My job is to get some idea of what they've scrounged. I'd like to know how they're managing to scrounge it, but the first thing is to get inside the fence and maybe inside the warehouse and look around. It shouldn't be too difficult to get into places like that with people coming and going, and someone's got to be coming or going for the business to operate.
Once I've gotten a bit of a look around, I'm going to keep an eye on the movements of people. I am hoping that Fred sends out crews to retrieve stuff, and I can follow one. It's possible that he doesn't do that, but that he has freelancers bring stuff to him--much less efficient, I would think, first because he has to haggle over price or risk losing stuff to the competition, second because he doesn't have as much control over the flow. But if that's what's happening, I'll pick someone who brings in a good load, and follow him out again. He might not take me to where he's scrounging, but he will at least give me a lead on the direction, and maybe if Fred is using Freelancers we can outbid him and get the stuff headed our direction.
I'm thinking that a plausible explanation is that there's a trove out here somewhere that's been discovered, and Fred has managed to get the stuff routed directly to him rather than to the auctions. On the other hand, it's possible that Fred has struck an under-the-table deal with someone at the auctions to route the best stuff to him directly, so he can buy it for less than the auction rate by paying a kickback to his insider. I don't know that the sheriff would much care about such activities, but I think RBW would.
--M. J. Young
You can get into the compound and the offices easily. The first thing you appreciate is that they have built a few pieces of purpose-built heavy equipment for scrounging. The front-end loader, bulldozer, and they also have a truck-mounted crane with grabbing jaws (like the famous toy-grabbing arcade "skill" game). These alone would speed the process immensely. They seem to be steam-powered and their fuel is old tyres. They give off the worst smelling blackest smoke you've ever experienced.
The offices are fairly quiet at the moment. Fred and a couple employees are sitting around drinking beer and chewing the fat. No scrounging teams at the moment but from listening to them you get caught up with the latest events of the World Wide Wrestling and the latest episodes on Real Dang Television.
The warehouse is locked up tight and no one has gone in or out all day.
(GE=16)
I'm embarrassed that it didn't occur to me to try to find a way of extracting oil from tires. Synthetic rubber is largely petroleum-based, I think, and certainly a complex hydrocarbon. I wonder if there's a way to get a better fuel from them than merely burning them.
I would not have thought there would be anything I would find less interesting than World Wide Wrestling, but it mught just be Real Dang Television, so I think I'll use this time to explore a bit. I could probably camp here for a few days. I mean, if the invisibility wears off that's all right, a good thing at an unfortunate moment, but it doesn't look like it's about to do that. My concern is to have food and drink and a place to sleep where I'm not going to be killed because no one can see me or captured because I became visible.
So in addition to trying to get a better understanding of what Fred's doing up here, I'm looking for food and beverage (not beer, if I can avoid it) and a reasonably comfortable place I might be able to sleep once they shut down for the night.
--M. J. Young
(Sorry for the erratic posting schedule. The term is nearing the end so assignments are getting more involved, projects are coming due, and soon: Exams. Bear with me.
GE=22.
You don't find anything to eat or drink that isn't beer or a version of potato chips and pork rinds. Besides lying on the desks, the floor, or outside there isn't even a storage closet that isn't piled up with some kind of junk - preventing you from finding a space to camp. Outside is fairly unpleasant due to the black smoke pervading everything, and the general junkheap landscape. There's always the pillow warehouse back in Newark, but it's a good hour and a half walk away.
As long as you're all right, I am not uncomfortable with your absences.
I'll grab up some of the potato chips, and wish I had brought a beverage with me. I'll search for running water somewhere in the building, or a pump or well in the yard. Potatoes are nutritious, and they probably didn't cook all the nutritive value out of them.
If there's a relatively clear desk I'll make a bed of it for tonight. If not, the floor will have to do. I expect that the place will be mostly empty for more hours than I am apt to sleep, and if someone trips over me in the morning they'll be confused and I'll be awake, so I'm not worried about it.
--M. J. Young
There is a barrel of water in the back. You camp a bit uncomfortably on the floor and are awake well before people arrive. Fred arrives first and puts on what passes for coffee on this planet. The others arrive and they greet each other grumpily, not being the cheerfullest bunch in the mornings. They speculate if any of the scrounger scouts will bring in any intel and wonder if they should send teams further north and risk HOWard attacks. Apparently they had a team vanish without a trace a few weeks back and it was hard on them.
I should probably take better notes. Do I know what the HOWards are?
It sounds as if Fred is getting his great stuff by going into the north country on the other side of Newark. (I'm not sure at this point how that relates on the compass--I'm inclined to say that RBW and the Duke farm are west of Newark and Fred's is east, but I can see the possibility that RBW and Duke are south and Fred is north, and the north country with the HOWards is beyond that. That would matter to my report, and it's something I could tell fairly easily, given that the sun has been visible during my travels at least on some days.)
I'll hang around another day to see if I learn anything else. Oh, I'll help myself to a cup of coffee when no one is near the pot, and leave the cup on someone's desk so that whoever's it is will take the blame for it. I take mine light and sweet, and in this world that's probably lighter and sweeter.
I'll also scrounge for food in the offices. They must eat something.
--M. J. Young
Yes, you know what the HOWards are. Way back when, the followers of High Octane Wrestling lost a feud and were exiled up north. Now they are barbarians that raid from the north.
The Duke farm is actually south of Newark. RBW is further to the east. Fred's is on the west side of Newark.
You get yourself a coffee. You make it sweeter but there's no milk so it doesn't get any lighter. You also find a couple of corn dogs.
Later on in the day a scrounging team returns with some stuff, nothing too interesting. They report that they were out west on the north slope of Junkstone mountain. The winds were from the east so the smoke from the Eternally Burning Fires weren't too bad. They didn't stray too far and didn't run into any HOWards.
The next day, however, a scout returns. He was a fair ways north. He could see The Great Heap on the horizon. The Fires were to his west, slightly south. He pulls out a few crystalline objects. "There's a vein of Earth-Tech, I'm sure. See these Tachyon Diodes! Sign with me and this claim'll make you rich, Fred! You can have them diodes for free, but I gots an Ionic Capacitor that'll run you a few hundred bottlecaps if'n yer int'rested."
Part of me thinks I've got the answer, but part of me wonders whether this prospecter is likely to give away his secret so readily.
I'm going to attempt to 1@4 Read Minds P1@1 to see what he's thinking as he's talking about all this.
If it appears that he's telling the truth here, I'm going to head back toward RBW.
--M. J. Young
As soon as you attempt to access your psionic skills you are struck with a sharp pain in your head. You suddenly feel your nose running with blood.
Fred looks right at you in shock and yells, "Who in Hell is that guy!?"
I put a completely flabbergasted look on my face and say, "Wail, hot dang, looks lahk ol' Buford warn't lyin after all. That telly-porty-thingy really does work. Kin any o' you gennelmen tell me where in blue blazes ah am, an which way Sardis is from heah?"
--M. J. Young
"Who in tarnation is Buford, and where in Sam Hill is Sardis!!?" he yells at you.
"You don't know Bu--you don't know Sardis?!? Well, hot darn, he reely did it t' me this tam. Am Ah still on Joisey? Ah bet he done sent me half way roun' the world. Crazy tinkerer, what am Ah s'posed to do now? Betty Sue's gonna be mad when Ah'm not home fo' dinnah. If ya'll will 'scuse me, Ah'd betta fahn' mah way t' someone who knows how Ah kin git home. Kin someone point me t' th' doah?"
--M. J. Young
"How did you get here? What is this telly-porty-thing you mentioned?"
You never heard of no tely-porty-thingy? Buford said they used them in something called Star Trek, which was some kinda document tree about the space program? He said he'd watched all the episodes, and figgered out how they did it, so he built one. Said he was gonna send me to the store at the corner. Ah guess he missed."
--M. J. Young
Everyone just stares blankly at you for a second. Then Fred says, "Look, just get out of here." He points to the door.
I stand stupidly for a moment, then slap my chest as if checking my pockets as I say (retaining the accent), "Oh, right--thank you, sorry to intrude." I start toward the door and add, "Can anyone tell me which way to go to get to a town that might be able to point me toward home?" I keep moving toward the door, but slow down a bit as if I'm interested in the answer.
--M. J. Young
"It's signposted to Newark!" calls Fred over his shoulder, irritated.
I toss off a quick "thanks" as I head out the door.
I'll head back to the Duke farm; hopefully I can reach it by nightfall. I won't enter the house or get too close to it if it looks like everyone has gone to bed, but will bed down nearby and catch them at breakfast. If it's early enough for dinner, I'll apologize for crashing unexpectedly and ask if there's anything I can do to help.
I'll also want to apologize to Daisy, but let's start with what happens as far as the trip.
--M. J. Young
You walk back to the Duke farm but it is very late at night by the time you top the hill and see the farm house. Everyone is sleeping and you find your bed without trouble.
You wake early when you hear the house stirring. When you arrive in the kitchen you find Jesse, Bo and Luke all sitting at the table talking animatedly about the day's chores while Daisy makes breakfast.
An extra hand around the farm is much appreciated and Daisy could use help getting the cornbread into the oven.
I first apologize to Daisy for my unceremonious disappearance a few days back. I tell her it's a bit complicated to explain, but I'll try to tell her all about it one day. I can help with breakfast, but I'm expected back at RBW, so I'll be leaving mid morning.
I also ask the boys about their release. Obviously I know some of the initial details, but I'm curious how it played out from there. I'm sure that that deputy has been over to garner accolades for cracking the case and getting the boys home, so Daisy will have some of the story as well.
Once I've heard the story, helped with and eaten breakfast, and helped clean up the kitchen a bit, I'm headed on to RBW.
--M. J. Young
It turns out that, yes indeed, Deputy Enos was responsible for getting the Duke Boys out of jail. Daisy is extremely thrilled with him at his heroics at standing up to Boss Hogg. Now, the have to buckle down and try to make up lost time in getting the crops in order. That 5000 bottlecaps isn't going to make itself!
You get to RBW after quitting time. You find the engineering team playing their Family Feud RPG/Wargame. They ask where you've been. It turns out they have used your idea of the pendulum to help in the control system of the robot.
"I've been spying. Slipped into Fred's unseen, and eavesdropped on some conversations there. So, does the plumb bob dohickey work?"
I explain to them that Fred is taking stuff from the north, territory controlled by the HOWards, some place called Junkstone Mountain, but apparently rich in untapped technology. He's got freelance scavengers going up there and bringing him stuff. Also, they've built a few bits of machinery to help the scrounging--front end loader, backhoe, jawed crane, that kind of thing, all using steam power. I hadn't thought of that--a good Watt steam engine could do a lot of work around here, and probably we can get enough heat burning garbage to make it work. Unfortunately, although I grasp the principles of the thing, I've never seen one up close and don't know that I could build it. Fred seems to be burning tires for fuel--terrible smell, terrible smoke, but it gets the job done. There's probably a way to refine oil from those things, but I haven't been able to find any books on chemistry and it's really not my field.
That's my report.
--M. J. Young
The plumb bob idea works great. They used a spare rear-view mirror and Jim-Bob's glass-bottomed beer stein. Otherwise things are progressing nicely on the designs. They will probably be ready to get a prototype for testing in 2 or 3 weeks if they have good luck with the salvage.
They pooh-pooh steam power now that they've got the beer engine working. But some mechanized salvaging would go a long way to helping out RBW.
You were also working on digging up electrical components for an electrical weapon but so far have had no luck in the landfills.
Do you mean that I personally was digging around in the landfills, or that RBW was doing so?
I can't help wishing I had a metal detector or ground radar or something of the sort. But then, the components for such a thing are exactly what I want to use the thing to find. Still, it's not impossible that I could find such devices trashed, and figure out how to make them work. I did get some advanced training in electronics in Japanada, so I might be able to figure out such a thing.
Do we have any specific ideas on how the weapon ought to work?
--M. J. Young
You were doing a lot of scrounging for RBW before going on on the errand to the auction and to check out Fred's. The Dark Lord is working on the weapons system for the robot fighting machine (which is a pair of arms holding an axe) and you suggested an electrical weapon:
Also, given the amounts and varieties of energies involved in this system, and the fact that the housings seem to be metal, is there a vulnerability here, that a pair of electrodes contacting different points on the housing and delivering a significant abrupt voltage might disrupt some of the circuitry, and whether that's a vulnerability in other machines that might be exploited.
I realize that if we're not going to be able to build generators, capacitors, or batteries, an electrical jolt weapon is going to be difficult at best. It's surprising to me, though, that with all the junk cars around we can't scrounge a few spare alternators (never really understood why they're not called generators anymore), and the old style distributor systems had a coil and capacitor that delivered quite a jolt when the points closed, which I suspect is still part of the process in newer engines, so maybe a bit of scrounging might get me the parts I need. In any case, while I'm measuring and scrounging, I'll keep my eyes open for those parts.
You've had bad luck so far coming up with parts in good condition, but that could change.
It occurs to me that I have not really paid attention to the biases here. I've tried a few tricks, but always very cautiously.
As I scrounge the dump, I'll move north through it, but I'm also going to try a few of these techniques:
1@4 TK Pulse P4@1 a few times (make it five rolls), to see if it works and how reliably.
1@3 Simple TK P4@2 to pick up objects (I'll try this five times, also).
1@2 Heavy Object TK P4@3 twice if the Simple TK never worked, five times if it did.
1@3 Marionette TK P4@6 once after that, on some object which has flexible parts like wires, just once.
1@1 Liquid TK P4@7 if I see a pool of water, once
1@1 Multiple Object TK P4@7 once, if any other telekinetic skill other than the pulse has worked.
I'll assess the results before making any other decisions.
--M. J. Young
As mentioned before, each time you attempt your skills if feels like you are mentally pressing through a fog.
Your TK Pulse works 3 times out of 5, on the fourth try the object vibrates slightly but doesn't actually move.
Your Simple TK manages to lift two objects out of 5.
You attempt to lift 5 Heavy Objects but you manage to lift none of them. On the fifth try things go very wrong. You hear a low buzzing that grows in volume. Suddenly the air is thick with black flies coming from all around. They seems to be attracted to you and land on you in the hundreds, crawling on your skin, in your eyes, ears, mouth. They are in your clothes.
I'll keep the actual numbers to myself so it's not too easy! The last one was a 98.
Botch List:
1=Brain Burn
2=Set item on fire
3=Crush object
4=Push object into ground
5=Unconscious
6=Turn object into psi material
7=Random uncontrolled use of TK
8=Levitate many objects around
9=Invisibility by suggestion
10=Summon swarm of insects
I do the first thing that comes to mind. I grab my guitar and start singing, to get them to ignore me:
- 1@5 Cause targets in area to not look directly at you M10@1 Diversion. Sing loudly "If you see me walking by, And a tear is in my eye, Look away, baby, look away. If I'm on the street someday And you don't know what to say, Look away, baby, look away. Don't look at me, I don't want you to see me this way." Using both hands to mime playing guitar. TF 30s, Duration 5 min. (+13SM)
1@5 Use Guitar for Magic Focus M1@1 adds +10 to spell use
If you think I don't have the guitar, I'll do the spell without it. BRA is 2@7, all music magic is holy magic, 2@1 religion (+11), 15@10 bias probably doesn't matter as I suspect it's a flatlined world.
--M. J. Young
I'll rule that you don't bring your guitar while salvaging because you want to be able to carry what you find back home.
You try to sing but the large, juicy black flies flood into your mouth and you can't get out any of the words. All you can hear is the buzzing. THE BUZZING!
(Dice roll=93)
O.K., I need to escape these things. I'm going to attempt 1@1 Non-corporeality P5@10. (BRA 2@7, bias 6@1)
--M. J. Young
Nothing happens. The mental fog is so dense you can't even access the ability.
I am looking for any body of water--a lake or river preferably, or a pool, but a mudhole is sufficient at this point. If I find one I'll go to it and leap in.
Barring that, I'm going to attempt to sing 1@4 Homeward Bound M12@4 Teleport Self Out 0:25 TF removes singer to home base -19SM.
--M. J. Young
You suddenly recall passing a doorless refrigerator lying on its back. A large amount of rainwater has collected in it. You hurry, stumbling over the uneven ground and jump into the murky, stagnant water. The flies immediately disengage but you stay under for as long as you can. When you finally lift your face up for air, the flies have gone.
(GE=9)
I thank God for that, and try to get the gunk from the refrigerator off me.
My thoughts are that it must be possible to do the heavy telekinesis, because I was able to activate some kind of power when I was trying. Psionics are difficult in this world, but then, I guess I need the exercise.
I will skip the heavy and go on with the marionette, liquid, and multiple object tests.
Also, assuming I do not botch again, I am going to practice my TK as I wander the dump by shifting random objects, using the various skills that seem to work.
--M. J. Young
Still soggy, you find a bashed up stereo with speakers still attached with wires and attempt the marionette skill. The parts shiver in place but do not dance. The liquid and multiple object skills, however, are unreachable in the psionic fog.
You practice your telekinesis as you scrounge. You manage to find a large altenator but there is a nasty burn mark on the coils. It would have to be completly re-wired, which is a lot of work even if you do have the copper wire available. You also can't carry it or drag it on your own.
(GE=14, scrounge skill=34)
That's a pretty large alternator if one person can't handle it. If I knew how to draw and coat wire, the copper alone would be able to make several alternators of the power I was envisioning.
I decide not to attempt to transport it by heavy TK; it's a longer trip than I might be able to manage even if I get it moving, and if I have to try multiple times I'm risking a botch.
How's my time doing? I'd like to be back to RBW for dinner (such as it is), but if I've got time I'm going to keep hunting a bit.
--M. J. Young
That's your big find of the day. You make it back to RBW in time for dinner (fried hot dogs on macaroni).
What are your plans for the week?
I will mention to them that I found a rather large alternator, badly burned but might have useful copper and such if they want to haul it back. I presume I can find it again.
I don't have any particular plans but to do some scrounging and practice the TK while I do it. I am also going to practice:
1@3 Location Centering P3@2 (which if memory serves enables me to identify my own position relative to other points, but I am not certain of this)
1@2 Internal Mapping P3@2 (which I believe enables me to scan an area and know where things are within it, but again I do not completely remember the details of it)
1@1 Clairaudience P3@5
1@3 Clairvoyance P3@6
1@1 Clairolfaction P3@7
1@1 Clairtactile Field 12" P3@8
I'll just use these while I'm exploring, to explore things farther afield.
--M. J. Young
1@1 Clairtactile Field 12" P3@8
Are those English inches or old-school gaming inches?