That night as they clustered around the bedroom, Nico explained her ruse against the Principal when there came a knock at the door. Nico answered it and in came Gipontel dragging one of those metal wheeled luggage trucks. He was naturally in his suit with Converse sneakers and didn’t look very dusty. Nico half-wondered if he had used magic to step straight into the corridor and how she would explain it to the warehouse folks that he was there. She also wondered if she should try to gun him down from behind and flee but she doubted she'd make it very far. The idea of being a collaborator boiled her blood but she didn't fancy the idea of dying, presuming the gun didn't just jam.
Gipontel had something for them to do. He wanted them to go and collect a special rod for him that was hidden in a demon’s ‘nest’ in a large butcher’s in one of the light industrial areas in Brooklyn. In return for that he would make Rochelle some kind of exoskeleton that would make her stronger and more robust.
Nico agreed. What else could she do?
Gipontel seemed rather eager about the idea of this being the start of an ongoing relationship. He even had some ideas about uniforms. This was when Nico started figuring out that maybe Gipontel really had been alone for too long and maybe isolation with only seven humans for company for 20 years really had done his head in. Either that or his latest host was a bit of a kook.
You see, he had drawings of possible uniforms and they were ... comic booky in the extreme. One was even a Power Rangers rip off. One had a bee motif with black and yellow stripes. There were others, equally crazy. All in superhero poses. She politely and tactfully mentioned that military uniforms were designed with the needs of missions in mind – i.e. camouflage + ease of movement - though he didn't seem all that sold on the idea. He suggested that they needed some kind of symbol to denote the team and perhaps even individual symbols such as a half moon for Jack, smiley face for Rochelle, skull for Johnny and pentagram for Nico. Nico suggested something generic, like a dragon.
He then recommended they have a picture of him on the back of the uniforms, giving the thumbs up. She wasn’t sure if he was joking. She still isn’t. She managed to counter that, however, mostly through downplaying it and distracting him onto another topic of conversation. After all, he was meant to be in hiding.
Nico asked him a riddle to see if he knew the answer. Did he know about a dragon in the local area? Gipontel was perplexed. There was no such thing as dragons. In the end, figuring it was something keeping the university safe (or at least hoping) and not wanting to give it away, she lied about it just being a verbal trick. Gipontel saw through the lie which just made him all the more confused but he let it drop.
Finally, Gipontel left and the team got wasted on booze and dope as a way to cope with their new crazy world. Well, everyone except for Jack who had to stay healthy and went out for a run instead (probably in wolf form). Alyssa, the brothel madam, hung out with them too and exchanged booze for hash before settling a deal with Johnny Starr – a morning to remember and some breakfast for a dildo. She propositioned Nico that night (seems to like encouraging monster hunters who kill beasts for free to stick around) but Nico was way too stoned.
The last ones awake were Johnny and Nico who ended up desperate for food and plotting to bake the pre-mix cake. They found the stove and debated whether they should use the gas without permission and pay for it later but they needed eggs and oil, or ideally eggs and milk, and Nico didn’t fancy grabbing any of that without pre-approval.
So instead they stumbled up to a spare room and crashed on the same bed. Nico had Iron Stamina and had been up for so long that she went to sleep she was out like a light so when Alyssa came to fulfil her end of the bargain, Nico was moved to another room where she woke up without any real hangover.
Thank the Player for giving her five Stamina.
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