Shades of Grey

[Max Griffiths]

If you'd like to. They might appreciate it. Personally, I'd rather not help arm the people who will probably be trying to kill us before the day's over. *I start walking back to the car* Your call, though.

[redhavoc]

*My call. He keeps saying that... but what the heck does it mean? Max left and I followed. I'm just a product of BLI, how am I supposed to do anything?! In frustration I kick a random drac gun and it lands a ways off. Then I see something bright half way up the hill. I walk towards it and when I am close I realize it's a painted BLI gun with the words 'Funhouse Gear' on the side. The other has a gear symbol with a face. On a whim I put it in my pocket*

[Max Griffiths]

*I start the car up and wait for Red to come back. She puts something in her pocket - whatever it is, hopefully it won't get us in trouble. It'll be hard for her to talk to the killjoys if I have to shoot them.*

[redhavoc]

*I stare out at the desert for a few more minutes and then head back to the car. The air conditioned sanctum is a relief and I hope we have to track them for a while as we begin to drive*

[Max Griffiths]

*It's fairly easy to follow the tracks. We haven't had an acid rainstorm since the fight, and the killjoys avoided the paved highway because that's what the BLI vehicles used to get back to the city. I have to stop and search around a couple times to pick up the trail again, but after a while I start recognizing the landscape and know which town they went to*

[redhavoc]

*I watch Max track, trying to learn. I'm also trying to plan what I will do when I meet the killjoys. I prep my paper and pen and take out all the weapons in my jacket, save the one I found. Of course, I'm not wearing a drac mask, but I know my clothes will still freak them out, if previous encounters were any indication, but there is nothing I can do about that. I wish one last time that Max would take the lead and then push it out of my mind*

[Max Griffiths]

*I slow the car at the edge of the town. It's unusually quiet, and I wonder if the killjoys warned the citizens of the beattle bomb threat. I park in an alley and get out, only taking my gun and one knife, and tucking them out of sight* We'll walk a bit. With any luck, they won't have hidden their cars, but if we're on foot it'll be easier to notice irregularities that could signal a safehouse.

[redhavoc]

*I nod and get out of the car with my pen and notepad, immediately missing climate control. I walk along beside Max, trying to think of ways to introduce myself to the killjoys. If I could speak I'd say something like 'Hey, you may not know me, but I'm not part of BLI anymore, so tell me about yourselves' or 'Hi, I know I tried to kill you yesterday, but I just want to talk now'. No, those both sounded stupid. Not that they really helped in my present situation anyway...*

[Max Griffiths]

*I lead the way through the town, checking side streets and occasionally making detours to look at a building closer. I stop next to a pair of cars in the downtown area, several blocks from a gutted arcade and a bowling alley. I motion for Red to join me* See these two cars? Know what's different between them?
*When she looks the cars over and shakes her head, I explain by blowing lightly on the top of the first car. A good sized cloud of dust billows up* This one's been here for several days. *I blow on the other one, and much less dust is visible in the air* This one's been driven recently. Since we haven't seen any civilians, it's safe to say it was driven here by a killjoy.

(We can switch threads once we actually get to the alley)

[redhavoc]

(sounds good)

*I look around, noticing the lack of people. The killjoy car has some blood on the seats, which would be consistent with the recent fight. There is also a gas mask on the ground behind a garbage can. I hold it up for Max and point down the street*

[Max Griffiths]

*I nod* Let's see what we find. Walk next to the wall, though. The overhang will keep anyone above from getting a shot at us.

(Moving to Lucky Strikes Bowling Alley, pg. 27)

[Max Griffiths]

(From Lucky Strikes Bowling, pg. 41)

*The sun sets but I keep driving, my only goal being to put as much distance between myself and that bowling alley as possible. I'm clenching the steering wheel so hard I don't notice that my hands are shaking, and by the time I finally start to relax, the shaking has stopped. It's nearing dawn when the car runs out of gas, and I pull to the side of the road, check the batteries in my gun, and start walking.*

[Max Griffiths]

*I don't feel the heat, although by midday it's over 120 degrees. When I see a town I stop, standing in the middle of the road. The landscape is distorted by heat waves, and after a while I realize I've been motionless for many minutes, watching them. I shake my head and start moving again, arriving at the first of the buildings about ten minutes later*

[Max Griffiths]

*The town is an interesting one – unlike most of the others in the Zones, this one is fairly well off. About half of the buildings look to be occupied, and I realize why when I get to the center of town; a massive laboratory towers over the other blocks, with high white walls, and the Better Living logo painted on the side. Based on the lack of serious security I guess it’s a fairly minor lab, likely producing simple compounds for use in the more developed facilities of Battery City. The fact of its unimportance doesn’t deter me, though. It’s impossible to be selective when you’re not trying to make a point of anything in particular. I’m waved through the gate after a cursory glance at my ID card, and am soon within the maze of rooms and corridors. I know what I’m looking for, and it doesn’t take too long to find it*

[Max Griffiths]

*I take down the first of the containers, feeling the cool metal on my skin. The chemical inside makes a pleasant sloshing noise when I tip it back and forth, and printed in bold red letters on the surface is "Diethyl Ether."*
*It takes me much longer to leave the building than it did for me to arrive. I have to be thorough, and avoid raising an alarm until I'm done. By the time I leave there are five fewer staff members and a thin layer of accelerant coats the floors of most of the first story. I nod to the guards at the gate as I pass, then cross the street and stand in the shadows of an alleyway. Taking careful aim with my raygun, I fire once.*