What's a nice girl like you doing in a dive like this?

Players: Janie, Vixen
Synopsis: Janie finally tracks down an old friend that's gone missing for a while.
Date: Aug 2, 2071


A random contact leaves a message on Janie's phone:

Hey chica. heard you were askin around about that silver haired amica of yours, Vixen 
or something. Well, word I got was she was holed up in some desert dive slinging 
drinks and a wrench for extra cash. 

Name of the place was Lost and Found I think.

Something about that mail just doesn't smell right to Janie — as long as she's known her, Vixen hadn't been particularly short of money. Especially not so short that she'd have to work at a 'desert dive'.

Still, it's the first solid clue as to the location of her friend that she's received, so it's worth at least checking out.

Lost and Found isn't really one of those places that you are glad to find. It's nothing but a shit hole off the side of a dusty desert highway. Mostly go-go gangs and Sioux locals come here.

A small collection of RV's host the gypsy population that seems to thrive off of saying they'll go but never do. A small bar serves crappy warm beer, a decent whiskey and a few other low end bottom of the barrel well drinks. The bartender is a tired looking old Sioux who pours drinks and watches the vid. A few patrons dot the tables and sit at the bar, but all of them look up when a stranger wanders into the bar.

There's a whole warm and fuzzy feeling you get from being in here, ike that feeling when the hair on the back of your neck stands up that tells you to watch your back and keep your credstick close and your gun closer.

With her brown duster and battered-looking fedora, about the only thing that sets Janie apart from the scuzzy wild west atmosphere the bar exudes is her gender — and the fact that she looks too clean. Her guns may be loaded with gel rounds and holstered safely out of sight, but her body language conveys their presence well enough to those for whom the grey owl perching on her shoulder isn't a deterrent enough.

Folks look up and stare for a moment, taking your measure and then go back to their drinks or the vid. The bartender nods in your direction, "What can I get you?" He asks. His voice sounds like he's been smoking the peace pipe one too many years.

"What've ye got?" Janie asks as she sits herself down on one of the bar stools — a slightly blunt question, perhaps, but places like this aren't usually known for their extensive selection.

The bartender shrugs, "Got beer, whiskey, and a few well drinks. We don't got none of that fancy drek." He polishes a glass with a dirty rag. A young man at the bar not far from you glances over your way for a moment before looking back to his drink. A slight curiousity about you in his reflected in his brief glance.

"Whiskey'll do," Janie replies as the owl on her shoulder fixes the young man with a - my apologies - owlish stare.

The old Sioux pours you a drink, picking thank god a clean enough looking glass and pours a few jiggers of whiskey into it and sets it in front of you. "Wanna tab?"

The young man glances sideways at you again as he feels the birds gaze and blinks slightly bleary-eyed. A small almost imperceptible hand motion that among the Sioux is known to ward off evil spirits is made under the bar, and then he stares harder at the game as if determined not to look again. He's a bit dodgy, like he's always expecting danger to come knocking.

<<OOC>> Janie says, "What's the backgrount count here?"
<<OOC>> Vixen says, "Not too high actually. 1 maybe"
<<OOC>> Vixen says, "There's a Sioux tribe not far away from here. Their shaman keeps things
     relatively clean when he can."
<<Auto-Judge[xxxx]>> Janie (#4136) rolls 6 (Athena's int) vs TN 5 for "Assensing the guy - BGcount 1.":
     1 2 2 3 5 7    = 2 Successes

He's not awakened, he doesn't have much ware. But he is under the influence of drugs. Not just alcohol. You caught him on a good day….Or a bad one if not being able to score can be considered good.

Janie considers the bartender's question, then reaches - slowly - into a pocket and withdraws a certified credstick. "I doubt I'll be here long enough for this one t'run out; consider whatever's left on it byb the time I leave y'r tip."

<<Auto-Judge[xxxx]>> Janie (#4136) spends 100 nuyen for "A few drinks and some info at a desert dive.".

The bartender takes the cred and pockets it. "Not many people come by to spend cred on crappy drinks these days." He raises his brow at the amount and nods, "So what else can I do for you chica?" A bit friendlier in tone and looking willing to impart the secrets of the universe now. The young Sioux glares into his glass like it has offended him some way.

Janie rests her elbows on the counter - an oddly reassuring gesture since it suggests that she's not intending to go for her guns any time soon. "Looking f'r an old friend, actually. Mutual acquaintance said she's been working here recently. Fairly tough chica, silver hair, scar down th'right side of her face, good with machines… I don't suppose you've seen her?"

The bartender considers the question and shakes his head, "You must be talkin bout Eve. She's sleepin off a bender in her trailer. Other end of the lot." He points towards the back of the building. "Got some bikes out front and a mountain of beer bottles. Can't really miss it." He grins a toothless grin. "I'd take care. She's been known to shoot first and ask questions later. Specially when she's sleepin off a hangover."

The young man at the bar snorts, "Hell, she don't need no 'scuse to shoot at ya. Just look at her funny and she'll go off half-cocked. Fuckin bitch is scary crazy."

The Bartender chuckles, "That's just cause you done piss her off by complimentin her rack. If you learned to talk nice to her she'd stop kickin ya in the balls."

The man glares, "Once. I just done said somethin once. "

Janie chuckles. "That sounds like her, all right. And she's really quite lovely once you get t'know her." She can't resist adding to the youngster, "An' if you want t'make a good impression on her, next time try complimentin' her skills instead of her looks… And try t'look at her face rather than her rack when ye do it."

Athena merely adds "Hwoot!" to the discussion as Janie finishes her whisky and turns to leave.

The man nods, "Sure. Lovely lady. And I look at her face." He whines a bit and the bartender rolls his eyes, "Well I do!!!" The conversation then turns as Janie leaves to the finer points of picking up the ladies. Outside it isn't rocket science to recognize the RV that you have been directed to. As promised boxes of empty beer bottles are teeter in a tall hill at the front door and a few bikes are in various stages of repair or disrepair. Bullet holes riddle the door and one of the windows has been smashed in. Not the kind of place Vixen usually finds appealing. Your best guest: Safe house.

… Which Janie may just have inadvertedly breached by coming to look for her. Oops. She doesn't think she was followed, but…

<<OOC>> Vixen says, "Roll intelligence?"
<<Auto-Judge[xxxx]>> Janie (#4136) rolls Intelligence for "... Uh oh.":
     3 3 3 4 4 5 10
<<OOC>> Vixen says, "You are fairly sure you weren't followed. Not by magical or mundane means."

Sure that she wasn't followed as you get nearer the RV you do notice that there's a microscopic camera over the front door. That seems to be the only concession to security that Vixen has put up. Everything seems quiet. A couple of dogs bark a few blocks away, and some kids are playing down the road.
Janie shrugs. What's done is done, in any event. She walks up to the door, careful to smile at the camera before knocking.

There's a muttering sound as Vixen rolls over when she hears the knocking, she opens her eyes a crack and glances over at the monitor. She stares for a second and then decides she's dreaming and shakes her head closing her eyes again. Then suddenly sits bolt upright, almost smacking her head on the low ceiling, "Fuck!" She rolls out of bed and trips over a few beer bottles that had been sitting like landmines on the side of the bed. Janie can hear the crashes and the cussing, "Fuck." She mutters again and then somehow makes it to the door and flings it open. Vixen has obviously just woken up, her hair all plastered to the side of her head and dark circles are under her eyes, she stares up at you and looks around a bit wildly, "Janie?" She croaks a bit. "What? How did you?" She shakes her head, "Uhm…" Looking behind her at the tornado of a huge mess behind her she has the grace to blush, "Fuck I wasn't really expectin…company." She wrinkles her nose, "Uhm…don't mind the mess. Come on in I." She holds the door open almost reluctantly. Once you see inside you can almost imagine why. The place has obv iously not been cleaned in a while.

Athena perches on the rim outside as Janie follows Vixen in. "Ye kind of didn't leave a forwardin' address," she murmurs. "I had some people who owed me favors keep an eye out."

"In retrospect, I should've figured ye were tryin' t'lay low, but it wouldn't have been th'first time someone tried to kidnap ye either…"

Vixen clears her throat, "Ahhh. Sorry. Yeah I ran into trouble. Something about immortal elves and ork wars." She shrugs, "Figured I'd let the whole thing blow over." She runs her hands through her tangled hair and then scoops a bunch of beer bottles off a chair for you to sit. "Anyone else know your here?" She looks around for somewhere to put the bottles and dumps them into a cardboard box that is half way full of them.

"Well, th'guy who tipped me off would probably connect the dots if I vanished suddenly just after followin' up a tip he gave me," Janie replies. "Other than that, I didn't tell anyone where I was goin'."

She sits down on the nearest available surface that'll hold her weight as she looks her friend over. "Want t'talk about it?" she asks.

<<Auto-Judge[xxxx]>> Janie (#4136) rolls Intelligence for "Something off about that question... (KP 1)":
     1 1 1 1 5 5 8

She has obviously too much time on her hands. You also notice tell tell signs that she's slipped back into some fairly bad habits, and alcoholism has kicking her butt rather than the other way around. She's jittery and on edge, not unlike the young man in the bar.

<<Auto-Judge[xxxx]>> Janie (#4136) rolls Centering vs TN 2 for "Centering the BGcount away.":
     1 2 3 3 5 9    = 5 Successes
<<Auto-Judge[xxxx]>> Janie (#4136) rolls Intelligence for "Assensing Vix. How bad is it?":
     1 1 1 4 4 4 5
<<OOC>> Janie says, "That's four successes."

Vixen nods, "Good. I really don't want Pauly or anyone finding me out here. I'd rather he didn't see me like this." She frowns, "How is he by the way?" She tries to ask like it doesn't matter either way to her, but she's not fooling anyone with it.

She's been worse. But it's obvious that she has slipped back into old familiar self medication patterns and she's stopped giving a shit. She still seems plagued by some dark spiritual shit, but her personalities seem actually stable. Last time you assensed her she was looking like she was about to fly into a hundred different directions. There's only two personalities that you can see.
Janie tilts her head, eyes shimmering silvery grey as she examines her friend. "He's been buryin' himself in training th'next generations of brawlers and keeping th'area around th'Knuckle more or less peaceful — gang turf wars flarin' up again, th'usual. Gettin' him t'talk freely about what has him worried isn't exactly th'easiest thing in th'world, but he's certainly been keeping himself busy - like someone tryin' not to worry himself sick."

Vixen moves to the sink and shoves aside a pizza box and turns on the water, letting it run for a bit till it goes from brown to clear-ish. She splashes water on her face and runs her wet hands through her hair trying to tame it into something resembling human instead of wild animal. She then turns off the water and leans on the sink, "I think you better go Janie. I know this looks bad, but…I've been through worse. I just gotta tame the tiger a bit. It's safe out here for me right now." She turns to give you a brave smile, "I'll get through this shit and be back before you can miss me." She bites her lip, "Guess you could tell him I'm not dead or something." She sighs and mummbles, "Just gotta tame the tiger." Like it's a mantra that's been playing in her head for a while.

Janie isn't having any of it. "From th'looks o'things, th'tiger's already dining on y'r innards — startin' with y'r liver — and it's not showin' any sign o'gettin' tame this time."

She glares at Vixen. "Wallowin' in depression an' self-pity isn't goin' t'do ye any favors. Y'r one o'th'strongest people I know; f'r y'r own sake, be strong enough this once t'come home an' admit ye need help."

Vixen glares back and almost looks like she's going to let you have it, but then sighs, "I can't. Not until…." She shakes her head, "I'll come home when I got it beat. I killed my connection the other day. That's one way to go cold turkey you know." She runs her fingers through her hair and shakes her head looking around. "I just need a little more time. I'm going to come home all in one piece. Not some fucking charity case that people need to feel sorry for damnit."

Janie sighs and pulls one leg up under her. Vixen can probably recognize the "I'm about to lecture" pose. "I've told ye about how Initiation generally means sacrificin' somethin' of yourself in exchange f'r power, right?" she asks, then continues without waiting for an answer. "Whether it's several weeks spent in meditation, or some kind of grand achievement in th'name of y'r Totem, or a sacrifice of y'r health or a voluntary limit on your behavior, it always comes down t'sacrifice. Especially f'r th'Warrior — She considers it an abomination of th'proper way o'things t'grant somethin' without requiring ye t'earn it with y'r sweat, blood an'tears, and quite possibly forcing ye t'learn an important lesson or two along th'way…"

Vixen looks at you and scowls, "You think I haven't sacrificed enough?" She looks around her, "That I like living like this?" She shakes her head, "Like having you or any of the people I care about see me like this?" She grips the counter with till her knuckles turn white, "I hate this. But it's like being int he middle of a storm. And sometimes I can see that it's going to blow itself out…but those days are few and far between."

Janie nods. "Aye. You've sacrificed th'comfort of your home, your sobriety, y'r friends, and you're workin' hard on sacrificin' your health…" She tilts her head. "… And it doesn't seem t'have gotten you anywhere."

A sigh. "Then again, those are th'easy sacrifices t'make."

Vixen pushes off from the counter and starts rummaging in a pile of mess till she finds a pack of crumpled up smokes, "Easy Janie? Why not you try going into hiding some time, with a spirit riding your ass who would like nothing more than to fuck up your life and the life of people you care about? I've been keeping this body as fucked up as I can just so that if it does take over, she's in no condition to do anything more than puke in a toilet. I've been trying my like hell just to keep all those sisters of mine from flying off in a hundred different directions. Chammy hasn't made an appearance in months, just cause she can't stand the stink." She starts looking for a light and upends a couch cushion till she finds a book of matches. "I know this looks bad…" She motions around, "But hell it's better than putting a bullet in my brain." She shakily lights her smoke and shakes out the match tossing it in an empty beer can. "I've been worse Janie, you've seen me worse."

<<Auto-Judge[xxxx]>> Janie (#4136) rolls Stealth for "Ninja snatch!":
     1 2 2 2 4 8 11 13

"Easier than sacrificin' your pride and asking for help," Janie replies simply as she delicately pinches out the cigarette that Vixen didn't quite realize she was no longer holding.

Vixen growls, "Fuck you. I don't need help. I got this under control." She starts to take a puff of the cigarette and it's not there anymore. Glaring at you she say's, "What? You think maybe I should try the damn mental hospital again? That's always interesting. Maybe I can beat my 5.3 second record for getting out of a straight jacket. Or I know, lets lock me up in my bedroom again. That wasn't so bad…Pauly baby sitting me night and day." She turns and slams her fist into the wall of the RV sending it rocking and putting another dent in it, to add to the collection of dents. "Goddamn it." She shakes out the pain in her hand, cause the wall is hard and her bones are real.

Janie just calmly stands there and waits for Vixen to listen to herself.

Vixen glares at you and paces a bit in the tiny space like a lion caged then throws up her hands, "You can be a real bitch Janie." She turns to the tiny fridge and opens it and see's she's out of beer. Of course. She sighs and looks over at you, "What do you expect from me Janie? I know how to kill and break into any kind of facility in the world. Hell I broke onto a fucking aircraft carrier and stole a fucking experimental weapon all by myself once, I ever tell you that? But this.." She shakes her head, "All I want right now…Is a fucking drink and some Nova just to get me through the day."
There's evidence of used needles everywhere by the way.

Janie quirks her lip. "I believe traditionally th'step after admittin' that ye have a problem is t'acknowledge you need help," she replies, then shrugs. "As f'r what I expect from ye - well, ye've shattered my expectations once already today. We can go into that after we've gotten you sober an' healthy again."

Vixen shakes her head, "I never said I didn't have a problem. I know I got a problem…and right now it's you." She tries for bitchy but she almost sounds like the old Vixen…a hint of humor in her voice. "And if I refuse to get sober and healthy? You gonna drag me by my hair back home?" She almost laughs when she pictures it.

Janie chuckles. "I'd have t'shoot you t'knock you out first, and I'm not up t'draggin' your limp body that far," she replies, then grins slightly nastily. "… So I'd have t'ask Pauly t'do th'actual draggin'."

Vixen stares and shakes her head, "You wouldn't dare."

Janie meets Vixen's gaze steadily. "Try me."

Vixen shakes her head, "That's low. Even for you." She looks around at the mess almost imagining Pauly's reaction, panic blooms in her eyes. She definatly doesn't want him seeing her like this. "That's…blackmail!"

"Correct."

Vixen nods, "Well…you really know how to make a girl feel warm and cozy." She looks around and starts picking up her gear that's tossed here and there. She looks under the couch and pulls out what's left of a bottle of rot gut, opens the bottle. "Cheers Janie."

Then, after she a large swig she starts pouring the rest over the furniture walls and floor picks up her duffel and her jacket, stuffs her gun in her belt at her back and holds up the matches, "Want to do the honors?" She asks.

Janie shakes her head. "Best if ye do it," she replies, then stands to walk out the door. "I'll be outside when you're ready."

Vixen nods and simply takes one last look around and then lights the match and tosses it, making sure the shit is going to burn, but it's hundred proof and flame begins to engulf the place, erasing all signs that she's ever been there. She turns her back and walks out the door. She rides her bike all the way on Janie's tail, and it's not until they get out of the Lost and Found's parking lot before the RV explodes rather dramatically. Ooops, guess she forgot a few things…

Janie shakes her head. "Best if ye do it," she replies, then stands to walk out the door. "I'll be outside when you're ready."

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License