Part 48: 23:47-0:23: Descent Into Madness

Chapter 48: 23:47-0:23: Descent Into Madness



ARIST: [Easy: Success] You’ve seemingly exhausted all possibilities. Go check out the Feld mural again and think about where you might find Ruby.





FELD MURAL: Above the mural—a collapsed roof, broken windows set in walls that are cracking and will soon also fall, and the coastal breeze rustling and sighing in the remains of the edifice.
ENCYCLOPEDIA: [Medium: Success] Feld Electrical—you only know them as a small company that makes ink cartridges. Looks like they used to be… big.



FELD MURAL: Indeed. Somehow you knew it was here. An urban ruin gutted by looters that once used to consume money and dispense warmth and light.



KIM KITSURAGI: “In there? She could. Or…” He points behind you. “She could be in that *identical* ruin over there, or in that boat shack. In that church tower, maybe…”




ARIST: [Challenging: Success] All the stories you’ve found and become a part of, all the closure you’ve witnessed, you can feel it all rising up within you, giving you strength.




SHIVERS: Trying to talk to the wind? The city? Whatever you thought would happen did not, and now you’re just standing there, in the dusk hour. With your hands fallen to your side.
LOGIC: [Medium: Success] Is *trying to talk to the city* something you’ve done before? Is it in your secret repertoire—a trick for when you’re out of ideas?



KIM KITSURAGI: “How *do* we? I was really hoping she’d be in the village…” The lieutenant sighs, then gets a hold of himself: “Okay. She’s *probably* north of the village and this place is a peninsula.” He looks North. “We already scanned most of the outdoor areas on our wild *cryptid hunt*, so we have an understanding of the geography, at least. And then there’s the church.” He looks at the bell tower. “We’ve already searched that and can rule it out. I know it doesn’t feel like progress, but exclusion is a step too.”






SHIVERS: Walk the coast, the old boardwalk, the reeds… You can always come back here and talk to the wind again. Look where it already got you.





ARIST: [Formidable: Success] You try once more.






KIM KITSURAGI: He shrugs. “So how do we get in there? The doors were on the collapsed side of this building… they’re gone, basically.”







Waste Land of Reality may seem like a huge waste (land of reality) because of all the penalties, but it’s well worth it, because +1 Psyche means all our Psyche skills go up one. Even the ones that got penalized, meaning those are a zero sum. Those are also, coincidentally, two skills that get boosted by Cleaning Out The Rooms, so all in all it’s been very productive for us (except Physical Instrument, which does still get penalized).



Let’s check the ladder.




FELD LADDER: The distances between the remaining rungs are rather *wide*. You’d have to use the mounting brackets. However, they seem corroded and the peeling rust is razor-sharp.



FELD LADDER: Not to mention that the roof is collapsing and the wind gets pretty brutal up there. Dismounting from the ladder is going to be *hard*. Perhaps if you were to *not* climb the ladder? Instead…
SAVOIR FAIRE: [Medium: Success] What if you were to do something more *subtle*?



KIM KITSURAGI: The lieutenant stares at you, stone-faced. “Teleportation is not a thing.”




KIM KITSURAGI: “Oh yes. It could hurt. A lot.”






SAVOIR FAIRE: *ZOOT*! *ZAP*! *POW*! *CRINKLE*! It’s like magic, you feel yourself disappear, your atoms fading out of existence…
KIM KITSURAGI: “Okay, well. That’s impressive, but…”



KIM KITSURAGI: “I just *saw* you climb the ladder,” the lieutenant shouts from below. “You just climbed it, like a regular person.”
PERCEPTION (HEARING): [Easy: Success] The wind at the top of the building starts howling loudly, blowing away the lieutenant’s voice…. Faintly you hear…







ARIST: [Medium: Success] You fish out your flashlight from your cloak and descend further into the building.














KIM KITSURAGI: “After you *climbed* up to the roof, you mean? There’s a maintenance entrance under the boardwalk. It’s next to a drain pipe, possibly a storm drain—it was easy to miss before.”










INTERFACING: The ‘how’ was a closely guarded secret. Something that was locked in safes and human heads across the river where they were manufactured. As to why? Your fingers don’t know.





KIM KITSURAGI: “These? No. These are old filament memories. I hope you’re not expecting to find that device here—you will be disappointed.”



















KIM KITSURAGI: “Yes, I can see that. Looks like some communists were hiding out here. They left a long time ago.”



KIM KITSURAGI: “Half a century? This was probably part of the network of defence posts the communards builts against the amphibious landing.”



KIM KITSURAGI: “We have found a lot of those lately… I guess what most people think of as *history* tends to linger in run-down neighbourhoods. Martinaise being what it is, no one has gone through the trouble of cleaning out the old bunkers.”






KRAS MAZOV PORTRAIT: Years worth of dust is shaken off. The full head of hair, matched by an ample moustache and sideburns, look a bit silly.














KIM KITSURAGI: He lowers his voice. “Once we detain a credible suspect, who knows what the Union and the Wild Pines will do? We’ll set in motion events we have no control over.”
LOGIC: [Medium: Success] You will upset the balance of power in Martinaise. The deadlock between the company and the Union will destabilize.
INTERFACING: [Challenging: Success] This part of town is a fine clockwork puzzle. Disturb its peace and it will start breaking down—uncontrollably.



KIM KITSURAGI: “I don’t know, little things?” He pauses. “But you’re right. We’ve gotten everything we can from the Union—we even opened that container…”



KIM KITSURAGI: “I still don’t think that was a good idea, but yes—our affairs with the Wild Pines are in order. Since she isn’t in Martinaise anymore.”



KIM KITSURAGI: “Well… we’re not responsible for what we can’t predict, are we? I don’t think the *entire* city will be razed to the ground.” He smiles in the dark.
ESPRIT DE CORPS: [Challenging: Success] Let’s *try* not to worry, he thinks.




SAVOIR FAIRE: [Easy: Success] I wouldn’t be so sure. You haven’t exactly been sneaking.







Well, let’s proceed further into this dark caver—




ARIST: [Trivial: Success] WHAT THE FUCK IT HURTS