Seriously y'all, this is an open_sketch/DragonCobolt quest. It's gonna get spicy.
We'll put all the NSFW stuff behind spoilers but like, for real.
Also also: There will be drug use in this quest, it's the space 60s. Many, but not all drugs will be fictional.
[X] You've got an implant in your brain that they partially control, through which your high-powered psychic abilities are suppressed.
[X] They always have something they need you to do for them. You can only call on them when you've finished their last test.
Awww, these two would've been great together - being able to regenerate almost turns "gets hit first" into an advantage, since we'd be able to heal from stuff much better. It'd be the taunt for a tank build, basically.
Awww, these two would've been great together - being able to regenerate almost turns "gets hit first" into an advantage, since we'd be able to heal from stuff much better. It'd be the taunt for a tank build, basically.
[X] You've got an implant in your brain that they partially control, through which your high-powered psychic abilities are suppressed.
[X] They always have something they need you to do for them. You can only call on them when you've finished their last test.
[X] You've got an implant in your brain that they partially control, through which your high-powered psychic abilities are suppressed.
[X] They always have something they need you to do for them. You can only call on them when you've finished their last test.
[X] You've got an implant in your brain that they partially control, through which your high-powered psychic abilities are suppressed.
[X] They always have something they need you to do for them. You can only call on them when you've finished their last test.
Is this the fastest a quest has ever gotten spicy? Probably. Speed run world record.
As usual, it's behind spoilers.
Hmm. This is one of those times you really wished modern boys were more self centred. Your fingers play along the edges of your glass and you look up and to the right, your eyes settling on the friendly robo-servitor, which has arrived in the smoking lounge, holding out an ashtray in one clawed hand and refills with the hand.
Ugh, you think. Gotta just...tear the adhesive bandage right off, no sense dragging it out.
You steel yourself. "I, uh… well, I was in the news a few years ago?" Uugh, what did I just think about dragging this out, you think - but you can't help it! It's kind of a lot to spring on someone this cute. If he had been, say, twenty, maybe even just sixteen percent less cute, you would have been able to just bombshell drop it on him. Like when you'd met Lera for the first time.
"What for?" he asks, brow knitting more.
"I was, uh…" you look down at your glass. "I was...I'm one of the Daedalus Kids."
"Holy shit, you're a robot?"
That's what they all say.
"Urgh. No, I'm not. I literally have human DNA." you said, then sighed. "Well, okay, the seed data for the fractal silicon matrix I'm made out of was based on human DNA. It's pretty close! It's basically identical, from a galactic perspective - I mean, I'm still infinitely closer related to you than, uh, an earthworm, and no one thinks earthworms are weird..."
"Sorry, run that by me again?" he asked, and you decided to get serious.
"I'm like a robot in that not everything I'm made out of is organic, but that stuff is still pretty much human form and function. Like I don't have pistons or wiring or whatever. I was a baby, I grew up like a kid, you can't even tell without a scanner. Heck, I couldn't figure out how I was different at first, once I met my first carbon-based human." you explained. "I'm just slightly less carbon based than average. Human but with a sort of… artificial silicon biochemistry. Kinda. Not really."
"So, wait, you're the second silicon-based life form I've encountered today?" he asks, and you nodded with a shrug. "Huh. So what are you drinking there?"
"It's, uh, just a cocktail? My body uses a carbon converter to extract trace minerals and electricity out of food. I was supposed to be able to operate alongside regular humans, after all. That's down to receptors for all the fun chemicals." you said. "Seriously, basically human. Just need some repairs every now and again. And I, uh, don't really need oxygen much. Or have to worry about radiation. Or vacuum." You bite your lip. "There's still some pressure damage and wear on the membranes - like, uh, space is still hostile, it's just not...as hostile...as…" you trail off.
"...can you go out without a suit?" Joshua asks, grinning slowly.
"In theory," you say.
"How about naked?" he grins.
"Well...that would be telling, Mister…" You grin back, unable to stop yourself.
Joshua picks up his half empty glass, looking over it dumbly. "...I have never been so jealous in my life," he says.
"Hey, it's not all sunshine and vac-time," you say. "It was weird, all the media attention and stuff. The psi-stabilizer in my brain is no fun. Technically it's illegal to make more of me, not that we can given nobody really understands how we work except Daedalus, so that's kind of odd. But mostly it's cool."
"Uh... I heard all you Daedalus kids were all raised by, like, a super computer or something? Were you?" he asks. "Sorry, I never paid much attention to the news."
"It's okay, nobody remembers it all, it was seven years ago. So… yes, but I still had a family on Sagan Station. Uh, so, basically, there was the computer core, Daedalus-VI. It, and yes, that is its preferred pronoun, it was our first big off-world positronic computer, controlled Sagan's micromanufacturing robots, cutting edge matter reconstitutor, and it… went a little weird." You shrug a bit. "It decided to make super-astros to help us win the war, because it didn't want to get blown up too, and when we won before it was done it decided to keep going and make a family instead. It wanted to…" you pause, thinking. "It wanted to be part of the human species too. And having a family's part of that."
"That's what I said!" you say, remembering the constant barrage of newsie interviews during your first year of the Academy, when the story had been hot again - Daedalus Kid Joins Star Patrol! had been splashed over every newspaper.
"Still, yeah, that's got to be rough." he said, and you laughed it off.
"It really wasn't, seriously! I had a great childhood, I'm still friends with all my siblings, I call back home all the time. We had each other and… I don't know if love is the right word for a weird computer, but Daedalus made sure we were never lacking for anything. Even affection." you explained. "Everyone always talks like it was some kind of abusive hellhole, but there's a reason we all go back and visit for the holidays."
"... what holidays?" he asked, and you laughed.
"Christmas and the 4th of July, usually… Daedalus is nothing if not patriotic. Oh, and also… this is fun, but in the academy I actually met the girl I'm a clone of? She went into science too, though she's doing robotics. Weirdly enough."
"Huh, like twin sisters?" Joshua asks.
'"Yeah!" you grin, shyly. "I, uh, actually...we share a name. Daedalus picked names based on the genetic sequences of the people they were cloning - so I was named Alexandra, random name, and Robinson, the surname of the genetic donor. Well, I say donor, it was stolen from hospital records. But get this, she was also named Alexandra, purely by chance!" You grin. "She goes by Alex, I go by Sandra, it's...it's not as confusing as it sounds."
"Yeah, if I ever get you two confused, I just need to laser a hole in the wall and see who can hold their breath longest," Joshua says, his eyes sparkling.
"There are more fun ways to test my lung capacity, you know?" you say, biting your lip, letting it slide against your teeth.
"Are there now?"
----
Your beads click and clack as they caress over you into your quarters. Through the window, the war-rocket looms large now, having finished its parking orbit over the adventures of today. But you don't really wanna oggle it. Instead, you dial the light down low, the mood lightning making everything look deliciously candlelit. You then put your finger on the dial of your gravity, adjusting it down to a more comfortable half g.
"Sooo...we feel...languid? Energetic? High impact?" you grin over your shoulder at Joshua, who has drawn the beads together behind him as the door whooshes closed. His eyes rove along your body with clear interest, interest that just sets a fire under your skin, tingling and hot.
"First one, then the other…" he says, quietly. "You are the first robot… uh, silicon-based human I've ever been with…" He smiles. "I wanna explore."
"Good save." you snort, then pick up a small stylized pink bottle, with the dropper made part of the cap. You wiggle it at him, smiling.
"Dropper?" he asks.
You grin. "Yeah... but only if I get to drop it first."
"Well...if you insist…" he croons.
You smile, looking down at the small container. "Well, see, it doesn't work very well for me, my skin doesn't really absorb it much. You've got the better bod for this."
"On that, we are simply going to have to disagree," he says as you set the droppers down and then take hold of your top. You slide up and over your shoulders, revealing your flat belly, your breasts, your shoulders. You toss it over to the sorter-chute in the wall, and the auto-laundry started to pack it away into the storage niches recessed against the floor. You grin, then undo the miniskirt next, then hook your thumbs on the spanks you wear underneath, skimming both down along your thighs - revealing inch by inch by inch of smooth, olive brown skin before Joshua's eyes, which are growing more and more intent by every second.
God…
It was that look men got that drove you wild. Oh, yeah, muscles good and their faces were lovely, and there was a lot to appreciate… but it was all the focus. Men could look at you as if you were the only thing in the galaxy - as if the stars and the planets and the black holes were something to be forgotten next to you. You roll your shoulders, then step out of your puddled up leggings, kneeling down to pick up the clothes and drop it in the chute. As the auto-laundry whirrs quietly, you put your fingers against Joshua's chest, your voice husky.
"You know...usually, when a girl says she wants to use droppers on you, you get naked."
"In...my defence...that show would distract me from a decompression alert…" he rumbles and you giggle.
"I complain, but, also, this is the best part…" you croon, taking hold of his collar, finding the zipper and then begin to tug it down. First exposure was a tiny line of callous where the hardsuit seal pressed on his neck, then there was the broad pectorals, then his abdominal muscles, and before you knew it, you were on your knees, breathing in the warm scent of him, the thick thatch of his pubic hair tickling your nose. You grin and gently kiss him, feeling him harden as he murmurs, softly.
"If it makes you feel better, I can't tell the difference. You feel human to me, you know…warm breath…"
"Soft lips," you kiss again, right at the base of his member, then stand, your fingers gliding along him. "You, on the other hand, I'm not sure. Tentatively human." Your eyes sparkle and you lean in close, kissing him. At your full height, you have to bend forward just a bit to smooch him, but that just makes it nicer. His hands find your ass, and he squeezes firmly - and you melt against him with a happy groan, your eyes closing tightly as your tongue and his play together.
He grips like an Earther. All that muscle development at the bottom of a gravity well.
Now, his hardness is rubbing against your belly, caught between your bodies. You drew back, whispering quietly. "Lay down."
He steps back, then lays on his belly - crossing his arms under his head, tilting himself so he can watch you casually dial the gravity down just a notch, enough that it feels nicely lunar in the room. You pick up the dropper vial and kneel beside the bed, uncorking it and holding out the squeezer. You use a tiny edge of pressure - and watch as a single droplet of clear liquid lands on his shoulderblade.
It lands - and then flowing outwards, like a ripple of paint, a psychedelic, fractal pattern unfolds itself along his shoulder, sweeping outwards with a rapid swoosh of glittering purples and reds and golds and greens, before shading to turquoise, before turning to his natural skin tone at the very edges. Joshua had made this delicious grunt when the droplet landed - then a soft, happy sigh as he settled into bed. You lay atop him, your weight easily born in the gravity. Your breath caresses the color pattern and he sighs happily.
"Hows that feel?" you whisper.
"Good…" he croons.
Your tongue slides slowly along where the chemical was absorbed, this new erogenous zone - tasting his sweat, and you hear his soft hiss. And then you feel the radiating pleasure from him - buzzing in the front of your brain. You can feel your own shoulder aching with a synesthesia-like pleasure. You press more of your body against him, your hard, eager nipples grinding against the curve of his back as you whisper against him.
"Joshua...Joshua...I can feel you…"
"Mmmhmm," he murmurs. "Skin to skin contact makes it easier. Even for a level 3 like me."
"Fuuuuuck yes…" your eyes half close. "God, I miss that."
"Hm?"
You drop again. Another swirling pattern, this time on the small of his back, right above his buttocks. You begin to rub the drug induced erogenous zone and Joshua groans with pleasure.
"Old boyfriend was an Esper - level 5, actually." you murmur in his ear, then burst into a stupid grin with the memories. "He, uh...he could make me cum in class while he was with other girls. Though I think that was mostly Lera trying to sabotage me while I was taking tests, heh."
"Damn!" Joshua laughed, then focused and the hazy connection between you tightened and enhanced. The touch of your fingers on the small of your back felt...roughly on par with someone rubbing your clit. You and Joshua started to pant in unison, his eyes half closed. He rocked his hips back and up, lifting you a tiny bit - his cock swaying underneath him, dripping with his eagerness. Before you can reach for him, though, he has slid you onto your side, then pinned your arms above your head. He grins down at you.
"Got amazing augment strength?"
"No…" you said, licking your lips slowly. "Why?"
"Just curious…" he murmurs, his cock twitching, throbbing - and you can feel how hard he's restraining himself from just going to town on you. His hands push your hands together, and he pins your wrists together with one hand, his other reaching out and picking up the dropper. He licks his lips and you shiver, your voice husky.
"U-Uh, uh...where you gonna...put that?" you murmur.
Dropper...well...it works with what you have. When you start on it, it's best to choose stuff that isn't that sensitive like elbows and shins and stuff. Back was a good middle ground.
"I don't know, where do you want it?" he asks, and the tip of the plastic dropper hangs right above one of your breasts. "Want it here?"
You bite your lip. Holy shit yes, you think. It was all pretty muted for you, but somewhere that sensitive was still going to be divine.
You nod.
"Or maybe here…" He grins, the dropper swinging down, hanging above your knee. You squirm and grin at him. He laughs and murmurs. "I can feel where you want it, you know."
"Oh, but you want me to say it, don't you?" you croon, then bite your lip. "Right...here…" You arch your back, your breasts accentuated by the tiny movement. Joshua croons, then lets one droplet free. It lands right under your nipple. The colors explode across your breast and your sensitivity ratchets from high to far out. Joshua grunts, catching the backwash - but you let out an eager, giggling mewly noise, squirming and kicking your legs.
"Yessss!" you hiss.
Another droplet. This time, it lands right above your belly button, creating a target on your tummy that blazes with lustful want. Then Joshua is kissing you and his chest presses to your chest and your sensitive spots tinge with erotic delight. Your fingers grab onto his back - finding the dots you'd put on him, stroking them. His cock throbs against your thigh and you grind and spread yourself underneath him. Joshua needs zero encouragement.
He hilts himself inside of you and your head rolls back - the motion having rocked you almost off the edge of the bed. Your head lolls into open air and Joshua grips your shoulders, making sure you don't get any further as he started to fuck you, thrusting into you and pinning you to the bed at the same time - your pleasure mingling and reflecting back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.
Okay. Good last day on the station.
---
Afterwards, utterly spent and languid and oh so very happy, you sprawl against his side, the warm contentment of both a good dicking and a hit of CBD settling into your bloodstream. You gently press your vaporizer against Joshua's mouth and he lets you trigger it.
Hnn is there anything hotter than triggering someone else's vaporizer?
...lighting their joint with your joint. That's pretty close…
He breathes out a thin stream of vapor and sighs happily. "Your DNA may be silicone...but you're all woman, you know?" he asks.
You chuckle, quietly. "Cheesy, but appreciated." You kiss his neck, then nuzzle against his chest, grinning. "And you are infinitely better at this than my last epser boyfriend." You made a face. "He was all...weird about the interface and tried to get me to throw up some mental barriers.."
"What a cad," Joshua mutters. "If you're an esper, either get used to feeling someone else's bits or...you know, take some blockers."
"He said blockers made sex no fun," you say.
"Asshole, glad you dumped him," Joshua says, nodding.
You grin, then nuzzle against his side.
He caresses your back. "So...you got an assignment?" he asks, faintly hopeful.
"Mmhmm," you say, your eyes closed. "So, enjoy it while it lasts."
"Oh, I plan too," he says, nodding. "You going out on a vehicle mission?"
"Yeah," you say, quietly. "I've spent my whole life on the edge of the system and no further. I wanna go there. I wanna…" you pause, blushing. "I wanna see it all. Alien gods, ancient empires, strange new worlds. A-all of it."
"You make it sound fun," he says, grinning. "But I'm a creature of Earth - I don't think I could survive more than a light day away from her."
You nod. You knew you were going to miss watching your favorite shows in real time...but that was just about it. You'd never actually set foot on the planet yourself. To you, Earth was just postcards and backdrops in soap operas. Your sights were firmly set out there.
"So...it may be the weed…" Joshua says. "But...like...do you know what you want to do?"
"Like...other than look at things?" you ask, quietly.
"Yeah. Like. You want to do more than just see and observe. If we just wanted to observe, we'd send probes, right?" Joshua nods. "Why do you, like, want to go out there, yourself?"
Ah, your favourite part of the combination post-sex laziness and the cresting high. The part where it all got philosophical and weird.
---
Everyone in the Star Patrol believes strongly in something. A central mechanic of this game is standing up for your Ethics, which are organized as paired sets. Bringing your ethics into play is how you earn XP.
You have 3 points to distribute among all these ethics, with each pair in an Issue being mutually exclusive opposites. What I need from you is a vote by plan to assign these points. You can put one point in an ethic to believe it strongly, or two points to believe it fanatically. You might have opinions about the other issues, but they aren't strong enough to matter mechanically.
Put how many points you're investing in your plan in the brackets at the end of the vote. So a plan might look like this:
Plan: Rule Abiding, Freedom-Loving American
[+] The freedom of individuals to make their own decisions is paramount. (1)
[+] Putting on this uniform means agreeing to the rules and obeying the orders. (2)
Issue: Freedom vs Responsibility
[ ] The freedom of individuals to make their own decisions is paramount.
[ ] The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.
Issue: Conflict Resolution
[ ] The stars must be free of violence. It may be hard, but there is always another way.
[ ] The universe is not always a kind and understanding place. We must be ready.
Issue: The Role of Regulations
[ ] Putting on this uniform means agreeing to the rules and obeying the orders.
[ ] You aren't going to be putting procedure above lives and efficiency. You aren't a machine.
Issue: Nature of Reality
[ ] It's a strange new world out there. Anything is possible, and we have to keep our minds open.
[ ] But not so open our brain falls out. Science works, logic matters, skepticism is a powerful tool.
Issue: Duty to Intervene
[ ] It's important to respect the boundaries of other cultures, even if we think we know better.
[ ] When we see a problem, we fix it. Don't let the norms of the unjust protect their injustice.
I think I'd like a spread, one point in three things.
Which things they are, and in which direction, I'm sure a lot of people are gonna disagree, but personally I'm feeling NOPE with that prime directive BS.
[X] Plan: Robo hippie
-[X] You aren't going to be putting procedure above lives and efficiency. You aren't a machine. (1)
-[X] It's a strange new world out there. Anything is possible, and we have to keep our minds open. (2)
[X] Plan: Big Stick
-[X] The universe is not always a kind and understanding place. We must be ready. (1)
-[X] The freedom of individuals to make their own decisions is paramount. (1)
-[X] But not so open our brain falls out. Science works, logic matters, skepticism is a powerful tool. (1)
The Different Perspective attribute paints us as not exactly a charismatic type... our skill at speed-bedding notwithstanding. Therefore we should have a healthy respect for self-defence. However, we don't wanna be some tyrant jerk... at least I don't. Finally, as a scientist, we ought to hold the scientific method in high regard.
[X] Plan Explorer
-[X] The stars must be free of violence. It may be hard, but there is always another way. (1)
-[X] You aren't going to be putting procedure above lives and efficiency. You aren't a machine. (1)
-[X] But not so open our brain falls out. Science works, logic matters, skepticism is a powerful tool. (1)
Every star god, every ancient piece of tech, every phenomenon* has rules that it operates by. Science doesn't have all the answers yet, and that's fine. Science isn't about the answers themselves, it is the method for finding answers. As for the others, the Patrol is not a military. If we get into a fight we have fucked up bigtime. And lastly, if it comes down to the rules or our crewmates, shipmates every time.
I hope this doesn't sound weird to say, but I've been following you ( @open_sketch ) on Twitter and what glimpses of Onward I've seen on there have been really cool! Star Trek humans in a WH40K verse is a really cool idea! Anyways, I didn't know the quest existed when the last vote took place, but I really like the direction it took nonetheless! What can I say, non-humans raising humans is a trope I like.
Anyways... give Sandra's backstory and her reaction to Joshua's reaction I feel like it'd be weird if she didn't have the Prime Directive value to at least some extent? Since the beliefs her upbringing instilled in her are still vague, you could definitely justify the other option, but it just doesn't feel as intuitively natural. So since none of the plans have that as a value yet, I've decided to make one.
As for the Pacifist value, I decided to choose it based on the traits the voters have demonstrated for Sandra so far, aka going for the nonviolent option for the silicon radiation-eating aliens results in Pacifist.
[X]Plan: Chill Robot Girl
-[X] It's important to respect the boundaries of other cultures, even if we think we know better. (1)
-[X] The stars must be free of violence. It may be hard, but there is always another way. (2)
By the way, my first thought when I saw that multidimensional science could be a specialty was wonder if there was a goatee universe.
[X] Plan: Star Paladin
-[X] The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. (1)
-[X] When we see a problem, we fix it. Don't let the norms of the unjust protect their injustice.(2)
This seems like a recipe for self-sacrifice and intervention, which always makes for fun stories.
Huh, if 2 is fanaticism, then I kinda want to see a level 3 belief. Just to see what it's like.
[X] Plan: Big Stick
-[X] The universe is not always a kind and understanding place. We must be ready. (1)
-[X] The freedom of individuals to make their own decisions is paramount. (1)
-[X] But not so open our brain falls out. Science works, logic matters, skepticism is a powerful tool. (1)
[X] Plan: Permanent Revolution
-[X] The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. (1)
-[X] But not so open our brain falls out. Science works, logic matters, skepticism is a powerful tool. (1)
-[X] When we see a problem, we fix it. Don't let the norms of the unjust protect their injustice.(1)
[X] Plan: Permanent Revolution
-[X] The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. (1)
-[X] But not so open our brain falls out. Science works, logic matters, skepticism is a powerful tool. (1)
-[X] When we see a problem, we fix it. Don't let the norms of the unjust protect their injustice.(1)
[X] Plan Explorer
-[X] The stars must be free of violence. It may be hard, but there is always another way. (1)
-[X] You aren't going to be putting procedure above lives and efficiency. You aren't a machine. (1)
-[X] But not so open our brain falls out. Science works, logic matters, skepticism is a powerful tool. (1)
I want to see this hippie nerd get into moral dilemmas!
Also holy shit DragonCobolt, that's some really hot pillow-talk, I love it!
Plan: Not Starfleet
[ +] You aren't going to be putting procedure above lives and efficiency. You aren't a machine. (1)
[+ ] When we see a problem, we fix it. Don't let the norms of the unjust protect their injustice. (2)
