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A Pound of Flesh: Prospero's Nightmare?

The crew wakes up from cryo sleep and are verified as cured from the Carc infection by Dr. Edem. The Company runs Zeke through cognitive defragmentation and he wakes up from his coma. A smoking man from The Company briefs the crew on a new undercover mission to take out the leaders of a group distributing Sycorax. The Company surprisingly offers 10K of equipment to each member of the crew. Phoenix, a captured inside man, briefs the crew and takes them to Prospero's Dream.

Episodes in module: A Pound of Flesh

Waking Up

  • we wake up from cryo sleep
    • Dex and Ink have cryo sickness for a week
      • disadvantage on everything
      • can be cured by a stimpack
  • Dex, Carnoc, and Ink come out of cryo sleep
    • Moss and Dr. Edem aren't around
    • we notice the engines are quiet
  • someone went through our stuff and removed Hinton's logic core
  • we get changed and make some coffee to recover
  • company rep enters
  • we've been quarantined for awhile
    • tested for an additional month
    • Dr. Edem verified the cure worked
  • the company quarantined Zeke and monitored him closely
  • a company rep has individual meetings with each of us
    • thanks us for our work

The crew writes a few songs to remember their missing on Samsa 6

Zeke Recovers

  • company runs Zeke through a cognitive defragmentation
    • 24 hours of treatment
    • disadvantage on intelligence checks, sanity saves, and fear saves for 4 weeks

Zeke undergoes cognitive defragmentation

Zeke undergoes cognitive defragmentation

  • company rep check the contract that Zeke signed
    • medical plan did not cover cognitive defragmentation
    • Zeke owes 20k
  • the company has another mission ready for us
    • could help with medical expenses

A New Murderbot

  • we meet a new Murderbot V2 who looks the same as the old one
    • has no memories of the last mission

Murderbot V2 is uncannily familiar

Murderbot V2 is uncannily familiar

Mission Briefing

  • we're allowed off our ship

    • the ship we're docked with is brighter and clean
    • even the air quality seems higher
    • it's pretty impressive
    • it's rare for us to be allowed into such a nice place

  • we enter an office

    • man in there is smoking
    • there's a lot of smoke in the air
    • manilla folder on the table

Company rep briefs us on our next mission

Company rep briefs us on our next mission

  • Straightmeyer group found pirates are running illegal drugs out of an unknown space base
    • found a freighter with a group of Teamsters
    • highly addictive substance generated on a space station named Prospero's Dream
    • drug is Sycorax
  • no one has ever been able to find Prospero's Dream
    • need a specific frequency and data to transmit to get to the base
  • mission goals
    • find the base
    • ingratiate yourself with the leaders there
    • assassinate the leaders or find a way to get assassins onboard
  • they think we'll have a better chance if we're not in top condition
    • wounded, stressed, worn down, injured
  • Ink reaches for the manilla folder
    • rep says we need to negotiate contracts first
  • Zeke negotiates his contract
    • 20k debt nullified
    • company will cover any injuries incurred in this new mission
    • normal pay received (4 months of hazard pay)
  • they're sending a Teamster who knows the frequency
    • can get us onto Prospero's Dream without getting caught
    • we may want to eliminate him
      • he's the only one who knows we're working for the company
  • company tells Murderbot V2 to follow Carnoc's orders

Gearing Up

  • inventory requirements

    • 2 large items
    • 4 mediums items
    • 8 small items
    • can give up a larger slot to get 2 of the next smaller slot

  • company will provide up to 10k of equipment

  • Dex picks equipment

    • 1500 auto med (x5)
    • 75 first aid kit
    • 200 patch kit (x3)
    • 8000 med scanner
    • 225 left

  • Carnoc keeps the Wilbur Mark II anti-material rifle

Carnoc is thrilled to keep the Wilbur Mark II anti-material rifle

Carnoc is thrilled to keep the Wilbur Mark II anti-material rifle

Meeting Phoenix

  • we meet the Teamster contact Phoenix Dunright
    • looks like a mechanic
    • skin is oily and grimy
    • long, greasy hair tied into a ponytail

The crew meets Phoenix Dunright

The crew meets Phoenix Dunright

  • Phoenix punches in coordinates to the rough location
    • we'll need another week after we wake up from cryo sleep
    • Phoenix enters Cryo sleep first
    • we climb in

Recovering From Cryo Sleep

  • we wake up from cryo sleep 30 min before the Phoenix
    • everyone has cryo sickness

Zeke has cryo sickness

Zeke has cryo sickness

  • Zeke had dreams of being Hinton while in cryo sleep - recovered from cognitive defragmentation

  • Murderbot: "Do you want me to murder him?"

    • Carnoc: "No, murder will come later"

  • Phoenix wakes up

    • also suffering from cryo sickness

Phoenix has cryo sickness

Phoenix has cryo sickness

Phoenix Briefs the Crew

  • spend the week getting to know Phoenix

    • wants to play parcheesi or blackjack
    • seems like a nice guy
    • fixes a few issues on the ship
    • Phoenix: "This is why I left the company a few years ago."
    • Phoenix: "All of us are expendable"
    • Phoenix: "Just little cogs in the wheel man"

  • Carnoc: "Why are you working fo the company again?"

    • Phoenix: "Because they threatened to murder me..."
    • Phoenix: "They used advanced 'interrogation methods' on me."
    • Phoenix: "I'm not even sure my mates are alive or not."
    • Phoenix: "They quickly separated us when they caught us."

  • Carnoc: "What are you gonna do after the mission?"

    • Phoenix: "Once I get you to Prospero's Dream, I'm saying adios, guys."
    • Phoenix: "I'm back to living the dream."
    • Carnoc: "You're not gonna rescue the rest of your crew?"
    • Phoenix: "I mean, I love those guys."
    • Phoenix: "But I know if they were in my position, they would not try and go back and rescue the rest of them."
    • Phoenix: "The Teamsters Union on Prospero's Dream, they might have some other ideas. Teamsters Local 32819."
    • Phoenix: "We don't have any cool slogans or anything, but, there's a calendar they put out every year that has jokes in it. I like that calendar."
    • Phoenix: "I', just gonna go back to running Sycorax. It's the life, man."

  • Phoenix: "Try not to be too shocked when you start seeing everybody on Prospero's Dream."

    • Carnoc: Why is that?
    • Phoenix: "When you're working for the company they highly dissuade people from getting any kind of cyber modification."
    • Phoenix: "Prospero's Dream is ... pro everything the company prohibits."
    • Phoenix: "Cyber mods everywhere. You're gonna see people with camera eyeballs and jet packs built into their backs."
    • Ink: "Cool!"
    • Phoenix: "All kinds of shit."
    • Carnoc: "Do you have any cyber mods?"
    • Phoenix: "No. I was saving up for some, though."
    • Phoenix: "Do I look like my only cyber mod would be greasy? Like greasy skin, greasy hair?"
    • Murderbot: "That's so funny, ha ha!"
    • Phoenix: "You better tell your bot to start acting normal."
    • Phoenix: "People pick up that there's an Android, they're gonna start to wonder."
    • Phoenix: "You're gonna think that everybody on this place is an Android with how much cyber modification there is."
    • Phoenix: "But he'll give away that you guys are with the company if he's not playing it cool."

  • Phoenix programs the exact coordinates

    • a week passes
    • Phoenix sends the transmission

Preparing Backgrounds

  • we prepare our story

    • we're fed up with the company, much like Phoenix
    • we're supposed to be doing a mission but we're ignoring it
    • company destroyed Phoenix's ship
    • we picked him up from an escape pod

  • Ink opens the manilla folder

    • it has our contracts, but that's pretty much it
    • Ink: "Um, Murderbot..."
    • Carnoc: "You should probably hide our contracts."
    • Ink: "Murderbot, eat them!"
    • Dex: "Maybe with some ketchup?"
    • Ink: "That's right."

Murderbot eats the contracts

Murderbot eats the contracts

Arrival

  • approach Prospero's Dream
    • it's huge
    • estimate population of 1 million
    • ships going in and out

Prospero's Dream

Exterior of Prospero's Dream

  • Phoenix briefs us

    • thorough decontamination on arrival
      • hosed down
      • "It will be rough, but don't take it personally. They do it to everybody."
    • will search the ship for biological or chemical threats
    • manifest altered to match
    • will not be able to bring heavy armaments
      • no heavy rifle

  • our ship flies into the hangar bay

    • it re-pressurizes
    • we're able to disembark
    • a Q team approaches the ship
    • they describe exactly what Phoenix mentioned
    • suggest leaving personal belongings behind

Decontamination

  • we submit to decontamination
    • it's not a pleasant process
    • spray us with sticky foam
    • scrub with rough bristles
    • it's a little painful

Crew submits to decontamination

Crew submits to decontamination

Paying for Air

  • team describes how we pay for air

    • we receive O2 cred sticks
      • ask how much to transfer, 10 credits/day
      • Ink does 30 days for 300 credits
      • everyone else does the same
    • if we're caught with it empty, we go to DopTown (de-oxygenated people town)
      • we don't want to go there

  • if we want to store forbidden items we can get a locker

    • it's keyed to your fingerprints
    • "Don't lose your fingerprints"

  • do not enter unauthorized areas, particularly the choke

    • it's in DopTown, you don't want to go there