plot roll | lights out

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LIGHTS OUT | MINARAS

Critical systems at various military, academic and medical institutes in Minaras malfunction, suffering anything from brief but recurring glitches to complete breakdowns. They require urgent, expensive and sophisticated repairs linked to gears: cogs, wires, keys, grease and steampunk microsystems. Corrosion appears to be the main culprit.

Unfortunately, the industrial barons of Minaras are unenthusiastic to donate the necessary repair resources. In a public message, high councillor Arabella and other government officials subtly encourage good citizens to liberate the supplies, alluding that light crimes committed in the process will be pardoned.

Careful: the barons didn’t make their wealth by leaving their assets unprotected…

✘ OBJECTIVE: Barter, win or steal parts from reluctant industrialists and study the repair areas.

■ Characters working at Minaras public institutions notice a sudden spate of operational errors: lights go out completely or temporarily, while watch ship communication systems are frequently disrupted. Civilian clockwork droids stop moving or fleetingly refuse to acknowledge citizens (this does not apply to droids assigned to the party). Several factories suspend work.

■ Brief light outages strike residences and public areas. Citizens stumble or drift on unlit roads — a few approach you mutely with unshed tears in their eyes, catching your hand to drag you to their homes. If you go, you will find nothing amiss beyond the eerie quiet, while your hosts pointedly stare at you as they enter their beds and silently weep. This stops once lights come back on. Citizens cannot explain what they were doing and remembering their own actions in a haze.

■ Characters with access to the military may overhear that basic production services have not been performed in Minaras for some time. Some say the current outages were inevitable: lubricants, routine parts and processed coal are in short supply, with the army considering whether to requisition.

■ Eager to turn distress into dance, the wealthy aristocracy hold several candle-lit parties. Here, characters can overhear Minaras’ industrial elite has long felt the brunt of the government’s fixation with medical progress. Much of the processes that keep the city running have been relegated to private suppliers, and the barons feel pressured to sustain Minaras. Some favour rebelling against the high council, with a few admitting they have been contacted by Remembrance terror group leader Chrichter.

■ Those affiliated with medical units make dark discoveries: in the absence of light to support cryogenic conditions, several living and dead subjects seem to rapidly deteriorate. The dead show signs of internal rot, while the living cough blood and develop high fevers. They are swiftly isolated.

■ At the government’s behest, public service buildings, formal bounty hunter abodes and several taverns offer pamphlets, maps and instructions to steal repair parts. The government will not pursue this theft. Read the fine print: this pardon does not extend to major crimes (permanent injury, murder, the annihilation of a baron’s home or factory). You can trade parts in for a handsome 30,000 governmental coins.

■ The pieces needed are: specialty factory cogs, pipes, high-density fuel — a precious handful of which can power an entire watchtower — and product or recipes for efficient lubricants.

■ If you enlist to hunt parts, shady bounty hunters will share loose maps and observations on the basic daily patterns of the barons’ factories or households, to help you infiltrate. You will also receive basic weapons and a stiff drink.

■ Some of the items you seek sleep in safehouses, others in the barons’ own homes, while some are in factory warehouses. Most parts are secured with codes you can learn by following your targets, or receive from government sources. You may need to pretend to be a factory worker to enter work spaces, or a servant to infiltrate a baron’s home.

■ Beware droids, guards and berserk watch ships. You’re safe if you’re trapped and turned in with public authorities, who will furtively release you — but you may need to break yourself out, if barons take justice in their own hands.

■ Those with technical ability can also offer to conduct repairs once parts are secured, gaining access to one institute of their choice: a watch tower, a medical unit (pick between academy or care centre) or a factory. Pair up for this one, and ask up to three specific questions!

■ Report in with your liberated goods. No pressure, but we will need at least three parts recovered by 20 September to return Minaras online.

QUESTIONS

NPC ACCESS: ARABELLA

Comments

[matermali]

[ She's already shed her coat (something Vanessa Ives wears almost everywhere, and too noticeable in its pattern) and is in the process of removing any memorable jewelry by the time the Doctor returns. Tucking her cross pendant underneath her collar while he talks, she doesn't bother to hide her charmed smile while he mentions being clever. Such boasting ought to be unbecoming, but everything he says has a certain energy to it. It reminds her again of the talk between the White Knight and Alice.

It's heartening to see him like this, in fact... It seems that only dread has been guiding the two of them up until this point. No matter the risk that this venture imposes, it also offers hope. They two are taking steps and choosing this path, rather than running from something else, for once. Perhaps even that is an illusion, but it's a well constructed one. She needs this distraction.

She pauses in her rolling up her sleeves past her elbow when he mentions trust. Again, there's that moment of uncertainty, but she brushes it aside when he shows her the blank page. If she looks confused, it's because she is. She supposes she ought to...trust him as well, then. It's just as hard for her to do so, and knowing what she does of him...

That makes it easier, somehow. Not because her knowledge gives her power over him, but because it strengthens solidarity. They are to keep one another from the threat of doom. So she nods and reaches out to take his hand in hers, giving it a gentle squeeze of reassurance. ]

The white knight continues ever forward. To glorious victory.

[ She'll wait for him to go before she completely undoes her hair from its bun and instead fashions it into a loose braid. Without a photo to identify her, any description of her surely can't be connected to Vanessa Ives. Miss Vanessa Ives wouldn't be caught dead with her hair down like this while in public, no matter the time of day.

She needs to get closer, just enough so that she can hear, waiting for the Doctor to approach before making her own way around the corner of a nearby building. From there, she should be able to peek and judge the situation without drawing attention. Her dark clothes certainly help her blend in with the night. ]

[thedreamer]

[ With a bit of exaggerated flourish, the Doctor holds onto her hand, bowing over it and kissing the back of it slowly. ]

Back in a moment! You'll hardly know I've been gone.

[ The smile on his face at this moment could best be described as self-assured and easy; decidedly different from the last time they'd been in one another's company. It puts him more at ease, to have this adventure with her, perfectly in his element, the two of them getting to know one another in a different way. He'd put her through something - well, quite terrible at the summit. Not his fault, technically, but it's difficult to see it any other way. He'd avoided her after that, running from her as he often runs from the harder things. But she deserves better from him, and he's drawn to her undeniably. They're connected, and he cares too much about her to keep away from her.

This is, perhaps, the start of an apology, without him knowing or even thinking to offer one to her. She deserves to see him differently than she has, all facets of him, and this is the most him. He's more than grateful she's here with him, given everything.

Letting go of her hand, the Doctor makes his approach to the safehouse, conveying confidence and certainty. There's not a single chance that door won't be opened for him. If he believes anything else, this won't work. Walking up to the guard, he brandishes his psychic paper, flashing it briefly, but not too briefly.

"Detective John Smith with the Agency. You've heard about the robberies around here lately? Parts being stolen? Can't be too careful. I only need a few minutes, just a routine spot check, make sure everything's locked up tight in here."

The guard, clearly overworked and underpaid, forced to carry on these duties alone, seems almost too eager and willing to let him inside. Perhaps he almost hopes for something to happen. The excuse he's been waiting for, to finally leave this place? Run away? Look for something better? The Doctor can't begin to assume or guess at his motivations, but it suits his purpose for the evening.

The baron's hubris again becomes fully apparent the moment the Doctor is inside. It's dark in here, though his eyes adjust easily and quickly. Otherwise, there's very little security actually inside. Could he possibly be so arrogant as to assume only one guard was needed for the outside, and no failsafes necessary inside? Oh, how the mighty fall.

There's a play at additional security, a vault that's been left unlocked. Intentionally? Who's to say. It's almost too easy.

With the benefit of having a coat with pockets that are much bigger on the inside than they appear to be, the Doctor quickly stuffs as many parts as he thinks he can into his pockets without being overly suspicious. The guard isn't even watching him, seemingly unconcerned, just observing the dark night stretched out in front of him. It's only been a few minutes, but he hopes he has enough to make at least some impact, some difference in everything that's happened. It's been challenging here, wanting to help as always, but finding that he's been able to do very little to affect any immediate change. This, at least, is something that gives him hope, for something to improve.

When he comes back outside, one hand stuffed into a pocket and his other hand rubbing his chin, he makes casual conversation with the guard.

"You do this all yourself, day in and day out? When do you rest? Sorry, sorry, not my business, I know. I'm sure he pays you well."

The face the guard makes clearly indicates otherwise.

"I won't tell you what to do, but at least just consider this: there's a whole big world out there, Edmund," the Doctor smiles gently. "It's okay to be tired, to want better. I've thought of it myself before. What can I do to make a difference, to serve a purpose? That gets you out of bed in the morning. Not this sort of thing, does it? He's not paying you what you're worth, clearly. Think about it."

He can't live anyone's life for them and he has to be careful how he influences events around him, but this isn't a fixed point in time, clearly. He can encourage the poor man and hope perhaps what happens here tonight might be the catalyst for something better.

He should leave now. They have the stolen parts, he's a short distance away from Vanessa, presumably, but the guard starts to respond and so naturally, they're off, talking about the job, his personal life, his frustrations with everything that's been happening lately. The Doctor gets so focused on this that he's unaware of what's happening just a short distance away. ]

[matermali]

[ From here, Vanessa can't quite make out every word, but she can tell by the tones that nothing seems to have gone amiss. Despite having decided to put her faith in his competence, she finds herself somewhat amazed that his ploy worked. How did that blank page fool anyone? It's a spell that she might have to ask to learn.

Still, while she's relieved that he didn't find himself in any danger, a small part of her is disappointed. Why, Vanessa... Are you that desperate to be useful? Are you so tired of hiding in the shadows? There's that shiver (something's behind you), that voice that's hers but isn't, and quite suddenly she whips around as if to face the demon always whispering in her ear. It's nowhere to be seen.

Instead there's a man—his height is almost as imposing as his glower. For a moment, she stands there disbelieving, wondering if she might be having one of her visions again. She can't always tell them apart from reality, after all. When he grabs her arm, rough and bruising, she knows it's real. What are you doing here? he growls, his voice low but still plenty threatening. Over-compensating with his grip and his menace. Why should he need to? Had he been somewhere he wasn't supposed to while this was going on? She can feel that his personal shame is barely concealed by misdirected anger.

The Doctor had only counted one, so where had this one been? Off conducting a shady deal from under the baron's nose? No, she smells perfume. She recognizes the scent. Oh.

A gasp, and Vanessa wonders if this is luck. Before he can try to drag her around the corner to demand what's going on to the other guard, Vanessa lifts her other hand to place over his. Gentle. She doesn't try to force his grip away, and in that moment's pause she seizes opportunity.

"You were with her."

His confusion only leads to a tighter grip, but Vanessa has suffered far worse, so she continues on with a soft voice. It's important that she doesn't lose his gaze, keeping her own voice quiet so that he has to lean to hear. Before he can finish growling out that he doesn't know what she's talking about:

"He already knows. He sent me here to warn you. If I disappear, then he'll know who to blame." More confusion follows, but the man's grip loosens just slightly, as if suddenly aware that he's bruising her. Why would the baron send a woman like her to convey a message? Perhaps because he would be more willing to listen to someone who isn't threatening. Perhaps it doesn't really matter, when this guard is clearly trying to keep himself from panicking at being found out. Vanessa barely takes a moment to consider that this may ruin a few lives if he believes her, but at the moment she's in danger and so there can be no mercy. If she's seen as suspicious, then the Doctor will be seen as suspicious, and the both of them might be thrown in prison. ...Or worse.

"He knows, because you aren't the first. He cares not who she fancies, only....the both of you have become careless in your transgressions. Do you wish to be discovered by the public? He may not care about your tryst, but he cares about his reputation. This is a warning."

The man doesn't react too kindly to that, and for a moment she wonders if she's overplayed her hand when he tightens his grip again and shoves her against the wall. The discussion in the distance has gone silent, and Vanessa doesn't know what would be worse: the first guard discovering them, or the Doctor himself. She doesn't waver, keeping her eyes locked on his with a voice far steadier than her racing pulse might suggest.

"How much further do you want to test the baron's patience? React now in any way that displeases him, and you will pray for a quick end. He already knows, you fool. He will not tolerate open disobedience any more than he will your clumsy attempts to mask your little tryst. Heed his warning. End it with her, or he will end everything for you."

His glare eventually wavers, and just as she begins to hear footsteps approaching, the guard releases her. His face is flushed, his eyes are wet, and he stalks around the corner with a grit to his teeth that can only be attributed to fear. It seems he doesn't want to risk explaining himself to whoever is approaching them, either, likely assuming it to be the other guard. Vanessa is too shaken to sense who it might be, though she conceals it until he turns away from her.

She sags against the wall once he turns the corner, her hand over her heart. The blood is rushing through her ears. He may still change his mind again, depending on how the Doctor handles him or vice versa. Vanessa must be ready to run at a moment's notice, but she won't go without the Doctor at her side. ]

[thedreamer]

[ The Doctor is approaching just as the man turns a corner, his dual heartbeats quickening at a brisk pace when he takes note of Vanessa seemingly in a state of duress. He does the calculations swiftly in his mind; man running away, Vanessa distressed. What was done to her? Again, in the span of a second, he calculates the likely scenario and then debates how he wants to handle this. Some might run after the man immediately, assuming ill intent – and he does assume ill intent – while others would go to Vanessa first. Though indeed, the Doctor is quite protective of his friends and has a streak of fierceness lurking beneath his kinder and gentler side, he will nearly always opt for the latter; check on his friend first. He must understand and know, without a doubt, what’s happened, and he must assure himself that she hasn’t been harmed. The man can be dealt with, if the situation calls for it, in a way most appropriate. The Doctor isn’t a fighter, no, not someone who would chase down a man only to beat them up; he can and has struck fear in the hearts of many, but in more manipulative, subtle, calculated ways. Weapons and violence aren’t needed to convey an air of someone not to be underestimated, particularly when friends and other innocents are harmed.

His mind works so quickly, turning over every consideration of what’s happened and what to do, it’s only the span of a few seconds.

So, he hurries forward, his hands already out, reaching to lightly grip at her arms, his touch so much gentler than it had been at the summit, when his fear of himself and what he’d do to everyone had driven him mad.

Ducking his head just enough to catch her eyes, he moves one hand to rest gently and lightly against her cheek, his eyes wider and darker, swimming with worry. ]

What’s happened? Are you okay?

[matermali]

[ Vanessa starts at his touch, but relief is quick to slacken her stance as she reaches to touch his hand in return. Understanding where his concern might stem from, she can only feel glad that there was no trouble between him and the departing guard. Such luck may not continue, however, if the second guard should not be in the same compliant mind as the first, especially after being threatened by a strange nameless woman. In fact, he may realize that she hadn't given a name, and come right back demanding one. ]

I am well. Worry not. I convinced him that I was here for another purpose. Did you find what you needed?

[ She can't see a sack of supplies or anything of the sort, leaving her wondering if he failed. He doesn't carry himself like a failure. He looks quite tall and ready to seek more trouble on her behalf, in fact, so she forces a smile to further soothe his worries. ]

[thedreamer]

Worry not. You know who you're talking to, right? Look at my face. Is this the face of someone who's not worried? I'll always worry about you.

[ Granted, she's relatively okay, he realizes. Physically. She may smile all that she wants to, but he's not swayed. There's more beneath the surface.

They did come here for a purpose, though, and he pivots to answer her question. Gently reaching for her hand again, if she'll allow, he carefully guides it to one of his coat pockets situated up high on his right side, just slightly below where one of his hearts beats solidly. She'll be able to feel many solid lumps, the repair parts that he'd managed to steal.

He could have just told her, but he does enjoy showing off sometimes. Maybe more than sometimes. ]

My pockets are bigger on the inside than they appear to be. We have what we need.

[ The Doctor's voice quiets when he hears footsteps nearing them again. The guard returning? Leaning in closer to Vanessa, he asks: ]

Did he threaten you?

[matermali]

[ Yes, she is looking at his face, and she can see quite a lot brewing beneath the surface. He may not be a violent man by nature, but Vanessa has seen nature change. It bubbles from her belly, cooing and coaxing her to assess her response carefully. Nurture it. Use it.

Her shoulders stiffen and roll back as though she's shaking something off, and her hand drops from his pocket while she glances away to the corner of the building. ]

No.

[ That isn't for him, though it may double well enough for an answer to his question. When she looks back to him, her nerves seem to have hardened, and her smile is sharp. ]

I threatened him. Come, we had best make ourselves scarce.

[ All the more reason they need to leave, just in case the guard changes his mind and takes the more foolish path. She'll pull at his sleeve to motion they move before she gathers her skirt up to let her take off at a run. She may not be able to run as fast as him at his best, but she trusts that they can use the darkness to their advantage. ]

[thedreamer]

[ There is a promise, a hint, of something darker, more dangerous, under the surface with the Doctor, always. In his previous incarnation, he'd let that darkness out more than he had in a very long time, since the Time War, and he loathed what he became, The Time Lord Victorious. It could have been far worse, admittedly. No, no, he could never - would never - allow himself to come close to that again. So it is that now, he keeps a very careful, close check on what he's capable of doing when the people he cares for are threatened. For everyone's sake, it's for the best that he restrains himself at all times.

Vanessa hasn't been harmed, supposedly, though he knows she's not being entirely forthright. He doesn't want to invite further trouble by lingering, but he wants to know more, he always does.

He didn't miss the way she rolled her shoulders back, the flicker of...something more in her eyes. They've shared much between them already, and to anyone else, a roll of her shoulders and a perceived shift in her eyes wouldn't be enough to indicate much of anything at all. But the Doctor notices far more than he generally lets on. He might not know what is lurking beneath the surface for Vanessa, not yet, but he will. He genuinely cares for her, worries for her, and because he suspects there's something dangerous lurking beneath for her as well, he wants and needs to help her. That can only come from building trust. Certainly, he could insist on helping her before she's ready, before she would even consent, but he's not that man. He won't be. Instead, he files it all away, remembering as he does everything.

For now, he simply follows her, though he does reach for her hand, to steady her as they run, to make sure she isn't grabbed from him by a bold guard wanting to exact vengeance on the woman who threatened him. ]

We need to turn over these parts, but I should take you back to your quarters first.

[matermali]

[ When they manage to return to where she's left her coat, Vanessa almost stumbles in her hurry to snatch it up, her braid temporarily falling to impede her view as she straightens up, but the Doctor's grip seems enough to steady her again. Breathless, she pushes her long braid aside and glances over her shoulder. If the man tried to follow, he must have given up quick.

She squeezes the Doctor's hand and lets it go, grateful as ever for his assistance, and drapes her coat over one arm before reaching back to try and pin her braid up back into a makeshift bun. She can't return to her residence looking so disheveled, after all! What would people think. ]

Ever the gentleman, Doctor. I fear that you really didn't need my help in this, at all. If anything, I put you at risk.

[ Who knows how the second guard might have reacted upon reaching the Doctor and the first guard too soon. It may have been a smoother exchange, and she wouldn't have had to risk ruining lives. Even still, there's the slightest smile touching her voice as she wrestles a pin from her pocket back into her hair. It's not easy without a mirror, and she can only imagine what a mess she looks.

But, it was fun. She does grow bored with her meager role in the city, it seems. ]

[thedreamer]

Oh no, very much the opposite, my dear Miss Ives - [ For once, addressing her more formally, but he's being cheeky about it. ] - you saved me from dreadful boredom, don't you realize? I'm a menace to everyone around me when I'm restless.

[ Truthfully, since he rarely needs sleep and so often wanders between the citadels and Neutral Zone as often as he can, all that time to himself gets desperately lonely. Whether she realizes just how lonely he was or not, he's grateful for the company. And they did a good thing! ]

You do look a bit of a mess, by the way.

[ Tactful Doctor, ever tactful. He says this with a fond smile on his lips, though, so that helps, right? Even as the words escape him, he steps forward, reaching out in an attempt to help. ]

What do we need to do here? Have you got it?

[ It should be obvious what she's trying to do, and yet...sometimes the most mundane, simple of tasks elude him. ]

[matermali]

[ Marking on his loneliness when they first met, like most of that initial exchange, has never left her, though it only makes it easier to take part in such eccentricities with him. Lonely hearts are often drawn to one another, at least in Vanessa's experience.

She hesitates only a moment, since she isn't accustomed to men helping with fashion, but being told she 'looks a mess' actually manages to draw a blush of embarrassment (luckily easy to miss in the darkness). Appearance is all part of Vanessa's play at control in a life that is otherwise very much out of her control, so she does hate to be seen like this. It had all been part of the game, however.

Understanding him to be teasing, Vanessa turns to accept his help, holding the silver dragonfly pin up for him to take. She tries to keep her fingertips against where the end of her braid has wrapped around, creating a somewhat messy bun, though parts of it keep falling away. ]

I fear that without a comb, I will remain a mess, but this will at least offer an illusion of decency until I return to my chambers.

[ Having someone just behind her isn't something she might normally be comfortable with, and even with him she is starkly aware of how close he is. Somehow it seems more personal than when she had been holding his face at the summit. To touch her hair, to see the nape of her neck, it feels very...intimate to her, and she holds exceedingly still when he tries to help, keeping her eyes ever forward in case their pursuer should appear hiking up the hill. ]

Though I am pleased to have assisted in staving off boredom, now you are once again bothered by tedium in dressing hair of all things. I suppose one never knows what they may sign on for when they adventure with Miss Vanessa Ives.

[thedreamer]

[ As if he really has any clue at all about this sort of thing, the Doctor approaches her nonetheless and takes the dragonfly pin with aplomb, a little grin to himself in the dark as he works at trying to better secure her hair. Before he goes any further, though, he reaches out to brush his fingers through her hair gently, just a little, smoothing a few errant strands. He thinks nothing of it, really, the intimacy not immediately occurring to him. It feels like the logical thing to do, to tidy the hair she's worried over. It's not that he's completely clueless to human behaviors and what certain gestures mean, but he is...somewhat terrible at judging when he's possibly crossed a boundary.

Even still, he's gentle and not presumptuous, simply tidying up her hair, gently and briefly stroking, tucking her hair up into a neat bun. ]

You've got it all wrong again, this is the complete opposite of tedious. I never get to do up my hair, just a quick brush-through, that's all it takes. Suppose this isn't really doing it up entirely, but I'm learning something! Begs the question, though, should I grow out my hair a bit, long enough to braid? Would I look cool with a braid? The new look?

[ He pins up her hair at last, and gives her a bit more space, stepping back to admire his work, as though he's done something extraordinary. ]

[matermali]

[ The care with which he helps tidy her hair leaves her fingers twisting in the fabrics of her skirt, her heart bruised all the more for the tenderness of such a touch. Something a mother might do, or a father. A sister. A lover. An old friend. There are not many who touch her hair, and she finds selfish comfort in it, to feel the fuss and care that only affection brings.

Vanessa dares not move until he is through and she can feel the breeze tickle the back of her neck. She momentarily considers his question before shifting to glance over her shoulder with a curious little tip to her smile. ]

I suspect you would look quite sharp no matter how you change your look.

[ The sleeves are rolled back down by the time she turns to face him, but she leaves them unbuttoned in favor of glancing him over. No matter how dark it is, she can see enough, and this smile is only for what she likes, so she shifts to his side to take his arm in hers for their journey back. ]

Yet, I think you are quite perfect just as you are, Doctor.