Johnny Blaze - Yesterday at 9:18 PM
the Sprawl fades heading out into Redmond, bright lights and neon signs become fewer and further behind the deeper you go into the Barrens. There are still people but they become more and more the kinds you find in the dark places. The darkest places hide people who also want to be left alone. People who have next to nothing and scrape by day to day just to not starve. The 'Plex doesn't care about them, because they are SINless.
The concrete jungle fades into decay as you go. Old brownstones, once beautiful and full of well-to-do people, leftovers from days before this was the Barrens. Shopping malls overrun with squaters and parkinglots full of trashcan fires. People trying to stay warm in the cool Seattle night, it isn't raining for once and the sun's light is still fading in twilight. The further out you head into the Barrens the more run down everything is.
At a certain point you know you've passed into the Rat's Nest. It's the most Obvious transition of disticts outside of the Walls of Bellevue that hold Touristville at bay. You pass into the largest, seemingly endless junk yard that is the Rat's Nest.
There are still obvious roads, and if you stick to them, you should be fine. Matrix reception has gone well past spotty for the last few klicks, but your buffered route says you are nearing the Rat's Cage. You round the bend and see it. This must be the place, there is a makeshift junk wall surrounding something of a camp? Settlement? Neighborhood?
there is a bus parked inside the opening of the wall on the road, it has metal plates welded to the side, a modern day makeshift gate. There are some guys in Red and Black with white trim drinking beers sitting on top of it, but they don't stop you from coming in. Single vehicles obviously aren't what they are keeping watch for.
As you pass through the wall the streets are lit. A mix of modern lighting, barrel fires, and good old fashioned torches lights the streets in here.Thre it is, The Rat's cage, just past a Stuffer Shack who someone has rejiggered the Sign to say "Stu's Shack"
The streets here aren't clean, but they are a lot more ordered than the Junkyard outside that makes up the majority of The Rat's Nest. People can be found walking around, kids are even playing in the streets. There is a Street Doc sign a few blocks down. It isn't clear how big this little neighborhood is, but you'd bet that wall goes all the way around it.
Accross the street from the Rat's Cage there is a large open lot, one corner of it has a small, old jungle gym a couple of kids are playing on and in the middle of it stands Johnny Blaze. His orange hair and biker leathers make it obvious who he is, he has a chain around his waist and two Machine Pistols strapped on the bet below that. That isn't what stands out though, he's standing eye to eye with a gigantic Hellhound prying a stick from her mouth. He chucks it the length of the yard just as a second hellound comes barrelling up behind him.
The second hellhound looks like it is about to tackle him when he deftly sidesteps it and it tumbles. He's grinning and laughing and leans down to pet the giant beast's belly.
((Fin description))
Riptide - Yesterday at 9:35 PM
((I'm not in this scene but nice description man :ok_hand: ))
Johnny Blaze - Yesterday at 9:37 PM
((Thanks, that's how I roll :smile: ))(edited)
((You should see the long form one I used one time))
Mirage - Yesterday at 9:39 PM
A moped rolls by and skitters to a stop. It's a wonder that the rider got this far into the barrens without being harassed -- the figure on the moped is a short human girl, and skinnier than a beanstalk on top of that. She can't be more than 20 years of age. The rider is wearing a synthleather jacket, the front -- and back of which is incredibly busy with patches and buttons, decorated with studs on the shoulders and sleeves. The sides of her head are shaved for a swept-back mohawk -- if it had been gelled earlier in the day, the wind must have ruined it, as her hair falls down to one side.  --(edited)
Johnny Blaze - Yesterday at 9:42 PM
Johnny is still playing with hellhounds, fighting the sticks our of their maws and chucking them into the distance. They bound off like 300lbs puppies, then bound back.(edited)
Mirage - Yesterday at 9:43 PM
A heavy pair of combat boots, at least a size too big for her, cling to her feet, and out of them sprouts a pair of fishnets. For once, it's not too cold for a skirt, which she's wearing with a lopsided belt. Piercings dot her face -- several in her brows, one in her lip, at least three in each of her ears, one in her nose -- and there's a corresponding amount of tats on the skin she happens to be showing. Mirage gets off her moped, chewing her lip as she looks around. She gives an awkward smile, then a wave.(edited)
"Hey! Uh, Johnny, right? This is the place?"
Johnny Blaze - Yesterday at 9:49 PM
as you approach and yell his name, Johnny turns. As he does the smaller of the two hounds actually has the chance to get the drop on him, and they go tumbling down into the dirt roughhousing. Through the laughter and play growling you here "Yeah.....this.... is...Bruiser." By the end of it Johnny is on top of Bruiser, hold him down by the neck. He jumps back letting the hound go.
"Bruiser! Play nice, heel." Like a show dog Bruiser stops what he's doing and stand up to come and stand next to Johnny.
Roxy comes bounding up like a big puppy with a stick in her mouth and gets a curt "Sit, play nice." and does so.
"Mirage then I take it?"
Mirage - Yesterday at 9:53 PM
"Hey, yeah, that's me! And, yeah, wow, they're huge." She approaches, accompanied by the thudding of her boots against asphalt. "I've never been so up close with one!"
Johnny Blaze - Yesterday at 9:54 PM
as you approach, not knowing you the hounds start watching you intently, but they are obeying Johnny. He looks at them and says "Easy... easy... Friend!"
they calm down and their tails start to wag again. "Play nice, say hi."
Roxy starts walking towards Mirage tail wagging. She undoubtably outweighs Mirage by probably close to double, but she starts trying to sniff her hand like a puppy a fraction of the size.
"They won't bite as long as you are with someone they know and were told you were a friend."(edited)
"Roxies a sweety, aren't you ya big lug." Johnny says as he walks forward with her, thumping her side as he says it, Bruiser is still heeling to Johnny's other side.(edited)
Mirage - Yesterday at 9:59 PM
She extends her hand for a sniff, with a big old grin on her face. "How are they with magic? If I cast a spell, will that make them nervous?"
Johnny Blaze - Yesterday at 10:01 PM
"Unless they know ya, prolly."
"I mean they can smell yer magic if you are."
"But they are trained ta stop people they don't know from castin. Ya know for protectin tha place."
"Their mom would have ta command em ta let you cast around them, an she really only does that fer specific things."
"Like healers, or people that live here."
Roxy nuzzles your hand as you leave it out for her to sniff. Universal doggy nuzzling your hand up to scratch behind her ears.
Mirage - Yesterday at 10:05 PM
"Figured. No magic fingers, then!" She naturally stretches her hand out to scritch behing the ears. Mirage crouches down to get to eye level with the dog. "Who's a good girl?"
Johnny Blaze - Yesterday at 10:07 PM
((Unless you are a troll all you need to do to get eye level with roxy is lean over a bit, with how big you described Mirage, I imagine she doesn't need to lean far))
Roxy licks your face as you get eye level with her.
Mirage - Yesterday at 10:08 PM
((right, they're 5 foot at the shoulder, shit. I assumed somewhere around chest height))
Johnny Blaze - Yesterday at 10:08 PM
the smell of.... well sulphur or brimstone faintly emits from her breath.
Mirage - Yesterday at 10:10 PM
Mirage giggles, gives another big old, rough scratch behind Roxy's ears, and tears her attention back away to Johnny. "Oh, ghost, I needed this."
Johnny Blaze - Yesterday at 10:11 PM
Seeing his sister getting scritches and then licking you seems to be more than Buiser can take, he breaks from Johnny's side and tail wagging like a maniac comes up and almost wraps himself around your side, sniffing you and looking for scitches of his own.(edited)
"Heh, theres a reason I offered. Sometimes it's tha simple drek if life."
"Play Nice, Bruiser. Be easy..." Johnny gives in a commanding tone as Bruiser looks like he's about to accidentally knock over Mirage for a second.(edited)
Bruiser stops nuzzling quite so hard, and sits, still looking like he wants a turn he whines a little. Johnny laughs when he whines.
"They look tough, but when ya get down to it they are still pups."
Mirage - Yesterday at 10:19 PM
"Ghost, they're so big!" Mirage keeps giggling to herself, absolutely surrounded by doggo, and turns her attention back to Bruiser. "Who's a good boy?," comes the almost natural reaction, as she scritches and pets the giant, awakened dog. "This is where you live, huh?"
Johnny Blaze - Yesterday at 10:22 PM
"Yeah, over there." Johnny motions over to what was once a Motel6 behind The Rat's Cage. The "Motel" remains but there is a board over the 6 that has the word "Styx" painted on it.(edited)
Mirage - Yesterday at 10:30 PM
"Ghost. Haven't been too far past Touristville before. This place really has been forgotten, huh?" Mirage tears her attention away from the massive dogs, with a sad little smile. "Still. You guys look like you take care of your own."(edited)
Johnny Blaze - Yesterday at 10:32 PM
"Yeah, I mean we don't have to give a drek about their laws, their 'society' an all that drek out here. KE doesn't come out here, ever, and we are strong enough ta keep tha drek at bay so at least a few people can live n die free."
"ain't much, but it's better than playin by all 'tha rules' an diein' a slave ta a 9-ta-9"
Johnny turns to Roxy as she starts looking bored. "Fetch Roxy!" She bounds off looking for a stick to play with.
Bruiser is content getting scritches.
Mirage - Yesterday at 10:35 PM
"You guys eat well? Any greenhouses, heat lamps, anything like that?"
Johnny Blaze - Yesterday at 10:35 PM
"Yeah, Jimbo an Gramps turned an ole Gym inta somethin like that."
"We all helped em cut out tha old roof, an pitched in ta get tha clear plasticrete ta replace it."
Johnny kind of motions, but it's obvious this structure is somewhere on the otherside of Motel Styx, and obscured by the 3 story Motel.
"This used ta be a small town in Washinton, like way back, they uncovered tha bones of it in tha nest years before i showed up."
Roxy comes bounding back with a piece of rebar in her mouth, there is a chunk of concrete that probably weighs 30lbs on one end. Johnny laughs "No Roxy, wood stick ya big dummy." She cocks her head sideways, lifting the concrete further in the air, confused. Johnny motions for her to set it down and points at the stick she had earlier. "Fetch!"
Mirage - Yesterday at 10:41 PM
"What do folks do around here? Any sort of work around the community? Sorry if I sound like a tourist, but..." She shrugs, "I grew up as a real perso-- Oh Jesus fuck! She's fucking strong!"
Johnny Blaze - Yesterday at 10:41 PM
She sets down the rebar, and goes and gets the stick, which Johnny whips off into the distance.
"I mean we don't have yer normie typa jobs around here, but theres always work ta do."
"An yeah, they forget how strong they are sometimes which is why we had to teach them the Play Nice command normal dogs don't need."
"He's a big softy too, but Bruiser is actually probably stronger." Looking at him more closely, Bruiser is not as big as Roxy but he's built more like a pitbull, stout and sinewy.
Mirage - Yesterday at 10:45 PM
"I figured. You guys use cash? Who decides what needs to be done? Like, I don't wanna be annoying, but, y'know, this is really interesting and all to see in person."
Johnny Blaze - Yesterday at 10:45 PM
Stout might be an odd word to use for a 300+lbs animal, but compared to his sister, he's definitely stocky, and it fits.
"Well their Mom should be comin in from patrol with their other brother soon. We could walk around a bit."
"Theres 4 Bars, 2 restaurants, a library, Tha Cage, Tha Blocks, which are some old apartments, but people hang in the old RecRooms, and Tha school."
"Though no one'll be at tha school this late, except on Trid Night."
"Which is tomorrow night, not tonight."
"Course theres alotta homes too, but ya can't really go n see them without talkin ta tha people livin there."
Mirage - Yesterday at 10:49 PM
"An old school building, or is it actually a school? Who teaches? You know what they teach?"
Johnny Blaze - Yesterday at 10:49 PM
"Both, kinda."
"I mean it's an old school buildin, and yeah things get taught there, but not justa kids, and thats not all thats done there."
"It's complicated, like I said tha Gym is Jimbo an Gramps grow drek."
"Tha old chem labs got turned inta an armorer shop an a lab fer studyin magic drek."
"Some a tha classrooms get used ta teach tha kids durin tha day."
"Tha cafeteria is where almost everyone eats if they are here for meal times, or ya eat at tha 2 eateries, but ya gotta have yen or trade for that."
"If ya eat at tha cafeteria ya have ta be in good standin, meaning ya either brought tha food, helped cook, or help clean up, or ya gotta chit from someone sayin ya did something for tha whole place"
"Else it's 3 yen"
Mirage - Yesterday at 10:53 PM
Mirage scratches her head a bit, looking all around the surroundings. "Really? Wow, that's actually really cool. What sorta stuff you guys teach? I figure a lot of stuff would fall off, you know, not being all too useful, but... always gonna be someone interested in something esoteric. Sorry if I'm kinda pestering, but..."
She gives a sort of sheepish smile.
Johnny Blaze - Yesterday at 10:54 PM
"Most a tha Hellions pay tha Yen even if they got chits, and use those ta help people who can't do none of it."
"Nah, it's no biggie, most people that actually come on out have tha same questions."
"But they teach alotta different drek. You'd have ta ask Teach or Prof Q, they are tha ones that actually teach stuff."
"But we got a pile of old actual paper books they use along with Trix stuff."
"Ya mighta noticed we don't get good reception out here, until ya get through tha gate an in a bit."
"Someone setup like a network of SatLinks er somethin. I don't get it but I was told like something like ya get enough workin devices nearby eachother and Matrix starts workin better."
Johnny kind of points to Satelite antennas on the nearby roofs, a lot more of them than you normally see in most parts of the Metroplex.
Mirage - Yesterday at 11:01 PM
"Wiz! Ghost, it looks like you have a lot of drek really in order. Kinda reassuring, really. I've always been worried about, you know, how long can these communities last, especially with global society as it is -- shit, you hear about Berlin? That got so screwed -- deliberately so. But, uh, yeah."
Johnny Blaze - Yesterday at 11:01 PM
"Course we also got some real characters around here, ya've probably heard of soem of them, they can be intense and are a bit notorious in tha Shadows."
Mirage - Yesterday at 11:01 PM
"I heard a bit about that from my fixer."
Johnny Blaze - Yesterday at 11:01 PM
"Katie Kaboom, Deadman, Molly fraggin Mayhem, Plink... theres been others too."
"Before he fragged off inta tha Ocean Stamp wore tha colors." Johnny Motions at his patches.
Johnny continues throwing the sticks out, Bruiser goes back to playing fetch as you talk more and scritch less.(edited)
Mirage - Yesterday at 11:03 PM
Mirage cracks a smile again -- her expression's youthful, nervous, and her eyes dart around to virtually every movement.
Johnny Blaze - Yesterday at 11:03 PM
there are still kids playing on the Jungle Gym, some of them are just hanging and watching the Hounds run.
Mirage - Yesterday at 11:04 PM
She takes a turn at tossing a stick, humming to herself. "Ghost. I needed this."(edited)
Johnny Blaze - Yesterday at 11:04 PM
"Most of them guys are a lot more Chill when they aren't workin. I mean they are still them, but like toned down ta real life levels."
"Most of tha people ya see in tha Colors have taken turns doin Mercwork or Runnin'"
"Which takes a certain sorta personality ta make it through."
Mirage - Yesterday at 11:06 PM
"Yeah. I figured. I was kinda nervous, actually. You're kind of a Big Fucking Deal, and y'know, what some of those jackasses think about me."
Johnny Blaze - Yesterday at 11:06 PM
"Well, I'm just a guy when I'm not workin' an on point."
"Theres a reason I don't do a lotta tha heavy drek work anymore. Seen enough of it. Spent some of ma time off from tha Hub doin Merc work out in Africa."
Mirage - Yesterday at 11:07 PM
"I know. It's like that thing, easy to imagine others bigger than life... Yourself, not so much."
Johnny Blaze - Yesterday at 11:07 PM
"None of this place works without tha Hellions all puttin in time ta bring home tha Yen"
Mirage - Yesterday at 11:08 PM
"But yeah, I get what you mean. Africa, though? What part?"
Johnny Blaze - Yesterday at 11:08 PM
"Shouldn't say. But lots of sand. Drek to eat, even compared ta livin on my own in tha Barrens out east a here, and a lot of death."
"Merc work makes Runnin' look pretty sometimes."
"But we had ta raise the scratch for the SatNet and Plasticrete roof for tha Gym."
"We actually buy what we can't scravenge from tha rest of tha Nest."
"Big man makes a point that we don't steal ta setup this place."
Mirage - Yesterday at 11:11 PM
Mirage looks down, visibly upset by the description. "Fuck. Sorry for asking. I... don't want to know what it was like, if that's okay. Merc work, that is. Can we change the subject?"(edited)
Johnny Blaze - Yesterday at 11:11 PM
"Don't Drek where you eat an all that."
"It's all good." Johnny is visibly relaxed and didn't seem like he was going to go into details any time soon, if ever.
"Ya do what ya gotta ta get what you and yers need."
"Hopefully someday even tha Hellions won't need ta take on Heavy work ta keep tha place runnin."
"Thats the real goal."
Mirage - Yesterday at 11:15 PM
"I figured. I just... I dunno." She chuckles. "Maybe I'm just a big fucking softie." Another stick thrown. She can't throw very far -- it falls just about ten meters away from her. "You said you guys have a lot of paper books?"
Johnny Blaze - Yesterday at 11:15 PM
"Like ya invest enough ta get it going but once it's goin it's supposed ta just run."
"Yeah, we cleared out a couple of old... what did she call em..." _Johnny trails off a bit.. "Libraries. Out in Redmond."
"One in an old school"
"Like an old community college place that had a buncha trolls squattin in it."
Mirage - Yesterday at 11:18 PM
"Neat. I've always loved the feel of paper. So there was a big library where we grew up. Still had a lot of the old stuff."
Johnny Blaze - Yesterday at 11:18 PM
"Traded them blankets for tha books in there. Not cleared them out, if that's where you thought that was goin."
Mirage - Yesterday at 11:18 PM
"I'd hope not."
"I went there every day after school. Practically lived there."
Johnny Blaze - Yesterday at 11:18 PM
"Well we almost had ta, but luckily Mack talked sense inta them."
"Mack is this like 60 somethin year old troll, said he goblinized in tha first wave an that's why he's agin like a Human."
Mirage - Yesterday at 11:19 PM
"Wow. Sixty years old, huh?"
Johnny Blaze - Yesterday at 11:19 PM
"He does mechanic work. Oh yeah, we got a mechanic shop, too."
Mirage - Yesterday at 11:19 PM
"Born before the first crash. Shit."
Johnny Blaze - Yesterday at 11:21 PM
"Well he's not tha only one that works there, but it is his shop. An he works more on drek that ain't cars. Like tha Proleterians than clear tha streets and fix drek."
Mirage - Yesterday at 11:22 PM
Mirage looks almost like she's going to well up with tears. 'Fuck, though. Sixty years. Around to see everything turn to shit."
"I can't even imagine how awful it must have been to be a troll during the first wave of goblinization. Folks didn't even treat them as people. Not that a lot of people are any better now."
She nibbles on her lip a bit, thinking to herself.
Johnny Blaze - Yesterday at 11:24 PM
right about now a small elf girl walks in from the side of the lot that Johnny's been throwing the stickstowards and Roxy gets distracted running up and tackling her.... at least until another Hellhound comes barrelling around the fence and tackles Roxy off of her. They get into a big old Playfight that Bruiser jumps into with wild abandonment. The elf girl, also in Hellion Colors, raises her hand to Johnny, who waves back and she starts walking back out of the lot on the other side.
The Hellhounds keep roughhousing until a very distinct patterned whistle makes all their ears perk up and they run off in the direction the elf girl walked away in.
"Well it looks like playtime is over." Johnny grins at Mirage.
Mirage - Yesterday at 11:26 PM
"Who was that?"
Johnny Blaze - Yesterday at 11:26 PM
"She's not much one for visiting with people she don't know, and they all know that her getting home means dinner time."
"Whistler."
"Least wise that's her handle now an she don't like people givin out any other name less she knows em."(edited)
"Though sometimes people call her Mommaduke."
"Which Mack started, said it's like a play on an old dog FlatTrid"
Mirage - Yesterday at 11:28 PM
"What's she do?"
Johnny Blaze - Yesterday at 11:28 PM
"Rustles Hellhounds and tha Barghest."
"Runs patrols like tha rest of us do."
Mirage - Yesterday at 11:28 PM
"Whoa. You guys have a fucking barghest?"
Johnny Blaze - Yesterday at 11:29 PM
"Shes in colors, us in colors only got two actual jobs round here."
"1) Patrols, keep tha Ferals from gettin too close, clear out Gangers setting up drek operations nearby that'd draw bad drek here, and such."
"Yeah Whistler has a Ghest."
"He goes out on tha Patrols when theres Ghouls seen."
"Boomer is his name, he's chill as frag. She says it ain't safe fer him ta roam around like tha others though."
"But I think it'd be fine. He's like super awesome with kids, which sounds weird, but he loves tykes."(edited)
Mirage - Yesterday at 11:31 PM
"Bad-fragging-ass. And yeah. They, uh. Ain't the safest paracritters to have around. It's not their fault, they just... Get excited sometimes, and very loud."(edited)
Johnny Blaze - Yesterday at 11:32 PM
"Animals are chill if they get raised right and ain't gotta fight just ta eat."
Mirage - Yesterday at 11:32 PM
"Paralyze some folks by accident."
Johnny Blaze - Yesterday at 11:33 PM
"Eh, it's not so bad. He's paralyzed me more times n I could count, but he always feels bad when he does it an wasn't told ta."
"Everytime he just curls up at my feet an like guards me till it wears off."
"well except tha time he got me ina firefight, but he was busy tearing up tha other drekheads, an I shook that one off quick, adrenaline an drek."
Mirage - Yesterday at 11:34 PM
"Aww. Still, I can see why."
Johnny Blaze - Yesterday at 11:35 PM
"Well ya wanna take a walk??" Johnny motions back towards the road your scooter it parked on.(edited)
"Ya said you wanna see drek."
Mirage - Yesterday at 11:36 PM
"Sure. Anything you wanna ask? Figured, it might be kinda rude of me to have a conversation so one-sided."
Johnny Blaze - Yesterday at 11:38 PM
"Eh, I'm not really tha questionin sort, an I don't mind answering."
"Brunos Place, one a tha Bars, might have Jack playin piano tonight, it's just down this way." Johnny leads you further from the wall into the little community.
Mirage - Yesterday at 11:42 PM
((How old is Johnny, btw?))
Johnny Blaze - Yesterday at 11:42 PM
As you walk you can see most of the children are starting to head towards parents who are getting home. Some are pulling up, obviously having come in from outside the walls. Others are walking like they came from local spots
((24, but an Elf, hold on more detailed description of him incoming...))
Mirage - Yesterday at 11:45 PM
"You mind stopping by? I could use a beer or two. I'll be buying, if they're selling."
Johnny Blaze - Yesterday at 11:48 PM
Johnny is about 6'4" and unlike most elves he doesn't have a thin frame. He's got to be almost 2 and 3/4ths feet accross at the shoulders, and has the feel of someone a lot more dense than most elves. He has some obvious scarring just barely showing on his neck above his jacket's collar. He has an obvious scar running from his left cybereye down to his jawline. His Cybereyes are the quite obvious kind, with orange irises that set off his orange-red hair, which is also a mohawk but not gelled up.

He's in his standard biker leathers, with the chain around his waist above the belt, and two Machine pistols that show as he walks popping just under his jacket. He has the air of someone older than his years in someway, but a youthful attitude that makes him seem rather upbeat.(edited)
"Yeah, it's only 2 blocks down, an we got short blocks." As you walk he points out the things he named off earlier. A restaurant over to one side with as sign proclaiming it "The Diner." As you get to the cross street, he points down where it runs past the Motel Styx and you see an old Highschool.
There is a building accross from it with a wooden sign you can see under a street light that says "Mack's Garage." Next to it there is an old Radioshack that has a Closed sign in the windows, but you can see electronics of all sorts through the clean windows. The RadioShack sign has been torn off, but there is nothing replacing it.(edited)
You pass a Bar with a sign that is just a picture of a goat holding a pint glass in one hand and an ingram in the other.
Johnny turns down the next street and you start to hear piano music coming from an old building that looks like it was once a mechanic shop or something of the sort. Johnny cuts diagonally accross the road, bumping into you slightly until you are both walking on the same track again.
"Whoops, sorry, but thats where we are goin."
"Thats Brunos, he ain't got a sign up, but it's him."
Mirage - Yesterday at 11:58 PM
"Oh, no, that's fine. I should watch where I'm going, my bad." She offers an apologetic smile, and continues on, following Johnny. Being as short as she is, she's taking two steps to Johnny's every one. "Neat. Anything on tap? What's the stuff you guys normally drink?"
Johnny Blaze - Yesterday at 11:59 PM
Johnny is sidling like he's used to walking next to people with smaller strides, not letting Mirage strain to hurry up and keep up
"Bruno keeps Pabst on tap. He's usually got a few other choices in bottles."
April 29, 2017
Johnny Blaze - Today at 12:00 AM
"If ya get tha bottles read tha signs and don't throw em in tha trash, Betty picks up all tha glass and melts it down ta reuse it for drek."
"Not art or anything, she brews hellbrews that'll get you really fragged up."
"Blows her own bottles though."
Mirage - Today at 12:02 AM
"Ooh. Wiz. Seriously? A fragging plus, love seeing that kinda shit."
Johnny Blaze - Today at 12:02 AM
"We don't exactly get like regular trash service out here."
"But we live next to one of tha biggest dumps in a sprawl in tha world."
"Most places don't actually have tha dump anywhere in tha sprawl."
Mirage - Today at 12:03 AM
"Yeah. I figured. Though you guys keep it really clean, so good job on that."
Johnny Blaze - Today at 12:04 AM
"Well if ya don't ya have ta deal with more Devil Rats, and that ain't safe for tha kids. Molly was actually tha one that yelled at people ta start getting drek not so dangerous fer her tykes."
"You do not want ta cross that woman, especially if it's about her tykes."
Mirage - Today at 12:08 AM
Mirage just... smiles. She thinks to herself, imagining what everyday life might be like here. "Sounds like you guys are really tightly knit."
Johnny Blaze - Today at 12:10 AM
"Well we got somethin over 2 hundred who live here."
"Not counting tha almost half that in Hellions, but only usually like 80 or so actually here or livin here."
"I don't actually pay any rent cuzza tha colors, but I spend what most a you guys in tha sprawl spend each month payin inta various things ta keep it all runnin."
"But that's all like voluntary drek."
"An if I'm not workin I don't pay, but I help out."
Johnny opens the door to Brunos, and the piano music gets louder. Mirage probably doesn't recognize it but Jack, the guy playing piano is belting out Rocket Man by Elton John. He's a human in his 70s, but his fingers are still spry on the keys.
Brunos is obviously an old Mechanic shop as you walk in, but the oil wells have been boarded over and there are trellis tables, obviously hand made, and similar benches covering most of the floor, except for a few meters in front of the Piano which is standing up on an old concrete area set higher than the rest of the shop, probably where heavy machinery used to sit.
((Feel free to interrupt while I write out prose descriptions))
Mirage - Today at 12:18 AM
Mirage steps inside, humming along to the music. She's kind of like a kid in a candy shop around Rat's Cage, and especially here -- all of that theory she's spent so much reading, basically put into practice, and in her own words, is 'really fucking cool'. She sweeps her hair back, looking around. "Where should we sit?"
Johnny Blaze - Today at 12:19 AM
Bruno is an Ork standing behind the bar and he waves to Johnny as he walks in. There are probably a dozen various people of all metatypes in the place. The Bar itself is a very plain, again obviously hand made (and not with great skill) affair. There is a single handmade looking tap sticking out of it and a couple of small glass front refrigerators on behind it. There is a shelf with pint and half pint glasses of all shapes to one side of the beer coolers.
"Anywhere you like, you want tap or you wanna see what else he's got?"
"Gotta go to tha bar, not waiters here."
Mirage - Today at 12:20 AM
"I'll have whatever you're having, why the hell not?"
Johnny Blaze - Today at 12:21 AM
"I'd recommend you stay way from Bettys rotgut belly busters, but I've drank too much Pabst for a long while."
Mirage - Today at 12:23 AM
"They get you fucked up, huh? Got a long way home, unless I'm crashing."
Johnny Blaze - Today at 12:23 AM
Johnny leads the way up to the bar, in the coolers there are a lot of off-brand cheap beers, and the top half of one of the coolers has bottles with hand written labels on them that have all sorts of exotic names like. "Betty's Belly Buster" and "Atomic Ale"
"Theres always some spare rooms at Styx."
"Just gotta pay tha toll." Johnny grins.
"You didn't forget ta bring ya silver pieces did ya?"
Mirage - Today at 12:25 AM
Mirage chuckles. "Don't have my drachma on me. Didn't think I'd be paying the ferryman so soon."
Johnny Blaze - Today at 12:26 AM
"Nah, really though it's like 15 yen."
"I don't really know, but it ain't drek."
((It's literally 500/30, IE Squatter Lifestyle cost, but just for a night worth of it.))
Mirage - Today at 12:27 AM
"I figured. Still, got some place to be tomorrow, and I don't know detox."
Johnny Blaze - Today at 12:28 AM
"Well ya don't gotta decide now, and I could always give ya a lift on a real bike and have Mack drop off tha scooter with his truck."(edited)
"He owes me one from darts the other night."
Johnny had leaned up against the bar facing the room while chatting and letting you look at the "selection" such as it is. He turns back to Bruno and gestures to the "Atomic Ale" in the case.
"No use in plannin too far out. Life's too short."
"Leastwise not when ya ain't gettin paid ta plan"
Bruno gets the ale and looks like he's waiting for Mirage to decide on a drink.
Mirage - Today at 12:31 AM
There it is, the poor impulse control. Mirage joins him and also orders the Atomic Ale. Never pass up a chance for a new experience, right? "Totally. Only ever live once."
"Might as well make the most of it."
Johnny Blaze - Today at 12:32 AM
"Plus you probably shouldn't try drivin through tha way you came in the middle of the night tha first time drunk."
"GridGuide don't work through alotta it."
((Read: Any of it until you get back past Avondale, and even then still spotty until you close in on Touristville))(edited)
Johnny slides a credstick over to Bruno. Who slots it into something below the level of the counter and hands it back.
"You can get tha next round."
Mirage - Today at 12:35 AM
"Roger wilco. It was a pain to get through, not gonna lie. Had to go slow, and there was a bit of attention I didn't need."
Johnny Blaze - Today at 12:35 AM
"IF ya ain't passed out from tha poor decisions I make nightly. Right Bruno, Betty's got a first timer here." Bruno chuckles but doesn't actually reply beyond that.
"It gets easier if ya get ta know tha right roads and tha right times fer what routes n all that drek."
Johnny motions towards an empty smaller table against the back wall and starts sidling that direction.
Mirage - Today at 12:36 AM
"Figures. I've only been in the city a few years, though, and not much in Redmond."
Johnny Blaze - Today at 12:39 AM
"Grew up in Redmond." Johnny says over his shoulder as he moves towards the indicated table. He takes a seat with his back to the wall, facing the door. Anyone who knows the habits of people who grew up fighting or that have spent time training for war would recognize the semi-paranoid seating arrangement he chose. There is room on the bench next to him, which does also give a better view of the piano player, or accross from him.(edited)
Mirage - Today at 12:43 AM
She sits beside him, if only because that gives her a backrest. There's none of that paranoia to her -- not the same kind, anyway. "Figured. I had one of them normie childhoods. The kind that prepare you to work minimum wage at a corp teat for the rest of your life."
Johnny Blaze - Today at 12:44 AM
"Heh, I wouldn't a had that even if my parents survived my childhood. Tha streets of Redmond can be rough."
Mirage - Today at 12:46 AM
"Must have been hard. Worst I ever had to worry about was whether my dad came home drunk or not. Fucker broke my nose a few times, but it's no gunshot wound."
She just. Stops. Chews on her lip. Regrets the oversharing.(edited)
Johnny Blaze - Today at 12:48 AM
"Eh, it happens all the time out here. Ain't yer fault. People are drek most of the time. We stopped bein tribes and lost what we were."
"Lost what made us understand community."
"That don't sit right on most people an they don't even know why."
Mirage - Today at 12:50 AM
"It makes me sick. Even the mana is wrong... Seeing this kinda shit is exactly what makes me wanna put a gun to every shareholder's head."
Johnny Blaze - Today at 12:51 AM
"Wouldn't change em. Most of them are too lost in tha system ta even understand it's what has em all poppin pills ta cope."
"Can't always change tha whole world, but you can find a spot and build something better places they don't care about or don't want."
Mirage - Today at 12:53 AM
"I don't fucking know, man. It's just disgusting, you know? People starving, and these motherfuckers dining on caviar with gold leaf."
Johnny Blaze - Today at 12:53 AM
"eventually it'll fall under it's own weight n when it crashes places like this'll be all thats left."
"I mean it's fragged, but ya can lead a Hellhound ta water, ya can't make it drink. Specially when it just wants ta boil tha water."
Mirage - Today at 12:54 AM
"Maybe. Hopefully. But when it crashes down, we'll still need the factories, the high-rises. Not everyone can live like this. Not enough space."
Johnny Blaze - Today at 12:54 AM
"Sure there is after VITAS hit."
"You ain't really been outta tha Plexs much have ya?"
"I've traveled all over 3 continents, there is tons a room."
Mirage - Today at 12:56 AM
"I, um, took a train. But, besides that, we keep making the planet inhospitable."
Johnny Blaze - Today at 12:56 AM
"It'll bounce back with Magic around, I've seen that too"
"Tha planet fights back more now than ever before."
Mirage - Today at 12:57 AM
"Yeah, but what if all we end up doing is making it inhospitable for metahumanity?"
She tries the atomic ale, finally. Fingers crossed.
"It's going to bounce back, but we might not be part of that."
Johnny Blaze - Today at 12:58 AM
"You likely won't live ta see that, I might, but I doubt it. Theres a lotta people that work against that in tha NAN and down south in Amazonia I hear."
"Maybe we don't desrve ta be part of it."
Mirage - Today at 12:59 AM
"Maybe. Maybe we're all just one big mistake, a shitstain on the planet. But the very least we can do is provide for our fellow shitstains, you know?"
Johnny Blaze - Today at 1:00 AM
"Not sayin I'd wanna wipe out everyone, that'd be hella dark an drek. But people make their own fates, even as a whole."
"I mean people put out all tha info, but if no one wants ta listen, they prolly deserve it."
Mirage - Today at 1:01 AM
"Maybe it's cause they teach us not to listen."
((How's the ale?))
Johnny Blaze - Today at 1:01 AM
"Sometimes ya just gotta let be what is gunna happen with or without ya and just do the best you can with the rest."(edited)
Atomic Ale hits like a Mack Truck on a delayed start. Slow and heavy up front, but as you take swigs it starts really steam rolling. It's probably 15% by volume (yeah 30 proof "ale"), but the flavor is a dark almost nutty stout.
Mirage - Today at 1:03 AM
((oh, that's beautiful. Shes gonna be tipsy/drunk by the end of it))(edited)
"Maybe. I dunno. Fuck. I just don't get apathy, you know? Maybe I care too much, or I dunno. It's just not rational." She takes a few more swigs. "Fuck, this is good."
Johnny Blaze - Today at 1:07 AM
"It's not apathy, I mean drek I'm all for findin a way that'd make a real dent in it, but I've been lookin fer years and I've just set my sights a little more ground level until someone actually can come up witha real plan."
"I ain't a plotter or schemer, not my bag. Ya need some drek brought ta a violent in, I can probably help work that out. How ta take down tha global bulldrek? You'll need someone with a plan, an a good one at that."
Johnny has finished his bottle and makes like's he's going to get up to get another, obviously much more used to the heavy booze.
"Heavy drek aside, ya had more questions about tha place it seemed."
"Also, you get tha next round you are ready ta drink in." He says with a grin.
((Betting her beer is only half gone as he finishes his. 5 Body/Will Elf))
Mirage - Today at 1:12 AM
Mirage isn't even halfway done with her beer and she's already looking kinda flushed. "You probably weigh three times as much as I do. Gimme a bit."
Johnny Blaze - Today at 1:12 AM
((I should have mentioned earlier that approaching the community there was totally a like 1-3 level BGC, that tapers back off as you get into the community, because a close packed community is enough traffic to scrub them back down))
Mirage - Today at 1:12 AM
"And yeah. I was just wondering, you guys have really spotty trix connection, right? What do folks usually in their spare time?"
((yeah she's very uncomfortable in redmond in general))
Johnny Blaze - Today at 1:13 AM
You say this as Johnny returns with another Atomic Ale in hand, he left the empty on the table, obviously waiting to clear em till later.
"Train, learn drek, fix drek. Scavenge."
"All sorts of things."
"And we have an alright Trix Connection if you got a decent Link and a Reciever."
"Leastwise for everything but Deckin or VR Games."
Mirage - Today at 1:15 AM
"Probably asking a lot of questions with obvious answers, but, just curious. It's not like people here have a 5-9, right?"
Johnny Blaze - Today at 1:15 AM
"Well not like tha Corp sense, but everyone does their own things."
Mirage - Today at 1:16 AM
"No, I mean, they do, but people don't just clock in, clock out, sleep, rinse, repeat."
Johnny Blaze - Today at 1:16 AM
"Like I mean Teach is up at tha school teachin tha tykes through tha day. Least the ones that decide ta go, they don't need ta."
Mirage - Today at 1:16 AM
"I'd figure that changes everything."
Johnny Blaze - Today at 1:16 AM
"But no one has ta do anything."
Mirage - Today at 1:17 AM
"Yeah, exactly."
Johnny Blaze - Today at 1:17 AM
"And most times they don't get paid, they trade what they do for other drek."
"And alotta them work outside tha walls, maybe like a 3rd of em."
Mirage - Today at 1:19 AM
"I'm liking this place. Like, a lot. What's the word? Cozy, I guess? A bit of warmth in the bitter cold or something. Not drunk enough to wax poetic."
Johnny Blaze - Today at 1:19 AM
"I mean people do what they like or are good at and don't mind. Theres jobs that get put out that pay chits for the Cafeteria that help tha whole community, People that don't have like specific skills or trades just do those."
"We don't have like a government or nothin though, tha Chits collected get passed back out to people on a lottery system, an those people choose tha next thing done tomorrow."
"If theres a big project, like tha Gym thing, a vote gets taken at dinner one night an mosta tha chits go back to whoever started that project till it gets finished, like 75% of them usually."
"That rest still go out on lottery to get other drek done."
"That's how tha walls get fixed n drek."
"You put up your project on tha wall, and unless 10 people say 'Frag thats a horrible idea' then you can get Chits in tha next lottery."
"Ta get work done for tha project."
Mirage - Today at 1:24 AM
"So to make sure I'm getting this right. People get chits on a lottery system, and award them for jobs they think improve the community?  And they're turned in for a meal or something?"
Johnny Blaze - Today at 1:24 AM
"If ya don't need all tha chits you got for tha project, most people just hand em out ta other people on tha list ta get their things done."
"Yeah they're meal chits."
Mirage - Today at 1:24 AM
"Neat."
"I like it."
Johnny Blaze - Today at 1:25 AM
"Basically ta eat without paying for it, ya gotta work for tha community."
Mirage - Today at 1:25 AM
"That's still paying for it."
Johnny Blaze - Today at 1:25 AM
"You can always just pay the ¥3"
"Sometimes they triple tha cost if nothin is gettin done, but thats a vote too."
"Only needs 30% of tha people present ta happen for that though, ya know incase a lotta people are bein idjits."
Mirage - Today at 1:26 AM
"Ok, with you so far. Let's say I'm just an unexceptional person in the community. I pull my weight but I'm certainly not essential."
"Now, let's say I'm injured and can't really do much for a while."
Johnny Blaze - Today at 1:28 AM
"As long a you have been puttin in good faith work, and still do what you can while yer hurt if it ain't bad, you still get a chit. Tha doc always gets a certain number of tha chits each day."
"He determines if you can still help out doin anything, and a lotta tha chit work ain't really like back breakin stuff."
Mirage - Today at 1:29 AM
"What about kids?"
Johnny Blaze - Today at 1:29 AM
"Like helping out in tha clinic ta make beds, clean up, and such is worth chits."
"Kids eat always."
Mirage - Today at 1:29 AM
She grins at hearing that.
Johnny Blaze - Today at 1:30 AM
"But they gotta clean up tha cafeteria."
"Like they take tha dishes back to tha dishroom. They sweep up and mop up."
Mirage - Today at 1:30 AM
"Sorry, I'm just, like, loving the system you've got going on here."
"Really sounds like it works -- especially in the context of little to no automation."
Mirage finally drains her ale, and she is -feeling- it.
Johnny Blaze - Today at 1:32 AM
"Well we got a couple drones around, Mack sees to that. They do the really dangerous drek."
Mirage - Today at 1:32 AM
"Yeah, but not "factory floor" level automation, I mean."
Johnny Blaze - Today at 1:32 AM
"Like a lotta the heavy dangerous liftin for tha Gym he used em for."
"If everything is automated, there is no real place left for people ta do drek."
"And people get no value from life not doin' drek."
Mirage - Today at 1:35 AM
"I've thought about that, but people are inventive. I'm talking about just the necessities, though. Tools, food, shelter, that kinda stuff, should be pretty accessible. People also want shit that improves quality of life."
Johnny Blaze - Today at 1:35 AM
"Oh and unless you wear tha colors, you gotta use chits for one day a week."
Mirage - Today at 1:35 AM
"So, Iunno."
"I'm gonna get another round. You want?"
Johnny Blaze - Today at 1:35 AM
"Forgot that part. You don't do that you ain't being part of what we are doin"
Johnny drains the second bottle he'd been chugging away on between sentences.
"Always."
Mirage - Today at 1:37 AM
Mirage half-stumbles up to her feet to get a second round of the Atomic Ales. She's not quite drunk yet, but a third isn't going to be good for her tonight.
"So, uh. Question. How do you guys feel about folks coming in to help?"
Johnny Blaze - Today at 1:39 AM
Jack keeps playing away, most of his choices are from before the turn of the century, obviously things HIS parents played while he was growing up, he is still a millenial after all. Elton John songs keep popping up though.
"I mean you get one month of stayin at tha styx. Ya gotta pay and ya gotta do 2 Chit days a week. You do that you can look for a place not at tha Styx."
"You still pay at tha Styx and ya either start workin ta get tha colors, or you setup doing something else that can get ya pass on the Chits."
"But thats a vote thing again."
Mirage - Today at 1:42 AM
"Well, I was just thinking, I've got a lot of free time, right?"
Johnny Blaze - Today at 1:42 AM
"Right now tha Doc, Teach, Prof Q, and Mack are tha only ones who eat Chit free."
Mirage - Today at 1:42 AM
"Like, a lot of free time."
"So maybe I could come in every so often and help out if you guys are ok with that sorta thing. Not sure how insular everything is."
Johnny Blaze - Today at 1:43 AM
"Oh I should say this though, even if ya got tha colors, if ya don't do patrols or work after a month ya gotta do Chit days."
"Most people that start doin that end up crossin tha Styx."
"Not had a lot do it though. Most people who come in know someone here and just save up ta afford a month at tha Styx so they can just join."
Mirage - Today at 1:46 AM
"I dunno, not planning out ahead that far. But, hey, it kind of feels like a waste of a lot of what I can do just... shadowrunning, you know?"(edited)
Johnny Blaze - Today at 1:46 AM
"We've had 2 runners opt in that didn't wanna take tha colors, it's a thing that if ya do that, you pay inta tha medical fund each month ya work." ((Meaning Low Lifestyle costs to stay at the Styx, just fluff deferments on what those mean))
((Also, NPC runners, not PCs, just to help explain the fluff for why it's a Low Lifestyle.))
Mirage - Today at 1:48 AM
"And I just... I dunno, it's actually hard finding people willing to accept help."
Johnny Blaze - Today at 1:50 AM
"Not around here. All sorts of Chitwork to be done." Johnny grins obviouosly slurring the word together to sound like something else.
Mirage - Today at 1:51 AM
"Yeah. Figure there's something a magician would be able to help out with."
"Fuck, I can even shape plash -- plas-plascrete now."
Johnny Blaze - Today at 1:53 AM
"Oh yeah, Prof Q loves having more mages around. To help teach magical theory, to learn that drek, to help with the magical defenses around tha place, ta scrounger Reagents, an so on."
"He's got like 5 kids learnin from him."
Mirage - Today at 1:54 AM
"You guys have that many? Wow."
"How many kids, give or take?"
Johnny Blaze - Today at 1:54 AM
"Runners have a lot higher number of magic kids. More awakened become runners, and kids born ta magic have it more often."
"Total in tha place? Maybe like 30"
Mirage - Today at 1:55 AM
"Shit. Das a lot."
"Of magic kids."
Johnny Blaze - Today at 1:55 AM
"We didn't have a lot until like a year an a half ago when we finished tha wall and all tha stuff got ironed out about what we was gunna be"
"Before that it was just like an area tha Hellions just kept clear of tha bigger threats.
Mirage - Today at 1:56 AM
"Really new on the block, right?"
Johnny Blaze - Today at 1:56 AM
"Oh no not 30 magic kids."
"30 kids all told"
Mirage - Today at 1:56 AM
"I know. But that's like 1 in 6."
Johnny Blaze - Today at 1:56 AM
"just tha 5"
"Yeah, well 3 of them are brothers, a seta twins in that 3"
Mirage - Today at 1:57 AM
"Wow."
Johnny Blaze - Today at 1:57 AM
"Mom an dad are both Mages."
"They're all orks."
Mirage - Today at 1:57 AM
"Haha. Been getting busy, huh?"
Johnny Blaze - Today at 1:58 AM
"Tha other 2 are adepts though, not mages."
"Prof Q says they'll do better if they understand more than just 'your magic is a part of you, inside of you' or some drek."
"An he says tha brothers is all aspected or some drek."
Mirage - Today at 1:59 AM
"Yeah. Learning the theory behind it really helps. Oh, this is good drek."
Mirage - Today at 2:00 AM
"I haven't had anything but piss water beer in forever."
Johnny Blaze - Today at 2:01 AM
"Betty's brews are nothin fancy, but they ain't piss water thas fer sure." Johnnys sluring that is his trade mark on the Haven is becoming more pronounced.
"We should prolly finish up tha ones we got an head fer tha Styx."
"I got earlyy patrrol in tha morninn"
Mirage - Today at 2:02 AM
"Mm. Jus' gonna pass out, then?"
Johnny Blaze - Today at 2:03 AM
"Dun have ta like right now, but soonish"
He finishes the last third of his third beer in one go.
"Trust me, ya don't miss patrol when ya sign fer it."
"Structure of tha hellions is alot more.... military I guess ya'd say."
"We literally hava Latrine duty."
Mirage - Today at 2:06 AM
"That serious, huh?" She takes another swig -- about a third of her bottle is left. She's started slouching, leaning towards Johnny.
Johnny Blaze - Today at 2:06 AM
People have been filtering out as the night went on, obviously heading for beds because that have something to get up in the morning for. A few couples, but mostly actually trios of people wander out, walking each other home or walking together home. It is hard to tell.
"Ya ain't gotta finish it, thers more later, they are only a coupla yen here."
Johnny just lets her slouch in.
"Ya are free ta come in to stay at tha styx and have a night o Betty's Brews, even if ya ain't optin in too. Community don't exactly turn away yen."
"Hell, ya swing through durin tha day n Bruno would sell ya a pack of em ta go."
Mirage - Today at 2:10 AM
"Mm. I'll have to keep that in mind. This was really nice, by the way. Kinda needed this. Like, a lot."
Johnny Blaze - Today at 2:13 AM
"We get a lotta stragglers comin in that feel that way. Some of em stay, some don't but their all wellllcome." Johnny stands slowly, offering to help the obviously drunk Mirage up.