3544/IFOS: Good, the Bad and...

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IFOS: Good, the Bad and...
Date of Scene: 18 December 2015
Location: Amarillo-8 <A8>
Synopsis: Finally, one thread remains to tug at. Hoshi and Finna go to see what the vehicle gangs and their leaders are doing that factors into this Amarillo puzzle.
Cast of Characters: 165, 513, 901
Tinyplot: Invaders From Outer Space


Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:
    Welcome back to Amarillo! Wait, no.

    Welcome to Lingreo, ghost town 35 miles east of Amarillo. Abandoned for almost ten years following the opening of the Interstate 40, the town is now only a drivethrough location, devoid of people and populated only by prairie creatures.

    At least, that's what everyone who knows what's good for them says.

    Since several months ago, when Elvis Presley died, it has become an open secret that Lingreo has become the staging ground for one of the biggest group of troublemaking vehicle gangs. It is a hive, one that the Amarillo police has been unable to completely clear out and which other city police organizations seem troublingly willing to overlook.

    That's where you come in.

Ren Tanaka has only been able to find the location of Lingreo and a basic synopsis of what's going on there- hopefully, at this exact moment in time, that is 'little'. After all, even as a rallying, organizational and supply point for various malcontents- and gangs of vehicle customizers, petty criminals and hooligans- a lot of people even feel their burning hatred for Amarillo subside in the wake of the holiday period. This should make any in-depth investigation of the place easier...

    The town is mostly just houses, a post office, a convenience store and a motel. Streetlights are no longer working, motel signs are broken, there's the odd rusty car, and ... well, more than a few fresh, working cars around the abandoned First In Last Inn.

Finna (513) has posed:
    FINNA CARES LITTLE FOR THIS CHRISTMAS THING!

    Christmas truce? Holiday spirit? She'll offer some prayers to Santa Claus later, let him worry about keeping people happy.

    She's been called on to investigate a gang of gun-toting jerks for the Union, and.. well, that's what she's gonna do.

    It doesn't take long for her to figure out the best way to approach the situation. By air, of course. Flying as a red-tailed hawk, she not only blends in (they're one of the most prolific birds of prey in the continent) but can easily see where the most activity's centered around. There's a LOT of people in that inn... a lot of people who don't seem to give a darn that the town is otherwise abandoned.

    Finna's gut sinks at the sight of this. It's a clearly decent enough place to live if there were food.. why is it abandoned? It's a shame. A CRIME almost.

    Her people have to make do with much, much less and wouldn't think to abandon a single ONE of these marvels or buildings.

    For now, she circles the inn. Hoping to spot anything interesting through a window and maybe press up against it to listen in...

Hoshi Amakasu (901) has posed:
    Unlike Finna's method, which is probably a lot smarter, Hoshi came into the town on foot, grimancing as she looks over the ruined and damaged town. "It doesn't make much sense, this being a ghost town." She grunts into her radio, hoping to reach Finna. No police or anything at all?

    Walking past ruined and rusty cars, Hoshi approaches the motal very slowly, reaching up to tug her hair tie from her hair and bounce it uncertainly in her hand. "Do you see anything big up there, Ms. Finna?" She asks quietly. "Or... Well, I guess we can only go into this motel, huh."

Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:
    Finna, did you eat a hawk?

    As mentioned, there are a few working cars around the First In Last Inn. These seem to be several degrees different to the normal run-of-the-mill cars you see on the average road or street... and yet, not TOO different? Several of them have personal paintjobs, have been made open-topped, have those semi-exposed engines with multiple pipes, or have bull horns on the front, but it's not exactly like they're covered in spikes or are towing their own subwoofer systems. In any case, if the major differences are 'under the hood' it might take someone who had a thorough knowledge of cars to identify what's new, and in any case that would entail actually getting close enough to one to examine it. While this is still an option for Hoshi, Finna's opted to look in the window.

    Someone walks past the door and down the hall- a shock of red hair, a gaudy jacket- and begins rooting around in his pocket for a big bunch of keys, while standing outside of a door with multiple bolts and locks on it.

    As for Hoshi, well- the shutters rattle on a nearby building, and within the course of about thirty seconds, someone- a fourteen-year-old with a missing tooth, close-cropped hair and a long-sleeved wine-red jacket- sticks his head out of the door.

    "Hoi! Where's you come from, lady? Where's ya boyfriend? You got a boyfriend? Is he a tough guy? What you messin' around here for?"

Finna (513) has posed:
    "I see roughhousy sorts who must own the cars! Lots of cars. I've been in some of these inns before and that's a LOT of locks on the doors too. They might be turning the place into a fortress of sorts." Finna whispers into the radio wrapped around her ankle.

    For lack of much more to do, when the man's back is turned she reaches out with beak and talon to try and force the window open or find something small enough that perhaps an insect could slip through, if not a mouse...

Hoshi Amakasu (901) has posed:
     Hoshi carefully made her way past the various cars, trying not to touch or damage anything. Americans loved their cars, and she can't help but imagine giving one of these a tiny scratch and summoning an army of pissed-off Texan hooligans. She doesn't really know all that much about cars at all, but she makes sure to look over the cars carefully, trying to see if any of them are particularly familiar. "It's weird that the cars are in better shape than the town is," she mutters into her radio. Going down on a knee, she peers underneath the car to get a look at the engine.

    That was about when she hears someone talking to her. She jumps up to her feet immediately, looking like she'd just had her hand in the cookie jar without permission. "Gah, don't scare me like that!" She mutters darkly and smoothes down the front of her skirt. "Th-that's nothing important. Where are the adults? Or the mayor? Something." She approaches the kid slowly. "Uh. My name's Amakasu. Do you know anything about Amarillo?"

    The kendo girl spends a quick moment glancing up to Finna and nodding before turning towards the kid, stepping in front of him in an attempt to cover Finna's entrance.

Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:
Finna may be able to find a broken window she could find an appropriate form to make her way through. The man with the red hair briefly looks right at her, but- seeing only a local bird doing some preening- decides he's not bored enough at this precise second to try shooting at it for momentary fun, even if he does point his gun half-heartedly at her for a moment.

    Meanwhile, the kid Hoshi's encountered laughs out loud. "Wow! If you've got a boyfriend bet he doesn't like you for your smarts!" He snorts through- and then wipes- his nose. "This place has been abandoned for ten years! You're so stupid! That's why we all hang out here!"

    Finna will see someone tug the man away from the locks he's busying himself with, and he walks away- out through the motel, to walk around to the main entrance.

    Hoshi will find that the rackety kid has brought her the attention of not just one, but two people.

    http://safebooru.org//images/1291/a5b68dd220242713ae5a60f0408d0091fee67fe4.jpg?1344458
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFa1-kciCb4
    Main Theme - Ennio Moricone
    The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - 1966

    Joined by a surly-looking man a couple inches shorter than him, with glasses and blue hair, the red-haired man lights up a cigarette and glances at her, waving the match he struck on the doorframe and dropping it to the floor.

    "Hey there, little lady. Did I hear you say the magic word?"

Hoshi Amakasu (901) has posed:
    Hoshi's expression goes flat when the conversation takes a turn for the worse. Perfect. Taking a measured, even tone, she responds, "I'm not from around here. I'm from Germany, actually." Which wasn't necessarily a lie, she just wasn't from this world's Germany. The mention of 'we' is what gets most of her attention, though. No adults. Just a bunch of kids, with cars, and...

    "Oh good." She mutters quietly. She's read this book. It's Lord of the Flies.

    Her eyes turn to face the two newcomers without her face betraying any emotions. They were just a bunch of punk kids. Even so, surreptitiously, she slipped her locket out from under her shirt. "I don't really know much magic. I'm not that good at it. So... What exactly /is/ the magic word? Really, I'd just like to talk to someone important for a couple minutes." Feeling the tension in the air, she grips her hair tie tightly and brings her hands to her stomach. She was ready to draw, even if they didn't know it.

Finna (513) has posed:
    Finna doesn't seem bothered by the gun, like any bird! They don't know what guns are, right?

    But oh, if he fired, how weirdly it would go.

    Probably haven't seen many birds catch bullets in their teeth, after all.

    By the time the guy's being dragged off, he's being followed by a mouse.

    A Mouse that's happy with walking on the ceiling after the guys...

Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:
    "That would be him," the blue-haired one says, thumbing towards his partner.
    "Yes, that would be me," he echoes. "I'm Tobe. This one's Mike."

    Seeing a bird catch a bullet in its teeth would be about as interesting as seeing a bird's teeth, but for the moment since both of them are occupied Finna won't have to do anything of the sort. What this means is that she's free to- depending on whether she chooses to follow the two of them out to the entrance or not- take a brief or not-so-brief look around the motel.

    Depending on what she chooses to do, she may notice that a surprisingly large number of the rooms, for a place that's been abandoned for ten years, have things in them- close examination will reveal more than a few mattresses, boxes, blankets, tables and sundries. Even further examination may lead her to realize that some of them are different, seemingly brand new, compared to the things that have clearly been left in the motel for years.

    Outside...

    "You speak american pretty well for a-" and here Mike uses a rather unkind word for a german person that he probably learned when he was five.
    "Do mind your tongue, will you?" Tobe replies, chewing on his cigarette and staring up into the air. "Well, we're not the kind of people you'd come to pitch a magic act to. Spit it out, already..."

Hoshi Amakasu (901) has posed:
     Well, wonder of wonders. Hoshi turns her attention fully to Tobe now, though the unkind word was met with a raised brow and a small frown. She expected the same would've happened if she'd said she was from Japan. Doesn't matter, though. At least the boss seems to be sensible.

    Getting to the meat of the matter, Hoshi frowns towards Tobe. "There was a gang that came and attacked Amarillo. I'm guessing that was you guys?" She glances between the boys she saw. "I'd like to ask why. Also... is everyone here okay? There's been strange things that have been happening not far. Some of it might be actually pretty dangerous. If you guys need food or medical supplies, I might be able to ask..."

Finna (513) has posed:
    Finna manages to do both! Ducking into rooms, looking around for about ten seconds... then continuing to traipse along the ceiling at tremendous speeds after the guys. Doesn't really give her a chance for a thorough examination, but she can -always- lurk on the ceiling in mouse form to examine the place. Can't always get an opportunity to hear things!

    So for now she's trailing Tobe and Mike...

Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:
    Tobe takes the cigarette out of his mouth for a moment, and breathes into the air. It's colder than usual today, which means his breath is equal parts fog and smoke. Off to the side, the skinheaded kid props his elbows up on a car, hands on his chin, and watches with a grin on his face, possibly scraping for a rock with his foot.

    "Yeh. Well, might have been us. Might have been someone else. Were they the, uh, the mexican ones? We've got a lot of people comin' and goin'," Tobe replies.
    Mike folds his arms. "What kinds of questions are these, anyway?"
    "Simple and legitimate ones," Tobe replies with a shrug. "People just picked this place by consensus after a while. It's where people kick their boots off and do their oil changes... just a pit stop for cars, really."

    The two of them are content to just stand in the doorway to the motel's main entrance for now and talk to Finna, and examination may indeed lend some credence to his words. There's at least a few peoples' suitcases and toolboxes here, along with fresh auto parts and the tools you'd find lying around in a garage. It seems that this isn't really much of a 'community hub'.

    "You got the same beef with the city that most of us do?" Mike asks.

Hoshi Amakasu (901) has posed:
    This was going a lot better than she'd been expecting. The tension in her body eases, and she brings her hands away from each other, though she's still got her hair tie clutched tightly in her left. Thankfully, cold for Texas wasn't quite the same as Alberichstadt or Osaka. A tiny shiver comes over her as the wind passes between her legs, but that's about it.

    "I didn't really get a good look at them. Just that their cars were modified. A lot of shooting and glass broken. They looked like they came out of a post-apocalypse." Not that the kids really looked much better. That being said... This place was just a meeting place, so it might have been an affiliated group. "I don't really have a 'beef' with anyone, really." Hoshi answers honestly. "If you don't mind, I'd like to ask what your issue is. Like I said, there's been a lot of strange things. Have you noticed anything in particular?"

Finna (513) has posed:
    "Oooh? I'm lurking about near a group near the main entrance. They use this place to fix up the cars." The little mouse whispers into her tiny shapeshifted radio. "Sounds like they don't like the city, too. What's your approach over there?"

    For now, she just keeps Mouse-lurking....

Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:
    One thing Finna may find interesting, if she can spot the thread, is that although there are an interesting assortment of things lying around here and there, like auto parts, clothing and sundries, any exposure so far she's had to modern society- such as, for example, that supermarket visit that her and Hoshi went on recently- something's missing.

    For example, there's no equally fresh packaging to any of those auto parts. What non-perishable food products there are are in completely blank containers, too.

    Outside, a dark cloud blows over the sun. Tobe rumples his nose at it. "Weather's just been so unpredictable this last month or so," he says idly. Probably just an observation.

    "Everyone's here for the same reason!" Mike replies, seemingly a bit agitated, gesturing with his hands. "Ain't they? It's the King, man! It's all about makin' Amarillo sorry!"

    Tobe puts his hand up in a silencing gesture. "This one's feelings are pretty similar to most. It's all about forcing the Man to empty out his pockets. Until the truth about whatever conspiracy took the King away from us comes out, people are going to keep putting the pressure on this city."

The two of them look at one another. "Trying to find the strange-" "Is what we want to do."

Hoshi Amakasu (901) has posed:
    This was all coming back to Elvis, huh? Hoshi frowns and looks between the two in front of her. "I heard he'd died recently. What makes you think that Amarillo is involved, though?" She refrains from mentioning how he was going to die anyway later, had things not been switched up. "I don't suppose I could convince you to let this one go for awhile? There's more than a few people who are looking into this. It'd be awful if you or your friends got hurt trying to look into this."

    Finna's radio chatter reaches Hoshi, of course, but she can't exactly respond without warning these two. "I'm grateful that you two told me what's up," she says a little loudly. It might not be very subtle, but she's hoping it'll carry over her radio anyway. "I don't suppose there's anyone else around? I'd like to ask some more questions, if I could."

Finna (513) has posed:
    Finna HAS been sniffing around some modern Earth places. She knows these boxes are unusual. Where's all the fancy labels and bubble wrap paper? It gets the little mouse frowning, but she's not sure what would explain it yet.

    Other than that maybe it's just stolen...

Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:
"If Elvis died, then it's because someone killed him," Tobe replies. "I know that sounds simplistic, but... the man's a legend in our time. He... /was/ culture, you know? He was the future..."

    He looks wistful, almost sad for a moment, which makes it even worse when Mike butts in. "Someone wanted him dead! We wanna know who! It's gotta be some Daddy Warbucks... or it could even be the Communists! Or something even worse! It could totally be a conspiracy, you know!"

    Tobe looks over Hoshi for a few moments when she suggests stopping things for a while.

    "That... is harder than it might sound. When all those boys come back into here, there are two ways it could go. Either the fire'll've cooled down with the winter chill... might even get less people coming back full stop... or they'll be stoked even more to get the results they didn't manage to."

    The two of them look at one another. 'How many people are here' is a loaded question, and both of them recognize it. Not entirely trusting Hoshi enough yet, both of them are unsure- who is she connected to, anyway? If they say 'nobody', what's to say that ten cops won't come in here and take the place apart later today?

    Finna will get the oppurtunity to see... something interesting. From behind the three of them, she can hear some sort of eerie mechanical clicking sound from deep in the hotel. It sounds like an engine, and yet there's something off about it...

    If she goes to check on it, she'll actually see another member of the gang taking the locks off that door, and then moving in and out with more of those generic boxed items. He continues to move back and forth, eventually carrying out a lot more than could really be stored in one small room.

     How interesting.

    "There are... other people here, but by the sounds of things they're busy right now," Tobe says, glancing inside.

    "Listen, I'll tell you what, lady. A couple weeks into the new year, everyone's going to be meeting back up here. We're gonna hold a real big race through the Palo Duro canyon. If you wanna join up with us, try and talk to people, or if you've got some friends who got their own agendas, come back there then. Things'll stay quiet until then."

Hoshi Amakasu (901) has posed:
    Hoshi can't help but cough a bit. While what happened to Elvis here was still a mystery, she remembered what happened to him in her world. Somehow she got the feeling that these guys wouldn't be too happy if they knew that he'd died from a heart attack while sitting on a toilet. Mike's wild theories about communists and other such things... "I think it's a little bit weirder than that," Hoshi admits slowly. "We're not quite sure what's responsible, yet. I don't think it's communists, or anything else that you might be used to, though."

    She can tell by the way that they looked at each other that they didn't trust her--which made sense, of course. Yet they were offering her another chance to come by and learn more about what was happening. Hoshi bows from her waist with a thankful smile. "Thank you for telling me about this. I'll be sure to do that. I understand you don't really have a reason to trust me, but we are trying to make sure that all of this can be solved." She'd have to make sure that she brought some of the others with her for this race.

Finna (513) has posed:
    "Think they're working with a lot of stolen stuff! Not sure though. They've got a big stockpile of food, mechanical stuff..." Finna mumbles over her radio, having tracked after the strange noises. She's got really good hearing in mouse form after all!

Ren Tanaka (165) has posed:
    The two of them listen to Hoshi and give some assent, but there's not much more to say. The idea that there's something more that 'they might not be used to' gets one of them to comment that "There's enough people coming back that I'm sure one of them'll know how to handle it," and with that they make their way back inside and leave Hoshi to it. Rain begins to fall, and it's going to be an unpleasant walk back to the city if you haven't got some sort of umbrella or something.

    However, if Finna hangs around, she may hear one last thing of interest...

    "What do you think she means? Something we ain't used to?"
    "Maybe it's something else like our helpful magic box in here..."
    "I wish you wouldn't keep calling it that."

    The glow from inside that lock-festooned room is certainly an eerie one as they step inside...