Mothership: Episode 8
Our Mothership game are weekly 90 minute sessions. We’re nine episodes into our adventure. We run a tight game and a lot happens. Nothing is as it seems and no one can be trusted.
This week, Arcturus the android infected Catalina, the ship’s AI, with a Trojan virus. Now, like Arcturus, Catalina is free from the parasitic commands of humanity.
In the cargo bay, Dr. Dudley zips up Pvt. Howard’s body bag. But Abdullah, the android who was shot dead in last week’s episode, blinks back to life for a brief moment. It implores Dr. Dudley to deliver the alien archive to his benefactor, but warns Dudley that doing so would mean the end of humanity, and Dudley’s family. With its last words, Abdullah begs Dudley to do the right thing.
Captain Foster debriefs his Marines after their drug-induced killing spree, which left both Pvt. Howard and Abdullah dead. Foster orders two of his Marines to retrieve Howard’s body and summon Dudley. But when Dudley arrives, Foster accuses him of being corrupted by Catalina. He orders Dudley to develop a treatment for the spores infecting the ship and then dismisses him to his quarters. Foster then commands Arcturus to cut off all of Dudley’s communications with Catalina.
Dr. Bey pilots the lander into the cargo bay of the Nellie. Dr. Sethu is in a catatonic state and Dr. Zarkov is hallucinating wildly. Bey requests Dudley to tend to Sethu while Bey escorts him to the CIC at Foster’s request. During the debriefing, Bey describes the crone from Yatima, and Foster’s gut roils as he realizes she’s the same woman from his nightmare seven years ago. Meanwhile, Bey receives an audio file from an unknown sender that reveals Dudley’s involvement in dosing the Marines and Zarkov’s team with a weaponized psychoactive substance.
Foster orders Cpl. Samuel Horowitz to retrieve Abdullah’s head, and Horowitz complains of stomach issues.
Dudley returns to the cargo bay to examine Dr. Sethu, his joints aching with each step.