Our heroes, the De Facto Explorers, are exploring outside the KIA Academy, have finally recovered Charley Onyxhoof from wilderness and are attempting to claim their reward.
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Sneaky Pete: A mutated weasel scout. Pete's telepathy and night vision take a backseat when he whips out his electrical powers.
Sonny Helianthus: a sentient sunflower artifact examiner with trusted Restorationist ties. Knowledgeable, but not a good one with device repairs or upgrades. Very interested in a "Children's Alchemical Laser" he recently acquired.
Slitheran Wurmtail (aka Squiggles): a mutated earthworm scout, in impromptu power armor, looking for trouble, and finding it often. Previously "gave birth" to a litter of sentient earthworm babies, but recently has been subject to genetic testing and developed super-human strength, a more human body, and a thick coat of shaggy white hair.
Lathar Bracken: A pure-strain human from River Bend. He's got the muscle, the face, and a mount for most encounters. Lathar's trusty beast of burden, No Name, travels wherever he does. No Name has recently been fitted for a artillery device of the Ancients that chucks spears further than any human. Looking for trouble in all the right places. Former jousting champion of Fair-Town and has been awarded... a peacock he has named Chambray. He's recently been struck by a weapon by a strange race of people and transformed into... something else.
RHA-9: A lab assistant piece of "Living Metal" that seems to have befriended the group... for now! Currently getting repairs done by the Restorationists.
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Walking on the KIA Overpass to go into KIA Academy, the group discussed Lathar's recent transformation and his value to the party. Since being transformed in some type of green mineral/stone, Lathar was afraid of getting hit by blunt objects or falling. Everyone else, save Sonny, thought it would be best to have him appraised.
Sonny was dead-set on getting his Children's Alchemical Laster (CAL) repaired so the "revert to original" function of the device was working properly.
He asked a number of folks inside the KIA himself to send him in a proper direction. Most advised that he needed to go to "TMS" on Level 4 to investigate/repair Ancient technologies.
The TMS appeared to be a non-imposing office with just the letters "TMS" on the door on barely-frosted glass. Going inside, he saw a very long counter dominating the room with a lone middle-aged woman with pair of red glasses with multiple attachments, manning the entire counter.
"Hello Madam"
"What's broken now?"
"My alchemical lasers is broken..."
"Your Ali-Baba what is broken."
"No, my alchemical laser I came upon. We engaged some ne'er do wells with their own alchemical laser and my compatriots were changed. I understand if the alchemical laser works correctly, there is a reset option."
"I do not know who this gang called the Ne'er Do Wells are, but, Sir or Madame, I believe you also got turned into a giant dandelion.
"Sunflower. I'm a sunflower, and I was grown like this..."
After a bit more difficult conversation, the woman directed Sonny to use the display in the corner to generate a "ticket" for the techs to evaluate.
A half-hour later, a technician finally emerged from a hidden door along the wall. After reviewing the ticket with Sonny and reviewing the brittle and erroneous instruction booklet.
The technician pulled some ancient books and began disassembling a number of dials, buttons, and keypads, replacing some, cleaning others, reattaching many of them. He specifically mentioned that the schematics he had didn't match up with how this device was constructed, but Sonny was not worried.
There were a few tension-filled moments, but the technician hit the power button and the device turned on. Following Sonny's instructions, the tech set up the device to "Revert to Original Material" mode, as well as the settings/codes for five base materials:
- Copper
- FROYO
- Dirt
- Gold
- Water
"I think this will work..." the tech said, handing the CAL back to Sonny.
Sonny returned to a bar where he had left the remaining Explorers, the CAL still on his back. He gave Lathar the good news that he could change him back.
"And Charley," Lathar added, "Let's test it on Charley first."
Evening time, they arrived back at the Onyxhoof home. They knock on the barn door, and it slides to the side, Charley's wife, Stormchaser, answering the door.
"It's you guys? What did you do to my husband?"
Sonny answered "We tried our best to undo the damage those blue people did to him. I believe I can do more now...."
Sonnny and Charley wandered to a remote part of the property. Sonny opened fire....
When the smoke cleared, Charley was still standing there, much blacker, and a strong sulfur-like smell emanating.
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| Charley Onyxhoof, King of the Asphalt Jungle |
Charley's facade was quite black, cracking at the joints. He stared at his hands.
"You turned me into asphalt!?! You sonuva btich!!!"
Sonny: "I was told that this was fixed to revert you back to normal.. Sometimes science isn't exactly science."
"Just get out of here and leave me alone..." the centaur pleaded.
Sonny peered down at the instructions. The keypad seemed at the right setting, but the dial was at a different position.
The next morning, Sonny returned to the TSM for more modification. The tech proceeded to review the notes and weld the selector dial shut.
"You circumsizable laser is ready to go!" the tech said proudly.
Not wishing to correct any more techs, Sonny left and found a field for he and Lathar to test it out again.
"You ready for this?" Sonny asked.
"The good news is if it fails, you know the guy who can fix it a third time." Squiggles quipped.
Sonny inserted another power cell and fired. Lathar felt the blast hit his chest, tearing him apart and reconstituting him.
The green stone-like Lathar emerged as a caramel color, complete with extra naval.
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| Werther's Original Lathar |
GM Notes: If this was classic 1st Edition Gamma World, and I was pulling and converting ideas from AD&D, I may have required a System Shock roll.
FROYO is definitely a mistranslation, but was the first substance the group thought of...
TMS is an abbreviation for Traffic Management Systems.
Next: #55 - Leave it to Lathar
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