Perils of Indifference

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[X] Zirgan Smith
Tried to fuse a Alien name to a common last name things

[X] Immigrant. You're not a native of Verne, but were instead part of the constant flow of immigrants onto the planet. There's always people looking for something better, and whether or not you came for money, for opportunity, in exile, or all of it, you're a resident of the planet now. It was a lonely life at first, but as a first-generation resident, you've grown accustomed to fending for yourself and as a result are quick to learn something you might need down the road.
 
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MECHANICS!

Companions: At certain points in the story, you will encounter NPC characters who will be revealed as potential companions. Some companions will be willing to follow you, while others will take some convincing. All of them will have various benefits and detriments to the choices you get or the success of certain choices, though it will largely be up to the readers to determine what the ramifications are from the provided information.You'll only be able to keep a few companions at a time, and not all of them may be compatible with each other.

Inventory: As the story progresses, you may come into possession of useful items that are worth keeping. Items can open up new routes to take and may enhance (or detract from) others' opinion of you. Though potential uses of items (dice roll modifiers excepted) will not be directly mentioned upon acquisition, routes opened by items will be described as such when they occur. Items could be anything from a simple uniform to starship access codes or a weapon. Most importantly, some of these items will be "equipped" or "stowed", though which category the item is in will depend on what it is and what you choose to do with it. Equipped items will generally be visible by anyone, while stowed items are hidden. However, there are certain items that can be detected even if they are stowed and certain items that can be hidden even if they are equipped; clarification will be given when necessary.

Skills: The player character will occasionally get the opportunity to learn a skill. Skills will open up new paths at certain decision points: for example, a piloting skill would allow you to fly to somewhere you might normally have been unable to. There is no limit to the amount of skills you can learn (though there will be few opportunities), but there is a certain time requirement for you to learn particular skills. Piloting takes a while to become skilled at, so you would need a lot of time to be able to learn it – but as you've seen, there are ways to lessen the amount of time spent learning a skill. A precious handful of skills may also increase your effectiveness in combat.

Combat: This is not a military-themed quest, so combat will not be particularly intense or long. However, you will definitely end up fighting someone at one point or another. You will be offered a variety of choices in combat, and skills, items, and companions will influence what choices you are given. You will never die in combat, though capture and major injury is possible. Most combat situations will be fluffed, but at times when ranged weapons are being used I will roll a die for hits and damage. Modifiers will come from skills and/or weapons and will be specified alongside the skill or weapon.

NEXT: Update cycles!

Since this is a new quest and thus is unlikely to garner a great deal of attention, the quest will likely be updated on a 24-36 hour cycle. However, in the case of major choices (such as the ongoing character creation section), more time will be allotted for potential discussion. If any decision point is prompting a significant amount of discussion, the threat is particularly active, there is a tie, or I simply don't have the chance to write an update, more time will be granted at my discretion. The cycle will likely be subject to change in the future, but this is how it should be for now.

If there are any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to voice them! This is, after all, my first time doing a quest as comprehensive as this.
 
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Looks like we've got a tie between Native and Immigrant. I'll leave the vote up for likely the rest of today, and hopefully this post will bump the thread to the top enough to get a tiebreaker.
 
I flipped a coin and rolled a 1d4 for the origin and name, respectively. The winning name is...

"Carlos Cayn Linosa"! Welcome to Verne, Carlos... though he already knows quite a bit about it, being a [X] Native and all.

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"Ah, here's your medical record. Nothing out of place, it seems... that's good," the Tarassian purrs, prepping the diagnostic machine. "Just stand still, please."

With a push of a button, a ring at the top of the cylinder drifts lazily down to the bottom, presumably scanning your body for any irregularities. The machine's quiet hum is not a little disconcerting, but it ends quickly and the ring returns to the top. The paramedic sighs as she scans the results, clearly not finding anything particularly intriguing.

"A few broken ribs, some smoke in your lungs, bruising, and minor cuts. You're lucky you didn't get out of that warehouse any later, though, you could've had some permanent damage." The Tarassian climbs into the ambulance and disappears for a moment, emerging with a small, clear bag of medical materials. "Here's a kit for you to take home."

"Thanks," you reply, taking the bag. "Is that all?"

"Should be," replied the paramedic. "Just take it easy for a couple weeks and get an appointment with a doctor's office if you need to."

With that, you step away from the medical station and look across the rest of the emergency services area. It's late enough that the only source of light is from the bright white lampposts around the edge of the courtyard and the temporary lights set up by the fire department to illuminate the entire area. White, red, and blue vehicles and mobile stations are clustered close around the command center, but several paths have been cleared to the street and between different emergency responder wings.

Before you can decide what to do next, a pair of uniformed police officers approached you. Both, thankfully, are Human – the one meeting you'd had with a Kekoris officer had been enough to last you for a lifetime – and one waves as he nears.

"Have you been interviewed yet?" he asks.

"Er, no," you reply. "I just finished with the paramedic..."

"Oh, so you're a new arrival," said the officer. "Would you come with us?"

The sentence is more an order than a request, so you follow both officers as they lead you into the police section of the courtyard, where numerous mobile structures rest on jacks surrounded by cars and VTOL craft. The officer who spoke to you holds the door for you and his partner, and you step inside.

The large trailer is clearly not meant for interrogation. Two desks sit opposing each other at one end, both neatly kept, while a digital situation board is embedded in the far wall. A map of the warehouse complex is spread across it. The top-down image is quite detailed, but you can pick out the general shape of the Adak Trade Complex, the government-owned trade centre for the entire planet. The warehouse you escaped from was one of hundreds just like it filling the enormous building.

On the other side of the room are a table and chairs, which is where the officer gestures for you to sit.

"Don't worry, you aren't in trouble," he says as you all sit down. "We're just asking some questions of the survivors to help ascertain exactly what happened here. Now, your name for the record...?"

"Carlos Cayn Linosa," you reply.

"And what do you do for a living, Carlos?"

"I was a..."

[ ] Corporate security guard, one of hundreds of bodies used by the Welrukken Group as protectors of their valuables. Or were you fodder for whatever armed protestors tried to storm the warehouse? It's hard to tell, given how cutthroat and manipulative Welrukken (and every corporation in the galaxy) is, but you're insignificant enough that you managed to steer clear of any company trouble. Boring and simple, but you learned a bit about knocking heads. Supplied item and skill: Stun baton/Melee Combat I.
[ ] Space traffic controller. Your cool head enabled you to work as an STC in the Shis'so Spaceport far above the planet's surface, directing starliners and interstellar trade barges into berths on the immense station. It may not have paid well, but the gratification of guiding a kilometer-long spaceship into port was payment enough. Stressful, maybe, but you learned a thing or two about space travel. Supplied item and skill: Spaceport employee pass/Radio Operation.
[ ] Warehouse floor manager. You're not sure what qualified you for the job, but you do know that you didn't get paid enough. If you weren't instructing employees on how to operate a forklift or teaching them about the do's and don'ts of warehouse work, you were poring over cargo manifests and ensuring that every item on the list was present on the shelves. It was tedious work, though it wasn't all for nothing. Supplied item and skill: Warehouse manager's pass/Industrial Vehicle Operation
[ ] Electrician. It's a lot of math, but electrical engineering pays well, especially in this day and age. Better yet, you could work in solitude, alone with your conduits and breakers. Welrukken hired a series of independent contractors to work on their warehouse, and you were the latest one to take a look at the electrical grid. You've got a good head for electrical engineering, not to mention a well-used set of tools. Supplied item and skill: Electrician's toolkit/Electrical Engineering I

How did you get your job?

[ ] Knew a guy. Your connections in the Hatteras workforce are extensive, and when you needed a job it was easy enough to find someone willing to help you get one. Everyone's got a friend in the right place when you're in a city this big, and you just so happened to have a friend who had a brother who had a brood mother who knew someone in a managerial position who pulled you right into your position.
[ ] Legacy. You had a family member who'd been employed in the same field, maybe even the same position, so you were basically guaranteed the same job once they died or retired. From a young age, you'd always been told about the job and even encouraged to train for it before you were an adult, and as a result you learned a bit more about it than most others before you started working.
[ ] You're just that good. Your own resourcefulness and charisma let you impress and flatter your way into employment, and whether it was really legitimate or not didn't matter in the end. Your acceptance was a testament to your charisma, and you're a bit more persuasive after all the convincing you had to do during the job search.
 
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[X] Electrician. It's a lot of math, but electrical engineering pays well, especially in this day and age. Better yet, you could work in solitude, alone with your conduits and breakers. Welrukken hired a series of independent contractors to work on their warehouse, and you were the latest one to take a look at the electrical grid. You've got a good head for electrical engineering, not to mention a well-used set of tools. Supplied item and skill: Electrician's toolkit/Electrical Engineering I

[X] You're just that good. Your own resourcefulness and charisma let you impress and flatter your way into employment, and whether it was really legitimate or not didn't matter in the end. Your acceptance was a testament to your charisma, and you're a bit more persuasive after all the convincing you had to do during the job search.

I'd be open the alternative option of voting for " Space traffic controller" instead if there's strong support there over Electrician.
 
[X] Electrician. It's a lot of math, but electrical engineering pays well, especially in this day and age. Better yet, you could work in solitude, alone with your conduits and breakers. Welrukken hired a series of independent contractors to work on their warehouse, and you were the latest one to take a look at the electrical grid. You've got a good head for electrical engineering, not to mention a well-used set of tools. Supplied item and skill: Electrician's toolkit/Electrical Engineering I

[X] You're just that good. Your own resourcefulness and charisma let you impress and flatter your way into employment, and whether it was really legitimate or not didn't matter in the end. Your acceptance was a testament to your charisma, and you're a bit more persuasive after all the convincing you had to do during the job search.
 
[X] Space traffic controller. Your cool head enabled you to work as an STC in the Shis'so Spaceport far above the planet's surface, directing starliners and interstellar trade barges into berths on the immense station. It may not have paid well, but the gratification of guiding a kilometer-long spaceship into port was payment enough. Stressful, maybe, but you learned a thing or two about space travel. Supplied item and skill: Spaceport employee pass/Radio Operation.
[X] You're just that good. Your own resourcefulness and charisma let you impress and flatter your way into employment, and whether it was really legitimate or not didn't matter in the end. Your acceptance was a testament to your charisma, and you're a bit more persuasive after all the convincing you had to do during the job search.

Electrician seems useful, sure, but I feel like traffic controller might lead somewhere more interesting. And it's a cool job.
 
[x] Warehouse floor manager. You're not sure what qualified you for the job, but you do know that you didn't get paid enough. If you weren't instructing employees on how to operate a forklift or teaching them about the do's and don'ts of warehouse work, you were poring over cargo manifests and ensuring that every item on the list was present on the shelves. It was tedious work, though it wasn't all for nothing. Supplied item and skill: Warehouse manager's pass/Industrial Vehicle Operation
[x] You're just that good. Your own resourcefulness and charisma let you impress and flatter your way into employment, and whether it was really legitimate or not didn't matter in the end. Your acceptance was a testament to your charisma, and you're a bit more persuasive after all the convincing you had to do during the job search.

Who am I? I am the best ever at watching other people do warehouse work while getting paid more than them.
 
[X] You're just that good. Your own resourcefulness and charisma let you impress and flatter your way into employment, and whether it was really legitimate or not didn't matter in the end. Your acceptance was a testament to your charisma, and you're a bit more persuasive after all the convincing you had to do during the job search.

Best option. Charisma and persuasion over connections and intercessions, any day.

[X] Space traffic controller. Your cool head enabled you to work as an STC in the Shis'so Spaceport far above the planet's surface, directing starliners and interstellar trade barges into berths on the immense station. It may not have paid well, but the gratification of guiding a kilometer-long spaceship into port was payment enough. Stressful, maybe, but you learned a thing or two about space travel. Supplied item and skill: Spaceport employee pass/Radio Operation.

To make use of those skills. The Electrician is a loner, the Security Guard perhaps uses a different form of persuasion, and the Warehouse Manager, while admittedly taking advantage of charisma/persuasion, sounds a bit boring. The Traffic Controller seems like a gratifying job, gives us a head-start in space-travel related things, and comes with us a skill that goes well with our aforementioned abilities.

If we end up on a spaceship, this option will likely let us be the Pilot, instead of the Mechanic (Electrician), the Enforcer (Security Guard) or the Cargo Guy (Warehouse Manager). I'll take that.
 
[X] Space traffic controller. Your cool head enabled you to work as an STC in the Shis'so Spaceport far above the planet's surface, directing starliners and interstellar trade barges into berths on the immense station. It may not have paid well, but the gratification of guiding a kilometer-long spaceship into port was payment enough. Stressful, maybe, but you learned a thing or two about space travel. Supplied item and skill: Spaceport employee pass/Radio Operation.
[X] You're just that good. Your own resourcefulness and charisma let you impress and flatter your way into employment, and whether it was really legitimate or not didn't matter in the end. Your acceptance was a testament to your charisma, and you're a bit more persuasive after all the convincing you had to do during the job search.
 
Carya Laciniosa said:
The large trailer is clearly not menat for interrogation.
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[x] Space traffic controller. Your cool head enabled you to work as an STC in the Shis'so Spaceport far above the planet's surface, directing starliners and interstellar trade barges into berths on the immense station. It may not have paid well, but the gratification of guiding a kilometer-long spaceship into port was payment enough. Stressful, maybe, but you learned a thing or two about space travel. Supplied item and skill: Spaceport employee pass/Radio Operation.
[x] Knew a guy. Your connections in the Hatteras workforce are extensive, and when you needed a job it was easy enough to find someone willing to help you get one. Everyone's got a friend in the right place when you're in a city this big, and you just so happened to have a friend who had a brother who had a brood mother who knew someone in a managerial position who pulled you right into your position.
 
[X] Space traffic controller. Your cool head enabled you to work as an STC in the Shis'so Spaceport far above the planet's surface, directing starliners and interstellar trade barges into berths on the immense station. It may not have paid well, but the gratification of guiding a kilometer-long spaceship into port was payment enough. Stressful, maybe, but you learned a thing or two about space travel. Supplied item and skill: Spaceport employee pass/Radio Operation.
[X] You're just that good. Your own resourcefulness and charisma let you impress and flatter your way into employment, and whether it was really legitimate or not didn't matter in the end. Your acceptance was a testament to your charisma, and you're a bit more persuasive after all the convincing you had to do during the job search.
 
"...space traffic controller in the spaceport," you reply. The officer looks impressed, and pauses for a moment. Since you don't see any sort of notepad, digital or otherwise, you presume that he's taking notes via some sort of ocular implant. Not always standard fare for police officers – you can guess that he's a fairly high-ranking detective to get that grade of cybernetics.

"Right… so what were you doing in the warehouse?"

"I… can't quite remember." Which is true. You can remember the trip down from the spaceport on the elevator, and getting on a shuttle ride to the bus stop, but not much else past that. Maybe you were visiting a friend who worked in the warehouse, or had been asked to go there by a superior, or any number of things… you can only hope the police don't take it the wrong way.

"Hm" was all the officer said, keeping an excellent poker face. Though most of the Hatteras police force goes unarmed except for a collapsible truncheon, these two officers are both armed with a handheld weapon. Given their role, it's likely a ballistic weapon, though you remind yourself that you aren't any sort of expert on weaponry.

"What is your earliest memory of the warehouse?"

"Waking up on the floor and helping a Dealan get out with me."

The officer nods. "Where is he now?"

"In the hydration tank, I think."

The officer makes an almost imperceptible movement of his hand and his partner stands and steps out of the trailer, presumably to track down the Dealan. Your interrogator stares at the wall, occasionally blinking, and you take it to mean he's either using his implant or merely quite patiently waiting for his comrade to return.

[ ] Ask a question.
[ ] Say nothing and observe the room.
[ ] Make a comment.

Questions to ask:
[ ] What happened?
[ ] Why am I being interviewed?
[ ] Why are you armed?
[ ] Is there something going on?
[ ] Write-in.

Comments to make:
[ ] What a day.
[ ] I hope that fire didn't spread beyond the warehouse.
[ ] Damn, and I had a date tonight…
[ ] Write-in.
 
Carya Laciniosa said:
"Don't worry, you aren't in trouble," he says as you all sit down. "We're just asking some questions of the survivors to help ascertain exactly what happened here.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

It's possible, maybe even likely, that the options "What happened?" and "Why am I being interviewed?" will only get us something along those lines.

[X] Is there something going on?

At least this one implies more.
 
[X] Say nothing and observe the room.

As the officer waits for his partner, you take the opportunity to look around the room some more. Despite its nature as a mobile office, it seems rather used, with several filing cabinets leaning against one of the walls and the desks ordered, yet chock-full of items. You spy a piece of debris from the warehouse on one of them with a chemical analysis kit opened nearby. Against the wall, a weapons locker with a weapons-resistant clear door sits near the exit, and inside is a rifle-configuration assault weapon as well as additional firearms and weaponry. You wonder if all detectives bring such firepower to an investigation of arson – but you remember that the police did step up standard armament recently, though you don't remember exactly why. There could be a few reasons.

The door opens, and the second officer returns. The two exchange a nod before they turn back to you.

"Pardon the wait," says the first officer. "Last question: Do you have any connections to the Welrukken Group?"

"No," you reply truthfully. "I usually worked with smaller service companies or the local spaceport authority."

"All right. Thank you for your time."

"Happy to." You really don't quite understand the entire situation, but being rude to the officer wouldn't get you anywhere. The two lead you out of the trailer and outside of the police section of the emergency services setup.

"Well, Mr. Linosa, that's all you're needed for right now," smiles the first officer. "I'm Detective Paskvan. We may follow up with you later, so just keep an eye on your PDA in case we contact you. Don't hesitate to call the department if you need anything from me in regards to the incident here."

"Sure."

"Thank you again," he says, and leaves you alone.

You consider what you should do. It's about an hour off from midnight, given what the wall clock in the police trailer said, and you'd only get in the way if you loitered around the courtyard any longer. You figure you ought to check what's on your person, since you haven't had the time since escaping the warehouse.

35 alten
1 Spaceport employee pass
1 STC uniform (damaged) (EQUIPPED)

Some pocket change is currently all you have to your name, as your PDA is missing in addition to your UID. Bus fare is only 12 alten, so you'll have enough to get home. You could also try to go to the Hatteras Citizen Affairs Bureau and attempt to get a new UID, but the process is famously long and you're not even sure if the building would be open this late at night. If you really wanted to, you could mill about the emergency workers, but you imagine that your unhelpful presence would not be welcome. The Dealan you helped escape could be out of the hydration tank by now, so perhaps you should follow up with him.

[ ] Go home.
[ ] Go to the CAB building.
[ ] Explore the courtyard.
[ ] Find the Dealan.
[ ] Write-in.

35 alten
1 Spaceport employee pass
1 STC uniform (damaged) (EQUIPPED)
 
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