Part 28: XXVIII - A Dish Best Served Cold

A few people requested it, so I've decided to show off all 3 endings to this conversation. The first option, persuasion, is not as easy as it seems.

[Persuade] Look, my sister, she's a little nuts. I'll let you ago, if you'll forget about this.



Of these options, only one will successfully persuade McFly into leaving.

Well, only because you tried to rape her. At least, that's what she'll tell the cops.

So she's going to play it like that? Alright, alright, just let me out. I want to get as far away from that crazy bitch as possible.

From here, we still have the option to suck on his neck until he dies, but we can also let him go by saying this:

There. Once again, I'm very sorry.

Then the screen fades to black, and McFly exits the stage.



The second option is to kill McFly.

You'll do no such thing.

Soon as I get out of here I'm calling the goddamn cops! Let's see what THEY think of this, huh? I'll have them lock up both your asses!

This is the only option you'll have if you don't have a high enough skill in speech options, or have access to Dominate or that Malkavian equivalent.

Maybe I could use a drink.... Yeah, I could use a drink!

What the hell does that mean? Wait, why are you looking at me like that? Hey...!

Come here, I've got a secret to tell you....



You lose humanity once he dies. If you stop feeding off him before he dies, you'll go through the same conversation as before if you talk to him. Alternately, you can just kill him outside of dialogue for the same effect as draining him dry.



The option we're going with is to dominate McFly. You can get that choice straight out by picking options 2-4, but you can also get it another way.

[Persuade] Look, my sister, she's a little nuts. I'll let you go, if you'll forget about this.



Choosing any option other than 2 leads to the same choices you'd get if you chose 2-4 from the previous list of choices.

She's sorry. This is actually very therapeutic for her.

Therapeutic?!?



Now we can dominate him, as you can see. Two blood points is a little much, but then we can always get them back from Heather.

[Dominate] You never saw her or came here. Go back where you came from and wake up.



No problem. See ya.

Now to return to Heather. We really should make the point that she should not do something like that again.



"Oh, it's you"? We we're just talking to you, Heather! I know it's been like 10 days since the last update, but come on, your memory can't be that bad.

Seriously though, I'm pretty sure we can thank wesp for this out-of-sync dialogue. Here, we have the option to tell Heather to "leave our service" because her life might be in danger. But, uh, we're not gonna do that.

It wasn't me. It could be one of a number of people who want me dead -er.

Want you dead? Why? How could anyone think of harming someone so... extraordinary.

Jealousy, probably. You just be careful, okay, my pet?

I will.

Something I haven't mentioned is that we have the ability to tell Heather to change her clothes.

About your appearance... change it.

Okay.

I haven't mentioned it because I've tried getting it to happen, but every time I come back to the apartment Heather still looks the same. We'll see if it works this time.

I like it dark and gothic.

DeusExMachinima called it basement-dweller level stuff. You'll just have to see for yourself.

Talking to Heather again...



The right dialogue appears.

I let him go. Never, ever do that again, Heather.



We're given a lot of chances to let Heather go free. I wonder what will happen if we don't?

I can't stay mad at you. Fine. Apology accepted. See you later, Heather.



Before we leave for Hollywood, let's watch the news. We haven't done this for a while, so there should be a bunch of new stories.

The Ankaran Sarcophagus, delivered to the Los Angeles Museum of Natural History this morning, was stolen just hours before experts could examine its contents. Several security guards were killed during the robbery attempt, making this the bloodiest robbery in the museum's seventy-year history. A police investigation is underway. More on this story as it breaks.

The Malkavian version of this is pretty funny:


more stories:

A tourist bus destined for the ancient city of Angkor Wat that failed to return Wednesday night, was found this morning, though without any trace of its operator or passengers. Cambodian officials have dispatched several military units into the area to search through the surrounding jungle amidst concerns that it is related to one of a number of Southeastern Asian terrorist organizations based in the region. Three American citizens are among the missing.

Concerned parent groups joined several senators on the step of Capitol Hill to protest the latest wave of violent video games. Senator Limperman called the games "pornography" and was offended by crude shots taken at him by one recent game. Among the titles the group is trying to get banned from stores are "Manglegarten", "Rape and Pillage", and "Abe Lincoln Teaches Killing". Protestors say that extended media attention towards exploitive games such as "Meth Tycoon" promotes parental awareness of their adult content, and lessens children's interest in the taboo-themed games.

Religious tourists have been flocking in droves to the Santa Maria church in Santiago, Spain after several pilgrims claimed to have seen statues of the Madonna begin crying blood. The site dates back to the period of the Romans, and has several reported weeping virgin sightings throughout its history. One pilgrim reported that they witnessed blood coming from no less than six statues at around sunset, and that the courtyard felt full of sadness. Skeptics have been quick to point out that this phenomena has been debunked, and witnesses are no more credible than those that report UFOs.

The search for an LA sewer worker is beginning to look grim, as police and family end their seventh night looking for Luis Salvadore, after he failed to return home last Friday. Salvadore was last seen entering a manhole in Hollywood to carry out a routine inspection. Salvadore's family is hopeful that the husband and father of three will return safely, and urge anyone who might have seen Salvadore to contact the police.

Malkavian version:


Could there be something wrong in the Hollywood Sewers?

stories related to our activities:

The Southland Slasher struck again, this time in downtown Los Angeles. The body of Sean Milton, a former convict that was recently released for good behavior, was found butchered similarly to the other victims of the serial killer. Police believe there may be a connection between Milton's prison past and the Slasher. We'll have a full report on this story later tonight.

Simon Milligan, host of local cable show Haunted LA, and his crew are reported missing tonight. The team of the popular supernatural-themed program were filming around downtown Los Angeles according to the show's producer, but friends and family of the crew started to worry when they failed to return from a night of shooting. No trace has been found yet of the Haunted LA team, and rumors by the shows fans speculate that the crew met a supernatural end, though police disagree and have started a sweep of the areas where the crew was filming.

Firefighters are trying to contain a flash fire in the Hollywood Hills this morning. Smoke and debris from a house fire alerted residents late this evening. The fire had already spread rapidly by the time firefighters arrived, due to brush and wind conditions. Fire officials expect the blaze to be extinguished within the next few hours, but are advising local homeowners in the area to evacuate.



That's all for now. I haven't shown off Melissa's character sheet for a while, so here it is. I don't remember when I spend experience or in what, but I will let you know from here on.



Now we're off to Hollywood.

Yeah, just drive.



Leonard Boyarsky of Troika had this to say about Hollywood:





_{The Hollywood theme is probably the most memorable of all the hub themes.}

Right away, we're approached by a vampire.



Remember, we're here to see Isaac, but I'd rather we do that on our own terms.

And you might be?

Isaac's in the jewelry store at the end of the street. Consider yourself invited.

I don't like this guy. It doesn't help that his sunglasses make him look like an insect.

And what if maybe I don't want to see Isaac?

You do.

You going to make me?



We aren't going to head to Isaac at this point. Instead, we're going inside of the Red Spot in front of us.

See those pay phones to the right of the entrance? One of the rings as we approach it. Who could be calling a pay phone? Let's find out.





What? I think I read that book once.

The guy on the other end hangs up. A surefire way to know that Bloodlines was released in 2004 is that there are payphones in it. Do those even exist today?



Regardless, into the red spot we go.



The Red Spot seems like a typical convenience store, though that's just on the surface... Sometimes, there's a high school druggie type who walks around the isles with hilarious dialogue. He's not here right now.

There's also a stereo on the counter, with the deb of night playing:





Yeah. What's going on around here? Anything exciting or unusual?

Always. You should come out and see my band Ebola Cereal - we're playing tomorrow night at the Crematorium. No cover for chicks. We're gonna RUIN the place.

Interesting. Anything else I should know about?

Yeah. The Vesuvius rocks! They don't let me in anymore, but damn, the girls in there, dude - it's like a midget smuggling ring in there, uh, if you're into that kind of thing, I mean.

Possibly.

Uh, hey, y'know, you should REALLY ask me about the special, y'know.

Okay, I'll bite, what's the special?

I'm glad you asked that, baby, seeing as how you look... trustworthy or something. I got this special where you buy some really expensive burrito-tots or Grapple juice, you get a free weapon of your choice, bro. You interested?

Wait - you're selling weapons out of a convenience store?

Yo, keep it down, shh. It's just my side gig, y'know. New amps and lap dances don't pay for themselves, dude.

Alright. Show me what you've got.



On the surface, it's just another convenience store, but it's actually another merchant for us. We're interested in buying both the new armor and the Sledgehammer.



The armor actually takes away a dot of dexterity when we wear it, so we'll spend experience to buy the dot back. It takes more experience to get back to two dots, since we'd now have three if we weren't wearing the armor. Ya dig? We're essentially buying a third dot that we're not getting the benefits from when wearing this armor.




_{Another unused song, this one not as good as the used theme.}

Now we'll head to--



Let's go, Chuckles!

Waste of effort.

He'll keep hounding us until we see Isaac. We're not going to do that now, though, because...



Luckee star? That's the name of the motel that we have the keycard to, and we found that keycard while investigating where Muddy went.

Inside, we first talk to the guy behind the counter.



I'm just taking a look around.

Feel free, babe, this is a treasure trove of human banality. Working here, you meet lots of types uh... man. You get stories, you get characters, you know. This... this is the kind of place writers go to study human behavior, man. It's invaluable.

We've been called 'baby' at the Red Spot and now 'babe' here.

You're a writer?

Writer's such a tarnished term, you know what I mean? It's like... like, every other guy says he's a writer, right? You write a letter, you're a writer, you know? I-it's like.... What I do, that's like, that's screenwriting, like, I encapsulate the essence of excellent film in my scripts, alright? Like, I'm a a - I'm like a blacksmith with pens, right; I'm a welder of montage.

You know, screenwriting is really not impressive.

What do you write?

Does a writer write, or does he just like ink the flotsam and jetsam floating in his subconscious into a 120-page piece of film genius? But... y-y-you know, most of my subconscious is filled with old horror films, so... tha- that's what I write mostly, I guess.

Horror? What kind of horror film are you working on?

Me? I'm like... looking to redefine the vampire movie, okay. Like, tons of people make vampire flicks, popular characters - but me, I'm gonna be doing the real deal, like, not only is it going to be scary, but it's gonna be like - it's gonna be believable.

Vampires? What do you know about vampires?



Uh-huh.

I see. Well, I must be going now.

I'm sure that will never come up again.



Past the receptionist, we find the right room with ease, since there are only a few of them.







The killer escapes, and Muddy lies dead on the floor. The killer looked strangely familiar...



Searching around for clues, we find a business card on the desk.



Santa Monica? That's right!


We met the Santa Monica Slasher back in the diner! It all comes full circle.... maybe.



We might as well let the vampire writer guy know that it wasn't us.

Did you know there's a dead body in one of your rooms?



We'll head back to Santa Monica later.





On our way to Isaac, past the Luckee Star Motel, we run across this restaurant. Earlier, LaCroix sent us an email telling us that a food critic named Tommy Flayton would be here, and we're supposed to convince him to write a bad review of the cafe.



There he is.



I just wanted t-

Wanted to know what? Interrupt me while I'm working! Do you understand that this is an important opening and I - emphasize I - am going to MAKE or possibly break this restaurant?!?

Just exactly who are you to feel you have so much power?



This is actually a red herring, but...

[Seduction] I just love your work.

Oh, uh... thanks.

This place is just horrible, don't you agree? We should go somewhere else.

You're wasting my time.

Indeed, because that wouldn't get us anywhere. The conversation ends there, and we have to talk to him again.



I can't believe I didn't recognize you! I've read so many of your articles.



Jesus christ. Seduction is a red herring, as we established. Let's go with persuasion.

[Persuade] Isn't it in your best interest to pan this place? You've got a reputation to keep.

How so?

Play this right, and....

You're becoming the joke of the food world - you'll give anything a good review.

You know, now that you mention it, the gnocchi was a bit cold. And the raviolo might have been store-bought. Also, the decorum's a bit lacking, isn't it? This place is an over-priced cafeteria. No stars!



Good job Melissa, don't hint you had an ulterior motive or anything.



Yes, yes.



The end of the alley on the right.



Isaac Abrams. We saw him that night in the courthouse, a long with many other vampires we've gotten to know better.



Yes, but that doesn't explain why Isaac's goon had us come here.

You tell me. One of your goons directed me here.

Very courteous of you to stop by. All Kindred that enter my domain are expected to introduce themselves. It may seem like an outdated formality, but it serves its purpose.

And what purpose would that be?

It gives me the opportunity to personally welcome visitors to my domain. It also helps to establish an understanding in advance, so that there are no unfortunate accidents while they are in town.

We can see where this is going...

So, what sort of "understanding" is there going to be between us?



There are two currents in the Kindred anarch movement: the first, and the current that may actually be worthy of the name, is represented by anarchs like the ones in the Last Round. The other, represented by Isaac, just uses the anarch affiliation to increase its own power at the expense of the rest of the Kindred, anarch or not. Isaac is the worst of the Kindred anarchs encapsulated into one Toreador shell. Unfortunately, we have to play along in order to get what we want.

I see. So what do you want?

What I want is a simple exchange. Last week I paid for a certain item - a movie - and this evening I got an email saying that the seller is ready to deliver it. Unfortunately, he's become a bit paranoid all of the sudden.



You're worried it's a set up so you're sending me instead?

Speaking of paranoia - no, simple pickup's all that's involved.

So why not send your goon to do it?



You enjoy this, don't you? Making people dance on your chain.

You live long enough, you'll be asking some whelp to do the same thing. And as I mentioned, this is simply a matter of tribute.

We're forced to do it if we want to get anywhere.

I'll do it. But I have some questions first.

There'll be plenty of time for questions later. I'll explain everything when you get back.

There had better be. Package delivery - never done that before. I'm gone.



Welcome indeed.