Shad
Midnight
Joined: 25 Aug 2006
Post Count: 2684
Location: Lion's Maw
4252503 Potch
200 Soldiers
38 Nation Points
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 Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 10:15 am Post subject: 027 - Show and Tell |
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[size=150:6yy29t8h]Show and Tell
NDR: For the record, the ending here is not an event that the public/media would hear about, or anyone besides some of Tull's crew really.
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[p:6yy29t8h]"People don't come back from there. It's not that I'm worried about you," a heavy-set man spoke to three travelers. He called himself Paul. "I'm just sick of these damned idiots popping up searching for such and such a scouting crew or traveler. Well, you see how it is." Paul waved his right arm towards the fairly packed bar. "It makes me think if you're talking to me it's already too late."[/p:6yy29t8h]
[p:6yy29t8h]"I can see that," an inconspicuously-dressed man replied, glancing briefly at the crowd.[/p:6yy29t8h]
[p:6yy29t8h]"It was never like that before. It's not like we have a history. Hell, we still don't. Most of these guys don't want anyone to know they're here." Paul chuckled and went on. "This is a spy's nightmare. The cover's blown when you enter the door. You're not from One Nation or Ohio, I can tell by your mannerisms and vocabulary. You aren't reporters, and you look like thugs. You came in a rental car; My buddy Joe likes to keep tabs on stuff like that. You talk like you're from California. Yeah, you work for one of those west coast mob groups."[/p:6yy29t8h]
[p:6yy29t8h]One of the men at the table glanced at his friends nervously. The other two had no visible reactions, but they were all drawing the same conclusions. Paul got a kick out of it and kept going. "You might as well go in and see what you can find. You're all already dead anyway, I figure, might as well go out with some excitement." After a moment's silence he continued. "We're sitting on a military fault line. Most people evacuated long before that attack on Croft's convoy leaked to the press, when we first heard One Nation was coming. This town would be empty if it weren't for the likes of you. And let me tell you something else, I knew you weren't reporters long before I got a look at you. They don't come into this bar. Don't seem to know it exists."[/p:6yy29t8h]
[p:6yy29t8h]"What's your point?" the man who'd spoken earlier asked.[/p:6yy29t8h]
[p:6yy29t8h]"Do you believe in magick?" Paul asked.[/p:6yy29t8h]
[p:6yy29t8h]"What's not to believe?" the spokesman replied.[/p:6yy29t8h]
[p:6yy29t8h]"I don't mean what you see on tv. I'm talking about the arcane spooky stuff." Paul leaned forward as he spoke.[/p:6yy29t8h]
[p:6yy29t8h]"I think we'll be calling it a night. Thank you for your time." The apparent leader stood up from the table, and the other two followed suit.[/p:6yy29t8h]
[p:6yy29t8h]"Go south about three miles from town to where the main road splits and take the eastern fork, up towards the big forest. That's where the ones that seem to know what they're doing go. Not that it'll end any different," Paul called to them, parting words as the group exited into the night.[/p:6yy29t8h]
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[p:6yy29t8h]Nate lead the group. This was his big ticket, his lucky break. The four guys with him - two had stayed in the hotel the night prior so as not to draw attention, as unnecessary as that proved to be - were just in this for a nice chunk of cash. Nate had higher aspirations. Anselmo himself had contacted him two days prior for this job. That was no small gesture. These orders came only one step down from Lionel Johnson. If Nate came back with results, a promotion was practically implied.[/p:6yy29t8h]
[p:6yy29t8h]The job was simple, find this renegade mage and strike a deal. He was authorized to promise money, up to a reasonable amount, or research opportunities if that was the mage's gig. Maybe he'd only be offering oxygen; you could never be sure from a news broadcast whether someone was really tough or just got lucky. Nate had experience in bargaining and brute force alike; he was up for the job.[/p:6yy29t8h]
[p:6yy29t8h]Paul might be the only person begging for his life today though. "You've got to be kidding me" the driver muttered as their Chevy Impala began to bump along a dirt road. The road they'd been told to take wasn't very promising to begin with, all surrounded by flat empty fields, and Nate's hopes of finding this elusive forest dropped to nil as the pavement faded out into an unmaintained dirt trail. The driver came to a frustrated halt.[/p:6yy29t8h]
[p:6yy29t8h]"I'm taking a leak," he said, and exited the car, quite literally disappearing as he stepped out the door, vanishing into thin air.[/p:6yy29t8h]
[p:6yy29t8h]There wasn't much said from that point on. People scream when they're startled by a noise or some sudden gruesome, violent sight, not when they're terrified. The door creaked shut slowly, latched and locked methodically, and a red liquid began to trickle down from the roof, such that within a few slow seconds the windows were completely covered in an opaque film. That was all. The passengers sat in silence for quite some time, waiting. Reason began to set in, at least for Nate. Confidence came back, little by little, and he checked the locks. They wouldn't budge. He was up against a mage; this was just some magic trick. He could have smashed the window out, but he waited for the next move.[/p:6yy29t8h]
[p:6yy29t8h]It came soon enough. "Tell me why you should live, and be quick."[/p:6yy29t8h]
[p:6yy29t8h]The group hesitated, but Nate ultimately spoke up. "I have a business proposal."[/p:6yy29t8h]
[p:6yy29t8h]The other three vanished. Nate was alone. "Go on," the voice commanded.[/p:6yy29t8h]
[p:6yy29t8h]"My boss is doing some research. I'm not completely sure what it entails, but he needs a good mage and he thinks you're the right man for the job. He owns half of the west coast. He'll make it worth your while," Nate coolly recited, deciding that the brute force option would probably not work here.[/p:6yy29t8h]
[p:6yy29t8h]"Tell him he'd do better than to send little children to beg my aid." The situation grew hazy. Nate felt a burning sensation but could not quite tell where. He felt delirious, unsure of what was going on. His eyes drifted shut. He was asleep. It must have only lasted for a moment.[/p:6yy29t8h]
[p:6yy29t8h]Then the skin on Nate's right arm was gone, neatly trimmed away at the top of his shoulder. No blood, just red exposed muscles, like some anatomy project. That was when he screamed.[/p:6yy29t8h]
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[p:6yy29t8h]The door opened in a park overlooking San Francisco. The sun was setting over the Pacific ocean. A soft and pretty orange reflected on the water.[/p:6yy29t8h] |
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