20:59 <Crion> So. Y'all are going to work, huh? 21:00 <VoxPVoxD> Always. 21:00 <dammitwho> Who? What? Work?! 21:01 <Crion> The mushroom men on the dock respect that, and you can get your union cards after just one shift worked -- the version of dockwork on this side of the Hedge is a fantasy in a lot of ways. But you'll all have to do a shift before Foreman Chone will let you roam the docks at will or sit in on a meeting with a duespaying union man or woman. Of course, those of you who aren't Maggie or Tony -- 21:01 <Crion> who have proven they know the value of a good day's work -- could always just skulk around. 21:02 <dammitwho> Oh, right. Fifteen tons, and what do you get? Hopefully some useful information, or at least a block with a question mark on it full of gold coins. 21:02 <VoxPVoxD> It's sixteen- you know what, not the time. 21:03 <trenchfoot> Sixteen tons. Come on, Nels has played it at least once. 21:03 <dammitwho> Sixteen tons? Nah, nah, pal. Tops out at fifteen. Union policy. 21:03 <CBN> It's good, honest-until-you-think-about-the-consequences-of-how-this-actually-works, work. Tony's good at it, great even. It involves no talking, lots of heads-down hauling of shit, few distractions. In many ways it is the perfect job. 21:05 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's not great at hauling, but he'll give it a good old go unless someone takes as much as a single look at him and hands him a clipboard or something. 21:09 <Crion> Work starts at 9 in the morning...no matter when you arrive. And the work is hard: moving crates off the "boats," into the stacks, out of the stacks, onto the "trucks," off the "trucks," into the stacks, out of the stacks, onto the "boats." Your diminutive, foulmouthed coworkers are helpful and resolute, but they're not here to train newbies -- you're fending for yourselves. They're not gonna 21:09 <Crion> let a shipping container drop on you, but they are going to look at you dirty if you don't know how to work the crane. 21:10 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart spent a lot of time driving forklifts in Shenmue. Relevant work experience! 21:11 <Crion> Then he'll love how the "steering wheel" on these things works. Especially the useless D pad. 21:12 <dammitwho> Hup, hup, ho! Hup, hup, ho! Not only is this pretty easy now, it's actually pleasant. Constant, mindless, cycling effort speaks to her. 21:14 <trenchfoot> Nels joined a band to avoid manual labor! But, well, practice with loading instruments into and out of vehicles... she can make this happen. She's got to. 21:15 <Crion> The Dockworkers -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmeHUSD2rEY Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, la casa vuelvo yo 21:16 <VoxPVoxD> Hah. 21:21 <Crion> The work procedes a pace, even if it seems on first glance quite useless. Almost a hustle. But eventually Foreman Chone waddles down from the union office with a fat stogie in his mouth, saying the boys downtown called and want them to inspect a shipment. So they have you all pull a container out of the stacks, set it down on the...concrete?...of the docks, and open it up. 21:23 <Crion> And when you pull it open, instead of the flat, fake boxes that you'd seen in these containers before, obviously just one big wall with slight seams in it to simulate packaged goods, there's a trove of boutique chests, handcrafted boxes, and metal-framed cartons of all shapes and sizes. The union cheers, picks two boxes from the lot for itself -- this is part of the deal, the foreman assures 21:23 <Crion> you -- and seals the rest back up. 21:23 <Crion> Then it goes on an actual truck, guarded by actual hobs, somewhere into the deeper Baltimore Hedge. 21:24 <trenchfoot> ...was that a Bonus Box? Are we being baited? If we join the union we'll only see those when newcomers show up. They used to do that with, ah, other things. 21:26 <Crion> It'll be quitting time soon after that. Most of the dockworkers have been happy to have you, though some have been a little apprehensive. They don't want such a huge influx of cheap labor to become a regular thing. What about THEIR shifts? 21:26 <Crion> So maybe this isn't entirely a fantasy. 21:27 <banana> Melanie arrives late for the shift. She still underestimates how slow she can be at times, how easy it is to get distracted - always more to read, always more to write - but these are excuses. She isn't busy; the things that keep her occupied aren't important, not compared to helping Maggie. 21:27 <banana> Fortunately, it's 9 in the morning. 21:28 <Crion> Foreman Chone will call you into his office before you punch out. Union time, after all. 21:29 <CBN> Tony will be clear to any dockworker that hey, he's no scab---he's just here to punch in, get what he and Maggie bargained for, and get out of their way. 21:30 <Crion> Oh, there are absolutely no accusations of scabbing. Good god, no. Just...lot more junior workers getting shifts now. Maybe that makes it harder for the senior workers. Anyway unless you start showing up here literally every day it probably won't be a problem. 21:30 <banana> Melanie probably acts like a scab. She lifts and shifts - she had muscle before and she's really strong now - but she's not used to this kind of work at all and can barely keep up with the pace. Also it's a bit hard to take it seriously since the whole thing is a goblin drama. But she'll catch up with the others at the office, not saying much. 21:31 <CBN> And as soon as the shift's over, this'll hopefully be the end of it. Though Tony will have, of course, attempted to foster at least enough good will that if he sees any of these dockworkers off-shift (if they even exist off-shift), they'll at least be amiable, if not chatty. 21:32 <banana> Do they even get paid? 21:32 <trenchfoot> What is 'pay' in this land of shifting sands and decay? 21:34 <Crion> Foreman Chone (purple vest, blue mushroom cap) is sitting on his chair behind a normal-sized desk, which means he has jacked that chair up quite high given his stature. He's smoking like a chimney. A slightly larger, more musclar dockworker, guy name of Jawn (red vest, red cap) leans against a filing cabinet, crossing his arms. This guy was a leader out on the docks, giving the right orders 21:34 <Crion> and keeping the knuckleheads in line. 21:35 <Crion> Tony and Maggie got paid for the week in a Coin of the Realm. The three of you could come back and finish your shifts, or cash out now with a ticket to Notgnixel Market for a goblin fruit. 21:36 <banana> Fruit please. Maybe it'll be one we can plant. 21:36 <trenchfoot> Fruit please. Maybe it'll be one we can brew. 21:36 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's sore all over. He's got a debt, but not enough to do this all week. 21:37 <Crion> Chone: "So. Heyy. Siddown, siddown. Maggie. Tony. Good work out there. The rest of ya. Love to see some-a the bigger folks put in the damn work. Appreciate it." 21:37 <CBN> eTony: "Thanks for having us." 21:38 <banana> Melanie: "Just happy to be here." 21:39 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart just smiles weakly. 21:39 <trenchfoot> Nels nods, flustered. Do bosses call people into meetings? Does that happen? Where's her guitar. Augh 21:40 <Crion> Foreman Chone might object to being characterized as a 'boss.' Nevertheless: 21:40 <Crion> "Maggie. Told ya I'd have some news for you end of the week about yer thing. Got two pieces. Good news and bad news. Which ya want first?" 21:42 <CBN> Tony looks to Maggie on this one. 21:48 <trenchfoot> Guitar's sounding pret-ty good right now... 21:48 <trenchfoot> Guitar's sounding pret-ty good right now... 21:49 <VoxPVoxD> When Maggie doesn't response immediately, Stewart's impatience kicks in. "Give us the good news first." 21:50 <Crion> Chone blinks, but nods. "Good news is, what yer lookin for was here. We got a line on that." 21:50 <Crion> "Ya can probably guess what the bad news is, right?" 21:51 <VoxPVoxD> "We're not going to like where it went, are we?" 21:51 <banana> Melanie: "It's been shipped away?" 21:51 <trenchfoot> Nels opens, and subsequently closes her mouth. Yep. Those were her concerns! 21:51 <Crion> He nods to both. "Company policy is clear, and the union agreed to it. That stuff's too hot to stay on these docks. Ya get...a lotta sorts poking around. So whadda we do, Jawn?" 21:51 <Crion> Jawn: "We lose 'em in the stacks." 21:52 <Crion> "And we don't ask no questions 'bout where they go." 21:52 <trenchfoot> Nels: "So they're just. Gone." 21:52 <Crion> Both Chone and Jawn shake their heads. 21:52 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart, who like Nels has not seen The Wire, is also irritated rather than scared. 21:53 <Crion> Chone: "Ya can't get rid of something like that. Ya only can stop being responsible for it." 21:53 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Tsk. So... what do we do now?" 21:54 <Crion> Jawn: "All transfers gotta be logged into the main books up at the loader's perch. Shame though. Tough to get in there." 21:54 <VoxPVoxD> "Tough how?" 21:55 <Crion> Chone nods. "Yer right. Back in the day, maybe someone hid the key under the mailflap just in case they showed up drunk." Theatrical sigh. "But surely they've changed the procedure by now, huh?" 21:55 <trenchfoot> Nels: "We're tough people when we have to be." She less-subtly-than-she-thinks eyes Melanie and Tony. 21:56 <Crion> The foreman shrugs. "Nothing nobody coulda done different, right? Anyway, we'll be here for awhile. All of ya just run along. To wherever ya want." 21:57 <Crion> Jawn holds out his hand to Tony. "Pleasure working with ya." 21:57 <dammitwho> Is this 'asking for a bribe' nonchalance, or 'we're gonna sit here while you beat the tar out of someone' nonchalance? 21:58 <banana> Sounds like we should take a look at the perch and its mailflap just in case. Might as well. 21:58 <Crion> Lot closer to the latter than the former. 21:58 <Crion> Though, to be clear, these guys probably LOVE bribes. 21:58 <CBN> Tony gives Jawn a hearty shake. "And you. You folks ever need my help with something, just say so." 21:58 <VoxPVoxD> Respect the hustle. 21:59 <Crion> When Tony pulls away, there's a piece of paper in the palm of his hand. Jawn winks. 22:00 <Crion> Jawn will shake with the rest of you if you'll have it, but no more secret messages. 22:00 <Crion> He has to reach up for each one but that doesn't seem to bother him. 22:01 <trenchfoot> Nels will definitely shake hands and curtsy. 22:01 <dammitwho> "Well, cheers, fellas. Don't work too hard." 22:01 <Crion> Chone chortles at that from Maggie; Jawn merely guffaws. 22:02 <CBN> Tony's at least observant enough of norms to not look at the paper until AFTER they leave. So for now it'll stay folded, and he'll politely wait for everyone else to make their goodbyes. 22:03 <banana> "Um, bye." 22:03 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart offers them a wave and a "Seeya around." before heading outside. 22:04 <banana> Melanie: "What's a loader's perch?" 22:04 <trenchfoot> Um, is there an etiquette for leaving last? She's going to go with a wave and a twirl of a skirt. 22:04 <CBN> Tony turns and heads out. To Stewart: "Good hustle out there." 22:05 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart hesitates a little before saying: "Thanks! You made it look a lot easier than it was." 22:07 <CBN> Tony: "Practice, man. I'm sure if we ever have to set up a VCR or get whatever 'Input 3' is to work for somebody, I will be helpless without you." 22:07 <Crion> Outside, when Tony unfolds it, he'll find that there's a strange marking on it, with the accompanying scrawl: "SEPTEMBER BOOKS" 22:08 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Soooooo. Y'all want to go find that key? 'Cuz it sounds like we need it. Because. It - you get it." 22:08 <CBN> Tony gestures for Stewart to come closer so he can show him the note, pointing to the marking. "Like whatever this is." 22:08 <banana> Melanie: "Is the loader, like, the equivalent of a harbourmaster but for cargo? There are little cabin things around but I'm not sure which one constitutes 'perch'. 22:09 <VoxPVoxD> ...Not really knowing what to say to that, Stewart peers at the note. 22:12 <dammitwho> Maggie: "It's an office, controls all the big cranes and such." 22:13 <banana> Melanie: "Okay. Do you know which one? It sounded like the key is probably where it's always been, just deniably." 22:13 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "We're looking for this mark, I think, in the shipping records for september. In the office up there." 22:14 <CBN> Tony laughs and claps Stewart on the back. "See what I mean? My ass from a hole in the ground, but here you are buddy." 22:14 <VoxPVoxD> With an air of confidence meant to mask how awkward he feels right now, he says, "Let's go." 22:15 <trenchfoot> What in the Hell. Where's that symbol--? 22:15 <trenchfoot> Ah. 22:15 <Crion> There's only the one office, of course. And the dockworkers are suddenly giving you a wide berth as you head over. 22:15 <Crion> No cameras, either. 22:17 <dammitwho> "Ominous!" 22:17 <Crion> The key's where Chone said it would be, and the door will open to it. 22:18 <Crion> And hey, if no one sees you, no one can report you, right? Better not to think about who they'd report you to. 22:18 <banana> Melanie: "Do you think 'the company' is part of their fiction, or is there really some goblin organisation that pays them?" 22:19 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart shrugs. 22:20 <Crion> The office is entirely up two flights of stairs, but is quiet and still. 22:20 <Crion> There are three large banks of controls in front of the huge glass windows looking out over the docks, and floor-to-ceiling cabinets and shelves on every other wall. 22:21 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Maybe 'the company' is a sort of thing that just kind of grows whenever they do this." 22:21 <banana> Melanie: "Well, that's how work works on Earth." 22:22 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Like a particularly slimy parasite." 22:22 <trenchfoot> Nels also shrugs. Though... "Is - no, we can cover this another time." 22:22 <banana> "One cabinet each and look for September?" 22:23 <trenchfoot> Do you remember? No, actually, and it's kind of a sore spot, thank you for asking, 22:27 <CBN> Tony busies himself with just kinda...pushing his finger against the doorjamb and watching the others flip the place over. Probably not a lot of room for him in there. 22:28 <Crion> Melanie and Stewart find the September Books fairly quickly. They're in three ring binders along massive sets of other binders like them, for all the months of the year...but no year demarcations? 22:28 <Crion> Ah. It becomes clear: they keep rolling five year records, by month. Great. 22:29 <VoxPVoxD> Maybe they throw out the old books every year. Maggie only just got back anyway, so the most recent September is what we'd want. 22:29 <banana> "Start from the back, then.." 22:29 <VoxPVoxD> Christ, that was only two months ago. 22:29 <banana> Melanie: "Maggie, what are we actually looking for?" 22:30 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Not sure... I get the feeling we'll know it when we see it. Or I will?" 22:31 <Crion> Yep. The way these things are marked, there's a container number, an arrival date, a parcel zone, and a shipping history. The shipping history is filled mainly with jargon marks: slashes, checks, boxes, filled-in boxes, and so on. But the null-umlaut is very distinct, and there are only two in the most recent month of September: Y14432 on Sept 13, and Y14479 on Sept 29. 22:31 <VoxPVoxD> If someone else got to it first, they'll know for sure what they have, which will make it that much harder to get. 22:32 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Maggie, do you remember what day you got back?" 22:32 <Crion> The way this is broken down, X Y and Z are yards, 1-18 in the first two digits are stock divisions, and the last three digits are individual crates. 22:32 <banana> Melanie: "Oh my god. We need an accountant." 22:33 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Not it." Didn't even pass high school. 22:38 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I ask because we've narrowed it down to one of two containers. One that was 'lost' on September 29th, and one that was 'lost' on September 13th. So if you only got back after the 13th, we'd only need to check the one." 22:38 <CBN> Tony: "And they're clear on the opposite side of the yard from each other, right?" 22:39 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Pretty close, it looks like. Same yard, same stock division." 22:39 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Oh, heck no. I'm lucky I can remember what month! I was mainly running around downtown freaking out." 22:39 <banana> Melanie: "It says here Yard Y is the 'stacks', so it's probably impenetrably poorly organised for no reason." 22:39 <CBN> Tony: "Oh! Then why don't we just go over there, should be quick enough right?" 22:40 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Late July-ish. Early August. Around that area." 22:40 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "We've got what we came for." Stewart memorizes the can numbers." 22:42 <Crion> When you get outside, you're facing the X, Y, and Z stacks directly, with an "ocean" at your back. They kind of...stretch to the horizon. 22:42 <VoxPVoxD> Ah, shit. 22:43 <dammitwho> "Aw, fluffernutters." 22:44 <banana> Melanie contemplates the Hedge, the enemy. Bet it doesn't look like that when the goblins want to get around. "Let's weave." 22:44 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Ah, dagnabbit." 22:50 <CBN> Tony's spent enough time around the hobs that when he says, "Hey, which one's Y?" to a passing hob, he gets at least a grunt and a nod in the right general direction. They don't have much in the way of necks, so it's not much of a nod, or much of a direction. 22:55 <Crion> The Hedge's nature changes as you walk deeper in. You don't recall passing through a door, but you look up and look back down, and suddenly you're in a warehouse, with bulkier cargo containers. Good news: This means you're probably on the right track. 22:55 <CBN> Tony: "Well, that's something." 22:58 <dammitwho> Maggie: "One of them, narrative things, eh?" 22:58 <Crion> So which is first: Y14432, or Y14479? 22:58 <CBN> Tony: "Maggie, high or low?" 23:00 <dammitwho> Maggie flips a coin. "High." 23:00 <trenchfoot> High hopes. 23:00 <banana> Melanie doesn't like it. Hedge 'interiors' are worse than when it's admitting the wilderness it really is.. she concentrates as she walks, slowing a little. Hints of thorn and shadow begin to creep in, the faraway warehouse walls looking a little more like brambles, the paths between containers like game trails.. 23:00 <CBN> Tony: "...anyone bring a crowbar?" Tony eyes the crates. 23:00 <dammitwho> She looks a little stunned. "Good gravy, what am I doing? Lucky the quarter didn't come down as a lizard or something." Chagrined, she puts the coin back in her pocket. 23:03 <banana> Do these containers have doors we can open? 23:03 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Don't look at them too closely yet." 23:05 <VoxPVoxD> When he says this, he gets ahead of the group to check out the container. What awaits them at Lot Y14479? 23:08 <Crion> The container in question is blue, with a bright orange tag on the bolt which says it hasn't been opened. It's on the bottom of a stack, ground level, and there are 8 other cans around it. A 3x3, with your target bottom center. The aisles of the stacks are quiet... 23:14 <Crion> ...and your path is clear. 23:15 <dammitwho> Aw, jeez. The suspense...! 23:15 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart rounds the corner and after a moment and a brisk, gentle breeze he calls, "Oh hey, good news, this bolt's tamper tag is still on but the bolt itself is weak. This will just pop open if I kick the bolt." 23:16 <VoxPVoxD> Kick. Pop. Groan. 23:17 <CBN> Tony: "Give it hell!" 23:17 <trenchfoot> She really should've brought her guitar. 23:19 <banana> "Oh, that's convenient." Melanie rounds the corner with the others a moment later; the alterations to the Hedge come with her, bits of container-warehouse scenery being replaced with dirt and plants, but they're fading. All of it concentrates for a moment in a patch of genuinely grassy soil, where a strange plant springs up, flowers and withers in seconds; it leaves behind a little wooden 23:19 <banana> construct like a magnifying glass with a bit of filmy organic substance as a lens. 23:19 <banana> "Here." She passes it to Stewart, in case he wants such a thing. 23:20 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart takes the magnifying glass and combs over the container. He climbs in and out - getting sore again - and returns to say, "It's not here." 23:21 <VoxPVoxD> "We gotta try the other box. Uh, heads up, September 13th was a Friday." 23:21 <Crion> A drawl from behind them: "I surely do expect you're disappointed." 23:21 <Crion> A creaking swing. "Let me open mine." 23:21 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's hand strays to his hip. 23:21 <trenchfoot> Nels grabs for her gun. 23:22 <Crion> There's a grinning, hideous man with wild hair leaning against the stacks across from them, and he's just opened the door of the container opposite...and a giant woman, with a larger grin, burned out eyes, and a terrible whip steps through. 23:22 <dammitwho> Yep, here it is. 23:23 <Crion> The man: "Sadly, I think we've had a close encounter. And I don't think it has redounded in your favor. Oh no." What's that accent? Kentucky? And why are there stitches down his face? 23:23 <Crion> He's...at least half of a Changeling. 23:24 <banana> Which half? 23:24 <dammitwho> What does that mean? 23:24 <Crion> Samuel Unbecoming -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oECK1dNbuho -I'll live inside you forever! -No! -With Satan himself by my side! -NO! -I know that now and forever: they'll NEVER be able to separate Jekyll from Hyde! 23:24 <VoxPVoxD> Ah, jeez. 23:24 <Crion> Grinning Lash -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eyNMMM1CDQ Taste the whip, in love not given lightly; taste the whip and bleed on me. 23:25 <VoxPVoxD> Ah jeez. 23:26 <Crion> "My name is...Samuel." 23:27 <Crion> Unbecoming: "I just want to talk." 23:27 <VoxPVoxD> Mantles? 23:27 <trenchfoot> Nels: "...hello, Samuel." Her hand is still hovering over her gun. 23:27 <CBN> Tony: "Well hi Samuel, I'm Tony. What's up?" 23:27 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Well, sure. What about?" 23:27 <banana> Are these- Icon hunters? Or laying a trap for Maggie specifically? Or- there are too many possibilities. Melanie's frozen for a moment, backed into a corner between two containers. 23:27 <Crion> None. The 'woman' is probably a hob. 'Samuel' here looks...half changeling? Half of him has a Mien, half doesn't. What exists is Ogre. 23:28 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Talking's fine. It's good." 23:29 <Crion> Unbecoming: "I run a business." 23:30 <Crion> "It's a new business. And a fine one. And I've got...many...employees." 23:30 <Crion> You can hear some snuffling beyond the dark of that shipping container door. 23:30 <trenchfoot> She waves her hand in a 'go on' motion that doesn't stray far from her gun. 23:30 <Crion> "Completely legal, of course. Isn't that right, Grin?" 23:30 <Crion> The giant woman nods. 23:31 <Crion> "We've taken care of all the regulations." 23:31 <trenchfoot> Should she have used her other hand? Yes. Did she? Absolutely the fuck not. 23:31 <banana> Melanie: "Law's whatever the Wyrd says it is. Nobody voted." 23:31 <Crion> Unbecoming's smile widens. "Ain't it beautiful?" 23:31 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "What's on your mind, Samuel?" 23:32 <Crion> "I'm glad you asked!" 23:33 <Crion> "I've come into possession of some contraband, you see." An exaggerated calming gesture from Unbecoming. "Not on purpose, not on purpose. But it's contraband nonetheless." 23:33 <Crion> "And you're interested in that." 23:35 <dammitwho> Maggie: "And because you're a businessman..." 23:35 <Crion> Unbecoming, chuckling: "Oh, but am I ever. And all it will cost you is..." 23:36 <Crion> "Is--" 23:36 <Crion> Unbecoming clutches his head. "Oh, you MOTHERF--" 23:36 <Crion> The man curls over...then straightens. 23:36 <VoxPVoxD> Ah. 23:36 <Crion> Samuel: "We have your Icon, Maggie." 23:37 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Kinda figured." 23:37 <trenchfoot> Nels, flatly: "What." 23:37 <Crion> The giant woman stirs, and Samuel turns. "You swore an oath to both of us." 23:38 <Crion> Samuel: "He wants you to break the union on the docks. He's an idiot, of course. That's not only murderous but short term thinking, you see." 23:38 <Crion> "We can come to an alternate arrangement." 23:39 <trenchfoot> ... 23:39 <Crion> "That doesn't involve hurting anyone. Theoretically." 23:39 <trenchfoot> Alarming! 23:39 <Crion> Samuel kicks that door closed. 23:39 <dammitwho> Flatly: "What." 23:39 <banana> This is Maggie's show, but these guys' whole thing irks Melanie. They're squatting on a piece of her friend. They've got or he's got issues; who hasn't? She just wants to know the ransom price so they can decide whether to pay it or to make this guy and his monster fuck off. 23:40 <Crion> "We're in the security business. Our employers aren't convinced of the need for security. My...better half is convinced we should just squeeze people like you on the side. I think broader." 23:41 <Crion> Samuel: "I want you to rob the Notgnixel Yards and not get caught." 23:41 <banana> Melanie: "Who are your employers?" 23:41 <CBN> Tony: "...and what do you want from the Yards?" 23:42 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Rob it of what?" 23:42 <Crion> To Melanie: "The Board of Notgnixel." 23:42 <Crion> To Tony: "I want it robbed." 23:42 <Crion> To Maggie: "I don't care. Something expensive-looking." 23:43 <Crion> Samuel: "You need to realize that at this point, Maggie's Icon and the other one are property of the Yards." 23:44 <VoxPVoxD> The other one? 23:44 <banana> Melanie: "Let's clarify this. You work security for the Market, who aren't convinced they need you. You want us to create an incident to get you job security, by stealing something or damaging their operation at the docks?" 23:45 <Crion> Samuel: "Yes! That is what I want. And he wants the same thing, except by crushing the Dockworkers. Like Pinkertons." 23:46 <dammitwho> Maggie chews her lip. "I'll think about it. How can I get in touch with you again?" 23:46 <Crion> Samuel: "You can--oh no." 23:47 <Crion> His face twists, twists, he curls, and-- 23:47 <VoxPVoxD> This is going to be really inconvenient. 23:47 <Crion> Unbecoming: "You can make a decision now." 23:47 <Crion> The giant woman with the whip relaxes. 23:47 <banana> Melanie: "It's not out of the question, except that we have no reason to help you. You want to extort us. We can just get rid of you instead. We'd try not to kill you, but the way to guarantee that is to go away, now." 23:47 <CBN> Tony: "I think she's deciding to think about it." 23:48 <Crion> Unbecoming: "Can you." 23:48 <banana> Melanie: "It's five against one-half." 23:48 <Crion> He grins. "Is it." 23:48 <dammitwho> Hrrrh. Maggie's only real concern here is whether stealing from the Yard will hurt the union there. Will it? 23:49 <trenchfoot> We might need that gun sooner than later. 23:53 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Fine. The Yard boys are on strike, no skin off their backs." 23:53 <Crion> Unbecoming straightens. "Well. Not as fun." 23:53 <dammitwho> Maggie: "We've got different ideas of fun, pal." 23:53 <Crion> "But I will honor the deal struck by my better half." 23:54 <Crion> "Oh, indeed." 23:54 <banana> Melanie: "You don't want us to just beat the shit out of this guy? We'd risk being blackballed by the Market." 23:54 <banana> "Heck, we could report his scam to the Board instead." 23:55 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart doesn't know what the right call here is, so he stays silent. 23:55 <Crion> That gets a deep laugh out of Unbecoming. "Oh. Please! Please do! Look them up in the phonebook! Go see them on your lunch break!" 23:55 <Crion> He kicks the door open again and puts a glamour into it. "We'll be seeing you." 23:56 <Crion> The tall woman hob will slip through and shut the door. 23:56 <CBN> Tony, to the group, after S-U and the tall hob leave: "Argument could be made that if the union wasn't having to strike for better conditions, the theft wouldn't happen anyway. So maybe we're the good guys here?" 23:56 <banana> Melanie jabs a twig-finger toward Unbecoming Samuel. "Your ontology is bimodal. Fuck off with the pretence that you can outcontact us." 23:59 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Eesh. Can't imagine either of those guys are very happy." 00:03 <banana> Melanie doesn't look happy either. "Do you really want us to go up against the Market? They're neutral and they're our neighbours. This guy is an idiot or idiots who's trying to rope us into scamming them." 00:03 <CBN> Tony: "Besides, if we have to throw down with that idiot in the future, we can at least take his muscle off the board, remember?" Tony pats the star he keeps in his pocket. 00:05 <CBN> Tony: "Also, if he's got Maggie's Icon, I'm worried if we go in guns blazing it'll get that fucked up somehow, and then we're even worse off than we started, and we just spent some shifts sweating for the privilege." 00:06 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Mmm. 'Neutral' isn't the same thing as harmless. Anyway, we don't need to *steal* anything, no matter what that big palooka says. All we need do is convince 'em they need more security." 00:06 <dammitwho> "And who doesn't need more security, these days?" 00:06 <banana> "They need more security than this guys, who are trying to get them robbed!" 00:09 <dammitwho> Maggie clicks her tongue against her teeth. "Well now. Wellllllll now." 00:09 <CBN> Tony rubs his temples. "I guess the nice thing about making violence our last resort is that we can always fall back on it if we don't have better ideas, later?" 00:09 <dammitwho> "I recall saying the Yard boys are on strike. Could be a while before they get what they want. Can't imagine Hob nobs are big on caving to labor demands." 00:09 <banana> Unhappily: "We'll do this however you want Maggie." 00:10 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Maybe the union needs to push a little harder, cause a bit of a ruckus. Maybe we can help them out with that." 00:11 <banana> What, to get them to hire unionbusters and crack down? 00:13 <CBN> Tony: "There's nothing saying we have to do what they want and then let them enjoy it." 00:14 <CBN> Tony: "Two seconds after Maggie's got her Icon in hand, we could just as easily tell the union or anyone else who listens exactly who this guy is and what he's trying to do and for who he's trying to do it and just walk out." 00:15 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "We don't even have any reason to think anyone would care." 00:15 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Heck, we may not even need to do that. If the security they hire is already crooked... Every working fella understands a little honest graft. Deals made, palms greased, other such phrases, and everybody wins." 00:16 <dammitwho> "Well... the Board gets their status quo back, which is sort of like winning. For them anyway." 00:16 <CBN> Tony: "I guess to me the job was carrying shit, to get Chone to tell us where to look, for Melanie, and now the job is getting the Icon for Melanie, and we figure out whatever after that." 00:16 <CBN> *Maggie on both agh 00:17 <CBN> Tony: "So we run that play, or we run another, but either way we're still playing football here." 00:18 <VoxPVoxD> Jocks...! 00:19 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Now, uh, all that said, I don't want any of you to feel any more tangled up in this than you want to be. I know Melanie's lookin' a little uncomfortable..." 00:19 <dammitwho> "I admit it is a little, uh, greasy." 00:20 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I'll help however I can." 00:20 <banana> Melanie: "I don't like Samuel or Unbecoming. The hobs' economic maneuverings are.. they aren't real, but it's real to them.. it doesn't matter. We need to get you back." 00:20 <banana> "The idiots mentioned another Icon, too. I don't know whether that was meant as bait or just.. a slipup due to being idiots." 00:22 <CBN> Tony: "Hobs are important, but friends are always more important than not. And I don't know these guys here anyway. They aren't even the dockworkers." 00:22 <Crion> You can check the other shipping container if you want, but we can cut to the chase: there's nothing there either. 00:24 <CBN> Tony takes an exploratory look-and-nudge at the others nearby while folks are talking. Nothing says this has to take a long time. 00:28 <dammitwho> Maggie smiles- it does feel good to have friends to support you, and helping the little mushroom fellas (she assumes that all Notgnixel union men are mushrooms) agitate really sits right with her. 00:29 <banana> "There should be several ways to find out where the Yards are. We could ask the dockworkers, contact someone like Jackie or Samaritan.. follow a truck.." 00:30 <dammitwho> "I wouldn't mind chatting with Sammie anyhow." 00:33 <Crion> Finding your way back should be pretty easy. 00:34 <CBN> Tony: "Yeah in the meantime, let's probably scoot out of here before this warehouse turns into a giant vault or a big piggy bank or something." 00:34 <banana> Melanie: "Scrooge McDuck coin pool." 00:34 <CBN> Tony: "Which here would probably drown us." 00:36 <banana> Melanie: "And they wouldn't be valuable coins, like it would be Iraq dinars." 00:36 <dammitwho> Maggie: "A Who McWhat?" 00:36 <banana> "Have you heard about those? It's a big scam online.. pro-government conspiracy people believe in the coming Revaluation like it's going to make them all rich." 00:37 <banana> "The idea is like.. before the wars, a dinar was worth a few dollars or something. Now it's less than one cent, tenths of a cent." 00:38 <banana> "But! If you're economically illiterate, and who isn't since economics is also a conspiracy theory, you believe that America is going to make it all right, propping up the new regime right.. this was a bigger thing years ago but they still think Trump is going to do it." 00:38 <CBN> Tony gestures for the group to follow him, and through a combination of sniffing the air for the faintly myconian smell of workers, looking for footprints in the warehouse-ground-dust-alike that maybe looks like their own, but backwards, and just faking it, he manages to get the group out of the mazelike warehouse. Hopefully. 00:39 <banana> Melanie rambles: "So there are these people selling buckets full of thousand-dinar notes on ebay and craigslist, illicit dinar trading at gun shows.." 00:39 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Like buying futures in the Rapture." 00:40 <CBN> A bright, hissing neon 'Entrance back thisaway' sign on more than a few corners (is it the same sign? And is that hiss sibilant more than chemical?) helps too. 00:40 <Crion> Steve will join you once you get close. He's wearing a saucepan on his head...? He seems very proud. 00:40 <banana> "The really funny thing is social media. People are constantly tweeting at Iraq officials and at Donald Trump, or making instagrams demanding to know when the Revaluation is coming. Please mister President we need the RV, I invested my sons' and grandsons' savings in these fridge coolers full of banknotes with Saddam on them..." 00:41 <dammitwho> Does it really say 'Entrance Back Thissaway'? 00:41 <dammitwho> Maggie: "That's a rough chuckle, Melanie." 00:42 <CBN> It really does. 00:42 <CBN> Tony: "Hey, look at this guy! What's happening Steve?" 00:42 <Crion> honk 00:42 <banana> Melanie: "Well, it's not a good thing. But it's part of the like.. epistemological spectrum. There are forms of knowledge which if we look at them in a scientific sense, parens or the quasiscience of economics, close parents, are just.. wrong. But it doesn't mean they aren't known." 00:42 <banana> *close parens 00:43 <Crion> Some real cool shit involving little hobs. Lots of opportunities! Everything's in flux. 00:43 <Crion> Steve's not a CEO of Business, though. 00:43 <CBN> Tony: "Guys! Cool shit is happening, with the hobs!" 00:43 <CBN> Tony: "Chin up buddy, I believe in you and your acu...acumen's a word right Melanie?" 00:43 <banana> "Yeah." 00:44 <CBN> Tony: "Cool beans." 00:44 <Crion> honk honkkk 00:44 <dammitwho> Maggie: "What's this? Business Steve?" 00:44 <banana> Melanie: "It's the melty substance you get when the road surface heats up too much, derived from like albumen+bitumen." 00:45 <CBN> Tony: "Oh. I thought it was a thing for business." 00:45 <banana> Melanie: "You're probably thinking of bankumen." 00:45 <Crion> So much opportunity! So many out of work. Think of the crowdfunding campaigns! Steve has been promised apps that have been foretold. 00:45 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Acumen means good judgment." 00:46 <banana> Melanie giggles for quite a while. 00:46 <CBN> Tony: "Oh nice! Anyway Steve says there will be appetizers soon? Somewhere?" 00:46 <VoxPVoxD> Pretty sneaky...! 00:47 <dammitwho> Maggie: "People out of work?" 00:47 <Crion> honk! 00:47 <Crion> There's a strike on, right? 00:47 <banana> Melanie's glad they're close to home. "This could be related to the 'unions' they've been doing. Basically the goblins put on a shadowplay of a society for our benefit/detriment. It's kind of cute." 00:49 <CBN> Tony: "Well yeah, for now..." 00:49 <Crion> The goose stops. 00:49 <Crion> honk? 00:49 <Crion> Well, is that bad or good? 00:51 <CBN> Tony: "So, my understanding of strikes is, you stop working, so that you get more stuff when you start working again. By showing that if you aren't working, no one gets anything, and that you have the power. It's like stepping aside to let your QB get sacked so he knows what the line's for." 00:51 <banana> "Wait, where's it leading us?" 00:51 <CBN> Tony: "Very powerful but don't do it too much." 00:51 <Crion> Steve met you like two blocks from the Wherehouse and is walking back there. 00:51 <banana> Oh, it's leading us to a basic understanding of collective action. Carry on. 00:52 <Crion> The goose pauses. honk honk. honk! 00:53 <banana> "Are you on strike now Steve." 00:53 <Crion> Steve doesn't like opportunities that fuck over other hobs. That's not good. So yes, he is. 00:53 <Crion> Also he doesn't know what a QB is. 00:53 <dammitwho> Maggie: "We were thinking about helping out those striking fellas ourselves." 00:54 <CBN> Tony: "Goods news guys! Steve's on strike too! From...his...job...?" Tony's losing the thread. 00:54 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "So like, are we crossing a picket line just by going outside...?" 00:54 <Crion> Steve spreads his wings and runs around a little bit. honk!! 00:54 <Crion> He's willing to...help? 00:54 <Crion> But he wants beer. 00:54 <CBN> Tony: "We need to get Steve more beer." 00:54 <CBN> Tony: "Probably the rest of us too. It's been a full shift, we're good, right?" 00:55 <banana> Melanie: "I could use a drink." 00:56 <banana> Dealing with the Hedge is kind of exhausting. We have the tools to do it, but it's so.. it puts on a cutesy facade but menace is always there, and you never know what forces will be roaming, looking out for opportunities on the edge of everything. 00:56 <VoxPVoxD> It really makes you think, about society. 00:58 <Crion> Steve isn't arguing. 00:59 <banana> Once they're home, Melanie will head to the fridge; for once, she'll be the one to pass out bottles even to Steve. It was thirsty work; if only there were a point. 01:02 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart, exhausted and stressed, goes home. He's still got to stream for eight hours. 01:03 <Crion> Lauren and Chup are there to help. She's even got tea on. 02:50 <trenchfoot> 02:55 <Crion> 02:55 <Crion> 02:55 <Crion> 02:55 <Crion> 02:55 <Crion>