Seclusion: An Alien Solo RPG Campaign. Act 3, Part 1: You Have My Sympathies
Hello readers, well that last Act certainly ended on a rough note.
Poor Eugene won’t be in any condition to fight or do much of anything until he gets some serious medical assistance. In the short time frame of the rest of this campaign, Eugene won’t be able to participate in the story anymore. No worries, this was expected. So we have a choice between Casper and Kay (who I first named Kat, but mistakenly shifted to Kay at some point, oh well).
As much as I’d like playing the pill-popping Casper, I’m going with Kay. I think her ‘Get paid and get home’ attitude fits the story well and her skills as a Roughneck will be valuable in the remaining story. I’ll post her character sheet at the end of the post, but for the sake of time, I won’t go through her complete stat breakdown.
Well, readers, here we go into Act 3 of Seclusion, let’s see who survives…
—
It’s now three dice at the start of each scene.
Scene 1 - Roll: 3 Stress dice - NO Panics
Kay and Casper finish loading Eugene into the medpod. He suffered extreme internal damage and burns across his body from the flamer. The Flamer was Kay’s idea. When the gunshot alarms went off in the ship, she grasped the first thing close to hand, which was a flammer she had been keeping close.
Turned out the monster things hate fire and the thing that was the Captain and Juno quickly went down in a smoking ruin. Unfortunately, Eugene got a bit scorched also. She felt bad but at least he is alive. The medpod will keep him going for as long as it takes to reach the colony. He’ll be fine, but that company weasel Conrad won’t be.
Casper and she came up with the plan when they were bringing Eugene back to the medical station. Cut open the quarantine door. Grab Conrad. And chuck him out of the first airlock they find.
Then they will purge the database of all records. They both know that the company will take Conrad’s side in any dispute, so nobody must know what happened. It's risky, but it’s the only chance they had to stay alive and not in jail.
So that’s the plan.
“Kay, let’s get our suits on and head over to quarantine. I want to look into Conrad’s eyes when we start cutting that door open.”
Kay nods. She notices Conrad has been dipping into this pill stash every few minutes. How much has he taken and how much does he have left, Kay thinks. Doesn’t matter, so long as he keeps his shit together until after Conrad is floating in space.
Scene 2 - Roll: 3 Stress dice - NO Panics
Both Kay and Casper suit up in their bulky MK 5 Pressure suit. Kay is finishing her last cigarette as she seals the helmet to her head. Conrad picks up his cutting torch and they head to the quarantine section.
This time there isn’t any talking or negotiation. Casper pulls out his service pistol and Kay fires up the cutting torch and gets to cutting.
Roll Strength (5) - Heavy Machinery (5) - Stress (2) - One Success
Kay has cut through dozens of doors in her life and this one goes the same way as all the others. It takes time, but you got to do it right. Just a sliver of metal left uncut can keep a door shut. She is careful and efficient. The cuts are made and Casper gives the door a hard kick. It falls open.
Scene 2 - Roll: 3 Stress dice - 1 Panic
Ok, something unexpected happens. Well, pretty much everything is unexpected to these characters now. Is Conrad alive? A 4 on a D6. Yes But. Yes, but… Is Conrad infected? A 5, Yes. Right, I think I know what happened here.
Both Kay and Casper burst into the quarantine area. They search around the well-lit rooms and eventually find Conrad and Jessica 7 in the examination room.
Conrad is in a medical pod, while Jessica 7 is reviewing the readouts. Casper yells “Hands up Jessica. Why don’t you just power down for the moment while we have a conversation with Conrad? And Conrad, you piece of shit. Get out of that pod and talk to me like a man, you bitch.”
Conrad speaks weakly, “I would if I could Casper. I would if I could. You see, I am infected myself. We didn’t fully understand how infectious this new life form is. I’m afraid to say, we were all dead the second we brought those bodies onto the Bison. Slowly, oh so slowly, I am turning into one of those monstrosities.”
Kay steps forward, “Your lying. You don’t care about anything but money. We all know that. So tell us, are you lying or telling the truth?
Roll Empathy (4) - Manipulation (0) - Stress (2) - One Success and One Panic, a Fail
Panic Roll - Current Stress 2+1 (on a D6) = 3 Keeping it together
Conrad laughs a low guttural laugh. “Yes, I am telling the truth for once. The company has promised my family a fortune if I let Jessica 7 keep experimenting on me. In fact, they will never want for anything again in their life. All I have to do is keep the ship on course.”
“And what happens when the Bison gets to its destination? Will this lifeform get out? Will the company turn it into a bioweapon? What happens? And what happens to us?” Kay yells at Conrad.
“I don’t know and frankly I don’t care. I care about very little now. There is pain, yes. But there is also a sublime feeling. Like I’m being lifted into heaven. Don’t worry, you’ll soon know what it feels like. By Jessica’s calculations, you should be feeling the effect of the pathogen in a few short hours. Then you’ll have a couple of hours after that. And then, you’ll have nothing.”
 |
| Conrad in his medpod. |
Kay looks at Casper and clearly sees he is losing his cool. He is gripping his pistol tighter and tighter. “Fuck you, Conrad. I was going to enjoy throwing you out an airlock, but I’ll have to settle for blowing your slimy fucking brains out.”
Raising his pistol. He fires three rounds into the med pod.
Does his bullet penetrate the medpod? The Dice says a simple No.
The bullets ping off the medpod, and Conrad laughs, and laughs until he starts choking and coughing.
Scene 3 - Roll: 3 Stress Dice - No Panic
Kay and Casper retreat to the mess room and sit around a depressing meal of packaged protein bars.
“He’s full of shit, right? Like we won't turn into one of those monster things, will we?” Kay asks. “I got a family back home and people depending on me. I don’t trust the company more than a fart after six beers, so I sure as hell don’t trust the company to look after them if I die in a freak space zombie accident.”
Casper opens his pill box and pops a few tablets into his mouth. Kay wonders how big his pill stash is. “I don’t know Kay. But we are still on course to the colony. If this shit is catching, it’s going to be a massacre for those colonists. If it isn’t and Conrad is a lying piece of shit, you know the company will take this stuff and perform experiments on it. If it isn’t a bioweapon, it will be.”
Kay looks down at her protein bar, “So what’s the plan? I’m not keen on overriding the reactor and turning us into a small sun. At least not yet.”
“No, it won’t come to that. Here’s what we do. I’ll head to the bridge and take control of the piloting controls. I can take us off course and strand us somewhere. Then we call the company and can do a bit of blackmail. You head to the reactor. If I can’t turn the ship, you can shut the reactor down and we will sail past the colony. Sound good?”
“Should we be splitting up? I don’t think it's a good idea. What if Jessica tries to stop us or Conrad becomes one of those undead fuckers?”
Casper pops another pill and smiles. Kay notices his facial muscles are starting to twitch. “Well if that happens, I’ll put a bullet in both their heads. Good luck Kay.”
---
Well, one more act to go before it's all over. Will they be able to stop or turn the Bison or will the company get its way as usual? Be sure to tune in next week for the conclusion! Thanks for reading again folks!
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