DRAMATIS PERSONAE
Matias Mendelssohn – Analyst (Nexus 9 Replicant)
Laux – Inspector (Nexus 9 Replicant)
Fenna – Doxie (Nexus 9 Replicant)
Exley – Fixer (Nexus 9 Replicant)

THE SETUP
WHEN – 2057, twenty years after the events of Season 1

WHERE – Boreas Hydrogen processing plant, Neptune Following the recent labor riots on the Hydrogen processing plant, Boreas, government regulations were put into place requiring the presence of Replicant Detectives on site at all times. The stint is short, but lucrative; Packard Testing pays for all expenses and travel, and each Detective returns home with a healthy stipend waiting for them. Neptune is inhospitable to life: the gravity is crushing, and the temperature averages -353 degrees Fahrenheit, to say nothing of the poisonous atmosphere; to be exposed to the surface of Neptune unprotected is to die. In the wake of the riots, the Labor Union needs frequent quelling, often resulting in violence, and new Detectives stationed on Boreas are hard pressed to keep things civil. Packard, and the LAPD, have authorized the use of lethal force in the line of duty. Recently, breaches have begun to appear in the tunnels of Boreas; no concrete evidence of foul play has been found and asking questions is a sure fire way to find yourself on the wrong side of an air lock.

SCENE 01 – As the LAPD shuttlecraft, Last Horizon slowly descends towards the Boreas hydrodgen processing plant, it pauses every few minutes to adjust to the ever-increasing gravity before descending again, the craft groaning under the forces outside contending with the pressurized air within, threatening to crush the shuttle completely. The four RepDet Unit officers are silent, five-point harnesses holding them into their jump seats as the shuttle threatens to shake itself apart. Mendelssohn closes his eyes and thinks back to the events a few weeks prior …

SCENE 02 – 12 March, 2057 – Mendelssohn is led into the dark, cavernous, and meticulously appointed office of Vincent Trunzo at Packard Testing HQ by a silent female secretary. Rain hammers the large walls outside, Mendelssohn feels a little self-conscious in his still-dripping trench coat. An antique grandfather clock ticks away in a tenebrous corner of the office and Trunzo puts out a cigarette before standing up to greet Mendelssohn.

Trunzo tells Mendelssohn that since Bill 712, The Rare Gases Protection Act, was signed into law, Packard has selected the best the LAPD has to offer for this duty. Trunzo assures Mendelssohn that after this stint is over, he will likely have his choice of any one of several lucrative assignments, and will have enough of a stipend to even leave the LAPD altogether and to into private security if he wishes.

Trunzo says that Mendelssohn did fine on both the physical and psychological parts of his application, but he’s worried that Mendelssohn’s loyalty will be pushed to the limit while at Boreas, and wants to be sure that Mendelssohn understands that under Bill 712, anyone disrupting the operation of the processing plant is committing domestic terrorism and it is not Packard’s policy to negotiate with terrorists.

Mendelssohn assures Trunzo that he will have no problem with this. Trunzo then changes the subject, asking Mendelssohn if he knows of the N9 Replicant, Alexi. Trunzo explains that Alexi is an anti-Packard dissident who has been protesting outside of the LA hydrogen processing plant. Alexi was apprehended by Packard’s private security and is being held inside Packard HQ. Trunzo asks Mendelssohn if he is aware of what this means. Mendelssohn says that he does.

Trunzo says that Alexi is being held behind a door, which he motions to with a vague gesture, and in one minute, the door will be opened. Trunzo told Alexi that if he can make it out of his office, he can go free. Trunzo’s secretary is under orders to let Alexi go free should he make it to the door. A PK-D blaster has been placed on a small table a few feet from the door which Alexi will be set free from. Trunzo is certain that Alexi will race to the gun and try to kill Trunzo. “My life is now in your hands, Officer Mendelssohn”, Trunzo says as he pushes a button on his desk, signalling his security detail to release Alexi …

SCENE 03 – 28 April, 2057 – Two weeks have passed since the detectives arrived at Boreas, a sprawling collection of steel-reinforced glass domes connected by vast corridors. The sound of machinery, and the smell of refinery chemicals fills every inch of the facilities domes except for the dome at the very far end of Boreas, at the end of a mile-long corridor accessible only via private monorail: the executive living quarters.

SCENE 04 – DAY 1, SHIFT 3 – The quiet of the first two weeks is shattered by an urgent call over the detectives’ KIA units: a hull breach has been reported in Sector 9. The Local 148 Gas Union leaders are also on the scene stirring up a crowd.

Arriving at the scene, the detectives are confronted by LA District 128 Councilwoman, Akira Ren. Exeley has been meeting with Ren over the past two weeks and tells her that they need an HQ close to the breach; the closest suitable location is the Victorious Dragon Noodle House, a popular dining spot with the gas miners. Exley, along with several Packard Testing employees, clear out the noodle shop.

SCENE 05 – A union leader by the name of Thompson is standing on barrels in the back of a flatbed truck, stirring up a crowd of 200 miners by yelling into a megaphone. Fenna leaps onto the flat bed and tries to talk Thompson down, but Thompson refuses to put down the megaphone. Fenna loses his temper and hits Thomspon on the head, who falls off the back of the truck.

Mendelssohn is watching the crowd while all of this is going on and he observes a miner at the back of the crowd acting suspiciously. Standing almost seven feet tall and wearing a miner’s overalls, the front zipped open showing a white tank top barely able to contain the massive, muscled form of the miner. Mendelssohn climbs atop the flat bed and as he is pointing the Replicant out to Fenna, the man takes off running. Mendelssohn and Fenna jump down in pursuit.

SCENE 06 – In the meanwhile, Laux dons a pressurized EV suit and is taken beyond the closed off area into the corridor where the breach occurred. The breach is much lager than she expected, with a 7 meter hole torn into the side of the corridor. There is a temporary steel seal in place and Laux is attached to a lifeline before opening the hatch. She is immediately sucked out into the freezing Neptune atmosphere and when the lifeline reaches its limit, swung along the outside of the corridor and slammed into the exterior wall.

Laux hears the sound of the Packard Testing employees laughing over her helmet radio, and grimly chuckles at their hazing, but makes a note of it for retribution later. Pushing against Neptune’s gravity and the strong wind, Laux is able to to get a piece of metal from the breach for analysis. When she returns inside, she tells the Packard employees that this was definitely a detonated charge. Laux asks if the mines have any explosives. She is told, no, explosives are not used in mining hydrogen. Plenty of chemicals, however, and its conceivable that a combustible compound could be formed, but there are no detonators.

SCENE 07 – Mendelssohn and Fenna chase the fleeing Replicant through a merchant district. At one point the Replicant is sent through several panes of glass, but escapes from their site. The Replicant gets the drop on Mendelssohn and assaults him with a wrench. Fortunately, Fenna arrives just in time to assist, and the now-unconscious Replicant is dragged back to the Victorious Dragon.