"I look forward to hearing it.
"Hey, do you need help with the vittles? I mean, you are a wonderful cook, but you've got so much else to do now with the boys in trouble--and when I was in college, I got paid to do short order and cafeteria cooking, so that makes me a professional, even it's longer ago than I want to think. I also cooked for my family for a couple decades before I wound up on this crazy adventure, and I've cooked for myself a fair amount since. So consider me a spare pair of hands in the kitchen if you need 'em, even if it's only to wash a few pots and dishes."
--M. J. Young
"Gosh, M.J., that's kind of you! But what I'd really like is if you could finish feeding these chickens and then fetch some water from the well. I just haven't had the time and I need to get started on dinner before it gets too late."
"You know, Daisy, my grandmother raised chickens, and I saw her feed them--once, when I was about nine years old. I have no idea how to feed them. But I'm a quick study, and if you want to show me what has to be done, I'll do it."
I presume I know where the well is. Does it have a hand pump, or do I have to lower a bucket? I'm surprised that they're using a well, but I'll address that another time.
Anyway, if Daisy shows me how to feed the chickens, I'll (add it to my skill sheet and) do that and then get the water.
--M. J. Young
Daisy shows you how to feed the chickens - it basically consists of throwing food scraps and grains amongst them. (I'm not even going to roll and give you 1@3 Chicken Care)
The well has a hand pump but a few strokes tells you it isn't working properly - the handle flops up and down with no friction - but there is a bucket and rope. The water has the sulphury smell you've become used to. There is a plastic cannister to carry the water into the house with.
When you go in, you notice the table is set for four.
As I deliver the water, I ask Daisy if that will be enough or should I go for more. Then (whatever her answer) I say, "Are we expecting company, or did I miscount?"
If she wants more water I'll go for that, otherwise, "What else can I do?"
--M. J. Young
She wants you to fill a large fibreglass cistern set in the corner. It will take several trips from the well.
Daisy says, "Yes, I invited Deputy Enos from the Sheriff's Office. I wanted to talk to him about Cousin Bo and Cousin Luke."
She chats with you while you fill the cistern and she makes supper. (Feel free to flesh out the conversation if you wish). After a while, a clean and freshly painted patrol car drives up to the farm house.
"So, Bo and Luke are your cousins, not your brothers, and Jesse is your uncle--is he their father, or are we missing two sets of parents? And Jim-Bob is also an uncle, or is he father to someone here? Is he Jesse's brother, or are they related through a marriage somewhere? Sorry to ask all these personal questions, but it helps avoid embarrassing gaffs if I already know how people are connected."
"So, what are we making for dinner?"
"Tell me about this Deputy Enos. Why him, and not the sheriff? Is he kin, or close friends or something? Is there some reason why you might be better able to influence him, or does he have more pull than a deputy ordinarily might?"
"So, a pretty girl like you must have a lot of suitors. Anyone special?"
--M. J. Young
"No, Uncle Jesse is uncle to Bo and Luke as well. We're actually missing three sets of parents, since Bo and Like are cousins to each other as well. Jim-Bob isn't related to us, he's just a friend of the clan."
"We're having meat pie."
"Enos is a sweetheart, not like Sherrif Coltraine who is Boss Hogg's lap-dog. Enos is a bit sweet on me so he sometimes does me favours. But no one else 'special'. I think maybe my uncle and cousins intimidate possible suitors."
Perhaps a bit flirtatiously, I say, "So, Deputy Enos is my competition, ey? I'll have to make sure he doesn't catch on--it won't help Bo and Luke or any of us if Enos thinks you're sweet on me.
"Anything else I can do to help with supper? I've done a fair amount of cooking--well, I told you that, and truthfully, you do wonders with the food here.
"So, if I'm not prying or poking at open wounds, how did it happen that you lost three sets of parents? Were they killed in the rebellion, or were you kids sent away in the rebellion for participation but they weren't--no, that's right, you three were born here, right? So your parents died after they got here. It seems a bit, what, coincidental? That all three of you should have lost your parents but Uncle Jesse still be alive."
--M. J. Young
She gets you helping with the potatoes. She ignores your flirtatious comment but she blushes and busies herself with food preparation. "My parents died in a car wreck. Bo's were killed during a clan feud and Luke. Well, Luke's parents are missing. They're homestead was hit by the HOWards and have never been seen since."
If we've already mentioned the HOWards (I don't remember them, but perhaps my character does) then I won't pursue that; otherwise, I'll ask who they are and whether that feud extends to this household. It's a matter of assessing the threats, I say.
I'll also apply my 2@7 Cooking skill to the relatively simple task of helping with potatoes.
Conversationally, I ask, "So, what other fellers have expressed an interest in the heart and hand of our dear Daisy?"
--M. J. Young
HOWards have been mentioned before. They seem to be some kind of barbaric bandits that mostly live up north but occasionally raid in the area.
"Oh, none in a while. The boys've chased most of 'em off and I don't get to town much."
You do an expert job on the potatoes and get them started. Everything is cooking when there is a knock at the door.
Daisy rushes to the door and greets Deputy Enos. He bashfully hands over some flowers (valiantly trying not to wilt too badly) and removes his hat as he enters. He is surprised and speechless when he sees you standing in the kitchen doorway.
Daisy introduces you. "Enos, this is Emjay. He works up at RBW and helps out here on weekends. Emjay, Deputy Enos."
I've given up the accent by now, and although I'm tempted to slip back into it for appearances I figure it's not worth the effort.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir; what should I call you?
"I'm afraid I'm not that much help on the farm; Jesse is hurting pretty bad without the boys. But I'm not too bad in engineering, they tell me, and I do know how to cook and can certainly wash pots and peel potatoes, so Daisy lets me lend a hand here. They were kind enough to give me a place to stay when I arrived a few weeks back I'm thinking that that's about how long I've been here, adjust if that's inaccurate and I don't know too many folk yet so I tend to come here when I'm not working and try to help them keep things together as much as I can.
"Anyway, Daisy said you were joining us for dinner and she wanted to do something special, so I've been lending a hand--I'd better get back to my potatoes, as I wouldn't want a distraction to ruin even a small part of dinner."
--M. J. Young
Deputy Enos is too shocked to take your hand at first but suddenly realizes that he's just staring and quickly removes his deputy hat and grasps your hand and pumps it vigourously.
"Name's Enos Strate. Call me Enos. Very nice to meet 'cha."
You head back into the kitchen but you can hear his talking to Daisy.
"I'm really sorry about Bo and Luke, Daisy. Why did they go and done steal that car? They knew they was on probation!"
Daisy explains briefly about the race they wanted to enter and pleads with Enos to talk to Boss Hogg about freeing them so they can get the crops in and pay their mortgage. Enos wavers, wanting desperately to help Daisy but knowing he holds no sway over his boss.
They soon join you in the kitchen. Daisy checks on the pie, banging the oven door loudly in her frustration, and stirs the gravy while not speaking to Enos.
Enos is evidently uncomfortable and says to you, "So, what's new at RBW these days?"
"Well, Enos, I don't know how much of this is still secret and how much has been announced, so I'll just have to trust that you won't say much about it--but we built ourselves a machine that runs on beer, and it looks like we can adjust just about any engine around here for that, with a bit of modification. It's really put hope in RBW, since there wasn't much point in building machines to run on gasoline when there wasn't much of that around.
"As to the boys--you know, I talked to them about that car thing before they did it. They said they were being hired to repossess the thing on behalf of a seller that hadn't been properly paid. Now I figure that means either they were on a legitimate job, recovering what amounts to stolen property on behalf of the rightful owner, or they were set up by someone who wanted them locked up.
"Oh--I guess I didn't mention that I did pick up a couple of degrees and got a bit of experience--worked as a judge for a while, one of the places I visited. So I know a bit about the law. But I'm not here to tell you your job. I just think that if someone hired them to repossess the car, and didn't have the right to do that, then they're the victims here, and we've got to figure out how to prove the guilt of the mastermind behind the thing. You'd probably know more about that kind of thing than I.
"Daisy, what was the name of that fellow," and I can feel myself slipping into the accent as I converse with them, "That the boys said hired them for this repo job? Something's amiss, clearly, and they've managed to land in the middle of it, innocent victims of some scam someone's trying to pull. Foolish of them to have let themselves be dragged in, but they were promised quite a bit of money for the job as I recall, and it doesn't seem fair that two boys who were promised an honest day's pay for an honest day's work should wind up in jail because the one who made the promise was a liar and a cheat, does it?"
--M. J. Young
Enos looks apologetic and wrings his hands along the brim of his deputy hat. "That's what them boys said when we picked them up. But it weren't the car that they repo'd that was reported stolen. We caught them in another car entirely - the stolen one. There were sure sore about it."
"Wait a minute. They were trying to get something together for some upcoming race, and they went out and repo'd a car, all quite legitimate, and then they were arrested driving a different car that was stolen? Did they say where they got it? I mean, those boys just have the--what do they call it? The General Lee, and that's been theirs for quite a while, 'far as I know. So if they were driving a different car, well, did they buy it, or is that what they were given as payment for the repo job? I know that it's a crime to receive stolen property--but it's also the case that if you buy something that you didn't know was stolen, you're protected. They call that, what do they call that? An innocent third party purchaser, and it means that unless there was clear reason for them to know that the car was stolen, and if they paid good money for it or received it in satisfaction of a debt (as being paid their wages would be), then it's their car, according to the law, or someone has to pay them the value.
"Again, though, I'm not telling you your job. I'm just trying to figure out how they got into this mess when all they went to do was repossess a car which you say was a perfectly legitimate job performed in a perfectly legitimate way. Where did this other car come from?"
--M. J. Young
Daisy perks up considerably. She gives you a glance over her shoulder, peeking around her long hair, and gives you a smile.
Enos says, "All I know is that Ace Parker reported his car stolen to the Sherrif. When we found it, Bo and Luke were driving it."
I have this 1@4 Perfect Memory (reflexive mind reading) P1@1 skill. If it's successful, then I'm going to remember the details that I am putting in italics below; if it doesn't work, then those are not included.
"So then, let me see if I got this straight. The boys, they want to run in this Sludge River race, and Ace Parker's got an engine they think they can use for it. But he wants a lot for it--500 bottlecaps--and they don't have it. But he says they can use the engine for the race for less, 200 bottlecaps, if they repossess this Rolls car for him. So they do it. Next thing, they're arrested driving one of Ace's cars. Where's the engine? Now, I'm thinking that Ace put the engine in that car, and told them they could borrow the engine, and the only way they could see to get the engine to the General Lee was to drive it there. But what was Parker thinking? Either he was thinking that they had some other way to remove that engine and take it home, or he was thinking that he had them over a barrel, that he could get them to do his work for him and pay him the two hundred he wanted and then get them arrested when they attempted to take the engine by saying they stole his car. And the boys, they're not all that bright I think, but they could see that they were in trouble, because they had the right to take the engine, but maybe they didn't have the right to take the car, and they probably couldn't prove it either way. After all, they were relying on Ace Parker to be a man of his word, and it seems that his word was to call the police as soon as they tried to collect their promised pay.
"Well, I don't know whether any of that is right or true, other than what the boys told me they were expecting before they went into this mess, but I would say that this opens a whole other line of inquiry in the current matter, certainly creates reasonable doubt that the boys did anything illegal, and might mean we've got the wrong party in custody. But I'm sure you'll be able to get to the bottom of the matter with your professional detecting skills just as soon as you've enjoyed some of Daisy's fabulous cooking."
Footnote: I looked up the details in this post, because I couldn't remember them. The italics represent those details I did not remember myself and did not get from conversation (I think it's reasonable that when Ace Parker's name was mentioned I'd have recognized that it was mentioned before, with or without the skill).
--M. J. Young
Enos hesitates, knowing he's going to have to take this up with his boss, the Sherrif. He glances at Daisy, who has her hands together in front of her and has a pleading look on her pouting lips.
"I- I'll look into it for you. Per-perhaps there's been some misunderstanding," he says.
Daisy whoops. "Enos, you are so sweet to do this!" She wraps him in an enormous hug and gives him a big kiss on the cheek. Enos turns bright red and is completely tongue-tied as Daisy sits him down at the table and hurries to get dinner on the table.
She'll thank me later, I'm sure. No sense confusing poor Enos.
I'll lend a hand with whatever Daisy says needs to go to the table, unless she says it's me, in which case I'll get a quick washing (since I've been cooking) and settle in my usual seat (unless that's where Enos is, in which case I'll just ask where I should sit).
Once seated, I'll pick up the conversation.
"I'm glad to see that the law is in such intelligent and capable hands. So, what other cases are you investigating at present, if I might inquire?"
--M. J. Young
"Oh, just keeping the peace mostly. It's pretty quiet round these parts, normally. Did you say earlier that you done got a car to run on beer? Man, I bet once Boss Hogg hears about that he's gonna snap up all o' the hops and grain farms hereabouts. Probably any farm at all, really. Could you pass the potatoes?"
Daisy chokes a bit on her carrots.
When Daisy chokes, I'm going to attempt my 1@4 Read Minds P1@1 (BRA 2@7, bias, if it matters, 6@) to see if I can figure out why she reacted that way. (I would ask, but she tried to stifle her reaction, so I'm guessing she doesn't want Enos to realize what she's thinking.)
I pass the potatoes. "Hope you enjoy them. Daisy is quite a cook.
"As I say, I'm pretty new to these parts. Who is this fellow, Boss Hogg? Is Boss his name or some kind of title?
"What I wonder, though, is, you say he would snap up all the farms around here. That's interesting, but then, I can't imagine Jesse, for example, selling. After all, he might be struggling to get by on the farm, but what else can he do? Is someone going to give him enough money for it that he can retire and leave a legacy for his nephews and niece? I'm sure Jesse isn't the only farmer hereabouts who would have a hard time figuring out what to do if he wasn't farming. Or does this Hogg fellow have some sort of leverage in banking or something?"
--M. J. Young
You attempt to reach Daisy's mind, reaching through the psychic fog that seems to persist, and lose your way.
Enos hands Daisy a glass of water and reaches over to pat her firmly on the back. She recovers, looks in your direction and registers surprise. She looks around, back to the kitchen and shrugs to herself. Enos also looks at you funny but blankly, not meeting your eyes.
"Say, Daisy," says Enos a little quietly and shyly. "I don't got to work Tuesday night. Why don't you come by the Boar's Nest."
"Oh, I don't know..." says Daisy.
"I can tell you how it went with talking to Roscoe about the boys."
"Well then, Enos, I'd love to see you there."
"I heard they's also looking for a waitress again, in case you're needing money."
"Thank you, Enos, you're very sweet."
(Dice roll for mind reading=94, which turns out to be a botch. Let's make up a table:
1=brain burn
2=set the table on fire
3=broadcast thoughts
4=switch brains with Daisy
5=Unconscious
6=Mind-meld with Daisy
7=Random, uncontrolled use of TK Pulse
8=Levatate everything on table
9=Invisibility by suggestion
10=Summon swarm of small creatures
And the roll is: 9)
What an interesting botch list. I seem to have gotten off easy. As a player, I'm assuming they can't here me, either, since this sort of psionic invisibility is usually a mental block to the presence of the other. As a character, of course, I'm not aware of what has happened, so it won't impact me.
"I'll find out from Daisy whatever you tell her, probably when I come back next weekend. They don't need a cook, do they? They could do a lot worse than Daisy for a cook."
--M. J. Young
They chat for a while longer, ignoring you entirely. Enos eventually has Daisy laughing away at some funny remark.
Eventually, Daisy looks around again and says, "I hope Em-Jay's all right. He's been gone for ages."
Enos says, "It was very rude of him to leave without excusing himself. If he is unwell he might be in the outhouse. Do you want to take a walk and see if he is feeling poorly?"
She agrees, he offers his arm and they walk out into the warm night.
I certainly by this point realize that I've managed to botch myself invisible. The first question is, am I invisible only to them or will I be invisible to everyone else as well? The second question is, will it wear off or do I have to fix it?
The way to get the answer to the first question is to find Uncle Jesse. If he can see me, then it's something I did to them, not something I did to me. I'm sure he's here somewhere, so I'll go looking for him.
--M. J. Young
You find Uncle Jesse working in one of the hydroponic barns. He is trying to fix one of the pumps, which is still mounted in an old dishwasher. When you come in he stops banging away inside and comes out to wipe the sweat out of his eyes. His hands are filthy with grease but it doesn't stop him from grabbing a half-eaten sandwich and taking a bite. You try to make yourself known but he ignores you entirely and takes a hearty swig out of a nearby jug of Duke moonshine. He goes back to his work.
(Dice roll: GE=24)
Well, it occurs to me that this could be serious. I wonder, though, just how serious.
I'll try to avoid being injured by his work while at the same time trying to get a look at the problem. My hope is that I can see what needs to be done and lend a hand to help fix it. He might not ever know I helped, but then he might realize that something is helping, and that might break the problem.
If I can't see what to do, I'll go wash up somewhere. I'll leave Daisy a note on the kitchen table, apologizing that I suddenly didn't feel well and decided I'd better get some rest. She hasn't forgotten my existence, so she'll probably be able to see the note.
Then I'll go to bed. At this point I'm hoping to wait the thing out. If it's still trouble tomorrow, I might have to attempt to work a fix--but then, I'm not entirely certain what I broke.
If there's a mirror somewhere handy, I'm going to look into it to see whether I can see myself. That might not prove anything, but it's a start. Also, I would think that by now if I were actually transparent or something, I would have noticed that I can't see my own hands--but I'll check to be certain. Also, when I change for bed I'll take a look to see whether the clothes I remove look different from the clothes I don. I don't think I'll make any attempt to contact anyone dressed in different clothes, because if they can see the clothes and not me that's going to be a worse situation than I'm thinking.
In the morning I'll dress in the same clothes and head down to breakfast, and see whether I can be seen then, and what I learn. In particular, if I still can't be seen I'm going to want to look for some sign that someone read my note.
--M. J. Young
The pump is on the inside of the washing machine so it is extremely difficult to see what he is doing.
You can see yourself without problem, and your clothes don't look any different.
In the morning, no one registers your presence but Daisy reports to her uncle that you suddenly felt ill and went to bed. Uncle Jesse asks her if she's checked on you and she thinks that's a good idea. She jumps up and goes to your room and knocks gently on the door but gets no answer so returns to the kitchen and reports that you must still be asleep.
O.K., it's serious. I've somehow blocked all recognition of my existence from their minds, I would guess--no, they know I exist, but they can't see me or hear me, even when they expect me to be there.
Well, there are a lot of possibilities here. I think, though, that the first thing I'm going to do is learn more. I will leave a note on Daisy's door saying I left early for RBW, and then I will grab my travel stuff and head out there. The question is whether whatever is wrong is an effect on them or an effect on me. If the RBW people can't see me, then I have to fix something that's happened to me; if they can, then either it wore off or it's something that happened to my hosts. Either way, I will then know where the problem is, and I can start trying to analyze how to fix it.
--M. J. Young
You walk to RBW without incident. No one on the road nods or waves to you, and when you get to the gates at RBW, the guards ignore you entirely.
Blast. It seems that I must be invisible. Since I can see myself, and it's unlikely that I would both have made myself transparent and given myself the ability to see transparent objects, it makes the most sense to conclude that I am radiating some sort of mental block power, that people cannot see me because I am preventing them from doing so.
That also suggests that they won't be able to notice when I do things, at the time that I do them. I would try calling someone on the phone, to see whether they can hear me if I'm not near them, but there are no phones here that I've seen, so that's not a good choice.
While I'm thinking of how to fix this, I'm going to have to let a few people know about the problem. I'm also thinking that this has potential, but I'm not certain what.
I'll go to whatever constitutes my office space and find a writing implement and something on which to write. Then I will compose this message:
Billy Bob:I'll put the note on Billy Bob's desk, and then take a look around the place, to see what's happening with all our projects.I was tinkering with something and seem for the moment to have rendered myself both invisible and inaudible. I am working on reversing it.
Meanwhile, it has occurred to me that I'm in an excellent condition to do a bit of corporate espionage, if there's any to be done. If you need someone to drop in on some competitor and spy on what they're doing, you'll need to get me a note giving me the details. Remember, I can't ask anyone directions, because no one can see me or hear me, so you'll have to include exactly where I'm going, how I find the place, and what you hope to learn. I should be able to write up a report when I return, if I haven't fixed my problem yet.
--Emjay
--M. J. Young
Nothing much has happened over the weekend except for the pile of Bud's Suds beer cans has grown larger and the new hastily drawn maps drawn on hex paper stacked on one of the spare draughting tables.
You leave your note for Bob. When he finds it, he looks around warily and scratches his head. "Dang! Em-Jay? Are you standin' right here right now? Dang! Well, if you can hear me, there's nothin' I really need 'cept you helpin' Sammy with them dang legs. We can't have a fightin' robot without legs!"
Everyone in the office is looking at him and he tells them to get back to work. Then something occurs to him.
"Though I'd love a look at what they've scrounged over at Fred's EarthTech. Damn hillbilly's managed to find all the best stuff from the old world. But they're way the hell on the other side of Newark as you head towards Junkstone Mountain."
"This had better not be some dang trick to get paid while you nurse a hangover."
When he puts the note down, I write on it, starting with two slashes below what I wrote before:
---------------------------
-------------------------
No trick.I'll take a look at the leg problem, but then I'll head over to Fred's Earthtech and see what I can learn.
That's the plan. If I see something I can do to help with the legs I'll work on that (but gee, they've built these things before, so there must already be solutions to leg problems). Assuming I have done all I can before lunch, I'll start toward Newark and Junkstone Mountain beyond. Hopefully I can figure out the way.
--M. J. Young
They have not built legs for walking robots before - it is a completely new project for them.
You have a look at the leg design over Sammy's shoulder. He's got the basic structure sketched out, drawing power from the beer flywheel to power the local hydraulics, and is currently working on the stress analysis calculations on all the joints and struts. It is time consuming. There is also a big note scribbled across the drawing, "Control System? Feedback?"
You've worked with Sammy before and know that he could show you how to carry out the basic calculations to lighten his load a little.
Walking to Fred's will probably take 2 days, maybe 3.
I realize that they don't have computers here, but maybe I can sketch a few things that will help.
My first sketch is of feet attached to the ends of the legs. The feet extend forward and backward several feet--enough to provide leverage against which to push. They also extend outward, away from the center of mass, to provide support toward the outside.
The hydraulics attach to the feet such that pressure can be put forward or backward (some sort of alternate system is needed here, that the pressure equalizes between them) and a separate bar to press and release toward the outside.
The hydraulic controls should be attached to the operator's own feet and legs. The tilt of his own foot forward and backward will be translated to the pressure on the forward and backward parts of the extended foot, and lateral pressure to the outside when the foot is contact with the ground will push on the outer panel.
I was thinking of also sketching a gyroscope in a sphere, but that strikes me as more than I can do and possibly unnecessary. Instead, I want to create a plumb bob on a wire, in a clear cylinder of oil, with a crosshair target and concentric circles immediately below it. I notate this: it is placed above the operator, with a mirror below angled such that the operator can see exactly where the bob points on the target. Since the bob is suspended in oil, the oil will prevent it from swinging freely and so cause it to hang straight. The operator can observe whether the body is off center and compensate by shifting the support.
I sign this and leave it all on paper on his desk, and head for Fred's.
--M. J. Young
You leave your sketches and head over to the mess to gather supplies for your trip.
You spend the first night at the Duke Farm and the next day you follow the signposts on the road to Newark. You navigate through the town by using Mt. Junkstone as a landmark and soon find a signposted road to Fred's. In the distance there is a plume of black smoke and there is the smell of burning rubber in the air. It is approaching evening.
Again I am reminded to thank God that my asthma was repaired in Starsong. This kind of abuse would be terribly harsh otherwise.
I'll look for an unattended shed or something. I figure probably no one here will be able to see me, either, and I need some shelter for the night before I explore tomorrow.
--M. J. Young
You find a warehouse nearby. There are people coming and going and you easily walk through the open door unaccosted. It happens to be a warehouse storing large bins of chicken feathers, presumably for the pillow industry and you find a comfortable bed for the night.
The next day you head up the road and find Fred's as the source of the black smoke. It consists of a smallish building made out of the same type of building as a school portable. There is a warehouse type building at right angles to it. All this is surrounded by a fence of rusted corrugated iron and you can see the tops of some heavy machinery like a front end loader and bulldozer that have been cobbled together from random parts, car parts and whatever else they could find.
(GE=8)