Here we are back with another episode of Astonishing Adventures. If you haven’t already, make sure you check out Episode 4a.
Helix found himself back in the Safeguard library. He also used the library computers to research as much information as he could to discover exactly what Ham Bumi was.
He approached Sabrina again at the main desk.
“Sabrina. I need for you to do some research for me.”
Well, we have a situation. Helix is embarking on some social interaction. That means he needs to make an Intellect roll with an inability. I’ve established that they have a rapport. However, he can come off a little brusque. Normally, the chances of him doing this would be Likely, (TDA 2). His inability will take that up to Average (TDA 3).
TDR = 1. Sigh. 🙄
In the normal Cypher System game, rolling a one means a GM Intrusion will occur.
A GM Intrusion means the GM can make the players’ lives a little difficult by inserting a challenge to the player who rolled it. This is normally planned by the GM. When they insert a GM Intrusion, the player who is given the challenge is given 2 XP. One is for themselves. The other is for another PC of their choice. This is only if they accept the GM Intrusion. They can reject it but it will cost 1 XP to do so.
Rolling a GM Intrusion is different. Unlike the GM Intrusion that the GM instigates, it does not award any XP. It’s just something the players have to roll with the punches.
Did I mention that’s what would normally happen?
In the Chaos Cypher System, a GM Intrusion happens when your ARM is equal to the Adventure Status. In this case, that would be a 6 (see the last episode).
So, let’s see what we roll for the ARM.
ARM = 4.
Well, that’s not a GM Intrusion, but I did roll under the Adventure Status, which means we need to add a developer.
DR = 4.
I rolled a 4, which means I add the developer of “But…”
Sabrina’s eyebrows furrowed.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Brown. Mrs. Edwards has me on an assignment. Feel free to use the computers.”
She turned and walked away towards the back of the library.
Helix stood at the main counter, nonplussed. He did it again. It must have been how he said it. She appeared bothered.
Helix sighed. He would never get the hang of interacting with people.
He was on his own. That was fine. Research was his specialty. It just would have been nice to have some help, especially someone with Sabrina’s expertise.
Sitting down at one of the computer stations, he immediately got to work.
My attempt at getting an asset for my research failed. So, the GM Question is:
GMQ: Do I find any information on the Hami Bumi?
The Safeguard library has information on some of the most unlikely and obscure subjects in the world. For the Hamba Bumi document, we will put the TDA at 3 (9). This is kind of important, so I will spend a level of Effort. Since I have an Edge of 1 in my Intellect, that will cost me 2 points from my Intellect pool, which takes my total back down to 10.
Also, his History skill will ease the task another step. That’s two steps total, giving it a TDA of 1. So, all I need to do is roll a 3 or higher. Famous last words.
TDR = 1. Oh Mylanta. You’ve got to be kidding me. ARM = 5. On top of that, we have a developer roll to make as well. Consulting the Developer Table, I make another roll getting a result of 10. A 10 means that the PC discovers 1D6 random cyphers.
So, what all that means is I didn’t find the information I wanted, but I found something else helpful.
Helix scoured through the websites and books throughout the library for three hours. He found nothing remotely connected to Hamba Bumi. So far, he had spent most of his day on empty research and untimely interruptions.
Instinctively, he cupped his left palm around his for head, rubbing his temples with his thumb and forefinger. Closing his eyes, he slowly massaged, trying to relax.
Here is where I decide to roll for the number of cyphers. Taking out by D6, I roll, when you know it, of one! Man, I cannot catch a break today. Well, technically, that’s not true because I just received a cypher, which is a good thing. So it may help me out.
In order for the story to make sense, I will say this is a subtle cypher. A subtle cypher is a cypher that is nonphysical. Physical cyphers are called manifest cyphers.
Helix’s eyes popped open. The Safeguard’s library was special in the information that lined its shelves. There were few libraries in the world that came anywhere near to having the same information. In many cases, the Safeguard was the only place in the world that had such information. However, there was one place that could have information on what he was looking for.
The Library of Congress.
The Library of Congress is the largest library in the world, with over 163 million items. It’s part library, part museum. From Abraham Lincoln’s draft of the Gettysburg address, to 14th-century Persian books on astronomy, if there was a library that may have what he was looking for, it was that one.
Helix had confined his research mostly to the Safeguard. There was still plenty of research to be done there. He had barely scratched the surface in three hours.
I will say this subtle cypher will allow me to perform another search without having to spend the obligatory level of Effort, using the rationale that he is using an added resource in the Library of Congress. Sounds good to me.
On this one, I’ll use my History to take it down a step. I won’t spend any Effort. However, it takes it down to Average since the obscurity of the Hamba Bumi makes it Unlikely (TDA = 4). He’ll find it, considering the Library of Congress doesn’t digitize everything. So my TDA = 9. ARM = 7. Unmodified.
Helix lowered his for head on top of his hands on the table. Glancing at his watch, he saw that another three hours had passed. This would be a challenge, apparently. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t gone through something similar before. He had cases where he worked for weeks researching. They normally start off in the same way. His efforts would seemingly be fruitless, but perseverance always paid off.
He wondered if he was excessive with his work. The rumors about him around the Safeguard painted him as the eccentric geek. Part of that was true, he supposed. Certain projects had a way of clawing their way into his psyche. Once it planted its roots, they burrowed into the furrows of his brain like a welcome infection. Helix would become hyper focused and perceptive. Every detail mattered. No stone was to be left unturned. That’s why he was the best proofer they had.
However, the moniker given by his colleagues wasn’t given with an attitude of wanting to be accurate. No. They didn’t like him. Helix saw that much. To them, he was the teacher’s pet, always in the good graces of Mrs. Edwards. The one who got the good grades and made the rest of the classroom look bad.
Helix wondered if he should care. He took a general attitude of indifference towards what others thought about him. Mainly it was because he wasn’t that important and he didn’t understand why others would spend energy acting as if he was. Maybe this was a flaw in his thinking. If so, he couldn’t find it, which meant it probably wasn’t there.
Sighing, he stared at the computer monitor. There were several approaches he could take.
One was finding out more about the document and its content, which he had done up to this point. However, six hours on the same search and coming up empty had the tendency to dull the senses. He needed to switch his approach, at least for the time being.
Leaving the Safeguard library, he made his way back to Mrs. Edwards’ office.
That is the end of this episode of Astonishing Adventures! What will happen when Helix gets to Mrs. Edwards’ office? Will he discover some enigmatic secret about the document? We will find out next time. So wait for it!