CY_Borg (Free League Publishing)
Written and designed by Christian Sahlén and Johan Nohr
You can download the CY_litary De.file_ment solo rules here
Read Part One of Bell’s journey here
Bell descends the rickety metal stairs hidden inside the holobox and emerges into quite an impressive lair. The space has been fine-tuned to suit the needs of its single inhabitant. A chair swivels around, and there she sits, Wick. “Saw you on the CCTV,” she says. “You look like a desperate one. What is it you need?”
She eyes him, and he her. Her broken nose, healed but slightly bent to the left, stands out. Bell notices the luxury Lindosom PL-X headphones hanging around her neck, which are chrome and shiny. He explains his search for Pixel Diva’s contact info and that he needs to get past Shade’s RV security. Wick seems familiar with Shade, sneering when her name comes up. “We can do something about that.”
(Barter to help on Shade’s RV security – GAM check DR12 vs. Presence – partial)
“Before I help you, I need you to help me,” Wick continues. “Something haunts this old Nilsson’s.” She’s referring to the abandoned department store where she’s built her hidden HQ. My research has led me to believe some poor soul became stuck in the security grid. I need to scavenge this place more thoroughly and install my own secops. You wouldn’t believe the freaks who’ve tried to make the lower floors their own. You hunt down the Ghost and at least help me find where the core of their consciousness is living, and I can clear Shade’s pathetic defense systems quickly.”
Bell agrees.
(We’ll set this at Annoying, just two milestones: Find the Ghost and Get Rid of the Ghost. I also want to make the Nilsson’s Department Store a small dungeon to explore, so I outline that below using the template in CY_litary Defilement)
Special Room #1 – Time Dilation Chamber
Wick suspects the Ghost got desynced by staying too long in the Time Dilation Chamber. The VivaLife corporation promoted using “controlled” time dilation for anti-aging properties in cosmetics. In Nilsson’s across the country, they installed these chambers where, for an extravagant fee, a person could be blasted with particles that slowed the aging process. While the world around them moved at the same pace, their cells would age slightly slower. There were the eventual claims of people suffering severe side effects – reverse aging, zero aging, or certain functions aging faster than others (hair growing faster while muscle mass depleted exponentially). “Minor bugs,” VivaLife’s CEO said during a congressional hearing.
The chamber left behind sputters with sparks in the dark corner of Cosmetics that it was left in. Bell isn’t alone. To his surprise, a middle-aged, tattoo-covered man stands in the chamber, leaning against one of the walls. He’s got a mono sword strapped to his back but doesn’t pull it when he spots Bell. Glancing at the ground, taking in all the spent ampules for Pink Ooze, Bell knows what he’s dealing with. “You here to buy, too?” he bluffs. The tattooed man nods, “Name’s Zee. You waiting for Cloud, too?” Bell nods back.
The time dilation elements sound incredibly broken. Part of the chamber attempts to spin up, and then a loud clunk sounds. Bell feels nauseous in his stomach, then a heaviness. If he didn’t know better, he would think the cheap street burrito he’d wolfed down for breakfast a few hours ago was reforming in there. But that would be crazy, right?
Bell attempts to talk with Zee, asking if he’s seen anything odd while hanging out here.
(GAM vs. DR12 – Partial)
Zee answers curtly. No, he hasn’t seen shit. Now fuck off. The guy is getting more agitated. His plug, this Cloud, is later than usual. Bell says nothing and looks over the chamber again.
Bell attempts to poke around the chamber without upsetting Zee
(GAM vs DR12 – Partial)
Zee is pissed. “Are you some sort of narc or somethin?” the older man spits. Bell guesses he hasn’t had a good hit of Pink in too long; the Oozers are some nasty folk when they get mad. Bell says he’s just curious about the chamber. Zee responds that he’s had enough and pulls his monosword.
(Autofire SMGs DR12 – 1 – Failure)
The triggers of the SMGs click, nothing. Fuck. Bell thought he’d kept them dry from the rain, but obviously not.
(Defend – nat 20 (free attack) – DR12 – miss)
Bell moves too quickly for the old-timer. The monosword blade sinks into a panel and sparks fly. The Dilation Chamber makes a new clunk, which worries Bell.
(Autofire SMGs DR12 – 20 – 6 damage)
Zee isn’t wearing any armor, and the bullets shred one of his legs; he’s still moving, though, an even wilder look in those bug eyes.
(Defend DR12 – 16 – Success)
Bell doesn’t have to move as quickly; Zee is struggling.
(Autofire SMGs DR12 – 17 – 2 damage)
(Morale check – Surrender.)
Zee can’t keep going. He drops his sword, bleeding out from his legs, into the Dilation chamber. “Shit, man, shit,” he mutters. Something feels wrong about all of this to Bell. It doesn’t make sense that this guy would be here. He notices a sudden hunger pang, like he hasn’t eaten anything in days. The chamber clunks again and it feels like something ripples in the air.
Bell pats Zee down and takes the 2500 credits Zee was carrying, probably for a plug that doesn’t seem to be coming anymore.
Bell drops his empty magazine and examines the chamber further.
(Search for an Object – Strong Hit)
Pulse Rifle (d10a damage) with 3 mags stashed in a storage compartment inside the chamber. Bell is trying to figure out why someone would put a weapon in a cosmetics chamber. Hiding it from the authorities?
The chamber is making strange noises. So does Zee. Bell glances at the old timer and witnesses him flicker like a holopic; distortions crackle around him. Then there’s Zee standing like he was when Bell entered. Sword strapped on his back, no wounds and no blood on the ground. Bell ponders if this is the Ghost he’s after but realizes that Zee is trapped inside. The Ghost he’s hunting for is roaming the store. Zee is a poor soul trapped in a time loop, waiting for a dealer and a fix that will never come until someone demolishes this time-dilation chamber.
Special Room #2 – Excavated, In-House Pet Store
Bell finds himself one floor lower, and the waters from outside have busted through; they pool out, and the further Bell goes into the old pet store, the higher they are. He tucks himself into a corner after hearing a noise and watches closely.
(Spot an Enemy – Weak hit)
(Presence TR9 check – Failure – fish face attacks)
He watches ripples grow in the water, and emerging from the murk is a fish-humanoid thing. It extends multiple arm-like limbs, fumbling across the shelves, likely searching for food. Its mouth hangs open, revealing a toothless maw sucking at the air. Then its head whips around, and it can see Bell, and it attacks.
(Bell attack with Pulse Rifle single shot – DR12 – Failure, shot misses)
Testing out his new rifle, Bell fires off a shot. The kickback was more than he anticipated, and the blast pings off a shelf missing Fishface.
(Fishface attack – DR12 – Success)
The monster lunges. Bell dodges the fanged tongue of Fishface as it whips out, two points on the end dripping with what he would guess is some paralyzing toxin.
(Bell attack with Pulse Rifle single shot – DR12 – Success, 9 damage)
Another shot from the pulse rifle hits big. The creature’s face comes apart into thousands of fleshy chunks. Fishface is dead, corpse floating on top of the filthy canal water flooding into the store.
(Scavenge for something useful – Item found – Verb/Noun: Forsake Tonight)
(Is this something that will help me stop the Ghost? Yes (nat 20))
Bell discovers a computer console in the back of the waterlogged pet store. Miraculously, he gets it up and running. According to the timecode, Bell watches an encounter with a looter who came across the Ghost six months ago. The Ghost (a faint blur on the camera) snuck up on the looter and appeared to have taken control of the defensive systems embedded in the walls to incinerate the intruder. Bell looks away as the poor bastard gets turned into human Swiss cheese. This Ghost is furious and adept at using the defensive systems of the store to slaughter anyone it pleases.
Special Room #3 – Dark, Sporting Goods
Around a dozen figures in crusty hazmat suits stand in a circle murmuring some chant. Bell watches from between two shelves in sporting goods. He carefully pushes against some tennis racquets to get a better look. One steps forward, his suit a little cleaner and patched up with duct tape. He removes the protective mask and pushes the hood back. Bell thinks the guy looks like the over-tanned, teeth unnaturally whitened, weird old men on the all-night home shopping streams. The crowd chants “Reeve” repeatedly until he raises his hands, signaling them to stop.
Reeve tells his acolytes that five years ago, a poor soul got themself trapped inside the security network of this building. They were a phreak, hacking into the relays of the department store because they believed they could use its comm systems to get free net access. However, this poor hacker triggered a response by the secsys. There was a storm that night, and the air, polluted with innumerable intoxicants, completed a sort of twisted alchemy. The hacker’s soul was pulled from his body and became trapped inside the store. Tonight, The cult of The Radioactive Death will summon him and make him their spirit to do their bidding against the world.
Bell tries to creep closer without being noticed to watch the ritual in detail.
(GAM DR12 vs. Agility – Weak hit)
The floodwaters have breached this level and are rising fast, but Bell stays to watch, knowing they only have a few more minutes before things get nasty here.
(Does the ritual go according to plan? Odds: Unlikely – No – Verb/Noun: Protect Trap)
A Turret Trap activates and starts opening fire on the cult and Bell.
(Agility check TR9 – Strong Hit)
Bell avoids the gunfire by taking cover behind shelves. Twelve of the cultists are shot down. Bell flees to the next area.
Room – Bedlam/Crowded, Stream
The surviving cultists swarm towards the exit of the floor, water waist deep and rushing in faster, caught in the undertow of this indoor river.
A red light laser crosses one of them. A gun blast sends them flying. A Corp Assassin has shown up. Not simple security. Possibly hunting down this Reeve?
(Presence check DR12 – Success)
Bell manages to approach the Assassin from behind
Bell attack with Pulse Rifle auto fire – Agility DR 12 – Success, 6 damage, deflect 4
Bell attack with Pulse Rifle auto fire – Agility DR 12 – Miss
Corp Assassin attacks – Agility DR 12 – Miss, 6 damage
Corp Assassin attacks – Agility DR 12 – Success
Bell attack with Pulse Rifle auto fire – Agility DR 12 – Success, 7 damage, deflect 6
Bell attack with Pulse Rifle auto fire – Agility DR 12 – Fail
Corp Assassin attacks – Agility DR 12 – Success
Bell attack with Pulse Rifle auto fire – Agility DR 12 – Fail
Corp Assassin attacks – Agility DR 12 – Fail, 7 damage, deflect 2
Bell is knocked unconscious. The Corp Assassin steps forward to observe the strange young man floating in the water, but a sudden burst sends them all under it. Bell’s limp form is carried deeper into the heart of the abandoned flooding store.
Special Room – The Ghost’s Lair/Arcade
Bell wakes up and finds he’s floated into a strange space with graffiti markings on the walls. Old arcade cabinets stand, some overturned, and the lazy river has taken over this space.
A turret pops out of the ceiling, targets Bell, and starts firing.
(Ghost attacks, Agility DR12 – Miss, 5 damage, 1 deflected)
Bell feels the spirit attempting his cyber implants. Focusing his mental control on the components helps fight the attacker off.
(Bell attack with Pulse Rifle single shot – Agility DR 12 – Strong – 3 damage, 3 deflected
Turret attacks, Agility DR12 – Success
Bell attack with Pulse Rifle single shot – Agility DR 12 – Miss
Turret attacks, Agility DR12 – Miss, 6 damage, 2 deflected)
Again, Bell is knocked unconscious. Metallic tendrils emerge from the walls, constructs shaped over time by a disembodied hacker angry at the world. It uses these arms to grab and pull Bell, dragging him through the water and towards an opening in the wall. Bell remains blacked out as the Ghost drives the needle tip points of its tendrils into the punk’s flesh. Just beneath the skin, a spider web of wires spread like fungi in a petri dish, taking control of his nervous system first, then extracting Bell’s consciousness into the virtual hellscape the Ghost must live in. He has company now, this poor waterlogged urchin, someone for him to torture now until the end of time.
The end for Bell, but not CY_Borg. We meet a new punk and take on a new mission next time.
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