First Hit's Free
A couple of the acolytes got hopped up on goofballs. It was at a soiree thrown as a way to get them closer to the inner circle of the Joyous Choir, and the farcosia drug they took is now having an effect. The addicted pair are a little shaky and looking for a hit, and a little distressed that there are no drug dealers lurking in the streets of the wealthy and exclusive upper hive.
Xerxes tries to chivvy them along. 'Even if you're not able to score, we still need to make this meeting with our contact to get the data he has. Are you going to come to the mid hive, or are you just going to sulk?'
'I'm tempted to sulk', replies Matthias. He's welcome to, but it will be sulking at a -10 penalty until he gets his fix.
On the way through the mid hive cogs start working in the acolytes' minds. Or, at least, they try. They are asked to make an intelligence check, to stir the thoughts to the surface.
'I roll a 1!' That's good, as it is based on a D100 roll and aiming to get below the characteristic number. In fact, it's the best roll you can make, so it is a little surprising when Mordecai follows-up with, 'I made it by 4'.
By 4?! He's not even addicted to farcosia, being a psyker himself and somewhat opposed to ingesting a substance made of other psykers, which would make his intelligence a measly 5, where even a particularly stupid beast has a basic intelligence of 8.
'...a margin of 4.' Oh, so by at least 4 decades. That makes more sense. In that case, he realises that the mid hive, heaving with street scum, criminals, and all manner of illegitimate business, is probably a good place to score some drugs.
Of course, he no doubt doesn't want to share this information, to let his companions drink more ground pysker, but his subsequent failed willpower roll makes him blurt it out anyway. And so our two addicted acolytes get some farcosia and lose the shakes, even managing to bargain an extra hit for buying a week's worth of doses.