Vat:14 Fries

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Starring: Koz, Amiri, Pauline
Guest Starring: Template:Jorgen, Carl Dimple, Jimmy & Chuck
Challenge: Investigation
Location: Oakland
Date Played: 23 Jan 13

The Meeting

Pauline: It's been fairly quiet with the VAT since we got back, but when Paddy calls a meeting, I know that's about to change. He presents us with statistics, meant to show that Oakland has an anomalously high death rate. I follow through his logic, even if I don't completely buy his conclusions. At the time, I think it'll be nice to wander around Oakland, chasing snipes, and not get shot at for awhile.

Amiri: Paddy gave us a ring about a week after our return, calling us back in. We haven't gotten much downtime recently. When we get to headquarters and look over some paperwork, we see why.

Murder rates are high in the Hill District and Oakland. Paddy tells us that the Hill District is somewhat within the norms, but we really need to be concerned about Oakland. With the large amount of students in that area, it is a bit concerning.

Amiri's New Car

Amiri: Paddy gave me a new car to make up for my jeep that got destroyed. It is... unique. Small. Uncomfortable. He also gives me a check for $1000, which I use at Sam's Collision and Body to get the seat extended and make it so that I fit comfortably.

Narrowing Down Suspects

Pauline: The first thing I do is hit Hocus Pocus, the local occult shop. It's cheesy and kind of stupid, but at least they don't look at me funny when I discuss serving Brigid. The owners, Lucien and Kali, are in, and we chat for a bit before getting down to brass tacks: have they seen anything odd around Oakland?

They have- their tarot readings have started coming up with unusual numbers of the same cards, specifically the 5 of Cups and the Emperor. The former is about loss and disappointment, the latter about control and rigidity. I get the raw numbers from them and pass it on to Paddy. It might mean something.

After that, I wander from shop to shop, trying to talk someone into letting me see security tapes. There's a jewelry store that's up for it, and I notice one major trend: kids going by with bags of pizza and fries.

I wander around, and decide to hit the "O", and sure enough- the same fries. It's kind of disgusting, but it makes a reasonable lunch. I have my fill and pawn the rest off on college kids. They need it anyway.

Amiri: I use some of my contacts at the city police to find out where most of the deaths have been happening. We don't get a lot of work done, though, as they spend a lot of time making fun of my new vehicle. I do find out eventually that most of them happened in central Oakland. This makes me believe my worst fears were true, and it is mostly kids that have gone missing and/or died.

My next stop was Pitt campus, where I walked from building to building to building trying to get answers. I eventually get sent to the office of foreign studies, which for some reason had the information on what students dropped out or eventually stopped going to class without notice. A lot of them were upper classmen ready to graduate, and an unusual amount of them were in good standing.

I eventually ran into Pauline eating a sack of greasy fries while a student was running away from her in a panic. I thought it better not to ask, and Pauline filled me in with her observation that there were a lot of students leaving with fries, pizza, and a Maddog.

Amiri's New Job

Pauline: Amiri goes undercover, and I start getting cravings for "O" fries. Serious cravings, to the point where I can't eat anything else. It's disgusting, actually. Amiri spots drug dealers doing business in the "O", one of which has some sort of Greasenomancer aura. It seems like kids are getting addicted to the fries, and it might be the case that they're trying to harvest essence from the kids. Regardless, it looks like the "O" is the epicenter of what's going wrong.

After a whole day without being able to have a cigarette without it tasting like garbage, I'm pretty pissed off. I'm almost, almost tempted to confront the punk behind this. He's so full of his own crap that he just carries a .45 in his waistband. I just want to pull it out and pistol whip him with it.

Amiri: Since The O is our biggest suspect, I decide to get a job there to case the place. On my first night there, I see a pudgy, short drug dealer talking to the night manager. He gives me too much money, so I give him his change. When I do, I notice that the manager is a glaze over his eyes and they look a bit cloudy. I give him a pat on the shoulder, though it doesn't stir him. Later, Koz and Pauline catch up with me.

Koz informs me that he has been hanging out with some skate punks to get a lay of the area and the kids. Not too much has happened with that yet, but we are giving it time. He also notices that there is a huge amount of essence built up in The O. He dismisses it, and then the night manager gets the glaze back in his eye and orders us to leave.

The following day was much like the one before, except this time I notice that the night manager pour a small bit of essence into the fryers. I couldn't really confront him on it, and I decide we need Joseph to see if it is some sort of possession or the like before we strike.

Koz decided to follow the drug dealer, but it doesn't go very well. From the information I found earlier in the day, he is pretty much a scapegoat, but there has been a lot of movement in the drug trade, and without death. Chances are, we will have a second shot at him.

Joseph's Absence

(only 4 working weekdays)

Joseph: I'm afraid that due to the altercation with the Dullahan, my sense has left me. I see thangs that just ain't being right and so I'm recommended to talk with some folks called shrinks. I was half expectin' 'em to me smaller than most folk but it just turns out that they're just head doctors. It takes me a while to git comfortable talkin' over my issues with 'em, as that's a role for preachers and other men o' the cloth.

Near abouts a half week and I start to have a more right vision of the world and I elect to git back into da' swing of things...

Word Cloud

🎲 DM Parts of my notes: Hocus Pocus, Lucien & Kali, 5 cups/emperor, Catholic Diocese, Kevin the reporter, BJ#, cops, hang gliding, bottle rockets, skaters, hangouts, dropouts, jeweler, Pauline ate it, eaten cigarette, Countach, house party, .45, cops (bought out of compel)