Okuu Quest Next - A Z-Machine Adventure

[DracoOmega]

>And for caution's sake, stow the stungun somewhere out of sight, but which is also easily in reach if it comes to it

[Hello Purvis]

> Groan
> "This had better be worth it..."
> Go up and knock on the door. And hope the door doesn't crash in when you do so.

>And for caution's sake, stow the stungun somewhere out of sight, but which is also easily in reach if it comes to it

>You groan, make your imprecations toward the universe, stow the stungun away in your dress pocket, then walk up to the door and knock on it.
>Nothing happens; thankfully it seems to be attached to the frame pretty firmly. But you do note a part where it looks like it's been kicked very firmly.
>You knock a few more times, with increasing loudness, until the door flies open. There, towering half a foot over you, is the blond biker; Yuugi. "What!" she shouts, not so much out of anger as much to be heard over the blaring music.

>_

[Kasu]

> "YO."

[Hello Purvis]

> "YO."

>"Yeah, what you what!" she shouts. "You come to party!"

>_

[Seian Verian]

> "NOT EXACTLY! COULD YOU TURN THE MUSIC DOWN FIRST?!"

[Hello Purvis]

> "NOT EXACTLY! COULD YOU TURN THE MUSIC DOWN FIRST?!"

>Yuugi steps outside and shuts the door. "Couldn't hear you over the music," she says, "What'd you want again?"

>_

[Seian Verian]

> Explain why we're here

[Hello Purvis]

> Explain why we're here

>This is one of those situations where presentation is probably the difference between a go ahead and a punch to the kidney. You should select your words carefully.

>_

[sammy t coleridge]

>"SWEET PARTY SIS"

[Hello Purvis]

>"SWEET PARTY SIS"

>"Hell yeah!" says Yuugi. "But you ain't gotta shout in my face like that no more."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Sorry."
>"Don't want to be a downer, but I'm actually looking for some information. I hear you might... know some people."
>Try to look confident without being too forward. Don't want to look as nervous as we feel, but also want to avoid provoking anything.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Sorry."
>"Don't want to be a downer, but I'm actually looking for some information. I hear you might... know some people."
>Try to look confident without being too forward. Don't want to look as nervous as we feel, but also want to avoid provoking anything.

>"Hell, I know all kinds of people," says Yuugi. "Shit, if you're here to party, come on in. I'll make Sui turn the music down so you can talk and shit."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>On the one hand, the idea of being in a confined space with multiple, potentially druken bikers, is none too appealing. Chiko, in particular, if she feels like following up on this afternoon's 'confrontation'. On the other hand, perhaps joining in might be disarming, and lead to hearing some information we wouldn't otherwise. Yuugi, at least, seems to be less of a hot-head.

>"Um, sure"
>Follow her inside
>Hope you're not making a terribly stupid mistake

[Hello Purvis]

>On the one hand, the idea of being in a confined space with multiple, potentially druken bikers, is none too appealing. Chiko, in particular, if she feels like following up on this afternoon's 'confrontation'. On the other hand, perhaps joining in might be disarming, and lead to hearing some information we wouldn't otherwise. Yuugi, at least, seems to be less of a hot-head.

>"Um, sure"
>Follow her inside
>Hope you're not making a terribly stupid mistake

>"Hell yeah," says Yuugi, as she opens the door and gestures for you to follow.
>You head inside, the noise of a song you recognize as Hate Machine making it hard to think. She leads you down a hall; littered with trash and with several holes in the drywall that you are pretty sure came from fists or possibly someone's head being introduced to it. Making a left at the first door, the music suddenly quiets down to a normal level, leaving a sort of ringing in your ears in the aftermath. "Hey!" says Chiko, "I was dancing to that!"
>"You can still dance, you dumb shit," says Yuugi as you walk into a den. The walls are about in the same condition as the ones in the hall, but there is less trash around. Chiko and Yuugi are in the middle of the room, glaring at each other. You can see the third biker, a small slim woman with reddish blonde hair,  sitting in a recliner watching some show on an old TV, while drinking from a bottle in a brown paper bag. There are a lot empty bottles here, sitting on many of the flat surfaces like some kind of trophies. You notice a huge set of speakers near the door, with what looks like a little MP3 player wired up to them. Huh.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>What are we 'huh?'-ing about?

>Hang by the door a bit, without interrupting Yuugi and Chiko's staring contest.
>See what happens.

Edit: (Oh god, I just realized who Chiko is...)

[Hello Purvis]

>What are we 'huh?'-ing about?

>Hang by the door a bit, without interrupting Yuugi and Chiko's staring contest.
>See what happens.

Edit: (Oh god, I just realized who Chiko is...)

>You've never seen a little MP3 player hooked up to chest high speakers before.
>The two glare each other down a bit, before Yuugi reaches up and tousles Chiko's hair. "Fuckin' adorable, you know that? Now settle down before I put a hole in ya." 
>Yuugi then looks in your direction. "Hey, you coming in or what?"
>"Oh, hey chickenshit," says Chiko as she looks over in your direction, no malice in her tone despite the words. The short biker, Sui if you recall correctly, glances over in your direct, then back to the TV.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Hey." Nod in Chiko's direction
>Step into the room.
>Grab a seat or lean up against the wall or something. Try to look comfortable.
>"Ha, it's been one hell of a crazy day, today. You know the kind?"

[Hello Purvis]

>"Hey." Nod in Chiko's direction
>Step into the room.
>Grab a seat or lean up against the wall or something. Try to look comfortable.
>"Ha, it's been one hell of a crazy day, today. You know the kind?"

>You nod back to Chiko, who seems satisfied.
>Looking around, you find an old chair that, despite missing significant sections of upholstery, seems like it wouldn't be too bad. You settle in.
>You declare it's been a crazy day. "What happened?" asks Sui, looking away from her show. "Police chase?"

>_

[Seian Verian]

> "Oh, not really police. Might be close though. Some gal was tailing me, and I managed to catch her, and get some info from her. She says that the Scarlets sent her. Naturally, when I went to talk to that Izayoi gal who works for Remilia, she said she didn't know anything about it."

[DracoOmega]

>"Hah, what happened? Too many things to list, I'd think. Well, no police chases, at least. Did get tailed by someone else, though. Managed to catch her before she got away, although I don't know if her story checks out. I don't suppose the name Nue Houjuu means anything to you?"

[Hello Purvis]

> "Oh, not really police. Might be close though. Some gal was tailing me, and I managed to catch her, and get some info from her. She says that the Scarlets sent her. Naturally, when I went to talk to that Izayoi gal who works for Remilia, she said she didn't know anything about it."

>"Hah, what happened? Too many things to list, I'd think. Well, no police chases, at least. Did get tailed by someone else, though. Managed to catch her before she got away, although I don't know if her story checks out. I don't suppose the name Nue Houjuu means anything to you?"

>"Huh," says Yuugi.
>"So you went to the pigs, and expected them to tell you straight?" asks Sui. "Tell you what, crooked fucks wouldn't tell you the time of day without a few bills crossing their palm."
>"Hey, d-" Chiko says, before Yuugi smacks her in the back of the head. "Hey! Don't do that!"
>"Shut up, Chiko," Yuugi says. "I'm sick of hearing you're goddamned voice. Anyways, never did that stalking shit."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Hmmm.... technically, I actually DID offer a considerable amount of money, but she gave it back to me."

[Seian Verian]

> "No, I don't suppose I did really expect to get a real answer if they did have anything to do with it. Not quite sure why I went and did it anyway. I've never been tailed before, and I'm not really used to dealing with all this kind of stuff. Though I'm thinking it might not actually be the Scarlets anyway. See, this neighbor of mine had her house condemned. But there's really nothing wrong with it that even the governments' standards could do that with. So I figure something's going on, and then I find out that Tenma has something to do with it. So maybe Tenma sent Nue. Best lead I've got."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Hmmm.... technically, I actually DID offer a considerable amount of money, but she gave it back to me."

>"Heh, technicals don't count," says Sui.

> "No, I don't suppose I did really expect to get a real answer if they did have anything to do with it. Not quite sure why I went and did it anyway. I've never been tailed before, and I'm not really used to dealing with all this kind of stuff. Though I'm thinking it might not actually be the Scarlets anyway. See, this neighbor of mine had her house condemned. But there's really nothing wrong with it that even the governments' standards could do that with. So I figure something's going on, and then I find out that Tenma has something to do with it. So maybe Tenma sent Nue. Best lead I've got."

>"Sounds like something they'd do," says Yuugi. "Hell, look at this neighborhood."
>"Who's Tenma?" asks Chiko.
>"I dunno," says Yuugi, "Some government prick, I think."
>Yuugi fishes a bottle out of a cooler by the speakers and tosses it to you.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>Catch the bottle.
>"Thanks."
>How well can we handle alcohol?
>In any event, try to nurse the drink slowly. This probably isn't the best time or place to get drunk.

>"Although Tenma would have to be pretty quick on his feet to send someone after me by this afternoon. I only started looking into the condemnation this morning, and even then, only through a casual word or two to my boss, who certainly isn't mixed up in any of this. I'd have a hard time believing I'd come to his attention over something like this that quickly. There's definitely something more going on. Don't really have a clue who would throw that much money at keeping an eye on me, though."

[Hello Purvis]

>Catch the bottle.
>"Thanks."
>How well can we handle alcohol?
>In any event, try to nurse the drink slowly. This probably isn't the best time or place to get drunk.

>"Although Tenma would have to be pretty quick on his feet to send someone after me by this afternoon. I only started looking into the condemnation this morning, and even then, only through a casual word or two to my boss, who certainly isn't mixed up in any of this. I'd have a hard time believing I'd come to his attention over something like this that quickly. There's definitely something more going on. Don't really have a clue who would throw that much money at keeping an eye on me, though."

>You catch the bottle, open it, and start to nurse it. Hey, this isn't half bad...
>You have a pretty good alcohol tolerance, you've discovered from the few times you've gone drinking. A whole lot better than Orin, anyways. You expect you can have a couple and not have problems.  Regardless, you really don't wanna lose control of your faculties here. At the least, they'd probably abuse it to get you to embarrass yourself.
>"Yeah, that is a point, innit?" says Sui. "Unless he was watching whoever that lady was what got her house condemned."
>"Got any enemies?" Chiko asks. "Like, the personal kind? Maybe they did it."

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Hmmm... she did seem kind of nervous, so I suppose it's possible."
>Consider if we have had any antagonistic relations with someone that hasn't already come up today
>Assuming the answer to that is no: "Enemies? I don't think so. Besides, you'd have to be pretty determined to plunk down 2000☼ to tail someone."
>"Huh, you'd think 2000☼ would buy you someone more stealthy, now that I think about it..."

[communist unity (comm-unity)]

> Ponder if Nue's just some stalker that we only just noticed today.

[Hello Purvis]

>"Hmmm... she did seem kind of nervous, so I suppose it's possible."
>Consider if we have had any antagonistic relations with someone that hasn't already come up today
>Assuming the answer to that is no: "Enemies? I don't think so. Besides, you'd have to be pretty determined to plunk down 2000☼ to tail someone."
>"Huh, you'd think 2000☼ would buy you someone more stealthy, now that I think about it..."

>You consider your personal nemeses, and conclude you really don't have any. You never really had anyone that hated you that much. You've had customers get angry with you and such, but nothing deep or lasting. And certainly not enough to hire someone to follow you.
>"Yeah, that's a good chunk of cash," says Chiko. "I wouldn't throw that around for no reason."
>You ponder your purser's competence. To be fair, it did take someone at least moderately paranoid to notice her. "Maybe it's a rush job," Sui says. "Didn't have time to prepare things proper and all that?"

> Ponder if Nue's just some stalker that we only just noticed today.

>Maybe so. But you don't think that sort of person would have 2000☼ onhand.

>_

[DracoOmega]

>"Hmm.... rush job? I suppose it's possible."
>"I don't suppose you have any idea where I could start looking for who hired her? Or, if she was indeed working for the Scarlets, how I might be able to find out for sure? I can't say for certain, but I get the feeling this is bigger than just me. Surely you must know a few people who have their ears on stuff. Nue said I'm "digging into matters I'm not supposed to be into" and heck if I even know what she meant."