Ava logged into her AMZ terminal and brings up the Thor Mining Corp business account details. The hideous statue was likely made somewhere on Mars, it was too big to ship cheaply, but any suspect tech that might be inside it would have to be imported. In which case there would be a trace here.
While AMZ had a policy of shipping anything without the customer having to declare its contents, corporate customers were encouraged to optionally give a vague indication of what’s inside for safety purposes.
The Thor shipping history had a mixture of detail on the descriptions, evidently depending on which member of staff placed the order. One item caught her eye “portable radio” vague but possibly what she was looking for. Opening the shipping order details she sees it was shipped in one of their largest shipping drones, which suggested either a very large radio, or a large number of small ones.
A few minutes of scrolling and she finds an order placed for several off the shelf, AMZ branded antennas. Presumably someone was trying to save money somewhere, but leaving a trail in the process. The dates all match pretty well, the statues clearly are transmitting something, but what and why? You don’t buy a load of 2 metre long antennas just to listen to the local hobby radio station.
She knew exactly what was called for and started browsing the Industrial section of the AMZ Hardware catalogue. Hopefully the Faraday cage parts wouldn’t take too long to arrive,it’ll protect the residents from the statues transmissions and also protect the Thor statue from the residents, which should please that idiot Bart from Thor.
Out of curiosity at the thought of Bart she pulls up the list of Thor employees personal AMZ accounts to see if there was anything interesting there. On his repeat orders she finds Luxury Quilted toilet paper, the amount of precious resources used to produce that stuff, he really doesn’t deserve it. A couple of clicks and a product search later, the order reads “Budget TP”, another account search and order modification and the Hellas bar would be getting something much softer to wipe with.
Continuing my SciFi Cyberpunk roleplay set on Mars. A large statue has been placed in the middle of the Mars crater town. The residents are not at all pleased with it’s arrival.
[13:48:24] Ava: That's one damn ugly statue out there
[13:49:52] Jadz wiping the counter. "Understatement of the century. Hate that thing. Ready to see it topple but you didn't hear that from me!"
[13:52:13] Ava: How'd they even get that hideous thing here?
[13:54:51] Jadz standing up tall. "I'm not sure where it was manufactured -- probably some factory just churning them out and putting htem in every small town across Mars. I was out there when they dropped it with the crane though -- and flooded the floor with pamphlets extolling the virtures of our Founding Fathers and talking of Martian unification and solidary blah blah blah. I just want a house that isn't a shipping container and to not have to take cold showers anymore. Is that too much to ask? Fuck that statue."
[13:58:32] Ava nods "Maybe it needs to be distributed, in pieces
[13:59:41] Ava: would have to be careful not to damage peoples property around it though
[14:00:27] Ava: what's the betting it's bugged or something?
[14:02:55] Jadz tilts her head. "It does have that big old pair of glowing VR glasses -- nod to vintage colonialism. Gross. But wouldn't surprise me if that had some spyware in it, you're absolutely right. I hadn't thought of that. A trojan horse."
[14:07:50] Ava taps her eye gadget "Maybe I'll give it a once over and see if my tech can find out anything"
[14:08:25] Ava: Being company made I might be able to hack it
[14:09:08] Ava coughs "analyze"
[14:10:17] Jadz holds her hands up innocently. "Mums the word. I'd really like to know. I do find the whole thing odd and the timing to be weird."
[14:14:01] Ava: It's not like they don't monitor enough of everything
[14:15:08] Jadz leaning over and whispering. "But you may want to be careful with what you do out there. I have seen some of the security guards being a little extra hard on folks trying to deface it. Someone got a pretty vicious head stomp two days ago. Whatever the reason, Thor seems to want to make sure it's well guarded."
[14:16:40] Ava: I'll have to check on the company feeds and see if anyone knows anything else too
[14:17:02] Doc walks in as he sits at the bar he drp[s a data disk on the bar as looks up as says " Whiskey please
[14:19:33] Ava looks over at the guy entering "Hi" and turns back to Jadz "I reckon there's defitely some tech in it"
[14:20:52] Bart enters the bar, scowling, pacing behind the chairs and looking over the patrons. "Any one of your mutts know who took a shit on the statue outside. Was it you blondy?" He flicks her nose towards her, and lifts his utility belt up high.
[14:22:03] Jadz gets quiet when Bart enters and just fills the glass for Doc, handing it over the bar and hoping Ava decides to quit her planning. "Haven't seen anyone claiming to have defecated on the statue outside Bart, no. Thanks for asking."
[14:24:40] Doc he picks up the glass as he sips it . Then Looks top Bart as says in a raspy voice " Maybe it was a bird. Hell even one those vacationers coming threw" He shrugs
[14:24:42] Ava glances over her shoulder as two others enter the bar and addreses the one that apparently called her Blondie "Why would I do that?"
[14:25:52] Ava notices Jadz reaction to the guys arrival
[14:30:40] Ava notes the guys beret and vaguely military equipment belt "You planning on cleanig it then?"
[14:31:11] Bart would lean close to Ava's back, sniffing at her hair, whispering aggressively. "I saw you out there looking at e statue for quite a while. So why don't YOU tell me why you decided to ruin Thor Property, little missy, huh" He almost looks like he's going to bite her face.
[14:32:46] Jadz points at Red like that was a good solution. "Right, probably just a big bird. Get a hose and spray it down Bart.. Not a big deal ... now can I get you a drink for the road?"
[14:34:18] Ava refrains from responding to the guys tants..for now
[14:35:01] Ava turns to jadz "yeah, give him a drink, something really strong, to freshen his breath
[14:36:14] Doc as he hears barts reply he laughs hard trying not to fall off his chair as says " Come on leave the girl alone . You want to know why was looking at it so long. Come on she was wondering if that how men where build here on mars . And if so she was not getting lucky ." he laughs even harder
[14:36:55] Bart would attempt to throw a flat palm into Ava's back, abrupt and sharp and overly rude. "Hey blonde bitch, I asked you a question."
[14:37:52] Jadz would drop a glass and hear it shatter on the ground when she heard Bart starting to get violent.
[14:40:19] Ava leans on the bar her crossed arm having prevented the bar higging her in the belly hard and turns her head "Really?"
[14:41:27] Bart would stand up tall, bobbing left and right, snarling. He obviously was getting satisfication out of fucking with Ava and feeling invincible.
[14:46:29] Ava turns slowly and lets the man acting like a gorilla see her properly, the black and yellow should really be a clue "take a look, what do you see?" doesn't wait for a response before contiuing " An AMZ uniform, you know the AMZ that ship a your shit to and from Mars. Being a corpo you should be well aware of the political and corporate shit you'll end up in by messing with me?"
[14:47:47] Kom'rk (Rorschach0369): ((That was good))
[14:48:03] Ava: You think you're untouchable because of *your* corporate affiliation? So am I for the same reason.
[14:48:51] Ava reaches to pinchs the guys cheak like a little child "now be a good boy and have a peaceful drink"
[14:49:11] Jadz would start to sweep up the glass, keeping an eye on the situation...
[14:50:14] Doc he finishes his shodleuy as he sits his glass down he rolls his eyes and shakes his head
[14:51:18] Bart would swat at Ava's hand, not allowing the patronizing tone, but after seeing the logo would change his demeanor towards her slightly. Narrowing his eyes. "My mistake." You can tell he hates saying it. "Just doing my job -- us white collars have to ask the tough questions." He visibly disturbed that he has to quit his line of harassment.
[14:52:38] Ava just turns her attention back to her drink
[14:56:54] Doc he crosses his arms and watches
[14:57:07] Bart would reach around Ava and grabs for her drink from her hand. He was obviously a bit impulsive and a sore loser. "Still doesn't explain what you were doing out there." If he can take the glass, he makes a freshing 'ahhh' sound as he finishes it up. "you may be AMZ, but this is a Thor company town. I've got jurisdiction ...."
[15:00:03] Ava nudges the guys arm with her elbow as she turns around again, making the drink spill "Oops..how clumsy. You really want to play the juristiction game?"
[15:01:32] Ava glances over at Doc and rolls her eyes
[15:03:23] Jadz watches as the room suddenly fills with Thor security personnel.
[15:05:26] Bart looks up as a second in command brings in a small troop and notifies Bart that they've found the rogue pooper and have him detained. Bart cracks his knuckles and nods along, listening to everything in his ear, but not taking his eyes off Ava. "Well looks like this time you got lucky and I didn't catch you in the act Blondy... but you better believe that Thor's got their eye on you." he backs up out the door with the rest of the guards, continuing to stare her down.
[15:06:07] Doc He shakes his head as think all these guys for one girl he says " Dam did not know there was a Mall here in South Hellas never seen so many renta a cops before . Or Boy Scouts all those guy for one girl a sad day in mars history"
[15:08:56] Ava taps a couple of buttons on her wrist as the goons arrive "you see gentlemen..one of the things about being an AMZ employee is that you get snooped on even more than our customers"..taps another button and a an electronic voice reports *transmission sent*
[15:10:08] Ava watches the goons leave
[15:10:33] Bart steps out the door with the rest of his crew. "Well I look forward to doing more business to business negotiation." Bart makes his fingers into a 'V' shape and holds it up to his mouth, sticking his tongue through in the age old gesture of cunnilingus. The door slams shut and they vanish
[15:13:22] Ava looks at jadz "I wasn't joking, about being monitored can be real handy sometimes "I just submitted that little chat back to head office, complete with video from my eyepeice. He can bring it on, each threat will just stack up evidence against him"
[15:16:42] Ava takes a beer out of the box on the bar and swigs it
[15:17:10] Jadz would finish cleaning up the shards, and drumping them into a wastebin. Wiping sweat off her forehead. "You think something will get done about that? God I would really like to see Bart go... he makes me start sweating and I just shut down whenever I have to deal with him. What. An. asshole."
[15:17:11] Ava: "Why do goons always have such bad breath? Is it a cloning defect or somethig?"
[15:19:32] Jadz would set out free drinks for both Doc and Ava. "Thanks for not escalating the situation, either of you. You're so right Doc Red -- why do they have so many security guards running around. It's not like the actually make the place any safer."
[15:19:35] Ava: You misunderstand, if he causes sufficient, I can shut off their deliveries, could make life *real* awkward without confrontation
[15:21:17] Ava: You remember that dodgy crate I turned up with Jadz, all that time ago jadz? You think they'd send a green delivery person to drop that off?
[15:23:08] Ava looks over at doc to clarify "It was a package with top of the range anti-tamper tech built in and they supplied me with an emergency survival capsule with it, so the contents can't have been pleasant"
[15:24:48] Jadz nods. "I do remember that. Whatever came of it?" She keeps checking the door, obviously experiencing some PTSD from the encounter. "If they cut off supplies here -- wont' that impact the rest of the colony? I'm gonna have to find some alternate sources and ..." she groans a little.
[15:25:50] Ava: The *Thor* supplies jadz, don't fret
[15:27:58] Ava: The box? Oh after you used it to electrocute that troublesome gang leader, I just put back in my place, inside the nuke-safe capsule
[15:29:20] Ava looks at jadz .."Oh..that's an idea..."
[15:29:33] Jadz puts her hand across her throat and tries to get Ava to shush about the whole electrocution thing in front of the guy she's kinda dating.
[15:29:48] Ava promptly stops talking and swigs her beer
[15:30:05] Doc he nods as he sips his drink as says " Well i tried but he completely ignored me" He shrugs then replies " That maybe be true but there are other routes to gain information.
[15:30:38] Ava notices Jadz's discomfort and can't stop herself from laughing
[15:32:09] Jadz looks at Doc. "Yes, I know. I was joking about the esclation thing -- because they *really* hate when you call them Mall cops. I am so glad he didn't hear you... wouldn't want something bad to happen." She pats his hand tenderly.
[15:32:23] Jadz looking over at Ava, still gripping Doc's hand. "What's an idea, Ava?"
[15:33:59] Ava looks from one to the other "sure you wanna hear this?"
[15:34:29] Ava: Wouldn't want to cause trouble
[15:35:19] Ava: We give Bart the box
[15:35:28] Doc he nods as he looks at Jadz as says " I know but it my bature i am sorry" he then nods to Ava as he listens
[15:36:10] Doc: nature
[15:39:56] ViçṮФЯiâ RФşє (0VickyRose0): smiles siting quietly at the bar
[15:40:26] Ava switches into a tone that's like a mock sales pitch in case anyone was listening "You see the shipping crate I mentioned is AMZ's top of the range in anti-tamper tech. It has a handprint scanner on the top, if the same palm, that isn't the intended recipient, touches it touches it twice in a row the defence mechanisms kick in, which includes sending a very large..terminal..shock into said palm and releasing gas that will knock out anyone else in the room, or about 5 metres radius.
[15:40:45] Ava swigs her bear
[15:41:48] Ava: We never found out who's palm would open it..
[15:43:13] Doc: "hey Vic" He looks back to Ava as says " Yes seem very tough to crack . But in all honesty there not a system around that can not be hacked. Just plaining on getting the job done and getting the information to do so"
[15:44:23] Ava: I was just thinking of letting him to try to open it and be done with it
[15:44:44] Ava: Hey vic
[15:45:46] Ava: Sure at some point people will try to hack AMZ systems, it's inevitable, but not in anyones interest
[15:46:26] Jadz hmmms. "But how do we convince him he should take a peek and also get him to do it in a place where there won't be innocent bystanders?"
[15:48:46] Ava: We don't care who our clients are or what we ship, so long as htey pay. So it's as much as in the criminal worlds interest to keep amz in business
[15:49:12] Ava: We can work on that jadz, just putting it out there
[15:50:10] Doc: "Well if i where to guess . slap two stamps pn the side of the box .One says top secret. The other maybe one their competitors seals . Usually cautious over comes folks"
[15:52:44] Ava: Well Jadz, you know where the box is now, and I've no doubt you memorised the access code to my pod, so what you decide to do now, is upto you..
[15:53:26] ViçṮФЯiâ: oh jadz i finished the sample of 4 grams of my weed
[15:53:50] ViçṮФЯiâ: i put it in theback room on the card table
[15:54:35] Jadz points at herself. "Me Ava? Oh that doesn't seem like my business. But ... maybe you can recruit someone a little more daring. I certainly wouldn't be sad to see that shithead go."
Ava wakes with a start in her bunk in the makeshift office. There’s no question of what’s woken her, it’s the roaring sound of thrusters loud and powerful enough the building is shaking.
She jumps down and runs to the doorway, it’s still night, but from the emergency lights on the surrounding buildings she can see what’s happening. Where the Helix soldiers camp had been is now bare earth except for a few empty crates and torn tents, the noise is a fleet of their transport ships taking off.
Time is going to be short, the civilian residents are going to panic when they realise what’s happened. Ducking back into her office she switches on her drone control terminal, it bleeps to indicate its running on battery power since the outposts generators had gone along with the soldiers. Logging into the system she brings up the list of nearby AMZ craft, now very glad she’d disguised the signature of the cargo ship as just another drone when she left it in orbit. The soldiers would only know if they actually saw it and right now it was fortunately on the other side of this miserable rock. Sending the command to wake up the droid pilot and initiate landing sequence as close as safely possible, she enters the data wipe command on her terminal and heads for the door.
Moving quickly she dashes from door to door of her friends that had also been woken and says to each of them “Get your shit together, we’re leaving. Clearing at the top of the hill in ten minutes if you want off this rock.”
Nine minutes, 37 seconds later…
Ava stands at the top of the loading ramp, one hand on the security forcefield control, the other holding a pistol. There’s only so many stasis pods on board and she’s being very selective who gets one.
She knew this day would come and had made provision, ordering more than just drones and office supplies from AMZ.
If they weren’t a resident of the community from the Hellas Crater, they weren’t getting onboard and there are already two bodies on the ground as testament to her resolve.
There were a fair few more would be freeloaders on the ground by the time the hatch was closed.
Once there are as many people as stasis pods she closes the ramp and presses an intercom panel on the wall to instruct the pilot. “Tinman, get us out of here, set course for Mars, the Southern end of the Hellas Crater”, she says before heading to the freighters minimal living space with the others.
Here I continue my Sci-Fi roleplay that started in Helix City then Hellas Planitia crater. There’s a change in the story Lore here, in line with that of the Helix owners story. Previously the roleplay was set on Mars as an outpost/frontier community and luxury goods or supplies were shipped from Earth. Now Mars has become more developed and the frontier is out beyond our solar system (exact location not specified).
Ava has arrived in the frontier town and found premises to use as a shipping office. The shipment of business essentials (see post) has also turned up and she’s ready to open up shop.
2022/02/16 07:50:22] ViçṮФЯiâ: we all got houses and started explroing the land and all the humans ran to the woods. there al hill people now then thwre is a townys [2022/02/16 07:51:39] Ava Bloodrose Delaney (Ava Bloodrose): /me rolls her eyes "oh great, the desert dwellers became Hill Billies!" [2022/02/16 07:51:47] ViçṮФЯiâ: me and seffy went up to ask question and got guns pionted at us. so now seffy is straped[2022/02/16 07:52:19] Ava: maybe I should go chat to these fools [2022/02/16 07:52:21] ViçṮФЯiâ: and me to i got stonefish out [2022/02/16 07:52:53] ViçṮФЯiâ: that is what we was trying and it got heavy fast [2022/02/16 07:53:50] Ava: However I suspect it may well be that they're the kind of folks that don't like you unless you're 100% Human [2022/02/16 07:53:55] ViçṮФЯiâ: oh and lomax is very nice. he owns the junk shop and you could find all types of stuff there
[2022/02/16 07:54:57] ViçṮФЯiâ: called me rasist but they dont know what i've been thought. i dont trust a lot of human
[2022/02/16 07:56:06] Ava: How can *you* be the racist, when you are the one being mistreated? [2022/02/16 07:56:22] ViçṮФЯiâ: oh and thankyou for makeing shorld my bike mad it here [2022/02/16 07:56:27] Ava hugs Vic[2022/02/16 07:56:37] ViçṮФЯiâ: smiles
[2022/02/16 07:57:31] ViçṮФЯiâ: its just how my life gos. see the horns and think danger. but im a big softy [2022/02/16 07:58:33] Ava: Well, I didn't personally do it, like your bike, I got loaded up on the ship as bous stuff forthe grunts to sell
[2022/02/16 07:59:51] ViçṮФЯiâ: there is so much going on when we was shoved of the ship i lost it and i had to ask people and you know there no help i had to steel it form inpownd [2022/02/16 08:00:13] ViçṮФЯiâ: oh and my old cred stick works here [2022/02/16 08:00:24] ViçṮФЯiâ: i had money [2022/02/16 08:00:36] ViçṮФЯiâ: just could not use it in hellas [2022/02/16 08:01:09] Ava: Well that's a bonus!
[2022/02/16 08:02:13] Ava: well now I'm kinda defrosted and office set up, I should probably start looking for customers, who would you suggest? [2022/02/16 08:03:39] Ava: If lots can be found in hte junkyard, there must still be stuff that *can't* ? [2022/02/16 08:06:19] ViçṮФЯiâ: maybe link up with muddy hes got a shiping corpo building. but i dont know what he ships. maybe set up a order link with lomax so he can get more then junk to [[2022/02/16 08:08:15] ViçṮФЯiâ: i dont think the hill people use the town much and i dont know how thay got ....OH yes there is cows and goat in the hills i never seen befer [2022/02/16 08:09:00] Ava scans the barcodes on the various crates with her eye augment to find the one she wants while vic replies, then places her palm on a crates reader to open it. Rummages inside and come back round with a couple of small packets [2022/02/16 08:09:45] Ava holds up a pack of cigarettes to vic "here, catch" and tosses it to her [2022/02/16 08:10:11] Ava: junkyards don't usually have those I suspect [2022/02/16 08:12:12] ViçṮФЯiâ: atches it and looks at them . i think so lot of people smoking here. i dont like the tobbacoo just weed [2022/02/16 08:14:06] Ava: Well I had the office put some in the crates because they were in high demand at Hellas [2022/02/16 08:14:40] Ava: I had orders for them by the crate, til the dumb helix grunts came along [2022/02/16 08:15:58] ViçṮФЯiâ: i do feel that there is ways to make money here like old helix [2022/02/16 08:16:23] ViçṮФЯiâ: im starting up my weed growing again but im selling it this time [2022/02/16 08:16:45] Ava: very smart [2022/02/16 08:17:22] Ava points at the pack in vics hand "well now you can cut it with baccy" [2022/02/16 08:18:22] ViçṮФЯiâ: i found a old hydorponic set up and got it working with all the stuff penny showed me [2022/02/16 08:19:39] Ava: well that's cool, a proper set up is what you need, if you're gonna sell it [2022/02/16 08:19:45] ViçṮФЯiâ: oo ok will do or freak the cigg tube and make weed ciggs to sell [2022/02/16 08:21:03] Ava: but if you're selling the stuff, doesn't that then make your kit valuable? Is it secure where you have it? [2022/02/16 08:21:22] ViçṮФЯiâ: lomax is down for some weed but making the hill people trust me that all im doing it trying to sell weed with out them trying to shoot me [2022/02/16 08:21:51] ViçṮФЯiâ: yes it is right in my house
[2022/02/16 08:21:56] Forcefield: whispers: Warning shield is raised
[2022/02/16 08:22:02] ViçṮФЯiâ: no one can get to it i think [2022/02/16 08:22:13] Ava taps a button on one of her cuffs.. [2022/02/16 08:22:40] Ava points at the forcefeild she'd activated, secure *enough* though? [2022/02/16 08:23:33] ViçṮФЯiâ: well i dont have one of them inmy place [2022/02/16 08:23:53] Ava: my point was, that could be arranged [2022/02/16 08:23:55] Ava smiles [2022/02/16 08:24:08] ViçṮФЯiâ: just my doors and not telling a lot of people [2022/02/16 08:24:25] ViçṮФЯiâ: oh smiles
[2022/02/16 08:24:36] Forcefield: whispers: Shield is down
[2022/02/16 08:24:38] ViçṮФЯiâ: i will have to show you my place [2022/02/16 08:24:55] ViçṮФЯiâ: so you get a idea what im up to [2022/02/16 08:24:57] Ava taps the button again to deactivate it [2022/02/16 08:27:22] ViçṮФЯiâ: i think seffy lives above you to [2022/02/16 08:28:05] Ava: does she? Getting in there is da,m awkward with the door hidden around the back [2022/02/16 08:29:33] ViçṮФЯiâ: yes but i think she likes it that way not easy to find[2022/02/16 08:31:58] Ava: I'll have to try catch her sometime. I thought I might have had to rent it, so I had somewhere other than the office to sleep [2022/02/16 08:34:03] Ava: So I get these company-issue bunks to sleep on [2022/02/16 08:34:09] ViçṮФЯiâ: nods smiles i got a top floor place [2022/02/16 08:34:27] ViçṮФЯiâ: and it had a little landing dock to for my bike[2022/02/16 08:35:52] Ava: I will have to come visit your place for sure at some point soon
Back in May 2020 I wrote about a SciFi roleplay region called Helix, followed very shortly after by the news of it’s closure. This wasn’t however the end of my story, it was just the start of a storyline that’s run across multiple locations in SL on and off for the year and a half since then.
Now the former owners of Helix have returned with a new location called World of Helix. This isn’t a city this time though, its more an outpost town with cilivans as well as military personnel that they describe as an adult sci-fi Western.
You arrive in the woods outside the town, which is behind you with the wilderness in front of you.
After a brief glance at the nearby structures (more on that later) I headed into town to see what it has to offer. Immediately at the gates you get the tone of the place with guards posted outside.
A glance Left
A glance Right
I entered cautiously taking a glance each direction before heading left to walk a circuit of the town.
All seemed fairly regular civillian establishments, including the requisite pink neon entertainment. As I approached the place where I’ve decided my character will set up shop, I’m reminded of the military presence by way of a dark green truck next door.
Inside the truck
On the way more can be een in the distance
Heading in that direction through a gateway there’s a few landing pads then the rest of the area contains Military personnel and installations.
Passing all this brings me almost full circle back to the entrance gate of the town. However coming from this direction I noticed something I’d missed before.
The local gun shop
Given my characters history of transporting weapons I had to have a quick peek. I was surprised there would be such a shop with the military around they might have wanted to restrict civillian weapon ownership. But what better way to control weapons than by controlling the shop?
Since I’d completed a circuit of the town it was time to have a look out into the wildnerness. Out here there’s a wide selection of buildings and terrain to be seen.
(Please bear in mind some of these are rental homes and may well be inhabitated by the time you visit, so don’t just walk in uninvited.)
Looking at the map on the website it’s quite evident I’ve only shown a fraction of this great new roleplay build, so I’d recommend any Sci-Fi fan come check it out and join in the RP if they wish. I would definitely suggest reading the story setting on the website before engaging in roleplay.
World of Helix is planned for public opening on 15th January 2021, so do drop by and take a look!
Photos were taken on 29th December 2021, so things may look slightly different by the time the 15th January 2022 comes aroud, but not much.
Following on from my previous post, Awakening bridging the RL time gap between Hellas Planitia closing and World of Helix (post coming soon!) opening to the public.
Ava awakes to a beeping sound, a priority message has been received and she’s been woken up. Groggily she taps the flashing envelope icon and reads with growing shock.
---Message Start---
From AMZ Outreach Office:
Ms Delaney
I'm sorry to have to break this news to you, but based on the beacon of your capsule and the signal of drone 116s transponder, you're no longer near Mars. It would appear that at the time of this message transmission,you are headed for the planet Ithemba. You may even have arrived by the time you receive this.
We have contacted Helix Corp and informed them of the situation. Helix Corp representatives should not hinder you, provided they have received their correspondencece, but are under no obligation to assist you. Any assistance you get from them will depend on what you can negotiate in situ.
Given this turn of events we are sending a droid-piloted shuttle instead of the requested drone. This will contain a number of drones and related equipment and supplies that will allow you to operate localised services.
--Message Ends--
Ava reads the message a second then third time and sighs “Damnit” she mutters. At that moment she’s lurched to one side, she sees the crate above move slightly but doesn’t fall,. The ship was manoeuvring, apparently descending by the feel of things. It seems they have arrived.
OOC Background: The Hellas Planitia RP location I’ve written about previously has closed and the players are moving to a new place. The new location is being created by former Owners of the Helix City Cyberpunk roleplay, so it’s kinda full circle for the crater residents. This post tells the beginning of Ava’s IC part in the relocation story.
Ava is sitting in her office below the landing pad when she hears the sound of engines of a craft approaching. She brings up the feed from the landing area cameras and sees a personnel transport ship with Helix Corp logos on. They’ve not sent anyone here for a long time, this cannot be good.
A squad of armed personnel for which the best description would be “grunts” emerge from the ship and make their way to the open gates. As they enter the town a second ship arrives, this one more like a prisoner transport that lands right outside the gates. Defiantly not a good thing. Looking around at what weapons she had to hand, tackling them all herself really wasn’t an option; she’s a courier, a weapons courier, but still just that. Thinking fast she goes to one of her shipping drones. She opens the maintenance hatch and removes its tracking transponder and attaches it to part of the landing gear of the prison transport ship, all the grunts are at the other side of the ship facing the towns entrance.
Gathering up her company issue weapons and a few other useful items, putting them in the Nuke-Safe survival capsule, she had been provided with all that time ago when she first came to Mars. Dragging the capsule outside to where it will be seen by the thugs, she climbs in and shuts the hatch, hoping the grunts will be greedy enough to load her capsule into the ship with any other plunder they may take.
She activates the small exterior cameras on the capsule to see what’s going on. Her view isn’t great from this position, but she can see the residents of the crater being herded by force into the transport ship. Will they load her capsule in with the prisoners as loot among other valuable tech some seem to have gone back for? One of them seems to have spotted her capsule so she closes the shutter to prevent them from seeing inside an turns off the exterior status displays. Finally she activates the stasis function, setting it to wake her silently in 72 hours.
Pre-opening post about the new Helix Corp location coming soon!
Following Ava’s fairly unfruitful visit to the Armoury and conversation with a potential first customer on the way, hopefully a meeting with the pilot mentioned will be productive.
[08:15:12] Ava wanders around the various parked up ships looking for the one she'd been told about
[08:16:02] Ava stops short as she sees someone sat in the shelter of a ship "Hello there"
[08:16:03] Szondi raises an eyebrow noticing the newcoming , but then concentrates again on her computer
[08:16:56] Szondi looks at the newcoming '' hello ''
[08:17:35] Ava steps a little closer "Hi, I'm looking for a pilot called Szondi, wouldn't happen to be you by an chance?"
[08:19:12] Szondi half nods '' so tell the legends...how may i help you ? ''
[08:21:40] Ava : My name is Ava, I work for AMZ, yo probably noticed the big yellow crate over there by now. I've been sent back to this dust pit to set up and negotiate shipping deals with whoever needs them.
[08:22:02] Szondi closes the computer and places it on ground , near the chair '' you can come closer i don't bite , yet ''
[08:23:09] Szondi : do you want i deliver your stuff?
[08:23:35] Ava steps closer, just under the canopy "I was talking to the chick in the Armoury she was pretty unhelpful, saying she had her own stuff worked out, bus suggested I come talk to you"
[08:24:21] Ava nods "Yes, I was thinking something like that yes, sub-contract as it were"
[08:24:55] Szondi frowns and meditates...'' legal stuff , i suppose....dont wanna troubles , you know ''
[08:27:26] Ava : I expect so yes, but AMZ does have a policy of not opening any packages we're asked to ship, best for all parties concerned. Which of course if *you* stick to that, it passes the buck to AMZ for the contents.
[08:28:37] Szondi : that AMZ covers responsabilities ? any sort of legal assurance ?
08:32:00] Ava : The rules are very..undefined..out here. AMZ uses that to it's advantage, adopting that policy and using our crates passes the responsibility to AMZ, yes. The parent company on Earth is too big to be messed with. Works for everyones advantage.
[08:33:21] Szondi : hmmmmm * nods and smiles for awhile , meditating * sounds interesting , yes....tell me more , please
[08:41:35] Ava : Well right now I'm trying to get a feel of who wants what shipped, AMZ were hoping to get contracts with thor and earthgov
[08:42:06] Ava : so far that's not lookng so promising
[08:42:45] Szondi : i don't wotk to Thor ...mainly , but before continuing there are some things you had to know...
[08:43:22] Ava nods "ok, lets hear it"
[08:44:16] Szondi stands up and makes a sign to Ava , indicating to follow '' ok , come aboard please
[08:45:20] Szondi : you can see this is not a freighter , i mainly transport passengers...
[08:46:24] Szondi : people who wants a fast , safe and discrete trip to their destination...with no questions...
[08:46:55] Szondi : i can carry only 2 tons of merchandise...
[08:49:37] Ava /me nods looking at the vessel "Well that's fine, I find it's often the smallest packages that pay the highest prices anyway. The limitation works in your favour too, scarcity raises prices"
[08:51:20] Szondi : maybe but not in Mars....a journey to Gagaringrad and back costs me 1500 C-bills , so i need to recover that amount and get some profit...
[08:57:57] Ava : I think we''d have to negotiate that on a load by load basis. 1 pound is not a lot for that price. We'd be talking likely very dubious contents. But as I said, you'r covered by AMZ for that.
[08:59:47] Szondi : i don't ask what boxes have in , just need a cover if gov officers inquire about...i'm not a smuggler...
[09:05:35] Ava : Well I'm not asking you to be a smuggler, AMZ is a legit shipping company. I'm not sure on exactly what loopholes AMZ have jumped through, but you don't have to worry about the officials. They can't open the boxes, that's the beauty of it. I can't, you can't. Only the sender and the intended final recipient with a biometric lock.
At which point the strange world that is RealLife required my attenion, so I look forward to continuing this story sometime soon.
On her way to find the pilot mentioned by the Armoury proprietor Ava comes across a potential customer outside the Thor Mining Corp offices.
[07:40:52] Cyka looks over to the woman in front of her appearing obviously grouchy as she nods briefly. "Hi... You wouldn't happen to have some smokes on you by chance...?"
[07:43:27] Ava shakes her head "No sorry, never picked up that habit. I'm Ava, a courier for AMZ, they've sent me to try and set up shipping deals with whoever wants or neds them."
[07:44:18] Cyka cocks her brow some and just sighs "Any chance you can procure cigs. or different kind of courier?" she asks obviously going through nicotine withdrawal if Ava had ever seen it before.
[07:47:34] Ava: I'm sure I would work something out, get some on a shipment this way, but obviously would have to be among other stuff. The Armoury chick wasn't too cooperative and not been able to make contact with anyone from Thor or EarthGov yet.
[07:48:41] Cyka nods lightly "Thor mostly keeps to themselves.. and i would suggest not trusting the earth gov people are far as you could throw them" she states flatly. "but if you can get me a few cartons of cigs i will pay you cost and a half for them. "
[07:52:08] Ava laughs "Trust? No, any large organisation, corporate or government shouldn't be trusted. You just gotta use their language though, cash. I don't care if they're trustworthy, so long as they pay upfront"
[08:01:07] Ava: Well I shall keep you in mind your offer as I fish around for customers, a shipload just full of cigarettes might not be all that profitable..but we shall see.
[08:03:15] Cyka shrugs "Im a street sam. working for the towns mayor. All i need are cigs and booze. and I'm offering a 50% over cost at base. more if in bulk.. so just keep that in mind.. its a comodity out here"
[08:05:00] Ava: I certainly will. Gotta go with market demand, if that's fags n booze, so be it.
[08:05:52] Cyka chuckles "i dont know about market demand. but if nothing else. you will have a steady reavenue if you help me out.. and i can help deal with any one who might fuck with your routes. " she says with a chilling smirk
[08:07:22] Ava nods in completely understanding the womans' last comments "Definitely a consideration"
[08:09:36] Cyka shrugs lightly before yawning "Any ways, names Cyka, i work dirrectly for Jadz as her security detail. if you need some help let me know. Will owe ya a favor if you manage to get those cigs. and.. some say a favor is as good as gold" she says lightly reaching to her pocket only to remember her pack of cigs has long since been filled with this horrid places dust just sighing in irritation
[08:11:00] Ava: Thanks Cyka, I look forward to working with you, I've gotta go head over and talk to a pilot that the armory chick told me about.
[08:13:02] Ava raises her hand in a farewell wave and heads off
Since my return to the Hellas Mars crater Sci-Fi roleplay coincided with the opening of the CyberFair event this month I thought it was time I gave Ava’s AMZ characters appearance a bit of an overhaul, along with some embellishments and extra details to her story.
The Story so far:
Ava is a courier for AMZ (All Mars Zone) that ship pretty much anything anywhere. She was sent to Mars originally to deliver a particular dangerous package (given that she was sent with a personal bomb shelter capsule), to the Martian city of Helix. The delivery wasn’t originally made because the city was evacuated. Later she met the local courier that she was supposed to give it to on Mars, but not the final recipient, so she was stuck on Mars with a useless dangerous crate and a portable bomb shelter.
After some time spent with the refugees of Helix she was recalled to Earth by the company. When she explained the situation on Mars and the surprising growth of the crater community to her employers, they sent her back. Her instructions were to establish an office there and negotiate shipping contracts with whoever or whatever organisations or entities required them.
The resulting “Office” being a very loose term for a storage crate painted in company colours and signage placed under the shuttle landing pad.
AMZ are now using unmanned drone ships for the long haul to Mars, controlled by an AMZ employee for take-off and landing, or if the there is problem such as the pod deviating from its set course. The company’s focus is customer privacy, confidentiality and shipment security. To this end the drones cargo compartment can only be opened by AMZ employees with biometric authentication. Additionally customers can ship goods in AMZ crates with similar protections, so only the intended final recipient can open it.
