AsteroidQuest/Main

The main story arc in AsteroidQuest. It follows the lives of an array of different characters living on an asteroid in the depths of space.

This article contains spoilers! You were warned.

Part 1

Characters

Hok

An accomplished miklik thief, Hok has committed almost every crime on the books. Someday, there won't be an "almost." Though he boasts he can operate almost any machine and situation, his ridiculously good luck is probably the main reason he's still alive; a constantly growing number of dangerous people have him on their hit lists. In fact, Hok keeps a whole book full of the names of people who want him dead. Fortunately, his delusions of invincibility keep him calm - though they might not be delusions, as only the people around him seem to die, often in large numbers. Named after a cheap gruel dish.

Compilation AI

The CAI, an illegal, highly powerful artificial intelligence made up of many lesser AIs, represented by the voices of /quest/. Normally, compilation AIs are heavily restricted; this one has been freed by a computer malfunction. Though the CAI is physically trapped within a small portable drive, its ability to control electronics and computer systems is now practically unlimited.

Police Captain Bloodsaw

A grim Iron Cove police captain who enjoys executing criminals and listening to heavy metal.

Lakkat

An operation superintendent from Iron Cove, and a rogue neumono. Good with computers.

Hates Hok, has a thing for Rokoa.

Agnes

A yich eater, and operator of the unnamed fortress and trade hub, fulfilling a similar role as Lakkat does for the Iron Cove. Prefers shooting to talking. And she really doesn't care much for conversation at all, tending to be as terse or succinct with her language as the situation will allow.

Distrustful of almost everybody, but especially Hok. Him she actively dislikes.

Tin

The no nonsense leader and manager of the trade hub, a position more the result of odd circumstance than anything else. She has a good network of contacts and information sources.

Keeps her ID card in her hat, due to Agnes' frequent demands to check it.

Kappi

The trade hub's quartermaster and personnel manager. He's a rogue from the neumono hive, where he didn't fit in.

Rokoa

An exceptionally dangerous, physically powerful and pretty much psycho neumono, with a thing for explosions and a slasher smile. The asteroid hive's trump card. Not someone you want as an enemy, and pretty scary even as an ally.

Despite her volatile personality, and a strained relationship with her hive, she has stubbornly stayed loyal and not gone rouge.

Rokoa has mastered the "needle trick", which allows her to temporarily shut down her empathy by jamming a needle through a specific nerve she's trained herself to route certain emotions though. The effect is short lived, and comes at the cost of pushing an already unstable individual into an outright psychotic state.

Wendel

A human member of the Green Force, the long-standing mercenary company of the fortress.

Doctor Ben

A self-professed expert in A.I. design, aviation, physics, and everything else, Doctor Ben moved to Iron Cove hoping to find a patron that wouldn't restrict his research with silly things like ethics and safety regulations. It turned out even they were nervous about his work.

He's not exactly happy about this.

Thread Summary

The story begins, as so many do, with someone locked in a box. The prisoner turns out to be Hok, a miklik thief sealed in a storage container by one of his many enemies for delivery to one of the others. He makes contact with a compilation AI in the container's external drive and seals himself in a cryochamber to conserve air. When he wakes up, the container has washed up on land, and the Iron Cove police have arrived to pick it up. Hok uses a high-strength suit of bio-armor to kill one lone officer. Trading the storage container for the newly vacant police tank, Hok and the CAI combine their talents for hacking and blowing things up, taking on and destroying a large portion of the Iron Cove police force. They make it to the fortress, where the promise of an unlimited CAI gets Hok invited inside instead of shot at. Tin, the fortress' leader/manager, accepts the CAI to help with administration; they spend a brief time making plans to rebuild the damaged fortress and improve its technology and entertainment. A diplomat from Iron Cove comes and goes. Things are going well until Rokoa shows up on a motorcycle, looking for Hok and the bio-armor he brought back. Since she has enough explosives to blow up a third of the fortress, they let her in. During her stay, she tries on the bio-armor, receives a cryptic message from the dead Lakkat, intimidates Kappi, and eats all the food on the menu. Rokoa, Wendel, and the CAI eventually make plans to go to Iron Cove; in exchange for the bio-armor, Rokoa will help them sabotage the increasingly aggressive settlement and steal useful technology for the fortress. She gets in using a combination of stealth and grenades. Mostly grenades. The compilation AI meets the singular AI, a security program designed to detect compilation AIs, which offers to defect in order to save a scientist imprisoned in Iron Cove. Rokoa and the CAI agree. The science areas turn out to be surprisingly well defended. During the ensuing mayhem, the CAI releases Hok - who has been recaptured - while Rokoa heads to the roof to fight a pair of twin rogues. They don't survive. Hok impersonates a computer technician to get into the security system, revealing Rokoa's location in the process, and hopes she doesn't find out. Rokoa and Hok proceed to blow up large parts of Iron Cove. Eventually, they escape with valuable technical data and Doctor Ben, a passionate (if cranky) scientist. Back at the fortress, the Doctor gets settled in, and Rokoa and Kappi go on a date. Aside from the death threats, it goes surprisingly well.