So I'm currently working on a campaign for some friends to give them a nice introduction to Eclipse Phase. Something to show them how cool the game is and introduce them nicely to the setting. As such, I've been trying to write something particularly cool for them. Here's what I have so far: The group arrives on the Martian cycler vessel known as the Nen Oyobi Nichi (Year and a day), formerly owned by the Go-Nin Group but now under the control of a far smaller Extropian corp known as Walker Enterprises. Walker took over the Nen Oyobi Nichi after Go-Nin abandoned it in the Fall and effectively left its crew to die. Since then, Walker has transformed the cycler into an affordable transport vessel for the middle class to ride in relative luxury between Luna and Mars. As it turns out, Go-Nin has realized how profitable the NON is and want it back. Walker has no intention of returning it, of course, and, under the new laws of the Planetary Consortium, Walker has a valid claim to the vessel. Go-Nin has never been one to let laws and morality get in the way of profit, however, and has threatened Walker with various entirely legal methods, such as media slur campaigns and using its weight to press other companies into effectively raising the vessel's operating costs, and its reputation implies the threat of far less legal methods. As such, the characters have been hired to act as impromptu mercs to keep an eye on the Go-Nin diplomatic team that is coming to the cycler to have a sit-down with Walker's representatives. That's what the group's going to be told. The truth is, some weeks before the cycler's arrival in Earth orbit, an enormous nano-cloud spanning half the area of what is presently Brazil concealed large portions of the Earth's surface in what later turned out to be a concentrated concealment effort on the part of the Exsurgents below. When the cloud cleared, an enormous mass driver cannon revealed itself and began firing "seed pods" into orbit. The defense grid destroyed them all, of course, and the Lunar cannon destroyed it less than an hour after the firing began. The official story is that a group of scavengers were trying to use an existing, unknown mass driver to escape the surface and were shot down by the safety net, and the cannon was used to prevent any Exsurgents leaving the surface. As it turns out, though, one pod escaped notice, and was set adrift. Not long after, it found its target and collided with the hull of the NON. Since then, the pod's been slowly releasing nano-virii that have been gradually subverting the ship's systems. By the time the characters have arrived, the vessel's already entered the eclipse phase. Around six weeks into the voyage, millions of miles from any hope of help, the virus goes active. Suddenly, the vessel goes haywire. At first, it seems like a mundane terrorist attack as the ship's defense systems turn on its populace and whole sections of the ship are decompressed by seemingly random explosions. The characters have to evade the security systems and find the diplomats they were assigned to protect and, when they do, they are trapped deep in the heart of the vessel for approximately ten days. When they emerge, the vessel is hell on Earth. The security systems controlled by a subverted AI/AGI network, which mutter error messages and speak to the PCs as if they are intruders. However, the AIs are the least of their worries now... And... That's it, so far, really. The end goal is to have the characters destroy the vessel, which is now on a collision course with Mars, possibly escaping before it goes kaboom. I'm working to try and create an atmosphere of suspense for people, so I don't want them to be faced with monsters, at least not immediately. I want to generate a subtle fear and get their hearts racing. I'm thinking of using techniques like separating them, minimizing what they know, keeping them on edge. Anyone got any comments/suggestions?