Thursday, August 8, 2024

Characters

• Paco Bellefonte, played by Randy
• Mealworm Jack-Gin Pasta Sauce, played by Daryl
• Virtue Haynes, played by Joe

Notes

Randy: Technically, this story is only remembered by the characters there. And Nicholas.

Prologue

On a ship from the 39th centuries. Hibernation pods to traverse different multiverses and universes/reality.

On the return trip back home, 25% of the hibernation pods failed. No one died. Well, not right away. Over the course of the centuries they didn’t survive to make it home.

The survivors are known as Sleepers. They have cybernetics to do awesome things.

The descendants of those who didn’t sleep are known as Scions. These Scions have mutated over 500 years due to being outside of reality.

Now that some of the Sleepers who have woken up and now there is tension between the two groups.

Then there is the second problem.

You are in the 21st century. You don’t know why or how. It isn’t a time traveling ship.

This introduces the third problem, the world, reality itself, is failing.

The AIs have woken and have detected anomolies in the universe. The girl from Ipaneema was playing in the air, nonstop. This was resolved. There is a object of some sort that is the locus of the problem.

The AIs are working with the Scions and waking up some Sleepers to fix these problems.

We are going into an Anomoly Zone and restore order. If we don’t fix these problems, there won’t be a world to go home to.

Begin

There is someone we don’t know in the captain’s chair.

An AI pulls up a holographic screen and the next mission is an anomoly has appeared in Manchester, NH, covering a 10 mile radius. There is an object in the area causing it to be swarmed with “so many gawd damnned flies.”

The center of things is a bank.

Bank details

• The toilets are not mostly not working today
• The bank manager’s, John Stevens, affair with a teller has been discovered by their wife
• Said teller is pregnant, Alesha Cartwright
• The security guard, Reggie Garcia, of the bank is best friends with Amanda Stevens, the bank manager’s wife
• Reggie, the guard, is a former Army Ranger
• Plaza across from the bank that is currently a homeless embankment
• Vault has multiple locks and motion detector system
• The bank is responsible for handling a lot of Mob money
• The on the books money total in the vault is 300,000 today
• The break room has two microwaves and two fridges
• Absurd number of cameras
• Remains of hurricane Zebdya is coming back today
• A pistol in the manager’s desk
• The manager has been known to drink at work
• The bank does not track down abandoned security box owners in the hopes of claiming it
• Becaues of the homeless there is an elevated police presence at all times
• Special business manager, Deshawn Nicks, has been gunning for the manager’s job
• There are no cameras working in the elevator but there are FBI audio taps
• Mob has been providing security for the bank
• Today is payday
• Alicia is an FBI informant and she has a meeting with her handler at 2pm today
• The storage room is two stories tall and has ladders

How are we going to do this heist?

• We are plumbers who are also FBI but they did actually call plumbers
• Inciting the homeless encampment to draw the police but the police have a rapid response and tend to escalate quickly against the homeless
• Hack Reggie’s accounts and send a message to Amanda to escalate their marital problems. Reggie is notoriously lazy about texting and messaging.
• Get Alesha to give us as “FBI” access to the cameras and we shut them down
  • The security room is on the second floor by the manager’s office

The heist

Bank of New England, Manchester branch

We beam down in the a van for Mario Brothers plumbing.

When we get there, there is already a plumbing van, Lazlo Plumbers.

• Mealworm Jack-Gin Pasta Sauce lies and turns the Lazlo van into a broken down POS
• Paco gets a K9 to smell the giant bricks of pot in the van
• This is the largest best in Manchester history. There are all 6 cop cars, the news shows up
• Paco gets interviewed on the news and looks VERY IMPRESSIVE
• Mealworm calls the health bureau and forces the bank to call Mario Brothers Plumbing
• A lot of people coming in and out of the bank
• Mealworm is making noise, Paco gets him jealous
• Vault requires two key cards to open the door
• Paco creates a distraction by stirring up shit with Alesha and John in the breakroom
• Virtue Haynes is sneaking into the vault
• Alesha goes into labor!!!
• Paco backs out of the room, someone starts to run to get the cops, Paco declares that he is an EMT and goes back into the room
• Mealworm is sabotaging things outside to make our escape easier
• A large folder with the tax returns for a family and it throbs with unearthly energy.
• Virtue steals a bunch of valuables
• A giant linebacker of a man who is a teller notices that the vault is open and pulls a giant ass pistol

Epilogue

Nicholas seems to remember our adventures and comments about Virtue having a date to get to.

Thursday, August 23, 2024

Characters

• Paco Bellefonte, played by Randy
• Mealworm Jack-Gin Pasta Sauce, played by Daryl
• Virtue Haynes, played by Joe

Details

Desirata Diamond is the object. Its owner is throwing a giant bash/party tonight.

History is replaying itself in zones, ghosts, animals, etc., all from Malibu. Doing whatever they did in the past. Mostly harmless, just weird.

• There are people on the list who are unknown who rarely attend these parties
• Eleanor is relaunching her film career. Center of attention.
  • Born rich and married rich
• This building is very old and has shady ways in and out, hidey holes
• Coming of age land for native peoples
• Many of the guests will be bringing their own private security (rich)
• Eleanor has two pet gators
• All sorts of drugs will be available
• Eleanor has many replicas of the diamond
• Real one has a signature
• Steven, her estranged stepson is living with her but not invited to the party
• Luther, the husband is famously paranoid about his wife’s carelessness with valuable objects
• Eleanor’s husband is having an affair with her former music manager, Johnathan Goldstein
• Iran is nuking Israel tonight
• Naked people in the pool and cabana
• Many of teh guests need supervision so there will be some adults
• The safe is on display in the living room where she will pull the diamond out
• Only Eleanor and her assistant have the combination
• All the fakes are on display throughout the mansion
• The safe is alarmed
• Her assistant doesn’t think she can break back into the public eye and doesn’t care about keeping her job. Amy
• Amy knows about Luther’s affair
• The AC is breaking down and not keeping the house cool
• Most of the party will be outside
• TMZ is covering teh party
• Luther hates papparazzi and watching the party like a sober hawk
• Ari Gold movie producer

Mealworm (Daryl) asks Celeste, the ship, how many missions. There have been 17. Roughly one a day. They have been doing debriefs.

The Heist

The improbability zone is all of Malibu.

• Mealworm shows up as a car valet. Gladys is the rep for the contract. They don’t pay much for valets.
• Virtue (Joe) shows up as Harlann Weathers, a wealthy recluse.
• Luther
  • Hard at everything; Serious business guy; No personality
• Paco as Ari begins a cocaine fueled bacchanal to draw attention to himself
• Mealworm sees a car pulling up with the license plate OIL<math>$</math>. The car of the real Harlann Weathers
  • Mealworm lies and the car breaks down
• Eleanor comes down the main staircase and she is a beauty.

At this point, Randy stopped taking notes. :(

Epilogue

Unita Dos, a sleeper, approaches us. She asks about what Nick is doing. Nick is just gathering data, using the bridge crew. Unita doesn’t know what he is doing other than asking questions.

Thursday, October 4, 2024

Characters

• Paco Bellefonte, played by Randy
• Mealworm Jack-Gin Pasta Sauce, played by Daryl
• Virtue Haynes, played by Joe
• Brick, played by Bert

Notes

• We returned to Celeste and it isn’t how we left it. (We == Daryl and me). What we came back to is a much more militant version of society. The sleepers have woken en masse and took over.
• The new captain is Macaroni Vesper, who is a hard ass.
• Celeste is still the AI
• Mealworm, Virtue, Brick, and Paco are immediately called to the bridge
  • Bravo team has failed and we are being sent to replace them
• North Dakota. The object is a mark 7 nuclear bomb
  • Odd lights in the sky
  • Range of UFO sightings
  • 2 miles in radius
  • Lights visible for miles and miles
  • This zone is attached to the object. It is carrying the probability zone.
• Bravo failed on two counts and died. Don’t know how they died.
• The bomb is being moved from Montana to Texas in three trucks.
  • One truck has the bomb
  • Two trucks has security forces

Facts

• Bomb is durable
• Know the bomb truck
• Trucks have run flat tires
• Private guards haven’t been paid
• Montana militia has decided to capture the bomb
• The trailer axels can self destruct prventing them from moving
• The trailers was exude foam insdie to demobilize and is flammable
• Just the bomb truck has an electric deterrent system
• Along the route there are three lifeflight helipads
• A blogger is trying to get a scoop
• PMCs are geared for extreme defense.
• No one has met the commanding officer.
• CO has a checkered history serving in Afganistan and Iraq and undisclosed
• Harvest season and a lot of migrants working
• A lot of farm vehicles along the highway
• Amazon road train convoy moving to warehouses
• Large clusters of UFO hunters at scenic spots along the highway
• UFO hunters clued that an alien body or something would be moved
• They are carrying the remains of aliens—team bravo.
• Way behind maintenance schedule
• They have aerial observation
• The CO Lewis (she/her)

The heist

• Nicholas pulls Brick aside. Nick is trying to make things work but the powers that be have lost another team. If Brick kills PERSON, it will create an environment where Nick can operate.
• We get dropped off at a shopping plaza. Toby, a jagoff with a giant truck is making racist comments
  • We decide to steal his truck.
• We drive to a bridge that can be split up/drawbridge
• We trap one vehicle of troops on the North shore and another on the south, while dumping the bomb truck into the river
• We float down river with the bomb
• The UFO reporter is on the scene, reporting

Epilogue

• We return to Celeste
• The ship has changed back to something good but not completely. Still missing Brick’s favorite noodle place.

Thursday, October 10, 2024

Characters

• Paco Bellefonte, played by Randy
• Mealworm Jack-Gin Pasta Sauce, played by Daryl
• Virtue Haynes, played by Joe
• Brick, played by Bert

Notes

• There is a bar by the scions, a bulge on the outside of the Celeste. This has become the Liar bar.
  • Called the Bulge
  • Davies has terrible stories and is always shaking
  • Unita Das is a scientist, sleeper, has great stories. Fiberoptic hair
  • Ted or Teddy (tries to go by Theodores), scion, tells the story half out loud and half in your head (sound effects)
• The teams that make it back, they met strong resistance. No idea what happens to the teams that dont’ return.
• Captain Xander calls us up about the last mission.

Mission — Natural history in Canada

• Big Joe a triceratops owned by a private collector who has lent it to the museum. The “object” is just one of the ankle bones.
• The other object is a plaque on the botany exhibit to a man who did a lot of local botany-related stuff in the PNW in the 1900s. Earl Tukis.

Planning

• All the valuable exhibits have motion detectors
• We know Franklin Tukis, the head docent and great grandson of Earl.
• Surprisingly large security staff
• Largely underpaid due to low donations for salaries
• All of the doors are alarmed with keycard access
• The hall of architecture has a grand opening right now (Gallery A)
• The building has been remodeled many times
• Just two years ago the museum was the subject of a high profile theft of a first nations artifact
• The leadership of the museum love to give potential donors private tours
• The backup generator is aging and doesn’t fully power the security system
• Field trip season
• The youngest security guard is 61 aside form the cheif of security who is an ex-sister (Canadian intelligence)
• The gem and mineral area has a lot of toxic materials and people are afriad of it (Gallery E)
• The Triceratop is in Gallery F
• Botany Gallery D
• Rooftop guards
• Security system is computer controlled and not very secure.
• Computer is air gapped
• Large first nations protests
• Electronic devices short out and explode randomly in the probability zone

The mission

• Alicia Cross, donor mgmt
• Chief of Security SIS
  • Someone has already lied to him to make him trail us around
• Virtue and Brick take the public tour to scope out the secruity systems
• Paco and Mealworm pretend to be a big money donor who wants to leave a legacy and demands a private tour.
  • Paco tries to lie to get the Security Chief to not be with us but encounters a stronger lie that tells him to stay with us.
  • Mealworm lies to get the safe of keys to be unlocked
• Virtue is with the Triceraptops
• Paco gives the Orchids a fungal infection that causes the section to be closed and the secruity system turned off
• Mealworm lies and loosens the adhesive on the plague.
• Virtue and Brick learn that the object in the Triceratops is gone, as if it was never there.
• Scanning the room shows entering gallery D is Unita Dos.
  • She rushes over to Brick. “Get off of the comms. Someone is looking for you!”
  • “There are hostile forces coming. Don’t know what or who. Celeste sent me down quickly.”
• The formless people are wearing maroon suits
• We have a fighting retreat. We take a lot of damage from obvious lies to get elevators to the roof
  • Brick, Mealworm, and Paco get off the roof.
  • Virtue and Unita are not doing well
  • Nicholas arrives, using “magic” to turn back the energy back on them
    • “I can’t fucking do this all day. RUN!”
• We make it back to the ship.

Thursday, November 7, 2024

Characters

• Paco Bellefonte, played by Randy
• Mealworm Jack-Gin Pasta Sauce, played by Daryl

Everyone, including Nicholas arrives back on the Celeste. While we interact with the little AIs. We immediately debrief with Nicholas and a ring 1 AI (core system).

• Nicholas is worse for the wear. He needs to get off of the ship to heal this damage.
• He needs to lie them out of existence
• Abradant is the name they call the grays in suits.
  • They can manipulate reality and are devastating about it
  • They want to rip apart this reality
  • No one has caught one to intterrogate them.
• Nicholas decided to “visit our ship” because we use similiar tech to what they do.
• On of the Aberdant had the second source inside of it
• ⭐ Abradant are creating the improbability zones

As the days go by, there are fewer and fewer zones.

Called to another briefing with the captain

• Good news: The reality warping engines have started working again
• Bad news: Zones only travel to a point in time where a zone exists
• Worst news: 1889 is the year
• This zone is contagious and a train car crossing Kansas
  • Express car with steel safe with railroad payroll
  • One of the silver dollars is the item
  • Inside the train figures from the past and future appear in the zone

The Heist

• Squad of confederates trying to hijack the train
• Security on the train is provided by the Pinkertons
• The engineer is an alcoholic
• The stretch of rail is long wide open so the train is well stocked with coal and water
• Unseasonably cold winter
• Many of the homesteaders are union vets and formerly enslaved with their 40 acres and mule
• Influenza is running rampant through the train
• The express car is in the middle
• The pinktertons are spread through the whole train
• The top two pinkertons have the combination written down and on their person
• Native uprisings in the region
• There is no moon
• All of teh car joints are loose (not rusted in place)
• Trains is well maintained
• Mostly livestock and cargo, aft of the express car
• Express car has a locked room where the safe is stored

The mission

• Mealworm and I convince the first of three pickets to let us in.
• Natives have a small town
• Raza (native leader)
  • Looks like he is made of leather and is wiry
• We create a barrier around a bend
• In the distance, we hear pistol fire signaling
• The engineer is passed out and nearly takes the turn too fast
• Mealworm and Paco jump on the train
• We get to the express car
  • Paco creates a distraction while Mealworm goes to get inside the room
  • Both the natives and the confederates bust into the express car
  • Paco lies and gets them to negotiate to buy Mealworm
• As mealworm is getting into the safe, there is thunderous hoofbeats
  • Several thousand Mongul warriors who are freaking out

Post-heist

• Celeste is different when we come back. No dramatic changes but we don’t know our way around the ship
• Buckle in, there is a new zone in 1981, “I hope you like punk music…”
• Nicholas is on the ship and knows what happened
  • “History is weirdly tolerant of large scales”
  • He is an elder being who has experienced all of time

Thursday, Nov 14, 2024

In the heart of London’s early 1980s punk scene, two clubs dominated the improbable landscape where decay and chaos reigned: the polished and uninspired *White Club*, and its antithesis, the dingy, raw, and unapologetically rebellious *Skrut Club*. The *White Club* catered to the middle class, with a veneer of appeal but no real character, while *Skrut* was a vortex of punk energy, reeking of grime, cheap beer, and nihilistic abandon. It was within this decaying 10-mile improbability zone, where matter itself seemed to lose cohesion, that we planned our next heist.

The Scene

The *White Club* seemed like a parody of itself: a generic venue with simple locks and a smattering of bouncers for security. Karaoke nights and a friendly, yet overly accommodating owner, Chester, kept the middle-class patrons entertained. Yet, this veneer of respectability was in constant conflict with the grunge next door. *Skrut Club*, run by Chester’s teetotaler, straight-edge brother, Lenny, was a haven for punks, a magnet for violence, and a focal point for escalating police presence. The club had its own lore: skinhead invasions, fights between the brothers, an unofficial stairwell for illicit trysts, and an aging utility room hiding illegal arcade cabinets.

Both venues thrived in the shared misery of their neighborhood, drawing cops, punks, spies, and trouble in equal measure. Russian spies frequented both clubs, and the city buzzed with secrets and conspiracies. Amid all this, we had our target: a key that held the improbability zone open.

The Heist Unfolds

Our first move was to procure drugs from *Rico Les*, the local dealer. Brick made contact, stepping into a room charged with tension and the presence of a mysterious stranger with a perfect British accent—a Russian spy engaged in dealings with Rico. Meanwhile, Paco and Mealworm bluffed their way past Russian guards, posing as innocent Americans, as Brick dismantled the den’s defenses with brute force.

Next, we moved on to the *White Club*. Brick tried unsuccessfully to bribe the doorman with drugs, forcing Paco to lie and smooth things over to get us inside. Once in, Paco took to the stage, belting out “Rocketman” and “Mandy” in a karaoke performance inspired by *Malibu Moonlight Mayhem Con*, drawing eyes away from our real objective. Chip, the bartender, served drinks while our earlier Russian acquaintances lingered nearby, adding a layer of danger.

Simultaneously, Mealworm made his way to the *Skrut Club* before it officially opened, encountering the grizzled, Iggy Pop-like Lenny and a bartender struggling with understaffed chaos. None of them had the key we sought.

The night took a violent turn when Paco was ambushed by skinheads in the stairwell, where he had been distributing cocaine as a cover to inspect keys. The situation escalated further when a punk with spiked hair named Skank came into play. Skank had devoured two keys, one of which we desperately needed. He was a fixture of the punk community, known for his iron stomach and the fact that he’d only ever lost a fight to Lenny. Yet, Skank was no ordinary punk—he was MI6, a straight-edge ancestor of Brick.

As the improbability zone’s decay spread, the floor of *Skrut Club* gave way. Skank plummeted into the chaos below, and Brick leapt after him, followed by Paco, who lizard-crawled into the fray. Amid the collapse, Brick managed to dart Skank, and we secured the key just as two Russians, eager to defect, joined our escape.

The Epilogue

We barely had a moment to breathe as we sped toward the edge of the improbability zone. Mealworm was at the wheel when, suddenly, Nicholas appeared, standing ominously in the middle of the road. He had an urgent command: we needed to finish our mission quickly. He wanted Skank extracted from the zone while keeping us inside. With a snap of his fingers, reality shifted, and we found ourselves in the Swiss Alps.

Nicholas, cryptic as ever, laid down the next challenge. "How do you feel about the most difficult score yet?" he asked, eyes gleaming with mischief. "I need you to steal something from the *Celeste* itself."

Session 9: Dec 12

Good news: The Aberdanth are worried about us.

Bad news: I believe they have infiltrated the Celeste

There are only three poeple with access to the crystal room and one of them is an Aberdant

The Briefing

• The data crystal is in the technical interface chamber a secure room right off of the bridge that only a handful of people have access to
• One of the people with access is Absynthe Abernathy
  • Chief Quartermaster
  • Coin collector
  • Organized at work but messy at home
• The only access is through the bridge, which is invitation only
• Access to the room is via passcard
• The main bypass key is controlled by Karia Myfor the chief security officer
• Celeste has no inputs from inside the chamber
• The threshold is wired with a huge amount of sensors
• The bridge has a lot of runners
• Without privs, accessing the bridge is tough
• Celeste is a big fan of Brick for all teh crazy shit he does
• TIC is an older part of the ship because it is hard to upgrade
  • Old fashioned security, 24/7 marine guard
• A marine door guard is working with you
  • Bored with his post. Nothing ever happens. He wants an action post.
  • Named Tommy Gunn
• The bridge has a dozens entrances
• Subculture of machine whisperers who commune with the AIs at tech nodes
• Four technicians
  • They don’t have powers, they are sleepers
  • Krang-style brains in jars
  • Integrate info quickly
  • 6 hour shifts and 12 hours of rest
  • Tech passcards built into their cybernetics

The Mission

• We arrive in an less popluated area near the quarter master’s office
• Warehouse adjacent to the office
• Nick’s teleport is a wildly different kind of teleport
• Abernathy is in his office
• Paco tells Abernathy a story and tries to sleight of hand the keycard away from him. Brick is with Paco.
• Mealworm scoped out the bridge
• Paco, Virtue, and Brick go to the warehouse to get gear.
  • There is another mission group
  • It is a group that is an assault squad, gearing up for bear; Aberdant hunting
  • We load up with an old mission script
• Brick enters the bridge, looking awesome and throws KO gas
• Paco sends a message to the ship to tell them about the hack.
• The technician in the TIC turns out to be an Aberdant, who blasts us with Reality.
• Turns out that Security Chief is an Aberdant, tearing the guards down with a reality wipe.
• We kill teh Aberdant but as it dies it does a big lie—Nick has always been human!

Epilogue

• Some thing we’re heroes, others remember all the problems we caused
• That Strike squad due to a lack of ability to talk with Celeste, they didn’t make it back and we are blamed.
• Nick gets us beamed back to the chalet for a few days.