[Next turn is night time, and an inordinate amount of ones this turn. I think I only got one six, which is a stark reversal from how it was going for a while.
Few things of note: Cleaned up mechanics on the first page, and reworked how food works. I'd just suggest looking at it there as it explains it in a nice and tidy way, I think. Basically though: food relates to health regeneration/degradation and affects you at the passing of a period of the day, such as next turn.
Hopefully this late update is legible. If something seems weird, just ask and I'll clarify tomorrow when I'm awake.]
Harvey flipped through the catalog gleefully for an archaic lead spewer he fondly recalls as the P90. That should give those monsters a what-forth! But the catalog vexes him however, revealing nothing of the sort. In fact, it doesn't even show any kind of gun beyond pistols or rifles. Damn.
Not one to be put down by failures though, he punched in a revolver this time and hit the icon. The machine and it whirls to life, lights flickering on its surface and a deep rumble emitting from the metallic behemoth. The sound whirls and grows higher and higher until it almost seems to be at its apex, and then--and then it completely cuts out, with a red error flashing on the screen: "No Material Present!"
Harvey nabbed and shoved the metal cube into the opening in the machine and tried again. The song and dance started again, except this time with results! A newly minted revolver was being slowly carted outside of the machine thanks to the conveyer until it rested on the steel table. He quickly punched in three orders for full speed loaders, and the machine reciprocated by spewing out two of them before dying done, displaying a new error this time: "Insufficient Materials For Order: Speed Loader and Rounds."
Doesn't seem to be a very efficient process, but it seems it can make a few more rounds or something small. Definitely not enough for a full rifle mag, nor another full speed loader. Harvey flipped through the catalog once more to see if he could put a scope on his current rifle, and lo, there was a section in the back housing scopes. There seemed to be just enough materials for it too!
Harvey put the gun inside the opening compartment, which took a bit of wedging to get it to fit, but ultimately it was settled in there nicely. He hit the icon and waited for the results. The machine whirled to life and the gun was dragged further into it, and the whirl wound up like before. Not like before though, loud clangs and crunches issued forth from the machine that would cause a lesser man to cringe, the bangs and whines of straining machinery and overstressed parts echoing forth.
Soon, the sound started dying until it was nothing but the regular hum of the machinery, and out of the machine rolled a rifle scope, sans rifle. On the bright side, the machine shows it has more materials now at least. Although not as much as one would think from that rifle.
While Harvey was futzing around with the fabricator, Samuel was looking for something to deal with the smell before it attracts something. There didn't seem to be much around to help with that though, the store being a bare gun store, nothing except small fragments of broken glass, empty boxes, and the dying jungal flora. Wait... There's an idea.
The conductor looked at what he spent the last few minutes on, his handiwork. On the two corpses, about twenty boxes were stacked precariously around them and on them until they were covered in them. Well, it didn't do much to help the smell, but now it seems to be coming from the boxes instead of the corpses. Mostly because the corpses are now under the boxes.
Randall put the glove on and approached the door. "I-I found a rubber glove. I'm gonna t-try to open this."
"Good! Maybe we can find what those shitheads were trying to hide. Whatever it is, they went through a lot of effort." Wilmer rubbed his hands together happily as he watched Randall with interest, although it was to be noted the man stayed a good few paces away.
Randall grasped the door handle, and in response there was a hissing and buzzing noise as the electricity reacted to the touch from the greasy rubber glove.
"Seems there was some juice in the trap." He took a few noticeable steps backwards.
None of it touched the man wearing the glove however, and with a bit of effort Randall managed to yank the door open. There was a flash of electricity as the door swung forward, the wire snapped from the force and laying useless, disconnected from its power source.
Both Randall and Wilmer were greeted with a chilling breeze of stale air from inside the cooler, and it took a while for their eyes to adjust to the dark interior. There was a few things to note: one was the electrical battery with slight frost on it that stood in the middle of the room, left by whoever engineered this dangerous trap. The second was that behind it was a few crates of food, and the third was that Wilmer rapidly rushed into the cold room.
"Jackpot!" The man quickly picked through the room as Randall joined him, although when he did the survivor was singing a different tune. "Just my fucking luck..." He grumbled.
Randall saw why soon enough. Most of the crates were empty, and those that weren't were full of a freezer-burned slush that no longer resembled food anymore. There were a few recoverable bits though, and all in all Randall counted out about five rations worth of food, all edible at the least. A decent haul, but a let down from the initial inspection.
Freddie watched the once reputable business with Frogdo, but found himself struck with ghastly indecision. Should they charge in, maces high and feet low? Walk in and show they don't give the intruders any mind? Sneak?
"I'm feeling a little indecisive presently, so I'll ask you again, Frogdo - shall we charge or shall we sneak?" Freddie decided to garner Frogdo's opinion.
Frogdo, the guttersnipe that he is, came up with an answer immediately. "Sneak first."
The sneaks snuck sneakily towards the building, trying to peer inside. Frogdo managed to find a slight opening in one of the windows, a gap where the obstacle in front of it didn't quite extend to block all sight. He peered inside while Freddie took a rather unorthodox method to sneaking, namely he strode up right to the door and peered inside without any pretense of trying to stay quiet.
Oddly, this worked as the pair saw inside the store, dimly lit by the lights. Seems the building is intact enough for electricity. Leaning against a counter lazily sat a familiar figure, a large brute of a man who had a sledge rest on the counter besides him. It was Giant, one of the trio the two met along the way to the engineering outpost. He seemed to be too busy writing something for him to notice either of them, even Freddie who was largely in plain sight.
The building was cleaned and shelves were pushed in front of the windows and the door, although the one in front of the door was only partially blocking the door, not nearly enough to deter entrance or exit but rather just sight. The room was fairly nondescript, half-filled racks of clothes and hats, mostly hats strangely, filled the room except for a wide radius around the counters. Behind the counters two closed doors led further into the store it seems.
Before the two could capitalize on Giant's lack of perception, another of the three walked in from the backroom. Chin carried several suits that he was touching gingerly, taking pains not to ruffle them in any unneeded fashion, but almost dropped them all when he saw Freddie. "Lunk!"
The large man looked up with a start from his writing, stashing the papers into a large pocket quickly with a loud crinkle. Giant, or 'Lunk' as Chin called him, scowled as he hefted his sledge, and Chin likewise was holding his makeshift sword now that he had set the suits down. "Window." Chin held his sword tighter as his eyes darted between Freddie and Frogdo. "Keep 'em necked at the door, one at a tim--"
"Heyheyhey--What's going on out here?" The last of the trio, Floppy judging by his over-sized hat, made himself present to the scene. "Intruders."
"I can see him fine, what's the fuss?"
"Window."
"Sharp eye. ...Hey, ain't these two the guys from the intersection?"
"Looks like it."
Giant/Lunk and Chin both took a step towards Freddie, weapons bared and muscles tensed. Before a brawl could start though, Floppy rushed between the two groups.
"Heyheyhey! What'cha thinking? Rule Three!"
The two both snapped to attention on instinct and spoke in unison.
"Brother to all come dawn of night!"
"Brother to all come dawn of night!"
"Who's rules are those?"
"Yours boss-sir-boss!"
"Yours boss-sir-boss!"
"So what'cha doing?"
The two snapped out of attention and backed off, sheepishly looking at the ground. 'Boss' merely went back to inspecting one of the suits brought out.
"Right. Talking before givin' a socking! So what you two be wanting from us?"
It's safe to say the sneaking attempt was a failure.
Marion calls in to the bunker and it doesn't take long to get an answer back.
"Understood, Comm Unit Three, door opening momentarily. Please stand back and await the full opening of the door."
The wait for the door to start opening was a slightly longer one than it took to answer her however, but after a short while there was a mighty hiss from the metal slab of a door. The overbearing portal shuffled towards Marion slightly for what felt like ages as a loud metallic screech sounded in the concrete house of the door, serving only to echo it and make it louder.
Finally the door stopped sliding outwards with a loud clang, which was then followed by more clangs in a rapid succession from the top of the door down to the bottom, with the last being the loudest to leave its mark. Then the door slid down with a soft, anticlimactic thunk.
Marion made her way into the decontamination room and await the door to the outside world close in on her, leaving her trapped in the small room. Vents at the top let out a soft hiss as the room was misted by a bitterly clean smelling chemical. It probably wouldn't of been safe to inhale, but that was a moot point with her mask. Finally the misting stopped, some mechanical sensor somewhere satisfied with the irritation it caused, and the inner door finally started to open.
When it slammed into the concrete floor, Marion was met with the dim lighting, and an Enforcer at the other side of the newly opened door. The Enforcer gave a friendly wave, Marion recognized him as the enforcer who saw her off, and he beckoned her further in. He rapidly stood at attention as the almost unnoticeable-in-comparison door in the side wall opened though, and another Enforcer stepped forth.
"Welcome back, Detective Dupont. Ex-detective, I suppose, but what's the difference now a days?" The new Enforcer gave a salute that contrasted her otherwise casual demeanor.
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Topic: Survival At Its Finest: Waking Up From Sleep Mode (Q&A) (Read 61802 times)