Session 16: The True Price of Pleasures Report

General Summary

Introduction

A Decade Ago: Earth

"Kyralin Straussedorph, you will go out there right now."
"But mooom...they are so annoying. They are spoiled, they are mean, they break everything, and we have NOTHING in common!"
"Kyra, you must learn to play well with others. The Rowans are good friends to our family AND they are a rising star. People have said James may be on track to be elected Earth's Governor some day. This friendship is good for the family, but we will never reap the benefits of it if your father and I can't accompany James and Susana to a single gala without our children squabbling like...uneducated Rimmers."   A pungent silence permeates the large bedroom. The wide, double-set windows overlooking a several acre, perfectly manicured lawn casts a slight breeze into the room and only adds to the chilling gaze coming out of the eyes of Mrs. Straussedorph. A young Kyra, no more than 11 or 12, sits with her arms crossed and a well-practice pout on top of her king-sized bed. She is half-encompassed in thick comforters, pillows, and stuffed animals in this room that speaks of opulence mixed with the comforts of a wealthy childhood.
The stern gaze of Mrs. Straussedorph wilts slightly under the emotional pressure of a recently chastised young lady. "Kyra...just...do your best. For your father and I. Keep them entertained and placated for a single evening for the family...please dear?"
Kyra's pout and crossed arms relax. "O...Okay mom. I will. I will...try." She hops off the bed and heads toward the door with her mom in tow.
"I know you will, dear. You are a good girl, Kyra. You always do what is best for the family. They are waiting for you in your garden."   The hovercar, a black limo rented for some fancy gala for wealthy Earth-based ATS citizens, disappears down the driveway into the distance as a determined Kyra sets her jaw and walks into her little flower garden within the sculpted hedges to face the young Rowner Heir and Heiress. The eldest, James Jr, immediately catches her eye as he walks on the precarious small metal edging over the raised beds. His smart, well-tailored suit hangs open and carefree, his dirty-blonde hair has a few twigs sticking out of it already, and his polished black shoes are already caked with dirt as he dances along the thin edging over her flowers with his arms open wide for balance. His nigh inseparable sister, Kelsi, lounges back on the wrought-metal sofa nearby playing with her long, blonde hair absentmindedly wearing the blindingly sarcastic smirk that she never seems to be without.
Kyra can't resist an angry shout of "Be careful! Those are my flowers! I spent months working on-" just as JJ loses his balance and tumbles into the bed of flowers laughing. She remembers the months of growing those beautiful flowers, several of which included rare, alien varieties her father imported from the far reaches of the ATS. JJ continues laughing maniacally as he rolls into the bed, crushing them underneath his body.
Kelsi chimes in as Kyra watches slackjawed at the destruction of her beloved garden. "It's not a big deal, Kyralin, JJ is just having fun. Relax, its not like your Daddie can't just buy more flowers. Maybe he'll pay a real gardener this time instead of making you do it. Or...*gasp*...maybe he can't? Are you poor? Ours could, you know. Flowers from anywhere in the whole galaxy!"
Kyra looks between the smirking blonde fidgeting with her hair and the laughing, rolling boy continuing to gleefully destroy her beautiful flowerbed. She screams and storms off, tears of frustration beginning to well up in the corners of her eyes. "You...YOU SUCK! I hate you guys so much! I hope I never see you again. I hope bad, bad things happen to you!" The sound of their laughter echoes in her ears as Kyra runs back towards the safety of her room long after they were in earshot.

Present Day: Paphadis

As Kyra takes the step off the ship's ramp toward the rest of the Crew that had begun walking towards the Palacio and turns at the sound of the shouting girl and blast of a rifle, the reverberating echo of a gunshot is drowned out by the vivid memory of the sound of herself screaming in frustration at the sound of the Rowner brats laughing as she ran helplessly back to her room. She hadn't seen Kelsi Rowner or her brother JJ since that day, except in the various local news articles. His legal issues, her drug abuse, article after article of them following the stereotype Kyra strives daily to circumvent: That of idiot rich kids playing with the world with no interest in learning it or marveling in it. Kyra knew they were on the holovid series "Children of Earth" but actively avoided seeing those episodes. Her determination to avoid them entirely affected her parent's ability to "ride that rising star to the top", but she refused to befriend those trust fund brats no matter how many times her mom begged her from that day on.   No, the first time she saw her childhood rival's face since being laughed out of her own garden was when Kyra watched the expression on her face as her chest exploded and Kelsi Rowner collapsed by the feet of Kyra's new family. The crew of the Intrepid Explorer looked down at the executed girl in front of them with varying expressions of their own ranging from horror, mild amusement, or inscrutable, robotic judgement. The body lay contorted before them with her pale hand still outstretched towards them and her final cry for help still lingering on her lips as the toga-wearing guards and Concierge stroll towards the party from the marbled walls and the massive sign reading "Palacio Diletta: Your Deepest Desires Await" behind them. The sun seems to touch the tops of the towering trees as it makes its daily descent and the rhythm of the nearby jungle resumes over the echoing gunshot as the Concierge's outstretched palms make a physical representation of her offer of compensation for the tragedy they, the Palacio's new guests, were just forced to witness.   Concierge Marla bows towards you as she speaks, palms open and held wide: "Again, dear guests, my deepest apologies for the unpleasantness you have seen in our removal of this dangerous drug-addled assailant. The villa awaits you and those you said remain on the ship and an afternoon of pampering at our expense is the least we can offer. Is this your first time here at the Palacio de Diletta?"

Outside the Shipyard

Kyra walked towards the group in a state of determination and immediately began checking the body of Kelsi Rowner. She quickly confirmed that there was a slight heartbeat that was fading quickly and would likely expire before she was taken to either the city of the ship. She checked her for her signature locket she was rarely seen without and didn't find it around her neck, but did find a crumpled piece of paperr in a secretly sewn pocket on her toga. She rolled the body over and saw her bracelet on her hand and attempted to remove it but was stopped by the guards explaining that she was not permitted to access a bracelet containing her account information as it belongs to any next of kin.   Li, Jason, Anna, Mark, and Chiara watched on with a level of horror, disinterest, or strategic impassiveness in various cases. Li accepted the woman's offer of the Villa for 2 nights and the pass to the Rinascita for relaxation. Dash watched the proceedings from inside of the ship on an external camera. Li had the clever idea of transferring some money into an external "funny money" account to attach that to the bracelet. The rest attempted to follow suit but were unable to attach enough for an invokable amount, while Li's invokable amount was used to give Jason the same benefit.   While they negotiated and set up their accounts on their bracelets, a boy and girl approached the body. Li clocked the body language and puffy, red eyes of the girl and demeanor of the boy. They retrieved the body, Li helped put the body on a stretcher, and he cleverly (and quietly) asked the girl the name of the corpse. She responded with "Kelsi" and he said some Versian poetry over the body which seemed to mean a lot to the staff. The body was taken away while they were led around away from the procession towards town by the Concierge. Kyra made eye contact with the boy as they walked away and recognized him, though he shook his head quickly as she noticed him. Li requested from the Concierge that the green-haired girl be available and they agreed that she would cook them breakfast each morning that they were given the Villa, though she was not trained in "those arts".  

On the Ship

Dash and William Blake sat as Dash watched the cameras. William Blake had a moment of vulnerability while writing out his list of names. Dash caught him holding back tears. William “Sorry, sorry, didn’t mean to make no scene here. I just realized…I don’t remember half of their damn names. Don’t remember half of their damn faces. These two hands have taken out ‘round a hundred names on these two pages and I never once stopped to ask why. Never thought their lives worthy to keep safe or even jot down…”
“It’s just this one. Jerome Collins. I…I tried remembering about every other one I could ‘fore I got to this one. He was a close mate…a shipmate, sure, but a genuinely good friend and good person. He couldn’t talk me down from delivering his brother though, so he tricked me and took his brother’s place…”
*sniff/snort* “Damn lot of good it did anyone…Meant nothing in the end. Never even asked why. Just needed doin and I did it…fuckin…fuckin fates. Damn this hands, boy, and damn me. They pointed their fingers but I did the dirty work every time. We blame them ‘cause it’s easier than admitting we did it with no fuss and no gun held to our head.”
He verbally sobbed again and hung his head. Dash realized that the name written right above the one that affected him so much is ‘Jeremy Collins’. It seems that his friend’s sacrifice truly didn’t make a difference in the end and confronting that is what wracked him to the core.

The Grand Tour

The group was taken through town and were introduced to the Beholder's Eye, Cerebus, Rinascita, and approached the Sanguine Heart when Li noticed someone acting suspiciously ahead. The person quickly ran off, revealing their "long toga" to be a modified piece of clothing to cover up a missing left hand. Mark managed to see that the bag they left was actually a metallic device with wires and a panel with a timer on the top.   The group froze for a moment before running the other direction. Li activated his physical enhancements to grab Anna and carry her away as she waved her hand and held her fist towards the device. Chiara jumped behind boxes, Kyra ran, and Mark threw his grappling arrow to gain some distance. The guards ran behind the Concierge as well. Anna's fist or wrist seemed to have some sort of pulse emanate from it and fry the bomb 1-2 seconds before detonation, leaving them an opportunity to recover, check the scene for clues, and find the trail. Anna found something that had flown out of the bag: a piece of bark with the words "Paphadis for the Locals" written on it. Kyra found a trail of dirt and Li, Anna, and Kyra headed off away from the others with general directions of how to get to the villa.   They trailed the dirt tracks back through the pristine stone streets up towards the Residential District. After confirming they had no easy route into it, they turned back and headed to the villa. The Concierge granted them entry, promised them 3 days in the villa for their aid with the bomber instead of the original 2, and explained the Midnight Masquerade for the following evening. Kyra quickly got drunk, Li seemed to enjoy himself, and Anna kept her wits about her as they fell into relaxation for the night. Chiara refused to partake, though Mark held a glass as well. Kyra revealed her connection to the deceased later during the night and Mark joined her in "pouring one out for the fallen".

On the Ship

Dash was checking for various things around the ship when he found that they had received a Message: Phlox to George Message 3 “Cut Ties”.   Unconcerned with the message, he approached Guru Kevin's room. He attempted to sneakily retrieve the Seed of Ydrissil from him but ended up in a battle of wits and maneuvering as both men attempted to keep possession of it. After Kevin's insistence that he show Dash what he'd learned, Dash removed his hand from the seed with an apparent headache and opted to leave the orb in Kevin's possession.

The Next Morning

They each woke to the smell of breakfast as Thessa Wheeler prepared their meal. They relaxed and enjoyed it easily enough while checking in with the ship. Afterwards, Li helped her clean up while trying to press her for more details on keeping her services while claiming she looked familiar to someone he knew on Versia. She did not seem thrilled with his feigned advances which he seemed to understand and navigate around. He requested a "drug dealer" from the Concierge as Anna, Kyra, and Chiara decided to go shopping.

Moonlight

Li was quickly introduced to Yves “Moonlight” Moonie, the provider of any home-delivered goods for his villa. He carefully probed Moonlight for details on Sprin, what it did, and how to obtain it. He found through conversation that it was only accessible in batches through the Sanguine Sultan himself. He and Moonlight sampled UPens, "uppers", and a variety of strange drugs from the hallucinatory, minty-breath, "sleep" potion that works in either 15 minutes or 3 hours (no in between), the "hand-eye" drug, and even more absurd offerings. With an array of drugs in hand with the cost of a Minor, Li parted ways with Moonlight.   Li contacted the Concierge pressing for a meeting. She returned to him and he asked for a meeting with the Sanguine Sultan regarding a purchase of Sprin. He also requested that Thessa come back to make them dinner that evening so he could spend more time with her.

Shopping Trip

Meanwhile, the girls headed with the Concierge to a costume store specializing in 20th century garb. Anna somehow convinced Chiara to purchase a cat suit and stilletos (after pier-pressuring her to come) while Anna and Kyra purchased Flapper outfits. Chiara and Kyra wandered up ahead while Kyra helped Chiara dealt with her severe anxieties regarding the whole experience.   Anna remained behind to check on new cosmetics. She was accosted by Plastike Assassins with an ultimatum: Deliver the device at the Midnight Masquerade for 10k Credits or "boom". The "beast" kept the shopkeeper in the back while the "beauty" walked around Anna, brushing her fingers against the case, and more. Anna kept her composure as best she could until they left, walked out, and threw her Flapper outfit in the storm drain. She caught up with the other two and tried to act natural until they all returned to the villa.

Panic Time

The girls split off to try on various outfits save for Anna. She grabbed Kyra, contacted Dash, and explained in sheer panic the events that occurred. She desperately tried to leave and explained that she thought there was a bomb on the ship. Li was eventually clued in, despite Anna's best efforts, and the past events were aired out. As Li stated "Does anyone ELSE have some crazy assassins or organizations after them we should know about?"   Dash, William, and the courageous, chocolate covered Botley searched the ship's exterior for a bomb. Alexa found that their ship had been pinged for receiving a communication code for a Savannah Cruise but a message was never received. No one claimed to know who that person was. They searched thoroughly and found no bomb, though were rewarded by a meal Li had sent to them (carried by a gruff toga-wearing guard named Bartholomew sent by the Concierge).   The rest of the group calmed Anna down and convinced her that running was a bad idea, realized that the Plastike Society had a location on planet in the Rinascita, and plotted out a plan to have Li change his face to look like Anna's to pose as her for the Masquerade. Anna, now looking like a 70 year old woman, seemed to at least be assuaged by that idea for now.   As their desperate planning concluded, the door rang with the arrival of Thessa for dinnertime.

Rewards Granted

[Minor Milestone]   3 Nights Stay at the Villa in the Palacio, 3 Mornings of Thessa Wheeler cooking their breakfast, and a pass to the Rinescita for any non-Greater treatment as compensation for seeing Kelsi Rowner's execution and stopping the bomb from going off in the streets.

Created Content

External Camera on Ship (for Gun Turret Training) Catsuit & Stilletos - Chiara Flapper Outfit - Kyra Various Recreational Drugs - Li