Daniel Andrlik: [00:00:30] Welcome to Explorers Wanted. We are a weekly Numenera actual play podcast. I will be your humble GM, Daniel Andrlik. With me today is Alex Finn... Alex Finn: Hey. I'm not shaming my son. I'm not. I promise. Daniel Andrlik: Sampson Davis.... Sampson Davis: I'm drinking a beer that I like because it has a pharaoh looking dude that's holding a brain and it's just pointing at you. I was, "Yeah, I'll drink a beer with that." It's not very good. Alex Finn: [00:01:00] Oh. Awkward. Sampson Davis: Yeah. Alex Finn: What about the Laser Kitty, you know? The kitty riding the unicorn question the lasers. Sampson Davis: Excellent title. I've seen the beer before. Excellent name for a beer, but I don't like sour, so it's wasted on me. Yeah, it's rough. Daniel Andrlik: Isn't there one that's like unicorn poop or something like that, and it's got glitter in it, actually? Sampson Davis: Damn. Daniel Andrlik: It just makes me wonder what would your leavings be like after that? These are questions I ask myself late at night, and that's when I cut over to, and Stace Babcock. Stace Babcock: Yeah, I'm here. [00:01:30] Didn't really think of anything to say that whole time. Kind of curious. Kind of curious what kind of beer that is, Sampson, though. Sampson Davis: It's Imperial Hazy IPA. A lot of haze, not a lot of body. Stace Babcock: I knew it was going to be an IPA. Sampson Davis: Here's the- Stace Babcock: I should have said so out loud. Sampson Davis: Here's the thing, that's all the store fucking has. It's just IPAs everywhere, so sometimes it's like... I don't know. I don't want to think about it. Just IPA. Stace Babcock: This wasn't a judgment of you, Sampson. Sampson Davis: No, I understand, I'm just judging the world. Get over IPAs. Let me have a fucking [00:02:00] stout or something. Stace Babcock: I feel like that illustration on a Hazy IPA kind of makes sense, although if they're a brewery, then maybe they have multiple kinds of brews. Sampson Davis: Yeah. Elysian. Sorry, Elysian, if you were going to sponsor us or something, but meh. Stace Babcock: They weren't. Alex Finn: Damn. Sampson Davis: They weren't. Alex Finn: No. Sampson Davis: But that's okay. Daniel Andrlik: It's a pharaoh holding up a brain? Sampson Davis: Yeah. Sorry, listeners, you're not going to be able to see this, but this is what I'm looking at. Daniel Andrlik: Ah, okay. Sampson Davis: Yeah. So I saw- Stace Babcock: Why did I think you said it was a scientist holding up a brain and pointing [00:02:30] at it? Sampson Davis: No, sorry, I meant pharaoh. Stace Babcock: That changes everything. Alex Finn: Oh. I don't know why, but my brain processed the first couple of times you said that as feral. I'm like, "Feral what? Is that an animal?" Stace Babcock: Oh, that is what I heard, actually. Daniel Andrlik: Were you just picturing ChaCha on a... Alex Finn: Mm-hmm (affirmative). A feral. Sampson Davis: Welcome to Night Vale. Here's your character on a beer. Daniel Andrlik: Mm-hmm (affirmative). God, how amazing would that be to have custom beer cans for your... Of fan art of your characters. Alex Finn: [00:03:00] That'd be so cool. Sampson Davis: We need to do that before Critical Role does it. Support us patreon.com/explorerswanted. Daniel Andrlik: Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Alex Finn: I'll actually drink beer if that's the case. Daniel Andrlik: Yes. I was just trying to picture... What would you call a beer that had the fan art that Andrea did for us of ChaCha riding on Nix's shoulders? Alex Finn: Ooh. Stace Babcock: Funshine on My Shoulders IPA. Alex Finn: Ooh. That's cute. Daniel Andrlik: Nice. Sampson Davis: Yeah. Alex Finn: Or we could call it A Tagalong. Daniel Andrlik: [00:03:30] The Girl Scouts would definitely sue us for that. Alex Finn: You know what? Fight me. Fight me, Girl Scouts, and NASA. Fight me. Stace Babcock: Yeah, I was going to say, we would have to fight off just roving bands of Girl Scouts. Daniel Andrlik: Careful, they bite. Alex Finn: How about that? Sampson Davis: DM wine. We'll have a wine bottle, too, with Dan's face on it. Alex Finn: Ooh, yeah. Sampson Davis: Each wine bottle has an NPC that Dan plays. Alex Finn: Each one disappointed in our choices. Sampson Davis: [00:04:00] Like 19 Crimes. Daniel Andrlik: That's pretty much the commonality between all the NPCs. Alex Finn: Yeah. They're all disappointed in some manner. Except for Hey You. Stace Babcock: No. It makes me think maybe Daniel judges all of our choices. Alex Finn: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Daniel Andrlik: What? Stace Babcock: Never. Daniel Andrlik: Why would you say such a thing? Sampson Davis: The choices we make are storytelling gifts for Dan. Stace Babcock: Flawless, right? It's entertainment value. We're providing a product. Sampson Davis: True. Stace Babcock: Right? Alex Finn: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Sampson Davis: And we keep Dan on [00:04:30] his toes. Stace Babcock: Exactly. We're professionals. Who don't get paid, which makes us amateurs. Alex Finn: Am. Daniel Andrlik: Well, technically we all share the... Alex Finn: True. Sampson Davis: Support us at patreon.com/explorerswanted so we can get paid and be professionals. Alex Finn: Yeah. Daniel Andrlik: Yeah. That would be nice. Alex Finn: Make our moms proud. Daniel Andrlik: We would love that. Stace Babcock: My mom's already proud. Alex Finn: True. My parents already watch my streams. Sampson Davis: Nice. Alex Finn: That's real support. Sampson Davis: Do they know what's going on? Alex Finn: [00:05:00] I don't know. That's another story. They do know I'm consistent with my jokes with them are the jokes I make on stream, so take that as you will. Stace Babcock: Yeah. The podcast has come up to my mom, and she hasn't asked too many questions and I haven't offered really any answers. I think we like it like that. Alex Finn: Yeah. Stace Babcock: Little air of mystery. Daniel Andrlik: Yeah, exactly. Who remembers what happened last time? I'm going to pick on Alex. Alex Finn: You're so mean. We [00:05:30] were super smart and just... Daniel Andrlik: Sampson leans back with this smug look on his face. Sampson Davis: That's just my face. Shut up. Alex Finn: Listen, we were super smart, super reasonable people, and we were like, "Let's heckle this performer, Hey You, and just give him a little shit, and maybe be a little too specific about the details we're heckling him with." Daniel Andrlik: Yeah. Alex Finn: But it all turned [00:06:00] out good in the end. Hey You, total, amazing, wonderful, lovely person. Nix was just catching up, figuring things out, maybe letting a little too many of our cards show, but no judgment. No judgment. Little judgment. Yeah. So what came out of it was Nix had a very different induction to the Benevolent Travelers Society, or [00:06:30] Benevolent Society of Travelers. Daniel Andrlik: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Alex Finn: I'm trying not to mess it up because I- Stace Babcock: For once. Why now? Alex Finn: Listen, every time I think of the Travelers, I think of BTS and I'm like, "That's not it. That's not it." Daniel Andrlik: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Alex Finn: Yeah, so basically it's kind of sounding like maybe they are a cult, but Nix was special. Sampson Davis: She's a trust fund baby. That's what it sounds like. Alex Finn: Yeah. She got [00:07:00] that trust fund level cult. Maybe she came in on a higher tier, or she was a legacy, I don't know. Stace Babcock: Oh, no. Daniel, you didn't. Alex Finn: And... Daniel Andrlik: Not saying anything. I admit nothing. Alex Finn: That left us some things to unpack because we found out that the Travelers are really forbidden from contacting their actual biological families, and that [00:07:30] they're only allowed to think of the Travelers as their families. Then it's kind of like, yeah, indoctrinating their summer camp, versus Nix's summer camp, which was like, "Oh, this is a fun time. We're learning cool stuff, making some friendship bracelets. It's cool. I've got my own room, even though nobody else does." These are things I remember, for I don't know why. Then after a wonderful conversation, Nix brings up the arch game and ChaCha's like, "You know, [00:08:00] we have a portable arch game, right?" Hey You was just like, "Hell yeah, arch game." Then we accidentally killed Hey You but Nix, being the wonderful, benevolent person that she is, used the reset cypher and saved Hey You's life, and even told Hey You about it, which I'm just like, "Did she do it for the clout?" I don't know. Let me know, listeners. Stace Babcock: She wasn't telling Hey You about it. She was telling Dili and ChaCha about it so the understood what had happened. Daniel Andrlik: No, Hey You was [00:08:30] definitely involved in that conversation when you said he died. Alex Finn: Yeah. Stace Babcock: Well, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, but I'm saying Nix articulated it not for the benefit of Hey You, but for the benefit of ChaCha and Dili so they would understand what was going on, because what I anticipated, I don't know why I'm justifying myself, but I am, you've put me on the defensive, Alex, was ChaCha being like, "What are you talking about, Nix? Yeah, we're going to still play the game." Alex Finn: Oh, yeah. Oh, but when Nix went back to reset time, she got an error message saying, "Hey, you're [00:09:00] not authorized to change timeline," but Nix did it anyway, and so Dili's son was just like, "Hey, there's something weird about Nix." Daniel Andrlik: Yeah. Alex Finn: I think that's where we ended it. Sampson Davis: Yep. Daniel Andrlik: Yeah, that's where we ended. The automaton had told Dili, "Something has changed," and Dili said, "Yeah, the reset cypher was used." The automaton said, "No, something else," and he showed Dili that there was now, at least in the automaton's view, a warning [00:09:30] indicator floating over Nix. We come back in exactly where we left off. Dili, this is the information you have. Sampson Davis: Question on how Dili was able to see it. Alex Finn: Ooh. Sampson Davis: Did the automaton basically override Dili's vision? Daniel Andrlik: It was superimposed over your vision, is what you feel like it was. Sampson Davis: Okay. Daniel Andrlik: You don't know if he overrode your vision or just added additional data. Sampson Davis: Interesting. Okay. All right. Second question. Are we leaving [00:10:00] Hey You? Stace Babcock: Yeah, I think we're walking away at this point. Alex Finn: I feel, yeah. Yeah, I think we should. Sampson Davis: Okay. Alex Finn: Before we do any damage. Daniel Andrlik: He's chatting with that young girl and her mom. Alex Finn: Oh, yeah. That also happened after Hey You died. Sampson Davis: But Hey You didn't die. Alex Finn: So now we can actually return to the village without being gruesome murderers. Sampson Davis: Yeah. Alex Finn: That was a good choice. Daniel Andrlik: At least that they know of. Alex Finn: Yeah, that they know of, which is important. Sampson Davis: I mean, Dili can just change the disguise, so it's [00:10:30] not a huge deal. Stace Babcock: Oh, yeah. We have to put back on our disguises. Well, Nix does. Sampson Davis: Yeah, so once we're far enough away and so the people talking to Hey You can't see us, Dili will reapply Nix's disguise, and also tell her, "Hey, by the way, you're disguised again, but second thing, using the reset cypher, first of all, how did Hey You die? Second, did anything happen when you used it besides what you expected to happen?" Stace Babcock: Okay, yeah. [00:11:00] Hey You died because Baby [Pac 00:11:03] mutated him and it was horrifying. His eyes popped. He couldn't breathe because his tongue swelled out of his mouth, and there were tentacles involved. Bony spurs ripped through his carotids. Dili, you got absolutely filthy and just in it. But you're good now. But you're good now. So I was like... Sampson Davis: Dili [00:11:30] looks down like, "Yeah. Wow. Why is it always me?" Stace Babcock: Yeah, so we respectfully looted his body and we found a couple of cyphers, but then I remembered that I had the reset cypher. I was like, "You know what? I'm going to use it." I pushed the button and time went backwards, and then at the end, it froze. These time guards or whatever, they had a real guard vibe. This voice from nowhere was like, "You are not authorized to use this, [00:12:00] and now you're on our list." Sampson Davis: What the fuck? Stace Babcock: Yeah, and then time started again. I asked them who they were, but they didn't tell me, Dili. So I'm on another list. Whatever. Sampson Davis: Huh. I wonder if the Guardians know. That feels like something Guardians would know, right? Like if we asked Vlad? Ooh, actually... Stace Babcock: I don't want to ask Vlad anything because he's super judgmental and really just such a grump. Sampson Davis: Yeah. Daniel Andrlik: I would say he's a fair amount of judgmental. Stace Babcock: [00:12:30] To us, that's super judgmental, Daniel. Daniel Andrlik: You did turn ChaCha into a potential infection vector for a very wide variety of possibilities. Stace Babcock: Yeah, but it's ChaCha. Sampson Davis: And we fixed it. It's fine. Alex Finn: Yeah, we're not used to survivors being able to judge us. Sampson Davis: We're not used to survivors. Alex Finn: What is this, surviving meeting us? Daniel Andrlik: The camera cuts away for a moment and there is just a picture of... The camera shot's between two different smoking craters [00:13:00] somehow. Then it cuts back to you guys. Alex Finn: Are we the baddies? Sampson Davis: We're not great at being good. I think that's probably the best we can say. Stace Babcock: I know. Like I- Alex Finn: It's a learning curve. Stace Babcock: Yeah. No, for sure. Sampson Davis: Yep. Stace Babcock: I used to do a lot more good than this, you guys. Alex Finn: You can't just wake up and learn how to use Pop Its. You have [00:13:30] to slowly work up to them and get good, or else it'd be like juggling, and everybody can juggle. Stace Babcock: Uh... Sampson Davis: I cannot juggle. Stace Babcock: Why are you talking about juggling? Listen, we are still in Navarene. Sampson Davis: That's true. I can't juggle because I am a good citizen. I'm a good boy, right? Stace Babcock: Right, like I don't even... I'm not even sure what juggling looks like. Alex Finn: Oh, I'll show you when we're back on the road. Stace Babcock: No, ChaCha, I draw the line. I will not get involved [00:14:00] in juggling. I knew some kids... Daniel Andrlik: Everything up until this point. Terrorism, attacking criminal organizations with you... Stace Babcock: Mutating friends. Daniel Andrlik: Nix draws the line at juggling. Alex Finn: Fine. Sampson Davis: But anyway. Alex Finn: Okay. Sampson Davis: Anyway, should we... I feel like he's going to yell at us, but I feel like we should tell Vlad that, "Hey, there's at least the [00:14:30] existence of these time cops." Dan, if it could be Jean Claude Van Damme in the next few episodes, that would be perfect. Alex Finn: Fuck yeah. I want somebody to be doing splits between [inaudible 00:14:38]. Daniel Andrlik: Get out of my fucking mind, Sampson. Stace Babcock: The way I look at it is that happened as part of my personal and not my work life, and it's really none of Vlad's business, you know what I'm saying? He's our supervisor. Alex Finn: Work/life balance. Stace Babcock: I don't even like him. Sampson Davis: Yeah. All right, yeah. Just, it'd be good to know [00:15:00] more information about what happens, and the weird warning signal above your head. Daniel Andrlik: Yeah. Stace Babcock: We could ask in hypotheticals, maybe. Sampson Davis: How would we defend that? "Hey, hypothetically, if there are time cops..." Stace Babcock: That's what I'm saying. I don't think it's a good idea, you know? Sampson Davis: All right. Stace Babcock: He ain't like Mamma J is all I'm saying. He is not chill. Alex Finn: Mm-mm (negative). Sampson Davis: To be fair, he's new to ChaCha, so he doesn't know. Alex Finn: I am an acquired taste. Daniel Andrlik: [00:15:30] Nix, give me a perception roll of nine. Alex Finn: Oh, no. Stace Babcock: Oh, now 20. Sampson Davis: Oh. Alex Finn: Oh, fuck yeah. Sampson Davis: Oh, yeah. Daniel Andrlik: Okay, so you are definitely going to notice that Dili is continuing to scratch at his arm. Alex Finn: We said it was a no-no zone, Dili. Sampson Davis: What? What are you talking about? Oh, shit. I'm sorry. Dili wipes the blood out of his fingernails. Daniel Andrlik: There is definitely... Even though there is an illusion there, you can still see where Dili is scratching at. There is occasionally, [00:16:00] extending out of the illusion, nowhere that you can see, a dripping of blood. Stace Babcock: Dili, I think you have bigger things to worry about than the time cops. We should get up to the room, and you need to look at your arm. It's bleeding again. Sampson Davis: Yep. Alex Finn: You're going to get an infection and then we're going to have to robot arm you. Stace Babcock: Yeah, are you turning into a robot, by change? Alex Finn: That could be fun. Sampson Davis: Oh, shit. All right. I think I have something to tell you guys when we get back up to the room. [00:16:30] If I can tell you. Daniel Andrlik: Dili can try anything. Alex Finn: If not, we can hold you down and force you to tell us. Don't worry. Stace Babcock: Okay. Alex Finn: We've got this. Stace Babcock: We're not doing that, ChaCha, but also, Dili, man, keeping secrets. Sampson Davis: Not quite my choice, I think. Stace Babcock: You're getting cooler every day, man. Alex Finn: Taking that mysterious role. I like it. Stace Babcock: Nix slaps Dili on the back. Sampson Davis: Dili flies forward 20 feet, [00:17:00] because... Daniel Andrlik: That would be if she kicked you. Sampson Davis: Yep. Just trying to be cooler, I guess. Stace Babcock: And the tattoos. Sampson Davis: The what? Alex Finn: Hell, yeah. Stace Babcock: You could be a Traveler, honestly. Well... Sampson Davis: I- Alex Finn: I'll design the tattoo this time, though. Stace Babcock: You could try. You could try. Sampson Davis: Please don't. I don't want... My body, my rules. Alex Finn: Hey, man, I'm just saying. Dili, if you want tattoos, I've got this really neat needle trick where you just hammer it into [00:17:30] the skin. We could use the glow ink. Sampson Davis: That's not how... Dan, is that how tattoos work in the Ninth World? Daniel Andrlik: Yeah. What she's described to you, Dili, is essentially what, as Dili understands it, at least, how tattoos work. Stace Babcock: ChaCha, boundaries are very important when it comes to friendship. You've got to respect each other's boundaries. Alex Finn: Oh, yeah. No permanent alterations without permission. Stace Babcock: No alterations without permission. Alex Finn: Oh, no, he did [00:18:00] consent to the eyes. We're good. Sampson Davis: Yeah. Yeah, that one was good. Alex Finn: Okay, we're good. Sampson Davis: Unless you did this arm thing, too, right? Did you? Alex Finn: I mean, I don't remember it, but I'm not in control of my body when I sleep. Sampson Davis: Dan, is there a remembering or memory check that Dili can make to see if he can trace back to how this arm business started? Daniel Andrlik: When the itch started, you mean? Sampson Davis: Yeah, when the itch started, or... Started, yeah. Daniel Andrlik: [00:18:30] Yeah. Give me a nine, and you're trying to remember in detail, so it'll be six. Sampson Davis: All right. I've got a freebie because I've got three edge. I have a 17. Stace Babcock: Ooh. Daniel Andrlik: It started shortly after you left Charmonde. It's just been getting more itchy. It's easy to forget. You scratch at it almost unconsciously. Sampson Davis: On second thought, I don't think this was natural. Dili looks at the camera when he says that. Ah, I think this started after we left Charmonde, so once we get back to [00:19:00] the room, I will try to explain. Alex Finn: There. Stace Babcock: Yeah, aren't we supposed to be... Oh, we should probably tell Vlad at least how the Hendersons are doing and see about these ruins we're supposed to explore and all that shit, too, huh? Alex Finn: Oh, yeah. Stace Babcock: Then I want to wrap this up in the next day or two so we can head back to the Proving Grounds with Hey You. Alex Finn: Out of character, weren't you guys supposed to go to their training ground? Like the Order's training grounds? Stace Babcock: No, we're specifically not allowed [00:19:30] to go because we have you. Alex Finn: Oh. Sampson Davis: Yep. Alex Finn: And I am a liability if left. Yeah. Imagine ChaCha just doing her own thing for like a week. Sampson Davis: Then we come back, Charmonde is burning. Alex Finn: Yes. Daniel Andrlik: So are you heading back to the inn, is that what's happening? Alex Finn: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Sampson Davis: Yes. Daniel Andrlik: Okay, so you head back to the inn. At this point, it's late afternoon. There's quite a few people in here. Some people are eating, but most of the people are just here to drink and socialize. After all, this is pre... There's no [00:20:00] real internet here, so there's actually a third place where people gather to hang out and chat. Sampson Davis: I don't believe you. Stace Babcock: Fascinating. Alex Finn: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Daniel Andrlik: You can spot that Vlad is in the corner, speaking with Race. Vlad sees you guys step in. He says something to Race, and Race kind of looks at you guys nervously, and then gets up and heads upstairs. Vlad motions you over. Sampson Davis: Oh. We go over. Stace Babcock: Vlad. Daniel Andrlik: How's it going? Stace Babcock: Checked on the Hendersons. [00:20:30] There's two left and they know how to make synth slurry. Daniel Andrlik: A synth slurry? Sampson Davis: Yeah, something they can kind of mix into food. Basically just crumbled synth, just ground up very fine. Something they can ingest without making their insides bleed. Alex Finn: Nutritional powder. Daniel Andrlik: Oh, that's good. That's good. I mean, I'd hate to have them go through any more than they already have. Alex Finn: [inaudible 00:20:53]. Daniel Andrlik: There was a little part of me when I first saw that at the forest that was hoping it was just a temporary mutation, but... Alex Finn: Nope. These are [00:21:00] real permanent. Nope. You've got some clean up to do out there, though. Daniel Andrlik: Well, I don't have anything to do out there. We've stopped the mutating factor. We've got a slurry. There's really not much else we can do. Alex Finn: Will they get the synth slurries like the dead ones, too? Daniel Andrlik: That, I don't know. Stace Babcock: So yeah, about these ruins. I'm kind of hoping to take some time off in a couple of days, so [00:21:30] what's the word on that? When can we get started? Daniel Andrlik: Well, it's basically a week's hike to the south, in the mountains. Sampson Davis: Oh, it's very far away. Daniel Andrlik: Yeah. The only reason I've been hanging out here is I was told to wait for you. Sampson Davis: Oh. Daniel Andrlik: I was checking out some ruins here and then I was sent a message that I had to wait extra time for you guys to catch up. Yeah. I mean, I'm sorry, Nix, but at least until you've reached the point where you're sort of ready to go to your next stage, we have to stick together. Stace Babcock: [00:22:00] All right. So do you want to come with me, or? Daniel Andrlik: No, we're going to the south. If you want training, if you want to be part of the Guardians, we're going to the south. That's our orders. Sampson Davis: I guess on that, what's our goal for this training session? What are we working towards as proto Guardians? Should I put ChaCha in the bubble? ChaCha, are you cool with the bubble? Alex Finn: Yeah, I bubble. Bubble, bubble. Daniel Andrlik: He's like, "Don't bother." He [00:22:30] flicks a finger and a bubble pops over her. Sampson Davis: All right. Daniel Andrlik: ChaCha, by the way, it is filled with the darkness and the sound, but there's also the scent of fresh baking bread. Alex Finn: Ooh. ChaCha's blissing right now. Daniel Andrlik: He says to you guys, "You still need training as members of the Guardians because you have a contractor who is not a member of our Order that you insist on traveling with. We have to do [00:23:00] your training on the road. We don't have the option of doing it separately, so this is where we are. You have me. You don't have one of the guides. You just have me." Sampson Davis: Right, and I get that, but what are we training towards? Is there a license? What's the goal? Daniel Andrlik: Right now, you're Guardians, but you are still new to the Order. The guides oversee us all, but you're not yet at the point where you can just [00:23:30] be left mostly independent with a simple controller or handler. Stace Babcock: No, not a Handler. Sampson Davis: We don't fuck with Handlers anymore. Daniel Andrlik: No, not those. I mean in the generic terms. You're not at that point yet. He looks at Nix and says, "And honestly, up until this point, you guys have demonstrated that you really do need a supervisor." Stace Babcock: Yeah, sure. Okay, so when are we leaving? [00:24:00] Soon? Daniel Andrlik: We can leave tomorrow, as far as I'm concerned. I've been waiting for you, and then the issue with this artifact came up, which thankfully you were able to handle, although of course we now have an issue that your friend, your contractor, ChaCha, is now essentially the same artifact. Stace Babcock: We're working with her on boundaries. It's going to be okay. Sampson Davis: Yeah. Daniel Andrlik: Okay. Well, as long as you're not randomly mutating people. If you can keep her from doing that, that would be [00:24:30] a step in the right direction. Stace Babcock: Yeah, that hasn't happened here. No. Daniel Andrlik: That is going to be a deception roll. Stace Babcock: It hasn't happened here in this timeline. Alex Finn: Technically true. Sampson Davis: There is no evidence. Daniel Andrlik: No, she did that to the Henderson. Stace Babcock: Oh, shit. Oh, Nix doesn't... Alex Finn: Yeah. Stace Babcock: I was just trying to be clever. Nix wouldn't. Nix would just nod sagely. Alex Finn: Totally. Stace Babcock: Yeah. Alex Finn: Yeah. Mm-hmm (affirmative). Daniel Andrlik: Yep. Anyway, we need to get going. It's difficult because [00:25:00] I need to be able to explain to you how the Order works, and we need to be able to find ways to do that, and we also need to do it in a way that we don't reveal too much information to your contractor. He looks at Dili and says, "Honestly, I didn't realize it at the time because she was disguised, but I'm shocked that you answered our call and response without her distracted." Sampson Davis: Yep. I'm full of surprises like that. Daniel Andrlik: Incidentally, Dili... [00:25:30] I might cut this out, but by the way, in previous episodes, ChaCha was aware that the, "What is the door," was a question. Alex Finn: Yeah. Sampson Davis: Yeah. Alex Finn: Because remember, Atalia was so angry about it. Sampson Davis: Yeah. Alex Finn: So angy. Sampson Davis: But I mean, I feel like that's the point, right? People know the question, even if they don't... It's knowing the response. Daniel Andrlik: But now she's heard the answer. Alex Finn: Yeah. Stace Babcock: She heard a fragment of the answer. Sampson Davis: Yeah. Stace Babcock: Yeah, you didn't even wait for [00:26:00] the whole answer before verifying. I feel like there were a lot of missteps when we first got together. You asked the question like you expected an answer. Daniel Andrlik: Nix, you were not present. Stace Babcock: Oh, fuck. Alex Finn: Ooh. Daniel Andrlik: You were [crosstalk 00:26:12]. Stace Babcock: I was talking about the door. Damn. I can't go after Vlad. Shit. Alex Finn: Yeah, you were saying about the literal door. Stace Babcock: Nix was just rolling her eyes in general. Daniel Andrlik: He looks at Dili and says, "It's really quite good how you're doing that. They're matching her expressions real time." Sampson Davis: Yep. Had a lot [00:26:30] of practice the past few weeks. Daniel Andrlik: Yeah. Eventually, you'll be able to back burner that, and be able to maintain different set of expressions for everybody under disguise. Sampson Davis: Really? Daniel Andrlik: You'll get there, I promise you. It takes practice. Sampson Davis: Yeah. Yeah. Well, I got plenty of that. Okay. Can you teach me other things, or? This is a distraction, but... Sorry. I'll back burner that. Daniel Andrlik: There's a reason why they sent you to me. Dili, by the way, floating over Vlad's head you see an indicator that once again, [00:27:00] you shouldn't recognize the glyphs, but you do realize it has appeared as an upgraded threat assessment. 35%. Sampson Davis: Dili makes a mental note of that. Daniel Andrlik: When you look at Nix, you see a threat assessment of 60%. Sampson Davis: Dili nods sagely at Nix. Doesn't explain it, but yeah, that makes sense. Stace Babcock: Yeah. Daniel Andrlik: When you look at ChaCha, you see the equivalent of two question marks. Stace Babcock: And a red skull. Sampson Davis: [00:27:30] That also makes a lot of sense. Yep. Yeah. Daniel Andrlik: You need to figure out how you want to handle your contractor, because we have some ruin delves to do. There's some potentially very dangerous things that we could encounter, and I need to make sure that when we get down there, that things are absolutely clear who is in charge. Stace Babcock: Me. Sampson Davis: Nix. Daniel Andrlik: That's fine. You can be in charge of your contractor. Sampson Davis: Yeah. Understand if Nix dies, we all die. [00:28:00] That's what's going to happen, probably. Daniel Andrlik: I mean, hopefully that will not happen. I have no intention of anything like that happening. Sampson Davis: Great. Daniel Andrlik: Both you and Nix are classified as... Kind of pauses for a minute, and his mouth twists, and he's like, "Valuable assets." Stace Babcock: Hell yeah. Nix holds up the high five for Dili. Sampson Davis: What? Do I... Oh. Ow. High fiving you always hurts. Stace Babcock: Nix didn't even move her hand. She was just... Daniel Andrlik: Yeah. Dili just hit actual resistance [00:28:30] and he wasn't sure what to do. Go ahead, get some sleep. We'll leave in the morning. Sampson Davis: All right. Yeah. Are we done? Shall we go to our room? Stace Babcock: Yeah. Nix slinks away with a bad attitude. Alex Finn: Is ChaCha still bubbled, smelling that bread? Daniel Andrlik: The bubble drops from ChaCha, for sure. Alex Finn: You owe me two breads. Sampson Davis: What, I do? Daniel Andrlik: And Vlad kind of says, "I had you," and then he hands you a plate of two Ninth World croissants, which are like... [00:29:00] They have the flakiness of a croissant but they're in the shape of a trapezoid. Alex Finn: Ooh. You have earned my favor. And she, [inaudible 00:29:07]. Yeah. Daniel Andrlik: He smiles, and then he opens up, effectively, a notebook and begins jotting things down. You guys are clearly dismissed. Stace Babcock: To the room. Sampson Davis: To the room. Alex Finn: Yeah. After she chipmunks it, room. Daniel Andrlik: The best part about chipmunking is that you can fit a lot in at once and then just slowly chew it as you're ready for it. Alex Finn: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Sampson Davis: [00:29:30] Dili makes sure that that doesn't come through in the disguise. Daniel Andrlik: Yeah, for sure. Okay, so you guys get back to your room. Sampson Davis: Okay, so I don't know if I will physically be able to say this. Alex Finn: Wait, Dili, bubble. Sampson Davis: What? Stace Babcock: Bubble, Dili. Sampson Davis: What? No, no, no. No, this is... What? What? Alex Finn: Bubble us. Try to bubble us so people outside can hear. Sampson Davis: Uh-huh (affirmative). Oh. Okay, I [00:30:00] will do that. Alex Finn: [inaudible 00:30:02]. Stace Babcock: Yo, ChaCha. Sampson Davis: What? Stace Babcock: You've got to chew your food, ChaCha. I have seen people die like that. Alex Finn: ChaCha swallows heavily, like she's got a Popeyes biscuit in her mouth. Stace Babcock: Oh. Sampson Davis: Okay. Bubble. I can't suppress sound. I can only make [00:30:30] more noise over it, but yeah, I can throw up a bubble. Daniel Andrlik: I mean, you could put white noise by the door. Sampson Davis: That's also true. Thank you, voice of God. Stace Babcock: Yeah, like a white noise machine. Alex Finn: Yeah. Daniel Andrlik: Yeah. Alex Finn: We've been kind of dropping the ball a lot on just saying things to everybody. It's just like, "Maybe now that I'm not only going to save the world, but I'm also God, we should be more careful." Sampson Davis: Have you told us that that's what the Horror said? Have you told us [00:31:00] that? Alex Finn: I don't know. She has proclaimed it several times. Sampson Davis: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Well, ChaCha, you're not God. You're a god at best. Alex Finn: But the next one will eat it, too, right? Dili, you got next. You got next, and then it's Nix's turn, and then it's my turn. Sampson Davis: Well, that might be a good segue. I didn't eat anything. Nix, you killed the automaton that I created with funding from the Knyxos, [00:31:30] remember? You remember that? Stace Babcock: Yeah, yeah. No, yeah, totally, just smashed it. Yep. Daniel Andrlik: Careful, Father. Sampson Davis: All right. Here we go. Daniel Andrlik: I'd hate to see you come to harm that wasn't my doing. Sampson Davis: Well, too late for that. So the automaton's not dead dead, but the body is destroyed. Daniel Andrlik: Dili, make an intellect defense roll of 18. Stace Babcock: 18. Jesus. Sampson Davis: Three levels of effort. Dili's going to share his goddamned feelings. Stace Babcock: Do it. Daniel Andrlik: That's going to be a nine. Alex Finn: He's [00:32:00] got the talking stick. Sampson Davis: 10. Alex Finn: Yeah. Daniel Andrlik: Okay. Dili, whatever you speak next is going to be through a lot of pain, but you're not going to take any damage from it. Sampson Davis: The automaton's persona is in my head and I can hear him talking to me. It talking to me. I haven't asked its pronouns. That's very inconsiderate of me. Blood out his nose. Alex Finn: High five, head noises. Daniel Andrlik: There is a little blood coming out of your nose, and when [00:32:30] you look down, without your disguise, because I assume you dropped them once you guys were in one room together... Sampson Davis: Yes. Daniel Andrlik: There is more of that flesh torn away on your arm, and the synth extends deeper than it did before. Alex Finn: Oh. Sampson Davis: I bring this up... Am I still in pain, I assume? Daniel Andrlik: Oh, yeah. Sampson Davis: I bring this up because I think... Dili holds out his arm. This is the automaton coming through physically. Alex Finn: Hmm. [00:33:00] So is it going to rip out of your body and be a new person? Sampson Davis: I don't know. Daniel Andrlik: That would be ideal. Sampson Davis: Apparently it's what it wants. Alex Finn: I mean, I think the automaton should consider its options, because maybe we should get it a bigger host so it could have this bigger body. I'm just saying. Stace Babcock: ChaCha, we have discussed sacrificing people to provide bodies multiple times. Alex Finn: [00:33:30] But does he need a live body to rip through? If this person is coincidentally dead and beefy, we could offer. I'm not saying Hey You, Hey You is cool, but if we go to the ruins, find a beefy person who happens to die through mysterious circumstances, could we offer the automaton a truce and a beefier body? Sampson Davis: Two things. One, it still wants to kill me, so that. Two, I forgot what the second [00:34:00] thing was. Ow. Dili just wipes blood off his face Alex Finn: I mean, can we talk to the automaton? Because I feel like maybe the automaton's going to be better at negotiating than you are. This is what you need to learn, Dili, when you get head voices. Negotiation is key. Sampson Davis: What it wants is to kill me, and I don't know how to negotiate with that. Alex Finn: Define kill. Could we clone you and then he kills a clone? Sampson Davis: Oh. Alex Finn: [00:34:30] Could we just make a Dili doll? Daniel Andrlik: That would not fulfill my directive. Stace Babcock: Hey, Dili, could you reprogram it from inside your head? You programmed it once. Could you do it again? Sampson Davis: Maybe? I don't know how I'd even start that. I could try the meditation thing and... Oh, I don't know. Okay. I could try, maybe? Stace Babcock: [00:35:00] Yeah, or if you feel yourself losing to the automaton, you can just let me know and I can just end it right there. I would do that for a friend, yeah. Alex Finn: Yeah, we've got it pretty good. Nix could make it painless. It's fine. Daniel Andrlik: Dili, the threat assessment of Nix escalates by 5%. Sampson Davis: Dili nods like, "Yeah, I like that, because it's scared of you, Nix." Stace Babcock: Well, I killed it once, so it makes sense. Alex Finn: Punched it real good. Sampson Davis: [00:35:30] Also true. Daniel Andrlik: Dili, you get another icon appearing above Nix, and it's odd. Once again, it's a glyph you don't recognize, but your mind interprets it as the eye roll emoji. Sampson Davis: Oh, it's sassy, too. Okay. Fun. Stace Babcock: So yeah, I would just maybe, yeah, reprogram. Sampson Davis: All right. I will give that a shot. Oh, shit. Alex Finn: Or maybe wall building. Nature made walls, [00:36:00] but I showed nature who was stronger. Stace Babcock: Ooh. Daniel Andrlik: Dili, make an intellect defense roll of 18. Sampson Davis: Oh, God damn it. Alex Finn: Oh. Sampson Davis: Another three levels of effort, because I'm not letting him win. Them win. Daniel Andrlik: Okay. Nine. Sampson Davis: 15, 12, nine. Yeah, that seems like fun. I rolled a one. Daniel Andrlik: Okay. Dili, you will take four intellect damage. Sampson Davis: All right. Daniel Andrlik: You start bleeding out the nose and you are unconscious. Sampson Davis: Dope. Alex Finn: [00:36:30] I guess ChaCha's going to go try and Medicine Woman him. Daniel Andrlik: Okay. It doesn't take too much. I mean, he mostly just needs rest, but the one thing that is important for Dili to know is that when you wake up, you don't remember that conversation at all. Alex Finn: Ooh. Sampson Davis: Oh. Alex Finn: He's reprogramming you. But yeah, ChaCha's going to kind of try and medicine up that arm, too, so it doesn't get all gangrene while we're adventuring. Daniel Andrlik: Yeah, you manage to contain the infection. Well, actually, I should make you roll for that. With [00:37:00] your training, it's a six. Alex Finn: 13. Daniel Andrlik: Okay. You've managed to bandage it to kind of contain the infection. Alex Finn: Can we cauterize the edges, since he's already passed out? Daniel Andrlik: You can. That will slow the healing over the synth, but yes, you can. Alex Finn: Nix, do you think we should kind of burn these edges or let them keep going? Stace Babcock: Oh, what? I'm sorry. Sort of zoned out. What's up? Alex Finn: We stopped the infection- Daniel Andrlik: Was that Nix or Stace? Alex Finn: [00:37:30] We stopped the infection, but should I kind of burn the edges so that they stay sterile, or should we let it attempt to close up, knowing that he might keep picking at it? Stace Babcock: Oh. Alex Finn: Because I don't want to do it when he's awake, because it would probably hurt if we just put the fire to it. Stace Babcock: I think that probably cauterize it, and then we could also just see sort of the progress of the synth [00:38:00] maybe a little bit better. Alex Finn: True. This is one of those permanent changes, though. Stace Babcock: Oh, yeah. No, legit. Legit. Daniel Andrlik: Yep. Alex Finn: That's why I'm asking. Daniel Andrlik: Oh, and I would say, ChaCha, you realize, also, that there is an option to attempt to remove the synth from his arm. It's dangerous, but you could do it. Alex Finn: We could also remove it, but that's something we have to ask Dili. It's going to be like that surgery again. [00:38:30] But again, I think this is something we have to wait until Dili wakes up to ask him, right? Because maybe he likes the synth. Stace Babcock: Yeah, and I think eventually, even if we cauterize, the skin will grow back, right? That's how skin works. Sampson Davis: Is that how skin works? Daniel Andrlik: All four of us paused, none of us with any medical background. Sampson Davis: Can cauterized skin grow back? Alex Finn: Because I feel like it kills it. That's why you need skin grafts when you get burns, you know? But I'm not... Burns [00:39:00] aren't the same level as cauterization, because it's a quick, fast burn, because it seals all the blood. Daniel Andrlik: Yeah. It might be a question of whether or not you leave a scar or not. Alex Finn: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Yeah, it would definitely probably leave a little bit of a scar if we did that. Daniel Andrlik: In fact, it was probably going to be, I mean... Alex Finn: There's going to be a scar regardless. Stace Babcock: The damaged skin usually grows back unless it becomes infected or the injury gets deeper. This is just about burn injuries. Oh, third degree burns don't heal by themselves. Does this go through the [00:39:30] epidermis and the dermis and affect deeper tissues? Alex Finn: Yeah, it would, probably, because it's an open wound showing a lower level of skin. Probably right around where his muscle's going to be. Daniel Andrlik: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Alex Finn: So it would probably not grow back, judging by that, because it's in the dermis. Stace Babcock: I think you should just do what is medically best, ChaCha. I think that is the only way we can make this decision. Alex Finn: I think then we wrap it up, because it's not going to be infected, but then we give Dili the option, like, "Hey, [00:40:00] we can cauterize this, we can try a slightly riskier approach with removing the synth, or we can just kind of let it be and hope he learns that his arm is a no-no zone before he needs oven mitts." Stace Babcock: All right. Yeah. Alex Finn: I mean, yeah. Should we do watches? Stace Babcock: Nah, I don't think we need watches. Well, maybe one of us should sit with Dili until he wakes up, though, yeah. I'll do that. I'll do that, and then if it gets to be too late, I'll wake you up, ChaCha. Alex Finn: Okay. That sounds [00:40:30] good. I'm going to... Yeah, I'm going to go sleep under the bed like always. ChaCha crawls underneath the bed into her little nest. Stace Babcock: Wait, didn't ChaCha rent a room in Charmonde with two beds to herself? And she slept under them? Alex Finn: Yeah. She pushed them together and slept underneath them. Stace Babcock: Yeah. Sampson Davis: You're questioning her now? Now, you're questioning? Daniel Andrlik: You guys are just about to fall asleep and then there is a knock at the door. Stace Babcock: Who is it? Daniel Andrlik: It's Race. Stace Babcock: Oh. Nix will go over [00:41:00] and open the door. She lets him in. Daniel Andrlik: There stands Race, looking kind of nervously back and forth. Says, "Can I come in and talk to you? Stace Babcock: Yeah. Daniel Andrlik: He steps in and goes over and kind of finds a spot to lean against. So I guess we're headed out tomorrow? Stace Babcock: Oh, yeah. Going to head down to those ruins Vlad keeps talking about. Going to map them out, check for artifacts. Daniel Andrlik: Yeah. Yeah. [00:41:30] Do you have a lot of experience with that stuff? Stace Babcock: Oh, yeah. Go into ruins all the time. Daniel Andrlik: Right. What else do you know about the ruins we're going to? Stace Babcock: Nothing. He just said it was like a delve where we're just going to... Why? Is there more going on? Daniel Andrlik: I don't know. He just seems nervous about something. I haven't seen him like this before. Stace Babcock: Oh, really? Is he not usually in this kind of mood? Because it's really been... Daniel Andrlik: Well, I think that has more to do with the decisions [00:42:00] you've made since you've got here, but yeah, he's definitely on edge. Stace Babcock: Do you know what the ruins are called? Maybe I've heard of them. Daniel Andrlik: Most of the ruins that we go exploring don't have names yet. It's a rumored delve that we're chasing after. We're actually going to have to cross over into [Thamewar 00:42:19] to check it out. Stace Babcock: Would Nix know anything about a rumored delved a week south from Mountain's Bone in Thamewar? Daniel Andrlik: Give me... [00:42:30] Since you have recent events and rumors, use that training, so it'll be a 12. Stace Babcock: 17. Daniel Andrlik: There are always rumors about ruins in the mountains. You feel like there are almost always something being described there. In that respect, it's not necessarily unusual that Mountain's Bone would be a waypoint that they might use to meet up with you guys, because even though it's not a village you've ever heard of before, logistically, [00:43:00] in the map that's in your head compared to the map that's on your maps, it's a logistically probable place for a rendezvous if you're trying to hit up other ruins in the mountains. There's been a number of ruins discovered along the mountains and the border of Navarene, and you don't know if it's necessarily that that's because they're more common there or if it's just that because that's where you're from and where you've done most of your wandering, [00:43:30] that's what you've heard. I would say Nix is self-aware enough to kind of know that there is that potential bias, but I would say Nix probably hasn't spent a lot of time in the other nations because as you said, Nix kind of lives up to her reputation. This was off podcast, but I'll say this, that Nix has sort of a reputation of being talented but not ambitious, so she probably didn't wander far. Alex Finn: Legit. Stace Babcock: So really nothing, though. Daniel Andrlik: It [00:44:00] definitely is probable. You don't necessarily have a name for it, but you've heard stories about more ruins along the mountains, because the mountains are really the border between the steadfast and the beyond. You've heard stories about many ruins there, but once again, they're rumors. They don't all have names unless they've been charted. And yes, ChaCha, I would say is awake. Race came into the room. Dili's probably still recovering from whatever knocked him out. Alex Finn: That mystery knockout. Oof. Stace Babcock: [00:44:30] Yeah, I haven't heard anything particular about any ruins around here. I mean, we started our little test with the organization in ruins outside of Charmonde. We've been in a few other ruins since then. Just got to expect the unexpected, you know what I'm saying? Daniel Andrlik: Yeah, I'm just... Things... He kind of huddles closer into his body. Things never seem to go well for me in those places. Stace Babcock: I mean, [00:45:00] you make your own luck a little bit, you know what I mean? You've got to be positive. This is not going to help you down there, you know what I'm saying? But what's happened, though? Daniel Andrlik: It's been hard. Stace Babcock: Do you want to sit down, dude? Daniel Andrlik: I'm okay. I shouldn't stay long. I should get some sleep. I'm so tired. Stace Babcock: Oh, no, tell us what's on your mind. We're traveling together, aren't we? Daniel Andrlik: Yeah. Give me a social roll of 12. You're specialized, so it's a six. Stace Babcock: [00:45:30] 10. Daniel Andrlik: It's been a hard adjustment for me. This has not been as easy to adapt to as I hoped. I'll be honest, I'm not 100% sure I'm cut out for this. Alex Finn: Can you even quit? Sampson Davis: I imagine ChaCha's still under the bed. Alex Finn: Oh, yeah, she is. She hasn't revealed herself. Daniel Andrlik: Yeah. He kind of looks over at it, a little startled, but then he says, with a half smile, "Not sure." He looks at his left arm. [00:46:00] Nix, I would say in that moment, you feel a phantom pain from the fire. Stace Babcock: Yeah. We had someone bail. Daniel Andrlik: Really? Stace Babcock: Yep. Daniel Andrlik: Where are they now? Stace Babcock: Don't know. Daniel Andrlik: Well, hopefully they don't do anything hasty or foolish. Stace Babcock: I can't say anything in front of our contractor, but I can just definitely tell you what was told to me about what might happen to them. Daniel Andrlik: All right. You can come closer and whisper it if you need to. Stace Babcock: [00:46:30] ChaCha, will you just plug your ears, since Dili's unconscious? Alex Finn: You see a thumbs up extend from underneath the bed, and she does. Stace Babcock: Nix chooses to trust, and she leans in and she whispers, "Yo, what they told us was that as long as she didn't act against the interest of the Guardians, they'd probably leave her alone." Daniel Andrlik: Oh, that's good to hear. It's not always easy to understand how far-reaching the fire is. Stace Babcock: [00:47:00] I mean, what inspired you to join in the first place? Why are you even here if you're already having doubts? Daniel Andrlik: I don't have any doubts about the mission. I'm just worried about whether or not I can do what I need to do. Stace Babcock: What's your skillset? If you had to describe yourself in a sentence. Daniel Andrlik: I'm a Nano. I'm good with Numenera. I'm good with understanding how to have the [inaudible 00:47:25] of the world do my bidding. Stace Babcock: Oh my god. That's sick, [00:47:30] and you think you're not cut out for this shit? Yo, listen, not much of a fighter, is that what I'm hearing? Daniel Andrlik: No. No, I'm not much of a fighter. Stace Babcock: You know what? Neither is Dili, but I am, you know what I'm saying? So leave the fighting to me, ChaCha chips in on the fighting, and you do your thing, help out how you can, back with Dili. We'll do our best to protect you, and you do your best to figure out what the heck is going on with all the Numenera and the ruins, and that's how this shit works. Daniel Andrlik: Right. All right. [00:48:00] He pauses for a moment, and he looks at you, Nix, as Dili is unconscious, and he looks down at your leg. Stace Babcock: Hey, eyes up here. Daniel Andrlik: He says, "There are three software vulnerabilities in your leg that need to be patched very badly." Sampson Davis: Oh, no he didn't. Alex Finn: Oh, shit. He dissed Dili's work. Fuck. Stace Babcock: Dili didn't do the software, did he? He just installed it. Alex Finn: [00:48:30] Oh, shit. Sampson Davis: Yeah. Stace Babcock: Can you... Alex Finn: True. Stace Babcock: I want to be like, "Software? Pretty hard to me." Alex Finn: Do it. Daniel Andrlik: Stace, I have to point out that for as much as you complain in the Discord about puns, you are the worst perpetrator of them in the process. Stace Babcock: What do you mean? Alex Finn: Called out. Stace Babcock: I'm going [00:49:00] to drink more. No. Oh, shit. Can you fix it? Daniel Andrlik: I can make suggestions. Nix, you are going to make a roll here. I'm going to secretly add Race's bonus to it to see if he can supply you with the information that Dili needs. Alex Finn: ChaCha's still plugging her ears, FYI, until you signal her to stop. Daniel Andrlik: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Stace Babcock: Five. Daniel Andrlik: Race says, "I'm not sure if these will do the trick or not, but these are what I've been able to come [00:49:30] up with." He hands you a small... What you recognize as a data card with information on it. Stace Babcock: Thanks, man. Really appreciate this. Daniel Andrlik: Yeah. Thanks for listening. I should get some sleep. We've got a long, long trek ahead. Stace Babcock: Yep. All right. Have a good night. Good to meet you. See you tomorrow. Daniel Andrlik: All right. We met a while ago, but that's okay. He walks out the door. Stace Babcock: Officially meet him. All right. Nix throws a rolled up sock at ChaCha [00:50:00] under the bed to let her know it's okay to unplug her ears. Alex Finn: Okay. Daniel Andrlik: Dili, you have shifted into a natural sleep, so you could easily be woken up at this point. Or you guys could let him sleep the night. It's up to you guys. Alex Finn: He's suffered. Unless Nix wants to wake him up, ChaCha isn't. Stace Babcock: Nope, Nix will just... How many beds are here? Daniel Andrlik: There are three beds in this room. Stace Babcock: Yeah. I think we should just sleep. We're going to have to keep watch out there, so might as well get a sleep. Yeah. Daniel Andrlik: Are you going to set up a separate room for the ring race when they [crosstalk 00:50:29]? It was just for [00:50:30] Sampson. Sampson Davis: I liked it. Thank you. Stace Babcock: Okay. Yeah, sleepy times for Nix. I don't know what ChaCha's doing. Alex Finn: Sleeping underneath the bed. Daniel Andrlik: Morning comes. Everybody wakes up. Sampson Davis: Oh, what happened? Daniel Andrlik: Dili, this is what you remember. You remember asking them to come to the room, that you would explain things, and then you don't remember anything after that. Sampson Davis: What happened to my arm? Alex Finn: You told us about your voices [00:51:00] in your head and how they're trying to kill you. Sampson Davis: Oh. Alex Finn: But your arm, I made sure it wasn't going to get infected, but since we had the talk about permanent modifications, we decided to wait until you woke up to make the choice. Daniel Andrlik: See that, Father? They don't trust you. Sampson Davis: Can I roll an insight on that? Daniel Andrlik: You can. It'll be an 18. Alex Finn: Ooh. Sampson Davis: Oh, but fully rested? Alex Finn: [00:51:30] Yes. Daniel Andrlik: You've had 10 hours. You could take up through your 10-hour recovery roll if you want to figure out how much you can. Sampson Davis: Dope. I'm going to do that, then. Six. Nice. 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20. Yeah, that's plenty to... Alex Finn: Fuck yeah. Sampson Davis: Fill it all up. Alex Finn: You interrogate your son. Daniel Andrlik: Sampson, what did you roll? Did you just roll a one again? Sampson Davis: No, no, I'm thinking of how much effort I have. I was just rolling out recovery rolls. Daniel Andrlik: [00:52:00] Okay. Okay. You had that look. That look of grim acceptance. Sampson Davis: God, no. That would be cool, though. Yeah, I've got intellect to spare. Three levels of effort on this insight roll. Daniel Andrlik: Okay. It's a nine. Sampson Davis: Oh, math. 16. Daniel Andrlik: The automaton is definitely lying to you on some level. He's hiding something. He's hiding something and he is trying to mislead you. It is also, just to clarify, [00:52:30] for whatever reason, and you're not sure why, it identifies as a he. Sampson Davis: Cool. What did ChaCha say to me? Alex Finn: Oh, that we were going to give you options about your arm, because we had a conversation about permanent modifications. Sampson Davis: Right. Dili pauses for a second, kind of furrows his brow, and then relaxes, then furrows his brow again, turns to ChaCha. Wait, what were you going to do? Alex Finn: Oh, no, [inaudible 00:52:56] Nix had the conversation. I can [00:53:00] leave it as is, I can cauterize the wound, or, this is a riskier option, we can try and remove the synth. Also, I forgot to tell you, but we offered your head voice a dead burly body to burst out of instead of yours. We didn't get an answer, though, but it was decided you need to work on negotiations. Sampson Davis: Negotiations with the... Alex Finn: Voice in your head. Stace Babcock: The reaper inside your head, Dili. Alex Finn: [00:53:30] Nix, am I forgetting anything? I feel like I'm forgetting something important. Stace Babcock: There's a reaper inside Dili's head. Alex Finn: You need to learn to negotiate, and we offered him spare bodies. What else? Stace Babcock: We discussed and we decided not to do that, ChaCha, and then your reaper didn't like that very much and knocked you out. Alex Finn: But what... We came to a decision. I just can't remember what it was, and you didn't like my suggestion, so you came up with a different one. Stace Babcock: Oh, I offered to [00:54:00] kill Dili. Dili, I offered to kill you if you get too close to turning or the reaper taking over. You know, as a friend. Sampson Davis: Can that be our next T-shirt? Daniel Andrlik: Dili, you hear a bad voice in your head and it says, "That is designated as plan, D01." Stace Babcock: Oh, I also suggested that you reprogram your reaper. Yeah, yeah. That was the big thing, I think. Yeah. Yeah, that was it. Alex Finn: Oh, yeah. That was Nix's peaceful route, [00:54:30] and she uses air quotes. Stace Babcock: Programmed it once, you can do it again, you know? Alex Finn: I thought it was more peaceful to give him a different body. Stace Babcock: Oh, and Race is good at software. Alex Finn: Yeah. Sampson Davis: Oh. Alex Finn: Although kind of a baby. Stace Babcock: And could see three vulnerabilities in my leg software just by looking at it, Dili, so maybe he could look at your head and see- Sampson Davis: Excuse me? There's no vulnerabilities in there. Stace Babcock: He gave me this data chip. Here you go. Sampson Davis: Well, oh, shit. Okay. So [00:55:00] many things are happening. You keep this data chip. How long do we... Is it morning? Stace Babcock: Yeah, yeah. We've got to leave. Alex Finn: Yes. We're leaving, bro. Stace Babcock: We've got to go. Sampson Davis: Shit. Alex Finn: Check out. Sampson Davis: How long do we have, do you think? Stace Babcock: Well, Vlad hasn't come to get us yet, Dili, so what are you trying to do? Sampson Davis: Well, all right. Now, it's a threat. Now, it's a threat. Dili is going to remove all his equipment, all his cyphers and stuff, put it on his bed, and then move to the other side of the room. [00:55:30] I am going to try to reprogram the automaton, so subdue before you kill, at least. I don't want to die, but do what you've got to do, but maybe don't try killing first, just in case this goes badly. Stace Babcock: Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You got it. Alex Finn: But what happens when he bursts out of your body? Do we kill him then or do we negotiate? Stace Babcock: Dili won't be with us anymore so I think we'll be... Sampson Davis: Yeah. I leave that to [00:56:00] you because one way or another, it won't be my problem anymore. Also, good luck explaining to Vlad what happened. Stace Babcock: I don't tell Vlad shit, Dili, you know that. Anyway, go ahead. Alex Finn: Vlad doesn't own us. Or at least not me. Sampson Davis: Let's hope so, yeah. All right. Here we go. Dili is going to sit down and start to meditate. Daniel Andrlik: This is going to take a series of events, by the way. Sampson Davis: Yep. Daniel Andrlik: That can just be one roll solves it all. The first, I need you [00:56:30] to give me a nine intellect roll to go inward and block out the distraction that is ChaCha and Nix doing whatever they do in your girl time. Sampson Davis: Yeah. Got the freebie, so that should be a six. 14. Daniel Andrlik: All right. You're able to block them out and bring yourself to a space where you feel like you're kind of divorced from the environment around you. There is a moment in this darkness that is peaceful, [00:57:00] where for once, Dili, in a long time, you don't feel the same fear or anxiety, and then you hear a familiar voice. It's been a while since you've come to see me of your own volition. Sampson Davis: Well, I've been busy. By the way, very rude of me to only start asking now. Do you have a name? Daniel Andrlik: Give me a social roll of 18. Sampson Davis: All right. Freebie, [00:57:30] so that should be a 15. 10. Daniel Andrlik: We're not at that point yet. Sampson Davis: Cool. Well... Daniel Andrlik: Actually, you know what? That's less interesting, so I'm going to retcon that, and I'm going to offer you an XP instead. Sampson Davis: All right. Alex Finn: Do it. Sampson Davis: All right. Then I'll give the other one to Nix, and she's on watch to kill me if things get weird. Alex Finn: Mm-hmm (affirmative). She's got to get that reroll in case. Stace Babcock: I ain't going to use it to reroll. What are you talking about? Daniel Andrlik: Traditionally, the parent names the child. Sampson Davis: [00:58:00] Okay. Where did I... Daniel Andrlik: I knew Sampson already had an idea for this. Sampson Davis: I do. Parent names the child. All right. I suppose I'll call you Aster. Daniel Andrlik: Aster. All right. I'll take it. Sampson Davis: Cool. Daniel Andrlik: You can call me Aster. Sampson Davis: Hey, Aster? Fuck off. And then I'm going to use all 12 experience points I've accumulated to tier up. Alex Finn: Oh, shit. Stace Babcock: Hell yeah. Daniel Andrlik: Oh, wow. Alex Finn: Dunk. Daniel Andrlik: Okay. Holy shit. Okay. Alex Finn: But [00:58:30] that storyline. Tastes so good. Daniel Andrlik: What are they all being spent on? Sampson Davis: Oh, Jesus. I regret my decision. This is more numbers than I thought. First four are going to go into stat pools, and that'll actually bring me up tier three. Alex Finn: Nice. Sampson Davis: Then I will figure out where those go later. Then the next two... Another one in effort, because I feel like I'm going to need that in a second. Daniel Andrlik: Why? Alex Finn: I don't know. Sampson Davis: And then [00:59:00] another one in stat pools, because I'm also fucking going to need that in a second. Daniel Andrlik: Okay. Sampson Davis: No more rerolls, guys, so what happens happens. Daniel Andrlik: Okay. The answer you get is just a sort of... Actually, and it sounds a little bit hurt. It's sarcastic but hiding real hurt. Sampson Davis: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Daniel Andrlik: Rude. Sampson Davis: Well, you've threatened my life. It seems like you're going to threaten my friends, so I'm sorry it's come to this, Aster, but you need to be dealt with now. Daniel Andrlik: I [00:59:30] didn't ask to be this way. Sampson Davis: Have you tried not? Do you want to be this way? Daniel Andrlik: I have my directive. Then he pauses for a moment, and there is a moment where you detect almost tinge of sadness in the feed, and he says, "I have [inaudible 00:59:51]." Dili, at that point, your right arm begins to itch. That's where we'll end this episodes. Sampson Davis: Fuck. Alex Finn: Shit. He's going [01:00:00] to burst through that skin suit. Boom. "It's me, your cyborg son." Stace Babcock: Remember when Dili was... Alex Finn: Just was. I was going to say, you mean like that time he got caught in the cave because he was too thick. Stace Babcock: Oh. Daniel Andrlik: He was just like Pooh when he got stuck in the tree [crosstalk 01:00:28]. Sampson Davis: I can't believe we never made a fucking Winnie the Pooh joke [01:00:30] at the time. God damn it. Daniel Andrlik: Yeah. Yep. Alex Finn: Oh, fuck. Sampson Davis: Dan, can we go back to that and just rewrite all of this? Stace Babcock: Rewrite. Daniel Andrlik: No, I have too much to edit right now. Stace Babcock: This is how conspiracy theories get started that this shit's scripted. Alex Finn: Wait, you're not reading your script beforehand? Stace Babcock: Trust us, this is all improv. You think this would be scripted? Daniel Andrlik: Sampson, something about this episode. Sampson Davis: Oh, I finally fucking [01:01:00] dropped 12 XP to level up. That felt great. Daniel Andrlik: Yeah, that's pretty fucking awesome. That is amazing. Sampson Davis: Oh, yeah. Daniel Andrlik: It's not quite like the prediction we had early on that you would suddenly jump four tiers at once, but... Sampson Davis: Yeah, well. Daniel Andrlik: It is a little bit like Super Saiyan, though, jumping that many advancements at once. Sampson Davis: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Stace Babcock: That is really cool. I don't know how you do it. I'm just so thirsty for advancement all the time. Alex Finn: Oh, yeah. Sampson Davis: [01:01:30] Just don't reroll ones and then just, yeah. Yeah, I like that. I like that Dili's finally confronting Aster. I like that I got to name the automaton. That was very cool. Daniel Andrlik: Very cool. I knew you had a name for it already in your head. Alex Finn: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Daniel Andrlik: I didn't know what it was. Just because you're that kind of player. Sampson Davis: Well, I knew at one point it was going to come up because it never offered a name, and I was like, "Oh, shit. I can't just keep calling it the automaton." Daniel Andrlik: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Or your metal son. Sampson Davis: That was a joke, by the way. I call it my metal son. [01:02:00] Dili never said that, I don't think. Daniel Andrlik: Well, it's a little complicated because you definitely made some jokes about it in Dili's voice. Sampson Davis: Oh. Alex Finn: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Sampson Davis: Damn my sense of humor. Alex Finn: You're too witty and it's amazing. Daniel Andrlik: We have a segment that we do each week called Player Intrusions. That's where we offer you, the listener, an XP to check out something that we think you would really dig. This week, it is Alex's turn. Alex, what would you offer our listeners an XP to check out? Alex Finn: I've been thinking really hard and... Hard. I'm just not going [01:02:30] to finish that. Phrasing. Daniel Andrlik: Nice. Alex Finn: Boom. You know what I've decided? The Kingdom Hearts series, or as I like to call it, Disney Square Enix fan fiction. Sampson Davis: Oh, yeah. Alex Finn: Because that's what it is. I've just been really enjoying watching people on Twitch play it. One of my... Oh, God, I'm not going to be able to pronounce his username, but the streamer, Desensed. I will send you a link to his channel. I just call him Joe because I'm lazy [01:03:00] as fuck, but he's been one-hundred-percenting in I think it's the hardest mode, all the games, from the first one, he's on the third one, but the entire series. It's amazing to watch because you're just like, "The lore is so deep. Holy shit." If you've watched too many Disney movies, like I have, you'll notice that they've taken very famous Disney scenes and they just, "Eh, what if we just nudged [01:03:30] it a little here? Let's make a joke about, I don't know, how the emperor thinks that Mulan should totally hook up with that general dude, but how he has got no game." Yeah. It's very interesting. But yeah, if you own a PS4 still or if you have been lucky enough to get a PS5, or heck, if you own the original systems, on console, the games are pretty cheap now. I think you can get [01:04:00] up through the third game including all of the little bits and pieces of the story on PS4 for under $30 now. If you do not have a console, I am so sorry, because they just ported them to computer and it's like $100 or so. Sampson Davis: Yeah, it's... Alex Finn: Yeah, it's quite steep. Sampson Davis: It's like 60 bucks for, I think. 1.5 and 2.5, 60 bucks for III, and then 60 bucks for some of the interstitial... Alex Finn: [01:04:30] Mini games, yeah. Sampson Davis: Yeah, and then there's a weird rhythm game that just looks like shit. Alex Finn: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But yeah, so if you own a console still, they're cheap. If you do not, I am so sorry, but there are many people streaming them right now. Go see that VOD. Daniel Andrlik: All right. If people wanted to reach out to us and tell us what they think about Kingdom Hearts or which two Kingdom Hearts characters they ship, or the podcast, how would they do that, Sampson? Sampson Davis: All right. Quick aside. What [01:05:00] do you think the probability is that somebody who has no idea of what the lore is would ship two characters and those two characters would be the same character? Alex Finn: Oh, that would be amazing. Sampson Davis: Yeah. Like what if somebody shipped Roxas and Sora and just had no idea what that meant. Alex Finn: Listen, that would be some deep reflection and looking in on yourself has a new meaning. Sampson Davis: Well, somebody do the math and find us at explorerswanted.fm. From there, they can get to all the places we have staked a flag in [01:05:30] on the internet, such as on Twitter. We are @ExplorersWanted. On Instagram and Facebook, we are @ExplorersWantedPodcast. Tell us directly what the probabilities are at explorerswanted.fm/discord. We're pretty active there. It's a pretty chill place to hang out and share all the stuff you find. Additionally, if you would like to support us monetarily, not just morally, you can do so at patreon.com/explorerswanted. Stace Babcock: You're also welcome to support us amorally. No, that's a joke. Alex Finn: Yeah. [01:06:00] I'll accept the amoral support sometimes. Sampson Davis: As long as it's legal. Stace Babcock: Depends. Sampson Davis: Do it legally, but... Alex Finn: Legal and consenting. Daniel Andrlik: Yeah. Alex Finn: Be as amoral as you want with those two. Daniel Andrlik: If you like the podcast, honestly, the best thing that you could do for us is to tell a friend and tell them why you like the show and why they should listen to it. Seriously, do that. It makes the biggest impact. The second biggest thing that you could do for us is to leave a five-star review on a podcast directory, specifically [01:06:30] Apple Podcasts, Podchaser, Stitcher, and leaving details about what you liked in that review. There are so many actual play podcasts out there. I can't enumerate how many, and having those detailed reviews make a huge difference in people checking the show out. If you didn't like the podcast or if you just thought it was meh, remember they told you that the path to economic prosperity was freedom [01:07:00] of capital to do what it wants. They built a vast machine of computers, ledgers, greed, and human misery to move the capital around. They told you that the machine works for you, but the machine only cares about itself and it runs itself on your blood. If you want to reach out to us individually on Twitter, you can. You can find me @andrlik, A-N-D-R-L-I-K. Stace Babcock: You can find me on Twitter @StaceWindu. Sampson Davis: [01:07:30] Dili now has 25 intellect for his max pool. I'm @SlamPotato. Alex Finn: Holy shit. God. Just join me being jealous of that intellect pool @realteaunicorn on Twitter. Yeah, fuck. I also sometimes do Twitch, when I'm not jealous of that pool. Daniel Andrlik: That's it for us. Will be back next week, as we will for every week in the foreseeable future. Have a good night, day, weekend, [01:08:00] or whenever you're listening to this, and bye. Alex Finn: Bye. Sampson Davis: Bye. Stace Babcock: Bye. Sampson Davis: [01:08:30] That might be a good segue. I didn't eat anything, but... I kind of need Dan here, because I don't know if Dili can actually say this out loud. Alex Finn: Ooh, good point. Sampson Davis: So I guess we'll just... Alex Finn: Ah. Sampson Davis: Hang out here in this weird limbo space. Alex Finn: I mean, if you could eat god, what god would you eat? Sampson Davis: I would eat Dionysus. I feel like he would be the tastiest one. Alex Finn: Ooh. Yeah, them thighs. Daniel Andrlik: He's definitely been marinated. Sampson Davis: Also that. Alex Finn: Yeah. [01:09:00] I'm sorry, I'm just thinking of his character art in Hades, and them thighs. Stace Babcock: I would eat Artemis- Daniel Andrlik: Oh, yeah. Stace Babcock: ... and then I would take her out to dinner. Alex Finn: Oh, yeah. Wine and dine them. Sampson Davis: Hell yeah. Daniel Andrlik: Did you say Artemis? Alex Finn: Yep. Daniel Andrlik: She's so adorably nervous and awkward. Stace Babcock: In Hades, I assume? Alex Finn: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Sampson Davis: She's a tsundere. She's straight up a tsundere. Daniel Andrlik: Yeah. Alex Finn: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Stace Babcock: I haven't played Hades. Alex Finn: No. Oh, no. Stace Babcock: I was just basing that on Greek Mythology. Sampson Davis: I know. Alex Finn: True. True. Stace Babcock: This is a long- [01:09:30] term goddess crush that I've had. Alex Finn: Yeah, a long-term relationship. Yeah. Stace Babcock: Yeah.