New Gaia

by Samuel Isaacson

  “Ada Uovu is now centre of attention!” he yells, walking into a large room lined with desks, one wall of which is filled floor-to-ceiling with huge screens. “Every eye trained to find her, please.”

  You remain in the background as the entire room bursts into a cacophony of noise, and Catalina turns to you to check if you’re ok. You’re about to respond, when a cry of “Got her!” goes up from the far corner of the room, and David hurries over and you follow.

  The wall suddenly fills with what you assume is a live feed of her location.

  “What’s she doing?” David says, with curiosity. As you continue to watch, Ada reaches into her pocket and withdraws a small white box, which she holds above her head. She then starts waving up to the sky and jumping up and down on the spot. “What’s she looking at?” he suddenly shouts. “Get a different view up there!”

  The screen flashes up an image showing what appeared to be a huge black city descending on New Gaia, just for a second, and then the entire room is plunged into darkness and silence. It looks like a full-scale invasion of Mars is underway.

  Emergency lighting flicks on, and you turn to Catalina to speak as a huge explosion shakes the ground you are standing on. A second explosion happens so close to you that you die before its deafening boom has died down.

  45

  The three of you make your way across town to the headquarters of the Martian Navy, a row of large buildings set slightly away from those in the city centre. From a distance they look as if the walls are painted a pastel pink, but as you draw nearer you recognise that they share the New Gaian style of light grey walls. The colour illusion comes from the subtle yet remarkably large images of Martian military heroes, dressed in the traditional red of the Martian Navy.

  You approach the entrance, a series of several airlock-style doors, and a pair of guards steps forward and greets you.

  “Welcome to the Navy,” says one of them in the classic Martian clipped accent. “What can we do for you?”

  “Ah, they’re with me,” comes a voice to your left and the lawyer Angel Travis steps forward, holding his wrist up for scanning.

  “Mr Travis, welcome back,” replies the guard, who escorts you all to one of the doors and steps through to hold it open for you to enter. “Colonel Marlon is expecting you.”

  “Many thanks,” says Travis, a confident smile on his face. The four of you are scanned and taken down a corridor lined with propaganda images informing you that the Martian Navy is an exciting career choice, than you are shown into a room with a tasteful rug on the floor, surrounded by several chairs and a large desk. The colonel is sitting behind it and stands as you arrive, revealing a lively man with short grey hair and the look of an eternal optimist.

  “Howdy!” he says. “I wasn’t expecting so many of you – you’re all mighty welcome, though. Please, take a seat. Can I get a drink for anyone?”

  Within a couple of minutes you are all sipping drinks and Travis has provided an introduction.

  “Sounds like a predicament, for sure,” says the colonel. “Well, how can I help?”

  “We were hoping you could provide some weapons,” says Pauline. “These people are dangerous and we don’t want to go in without being properly prepared.”

  The colonel’s expression becomes grave and he nods in an understanding way.

  “I’d love to help you in a more substantial way, truth be told, but I can’t spare the people. Way I see it, you seem to have saved this planet once and maybe you can do it again. Don’t go looking for trouble though, you hear? I’ll give you something helpful but let me say something before you take it. This sort of thing is here to give you an advantage when you’re being attacked, not to give you permission to act like a violent fool.”

  You nod in understanding and he stands up and moves to the door. The rest of you follow and he leads you further down the corridor to a door where two guards are stationed. They salute the colonel and open the door following a brief whispered conversation.

  The colonel leads you inside and your vision fills with more weapons than you’ve ever seen in one place.

  “Now,” says the colonel. “I don’t know what your style is, so allow me to make some suggestions. If you’re looking to be able to act with speed, you’d do much worse than taking what we call the Pablo Twins. It’s a pair of automatic pistols and they work in tandem through a wireless connection. Your aim with these will always be balanced and you won’t fire across yourself. They’re light, they’re small and they have recoil reduction.

  “If you’re looking for something more tactical, you might want the Rutter-342, which turns you into a portable sniper. It’s short range but devastatingly accurate with AI-enhanced aiming, meaning it will lock onto subjects quickly, and it deals a lot of damage in its single shots.

  “Finally, maybe you want something to do a bit more widescale damage. The Dammler Micro RPG fires small shrapnel grenades, allowing you to deal with multiple enemies simultaneously. So, which is it to be?”

  Which weapon will you select, the Pablo Twins (turn to 310), the Rutter-342 (turn to 93) or the Dammler Micro RPG (turn to 260)?

  46

  The sleeping figure opens one eye and then springs out of the bed, suddenly leaping at you. You must defend yourself!

  Ninja

  BODY 7

  SPIRIT 8

  If you win, turn to 332.

  47

  The door opens easily and quietly, revealing a small hallway with a large abstract painting hanging on the wall to your left. There is a door in the wall directly opposite you and a staircase leading up from the centre of the room to the right-hand side.

  Will you go through the door (turn to 327), or head upstairs (turn to 316)?

  48

  Catalina had found one doctor’s surgery on this side of town and it takes less than ten minutes to find it, on the fifth floor of a commercial tower block to the east of the safehouse.

  The three of you sit in the waiting room for about an hour before the doctor comes out of his room and whispers something to the receptionist.

  “These three?” he asks, and she nods. He looks at you. “Come with me, please?”

  You all follow him through the door and into a small room with a bed against one wall and paraphernalia in every direction.

  “All I know is that your condition involves something about an alien. Will you tell me about it?”

  You explain the situation and he looks at you intensely.

  “You call it Skreel?” he asks. You nod. He turns and taps something into a screen on the wall. “Alright then. Clearly, no-one’s ever dealt with this before so there’s risk involved. From the looks of it though, there will be an easily-detectable foreign substance at your brain stem. In principle we should just be able to remove that, and you’ll be back to normal. Shall we give it a go?”

  If you are willing for him to try the surgery immediately, turn to 12. If you would rather wait, turn to 396.

  49

  If you have the codeword Casius, turn immediately to 214. If not, turn to 326.

  50

  If you have the codeword Cebrenia, turn immediately to 40. If not, turn to 177.

  51

  You call out after her and she turns round, not closing the distance but seemingly willing to listen to what you have to say. You ask her to at least stop and explain what’s happening and the two of you have a conversation for several minutes before she stops mid-sentence and begins to laugh again.

  “It’s happening!” she screams in jubilation. “You’re too late! Here they come!” She bends her head back and stares up at the sky, and you follow her gaze.

  The first thing you see is countless black shapes that end up looking like an entire city descending on New Gaia, sending beams of something towards the ground and causing explosions all around you. The size of each one of the approaching ships is enormous, and as they touch the edge of the dome you see the drones starting to shift around until the net is enti
rely broken and the air around you begins to disperse.

  You think for a moment that you are going to die of asphyxiation but your lapse in concentration takes its toll as Ada, apparently unaffected by it, knocks you unconscious with a powerful blow. You die before you wake up.

  52

  You yell in frustration as you re-enter the lounge area you left less than a minute ago! You throw yourself across the room, back through the original door you came in by, follow the corridor round and sprint past the door that led you onto this corridor in the first place.

  Add 15 seconds to your TIME score and turn to 335.

  53

  “Hmm,” he says, clearly thinking for a moment. “Well, perhaps you’re right. Here, maybe this will help you.”

  He leans behind his desk and pulls out a pair of bracelets, giving one to you and one to Catalina.

  “These are neuro-enhancers. Put it on your wrist and it subtly increases the speed of your neurotransmitters in a safe way.”

  You thank him and leave his office. If you put on the bracelet, turn to 247. If not, you put it in your backpack and leave. If you have not yet spoken to Lauren Tucs and would like to, you may do so now by turning to 114. Otherwise, you return to the reception area (turn to 185).

  54

  Make a MIND check at difficulty 13. If you succeed, turn to 261. If you fail, turn to 110.

  55

  You look around at the carnage you have just caused and carefully step over the bodies to get a better look around the room.

  Despite its initial comfortable appearance, it quickly becomes clear that this room is purely functional. The chairs are positioned to allow a group to have a conversation but no more than that; there’s no coffee table for drinks and no entertainment activities available. On a desk in the corner you find a decorative paperweight containing an image of a hummingbird, as well as an envelope simply addressed to “The Surgeon”. If at any point you would like to open the envelope and read its contents, record the codeword Phaethontis, make a note of the section you are currently at and turn to 137.

  There are three doors leading out of this room. A set of double doors in the east wall lead outside onto a balcony, and the south wall contains two doors. You have no interest in going outside again now you’re in, so will you go through the door closest to the east wall (turn to 94) or through the other door in the south wall (turn to 316)?

  56

  The lady doesn’t even look up when you approach and say hello, although she does grunt to acknowledge your presence and nods when you offer her a drink. As she drinks, she immediately starts talking nonsense out of context as if you caught her in the middle of a conversation.

  “They used to call it Grey Heights until the marketers descended and then it became Dream Suites. The views from the top are nice, so long as you count seeing people suffer as a nice view. The signature drink is worth a try. I used to think this place should be a fight club. There are enough people in here that would have a go. But you’ve got to go out of town to find the only fight club around here, under the mountain. Don’t go into the ring though, you’ll get locked in. My boss would like a piece of the new biotech, or so he says, but his wife won’t let him invest after he lost a bunch on the Rapidrend deal.”

  She tails off at this point and you don’t think you’re going to get any sense out of her, so you leave the bar. Will you now leave for the farms (turn to 39), the bar at the top of the hotel (turn to 116) or the hospital (turn to 90)?

  57

  The corridor continues forward, then turns to the left and ends in a door on the left-hand side. Add 10 seconds to your TIME score.

  You run through the door. If you have the codeword Tharsis, turn to 207. If not, turn to 250.

  58

  You slam the door open to reveal a room containing no people at all! The noise of conversation is coming from a large screen showing a film you don’t recognise, and the three of you look at one another in a moment of amused relief.

  The room you are in looks like a small common room, with two sofas facing the large screen and a large bookshelf on the opposite wall. There is a door directly opposite the one you came in by and another in the left-hand wall.

  Will you look at the bookshelf (turn to 273) or leave through the door opposite (turn to 397) or the door to your left (turn to 197)?

  59

  You look through the spyhole and recognise that your viewpoint is within the spiral of plaques you saw in the room before. The view of the dome is clear, and as your eyes are just above head height you can understand how someone observing from here would enjoy an unobstructed view.

  You hear Kwame’s footsteps approaching and are aware that they reach your position when he smacks you in the head! Lose 3 SPIRIT points and defend yourself against your attacker.

  Kwame

  BODY 6

  SPIRIT 7

  If you win, turn to 357.

  60

  “Yes,” the COMN says, thoughtfully. He spins around and brings up a large screen on the wall showing what you presume is a live feed of a group of people having a discussion on a rooftop.

  “There he is,” he says, pointing at a charismatic-looking man in the middle of the group, then he touches his ear to open a communication channel. “Code Sierra November, Bravo Juliet.”

  The two of you stand watching the screen for a moment and then the figure of Benjamin Joel suddenly slumps to the floor, and the crowd around him immediately begin to panic.

  “There we go,” says the COMN, “job done. Thank you for your help. We’ve done all we can here, and I wish you all the best with your future endeavours.”

  Unsure of what to think about what you’ve just witnessed you make your way out of the headquarters. Record the codeword Palus and turn to 228.

  61

  As the gas disperses, the door you came in by slams open and a big, burly man barges in, surrounded by a pack of dogs, barking and snapping at you. They throw themselves at you and you are forced to defend yourself. Due to the tight confines of this space you can fight them one at a time before turning your attentions to the handler, who is armed with a huge sabre.

  First angry dog

  BODY 5

  SPIRIT 6

  Second angry dog

  BODY 6

  SPIRIT 6

  Dog handler

  BODY 8

  SPIRIT 8

  If you win, the three of you dispatch of your opponents and look up at where Ada was standing, who you assume has been watching the scene with mild amusement (turn to 143).

  62

  Through the door, a corridor takes you to the right, then after a few moments on a U-turn to your left. You follow it all the way to a door at its end. Add 10 seconds to your TIME score.

  This door opens into a large room containing a stinking, organic mass, dark in the red light with luminous yellow spots revealing its shape. There is a door on the opposite wall and so you run straight towards it and burst through. Add another 10 seconds to your TIME score and turn to 270.

  63

  You emerge into the main room of the observatory upstairs, running as fast as you can. You see Ada running out of the door that you recognise as leading to the front door and chase after her.

  As you round the corner you see her exiting through the door and you hurl yourself after her. The moment you are through the door you hear a huge explosion beneath your feet and a fraction of a second later you are thrown away from the building. Ada is similarly knocked down, and she stands as if to continue running away.

  Will you shout after her to convince her to stop (turn to 162) or will you chase after her and grapple her to the floor (turn to 328)?

  64

  The door opens to reveal a large lounge area, complete with a circular bar in the centre of the room. A green carpet reaches to the cream walls, and tasteful furniture in various shades of grey is collected around a variety of tables sporadically placed around the space.

  Each corner of the roo
m has a different table in it for relaxation purposes; you are standing by the snooker table and a roulette table is positioned to your left. A poker table is in the opposite corner to you and a craps table is to your right. A large, stylistic image of the solar system fills the wall between the snooker table and the roulette table, and there are doors in each of the four corners.

  Will you rest in this room for a while (turn to 138) or will you leave through the door by the roulette table (turn to 237), the poker table (turn to 160) or the craps table (turn to 127)?

  65

  “Oh!” says one of the guards. “Is it for Ezra? He was expecting something today, I think.”

  You nod, which was the wrong thing to do; there is no Ezra here, and the guards only allow pre-approved deliveries in. They immediately lunge at the three of you and you are going to have to defend yourselves. One of the guards attacks Pauline and Catalina, and you will have to take on the other one.

  Farm guard

  BODY 7

  SPIRIT 9

  If you win, you enter through the gate (turn to 302).

  66

  You follow the corridor round a corner to the left, then after some distance turn to the right and then to the left. Add 10 seconds to your TIME score.

  You burst through the door on your left-hand side and into a small lounge area containing a bookshelf, a sofa and a large screen playing a film of some sort. Will you run through the door on the left-hand wall (turn to 267) or the door directly ahead of you (turn to 189)?

  67

  Turn the first name of the person you want to accuse and turn each digit into a number using the sequence A=1, 2=B, etc. Add all of the numbers together and add this total to 250, then turn to that section number.

  The opening section will contain that person’s name; if it does not, return to 188 and make a different selection.

  68

  “Well,” she begins, an earnest expression on her face, “if New Gaia had given us the security contract, we’d have already dealt with it but it’s too late for all that now I suppose. Unless you can somehow virtually firewall the entire planet – which is impossible by the way, completely impractical and reliant on interplanetary comms, which are currently down – you’d have to switch it off at the source.