S3 E3: A Missing Piece

Michelle Kelly:

Our three investigators split off to search for more information about the case. Mama Amoretta went to visit her brother Antonio, a pro bono doctor at the Cypher City Clinic, to find out more information about Rose’s father’s “malfunction of the heart.”

JJ took the trolley into Nova to visit her friend, Onyx Dredge, an inventor from a rich family who has a lot of qualms with the symposium, but no answers as to what Viola Weatherby was supposed to present there.

And Jo found her way to The Circus. After an awkward encounter with a one night stand from the previous night, Jo found out that an individual named Jack was hanging around and looking for her.

As night fell, our investigators crossed the Golden Mile into Nova to visit Viola Weatherby’s lab. A large blood stain marked out the place of her death, and various gadgets and inventions were strewn about the place. Mama Amoretta found communications between Viola Weatherby and Zeke Emory, when all of a sudden a loud clang sounded and a trap door in the floor opened, revealing a revolver… and a yet to be identified individual.

Kenzie Tartaglione (Jack):

Fancy seeing you here.

Kenzie (Game Master):

And once she's all the way up and out, she gives a little hop and holsters the gun and puts her hands on her hips.

Kenzie (Jack):

What are you doing here?

April Consalo (Joanna Gilmore):

Could ask you the same question.

Kenzie (Jack):

You could.

Atlas Mathews (June July August):

We are.

Kenzie (GM):

Behind her is another woman coming out top hat first. She has a low cut top that doesn't leave much of the imagination and a sleeveless jacket on top of that. She's got on leather gloves that are obviously not just for hand protection. And she says,

Kenzie (Jack's Partner):

Jack, come on, move out of the way. What do we got here?

Kenzie (Jack):

Competition, I do think.

Kenzie (GM):

Without answering your question, Jack begins to stroll around the room. The gun is not being pointed at anyone. She's just twirling it deftly in her hands. Her finger wipes across some of the tables, she flicks metal to hear it sing. She picks up and tosses away objects she feels are of no concern. And her partner in crime seems to be more hesitant into coming upon the presence of other people.

Danielle Halen:

Amoretta’s just watching this happen and pinching the bridge of her nose.

Atlas:

I think JJ kind of like straightens out but then like crosses her arms, uncrosses her arms, tucks her hair, crosses her arms, just kind of looks at Jo.

Kenzie (GM):

Kind of just offhandedly, Jack like gestures to this other individual and says,

Kenzie (Jack):

Everyone meet Tressa.

April (Jo):

How do you do?

Kenzie (Tressa):

Jack, really?

Kenzie (Jack):

Well, they know my name, why not?

Kenzie (GM):

And Tressa just kind of shakes her head. She on the other hand has a hand pointed at you and you can see that where the leather of this glove wraps around her wrist is embedded a small green slightly glowing stone.

Kenzie (Jack):

You shouldn't be here.

Atlas (JJ):

Neither should you.

Kenzie (Jack):

We were hired to be here.

Atlas (JJ):

So were we. Ask the front desk.

Kenzie (Jack):

Oh, well that's interesting.

Kenzie (GM):

There's a clattering and Jack has purposefully dropped a wrench.

Kenzie (Jack):

Sorry.

Atlas:

I think JJ purses her lips and lets out a sigh before walking over to pick it up.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Could you perhaps explain why you were hired to investigate this place? And maybe you'd be so generous, who or what hired you guys?

Kenzie (Jack):

That's bad for my health and it's bad for business. I think you're smart enough to work it out on yourself. Eventually.

April:

Jo leans back kind of against the wall. Sword still drawn, but pointed at the floor.

April (Jo):

It’s been a long time.

Kenzie (GM):

Jack gets really close to you. Finger coming up and kind of like rubbing against your cheek and she says,

Kenzie (Jack):

I don't break my promises, sweetheart.

Atlas (JJ):

(scoffs, clears throat)

April:

Jo kind of knocks her hand away.

Kenzie (GM):

And she steps back, gives you space.

April (Jo):

We were in the middle of something, so perhaps you could wait your turn somewhere else.

Kenzie (Jack):

I didn't think you owned this place.

Atlas (JJ):

Seriously, you can ask the front desk, we’re allowed to be here. But if I went down and told the front desk that we found two civilians up there when we went up, do you think they'd know about that?

Kenzie (Jack):

JJ, I think you're also pretty smart. We clamped through the fucking tile floor. Do you think they know that we're here?

April:

Jo grins.

Atlas (JJ):

Exactly. Buzz off, or I'll buzz them up.

April (Jo):

On the contrary, perhaps we could trade our silence for information. Jack?

Kenzie (Jack):

Well, here's the thing. If you want to take you're turn first, then go ahead and I'll just sit over here nicely on these little stairs. But listen, what kind of information do you think I'm gonna give you? You haven't told me yet who hired you, so why would I tell you who hired me? And I don't think you will actually.

April (Jo):

We provide our patrons with anonymity.

Kenzie (Jack):

And when somebody comes and hires me, I provide them with the same service.

April:

Jo paces around the room.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Well, you don't necessarily gotta tell us who you're concerned with, maybe enlighten us as to why someone might be interested in something like this. Whoever that someone might be.

Kenzie (GM):

She kind of strolls over to that little spiral iron staircase that goes up to the second little level. And you hear her boots click on them as she starts to climb them and she gets up to the top and she hangs her arms over the edge and looks down at all of you.

Kenzie (Jack):

Somebody stole something. Somebody wants to find out why. It's not that hard to think about.

April (Jo):

Well, that's what we want to know.

Kenzie (Jack):

Well, isn't that the same coincidence then?

Atlas (JJ):

What they steal?

Kenzie (Jack):

Well, that's what I'm here to find out.

April (Jo):

Well, then perhaps we could all work together.

Atlas (JJ):

Someone hired you to find out who stole something when you don't know what they stole. How do you know that someone stole something then?

Kenzie (Jack):

I don't ask too many questions. Somebody gave me money and said, go here, find out what's missing, let me know. And that's what we're doing. Do I think that I'm gonna like actually find out what was stolen tonight? No, I don't think so. I think I'm gonna come here and I'm gonna see what's here. I'm gonna be able to report back to the people who've given me money.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Well, I mean, throwing things around doesn't exactly help you find what's missing.

Atlas (JJ):

Yeah, you'd think that'd be worse for business.

Kenzie (Jack):

But it does annoy you, doesn't it?

April (Jo):

You always annoy me.

Kenzie (GM):

She looks over at the desk and she's like,

Kenzie (Jack):

Hey, Jo, I think there's something up here for you. It's like a personal letter. It says fuck off.

April:

Jo had actually kind of looked up and was like, is there a letter for me? And is very annoyed that Jack has tricked her even for a moment. And she gets up off of the wall and then goes back to the desk that she was looking through when Jack burst out of the floor.

April (Jo):

Well, perhaps you can at least be quiet while we have our turn.

Kenzie (Jack):

Yeah, yeah, whatever you like.

April:

Jo is definitely like grumbling to herself like,

April (Jo):

Stupid little girl just running around ruining my investigation.

Danielle:

May I have Amoretta kind of check on where Jack and Tressa came out from?

Kenzie (GM):

It's still open. There's like almost like a the front of a car. There's a metal rod that is sticking from the top to in a little hole in the tile to hold it open. And there looks to be a ladder down into a fairly dark space. There's not really any light down there.

April:

Am I finding anything on this desk that is like of note?

Kenzie (GM):

It depends on what Jo would think is noteworthy. You find scribbled notes on things that have been worked on, whether that is fixes that need to be done, different parts that need to be had. There looks to be kind of a smearing of blood across the tops of some of these as if as Viola was bleeding out and she was grasping for that slip of paper. She kind of dirtied the rest of this. The problem though is kind of what JJ said to Jack. How do you find a missing thing in a lot of stuff that you didn't know was here until you saw it was here? So there's nothing here that mentions that symposium. There's nothing here that looks to be like super secret schematics. It seems to be just all normal things that you would expect to find around an inventor's lab.

April:

Is there anything involving the heart?

Kenzie (GM):

You look around a little bit more, kind of taking your eyes away from this one specific table and start flipping through a bookshelf. You see that there are a bunch of journals. There's a journal dating to what seems to be the time that that was all taking place with Lemuel and the heart. Flipping through it, you have one thing of note at least. And it says, “He warned me not to do it, and I'm starting to wonder if he had been right the whole time.”

April:

Jo is gonna take out her own personal notebook and transcribe that passage as well as any diagrams or formulas that relate to the heart into her own notebook.

Kenzie (GM):

Unfortunately, you find that there are pages ripped out of this journal and that there are no actual designs for that mechanism here.

April:

Then she flips through looking for any designs, any images, any plans and finds none and just writes down that journal entry.

Kenzie (GM):

You hear shuffling. You turn around and you see that Jack seems to be shuffling with whatever is up on this small little ledge. You know, keeping relatively quiet. She's not gabbing.

April:

I’m gonna go up there and bother her.

Kenzie (GM):

You climb up the little spirals and it's like probably maybe three feet in width across and maybe seven feet long. And she's kind of about two feet in at the edge of the table, kind of like moving papers around. And as you come up, you see her fold something and stick it in a pocket and she turns to you and she says,

Kenzie (Jack):

So now you get to bother me? It's not a fair trade-off.

April (Jo):

What did you just put in your pocket?

Kenzie (Jack):

Finders keepers.

April (Jo):

Hmm.

April:

Jo moves towards her.

Kenzie (GM):

She like doesn't back away and kind of moves into you.

April:

I look down at her into her eyes.

April (Jo):

Can’t I just take a little peek?

Kenzie (GM):

I think that I want you to roll entice. So 2d6 plus what your heart stat is.

April:

Seven.

Kenzie (GM):

She kinda like bumps you with her hip.

Kenzie (Jack):

Okay, well see now I don't think that that's a fair exchange. But...maybe I'll let you have a look at the rest of this table and you can find out what it is that I took. How about a little game?

April (Jo):

I hate your games.

Kenzie (Jack):

That's not what I remember.

April (Jo):

Your memory is probably quite hazy, but I'll play.

Kenzie (Jack):

Well then.

Kenzie (GM):

And she gestures at the table. There are drawings and schematics of things up here. You don't see any of the heart or any pages that match what was ripped out of that journal. These are kind of larger, almost blueprint-like pages and there also seem to be contract pages up here of certain dealings of a financial nature and on a couple of them you see the familiar name of Zeke Emory.

April:

I think Jo immediately takes out her notebook again and starts copying rough sketches of a bunch of schematics, summaries that she can glean from the contracts. Her pencil moves so fast across the pages and she'll fill one in a few moments and then flip to the next one and flip to the next one. And then she carefully like leans down to read a contract more carefully once she sees Zeke's name.

Kenzie (GM):

You feel Jack's boot come out and kind of like tap against yours.

April (Jo):

Can I help you?

Kenzie (Jack):

Do you want a hint? Or are you good?

April (Jo):

(sighs) Sure. No, I will take your hint.

Kenzie (GM):

She was leaning really far against the iron railing and kind of seems surprised that you said yes to this. Kind of stands up straighter and reaches out and points down at one of the designs next to one of the specific contracts.

Kenzie (Jack):

When there are multiple copies of something, it makes me think it's important.

April (Jo):

You're not wrong.

April:

Jo like moves, slightly moves a paper out of the way so that she can look more carefully at this particular sketch.

Kenzie (GM):

It is a very basic structured sketch of what looks to be like a circular contraption that has been split into parts on this paper that looks like they were all to go together. And there are sketches of smaller little gadgets, some that you've seen before, some that are different to you, as if somebody was trying to insert different types of things into the base structure to create some sort of gadget and Jack just kind of pats the pocket where she put the paper.

April:

Jo recognizes a lot of the parts that fit into the larger structure but doesn't recognize the larger structure. And when Jack pats her pocket Jo turns around and like straightens up to her full height.

April (Jo):

I'm going to need that. What would you like to trade me for it?

Kenzie (GM):

She leans in, you can feel her breath against your face.

Kenzie (Jack):

I don't want to trade you anything for it actually. I just want to finish the job. So how about you take that little piece of paper off that table? I'll take this little piece of paper in my pocket. We call it a day. We got two parts of a puzzle. We each get half. I think that's a pretty good deal. Seeing…

Kenzie (GM):

She kind of moves and the holster on her hip becomes more prominent.

Kenzie (Jack):

…as this could end badly if we really got into it. And I really wouldn't mess up that pretty face.

April:

Jo’s eyes stay locked on the gun at her hip.

April (Jo):

You always did play unfair, bringing a gun to a sword fight?

Kenzie (Jack):

I just know my advantages, you know? And I'm gonna use them.

April (Jo):

Never were a noble fighter, were you?

Kenzie (Jack):

No. But I don't really think that that matters in the end, if I get what I need.

April (Jo):

Interesting thoughts.

April:

Jo kinda like shoulder checks her as she leaves, goes back down the stairs to share what she has found with mama and JJ.

Danielle:

Amoretta, she is going to focus on finding contact information for both Arthur and Zeke because they are now people of prominence in this case, not necessarily suspects, but definitely people she needs to talk to at this point.

Kenzie (GM):

You are able to find a business card for Zeke. It lists a phone number and an address. You also find the same information in a small little like personal contact book with his name, phone number and address. And you also find Arthur Winch's not phone number, but address in that little book. And as you are doing this, Tressa is kind of speaking out loud still on a bit of alert, not like actively aggressive but holding position.

Kenzie (Tressa):

I know Jack is lenient about the coincidence of it all but I think it's kind of weird that in 24 hours some lady died and two different people sought to find two different parties to work it out.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Well, how can you be sure it's even two different people at the end of the day?

Kenzie (Tressa):

I guess that's true. But that would be even worse if it was the same person, because then I would start questioning why they want to pay double for it.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

It means that multiple people are itching to find what was lost or one person's really looking to find it. And you know, sometimes it's better to have multiple eyes looking out for something, even if they're not necessarily on the same team.

Kenzie (GM):

You watch her kind of glance up at Jack.

Kenzie (Tressa):

I get it. Secrecy is important in our business and what we do. People trust us to keep our mouths shut. But if we're getting two timed here, I think I'd like to know.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

I think that's perfectly reasonable given your business.

Kenzie (Tressa):

So how about this? We each write down on several piece of papers the name of who contacted us. Then we just trade those off.

Danielle:

I want Amoretta to kind of assess whether or not Tresas is being honest because she very well could be suggesting something that is too good to be true.

Kenzie (GM):

I want you to roll to figure out a person. So 2d6 plus whatever your Wit stat is.

Danielle:

That is an 8.

Kenzie (GM):

So you get to ask two questions, but they get to ask one of you as well. So on this list of questions you can ask, what are your feelings towards blank? What do you hope to get from blank? How could I get you to do something? What do you love the most? And how would you feel if I blank? To try to - and whatever answer you are given is gonna be the correct answer. There's not gonna be any lies in this.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

How do you feel about the person that hired you? How well would you say that you trust this person? You've worked with them before? They total strangers? Something unusual about them seeking out your services, anything like that?

Kenzie (Tressa):

I personally have never worked with them before. But, I don't actually think that... I don't think that they've worked with The Roses... as far as I'm concerned. But… their name, it’s hard not to trust them.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Why would The Velvet Roses be interested in such a case beyond money unless it was a lot of it?

Kenzie (Tressa):

It's quite a significant amount.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

I see.

Kenzie (Tressa):

And that's usually what we take jobs for. Unless there are personal reasons, but it's not personal for me or Jack.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

I see.

Kenzie (GM):

She writes something down on a piece of paper and folds it up and presses it down with a finger onto the desk, but waits and says,

Kenzie (Tressa):

I mean, I could I ask you the same question? Why do you spend time doing it if it's not just for the money?

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Well, I think that we ought to look out for people and sometimes trying to solve problems that they can't solve themselves. It's way to do that. So that's why I do what I do. Can't necessarily speak for Jo or JJ, but that's what I'm here to do. Maybe help somebody. And that's ultimately my goal is to help somebody maybe find peace throughout all of this.

Kenzie (Tressa):

That's a pretty altruistic way thinking, I guess.

Kenzie (GM):

And waits for you to write a name down.

Danielle:

Amoretta will do so and neatly fold up the paper in a way that it would be really hard to expose so that she can easily grab it.

Kenzie (GM):

Tressa slides the one across the table to you, takes her hand off of it and reaches out to grab the one from your hand. Kind of nods with the paper and tucks it into a little pocket on the front of her vest.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

I appreciate this.

Danielle:

Amoretta will say quietly,

Kenzie (Tressa):

Let's keep this one between us.

Atlas:

JJ after having a little moment of like standing and… Jack is gonna come confront me. Jack put a gun in my face and now Jack is gonna come confront me. Jack is walking away. Jack is okay. Never mind. I have to find whatever is gone. Like my life depends on it. Just so Jack can't. I need it. I'm like going through the dust like it turned from all that poor man downstairs I have to clean to I will like start patting people down for this thing.

Kenzie (GM):

As you are being very diligent, not quite so messy about your search, you are looking at a like fairly tall, this shelf goes almost to the top of the ceiling and it has like a ladder on it to climb up to the top shelves and everything like that. You climb up this ladder and you get a bit of the way up and you're searching through all of the shelves and you get to a point where you move something and there's an indent in the wall and you see that there's a mark along the shelf part that looks like something used to sit there.

Atlas:

I’m gonna try to like roughly sketch out like the shape of the space. Is it like in dust or is it like when you put a couch?

Kenzie (GM):

Yeah it's not dusty you just can see it's in the shape of a heptagon, so seven sides.

Atlas:

I assume I don't see anything heptagonally shaped.

Kenzie (GM):

You understand that this seems to be something that is missing from this space whether it was stolen, removed, whatnot, it simply used to sit here and does not anymore.

Atlas:

I am going to like kind of look around to make sure that I'm in eyesight of people. then I'm going to - JJ wants to try to not actually, but seem like she's slipping on the ladder and like claws at this shelf for a minute.

Kenzie (GM):

Okay. So some things are a little messed up as you kind of claw at it, but you catch your balance again and you hear Tressa go,

Kenzie (Tressa):

Hey, watch out.

Atlas (JJ):

Ugh. Heights. Always afraid. Terrible heights.

Kenzie (Tressa):

This isn't really the place to be clumsy.

Atlas (JJ):

I know. I'm just so... Some things can't be helped.

Kenzie (GM):

Tressa kind of like moves away from the spot that she'd been like guard dogging the opening. Walks over and like reaches up, puts her hands out behind you.

Kenzie (Tressa):

All right then. Well, be careful coming down.

Kenzie (GM):

And as you kind of start climbing down, you feel like her hands like press against your back, try to steady you as you come down the ladder.

Atlas:

I’ll fall a little.

Kenzie (GM):

And you feel like her grip like push and tighten and help you all the way down.

Atlas (JJ):

Ugh.

Kenzie (Tressa):

You know, don't really want another crime scene here.

Atlas (JJ):

My blood would really kind of mess the whole thing up, wouldn't it?

Kenzie (Tressa):

Probably just a little bit.

Atlas:

And I think JJ is going to look and be like, take that, Jack.

Kenzie (GM):

JJ looks over and sees that Jack is paying the other ex in the room a lot more attention that she has been paying JJ.

Atlas (JJ):

You’re so strong though. What are The Roses? What's the... I remember it was like curl ups and burpees and push squats and you know.

Kenzie (GM):

I think I'm gonna need you to roll to entice.

Atlas:

It was a nine but it is an eight.

Kenzie (GM):

There's a slight blush at the tops of her cheeks. And she goes,

Kenzie (Tressa):

Well, you know, some people take it more seriously than others, so.

Atlas (JJ):

Well, those are the best sort. It's a serious business we're in. Though, hope it's not too serious. I do like to have some fun.

Atlas:

I think JJ will, like, straighten any, like, collar or anything.

Atlas (JJ):

Sorry about that.

Kenzie (Tressa):

Well, I mean, I know that you're familiar with seeing somebody in The Roses, so, maybe… you know, maybe when we're not in the direct competition with one another, we could... I don't know why I'm even talking about this right now. I'm just glad you didn't fall and kill yourself.

Atlas (JJ):

No! I'm glad someone was there to catch me. And maybe they can catch me at Izzy's diner after one of us solves the case. May the best team win?

Atlas:

And JJ will like extend a hand.

Kenzie (GM):

Does JJ feel like they are becoming smitten with Tressa?

Atlas:

I think yeah. Well, cause I was like, does JJ peek back over at Jack? And I was like, no, JJ is getting different attention. JJ never gets attention.

Kenzie (GM):

When you become smitten with someone, you say why would you have, she's giving you attention. The Trickster playbook has a feeling track, which says your heart is as passionate as any other, but you bury it beneath layers of deception until you can't keep your feelings in any longer. So there are multiple ways that your feeling track goes up. When someone gains a string, that is one of them. And then you have to find a way to reduce your feelings back to zero to clear the condition that you get once you reach four.

Atlas:

Which you can either, you can open up to somebody or you can do an act of love secretly. It's all about not having feelings. I don't think that increases my feelings bar, right? No, actually it does. ‘Cause Tessa gains a string.

Kenzie (GM):

So your feelings are now at two. You also have to answer the question. What secret do you have that you think would make them reject you if they knew?

Atlas:

Probably the real reason that we're here.

Kenzie (GM):

As Mama Amoretta begins to snoop around this space, Jack breaks from this small little enclosed thing that she has made with Jo.

Kenzie (Jack):

(clears throat) Yeah, so, I think it's about our turn now, right? You had enough time? It's our go. That was the deal.

April:

Jo rolls her eyes and like leans over the balcony, or over the steps. She's like slightly descending.

April (Jo):

Well, what did you find?

Atlas (JJ):

Not much, I'm afraid.

April:

She like makes eye contact with JJ, knows JJ is lying, but pretends that she believes her.

April (Jo):

Right? Me neither.

April:

And I think JJ can also tell that Jo is lying.

April (Jo):

Well, we don't necessarily have to stick around for your investigation, so perhaps we should.

Kenzie (Jack):

We'd prefer you didn't, so… Sounds good to me.

April (Jo):

Great. Lovely.

Atlas (JJ):

Um, if you wouldn't mind cleaning up after, I kinda promised.

Kenzie (Jack):

Yeah, absolutely not gonna do that. I'm surprised you don't want to do it yourself, you know? You're always a little bit too organized for my taste.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Well, you're free to... make a mess, as you please.

Danielle:

Mama Amoretta will kinda gesture to the other two being like, let's get going because, listen, they’re only flight framing the Velvet Rose themselves by fucking around like that. Amoretta's not gonna tell them off and clearly they're not gonna listen, so…

April:

Jo puts her sword away and goes to Tressa and like just takes her hand and says,

April (Jo):

Lovely to make your acquaintance.

April:

And then she goes over to Jack and says,

April (Jo):

Jack?

Kenzie (Jack):

Kinda wish I had a hat. Jo?

April:

She does sort of this like weird like bow thing, like gentlemanly thing. Looks down at the floor and then looks up at her from there and just mouths or like very quietly whispers like,

April (Jo):

The Circus. 3am.

April:

And then stands up or straightens up and turns on her heel and joins Mama and JJ.

Kenzie (GM):

You sneak your way back out this building the way that you arrived and exit into the misty, it's not fully raining, but misty night of Nova City. You don't often spend your time or your nights and evenings in Nova proper.

Danielle:

I think Amoretta will show both JJ and Jo the contact information she had gotten.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

I don't think there's any harm driving by and seeing if the lights are on still, but if it ain't, I don't think it's proper to be bothering somebody at this hour with such questions, if you understand.

Atlas (JJ):

I know what a heptagon is, and I know when one is not where it was supposed to be. And there's a heptagon that is missing from that lab.

April:

Jo takes out her notebook and like flips through all the things that she drew, but there's nothing that matches that description.

April (Jo):

Well, I did. found this.

April:

And she takes the paper that she stole out of her pocket and unfolds it.

April (Jo):

It doesn't match your description, but I don't recognize it.

Atlas:

Does JJ know a single thing about this thing?

Kenzie (GM):

JJ knows that it looks like a circle. And so they - she's seen a lot of different circular things.

Atlas:

They’re gonna like hold up and then like pretend to be like imagining it in space.

Kenzie (GM):

Jo, something clicks in your brain and you go... A lens.

April (Jo):

The lens, there was something... Yes, JJ, wait, you're actually brilliant sometimes.

Atlas (JJ):

I will take a win where I can get a win.

April:

I think Jo is going to start like her brain, her gadget brain just starts like, shooom, shooom, shooom, shooom, spinning. And she's like,

April (Jo):

A lens, a lens, what - what could you do with a lens? A camera of some sort? Perhaps a magnifying glass? Something that allows you to see beyond something you could see with the naked eye? Like a…

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Like a telescope?

April (Jo):

Perhaps? Or something that could let you see in the dark?

Atlas (JJ):

A laser?

April:

So what are the other gadgets like that are around this sketch that I do recognize?

Kenzie (GM):

They seem to be just like normal parts of things that you've used before. Like they're nothing crazy, intricate, exciting. It seems to be somebody was just like, what if I entered this here? What would this do to this? What if I put this here? What would this do? In the early planning stages of something.

April:

Jo is gets frustrated that there's not enough clues for her to figure out what it could possibly be. So she kind of like lets out a big sigh and like slams back against the seat and like kicks her feet up on the front seat and then just starts sketching everything that she could possibly think of that involves a lens.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

You better be cleaning those footprints when we get back.

April (Jo):

(sighs) Yes, I will.

Kenzie (GM):

As you drive, you go towards the nearest address and you pull up only a few streets away, you find yourself in a fairly prominent neighborhood in Nova and you pull up to this house that is fenced in by closed wrought iron gates that are stuck between these large thick concrete pillars. Lanterns holding in flames of green are placed efficiently across the exterior. Behind this fence stands a magnificent mansion that must be three stories tall. Stone, steel, gold, brass, all of it interwoven to create an opulent piece of architecture. And this is the address for Zeke Emory.

Atlas (JJ):

Hot shit.

April (Jo):

Seems like Zeke has done pretty well for himself.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Well, I mean, considering he was working with one of most prolific inventors of their time. I would imagine so.

Atlas (JJ):

Holy fuck.

April (Jo):

I think I do see a light.

Kenzie (GM):

As you were pulling up, not on the front of the house, but in a couple windows more towards the back that you can kind of look through the iron parts of the gate to see, there seem to be a couple lights on in the back of the house.

Atlas (JJ):

Houses like this have someone to answer the door anyway. It won't hurt to knock.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Well, why don't we say the person that answers the door?

Atlas (JJ):

Hi, we have news from the crime scene of that lady.

April (Jo):

Perhaps we aren't quite as forthcoming with our identity.

Atlas (JJ):

Well, we don't have to be forthcoming because technically we weren't supposed to be there. We can pretend to be someone who was. Say, we are here with the enforcers or we're here - oh, we were just the cleanup crew and we noticed a few items missing. We just wondering if you were - you had reported those yet.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

I mean, I don't know if we can...pull the cleanup crew twice in a row

Atlas (JJ):

That is kinda... playing with lightning.

April (Jo):

Damsel in distress?

Atlas (JJ):

Times three.

April (Jo):

Perhaps... one volunteer... could be. The damsel- is it- does it have to be me? Am I- do I have to- I just don't think I sell the distress part.

Atlas (JJ):

You seem very excited about this plan.

April (Jo):

Well, JJ, I suppose I could be the volunteer. I was hoping that perhaps you would be the volunteer. You definitely give off more of a distressed energy. I don't mean that as an insult. Do not look at me that way.

Atlas (JJ):

Well, you seemed pretty distressed when Jack wasn't looking at you and you got all up in her face.

April:

And Jo just gets out of the car. Wants to slam it so bad but knows that she should not. She like looks down at herself and her sword, coat, dagger. She takes off her overcoat so that she's just in her shirt and like throws it through the window of the car at JJ.

Atlas (JJ):

We didn't even talk about what we're looking for.

April (Jo):

I need information.

Atlas (JJ):

We're coming up with a plan.

April (Jo):

You are not being helpful.

Atlas (JJ):

Were you being very helpful when you were flirting with Jack instead of looking for clues?

April:

Jo reaches down to the ground and like grabs some mud and kind of just like smears it on her clothes and self and face. Messes up her hair. She like rubs at her nose to make it red as if from the cold. She takes off her sword and also puts it in the car, but takes the dagger off of her belt and puts it in her boots so that it is hidden. She like puts her arms on the side of the window and says,

April (Jo):

Any requests? For information, specific questions.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

When was the last time they talked to Mrs. Weatherby?

April (Jo):

Mm-hmm.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

And were they working on anything together at that time?

April (Jo):

JJ?

Atlas (JJ):

Just let us know if we should wait or if you're planning on being here all night.

Atlas:

Arms crossed, leans back against the chair, like looking out the other window.

April:

Jo kind of like stares at the side of JJ's face for a few beats. And then rolls her eyes.

April (Jo):

Will do.

April:

And then starts to walk up to the house as almost like a last resort, like takes her boots off and then like tosses them in the direction of the car. And it is quite cold, so she does start shivering, sort of for real.

Kenzie (GM):

Jo walks up to the iron gates that are like the fence and reaches out to the cold iron and it is locked.

April:

How far away from like the door is the gate? Is it like quite a ways?

Kenzie (GM):

There's like a drive into it.

April:

Can I climb it?

Kenzie (GM):

I will say due to the fact that the iron runs like straight up and it's wet and cold, there's not going to be a way to get all the way to the top of this without slipping back down.

April:

Do I see any people around?

Kenzie (GM):

Nobody like through the darkened windows in the front, nobody on the property inside of the gate. There doesn't seem, this seems to be a residential street and it's quite late. So there isn't anybody walking up and down the street. You do notice that there are lights on in houses nearby.

April:

I think I try to, I think I try to undo the lock. I have a little piece of metal in my pocket for sure.

Kenzie (GM):

Stick it in there, kind of mess around and takes a little bit, but you hear a click.

April:

I open it just enough that I can like slip through and then I leave the lock like mostly closed, but not actually locked. And so that anyone that walks by wouldn't see that it was obviously opened. Jo like kind of jumps up and down a little bit to like get her heart rate up. And then she rubs her face and runs towards the front of the house. And once she's close enough to the house that she feels like she could be within earshot of anyone that is there, but far enough away from the gate as to not cause too much suspicion or like alarm on the street, she starts to cry out and be like,

April (Jo):

Help, help, please. Is there anybody?

Kenzie (GM):

You don't hear anything. The door doesn't open. No one arrives to your aid.

April:

I think I get all the way up to the door and I bang on the door.

Kenzie (GM):

From this horn speaker that's coming out from near the front of the door. You hear,

Kenzie (Unidentified Voice):

I don’t know how you made it onto our property, but you are trespassing and enforcers have been called.

April:

She has like one last ditch effort before she runs back. And she like wraps her arms around herself and says,

April (Jo):

I didn't want to the enforcers on them, but I did, I did just need some help. I was robbed and they ran away with all of my things and it's so cold and I was just hoping perhaps you could help me. I'm sorry, the door was unlocked. I just, didn't know where else to go? But I can leave if you really need me to. I just, I need, I need help.

Kenzie (Unidentified Voice):

Apologies for your plight. But, our gate was locked up tight. The help you need, hope you can get that from the enforcer when they arrive.

Kenzie (GM):

It’s been a few minutes between you unlocking the gate and getting to this point and so I will say that you do start to hear sirens.

Atlas (JJ):

I hate when she does this. Runs off because we don't come up with a plan fast enough for her. Now I have to wait for her to get inside so I can pick up her stupid fucking shoes.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Might wanna pick up her shoes now before they get logged with water.

Atlas:

JJ is like reaching for the door handle to get out.

Atlas (JJ):

It would serve her right.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

JJ, are you actually upset about something else instead that happened?

Atlas (JJ):

No, I'm upset that Jo is dumb.

Atlas:

And will go to similarly, like almost identical to Jo wanting to slam the door, like starts closing the door and then closes it to go grab the shoes. Do I notice or hear anything?

Kenzie (GM):

As you get up and get out and you kind of pick up the shoes, you can just hear through the gate as Jo hears.

Kenzie (Unidentified Voice):

I would highly suggest getting off my property before they get here.

April:

Isn’t there like a defy disaster thing mechanic?

Kenzie (GM):

When you push your limits to achieve something extraordinary that's not covered by another move or to avert an imminent danger to yourself or someone else, say what you're willing to sacrifice and pick your approach. So you can choose Daring, which is might, endurance, or courage, Grace, which is swiftness or elegance, Heart, which is charm or social insights, Wit, which is cleverness or knowledge, Spirit, which is willpower or metaphysical skill. And then once you pick that, you roll and you add whichever one of those stats you're gonna roll with.

April:

I think that Jo is willing to sacrifice like fully being separated from the group for a bit. Like sacrifice her own safety in the group. I just think that Jo is like in a real agitated state and like really believes that maybe they'll let her in.

Kenzie (GM):

You can choose Heart or Wit right now because it's charm or social insight or cleverness or knowledge.

April:

I guess I'll choose heart because it's plus zero as opposed to negative one. I got an 11!

She hears the sirens, she hears potentially JJ's footsteps, knows that she has like only a few seconds. She like lets like her shirt fall off of her shoulder and she like looks around to where there could potentially be like a window on the door or like a pane of glass where someone could be seeing her.

April (Jo):

Please don't call the enforcers. I just, I was so scared and I just… I thought perhaps there could be a man here that could keep me safe.

Kenzie (GM):

It doesn't happen immediately. There is a couple minutes that you kind of stand in the mist and the cold and… you hear the sirens start retreating and then you hear the door click on lock.

The door to the manor opens and both Mama Amoretta from the front seat of the car and JJ from like leaning down to swipe up Jo's shoes can see that happen. You also see through the rearview mirror of the car that the lights that started flashing down the street from the enforcers cars were starting to fade again and so was the sound of the sirens.

And Jo dips inside. And JJ, you're kinda just standing in this night mist. Door to the backseat open.

Atlas:

I think she goes to like throw the boots at the house and then puts them in the car and like gets in, sits down, closes the door.

Atlas (JJ):

One day her luck's gonna run out. I'm calling it right now so that when it happens I can say I told you so.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Normally you have to say it to someone's face first, that warning, but... JJ, I noticed that something's been bothering you about Jo. Do you want to talk about that or?

Atlas (JJ):

What bothers me is that she didn't think she just went and did whatever she wanted with whoever she wanted (sighs). And she didn't even think about us. Like, are we supposed to wait here? Are we supposed to worry all night? What's her plan? Because also, if we did leave, which I'm sure she'd say to us, she'd say, you can just leave. What is she supposed to do? She doesn't have any shoes! I had to go out in the rain and pick up her old shoes. She gets new ones from the fancy man. And this is all about the case.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

I admire that you care so much about her well-being that you get upset over it.

Atlas (JJ):

Well yeah, she puts herself in danger and then we have to deal with the consequences.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Well to be fair, this is a dangerous job. We all technically are putting ourselves in danger. Given what we do. Is it reckless? Yes, but also that's typical of Jo.

Atlas (JJ):

That's what I'm saying. She gets to galavant and I - and we have to do paperwork.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Well, ain't nothing stopping you from galavanting all you want, JJ.

If you wanna do less paperwork, that's totally fine, JJ. I can take up some of the paperwork if that's what you wanna do and you wanna have a night out to yourself. I mean, I can even call up Zion or Yarrow or something. They can take you out every once in a while or something, just so you know.

Atlas (JJ):

I have friends.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Because you do spend a lot of time at the office, and I know you like being there, but that can make anyone stir crazy.

Atlas (JJ):

Well, you're saying that you have to call - you don't have to call someone to come -

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

I'm saying- I'm saying that maybe your work-life balance is not the healthiest it could be. And so I'm just giving you options. I can also call up one of your friends if you want so they can drag you out of the office every once in a while.

Atlas (JJ):

I went to Onyx's house yesterday for dinner. And I have my own apartment. And I- I- I - I just think that gallivanting and the case should remain separate. And I wish we had come up with the plan altogether.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

That I definitely can understand.

Atlas (JJ):

Before she told me that I was wasting time when we were all doing the same - nevermind. Nevermind.

Kenzie (GM):

I need Dani to roll a Heart or Spirit roll.

Danielle:

She kind of sees conflict brewing between two employees and can tell that she's trying to stop the storm before it starts. So I think she would use the string for this, if only for the sake of, I see something that's going to happen. And if I let it happen, it's going to complicate not only like just our personal lives but the case and that's not acceptable.

Kenzie (GM):

Alright, so roll 2d6, add your Heart or Spirit stat, and then you can erase that string on JJ and add three more to that roll.

Danielle:

That is an eight.

Atlas:

When someone offers you emotional support and you refuse to open up, increase your feelings by one and choose one from the listed options for that move as if they rolled a seven to nine. If they rolled 10 +, they know they got through to you. They gain the benefits of a 10 plus result as if you had opened up. It was not a 10 plus. It was a seven to nine.

Kenzie (GM):

You increase your feelings by one. You're at a three now. You can clear a condition which you don't have. You can mark XP. You can get a plus one forward. You can gain insight from the GM about an obstacle facing one of you.

Atlas:

JJ would love to know things. Getting Jo home. Getting Jo out of the predicament. And or if we should wait.

Kenzie (GM):

As Mama said, Jo does this a lot. You know that she's a fairly persuasive individual. She's talked herself out of a lot of situations. You can't be 100% sure any situation she goes into she's going to come out of it unscathed. But if you wanted to get her out, the gate's unlocked now. So either you trust your friend, which she, despite your anger, has been trustworthy with the both of you. Or the door's open and you can go try to talk your way in like she did.

Atlas:

JJ has to go gallivant the very thing that she's against! Cause it's not that JJ doesn't trust Jo… JJ trusts Jo with their life, like, 100 % believes Jo has her back, 1000%. JJ doesn't trust Jo to make smart decisions for Jo.

Atlas (JJ):

Do you have anything to do tonight?

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

I mean, working on the case, yeah. But..

Atlas (JJ):

What if we, like, give it an hour?

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Alright.

Atlas (JJ):

And we can just go through files and see what happens.

Kenzie (GM):

I will say, Mama Amaoretta has a little slip of paper she hasn't looked at yet.

Danielle:

If JJ wouldn't notice, she might take a little peep.

Kenzie (GM):

I think that with JJ's current emotional ramblings and breakdown that you, unfortunately, despite your best advice, haven't been able to break her out of, she’s fairly preoccupied with Jo being inside the house that I think that you can sneak a glance at that paper.

And the name on this slip of paper is Delia Wetherby.

Danielle:

That’s interesting. So Rose went to us and Delia went to The Roses and both asked to have discretion. So either they're both looking into it together or neither knows that the other is looking into this. And so now Mama has the question of why is Delia using The Roses? We still definitely need to talk to Delia. We have an excuse to talk to her. Tuck it back in her little thing. Mentally note that as the more she learns about this case, as always, the more questions she's just left with at the end. We can see how close, if that address is close enough by that we can drive within the hour. I think it's worth at least checking out. We might not be able to go inside.

Kenzie (GM):

Open the glove box, you pull out a map. It looks like the apartment is not in this neighborhood. The address is farther on the opposite side of this neighborhood and where the school is. At this time there might not be a lot of traffic but you could be cutting it close.

Well as JJ stews and Mama Amoretta runs through the situations that could have led these two sisters to go separate paths to find the same answers. The door has just closed behind Jo inside of this house. It's completely dark in here. You can see a dim light because up above, like three stories up, is a curved glass roof that sheds in just a little bit of the ambient street light. There's a figure in the dark who's about as tall as you, but it's hard to make out features. And you see that this is like a long hall lined with pillars and what looks to be like plants kind of scattered about. But there's not a lot you can make out because it's completely dark. The voice in this room says,

Kenzie (Unidentified Voice):

Let’s get you warmed up.

April (Jo):

Thank you.

April:

And she sort of like pads barefoot in the direction of the voice.

Kenzie (GM):

Your feet hit, when you first walked in, cold marble, but you quickly step onto a rug, a carpet of sorts and that leads all the way down throughout this massive hall. At the end of it,

Kenzie (Unidentified Voice):

Preferred type of warming up, is it tea? Is it liquor?

April (Jo):

Both would be nice.

Kenzie (Unidentified Voice):

Okay.

Kenzie (GM):

You turn left down a smaller hallway, though similarly decorated from what you can see in the dark. You come upon a place that there seems to be light. It's a stairwell. It goes up, there's a little landing, and then it kind of goes up the other direction. And it seems to be that there's light up there because you look over and you see a large hanging on the wall, this large, like massive framed painting of what seems to be a family. Two men, one with tan skin, this emerald green high collared vest over which you can see dark brown leather straps crossing the chest. The other man has a deep dark brown skin which is very nicely paired with a khaki colored suit, navy vest with a pop of extra color and pattern on the cravat. There is a young girl, can't be more than eight, with silver skin that almost has a sheen to it with light blue hair and light pink eyes. And another even younger girl with darker skin much more like the one man in the painting, though not as dark, with warm brown eyes, and you can see from her shy smile these two little fangs pointing out.

You turn once more as you pass that stairwell down to the right, and this hallway comes to an end at a door. And you reach out and you open the door, and you are in a very well and warmly lit study. You can see that two out of the four walls have floor-to-ceiling windows on them, though there has been made to be a move of some of the curtains being pulled, but they just haven't covered all the way. You see that past it with the little bit of light that's not reflected back at you, there seems to be like a yard outside of some sort. You see a large desk and it has a copper finishing on it. There's a telephone, a radio, and then a very large clock that seems to take up more space on the desk than necessary. Other than that, there are papers, some books, pens and ink.

And as the man walks into this room, you see that he has nicely set hair, seems to be graying. And as he turns to you, you notice that he seems to be an older version of one of the men in the painting. Tan skin, a thick square nose, an intense brow. Forehead line though, not so deep that it ages him too much. It's probably about forty something here. He a thin mustache with a thicker goatee. He wears this high collared white shirt with the sleeves rolled up over which is this tight fitting blue gray vest. And he has well tailored pants that are the same color as the vest with knee high boots to match. And over his torso you see this tricky conglomeration of white leather straps that go up and over his shoulder. Attached to that is a metal mechanical arm that seems to be attached to his shoulder with this leather. And you can see lines of orange liquefied or melted to size crystal that run down the length of each of the back of the metal fingers. And on his left leg you see something not alchemical in nature but a full leg brace clamped around his thigh, bracing the knee and hooking around the top of his foot.

And he turns and you kind of hear the metal creak as he turns.

Kenzie (Unidentified Voice):

Let me put some tea on. Please take a seat.

April:

Jo looks around and sees a very comfortable looking chair and sinks down into it. She actually is quite cold at this point and it's very warm. She like sinks her toes into the plush carpet and can't help but feel a little more comfortable physically, but her stomach is definitely flipping over. She is nervous. She knows that she gets into situations like this pretty frequently, but she's not unaware of the danger here.

April (Jo):

To whom do I owe thanks?

Kenzie (GM):

He pauses. You hear a kettle click on. Water begin to bubble as he sits in this, or stands, in this little bit of silence. Over his shoulder, eyeing you,

Kenzie (Zeke Emory):

Zeke Emory. I have yet to decide if I'm happy to meet your acquaintance because I think you may have already known that.

Kenzie (GM):

He kind of turns back around to the bubbling kettle.

April:

Jo weighs her options here, decides that a little bit of honesty will buy a lot of trust. She sort of looks over and meets his eyes and says,

April (Jo):

Well, I wasn't sure. Could have hoped, I suppose. I did need your help, although I do hope you will forgive me for the intrusion so late at night.

Kenzie (GM):

He pours a little bit of whiskey into a mug and then fills that with water and sets a teabag inside and brings it over to you and hands it to you and says,

Kenzie (Zeke):

But it was a different kind of help.

April:

She takes the mug from him and lets her fingers brush over his mechanical hand.

April (Jo):

Again, I apologize.

Kenzie (GM):

Goes over to this little table and pours himself the same.

When he came to give you the tea, you noticed that he seemed to have a bit of red eyes and straightens up, turns around, takes a sip.

Kenzie (Zeke):

I figured you weren't a danger when actual threat of enforcers didn't get you to run off. If you think I don't know you have friends outside waiting for you… The car parked in front of my house.

April (Jo):

You know, I didn't really think they would wait. If I'm being honest.

Kenzie (Zeke):

Told my daughters many times over, you’re gonna do something that's a little risky, make sure your friends know where you are. And I would say, breaking and entering into my house specifically is quite a risky tactic.

April (Jo):

And how old are your daughters?

Kenzie (Zeke):

Now, they're maybe a little younger than you and then a little younger than that.

April (Jo):

Is that them in the painting we passed by?

Kenzie (GM):

Small smile crosses his face.

Kenzie (Zeke):

Yeah, they were crazy little rascals growing up, that's for sure. And, would you mind telling me what your name is? As you have mine.

April (Jo):

Joanna Gilmore.

Kenzie (Zeke):

Pretty name.

April (Jo):

Face to match.

April:

She sort of throws him a slight smile.

April (Jo):

And your daughters... are they here?

Kenzie (Zeke):

I don't think that's information for you to know.

April (Jo):

I’m not - I’m not a danger to them. I... was just curious.

Kenzie (Zeke):

It’s late, you pounded on my front door so - looking for me I expect, it's my house that is.

April (Jo):

Of course, yes, absolutely, just…. I don't want to be a danger to you either.

Kenzie (Zeke):

I’m grateful.

April (Jo):

If you know that I know who you are, do you know why?

Kenzie (Zeke):

A lot of people know my name. My address isn't too hard to find. Haven’t needed guards here in years, but maybe I'll rethink that. People come here for a lot of things. People want a lot of things from me.

April (Jo):

I don't want much from you. just, I simply, I just have a few questions. And you can answer them or not. But if you do choose to answer, I hope you will tell me the truth.

Kenzie (Zeke):

I suppose it depends on the question.

Kenzie (GM):

And he sits in the high-backed leather chair that's behind the desk. He sets his teacup down. And he crosses his legs and folds his hands in his lap.

April (Jo):

Alright. You are an inventor.

Kenzie (Zeke):

Mmm. No.

April (Jo):

How would you describe yourself?

Kenzie (Zeke):

A patron of inventors.

April (Jo):

Patron of Viola Wetherby?

Kenzie (GM):

His jaw clenches. He kinda looks away from you for a second.

Kenzie (Zeke):

Indeed, though that is quite public knowledge.

April (Jo):

Did you see her often?

Kenzie (Zeke):

Yes.

April (Jo):

Were you close?

Kenzie (Zeke):

We were old friends from our days at school.

April (Jo):

Lovers?

Kenzie (Zeke):

Old friends.

April:

She sort of half grins, looks down.

April (Jo):

When was the last time you saw each other?

Kenzie (Zeke):

I don't think I could put a name to a date. Months maybe close to a year or more.

April (Jo):

I'm not... I'm not trying to trick you. I...

Kenzie (Zeke):

And I'm not trying to trick you. We had a falling out. We stopped seeing each other as much as we did.

April (Jo):

What about?

Kenzie (Zeke):

Conflict in… values.

April (Jo):

Does this - Does this have to do with the heart?

Kenzie (GM):

Very quickly, his eyes are on you.

Kenzie (Zeke):

What would you know about that?

April (Jo):

I don't know much. I only know that it existed and malfunctioned, as the press put it.

Kenzie (Zeke):

Indeed, as you've read is true.

April (Jo):

So your disagreement, was it over the heart’s invention or…

Kenzie (Zeke):

I came from money, Viola not as much. And I became her financier as early as the days we had met, when we were young. But I did not give her a single oteza for that. I thought it was too risky from conception, and I was right.

April (Jo):

I think you were always right. I am something of an inventor myself, though not anywhere near Viola. But I... I would never invent something… the pressure to sustain someone's life, replace an organ, almost... I don't know, it feels like playing god.

Kenzie (GM):

He reaches over to his desk and he opens a drawer and pulls something out. He reaches across and hands it says,

Kenzie (Zeke):

Sorry, here.

Kenzie (GM):

And it is a handkerchief.

Kenzie (GM):

You have mud all over your face.

April:

Jo looks confusedly at it and then remembers when he says it.

April (Jo):

Ah, yes, thank you.

April:

And she cleans herself up.

Kenzie (Zeke):

Were you a fan of my late friend?

April (Jo):

I admired her. Yes, she... Her inventions sang with a sort of imagination that I sometimes find that I lack.

Kenzie (Zeke):

I think it's refreshing to be that self-aware because that was one thing she wasn't. She was never wrong. She was always right. And that's why people loved her. But it's also why her husband died.

April (Jo):

I'm sorry.

Kenzie (Zeke):

If I had known… If I had known she would have used it on him, maybe I would have given her the money for more research, more time, I don't know.

April (Jo):

Was it meant for someone else?

Kenzie (Zeke):

Not that I'm aware, just… I didn't think that she would do it before… She did it too soon.

April (Jo):

You cared for him.

Kenzie (Zeke):

God, it's so hard to explain. It's hard to make people believe that it was all just what it was. It’s hard to make people believe in a lie. Yes, we were friends. That is true. And we were partners. No question. But you're not wrong in thinking it was more, but it wasn't just her, it was the three of us. And it wasn't that we were trying to keep it secret. It was simply that we had our own families. They had their kids, I had mine. And that relationship existed outside of that. So I came home at the end of the day and they went home separately and… So yes, I cared for them both and it was hard to see one of them ruin the other. So I blame her, and I blame myself.

April:

Jo puts down her now empty mug on a little fancy table by the chair and she stands up and goes over to Zeke and she rests her hand sort of on the desk near his, sort of testing the waters of physical proximity. She is fascinated by him, genuinely. There is the pretense of wanting him to have her stick around, but she finds his depth of feeling and forthcomingness very attractive.

April (Jo):

I am truly sorry. It's not lost on me that at the center of all of this is grief for many people, you included.

Kenzie (GM):

You see that there's a tear and lifts up the thumb of his metal finger or metal hand and wipes it away.

Kenzie (Zeke):

Why are you asking me these things? Because if you're about to go and write an article about us.

April (Jo):

No, no, I wouldn't. There is… speculation that Viola's passing perhaps was more than it seemed. That perhaps someone was specifically looking to end her life. The idea that it was a random robbery that went wrong, just didn't sit well with someone close to her. So I am simply trying to find out if that is true.

Kenzie (Zeke):

I didn't kill her.

April (Jo):

I don't think you did.

Kenzie (Zeke):

Anything that she has been working on recently, I know nothing about. As I said, we haven't talked in… a long time. I suppose that is to continue.

April (Jo):

Did Viola have any obsessions? I've learned about a great many inventors and throughout their lifetimes no matter what they're working on you can almost always see the light of obsession. Specific things that you're trying to create.

Kenzie (Zeke):

I wish she had a specific obsession. I actually think that would have made things better. The problem... is that her obsession was whatever idea came to mind next. And she would see it through to the end, faulty or not. Her obsession was with progress and invention rather than... ...concept or idea. She was great at what she did if you could get her to sit down and finish it correctly.

April:

Jo kind of like runs her thumb over the edge of her own pocket where the sketch lives and she says

April (Jo):

I have something of hers. Please don't ask me how I have it, but I do.

April:

She takes it out and unfolds it and sets it on the desk in front of him.

Kenzie (GM):

He leans forward and like spreads his hands over it, smoothing it out a little bit. And you watch like a recognition come into his eyes and his brow furrows.

Kenzie (Zeke):

I mean, (scoffs) this is old, but not - this is a new drawing, but this concept is something she had thought up in our second year.

April:

Jo leans in closer to him.

Kenzie (Zeke):

Nothing ever came of it. She couldn't figure out what she wanted to do. Some sort of transmitter, something or other, but she tried a bunch of different things when we were in school and none of them seemed to be what they were looking for - what she was looking for.

April (Jo):

And this part, the... is this a lens?

Kenzie (Zeke):

Well, that’s the main section in her theory was depending on what piece closed the circle that would make it work in a specific way. A lens isn't a bad way to describe it, but it's not exactly that. I never saw it actively work to have a better description of what it would do. But this is a new version of the drawing she did, so she obviously brought it back. Maybe she figured it out.

April (Jo):

There were many copies of this.

Kenzie (Zeke):

She’s not really one to share her work.

April (Jo):

What was she trying to transmit?

Kenzie (Zeke):

I don't really think she knew the answer to that. I think it was testing. What could she make? What would work? Did she figure it out depending on the result? It was a very bad way to go about a hypothesis, I think.

April:

Jo and Zeke are both leaning in quite close to the paper and as they speak their faces are also very close to each other. Joe looks from his face down his mechanical arm to the liquefied crystals in it and slowly as if asking for permission with her eyes she lays her hand upon it.

April (Jo):

Did she make this for you?

Kenzie (Zeke):

She didn't, and she was quite mad when she found out I had it.

April (Jo):

Why would she be angry?

Kenzie (Zeke):

Because she wanted to make it for me. But I went elsewhere. I got it done appropriately. And it's worked for years, so... stood the test of time.

April:

I think I kiss him.

Kenzie (GM):

You have to answer the question, why would your romance never last?

April:

Because Jo is young and stupid and way too invested in this case and obsessive and flighty and they're not actually that compatible in their like life behavior, even though they are, I think they are compatible like brain wise.

Kenzie (GM):

You lean in and kiss him and you realize a few seconds in that while he hasn't pushed you back, he has not reciprocated and there then is a gentle touch on your wrist.

April:

I will pull away.

Kenzie (GM):

And he says,

Kenzie (Zeke):

While I am extremely flattered, Miss Gilmore. You are the same age as my daughters. And I don't feel quite comfortable engaging in such actions. And despite that, this is a... I'm not in my right mind.

April:

I think Jo kind of like cheekily looks at him and says,

April (Jo):

You did say they were a little younger than me.

Kenzie (Zeke):

Well, you will make me choose my words more carefully then. Um… I'm not looking for any romantic entanglements at the time. But if you'd to chat to my husband, he's a very strapping fellow and maybe you two would get along.

April (Jo):

Understood. And thank you for the offer, but - I’m more of a spur of the moment person. Setups aren't usually successful for me.

Kenzie (Zeke):

I found that I need connection before romance.

April (Jo):

I’m not quite sure I know the difference.

Kenzie (Zeke):

Viola and I were perfectly fine as friends for a very, very long time before anything else developed between us. It wasn't always the way it was.

April (Jo):

Well, perhaps I'll learn when I'm older. I do thank you for your kindness and hospitality, but I am concerned that my friends will try to follow suit if I don't leave soon, so…

Kenzie (Zeke):

Please.

Kenzie (GM):

And he kind of stands up to walk you towards the door.

April (Jo):

Might I leave you my number? Not for any romantic reason. Just in case you think of anything.

Kenzie (Zeke):

I'd be greatly obliged.

April:

Jo takes out her notebook and writes it down and places it into his palm.

Kenzie (GM):

He takes it and he puts his other hand on top of yours and kind of squeezes it and then lets it go and folds it between two fingers and tucks it into his pocket and leads you back through this house, down the hallway, through the large foyer, and unlocks and opens the front door and says,

Kenzie (Zeke):

I figured out what I didn't know at the beginning of our little chat.

April (Jo):

And what was that?

Kenzie (Zeke):

I'm quite happy to have met your acquaintance.

April (Jo):

I as well.

Kenzie (Zeke):

Have a good evening, Miss Gilmore. Please. close the gate on your way out?

April (Jo):

I will. I will doo so. Yes. Absolutely.

Kenzie (GM):

It's only been about 20-25 minutes and JJ you notice out the window that Jo has exited and is walking towards the front gate.

Atlas (JJ):

Looks like she's done and she's not running so I don't think anything's wrong. I think everything's probably fine.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Which is good.

Atlas (JJ):

That's great.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

You don't sound too pleased about it.

Atlas (JJ):

That's spectacular.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Listen, if I wanted you to change your tone, I'd tell you, I was just making an observation.

April:

Jo will approach with a wide grin. She gets up to the door and like slams her hands down on the open window and says,

April (Jo):

Did you miss me?

April:

And then opens the door and climbs the backseat again with JJ.

Atlas (JJ):

Are you okay?

April (Jo):

I'm lovely. Thank you for asking. Oh! My boots. Thank you.

Atlas (JJ):

They blew in the window.

April:

And then she puts her shoes back on.

April (Jo):

I think I need to sort out all of the things from tonight. Do think you could drop me at the office?

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Yeah, I could. I was planning on putting these files away for this case, make sure we have everything organized. But if you want to do that instead.

Atlas:

I think at Jo saying that like she's gonna be at the office. JJ like... Mama wouldn't notice this cause she's driving, but Jo, you like see JJ like... visibly deflate.

Atlas (JJ):

You know how you said I need better work-life balance? You can just drop me at my apartment. I'll call it an early night.

April:

I think when they get back to the office, Jo tells Mama Amoretta about the transmitter and shows her the paper that she took from the lab, which she hasn't had a chance to show her yet either. She lets her know about Zeke's intentions and does spill the beans about the triad going on there. Basically everything except that she kissed him.

Kenzie (GM):

You take another few hours of the night into the early morning to go over these files, have this chat, talk about everything.

April:

Jo does not go back to her apartment though. Once Mama Amoretta leaves, she puts her coat back on, puts a little cologne on, and then leaves to go to The Circus.

Atlas:

JJ will like take a back way and see. Maybe hang out on a fire escape until the light goes off? She'll sneak in through the window. She does that a lot.

Kenzie (GM):

Boomie, who has felt neglected all day, comes pacing around meowing through your ankles.

Atlas:

I’ll scratch his head. I'll make sure his water and his food are full and then curl up on the couch. I think there's a big afghan blanket that pulls it down. It doesn't even bother pulling out the... It's just like, alright. Time for bed.

Kenzie (GM):

So you all gather up at the office, eat some breakfast, get some coffee, feed Boomie his morning meal. Before you head out towards the other address that is listed on the calling notebook that you found, Viola Wetherby's office for her assistant Arthur Winch. This is also in Nova. Though it's in very different neighborhood, it's still nice. Still seems to be well up-kept. The address brings you to the outside of a six story apartment building. There is an apartment number next to the address. There is an apartment number.

Danielle:

Is there like a little intercom system too?

Kenzie (GM):

There's not a little intercom system, but the front door is unlocked and open.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

I mean I guess we can head on inside and then take a knock on the door and see if they're open to a conversation or if they're even available right now.

Atlas (JJ):

Or maybe they've been murdered too.

Kenzie (GM):

The apartment number is 4H, so you can assume the fourth floor. And you climb the stairs up to the fourth floor. There's nothing crazy spectacular about this interior. It's got wood paneled floors, wood paneled walls, has little sconces for the evening when it needs light on each end of the hallway or windows to let whatever light through that can be had in a city that it rains more often than not. And you walk down and you find the door with the H on it.

Danielle:

Amoretta will raise her cane and get a little ramp against the door.

Kenzie (Unidentified Voice):

Brawsley? Did you forget your key?

Kenzie (GM):

The wooden doors pulled inward and appearing on the opposite side is a shirtless individual with thick top surgery scars across his chest. His hand is running through his short curly brown hair and his brown skin is peppered with even darker freckles in a pair of good, gold trimmed-round glasses sit haphazard upon the bridge of his nose. Slowly blinking his eyes open and realizing that you are not this Brawsley person. He swiftly curls an orange floral robe around himself.

Kenzie (Unidentified Voice):

Oh, oh, quite sorry. I wasn't expecting strange company this morning.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Oh, no, apologies are mine, sir. I did not mean to disturb you when you were indecent. That is my fault.

April (Jo):

Don’t cover up on our account.

Atlas (JJ):

I think you were perfectly decent.

Kenzie (GM):

Wiggles, his nose and his glasses rise up on his face.

Kenzie (Unidentified Voice):

Who are you exactly?

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Please forgive my compatriots. We are here for a live interview given recent events at the Weatherby estate. We have been working with people that closely work with them to investigate the fullness of everything that's been happening and we know that you were close to her and we just want to ask a few questions, if you're open to that, I understand it's quite early and everything. We can get you a cup of coffee if you want to do that, have a little conversation.

Kenzie (GM):

His eyes have widened during this time that you've been explaining and he goes, looks kind of like peeks his head out, looks up and down the hallway.

Kenzie (Unidentified Voice):

Come inside.

Danielle:

Yeah, she'll just immediately move in. Move in. No questions asked.

Kenzie (GM):

The rest of you follow and he slams the door. You watch him lock three locks, the last of which spreads an orange light that moves like fog over the surface. The blinds that were probably just opened, he shuts again. You can hear him muttering,

Kenzie (Unidentified Voice):

We shouldn’t be talking about this, especially not here.

Atlas (JJ):

We have an office, we can talk about it there.

Kenzie (Unidentified Voice):

Just sit.

Kenzie (GM):

And as you look around, there is no place to actually sit. Every surface is strewn with papers or appliances, tools, or spilled substance of some sort.

Kenzie (Unidentified Voice):

Or don’t. Um, sorry.

April:

Jo briefly looks at the locking orange light mechanism, trying to see kind of what it is, and then turns and leans her back against the door in a very like casual, comfortable way, but she is blocking the entrance and exit.

Kenzie (GM):

You think it's kind of odd that this person who just lives in an apartment building has this, but it's called an aural blocker and it blocks sound out.

April:

Okay, well she definitely takes note of that.

Kenzie (GM):

As you lean against the door, you see that underneath a table is something that a yellow sheet has been thrown over, but there seems to be something like still glowing like through that yellow sheet.

April:

Noted.

Kenzie (GM):

I think he catches that you've seen that and he goes,

Kenzie (Unidentified Voice):

That's nothing, just something I've been working on.

April (Jo):

Right, we just, I'm Joanna. Pleased to make your acquaintance. And you are?

Kenzie (Arthur Winch):

Arthur. But, As you came knocking, just assumed.

April (Jo):

I try never to assume, actually.

Kenzie (Arthur):

Okay.

April (Jo):

Pleased to make your acquaintance. Perhaps my colleagues would like to sort of introduce themselves.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

You can call me Mama Amoretta or just Ma or Mama, whatever works for you.

Atlas (JJ):

JJ August.

Kenzie (GM):

Reaches a handout and like clasps it and gives it one firm shake.

Atlas (JJ):

You have a firm handshake, that is good.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

I can understand we probably put you in a flustering situation and again, I cannot overstate my apologies but it is sort of hard to warn people of a presence when we're supposed to be a little more... We don't wanna make a big fuss out of this. Well, as much as a fuss that we have to raise anyways.

Kenzie (Arthur):

I understand and I also think that I know why you're here.

Atlas (JJ):

Why do you think we're here?

Kenzie (Arthur):

Because she died.

Atlas (JJ):

But why would people question you about that?

April (Jo):

I think what my colleague is trying to say is, what was your relationship with the deceased?

Kenzie (Arthur):

Exactly. Well, that would be why they would want to talk to me specifically. Yes, so I was her assistant for the last few years. We worked as closely together as she would let us work together. She was a very secretive person, which I understand. She was a genius and all of her work is so particular. So I was always very happy to be let in on a project.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

You know the project about - that went missing I mean, I imagine you know the lab inventory better than anybody else. If something disappeared, you might be able to recognize it or anything along those lines?

Kenzie (Arthur):

I mean, I'm kind of surprised that the enforcers think it's stolen. I'm surprised they haven't come to me. So I assume they don't know. Because you're right, I know the lab inside out and if there was something stolen, I would know what it was.

April (Jo):

Well, we aren't with the enforcers.

Kenzie (Arthur):

Who are you with?

April (Jo):

Ourselves.

Atlas (JJ):

And you, right now.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

We were asked by our close associates at the Weatherby estate to look into this.

Atlas (JJ):

Was something missing?

Kenzie (Arthur):

You said something might be missing. I have not been to the lab since... it happened, so I don't know.

April:

Jo takes out the piece of paper with the sketch on it and shows it to Arthur, but does not hand it to him. She says,

April (Jo):

Does this look familiar?

Kenzie (Arthur):

Yeah.

April (Jo):

What is it?

Kenzie (Arthur):

That's a really great question, actually. I've been asking her that and she said, I don't know, I'm figuring it out. That was not a very good impression of her. I'm not very good at impressions.

April:

Jo is so frustrated at this point of like why nobody knows what this circular transmitter mechanism thing is. She kind of like paces to let out some of her frustrated energy and glances at like Mama and JJ as if to say, well, that's all I got.

Atlas (JJ):

Did you know of any heptagonal items that were kept on shelves or behind shelves or in spaces on shelves, but they were behind shelves? A heptagon has seven sides.

Kenzie (GM):

Gets a bit of a sour look on his face.

Kenzie (Arthur):

I was not privy to those plans themselves, just brief snippets. I would hear her muttering to herself. She didn't really want to talk about it. Didn't want to jinx it or whatever. Yes, that's was the current project that we -

Kenzie (GM):

he says in air quotes,

Kenzie (Arthur):

- were working on.

Atlas (JJ):

So you would say you were upset that she wasn't letting you work on it?

Kenzie (Arthur):

I was upset that she felt like something that she was going to... unveil at the Arch Tech Symposium. I wasn't allowed to know about - the whole world was about to know about this! I just don't understand why I couldn't know about it.

April (Jo):

That must have been quite frustrating.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

What's it do?

Kenzie (Arthur):

This is a little bit of a spoiler, though I guess it won't be because I'm not sure it's going to be unveiled anymore. She was calling it the Stabilized Chronometric Lance. Though why it would be un-stabilized, I don't know.

Atlas (JJ):

Can- so you explained that word. Could you explain the other words in the name of it?

Kenzie (Arthur):

It has to do - Hmm! How do I explain this? Time is chaos, right?

April (Jo):

Yes. Mm-hmm.

Kenzie (Arthur):

She thought it didn't have to be.

April (Jo):

Oh.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Like some sort of way to control time? That's not... I mean, I'm not necessarily saying it's impossible, because I don't know what any of this stuff can do, frankly, but that doesn't seem… I don't know, it just seems like messing with time is a real dangerous game.

April (Jo):

Was this a control that would allow one to go into the past?

Kenzie (Arthur):

Not time travel, that would be crazy.

April (Jo):

Right, of course, that would be crazy.

Kenzie (Arthur):

She thought she could control how fast and slow it moved. She didn't do it yet. It was a theory. She was hoping with the machine built, she would garner interest in funding. She had the plans, but not the engine so to speak.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Would there be anyone who might have known even just a little bit about this kind of device and would be interested in having it for themselves?

Kenzie (Arthur):

I mean, I assume once it was announced that would be the case, but I don't know right now who would have known if I wasn't even allowed to know.

Atlas (JJ):

Well, you knew enough.

Kenzie (Arthur):

Yes, I suppose you're right.

Atlas (JJ):

So I... I'm just spit ballin'. If there is even any suspicion you have on anyone that would be a good idea to let us know because currently you know about her Lance and you knew where she was poking it around and you were mad at her for not letting you poke it around.

Kenzie (GM):

He straightens up, crosses his arms over his chest, the robe at the top kind of splits open a little bit.

Kenzie (Arthur):

Come into my apartment this early in the morning to accuse me of theft.

Atlas (JJ):

No, you told us what was missing. That would be a dumb thing for someone to steal to do. I'm saying if someone comes and asks you questions, that is not us, and we also have no enforcement. We can't do anything. We're just three guys just chilling.

Kenzie (Arthur):

You don't really sound like three guys if somebody has asked you specifically to come look into the situation, even though you won't tell me who you are.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

We’re part of the Lamplight Investigation Services.

Kenzie (Arthur):

(Sighs) God, I just needed to make sure that you like actually were credible in some sense and there's an actual organization around this.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

We are completely legitimate. I even have a business card right here if you want it. We have an office and everything.

Kenzie (Arthur):

I would love that actually.

Kenzie (GM):

He takes the business card and then realize he doesn't have any pockets and then sets it on top of plethora of papers.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

I apologize for JJ. JJ gets real excited when it comes to any development. You know, so do you have -

Atlas:

I think at that JJ will like turn red.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

They did ask a good question though, which is do you know anyone at all who knew by all that might have held some intent against - someone who has a motivation to have done this in any degree. Stolen something, murder even.

Kenzie (Arthur):

I don't know why she died and I don't know who did it. My only assumption has been that somebody at the symposium got more information than they should have gotten. Otherwise, I truly don't know because no one is in that office, in that lab, except for her and me. And her financier used to be there more often, but hasn't been there for almost the whole time I've worked there. was there at the beginning a little bit in the first year or so.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Right, right.

April:

Jo is getting very frustrated by this talk. Like I think that she's just reached this point where she feels like nobody knows anything and this is their last strong lead of like a new person. And she really hoped that Arthur would have the information because he worked in the lab. And so she's kind of like pacing around, like wearing a hole in the carpet while they've been talking. She's taken out her notebook and is just like flipping through all of these different notes and sketches. And she like settles on a page from very early on in the investigation.

April (Jo):

Did you ever meet Delia?

Kenzie (Arthur):

I mean, I've never seen her. That whole mishap was before I started working with Weatherby.

April (Jo):

Please, would you enlighten us as to the mishap?

Kenzie (Arthur):

Oh!

Kenzie (GM):

He seems genuinely surprised.

Kenzie (Arthur):

Sorry, I figured you would have known since you were asking about her. She disappeared for a while, didn't tell anyone where she was going. No one could track her down. And she popped up again one day like nothing had happened. Apparently she was thinking everyone just overreacted.

Atlas:

JJ’s gonna shoot a glance at Mama.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Do you happen to know where Delia might be? Like current residence, way to contact her, or anything like that? Any places she likes to frequent if she's in those still?

Kenzie (Arthur):

I don't have an address for her. I know that - I don't believe she stayed at the Weatherby Estate when she got back. She kinda distanced herself a bit from the family.

April (Jo):

When did she reappear?

Kenzie (Arthur):

Perhaps now it might have been about a year ago. Maybe a little bit less. Very, very recent.

Atlas (JJ):

When did she disappear?

Kenzie (Arthur):

Before I started working there. I think like five years ago.

Atlas:

JJ’s gonna shoot another glance at Mama.

April (Jo):

It’s quite a significant amount of time. Did Delia reappear before or after the passing of Viola's husband?

Kenzie (Arthur):

It was after his passing.

Kenzie (GM):

He kind of looks a little bit nervous that Lemuel has come up. He kind of looks down and starts to kind tune on his lip, kind of avoiding eye contact.

April:

Jo, because she's like obsessed in her notes, like does not really notice his change in demeanor. And she says,

April (Jo):

And you were working there at the time of his death?

Kenzie (Arthur):

Mm-hmm.

April (Jo):

Right.

April:

And she looks to JJ.

Atlas (JJ):

What do you know about malfunctions of the heart?

Kenzie (Arthur):

Well, since you're asking that directly, I can only assume you've seen the obituary.

Atlas (JJ):

Some would say. I would say. Yes, we have.

Kenzie (Arthur):

They're both gone now. I don't see what would be any harm in you knowing. It wasn't tested.

April (Jo):

The heart?

Kenzie (Arthur):

They went to Cypher. Had somebody there put it in. I wasn't there for that. It honestly seemed fine for a little bit. It seemed to be working. We were... It was a medical miracle. We were making some incredible service for people. And then it just quickly went terribly wrong. And it was hard to know if she was more devastated that he had died or that it hadn't worked.

Atlas (JJ):

Do you know exactly how it malfunctioned?

Kenzie (GM):

He goes over to one of the desks and shuffles through some papers and pulls out two pages of a ripped out notebook paper.

April:

Jo’s eyebrow just like twitches up when she sees them, but she maintains her composure.

Kenzie (Arthur):

The gear that she built, she called it a cage for the heart. Which in and of itself was fine. It settled around the heart. It let it beat. It surrounded the arteries. That wasn't the issue. The issue is that she had embedded inside of it crystals. She thought - or the premise, and honestly, I don't think it's wrong, I think it could happen if it was worked more and not rushed. There's a possibility there. But it's also a scary one. And I thought about burning these pages because the implications of further research could lead to horrifying outcomes, I think. But it was meant to keep his heart beating when it stopped, because it was going to stop. And that's why she made it. So in a way I'm glad it didn't work because… How long could she have made his heart continue beating? Forever? Past its actual point of end? I don't know the answers, but I think that… I think that that should die with them both.

April:

Jo kind of writes in small letters in her notebook, immortality question mark. Because of the time slowing down sort of machine and then this malfunction of the heart, it seemed like maybe that's where - it seemed like maybe that was where Viola's obsession. did actually lie.

April (Jo):

What was it about the crystals that scared you?

Kenzie (Arthur):

It was the implications of... I understand the functionality of them in the sense that they... they help, they empower things, they allow things to work that don't work, but when it's fairly on the outside and it's simply to bring positive change to somebody's life, that's wonderful. But when you start actively embedding them inside of people, well then aren't you just making that person into a thing, a gadget? There's still a sanctity of life, I think, and...

April (Jo):

We all have to die.

Kenzie (Arthur):

They make you take ethics in sciences for a specific reason, because people like to push the boundaries a little too far. I didn't want anything to do with that whole scenario. I didn't know that there were gonna be crystals in it when we made the casing. I found that out afterward. And I know that he was going to die whether or not he had it, but he died because of it and there's no way around that.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

I mean certainly can understand the desperation one might have when they feel like they're losing someone they love. So I can't necessarily judge, but I don't think I'd approve of something like that going into my heart and pumping it until it can't pump anymore. But, well, thank you, Arthur, for everything that you've been willing to share with us. is very much appreciated. And if you learn anything else, you have my business card, so feel free to call up the office.

Kenzie (Arthur):

Just really interested to see who's gonna get custody of the lab because I would like some things that are in there.

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

I’m sure that you, of all people, might have a higher priority given your history with space and its previous occupant, I suppose.

Kenzie (GM):

Puffs out his chest a little bit.

Kenzie (Arthur):

You're right. I was a right-hand man. I was there all the time. I deserve to go in there and see what's mine.

April (Jo):

I was wondering if before we leave, could I, could I trouble you for a glass of water?

Kenzie (Arthur):

Indeed. Sure. Okay. I have cups somewhere…

Kenzie (GM):

And he goes off like searching for cups in his kitchen.

Atlas:

JJ will say,

Atlas (JJ):

Oh! I can help.

Kenzie (GM):

The kitchen isn't separated from the room. It's just on the other side of it. And JJ kind of follows Arthur over there and Arthur's just opening cabinets.

Atlas (JJ):

I'm sorry, for I wasn't, I genuinely wasn't trying to accuse you. I meant it as I said it, but sometimes you say it as you mean it and it doesn't come across that way because not everyone says it how they mean it. But I meant it as, hey, you should probably think about all of the people that like, you know, could have done it so that no one thinks that you did it. Because I mean, you were most recently at the crime scene, most - closest to the person, knowing of the thing, but again, I don't think that you did it. I'm just saying all the reasons why someone might think that you did it. I have completely different ideas about who may have or may not have, and maybe it was… Anyway. If you need to get things from that office and someone says no, I might know how to get in. And if you ever want to do that together, I can help with that.

Kenzie (GM):

I want you to roll an entice roll.

Atlas:

Could I use my forward as this is my outside of job activities?

Kenzie (GM):

Roll 2d6 plus your hearts and then add the plus one.

Atlas:

So it neutralizes my negative, but it's a five and a six for an 11.

Kenzie (GM):

You gain a string on him.

Atlas:

That moves my feeling bar.

Kenzie (Arthur):

Oh, that would be wonderful, thank you. Also to have, you know, just like a second pair of eyes on the situation.

Atlas (JJ):

And maybe you will see other things that are missing that aren't heptagons.

Kenzie (Arthur):

And I could help you figure out... Yeah, yeah. This sounds great.

Atlas (JJ):

Oh!

Atlas:

And JJ will like... ...lean in really really close and then just reach behind...

Atlas (JJ):

Cup!

Kenzie (GM):

He takes in this deep breath and like falls a little bit into the counter as you do that.

Kenzie (Arthur):

Yeah, cup… thanks.

April:

While all this is happening, Jo clocks it with some amusement and some apprehension and she, as quietly as she can, takes steps towards this glowing blanket thing and grabs the corner of the blanket gently and tries to take a peek under to see what it is.

Kenzie (GM):

There is a box full of different sized yellow crystals.

April:

She carefully places it back down.

Danielle:

You will see Mama flipping open a notebook and if Jo catches it, will be how many times my employees have flirted on the job. And there's just two columns of Jo and JJ and there's just, it's just like Jo, she's probably had to make like a second page for and then JJ there's like, there's definitely like at least five.

April:

I think that when Jo catches a glimpse of that page, she just like offers a cheeky grin to mama and says,

April (Jo):

Am I winning?

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Had to make a second page because of you.

April (Jo):

Better save a third.

April:

Jo crosses the room as if she has not moved and then takes a glass of water and drinks it in one go.

April (Jo):

Thank you.

Kenzie (Arthur):

If that's all you need for me currently…

Kenzie (GM):

Kind of tightens his row around his body again.

April (Jo):

Yes, we shall leave you to your mourning. Shall we?

Danielle (Mama Amoretta):

Thank you again for everything, Arthur. You've been enlightening to us. And again, if anything develops or you learn anything more about the situation, do not hesitate to give us a call.

Danielle:

And she'll just give a little smile and a little tap of her cane before she strides on out that door.

Atlas:

Before leaving, JJ will go,

Atlas (JJ):

I usually answer the phones.

Kenzie (GM):

He has, in this time as everybody's walking out the door, has picked up the card and is holding it up in his hands and says,

Kenzie (Arthur):

I’ll call you then.

Kenzie:</h5<

This series stars Kenzie Tartaglione as the Game Master, Atlas Mathews as JJ August, Danielle Halen as Mama Amoretta, and April Consalo as Joanna Gilmore. You can help us out by listening and sharing, rating and reviewing, coming over to our Discord, and lastly, joining our Patreon to get access to episode after shows, bloopers, and so much more! We’re glad you’re here to ring in our third year of telling stories, thank you all so much for joining us for our new season!