Water of Life Update
Today, the characters went body huntin'. There were hijinks. The end!
No, really, they drove to St. Louis and shopped till they dropped. Al bought guitar strings, medical equipment, wire cutters, leather-work needles and various other tools he thought he'd need. Then the characters stole an ice cream truck from a company that does catering and so on, and went to the hospital.
Sneaking in and using Fixed Stare on the guard, they stole five bodies (rather, the bodies stole themselves, courtesy Marty's Spark of Life Transmutation). Then they drove back to the truck stop where they'd stashed the RV, put the Festiva on the back of it, and headed back to Bone Valley. Marty and Al rode in the ice cream truck, while Julia, Jesus and Hank rode in the RV towing the Festiva. Jesus, last time he drove, didn't do so well, so Julia drove. I had her make a roll to handle the rig. She failed. I had the dude she drifted too close to make a roll. He failed. She clipped him with the Festiva and he went spinning out of control into the guardrail.
Fortunately, it was night, so there weren't a lot of witnesses. They stopped, got out, and Jesus noted that the guy was alive but badly injured (no seatbelt; nice going, schmuck). The police and EMS arrived, pulled the guy out and took him away. Julia lost a dot of Humanity. She told the cops the truth, that she wasn't sure if he'd hit her or if she'd hit him. Since the guy wasn't dead and she wasn't drunk, they took her info (and Marty's insurance info) and let her go.
Back at the camp site, Al was busy. He marked off on the bodies which parts he wanted to use, but kept them all cold until the others got back. When they did, he busted out his tools and went to work. He began his work just after 2AM. By the time noon rolled around, he had the following parts:
The arms (shoulders to fingers), head and neck, and feet from a young black man who'd been shot in the chest. The torso (clavicle to genitals) of another young black man who'd died of a gunshot to the head. The legs of an old white man who died of cancer. The brain of an old black man who died of unspecified causes. The eyes and teeth of a young Asian teenager who died of unspecified causes (Al and Marty both failed Medicine rolls back at the hospital to interpret the board that mentioned cause of death).
This was pretty grueling work. Taking off limbs means stripping all the muscle and tissue away, then cutting the bone and dislocating the joint. That's hard work for a dude with one dot in Medicine. Many Hands Make Light Work (aka, the most useful Transmutation Evar!) helped, but Al was pretty spent by the time the sun rose high. Fortunately, his Virtue is Fortitude, so he kept on trucking and regained his Willpower.
About the point that Al was pulled teeth out of someone's head (because remember, switching brains means taking two people's brains out), Mazda showed up. Jesus went to meet him, because the feeling was that having him around might be a bad idea (Flux and all). Mazda conceded that, but asked what would become of the bodies. Jesus said they intended to destroy them (in fact, a previous discussion had concluded that they were going to do that precisely because Mazda might want them). Mazda felt that wasn't acceptable, and told Jesus that he should leave the parts for his "father." Mazda reminded Jesus that the slightest interruption or mishap could destroy all of Al's work, and that Mantis was still around. He then sodded off.
Jesus relayed that message to the others, who said that Mazda could basically go screw himself and they'd kill Mantis if they had to. Mazda mentally contacted Jesus and told him that he was missing the point. Jesus found Mazda and asked what the point was, then; Mazda reminded him that even if they killed him and Mantis, Al would still lose his creation. They bantered a bit more, and Mazda said that he didn't want the body parts to make a new Promethean - he had already made a Frankenstein, and anyway he had Beast to worry about now. He just wanted some new data. Jesus headed back to the camp, still deciding what to do.
Next session: Al assembles his creation, and hopefully makes a new friend.
No, really, they drove to St. Louis and shopped till they dropped. Al bought guitar strings, medical equipment, wire cutters, leather-work needles and various other tools he thought he'd need. Then the characters stole an ice cream truck from a company that does catering and so on, and went to the hospital.
Sneaking in and using Fixed Stare on the guard, they stole five bodies (rather, the bodies stole themselves, courtesy Marty's Spark of Life Transmutation). Then they drove back to the truck stop where they'd stashed the RV, put the Festiva on the back of it, and headed back to Bone Valley. Marty and Al rode in the ice cream truck, while Julia, Jesus and Hank rode in the RV towing the Festiva. Jesus, last time he drove, didn't do so well, so Julia drove. I had her make a roll to handle the rig. She failed. I had the dude she drifted too close to make a roll. He failed. She clipped him with the Festiva and he went spinning out of control into the guardrail.
Fortunately, it was night, so there weren't a lot of witnesses. They stopped, got out, and Jesus noted that the guy was alive but badly injured (no seatbelt; nice going, schmuck). The police and EMS arrived, pulled the guy out and took him away. Julia lost a dot of Humanity. She told the cops the truth, that she wasn't sure if he'd hit her or if she'd hit him. Since the guy wasn't dead and she wasn't drunk, they took her info (and Marty's insurance info) and let her go.
Back at the camp site, Al was busy. He marked off on the bodies which parts he wanted to use, but kept them all cold until the others got back. When they did, he busted out his tools and went to work. He began his work just after 2AM. By the time noon rolled around, he had the following parts:
The arms (shoulders to fingers), head and neck, and feet from a young black man who'd been shot in the chest. The torso (clavicle to genitals) of another young black man who'd died of a gunshot to the head. The legs of an old white man who died of cancer. The brain of an old black man who died of unspecified causes. The eyes and teeth of a young Asian teenager who died of unspecified causes (Al and Marty both failed Medicine rolls back at the hospital to interpret the board that mentioned cause of death).
This was pretty grueling work. Taking off limbs means stripping all the muscle and tissue away, then cutting the bone and dislocating the joint. That's hard work for a dude with one dot in Medicine. Many Hands Make Light Work (aka, the most useful Transmutation Evar!) helped, but Al was pretty spent by the time the sun rose high. Fortunately, his Virtue is Fortitude, so he kept on trucking and regained his Willpower.
About the point that Al was pulled teeth out of someone's head (because remember, switching brains means taking two people's brains out), Mazda showed up. Jesus went to meet him, because the feeling was that having him around might be a bad idea (Flux and all). Mazda conceded that, but asked what would become of the bodies. Jesus said they intended to destroy them (in fact, a previous discussion had concluded that they were going to do that precisely because Mazda might want them). Mazda felt that wasn't acceptable, and told Jesus that he should leave the parts for his "father." Mazda reminded Jesus that the slightest interruption or mishap could destroy all of Al's work, and that Mantis was still around. He then sodded off.
Jesus relayed that message to the others, who said that Mazda could basically go screw himself and they'd kill Mantis if they had to. Mazda mentally contacted Jesus and told him that he was missing the point. Jesus found Mazda and asked what the point was, then; Mazda reminded him that even if they killed him and Mantis, Al would still lose his creation. They bantered a bit more, and Mazda said that he didn't want the body parts to make a new Promethean - he had already made a Frankenstein, and anyway he had Beast to worry about now. He just wanted some new data. Jesus headed back to the camp, still deciding what to do.
Next session: Al assembles his creation, and hopefully makes a new friend.