ChaRP! The Keepers: Crisis Mode - January Thursday the 21st @ 2pm to 5pm Central

[Diana]

THE KEEPERS: CRISIS MODE
THURSDAY JANUARY 21ST @ 2PM - 5PM CENTRAL TIME​

The S.T.A.R.S. (Survival Transfer And Relocation Station) Project Colonizer ship has set out from Earth to find a new habitable planet. Because space travel has yet to be perfected by humans, it still takes hundreds of years before reaching new systems and galaxies. The majority of the occupants on board must be kept in a cryogenic sleep, only to be awakened when they reach a new world. These colonists are cared for by a small team of people that live out their lives simply for the sake of keeping the colonizer ship functional. Occasionally new people are awakened from the cryo-chambers to take over.

It's been centuries since the colonizer has left Earth and it's coming into the territory of inhabited space. A planet with the perfect conditions for human life is drawing closer. But something went terribly wrong. An unknown lifeform got into the ship and corrupted the cryochamber system, awakening the entire ship of a thousand colonizers before their time.

Now the Keepers must somehow keep a thousand people from panicking while the cryosystem is repaired... unaware that something alien still lurks on the ship.

EVENT INFO

WHO: Everyone is invited! Character Bios/Pics are not required, but totally encouraged! Post 'em if you got 'em.

WHAT: You are either one of the current generation of Keeper crew that keeps this ship running OR one of the newly awakened colonizers.

WHEN: JANUARY 21ST - THURSDAY @ 2PM CENTRAL TIME. Ending @ 5PM.

WHERE: Join us in the KEEPERS chat room. You'll find the link to our chats in the CHAT tab when it's time to play.

HOW: This is a ACTION SETTING WITH IMPROVISATIONAL GAME MASTERING. That means the object of this roleplay is to interact with other characters, and from those interactions I will create a plot and story around you. There will be action moments, where strange events will happen and your characters will have to work together to resolve it. With this ChaRP "lol random" behaviors are discouraged -- what your character says and does will have in game consequences, so choose wisely!

My roleplays are always NEWBIE FRIENDLY so even if you are terrible at roleplay or have never participated in a ChaRP before, this will be easy for you to get involved in. :D Ask questions, let me know when you need help. I often give tips and direction out of character in the main chat room when people need a little direction.

EASY CHARP TIPS!

Try to show up a good 10 to 15 minutes before the ChaRP is to begin. That way you can read up on any important info, and it makes it easier for your GM to know how to start off the ChaRP when there's a head count.

Don't worry if another player is doing something similar to your idea. DO IT ANYWAY! Similarities and things in common happen in real life too. Everyone also plays differently, so two characters who are both "sweet and shy" will still end up being totally unique people. Two assassins could create a fun and interesting conflict!

Talking to other players about their character before the roleplay is a GREAT way to create connections and background for your own!

Post SHORT AND FAST. Charps are very quick pace and contain a LOT of players. Players can't wait 20 minutes for you to write a wall of text, and if there's too much text they won't be able to read it fast enough and will MISS details. If it takes you longer than two minutes to type your post, you are taking too long and might get lost in the action. This is an exercise in quick and concise writing!

Make sure your character name is mentioned in every post, close to the start of it if possible. This is especially helpful when there's many players, so we know who is playing what character.

Like in Real Life, a character may not be able to acknowledge or notice your character immediately because they are engaged in doing something else. (For example a new character walking in to the room, but the other characters arguing about muffins and do not see them.) Don't get discouraged if you go can't get someone to interact with you right away. Just keep posting and doing actions with your character, or even approach others who also seem to be idle and it WILL happen.

Do not take events in the roleplay personally or assume that bad reactions are because they think you/your character sucks. Everyone is playing a character and reacting to things as their character would!

 

[Zarko Straadi]

Name: Mihari Jirae
Age: 26
Gender: Female
Orientation: Bisexual
Profession: Engineer, Technoshaman
Bio: During the early era of Solar System travel, the crews of cycleships on long-haul Hohmann transfer orbits to the planets and Asteroid Belt adapted to permanent shipboard life as they brought crews and supplies to far-flung bases. They developed their own culture and customs, and came to call themselves the Cotu (Children of the Universe) Tribe. When humanity began launching interstellar voyages, the Cotu were in high demand as ship designers and Keepers, since they were already fully adapted to life in space.

Mihari's ancestors passed the Cotu ways down to her, and raised her to be a Keeper as they were. She holds her Ship to be sacred, and does all in her power to care for Her needs.

Personality: Mihari carries an air of mystery about her. For her, science, technology, magic, and spirituality are all intertwined, centered on her Ship, which she reveres as a living being.

 

[Diana]

This is todaaaaay!

 

[Zarko Straadi]

LOGS

• 
  Diana:
  WELCOME TO THE KEEPERS CHARP.
  
  
  Today at 12:38 PM

• 
  Diana:
  This is a sci-fi thriller setting. You are a colonist that was cryofrozen until your ship finally arrived at it's destination, or you are one of the "Keepers" that is meant to keep the ship in working order while everyone is frozen. There was an issue on the ship that has now awoken EVERYONE when they should not be awake.
  
  
  Today at 12:40 PM

• 
  Diana:
  IMPORTANT: TYPE FAST, TYPE BRIEF. Too much text is hard to read in a fast paced charp and you might miss out on action. Keep posts to 10 sentences or LESS.
  
  
  Today at 12:41 PM

• 
  Diana:
  HOT TIP! Put your character's name in the first sentence of each post so we know who you are playing. You can use bbcode color to help tell your posts from others.
  
  
  Today at 12:41 PM

• 
  Diana:
  Game Master posts appear in this bright bold yellow. PAY ATTENTION to those because they are giving you hints on what to do next in the story!
  
  
  Today at 12:42 PM

• 
  Diana:
  My roleplays are ALWAYS NEWBIE FRIENDLY! So don't worry if you've never done this before, if you make typos, or if you get confused and make mistakes. I am always in the main chat to help answer questions or to put you in the right direction.
  
  
  Today at 12:43 PM

• 
  Diana:
  (◉,◉) (◉◇◉) (⊙,◉) (⊙◇◉)
  
  
  Today at 12:43 PM
• 
  Diana:
  Nearly a thousand colonizers are now awake, disoriented, confused, angry, and scared. This unprecedented problem need to be resolved by the ship's captain and it's current generation of Keepers. Most people have finally been directed to living spaces. (The chambers and rooms that are assigned to families - or would have been once they arrived to a habitable planet.) On duty Keepers are doing their jobs around the ship, while a few off-duty individuals in a private meeting room are trying to figure out how this corrupted tech happened to this ship - and is it really gone?
  
  
  Today at 12:48 PM
• 
  Zarko Straadi:
  Mihari had run diagnostics on the ship from the bow shield to the main engines searching for the smallest malfunction. She had even invoked a general purpose AI core from her personal toolbox and used generative coding systems to modify it into a diagnostic bot so she could use it to check the work of the Ship's diagnostic systems and AI's, and set her AI to alert her to any contradictions. Thus far...nothing that wasn't already noted and under repair.
  
  
  Today at 1:03 PM
• 
  Zarko Straadi:
  Now she was checking the inventory of the future colony's equipment to make sure the supplies and tools were intact. If the Ship needed to be adapted to become a true generation Ship, much of that equipment would need to be put to use now, and new machines and devices built from the Ship's raw materials stores. Would there be enough to insure the passengers' survival until the Ship reached Her destination?
  
  
  Today at 1:08 PM
• 
  Zarko Straadi:
  As she worked, Mihari listened to the discussion of the others in the meeting room...
  
  
  Today at 1:10 PM
• 
  Diana:
  Captain Waynewright was an eldery man in his 80s and had been the captain of this colony for a good 50 years of it. A simple man with simple needs; Food, occasional company, and the desire NOT TO FUCKING DIE FROM HIS OWN SHIP. Despite knowing he had someone like Mihari checking things over, he himself was sitting down at the meeting room table, going over the logs and watching the security video feeds trying to pinpoint where things went wrong, Or even when things went wrong.
  
  
  Today at 1:11 PM
• 
  Diana:
  Those hushed voices were a few of the "Long Term" Keepers. Those that took more than just a few-year service and had no intentions of ever making it to the new planet. "Many of the civilians say they felt something crawling under their skin. We may have an alien-" "There's no evidence of that, Minerva." cut in another. "Our techsinger is certain that it has something to do with the A.I. The woman SPOKE to it for fuck's sake." A bunch of arguing broke out.
  
  
  Today at 1:24 PM
• 
  Zarko Straadi:
  Mihari glanced over at the Captain through the translucent wireframe image of the Ship that appeared in her contact lens-screens. Generative design algorithms were spawning images of aeroponics pods in every available space, calculating the amounts of materials that would be necessary to make them, how long the 3D printing operations would take, and how long it would take for them to start producing enough food to replace the stored rations. Waynewright had been Captain since well before she was born, so he was simply the Captain; not merely a person holding a post, but a part of her environment, a steady hand and mind she had always known to be there. She did not ask him if he had found anything. He would tell her if he did and wanted her to know. So for now, she would not interrupt his concentration.
  
  
  Today at 1:25 PM
• 
  Zarko Straadi:
  "Please, peace," Mihari said. "It is not impossible for both hypotheses to be accurate. It has long been considered plausible, even before humans began leaving Earth, that other civilizations could either unite with or be supplanted by A.I.'s and become machine civilizations. There could also be possibilities we have not yet considered."
  
  
  Today at 1:28 PM
• 
  Diana:
  Captain Waynewright beckoned a finger to Mihari, still not looking up from the screens he was watching. "I'm not even going to try and understand this technoshamanism thing you've got going but-" he finally stopped staring at the screen to squint his wrinkled eyes at the woman. "What do you feel happened? Is there something wrong with our systems or has the entire ship just experience some sort of psychic hocus pocus?"
  
  
  Today at 1:29 PM
• 
  Zarko Straadi:
  Mihari gave the Captain a Mona Lisa grin, then tilted her head in thought. "My apologies Captain, I cannot give you a single 'hunch' to seize and hold onto. There are too many uncertainties, so I feel it is right to remain open to all paths. Debris was detecting unusual particle effects interacting with the Bussard shield before the anomalies began. I have not been able to detect a comprehensible pattern, but it is possible that an alien machine civilization could have used the particle field to in effect transmit computer code to the Ship, a bit like..." She reached over and gently tapped out a few dots and dashes of Morse code on his hand, H-E-L-L-O. "Your brain registered those sensations, and was able to interpret them into a greeting, even though there was no direct link between your brain and mine. If you think of the Ship's Bussard shield as Her hand...
  
  
  Today at 1:40 PM
• 
  Zarko Straadi:
  "On the other hand, it is also possible that the cryo nans, the suspended passengers, or a synergy between them, could have generated an emergent intelligence. The affected passengers seemed to report a degree of conscious experience, but deprived of external stimulation, they were in effect imprisoned in a void, and driven mad by it.
  
  
  Today at 1:42 PM
• 
  Diana:
  The Captain grunted. Most of her explanation seemed to fly right over his head (at least based on the eye-rolling of a few of the Elder Keeprs), but he got the jist. After a long silence, he excuse himself from the meeting table, beckoning his finger again for Mihari to follow him. "Keep talking."
  
  
  Today at 1:44 PM
• 
  Diana:
  The council of old farts at the meeting table continue to argue amongst themselves on how best to adapt to this new problem of having the entire colony awake before it was time, and if it were safe to put them back into the cryochambers.
  
  
  Today at 1:44 PM
• 
  Zarko Straadi:
  "The planet that was chosen for our colony was selected because of its closeness to Earth conditions, yes? We are closer to it now. If we could manufacture telescopes and fit them to shuttles, we could launch them out from the Ship to form a wide baseline array. This would function as if it were a massive telescope with an objective lens..." seeing his expression, she decided against boring him and the others with the technical details. "We could use it to closely observe the destination world for evidence that it is, or has been, host to a technological civilization. We already have plans for telescopes and other instrumentation in our tech library. I could set assemblers to work immediately. But we could begin with the Ship's telescope and sensors, to see if they could detect anything new."
  
  
  Today at 1:49 PM
• 
  Zarko Straadi:
  "I can offer you some examples of technosignatures--evidence that would indicate the presence of alien technology--in the new Solar System if you wish."
  
  
  Today at 1:54 PM
• 
  Diana:
  The Captain allowed Mihari to continue with her suggestions and didn't interrupt, even as he led her down a corridor and into his private office. There, his quite professional countenance seemed to change as he rubbed his hand against his grizzled chin. "These are excellent ideas, Jirae, but I'm afraid we have a bigger issue..." He held out his arm and rolled up his sleeve, showing Mihari, and Mihari alone, that under his skin something indeed was crawling. "My arm is tech," he explained. "Experimental, mind you. And the man that did this for me is one of the causalities in the dead wing. But I didn't have a damn crawling thing in my arm when he programmed it, I can tell you that fucking much."
  
  
  Today at 1:58 PM
• 
  Zarko Straadi:
  Mihari's eyes went wide. "Are you in any pain? Experiencing any other symptoms? The best diagnostic systems and tools for this situation would be in Medical, but if you do not wish to cause distress to others by being seen going there, we could also go to Maintenance, which also has facilities that could be used for purposes of quarantine if necessary. I have a nanodiagnostic probe with me, but I think it would be best to examine it where there are facilities to deal with responses it might produce."
  
  
  Today at 2:05 PM
• 
  Diana:
  Captain Waynewright made another snorting sort of noise as he rubbed his hand over his wrist. "After the ship went dead in space, something sparked off my console. Wasn't sure what was happning until I could hear it speaking," he grunted reluctantly. "Not sure what the fuck it is, but I know it's not the only one on board. The Doc had a few volunteers. Which means we've got a very big problem if those individuals are getting pumped with these same fucked up suggestions I'm getting."
  
  
  Today at 2:13 PM
• 
  Zarko Straadi:
  "What is it suggesting?"
  
  
  Today at 2:14 PM
• 
  Diana:
  The Captain gave a grim smile. "Let's just say it involves a whole lot of dead bodies." Now that his big secret had been revealed, his professional Captain expression was back, right down to the straight way he stood. "Jirae, if this gets out we're going to have a panic. I don't know why it's not eating into my brain, but if the dead wing is any indication of what's to come, we need to find everyone with tech implants on this ship and get them to quarantine right away. We can't allow it to get back into the ship itself."
  
  
  Today at 2:20 PM
• 
  Zarko Straadi:
  Mihari made a gesture to set her own biomonitors to check for any anomalies, and keep doing so. "My apologies, Captain," she said, stepping back from him while also keeping clear of any of the room's consoles. "I must consider the possibility that it is infectious." Though she didn't have any cybernetic implants, her work relied heavily on her wearable body-net computers. And besides, there was no guarantee the...thing...could not also infect biological tissues." Mihari tried to hide her horror at the Captain's words. What if they didn't actually want to die?! she thought. But there was nothing she could do for the fallen. "Please come with me to Maintenance. How many of our Security personnel have implants?"
  
  
  Today at 2:24 PM
• 
  Diana:
  Surprisingly at ease to follow at Mihari's commanded for one who technically was the leader of the ship, the Captain followed. His grim expression continued as he relayed her requested information. "None on security, thank God. Most of the volunteers were citizens. Maybe a Keeper here and there. But we can't certain until we get his persona logs and work files. Whatever this... thing is, I know it's not just some A.I. gone viral."
  
  
  Today at 2:30 PM
• 
  Zarko Straadi:
  Mihari nodded as she hurried with the Captain to the nearest turbolift. "Does it respond to your thoughts? Are you able to communicate with it?" she asked in a whisper.
  
  
  Today at 2:34 PM
• 
  Diana:
  "Other than telling it to shut the hell up?" Responded the captain, glancing down at his arm again and flexing his fingers. "I don't know. But I figured a technoshaman would make a good ambassador to a circuit traveling race of homicidal whatsits." In the turbolift he looked a little green, but she couldn't be sure if it were the ride or the captain just being real sickened by the idea of having something inside him.
  
  
  Today at 2:40 PM
• 
  Zarko Straadi:
  As they walked, Mihari minimized the design program, and accessed the Ship's sensor suite with a few gestures. With more gestures and taps at virtual keyboards, she gave commands. "I will do my best, Captain." The turbolift doors opened, and she walked with Waynewright to the Maintenance section. Most of the technicians were working around the Ship under Farrah's direction, but Ensign Jindal was keeping an eye on the system monitors. Mihari's eyes flicked briefly to the gun-metal gray of his tool-arm. "Ensign Jindal, could you please report to Medical? I can take care of things here."
  
  
  Today at 3:00 PM
• 
  Zarko Straadi:
  "Wot mate? I feel fine," Jindal replied. But with the Captain their to back her up, he resigned himself to the task and walked out of the room. Mihari hurried the Captain over to a sizable chamber with thick walls and a heavy airlock door. "This is the nano-testing bay. Could you please step inside?"
  
  
  Today at 3:03 PM
• 
  Diana:
  The Captain hesitated for a moment - it was clear he wasn't keen on the tight space (which was ironic considered the control room he spent most of his time), but he stepped inside, flexing his fingers all the while. "Do I even need to ask what this is going to do," the old man grumble. It wasn't often to see the stalwart captain uneasy, but this whole stressful situation seemed to be really pushing his limits.
  
  
  Today at 3:07 PM
• 
  Zarko Straadi:
  "I will not do anything to hurt you," Mihari said, then sealed the door. She went over to a large window of thick armored glass. Reaching her hands into the control waldoes, she activated the electrostatic repulsion system that would keep any nanites that loosed from the Captain from reaching the walls of the containment chamber. "Alien creature, if you can hear me, I do not want to hurt you either. We call ourselves humans. We would wish to have a peaceful and mutually beneficial relationship with you if that is possible. But your kind have already caused the deaths of several of us already, and your communications are coming through to us as hostile. Captain, please hold out your arm." With the control waldoes, she readied a robot arm built into the room to begin scanning the 'crawling thing' in his arm.
  
  
  56 minutes ago
• 
  Diana:
  Dutifully Captain Waynewright lifted is arm out and waited for the scans. Everything seemed to be going well until all of a sudden - CRACK - his wrist twisted at an awkward angle and his whole hand turned upside down. The man made a startled sound, but he couldn't jump back from his own hand. Skin started peeling away, red and black lines of blood and fluid sliding down his palms as his fingers ripped through, reaching for the chamber walls. The Captain finally screamed as a second CRONCH pulled at his shoulder, as if his whole arm was trying to detach itself. "LOCK ME DOWN. LOCK ME DOWN, NOW." ordered the Captain.
  
  
  49 minutes ago
• 
  Zarko Straadi:
  Mihari had already locked down the chamber as soon as he was inside, but she gave him a quick nod, wincing as he cried out in pain. "Captain, please grant me Sigma Omega access to Ship's systems. My apologies. I was wrong; this will hurt," she said sadly. One of the tools on one of the robot arms she used was a laser, intended to blast any test nanites that malfunctioned in a dangerous way. She aimed it to sever the tech arm from his body; the laser would cauterize the wound, preventing bleeding, so that hopefully she would be able to get him to Medical if she was able to deal with the infested arm successfully. As soon as the laser fired, she aimed a tool-head on another arm. This one shot out a gooey foam that would rapidly expand and envelop what it hit--in this case, hopefully, the Captain's arm. The foam was designed to be chemically inert, so that it could not provide sustenance for rogue self-replicating nanites; they would run out of energy and be contained.
  
  
  35 minutes ago
• 
  Zarko Straadi:
  As long as she was able to sever the arm successfully, the alien technology would not be able to feed on the Captain's body. But then, this was alien tech, and she worried about what unexpected capabilities it might possess.
  
  
  32 minutes ago
• 
  Diana:
  It was good that Mihari had that cauterizing laser, for the arm had nearly ripped itself off the captain all on it's own before the laser helped snap the last tendon free. As the captain hit the back of the tank and slide to the floor still howling in pain, his loose tech-arm had shot for the containment glass making a terrible ear piercing shriek. Even as the foam covered it and it too dropped to the floor, wriggling to get free, it was clear that foam wasn't going to last for long.
  
  
  27 minutes ago
• 
  Diana:
  "Jirae," snarled the captain. "Clearance granted. Seal the chamber. Seal the ROOM. Find the other citizens tech enhanced citizens and quarantine them quickly." he ordered between gasps of pain.
  
  
  27 minutes ago
• 
  The Mood is Write:
  Warwick, absent from the little group until now, arrived suddenly. "Something smells wrong," he grunted, then frowned at what he saw, then, he turned. "I'll isolate the rest!" he grunted. He could smell who had tech on them. That would make it easier. He was also stronger than any other Keeper.
  
  
  26 minutes ago
• 
  Zarko Straadi:
  To Mihari's great relief, Warwick appeared. "Computer, I, Mihari Jirae, accept Sigma Omega access. Warwick, you are acting Chief of Security. You have full access to crew rosters and Ship's security systems. If you need anything else, let me know," she said as she kept spraying more foam at the hand and forearm, while targeting the laser at the other end: contain the part with appendages, destroy the other end and work her way up.
  
  
  21 minutes ago
• 
  The Mood is Write:
  He paused and looked back, then gave a quick salute before he charged onward. He had just planned to follow his nose, but anything that made his job easier was a good thing.
  
  
  18 minutes ago
• 
  Diana:
  The power in the room faded in and out twice. Did the computer receive the message? There was not an acknowledgement. Once Warwick stumbled into the hall there was - a foot. A metal and wire food surrounded by a reddish black fluid, just sitting there in the hall. Then it twitched. Toes growing longer as it sudden began to skitter up the wall and onto the ceiling. Somewhere in the near nearest, Warwick could hear very human screaming.
  
  
  17 minutes ago
• 
  Diana:
  "Shit, shit, shit," Captain Waynewright was muttering under his breath. The thing Mihari was trying to encapsule in foam was fighting for all it's worth. Wires and thin strings of metal were now shooting out where it could find weakness in the foam and trying to creep towards the captain. As anyone would, he started kicking at it to get away, but there was no where to go in the chamber. "Jirae! Nuke the chamber! Nuke me with it! It's an order!"
  
  
  15 minutes ago
• 
  The Mood is Write:
  Warwick grabbed the foot and shoved it into a pocket, where it wouldn't be able to get out on its own. Only he could pull it out, but like hell he would. He headed toward the source of screaming.
  
  
  12 minutes ago
• 
  Zarko Straadi:
  Mihari flinched when the power flickered. She tried to use the laser to fend off the spreading metal tentacles, but they were too many, and moved too quickly. With tears in her eyes, she nodded. "It was an honor serving with you Captain," she said, lifting the cover off of a literal Big Red Button. She slapped it, and a heavy metal shutter slammed closed, blocking the window. A blast of gamma rays, followed by high-amplitude microwaves, followed by an electromagnetic pulse, followed by superheated plasma, followed by venting the contents into space.
  
  
  10 minutes ago
• 
  Zarko Straadi:
  Mihari initiated a full reboot of the Ship's computer, then brought up the data from the Ship's sensor suite. She felt a chill as graphs of the star's brightness showed anomalies. It was dimming: not because of anything to do with the star itself, but because of a cloud of structures being constructed around it...
  
  
  7 minutes ago
• 
  Diana:
  Something was out there surrounding the star. And now that something was loose in the ship, infecting the cybernetic tech of unknown civilians on the colony ship. Will Warnick find the infected in time? Now that the Captain is dead, who will take over as leader and pilot of the colony ship? What actually IS the alien techno creatures?! TUNE IN NEXT TIME FOR... THE KEEPERS.