[Seed/Background] Coco’s Delivery Service

[Catsmate]

Coco’s Delivery Service¹
                                            When it absolutely, definitely, has to be there. Whenever.

It was, he thought, the sort of night that would have appealed to Bulwer-Lytton, dark and stormy, wet and windy. What Xavier Trelgor actually said was more circumspect; “Oh bugger”. He considered their options, thinking furiously as he watched the small craft fade into the distance and applied pressure to the bullet graze to his chest.
His companion was less composed, despite her military background Doctor Franklin Kalik was rather less calm in these situations. However she concentrated on what she did best and examined his injury.

“Nasty, but not likely to be quickly fatal” was her verdict. “Do you have any medical supplies?”
“No, Victorian formal wear is unfortunately lacking in suitable pockets” he replied, keeping his breathing even. Something struck him.
“Oh, I do have a flask of brandy, as an antiseptic”.
He took it out and passed it to her, “Don’t press the button on the bottom, it released a drug into the contents”.
Franklin’s eyebrows quirked. “Interesting little gadget” she said as she cleaned the wound and packed it with a handkerchief.
Xavier grunted, his mind working furiously on their situation.

“We’re in trouble, aren’t we?”, his friend asked quietly.
“Yes, we are. We’re stranded without communications or assistance, and in a couple of hours, long before we can get to civilisation, those idiots will have managed to pull off their plan, or at least screwed up human history in the attempt”.
He sighed in annoyance.
“What we need is transport so we can re-join Alicia and Genny”
“And a medical kit” she added, “before the pain, shock and blood loss get to you”.
“Indeed”. Xavier sighed again.
“Basically a deus ex machina".

Franklin was the first to hear the running steps, and turned abruptly, followed by Xavier. She heard his grunt, of pain or surprise or annoyance, she couldn’t tell. Was there another enemy coming to finish them? She vowed to acquire some weaponry concealable in a Victorian formal dress.

About twenty metres away a figure came around the corner, jogging rapidly, a satchel bouncing on his hip. A young man, perhaps twenty?, she thought. No obvious hostile intent. He slowed to a quick walk and approached them, smiling while panting a little.

“Excuse me sir” he spoke, addressing Xavier. Mentally Franklin sighed at the stupidity of Victorian gender roles.
“My name is Albert sir, from the Delivery Service. Coco’s you know”, he raised his eyebrows interrogatively.
Franklin and Xavier both shook their heads, somewhat nonplussed. Xavier spoke
“I’m afraid I don’t know your employers young man. But do you have a package for us?”
“Well sir if your name is Trelgor I do”, said the man opening his satchel
“I am indeed, Xavier Trelgor. And his is Franklin Kalik”.
She noted that he omitted her title. And his own too, to be fair.
“Well sir, in that case, I do have a package for you. Please sign here”.
A small clipboard with papers was proffered, and the man reached inside his jacket for a pen but Xavier drew out his own and scribbled his name on the place indicated.
Albert handed him a package, wrapped in brown paper and string she noted, with wax seals protecting it’s integrity. When Xavier took it, Albert saluted, spun on one heel and strolled off.

When he’s passed out of sight around the corner she spoke “That was odd”.
“Indeed” was Xavier’s reply, “but providential”.
“A Deux ex Machina?” she asked.
“I think more of a Deus ex Horologium” he replied, concentrating on opening the package. It appeared well secured.
“Ah ha”. He displayed the contents. A small hexagonal transmat jump, two compact blasters, and, the largest item, an Imperial pattern field medical kit. The FM-766 she identified automatically.
God in the clock indeed.

Time travellers occasionally have the problem of sending stuff safely to themselves, or others, in the future. While the Post Restante (General Delivery) service of Post Offices has some utility, this is a limited service only allowing for a few months storage and relying on the recipient knowing where to look.

A surprising number of fusty, not to say crusty, lawyers of the James Jocelyne type have been known to handle such matters, but they’re generally conservative, difficult to find when needed and prone to going out of business due to family circumstances and leaving critical packages to clueless descendants. Or, of course, being evil.

Innkeepers were once a semi-reliable method of sending letters forward in time, but they’re a dying breed; many of the cheerful Clarrie types have been replaced by part-time barmen named Neville of uncertain temperament.
Plus such letters are prone to being mislaid, stolen or soaked to the point of illegibility in various fluids.

• If one is a member, the Hourglass Club offers this service, along with it’s famous Index. Some members of the Timeless Society also handle letters and packages.
• Of course there are always orbital drones; launching a package into space with the re-entry times for the correct delivery. But then that has it's own issues; there’s rarely a long duration, precise, re-entry capable drone lying around when you need a package delivered, is there?
  

Western Union, and similar services, are one option, but sending a package to be delivered in a century’s time to a person or location that the sender could not know about by normal means tends to attract attention.
People holding on to packages ask questions, sometimes a few are smart enough, and open minded enough, to figure out the answers. The can be problematic.

The company still known today (the early twenty-first century) as "Coco’s" (officially Coco’s General Deliveries) is the descendant of one solution to such a problem. If there was no-one providing the service, create it.

• Who exactly this benefactor to time travellers was, is generally unknown, and indeed, may be unknown to them, as yet. The choice of name is also unexplained. It may have been a passing fancy.
  
• It is known that the service originated in the eighteenth century in Birmingham, during the Midlands Enlightenment, after an incident that involved the Lunar Circle, a disembodied head and several clones of Doctor Darwin².
  

Branches were formed in Liverpool, London, Dublin, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Paris, and later around the world. It acted, and indeed continues to act, as a general deliver service. But it specialised in the odder sort of delivery.
Packages to be delivered to a certain location, at a certain time, signed for and the matter forgotten. Packages kept safe for years, decades, even centuries.

In fact the company mainly subsists on it's investments; both the interest on it's fees and a wide portfolio of corporate and property holdings, some suggested by grateful clients, others deduced by snippets of advice that were meant to keep the business in existence and packages safe.

For many years they had a relationship with the London District Messenger Service³, being referred to as the "Special Deliveries Office" but it has always employed it's own staff of "boys", the term is still used even though neither age nor gender nor race have ever been a disqualifier. Nor has species in fact; Coco's employs several people with odd talents.

Today the general manager is Coco McBride, a tough and sharp woman in her late twenties, of mixed West Indian, Polish, Irish and Huguenot ancestry who has been known to hum "A Boy Named Sue" when asked about her mother's choice of name for her.
The company has been in Coco’s family since 1766, even if her ‘family’ tree has quite a few dotted lines.


A little background idea that started buzzing around my head

Comments? Ideas? Suggestions?





1. Hair ribbons not included.

2. Erasmus Darwin that is, the probably smarter grandfather of the better known Charles. A sharp man even after several drinks (a certain time traveller still regrets mentioning the Big Crunch). He also designed the world's  first hydrox rocket, something no-one currently admits to being responsible for.

3. Mentioned previously in my Untold Cases pf Sherlock Holmes thread. A fascinating organisation.

[starkllr]

This is fantastic!

[Catsmate]

Aug 19, 2021 15:14:24 GMT starkllr said:

This is fantastic!

Thank you, I'm glad you like it.

I might develop it into a campaign idea, or ideas, with suggestions for PCs employed as messengers. I'm found a fascinating piece about the London District Messenger Service that's full of ideas.

[grinch]

For some reason, I have an image of some entity made of pure sound waves being employed by the Delivery Service to deliver voice messages.

Not quite sure what you do with it but it’s something that immediately sprang to mind.

[tampahawke]

OH! this is Good!!!

[Catsmate]

Aug 19, 2021 15:47:22 GMT grinch said:

For some reason, I have an image of some entity made of pure sound waves being employed by the Delivery Service to deliver voice messages.

Not quite sure what you do with it but it’s something that immediately sprang to mind.

Hmm, the PCs are stranded in the middle of a hedge maze¹ in the rainy night, while the villain of the week gets away, with a faint and persistent background humming, when a disembodied voice speaks from the darkness "Excuse me but I have a message for you. 'Take the next right, then three lefts, two rights, one left and finally right again'. Do you want me to repeat that?"

Actually Coco's could become a refuse for all sorts of odd people with weird talents. An Auton left over from the Nestene invasions of the '70s whose connection to the Consciousness was severed and has developed it's own sentience, a robotic Raven that's was 'upgraded' by Osgood and decided to desert the Tower of London in search of adventure, a sentient crow...
In fact the last two open the possibility of a Pratchett-style Death of Rats and Quoth the Raven team-up. The Daleks created cyborg rats, didn't they?


1. I have no idea where this came from, blame my Golden Age mystery habit where such mazes appear improbably often.

Aug 21, 2021 6:35:44 GMT tampahawke said:

OH! this is Good!!!

Thank you! I'm fond of world-building details like this, which can also spawn campaign and scenario ideas.

[grinch]

Aug 21, 2021 9:38:01 GMT Catsmate said:

Aug 19, 2021 15:47:22 GMT grinch said:

For some reason, I have an image of some entity made of pure sound waves being employed by the Delivery Service to deliver voice messages.

Not quite sure what you do with it but it’s something that immediately sprang to mind.

Hmm, the PCs are stranded in the middle of a hedge maze¹ in the rainy night, while the villain of the week gets away, with a faint and persistent background humming, when a disembodied voice speaks from the darkness "Excuse me but I have a message for you. 'Take the next right, then three lefts, two rights, one left and finally right again'. Do you want me to repeat that?"

Actually Coco's could become a refuse for all sorts of odd people with weird talents. An Auton left over from the Nestene invasions of the '70s whose connection to the Consciousness was severed and has developed it's own sentience, a robotic Raven that's was 'upgraded' by Osgood and decided to desert the Tower of London in search of adventure, a sentient crow...
In fact the last two open the possibility of a Pratchett-style Death of Rats and Quoth the Raven team-up. The Daleks created cyborg rats, didn't they?


1. I have no idea where this came from, blame my Golden Age mystery habit where such mazes appear improbably often.

Aug 21, 2021 6:35:44 GMT tampahawke said:

OH! this is Good!!!

Thank you! I'm fond of world-building details like this, which can also spawn campaign and scenario ideas.

I like that idea a lot. Now I’m just imaging that’s some intergalactic branch of the Labour Exchange/Job Centre which is stationed on Earth and helps get extra terrestrials/curiosities get into work. No doubt a great many of them would be pointed towards the Delivery Service. 

And in lieu of payment, I think the sound entity (“The Voice”) just gets his own room in the home offices where it gets to bounce around/echo around to its heart content. Many people from the outside would just think it’s a room full of people talking but it’s actually The Voice just repeating conversations it has heard prior. No matter how nonsensical it might seem.

[tampahawke]

Aug 21, 2021 12:31:18 GMT grinch said:

Aug 21, 2021 9:38:01 GMT Catsmate said:

And in lieu of payment, I think the sound entity (“The Voice”) just gets his own room in the home offices where it gets to bounce around/echo around to its heart content. Many people from the outside would just think it’s a room full of people talking but it’s actually The Voice just repeating conversations it has heard prior. No matter how nonsensical it might seem.

possiple source for the orgin of  "haunted houses/rooms" where folks hear "voices" which cease the moment they enter a room??

[grinch]

Aug 21, 2021 13:07:48 GMT tampahawke said:

Aug 21, 2021 12:31:18 GMT grinch said:

And in lieu of payment, I think the sound entity (“The Voice”) just gets his own room in the home offices where it gets to bounce around/echo around to its heart content. Many people from the outside would just think it’s a room full of people talking but it’s actually The Voice just repeating conversations it has heard prior. No matter how nonsensical it might seem.

possiple source for the orgin of  "haunted houses/rooms" where folks hear "voices" which cease the moment they enter a room??

Certainly a possibility. And sound wave entities aren’t exactly a new concept when it comes to the Whoniverse.

In fact, although this might depart from Catsmates’s original idea a bit maybe the sound entity was already inhabiting the building that would later become the main office of the Delivery Service? (Tie in with your idea regarding haunted houses right there) And when they discovered it’s true nature, it just became another member of staff.

[Catsmate]

Aug 21, 2021 12:31:18 GMT grinch said:

Aug 21, 2021 9:38:01 GMT Catsmate said:

Hmm, the PCs are stranded in the middle of a hedge maze¹ in the rainy night, while the villain of the week gets away, with a faint and persistent background humming, when a disembodied voice speaks from the darkness "Excuse me but I have a message for you. 'Take the next right, then three lefts, two rights, one left and finally right again'. Do you want me to repeat that?"

Actually Coco's could become a refuse for all sorts of odd people with weird talents. An Auton left over from the Nestene invasions of the '70s whose connection to the Consciousness was severed and has developed it's own sentience, a robotic Raven that's was 'upgraded' by Osgood and decided to desert the Tower of London in search of adventure, a sentient crow...
In fact the last two open the possibility of a Pratchett-style Death of Rats and Quoth the Raven team-up. The Daleks created cyborg rats, didn't they?


1. I have no idea where this came from, blame my Golden Age mystery habit where such mazes appear improbably often.


Thank you! I'm fond of world-building details like this, which can also spawn campaign and scenario ideas.

I like that idea a lot. Now I’m just imaging that’s some intergalactic branch of the Labour Exchange/Job Centre which is stationed on Earth and helps get extra terrestrials/curiosities get into work. No doubt a great many of them would be pointed towards the Delivery Service. 

And in lieu of payment, I think the sound entity (“The Voice”) just gets his own room in the home offices where it gets to bounce around/echo around to its heart content. Many people from the outside would just think it’s a room full of people talking but it’s actually The Voice just repeating conversations it has heard prior. No matter how nonsensical it might seem.

Excellent ideas.
In my game the Hourglass Club maintains an Index of people with special skills and talents; most of them are pretty mundane but if you need a brewer, butler, bacteriologist, burglar or beekeeper at 3AM they have someone on file.

Maybe the  Galactic Job Centre has been around on Earth for a long time (it could be a private agency, employment agencies have been around for centures) placing people in suitable work, and maintaining the masquerade.

Perhaps the sound creature (let's call it Ivy after the Kate Bush song) has an occasional holiday to somewhere suitable for yodeling, to let go?

Aug 21, 2021 13:07:48 GMT tampahawke said:

Aug 21, 2021 12:31:18 GMT grinch said:

And in lieu of payment, I think the sound entity (“The Voice”) just gets his own room in the home offices where it gets to bounce around/echo around to its heart content. Many people from the outside would just think it’s a room full of people talking but it’s actually The Voice just repeating conversations it has heard prior. No matter how nonsensical it might seem.

possiple source for the orgin of  "haunted houses/rooms" where folks hear "voices" which cease the moment they enter a room??

Or acoustic oddities like The Hum. They could be mating/distress calls.
In fact there are a surprising number of strange and unexplained sounds.

Aug 21, 2021 13:16:56 GMT grinch said:

Aug 21, 2021 13:07:48 GMT tampahawke said:

possiple source for the orgin of  "haunted houses/rooms" where folks hear "voices" which cease the moment they enter a room??

Certainly a possibility. And sound wave entities aren’t exactly a new concept when it comes to the Whoniverse.

In fact, although this might depart from Catsmates’s original idea a bit maybe the sound entity was already inhabiting the building that would later become the main office of the Delivery Service? (Tie in with your idea regarding haunted houses right there) And when they discovered it’s true nature, it just became another member of staff.

True Doctor⁸ and Charley encountered one.

I rather like your idea of Ivy being around even before the delivery service and then being recruited.

[grinch]

In fact, having the Galactic Job Centre play a role would make for a nice starting point for any alien PCs. Unable to get off planet, they’ve had to sign on in the meantime and have been sent to fill a vacancy in the Delivery Service. With their Work Coach acting as the secondary antagonist as they check up on their progress. A science fiction version of Pauline from the LOG if you will. Would of course be better suited for a more comedic campaign.

Great idea for any guest players. Someone is interested in studying Sound Creatures and tries to study Ivy and ultimately getting in the way of daily operations in the Delivery Service. Ivy is a solid worker so they’d definitely get breaks and holidays. They like to visit the mountains as you suggested but also old buildings/castles due to the acoustics.

Only trouble with having a Sound Creature on staff is that it’s hard to tell whether they’re actually in the building or not. Or whether it’s actually listening. Or even how they managed to communicate with it in the first place to offer it a job.

Oh they’re is definitely a story to be told there about how Ivy first appeared on Earth and why it’s been inhabiting this building for so long.

In fact, if you don’t mind Catsmate if we get more ideas for staff members I’d love to stat them up down the line.

[Catsmate]

Aug 21, 2021 17:17:12 GMT grinch said:

In fact, having the Galactic Job Centre play a role would make for a nice starting point for any alien PCs. Unable to get off planet, they’ve had to sign on in the meantime and have been sent to fill a vacancy in the Delivery Service. With their Work Coach acting as the secondary antagonist as they check up on their progress. A science fiction version of Pauline from the LOG if you will. Would of course be better suited for a more comedic campaign.

Great idea for any guest players. Someone is interested in studying Sound Creatures and tries to study Ivy and ultimately getting in the way of daily operations in the Delivery Service. Ivy is a solid worker so they’d definitely get breaks and holidays. They like to visit the mountains as you suggested but also old buildings/castles due to the acoustics.

Only trouble with having a Sound Creature on staff is that it’s hard to tell whether they’re actually in the building or not. Or whether it’s actually listening. Or even how they managed to communicate with it in the first place to offer it a job.

Oh they’re is definitely a story to be told there about how Ivy first appeared on Earth and why it’s been inhabiting this building for so long.

In fact, if you don’t mind Catsmate if we get more ideas for staff members I’d love to stat them up down the line.

Oh absolutely, if anyone has any suggestions for staff (or anything else) please make them.

[grinch]

Had another idea in a burst of inspiration.

A collection of highly advanced nanomachines mainly used for sanitation and minor repair work. Despite working together in a swarm, they view themselves as their own individuals and are very vocal (and opinionated to boot!) about their rights to the point where they have even unionised demanding regular lunch breaks and full medical. Even though as many of the other staff point out they don’t need to eat and they never get ill. Despite this, however, Coco tends to allow them these small indulgences in order to mollify them after coming to the realisation that they could quite literally bring the entire place down if they wanted to.

Their origin is unknown and they were found on the front doorstep in an inactive state within a plastic Tupperware box. For some reason, I just have this idea of them being someone’s school project that was left to the Delivery Service for some reason.

[tampahawke]

well, after Nth doctor (eccleson) got done "fixing" everyone at the bombsite,  he and Jack had to put the nano chines "somewhere"!! ----HEH

[Catsmate]

Aug 22, 2021 3:27:11 GMT tampahawke said:

well, after Nth doctor (eccleson) got done "fixing" everyone at the bombsite,  he and Jack had to put the nano chines "somewhere"!! ----HEH

Or they could have been the malfunctioning maintenance swarm from Jack's ship whole weren't willing to die with it and ejected...
There could be a variety of sizes, from rodent to insect to invisible.

[grinch]

Aug 22, 2021 10:18:05 GMT Catsmate said:

Aug 22, 2021 3:27:11 GMT tampahawke said:

well, after Nth doctor (eccleson) got done "fixing" everyone at the bombsite,  he and Jack had to put the nano chines "somewhere"!! ----HEH

Or they could have been the malfunctioning maintenance swarm from Jack's ship whole weren't willing to die with it and ejected...
There could be a variety of sizes, from rodent to insect to invisible.

Ironically, they could have quite easily disarmed the bomb by reducing it to its basic elements but bomb disposal wasn't in their contract. 

Oh definitely, I like the idea of them having various sizes. The larger models do often have to translate or speak on behalf of their more microscope counterparts. 

Still very much part of the staff though. In fact, they insist on it. Even to the point of being included in staff meetings. 

[grinch]

I also think such a operation would have at least one Time Sensitive on staff. If only to make sure no paradoxes are created by parcels being delivered at the wrong time or before they have even been sent. As well as to make sure people pay up. Having the timeline in which they asked for or needed the message/parcel to be delivered be erased is no excuse for not paying. We’re trying to run a business after all!

They’d probably be the sort to constantly take pills/medicine in order to relieve the headaches they suffer from trying to keep track of all the potential paradoxes.

Whether the Time Sensitive is merely a gifted human or a member of another species entirely is up for discussion.

[Catsmate]

Aug 22, 2021 23:22:11 GMT grinch said:

I also think such a operation would have at least one Time Sensitive on staff. If only to make sure no paradoxes are created by parcels being delivered at the wrong time or before they have even been sent. As well as to make sure people pay up. Having the timeline in which they asked for or needed the message/parcel to be delivered be erased is no excuse for not paying. We’re trying to run a business after all!

They’d probably be the sort to constantly take pills/medicine in order to relieve the headaches they suffer from trying to keep track of all the potential paradoxes.

Whether the Time Sensitive is merely a gifted human or a member of another species entirely is up for discussion.

Excellent!
Possibly a stranded Tharil? Or a survivor of some Sinister Experiment, in the classic Philadelphia Experiment mould. Maybe some Gallifreyan tinkering from the desperate stages of the Time War? It'd have the Rani's fingerprints too...

I am intrigue by the relationship between Coco's and the other players in time travel and alien contact; Torchwood, the Hourglass Club, UNIT, Trap Street, the Paternoster Gang et cetera

[grinch]

Considering how similar their biology is to the Gallifreyans, it honestly wouldn’t surprised me if they abducted a few humans or humanoid species in order to experiment on them as you suggested. And the Rani most would definitely as you suggested be into such experimentation. How the Time Sensitive got onto Earth would naturally be up to the discretion of the GM. Would also explain why they constantly have to rely on pills/tablets to avoid getting migraines if they’re not naturally psychic.

With regards to Ashildr and the citizens of Trap Street, it honestly wouldn’t surprise me if a few of the workers of the Delivery Service actually lived and originated from there. Aside from maybe Ivy the Sound Creature and the swarm of nano machines they can’t exactly live at work after all. Coco would probably have a mutual agreement with Ashildr, she’ll house some of her workers and in exchange she’ll keep the existence of the street hidden. For some reason, I have the image that Coco and Ashildr don’t really like one another but have a grudging respect.

Not sure whether UNIT would even be aware of the temporal nature of the Delivery Service but from what I’ve heard of The Hourglass Club they’d definitely be aware of it. Maybe even a few of its members would be loyal customers and utilise its services from time to time. Although, maybe, that’s how UNIT got that Vortex Manipulator that we saw in the Day of the Doctor?

[grinch]

For some reason, I also have this idea of Coco and some of her staff cataloguing the various parcels and letters they have in storage only to discover a huge coffin labelled for today’s delivery. Considering the nature of their operation, they of course don’t remember having this in storage. But, that’s business as usual.

And that’s when a Dar Trader comes a calling to collect his parcel. Inside it’s revealed that the coffin contains the perfectly preserved corpse of one of Coco’s ancestors and the former owner of this branch.

Now, Coco and her workers have to deal with the possibility of a hostile takeover when her newly reanimated ancestor seeks to reclaim his position as head of this branch.

[Catsmate]

Aug 23, 2021 18:51:08 GMT grinch said:

Considering how similar their biology is to the Gallifreyans, it honestly wouldn’t surprised me if they abducted a few humans or humanoid species in order to experiment on them as you suggested. And the Rani most would definitely as you suggested be into such experimentation. How the Time Sensitive got onto Earth would naturally be up to the discretion of the GM. Would also explain why they constantly have to rely on pills/tablets to avoid getting migraines if they’re not naturally psychic.

The Tharils kept human slaves, it'd hardly impossible they might have experimented on them. Or humans might have experimented on others to fight the Tharils.

Aug 23, 2021 18:51:08 GMT grinch said:

With regards to Ashildr and the citizens of Trap Street, it honestly wouldn’t surprise me if a few of the workers of the Delivery Service actually lived and originated from there. Aside from maybe Ivy the Sound Creature and the swarm of nano machines they can’t exactly live at work after all. Coco would probably have a mutual agreement with Ashildr, she’ll house some of her workers and in exchange she’ll keep the existence of the street hidden. For some reason, I have the image that Coco and Ashildr don’t really like one another but have a grudging respect.

Very likely, it reminds me of the Paternoster audio Family Matters where Vastra tried to place several aliens in employment.

Aug 23, 2021 18:51:08 GMT grinch said:

Not sure whether UNIT would even be aware of the temporal nature of the Delivery Service but from what I’ve heard of The Hourglass Club they’d definitely be aware of it. Maybe even a few of its members would be loyal customers and utilise its services from time to time. Although, maybe, that’s how UNIT got that Vortex Manipulator that we saw in the Day of the Doctor?

Oh yes, the Hourglass Club and its members would be interested (if only as an 'outsourcing partner').

Aug 23, 2021 19:01:22 GMT grinch said:

For some reason, I also have this idea of Coco and some of her staff cataloguing the various parcels and letters they have in storage only to discover a huge coffin labelled for today’s delivery. Considering the nature of their operation, they of course don’t remember having this in storage. But, that’s business as usual.

And that’s when a Dar Trader comes a calling to collect his parcel. Inside it’s revealed that the coffin contains the perfectly preserved corpse of one of Coco’s ancestors and the former owner of this branch.

Now, Coco and her workers have to deal with the possibility of a hostile takeover when her newly reanimated ancestor seeks to reclaim his position as head of this branch.

Fascinating.

[Catsmate]

Some possible staff members.

1. Ronny.
When he was discovered by Social Services living rough on the streets of Glasgow in <YEAR> Ronny (not Ronald or Ron) was thought to be, well, just an unusually ugly, rather hairy and very strong homeless person. It wasn't until a run in (accidental on both sides) with UNIT's Misfit Mob that some of the truth was discovered.
DNA testing showed him to have no living relatives, which wasn't that surprising as he wasn't human. Well not entirely human. Ronny was a humanzee, a hybrid of human and chimpanzee. Investigation showed that he's been created by an extremely unscrupulous Scottish geneticist and appears to have escaped from his creator's burning Glasgow lab at around the age of 12. Three people died in the fire but no-one was to anxious to ask questions. Initially placed in foster care there was a not of debate involving (eventually) nineteen agencies as to what to do with him. Is he a UK citizen (the lawyers' answer was "that's a very  interesting question"^₁). Does he have human rights? (The lawyers were unwilling to venture an opinion). Is he capable of making decisions for himself²?

Eventually some unofficial phone calls were made, paperwork fixed, and Ronny Mann got a job. He rather likes it at Coco's and lives with a couple of other employees with oddities.


2. Marcel Connor.
Marcel was a pretty normal student at the University of Birmingham until one night in his third year in <YEAR> after a party. To this day he doesn't know what happens, and neither do a string of neurology specialists. One thing is clear; he no longer sleeps.
This hasn't led to the expected insanity³ and has led to some interesting research papers and Marcel refusing to be tested any further. After experimenting with a number of part-time jobs and changing his field of study four times (he's basically seen as a perpetual student despite having actually graduated several times and accruing three degrees). Something is driving him to continue studying.
An encounter with a visiting academic, who noticed his oddities very quickly, sent him in the direction of Coco's, where he works as a dispatcher and organiser, performing occasional deliveries. He also works as a researcher, noted for his ability to find stuff for others, assisted by the fact that he can work twenty hour shifts ithout fatigue (boredom is another matter). He sleeps a few hours one night in four. What is more concerning to him is that he doesn't seem to age much either; at 28 he looks 20.
When he's not working he either reads, surfs the net or walks the city for hour after hour. He's seen some very odd things and made some odder friends. Knows every private library and book shop in Midlands and London.






1. Translated rather cynically by Captain Marshall, who is less than fond of the legal professions, as "four grand a day each and it'll take longer than Jarndyce and Jarndyce".

2. By this time the lawyers had been asked to leave.

3. Quite to the disappointment of many scientists. Especially as they can't dissect his brain.

[grinch]

Really like Ronny and Marcel. Is the former a reference to anything (aside from the rumoured Soviet experiments) or is he a character of your own creation? Definitely someone who probably lives on Trap Street with the more alien staff of the Delivery Service. Marcel greatly intrigues me. Clearly he was the subject of an experiment (someone might have slipped something in his drink) which by the sounds of it is still ongoing. An attempt to accelerate human evolution perhaps?Although, maybe he stumbled across some forbidden knowledge in his university library which caused these great changes? Either way. He gets through a lot of crosswords while others are sleeping.

I did like the idea you suggested earlier regarding an Auton left over from the first (as far as we know) invasion of the ‘70s. I like to think it had been left in storage, wrapped up neatly to be shipped over to one of the Black Archives (in rare collaboration with UNIT) but ended up being left behind and forgotten about. Then one day, it promptly activated and wandered aimlessly around the building. Eventually, they managed to get it under control and not knowing what else to do with it just kept it around. If only to keep an eye on him. Nicknaming him Andy and getting him to do a lot of the heavy lifting.

Overtime, Andy would master a bit of the English language thanks to Marcel who viewed it as another project to keep himself occupied. At least enough to hold a rudimentary conversation. But it’s topic of conversation is rather limited. I like to think it was on the front desk at one point but it’s appearance was unnerving some of the customers so now it works in security. The Swarm aren’t big fans of him and see him as a potential threat to their livelihood. Completely irrational fear, of course.

Much like Ivy and the Swarm, Andy resides in the offices. Quite content to simply stand in one of the cupboards or simply staring unmoving out of the window observing the street below. To link it in with UNIT and to have the likes of Osgood make a guest appearance, I could see them checking up on Andy from time to time. If only to make sure no lingering trace of the Nestene Consciousness remains.

[Catsmate]

Aug 24, 2021 19:33:13 GMT grinch said:

Really like Ronny and Marcel.

Thank you.

Aug 24, 2021 19:33:13 GMT grinch said:

Is the former a reference to anything (aside from the rumoured Soviet experiments) or is he a character of your own creation?

Nope, the idea has been an interest of mine for years, I've mentioned it here a couple of times.
There have been at least five such hybridisation attempts, going back to 1906 and there's still interest today, despite the more stringent ethical climate.
With Mad Science or alien tech (Rutan Healing Salve) it might have possible to overcome the genetic and biological problems years ago.
I chose Glasgow because I'm sketching out a scenario there (also I've listened to Year of the Pig again which may have started things); it's a change from Florida or the Congo. In fact Ronny's conception could be linked to that scenario.

Aug 24, 2021 19:33:13 GMT grinch said:

Definitely someone who probably lives on Trap Street with the more alien staff of the Delivery Service.

Yes. A realistic humanzee would be, by human standards, significantly mentally retarded and have a limited vocabulary. But they'd be far stronger (perhaps three times as strong as a human) and with a much tougher skeleton.
However the effects of whatever allowed the hybridisation could alter these.

Aug 24, 2021 19:33:13 GMT grinch said:

Marcel greatly intrigues me. Clearly he was the subject of an experiment (someone might have slipped something in his drink) which by the sounds of it is still ongoing. An attempt to accelerate human evolution perhaps?Although, maybe he stumbled across some forbidden knowledge in his university library which caused these great changes? Either way. He gets through a lot of crosswords while others are sleeping.

I much confess he's a character from the other campaign I GM with some alterations (he's far younger), he was an NPC who knew a lot of useful facts, if you could get him to talk. I never actually gave a rationale for his origins, though I considered giving him a Jekyll/Hyde aspect.

Aug 24, 2021 19:33:13 GMT grinch said:

I did like the idea you suggested earlier regarding an Auton left over from the first (as far as we know) invasion of the ‘70s. I like to think it had been left in storage, wrapped up neatly to be shipped over to one of the Black Archives (in rare collaboration with UNIT) but ended up being left behind and forgotten about. Then one day, it promptly activated and wandered aimlessly around the building. Eventually, they managed to get it under control and not knowing what else to do with it just kept it around. If only to keep an eye on him. Nicknaming him Andy and getting him to do a lot of the heavy lifting.

I lie that. Andy might serve as a bodyguard for some dangerous missions too.

Aug 24, 2021 19:33:13 GMT grinch said:

Overtime, Andy would master a bit of the English language thanks to Marcel who viewed it as another project to keep himself occupied. At least enough to hold a rudimentary conversation. But it’s topic of conversation is rather limited. I like to think it was on the front desk at one point but it’s appearance was unnerving some of the customers so now it works in security. The Swarm aren’t big fans of him and see him as a potential threat to their livelihood. Completely irrational fear, of course.

Excellent.

Aug 24, 2021 19:33:13 GMT grinch said:

Much like Ivy and the Swarm, Andy resides in the offices. Quite content to simply stand in one of the cupboards or simply staring unmoving out of the window observing the street below. To link it in with UNIT and to have the likes of Osgood make a guest appearance, I could see them checking up on Andy from time to time. If only to make sure no lingering trace of the Nestene Consciousness remains.

And an excuse to poke around, keeping an eye on one of the independent players?


If I have the chance tomorrow I'll write-up and post Ann Lincoln (the best driver and navigator in the company), Lydia Muffet (coordinator, planner and dispatcher) and John Zegrus (a courier).

[Catsmate]

Some more staff.

3. Ann Lincoln – The Best Navigator around.
Anne is the best driver and navigator in the company, a specialist in getting almost anywhere in Britain, or Europe, in surprisingly short times. She and her somewhat dinged light blue Citroën 2CV are a familiar sight in the streets outside the various offices of Coco's. The company prize her for her ability to get from Birmingham to Edinburgh in less than ninety minutes.
Curiously she's also able to do it in less than 200km.
Which really should be impossible.
But not for Anne, 'Ruffles'¹ and Tonto.

It started a couple of years ago at college when Ann won some money and decided to buy a car, and fell for an old 2CV that was going cheap. Very cheap. It even has an oversized satellite navigation system which intrigued her as she'd always been interested in geography. Some playing around with it (and it's weird, non-standard connections) and she found it was amazingly good at guiding her down shortcuts. After a trip in Ruffles her girlfriend, a physics student, noticed something strange. Not only could the car get them places faster than expected, the distance covered was shorter than physically possible. After a very discreet discussion of this on a web forum, someone PM'd her the suggestion that she apply to Coco's. When she delivered her first package in less time than was possible even with a helicopter, Ann was hired. The management don't ask questions and most of teh staff haven't noticed.
Sometimes Ann brings Fatima along with her, the now graduated physicist is fascinated by the car. And Ann...

Ann's main hobby is the history of the Pony Express, which she can talk about for hours.



4. Lydia Muffet – The Dispatcher.
To most of the staff of Coco’s, Lydia is a voice on a phone or desk speaker², or in more modern times an avatar on a screen; few have seen her in person. “She doesn’t get around much” and “She likes her privacy” are comments made, with vague allusions to some physical disability, agoraphobia et cetera. Most of the staff don’t pry, they have their own private matters.
She works from, and lives in, the spacious attic of Coco's headquarters, actually three attics that have been knocked together into a spacious suite.
But then Lydia needs her space given that she's almost six metres from tip to tip. Oh and she's a very large spider.

Rather unusual even for Coco's, only a couple of people know how she came to work for the company, which was long before the memories of most current staff who just accept her. An expert organiser and multi-tasker she runs the delivery service with the sort of efficiency that's generally described as 'Germanic'. She knows people's schedules, habits, prejudices and abilities and keeps things moving efficiently.
She's also extremely venomous, afraid of fire and the cause of several urban legends.



5. Joan Zegrus – The Professional.
Sometimes people just….appear. In the Old Days UNIT and similar agencies just locked them up, when they didn’t simply kill them, but in these more enlightened times, with the Masquerade starting to fray and even monsters having lawyers, other methods need to be used. Plus it’s quite expensive to keep someone confined ad infinitum, and they tend to resent it and try to escape.

The woman who uses the name ‘Joan Zegrus’ was stopped in <YEAR> at Norwich International Airport after Border Protection³ flagged her passport, issued by the Republic of Fraxinet in the name of Selina Khalid listing her occupation as ‘courier’. While superficially correct the passport had an EU constellation with fifteen stars and a different shade of blue and a supervisor realised there was no such country. Investigations were started and eventually the matter arrived on the desk of a junior UNIT officer. It didn’t take UNIT long to figure out that the person had ‘drifted’ through a convergence point and was from a parallel Earth, one with a slightly different history, where the old Moorish settlement in southern France had persisted to the modern day. With no easy way to return her, UNIT had a problem. There was little actual legal basis to hold her and she was demanding to see a lawyer.

While vague references to the ‘Enabling Acts’ might delay matters the strong willed woman presented a problem. Eventually a compromise was negotiated. A new identity was created in the name of Joan Zegrus and she was released, with the contents of the case she carried, a rather valuable collection of jewellery which she was allowed to sell. Realising she was likely to become bored of the dilettante life someone pointed her at Coco’s and Joan’s been working for them for several years, intrigued by the work and annoyed by her colleague’s rather casual attitude. She tends to handle the ‘straight’ jobs of international package delivery and is a familiar face at many border points, waved through by most customs officers without checks.


6. Alana Smithey – The Night Shift.
Many of the staff at Coco's have odd working habits, requiring time off around the full moon for example, but Alana is known for not working days at all⁴. A few people refer to her as a vampire, mainly due to her 'goth' style, though none of those who know she actually is a vampire. That'd be rude.

Alana is in her thirties, but barely looks out of her teens (and has the inconveniences of this). She is superhumanly strong, fast and tough, but is not generally a violent person. She can change her form, but hers is a more realistic shape-shifting than many of the vampire legends; mass is conserved so she becomes a large wolf or panther. The process is quite slow, taking several minutes, and doesn't magically store her clothes.

• Her practical nature led her to have a set of 'saddle bags' produced with elasticated straps

She cannot fly or turn to a cloud of mist. However she's also not at all bothered by flowing water, garlic, wild rose or human's wielding religious symbols (she's an atheist herself). She does have some hypnotic power over animals, and some humans.
Of course Alana also has problems; she's severely allergic to sunlight, though it takes several minutes to kill her. It takes hours of painful healing to recover from the effects.

Then there's the whole needing to consume blood thing.
When she became a vampire (she detests the term 'turned') she realised that if she didn't take blood regularly she would descend into an animalistic frenzy and kill people, before being killed. So she made arrangements. It's curious how certain butchers aren't fazed by a client who asks for a supply of fresh blood.
Occasionally she hunts humans; she'll stroll the dangerous parts of the city until someone is stupid enough to attack her. She still doesn't kill though.






1. A pun on the common nickname for the 2CV, 'the ugly duck'.

2. In the vein of 'Charlie' Townsend.

3. Or whatever agency suits the period.

4. To Lydia it's just one more factor to plan for.

[grinch]

Love the new character ideas. Joan strikes me very much as the ‘straight man’ to the potential comedic foil of the other more alien workers. And hey, if Coco’s ever managed to expand their delivery service to include the wider Multiverse it might be a chance for her to at least be able to send communication back to her own Earth.

Maybe she could bond with Ann and occasionally accompany her on a ride along? She’s definitely more normal than the others. Although, one does wonder where the car originates from. Strikes me as an ordinary car the Doctor/Time Lord PC might have tinkered with to make an escape mid adventure and which ultimately was left behind.

Coco is the boss, Andy, the Swarm and Ivy are just too alien, The Time Sensitive is too highly strung (can’t blame him/her considering the amount of potential paradoxes he/she has to navigate on a daily basis...) she barely sees Alana and Ronny? Well... Ronny is Ronny.

Must admit Lydia is by far my favourite addition. Reminds me a lot of the Thing Upstairs from the Trapdoor to be honest which is by no means a bad thing. Although, Lydia sounds like a far better and more forgiving boss. I could even see The Swarm (who basically live in and inhabit the walls) refusing to go up to the Attic because they refuse to have anything to do with management. Unless they feel mistreated or their rights abused. Which is most of the time to be honest. But even they’ll take it up with Coco before Lydia.

How Lydia got to Earth is another matter entirely. Although, maybe she just responded to a job vacancy. Yeah, that sounds right.

Actually, I have the idea that aside from Coco and maybe a few of the other unnamed management staff, only Andy has met Lydia. Albeit by accident after accidentally wandering into her attic after hours. True to his artificial fashion, he was unsurprised and unnerved by her arachnid form. After giving him a confused wave, he gave her a nod and promptly walked out. A brief but very strange encounter by all accounts.

That’s sort of how I imagine Andy to be honest. Very much an oddity who even Coco’s aren’t sure to do with half the time but is able to make friends with his co workers more or less through his curious nature. It does help that he’s quite durable and loyal enough that he’d try to gun down anyone who’d threaten his colleagues. (Which no doubt would draw the attention of UNIT..) Maybe he followed Alana on one of her evening excursions, curious as he is. Despite being annoyed with him at first she eventually got used to it. Sometimes it‘s just nice to have someone to talk to. Even if he doesn’t have much to say in the way of conversation.

And considering his equally nocturnal nature, she probably has more to do with Marcel than most. Even if it is just a case of exchanging nods while the two are working late.

[Catsmate]

Aug 25, 2021 20:59:15 GMT grinch said:

Love the new character ideas.

Thank you!

Aug 25, 2021 20:59:15 GMT grinch said:

Joan strikes me very much as the ‘straight man’ to the potential comedic foil of the other more alien workers. And hey, if Coco’s ever managed to expand their delivery service to include the wider Multiverse it might be a chance for her to at least be able to send communication back to her own Earth.

Yes, you're absolutely right about the 'straight man'; she was a professional courier and retains those attitudes, even if she makes the occasional slip about history and geo-politics in a new world.
If there is reliable multiversal travel she'd be very interested.
She was inspired by the 'Man from Taured' urban legend, BTW.

Aug 25, 2021 20:59:15 GMT grinch said:

Maybe she could bond with Ann and occasionally accompany her on a ride along? She’s definitely more normal than the others. Although, one does wonder where the car originates from. Strikes me as an ordinary car the Doctor/Time Lord PC might have tinkered with to make an escape mid adventure and which ultimately was left behind.

Quite possibly Joan would be interested, she may wonder if the 'shortcuts' lead to other worlds.
Ann and her car were inspired by the Stephen King story Mrs. Todd's Shortcut, though without the hazards.
It's not so much the car, though that may have it's own oddities, as the GPS/SatNav unit. It might be possible to move it to another vehicle, one more suited to exploration.

Aug 25, 2021 20:59:15 GMT grinch said:

Coco is the boss, Andy, the Swarm and Ivy are just too alien, The Time Sensitive is too highly strung (can’t blame him/her considering the amount of potential paradoxes he/she has to navigate on a daily basis...) she barely sees Alana and Ronny? Well... Ronny is Ronny.

Exactly. Like any group of co-workers there will be friendships, and rivalries, some rather odd.

Aug 25, 2021 20:59:15 GMT grinch said:

Must admit Lydia is by far my favourite addition. Reminds me a lot of the Thing Upstairs from the Trapdoor to be honest which is by no means a bad thing. Although, Lydia sounds like a far better and more forgiving boss. I could even see The Swarm (who basically live in and inhabit the walls) refusing to go up to the Attic because they refuse to have anything to do with management. Unless they feel mistreated or their rights abused. Which is most of the time to be honest. But even they’ll take it up with Coco before Lydia.

How Lydia got to Earth is another matter entirely. Although, maybe she just responded to a job vacancy. Yeah, that sounds right.

Thanks, but I must confess I borrowed the idea from Richard Roberts' Please Don't Tell My Parents I'm a Supervillain.
An excellent series.
She's also got elements of a couple of manager I knew, who really didn't care about who their staff were and what they did as long as things were done, and would accommodate certain particularities.
I haven't decided on her origin story (feel free to decide if you use the character). She may be related to the Eight-Legs of Metebelis III displaced in time (perhaps through the machinations of occultists, or an experiment to produce spider silk industrially or connected to the Alzarian spiders or linked to the giant spiders of Arachnids in the UK.

Aug 25, 2021 20:59:15 GMT grinch said:

Actually, I have the idea that aside from Coco and maybe a few of the other unnamed management staff, only Andy has met Lydia. Albeit by accident after accidentally wandering into her attic after hours. True to his artificial fashion, he was unsurprised and unnerved by her arachnid form. After giving him a confused wave, he gave her a nod and promptly walked out. A brief but very strange encounter by all accounts.

I like it.

Aug 25, 2021 20:59:15 GMT grinch said:

That’s sort of how I imagine Andy to be honest. Very much an oddity who even Coco’s aren’t sure to do with half the time but is able to make friends with his co workers more or less through his curious nature. It does help that he’s quite durable and loyal enough that he’d try to gun down anyone who’d threaten his colleagues. (Which no doubt would draw the attention of UNIT..) Maybe he followed Alana on one of her evening excursions, curious as he is. Despite being annoyed with him at first she eventually got used to it. Sometimes it‘s just nice to have someone to talk to. Even if he doesn’t have much to say in the way of conversation.

And considering his equally nocturnal nature, she probably has more to do with Marcel than most. Even if it is just a case of exchanging nods while the two are working late.

Yes he does have some interesting character possibilities. A little like Auton Rory, though probably not as free-willed.