SWT: Entity - Chapter Six
Basin Bound
Welcome back to Solum’s Weird Tales - Entity! Last time we explored some wonderful vistas at the top of dangerous mountains! How fun. I wish I had done a better job of keeping track of strains and resources while playing, I kept a living character sheet, so I’m not sure where any of my resources are at in the moment. I know that by this point, I had nearly filled up half of my Strains, but I was also nearly finished with the Mission, which would reset any strains, refill energy and reduce Data and Resources back down to 0. I’m not saying this game is easy, but I feel like I’m doing pretty well. Let return to Arden’s Cave on Day 13.
IAP Arden (They/Them)ADAPTIVITY - 5 ANALYTICS - 4 TECHNOLOGY - 3Survival - 3 Physics - 2 Robotics - 1Communication - 1 Biology - 1 Information Technology - 2Navigation - 2 Chemistry - 3 Engineering - 3Mission - Pathfinder
Arden’s Cave - Day 13
My suit had seen better days. I was tracking a number of ongoing issues, all of which would require a longer period of repair than I was willing to spend with the holo-navigation table so close to being ready. Power levels were also sub optimal, truth be told, but I knew I was so close. I just needed the final lynchpin of my data network and a way to automate the process on the back end so that my run time was not effected. The later was a matter of time, but the former required another sojourn out into the wilds.
Location - The Shattered Metropolis: The decaying ruins of an ancient city, its crumbling structures and empty streets whispering tales of a long-lost civilization.
My long range scanner had a few automated searches that I ran in the background while assembling the bulk of the holographic map, which had expanded out from the console to take up most of the cave space I had reserved. I would likely have to mine into the rock if I were to build any other structures within the confines of the cave. I performed what my human crew would call a ‘double take’ at the data report. The scanned location was, according to the local topography, in the middle of a small basin a days walk to the south. Further readings added clarity and no small amount of excitement. It was a a man made spire. Or at least, made by a force other than the weather. I doubted ‘man’ had much to do with it, but something had created some form of structure in the middle of the basin. A number of structures, if my readings were correct. More than my current objective, this had the potential to be a bounty of information on the local infrastructure. I left my cave at a jog, my mind focused on the task ahead.
Travel - 10 Finding - 0 Scattered among the alien landscape, you find shards of an old Soviet Luna probe. The technology is antiquated but still useful. Gain 1 Resource.
On the verge of my objective, after much excitement, I found something odd. A small crater at the edge of the basin, with a small trail indicating a crash and burn of some kind. Investing further, I discovered, of all things, another probe. This one was of a similar generation as the old NASA probe I had found in the tomb below the ground, but somehow slightly newer. The crash site wasn’t fresh, of course, but considering both probes were contemporaries of each other, I had to wonder at the difference in actual age. Perhaps one had spent more time in the vacuum of space’s and so hadn’t had to deal with the damages the local atmosphere could do to Earth hardware. Still, it was odd. Little of it was useful, but I stripped some of the casing and wiring for use elsewhere. It was always pleasant to work with familiar materials.
Location event - Spend 4 Data = 9 Challenge Opportunity Finding
Challenge - A strange source projects replicas of alien entities. These apparitions seem real and react to your presence
Stepping into the basin, I was shocked to see how similar it was to a small human settlement. Of course, I had only seen such things in holo-vids and news programs, but the similarities were there. The road was wide enough for two cars going opposite directions, with a guard rail along the side, to protect pedestrians I assumed, and the buildings all looked like standard, blocky residential hab units. Remarkable. The city was long abandoned and the materials had deteriorated with age, but this was a real, alien city. So you can imagine my surprise, again, when a figure stepped onto the road and began to walk towards me. I leapt out of the way, and it continued to walk, it’s shadowy, featureless head looking at me in bemusement as it continued to walk down the street. It flickered out of my view as suddenly as it had appeared and I was quickly surrounded by featureless figures bustling to and fro down the street. My HUD flashed and while most looked at me with seeming polite confusion, I knew better than to touch them. Their energy readings indicated that would be very ill advised.
Survival,
Engineering Communication,IT
Survival DC 8 - 3 and a 4 strong hit
The path ahead wasn’t far, but with the shadowy figures and their strange energy readings, I would be hard pressed to get there without some creative thinking. I hopped onto the road and off the sidewalk and ran, picking up as much speed as I could in my bulky space suit. Something that looked far too much like a human taxi car moved past me at a steady clip, fortunately on the other side of the road, but I quickened my step regardless. Once I had picked up enough speed I jumped and pumped my jets, relying on the slightly lower atmosphere and my suits natural offset to glide through the air to land on a smaller structure and hop onto a squat, residential hab unit and then to the another, avoiding the bustling street by bounding from one structure to the next. The buildings were empty, fortunately, but the shadows on the street all turned to look at me and point, and I could hear at the edge of my sensor rage a muted buzz, like static on an old analog radio. I ignored it and continued to bounce from hab to hab until I reached the stairs leading to the central spire. I glanced backwards and the shadows continued to bustle about the street, my presence forgotten. They were featureless, and could almost be mistaken for human, but they flickered and frayed and seemed to be on something like a loop. They didn’t seem to be real. How odd.
Opportunity - You come across an abandoned alien spacecraft with seemingly functioning tech. Gain 2 Data or 3 Resources on Success.
Climbing the stairs and entering the spire, I found something that looked like a hangar or garage, depending on your definition of either. Spaces for vehicles and charging cables lined the walls and, to my deep interest, one was still present and plugged into the wall, still thrumming with some form of energy. I glanced around, but it seemed like a simple enough vehicle, although I lacked the appropriate body parts and input cables to pilot the thing. I stayed a while to see if there was something here I could use.
IT,Engineering, Navigation
Navigation DC - 7. 7 and a 6 strong hit +2 Data
The thing had a small navigation computer, which I plucked out without to much effort and sat on the floor for a while, trying to make sense of it. I couldn’t interface with it to download its data, but I was able to look through it. It had a simple touch screen and stylus, an odd similarity to our own personal computers back aboard the Phaeston, so I unhooked my bulky suit gloves and let my synthetic fingers probe the screen, looking through the saved maps and comparing them to my own topographical surveys. It was time well spent and I placed the computer back into it’s console on the off chance its owner came back one day. I had gotten all I could from it and there was no need to risk making an enemy of the pilot. Not when the clearly had so many limbs.
Finding - You discover a patch of soil rich in minerals and organic compounds. It could be useful for various applications. Gain 1 Resource.
The top of the spire had a large garden and a beautiful view of the local area. Interestingly, according to the air currents, I could run my jets on low and glide for a good hour before touching down back outside of the basin. That was the good news. The bad news was that this spire had little in the way of useful navigational information. Its location in the center of the basin was doing something strange to my on board system, making my pathing software go slightly haywire. I looked around the roof while I ran a diagnostic and found a small consolation prize - the soil used in this small rooftop garden was rich in nutrients and minerals I had never seen before, as well as an interesting study on local resources, there was enough here to filter through and add to my stockpile. I had a good amount to work with, and I set my on board processing system to start itemizing them for best usage. After that, I stood on the tallest part of the spire and tried to make sense of my conflicting readings and parse through the data I was picking up from my satellite
Side activity - data DC 8 - 6 and 4 +4 data
There was something useful here to see, it just took a lot of time and effort to find it. There was a satellite above me, alien and, as yet, untouchable, but its signal had interfered with my own which was why all of the readings I had received for the past hour made no sense. If I could figure out a way to tap into this satellite and connect to it’s network, I would likely have more than enough data to build my holo-room and I would bypass this irritating magnetic interference. Depending on the satellite original purpose, I may even be able to learn more about this strange society that had inhabited this world before my arrival. I copied its signature as best I could. I had found two crashed satellites from Earth. How hard could to be to find a crashed satellite native to the local solar system?
We are nearing the end of our little jaunt into Entity (Part One?), so this chapter is a little shorter. It was that or have a massive final chapter, and I prefer this for pacing (and editing) purposes. I like how the type of skill you use can inform the data you receive for opportunities. If I had used IT or Communications on that vehicle, I would imagine gaining something different than than the navigation data I received instead. The gameplay loop is simple, but there is a shocking amount of depth in the game. I’m really enjoying my time here. Thanks for reading!
Solid resource gain for Arden - looking good for mission completion.