S1E3: System Shock
Last modified 3 months, 3 weeks ago
The surge was instantaneous and violent. One moment Dorian was plugged into the city's surveillance network; the next, a spark erupted from his cybernetic eye like a cracking egg. Black mechanical fluid hissed and leaked down the side of his face as he collapsed, his body seizing on the pavement.
Selene was there in a heartbeat, dropping to her knees beside him. "Dorian! Hey, hey! It’s going to be okay!"
Dorian convulsed, his hands scrambling uselessly at his face. "Icarus… my lab…"
"Okay, okay. Just breathe." Selene looked up, shouting at the frozen onlookers. "Medic! Now!"
Blues were already rushing over, but Dorian’s personal combat bot, Ajax, had gone rigid. The golden crab-like droid scuttled around him in a protective perimeter, thorns extending from its chassis. It seemed to sense the distress, vibrating on Dorian’s chest to help regulate his erratic heart rate.
"It’s just fluid," Dorian gasped, the pain evident in his voice. "It’s not blood. I can fix it at my lab."
"No, we’ll get someone to help. Just breathe," Selene insisted, her hands slick with the dark fluid leaking from his eye.
"How does my hair look?" Dorian managed a weak smirk.
A medical transport arrived moments later, the Blue paramedics loading Dorian onto a gravity stretcher. Selene forced her way into the van, ignoring protests about protocol. "I don't give a damn about protocol! Take us to Kelvarus Dynamics. Now."
The ride up the glass elevator to the lab was a blur of shouting and panic. Selene barked orders at terrified interns while Dorian, still lucid despite the damage, instructed Icarus to prepare the emergency recovery protocols.
"Selene," Dorian said, his voice strained as they wheeled him into the surgical bay. "Can you let Reverie know I’m here? And... Icarus ran out of my tea. Upper left cupboard. Code 444."
"I’ll be right back. I’ve got this."
As she left, the tension in the room broke. Icarus, the jellyfish-like utility droid, descended from the ceiling. Its metallic tendrils went to work, beginning the intricate process of salvaging the damaged cybernetics.
Michael rolls Repair + Icarus (Asset) and gets a Strong Hit
Under Icarus's precise ministrations, the damaged eye was removed, the leaking fluid cleaned, and a new optical unit threaded into the nervous system. It was a complete hard reset.
By the time Selene returned with Reverie Keys, Dorian was sitting up, sipping his ginger and cinnamon tea. He looked weary, but whole.
"Dorian, what the hell was that?" Selene demanded, setting the tea tray down with a rattle.
"I triggered a trap card," Dorian said, his new eye whirring as it focused. "Whoever this leader is, they laid a trap for anyone accessing the surveillance. I was hit with the blowback."
"Did you see anything?"
"I confirmed they were heading north," Dorian said carefully. "Before I could fully scan the face, I was ejected. But they are wearing tactical gear."
Selene glanced down at Dex. The glow-cat was circling Dorian’s legs, his spots shifting between a fearful green and a sorrowful blue.
"Dorian," Selene warned. "Dex is green. Why are you lying to me?"
Dorian hesitated. He had seen the face. He knew exactly who it was, and the realization was tearing him apart. "Selene, part of my face just exploded. I need to sort my brain out. I’m with you one hundred percent. Trust me."
Selene stared at him, the fire in her eyes cooling to a suspicious simmer. "Okay. I’ll give you time. But we don’t have much of it." She turned to Reverie. "Miss Keys, I apologize. My brother has put your life in danger by involving you."
Reverie straightened up. "I understand the risks, Praetor. I accept them for the good of Hyperion City."
"Then swear it," Selene said, sliding a digital oath-pad across the table. "If you leak this, you will not see the sun."
"Selene, that's extreme," Dorian interjected, frowning at the threat.
Selene didn't blink. "Do you agree to these terms, Ms. Keys?"
Dorian turned away in frustration, unable to watch his sister strong-arm his friend. Reverie, however, remained calm. She pulled a small digital receipt from her wrist comp—a record of their conversation—and pressed her thumb against the scanner.
"I accept," Reverie said, locking eyes with the Praetor.
"Good," Selene said. "Now, I need to find the others. There was a Red on a bike, and one on foot."
Maia rolls a D100 to determine target: 17 (The Red on foot)
She paused, considering her options. "I’m going after the one on foot."
"I can help," Dorian said. He accessed the recorded footage from before the explosion, filtering through the static to find a clear frame.
Michael rolls Secure an Advantage (Wits) and burns Momentum for a Weak Hit
"Here," Dorian said, transferring an image to her HUD. "Heavy construction jumper, hard hat, thick mustache. He went into the construction site down the block."
Selene nodded, already moving toward the door. "I’m on it."
She arrived at the construction site minutes later. It was a chaotic maze of girders, dust, and hundreds of workers in identical orange jumpsuits. It was a needle in a haystack.
Maia rolls Gather Information (Wits) and gets a Weak Hit
The sheer volume of people was overwhelming. She moved fast, scanning faces, but the layout of the site was working against her. She needed to flush him out.
Meanwhile, back at the lab, Dorian and Reverie were working feverishly. They needed a device that could detect the cleaned barcodes—something discreet, something that could fit on Selene’s gauntlet.
Michael rolls Gather Information (Wits + Icarus) and gets a Strong Hit
Dorian analyzed the corrupted code from the explosion. He found the anomaly—the digital scar left behind when a barcode was scrubbed. It was subtle, but it was there. "I have it," he muttered. "Reverie, start the fabrication."
But the fabrication was tricky. The device had to interface with Selene’s custom Praetor gauntlets without hindering her movement.
Michael rolls Wits (for Reverie) and gets a Weak Hit
"It’s going to take time to miniaturize this," Reverie warned, her hands deep in the holographic schematics.
Back at the construction site, Selene was losing patience. She cornered a foreman, a Blue woman clutching a datapad who froze the moment she saw the Gold Praetor.
"Ma'am, I don't have much time," Selene pressed, her intensity radiating. "Do you have any workers who are not accounted for? Check your logs."
"Oh, Praetor! I apologize," the woman stammered, her eyes wide and starry. "It is a great honor to be in the presence of the Monarch. Truly, a highlight of my career."
Selene forced a smile that didn't reach her eyes. She hated being a known like this. "Yes, thank you. Please, just check the logs."
"Of course! Anything to help the Monarch of Hyperion City!" The foreman beamed, tapping frantically on her screen to initiate a site-wide alert. "I'll have everyone line up for you immediately."
As the workers began to assemble, row after row of orange jumpsuits, Selene marched down the lines with Dex at her side. She tried to ignore the whispers and the awe-struck stares.
Maia rolls Undertake an Expedition (Wits) and gets a Weak Hit
She was making progress, but the delay had cost her. The foreman’s site-wide alert hadn’t just summoned the workers; it had alerted the media.
"Oh, by the Seven," the foreman gasped, looking at her datapad. "The staff chat… someone mentioned you were here."
Maia Faces Peril (Pay the Price) -> Draws Unwanted Attention
Selene’s comms exploded with notifications. Ping after ping after ping. Then, a holographic news alert popped up in her vision. Ace Bellerin’s face, plastered with animated hearts and crowns, beamed out. "Breaking News! The Monarch is on the scene!"
A notification from the foreman pinged her HUD: One worker absent. Rear exit. "Get out of my way!" Selene snarled, shoving past a group of workers.
She sprinted, kinetic energy crackling around her fists.
In the lab, Dorian was racing against the clock. He had the code, he had the schematic, but he needed to fuse them into the physical prototype without frying the delicate chips.
Michael rolls Face Danger (Wits + Icarus) and gets a Strong Hit with a Match
"Done!" Dorian snapped the final casing onto the sensor. It was sleek, unobtrusive, and powerful. "It’s not just a scanner," he told Reverie. "It’s a tracker. It’ll blip them."
Selene burst out of the construction site’s rear exit just in time to see a delivery drone lifting off. Hanging off the side was the Red with the mustache. He locked eyes with her as the bay door slid shut.
"No you don't!" Selene shouted. She pulled a tracker from her belt, channeling her telekinesis to guide the throw.
Maia rolls Face Danger (Edge) and gets a Strong Hit
The tracker flew true, magnetically clamping onto the drone's hull like a metal spider just as it accelerated into the sky.
"Got him," she breathed. She tapped her comms. "Dorian, come in. I found them. Tracker is active."
In the lab, Dorian froze. He had finished the scanner. He had run the facial recognition on the leader from the explosion. The face was staring back at him from his monitor.
R-055. Nickname: Ross.
He looked at the screen, then at the comms where his sister was waiting for an answer.
"Did you get a look at them?" Dorian asked, his voice hollow.
"I did. I've seen their faces."
"Good," Dorian lied, closing the file on Ross. "I just finished the scanner. Come back to the lab. We have work to do."
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