Welcome to the Blown Valve

Both! This is the first post in the story of my character in the smugglers world here. Feel free to use my setting or character once I flesh it out a bit more. It’s a tad late for me at the moment :yawning_face:

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Thank you for letting me join your story and game. I will think of something or someone to play. Should I be Libbie in your game like how you’re you Descartes, or can I make up a different character?

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Be whomever you wish :llama:

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Thanks, Descartes. Okay. I will think of something to do and be and come back to the Blown Valve soon. See you soon!

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Looking forward to hearing more about your planetside bar, the Blown Valve.

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First

A long, exhausting day of cleaning behind him, Descartes slumped in a listing hoverchair. The entire place reeked of ozone and chemicals, but it was likely cleaner than it had been this year. Two cleaning robots lay in pieces on the counter where he had attempted to salvage enough parts to make one that worked. Hopelessly broken bottles, chairs, and equipment were stacked near the front portal, while a second (and larger) stack of ‘maybes’ was stacked near the portal to the kitchen. What was immediately repairable or still serviceable was arranged about the great room.

He’d worked his whole life plying his trade between the stars, and sunk most of his savings into this dump. He was determined to get it somehow back into shape.

A chime at the front portal snapped him from his brown study, but he was unable to convince himself to go answer it. A few raps followed, then the visitor passed on.

I hope they return in a bit. I’ll have this place up soon enough

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Off planet is so much nicer, thought Syrene as she walked the narrow street that was barely illuminated. Off planet means no vermin, no stink. But off planet isn’t better. It has cameras that work, not the fake boxes. No one cares what happens on planet, and that is how I like it.

A hundred solar cycles ago, the city was alive. It welcomed visitors and commerce. It welcomed vacationers and traders. Everything was bright and clean. Even in the working class district, it was at least not filthy and infested. Wanting to keep the bad people away from the beautiful city, they decided to build a big spaceport to orbit the planet.

When the planet’s spaceport became fully operational fifty solar cycles ago, the cost of stopping before landing on the planet changed everything. For the cost to land on the planet then break atmosphere again, a tourist could see all of the planet’s moons and visit the colonies there then shop the arcade and watch the planet from high above. No need for travel vaccinations for a planetary visit. No need to have a visa and enter through customs and be held for any number of questionable reasons. The convenience of not landing on the planet ended the tourism trade completely over the next ten solar cycles.

All goods were quarantined on the station before shippers exchanged them between the planet and the station, and holographic tour of the planet was as good as the real thing–according to the moon colony and space station tourism board. Once crime skyrocketed in the dying city, only the people unable to break atmosphere and the people desperate to enter it visited.

Syrene had a name in mind. A special delivery hidden in her cybernetic enhancement. Losing limbs had been a tragedy. She was abandoned, discarded. Then she was reborn. Working as a courier, given cybernetic limbs which carried secret cargo and a sense of purpose. Her normal cargo, legal summons and other documents which required a witness. She traveled all over.

The city was dim, sad, filthy. Nothing like the pictures from a hundred or even fifty cycles ago. Long before my time, though Syrene as she trotted up an alley in the steamy rain. Without any alcoves, this was a perfect location on a rainy day or night. Of course, the city was shrouded nearly all of the time, and the thick, dark clouds from belching smoke from sweat shop manufacturers and badly maintained generators created the precise, toxic environment where people who wanted to get lost could get lost.

Under the flickering B, she rang the bell and waited. Then she knocked. He must not be planetside, thought Syrene. I’ll ask around. Come back tomorrow.

She looked up at the camera then squinted at it. Syrene laughed. A fake security camera, probably put in to jack up the price of the property. Whatever was behind that door under the flickering B was going to be a great place to work from.

Carrying the legal summons she had for a small-time importer to show up on the spaceport and give testimony against a competitor who had crossed an interstellar corporation. She walked beneath the B and traveled onto a broader street, where the destitute and needy huddled in long-abandoned doorways out of the relentless rain.

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Lovely texture and scene!

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Thank you! I can’t wait to see what’s next on the other side of the door. :blush:

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First
Second

The communicator chimed insistently as Descartes struggled with the waste disposal chute. Exasperated, he bounded across the great room and slapped the portal open.

A pair of mech-suited aliens of a species he didn’t know where there, along with a small transport full of new furniture and parts.

“Ahh, come right in”, he said, activating his translator.

They waved acknowledgement and began to unload tables, chairs, and high-backed bar stools. Descartes was hoping to be a good host, and so he accommodated those with all manner of preferences. He walked around the great room as they put in the furniture, and he fussed over the small details. Quite a few of the pieces were new, but some had seen their share of barroom antics.

When then were finished unloading the transport, one of them strode forward with a purchase tab for him to authorize. Descartes authorized another piece of his meager savings, and waved the efficient movers out.

Now for a few shipments of intoxicants and relaxants, and I’ll be ready to open, he thought as he surveyed the nearly comfortable looking room.

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Love this character! I think she deserves her own thread.

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I don’t understand. I thought I’m supposed to put stuff here and role play the story with Descartes. I never did forum roleplaying before. I want to do it right. How do you do it right?

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You’re doing great! This post is just more of an introduction post for your character, and therefore deserves her own thread where you can go into all the details about her.
Others will want to interact with Syrene too!

Popping in and out of threads (and linking) is a great way to interact with everyone, but it helps when each character has their own main collection where they are the star.

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Oh, okay!

I’ll go ahead and fix all that! Thanks! :grin: :llama:

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Really enjoying the Blown Valve, @Descartes. Keep up the great work!

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Hear, hear. I’m very interested in hearing more about this planet that @Descartes and @Libbie are working to populate together.

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Jrak’s Thread
@Descartes

Jrak continues their waddling through the wet streets, glancing up and down from their datapad until they find themselves standing before the worn down sign with its flickering B. This makes them pause, making sure they were looking at the correct establishment first. Jrak pops his lips, the always slight smile on his resting face - a trait of his species - pressing into a thin line.

Knowing they likely couldn’t get much for the shipment, Jrak was about to turn before they let out another pop of agitation turning to amusement, their frilly gills fanning slightly in the oxygel respirator before settling again almost like dreadlocks - pinned by the clear tanks of the apparatus. Why was Jrak even bothered by how much this person could pay. As long as they tried, it would satisfy the insurance requirements and they could start looking for the next jump. Jrak came up to the establishment door, inspecting it for a moment to determine where the communicator was before pressing a splayed hand against it to signal the occupants inside.

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When Descartes heard the door chime again, he set down his tablet and trotted over to the front portal. He hoped the visitor wasn’t thirsty, because he had no libations to sell them. Yet.

Waiting at the door was a species he was unfamiliar with, but they seemed friendly enough. Apparently, they were keen to offload a wide variety of intoxicants and mildly narcotic beverages. Just the sort of thing he needed, and so he invited the trader in, and showed off his new aquatic room while they negotiated the deal. He needed a fairly full supply, and the price was more than fair.

Reclining by the aquatic pool with his new friend, Descartes felt a weight lift. This just might turn out.

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Delightful! Jrak was quite pleased by this venture, especially considering this entrepreneur had kitted his establishment with such lovely amenities. They took the time to remove some of the light exosuit they wore to keep their skin moist, dipping in the pool. Water was always a better feeling than the efficient hydration liquid the exosuit rolled around them. Jrak explained the situation to @Descartes, showing him the bills of lading on their datapad.

“I will make you an offer, and it will be more than fair. For me, it is already a loss - a big price or a small price, I will not make any more. I think you will find this deal well?”

The amphibian creature touches a few rubbery fingers against the datapad, and turns it back towards Descartes. It was an extremely good bargain, honestly, if he had the credits to settle it.

“I can move the shipments, I have antigravity sleds, however that will be a separate deal with me for my time. You seem like a good person, and I am simply a cargo pilot - not a conglomerate, so I will not take your hide for this. I am pleased to have been your fortune.”

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