[Novocrane]

Rubbing his forehead to massage away the impending headache of working with a half drugged team, Ikari sighed at the thought of asking a zenned out elf to frame things in terms of time and space.

"How do you guys feel about splitting up to check this place and get the SUV topped up? Fionn?" he asked, giving the elf more time than he probably needed,  "How far away is the place in town, and are you good for checking their security?"

[RHat]

Let's be glad the negative effects of Zen are strictly physical, eh?  And, for that matter, that Fionn has a form of direct reference to be able to know that his perceptions are off.

"Lemme check..." Fionn did a quick bit of AR interaction, finding that he was feeling a little sluggish, but otherwise could work just fine.  "Aug'd space seems fine...  Gonna dive for a minute, see how I feel on that side...  With that, he dropped into virtual reality, appearing to everyone in the truck to pass out for a few seconds.  As soon as he came up in the real Matrix, he felt oddly free - more so than usual, free not just from the limitations of the meat but also from the slowing effect of the drugs.  May as well see how long this lasts...  He checked the effet duration of Zen, and if it had any nasty crash effects.

Bracing to go back into the molasses, he slipped back into meatspace, snapping back awake just as quickly as he passed out.  "Drek's slowing me down, but only physically - my mind's still fine.  Might cause an issue if I have to do anything in a real hurry in AR, but it doesn't effect me at all in VR.  Should wear off inside an hour, and from what I've found the crash isn't even as bad as from caffeine.  Assuming it was straight Zen, at least."  He paused for a second, or at least that's all it seemed like to him.

"Best get used to me dropping in and out like that, by the way - if I need to be in VR when we're on the job, the time it takes to explain could be too much.  As for the places, there's a couple; both are in or around the mall near the edge of town.  I'm probably not reacting fast enough to give proper turn-by-turn, though..."  Fionn started fishing around in the glove compartment for paper and a pencil.  "Bloody hardcopy.  There's just something wrong about this..."  He sketched out the turns for Clem and handed her the horrifically drawn map.  "Me and hardcopy have never really been friends.  Can ya tell?"  His delivery was a little off, but he still chuckled a bit to himself.

[farothel]

"Hooking you up with one of the smugglers?  I dunno, if you want the experience, we can find people to take you out on the test courses, they put a beating on those things when they test them from what I hear.  I have been trying to get on at some of those places myself, or the racing circuit, yeah that would be a way to go."

"I'll discuss it with the techies and the producers," Sammy said, "but if there exist test grounds, maybe we can use those to actually run certain parts of the film with real vehicles.  It will depend on producers of course, but I've always liked it more with real things than with things painted in later.  Well, thank you for your explanation and if you give me your commcode, we'll contact you should we go with that option."

[Necrogigas]

O'Connor looked about randomly with a thousand yard stare, and a child-like smile on his face. This the first genuine smile, one not poisoned by sarcasm or malice, that the others had seen on him. He momentarily focused on the group, "Since Eddie turned into a dead end for the guns, what's plan B?"

[Thvor]

"Well if you don't need to check in, we can go on out there.  Jan, I am heading out to the Martell place if you need me."

As they left the office, Sam spoke quietly to the sheriff. "John, I need to run something by you, but I could get in big trouble at the home office if they find out. Let's talk at the base while the stuntman is busy." As they approached the sheriff's vehicle where Johnny was waiting, Sam's smile returned, and he resumed speaking in a normal voice. "So, the collector first, and then the base? What's this Mr. Martell like?"

Sheesh, this John/Johnny thing is awkward at times. Could be worse, though; I was in a meeting once where I was one of four Davids.

[Crossbow]

"I'll discuss it with the techies and the producers," Sammy said, "but if there exist test grounds, maybe we can use those to actually run certain parts of the film with real vehicles.  It will depend on producers of course, but I've always liked it more with real things than with things painted in later.  Well, thank you for your explanation and if you give me your commcode, we'll contact you should we go with that option."

Sammy had heard the expression, "looking like someone had shot your dog" before, but had never really seen that look.  Matty wore it now when it seemed like you were about to walk out of his life.  "Y'know, I could probably put you in touch with some of the guys, not the ones I ran with, they are all still in jail, but maybe one of the other crews we knew, or that guy who made the border runs with passengers.  That would help your movie, right?"

[farothel]

"It would," Sammy allowed, "but I will have to see with the rest, even if just for the scheduling.  It wouldn't be very professional if I make an appointment with you and your friends and the producer we have with us has decided to go somewhere else.  So I have to at least check with him.  So if we could be brought back to the town.  I assume you will have to ask those friends of yours and they will probably not agree right away."

[Crossbow]

"The collector lives out on the edge of the old base, the Martells are good people, just a little gun-crazy."

The drive doesn't take long, maybe 20, 25 minutes.  You get to see the remnants of what the locals call "Old 80", the interstate that used to run through what was once the state of Washington.  Reclaiming the land has gone much better here than it has closer to Seattle, there are no bridges or fences, if there are utilies they are either buried or far from the road, as you leave Yakima behind the only evidence of what century you are in is the plashalt two-lane.

The dirt turnoff is subtly marked and your guide explains that you are now on what used to one of the places where the US military would do live fire and movement training of some their biggest guns and vehicles.  You can see why, even after letting nature return, the broken landscape seems to scream for you to cut loose with some heavy artillery.

You roll up to what could only be properly called a compound, the fenced off acreage has several corrugated metal buildings, one of which might be a hanger, and in the center of this a spartan hall rises up, indicating comfort without seeming out of place with the rest of the buildings.

Walking down from the house to the gate to unlock it is a man that for all the world looks like a Combat Santa Claus, the physical features are all there, beard and long hair included, but with digital camo and enough gear visible on his person to outfit an entire LoneStar HTR team.

"Yep, he is a pinkskin," says the lawman and as he turn off the vehicle,"but we trty not to hold it against him, and he is real good to have around come Christmas time ."

[Crossbow]

The response brightens up the young man again and he goes to get the keys to his Nene's car.

Melissa, who had watched the whole exchange, spoke conspiratorily to the mages after her brother left.  "He hasn't been able to get work since he got out of jail, everyone thinks of him as a felon or a snitch cuz he is the only person left from the team he worked with, he just did what he had to for me cuz Momma's gone now."

[irisheathen]

Once again Johnny tries to pay extra attention to landmarks as he quietly sits in the back seat during the ride out to the collector's compound.
As soon as they arrive Johnny sizes the place up, trying to see any cameras or other security features that might be important later.

[spoiler=Perception]
8d6.hits(5)=1 
[/spoiler]

[Thvor]

Sam was impressed as he gazed around the compound. Someone was going for the old-time castle look, I guess. Then he started to size Mr. Martell up.


Perception (visual), first focusing on security around the compound, then on Mr. Martell:
12d6.hits(5)=1, 12d6.hits(5)=8 

...ok, so Sam can see the fence, too. Should get a damn good read on Santa, though...

[RHat]

Fionn noticed O'Connor's attitude after a moment.  "Bloody hell, this stuff calms you right the hell down, doesn't it?  Might be the others have gotten some kind of a line on firearms..." 

[HydroRaven]

"I just hope they found us a way across the border" answers Clementine to Fionn's comment. She looks at the crudely drawn plan and asks "Is this a turn or is the road just banking left?"

[farothel]

Just what she needed, some guilt because this family put all their hopes up on a movie that simply wasn't there.  Well, at the moment there wasn't much she could do, no matter how she felt about it.  But it did remind her that she might have to contact her brother soon.  While he was used to her being away at odd hours, normally she did give him a time when she would be back so he wouldn't worry.  And she couldn't remember the time she had given him now.  Maybe she could ask Fion he could sent a message for her.  She would also have to see if whoever had targeted her hadn't also targeted him.  Next long stop she would check up on him.  Just go astral and pop over to see what he's doing.

Maybe there was something she could do for this case.  Melissa seemed have both legs firmly on the ground.
"Don't let him get his hopes up too much," she told Melissa in the same tone, "it all depends on the producers.  They control the money, they tell what's going on.  I've even seen projects being cancelled even at this advanced stage.  But I will do what I can.  And don't let him put himself in danger contacting people who think he's a snitch.  I'd rather not come back to see him dead because of a telephone call for us, especially if at the time the producers have decided not to use the people he contacted.  Would make it all pointless."

[Crossbow]

Torley and Johnny are soon shown an apocalyptic paradise, apparently Nickolas Martell, (seriously, Nick) is quite independently wealthy and yet fully convinced that the world has still got a ways to go before it actually goes to hell, and is prepared to set himself up a little kingdom on the other side of Kingdom Come.  He has laid in enough ammo and firepower to make O’Connor die in the throes of orgasm, several of the sheds contain both the latest and the greatest war fighting vehicles, drones and aircraft the world has seen.  He has enough supplies on hand to disappear into his bomb shelter and have the next time the door opened to be his great grandkids when they are his age doing the opening. 

The depressing part is that for every penny he has spent on survival, he has spent two on security.  He proudly shows off a dizzying array of sensors and defenders, he is fairly confident that an army storming the compound would never make it to the gate, showing the men the cameras that make it clear that they were spotted well before they ever left Old 80.

Trying to seem excited by the possibilities, Johnny goes about picking Nick’s brain about which weapons would be available and appropriate in the situations on his storyboards, as Sam and Running Bear walk the surrounding land looking for appropriate shots.