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GLORY 1
Glory is a starter scenario for Eclipse Phase. It sets seed AI capability and was later infected by the Ex-
the player characters on the path of a missing person surgent virus. It is of particular interest to Firewall
and leads them into a twisted den of horrors. It in- because some of the hardware from its primary locus,
cludes numerous tips for gamemasters new to running a military satellite in an Earth-Moon Lagrange orbit,
Eclipse Phase. was known to have survived the Battle of L4.
Myrmidon was recovered by the Yokyai Kong, a
Thai-led southeast Asian evac fleet. The Kong hoped
Mission Hook to gain an edge in the desperate war against the
Professor Magnus Qiao-sen Ming needs a team to TITANs by studying it. The hardware, including the
investigate the fate of Tara Yu, who is both a colleague storage modules, was taken to the Thai government-
of Mings at Titan Autonomous University (TAU) and a in-exile onboard Vishnukam, the Yokyai Kongs main
Firewall proxy. Yu was a crow (an investigator into po- habitat, under control of Air Marshal Viprakasit.
tential x-risks; see p. 358, EP). She was last heard from Before the hardware could be studied, however, it
while on the trail of a set of hardware memory modules was lost during an infamous incident known as the
thought to contain a partial archive of Myrmidon, a Oxygen Deck Riots.
pre-Fall military AGI that became one of the TITANs. The Oxygen Deck Riots were a minor but tragic
Studying its code might provide important clues as to incident sparked by the Thai governments controver-
the origin of the TITANsand possibly their fate. sial decision to forcibly upload a significant number of
In the course of their investigation, the characters refugees in order to relieve the resource pressures that
will be able to accomplish most of their research via were threatening the habitats functioning and existence.
the mesh. Their leads will eventually steer them to raid Due to massive overcrowding, the stations life support
the ship of a criminal group that has been infected by systems were in danger of failure and thousands faced
a rogue strain of the Exsurgent virus. starvation and lack of basic amenities.
For people who had only just escaped Earth with
Not Yet Firewall? bodies intact, this was too much. They gladly heeded
This scenario assumes that the characters are already the call made by a group of hardline Lao Buddhist
agents of Firewall. If the characters are not yet sentinels, monks to band together and take action. A flash mob
this adventure may be used to introduce them to the of refugees detained in docked ships cut through the
organization. In this case, Prof. Ming will approach the airlocks of the axial docking facility, boarded Vish-
characters about a clandestine job, saying only that they nukam, and stormed through to occupy the habitat
came recommended for their unique skill sets. He will life support facilities. They barricaded themselves
not initially reveal the nature of Firewall or its mission. in and and demanded the fleet officers abandon
As the characters learn more about the TITANs and the the plan. The government responded by sending in
Exsurgent virus, however, Ming will feed them tidbits troops who slaughtered the protesters. This sparked
about some of the secret history. Once the mission is days of riots and conflict aboard the habitat and
concluded, Ming will debrief the characters and invite refugee ships, fueled by rumors and fears among
them to join Firewall (see Stage 5: Debriefing, p. 20). the refugees that the Air Marshal had ordered them
liquidated. Thousands died.
Starting Setting
Locus (p. 100, EP) is a good location to start in, as
many key NPCs either have ties to the anarchist habi- Enter the Wolves
tat or reside in or near it. Titan (p. 105, EP) is also a One of the many nationality-based criminal gangs
good starting point, as it allows the initial meeting with that muscled their way into evacuee status during the
Professor Ming (p. 21) to occur face to face. The player Fall, the White Khanhs started out as a Hanoi triad.
characters may start from anywhere in the solar system, They had a controlling interest in several of the larger
however, as the initial meeting and much of the early scum barges and refugee ships that accreted from
research can be conducted via the mesh. In this case, the the flotsam of the nascent Vietnamese, Laotian, and
gamemaster may wish to relocate some of the NPCs to Cambodian orbital colonization efforts. During the
make meeting the player characters easier. chaos of the riots, the White Khanhs pillaged a dozen
separate caches of military and government hardware
Background and suppliesMyrmidons recovered hardware frag-
Myrmidon was an AGI component of the US militarys ments among thembefore melting back into the
Total Information Tactical Awareness Network. Like populace when order was restored. The White Khanhs
the other AGIs in this network, Myrmidon achieved quickly sold off the most valuable items and tech and,
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now heavily armed, made a protection pact with the coup within the gang and took over leadership with the
Yokyai Kong officers. They would act as informants help of other exsurgent members. Infected gang members
to head off future riots if allowed to continue their also grew increasingly interested in committing violent
activities. The Myrmidon hardware was not initially atrocities rather than tending to their traditional rackets.
identified as having any use and was stored in a series This opened the door for other gangs to move in on their
of crates on a small freighter, the Song Cai Flower. territory and so their influence waned.
In an act of astonishing foresight, and as an aid to Programmer-archeologist Tara Yu, a TAU faculty
expanding their operations, the White Khanhs decided member and operative of Firewall, got wind of the
to set up a safe haven and darkcasting relay for egos White Khanhs and their transformation from violent
on the lam. They wanted a location well off the beaten gang to weird cult about a year ago. Her interest
path, but they did not have the resources to construct stemmed from a lead provided by one of the Air
a habitat of their own in the outer system. Instead Marshals former staffers, pointing toward the White
they outfitted the Song Cai Flower with reactors, food Khanhs as a possible culprit for the theft of the Myr-
vats, and a healthy supply of volatiles and reactor midon hardware.
mass, then launched it toward the outer system using In an unfortunate show of overconfidence, Yu tried
a stolen nuclear electric booster. to recover the Myrmidon hardware herself. Though
she had assistance from a hacker named Morteza Bey
Glory Reborn and specialized recovery hardware built by Mason
Nearly a decade later, Phuong L, a tech aboard the Wang, a Martian AI hardware wnderkind, Yu infil-
Flower, discovered the cache containing the Myrmidon trated the Song Cai Flower with only a bot and two
hardware. They had never been inventoried, so the custom AIs as backup.
tech had no idea what she was unleashing. L became Yu discovered the Myrmidon memory modules and
infected by Glory (p. 19), a variant of the Exsurgent attempted to copy the data from them, exposing herself
virus (p. 362, EP), and quickly spread the infection to to the Glory virus in the process. Thanks to her precau-
the other gang members who were in transit or tem- tions, she resisted the full effects of the hack but was
porary storage on the ship. The Song Cai Flower was rendered unconscious. The exsurgent White Khanhs
still a year out from the Jovian-Sun L4 point when discovered and captured her. Lacking the lucidity to
things went weird, but it had already been in use as a effectively interrogate her, however, they instead forc-
safehouse for years. There were dozens of egos aboard ibly resleeved her to another morph and cannibalized
including Dexter Vo, a prominent White Khanhs boss her new body, which lacked a cortical stack.
whod narrowly avoided several recent attempts on
his life by Vasquez & Associates, a freelance Extropian The Current Situation
judicial cadre. About a month ago, the exsurgent White Khanhs
The Flowers egocasting facilities allowed infected entered the terminal phase of their lifecycle (see the
White Khanhs to leave the ship, though the nesting Glory sidebar, p. 4). In this case, however, given her
instinct instilled by the infection has now spurred all situation aboard a spacecraft, the Mother exsurgent
of them to return. Luckily, due to the way this par- (Phuong L) has developed a novel plan for immolat-
ticular exsurgent strain works, they did not spread the ing herself and dispersing her seeds.
infection outside of the Song Cai Flower. According to The exsurgents have cannibalized the engines and
the viruss programming, however, many of them ac- power plants from two other spacecraft, adding them
quired or abducted mates, which they uploaded and to the Song Cai Flower. These rockets are set to ini-
brought back to the Flower for infection. Similarly, as tiate a burn about two weeks from the start of the
other White Khanhs members egocasted to the ship, scenario that will take them once around Saturn for a
they too became infected. Over the past year, the ma- gravity assist, then spiraling sunward at a steep angle
jority of the White Khanhs in the system succumbed to the plane of the ecliptic, far from any planets or
to the virus, with only a few (unwittingly) escaping. ships. Without interference, the exsurgent colony will glory
Until quite recently, the exsurgent White Khanhs dive into the sun, burning up but leaving their seeds
were in regular contact with other White Khanhs cells to be spread to other worlds on the solar winds via
scattered around the system. As the infected egos en- directed panspermia.
tered the terminal phase of the Glory viruss life cycle, Prior to this time, the White Khanhs were still some-
however, they suffered a slow mental degradation and what active, to the point of directing one of their other
finally ceased communication with other members of cells to launch a retributive strike against Morteza Bey
the gang about a month prior to this scenario. (p. 21), the hacker who assisted Yu. Of late, though,
the exsurgents have lost most of their faculty for tran-
Firewall Attention shuman reason, devoting themselves completely to
The White Khanhs became the subject of numerous preparing for their dive into the sun. This gives the PCs
rumors as their infected members began exhibiting a much better chance than they might otherwise have
strange behaviors and acting in a bizarre, cult-like of successfully boarding the Flower.
fashion. Slightly over a year ago, Dexter Vo engineered a
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glory
Glory is a unique strain of the Exsurgent virus carried the host population has been converted or devoured,
by the TITAN Myrmidon. Glory works as an Apple the breeder immolators enter the breeding phase
of Knowledge (AOK) hacka type of long-acting of their life cycle. In this stage, the male exsurgents
mind hack, not unlike a basilisk hack, that mentally inseminate their female partners. These females then
rewrites its host. Glory requires that its victims both incubate their developing zygotes in the immolator
perceive and comprehend the vector message, how- colonys many-wombed Mother (using a retractable
ever, which is a monkey puzzlea schematic for an ovipositor). The Mother typically swells and bloats
incredibly advanced exotech nanohive. The hack cre- during this period, consuming the other immolators
ates a deep-seated obsession with fabricating a copy and filling herself with billions of embryos in the
of the hive. form of nanocrystalline spores.
To absorb Glory fully, one must have sufficient Once a critical mass of embryos reach maturity,
technical background to understand the message. the Mother and her colony sacrifice themselves and
Phuong L became infected because she was skilled distribute these alien seeds within a new target host
in programming and nanofabrication; someone else population. This is typically accomplished when the
might have been unaffected. Once Glory finds a car- Mother self-immolates within a targeted area; the
riersomeone with enough technical skill to create a nanocrystal seeds are hardy enough to survive the
Glory nanobot hivethen the virus may be spread via fire and small and light enough to be distributed by
nanobots, and so direct physical infection becomes winds over a wide area, where they will then hatch
possible. into nanobot swarms to infect new subjects. If nec-
The first person to become infected by Glory nano- essary, more manual measures can be taken, such as
bots becomes the Mother and immediately seeks physically blowing up the Mother or even cutting the
to infect a mate. The initial carriers infection is trans- Mother into little pieces (each containing nanocrystal
mitted via blood, saliva, or other bodily fluids. Once seeds) that are hand-delivered by suicidal immolators
these nanobots enter another persons bloodstream, across a targeted area (such as a habitat).
they also become infected. Before the physical exsurgent transformation takes
Glory nanobot infection induces numerous psy- place, however, the infection first modifies the victims
chological and physiological changes in the subject, behavior, turning them into a cunning and aggressive
eventually transforming them into a specific type of sociopath with a yen for cannibalism. It also instills
exsurgent life form known as immolators. Immola- infected hosts with a nesting instinct and a strong
tors are further divided into two sub-types: breed- desire to infect a potential mate, either by seduction
ers and drones. Immolator exsurgents are based on or force. The subjects personality and lucidity are
a parasitic alien life form with a distinct life cycle. slowly eroded over time, pushing them down a slow
This parasite infects a target population, establishes descent into madness. Glory-infected exsurgents will
a nest within this host population, and then slowly cooperate with other immolators, but everyone else
consumes its host both by infection (creating other in the universe is prey.
exsurgents) and anthropophagy (cannibalism). When For rules on exposure to the Glory virus, see p. 19.
4
out to be a clearing in a shielded garden dome on the
shore of Titans methane seas.
important characters If this adventure is used to bring the PCs together,
Heres a brief synopsis of the main characters that Ming will start the meeting by having the sentinels
appear in this scenario: introduce themselves to each other. He will then
explain the mission (gamemasters are encouraged to
Allies read this aloud):
Magnus Ming: Professor at Titan Autonomous
University, Firewall router (p. 21) Firewall needs you to find a missing agent, Tara Yu.
To the best of our knowledge, Yu was most recently
Tara Yu (deceased): Programmer-archeologist,
investigating the current whereabouts of military
TAU professor, Firewall crow
computer hardware recovered from a station in
Mason Wang: Anarchist hacker, former associate Earth orbit that was destroyed during the Fall, in
of Yu (pp. 7 and 21) the Battle of L4.
READ ALOUD
Morteza Bey: Anarchist hacker and reclaimer, Yu has been missing for over a month now. Long
former associate of Yu (pp. 8 and 21) silences are not unusual during some of her un-
dercover research missions, but she missed her
Nia Zheng (aka Sammy Li): Former White Khanhs
last scheduled check-in. Last we knew, she was on
enforcer (pp. 10 and 22)
Locus. We need you to track her down, ascertain
Achilles & Tortoise (disabled): A custom robot AI her status if alive, recover her cortical stack if dead,
and paired AI used by Yu (pp. 7 and 21) and if necessary continue or assist her search for
the missing hardware.
Antagonists
Myrmidon: Archived TITAN
Dexter Vo: White Khanhs boss (pp. 3 and 24) If the characters are experienced sentinels, Ming
further explains that Yu was looking for hardware
Phuong L (Mother): White Khanhs technician
fragments from a TITAN known as Myrmidon for
cum exsurgent colony queen (pp. 16 and 24)
study. Otherwise, he will only share this information
Ji: Dexter Vos protege (p. 23) with the PCs if they come close to recovering the
Sit: White Khanhs technician, formerly Phuong modules. Ming knows nothing else about Yus find-
Ls lover (p. 23) ings, other than that she believed the Myrmidon hard-
ware was no longer in the inner system and so she
was following leads further out. He does not know
others about her work with Mason Wang or Morteza Bey
(see below), nor does he know the White Khanhs are
Patrona Vasquez: Agent of Nomic (pp. 10 and 22)
involved or anything about their Exsurgent infection.
Ming has no wish to send investigators ignorant of
the Exsurgent threat to their deaths and will instruct
them on some necessary precautions when recovering
the Myrmidon hardware.
Stage 1: Meeting Ming Yus backup cannot be reached because her insur-
ance policy specifies her life timeout at six months;
Professor Ming is a respected researcher among the
she must be missing for at least that long before shes
Argonauts, an influential faculty member at TAU, and
reinstanced. This is longer than customary but not
a router for Firewall. As a fairly public figure, he is
unheard of for someone doing dangerous long-haul glory
cautious in his role as a Firewall proxy and will not
exploratory work. If proof of her death is provided
initially reveal the nature of Firewall or its mission.
to her insurer, theyll reinstance her, and the PCs can
Ming will contact the characters through encrypted
interview herwhen she gets out of psych.
and secure Firewall channels, calling them to a meet-
Ming is, and should come across as, a generally
ing within the next 24 hours. Unless some or all of the
benevolent figure. If investigators prove their skill and
PCs are on Titan, the initial meeting will take place in
good intentions on this mission, he can be a source of
a private virtual space on the mesh. The simulspace
further work and a useful contact. Mings game stats
environment is an abstract attempt to replicate an
can be found on p. 21.
unknown alien species virtual reality sensorium, and
The PCs can do most of their initial investiga-
should come across as strange and unsettling. Char-
tion by chasing down leads via the mesh, but Ming
acters who are not in Titans neighborhood will most
will make it clear at the outset that recovering the
likely need to attend the meeting by sending a fork
memory modules will likely require physical travel or
(see Forking and Merging, p. 273, EP). If they are on
egocasting. In case of travel, Firewall will attempt to
Titan, Ming will invite them to his office at TAUs De-
provision the group with morphs roughly equivalent
partment of Computational Archeology, which turns
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to those the PCs have now and appropriate insur- Checking Social Networks
ance policies (see Morph Brokerage, p. 276, EP). Characters who successfully use their Networking
Ming wont cover costs for egocasting or supplying skill and social networks (see pp. 287-291, EP) to dig
morphs if he believes the PCs are on a wild good into Yu can find out more:
chase. He will ask to review the leads and evidence n @-rep and r-rep (Moderate favor): Yu received big
theyve gathered and discuss their reasons for ego- favors from both Mason Wang (p. 7) and Morteza
casting beforehand. Bey (p. 8) in the past two months (using Yus list
Other than this support, the PCs will largely be on of associates will provide a +10 modifier on these
their own. Firewall will not cover other costs unless tests). Specifically inquiring about Yus departure
the characters make a particularly good case for it, from Locus will reveal that she egocast to Casa
and the assignment isnt important enough for Fire- Arturo a month ago (see p. 11; this is a separate
wall to prioritize any further resources on it (though if Moderate favor). Likewise, successful social net-
the PCs supply evidence of an active Exsurgent infec- working on Casa Arturo (another Moderate favor)
tion, this will rapidly change). will uncover that Yu pulled a major favor to borrow
a small spacecraft called the Kesyrah, which is now
several weeks overdue. Where she took this shuttle
Stage 2: Pursuing Leads is unknown, but its limited fuel capacity and range
indicate it is likely she traveled somewhere in the
The sentinels have several options for investigat-
ing Yus disappearance. These involve researching Jovian Greeks.
Yu online (using the Research skill) and via social n C-rep (Low favor): Investigating Yus activities
networks (using Reputation). These methods on the Vishnukam station will discover that she in-
should turn up several leads, including two of Yus terviewed the Air Marshall and several government
contacts, Mason Wang and Morteza Bey. Once the officials and researched the White Khanhs crime
characters discover that Yu was looking into the gang there (inquiries not focused on Vishnukam
White Khanhs, further efforts should lead them to suffer a -30 modifier, however).
Nia Zheng. All of this digging may bring the PCs n G-rep (Moderate favor): Checking criminal con-
to the attention of Patrona Vasquez. Each of these nections will uncover that Yu used her networking
options is covered below. connections to track down and talk to someone
How direct to be in providing the characters with named Nia Zheng (p. 10) and was investigating
leads is left to the discretion of the GM. Some GMs White Khanhs activities in the outer system. An
may wish to make the PCs work harder in the leg- Excellent Success here will reveal that Yu took a
work phase of the adventure, in which case throwing special interest in the gangs Song Cai Flower craft.
in some misdirection is appropriate. GMs who wish n I-rep (Low favor): As with @-rep, above.
to minimize this phase and get to the infiltration of
the ship may opt to provide positive modifiers on Researching the White Khanhs
the Research/Networking rolls, or simply have Ming Mesh research into the White Khanhs will uncover a
provide more information up front. decent amount of information, reports, and rumors
on this gang and their activities and history. To isolate
ResearchIng Tara Yu the key facts, a second Research Test to analyze the
data is necessary (see p. 249, EP); an appropriate skill
Yus activities as a Firewall agent made her uncom-
monly cautious. She has no publicly accessible lifelog (such as Interest: Triads) can serve as a complemen-
and maintains a fairly low mesh profile. Likewise, tary skill to this test (p. 173, EP). The gamemaster can
inquiries into Yus activities and associates largely adapt and supply any information provided in this
draw blanksshes put a wall between her normal scenarios background (p. 2) that would be known
life and the things she does for Firewall. With the outside the gang. For example, the characters may
exception of Ming, her associates from TAU believe learn about the groups recent switch to violent and
she was on sabbatical. Nevertheless, successful Re- cult-like behavior, Dexter Vos coup, their decline and
search Tests (see p. 249, EP) will turn up the follow- the fact that theyve lost ground to other gangs, etc. As
a rule of thumb, every 10 points of MoS on the second
ing information:
Research Test will reveal a new insight.
n A list of Yus associates. Networking Tests can
If any character successfully exercises their g-rep
reveal which ones are actually important (see
and Guanxi socnet connections, they can determine
below).
that the White Khanhs has a secret hideout with a
n Yus recent travels. In the past several months, Yu
Moderate (Level 3) favor. Finding out any details
has sent several forks to the Vishnukam station in
about the Song Cai Flower, such as where to find it,
Earth orbit, to interview people and research the
counts as a High (Level 4) favor.
missing Myrmidon hardware. Slightly over a month
If the characters attempt to track down any still
ago, she egocast to Locus.
active White Khanhs members, they will have a dif-
ficult time. All of the infected gang members have
returned to the nest. The few who remain are laying
6
low in confusion at their outfits effective collapse, in gamemasters discretion, Blue Pods real agenda can
fear of what their strangely-behaving compatriots are be ascertained with an @-rep High favor).
up to, or wary of attacks by other gangs who sense The player characters can also learn that right
an opportunity. A Minor (Level 2) favor acquired with around the time Yu disappeared, Wang uncharacteris-
g-rep will put the characters on Sammy Lis trail (p. 10), tically dropped out of sight for a month, only recently
as someone who used to be involved with the gang but emerging again. Publicly, he cited a problem with a
recently disappeared and is assumed to have defected. programming project: Deep issues with the code
base that required utmost concentration. Digging any
Outside Help deeper is difficult, but a Moderate favor using @-rep
The GM should take note of any efforts the characters reveals that Wang spent an entire month sequestered
make to keep their inquiries into the gang quiet (see on his private hab near Locus, apparently seeing no
Keeping Quiet, p. 289, EP). If they dont, Patrona one and not responding to any outside communica-
Vasquez (p. 10) may hear about their interest and con- tionsa lifetime for someone like him.
tact them. The gamemaster can leave this to chance, Wang Industrieshis private habis a few days
making a Networking: Criminal Test for Vasquez to travel from Locus by rocket. The habitat is a conspicu-
see if she finds out, or simply introduce her if the char- ously novel designa matrioshka hab, designed as
acters are in need of more information and/or allies. a series of nested spheres, such that the outer layers
are able to reuse some of the waste energy from the
Mason Wang inner ones. How well this design actually works is a
Characters who learn of Wangs favor for Yu (see matter of debate; old sundogs generally deem it too
above) can easily track the anarchist hacker down on clever by half.
Locus. Game stats for Wang can be found on p. 21.
Contacting Wang
Researching Wang Wang will cooperate to a limited extent with anyone
There is a lot of information on Wang publicly available, who approaches him about Yu, as long as they have an
no Research Test required. Wang is a Martian who did @-rep of at least 20 or prove that they work for Ming.
graduate work as a programmer-archeologist at TAU, Wang is guilt-wracked about Yus disappearance but
where he was briefly a student of both Ming and Yu. If wont willingly come clean with the full story. He will
asked about him, Ming remembers little except to say simply say that Yu asked him to build a custom robot
that he was talented but not terribly serious. and AI package, providing details on both Tortoise
After taking a doctorate, Wang returned to Mars, and Achilles, without saying what they were to be
where he founded a software company and spent five used for. The last he heard from her, she was on the
years on typical corp AI projects. Later he felt the Casa Arturo habitat (see Stage 3: Investigating the
pull of the outer system again and sold his business Song Cai Flower, p. 11).
to finance construction of a private habitat in the If the characters bribe, threaten, or kidnap/tor-
neighborhood of Locus. Hes been living there for the ture Wanga risky proposition given his many new
last two years, participating in projects with a number friends on Locushe will provide the full story. Yu
of Locus research pods, which has netted him a fair approached Wang to program and design a custom
amount of positive reputation. His major motives are robot and two pre-sapient AIs, dubbed Tortoise &
profit, self-promotion, and sex. Though only a hand- Achilles, for the task of infiltrating the White Khanhss
ful of people know, Wang was Yus lover for a time station and retrieving data from the Myrmidon
during his studies at TAU and they remained in con- hardware. The robotic shell, dubbed Achilles, was
tact afterward (discoverable with @-rep, High favor). a zero-G anthroform of roughly human shape and
Wang is part of Blue Pod, a Locus-based affinity height but with an incredibly thin, whip-like build. It
group interested in the intersection of art and AI/AGI was considerably less advanced than a typical synth, glory
research. The group has a large module on Locus with limited interfaces and a simple covert ops expert
in which they regularly throw @-list parties and art system AI designed to follow a human infiltrator, ape
events. Their true (secret) interest, however, lies in their movements, and keep itself concealed.
studying the TITANs and the Exsurgent virus (which The bot was also equipped with a rider module to
they call the Vector). They have correctly guessed carry Tortoise, a considerably more sophisticated AI
that the TITANs ran afoul of alien technology, though designed to scan exotic hardware and data structures,
they believe that it had to do with the Pandora Gates copy the resulting output, perform rudimentary threat
and have no idea about the Bracewell probe. assessments (such as detecting telltale signs of known
Unlike Firewall, Wang and his associates are much software-based strains of the Exsurgent virus), and
less cautious and more interested in finding evidence quarantine itself with an air gap in emergencies. Basi-
of alien technology and taking advantage of it than in cally, Tortoise was a programmer-archeologist expert
protecting humanityand their methods reflect this. system in a box, intended to help Yu avoid any direct
Yu was interested in recruiting Wang into Firewall, not encounters with nasty Exsurgent software.
knowing Blue Pods true nature, and confided some Unbeknownst to Yu, Tortoise and Achilles were
of her suspicions about Myrmidon to him. (At the also designed to transmit (via QE comm; p. 315, EP)
7
whatever data they captured back to a storage facil- Any cursory lookup of Xius Greenhouse, however,
ity Wang had set up. Unfortunately, Wang wasnt very will note some startling recent news (if the characters
cautious and overestimated his skills relative to the fail to notice this, have a muse make the correlation).
dangers of the Exsurgent virus. Tortoise managed to Just a few weeks ago, the garden hab was assaulted
send off the data retrieved in Yus recovery attemptas by a small group of unknown assailants who slaugh-
well as a copy of the Glory virus. This infected the fork tered most of the inhabitants, apparently as some sort
of himself Wang had set up to analyze the data. Luck- of warning. The local autonomist defense council is
ily, his pre-merge diagnostics sniffed out the problem still looking into the matter and will share what info
before he reintegrated the fork. He sequestered the they have with any PCs who have @-rep of 20+. This
corrupt fork for later analysis, interested in the pos- data includes footage of immolator exsurgents (both
sible applications of such an aggressive virus. The close breeders and drones), whom the anarchists assume
call left Wang shaken, however, so he spent the past are exhumans. If the sentinels circulate this footage,
month carefully scanning his systems and personal data inquiring about exotic morphs, Patrona Vasquez (p.
for signs of infection. He found nothing, but remains 10) will hear of it and contact them.
worried that he might have missed something. (He did Xius inhabitants lack the will to pursue vengeance
not, but this fear strongly affects his actions). at present. Most are too shell-shocked from the expe-
Wang knows nothing significant about the White rience and recovering via psychosurgery. A successful
Khanhs or Myrmidon beyond what was required to Research Test will note that Bey is listed among those
design Tortoise and Achilles and doesnt know any- killedin fact, his decapitated and mutilated body
thing about Zheng, Vasquez, or Bey. was left impaled in the greenhouse.
the Song Cai Flower dark gray on the port and starboard engine pods. The
starboard airlock has been blown, probably cut open
Yus trail should eventually point the sentinels to the from the outside with a plasma torch.
Song Cai Flower. The Flower is not in the habit of ac- Inside, the ship is cramped, interior space having
cepting farcast links from anyone any more, not even been sacrificed for larger engines, powerful cold gas
White Khanhs members, and no longer establishes thrusters, and more fuel. Yu and Beys gear floats ev-
mesh connections with other habitats. The characters erywhere; the ship has been ransacked. In the cockpit
only real choice is to investigate it physically, and the is the wreckage of Morteza Beys flexbot morph. Its
best launching point for that is Casa Arturothe same been shot, and the synthmorph equivalent of the corti-
station from which Yu initiated her operation. cal stack has been popped.
The ship is otherwise functional. PCs may return it
Casa Arturo to the Arturistas for a reward of @-rep (+5). They may
The Casa Arturo cluster hab is the most likely jump- also claim/keep it, but if the Arturistas ever find out,
ing off point for an expedition to the Song Cai they will most certainly lose @-rep (-5 or more). The
Flower, which trails it by about 100,000 km in the engines are standard hydrogen-oxygen rockets, but
sparsely-inhabited Paloma Negra neighborhood of the innovative nozzle design gives them a higher spe-
the Jovian Greeks. Casa Arturo is anchored to the cific impulse, generating about 0.2 g more acceleration
asteroid from which the neighborhood takes its than a standard SLOTV. The ship is also difficult to
name, a rare, dark, metal-rich body. The hab has a detect when maneuvering on cold thrusters only (-20
similar plan to Lot 49 (p. 102, EP) but is somewhat on Interfacing or Perception Tests to spot).
larger, with a population of about 1200, most of The Kesyrah is a nice prize. That the White Khanhs
whom are fanatical rocket geeks. Most Arturistas simply left it out here should tell the PCs something
speak Spanish, English, and Mandarin. The mining, about their state of mind.
foundry, and shipbuilding facilities here are very
well-developed for a population of this size. Full The Song Cai Flower
egocasting and resleeving facilities are available Except for its rotating toroid habitation ring, the Flower
many visitors come to see rocket designs firsthand is typical of pre-Fall-era freighters. At the rotating sec-
and participate in racesand bouncer morphs are tions axis is a chain of long, cylindrical modules, from glory
very common here (+20 on Networking Tests; see a windowed greenhouse on one end to the ops center
Morph Acquisition, p. 277, EP). on the other. In the center is a big, blocky utility module,
from which extend a long docking spar, solar panels,
Getting to the Flower and a reactor. The torus is painted red and the modules
Characters with solid @-rep should be able to forming the axle green, both colors dulled by vacuum
borrow or hire a small spacecraft at Casa Arturo ablation, and scarred here and there by microasteroid
(requiring a successful Networking Test and a Level impacts. The overall effect is gaudy gone sinister. The
4 favor). If the characters fail here and call upon entire station except for the torus is in microgravity.
Firewall for help, Ming will pull some strings to Anyone who succeeds in an appropriate Knowledge
find them transportation out to the Flower. The or Technical skill can tell that several additional fusion
characters are most likely to acquire a SLOTV (p. rockets have been attached to the ships frame. Close
349, EP). This is also a good opportunity for the examination will reveal that these additions are recent
gamemaster to introduce other NPCs here who can and are not yet complete (though they will be soon).
serve as potential backup, under the guise of ship There are three sizes of airlocks in the hab, rated
crew the PCs have hired. by how many people they can hold while the lock is
11
cycling: small (one person), standard (four people), (using the rules for hacking and subversion given on
and service (up to ten people or a small vehicle). pp. 254-261, EP). The mesh is actively monitored by
Airlocks take four Action Turns to open, close, cycle, Wei, Dexter Vos muse.
and open again on the other side. (A character may Wei was a fairly expensive custom security muse
move into the airlock on the first turn and out on the who doubled as a simulspace lovedoll, but Vos ex-
last.) Airlocks leading to and from pressurized areas posure to Glory warped her as well. Her heuristics
on the ship work as normal doors unless a module is for dealing with security threats are seriously out
depressurized, in which case they kick in as airlocks. of whack, overestimating the dangers of some situ-
All have safety features to prevent them closing on ations while occasionally ignoring clear threats. Her
people or objects passing through, though these can personal interaction agents also react inappropriately.
be disabled with a Hardware: Industrial Test at -10. When making threats, delivering warnings, or reacting
to crises, she behaves as if shes on an exceptionally
Ship Security large dose of hither (p. 321, EP). Use the stats for a
Luckily for the sentinels, the Flowers various security security AI (p. 332, EP), but apply a -10 penalty on
measures are operating below standard efficiency due all attempts to detect intruders and ignore critical suc-
to the effects of the Glory virus on the crew. Some cesses. Her avatar in AR or simulspace is a tall, sultry
systemsincluding most of the ships exterior hull Chinese woman.
sensor systemshave simply fallen into disrepair or Electronic infiltration of the ship is a risky endeavor
are not monitored because the exsurgents are preoc- as the hacker risks exposure to the Glory virus. Any
cupied with reproduction and uniformly deranged. Any intruder who obtains Locked status immediate is ex-
characters who exercise stealth in approaching the Song posed to the AOK hack (see Glory Infection, p. 19).
Cai Flower from a distance are certain to succeedthe Weis job is also to monitor the ships internal
exsurgents simply arent watching. Exterior airlocks surveillance and spime sensor feeds, alerting Vo to
are electronically locked, but may be opened using any anything unusual, but the AI is distracted and careless
of the methods described under Electronic Locks, pp. and many of the feeds are disabled. The gamemaster
291-293, EP. They may also be cut through with ap- should roll Perception Tests for the AI (with the -10
propriate tools (DUR 100, Armor 50, WT 25). modifier noted above) whenever the characters act
The ships local wireless mesh network may be in- without subtlety inside the ship or if they enter the ops
filtrated by anyone who comes within close proximity center (Area 7), which Wei watches closely. Alternately
12
the gamemaster can simply have the AI roll to discover 3. Reactor Module
the sentinels whenever it is most advantageous for the From outside, the reactor module looks like a wide,
plot. Note that Wei is unlikely to alert the intruders to flattened donut with no hole in the middle. For char-
their discovery, giving Vo enough time to coordinate a acters who have spent a lot of time on or around
responsemost likely an ambush in either the green- spaceships, its easily recognizable. A standard airlock
house (Area 6) or machine shop (Area 8). connects it to the utility bay (Area 2). The door to the
reactor is locked, but can be overcome with any of
Song Cai Flower Map Key the methods described on pp. 291-292, EP, with a -10
Area descriptions use the side of the ship from which difficulty modifier.
the solar panel extends as the arbitrary up direction. Inside, the donut contains the toroidal magnetic
Left and right directions are relative to a character containment chamber common to most fusion reac-
looking into the area from a given entrance. tor designs, monitoring equipment, a fuel processor,
and conduits for venting spent fuel and waste heat
1. Docking Spar into space. The space inside is cramped, with lots
The spar is an open truss with a standard docking ring of handholds, and the air is hot. This is one of the
on one end attached to a heavy plastic umbilicus two better maintained modules on the Flower, but even
meters wide. Its a cheap solution that hasnt stood up it looks seriously overdue for a visit from mainte-
well to extended exposure to space. The docking ring nance personnel. Two small airlocks on the flat sides
itself is functional, but the umbilicus has been holed (above and below from the viewpoint of the door
by micro-asteroids in many places along its length and to Area 2) would give access to space but have been
wont pressurize. Characters trying to enter this way welded shut.
will need to stay in their suits. A standard airlock leads Damage to the reactor walls can temporarily dis-
from here to the utility bay (Area 2). rupt the magnetic containment field, with dangerous
Two LLOTVs are docked along the length of the results. If a character discharges any kind of firearm
spar. Both have been recently gutted, with engines and or seeker in this area and misses their target with
power supplies hastily (and sloppily) removed. a Severe Failure (MoF 30+), their attack has struck
and possibly damaged the reactor wall (see stats
2. Utility Bay below). The containment torus is self-healing (p. 292,
This section houses a well-equipped but poorly-kept EP). If the donut takes enough damage to exceed its
utility shop. On the up wall above, where the Durability or suffers a wound, a superheated jet of
solar panel connects, are banks of power storage plasma escapes the magnetic containment and burns
and monitoring gear. A small airlock on this wall anyone within 10 meters who fails a Fray Test (3d10
gives easy access to the solar panel spar (Area 5). + 12 [28] DV, AP -10, resisted with Energy armor).
Characters with Profession skills relating to space- The entire module is also flooded with heavy radia-
ship or station administration or maintenance who tion (exact effects to be determined by gamemaster;
check the power readings realize on an Easy Test see p. 201, EP).
(+10) that the trickle of power from the solar array
is totally insufficient to operate a ship this size this
far out from the sun; therefore, one or more reac- reactor stats
tors must still be online.
Two standard airlocks on opposite sides of the bay containment wall
lead to the docking spar (Area 1) and reactor module wound
Armor durability
(Area 3). Left and right of the docking airlock are ser- threshold
vice airlocks to the greenhouse (Area 6) and machine 50 200 50
shop (Area 8). The wall below has a deeply recessed
service airlock (about 3 meters) that opens to space glory
and a service crawlway leading to the life support
pods (Area 4). 4. Life Support Pod
Just inside the bottom service lock are three large From outside, the life support pod is a blocky, heavily
fuel tanks. Fuel lines run from these to attitudinal shielded box. Some of the planes along its surface are
thrusters on the outside of the utility bay and Area recessed, while along the top side there is a row of
4. These are linked to the thrusters in the ops center four outward-curving surfaces that suggest cylindrical
(Area 7), but the ops center has its own fuel supply, shapes continuing inside the module, possibly storage
as well as the manual controls for all of the stations tanks of some sort. The part-cylindrical surfaces run
thrusters. The attitudinal thrusters are sufficient for the width of the module and are capped at its edge
station keeping and spinning or stopping the torus, by four heavy, circular service hatches. Inside, its an
but not to move the ship any significant distance. orderly but tightly packed maze of condensers, filtra-
(This was originally done with boosters that have long tion equipment, and algal oxygen vats. The lights in
since been broken down for parts). the room are purple UV tubes (to characters who can
The drone Sit is often working here. only see in the visible spectrum) for the algae.
13
66 101 108 111 119 32 116 104
101 32 116 104 117 110 100
101 114 115 32 111 102 32 116
104 101 32 117 112 112 101
114 32 100 101 101 112 59 13
10 70 97 114 44 32 102 97 114
32 98 101 110 101 97 116 104
32 105 110 32 116 104 101 32
97 98 121 115 109 97 108 32
115 101 97 44 13 10 72 105
115 32 97 110 99 105 101 110
116 44 32 100 114 101 97 109
108 101 115 115 44 32 117 110
105 110 118 97 100 101 100 32 1 Docking Spar
115 108 101 101 112 13 10 84 2 Utility Bay
104 101 32 75 114 97 107 101
110 32 115 108 101 101 112 3 Reactor Module
101 116 104 58 32 102 97 105 4 Life Support Pod
110 116 101 115 116 32 115
117 110 108 105 103 104 116
115 32 102 108 101 101 13 10
9 5 Solar Panel
6 Greenhouse/Recycling
65 98 111 117 116 32 104 105
115 32 115 104 97 100 111 119 a Recycling Vats
121 32 115 105 100 101 115 58 b Plant Beds
32 97 98 111 118 101 32 104
105 109 32 115 119 101 108 c Carniculture Vats
108 13 10 72 117 103 101 32 d Engine Room
115 112 111 110 103 101 115
7 Ops Center
3
32 111 102 32 109 105 108 108
101 110 110 105 97 108 32 103 8 Machine Shop/Drone Bay
114 111 119 116 104 32 97 110
100 32 104 101 105 103 104 9 Crew Torus
116 59 13 10 65 110 100 32
102 97 114 32 97 119 97 121
32 105 110 116 111 32 116 104
6a 6d
101 32 115 105 99 107 108 121
32 108 105 103 104 116 44 13
10 70 114 111 109 32 109 97
4 5 6c
7 6b
110 121 32 97 32 119 111 110
100 114 111 117 115 32 103
114 111 116 32 97 110 100 32
8
2
115 101 99 114 101 116 32 99
101 108 108 13 10 85 110 110
117 109 98 101 114 101 100 32
97 110 100 32 101 110 111 114
109 111 117 115 32 112 111
108 121 112 105 13 10 87 105
110 110 111 119 32 119 105
116 104 32 103 105 97 110 116
32 97 114 109 115 32 116 104
101 32 115 108 117 109 98 101
1
114 105 110 103 32 103 114
101 101 110 46 13 10 84 104
101 114 101 32 104 97 116 104
32 104 101 32 108 97 105 110
32 102 111 114 32 97 103 101
115 32 97 110 100 32 119 105
108 108 32 108 105 101 13 10
66 97 116 116 101 110 105 110
103 32 117 112 111 110 32 104
117 103 101 32 115 101 97 45
119 111 114 109 115 32 105
110 32 104 105 115 32 115 108
101 101 112 44 13 10 85 110
116 105 108 32 116 104 101 32
108 97 116 116 101 114 32 102
105 114 101 32 115 104 97 108
108 32 104 101 97 116 32 116
104 101 32 100 101 101 112 59
13 10 84 104 101 110 32 111
110 99 101 32 98 121 32 109
97 110 32 97 110 100 32 97
110 103 101 108 115 32 116
111 32 98 101 32 115 101 101
110 44 13 10 73 110 32 114
111 97 114 105 110 103 32 104
101 32 115 104 97 108 108 32
114 105 115 101 32 97 110 100
32 111 110 32 116 104 101 32
115 117 114 102 97 99 101 32
100 105 101 46
14
5. Solar Panel 6b. Plant Beds
The Flowers solar panel is a single array about 80 The plant beds occupy the next 50 meters of the
meters long and 7.5 meters wide, projecting from the module, moving outward from the hatch to the utility
top of the utility bay (Area 2). Adjacent to it is a small bay (Area 2). They end in a translucent wall of heavy
airlock. Though the solar panel provides a nearly neg- plastic, separating them from the carniculture vats
ligible amount of power to the station, close examina- (Area 6c). This wall has two hatches giving access to
tion reveals that it has been put to another purpose. the vats on opposite sides of the axial utility conduit.
Conductive materials in the panel have been wired to Originally designed for use in stronger sunlight,
the stations communication systems, transforming it the outer walls of this module are mostly window,
into a massive antenna array with enough bandwidth though the windows are dingy and in many places
for egocasting. completely dirt-caked, letting in only faint starlight
Anyone entering or checking the airlock between from outside. Most of the illumination comes from
the solar panel and the utility bay will find the broken stacks of hydroponic plant trays radiating out in
(but not destroyed) remains of Achilles, the custom three or four tiers from the axial utility conduit. Each
bot that accompanied Tara Yu. The exsurgents tier of plants has its own lighting, and the vegeta-
dumped it here for spacing, but never got around to tion averages three meters deep, moving from the
cycling the airlock. Though heavily damaged, the bot windows toward the utility conduit. The plants grow
may be repaired. It is still carrying the Tortoise AI in in tangles, with only a fleet of five or six small flying
a ghostrider module, which is also carrying a copy drones maintaining them. PCs familiar with growing
of the Myrmidon dataand the Glory virus. Careless food on space stations will notice that almost the
techs may find themselves exposed to the AOK hack entire crop here is high-yield cereal grains and soy,
if they fail to take precautions. with virtually no fruits or vegetables. Most of the
crop is being auto-harvested and fed into a processor
6. Greenhouse/Recycling connected to the utility conduit. The processor feeds
This is a huge, cylindrical module nearly 100 meters a thick nutrient line that runs beyond the hatch at
long and 20 meters in diameter, separated into four the far end of the plant beds, into the next section
separate areas (see below). Close inspection reveals of the module.
that it was once the passenger module on one of the The tangles of vegetation afford good concealment;
immense, heavy-lift rockets used for evacuations treat targets hiding among them as having moderate
during the Fall. Fittings for acceleration couches and cover (-20). The exsurgents may choose this as an
the like are still present, as well as the pre-Fall equiva- ambush spot due to the ample cover.
lent of airplane safety equipment. At some point, great Din, one of the exsurgent drones, is usually here
windows were cut into the module walls, transform- tending to the plants.
ing it into a greenhouse. Running along the center of
the module from the hatch to the utility bay (Area 6c. Carniculture Vats
2) back to the new engineering section (Area 6d) is The equipment here is the best maintained that the
a one-meter diameter utility conduit with recycling, PCs have encountered so far. The walls are lined with
water, and nutrient feeds. This conduit connects the massive, green-lit vats designed to grow cultured
recycling vats (Area 6a) to the plant beds (Area 6b) meat and extrude it in an edible form. Examining the
and meat vats (Area 6c). contents confirms what the PCs may already have
realized; all of the vats are growing cultured human
6a. Recycling Vats fleshmostly thigh muscle tissue, with a few organ
The first 20 meters of the module are walled off from meats thrown in for variety.
the rest and have a foul, septic reek (apply a -10
modifier to all physical and social tests for characters 6d. Engine Room
who spend more than a minute in this room without Separated from the vats (Area 6c) by a hastily-con- glory
breathing equipment). PCs with any ship or habitat structed metal bulkhead with a single large hatch in
operations-related Knowledge skill immediately real- it, the engine room occupies the last 10 meters of the
ize that the recycling system here, while still functional, modulewhat will be the rear of the ship should the
is working below capacity and suffers from a lack of White Khanhs manage to get it under acceleration.
basic maintenance. The builders didnt put much effort into radiation
The walls here are crammed with a maze of pipes shielding. Any character sleeved in an unprotected
and conduits connecting recycling equipment (large biomorph who spends more than five minutes in this
vats, catalyzer units, and the like) to the life support room loses 5 SOM and other radiation effects the
system, utility bay, machine shop, station plumbing, gamemaster desires (p. 201, EP) until they receive
and the rest of the greenhouse. This system converts medical attention in a healing vat.
biological waste, condensation, and meat growth Unlike the attitudinal drives elsewhere on the ship,
byproducts from a foul slurry into drinkable water, the rockets cannibalized from the other spacecraft and
fertilizer, and trace elements for the fabricators. attached outside here are nuclear, so there are no fuel
tanks. Instead, thrust mass comes from two large water
15
pipes running from the utility conduit in 6c. Apparently
the designers plan was to pull thruster mass directly
from the stations water supplya suicidal plan, on the
face of it, as it would exhaust all of the stations water,
as a Hardware: Aerospace or appropriate Knowledge
skill will discern. The dormant Mother, however, would
survive long enough to be immolated by the sun.
7. Ops Center
From the outside, ops resembles the bridge module
found on any bulk freighter, implying that it probably
contains sensor systems, emergency thrusters and life
support, and a lot of computing power. The inside,
however, is far different than expected. The walls,
windows, and equipment here are all covered in a 40
centimeter-thick layer of pinkish-gray human flesh
the transmogrified form of Phuong L, the exsurgent
Mother (discovering this fact inflicts mental stress; see
p. 24). The flesh is thicker in some places where Phuong
Ls many wombs swell with embryos. Every surface
moves gently to the slow rhythm of respiration and the
flesh occasionally shifts from the pre-natal stirrings of
exsurgent brood. Here and there, manual instrument
banks, designed to operate the station in case the ships
mesh fails, protrude from the flesh. The room is lit only
by instrument panels. Ls bloated face peers up from a
hump of flesh, surrounded by six spiky maws opening
on what used to be her throat. When not chomping on
raw meat fed to them by Sit, all seven mouths inces-
santly sing a soft lullaby. Drifting slightly above and
behind Ls face are her arms, which have metamor-
phosed into a pair of 3 meter-long prehensile tentacles
with stubby grasping digits at their tips.
Wei, Dexter Vos muse, pays close attention to
surveillance feeds coming from this module, and any
detected intruders will be attacked soon after. Char-
acters exposed to Ls body fluids (which could easily
happen in a firefight) have the standard chance of
contracting Glory (p. 19). L will initially ignore PCs,
but if they try to damage her, she will lash out with
her tentacles and psi sleights.
Ls breeder mate, Bian, is usually found here, in-
seminating the Mother. One of the drones, Wu, is typi-
cally here as well, feeding and caring for Phuong L.