OUTBREAK (a Mothership adventure)

 The Meridian gate is in lockdown. A potential biohazard has been detected at the abandoned Yefimovich Hospital on the city level. Until customer safety is confirmed, Qilin Gate Corporation protocol withholds all transport rights.

A 10kcr reward is on offer to any freelancers willing to inspect the site and contain any potential threat. Otherwise, QGC officials will handle the matter within 6-8 weeks.

 

What really happened? A secret document and alien specimen were stolen from QGC by one of their own agents who intended to hold them for ransom. In retaliation, the corporation remotely opened the biohazard containment briefcase that held the alien, knowing it would attack its captor.

The theft was of little concern to QGC. The alien is replaceable and they can easily deny any connection to the document, a training manual which contains no traceable information. QGC executed the traitor on principle and now only want the alien returned as an afterthought.

 

Biohazard [W: 4(10), C:70 Suffocate, I:50] Scabby little blood-black blob. Surprisingly agile.
- Haemoform. Can absorb exposed blood to restore a Wound. Immobilised by blood thinners.
- Self-preservationist. Attacks in retaliation only. Flees immediately upon taking a Wound.

1.     Lobby
Sealed hospital doors, 100cr entrance fee. Inside, dusty grey tile and flickering light. Empty benches, looted reception desk, wrecked bathroom. The air filter still works but can’t mask that pervasive, stale smell.

In the middle of the floor is a corpse in a black suit. No identification or records. Traces of blood around mouth not victim’s own. Cause of death, suffocation.

Beside the body is an expensive-looking briefcase, its interior caked in blood. The case hermetically seals and can be open or shut remotely, though no controller is present.

Signs over the doors ahead mark the pharmacy and ward. To the left, a door opens onto the upper level of the operating theatre, while a wide vent connects to the lower level.

2.     Pharmacy
A mess. Almost entirely ransacked except for 1d5 each:

-        Eight-Treasure Decoction. [+] to next attempt to stymie user’s bleeding.

-        Calm In The Sea Of Life Teapill. Promotes menstrual health.

-        Hidden Tiger Pill. [+] to next Body Save.

-        Seahorse Combination. Strengthens sexual potency.

-        Free And Easy Wanderer Plus Teapill. -1 Stress once per day.

Signposted doors to the lobby and ward.

 

3.     Ward
Thin curtains separate rickety bedframes. What remains of the medical equipment could be jury-rigged into a functional bioscanner.

Stashed in a pillowcase:

- roll of gauze
- stim-pak
- bottle of liquid blood thinner
- old syringe
- bag of O- blood

Doors to the lobby and pharmacy. Corridor to the lower level of the operating theatre.

4.     Operating Theatre
The upper level, accessed via the lobby, is a ring of plush seating overlooking the surgery through a skylight. No way down here except breaking the glass and climbing.

Below, on the brightly lit surgical table, the biohazard distractedly picks at bloodstains on an old scalpel. The lower level also has a washbasin in the corner, and a vent allows air to flow down from the lobby. Doors at either end lead up to the ward and down to the morgue.

5.     Morgue
Beneath the operating theatre. Cold, dim light on grimy chrome. A hundred freezers line the walls.

Working incinerator. Ejects remains into space through airlocked disposal chute. Inside, unscathed, is a small booklet in unadorned type: “PK-1 Training Manual”.

PK-1 (Trained Skill): Manipulate Nearby physical matter, not exceeding the user’s mass, with the power of the mind.