audio; un: finn; sometime after group 3 arrives

[hatejakku]

So, Zandr can teleport.

[ Hi, gang! Looks like Space Finn is coming in with some probably pertinent information. As usual, getting what he thinks are the big things out of the way first. ]

Actually, his ability is- [ There's a pause, then his voice sounds suspiciously like he's reading straight from something else. ] -the instantaneous transportation of matter.

[ A flump as he just drops whatever it is in front of him. ]

They think that's how he got out of Obsidian Deep. An unmarked battleship went into orbit around the prison - which is built like a space station, so not easy to leave. When they told the ship that it had no permission to land, it left, and Zandr was gone, too. They don't know how he was able to do it, since the ghost matter has a pretty heavy influence there. They also didn't bother to track the ship...

Oh, and that thing he stole? [ Rustle, clatter- ] He took it from the FNRR, the Federation's Natural Resources Research Facility. You know, that place on Deumia, the planet with the- [ Another flump and a sigh. ] -the mines. They're not saying what it is but-

[ There's another pause. He's probably gesturing with his hands and forgot you can't see. ]

The Federation's Security Department has a whole separate division dedicated just to looking for him. They think he's still in the Complex of Ndiera because he wants what he stole back. Wherever the thing is now, they're keeping it a pretty tight-lipped secret.

But if what he had was the orb-... He was captured because his ship malfunctioned and the Interstellar Ops caught up to him. Seems strange he wasn't able to get away but anything's possible, I guess.

I'll report back if I find anything else in Security, but I think Deumia and the FNRR would have more information. And if anyone has access to the register of those with special abilities, Zandr's probably on that list somewhere. Could be useful.

Comments

un: Ambus

[legalcy]

Noted. Good work, Finn.

[Odd how humans can have the same name so frequently. Minimus needs a way to distinguish the two as he interacts with them in the future.]

What do you wish to seek in his register? Would the Federation not know that he can teleport if they are looking for him?

[hatejakku]

[ Yeah, he should really consider changing his username at some point, at least... ]

I personally didn't sign up, so I'm not sure what kind of information they collect. Addresses, family, contacts- Maybe even a place of birth could give us a starting point.

But they already know what he's supposedly capable of. What they're confused about is how he got around the ghost matter, if that's even how he escaped at all.

[legalcy]

That's something even lower-ranking office workers can access, given enough time. It would break a lot of the security laws and likely land me in jail if caught, but if for the sake of the mission...

[This will hurt him more than it will hurt the Federation.]

I'll see what I can find.

[hatejakku]

[ UHHHHHHHHHH ]

It could just as easily be a dead end. Don't do it if you think you might get caught.

[legalcy]

Then I can see what I learn in jail, it's that simple.

Don't worry for me. Every missions carries a risk.

[hatejakku]

[ Dude. ]

Necessary risk. This one's not all that necessary, not right now.

text; un: romanoff

[deaddrop]

That would answer one big question, wouldn't it.

And raises several more when it comes to finding him, but that's useful in in its own way too.

[hatejakku]

I'm not sure why the Division isn't doing it, but if they think he's staying near the area for this item, it makes sense to me to build a trap. Unless that's what they are doing, and my clearance isn't high enough to check.

Either way, might be possible to build our own trap.

Stupid.
And dangerous.
But maybe possible.

[deaddrop]

We could. It's definitely something to consider since at the moment he seems like our best lead on where the orb might be.

If we go that direction, we'll want to make sure we're not just handing him over to the Federation.

[hatejakku]

We could try to do something that'll imitate the orb somehow, but if it's big enough, the Federation will fall into the trap, too. Then we'll all be in trouble.

Maybe we could slip some word about it into the black market. The Federation believes that the ship he escaped on belonged to a mercenary or bounty hunter. If we start spreading rumors about something like an orb around them, he might bite.

I'm not really confident enough to potentially get on his bad side, though.

[deaddrop]

Seems like a last ditch effort. If he already knows where the orb is, we'd risk tipping off that we're looking for him and having him flee.

The ship might still be worth following up on, though. It means Zandr was collaborating with someone outside of Obsidian Deep and either they had this planned ahead of time or they were in communication while he was in custody.

[hatejakku]

Agreed, but the Federation didn't track the ship leaving or bothered to triangulate where it came from. No identification or registration of the pilot or the ship itself, not even a picture of it. By the time they were suspicious, it was long gone.

Either they're just that lax, they were sloppy that day, or someone on the inside knew.
Probably that first one.

Might be records of comms going to and from the prison, though.

[deaddrop]

I suppose if there's no teleportation technology and they didn't think anyone could access their powers, they didn't have a reason to be suspicious.

[Not entirely convinced, honestly, but she doesn't want to assume malice when incompetence is sufficient. She's exploited more than enough holes in security herself to know it didn't always take an inside man.]

I can't say that space travel is my strong suit, but I'd think there'd have to be some kind of records. Battle ships seem like the kind of thing people keep track of.

[hatejakku]

Ports, maybe. Even criminals keep logbooks, especially when you work with mercenaries or bounty hunters. Stations and satellites nearby could route the comms. Probably all heavily encrypted but the records must exist.

[deaddrop]

If we can't find any other leads, it's a place to start.

We'll see what everyone else turns up. Could be there's something to narrow the search a little.

[bindsthedead]

And this wouldn't be the first time, or the second that the orb was found underground.

So the most plausible explanation for Zandr's escape is that he has- or had the orb, but... Does this mean the Federation has it now? Or did he hide it somewhere? In either case, our path leads to Deumia.

[But in either case, the next step is finding Zandr and talking to him.]

[hatejakku]

It's possible that he hid it, but I don't think it's likely. They didn't seem concerned about looking for it so much as keeping its location secret. Again, that could just be them not admitting things to the public.

[ Or as public as whatever Finn is right now. ]

But, agreed. And we might find Zandr there, too, if that's where he thinks the orb is most likely to be.

[bindsthedead]

True. I wonder if he still has access to his abilities, or if he lost them when he lost the orb.

[hatejakku]

I don't think he had the orb while in prison, honestly. He could have gotten access to his powers again through it, though, back when he did have it.

text | un: lion cub

[heyciri]

If he was in a contract with the orb, would it have made his ability usable, like with us?

[hatejakku]

That's my theory, yes. Otherwise, I don't know how he could have escaped the way the Federation believes.

[heyciri]

Yeah... it's something that could be done with protecting, but it sounds like only an orb contract can offer that kind of help. I think. Can technology do that kind of teleporting too?

[hatejakku]

Some here are from a place with that technology, but it doesn't seem to exist here. At least, the Federation hasn't considered technology to be a possibility from what I've found.

I suppose it's possible the tech exists and the Federation is somehow unaware while Zandr's been using it. That could explain how he was able to teleport despite the ghost matter.

[heyciri]

Not sure that them not thinking about it means it isn't real. So like you say, it seems like it should be possible. Or at least not less possible than other explanations.

What was he... I'm not remembering off the top of my head, did he ever claim a reason himself for what he did?

[hatejakku]

Nothing that I've heard. I didn't find any statements or interrogation records from him either. The Federation claimed treason and just left it at that.

Between Zandr and the Federation, I'm not sure who I trust less.

[ Surprise, it's the Federation. ]

[heyciri]

One's a big, well fed governing body that relies on the mining in this region for a good part of its funding. The other part is one guy who's fooled them at least twice.

I don't know that trusting anyone is what we need to do, so much as trusting motivations. Which we don't know for Zandr. Which we don't entirely know for the Federation.

I hope we learn more on either of those soon.