EVENT ★ I ASKED FOR WATER (SHE GAVE ME GASOLINE)

[futurologists]

THE STORY SO FAR . . . There's been a lot going on in Perdition's Rest. After Rey's encounter with the apparent leader of the Deemers, Jonathan Black, she and Keith alerted the rest of Team Audentes to their findings: the Deemers are not religious fundamentalists at all, but Qorral infected with parasites. According to this ALASTAIR file, the parasites are known as the Taraxa, and there is no cure for their host's condition. However, this transcript with ALASTAIR agent Lloyd, a Taraxa himself, suggests that there may be hope, however small, to return the infected Qorral to sapience. It's not a guarantee, and it may fail, but it is an option. Meanwhile, a mysterious someone burned down the saloon, to which the missing Miz Poppy was the proprietor. Clues found at the site seem to suggest that Miz Poppy herself, not the deceased Jonathan Black, is the actual leader of the Taraxa on this planet -- the Mother. But where exactly is she? And what ties does she have to the newly revealed Zymandis organization, ALASTAIR's enemy? Through all of this, the looming destruction of the planet continues: the Qorral's fracking method is still a threat, resulting in earthquakes and an unstable planet. This is a problem that still needs to be solved, whether through diplomacy or other methods -- particularly because it seems as though Zymandis, through the Deemers, wants to breach the planet's core and destroy this very timeline. It looks like you'll have a lot to do. CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE Snow continues to fall, there's a chill in the air, and halfway through everything, an earthquake rocks the planet. But you have a job to do and your options are many. What will you do? PERDITION'S REST. The town of Perdition's Rest must be protected from Deemers and bandits alike; the Deemers now going after the town for their own reasons and the bandits taking advantage of the scattered ALASTAIR agents. Sheriff Holladay and her deputies are around, doing the best they can to keep up defenses. The mayor is in his office, along with his aide. If you suspect any of them, or any of the other named NPCs of being the Taraxa Mother or otherwise infected, now is the time to investigate. FRACKING FIELDS. The fracking fields are still suffering from the earthquake earlier in the mission, with sinkholes and giant sandworms dangerously littering the area. Qorral miners are preparing another round of fracking, sending a rolling earthquake that shakes the entire planet. The mining still needs to be stopped. If you try to reason with the Qorral, remember that argecite is required for their survival, so you'd better have a solution on-hand. If you try to destroy the equipment, well. . . you might save this planet. But what about the other argecite-rich planets in this galaxy? Of course, you could always try to stop the Qorral's mining some other way. THE DEEMERS. The Taraxa-infected Deemers must be taken care of. But the first step to that is trying to find them. Their main camp is located up in the mountains and seems to be the obvious choice, but after revealing themselves to ALASTAIR, the chances of finding them in the obvious place may be slim. Other possible Deemer hideouts may be one of the many abandoned bandit camps scattered throughout the desert: the forest, along the river that cuts through the canyon, in the shadow of mountains, or even in abandoned mine tunnels. Maybe trying to get answers from the Deemers is your speed. What is Zymandis? Where is Miz Poppy? Who is the Mother? Or something else . . . Or perhaps you'd like to capture some Deemers to bring them back to Oska, or try to extract the Taraxa from their skulls yourself. Or maybe you think it would be kinder to just kill them all. If Miz Poppy truly is the Mother, she has got to be around the camps somewhere. Kill her, capture her, talk her down, ask her questions. . . there are a lot of options. But you have to find her, first. If looking for Miz Poppy, please give us a number from 1-5 and we will RNG if you locate her. OTHER? If there is something else on which you'd like your character to focus, let us know! THE RULES. Participation is not mandatory. However, we will only be using responses to the CYOA thread to tabulate the result of the mission. All submitted character actions will have a hand in the result, from dealing with the Deemers to protecting the town to doing nothing at all. Actions that are not submitted will not count toward the end result. Each character may only "officially" have 1-2 CYOA responses; you may of course participate in as many threads as you like, but only 1-2 choices may be submitted per character. So carefully choose what you want to count! We suggest working in groups! If working in a group, you may designate one person to submit a CYOA response; each character does not need to submit an individual comment. Keep word counts around 100-150 words. Anything much shorter will likely not be detailed enough, and anything longer will be difficult for us to work with. If you "fail" a choice (if we tell you that your character's choice is unsuccessful), you may try one alternative method. You do not need a thread to submit a CYOA response! Ideally, you will submit your CYOA response first, we will respond with the results, and then you can thread it out using our guidelines. For examples of what we're looking for, please see these comments from the end of Chantes. Above all, remember our motto: do what's most fun for you! OOC NOTES We suggest using the plotting post to plan groups before tagging! Following this log, there will be a final log for this mission, after which characters will return to Oska on 21 December. Please also remember we have a mandatory HMD on 23 November. Please direct all questions pertaining to the mission to the dossier page to keep questions and responses in one place for easy player reference. General game questions should be directed to the FAQ. Don't forget the Bounty Board! One this mission is over, you may no longer turn in its bounties. You can also request bounty missions or submit player plots at any time.

Comments

[assent]

[ It's never fun and games with a concussion... not like this is a game at all. Her hand tightens on the plank, but when she looks at him now he might see there's also a lot of fierce determination there. ]

I do not have a better weapon. [ Though she does at least believe him that it'll be alright if they're both working together, she just doesn't know what he's trying to get at here. ]

[digiorno]

Oh, I know. I think you'd be using it if you had it.

[This is . . . true, but also a joke? Maybe. Probably. Anyway, he shows her his hands outstretched, palms out, and then--]

I have one that you can use if you like.

[--reaches down into his boot and pulls his knife out, holding it out hilt-first towards her.]

I think you need it more than I do. Just please don't stab me.

[assent]

Ah... That is true.

[ She looks uncertain as he holds out his hands, is that a sign of peace or--? But then he's offering her something else instead? Sonia waits patiently, watching curiosly as he reaches to his boot and withdraws the knife hidden there.

Quietly, she tentatively takes it, looking at it in surprise. ]

Are you certain? Though... I am sorry about before. There were just too many of them.

[ And she is not a hand to hand combat fighter... ]

[digiorno]

I'm very certain.

[He holds the blade steady until she's got the hilt firmly in hand, and then he pulls away, careful to give her as much personal space as he can. He even folds his hands in front of him, the fingers intertwined so she can see both that he's unarmed and that he isn't going to attack her without having to readjust a bit.]

I can fight without a knife. I would rather you have it, if you're comfortable using it in your own defense. Even if you need to keep it in the end, I can get [steal] myself another one.

Are you comfortable using the knife, signorina?

[assent]

[ She does blink when he holds up his hands though, her head canting to the side. ]

I do not... believe you will harm me, if that helps? Now that I am able to think a little more clearly, that is. [ She gives him a sheepish smile. ] I apologise... again.

However, I do not believe I have much of a choice in this instance.

[ It's kinda kill or be killed... ]

[digiorno]

You don't, unfortunately.

[He quirks his lips at her in an apologetic smile.]

I'd like you to survive this, ideally. So . . . how about this, signorina: take the knife and do the best you can with it. I'll stay here until this crowd of bandits passes, then I'll show you a few basic moves with it. And when we get back to Oska, I'll show you how to use it for real.

[Then he grins, and though his teeth aren't actually knife-sharp, he does a good impression.]

Next time we meet up with bandits, you'll be a big surprise to them.

[assent]

You are very kind to offer me this, is there anything I can do in return? [ It seems unfair to ask for so much without offering anything in return -- though she isn't exactly full of resources either. ]

But... I appreciate the help. For now, let us just get through this.

[digiorno]

Well, that's exactly what you can do, actually. Get through it. Later you can tell me your name and we can chat in Italian, okay?

[His priorities are right on point.]

In the meantime: I'm Giorno. It's lovely to meet you. Try not to get hurt, signorina.

[assent]

Perfetto! Then I shall do that. [ Really she's just pleased to be able to use her languages even while here. ] My name is Sonia Nevermind, if that will be enough for the time being.

For now... [ She'll be more careful about where she waves the knife at least, but it's going to be a little messy about her speed and strength going into it. Sometimes too fast too rough, sometimes too slow and too weak... ]