D&D Vandeventures ❯ The Future Hates You! ❯ 1.0
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Deck 3: Science

Deck 3 is divided into two sections: Medical and Research & Development, both controlled by #TeamEthics. Medical is nearly overwhelmed with injuries from the ongoing fighting. In R&D, the brain trust of scientists continues their research as best they can with the time portal itself on lockdown.

Map of Deck 3

Medical

Controlled by #TeamEthics, but open to everyone

It is clear at a glance that the station’s medical staff are overwhelmed by the number of injuries from the fighting. Patients are everywhere, lying on gurneys, leaning against the walls, or even just sitting on the floor. A small team of doctors and nurses move around the room trying to stabilize incoming patients and determine where to send them next. The Doc moves through the room, constantly interrupted by other doctors and nurses asking her for information, or to make a judgment call.

Although the Medical section is technically controlled by #TeamEthics, the Doc tries to remain neutral and will treat anyone. #TeamEthics Guards are stationed by the Elevator. Anyone who isn’t part of #TeamEthics is required to turn over their weapons before entering, with assurances that their items will be returned when they leave.

At either end of the long semicircular hallway that runs the length of the Medical section are locked doors to the R&D section. These will only open for people with #TeamEthics access. A pair of guards are also stationed by the storage room where they keep the Mad Scientist locked up.

Intensive Care

The intensive care unit handles the most urgent injuries, which lately means a lot of laser wounds, and even broken bones from hand-to-hand fighting. A squad of nurses and doctors are performing triage here at all times, processing incoming injuries, trying to stabilize people and get them moved to other parts of Medical to free up space.

The Doc can be found here, directing efforts and doing her best to keep things running smoothly. If the characters try to speak with her, she brushes them off, saying something like “Sorry, but unless you’re here to help, I’m not available.”

If the characters want to help, the Doc can direct them to several patients with less serious wounds who need assistance. They can try to stabilize a patient by succeeding on a DC 12 Wisdom (Medicine) check, by casting any healing spell, or by using a healing potion. If they stabilize 3 or more patients, the Doc will invite them back to her office to thank them, hear what they have to say, and if she thinks they’ll be receptive, offer them a quest to shut down the broadcast.

Hospital Wards

Each of the hospital wards is filled to bursting with patients recovering from all manner of injuries associated with the ongoing fighting. Extra cots have been made from components the R&D team can produce on their fabricators, and each room is at least at double capacity. The small team of nurses does their best to stay on top of the patients’ needs, but they’re clearly short-staffed.

Surgery

The surgery section is broken into several operating rooms, each with bright lighting, operating tables, and surgical supplies. Half the operating rooms are in use at any given moment.

Offices

A small number of offices are set aside for the station’s doctors to allow private calls and meetings with patients. They are decorated in calming colors, lighting that emulates a sunny day, and comfortable seating. One of the offices has been converted into a makeshift sleeping area, with a few cots for doctors and nurses coming off long shifts.

Chief Medical Officer’s Office

Since the mutiny, the Doc mostly uses her office as a conference room for meeting with her department heads. The desk has been pushed back in the corner to make room for two couches and several folding chairs. She spends little time in here otherwise, mostly being busy with a constant influx of patients. If she agrees to meet with the characters, she’ll bring them here. Otherwise, she can be found on the floor.

Storage/Jail Cell

A storage closet at the far end of Medical has been cleared out and converted into a makeshift jail cell to hold the former head of R&D, the Mad Scientist. A pair of bored-looking #TeamEthics Guards are stationed outside the door at all times.

The Doc

Lawful Good Elf Cleric

The Chief Medical Officer (known universally as “the Doc”) had an easy job before the mutiny, with nothing more difficult than the occasional chemical burn or tourist with a sprained ankle. Now, however, her sick bay is crammed full of injuries and they’re running low on supplies. She doesn’t care too much about the ethics of time travel but wants the fighting to end.

If the characters helped out around the hospital (making Medicine checks, casting healing spells, or giving healing potions to injured people), then the Doc is motivated to help them. She can’t offer healing supplies, but she may put in a good word for them with someone in #TeamEthics, or even get them on the #TeamEthics access list so they can pass through locked doors.

She has a plan that she hasn’t told anyone about yet. She believes if the station’s ability to broadcast was destroyed, then the factions would have nothing left to fight about, and things would settle down. If the characters can stop the broadcast, she’s willing to use her medical emergency override code to let the characters into the portal chamber.

The Mad Scientist

Chaotic Evil Gnome Wizard

The Mad Scientist led the team that discovered how to open time portals and has been frantically exploiting the tech ever since. She knows it’s only a matter of time before the secret leaks, and she wants to publish as many papers as possible before that happens.

She dreams of having her name in the history books alongside other greats, and frankly is unconcerned that her experiments might be unethical, or if people die, or even if the timeline itself is destabilized. She believes you can’t make progress by being cautious.

Research & Development

Controlled by #TeamEthics

The walls of the R&D corridor are lined with corkboards filled with printouts, and whiteboards covered in formulas and notes. The doorways open onto labs filled with distracted scientists and engineers doing their best to continue their research. A few offices are occupied by sleeping guards and off-duty scientists. Security is heavy near the entrance to the Portal Chamber.

A pair of #TeamEthics Guards man a checkpoint near the Cargo Tunnel entrance, and the Elevator door has been blockaded on this side to prevent access. The doors at either end of the long semicircular hallway open onto Medical, and are locked, allowing access only to #TeamEthics.

Portal Chamber

The Portal chamber might be the most heavily guarded spot on the station. At any given time, a full squad of five #TeamEthics Guards are stationed outside the door. The guards are particularly vigilant since the recent #TeamRatings raid (when they abducted the characters), and they are unlikely to gain entrance without permission from the Professor.

Inside is a large room dominated by the portal itself: a large metal circle bristling with sensors and mechanical connections. The portal is currently inactive, and the chamber itself unoccupied, by order of the Professor.

When active, the center of the circle fills with a haze that emits a dull coppery light. The circle crackles with electricity, and through the haze a dim vision of the connected location is visible.

Surrounding the portal are multiple workstations, all displaying readouts with data from the portal. A large computer is built into the primary console, used to control the portal. Attached to it is a secure drive containing the schematics and blueprints for the portal. The secure drive can be removed easily, but unless they have been told what to look for by the Pilot, the characters must succeed on a DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) check to identify it.

Labs

The labs are filled with advanced equipment that the players can barely understand. There are no microscopes, bunsen burners, or bubbling flasks here. Instead, complex machinery and sensors are connected to computer workstations. Whirring fabricators have been put to use printing armor for guards. Caution signs warn of active lasers and toxic fumes. Safety equipment is abundant, including fire extinguishers and eye wash stations.

Offices

The offices are all shared by at least 3-4 researchers. Each office has several desks, laptops, tablet computers, and bookshelves filled with complicated reference material the characters can’t understand. Several whiteboards are covered with diagrams and formulas, sometimes with sticky notes reading “DO NOT ERASE!!!”

Director of Research & Development’s Office

The Professor’s office has a sign with the name of the Mad Scientist listed as the head of the department. This has been crudely crossed out and a printed sign hung below with the Professor’s name instead.

Inside, the wall is lined with bookcases filled with both antique leather-bound tomes and more current periodicals and books. An ornate-looking wooden desk has been shoved into the corner and replaced with a simple standing desk that the Professor works from. There is a comfortable couch along one wall and several chairs for meetings.

At any given time, the Professor is likely to be standing at their desk writing something, or sitting with their department heads discussing plans.

The Professor

Lawful Good Sentient Weapon wielded by Human Barbarian

The Director of Research & Development is an ancient sentient weapon, who everyone simply calls “The Professor.” They date back to around the characters’ time period. Over the centuries, they grew tired of mindless combat, became a pacifist, and started studying. They grew well-regarded in the science community, and until recently, were quite happy working in the research department as a professor of transdimensional ethics.

However, The Professor couldn’t ignore the Mad Scientist’s abuses of space-time for long. They sparked the mutiny when they convinced the rest of the research team to lock up the Mad Scientist. They’ve since been put in charge of #TeamEthics, and have continued to find alarming indications that messing with the timeline could have dire consequences. They want to end the gladiator programs, return everyone to their proper timeline, and then start a series of less intrusive historical documentaries using drones.