week 4

[biteys]

WEEK FOUR

road trip!

As the doctor mentioned, the next leg of your trip is quite long, so walking isn't advised; hopefully, you've all secured alternative methods of travel between the abandoned cars and the wild pack of horses you found last week.

These cars are long abandoned, and most of them still have things like CDs and magazines in the gloveboxes and trunks - so at least you’ll have some entertainment for the trip! Conveniently, music you can find comes from the year 2024 and earlier, because in the Turnout universe, CDs were still widely a thing in modern times because I said so.

Be aware that there are not enough cars and horsies for everyone to go solo; you’ll need to group up and decide who’s driving! And, more notably...

Your drive won't be entirely peaceful! There are bound to be some zombies littering the street, which characters will need to clear in order to keep going. Whether that's through running them over, sniping them with your newfound long-range gun skills, or doing it the old fashioned way by hopping out of the car and beating them to a pulp, they've gotta move! Be careful not to let the horseys get bit.

respite

Whether or not you were suspicious of whatever the “SAFE” marked on the map was supposed to mean, when you come to the coordinates that are marked, you’ll be in front of a door that opens down into the earth — it's a bunker. The entrance is slightly hidden by foliage, seemingly intentionally so.

Inside, it’s obvious this place is not like the places you’ve been traveling to thus far. It’s clean, well stocked, and nicely furnished. Judging by the pictures on the wall, it’s a safe house that’s been used many times by Dr. Bei and her five associates. So, it was built by a bunch of super nerds surviving the apocalypse, meaning that it's pretty well fortified and self sufficient. It seems like the Doctor must have been here at least a few weeks ago, judging by the dust levels and quality of the food.

That means there’s clean running (and hot!) water, as well as a freezer that’s stocked up with some raw meat, vegetables, and a rare ice cream treat. Also in the kitchen are some seasonings and other staples: flour, rice, etc. There are cooking utensils too, of course! Characters well versed in cooking may just be able to throw together a nice feast for everyone.

There’s also, you know. Alcohol. Not a ton of mixers, though!

It seems like the nerds had simple things for means of entertainment: there are some party and card games hidden away in drawers — think pictionary, uno and twister, or other such party games. Of course, only your imagination is holding you back: while you have a safe place to rest, it might be easier to let loose and have fun.

The six rooms in the bunker all have one bed and a connected bathroom - each one is identical but decorated with sparse things, like stray trinkets or a picture frame. Only Dr. Bei's really has anything different about it, because in it, there's still a working computer.

Characters will be able to open basic programs like wordpad, MS paint, or iTunes for music purposes. Like everyone who had iTunes, she has U2 songs on there. There's still no internet, but there are some saved messages from her and another colleague using an alternative connection method.

While exploring, characters can discover a chat log between ♛, which appears to be Dr. Bei's display name, and ♝, another user.

Aside from the beds in the six rooms, there are also sofas and armchairs to rest on.

oops all memshare

While within the safe house, your bracelets will start acting strange. It might have to do with being underground, or perhaps just the highly advanced technology at work down here, but at inopportune times, you’ll find your mind linking with other party members’, especially when initiating physical contact.

When connected to another survivor, you may exchange memories, which may come with 1) the physical sensations you felt at the time, 2) the emotions you felt at the time, or 3) the thoughts you had at that time. Players can be creative with this mechanic and have the memshares be like watching a movie, or physically acted out — whichever is your preference. There’s no prerequisite on the type of memory that might accidentally spill over, and characters may share multiple memories with one person.

According to the map's schedule, you have some time to rest your weary feet from the long ride… you’re not scheduled to leave for two or three days. It seems the Doctor might want you to fill up and face the second half of the trip with your most well rested selves. So, why not relax while you can? What’s the worst that could happen???

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Comments

iia

[rifare]

[ Their last encounter wasn't exactly... ideal, even if it was Hella that Leon tangled with, he'd been quick to get in Ninety-Nine's way alongside Mark. He's been giving the woman a fairly wide berth since then as well, but in a little bunker like this there's only so far you can get from someone.

And besides, this woman is about to massacre the hell out of that steak. As whatever the foodie equivalent of a pedant is, Leon clicks his tongue in agitation as he reaches his one good hand to at least grab some pepper off the spice rack, followed immediately by the salt.

It's a little late into the process for them, but maybe it can still be saved. ]

Do you hate enjoying your food?

[insinnerate]

[When Mark finally spoke with her, he was met with a guarded but temperate response. At the very least he needed to know that if she turned that destructive power on the rest of the group and couldn't be brought back from the brink, someone was capable and knew that she could be stopped. He's racing against a different rot than she is, though, and maybe that, more than anything, allowed her to put her head down and bear his concerned and awkward worry.

Leontuzzo, on the other hand, is a different story. He had put his hands on Hella, so while Ninety-Nine doesn't respond with immediate violence, her hackles are prematurely up. Yes, Hella broke his wrist, but this ain't about her. When he approaches her steak, she hunches over slightly like a starving dog guarding its meal, but there's no sign that she's actually going to strike. She's sure he's as suspicious of her as she is him, but Ninety-Nine doesn't care what Leontuzzo thinks of or does to her.]

It's not yours, [she says defensively.] Of course I like food that tastes good. It's meat...meat's always good.

[rifare]

[ They may end up having to spend the remainder of their weeks together with the vague tension of hostility hanging over them, because at no point will Leontuzzo every apologize for what he did at the time. Having seen Hella's memories of her for a moment, it won't surprise him to know that Ninety-Nine is particularly protective of the girl.

But his former best friend wants him dead, so the disdain of a near stranger doesn't concern him much. All he needs is for her to keep it together and tolerate him long enough for them to finish this journey up. ]

Basta così. I don't want your already ruined steak.

[ And also to stop offending him by butchering the meat. It's already dead, Ninety-Nine! Don't keep slaughtering it this way. ]

Meat does not always taste good. If you want it to, then take it off the stove for a moment. It may be too late to truly save it, but it can be made better.

[ Since she's being so defensive about it, he'll slide the salt and pepper over towards her to season it herself, expression dead serious. ]

[insinnerate]

[Meat definitely does always taste good as long as it isn't spoiled or picked out of the trash beyond the point of no return. But there are lots of ways to make it, and even thinking of all the opportunities she's had to try steaks with slightly different preparations makes her mouth water a little bit. What about burgers grilled using Ignis' powers or a barbecue rack of ribs...? Unfortunately, there aren't any chefs by profession here, even if there might be a few by hobby. Fortunately, he doesn't have to worry about spoiled food.]

It's fresh, [she points out bluntly, thinking of "ruined" in a completely different way than he is.] You don't trust me, but I wouldn't lie about spoiled food. It was in the freezer.

[Which should be obvious, given that she probably cooked it without thawing it as well. Leaving the burner on, she slides the pan to an occupied one, then takes one shaker in each hand. After giving both a quick sniff and narrowly avoiding a sneeze - yes, they're both what they say they are and there's no reason to be suspicious - Ninety-Nine starts directly seasoning the meat from the container without measuring. It's pretty obvious that her tense suspicion is still here; she doesn't suspect poison so much as she's anticipating some sedative attempt. If he thinks he can knock her out, he might have plans to detain her in the bunker or cut off her hand and leave her behind.]

What did you call me? [The name doesn't matter in her mind; he can call her whatever he likes. She just wants to know what it means.]

[rifare]

[ Even if they had a professional chef here, it was hard to say that most of them would have been able to do much with the ingredients they had up until this point. Though he's sure a skilled chef definitely could have made something more worthwhile than what he's pestering her into making now.

The comments she makes about meat have him looking at her like she's suddenly sprouted two heads. He wasn't accusing her of eating spoiled meat in the first place, and he has some choice thoughts about frozen meat being called truly fresh...

But he'll bite his tongue as much as he wants to say things about that right now. His own delicate sensibilities about food aside, she's at least is seasoning things with the very non-poisoned salt and pepper he just grabbed.

That salt should have gone on before, and been allowed to sit for about an hour... They'll have to work with what they've got though. Measuring with the heart is fine by him at least, though his ears twist back when he sees how inexpertly she seems to do it. ]

What?

[ It takes a second for him to register what she means. ]

I didn't call you anything. I told you to knock it off, because you were acting like I was going to steal your food from you. There's plenty for me here. I don't need yours.

[ In fact he's not eaten all that much despite the better quality they have in the bunker. Had plenty of alcohol, sure, but his appetite has been lacking these days. ]

[insinnerate]

If you don't want it, then why do you care about it so much?

[From another person, this might come across as petulant, puerile questioning about someone sticking their nose in business it doesn't belong. From Ninety-Nine, however, there seems to be a genuine lack of understanding. Other than making sure someone has enough to eat, why would he take so much interest in what she's cooking? Everyone has their tastes, so maybe it's as simple as something like making sure someone else's favorite snacks are in your stockpile. She's more or less stonefaced, still, even with him looking at her with confusion written all over his expression. Being treated as an oddity isn't anything that bothers her, though her failure to be normal does sting.]

Is this something that you like to teach? It's not easy for me to learn chores.

[rifare]

[ It's a question he would have thought would have an obvious answer, but to someone who was willing to eat unseasoned meat and seemed to think that the only bad food was spoiled food, maybe it wasn't as obvious as he thought. Leontuzzo presses his lips together tightly as he moves to adjust the heat of the stove now. High heat for a steak is important, but there's still a perfect level.

Not that he's entirely certain what that is for frozen meat that hasn't even been allowed to thaw. ]

No. I'm not a chef.

[ He doesn't teach others to cook, and he can't say he's particularly skilled himself compared to the true Siracusan chefs. ]

But I care about food being prepared well. It doesn't matter if I'm the one eating it or not.