Latest / Dubious Creatures Presents / The Vampire With No Name 1.05 - Bucket of Blood

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The Vampire With No Name 1.05 - Bucket of Blood · Dubious Creatures Presents

0:28
The. A highway wanders through the
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desert. A tumbleweed drifts past a dusty
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dive bar. A coyote shrieks out to no one
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in particular. Someone's bleeding out in a
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bathroom stall. The stars tonight are bright,
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but not nearly bright enough. This place does not exist, and
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yet here you are. Welcome to Saint Arroyo Kindred.
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We here at Dubious Creatures present to you.
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The Vampire with no name. The Roll of Honour, or the roll
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to locals is well, it's a hole in the wall dive bar, not
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dissimilar to at least a dozen scattered throughout the city,
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not the Empire County. The role is a little different
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because the role is San Arroyo's dive bar.
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The local legend has it that it was in this spot.
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The Grim Bastards MC were originally formed in the wake of
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the Vietnam War. Or maybe that's just something
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the owners made-up to attract clientele.
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Nobody's really sure, but they are sure about how they get the
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name as you walk in. It's a small L-shaped room, the
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bar taking up 1 long corner of it, the other half dominated by
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little patched booths set up against a long wall of pictures,
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each one marked with a date. Underneath each one, a survivor
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of the infamous drinking contests sometimes take place
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here, and those that survived through that many shots of Saint
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Arroyo's signature liquor and lived to vomit another day.
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Currently, U5 entering seems to be one of the largest
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concentrations of people in the vicinity.
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There's a couple scattered late night clientele guy at the far
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corner of the bar and they're saying what looks like a seltzer
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glowers at you a bit before going back to his drink.
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An old kind of crackly TV over the bar here's to be showing you
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think it's a rerun of an old Pronghorns game.
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And most notably, far back there's a cluster rear for
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people all wearing Grim Bastards vests who appear to be in the
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midst of giving another toast before simultaneously slamming
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back shots. The woman at the bar, iron
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haired, stout, matronly woman with more ink on her arms than
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some of the bikers, kind of leans over, looks at you Ash,
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and says well hell, you didn't get enough last time darling.
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Practically killed me, but I'm tougher than that.
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I'll say you and Diego were tossing them back like someone
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was going to saw your leg off come morning.
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Well I had a lot to drink about but well came back.
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Needed some ash like makes a show clearing their throat.
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Not actually here for the vermello this time.
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Or something with actual taste. Well, you do realize this is a
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bar, yes? I mean, I do want something.
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It's just not liquor. Can we can we talk a little bit
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like they they sort of like gesture towards like the I don't
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know if there is a back to the roll of honor, but.
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There is, you know, they do have a sort of store room area.
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Give me a charisma manipulation plus persuasion as this
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bartender. She's looking at you, but she's
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also looking at some of your compatriots.
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I give her my best winning smile.
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OK, I'm gonna like. Can I use either I have one dot
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of famous face or the the looks Merrick?
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Would either one score me points here?
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Looks Merrick would. OK, 7 successes, which I I'm
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messy, critical though I'm not. Yeah, that's that's the boy.
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Did you want to keep the messy critical?
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You don't have to. Yeah, you know what?
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Let's try to re roll out of it. Well, now.
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The dice really wanted this to be a messy critical, so 6
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successes. As you lean on the bar, you feel
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almost instinctually, something radiate off of you like a heat
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wave, smoothing over the general social awkwardness, making this
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woman more pliable to an otherwise somewhat strange
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request. But as you do, you feel
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something in response churn in your gut.
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You go up to hunger. 4 You are, you know, you're starting to
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feel that gnawing in your belly that Ansel mentioned earlier.
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Ash is trying to ignore it, mostly because as they've as
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they've found recently, they are.
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They haven't found any. They haven't found their
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favorite meal yet. Every time they've drank,
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they've needed to really hold it down.
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And so there is AI think almost, they're trying to like, almost
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grind their teeth, like to stop from just like looking too
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hungry. If the bartender presses any of
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this, she doesn't show it. She throws a towel over one
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shoulder and says don't see why not.
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Hey Gabe. She calls to the man that was
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glowering at you before. Hold down to the Fort will you
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Make sure those boys in the corner don't get too rowdy.
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Gabe just nods but continues to give you all the prescription
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grades. Stink guy, why are we talking
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back? Sure thing.
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Ash follows and wait and waits until they are at least decently
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away from crowd and in the back before resuming conversation.
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Yeah, as that's happening, what are the, what are the four of
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you doing? Because, well, you are just kind
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of loitering at the moment. At least go up to the bar, take
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a seat and shout up the bartender.
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Well, currently the bartender is in the backroom with.
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Whoever is like watching over I guess.
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Yeah, this Gabe Bella, who you get a little bit closer to, he's
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maybe want to say he's younger than he thought he'd be.
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You want to say maybe mid 20s Latino, got very short, almost
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buzz cut style hair and he's just wearing jeans and a cotton
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shirt. Despite his relative youth, he
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looks like the sort of guy who's seen him in a lot of life, and
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he is rather notably, again nursing a seltzer water rather
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than actually drinking. I'm going to be a little bit
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more magnetic than usual and I'm going to activate awe as I sit
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down, smile at him and just say, how's your night?
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Can you give me a manipulation plus presence rule please?
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Or successes. OK, Gee, looks like he's about
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to glower at you, but then something happens and the
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expression softens just a tad. He just shrugs.
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It's fine. Well, let's see if we can do
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something to make it maybe a little bit better than fine.
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I'm Lee, by the way. Hi Gabe, and I'm on the clock.
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I mean, I don't think it's a chat.
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I don't get paid to chat. I guess I'll find some other
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company for a little bit. Yeah, you do though.
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OK. Astor just like next to Raleigh
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and doesn't engage with the bartender, just like more
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sitting there and just observing the people around her.
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Yeah. Anyone else doing anything?
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What's the? Music situation, the bar like.
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Like what's the? What's like what?
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What are they? Like is it like country that
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they're playing? Rock?
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Like what? What are they playing?
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It's some kind of country tune that you're not familiar with,
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filtering in through a very crackly speaker system mounted
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on the bar itself. It's fine.
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It's perfectly serviceable background noise does it.
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Have like a live music section. No, it's kind of looking around
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again, it's there's barely room to swing a yeah, there's barely
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room to swing a cat in here, in all honesty.
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And you can see those guys over at the most of the noise isn't
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coming so much from the speaker or the TV, but from those guys
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in the corner. As you watch, a woman comes out
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of what looks at the restroom, dark skinned, young, very good
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looking, much to the market appreciation of the bikers.
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And she sits down very close to one of the guys in the booth
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before immediately taken slamming down a shot herself.
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Looks like they're having some kind of private party over there
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that you weren't invited to. I, I think he's, he's just going
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to kind of linger. Meanwhile, in the storeroom.
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Well, so what's so urgent? Don't tell me you need bail
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money for Diego or something. No, no, nothing that dire.
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I wanted to. I'm working a little bit of a
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side hustle right now. I wanted to ask, I know this is
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probably a little bit of a touchy subject.
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A while back. I know you filed the restraining
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order against Michael Phillips. Oh yeah?
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How did you hear about that? Believe it or not, I it's just a
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long story there. There's a couple things, but
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you're the that whole ordeal came up.
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I know Michael was a ranting about something.
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Was he like off on hand drunk or was it like was this like real
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ranting? I know Mike, the Mike.
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That's what he, that's what they said they used to call him back
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when he worked on that radio show.
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He didn't take getting laid off very well, started drinking a
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lot. And well, when he wasn't
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drinking he was yelling. Mostly yelling about that'd be
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easier to listen to this subject material.
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He didn't have a grievance 1 Endron City Council one time.
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And I swear to God this is true. He even started going off after
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several shots of the red stuff about goddamn vampires.
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Ash like makes a show of snoring and he's like, well, no sense
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for taste. And.
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Do you know where Mike's getting his getting his drinks these
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days? I had to boot his ass out after
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I 86th him the one time and he came in here I think just
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because he liked to get his ass beat.
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I don't know. He lives out in one of the
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trailer parks just past Rio Blanco.
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Sun, Sunset, no sunrise Station, I think it's called.
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Listen, I don't know if you want to go bothering him.
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He's, he's not quite tinfoil hat, but he's getting there.
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Always had these wild ideas about things.
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I get it, I just have to follow up on this for call it a lead
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but. Well, are you API all of a
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sudden? Something like that.
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Or at least I'm, I'm doing, I'm doing some legwork the, the, the
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new law firm, Gillan, they're, they're, I'm doing a little bit
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of a life reassessment right now and trying some new things.
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Because you're kind of stumbling for an excuse, you can't help
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but notice the way that the carotid artery in Chrissy's neck
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pulses ever so slightly. She's right there.
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It would be so easy. Go ahead and give me a willpower
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check. So that is 2 successes.
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That is just what you needed to resist this impulse.
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And you do resist it. You feel it clawing at your
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hindbrain. You feel too sharp.
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Points extend past your gun line, but you keep it together.
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Barely. Christina.
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Chrissy kind of looks at you quizzically.
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You all right, Ash? You're looking a bit piqued.
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Hungry more than anything. I I I probably just I, I think I
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went a little too hard at the gym, but thanks for the info.
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I I. Yeah, yeah, That was, I don't
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know nothing about macros or whatever, but I mean, it got
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half a microwave burrito if you're really need something to
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put in your stomach. Ash, Ash like like just trying
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to think of like anything but just hitting them to the hitting
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her to the wall right now. And it's like not.
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It would be so easy. Like starts like inching towards
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the toward. It's like I really have to go
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back to my friends. Really it's don't worry.
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Thank you so much. I'll try not to.
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Be a stranger. Yeah, sure, as you slip out.
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So all this is happening, Raleigh, you go ahead and give
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me a Wits Plus awareness rule. Two successes.
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There's 1B steel failure on one of the base.
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Well, it wasn't a high difficulty because as you're
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kind of looking away, not really getting anywhere with your charm
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offensive, Gabe kind of absent mindedly look in the opposite
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direction where the grims are having their little hoe down and
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you stop and stare because that woman that's partying with them,
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that's the bitch that stole your phone.
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Fuck it, I'm gonna gonna get up from where I'm sitting and turn
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to ask her and say I will be right back.
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Will you look you do you want to talk about it first?
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Like not pointing anything. You're just being like, see the,
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the, the woman over there? Mm hmm.
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Was the one the one that nicked my phone last night?
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Bitch I I would say I got your back but this isn't my best Ave.
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but I got your back. I've done this many times in
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movies before so I'm sure it'll go just fine.
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I'm going to hand asked her my phone now just in case she tries
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to tries it again. Stick it in my other butt
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pocket. OK.
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So what exactly are you planning here, Raleigh?
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I am going to go over and act like I am old friends with this
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girl. You see this girl, Kirstie,
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you've never got her name. Yeah, well, she is, let's just
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say in a level of personal contact with one of these guys
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that he is clearly enjoying. I certainly put on a bit of a
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persona as I walk over. You know, the actress thing,
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it's suddenly it's like, I'm not Raleigh.
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I'm this character I played in this one film.
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And I'm tapping back into that as I sidle up and give her a
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smile and say, holy shit, I feel like I haven't seen you in
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forever. Give me a charisma plus
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performance check. And I have a specialty in
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acting. You are acting.
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You are. You did say you are acting the
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hell out of this moment. By the way, this is around the
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same time that Ash, you've come stumbling out of the storeroom.
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So everybody's currently in the same area more or less.
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You know, just in case. And I'm going to spit a
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willpower on that. That's 4 successes.
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You say that and she looks up and your eyes me, and there's a
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moment, a moment of just a split second of surprise, but then it
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appears that you're not the only good actress.
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And then you've ever seen any. And she immediately breaks out
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in a beatific grin, says Oh my God, hi.
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Hey. I had no idea that you'd be
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slumming it too. Come here.
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She immediately gets up and just gives you a full hug.
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And I am, in this moment, glad that I handed my valuables to
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Aster. So there's nothing to There
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really isn't anything to lift on my person at the second, but
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I'll give her a hug back. Well, at the moment she doesn't
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appear to be pawing through your valuables.
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Instead, you hear her whisper in your ear.
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Not here. How are you doing?
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Wow, that that small world, right?
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Small city, I guess. Smallest.
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You know what they say. One of the grims, the
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specifically the one that she was getting no so close to the
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moment kind of sits up like listen, unless you're here to
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join in, beautiful. This is kind of a private
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occasion, so. I won't trouble you too much, I
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just wanted to say I know. You from somewhere?
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I have one of those, Yeah, yeah. This is this is an old college
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girlfriend of mine. She's just passing through, you
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know, I mean, the pronghorn's pride, right?
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Yeah. Drags you to the craziest
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places. Listen, boys, it it's it's been
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fun. But if I get any more shots and
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I'm going to do something I'm really going to regret come
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morning, You understand, right? I mean, I don't know if the
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party was just getting started personally.
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Come on, we're in mourning here. This woman flashes you to look
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like help. I swear.
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It will only be just just a minute.
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Just give us like 5 minutes to catch up and I will return her
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to you lickety split. And if I need to I will also
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turn on AWE. Absolutely.
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Give me Charisma plus Persuasion once more.
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Let's see if you're a bit more successful this time.
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Wise force success is the number of the night.
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This guy definitely looks disappointed, but at the same
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time, the amount of you could call it potential squeeing
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energy building up in the vicinity is enough to make him
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retreat back almost reflexively. All right, don't keep me waiting
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long though. I get lonely. 01 dream of it.
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Yeah, No. So please.
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How you been, girl? And she's like full on
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shepherding you back out towards the entrance.
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I will play along and follow and just be like, oh, you know, it's
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been a while, couple of days. As they exit out the bar you see
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that Gabe guy been watching them like a hawk this entire time and
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as Chrissy yourself returns he says be back in a SEC, got to
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take a phone call, stands up and after a beat follows after the
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two of them. I think Ash is going to tail,
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yeah. Right there with you.
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How obvious about this do you want to be?
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Oh, actually, if we can frame it as I am pulling as Astor pulls
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Ash outside to have their own little conversation.
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Sure, give me give me manipulation plus subterfuge.
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So I think I'll I'll, I'll I'll Ash will take the lead on that.
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You're like, come on, this is a little too stuffy, you know,
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like so yeah, let's try this. Oh, this is this is this is
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going to go so well considering of a forehugger.
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What could possibly go wrong? Don't say that.
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But I love saying it. We are not stealthy or subtle,
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so. Bad.
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OK, so well, the only people currently not engaged in some
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kind of shenanigans happen to be Crow Jeremy, who just kind of
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been people watching this point. And you see, wow, OK, well, I
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guess when it's true what they say, a force of good acting must
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be countered by an equal and opposite force of terrible
24:04
acting. So actually Jeremy is when he
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sees how bad they, they like looks like they they're, they're
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sucking it off. He's going to stand up and he's
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basically going to reverse call attention to them and go.
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Oh come on, fuck already. At them.
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Here's the thing, those two beastial failures in a row.
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So here's what happens when the bikers noticing this
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altercation, not the guy you were previously talking to, but
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another one who's perhaps been drinking a little bit more
24:33
conservatively, notices Ash and then calls it up.
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Hey, hey, motherfucker talking to you.
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Ash turns around. Yes.
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Remember the last time you were here?
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Vomited all over my cut. You know, it was a long night.
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I don't honestly remember any of it.
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Well, maybe you'd take you Outback, refresh your memory a
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little bit and he's crossing the room towards you and some of his
24:59
buddies are not necessarily also getting up to mob you, but they
25:05
are definitely at the tension. Ash leads furnaces.
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You know, I kind of would like to go Outback with you.
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I could they lean in and say I could maybe find a way to make
25:21
it up to you. Aster just cocks an eyebrow.
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Side eyes you. And fuck it, let's, let's, let's
25:30
try. I'm going to.
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I'm trying. I'm trying basically to judo
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this entire conversation. He was admittedly not expecting
25:40
that kind of retort, but at the same time he's not about to let
25:44
that slide either as he just kind of looks back.
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It's just like this fucking guy. OK, hassle, want to go round
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back? Hope you're a girl here.
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Got 911 at the ready. Ash will like gesture, do you
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know that? Do you know the local number for
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911? You can't call 911 on a cell
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phone, you know that? And like gestures towards the
26:11
the back exit. I know the way, do you?
26:15
Oh, the night's gonna be a fun night, my.
26:19
God. So heading in two different
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directions and again, 2 of you just observing all this code
26:26
down, we're going to start with Raleigh to begin with.
26:31
Yeah. So Raleigh, the moment you're at
26:32
the entrance, she she's been on your arm the whole time, but the
26:38
moment she's outside drops completely, you you got a bit of
26:46
a circulation problem. You know, doctors tell me I I
26:51
got a bit of a problem. Yeah, right.
26:53
When was that like shears disease, right?
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Yeah, I mean. OK, OK, so you track me down.
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Impressive. What exactly is the game plan
27:05
now? Well, I didn't actually come
27:08
here with the with the intent of tracking you down.
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We just happened to to meet. Uh huh.
27:17
You hear the doors open, You see that gay guy?
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You're out on the street right now, out on the sidewalk, out in
27:25
public or as public as this part of San Arroyo gets at this time
27:28
of night. You just kind of maybe a couple
27:31
feet back, just stands there and crosses his arms.
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Just going to give give him a bit of a look and just say look
27:41
at her and say boyfriend. Oh honestly not your best line.
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Well, you know, I got to work with what I have.
27:52
Well, right now not really a lot of scenery to chew so.
27:56
But we just part ways and call it that.
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Maybe, but you look like somebody who can, who hears
28:08
things. What you, what you're driving at
28:11
exactly I'm. Looking for some information on
28:17
a relatively bit of a recluse in the area and maybe you've heard
28:23
something. Did you not hear what she
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fucking said, lady? And she actually holds up her
28:30
head as the guy steps forward a little bit, but she holds up her
28:33
hands. Like a recluse, you say?
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A bit of a recluse, yeah. Having a bit of trouble tracking
28:40
him down. Wouldn't have anything to do
28:44
with the rave last night, would it?
28:47
Because I think we both know that wasn't well.
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Yeah, well, the rave may or may not be a part of it.
28:57
And what exactly are, no offense, but what exactly are
29:01
you planning to do about it? I may have been given a task to
29:11
find out more about what happened.
29:14
Uh huh. OK.
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And look, lovely coincidence that I just happened to meet you
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and maybe you've heard some stuff and, you know, do you
29:28
share a little bit what you've learned?
29:29
And we part ways as unlikely friends.
29:33
She you can see the Gators turning in her head.
29:36
Go and get me a wits plus inside role.
29:40
That's not bad. And you know what?
29:43
I want to succeed. We're going to rouse.
29:46
I will go up to hunger. 3 out of 3 successes.
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Like I said, you can hear practically see the gear's
29:54
turning in her head and she seems to immediately come to
29:58
some kind of decision. Look, I get it, You're this big
30:04
famous somebody and I'm just some lowly little T towner,
30:10
don't want any trouble. So tell you what, I can give you
30:15
a location that you might find interesting.
30:19
You do that and, or rather I give you that, and we could.
30:25
We could. There's back towards the
30:29
warehouse district, past, past Alvarado St.
30:36
There's this building used to be an industrial laundromat, you
30:41
know, back when the city actually had a hospitality
30:45
industry. People have been, let's just
30:49
say, disappearing in the vicinity, which is, you know,
30:55
weird considering that building's been condemned for
30:59
decades. Talking about chemical spillage.
31:02
I mean, granted, they're not people that SAPD could be
31:08
bothered to look into, but if you're so interested I'm sure
31:13
that could be a good place to start.
31:15
I'm sure it could be. OK.
31:17
Yeah, I'll step back and be like or square.
31:21
OK, I'm going to head in this direction now.
31:25
I will head in the house direction.
31:27
It's been lovely doing business with you.
31:30
Sure, you see, Gabe the entire time has been watching you like
31:37
a hawk, but he comes a little as this woman walks away from you
31:46
and towards him, and the two of them together start walking
31:50
further down the street. And then what?
31:55
I guess nobody's followed me out so.
31:58
Yeah, I wonder what's going on there.
32:00
Speaking of which. Yeah, so Speaking of which, Ash?
32:07
Yes. So what exactly happens when you
32:14
walk out with this guy into the back alley with the with nothing
32:19
but the dumpsters and a few broken bottles for company?
32:24
Oh, so no, so so just to check, nobody is following us.
32:28
Like I said earlier, you interrupted some kind of party,
32:32
and it seems like the rest of the Grims are the opinion that
32:36
whatever this beef is, it's going to be a brief intermission
32:38
before they get back to their impromptu wake.
32:43
Ash is going to hold up two hands, like palms up and say,
32:49
you know, I'm willing to make amends.
32:51
Whether that be a little bit friendlier or fisticuffs.
32:56
That's really honestly your your choice.
33:00
Fucking rich kids wallet. And Ash is going to just like,
33:06
sucker punch him in the gut. Give me strengthless brawl.
33:13
Yeah, let's do this. Sure.
33:15
You know what? Fuck up, I'm going to eat
33:17
anyways. No surprise.
33:19
Surprise. All right.
33:21
That is five successes. He was so self confident, so
33:26
sure that he was basic. This was going to be not a beat
33:30
down, but a shaped down. Then he'd punch him right in the
33:34
gut. And The thing is, you're a
33:38
trained boxer. You know where to hit someone
33:40
where it really hurts in the body.
33:44
But something happens, something that neither of you expected.
33:48
Your blow impacts right under his ribs, and you feel it
33:53
sinking further. And if you something rupture
33:58
something deep inside, you see his face just go fully white
34:03
with pain and he stumbles back a few steps, collapses under his
34:10
knees, and then just starts packing up blood onto the ground
34:14
in front of him. Ash is going to bite.
34:22
He is. With the amount of damage he
34:25
just took in a single hit, he is not in any good position to
34:33
defend himself. But well, First off, need to
34:38
make one more willpower check. Well, it's only two.
34:43
Something about this feels right.
34:45
Ash lifts him and pin and like pins him like stomach first
34:50
against a nearby wall. Yeah, when he does that, he
34:56
practically vomits up another stream of deep red arterial
35:00
spray and, well, now he's just wasting your food and you bite
35:07
in. And Ash Oh, I guess my question
35:12
was going to be how does this taste?
35:18
Raw and powerful and angry and full of bravado and cocksure
35:26
assurance, with just a little bit of extra seasoning thanks to
35:32
the cheap Vermelo they were all Downing earlier tonight.
35:37
Ash like. Fangs sunk into him is in
35:43
delight. Blood has never tasted this good
35:46
before. They moan against his neck as
35:52
they keep drinking. This feels right, this you
35:57
earned this every drop, and you keep drinking and keep taking
36:04
every little bit of authority that he thought he had into
36:09
yourself. And by the time you're done, by
36:13
the time you're full, so blissfully full, stagger back
36:21
almost a little, drunkenly wiping at your mouth, grin
36:26
plastered across your wet face, and you look down and you
36:33
realize he's not moving. Do you?
36:41
You have violated one of the Chronicle tenants.
36:44
Yeah, baby. Do you think your conviction can
36:49
mitigate this? Ash half of Ash's conviction is
36:54
no surrender, and I do think that, at least in some part,
37:00
there was never any chance that Ash was going to back down to
37:07
this frankly asshole lowlife. Very well then you will only
37:14
take one stain because but you may have acted in accordance
37:21
with your convictions. This death didn't need to
37:25
happen, and you have never actually killed anyone before.
37:31
No. And I think Astor and Crow and
37:36
Jeremy come back out into the back alley just in time to see
37:41
this, because he was taking a minute and you were getting
37:44
worried. You good buddy.
37:49
Oh no. I'm great.
37:51
He's not. Somebody help me move him.
37:56
I can try, yeah. Just at the legs.
38:01
Careful, he's slippery, Astrid goes.
38:05
To like grab his legs and raise that she's strong enough to lift
38:10
this guy. Yeah, Ash.
38:13
Ash is going to do most of the lifting I imagine, and is going
38:17
to like gnaw their head towards the the nearest dumpster so that
38:23
they can quickly huff. Hey, man.
38:29
Wait. Is there a storm drain nearby?
38:34
Give me a what's what? Streetwise check. 2 successes.
38:39
Wasn't a hard difficulty. There are large San Arroyo
38:43
actually has some surprisingly robust sewer infrastructure
38:46
based on other events that happened on his history.
38:49
So there is a rather large great the storm drain nearby.
38:56
And Jeremy's like wincing. And.
38:58
Like looks down and away and says I just throw out and throw
39:03
him in there. OK, like Astra pulls out her
39:07
knife and just slices real deep. Oh Jesus, you actually did it.
39:11
OK. You you said to.
39:14
Do it. You cut and there's no blood.
39:18
That's that's that's how you throw them in the surgery
39:21
because it'll. Wash away and it'll just slow
39:23
down and the laptop there's no blood, won't matter.
39:27
But we're in so much fucking trouble.
39:31
It's fine we because I didn't do shit.
39:34
This is actually why I don't feed on them.
39:41
You walked into there. What, once the body is yeah
39:48
down? Deep into those infamous flood
39:51
tunnels you always hear urban legends about, it's.
39:55
Not going to be a problem if everybody keeps their mouth
39:57
shut. Anyways, there's problem now.
40:01
I'm not going to say shit. Raleigh After a bit of
40:07
searching, you find them clustered around a storm drain
40:10
for some reason. Yeah, everything good back here.
40:17
Itchy. Great, I think I found us a
40:21
lead. Fantastic.
40:23
Awesome, we should get the fuck out of here.
40:27
Yeah, yeah, we should. There's a a laundromat in the
40:31
district where a lot of people have been going missing and it's
40:35
not the kind of people that the police investigate.
40:37
So. What's that?
40:43
Feeling better at least. Amazing.
40:48
Yeah, Jobs. How is Ash feeling?
40:53
Cloud 9 right now, they are humming.
40:57
They feel strong. Like realistically, like this is
41:03
the best buzz. Like this is the best they've
41:06
felt since they died. OK, so piling once more into
41:12
Crow's ride. Yep.
41:15
OK, Yep. Where are we going?
41:18
You head the direct in the direction of the address that
41:25
was supplied to you by this mysterious woman.
41:29
Crow, I assume you're driving. Yes.
41:33
In that case, could you please give me a wits plus awareness
41:35
role? 3 successes Doesn't take long to
41:42
find this large Adobe and brick building fenced off from the
41:52
surrounding area, almost taking up an entire like corner of the
41:57
street. Old, slightly battered chain
42:03
link fence surrounding the exterior and appearing against
42:11
the little bit of illumination you get from the street lights.
42:14
You can see very, very old faded lettering across the top
42:25
entrance of the building that says Alvarado Industrial
42:30
Laundromat. You also see the signage, also
42:38
quite battered and derelict looking on the chain link fence
42:42
warning of toxic chemical spillage and authorized
42:48
personnel only looks like it's that particular warning, whether
42:54
or not it's been heeded. Been there for a while.
42:59
Astrid makes so many scrunchy faces.
43:02
Well, it's great that we're all dead, so.
43:05
You don't have to worry about toxins.
43:09
I. Guess this is what we're doing
43:11
now. I'm going.
43:13
To. Pull out one of the stakes and
43:16
Jeremy's actually going to tuck it into like the back of his
43:19
belt underneath his his shirt and he's going to like pull his
43:21
shirt out. So it's just kind of hanging
43:23
like near his spine, like under his clothes.
43:28
I'll strap on the the sword so I have it just in case and
43:34
depending on how many stakes are there are I'll also take one.
43:37
There are 4. And I will definitely take one
43:39
because I think I I might it's either Ash or I will have the
43:42
best pool to actually use one. Yeah, I would say Ash definitely
43:47
gets 1. You definitely get 1.
43:49
Astor will offer one to grow. I'll.
43:53
Take it, I'll see what I can do. No promises.
43:56
It's. Better to be safe than sorry.
44:01
Well. Ash, how do you want to do this?
44:04
We go in. Get on a flashlight.
44:09
Yeah, flashlight's good. Don't know for sure that this is
44:14
their place, so try to be quiet and if there is something here,
44:19
let's try not to wake it up. Yeah, agreed.
44:23
I'd like to activate Eyes of the Beast as well now that we're in
44:26
here. Absolutely.
44:28
As you all see out of the blue, crow's eyes suddenly turn 8
44:35
beastly, almost faintly glowing red.
44:39
It's a fairly simple matter, even for the least athletic of
44:42
you, to clamber up the fence. And make it look easy.
44:46
There's some remnants of barbed wire, but this you are clearly
44:51
not the first people to enter onto the premises clearly, as
44:56
most of it has either been stripped away or flattened to
44:59
the point of not even being a a useful deterrent anymore.
45:03
Getting up to the building itself, it looms, but you check
45:11
the door and it is open. There isn't even a padlock.
45:16
I feel so safe. Definitely pinging the creepy
45:20
vibes. Yeah.
45:25
Just open it up as carefully as you can, despite the protest of
45:29
rusty hinges as you begin to enter into the main cavernous
45:35
area. It is pitch dark in here.
45:41
The only one who can see unassisted without a flashlight
45:47
would be Crow. As to you, the darkness isn't so
45:52
dark after all. But even still, being able to
45:55
see the inside of the laundromat doesn't bring much comfort these
46:04
the space is bare concrete, dominated by massive top loaded
46:14
industrial washing machines. Almost like these giant vats,
46:20
some in various states of disrepair, some, it looks like,
46:24
been completely removed altogether, leaving just pieces
46:30
of rivets and girders sticking up from the ground like spikes.
46:35
Dark. The air is stale and smells like
46:41
smells like old metal and even older chemicals, but despite you
46:49
not having to breathe, still leads an unpleasant taste in the
46:53
back of your throat. You're not really sure where you
46:58
should even start. What?
47:00
Are we supposed to be looking for?
47:05
I think anything that connects Mesab to this place and it was
47:11
going to make the joke of gang, this is where we all split up,
47:14
but we should not do that. We should definitely not.
47:17
That's a bad idea. Agreed.
47:20
I was wondering or more I've been thinking about it and
47:25
wondering how this person is getting around unseen.
47:30
And I'm sure that's their ways to do that.
47:34
Vaguely gestures at everyone's cool abilities.
47:39
But there's got to there's got to be a way right?
47:43
There's there's got to be something more that.
47:46
Would be the storm. Drains.
47:49
Storm drains, yeah, I'm relatively sure that there's
47:53
something we can do that makes us less noticeable.
47:59
Bunch of weird shit. I mean, see if this place
48:03
connects to any storm drains and see if there's any, even if you
48:10
know, they are lost to their beast.
48:14
And Rally makes quote. Fingers probably lived here for
48:19
a while. Maybe they have some sort of
48:23
living space that has something. I guess we should look for super
48:30
boarded up rooms, although this place looks pretty boarded up
48:33
already. Yeah, look for the most secure
48:38
area. Everyone go ahead and give me
48:44
wits plus either awareness or investigation.
48:49
Oh my God, that's a beast deal failure for me.
48:54
Well then. We're so good at our job.
48:58
It's still 0 successes. Fuck you, dice.
49:01
OK. So Jeremy surges to look and
49:06
doesn't get hungry or still. I'm still at hunger.
49:08
One and gets 5 successes. I have successes from Crow. 2
49:14
successes. One of you far more observant of
49:20
the abandoned places of the world, and one of you just more
49:25
observant in a different way, is Jeremy.
49:28
Oh no. That plucking of strings, that
49:32
horror tenor, it's back. It's back with a vengeance.
49:39
I I think rather than like going in a specific direction, Jeremy
49:42
actually moves to like the nearest wall and actually like
49:45
slides. Down it and has is.
49:47
Like lifting his hands up and is covering his.
49:48
Ears. Crow, meanwhile, you probably
49:53
the best view of everything thanks to your eyes.
49:57
There's a lot of debris, but aside from potentially inside
50:00
one of these massive machines, not a lot of places to hide.
50:05
Maybe if you headed towards the back rooms, maybe there's some
50:09
sort of catwalk access, maybe a storage area, an office or some
50:14
description. And you're trying to think, if I
50:19
had to hide from the day, where would I be?
50:22
When you start to progress further in almost kind of
50:25
heedless of your new companions who are for the most part just
50:29
kind of bumbling around rally. Yeah.
50:35
Stumble forward a little bit, trying not to jump at shadows.
50:40
You get into the main row of machines and you smell something
50:49
foul. Faint, but foul.
50:52
And you turn and you look at one of these almost huge boxy
50:58
apparatuses, like the gigantism ridden cousins to the
51:03
conventional home washer dryer, these massive almost Volt door
51:10
like front interfaces, the one that you're immediately next to,
51:15
it's slightly ajar. And the smell that is that is
51:21
rank, it smells like death. That's really the only way you
51:28
can describe it. Yeah, slowly reach out and you
51:37
should push the door or whatever open.
51:42
Open it up and shine your light on.
51:48
At first you're not quite sure what you're looking at.
51:51
It's the mass of red and brown and tan, all jammed and packed
51:58
and crushed and mushed. And you realize those shapes.
52:04
You see an arm, what's left of a torso, a head with a mop of
52:13
blonde dirty hair. Another head, this one with
52:17
black hair. A third one.
52:20
Except this is, well, no telling what it's hair color was,
52:25
because there's not enough of it left.
52:28
A Press of bodies of corpses, all jam packed a human jigsaw
52:39
puzzle of awful rest into the interior of this washing unit
52:46
and you drop your flashlight and just shock.
52:52
I need you to give me a willpower check.
52:56
Well, let's hope that Anderson stubbornness doesn't give out
53:03
now. 5 successes with the critical.
53:06
You, you keep it together, keep it together even though what
53:09
you're looking at is, well, what is Raleigh thinking as she looks
53:17
at this slaughter pit? I'm thinking about that if I was
53:26
still alive, I probably would be sick at the sight of this.
53:30
It's horrifying, it's monstrous, it's disgusting.
53:38
It is something that a person doesn't do.
53:42
This is the work of a monster. And I think before I managed to
53:48
master myself and all of this, I did let out a probably a what
53:54
would have become a scream had I not clamped down on that, but
53:59
like a sort of loud noise and then step back.
54:04
And, you know, I don't need to breathe far enough away that I
54:09
don't smell it as much. I'm taking deep breaths, just
54:14
trying to just clear the scent from my nostrils of.
54:19
Course, do you hear this commotion?
54:20
You turn around. The flashlight has fallen in
54:23
just a way that it perfectly illuminates the horror show
54:26
within. I I think we might have the
54:31
right place. Oh yeah.
54:37
Yeah, don't, don't go in there. Something shifts.
54:43
A head drops out of the morass, drops down, rolls not even a few
54:48
feet away from you, eyes gone, jaw listing.
54:52
And you're looking at it, and you look up, and you see in the
54:59
middle of that morass, a pair of eyes open.
55:07
Blood red beastial eyes.