Let’s not give power to something that’s in too much pain to even stand, let alone control a power.
Call over Willemina saying there’s a burnt animal and ask if she knows how we could treat it.

Edmango 2021/02/21(Sun)14:33 No. 988727 ID: afe7de
File 161394682165.png - (9.46KB , 500x500 , Catalyst_071.png )

> Don’t awaken the badger
> Interrogate the badger
You have an internal debate about this but decide to not awaken the badger for now, instead you ask Roach to query the badger if they saw who did this.

Roach: THE CREATURE DESCRIBES HER ASSAILANT AS A TALL BEING WITH EARS ON THEIR HEAD, AT LEAST THAT WAS WHAT THEY WERE ABLE TO SEE BEFORE THEY WERE ACCOSTED.

You: Thanks Roach.

>>988704
You head back over to Willamina and grab her hand gently, looking her dead in the eye.

You: This has been a really nice time and all, and I’d love to do this again, but um… but what’s over there isn’t something we should ignore.

You walk her over to the badger and show her, you can see a deep seated fear creeping up on her as she backs away slightly before taking several deep breaths and crouching down with you to look at the badger.

You: I think she’s going to be fine, it’ll just take some time to heal, but what I’m more concerned about is that she’s BURNED in the middle of this park.

Willamina: I REALLY hope this doesent imply what I think it implies.

You: That we have a pyromaniac in town? That this doesent look like a gasoline fire? That maybe whatever caused the fire at your estate was actually a person with powers?

Willamina: ALL of the ABOVE.

You: We should call the police

Edmango 2021/02/21(Sun)14:33 No. 988728 ID: afe7de
File 161394683547.png - (8.17KB , 500x500 , Catalyst_072.png )

Willamina nods as you take out your COMM and dial the cops, it takes a few rings before finally patching through

Andrea: Lyst Police Department, this is Andrea, what’s your emergency?

You: Um, there’s a burned animal in the middle of the park by the big oak tree, it doesent look like a gasoline fire, what should we do?

Willamina whispers to you that you should mention who is here.

You: Oh and um it’s me Cat and Willamina that found the thing, it looks like it’ll be fine, but um we’re a little spooked that there could have been a fire that burned down the park.

Andrea: Be right there

It takes a few minutes but Andrea eventually makes it to your location, it looks like she ran the whole distance. She brushes past the two of you and pulls out her COMM, taking pictures of the scene before pocketing it and looking at the both of you.

Andrea: Burns recent, maybe 30 or so minutes ago by the looks of the burned ground. Did either of you see anyone on your way through the park?

The two of you shake your heads.

Andrea: Well, let’s hope this is a one off thing. Thanks for reporting this. You okay Willamina?

Willamina nods, looking a bit distracted and Andrea reaches over and squeezes Willamina on the shoulder

Andrea: It’ll be okay Willamina.

Edmango 2021/02/21(Sun)14:35 No. 988732 ID: afe7de
File 161394691570.png - (4.33KB , 500x500 , Catalyst_073.png )

Andrea asks you a few more questions before letting you go and pulling out her COMM. You split off from the bunny cop, you can hear her talking on her COMM, probably to her sister as she shoos you both away. It’s a quiet walk through the rest of the park, Willamina’s hair covering her eye, she sticks close to you, but you can see her shaking. Eventually you reach the Post Office and she just stands there, looking at you.

Kissing is... an option, but I think we can settle for a hug to comfort Willamina.

Ask if she wants you to spend the night with her, whether it be at your place or her place. She doesnt need to talk about anything if she doesnt feel comfortable, and doesnt have to do anything weird, but you'll be somebody to be there with her through this and will offer your support.

Otherwise, if she says she wants some space for now, tell her you'll understand, thank her, and be on your way.

Though a hug is fine regardless of what Will's answer might be.

Hug, thank her for the fun night, and "see you in the morning"

>tall being with ears
Well, that narrows it down a *little*. Certainly doesn't rule out Isabella, who arrived in town today surely by pure coincidence.

Give her a hug, ask if she's okay. Does she need someone to stay with her tonight?

Offer to spend the night with her.

>>988744
This. You don't mind staying over even if she just wants you on the couch so you're nearby.

>>988741
second this. purely for emotional support and all. Also hug sure yeah.

Hey, want me to stay at your place tonight so you don't gotta be alone all night?

"Er... Sorry if I ruined the night there. Will you be all right on your own?" Leave an implied offer open, but don't phrase it like you see an opportunity in her fright.

>>988754
Good phrasing, but maybe something along the lines of 'Sorry about the end of that there...if I can make it up to you somehow, let me know.'

Edmango 2021/02/21(Sun)18:09 No. 988757 ID: afe7de
File 161395975216.png - (9.56KB , 500x500 , Catalyst_074.png )

>Hug her
You pull Willamina into an embrace, she doesn't resist, and pulls you a little closer. She buries her head into your neck and after a little while breaks the hug.

Willamina: Thanks. SORRY. It’s just… We were having a good time and this happens.

>>988754
You: Will you be alright on your own?

She nods her head

Willamina: It’s fine. I’ll be fine in the morning. THANKS.

She punches you in the shoulder with a smirk.

Willamina: You BETTER not be late for work tomorrow you hear.

She heads inside and looks at you, a brief smile on her face before closing the door.

You pull out your COMM, it’s almost 9PM, are you going to call it for the night and head back to your room, or do something else. Remember you have work tomorrow at 11AM, and you like to sleep in and get around 8-10 HOURS of sleep.

Yeah, as much as I want to stay up later, lets head to bed now so that we can wake up pretty early and have a morning walk in the east side of town and meet more people before work starts. That way when we go through our harder route tomorrow, we won't have to stop so much to talk to everyone and finish the hard route late, especially since Willamina did expect us to finish our route earlier when we did our easy route but didn't because we spoke to a lot of people. If we spoke to everyone during our work hours, we might not finish our work on time.

When you make it back to your room, go and feed Roach some of that sweet you bought.

We really should sleep on what happened tonight, also for the sake of more time to converse on the hard route tomorrow.

Check and see if the badger is still there

Go find the badger and give them healing powers
Waste of three points and permanent scars otherwise.

Head back to the Hapless Stone; close to turning in, but not quite. Ask Oriel if she's seen Isabella anywhere; you wanted to thank her for the discount, but you couldn't see her anywhere during dinner. If she says that Isabella just came in (or that she's still out at the moment), make a mental note and say you'll wait until morning. Nothing more.

Also, make a different mental note to greet package recipients for the first time with an offered handshake.

(Our investigation into possible suspects will be subtle and gradual.)

>>988757
Can't we spend excess energy on boosting Roach further?
I guess it wouldn't hurt to have a badger buddy, if we can stay in contact with it somehow.

find badger for badger powers

Edmango 2021/02/21(Sun)19:20 No. 988787 ID: afe7de
File 161396403912.png - (7.30KB , 500x500 , Catalyst_075.png )

>>988770
Against your better judgment you decide to head back to the badger, you walk through the park, following the path you went in but in reverse and eventually reach the bush the badger was near. No one is nearby, at least the moons are out tonight so it’s not too hard to see. She’s still there, looks like she moved a bit from last time.

>>988781
You decide to give the badger powers, if only so you end up spending all of your daily points before they reset. But what power should you give them? You have 3 ENERGY left, so you decide to spend all of the points. A thought also comes to mind, earlier in the day you joked about if your power HEALS the things it awakens, maybe you should experiment with giving it a power other than healing.

its power shall be: Physical resilience increases proportional to physical pain. The more pain it is feeling the more resistant to any and all physical trauma it becomes. Should both help it get back home and heal up, while being a mild enough boon that its not gonna become some sort of indestructible uber-badger.

>>988787
Teleportation. With a cooldown depending on how much distance was traveled.
Specifically, it can teleport by burrowing through space.

How about The power to become an anthro badger, and back to wild animal whenever it wants. That way, people wont know it was originally a wild animal and think it is a person that can become a wild animal, and people will be able to heal it instead of leaving it behind like andrea did.

Afterwards, we can bring her to Trey or Gruk to get healed since she wouldnt be considered a wild animal

(plus, we'll get a new neighbor for Lyst)

>>988790
Voting for this. It'll probably mutate out the pain requirement for something else as it gets more powerful, on top of the expected efficiency boosts.

(This is both helpful and somewhat low profile.)

The power to make things sexy

>>988796
This one sounds almost entirely pointless and has a weird underlying implication of wanting to bed this literal wild animal later.
+1

>>988802
Sexy by whose definition?

Make sure you hide the glow and take the badger with you immediately.

>Power
One big Undo button on anything, in particular this burned arm. At higher levels this will allow the badger to rewind and replay memories as they occurred, with traumatizing memories staying clearer due to their deep storage.

>>988790
Backing this one.

>>988790
Voting for this. Honey Badger don't care.

Masochist super badger is tempting, but how about growing extra limbs to become octo badger?

Edmango 2021/02/21(Sun)21:56 No. 988815 ID: afe7de
File 161397339143.png - (7.16KB , 500x500 , Catalyst_076.png )

The badger stops moving and stares at you as you slowly inch your hand towards her. You wonder what power it’ll get. You poke her and a blue glow begins to suffuse the creature. It radiates out from their head and forms a small halo. You pull up their status window while you’re in contact.

Name: Hazel
Age: 3 Years
Power: Physical Toughness [ 3 ]

This creature has some resistance against all forms of physical damage.
This resistance increases proportionally to physical pain the creature is currently suffering.
As it’s power level increases the amount of natural resistance it has as well as total physical trauma it can bear increases.

You: Huh, okay then.

You nod to yourself and note that it might not be an immediately useful power, but would help against predators if this badger ever got in a fight. You pay a bit more attention to the badger, hoping to see if any other changes happen and you notice the burns it has are receding and the badger is as good as new.

You: This is insane. I wish I Awakened before the INCIDENT… I could have helped them…

You’re lost in thought, staring through the badger for a few minutes before you notice that it’s staring at you silently. You stare back at it, eventually giving it a little wave. The badger then rushes off into the nearby brush, vanishing.

Edmango 2021/02/21(Sun)21:56 No. 988816 ID: afe7de
File 161397341883.png - (8.67KB , 500x500 , Catalyst_077.png )

You: well, there goes any chance of me taking it back with me. SIGH.

You walk back through the park, deciding to take your time. After a few minutes of walking someone passes you by, they appear to be in a bit of a rush and you notice that they’re a bit angry, stomping as they walk. They don’t notice as you tilt your head to catch a glimpse of their face.

Just hold your breath and wait for them to pass.

Can Roach read her thoughts as you both pass by without her knowing?

also, do you Recognize the eye on the armband? Maybe you can draw it later on the cat note

Besides seeing if roach could read her mind without knowing, it is Probably best to leave her alone.

Anyway, lets get to bed soon. Hopefully we can wake up early enough to meet some people before work despite going back to check on badger.

>>988816
She looks tall...
Just mind your own business. Don't interact.

Something to think about: do Supers ever get stronger powers over time? Like, for example, could a healer suddenly be able to heal worse wounds?
We could boost the town healer tomorrow, on the condition of secrecy, and hope his stronger power heals Williamina, in which case we can Awaken her without needing an explanation for how her scars went away.

Uh...Are you alright?

Leave her be, and be on your way once she passes. If she's our guy, she probably found out her power was discovered, and she doesn't know we've already effectively erased much of the physical evidence. If this is the case, she's probably in contact with someone who monitors police activity.

We officially have two suspects now. I bet we can find out more about this lady if we ask around, assuming we don't run into her on tomorrow's route. We only have to lie about where and/or when we saw her.

We should follow her at least a little ways.

Hm. Occulty girl. Seems like something really got her knickers in a twist. Bit early to presume involvement, and risky to confront direct, especially if she's happy enough to ignore you.

Then again, a tall being with ears on their head... this would fit the bill.

Could do a half-measure.

"Oh, hey, uh, sorry, excuse me?"

Move up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder. Then do the power-sensing thing while you do. If she's not got any pyro powers that decreases the likelihood she's our perp.

"Is this the way towards the Lyst-Y-Mart? Uh, is it even still open? I'm new in town, thought I'd cut through the park, but, uh, city boy, lost my sense of direction when I went off into the bushes a bit. Sorry if this is a bad time."

Prepare to get your head bitten off (metaphorically) if she's in as bad a mood as she looks.

You could also confer with Roach to see if he'd be willing to do some sleuthing. Or is being put onto a Big Person the sort of risky business they'd rather avoid?

Another thought. The badger actually had a 'normal' name, Hazel. Maybe it's actually a pet, and leaving it out here, burnt and hurt, was intended as some sort of message?

Edmango 2021/02/22(Mon)23:51 No. 988902 ID: afe7de
File 161406670596.png - (5.73KB , 500x500 , Catalyst_078.png )

>>988817
You hold your breath as the person passes you by, you think about reaching out and trying to see if she has a power but hold yourself back from the temptation, it’s the middle of the night and most people would be kind of wary if a random person just poked them in the middle of the park at night, if not give an extremely hostile reaction.

You do note however that they are pretty tall with ears on their head, could be the person we’re looking for. Maybe you’ll get a chance to ask around about them tomorrow.

>>988820
You also think about Supes and their powers for a little bit on your walk back. From what you remember most Awakened have powers that are kind of static, they usually just find different applications for the powers. Some through practice or dedication end up manifesting secondary powers to supplement their original one, and others sometimes gain a power boost over years as if their power grows with them, but those are extremely rare cases and tend to become Supes of significant renown.

Edmango 2021/02/22(Mon)23:51 No. 988903 ID: afe7de
File 161406671852.png - (9.94KB , 500x500 , Catalyst_079.png )

>>988777
You make it back to the Hapless Stone and head up to Oriel to ask a quick question.

You: Hey, so have you seen Isabella tonight? Didn’t see her during dinner and wanted to give my thanks.

Oriel: Nah, she probably had dinner at the Friendly Bean, she loves the food there, even though it’s mostly a coffee place.

You thank Oriel and head upstairs to your room. After putting down your satchel you pull out the bag of SWEETS and pop it open, giving one to Roach who happily chows down on it.

Roach: THANK YOU CAT.

You then pull out your comm, it’s 10PM and you don’t have any texts. You sigh and shoot both Willamina and Isabella a text saying “Hey this is Cat! Just got a moment to myself to finally add your numbers to my Comm.” You also shoot Willamina a text saying “I wish you a sound sleep tonight, I had a good time all things considered.” After doing that you set your Comm on the bedside table. There’s a wireless charging dock there, so you slot your Comm into it, strip down to your undies and tuck into bed.

Edmango 2021/02/22(Mon)23:52 No. 988904 ID: afe7de
File 161406672826.png - (12.39KB , 500x500 , Catalyst_080.png )

You struggle at first to fall asleep, the days events flashing by your mind and interrupting what could have been a peaceful slumber. It’s a dreamless sleep for better or for worse. Eventually you fall asleep and all too soon you feel the sun peeking through the curtains on your eyes. You look at your comm, it’s 8:30AM.

You: Might as well wake up and get some breakfast…

You get up, grab your clothes and pop into the shower, it’s bare bones as far as showers go and it’s quickly over. After handling your morning routine you head downstairs. Oriel spots you and walks over to you.

Oriel: Want any breakfast shuga’?

You: Yeah, anything really, I’m starving.

She pops into the kitchen and in a few short minutes is already out with a batch of eggs, bacon, toast, and hash browns. You dig in, it’s actually pretty good, you’re genuinely surprised by the quality, since most bed and breakfast places seem to only lazily handle the breakfast part. The eggs are scrambled and seasoned pretty well, and the toast has light garlic flakes on it. You finish the meal and look over to a clock on the wall. It’s 9AM now and you have a few hours before work, You probably have time to do TWO THINGS what do you do?

Look for a backup job so you aren't thrown out on the street.
Search for the general store so you can buy a tent in case things get real bad.

Reflect that you did quite well yesterday, actually. From navigating Willemina's initially prickly demeanor into a job and a pseudo-date, to making a new friend in Roach and exploring town, to doing a good deed for that badger - Hazel? - and learning a bit more about your powers. Not a bad first day!

Now go check out the Libarby! Checking out the selection would be nice, plus you could rummage the local newspaper(s) for news on the ESTATE FIRE.

Maybe you'll run into that Xana tech-gal Fivin mentioned, too.

>>988904
You could ask Oriel about that woman you saw, and the armband.
Also possibly if Isabella and Williamina have some kind of history.

Ummm... has Roach found any other roaches to join the hivemind? You could give Roach a proper name.

Lets go to the Libarby to get a Libarby card and see if they have past newspaler articles about this town, maybe something about the estate fire to get a better understanding (we can ask Oriel when the fire happened first). We can also check out any book that looks interesting, maybe something to study about super powers to get a better understanding about your own.

Second thing to do is head to the community center and see if they have any upcoming events you can attend.

We should ask Oriel about the lady with the eye armband first, and then go to the libarby to do some digging about the estate fire and anything else we might want to do there.

Save a piece of food for Roach to enjoy

Familiarize yourself with whoever else is staying in the Hapless Stone. If she's here, be sure to catch Isabella before she heads out and thank her for the discount (while casually offering a handshake). (In fact, offer handshakes to every new person you formally meet, assuming you already confirmed with Roach that just calling up option menus to Awaken/Upgrade doesn't alert the target.)

Then head to the park and see if anyone else is snooping around the crime scene who shouldn't be.

Ask Oriel about armband person and then going to the libarby sounds like a good idea.

Edmango 2021/02/24(Wed)00:43 No. 989018 ID: afe7de
File 161415620915.png - (9.66KB , 500x500 , Catalyst_081.png )

>>988909
>>988915
>>988929
You look around and don’t spot Isabella, in fact you don't spot any other patrons, maybe its too early? Before you head out you decide to flag Oriel over and ask her a few questions.

You: Hey Oriel, I had a few questions if that’s alright.

Oriel: Shoot.

You describe the beast-kin that you briefly saw at the park last night making sure to point out the details that she’s pretty tall and has some colored streaks in her hair.

Oriel: Ohhhh, that’s Isabella’s sis Cannie. What about her?

You: Saw her last night when I was walking around the park and she seemed pretty upset.

Oriel: Oh that, you didn’t hear it from me, but she has a bit of a temper, but if you can get past that she’s alright I guess.

You: And she also had this symbol on her arm, uh is she a part of some sort of club or something like that?

You scribble the symbol you saw on Cannie’s arm into your notebook and show it to Oriel.

Oriel: Dunno, maybe ask her about it?

You: Thanks, last question. But uh do Willamina and Isabella have some kind of history, I get the feeling they might not be the best of friends.

Oriel: Well sum-one has been snooping around town huh. I may be a gossipy gus, but I won’t spoil the fun of hearing the FULL story from one of them, I’ll just say this. They used to be best friends and then there was a falling out a little after the fire.

You thank Oriel again and grab your satchel, heading out the front door.

Edmango 2021/02/24(Wed)00:45 No. 989020 ID: afe7de
File 161415635963.png - (14.39KB , 500x500 , Catalyst_082.png )

>>988908
>>988914
>>988915
>>988929
After a short walk you make it to the Libarby, it’s a pretty big building and appears to be attached to the Community Center. There’s an upstairs which looks to have a bunch of conference rooms. The front desk appears to be manned by a unicorn girl, and you can see in the back some sort of goat man stacking books on the shelves.

check with unicorn so we can get a Libarby card, and ask where we can find some old news articles (we want to learn about the estate fire). Maybe we can also find a book about some studies on superpowers as well so it can help us understand our own powers as well.

Oh, and be sure to be quiet. shhhhh...

>>989023
Yeah, basically this.
Also may as well introduce yourself to the librarian.

>>989020
Wow, fancy place.

Anyway, yep, introduce yourself to the libarbarian and find out if you need a libarby crard.

Go talk to the libarbian and see about getting a libarby card, and also see what kind of libarby programs and facilities they have. Like microfiche or a computer lab where homeless people try to masturbate.

Edmango 2021/02/24(Wed)16:07 No. 989074 ID: afe7de
File 161421166123.png - (11.80KB , 500x500 , Catalyst_083.png )

>>989023
You head up to the unicorn lass and get a closer look at her terminal, on it are some stickers you recognize, one of the hero Shocker that you doodled in your notebook and the other is of the Tinker’s Society. She finishes typing something and looks up from her terminal.

Unicorn: Welcome to the Libarby, how can I help you today?

You: Hiya, the name’s Cat and I’m new in town, I was interested in finding out how I could get a Libarby card and I had a few questions.

Unicorn: Welcome to Lyst! I’m Xana, and I’ll just need to see your ID and we can add you to our system, get you a little keychain that works as a Libarby card and will let you access the terminals in back or the conference rooms.

You hand her your ID and she plugs it into her terminal. It takes a few moments before it beeps and she pulls out a a small keycard with a hole punched in it. She enters something on the keyboard and pops your ID out, handing you both items. As your hands brush over hers you use your power, and note that she DOES NOT have a power.

Xana: Here you go. All set. If you wanna check out a book all you gotta do is flag me or Rupert over there down and we’ve got an app on our COMMS that lets us check out your book. Now, I think you mentioned something about a few questions?

You: Umm yeah. I was wondering where I could find some old news articles, find out about the history of the town you know?

Xana: Sure, sure. We’ve been publishing a weekly digest of the goings on in the town online for the past few years, you can find those and the older paper ones archived in the database. Just access any terminal in the computer lab. It’s also where you’ll usually find me if I’m not manning the front desk.

You: That’s helpful, thanks! And uh do you have any books on powers.

Xana: Check out the Metahuman studies section, it’s by the history section, not too big since most people in town don’t have too big of an interest in the topic, but it should have a couple of the best-sellers and newest releases. We also offer e-book versions of most books here, so if you prefer a digital screen to a hardcover book there’s that option.

Xana explains then how to rent an e-book of any book in the Libarby that has that option, it involves a scannable barcode on the back that links you to a page where you scan your Libarby card.

You: That’s great. And uh, do you have any Libarby programs or stuff like that, I noticed the building is attached to the community center, so I assume there’s some sort of overlap there.

Xana: Well other than the clubs we also offer e-learning and classes for people wanting to learn a variety of topics. It costs around 40-100 BUX a course depending on what you want to learn, just talk to Rupert and he can get you set up for that kinda thing, he used to be an amateur tinker, so he’s dipped his toes in a lot of fields.

What do you do next?

No time to stare at formal shirt fun bags, we may not be better than that but we do have an estate fire to research.

oh no she's hot

>>989076
Its an emerging trend.
>>989075
This, yeah.

"Are you one of the books here? Cause I definitely checking you out."

Bad pick up line aside, we definitely need to get with hot librarian lady! (Libarbian?)

Check out the fantasy sections well. Some light reading before bed would be good.

Eh I'm not into ponies. Go bookwards.

Right, time to get some info on the estate fire that we can print out to read for later.

And thank Xana for designing the map, it really helped you out on you first day working as a carrier.

See if you can ask Rupert to find you a book to study about powers while you find some articles to print. That way, we can save more time before work

You could use her help checking out the stacks. Let's do it behind the bookshelves.

Edmango 2021/02/24(Wed)21:20 No. 989099 ID: afe7de
File 161423043112.png - (10.22KB , 500x500 , Catalyst_084.png )

>>989077
You do your best to not stare at her cleavage and hustle off to the Metahuman studies section. Man, what is it with the people in this town? Did everyone get the conventionally attractive genes. You mumble to yourself a little bit with your naughty thoughts and are caught off guard when someone bumps into you.

Elf Woman: Oh My… Hmm, a new face… I didn’t foresee that. Excuse me I have matters to attend to.

You: Oh umm, sorry miss

The woman straightens her dress and walks past you, walking out of the Libarby, you look to the ground absentmindedly and notice a book on the ground. “Awakenings and their impact on Metahumans.” You flip the cover and read the back, it looks like a book that talks about the history of known Awakenings, their affects on metahumans, and the powers that were associated with them. It looks like it even goes into some details about Powers themselves, applications, and growth. The book is written by Don Kwang, one of the foremost experts on Metahuman studies. You keep the book, saving yourself the trouble of heading to the Metahuman studies section and head straight to the Computer Lab.

Edmango 2021/02/24(Wed)21:20 No. 989100 ID: afe7de
File 161423044338.png - (8.89KB , 500x500 , Catalyst_085.png )

You reach the computer lab and it is devoid of people. You grab the first available computer and log in by scanning your Libarby card. It boots up and you notice a few options. E-book Database, News Archive, and Documentaries stand out the most. You open up the news archive and scroll through, you don’t find anything for a little while and then notice there’s a search feature. You search for “Fire” and “Hadlee Estate” and a few articles appear, they appear to have been written around 10 years ago.

Fire Destroys Hadlee Estate

Our hearts go out to the members of the Hadlee Clan who lost their lives in a fire today. The Hadlee estate has been burned to the ground with seven casualties and only one survivor, Willamina Hadlee. Investigators have noted that the entire family had gathered to celebrate the young Maximilian Hadlee’s successful entry into the big city’s Heroes League. Investigations into the origin of the fire indicate that it started from multiple locations in the house, one investigator that we interviewed had this to say.

Investigator: We have our top heroes looking into this and are unsure if this was an attack from within the family, or an assasination attempt. Maybe this was purely an accident, but due to the nature of the fire and the extensive destruction of the property we are unable to investigate farther.

The surviving member of the family was hospitalized in Lyst’s clinic, rescued by Gruk our town’s masseuse and another individual that prefers to remain anonymous. Willamina is expected to make a full recovery in 10 weeks with specialized attention by our town’s doctor and Gruk. The scars however will most likely be a permanent reminder of this day to her. She fell unconscious shortly after being hospitalized and remains unconscious at the time of publication.

The article continues on for a little but but nothing else of value was stated. You move onto the next article.

Edmango 2021/02/24(Wed)21:22 No. 989104 ID: afe7de
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Hadlee Estate survivor wakes

Willamina Hadlee has woken up today, 3 weeks after her initial hospitalization, it is with a great sigh of relief that she has come back to us. Unfortunately she appears to be suffering from severe nerve damage due to the burns and will likely be in pain for the rest of her life even with treatments. The town mayor Nicky Dalton has offered to take her in rather than let her be shipped off to a nearby orphanage. Nicky had this to say when we interviewed her:

Nicky: Our heart goes out to Willamina and her deceased family, she is one of us and we care deeply for her. She will be surrounded by a loving family, we cannot replace what she has lost, but we will do what we can for the poor teenager.

Willamina had trouble talking when we came to visit her and kept muttering to herself something about “eyes” and a figure wreathed in flame. We believe the young woman is in shock and has potentially hallucinated due to the pain as further investigations have determined that other than the family, no other persons were believed to be on the premises that fateful day.

And now the final article.

Edmango 2021/02/24(Wed)21:23 No. 989105 ID: afe7de
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Hadlee Memorial

3 Years have passed since that fateful day the Hadlee Clan was nearly wiped out, today a memorial has been erected in the town park to commemorate the loss of a family near and dear to us. Willamina has declined any interviews at this time, but we will still congratulate her on becoming the town’s new Postwoman. She has taken to the job like a fish to water and we all are offering her our support during this harsh time for her life.

The article then goes on to detail the achievements made by the Hadlee clan in their founding of Lyst as well as their financial support to local businesses. The last thing you notice is that the article mentions the Hadlee Clan’s ties to the Walpole’s, something about the Hadlees being financial backers for them to start the Heroes League. Your eyes begin to glaze over with all of the information.

It’s a lot to take in. But something feels off about these articles, you were told that Trey was one of the people who rescued Willamina, but he decided to remain anonymous in the article. And Willamina had an awakened sibling, but they weren’t able to do anything about the fire. That seems strange, and you’d think a representative of the Heroes guild would have been there for the event, that or another family member would have been awakened so at least one other person there should have survived. This will probably nag at you until you can figure out what is wrong in all of these details.

It’s about an hour before work, you probably have time to do ONE THING

Hmm, so lets just go to work early. We have a harder route to attend to after all today, so working earlier might be able to give us more time to meet people during our route without wasting time...

Unless we want to go to the community center and see upcoming events or something.

but first and foremost, lets check out the book to borrow with Xana or Rupert, whoever is closer.

Aside from contemplating that precision irony-strike, we should ask Xana where whatever's left of the Hadlee Estate is to investigate later. Asking Willamina about this after last night would be... bad, but it's all we got.

Let's just get to work early. We've got a lot to consider. Essentially >>989108

>>989099
Well, she's obviously got a future-sight power. Recently awakened, even, if she was just reading that book. Man, future sight would be REALLY useful for our purposes, I hope she turns out to be on our side.

>>989100
>multiple locations in the house
Well, that's an obvious case of arson.
>unable to investigate further
This seems rather suspect. Fire forensics is a whole thing, and there are typically pieces of evidence that don't get burned.

>>989104
>eyes
Oh dear. Eyes like that armband?

>>989105
>something seems off
Hmmm... what do you know about the Heroes guild? Could it be possible they've gone corrupt and ordered the assassination of this influential family?
Alternatively, they know exactly who did it, and want to keep that information secret so they can fight them more effectively, or it's some horrible truth like a secret league of supervillains they've basically lost to and can't stop, so they don't want to start a panic.

Sadly, it's going to be difficult to gather evidence from an event that long ago, like for instance a guest list. We'd have to ask Williamina for details about the day and she sure as fuck wouldn't like to think about it.

>DO ONE THING
Let's start prepping for the worst. Find out how much it'd cost to get your own place. Like, renting an apartment at least. One that has decent security and isn't directly associated with Isabella or anyone else related to the estate fire. If you find out Isabella was involved, or her sister, you might have to move in a hurry.

Also realize that elf woman's necklace had that same eye symbol as Cannie's armband.

Added libarby keycard and libarby book to inventory

INVENTORY

- Wallet (contains bank card, pistol license, ID, and family photo)
- COMM (Willamina's phone number, Isabella's phone number)
- A notebook and pens
- A water bottle - Full.
- A Recharging Mana Pistol
- Roach
- Sweet
- Condom
- Libarby Keycard
- Awakenings and their impact on Metahumans book.

EQUIPMENT
- Hoodie
- Slacks
- Shoes
- Socks
(not sure what Cat is wearing under those clothes, if anything at all)


STORAGE (or stuff at home)

- Clothes (turtlenecks, slacks, boyshorts, socks, hoodie)
- soap
- toothbrush/paste
- switchcomb

BUX
14

TASKS

- Find a more permanent place to stay
- Find someone you trust to talk about your power
- practice using power
|_ Find out limiations
-Find out if OVERMIND is a hero or villain
- Investigate the estate fire
- investigate Isabella

unofficial tasks/mental notes:
- Get a terrarium for Roach (10 BUX, deadline probably Saturday night)
- Pay for room at Hapless Stone (currently 7 BUX due Friday night, 33 BUX if we stay Thursady and Friday night)
- Pay for COMM bill (5 BUX due Sunday)

Run to the mart, buy Willamina a gift, maybe sweets.

> Willamena saw "eyes."
> Bumped lady part of the Eye-Club.
> "Didn't foresee that..."

RED FUCKING ALERT!

Play it cool, but you immediately need to find that lady and shake her hand, preferably before she leaves the libarby. The pretense is, "Hey, you dropped your book." That she didn't foresee us implies that there are holes in her foresight, and we know that, at least for now, we're in one of them. (Emphasis on 'least.') We NEED to take advantage of it, so we know exactly what the extent of this possibly villainous spy's cheat power is so that we can plan around it. (Judging by the book's subject (and thus her possible freshness), it's entirely possible we can get a handle on her limitations before even she does.)

>Nerve damage, in pain the rest of her life
Oh jeez, no wonder Will's a regular grump. Poor woman.

>Will's brother had Awakened, family died in celebration of joining heroes guild
Well, that's... not great.

>Muttering elf, future-sight?
Very interesting. Might want to look into this Eye symbol as a separate thing... although, to be honest, it seems a little too obvious an answer? Feels easy to leap to conclusions here. Of course, we can safely put a 'susp' sign over anyone associated with the eye symbol, such as Cannie and the elf.

One does have to wonder, why WOULD a rich elf live out here in the boonies in the first place? If she actually has a power - such as future sight, implied by the 'didn't foresee that' comment - it feels like she should be in bigger leagues and certainly shouldn't be caught by surprise so easily. Maybe hers is a very weak power? Or maybe it's something else.

Either way, all you have to do to check is shake her hand at some point. And then... well, you're still stuck on what to do then, right? We need to learn more about the meaning of the eye symbol and the people wearing it. For all we know it's something Isabella's started to get at Will.

>Articles
Hm. Same author each time? You could check your COMMS for their address to see if they're still around, which means you could ask more in-depth questions of them at a later date and maybe get some of the oddities squared. Alternatively... speak with TREY, the town doctor. Isabella conspiratorially indicated he might have a hidden power, so that's something to check up on as well.

>ONE MORE THING
Well, you're here, so strike up a conversation with Rupert, the dabbling Tinkerer, then cut off in half an hour or three quarters of an hour so you can get to the post office a bit early to see how Will's doing.

- Shake hands, check for Powers.
- Talk shop / interests. Is there a Tinker club, tinker-related social events or a hobby workshop around?
- Any recommended courses for someone looking to better themselves? You're actually sort of interested in self-defence stuff, on account of... stuff that happened in the big city.
- Talk town. Are Lyst folk a good lot?
- If he seems friendly enough, fish for info on the elf who just bumped into you and left. She usually that, uh... distracted?

Maybe her foresight only works to see actions of non-powered. Which means she should know now that we have a power, but not what it is.

Edmango 2021/02/25(Thu)23:41 No. 989173 ID: afe7de
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>Take down the name of the author of those articles
You mark down their name, they're called Aeglos Wood, it would probably be a good idea to ask Rupert or Xana about where you can meet him.

>Check out book and talk to Rupert
>Check Rupert for powers
Rupert is the closest to you, having made his way down the bookshelves as you were on the terminal. You head over and tap him on the shoulder and hold out your hand for a shake. He turns around and accepts with a smile and you try with your power to see if you could upgrade his existing power, a prompt appears.

Level [3] Tinker: Stabilization

Cost [5] Energy

Upgrade?

Huh, you kind of dumbly stare in his direction as you ponder this notice, it looks like Tinkers are literally called Tinkers by whatever system controls your power, and they have specialties. You wish you understood exactly what stabilization means, but you can think about this more later. You break the handshake and can see a quizzical look on Rupert's face, it looks like he asked you something.

You: Um sorry could you repeat that?

Rupert: Ah, I said it's nice to see a new face around here. You looking to check out that book you're holding?

You nod and hand him the book, he takes his COMM and scans it, then scans your Libarby card.

Rupert: All set, anything else I can help you with?

You: Uh actually yes, I had a few questions.

You: I heard you were an amueter tinker, I used to want to be a tinker growing up, are there events or like a hobby workshop in town?

Edmango 2021/02/25(Thu)23:42 No. 989174 ID: afe7de
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His originally sleepy demeanor changes almost immediately as a great big smile appears on his snout.

Rupert: Well there isn't really a club per say, more like I have a workshop that I live out of and encourage any aspiring tinkers to come by and swap ideas and make cool gadgets. I have a small budget set aside for anyone who's too broke but can come up with a good blueprint.

The two of you talk shop for a minute and get into some technobabble, you also share your history of attempting to go to college to become a tinker but being shut down by the campus staff, which gets a resounding, "typical big city schmucks, think they know what's best for everyone." Eventually this line of dialogue dies down and you switch topics.

You: So uh, do you know anything about that elf woman that was just in here? She seemed a little distracted.

Rupert: You mean miss Iraphena? She's usually pretty on it, likes to sneak up on people, I don't think I've ever seen her get distracted actually, if I didn't know any better I would swear she was psychic. She donates a lot of the money that we get for the arts, literature and the brothel, it's where the budget for my workshop comes from actually. Oh, and she's smoking hot, like seriously. I mean have you checked out her ass... damn.

You look at the clock on the wall and notice that it's about 30 minutes till work and you wanted to arrive early, so you ask one more question.

You: Last question and then I have to go. Do you know how I could get in contact with an umm

You look through your notes for the name.

You: Aeglos Wood? I read some of their news articles and wanted to ask them a few questions.

Rupert: Oh him? Yeah. He lives on the outskirts of town, you can usually find them at the Hapless Stone on FRIDAYS, SATURDAYS, and SUNDAY evenings.

Edmango 2021/02/25(Thu)23:42 No. 989175 ID: afe7de
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> Head to work early
You take off from the Libarby and take some time to think as you walk. If you HAD to leave the inn, you'd need to save up some money to get an apartment, it costs around 150 BUX a week for a two bedroom. You also realize that you didn't notice the Elf woman's necklace had the same symbol that Cannie's armband did. Maybe they're connected somehow? And judging by Rupert's reaction, maybe she is PSYCHIC or at least has some amount of future vision, but maybe she can't see other Awakened with her sight? There's too many things you don't know at this point and more questions keep coming up. You're so distracted you end up walking into a pole right outside of the post office, luckily only one passerby saw you. Unluckily you can hear them cackling at you. You flush and head inside to see Willamina stacking some mail and neatly putting it in the satchel. She turns around as the bell chimes to denote your entrance.

Willamina: Oh, you're here FUCKIN early. Come help me ORGANIZE this, and then you can start your route. Anything you wanna know about it beforehand? There are some more prickly people on the EAST half of town, though they might be nicer to you cause you're NOT me.

Is there anyone in particular we should watch our tongue with, then? Also, tempting to ask about the eye symbol.

>>989175
Heh, morning to you, too. Hope you had a decent sleep.

As for questions...eh, just if you got anyone in mind that's particularly ornery or not. Maybe if you got any tips about where to go first?

Ask her if she knows Rupert. He a good guy?
And does she know Isabella's sister?

Also yeah ask if there's anyone in the east part of town we gotta be careful with.

>150 bux a week for an apartment
Well, we're probably getting paid 35 bux a day and have a 5 day work week, so that's out of our price range unless we get a roommate and split the bill. Or find someone who needs one. Maybe we can look for ads about people who need a roommate.

>And judging by Rupert's reaction, maybe she is PSYCHIC or at least has some amount of future vision, but maybe she can't see other Awakened with her sight?

Considering that Rupert is an awakened himself and seems to think she is psychic (probably using that power to sneak up on people, himself included), maybe we can deduce that it isn't a matter that she can't use her psychic power to see other awakened people. Maybe you're special in some way? In any case, lets not jump to conclusions and try to be careful.

What did the person laughing at you look like? Probably best to avoid that person for a while until they forget your face. Maybe ask Willamina what home that person lives in with a description of what they looked like so you can be sure to deliver mail there quicker than other homes to keep discussions there to a minimum & avoid awkwardness.

Otherwise, lets keep things professional at work and avoid talking about pleasure until after work, like the date yesterday or scheduling another date in the future.

Pretty much ask this >>989177 but probably don't ask about or show the eye symbol, especially since she seems to have some PTSD regarding her past like from seeing the burnt badger. That eye symbol may bring back bad memories. If we must ask about it though, we can ask if there is a cult in town since you saw a weird symbol on a couple people's accessories (don't need to mention it being an eye symbol, just say it is a weird symbol and you saw it on the elf woman's necklace and Cannie's armband)

But one question we could ask is this: pull out your map, and ask which houses belongs to whom, and then label their names down on the houses on the map >>986874 , so we can know of which houses to rush through, or spend a little longer on (like rushing through the intimidating elf woman's home, Isabella's family place to avoid Cannie if she is in a cult, or the home of that person who laughed at you, and spending a little longer at other friendlier people's homes like Peanut's place)

"Oh, um, is there a uniform I can wear? I can't believe I forgot to ask about that yesterday."

While you're getting changed, get out the book you checked out and look clairvoyance up in the index. Have Roach read it out to you to save time.

>>989206
Agreed, lets ask about a uniform, Cat will look so cool in one.
though lets ask while we help organize. Gotta show we are a good employee by prioritizing doing the tasks we are assigned.

(I assume Gena will have to make the uniform for us to fit into though since Willamina was the only carrier and might only have uniforms in her size. Not too sure about reading on the job though unless we know we can do it fast enough without getting in trouble. Gotta watch our time for the hard route after all)

>>989175
Give her a warm smile, and a friendly "sure thing".

Edmango 2021/02/27(Sat)00:18 No. 989297 ID: afe7de
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>>989231
You give Willamina a warm smile and nod your head.

You: Sure thing.

You start to help Willamina separate some mail into piles, one for the EAST side of town and one for the WEST. As you do, you decide to engage in a little smalltalk and ask some questions.

>>989206
You telepathically ask Roach if he could read the book you have and before you can even finish your sentence you get a response.

Roach: CAT, I AM ILLITERATE, JUST BECAUSE I KNOW ENGLISH DOES NOT MEAN I CAN READ

You mentally kick yourself for that oversight and decide it’s probably better if you aren’t distracted by it anyway.

You: Oh, um, is there a uniform I can wear? I can't believe I forgot to ask about that yesterday.

Willamina reaches under the table and eventually fishes out a vest and hat.

Willamina: Good catch. Yeah, you can use these for NOW. They were my old partner’s before he left the city. Can’t BELIEVE its been 5 years. Once we get you settled into the job and make sure you’re STAYING around for a while we’ll have Gena whip you up something like my UNIFORM. Don’t worry, It’ll come out of the Post’s budget, you wont have to PAY for it.

You put on the outfit and equip the satchel for the EAST half of town. You feel a little more official now.

You: So is there a specific path I should take on the route or?

Willamina: My best suggestion would be to head south and loop around the Libarby and community center, hitting those houses and heading north eventually ending at the Lyst-Y-Mart.

Edmango 2021/02/27(Sat)00:18 No. 989298 ID: afe7de
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>>989177
You: Now that sorting the mail’s done, I wanted to ask, is there anyone in particular I should watch my tongue with?

Willamina: Hrm, yeah there’s a few. Miss Iraphena is a bit of an ornery one. She acts like a know it all, like she’s already heard what you’re going to say, so it feels a little demeaning. Just don’t say anything to piss her off and you should be fine.

Willamina: Then there’s Trey, I mean, he’s good people, but has anger management issues, just be straight to the point or he might get mad at you for wasting his time.

Willamina: Then there’s the clinic’s receptionist, uh, just ignore him. It’s really for the best.

Willamina: Then there’s Cannie just uh, hope you didn’t catch her on a bad day or she’ll try to fight you…

Willamina: Everyone else shouldn’t be a problem

You: alright, noted.

Willamina: THANKS to you coming in early we’ve got everything sorted a lot easier, you can start your route early today, it’ll PROBABLY take you the whole day to do it since it’s your first time and I imagine you’ll want to introduce YOURSELF. Just make it back by 4PM, got it PRICK?

She says the last line with a smirk and you nod.

You: See ya in a few hours!

Edmango 2021/02/27(Sat)00:21 No. 989300 ID: afe7de
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You head out and decide to go to the city hall first. After entering you notice Fivin chatting with a woman you don’t recognize.

Woman: Want some beef jerky? I made it last night?

Fivin: Oooh Nicky you KNOW I love your jerky, are you sure you don’t put drugs in it?

Nicky: Family secret.

Nicky winks at Fivin and they both giggle.

>>989300
Got a delivery. Hey Fivin.

Nicky? Ah, must be the mayor, and mother of Cannie and Isabella.

Keep things brief and professional. Say "Mail call!" and hand over the mail.

If they want small talk, just ask something simple like what movie she has coming up for the town to watch.

Fivin said Nicky put drugs in those beef jerky? If they offer you some, just take it to be polite, but don't eat it and say you'll save it for later, you had a big breakfast. You're on the job after all, and we don't wanna destroy our brain

When you're done with city hall, take a sip of your water to stay hydrated and ENERGIZED!

>I made it last night
Wait how do you make jerky that fast

Ask what kind of jerky it is. Beef? Chicken?

Place package on the counter and conveniently brush the paws of both persons while you do.

"Well, I'm still here! Yay! Did they find that wounded badger yet?"