SLA Industries: Hunting the Machine

[Dog Pants]

It would be pretty tricky to get your armour off in the vent, and doing it quietly would be near impossible. The shaft ends at the next floor up, and the doors are of the normal metal variety, rather than the grills from the levels below. They're closed, but the vents are again present.

[deject]

It would be pretty tricky to get your armour off in the vent, and doing it quietly would be near impossible. The shaft ends at the next floor up, and the doors are of the normal metal variety, rather than the grills from the levels below. They're closed, but the vents are again present.

more vent crawling!

[Joose]

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVR5lp5kePw[/media]

Skip to about 5:15, and imagine Hyneman replaced with a cat-lizard-man.

[Dog Pants]

This floor is quieter, and the same square corridor is sparkling clean. On your circuit you spot a few people moving around; a guy in a suit, another couple of guys in armour. The vents are pretty similar to the floor below.

[deject]

This cleanliness strikes me as really odd. Why would a gang of dudes making makeshift guns and armor under a bar have a super clean work environment and a dude in a suit?

I'll try to follow the suit, see where he goes.

[Dog Pants]

It's not easy while scuttling around the limited environment of the vents, but he seems to go from an office in the south east of the complex into the central room. You catch a short glimpse of carpet on the floor in there.

[deject]

I think I'll try to head back to the elevator shaft and try propping open the door and see if I can get in. Then I'll see if I can ruffle through the suit's office.

[Dog Pants]

The door's only cosmetic, so it's not hard to slide it open. There's nothing handy to prop it open with, unless you use something you're carrying.

[deject]

I'll hide my remaining mini-cam to watch the door and let it close.

I guess I'll need a detect roll at some point huh.

Detect (4): 3, 9 + 4 = 16

[Dog Pants]

And a sneak roll might be in order, assuming you're not clomping through the complex.

The corridor you're in leads off right and left, as have the other floors, making one end of a rectangle. At either end you can see sturdy metal doors, unlike the others you've seen so far, and somewhat in contrast to the rest of the business-like decor.

[deject]

Sneak (4): 6, 7 + 4 = 17

I'll start with the office the suit came out of. I'll open it slowly so that I can get the stalk in and see if anything is about to go horribly wrong for me.

[Dog Pants]

You have to sneak pretty much to the opposite end of the floor to get there. You pass two more doors before you reach it, and your motion tracker picks up quite a lot of movement on one. Passing the door you hear music, with some clanking and grunting. You get to the door the suit came out of and poke in your AV stalk. Inside are four people at computer terminals; three are wearing regular civilian clothes, the fourth in a suit. He's on the phone.

[Dog Pants]

I was feeling creative so I made the Snappers a logo.

[deject]

Can I hear what he's saying at all?

edit: excellent logo sir!

[Joose]

I was feeling creative so I made the Snappers a logo.

[Dog Pants]

Yeah, he's not making any effort to be quiet.

...can throw in three hundred rounds of ten mil if you make it fifteen.
...
Right. Well okay, we can work out a credit arrangement then if you like? We can do that.
...
Depends how long you need to pay the extra, but no more than 20%. I'd have to run through it with the sales guys.

At which point one of the people tapping away looks up at him and he shakes his head.

Do you want to carry on listening and watching?

[deject]

Nah, too risky. I'll sneak back over to the central room to see if I can do the same.

[Dog Pants]

You poke your AV stalk through the door the guy in the suit entered through. The room is pretty large, with a big faux-wooden board table and comfortable chairs. There are stands with display weapons in them in each corner, and at the far end of the room there's another door bearing a plaque with the word "OPERATIONS". There are two men in here. The snappy dresser you saw enter earlier, and a large, grey haired man in a double breasted suit with epilettes and the Snapper logo stitched onto the sleeve. They seem to be having a slightly heated discussion.

[deject]

OK, I've seen enough. How likely do you guys think that we can get the cavalry out here to back us up?

I'll leave the suits alone to shout at each other and look for an unoccupied room on this floor.

[Dog Pants]

You can either carry on round or go back the way you came. You know at least two of the four doors you passed on this side have people in the room, but you don't know what's on the other side.