The clock says two AM but the streets are still busy and the air is aglow with distressed neon. At street level, the megastructures rise like the pillars of the earth itself and fog chokes the spaces between them.  Every body on the street is covering their eyes, noses and mouths, even if all they can afford is a thick scarf.  As a result, the crowd is eerily anonymous, like the neon lights are the ones actually alive and the angelinos passing beneath are the shades of the dead in a dreary netherworld. 

Basslines and drunken patrons alike spill out of Sector 1 nightclubs while printing presses underneath the dilapidated 110 churn out tomorrow morning's news and tomorrow evening's trash.  From a Mexican-Chinese fusion restaurant in Sector 7 come three Blade Runners, bellies full, heads buzzing with the provisionally best margaritas in LA.  This town isn't sleeping.  Hasn't for generations, and the clock's still ticking on the case.


A brief recap of your leads so far:

• The robbery suspects, Bolt-On and Bellefontaine, both work with a guy named Ozek Turfan, and someone out there knows where he is.
• Coco and the wonks at the Crime Lab will have finished their forensic tests by now - someone should go get the results.
• Detective Varela's old reports will have details about similar crimes in recent months.
• Someone at Animoid Row probably knows who likes to fix up broken canimoids.
• There's a GENTEK waste facility out in the kipple, and the workers there might know about a missing truck.

  I think Elly should stay back at HQ and work through the forensic tests (#2) and Detective Varela's reports (#3).  I wonder if Crowe and Wylde should take on #1 or #5 first (maybe #5, then #1?). I feel like #4 will be waiting for one of us. I'll post something later today.

For some reason, the opening post didn't attach the cool picture I had made.  Grr. 

#1 has the biggest risk of going cold first so probably start there.

  So after doing some more thinking....my current that is we take down a couple of the minor info leads on our own, this will get us through the night and then we can link up together and follow the first lead which is most likely to lead to the most physical danger.

Following lead one though feels like the most direct approach. what do you guys think?

Quote from: Eclecticon on Jul 28, 2026, 01:41 AM For some reason, the opening post didn't attach the cool picture I had made.  Grr. 

Paul, you can always modify the post and add it again, if you miss the first time.

Wylde is going to get some sleep for the night, as if this game is anything like Twilight 2000, not resting for a shift (or eating or drinking) can cause stress or hit point loss. I have not read enough of the manual to know for sure (but I will).

So, with the new morning, Wylde will go out to his spinner and seek out the clue #5 first and follow that up with lead #1. Crowe is welcome to accompany.

If you are not intending us to rest for a shift, Paul, then Wylde will get on his way to investigate the leads in the order I mentioned above.

  I was under the understanding that our time in the hospital and the cafe counted as rest and a "downshift". If I was wrong about that, then Elly definitely would be getting some sleep.

If I did understand it correctly, she'll either take the spinner and head to HQ (if Crowe's joining Wylde), or have Crowe drop her off at HQ. Like I said, she'll look to tackle #2 and #3.

The game is a little cinematic in how it handles downtime, in that it doesn't actually seem to require sleep.  Would that I could live my life that way, instead of just trying to. 

With that in mind, we have Wylde heading to the GENTEK facility and Elly getting her analyst on at LAPD HQ.  Tom, what's Crowe planning to do?

OOC: He has a pretty good bead on Elly so he will take this time to figure out what's Wylde's deal. (he will not be taking his KIA it will be in the spinner.)

Let's Clear Five and then see where we are at to link up wit Elly or press on. 

The spinner climbed through sheets of rain, its turbines humming with mechanical indifference.

Crowe sat rigidly in the passenger seat.

Not because he was comfortable.

Because every alternative hurt.

The concussion still lingered behind his eyes, turning the city's lights into blurred halos that smeared across the canopy whenever he tried to focus. His ribs had been wrapped as tightly as the medics dared, but every breath reminded him of the explosion in the tunnel. Deep breaths were impossible. Shallow ones came with their own sharp reminders.

He had survived.

Some days survival felt less like a victory than an administrative oversight.

He shifted slightly.

A mistake.

Pain flared through his side, hot enough to steal the next breath before slowly fading back into the constant ache.

He settled again.

Didn't move.

Outside, Los Angeles drifted beneath them in fractured reflections of neon and rain.

Wylde flew with practiced confidence, saying little.

Crowe appreciated that.

Conversation required energy.

So did pretending everything was fine.

The silence stretched between them, comfortable enough that neither seemed compelled to break it.

Crowe watched the rain race across the canopy.

It occurred to him that this silence felt strangely familiar.

He'd shared hours like this with LE1.

Driving to scenes.

Waiting outside interviews.

Flying back from assignments that left more questions than answers.

They had spoken when the job demanded it.

Evidence.

Witnesses.

Procedure.

Sometimes bad coffee.

Almost nothing else.

At the time, he'd blamed the distance on what she was.

A replicant.

Professional caution had been an easy excuse. Easier than admitting conversation simply wasn't something that came naturally to him.

Now he sat beside Wylde.

A human partner.

And found himself with exactly the same problem.

There were things he could say.

He could thank Wylde for picking him up when driving his own spinner with cracked ribs bordered on stupidity.

He could explain why he had insisted on returning to work before the bruises had even begun to fade.

He could ask about Wylde's life beyond the badge.

None of the words ever reached his mouth.

Crowe frowned.

Perhaps he'd spent so long convincing himself that replicants were different that he'd overlooked the obvious truth.

Distance had never been about LE1.

Distance was simply how he lived.

The realization landed with more weight than he expected.

Outside, another burst of lightning illuminated the cockpit.

For an instant, Crowe caught his own reflection in the glass.

Bruised cheek.

Dark circles beneath tired eyes.

A man held together by bandages, painkillers, and habit.

The city blurred again as the concussion reminded him it wasn't quite finished yet.

Wylde glanced sideways.

"You look like hell."

Crowe managed the faintest hint of a smile.

"So I've been told."

Neither spoke again.

For once, Crowe didn't blame the silence on the person sitting beside him.

He finally understood it had been following him long before either partner ever had.

The drive to GENETEK was interminable. The silence was heavy between the two men. Wylde didn't dislke Crowe - hell he didn't really know him - but there was little to talk about.

Wylde grunted his comment. Crowe answered. And then the silence continued.

His left hand hanging on the wheel, Rett's right hand fished into his pocket for his pack of cigarettes. He absent-mindedly shook a smoke from the pack to his mouth, and then he side-glanced at Crowe. The man was wheezing and breathing shallow. Wylde sighed and took the cigarette from his mouth and maneuvered it back in the pack.

It was strange. He missed working with reps. At least they had something to talk about.