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]

[ All she really sees is the movement, though there's a squeak and a slightly chubby hamster pops up from her hair like it's seen something shiny. She only glances up in acknowledgement, more because her hand is reaching for Keith's arm, concern clearly written on her face. ]

You do not mean you will be doing this alone...?

[ Because... that's crazy. ]

[secondnature]

Well, I planned on taking them on one by one.

[So ... yes. In short, that is Keith's plan. It's mostly because he doubts anyone else is going to want to do things the non-lethal way. That isn't fair to his teammates, but Keith isn't always very fair to people.]

[assent]

They travel in groups. You cannot get them on their own... unless. [ She pauses, her hand pulling back to press against her chin. ] Unless you had someone act as a distraction?

[secondnature]

Do you have someone in mind? [Keith ... doesn't jump to the conclusion that it would be her. It's not that she doesn't strike him as a fighter. It's more that she didn't say it that way, so ...]

[assent]

I do not see anyone else here, do you? [ Personally she'd prefer not to be, but... she's got to pay a lot back to the world. If it comes with a little risk... well that's just how it'll have to be. ]

It will mean you will have to be quick. In this sort of situation we should make extras just in case, I'll carry a few in case there is an opening, as well.

[secondnature]

No, but I could ask someone. [This is probably much snottier than it needs to be.] Can you fight, just in case, or am I gonna have to worry about you the entire time?

[Keith is really bad at sounding grateful.]

[assent]

Or you could just Not Fuck It Up. [ She smiles while saying it though her smile is a little strained. ] I am better with a firearm, however I can handle myself just fine. There is no need to worry.

[ It's fine, Keith... she's handled way worse situations... Girl is from a murder game homie. ]

[secondnature]

Okay ... you should probably get a firearm, then. There are some around here.

[Come to think of it, a bullet could probably help take out some of the hosts in areas that can be healed later. That might help, but only if she can get the shot off quickly.

Nah, Keith decides that's too risky. And noisy. Especially the latter. (Someone should give him points for noticing that.)]

[assent]

[ Considering that most of the guns from the armory here aren't exactly new and sleek like her world has... it's less likely she'll get shots off quickly, but she could at least be accurate.

Though... it's probably for the best they don't add bloodloss to the mix when they'd already be drugging them. ]

There are? [ She sounds surprised when she asks though, glancing around. ] I had thought that they were reserved for the Qorral?

[secondnature]

[Did Lance buy his gun or did he get it from McCree? Come to think of it, Keith doesn't actually know.

Which is why he isn't going to ask or pretend like he doesn't know, at least right here. Normally, he might just admit it, but ... it doesn't make sense that they couldn't buy weapons. Right?]

Uh, well ... there's a shop for them. Do you have any money left? [There. That covers his bases. Mild uncertainty.]

[assent]

[ The irony is that later on Lance is going to end up giving her that spare gun... but alas that is not now. She doesn't know all the things he's considering while she waits, though a shop would make sense. However-- ]

I arrived with very little, so most of it went on apparel and food for survival. I... could maybe take one when a bandit group attacks again, however?

[secondnature]

I could always go find one for you. The bandits might be holding off now that we've taken out a good number of them, but it shouldn't be that hard.

[Compared to his other plan, this one is at least feasible.]

[assent]

Qué bien! [ She seems to brighten at that. ] If you would like, I could start preparing the injections while you do that? I am sure you would be much better at searching for one, and it would shorten the time spent, would it not?

[secondnature]

[Que what? Keith stares blankly for a moment, and then realizes that there was a question. Oh, yeah, he knows the answer to that question. He'll just ignore the ... other stuff for now.]

Yeah, it should. I'll get to work on that. Uh, should we test it on anyone before we try it on an actual Deemer? [They'd have to find a willing participant, but Keith ... figures that as long as it doesn't actually kill the person, it should be fine? Right?]

[assent]

[ She... just looks sheepish. Sorry, Keith. It's just a habit of slipping in other languages here and there. At least the rest was straight forward though. ]

That may be best. Did you have someone in mind? [ Though maybe asking a Qorral who would be eager to help would be best... just so it's the same body type as well as not someone directly associated with them. She... wouldn't be able to promise they wouldn't react to the ingredients either though. ]

[secondnature]

... No, but maybe we can just do it to someone to see if they fall asleep.

[This should not be up to Keith, either.]

[assent]

A surprise? [ Sonia's head tilts, though really it would work better in terms of how the reaction would work too. Elevated blood pressure due to adrenaline rush and fear... it may make it work quicker or just make the solution worse -- who knows. ]

That may work as well.

[ She's also confident enough it won't be lethal too, so... ]

[secondnature]

It beats having to find a volunteer. [Anyone with half a brain would not allow Keith to dose them with medicine to see if they'd fall asleep.] And if I'm sneaky enough, no one'll know it's me.

[Keith can do that. This entire plan depends upon it.]

[assent]

Exactamente! Then we shall try it that way. [ She just... has a very strange concept of morality now. Besides, it won't be harmful to them, just make them a little traumatised. She's... done worse. #YOLO ]

Are we nearly there yet?

[ She's still following him after all... ]

whoops

[secondnature]

[Guess who forgot that they were going to a store.

Either way, they should absolutely be at the store, so here's Keith's rude way of addressing it that completely ignores that someone writing him forgot to get to the store sooner:]

Can't you see? [he asks, not bothering to sugarcoat his words. He motions up ahead. Yep, that's the apothecary type place. He strides inside, motioning for her to follow.]

it's ok ... i forgot for a long while too [crybrate]

[assent]

[ Don't make her step on his foot for being a rudey mctootie?!?! She just frowns at him, thankfully, but she is ready to just drop everything on him for that comment. ]

I am perfectly capable of viewing, however I was not aware of which you were referring to. Now. [ Now it's her turn to step away and start searching through things. Honestly, everything is a little unguarded because of everything going on anyway. It's fine. ]

end here?

[secondnature]

Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just find the stuff we need. [Still rude as heck, but that's how Keith rolls. Thankfully, things are too busy for anyone to notice that they're taking things that sound like they could knock people out. So, that's good.

And in the meantime, Keith is meandering through the aisles. If anyone looks suspicious, it's him. Which may be a good diversion.]

and done o/

[assent]

I am on it! [ She'll leave him wandering around while heading straight for the section that they need. Normally none of these would be allowed over the counter though, which is why she uses sweet talking and charm to get what they need. Either way, it's done without much difficulty.

If there were any problems, she could have also bossed them into it... good times, huh? ]