TGD 1: Brainscanned

The Gradient Descent 1: Brainscanned

Asher: Rusty. Scotty: Doc Marty. Nico: Dr. Abraham Lewis. Christian: Kanan "Carrion" O'Tool.

The divers of the Lucy travel aboard the Paradise City towards the Alighieri Cluster. After Carrion and Marty can't find their captain, Brekt, they ask Z (the android-servant of the Paradise City) if they're able to speak with C-Level G. Mathers. Z schedules an appointment for tomorrow...

DAY 10.
G. Mathers explains that Brekt made a deal for his and Leer's safe passage outside the system. Brekt has effectively left the Lucy in Carrion and Marty's care. This is strange. Brekt and Leer stay within a private suite for the rest of the journey and are not seen again. G. Mathers does not elaborate. The divers gain new insights on the workings of the Deep, the station outside of it (the Bell), and the AI in control of the factory (Monarch)...

DAY 11-14
Steam showers. Poker night. Open bar. AI theater...

DAY 15.
Troubleshooters form a blockade around the Deep system. They're a private cybernetics military entity commanded to ensure no Infiltrator Androids make it out of the Deep. G. Mathers bribes their leader, Cmdr. Rachel Kilroy, for passage. The divers have the code phrase "BEEF'S GOT BOOTY" to comm the Paradise City back into the Deep's system for Artifact extraction...

DAY 16.
The Lucy is loosed towards the Deep. A detached thruster used as a docking station and home base. Welcome to the Bell. Arkady, a Russian veteran diver, connects an umbilical docking tube from the Bell to the Lucy. A small, dark, cylindrical ship moors against the thruster. "Acheron." Inside is darkness, 0G, candles floating eerily beside the doorways and ventilation crawlspaces. An oppressive, cold, safe space. Resting here is Dr. Abraham Lewis, a metaphysical scientist with 1920s flair. For a month she's been diving with Rusty, who's currently snoozing in the Tank. 

The divers float in complete blackness in the Tank until they hit the back wall. Sleeping bags duct-taped to the sides. First-come-first-serve. Rusty is napping here. He's got a long-sleeve Hawaiian shirt, hunting vest, and a trucker hat patched to say "I'M NOT A ROBOT." He wants to go diving already. The crew floats to the chapel. 

Noriko, an eccentric and off-putting disciple of "the Minotaur," prays at an altar. A crucifix with far too many arms. A curtain separating the room, and a hallway leading deeper into the Bell. Deeper. The Garden of Utnapishtim. Greenery, edible fruits and veggies, a vast, vast haven. Ghosteater, cyborg mercenary veteran diver, pays their respects to the many gravestones here. They play a radio-tinted recording of canned laughter out of their opaque black helmet whenever they say anything dryly comedic. 

The crew asks Arkady to ferry them to the Deep. Floor 1. Graffitied offices. Orange-white fluorescent lights. The tint of green, once-moist surfaces now dry, oil stains. Bullet casings. Using maps that Rusty had hacked with Lewis' help on a previous dive they're able to navigate to a lift that takes them to Floor 2. Forty excruciating minutes of squealing and shaking down the elevator shaft.

The executive lounge. The airlocks to explore further are electronically locked. They split into two groups to search the only rooms available, reception and the bathroom. Marty finds a stash behind the bathroom mirror. A modified electrifying harpoon gun. An Artifact: #88 Shapeless Clay-like Vaccsuit. A note: "ISHAMEL SENDS HIS REGARDS." The vaccsuit is warm to the touch and has no visible metal material. Appears organic in some way. So heavy, so Marty returns the suit to its stash behind the mirror.

Lewis finds business cards for Rick Laster, Cloudbank Receptionist. She calls him. The number is outdated. She sends him an email. Searching more, she finds a postcard. "WELCOME TO OOTHOON." That's the moon where she was born. On the back it's dated her birthday. 

The crew crawls through the bathroom vent into:

The sewers. Dark. Off the map. A shallow layer of brown liquid. The smell of methane and ammonia. The walls are warm, lined with scanning equipment. A corpse in the center of the room. It's chest caved open, a shiny Artifact inside: #93 Cultural Analysis Engine. Carrion yanks it up and out of the corpse. Attached at the base is a mass of cords connected to the ground through the corpse's back. A trap. A deep humming. The room vibrates. Everyone starts to scramble to get off the ground or into a vent, but they're too late. A searing flash of light, and an unfamiliar electronic voice: "Brainscan complete."
The panic sends Lewis catatonic. She feels the Bends. Stress is already very high...

STATUS.
> Day 16: 08 hours post-rest. [R28A]
> 22 hours until starving.
> 22 hours until Arkady returns to the Deep.
> "This is my home." 24 hours until Lewis can leave the Deep.
> 18mcr in debt...

HOOKS.
Broken cybernetic diagnostics scanner. What happened with Brekt and Leer? Troubleshooters. Artifact #88. Artifact #93. Noriko and the Minotaur. Arkady will buy android Logic Cores for 1kcr. Ghosteater has information to sell for Ghost in the Machine specimens. Floor 1. What is beyond the electronically locked airlock in Floor 2? Rick Laster's email. Who is Ishmael? Lewis' postcard. Being Brainscanned. The voice behind the Brainscan...