W2 🛸 PLAYER CYOA: HIGH ROLLERS (LOWE) 🚀 CHARLES, LOVELACE, SHOMA

[dropoffs]

Comments

[solesuccess]

[ thank you, lovelace. and good luck charles.

anyway seven in the morning is early, but it's fine, he doesn't seem too bugged. rather, he's busy fidgeting a little, toying with his bracelet, looking out the window, stretching his arms. but he does at least notice there are two other people, so he decides now is a good time to get up and stretch his legs.

it also means his bracelet ~accidentally~ slips from his arm and rolls slightly down the aisle toward the two other passengers, giving him a convenient excuse to chase after it and try to see if he can get a sense of who they are. ]

[inequals]

[ The old man... is already giving off such 'don't bother me' energy that he straight up ignores Charles. Me like do I want to give Charles +1 NE for this too.

At least when Shoma arrives up front, the two seem to snap out of their discussion to turn to him. ]

???

Oh -- good, you're awake! Right about on the dot, too, before we were going to go wake you up instead.

???

Leave it to the busheads to be sleeping in so casually.

???

Well... let's be nice, Effie. I'm sure they've been hired for a reason. Anyway, good morning everybody!

[thematics]

[ oh are they talking to all of us. are we going to get a debriefing? she will pay attention, a thing she failed to do successfully a moment ago. ]

[riverbeans]

[good news is that charles is used to being ignored.



but he will also go pay attention to this...]

Morning!

[solesuccess]

[ DON'T JUST PUT THAT THERE.

anyway he's a little startled at being addressed but it's fine. ]

Morning. Um...we wanted to see if we can get a debriefing about the mission before we get there.

[inequals]

???

Of course, we were just sorting out the last remnants before you woke up. We don't want all this to go awry after how hard we worked now, after all!

Saude

Ah, before we begin. My name is Saude, and this is Effie. We're from the LCC Before Team and we're here to make sure the plan to get the next Bough goes off as seamlessly as it can.
We don't want to lose any if we can manage it, after all.

[ Well! She seems friendly at least? Big ol' smile and all. Vergilius seems to turn to watch this debriefing happen, as unamused as ever. Alarmingly, Charon is also looking over here. Did you feel the bus bump? No you didn't. ]

Effie

We're just about where we need to stop, so get ready to get off the bus soon.
We'll talk shop at the pawnbroker's.

[thematics]

[ with our new memories are we familiar with any of this terminology???? ]

Wait, how might it go awry?

[riverbeans]

[suddenly wishes he had interrogated gregor or rodya more about their shady company

charles waves at butthead vergilius and charon, before looking back at saude and effie.]

... This should be interesting.

[solesuccess]

[ hm. boughs...right. he remembers that term and he's just squinting dubiously. he assumes they know their names so he just nods along... ]

How long until we get to the pawnbroker's then?

[inequals]

[ Yes and no -- you're familiar with some, and not so much with others. You are not very familiar with the LCC Before Team, because canonically Faust had to explain it to the rest of the bus and while I adore her, I refuse to RP a major character for half of a CYOA. You are free to ask away any questions you'd like.

Saude's smile seems... strained. ]

Saude

Ideally it shouldn't, since we've created a plan for you to follow... and as long as you stick by it, nothing should go wrong?

Effie

Great timing, actually. We're here.

[ Because as if right on cue, Charon is going to step on those brakes. Grab onto something because it is going to be a very sudden stop. Vergilius doesn't follow with, and neither does Charon, though at least your bus driver is nice enough to wave at you.

You step out into a pretty neat-looking alleyway, with a bunch of twists and turns. ]

Saude

Welcome to District 10! Right this way, please.

[thematics]

[ lovelace will give the driver a nod as she exits the bus! ]

"Nothing should go wrong" doesn't mean anything. Things go wrong. We need to know what to expect.

[riverbeans]

Whoa!

[charles will grab something to keep his balance... before he then follows isabel out of the bus (waving back at charon) and whispers,]

Something is definitely going to go wrong...

[solesuccess]

[ there is a very high chance he sort of crashes into the back of a seat and grips the top to keep from eating shit. rude!! there's a startled sound, but he's back on his feet and he's following the others immediately off of the bus. he's also whispering under his breath: ]

Maybe the plan will be fine...? [ debatable. so we are in an alleyway. is there anything notable on their path as they walk and follow saude and effie? other people, landmarks, etc? ]

[inequals]

CHARLES

ISABEL

SHOMA

[ You're doing great.

The alleyway is reaaally shady. And seemingly quite backstreets, to put it one way. The houses and streets are all extremely ratty. This clearly isn't an area for people with money.

Your guides will gesture you into a pawnshop. The interior is dim and kinda cramped, and there's an old man behind the counter who seems kinda jumpy. ]

Saude

Yes yes, well -- that's what the plan is for. We've been working on this for quite a while, specifically to make sure it goes as seamlessly as possible, so we're really counting on you, alright?

[ Firstly, the pawnshop. The pawnbroker will buy off any trinkets you have for some extra cash and tradearounds, and you can buy one extra thing while you're here -- another weapon, some extra bullets (if you look at bullet pricing, you'll notice that they are exorbitantly pricey, so you won't be able to get a lot), perhaps a smoke bomb or two. Effie goes around the back and returns with a croupier uniform, looking like he'd fit right into a casino. ]

Effie

The Golden Bough is under District 10's famous casino this time.
Your job as retrievers is to infiltrate the casino, make your way to the top floor where you'll act as one of the four Syndicates currently vying to get it, and beat them at whatever game they've planned to earn the rights to get down to the basement.

Saude

The four Syndicates will be the Tingtang Gang, Los Mariachis, Tieqiu Crew, and the Yurodiviye. You'll be impersonating the Tingtang Gang, for two reasons -- because they are one of the four Syndicates participating, and because they have a special mechanism that will aid you greatly at the betting table.
Questions so far?

[thematics]

[ hello yes smoke bomb please??? ]

Yeah, first question: how are we supposed to act as people we know nothing about?

[riverbeans]

Oh, this is definitely Gregor and Rodya's thing... Sure wish we had Rodya's luck here, then.

[rodya give them your gambling skill???

anyway he's listening as isabel asks proper questions, but also, can charles afford, like. a dagger or something to go with his sword. or to give to shoma, one of the two. dagger?]

I'm guessing we don't know "whatever game they've planned" is yet?

[solesuccess]

[ yeah that was my question was if we have enough money that we could buy a single dagger because he would like one in addition to his bombs. ]

Yeah...Rodya told me a little about this but not much. [ for. reasons. ] If we don't know the game, do we at least know the mechanism that they've got as an advantage?

[inequals]

[ So the cool thing is... if you ask, Effie pulls out... a company black card. Whoa. He can definitely afford a few things here and there, though he isn't going to go crazy with it on your behalf.

Isabel: +1 Smoke Bomb. It doesn't have a real trigger. It looks like it's meant to go off with enough impact, so be careful with it.
Charles: +1 Dinky Dagger. It's not impressive, but it definitely gets the job done. There's a carving on it that implies it was once an heirloom to somebody.

Saude

Oh, it won't be that important. Gangs and ruffians, they all act the same anyway.
The important thing is that you don't act like you have no business being there, that's all. Oh, and you steal their clothes. The outfit is very important to the Tingtang Gang.

Effie

It's a casino, eh. It's probably a casino game. We're infiltrating as croupiers to guide you through the place and get you to where you need to go while being as non-suspicious as possible. It's probably just a regular game of poker knowing this place.

Saude

The Tingtang Gang is one of many gangs that extort in this District, but not everybody can pay with money. In that scenario, they will accept non-monetary payment in the form of "Wishpower".

[thematics]

[ hum. lovelace doesn't know too much about rodya's world except for the very concerning monster that was briefly explained to her???? so that's a new thing to be concerned about.

oh well. problems for future lovelace, maybe. ]

... Yeaahhh, one more question. Casinos generally have an age limit?

[ looking? at shoma?? ]

[riverbeans]

[gives the dagger to shoma]

If that's a problem, we'll just pass Shoma off as a tiny, baby-faced adult.

[smiles. also,]

... "Wishpower"?

[solesuccess]

[ pocketing this dagger, thank you. anyway okay, they have covered the important-ish questions so he just decides that it's stupid at this point and turns to lovelace. ]

Captain, I'm eighteen. [ just. to get this out of the way. no further explanation, it's fine. anyway. ] If it's a card game, then we probably have to play a few hands. Right?

[inequals]

Saude

Yyyes, in some cases, or most. But it isn't certainly a crime to just walk around one to begin with! Beside that, not to worry, since we did get your paperwork beforehand and have confirmed you're all set to go.
Your presence alone shouldn't be raising alarms, unless you're doing something quite silly.

[ Her energy truly is don't. But yeah she also gestures to Shoma revealing his age so you guys should be fine. She also hands you guys a pamphlet that's all about District 10 and its creature comforts, which mostly revolves around betting and all.

"District 10 is known as the Nest of Gambling, and is owned by J Corp. People living in District 10's Nest devote themselves to gambling and thus, there are many casinos. One department of J Corp. tasks employees with checking the security cameras placed in affiliated facilities and spotting anyone who cheats. The lines are flooded with calls all day, and the employees are overwhelmed because they must keep track of dozens of calls and screens at the same time."

Furthermore from this pamphlet, you will learn that J Corp's Singularity specialises in locking technology. ]

Effie

You could also call it "luck", to put it another way.
You pickin' up what we're putting down, or do I need to get more specific than that?

[thematics]

[ looking at charles. then shoma. ] Well, no one is going to believe that.

[ this is irrelevant to whether or not lovelace believes that. ]

... I guess that's enough. I'm good at games, so. Should be easy. [ no? ]

[riverbeans]

[he just grins sheepishly at isabel, shrugging. then, he looks back at effie.]

Kind of yes, kind of no. Can't say I know how to extort people for luck?

[solesuccess]

[ okay, well, that actually immediately puts him in a sour mood so never mind, he guesses!!! thanks for the reminder!!!! ]

Best we can do is pick up cues and pretend we know what we're doing. [ ... ] Rodya told me really early on that with enough confidence, you can get away with almost anything. So if we can do that, we can work with the game.