Case of the Redheaded Mutant, Episode 1 – Introductions

Time to solve a crime using one of my favorite supplements, 5150 New Hope City PI. The first step is to create my Star character and assemble her team of investigators.

The Webb Detective Agency

Pamela Athene Webb –

It was a curious door, most office doors Pam had ever seen were of glass and metal, but this door was solid hardwood, and the large brass letters made the door look even more imposing, “Jonathan P. Mason, Attorney at Law” it read. A little confused as to how she got here, Pam took a deep breath and went inside.

An attractive blonde sitting behind a desk smiled and asked, “Can I help you?”

“I’m Pamela Webb, I have a two o’clock appointment with Mr. Mason” Pam replied.

The receptionist rose from her seat, “Yes, Officer Webb, we’ve been expecting you. If you will follow me, please.” As Pam followed the young woman, she couldn’t help but notice her immaculate makeup, perfect hair, designer dress, and high heels, all trademarks of a high-end attorney’s office where the concept of casual wear didn’t exist. This added to Pam’s confusion. Pam had passed the bar exam, just barely, a few months ago and didn’t recall sending a resume to a law firm as prestigious as Mr. Mason’s firm.

The door from the reception area opened to a large common room flanked on both sides by rooms filled with busy people behind glass doors. The huge windows on the northern side had a breathtaking view of the bay and Alcatraz National Park. Pam had little time to enjoy the view as the receptionist maintained a brisk pace across the room to another solid wooden door. This door had the word “Private” in large brass letters.

The receptionist gently knocked on the door. As an older woman opened the door, the receptionist said. “Mr. Mason’s two o’clock is here.”

“Thank you, Trudi” replied the older woman with a smile and then said, “Won’t you please come in, Officer Webb.”

The office was the largest Pam had ever seen. To her left was a lounge area with sofa, chairs, low tables, and a bar; to her right was a conference table with a half dozen chairs and a balcony with a magnificent view of the bay; the furniture was antique; even the artwork on the walls evoked the feeling of twentieth century abstract art; and after a quick survey of her surroundings, Pam centered her attention on the large desk in the center of the room. A broad-shouldered man with dark wavy hair rose from behind the desk and leaned over it extending his hand. Pam offered her hand.

“Officer Pamela Webb, I’m Jonathan Mason,” he said shaking her hand, “won’t you please have a seat.”

He waited for Pam to sit. The older woman had by this time taken a seat at the end of the desk. She handed Mr. Mason a data pad as he sat down. “Officer Webb, this is my executive assistant, Ms. Janice Majors” he said gesturing toward the woman. Again, she smiled.

He swiped his finger across the pad, ”Let’s get started, shall we? You are Officer Pamela Athene Webb, a police officer for the Oakland Police Department and have been in that position for three years. During that time, you attended law school and have recently passed the bar exam.” He paused and looked over the pad at Pam.

Nodding, Pam said, “That is correct.”

“Before becoming a police officer, your only other employment was a twenty-year enlistment in the Marine Corps. While enlisted you earned both a bachelor’s and master’s degree. Bulk of your service was in Korea and achieved the rank of gunnery sergeant.” placing the data pad on the desk, Mr. Mason leaned back in his chair and added “A rather nondescript career.”

“Yes, sir” said Pam while holding back her irritation, “Yet you wanted to see me.”

Smiling, Mr. Mason said “Let’s peel back what this resume is hiding. You passed the bar examination, but you have not applied for a license to practice law. You have no real intention of becoming an attorney. Law school and the bar exam were to improve your chances of making detective. You should know that becoming a police officer is a career open to anyone, but entry into the higher echelons is controlled by dynastic police families and political machines that even in 2224 display vestiges of favoritism, nepotism, racism and misogyny. Your chance of making detective isn’t going to happen anytime soon.

“Now, about this boring military record. You were actually a member of Marine Task Force Epsilon attached to the Space Force combating piracy and terrorism on the frontier. The only times you were in Korea were periods spent to recover bone density and muscle mass. Not to mention receipt of a bronze star and purple heart.”

“I thought this information was classified” Pam interjected.

“It still is,” grinned Mr. Mason, “By the way, General Valgred sends his regards.”

He continued, “This brings us to why I wanted to see you. There are over four million people who live and work off this planet and that number is exploding. Those people have rights which must be defended. A successful defense relies on knowing the facts. Discovering the facts requires an investigation – a detective. I’ve opened a law office on the Islandia Habitat, but I don’t have any eyes and ears out there.

“You, Ms. Webb, already have the neural implants, mental programming, and genetic bone grafts, the ‘calcium hack’, for low gravity survival. With your knowledge, skills, and military and law enforcement experience you are an ideal candidate to lead an off-world investigation team. So, how about it, you still want to be a detective?”

He looked at Pam expecting a response, but she was stunned by what he had said. When she finally found her words, she asked “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

Della Street –

Mr. Mason was serious. He launched into detail his plans of establishing a law practice to service Earth orbit, the Moon, and the Lagrange points. It was a very ambitious project considering the vast majority of space is subject to maritime law with multiple jurisdictions. He had chosen Islandia for his base of operations. The habitat is a pair of the solar system’s largest O’Neill cylinders linked together by massive composite girders.

“While I placed the law office near the center of government, the detective agency is near the space port,” said Mason “as of now, the agency has a single employee, a sapient AI residing in a cybernetic body, a cybershell. Though there is a short lag time of a few seconds, Officer Webb, I would like you to meet Ms. Della Street.”

A hologram flickered on, a woman who appeared to be in her mid-twenties stood next to Mr. Mason. “Hello, Officer Webb, I’m Della Street” she said.

Something clicked in Pam’s mind, “Wait a minute, Della Street? Perry Mason’s Della Street?”

Della answered “Yes and no.”

Mr. Mason laughed, “You’ve caught on Officer Webb! My full name is Jonathan Perry Mason. My mother was a huge Perry Mason fan. As you no doubt learned in law school, the most famous lawyer in history is the fictional Perry Mason. Thus, I chose to cash in on my name and model my career on the character’s exploits. Della began as an AI legal assistant, but over the years she has evolved into a sapient infomorph. Here on earth, she is viewed either as a machine or a pet – property. On Islandia, she is a full citizen, equal to human beings.”

“I do hope we can work together Officer Webb; I manage the office, monitor the nets and serve as liaison between the law office and the agency” responded Della. “I’m ready to have your name put on the door.”

“Name on the door?” asked Pam.

“Yes,” said Mr. Mason, “the Webb Detective Agency.”

Fu Yin –

Yin was watching the National Day Parade on the room’s large vid-screen when an attendant entered and announced “Bao Yin, you have a visitor, General Bao Zhen.”

From her chair she leapt to attention and barked “Sir!”

The general laughed, “What nonsense is this? You are no longer in the military, is this any way to greet your grandfather?”

“I’m sorry, yeye, I’ve been watching the parade, and I felt nostalgic” Yin answered.

The general looked at the screen and then smiled, “I remember, you were just a cadet when you marched in the parade. Let’s turn it off, I have some serious things to discuss with you.

“As you know, when the captured terrorist set off the explosion in the ship you were piloting, your body was badly mangled. You were brought to the finest hospital in Beijing, but even they could not save you. So, I arranged for your mind to be uploaded into a biodroid shell.”

Yin sighed, “I know, yeye, it has taken me time to get used to this body, to get used to accepting the face I see in the mirror as mine. I agree with the doctors that I’m ready to leave the rehabilitation clinic.”

“Then you must hear what I’ve decided for you. The party maintains a hard line on who is human and who is not. Since your organic brain was destroyed when digitally uploaded, Bao Yin is officially dead, and you are not a person. If you remain in our country, you will be consigned to menial labor for the rest of your life. I have found a way out for you, my contacts in the American government have found a position for you as pilot for an off-world investigation team. You belong out there doing what you love, and you will even have opportunity to visit your parents on Mars,” said her grandfather.

“That is a wonderful thing you have done for me, grandfather. Will I ever see you again?” she asked.

General Bao Zhen chuckled, “No. Your freedom was an easy price to pay, I’m to retire to a remote village in Tibet. Here are your papers and passport, I took the liberty of changing your family name to Fu, your late grandmother’s clan. So, Fu Yin, we must say our goodbyes, you leave within the hour.”

Gina Perez –

As soon as Pam had given notice the captain had her clean out her locker while a desk sergeant looked on. Her two-week notice lasted less than twenty minutes before she was kicked to the curb. At least she was going to get paid for the full two weeks. Her next step was to terminate the lease on her apartment and dispose of its furnishings. Only the very wealthy could afford to ship furniture and keepsakes off world. In the end, everything she would take with her fit into a single duffle bag. She checked into a hotel in San Francisco near Mason’s office for the next several weeks Mason would go over her duties and responsibilities of running a detective agency servicing Earth Orbit and the Moon.

The fourth night, Pam wandered into a dive bar near Chinatown called “Won Hung Lo”. There were two kind of dive bars, the trendy neighborhood watering holes and the ones where hard people did hard drinking, Won Hung Lo fit the latter kind. The air was stale with a smokey cloud of tobacco, cannabis, and sickening sweet vape fumes, accentuated with the smell of bad booze. Most of the patrons didn’t notice her. One man placed his hand in a coat pocket, and another set down his drink and placed his hands under the table. The person Pam was interested in was seated at the bar, Perez the “Scrounger.”

Walking up to the bar, Pam said “You know, Scrounger, when most marines leave the Corps, they get a new tattoo, but cat ears?”

Perez smiled and then sneered, “You’re out of your jurisdiction Officer Webb.”

“I’m no longer a cop, I just want to talk” said Pam placing a can on the bar and sliding it to the cat girl.

Perez picked up the can. “Tuna? Hey, it’s the good stuff, has real fish in it. What is this, does the mighty Gunny Athena want to cry in her beer over old times?” she asked.

“I don’t use that name anymore, it’s just Pam” she replied.

“Well then, you can show me the same courtesy, my name’s not Scrounger nor Eugene, or cat girl – my name is Gina,” said an annoyed Gina Perez, “so what do you want?”

“I came with a job offer, Gina, I need you” replied Pam, “I’m heading up a detective agency and I need someone to watch my back. No, that’s not right – I need someone, sure, but I want you.”

“That’s touching, Pam” said Gina, “but I have a cozy set up here.”

This time Pam chuckled, “Come on, we both know the Feds are building a case against you and your smuggling racket. I even know how close they are to an indictment. If you need me to sweeten the pot, I can.”

“What, you got a ‘get out of jail free’ card?” Gina asked.

“In a manner of speaking, let’s just say the Feds won’t come after you if you are working for my agency – the jurisdiction thing you mentioned earlier,” said Pam.

“Just where is this detective agency of yours?” Gina asked.

Pam pointed up and said, “Several thousand miles from here on Islandia.”

Gina whistled, “Going back into space? What’s the deal? How can anyone on a cop’s salary afford to start a business on Islandia?”

“Though my name’s on the door, the operation is backed by Jonathan Mason, the big-time human rights lawyer. Will be handling investigations for his clients” answered Pam.

“How’d you get picked for this plum assignment?” asked Gina.

“I don’t know, somehow I think Valgred has something to do with it, which is why I need someone to watch my back” replied Pam.

“Colonel Valgred, that piece of work? If he’s got anything to do with it, the pay had better be good, very good,” said Gina.

“Valgred’s a general now. As for pay, I think you can name your price, within reason,” said Pam.

“Ok, say I’m in. What do I need to do?” Gina asked.

“Come with me tomorrow and meet Mason. We’re supposed to meet our pilot tomorrow” answered Pam.

“Some Air Force or Space Force hot shot?” Gina asked.

“Not exactly, I understand she’s a hot shot pilot from the PLAASF” said Pam with a grin.

“Wait, the Peoples Liberation Army Aerospace Force? The Chinese? Girl, what am I getting into?”

Launch Day –

It took a few weeks to process the paperwork and approvals, but Pam, Gina, and Yin settled into their seats on the HLV (Heavy Lift Vehicle). Pam and Gina wore the light gray vac suits common among the civilian workforce in space. Yin wore a bright red vac suit, the color worn by PLAASF crew members. The first leg of the journey was flight in the HLV to the European Union’s Von Braun Station in LEO (Low Earth Orbit), then a ride on an Orbital Transfer Vehicle to the Columbia Deep Space Port in HEO (High Earth Orbit), and the last leg of the journey would be by passenger ship to the Islandia Habitat at L4 – a four day journey if they made all of the connections on time, but five days was the average.

As the engines roared to life, Pam couldn’t help but think they were the most unusual detectives in the solar system, a black woman, a cat girl, a Chinese ghost in a shell, and an AI with a body. What had she gotten into?

What is This?

I didn’t want to set the story way out in the future by using the 5150 setting. I want the setting to be a bit closer to my own timeline, 2224 instead of 2024. In this post I’ve used material from Transhuman Space, Transhuman Space High Frontier, and Spaceships 8 Transhuman Spacecraft for the setting. All of these are from GURPS.

The rule sets used for the campaign and creating the characters are 5150 New Beginnings and 5150 New Hope City PI, both by Two Hour Wargames.

Why the near future? Well, we are hurtling toward a time when our civilizations with advances in robotics, genetics, and information technologies will have to grapple with what is a human. Anytime when there have been rapid and massive changes, the old fears, superstitions, and prejudices raise their heads in an ugly way.

In the next episode, I’ll take the next steps in 5150 New Hope City PI – Setting the Crime and introducing the Victim.

Painting Summary

I decided when I wrote this piece that I didn’t have suitable figures for Della Street and Fu Yin, so I painted four more figures from the Stargrave Crew sets from North Star Military Figures.

I have now completed 287 figures for the year.

• 18 – 28mm Science Fiction figures
• 17 – 28mm Modern Horror figures
• 8 – 28mm Interwar Pulp figures
• 9 – 28mm Old West figures
• 45 – 28mm Colonial Era figures
• 84 – 10mm Seven Years War figures
• 49 – 28mm Medieval figures
• 24 -28mm Amazon figures
• 33 – 28mm Fantasy figures

Completed Figures from the Crew 1 Set:

Completed Figures from the Crew 2 Set (many with alternate heads):

See! I’m finally getting to play a game. Don’t worry, I still have hundreds of figures to paint.