Panopticon: A Game of Posthumans, Perniciousness, Paranoia, Politics, and Plasmaguns

[Emy]

It isn't irony, but rather poor decision-making on Siddharth's part. He was just displaying the exact reason that the other Void Engineers shipped him Earth-side: his judgment isn't trustworthy.

Correction. His judgment wasn't trustworthy. Now it's nonexistent. The roles of judge and jury are left to his handlers; he's a mere executioner.

 

[Xon]

... the fact that she's blaming Iteration X also means it goes down better with Serafina, but that's just a happy accident. Jamelia genuinely does think "the Computer went Skynet on us" has a worryingly high chance of being true.

Click to shrink...

What is to say The Computer didn't suffered Void Adaption as well?

 

[Strypgia]

Well, it was the bedroom – sorry, 'Energetic Relaxation or Sleep' Suite – after all. So perhaps not for the most innocent reasons.

She discovers no bugs, although she does confirm from the fact that the bedsheet is made of genuine cloned leopard fur that the tastes of senior Syndics doesn't appear to have made its way past the eighties. And then takes off her jacket, and undoes her headscarf, letting it hang loose around her neck.

"Really," Serafina says flatly. "Of all the things to try to get me to shut up… well, that's only been tried a few times before."

"Did it work?" Jamelia says dryly, raising an eyebrow. "Because if it did, I should have tried it earlier."

"Um. Only in the nineties. Um… you look kind of weird without the jacket or the headscarf," Serafina says, eyes going to the pistol in its shoulder holster. "I think I'd prefer th-the seduction over the shooting, if it's all right with you."

Click to shrink...

Serafina raises a hand like a schoolgirl. "Um… have you gone back to the seduction thing?"

Click to shrink...

Somewhere, Donald has the terrible feeling he's missing something potentially awesome, and feels sad....

It is technically correct, and that is the best kind of correct.

Click to shrink...

I giggled far too much at this reference.

As I thought, so much cooler than I could have managed, ES. Applause.

There's one person in the conversation with Mind 4. There's one person in the conversation with Manipulation 6. There's one person in the conversation with Intelligence 7
It's not Jamelia.
Yeah. I think some of you are forgetting that while Serafina normally comes across as slightly giddy and a bit ditzy, she is in fact superhumanly intelligent and manipulative, and the one time Jamelia managed to really get one up on her she basically did it through cold reading, bullshitting, and having a pretty good psychological profile on the other woman when she wasn't prepared at all.

Click to shrink...

I'm surprised by how much people are forgetting how smart Dr. Rosario is. Her problem here is just that she's a lab-scientist, not a very experienced and very, very cynical Agent like Jamelia. I guess some of the impression she's a ditz is due to a fair part of her 'screen time' lately she was tripping out on HappyJuice from the combat regen procedure she had to do, but remember, she's also the person who told Henriette to take the shot at herself when she was held hostage. She's not stupid, nor a coward. Jamelia laying things out like this will make it abundantly clear that keeping this knowledge very tightly held is extremely important. And once she's thinking like Jamelia, she is going to be a big asset, since she's got all those social contacts across the Progenitor leadership.

[1] Control Center: Take a look at backed up surveillance data and the full, most recent inventory (rather than the old copy you have).
[2] Do a Walk-Around: Reconstruct the assault on the facility (Time 2).
[3] Hack the Mat-Trans: Have Ivan & co pay back the favor you've just done and burn all these traitors to ash.

 

[Nuts!]

Hack the Mat-Trans: Have Ivan & co pay back the favor you've just done and burn all these traitors to ash.

Click to shrink...

I'm against this, for a couple of reasons:

1. Given the Loyalists' weakened state, this will constitute a significant fraction of their firepower.
2. This is a fairly predictable action: "re-take control of local mat-trans and use it to bring in reinforcements" ain't rocket science, obviously. Our real enemies have to expect a move like this.
3. Panopticon and company are way, way better at Dimensional Science than we are. We have to assume that they'll be able to interfere with the mat-trans if they want to...like, for instance, once we've bottled ourselves up inside a breached and ruined Construct.

 

[Garlak]

So, wait, just to clear things up here -- is the Museum effectively just a crime scene?

Or is there a Construct here, now in the hands of the Vampires who took it over?

 

[EarthScorpion]

I'm against this, for a couple of reasons:
1. Given the Loyalists' weakened state, this will constitute a significant fraction of their firepower.
2. This is a fairly predictable action: "re-take control of local mat-trans and use it to bring in reinforcements" ain't rocket science, obviously. Our real enemies have to expect a move like this.
3. Panopticon and company are way, way better at Dimensional Science than we are. We have to assume that they'll be able to interfere with the mat-trans if they want to...like, for instance, once we've bottled ourselves up inside a breached and ruined Construct.

Click to shrink...

I'm simply worried about overreach. Shit be going down, in the immortal words of LessBeanNJA on TraditionWiki, and we really shouldn't be trying to take and hold two Constructs while also trying to digest Filipov's stuff. If we try to attack this place as well, we simply will have no room for maneuver should the vampires go for Union assets, move forces to defend this place, try to retake our newly taken Construct, try to take what they can from Filipov, or go after the Daedalians.

Let's be blunt; we got really lucky on the last Construct assault, and now most of the team is running on fumes, and we've literally just spent the last while building up the local Union and Construct assaults are high casualty. Henriette is basically out of action, Kessler is heavily damaged, and Serafina is running on a notable amount of 'Dox.

I simply don't think we can risk an attack on the current state without possibly critically endangering our own position - and we know we're up against Blancian plans here, made to make people go for weak spots and then lure themselves into a trap. No, we should run the Museum as a covert op with Cross and Jamelia, scout the place out, and focus on our objective - namely, to investigate the theft.

Hence, we should run this as a pure investigation-gathering op;

[1] Control Center: Take a look at backed up surveillance data and the full, most recent inventory (rather than the old copy you have).
-> Simple. Not only is this the best source of info we have, but it's also time-critical. We need to get our hands on it before someone wipes that data. Once we're in contact with it, we can transmit it back to our team and even if it gets wiped, it's still evidence that we can use to put things together. We can also use (Time + Forces) to trawl the data for recent deletions and reconstruct missing sectors, because if we know what people were trying to cover up, that's like a warning flag.

[2] Inventory the Artifacts: Try to take a look at exactly what's missing.
-> Builds off point 1. If we can work out what's should have been there, we can work out what's missing. If we know what's missing, we know what to look for. That's the info we actually came to Moscow for, if people remember. Actually, people don't remember. Okay, the reason we came to Moscow is we needed to work out what had actually been taken from the museum so we knew what to actually look for.
-> When inventorying the artefacts, we can also check them out and see if there are any traits on the things left behind. For example, we have Cross with us, and he has DSci Eyes, so he can check the remaining artefacts for EDE taint. It's possible that if they were stored in long proximity close to things which had a lot of EDE taint, some may have bled through to them and we might be able to use that to try to deduce what was taken.

[3] Do a Walk-Around: Reconstruct the assault on the facility (Time 2).
-> More information. We can try to work out where they targeted first, what were their targets of choice and their priority, and Jamelia can use Mind + Time + Entropy to look at the goals of the attackers and what their tactics were. We can try to confirm how many assets were used in the attack, and we can also check to see if anyone turned from the inside, which is something Ivan will need to know - as it's likely the vampires will try to counterattack us.
-> Again, by working the fact that the only sphere Jamelia and Cross don't have between them is Prime into their respective Time postcog checks, we can get so very much data. Importantly, we know the Baali were linked to this, so Cross can reconstruct the use of spirits which Jamelia can't on her own.

 

[Garlak]

Honestly, what I'd like is some clarification.

What exactly is the Museum?

I was assuming that it is the place where loyal Russian Technocrats were. Until they were raided and destroyed by Vampires, and the museum is now basically a crime scene; an ex-Construct.

But the mention of enemies at the museum and invading it made me go "wait what?"

I do agree with EarthScorpion's "run this like the investigation it is, not an assault or smash-and-grab" though. I'm just wondering about more Blancian plans.

[1] Control Center: Take a look at backed up surveillance data and the full, most recent inventory (rather than the old copy you have).
-> Simple. Not only is this the best source of info we have, but it's also time-critical. We need to get our hands on it before someone wipes that data. Once we're in contact with it, we can transmit it back to our team and even if it gets wiped, it's still evidence that we can use to put things together. We can also use (Time + Forces) to trawl the data for recent deletions and reconstruct missing sectors, because if we know what people were trying to cover up, that's like a warning flag.

Click to shrink...

How likely is somebody to have placed a trigger for... something, that goes off or, uh, triggers when somebody goes for the Control Center's data? Or if not some trap, then just a way to keep track of anybody going in there. Especially if it's so time-sensitive that it obviously has to be the first thing on anybody's list.

On the other hand, it does sound like the most valuable thing in there, and would hurt the most to lose the stuff there.

 

[Grin_Reaper]

[1] Control Center: Take a look at backed up surveillance data and the full, most recent inventory (rather than the old copy you have).
[2] Inventory the Artifacts: Try to take a look at exactly what's missing.
[3] Do a Walk-Around: Reconstruct the assault on the facility (Time 2).

 

[Spectrum]

Studying for my final or taking a stab at a write-in. Priorities am i rite?

[1] Do a Walk-Around: Reconstruct the assault on the facility (Time 2).
[2] Control Center: Take a look at backed up surveillance data and the full, most recent inventory (rather than the old copy you have).
[3] Inventory the Artifacts: Try to take a look at exactly what's missing.

---

Jamelia frowns as she recalled the last personnel list from the Museum's Construct. Some of them she didn't know, some she knew in passing or by reputation, but she did know the Construct's Director, Ekaterina Petrova. After the bitter taste the completion of that last mission in Rome left in her mouth, she'd intended to park herself squarely in her hotel's bar, intent on drinking to pass the time until her flight out. She'd felt the briefest of twinges and seated herself at what probability told her would be the most distracting conversation and ended up stumbling upon Ekaterina. She'd just flown into town to, ironically enough, consult on museum security. Or, rather, to investigate just how badly things could have gotten fucked up for a Construct's security to have been compromised enough that Jamelia had to make the choices that she did.

While the conversation didn't precisely distract her from topics she didn't want to think about, they did become fast friends, swapping stories (at least, the ones they could dress up and still talk about in the open) and philosophies. Motioning with one hand and while sipping from her vodka martini, Ekaterina preached, "From my perspective, the real keys to location security are two-fold, Jane. First, understand who's likely to go after you. You know this, it's the manual, information, information, information. Know all the local players, know their capabilities, and know every newcomer in town. Most of your defenses will be tailored for the locals, but you'll want to have something you can shift around and adapt as needed to potential foreign threats." Taking a sip, she continued, "Second, understand that most successful thefts, assaults, break-ins, whatever happen because someone on the inside turned. So know who's the most likely to have turned, have a countermeasure for them, and have -something- that no one else knows about. If it's gotten that far, you might still be able to salvage something."

...

Back in the present, Jamelia resisted the newfound urge to call in some cleansing fire. Now wasn't the time, no matter how justifed. For now, she just needs to wait and there. Ill-disciplined and bored, these are the dregs of the lot. Nothing was going to happen here, all the ones who still had their wits were out attempting to put out the fires that both her Construct and Panopticon have started tonight. Eventually, one of their attention wavers and notices the pack of cards she's left on an attractive table. Feeling lucky, he challenges the other to a game, and soon their own raucous distraction is in place.

Nodding to Cross to follow her in, she takes a circuitous route around the edge of the room and ends up through the breach. Aside from the fact that the Construct was breached with its own weapons, there's further easy confirmation of traitors inside. One here at the entrance, she can see from the bloodspatter still on the walls. Even with a breaching charge and smuggled out guns, the automated defenses and MiBs still might have held, so this wouldn't have been left to chance. One turned Agent was here, disabled the local defenses, then executed the MiBs from behind.

There's an access duct they can get into from here. Ordinarily, this would be a death sentence in a hostile Construct, but she can see from the way that the defenses were disabled that the power surged all the way up and disabled the mechanisms involved. Motioning Cross up first, she follows behind, subvocalizing him at the appropriate turns. (The fact that this places her behind his wriggling squat...behind the entire time is incidental.) Quietly, they exit all the way at the bottom level, on one of the catwalks overlooking the room with the Mat-Trans. There are significant bullet holes all around the control station...one of the loyal Agents would have been here, attempting to dial out, when they were bushwhacked. Then...yes, the footsteps up, an execution shot (no one's even policed the brass yet, sloppy), and then they would have just shut it down with the local override and isolated it from the Command Center.

There's practically no one down on these levels as they don't want to use the Mat-Trans and they don't expect an infiltrator to have made it this far. It's trivial for Jamelia and Cross to make their way up from the Mat-Trans's level towards the Command Center...or rather, to underneath it. She can see clearly what happened here. Petrova would have been ambushed as well before making it to the Command Center. They likely would have timed the assault on the Construct with that, except they wouldn't have expected her to have been prepared even for that. A mutual kill? No, there's the blood trail, leading to...a dead end room where an incendiary went off. There's an obvious void where a body was removed but...no, it's too obvious. Too staged. She would have only made it look like she suicided to avoid capture. The evidence destruction is obvious if they knew to look, but they were already starting to be too addled to.

Which means...she never left here. This was the secret she kept from the rest of her Construct...there. You have to be inside her head, to know to look for it, but with the catch depressed, Jamelia quietly swings the door open and mutters a curse. The Director's body is just inside the entry way of the very, very tight bolthole. It looks like she had started first aid but the traitor had tagged her with something vicious and she'd bled out before she managed to finish. Inside, she had a few holdout weapons and, judging by the cable leading into the ceiling, a terminal with backdoor access into the Control Center.

Now what would she find with that?

---

[Mind 2 to distract the guards who've been stuck down here in scutwork with some far more interesting.]
[...other Procedures as necessary for the above. Time + Entropy + Matter for some of the reconstruction? Time + Mind + Entropy to get into people's heads?]

 

[MJ12 Commando]

So, wait, just to clear things up here -- is the Museum effectively just a crime scene?

Or is there a Construct here, now in the hands of the Vampires who took it over?

Click to shrink...

It's a crime scene that has been 'investigated' by Russian Technocrats. Who may have been (i.e. are 100%) working with the Camarilla to cover up the fact that the Camarilla are calling the shots here. Like I said, a quest about conspiracy, chaos, order, and SeaDart. You're getting all four here!

EDIT: Also, I updated the OP with your loot. The HITMarks, Power Suit (versus the Powered Suits or the Powersuit), and the Best Knife won.

 

[EarthScorpion]

Props. Attitude. An eye for what onlookers wanted.

That's what it came down to.

There was a very good reason that the New World Order was the Technocracy's centre of stage acting. The 'science conventions' might be into their special effects and their CGI, and the Syndicate might be able to fund the blockbusters, but the Order had an appreciation for the techniques of rhetoric, low-budget props, and the capacity to, you know, actually act which meant that a NWO Shakespearean play - especially one of the Missing Plays which were lost to the Masses - could have swept any theatre circuit you cared to mention. For her part, Jamelia had been an excellent Quinta in 'The Warlocks of Mistridge', at least in her opinion.

But now was not time to think of redacted Shakespearean plays. Because at the moment her acting skills are seeing use in fooling ghouls and traitors. The suit and the attitude are those of a Unionist who's 'gone private' and is earning quite a lot more than they used to. She's rather more... padded, too. Literally padded. She has nicely moulded ballistic gel sitting around her waist, which combined with the dyed white hairs to make her greying and the make-up shifting her colouration makes her look like a gone-to-seed agent who's put no small amount of weight on. Add a Kazakh accent to all of this, and she's someone else without a single smidgen of hyperpsychology in use.

Of course, Cross just went and bloody reconfigured his own appearance on the sly, so he's now an icily handsome Russian. It's useful, even if it's annoying that he finds it so easy. Whoever put her on the terrorist watch-list might well have flagged her up to the local cops too. She's following counter-projection statistical paths, too, so hopefully she can get in and out of this place without someone flagging them to everyone inside. That would be nice.

But if it doesn't work, she has her and Cross' rifles hidden in some of the many, many pockets of her new suit. Along with a few other useful things.

"I'm sorry, what?" the ghoul at the door to the control room says. He's a sallow-looking man, a trifle unhealthy. "I'm sorry, I…"

"I am saying that the Lady Anastasia sent me," Jamelia says to the man in her Kazakh accent, pulling a Tsarist silver medal from one of her pockets. "Did I stutter, perhaps?"

Those bugged haemophage they'd caught and release were paying off now. Jamelia knew the names of a lot of the local power hierarchy, knew who to namedrop and who was famed for what. The haemophage who titled herself 'Lady' Anastasia, a member of the 'Nosferatu' sub-breed, claimed to be the famed Grand Duchess herself. Allegedly she had been turned into a haemophage rather than being murdered. Of course, since the Nosferatu subtype was infamously twisted from their human appearance that could not be verified by the vampires, but whether it was true or not the 'Lady' kept a large stable of ghouls who acted as her agents, appearing rarely herself. And she gave them elements of Tsarist regalia to prove their identity.

Jamelia had got a good look at the medal her agent had carried as a proof of identity when one of their bugged vampires had been shown it. So, naturally, she had got Henriette to knock up a fake.

The ghoul nods. "Ah. Yes. We were, uh, not expecting a visit from an agent of the Lady, but…"

"And I was not expecting for my lady to call me in the middle of the night and have me put on the next flight to Moscow," Jamelia says coldly. "I do as she wishes for she is the last of the Romanovs and I am sworn to serve her, but I am not so civil with those who choose to obstruct her grace. She tells me that I am needed to salvage information from these computers in case this place is to be attacked? I obey her." She picks each word with care, locks her hands behind her back to conceal the faint shake of an addict suffering mild withdrawal. "The Lady wishes this done before she wakes up this night, so I would be... ah, pleased if you do not obstruct me. I will then conduct an inventory of the remaining artefacts and objects, as per her orders. Accompany me if you wish, if your master wishes to make sure I do not steal anything. But I have to get this done before she wakes. She will be… unhappy if she does not have them. I don't want to make her unhappy."

She's admitted weakness, suggested desperation. She's opened herself up to this ghoul. He smells it, and pounces. "Well…" he says, idly rubbing his fingers together as a completely unsubtle part of his stroking his moustache. "You have to understand, it's not that simple…"

"You'll find me grateful," she says quickly, pocketing the Tsarist iconography again and producing a rolled up bundle of notes.

He nods. "I'm always pleased to aid a servant of the Lady Anastasia," he says, the notes vanishing into his jacket. This way, please. I'll show you the computers so you can get everything done with the minimum of fuss, yes?"


[Jamelia – Entropy + Time + Correspondence warding of her and Cross – They're both still protected by the chaotic effects of being close to a Trans Mat, combined with the fact that she's carrying out the standard procedures to prevent her being tracked and the two of them are disguised. Enhanced by her Manipulation + Subterfuge to hide in this false identity from behaviour prediction.]

[Cross – Life, self-focussed shifting of appearance while in the safe Technocratic area of the Construct as part of the FD Prime parts of his biomods, to make him look different.]

[Jamelia – Entropy + Mind – She's carrying all the correct props for an agent of a notable local Nosferatu and acting in the right way for one of her ghouled agents, so the ghouled guard at the door will be someone who cares mostly about extracting a bribe for his help from the obviously tired agent of the Lady who's desperate to get her mission done before her domitor wakes up and starts demanding answers. Enhanced by Manipulation + Subterfuge for her acting.]

 

[Candesce]

[1] Control Center: Take a look at backed up surveillance data and the full, most recent inventory (rather than the old copy you have).
[2] Inventory the Artifacts: Try to take a look at exactly what's missing.
[3] Do a Walk-Around: Reconstruct the assault on the facility (Time 2).

 

[Garlak]

You:
You are Jamelia Belltower, The Man.
Virtue: Analyst (regain 2 WP when you resolve a situation with rationality and/or logic)
Vice: Chameleon (spend 1 WP to actually reveal your true self to anyone else, regain 1 WP if doing so would be a good idea)

Notable Traits:

Versatile and adaptable to almost any situation
Skilled in firearms, driving, and close quarters combat
Statistically Improbable Performance In High Risk Situations (Daredevil Merit)

In very high risk rolls, 10s count as 2 successes, difficulty is lowered by 1, roll gains bonus dice​

Extremely adept at social manipulation
Slight physiopharmaceutical augmentation​

Enlightened Science:
Enlightenment 5

Correspondence 2
Entropy 3
Forces 2
Life 2
Matter 2
Mind 2
Time 2​

Click to shrink...

Oh hey, check it out. At some point the first posts updated a bit on Jamelia too.

I now know what our Virtue and Vice are.

I'm actually curious right now though -- did the way EarthScorpion wrote Jamelia handling Serafina count as JB acting against her Vice? If it did so, then did it count as "a good idea"?

Or did the situation count as actually fulfilling her Analyst virtue because she used cold logic and brutal truth to explain just how bad shit could hit the fan?

To be honest, at first I was apprehensive of the whole "Virtues and Vices" thing at the start. The occasional thing I'd seen in wikis or sourcebooks about the "Nature" or "Type" traits that WoD had made me feel that they were... not too helpful. It kinda felt like they were at once broad and confining and possibly useless. It was like they made something that was intended to say something about your character, but then they made it a bit awkward to have it affect gameplay.

But then MJ12 gave us the very first Virtue and Vice, for the tutorial character. And the listed Vice was Idealist. That was a surprise. And I thought that was cool. The idea of idealism being a liability to an agent, and yet them wanting it, holding onto it, perhaps needing it. I thought that that was the sort of trait that you'd want to indulge or make a part of your character. I thought having "Machine" and "Idealist" as Virtue and Vice was cool. It even spoke of a sort of conflict and balancing act. Heck, you could even say that under a usual situation, those could/should have even been switched... But this is the Technocracy and things aren't quite so conventional. You play as The Man, here.

Heck, I could see "Vice: Idealist" as potentially being a very common one... It suggests the struggle inherent in remaining good and ethical while playing as somebody who is normally the Man.

Spoiler: Christopher Westin

VIRTUE/VICE

Virtue and Vice play into your character's ability to deal with people. You will eventually establish one. Your Virtue lets you regain WP by fulfilling it. Your Vice lets you regain WP by indulging it, and costs WP if you want to suppress it for a scene.
Westin's Virtue is Machine. He is a cold professional weapon, emotions minimized by years of conditioning and combat experience. He regularly pushes himself beyond the limits of flesh. Beneath his body, there is more than a man, there is an idea, and ideas are bulletproof. (Unless the firer has Entropy 5). His vice is Idealist. For all the horror he's seen, he believes in the righteousness of his cause. He may kill, but he is still moral.

 

[Sarpedon]

[1] Control Center: Take a look at backed up surveillance data and the full, most recent inventory (rather than the old copy you have).
[2] Inventory the Artifacts: Try to take a look at exactly what's missing.
[3] Do a Walk-Around: Reconstruct the assault on the facility (Time 2).

 

[drake_azathoth]

[1] Control Center: Take a look at backed up surveillance data and the full, most recent inventory (rather than the old copy you have).
[2] Inventory the Artifacts: Try to take a look at exactly what's missing.
[3] Do a Walk-Around: Reconstruct the assault on the facility (Time 2).

 

[Bursting Eagerness Soul]

1- Control Center
2- Inventory
3- Mat Trans
--> Make it available for use by loyal Technocrats. Don't actually send anyone in yet, but cut any alarms that trigger when something is coming in. Also, cut out any remote shutdown from the rest of the base. This easy, if we want to later, we can send in a team to retake the Construct in a somewhat stealthy manner.

 

[Alratan]

Are there any good decent Procedures we can come up with to help the investigation?

Tagging everyone non-Technocratic with some form of bio or smart marker might be possible - such as the ghoul on the door in EarthScorpion's write-in - so that they can be tracked later. Would possibly be a bit risky though, as it might be noticed. Is it too greedy?

 

[EarthScorpion]

Serafina_Rosario(Progenitor)/Discussion

Page Name

Motion to have the page transition to the proper StandardisedAssetReferences system. For one, that way we could avoid having to disambiguate with Serafina_Rosario(Orphan) and Serafina_Rosario(Order_of_Hermes) - PatternHax2U

Opposed. Look, I realise you want to give everyone a serial number Pat, but humans don't work that way. Just get back to your bleep-bloop coding. - Joopiter

Opposed. And PatternHax2U, i've alreayd told you about how you need to take it to StandardisedAssertReferences/Discussion rather than comment crapping on /every/ fucking comments page where people aren't being referred to in that way. - Wingz(moderator)
-> I'd like to appeal this moderator judgement; the opposition of the moderator to my perfectly reasonable suggestion indicates pre-existing bias. - PatternHax2U
--> I would like to note that there has been no response to my objection, despite giving Wingz plenty of time to respond. - PatternHax2U
---> fuck you, PatternHax. It was /three hours/. Some of us have lives, you know. Hey, maybe you shoudl go fucking do something apart from bitching about categorisation on the wiki. - Wingz(moderator)
----> I would also like to cite the above post as evidence of the pre-existing bias. - PatternHax2U

Supported. I am getting /sick/ of being redirected to the page of some Progenitor engineered freak when people search my name - IAmNotAProgenitorForFucksSake
-> Sorry, but are you the Orphan or the OOH one? - WickedWitchOfTheWeb
--> Gosh, I don't know. Considering the OOH one was from /the fucking 1500s/ I wonder! - IAmNotAProgenitorForFucksSake
---> Okay, calm it down, IANAPFFS. I realise this is a sensitive topic, but that was an innocent point - Li9999(moderator)
----> Calm down? Hey! Maybe then people should stop showing up at my doorstep thinking I'm a defector who can heal them! - IAmNotAProgenitorForFucksSake

Opposed. Sick of all this StandardisedAssetReferences stuff. It makes you sound like a /Technocrat/. - oped
-> Don't accuse fellow wiki users of being Technocrats without proof. Consider this a warning, oped. - BaptismOfFire(moderator)
--> Man, why do all these new mods keep on forcing these bullshit rules on us. - oped
--> Thank you, BaptismOfFire. I'm not a Technocrat. I just want the categorisation to make sense. - PatternHax2U

Identified sightings

Personally confirmed meeting in Moscow, adding the full details to the page. In addition, I'll update Serafina_Rosario(Progentior)#Known_Associates; I have positive IDs on Alexander_Cross(Progenitor_construct), Jamelia_Belltower(New_World_Order_Operative), John_Kessler(Iteration_X), and an un-ID'd Iterator. - LessBeanNJA
-> She's the artificial sculpted so-called beauty of the male-led objectifiers of the Progenitors. That's only beauty in the shallow eyes of Technocratic consumer culture. True beauty only comes from Mother Earth. - WickedWitchOfTheWeb
-->Hey, listen you fucker. I'm a full-body cyborg and I will not sit here and listen to your synthphobic hate speech. - LessBeanNJA
--> And she is fucking hot, by the way. Like, wow. I would totally reach out with the fingers of temporary sexy alliance. I would be into her if I still thought I was straight. - LessBeanNJA
---> She'd break your heart. She always breaks hearts. And she's into men. - GothicPsychicChick
----> I can dream. And when I'm not dreaming, I can run sims. : 3 - LessBeanNJA
-----> Okay, cut it out LessBeanNJA. We didn't need to know that. - Wingz(moderator)
-> Alexander_Cross(Progenitor_construct) is already on the list. Just update his entry. - Wingz(moderator)
--> Gotcha - LessBeanNJA

Reverted vandalism

I've just had to revert a total vandalism of the page. Sorry for the inconvenience. For those of you who saw the page before I got to it, no, Serafina Rosario is /not/ a member of the 'Free Council' and she is /not/ 'unusually skilled in Mind for a Thrysus', and she does /not/ 'stand against the Exarchs as they try to destroy two of the poles of time'. That was another Hellwrecker sockpuppet. We return you to your previous state of affairs. - BaptismOfFire(moderator)
-> Thanks Baptism! - Li1337

NPOV violation / hate speech

I would like to object most strongly to the sex negative viewpoint spropogate dby the currnet article. Not only does it call Serafina Rosario a "slut", but it also makes several other misogynistic remarks and alleges that she slept her way to her position in the Progenitors. This is completely unacceptable. For one, everyone knwos she got her position because of nepotism, not sex. and it generally promotes a completely unacceptable view of women. I've removed all those comments - WickedWitchOfTheWeb
-> Yeah. She's a tease, not a slut. - GothicPsychicChick

What the fuck are you doing? look, we know the Union is trying to cause the fall of morality and all that stuff, and depower men. they're trying to ban guns, restrict alcohol, and they spy on us because they hate freedom. you're censoring what's happening - Mraaa
-> I know, right! The Union hates freedom. That's why we need to overthrow their hierachies and institute a firm contract-based system of mutual agreement. Only the market can provide equitable solutions once we remove the dead hand of the corporative Syndicate from it - LordFedora
--> I'm glad someone agrees! it's all because of their evil athiestic goals which means they hate jesus and faith - Mraaa
---> wtf? Look, everyone knows that behind the scenes the Syndicate is controlled by the Jews while the NWO is made up of Christian fanatics. - LordFedora
----> And they suppress solar power so they can control oil supplies! - SolarWall

Look the fact that Serafina_Rosario(Progenitors) by all accounts is sex positive is one of her few redeeming features! the rest of the time she's cutting up animals and stuff in the name of the Man's enforcement of patriarchy and its rape of Mother Earth. that she at least is in favour of birth control so man's greed doesn't consume all the natural resources of the world is a good thing! - WickedWitchOfTheWeb

she has no morals and no shame. she is an example of the spoilt decadence of the upper echelcons of the 'Crats. - Mraaa
-> Shame is a tool of Technocratic social control! I reverted your vandalism where you accused her of having no shame as a NPOV violation! - WickedWitchOfTheWeb
--> De-reverted it. Bitch. Stop buying into the lies of the Union which would destroy traditional families! Yeah, why're you even a part of the Traditions if you hate the traditions which made us strong! - Mraaa
---> Mraaa is wrong about religion, but he's right about that bit. We need a Dark Enlightenment to restrore us to proper social values while retaining what aspects of the technology of the Union we can! - LordFedora
--> No, the Union got rid of the shame for women going out and working so it could feed more men into the meatgridners of industrial warframe. This implict sexism is totally ignored by society even while Union sleeper agents work to stop men from fighting back by leaving them subordinate. Have you ever notied that the lower bits of the Union are dominated by women? - LordFedora
---> ... you fucking idiot, that's because it's run by men! - LeafAndWillow
----> Reported. If you're not going to debate properly, don't post. - LordFedora
-----> Reported for trolling - Li8239

Wow. This is toxic. Sera's kind of a bitch, but... urgh, why do we have so many terrible people on our side? It disturbs me. We should be working together. - GothicPsychicChick
-> Terrible people? Says you? Sure you want to talk abotu that? - Mraaa
--> Mraaa, stop it right. TraditionsWiki is meant to be a friendly place for all members of the Nine Mystic Traditions and associated Crafts and... look, anyone who isn't a 'Crat, a Nephandus or a Marauder. And we'd let the Marauders on if they could stop vandalising the pages. If you push it any further, expect to lose privileges - Wingz(moderator)
---> Thanks, Wingz. You and the other mods do a fairly good job of trying to make this a safe posting place. - GothicPsychicChick
----> NP, GPC. - Wingz(moderator)

Oh, for goodness sake. The article is in a NPOV violating state. I'm locking it for cleanup. LessBeanNJA, PM me with the things you want added. - BaptismOfFire(moderator)
-> (this comment was deleted by the user) - LordFedora
--> Stop hitting yourself. Stop hitting yourself. Stop hitting yourself. And delete your comment while you're at it. - MonkOnTheMountain(supermoderator)

We do not tolerate abuse of our moderation staff. LordFedora thought it was a good idea to make accusations about BaptismOfFire and bias she might have because of her gender. LordFedora then thought it was a good idea to repeatedly punch himself in the face. Don't be LordFedora, or you too might think it's a good idea. Hint. Hint. - MonkOnTheMountain(supermoderator)
-> I don't think this is really on topic, with all due respect. I think that announcement should go on LordFedora#Discussion. - PatternHax2U

All comments older than 5 days are moved into the archives.

 

[MJ12 Commando]

We do not tolerate abuse of our moderation staff. LordFedora thought it was a good idea to make accusations about BaptismOfFire and bias she might have because of her gender. LordFedora then thought it was a good idea to repeatedly punch himself in the face. Don't be LordFedora, or you too might think it's a good idea. Hint. Hint. - MonkOnTheMountain(supermoderator)
-> I don't think this is really on topic, with all due respect. I think that announcement should go on LordFedora#Discussion. - PatternHax2U

All comments older than 5 days are moved into the archives.

Click to shrink...

Ah, the Akashic Brotherhood. When you guys aren't navel-gazing and actually doing some good in the world, you do great and wonderful things.

 

[Thor]

The fact that it was implied (and confirmed by ES!) that MonkOnTheMountain can punch people through the internet using Mind made it like 100x better than it already was.

Best power is best.

 

[Eukie]

LessBeanNJA overt flirtiness and frequent come-ons seem to indicate projection to hide self-esteem issues. We should keep in contact with her for two main reasons: First, because she could be a useful asset as an informal informant who could keep us supplied with non-secret information from Russia. We keep the communication open and friendly and throw her some chicken feed from time to time, and we'll have someone who might be able to inform us about what happens in Moscow.

Secondly, we might be able to turn her. She's a VA with close ties to the Tunguskans, both of which are recent splinter factions of the Union, so ideologically there are few challenges for her to overcome. By playing a longer, subtle game we can push her self-esteem issues and get her to join willingly. I'm not going to suggest straight-up seduction, because we have to assume that anyone we go up against are smart enough to see through a plain honey trap. Instead we should simply breed familiarity, primarily through contact with female agents, to the point where she simply enjoys our company too much to leave - or seduce her, if later evaluations seem to indicate she'll be receptive to this.

The situation where Jamelia & co. came into contact with LessBeanNJA was quick, sudden, and volatile, which means her bona fide checks out and it's unlikely she's a dangle. Given the situation and her overt, non-committal approach to unreceptive targets, the chances she's a honey trap or swallow are low.

The problem with this approach, though, is that we're strapped for manpower. LessBean would probably be far too suspicious of Jamelia for JB to work as a swallow, Rose is ethically disinclined, and Henriette seems to have come down with problems of her own. This is not a suggestion that Serafina be the one to do the job, but merely a note that we're currently not equipped with very many operatives we could use for this recruiting.

In any case, I think it would be in-character for Jamelia to recognize that she has an uncomplicated, low-risk in on a potential asset here, and work towards squeezing everything she can get out of LessBeanNJA while pretending her hand is open.

(*whispers at screen* Now kiss!)

 

[Nuts!]

Soundtrack

Live Another Day

"Doctor," Jamelia's voice comes in over the speakers. "I need you to prepare some heavy-duty anti-aging treatments with the RAVANA, then leave them in the rear compartment of the limo with the door code set to "1976." I also need you to vacate the premises for...an hour or two, at least."

Serafina purses her lips. "This wouldn't have anything to do with our previous conversation, would it?"

"Surprisingly, no. This is a minor separate matter."

Dr. Rosario considers the situation for a moment. Jamelia doesn't trust her; unsurprising, but expected. However, even letting her know the basics of what's likely to happen - a contact dropping off intel and picking up payment - is an appreciated gesture of trust after what had happened earlier.

"Is there anything I should do in the meantime?" Dr. Rosario asks. She'll play along with this game.

"Go patch Kessler together or something. I'd like to not have to assault another Construct with the Dreaded Technocratic Mummy alongside me," Jamelia orders.



----------------------------

Later...



"Man, fuck this."

"Quiet, you."

Serafina's private lab was a surprisingly cramped place. Buried deep under the Swiss Alps, the Progenitor complex was inaccessible outside of a single heavily-guarded access route and several equally well-defended mat-trans systems. One jump had brought the two battered, bruised, and bloodied agents from the Moscow battlefields to Serafina's sterile home.

"Why are we doing this again?" Kessler whines plaintively.

"Because most of your face is missing, you lummox," Serafina snapped, her eyes flicking across multiple rapid-scrolling readouts. Kessler hung suspended in a nutrient-rich regrowth bath, his eyes lighting up the cloudy fluid with an grim red glare, while the Progenitor scientist busied herself at the control station.

The exojock tried to wave his hand dismissively, the gesture ruined as his arm moved in slow motion in the dense water. "I've faced down a cyberdragon with no arms before! I'm fine." He pauses for a moment. "Just to clarify: I was the one who didn't have arms, by the way - the cyberdragon had at least four of 'em."

Dr. Rosario stopped, looking up at the floating cyborg. "Run that by me again?"

The brawny man grinned, exposing metallic teeth. "A long while back, a big-ass cyberdragon with an Ecstatic on it caught me with m'pants down and took my arms off." His legs twitched in recalled memory. "I dropped a rock on the dragon and headbutted the damn Ecstatic."

Serafina grimaced. "Well, that would certainly explain things." She turned back to her work, but stopped as a thought struck her. "Given your past, I admit that I'm somewhat surprised by your tolerance of Donal-..." she trailed off uncertainly, as her wandering mind caught up with her mouth.

"Got no problem with him," Kessler grunted curtly, though his tone of voice belied his words. "If I went around shooting everyone who did dumb stuff in college, I'd hafta shoot a lotta people." His expression turns contemplative. "Also, I'd hafta shoot myself."

"Still, it's a rather strange situation, no?" Serafina asks, absently brushing her hair from her eyes as she turns back to her computers. "A man exiled for two decades in a Traditionalist Horizon Realm bears no ill-will towards a man sympathetic to his jailors."

"Yeah, I-"

"Exiled to a Horizon Realm," Serafina continues in a quiet, dangerous voice. "A man who returned, unharmed, while all other extrasolar Technocratic assets vanished." She smacks her head softly as her mind suddenly makes the mental leaps. "Meanwhile, the formerly-useless Mark I power armor mysteriously acquires a very quirky AI, one that Henriette swears up and down that she'd never installed. I wonder, is it even an AI at all?"

Kessler tries to hide it, but Serafina's social skills were honed in the literally cutthroat world of Progenitor internal politics. Even with half his face being regrown, she can sense his nervousness, and there's no hiding the spike in the beat of his mechanical heart.

"Uhh..." John says clumsily, "so...how long's this gonna take, anyways?" His eyes strobe like twin searchlights across the top of the regrowth tank.

It's sealed, of course. She planned ahead.

Serafina says nothing, and lets Kessler stew in the silence. (figuratively) After a minute he finally bursts out, "Look, I talk to spirits, alright?"

It takes the experienced Progenitor a moment to respond to this. "Say that again?"

"I talk to spirits, damnit!" Kessler growls. "Look, if you spend two decades surviving as a neo-caveman in some Ecstatic's little fantasy realm, you're gonna get up to some really weird shit." He pauses for a moment, clearly choosing his words carefully. "And by 'really weird shit' I mean 'kill cyberdragons and drink their blood.'"

Serafina blinks. This conversation has taken a very, very strange turn.

"So yeah, I woke up Centurion, though that stupid British suit of armor's doing its best to make me regret that," Kessler grumbles, experimentally tapping the 'glass' holding up the regrowth tank. (made up of triple-layer nanotube webbing, of course; this was the heavy-duty regrowth tank for uncooperative specimens) "I dunno how much Jamelia and Henriette know about what's out there beyond the Gauntlet, although Henriette obviously saw some crazy stuff when she went to Autochthonia. And Jamelia's an old NWO spook, so she's probably read my mind or something."

"She thinks the Computer...woke up, so to speak," Serafina murmurs. Her paranoid side is screaming at her to just shut up and keep pumping the exojock for information while she's got him temporarily trapped, but she can't resist the urge to just blurt out the truth and see what happens. Besides, if Kessler made it through Void Engineer and NWO interrogation without getting axed for "talking to 'spirits,'" then he's probably safe enough, right?

"Jamelia's a ground-bound spook," Kessler responds bluntly. "She might be on to something with the Computer and all that, but there's a lot more out beyond the Near Umbra that's been dreamt of in our philosophy, so to speak. I've seen some stuff that sure as shit couldn't be explained by Iteration X hypertech, even a decade or two behind the times." The regrowth solution is working even as he speaks, inorganic myomer layering itself in bulging cords while dermal tissues knit themselves in place on top.

"And your return to Earth?" Serafina asks, taking direct control of the tank's environment for the delicate task of regrowing facial tissues. She feels especially charitable as she programs the exojock's hair regrowth for that abomination against nature he calls a "mullet."

John grimaces, the gesture visible only through the tank's controls with his face swathed in regrowing fibers. "Look, Doc, I know you don't believe in spirits and all that jazz, but I talked with some...extra-dimensional entities, let's say. Long story short, I got myself a free ride close to home, and got a shuttle ride down from orbit."

Serafina stops. "A 'shuttle ride down from orbit?'" she asks. Kessler says nothing in response.

She waits. A minute passes.

"All right, all right, so I surfed the Mir station down when they deorbited it!" Kessler bursts out. "Jeez, you survive one space station crash and they never let you forget it!"

Dr. Rosario blinks again. One part of her wants to stay the hell away from the clearly insane man in front of her, another part totally wants to surf a de-orbiting space station too, and a third part of her wants to figure out what is going on right now.

"What the hell?" she finally blurts out. "Am I the last one here to figure out that there might be subverted Technocratic assets beyond the Extradimensional Anomaly? Did you all have a "let's talk about what Control's up to" party when I wasn't looking? Even this...this meathead figured it out ahead of me!"

The exojock clears his newly-repaired throat. "You do realize that I'm technically a doctor too, right?"

The Progenitor waves her hand dismissively. "Your PhD's in Tactical Combat Theory, a.k.a. "help me I cannot into real science." Doesn't count."

"Does too."

"Totally does not."

"Hey, when you can perform a threat-assessment with limited intel on an enemy assault force with 90% reliability, you can call my degree worthless," Kessler grumps, crossing his arms while floating naked in the regrowth tank. Serafina just sticks her tongue out in lieu of a response.

They hold their twin poses for about five seconds before dissolving into fits of giggles.

--------------------------------

Meanwhile, in Moscow...



"Out!"

"Silly fema-"

"OUT!"

The big stupid dumb obsolete ugly stupid robot finally takes the order and rumbles out of the room, with a last parting shot about "feminine vapours." Henriette considers going after it with a plasmacannon, but until she gets her TENNO back, she'll just have to let the stupid thing keep being stupid.

Stupid machine.

Henriette huffs, crossing her arms, looking at her ballooning to-do list. "Fix up the Paladin sedan, would you?" "How about you get the network in this Construct that we've just done our best to totally blow up back up and running - tomorrow should be long enough, right?" "I only know stuff about stupid meat-puppet bodies and can't even fix my own computer, help!"

"Sheesh," she grumbles. "Can't you debug your own computers? It's only a basic hypertech virus, and a slapdash job at that!" Muttering about her stupid useless Construct that'd be lost without Iteration X to keep all their shiny toys running, she dived into the guts of the Paladin sedan's core processor. Lost in her thoughts, it took her almost a minute to realize she wasn't alone.

"Hello, Ms. Langley," an unfamiliar voice behind her says calmly.

Henriette immediately pings the local tactical network without turning around, but nothing responds. The old Mark I suit, Centurion, had an AI too obsolete and stupid to interface with the tactical network, ("what's an interface?" the damn thing had asked) and aside from the suit of armor, she's alone in the Syndicatemobile. Not trusting her legs, Henriette slowly eases herself up and turns around to see a face she's only seen pictures of before.

"Aristide," she mutters, both confused and terrified. Ohmygodohmygodohmygod he can read my thoughts NO GET OUT OF MY HEAD-

"Relax, dear," the old NWO spook says calmly, indicating the chair across the room from him. "Sit down, please." He's already seated, wearing nondescript business clothes (gee, what a surprise) and gives a faint smile at the confusion self-evident on her face. He picks up a few small vials on the table next to him, and drops a USB stick in its place.

Henriette keeps standing, holding on to the table for support. "You stupid mind-reading bastard, what're you doing h-"

"Sit."

The mech jockey is in the seat across from Aristide before her conscious mind can process it, and she gasps as she tries to fight the scary unnatural bad mental influence that he doubtlessly used on her.

"Henriette, relax," Aristide orders calmly. "I solemnly swear that I have used precisely zero psychic powers on you, at all, ever." He chuckles, a far-off look appearing in his eyes. "It's amazing how much people focus on 'psychic' and forget about old-fashioned rhetoric and body language."

With her mind slowing down enough to think, Henriette takes a moment to stare at the man she'd only before seen in a dossier. He still looks older than dirt, a surprising sight for any Technocratic elder, but he's...different, somehow, from the dossier photos. That godawful pedo-stache is gone, yeah, but the guy himself doesn't look the same. Calmer? More confident? Happier, even?

Naturally, Henriette hates him for that.

Aristide sees the look on her face, and his eyes seem to swim in front of her. "Wow," he mutters to himself out loud. "Someone really did a number on you, girl. No, make that two or three numbers."

"Fuck off," Henriette snaps back.

"Not today," he responds easily. "I've got a few things to go over first. When was the last time you had counseling?"

"Just yesterday," Henriette growls.

"Oh? With who?"

"With Dr. Rosario," she shoots back. Well, if you counted "ice cream and hugs" as counseling, which it totally was I mean c'mon, then they'd had at least five gallons of counseling yesterday, with fudge on top.

For once, Aristide looks surprised, and Henriette does an internal fist-pump at confusing a veteran NWO agent. "Really? Daniel and Pia are here?"

Now it's Henriette's turn to be caught off-guard. "Who?"

The creepy old spook waves his hand. "You know, Dr. Rosario - well, one of them anyway."

Henriette giggles before she can stop herself. "No, their kid."

Aristide pauses, before lightly smacking himself in the face. "Can you pretend you didn't hear that?"

The mech jockey lets out another genuine laugh, before her paranoia catches up and reminds her that he's probably planned this whole conversation out with his 'hyperpsycho-whatsit' or whatever they called it. She scowls, glaring at the NWO agent again.

Aristide sighs theatrically. "Well, now that I'm done with dating myself for now, I do remember that they had at least one kid. She's not a field agent though, right?" He shakes his head when Henriette nods. "Well, while I'm sure that Dr. Rosario is very qualified at counseling, there's a couple things you need to understand about surviving field work, kiddo."

Henriette bristles. "What do you know that I don't, old fogey?" She isn't really sure what 'fogey' means, but it sounds old and that's what she's trying to say anyway.

"I have buried a great many people, child," Harlan says softly. "Some of them were hated enemies, and others were valued subordinates. A few were close friends. I have buried my family, my allies, my friends - almost everyone I have cared about. When it comes to weathering mental pain, I am a bloody master." He glances down, and Henriette realizes that the spook's been clenching his fist so hard that his nails have dug into his palm.

Henriette recognizes that pain. "D-does it ever get easier?" she asks quietly.

"No," he answers bluntly. "You just get better at holding up." Clearing his throat, Harlan Aristide settles cross-legged on the floor of the Syndicate limousine and begins to teach again. "No tricks, no bullshit. I couldn't change you against your will without forcing myself into your mind, and I'm here to help you put yourself together instead of tearing you apart."

"When you get a flashback, here's a good breathing exercise to help it pass faster..."





Serafina: Regen Kessler's dermal layers and fix up his biological bits. (Life ?)

ARISTIDE INTERRUPT: Teach Henriette basic mental grounding and control techniques to help weather her PTSD (Mind 1, maybe?)

 

[Ct613hulu]

I could be missing something here but who is Aristide and why should Henriette trust him?

 

[Emy]

I could be missing something here but who is Aristide and why should Henriette trust him?

Click to shrink...

Harlan Aristide was one of our Act II recruitment options. He's a psychic NWO operative.

 

[Nuts!]

I could be missing something here but who is Aristide and why should Henriette trust him?

Click to shrink...

Ah, right. Aristide is an "agent not taken," and Henriette thinks he's a creepy old NWO psychic. To be fair, she's right.

What she forgets is that Aristide is a creepy old NWO psychic with crazy-good social skills, who knows exactly which buttons to push on someone to get them to respond the way he wants.