The Good Doctor, pt 3

Life, Career

The landing party dusts off and heads back to the Orchard, but an ambush from an old aquaintance stalls the journey. Axiom talks to the doctor, and makes an important call.

WREN used their drone to fire on the mercenary behind the library, but missed.   Nutmeg and Axiom engaged the Snarky Dog enthusiasts and discovered that the Snarky Dog lives on a base in the Janssen Belt, and that BARX require a modified credstick that emits a mysterious signal.   Skander ran toward the library.   The mercenary fired their laser pistol at the drone, but missed, and ran away.   Val stands on the crate containing Dr. Kuteli, and gave a rallying speech to the enthusiasts.   WREN returns their drone to the shuttle.   Nutmeg and Axiom kept talking to the enthusiasts and got them to follow the party, providing cover for the crate. They noticed how odd and easily influenced the Snarky Dog enthusiasts were.   Skander, Nutmeg, Axiom, and Val made their way to the shuttle, and the party dusted off. They left Lamia and its many, many crypto enthusiasts behind. They gave a simple disguise to Dr. Kuteli in order to obscure his face from the surveillance at the customs port.   Once aboard the Citrine, Axiom questioned the doctor about his cybernetic arm, and learned that Dr. Uliks Kuteli is a Campolhan Kulgrani soldier-turned-pirate. His special tactics and reconnaissance training made him an expert field medic. During a boarding incident, Uliks was injured and lost control of his left arm. He commissioned a custom battle-ready cybernetic arm and learned how to make his own in the waiting process.   Afterward, Axiom called in to the hit music station, Night Sounds with Blikblork, and requested its favorite love song. It started broadcasting the station through the ship's intercom, increasing the overall sensuality of the voyage out of Polis' gravity well.   Skander noticed that a fast attack craft was on an intercept trajectory with the Chipper Citrine. Val and Skander hailed the craft and learned that Joseph Shirohara was the captain. He was here for the doctor, and wouldn't leave without him. He attached his craft's boarding tubes to the Citrine and came aboard. Val and Skander tried to de-escalate but were struggling to find an angle. They invited Joseph and his four guards to come to the mess hall on the Citrine without their guns. Joseph had one of his other crew members come to take their guns. WREN left the party to climb on the outside of the Citrine and find a way to disengage the boarding tubes. In the mess hall, Skander learned that Joseph couldn't return to their employer empty-handed. Skander noticed the stress and anxiety behind Joseph's eyes.   Night Sounds with Blikblork continued to play as the party negotiated with Joseph.