Intro Post

[shitstorm_eve]

Welcome to Carlyle... Waking Up It's happening again. All around town. Maybe it's in the cereal aisle of the general store while no mothers with squalling children are traversing it. Maybe it's in the middle of the town's lonely graveyard, full of hundred-year-old graves in the middle of the night. Maybe in the local city hall restroom, eyes opening to a gaze-full of toilet paper, or in the town's settler museum full of wagon wheels and old farming paraphernalia. There are still a few government workers milling around since the first influx. People in bland suits of various shades of grays and browns, nothing particularly impressive, but if they approach someone who doesn't seem to belong they'll bring them through the intake process. Though there's a chance that, instead, they'll meet a kindly marshall. Average middle-class white guy, a tall Midwesterner with some scruff and a formal uniform and a stocky build. He will discretely move them through if it's needed, make sure they have an ID and paperwork and phone and some concealing clothes if they have the body type that works for it. If they look special or like someone the government might want, he'll try to keep things on the down-low for them. Better than to lose people again. Getting Familiarized When investigating the town, they'll find it with trace damage from the night before. Someone is replacing a door that has ax-marks in it. Another is rebuilding a fence, a crashed car ready to be towed away. And yet another person is filing an insurance claim with his agent, his shed completely burned down and the air closeby filled with the scent of settled smoke. Most of the residents of Carlyle are friendly. If you stop and ask for directions, they'll give them. It's also a time of year in which there are lots of outsiders, on top of current events. Unfortunately, if anyone's dressed in an entirely unfamiliar way, someone might over-react. They may excitedly run to get one of the agents, or they might scream about it happening again, or they might be absolutely delighted and want pictures so they can go viral on FaceBook. There's a cafe in town where there's are a slew of reporters, talking about post-Vesanalia clean-up and the lost arrivals. At first, someone who wanders in might be mistaken for another reporter, there to order coffee or jam microphones at the management outside. But someone might be smart. A towns-person might notice something off, a familiarity in their gaze, or might hear them say something suspicious. The next thing they know, those reporters are turning their microphones towards the newcomer. Settling In Someone might need somewhere to sleep. Well, there's a nice little hotel where it's free. There's probably government surveillance if you care about that sort of thing. Otherwise, your rest will go undisturbed and have the average conveniences of a mediocre bed, a Febreeze smelling duvet, a somewhat new TV, and bathroom with a tile pattern installed in the 80s. One could try a barn, but there's a chance they'll be run out by an angry man in honest to god overalls and an unironic cowboy hat with a pitchfork. They could also try to sleep in a vehicle. Let's just hope the owner doesn't come checking before morning.

Comments

[ragingbeauty]

[Raven sees where Elle's hand is going, recognising the motion and stalling. Her eyes widen, but upon seeing that she's not drawing a gun she frowns instead. Her eyes are drawn to the pip-boy, and she points to it with a gloved hand. She probably stands out herself, wearing her form-fitting catsuit, with wires dangling from her elbows, feet and behind her ears.]

What's that?

[quixotically]

[Elle's heart jumps to her throat when she sees the woman's reaction, and just as quickly as her hand fell to her holster, she jerks her hand away again to instead hold both of them against her chest.] S... I'm sorry, I didn't... [... and then the woman's question registers, and Elle trails off, blinking.] O... Oh. Um... It's... It's a Pip-Boy.

[ragingbeauty]

I've never seen one before. Does everyone have one, where you're from?

[And then, after eyeing the pip-boy for a moment, her eyes fall back down to the half-hidden holster.]

Did they take your weapons?

[Raven understands that, to an extent. Snake stole her grenade launcher from her, after all. It had been important to her.]

[quixotically]

[Elle shakes her head.] No... Not everyone. This was... It was a gift. From someone who saved my life. [She fidgets, rubbing her thumb over her knuckles. Her eyes dart over Raven, taking in more details than she had in the initial fight-or-flight response. "Where you're from"... yeah. That question... makes sense. She hesitates, then nods slowly.] Yeah... They did. [She's proud that she manages to not sound watery about that, even though she feels like she'll cry if she thinks about it too much, looks at it too directly.]

[ragingbeauty]

[Raven has been around Wolf long enough to know when someone is about to cry, even if she's trying to be brave. Personally, losing her weapon only made her angry- but everything makes her angry.]

I lost mine, too. A man named Snake took it from me. I can't get it back now.

[She scowls, but after a moment her expression clears and she looks back to Elle.]

Do you think they have a lot of weapons where they hid yours?

[Elle can't be the only one they took things from, right?]

[quixotically]

Oh, I'm... I'm sorry. I'm really sorry to hear that. [About Raven's weapon. Elle didn't really know what to expect when this conversation started, but she doesn't think she would've expected... for her to empathize with her, right off. It... It makes her feel a little better. Elle considers her question, biting on the corner of her lip.] I didn't see where they took them... so I don't know for sure. But... I'd be more surprised if they didn't, honestly. [Like the casinos keeping visitor's weapons in their money safes.]

[ragingbeauty]

[Raven leans in, looking determined.]

What if we get them back? I can pick a weapon from their stolen ones, too. They stole them first, so why not take them back? I don't like being unarmed here.

[quixotically]

[Elle blinks in surprise as the woman moves closer, and continues to blink at her suggestion. Getting them... back... She hadn't -- really considered it. Which... makes her feel kind of stupid to acknowledge, but -- She just assumed... it would be as difficult as trying to break into the casinos to get the weapons. Or, at the very least, as dangerous.] I... [She hesitates, considering her words.] I don't like... being unarmed, either. And the guns they took from me are... They're important to me. They were... gifts. [Technically, only one of them was a gift. But it's too hard to explain shortly otherwise, so that'll have to do.] But... I don't want to cause too much trouble. And if something went wrong... I'm just -- I don't know if I can be prepared for all the different things that could happen. This... place, it's too different from where I'm from.

[ragingbeauty]

Maybe you need a plan.

[But they need more people if they're going to pull off something like this, don't they?]

If my unit were here, we'd have those weapons back out for you in no time.

[She seems glum at the thought, and sits heavily by Elle.]

Did you leave anyone behind?