voice;

[hanzer]

[There's very little preamble before the network gets an earful of the distinctive, raspy tones of a certain ex-cop. Guy sounds like he smokes his cigarettes and eats them too. He also doesn't sound exactly comfortable to be speaking on the network, but anyone who's met him in person in the past few days knows that that forced impassivity is kind of his thing.]

I'm looking for someone who can work with cybernetics. Some know-how with computers or engineering would probably help, but I figure some of that comes with the territory. [A pause, and then:] Discretion preferred.

[The way he says it, one kind of gets the sense that he'd gladly find a way to make even the most indiscreet person suddenly learn the meaning of patient confidentiality– but it's just as easy to believe that that's just the way he talks.

There's another longer pause and then, at length, he adds:] I'd also be interested in speaking to anyone who can talk about the crewman we've got in the hold.

[Spooky, scary, skeleton-like – you've probably heard of Ploiatos. Adam certainly has, and (being the security-minded guy he is) he'd love to know what having a literal skeleton in the closet entails.

And since Adam Jensen's never exactly been known for ending conversations gracefully, that's where he chooses to cut the message off.

Certainly, no one can say he isn't to-the-point.]

Comments

[text]

[coolskeletonnyehntyfive]

[Ask and you shall receive! One spooky scary skeleton, at your service.]

YOU MUST MEAN PALATINO! BE CAREFUL, HE ISN'T VERY SOCIABLE.

voice;

[hanzer]

Pretty sure I don't mean that.

[Isn't that a horse. Or a font? Either way: what?]

I don't need to be his friend. Just looking to know what his deal is.

[coolskeletonnyehntyfive]

OH, HIS "DEAL" IS THAT HIS SOUL IS CORRUPTED! I DON'T THINK EVEN MONSTER MAGIC CAN HEAL IT. I'VE TRIED TALKING TO HIM AND HANGING OUT WITH HIM, BUT HE'S NOT VERY APPRECIATIVE OF GOOD COMPANY.

[imaginary_wife]

That's Ploiatos. Don't go near him.

[Firmly. Just don't do it.]

We have a some skilled technicians and engineers but I can also help you. I'm Doc Yewll.

[hanzer]

[Nowhere near enough of an answer for him, and he'll surely say as much– but introductions first. Just to be polite.]

Adam Jensen.

Is "Doc" a title or a name? [Gonna assume the former, if only because she'd offered to help, but...]

video;

[kaijumanic]

No idea what's going on in the hold, dude, but I can totally help with cybernetics. Depending on, y'know, the complexity and how integrated with organic materials they are. I mostly specialise in the organic side of things, but I did one of my phD's in cybernetics.

[he certainly doesn't look like a doctor, with his tattoos and all.]

You could always just come down to engineering, we kinda need a new pet project.

voice;

[hanzer]

"Pet project," huh? You really know how to make it sound appealing.

[Far be it from him to judge anyone by their looks, but– does this guy really have even one doctorate, much less several?] It'd probably be easier to discuss it in person, but it's not really the human parts I'm worried about.

[And then, curiously:] You said "we?"

voice;

[deconstruct]

[ Spotting the name attached to this post, that'd be one of the two set to babysit skeleton man's cell with him, so if he's going to put forth the effort to share this with anyone, may as well be him. ]

Got this from Robin, the ship's historian -

[ and Jensen will have the following forwarded to him: ]

"But as far as I can tell, he used to be a crew member of this ship. One of the original crew members, not someone like us who showed up by accident. He's wearing a Moira uniform, so that seems to make sense.

Nobody says they know what caused it, but one day he changed. I don't know if he had powers before then, but he started using them all of a sudden to kill his fellow crew members. The Captain and the First Mate escaped through the Ingress to keep from getting killed themselves.

I don't know what happened to the rest of the crew, but Ploiatos got locked away in one of the rooms of the ship eventually. The old captains said that they didn't know he was there when they found the Moira - which I guess makes sense, because they didn't seem to know what to do when he got out.

Then he went around and killed some of our current crew, including one of the captains. She didn't come back, but from what I could tell she was the Captain in charge of the Ingress - probably the one who knew the most about it.

Eventually they locked him back up in another room, and it's been mostly safe in there ever since. I think Sans and Papyrus tried to get inside once (I guess they heard that Ploiatos was a skeleton monster and thought he'd be more like them) and he hurt them both really bad.

That's all I know about him. I wasn't there for the actual attacks, so I can't tell you much about his powers, but I can show you some video of it if you wanna see? It's pretty ugly, though."

[ he's leaving out the part about that coming from the two new officers, and the fact the sources aren't all that trustworthy, for the sake of covering Robin's back. but that's something he can tell Jensen in person later. ]

voice;

[hanzer]

[Adam takes more than several minutes to read the account over once, and then a second time, and then a third and final time before he replies.

Not much there– but it's something, at least. Raises a hell of a lot more questions, though. Unsurprisingly, many of them are about their new management and the crew that had come before them.

Still, one thing at a time: he'll start with the most obvious threat, which is that thing he's supposed to be watching.]

Thanks for this. [A pause, and then:] Glad to see someone else is doing their homework.

[Because you can be certain the name attached to the reply doesn't escape his notice, either. What's up, teammate?]

[ventifact]

what kind of cybernetics?

voice;

[hanzer]

Is "all of them" an answer? [He only sort of sounds like he's joking. That – as well the sound of a slow, audible intake of breath – is probably signal enough that he's not going to be talking about one simple prosthetic, here.]

Full limb replacements, cranial implants, a telecoms package, artificial eyes and retinal prostheses, a health system, nerve boosters... [Way he just lists them off like that, he could be reciting his grocery list.] Some others, too– but those are the crucial ones.

[Video]

[armsmode]

I've been assigned as a technician. I'll do what I can if you still need assistance, and I will be discreet.

voice;

[hanzer]

[If he'd known there were so many of you guys around, he wouldn't have bothered with the network in the first place. Would have just closed his eyes, walked in the direction of the engineering labs, and swung a stick until he hit one.]

That's really all I'm asking.

Didn't expect to get as much of a response as I did, though. Is there that much demand for cyberneticists on board?

text; private

[arcreact]

can't help you much with the resident spooky skeleton
but you're not the first around here who's needed some TLC for their cybernetics

how extensive are they, and is this routine or 'i snapped my cyborg arm off, please help'?

[ Because both options are equally plausible around here. ]

voice; private

[hanzer]

[A private message? Probably a good sign.]

We're talking more extensive than fifty percent of me.

[There's a pause. He's not sure how to say "I don't know how routine this will be" – how to explain that he's got no way of knowing how long he'd been out, or what had happened to him directly before coming through the Ingress, or that he's having trouble trusting his own body – but he figures that it'll sort itself out one way or another.]

Mostly routine, I think– but there are a couple of specific issues I'd like to sort out. Nothing life threatening, hopefully.

video

[liberaltus]

I'm afraid technology just isn't in my wheel of knowledge, I can repair things, but it requires a working knowledge of what the function of the thing is. [Like collapsed bridges, no problem, machines are more complex.] Though if there are any afflictions involved, we could have a long conversation about that. As part of my job.

[He's supposed to keep records of such things, illnesses, physical afflictions. He's hardly interested in the job, but he pushes himself anyway.

As for the crewman in the hold, he hasn't been here much longer than Adam.]

As an aside, dear Adam, how is life aboard the ship treating you so far?

voice;

[hanzer]

[You're a good guy and all, Dorian, but even you don't get video on a public network quite yet! A (more) familiar face is a surprisingly welcome sight, though.]

Started out sorting junk in the cargo bay – now I'm guarding the highly dangerous, extremely deadly prisoner we're keeping in the hold. [A wry tone, which should be pretty familiar-sounding by now, enters his voice.] So moving on up in the world, I guess.

[A pause. When he speaks up again, his tone's sobered slightly.] Not sure I'd call it an affliction, exactly. But you'd know better than me if it's something magic can fix.

[Magic is what he's assuming is going to be involved here, anyway.]

voice;

[scope]

[ Cybernetics, interesting, discretion, even more interesting. There's something about this guy ( Adam Jensen, says the MID )'s voice that invites curiosity, plus what he's saying, and. A crewman in the hold, huh?

Well, he wouldn't know about that, but it's interesting nonetheless. ]

I could work with cybernetics. Depends on what they are, what you need done.

[ His voice may not be smoker's raspy but it's a little strange, anyway, reverberating as if through a voice modulator -- or, you know, from an alien. But hey, he's supposed to be an inventor here or something. Might as well volunteer some tech support. ]

voice;

[hanzer]

There's more of you guys out there than I expected.

[Cyberneticists– not aliens. Though once he sees Garrus in person, he'll probably append that part to the list of things he hadn't expected. Good thing he's got Thane to go off of as a basis of comparison!]

Probably looking at a diagnostic to start. If I'm being honest, I'm not really sure what I need done either. It's– kind of a long story.

[Not one Adam's unwilling to tell if asked to (albeit a version leaving out pretty much all the most interesting bits) but he's clearly not forthcoming about much at all.]

voice, private

[rustledbyjimmies]

[There is a public key attached in case Jensen would like to proceed through properly encrypted channels. Should he wish to, he should submit his own public key for Spock to encrypt with and use Spock's key to encrypt any future messages.]

It is preferable to discuss things in person if discretion is your wish, but I have attached my public key for your convenience.

To what degree is your inquiry made? While I do not specialize in cybernetics directly, I have significant experience with its individual components.

voice; private

[hanzer]

[The encryption's not too far removed from the sorts of protocols he'd employed in his work at Sarif, actually. He may not be a computer expert – with none of the raw instinct or foundation of knowledge needed to instantly adapt to these new systems – but he knows enough to get by. Even so, it takes him a few moments to reply, double-checking his methods to make sure he's got his security on lockdown.]

Figured a public post would be enough to get the ball rolling, at least to start. [And with no fewer than nine people responding to his inquiry, it certainly had.] I appreciate this, though.

[And he does sound quite sincere about it, too. There's a pause before he finally adds, at length:]

Same thing I told the others: I'm not really sure what I need. My memories from just before coming through the Ingress [and there's a slight, subtle hitch in his tone] –aren't as clear as I'd like. Something might've happened without my knowing.

There're a couple specific issues I want to fix, but I need to make sure that everything else is in working order first. [In other words: a diagnostic is what he needs. And, as wary as he is about anyone knowing too much about him and what information his body holds, he realizes that multiple opinions are needed here.]

video;

[whoami]

[ Sam isn't encrypting anything since he's doubting he'll be of much help. Plus if this post is any indication, he's missing some pretty vital information. ]

I'm not sure how much help it would be, but computers and engineering is about the only things I'm good at.

Unfortunately, I figured the four "captains" didn't know what they were doing. Well, three if you don't count Tipota.

voice;

[hanzer]

[You may not be a stranger, Sam, but Adam's going to stubbornly stick to voice as long as they're communicating on open channels. Guy likes his privacy!]

Not going to rule out your help if you're offering. [There's an audible gratefulness in his otherwise neutral tone, if you really listen for it.

If nothing else, maybe he can get a primer on the sort of systems common around here. He may not be a computer nerd genius like some of his coworkers, but he likes to keep up on things as much as he can.]

Tipota's the one who was killed. [It's more a statement of confirmation than a question – he'd gotten some of the story, earlier.] To be fair, if everything I've heard about that thing is true, I'm not sure what anybody else could have done in that situation.

[voice]

[ryuuzaki]

We'd all be interested in talking about the crewman in the hold, but the general line seems to be "Don't"... don't go near it, don't get involved if at all possible. They're probably afraid that curiousity may kill some cats... and the rest of us.

I don't think I can help you with your cybernetics -- I have some programming experience, but I wouldn't want someone's senses to rely on it, and you'll find better candidates here. Still, I have to admit that I'm intrigued.

voice;

[hanzer]

Starting to think I'm a living warning about the dangers of curiosity. [Not one, but two narrow brushes with death because he'd gotten too close to the truth! Curiosity's a murderous son of a bitch, apparently.] Unfortunately, I can't really afford to stay away.

[You know – considering he gets to spend his time babysitting the thing. He may not have learned too much about how it works or exactly what it's capable of, but it's very clear that it's got people scared.]

I appreciate the offer anyway– and the concern. Especially when my senses are involved.

[Rey and the way she's been (accidentally?) comparing him to a spaceship has got him a little worried, if it isn't clear.]