Play@YSDC

The following morning Julie, Ray and Nat hop into the car and drive to Kane Springs. The ride takes them through a patch of desert, then a shining sphere appears ahead - at first it looks like a mirage, but it turns out to be the surface of the Salton Sea reflecting the sunlight.

Most of the roadside motels lie abandoned, and the beaches are slowly reverting back to desert. It quickly becomes obvious, that the Salton Sea is not the swinging resort area it used to be in the 1950s...

A few miles before reaching Kane Springs, Nat notices that the car is running low on gasoline and decides to stop at the nearest station. Luckily, unlike the motels, it is manned and functioning. There is even a small store attached to the station, selling food and snacks. The Investigators get out of the car to straighten their backs.

A car is parked next to them. There is an older man sitting in the driver's seat, sipping from a bottle in a brown paper bag.

Ray recognizes the man: it is Tobias Jerkins! They met a couple of years ago, when Tobias proved to be a very useful consultant on a case. They've been corresponding since, exchanging letters on brainwashing, the Tate-LaBianca murders, assorted cult matters... Such a coincidence to meet the man here! As far as Ray remembers, Tobias lives in Arkham with his family.

Julie is wearing a loose-fitting red V-neck blouse and a pair of blue denim bell-bottoms. The wire is concealed underneath the blouse. "I feel like Pepper Anderson in Police Woman," she says.

Tobias sat in his car, drinking alcohol and trying to muster up some modicum of motivation to do something productive with his day. He wasn't exactly doing so hot these days, and he suspects that this might have something to do with his unhealthy relationship with alcohol. His family was almost about as dysfunctional as it could get, and his life was in an awful place. He was forced to admit that this vacation wasn't exactly helping things in terms of turning his life around.

"Great!" Nat bounds out of the jeep, goes to fill her up and then heads over to the store for food with nary a glance at the old man in the car. He's feeling on top of the world now they are nearing the action and he's glad to be out of the city fug. He just needs to quell a few hunger pangs. "What do you guys want? Chips and cokes?"

"Thanks, sounds good to me," says Julie.

"That'd be great, Nat", Ray says as he looks at the car, blinking a couple times to make sure what he's seeing is not a trick of the light and heat. When he's sure that the man is in fact, Tobias Jerkins he heads over to the car. Tapping gently on the glass he says, "Hey there old timer. Fancy meeting you here."

"Mister Raymond?" Tobias looked surprised, eyebrows leaping to the top of his head as recognition dawned on his face. He regained his composure soon enough, putting down his beer in the drink-holder as he regarded the man with a sloppy smile on his face. "I'd walk out of my car to greet you, but my legs had gotten numb from sitting in the car for too long, 'fraid I might fall should I move so much as an inch. Truly, it was a surprise meeting you here...with company as well, I don't suppose y'alls on holiday, shamblin' around like me in this tourist trap?"

Nat sees if there is a Kane Spring Map in the shop. Then he saunters back over laden with goodies. He passes most of them through the jeep window to Julie and then leans against the jeep drinking a coke, half listening to Ray and the guy in the car.

The station manager tells Nat that Kane Springs is just one of the small settlements that pepper this area: they are not proper towns, really, just a bunch of various buildings and hotels and resorts drawn out along the road and the Salton Sea shore. He recommends staying at the Desert Flower motel, which is "very clean", or the Imperial, "but don't let the name fool you, boy". He also gives Nat a yellowed tourist brochure, which describes some local places of interest: beaches, award winning ice cream vendors ("Best Taste in the State! Special Prize, 1963") and a small local museum, the Kane Springs Exhibition Hall ("Come see the Kane Springs dinosaurs!").

[

"Thanks," says Julie, taking the food and drinks and giving Ray his share. She takes a sip of her Coke. "It really is a small world after all, huh?"

"It is," Ray agrees. "My friends and I are actually here on business. Looking into a fringe religious group known as the Temple of Concordance." Ray is comfortable being upfront about his current job with Tobais since he trusts man, and there's always the possibility that he's heard something that the three of them have not.

“You say you’re searching for a cult?” Tobias jolted slightly, in shock. “Well, it’s not good news. But it makes sense, you don’t seem like the kind of guy who go out here for a holiday anyways. I haven’t seen any religious groups around here that calls themselves something that obvious, but I’ll keep a lookout for any red flags. Any leads so far?”

"Well we know where they are and that a man named Malcolm Cavendish is the leader of the group. I've been hired by the parents of a friend of Julie to rescue their daughter, but if I can do more to help out others ensnared by the cult I would like to." Ray says this, nodding towards Julie as he does.

"Hi," says Julie with a wave.

"Ah, hello there, young miss. Tobias responded, giving an affable smile. He he made himself acquainted with the group before returning his attention back to Ray, worrying about his daughter's strange acquaintances, he managed to sneak in an excuse to shamelessly investigate the suspicious 'friends' Rachel made. He attempted to reassure himself that he is not being discriminatory and jumping to conclusions definitely does not make him an awful parent. "W-well, *cough* now that I think about it, there is some suspicious people here in Desert Shores. There's some weird teens hanging out in this area, I think they call themselves Do, Ria, and this really weird kid called 'N. *Hic* Bad influence, I tell ya, I think she said she dealt drugs last year, definitely someone to look into, mm-hmm."

Tobias rambled on with an appropriate level of drunkenness about him for a while before describing his encounter with the teens a few days with as much salt and disapproval as he could manage whilst trying to drown himself in liquor .

Tobias Jerkins relates his tale about the weird kids hangin around in the parking lot.

---

You may now all read this topic: viewtopic.php?f=428&t=6259

"If you put all those funny names together," says Julie, "you get one real name: Dorian."

“...Interesting connections aside, does the name Dorian mean anything to the case?” Tobias asked. “Look, I’m not sure on all the details, but I think y’all could do with a drink. Want some?”

He pulled two trays of beer out from the back of the car, opening can after can with practised ease.

"Sure, thanks!" says Julie, gratefully accepting a beer.

Ray nods politely as he takes the offered beer and says, "Neither the three names by themselves nor 'Dorian' mean anything to me that I can think of. It's not unusual for people to take on a new name when they convert to a religion, and 'N sounds like the sort of thing a new age group might use. You said that your daughter had wanted to go and visit them at some point right? Did she ever mention them again?" Ray knows its important to keep an eye open for potential information on the job he's working, and that Tobias has a wealth of experience in law enforcement. However, he also knows that sometimes weird teens are just weird teens.

Tobias has slightly tense relations with his teenage daughter. She hasn't mentioned the weird company again since. Now that Tobias thinks about it, he cannot really account for Rachel's comings and goings, and he wonders whether she could have sneaked off to meet these folks.

"No. I don't think she ever mentioned them again, but really, she doesn't mention a lot of things these days." Tobias said curtly, after a very very long silence.

Ray nods grimly. "Kids," he says and then goes on. "Well we'll keep an eye out for those three teenagers, but I think its time we get going."

The Investigators get into their cars, and roll into Kane Springs. Indeed, it's not much of a town. At first, there are a few houses by the road, then the buildings get closer to each other, forming a small cluster around the main road and a single street that crosses it. This place must be "town center"... The paint on the facades is peeling, there are abundant "for rent" and "closed" signs on shop windows.

This place isn't a ghost town, just a slowly dying place, forgotten and lost.

Open businesses include the two motels the gas station clerk mentioned (Desert Flower and The Imperial), a bigger building called Exhibition Hall, a diner, and two pubs.
Tobias already knows the two pubs (he has toured all the watering places in a dozen mile area), and he isn't allowed to enter one of them.

The Investigator's take lodgings. There are plenty of available rooms, on discount prices, in both places. Desert Flower is a roadside motel at the entrance of Kane Springs, basically a row of rooms around a parking lot and an administration building. The Imperial is closer to the cluster of buildings you might call town centre: it's a hotel, a two-level building, with reception and a small bar downstairs.

As far as the Investigator's know, Cavendish's compound is located a bit farther away, a few miles into the desert area.

OOC,Please, pick the place you want to stay! Tobias and his family are living in a different location, in a resort area you crossed before the gas station.

"Nat, didn't you mention that the gas station manager described the Desert Flower as very clean?" says Julie. "That sounds good to me."

Nat also prefers the Desert Flower, mostly due to the bigger parking space.

The Desert Flower motel is run by Mr. Horton, a tanned man in his 60s. He is extremely pleased to hear that you are looking for rooms, and has all kinds of combinations to offer: single, twin, double rooms, conjoining rooms, two rooms that share a bathroom, rooms with individual shower cabins... Most of the furniture and appliances have seen better days, but they are indeed clean.

"You folks here on holidays?" he says, while filling out forms. "How long do you plan to stay? I have special discounts if you pay for three days or more..."

"I think we should get two rooms," says Julie to Ray, "a single for me and an adjoining double for you two."

Ray agrees, "Two rooms sounds good." Turning to Mr. Horton he asks, "What would the rate be for two rooms, one a single and one a double, each with their own bathroom for say a week?

"A week? You mean seven full nights?" Mr. Horton gasps, and then names a sum. Discount indeed - the allowance provided by the Sandovals easily covers it (even after the subtraction of the hefty price paid for the wire tap equipment). Mr. Horton fills out a couple of forms. "Parking is free of charge. No breakfast, but I can give you some discount coupons for the diner in town. There's a minibar in the double room, it's empty right now, but I will make sure to stock it by the evening.

"Anything else I can help you with? Any special requests?"

"Thanks," says Julie. "What places should we see while we're in Kane Springs? And what places should we avoid?"

"There is the beach, of course, it's a only two hundred yards away," Mr. Horton says. "The water is very salty, but they say it's perfectly harmless.

"At night sometimes there are kids building bonfires and partying. But you are not the type who enjoys that kind of partying, are you?

"In town, you can go see the Exhibition Hall, we have some natural history displays. The sign outside says "Dinosaurs!!", but don't go in there expecting anything big, it's mostly fragments of bones and other fossils. But you can get a good guided tour if Dr. Corman is around. You can call ahead and ask before you go.

"And, you know, while you stay, you can always go to the other towns up the highway, they have some casinos and waterslides. Kane Springs is small..."

"I think we saw a few of those kids on the way here," says Julie. "They were hanging out at the gas station, and they went by weird names: Do, Ria, and N. They were real strange. Know anything about them?"

"Thanks, we'll be careful," says Julie. "We've heard of a place nearby called the Temple of Concordance. Do you know anything about it?"

Mr. Horton raises an eyebrow.

"That's what those hippies call themselves, who are squatting over at one of the old ranches... I didn't know they were known outside of the area. Are they famous or something?"

"They're not," says Julie. "I wouldn't know about them myself if a friend of mine hadn't gone off and joined them."

"Oh!"

Mr. Horton takes a few seconds to digest the information.

"So you are here to meet your friend?

"I don't know much about this group or church. They are quite reclusive."

"Yes, I'm planning to go see her," says Julie.

"Thanks, directions would be great," says Julie.

HelplessBystander wrote:

OOC:   I'm confused. Is Tobias still following the investigators or is he meant to be here to help out with investigation as well. I didn't post for a while because I thought Tobias is drinking in a different location. Evil, do you mind clarifying?

OOC:   Sorry for the confusion!! Tobias is helping with the investigation, and is present at the motel too (if he wants, he can even get a room... but good luck explaining that to his family!)

Mr. Handy wrote:"Thanks, directions would be great," says Julie.

"Well, you just drive to the intersection, where the town center is, and turn left, towards the desert. Follow the road for 3 miles, until you see a dirt road to the right. Take that, and drive some more. There will be bigger rocks scattered around, so you know you are headed into the right direction."

"Well, that sounds like an idea. We could go and get a look." Tobias suggested, finally waking up after realising he was lying over on a sofa in an unfamiliar motel. Funnily enough, he have no recollection of how he had managed to get here, but he knew enough to get the rough idea of what's happening. Ignoring his splitting headache, he wobbled towards the exit, "I'm sure I could drive meself there, got a rough idea of the direction, anyhow."

"You want to go now?" asks Julie.

"No time like the present? Fair go, I reckon." Tobias said, phrasing it as a question rather than a statement. "I mean, it's a beautiful afternoon and there's still at least three to four hours 'till dinnertime. I'm sure I could afford to go around for a while without my wife yelling at me. Besides, what was I doing haff-an' hour ago? Drinking meself dead, mate, that's what. I'm sure some exercise could do me good."

Nat watches Tobias' wobbley progress with concern. "Hey, Mister Jerkins, if you like I can drive you and anyone else to have a look. I reckon it'll be a dirt road and could be tricky driving; our car would be a whole lot more comfortable on the bumps. Won't they think it's a bit odd if we drive out there without an excuse though?" He looks at Ray and Julie.

"Hey. We could say we're just passerbys from another city looking for one o' thoe flower child tree-hugging communities that's willing to offer some, you know, the fancy-schmancy good joints. I'm sure a fab old man like me blends right in with the youngsters. As an old man, I'm sure they won't suspect a thing." Tobias said, accepting the offer of not driving his own car there, "But I probably need to get someone to take my car back to the motel. I would have a lot of explaining to do if I park my car in front of another motel while my wife's reading Jane Austin in her hotel room."

Nat finds it hard to believe the old man's wife ever having anything to worry about on that score but he says
, "Sure thing, we'll follow you back to your hotel, you can square it with the missus and then we can all go in our truck. You think that'll work, Ray?"

The Investigators quickly drive back to Tobias' hotel. Tobias has a brief and only slightly awkward chat with his wife. Afterwards, everybody piles into Nat's spacious ride, and you begin your journey towards the Temple of Concordance's compound. In the meantime, there's plenty of opportunities to come up with a plan.

OOC,So, what's the plan, folks? Some of the Temple members already know Tobias (but probably think that he is just a senile old man, who poses no threat), and if Elizabeth is there, she is bound to recognize Julie (but you cannot foretell what might be her reaction).

"So, I believe we need to assign a few roles on what we're doing when we get there. Obviously, there would need to be two or more people getting off the car and scouting out the compound while taking in the place; someone else needs to stay in the car and observe from a distance, and it would also be an effective way of controlling the level of risks and unpredictable factors that we may or may-not encounter. That's about it in terms of planning. Is there anything else anyone wish to add?" Tobias said, starting the discussion.

Nat rubs his chin, "I don't know that they'd let us just walk in and even if they did, there'd be nothing for us to see; it'd just be a fine old regular ranch, thank you siree. Maybe we should stick to the old plan; Julie goes in as a new recruit and we stand ready to pull her and Elizabeth out. We've got wires to put on her so we can hear whats going on, Mr Jerkins."

“Under the assumption that our target knows what they’re doing, would it not make sense to infer that they would search for wires?” Tobias replied, “Furthermore, sending off one of our own would backfire really easily and would permanently endanger our credibility within their community. I don’t see the need to take such an unnecessary risk. It’s more logical to play the long game with different people scouting out the place through different viewpoints. Gathering information like this would work in our favour more than sending Julie in as a recruit.”

Ray says, "We can try scouting around, but I think Julie should stay in the car so she's out of sight. That way we can still get her inside their compound if we need to."

“Good idea, anyone want to add something else to the table?” Tobias continued, smiling by a little bit.

Nat shrugs; he's new to this game and is happy to bow to the experts. He scans the road ahead for the turnoff. "Hopefully we can park the car on some higher ground and gain a good vantage point. If Julie is staying with the car as our ace card, then I could take the long scout round the back of the ranch. I could do with stretching my legs." Nat's long frame looks like it could easily eat up a few miles with an easy run if necessary. "But I'll do whatever you think is best."

“That sounds fine. They probably wouldn’t be outright hostile to someone walking around the compound.” Tobias said, “Don’t look suspicious and sprint off if you believe you are under threat. Running would set off red flags; sprinting just implies confidence. I think. Don’t trust the advice of a drunk old man as gospel under any circumstances.”

The Investigators follow the instructions. They first drive through the small community of Kane Springs, and then into the open desert. Monotonous plains, with sparse vegetation, and only occasional buildings. The sky is slightly overcast, and the mountains in the distance provide a brooding backdrop.

aine wrote:Nat scans the road ahead for the turnoff. "Hopefully we can park the car on some higher ground and gain a good vantage point.

Soon Nat notices the dirt road mentioned my the motel owner. It is to the right of the highway, leading to the north. It is not marked on the map, however.

This bumpy road takes you into a slightly different landscape. The ground is uneven here, with mounds and elevations. There are also several reddish-orange rocky outcrops. Nat looks for a good vantage point, and eventually decides to take the car off-road, and drive up on a slope that has a huge boulder on top. The engine stops, the dust slowly settles.

In the distance, maybe a half mile ahead, you see some smaller buildings grouped around a bigger hangar-like structure. Smoke rises from one of the buildings. There are also smaller "boxes" - cars, trailers maybe. The cluster of houses stands in the middle of a territory surrounded by a chain-link fence. The terrain here is the same uneven ground you passed before, with some mounds and rocks inside the compound as well.

"I'll wait here with the car, then," says Julie. "It's best if I'm not seen with you."

Tobias gets out of the car.

Nat gets out the car and strips his jeans off to reveal yellow shorts. He takes off his sneakers," I always run barefoot" and looks reasonably like a long distance runner. "Hey Jules, if you need us to scram back here, just sound the horn. Okay, I'll run round the outskirts and then come to the ranch to get some water. Anything else you want me to do, Boss?"' He limbers up, ready to head off.

"Will do," says Julie, sitting behind the wheel. "Be careful."

Ray climbs out of the passenger seat, and shakes his head. "Just remember its better to not arouse suspicion even if we don't learn as much. The last thing we want is for the cult to have its guard up." Ray squints at the surrounding landscape shielding his eyes with his hand. He wishes now that they had brought some binoculars.

"Will do." Nat throws a mock salute and then, also squinting at the sun, he lopes off in the opposite direction to the commune; he'll do an easy circle back round and come at it from the far side.

The Investigators observe as Nat gathers momentum and runs down the mound. From this vantage point, Ray has a good overview of the valley, but the details are not discernible without binoculars. But maybe he packed them?

Cotton,Roll [b]Luck[/b]! It seems reasonable to pack binoculars, so let's see how prepared you are!

Nat

Nat plays the role of the long-distance runner pretty well, as he gallops through the California desert. The dirt feels good under his feet, the country boy he is, and he realizes, that he sort of understands the wish of the commune members to live freely in this far-off, uncivilized place. Escapism is something Nat is familiar with --- and he is also familiar with escapism's dangerous flipside, from his own experience in a cult.

The temperature is climbing upwards, but at least there is no direct scorching sunlight. Nat understands, that by the time he gets to the compound, he will be extremely thirsty!

But he proceeds with the plan, circles around, and finally reaches the compound's chain-link fence. Barbed wire runs on the top, but it doesn't bear the tell-tale signs of being electrified either. It's a rather old barrier, with gaps visible in many places. The actual entrance, a gate, is on the front, from where the road comes.

About 30 yards from the fence, there is a rusty trailer, a leftover from the 1950s, propped up with bricks. The pink paint is peeling of the side. Adjacent to the trailer, a tarp is stretched out to provide shade. A young woman sits under it, peeling potatoes into a bucket.

Further away from the trailer car, is the main cluster of buildings (about 60 yards from the fence). The big hangar-like construction stands in the middle. It's arching walls are almost new and shiny. The rest of the buildings are in a much worse condition. There are two elongated but narrow houses, with porches to the whole extent of the facades. There is also a small wooden outhouse.

Nat sees one car, a red sedan, parked before the hangar, but no people.

Nat comes to a stop and catches his breath while he looks around. Strange how that main central building is so new and yet the other buildings don't even show many signs of repair. He waves to catch the young woman's attention. "Hi there, how are you? Any chance I can get some water?" He calls and wipes his brow.

Tobias remained where he was, assessing the situation. It's not a good idea to engage in a scenario like this anyways.

Nat

The woman is startled by Nat's distant voice. She drops the half-peeled potato into the bucket, and looks around. It takes her some time to finally locate Nat. She sits still and stares for a good ten seconds, then stands up and steps into the trailer. She reappears after about a minute and walks up to the fence.

She is short, and her dark hair is very short, perhaps she shaved her head in recent times. She is dressed in a long, shapeless gown - once white, now dirty grey. She walks with a limp. When she gets closer, Nat can get a better look at her face: she must be in her mid 20s, and under the dirt, she has a pale and sickly look.

She stops on the other side of the fence.

"Here you go," she says, in a raspy voice of a chain smoker, and thrusts her hand forward. She is holding a chipped mug, filled to the brim with water. Then she realizes, that the mug is too big and won't fit through the fence's openings. "Uh..."

Nat points to one of the biggest gaps in the fence for her to pass the water through, "Over here? Gee, that's very kind of you; I'm parched, lost my way somewhat. Sometimes I just lose track of time when I'm running, get in the zone you know? And next thing I know, I'm like, where am I?" He smiles at the girl. "I'm Nat, pleasure to meet you."

The water is refreshing, and almost clean, except for a rusty metallic aftertaste.

"I'm Sy," the woman says. "You should be more careful, the desert only gets hotter."

After a few minutes of straining his eyes, Ray realizes he did in fact bring binoculars with him. He had bought an extra smallish pair that he kept in his bag at all times after the last time he had forgotten his other ones during reconnaissance. Digging them out he tries to get the best view of the compound he can. He describes the layout allowed to Tobias, and giving his professional opinion on what each building is used for.

Tobias nodded, and squinted his eyes as looked at the figure of Nat chatting with someone in the distance and scanned the horizons with his eyes for a while, before turning back towards Ray."Ray, I personally find the fact that the main building being the only new and well-maintained piece of infrastructure in this entire compound to be a bit surprising, you know? The isolationist hippie types were all about self-regulated structures and good maintenance. But here...no, that building stick out like a sore thumb in direct contrast to the rotted outhouse a few yards away. I get the distinct impression that there's someone rich affiliated with this group; no construction group in their right mind would accept a contract to build a gigantic facility in the middle of nowheresville otherwise. The red sedan is a giveaway as well. Two possible directions to pursue for clues could looking for construction records or identifying the owner of the red sedan. What do you think?"

Ray scans the red sedan trying to get the license plate, and any other information he can. "I agree it is strange. The single car especially. In my experience groups like this prefer vans or buses or something the whole group can ride in."

The licence plate of the red sedan is illegible from this distance.

Tobias remembers, that the sect members he encountered at the gas station were riding a pick-up truck. However, currently the pick-up truck is not present at the compound.

"Hmm...The kids I've seen at the gas station had a pickup truck, and, well, there's no pickup trucks here. So, I'm guessing either they have an alternate meeting place, or they are out doing something" Tobias said, looking around in dejection.

Nat drinks the water, "Thanks Sy. Yeah, you're right. I'm kinda used to it though, the heat. Grew up on a ranch just like this. More cattle than you though and too many older brothers." He grins. "You live out here with your family too?"

HelplessBystander wrote:"Hmm...The kids I've seen at the gas station had a pickup truck, and, well, there's no pickup trucks here. So, I'm guessing either they have an alternate meeting place, or they are out doing something" Tobias said, looking around in dejection.

As Tobias looks around, an answer emerges: in the distance, he sees a vehicle approaching on the dirt road, from the same direction you arrived from. It's still far, but will pass close to the mound the Investigators are parked upon in a few minutes.

aine wrote:Nat drinks the water, "Thanks Sy. Yeah, you're right. I'm kinda used to it though, the heat. Grew up on a ranch just like this. More cattle than you though and too many older brothers." He grins. "You live out here with your family too?"

"I don't eat meat," Sy says. At first this sounds like a non sequitur, but maybe this is her reaction to the cattle Nat mentioned? "Uh, yes, sort of. With my family."

Tobias cussed something foul and awful as he saw the car approach. "Quick, we need to hide the car, those guys are coming back."

Julie starts the engine, slides over to the passenger seat, and ducks down so that she won't be visible from outside. She doesn't want to risk blowing her cover.

Tobias enters the backseat and ducked down as well.

Ray ducks down out of sight behind the car, but in such a way he might conceivably say he was checking the underside of the car or tires if caught by the people in the truck.

Roll,Rolling against the lowest Luck rating in the group (60): [dice]0[/dice]

The Investigators duck and hide, and listen to the sound of the pick-up truck approaching. As it passes under the mound, it slows down. A few painfully long seconds later it picks up speed again. Peeking out from their hiding places, the Investigators see that the truck follows the road to the compound.

"Maybe we should get out of here in the car before they get a good look at it?" hisses Julie.

"There is a possibility that they noted down our license plates, it would be prudent to take some countermeasures against that the next time we come around. Also, I do believe we might need to get Nat out of there before they arrive...or is it too late already?" Tobias said, taking a drink of water.

The Investigators' car is parked on a mound. From the road, the general type, color and make of the vehicle is discernible, but not the licence plate (especially that with the road conditions in this part, it is covered in dust). The church members didn't stop, just slowed down for a while.

Nat is currently quite far from you (the compound is approximately half a mile from your parking place). If you want to get to him before the truck reaches the compound, you need to zip over there, high speed, surely attracting more attention.

Ray stands up, dusts off his clothes, and continues acting as if he is inspecting the car. He says, as subtly as possible, "No, no we'll stay here for now. We don't need to blow Nat's cover just yet. If Julie comes back to infiltrate this group we'll need another car for her however."

Nat smiles, "Vegetarianism is getting popular these days; lots of people are into it. So if you don't raise cattle, what do you raise here? Apart from potatoes. They left you all alone to do the potatoes?" He grins.
"That's a swanky new barn you got there. I wish my Pa could have afforded somat like that; save us kids from a constant grind of mend this, fix that. You build it for anything particular?"

aine wrote:Nat smiles, "Vegetarianism is getting popular these days; lots of people are into it. So if you don't raise cattle, what do you raise here? Apart from potatoes. They left you all alone to do the potatoes?" He grins.
"That's a swanky new barn you got there. I wish my Pa could have afforded somat like that; save us kids from a constant grind of mend this, fix that. You build it for anything particular?"

Sy's answer comes after a long pause.

"Potatoes are easy. Wash, peel, slice."

Another pause. Nat cannot understand, whether she is high on drugs, sick, or perhaps simply not a people's person, intimidated by Nat's stream of consciousness.

"It's for getting all together. For c-- council? Talking, eating."

She looks back over her shoulder. Nat too sees a car approaching in the distance.

"Reasonable." Tobias said, nodding approvingly, "Perhaps we should move the car? I feel like there is a possibility that since this happened to be the only road that leads into the compound, I would infer that others travelling down this road would at note the presence of our car, would be...suspicious, right?""

"This your family coming back?" Nat nods at the cloud of dust on the far side of the enclosure. "Look, if he's anything like my Pa, he won't want you talking to strangers so I'd better vamoosh. But it's been fun chatting to you, I could run by another day if you like?" He nods encouragingly.

"Nah, not like that -- " Sy makes a short pause, with her mouth open " -- is quite open to newcomers."

"Uh... sure, yeah. See you around."

She turns around and slowly walks back towards the trailer. She doesn't take back the cup from Nat.

The vehicle enters the compound.

Ray nods and gets in the driver's seat. "It looks like Nat is about done with his recon. We'll move a little ways down the road and wait for him to catch up to us." He starts the car up after a moment and slowly drives just far enough to be out of sight of the compound.

You slowly drive back to the road. Some time passes, and finally Nat appears from behind the dunes. He is covered in dust, and is seriously dehydrated... His raw natural strength helped him, but next time he has to be more careful. The desert here seems to be funnelling all energy and vitality out of people.

The Investigators are gathered. Time to make further plans!

OOC,Feel free to decide on your course of action IC or OOC!

"We'll need to get a second car for me," says Julie. "I can't be seen with this one when I go in, or they'll get suspicious, as they've seen it already."

Nat collapses onto the rear bench seat and grabs a Coke which he downs in one.
"Bah, warm! We must get a cooler! I'm not as young as I was; that was hard! Still I met a nice young women called Sy. Actually she wasn't nice at all, pale and very uninteresting and pretty ill looking. And really spaced out - she was wierd!
Couldn't even talk properly, kept zoning out before she said anything. Anyhow, I reckon I can go back if we need, newcomers welcome apparently. And I still have her cup!" Nat lapses into silence and shuts his eyes to recover.

Nat's new cup is not a really valuable "quest reward"... It is chipped and old, and wasn't washed properly: around the edge there are dark traces. They look like the ones left when a person with lipstick drinks from a cup.

"That's a thought," says Julie. "That cup is the perfect excuse for you to go back later, though it's best if we arrive separately and pretend not to know each other until we've 'met.' I just hope Elizabeth hasn't been changed by these folks, if that's how they act. Of course, maybe they're not all like Sy."

"Yeah, let's hope so or Elizabeth's parents are not going to be happy!" Nat examines the cup, "Funny, these look like they might be lipstick marks but the commune doesn't strike me as the sort of place to attract that sort of girl." He passes it to Julie,

"Here, have a look, you probably know more than me about it." He winks. "Hey boss, what's the plan now? Dinner?" He calls hopefully to Ray in the front seat.

"I wouldn't be happy either," says Julie, looking at the cup to see if the shade of lipstick is anything she's seen her friend wear.

"I suppose it was an unfruitful investigation, no hard evidence and a near-close call with our target, perhaps not how I had envisioned our first encounter to go." Tobias said, deep in thought.

Julie examines the cup. This is not lipstick, but rather a black residue, dried on the rim of the cup. The only possible explanation she can come up with is that somebody sick, coughing up phlegm, drank from it. But the color is so dark...

"This isn't lipstick," says Julie. "It looks like someone sick and coughing up gunk drank from it, but it's so dark."

"Aha, a clue!" cries Nat from the backseat, silently thinking of Tobias, "Eat your heart out you grumpy old fart." "Maybe they were forcing someone to drink some vile brew in a dark ceremony. Does it smell of anything, Julie?"

The smell of the substance reminds you of a hot summer day when the road paving melts under the cruel rays of the Sun.

"It smells like hot asphalt," says Julie, wrinkling her nose. "Kind of looks like it too."

Ray continues driving back towards town. ”Phlegm? Tar? Either way it’s something to keep an eye out for. You never know what kind of crazy stuff these cults get up to. Nat if you start to feel sick speak up alright? Does anyone know of a way we could examine that gunk more in depth?

"I'm not a chemist," says Julie, "but I guess we could find one back in the city to analyze it. Of course, that's a long way from here, and I don't know if we've got time for that."

Nat worridly takes stock of himself but he seems alright at present.
"I feel okay at the moment, Boss. It was hard to see much of the commune from the outside. Everything is in a real state of disrepair there, which is unusual 'cos most of these desert types are shit hot on make do and mend. Except for the swanky new hanger in the centre which was for meetings, so Sy said.
But why'd they spend so much money on that one building and nothing on the others?"
He looks out at the desert rolling by.
"I guess we gotta go back in. Else we stake out the outside; watch who's coming and going. But how long for and is that any help anyhow? Yeah, it's a long way back to the city and it might take days to get it analyzed.

How long do these cases normally take, Boss? Have we got days or weeks before it's, ur, too late, if you know what I mean. "

"I'm worried we've waited too long already," says Julie. "I think I should go in as we planned, tomorrow. Once on the inside, I can look out for Elizabeth and keep you informed."

Nat indeed feels alright at the moment, physically, although psychologically the knowledge that he drank water from an unknown source from a phlegm-covered cup does bother him a bit...

Getting a different car for Julie should be no problem. Getting the wire equipment ate into the Investigators' budget, but there's still enough left for the cheapest options. Back at the Desert Flower motel, if asked, Mr. Horton tells you that there are both rentals and a used vehicle lot at Salton City, just 15 miles up North.

OOC,Anything else you want to do today? Or just preparations and rest?

Tobias plans on doing whatever the rest felt like doing.

'Let's sort Julie's ride tonight; that's if you want to start first thing tomorrow, Julie? And then can we find somewhere decent to eat? I'm famished and I need a beer or six to wash my mouth out with.' Nat pulls out the map of town to look at the restaurant adverts.

"Sounds good to me," says Julie. "I would like to get an early start tomorrow. A good meal would be nice too. Probably the best thing I'll eat for a while now that I'm going inside. If that's the sort of cup the cult drinks out of, I wouldn't expect their food to be any better."

Ray keeps drives toward the car rental place, but says, "All right, moving in the morning seems like the best option to me as well. I do wonder would Elizabeth find it suspicious if you showed up in a rental car? Maybe you could get Tobias to give you a ride, and just say that you hitchhiked?"

"That's a thought," says Julie. "He does have his own vehicle, and they haven't seen it before."

Technically, some members of the Church have seen Tobias' vehicle, but that was a couple of days ago. To be safe, Tobias can take Julie close to the compound, and then Julie can walk a few hundred yards.

For Julie's "last supper", the Investigators visit a local pizza parlor (pepperoni & pineapples, baby!)

The rest of the evening is spent resting, stocking up, preparing and checking stuff.

The wire works fine. Unless Julie is searched, the equipment will remain hidden and undetected. Julie, Nat and Ray spend a few hours testing and fine-tuning it. The signal can be received in a one mile radius. There is noise and hum and the rustling of clothes, but things spoken by Julie and anybody else closeby are audible. The battery provides for about 20 hours of use. Julie is able to switch the transmitter off to save power.

"Perfect, this can work." Tobias said, with a hint of contentedness and satisfaction in his voice.

"I just hope the battery lasts long enough," says Julie. "I'll have to be careful to use it only when I need it, and I'll need to be able to flip the switch without anyone knowing what I'm doing."