The group emerges from the bar and hotel and start wandering to the other main building nearby. It's a gas station and simple auto-repair shop with stations for two vehicles. The fuel pumps are clean and well maintained, with digital displays with options for multiple languages. Both stations contain a well-used and maintained carjacks. There's a small office off to the side that contains a cash register, a small refrigerator with drinks, and a small stand with snacks. Murdock is at work on one of the cars that was damage in the previous night's fighting. The round anti-grav droid visible from last night is gently floating behind him, playing a piece of psychedelic rock music as he works. https://youtu.be/sRhCvI-YAQI There's a momentary gap in the music as the droid announces, "Visitors approaching."
Dr. Skren
The doctor tries to stay in the back a little and let the others deal with their business first.
H.Ex.E.
Hexe approves this course of action with a slight nod, stepping at Skren's side while waiting for the others to be finished so they can talk in private.
Pea Pod
Pea Pod walking over towards Murdoc says "Hello, what a lovely place you have here. How long have you had this place Mr. Murdock?"
Dr. Skren
Skren whispers to Hexe "I'm also kinda curious what business these clowns have with Murdock"
Arbiter Dox
Murdock pauses in his work as the group approaches. He's in a simple brown jumpsuit that looks to have been beat to hell over many years of use, with various small oil and grease stains that come with auto work over them. He replies to Pea Pod, "Been around here for about 20 years now."
Pea Pod
Pea Pod nods and says "well you have quite a fine establishment, and should I ever need car repairs I will surly come here. I have a couple things to talk about if you have a moment. One of which I think is in regards to the events of the other night."
H.Ex.E.
Now Hexe raises a brow to the Doctor and nods again.
Arbiter Dox
"I can take a break," he replies, wiping his hands off on a towel that has probably seen as much abuse as his jumpsuit.
"So first off, I wanted to thank you folks for intervening last night. You're are welcome to stay in the pub while you're visitin' our little town, free of charge."
Pea Pod
Pea Pod nods and says "Thank you. I will most certainly take that offer."
Arbiter Dox
"I's curious how long you folks were plannin' to stay around?"
Pea Pod
Pea Pod says "I am here on work," and Pea Pod points to his camera. "Once that is done I will be on my way, though I am not sure how long that will take."
Dr. Skren
"Not sure yet" Skren replies.
Pea Pod
Esta "just passing through but" shrugs "but might be around longer then I thought"
Arbiter Dox
"Mmm, arright. Well, hope you enjoy our town while you're here." Murdock nods to Pea Pod. "What kinda work? You some kinda reporter?"
H.Ex.E.
"We would aim to leave for...another place as soon as possible after meeting you, Mister Metalmender."
Hexe is being vague on purpose and carefully observes his reaction which requires her to raise her head to look into his face.
Arbiter Dox
"No worries. We get a lotta folks just passin' through."
Dr. Skren
Skren shifty eyes Hexe and manages to suppress actually saying "Always the smartass" out loud
Pea Pod
"I am working on a documentary," Pea Pod reply's. "On that note actually I was wondering if you knew anything about Greenfield Ranch."
Arbiter Dox
As the documentary comes up, he says, "Ah, good luck with that." To the Ranch, he shakes his head. "You'd be better off askin' Rawlins or Marle about that. Rawlins bein' the barkeep from last night, Marle being the lady watchin' the shop this mornin'. I've fixed their equipment a couple times here and there but that's about all I've done.
Pea Pod
Pea Pod nods and says "I will. Do you happen to know how to get to the ranch?"
Arbiter Dox
He nods and says to his droid, "Voltorb, get a map outta the office, would ya?"
The droid chirps and ducks into the side office for a moment, returning with a folded map.
Murdock unfolds it and draws a star on it with a pen from his pocket. "This is where you are now." He then gives instructions, pointing to a final point on the map. "Here's the place. Note that folks around here ain' super welcomin' of strangers, so they might not wanna talk to you. If someone around here tells you t' piss off, you do it."
The instructions are simple; the layout of this area is not complicated.
H.Ex.E.
Hexe carefully steps closer to observe the map and memorises it with a glance before retreating to the Doctor's side.
Pea Pod
Esta leans forward to take a look at the map, purely out of curiosity.
Arbiter Dox
The map shows that this area is a central point leading to some very different landscapes. To the south there's nothing but green on the map, occasionally crisscrossed by straight lines. To the north, a forest surrounding a mountain range.
Dr. Skren
Skren nods approvingly at Hexe
Pea Pod
Pea Pod takes off his lens cap and snaps a picture of the map. Then says "thank you, and I will." He then taps a note to himself on his tablet in all caps and giant font size DO NOT PISS OFF LOCALS!!!
Arbiter Dox
Murdock nods and folds up the map, offering it to Pea Pod. "We got a buncha these in the office, you can have it."
Pea Pod
"Oh thank you so much" replies Pea Pod.
Arbiter Dox
"You wanna make a documentary about th' area, I'd say start talkin' to Marle and Rawlins about it. They know folks around here better than me, I just fix shit."
Pea Pod
Pea Pod nods then asks "what is this nonsense with the gang?"
Arbiter Dox
Murdock exhales loudly at that. "Still figurin' out th' details, but the whole thing started up about two weeks ago. That bull-dog guy's always been a fuck-up, and he got the idea to find some other local fuck-ups and just take what he wants. That plus the cops around here 'r less than useless--" He lets the sentence end with a shrug.
Dr. Skren
"What a surprise" scoffs Skren at that last part
Pea Pod
"What a lovely bunch of people" Pea Pod chuckles. "Oh thanks for talking to the police, really appreciate it."
Pea Pod
"yes much appreciated for that!"
Arbiter Dox
"Rawlins, Marle, and I've been taking care of them since we set up shop here. We've got enough of an understandin' that they leave us alone. There'd be riots if the pigs shut down the only good bar in town."
H.Ex.E.
"Lucky us.", murmurs Hexe to Skren while still staring ahead to make their conversation less obvious.
Pea Pod
"Do you think the gang is still going to be a problem?" Pea Pod asks.
Arbiter Dox
"More 'n half of 'em are in jail right now. Doesn' mean they're done forever, but it does mean they're done for now. Depends on what Brick does next, but I figure we've got a couple weeks a' quiet at least."
"Anythin' else we need t' talk about?" He looks to Pea Pod and Esta. "Got a lotta work cleanin' up after last night's party still t' do." He nods his head toward the truck whose exterior he's still repairing.
Pea Pod
Pea Pod says "Thank you for everything, and if I need something else I know where to find you."
Pea Pod
Esta shakes her head, "I have no particular questions, but again thank you for clearing things up for all of us"
Arbiter Dox
Murdock nods. "Alright. Well, thanks again for your help last night. I've told Marle what happened last night, if you got more you wanna ask, she'd actually know what's going on around here."
H.Ex.E.
"Brick being... the local enforcer?" Hexe asks from the sidelines.
Arbiter Dox
"Bulldog guy," Murdock clarifies.
H.Ex.E.
Hexe just nods at this. She shouldn't have assumed.
Pea Pod
Pea Pod turns around to the group and asks "well do any of yall need anything to do today? If so I could use some help finding this Greenfield Ranch."
Dr. Skren
Skren snorts. "Brick. What a stupid name. Dumb as a brick too, judging by last night"
Pea Pod
smirks at the DR.'s comment
Dr. Skren
"We got something to talk about with Murdock, so I doubt we'll have time" she responds to Pea Pod
Pea Pod
and then to Pea Pod "I can join you, need something to do for awhile"
H.Ex.E.
Hexe gives Pea Pod the go-by. That individual is way too extroverted.
Pea Pod
Pea Pod looks at Skren and gestures with his arm and says "he's all yours. If you get bored you know where I will be."
"Oh wonderful!" Pea Pod reaches out his hand toward Esta for a shake.
Pea Pod
Esta does the same
Pea Pod
Pea Pod asks Esta "do you drive?"
Pea Pod
she shakes her head "I get around by hoverboard when I need to."
Pea Pod
Pea Pod chuckles and says "I have always been real scared of those things."
Pea Pod
"they aren't that bad"
Pea Pod
"Thats what they all say, then you crack your head on the pavement and never talk straight again. But no worries I rented a car so we can use that. Are you good to go?"
Pea Pod
nods "I am" waves to the others and head toward the door.
Pea Pod
Pea Pod joins in on the wave and follows Esta out
Arbiter Dox
Esta and Pea Pod head to the parking lot where Pea Pod's rented car await. It's not fancy or eye catching, but it gets decent gas mileage and is fairly well maintained so it works. It was also not damaged in the previous night's antics.
The two enter the vehicle and have about a 30-45 minutes to kill on the way.
About ten minutes into the drive the duo have left Terry's Jucture proper. The rest of the way is split between miles and miles and miles of corn fields, and the occasional bit of pasture in hilly terrain. Corn and cows, as far as the eye can see.
Pea Pod
"so what's the interest in Greenfield Ranch?"
Pea Pod
"Well I asked Rawlins if he knew of any odd things happening around the area, and he said that the Greenfield Ranch had some possible odd things happening there."
"Now do you happen to believe in the unexplained?"
Pea Pod
"I am a student of the Trinity of Benevolence, if something can't be explained it just hasn't been reveled to us yet"
Pea Pod
"Oh really. I have heard of them, they are trying to get us away from all this capitalist's bullshit, right?"
Pea Pod
nods "that is part of it, they are followers of the great O. Possum God, Pork Belly, & the Mountain Mother."
Pea Pod
"Ah so its a religion?"
Pea Pod
"yes"... pauses for a moment... "any particular reason your working on a cryptid documentary?"
Pea Pod
"Well I guess you could say I want people to believe or at least give it more than a scoff and what better way than to record it."
Pea Pod
"true"
Pea Pod
"I personally want nothing more than to find actual proof of other life. I mean we can travel in space how can there not be something else out there, or something else here for that matter."
Pea Pod
"There is definitely more out there/here Mother Mountain has to much to give for there only to be what we know."
Pea Pod
"How does one go about practicing this belief system? Do you have to recruit a certain amount of people or is it just a meet up on tuesdays and talk about stuff?"
Pea Pod
"we channel much of our energy in to charity and art, the gods support those that support those around them"
Pea Pod
"That sounds really nice. I do love good art, doing photography as a hobby has shown me lots of great artists, but I would love to see what yall get up to sometime if you will have me. Do yall like go to big conventions or something?
Pea Pod
"you will more likely see us gather at local art fairs, and soup kitchens, I'm not sure where the community or if the community has a presence in this area but I will gladly show you around if the opportunity arises." ..."Do you have a certain subject matter you like to photograph?"
Pea Pod
"Oh so like grassroots kinda stuff, I dig that. Yea I have been trying to photograph the unexplained, and when there isn't much of that going on my favorite subject matter is clouds / storms and other weather stuff. What brought you to this quaint town if I may ask?'
Pea Pod
"Happenstance, I was making my way through the area and Terry's Juncture seemed like a good place to stop for the night" "Is there a reason you are looking for cryptids here?"
Pea Pod
"Well I am from Fuldor where all you see is advertisement's and shit to buy and things to do, and I really needed to get some footage of a place where there might actually be real cryptids. It was really time for me to get out of the big urban city where there is to much to do and just find a place where I can actually see the weather and not smog all the time. This was a work trip as much as a personal trip."
Arbiter Dox
The duo finally reaches the turn to Greenfield Ranch. It should only be a few minutes until they arrive.
=*=Meanwhile=*=
H.Ex.E.
"I dislike that paparazzo." Hexe stares holes in said paparazzo's back as he leaves.
"He draws attention, and unless he draws it away from us that could become a problem."
Dr. Skren
"Yeahhh"
Arbiter Dox
Murdock shrugs. "Not sure what to do about that for now. We'll see how much trouble he makes, I guess."
Dr. Skren
"In any case, we were told to find you for the purpose of... keeping low for a while. And we've already seen you're good at that, last night. Kudos."
H.Ex.E.
Hexe drops her façade as well now that they are alone with Murdock and follows the conversation.
Arbiter Dox
"Right. So. To fill you in, I'm with the ToB. There's a lot more to my little corner of town than meets the eye." He points downward.
H.Ex.E.
"...and we can be of help. Shelter for work.", she concludes.
Dr. Skren
Skren nods.
Arbiter Dox
He nods. "There'll be things I need help with, yeah. We can figure that out once we've got you settled in. Here, follow me."
Murdock beckons for the others to follow. He sets a sign out that says "back in 30 minutes" and gives some instructions for his droid to handle things while he's out.
Murdock leads the two into a small basement in the auto-shop. Spare tools and parts are distributed around the room. If there's any sorting mechanism, it's not immediately obvious.
He approaches a door with a keypad lock to its side and enters a code. The door opens to another smaller storeroom with more valuable looking parts and tools, plus a door that leads to a downward staircase.
Two stories down leads to another door which opens into a wide open space with a vaulted ceiling above. It looks like a casual lounge area with plush seating arranged around a table and TV. Multiple game consoles are attached to it. There's a small kitchen nook as well.
Murdock says, "Welcome to my man-cave. Most of the town has no idea this is down here. Same for the authorities."
H.Ex.E.
Hexe scans the room.
"Is there a second exit?"
Dr. Skren
"Cozy" Skren remarks
Arbiter Dox
Murdock nods and moves to the other side of the room, where he opens two more doors that lead upwards. He points to one and says, "This comes out in the bar's freezer." To the other, he says, "This leads into my above-ground house. That's there mostly to keep up appearances."
Dr. Skren
"Well thought-out." the doctor says approvingly.
"So I assume you already know about us?"
Arbiter Dox
"I know you guys need shelter from the feds. They didn't tell me the rest."
He heads to the kitchen's fridge and pulls out a beer. "You guys want somethin' to drink? We got cold beer, soda, juice in here."
Dr. Skren
"I'll have a beer"
H.Ex.E.
"I pass."
Short pause.
"Thank you."
Arbiter Dox
Murdock brings out another can of beer for the Doctor and invites the group to sit on the assembled couches.
H.Ex.E.
Hexe glances at Skren and leaves the talking to her - as usual. If she were the one to lead the negotiations, Murdoch would probably not learn anything more than their names.
She sighs audibly as she sits down but hopes to have made it look as if that sigh was a relaxing one.
Arbiter Dox
"So. No pressure, you guys get shelter here either way. I'd still like to know what we're dealin' with if you're ready to share though."
Dr. Skren
Skren takes a seat on a couch and recounts the basics of their last job, how it went wrong and how they're now laying low, as she sips her beer. She makes her disdain for the establishment very clear during all of this, but omits her reasons, as well as how Hexe fits into all of it specifically, except for the fact that she can handle herself very well in combat, as proven last night.
Arbiter Dox
Murdock listens to the story quietly. At the end, he nods and says, "That all makes sense." He looks to Hexe and says, "Th' main question I've got right now is how a kid like you ends up so geared and prepped for combat. That's a detail I'm willin' t' gloss over it you'd rather keep quiet about it."
Dr. Skren
Skren looks at Hexe, waiting for her response
H.Ex.E.
"It's... difficult to be on the lower stairs as a child on Fuldor.", she replies, hoping it is not too vague for Murdock.
"Childhood is short there. Either because you have to grow up fast to survive, or because you simply do not survive this long."
The girl's usually monotone voice definitely sounds embittered now.
Arbiter Dox
Murdock nods and says, "Yeah. Used to live there m'self, I know what you mean." He seems satisfied with that answer for now.
Dr. Skren
Skren nods
Arbiter Dox
"Alright. So. Aside from combat, what kinda stuff are you guys able to do?"
H.Ex.E.
"Anything tech related and surveillance, both concealed if necessary." Hexe explains her part.
"And whatever the Doctor needs a hand with." She looks a Skren and her gaze becomes a bit softer again, a potential smile hidden by her oversized jacket's collar.
Dr. Skren
"Yeah, crafting, building, hacking... and I got some medical knowledge under my belt."
Arbiter Dox
Murdock nods and says, "Alright. I'll keep that in mind. Always good to have another pair of hands around."
Dr. Skren
Skren gives a thumbs up and downs the rest of her beer
"Oh yeah, also breaking things."
"As in sabotage"
H.Ex.E.
"But not only there..." Hexe's cheeky remark follows soon after.
Dr. Skren
"Shush you"
Skren sticks out her tongue at the girl
Arbiter Dox
"Alright. Well, last thing to mention. You figured out the actual target of last night's attack yet?"
Dr. Skren
The doctor tilts her head and rubs her chin. "Might have had a bit too much to drink for that."
H.Ex.E.
"The news said the raids became somewhat regular. You mentioned the police is inapt, they claim the lack of resources is the reason. So they might be in cahoots together. And all that secrecy..."
She makes a waving gesture across the room.
"... implies that the ToB having to go through such lengths means they have it on their radar as well."
Hexe ends her analysis she scraped together with the limited data at hand.
Arbiter Dox
"Well. The main actual target was me. You notice that one lady went straight for me? That was an assassin. Probably the actual leader of the group; Brick's about as smart as his name implies."
Dr. Skren
"Oh right, there was that woman"
H.Ex.E.
"The only one smart enough to escape as well. And that cloaking device was likely not exactly cheap either."
Hexe narrows her exes slightly as she looks at Murdock.
"Would you mind returning the favour and tell us some more about your role in that story?"
Arbiter Dox
Murdock nods. "Sure."
H.Ex.E.
Hexe is visibly perplexed about such openness for a second before she regains control over herself.
Arbiter Dox
"So like I said earlier, I've been out here about 20 years. While I've been here, I've been quietly trying to build and design a self-sustaining community."
"This's me, Marle, and Rawlins working together. We've been working on power generation, organizing for mutual aid, food production and preservation, that kind of thing."
"If that works--and it is working--we're going to try to spread these measures to other towns nearby."
Dr. Skren
"Quite an endeavor"
H.Ex.E.
"It might be too early to ask, but the assassin was sent by...? The Hand? They likely are not too fond of such a project."
Arbiter Dox
"Probably. The Invisible Hand or some other establishment group. Can't really tell based on what we've seen so far."
"Now, I can take care of myself unless I am literally disarmed." He wiggles the fingers on his mechanical hand to emphasize. "So they're gonna have a hard time of it. But that probably wasn't her last attempt."
Dr. Skren
"Maybe we should set up some kinda trap for when she shows up. Would probably be useful to find out who exactly sent her."
Arbiter Dox
He nods. "I try to handle security myself usually, but if you've got ideas I'm willin' to hear 'em."
Dr. Skren
"I'mma try coming up with something. Preferably something that fucks with her cloaking device."
H.Ex.E.
"And where do we come in? In such a close-knitted community it is probably not exactly easy to get us strangers into it." Hexe returns to their previous topic.
Arbiter Dox
"Well, more folks ready to fight means less chance for the assassin to finish her job. Rawlins has been tracking a few weird things going on around here. Nothin' solid enough to make plans for yet, but we might need some eyes on other problems if they come up. Apparently there actually is something weird mutilatin' cattle around Greenfield."
"Basically, can't really predict what all we're gonna need. Got a feelin' the next year or two's gonna be hectic."
Dr. Skren
"Guess that camera guy wasn't just talking out his ass then, huh?"
Arbiter Dox
"Rawlins might 'a mentioned it to 'im, yeah."
Arbiter Dox
"Right, well. Your rooms are over there." Murdock points down a door leading to a few small dormrooms. "You two're th' only ones here right now, so you've got your pick of the room."
The rooms are small, but they include comfortable beds. Pretty nice for an underground safehouse. The duo have some time to put up their stuff and prepare to settle down for a while.
===END SESSION 4===
No comments:
Post a Comment