Reroll

Betty, Ed, and I spend some time talking to our passengers; we'd like a one for the resistance to interview… show our credentials, so to speak.

I sit down with a human cyborg and begin, “So… in public, I go by ‘Alice’ most of the time; I literally can’t use my real name anymore.  I keep a separate social identity as well.  My friends call me Kenny.”

“I know the feeling,” the woman smiles, showing her teeth, “I'm Marigold.  I can't use my old name either… ugh. Stupid… I can't even say it.” It's a little disconcerting looking into her faintly glowing, obviously artificial eyes while seeing the metal sticking out of the back of her head.  At least she's dressed in something other than rags now: Clothes are easy to solve for Betty, thanks to the Clothier's Closet spell.

I consider, “So you signed up at the college too, then?”

She raises her eyebrows, “Yeah.  Seeing as you said ‘Kenny’....”

I nod, “Yeah.  I used to be a guy, and still think of myself that way.”

She considers, looking around at the luxury cabin in a starship we're using for the meeting while we're sipping wine made by the same, “So was it worth it?”

I consider, “Probably?  I won't really know that until we sort out the Inquisition mess properly.  Regardless… I'm sure you have a rough idea of what I plan to ask.”

“Will I stay or will I go?” Marigold looks at me for confirmation, and I nod, so she continues, “I'll stay. These digs are much better than anything I ever had, you saved us from slavery, the slavers are still out there, and I can't exactly blend in with baseline humanitu anymore.”

I nod, “Cool.  If we supply materials, can you rebuild your equipment, and supply such for others?”

She chuckles, “They wouldn't have had me slaving away if I couldn't. No problem. So about pay….”

I shrug, “We’re in international space, and don't have our own currency yet.  We can't formalize anything for now, but you can certainly make your own hardware along with anything else we need.”

She frowns, “So I’ll be working for no pay….”

I shrug again, “For now. If you wish to leave we can drop you off basically anywhere, basically whenever you’d like. This isn't compulsory service; I'm just being honest about what we can and can't do right now.”

Marigold sips her wine, “But I get to stay here?”

I nod.

Marigold considers, “And you'll set up some kind of pay structure for me once you actually can?”

I nod, “I can't say when that will be - probably after the war - but that is the plan.”

Marigold considers, “All right then… I'll join up; what would you like me to do?”

We go over her capabilities; she’s apparently built mostly for cyberwarfare, and can build her own equipment, given time and materials… including cybernetic enhancements, weapons, and other items.  It doesn't hold up to Starfinder's numbers, but still… this is real gear, which has both good and bad points.

When we're done going over her build, I ask her, “So… first assignment: I and my party are meeting up with a different resistance faction later today, and I'd like to bring proof of our recent activities. How do you feel about meeting up with some fairly old-school mythological types?”

“Wait, like, REAL fairies, unicorns, fauns, and things?”

“A vampire, wizard, and werewolf, none of which are particularly good people.  These ones aren't first generation like you or I….”

Marigold interrupts, “You mean our kids will inherit our power?”

I nod, “That or we'll infect others.  That appears to be the way of it: A myth of some kind happens, for unclear reasons someone comes to embody the myth…”

“I know how it happened for me and my group….”

“Can’t talk about it, but that can't be the only way it happens: There's still a chicken and egg mystery to solve with…” I can't talk further on that line.  Annoying, “Well.  You know.”

Marigold pauses, “Right. So what would you want me to do?”

I shrug, “Mostly stay quiet; when prompted, tell your story honestly to the limits of your ability.”

Marigold considers, “And I'd be safe?”

I shrug, “Mostly. I can't guarantee that the Inquisition won't find the meeting, nor that the other faction won't try something… but I plan to put a stop to violence if it comes up.”

Marigold seems curious, “How?”

I flood the room with soldier builds before she can blink, "Brute force.” I then start putting them away again as we continue to talk.

She blinks, “Ah… why do you need me, again?”

I chuckle, “Well… ‘need’ is a stretchy term.  If we're pushed too hard… there's no nice way to say this… we have access to a couple of self-fueling, self-repairing, stealthy space-based weapons platforms: We could literally nuke the bad guys from orbit.  But that wouldn't solve anything: A lot of the myths out there spawn monsters, and those must be kept under control, otherwise society crumbles.”

Marigold rubs her temples, “...which means society NEEDS the Inquisition, and would simply replace it with something else after however many people die, purely out of self defense and panic.”

I nod, “Right. Reforms are needed.”

Marigold nods, “So that's going to be the whispers of ‘Alice’ I heard….”

I smile.

“Wait, you're THAT Alice?”

I nod, “Probably. Healer extraordinair, giving it out for free,” mostly, “just for the good press.”

“How have you not been caught!?”

“Lots of illusions. They can't use the good stuff in crowds, because of secrecy, so they end up grabbing empty air.  How did you hear…”

Marigold rolls her eyes, “The guards wouldn't shut up about the slippery… err….”

“It's okay. I wouldn't think they thought very kindly of me, given how much trouble I'm causing.  Regardless… I have others to check in with….”

She chuckles, “Right… come get me when you're ready.”

We part ways, I do a few more such interviews, and actually get one guy who prefers getting dropped off… he goes with the Australian wilderness; I build him a suitable ‘shuttle’ from a shadow minion, and send him on his way.

Which is also how we all head down to meet the resistance: I make a shadow minion, use Alteration to add some size, seating, flight, and such, use Life Bubble for life support, and Illusion for stealth… then down we go: Ed, Betty, Marigold, and myself; my little gift for Vlad in hand.

Marigold just sort of stares out the windows on the trip.  I mean, I can't say as I blame her: The view is SPECTACULAR. That big blue marble, dressed up in white, green, and gold, viewed from space, KNOWING we're up above it all?  There is nothing like it.  The flames of re-entry (yes, I know nothing is actually burning), the view of the city, and the soft as a dove set down on the calm city street? It gives me a heady feeling… mostly because now I'm a little concerned that the Inquisition might be monitoring for such re-entry flames. It's not too terribly likely that they are… and we can probably fix most of it simply by changing our orbit periodically. Still…

It's an awesome ride.

Marigold looks at me as we climb out and I stow my minion, “How can you three do that so casually?”

Betty shrugs, “We live up there now. We basically designed the starship we live on. Anything palls eventually.”

Ed and Betty are “wearing” their Eidolons (Ed was able to resummon his Eidolon, although it's not clear if that was because the wards at the production facility effectively unsummoned the Eidolon, or if the wards released the Eidolon when the facility imploded), and have cloaks and hoods to hide the forehead symbols.  I dropped the Eidolon, Wild Cohort, and Companion Vessel from my build, so I'm possessing a shadow soldier dressed up as my ‘social’ form.  It doesn't have much in the way of actual hit points, but it also isn't even inconvenienced by simple injury, so I should be okay.

We ring the doorbell, and Lady Elaine Fairchild (the first) opens it for us with, “Come on in, toots.”

The three resistance leaders are deep in discussion with each other, already standing, as we enter; it’s a bit incongruous with the peaceful interior’s bright colors and floral furniture.  

Ralph seems to like the result, “...have GOT to get them on our side.  Seriously, they blew a production facility sky high.  That is a serious black eye for the Inquisition.”

Vlad not so much, “They were crazy inconsiderate: Our plans are in shambles: The Inquisition practically emptied the storehouse of Guardians we were planning on…”

Lady Elaine coughs, “Come on, toots, the guests of honor are here. You can figure out who kicked the hornet's nest later.”

They stop at that, then turn and look at us.  Again I'm facing Ralph the Alpha of Alphas werewolf, Merlin the Wizard, and Vlad the very obvious vampire.  

Merlin reacts first, “Welcome… although I'm afraid our planned outing is off.  Still… always good to meet allies.”

I smile.