The torso had spent extra time making sure that it was on point for keeping the tower from falling. Thus it performed sub-optimally in self defence from the ravaged bots. This function report was not going to be a good one.

The head was blistering through, realising it had crossed a point of no return, it was save or scrap, no going back. So it carried on, realising the lack of backup.

"We may have a problem with my cranial unit." CID said as some sort of muffled boom occured in some distance. "I will try to convey all I come across, but it maybe compromised if they know the drone is linked to more than just a monitor."

CID's head, having made it past the explosion, again moves up behind the two men.

They hurry down several flights' worth of stairs...

Then they take a passage away from the stairs (although they go down farther), and come to a door on their left. They slow down and stop. and CID's head does the same, just within earshot, hovering behind a large vertical pipe.

"This is it," says one man. They start covering their jumpsuits with medium-gray hazmat suits, as if they're going to go work around radioactive material or toxic gases or something. "You ready?" The other man nods. "If anyone asks what we're doing coming through this door, say that we thought we heard a strange noise... like an explosion in the distance, but we looked around in here and didn't find anything unusual... But if we're lucky, no one will notice us anyway... Okay, let's do it..."

They're getting ready to go through the door... Presuming they close it behind them... can CID's head open it again by himself...?

Flash stood, and took in the scene for a moment.
Then, turning to the crowd in general, he called, “It’s all good, folks.  Danger Patrol has this matter well in hand.
Go about your business ... but stay off that ZipWay until engineers get her to fix that pylon”.

Turning to CID, he said more quietly, “Ok. I know you’ve got a bit A HEAD of yourself, so let’s go catch up with your cranial unit, eh!”.
And he headed for the sinkhole.

The torso lifted a hand. "Flash, wait. There was an explosion several minutes ago. There is at least 37% chance of a maintainance tunnel collapse." The spy announced as he then went stiff and focused on in the tunnels.

Back down there, there was only one chance for the head to fit through the door. It would have to time this right.

Agile
22:37, Today: Covert Infiltration Droid 3000 rolled 9 using 2d6+2 ((5,2)).
This message was last edited by the player at 23:30, Wed 21 Aug 2019.

The two men passed through the door... Then it was closing...

CID('s head) made it! He was now in a large underground tunnel, with a forty-foot ceiling that fell away to each side.


(In other words, a tunnel in this shape:  D

But with the flat part on the bottom.)

The tunnel was dimly lit by a light every hundred feet or so... there was no way to see either end.


...But the men spotted him!

"What th' tanj is that?!" one said.

"--It's a spy drone or somethi-- No! It's the head of that robo Danger Patrol agent! Blast it!"

The men pulled ray guns from pockets, and aimed at CID's head, and pulled the triggers...

(Agile roll to dodge... You'll get an extra +1 to dodge if you retreat (but will you head left or right down the tunnel?)

Or will you do something else...?

---

Meanwhile, Cid's body and Flash Bang find the section of the collapsed tunnel that's blocked where the explosive went off...

“Well, I guess we start digging, or find another way around”, Flash said to CID.

He looked around to spy any nearby doorways or passages ... or access panels that maintainence crews might use to log reports, access blueprints and data, and manipulate electrical systems.

Agile
13:07, Today: Covert Infiltration Droid 3000 rolled 10 using 2d6+2 ((4,4)).

The Head drone shifted to the left path, to avoid a blanket of fire from the pair of hostiles.

The two men miss, but they keep firing, and CID's head is forced to hurry down the tunnel, and soon they are out of sight and earshot...

There is a vertical shaft that's big enough for him, and which leads upwards... Does CID's head take it, to try to get back to Flash-Bang and his body...?

---

Flash-Bang finds an access panel...

(One of you say what you want to attempt to do with the access panel, and then roll Insightful...)

Or ... I tell what I want CID to do with the access panel, and  HE makes an insight roll

“CID, old buddy, see if you can talk to their systems, and get us a floor plan of this place ... and find out if there’s any alarms or need that can tell us where ‘something unusual is happening’, eh.
I’m going to take a look around for a door out of this place”
                - rolled 3 using 2d6.  Insight.     :-p    :-p

Flash Bang looks around for a door out of the corridor... he not only finds nothing like that, he may have discovered a new form of alien fungus growing in a patch on the wall that befouls his olfactory senses... UGH. It'll take a little while to get that stench out of his memory...

(Flash Bang gets 1 new XP but takes -1 forward on his next roll)

The head of CID tries to retreat back to his body, hoping the explosion didn't actually cause a cave in.

***

Meanwhile, back at the body body. CID can see the logic of Flash Bangs suggestion. <Grey>"I agree with your plan of action. Accessing..."<grey>
CID initializes connection to the Electro-Net Interface, attempting to access a floor plan.

Inight
17:17, Today: Covert Infiltration Droid 3000 rolled 13 using 2d6+1 ((6,6)).

CID's use of the access panel is extremely successful, at least for this section of the maintenance tunnels. In fact, he is able to figure out that if he and Flash-Bang backtrack a few dozen yards and go down through a trap door and then head southwest for just a little while, it'll be easy to meet back up with where CID's head will be soon.

(I presume y'all do this...?)

Presume correct for me.

Flash gave CID a hearty slap on the back and a “Awesome work, CID”.

His antennae were still twitching from the nauseous, noxious scent that’d got into them; and it was making his head a little groggy.
But now that a plan (and path) of action was sorted, Flash leapt into action
... headed for that trapdoor, and down onto the next tunnel.



Presume away, friend GMski.
You know what they say about ‘Presume’: it makes and ass out of ...   um, no.    Anyway, onward ho.

(Well, I'll get you started...)

A while later, Flash-Bang and CID were...

   ... standing again in one of the crowded merchant byways of Mercury's underground metropolis.

Through a mouthful of Little Dog* he sighed, and said to his intrepid companion, "Well, what do we do now?"

He was glad that CID had his head back; it made talking to the metal man much easier.
Of course, Flash had the instinct to go after the cultists that they'd just lost in the tunnels ... but he remembered that such was not their mission here on Mercury.  They were tasked with discovering, and bringing to justice, the terrorists that had perpetrated the bombing of the Venusian Games.
He could only hope that, eventually, the two ended up being the same organisation.

"I've got some contacts in these warrens, from years ago.   Maybe I should try and find them.
They might have some useful intel".
He was feeling revitalised by the Dog and the moment of rest.





* totted as a 'Mercurial Treat to Span the System for', the Little Dog was a local delicacy** that had very little to do with 'little' or 'dog' (although it did contain some unknown meat source, so dog really shouldn't be ruled out).

** and by 'local delicacy', it should be noted that most nobody from any place other than Mercury could stomach the strange miasma of ingrediants.

CID was optimizing his time, checking his tour guide databases for efficiency, making head and torso units realign in system updates and general diagnostics. All in the time Flash Bang informed
CID was sure that his companion knew what he was checking up on, but CID wanted to ask and check anyway. "Are you sure that will be helpful? Time has an interesting effect on organic life forms."

CID did have numerous files on the goings on within the Solar System, it was a part of his design to have that sort of intel. But in reality, some things slip through the cracks, which meant he had to be sure to gather that further intel himself.

"Only one way to know", Flash responded, flashing a smile.

He'd finished his Little Dog, and the can of Solar Cola had washed it down just right.
"You ready to go?"

"79% Completion of update." CID answered. "My model has been only recently introduced to Danger Patrol, so as you might say, there is a lot riding on my performance." CID pointed out to Flash Bang. With a blip, the update was complete and CID answered with a nod.

Part 3: SUSPENSE!

Who is the Flame Witch?
Why have her followers done what they have done so far?
Where are she and/or her followers located when they are not causing terror?
What was, and is, the Silver Plague?
How did the Flame Witch's followers bring back the Silver Plague?

Not having an answer to each these questions is a threat to the Danger Patrol and to life as the solar system knows it!

It's time for our two Danger Patrol agents to find out all the answers they can get: fast!

---

Questions are what you “fight” in a Suspense scene (similar to how you fought threats in the action scene).

Unlike the first action scene, the PCs don’t have to be together. CID may be in a lab studying some sort of evidence while Flash-Bang could go somewhere to talk to some sort of expert on something. Or they could stick together! Whatever!

The GM will frame each question with a location and brief description before the Suspense scene starts.

---

Who is the Flame Witch?

Location: The Mercury History Museum
Brief description: A building carved into the middle of a huge cavern stalagmite

Why have her followers done what they have done so far?

Location: The local Danger Patrol headquarters
Brief description: An office building, but with better security than a bank

Where are she and/or her followers located when they are not causing terror?

Location: That tunnel where they shot at CID's head
Brief description: A big tunnel in the shape of a tube cut in half lengthwise, with the flat part on the bottom

What was, and is, the Silver Plague?

Location: The Memory Bank, a robot bar
Brief description: An old refurbished (but not very refurbished) factory where robots hang out when they're not at work

How did the Flame Witch's followers bring back the Silver Plague?

Location: The Mercury Institute of Technology
Brief description: The best local university for science-major types


You might have better results together, but you'll cover more ground faster if you split up! And you've got no time to lose!

---

Players should feel free to offer suggestions and say how their heroes get involved in the investigation (very possibly following up on anything they talked about during the Interlude).

You “fight” a question by performing investigation actions. You do "damage" to the question until it’s defeated, just like a threat during an action scene. When and if a question is defeated, it’s answered definitively by the GM, the player who defeated it, or some combination (with input from the other players as needed).

New Threats may be spawned during the Suspense scene, but that's okay-- you'll deal with them in your next action scene!

“ Some old pals of mine work at the Institute of Technology here”, Flash said, thoughtfully, “I think I’ll head down there and see what they can tell me about this ‘Flame Witch’ and this ‘Silver Plague’.

Why don’t you access the Patrol’s database back at headquarters, see if you can figure out hat these crackpots have been up to?”, he suggested, “and where they’re at”.

“Just be careful, eh!   We don’t want you coming down with the Plague.  You remember what happened when you got the virus last month”, he jestered, referring to CID’s computer systems.

"A translation of Pluto Quartz Binary was needed for the job. Those chips becoming contaminated with organic life is prone to 'glitches'." CID repeated with the exact same tone that was used and abused over said month. A feat which would show exhaustion coming from anything besides a robot.
CID tried to put any part of mistakes besides the constructive behind him. Never mind the part where Danger Patrol HQ witnessed the incident of CID "doing the robot"...

"But you're quite right, I would be quicker with the databases. Plan of action is efficient and therefore approved." CID agreed.

CID's Suspense Scene 1:

Why have her followers done what they have done so far?

Location: The local Danger Patrol headquarters-- an office building, but with better security than a bank

CID uses his Danger Patrol badge to enter the local headquarters, and after a few test to prove it's really him, he's free to move around the building. There's an receptionist, and various agents are walking around quickly here and there...

---

Flash-Bang's Suspense Scene 1:

How did the Flame Witch's followers bring back the Silver Plague?

Location: The Mercury Institute of Technology, the best local university for science-major types

Flash-Bang's Danger Patrol Badge easily gets him access to wherever he wants to go on the underground campus of the Mercury Institute of Technology...
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:32, Tue 10 Sept 2019.

Inside, Flash quickly met up with some alien allies: a couple of egghead buddies that he was friends with back in college.
They were fans, too, and Flash had kept in contact with them over the years.
     (after all, you don’t get so blind drunk with guys like this, and go absailing naked, unless your friendship is solid, right!)
He’d already made plans with them o catch up while he was on Mercury, anyway ... this situation just sped things up a bit.

Over a corvessian brew, he told them what had happened, and asked them about this ‘Silver Plague’; “What was it? And what’s with these dudes trying to ‘bring it back’ already?”


- rolled 13 using 2d6+1.  Insight or Charm; using Alien Allies.
PERFECT ROLL.   The dice roller wants Flash to find out about this shite.   :-p

Flash-Bang is told that:
--The Silver Plague was a big problem for robots of all kinds
--It was, thankfully, confined to Mercury
--It wasn't exactly cured so much as it "burned itself out" after a while...

(I will let you tell ME 0 to 3 more things about the Silver Plague, and then I will tell you 1 to 3 more things...)