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>>1073443

Today has been no exception, after having discovered and drawn the ire of some sort of gem monster hiding in the town's water tower. Fortunately you were able to avoid a deadly confrontation atop the tower and make an escape in a car, though not without the creature following in pursuit.

And so you, Owen, have another strange matter on your hands. Thankfully along with Ranger Judy and her 4x4 you've been able to elude the urchin-like creature, seeing as on foot, even you wouldn't be able to outrun it. It can't be out-driven forever though, and needs to be dealt with one way or another.

>Try to deal with it yourselves, between those of you in the car and what you have.
>Seek help, a creature like this is too strange to handle normally.
>Attempt to evade it entirely, maybe Judy can drive out of town and lure it away.
>[Write-in.]

How about reminding ourselves why we know there are supernatural creatures in this town and what we were doing on the water tower. Maybe a description of who we are, who Ranger Judy is and why she is driving away with us from the creature who needs further description.

Starting a quest midaction is not a good idea, makes things confusing or makes for a long and usually boring wall of text.

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>>1073477

Well this isn't the start of the quest, but a direct continuation from the previous thread. Both it, and the other past threads are included herein;

>http://pastebin.com/E9Eu48Kz

But to answer the questions, you've known about the supernatural activity in the town from firsthand experience, both from observation and past involvement. You are Owen, just a local mart employee who's found himself often dragged into the supernatural activity around town, as such was the case with the water tower when you accompanied a friend, Sarah, to it after her suspicions that there was something inside. Indeed there was you found, the hostile creature which resembles an urchin-like cluster of extending and retracting spikes.

Ranger Judy in this case is just a bystander who got dragged into the action, but was willing to help you out of danger as far as giving a ride in her car, where you currently find yourselves; fleeing from the creature in pursuit.

>>1073452
Hey kon

>search help, preferbly from the people that deal with them like the group that deal with the tentacle thing

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>>1073615

Looking out the back window of the 4x4, you can see the gem creature in hot pursuit, having retracted the bristling spikes in order to roll after you at a surprising speed. Judy could probably push the pedal to the floor and leave it in the dust, but at the speed limit around these parts it's managing to keep pace.

"Don't worry, we'll be at the police station soon enough." Judy mentions, between trying to balance her eyes on the road and the mirror for the pursuer.

"No... we can't." you speak up, looking to Sarah in the backseat who is clearly worried. "The lighthouse, head out to that way."

A gem creature this is, and you're not prepared to deal with it on your own. This isn't the first such creature you've personally encountered, but your experience with them in the past confirms what you know. Having had close calls each time, the safest bet is to rely on someone who knows how to handle these monsters, and that someone is out by the lighthouse. Really, the worst thing that could happen is that you head to the police station and the creature runs amok in town.

Judy is obviously skeptical though, but you try to come up with a simple answer.

"What, why not the station? They should be able to deal with it, right?"

"Maybe... but we don't want to go speeding through town and drag this thing after, what if it stops following us and goes for someone else?"

You can tell she isn't a fan of this plan, but Judy ends up turning the wheel and heading for the side streets that lead out of town and towards the lighthouse road.

---

About a ten minute drive later while Judy tries to come up with a plan, you catch sight of the lighthouse coming up in the distance. You tell her to hit the gas in order to put some distance between the 4x4 and the still-pursuing monster, and before long she pulls up alongside the keeper's house, surprised at both your and Sarah's speed of jumping out of the car. Sarah heads immediately for the house, hopefully to get help against the creature, but Judy rolls down the window and wants to know what the actual plan is then if hers isn't being followed.

The creature of course was left a ways up the road, but still in pursuit, will be here soon enough so there isn't much time.

>Try to get her to leave, it'd be better if she just headed elsewhere to safety.
>Prepare with her for the creature when it arrives, she might be able to help out. No less useful than you in this situation.
>Drag her inside the keeper's house as well, Sarah had the right idea.
>[Write-in.]

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>gem quest
>no purging ecoterrorists for the glory of the Diamonds
Darn.

>>1073788
>Prepare with her for the creature when it arrives, she might be able to help out. No less useful than you in this situation

>>1073788
>Prepare with her for the creature when it arrives, she might be able to help out. No less useful than you in this situation

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>>1074081
>>no purging ecoterrorists for the glory of the Diamonds

Who's to say you can't do that?

---

If you can help, then surely Ranger Judy can help. Besides, if she drove off now she might just draw the creature away again. In the meantime, together you can try and handle the threat before Sarah can get help from her guardians. At least you think they are, definitely not mothers.

"Alright Judy, how good are you with the tranq gun?"

"I've... never had to use it before actually, but we have to pass a course on using it so it shouldn't be too hard!"

You can tell she's nervous about using the tranquilizer rifle, but she definitely knows the proper steps and operation at least. Putting the 4x4 in park she hops out and joins you at the back, already you've opened the trunk for her as she gets to the partially assembled rifle and carefully completes the remaining steps. Finally opening the storage box again, she takes out a few of the darts and puts them in her shirt pocket before loading a test one for firing. Not a bad shot you find, as she manages to hit a sign pretty far away. Though, much closer than you'd want to be, to the monster.

"Are you ready then? How are we going to do this?" she asks, taking a breath of confidence as the creature now rolls into sight of the keeper's house.

>Find a place to hide, wait in ambush for the creature when it arrives.
>Try and distract it yourself, while Judy gets in position to shoot.
>Make use of the 4x4, hopefully she can shoot just as well while off-roading on the sands.
>[Write-in.]

>>1074166
>Find a place to hide, wait in ambush for the creature when it arrives.

>>1074081
>>1074166
We shall become the Diamonds' agent of glorious destruction, betraying our planet and species for their perfection

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>>1074201

Chances are good that they would reward such a helpful and loyal servant, even if it happened to be a human.

Probably.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tX23Eg-Mfy8

>>1074188

From the experience back at the water tower, the creature doesn't seem all that intelligent or at least aware, so doing something like setting up a trap should work. Judy thinks she can get a good vantage point on top of the 4x4 and still remain hidden, if it comes close enough that is. A good idea as far as you can tell, so you head around the side of the house to hide at the corner while she climbs up to the roof rack of the car and gets ready with the rifle.

Shortly after the creature rolls up along the road to the area, coming to a stop and extending the spikes out again to elevate itself from the ground. It's hard to make out through all the spikes at this distance but you think you can see the gem portion at the center moving around, as if looking for something. Otherwise it remains stationary. Judy hasn't taken the shot yet though so it must not be close enough that's she's comfortable trying.

>Try and bring the creature closer, draw its attention yourself if you have to.
>Sneak around the back of the house, rejoin Judy and try to reposition with her so she can make the shot.
>Make a trap yourself, maybe you can lure it inside the lighthouse?
>[Write-in.]

>>1074266
>Try and bring the creature closer, draw its attention yourself if you have to.

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>>1074287

You're not going to get a better chance than this, and Judy is already set up, if only the creature would just come closer...

Stepping out from behind the house, you cautiously approach in its direction. You hear Judy trying to whisper-shout your name, but you gesture back that it's ok, you've got this. Before long the creature catches sight of you and starts spiking its way across the ground towards you.

Yes, yes... just a little closer and...

You hear a faint cracking sound as the tranq rifle fires, and you see the dart fly over and hit the creature right in the center core mass, only to bounce spinning off and land in the sand nearby.

"It's not ok! I don't got this!" you scream, running away from the creature as it now angrily chases, probably attributing the dart hit to you. Judy can be heard calling in a panic for you to get over to her so she can try again, but you're pretty sure of the outcome.

>Run away, anywhere you can.
>Stand and fight, this giant pincushion doesn't stand a chance.
>Curl up and play dead, you might as well prepare for your inevitable actual death.
>[Write-in.]

>>1074406
>Run away, anywhere you can.

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>>1074513

You're a runner at heart, if you're going to die you're going to die running! Maybe not today though, as you get up to speed and come to realize that while maneuvering around on its spikes, it can't move fast enough to catch you. This is actually pretty encouraging, and you figure maybe you can keep it distracted like this until more help arrives. Yes, just going at your own pace and keeping the creature's focus on you, you could do this all day no problem!

Until you hear Judy make another shot, and again another dart flies in and bounces off the creature's gem portion this time. This actually angers it you think, since it shrieks loudly in response, before retracting all the spikes inwards again to go back to rolling. While you had the upper hand before, the creature moving like this is too much for you. Spinning up, it zooms past to knock into you and send you sprawling in a painful mess, before smashing into the house wall that you'd been running alongside at that moment.

Everything is a haze from the impact, a blur of vision and a ringing in your ears, as you try to sit up and regain your senses. You need to get running again, hopefully avoid the creature for a little longer, but you can barely make it to your hands and knees let alone your feet. Only after too long are you able to function properly and see clearly, by which point you become aware of the creature approaching now, practically on top of you with spikes extending.

This is it you think, as you tense and try to look away in preparation for being skewered. It never comes though. You feel the spikes brush against you but quickly withdraw with a shriek as the creature is knocked some distance away with enough force to break some of its spikes when it hits the ground in a sandy mess. Standing nearby to its place instead now, is a familiar face.

"Zhat was close, no? I zhink you may be in over your 'ead zhis time, Owen."

It's Soleil, the orange-y hued woman who takes care of Sarah, and these sorts of problems. A proper gem, from what you understand, unlike the damaged one trying to skewer you with spikes.

>Offer to help, you can still fight if you need to!
>Take a breather, fully regain your senses before getting involved again.
>Sit this one out, she knows what she's doing.
>[Write-in.]

>>1074406
>Run away, anywhere you can.
I'm guessing it's going to take more than a sharpened stick to kill this thing.

>>1074640
>Take a breather, fully regain your senses before getting involved again.
>Throw rocks and other debris at it. Punching a ball of spikes isn't the best idea

>>1074640
>Take a breather, fully regain your senses before getting involved again.

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>>1073524
>Not putting links to previous threads in the OP

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>>1074742

I usually try to include it in the second post along with the exposition of the thread, but this time since it was a direct continuation I didn't think it was required.

>>1074698
>>1074650

Punching it probably not, but you could always take a bat or metal pipe to it or something like that. Before any of that though, you don't want to engage it at all unless you're at full strength. Or at least as close as you can be, the creature did land a nasty hit on you to knock you down, and you've got an ache down to your bones from it. For now you'll just... take a break. All the more help when you hear Judy run over and support you to your feet and over to the steps of the house.

Sitting with her to watch, you see Soleil face off against the creature, apologizing to it for some reason before it shrieks in response and extends a number of spikes at her in attack. She's obviously quite skilled though, dodging most of the spikes she can and breaking the rest with hand strikes. In response the creature rises itself up high on some spikes beneath it like stilts, and attack downwards at her, though after withdrawing back to get some distance she returns in a run to smash through the spikes keeping the creature up. It hits the ground with a loud thud, tossing up sand and broken spikes and shrieking in... anger? If you had to guess.

It's all quite impressive of course and you'd be fine to just watch till the end, but she suffers an unexpected blow when from its small embedded crater in the sand, the creature actually manages to shoot out a few short spikes from its central mass. Soleil is hit a few times and caught off-guard, causing her to fall to the ground. As if expecting this, the creature once more extends itself up as if on stilts and towards her, till eventually it looms overhead and then barrages a number of spikes downward in an attempt to pin her to the ground.

Judy stands to her feet in alarm, and though you're still hurt you can't just sit by. Grabbing up some rocks and bits of wood, whatever you can find, you muster yourself against the pain and head closer. Judy seems to understand and tags along with the tranq rifle. Nearing close enough, the two of you start pelting the creature with the debris, and shooting at it with the darts. There isn't much in the way of damage that you can tell, but it definitely draws the focus of the creature towards you. Already it extends a few spikes out, quite far to try and reach all the way over to you but it isn't very accurate.

>Try to keep its attention, give Soleil a chance to act.
>Act offensively, target the spikes it tried to reach you with.
>Tell Judy to get the 4x4, that ought to do what thrown rocks and fired darts can't.
>[Write-in.]

>>1074810
>Try to keep its attention, give Soleil a chance to act.

>>1074810
>Try to keep its attention, give Soleil a chance to act.

>>1074810
>Try to keep its attention, give Soleil a chance to act.

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>>1074976
>>1075009
>>1075162

You decide to trust that the gem can handle herself and capitalize on a distraction, and continue to pelt and shoot the creature with whatever you can. You're clearly annoying it enough to hold its attention as it keeps extending more spikes at you and Judy from the distance away, and it's starting to become harder to dodge and pretty risky. Eventually Judy even pulls you back when it gets to be too many.

In this time though with the distraction provided, Soleil is able to snap some of the spikes holding her down, before eventually jumping to her feet and drawing with a glow what looks to be a discus or frisbee of some sort from... somewhere. With the object in hand she makes one spin with her arm outstretched, managing to sever all the spikes around her in one motion. Once more the creature comes falling down with Soleil sidestepping, to smash into the ground with a pained shriek if you had to guess. Seemingly in desperation it haphazardly tries to extend more spikes every which way just to force everyone away from it, but winding her arm up with the discus, Soleil hurls it right at the central mass (cutting through many grown spikes in the process). The panicked shrieking is cut short by the impact, and soon after a burst of smoke floods the area just as quick to dissipate as it came. All that remains are lengths of broken or severed spikes, the small impact crater, and a green gem chunk.

In response Soleil tosses her beret in the air to end up catching it with her other hand while leaning down to pick up the green shard, but Judy breaks the silence eventually.

"Can somebody please tell me what just happened? What kind of animal was that?!"

>Go to Soleil, congratulations are in order.
>Help Judy out, tell her what little you know as best you can.
>Lay down and let the pain take you, you don't look forward to the bruising from your injuries tomorrow.
>[Write-in.]

>>1075188
>Help Judy out, tell her what little you know as best you can.
I'm guessing knowledge of gems isn't commonplace despite the ruins and monsters roaming around?

>>1075206

It's hard to say really, certainly you were never aware of all this gem stuff before you came to town. Or maybe you were but didn't know such things were gem-related? But here in Diamond Shoals, if you look you can see an abundance of gem influence and yet many if not most people seem unawares. Or maybe they just don't care, that living here has made it normal to them.

As for poor Judy though, do you want to sugar coat what you tell her? You don't really understand much yourself, but you could always try to explain it away with the swamp-gas approach. Maybe easier to swallow, if not the truth.

>>1075230
I'd say give it to her straight. Aliens aren't more difficult to swallow than saying it was a weather balloon or uncommon megafauna at this point.

>>1075188
>Help Judy out, tell her what little you know as best you can.

Kon, why are you arguing about the validity of this quest in /qtg/? Who gives a fuck?

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>>1075285
>>1075412

Well you're not yourself entirely aware of the nature of all this gem stuff, you only know what you've been told. You relate that much to Judy though, that the gem folks are here but some of them are damaged and scattered around, and can become strange creatures like that. After that whole terrible display though, that damaged gem being is at peace. You don't actually know if that's true but you tell her that and choose to believe it until told otherwise. All in all she seems more confused by your explanation than she was before, but she at least accepts it, before trying to return her attention to real problems like the situation at hand. She's got to get back into to town and coordinate with the police and utility services about the water tower, and will probably need to file a report with them on what happened, something which you may need to corroborate on too. Before she leaves she does offer you a ride to the clinic for your injuries but you decline. Wishing you well then, Judy compliments you for your efforts and thanks you for saving her earlier with a hug, before taking her leave.

Watching the 4x4 peel off down the road and kicking up little clouds of sand, you fall down to the ground to take a seat, exhausted and aching from the fight. The sound of the sea and the breeze from it though are a welcome relief from the shrieking and spiking before, and despite it all the view of the sunset back across the island kind of makes you glad you came out this way.

"So where did you find zhis one? Somewhere dark, or wet?" Soleil speaks up, walking up out of the small impact crater from the creature to stand beside you, looking up the road after the long-gone 4x4 and holding the gem shard suspended above her hand in an orange-y bubble.

"The water tower, in town. Inside it I mean."

"Ah... oui, we never would 'ave looked zhere. Well, you can stay if you like. I'll 'ave dinner ready soon enough." she responds, walking back to the keeper's house.

>Stick around for dinner, if nothing else it'll save money.
>Head on home, you just want to crawl in bed and go to sleep.
>Wait awhile out here, lay back and let the sun set before you do anything.
>[Write-in.]

>>1075568
>Stick around for dinner, if nothing else it'll save money

>>1075568
>Stick around for dinner, if nothing else it'll save money.
>"Ugh. Why didn't you lead with that frisbee?"

>>1075568
>stay for dinner. Ask judy if she want to join.
We deserve this

>>1075650
Judy was long gone by the time we were offered dinner.

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>>1075650

Ah well Judy actually already left, and she wouldn't have stayed anyway what with the damage to the water tower to have to see to. But you're fine with staying, if only for dinner. From personal experience before, you know how phenomenal of a cook Soleil is, and it's free food at that.

"Ugh. Why didn't you lead with that frisbee?" you call after her, as you try to catch up. When she notices she slows down to accommodate.

"Ah but if I 'ad began with it, you would never 'ave 'ad your chance to shine."

You want to think of some retort, since you know she obviously doesn't mean that, but you just let it go. You'll always settle for a compliment from her, considering her usual cold demeanor. Especially if you're going to be sitting at a table together for an extended period of time after this. Upon reaching the steps up to the front door of the house, you decline her offer to help you in your state, but she does at least hold the door open after causing the bubble housing the gem shard to vanish. She shuts the screen door behind as she follows in after, but leaves the actual door open.

"Make yourself at 'ome, I'll be using zhe kitchen but Sarah is also 'ere somewhere. 'Er room perhaps?"

Immediately you make a beeline for one of the recliners in the front living room and sink in, appreciating the fine comfort of the surprisingly well-furnished (and quite out of place) house. You remember last you were here for dinner though, Soleil picked out the furnishings and decorations so it makes sense.

>Offer to help her with dinner, maybe you could open bags at least if you don't want to get in her way.
>Go look for Sarah, you haven't seen her since first arriving here when the monster was chasing you all.
>Take a nap, the recliner is too comfy not to fall asleep.
>[Write-in.]

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Also just a heads up but this will probably be my last post for the night. I will continue tomorrow though where this leaves off.

>Thanks all for playing!

>>1075833
>Go look for Sarah, you haven't seen her since first arriving here when the monster was chasing you all.
>Ask Soleil where she is.

>>1075844
Thanks for running, Kon.

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Thread archived early to prevent shitposting. Please make suggestions on what tags to have.

>Just a heads up, will try to continue in an hour or two, when I get home.

Alright, back now and will resume shortly.

>>1077128
Thanks for archiving! The b-stats site is nice, but harder to use I think.

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>>1075919

As much as you'd like to just drift to sleep, you remember Sarah and not having seen her since the fight with the creature. You did have some concerns after her... well, it seemed like she was fine just leaving you and Judy to trouble with the monster. Well Soleil said she might be in her room, which you recall being upstairs somewhere last time you were here, so you push yourself out of the recliner sorely and head back to the entrance hall.

The stairs are right there, easy enough to make your way up. It's a bit dark though with no upstairs lights visibly on but you see a fair number of pictures lining the wall rising with the staircase. Many of them don't mean anything to you, but in plenty you can recognize Soleil you're quite sure (though her style or appearance differ greatly), Sarah in a few and even Lee in one. Indeed though it is quite dark when you reach the second floor, but you can make out the doors to several rooms. A quick glance among them and you can see two have light coming from under the door, but Sarah's is fairly obvious; a neat little sign with her name hanging from the door, and various beach trinkets hanging from it and the door frame.

>Knock, wait for permission to enter.
>Try to play a prank on her, pretend to be someone else.
>Explore a little, you've only been inside the house a couple times and never upstairs so you're rightfully curious.
>[Write-in.]

>>1078433
>Knock, wait for permission to enter.

>>1078433
>Knock, wait for permission to enter.
>"Nice shells. Very oceany."
>"Anyway, you alright? I haven't seen you since the fight."

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>>1078464
>>1078449

You were raised proper and goodlike, so you knock at the door and wait for a response. You hear some commotion inside but eventually hear Sarah call out that you can come in. Opening the door you find you have to push a bit and soon realize the reason why, her room is a bit of a mess. Lots of scattered and discarded stuff across the floor including clothes, probably because the closet is occupied by a fish tank. The same beach theme is prevalent about the room as many such things are hung on the walls or placed on shelves, giving you a good impression you think, of how she spends most of her time.

"Nice decorations. Very oceany."

"O-Oh! Owen..." she exclaims, clearly surprised that it's you of all people. She doesn't seem all that bothered by the state of the room though. "...yeah, I keep all the things I like."

She gestures around, at the various trinkets (including the strangely shaped and colored shells you found from that day on the beach the first time you encountered a gem monster) but your attention is drawn much more to the elaborate sound system setup she has along with a computer and desk, all focused around a synthesizer. At that moment though she seems to have the radio on to some night station.

"Anyway, you alright? I haven't seen you since the fight. You ran off to get Soleil to help us though, thanks for that."

You choose not to bring up her earlier reluctance to help, or how she seemed fine just abandoning you and Judy. Probably for the best at that, since she clearly seems a little anxious from your questioning, trying to not squirm and unable to look you in the eyes as she sits on the floor trying to look busy with something.

"I'm... ok. I'm glad you're ok too. I'm sorry I didn't help out more but I don't have powers like Sol or the others do."

Ah that's right, she's... what, half a gem? You're not sure how that works, you just remember a conversation with Lee about it after dealing with the shell monster. As far as you can tell though Sarah seems just as much human as you, so however any gem part of her comes into play, you can't tell.

>Offer a compliment, everyone did good today and she did too in her own way.
>Downplay the issue, powers or not she shouldn't beat herself up. She's only ten after all.
>Change the subject, what's done is done and you're not really here about that anyway.
>[Write-in.]

>>1078546
>Offer a compliment, everyone did good today and she did too in her own way.
>Downplay the issue, powers or not she shouldn't beat herself up. She's only ten after all.

>>1078546
>Offer a compliment, everyone did good today and she did too in her own way.
>Downplay the issue, powers or not she shouldn't beat herself up. She's only ten after all.

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>>1078573

She shouldn't feel guilty about anything, for as well as everyone did today with the creature, you all deserve compliments. Well maybe not Soleil so much if it's a regular occurrence for her, but everyone else definitely, Sarah included.

"Hey it's not like anyone is expecting you to go out there and take care of these things on your own. I didn't even start running until the end of middle school, years older than you."

This makes her feel a lot better you can tell, since she's always seemed to look up to you as an athlete. You know any time you talk about your sports history or tell stories about track meets, she tends to look awestruck. Invariably you feel some guilt yourself though, talking about your past successes. Once again the lie of Owen the famous track star comes rearing its ugly head, almost like you can't escape it. Whew, what a downer. Change gears.

"Don't fret too much about it, if it weren't for you we never would have found the monster in the first place. Maybe nobody would have, can't be good to have just left it there forever."

"Owen, I'm..." she drops what she was doing and for the first time looks up to you, after your response, "...I'm scared though. I found it 'cuz I was doing stuff I'm not s'posed to. Sol and everyone else, they still think I go to school. If she finds out..."

Well that might explain why she was so reluctant to get involved with the situation, even back at the water tower. She's clearly quite bothered by all this, but more surprising than anything is that she seems to trust you enough to confide in you with her secret. There's a mix of fear in her, but also relief in being able to talk to you about it, at least you think, and it's pressing on you a sense of responsibility you're not at all familiar with. And you're not sure you're ok with, either.

>You can keep her secret, you're not about to rat her out
>Soleil needs to know, you're not Sarah's guardian after all and can't make these kinds of decisions for her.
>Whoah, this is heavy! You need a second opinion on this before deciding on anything.
>[Write-in.]

>>1078706
>An education is important; Sol should know. Time for tough love.

Sorry for the delay, had a bout of unexpected business.

>>1078798

One thing is, do you want to be the one to tell Sol then, or make Sara fess up?

>>1079162
Fess her up. Make her confess to solei while we have her back

>>1079162
Give her the chance to tell the truth. If she doesn't, do it ourselves.

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>>1079256
>>1079242

Education is important you tell Sarah, hypocrite that you are. You're not her parent so you can't tell her what to do, but you can't in good conscience keep quiet about it. You tell her that she needs to be honest about the matter with Sol, specifically in this case when the whole situation with a gem monster arose because of her activities. She's clearly saddened and you get the impression that she regrets trusting you enough to tell you the truth, however you do allay some of her misgivings by making clear that this is all due to your concern for her. After all, what if she'd caused the gem monster to attack and come after her when she was alone and up on the water tower?

Overall it's not a pleasant situation to be in, but you do manage to convince Sarah to confess the truth. Better than just going to tell on her after she confided in you. She says though she wants to wait at least until dinner, or after. Doing so before would just ruin it for everyone.

Whew, now you feel kind of bad, seeing how much worry you put on her young shoulders. You feel you're doing the right thing, but that doesn't make it easy.

>Try to cheer her up, maybe some words of encouragement?
>What else is going on around here? Take her mind off the inevitable for now at least.
>You've bothered her enough for one day, head back downstairs.
>[Write-in.]

>>1079433
>Try to cheer her up, maybe some words of encouragement?
>"Owning up to your mistakes takes a lot of bravery, something I know you have loads of. You've helped fight monsters, what's little ol' Soleil gonna do?"

>>1079433
>Try to cheer her up, maybe some words of encouragement?

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>>1079527
>>1079541

You did your good deed but made the both of you feel worse for it, that can't be right. The least you can do is try to cheer her up, so she's more ready for the confrontation when it does happen.

"Try not to worry too much Sarah. Owning up to your mistakes takes a lot of bravery, something I know you have loads of. You've helped fight monsters, what's little ol' Soleil gonna do?"

"Um... I haven't helped with that many really. Lee's helped more than me and she's only been helping for a year or two. Knowing Sol though, she'll do something like make Paz follow me around and keep an eye on me."

Sarah laughs nervously at this, and though you're not sure why this is funny, you laugh along with her. Already her demeanor is improved a little, so you figure to hang out with her at least until dinner's ready. Maybe get a better idea of her or at least her room. Plonking down on the floor at the foot of the bed and leaning your head back, you take in the view of her ceiling and all the glowy starfish stickers. With the music playing in the background, despite the mess it's actually pretty comfy.

"That's the radio right? Which station is it, sounds pretty good."

"Oh that's my uncle's, he does the night radio around here. We can call in if you want! He takes people's song requests and talks with them sometimes."

Ah right, you've heard of the station from others around town before. You don't have a radio yourself but apparently it's pretty popular.

>Maybe another time, talk with her instead. Like why she doesn't go to school maybe?
>Sure, call in. This could be fun.
>She can do that if she wants, you're more interested in checking out her room.
>[Write-in.]

>>1079832
>Maybe another time, talk with her instead. Like why she doesn't go to school maybe?

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Just a heads up but this will probably be my last post for the night again, not as long as I'd have liked but was unexpectedly busy earlier. I will continue tomorrow though, and try for earlier so to have more time to play. To continue from here >>1079963 and whatever else players choose.

>Thanks all for playing!

>>1079832
>Maybe another time, talk with her instead. Like why she doesn't go to school maybe?

Nothing like hanging out in some kid's bedroom. I would have kicked Owen out of my house by now tbqh

>>1079983

Certainly any good, normal parents would do just that, but alas there are no good or normal parents here! Truth be told, the first few times over here, Owen faced trouble from Sol for his perceived "friendliness" towards her, a young girl.

>Signing off for real now!

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>>1080012
I read the archives between today's updates to get up to speed, and got a bit worried that us immediately seeking her out in her room after the fight would land us in more trouble, considering we never really smoothed things over with Soleil. I assumed she was older.

Also, are you planning on keeping this a monthly thing or are you going to run more frequently? Either way you may want to consider making a Twitter account for this game so people will know when you're running.

>Will be resuming in the next hour or so.

>>1080171

A little weird sure, but after Owen proved himself and saved the day a few times, Sol is more accepting of him. Even so, you may find that she's not so irresponsible as to leave Sarah totally unsupervised. Really the strangest thing is that Owen can hang out and get along with a kid better than with some adults, but that could just be a statement about him.

As for scheduling, I've always wanted to do it each week or so, but in the past had problems either with active players, or personal scheduling conflicts. Ideally though I'd try to make it a more regular thing. I've never really used Twitter that much, but I could try making one by the end of this thread, to keep people posted.

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>>1079963
>>1079983

Eh, you're good on the radio side, and without Lee or... anyone else around really, you don't feel entirely comfortable poking around Sarah's room. You do figure it's worth knowing why she stays out of school in the first place though, if you're going to make her talk to Soleil about it in the first place.

"Maybe some other time. Hey I wanted to ask though Sarah, why do you skip school so much anyway? No one likes going but it is important."

"Um... the other kids don't like me. The girls are really mean." she had some hesitation at first, as if thinking how to word her response, but eventually just came out and said it. "Also I have more fun outside, doing what I want. I get to go wherever and explore."

Considering you're a dropout yourself, you can't argue much with that. Her reasons at least, are much better than yours though you'd hate to admit. Again, you feel responsible to make her admit the truth to her actual guardians, but you're glad it's not your job to be the one to actually tell her why she needs to be a better student. Speaking of the devil while you're at it, you hear Soleil call up from downstairs that dinner is ready and it's only going to get colder.

Sarah says she has to turn everything off first, so you figure to head on down ahead of her, but she does thank you before you go. You remind her that you'll be there when she talks to Soleil about the skipping school so you're not just tossing her in with the sharks. Making your way out of her room into the hallway though, you run smack into what feels like a wall. As the stun quickly wears off you're alarmed to see though that it is a... person? A very tall, very big woman who dwarfs you by comparison, and you stifle a yelp in surprise as she shuts Sarah's door behind you. At least part of you feels trapped at that moment, despite that you could freely just walk past and down the stairs. Almost knowingly, she gently rests a large hand on your shoulder as if to limit your fight or flight reaction to a single response.

"I know what you were doing in there. Who are you?"

>Introduce yourself, as best you can.
>Who is she is the better question. Was she eavesdropping?
>Panic! That dinner downstairs sounds mighty fine about now.
>[Write-in.]

>>1081523
Believe me kon. I would like to play but dorm wifi blocked 4chen
>>1081794
>introduce self

She's a big girl

>>1081794
>>Introduce yourself, as best you can.

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>>1082234
>>1082654

In her grip you think it best to not give her a reason to squeeze. You're reminded of the first time you met Soleil, when she grabbed you, only this woman's hand is large enough to grab your whole head. Hoping not to provoke ire, you attempt to introduce yourself, though as nervous as you are you aren't thinking entirely clearly.

"I'm Owen... I work at the Mega World Mart... I like to run."

Yes, that's you alright!

"Another human... how did you get in here?"

"Oh, well Soleil invited me to dinner."

You want to bring up the fight of course, but you're not sure if that's something you should go around talking about. Definitely you wouldn't do it around town or among other people you know, so you wouldn't be doing it with strangers. Even if they might be... other gem individuals? By contrast with Soleil though she isn't very emotive but exudes a much greater presence, and you sense feelings from her she doesn't display. It's not just her massive size that is intimidating.

"Sunstone shouldn't be letting strangers into the house, to say nothing of feeding them. I don't want to see you around Sarah's room again, Owen. Better yet, stay downstairs if you have to be inside."

>Understood, sorry for the confusion!
>You're not trespassing, Soleil said you could look for Sarah.
>Try to get Sarah to vouch for you, or maybe even Soleil.
>[Write-in.]

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>>1081794
>Introduce yourself, as best you can.
>"I'm Owen, cart wrangler turned monster hunter apparently. You're Emma right? And you heard about that school stuff?"

>>1082234

>>1082703
>You're not trespassing, Soleil said you could look for Sarah.
>Try to get Sarah to vouch for you, or maybe even Soleil.

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>>1082703
>Understood, sorry for the confusion!
>mfw we keep accidentally go down pedophile route
Th-that's not actually a path, right?

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>>1082731

I hope it's not a path. Or rather, I hope the players don't make it a path.

>>1082718

You wonder if Lee got this same treatment from Sarah's guardians, she's definitely closer with the kid than you are. Talk about a double standard. Though the more you think about it, the more you realize you would act the same way in their situation, and you start to feel guilty about your own actions. Change of subject!

"Right, sorry! Won't let it happen again!"

"That's good."

With that she lowers her hand from your shoulder to your back, and gently moves you along to the stairs. Without being told you take the hint and make your descent, now recognizing yet another person in the pictures on the staircase wall. Stopping halfway though, you turn back to mention something you feel needs to be said, startled a bit to see that she's still standing there and merely watching you.

"Ah but, I wasn't trying to cause trouble or anything. Soleil said I could go look for Sarah and knew. We... well, had to deal with a gem monster earlier."

"Is that so? My apologies then Owen, I had no idea. Sunstone should have told me. I'm sure you will forgive me for my concern over strangers wandering into the house, and Sarah's room at that."

Although she speaks of her feelings on the matter and change of perception of you, her expression remains ever the same. Eerily placid, it's a disarming combo with her sheer size. Well anyway, you finally head back downstairs, looking around for Soleil till she finds you in the kitchen and summons you to the dining room.

>Take a seat for dinner, a nice distraction to forget about everything so far today.
>Ask of her opinion, everyone seems quick to assume the worst about you.
>So... Sunstone, eh?
>[Write-in.]

>>1082956
>Take a seat for dinner, a nice distraction to forget about everything so far today.
>So... Sunstone, eh?

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>>1082983

You don't like drawing ire just for your helpfulness, but you can at least kind of understand it. Although you hope activity with monsters doesn't continue, or certainly your involvement with them doesn't, you'd like to think that your efforts will shine through at some point and remove the suspicions about you. For now though you decide to just focus on and enjoy dinner, and push out any thoughts or worries of the day. Taking a seat though and waiting for Sarah while Soleil prepares to dish out the food, you feel you can't miss out on a chance for a bit of a tease at her.

"Sunstone?"

"Oui?" she answers instinctively, but almost immediately realizes what you said. You just know she regrets responding, as she narrows her eyes.

"The food looks good."

You sit there in infinite smugness while she serves you a plate. No words are exchanged, but you feel you got the better of her. Maybe it was that she set you up to run afoul of the big woman upstairs (it sort of feels like that), but it wasn't totally onesided.

---

Shortly after Sarah joined you both downstairs, you were able to start eating. Or well, you waited out of politeness. Like last time though the food was phenomenal, Soleil really is an excellent cook. The conversation over dinner is mostly between her and Sarah, though you answer when you can. It's mostly family stuff for them though, so you try not to butt in.

Eventually though when you each finish at your own paces, Soleil goes to collect the plates and such, but you remind Sarah of her need to confess the truth about skipping school. She starts looking nervous again, but you can see courage too. Soleil isn't sure what to make of it, but takes it as serious and so sits back down to listen.

>Let Sarah do it on her own, she's capable of handling it.
>Provide support where you can, try and reinforce the positives.
>Take up the plates and silverware, this isn't something you should be involved with.
>[Write-in.]

>>1083374
>Provide support where you can
Try to keep her confidence up, but don't try to justify it to Soleil. If it starts to feel too personal, go into the kitchen and start cleaning up. You don't want to intrude on family matters like that.

>>1083432
This is good. Supportan

Also, are we this world's connie?

>>1083941
I hope not considering Owen is 20 and Sarah is 10.

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Sorry for the delay, had trouble syncing my tablet.

>>1083941

Between you and Lee, somewhat yes. Minus the love interest obviously. It's a bit complicated as you may find.

>>1083432

You did earlier promise Sarah that you'd stick around to support her, so rather than getting up and abandoning her to her fate, you remain to give help if she needs it. You brace yourself for the impact, and hope it doesn't get too bad. If it does, you might need to take cover in the kitchen.

"Sol, I have to tell the truth. Today I... we found the gem in the water tower together, me and Owen. I maybe would have woke it up it on my own if it weren't for him, and the reason I found it at all is because I stopped going to school again and was exploring. I didn't go to class for some months now."

Listening carefully to every word, Soleil nods along, very patient and very understanding. She can be pretty stern sometimes even from just your limited experience, but in this case she seems glad over Sarah being able to seriously talk to her like this, and more happy for the chance to listen than disapproving of what she's hearing. What you didn't expect though, was her answer, which was given plainly and almost immediately after Sarah finished talking.

"Oh dear, zhat is no good! Well 'urry along to bed zhen."

You do a double take, and Sarah seems just as surprised as you, but happy to hear it. She apologizes to Soleil for what she did and the trouble it caused, but it's just as easily dismissed as the rest. In response Sarah hugs her (which is gladly reciprocated) and then thanks you greatly for helping and supporting her, before running off to her room. Much easier now you notice, without the heavy burden on her shoulders.

It's Soleil who turns to you after though, once Sarah is gone and you have some privacy at the table.

"Now, Owen, I wish to talk with you about somezhing if you don't mind. If you need to get 'ome because it is late I understand, but I'd want to see you tomorrow then as soon as you are able."

>Ask about what happened, you thought Sarah was really in for it but it was a non-issue.
>Talk about it now, you've got time but you partially dread whatever topic she has in mind.
>Take your leave, it's not too late but you'd rather a night's sleep before discussing something serious
>[Write-in.]

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Just a heads up but this will probably be my last proper post for the night again. As always, I'll continue tomorrow and pick things up from here. Hopefully it's enjoyable despite the slow pace, but you got to have some of that slice of life in there.

>Thanks all for playing!

>>1084090
>Ask about what happened, you thought Sarah was really in for it but it was a non-issue.
>Talk about it now, you've got time but you partially dread whatever topic she has in mind.

>>1084106
Thanks for running again. I don't really mind the slow pace since I just pop in the thread every hour or so.

>>1084090
>>Ask about what happened, you thought Sarah was really in for it but it was a non-issue.
>>Talk about it now, you've got time but you partially dread whatever topic she has in mind.

Will try to resume in the next hour or so, from here;

>>1084127
>>1084707

Whew, this took awhile to write!

>>1084127
>>1084707

Part of you wants to up and leave rather than be put on the spot like you sense you're about to be, but whatever it is will have to be seen to at some point anyway, apparently. Before that though, you'd at least like to settle your own curiosity.

"Wait though, what about Sarah? Seems like you kind of let her off the hook there. It really bothered her, like she was really worried about having to tell you the truth."

It takes her a moment to realize you're talking about the school skipping, but she responds plainly as can be. Kind of makes you feel a little foolish for asking.

"Ah, oui. I already knew about Sarah and 'er ecole. It 'as been an 'abit of 'ers for some years now, on and off. She prefers spending 'er time outside, in nature. I can't say I approve, 'owever zhat is part of 'er 'uman life, and zhe responsibility of 'er uncle. I will make sure 'e knows 'owever, 'e will 'ave a talk with 'er I imagine."

That seems a bit strange to you, for her to only selectively act as a guardian, but then you can't rightly judge. From what little you know, gem folks seem pretty different from humans, so if they want to sort of split parental responsibilities between one side and the other then that seems sensible to you. In theory at least though, the more you get to know about Sarah's situation, the more you get the impression that she's largely left to raise and take care of herself.

>Cont.

>>1086443

"Right, well I don't know how safe it is for her to be wandering around on her own all day, if we've got a problem here with the occasional monster."

"Oui, and zhat is what I wanted to speak with you about, in a way. I believe, by now, you know Sarah is 'alf a gem. It is a problem because 'er lack of interest in a normal 'uman life, is zhe same way for 'er gem 'eritage. All she wants to do is play around zhe beach and explore zhe woods all day, I can't understand 'er. I 'ave tried talking to 'er but she 'as never been interested, preferring to do things 'er way. Now she is only young so it may be unfair to expect so much of 'er, but as much as she is failing to develop as a 'uman, zhe same is true for 'er failing to develop as a gem. She 'as zhe potential of 'er parents, I know she does, but I fear we may never see it."

You're just trying to keep up with everything she's telling you, but you get a welcome pause when you notice her getting visibly emotional. Soleil is little more than an acquaintance to you, but you wouldn't have thought her the type to get worked up about something. Clearly you were wrong, as she needs (and asks) for a moment. Whatever the case, it clearly means a lot to her, though you start to wonder how much it means to the other people in Sarah's life. Like her uncle apparently, or the other supposed guardians she has, like the huge gem woman upstairs if you had to guess.

"I zhought involving Lee would work, but to Sarah she's only a friend. You 'owever, I believe she respects you. I would 'ope, if you are willing, zhat you could convince 'er to try zhings our way. I know if she participated in some quests zhat we do, she would become interested in who we are, in who she is. I 'ave tried many times talking with 'er about it, Lee 'as tried, but I zhink she would listen to you... or at least she would try."

>Consider the offer, but what does she want you to do about it?
>Accept doing the favor, sure you can give her a pep talk. That shouldn't be too hard, right?
>Ask her to reconsider, you're not opposed to helping but you'd feel more comfortable if other avenues were taken first. Maybe her uncle speaking with her?
>[Write-in.]

>>1086452
>Consider the offer, but what does she want you to do about it?
>Maybe her uncle could speak with her?
>Try to get Soleil to clear things up with Emma. You'd rather not have another confrontation.

>>1086664

Well it's nice to know you're thought of, but maybe not like this. While you're not opposed to doing a favor, again this strays into family business again. And it's not even the sort you can vaguely attempt to understand, since you don't really understand these gem folks at all.

"Well look, I won't say no, it's not much to ask anyway. But wouldn't it be better for someone else to try, her uncle maybe? I mean, what do you want me to do anyway, just talk to her?"

"Not just talk, 'er uncle is a decent man, but 'e's... not zhe one for zhis, 'e couldn't run a mile to save 'is life. But you... by now you've encountered corrupt gems, and 'ave been able to 'old your own, no? Lee speaks very 'ighly of you, and I zhink you would be able to 'andle the quests zhat we do. So if you would pass a... test zhat we prepare for you, and be able to convince Sarah to do so as well, I would consider it safe and for you to be able to accompany us on such a quest. It is my 'ope zhat doing zhis, and seeing zhis, will interest Sarah and encourage 'er to learn some responsibility."

So is this what Lee talked about before, something about being able to deal with gem stuff and handle related tasks? She made it sound different from what you imagined, but from your experience all that means is more monsters. Naturally, you're a bit reluctant to get involved with all that. Only in passing before have you gotten tied up with any gem stuff, and you like not having your be put in danger.

To be fair though, it doesn't sound like she's asking you to dive in with the sharks, just to pass some test and encourage Sarah to do the same. If it's a test that a ten year old could pass, and Lee apparently already has done, then it can't all that difficult.

"I'll... consider it. In the meantime, can you clear things up with Emma?"

"Where... when 'ave you met Emma? She 'asn't been around in some time."

"The uh... the lady upstairs? I think she might have been upset with me."

"...zhe big one? Ah, no zhat is Chalcedony. You will forgive 'er, she... isn't used to outsiders. She is 'elpful for keeping an eye on Sarah though, especially when she 'as strange men in 'er room." a small smile comes to Soleil's face at this. "After sticking your neck out today to 'elp Sarah and keep 'er safe zhough, I don't zhink zhat is as necessary anymore. I will speak with 'er about it."

With that she gets up to collect the plates and silverware to take to the kitchen, and go upstairs after to settle things with the big lady. Before leaving the dining room though, she stops to speak once more to you.

"Merci bien Owen, for taking zhe time to listen."

>Give your answer, once she comes back downstairs.
>Take your leave, this is something you'd want to sleep on.
>[Write-in.]

>>1086949
>Take your leave, this is something you'd want to sleep on.

yeah, we need to think about this. What is sarah's opinion on this?

>>1086983

You're not sure what Sarah's opinion is but given Soleil's continued attempts you can probably guess. Wouldn't hurt to find out from her for sure, but unless you want to barge upstairs again you'll have to find some other time to talk to her about it.

>>1086949
>>Take your leave, this is something you'd want to sleep on.

>>1086949
>>Take your leave, this is something you'd want to sleep on.

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>>1087002
>>1087125
>>1086983

This is a lot to take in all at once, and though you'd like to help out however you can, you don't want to rush into anything either. The last thing you'd want to do is offer your help and then end up making things worse because you weren't capable enough. Feeling more comfortable to think it over then, rather than deciding on the spot, you decide to head out. On the way to the front door you call upstairs to Soleil that you're leaving and will consider the offer, and thanks again for the dinner. It sounds like she was talking with someone, maybe the big lady, but acknowledges you and thanks you again for the talk, and also earlier for the gem creature.

So, getting your shoes on and making your way out the front door, you get a breath of the ocean breeze and gorgeous night view of the reedy dunes between the lighthouse grounds and the beach beyond. It's a ways back to town and as always you look forward to the run. You think though, at some point or other, you'd like to get something to listen to the radio while running. Especially at night at least.

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>>1087347

So I think that's a pretty good conclusion to the day. As for the thread, I do believe it is in auto-sage now, but if the players are willing to continue I'll keep things going. Will probably need a little time to plan where to resume, but can continue from there as normal. Probably a good chance to consider Sol's proposal.

Glad to accept input, but thanks for playing either way!

>>1087367
laters. good game bruh

>>1087367
Thanks for running, Kon. Please get a Twitter or something so we know when you're next running.

>>1087374

Thanks. Sorry again for the slower pace, normally it would go faster but these text-heavy, plot-heavy posts take a long time to properly write out!

>>1087572

Well I was going to wait till the end of the thread to make one, but if it's more convenient to the players now, sure thing;

>https://twitter.com/Gem_QM

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>>1087682
Sorry, I thought that last post meant you were done running for now.

>>1087724

Oh no, if the players like I'll gladly keep running till the thread drops off the board!

I just meant I'd take a break for now to figure out where to continue things, based on how the players make Owen's decision.

>>1087739
Just read through the archives this is some good shit bro.
I know things seem pretty bare right now but keep at it, and i can't promise you a SU quest will ever be too popular around here but i have mad respect for you continuing dispite the set backs.
Keep up the good work.

>>1087844

Well thanks, I enjoy running it and am glad to be able to do something people can have fun with. As said before, my hope is to be able to run more regularly/reliably, with a more permitting schedule and some regular players.

>>1088982
gonna run it today?

>>1089282

I could maybe do a little later, will have to see. Naturally, I'll announce if it's happening or not.

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Nothing like a day's work to clear your head and get you back into the grind of real life. And not just any work, no, the best work any job can offer!

Pushing carts at the Mega World Mart.

Fortunately it was a busy day so you had a lot to occupy yourself with, when not dodging the ire of Mr. Nguyen like the rest of your coworkers. After who knows how many hours of ferrying carts to and fro, the end of your shift nears, and with one rounding effort to clear the parking lot you stop by the break room for something to drink.

You find Sudie already in there watching the TV, though when you greet her she does a double take, surprised but glad to see you as if she was hoping for it.

"Oh, Owen hey! Is any of this stuff true? Were you really when the water tower got vandalized?"

You're more than a little confused at first, but when you catch sight of the TV, you can see she's watching the news or the closest thing to it. You heard some talk around today of the damaged water tower being the big story on everyone's mind, but you didn't think it would make it to any actual news. From what you can see, the footage being shown is pretty shaky. Only some vague things can be made out but it looks like Mike actually did something with his phone recording of the event. You can't help but wonder if he got paid for it.

>Tell her the truth, no need to hide anything.
>Make something up, she doesn't need to know exactly what happened and you don't want it getting around that you were involved as much.
>Hold on a minute, why is there a daytime news show on TV for a town of only a few hundred people?
>[Write-in.]

>>1090362
>Tell her the truth, no need to hide anything.
>Hold on a minute, why is there a daytime news show on TV for a town of only a few hundred people?

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>>1090608

You could make something up but honestly you can't even be bothered to, that much. You doubt the truth would sound much better anyway, given how strange it all is. Then again, the occasional gem monster seems regular enough around here that people either don't notice or don't care. Indeed, the big concern currently isn't the spiked urchin creature itself, but the damaged water tower and impact it could have on the town.

"Yeah that's me and all, shame about what happened though. It was a big sort of sea urchin-looking monster thing, hiding inside and it wrecked the tower to get out. It's all taken care of now though, me and Ranger Judy handled it. The monster, not the water tower."

"Wow, that's pretty crazy!" she seems impressed but you can't for the life of you even guess if it is genuine.

"Even crazier than Diamond Shoals having it's own daytime news channel?

"It's not just a news channel and it's not just for this town, they cover all of Cape Hatrask. They just take whatever news they can get, and this is a pretty big story. You should talk to them, they'd probably interview you or even have you on!"

Fair enough, at least it's not public access. You still don't want to end up on the news though, so will take a pass on that. Hopefully Mike doesn't try to follow something up on his own about this. The whole situation does come to remind you though of the matter related to it, and Soleil's request. You did well enough to avoid thinking about it during work, but a firm answer still eludes you. At least one thing you'd want to do before deciding, is getting an idea of what you'd be in for, and who better to get that idea from than someone who's been in exactly the same situation? Lee, from what you understand, passed whatever test Soleil made and has been helping out with gem stuff for awhile now. You'd feel a lot better about the issue if you got a second opinion from her, at least then you'd know if you even could actually help at all, rather than making a worse mess.

With the end of your shift coming up, you'll have the chance if you want it at least.

>See if you can't find Lee, she's probably at her own place of work around now.
>Head home first, get changed out of your work clothes. The landlady might have some messages for you as well, with this whole water tower issue.
>Get something to eat first, you try to avoid eating from the Mega World Mart when you have the choice.
>[Write-in.]

>>1090765

>"Even crazier than Diamond Shoals having it's own daytime news channel?"


Whoops, forgot to colorize Owen's second portion of speaking.

>>1090765
>See if you can't find Lee, she's probably at her own place of work around now.

>>1090765
>Find lee.
Damn it man. Ill join aftr my sleep

>>1090880

That's fine. It's pretty late anyway, I'll try picking things up again properly tomorrow/later today depending on time zone.

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>>1090806
>>1090880

Before you shoot yourself in the foot, you want to talk to someone else who shot themselves in the foot already. So after wrapping up your shift for the last hour and checking out for the day, you head on over to Lee's workplace, Murricane Holly's to see if you can catch her.

It's a good run the distance over from the Mega World Mart, but it can count as a warmup for your proper run later. Arriving at the little restaurant, you find it's decently active, and wait in line to get to the counter. Reaching the front you ask Shauna at the register about Lee, if she's around. Fortunately it turns out she is, but in the middle of her shift. She doesn't think the manager will mind though if you need to talk to her a bit, though it would make everyone happier if you bought something.

>Maybe later, you're on urgent business!
>You could do with something to eat, light unfortunately since light is all that Holly's does.
>You can wait, or come back later when Lee isn't working. Get her phone number maybe?
>[Write-in.]

>>1093284
>You could do with something to eat, light unfortunately since light is all that Holly's does

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>>1093659

You were hungry anyways so you might as well kill two birds with one stone. You some sort of weird Italian artisan sandwich you can't even pronounce the name of and don't like the taste of, but at least it's filling. While trying to stomach the second half, Lee happens past and is quite surprised to see you.

"O-Oh, Owen! They didn't tell me you were here, what can I get you-" she initially does the waitress routine probably out of habit, but notices you've already got something to eat and trails off, "...err, I mean, it's great to see you! How are... things?"

Stumbling over her words, she tries to laugh it off but is clearly quite nervous. About what though you have no idea. Probably work related. Anyway though, it is fortunate she happened past, it saves you a trip of having to look for her.

"Hey Lee, you got a moment? I wanted to talk to you about something important."

"R-Really? Are you going to ask me... I mean, sure I can go on break!" you notice a flash of red in her face. Probably sick from being overworked, the food industry is a hard life no doubt. If you didn't offer her a seat she'd have remained standing perhaps forever, but when you do she scrambles for it, obviously having some difficulty with the roller skates on. Catching herself from a nasty spill though, she hangs onto the table and focuses on you with anticipation. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Wait, don't you have to like, tell them you're going on break, or let them know?"

"They know! Now what is it?"

>Bring up Soleil's offer, see if she has an opinion on the matter. Obviously leave out the sensitive details.
>Ask her what working on gem-related stuff is like, she's been doing it for awhile you believe.
>There's normal gems like Soleil, and then there's monster gems like the urchin? How much does she know about this stuff?
>[Write-in.]

>>1093808
>Bring up Soleil's offer, see if she has an opinion on the matter. Obviously leave out the sensitive details.
Jesus, Lee, calm down.

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>>1093868

You're a little taken aback by Lee's eagerness at first, but you suppose that will make things easier. To the point, so you can better figure out the matter of this proposal.

"So I was over at Sarah's house yesterday, after helping out with another one of those gem monster things-"

"-oh, that's what you want to talk about. Right, not... something else."

For just a moment you get a sense of disappointment from her, but only a moment. She still remains attentive, just differently focused on what you're talking about. Probably thinking about it too, now.

"Ah... yeah, well I was over there and Soleil asked me to do some sort of test, or something? She said it was to see if I could do any quests, you wouldn't know anything about that?"

"Hey, yeah! It's to see if you're ready for the kinds of problems you might have to deal with when going on a quest with her or Emma. I did it a few months ago, it was sort of an obstacle course I guess? Basically she's just looking for quick thinking and problem solving I think, and if you're athletic... well of course you're athletic! So are you gonna do it?! You should, we'd be able to go on quests together!" she gets a little carried away, and clearly embarrassed makes an effort to try and scale it back, "I mean, you'd be able to go on quests."

Well she seems convinced enough. It doesn't do much to settle any worries you have though, particularly since you've seen her handle herself pretty well with gem monsters. Not on the same level as Soleil, but better than you to just always run away. And besides, at first it sounded like if you accepted it would just be to help Sarah, but now it sounds like it could be some sort of regular thing you could find yourself doing?

"I'm... not so sure. Every time I've gotten involved with one of those gem monsters, I've almost died. I don't really want to make a habit out of that."

"Oh don't worry too much about that, most of the time it isn't even that dangerous, and definitely not any monsters. All the quests I've been on it's more like sightseeing around to some really wild places. Like the gems, or the gem... civilization, if you want to call it, they used to have lots of neat places around. Emma and Soleil go around to check them out sometimes, and that's what a quest is mostly. At least from what I've seen, not much risk at all."

>Get more specific details, like how much a commitment it is? Does it take a lot of time?
>Ask if she regrets it, probably the most important question of all.
>Only her? Did she ever try to encourage Sarah to go along? That seems to be Soleil's main motivation here, after all.
>[Write-in.]

>>1094103
>Get more specific details, like how much a commitment it is? Does it take a lot of time?
>Only her? Did she ever try to encourage Sarah to go along? That seems to be Soleil's main motivation here, after all.

>>1094103
>Ask for details

Damn, missed the chance to bully/tease lee

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Wanted to get maybe one more in, but it's pretty late so will continue later, from here >>1094163 maybe not tomorrow but definitely during the weekend.

Also I said on the twitter I'd determine a better working schedule. My intent is to do it the way it was done in the first couple of threads. Basically in the first few days while the thread can still show up on the front page, I would run the quest each day for an established time (several hours). Then when the thread goes into auto-sage, I'd continue at a pace where I post whenever I am able rather than a scheduled time every single day. So frequent activity for several hours during the first few days, then intermittent activity over the coming days till the thread drops off the board.

>>1094408
You can always bully Lee, though why would you want to? What possibly is there to tease her about? Certainly not!

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>>1094163
>>1094408

You think you're getting conflicting accounts here. Before it sounded like a pretty serious business, but Lee now is making it sound like sightseeing tours hosted by Sarah's guardians.

"Does it take a lot? I mean you've not got Soleil over her every day expecting you to tag along, right? How long does something like that even take?"

"Oh no, it's like... once a week or two maybe? Kind of hard to say, might be more might be less. It's not that often though, and when it is it's only for a couple hours at the most. Real talk, the quests were hard to get used to at first, but I look forward to them now, I think they're pretty fun!"

You can't tell if she's trying to downplay the involvement of it all, or if it really is as simple as it sounds. Soleil made it seem like a serious commitment, but here Lee is making it sound like it's something that could be done during work hours while going on break. Well, sort of. She seems to genuinely like it though and is obviously excited, so you take her at her word. Perhaps the main question though, is why you were needed to be asked in the first place, when Lee had already accepted before.

"So besides the gem ladies, it's just you? No one else goes along?"

"Nope, just me!" she responds proudly at first, though hesitates, "Ah, well I think they'd like Sarah to go along as well? Sol even asked me to talk to her about it, and try to convince her. I mean I see her often enough, we hang out sometimes though I think of it as babysitting." she sighs and averts her gaze, probably something bothering her, "I tried talking to her about it a few times, but I don't think she's all that interested. I didn't want to keep pressuring a kid to do something she didn't want to, you know?"

Only too well, but you wonder if Soleil actually explained her motivation for Sarah's involvement to Lee, as clearly as she did to you. Perhaps trying to keep her cards close to her chest, ended up costing the gem lady in the end, hence why you're in the picture at all.

>Did you have any other questions? You're both here now.
>Thank Lee for her time, let her get back to work.
>Ask for her phone number, in case you need to talk about anything else later.
>[Write-in.]

>>1100133

>Did you have any other questions? You're both here now.
>Thank Lee for her time, let her get back to work.
>Ask for her phone number, in case you need to talk about anything else later

>>1100133
>Thank Lee for her time, let her get back to work.
>Ask for her phone number, in case you need to talk about anything else later.
>Bully the Lee

>>1101219

Please do not bully!

Any specifics on the bullying?

>>1101304
>"So."
>"You seemed pretty excited when I asked to talk to you."
>"What's up with that?"

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>>1100301
>>1101219

You probably had some other questions but can't think of any at the moment. Really the main concerns you had were answered, and you feel you understand Soleil's motivation and methods a bit better.

"I guess you're right, though I'll still want to think about it."

"I wouldn't think too hard. You don't want to be pushing carts forever."

She answers you plainly enough but the response, if only for a second, feels like an icy dagger to the heart. Obviously she didn't mean anything by it, but it has more an effect on you than she probably realizes. Probably for the best. It takes you awhile to muster a response, though she's never impatient with you.

"Well... thanks anyway Lee, you helped a lot. Speaking of, could I get your number in case I had any other questions later?"

"My numbe- oh y-you mean my phone number? Haha, y-yeah that's... ok, yeah!"

She seemed happy to have helped at first, but when you ask for her number she gets rather flustered rather quick. Looking for something to write on, she turns a steadily increasing shade of red. Clearly caught off guard by the request and so fast to act as she looks herself over for something to write on, she seems not to notice (or remember) her notepad for food orders, or even the napkins on the table. Eventually she just rips off the mini server's half-apron she's got on, and scrawls a phone number on across the white cloth before giving it to you, though tilting her head several times to make triple sure she wrote it down correct.

"Hey by the way, you seemed pretty excited when I asked to talk to you. What's up with that?"

"Oh, no I didn't- I mean yes, I was! Excited! To talk to you- anyone... on my break! Yeah, you see it's a lot of long, hard work and I was hoping to go on break, but you showed up and gave me the chance! Ah but look at the time, I got to get back to it! See you later, Owen!"

Maybe almost as red as a tomato, she reacts in actual panic and stammers out a convoluted response, before haphazardly struggling to her feet again. Saying some quick goodbyes she skates off in such a hurry as to nearly collide with a table, and actually crashing into the door to the inside of the restaurant she didn't seem to have noticed was closed.

How strange, she must have been really worried about getting back to work from break on time. Maybe her boss is even more strict than Mr. Nguyen? Whatever the case though, you have her number if you need it, as well as a lot of straws, napkins, and other tableware inside the server's apron she gave you. Your mind is elsewhere though, and comes back to what she said earlier, your thoughts never truly leaving it.

Don't want to be pushing carts forever...

>Credits Roll

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuDCTzqJc40

I think that's a good place to end things. Thanks for playing!

One important thing for the players to decide on, what Owen's response to Sol's proposition would be.

>>1103176
Thanks for running Kon!