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Dr Subterfuge
Aug 31, 2005

TIME TO ROC N' ROLL
The question is whether just our drone was detected or whether its communications with the phone controlling it were also traced. If we can be tracked by our phone right now going reflective will only make things worse for us once he tracks us down.

Either way, the cop almost surely has a partner.

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the_steve
Nov 9, 2005

We're always hiring!

A - Lie like hell. We were working on a photography project. Playing with the drone and the wind blew it over the fence.

Nettle Soup
Jan 30, 2010

Oh, and Jones was there too.

Something along the lines of A - clear our phone and bluff it. "I bought my kid a new toy yesterday and he lost it over this drat fence, on it's first outing too! I was trying to get it back before the morning, do you know how much I paid for that drat thing?"

Facebook Aunt
Oct 4, 2008

wiggle wiggle




A No need to expose demon powers this close to a dangerous bit of the Machine. We're not trespassing, we're in a cul de sac. We're a minority, but we're also female, so human cops are unlikely to get unreasonable with us as long as we're sober and pleasant. We can claim we were on a bad date and left/were throne out of his car and now we're lost or something. Thank goodness you showed up, Officer.

Cops think they are the good guys. Treat them like like you love hero cops and they act like the good guys.

malbogio
Jan 19, 2015

Do we really think a normal cop just lucked into finding our hiding spot this close to infrastructure?

Best assume our phone is already being tracked and yank the battery immediately.

Wary of A or D in case the cop is more dangerous than they appear. Have they already seen us or is there an opportunity to sabotage their flashlight to cut their investigation short? Or are there no advantages to this strategy over just using mirrored skin? Wary of dipping into demon powers over embeds if they draw additional attention.

If the cop appears to be patrolling alone that may be a red flag if a real cop would be expected to patrol with a partner.

malbogio fucked around with this message at 20:50 on Feb 13, 2018

NinjaPete
Nov 14, 2004

Hail to the speaker,
Hail to the knower,
Joy to him who has understood,
Delight to those who have listened.

- Hávamál

malbogio posted:

Do we really think a normal cop just lucked into finding our hiding spot this close to infrastructure?

Best assume our phone is already being tracked and yank the battery immediately.

Wary of A or D in case the cop is more dangerous than they appear. Have they already seen us or is there an opportunity to sabotage their flashlight to cut their investigation short? Or are there no advantages to this strategy over just using mirrored skin? Wary of dipping into demon powers over embeds if they draw additional attention.

If the cop appears to be patrolling alone that may be a red flag if a real cop would be expected to patrol with a partner.


They have not seen you yet, you are in a stalemate until they move closer or you move at all. Right now the planter is between you and him.

Sabotage is a great idea, but it requires you to touch the flashlight.


Can you see a partner?: 5d10o10h8 3

Huh..weird. He seems to be by himself.

malbogio
Jan 19, 2015

1)B.

Yank the phone battery. Turn invisible. Sneak away ASAP.

This feels like enemy action. Best get out before they tighten the noose.

Crazycryodude
Aug 15, 2015

Lets get our X tons of Duranium back!

....Is that still a valid thing to jingoistically blow out of proportion?


NinjaPete posted:

Huh..weird. He seems to be by himself.

Aw poo poo. They're not a cop, time to bug out.

malbogio posted:

1)B.

Yank the phone battery. Turn invisible. Sneak away ASAP.

This feels like enemy action. Best get out before they tighten the noose.

Dr Subterfuge
Aug 31, 2005

TIME TO ROC N' ROLL
The internet tells me that police officers only sometimes work in pairs. Especially if they have manpower or budgetary constraints, they often don't.

Crazycryodude
Aug 15, 2015

Lets get our X tons of Duranium back!

....Is that still a valid thing to jingoistically blow out of proportion?


Yeah in smaller towns and rural areas single-man patrols are very common and even the norm because of budget/manpower restraints, but in a moderately sized city like St. Paul, at night, about 75% of patrols would be two-man. The fact that one single dude just happened to show up right here right now is highly suspicious.

malbogio
Jan 19, 2015

Moscow Rules: Trust your gut.

Of course the infrastructure is guarded. Of course our use of electronics and/or the drone were noticed by the machine. Of course that would elicit a response.

The cop is raising multiple red flags. We haven’t been here long but the cop stumbled across us and pinned us anyway. Plus they got out of the car even though the cul-de-sac looks empty and they supposedly don’t have a partner watching their back.

My main point of curiousity right now is whether the “cop” is the sole danger or if they’re just keeping us pinned until reinforcements show up or flank us.

Never attribute to coincidence that which can be attributed to enemy action. The machine is smart and deadly, we could be in much more severe danger than is readily apparent.

Dr Subterfuge
Aug 31, 2005

TIME TO ROC N' ROLL
What sort of urban structures could we teleport to with Urban Fluidity if necessary? (Assuming I'm reading the description of that power correctly.)

NinjaPete
Nov 14, 2004

Hail to the speaker,
Hail to the knower,
Joy to him who has understood,
Delight to those who have listened.

- Hávamál

Dr Subterfuge posted:

What sort of urban structures could we teleport to with Urban Fluidity if necessary? (Assuming I'm reading the description of that power correctly.)

Literally anything in your line of sight that can hold the weight of a mid to late 20s girl. On any gravitational orientation.

malbogio
Jan 19, 2015

NinjaPete posted:

Literally anything in your line of sight that can hold the weight of a mid to late 20s girl. On any gravitational orientation.

So could we teleport to the side of a building a mile away? I read the motion works at near imperceptible speeds so would it be pretty stealthy? Given the change in our gravitational orientation I assume we'd be at no risk of falling from our perch before walking down or climbing in a window, just of being spotted if we picked somewhere too visible?

We might have a winner here.

malbogio
Jan 19, 2015

Per google maps I'd expect us to have a clear view of two buildings, a tower of luxury condos and a three-story liquor store (think Bevmo, closed by 10pm). Porting over to the side of a closed liquor store sounds pretty low risk.

sheep-dodger
Feb 21, 2013

Gonna throw in a vote for B, just to make sure we don't do A

malbogio
Jan 19, 2015

Changing my vote off of B.

1) E. Make sure any footage on the phone is saved. Disable the phone (airplane/battery-pull/whatever's fast and works). Urban Fluidity to the side of the Haskell's Liquor Store.

NinjaPete
Nov 14, 2004

Hail to the speaker,
Hail to the knower,
Joy to him who has understood,
Delight to those who have listened.

- Hávamál
24 hours notice.

A - 3 votes
B - 3 Votes
E - Using Urban Fluidity to zip away, - 1 vote

Dr Subterfuge
Aug 31, 2005

TIME TO ROC N' ROLL
E

Disproportionate Orphan
Apr 17, 2009
A

Outrail
Jan 4, 2009

www.sapphicrobotica.com
:roboluv: :love: :roboluv:
How does sabotage work? Can we touch the road and cause the cop and his car to fall into a sinkhole?

Can we touch the earth and cause a fault line to give way?

Can we touch the atmosphere and cause it to spontaneously combust?

jagadaishio
Jun 25, 2013

I don't care if it's ethical; I want a Mammoth Steak.
A.

NinjaPete
Nov 14, 2004

Hail to the speaker,
Hail to the knower,
Joy to him who has understood,
Delight to those who have listened.

- Hávamál

Outrail posted:

How does sabotage work? Can we touch the road and cause the cop and his car to fall into a sinkhole?

Can we touch the earth and cause a fault line to give way?

Can we touch the atmosphere and cause it to spontaneously combust?

It has to be a machine. The more moving parts and complexity, the easier it is to sabotage. So, you can't touch the earth, but you could tap his car and make it stop working, he'd have to bring it into a shop to get is fixed.

Dr Subterfuge
Aug 31, 2005

TIME TO ROC N' ROLL
Does Infrastructure count as a machine?

NinjaPete
Nov 14, 2004

Hail to the speaker,
Hail to the knower,
Joy to him who has understood,
Delight to those who have listened.

- Hávamál

Dr Subterfuge posted:

Does Infrastructure count as a machine?

Yes and No. You'd be able to damage the mundane physical parts of the machine. So, say a desktop is Infrastructure, like it is running some program that is needed for a larger plan. You could sabotage the desktop itself and make it shut down, but it's temporary and it will eventually be fixed. When it is fixed, it's back to being Infrastructure, assuming it still has a purpose. You couldn't for example attempt to Sabotage some part of the God Machine itself. There is an Exploit, Raze Infrastructure, that is all about breaking poo poo like that.

For the statue here, since it's not a machine, in the mundane sense, we can't sabotage it.

Crazycryodude
Aug 15, 2015

Lets get our X tons of Duranium back!

....Is that still a valid thing to jingoistically blow out of proportion?


How exactly do you define "machine"? A powergaming knave of low character could rules lawyer that the sculpture is really just a bunch of levers and screws stuck together and those are both simple machines....

NinjaPete
Nov 14, 2004

Hail to the speaker,
Hail to the knower,
Joy to him who has understood,
Delight to those who have listened.

- Hávamál

Crazycryodude posted:

How exactly do you define "machine"? A powergaming knave of low character could rules lawyer that the sculpture is really just a bunch of levers and screws stuck together and those are both simple machines....

Good question! An device made of multiple parts that uses mechanical power to achieve a purpose. Basically, "moving parts".

There is also the danger of Compromise.
Say we attempted to Sabotage a machine, we roll Dex+crafts. Right now that is 3 dice for Mabin (though I would argue we could spend Aether and get our Legend going, since Ink is maybe not great with making things, Mabin should be). now if we failed, nothing would happen. Not a bit deal, we just lose a dice if we want to try again. Now, if we have a Dramatic Failure, (fail after rolling only one single die on a chance) we have to roll a Compromise check. Compromise is our Cover number, so 7. Normally, we're pretty good with Compromise, but with Sabotage there are penalties for how simple a machine is. The book lays these out as penalties, each one takes away a dice from our roll.

Computer -1
Car -2
Mechanical Clock -3
Solid State Device -4
Lever -5

I'd rules lawyer that a sculpture would be a -5 at least, if not more. So, that makes our roll really dicey for just temporarily taking out a piece of Infrastructure. Now if we learned more about it and what if was used for, we might have a better shot, or find another piece of Infrastructure connected to it that would be easier to Sabotage, if we really wanted to Sabotage it.

I'd just drive a car into it personally. That seems a lot more simple.

malbogio
Jan 19, 2015

Switching my vote again from E to B, plus yanking the phone's battery.

Cryo, I got the impression you wanted to vote for B from the quoting but I think you need to make it explicit to count as a vote.

Doing what I can to diminish A’s lead as I don’t think playing dumb is going to get us very far.

“When God can pick up radio signals, it's possible they are paying attention to anything happening around Infrastructure.”

If you were the Machine and saw a drone flying up to a piece of Infrastructure how would you respond?

malbogio fucked around with this message at 21:54 on Feb 14, 2018

Nothingtoseehere
Nov 11, 2010


B

Crazycryodude
Aug 15, 2015

Lets get our X tons of Duranium back!

....Is that still a valid thing to jingoistically blow out of proportion?


Ah, yeah, just in case it's not clear I'm officially voting for B, plus yanking the phone's battery

Facebook Aunt
Oct 4, 2008

wiggle wiggle




Changing from A to E.

Shogeton
Apr 26, 2007

"Little by little the old world crumbled, and not once did the king imagine that some of the pieces might fall on him"

Gonan go with B and depowering the phone. Moscow rules.

dont be mean to me
May 2, 2007

I'm interplanetary, bitch
Let's go to Mars


B and kill the phone. I don't know how never here we could be, but at least try.

vorebane
Feb 2, 2009

"I like Ur and Kavodel and Enki being nice to people for some reason."

Wrong Voter amongst wrong voters
A It's just a coincidence!

MinutePirateBug
Mar 4, 2013
A

B seems a lot more sensible. Going with A due to my capricious nature. I am in the mood for some awkward catastrophic failure.

NinjaPete
Nov 14, 2004

Hail to the speaker,
Hail to the knower,
Joy to him who has understood,
Delight to those who have listened.

- Hávamál
The cop starts to walk towards you. You look around frantically, analyzing your options.

Jump the fence? No, someone running from a cop leads to backup being called. Best case scenario, it’s mundane cops. Worst case, a bunch of loyalist agents are chasing you deeper into some area with Machine influence.

Rush the cop? Maybe...if he’s mundane you could surprise him, knock him down, zap the dash cam on his car and run for it. But if he’s something else than a normal human cop, you don’t want to risk picking a fight without knowing your opponent. Same thing with trying to talk to him. Mabin doesn’t have a record officially, but you bet she is in some Hennepin County Sheriff database, and if that’s shared with SPPD, it’ll lead to a long night at best.

You could zoom over to another building using your true nature, but while very quick, it isn’t totally imperceptible. And if he isn’t human enough to be surprised, he’ll be looking for you.

It’s time to just pull a vanishing act.

You exhale slightly and feel something loosen inside of you as you drain some of your Aether away to access your true form. As you burn this Aether something happens, something odd. From the distance, in the direction of the sculpture, you hear a voice, or rather feel it. Like a distant pulse of Aether.

In The Heart of the Fire holds the Key.

The cop must feel it to, he wheels towards the sculpture for a moment, then quickly turns in your direction, but you are already changing.




Mabin’s clothes and skin breaks apart into a million hexagons that, in a cascading wave, flip over one after the other. Cloth and skin replaced by a smooth chrome casing. Your new skin clicks back into place and as it does, you simply vanish.

The cop’s flashlight sweeps over you, not pausing. He spends a few moments searching the area, you press up against the planter and close your eyes ludicrously, hoping he doesn’t accidently kick you. After a moment, he goes to look at the fence, you take that opportunity to pop out the battery of your phone. You do not know if there is any danger from the machine right now, but it is better safe than sorry.

You are distracted momentarily when the cop starts talking, his hand is up near his ear, on the radio then.

“No sign of anything,” he pauses and turns back in your direction. It is discomforting to be looked at but not be seen. “Area looks secure.”

And then you see the cop for what it is.

It’s not human, not fully at least. The antenna coming out of its ear is a dead giveaway. As is the porcelain skin and blank eyes. When talks its lips move too stiffly, and it’s voice is flat and emotionless, even for SPPD. It walks by you and now you swear you hear the sound of gears as it moves.

“We’ll send someone by in the morning to make sure. But--” the rest is lost as it gets into its squadcar. You note that as the car backs up and pulls away it doesn’t bother to hold the steering wheel, the car seems to drive itself.


“gently caress.” you whisper when it has left.





1. What is our plan for the rest of the night?




_____________________________________________________________



Our Rolls
We got an exceptional success on our transformation, so we gained a beat. And we got a better look at the not-cop.

We got a beat in a scene with something God Machine related, and we suceeced in our roll, so we ask a question about our next Key in our Cipher.

Do I already know my next Key?
No
What Attribute does my next Key use?
Manipulation


Sorry for the open-ended question, but I figure we’ll be able to close out this chapter and get to tomorrow morning within a post or two, then we can reass our options. Of course, now that I said that I am sure we’ll try to chase down the Not-Cop or something.

malbogio
Jan 19, 2015

1) Get clear, get home, and get some sleep. Hopefully tomorrow our ring can make sense of our intel and provide some of their own.

Kavak
Aug 23, 2009


Go the gently caress to sleep

Facebook Aunt
Oct 4, 2008

wiggle wiggle




Can we get the drone airborn to get it back? If not, go home.

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MinutePirateBug
Mar 4, 2013
Get the airborne drone back, our prints are on it and they are sending someone in the morning to check things out. Finish scouting the monument - Ninjapete said earlier we didn't get a clear enough view of it to figure out what its function was, we are going to have to jump the fence anyways to remove evidence, we might as well figure out what the infrastructure is. Also we should disable it if it makes sense to do so ... do what you came here to do...

MinutePirateBug fucked around with this message at 23:47 on Feb 15, 2018

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