Worse Than the Disease 2 IC

[u-b]

Sean acknowledges the information and says that at some later time, most likely tomorrow, he will say either where this has to be delivered or when his courier will arrive. He asks whether the VIP can order his people investigate a recent attempt at Sean's life that happened somewhere near where the hospital should have been. Sean says he would gladly pay back those 200 rifle bullets for any solid enough info. He waits a bit for any reaction, then says no reply on this proposal is necessary right now, but he'd like to have one tomorrow. He then ends the exchange and starts another one, with the Radar Base of all places, also securely encrypted. He says he'd like to have himself and Richard chat with the person in charge of Waffle House personnel here at the Radar Base and/or of Waffle House operations in general. Since we are quarantining, this probably cannot be in person, but Sean has secure encryption on his end, so this dshould be good. The topic would be some shaky infos of maybe strategic consequences. If a time is appointed, preferably today or tomorrow, Sean would prefer to have Bart invited as well. Inviting the Funny Platoon and Vermont Rangers is at Waffle House's option.

[Shoot Da Moon]

The spokeswoman is happy to hear from him tomorrow. They will inform the courier that he is needed.
The VIP will consult his contacts right away about any assassinations bought recently in Bread Basket, yes. It should not cost too much at all.

Richard, listening in, is almost certain the spokeswoman is lying to them with every second breath.

The Waffle House transplants chief is in high spirits today. He chirp a greeting with almost irritating enthusiasm. He states that they can round up a posse of 8 men at a moment’s notice to help fight. The fighters have shotguns with slugs, semi-automatic internal magazine pistols, 3 reloads of ammo, metal armour, survival skills, motorcycles or horses, a decent range of diverse other knowledges amongst all of them, and a good overview of the state region. Bart the Hunter can join up, we have enough food so he does not need to bring home any more bacon.

[u-b]

Sean proposes Richard gets out of the captive:
1. Some history of interaction between him and the fixer and the fixers like him at Bread Basket (including a number of most recent, notable and/or typical tasks done for them, including for trends and changes in targeting).
2. Some history of interaction between him and the mutant animals and, generally, mutants.
3. Some history of interaction between him and the raider/slaver men with neck tattoos.
4. A list of names, roles and descriptions of everyone involved in the attempt on our lives. Sean is not sure he'll do anything with this, but why not? It's not like we don't have the time.
5. A bit more in-depth on the fixer, like where and how he is located and contacted sort of thing. Sean would like to know if one can get at the guy one way or another.

This might end well into the evening or be completed tomorrow, Sean does not mind. Sean will take a nap while Richard conducts interrogations and stands guard for most of the night. We switch from duct tape to handcuff to keep the man, because that should be more convenient for letting him take a piss or what not.

Healing-wise, we have a Doctor's Bag at Radar Base arsenal and a Crash Kit in Bart's bakcpack and some spare antibiotics to prevent opportunistic infections and are willing to use those as appropriate. Sean generally follows the advice if the doctors, but also questions any part of the treatment he does not immediately understands.

Spoiler

Show

Physician 10 and Sean would like to end up understanding what and why is being done.

[Shoot Da Moon]

Richard gets to work grilling the captive further.
(OC: Only a single Interrogation roll is needed this time, it will cover the entire range of questions Sean wants you to ask plus any you come up with on your own. The captive opposes the questioning with Will 12.)

The captive is pretty annoyed with all this. He almost prefers being left for dead or even executed. It would at least give him some measure of privacy. The doctors looking him over declares the leg injury is a badly torn muscle and a broken bone, it will take 2 months to fully heal without surgery. They comment that it could have easily been permanent...

The doctors tending to the exiles are not doing anything out of the ordinary; snitching skin, staunching any bleeding, replacing bandages, anti-sceptic for infections, keeping the patients clean and warm, etc. The medical supplies should hold out long to fully heal with bed rest. The medics are nervous, however...

(OC: Sean, you can roll HT with +1 for recovery AND roll Physician-16 (bonuses already applied) for the medics in addition to that, at the end of the day, as per B424-425.
Richard, if time passes into the late night, roll HT-4+1 with your usual bonuses for resisting disease (Physician skill by NPCs gives the +1 already noted, antibiotics won't help in this instance). Failure means you lose another 2 HP. You can't recover HP until you are cured.)

[Volthawk]

Richard sighs and nods when the doctors explain about the state of the man's leg, and explains how it was a choice between that or killing him dead there and then. Regardless of what the guy's saying now, Richard's still of the belief that alive is better.

Besides Sean's questions, Richard also asks about the mercenary side of the equation - the man's peers, individuals notable in the world he lives in, others that might come after the exiles with an eye towards collecting that bounty. After all, people tended to settle into favoured strategies and approaches to problems, so if they had an idea of the kind of tricks other teams might pull the exiles might have a better chance of getting out alive. On a related note, he was also curious about what kinds of arms trading went on around Bread Basket, the caliber of equipment those coming after the exiles might have. They already came up against snipers, sure, but what other kit were teams running around with, to his knowledge?

Richard also can't help but pick up on the medics' concern, particularly combined with his existing concerns about how he was feeling. In the morning, feeling little better, he pulls one of them aside and asks them straight - how bad an illness is this? After a few moments, he adds on the more paranoid part of his thinking on the subject - was there a chance that this isn't a natural thing, but something left over from the old world? Given what they already knew about the kind of biotechnology being worked on in those days, and the way things ended...

[Shoot Da Moon]

The captive is sullen and surly. Questioning him is a tedious process.

He comments that he never really trusts fixers, even the ones with good records and decent pay. He thinks he have too much motive to screw over people to be worth trusting. The guy who hired him to kill Sean and Richard had a reputation for paying on time and keeping his mouth, but why let that stop you from being on guard? The name he mentions, “Lemon Juice”, is unknown to the exiles.

He hates mutants and animals. Never worked with them, just killed everyone he ever came across. He’s not a hunt for food type, but he got no problem with blasting a game animal. The bells ringing to attract wildlife was someone else’s idea.

The Mercedes hates raiders and slavers, he’s shot plenty of them and he loved every second of it. It seems it’s personal for him, but the matter is something he refuses to discuss further.

He knew only the other pistoleros by name. They are called Brickbuster, Blister, Sam-O, Pizza and Jo-Jo. “You wouldn’t know them.” The others were keeping their distance, not unusual for professional killers. He thinks the guy with the flamethrower was an outsider to the valley, probably never set foot in Bread Basket until 3 days ago.

He claims Lemon Juice approached him with the job, he doesn’t know the guy well enough to know where he hangs out or how to get in contact. Not that he’d bother anyway, the guy looked like a flake or a chiseler. Best avoid characters like that.

The merc thinks Sean and Richard should stay out of Bread Basket and the valley. The enforcers aren’t gonna help you, they’re corrupt, paid off by plenty of scum. He figures mercenaries after the bounty won’t travel out past the valley’s outer limits just to track you down. The exiles are safe from the hunting party if they keep about 10 miles north of Bread Basket.

He comments that most other bounty hunters set up ambushes along major roads for days to catch their quarry. His usual allies carry shotguns and SMGs, but he works best with other pistoleros.

He shrugs when asked how the bounty hunters might try to get the exiles. “Beats me. I usually just wait outside a bar, they come out drunk, I blast ‘em from behind or smack ‘em in the back of the head. They know some nutty stuff, I never bought into it.”

If you want guns in Bread Basket, you buy heavy pistols, semi-automatic rifles and various kinds of shotguns from biker gangs and racketeers. Most prefer solid slugs to buckshot when they load up shotguns. The gun trade is pretty illegal, but bribes can keep you out of jail. Armor is either the unimpressive metal stuff, but you can find some genuine Kevlar if you got lots of barter and the racketeers like you enough. He bought his own body armour from a gangster working the slum hangouts.

The medics are concerned by Richard’s condition. They comment that the illness may cause some nasty nausea if it progresses too much. And the flu could last a whole month at worst. Maybe some Old World nano-tech meds could boost his physiology enough to fight off the disease, but that’s a long shot to acquire at best.
Richard starts feeling worse later that night.
(OC: Richard loses another 2 HP.)

[u-b]

By the morning Sean feels good enough to actually think and do something, so he proceeds to discuss stuff, with Richard at first. The captive gets some respect for not being aligned with the slavers and the creators of mutant animals, but for now that does not change anything much, so Sean leaves the man in the next room, behind a closed door, with hands manacled behind the back and with ears full of earplugs. Then goes the actual discussing...

1. The notion that we might have attacked a food truck might lead to food trucking being suspended for some unknowable time or cancelled outright, which might or might not be intended. Which will severely affect our funds, which, again, might be as intended.
2. Bread Basket is probably not FULLY allied with slavers and people making mutant monstrosities because, as we have seen, they were even unable to quietly ship the materials there, but some or all of the leadership might be cooperating, infiltrated or allied. The fact that they were having a drug-fighting task posted for outsiders suggests they are not all in the same boat on this one as well.
3. Sean sees the following reasons why we might be targeted (these are not exclusive with each other):
- a general cleanup by the VIP following us potentially learning something sensitive; this is possible, but seems rather extensive and expensive as a preventive measures go; such a big deal out of drug dealership before we've even discussed how we proceed about it?
- a targeted prevention of us interfering with the mutant lab creation facility; if this is the case, the fact that the VIP's people are involved in the attempt probably means that the VIP himself is involved in the activity
- a business decision to avoid paying for goods we have sold (this probably is NOT the sole reason)
4. They definitely have a lot of official secrets in there, judging by how they deny obvious stuff and how they wanted to restrict our access to the prisoners.
5. If they are behind the recent mass off attacks by mutant animals, especially on their main competitors in food-growing business, we probably cannot just leave them alone and will have to treat at least some of them just like we treat the raider guys.

So, what are Richard's thoughts about the situation and what he proposes we do next?

[Shoot Da Moon]

DAY 78

The morning weather is slightly dreary today. Perhaps it may rain later?

Richard and Sean are delivered their breakfast by medics with face masks. They otherwise stay out of their way and let them rest.

[Shoot Da Moon]

During the late morning, another caravan of wanderers visits the radar base. They bring news from around the state, most notably they talk of robot sentinels patrolling along a mountain trail. They also speak of a drug-dealing gang spreading their influence across the middle of the region, hawking bootleg booze and opioids they made in some Old World lab, seriously annoying the mobsters in Red Brick. They also claim to have discovered a sealed vault of Old World cultural artefacts that they could not penetrate into, but could reveal the location of (for a good payment).

Later that day, as the sun I starting to go down, multiple vans and their escorts show up at the base to complete the deliveries Sean has ordered. Updates over the radio confirm Waffle House received their shipment, too. The base staff spend a good hour getting it all unloaded for the exiles.

The delivery people complain of running into multiple packs of rabid mutant creatures and man-eating planets en-route. They had to open fire a lot, sometimes literally (they have a small improvised flamethrower and some petrol bombs). Thankfully, none of the cargo was damaged, and the injuries were minor.

[u-b]

Sean calls Bread Basket on the radio. Not the VIP guy's people, but those of the city leadership. He raises the following topics:
1. There was an attempt on his and Richard's lives, which has to be sorted out before we can continue with the jobs the city is posting.
2. There seem to be a reward on our heads or something, so this does not seem to be one-off, so this will have to be investigated before we return to Bread Basket.
3. Is the city in any way behind it or maybe has anything at all against Richard and Sean? If not, maybe the city is interested in knowing more about it? This might or might not be related to the tasks we have contracted to be doing.

When the caravan arrives, Sean listens to the radio as the radar base people relay the important news that have come with it and/or give the microphone to the comers. Sean says he would be buying the info, both about the robot sentinels patrolling along the mountain trail and about the sealed vault. He lets Richard negotiate the actual payments. He also asks which entities seem to be most troubled by the abundance of the mutant animals and which seem to be most ambivalent. Does the caravan sell anything? Sean will not be open for business until he learns that his stuff has arrived, but the caravan probably won't leave before tomorrow, so we can as well trade with them.

Spoiler

Show

I still wait for Volthawk's reply to #937 above, but also moving things a bit forward. Sean has a lot of plans for today, none of which require getting out of the room.

[Volthawk]

Sean's suggestions for why the VIP turned on them gives Richard some pause. He'd been a little tunnel-visioned on recent events when thinking about this, and hadn't considered the possibly of the VIP being involved in some of the other things going on around here, like the mutant lab. He's a little skeptical about that explanation though, but when it comes to whether or not events directly tied to the VIP would be enough to warrant all this, Richard brings up the point that Sean may have forgotten - they know that Daisy is a mutant. Given they heard nothing about that before finding Daisy, and the way she reacted when Richard noticed her mutations - the look she gave him, the way she went for heavy clothing immediately to hide them - combined with the experiences they've had elsewhere when it comes to the matter of mutants (he's sure Sean remembers the trouble they had at Red Brick just from his minor nanomachine-caused mutations) leads him to be pretty certain that that was the real secret that meant the VIP wanted discretion. Odds are, if Richard never noticed the mutation, they'd have parted ways amicably enough - people with that amount of power and influence could sway the scales of justice easily enough to keep Daisy safe from criminal accusations, but the exiles being out there knowing about the mutations...that may have been enough to force the VIP's hand to clean house, particularly when...

Richard needs a few moments to piece together this next thought, before putting it foward to Sean for consideration. Did he remember how the VIP talked about Daisy's family? The unspecified medical conditions that run in the family, the general discomfort the VIP showed towards talking further about the topic...what if an entire family, powerful in Bread Basket's society, were mutants? They would have to hide that fact from the general population, given the general attitudes towards mutants they've seen out in the world - in no small part due to the Sinful Nature, of course, but the average person out here probably isn't going to put too much effort into distinguishing between mutant clones and other kinds of mutants, and Sinful Nature mutants and mutants with other affiliations. If their secret were to get out, that'd cause...instability. They might not fall outright, but there might be unrest. Disruption. The kinds of things those in power don't want to see. With those stakes, perhaps then a bit of preemptive defamation and assassination would be in order to make sure we don't cause any problems - either by killing us outright, making it so we stay well away from Bread Basket, ruining our good name in the region so people don't listen to us, or some mixture of the three.

Circling back to Sean's other ideas about the leaders of Bread Basket...Richard's still not convinced that they're involved with the monster-making research directly, he's not sure where sufficient benefit for them comes into it, although...before Richard's theory about Daisy's family, they'd only benefit in...payment from the raiders, perhaps, or some general notion that unrest in the wider region strengthens the city's position, but when you put the raiders doing biotech work and a Bread Basket family being mutants...perhaps they're benefitting in more specific ways. Raiders get their monsters to carry out their mission of destabilising the region, and this family either gets the benefit of their research to help with their own problems, or a cut of the raw materials used in the research to supply their own medical procedures focused around their own mutation. With that in mind, of course they'd try to hide what they're doing as much as possible, smuggling the materials involved instead of openly transporting them, making sure that any prisoners taken when parts of the operation are exposed are unavailable and swept up in the bureaucracy...using the drug situation as cover for as much of it as possible. This was...starting to make a degree of sense to Richard, and he wasn't sure he liked that.

[Shoot Da Moon]

The caravan is not selling anything but the information at the moment.
They offer a base price of barter worth $100 for information on the robots and $1000 for the location of the sealed vault.
The wanderers claim that all the settlements in the state are reacting to the increased presence of mutant wildlife by further fortifying their walls and sending out heavier patrols of hunters to thin their numbers.
They judge Red Brick in particular as very eager to slaughter all the threatening fauna, to the point of despoiling the surrounding wilderness in a frenzy of industry.

Richard is taking a turn for the worst, he feels like throwing up every time he moves around too much.

[u-b]

When the food truck from Bread Basket arrives at the Radar Base, Sean calls Gunmetal to ask if they have also received the food trucks. When they confirm they have, Sean...
1. Redirects all the stuff bought straight to Radar Base. This includes stuff originally scheduled for Bread Basket and stuff scheduled for self-pickup. Sean has already ordered a caravan of steel parts for the perimeter and a bunch of assorted chemicals and gun parts to be delivered to Radar Base, so sending some more stuff along with Tariq's order should be just fine.
2. Warns about mutant animals wandering around.
3. Orders a bit more stuff, if this can be included on such a short notice:
- a new visor for his helmet
- a new windshield for the van
- three simple 2x fixed-power rifle scopes
- 1290 rifle cartridges

This should bring our balance with them down to $40000, which Sean is inclined to keep for the moment.

After that Sean tells Bart to pay the men 110 rifle cartridges for their info.

After that Sean gets in contact with Chalmers in Red Brick and says that:
4. The remaining gear for the troops should arrive from Gunmetal to Radar Base soon enough, maybe even tomorrow. The transportation has already arrived.
5. There are mutant animals wandering around, so care should be taken traveling to Radar Base.
6. We have a man that seems to have caught some viral disease in the gutter, so we might need medical help from Red Brick. Can Chalmers procure something or give us a radio contact of some entity with which we can discuss it further?
7. We seem to have some leads on mutant fauna and/or new drug production facility which we would want to investigate, so if Chalmers can talk to any entity in Red Brick that might be willing to send some representatives to take part in the ops, he should probably do that and give those people our contacts. We have the funding to cover any expenses. Sean thinks it might be beneficial if #6 and #7 goes through the same entity, assuming it actually goes on both counts.

[Shoot Da Moon]

Sean calls Bread Basket on the radio. Not the VIP guy's people, but those of the city leadership. He raises the following topics:
1. There was an attempt on his and Richard's lives, which has to be sorted out before we can continue with the jobs the city is posting.
2. There seem to be a reward on our heads or something, so this does not seem to be one-off, so this will have to be investigated before we return to Bread Basket.
3. Is the city in any way behind it or maybe has anything at all against Richard and Sean? If not, maybe the city is interested in knowing more about it? This might or might not be related to the tasks we have contracted to be doing.

The people at Bread Basket refuse to hear Sean out.
They accuse him of working with Red Brick gangsters, and they threaten to execute him if they ever find him anywhere near their territory again.
Then they abruptly hang up.

When the food truck from Bread Basket arrives at the Radar Base, Sean calls Gunmetal to ask if they have also received the food trucks. When they confirm they have, Sean...
1. Redirects all the stuff bought straight to Radar Base. This includes stuff originally scheduled for Bread Basket and stuff scheduled for self-pickup. Sean has already ordered a caravan of steel parts for the perimeter and a bunch of assorted chemicals and gun parts to be delivered to Radar Base, so sending some more stuff along with Tariq's order should be just fine.
2. Warns about mutant animals wandering around.
3. Orders a bit more stuff, if this can be included on such a short notice:
- a new visor for his helmet
- a new windshield for the van
- three simple 2x fixed-power rifle scopes
- 1290 rifle cartridges

This should bring our balance with them down to $40000, which Sean is inclined to keep for the moment.

After that Sean tells Bart to pay the men 110 rifle cartridges for their info.

After that Sean gets in contact with Chalmers in Red Brick and says that:
4. The remaining gear for the troops should arrive from Gunmetal to Radar Base soon enough, maybe even tomorrow. The transportation has already arrived.
5. There are mutant animals wandering around, so care should be taken traveling to Radar Base.
6. We have a man that seems to have caught some viral disease in the gutter, so we might need medical help from Red Brick. Can Chalmers procure something or give us a radio contact of some entity with which we can discuss it further?
7. We seem to have some leads on mutant fauna and/or new drug production facility which we would want to investigate, so if Chalmers can talk to any entity in Red Brick that might be willing to send some representatives to take part in the ops, he should probably do that and give those people our contacts. We have the funding to cover any expenses. Sean thinks it might be beneficial if #6 and #7 goes through the same entity, assuming it actually goes on both counts.

Gunmetal got their trucks and the delivery, yes.
Sean's request goes through.
The warning is noted. They comment that local hunters and rangers have indeed reported more dangers out there.
They can sell him a new helmet visor, a new windshield, the scopes and the rifle bullets. They record the charge, and arrange the delivery.

The wanderers are paid by Bart, and helpfully draw up a map along with a full account of their findings.

Chalmers is thankful to hear the delivery is on time.
Chalmers is confident his men can travel safely.
Chalmers can try asking around Red Brick for a doctor. It might cost a lot, though. And the journey between Red Brick and the radar base is not trivial.
Chalmers can pass along the leads. He has a underboss working a casino who can help with what the exiles are concerned with.

[u-b]

Sean confirms willingness to pay the doctor: consultation, transportation, guards, fees, drugs and what not. Two preconditions are the reputation of the doc and his willingness to take our specific case.

Sean contacts the VIP's person and tells that the payment should be delivered to a trusted lawyer local to Bread Basket that would be willing to take Sean's case. The service would be to determine the kind and relevant details of legal situation the Sean is currently in and to report to Sean over the radio. Any subsequent representation to resolve said legal situation might be paid for separately, we'll see when we get to that stage.

Sean finally gets off the radio and asks the prisoner if he has any leads against raiders / slavers that he would like us to pursue?

And we probably call it a day.

Spoiler

Show

Two question about flamethrowers:
1. Do all models ignore range attack penalties?
2. Do they still count as ranged for the purpose of determining All-Out Attack's benefits (+1 or +4 determined)?

[Shoot Da Moon]

Sean confirms willingness to pay the doctor: consultation, transportation, guards, fees, drugs and what not. Two preconditions are the reputation of the doc and his willingness to take our specific case.

Sean contacts the VIP's person and tells that the payment should be delivered to a trusted lawyer local to Bread Basket that would be willing to take Sean's case. The service would be to determine the kind and relevant details of legal situation the Sean is currently in and to report to Sean over the radio. Any subsequent representation to resolve said legal situation might be paid for separately, we'll see when we get to that stage.

Sean finally gets off the radio and asks the prisoner if he has any leads against raiders / slavers that he would like us to pursue?

And we probably call it a day.

Spoiler

Show

Two question about flamethrowers:
1. Do all models ignore range attack penalties?
2. Do they still count as ranged for the purpose of determining All-Out Attack's benefits (+1 or +4 determined)?

The doctor would cost $6 per mile of travel to where Sean wants him, each day of the doctor’s work costs $50, the doctor has two bodyguards who require $25 per day of work each.

The VIP contact agrees to Sean’s idea and promises to make arrangements.

The captive knows nothing of raiders and slavers.

(OC: flamethrowers are Jet attacks. I think they count as melee attacks with very long Reach, not affected by range penalties. +4 for AoA Determined.)

[Volthawk]

Naturally, Richard has no opposition to Sean's plan to get him a doctor through Chalmers - he quite liked the man and the Rangers as a whole, and saw no reason to distrust him. Help with the leads they've found would also be appreciated - Richard asks Sean about the status of that equipment they were trying to get to force their way into the zombie labs, although he's not sure how much Red Brick or the Rangers would be motivated to help there, since these creatures they've found seem to be new enough that much of the wasteland doesn't know much about them yet, and so doesn't see them as a significant threat yet (although Red Brick's general anti-mutant fervor and this particular operation against mutated animals may be easy to extend to the lab and zombies, he supposes).

When it comes to the wanderers, now they have the map for the vault and presumably rough ranges for the robots, Richard's mainly curious about details of the latter. The exiles had come across a degree of artifical intelligence before, but this was the first time he remembered hearing about full-blown robots wandering around. What did the wanderers know about their behaviour - did they attack everyone they see, or have they held their fire at times that might suggest some kind of criteria before firing, or precise targets they're after? Was there anything known around that mountain road that might suggest their interest? Hell, what did the wanderers know about their appearance and equipment?

He's still not entirely sure what good continuing to make arrangements with the VIP's people is, given what's going on behind closed doors there, but he's willing to let Sean work and see where it's going.

[Shoot Da Moon]

According to the purchased information on the robots, the machines are equipped with integrated automatic rifles, they have only opened fire on people who "trespassed" onto certain distinct Old World buildings (described as large concrete structures with heavy metal security doors built into the mountain side) along the trail or attacked the machines first, they have treads and multiple red-glass sensors.

The exiles go to sleep without incident that night...

DAY 79

The morning comes with good weather. Sean continues to recover, but Richard is still ill.
Come midday, the exiles receive news from their radio operators that the delivery trucks have all finally arrived at their destinations and dropped off the orders.
Everything looks all clear on that front.

[u-b]

Having gotten a "go" that the hardware is coming, Tariq spends a day laying out the fortifications. The perimeter is conceptually a simple enough thing, but even so has more than one way to be drawn, and then there would be buildings inside that should be somehow integrated into the whole plan of defense - which buildings should have how many stories, which buildings would feature which type of positions in basements and which would feature positions in windows or on roofs, and where we might want to place some gabions and a lot of other such matters. Sean does his best to give tactical consultations about how attacks on these fortifications might be performed or defended against.

While at it, Sean also tells the men back at Waffle House to observe the demonstration of the copter, see that it is a full extensive kit as agreed and, if everything seems to be in order, to pay with the car we have parked there and eventually send it here to radar base. This is to be paid for by debiting our account with them.

When the equipment arrives, it is to be unloaded. Most of the heavy lifting concerns the perimeter (three full truckloads of it), but then there are less bulky, but more expensive parts. The later are to be accounted for by Tariq. If we have to pay for people to unload the trucks, we do that, but supposedly people here would be eager enough to improve their protection by working on it, especially since we have already paid for the hardware.

In the afternoon, Sean does not do much. He checks with the radio people if there are any news about the mutants that earlier went somewhere about the raiders' factory. He also places the two locations bought on the map to see where they fit the picture and how it would be most convenient to visit one or the other.

[Shoot Da Moon]

The work goes along swimmingly. The most pressing concerns is the perimeter fence and the entrances into the base. Both are fortified with the new stuff, defense trenches are dug, camouflaged sniper perches are planned. The wanderers, the hopeful laborers, and those taking shelter from the wilds all pitch in to complete the work. It might take a full few days to get it all done, but morale is high and the materials are all there.

Waffle House confirms the delivery and the orders. They already have a man on it, expect him in about 18 hours.

News of any mutants going north is rare, but eventually someone reports in that they heard of a big battle going off around there. They're not sure if anyone survived or why they started shooting, however.

The reports of the robots come from the middle of the state, about 50 to 70 miles away from the radar base.
The reports of the vault place it somewhere in a small town that's at the western border half-way between the southern end and the passage into Canada. Estimated to be 65 to 80 miles away from the radar base.

[Volthawk]

Not wanting to heavily exert himself in this state if he doesn't need to, Richard mostly does more reading, going back to the old intel (both information found in the field and written down information from interrogations) they have about various raider positions, holdings and areas of interest and checks them against the new areas of interest, the robot patrols and the vault - if they can know in advance if the enemy has a presence in the area, that'd be useful.

He also considers what they're going to actually do about these two rumours. If nothing else, they'd need to pack appropriately - Richard raises the thought to Sean that depending on the resilience of the robots (it struck him overnight that the wanderers didn't specify how big these things are, just their equipment) they might need to bring something heavier than their normal rifles, or perhaps they could try to get a supply of armour-piercing rounds from Gunmetal? They'd also need to actually get into the vault, or the bunkers the robots are guarding - they do have that plasma cutter coming eventually, but thinking back to their own old Shelter Richard's dubious about anything they could carry being able to just cut their way in if they're sealed. Perhaps they could try to find someone skilled enough with computers to make use of whatever surface-level equipment remains to force the door open that way, or maybe try to find another military facility above ground in search of codes or keycards or something like that, or...now he thought about it, he wondered if and how the Shelters and other underground bunkers were connected to the Gutter. Thinking some more about the robots, he also wonders if there's potentially a way to fool them - military killbots must have some system in place to not accidentally shoot their own men or a VIP from the old world government, right? At this point, most of this is just speculation without much certainty, though.

[Shoot Da Moon]

Richard's cross-referencing with his old intelligence reveals not much. He does note, however, that most of the raider scum have not explored or travelled near the supposed location of the robots' patrols, from what he can see. Perhaps they had the good fortune not to stumble upon forces that could easily destroy them? The vault of stuff in the ruined town is similarly untouched, because it seems the black neck tattoo people avoid urban ruins if they can help it (logical enough).

[u-b]

Sean points that being equipped with integrated automatic rifles probably places both lower and upper limits on their size. No one in the Old World would equip a tank-sized thing with just automatic rifles. Armor-piercing rounds are sort of available. Sean has bought some very good ones for Richard and himself. These will leave nice small round holes in just about anything, but for real effect you'll have to target the robots' vitals, which means knowing the robots' vitals, which might require some guessing if they would appear armor-clad all over the whole area. Sean bought two extended magazine worth of cheaper AP rounds for anyone with M1918 BAR and Tariq will probably make some HEDP stuff for the GLs, so offense-wise we are about good, but Sean clearly does not want to just go and fight some robots without first being convinced that it would be a good thing to do.

Sean is not very concerned about getting into the vault mentioned. Meaning, it's a vault, not a Shelter, so probably not nuclear-blast-proof and we have already gotten into one bank vault lately, so we'll see what can be done about it, but it sure will be something. Sean does not expect it to be breaking military-grade encryption, but likely more some physical thing.

[Shoot Da Moon]

The two exiles in quarantine continue to keep warm and fed for the rest of the day.

Nothing of importance seems to happen as night falls...

DAY 80

The exiles wake up to a bright morning, and find Richard still feels horrible.
2 hours after both men eat their breakfast, a doctor from the city of Red Brick arrives at the base with his bodyguards, expecting a paying job.

[u-b]

Sean tells Bart to pay 50 pistol cartridges to the doc and to send him in along with local doctors. The doctor from Red Brick is to...
1. Review the diagnosis.
2. Review the healing plan.
3. Advise on any better healing plans, including those needing better medicine and/or better facilities and/or directed against only the symptoms*.

Spoiler

Show

I have 22 miles recorded between Red Brick and Radar Base, so 50 rounds should be enough to both pay and show we are not penny-pinchers.

*Meaning primarily negating further damage, even if Richard will require continued medical help.

[Shoot Da Moon]

Sean tells Bart to pay 50 pistol cartridges to the doc and to send him in along with local doctors. The doctor from Red Brick is to...
1. Review the diagnosis.
2. Review the healing plan.
3. Advise on any better healing plans, including those needing better medicine and/or better facilities and/or directed against only the symptoms*.

Spoiler

Show

I have 22 miles recorded between Red Brick and Radar Base, so 50 rounds should be enough to both pay and show we are not penny-pinchers.

*Meaning primarily negating further damage, even if Richard will require continued medical help.

The doctor takes the payment, then gets down to business. He warns the exiles that the cost will only be going up from here.

(OC: The recovery roll for HP is improved by the doctor; the Physician effective skill is now 20. This may not help Richard directly, but he’ll need it in the future.)

He rolls out his equipment in a personal working space and makes sure to double-check the base’s medical staff’s findings on Richard’s illness. He pitches the idea of inventing an antidote, but he warns them that it will both cost huge amounts and take time.

(OC: see AtE2 page 40-41, an antidote is a $5,000,000 invention (-15, 5d-4 days). The doctor NPC has Pharmacy-20, limited Gadgeteer (only 30% of parts needed), Versatile, a professional and right workspace (+2), and medical supplies worth $20,000 of his own. He’ll want the exiles to supply more medical supplies for the project if they can.
The antidote is basically a TL 8 item, +0.
The antidote for the disease did not exist before the New World and does not exist now, -2.
The doctor can fabricate “parts” for the invention with his lab and Chemistry-15, this doubles the time.)

[u-b]

Given the declared scope and difficulty of making an antidote, Sean doubts if could be ready in time to help Richard, if at all. He could be interested in eventually pursuing this route, if the disease is encountered often enough, either in The Gutter, the cities, or in general. What is known to the doc about its appearances? Sean would also want the following considered:
1. Are there any existing anti-viral antidotes anywhere that could be similar enough to have their compositions analyzed and modified?
2. Would it be more or less difficult to make a vaccine instead? Or is a vaccine from this, in any sense, available? Would a vaccine from this even work, at all or for extended period of time?

Having considered these questions about the future of us and the general population, Sean would like to discuss the following idea of how to help Richard now:
3. He was with Richard all this time and does not seem to have contracted the disease. He knows he've had quite a number of immunity shots back in the day or might be just naturally resistant or immune. Anyway, it's either his body temperature or there is something in his blood that counters this disease. Might be complete antibodies or what not. Sean is not sure about just transfusing raw blood (at least, the compatibility would have to be checked and there might be other complications), but he is kind of more optimistic about extracting the relevant parts and transfusing them only. Maybe they can even be tested in vitro to see if they work. How would the doc estimate any possible configurations of this project?

[Shoot Da Moon]

The doctor can remember this disease popping up mostly among those exploring The Gutter or living in the wilderness, as far as his knowledge goes.

He does not know of any anti-virals anywhere, but it’s not like he has access to every high quality medical lab in Red Brick.

Vaccines are less difficult to make than antidotes. He does not know of any vaccines for this disease. If he could invent one, it would work on the disease until it mutates into a variant, but working on a vaccine for a variant would be easier if he already created a vaccine already.

The doctor thinks Sean may not caught the disease thanks to limited contact with infected and a sturdy immune system. Using him for anti-bodies MIGHT help, it would be a part of inventing the vaccine.

[u-b]

Sean discusses the possibilities at length. Making an antidote seems too challenging and not likely to succeed in time to help Richard. So Sean shifts the focus to prevention of the disease among the people we might be taking along the next time around. He tasks the doc with slowly and carefully making any and all preparatory steps and then coming back to Sean with a figure of additional funding needed. Sean funds two weeks of work from the start, with 140 rifle rounds, assuming today would be a set-up day, not the lab day.

Sean's willing to be test subject to the doc, but expects this will not take too much time besides taking the samples, which will then be analyzed at length. He does some thinking and planning today, then reads any materials accompanying the drone when it finally arrives, but does not much else. Sean is fairly confident he will be able to handle this drone model after some limited practice - after all, he has access to the sims back at base. Not to some actual drones, and he was not supposed to train on the sims, but he had access to them and it was about as good as just another video game...

Meanwhile, Tariq is busy supervising the construction. The plans for the fortifications are ready, but the people are just starting and not everyone employed can read plans, so this takes some time from Tariq to actually point his finger and tell what to do and how to do it. Tariq expects the project will require much less supervision from the following day on.

[Shoot Da Moon]

The doctor gets to work, trying to mix up a vaccine for Richard's disease. He takes the blood samples from Sean to see how well his immune system is fighting off the illness. He presents Sean with a possible bill of $100 per day of medical work. His bodyguards will stay out of everyone's way well enough.

The drone manual is extensive on technical details but not as helpful for the dexterity-required task of flying it.

Tariq oversees the construction work. He finds the project goes along swimmingly. The materials are handed out and moved to where they are needed.

When night falls, progress is strong.

DAY 81

The next day has decent weather.
Richard continues to feel awful, while Sean recovers...