Avery/GM: Welcome to the 50th episode of beyond the furthest stars. I can't believe that we've already made 50 episodes of this, and we still have at least 10 more sessions left in this first season. Uh, before we wrap up, I'm so proud of all of the players, all of the cast members, all of the friends that I have made in producing this show over the past couple of years. I think we've really made something special here and I'm just so proud of each one of them. And couldn't ask for a better crew to make this show with. So enjoy our 50th episode.

(intro music plays, fades down. Ambience fades in)

Avery/GM: So you're kind of floating here in the aftermath, Bruce, you come up from the cargo space after having checked on the, uh, independent contractors that were down there

Zach/Zahn: right after Zahn and Polaris' like heartfelt conversation.

Avery/GM: Bruce, you come up and you see on the display screen, just kind of some fiery debris fizzling out and yeah, y'all are here on the bridge of the ship.

Bee/Polaris: Yeah. Polaris probably is like going beelining to pilot seat so that we can get onto the Ursa Major cause his parents presumably blew up.

Avery/GM: Sure. Anyone else doing anything?

Zach/Zahn: Zahn is gonna go to the med bay.

Bee/Polaris: Oh yeah. Oops.

Zach/Zahn: To get a sling. for this, uh, very busted arm.

Jenine/Marty: Marty will follow.

Avery/GM: Sure. Zahn, you rummage around the med bay of the TSKAM and you find just a very rudimentary, uh, sling, requires two hands to put it on. Uh, you turn around and Marty is there ready to help.

Jenine/Marty: Hi.

Zach/Zahn: And Zahn's just like, he's like pulling it out of a drawer as, as he turns around and Marty's right there. He's like, can you help me put this on?

Jenine/Marty: Of course. Obviously. Marty helps.

Zach/Zahn: And he's like wincing and like making faces. The entire time.

Avery/GM: Zahn's not used to having his bones broken.

Zach/Zahn: No, he is just used to permanent back pain. .

Bee/Polaris: Well now you have a new pain courtesy of a friend.

Jenine/Marty: Oh my God. .

Avery/GM: It's the gift that keeps on giving

Bee/Polaris: I mean, hopefully not, hopefully it heals properly.

Avery/GM: Yeah, right. Um, okay. Uh, you Polaris pilot the ship into the Ursa majors docking Bay.

Bee/Polaris: Oh, I totally forgot about all the people that are in the, uh, we should probably give those guys to the oracles or actually can we, uh, Polaris is not on comms. Can Polaris contact the oracles from his helmet?

Avery/GM: You can pat, you can, you've been able to patch through the comms so sure.

Bee/Polaris: Sweet. Okay. Polaris is going to call up the oracles.

Avery/GM: Sure. (hums melody from “Girl from Ipanema”) Hello? This is the oracles. How can I? No, kidding. Kidding.

Bee/Polaris: You have reached Oracle customer service.

Caden/Bruce: Press one to speak to a representative.

Zach/Zahn: Inbox full.

Bee/Polaris: Just like the Oracles.

Avery/GM: You have reached a caller who has not set up their voicemail yet. Please try again later.

Bee/Polaris: Yeah, sounds right.

Avery/GM: Uh, in all seriousness, you do reach, uh, Lazuli, um, who is just like, uh, Agent Lazuli, which one of you is this?

Bee/Polaris: Polaris.

Avery/GM: Oh, hello, Polaris. I'm so glad you survived. How can Can I help you?

Bee/Polaris: Uh, we liberated some contractors from the Hegemony ship and they might need employment. Can we like transfer them to your ship or take them to planetside or?

Avery/GM: I can, I can send a shuttle up to you, um, here in a bit, if you would like. We're kind of busy, you know, taking care of the whole, making sure the planet doesn't explode once Ollie leaves.

Bee/Polaris: Yeah. You're welcome by the way.

Avery/GM: Uh, yeah, thank you. Um, you, uh, you all did a great job.

Bee/Polaris: I'll pass that on to Ollie. Polaris literally just turns around. Hey, Ollie.

Zach/Zahn: Good job.

Avery/GM: No, no, no, no. It's Ollie. Who's a good boy.

Bee/Polaris: Yeah.

Chris/Ollie: Well, Ollie's taken up the, um, the comms command chair.

Bee/Polaris: Oh, sweet. So he's just sitting in the chair, just like tail wagging.

Chris/Ollie: Sitting up with the, in his dog pose. And as you call his name, he looks over to you and just tail wags from in the chair.

Avery/GM: Okay.

Bee/Polaris: When Ollie looks over, Polaris just says, Good boy. Lazuli says, Good boy. And Polaris is saying that, while the console Lazuli is on, so Lazuli knows what he says.

Chris/Ollie: He responds by saying, Please relay to Lazuli, that I am incredibly gratified by this. But his body language is just like wiggling his ass, his tail is, uh, wagging so hard.

Bee/Polaris: Polaris is taking a video. Like, he's been taking a video since the moment he called Ollie, and then what he said, and he's sending it to Luzuli.

Avery/GM: Perfect. Luzuli's like, um, yeah, so, uh, please, um, just, uh, you know, if you want to wait, we can send a shuttle up probably here in a few hours.

Bee/Polaris: Sure. Oh, uh, okay, sure. I, uh, I just don't think it's If my parents are still alive, they still don't like organic beings, so Having a bunch of random strangers on the Ursa Major

Avery/GM: Oh! Just knock them out with nerve gas and make them stay on your ship.

Bee/Polaris: Dot Dot Dot!

Avery/GM: Bruce should still have some of our supplies.

Bee/Polaris: Are you joking? Is this a joke?

Avery/GM: No, not at all. That's the most efficient way We were actually planning on knocking out a lot of you with nerve gas if, if the time came that we needed to.

Bee/Polaris: Unfortunately for you, I weren't. Helmet. And my parents have already tried that. The helmet filters out nerve gas. So, yeah.

Avery/GM: I see.

Bee/Polaris: Yeah. Also, kind of rude.

Chris/Ollie: Ollie will also mentioned, Polaris, please do not relay our weaknesses and strengths to our, and to potential adversaries.

Bee/Polaris: Polaris turns to Ollie while the comms are still on so Lazuli can't hear. I mean, aren't they like, omniscient or omnipotent or omnipresent? Don't they already know? Except for that one time that they didn't know.

Chris/Ollie: And their actions, thus far, have proven that to not be true.

Avery/GM: Some of us have precognition abilities, but that's neither here nor there. That's, that's not, I'm just saying that sometimes, you know, for the good of the galaxy, sometimes we have to knock people out. We don't kill them. We just, you know, knock them out. They wake up someplace else.

Bee/Polaris: Have you tried to ask them them nicely.

Avery/GM: Oh, of course. Polaris, we always ask nicely first.

Bee/Polaris: Oh, okay. Wait, ask nicely to apply the nerve gas or ask nicely to move them.

Avery/GM: Yes.

Bee/Polaris: Okay. , please don't nerve gas me

Avery/GM: noted

Bee/Polaris: or my friends.

Avery/GM: I I have noted that in our file.

Bee/Polaris: Thank you. And I will note that in our files as well.

Zach/Zahn: for potential lawsuit. Future

Avery/GM: If I get nerve gassed, I'm suing you

Zach/Zahn: I swear to god!

Bee/Polaris: Um, I'll just ask them nicely to stay on this ship. Um, maybe Bruce can bring them snacks. So they can just relax while they wait for transport. Alright, that was all. Polaris kind of turns over to Ollie and Bruce and anyone else that's on the bridge and says, Does anyone else want to say anything to the Oracles before I hang up?

Zach/Zahn: So Zahn's not there, but me and Zach am forgetting. What did the Oracles promise us for compensation?

Bee/Polaris: Not getting murdered. I mean, aside from that.

Avery/GM: So the oracles didn't promise you anything. Avi promised you money.

Bee/Polaris: Yeah, we get money.

Avery/GM: For helping, for helping their cousin.

Bee/Polaris: Yeah. Also, Zahn isn't in the bridge, but the medical bay isn't too far from the bridge in the TSKAM.

Avery/GM: Oh, yeah.

Bee/Polaris: Because TSKAM's a pretty small ship. So you can probably hear this.

Zach/Zahn: Oh, yeah. So then, yeah, he'll go ahead and chime in. Just be like, uh, when, when are we to expect our compensation?

Bee/Polaris: Oh, right. Uh, your sibling, uh, promised us compensation. Should we contact them or?

Avery/GM: Oh yeah, I would contact them. That would probably be best. Uh,

Bee/Polaris: alright, well Polaris will turn to the rest of the crew. Anything else?

Caden/Bruce: Bruce will shake his head

Zach/Zahn: Zahn shrugs and then winces 'cause he like moved.

Bee/Polaris: Polaris will just like. Okay. Well I think that's all. If we needed anything else, we will contact you later.

Avery/GM: Sounds great. Thank you again for all your help. That really was unexpected, but great and helpful and very good.

Bee/Polaris: Glad to be of help, especially when we're getting paid and then hangs up.

Jenine/Marty: Fair!

Avery/GM: Okay. And you are still flying towards the Ursa?

Bee/Polaris: Yeah. Oh, is Hermes in the ship? Oh yeah. Polaris will tell Hermes to dock at the Ursa and he's gonna go down to the cargo bay where all the other peoples are.

Avery/GM: Sure. Hermes sends you a little voice chat that just says, Polaris, I understand you are hesitant about parking on the Ursa. Do not worry if anyone comes off this ship who is not allowed. I will blast them.

Jenine/Marty: Oh,

Bee/Polaris: no.

Avery/GM: And then there's like a gun cocking noise.

Bee/Polaris: As soon as he started talking, I already knew where he was going with that. Polaris, Polaris just sends a thumbs up. He doesn't deter it. He just sends a thumbs up. Uh, and he goes down to the cargo bay.

Avery/GM: Yeah. So you've got Jasper down here. You've got Nagani down here. Got that kind of like surfer bro guy. Like, Hey, Yeah, I was like working on the engines and stuff.

Zach/Zahn: Great.

Avery/GM: Great. Thanks. That really sounds awesome.

Bee/Polaris: At least he's not the hotel concierge guy. Okay. Yeah. Polaris we'll go down to the, to the other meat boys

Avery/GM: And, uh, Jasper, uh, sees you and kind of waves at you and is just like, yeah, so what, what's going on? Bruce was down here kind of telling us that stuff broke pretty bad out there with the Argo and everything. I guess we're all kind of jobless now.

Bee/Polaris: Yeah, we have, um, some friends coming to pick you up and bring you planetside, maybe help with employment opportunities and whatnot. Um, I just came down here to say until they arrive, you might want to stay on this ship. Uh, I'm gonna ask Bruce about some snacks for you guys and everything, um, but best not to step off this ship into the ship that we are docking in because if my parents are still alive, they will kill you. Smiley face on the visor.

Avery/GM: Jasper's like, uh, okay. Okay. That's so are we like prisoners?

Bee/Polaris: No, no, no, no, no, no. Sorry. No, you're, you're not prisoners. My parents just hate organic beings.

Avery/GM: But you're, I'm not going to dig too far into that. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. We'll, we'll all stay on the, on the ship. Right, right, everybody? And you hear just kind of like murmuring, like agreements of like, yeah, I don't want to die. And yeah, please go ahead and roll a dexterity notice check.

Bee/Polaris: Oh, okay. Oh gosh.

Avery/GM: Is anyone else down here with Polaris?

Caden/Bruce: No, but Polaris does notice that the majority of people are, are like either eating soup or have like an empty soup bowl because Bruce already made them food.

Bee/Polaris: Oh, okay. Excellent. Okay. Dexterity notice?

Avery/GM: Yes.

Bee/Polaris: Oh, I have one of that. Okay. Oh, okay. Dexterity notice that's plus two 10.

Avery/GM: You notice some movement in the shadows around some of the boxes.

Bee/Polaris: Polaris has Colon-D (:D) on the visor and runs over to them 'cause he knows it's his friend. His friend that he let or at least he hopes so.

Avery/GM: Yeah, you get closer to it. And yeah, there is this shadow, uh, creature kind of just not purposefully lurking, but, you know, could be mistaken for lurking.

Bee/Polaris: Yeah.

Chris/Ollie: Just chilling in the shadows.

Bee/Polaris: Yeah, as we do.

Avery/GM: She says, Your ship has made for a very pleasant place to wait out the battle. Thank you.

Bee/Polaris: Yeah, no problem. Glad to see you're here.

Avery/GM: Yes, I thought at first I would escape with one of the hegemony shuttles, but it turns out They were all in use. Very unfortunate, but I'm glad that there was still at least one ship available to me. Thank you.

Bee/Polaris: Of course, you know, you could have asked right? We, we would've just let you on.

Avery/GM: I see. Well, thank you again for your kindness.

Bee/Polaris: Thumbs up.

Avery/GM: Does your prohibition on entering the ship apply to me as well?

Bee/Polaris: Uh, you're not really. Flares kind of like tries to see if they're like, are they made of meat? ?

Avery/GM: We are not organic.

Bee/Polaris: Oh, no. I don't think you're good. Well, actually,

Avery/GM: do you try and touch, do you try and touch her?

Bee/Polaris: Uh, Polaris will ask first.

Avery/GM: She holds out her hand to you to like, shake.

Bee/Polaris: Yeah.

Avery/GM: And your hand just passes through.

Bee/Polaris: Sparkly eyes on the visor. That's so cool. You're a ghost. Yeah, I mean, it's kind of hard to murder a shadow, so I think this one counts. I think they're good. I think they're good.

Avery/GM: Thank you I will not touch anything, but I, I would like to get out of this crowded space.

Bee/Polaris: Sure.

Avery/GM: And, uh, you see this little shadow suddenly dart across the floor and then out of your ship.

Bee/Polaris: Yep. Cool. Polaris just kind of like turns to everyone else that was probably watching and just kind of shrugs.

Avery/GM: You hear some like murmured like, Oh man, I wish I was a shadow creature.

Bee/Polaris: Me too. I'm sorry.

Avery/GM: Anyway, anyway, um, you are here on the Ursa Major, who's all heading onto the ship and who's staying behind.

Caden/Bruce: Bruce will follow.

Jenine/Marty: Marty will stay and watch our friends on board. Marty seems like the most wholesome being to calm nerves.

Avery/GM: Okay.

Bee/Polaris: Oh yeah. Polaris will put in chat that, um, Hermes has promised that if anyone leave, if any of them leave the ship, they will be shot with the ship guns.

Zach/Zahn: Zahn is going to like grab a handful of his, it's one of those, like all of his stuff as well. Already on him at all times anyways, but like his like random crap in the workshop and he's going to like walk off of the TSKAM and go towards the, uh, uh, crap, the, the, uh, the work, the factory. That's it.

Chris/Ollie: Um, Ollie's going to hit the engineering bay in the TSKAM and start repairing himself.

Bee/Polaris: Oh, right. Oh, do you mean the URSA?

Chris/Ollie: I don't know.

Bee/Polaris: The engineering.

Chris/Ollie: Actually, I guess the URSA probably would be better in terms of spare parts because I don't need any organic pieces, so sure. I'll go for the Ursus, uh, machine bear.

Avery/GM: Okay. So, aside from Marty, all, the, the four of you that come off the ship, uh, you are greeted by a little tin can robot, um, that looks remarkably like DIEF, but is not DIEF.

Bee/Polaris: Wait, is this the one that was in the, the smuggler's hold?

Avery/GM: Yes.

Bee/Polaris: Polaris blinks.

Avery/GM: Is it the same proportion?

Bee/Polaris: No, it was bigger, I think.

Avery/GM: Yeah, it was slightly bigger. And it says, Greetings, Polaris. I have been programmed to guide you to where you need to go. Please, follow me.

Bee/Polaris: Polaris nervously follows.

Jenine/Marty: That's a little sus.

Bee/Polaris: Not off to a great start.

Avery/GM: So, Ollie, you're still going to the engineering bay? Or to the, to the repair place?

Chris/Ollie: Yep.

Avery/GM: Okay, Zahn, you're going to the factory.

Zach/Zahn: Yep.

Avery/GM: Uh, Bruce, where are you headed?

Caden/Bruce: If I notice what Polaris is doing, I would like to follow from like a respectful distance.

Avery/GM: Sure, okay, cool.

Bee/Polaris: If Polaris notices Bruce following behind, he'll like stop and wait, and then he'll like, with one hand, like hold on to Bruce's chef sleeve as he walks, because he's kind of scared, because he doesn't know if his parents actually like blew themselves up or not.

Avery/GM: Do you have any questions while you're walking with this robot? Do you have any questions for it? Or are you just going to wait and find out?

Bee/Polaris: On one hand, Polaris is scared. It kind of just wants to get to where they're going to see what's up before asking any questions. So yeah, he's just going to silently follow.

Caden/Bruce: Bruce will ask, Bruce will be like, uh, so, um, where are we heading little robot friend?

Avery/GM: Oh, we are heading to Alioth's lab. It stated that should it ever explode, I should take Polaris straight to the lab for answers. And there's a big like thumbs up from the robot. Polaris grip tightens.

Caden/Bruce: Will we be in danger?

Avery/GM: Not any more danger than you already are by living in organic shells.

Bee/Polaris: I mean, kind of got us there. Polaris doesn't say that.

Polaris is currently silently fearful.

Jenine/Marty: That's valid.

Avery/GM: The little robot leads you in here. And you see a projection of Alioth in the center of the room, and it says,

Alioth: Ah, Polaris, you have finally come back. I am relieved that you did not die.

Bee/Polaris: Is this prerecorded?

Alioth: No.

Bee/Polaris: Oh, okay. So, what, wha okay, so you're not dead. Great, good, good.

Alioth: That is correct. I am not dead. Atlas designation Mirak and Paladin designation Bear are also within safe operational parameters.

Bee/Polaris: Okay.

Alioth: However, the bodies we used to interface with the world have been destroyed if all has gone according to plan.

Bee/Polaris: Yeah.

Alioth: Excellent. I see my calculations were correct. Please thank Ollie for the idea to engage in self destruction.. It was an interesting experience. I will need to log this for future study.

Bee/Polaris: Polaris, texts Ollie,, Alioth says good boy.

Alioth: Until we have rebuilt our temporary shells, we will be limited in our ability to support you. In order to preserve our vast intelligence, we temporarily uploaded ourselves into the ship. Paladin, designation Bear is currently handling the ship's weapons. Atlas, designation Merak, is currently handling navigation. Of course I decided to upload myself to the safest place on the ship, my lab.

Bee/Polaris: Okay. Out of curiosity, why don't you have backup bodies? Ollie does?

Alioth: We had used those shells for over 300 years. It seemed illogical to devote extra resources to create extra shells for us to occupy.

Bee/Polaris: Makes sense.

Chris/Ollie: Big true.

Alioth: I now see that that reasoning was flawed. Now, I believe you had questions about our actions back in the Milky Way Galaxy, correct?

Bee/Polaris: Yeah, I didn't know it was a weapons research station. I was told it was like a civilian planet.

Alioth: Ah, yes. I had calculated the probability of the Pan Solar Union engaging in that type of propaganda to 95%. I had not calculated the possibility of you encountering that propaganda.

Bee/Polaris: Well, I mean, when we, you know, when we met Rho, Rho, Rho was the one that kind of Put those pieces together. Also, you were very vague about, uh, like blowing up the planet. You never specified that it was a military weapons research base.

Alioth: You are correct. I shall be more forthcoming in the future.

Bee/Polaris: Just for future reference. Destroying a, a weapons research base is significantly better than destroying a planet of mill, you know, millions of innocent people.

Alioth: I see. So taking some life in order to save more life is acceptable.

Bee/Polaris: Yeah.

Alioth: Noted.

Bee/Polaris: Bruce is here, by the way.

Caden/Bruce: Yeah, Bruce is just listening to this conversation go down, just with his head slightly tilted. He's not gonna interject, though.

Bee/Polaris: Okay.

Alioth: I have compiled a list of parts we will need in order to rebuild the ship's internal factory. It should be capable of creating new shells for us to use. In the meantime, this.

Avery/GM: And, like, you see the hologram, like, sigh heavily.

Alioth: This little robot will provide you with anything you may need. Just please shut it down when we are done with this situation.

Bee/Polaris: Why is it annoying to you? It is also a robot.

Alioth: Yes, but it has far too much... personality.

Avery/GM: And the robot turns to you and says, Alioth has not liked that I am very friendly and a people pleaser.

Bee/Polaris: Polaris pats the robot on the top of his tin can.

Avery/GM: Oh, thank you. May I return to my sorting duties now?

Bee/Polaris: Uh, sure.

Avery/GM: Excellent. And you see it speed off towards the smuggler's hold. So Alioth is just like,

Alioth: You are far too friendly with robots. But I suppose that is to be expected due to the influence we have had on you.

Bee/Polaris: By metrics, I am far too friendly to everyone, by your metrics.

Alioth: Yes, that is true.

Zach/Zahn: Also yes.

Alioth: My scans detect a large group of organics in the hangar bay.

Bee/Polaris: Yeah, but they're on the TSKAM, so they're not on the ship. So you can't kill them.

Zach/Zahn: They're on their ship in the ship.

Bee/Polaris: I explicitly told them not to leave the ship, so you can't kill them. 'cause they're not in the ship.

Alioth: Is it your intention to befriend this group of organics as well?

Bee/Polaris: Mm. I mean, I already kind of have, but they're being moved elsewhere. Unless you intend on dealing with more organic beings and also paying them.

Alioth: I have absolutely no intention of doing any of that

Bee/Polaris: exactly

Alioth: very well. Then I shall return to my work. Please feel free to visit if you have further questions.

Bee/Polaris: I mean, I can presumably also send messages from my helmet. Correct.

Alioth: Of course.

Bee/Polaris: Polaris nods.

Alioth: Thank you for coming home, Polaris.

Bee/Polaris: I always would have come home.

Alioth: I am relieved that I have not permanently damaged our relationship as parental unit and child.

Bee/Polaris: Smile on the visor.

Avery/GM: Bruce, do you have anything that you want to say or?

Caden/Bruce: Hmm. I don't think Bruce would. Bruce doesn't want to interrupt. I think however, he'd like move his tail to kind of like Polaris's shoulder and like a comforting manner.

Avery/GM: Let's go over to Zahn. You're heading to the factory, Zahn?

Zach/Zahn: Yup.

Avery/GM: Oh, the factory is actually right outside Alioth's lab.

Bee/Polaris: So I guess you guys could have presumably heard this if the door was open.

Avery/GM: I'll leave that up to you if you want to have left the door open or not.

Bee/Polaris: I mean, who else would be on the ship that, you know, Bruce is here, why not? Door's open.

Avery/GM: Sure. Okay. Excellent. Um, so Zahn, you're here in the factory. It's just the same as when you left it. Bunch of busted machinery. Um, what's the, what's the plan?

Zach/Zahn: So Zahn is entering like disassociative mode where it's like a lot of shit has happened in a very short period and it hasn't quite set in yet. So he's like, just going to set himself to work kind of thing. He's like, hmm. I know this is all busted so he's basically gonna start off with diagnostics and then he's gonna like Inventory what scrap he has to work with and then just kind of proceed down a list from there.

Avery/GM: Sure. Go ahead and roll a Intelligence fix check.

Bee/Polaris: Roll both see which rolls the highest and then roll the lowest one.

Zach/Zahn: All right, that still works out intelligence fix So that is plus four, and I rolled ten, so fourteen.

Avery/GM: Yeah, so you find that basically the biggest problem is just that, see, you might not have realized it before when you looked at these machines, but when you're looking at them now you're realizing that. These are all old Terra machines, right? So like, so you're kind of realizing like, Oh, this is just like back home on new Terra.

Bee/Polaris: Oh, I bet that's real good for the trauma.

Zach/Zahn: Oh yeah. With the dissociation, it just floods right in.

Avery/GM: Yeah. And, um, so you realize that like part of the reason this stuff has fallen apart is that there's, you know, aside from the custodians who really just haven't been interested in fixing this stuff, like there also wouldn't really be anyone else in this galaxy that would really know how to fix this stuff.

Zach/Zahn: Outside of New Terrans.

Avery/GM: Exactly. So you are able to pretty quickly start piecing together what needs to be fixed. A lot of it is electronic related, like just like old circuit boards and other stuff like, you know, wiring that needs to be fixed and, you know, some new, uh, some updated programming, uh, patches need to be written.

Realistically, outside of how long it would take to gather supplies, you gather that it would probably take two weeks to fully bring this, uh, factory back into operation

Zach/Zahn: and then double that. Cause I'm doing it with one arm,

Avery/GM: but you also have, you also potentially

Zach/Zahn: do have like Ollie to help out .

Avery/GM: Yeah.

Zach/Zahn: DIEF and Ollie yeah.

Avery/GM: So, uh, two weeks. Two weeks by yourself, one hand one handed. Um, probably with all that other help, probably ten days, maybe nine if you really pushed it.

Chris/Ollie: Like, we have all the parts we need for it here, it's just labor, right?

Avery/GM: No, there there are some some actual parts that are gonna need be needed.

Bee/Polaris: Yeah, Polaris was given the shopping list, which he will bring to others as soon as he can.

Avery/GM: Yeah, there are there are some Some specialty parts that are needed specifically to create the bodies that Alioth, Merak, and Bear want to create. So, and then, of course, like, I don't know if you have just extra wires laying around. Pretty sure you used most of that to fix your stuff after the EMP blast.

Zach/Zahn: My own stuff. And then I think I did some fixing for Ollie too, right?

Bee/Polaris: Yeah. Ollie's body.

Zach/Zahn: Yeah. To get his, uh, little dog body, body up and running.

Bee/Polaris: His dog body was fine. It was already up and running. It's just his actual, like normal Ollie body.

Zach/Zahn: Oh, that one was completely like all wire fried. I think we just have the husk of that one somewhere.

Bee/Polaris: Did we ever, did we ever get those robots back from like coil that we stole?

Avery/GM: Oh yeah, all those robots are on, they're on the TSKAM. They're in the smuggler's hold of the TSKAM. That's, that's where Machamp put them.

Bee/Polaris: Oh right, Polaris will probably tell the not DIEF, DIEF's older sibling.

Zach/Zahn: Right, you found, you found DIEF on the um, on the Cassiopeia. So we haven't left the system yet. The Cassiopeia is still floating around at the edge of the system, right?

Bee/Polaris: Yeah, because we took the TSKAM. Yeah. So we have the Cassiopeia and everything's all within reach now.

Avery/GM: Zahn, yeah, you do. Like as much as you're trying to kind of dissociate during, during this review, you, like, you keep running your hands over like very familiar consoles and, you know, familiar little, uh, buttons and you see some of these words in old Terran, so, you know, not sure how Zahn's handling that emotionally, but it is what it is.

Anything else you're doing in here while you're doing your diagnostics?

Zach/Zahn: Uh, nothing specific.

Avery/GM: Okay. So, over to Ollie. You are in the workshop. Uh, what are you doing as far as fixing yourself up? Just your fur, or?

Chris/Ollie: Yeah, cause the way I heal health is I need to repair myself.

Avery/GM: Gotcha.

Chris/Ollie: So I need to go back to full. I need to get my belly looking all nice and scratchable again.

Avery/GM: Sure. Let's go. So your fur is not organic in the sense that it came from a real dog or anything, but it is organic in the sense that like it was grown in a lab to feel and basically replicate a dog's fur. So you, let's roll a, let's roll a constitution repair or a constitution fix check, um, for you to fix like the wiring and stuff that might have gotten damaged from that grenade.

Chris/Ollie: Can I do int? Because I am

Avery/GM: Yeah, int is probably better. I don't know why I said constitution. Sorry.

Chris/Ollie: No, it's all good. I'm just getting the dice roller up because I didn't have it up. You said it is fix?

Avery/GM: Intelligence fix.

Chris/Ollie: 14.

Avery/GM: Oh yeah. Okay. Yeah. You heal, go ahead and roll 3d8 to see how much HP you heal up.

Chris/Ollie: 3d8 for 18, getting all my good dice rolls out of the way early. I like that. So that puts me back up to full.

Avery/GM: Okay. Um, you don't find anything to like fix the fur, but kind of wandering around this area, you do see, um, in the med bay. You see like this little, uh, station that's like a, basically like a surgical assistant. So it would be used to like help like sew someone up after a surgery or something like that. And looking through the programming on it, you do see that there is an option for, um, skin grafting and go ahead and roll an intelligence program check.

Chris/Ollie: Um, that is, well, minus four. So 17. I code in the program just on the flash.

Avery/GM: Exactly, just a quick little, a quick little change of, of some code and, um, uploading the schematic of your dog fur and you spend about the next hour, hour and a half just getting your, uh, your fur restored by this machine, but it's purely aesthetic because you've already healed up your actual, uh,

Chris/Ollie: Beautiful. And then I want to use any Oh, how much aesthetic Aesthetically will that fix me?

Avery/GM: Completely.

Chris/Ollie: Oh, okay. Wonderful.

Jenine/Marty: Nice!

Chris/Ollie: And then I want to put any leftover time into building just like, the absolute bare minimum of a rig to store a Chaos Crystal.

Avery/GM: Sure.

Chris/Ollie: Just the absolute bare minimum with a grenade and a quantum trigger in it.

Avery/GM: Wait, what are you, wait, wait, oh gosh, what are you?

Bee/Polaris: Just for, it's fine, don't worry about it.

Jenine/Marty: Let it happen.

Caden/Bruce: Don't worry about it.

Chris/Ollie: It's, it's totally benevolent. Trust me.

Jenine/Marty: Let it happen. Just let it happen.

Bee/Polaris: I feel like we can assume based off of our history as a crew what this will be used for. It's, it's bombing.

Jenine/Marty: I don't know what you're talking about. Shh. Don't worry about it.

Avery/GM: A little, a little self bombing needs to be done. I was going to say, is this an in case of emergency break glass kind of situation?

Chris/Ollie: No, this is a do a little favor situation.

Avery/GM: Oh.

Chris/Ollie: This is, I'm gonna build a cheap junkass body for myself.

Avery/GM: For yourself or for Coil?

Chris/Ollie: For myself. Cut my core.

Bee/Polaris: Oh, I forgot about coil.

Chris/Ollie: Yeah, we got coil. I forgot about that myself.

Avery/GM: I thought I thought you were gonna potato coil

Chris/Ollie: No,

Avery/GM: be like,

Bee/Polaris: can we potato?

Chris/Ollie: No, that's on the itinerary for later.

Avery/GM: I thought the grenade was like if you try anything

Chris/Ollie: No, that's for me because I'm gonna cut my core leave a piece of myself here In the system to give the oracles time enough to get this the planet set up and then once they're done I'm gonna just detonate and then come back to the TSKAM or the

Avery/GM: oh

Bee/Polaris: Wait, you're gonna detonate in the ursa.

Chris/Ollie: No, i'm just gonna be chilling in space.

Bee/Polaris: Huh? Huh? Huh?

Chris/Ollie: Yeah, i'm gonna wait. I'm gonna split the party. I'm gonna be staying here in the system is the plan. If I can get this up and running.

Avery/GM: I mean, it's really easy to build a rig. Cause if he leaves If If you leave the system, he'll disconnect from

Chris/Ollie: Yeah, the whole planet could explode if I leave too early.

Avery/GM: from Ithaca.

Bee/Polaris: Uhhh, w w No, well, I'm I guess I'm asking, are we leaving the system? Cause if Ollie just explains this, we can just stay put for all of our ships are here.

Avery/GM: Yeah, you have no reason to leave yet. You're actually, actually being here is probably the safest you could be.

Chris/Ollie: I'm still gonna build this thing, even if I don't use it right now, because it will be useful at some point.

Avery/GM: You never know. Um, yeah, sure. Uh, an intelligence fix check, but we'll make it a really low check.

Chris/Ollie: Uh, fix Ten.

Avery/GM: So yeah, you pass. Um, you have it. Um, you almost, you almost dropped the grenade before you, you hook it up, but you're, you're good.

Chris/Ollie: I just fixed this fur. That would be highly unfortunate.

Bee/Polaris: Yeah.

Chris/Ollie: Note to self. Do not handle grenades any longer. My proficiency is poor.

Jenine/Marty: Oopie.

Avery/GM: Marty, let's go over to you. You are chilling in the cargo hold with all these, uh, individuals. Is there anyone you wish to speak to? There is another doctor here.

Jenine/Marty: Is this the first time I'm meeting everyone?

Avery/GM: Yeah. This is your first time meeting them. Yes.

Jenine/Marty: This is cool. This is cool. This is great. I think Marty just kind of stands there. They're just like waves every so often to the group to be less threatening. And just goes, hi, hello. I'm Marty. Nice to meet you. Hi. Hello. I'm marty nice to meet you. I'm part of the crew. Hello.

Avery/GM: Marty. There are several people. I think the only two people that you would recognize are the two prisoners you saw get released. And that was Jasper, who, um, is like the historian that, uh, Um, that Polaris was talking to about Rhea. And then there is Zeno, the snake slash scorpion alien creature, who is an engineer and an expert on artificial intelligence. And you do see Zeno kind of like, Zeno didn't touch the soup that Bruce prepared for everybody. Zeno is kind of eyeing some of these other humans in a really unsettling way.

Jenine/Marty: Oh, oh, um, okay. Hi, Martywill go there. Hi. Hello. I'm Marty. Nice to meet you. How are you? I see you didn't have, um, any of what our wonderful chef Bruce made. Is there anything else I can get you?

Avery/GM: We only eat what is alive!

Jenine/Marty: I See.. I see. I can go check with Bruce to see if we can get to something, possibly a little, it's a little scarce right now with, with live things when you're kind of traveling through space.

Avery/GM: Oh, there are plenty of alive things here.

Jenine/Marty: Oh, um, well, I don't That's not. They are alive.

Avery/GM: And you see this like forked tongue kind of slither out a little bit.

Jenine/Marty: But I don't think they are well prepared, so I'm gonna go see if we can find something that is actually well prepared for you. I immediately text the group chat and I go, Hey, uh, there might be someone on the ship That wants to eat live things and, uh, I don't know if I can handle if they go on the entirety of the rest of the crew that's on this ship, smiley face. And then smiley face, like, edits the message and puts scared face, face emoji.

Bee/Polaris: I'm sorry, when you said find a live thing that's well prepared, I imagined Bruce putting salt and pepper on a mouse.

Avery/GM: Gosh.

Jenine/Marty: Marty's trying to distract!

Bee/Polaris: Okay, well, we got that message.

Zach/Zahn: See, I was just picturing, like, a bowl of flies.

Bee/Polaris: But it's a snake person.

Caden/Bruce: Bruce doesn't have any live flies, like

Bee/Polaris: Yeah, they're all caramelized.

Caden/Bruce: They're all caramelized, yeah.

Bee/Polaris: Polaris will text in chat, I can ask the oracles to bring, oracles to bring. Alive, on a rabbit. How big of, yeah, how big of a, uh, an animal do they need?

Jenine/Marty: So, we're currently trying to make an order for you. What, how, what

Avery/GM: Like DoorDash!

Bee/Polaris: Like DoorDash, a live rabbit!

Jenine/Marty: What is the quantity we're looking for? You want to make sure we get everyone's food orders and dietary restrictions met while you're, uh, Um, on board with that. So what, how, and then like Marty tries to like use her hands to like make like the size and she starts in the size of like a mouse and then goes bigger until she's told to stop.

Avery/GM: Yeah. Zeno kind of just looks you up and down and it's like, you're about the right size.

Bee/Polaris: Hermes is on the ship. Like he can hear this.

Avery/GM: Yeah.

Chris/Ollie: Oh, is Hermes hooked up into the ship?

Bee/Polaris: Yeah,

Avery/GM: Hermes is ready to go.

Chris/Ollie: Yeah, so he hears everything.

Jenine/Marty: Oh, wow, um, we'll try and find something of my size. Thank you for saying that I'm the right size about something. Ah, thanks, it's really cool. And then just text in chat. They want something as big as me, guys. I'm a little scared now.

Bee/Polaris: Polaris is just gonna start making a beeline to where Marty is.

Avery/GM: And Marty, telepathically, you do get the feeling that this creature is trying to hold itself back, but it's, it's very hard for this creature.

Jenine/Marty: Marty will like, just like wave and like back away slowly, look for the tallest person and just like, there's this theater game where you make someone like, Like the enemy and then you make someone the shield and you don't tell who else is that in like this theater game And that's what Marty is doing is just like putting a body between herself And this this part and Zeno, you know, and it's just just will continually just like hold a conversation with the tallest person there Hopefully they this is like a nice little three quarters cover for her

Chris/Ollie: Totally the, the snake from Jungle Book Energy, with the hypnotic eyes.

Avery/GM: Yeah.

Bee/Polaris: Now, here's a question.

Avery/GM: Yeah.

Bee/Polaris: Does the Ursa have a brig?

Avery/GM: I'm pretty sure.

Chris/Ollie: I'm pretty sure it does. I think the question is, has it been been repurposed.

Bee/Polaris: There's probably shit in there, but like, it's probably still like a brig.

Avery/GM: I'm pretty sure that's why the smuggler's hold has the laser grid in front of it is because it used to be.

Bee/Polaris: Oh, okay. Then, okay. Good to know.

Avery/GM: Yes. There's live food right this way. Snap. You stay here.

Bee/Polaris: Uh, yeah. Uh, Polaris has a plan.

Avery/GM: Okay. Yeah. Marty, I think the tallest person here actually would be Jasper. So you are talking to him and he's just like, I am really sorry about Zeno. She's actually really nice. Just, you know, she goes on these kind of long trips and forgets to pack enough food and then that's part of the reason she was in the brig was just because she was kind of starting to eye some of the other workers on the ship.

Jenine/Marty: I totally understand.

Avery/GM: Mostly it was that she objected to, to what the hegemony was doing, but some of it was, you know, hunger based.

Jenine/Marty: Uh huh. Oh, it's totally okay. I, I totally get it. I get it. I'm, I look very cute and sweet. I understand. Um, I'm just, I'm just gonna, I'm just gonna stand here. Totally fine. I got a good group of, group of friends who are rushing here and I like look at Polaris's live stream. Yeah, it's great.

Caden/Bruce: You just have Bruce in the kitchen just like going through different things just being like dead, dead, dead.y'know like, just double checking.

Avery/GM: Um, Polaris is rounding the corner into the, into the hangar bay.

Bee/Polaris: Uh, Polaris is gonna go right up to Xeno.

Avery/GM: Okay, you are, yeah, you're in the, you're in the, the cargo hold. Marty's there talking to Jasper, having a, a semi good conversation. As good as can be.

Bee/Polaris: Hey Zeno.

Avery/GM: Yes.

Bee/Polaris: I'm told that you're kind of getting really hungry, right?

Avery/GM: Famished, yes.

Bee/Polaris: I'm gonna go ahead and put in an order for the people that will be picking you up to bring something live that you can eat, but for like the safety of everyone and also so you're not stressed out, can we like put you in a different room?

Avery/GM: Zeno eyes you, eyes Marty, and is probably doing some mental math.

Bee/Polaris: As Zeno is eyeing Polaris and Marty, Polaris just says, I wouldn't.

Avery/GM: Yeah, that's probably for the best. Very well. Where would you like me to go?

Bee/Polaris: Follow me. And Polaris will send a message to the custodians. Do not murder! And, uh, he's gonna Actually, are all of the bedrooms taken up?

Avery/GM: I think last time y'all established, like, different rooms that you were in, but I don't know that, like, you, like, customized it.Or anything 'cause y'all kind of had to boogie out pretty quickly, so,

Bee/Polaris: yeah. Okay. Uh, uh, Polaris is going to, um, take zito to one of the empty rooms. 'cause is there, there has to be some empty rooms, of course. Yeah. So Polaris takes zeto to one of the empty rooms and, uh, says, could you just like, wait in here and I'll bring you the, your food and then you can eat and then you can get on the transport, sound good?

Avery/GM: Yeah, Zeno's just like, Very well. Don't make me wait too long.

Bee/Polaris: Trying my best.

Avery/GM: Okay. And the door to the cabin closes. You have successfully saved your friend from being eaten.

Bee/Polaris: Yay! Polaris is going to text the custodians to lock the door remotely. Polaris is going to contact the oracles again.

Avery/GM: Yeah, yeah. Go ahead with your door dash order. No. Lazuli's like, Hi, Polaris. We're still working on stuff down here. Is everything okay?

Bee/Polaris: Sweet. Yeah. Um, we have a, uh, new friend who has a, uh, special diet that consists of living organisms and they haven't eaten in a while, and they're kind of eyeing up everyone else. So we kind of need something they can eat. Okay. Do you have a teleporter? Can we teleport something here?

Avery/GM: If we had a teleporter, we would just teleport all your friends down here.

Bee/Polaris: Ah ha ha ha ha. Got me there.

Avery/GM: No, but, uh, we

Bee/Polaris: You got me there, Jenine. Uh, yeah. Not DoorDash. Sorry, window rush

Zach/Zahn: window rush

Avery/GM: window rush.

Jenine/Marty: Thank you.

Avery/GM: Yes.

Zach/Zahn: Uh, airlock arrivals.

Bee/Polaris: It depends on if you're planet side or in space.

Zach/Zahn: Yeah. You're right.

Avery/GM: Yeah. Lizuli is just like, um, I guess we could probably like. How, how big do we need to, like, how many animals do you need or do you need like a certain amount?

Bee/Polaris: Uh, I want to say Polaris do like the calculations based off of like Xeno's size and like the how much like food a snake usually eats and like multiply that. Uh, like an animal that's like, I don't know, 75 pounds?

Avery/GM: Yeah, I'll send someone out. You need it to be alive?

Bee/Polaris: Yeah.

Avery/GM: Okay You know, I've gotten some weird requests in my life. Um, especially as an oracle. But this one is going in my, in my journal, for sure.

Bee/Polaris: Really?

Avery/GM: Yeah,

Bee/Polaris: we're in space.

Avery/GM: Yeah. Yeah,

Bee/Polaris: like we we just stopped a planet from exploding. This is what gets you

Avery/GM: Yeah, I mean stopping planets from exploding is like every day for me.

Bee/Polaris: Okay. Well, I just made friends with a shadow being so like I don't know. Maybe I have a different metric than you

Avery/GM: Like yo, I just I'm friends with a shadow What's so weird about needing to hunt something?

Bee/Polaris: Yeah, Polaris genuinely doesn't understand how that's weird

Avery/GM: Yeah, we'll, we'll bring something up. Um, do they have a preference? Like, marsupial?

Bee/Polaris: Uh, Polaris knocks on, Polaris knocks on the door for Zeno. Hey.

Avery/GM: Yes?

Bee/Polaris: Do you have a preference of, like, I don't know, livestock or

Avery/GM: As long as it's not a sea creature.

Bee/Polaris: Polaris says to Luzuli, as long as it's not a sea creature.

Avery/GM: Luzuli's like, yeah, we'll, we'll find something, sure. I think we're about two hours out, so.

Bee/Polaris: Okay, thanks.Polarisrs hangs up and then, uh, tells Zito, they're about two hours out, if you can hold on that long, sorry.

Avery/GM: Very well, thank you. And the door shuts.

Bee/Polaris: Oh, the door was locked.

Avery/GM: Oh, I thought you were

Bee/Polaris: Polaris was speaking through the door.

Avery/GM: Oh, you're speaking

Bee/Polaris: No, no, no, no, no, no. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Avery/GM: I thought you, like, re opened it.

Bee/Polaris: And get eaten?

Zach/Zahn: Polaris ain't risking getting

Avery/GM: Now, the question you have to ask yourself the question you have to ask yourself is, what would have happened if Marty hadn't stayed behind?

Bee/Polaris: Oh, right. We would have come back with, like, fewer crew people.

Avery/GM: Yep.

Jenine/Marty: I'm responsible

Bee/Polaris: Good shit, Marty. Good shit.

Jenine/Marty: Thank you. I'm team baby. Sitter now .

Avery/GM: Oh,

Bee/Polaris: uh, Polaris sends the chat. Good job, Marty .

Jenine/Marty: Marty sends back a little smiley face.

(Ambience fades out, Outro plays, then fades down)

Avery/GM: Beyond the Furthest Stars is a 1up podcast network production. Find more of our work at 1upPodcasts.com And be sure to leave us a review on iTunes or Spotify. It really helps us out. Intro and outro, produced by Dustin Carpenter. Background music by tabletop audio used under an attribution non-commercial license from Creative Commons.The tracks used today were Starship Bridge and Generation Ship. We'll be back in two weeks with our next episode. See you out there, beyond the furthest stars.

(Outro fades back up, then plays out)