Slave Trading in the South

[3kul]

((OOC: Sorry Cirrial, as much as I enjoyed reading through your post I'm going to have to disappoint you - the slave trader is currently engaged in a trade, and as such he cannot be using the phone

You will have to wait until he is done with both EnD and CP.))

[Cirrial]

((OOC: Erk. Whoops. Sorry. I can wait. :X))

[EnDSchultz]

" 250?!"

The Predator's booming voice echoed in the empty room. Insulted, he was, by such an outright rejection of his glorious council's engineering. "It may appear crude on the outside; you can thank this damned recession for that, but the real value is in the artificial intelligence! It is programmed to handle a variety of melee and ranged weapons, and its weight and thick plating make for a stable and strong weapons platform in combat."

The trader, however, seemed quite adamant in his analysis. EnD sighed, "But...if a settlement cannot be reached here, I'm afraid I have to agree with your suggestion. A shame, as I am quite fond of it. Yet, surely there are traders who will pay good money for the inner components."

Out of the corner of his eye, a quick movement caught the Yaut'Ja's attention. Before he could turn to it, a blow more forceful than any he'd experienced before struck the side of his head. Dazed, he found himself face-down on the hard floor of the chamber, and before he could right himself, a great weight slammed down on his back, pinning him completely.

"Target incapacitated." the tinny voice of the android was unmistakable. Its foot rested almost immovably on EnD's spine. While smaller than the Predator, its much denser build outclassed even the great hunter in terms of weight.

"Aagh! What are you...doing?!" he managed in between futile attempts to muscle himself free.

"Defense protocols are in effect. Directives indicate RCU technology must not fall into enemy hands," it stated.

The machine now calculated its next course of action. Killing EnD was an action its programming was hardwired against, so it could not even consider it. Freeing EnD would surely result in a very quick and brutal destruction. Returning to the Council chambers with the Predator restrained would result in decommission, dismantling, and selling of RCU equipment to unauthorized parties. It looked up at the slave trader, its intent implied.

[3kul]

Mr. Thompson's eyes widened quite a bit, and he nearly fell over backwards in surprise. This was a rather stunning display from the robot he thought to be a piece of junk, and against a fine Yautja specimen such as the one that had previously been standing before him, no less!

... Yes, this was a very fine Yautja now powerless before him, wasn't it? They were so hard to come by, and downright impossible to get as slaves as they typically prefer honourable suicide to being taken alive...

Fate had dealt him some bizarre and very fortuitous cards this time around, and Mr. Thompson decided that, unfortunate as this would be for the Yautja, he would have to act in his own best interests. If he did as the robot seemed to indicate he should, he would not only gain a powerful slave but he might also stand to gain a powerful ally. At the very least, aiding the robot would ensure that he could avoid a most painful death at it's cold, mechanized hands.

"My apologies, but the two of you have me a little confused... Who is the master and who is the slave?" He snapped the slave collar open, but was careful to maintain a safe distance until the robot knew that he wasn't a threat. "A master has ways to keep a slave under control at all times. You, Yautja, have failed to do this, and thus it is clear to me that you are not the master." He moves forward quickly, knowing that he has very little time to act between announcing his intent and the Yautja reacting to it. "Step back once the collar is on, Mr. RCU, the shock that he'll receive will be enough to knock your disobedient slave out but it could very well kill you."

In a single fluid movement he lunges foward, swinging the slave collar down on EnD's neck. As soon as the collar is on Mr. Thompson will whisper the control word, causing it to give EnD a massive electric shock. All the robot needs to do is keep him incapacitated for a few more seconds...

[LordPsycho]

=======The Training Dojo========

Blackfoot: You disappear for how long, then suddenly reappear and ask me to do what?

DP: I know you have no reason to do as I suggest, but surely you agree this practice must be stopped, and you are uniquely suited to take it down from the inside. If I "sell" you as a human, they'd have no reason to suspect your gargoyle nature. You can use that to escape and free the other slaves.

Blackfoot: Well, why don't you do it. I've been running this Dojo for a while now, all while my "Master" has an existential breakdown and runs off to "find himself". Now you return and ask me to leave? Even you have to admit that's a tall order

DP: You know why I left. I needed training beyond what could be found in this realm. I'm more mortal than you are now, and with the Sanity Blade denied to me, I had to figure out some way to become battle ready in this realm. But I interrupted my training early to come back and take care of this. Slave trading on Blackstar cannot be ignored.


Blackfoot: As much as I hate to, I have to agree with you. SO what's your big plan?

DP: I have no idea what they are using for control, and asking that would have only sound alarms...too many were already sounding. But I figured your rock-hide can withstand almost anything short of a sledge hammer. You go in, you act out whatever torment you have to, and you observe from the inside. I think they'll strip you of any possessions, so I think it's best if we leave anything valuable here. I'll try to secure a divine source of communication, but I doubt He will be willing to help us too much. If not, when you escape, start a signal fire. I'll come meet up with you then

Blackfoot: Not much of a plan, but it's better than anything I've come up with. Shall we away then

With that Blackfoot opens a warp portal while DP produces a length of rope

DP: I'm sorry about this, but we must make this look convincing

With a loud thud and a sharp pain, Blackfoot's world suddenly goes black.

[Blackstar Foundation]

Blackfoot presses on the face of the Desert Portal Generator, and some sandy wind blows through a blue, swirling vortex.

[EnDSchultz]

In a fair fight, the mighty Predator would surely have had no trouble crushing the RCU like a tin can. While the punch to the face demonstrated its servos were strong indeed, it had no integrated armament and its agility left something to be desired...but alas, this was not a fair fight. Taken by surprise and immobilized face-down as he was, no amount of skill would allow the Yaut'Ja to bend his arms backwards, and armed with nothing but his wristblades, he was powerless to escape the android's weight.

"What absurdity is this?! Release me at once! You are in violation of your directives! You must OBEY ME!"

"Directives indicate RCU technology must not fall into enemy hands," it repeated in precisely the same tone and meter as before. "Command overridden."

The intention of the designers was to put precedence on obeying commands; it would be foolish to do otherwise. Unfortunately for EnD, something had apparently gone wrong with the implementation in this prototype, resulting in a faulty hierarchy of directives. Self-preservation and preventing others from learning its secrets were its top priorities now.

The RCU now looked to Mr. Thomson, who was preparing to apply the shock collar:

"Step back once the collar is on, Mr. RCU, the shock that he'll receive will be enough to knock your disobedient slave out but it could very well kill you."

It made no outward acknowledgment of his statement, though it processed and understood it perfectly.

"Wait, no! You cannot do business with this machine! This is madness!" The Yaut'Ja took a few frantic and inaccurate swipes at Mr. Thomson with his wristblades as he approached with the collar. It was far from enough. The collar clicked around his neck. The RCU lifted its foot, took a step back, and assumed its default erect and expressionless posture.

"YOU CAN'T--" the shock was applied. A terrible, deafening roar reverberated throughout the chamber, and then silence. Without any immediate goals and as yet very simple and response-driven conversational algorithms, the RCU simply stared at Mr. Thomson, who would have to take initiative and speak first.

[3kul]

"Mr. RCU, I do believe you have a gift!" Mr. Thompson smiled, his gaze drifting from the slightly smouldering EnD towards his formidable captor. "If you've never considered a career in slave trading before I would highly recommend that you give it a try."

He tapped a long finger against his exoskeletal forehead, wondering how he should play this out. The slave trader got the feeling that it would be very easy to take advantage of this robot, but he ultimately decided against it. For a pittance he could bag himself one magnificent slave, but if he showed it that there was good money in slave trading then it might just come back for more. Teach a man to fish, as they say... He thought to himself, sliding a brick out of the wall behind him to procure a large wad of bills.

"Now I know I had promised only 1000 for combat slaves but you've brought me a rarity in every sense of the word. Might I convince you to part with him for 2500? Not a bad amount of money if I do say so myself, and with that amount you'd have no trouble outfitting yourself with a decent arsenal of weapons upgrades for yourself from some of the merchants over in Dojopolis." Mr. Thompson realized immediately after that this probably still wasn't a very fair price for a Yautja slave (though it was difficult to say what a fair price would be, considering that he'd never bought one before...), but for now he'd wait and see how the robot would react to the cold hard cash that he was offering it.

[Danikat]

((I haven't quite made up my mind how Danikat will react to this, but I wanted to let everyone know that aside from Danikat herself all my characters are fair game for attempted capture.

Emphasis on 'attempted', they will probably all resist and can teleport largely at will, but it's not impossible. Also both dragons and to a lesser extent Lopp the fire-lizard have an extremely strong bond to Danikat which cannot be changed.

On a practical note I'd prefer to retain control of the dragons in the event they are captured but the rest could go either way - if you capture one send me a PM and let me know who you'd like to be in control of them. ))

[EnDSchultz]

((It has occurred to me that the list of parties currently waiting for their turn to put a stop to Mr. Thomson's operation has grown rather long. I hope, for his own sake, this trader has very good methods for removing unwanted guests...))

The RCU was never intended to handle any sort of financial matters or negotiations, and therefore it paused for a good while after the trader made his offer, digging through its programming frantically for an appropriate response. Finally, in an attempt to maximize its ability to arm itself, it concluded that, based on the compliance of the slave trader thus far, he would also comply with a 20% increase in monetary losses. It held out its segmented hand, palm up.

" 3000."

[3kul]

((Mr. Thompson's been a slave trader for a loooong time before coming to Blackstar, he's got a few tricks up his sleeve to take care of the abundance of do-gooders seeking to put a stop to him ))

Mr. Thompson smiled. To see that it understood the exchange taking place, to know that it would soon understand that there is good money in this business, these things were far more important than what he would lose in this exchange.

"You drive a hard bargain Mr. RCU, but I concede defeat." He calmly replied, dipping his head slightly in reverence. " 3,000 is a fair price, and I shall pay it in full."

He retrieved a little extra money from the same place in the wall, then wrapped the wad of cash into a tidy bundle. "Now I would greatly appreciate it, Mr. RCU," Mr. Thompson began, placing the money in the robot's outstretched hand. "If you would keep our dealings to yourself. Unfortunately there are many folk in this realm who frown upon the slave trade industry, and I am not very fond of confrontation..."

"Although in your case, I am a little more concerned that other slave traders may hear of how well you've done with me and start asking for a higher price for their slaves... Ah, please don't misunderstand me, the slave trade can be very lucritive to those as skilled as yourself, but I would like to emphasize once more that the slave you've sold me is an exceptional rarity, and I will not pay the same amount for just any old slave." He laughed, folding his hands together. Indeed, he had no intention of paying this much for anything but the best, and he was not expecting to see another slave of this quality for quite some time. It was a most auspicious start to his slave trading business here on Blackstar, one that he hoped was a signal of good things to come.

But now that the deal was done it was time for the robot to leave. There were other deals to be made today, after all. "Now my friend, you are welcome to count your money, but if you are satisfied that our dealings here are complete then I must respectfully ask that you leave." Mr. Thompson's gaze returned to his newly obtained slave, his eyes glowing with greed. "There are others who have travelled a long way to see me and I must relocate this slave before I can allow them down here."

At this point he bows politely to the robot, wishing to clearly demonstrate just how pleased he was with the result of this encounter. "I trust that you understand, and I look forward to any future meetings that we may have."

[EnDSchultz]

The robot's closed its hand to form a tight grasp on the roll of currency and lowered its arm. Powered by servos which, unlike musculature, only expended energy to change positions, it could maintain this iron grip indefinitely. Holding onto the money was its only real option, anyway, as it currently was not equipped with any storage compartments and, naturally, wasn't wearing anything in which it could stow the cash. Fortunately, it would be effectively impossible to wrench the bills from the robot's hand.

"Now I would greatly appreciate it, Mr. RCU, if you would keep our dealings to yourself. Unfortunately there are many folk in this realm who frown upon the slave trade industry, and I am not very fond of confrontation..."

By this point, the RCU's learning algorithms automatically equated currency with weapons and upgrades (or, more precisely, the ability to acquire them), and Mr. Thomson as its only known source of currency. The neutralization of Mr. Thomson, therefore, would be very detrimental to its ability to arm itself. It seemed logical to comply with this request.

"Command accepted."

It stared, motionless, as was its tendency, as the trader continued to speak, although it received and processed all he said, taking what relevant pieces of information it could from the speech. Despite that most of the remainder was little more than useless gibberish to the robot, it waited for him to finish, and then, cash in hand, turned to leave per Mr. Thomson's request. Its metal feet once again clanked as it ascended back up the stairwell. The force field at the entrance deactivated, and the android marched off into the distance without so much as a glance at the others waiting at the trading post.

[Arthur McCorth]

An elderly man made his way slowly across the desert, alternately aided by his fine oak walking stick and hampered by it where it got stuck in the dunes. He did not seem to pay much attention to these troubles however. Instead his attention was fixed on the letter in his hand, which he read and re-read as he walked, stopping every so often to shake his head.

"Well, let us get there and then we shall see what we can see" he told himself as he struggled up a rise. At the top he found himself looking down on a phone booth with a number of people waiting around it. ((I am afraid I have lost track of just who is waiting.))

When he had finally made his slow way across to the phone he regarded the unusual group "Excuse me, I wonder if any of you can help me. I seek a Mr. Thompson, am I in the correct place?"

[3kul]

A loud metal scraping noise could be heard from the staircase, and a deep rumbling suggested that something unusual was happening underground. It stopped as suddenly as it began, though whether or not it is safe to proceed down the staircase yet is difficult to say...

"If my young dragon friend is still out there, please, do come in." The slave trader beckoned.

((And now to save myself some time...))