From Nothing, Everything [Warhammer 40K]
- Thread starter Stonemason
- Start date
- Mature Sci-Fi
4. A Black Container
Once this trial day of work was done, you decided to go try hang out with some of the workers here, in the cooler evening of Zaharu. They were gathering around Dante, chatting about where to go to drink for the evening. Crow didn't though, opting to stay working on some of the contraptions in the place on her own.
"Hey, could I join in too?" you asked the small crowd.
...You didn't have any actual money to actually spend on booze, but you might as well hang out for a bit before going to August's.
"Sure man, sure." the red-haired leader chuckled. "C'mon now. We're going to the Cherrybucket."
"Don't give me the money now, dudes." Dante grinned, as shook his head to one of his employees that was trying to hand him cash. "Keep it for yourselves, keep it safe. Once I get the deal done…" he stabbed a thin cigarette into an ashtray. "...then we're going for it. You pool all of the cash in me. Then boom - we buy the land."
"Buy the land for what?" you asked.
"We're expanding the shipyard. But we need more space for that." he explained. "And money. So we're going to put all of our cash together to make this dream happen - I'll give them a cut of the profits from it all, of course. But we're still short on cash."
"Yeah, we believe in the boss." one of them said.
"I mean, Zaharu really is starting to pick up." another said. "And we can be the first people to really set foot in it, you know? You gotta invest in things while they're still cheap and fresh."
"We're damn corporates now, aren't we?" a particularly short woman chuckled through her long and thin smoke-pipe. "Look at us now. Who could've told that we were all rebel, fighting against the system a couple of years ago, but now, heh. Now we are the damn 'suits', aren't we."
"Hey, it keeps us all fed. And rich." Dante shrugged, amused, then downed some beer. "You complaining?"
"'Rich'." the short one quoted. "We're not 'rich'."
"-Yet!" Dante interrupted.
"But relative to our gang days, yeah, you could say we're 'rich'." the shorter one continued.
"But it's all over if the old Marine gets fucked off by the Imperials." another cautiously brought up. "We gotta the make the good money while we can."
"My gut tells me that the old Marine buddy already is in cahoots with the Imperials. Or *someone*." Dante whispered enthusiastically. "That old fuck is too smart to not have some kind of plan hidden deep up his asshole to protect his income, this empire of his. Some kind of trick. Or deal. I just know it."
"This is the beginning of a great planet." he added. "Opportunity is everywhere. And I know that Terro isn't going to miss out on his cut on all of this."
"Markus!" he cheered, and left the basket with clothing to race to you and shake your shoulders. "I know that fucking look. You got a job, didn't you?"
"Yeah. I did." you proudly stated. "Thanks to you, to be honest."
"Aaaah, fuck, trigg, don't worry about it! That's what I'm here for, man." The big guy then resumed hanging clothing. "What did you find?"
"I'm working on a Cogitator. Binarizing documents, doing numbers, stuff like that."
"Shit, man, that's perfect for you, isn't it?"
"Yeah, for sure." you told him.
He held out another tank top to hang, but it had a faded red splatter on it. "Got to wash this one again." he muttered.
"Blood?"
"Yeah, I killed some dudes." he explained. "Some pirates trying to steal some goods. All cargo that's signed with us and Fort Merry is protected you see, it's why everyone brings their ships here and not some random spot in the desert. You're just begging to get found and ambushed if you do that."
"Oh, hey… about clothing, would you like these back sometime?" you asked, holding your oversized top.
"Nah, man. Keep it for as long as you need, OK? Don't worry about it."
"Thanks, trigg."
"No problem." he offered his fist, and you put yours into it.
The next morning, you got very early to the shipyard (got to make a good impression!), finding only Crow inside, doing some adjustments to the Promethium refueling machines.
"Morning." you uttered, waving a hand to her.
She just continued her work, ignoring you.
"Oh, Markus." she then eventually said. "Get into the storage over there, check how much Promethium Type-9 we have left. Count the meters on the tanks."
"...Got it."
Crow then pressed a button on her arm, causing a mechanical lock to loudly open. You walk over to the source of the sound, at the far end of the shipyard's building, and enter the massive storage room through a now-open steel door.
Within, you found several room-sized tanks and containers, marked as various kinds of Promethium. You browsed the labels, finding Type-7… Type-6… then, a black unlabeled container, just as large as the others.
"H-hello?" you heard a high-pitched, girly voice beg from within it.
You purse your lips. Should you just ignore that? You scanned the rest of the place silently, eventually finding the container for Type-9 Promethium.
It had several gauges, labeled "Tank 1", "Tank 2", "Tank 2" with various amounts of fuel. In total, after adding them up in your head, there were 24 cubic meters.
"S-someone?" they pleaded again.
"...Yeah?" you concede.
"Where a-am I?"
You purse your lips. Do you tell them?
You wander around this black steel container to inspect it further, finding a cogitator panel similar to the one that Crow had you work at earlier, but simpler and smaller. It was off too, but you could see a button to turn it on. There was a hatch too on this side, large enough for you to fit into.
"H-hello? Please?"
You didn't reply, because there wasn't much that you could do here. You gave the source of the sound one last look, and then left, returning to Crow, who was still engaged with the refueling systems.
"24 cubic meters." you inform her.
"Hm-hm." she replied.
"And, uh. There was also another person in there." you tell her.
"Oh? Who?"
"Someone in a container back there. She talked to me."
"So they're awake."
"Should we do something about it?" you asked.
"No. It's just some parcel that we're keeping safe until they pick it up. Not my fault that they're using outdated, Septimus-style cryogenics. That stuff isn't prepared for the Zaharu heat. Should've used Octavian designs."
"So we're just going to leave her there?"
"Yes. We don't tamper with items that aren't ours. If she dies, she dies. Not our problem."
"...Are they going to pick her up soon?"
"I don't know, and I don't care."
"Can't we contact them or something?" you insisted.
"Got an Astropath somewhere? No? Then tough luck. Look, just get back to the Cogitator OK? You've got a stack of papers there to binarize. Go."
"Fine."
You can pick multiple:
[ ] Inform Dante of the situation with the girl in the container.
[ ] Try to sneak back into the storage room, and use the container's cogitator to investigate what's going on. Release her if you can.
- [ ] Kidnap her. She seems worth quite some money.
[ ] Try to reach a deal with Crow to tamper with the container to save the girl.
[ ] Attempt to research how to fix and restore the container's cryogenics.
[ ] Look for an Astropath in Fort Merry.
[ ] Ignore the girl in the container.
[ ] Ask August if he would be interested in investing in Dante's shipyard.
- [ ] Ask for a small cut of the earnings.
[ ] Write in.
"Hey, could I join in too?" you asked the small crowd.
...You didn't have any actual money to actually spend on booze, but you might as well hang out for a bit before going to August's.
"Sure man, sure." the red-haired leader chuckled. "C'mon now. We're going to the Cherrybucket."
------------------
"Don't give me the money now, dudes." Dante grinned, as shook his head to one of his employees that was trying to hand him cash. "Keep it for yourselves, keep it safe. Once I get the deal done…" he stabbed a thin cigarette into an ashtray. "...then we're going for it. You pool all of the cash in me. Then boom - we buy the land."
"Buy the land for what?" you asked.
"We're expanding the shipyard. But we need more space for that." he explained. "And money. So we're going to put all of our cash together to make this dream happen - I'll give them a cut of the profits from it all, of course. But we're still short on cash."
"Yeah, we believe in the boss." one of them said.
"I mean, Zaharu really is starting to pick up." another said. "And we can be the first people to really set foot in it, you know? You gotta invest in things while they're still cheap and fresh."
"We're damn corporates now, aren't we?" a particularly short woman chuckled through her long and thin smoke-pipe. "Look at us now. Who could've told that we were all rebel, fighting against the system a couple of years ago, but now, heh. Now we are the damn 'suits', aren't we."
"Hey, it keeps us all fed. And rich." Dante shrugged, amused, then downed some beer. "You complaining?"
"'Rich'." the short one quoted. "We're not 'rich'."
"-Yet!" Dante interrupted.
"But relative to our gang days, yeah, you could say we're 'rich'." the shorter one continued.
"But it's all over if the old Marine gets fucked off by the Imperials." another cautiously brought up. "We gotta the make the good money while we can."
"My gut tells me that the old Marine buddy already is in cahoots with the Imperials. Or *someone*." Dante whispered enthusiastically. "That old fuck is too smart to not have some kind of plan hidden deep up his asshole to protect his income, this empire of his. Some kind of trick. Or deal. I just know it."
"This is the beginning of a great planet." he added. "Opportunity is everywhere. And I know that Terro isn't going to miss out on his cut on all of this."
------------------
You then get back together to August's, finding him outside of his apartment in the rock, hanging laundry.
"Markus!" he cheered, and left the basket with clothing to race to you and shake your shoulders. "I know that fucking look. You got a job, didn't you?"
"Yeah. I did." you proudly stated. "Thanks to you, to be honest."
"Aaaah, fuck, trigg, don't worry about it! That's what I'm here for, man." The big guy then resumed hanging clothing. "What did you find?"
"I'm working on a Cogitator. Binarizing documents, doing numbers, stuff like that."
"Shit, man, that's perfect for you, isn't it?"
"Yeah, for sure." you told him.
He held out another tank top to hang, but it had a faded red splatter on it. "Got to wash this one again." he muttered.
"Blood?"
"Yeah, I killed some dudes." he explained. "Some pirates trying to steal some goods. All cargo that's signed with us and Fort Merry is protected you see, it's why everyone brings their ships here and not some random spot in the desert. You're just begging to get found and ambushed if you do that."
"Oh, hey… about clothing, would you like these back sometime?" you asked, holding your oversized top.
"Nah, man. Keep it for as long as you need, OK? Don't worry about it."
"Thanks, trigg."
"No problem." he offered his fist, and you put yours into it.
------------------
The next morning, you got very early to the shipyard (got to make a good impression!), finding only Crow inside, doing some adjustments to the Promethium refueling machines.
"Morning." you uttered, waving a hand to her.
She just continued her work, ignoring you.
"Oh, Markus." she then eventually said. "Get into the storage over there, check how much Promethium Type-9 we have left. Count the meters on the tanks."
"...Got it."
Crow then pressed a button on her arm, causing a mechanical lock to loudly open. You walk over to the source of the sound, at the far end of the shipyard's building, and enter the massive storage room through a now-open steel door.
Within, you found several room-sized tanks and containers, marked as various kinds of Promethium. You browsed the labels, finding Type-7… Type-6… then, a black unlabeled container, just as large as the others.
"H-hello?" you heard a high-pitched, girly voice beg from within it.
You purse your lips. Should you just ignore that? You scanned the rest of the place silently, eventually finding the container for Type-9 Promethium.
It had several gauges, labeled "Tank 1", "Tank 2", "Tank 2" with various amounts of fuel. In total, after adding them up in your head, there were 24 cubic meters.
"S-someone?" they pleaded again.
"...Yeah?" you concede.
"Where a-am I?"
You purse your lips. Do you tell them?
You wander around this black steel container to inspect it further, finding a cogitator panel similar to the one that Crow had you work at earlier, but simpler and smaller. It was off too, but you could see a button to turn it on. There was a hatch too on this side, large enough for you to fit into.
"H-hello? Please?"
You didn't reply, because there wasn't much that you could do here. You gave the source of the sound one last look, and then left, returning to Crow, who was still engaged with the refueling systems.
"24 cubic meters." you inform her.
"Hm-hm." she replied.
"And, uh. There was also another person in there." you tell her.
"Oh? Who?"
"Someone in a container back there. She talked to me."
"So they're awake."
"Should we do something about it?" you asked.
"No. It's just some parcel that we're keeping safe until they pick it up. Not my fault that they're using outdated, Septimus-style cryogenics. That stuff isn't prepared for the Zaharu heat. Should've used Octavian designs."
"So we're just going to leave her there?"
"Yes. We don't tamper with items that aren't ours. If she dies, she dies. Not our problem."
"...Are they going to pick her up soon?"
"I don't know, and I don't care."
"Can't we contact them or something?" you insisted.
"Got an Astropath somewhere? No? Then tough luck. Look, just get back to the Cogitator OK? You've got a stack of papers there to binarize. Go."
"Fine."
------------------
As you went through the documents throughout the day to binarize into the Cogitator, you found one that was related to the girl in the container:
|
You can pick multiple:
[ ] Inform Dante of the situation with the girl in the container.
[ ] Try to sneak back into the storage room, and use the container's cogitator to investigate what's going on. Release her if you can.
- [ ] Kidnap her. She seems worth quite some money.
[ ] Try to reach a deal with Crow to tamper with the container to save the girl.
[ ] Attempt to research how to fix and restore the container's cryogenics.
[ ] Look for an Astropath in Fort Merry.
[ ] Ignore the girl in the container.
[ ] Ask August if he would be interested in investing in Dante's shipyard.
- [ ] Ask for a small cut of the earnings.
[ ] Write in.
Last edited:
- Location
- California
Sounds like a case of human trafficking, but I doubt we can save her as we are.
[X] Attempt to research how to fix and restore the container's cryogenics.
I'm interested in this.
[X] Attempt to research how to fix and restore the container's cryogenics.
I'm interested in this.
- Location
- yorkshire
[X] Attempt to research how to fix and restore the container's cryogenics
[ x] Attempt to research how to fix and restore the container's cryogenics.
[ x] Look for an Astropath in Fort Merry.
[ x] Look for an Astropath in Fort Merry.
- Location
- va
[X] Inform Dante of the situation with the girl in the container.
Sir LagsAlot
Yandere Dice Magnet
- Location
- In the fridge
We should try and repay our buddy by getting him in on a potentially good investment.
[X] Ask August if he would be interested in investing in Dante's shipyard.
- [X] Ask for a small cut of the earnings.
[X] Attempt to research how to fix and restore the container's cryogenics
[X] Ask August if he would be interested in investing in Dante's shipyard.
- [X] Ask for a small cut of the earnings.
[X] Attempt to research how to fix and restore the container's cryogenics
- Location
- St. Petersburg
The sentence may be unfinished.
[x] Try to reach a deal with Crow to tamper with the container to save the girl.
[x] Attempt to research how to fix and restore the container's cryogenics.
Thanks. Fixed.
- Location
- yorkshire
[X] Attempt to research how to fix and restore the container's cryogenics
[X] Inform Dante of the situation with the girl in the container.
[X] Inform Dante of the situation with the girl in the container.
