginald and Weston rose and began to speak. Mason realized with relief that this was the end of the ceremony.

"Oh brothers, this alien has come across the great emptiness to be our brother. Many of his ways are strange and around him there seems to hang a strange hint of evil," said Reginald.

"And yet who can doubt that he means well?" said Weston. "Who can doubt that he is, in essence, a good and honorable person? With this initiation, we purge him of evil and make him one of us. Brother, now you are a ghost doctor with all the priveleges and purposes pertained thereto. In friendship and brotherhood, I conclude the initiation and extend to you the pawshake of friendship."

Weston smiled and extended his seven-fingered hairy paw to shake hands with Mason.

[jemmus]

When the club didn't come down and the Protek didn't go up, Mason blew out the proverbial sigh of relief. He broke into a genuine grin of happiness when Weston extended the pawshake of friendship. "Funny how being initiated as a Telusian ghost doctor can affect a USAF officer," he thought. But he had a concern. The Protek activated for a falling roof stick and a green gerbil pet animal. But not for the glass-studded club. "Don't you activate now, Protek," he thought. "Don't you do it." He smiled at Weston and the crowd, hovered his left hand over the Protex's Off button, and extended his right to shake the ghost doctor's paw.

[Grognardsw]

Mason tried to shake Weston's hand. He didn't quite make it, for the Protek, ever alert, saved him from the possibly dangerous contact. The Asimov-Gates field jolted on, enveloping Mason in blackness. The "danger" passed; the field shut off.

He saw at once that the fat was in the fire.

"Evil!" shrieked the Telusians, tails frenziedly snapping and weapons raising.

"Iniquitous devil!" exclaimed Reginald.

"Malevolent monster!" screeched Occip.

Weston looked crestfallen. "Well, there it is, you know. We had hoped we could muddle through, cure the evil by our ancient ceremonies. But you can't win them all, you know. There's only one thing left. Kill the devil!"

A shower of spears came at Mason. The Protek responded instantly. The stone spears rattled off the whining, corruscating power sphere.

Soon it was apparent that an impasse had been reached. Mason would remain for a few minutes in the field, the danger would pass, and the shield turn off. The Telusians, seeing him still unharmed, would renew their barrage and the Protek would instantly go back into action.

Mason tried to walk back to his ship, but the Protek went on again each time he shut it off. It would take him a month or two to cover a mile, at that rate. As Mason waited them out, the astronaut noticed the air was getting stale. With horror he realized the Asimov-Gates sphere, in keeping out everything, also kept out air!

[jemmus]

Mason kicks himself for not just holding down the Protek's off button to shake Weston's paw. "Mason," he thinks, "you knew the gizmo activated over a gerbil thing and a falling stick. What made you think it wouldn't go off for a full-grown Telusian ghost doctor?"

He's in a quandary. Running out of air is an astronaut's worst fear. Drop the Protek and Lingoscene, turn the damn beta model device off, and run for the ship? How fast can Telusians run? They didn't look especially slow, from their dancing, spear-jabbing and tail-swinging. Why didn't they issue emissaries at least a stun gun, anyway? He's forced to take the next-to-last resort. Tigard, your malfunctioning beta model activated on a friendly paw shake with a Telusian. Now their all trying to jab spears into me, and my air in the Protek is going bad from my own CO2. Any ideas for me? Like, maybe you thought to build a self-destruct explosion function into your gizmo? Or some kind of offense to go with the hyperactive, over-reactive defense?

[Grognardsw]

Mason wished there was a preemptive 'off' button to hold down, but the Protek activated with danger and shut off only after the danger threat passed.

The astronaut frantically examined the plastic webbing of the Protek harness while he radioed Prof. Tigard. Could he cut if off?

"Tigard here," the professor responded. "Ah there you are there Mason. How goes it?" Mason filled him in. "Oh, oh dear, the air. That's true isn't it. Don't worry, we'll fix that for future models. We'll consider an offensive capability, though we have to keep in mind the weight factor. It sounds like you'll have great feedback for the post-mission performance report."

Mason fumed.

"Now I am sorry," Prof. Tigard continued. "We designed the harness so you couldn't take it off. But let's keep our heads now. If you can hold out for a month, we can send reinforcements."

Mason knew he couldn't hold out. The Protek shut off; the danger for the moment must have stopped. Mason looked around and saw the Telusians were building a ring of fire around the astronaut.

"Chain the devil in fire!" Reginald yelled.

The ghost doctor was standing nearby directing the fire-ring building, moving it closer and closer. He saw the exposed Mason and picked up a spear.

"Evil there," he said lazily, tossing the spear. Others joined. The Protek snapped back on.

Mason had to get out. He realized the tightening fire ring would force the Protek to stay on, eventually asphyxiating him. Even if he had air, they would starve him to death stuck in the Protek.

[jemmus]

"Well that was less than helpful," Mason thought. OK, so down to the crude and desperate fight-your-way-out / run-like-hell last resort option. He drew his Knife, Utility, Standard Issue and cut at the straps of the Protek. He wondered if it would work just sitting on the ground rather than strapped to his body. He could ask Tigard, but we didn't trust what that desk chair driver would say. Probably something about how many bucks the thing has cost, discipline, this comes from the very top, etc.

Revised post. A d20 roll in case you need one. [1d20]=3

[Grognardsw]

...examined the plastic webbing of the Protek harness while he radioed Prof. Tigard. Could he cut if off?

It may have been too subtle, or your proactive search action not explicit enough, but to present all options for Mason the straps could theoretically be cut off with the knife in your tool kit on your stomach. There could be some minor cuts to your suit and/or yourself in the process, given the tightness.

Mason piled on the Lingoscene to his chest, a canteen of water on his left hip, package of concentrated food on the right hip, a pack of assorted tools on his stomach, med-kit on his right thigh, and pistol on his left thigh.

[jemmus]

Thanks, I missed that about the knife and pistol. I'll revise the post.

[jemmus]

Post #29 above substantially revised.
Sorry for the slow posting rate. I had a complete of unexpected things come up can really cut into my available daily free time.

[Grognardsw]

Struggling for air, Major Mason cut furiously at the straps and plastic webbing. In the process, he sliced up the suit underneath, and a bit of his own skin, but the astronaut didn't care. It was slow going.

The Protek shut off in a moment of perceived safety. Mason gulped smoky air He looked up and saw the fire ring being pushed closer. The wind shifted, bringing smoke, embers and uncomfortable hotness onto Mason. The Protek snapped back on.

The radio squawked. It was Prof. Tigard, remotely detecting the damage to the Protek harness. "What are you doing? You don't dare destory government equipment! This will go down on your 201 file!"

Mason switched from knife to wire cutters for the final thin cords in the plastic webbing. He was dizzy and fatigued.

The wind must have shifted, for the Protek turned off just as Mason felt the final strap give and he was free! As he bolted away, Mason dropped the other heavy equipment in a mad dash to his ship. There was roaring and hootering and hollaring; Mason glanced back and the Telusians were in full pursuit.

Mason's heart pounded as he ran toward his rocket ship.

It took the powerful Telusian aliens just 100 yards to catch up and gently lay a stone club on the side of his head.



Mason awoke groggily sometime later...



...>

Reginald, Weston and Occip were looming over him.

The astronaut expected a death blow, but instead they smiled.

"Oh dear fellow, we don't want to kill you," said Weston. "We knew you were a good man. It was the devil we wanted. I don't mean to be tackless, but you do know you had a devil riding on your back? We tried to purify him, but he was too strong. But the fire took the starch out of him though."

"You know, our village is very proud to have such a powerful devil chained up inside the fire ring," said Reginald. "Tell me my dear chap, you haven't by any chance any more devils like that in your homeland? We'd be tickled orange if you could provide us with more of these devils. I'm sure every village would want one."

[jemmus]

Wow! That's a surprise. Is that the end of the story?

[Grognardsw]

Major Mason happily offered the Telusians all the ‘devils’ they wanted. It was the beginning of a beautiful trade relationship. The folks back home on Earth were very happy, even if Prof. Tigard grumbled about the destruction of the beta model of the Protek.

This brief adventure was based on the Robert Sheckley short story Early Model, as dramatized on X Minus One, July 11, 1957, available free at https://s3.amazonaws.com/RE-Warehouse/x ... _model.mp3

You can hear how the story was similar and dissimilar to your adventure. And how your imagination compared to the voices and imagery in the show.

Major Mason could have other adventures in store should you want to continue with him.

[jemmus]

That was a great surprise ending! And nice that it was a happy one too. Sure, if there are more adventures for Major Matt Mason, I'd enjoying playing.

[Grognardsw]

We'll check back in with Major Mason later this month. Did you listen to the radio show?

[jemmus]

No, I meant to forgot all about it. Thanks for the reminder!

[jemmus]

I finally got a chance to hear the X-One version. So cool! "We're tickled orange. Didn' t you know you had a devil on your back, old fellow?" Brings to mind the old Fritz Lieber story "Gonna Roll the Bones." If I were a GM of your caliber, Grog, I would totally lay that story on someone

[Grognardsw]

The short story adaptations are fun exercises. It’s like mini-modules written by great writers. Roll the Bones would be tricky given the plot is not along an adventure line.