Content Warning: Strong Language, Death
This is part 2 of Episode 19. I split the episode in two after the whole thing ran to nearly 2,000 words when I was writing it. I thought that was a little too much for a single Substack post.
Scene Chaos Factor: 5
Wits check: Can Eamon get a read on Albey's demeanour? Five dice - 1, 3, 4, 4, 6 - One success.
Summer and Albey had a quick whispered chat, while I watched the dynamic between the two, as best I could in the dark. Both seem glad to see each other, and Albey seemed to relax a little as they spoke. They both kept sneaking glances over at me, but looked away as they realised I was watching them.
While they were chatting, I grabbed my flashlight and shone it over to the two of them so I could get a better look. Albey looked like he was in his late teens or early 20s. He was African American, with his hair platted in tight cornrows. He was wearing a Run-DMC t-shirt, underneath a black zippered hoodie.
"So, why the hell are you two meeting at some wrecked cars in the desert in the middle of the night?" I asked. "Who are you hiding from?"
Albey looked at me for a moment, studying my face.
Is Albey going to be confrontational? 50/50 - 89 - No
"Hey, look man," he said, "This is dangerous territory, and you can't be too careful, especially out here at night. The survivalists and the military have been taking shots at each other for years. Most of 'em will bust a cap in you just for being out here. Safer to move under the cover of darkness."
"You're not part of the military or the survivalists either?"
Albey shook his head. "Neither of us are."
"So, what then?" I asked. "Why did you ask if I was with Sentra?"
"Sentra is just about as bad as the military," Summer said. "They're usually the ones calling the shots."
"Yeah, I know," I said. "I ran into some the other side of Barstow. Fuckers practically held a gun to my head and forced me to do something for them before they'd let me go."
Does Albey react badly to Eamon's comment about helping Sentre? 50/50 - 16 - Yes.
"So you're working for those fucks?" Albey said, "Man, I thought you were trouble!"
"Back off, man," I said. "Didn't you hear me saying they practically held a gun to my head? It was either do what they asked and look for a guy, or they'd fabricate some crime, and throw my ass in jail. Or worse."
Albey was staring straight at me. "Which guy? Who'd they have you looking for?"
"Does it fucking matter right now?"
Albey nodded. "Yeah, man, it does fucking matter! Who'd they have you looking for?"
"A neuroscape researcher, named Shani."
Does this name mean anything to Albey? 50/50 - 48 - Yes
Is Shani important to Albey? Unlikely - 54 - No
Has Summer heard of Shani? 50/50 - 83 - No
Albey let out a small sigh of relief. "I heard of him. Been causing Sentre some trouble apparently. I'd never met him though."
I looked over at him, surprisingly relieved that he seemed to be relaxing a little. "Not who you were expecting?"
Albey shook his head. "Nah, man. I got a bud who's been missing for a few days. He's done that before, so I'm still hoping he'll show, but if Sentre got him, he's probably lying in a ditch with a hole in his head."
In terms of Archetype, is Albey a Criminal (yes) or an Outsider (no)? 50/50 - 55 - No, so he's an Outsider, but there's a random event.
Event Focus: 99 - Current Context
Meaning Tables Actions: 33/100 - Destroy, Wound.
Albey rolled up his right sleeve, and pointed to a long, ugly scar on his forearm. "Sentre security goons did this to me 'bout a year ago. My buds, Micah, José, and I had gone to check out a wrecked assault ship about twenty miles from here. We were just looking for any kind of salvage that might make our lives a little easier."
He put his head back against the wreck. "But when we got there, it was filthy with Sentre fucks. They were crawling all over it, looking for something. They caught us, and tortured all of us, thinking we were there to spy on them. They cut my arm open, looking for a fucking embedded microchip, or some shit."
He closed his eyes, with a look of pain on his face. "José never made it out. I don't know the whole story of what happened to him, but Micah said he heard one of the goons say that he'd bled to death. Not sure if it was from internal injuries, or whether they just carved him open."
Summer gasped quietly. "How did you get out?"
Albey opened his eyes again. "They blindfolded Micah and I and loaded us both into the back of a truck. They dumped us about ten miles away from the wreck, and told us to never go back there again."
He sighed. "I don't know why I told you that. Probably because talking 'bout Sentre brings that shit back again, especially with Micah missing."
I looked across at the pair of them. "So what now? You two just going to walk across the desert until you make it to wherever it is you're going?"
"As long as you're not going to put a bullet in us and drive off, then yeah, something like that, man."
Summer looked at me, then across at my truck. "You could always give us a lift."
End of Scene Bookkeeping
Eamon was in control this scene, so the Chaos Factor decreases to 4.
Added Summer Byron to the Character List.
Added Albey Dagan to the Character List.
End of Scene Notes
This scene took me literally weeks to write. Partly that’s because I lost momentum after getting distracted by other things, and partly because I kept feeling blocked by what was going to happen next.
It’s an odd scene in many ways. It was an interrupt scene, with a focus of PC Positive, so it had to end up being something good for Eamon. When the Activate Group focus came up, I thought it might be fun to assemble a group of characters to travel together, in the way that Electric State was originally intended.
I thought about continuing the scene on, but eventually realised that Summers last line was a good place to call this scene, and I’ll play out the answer in a new scene, with the idea of forging the three into a group to travel together. Right now, none of them know the others, so it’s a perfect chance to set the Tension levels between each pair of characters to 1.