A Knight of Shreds and Patches Transcript
Season 3 Episode 28: Siblings on the Job
Transcript by Cameron Robertson
Intro:
[hurdy gurdy music begins]
Nick: Welcome, listeners, to A Knight of Shreds and Patches. An immersive actual play podcast. This episode features the talents of –
Penn: Penn Van Batavia as Marathon Messenger and Gwendolyn Rozenthall.
Kit: Kit Adames as Birdie Foundling and Vaus Foundling.
Cameron: Cameron Robertson as Emma Blackwood and Janus Foundling.
Sydney: Sydney Whittington as Cassidy Shard and Winifred Foundling.
Nick: Nick Robertson as GM and Narrator.
Sydney: Hello listeners, this is your editor, Sydney, with today’s messages:
Well, it’s episode day. Again. Oh, sorry, Groundhog Day was earlier this week, and thankfully we’re already out of there. Must be that you’re already all good people who don’t need to be stuck in a time loop just to learn a lesson. If only we were all as cool as you…
Though, if you do find yourself wanting to relive moments from the show from different viewpoints (even over and over and over), consider backing our Patreon, which gives you access to bonus episodes, campfire conversations, and other fun rewards.
And with that, we wrap up today’s announcements and head into Season 3, Episode 28: Siblings on the Job. And so…
“Join us, for now our tale to yours attaches
To carry hope: a Knight of Shreds and Patches.”
[hurdy gurdy music ends]
[electronic beeping]
[robotic powerup noise begins]
Distorted Robotic Voice: Power restored. Systems online. Reconfiguring audio connection.
[robotic powerup noise fades to radio frequency static]
[over radio]
Kit (as Birdie): Last time on a Knight of Shreds and Patches, still no Emma, still no Marathon, and Cassidy is even more mad at me, so~ who would have seen that coming? Juno was really nice to drop us off and then Cassidy and I fought more and then she told me ‘Fuck you Birdie!’ and I was like, okay~ cool. [forced laugh] And so I knew - I did what I always did when I still lived in Sasnak and I just went to Nurse Bliss - Nurse Bliss-Foundling, I think that’s what she’s doing now. Anyways, I went to her and she and I had a really lovely talk and so I think I’m gonna try to apologize to Cassidy but I don’t really know. She kinda makes me really afraid when she’s mad at me. Uh yeah, I hope that she is safe, I guess. Marathon and Emma come home~!
[radio static]
Episode Start:
Nick: Cassidy, you feel as though your head must have just hit the pillow, but time apparently has passed. As you crack open your eyes to see sunlight streaming in through the window of Janus' guest bedroom, you hear a gentle hubbub down at street level from Merchants Alley as the day has rolled on while you slept and recovered. Before you're able to sit up, you see two small heads looming into your field of vision from the side of the bed.
Nick (as Zan Cannon): I'm pretty sure she died.
Kit (as Lark Perdita): She's not dead, obviously.
Nick (as Zan Cannon): You can die with your eyes open.
Kit (as Lark Perdita): She's still breathing, dimwit.
Nick (as Zan Cannon): You can breathe with your eyes open.
Kit (as Lark Perdita): Mom~!
Sydney: Cassidy does a slow blink as she adjusts to her new situation.
Nick (as Zan Cannon): Ope look, [overlapping] you woke her up,
Kit (as Lark Perdita): [overlapping] See I told you.
Nick (as Zan Cannon): See? I'm so sorry, Miss Cassidy, that my sister woke you up. We were just wondering if you wanted to take us to go get snacks down the street. Because mom said -
Kit (as Lark Perdita): No, we were supposed to get her for breakfast.
Nick (as Zan Cannon): Yeah, there there are cronuts down the street and mom just has that gross flax cereal, and I don't want that. So if Miss Cassidy were to suggest cronuts,
Nick: And the kid wiggles his eyebrows suggestively, but very slowly, because he doesn't have that much coordination.
Kit (as Lark Perdita): [annoyed noise] We're having breakfast if you want to join us.
Sydney (as Cassidy): [very unsure] Sure.
Nick (as Zan Cannon): [rushed] Don't forget to suggest cronuts! Gotta go!
Nick: And you hear unbelievably loud thumping from this small child as he runs out of the room. Just no weight control. Extremely loud.
Sydney: Cassidy slowly rises and measures how her body is feeling, which is not great.
Nick: Yeah, you are not doing super well. You can tell a nights rest was very much called for, but - has Cassidy ever been drastically electrocuted before?
Sydney: Not to this degree. She's been mildly shocked.
Nick: So the feeling of having burns, but inside your muscles is very uncomfortable, and then also the fact that some of your nerves are still kind of micro-twitching under the skin sporadically - not enough that you're really worried about your long term health, but it is very distracting and uncomfortable.
Sydney (as Cassidy): Ouch.
Sydney: She goes to go look out the window wrapped in an oversized flannel that she has procured from Nate's closet with Janus' help.
Nick: You see down through the window, it is based on the angle of the sun, almost noon probably. You slept very late. It appears as though most of the foot traffic you're used to seeing in Merchant's Alley is sort of subsided as everyone stops for lunch. Most people are off the street, but there is still a gentle commotion as people make their way through the day.
Sydney: Cassidy gathers her wits for a second before heading to the kitchen and the promise of food, because healing doesn't happen on an empty stomach, and her body could use the energy.
Nick: The kitchen is on the ground floor behind the bookstore where Nate and Janus work. There is a door cracked and you can hear a conversation going on as you get close.
Nick (as Zan Cannon): Yeah so uh Miss Cassidy is awake, and she said that she didn't want nasty breakfast. She wanted cronuts, and that you were supposed to go get them for her. And also, I should get one.
Kit (as Lark Perdita): Mom he's a filthy liar.
Nick (as Zan Cannon): I am, but not about this. I would never lie about cronuts.
Cameron (as Janus): Oh, never?
Nick (as Zan Cannon): Not even once.
Cameron (as Janus): ["I see" mom noise] Mmm.
Nick: Cassidy as you push the door open, he is actively unable to make eye contact with anybody in the room as he says that.
Cameron (as Janus): Zan I am literally making cinnamon rolls right now.
Nick (as Zan Cannon): Oh.
Cameron (as Janus): Do you really need cronuts?
Nick (as Zan Cannon): No, but um, I think the exchange rate for cinnamon rolls to cronuts is three to one.
Cameron (as Janus): Hmm.
Cameron: Janus is just staring her child down with mom eyes.
Nick: He is staring kind of through Janus with a very big smile on his face, and you can tell he is forcing himself to hold it like that's going to fix the situation, and he's clearly winning.
Sydney: Cassidy gives a small wave as she walks into the room and then goes to grab a spot at the table, not desiring to enter into this conversation.
Cameron (as Janus): Good morning Cassidy.
Sydney (as Cassidy): Morning.
Kit (as Lark Perdita): Good morning, Miss Cassidy,
Nick (as Zan Cannon): I will not be saying good morning until I get my cinnamon rolls.
Cameron (as Janus): Mm. Well, it sounded like you'd already talked to Miss Cassidy this morning. Afternoon. Today.
Nick (as Zan Cannon): Time is a flat circle.
Cameron (as Janus): I need to stop letting Juno baby sit. Uh Cassidy, can I get you some coffee or tea?
Sydney (as Cassidy): Sure, I'll take some coffee.
Cameron (as Janus): Alrighty.
Cameron: Janus walks over to the stove top, where there's a kettle on, and starts making a cup of coffee.
Sydney (as Cassidy): Any news from Winifred or Juno?
Cameron (as Janus): Not yet. Juno, well, I guess I've, I've heard from Juno - no word, but they'd gone back to their office workshop, and it's stocked up on some stuff and were, we're heading back out to try to find Marathon and Emma and I have haven't heard anything from Winifred yet, which suggests that she's still on shift, so she should be getting off within the next hour or so, because she's just gonna fall asleep if they don't let her go soon.
Sydney (as Cassidy): Yeah.
Cameron: And Janus walks over and sets a cup of coffee out in front of Cassidy, and there's milk and sugar and all sorts of stuff you could want to add to coffee on the table.
Sydney: Cassidy ignores all sorts of stuff and drinks a sip of the coffee black.
Sydney (as Cassidy): [sigh] Thanks for the guest room. It's comfortable.
Cameron (as Janus): Mhm.
Sydney (as Cassidy): I don't really remember anything between my head hitting the pillow on now. Well, and the twins uh, staring me down as I came back to life.
Cameron (as Janus): Mhm.
Cameron: Janus casts a look of slight disappointment at the twins.
Kit (as Lark Perdita): What?
Nick: Zan is very used to that look already and is nonplussed.
Kit: Lark pouts a little.
Cameron (as Janus): Kids, can y'all set the table?
Kit (as Lark Perdita): Yeah.
Cameron (as Janus): Thank you, Lark.
Kit (as Lark Perdita): [whisper hissed] Zan help me.
Nick (as Zan Cannon): Fine, fine. I get the knives.
Cameron (as Janus): It just really seems to me like somebody understands how to get more cinnamon rolls better than other people.
Kit (as Lark Perdita): Yeah Zan~.
Nick (as Zan Cannon): Ah, dirt.
Nick: Zan runs over to try to get stuff and is hoping nobody heard him curse.
Cameron: Janus winks at Cassidy.
Sydney (as Cassidy): Zan has been hanging out with Marathon.
Sydney: And Cassidy kind of looks sad for a second as she remembers where - that she doesn't know where or anything about her friend's current existence.
Nick: Your moment of introspection, Cassidy, is interrupted by a siren from outside, and then you hear a voice broadcast throughout Merchant's Alley through a series of loudspeakers saying
Nick (as Announcer): [over speakers] Warning: A Turning has been forecast at 90% probability within the next five minutes. Please secure all loose objects and prepare. A Turning has been detected.
Sydney: Cassidy frowns and looks over to Janus, not knowing what to do in this situation.
Cameron: Janus looks startled that another Turning is happening because it should not - we just had one, but turns and grabs the coffee pot off of the stove and sets it into the sink and says,
Cameron (as Janus): Okay, kids go.
Kit (as Lark Perdita): On it!
Cameron: And then trots over and starts pressing a bunch of buttons on the wall that appear to be automated functions that are closing down doors in front of different cabinets and stuff so that things don't fall, and you assume that there's one for the bookshelves as well out in the shop.
Nick: You can see Cassidy through one of the kitchen windows out into the side alley that this kitchen opens up to. The few people who were outside are gathered in doorways and appear to be bracing themselves, and others are scurrying to get inside.
Sydney: Cassidy, following Janus' lead, puts her mug into the sink to keep it from spilling anywhere, and then looks around anxiously, not because she thinks she's in danger, but because she wants to stay out of the way and doesn't know where to go next.
Kit: Lark will point at a little shelf that has a couple of breakable things that she cannot reach.
Kit (as Lark Perdita): Miss Cassidy, can you grab those for me?
Sydney: Cassidy scoops up a carefully stacked handful of china.
Kit (as Lark Perdita): Thank you.
Sydney (as Cassidy): Where do you want it?
Kit: Lark presses around on the wall a couple of times and then seemingly finds a part that gives to her touch, and a roller compartment extends from this seemingly invisible seam on the wall, and it is a fabric shelving unit for small breakable goods.
Kit (as Lark Perdita): Just in in the two bottom ones right there.
Sydney: Cassidy loads the shelf, according to her five year old overseers orders.
Kit: And Lark will close the compartment again and look up at Cassidy.
Kit (as Lark Perdita): So you guys were here for the other Turning, right?
Sydney (as Cassidy): Yeah, but we were up in the shipping container and there was no warning.
Kit (as Lark Perdita): Ooh~. Yeah. Mama tells us about that.
Sydney (as Cassidy): It's a little sketchy.
Kit (as Lark Perdita): Yeah.
Sydney (as Cassidy): So do you guys go somewhere, or do you just kind of hang out?
Kit (as Lark Perdita): Mama, should we go anywhere?
Nick: Zan comes running into the room with a over large combat helmet strapped onto his head and goggles and his teeth gritted, and he says
Nick (as Zan Cannon): It's coming, get down!
Nick: And dives under the table. There's a moment of quiet and silence, and then it feels like a light earthquake, Cassidy, very different from your last experience, as the city changes direction and everything shifts slightly under the change in momentum.
Sydney: Cassidy takes a seat at the table, feeling the vibration and then noticing that this one is much milder than the previous one. Watches the kids and Janus as they go through their well rehearsed routine.
Cameron: Janus had left the room to go click buttons elsewhere, enters the room again once the rumbles have started.
Cameron (as Janus): Okay, everybody, just hold on to something. [pause of I'm missing a child] Zan?
Nick (as Zan Cannon): I - I
Nick: Janus looks under the table to see Zan and has wrapped himself around the leg of Cassidy's chair like he's worried that the entire building is going to rotate.
Cameron (as Janus): Okay.
Kit: Lark is bracing herself against a corner in the wall and puts her hand on Cassidy's forearm, because those are the two things that are nearest to her.
Sydney: Cassidy anchors her feet on the ground, echoing the instructions, and kind of enjoys being an anchor for Lark, at least she's able to help someone at this point.
Nick: Across Sasnak Traveling as the city redirects, we see Birdie in the guest room as the ground begins to rumble.
Kit: Birdie is very, very asleep. All that's visible of Birdie right now are a couple of strands of her very messy hair, and she's very obviously sprawled out underneath the comforter of this bed and lightly snoring. A gentle shake does disrupt a cup of water that she has on her nightstand, but there is no evidence that she's waking up in any capacity.
Nick: The Turning settles down almost as quickly as it began, and we jump forward in time quite a few hours to where Emma and Marathon have rediscovered the interesting smells of the main part of the Guts, and they continue their journey.
Penn: As the two walk in their jumpsuits Marathon, makes a grimace after getting a whiff.
Penn (as Marathon): I - honestly, I think I'm smelling a similar scent to when we've like a little bit before we fell through. Is that - are we getting closer?
Cameron (as Emma): I mean, yes, because we are headed up, so -
Penn (as Marathon): Ah.
Cameron (as Emma): - that is closer to where we fell.
Penn (as Marathon): Stink rises.
Cameron (as Emma): Sure. Uh, but I don't, I don't know how - since I don't know exactly where the laundry room that we fell into like lines up with what was above it on this map, I don't really, I don't really know [laugh]. But we are far closer to where the circuit key should be than we were when we started after our fall. So,
Penn (as Marathon): Yeah, when we get to the circuit key -
Cameron (as Emma): That's about the detail I can give you. [laugh]
Penn (as Marathon): We link up with Cassidy and Birdie if they're still there, or
Cameron (as Emma): Mhm.
Penn (as Marathon): - we get the circuit key if they haven't gotten it, or
Cameron (as Emma): Mhm.
Penn (as Marathon): - we just keep moving.
Cameron (as Emma): Well, so when we when we get there, regardless of whichever scenario we end up getting there and finding, I do want to take a look at where the circuit key plugs in and try to figure out exactly what this Wander one is gonna do.
Penn (as Marathon): Yeah, because we got the fake.
Cameron (as Emma): Yes, because I and I know it's not going to be good. What it looks like from just the the fake key that I have when I was looking on it, at it pre-fall, uh, it looks like it'll function the same as the a regular key for like, three or four uses, and will then stop, but I think it's going to stop because it starts doing something else, but it's going to be in whatever - I can see where it's going to fail in the key, but I don't know what that connects to when it's plugged in to figure out exactly what the end result of that's going to be, but I'm guessing it's not going to be good, because Wander is telling us to give it to Opal.
Penn (as Marathon): Well, maybe it makes them a sundae. You never know.
Cameron (as Emma): You know, in this case, I feel like I really do know, though, that that is not going to be the case. [laugh]
Penn (as Marathon): Just wishful thinking on my part. I don't know.
Cameron (as Emma): I don't think I'd want a Guts sundae.
Penn (as Marathon): Mm.
Cameron (as Emma): Mmm.
Penn (as Marathon): Wonder if they have a Guts themed ice cream up on top.
Penn: And Marathon looks wistfully before shaking her head.
Cameron (as Emma): Why?
Penn (as Marathon): I don't know. I'm not gonna miss it, but this has been a kind place to travel as any for the last day or so.
Cameron (as Emma): Yeah.
Penn (as Marathon): I don't know how long we've been moving, but I guess I could check my watch and give a specific answer, but I don't want to do that. [laugh]
Cameron (as Emma): Yeah, if you include our nap, this is about a day, probably? Sure. The only way I can see a Guts themed ice cream making sense is if it is only made and consumed by people who have never been to the Guts. [laughing]
Penn (as Marathon): Oh and I have to imagine that's what it is.
Cameron (as Emma): I guess I don't like most - it sounds like most people don't ever come down here.
Penn (as Marathon): Yeah.
Cameron (as Emma): For good reason. It kind of sucks. I wouldn't - [laugh] I don't really want to be down here either.
Penn (as Marathon): Well, we're almost out. We're almost out!
Penn: And Marathon holds a little fist to give a side fist bump to Emma.
Cameron: Emma fist bumps.
Cameron (as Emma): I don't know if I'm quite we're almost out yet, but we're definitely making very good progress.
Penn (as Marathon): Damn. Dirt. Okay, well.
Cameron (as Emma): And I still know where we are. So it's, it's, it's this hallway here. Um I don't, I don't know how far into this hallway we are, compared to the 2D version of it on my map, but we are in this hallway, and if we keep going,
Penn (as Marathon): Yep.
Cameron (as Emma): - we will eventually reach the circuit key. [laugh]
Penn (as Marathon): Well um,
Penn: Marathon drums on her leg, a little bit.
Penn (as Marathon): What do you think is going on in Thunder Bay this time of year?
Cameron (as Emma): So many weddings.
Nick: Emma and Marathon, you are making progress, but there is still a long way to go to make it back to your objective of the circuit key, and you prepare yourselves for more trekking through the less forgiving parts of the Guts. Cassidy, as the Turning ends and you finish a delicious breakfast, what are you going to do now?
Sydney: Cassidy eating the last bite of the second cinnamon roll that she has downed, lets out a deep sigh.
Sydney (as Cassidy): I guess there's not a lot of use in me just hanging out here. I should probably go talk to Birdie.
Cameron (as Janus): You're more than welcome to stay as long as you'd like, but I promise I will - if you're headed to Winifred's, I will alert Winifred and Maria as soon as I hear something, if they don't hear something before me.
Sydney (as Cassidy): All right.
Cameron (as Janus): If you want to grab a book on your way out to uh, [overlapping] distract yourself -
Sydney (as Cassidy): [overlapping] Pass the time? Yeah.
Cameron (as Janus): - distract yourself. Yeah, feel free.
Sydney (as Cassidy): I might, I might take the third one of that series I was reading.
Cameron (as Janus): Yep, I -
Sydney (as Cassidy): The map making.
Cameron (as Janus): I know exactly where that is, I can grab that for you.
Sydney (as Cassidy): [sigh] All right, thanks for sheltering me. If I - well, you'll talk to Maria if, if I don't fall in a hole on the way there. [humorless laugh] [overlapping] I'm gonna go put some -
Cameron (as Janus): [overlapping] Yeah, try not to.
Sydney (as Cassidy): - real clothes on. Yeah. [small laugh] I think we've had enough falling in holes lately.
Cameron (as Janus): Mhm. Yep and you know, you're looking a little bit less bedraggled than you did last night, but not a whole lot better. Maybe, maybe walk slow, you know?
Sydney (as Cassidy): Yeah.
Cameron (as Janus): Yep. Why don't you go change - there's a fresh outfit in your room for you that should fit.
Sydney (as Cassidy): Thank you.
Cameron (as Janus): As I judged it off of the kind of destroyed clothes that you were wearing.
Sydney (as Cassidy): Yeah...
Cameron (as Janus): And I will go and grab the book and have it ready for you when you're ready to head out.
Sydney: Cassidy takes the last sip of her coffee, and then stands up to ready herself for the next day, for the next round of anxious waiting at best. A few minutes later, we see Cassidy heading out of the bookstore. Her backpack reloaded up on her back, her weapons a little bit more covered and tucked away than they had been on the mission directly into the Guts, wearing a flannel that is a lot closer to fitting correctly and a loose pair of jeans, her boots still carry the dirt and the grime of the Guts, but those are not something to be so casually replaced, as she looks around Merchant's Alley at the crowd and then squares her shoulders and starts the long walk towards Winifred's house. Her, if not one surviving, at least one still present teammate that she did not leave on the happiest of terms with.
Nick: It's an interesting route to get from the bookstore and Merchant's Alley to the Dome where Winifred, Maria, and Larry live. You pass through multiple areas of shopping and other Domes, you're greeted with multiple scenes of what day to day life is like here on Sasnak Traveling, people shopping, people meeting with each other, people working, all pretty normal, which is surprising right after a Turning, but people seem very used to it, like they are able to get back to normal very quickly. After gaining entry to the Dome, you find yourself on that manufactured country lane that leads to Winifred's house, knowing that that's where Birdie is and that's where you want to be.
Sydney: Cassidy's muscles after this long walk have loosened up a little bit, but loosening the tightness does not cure the collection of bruises and internal damage that she had taken, but she is up and she is moving, and she is almost there. And as she opens the white picket fence gate to go up the final sidewalk towards Winifred's house, in her head, she runs through a couple of the things that she wants to try and say, and doesn't give herself the chance to just keep and sit thinking again as she knocks on the door with no hesitation.
Nick: Almost before you're done knocking, Maria answers the door.
Nick (as Maria Bliss): Oh uh, Cassidy. Good to see you. What brings you here?
Nick: She looks very knowing, but is giving you the chance to say.
Sydney (as Cassidy): Maria - I hear you have Birdie here.
Nick (as Maria Bliss): I do indeed. I am pretty sure -
Sydney (as Cassidy): I imagine that you know what's going on then.
Nick (as Maria Bliss): Yes~. We had a little bit of a conversation, although she was very respectful of the Patina's privacy, so I don't know specifics. She is still asleep though, I'm pretty sure.
Sydney (as Cassidy): That's fine. Has Winifred gotten home?
Nick (as Maria Bliss): No, she was dealing with the forecasting and then that Turning that you just felt, so I'm sure she'll be back soon, but she's coming from the office, so to speak, so it'll be a little while.
Sydney (as Cassidy): Do you mind if I wait?
Nick (as Maria Bliss): No, not at all. Can I get you some coffee? I think we have some biscuits left over from yesterday if you haven't had breakfast yet. What sounds good?
Sydney (as Cassidy): I'll take some coffee. I had, I mean, it's, you know, afternoon now, but I had noon breakfast with Janus, so
Nick (as Maria Bliss): Great. Go grab a seat in the living room, and I will bring you a beverage soon.
Sydney (as Cassidy): Thanks.
Nick: She smiles brightly at you.
Sydney: Cassidy returns at about 10% of the magnitude, and then goes to sit on the couch and gets out book three of her wandering map making adventurer series.
Kit: It's not long after, Cassidy enters the Bliss-Foundling home that Birdie emerges in her pajama pants that were very kindly given to her by Maria the night before, and a tank top that she seemingly had in her bottomless backpack and she's holding a broken mug - luckily, it's only the handle that broke off, and is not paying attention to her surroundings and she says,
Kit (as Birdie): [yawning] Maria was there a Turning or something that my mug fell off, my thing in the middle of the - Oh, hey, Cassidy. [stunted laugh]
Sydney: Cassidy gives a wave from the couch putting her book down, the Reed's Books bookmark hastily put into place.
Kit (as Birdie): [yawning] What time is it? I was gonna head over there. I guess I slept through a lot.
Sydney (as Cassidy): It's like 1:30.
Kit (as Birdie): Oh, God. [self conscious laugh]
Sydney (as Cassidy): It was a long day yesterday.
Kit (as Birdie): Yeah. Where'd you go?
Sydney (as Cassidy): Janus'.
Kit (as Birdie): Oh, well, that's good. I'm glad um,
Kit: And Birdie will come over to sit next to Cassidy in the adjacent chair.
Kit (as Birdie): Did you sleep well?
Sydney (as Cassidy): I passed out and don't remember the night, so I guess. There's not news yet, so
Kit (as Birdie): Oh. How's your body feeling?
Sydney (as Cassidy): Hurts.
Kit (as Birdie): Sorry. [uncomfortable laugh] Yeah, I bet.
Sydney (as Cassidy): How are you? [awkward laugh]
Kit (as Birdie): Oh, you know, it's gonna be a pretty bad pain day for a couple days after this, but you know, it's, it's fine. Nothing I haven't - nothing that either of us haven't dealt with before, I'm sure.
Sydney (as Cassidy): Mercenary life. [long exhale]
Kit (as Birdie): Yeah. [uncomfortable laugh] Um,
Sydney: Cassidy gives a big sigh.
Kit (as Birdie): Well,
Sydney (as Cassidy): I was - you didn't deserve everything I gave to you yesterday.
Kit (as Birdie): And I will absolutely agree vice versa that I - you didn't deserve the way I treated you yesterday either and I'm sorry.
Sydney (as Cassidy): I'm sorry. A lot, a lot going on, a lot of feelings and some, yeah, bad communication up front that kind of spiraled.
Kit (as Birdie): Yeah. I should have, I should have done more to make you more aware of how awful the Guts are, but
Sydney (as Cassidy): You're not - you being prepared on your own doesn't mean that you're not taking it seriously.
Kit (as Birdie): Yeah, I but you were right that - I mean, I should have said something to all of you so that we all could have best prepared. I think I just got complete tunnel vision, because I did not want to be back there.
Sydney (as Cassidy): Cause we were down in the Guts, in the tunnels?
Kit (as Birdie): [relieved laugh] Ooo~. Yeah, that too. But it's, it's okay. I don't I'm not gonna hold anything against you.
Sydney (as Cassidy): No, I think we learned our lesson, and hopefully we get our friends back soon, because you have two of the top Foundling siblings on the job.
Kit (as Birdie): Yeah, and once we get them back, or once we well, once we at least hear from my siblings, we can re evaluate and see if we should go back down.
Sydney (as Cassidy): Yeah.
Kit (as Birdie): Um, yeah. Did a Turning happen though? I'm actually very curious, because -
Sydney (as Cassidy): Yeah.
Kit (as Birdie): Oh!
Sydney (as Cassidy): I assume that's, it sounds like that's where Winifred is. I don't know. I got to hear all the alert systems go off, so I guess she were- and the rest of the Forecasting Bureau got in front of this one.
Kit (as Birdie): Huh.
Sydney (as Cassidy): It wasn't too big, though.
Kit (as Birdie): Maybe that's why Gwendolyn was in my dream.
Sydney (as Cassidy): [surprised laugh]
Kit (as Birdie): Weird.
Sydney (as Cassidy): Is that - is Gwendolyn - like, what does the Turning have to do with Gwendolyn?
Kit (as Birdie): She's like the voice of the announcements here, because the Dome people like the security that she brings to their lives.
Sydney (as Cassidy): Ahh down in Merchant's Alley, it's the smoothest, safest voice of no um [chuckle] person attached so that it's just information and not cops.
Kit (as Birdie): Oh, yeah, that sounds right. Yeah, I guess they didn't change it from the time that I left, because it was the last First Sword's voice up here, so
Sydney (as Cassidy): Oh yeah.
Kit (as Birdie): Well, I'm glad it wasn't a big one, but anyways, I think that we can now say [angelic younger sister singsong voice] I love you, Cassidy~.
Kit: And Birdie will get up and go over to Cassidy with open arms, waiting for Cassidy to give her a hug while grinning.
Sydney: Cassidy kind of rolls her eyes, but stands up and hugs Birdie back.
Sydney (as Cassidy): I'm happy you are still here Birdie.
Kit (as Birdie): [laugh that also kinda sounds like a cry] Thank you. I know that means a lot.
Sydney (as Cassidy): Janus kind of told me all about what not to do in this situation. So,
Kit (as Birdie): Yeah, Janus gives good advice. I mean, I kind of came here hoping that Winifred would be here, but, you know, honestly, I'm really glad that Maria was the one who was awake, because it was just like the good old days, getting lectured a little by her, lovingly.
Sydney (as Cassidy): [short laugh] They're gonna whip some sense into us.
Kit (as Birdie): Yep.
Sydney (as Cassidy): Oh, sorry, is that Winifred’s job?
Kit (as Birdie): [shudder sound]
Sydney (as Cassidy): I guess we get to go back to waiting, and I don't know, unless you want to go blindly running off back into the Guts again to see if we can find our friends, I feel like -
Sydney: And Cassidy points to her book.
Sydney (as Cassidy): - we kind of just sit.
Kit (as Birdie): If Juno is looking for them, Juno will be the one that will be most likely to find them. And so maybe we can, we can probably ask, because I don't have anything on me right now for this, but - surprisingly, I don't have anything for this situation - if we could just send Juno a message saying to let Winifred or Maria know what they find.
Sydney (as Cassidy): Yeah.
Kit (as Birdie): Because I don't think that you have anything.
Sydney (as Cassidy): No, but Janus was already talking to Juno and to Winifred and to Maria. I think everyone knows to tell everyone.
Kit (as Birdie): That's good, and so we can maybe just take the time right now to recuperate, because I desperately need coffee.
Sydney (as Cassidy): [huffed laugh]
Sydney: Cassidy slumps back into the couch and picks up her book.
Nick: Maria bustles into the room, almost on command and passes out fresh coffee before winking at you Birdie and leaving the room again.
Kit (as Birdie): Thank you, Nurse Bliss~!
Nick (as Maria Bliss): It's Maria~.
Kit (as Birdie): No~.
Sydney: The door is opened and there's a call.
Sydney (as Winifred): Maria~!
Nick (as Maria Bliss): Oh, hey!
Nick: Winifred opens the door and sees Birdie and Cassidy sitting in her living room with fresh cups of coffee.
Sydney: Winifred is wearing today a long red belted trench coat and a large red floppy hat that she manages to hang up onto the rack on the wall without letting the surprise of seeing unexpected visitors in her living room again.
Sydney (as Winifred): Hello.
Sydney: She looks tired. She looks like she has been working an 18 hour day and is finally let off the shift because the Turning happened that she was suspicious might have been happening, if you were to take a guess.
Kit (as Birdie): Hey~! Good good afternoon? After- afternoon.
Sydney (as Winifred): What can I help you with? It's good to see you.
Kit (as Birdie): Good to see you too.
Sydney: Winifred starts taking her coat off.
Kit (as Birdie): Well, Maria has already done most of the helping, so we're kind of just here.
Sydney (as Winifred): I see that it's not all of you. So
Kit (as Birdie): Yeah, that's
Sydney (as Winifred): Is it a special occasion, or -
Kit (as Birdie): We got separated in the Guts.
Sydney (as Cassidy): Our friends fell down a hole.
Kit (as Birdie): In the Guts. In the Guts hole.
Sydney: Winifred grimaces.
Kit (as Birdie): It was just about as fun as you can imagine it would be.
Sydney (as Winifred): I have a very good idea of how much fun it is.
Kit (as Birdie): Yep, I bet.
Sydney (as Winifred): And you're looking for me to come try and find them?
Kit (as Birdie): Well,
Sydney (as Cassidy): I mean, if you, if you have a way, Juno's on the case. If you have a different way...
Kit (as Birdie): Yeah, Juno's - did you know that Juno is mapping the Guts?
Sydney (as Winifred): That doesn't surprise me.
Kit (as Birdie): It's incredible. He has, like, maybe, maybe the most comprehensive map of the Guts I've ever seen. Anyways, yeah, he's looking for them. So if I just, I maybe, if you had another way,
Sydney (as Winifred): I haven't even, I've been so consumed with - I mean, how, how long ago did it happen?
Kit (as Birdie): Probably,
Sydney (as Cassidy): Like, I don't know, 12 hours?
Kit (as Birdie): Maybe 12. Yeah.
Sydney: Winifred makes a thinking face as she's racking up the possibilities in her head.
Sydney (as Winifred): So we're looking for if they're still on Sasnak and still intact and not - I mean I can pull cameras of the ramps and the outside to see if they landed somewhere else. There's not a lot of cameras down in the Guts.
Kit (as Birdie): We weren't so low in the Guts that they would have left the city, I don't think. I think they just fell down to another level of it.
Sydney (as Winifred): Okay.
Kit (as Birdie): I mean, if it's, I just don't, I don't know if there is anything that you can necessarily do right now. We're just we're mostly just waiting on correspondence from from Juno. And so if we could, maybe the most we can do is send him a message that we're with you and to let you know if he finds anything. I just don't have anything like that on me to talk to him with.
Sydney: Winifred grabs her tablet out of her bag and sits down in the chair that conforms to her body like it's made for her, because it probably is the chair that she sits in every time she gets home.
Sydney (as Winifred): I'll start running some queries and see if I see anything on the logs that look suspicious. There's just - it's a lot of, much like everything about Sasnak that I touch, it's all indirect,
Kit (as Birdie): Yeah.
Sydney (as Winifred): - at least for the Guts, for the internal stuff.
Kit (as Birdie): Well, thank you for doing it. I appreciate you.
Sydney (as Winifred): Of course.
Kit (as Birdie): Do a good job saving the city?
Sydney (as Cassidy): Yeah we heard the alert this time. Well, I did. I guess Birdie slept through it.
Kit (as Birdie): Yeah. Gwendolyn was in my dream, though, so
Sydney (as Winifred): I mean, if she's your type.
Kit (as Birdie): [Birdie flustered squeak activated] Um. [clears throat] Anyways, um, so we can - you were -
Sydney: Winifred throws an eyebrow at Cassidy, who shrugs.
Sydney (as Winifred): Maria, can you bring me a cup of coffee? It looks like we're not done yet today.
Kit (as Birdie): Sorry.
Nick: Maria comes spinning into the room holding cups of coffee. One appears to actually be for her this time, and gently hands it over to Winifred.
Sydney: Winifred takes the cup, leans upwards and kisses Maria.
Nick: Maria kisses back with the intensity of someone who does not care who's watching.
Kit (as Birdie): Uh [clears throat]
Sydney: It lasts uncomfortably long for the members of the Patina, and after a long moment, grabs Maria and puts her in her lap as she continues to do stuff on the tablet, because it has been a long day and she's taking the comfort of her wife while she gets to work on this new project.
Nick: As Winifred looks for the missing Patina members, we jump forward several hours to the missing Patina members. Emma and Marathon are still trekking through the Guts, but approaching their goal.
Penn (as Marathon): Yeah, and then I punched him out and he never bothered me again.
Cameron (as Emma): You know that shouldn't be the solution as often as it is in your stories, but I can't argue that it doesn't work.
Penn (as Marathon): I mean, um, ah, you know, it's probably like a 75% success rate.
Cameron (as Emma): Okay, yeah. I believe that is that. Is that it just in fights you're getting into, [overlapping] like one on one?
Penn (as Marathon): [overlapping] No, no. It's all in the solution by punching -
Cameron (as Emma): Oh, okay.
Penn (as Marathon): - someone. Yeah.
Cameron (as Emma): Okay, so not not overall, just fights. It's just when the solution to a problem is punching them and it works, -
Penn (as Marathon): Yeah.
Cameron (as Emma): - is 75% successful. [laughing]
Penn (as Marathon): But then that 25%? Woah. Whoo dogs is that - ooh does it not end well.
Cameron (as Emma): Yeah, you have escalated it quite significantly at that point -
Penn (as Marathon): Yeah.
Cameron (as Emma): - if it doesn't work out for you, yeah.
Penn (as Marathon): Yeah. [sigh] But we can, we can all attest to the power of the Marathon fist. Oh, I don't know why I said that [mumbling]
Cameron (as Emma): That sounds - that sounds gross Marathon.
Penn (as Marathon): No. Oh Emma, I think I notice a slight difference in the light up ahead. Do you think this, this slight difference is finally the one?
Penn: And Marathon starts drumming on her knee again.
Cameron (as Emma): We've, we've had so many slight differences in lights. I think it's just the lights suck down here. So
Penn (as Marathon): That's true.
Cameron (as Emma): I'm hesitant to feel hope anymore. [laughing]
Penn (as Marathon): I will get my hopes up every time.
Cameron (as Emma): [laugh] As depressed as that sounds it's not - yeah, I'm doing okay. It's just, I don't know. It doesn't feel like this walk's ever gonna end. [tired sigh]
Penn (as Marathon): I'm happy to walk with you, though.
Nick: As you're saying that you come around the corner in this passage way that you two are on, and you actually do find yourself in a wide room. And according to the map, this is where the circuit key is supposed to be. There is a thin walkway going across a sort of chasm to what looks to be an exterior bulkhead of the city, and a large box that is mostly closed and inset in the wall.
Cameron (as Emma): Okay, now hold on.
Penn (as Marathon): This is different.
Cameron (as Emma): This this does - mhm.
Penn (as Marathon): This bodes well.
Cameron (as Emma): I might be hopping on the hope train with you.
Penn (as Marathon): Chugga chugga, chugga chugga, chugga chugga.
Cameron (as Emma): [laughing]
Penn: And Marathon makes a little rotor arm with her arm.
Cameron: Emma approaches the electronics in the wall.
Penn (as Marathon): You got this, Emma! I'm keeping a safe distance.
Cameron (as Emma): There's there's no need to be that far away, Marathon. It's not like I'm gonna get electrocuted.
Penn (as Marathon): You said it, not me.
Penn: And Marathon is gonna scan the area while Emma does some electrician business.
Nick: Marathon, I need you to make me a hard Perception check, and Emma, I need you to make me a average Wild Tech check, please.
Cameron: Marathon gets bonuses from my Heightened Awareness, so if she didn't actually approach when Emma said, hey, no biggie, come on over, then she's in short range and she gives one blue die.
Nick: If she approached, then she can have two because of your skill, but she'll have a black die from being further away from the thing I want to see if she sees or not.
Penn: As Marathon scans the room she cautiously approaches behind Emma, her fears of mysterious technology being assuaded for the moment by Emma as assurance. And so to percept this room, I'm rolling three green die, three purple die, and two blue die, throwing a black die on.
[dice rolling]
Penn: One success and two two advantages.
Cameron: So I'm going to flip a Story Point because I've had a really long time to think about this as we've walked, so I'm going to be rolling two yellows, two greens, and two purples.
[dice rolling]
Cameron: Two successes and an advantage.
Nick: Great. So Emma, what you notice here is that the circuit key is gone. It appears to have been pulled out of the box, and there is evidence of an arc flash having gone off recently, like a pretty intense electrical charge was discharged. Marathon, what you notice while you are keeping watch and Emma is inspecting the side of the circuit key, is that someone is coming towards you pretty quickly through the shadows.
Penn (as Marathon): Emma. Emma flip around. On your three o'clock.
Cameron: Emma turns to precisely three o'clock.
Penn: And Marathon raises her fists.
Nick: Emma you also see a figure in the shadows moving quickly towards you. It looks to be a person. They haven't waved or acknowledged you yet, but they are definitely moving straight towards the walkway that you all are standing on.
Cameron: Emma is gonna go ahead and unholster her sword to just have that in her hand.
Penn: Marathon dips into her pockets very quickly and is holding up her fists with her brass knuckles.
Nick: And at the site of you two readying weapons, the figure stops and there is a light as a lantern is lit. You see an average height, very, very skinny, person with a buzz cut, who is wearing what looks like mechanics coveralls and a lab coat and has little bits and bobs of wild tech scattered everywhere on their person. Emma, you recognize this person as Juno.
Cameron: When the light comes up and Emma sees that it's Juno, behind Marathon she drops her arm back down and there's a soft clang as her sword touches the floor.
Penn: Marathon's eyes dart towards Emma just a little bit before snapping back to keep them on this figure.
Cameron (as Emma): For fuck sake, why were you walking in the dark Juno?
Nick (as Juno): Oh, I didn't want to ruin my uh, Guts vision, so to speak. I am so glad that I found you.
Penn (as Marathon): Wait.
Nick (as Juno): I have been looking everywhere.
Penn (as Marathon): What's going on? Okay, wait, who is this?
Cameron (as Emma): Marathon, Juno.
Penn (as Marathon): I'm still in fist mode.
Cameron (as Emma): Juno, Marathon. Marathon, this is Janus' twin.
Penn (as Marathon): Okay. Oh!
Cameron (as Emma): Birdie's - Birdie's elder - elder Foundling sibling.
Penn: And at that, instantly, her demeanor changes. She drops her fists and a big smile goes across her face.
Penn (as Marathon): Ah~, the final Foundling~! Oh my gosh, you're Birdie's family.
Cameron (as Emma): Yeah, you, you did, you did technically meet Juno before, but you, you were incredibly -
Nick (as Juno): You were super high.
Cameron (as Emma): - incredibly high, and -
Nick (as Juno): It was pretty funny.
Cameron (as Emma): - out of it. So
Penn (as Marathon): Oh~. Painkillers.
Nick (as Juno): You said a lot of stuff that everyone politely pretended not to hear.
Cameron (as Emma): Yeah.
Nick (as Juno): [overlapping] I'm used to that.
Cameron (as Emma): [overlapping] We've discussed that already actually.
Penn (as Marathon): Oh well. Yep. But it's nice to it's nice to see you.
Nick (as Juno): I am glad -
Penn (as Marathon): Do you use an honorific, Juno?
Nick (as Juno): Uh~ Jun really. I don't think anyone's ever really said anything honorific to me before.
Penn (as Marathon): Okay, yeah, no worries. Uh,
Penn: And Marathon extends a hand for a handshake.
Nick: He returns it enthusiastically, but in such a way that you realize he probably doesn't shake a lot of hands.
Penn (as Marathon): Well, let me just say, any family of Birdie, friend of mine.
Nick: That's good. I don't have a lot of those, so I will take everyone I can get. And I'm glad that I didn't find you in the stomachs of an octopus nest or smushed into disgusting paste all over the floor of the Guts like I was sort of worried about. This is much better.
Penn (as Marathon): Nah Emma is a master map person. So
Cameron (as Emma): So, so, so you were looking for us, meaning that you ran into Cassidy and Birdie?
Nick (as Juno): Yeah, they were having an interpersonal conflict.
Penn (as Marathon): Oh~.
Cameron (as Emma): [fears confirmed] Mhm.
Penn (as Marathon): That sounds like our team~.
Cameron (as Emma): We kinda - we kind of had a concern that that was gonna be the thing.
Penn (as Marathon): Yeesh. How bad was it on a scale of like, irreversible to minor?
Nick (as Juno): Do you think that Cassidy would pull a weapon on Birdie?
Penn (as Marathon): Potentially.
Cameron (as Emma): [terrified to ask] In what scenario?
Penn (as Marathon): Did that happen?
Nick (as Juno): No, but it might have after I left. It was real tense.
Penn (as Marathon): Ah fuck.
Cameron (as Emma): Okay~.
Nick (as Juno): They seem pretty upset with each other, and I don't know if there's any way they're coming back from that. I think that you may end up having to pick sides, so you should probably pick sides now.
Penn (as Marathon): [groan]
Cameron (as Emma): [concerned noise]
Penn: Marathon gets a queasy feeling in her stomach.
Penn (as Marathon): [groan]
Cameron (as Emma): [long exhale] Well.
Nick (as Juno): If you had to choose between Cassidy and Birdie, who would you pick?
Penn (as Marathon): Can you stop? Uh,
Cameron (as Emma): You don't -
Penn (as Marathon): I'm sorry.
Cameron (as Emma): You don't - you don't have to answer that question, Marathon. It's okay.
Penn (as Marathon): Uh [very queasy noises]
Cameron (as Emma): If you if you do though, I promise I will never reveal your answer.
Penn (as Marathon): Why does my chest feel so bad? Mm.
Cameron (as Emma): Probably because Juno's asking you to choose between your bestie and your lady love.
Penn (as Marathon): [queasy noise] Um
Nick (as Juno): Oh, you're a love interest? That's fun. Are you dating Birdie?
Cameron (as Emma): [buzzer noise]
Penn (as Marathon): Uh
Cameron (as Emma): Try again.
Penn (as Marathon): No.
Cameron (as Emma): You have one more guess.
Penn (as Marathon): I'm sorry.
Nick (as Juno): [resigned voice] Oh, are you dating Winifred?
Cameron (as Emma): Shockingly, no. [laugh]
Penn (as Marathon): [joking] You think I could?
Cameron (as Emma): Mmm.
Nick (as Juno): I think that you're her type.
Penn (as Marathon): No that's not -
Nick (as Juno): If you'd like me to introduce you, I -
Penn (as Marathon): That's not the question. Okay, you know you were going - do you have a way out of this smelly -
Nick (as Juno): Oh!
Penn (as Marathon): - Guts situation? Also, we have other job to do here, but - did you see our friends walk out with a circuit key?
Nick (as Juno): Yeah, that's uh, why I'm here. Birdie and Cassidy were able to get that and then I made them leave. I guided them to safety with my expertise and mapping skills of the Guts.
Cameron (as Emma): We appreciate that. Thank you.
Penn (as Marathon): Mhm.
Nick: Juno is gesturing grandly as they explain.
Nick (as Juno): And then the only way I was able to get them to go and take care of themselves was to promise to find you, which I have now done, and I will lead you again to safety using my expertise and mapping skills of the Guts.
Penn (as Marathon): Did they have the circuit key?
Nick (as Juno): Oh, yeah, I got distracted. Yes, they definitely had it, and I assume one of them still does, because I didn't see them put it down or hit each other with it.
Penn (as Marathon): God.
Cameron (as Emma): That's comforting... comforting thought there.
Nick (as Juno): So uh, I know which way that you all got down here after talking with Cassidy and Birdie, I'm going to take us a faster, safer, easier way, if that's okay with you.
Penn (as Marathon): Um.
Cameron (as Emma): Yes?
Penn (as Marathon): We might have -
Cameron (as Emma): That would be excellent -
Penn (as Marathon): Emma -
Cameron (as Emma): - in a minute.
Penn (as Marathon): Yeah. We we want to check out this circuit key area. This is the area where it was right? This little mysterious machine we're next to?
Nick: Uh that's where I found Cassidy's smoldering body after she was horribly electrocuted, so I assume, -
Cameron (as Emma): Oh, you kind of skipped over that the first time through, Juno.
Penn (as Marathon): [gay panic but not the fun kind] Okay. Wait, what?
Nick (as Juno): She's fine. Probably.
Cameron (as Emma): [much concern] Okay.
Nick (as Juno): She was walking.
Penn (as Marathon): [loud sick noises] The feeling in my chest is worse. Um.
Nick (as Juno): I get that too sometimes. Just breathe really deep and think about not that. That's I do.
Penn (as Marathon): What do I think about? Okay. Think about Cassidy, safe. Cassidy~ Cassidy is burned. Cassidy~ doesn't want to be friends anymore with anybody and and -
Cameron (as Emma): I don't-
Penn (as Marathon): - and it's -
Cameron (as Emma): No -
Penn (as Marathon): - all gonna end -
Cameron (as Emma): I don't -
Penn (as Marathon): - and it's [mumbles] Ah~!
Cameron (as Emma): You're spiraling hun. I think it's okay.
Penn (as Marathon): You're right.
Cameron (as Emma): We -
Nick (as Juno): When you start to get stressed like that, I get stressed, and now I'm a little worried and -
Penn (as Marathon): [back into the spiral] It's kind of your fault!
Cameron (as Emma): Oh nope.
Nick (as Juno): [panic noise]
Penn (as Marathon): I didn't mean to say that.
Cameron (as Emma): Hey hey hey~
Nick (as Juno): I'm so sorry!
Cameron (as Emma): Hey~.
Nick (as Juno): I didn't mean to do that.
Cameron (as Emma): Hey~ it's gonna be fine.
Penn (as Marathon): Thank you Emma.
Cameron (as Emma): Juno thank you for providing us information. Marathon, we both know that however big of a fight Cassidy and Birdie may be in, neither one of them's unintelligent.
Penn (as Marathon): That's true.
Cameron (as Emma): So they wouldn't let that block them from seeking medical care.
Penn (as Marathon): That's true.
Nick (as Juno): You'd think!
Penn (as Marathon): Okay.
Cameron (as Emma): Juno you're not helping. [laughing]
Penn (as Marathon): Juno~!
Nick (as Juno): I'm agreeing!
Cameron (as Emma): Okay, okay. Yes. So it's - if Cassidy was up and walking when Juno last saw her, she is still probably capable of walking.
Penn (as Marathon): Okay, that's true. That's true. And Birdie can't run away because this is where, this is where she's from. Okay.
Cameron (as Emma): Mhm.
Penn (as Marathon): [deep breath] Oh, okay, yeah.
Cameron (as Emma): Also, also, also, also only Cassidy and I have keys to the rig. So,
Penn (as Marathon): Okay, okay. But Cassidy wouldn't run away. No.
Cameron (as Emma): No.
Penn (as Marathon): Do they - Juno -
Cameron (as Emma): Cassidy is not leaving until she sees our terribly deformed corpses from falling.
Nick (as Juno): I feel like every time Marathon, you ask me for reassurance, I try to give you reassurance, and then me and you both get more stressed. So
Cameron (as Emma): Very astute observation.
Nick (as Juno): If I stand over here,
Penn (as Marathon): Just think about what you're gonna say and then imply the opposite thing, I think I that would be successful.
Nick (as Juno): I understand completely what you mean by that.
Cameron (as Emma): I -
Penn (as Marathon): Juno that was actually very good.
Cameron (as Emma): I think -
Nick (as Juno): Oh no.
Cameron (as Emma): I think we're thinking about this too hard. Anyway,
Penn (as Marathon): Yeah, oh, some levity and some stress. But
Cameron (as Emma): Any - anyway.
Penn (as Marathon): Yeah.
Cameron (as Emma): [sigh] Uh Juno, when you were having conversations with a horribly electrocuted Cassidy and a -
Penn (as Marathon): Oh god.
Cameron (as Emma): - also not doing so well herself Birdie, did they mention the job that we were down here doing beyond just the circuit key fetch?
Nick (as Juno): Um, no, they didn't really mention anything else, just that they were there to fetch the circuit key, and they had it.
Cameron (as Emma): Okay, all right.
Nick (as Juno): Do you need me to, like, cover my eyes and ears and sing to myself for a while while you do something I'm not supposed to know about?
Cameron (as Emma): No.
Penn (as Marathon): What wouldn't you need to know?
Cameron (as Emma): Actually, I was -
Nick (as Juno): I don't know, but nobody told me anything. So now I'm assuming it was a secret.
Cameron (as Emma): No I -
Nick (as Juno): Now my chest hurts.
Cameron (as Emma): Oh, dear. I was actually going to ask for your assistance with this Juno.
Nick (as Juno): Oh, okay.
Cameron (as Emma): So
Nick (as Juno): That's way better.
Cameron (as Emma): What we're we're doing - so the whole me and Marathon falling through the floor thing kind of fucked this up more than just us falling through the floor and splitting the party and causing great distress to our friends, but we were supposed to be retrieving the circuit key that was installed and replacing it with one that I have. And they obviously couldn't do that part, because I have it. But we were walking for a very long time, -
Penn (as Marathon): So long.
Cameron (as Emma): - trying to find this place. Um,
Penn (as Marathon): So fucking long.
Cameron (as Emma): - even, even before our adventure of the last 24 hours or so, I don't even know it there - I don't know, but we were walking so long before that, I was just studying the circuit key that we had because it's all wild tech and I think that's really interesting and I noticed some things on this key that I think are messed up and I obviously couldn't make the full observation without being able to see where it plugged in. But this does not appear to be strong enough for plugging it in to this.
Penn (as Marathon): Let me get out of the middle of you two.
Cameron (as Emma): I'm not gonna plug it in while you're there - okay whatever.
Penn: Marathon kind of scoots away -
Cameron (as Emma): Whatever.
Penn: - leaving Juno in between her and Emma now.
Cameron (as Emma): So I I don't think that this is going to hold up long term. And so I wanted to now that we're here and I have access to the port for it, wanted to take a look at it and try to see if I could tell when the thing that I think is going to fail on the key fails, what it's going to cause chain reaction wise, and also if I can prevent that from happening. And you are much more familiar with Sasnak than I am, and I know Birdie said that you've been super involved all over the place in security and electronic tech within the city, so any additional guidance you could provide if you want to take a look as well, that would be very helpful and appreciated.
Nick (as Juno): Sure. Okay, I'm just happy to be included.
Cameron (as Emma): Awesome.
Cameron: So Emma approaches the wall with the circuit key port in it again and digs through her pack to pull out the fake one that Wander gave them. Can I tell now that I have access to where it plugs into as well, with what I established was going to fail on the key when looking at it previously, what that chain reaction is going to be whenever it fails?
Nick: So Emma, you're gonna have to roll me a Daunting Wild Tech roll, but Juno has four yellows in Mechanics related to the Guts, you can use that as a collaborative check.
Cameron: So if we go back to when I was last assessing the circuit key, I got a Triumph.
Nick: Yeah, you did.
Cameron: For understanding the fuck out of this thing.
Nick: Mhm.
Cameron: So can I have some blue dies to this check?
Nick: So you can have a blue die and you can decrease the difficulty by one so now it will only be a hard check. You already have a pretty good idea of what this is doing, you're just trying to get additional details.
Cameron: With the combination of Juno's four yellows in Wild Tech and I also have four Intellect, so that's just the four yellows and then the one blue die and three purples.
[dice rolling]
Cameron: Four successes, an advantage, and a Triumph.
Nick: So you're wanting to know how long it'll take to fail and what will happen?
Cameron: Trying to identify what will happen when this circuit key fails, and what the corresponding piece is on the port, so that I can have two different points at where I could make alterations to cause that not to occur.
Nick: Yeah. So now that you can see where this thing plugs in, what you realize is that the key would probably work two or three times before this happened, and it would basically cause a massive electrical explosion, sort of like what you think happened, but much bigger - it would be fatal to pretty much anybody who was in the room at the time, and then it would damage this particular exit out of the city in such a way that it would be unusable for quite a long time without investing a ton of resources into repairing it. And you can see exactly which part was going to shift over time that would connect the circuit that would cause all of this stuff to happen. And if you wanted to, you could make that not the case anymore. So you can't really modify the circuit key because of the way it's built in the crystalline structure, but you could reinforce parts of the port where it goes, so that won't happen anymore.
Cameron: I would like to do that then.
Nick: Okay with the Triumph and everything, you don't need any parts, and it doesn't even really take that much time. You just solder up a little piece, real quick to make sure it stays still. Slap a little bit of spare wiring in there, and this is now set up in such a way that the fake circuit key is now essentially a real circuit key.
Cameron (as Emma): Do you happen to have a soldering iron on you, Juno?
Nick (as Juno): Uh yeah.
Penn (as Marathon): What is going on?
Nick (as Juno): Do you not?
Cameron (as Emma): Uh no, it didn't seem like it would come up for this mission, honestly. I didn't - I didn't realize
Penn (as Marathon): You have to be prepared for anything in the Guts I hear.
Cameron (as Emma): Yeah, I know, but I wasn't - I wasn't thinking that there was gonna be anything wrong with this key that I would need to alter. So I I am not prepared. Please help me.
Nick (as Juno): Okay.
Penn (as Marathon): I mean, you could always alter it before.
Cameron (as Emma): Yeah, but I didn't think to look at it until we were down here.
Penn (as Marathon): Up on top side. Yeah.
Cameron (as Emma): And then I think it's gonna be easier to alter the port too. So,
Nick (as Juno): So anyway, here's a soldering iron. I had one in my pocket.
Cameron (as Emma): Thank you.
Penn (as Marathon): Oh!
Nick (as Juno): You're welcome.
Penn (as Marathon): Shoot.
Cameron (as Emma): Thank you. All right.
Penn (as Marathon): Hey.
Nick (as Juno): Oh, wait, here's some eye protection just in case.
Cameron (as Emma): Oh. Thanks.
Nick (as Juno): There. Yeah, always be safe.
Penn (as Marathon): So I should look away?
Cameron (as Emma): Weirdly, I did have my goggles. You can wear my goggles, Marathon.
Penn (as Marathon): Hey! There we go.
Cameron (as Emma): All right, I'm just gonna reinforce this bit right here so that we avoid creating that circuit.
Cameron: Emma starts making the alterations to the port so that this will not eventually create a bomb.
Penn (as Marathon): So you got an easy way out Juno?
Nick (as Juno): Yeah, uh, all we got to do is head up this way, and there's a little bit of a staircase behind some walls over here, and we will get you back to the surface in no time. And by no time, I mean, about three hours.
Penn (as Marathon): [disappointed] God.
Cameron (as Emma): I mean, you know, compared to how long we've been down here, that's not bad.
Penn (as Marathon): Yeah, but you're gonna have to be the conversation starter.
Cameron (as Emma): We can just re-ask Juno all the questions we've been asking each other. [laughing]
Penn (as Marathon): Yeah~. Oh, you can tell us all the embarrassing childhood Birdie stories you have.
Nick (as Juno): Oh.
Cameron (as Emma): That's actually an excellent idea.
Nick (as Juno): You know that she thought the Scrap Fairy was real until she was like, 13.
Penn (as Marathon): Okay.
Cameron (as Emma): Who is the Scrap Fairy?
Penn (as Marathon): Yeah, you got to start there. [laughing]
Cameron (as Emma): We may need additional Sasnak lore on top of this.
Cameron: Emma says she's finishing up her fix on the port.
Nick (as Juno): All right. Well, walk and talk.
Cameron (as Emma): All right.
Penn: And as they begin to walk, Marathon sinks behind just a little bit to talk to Emma.
Penn (as Marathon): [whispering] What - Okay, I'm a little confused. The plan was to give this one to Opal, right?
Cameron (as Emma): [whispering] Yes.
Penn (as Marathon): [whispering] Give the other one to Wander? Okay.
Cameron (as Emma): [whispering] Yes. But when we were still with the full group, I figured out that there was, there was a piece on this circuit key that was going to like, wear down and was eventually going to break in a way to cause something catastrophic to happen.
Penn (as Marathon): [whispering] Like a bomb?
Cameron (as Emma): [whispering] Like a bomb, yeah.
Penn (as Marathon): [whispering] Oh shoot.
Cameron (as Emma): [whispering] And so I didn't, I didn't feel good about giving Opal a bomb, knowingly,
Penn (as Marathon): [whispering] Yeah.
Cameron (as Emma): [whispering] so I fixed the wall so it's not gonna do that now.
Penn (as Marathon): [whispering] Okay, okay, but it's still gonna break?
Cameron (as Emma): [whispering] Uhhh.
Penn (as Marathon): [whispering] Or do we just have two working circuit key?
Cameron (as Emma): [whispering] We just have two working circuit keys now. [laugh]
Penn (as Marathon): [whispering] That sounds good. Okay. More, more the merrier.
Cameron (as Emma): [whispering] Yeah, we're gonna give everything to everybody and make everybody happy and um not kill anybody. So thumbs up.
Penn (as Marathon): [whispering] Win, win, win, win.
Cameron (as Emma): [whispering] That's
Penn: And Marathon gives a thumbs up fist bump to Emma before catching back up with Juno.
Penn (as Marathon): [whispering] We got this. Patina go!
Cameron (as Emma): All right, so, Juno. Juno, what's your favorite color?
Nick (as Juno): Um, I'm a big fan of mauve.
\[hurdy gurdy music swells\]
Outro:
Penn (as Marathon): Welcome back folks, you’re tuned to Going the Distance: Traveler’s Guide on road dial 1558. That’s a wrap on today’s log and we’re set to loop after these considerations. Further detail for the following is cataloged in the show notes.
This has been A Knight of Shreds and Patches, an actual play podcast using the Genesys game system from Fantasy Flight Games. The show is edited by Sydney Whittington, and features the talents of:
Kit Adames as Birdie. Kit can be found on Twitter and Instagram @ venusvultures. Kit is also a voice actor for Elevator Pitch Podcast, a queer genre-hopping anthology podcast that can be accessed on Spotify and YouTube.
Penn Van Batavia as Marathon. She can be found on Twitter @ acquiredchaste and in drag as horror king JOHN on Instagram @ john.is.risen. Penn is an indie TTRPG designer whose most recent work includes SLICE IT OUT, a grisly carving RPG about cutting pieces of yourself out to fit in. Check out faer other work at pennharper.itch.io.
Sydney Whittington as Cassidy. Sydney can be found on our Discord server, which is linked in the show notes, and on Twitter @ sydney_whitt. She’s also a contributing editor and occasional guest player for the Orpheus Protocol, a cosmic horror espionage actual play podcast.
Cameron Robertson as Emma. Cameron can be found on Twitter @ midnightmusic13 and on Instagram @ reading_and_dreaming. Cameron is also a player on Tabletop Squadron, a Star Wars Edge of the Empire actual play podcast.
And Nick Robertson as narrator. Nick can be found on Twitter @ alias58. Nick is also the GM for Tabletop Squadron. Nick can also be found as a player on the Orpheus Protocol.
This podcast features the musical talents of Dora Violet and Arne Parrott. You can find Dora at facebook.com/doraviolett. You can find Arne at atptunes.com.
The official artwork for this podcast was created by Rashed AlAkroka, who can be found on Instagram and Artstation @ rashedjrs.
You can follow the Patina on Twitter @ akosap_podcast or visit the website: www.akosap.com. To further support the show, consider joining the Patreon at www.patreon.com/AKoSaP, where we’ll be bringing you weekly content including bonus episodes, campfire conversations, and other fun rewards.
Until you tune back…
…stay bold and stay kind
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