Content Warning: Strong Language
Thursday, October 17th, 1996. 1:37am
Scene Chaos Factor: 5
Expected Scene: Getting to the physical location encountered in the neuroscape
Testing the Expected Scene: 6 - Expected Scene
Does Eamon encounter the drone on his recon? Unlikely - 74 - No
It took me a while, but I managed to get clear of street I was in and figured out exactly where it was in relation to the place I'd seen in the Barstow neuroscape. Things didn't exactly match, which complicated things a bit, as did the fact that the buildings here were far more intact than the ones in the 'scape.
But I eventually got my bearings and made my way down the other side of the hill towards where I'd seen the weirdo in the uniform in the 'scape.
Does he encounter anything along the way? Unlikely - 13 - Yes.
Descriptions Meaning Table: 60/06 - Loosely Bizarre.
The houses on this side of the hill had their yards and porches filled with sand and dust, sometimes up to a couple of feet deep. Most of the front doors were blocked in by the stuff, like you'd see up north when it snows a lot.
I did see one really weird thing as I made my way over there. Like a lot of places in the former USA, these house had flagpoles bolted to one of the pillars supporting the porch at the front of the house. A couple looked like they were still flying very faded and ripped versions of the Stars and Stripes, while a few more were flying the Pacifica flag instead.
Except for this one place. Instead of a flag, there was a pair of faded clown pants. They looked like they'd been there a while, as they were a bit ripped, and the giant hooped waistband made them look more like a windsock than a flag. It made me chuckle though, it was just so random. I have no idea why they were flying clown pants, as there was nothing else that gave any hint.
After I'd gone a couple of blocks down the hill, I came to an intersection, and recognised the street I'd seen in the ‘scape. Taking a left and sticking close to the fences, I crept along with my Beretta in my hand.
Is there any sort of light on in the house? Nearly Impossible - 66 - No.
No random event, as over the Chaos Factor.
Like all the other streets in the area, there were no lights on in any of the houses.
Wits Check: Does Eamon spot any movement or tracks on this street? Five dice + two dice for the Sleuth talent - 2, 2, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5 - No successes.
As far as I could see in the dark, this street was utterly deserted. There were no tracks in the dust, and nothing was moving. Everything was quiet. It really looked as though no one had been here in days, if not weeks or months.
But there was something niggling at the back of my mind, telling me that something was off here. There was something going on that I'd somehow missed.
Push the roll: Seven dice - 3, 3, 3, 4, 5, 6, 6 - Two successes.
I stopped moving and just watched. It took me nearly five minutes of staring into the darkness in the porches in the houses on this street before I realised what I'd missed the first time. I think I just needed more time for my eyes to get more accustomed to the dark.
In at least two of the porches on the street opposite the house I was trying to get to, I could make out slightly darker humanoid shapes. From the looks of things, they were dormant drones, much like the one I had seen earlier from the house I hid in. Their scraggly robes acted like a form of camouflage, helping them to blend in, and they were partly buried in the dust and sand.
But it struck me that if whoever was in that house might have stationed them there so they were ready to take over and pilot at a second's notice if someone approached the house. It's possible they were armed with more than just a metal pipe as well. I know that's what I might do if I was in that position.
I decided that it wasn't worth the risk, and decided to take another approach. After counting how many houses along the block my target was, I backed out of the street, and snuck back to the next road up the hill. I carefully wandered along, counting the houses, until I was certain that I was at the house that shared a back fence with the target place.
Wits check: looking for drones or any other sign of ambush - Five + 2 dice - 1, 3, 4, 5, 5, 5, 6 - One success.
Are there any things to be wary of using this approach? Unlikely - 91 - Exceptional No.
After carefully looking around - especially as I now knew what to look out for - I slipped into the house's yard, and carefully made my way down the path at the side of the building. It was tough going, because of all the sand and dust, but there was nothing there. It seemed that while the person who had positioned the drones opposite the house below was wary enough to keep an eye on the front of the property, they didn't have a whole lot of tactical knowledge, as they left the rear approach completely unguarded.
As I got into the backyard, I quickly realised another thing: the yard was so filled with sand and dust that getting over the back fence was going to be a piece of cake. It wasn't so much a case of needing to climb the fence as just stepping over it.
Is there a light on in the back of the house below that couldn't be seen from the front? Unlikely - 56 - No.
After waiting and watching for a few minutes, I was convinced that the coast was clear and stepped over the fence and into the back yard of my target house.
Is there a second story to the house? 50/50 - 72 - No.
Is there an obvious way in? 50/50 - 81 - No.
The problem was, now I was in the backyard, I couldn't figure out how to get inside. The backyard was full of sand like the one I'd come in by, and the back door to the house was blocked by the drift. The windows along the back of the house were all closed and dark.
Are the windows locked? 50/50 - 08 - Exceptional Yes.
As I crept closer to the house, I discovered that the windows at the back had been boarded up from the inside, or at least had some large furniture pushed up against them. This really made me wonder what was going on inside.
Wits check: Can Eamon figure out how to get into the house? Five dice + 2 for Sleuth - 1, 1, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5 - No successes.
This was fucking ridiculous. I'd made it all this way to this place, and now I can't find a way in that isn't the front door. It was so goddamned frustrating.
Push the roll: Five dice - can't reroll 1s - 2, 4, 5, 5, 6 - One success.
Eamon loses two Hope for the ones rolled initially. Hope is now 3.
I kept looking around. If someone had gone to the trouble to set up drones with a field of fire covering the front of the house, then surely they must have another exit set up so they could get away while any attackers were pinned down out the front. At least that's what I'd do.
Agility check: Does Eamon sneak quietly? Four dice - 1, 3, 4, 6 - One success.
I carefully snuck down both sides of the house, looking for a way in. Thankfully, the sand and dust muffled my footsteps, so I was pretty sure that no one heard me skulking about. I was just about to give up when I spotted a window towards the back of the house was open about half an inch. The window sill was about waist high above the ground, so as long as I could get it open quietly, I should be able to get inside.
Wits Check: can he hear anything inside the house? Five + two dice - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5, 6 - One success.
Is there anything to hear inside? Unlikely - 15 - Yes.
Sounds Meaning Table: 43/04 - Hammering Approach
I was just about to push the window open when I heard footsteps running down the hallway inside. There was the sound of a door being pushed open, and then the sound of retching. While I wasn't happy with the idea of someone being awake inside the place, now seemed like an opportune time to sneak in while they were distracted.
Agility Check: can Eamon sneak into the house undetected? Four dice - 1, 2, 4, 5 - No successes.
Push the roll: Three dice - 2, 2, 4 - No successes.
Eamon loses another Hope point for the initial one.
I pushed the window open, and it slid open with barely a noise. That was the good news.
The bad news was when I climbed into the window, I managed to knock something off the table that was under the window, and it fell onto the carpet with a thud.
Fuck!
I quickly lowered the window back down to where it was before - more or less - then crawled over behind the door, my heart pounding.
Is the other person in the house female? 50/50 - 68 - No.
Is the voice of a young person? 50/50 - 85 - No.
The retching from the other side of the hallway stopped, and I heard a groan. A few seconds later, the door opened a few inches, and a sickly sounding male voice with an Indian accent said, "What was that noise?"
End of Scene Bookkeeping
Things didn't exactly go to plan in this scene, so the Chaos Factor increases to six.
No new characters to add to lists.
End of Scene Notes
This scene illustrates how quickly a character’s Hope can erode if they end up rolling 1s when pushing a roll. Any ones from the initial roll can’t be rerolled, and count towards the total Hope loss after the push. In a very short timeframe, Eamon dropped from Hope 5 to Hope 2.
Being able to voluntarily exit from the neuroscape depends on your Hope score being higher than your Bliss. So this is something of a warning to new players: be careful out there.
Another fun thing with solo gaming is how a random roll can sometimes become vitally important later on. More on that in later episodes.