GRADIENT 7: Pilgrimage

Asher: Buchanan 17 / 7 of 8. Scotty: Doc Marty. Nico: Bucky Andrew. Christian: Breacher (H) / Breacher (BW). Rob: Odysseus.

DAY 18

Pilgrimage through the depths of the Cloudbank Synthetic Production Facility. Buchanan 17 leads Wolfsheim 6 and the two unnamed Breachers on a sadistic romp. Smashing androids, looting corpses, laughing, shouting. Anything lurking in the darkness of zero gravity stays out of their way. Marty, Bucky, and Odi follow closely behind. Marty grabs Artifact #88 from behind the mirror where he last hid it.

Eden. There's no Cherubim guarding the experimental Chosen colony anymore. The Great Gatsby death cultists raze this place. Synthetic corpses shredded. Nothing from Monarch. Quiet. It is eerily easy to reach Floor 1. 

No ships docked. It appears the Acheron will arrive in 19 hours. The divers scour and loot the first floor and get some rest. Buchanan 17 steals the Golden Rat. He will never know the consequences. 

DAY 19

Doc Marty has a dream. He's back in the Paradise City. He stands on the second floor balcony overlooking the main pools. Brekt stands in the water. Dark red, almost black. Marty shoots him with his rigging gun. Brekt catches the harpoon and yanks Marty over the railing. Marty wakes up sweating.

Arkady enters the bay in his vaccsuit. He recognizes Doc Marty, and that's it. 'Where are your friends?" The divers and Breachers introduce themselves. Arkady ferries the crew back to the Bell. Marty says his goodbyes to the old diver and boards the Lucy. 

Dean, Beef, Capella, and Bobby have been eating fresh greens from the garden of Utnapishtim. Otherwise, relaxing. "Where's Carrion?" Beef is promoted to Lead Engineer. Capella begs the Breachers for guidance on being the Head of Security. Buchanan 17 tries to intimidate Dean but utterly fails. Dean is registered as the captain of the Lucy. Marty has a private conversation with Dean in the cockpit. It's time to kill Brekt. He doesn't know if any of these strangers are Infiltrator androids, but he needs to get past the Troubleshooters. Dean patches through to the blockade. A Troubleshooter answers and accepts their code: "BEEF'S GOT BOOTY." He notifies the crew that they'll send a ship to inspect the cargo.

One of the gunships umbilically docks. Commander Rachel Kilroy boards the Lucy alongside her personal guard, Polyphemus. They're both decked out in obsidian-black techno-organic combat suits, writhing black wires, heavy ballistics, and glowing red visors. Polyphemus' visor is bent into a single cyclopean circle. One of his hands is a cybernetic gatling gun. He stands a hulking seven-feet-tall. Kilroy speaks with Marty. Marty explains that it seems like they should be heading back soon. He plays dumb. Kilroy gives coordinates to the Paradise City. Marty gives Artifact #88 to Polyphemus as their customs bribe. The Troubleshooters depart and the crew continue past the edge of the blockade. 

The Paradise City is radiant. From the outside, unchanged. Still a beautiful luxury corporate vacation craft. The Ice Box connected to the spare nose port is horrifyingly evident. The crew of the Lucy dock. The pilgrims enter the ship. 

Marty leading the way. He's been here before. The four Breachers behind him. Bucky follows with Odi in front of her. Airlock door. Marble walls. Veined marble busts of G. Mathers. Airlock door. There's oxygen flowing, artificial gravity, warm light. The only sound is a dull thrumming from deeper within the ship. Airlock door. Spiral staircase down the main life support deck. Large elevator lift across the way. Chandelier gently swinging above. The android Z sits on the floor. 'Who are you? Where am I?" He can't remember anything. He can't remember anything except somebody told him it will all be okay. He trusts that memory. The elevator is stuck halfway down the shaft. A thick tangle of cords stretches from higher up the elevator shaft all the way down. Marty has the Breacher's cut the cord. The lights flicker, but remain on. 

Using various acquired cords and ropes the pilgrims rappel down the shaft. Breacher (H) slips and falls. Odi has the risky opportunity to help but chooses not to . Breacher (H) plummets, narrowly misses his chance to grab on to the ledge a few floors down, and hits the bottom of the elevator shaft. Crunch. Seconds before he dies, through the doorway crack, he glimpses a bright light and a crowd of silhouettes...

The rest of the pilgrims find the old cryo deck and computer terminal. The cryo pods are empty. The computer terminal is on. The cords from above are connected. Another set of cords runs from the terminal to deeper down the shaft. Marty cuts the cords again. The lights flicker and shut off. The sound of oxygen filtering through the room hums quiet. Life support is down. Time is limited. Flashlights on. The terminal is still aglow. Marty asks AHANIA what the last recorded data is. "I'm sorry, could you ask that again?" Martys repeats himself. "I'm sorry, could you ask that one more time?" The pilgrims destroy the terminal. 

Deeper below. The suites and pool decks. A bundle of cords runs from the theater suite to deeper down the shaft. The cord is cut once again. Blood splatter on the walls. The marble pockmarked with the dents of micro-missiles. G. Mathers floats dead in the pool. His face is smashed in. His hands twist upwardly and toward the theater suite. His fingers move ever-so-slightly. Marty recognizes the effect. 

Out of the intercom connected to the theater suite: "Chhhhhhhhhh--" Static.

Odi approaches the theater suite door. It's locked.

Out of the intercom: "...Leer hasn't spoken to me in some time. She hasn't moved, either. I hope she's okay..."

Odi tries to jury-rig the theater suite door to stay locked no matter what, but accidentally switches the door open. Inside the room is a full theater. A black-and-white silent movie illuminates a familiar shape with a soft monochromatic glow. Twisted jagged forms, protruding into one another, pulling each other apart, ripping, melting. All made of industrial-grade steel. The statue from the Alexis. Brekt holds a hand against the statue and faces away from the pilgrims. "...Trying to destroy the Ultimate Life Force. It's too late. I've either succeeded or failed. We'll see which. Thank you, Marty."

The Breachers cut Brekt to ribbons. Brekt's arm and body start to move and writhe on their own, strange detached zombie limbs. The Breachers cut them down further. Brekt is just skin, now. The statue emits a gust of wind. It blows through the Paradise City.

"Time to leave," says Marty. Wolfsheim 6 looks over the ship. "No... don't you see? this is our West Egg!" Buchanan 17 and Breacher (BW) rejoice. An emerald green light glows from within the elevator shaft. "There it is! The Old Money have come to greet us!"

Wolfsheim 6 and Buchanan 17 arm wrestle over who gets to descend the shaft first. Wolfsheim 6 wins. 

The Reactor. Bright green pulsing light. Silhouettes line the walls. Tall, dark hair, feline limbs, dripping fangs. Five Alpha Gaunts. Buchanan 17 rappels after Wolfsheim 6. He sees Wolfsheim 6 split open as a semi-translucent worm burrows down his throat. Soft teeth-like protrusions burst from his inner thighs and arms. His skin is pulled back taught. He moans, unable to form words. 'Are you the Old Money?" asks Buchanan 17. An Alpha beckons and speaks through the AHANIA system aboard. "Come closer. Stop. Do not resist." The Alphas belch out Death Worms. Buchanan 17 slices them down. He's in religious awe. "We are the Five who will be Eight. We are the Eight of the Eighty-Eight. You will be the Seventh." The first Alpha shreds the front of his body and rips the skin off Buchanan 17's bones. A worm burrows into his abdomen.

Breacher (BW) follows his colleagues. He witnesses Buchanan 17, a pile of spasming flesh, innards coiled across the floor. The Gaunt of Wolfsheim 6 stands still, teeth and lip-like legs wriggling in place. Breacher (BW) starts to back off. "You aren't the Old Money." The voice of AHANIA rings from the Reactor room. "Don't you know who's closest to Gatsby?"

"Daisy?" Breacher (BW) notices the Alpha Gaunt lining the wall. "Wait. This isn't the West Egg." 

Doc Marty throws down a cord to pull the final Breacher up. Breacher grabs hold, traveling back up the elevator shaft. The pilgrims flee as the Alpha Gaunt slowly walk out of the reactor and begin climbing the walls of the elevator like dark leopards. So slowly. Like they're not trying to catch up to the pilgrims. Odi disables the cables keeping the elevator stuck, sending it screeching down the shaft, thudding against the bottom. No sign of the Alphas. The pilgrims hear, "...we were never even here..." echo faintly.

Back aboard the Lucy. Marty comms the Troubleshooters. He give them a tip: "That ship is full of Infiltrators." Two of the gunships boost into the orbit of the Paradise City. Igniting frontal thrusters, the gunships torch the luxury vacation ship, bombarding the craft with missiles and breaking the beast into charred pieces so black they're invisible in space. They blot out the stars behind them. 

RESOLUTION

Buchanan 17. Pure arrogance. He becomes the 7 of 8. He is a sub-personality within a personality. He has no body. He is electromagnetic energy. Everything is gray noise, dust and thunderous noise, earth-splitting centipedes wearing stone mask faces, human mockery, screaming noise.

Breacher gives himself the name Buchanan Wolfsheim after his fallen companions. He joins Doc Marty and the crew of the Lucy on Marty's quest for knowledge. Marty gathers research on the Gaunt, the Dead Dimension, the Carcinids, any hostility to human life he can find. He travels with B.W. to Samsa VI. He joins the other scientists, adopts a fake identity, and never stops studying. They are one of the few people to own their own ship within the system. 

Bucky adopts Odi. They move to Oothoon, Bucky's home, a moon of Theotormon in the Bromion cluster. Odi begins regaining memories. He's an Infiltrator. He was born on Floor 4. Human Emulation Labs. H.E.L. He was tortured. Tortured for virtual centuries. Tested and tortured endlessly. His name is Odysseus. Bucky uses Artifact #44 on Odysseus. Reporgramming. He forgets. And then he remembers. Bucky has always been his family. He's had a real childhood. Memories of the Deep disappear. The two make the most of their life on Oothoon...

UNEXPLORED HOOKS:

Arkady will buy android logic cores for 1kcr. Ghosteater has information to sell for Ghost in the Machine specimens. Rick Laster's email. Who is Ishmael? Selling Artifact #93. Brainscans exist on a terminal within the Deep. The gear room. Lewis' samples. Red Shuilong. The Mind Thief and his Hell Box. Where is Monarch? Beyond Bone Experiments. Sleeping and waking up in the Deep: who is still human? The grease paintings on the furnaces. Shelley the artificial ecologist. Past the flesh wall. Strange tapes. What happened to Carrion? The people in the Freezer, and the one empty cryochamber. Android bees and tarantulas. Escape was so easy. 

THE GARDEN OF UTNAPISHTIM

Doc Marty. Highscore: 13. Died: N/A. Played by Scotty (12) and Asher (1). He never used his Star.

Ghoul. Highscore: 1. Died: Left to die in cryo in "Down in Kokomo." Played by Justin.

Jakun. Highscore: 0. Died: Carcinid hive mind integrated in "Another Bug Hunt." Played by Scotty.

KR&. Highscore: 3. Died: Executed by Doc Marty after revelation in "Down in Kokomo." Played by Rob.

Igor Igor. Highscore: 3. Died: Death wish disemboweled by Scary Girlfriend aboard the Aphrodite in "Down in Kokomo." Played by Christian.

Bobby "The Business" 0428. Highscore: 2. Died: N/A. Played by James.

Private Capella. Highscore: 1. Died: N/A. Played by Rob.

Kanan "Carrion" O'Tool. Highscore: 5. Died: Alone, left to Silas' androids in "Revelation." Played by Christian.

Rusty. Highscore: 3. Died: Committed suicide after revelation in "Revelation." Played by Asher.

Dr. Abraham Lewis. Highscore: 1. Died: Hacked apart by Cherubim in "Heat." Played by Nico.

Bucky Andrew. Highscore: 5. Died: N/A. Played by Nico.

Tootsie Thompson. Highscore: 2. Died: Head exploded in "The Party." Played by Asher.

Odysseus. Highscore: 4. Died: N/A. Played by Rob.

Hyde "1 Eye/Breacher" Finch. Highscore: 2. Died: Slipped down the Paradise elevator shaft in "Pilgrimage." Played by Christian.

Buchanan 17. Highscore: 1. Died: Became the 7 of 8 in "Pilgrimage." Played by Asher.

Breacher "Buchanan Wolfsheim." Highscore 1. Died: N/A. Played by Christian.