Oldrac's RPG: Official Actions

[Edminster]

"So! You've just been seen delivering a dead kid to a hospital, with me. You think we oughta high-tail it out of here?"

"Eh? Why, you some kind of criminal guy what with your imposing frame and your fancy suit and that freaky grin on your mug? I'm aiming to get me a special dispensation from the Bureau for to help feed my Dog, you know? SO I can't just dump off the dame with a stiff, you see."

Eddie scratches the robotic monstrosity seated next to him, and it's back leg twitches in an absurd mockery of life.

"You keep an eye on the car, Dog. I'll be back in a little bit to check on you, so don't eat the seats or nothin'. Good Boy."

With those parting words, Eddie strolls into the hospital after the others.

[Oldrac the Chitinous]

Dog is about the size of a retriever of some kind. Superficially, he's a framework of copper tubing mostly covered in roughly-cut sheet steel; his body may once have been a car muffler. There's a small diesel engine bolted to the inside of his torso near the middle that puts out plenty of noise and smoke. This is connected by a main axle to front and rear gearboxes that control the limbs and head. His front legs are very slightly larger than they would be on an actual dog; just enough to be noticeable. All four limbs terminate what appear to be the working ends of pipe wrenches. The head is a cylinder about six inches in diameter and eight in length, with a three-inch-diameter round lens mounted in a hole cut in the front end.

[Cirtur]

Julian arrives at the police station. He pauses for a moment, then enters. It is a surprisingly small room that turns out to be the porch. He opens the next set of doors to a hive of activity. Julian approaches the nearest desk and shows the photos of the boy.

"Do you know this child?"
"What do I look like, a -" the policeman hesitated, unable to decide exactly what it was he didn't look like - "find a door, kid. I'm protecting and serving."

Somewhere in the background, another cop can be heard saying to somebody on the other end of a telephone cable, "yeah, some kid and his mother. Hospital. Could be. Yeah, I'm going." Julian leaves the man's desk, and finds a payphone. He rings a cab and waits outside. Ten minutes later, the cab arrives.

"The hospital."

[Oldrac the Chitinous]

The reception area to the hospital is a spacious, well-lit room. A handful of benches and chairs made of old unfinished wood and new pale blue vinyl, are scattered around the room, in various stages of disrepair; the same might be said of the dozen or so patients sitting on them. When the boy passes, a few of them look up impassively for a moment, then return to staring at the floor. There's a desk at the end of the room, next to the doors that lead to the hospital proper, and the boy's mother is behind that desk, whispering into a telephone. On the other side of the door, the displaced receptionist and the nurse with the questions both look a little impatient.

Police sirens can be heard outside, but they're far away. They could be going anywhere.

William hadn't told the officer more than a couple sentences before his partner showed up at his side and jerked his head toward the staircase. "That's everyone out, 'cept this guy. Get rid of him and you can start detecting, detective."
Cross sighs, closes his notebook, and says, "yeah. Tell you what, Mister P. Stop by the station tomorrow 'round noon, we'll get the rest of the story then. Ask for Rugby Cross, remember that."

About a mile downstream - away from the city - from the Queen of Spades is the spot where Jimmy had set up camp a couple weeks ago, prior to arriving at the resort. Having nowhere better to go, he ran off in that direction. It was a good spot: right near the water, game in the forest, and a short walk from the rail bridge to Kansas.
A little while later, the campsite was in view. This happened sooner than it might have otherwise because the fire was lit. The moon's not out tonight, so the fire is the only source of light around at the moment. The profiles of two men are visible in front of the fire, and next to each man is an automatic rifle.

[LordRetard]

John knows that the best thing that could happen right now is if the police get here before the murderer does, and he's in no mood to smooth-talk a cop tonight. He gets off of the truck and quickly catches up to the driver. "Listen," he says, in his indoor voice. "I guess you don't really know what just happened here, I certainly don't, but I can tell you that what we just did doesn't look good on either of us. Someone killed two people tonight and now we're involved, so our best chance is to disappear for a bit. Besides," he says, "I don't know how much money you're looking at but I can tell you there's a better way. Someone's got to have grabbed that woman's purse and if we find them they oughta pay enough to feed your car muffler for a couple of days. And they won't get far."

[Edminster]

"Look, I just want to make sure the Lady's okay, alright? After I do that, we can go ahead and take our leave. Won't take no more'n ten minutes, tops. Anyways, if somebody's gunning for us because we tried to help out some poor kid, a Hospital is the best place to get shot. So if you'll excuse me, I've got a distraught dame to track down."

Eddie wanders in the general direction of Admissions, looking for someone on duty to point him in the right direction.

[dinnsdale]

As Jimmy makes his way towards his old encampment, he spots a couple of mugs holding some machinery. He slows down a bit and squints to get a better look at them.

[LordRetard]

"Oh come on," he says. "She's just going to end up killing herself. Don't even worry about it." He looks around, then says, "You better not be trying to set me up." He reluctantly follows.

[Cirtur]

Julian exits the cab without paying, because he's never had to pay for it before and he doesn't think he should now. Surprisingly the cabbie does not share this opinon.

"What the fuck're ya doin'?" he shouts in a Brooklyn accent. Julian pulls out his knife and gets an shot of knowledge from his pelvis.

"You want to go back to Andrea, you Yankee piece of shit?" He pulls the cab driver closer by his shirt. He whispers into his ear.

"Wh-wh-what?" says the cabbie.

"I said, leave."

"Sure, sure."

Julian steps into the hospital, the light from the outside silhouettes him perfectly as he gazes forward, ready for the world. Then someone pukes on him.

[Oldrac the Chitinous]

William:
By the time you've left the main exit to the resort, the only cars left in the parking lot belong to the police.Walter, your driver, is already holding the door to your car for you. As you step in, he says, "Home, sir?" and, taking your silence as assent, he walks around to the other side of the car and lowers himself into the driver's seat.
He doesn't speak again until you're halfway through the city. Then, he says, "Sir, do you know that green car behind us? I think we're being followed."

BJW and Ed:
The woman finishes her phone call in a hurry and walks around the desk. Her eyes are red and her face is daubed with blood and runny makeup, but otherwise she's the picture of very composure. She holds up one finger in the direction of the increasingly impatient nurse, and looks at the two of you. "Something you wanted? Time ain't cheap, least of all for we three."

Jimmy:
You still can't make out any details on the irons, so you take a few cautious steps closer to get a better view. You move quietly, but loudly enough to cause the man on your right to glance over his shoulder. He sees you, and both he and his companion pick up their guns and point them in your direction; the first takes a couple steps forward. His voice is a rich baritone- the kind that you have to train - but it sounds oddly distant,it's accompanied by a soft hissing, as though you were hearing him over the radio: "You! Who are you, and why are you here?"

[LordRetard]

Aside, to Ed: "What did I tell ya? That should be our cue to bah-mah-nose."

[Edminster]

"Just wanted to make sure that you were alright, Miss. Do ya have somebody you can call for a lift home? If not, we can maybe provide you with some transportation. It's the least I can do and still feel good about myself."

[dinnsdale]

Jimmy instinctively raises his hands.

"Hey, I don't want any trouble, see. Just checking on my old campsite, yeah? You fellas go ahead and use it, yeah? Where you from? Maybe I can help, if you need help, that is."

He pauses. "Nice jacket."

[Lethal Interjection]

Phentermine instructs his driver to pull into the next alley or side-street and stop.

"It could be dangerous, or it could be a lead. We'll just have to judge the intent of my would-be stalker."

Fredericks assents and pulls into a poorly lit alley between two buildings.

[Oldrac the Chitinous]

Ed and BJW:
The lady smiles. "That's sterling of you for sure. Let me have five minutes and I'll take you up for it. And my name's Emily." She takes the intake paperwork from the nurse, sits on one of the benches, and starts to write. It takes her about three minutes to fill out; when she's done, she folds it in half and returns it to the same nurse, who doesn't look happy about what's written on it. But Emily is already halfway across the room; she says, "all right, let's split."
The sirens sound like they're closer than they were before.

Jimmy:
For a moment, the two gunmen just keep their weapons pointed at you. Then everything goes white.
When your vision returns, you can see that the right eye of the gunman in the rear is projecting a beam of dazzling white light that moves slowly down your body. His features (except for the eye itself) are visible now, looking pale in the intense light. He's got a roman nose, a coarse black moustache, and a round scar on the left side of his face. He's wearing a closed slate-colored uniform jacket with brass buttons over dirty trousers of a similar color. His companion is dressed similarly and also has black hair, but his face is still impossible to see.
The light reaches your feet, then shuts off abruptly, and you can only see outlines again. The soldier with the lantern eye lets his rifle hang by his side and puts a hand on the barrel of his companion's. After a moment, the other soldier lowers his gun, too, and speaks again. "Ah, you were camping here before? That is very well. My name is Mark, and this is Bert. We are traveling to the city."

William:
The unknown green car follows you into the alley and stops. The two rear doors open, and a man with a suit and a revolver steps out of each. One of them heads directly to the front of your car on the driver's side. He opens the door, and waves his gun to indicate that Fredericks should step out. The other, a ham-faced man with tiny eyes and a few wisps of hair emerging from a hat that's several sizes too small, taps on your window.
"Thanks, friend. No need to make things difficult, right? Why don'tcha open 'er up, and we'll go for a ride, huh?"