Mothership

Gradient Descent Session 6

April 12th, 2021

Players: Brendan, Josh, Stephen

The players are in the Scrap Conglomerate, a strange not-quite settlement full of escaped androids. Many exist in various states of disrepair, searching for parts to keep themselves running. The three Androids the group met initially are Scrap 17, 67, 74. Scrap 17 informs the group when they found this space they were Scrap 42, but as they lose Androids people’s names change to fill the gaps. The three androids leave to find the escapees the party saved in the second session.

Kant and Kjell decide they will try and convince the androids that Kant is their robot messiah—why not. Kant uses his advanced skills to repair one of the androids. The android is at first throughly unconvinced and skeptical about everything the pair say, but is desperate for help. Kant fixes him, and the android’s reaction is so incredibly positive. He is a true believer. Unfortunately attempts to spread the word, and ‘heal’ other androids doesn’t get anywhere. Kjell’s attempts at a more fear-based approach to proselytizing has the few robots watching the theatrics flee off into the darkness.

The group decide to sleep and start fresh the next ‘day’.

The party travel back through the ducts to the Brain Space, still filled with logic cores and cat sized drones. But, they meet another fellow as they move towards its exit: a diver! Sadly, it doesn’t look like they’ll be friends. He barks at them, “who are you?” When they explain they are synthetics travelling with synthetics the lone diver turns and runs. They cautiously follow him into the next room—they were going that way anyway.

The Security Dispatch is as they remember it, 9 huge spheres floating in the room, another bolted to the ground. The hatch to this sphere is open. Inside, past some deactivated security androids, is a chute down, out of this space.

A long corridor stretches out before them. They can see razor wire lines everywhere, and someone has clearly run through the hallway and cut themselves up. The group opts to carefully remove the wire, proceeding cautiously.

They end up at a door opening into a large cylindrical room. Their lights refract every which way: the walls are large sensor panels. At the far end of the space, previously hiding in the darkness, is the same diver from before. Injured, clearly. “Leave me alone,” he shouts. “That duct is your way out of here!”

They leave him be. Moving on to the Condensation Falls. An imense vertical drop. Taught chains slick with condensation stretch into the darkness. Droplets of water sparkle like a star field. There are two ducts leading out of the room, and a door further away.

They opt for a duct, and find themselves in a skinny steel labyrinthine space.

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