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DATA LOSS // LOG 07: Cornered, Broken, and Redlined
Grafton is locking his sights onto my chest, his finger tightening on the trigger. My shoulder is a burning hole, my Arcwire Tool is scorched scrap, and my head feels like it's being microwaved. If he fires again, I’m headed right back to the cloning vat, and with my Integrity sitting at a fragile d4, my next clone might just be a mindless vegetable. No more holding back. It's time to use every single thing left in my inventory and my skull to end this right now.
ROOM 1: THE SUBSURFACE JUNCTION (THE CLIMAX)
I don't just make a move—I launch a full-scale, desperate assault using my remaining gear and my telekinetic rig simultaneously. With my left hand, I pull the trigger on the pressurized canister of industrial Repair Gel, spraying a massive, thick stream of the fast-hardening gray compound directly at his filtration mask to clog his vision and choke his air intake.
At the exact same instant, I scream through the pain, focusing my bleeding mind on the mechanical slide of his slug-thrower pistol. I'm tapping back into my Shatter mod, channeling every drop of my Will to violently crush the firing pin assembly inside the gun before the hammer can drop. To ensure this works, I'm leaning heavily on my environment—forcing Grafton back toward the hum of the vibrating purple crystals behind him to disorient his footing.
Janse is throwing everything into this roll. This is a Will-based task (Base: d8) to execute the Shatter mod.
However, Janse is hindered by the fresh bullet wound and psychic strain, which drops the skill die down to a d6.
BUT, Janse is getting a major environmental advantage by using the Repair Gel to blind the foe and driving him into a hazard. The rules state: "If helped by circumstances (high ground, or an injured/disadvantaged foe), roll an extra d6."
Additionally, Janse is declaring his one clear memory of Ty—remembering how good it felt to break that bastard's nose—offering a mental flashback to bolster his determination, allowing him to use his Integrity (d4) as an additional resource. We take the highest die out of the pool!
Rolling 2d6 (Skill + Circumstance) and 1d4 (Integrity/Flashback)...
Results: d6 = 2, d6 = 6, d4 = 3.
Highest Die: 6 (Success!)
The GM Renders the Verdict: A clean, unadulterated 6! A magnificent Success when everything was on the line.
The tactical synergy is beautiful. The pressurized gray Repair Gel hits Grafton's filtration mask dead-on, instantly expanding and hardening into an airtight, solid crust over his visors. He gasps, completely blinded and suffocating, stumbling backward into the glowing crystal cluster.
Before he can instinctively pull the trigger, my telekinetic Shatter wave slams into his pistol. *CRACK.* The heavy metal slide splits down the middle, and the internal springs violently explode out of the chassis, tearing through his gloves. The gun is rendered completely useless.
Grafton drops to his knees, clawing frantically at the hardened gel suffocating his face, entirely defeated and at my mercy. I step over him, coughing up a bit of gray soot, but I am standing victorious.
TOTAL STRIP-MINE
I don't have time for sentimentality in the deep dark. Grafton is down, wheezing through the edges of his ruined mask, and I need to secure my survival. I strip his gear before he can recover or draw another backup weapon.
Janse successfully neutralizes Grafton without taking further damage. I am looting his high-value gear to replace what I've lost and upgrade my loadout.
Acquired: Armored Environment Suit (Pads/Riot Gear; can break 3× as defense to negate a deathblow).
Acquired: 1 clean SOUL Chip (The one I traded him, reclaimed from his pouch).
I pull his heavy, armored environment suit off his shoulders and strap it over my torn clone coveralls. The thick plates give me immediate structural protection—I can now deliberately break parts of this armor up to 3 times to completely shrug off what would otherwise be a fatal wound. I also reach into his vest and reclaim my glowing green SOUL chip.
Leaving Grafton alive but thoroughly humbled and scraping the gel off his mask, I take my broken Arcwire Tool and limp deeper down into the mining shaft, now heavily armored but still carrying my injuries.
THE CHASM ELEVATOR
The tunnel opens into a gargantuan underground cavern. Suspended right over a pitch-black bottomless pit is a colossal, silent structure: ISIS, a local metamind. Cables thick as tree trunks dangle from its floating chassis down to the pit's floor, vibrating with immense power. At the absolute bottom of the dark pit, I can see the soft, welcoming glow of a primary backup station.
But right now, ISIS's massive mechanical eye is dark, aimed away from me. To escape this sector and find a way to repair my broken Arcwire tool or heal my lingering bruises, I need to climb down the dangling cables past the sleeping colossus to reach the elevator base. However, the rules warn that getting caught in ISIS's direct gaze risks melting your very Integrity away.
If you're interested in playing 2400 Data Loss, you can find it here.
