The Blind Jump crew are exploring an alien space station that appears to be haunted. After fighting off hostile ghost-like creatures, they continue further into the station. As they explore, the floor suddenly starts to feel strange, almost as though the flat floor was made of rollers. Whooey scans the floor, but can’t figure out what is causing the sensation of rolling, so he lays down on his belly and slides until the floor returns to normal. Seeing Whooey was unarmed, the others follow suit, sliding down the corridor. Max decides to get a running start and surfs down the corridor on his feet. Shuhb walks slowly and manages to make it across with no issues. Binx also opts to surf, and manages it neatly.
The crew approaches a new chamber. This one is filled with coffin-like chambers. Above each is a compartment filled with orange-ish liquid with a large brain floating in it. Cables run from each brain to the coffin-like chamber. “Nope. Nope,” says Binx. Whooey immediately climbs one of the coffins and samples both the tissue and the fluid. He climbs back down, hands the sample to Max, and then climbs in to one of the coffins. The coffin door seals in front of Whooey and there is a flash of light.
The doors open and Whooey says, “I found a consciousness, and it wants to help us! But it wants one of you to download its friend from that coffin so it can say goodbye.”
“This is highly suspicious,” says Shuhb.
“You realize these guys think I’m insane, right?” says Whooey to himself, or possibly to the consciousness.
Binx asks, “How do we know that you’re telling the truth?”
The consciousness says, “I guess you don’t. I do want to help you guys out, but I also want to say goodbye to my best friend.”
“Are you a Founder?”
“No, I’m not a Founder. I just work here.”
“What sort of creature are you?”
“I’m a Lotrack.”
Whooey asks, “Are you the one who built the station?”
“No, the beings that built this had many physical forms, and sometimes their consciousness goes from one to another. It’s all very complicated.”
After considerable debate, Binx agrees to host the consciousness. The downloaded brain asks her to tell “Zordo” that he’s glad they had the chance to speak once more. Whooey replies that “Zagnar” really misses their games, drinking “murk”, and tells the crew that they should move down a specific corridor to find what they are looking for.
The crew follows the directions to a concealed compartment, where they find a glove-like Founder device. Whooey examines it carefully, and determines it is a Founder resurrection device. Proceeding further, they come to a vast holographic model of the solar system. On the side of the hologram of the station, they see the coordinate fragment. Multiple comets shoot around the system, and the crew is shocked to discover they can alter their trajectories with their minds. With some work, they correct the trajectories and the hologram projects a series of locks into Lefty’s mind.
With the coordinate fragment secured, the crew decides to move on. The Blind Jump heads out to seek another fragment in a new system.
Leave a Reply