S3 E12: An Epidemic of Disappearances

Michelle Kelly:

With the solving of another case, the investigators of Lamplight have some downtime to tie up personal loose ends. Mama Amoretta dives back into the case of her missing husband. When she's not working on that cold case, she takes the time to visit both Yarrow and Zion, checking in on how they're doing and embarrassing them about their love lives in equal measure. JJ is swept up in a tornado of emotions as confessions of love are made, old flames are extinguished, and her other sister, May, comes out of estrangement to reconnect. Greta Gilmore has arrived in Nova for an extended stay, not just due to her most recent film premiere, but also for a mother-daughter reunion that leaves Jo reeling. And a night dining together at Comida del Corazon brings to them their next case.

Kenzie Tartaglione (Game Master):

You sit, finishing your meal, finishing the bottle of wine. You watch as Ernesto takes money from the other tables, clears them, bids them a good night, and watches them walk out onto the street. He closes the door, the bell tinkling softly. He pulls the curtains. Zion appears from the kitchen with a broom, sweeping it gently across the floor, stealing looks over at the table at JJ every now and again.

Lucia is nowhere to be seen. Mama Amoretta noticed that once Jo returned, Lucia did not. There's some banging in the kitchen as the cook's clean, but Ernesto turns the dial on the radio ever so slightly so that you can all hear the low, crooning jazz. The coffee pot begins to grumble. Zion reaches high up to a high shelf and brings down some teal coffee mugs, the ceramic clattering as they tumble into one another. Ernesto helps him pass them out, unscrewing a small and unassuming flask from his pocket and tipping a bit into his cup. He holds it out, eyebrows raised in question to you all.

April Consalo:

Jo takes it, pours twice as much into her own mug, and offers it to the rest of table.

Atlas Mathews:

JJ will take some and pour a normal amount.

Danielle Halen:

Amoretta will just had a few drops. She's already had enough wine that she kind of needs to think with a clear head now.

Kenzie (GM):

He pulls the chair up as he usually does, twirls it around, shoves the back of it against the edge of the table and sits down, arms crossed over the back.

Kenzie (Ernesto):

I’m sure I'm not telling anything you don't know.

Kenzie (GM):

Throughout Cypher, there have been whisperings, rumors, people too afraid to say it out loud and speak it into existence, but a trail of disappearances over the past year, months, that has amped up over the last couple of weeks catching everyone's attention. Amoretta has heard it through her sister-in-law: a kid at the theater going missing and yet to be found. JJ from the Isthmus. Terra and Firma’s tired expressions as they relay the sad news over and over to new customers. And for Jo, well, a vague booze-filled memory at the Circus of someone mourning a missing loved one.

Kenzie (Ernesto):

It's become an epidemic. Feels like every other day I hear news of someone else losing someone. Wondered off, snatched. Or worse. No one knows. No trails left. Gone in an instant.

Kenzie (GM):

He glances at each of you.

Kenzie (Ernesto):

With your histories, I thought you'd have a personal stake in this as well. I don't think you need them to help, Amoretta. I don't. But I didn't think it hurt.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Well, I guess I ask what you know about these cases now. Beyond what we already know. Especially with this particular, girl. Do you know the last place she was seen?

Kenzie (Ernesto):

Well, I know as much as anybody knows. Which is just that it's happening and it's happening more frequently now. As for Meray, I should take you to see Rafi. He'll have more information but what they told me was she was supposed to be on her way home. She never arrived. She was coming home from her home to visit her parents.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

I guess I'll ask and see if she had a particular route she'd to take or something. Might give us some clues as to where she exactly disappeared and how it might have happened. Might be good to also see who she's connected to. So I'd appreciate you sending up a contact with us. And also know that when it comes to folks in Cypher, I ain't gonna give my usual rates if you my meaning.

Kenzie (GM):

A slow, small smile crawls across his face.

Kenzie (Ernesto):

I had a feeling. That's why I offered Rafi your services. They're not the most well-off, to put it kindly. But he's been my friend for a really long time and I want to help them out if I can.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

I’ll see what I can do and hopefully we'll be able to find ‘em quick. More time we waste to the less chance that we have of finding them.

Kenzie (Ernesto):

Sooner the better.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Yeah.

Kenzie (Ernesto):

Well…

Kenzie (GM):

Presses his hand against the table and kind of pushes his back back, stretching. Looks over at this standing clock that's on the countertop. It's old and antique, except for the fact that it looks like a back has been built out of it, where like the hands now come out of the back of the clock and around the front and spin. And he says,

Kenzie (Ernesto):

It's getting late. Go home. Sleep. I'll take you to see Rafi in the morning.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

You stay safe, okay?

Kenzie (Ernesto):

You all as well.

Atlas (June July August):

Thank you for dinner.

April (Joanna Gilmore):

Thank you.

Kenzie (Ernesto):

Anytime, JJ.

Kenzie (GM):

He stands up and he flips the chair around and pushes it back to where it belongs at one of the tables in the middle of the room. Zion unties his apron, folds it, and leaves it on a countertop. He pulls on his jacket, red leather and short in length. And then he takes JJ's hand as if it was the most familiar thing he's ever done.

Atlas:

JJ will give his hand a squeeze and bump into his shoulder.

Kenzie (GM):

Ernesto pulls Mama Amoretta into a hug. There's a lot in it. There's a shared sadness and pain from the loss of a husband and a friend. And there's the shared tampering down of hope just in case this is nothing. And he squeezes you and he whispers,

Kenzie (Ernesto):

I'll see you in the morning.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Yeah, see you soon. I'll fix you a cup of coffee when you arrive.

Kenzie (Ernesto):

Sounds great.

Kenzie (GM):

He turns to everyone else in the room, charming smile back on his face.

Kenzie (Ernesto):

Rafi’s, my friend and he is dealing with something I couldn't imagine, don't want to imagine. Be on your best behavior tomorrow, yeah?

Atlas (JJ):

I’ve never been on bad behavior a day in my life.

Kenzie (GM):

Zion kisses you on the top of your head.

April (Jo):

Our best behavior.

Kenzie (Ernesto):

Best you can manage.

April (Jo):

That’s all I can promise.

Kenzie (Ernesto):

See you tomorrow.

April (Jo):

See you then.

Kenzie (GM):

As you walk out into the chilly evening, Zion pulls JJ to a stop. He looks over her head at Mama and Jo and then leans in, lowering his voice and says,

Kenzie (Zion):

Are you coming with me?

Atlas:

I think JJ turns a nice shade of maroon.

Atlas (JJ):

I’ll see you both in the morning.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

See you, JJ.

April (Jo):

See you later.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Y'all stay safe now.

Atlas:

JJ’s like fighting giggles.

Kenzie (Zion):

Will do, Mama.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Love you too, baby.

Kenzie (GM):

And Zion pulls you off in the direction of his flat, which is very close by. Mama and Jo make their own ways home.

On the desk in the front of the office of Lamplight Investigative Services, the phone receiver rattles against the prongs that cage it in. Boomie meows loudly. It rings again.

And again, keys rattle in the door, the knob turns, and Mama Amoretta, you appear in the doorway to a ringing phone in your office.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Oh, shit.

Danielle:

She’ll just fucking throw the keys and quickly lock the door and hurry over to the phone.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Hello?

Kenzie (Unknown Voice):

Hi. Is this Lamplight Investigative Services?

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Indeed it is, you're speaking to Mama Amoretta here. We just opened the door, so sorry if you're a bit of a delay if you were calling a bit earlier.

Kenzie (Unknown Voice):

No, no, sorry for calling right when you opened. I was looking for JJ.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

JJ's not in the office yet but I can take a message for them. May I ask who's leaving the message.

Kenzie (Unknown Voice):

I don't know if they want you to know that and I want to respect that so I'll just call back.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Alright, I mean, if you think that'll make it more comfortable, but I've known JJ for quite a while, a few years.

Kenzie (Unknown Voice):

I understand. I think it's for the best. I'll call back.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Okay, great.

Kenzie (Unknown Voice):

Thank you so much, bye.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Well…

Kenzie (GM):

You hear the receiver click on the other side?

Danielle:

She just kinda stares at the phone, slowly hangs it up.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Huh.

Danielle:

She’s kinda racking her brain for who would call JJ without wanting to reveal their connection with JJ. Part of her thinks it might be someone from the Roses. Initially, cause that makes sense. But then why would the Roses bother reaching out to someone who totally like just left? Doesn't make sense so she's trying to think of something else.

Kenzie (GM):

JJ, how much have you revealed to Mama Amoretta and Jo about your family and your siblings?

Atlas:

They definitely know that my sister went missing and that I'm not in contact with any other member of my family. And then I think Mama would have known of my parents by virtue of us, like me being school friends with Zion. Even then I think I was never - it was always, I was going over to Mama's house. No one ever came over to mine. So they know it's not a great relationship.

Kenzie (GM):

I don't think that there's been anything in recent history that would make you suspect anybody from JJ's past that you would know of, so you're just kind of left wondering.

Danielle:

So she's kind of confused but also intrigued. And another tiny part of her is a bit worried for JJ because this is the Roses and they come calling, it’s not usually the best sign. That’s also her quiet concern of - she’s worried both for JJ and now her son who's probably gonna be wrapped up by proxy. So I think she's gonna maybe later? Put a pin in that and if JJ isn't willing to open up she might do some digging on her own just for the sake of I just need to know this person doesn't mean JJ harm.

I think she'd probably start fixing cups of coffee for her workers, you know, the people she's expecting come in this morning. She also has like some sugar and cream because she doesn't know how some of the folks like to serve their coffee. So she's just gonna let them fix it themselves how they like it. Also maybe offering some snacks as well in case they didn't get to eat in the morning, like how some of her workers are known to do. And I think with that, once that's all set up, she's gonna go in her office and in the meantime, try and look up what she can about the mine.

Kenzie (GM):

Cogfell is the company that is run by the Buckle family that is in charge of drilling operations in the mines in the surrounding areas of Nova. They provide the city with much of the raw materials for construction, continued innovation, and to be cut down and implemented in the technology that the city is covered with. So a lot of what they mine is just regular building materials but also crystal. Cogfell is a monopoly in Nova. They own the majority, if not all, of the most lucrative mines in the area.

Danielle:

So there's another connection to the crystals. Amoretta just quietly goes, yes, this family? Definitely connected with the Faceless. Somehow, someway, her gut instinct is like, that's definitely a connection.

Kenzie (GM):

In the midst of this research as you go through some old newspapers, which is usually where you find most of your information from, you see not like so much that it's concerning, but a few photographs from events that have taken place in Nova over the past couple of decades where the Buckle name is very closely associated with the Weatherby name.

Danielle:

I feel like Amoretta kind of pauses, in realization that she might have just stumbled onto an answer about the Faceless, because these are two really, really big connections she just can't ignore. And not right now, but I'm definitely gonna have her look further into the Buckle family specifically later on.

Kenzie (GM):

The door opens, kind of interrupting you at the very end of this process of finding this information.

April:

Jo has not slept. She was up all night just like pacing, throwing - she has this little slingshot that she made and she was like launching like loose screws into the wall. Just sort of like feeling uneasy, feeling I guess a little like lonely and still unsettled. She's had a sort of like unsettled feeling since her mom came into town and then like seeing JJ and Zion be so like happy-go-lucky. She just feels kind of out of place and like and restless. So she didn't sleep, she just burst in the door with her hair and clothes kind of askew but she did try to put herself together. So as she like bursts in, she kind of half tucks her shirt back into her waistband.

April (Jo):

Morning.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Hey, good morning!

Danielle:

Amoretta’s gonna quickly close the office door so that Jo isn't looking at the cork board. Jo hasn't voiced it, but Amoretta's pretty aware of how Jo feels about it, and so there is that... even though she's old, there is that kind of tiny sense of shame she feels when she knows other people kind of have that explanation of you should have moved on, so she doesn't like showing people that she's still working on it.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

So there's some coffee and biscuits and stuff if you want it.

April (Jo):

Oh, perfect. Yes, thank you.

Kenzie (GM):

Jo, has this information about disappearances becoming more common changed or shifted your viewpoints on Dimitri at all?

April:

I don't think so. I think that Jo doesn't feel that they are connected because of the space of time difference, you know? But I do think that Jo is aware that Mama would be affected by these disappearances. And while she didn't really catch a glimpse of the cork board, she knows it's there.

April (Jo):

Have you been here working all morning?

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Yeah, since we opened, JJ got a call, though they wouldn't say who it was.

April (Jo):

JJ got a call?

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Yeah.

April (Jo):

Who would be calling JJ?

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Well, that's what I'm trying to figure out, cause it be the Roses, which ain't a good sign, but I don't-

April (Jo):

No, the Roses would never call.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Well, that's exactly my point, they wouldn't. So, another mystery for today.

April (Jo):

It wasn't, it didn't sound like Jack or anyone that you recognize.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

No, I mean, I don't necessarily interact with the Roses often enough to recognize all of them by their voice.

April (Jo):

I mean, you can't really miss Jack’s voice it’s sort of singular.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

No, no Jackie's got a pretty distinct kind of kind of tone.

Danielle:

Kind of scratch back at her neck and just go,

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

I mean I don't really know who but we’ll see if JJ's willing to give him a call back or see if they’ll call again. It's really interesting that's for sure. Also I found something a bit interesting when I was working on something unrelated earlier this morning.

Danielle:

Amoretta is gonna sip her a little coffee as she says that. And she just goes,

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

You might want to look into the Buckle family. They've got a... well, two connections I can't exactly ignore to the Faceless folk we've been dealing with. They've been highly connected to the Weatherbys and also they've got a monopoly on the mines that are responsible for the crystals.

Kenzie (GM):

Jo, I think that you are intimately aware of an individual named Benedict Buckle.

April:

I think that Jo is pouring herself a large cup of coffee when Mama tells her this and as she mentions the Buckle family her hand kind of like jumps a little and she spills some coffee on the table.

April (Jo):

Oh, shit. Right. Yes, the Buckles they um… the mining family. Yes?

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Yeah.

April (Jo):

One of their children is Benedict, correct?

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's right.

April (Jo):

Right, yes, I actually do know them sort of well, actually. Not for a while now, but you understand what I'm trying to say, right? I don't have to elaborate for you.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

I think I got the idea of how you two might have been acquainted.

April (Jo):

Right, okay. Perfect. So, do you need me to go talk to them?

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

I mean, I'm not sure if approaching them about it is necessarily the right idea at the moment, but I mean, it's a connection I can't really deny at this point. It's kinda... Weatherbys. Crystals. Something at least worth looking into, I think. You can do what you can with how you like to look into things.

April (Jo):

Perhaps I check in on them.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Right.

April (Jo):

See where they're hanging around these days.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Yeah.

Kenzie (GM):

In response to that being set up, Dani, you need to move Jo's need to one.

This is a possibility of Jo being thrown back into a society that her mother kind of just recently dragged her back into that she had left, hadn't been a part of for a really long time. Now there's a possibility she may have to step back into those shoes that she grew up wearing.

April:

Is her mother still in town?

Kenzie (GM):

Yes, I'll say that the premiere that you attended with her was probably about probably a week and a half ago. So that's still fresh. Do think you've seen your mother since?

April:

Oh no, but I think that, Jo is very aware of the ticking clock and since it's been just over a week, she's very much expecting her mother at any moment to reach back out to her. And actually, now that she's thinking about it, that is an avenue that they didn't really consider for JJ. But she doesn't say anything to Mama. Not yet.

Kenzie (GM):

As Jo is finishing up getting her coffee all set up, the door opens for a third time as it usually does every morning, and in walks two laughing people. A happy couple just to rub it in the wound a little bit more.

Atlas:

JJ is wearing a turtleneck.

Kenzie (GM):

They both have some sort of beverage in hand already. Zion has like a little pastry bag wrapped up in his fist.

Atlas:

JJ has like powdered donut just on the corner of her mouth and talking animatedly about something all hands.

Atlas (JJ):

So then and then you wouldn't actually believe it but, oh!

Kenzie (Zion):

Morning everybody.

Atlas (JJ):

Oh, good morning.

April (Jo):

Good morning.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Morning y'all. I see you already got yourselves fixed up with some treats, so...

Kenzie (Zion):

Ah well, just a little treat, nothing too big.

Danielle:

Amoretta’s just gonna give an approving nod. Like, I see you and I respect - I raised you right.

Kenzie (GM):

Zion’s face goes so red and shuts the door behind them as they enter.

April (Jo):

Good to see you Zion. JJ, I like your jumper.

Atlas (JJ):

Thank you. It is mine.

Atlas:

And it's like big.

April (Jo):

I’ve actually, I should have worn a jumper today. I'm quite chilly. Do you mind if I turn the thermostat just a little higher?

April:

And Jo definitely punches it up like three degrees while staring directly into JJ's eyes and grinning.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Listen so long as you're paying the heating bill.

April (Jo):

I will. You know I will.

Atlas (JJ):

Speaking of I should get on the paperwork for our new case. Just because they're not paying full price does not mean that we should not have all of our T's crossed and I's dotted and let me just roll up my sleeves.

Kenzie (GM):

Boomie meows very loudly and comes up to your heels and starts following you around the office.

Atlas (JJ):

Oh my gosh, hi buddy! My god.

Atlas:

And like goes over to his food bowl, definitely full, but like,

Atlas (JJ):

Okay, and I - let me just refill, and okay it’s full. Ah, um…




Atlas:

And JJ's like flitting about and has become very much the ADHD, like, poster child of, I was doing this, but I just remembered I need to go do this, oh, but actually I am passing this, so I need to go do this, and it's just kind of filling space now.

April:

Jo crouches down and plops her hands on her knees and stares into Boomie’s eyes.

April (Jo):

What are you thinking about?

Kenzie (GM):

Boomie sits down on his haunches and looks back at you for a few seconds and then gives a little chirp and rubs his head against your knees.

April:

Jo grimaces at the cat and yet does not move away until Boomie leaves.

Kenzie (GM):

He does little crisscross and then when he realizes that you're not gonna like really get in there and scratch, he walks away to Zion who has, as he usually does, plops himself across the couches he often does, just spreads out and Boomie finds a friend up on the couch.

Kenzie (Zion):

I actually thought Ernesto would already be here today. I thought we were running a bit late. I guess he didn't give us a time.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

I mean also he's got to pick someone else up and not going to take a bit too depending on that person. We don't know what time they get ready.

Kenzie (Zion):

True.

April (Jo):

It is quite late though. Does anyone have a contact that we can call to make sure he's on his way?

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Restaurant number, but it shouldn't be open by now.

Kenzie (Zion):

Yeah, and I don't have his house number memorized.

April:

Jo kind of rubs the back of her neck in an antsy way.

April (Jo):

Right, I'm sure it's fine.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Let's wait another thirty minutes and then if he didn't show up let's go send out some folks and check on the spots that he usually should be hanging.

Kenzie (Zion):

That’d probably be good idea.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

I mean, I don't want to think the worst of it, obviously, but given the fact that there are more disappearances lately, it doesn't hurt to check.

Atlas (JJ):

I thought about getting a phone number too last night, but I'm trying to be better about not jumping on the client, and technically he's not the client, but...

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

I mean, I also got his number, but I don't think he'd be home.

Kenzie (Zion):

I’m sure if he's not here right now, he's just on his way.

April (Jo):

Right, on his way.

Kenzie (GM):

Zion sends a pointed look at Jo's anxiousness.

April:

She does like a “What? What?” head movement in his direction but can't really look at him.

Kenzie (GM):

Just puts up a hand in defense.

April:

Jo walks over and leans against the wall near-ish him as a comfort.

Kenzie (GM):

Less than ten minutes go by and the door opens and in strides Ernesto. Flicking water off of a newspaper he has clutched in his hand, black hair damp and hanging in his face.

Kenzie (Ernesto):

Forgot my umbrella.

Kenzie (GM):

His beard is trimmed up to perfection, square clear trimmed glasses sit lightly on the bridge of his nose. Behind them his eyes, like translucent blue that reflect whatever light bounces off of them now a warm yellow from entering the office. At Comida del Corazon, he is weirdly enough more casual than he looks right now. Usually his white button shirts are unbuttoned halfway down his chest, halfway untucked from his baggy pants, and now he's almost matching JJ in a sense. He has on a cream turtleneck, this brown leather jacket that doesn't come all the way around his stomach but comes all the way around his chest. And what looks like recently pressed gray pants that fit him in all the right places. There's a silver chain trailing from his pocket to a clip at his belt and a simple band around his ring finger that glints in the light as he holds out the newspaper.

Kenzie (Ernesto):

Like I said last night, an epidemic.

Danielle:

Mama will go get a towel for Ernesto so that he can dry off from the soaking rain.

April:

And Jo's kind of too quickly snatches the newspaper out of his hand, looks down at it, quickly glances back up, looks him up and down.

April (Jo):

You look well.

Kenzie (Ernesto):

Seemed important today.

April (Jo):

I’m glad you're all right.

April:

Jo looks down to the newspaper and sees a big headline, I'm sure, about a new missing person.

Kenzie (GM):

The newspaper that he brought is actually a magazine called Under the Bridge. And it follows community events and news that affect the people of Cypher. It ignores Nova like Nova ignores it. And across the front page it reads, “Our Neighbors are Going Missing.”

April:

Jo, like without even lifting her gaze from the paper, walks over to a chair and sinks into it. And as she reads, she can't help but run a hand over her jaw, feeling a little overwhelmed for a moment.

Kenzie (GM):

As Jo reads, Ernesto crosses the room and pours himself some coffee and then kind of like leans against the counter and crosses his ankles.

The interior of Under the Bridge is only about five pages, each taken up with different stories. A journalistic style report on what has been going on for a lot longer than anyone realized, not putting things together because, and it's admitted in the piece, nothing really goes together. The demographic of those missing is not of a specific class, age, or profession. A 50-year-old miner here, a fourteen-year-old schoolboy here. But you flip to one page that's like a whole page warning that just says, “Beware the Runes.” And Ernesto is kind of like eyeing you as you go. And when you get to that page says,

Kenzie (Ernesto):

All that is done is created a fear of crystal work itself.

April (Jo):

Perhaps people should be scared of it right now.

Kenzie (Ernesto):

Not the way they are. Just the other day, I had a family come into the restaurant, one of the parents, eyes widened at that hacked radio I've got and pleaded with me to get rid of it before they sit down. I didn't. They left. I doubt they know what's built into the very foundations of this dear city.

April (Jo):

It truly is inescapable, but I suppose I can't really blame them. They just want their children to be safe.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Doesn’t exactly help that the suppliers have a monopoly.

Kenzie (GM):

You hand over the towel that you went to get and Ernesto takes it and tries to like wipe down his hair a little bit as it's been dripping onto his sweater the whole time.

April (Jo):

But there's a new way that crystals are getting around. In a new drug, I don't know if you have been hearing about this, but...

Kenzie (Ernesto):

I can't imagine that each and every one of these people are doing the same drug.

April (Jo):

No, I suppose not. But there's something insidious about it, I can't- I feel like it's an important link.

Kenzie (Ernesto):

Maybe there's a difference between the disappearances and those people comatose in the clinic. Because that's the drugs.

April (Jo):

Ernesto, can we see the client?

Kenzie (Ernesto):

Uh, yeah, yeah, Rafi. Whenever you guys are ready. Mama, you driving?

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Yeah, I mean can get you pack your coffee to go.

Kenzie (GM):

Pushes himself off the countertop.

Kenzie (Ernesto):

It's okay.

Kenzie (GM):

Sets it down.

Kenzie (Ernesto):

I've already had a cup this morning.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Let's get going then.

Kenzie (GM):

He watches all of you look at him in this room as you go to leave and he goes,

Kenzie (Zion):

Well, somebody's got to be here to man the phones.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Yeah, oh my god, speaking of phones, by the way, JJ, someone did call you earlier, they didn't say who though.

Atlas (JJ):

Who would call me?

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

I don’t know, that's what I was trying to figure out!

Atlas (JJ):

And they wouldn't say who it was?

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

No, they said like it would make you uncomfortable or something like if I knew or...

Atlas:

I think JJ's gonna shoot a look to Jo and a look to Zion and then,

Atlas (JJ):

Did it sound like someone we know?

April (Jo):

Not anyone I've ever met.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

It was someone else.

Atlas:

Everyone can kind of see JJ have a light bulb moment and then quickly flick the light off.

Atlas (JJ):

Ugh, did you get a phone number? Maybe I can try calling her- them back.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Nah, I mean I tried pressing for more information on that, you I wasn't given anything.

Kenzie (Zion):

JJ, if they call back, I'll just take a message.

Atlas (JJ):

Yeah, just get a phone number.

Kenzie (Zion):

See what I can do.

Atlas (JJ):

Thank you.

Atlas:

JJ will lean down and like give Zion a kiss. JJ is playing with their hands and just kind of being like,

Atlas (JJ):

Definitely odd.

Kenzie (GM):

As you all put your jackets on to exit the office, Ernesto says,

Kenzie (Ernesto):

Don’t forget your umbrellas. I made that mistake this morning. Do you have an extra one I can borrow actually?

April (Jo):

Actually, I am... well, so...

April:

And she pulls out an umbrella.

April (Jo):

So what you do is you actually press this button here and the whole umbrella just opens at once. So don't do it indoors, wait until you're outside, but yes.

Kenzie (Ernesto):

I didn't realize you were superstitious, Jo.

April (Jo):

Only about certain things.

Kenzie (Ernesto):

Thank you.

April (Jo):

You’re welcome.

Kenzie (GM):

You leave Zion in the office and pile into Mama Amoretta's car. Windshield wipers flick on, shucking the rain off the glass. Mama Amoretta pulls away from the detective agency's offices and through the streets of Cypher that are still lit. It's dark enough outside this morning that the streets have to be still lit by the street lamps, though only half of them or maybe less than half of them work in Cypher. The car bumps over the old trolley tracks that never seemed to work and makes its way deeper under the Bridge.

You go far enough, Ernesto directing you, until you reach a familiar area. The bright neon lights of Underground Arc General Market light the entirety of this street as they do rain or shine, fog or snow. The quote unquote “Under” part of underground is burnt out and has been for as long as you can remember. Amoretta may be the only one of your trio that remembers it in its full glory. It's been months since the market was vandalized by runic inscriptions, but you notice that Julietta, the owner and a dear friend of Mama’s, has not been able to completely rid her windows of the glue and paint that went into the work. Vestiges of it still litter the glass, though minimal, brought into clearer attention by the posters of new deals hanging for all to see.

But something else sticks out to you from these windows, a sea of red, art of a lithe figure in black with their back to you but their head turning coyly, blonde hair streaming behind them. Jo, this is a familiar image to you because it was blasted around you on all sides at your mother's premiere. But for everybody else, the poster reads “Silent Vice” and in even larger letters than the title, starring Greta Gilmore. And you can't see any of the other names or dates or any information than that because it has been ripped off from the cleaning of the windows or dulled by being posted over. But you do see this and there is a familiar name on it. Well, a familiar last name.

Atlas (JJ):

That's crazy, Jo. She has the same name as your mom.

April (Jo):

Yes, JJ, that is my mother.

Atlas (JJ):

Why she on a big poster? Oh shit!

April (Jo):

Yes. Remember when I told you that my mother was a bit... famous?

Atlas (JJ):

Getting on a poster is a bit more than…

April (Jo):

JJ, you could rob a bank and be on the poster. It's not that big of an accomplishment in and of itself.

Atlas (JJ):

(Clears throat) Yeah, posters suck. Do you wanna- we can take it down.

April:

Jo grins at JJ trying to make her feel better.

April (Jo):

No, I actually, I... fuck. Um, my mother is here. She is in town. Well, in Nova. She would never set foot in Cipher. But yes, she wrote me a letter and I saw her about a week ago at the premiere for this movie.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Was it good, the movie?

April (Jo):

It was, actually. She's quite good.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Well that’s pretty neat, I suppose. Anyways, we got more important things to focus on, and you know, I think... I think we do good work here.

Kenzie (Ernesto):

Actually, if, Amoretta, if you can just pull up right over here.

Danielle:

Amoretta will try and block - I think she can kind of tell that Jo's bothered by this. And so she doesn't know what to say because how the fuck are you as a kid of a huge celebrity? You're living in someone's shadow. And Amoretta’s like, I have no clue how to deal with that situation because I wouldn't know what to do in that scenario. She just kind of does what she can, I think, to maybe make Jo not feel so overshadowed.

Kenzie (GM):

You pull out of direct eye line of it, but the building that Ernesto has pointed out to you is only a couple buildings away from the market. And he looks out the window and looks up at it.

Kenzie (Ernesto):

Well, this is the place. Might as well go knock.

April (Jo):

All right, let's go.

Atlas:

I think as they're walking, JJ will like grab like the back of Jo's jacket and just be like,

Atlas (JJ):

You know, there's been a lot of disappearances. I don't think anyone would miss a stupid old poster or two if you ever need help with something like that.

April (Jo):

Thanks, JJ. I, um - family’s hard sometimes. I know you know that.

April:

And Jo kind of like locks eyes with her for a second.

Atlas (JJ):

That's why I offered.

April (Jo):

And I'll think about it. Unfortunately, the marketing team seems to be really overzealous because everywhere I go I see her. But, thanks.

Atlas (JJ):

You're like, way prettier.

April:

Jo grins really big.

April (Jo):

Oh, JJ that is really sweet. But it's not true.

April:

And walks ahead and catches up with mama.

Atlas (JJ):

(stutters)

Atlas:

JJ will like do a little jog to catch up.

Kenzie (GM):

Ernesto stops outside of a building that really wouldn't catch anybody's eye on any given day and pulls this little chain that is looped on the side of the brick around these two metal hooks and pulls it you can hear a little bell ringing inside.

You hear the creak and crack of wooden stairs inside and then the rattling of a very loose doorknob as it turns and opens. And you see a middle-aged person with brown skin, tired eyes, and a cow-like pink nose on the other side. A wrinkled shirt with a green cardigan hastily thrown over it, and orange and brown striped pants that cover satyr-like legs. They have tattoos on their face, these two thick lines on the left side of their forehead and on the cheek, left cheek from cheek to ear.

And JJ, there is something about this individual that looks vaguely familiar to you, but in this very brief moment of opening the door, you can't quite place it. And then they just say,

Kenzie (Rafi):

Ernesto.

Kenzie (GM):

And kind of just fall into Ernesto's arms.

[ad break begins]

Kenzie:

Pardon the interruption, but here's another show, we think you'd like.

[easy western music begins playing]

Kenzie:

There is silence in a desert where nothing moves and nothing goes.

Riley Maness:

Well, we seem to find ourselves in yet another fine and opportune place. Dead as it may be.

Kenzie:

A single tumbleweed rolls past.

Linnie Schell:

Well, uh, if that kills ya, it’ll be exactly what you deserve.

Kenzie:

A single tumbleweed rolls past.

Stevie Faye:

I’ve kind of given up on trusting my gut, but this feels different.

Kenzie:

A single tumbleweed rolls past.

Brendan Hooker:

Don’t mean to be presumptuous, but I think this is going to go great.

Linnie:

There is hope out there.

Stevie:

I don’t know I feel like I”m just hoping about everything these days, but…

Riley:

Hope is a commodity that’s not easy to come by.

[easy western music fades out]

[tense, suspenseful music begins]

Linnie:

To be touched by spirits like that, it’s not always gift.

Ashley Westover:

When I say unholy, I mean the most unnatural being that you’ve encountered.

Riley:

Opportunity awaits! As long as its not the way we came from.

Stevie:

As long as its not the way we came from.

Brendan:

I don’t know what you think you’re looking at, but I promise you, it’s not whatever the hell you think it is.

Stevie:

I want to know how to make it all stop.

Brendan:

Times running out, old friend, best be getting a move no.

Kenzie:

And a lone tumble blows across you fast. Shades of the West, on queeRPG. Anywhere you can find podcasts.

You can find the links to this show in the description box below.

[ad break ends]

Kenzie (GM):

As this individual, who you can assume is Rafi, kind of falls into Ernesto's arms. Ernesto steps up and wraps them in a hug. Rafi buries their face in Ernesto's neck and Ernesto's hand is on the back of their head and you see their shoulders shaking. And JJ, you know, ugh, it's right there. It's right on the tip of your tongue, but you just can't get it.

Eventually Rafi steps back from the hug and gestures you in.

Kenzie (Rafi):

Come in, come in. Thank you for coming.

Kenzie (GM):

And they lead you up a rickety wooden steps to a door marked with one B. It's dreary inside, a hallway with two doors leading into a joint kitchen and a living room. Sconces on the wall flicker with real flame. Jo, looking around, there doesn't seem to be anything of mechanical innovation here.

Kenzie (Rafi):

Can I get you some tea?

Kenzie (GM):

They ask offhandedly, not looking at you at all, but dropping into the old, well-loved sofa.

Atlas:

Is there anything with like a family name? Any other photos on the walls?

Kenzie (GM):

As you begin to glance around this space, you see a woman and you are hit again with like this, why do I know these people? And Ernesto says,

Kenzie (Ernesto):

Marta.

Kenzie (GM):

She has red eyes and tangled hair that's been pulled back into an updo to try and salvage some sense of decency. He reaches out and she squeezes his hand and he goes,

Kenzie (Ernesto):

Rafi, Marta, this is my dear friend Amoretta. Think she can help you.

Kenzie (GM):

And you glance around the room, JJ, and you see a photo of three people, Rafi, Marta, and a young girl.

Roll me to Figure Out a Person again.

Atlas:

6 plus 3 plus 1. 10.

Kenzie (GM):

You almost figure it out at the same time Marta figures it out because she looks at you with this questioning expression on her face as if she's about to ask a question and then her eyes kind of pop open. You think back, very brief interactions on playdate drop-offs. Because Mariah was April's best friend in middle school. The first friend she had once you moved to Cypher.

Atlas:

Eyes like saucers in her head.

Atlas (JJ):

This is a lovely... Family photo.

Kenzie (Marta):

JJ?

Atlas (JJ):

Hi.

Kenzie (Marta):

It’s been... Wow! Look at you! It's been a really long time.

Atlas (JJ):

I was about to say the same thing.

April (Jo):

How do you two know each other?

Atlas (JJ):

Our families were friends.

April (Jo):

Your families?

Atlas (JJ):

Well, family members.

April (Jo):

I see.

Atlas (JJ):

Oh, oh, that means...

Atlas:

And then JJ will like look back over at the photo.

Atlas (JJ):

The person... missing.

Kenzie (Marta):

I know you know how we feel. We saw the stories, we reached out, but.

Atlas (JJ):

I wasn’t home.

Kenzie (Marta):

It's hard. So, never a hard feeling. We understand. Now. Unfortunately.

Atlas (JJ):

When was the last time you saw her?

Kenzie (GM):

Rafi says,

Kenzie (Rafi):

She was coming home three evenings ago for her mother's birthday.

Kenzie (GM):

And Marta says,

Kenzie (Marta):

She did it every year. She never missed it. But I guess that doesn't answer your question because we never saw her that night.

Atlas (JJ):

Excuse me.

Atlas:

And I think JJ will step out for a moment.

Danielle:

I’m ready to just gently pat JJ on the back because now this has gotten a lot more personal for JJ more than it already has. So understandably JJ needs an emotional break too.

Kenzie (GM):

I think that this was a pretty staggering emotional blow for JJ. You're going to mark two.

Atlas:

I think it's probably frightened. Um, I would argue hopeless.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Did you notice anything different about her behavior at all anything that might seem normal then that in hindsight now might have seemed a bit unusual? Anything at all?

Kenzie (GM):

Rafi says,

Kenzie (Rafi):

I had talked to her earlier that day. I knew she was coming. She said so. But she was late. And dinner got cold. And her mother and I started to worry. So, we called her. She didn’t answer. A trolley was running that day, which I remember thinking was weird, but lucky. So, I got on it and I went to her flat. It was dark. She was obviously not there. So I came back hoping that she had arrived by then. But she hadn't. It's so unlike her. So I asked my neighbors if they had seen anything, seen anyone. I checked alleys, maybe she had gotten hurt, maybe something had happened to her, but the only thing that turned up was this.

Kenzie (GM):

And Marta pulls a small scrap of fabric from her pocket.

Kenzie (Marta):

It may not be her’s, but… I think it is. I remember she had something with this pattern on it. A skirt or maybe a sweater.

Kenzie (Rafi):

Apologies for our confusion here. We didn't sleep at all that night. We haven't really slept since, to be perfectly honest.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Yeah, no, that's completely normal reaction when this stuff happens.

Danielle:

Amoretta’s gonna kinda take a closer look at the fabric. See if there's like any tag attached to it or anything like that or...

Kenzie (GM):

Unfortunately, there's no tag. It looks to have just been like quickly ripped off from a piece of clothing. It's tattered around the edges. It's not in like any specific shape like it was cut. It was definitely ripped. And it's a paisley-ish type of pattern.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

And where did you find this?

Kenzie (Rafi):

Just a couple blocks away. Kind of just right off the usual route. She was so close and we didn't even know anything was happening.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

I’m so sorry.

April (Jo):

It’s not your fault. You couldn't have known.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

And that's the thing about these disappearances, you don't know when they're gonna happen and you're just left wishing you could be there with them. Hoping you could prevent it. Anyways, are you sure she didn't display any unusual behavior in the previous times you talked to her in past weeks? You know, since stuff started? You know, acting up, things like that.

Kenzie (Marta):

We only ever talked to her over the phone. But she sounded fine. You know, we talked about everything and... She was keeping as safe as you could.

April (Jo):

Any new friends that she had mentioned.

Kenzie (Marta):

She really was a homebody, there and work. She had a couple friends she'd go see at their places, but... she never really talked about going out much.

Kenzie (Rafi):

Not to my recollection, but to be quite honest we haven't really known much of her friends since school. There'd be no reason for us to, she's an adult.

April (Jo):

Of course. Just wondering.

Kenzie (Rafi):

Maybe going forward we'll make sure that we know all of our friends.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

May I also ask what was her place of work?

Kenzie (Rafi):

She was a secretary at the Codex.

Kenzie (GM):

And you would know the Codex as kind of an old, failing archival institution. Their work was mostly to try to preserve everything that Nova didn't think was important, but they don't have much funding, so their jobs are a lot harder than they need to be.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Okay, that's a few other places we could definitely look into and see what else we might be able to find.

Kenzie (Rafi):

I can show you right where I found that if that would help too.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

That'd be great.

April:

I think Jo goes to look for JJ.

Kenzie (GM):

As you pass back through the hallway you notice that the two doors, one leads to a bedroom with like a double bed in it and the other one leads to a smaller bedroom. So it looks like parents' bedroom, Meray’s bedroom. And when you open the door to the outside of the apartment, JJ has left entirely. You open the door and there is no sign of JJ on landing, on the stairs.

April (Jo):

Perfect. Great. Perfect.

April:

And Jo goes back up to where Mama and everyone are waiting.

April (Jo):

Right, our, our colleague has stepped out and has gone on a separate, investigation just for the time being. So we shan't wait for her. We can go whenever we please.

Kenzie (Rafi):

One minute.

Kenzie (GM):

Rafi, they stand up from the couch and they walk and you watch them walk into what would have been Meray’s bedroom at some point and grab something. You hear some things moving around a drawer opening and then come out and they hand you a small frame. And in the frame are two little girls. And one of them bears a strong resemblance to JJ.

April:

Jo looks the photo over and then looks up at Rafi.

April (Jo):

Is this?

Kenzie (Rafi):

Two missing girls in one photo. Yeah. It's not lost on me.

April (Jo):

It’s not lost on any of us.

Kenzie (Rafi):

You can have a peek in there if you want to.

April (Jo):

Yes, I will. Thank you.

April:

Jo goes into Murray's bedroom.

Kenzie (GM):

The room is small, big enough for a bed, a small table, and a chest on the ground. There's a worn knitted rug on the floor that brings the only color to this neutral toned room.

April:

I think she like glances around at first, anywhere that there seems to be notebooks, papers, she sort of sifts through them and they all seem to be pretty normal. And then I think she goes for the chest.

Kenzie (GM):

You finish going through the sparse drawers in this room. There's one or two. Obviously this girl has not lived here for a while. You open the chest and I think worry immediately fills you because along the edges and across the top are painted runes. These ones are not glowing. Meray must not have been able to get her hands on the same paint that was used at the Neon Star, but she still felt the need to draw these in her space.

April:

Jo runs her hand along the runes. Are they carved or are they just drawn?

Kenzie (GM):

They’re painted so you can feel a little bit of like an edge to where the paint is but it's relatively smooth.

April:

There’s so many. She's trying to hold them all in her head, but eventually she takes out her little notebook from her coat pocket and starts to write them down. And as she does, she like stops for a moment as if she could bring something upon herself by writing these down. What's the difference, really? But she needs all the information, so she writes them all down and makes sure to transcribe them as carefully as possible.

Kenzie (GM):

As you're finishing up and you go to close the chest, there's a gasp from the doorway. And Marta is standing there, hand covering her mouth, as she sees the split second of these runes before it closes.

April (Jo):

I didn't mean to pry, I-

Kenzie (Marta):

I didn't know those were there.

April (Jo):

It’s alright.

Kenzie (Marta):

If I had known. If I had known.

April:

Jo goes over to Marta and takes her hand gently.

April (Jo):

Your child is an adult. You couldn't have known everything.

Kenzie (Marta):

But she was still my little girl.

April (Jo):

And we'll find her. We will.

Kenzie (GM):

She kind of presses her hand over the top of yours and squeezes it.

Kenzie (Marta):

We'll try our best.

April (Jo):

Do you mind if I continue to look? I want to make sure I get everything.

Kenzie (Marta):

Please, please, yes sir. Whatever you need.

April:

Jo looks in a small closet. Is there anything in there?

Kenzie (GM):

There is not, there's a couple, seems like, clothes that were left behind when she moved out. A couple empty hangers. But the rest of it has been cleared pretty bare. You see little ticks in the wood where somebody was keeping track of her height as she grew.

April:

Jo sifts through few more items, doesn't find anything. As she exits, she closes the door as gently as if someone was sleeping in the room.

Kenzie (GM):

Rafi is donning a jacket when you come out, getting ready to lead you to where they found the scrap. Before you leave the apartment, Ernesto says,

Kenzie (Ernesto):

I’ll stay here. I’ll -

Kenzie (GM):

And kind of flicks his head back to Marta.

Kenzie (Ernesto):

I don't want to leave her alone right now. I'll be here when you get back.

Kenzie (GM):

And Mama and Jo follow Rafi down the stairs outside the apartment. Kind of pops the collar on their jacket a little bit, squares their shoulders and hunches over and walks away from the neon lights of the general market.

You go a couple blocks, the rain is the only sound in your ears, see a bike go past on the other side of the street,

Atlas:

You’ll see JJ if you just walk down the street. JJ's just like, maybe I can just find April if I just look.

Kenzie (GM):

As you continue this way and as Rafi pulls to a stop outside of this like small alley. It's blocked in by two buildings and it's pretty shallow. It doesn't go very far in at all. You see JJ like a couple blocks if you continue down the street.

April (Jo):

Oh good god. Will you excuse me for a moment?

April:

And then Jo runs, her boots clomping on the ground. She's very grumpy about the running. But she runs up to JJ.

Atlas:

When JJ starts hearing someone running behind her, think she'll just kind of like freeze. Last time this happened was not great. And like, trying to not be noticed that she knows someone's running like, almost like a peek over her shoulder before realizing it's Jo and turning around.

April (Jo):

JJ. JJ, it's just me, you idiot.

Atlas (JJ):

I thought you'd spend more time… I’m just - I wasn't running away. I just thought that I might -

April (Jo):

Run away?

Atlas (JJ):

No.

April (Jo):

Right.

Atlas (JJ):

Running to.

April (Jo):

Well you did, and then I had to run, which you know I hate, specifically.

Atlas (JJ):

Maybe if you wore lighter boots.

April (Jo):

You don’t like my boots?

Atlas (JJ):

No, do like the boots. They're just - it’s hard to run in them. I understand why you hate running because they're hard to-

April (Jo):

What are you doing exactly?

Atlas (JJ):

I'm looking, I'm looking for the people that are missing.

April (Jo):

April.

Atlas (JJ):

That's not the case that we're on.

April (Jo):

JJ, it sort of is, isn't it?

Atlas (JJ):

No, no, we're looking for April's friend. April is... gone.

April (Jo):

But now her friend is gone and I know… even her parents know that there's very good chance that it's linked.

Atlas (JJ):

Okay, then if it's linked, then I need to find them. I need to find her, the girl that's missing now.

April (Jo):

We're going to go look at where they found a piece of her clothing. Do you want to come with us?

Atlas:

I think JJ will like look down the street where she was just kind of walking towards nothing.

April (Jo):

Bit more of a lead than that, perhaps.

Atlas (JJ):

Maybe. Jo, I can't explain it now. I might have a lead, and I can't look at those parents knowing that I'm- that I might know-

April (Jo):

Does this have anything to do with the phone call you received this morning?

Atlas (JJ):

Actually no. (laughs) I do have two sisters.

April (Jo):

Wow. So, so, so, so, so, we should, we should probably go over there.

Atlas:

JJ will nod.

April (Jo):

If you don't want to go, you don't have to, but look, we always have to hold things back from the clients. We're the ones taking on the gruesomeness, right? Like the... They're dealing with the grief and the loss and the uncertainty and we're the ones that have to deal with the certainty of the terrible things, perhaps. But if you can't do that right now, that's all right. I just wanted to give you the option.

Atlas:

I think when Jo says, we always have to keep something back from the client, JJ finally stops just like looking around everywhere and like looks at Jo and is almost able, Jo has almost reminded her, I can compartmentalize this.

Kenzie (GM):

I want Jo to roll emotional support. So 2d6 plus either your heart or your spirit.

April:

I got a nine.

Atlas:

I think I'm going to take away feeling hopeless. Because also that feels narratively appropriate.

Kenzie (GM):

Rafi are standing, Rafi has kind of turned to Amoretta and is like, shouting a little bit over the rain.

Kenzie (Rafi):

Ernesto’s probably my oldest friend. Not really much thanks I can give him for reaching out to you, but I appreciate you being here and helping. No matter what happens. Just want you to know that.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Of course, part of the community, that's what I do is help folks out.

Kenzie (Rafi):

I wish this was an easy task to help everyone out, but maybe it will.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

If it was easy, do you think everyone could do it?

Kenzie (Rafi):

I know I can't. I couldn't deal with this every day.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Yeah, well. It shouldn't be easy for anyone to deal with this kind of stuff.

Kenzie (Rafi):

Found it right up against that wall, just a couple steps in. Could have been blown out by the wind that night, I don't know, but it was right over there.

Kenzie (GM):

And that's when Jo and JJ walk back up.

Danielle:

Can Amoretta kind of making sure that he's still not gonna get soaked by the rain. Amoretta might hand him the umbrella because she doesn't care about getting soaked. She’s gonna try and like see if she can scooch down. And I don't know if there's something equivalent to flashlights. But if they do...

Kenzie (GM):

I would say that you probably, like in your car, which you would have brought out, have like lantern-esque type of things. Yes.

Danielle:

And kind of hold it up to the walls and see if the walls have any markings, any signs of a scuffle, because if a fabric is torn that usually means that there was some kind of fight.

Kenzie (GM):

When I say it's a shallow alley, I just mean it doesn't go all the way through. It's still like, you know, six to ten feet deep between these buildings, but it does end with another building that has like penned it in. There are a couple stacks of crates back here and a few pieces of litter like paper or a wrapper of some sort.

Atlas:

I think JJ is looking for anything that has to do with the masks, anything that has to do with all the little tidbits that she is keeping from her friends.

April:

I think that Jo is looking on the ground for blood.

Kenzie (GM):

JJ, as you're going, there's no bits of porcelain that would say a mask was broken back here. There's no leftovers of that sort of thing. You don't see anything that directly connects this alleyway with the Faceless outright.

Jo, as you're kind of looking on the ground, you don't see any blood, but something on the ground shines in the light of the lantern. It's a little bit of some sort of substance that kind of hits the light just right, hidden where one of the boxes kind of hangs over another box so the rain doesn't get in it, and a dry spot on the ground. And you kind of lean down and get closer to it.

You know immediately what it is. It's called tryutorite which is a type of crystal that is used in the development of the hoverboards that are used for both recreation and in tournaments held throughout Nova every year. This is an almost translucent gem that is known for its malleability and it has a tendency to leave behind a fine almost innocuous dust as it burns.

So finding enough that is visible to the naked eye in the near dark of this alley means that a hoverboard was stagnant over this space for quite some time, just burning the tryutorite as it hovered.

Mama, you're kind of looking at the walls, lantern close to the brick. At first you don't see anything, but then there's like an indentation that you kind of see the light dip in and a shadow form on a lower half of the wall about halfway down this alley. It's probably about two and a half feet off the ground. There's like an indent in the brick. And as you get closer to it and you run your fingers along the brick, your fingers run over an indent and you can kind of trace it. And you don't know these things super well, but you've been looking at them enough over the past few weeks that your finger traces the outline of an indented rune within the brick. And as you complete tracing it, you feel a shock in your hand.

Danielle:

Amoretta will kind of yank her hand away, feeling that shock and shake it out a little bit. And then, I guess maybe kind of crouching lower and seeing if maybe there's like some weird light reflecting off that would cause such a shock.

Kenzie (GM):

It looks like it's just been like chiseled by hand into the brick. It's rough. But there doesn't look to be any crystal within it or something that you know and have seen shock people.

Danielle:

Amoretta is gonna take out her notebook and try and recreate the shape that she traced out on paper. I doubt that'll do anything interesting but it's just to have that on record. Amoretta’s gonna try and trace it again but almost like in the reverse order and see if that affects anything.

Kenzie (GM):

As you press your finger into it and trace it you feel that it gives a little bit more you kind of press deeper and you hear a click, like some type of mechanism. And I think Jo is probably so in tune with that type of sound that your head just whips. And you watch as this like fluttering pink visage of crystal wipes across the brick surface, revealing an iron grate behind it.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Well, that was certainly unexpected, but...

Kenzie (Rafi):

Did you find something down there?

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Yeah!

Kenzie (GM):

And you look back and Rafi's like trying to look around the crate, see what you're looking at.

April:

Jo rushes over to Mama and stands slightly behind her.

April (Jo):

What exactly did you do?

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

So, there's, the runes that have been popping up around town?

April (Jo):

Uh-huh.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

There's one that was carved in here. I traced over it, gave me a bit of a shock. Traced it backwards. Something clicked, and now there's an iron grate visible.

April (Jo):

That's so cool.

Kenzie (GM):

You can see with the light of this lantern through the grates, there's a space that's maybe three feet in diameter. You see an iron ladder with very skinny rungs that just goes down into darkness.

April:

I think Jo kind of like surveys the situation and looks around at all the people that are present.

April (Jo):

Well, there's no way you're getting down that ladder, Mama, and JJ, you should perhaps, stay here with her, and so I shall go down there.

Atlas:

JJ is told to do something and therefore must follow Jo.

Kenzie (GM):

So you like work to get the grate off and it pulls open like a door and you have to crouch down on the ground to like fit yourself down in it. Jo's pretty tall, so it's like a very awkward fit to get your back into it and down. And as your boot hits the first rung, you hear just this echo that goes on for quite a while.

Danielle:

Amoretta, since she knows it's dark down there, once someone has a somewhat solid footing or like it's safe enough for them to go down, she's gonna use the hook end of her cane to lure down the lantern for them.

April:

Jo takes it, but also she has this thing that she pulls out of her pocket that is very similar to a headlamp. But it's like way more kind of bulbous and it like almost houses like a tiny, tiny flame that's like surrounded by mirrors and reflects out and creates a light.

April (Jo):

JJ, you don't have to come down with me.

Atlas (JJ):

I don't have to do anything.

April (Jo):

So why don't you watch over everyone up there?

Atlas (JJ):

Because there's two people up there, there doesn't need to be three, Mama has the situation under control, you get to have all the fun all the time.

April (Jo):

I don't know if I would call this fun

April:

But she is definitely grinning as she climbs down the ladder with the handle of the lantern. She like puts it in her mouth as she climbs down.

Kenzie (GM):

There’s some clinking sound as the metal of the lantern hits the iron rungs of the stairs as you go and it reverberates down and you can kind of feel the darkness shadow above you as JJ climbs in and shadows. And you both begin climbing down this ladder to some place under Cypher.

Kenzie:

This series stars Kenzie Tartaglione as the Game Master, Atlas Matthews as JJ August, Danielle Halen as Mama Amoretta, and April Consolo as Joanna Gilmore, with Michelle Kelly performing our episode recaps. You can help us out by listening and sharing, rating and reviewing, or coming over to our Discord. Also, you can join our Patreon to get access to our episode talkbacks and more.Speaking of Patreon it’s time for an another queer call! We want to take a moment and thank our newest Patreon member, GeistPotter. And, we also just want to do a shout out to those of you who joined for free. We see, we love you, and thank you all for your continued support!