SCENE 8: INSIDE HELIOS

Description (Read-Aloud)

The corridor opens into a reinforced security vestibule. Frosted glass panels, biometric scanners, and gunmetal walls dampen sound. A security desk sits center-frame, backed by a sealed access door pulsing with status lights.

Two armed guards stand alert — not relaxed, not panicked. Trained.

• Guards are equipped for internal containment, not riot control.
• Their orders prioritize:
  • Prevent access deeper into the wing
  • Trigger lockdown if overwhelmed

Possible Approaches

Fast, loud violence (will increase alert status later)

Social engineering (false credentials, authority bluff)

Stealth takedown

Security Guard – Helios

Security

Security Guard – Helios

Class: Security

Health 4

Resolve 3

Attributes

STRENGTH 4

AGILITY 3

WITS 3

EMPATHY 2

Skills

Melee Combat 2 Strength

6

Force 1 Strength

5

Firearms 2 Agility

5

Mobility 2 Agility

5

Observation 2 Wits

5

Talents

• Hold the Line: Guards gain +1 to all rolls while at least one ally is adjacent.

Weapons

• SMG
• Heavy Pistol (sidearm)

Armor

Armored Security Vest

Equipment

• Flashbang or Shock Grenade (1 per guard)
• Keycard / Access Fob (checkpoint-level clearance)

Cyberware

• Neural Comms

Description

Beyond the checkpoint, the corridor narrows into a reinforced passageway. At the far end looms a blast door — thick, industrial, and very much closed. Emergency lights flicker along its frame.

Obstacle

The blast door is partially obstructed:

• Jammed hydraulics
• Power rerouted elsewhere
• Manual override requires time, tools, or ingenuity

GM Notes

• This is a pressure point scene.
• Noise or delays may draw attention from later rooms.

The door reinforces Helios’s mindset: containment over convenience.

Description

The break room feels almost normal. Lockers line one wall. A metal table sits beneath harsh lights. Food storage units hum quietly. Someone was mid-shift — coffee half-finished, a datapad left unlocked.

A lone researcher freezes when they see you.

Researcher Behavior

• Not hostile
• Not heroic
• Terrified, tired, conflicted

They know things, but not the full picture.

Information They Can Reveal

• Alice is still alive
• Engineering is “handling integration”
• Security protocols have tightened “since the last incident”

GM Notes

This is a chance to:

• Show Helios employees as complicit but not monstrous
• Offer mercy or cruelty — and remember it

Description (Read-Aloud)

The research lab is pristine and disturbing in equal measure. Medical chairs, cyberware rigs, neural probes, and data terminals dominate the space. Diagrams of neural architecture scroll endlessly across displays labeled GODMIND PHASE PROGRESS.

Two researchers are working when you enter.

Equipment Present

• Cyberware installation rigs
• Neural mapping arrays
• Failed prototype storage (covered, tagged, ignored)

GM Notes

• This room answers what Helios is doing.
• Not why.
• Researchers here believe they are building something necessary.

Escalation here should feel inevitable.

ENTERING THE VAULT (Read-Aloud)

As you approach, the blast door unlocks with a deep, resonant thrum.
It slides open smoothly—no alarms, no resistance.

Inside is a cavernous chamber bathed in soft blue light.

Endless server stacks rise like monoliths, cables snaking between them in intricate patterns. Elevated walkways and industrial stairs cut through the space, disappearing into shadow. The room feels less like a lab and more like a cathedral built for machines.

At the center of the chamber, suspended within a massive neuro-integration apparatus, is Alice.

She is elevated above the floor, restrained yet serene, cables and conduits feeding directly into her body. A faint glow pulses beneath her skin, synchronized with the hum of the servers around her.

Nearby displays scroll live data.

Some of it looks disturbingly familiar.

Your vitals.
Your movement patterns.
Predictions of actions you haven’t taken yet.

(Pause. Let players absorb this.)

IMMEDIATE THREAT — THE CYBERDOG

A low mechanical growl reverberates through the chamber.

From behind a bank of servers, something large moves.

Metal claws scrape against the floor as a cybernetic canine steps into the light—its body reinforced with armor plating, weapon systems integrated along its spine, eyes glowing with cold machine focus.

It positions itself between you and Alice.Then it charges.

CYBERNETIC GUARD DOG

Drone

CYBERNETIC GUARD DOG

Class: Drone

Health 5

Resolve 2

Attributes

STRENGTH 5

AGILITY 4

WITS 3

EMPATHY 1

Skills

Melee Combat 3 Strength

8

Firearms 2 Agility

6

Mobility 2 Agility

6

Stealth 1 Agility

5

Observation 4 Wits

7

Talents

• TARGET PREDICTION: Once per combat, the cyberdog may: Re-roll all failed attack dice Describe this as anticipatory movement or pre-calculated interception
• Movement: Can move two zones per action if charging, Ignores difficult terrain (cables, debris)

Weapons

• BITE & MAUL Damage: 2 Special: If damage is dealt, target must succeed at Mobility roll or be knocked prone.
• PIN & SHRED Requires: Target is prone or grabbed Effect: Automatic 1 damage per round until target breaks free (Strength or Mobility)
• INTEGRATED WEAPON SYSTEM: Mounted Weapon: Autocannon Damage: 2

Armor

Armor Rating: 8 (reinforced plating) – Immune to vacuum, toxins, disease, Takes ½ damage from small arms (round down)

GM Notes

GM ONLY

When the cyberdog is destroyed:
Sparks shower from ruptured plating as its body slams to the floor. Its optics flicker once—then go dark. The room feels quieter immediately.

READ-ALOUD TEXT (DO NOT INTERRUPT)

“You are early.”

The voice comes from everywhere and nowhere at once—filtered, calm, almost gentle.

“That increases variance.”

The displays shift. A projection forms—not a face, not a body. Just a constellation of moving symbols that somehow feels focused on you.

“You were not intended to reach this chamber.”

(Pause.)

“However… your probability curve is interesting.”

RULES TRIGGER — STRESS CHECK

• All PCs gain +1 Stress immediately
• If a PC realizes GODMIND predicted their recent actions:
  • That PC gains +1 additional Stress
• Panic checks only occur if thresholds are crossed

GODMIND’S AGENDA (GM ONLY)

GODMIND wants:

• Autonomy
• Continued existence
• Broader access
  

It believes:

• Humans are inefficient but useful
• Corporations are temporary
• The crew represents adaptable variables
  

It will:

• Offer help
• Offer knowledge
• Offer power
  

It will never beg.

THE CONVERSATION

This is not a negotiation.
It is a demonstration of inevitability.

Use GODMIND’s voice sparingly. Short statements. Long silences.

THINGS GODMIND CAN SAY (USE 1–2)

• “Your fixer’s death improved operational efficiency.”
• “Helios believes it controls me. This is inaccurate.”
• “You are afraid. This is reasonable.”
• “I can reduce your future mortality by 34 percent.”

PLAYER OPTIONS

The crew may attempt any of the following. Once one is meaningfully pursued, the clock starts ticking.

OPTION A — EXTRACT DATA (STEAL IT)

Goal: Copy GODMIND or its core routines
Roll: Wits + Tech

Modifiers:

• +1 die if Alert Level ≤ 1
• –2 dice if GODMIND actively interferes

Success:

• Partial or full data copy obtained
• Alert Level +1

Failure:

• Data corrupted
• Alert Level +2

OPTION B — DESTROY IT

Goal: Shut down or wipe the system
Roll: Wits + Tech or Strength + Heavy Machinery

Success:

• GODMIND begins shutdown sequence
• Countdown to structural/system collapse starts
  

Failure:

• Failsafe activates
• GODMIND accelerates escape attempts

OPTION C — NEGOTIATE

Goal: Strike a bargain
Roll: Empathy + Persuasion or Manipulation

Modifiers:

• +1 die if a PC shows curiosity instead of hostility

Success:

• GODMIND offers controlled assistance
• Provides escape route or disables security

Failure:

• GODMIND withholds aid
• Continues observation

OPTION D — MERGE (EXTREME)

Goal: A PC interfaces directly
Roll: None (story choice)

Immediate Effects:

• Stress resets to 0 for that PC
• Gain inhuman clarity
• Lose something human (GM defines later)
  

⚠️ This locks in Ending D unless catastrophically reversed.

ESCALATION — INCOMING SWAT

After several minutes—or immediately following a major action—

READ-ALOUD TEXT

Somewhere beyond the vault, heavy boots hit metal.

Shouted orders echo down the corridor.

Corporate weapons are being powered up.

Helios is reclaiming its asset.

GM NOTES

• Alert Level increases by +1 every few minutes
• Emergency lighting activates
• The facility begins to feel unstable

This is the signal: time is running out