Luciana walked to the space craft The Calrusian. The ship was a mid-sized fleet craft, most notable for its incredible size. She had taken a long, windy path to the shuttle to make sure she hadn’t been followed, occasionally ducking into places to see who passed by. Satisfied no one had followed her, she presented herself to the ship deck, which opened up to let her in.
Two men stood in at the opening deck, wearing standard light space armor. She inspected the armor. A holographic prompt appeared over the armor, and if she focused on it, it would come into view.
Standard Light Armor
This armor is designed for flexibility and adaptability. It can stop small arms fire from either lasers or traditional projectile guns, but can’t stop direct thrusting attacks, repeated blasts, or repeated shots.
The outermost layer is designed to deflect any small arms laser blasts, while the padding beneath it acted to cushion and expand the impact of any bullets fired at it.
No bonuses to dexterity or agility while wearing this armor. +20 vs. Lasers. +20 vs. Ranged projectiles. +1 vs. Bladed weapons. 0 defense against laser melee weapons.
When the door closed, the two men saluted her. She saluted them back briskly and continued walking into a splitting corridor. The path on the left lead to the ships helm. Normally that’s where she’d go, but the captain probably wouldn’t be just sitting at the helm doing nothing. The path on the right lead to the kitchen, which was where she went.
Although you could cook real food on a ship, the amount of additional cargo ended up being a headache, so most meals were simply pre-calculated rations. The stuff didn’t taste bad, and it came in multiple flavors, but it never felt the same as eating a real meal.
After exiting the kitchen, she came into the lounge area. The lounge area was gigantic and composed the bulk of the lower deck. It was about a football field’s length and featured three distinct area.
The first area, the gaming area, featured ten men and four females were playing VR space volleyball. Space volleyball included rules that allowed fluctuating gravity during gameplay, so the ball could move at unexpected angles and players would have to recalibrate their movements during the match. A projected image of what they were seeing was overlain on top of the players, showing a beach match and the players wearing swimming shorts and bikinis. One male player had a hammerhead shark growing out of where his groin area was. Such displays would probably be banned on a more locked-down ship, but the captain allowed such things as long as people didn’t take offense to it.
The next area was the movie area, but it consisted of helmets that people could put on and immerse themselves in a movie. The technology made you seem as if you were experiencing the movie rather than watching a screen with other people on it, so horror films could literally scare people to death. The warning label on some of the ones that had killed people were a point of pride for some film companies.
The final area was the literature area, where you could read any book or have it read to you by any voice actor that you picked. Some of the fancier novels also had an interactive portion with it, so you could visualize the World and events. Only the bestsellers went this far up though, as the time and effort to create a movie from a book required ten times the production length of a regular movie, and fans would sometimes complain that what they thought the book looked like and the sim book adaptation weren’t the same.
The next area she walked into was the training area. This had a quadripartite division of functionality. The first section was the weight lifting area, filled with rows of dumbbells and barbells. Since modern fleets generated their own gravity, lifting weights was no longer mandatory, but highly encouraged amongst fleet members. Still, human nature being inclined towards the path of least resistance, their use by most members had fallen off since the ordinance had been lifted. The second section was the cardio area, along with areas to stretch and cool down. The third area was the melee combat area, with two combat service droids standing ready to engage in whatever pugilistic activities the crew wanted. Finally, the back of the room was the simulated firing area.
She spotted the captain in the firing area at the back whenever she walked in. A disembodied female voice called out, “Female on Deck!” as she crossed the threshold. The Captain held a simulated laser rifle in his hand. He didn’t turn around to acknowledge her. Instead, he aimed his laser rifle, fired off a few shots in rapid succession, reloaded, and then resumed back to pause.
She turned to the right towards the smart locker that each gym came equipped with. She put her palm print on one of the lockers and opened up the layout menu.
Locker Gear
Greetings Lt. Luciana! Your standard gear has already been selected, but you may modify it.
Select from the following list:
Towels [x]. A single hand towel and larger rag to wipe away sweat.
Hand chalk [x]. Useful for barbell and dumbbell exercises requiring a strong grip.
Hand Wraps [x]. Useful for lower back exercises that may be dangerous if grip fails.
Female workout gear:
- Athletic / long. [ ] Mobile and functional athletic gear consisting of running shorts, joggers, sports bar, and sports top.
- Athletic / short. [ ] Mobile and functional athletic gear consisting of running shorts, sports bra, and sports top.
- Athletic / seductive long. [ ] Mobile, functional, and damn good looking, consists of a pair of see-through leggings, sports bra, and cropped top.
- Athletic / seductive short. [x] Mobile, functional, and a guaranteed head turner. Consists of completely form-fitting black shorts and pink sports bra. Warning: May be considered a violation of E/O policies regarding proper outfitting aboard a military vehicle. Consult the E/O policy of the vessel to ensure compliance.
Accept load out? Yes / no.
That last part always made her smirk. Aboard a traditional military vehicle, wearing clothing that could be considered fraternizing would be a military violation, but she knew the captain didn’t mind much. She hit the “yes” button and the locker opened up with the gear inside.
She began to undress and put on her gear. There were dressing areas for male and female personnel, but everyone knew what everyone else was packing aboard the ship, and she didn’t feel like wasting the time with false modesty. She moved with military precision to undress and dress back up, putting her clothes in the smart locker. When she was finished, she walked to the back of the gym towards where the Captain was practicing firing drills.
“Practicing hard Captain Thomas?” She asked. He kept his virtual visors on. There was an option to project the display onto the wall, but the Captain didn’t have this turned on, so he was pointing his rifle repeatedly at a blank wall and squeezing the trigger.
“Yes Lieutenant. Firearms are a perishable skill.” His voice was light and melodic. Captain Mark Thomas was tall and slender, a little over a foot taller than her, possessing what the anthropologists called a “gracialized” build. It was a build typical of people who were born and raised on space stations, which typically had lower gravity levels. She knew that he was actually born on Earth, but he didn’t go out of his way to correct people if they assumed he was space-born. His skin was a very light brown color, his eyes blue, and his natural hair color was black, but he liked to dye it blond in order to make himself look more exotic.
She went to the wall and turned on the projection display. A laughing dog was in the foreground, and a group of ducks flew up in a very old style of animation that had long since been surpassed technologically.
“You’re protecting the fleet against an invasion of ducks?” She pondered.
“You never know Lieutenant. There could be a planet ruled by hordes of angry ducks, and then you’d feel real silly.”
“Yes Captain”, she replied dryly, “On that day, I’ll file a ‘He told me so’ report to go along with the After Action Report.”
She walked back to the weights area and loaded up on the Olympic lift platform. She put two sets of 45 pounds on each side of the bar, for her warmup of 225 lbs. She did twenty snatches to warm up. Then she added another set of 45 pound plates on each side. She did three sets of descending lifts, 12, 10, and finishing with 8, taking a one minute break between each. She had a nice glisten on her body. She started moving to clean and jerks when the Captain walked up to her.
“How’d the meet go?” he asked.
“Same as the others. A few questions and hesitations, but a nice smile and a careful exposure of some flesh so he could ogle when he thought I wasn’t looking, and he became putty. The idea that he could have a woman like me with some extra credits floating around in his account put him in the mood to sign up.” She grunted as she got near the end of her set.
“Cheap bastard didn’t even offer me a shot of scotch, when he had one for himself.”
“Expected”, Captain Thomas said, “EVE identified spendthrift as a common trait for people looking to evade taxes.”
Eve was the central AI that ran aboard the ship, and gave feedback to Captain Thomas personally. The latter fact was unknown to everyone except Captain Thomas.
A quest dialogue box popped up in Captain Thomas’s field of vision. He focused on it and brought it to the forefront.
Quest update: Entrap Mine Excavators on Planet X149
Using illegal means, you have entrapped six major excavation crews into a tax evasion scheme. File a report? Each successful conviction will net you 250 experience, as well as positive reputation with the Interplanetary Investigations Office.
Warning. Since you used illegal means to obtain these convictions, they will not hold up in court. Negative reputation with the Interplanetary Investigations Office for each failed conviction, potentially leading to a negative writeup that will delay your stellar rise up the ranks.
File report? Yes / No
He clicked no and swiped away the notification. Tax evasion was too easy a target if he wanted to keep moving up the ranks, and he knew that the people he was going after had enough money to hire lawyers that could easily get it thrown out of court.
While he had been reading the quest update, Luciana had moved onto deadlifts. As she bent over to pull the weight off the ground, her breasts pushed together. Captain Thomas didn’t bother to hide his gaze from her body when she did that.
Of course, the perceptive Lieutenant saw him doing that.
“Sir, as according to regulation 167.0.8 of the IIO Code of Justice, prolonged staring at a member of the opposite sexes anatomy can be considered an E/O violation.”
“Well Lieutenant,” he said solemnly, “I guess you’ll have to file a complaint with the E/O Officer.”
She grunted on her last rep and dropped the weights to the floor, where the padding muffled the noise.
“She feels that your conduct is unbecoming of an officer, but will let you off with a warning.” She said with a wink. Then she went to the squat rack and began doing squats. With the skin-tight booty shorts that she had on, her cheeks would start to come out at the bottom of each rep.
“Well, as the Captain of this ship, I have to remind you that according to section 215.0.1 forbids sexualized workout attire in the company of mixed-sex crews.”
“You going to write up a complaint?” She asked, holding the down position of the squat. He thought she’d probably start wiggling if she wasn’t such a stickler for perfect form during all repetitions.
“I think a warning will suffice.”
“Duly noted Captain.” She said, as she stepped forward and racked the weight. She turned around and pulled his head in close for a hard kiss. When they pulled apart, Thomas said, “And fraternization! What sort of slop ship does the Captain of this vessel run?”
“The kind sir,” she replied, “That values the ability to get shit done over following bureaucratic rules.”
He pulled her in for another kiss, but she pushed back on his chest. It mildly bothered him that her push showed a restrained power that suggested she could easily outmuscle him. His wounded ego piqued up for a minute, but he reminded himself that the build he had chosen for himself was to schmooze and scheme, not to get embroiled in fisticuffs.
“I’m concerned though. You put on a big show of training all the time, but I never actually see you ‘train’. You’re always goofing off.”
He sighed. “And that’s because, as I always tell you, I didn’t get to where I am via pugilism. I got where I am via intelligence.” He tapped his skull to emphasize the point.
“I’ve known a lot of intelligent men.” She responded cooly. “But none of them reached the station you’re at in such a short time. Are there other factors you’re not telling me about?”
He paused, but only briefly. “Yes, like the plan we’re doing right now. It’s how one gets put on the fast track.”
“The plan to entrap remote planet miners? That case will get thrown out if any lawyer gets near it.”
Thomas walked over to the combat robot in the melee portion of the room and tapped it. The melee droid was recomposable, meaning it could shift out body parts into new configurations. The idea being that if any alien lifeforms were found, combat droids could change their anatomical configuration to match the new species. The default was a simple humanoid body type. The droid was sleek black metal and stood 5’8, but it could go up to seven feet tall, up to twelve if both droids were reassembled into one. That configuration wasn’t used unless combat droids were being deployed as shock troops.
A screen popped up in his vision as he pressed on the combat droid.
Combat Robot Initialized
Greetings Captain Thomas! Select the combat level you wish to fight this droid at. Your usual has been preselected.
Warning: This droid has been programmed to not use lethal violence. It will defend a ship in case of attack, but cannot be used to commit lethal violence, in accordance with Intergovernmental Regulations 107.41.
Combat Levels:
- [X] Water Squirter. Simulates a terrified civilian with no military experience.
- [] Average Joe. Simulates a regular civilian with no military experience.
- [] Brawler. Simulates a civilian who favors strong attacks with little defense.
- [] Trained fighter. Simulates a civilian who has good training with combat.
- [] Military-grade fighter. Simulates military personnel who has trained extensively in combat.
- [] Elite military-grade fighter. Simulates military personnel with exceptional combat skills and capabilities.
- [] Transhuman grade fighter. Simulates a person whose capabilities exceed normal human limits, only achievable through implants or exoskeletons.
- [] Combat Droid. Simulates a combat droid well beyond any human limits. The goal isn’t to win, but see how long you can survive.
Confirm selection? Yes / no.
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
Thomas picked up a simulator striking sword from the wall. The combat robot did the same as well. Both went into a combat stance. The simulator sticks emitted a low-frequency electrical impulse on contact, enough to notice but not enough to really hurt.
Luciana eyed their stances. The combat robot was standing in an awkward position, the way an untrained person would stand if you handed them a sword and they imitated a fighting pose they saw in a movie. Too much weight on the back foot, which would make it hard for them to shift positions quickly.
Thomas’s stance was a more classic rapier stance, weight balanced on both feet. The droid moved with a clumsy attack, which Thomas easily parried. He thrust into the underside of the droid’s hand.
“See?” Thomas said, parrying another attack and hitting the arm of the droid on the riposte. The droid dropped its arm down and switched the sword to its offhand. “This is called ‘defanging the snake.’ I don’t need to fight hard, just inflict small damage to the opponent in the attacking limbs. When it’s unable to fight”, he sidestepped a lunging attack, “I can finish the fight.” He stabbed his sword into where the robots heart would be. The robot stopped.
“Winning a battle or a fight isn’t about overpowering your opponent. It’s about outthinking your opponent.” His combat time was forty seconds for the display.
“Return to position”, Thomas commanded. The robot trod back to where it was initially.
Thomas’s combat prowess was one of the many things that irked her about the Captain. Though she admittedly found him attractive and charming, there were numerous things that just didn’t add up to her. According to his records from the elite West Point Interplanetary Academy, he was a 1%’er. The elite of the elite.
By his record, he was captain of the boxing and fencing team, winner against national and international opponents, including off-Worlders, expert level marksman, top field commander, Valedictorian in space engineering.
His record on Earth had been no less impressive, cracking major drug cartels, stopping cybercriminals who wanted to profit off starting wars with off-World colonies, and a string of citations for heroism in the line of duty.
Yet, while she didn’t know what level he had set the droid at, it clearly wasn’t even at military level. His movements, while correct, were not skilled. Too many wasted motions, imprecise balance while shifting his weight, and while he had natural grace, he didn’t posses the explosive grace of elite fencers or boxers. He seemed to coast on natural skill rather than refined talent.
Her background was also decorated. She went to Virginia Interplanetary Military Institute, graduated in the top five percent of her class, lead the LaCrosse team, won the Sandhurst Competition, and was a top team leader. She was 37 years old, he was 29. He rose to the rank of Captain of a military vessel, while most people in his position were at least in their forties. Field promotions for exceptional candidates occurred during wartime, but there was no ongoing war.
As a 37 year old Lieutenant, she was considered a fast tracker. But his level was completely unheard of, no one had risen as fast as he had. The dissonance between the record of a no nonsense badass compared to the devil may care Captain she knew was extreme.
Additionally, his skills as a team leader were questionable. They had done nothing remarkable while she was part of his team, and an illegal entrapment scheme hardly fell under the auspices of extraordinary work. She usually ran the team training, and there was a slip in quality from the personnel on board the ship.
She reigned in her mental frustration and grabbed a simulation stick. “Drone A, arm at elite military level.”
The drone snapped to attention. She immediately began the attack, which the drone parried. It circled her and made several quick, sharp thrusts at her hand, neck, and body, attempting to get her to overextend on a parry. It continued the assault by using broken rhythm, alternating fast strikes with slower strikes and feints to keep her off-balance.
The two of them continued this furious combination of attacks, parries, feints, blocks, and ripostes. She could feel the occasional tingle of electricity sparking her as the droid did glancing damage on her, and she likewise flicked the droid with the tip of the simulated sword, but nothing that would be fatal or even grievous damage occurred between either combatant.
Despite her relentless attacks, the droid kept circling around, never letting her get a decisive positional advantage. It also used its longer height and reach to prevent her from being able to win off of a purely offensive strategy, and it never opened itself up whenever she made feints or attempted to make it overextend to defend itself.
She squared up her body, leaving an opening for the combat droid. It immediately pounced at her and attempted a lunging attack straight at her heart, but she expected it. She stepped out of the way while pushing the blade aside, narrowly missing her. She immediately counterattacked by pushing her sword into the robot’s throat, and the droid slumped. Victory. Combat time, three minutes, 21 seconds.
She panted heavily and returned the sword to the rack.
“Intellect doesn’t mean anything when you don’t have the physical resources to use it. That”, she said, putting emphasis on the word, “is real combat tactics. Leaving an opening intentionally to make the opponent expose themselves. It requires skill and precision to execute, being a fraction too early or too late means you lose everything. Now, what’s your real plan?”
Thomas bowed his head in acknowledgement of her ferocity in combat.
“Here’s the plan. We’re going to go through with the transfers. When we get the ships and minerals, we’re going to sell them for a nice profit and use the proceeds to get a real fighter class ship. We’re going to transfer over all the best equipment on this ship onto our new ship, and we’re going to recruit a full man force to take on any pirate ships we can. I believe, with strong evidence, that several out-World planets are aiding and abetting pirates. We’re going to infiltrate them.
The ships and minerals will be reported as stolen, so our cover as rogue privateers will be solid if anyone checks. I initiated contacts with people to give us new identities, as well as setup any additional ones we’ll need. I’ve also observed the behavior of the crew over the past six months, noting which ones showed up for training, which ones carried out intellectual pursuits, and which ones just screwed off with no one cracking the whip at them. The squad we need will be one that can function effectively without a regular military structure dangling over their head. I’ve gathered dossiers on ex-military personnel that will also fit our structure, though I can’t vet them as thoroughly as the crews we served with. Once we find out which governments are protecting the pirates, we arrest them.
And that, Lieutenant,” he said with a wink, “is how you get your double bars and your own ship.”
She took a second to process what he said. The misgivings she had with him in the past had suddenly vanished, even if the nagging doubts about his combat prowess still tickled the back of her mind.
“And, I presume”, she said, “That this black ops mission is fully sanctioned by the IIO?”
He shook his head. “From my research, there’s simply no way this could operate at the scale that it is without someone in the IIO being involved. As far as anyone who joins us knows, this is a fully sanctioned operation. But we both know that it isn’t.”
As she started to object, he raised up a hand. “In the event that this blows up, I will take full responsibility and swear that you and the crew had no idea. You can back out of this, but seeing as how hard you’ve been gunning for my job, I think this mission will show if you have what it takes to a real Captain.”
While she pondered his proposal, he saw a new dialogue box open up. He focused on it.
New Class Gained: Privateer
A privateer is someone who captures ships on behalf of a government force. While it’s a thin line between a privateer and a pirate, you do currently have government backing, even if they don’t know it.
Skills gained:
- Social Chameleon. You know how to blend into various backgrounds, including the less savory. +5 to any interaction with someone from an unsavory background.
- Legal Enforcement Powers. Gains the ability to call in the law to settle a seizure. This power is separate from Legal Enforcement Powers granted as an investigator. Warning: Since you are technically operating outside the boundaries of the law, using this power can have severe repercussions.
Disadvantages gained:
- Social Stigma. Privateers operate in grey areas. For people with a moralistic worldview, this causes them to look down on privateers. -5 to any interaction involving people with strong moralistic viewpoints.
- Dirty rat. For anyone who has had their goods stolen by privateers, or who doesn’t hold a distinction between a pirate and a privateer, you’re a dirty rat. - 15 to any interaction with people who have been wronged by a privateer, justly or unjustly.
Secondary Skills gained:
- Appraiser (P+I). Level 1. +2 on appraising item’s worth. You can roughly judge the value of crafts and minerals that you seize.
- Scrounging (D+P). Level 1. +2 on scrounging materials. You can disassemble simple machines into their base components. Warning, attempting to disassemble more complex machines can lead to destruction or explosion of their parts.
Congratulations! You have 40 character points to distribute by gaining this new class!
He inwardly winced at the social stigma disadvantage. While not as huge as the dirty rat disadvantage, Luciana had a moralistic worldview. He leaned heavily on her and knew that his chances of success diminished greatly if she rejected the job. But he also knew that her goal in life was to become the youngest female captain, a distinction she had less than three years to get. Despite her amazing genetics, strict diet and workout routine, and some subtle facial modifications, she was getting older and starting to feel the pressure of the boiling pot.
He also knew that she had some level of resentment towards his early ascension, and also knew that she could tell something wasn’t quite right with his meteoric rise. He opened up his character panel and set it to the detailed view to see exactly what his stats looked like.
Mark Thomas, Captain
Character Overview, detailed.
Descriptions. The primary class is the main class of a player, chosen at character creation.
Secondary classes are the result of gameplay decisions that grant the player new quests and
plot lines. Attributes are used as modifiers against primary and secondary skills. Primary
skills are unique to a class, and cannot be learned without special plot lines and quests being
resolved. Secondary skills are available for anyone to learn. Each skill has a base attribute
That it corresponds to, which can enhance the skill beyond its level. Your mutant hack (EVE)
grants you abilities that other NPCs (non-player characters) and regular players do not have.
Race: Human
Primary Class: Investigator. Rank, Captain.
Secondary Class: Privateer, FNG, Ficking New Guy.
Attributes: Strength 9, Dexterity 12, IQ 12, Health 10, Willpower 12, Perception 13,
Charisma 13.
Advantages:
- Legal Enforcement Powers. As an investigator, can subpoena witnesses, make arrests,
subpoena evidence, and interrogate suspects.
As a privateer, can commandeer vehicles and minerals.
- Police Rank 5. Can call in favors from members of law enforcement, judges, governments,
and prosecutorial staff.
- Photographic Memory. Through your connection with the AI EVE, can recall minute details
that would otherwise elude memory. Can replay key evidence in your mind exactly as it
occurred.
- Intuition. Your years of investigative work give you a good feel for when people or events
don’t add up.
- Dubious morality. You possess the ability to justify morally questionable actions to yourself
and to others. In government work, this is a clear advantage.
Disadvantages:
- Bully. You’re an ass. -5 to interactions with others.
- Lazy. You use your gifts of charm and intelligence to avoid hard work. If you weren’t the
Law, you’d be called a grifter. -5 reputation with industrious people.
- Cheater. While others worked hard, you hacked the system to get where you are. -10
reputation with industrious people.
- Jealousy. Because you’re a lazy cheat, you are jealous of people who have worked hard
to achieve their success. -10 reputation with successful, hard-working people.
- Paranoia. Your cheating ways have made you paranoid that you’ll be discovered for the
hack fraud that you are. Unable to achieve “Well Rested” bonus.
- Social Stigma. Privateers operate in grey areas. For people with a moralistic worldview,
this causes them to look down on privateers. -5 to any interaction involving people with
strong moralistic viewpoints.
- Government suit. You are an agent of the law, and for people who resent the law, finding
out about your occupation will lead to hostility. -10 to people who are anti-government.
- Dirty rat. For anyone who has had their goods stolen by privateers, or who doesn’t
hold a distinction between a pirate and a privateer, you’re a dirty rat. -15 to any interaction
with people who have been wronged by a privateer, justly or unjustly.
Primary Skills:
- Criminology, (IQ) level 6. You have studied crimes and criminals for a long time.
+12 on any case that requires understanding the criminal mind.
- Forensics (IQ), level 4. Your years of training coupled with your connection to EVE helps
you analyze a crime scene with precision. +8 on seeing any clues at a crime scene.
- Interrogation (IQ), level 4. Your years of training, combined with being an immoral jackass,
help you to coerce the truth from people.
However, your scrawny build and lack of physical strength hinder you from being
effective at it. +4 to interrogation.
- Law knowledge (IQ), level 6. You possess encyclopedic knowledge from EVE about what
laws are being broken. Can be used to enhance interrogation.
+12 to any situation that requires knowing the law, including all the laws you are
currently breaking.
- Observation (P), level 1. You can observe people and situations with a trained eye and
eidetic memory +5 on any situation that requires a keen eye.
- Research (IQ), level 1. You can quickly look up volumes of information and absorb
it quickly. +6 to finding out information rapidly, enhanced by EVE.
Secondary Skills:
- Driving, (D) level 3. You are competent enough to drive an aircraft, hovercraft, or regular
automobile.
- Electronics operation (D+I), security and surveillance, level 2. You can setup basic
sting operations with electronic equipment.
- Forced Entry (D+I), level 4 on regular locks, level 2 on electronic locks.
Your dexterous nature makes it easy for you to pick mechanical locks, but you lack the
Electronic knowledge to pick more advanced locks.
- Search (P), level 4. You know the hiding spots of criminals and can find their caches.
- Small Arms (D), level 2. You know the basics of firearms and combat, but are not the
expert you pretend to be.
- Melee (D+S), level 2. You can handle basic weapons without stabbing yourself.
- Appraiser (P+I). Level 1. +2 on appraising item’s worth. You can roughly judge the value of
crafts and minerals that you seize.
- Scrounging (D+P). Level 1. +2 on scrounging materials. You can disassemble simple
machines into their base components. Warning, attempting to disassemble more complex
machines can lead to destruction or explosion. Modified by your skill in electronics
operation if the device is a surveillance or electronic lock device.
You currently have 40 points to spend on attributes or skills.
Because he was using a mutant hack, and the NVA seed couldn’t really protest it, the game let him know in not very subtle ways that it didn’t appreciate him tinkering with it. He had two sets of contradictory faction bonuses, depending on which one someone thought he was. His most powerful class advantages couldn’t be used while he was playing a privateer though, but that couldn’t be helped. He was also grateful for one little fact. NPCs couldn’t see stats the way that Player Characters could.
“Alright”, Luciana said, “I’m in.”
He breathed a sigh of relief. At least he had a shot of making his plan work.
“Should we go celebrate?” she asked seductively. He normally would have said, “Yes”, but unfortunately, he had a real-World job to go back and do. Sex inside of a Proxima World was a little bit like the joke, “Sex is like pizza. When it’s good, it’s really good. And when it’s bad, it’s still pretty good.” But it wasn’t quite the same as in the real World, so he didn’t think it over too hard when he could use real World money to get laid.
“No”, he said, with a sigh that showed he had real regret in his words. “I need to finalize plans in my office and get everything underway. You can come visit me later though, if you wish.”
“Maybe I will. Maybe I won’t. There’s a lot of meat on this ship, and I might have to say goodbye to some of the ones that I know won’t make the cut.” She winked at him seductively. “It’s not fraternization if they’re not under my command.”
“Barracks lawyering? Lieutenant, have you no shame?”
She laughed and went to the smart locker, grabbing a bath towel and her clothes before heading into the women’s shower. He went to the elevator pod and up to the next deck, which was quarters. He walked through the hallways until he reached the captain’s quarters. His digs were impressive, but he barely noticed it as he laid down on the bed and waited ten seconds for the logout button to appear.