>>3392229
Caution and preparedness only gets you so far, that’s something that you learned.

In all honesty you’ve never expected yourself to be in this situation. Though you’ve day-dreamed about something like this since you were a kid, you never thought that it would be a reality. Your plan for life was a boring one, getting up in the morning, going to work, going back to sleep. A simple, steady plan. Life had not taken account for your plans, it discarded your dreams for the future and put you in a situation you didn’t think would happen.

But it doesn’t matter. You have to do this.

“Are you listening,” Naomi repeats. You sigh and lean back into the uncomfortable metal bench. “Coraline said she’ll be there pretty soon…” She pauses and the two of you take a moment to look at each other. You’re not sure if she was looking for your acknowledgement or anything so you just nod. She purses her lips into a sort of disappointing look “There’s plenty of ways to earn money, Moreh really does know how to poke someone into doing whatever he wants. You didn’t have to do this, you know I still have enough for a few months.”

“What?” you ask, you don’t know where she’s suddenly getting this from.

“I know you need the money and all but, ” she pauses.

“No, that’s not really… that’s not at all why I…” you trail off and narrow your brow.

“Well,” she starts again, “I said that I was talking with Coraline earlier and you started dozing off. You didn’t get sick or anything did you?”

“I’m good, I’m great,” you say, “I’m just peachy…” you pause, staring blankly ahead for a moment and she keeps quiet as if you have something else to say. You’d like to say a lot, everything up from now would be great to spill out. Like cutting open a bag of grain and watching it pour out into a messy little pile on the ground, you would love to just get everything off your chest. But of course, the cutting is harder than most think and cleaning up the mess is even harder, “I’m just… a bit nervous, is all. Ain’t like I steal from trains often, you know.”

“Well Sammy if you said you did it as a hobby I’d be pretty concerned,” she half-jokingly says while she situates herself in the pilot’s chair. You can see the interior of your own ship through the display, lit dully by the same light you see reflecting from her jade eyes. It’s still strange, the seriousness of this all feels distant. From one moment you’re shopping with Naomi and joking around with her to the next where you’re sitting and planning the theft of some high value item as if it was a natural thing to do.

>>3392235
“Ha ha, yeah…” you start up again, “I’m just... just peachy,” you pause and sigh, taking your eyes off the screen to look around the train station. Either we make friends with your buddy there or we wander around the station looking for something… is what you’d like to say, but you don’t. You keep quiet since she knows just as much as you do that you’re both pressed for time and money. Getting a leg up on both is why you accepted so quickly.

Following the events so far you’ve learned of only a few things in the past few days you arrived at Leo. The news of a place being on the surface of the planet, the fact that John Colby, the guy who stole Adam’s job, is going to go work there, and the fact that there’s a shady trading circle for splicers. The fact that there’s something Baker wants hidden and that there’s something deeper going on in Leo. Baker, Colby, Ryen, Police, Innsmouth, Leo, the spliced, and something larger… all leading to something.

One thing is sure -- you can’t do it alone. What you need is people willing to help, people willing to break the law, people willing to antagonize Arcady. Moreh seems to check all of those boxes. A dangerous game you’re playing. There’s many players, some of them big names, but when you got others on your side, it gives you some confidence. They don’t know you’re counted in the game so you have a chance to take a peek at their hand.

Your head’s in the clouds again. a familiar voice echoes in your head.

You turn back to the display and watch Naomi for a moment. She had probably been in deep thought just now, just like you had been. The two of you decided to keep in touch until the train arrived, maybe a little bit longer, and then you’ll call her again once you have secured the cargo. That was the plan, that’s what you’re sticking with. “When... “ you begin, “When did Coraline say she’ll be here?”

“Oh?” she answers, somewhat startled, “right, she said she’ll be there in about ten minutes and the train should be there in about thirty minutes so… did you look through the files Moreh sent you?”

“Yeah,” you reply and then take a moment to turn to the duffle bag next to you. You’re wearing your suit you had just bought while the Martyr armor is sitting in the bag. “I’ll be sticking in my seat until we get near the pick-up zone, I know, I know.”

“And?” Naomi urges.

>>3392244
“And Coraline’s keeping distance and we’re just going to be strangers on the train less something happens. Once we get to the part Moreh talked about, I’m going to get suited up and then I’ll get ready for you to pick up the cargo. That’s the plan, right?” you repeat what the two of you had gone over beforehand. Honestly you getting on the roof and moving the cargo from there is one of the strangest ideas that you’ve heard but even then you doubt those guys in blue would imagine anyone doing it. So it’s perfect, you hope.

“Right, right,” Naomi says, “So why do you think the Moreh needs whatever for? I thought it was something serious but from what I can tell it’s just a hobby for him.”

“The fuel cell,” you correct, “and beats me. It’s old and hard to come by, especially with it being in that condition. I mean it ain’t like he can reproduce them, the whole manufacturing process is under tight locks. He said it was something to do with some recent event or something.”

“Yeah, but I can’t find anything about a recent event about old tech,” she relies somewhat annoyed.

“What about that thing in Genesis? That sleeper ship showing up,” you guess.

“Genesis? Yeah…” she trails off. “Well I’m going to go, Coraline should be there soon.”

“Yeah alright.”

“Hey, Sammy,” she says just before you were about to close the display, “Don’t die out there.”

“Die?” you answer, “Who’d want to kill me?”

“Ha ha… right, well, we’ll talk later.”

“Later,” you promise and the display goes dark. Of course you’re still nervous, but you can’t let that show. Not to Naomi.

>Look through the news to get your mind off of the job. You’re pretty nervous and getting yourself to think about something else would calm you down for a bit. Besides, you haven’t checked the news for a while.
>Just take a moment and wait for Coraline, nothing else to do and your not willing to break focus on what’s ahead of you.
>Get up and go to the bathroom, wash your face and calm yourself. You need to focus and more importantly you need to calm yourself. Being unsteady means being unsure.
>[write-in]

____________________________________________________________________

Welcome back to For Hire! We’re back and you’re waiting for the train to arrive. Sorry about last thread, I let it die because I started it at a pretty weird time. I'll be able to maintain this one for the length of it so everything should be fine from now on. My scheduling is all over the place but I can tell you two things, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are all off the table since I have classes all day those days.

Twitter: Kov_QM
Archive: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=FHQ
Discord: https://discord.gg/QznmEus

____________________________________________________________________

>>3392250
>Look through the news to get your mind off of the job. You’re pretty nervous and getting yourself to think about something else would calm you down for a bit. Besides, you haven’t checked the news for a while.

It will help in the businessmen cover too, and that thing with genesis got me curious

>>3392250

>Look through the news to get your mind off of the job. You’re pretty nervous and getting yourself to think about something else would calm you down for a bit. Besides, you haven’t checked the news for a while.

>>3392280
>Get up and go to the bathroom, wash your face and calm yourself. You need to focus and more importantly you need to calm yourself. Being unsteady means being unsure.

I want scene where Sam looks at his reflection, bags under his eyes and wrinkles showng up here and there!

>>3392371
We can do that inside the train bathroom when we change into the armor

>>3392377
eh... true. Maybe Sam then goes "I look stupid" or "I look mean af". Did he tried the armor back in the shop? can't recall

>>3392280
>>3392357
>two for news

Writing!

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>>3392553
“Right,” you say, leaning into the metal bench. Closing your eyes for a moment so you can listen to the quiet noise of the station, you sit still for a while. It’s not long but it’s enough for you to take a few breaths of the stale station air before you open your eyes and look back to your display laying against your lap. You still have some time to spare. The claustrophobic feeling of it nearing tears at you. You didn’t notice it before but you feel warm, the dampness under your arm and on your collar. The heaviness of each breath that you take feels laborious.

It etches into your mind as if someone is staring at you with laughing eyes. Mocking you. Do they know? How could they know? They can’t know. Maybe they do? The sounds of quiet chatter comes like the loudest beating rhythm of drums and becomes a thunderous cacophony, consuming your thoughts. The warmth of your own skin feels like fire, maybe they can see it maybe they know.

Paranoia.

It’s a consuming feeling, trapping oneself in an inescapable sense of fear that they are watching, waiting for a chance to… do something. It’s usually a baseless and unfounded fear, simply existing like an emotion, existing like an egg. An egg that once it begins to hatch, it begins to grow only to begin to grow and grow to the point where it begins to eat at the plentiful nutrients surrounding it. Yet, you know that this isn’t unfounded, that this isn’t something entirely implausible to see that the guards know of you. Perhaps Moreh wasn’t as trustworthy as---

-- You sit forward.

No. Taking a moment, you breathe in the same familiar stale station air and turn on your display. You won’t let yourself be taken by random swings of emotion, being dragged under by the tempests current. It would only edge you forward before dropping you off the shelf, drowning you in the deep abyss below. Following that train of thought is unhealthy, more importantly it’s unproductive.

You’ve never been the one to get cold feet.

Afraid, sure, but never a coward. Sure you’re not a hero and what you’re about to do could be argued to make you the opposite of a hero, but you’re not about to let this fear consume you. You didn’t move against that white haired man before because you trusted Naomi. She was safe. She knew what she was doing. Even if that man brought you into that fear, you still got back up. No matter how much this makes you afraid, you know that it’s not the same.

This is something that has to be done for you to move forward. Adam, Naomi, Sumi, Coraline… this job will get you that much closer to finding it all out. It may not be a direct lead and it may not be something that is exactly required to get to the finish line, but without the help of Moreh, you’re not sure if you can even reach that finish line.

>>3392888
The light of your display welcomes you as you turn it on. They’re all right, you worry too much. That worrying will only get worse if you feed it. You decide it’s best to shelf the thoughts and distract yourself with something else. All you were doing is going in circles, spiraling down. Distracting the mind in situations like these is something you learned to do. All you have to do is calm down and take things one step at a time. Sooner or later, you’ll be done and it’ll just be going through the motions.

Scrolling through the display’s interface, you find what you were looking for -- the news. The news has always been something people listen to in the background, passively absorbing it through their daily lives. Back home, your parents would keep the TV on the news channel every breakfast and dinner time. That’s how your family stayed up to date with most going ons of the government or any accidents or anything. They’re one of the reasons why you’ve become interested in the news and politics.

Several articles populate the news feed. Like a stream, you see several outlets talking about certain items or hot topics as they pass by your display. Graphs, charts, and men dressed in suits filter through as you continue to scroll. What got you thinking about the news was what Naomi said last and what you brought up. The article about Genesis. Moreh seemed to be interested in the cell because of something recent and that was the only thing you could think about. Some ancient sleeper ship showing up all of a sudden.

But that wasn’t the only thing you could find. Particularly the news of Tsaiojin that is still floating around and the strange impact in trade that start to happen recently. But, the thing you were interested in was that Tsaiojin’s system was close to Naomi’s homeworld, Montaway. It’s funny because this feels familiar, almost as if you read the same thing before. Besides the few articles about Tsaiojin and Genesis, there are also a few about the laws you heard about last morning. The splicer laws. They’re something that has interested you since it’s not something you really know anything about. Additionally there’s a lot here that you could sift through.

>Genesis articles. Moreh is interested in them and so are you. Whatever caught his attention should take priority. You’re being productive and staying on task, but at a different angle.
>House Tsaiojin. Those imperialists were always strange but the idea of them being near Naomi’s Hometown is what got you curious.
>Splicer Laws. Arcady is shady as always and this will be another chink in their armor. Something strange is going on and the more you know about the general topic, the more you have to use against them.
>[Write-in] (Choose any particular topic you might be interested in, there’s probably something recent going on in the wider world about it.)

>>3392896

>Genesis articles. Moreh is interested in them and so are you. Whatever caught his attention should take priority. You’re being productive and staying on task, but at a different angle.

>>3392896
>Splicer Laws. Arcady is shady as always and this will be another chink in their armor. Something strange is going on and the more you know about the general topic, the more you have to use against them.

Plus
>See if there is something about home on the news. You never know

>>3392896
>Splicer Laws. Arcady is shady as always and this will be another chink in their armor. Something strange is going on and the more you know about the general topic, the more you have to use against them.

But bookmark the other two for a later time, they all seem interesting

>>3393050
>>3393083
>two for splicer laws

Writing!

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>>3392896
Yesterday or… a few days ago… you’re not too sure but whenever the news talked about The Sons bombing another senator that supported the new bill. The first time you heard about the terrorist group, you hadn’t realized how widely-spanning their organization was. Whatever stressed that crazy old man in Milo about The Sons seemed like just a bunch of delinquents running around causing trouble but it seems more serious. It’s…

You look up from your screen and glance around your surroundings. Most people seem to be busying themselves with talking or having their noses stuck in their own display. It’s strange, you always knew the people back home to be talkative but the only people who seem to be even slightly loud are just some of the younger people. Couples talking quietly to each other while barely looking at each other, businessmen in suits typing away at their screens, children hugging their knees as they attentively watch their screens, and teens staring out into space while blocking out their surroundings with music or something else on their own screen.

Yet, you were worried they were watching you. You’re still worried, in all honesty, you’re more worried about everything to come. After this job, you’re stained. But in reality, the moment you accepted, you’ve been stained. You shake your head, Moreh is right… Naomi is right, you worry too much. Just thinking about this starts to bring you back to what you were worried about earlier but, really, you should just calm down. Take things one step at a time. The first step...

You turn to the small group huddled around the crate, soon to be your crate. Blue vests mark them out as strangers to the rest of the crowd but they’re the only other people actively looking around. They’re strangers in two different senses of the word. You’re not sure why someone would six armed hire guards to follow something on a train like this. The only thing that you could guess is that whatever is going on got them spooked.

Moreh said it wasn’t that expensive of an item, but it seems like it’s worth a lot to certain people. Certainly important to whoever their client is. Certainly important to Moreh too, though he’s not paying for six people. Just two.

But you’re pretty sure that Arcady has a right to be spooked. From the looks of it, The Sons can target whoever they want. As if The Sons are somehow omnipotent. At least the angry man from the news has one thing right -- if you start getting afraid of these kinds of people, it only brings them more power. You bring power to their name to the point people will only whisper it. Fear is a powerful thing. Fear dictates many choices.

>>3393730
You scroll through the articles, scanning the few things you can see. Most of it is an argument between the bill, which is completely to be expected. From what it looks like, it’s extremely controversial topic. Either people are for or against it and both have strong points. ”it’s not some humanitarian proposition” the words float in your mind as you read. It’s familiar and feeling that you have read these words before, you open the article.

The article is accredited to a miss Miranda Hellinson, a senator. From what you can see, she’s pretty aggressive with her word choice and she even denounces several of her fellow senators for acting so abrasive and rash as to call for the bill to be passed. You continue to scroll through her article until you find where it breaks down several of the bill’s proposes. A specific instance she refers to is that this bill was originally backed by several politicians who have strong ties within the pharmaceutical industry.

You’re not surprised that there’s politicians with hands in other pockets, but you’re drawing a single conclusion from it. Arcady. You sigh before continuing to read, [“The bill itself is structured around, very cleverly that is, reinstatement of inhumane and unethical medical practices. Yet, the bill still claims that this is for the benefit of the genetically modified themselves.”]

Miranda continues to berate the bill for [“...returning to barbaric practices that would be seen as villainous to our predecessors.”] and [“Taking actions that directly conflict with this nation’s founding statements and values.”] At one point you started to imagine most of this being something Naomi might have said with how strongly worded it all is. She writes like a penned viper, striking where it hurts most and keeping her fangs there for a few more moments.

You’re not too sure where you remember the phrase or really where you think you heard her before but she’s something else. You wonder if once Naomi starts writing, she’ll be like this. Naomi is a writer after all, a blogger, but still at heart a journalist. Actually, you wonder what her blog is like… you stare off into the horizon of your display, watching the people behind it.

It’s certainly starting to get more and more people but you’re not sure when they all started to file in. The guards still remain the same number of six blue vests standing around a box. Nothing suspicious about them at all. Like a blue thumb, they stick out. You shake your head and return to the article. It starts to go into some strangely worded breakdowns of the actual bill once it cites passages so it’s somewhat difficult for you to really understand what’s all written there.

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>>3393733
What you can gather is that the main topics people argue is that the bill brings more laws in the benefit of the spliced and that the bill will allow the start of production of spliced. From what it says, the new spliced will be heavily regulated but from what Miranda says, it’s mostly a veil to cover up worse experiments. You’re not sure but it looks like there would be a new bureau to be appointed in the decision making of new spliced.

The bill also seems to state that it will set up several projects to integrate spliced into the general populace, or at least they have bills set up in the future for them. If you try to think linearly about it, it seems that there is a set up in place. Reinstate splice research, allow the ones that are ‘human’ enough to be citizens, provide special welfare for them, and to try--

“Hey there, this seat taken,” A voice asks. You look up to see a bit of a disheveled man in a black suit standing near you. You hadn’t seen him walk up but it doesn’t seem like he was standing there for long. The man is pointing at a seat right next to you, the one with your duffle bag on it.

“Oh.. uh…” you stumble your words as you lower your display. A golden cross around the man’s next and that the man was wearing a white clerical collar around his neck. “Are you a preacher?”

“A preacher?” the man repeats as he places his hands in his pockets, “well, not really. I’m not a preacher but I do work for the church. But if you want you can call me a preacher. Is that an issue?”

“No no, I was raised christian,” you answer, trying to move the duffle bag. “And yeah, you can sit here.”

“Thank you,” the preacher says as he takes a seat. He doesn’t seem that old to be a preacher but you shrug off your own suspicions as you return to your display. A small moment passes before he starts to speak again, “My name’s Daniel, you asked if I was a preacher… I’m sort of a preacher in a sense that I’ve been formally instructed as one but I’m not entirely one in a sense that I have no flock. I work for the church as someone who more or less instructs different sects spread in the various systems.”

“Ah…” you nod, scrolling through your display.

“What’s your name?”

“Sahhh… ahem, Joshua,” you say, covering up your mistake.

>>3393734
“So, where are you headed, mister Joshua. You seem like a businessman, I bet there’s quite a lot of things you’re working on with the piles and piles of problems going on in the world,” he asks as he leans forward, pressing his elbows into his knees.

>”Headed to a meeting, trying to catch up on some news. I’ve been in transit for the past month and I’m a bit behind.” be somewhat truthful and omit things he doesn’t need to know. Seems like someone who would want to talk a little bit with.
>”I don’t really have the time to chat right now, I’m a bit busy.” you’re not wanting any sermon from this wandering preacher but you don’t want to be rude.
>”Don’t want a sermon before work, preacher.” You don’t really care what he has to say. You have a lot of other things to be worrying about right now and the last thing you want is some old guy taking up your time.
>[write-in]

>>3393735
>>”Headed to a meeting, trying to catch up on some news. I’ve been in transit for the past month and I’m a bit behind.” be somewhat truthful and omit things he doesn’t need to know. Seems like someone who would want to talk a little bit with.

>>3393735

>”Headed to a meeting, trying to catch up on some news. I’ve been in transit for the past month and I’m a bit behind.” be somewhat truthful and omit things he doesn’t need to know. Seems like someone who would want to talk a little bit with.

Try not to talk much tho, we are trying to not be noticed, so don't be rude but don't indulge in much talk too

>>3393773
+1

>>3393765
>>3393773
>>3393785
>three for businessman Joshua

Writing!

>>3393841
(-ω-ゞ
( ﾟoﾟ)

trying something out real quick, one sec

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>>3393735
“Been in transit for about a month, just headed to my first meeting. Trying to catch up on the news, you know?” you answer the preacher’s question before you take a moment pull your display back up. “Feels like you look away for a moment and everything is falling apart…”

“Ah ha…” the preacher laughs, “yeah, it’ll do that to you. I mean, look at everyone here. They’re always connected to those things. I ain’t ever really found a use worrying about things twenty systems away or what have you.”

“Right…” you say. In fact you noticed it too. They’re all on their own displays. Like little islands they’re all totally absorbed in their own selves and none of them are really interacting with anyone else. All of them alienating themselves.

“It’s strange, the closer everyone gets connected to each other the farther away it seems they become,” he says, “but no, no, there’s not much else to do here so it’s not like I blame them for not throwing a party or anything.”

“Yeah, it’s just like that,” you reply.

“Well, you said you were coming back from a trip, where’d you go? I like to travel quite a lot and given the nature of my own job I get to do just that,” he says.

“Ah, Milo,” you answer.

“Ahhh, it’s not too far from here,” he says, “Yeah, it’s not a bad place. I’ve been there. Been to Tucson, Elksport, Abel, Bluff, few other places too. Milo’s not that bad, of all the places out there. Ah…” he trails off as he looks to his wrist. An antique watch sits above the wrist of his black leather gloves. “The train should arrive soon.”

“Yeah,” you say, “Shouldn’t be too long. Places here never really take all that much time to get around.”

“Mhm,” he agrees. You slowly nod as the conversation dies down and while you take in your surroundings again. Coraline should be here soon but the two of you wouldn’t be near each other either way. “I’m actually on a trip myself. After this I’ll be heading to a little place called Iota Persei solve a few problems and then after that… I don’t know, think I’ll go on a vacation.”

“Sounds nice,” you reply, “I’ve never really been to any vacation-like places.”

“Ah, well it’s not a real vacation like that. It should be my last and final job until I get to begin my own duties as a wandering preacher. Go see the world, do exciting things and then settle down somewhere I suppose.”

A moment of silence draws near as Daniel stops talking. He’s pretty friendly for a stranger you met waiting for the train. He’s not like the other people here, he’s someone who would try to start a conversation with anyone he meets. Kind of reminds you of your own father though he’s not really anything like this guy. You scroll through your display without reading, just watching as the text slowly slides by.

>>3394036
A small blip appears on the top right of your screen, a message. Coraline. Seems she arrived just now, right before the train too. The sounds of metal against metal has been increasing ever so slightly for the past few minutes. Getting louder and louder with ever moment passing. Opening the message, you read [“I am here.”]

Well, yep. Didn’t really expect her to be much of a talker. you think as you type in a message to her. [“We’re going to be separating, Naomi told you everything, right?”]

A few seconds pass before another blip appears, [“Yes. (-ω-ゞ “]

What’s that? you ask yourself, is that some sort a… you begin to type out a reply [“What’s that thing after ‘yes’?”]

[“A salute! You do not use emotes? ( ﾟoﾟ) <- (this is me being surprised.)”] she replies with another emote. Funnily enough she shows more emotion through texting than with her own face it seems. You sigh to yourself and shake your head. Taking a moment to look up, you spot her fairly quickly though it seems she had already known where you were.

You then take a cursory glance across the rest of the room before a loud voice calls over the speakers. “Train Four Six dash Three Two is arriving. Please remain orderly while entering the train and allow space on the right hand side of the station for disembarking passengers.”

Perfect. Now, everything has been set. Only thing else is to sit back and watch the play. All you have to do is to just stick to your lines.

>Find a seat near where the Cargo. You’ll rather keep near the prize and make sure whenever you’re close to the pick-up point, no one will be around.
>Find a seat near the bathroom. You want to get suited up as quickly as you can when it comes to it. After the bathroom, you can just as easily sneak up onto the roof and then you’d be safe from then on out.
>Find a seat somewhat near Coraline. Though the plan was to keep distance, you would like to keep an eye on her for a little bit.
>Sit near the Preacher. You’ll have someone to talk to for the ride since you know it will take another thirty or so minutes until you have a chance to get the cargo out.
>[write-in]

>>3394040

>Find a seat near the bathroom. You want to get suited up as quickly as you can when it comes to it. After the bathroom, you can just as easily sneak up onto the roof and then you’d be safe from then on out.

>>3394040

>Find a seat near the bathroom. You want to get suited up as quickly as you can when it comes to it. After the bathroom, you can just as easily sneak up onto the roof and then you’d be safe from then on out.

>>3394040
>Find a seat near the bathroom. You want to get suited up as quickly as you can when it comes to it. After the bathroom, you can just as easily sneak up onto the roof and then you’d be safe from then on out.

>>3394040

I change to:
>>Sit near the Preacher. You’ll have someone to talk to for the ride since you know it will take another thirty or so minutes until you have a chance to get the cargo out.

>>3398253
kek my ID changed, I'm this >>3394071

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>>3394040
>Find a seat near the bathroom. You want to get suited up as quickly as you can when it comes to it. After the bathroom, you can just as easily sneak up onto the roof and then you’d be safe from then on out.

Coraline is Emojiline now? +1 Like

>>3398296
Leveling up bruh

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>>3394071
>>3394081
>>3394405
>>3398296
>four for sitting near the bathroom

Writing!

Sorry about yesterday, had to help a friend and then when I got around to being able to write I came down with a headache.

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>>3394040
>something about home
The screeching of metal burns itself into your ears, banishing any other noise to the far reaches of the background. The train steadily slows down before it stops completely with a solid thud and hiss, opening its doors to welcome everyone on the platform. As if a spell was broken, the once still crowd begins to move all at once, lining up to que for entry.

It’s time. You thought as you began to reach for your bags, gathering your items and what strength you have for what’s next. All while you were waiting for the train you had readied yourself for this moment and even if you felt hesitant to continue, you won’t let that stop you. Nodding to the preacher beside you, the two of you begin to que up. From where you are, you’re not able to make out where Coraline is but you’re not that concerned for her since she, more or less, knows what she’s supposed to do.

Checking your display once more before boarding the train, you scroll through with one hand to see if you missed anything. For all you know, the majority of the ride will be quiet, that is, until you start to make some noise. It felt like waiting for glaciers to melt when you were waiting but now everything feels like it’s going by so fast. It’s…

You sigh, looking away from your display and pocket it before pulling yourself into the train car. This train is cleaner, sleeker, and more than anything else you’ve seen. The metallic finish creates an image of some ideal of the past but feels off in the present. Like a future someone else envisioned yet doesn’t match what the future actually became. It’s a relic of the past.

The red leather seats line up on each side of the wall, facing outward like any other train you’ve seen. Looking down the middle, you spot the cargo cart as well as a fleeting image of Coraline’s trademark white hair behind another layer of glass. But before the cargo is a utility cart, a bathroom and a small kitchen like section, which totals the area of your cart, the bathroom cart, the cargo cart, and then the cart after that. Of course the train doesn’t stop there, but that’s as much as you can concern yourself with.

Get on board, wait for the zone, bathroom… you recount the steps of your plan, playing out the actions in your head so you don’t forget. You still feel the heat from before. That warmth of fear, the biting edge that only feeds your nervousness. Bathroom. you repeat as you eye the door to the cargo. Maneuvering yourself through the small boarding crowd, you find yourself a seat near the doors to the cart.

>>3399523
You thought it would be best to sit closest to where you’re supposed to go next and from the plans, you know that the bathroom has a vent that connects itself directly to the outside. It’s like an old AC unit tacked on to the side, pull off the panel and you have a convenient exit. Certainly only Moreh would have been this through with the designs to account for something like this. Honestly Moreh himself is somewhat of a mystery, an enigma, since he asked you almost at random. He trusted you almost instantly to carry out some illegal deal to steal cargo.

Even if he’s someone you’re going to have to rely on later, it’s not like you can fully trust him or understand his motives. He told you he was interested in the fuel cell because there was some recent event he too notice in and he apparently understands Naomi’s situation enough to propose something like this. You’re not sure who Moreh really is but it’s not like you can question him right now. Even if he is questionable as a character, it wouldn’t really impact you as of now.

It’s not like you don’t have some regret in accepting it so readily, you do, but you can’t go back now. You have to do it and even if you wanted to back out, you can’t. You have things that need to be taken care of, Naomi, Adam, Arcady… Moreh is needed. Moreh is needed. Moreh is needed. you tell yourself.

You sigh and place your head into your hands, elbows pressed against your knees. Listening to the quiet steps of the passengers still boarding before the pneumatic hiss of the doors pierces the noise of the crowd.

“Now closing,” a robotic female voice calls out, “Please enjoy your trip.”

The information strip lining the crown of the cart flashes pixelated words, detailing the destination and timing of the train. You already knew all of this though, Moreh detailed everything in his report. If anything, he’s meticulous and definitely a dangerous opponent if he somehow points that same level of shrewd diligence at you. Though, it’s unlike he would.

>Read through the news (Choose a topic from before: Genesis articles, House Tsaiojin, something about home, Something else [write-in])
>Wait for the time to start the job (timeskip-ish)
>Text Coraline to see how things are on her end, gather as much information as possible.
>Text Naomi to see if anything else came up, talk about what you found or talk about the job.
>[write-in]

>>3399523
>>something about home

the fuck did that come from? Damn, didn't mean to fuck up the post.

>>3399526
>>Read through the news (Choose a topic from before: Genesis articles, House Tsaiojin, something about home, Something else [write-in])

genesis

>>3399538
+1

Maybe send a message to Naominto confirm how things are

>>3399569
Actually, we could do a check on both girls, ask Coraline how is the guards movements and ask naomi about the job and how is the get away strategy and how is she

>>3399538
>>3399569
>>3399659
ah well, there's a limit with time since you only have ~30 minutes until you're under the zone. I guess I can make something work though if you guys would like to message Coraline and Naomi while reading through the articles. Doubt you'd get much information if your attention is split like that though.

Oh well.

>two for texting and reading

Writing!

File: Display Disappointment.png (135 KB, 429x775)

135 KB PNG

>>3399526

You glance to each ends of the cart you’re in, taking note of the three blue vests sitting near each other. Apparently they doubt someone would steal something like the fuel cell they’re guarding. An easy job for them, easier for you. Leaning back into your barely-cushioned seat, you grope around your person for your display, finding it in your left breast pocket and taking it out. Watching as it glows into a familiar screen of the previous article you were reading, you thumb through to find your messenger. [“Coraline, anything happening over there?”]

You decide on texting her first, mainly because you have the time and partly because you think it’s better to get an idea about your surroundings. Namely, the other threes whereabouts. The red cushion supporting you squeaks as you adjust yourself, taking the time to scroll through some more articles. Before you find anything interesting, a small blip appears [“Nothing.”]

Alright, you think as you begin to type [Alright, well text me if any--] but you’re interrupted by another message. [“Someone is going to the bathroom, should I follow?”]

[“Huh?”] you type out quickly to stop her and also to give yourself some time to actually respond [“No, don’t just start following people to the bathroom. You know who we’re watching, right?”]

[“Yes. The ones in the blue vests. One is going to the bathroom. (●≧ω≦)9 “] she replies about as fast as you send the first message. Honestly you’re not sure if she’s fast because it’s connected to her mind or something but she’s already a pro at texting.

[“Don’t follow. Just”] you send, pausing and rethinking, [“Just sit where you are, text me if anything else happens, like if they start to move to the cargo.”]

[“d(￣▽￣o)”] is the only thing she sends back in reply. You guess it’s a thumbs up but you don’t think too much on it. She probably understands since Naomi told her that Coraline should keep her distance. Shaking your head, you return to the other messages and find Naomi’s name. [“Hey, you good?”]

It only takes a few seconds for a response, [“Yeah why whats up? Oh hey! Found out sleeper ship is really really old first gen tyl about it. On train yet? I left earlier should be there on time nothing else really.”]

[“nothing much here either. Read about the splicer bill and talked to Coraline. Did you know that she uses emotes?”] you text back.

>>3400020
[“yeah taught her why? Oh! Splicer bill? Yeah pretty crazy stuff desu. I can send you some articles if you want theres a lot out there.”] she replies before you see another one following it. A link to an article and then two more and then three. She really knows her sources to be able to link them off the cuff like this. She taught Coraline? What else did she… you sigh mentally as you thumb through the linked articles for a moment.

[“actually, you got anything on Genesis?”] you send back after looking briefly at one of the pages. She said that she read something about what Moreh was looking for, the sleeper ship. Something about first gen? If so, it would make sense that he’s looking into the early drives. You’re not sure about the significance of an old ship showing up just now but from what you remember, ships tended to get lost early on. You just thought that it was part of the risk with that sort of old tech. Either it blows up on you or it gets something wrong, either way, it was dangerous back then.

[“yeah yeah i’ll send you what i got”] she replies quickly before two more articles are sent your way. [“shouldn’t be too long before i see you again check out the articles”]

[“see you”] you send back before opening up one of the links to whatever she found. Seems like it’s to a site that she visits regularly since she sent similar links to you about the bill. You check the time at the top of your display, only a few more minutes to actually look through anything so you just bookmark the page before looking up to the bathroom. A man in a blue vest exits the room and pats his shirt as if to iron out some of the wrinkles before turning towards the cargo room. You watch through the glass door as he closes the door behind him. You didn’t notice it before but it seems the doors were open to the cargo cart when you first got on board the train.

Convenient that no one can see into the cart, but then again, you’re not able to see out of it either. And geez, did that guy take a thirty minute piss or something? you sigh internally as you stand up, grabbing your duffle bag before pocketing your display. The door to the bathroom slides open with a quiet hiss before it slides again behind you. The faint smell of something awful tells you exactly why he took thirty minutes in here. You hold your breath as you quickly grope around for the air freshener sitting on top of the sink to spray around the small cabin.

>>3400024
Couldn’t even have the decency to… you sigh internally. You joke to yourself, thinking that now you wouldn’t regret it if you somehow hurt that guy before the surreal feeling of discomfort hits you again. Of course you’re still talking about stealing something and hurting innocents in the process. You shake your head before placing the duffle bag on the top of the sink.

The man in the mirror stares back at you. Blond, suited, and bright-eyed. That’s you. Of course it’s you, it’s not like taking a job like this turned you into some monster. The effect of being cramped up in a small ship might have done something to your skin but other than that, you’re peachy. It’s almost like reassuring you that you’re still you. You’re Sam. You’re here for one reason, to do something that isn’t really legal but certainly something you have to do. At least you’ve convinced yourself you have to do it.

Taking your hands, you rub your face; feeling your cheeks, your forehead, and running your hands through your hair once more. You take a moment to watch yourself, the same man you have always been, that’s the man who’s staring at you now. You’re fine. This is going to be fine. The crisp sound of the bags zipper cuts your attention as you watch the items you prepared just an hour ago. The suit, the stick, and two concussion grenades all sit neatly in the bag, partitioned by the nylon.

You take out the stick and look over it once more before placing it back into the bag. Taking a deep breath, you pull out the armor and begin to put it on. Replacing your shoes with the newly fitted mag-boots, sliding into the legs of the half suit, and fitting the vest to your chest. While you’re in the middle of the strapping the few remaining bits of the vest together you hear a quiet tap before a voice calls through. “Hey, you almost done?”

It’s a familiar voice. You’re not sure where you heard it from but-- ah, the preacher. He knocks again.

>”Actually, can you go to the next one? Kinda busy in here!” act like you’re taking the dump of your life. Of course you can’t let him see you suited up in this.
>Remain silent, continue what you’re doing. You locked the door anyways and even if he decides to break the lock to get in here, you should be out the vent anyways. He shouldn’t try to break in, probably just wander off somewhere else.
>”One moment!” Stall him or talk with him. Try to get him to go away at least.
>[write-in]

>>3400027

>Remain silent, continue what you’re doing. You locked the door anyways and even if he decides to break the lock to get in here, you should be out the vent anyways. He shouldn’t try to break in, probably just wander off somewhere else.

Shiiiiit, let's hope he didn't see us getting in

>>3400027
>>[write-in]
I thought priests only went for young boys.

>>3400027


>”Actually, can you go to the next one? Kinda busy in here!” act like you’re taking the dump of your life. Of course you can’t let him see you suited up in this.

So, my therory is that this preacher is here after the same thing as us, or whatever other reason he may have I don't want him placing us in the bathroom since he already heard our voice, and we are leaving this train through the roof, so let's be quit, keep the door locked and wait for him to go, we are going to the roof through the window

>>3400160
Sure, why not.

I change to >>3400065
While I doubt the priest is a thief it is sensible to not give away where we are.

>>3400027
>Remain silent, continue what you’re doing. You locked the door anyways and even if he decides to break the lock to get in here, you should be out the vent anyways. He shouldn’t try to break in, probably just wander off somewhere else.

sssh, smeaqui smeaqui

>>3400065
Seconded.

Important reply!

>>3400295
>>3400288
>>3400229
>>3400065
>four for remaining silent

Writing!

>>3400303

👌

File: stare.png (69 KB, 331x149)

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>>3400027
You hold your breath, as if holding it would make him go away. Slowly, quietly, you continue to fix the remaining parts of the suit onto yourself. The black carapace shining the oppressive lights of the bathroom mirror, making the image of some sort of well-equipped hitman from some sort of film. The knocking doesn’t stop, though. It’s not long until the preacher knocks again, asking in a quieter voice if anyone is in here. You don’t reply and you’re positive he can’t hear anything inside since not only are you being careful but the ambient sound of the train makes up for any mishaps.

He knocks again, “Hello?” his voice echoes and the jangle of the door’s handle accompanies it. Metal creaking and then a pause before you hear the sounds of shoes softly stepping away. The preacher left. While you knew he wouldn’t get in, your heart was still in your throat. You only really noticed it when you felt the relief of him leaving.

You pause for a moment, checking for any sound of the preacher before turning around to stare at yourself in the mirror. As one would expect, you’re still you, only now you’re wearing the armor. The jacket of your suit you had bought not but just a few hours ago almost covers the top with the vest looking somewhat natural. Checking your legs, you feel the slight increase in weight but no discomfort of what a normal suit would give you.

Certainly this is the first time you wore anything like this but you’ve read a very small amount on things like it. Suits would pinch and rub against uncomfortable places but this one is actually kind to you. The inner foam that makes up the padding gives in a little and acts something like a gel but doesn’t act like any of the weaker padding from something cheaper. The armored legs just slip over the dress pants and the only downside is that you’re most likely going to have to iron out the wrinkles if you’re going to wear it later.

You look like a hitman. It’s the only thing that comes to mind, at least. The suit and the armor underneath gives that sort of vibe. Patting your chest, you check the straps and the feeling of it before reaching for your display. The clock a second off for each moment you pause. A blip appears at the top right, Naomi - [“Ready?”]

>>3400389
You type out your reply and then put it back into your pocket before staring at yourself in the mirror. Your eyes grow dark, colder, the longer you stare. Of course you’re ready. For the hundredth time, you repeat to yourself that you can’t back down. You eyes dart toward the large venting unit that hums its simple rhythm. Climbing on top of the sink, and with one foot on the rim of the sink and the other on the top of the toilet, you reach for the unit.

Itself is a simple thing. The AC unit has a panel on the side to change temperatures and filter the air out. The front, and from what you know the back too, has a large surface to pull in and push out air. From the many diagrams that Moreh sent you off with, they describe the unit to have four main bolts, everything else is mostly just manual pulling a series of tabs to release it for maintenance or replacement.

The diagrams made you familiar with it but you’ve never actually disassembled something like this before.

____________________________________________________________________

Give me three rolls to see how it works out. (it's roll under btw)


>DC Medium = 70
>Engineering Certificate +10
>Skilled Engineer +/-0
>Understanding +5
>No Saved Crits
>DC = 85

0 - You fall down and make a lot of noise trying to get the unit off the wall.
1 - The Unit budges slightly but the thing seems rusted to all hell. It’ll take you some time to pull it off.
2 - It takes some time but after a few minutes of messing with the unit, you’re able to pull it off.
3 - You successfully remove the unit without any difficulty.

Rolled 23 (1d100)

>>3400392

Rolled 45 (1d100)

>>3400392

Rolled 6 (1d100)

Rolling again just in case

Rolled 7 (1d100)

>>3400392

>>3400436
Nah screw you

Rolled 43 (1d100)

>>3400392
I guess if you beg for it

>>3400409
>>3400412
>>3400438
>Three degrees of success, zero criticals.

>0 - You fall down and make a lot of noise trying to get the unit off the wall.
>1 - The Unit budges slightly but the thing seems rusted to all hell. It’ll take you some time to pull it off.
>2 - It takes some time but after a few minutes of messing with the unit, you’re able to pull it off.
>3 - You successfully remove the unit without any difficulty.

Writing!

File: jhgvghv.png (475 KB, 769x521)

475 KB PNG

>>3400441
>>3400438
thanks for rolling too

File: Overview.jpg (268 KB, 640x972)

268 KB JPG

>>3400392
The stale, cool air brushes against your face, reminding you of the little stubble that remains unshaven. The vent itself is a large box sitting above the toilet seat like a constant threat to anyone trying to find peace in their personal business. You’re not sure who conceived the vent itself but it’s not an entirely bad design. It’s simple enough and it’s fairly secure, that is, unless someone like you comes along.

Someone who knows about the vent and how to dislodge it can simply and easily remove it. You suppose that this is one of the leading ideas when they developed it but it does feel like there’s several safety measures being violated here. Well, then again, you doubt that they thought someone would try to crawl out of it. It barely fits your shoulder width and to actually get out of the cart, you’re going to have to shimmy your way through it at a weird angle. But, nonetheless, you’re still able to exit through it.

Pressing against the first set of tabs on the sides of the box, you release the plates that cover the first two bolts. They’re not really the hardest things to unscrew since you bet they were mounted by hand and screwed in with about the same force that someone can put on a bolt like it. Taking the top of one between your index and thumb, you squeeze on it tightly. Forcing the bolt and lightly tapping your fist against the metal box, you feel the bolt loosen, just slightly. Doing it again, you feel it loosen even more.

Continuing with this process, you quickly unscrew the bolt, hearing something fall from behind it. Probably the other side of the bolt, the washer or a nut that was fixed to the other end. Taking the same steps for the other side, you make fast progress with every now and then pausing to listen to passing footsteps and the other ambient sounds of the train. It doesn’t take long until you reach the end of that bolt too.

Two more tabs on the corners and two more tabs at the top and bottom of the vent. The repetitive task of unscrewing each bolt by hand taxes the strength of your wrists but eventually you completely free the unit. Grabbing it whole by wrapping your arms around it tightly, you slowly pull it off the wall. Like a well-oiled piston, the box slides out of the perfectly-shaped square hole in the wall. The outside reveals the somewhat quiet interior of the channel.

You can clearly see you’re in the area where there’s little surveillance, or rather a complete lack thereof. Several construction zones are marked off with orange and yellow equipment and bars. Each zone looks as busy as the channel itself. It’s almost as if it’s empty and void of most activity. Moreh really knows how to plan a job.

>>3400522
Poking your head out of the train cart, you feel the deafening wind rushing past your face, forcing you to close your eyes if you look in the same direction of the train’s destination. The powerful speed generates the powerful winds. You thank your past experience to remind you that mag boots exist for a reason. Feeling around blindly, you grope the side of the train to see for some sort of place for your hands to find purchase. The smooth metal train itself has little except for the maintenance ladders that run the sides of it. You, however, are lucky enough to find the ladders near the vent. Above the hole, if you stretch, is a single rung of a ladder that starts to move toward the centerline of the train.

____________________________________________________________________


Give me three rolls to see how it works out. (it's roll under btw)


>DC Hard = 50
>Meagre Strength = -10
>Magboots = +15
>Understanding = +5
>No Saved Crits
>DC = 60

0 - You fall down and make a lot of noise trying to get out of the cart.
1 - You’re able to shimmy your way out of the bathroom but in the process of doing so, you make a lot of noise. You alert someone and you become Fatigued.
2 - Taking a lot of strength, you pull yourself out of the bathroom without making noise. You become Fatigued.
3 - You successfully escape the bathroom without making noise.

Rolled 45 (1d100)

>>3400065

Rolled 95 (1d100)

>>3400525

Rolled 79 (1d100)

>>3400525

Rolled 80 (1d100)

>>3400525
I don't like this bruh

🙁

>>3400541 45
>>3400553 95
>>3400740 79

oof.

>One degree of success, zero criticals.

>0 - You fall down and make a lot of noise trying to get out of the cart.
1 - You’re able to shimmy your way out of the bathroom but in the process of doing so, you make a lot of noise. You alert someone and you become Fatigued.
>2 - Taking a lot of strength, you pull yourself out of the bathroom without making noise. You become Fatigued.
>3 - You successfully escape the bathroom without making noise.

Writing!

File: The Train Job.jpg (1.32 MB, 3402x2268)

1.32 MB JPG

>>3400525
A lion’s roar thunders from the square exit. The pressure of the wind itself pushes and forces itself in all directions. Your hair sways violently, being tugged in the storm of wind as you clumsily grab onto the rung with one and, the other holds tightly onto duffle bag swung around your neck. A hand towel loosens and with it’s newly found liberty, flees from the bathroom and sticks itself to your person.

You prop yourself up onto the top of the toilet, standing there for a moment as your head and arm sticks out the side of the wall. With both arms now, you pull yourself up. The majority of your strength being slowly whittled away as your back scrapes itself against the bottom edge of the square. Your arms pull your weight, lifting your feet just slightly above the toilet’s back. Struggling, you kick your feet to swing yourself slightly up only to knock down the metal part of the toilet’s back.

The sound of your armor rings out in a thunderously as it rakes against the edge before your strength gives and you slide back down. It’s not enough to just be clever. Your body is weak, probably weaker now that you’ve neglected it for as long as you had. Your strength is just barely able to pull you up and lift yourself but you’re unable to properly get a footing to bring the rest of you out. Glancing around, you see the far end of the channel approaching at what seems to be a snail’s pace. You’re running out of time.

Taking the bottom rung again, you pull with all your might and again scrape against the sides. Your body drags as your arms wrestle with the constant pressure of the wind and weight of your body. The two forces at odds with each other both work only to make your failing strength even more so. With the upper half of your body clinging to the side and your legs sticking into the bathroom, a sudden banging against the door rings out.

You’re not sure what tipped off whoever’s there. The sound of the wind pouring through the now open vent or the sound of you pulling yourself out of it. Desperately, you tug against the rung. Swinging your feet violently as you finally place your ass on the bottom of the hole. Finding purchase with your boots, you kick yourself up as you hear the banging on the door become louder and louder. A voice calls out but the wind deafens any other noise.

>>3401299
The only noise you hear as you pull yourself completely out of the bathroom is the sound of the door’s lock breaking and metal slamming against metal. They broke the damn door. you think as you begin to climb the maintenance ladder. The sleek metal train isn’t as forgiving as you had wished it to be even though the diagrams definitely told you of its sloped sides and curved top. Like a rounded triangle, the train’s top gives about shoulder-width of room to work with.

Your eyes move back to your feet, standing on the bottom rung and a hand shoves itself out of the vent hole. The burly forearm comes first then the angry bald head of someone you don’t know begins shouting at you. His eyes boiling with rage as you stare back with fear.

Well, this wasn’t part of the plan.

>Coraline! Help! She can either be a distraction or a weapon. Call her and get her to help you out.
>Start climbing and hope that you’re faster than he is. Your tired from just pulling yourself out of the bathroom but you should be able to get away if he has similar troubles.
>Toss a concussion grenade his way and sprint to the finish line. You have two of them for just this case. A distraction and then you take your path to the cargo hold. Naomi should be here soon.
> [write-in]

>>3401303

>Coraline! Help! She can either be a distraction or a weapon. Call her and get her to help you out.
>Start climbing and hope that you’re faster than he is. Your tired from just pulling yourself out of the bathroom but you should be able to get away if he has similar troubles.

Tell her to distract that dude while we move to the cargo hold

>>3401303
>Toss a concussion grenade his way and sprint to the finish line. You have two of them for just this case. A distraction and then you take your path to the cargo hold. Naomi should be here soon.

BLIND THE MOTHERFUCKER AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA SHIT WENT WROOOONG.

I hope he doesn't fall of the.. train. But imagine the chaos a blast of the greneade will make inside the train. Interesting distraction if you ask me.

>>3401303

>Coraline! Help! She can either be a distraction or a weapon. Call her and get her to help you out.

Tell her to not hurt anyone, but make up an emergency, we need to hurry before the sec guys can hear things out and start suspecting something is up

>>3401322
>>3401348
>two for getting away and calling for help

Writing!

Rolled 45, 82, 40 = 167 (3d100)

>>3401380
Rolling for other bud.

>DC 70

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149 KB JPG

>>3401303
You stare as the man’s arm begins to reach out from the bathroom. Picking up your leg, you dodge as he tries to swing at it. Taking this time to escape, you pull yourself with all your might up the ladder. Each rung taking a toll as you battle with the wind pushing against your body, tugging at you and trying to make you tumble. Each step feels weighted, as if you were walking under water or as if you were tied down to each rung.

Taking a glance back, you see the burly man grabbing ahold of the bottom rung as you place yourself at the pinnacle. The top of the train is about the same as the sides, sleek and smooth. Aerodynamic in a sense as it simply cuts through the air effortlessly. The wind roars past your head like an invisible wall. It has some give but you’re not entirely able to put yourself against it.

You feel your legs become steady as the magboots lock under your control. You stand at the top, watching as the man begins to pull himself out of the bathroom. A blue vest marks the man as an enemy. A sounds beeps, pecking at your chest as you stare statuesque at the man chasing after you. You’re not sure how he could have known about what you’re doing but you’re not about to sit down and ask him questions.

Patting your chest, you remember your display and turn it on to see a few messages. Namely one from Naomi and another from Coraline. [“almost there”] and [“(・・;)??? A man came to get two of the men in vests.”]

You sigh, so it was like that. You must have made enough noise to get the train managers to call for the help of the men in vests. Picking up your foot, you feel as if the wind itself was trying to throw you across the channel as it pushes you with a force you can barely resist. Another step, and another, as you raise your display to your ear. A voice answers, “Yes?”

“Coraline!” you shout, you’re barely able you hear your own words over the sound of the wind pressing against you. “Do something!”

“Wha--” she replies, though you’re not able to hear everything as the sound of the wind overpowers her voice. She can probably hear just as well as you can. You turn your head to look around the channel. Naomi texted not too long ago, so it stands to reason that she’ll be here sooner than later so you turn your eyes toward the closed hatch only a few meters away from where you’re now. A small divot marks the split between carts. Turning back you still see the man climbing up to you. Another head pokes itself from the inside of the bathroom. You can barely see him and you’re positive he can’t see you any better. That must be guy number two.

“Coraline!” You bring the display close to your mouth and shout again, “Create a distraction!”

>>3401465
You can’t hear her reply anything this time but it’s not like you have time nor the ability to explain some elaborate plan. You end the call and pocket your display before taking another step forward. You’re close to the hatch and with the next step, you make it over the separation. You feel your heart beating with the force of a thousand drums, seeking to break out of your chest. Clutching to your bag, you search the surrounding channel, looking for Naomi’s promised arrival.

“Hey!” A voice calls from behind you like a deep grumbling roar. You turn and look over your shoulder to spot the stout man lumbering toward you at a slower pace than you. You notice two things, one, he doesn’t have his weapon out, and two, he’s not wearing mag boots. His legs are mechanical like Coraline’s, gripping to the metal like a falcon’s talons to its prey.

>Throw a grenade at him. It should slow him down if not stop him entirely. That way, you can make it to the cargo and grab what you came here to get.
>Make a break for it. Open the hatch and jump down.
>Call Naomi to get her to come in with the ship and try to knock the guy off or something.
>[write-in]

>>3401470

>Throw a grenade at him. It should slow him down if not stop him entirely. That way, you can make it to the cargo and grab what you came here to get.

>>3401470

>Throw a grenade at him. It should slow him down if not stop him entirely. That way, you can make it to the cargo and grab what you came here to get.

He will block the way out if he is not stopped

Rolled 12, 2, 27 = 41 (3d100)

>>3401479
>>3401483
>two for tossing a grenade that way

Rolling for the man, DC 40

if he passes 2 then there'll be a bonus for him

>>3401604
Roll me three dice.

>DC Medium = 70
>Favorable Winds = +10
>No Throwing Skill = -20
>The Enemy Knows = -10
>No Saved Crits
>DC = 50

>0 - The grenade misses entirely, veering off and exploding out of sight.
>1 - The man deflects the grenade and it explodes harmlessly off to the side.
>2 - The grenade explodes near the man and is blinded and affected by the grenade. All of his next actions will be at a disadvantage of -40, -20 for the next roll after that.
>3 - He catches the grenade and it explodes in his hands. He loses balance and falls off the train.

Rolled 69 (1d100)

>>3401614

Rolled 80 (1d100)

>>3401614

Rolled 91 (1d100)

>>3401614

This rolls will have us killed, we should just rush for the objective at this point

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>>3401620 69
>>3401625 80
>>3401630 91

>Zero degrees of success, zero criticals.

>0 - The grenade misses entirely, veering off and exploding out of sight.
>1 - The man deflects the grenade and it explodes harmlessly off to the side.
>2 - The grenade explodes near the man and is blinded and affected by the grenade. All of his next actions will be at a disadvantage of -40, -20 for the next roll after that.
>3 - He catches the grenade and it explodes in his hands. He loses balance and falls off the train.

>>3401639
In that moment, Sam noticed he had no clue to how to prime the grenade

File: 1528247740543.gif (1.3 MB, 500x360)

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>>3401470
His words reach your ears carried by the wings of crows, the low growl of a chanting shout repeats itself, “Hey!” he says as he takes another step. The metal below him bends and creaks as his clawed feet dig into it. The thin metal plating sounds off in screeching protest but resists little. You take a step forward while looking back. Each of his steps creates an indent on the train like stepping in a snowy path.

Though it looks as if he’s stable and sound in footing, you can see the unsteady steps he takes. He’s pushed by the wind just like you are. His size and weight are not to his advantage as it just makes more surface area for the wind to push against. Every three steps you take, he can only take one despite his obvious strength. The wind makes him look like a banner flapping in the wind, veered in any direction it pleases rather by the banner’s own discretion.

Him following you is to no one’s advantage. If he keeps this up he can either block your exit or catch you while you’re trying to steal the crate. You see his faults and you know with him being downstream it’ll be easier to hit him than he can hit you. Either way, he knows your face by now. As you near the hatch, you count the paces and take a breath.

Reaching into your bag, you pull out one of the concussion grenades you bought just a few hours ago. You know how they work from your extensive use of the internet with your interests lining up the same. Taking it into your hand, you feel the sides and its cylinder body. The flat faces of an octagon make its sides with round protrusions making it look beaded. A pin and lever make up the entire system. Once you activate it, all you have to do is throw.

You take a deep breath as you turn around at where the hatch is. The bald man stops his chase as he takes the moment of pause to take a look at you, sizing you up. You pull the pin and his eyes follow.

Stepping toward him, you toss the grenade as if it was a baseball, hurtling it at the man in the blue vest. Reflexively, he blocks his face and you watch as the grenade passes by his head and continues on down the train. It bounces against the metal roof before a gust of wind brings it up and veers if off to the right. The man turns around and the two of you watch as it explodes. The bright flash of light followed by the sound of an explosion before it quickly fades with the wind.

For a moment the two of you stare at the spot where it had exploded. Then the man turns back to you, narrows his eyes then turns back to the explosion before returning to you. He takes a step forward and his claws clamp into the metal, biting into it as a knife into butter. He’s silent now, perhaps he thinks of you as an enemy.

>>3401730
In the distance you can see a dot approaching fast. Behind the bald head of the blue vested man lies a familiar silhouette. A dancing shadow that’s slowly catching up to the train, growing with distance gained. Naomi.

>Flag her down and try to get her to knock the bald man off of the train. At this point it’s kill or be killed.
>Get Naomi to pick you up, it’s over. Time to cut losses and pray Coraline gets back safely.
>Throw the other grenade at the bald man and hope that this one gets him this time.
>Open the hatch and jump down onto the train, you’ll think of something while you grab the fuel cell.
>[write-in]

>>3401735
>>Open the hatch and jump down onto the train, you’ll think of something while you grab the fuel cell.

Rolled 92 (1d100)

>>3401735
>Throw the other grenade at the bald man and hope that this one gets him this time

Tots. We gitta frik him

>>3401774
I change to
>Throw the other grenade at the bald man and hope that this one gets him this time

>>3401937
I'm going back on my word

back to
>Open the hatch and jump down onto the train, you’ll think of something while you grab the fuel cell.

Gunna call the votes once I get back to my dorm. JUST saying that this is going down pretty hilariously. I’ll let you guys think about it for a little bit more and you guys can ask for some clarification on certain things. One thing being why I rolled before for the enemy and what it meant.

>>3402337
yeah, the guy already has a huge bonus to predict our granades right?

>>3401735

>Open the hatch and jump down onto the train, you’ll think of something while you grab the fuel cell.

We can find another exit further down the train

>>3402382
>>3402325
>two for open the hatch

>>3402346
yes/no, the roll was to see if he could notice the "surprise" grenade. That's why the DC was so hard for him.

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>>3401735
You stand for a moment, dumbfounded at your own mistake. The man seemed surprised, either because you missed or because you threw something at him. Either way, he’s stood stock still and turned toward the explosion. You had thought you had that perfect opportunity to get him caught unaware but it seems you fumbled on just about everything. The wind presses you back into reality and reminds you that you have little time to worry about mistakes.

With the man still turned away, you quickly get down and try to work the hatch’s lever. The actual mechanism was something you’ve seen in the provided diagrams so you knew it was even more simpler than the vent. Only requiring you to push it to the side to unlock it. The crisp sound of metal hooking on metal alerts the bald man once more as he too is brought to reality.

Just as quickly as you open the hatch, you see him reach toward the side of his hip. You don’t let this chance pass as you jump feet first into the dark cargo cart, holding onto the hatch. As you drop so does the lid and as your feet hit the floor of the cart, you hear three bursts of metal exploding against metal.

With a thud, you hit the floor. Hard. Your feet hit first but you continue on, sliding on the metal floor before you lay flat on it. You fell at an angle. Slowly, you pick yourself up, groping the sides of the crate nearest to you to support you. Luckily you didn’t break anything in your fall. Checking yourself, you pat your chest and see if anything is missing, your duffle bag and everything in it is still there and you can’t feel anything out of place. At least the armor did its job with cushioning the fall a little bit. If not, it would have hurt a whole lot more.

Shaking the feeling off, you look around you. This cart is suppose to hold the very item you came all this way to find. The fuel cell, stowed away in a crate marked by a red triangle. It’s a small crate, about the size of your forearm in height and about half of that in width. You’ve seen it before, at the station platform where you boarded the train so you know what it looks like. The only problem…

Above you, you hear the sound of those footsteps crunching metal below each footfall. It seems the bald man doesn’t give up easily, especially since you’ve slighted him with that grenade. You quickly glance around the crowded and cramped cargo cart, either for the exit or for the crate.

>>3402595
>Hide! There’s enough things there to hide behind and it would buy you some more time to look for the crate.
>Look for the crate right now. You have some time before that baldy gets into here and if you find it and sprint out, you’ll have the cargo and you would have slipped past them.
>Run to where Coraline is. She should be holding up some of them in some way. If the two of you team up, you’ll be able to get out safely.
>Run back to where you came from. The direction of the bathroom and the cart near there. The man still in the bathroom doesn’t know what you look like and you doubt that the man with mechanical legs will think that you’d run back to there.
>[write-in]

>>3402600
>>Look for the crate right now. You have some time before that baldy gets into here and if you find it and sprint out, you’ll have the cargo and you would have slipped past them.

>>3402600

>Look for the crate right now. You have some time before that baldy gets into here and if you find it and sprint out, you’ll have the cargo and you would have slipped past them.

Time his steps since he makes such a noise upnthere, when he gets down a granade will be waiting

>>3402619
>>3402645
>two for crate hunting

Alright! Not going to make you roll for it, soooo uhhhhh... Writing!

>>3402619
>>3402645
Oh wait, can you tell me what you'd be doing after you find the crate? Will you be heading toward:

>Coraline's cart
>back to your own
>Back up to the top of the train
>hide
>[write-in]?

>>3402720
>>Coraline's cart

>>3402720
Get coraline then get on top of the train again sonwe can bail with the ship

>>3402726
>>3402728
alright, going with this then, writing!

>>3402728
seems good, but if coraline's cart is blocked by sec just go to the roof to bail

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>>3402595
The thudding footfalls mark the time -- every three of your steps above is one of his. But you’re faster here. Your head swivels, scanning the surroundings for anything that resembles the crate you saw moments before you boarded. That black, marked crate. Funny something so worthless-- a thud. You turn your head to your right to see if any of the crates match the description.

Black crate, black crate.

Almost every crate looks black in this dim light, everything looks the same, bleeding together like a shadowy mass. You can’t help but to think the poor lighting is one of the causes for their record high reports of lost luggage. Most crates look the same but this one you saw felt as if it was specially made for the purpose of transporting the fuel cell. It would make sense if it had been since it would be dangerous to carry it around bare. The entirety of the thing is dangerous, not just that but it’s extremely volatile which is the reason why it being in its condition is so rare.

Your hands move, pushing your duffle bag to your side before finding their way to the sides of crates. You pull away the thin nylon covers of the crates, checking the sides for the red triangle. A beep rings from your chest, not the beat of your heart but the rhythm of your display. Patting your chest, you pull it out and quickly answer it, “Hello? Kinda busy right now.” you answer, somewhat annoyed.

“Sammy,” Naomi says, “I just saw, uh, did you find whatever Moreh wanted?”

“Yeah… yeah…” you reply, not listening to her words. “What? No, I didn’t find it yet. Looking for it right now--”

The red triangle. Of course, it would have broken the cliche if you hadn’t found it while just talking about it. With your free hand you pick it up and look at it. It’s the same as you saw at a distance as well as what the diagram showed. “Yeah, actually I just--”

A thunderous sound rings out. The sound that comes with a force to shake the heavens. The entire train trembles in its might as if reeling back from a direct blow. The only reason you stand upright is thanks to the magboots on your feet. The sound came deeper in the train, but it’s unmistakable an explosion. Thrusting the crate into your bag, you shout, “Naomi!”

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>>3402847
“Sammy!” she returns, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” you sigh, for a moment you had thought she somehow… “Did-- did you see what just happened? Did something just explode?”

“Yeah…” she replies, “you…” her voice trails off as you hear something inaudible on her end. “You need to get off.”

Your eyes dart immediately to the direction of the explosion. The front of the train, the direction of Coraline’s cart. “I’m going to get Coraline, I got the cell, uhh… stay on the call-- wait, actually call Coraline I-- I’ll meet up with her,” you stutter as you pick up your words. “See you in a bit”

“Rig--” Naomi’s voice answers before you cut the call. Shoving your display into your pocket, you sprint toward the metal doors. They’re not built for locking up in any of these cases, the actual safety measures would cut the carts affected and dislodge them from the rest of the train… you only hope that Coraline isn’t in one of the carts cut. You can no longer hear the footfalls from above but you’re not surprised. The only noise you can hear is the sound of your own boots hitting the floor and the beating of your heart.

Reaching the metal door, you push against it with all your might. Despite it lacking features that lock it, it’s still heavy without any power assistance. Heaving, you get your fingers into the crack between the door, tearing it open. Breathlessly, you force your way through, scraping the thicker parts of the suit against the metal with anything snagging being torn as you slip in between the doors. With your first foot in the next cart, you pull the rest of your body through.

Looking around the cart it feels almost dead. No one from before is in here, each seat lay empty and further down you’re positive you see a fire breaking out. None of that matters now, though, the only person you’re worried about is standing still in the middle of the cart. Her trademarked white hair being the sign of who she is, Coraline. She turns around to face you, you’re not sure if she’s the cause of this or if… you don’t have much time to talk either way.

>”The doors!” The cart’s doors that you boarded through should be openable in a case like this. You can jump across to get onto your ship.
>”The roof!” There’s a hatch above the cart, you should be able to open it from here if you climb onto the seats and pull your way up. From there you can board the ship.
>”The back of the train!” You’ll backtrack and find another, safer, exit that doesn’t involve being so close to the miraculously exploding carts.
>[write-in]

>>3402847
That's the wrong picture for this :d

>>3402849
>>”The roof!” There’s a hatch above the cart, you should be able to open it from here if you climb onto the seats and pull your way up. From there you can board the ship.

>>3402849
>>”The roof!” There’s a hatch above the cart, you should be able to open it from here if you climb onto the seats and pull your way up. From there you can board the ship.

>>3402849
>”The roof!” There’s a hatch above the cart, you should be able to open it from here if you climb onto the seats and pull your way up. From there you can board the ship.

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>>3402849
>”The roof!” There’s a hatch above the cart, you should be able to open it from here if you climb onto the seats and pull your way up. From there you can board the ship.

It was Kotomine all along!!

>>3402883
>>3402907
>>3402998
>>3404887
>Four for fire water burn

Writing!

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>>3402849
“Coraline? Hey… uhh-- wh-what are you doing?” You ask, slowing down your pace as you pull your other leg through the crack of the door. Looking around, you can see outside that the train itself has stopped moving. It’s most likely due to the explosion you heard -- and felt -- earlier. But it wasn’t that the train was still, everything felt still. The cart is empty all except Coraline, standing there picturesque.

“Samuel,” she watches as you approach before turning away and pointing towards the front of the train. “Did you get my message? The men in blue vests went that way.”

“Oh…” you pause, “don’t worry about that now, what are you doing? Why are you standing around, what happened to the other passengers?”

“They left,” she replies, turning around lazily to face you again.

“Where did they go?” you ask, “wait--” you pause, looking to the roof. The metal ceiling is lined to the sides with luggage abandoned in their shelves. Some are open with their contents spilled and some are strewn across the shelves either due to the force of the explosion or from their owners haste. Even though you have questions to ask, you don’t have the time to. What you need to do is… “we need to get out before another one of those explosions go off. Besides, got what we came here for.”

You pull up your duffle bag up to the front of your chest and pat it, showing it off to Coraline. She simply nods and you turn back to the ceiling, searching for the large square hatch near the center of the roof. An escape hatch for emergencies. Certainly this is one of those times, you need to get off the train. One way or another. Through the roof, the doors to the side, or anywhere else. One way or another, you’re jumping ship.

Taking the first step, you place yourself on top of one of the seats nearest to the hatch. “Are you..” Coraline starts, “okay?”

“Huh?” you turn back to her. “What? No, I’m fine. Here, help me with this.”

She nods and climbs up to where you are, standing on top of the red cushioned seats. Her expressionless face leaves little for you to abstract from, and it makes it difficult to read what she’s thinking most of the time. But, despite her seemingly distant and disconnected attitude and features, her eyes have never been cold. To you, she always looked tired more than anything else. Though you feel like you understand her more you had before the journey from Milo, the distance between you is just the same.

>>3407469
Reaching to the top of the ceiling, the two of you pull against the lever locking the hatch. It budges as easily as pressing the tabs of a can. Pushing the hatch out, the feeling of the wind from before is nowhere to be found. Of course, sense the train isn’t moving, you wouldn’t feel it. “Ladies first,” you say as you point to the hatch.

She nods and grabs the lip of the exit with both her hands, pulling herself up in only a few moments. If you didn’t know about her strength before this, you would have been impressed with this show of effortlessness. You turn to look at the empty cart for one final time. This wasn’t how you expected everything to go and if you’re being honest, you didn’t really know how it would turn out. This, however, certainly wasn’t something you thought of.

Holding onto the ridge of the hatch, you pull for a moment before your strength fails you. You’re tired, you forgot that you had expended your strength from earlier. Just as you were about to ask for help, a hand comes down and grabs yours pulling you up to the top of the train. Setting your boots on the top of the metal roof, you nod to Coraline in thanks before checking yourself for your display. As you are scrolling through the contacts, you hear another smaller explosion before the sounds of engines drown it out. Naomi was waiting.

Rest. The breath of your exhaustion fills the cabin of the small ship as the three of you begin to depart. The fleeting feeling of adrenaline leaves you with little strength to do much else but stare at the ceiling. You lean your back against the ridge of your ship’s bed as thoughts begin drift into your overtaxed mind. The ship’s familiar rumbling and the safety it brings you tells you that you’re finished with everything but your heart remains restless. The consequences of which keep you from actually feeling any sort of rest.

>”Hey Coraline, where did the passengers in your cart go?” It’s a thought that was bothering you. Innocents.
>”Naomi, you know what caused that explosion, or who?” She was in the air at the time so she saw it. She probably knows what caused it if anyone.
>Keep quiet. You have questions but you’ll save them for Moreh himself. He’s got some answering to do.
>”Victory’s a victory in my book. Think I’m buying drinks tonight, definitely need it after that.” Neither of that matters now. You’re here and you got what you came here for and now you’re going to get paid for it too. What’s there to complain about, everything’s
>”Phew… Damn thing got me tired. Probably need to go work out now, honestly. And Naomi, Top of the train? Terrible idea.” You’re not fond of the heavy atmosphere and you certainly don’t want it to sour the rest of the day. You’re alive, everything is fine.
>[write-in]

>>3407479

>”Hey Coraline, where did the passengers in your cart go?” It’s a thought that was bothering you. Innocents.
>”Naomi, you know what caused that explosion, or who?” She was in the air at the time so she saw it. She probably knows what caused it if anyone.

First the people, then the explosion

>>3407545
+1

>>3407545
Maybe still comment about the work out too, we need that, where did our country boy muscles go?

>>3407545
Supporting

>>3407479
>>Keep quiet. You have questions but you’ll save them for Moreh himself. He’s got some answering to do.

It's time for us to shutthefuckup for once. Let Coraline speak for herself, if she so wishes to say or ask something. And naomi hurri up duuude

>>3407545
>>3407567
>>3408091
>three for depressing checking lists

Writing!

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>>3407479
>[I think I missed paragraph somewhere between the part where it says Naomi is waiting and the part where it says “rest” is where you got onto the ship. So, that’s where this post starts, after “Naomi is waiting”]

You see the flair of light from a pair of engines as the familiar sight of your ship appears above you. The ship maneuvers above your head and the engines spin around, allowing it to slowly move down and hover above the train. The force of the eninges blasts out hot air, kicking up dirt and dust as it hovers in front of the two of you. Click. You hear the loud sound of the magnetic locks on the ship’s airlock before it begins to slowly open.

“Hey!” Naomi calls from deeper inside the ship. Since both the inner and outer doors have been opened, you can see straight into where she’s sitting and waving at you as you approach. “Hurry up and get in!”

“Ain’t planning on sticking around,” you mumble and slide the duffle bag into the ship first before pulling yourself into the ship to follow after it. You breathe in the familiar atmosphere and it makes you melt. Everything from before drifts away as you watch Coraline close the airlocks from behind her.

Rest. The breath of your exhaustion fills the cabin of the small ship as the three of you begin to depart. The fleeting feeling of adrenaline leaves you with little strength to do much else but stare at the ceiling. You lean your back against the ridge of your ship’s bed as thoughts begin drift into your overtaxed mind. The ship’s familiar rumbling and the safety it brings you tells you that you’re finished with everything but your heart remains restless. The consequences of which keep you from actually feeling any sort of rest.

You’re not sure if Naomi is angry at Moreh for not telling either of you anything about this sort of risk. Maybe that’s why he told you not to worry, because he already planned on something as drastic as destroying an entire train just to get some sort of… rinky dink fuel cell. You sigh as you cross your legs under the desk.

“Hey… Coraline,” you ask, pausing as you turn to see her sitting cross-legged beside you. Her eyes meet yours waiting for you to continue. You know Coraline doesn’t know what the two of you know so it’s not like she would understand anything yet. There’s only really one thing that concerns you, “what…” you pause. It’s difficult to ask, not because you don’t want to know but because you don’t know what you can do to help. Hell, it’s not like knowing will let you in any way do something if you did… but you- you have to know. “What--” your jaw locks up as you try for the next words, “happened to the other passengers?”

>>3413240
“They left,” she replies, pausing for a moment before continuing, “The men in vests were called over by the train workers. After thirteen minutes, they returned and told the passengers to move to the back of the train. That is when you called me. I could not understand what you were saying so I told the men in vests that I was waiting for someone so I had to stay.”

“Wh--” you pause. Fear, relief, anger, confusion… a series of mixed emotions raise themselves from whatever place you locked them away in when you asked your question. You were prepared for something awful but, you’re also caught off guard by not only her explanation but how she dealt with the others. You’re not sure what to make of this. “So, wait, the guys in the blue vests moved everyone from the front of the train to the back?”

“Yes--”

“I’m sorry I introduced you to Moreh,” Naomi says cutting off Coraline’s answer. “To think he would…”

“No… no… it’ fine.” you reply but she stays silent. Thinking about how she was in the ship, she should have seen everything. Though you couldn’t see anything from the inside of the train, you still saw the after effects of it from the black smoke billowing from the top of the train. “Did you see the explosion?”

“Yeah, well, I mean, who wouldn’t have? The entire channel looked like it was in flames for a second there. You know, I thought--” she pauses, “I’m going to talk to Moreh when we see him. He blew up a train, he didn’t even say anything about that! Really, who tells someone to steal from somewhere and not tell them they’re blowing it up at the same time.”

She sounds exhausted as she speaks, though you can’t really blame her. You’d be worried sick if it was you up here the entire time instead of her. Everything from the guy shooting at you to the explosion of the train. Honestly, you’re glad you got out alive. Yet… you feel a sense of guilt at that. You got out, but what about whoever got caught in that fireball? Seeing that first hand like Naomi had would be enough for you to want to jump out of the ship and get on the train yourself if you had to stay up here.

You slide across the floor of the ship as you feel it shift and move slightly. The rumbling of the engines, the feeling of the metal, a sense of home. Something they… you sigh, running your fingers through your hair. You’re not just tired physically but you know at this point you’re mentally exhausted as well. All the worrying hit you like a truck whenever you got on the ship and not that you’re here, everything else feels like a fog. Muddied and slow, you don’t feel like dealing with the rest of it.

>>3413245
>[Options]

>”How did you meet Moreh?” Talk to Naomi, try to figure out what kind of person Moreh is. See what you just got yourself stuck in.

>”Do you feel any better, Coraline?” You never heard of her handle people like that. Though, you might have just never really understood what she was capable of and you should probably feel like an ass for treating her like a kid.

>You’re tired of this. You don’t feel like talking and you can just wait for whenever you see Moreh. Stay quiet for now.

>[write-in]

>>3413248

>”How did you meet Moreh?” Talk to Naomi, try to figure out what kind of person Moreh is. See what you just got yourself stuck in.

Info

>>3413248

>”How did you meet Moreh?” Talk to Naomi, try to figure out what kind of person Moreh is. See what you just got yourself stuck in.

>>3413248
>>”How did you meet Moreh?” Talk to Naomi, try to figure out what kind of person Moreh is. See what you just got yourself stuck in.

>>3413273
>>3413372
>>3413375
>three for a meeting's retelling

Writing!

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16 KB JPG

>>3413248
You turn to look over at what she’s doing. She being the girl you dragged into whatever you job you accepted. She being Naomi. Her pink hair is tied up into a ponytail with a black band at the back of her head. She’s probably thinking that she’s the one to blame, since she did apologize for introducing you to Moreh. ”It’s honestly not her fault,” you think, ”I’m the one who accepted the job, not you.”

Of course you couldn’t say that. No, because no matter how you feel, the fact still lays there that Moreh is a dangerous guy. There’s no need to be placing blame on anyone right now and it… wouldn’t do any good either. Moving forward is something you have to do. The explosion, the people, the guys in blue vests… the feeling of cold restlessness creeps onto your back as you stare.

Moreh… the guy you met just today, the guy you accepted this job from, felt fishy the moment you met him. Eccentric could be a word to describe him lightly but you’re thinking the better way is to just call him insane. He’s downright crazy. Not only that he asked you to steal something so easily along with him being so well prepared for it, he also bombed the train to make sure it works. Whoever he is, wherever he comes from, he’s dangerous.

“How’d you even meet this… Moreh?” you ask, breaking the few minutes of silence that passed unaccounted for. “He don’t… he’s not someone we’d…”

“Well,” Naomi starts after you trail off, “I met him through a friend who recommended me to him since I went ahead and asked around for anyone in the Leo area that could do what I wanted to do. So my friend introduced me to Moreh and we chatted a bit. He said he’d help if we made a deal so the deal was that I bring him something from Unity and give it to him.”

“The name change? I thought--”

“No, well, yeah but, before that the deal was to just get him to feed me information from Leo. Since I was going to talk to the Milo branch and move to Leo, the name change was a backup plan just if… anyways, we talked and he agreed to help. You know, I never really thought that he’d be this…” she trails off.

“Insane?” you pick up after her.

“Yeah, well… yeah, insane. He was always a bit strange and I knew he was a bit on the edge of legality stuff but I never really expected him to blow up a train or anything!” she grows louder with each word, “Really, to think this guy would help me search for people on one side and kill people on the other. I…” she pauses for a moment as she takes a breath.

>>3413803
“It’s… not your fault” you want to say but your words fade before they even start. You accepted the job so it’s not like she’s the one to blame for whatever Moreh did. Just as you were about to start, Naomi begins up again, “I’m never working with him again. Getting the money and leaving. He’s… No, I just can’t, you know, if he’s going to- to do something like this.”

You don’t know how to put it into words either. If he did do this then you’re liable as well. If his hands are stained red, then so are yours in association. Of course you can plea ignorance to save your own mental health but it will still eat at your soul with guilt. Not to mention if this gets into police hands. Your plea of ignorance would never stand up in the court of law. Stealing, accomplice to murder, damage of property… the list goes on.

The feeling of the engines rumbling and shaking builds up before you feel the landing gears issue out their pneumatic horns. The weight of the ship seizes before a springy rebound as the ship settles onto the landing pad. You landed. A strange feeling overcomes you, like red strings pulling at your soul or a shroud of pressure hovers above your head. Along with being exhausted, the feeling becomes unbearable until the moment Coraline pushes open the door to the platform.

Light pours into the exitway as the three of you slowly climb out of the ship. The same empty platform remains the same as the last time you came here, except you now have a duffle bag and an extra guest, Coraline. “MORREEEEH!”

Naomi shouts as she approaches the same large bulkhead door as before. The door shudders and the begins to creak as the gears push it open. Smoke drifts out of it slowly before you hear a voice from within call out. “Moreh welcomes Moreh’s benefactors back from a successful job well done. And as Moreh can tell, everyone is safe.”

>”Safe? Successful? You have to be kidding me. You killed those people, that explosion nearly killed one of us. Whatever success you can draw from that is barely anything worth mentioning.” You’re mad, furious even. You don’t want to deal with anything and you’re certainly going to be the first to start hurling insults at him
>”Did you know about the explosion? Why didn’t you tell us? Why didn’t you, I don’t know, make sure to fill us in about that minor detail?” You’re mad but you’d rather be passive about it than be direct.
>”We got your cell. Take it so we can say we’re done.” You don’t want to argue and you don’t want to stay here any longer than you have to. You’re tired and you just want to get back.
>”Moreh, what did you just get us into?” You’re confused if anything.
>"Hey man, got a few questions for you." Hear him out first. If he did anything then he's to blame. You want to trust that he didn't but you really don't know.
>[write-in]

>>3413811
"Start explaining Moreh, what the hell happened at that train and did you have anything to do with that explosion you better tell me now"
Be direct and assertive, get the answers out of him but try not to lose control, how much did he know, or how much does he know now. Don't leave anything unsaid.

>>3413833
+1

>>3413833
yea! Be chad not sam!

>>3413833
>>3413928
>>3414033
>three for up on high

Writing!

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>>3413811
“Safe?” Naomi scoffs and shakes her head. You feel the same way. Moreh turns his head to eye Naomi for a moment, waiting for her to continue. His shimmering gold eyes jumps to you then to Coraline then back to Naomi. She folds her arms and stares back at him, “really? Safe? A… success? Really? No, Moreh, really, like, I’m… no. If you think that grocery shopping would include the usual train explosion then, sure, you might call that safe. If that was your usual routine jumping around like that then sure, that’s safe.”

Moreh darts his eyes around to the three of you under his golden mask. He takes a step forward and places one hand under his chin and the other on his hip, looking down as he does. You step forward, getting between Naomi and Moreh. Taking two fingers, you jab them into his shoulder to get his attention. His head jolts up to look you in your face, his golden eyes stare for a moment as you make you demand, “Start explaining, Moreh. The hell did you get us into? Didja know about a bomb?” you inch forward, jabbing with your fingers at every syllable, “didja know?

“Are you implying that Moreh had something to do with this?” he says, brushing away your hand. “Moreh had no hand in this… this train explosion. Moreh is, however, genuinely happy that everyone here is safe.”

“That don’t answer my question,” you press, “did you know about the bomb?”

“A bomb? No,” he answers, “Though, Moreh knew that they made some enemies.”

“Enemies? You knew something was going to happen, didn’t you?” Naomi speaks up, “Why didn’t you tell us that, you know, that someone would do something like that?”

“Moreh knew only that they would attack, Moreh knew not of the method or what exactly they would do. But,” Moreh pauses as he steps back, “everything went smoothly regardless. Though, since Moreh had misjudged something, Moreh will more than compensate for it. A double in the payment? Though, Moreh must state that the third will not--”

“Look--”

“If you knew something,” Naomi cuts you off, “about the bomb why didn’t you do anything?”

“Moreh did do something, though. Moreh seized the opportunity,” he brings up his hand quickly to make a fist as if grabbing something invisible, “Moreh took the initiative to gather valuable resources.”

“That ain’t what we mean,” you start, “You didn’t do anything. You coulda told the police or something, get the law involved or tipped off the train that there was something going on about the bomb. That the blue vest guys were being targeted. You could have saved lives, but instead of saving them you let innocents die. Now, I ain’t one for lecturing people but you let them die. That same blood is on your hands.”

>>3414312
“Do something?” Moreh repeats, “If Moreh could do something then Moreh would have. See, Moreh knew three things. The men who you stole from had made an enemy, the enemy will attack, and that they were carrying something that Moreh wanted. Moreh planned as well as Moreh could have on such little information. Moreh believes that everything has been minimalized, no? Besides, if Moreh was to shoulder meaningless things like guilt then Moreh knows that Moreh will not be where Moreh is. Would you shoulder the guilt for every time The Sons killed, destroyed, or otherwise committed illegal activities just because your hair is blond?”

“That ain’t the same--” you start.

“No, but it is. It was as if Moreh knew a butterfly will land. It could land anywhere and at any time. Moreh thought that the butterfly would land somewhere else, or perhaps that it wouldn’t land at all. Moreh had planned for this but didn’t expect it would be so soon. If there was something more concrete than hearsay, then actions would have been taken accordingly. In this case, Moreh simply decided to profit rather than lose,” he places his arms behind his back and stays silent for a moment as the two of you stare at each other. “Moreh is… truly sorry for any harm and will more than compensate for it.”

>”Fine. Double the pay and you’re paying Coraline too.” Water under the bridge. He didn’t know so he didn’t say. It was an uncertainty so it’s not like telling anyone will help. Boy Cries Wolf. You signed up knowing there was a risk, just didn’t know exactly what the risk was.
>”I don’t want your blood money, but it’s not like it’s your fault. I get that, don’t make it right though.” You understand but you won’t accept the money. Profiting on other’s loss, you didn’t sign up for that. In fact, you tried to avoid it as much as you can.
>”Nah man, that ain’t right.” You don’t agree. He says that it’s not his fault but he didn’t do anything and put you and everyone here in risk by doing that. What if the bomb was with the cell or in the cargo. Only people would be Naomi and Moreh that would be a whole different conversation. Can’t buy that with money.
>[write-in]

>>3414317
"You want to make this right? You'll make this right, what you did was shit, you put us at risk Moreh, if you had told me.....
You're gonna help us, because I didn't do that for your fucking money and you are sure as hell not getting away without goving me what I want, and what I want is information."
Fuck thisnfucker but if we don't get what we need from here this was all for nothing.

>>3414317
A mix of

>that ain't right. And >>3414420


What if that bomb was with the cell, what if it was Naomi down there instead of Sam and what if the blast caught Coraline, if there was an unknown risk he should have told us.

>>3414420
>>3414503
>two for right this wrong

Writing!

>>3414420
Supporting. The most profitable services are those that net you... favours. Let moreh pay us the right sum but he has to help us with out quest. And not only once, of course.

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>>3414317
“Nah…” you shake your head as you back up. “Nah, nah, nah man. No, just don’t get it, do you?” You put your head one of your gloved hands, covering your face while looking down. Still shaking your head, you place the other hand on your hip before shifting it to support your arm’s elbow. “Look--” you pause.

You didn’t do this for money. This is a bribe, morally, and isn’t something you’d take anyone up on. It’s not something that can be bought, it’s not something that someone can pay for to fix. It’s an issue of what if. Of course you’re alive today, standing and talking but this… it’s not a game. If it did go off somewhere else, in the cargo hold, in one of the passenger carts, or if someone else was there. If Naomi or Coraline got hurt you wouldn’t be having this conversation with him.
“Look,” you start, “That ain’t right. You can’t-- no, look,” you turn to face him, folding both arms across your chest, “I didn’t do this for money. Can’t buy this problem away. Can’t buy people their lives back. If someone here got hurt then Hell’d be the next stop. Sure, it’s nice-- money’s nice, but that don’t make right. You want to make right? Then you can make right by doing something for us. Cus’, I’m gunna tell you now, what you did was shit. Fuck that, no amount of money could pay for it.”

“A favor?” Moreh says after a moment of silence. His haughty demeanor doesn’t change as he keeps his hands behind his back, each motion slow and deliberate. “Yes, Moreh believes that Moreh is indebted to the thief. Let us retreat to another room, a change of setting is needed for the next conversation.”

“Lets,” Naomi says as she walks up. “You know what we want then?”

“Of course, Moreh knows. It’s the only thing Moreh has of value...” he says, nodding before waving for the three of you to follow as he turns around and walks toward the bulkhead. “Come now.”

The three of you exchange looks, Coraline seems to be indifferent to it but Naomi looks pretty agitated. You’re positive you’re not making any face that would be enjoyable to look upon either. What he did was wrong. These people are your friends. Friends. If either of them got hurt you wouldn’t think twice on what you would do to this guy. His demeanor only adds to the fire as if to laugh at your anger. He only pisses you off but you did it to get information from him.

You turn back to see Moreh standing beside the bulkhead in the distance. You sigh as you turn to follow him while adjusting the duffle bag and yourself. The sound of footfalls on metal follow you and as you get nearer, Moreh nods and turns back around to continue into his home or whatever this place is. Taking a different turn in the corridor, the four of you arrive at a different place from where you went to first.

>>3414828
The room is just as dark as the first place, lit by atmospheric lights set in the corners of the ceiling. Black pillars dot the living place, creating a square in the center of the room with a well-lit pit being inside the square. Surrounding the pit are various bookshelves and inside the pit is a set of couches face each other with a table in between them. Moreh makes his way toward the center, pointing at it before turning around and walking toward the back, “Please, take a seat. Moreh will gather a few things.”

His voice disappears as he fades into the one of the back corridor doors. You take a look around the somewhat accommodating room. It’s as if it was built to be for guests rather than for him, he doesn’t seem the type to need or want to use couches. Placing the heavy duffle bag on top of the table, you turn to look at the rows of bookshelves that line the walls while Coraline decides to sit. Naomi, however decides to stand where she is with her hand under her chin and her arms crossed.

The shelves are filled with rows and rows of books, neatly organized and set by the author’s name. It’s surprising that someone would have so many books. It’s almost as if it’s a small library rather than in a house. The fact that there’s someone with physical books alone is impressive but the idea that someone personally owns this volume is… more than unbelievable.

You read off the titles of the books in front of you, the names all seem unfamiliar to you though. Strange texts that seem to be in different languages right beside each other. Even when they look to be using the same alphabet, you still can’t figure out how to pronounce them. Your eyes continue to skim through the titles before finding one in english but that one too is unfamiliar to you. “Do you read?”

The voice comes from across the room, Moreh. As he walks, behind him follows a cart moving by itself with a box placed on the top. “Moreh found that reading books is one of the best way to explore. Reading has become a passion that pushed to find new information. An endless need for information consumption. Eventually leading to this place as a whole. The cenotaph. It means a memorial to that which is dead but buried elsewhere. Information may be a living breathing organism that will forever grow. This place, however, is a monument to a time that has been long forgotten.”

He pauses, placing his hands behind his back again, proud of himself. Quickly, he turns back to the cart as if he forgot it was there. Taking the box, he places it on the table with a loud thud.

“Paper?” Naomi asks as she approaches, looking at the box before looking to Moreh with a dull expression. “You’re going to make us look through all of that?”

>>3414831
“No, of course not. Moreh found that this is the most reliable way to keep sensitive information secure for they always look for digital information first. No matter how strong one’s defense against cyber attacks, it is still able to be compromised.” he pauses as he opens the box, “This is the information Moreh has gathered since the issue of Naomi’s request. Moreh does hope that you will forgive Moreh for the blunder.”

>”It ain’t no blunder. You could have killed us with this. You’re going to have to do a lot more than just this for forgiveness.”
>”Start talking. This isn’t the end of it either. Until we find the girls, you’re going to help us. A life for a life.”
>”We’ll make a deal, alright. You give us all of the information and we’ll forget this ever happened. In fact, after this I don’t want to ever see you.”
>”Okay, well, get on with it. If it’s good then we’ll have something to work with, otherwise there’s no real way to pay for what you did.”
>[write-in]

>>3414834

>”Start talking. This isn’t the end of it either. Until we find the girls, you’re going to help us. A life for a life.”

>>3414834

>”Start talking. This isn’t the end of it either. Until we find the girls, you’re going to help us. A life for a life.”

>>3414846
>>3414875
>two for Living for others

Writing!

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>>3414834
“That much already?” Naomi mumbles as she takes a seat, picking up one of the vanilla colored files from the box. “This is…?”

“That specific file is on a man who works within the Arcady Splicer research. He went missing two months ago. The cause? Moreh suspects it has to do with information he leaked to the police. Moreh, however, was unable to reveal what he had leaked specifically, since that information itself is held in an offline data bank within the police station. There are a few other such cases,” Moreh pauses as he reaches into his box and pulls out another vanilla folder, raising it to show the three of you, “This man went missing three months after Banker took up the title of Head researcher in the Splicer branch. Very little else is known.”

He places the folder back inside his box and then leans forward. Swiftly, he pulls out a small black booklet with a string page marker and very little else on it. Opening it, he takes a pen and writes something down. Setting the pen back down, he closes the book and slides it forward.

“So what about the rest of the folders in the box?” Naomi asks as she puts the folder back on the table, “What about my sister?”

“Start talking Moreh,” you follow up, “Until we find the girls you owe us this. Life for a life, that should at least make us even then.”

“Moreh… owes you?” He repeats, “Moreh believes you have a misunderstanding about this relationship. Moreh will provide all of this information for your services so far but further information would require more than this. Information itself is difficult to acquire,” he leans back into the couch and crosses his legs over each other, “besides, Moreh is unable to access certain things and would not be able to provide specific details without your assistance. Do not hate Moreh for the inability of omniscience.”

“No, Moreh,” you take a step forward and place your hands on the table, “Look, that’s not it. You owe us a favor for nearly killing us. That ought to worth more than a few folders in a box. We’re only here for the girls, help us with that and then it’ll be even. But it ain’t gunna be even until then.”

>>3416175
“Moreh will provide this,” he waves his hand toward the box, “Within the timespan of her request to now, this is all of the information Moreh was able to acquire. One does not simply magically produce information so do not expect Moreh to do so. If you require further assistance then so would Moreh. Moreh gains and so do you. Do not forget that this is simply out of my own good will to provide you with this. Moreh will follow through with everything agreed upon before. The Name change, the information, as well as the money,” he waves his arm and you feel your display vibrate softly.

“Moreh runs a business. If Moreh continued on this reckless act of penitence then Moreh will bleed dry. Moreh could sell information to others but Moreh would first need to gather this information. If Moreh was required to gather information for you freely until the end of your quest then Moreh would be unable to continue the same line of work,” he pauses and places his hands into his lap, intertwining his fingers and pressing his thumbs together, “Consider this, A business gives services or produce to specific people at a discount due to their specific situations. Other customers dislike that so they leave, not only is the business now losing wealth because the price is so low but also losing customers. Moreh refuses to run Moreh’s business this way… as a side note, it’s also illegal.”

>”But you put us in this situation. We didn’t come to you like this. It’s called reprimations for your actions. It ain’t like we’re trying to gouge you out of business.”
>”Look, whatever, I don’t even feel like arguing with you. Just give us the information you have.”
>”Alright, fine. We’ll do it your way. We can work for the every other thing we ask from you. But that’s only if you give us everything. No more of this ‘it was improbable’ bullshit. We get what we need to know and you get your money. Deal?”
>[write-in]

>>3416177
>”Alright, fine. We’ll do it your way. We can work for the every other thing we ask from you. But that’s only if you give us everything. No more of this ‘it was improbable’ bullshit. We get what we need to know and you get your money. Deal?”

>>3416177

>”Look, whatever, I don’t even feel like arguing with you. Just give us the information you have.”

>>3416177
>”Alright, fine. We’ll do it your way. We can work for the every other thing we ask from you. But that’s only if you give us everything. No more of this ‘it was improbable’ bullshit. We get what we need to know and you get your money. Deal?”

Fucking hell, you better pull through

>>3416177
Nice dubs moreh. Yeah the option to just take it as it is and stop arguing seems best. Feels wrong to be so demanding

>>3416193
>>3416251
>>3416300
>nice dubs
ditto
>Two for making a deal

Writing!

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>>3416177
“Alright,” you say, sitting down while still leaning against the table, Placing yourself between Naomi and Coraline as you sit center and directly opposite of Moreh. “Alright, you know… alright,” you lean back and cross your arms, “Arguing with you ain’t getting anywhere.”

“Moreh is pleased you understand,” he says, “Then, the deal is acceptable for everyone? Everything being agreed upon is to simply provide all of this information right now and then additional information will incur additional payments. The payments themselves will be up to both parties once the deal is made, as they have been previously,” he prattles off his terms, “Agreed?”

“Sure,” you shrug before leaning back in, placing an elbow on the table to point a finger at him, “and it better not end the same way as today. No more of this ‘it was improbable’ bullshit. You tell us if there’s a risk of something no matter how ‘minor’ it is. I don’t want to find out that there’s a bomb on a ship after it already explodes, alright?”

“Moreh highly doubts that the thief would want to know all possibilities but Moreh will try to provide as much as reasonable,” he says.

“Good,” you say, leaning back and folding your arms across your chest. “Better not have something like this happen next time.”

“Moreh will never go back on what has been stated clearly already, that is a promise,” he nods as he leans forward, “So, let’s continue.”

He takes a few folders out of the box and lays them out. As he takes out the folders, you pull out your display to check bank statement. Three thousand credits have been added. He doubled the payment even though you hadn’t said to do so. You shake your head as you put it back into your pocket. “He’s up to something else if he thinks he can buy me too. Damn dude just doesn’t understand.”

“Moreh has found that among them, Moreh can draw two major things away from the information here. One, the police have deliberately tampered with evidence and will no longer pursue an correct answer but rather an answer that they themselves are satisfied with. The missing girls will never be helped by their actions. Two, there are several people and organizations associated with this. The police are one of them and there are several people connected to this incident within the Splicer Research branch of Leo,” he says.

“What about my sister?” Naomi speaks up, “What do you know about my sister?”

“The three missing girls themselves have been spotted on the station,” Moreh says slowly. Naomi’s surprise is almost audible as she sits up and leans in closer. “Their existence has been revealed momentarily at three separate places but Moreh believes they are no longer at those places. This particular event has been spaced at a month after the authorities were notified of them being missing. The names of everyone surrounding them have been provided as well.”

>>3416481
“So… it’s been four months since Sumi has been seen?” Naomi says, placing a hand over her mouth and rubbing her cheek, “But you’re saying they were spotted on the station?”

“Yes,” Moreh responds, “Moreh suspects that they were transported off of this particular station. Perhaps to the Splicer Research station proper, Installation Zero Four. Records of transports coming to and from station four are hard to come by so it’s particularly difficult to pinpoint anything from it without accessing a specific data bank connected to the shipping information.”

“Yeah, we heard about that,” you say, “we were actually thinking of trying to get into that system, poke around a bit.”

“Oh?” Moreh says, turning to face you, “That does sound interesting. Perhaps Moreh could lend a hand, though being there in person would be terribly impractical, you could understand why. Is this the reason why you brought her along, the other nameless one? You did mention previously that you wished to introduce Moreh to someone else?”

“Coraline, and yeah, that was the plan,” you say, emphasizing your words. “Keep talking about what you found out?”

“Of course,” Moreh nods, “Moreh has discovered that it was far easier to find out about the incident pertaining to a mister Adam Tennent. Moreh found it particularly interesting that the information was so sloppily covered up as, it may seem, at a first glance that all footage of Adam Tennent's ship does not exist. Police have cleaned anything surrounding the incident, though it looks as natural as possible. The footage has been spliced and set on repeat. The only problem is that it makes people invisible. Four such people have ceased to exist at that moment.”

“Four?” you repeat, “There were four people trying to kill him?”

“Well,” he starts, “perhaps it’s all four or perhaps not. It’s not an exact science as there is a chance that they simply went somewhere that didn’t have surveillance. Now, Moreh said that this was easier, though Moreh would like to point out that it was also the most annoying one due to it being in the control of the police. Moreh had to spend a favor just to pry this information away from someone willing within the force.”

“At least it narrows it down,” you say and look to Naomi who’s sitting quietly with her head in her hands. She looks as if she was in deep thought or even in prayer as she sits hunched over like that. “So, I knew about the police so that ain’t really anything new.”

>>3416486
“Ah, yes, Moreh knows that it would be fairly obvious to ones such as yourselves to not trust the authority so easily. In any case, your search has been narrowed down by quite a bit. You may leave with all of the information here. Moreh has kept copies of it so please, do as you wish with it,” he says, leaning forward to take his booklet away before gesturing to the box, “If there’s anything else… Moreh has another proposal to make.”

>”No thanks and I ain’t about to sign up for another ‘mission’ so fast.” take the box and leave. You can figure everything out once you get back to Ryo’s home.
>”Alright, shoot, but I ain’t about to accept anything right now. I’ll hear you out as long as it’s nothing like this one, no ‘surprise you have four hours to do it’ either.” You’re curious but cautious.
>”Well I got a question first. About Coraline, when can you start working with her so we can get into that security system,” you want to keep things straight forward instead of helping him with whatever he has planned.
>”Actually I got a few questions…” [write-in]

>>3416490

>”Alright, shoot, but I ain’t about to accept anything right now. I’ll hear you out as long as it’s nothing like this one, no ‘surprise you have four hours to do it’ either.” You’re curious but cautious.
>”Well I got a question first. About Coraline, when can you start working with her so we can get into that security system,” you want to keep things straight forward instead of helping him with whatever he has planned.

Hear about the job and what he can offer for it, better be a big help in getting into that station.


So, a question to see if I understood tjis right.

The girls sere transported to something called station 4 and Sumi has not been seen after that transportt right?
That station is planetside? And we can't get there phisically but we can get Moreh or Coraline to hack in, corrext?

>>3416531
This

>>3416531
the station is one of the four stations orbiting the planet Leo. There are four stations orbiting the planet, you're currently on the main station. The other three are for the specific sub branches of the Leo branch.

The stations are broke up into each branch and if you remember from when Naomi was explaining, there are four branches. Symbiotes, Painkillers, General, and Splicer. The Main Station (01) has all of the branches inside it with the majority being management and General branch whereas Station 02 has recently been re-tooled for Symbiote production and research. Station 03 has most of its medical, the painkillers, production. Station 04 is of course Splicer research.

>>3416576
And are there common areas on those stations where civilians could walk and visit or are they exclusivelly for working personel?

>>3416531
+1

>>3416586
The main station is the only place that civilians can wander around. The other stations require being a worker or having business with that specific branch and the managers request that they visit them.

>>3416593
>>3416541
>>3416531
>three for questions and complaints

Writing!

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>>3416490
“Alright but, uhhh, I got a question first,” you hold up a hand to pause Moreh, “So about Coraline.”

“What about me?” Coraline speaks up, you turn to face her and she looks at you for a moment. This time you remember that you had forgotten to mention anything about Moreh teaching her how to get into the system.

“Well, this guy can help you with a few things,” you say, “He’ll help with getting into the that checking system so we can identify ships, you know.”

“Can he?” she asks, turning to look at Moreh with those same dull eyes in mock of being scrupulous.

“Moreh can,” he replies, “In fact, thief, this request is directly connected to your own request. To properly access the information, one would require a certain item.”

“Alright, shoot then,” you say, leaning back in the couch, “what’d you want me to do?”

“Simply,” he starts, “you will steal something.”

“Something else?” Naomi speaks up, “This isn’t going to be like on the train where you gave us only like four hours or so to actually get it, is it?”

“Oh please,” he waves his hand, “Moreh isn’t so oblivious to subject you to another such mission in succession to that. Moreh simply asks that you acquire this item from someone who had taken it from Moreh. This item is, at its core, an encryption device meant to protect the user when decrypting a dangerous source. You will need it to decrypt the Argus system.”

“Argus?” you repeat.

“Automated Reports Gathering-and-Updating Sensor,” he answers, “it’s the network of sensors connected to the data bank that you referenced. To access it and keep an open link you would first need to acquire something of a shielding to protect yourself from that sort of code. Moreh hears that frying your mind is an unpleasant experience.”

“Ah,” you say and turn to Coraline who still seems indifferent to most of the conversation. She turns to look at you before turning to Moreh and looking at him over again, studying him. She looks like someone bothered about something but doesn’t know how to ask. You’ve always thought that she was the direct type or she just doesn’t want much out of things. She never really asks for much, you’ve come to understand.

“What about me?” she asks finally. “Can you find out more about me?”

>>3416772
“Of course,” you think. That’s what she wanted to know. Not about the system but about her past. You knew that she’s been troubled about things that she doesn’t know. If you were suddenly thrusted into some unfamiliar place and no idea what to make of it would surely make you want to find out more. It might be that because she’s always quiet that you underestimated how much she’s really bothered by it. Honestly, you’ve never really given it as much thought as you should have -- how she feels about not knowing anything about herself.


“Hmm,” Moreh says leaning forward slightly, “Well, Moreh can try…” he trails off as he stares at her for a moment longer than comfortable. “Well, Moreh is definitely interested in knowing. As one might expect of someone who is fascinated by the unknown, when you present something like this, surely Moreh would want to help solve the puzzle. Moreh will help, though, again, more things are required for this and since Moreh would have little ability to repackage this information… perhaps another job will also be required.”

>”Well, if you can figure out anything about Coraline then I’ll do anything you want.” You want to help as much as possible if it means getting Coraline fixed and set straight. Whether it's just better for her or for her to get out of her hair, the sooner the better.
>”Alright, but tell me about the jobs. You said I need to steal something, give me something to work off of,” tackle one thing at a time.
>”Ain’t much for getting someone like you an active role in anything medical, here.” You don’t trust him and you’d rather him not mess around with Coraline.
>[write-in]

>>3416775
>”Well, if you can figure out anything about Coraline then I’ll do anything you want.” You want to help as much as possible if it means getting Coraline fixed and set straight. Whether it's just better for her or for her to get out of her hair, the sooner the better.

ANYTHING FOR CORALINE BABYYYY

>>3416775

>”Alright, but tell me about the jobs. You said I need to steal something, give me something to work off of,” tackle one thing at a time.

>>3416775

>”Alright, but tell me about the jobs. You said I need to steal something, give me something to work off of,” tackle one thing at a time.

"Tell us about the jobs, we want to help Coraline too, maybe we can all get something out of this."

Not going to say Anything to a guy like Moreh, he may take it seriously.

>>3416811
>>3416818
>two for not making the same mistake twice
>>3416803
>one for anything for the girls

I'll combine them because they're not necessarily mutually exclusive, plus >>3416818 gave a bit of a write-in that can work.

Writing!

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>>3416775
“Yeah, alright,” you say while leaning forward, pressing your elbow into your knee to hold up your head. Rubbing your cheek with the palm of your hand, you stare for a moment. It’s not like you can argue with Moreh, he holds all the cards. You want to do anything you can to help either of the girls. Truly, after a bit over a month of being with them you got to know them and now… you’ve become involved in their success.

You’re conflicted.

Some more than others, but still, you want to help as much as you can. Coraline or Naomi, either of them are people that you want to help. Naomi… she’s become… you sigh as you close your eyes. You imagine what you want the future to be. For a moment, all you can see is the red light pouring into the back of your eyelid but as you think, you imagine Naomi. She’s someone you came to… like. You’ve even told her, expressed that you found her… attractive.

A small kitchen table appears before you with a TV beyond that. Something is playing in the background quietly as you turn your head to see someone standing in the kitchen, her pink hair moving with each graceful step. The smell of food that you’ve never known to exist fills your nose as you watch her cook. An apron, a dress, a beautiful smile that lights the room. Naomi is there in your future. That’s what you want.

But, you don’t see Coraline. Despite being with her, you’ve barely made any progress with talking to her. Of course she’s someone you’d want to be friends with but you don’t see a future with her. Yet, to you, it doesn’t matter. She’s a friend in need and you’ve practically already promised to help her as much as you can. You will pour all of your strength into helping her. She means something to you, not like Naomi does but as a friend.

Honestly you don’t remember when you started developing feelings for Naomi. It might have been the moment you laid eyes on her in that station. Her smile… you pause as you open your eyes. Only moments have passed but to you, it feels longer. You clear your throat and look to Moreh. “Alright yeah, yeah…”

“Moreh does not wish to put you in a difficult position. If you wish we can discuss this matter at a later date, though Moreh is unsure about the reliability tha--”

“No no,” you cut him off with a wave of your hand, “No, it’s nothing like that. Just…” you sigh, “look, I’ll do as much as I can to help but I ain’t about to jump in a fire like last time. You ought to give me something else to work off of. Because, I can’t do much to decide on if I want to just steal something or not.”

>>3419043
“Oh of course,” he replies before turning away for a moment, “For the most immediate issue, the encryption key, there is a certain group that holds it. Moreh knows someone from there but Moreh will not be able to simply walk in and reclaim it as Moreh and this group has… a few misunderstandings between.”

“Is this group armed or… dangerous or something?” you lazily ask the obvious, shaking your head.

“Well, they can certainly be disagreeing to most. They simply took the encryption key from somewhere that they shouldn’t have and are currently paying the price for it. The group wishes to dispose of the key but are unable to find a buyer. You will,” he produces a chip, “hand the group this S.T. card and take the device. On this card is twenty thousand, their asking price.”

>”So take this card and give it to the guys with the encryption key? Sounds easy enough… what else is there?” You don’t trust him enough to accept his word at face value.

>”Alright, you said they are paying for it. What does that mean?” He’s hiding something important and this might just be it. Who ever they stole this from isn’t Moreh, but someone else. Probably someone Moreh cut after they fumbled a job, you guess.

>”Moreh, speak plainly.” you’re tired of his overly wordy descriptions for things. He’s being vague and he knows it. You have to be direct when working with Moreh so that’s just what you’ll do.

>”What about the other jobs? You said there’s other things to get for Coraline. What else do you need?” you’re just browsing the jobs, you want to know a bit about each before actually getting any deeper into whatever Moreh is planning.

>”What does this encryption key do? You said we needed it so it doesn’t fry a brain and I get that it’s important but is there any other way that doesn’t involve pissing people off?” you want to see your options on the table before taking one.

>[write-in]

>>3419044
>[write-in]

>You better tell me where and when should I do this transaction. You know, what stops this other group from stealing the S.T card at gunpoint? And why can't you just say who this group is. None as dangerous as Arcady right?

>>3419044

>”Alright, you said they are paying for it. What does that mean?” He’s hiding something important and this might just be it. Who ever they stole this from isn’t Moreh, but someone else. Probably someone Moreh cut after they fumbled a job, you guess.

>>3419062
>>3419093
Buddy

no. Can't samefag

>>3419044

>”Alright, you said they are paying for it. What does that mean?” He’s hiding something important and this might just be it. Who ever they stole this from isn’t Moreh, but someone else. Probably someone Moreh cut after they fumbled a job, you guess.

>”Moreh, speak plainly.” you’re tired of his overly wordy descriptions for things. He’s being vague and he knows it. You have to be direct when working with Moreh so that’s just what you’ll do.

I want to know who they got it from and or him to tell me everything about the job

>>3419114
fucking, this is laughable

>>3419114
>>3419093
>>3419062

Seriously? Fucking samefagging faggot.

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>>3419066
>>3419113
>two for make it straight

Writing!

Also, baka, samefags these days... can't even samefag properly

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>>3419175

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>>3419044
Staring ahead at Moreh with your head propped up against the fist on your cheek. The previous heavy feeling of exhaustion is all but disappeared. It’s everything that keeps stacking up. Everything from the girls to some guys to now this.

Soon, you’ll be somewhere else. Taking a look through the files and sitting at a table with the others doing the same. You’re mind is half on this and half on anything else that’s passing through. As if you’re half awake or half asleep, your mind drifts slowly to the few things Moreh told you about. Namely the four men who seemingly ceased to exist at some moment. If you can find those men you could probably figure out who killed Adam.

Soon, you’ll be asleep on the cot in that messy garage. Dreaming of something insignificant or about times past. Moreh isn’t someone you can trust, you know that. He doesn’t even seem to want to pay up for what he did to you, Coraline, and Naomi. You take a breath as you stare ahead. But, you have a few more things to take care of.

“Alright, Moreh, speak to me plainly. You said they are paying for it, what is that supposed to mean? Who else has their cards down for whatever this is?” You ask as you straighten up, leaning forward and digging your elbows into your knees. Moreh nods slowly as he turns to Coraline, to you, then to Naomi. Stopping to look at each of you.

“This item is being held by a group,” he says, “they are being pursued by Arcady. Moreh has contacted this group previously to obtain this item but they became hostile after they took it.”

“I wonder why,” Naomi says, “I thought you never made the same mistake twice, are you getting old?”

“Old?” he repeats, “ha, well… no, it’s not exactly the same as what had happened today. The acquisition was fairly simple but when Moreh asked why they had yet to return, they explained that they had found a better deal. When Moreh heard this… well now Arcady is involved. Moreh knows where these people are hiding but, it’s not exactly easy to get to and is the sole reason why Arcady has yet to find them.”

“So…” Naomi starts.

“You sold them out because they refused to deliver,” you follow up, shaking your head, “That’s cold.”

“Well, Moreh had made a deal with them. Moreh has never backed out of a deal and does not think highly of those who do,” he shrugs, “once the group was starting to be tracked, the one who proposed the better deal decided that it was not worth the risk. And so… this group is without a way to dispose of their item that has recently become very dangerous to carry. Moreh, however, does not run into their particular problem.”

>>3419308
“Right right, the proper businessman,” you wave your hand dismissively. Of course you understand that this was also a threat, but it was not something you could deal with either. You could ignore his offer and try to find your own way but by then it would be ages before you could find Sumi. By then… worse things… you sigh, shaking your head again. “Alright, so what else do you have up your sleeve.”

“Moreh’s sleeve?” He repeats, “do you not trust Moreh?”

“Trust?” Naomi scoffs. She obviously doesn’t and neither do you. He’s a snake, already showed that himself. He’d stab someone he hired… though, given, they did already backstab him. You can’t deny that he has a method to his madness, but it doesn’t make right. He’s logic -- just logic. Everything else is put aside.

“No,” you say plainly in a half-laugh as if he was acting innocent, “not really. Come on, what else you hiding?”

“Well,” he pauses, “Moreh has a plan to deal with these people and will implement this plan alongside the acquisition of the needed item. Fear not,” he raises a hand and leans backward, “this plan does not include putting either of you in danger. Simply, the S.T. Card will have a tracer. This tracer will then be transmitted to Arcady after use.”

“Ah, right,” you think as you stare at him. He is the type to do something like that.

“Then, after you return with the device, Moreh can begin to develop a plan for the future. Moreh has already began planning but believes that there’s still a few missing pieces which should be filled soon,” he says and takes a moment to look over the three of you again before stopping at Coraline and nodding his head. “In any case, Moreh is interested in this new development and hopes that everyone present will be able to come to a satisfactory conclusion.”

>”Alright, I’ll think about it. Give me some time to think about it, alright?” You want to go back and rest before you commit to anything.
>”Sounds good to me. Everything else is up to me? Just have to get to where they are and then make the transaction.” You understand it. He even told you his secret plan. Everything seems pretty clear cut.
>”Not about to do something like that,” you’ll take your chances and Moreh just doesn’t give you good vibes. The man is insane.
>[write-in]

>>3419312
>>[write-in]
How sure are you that the tracer won't be found?

>>3419312
>”Alright, I’ll think about it. Give me some time to think about it, alright?” You want to go back and rest before you commit to anything.

>>3419312
>”Sounds good to me. Everything else is up to me? Just have to get to where they are and then make the transaction.” You understand it. He even told you his secret plan. Everything seems pretty clear cut.

With the condition that he doesn't put tge tracer, thay may be bad, but we are not dekivering anyone to Arcady, or helping them in any way.

>>3419312

How much time do we have?

Can we take a break before doing it?

ultimately accept, but I sure as hell am not walking around with an Arcady tracer, he can forget about that.

>>3420059
that sounds a lot like

[[>”Alright, I’ll think about it. Give me some time to think about it, alright?” You want to go back and rest before you commit to anything. ]]

of course you can ask more questions to Moreh as well, that's what the [write-in] option is for

>>3420351
I actualy want to accept right now, we need that thing so no point in wasting this opportunnity
I just want to see if we have to do it right now or it can be later or tomorrow

I want him to give up on his revenge too, if Arcady catches them they could be interrogated and that can be trouble for us and for him, besides, they managed to steal this thing, they can be valuable contacts, even if somewhat unreliable

>>3419363
>>3419470
>>3420394
Alright,
>three for accepting with conditions

Writing!

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>>3419312
S.T. card, Standard Transfer Card, though you’ve never really heard it being called by its proper name. Sticks, Chips, or just Cards are all pretty common and interchangeable names for them, even variations on standard transfer like the sarcastic standard tracking or state taxing card. Of course Moreh would think of a way to be able to get into someone else’s systems. He’s clever but you never really thought of him as petty.

You’re fine with getting the actual job, it’s simple and clear cut. All you have to do is go somewhere, give someone something, and then pick something else up. The only problem is that Arcady is invested in this as well and Moreh wants to directly involve them once you’re gone. You’re fine with him getting his revenge and all but you just don’t want to be a part of it, potentially putting a target on your back or even being led to everyone else.

The problem is also that he hasn’t told you the timeframe you have to complete this in. Of course you can survive for about a month on the standards he’s given you already. Of course the sooner the better when dealing with getting everything done so you can help save the girls. Of course the longer you drag your feet around, the harder it is to help people. You want to do this as fast as you can, you just need some flexibility in doing so. None of this… being surprised the job is in the same day. You scratch your forehead taking a moment to process it, “how much time do we have? This isn’t something like today, right?”

“No, no…” he answers, “You have around a week to complete this, mostly because Moreh knows they will flee soon. Moreh wants to get them before they do so. You should make contact with them -- the places you can usually find them are detailed in the package.”

He waves his hand again and you feel your display vibrate slightly. Patting your chest, you find your display and take it out, turning it on to look at the new message. A blip shows the same box from before.

<Message from Moreh: 02/13/3330 4:12 >
[ Subject : “Package Pickup” ]
[ “Deliver a Chip to the place noted, pick up the encryption key.” ]
[ This message requires further action to proceed. ]
[ (Accept) | (Decline) ]

You thumb through a the message and then turn back to Moreh. “So in about a week and all the information about the job is in here?” you ask.

“Indeed,” he waves his hand again. On your screen another message follows it, showing details about the people in question. About twelve people in the group, each of them seem pretty strange and they all have a pretty hefty criminal record. Strange enough, one of them even states they fought in a war a few-- “but,” the information stops with another wave of his hand. “You must agree to the message to see the rest. The payment is that Moreh helps your friend here--”

>>3420485
“Coraline,” you correct.

“That Moreh helps Coraline with learning how to use and operate the device as well as how to access information, encrypt and decrypt. Moreh will also provide a living payment of one hundred standards on completion.”

“Sounds goo--” you start.

“The tracking,” Naomi speaks up, “You know, the stick you’re giving us isn’t going to track us, is it? I mean, it’s not like I’ve ever done anything wrong but I don’t want Arcady to come in and question me. You said it would only start the tracing program thing once it was used, right?”

“Correct,” he replies.

“It won’t, in any situation ever, go off, right?” Naomi follows up immediately with another question.

“Correct,” he replies again.

“And you’re positive that this isn’t going to be tracked once someone else uses it?” Naomi asks just as quickly as she did the last time.

“Moreh is positive. The stick is encrypted by Moreh. No one except Moreh is able to decrypt it,” he raises his arms as if to bow or as if he expects you to give him praise, “Moreh will guarantee the complete safety of any partner Moreh works with.”

“Can you just forget about the revenge, though?” you ask, “I don’t know much about the… whatever you did to it but I don’t want to be caught up in something that you said wouldn’t happen when it actually does happen. You know, like maybe a train exploding when you said it wouldn’t, stuff like that.”

“Oh,” he drops his arms, “Moreh never guaranteed that the train wouldn’t explode. Moreh simply said that it was a very small chance so Moreh didn’t mention it, but this is a different case. Moreh guarantees that they will never know.”

“Yeah, but you’re still playing around with Arcady and that don’t fly. What if there’s an accident?” you ask, sitting up straighter, “The chip… stick or whatever, ain’t something I want to have around me. Like I ain’t gunna want to hold a live grenade even though you say it’s only gunna go off if I toss it.”

“That’s an interesting…” he trails off, “but no, it won’t go suddenly and unexpectedly ‘go off’. It’s as safe as anything else around you. Moreh, again, Guarantees this.”

>Press accept
>Press decline
>”I ain’t about to hold it still. Unless you remove the tracker I won’t do it. Drop the whole revenge thing, it don’t suit someone like you. You can guarantee that it works but you can guarantee that they won’t talk.” You still don’t like it. Even if he guarantees it, you don’t want to be a part of something like that. Arcady is pretty powerful and they’ll get what they want.
>[write-in]

>>3420488
>Press accept

>>3420488
Insist on not tracking them for Arcady as that could lead Arcady to us.
but
>Press accept
even if he says no, we need that thing

>>3420496
>>3420568
>two for pressing buttons

Writing!

>>3420485
>4:12 >
I just noticed this. It's supposed to read "16:12"

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>>3420488
Dealing with the devil is a saying that you’re only now really familiar with. Moreh isn’t someone you’d want to be friends with. He’s a snake in waiting. You could know that from how he talked about the other group. Moreh is dangerous, but it’s not something that you can be opposed to. He’s a necessity to what you want. Without him, you’re lost in Leo. “Why do you want to keep the tracker in there so badly? Didn’t pin you as the petty type.”

“The tracker is there for Moreh,” he answers with a shrug, “Moreh wants to clean their devices. This stick will do so. If Arcady finds them, which Moreh believes they will not, but if they do, the S.T. Card will destroy all information connecting Moreh to them. They themselves do not know of Moreh.”

“So, why do you have to have a tracker? If you’re so worried about the group being caught and having a trace back to you why don’t you not have it be a tracer?” you ask.

“Moreh wants them to leave Leo,” he answers, “Moreh has already prepared for a safe passage for them and they will leave accordingly. Moreh has planned carefully for this so do not worry so much.”

”Worry too much,” you repeat in your head. Of course he was right the first time. You do worry too much, but it’s not the same thing as worrying needlessly to worrying with reason to worry. Moreh, however strange, has still been right with all the information he did give. It’s just that he keeps things from you that you don’t like. What else has he planned? What else does he think he can do?

You turn your attention back to the screen of your display. The job itself is simple and you have enough time to figure things out on your own. You’re positive that if the information he gives you is anything like what he gave you for the train job, this should be fine. Especially since now that you actually have time to be able to look through the information for more than a few minutes.

If he doesn’t want to give up on chasing the other group out of Leo then he can be your guest. Whatever he has planned, it has nothing to do with you. Moreh will do what he wants even if you don’t help, so it’s not much to you if all the part that you have to play is to just pick something up. You press your thumb against the (Accept) button and several files upack themselves and begin to organize in your display under different files.

Some of them seem to be dossiers on each person of the group, some of them are series of maps of their usual places, and others seem to be equipment breakdowns. One of them breaks down the actual device you’re picking up. Giving a description as well as dimensions of it, apparently it’s pretty small but you don’t look through them as thoroughly as you can before turning back to Moreh.

>>3421070
“Good,” he says with a nod before standing up, “Moreh will contact you again later. Within the documents sent is a program that allows for direct messaging. Please feel free to reach out to Moreh if you have any questions as Moreh will be happy to answer all of them. If not then…”

He stands up and brushes himself off before taking a dramatic bow. “The Moreh will leave you all. Thank you for your business, Moreh will also thank you for your service as Moreh deeply appreciates what you have done and will not forget it. Please take everything from here,” he gestures to the box of files sitting on the table before picking up the duffle bag and taking the fuel cell crate out of it. “See you until then.”

He turns and begins to walk away, carrying the crate off deeper into his lair. You sigh as you see him pass through the doors at the end of the room. A feeling of relief washes over you as your body realizes that you finished everything for today. Though, relief comes, so does hunger as you realize you hadn’t eaten today either and it’s almost dinner time. Relief comes with realization as well. The thoughts of the train, those on it… you shake your head. You can’t think about those things, or rather, you don’t want to. You had no hand in it, it wasn’t your fault.

The room remains silent as you stare at the box on the table. The three of you sitting on the couch seem to all still be a bit shocked in the wake of what has happened. Either processing what just happened or thinking about what to do next with the things you learned. The four men connected to Adam’s death, the girls being spotted somewhat recently, and the fact the police are deeply connected with all of this. Or even the fact that there’s someone out there that can help Coraline find out about her past.

“Well,” you say, breaking the silence first, while leaning forward to take the S.T. Card from the table. Putting it in your hands, you thumb over the surface, feeling the malice Moreh poured into it. One job finished, another on the horizon. You might not even need to find a real job if Moreh keeps paying you like he is. Though, you personally would rather a real job than the things Moreh has you to do. You put the S.T. Card in a pocket as you stand to stretch, “That was fun.”

“Yeah…” Naomi says, taking a moment to lean back. She looks as if she too was on edge during the whole conversation and as soon as he left, she had felt the same way as you. Relief. “You know,” she says, “I was told he was just great, you know, they said nothing about… well, you know. I mean, he’s knows what he’s doing and he’s great and all with what he does it’s just…”

>>3421078
“Yeah,” you sigh. “Well, we’ll see how it ends up.”

“He…” Naomi trails off as she looks off to the bookshelves, “I mean, he knows a lot and can help us out so that’s what matters. He did give us a lot to go off of and… well, all of this here can really help us with Arcady. And hey, look on the bright side, found someone who can help Coraline.”

“Probably the only good part about Moreh is that he knows things,” you mumble under your breath, as you turn your attention to Coraline. Turning around after stretching to see her sitting the same way as you last saw her. Legs crossed and resting her head on an arm propped up by the edge of the couch. Her eyes lazily drift to look at you with her turning her whole head. The juxtaposition of her lazy and somewhat ladylike posture is kind of amusing to you for some reason as she gives a silent nod.

“So, how are we going to carry all of this?” Naomi asks, bringing your attention back to the table. The box looks a bit heavy and Moreh’s cart thing isn’t around anymore so you can’t really use that.

“Yeah, guess’ll have to just carry it. You want to take one side or something?” you ask pointing at the box.

“You want to carry it like you carry a couch?” she asks laughingly with raised brows.

“What?”

“Nothing, I thought you’d volunteer or something,” she says, jabbing at your masculinity.

“Hey, I--” you start. You honestly don’t want to go there. You were about to say that you were the one on the train, not her. The idea of you saying it made you not, joking about something like that. “-- I’m tired.”

“Ah…” Naomi says. She probably noticed what you mean without you saying it. “Well I can…”

“No, it’s alright,” you backtrack, “I can carry it, it’s alright. I was just joking,”

Ah, you really did ruin it, didn’t you. You sigh to yourself in your heart’s heart as you put one of the files laying on the table back into the box. With a grunt, you lift the box from the table. Naomi stands along with the box as you begin to move to the exit. You’re not too keen on staying here for very long. “So,” you start, “where do you want to eat after this?”

>>3421082
“Ah?” Naomi says. Of course it would be awkward given the context. You went from censoring yourself to talking about eating as if what you just censored yourself was something you can forget. “Well, I was thinking about, hmm… we can order take out?”

”Take out.” your heart pains as you hear the words. Sure you could go to some restaurant and eat to your heart's content but you yourself would feel guilty for it. Like it was a celebration. Take out is a pretty good choice, honestly, given the context but it only hurts because it means she actually gave it some thought. From Naomi beside you, you turn to see Coraline walking behind you, now you’re committed, “What about you? What do you want to eat?”

She shrugs and puts her hands in her pockets. Maybe she’s thinking the same. It’s a bit inappropriate to talk about these sorts of things after being a part of what transpired today. The only reason you noticed you were hungry was because you felt like it was over. But it’s not that you had washed your hands with this, no, the opposite -- you’ve just plunged your hands even deeper.

The walk to the ship is equally silent. The ship remains the same as you left it, it’s metal sheen still grimmy and somewhat unclean. The sight of it makes you grimace as you had always kept it clean when you were back home. Time here seems to be slipping away from you and you just have less time to do things like cleaning your ship properly. As you arrive, the heavy box begins to weigh on you.

You shove the box into the airlock as you begin to crawl into the ship. You’re piloting your own ship this time since you’d rather not keep having Naomi fly it. The two girls follow in soon after and with a thud, the airlock is seal and so you begin to ignite the engines. You feel the comforting rumble of the ship you had become so familiar with over the past months. It lulled you to sleep and was a constant reminder to you.

It’s like returning to home. Almost.

The engines kick up and you feel the lift of the ship as thrust begins to push against gravity. The flaring heat being the wind in your sails as you return to a natural state of yourself. Flying is what feels good to you, flying just feels right. No more worrying about something trying to kill you, no more worrying about Moreh. Just you, your ship, and the black around you. That’s how you thought it would be when you struck out. But now, you have a goal to work towards, someone you want to protect, and people who want to see you fail.

You sigh to yourself. ”Things have become complicated.”

>>3421086
You hear Naomi begin talking about something in the back. She seems excited, you would be too. She just heard that her sister is more than likely still awake and she even has information to build off of. Even if Moreh is a cold bastard, he’s still someone who is reliable in what he provides. A good businessman through and through.

The engines rumble and flare as you turn and maneuver them, guiding the ship into the garage of Ryo’s home. You’re back. In fact, you can hear Naomi talking to someone about the take-out. As the ship connects to the garage, you feel it shudder and the metal creak and whine before it stops complaining entirely. A successful landing, just another one in the book.

You don’t even get the seat belt off of you before you hear the sound of the airlock opening and Naomi climbing out of the ship. She’s probably running away with the box of files, ready to digest it entirely in one night. You, yourself, already know what you want to do.

>[Options]

>You’re tired. Everything today wore you thin. From Moreh’s pretentiousness to the entire train act to just shopping. You’re exhausted. Hell, you might just pass out in the ship.

>You’re going to take a shower first and foremost. Everything can wait since you just want to get clean and have a moment to yourself. You’re not entirely filthy but you do feel filthy.

>You’re going to sit with Naomi and pick through the files as much as you can. See what you can find out from them. You’re on the right path and you need to get to the girls as fast as you can. Everything else can wait because finding those girls is more important than just being tired. Being tired is nothing that a cup of cal couldn’t fix.

>You’re going to look through the mission files that Moreh sent you. The feeling of the S.T. Card is burning through your pocket and you want to get away from it as fast as you can.

>[write-in]

>>3421092

>You’re going to look through the mission files that Moreh sent you. The feeling of the S.T. Card is burning through your pocket and you want to get away from it as fast as you can.

>>3421092
>>You’re going to sit with Naomi and pick through the files as much as you can. See what you can find out from them. You’re on the right path and you need to get to the girls as fast as you can. Everything else can wait because finding those girls is more important than just being tired. Being tired is nothing that a cup of cal couldn’t fix.

>>3421187
this

>>3421092

>You’re going to sit with Naomi and pick through the files as much as you can. See what you can find out from them. You’re on the right path and you need to get to the girls as fast as you can. Everything else can wait because finding those girls is more important than just being tired. Being tired is nothing that a cup of cal couldn’t fix.

*sigh* Guess we have to stick to this route instead of chasing all the girls... I mean, we better use up all the energy and time we have with something productive! Also,
> get Coraline to read those files too,
with both of ye since, if two heads think better than one, three think better than two!

Also
>Ask Coraline if she could get info about Moreh' character just like how she can get info on Sam or Naomi, just by looking. Probably not or a perfect fake ID... And! If she felt or noticed how Moreh did all the digital stuff with just one hand wavium.

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>>3421092
You tug at the bits of armor that still cling to you after you exit your ship. The black carapace falling off of you with a little bit of pulling of the ties after unlatching them. Looking at yourself in a distant mirror, you watch as you take off each piece. The chest coming off first then the legs as you pile them onto your bed. Organizing them according to their place before folding them and setting it all aside on a box at the foot of your bed. You look at the ship for a moment, noting the dirt and the wear it bore for the past months before turning away and jogging a bit to the garage door.

The door glides as you push it open to reveal a very studious looking Naomi sitting at the table with several files already open. Her pink hair tied up behind her head in a loose bun as her hands drift from one piece of paper to the next, inspecting whatever Moreh provided you with. Coraline lies on the couch like a plank, face first into the cushioned seat with her hands still in her coat pockets. She was the first to notice you come in and stares at you from her shoulder as she lays still before turning to look at the TV with whatever she left on playing in the background.

Naomi looks up momentarily and then continues to read as she speaks, “Hey, come here! You know how Moreh said that he saw Sumi? I found the picture, Look, see?” She holds up a picture of a girl being escorted by two men in black suits. The girl herself looks kind of like Naomi but with long straight black hair. Naomi pulls it away to stare at it some more, “Apparently they all arrived in the same place and were all seen on the same camera. Meaning, all of the girls were seen going through this same place. He even provided a map showing where it is. It’s actually pretty difficult to get to though, one of the Arcady no-go-zones.”

“No-go-zones?” You ask, pulling up a chair next to her, “And where were they?”

“Yeah, no-go-zones, you know, like uhhh… industrial zones or the research zones that only Arcady staff and faculty can enter. You have to have a worker’s ID and… apparently this area requires a… Blue ID to pass, which is like their form of manager ID level,” she pauses as she closes one of the folders and moves to another, taking out a few of the papers from it, “These guys, the ones in the photo with Sumi, are probably our best shot at finding out where they are. And uh, do you notice something?”

“Yeah,” you say, sighing in your heart. “Blue vests.”

>>3426766
“Yeah…” she says, echoing your sigh in real, “Curriculum Vitt- vit- vitay? Veetee? Uh-- C.V., a start-up company like how Moreh described them. Ross, the owner, is apparently good friends with, you guess it, Weston. Dr. Baker is using his hiring buddy who also conveniently has connections to a group that will do anything for a couple of standards, ironic being…” she trails off as she narrows her eyes at on of the papers before turning to you, “Oh, I ordered noodles. They said they’ll be here in like thirty minutes, hope you don’t mind that you’re paying though.”

“Me?” you ask somewhat surprised.

“What? I’m busy and Coraline doesn’t have any money,” you turn back to see Coraline pop her head up at the mention of her name before waving lazily and returning to watching her show, “Besides--”

“I know, I know,” you say with raised hands, the chair squeaking underneath you, “Need to pay sometime.”

You turn to the files from the box as Naomi seems to keep herself busy by combing through them. A possible lead already from the few moments she had since she sat down is a good sign to the amount of information hidden within these vanilla colored files. Moreh already hinted at a possible lead for you in figuring out about the men who killed Adam, not to mention the fact that there’s been several like it.

Something else that started to bug you is that why does Baker need both the police and this new private military contractor group. Not only does Baker have the backing of Arcady’s security team but also the police and this PMC. You’re not sure what he’s preparing for or what he’s trying to do but it doesn’t seem good.

You sigh, looking off to the kitchen table for a moment. Your tiredness getting to your eyes as you hear the sound of a doorbell sound out. You look around for a moment, bringing you back to reality, before standing up and moving to the front door. A large man holding a large white box with several red letters in, what you assume, the Imp language. “Uhhhh,” the man says, “Are you,” he looks to a piece of paper on the box, “a Mister or Mam Gau- Uhh Gooo? Gooter… um, A uh Mister Gater-rot?”

“Uh, yeah, Goo-ter-roh,” you correct, enunciating each syllable of your newly-given name.

“Right, Gowter-ow,” he says and thrusts a display reader before you. You swipe and see a fifty standard deduction from your bank account. “Thank you, enjoy your dinner and remember, sun sets twice.”

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>>3426767
He waddles away before leaning into a creaking carrier and drifting off deeper into the stations. Closing the door behind you, you carry the large box of what you see as fifty standards. You’re not too terribly annoyed since you did just get paid and you never paid for a meal before so it’s a long time coming, really. You set the box down away from the files on the opposite side of the table before you begin to pull out the small separately packaged food. Four small boxes of assorted cooked vegetables, four small boxes of white rice, six small clear containers of some brown sauce, four boxes of thick brown noodles with sauce dripping from them, two clear containers of chicken, two clear containers of steak, two clear containers of shrimp.

As you set out the boxes, Naomi takes a pair of chopsticks from the stack of accompanying napkins and begins to open a container of noodles, pouring vegetables and shrimp into it. The smell of the shrimp drifts from the box, filling you with a smell of grilled seafood and hints of lemon. You pull out a chair and take open of the boxes as Coraline comes up to the table to do the same. Naomi, still in her files, takes a mouthful of noodles dripping with that sauce before coughing a bit and covering her mouth.

Standing up quickly she goes to the kitchen, turns on the light and draws a glass of water before gulping that down too. Turning to you, she desperately points to the file laying on the table, “M-, uh, Moreh’s notes on this guy shows that there’s something about Inspire, the one company with the uhh, you know, but they’re found to have close connections with the CEO of Arcady.”

“So?” you ask, “What does spaceship research and medical research have in common? I thought you already knew that Inspire were buddies with Arcady?”

“What?” she asks, “and, no, spaceships and people have nothing in common. I just thought that was interesting.”

“And you almost spit out noodles because of it?” you ask.

“Well, no…” she shakes her head while making her way back to the table, “I just remember reading something about Baker not liking Inspire.”

“Ah, so do you think it’s connected?” you ask, “Dr. Baker-guy doesn’t seem to be the type to like a lot of people… Did he say it in some public thing or...?”

“No,” she turns around a file that Moreh had to even put tabs in to keep them organized, “See, in an email leaked, it shows that Baker, here, is talking about Inspire making a deal with someone that they shouldn’t. I think Baker is pretty upset about some business deal going on, probably like a merger or something.”

“A merger?” you repeat as you put down the chopsticks you were fiddling with and grab a fork to stab at a piece of chicken, “That would be important if I had some of their stocks, right?”

>>3426768
“I guess, but I think that the whole Inspire thing is something. Probably not important but, still something,” she says as she looks at the files, “Moreh certainly thinks so. This file is filled with weird messages between Baker and whoever talking about weird things or entire papers dedicated to articles that show technology. Here, Moreh notes down something about a new Missive Drive being tested by Inspire.”

“You know how Moreh is. His documents are usually bloated with whatever he can find connected to it. Really, I don’t think half this stuff is really that useful. Now, that thing about the PMC,” you point a fork at the box, “I think that’s important. See, why would Baker even need those guys?”

“The C.V. group?” She asks, “Well, probably because you wouldn’t want to pay police officers to do illegal things?”

“Well he still has those Arcady security teams, right?” you ask.

“Yeah…” she says, taking another bite from her noodles. You do the same, taking a piece of bell pepper and chicken skewered on your fork along with some noodles. Surprisingly, everything tastes almost perfectly. Better experience than most take out that you’ve had in your life. Though, that’s not really fair since most take out you’ve had wasn’t really take out but rather have people deliver some stuff. The salty and somewhat spicy sauce sticks to the noodles like a thick coating of paint as you spool them up on the prongs of your fork.

“Is Ryo going to eat?” You ask.

“Oh yeah, he’s still at work so put some aside for him,” she says with a wave and without looking.

It’s not long after that until Ryo arrives back to find his home filled with scattered files and a sleeping Coraline claiming his couch. He mumbles something but nods in some bitter appreciation as he takes his share of food from the take out before ducking into his room where he usually remains. You stretch and yawn, feeling the food give your already tired body a greater feeling of lethargy.

You stand up, pushing your chair in before chucking your fork into the sink and turning to the Cal maker sitting cold in the corner of the kitchen top. You’re going to try to stay up for a little while longer while looking through the files with Naomi. Though you’re not too sure how long you’ll last without a couple cups of cal. Pressing a few of the buttons, you push in the pot at the bottom and a cal bag at the top before activating it. A whine and hiss pours out the black liquid of oil that keeps your mental machine happy.

You sigh as you sit happily with the warmth of the cup between your hands spur you on as you open your first file. The cal’s strength prys your eyes open as you begin to sink into the wooden chair. Propping yourself up, you lean forward, hunching over as you place both of your elbows on the table. With your elbows, follows your arms. With your arms, follows your head.

And then you begin to drift.

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>>3426769
____________________________________________________________________

This is the end of Episode 8 for For Hire.

I hope everyone enjoyed this episode as we started to peer into the deeper parts of Arcady and begin to piece together what happened to Sumi. How did you like the reveal of Sumi having black hair rather than pink? :^)

Twitter: Kov_QM
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>>3426774
thank you for running

it was a surprise yes, maybe she dyes it? or since it's genetic she just didn't get the necessary genes