Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Episode - 16 V.I.P. Part 2
25 Plays26 days ago
With package secured, ID, OD, and Watcher begin the long journey back to Eilib’s station through the shady part of town. Join our traffic-surfing heroes as they fly high, learn to drive, and bear arms.
Also, ID and Watcher get very active in the back of a truck.
If you like what you hear tell a friend and give us a rating on your podcast app💖
Join the Sparkle Squad and we'll send you a sticker!
See us on Twitch: GlitterfoxMedia
Email us: contact@glitterfoxmedia.com
Intro and Outro Music from #Uppbeat
Recommended
Transcript
Exploring Acromia and its Social Dynamics
00:00:19
Speaker
I think when we left off, you wanted to get some food? Yes. love how you're the only being in this trio that has to eat food. So you're currently in Acromia.
00:00:31
Speaker
is a sprawling city. So we're currently at near this robotics laboratory. It's kind of a shady area. You can tell there's some businesses that are closed. Like you know like you go to some seedy areas where there's bars over the windows and everything. It's not great.
00:00:44
Speaker
You do see some... It's not great, but there's giant corporations just there. If it was there originally and the area kind of shut down, you'll know the history of this place. But you see some businesses open and it is very Earth-like. You imagine New York City? Any street in New York City is pretty much what this place looks like. Except... That ID doesn't know what New York City looks like. Yeah, well, that.
00:01:05
Speaker
But the buildings are huge, enormous. Even apartment buildings are taller than some of the tallest skyscrapers we have on Earth. They're enormous. And looking down the street, it's just like you're walking down a canyon.
00:01:19
Speaker
Either side the street is just filled with these giant buildings. Some of them are bricks, some of them are glass, some of them are kind of fancy looking. And you get the idea that based on what you see from the top of these buildings, maybe the richer, wealthier folk live on like the high rises. You get the impression that some of these lofty buildings with balconies and stuff, with flowers dripping over, but like the lower parts of the city is where the lower rung in the ladder lives.
00:01:44
Speaker
Like Sharn got it. Yeah. Odie mentioned the flying buses. When you look up, you see some flying buses. There's flying traffic. Because it's so tall. It's so tall. Yeah. So like you get the idea didn't really notice this before because you're new to a city. But looking up, it's like, oh, shit, there's a different there's like a different city up there that's built on top of the slums.
00:02:03
Speaker
As is the way.
Planning the Bus Adventure
00:02:04
Speaker
ah unfortunately. And even more bizarre, you can definitely tell you're in elsewhere because looking further down this kind of main drag of the city, you see where it just ends and a new plane begins. And whatever plane this is the land is upside down and it is...
00:02:19
Speaker
A completely different plane that is, like, it's getting kind of afternoon here. Sun's going down, but it's bright daylight in this plane, so it's kind of shining down a golden glow from this shattered, broken piece of glass-thicking thing in the sky. And you also notice, underneath that plane, also kind of bisecting the sky, you see the plane of Venker, and that is where you're heading.
00:02:39
Speaker
You do see at businesses, like you see restaurants if you want to grab food. You see a variety of businesses and one that's kind of like a market. You see people picking from stalls, you know, from vendors cooking food or just selling produce.
00:02:53
Speaker
You have a very excited and eager watcher and a very nervous Odie. Odie, give me some money. Uh, sure. You don't have your own? That's a conversation for a different time.
00:03:06
Speaker
He hands you a little bit money. Alright, wait here, don't move, don't get bandited. I'll be right back. Okay, uh, you want us to come with you?
00:03:16
Speaker
Neither of you eat. So like. I guess that's fair. That's fair. Okay. Hurry back. Okay. She's going to get food. Okay. Because she's a little peckish. But also she needs time to think away from Odie. Yeah.
00:03:32
Speaker
Some quiet thinking time. home Yeah. So she's going to grab, i don't know, whatever smells the best to her. Imagine and it's there, especially this market. yeah Like there's people grilling food and roasting meats like kebabs and shit. Something akin to like street corn or something. Or just like street vendors everywhere. Yeah, like some grilled vegetable thing. And she's going to make her way back. But slowly as she's eating this, she's going to send a message to Odie. OK.
00:03:56
Speaker
So where is it that we're headed? We are heading for the plane of Venkur, which is essentially down the street. you have a sense of that distance? Because you said it was going to take a day on foot, so... Well, it's not a day to get to Venker, but it's going to take a while to just travel through Venker to get to I-Lib's sure station.
00:04:16
Speaker
But surely... It's at least six miles. Six miles. Okay. And then she's going to send him a thumbs up emoji. And she's going to continue munching and thinking. And then a couple minutes later, she's going to send another message to Odie.
00:04:28
Speaker
Ask Watcher how heavy that CPU is. 750 pounds, not including the container. Okay, how heavy is the container? 35 pounds.
00:04:40
Speaker
Okay, 700. That's not that heavy. Okay, then she'll send another thumbs up emoji. She's going to finish off for her roasted vegetable thing. Did ID go towards in the direction that they need to go to get to the food? You went down the street. Like,
The Chaotic Bus Ride
00:04:54
Speaker
you went in the direction you need to be heading. Yeah, that's what I meant. Yeah. Okay. Yeah.
00:04:57
Speaker
You can see down the street, way off in the distance, above the horizon, you see this guy bisected by Venker and some other plane. You don't know what it is. Okay. And then she'll just message Odin.
00:05:08
Speaker
I'm not going to come back to you because this is the way we need to go. Okay. okay And yeah, he and Watcher catch up with you. Okay. Do you have any plans? I don't want to take a bus.
00:05:19
Speaker
But maybe a bus can take us. Well, that's what taking a bus is. You board a bus and it it flies you to your destination. You know, you don't always be so literal.
00:05:30
Speaker
I still understand what you mean. Okay, so getting on board a bus, there's going to other people in close proximity. Yes.
00:05:41
Speaker
We don't necessarily want that. But if we were able to get pulled by the bus... You see Watcher getting excited. She's like, oh, it's called sketching, right? I would have no idea.
00:05:53
Speaker
I've heard someone say that before. It sounds a lot of fun. Oh, he says, okay, so how do you propose we do that? Well, how low do do the buses get? You do see some buses on the street that they pick up people from below and they fly them upwards. And you see them come and go. There's bus stops. But they're flying high.
00:06:11
Speaker
Oh, yeah. You see them flying multiple levels. You don't really see them flying street levels so much. You basically just pick people up and then they go about their route. I'm going to go towards the nearest bus stop. Okay.
00:06:22
Speaker
And we're not going to get on the bus. We're just going to wait. And she's going to tell Watcher, hey, ah I know we just met and it might be weird, but I need you to hold me.
00:06:33
Speaker
don't think that's weird at all. She picks you up. Okay. And you probably should hang on. Oh, okay. Because as the bus starts to take off, she's going to point her lens at it and she's going to conjure a grappling hook and she's going to toss it onto the bumper of the bus. Okay, so I need you to... going to make you roll for summoning a fucking prop because you can do that. but um And it's going to be a small, so I'll charge you two.
00:07:03
Speaker
And I need you to roll to see how well you hook onto the side of this bus. I think Watcher grabs you in one big arm and hugs you there. I don't think I said how big Watcher is. Watcher's nine feet tall.
00:07:15
Speaker
And then she picks up Odie in the other arm and holds you tight. Okay. You gotta roll. Would this be an athletic endeavor, would you say? you' have be I don't understand how you're doing this because you're going to be, your your hand grabbing the grappling gun or whatever is going to be holding you and like a three ton robot and a much smaller robot.
00:07:37
Speaker
Unless you want. All I need to do is get it hooked on the bus. Okay. Who's holding on the fucking rope? Eight. Eight. All right. Well, that's a mixed.
00:07:48
Speaker
You hook it on there. As it starts taking off, it kind of shifts a little bit to the center of the bumper. I'm not sure where you were hooking it on. Doesn't matter. Okay. You hook it onto the side that you can manage. But then as it starts taking off, the weight that it's trying to lift shifts it to the center of the bumper.
00:08:04
Speaker
Odie, here, hold this rope for a second. Oh, why am I holding this? I can't carry the weight of all of us. Just hold it. didn't fucking break his arm. I think Odie, in a panic, he says, Watch her, I'm just going to climb up on you. You hold this.
00:08:17
Speaker
Okay. And she just grabs hold that rope. Okay. So what happens? I'm not sure how much slack this fucking rope has. Let's, i don't know, like... For the sake of this making fucking sense, it's a braided steel cable because I can't imagine a... Well, yes, okay. I can't imagine a rope holding essentially six tons off of the back of this vehicle.
00:08:40
Speaker
Hmm. why don't you roll another D6 for me? Or two D6s. Get it on there. 11. 11. Sweet. Okay. i probably should have rolled for that because Watcher's holding the fucking... But yeah, she she takes her job seriously and she's holding out that fucking rope. Let's call it a cable. A cable. Yeah. And you're doing it. You know that Bumper is straining and begging for death at this point, but it's doing it.
00:09:04
Speaker
So it's starting to lift off the ground. Oh, yeah. You're being towed behind this bus. And Odie's not really having it. He is gripping onto Watcher's short neck. And i know what you're doing.
00:09:16
Speaker
Like, just still in Watcher's one arm, I guess. Yeah. Okay. And you have no fucking idea where this bus is taking you. Okay. She's a smart girl. She's not going to go to a bus stop that says, oh, we're going the other way.
00:09:30
Speaker
Right, yeah, but like, this thing's heading in the right direction, but... Hmm. I'm gonna make a roll here. Let's see what happens. You see Watcher and she's having a blast. Like, she's like, Yes, I'm flying! This is amazing!
00:09:43
Speaker
how are you two holding up? I'm doing quite well, actually. Thank you. oh he doesn't say fucking anything. He's just not having this shit. Oh, fuck me. So I rolled a two.
Aftermath and New Plans
00:09:55
Speaker
Okay, so this is what happens. This bus is flying along at pretty good clip, like enough that you are swinging behind it. But it starts slowing down because it's making a stop 10 stories off the ground.
00:10:07
Speaker
h And you come in like a wrecking ball. You swing in behind with the momentum you have, how heavy Watcher is You basically come and swing and collide with the underside of it.
00:10:22
Speaker
Well, okay, hold on. When I start seeing that the bus is slowing down and descending. It's not descending. It's making a stop. Oh, it you so oh I see. Because it's a flying bus that's dropping people off. I thought it was.
00:10:35
Speaker
It's dropping people off at one of the high rises. Okay. Yeah. You see the bus slowing down. what are you doing? There's not a whole lot we can do. No. I mean, yeah, you are you are high off the ground.
00:10:46
Speaker
Okay, watcher, we're coming in a little hot. What should we do Bend your knees. Okay. She kind of goes into a field position. Like you collide into the other side of this bus and you hear kind of a nasty crunch.
00:11:00
Speaker
But it's not from Watcher because Watcher is very, very hardy. But she uses her free hand now that clearly the rope is like, it's still there. But she's also kind of grabbing onto the other side of this bus to not fall 10 stories.
00:11:13
Speaker
But yeah, like she's still holding onto the both of you. Okay. oh What do we do now? Okay, so we're on on the underside of the bus. Yes, and you put a good-sized crater on the underside of it.
00:11:26
Speaker
The bus driver and everyone on board heard and felt this. That's okay. We're out on the underside of it. yeah Okay, Odie. Yes? I need you to make something that's that will, like, cradle us underneath the bus and keep us on the underside.
00:11:43
Speaker
Okay, I just don't understand how this is. He basically manifests another cable and he hooks it to the underside of the bus. Okay, so if you hook it on these toe points, it should hold us safe here.
00:11:57
Speaker
But I'm not sure for how long because we have greatly jeopardized the structure of the underside of this bus. Well, we'll just have to cross that bridge when we get there. So bus drops this people off and starts descending, but kind of fast. It's not falling, but you get the idea that you've caused substantial damage to this vehicle. It is not flying very well.
00:12:20
Speaker
so whoever is controlling it is trying to descend at a pretty safe decline, but is kind of struggling to do so. see you're coming pretty close to the ground. Okay, watcher.
00:12:34
Speaker
Yes. How strong is your outsides? Pretty strong. Stronger as bus. Right. We've established that. um So if you were to let go from the bus when we were about, I don't know, five feet from the ground, would you be OK?
00:12:55
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Well, I guess she could just stand up. at that point Yeah. i ah Yeah. she's She's nine feet tall. Okay, so here's what we're going to do. We're going down. How far did we get? Like couple miles.
00:13:07
Speaker
Not very far. A couple miles? A couple miles in your six mile trek down the street. Yeah. All right. That's progress. Okay, so we're going down. When I say go, drop your legs down and you should feel the ground.
00:13:22
Speaker
Okay. Odie,
Building the Makeshift Vehicle
00:13:24
Speaker
how's that package looking back there? It's fine. We just have to make sure we land upright. I have full faith in Watcher's ability to stand up.
00:13:33
Speaker
Okay. Yeah, you get pretty close to the ground, and she... And now... Yeah, she lets go, and she lets go of the rope and everything, the cable, and she lands with a pretty hard thud in the ground. so She actually dents the pavement a little bit, and this bus lands 20 feet away, and the doors open up.
00:13:53
Speaker
Odie immediately, that flash of light, which he knows him, disguising himself. And it's a ah rat. And he says, I cannot be seen after this.
00:14:04
Speaker
Yeah, I'm not sure why you weren't disguised this whole time. But, you know, I'm not going tell you what to do. And he sees this bus driver come out. He's like, hey, what do you guys think you're doing?
00:14:15
Speaker
Watcher's still holding me, right? Yes. I'm just going to say, we're having a private moment. What's it to you? Roll. and see if you can take your weight out of this. With my minus one?
00:14:27
Speaker
That's still a nine. oh shit. In the middle the fucking street, what are you doing out here? And you happen to see what climbed with my bus? Was another vehicle? Uh, no, I was... My eyes were... And I'm gonna, like, look up at Watcher.
00:14:41
Speaker
My eyes were elsewhere at the time. ah we... We might have saw somebody. They went that way. Get the fuck out of the road before you run over. Come along, dear. Let's get out of the road. Yeah, you walk on past this bus driver who's dialing some number, and you see a lot of bus passengers get off.
00:15:01
Speaker
They get to their stops. They to find some other way home or to their destination. so now what are you doing? Okay, well so we're just going to walk. Okay. Okay.
00:15:12
Speaker
Well, I hate to admit, but we can't take the bus, and the bus apparently can't take us either. So. That was super fun, though. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
00:15:23
Speaker
It was a huge learning experience. You want me put you down now? I mean, only if you need to. i don't really need to, but she sets you down. i mean He's not above just getting carried so she doesn't have to walk five miles.
00:15:39
Speaker
She says, so, uh, are we just walking now? How far did we get? He jumps off your back and like mid jump, he turns back into Odie. He says, uh, about a couple of miles. Okay. It's a head start, but I would advise making a spectacle like that again. It would just draw unwanted attention.
00:15:56
Speaker
You know, you could still talk to me and still be whatever you were, right? Yes, but now you just wasted energy. I recharge here. It's elsewhere. Well, isn't that just nice for you?
00:16:06
Speaker
Well, okay, you know what? Good, because now you're going to do all the summoning going forward. Yeah, I agree. That's wise. I will admit, Miss Heidi, that was very creative of you, but causing destruction to public property Well, that wasn't the intent. I didn't realize that that bus was going to stop.
00:16:25
Speaker
I guess I don't understand buses. They had to stop eventually. Well, i I guess I don't understand buses. So the reason, well, I'm sure there's quite a few worlds where buses don't fly, but in this city, the buses are the main transportation for up there.
00:16:39
Speaker
And he points to the skyline above you. There are other methods of
Surprise Attack and Magic Revelation
00:16:44
Speaker
transportation, but the buses are great public transport, and damaging one would be we get you in significant trouble. So good job lying back there, though I suggest... you mean lying? I didn't lie.
00:16:56
Speaker
We damaged the bus. He asked us who damaged the bus. and in we No, he said he asked us what we were doing. And I say well we were having a moment, which we were.
00:17:07
Speaker
and then he asked if he saw what did it. And I said I was looking elsewhere, which is also true. but Okay, okay. Just, uh, let's not do that again. Well, I don't think we can. He looks down a kind of like a side street. Like you're heading down this one street, this one path.
00:17:23
Speaker
He looks down this side street and freezes. And you see what he is looking at. And it is just enormous black building made of black glass. And it is easily the tallest building in this entire city. It is into the clouds.
00:17:41
Speaker
And you see out front, Grayson Robotics, but it is a completely different facility. Another one? We don't, uh, we should go. Why is there two?
00:17:53
Speaker
That is the center of the city where Graylamore and the task manager reside. We are not going there. Are you sure? Yes, I'm absolutely sure. I mean, not you, obviously. i just- No, we cannot, we cannot go there.
00:18:08
Speaker
We cannot go there. Okay, well, maybe I can go there and... No! I don't know what would happen to either of us if we went to see Greylamour. Again, again! What is this we?
00:18:19
Speaker
I'll just go and and request an audience with her. I'm sure that's a normal thing. it is. I highly doubt you'll get an appointment, but as soon as someone realizes you're not from elsewhere... how are they gonna know? I'll disguise myself.
00:18:32
Speaker
Who do you think operates that building? It's it's run by fixers. I can tell when you're in disguise. Other fixers can tell when we're disguise. Wait, what? Absolutely. You never said that. Why do think you can see the planar door now? Why do you think we can see it? Because smart and you pointed it out. You can see the planar door now because you have access to our technology and you've been exposed to elsewhere. That is why all this is starting to work for you.
00:18:54
Speaker
Other fixers. my gosh. You can't hide from other fixers. This is this is this is not good territory to be in. Remember earlier when I asked what I was missing and you said no one just could tell me? This might have fallen in that category of, hey, you don't think you... Hmm.
00:19:13
Speaker
We'll to talk about this later. All right. Let's cross the street. He leads the way he crosses the street towards the the direction you're heading. I do not look both ways because I'm not used to needing to do that. mean, oh, he crossed on a walking sign. So, like, he's no street safety. I'm just letting you know that she's just going to cross the street. He's got to get hit by a truck. Well, so be it. That's what it is. Okay.
00:19:37
Speaker
I need to know. Actually, Jerika needs to know. What are the limitations on props? ID would would have experimented and tried things out. So she probably You're talking well like size and complexity?
00:19:49
Speaker
Well, I guess complexity. like So you can summon any inanimate object that is fully functional. So, like, a car would be fully functional.
00:20:00
Speaker
Yes, it'd fucking huge. A go-kart would be fully functional. Yes, but go-kart's not gonna drive Watcher. Well, depending on the kind of go-kart. Like, if you put a jet engine on it, like... have a feeling for some things, like fucking rockets and shit, I'm gonna ask more charges of you because they are more complex. I mean, that's fine.
00:20:23
Speaker
Odie's got unlimited charges. Okay, so, like, mechanisms, things that have mechanisms would still work. okay Yeah, like, you can summon a fully functional grandfather clock with all the cogs and everything in it, and it would tell the right time.
00:20:35
Speaker
But summoning, like, a jet engine, you'd probably just summon it with fuel. You could summon a car, but it's gonna have an empty gas tank. Bodine. Yes? I have a question. Yes. ah Is it possible for me to create half of a prop and you to create the other half and have it work as a whole?
00:20:56
Speaker
I don't see how that's possible. You would have to come up with each half precisely. I can do that in my mind, but you, I don't know how you would picture like the insides of a working mechanism if that's what you're saying.
00:21:14
Speaker
I'm sorry, you don't know how I would picture the insides of a working mechanism? Well, mean, half of it, to to combine them? I don't see how either of us would make that compatible without sharing the same brain. Okay, putting that horrific thought aside, if I started and made the first half, I'm sure you could extrapolate what the other half should look like, right? Yes, so I'm sure that's possible. Why do you ask? Well, okay, so to summon one of these, these what are these called, these conveyances
Reflecting on the Battle and Journey
00:21:44
Speaker
things...
00:21:45
Speaker
Cars. Or trucks or flying buses, whatever you want. Well, we're not doing a flying bus. Is more than I can handle currently. Yes. But I might be able to do half.
00:21:55
Speaker
Yes, i we could do that, but we would design a vehicle that could have the load capacity for our friend Watcher here. Obviously. You're talking a very large vehicle.
00:22:06
Speaker
Not necessarily large, just... Hefty. Robust. If we summon the right materials. He's kind of thinking, but then you do see coming from that headquarters, that big black building, you see like a box truck. And it is just as black and sleek as the building itself.
00:22:22
Speaker
And it drives past you guys. A box truck? It only has to be big enough to fit Watcher in it, so it doesn't have to be that big. Right. But you don't know how to drive? Do you?
00:22:35
Speaker
but I don't have a license to drive one. oh my gosh! It's possible for a fixer to get an operational's license, but it it takes special permissions. and oio Her hands! Her head is in her hands! ODI units do not get that permission.
00:22:50
Speaker
If you ask an A-B unit, sure. A-B units have licenses to fly, even. I'm crying, O.D. You're making me cry. i apologize, but if I get caught breaking any kind of rules... Okay, yeah, if you get caught breaking rules, sure, that's gonna happen. Why do you think I transformed myself earlier? i couldn't be seen damaging equipment out here. That would be an instant report to Grellamore.
00:23:13
Speaker
My point is, Mr. Goody Two Shoes, I'm not worried about you breaking rules because you never do. Except then broke a bus. No, well, technically we didn't.
00:23:25
Speaker
Technically the bus stopped in front of us. As is it was designed to do. Well, that's neither here nor there. Okay, we just have to get back to ILIP. Yes, and I don't understand why we were're we're doing all these stunts. We can just walk.
00:23:40
Speaker
We could just walk. Watcher, do you think it would be a safe and a good idea to walk with that heavy load on your back the entire time? It's not an insignificant amount of weight. If you guys could summon a truck, that would be really cool.
00:23:55
Speaker
Listen, we do not want her to get fatigued and run the risk of tripping or something like that. Now, do we? No. ah Well, I feel pretty good, but go on.
00:24:06
Speaker
So I summon a half of the vehicle, you summon the other half, and then you just look like any random person and drive it. Okay, I can try to make that work. ah I'm going have to see how much I'm charging both of you for fucking charges because... That's not to be super big, just big enough for her to sit in. and There's nothing to enclose her.
00:24:31
Speaker
Yeah. Who does it first? Do you do first? Yes, I have to do it first. Because you're going use the rest of your thing. Yeah. Okay. I'm going to take my scanner, which, yes, I know is a little janky still, but I am going to scan a vehicle to see what information I can glean from it. So I'll i'll give you this.
00:24:49
Speaker
That box truck that drove by you, it's at a red light. So you have Granol's box truck. So I'm going to scan it with my antenna. Okay. My slightly upgraded biometric scanner. Roll 2d6 for me.
00:25:03
Speaker
Janiel, that's a
Reaching the Destination and Delivering the CPU
00:25:04
Speaker
12. Holy shit. Okay, so that and wasn't... if you don't believe me... That wasn't actually for how well you did this. That was how sneaky had to do this to not trigger any security measures on this fucking truck from Grey L'Amour.
00:25:17
Speaker
What is this? The range is not very long i'm on this thing yet. No, but like you're you're approaching basically an armored vehicle. You had eyes on you, but they didn't think you were doing across on the street.
00:25:27
Speaker
OK, so now I want you to roll for fuck. That's a seven. OK, yeah. So how many charges are you burning up? I'll go all of them if I need to. Sure about that. No, I'd like to leave some enough to like to not cause a reset.
00:25:43
Speaker
Yes. That's why I was asking. Wait minute. I'm benevolent enough to say, hey, if you burn all of those, your truck is immediately going to vanish because you burnt your thing. Well, okay. You can go everything but one.
00:25:54
Speaker
Well, maybe I can let Odie do a little bit more than half, you know? Can I leave three? You can leave three. Okay. So what sort of information did I get from that scan?
00:26:05
Speaker
You rolled what? A seven. A seven, which actually tracks for this truck. You get mainly the outside of the truck and you get the undercarriage, you get the motor, but really nothing else. And you get this sense that like you basically threw your device's ping at it and some of it bounced back to you immediately. There's some kind of shielding technology specifically on the back end of this truck. So you don't know what's inside the box of the box truck.
00:26:33
Speaker
Well, that's not suspicious at all. It's coming from like a high-tech government facility. It's like an armored truck. You get the sense that there's something in here that shielded your thing and bounced it back to you.
00:26:44
Speaker
When you get the image up, it's like the back half of the truck is just not there. Okay. But you get truck, you get the motor, and you get the truck. That's the important part. Okay. So once the truck leaves, like, okay, we have to go, alley something. Yeah. So where we can do this in private.
00:27:01
Speaker
Okay. So she's going to look at the the data that she just acquired. She needs to fill in some of the blanks. She's going to spend a little bit, maybe 10, 15 minutes cycling through the data that she has available to her and trying to match up as best she can the data she has with the data she received. It's just going to take her a little bit.
00:27:24
Speaker
And she's got her journals out, too, and she's consulting them. And she's, like, making little notes. If anybody talks to her, she's going to not hear them because she's, like,
00:27:35
Speaker
Yeah, I think Odie's attempt to ask you questions, but then when you're doing your thing, you glance over and you actually see Odie and Watcher just talking. Like, you probably don't care what they're talking about or listen or hear what they're talking about. But see Odie summon a Rubik's Cube and hand it to Watcher.
00:27:50
Speaker
Watcher's hands are just way too big, so, like, he does away with it and he makes a bigger one for her and she's just like, yes! Okay, here's what I want to summon. Okay. I want to summon a so she's got a motor, and then she's got wheels, and she has, like, a stone slab.
00:28:10
Speaker
The frame of the truck. Yeah. She wants to make that frame out of the strongest material that she has access to in her antennae. I'm sure at this point you've come across Vankorean iron, which is what she's made out of. And Odie said it it's the strongest material in elsewhere.
00:28:30
Speaker
So, like, you have access to that. All right. Awesome. She's going to use as much of that in this build as she can without making it too heavy to actually move. That's heavy shit.
00:28:43
Speaker
There's a reason why she weighs several tons. We could make it hollow. we can You're like 3D printing this thing? Kind of. So like she has to do this all by hand because she doesn't have a neural link or anything yet. Okay.
00:28:56
Speaker
But she also wants to make it as small as literally physics physically possible to accommodate the load that we have. Okay. It doesn't have to go super fast. It just has to get us there.
00:29:10
Speaker
And it has to be able to be driven with a decent amount of control. And would it be too much to put like a little driver's license hanging from the rear view mirror?
00:29:22
Speaker
Fucking Odie's face on it Yeah. Or some random person's face that he can... Roll 2d6 for me. Because it's a separate roll. Basically, you roll to scan this. You roll to be sneaky. You roll to scan it.
00:29:33
Speaker
And I had to build it. Would you consider this using, you know, figuring shit out? Yeah. Good, because I working on was going to make that argument, too. What'd you roll? I rolled a natural 11.
00:29:45
Speaker
Nice. For a 13. Nice. Okay. You make this thing, and it's it's weird because, like, you never made a partial prop before, but again, like, you made it, you did your coding or whatever, so you make it a standalone prop, even though it's half a fucking truck.
00:30:00
Speaker
Like, yeah, you make that. And you see Watcher's fixated with this little Rubik's Cube that she is struggling to solve. And Odie's trying to like, you know give her little hints. But then he sees what you're doing and he says, okay, uh, I can do this. And his eyes glow and he's there frozen for, like, a minute. But then you see him project out that beam and made it up to yours and projects out the rest of the truck. And it's, like, a small-er box truck. It's not sleek black like Ray L'Amour's probably did it on purpose just so it wasn't a clone of the truck because that would be suspicious.
00:30:36
Speaker
But this is a blank white box truck. And you see Odie project this thing out and the truck thumps to the street complete and ready to go. And you see Odie collapse.
00:30:47
Speaker
You see Watcher look down and she says, Mr. Odie, are you all right? I'm fine. ah It has been a very, very long time since I have made something quite that large. I i do not feel very well at all.
00:31:02
Speaker
She's going to bend down and like look at him like, you know, you they'd like move the face and look in the eyes kind of thing. And then she's like, I can't tell anything by this. She's going to scan Odie with the, I guess the biometric scanner is not going to not organic. Yeah.
00:31:17
Speaker
She's going to do it anyway. yeah ah She knows that she's probably not going to get anything, but yeah yeah anything would be better than nothing. don't get much. Miss Heidi, what are you doing? Trying to see if I can do something to help you.
00:31:30
Speaker
That shouldn't have taken that much out of you. Oh, yes. ah I just need a minute I'll be fine. She starts doing the math in her head because she knows that Odie's is built the exact same way and it works the exact same way except it's rechargeable.
00:31:47
Speaker
And she's like, if you're constantly being charged just by being here, you should have had plenty of energy not to... ah i'll I'll recharge in a bit, but to just let all that go all at once is is not pleasant for me. Okay, I'm sorry. but didn't realize it was going take that much out of you.
00:32:10
Speaker
I thought I could handle it, but it's ah I honestly can't recall last time I made a prop of quite that size. And he does try to get on his feet and he doesn't look great.
00:32:21
Speaker
You see like the color of his lens is kind of faded and he says, okay, um, shall we be going then? Are you going to be able to drive? uh, Miss Heidi, I know how trucks and vehicles work, but I can say with the absolute truth, I have never driven any vehicle before.
00:32:42
Speaker
I can figure it out. ah Okay, well, yeah, so can I. i just, okay. You know what, Watcher, can you put him in in the truck and and hop in with...
00:32:53
Speaker
Okay, yeah, she... And ID's gonna climb in the driver's seat. Okay, yeah, she scoops up Odie and he's just like, uh, okay, um, alright. And they both climb into the back of box truck.
00:33:04
Speaker
Okay, she's sitting there and she's like, okay, I built this thing. I should know how it works. But you see, that's ID's weakness.
00:33:16
Speaker
She doesn't necessarily know how things work, she just knows that things work. Okay. um She closes her eyes and she's picturing all the little parts that she put together.
00:33:30
Speaker
And she's like, okay, so that does this. And when this is, okay. So pedals. This one increases acceleration. This one decreases. Okay.
00:33:43
Speaker
um This wheel is a steering mechanism. That seems sort of easy. Okay. okay, I can do this.
00:33:53
Speaker
Yeah, i could I got this. This no this is no problem. What was picturing my head was like a ah traditional box truck where the the box is separate from the rest of the truck. This is like a, you made a smaller version. This is like a- Like a van. sort of It's like a big van, like a sprinter.
00:34:07
Speaker
There is a sliding door to the back of the truck. It's like a UPS truck. It's like a UPS truck. And you're watching from the back and say, you got this. I'm believing you. Yeah, of course I do.
00:34:18
Speaker
I'm really smart. And you look back there and, like, watch her as hunched over. There's barely enough room for her bulk in the back of this truck. But, uh, you see Odie who is, like, basically hit on his knees, sitting on the ground, like, not doing well.
00:34:33
Speaker
Ivy just says, like, to herself, like, okay, but we didn't need a roof for her. Alright, okay, whatever. Um, alright, how was the package? Safe and sound.
00:34:44
Speaker
Okay, let's do this. Are you firing this truck up? Well, she was going to, and then she was like, oh. Because she sort of got the gist of how to operate it, but starting it, she kind of forgot about.
00:34:58
Speaker
um How do i turn this on? You usually need a key. Okay, well. um She, like, reaches into her pockets, and she like pulls out like a screwdriver or something, some tool, and she, like, jammed through the ignition.
00:35:13
Speaker
You feel a tap on your shoulder and you see Odie who hands a key to you. Just take this. Oh, okay. Puts the key in. Okay. to Turns?
00:35:25
Speaker
Yes, that's how keys work. Wow. Man. Calm down. Calm down. You got this. turns it on okay it doesn't make a sound because it's electric yeah but like you know it's on lights come on in the dashboard and okay you feel that little motor portal life all right there are no seat belts that's not a thing fuck safety yeah well that's not a thing that like i don't she didn't get seat belts from the truck so like right didn't even he doesn't know anything about this shit so there's no seat belts
00:35:58
Speaker
Just making that clear right now for whatever else happens. Okay. And she's going to put her foot on the pedal and see if she can't get this to move. Okay. ah yeah You do it. I already had you roll for the truck. Okay.
00:36:12
Speaker
So she's going to drive out of the alley. Okay, yeah. You hear like, oh, he wants backseat driving. He's just like, remember your turn signals? I don't want to get pulled over. My what?
00:36:22
Speaker
The little lever on the side. What? There's lots of levers here. want me sit up front with you? No, no, I got this. Turn? What is a turn signal? It's the little black lever off to the side. No, but what does it do?
00:36:36
Speaker
It flashes a little signal if you're turning right or left. Why would I need something to tell me which way I'm turning? I know which way I'm turning. to let everyone else know, it's it's street laws. Here. I don't know if I made that.
00:36:48
Speaker
She's gonna try and turn out into the street. Okay. Hopefully not get hit. She's actually being cautious for once. Sometimes she's like, it's a little bit, you know, ah double make hair, but like she's being cautious. There's important cargo. She gets that. She definitely needs the crystals. So she wants to make sure this goes well. Okay.
00:37:10
Speaker
Yeah. So I'm sure you've been hearing me make rolls. Yeah. Those were not just me fucking around. i would have no idea other the way. You're driving around, ah around you know, pretty well.
00:37:23
Speaker
Occasionally, oy is kind of peeking from behind your seat. Again, he looks like shit. You think he like he should be recharging for some reason? like he He doesn't look any better than he was five minutes ago. He's just kind leaning over your seat and telling you to stop it stop signs and red lights and everything and stop for pedestrians.
00:37:38
Speaker
Yeah, and yeah the stopping is not smooth. Oh, yeah. But he's his backseat driving you a little bit. First time driver, you know, parent being yeah extremely nervous and like telling you how to fucking like stop. Yeah, and at one point when when he's like stop, she stops and like it's a rough stop and he slides forward. and Despite everything, you are doing very well for your first time operating a motor vehicle.
00:38:01
Speaker
You inspire me with such confidence. You see that shard of Venker coming into view. You actually see like the bottom of it where it touches the plane of Augman where you could safely cross over.
00:38:14
Speaker
When you feel the truck shudder and you hear a very, very loud bang from the back cargo hold. And you see with its very tough Venkarian iron barbs in the top of the truck, you see what kind looks like the end of a harpoon.
00:38:34
Speaker
What the hell? You see Watcher get up. and She's like, I'll get it. And she grabs the end of this thing and pulls it through. And with it comes the end of a harpoon gun.
00:38:45
Speaker
And through the hole, she sees a few figures on the top of this truck who are somehow anchored to it. But yeah, you have a situation on the back of the truck.
00:38:55
Speaker
What's going on back there? Oh, um, I think we have hitchhikers. and What's a hitchhiker? Someone who's not supposed to be here. And you see her put that foot bag down. And from her back, she draws two lit batons. She puts the package down?
00:39:12
Speaker
Yeah. She goes to step up to these people on the truck. She can barely stand up in this thing. She's kind of like hunched over. But she sticks a baton through the hole to try to like get these people away from the hole.
00:39:24
Speaker
Actually, should roll and see how well she she does this. and see here's While you're doing that, here's a question. Yeah. Can you dismiss part of a prop or no? It's summoned as one unit.
00:39:36
Speaker
Or you summon the back of the truck? I mean... Where the package is? Yeah, well, you know, it's fine. It's fine. yet. So she goes to strike one of these people with her baton, but she rolls a fucking three.
00:39:50
Speaker
I think she gets that baton kicked out of her big iron hand by an equally impressive figure. You don't see him, but she sees him. it is a very big saltwater crocodile folk, just an enormous dude.
00:40:06
Speaker
And he has his claws buried into the back of this truck as well as he's trying to tear this hole open. Watcher, I need to know what's going on back there! ah big scary dude, can you can you floor it?
00:40:18
Speaker
What does that mean? Floor it! Go faster! Yeah! And she puts the pedal to the metal. Yeah, uh, make a roll. We're doing some contested rolls here. That's a five.
00:40:29
Speaker
Okay. You speed up, but there's other people on the road. You're in a fucking city. ah How far are we away from the edge of the plane? a couple miles. It was a six miles total and you made it a couple miles, you drove for a little bit, and now you have some hop-ons.
00:40:45
Speaker
And I roll for Mr. Crocodile Man. There's 200 people on top of this truck, but he's the first one to kind of rip open a gash. I'm making a roll for Watcher, who does hit him pretty good in the face with her baton, but she gets a mixed. So in return, Crocodile Man is going to seize her arm with his big old mouth.
00:41:05
Speaker
Good luck with their teeth, man. Yeah, he's got her secured, but he's gonna need a dentist after this, I think. But while she's kind of like has one arm in his face, and he's kind of like in the back of this box truck now.
00:41:19
Speaker
And Odie is just kind of not doing much. He can't do much. I keep looking back just to like sort of see. Odie. Yes? Bud, you're going to have to get up here and drive.
00:41:30
Speaker
I don't know if I could do that. Could I have to try, man? Swapping seats with him? Yeah, you're no good to anybody back there. you're You're right. I'll, uh, okay. Just carefully. Let's swap seats.
00:41:44
Speaker
Careful is not a thing that happens. She, like, just... Just bolt out of the seat? Yeah. Odeon, his, like, compromised state just very quickly, like, kind of scrambles. Yeah, and Idy, like, kind of, like, pulls, pushes him, and like, into there.
00:41:58
Speaker
Okay. Yeah, we you see the back of the truck, you see Watcher, who's kind of again, half hunched over, her right hand, or her right arm in this crocodile person's mouth, and both his arms are free, but he's kind of weaponless, and his weapon was just a harpoon.
00:42:12
Speaker
and Her other arm has, she lost more her batons. So she has her right arm with a baton in it. It's in his mouth. Her left arm is empty. She's kind of like beating on his face, trying to get him off.
00:42:22
Speaker
But then you see two more people enter through this gash. And you see there are two Ogminian, you know, Chromian people. But they are brandishing like pole weapons. Like not really like sharp blade weapons, but like blundering kind of weapons with them.
00:42:37
Speaker
Where is the harpoon gun at this point? It's kind of like under between Quack Clown Man and and Watcher. And you're kind of between them and the computer, the CPU.
00:42:48
Speaker
Okay. Ivy is going to very quickly scroll through all of the creatures that are native to Augmin and try and find the scariest thing that she can become that's roughly her size.
00:43:04
Speaker
Okay. that, you know, she's only got three charges. So like... Yeah, you can only do a miter change. Or at least maybe get something with a claw or something. Yeah. She can't summon any weapons. She has to sort of improvise here. I mean, like, turning them an animal is like really changing your shit.
00:43:20
Speaker
what But just one hand has claws. how that That can't be that hard, right? That's like a minor change. If changing skin color is a minor change. don't know if anyone in in Augment has long claws. Like you have to change your code to like, mean, you did that for the raptors make your arms a little bit bigger.
00:43:37
Speaker
don't you roll for that? I mean, there's cats, right? Are there big cats? like I mean, there's fucking lions, tigers, and bears. Oh, my. But, like, changing to an animal, you're changing into an animal, not a bipedal humanoid. Like, just changing my arm into an animal arm. Like a bear arm. bear arm I have the right to bear arms. Damn it. so I'm an American.
00:44:00
Speaker
Seven. Seven. Okay. Yeah. You do it and it kind of sucks because it doesn't feel right. You fuck up your coat a little bit. You do it. They're not Wolverine. No, but they're like something more than I had, right? Yeah. Okay.
00:44:13
Speaker
How much does that cost to me? You're telling your last one, man. Oh, it's costing me two? Yeah. Fuck. All right. Not whole lot I can do with one, but all right.
00:44:24
Speaker
So I'm going to take my bear claw, my ah my cheese Danish bear claw. You swat the guy's face when he goes, delicious. No, I don't want to kill you. looking at her arm and she's like, all right, that's, this is three fucking times not right. Okay, whatever.
00:44:42
Speaker
And she engages this battle. Okay, so you're going first and you have Croc Man and Watcher currently kind of locked together.
00:44:54
Speaker
And you have a woman and a man, both Ugminian humans. Basically, the woman has a ah like a baseball bat and the man has a baton, a metal pole. Okay.
00:45:05
Speaker
And they're on the other side of... This box truck is so small. I know. that's Most of it is being taken up Croc Man and Watcher. But then squeezing past them, you have a man and a woman.
00:45:16
Speaker
And then you're at the door, essentially, right next to the package. Okay. Okay, it's 750 pounds, so I'm not moving that. is That thing's not moving, yep. And I know that the two Ogminians are not going to be able to do anything with it.
00:45:30
Speaker
The crocodile guy might, though. Oh, yeah, he's a big dude. like He almost rivals Watcher. Okay, so I'm going to take my bear arm. i'm going to bear arms against this guy Who, the croc man? Yeah. Okay. She's going take her weird bear arm with the claws and she's going to try and like dig them up underneath his jaw. I'm going make a contested roll because he still has one arm free.
00:45:55
Speaker
Like he actually gets both of his arms free. So I can imagine one arm is like trying to grapple with Watcher. Maybe trying to prevent her hand from swatting him in the face. This is an athletic thing, right? I think this whole thing is going athletics. Okay.
00:46:07
Speaker
Because Idy works out. I know it's never been mentioned. She's her own gym on the buzzard. But she is quite athletic. It's a seven. Eight, nine. Eight, sorry.
00:46:17
Speaker
ah Okay, she gets a plus one. Yeah, not a two. Yeah, so he... There's nothing to figure out here. He rolled an eight. You scratch him upside the head. like He's got his jaws locked firmly on Watcher. You don't disengage his jaws, but he's like, ow, fuck. And he sees you and he uppercuts you with his big scaly gator hand, which doesn't feel great.
00:46:37
Speaker
Like you get some kind of gnarly gashes from that. Yeah, he just makes you cross the chest with his his big lizard hand. ow and oh he says are you doing okay back there what's going on just drive next up is that woman who has a bat and she's going to try to hit you six she rolls a fucking six that's weird oh wait no would i still get the athletics if i'm like yeah i guess you had a plus one okay so that'll doing an athletic thing all right that's seven then okay she comes at you and you win in this this fight so like what happens
00:47:09
Speaker
She comes at me with the bat, but I step out of the way and let her like kind of whiff, but also just let her move past me. Okay. So you get some damage on her. Like you're kind of like slashing her over your big old claws. Oh, I wasn't trying to.
00:47:25
Speaker
okay but if You're not trying to hurt them. you're just trying to get them away. Well, because she was coming at me, i just got attacked by a gator guy. and then she came at me, but I moved. How about this? How about this? How about I move and I move her where I want her?
00:47:39
Speaker
i guess. Yeah. And just as she's passing me, I'm just going to take my foot and like kick her down to the back of the knee and just, yeah, knock her down. Gotcha. Okay. Yeah, she is on the ground now. Next up is Odie, who is going to try to jostle the truck a little bit.
00:47:55
Speaker
He knows there's something up back there. He can't see back there, but I'm sure he's trying to peek in his rearview mirror at some this action going on, but it's mainly Crocodile Man and Watcher taking up the view.
00:48:06
Speaker
But he does see some movement back there, so he's got to jostle the truck. He rolls an eight, so I need everyone to roll to see if they stay standing.
00:48:18
Speaker
So I'm make a roll Crocodile Man. Oh, that's not good. Oh. What'd you roll? Five. Okay. I rolled for Crocodile Man, who is knocked to the floor, and I basically i roll disadvantage for Watcher because they're locked together, so like he's probably to try to pull her down.
00:48:37
Speaker
He succeeds, so they're both down on the ground. The woman's already on the ground. So it's the one dude? It's the one dude. He is also on the ground. Everyone's on the ground. He just jostles and we all just go tumbling. Odie, what are you doing?
00:48:50
Speaker
I'm just, I'm trying to make things a little bit better back there, but hopefully I just didn't make things worse. You made it worse for everyone. Well, I made it worse for the people who are trying to steal from us, so I think that's better. Right? Hopefully?
00:49:02
Speaker
Your logic is flawed. but ah Just drive straight. The man is up next. He's going try to stand up and go after you with his pole.
00:49:15
Speaker
He rolls a nine. It's a four. oh fuck. This is going to hurt. You're both down the ground, and I'm not sure where everyone is in this truck right now because you all got jostled yeah and tumbled around. Like in a big pile. um Yeah, so he he sees one of your knees and just hammers that thing on there. I just scream. Yeah, it's not great for you right now.
00:49:38
Speaker
and then And then she uses lots of Widdershinian words. Her mom would faint if she heard. And they translate similarly, as you can kind of imagine. Yeah.
00:49:50
Speaker
Odie is fucking panicking. He's trying to drive faster, but you're in a fucking city. Doing that little jostler maneuver like might have almost hidden our vehicle. He's trying to not cause a scene, but also trying to help out.
00:50:04
Speaker
Watcher. What is Watcher going to She can't too much. She's still locked in combat with Crocodile Man. She's got to try to bash him in the head with her free hand. She doesn't have much of anything. Oh, you know what?
00:50:15
Speaker
I'm going to if she does this. I think she... going to roll first to see if she actually does it. She does not. I was going to see if she can grab the harpoon gun and do some damage. But that's out of her reach, apparently.
00:50:26
Speaker
She's just got clobber him in the face. And she does. She punches her right in the big old crocodile eye, which there was so much of a gap Between those two rolls, I think he finally lets go of her arm as a resp response of pain.
00:50:41
Speaker
So he's definitely taken some damage from that. So she's free now. And she stands up. But next up is Crocodile Man with his impressive two roll. He has his eyes locked on her. She's obviously the biggest threat here.
00:50:53
Speaker
So he's gonna try to go after her again. That was his shitty role and Watcher's worst role. So he knocks her to the ground again and they're kind of tussling.
00:51:04
Speaker
But you see a blood out his mouth because he bit into her arm, but he didn't do any damage to her. He just went down and like his teeth are fucked. Next up is you, I.D. In lots of pain, who's the closest to me?
00:51:17
Speaker
That man, because he just clobbered you. Okay, this is what I want to do. i want to grab his weapon with my non-bear arm. Okay. With my bare hand. With my not bare hand. With my bare hand. i yeah I want to like, I know it's not going to cut his hand off, but I want to just come down. Like I got one hand on the weapon and just come down on his arm. Let's make some contested rolls here. See how well you do your thing versus him trying to fight you off.
00:51:45
Speaker
I roll an 11. Shit, yeah, he rolls a 7. So, like, you see him raise that pole to you, but you snatch his wrist, and you come down with your bear claw. Are you coming claws first? or Yeah. Okay. Yeah, you you fucking tear into this guy. He's bleeding. And he like does he let go of the thing? Oh, yeah.
00:52:03
Speaker
Okay, good. Now I have a weapon. Yeah, he is weaponless and bleeding. and He's not looking so hot right now. Okay, next up is the woman who sees that and is going to try to confront you.
00:52:14
Speaker
Well, i got a weapon now. Yeah, you got a weapon now so you can kind defend yourself. So make some contested rolls here. Yeah, she rolls a six. So I think she tries to come at you with the bat. I just knocked the bat of the way with my pipe or whatever. oh shit. Yeah.
00:52:29
Speaker
Yeah, you you can totally do that because like that's a pretty good significant difference between the two attacks there. Next up is Odie. I think he's got to try to jostle the truck again. Actually, he's going to, he sees a break in the traffic. He's got try to floor it.
00:52:43
Speaker
Everyone needs to try to hold on and not get flung out the back of the truck. Well, some of them can go flying out the back of the truck. I'm gonna roll for the woman. She is mixed. so I think she gets tumbled, but not quite out of the back of the truck. But she's pretty damn close. Like, if that kind of acceleration happens again, I think she's going out the door.
00:53:04
Speaker
The man is sent out of the back of the truck with the two. Watcher... succeeds with a 10. So she grabs a hold of something in the truck and plants herself.
00:53:15
Speaker
For a crocodile man, he holds on. He has a mix, so he's kind of like in the back of this woman. But he's finally separated from Watcher, so they're not tussling anymore. What did Idy roll?
00:53:27
Speaker
I don't want to say. What did you roll? A three, Janelle. I rolled a three. I'm going to roll and see if Watcher catches you. ah She rolls an 11. She's an angel.
00:53:39
Speaker
so like you go tumbling near the crocodile man and this woman, which I sure don't want to be near crocodile man, but you have one of your arms seized by a very large iron hand. And and now I have a dislocated shoulder.
00:53:54
Speaker
I'm sure you're hurting. Yeah, but like she saved your ass. don't think you would die flying out back of the truck, but like it wouldn't be good for you since you're already kind of banged up. Yeah, it would not be good for me at all. yeah You're now kind of with Watcher at the front of the truck, kind of middle of the truck, because the front of the truck is where the package is the front of the box of the truck.
00:54:13
Speaker
And then you have Crocodile Man and the woman at the back of the truck. So now it Watcher's turn. Can I whisper something to Watcher? Okay. When she catches me? Yeah.
00:54:25
Speaker
Watcher, you need to grab the package and get towards the front by Odie. oh Okay, why? Just do it. Okay. Yeah, she picks up that package and don't know if she can even fit in the front of the truck. She doesn't have to.
00:54:40
Speaker
She just has to hold on to that package. Okay. She takes that package, kind of puts it in the doorway, you know, kind of like that tiny aisleway that's between the front seats and going to the back of the truck because it's a big box. Yeah. So, like, she puts it back there and that's all she can really do.
00:54:58
Speaker
Do not let go of it. Whatever you do. Okay. Next up is Crocodile Man. He smiles with his bloody, mainly toothless smile, so he looks a little ridiculous.
00:55:10
Speaker
But he's a big dude. This is like a watcher-sized dude. And he's like, Who the hell are you? I don't think you're from here. I don't know. You're the one who just broke into my vehicle.
00:55:23
Speaker
i think I would should be asking who you are, but i actually don't care. Just get out. I'm just here for that little box. Well, that's not yours, so... it sure isn't, but if you give that to me, I ain't gonna bite you in half.
00:55:38
Speaker
I don't think you can bite me in half anyway, with all those teeth missing. He gets little pissed off and he's got to try to do something to you. Let's do a contested roll here.
00:55:49
Speaker
eight It's a fucking tie. Idy, time all seems to freeze for you because you suddenly have the maw of a crocodile in your face. A lot of his teeth are broken, but like his jaws are pretty fucking strong.
00:56:04
Speaker
But just as he's about to clamp down, you see his jaws collide with something. And it just makes a really strange thump. Like, it should be hitting something solid, but there's nothing solid in front of you. But what you do see is a shield in the literal sense.
00:56:23
Speaker
It's made of this golden light, but it looks like... is this It's made of this golden light, but the shield that appears in front of you, it looks like a medieval shield. It is kind of ornate, pretty.
00:56:37
Speaker
And on the front of it, it's, you kind of see the mirrored image because you're behind it. But it looks kind of like a dragon with this big face and just a mane of very beautiful fur and strange antlers and a bunch of glyphs.
00:56:53
Speaker
You also notice something else. The vehicle has stopped pretty abruptly, so it kind of caused this Krakenman to be flung in your direction. But you see Odie standing right behind you with his right wrist in the air, and you see a small bracelet around his right wrist.
00:57:11
Speaker
Don't recall him wearing this bracelet before, then again, you don't recall Odie ever having short sleeves. So you just kind of see it underneath his leather jacket, this little bracelet with a small silver charm.
00:57:25
Speaker
And he is holding this in front of him and it's glowing with this amazing golden light. He's like, I apologize for this, but I suppose at the exact same time, i don't.
00:57:36
Speaker
And he flexes his wrist and this shield pulses with this beautiful golden light. And this Crock-A-L-D man is flung backwards to the back of the truck and into the woman and out the back of the truck and in the street.
00:57:50
Speaker
You see this gold light kind of dissipate. He says, I'm really sorry about that. Uh, we should be going now. And he gets back in the driver's seat and he floors it.
00:58:01
Speaker
Well, I guess that works out better than what I was going to do. You hear Watcher, she's just sitting there like kind of in awe this shield that just sprung up. And she's like, uh, what were you going to do?
00:58:12
Speaker
oh I was going to have us dismiss the truck. The truck that I'm in? That's why I said to hold on to the package very tightly. Oh, okay.
00:58:24
Speaker
But looks like we don't have to do that now because Odie's got some sort of weird juju magic bracelet thing. You don't hear a response from Odie. That was um was magic. Odie just did magic.
00:58:36
Speaker
But ah i I'm not familiar with Fendrillion magic. this Is that a Fendrillion? And Odie doesn't say anything. Yeah, and surreptitiously, I.D. texts O.D. just WTF.
00:58:50
Speaker
You do mark question your question mark you don't get a response. He still kind of looks like shit, but he's kind of shaken almost. Well, he looks like shit. I've got a broken knee.
00:59:03
Speaker
yeah you're getting a little fucked up. I've got like um gashes that I'm bleeding out of. He doesn't say anything for a while, but then finally he seems to, like, glance at you. Miss Idy, are you all right? Not necessarily, but let's get where we're going, and then we'll worry about that.
00:59:18
Speaker
Okay. ah All right. And he floors it to the entrance of Venker, which is kind of on its side. So like when you drive up into this plane, the truck almost topples over. But watch her nose to kind of stabilize as she shifts her weight over there. So she prevents it from toppling over.
00:59:36
Speaker
And the truck... I'm totally getting squished somewhere. You're in the front of the truck, aren't you? Yeah, at this point I would have gone to the passenger seat. Yeah, watchers in the back. But she shifts her way and she causes this truck to just kind of tilt upright and drive through this field, which you know is the same field that this abandoned missile silo complex is, but it's just a ways.
00:59:58
Speaker
The entire time Odius is uncharacteristically quiet and just seems but very focused on driving out of that place. these we're all quiet. yeah Yeah, like you got fucked up a little bit. Watcher, not so much. She's still looking pretty good. I'm not sure how a Watcher could get hurt. It's another few hours, ah probably a quiet few hours to I-Lib's place.
01:00:19
Speaker
And you eventually come upon it and you just drive up to this brick building that just says no admittance. And it does have a sign on it. says elevator, but it says broken on it.
01:00:32
Speaker
Yeah, so that's what you're kind of dealing with right now. Okay, yeah, so once we get to there, Idy probably had fallen asleep for a little bit. was going to wake up. Oh, we there.
01:00:43
Speaker
Yes, we're here. Okay. Um, yeah. And she dismisses the truck. Okay. Yeah, you see the truck kind of collapse and with it, Watcher kind of stumbles out. um don't think you told her that you were doing that.
01:00:55
Speaker
But yeah, she kind of tumbles out and she's like, oh, okay. I guess we don't need that anymore. She grabs the package and she straps it back on. How's it looking? Pretty good.
01:01:06
Speaker
It's got one small scratch in the box, but what matters is the inside. Maybe I should check it over just to make sure. um oh, do you, do you, I don't think we should open this. It'll be fine. We just need to make sure it's okay before iLib gets here.
01:01:22
Speaker
Uh, okay. Um, I mean, what's one quick peek? They're not gonna know about it, right? I mean, oh, God, what am I saying? What is there to know? We're making sure that it's okay. we This is our job. You're right. Okay. Yeah, I think I'm just trying to be good for my new boss. That's, you know.
01:01:40
Speaker
Yeah, and I um have full confidence that you have protected it well, but we just need to make sure. Okay. Yeah. You see her take that book bag off and place it on the ground. And the outside of it is like a wooden crate that's kind of strapped together and held together with screws and whatnot.
01:02:00
Speaker
But yeah, that's that's what you see. All right. We got to open that. Well, I don't have a screwdriver anything. and don't want turn into this thing. I don't want to know we we looked at the stuff.
01:02:11
Speaker
Why is everyone? All right. And she sort of like hobbles over and like pulls out a screwdriver from her. Okay. And she's just like unscrewing everything. Okay.
01:02:23
Speaker
Yeah, you unscrew enough to pop off the top and inside is a metal box. And the box has that arrow with GR, racing robotics on it, embossed on the top. But yeah, you don't see much, much else.
01:02:40
Speaker
Is this what it looks like? I don't know what the cast manager looks like. I don't either, but this looks okay. And she starts to, like, reach in to touch it.
01:02:51
Speaker
Odie just says, that's not it. It's just the container for it. Her hand is, like, hovering above it. Oh, well, I guess if that looks okay, then it's probably fine on the inside then, yeah? Yeah.
01:03:04
Speaker
I assume so. And he goes up to the elevator broken sign and flips it up and there's little buzzer and he hits that button and just waits. And you do hear signs of life from this elevator shaft and you hear a big thunk and that door opens and standing there in the same way he left him is I-Lib.
01:03:28
Speaker
And Odie says, thought the elevator was broken. And I-Lib says, I fixed it while you were gone. They look past Odie and they see you and Watcher and then back to Odie.
01:03:40
Speaker
And it's rough trip. My hand is still hovering above the CPU. like Oh, yeah, it's open. Yeah, it's open. like They see that, but like they don't seem to acknowledge that. But meanwhile, Watcher is just like frozen like, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. fuck fuck fuck Well, I hope this is worth it They look down at you and they say, you need medical attention.
01:04:05
Speaker
That is the most obvious thing that anyone could say right now. I can provide that for you if you follow me. How? They don't say anything. They just kind of walk into the elevator.
01:04:17
Speaker
I try to get up and like move, but my hand is still hovering over that. It's like i have to move and like, it's like my hand is stuck and she like looks at it and And kind of a startled watcher takes the lid, and the wood crate lid of that box, and she places it back on top, like kind of slides on your hand. Yeah, and I take my hand back and it's been a weird fucking day.
01:04:38
Speaker
God, I'm so fired. well You're not fired. Calm down. They saw us looking at, oh, we shouldn't have opened this. No one said anything about don't open it.
01:04:49
Speaker
All they said was bring it back here. And she walks up behind I-Lib and she goes in with I-Lib and they go down the elevator and then a few minutes later it comes back up.
Miss Ideo's Exhaustion and Healing
01:05:01
Speaker
Miss Ideo, you're right. i know I asked this before, but are you alright? No. I'm really not. I'm barely keeping myself conscious at this point.
01:05:13
Speaker
I'm sure they have something that could help you. Do they have a bed? Because I'd take that. I don't know. Their chair probably doesn't recline, does it?
01:05:24
Speaker
Absolutely not. Oh, God. You step into the elevator and he pushes a button and you both go down. Yeah. I'm like leaning up against like because my knees fucked up. Your knees fucked up.
01:05:36
Speaker
You also got some nice gashes on you. And yeah. Oh, he says, I should have stepped in earlier. I'm i'm so sorry. What? No, you were fine. i was I was seconds away from having us just dismiss the car.
01:05:52
Speaker
i suppose that would have worked. But I just explained to you, Miss Idy, before when you first agreed to assist me, this is. She kind of chuckles when he says that.
01:06:05
Speaker
Because she knows that, like, she forced herself upon me. Right, yeah He says, this is sometimes very dangerous work. Even here and elsewhere, we have our own threats, our own dangers.
01:06:20
Speaker
And I'm sorry that this day ended up being easily the most dangerous day we've had. You know what? It really, really hurts but in so many places right now.
01:06:35
Speaker
I'm not upset. How are you not upset? Well, I accepted the risk when I first stepped through that door the very first time. And I learned so much today.
01:06:49
Speaker
I'm sure we both have. Like, so much. It's going to take me a while just to parse it all. Yes, uh... I made half of a car.
01:06:59
Speaker
You made half of a car and worked. And we both took turns driving. That's the first time I ever operated a motor vehicle. And I do not have a valid driver's license. That was a little bit exhilarating if it wasn't for the immense threat of danger to the both of you.
01:07:15
Speaker
I would roll my eyes, but it hurts too much. You get to the bottom this elevator shaft and you walk down this hallway or hobble down this hallway. Is Odi like at least helping you? Odi seems helping you. Of course he would. Of course he would.
01:07:28
Speaker
yeah It's a pretty long hallway and you end up in the planar door control room of I-Lib's door and you see Watcher kind of like actually come upon...
Curiosity about the Black Cube
01:07:38
Speaker
their conversation of her apologizing immensely to them, just like, I took a look in the box, I took a look in the box. cause She's like freaking out and Isla is just like not paying her much mind. They actually step on a plate in the floor and a column rises up.
01:07:52
Speaker
It's like a tiled floor, but when they step on one tile, four of these tiles rise up and form a pedestal and Watcher sets that box on top of there. And you see Isla put their hand to the front of this box and And you see a seam form and just like a hinged lid, this thing opens up and you see inside this box. And what you see inside the box is a basically a five inch solid black cube.
01:08:23
Speaker
in the center of this container. It is being held safely and in the center by a close-fitting mold that was made just to transport this thing. And it is so black and so shiny that it almost seems dimensionless, except like you can see your reflections in it. And your reflections are blue in color, like this is made of blue obsidian almost.
01:08:44
Speaker
They just take a second to look at that and they immediately close it and they say, well done. I am very pleased to see this in person. And they turn their attention to you.
01:08:56
Speaker
i need to address your situation. Ivy's eyes are still looking at where that cube was. And she doesn't even hear Ileb. She has this look on her face. Like her eyes are shining in a way that like a starving person's eyes would look when they see a feast.
01:09:16
Speaker
Ub walks up next to you and you see them stare at you for like a second, obviously scanning you in some way. You can almost feel them do this.
Healing and Apologies
01:09:24
Speaker
But you see them take something out of their pocket and it's like a small box almost. And they hand this to you and they say, apply this to your knee. That is the most significant injury that you have currently.
01:09:37
Speaker
She like absentmindedly takes it and then it takes her like a few seconds to like realize that she has something in her hand and she like snaps out of it and she's like, oh, gee, you snuck up on me.
01:09:49
Speaker
What is this then? it will fix your knee. How? You don't get an answer. Okay, so supposed to touch it to my knee or do is it like, is it does it open? Apply this surface to your knee.
01:10:01
Speaker
And they show you the underside of the box. It kind of looks like it's this rubber on it, essentially. And it's like a rubber pad. But you see like a small sensor of some kind in the center.
01:10:13
Speaker
It's the size of a cigarette box. It's pretty small. ID messages, Odie. I love walks back to the computer and Odie's following them and doesn't look happy. Well, it's Logan Message Odie.
01:10:24
Speaker
Can I trust them to use this? He just says yes. Okay. And I put it to my knee. Roll 2d6 for me. Eight. heat Okay.
01:10:34
Speaker
It sucks. That little sensor or whatever, it was also like a needle of some kind. You were injected with something, and it sucks. But, like, it lasts for a few moments, and your reflexive almost dropped this thing because it feels like a beast on you.
01:10:49
Speaker
But after a minute, you feel a little better. You feel like you can put some weight on your leg. This is very important, Janil. When he slashed me across the chest, are the boobies okay? Okay.
01:11:03
Speaker
It was below the boobie shot. Okay. Because I'm just picturing like do we know danger losing a nipple or something. and There's no harming tatas in this in this podcast yet.
01:11:15
Speaker
You've heard that, listeners. I am as worried as you are. i try and put pressure on my on my leg. Yeah, i mean, it's sore. There's probably some bruising still left over, but as far as like bones are concerned, it's all good.
01:11:28
Speaker
For sure, your kneecap got busted, but now it doesn't really feel like it's shattered. I take the box, and i like look up and to see what they're doing.
01:11:39
Speaker
They're at the computer panel and you don't really hear what you're saying, but it sounds slightly heated. You've never actually seen Odie get a little pissed off, but he seems a little aggravated.
01:11:51
Speaker
going to put the little box in a pocket. I don't know if I live wanted it back or not, but she's like, I don't know what this was, but I'm going to find out. yep And she slowly walks over to them.
01:12:05
Speaker
Okay. And you get mid-conversation, but you hear Odie say, please just not again. I understand how precious of a package this was, but I can't go near her again.
01:12:17
Speaker
You understand that? Please tell me you understand that. And Alec says, I understand. And I apologize that this has caused you great distress. That was not my intention.
01:12:28
Speaker
And they turn around and look at you. It was also not my intention to see harm come to you. Eh. All in all, wasn't a bad day. How was your knee? Um, not broken anymore, so that's great.
01:12:42
Speaker
Good. And they press some buttons on their monitor, and you see kind of like a thing open up on the floor, almost like almost like a hatch. And you see several new racks, shiny new racks, pop out of the ground. And they are fully stocked with crystals.
01:12:57
Speaker
And they say... Watcher will be over in a few hours with a new load of crystals for your planar door. Idy, like, rushes over to that as fast as she can.
01:13:08
Speaker
she just puts her arms around the rack. just is like... Five racks that are ne belong solely to you. And she kisses it like, these are my babies.
01:13:19
Speaker
And she uses her last charge to like summon up some balloons or something, some confetti. And then like, oh, well, that's it.
New Beginnings and Future Plans
01:13:30
Speaker
So I can safely assume that you are satisfied with your payment. Oh, were you asking me or him? You. Oh, ah yeah, I'm I'm satisfied.
01:13:41
Speaker
Although I still would like to ah confer with you about um increasing the um energy output of these things. Perhaps one day. We have been unlucky in our research so far in our attempts to extend the life of these crystals.
01:13:55
Speaker
Well, maybe you just didn't have me with you. She gives him the smile. They just say, okay, you have a safe journey home and a great rest of your evening.
01:14:05
Speaker
Thank you again for your service. You know, I know you're being nice and genuine, but it doesn't sound that way. When you have this monotone voice, it kind of sounds like everything you say is slightly threatening.
01:14:19
Speaker
i don't know if you knew that or not. And, uh, Odie says, I, uh, we, uh, we should go. Uh, Ilib, thank you for the crystals, the new racks.
01:14:29
Speaker
It was, uh, nice speaking of you again. Normally I only come here to recharge my planar door, but, uh... Whenever you want to, we could spend some more time together and you can get to know ID a little more. I'm sure she'd be excited to learn the side projects that you have going on.
01:14:50
Speaker
And he points back to that CPU and he says, that looks identical to the task manager, just so much smaller. What exactly is that? Are you able to tell me?
01:15:01
Speaker
And Hilo just says, no. Odis says, right. We're all entitled to our secrets. um You enjoy your new computer, and we will head back home.
01:15:13
Speaker
It was nice seeing you again, Watcher. And Watcher says, bye. was nice seeing you guys meeting you, Miss Heidi. Heidi goes over to her. It was nice meeting you too, Watcher. um And she kind of like lifts her hand up. She's got her hand closed and lifts it up. I don't quite understand this, but I did read about it. She's like, haha, I do. And she puts her fist to yours. Gently. That was kind of cool.
01:15:37
Speaker
Yeah. We're going to hang out again. Absolutely. Today was fun, but like maybe minus the danger next time. Though hitching right in the back of the bus was fun. If you think that's fun, i have some ideas.
01:15:49
Speaker
And she gets excited. She's like, okay, yeah. um But maybe not here, though. I'm not sure how much my new boss would like that. I don't even know if he can like anything. And if he did, I'm not sure how we would even know.
01:16:02
Speaker
And ah she leans in, she's like, they're kind of great once you get to know them. but Challenge accepted. And she like starts to walk away and she's like waving bye. she waves bye. And you go down the stairs and there's Odie's door still opposite side of I-Lib's door.
01:16:19
Speaker
Odie's kind uncharacteristically quiet. Tay kind of fucked him up a little bit in more ways than one. He's looking a little better at least, but you can tell like mentally he's probably not great.
01:16:29
Speaker
As we we're walking down the stairs and over to the door, I'm sort of fiddling with my antenna. And by the time we get to the door, she closes it back up. And in her hand is the spent crystal core. And she just kind of like tosses it behind her.
01:16:46
Speaker
Odie says, Watcher will be over sometime later today to install a new racks and the new crystals. So you'll have your supply in the lab very soon. She changes color.
01:16:58
Speaker
Burned the last of it? No, because she just threw the old one out. And she just says, oh, I think it'll be okay for a while.
01:17:20
Speaker
This has been a GlitterFox Media production. wwwww dot g gluterfoxminia dot com