Copper sets a wide angle lens on his multicorder and waits for Vilfred to be eaten ... I mean do something heroic ... either would make for good footage ... though secretly he hopes Vil gets eaten as "Burn That Commie" pays better.

"Mph ba wobow wowmphs uph pa wayw, whem whaphs whap whewl woo." Johnny loyally declares... around yet another pen.

Rob hmmms... "I don't know... this reminds me a lot of a Green Agent of Sector G episode... I say we wait until the debris is cleared."

It is unclear what caused the crash.  There are a few items that fell out and scattered, but they are on the far side of the jeep.

As Vilfred starts forward to investigate, the robot says, "You must wait for EVE to clear the debris.  Do not interfere or circumvent the debris.  Do not deviate from the path.  That is what EVE commands.  So shall it be done."

Vilfred stops short.

From where you stand, you are all staring at the bottom of the jeep.  There are four tires, axles and typical car parts.

You can skirt around the jeep if you desire by stepping into the shrubbery, or you can climb over the jeep.  In any case, to truly investigate the jeep, you must get to the other side, exactly what the robot seems to be forbidding you to do.

Vilfred slowly approaches the bot. "Wait for Eve?" she says. "Bot: How long has the vehicle been here? Access security cameras and EVE-1 maintenance records."

For GM:

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
Uses Hardware and Bot Programming to assess whether the bot is fully functional, and whether she can divert it from this commandment.

---

TUTORIAL:  When someone wants to roll, this is a time when you can use perversity points to increase their chances of succeeding or failing the roll (up to 5 total points expended).  I have not yet given you perversity points to use, so we are not using it yet.  The problem with RPoL and perversity points is that I typically don't wait too long to post, so your window of opportunity might be short.

Vilfred has a score of 9 in Bot Programming.  She must score 9 or less to succeed.  The roll was a 9.  She therefore succeeded (barely).


Vilfred attempts to access the bot programming.  She has a little success.

"The crash was reported to EVE 6 days, 13 hours ago," the robot states.  "I have just repeated the request to clear the debris when we arrived.  EVE reports back that Stasis Bots, Combat Bots, and Garbage Bots have been dispatched to clear the debris and take care of the wetware standing behind it.  Arrival estimated in approximately 3 minutes."

Looking over the wreckage of the jeep and the surroundings, Justin sat down on the path behind everyone, content to wait until the cleanup crew arrived, voicing his opinion thusly:

Going 'round the wreck rings ill in my ear
Off of the path is a place we should fear
Our armor is red
And we'll likely be dead
If the green stuff we tread too near.

But just as he was about to relax - hey, he had three minutes - he did thought about the robot's last words, and his eyes widened. He didn't like something he'd heard. Standing, he moved towards the front, and towards Vilfred.

Vilfred, you should ask your friend
Which wetware his fellows mean to end
To his meaning we're blind
Of which side is behind
And it could be our wetware he means to rend...

"Three minutes? We can wait that long," she says, stepping back to assess the team's positioning. "Justin-R, secure a perimeter on this side of the vehicle. Fletch-R, prepare to assist the arriving bots if needed. Cop-R, document our teamwork and service to the Computer. Others, stand by."

She starts, at Justin's statement. "R-rend? Computer: From which direction are the bots approaching?"

"Hee-hee-hee," Gene says, erupting in nervous laughter. "I think these bots mean to eradicate us just like the rest of the people who were out here.  Everyone should do a quick cleanliness check to make sure they are hygenically prepared for soiling themselves.  Robot, does EVE mean to kill us?  And is EVE the same as the Computer?"
This message was lightly edited by the player at 18:26, Wed 29 Jan 2014.

Backing away a few steps, Justin readied his clone prod, hoping it would do something, anything, if the robots arrived. He also turned on his multicorder's radar program, and quietly pushed a few extra buttons. He felt ready for a fight.

The robot says, "EVE is a divergent AI from the Computer.  EVE seeks to reunite with the Computer but operates independently from it.  The bots are approaching from the south along the road.  The stasis chambers will preserve all wetware indefinitely.  Do not resist or you may be summarily executed.  Have a nice day."

Mark says, "I'll bet you a credit we can't survive an attack by robots.  If EVE is not the Computer, we have no obligation to wait or obey.  In fact, I say if we are truly in service to the Computer, we will take this opportunity to flee so we may continue our troubleshooter activities.

He backs up the trail.  "There were two other trails to follow.  Let's retreat.  But let's make sure we do it happily.  Are you with me?

"Hee-hee," Gene says, listening to Mark.  "I'm with you.  No need activating our clones in the first 10 minutes of our mission.  We could go down a different path and see if it is not blocked.  But what does our team leader say?"  Gene gulps, afraid at what the two team leaders will say.

Copper is busy panning back and forth, zooming in and out and playing with the dozens of filters on the multicoder ... Hmmmmmm ... I think this sepia filter will make the WarBots really come through as truly threatening ... Then it hits him and he starts to walk slowly back up the trail while filming the team ... I am going to take a position a little higher up the trail to get a better view of the warbots as they arrive ... As they shred the whole team more than like it.

"Team leader?" she says, looking around thoughtfully. "We serve the Computer, not EVE. I say we find another route toward the tower. Move out!"

For the GM:

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Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
Before following the others, she looks at the robot. Does it have a camera on it? If so, she slaps a micro-cam on it.

---

Justin didn't say anything. He just turned around and led the team back up the trail towards the start.

Oh who am I kidding? Of COURSE he said something! Moving carefully but quickly up the trail, he mumbled to himself.

Vilfred's got the right of it
It's the Computer that we serve
From our purpose we may never swerve.
Put it to you: Eve's a traitor, her life we should quit
In a spirit of Troubleshooting verve.

This message was last edited by the player at 21:06, Wed 29 Jan 2014.

OOC: To answer a pressing question, yes, you all likely have laser pistols without any laser barrels.  Red Clearance troubleshooters are not entrusted with barrels, so you can just swing the pistols around until you get some barrels.  You can't actually shoot them.  (It is not treasonous for you to have the barrels; you just were not assigned them yet.)

You can have barrels taken away from you too as punishment for suspicious activity.

... Pop ! Snapp! ... Cracklelele ... POP !! ...

To remind you what the description of the robot is, here is a reposting of it:

A small robot about 3 feet tall stands in front of the door.  It has four spidery legs and an upper body roughly humanoid.  Its mouth does not move but is instead a permanent smile that lights up when it talks.

This is roughly what I had in mind, along with 4 spidery legs for mobility:



The robot itself does not appear to have any ports.  A panel on its back would open to access any interior ports, buttons, or access.  The panel is only opened with a key, which you do not have.  It is not a combat robot, but instead a typical facilitator robot that can do general functions depending on its programming.

Right now, it sees you backing up and says:  "You must wait here until EVE's robots arrive.  That is a command."  It does not move from its spot, but instead appears to watch you move away as though completely surprised that you would not wait.

The debris you had seen just past the jeep appears to be a knocked over lunch canister with some unidentifiable wrappers, some rotting food, a can of "Happy Slappy Juice" on its side, and a vial of "Flaxil Exuberance" pills to keep one happy in the service of the Computer.  There is also a human shoe.  Just one.  The left one.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:33, Wed 29 Jan 2014.

Vilfred does have a red laser barrel, so she affixes it to her laser pistol... just in case.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:34, Wed 29 Jan 2014.

Yes, some of you do have barrels, whether acquired legally (such as a team leader) or not so legally (but no one knows how you got it, so it could be legal, right?)

Johnny furiously takes notes of the proceedings, being sure to catch the exact wording of EVE.  He is unsure of this robot's true loyalty to the friend computer.  Could robots be commie's?

He scribbled that question down as well for future contemplation.

As he looked up to see Vilfred affixing a barrel to her pistol, he reviews the notes of the recent conversation as their predicament sinks in.  The trouble shooter's eyes go wide.  "Oh my." He says.

Holding his pad in his armpit and placing his pen in his mouth he gets into his pack and retrieves a barrel for his own gun.  "Whaphs a whoob eyeweewah" he says to Vilfred.

The team follows team leader Justin back up to the top of the trail to the door where you entered.

(OOC: I'm not sure if you were all doing that or not.  If you wanted to stay and wait, please put that in your next post, and we'll do a divided party.)

The trail here branches into the main road going south (that you just came from), a road to the southwest, and a road to the southeast.

Rob spies the bottle of pills and snatches them up, "We troubleshooters can never be too happy, we might be able to use these."