On the same day as Arcus meets the mayor Bedlam is accosted by a nondescript citizen at the market.

"Hey Big Guy. How do you like this model? We call it the infiltrator. Anyway, got a job proposal for you and your crew. Interested?"

The model is indeed convincing, down to mild eczema to severe halitosis. Without special equipment, you would struggle to detect the difference.

BTW need to know what you decided about ZE-5.

"Model?" Bedlam stares down at the stranger for a moment, his stance has an unfriendly angle. "Have we met?"

Bedlam does a quick visual and telepathic examination of the man. Something is not quite right, more than just the bad breath.

"Wait a minute," he raises an eyebrow in surprise, his attitude clearly relaxing. "Wilbur?"

"Well this is an unexpected pleasure," the giant grins broadly, offering his hand in greeting. "The crew was just about ready start another delve. So..."

Bedlam makes a note of the machine's mannerisms and psychic aspect. He wants to spot such infiltrators in the future.

"What do you have in mind?"

"Loose Lips" says  Wilbur enigmatically. "Gather your crew and let's meet back in the Last Chance in two hours. I've reserved one of their so-called conference rooms" he says disdainfully, before melting back into the crowd.

As Wilbur slips away Bedlam shakes his head. ~Sure hope I'm not that melodramatic when engaging in political intrigue.~ the giant thinks. Then he goes to round up the crew for Wilbur's meeting.

OOC: What does Bedlam know about the conference rooms in the Last Chance? Could Wilbur be using it for a trap or ambush?

Bedlam considers the risk of a trap or ambush low (without the co-operation of the Compton authorities) and so the party gathers in the "conference room", a cramped cellar space with mismatched chairs and a rickety old table.

Wilbur enters last, and starts by putting a small electronic gizmo on the table that hums and smells of ozone.

"Don't want anyone listing to us do we" he says with a private smile. "I expect you're wondering why I called you here today. Well, we have a job offer for you. The Gren over in Greenleaf Park control a biofuel processing facility. It's how they make fuel for the porkers, in exchange for protection. Since you decimated the piggies that protection is stretched so we want you to go in, neutralise the Gren and secure the facility. We have some old floor plans and a pretty good estimate of the enemy disposition. All you have to is take them out quietly, as they have the place rigged to blow as a deterrent. We'll pay you in tech of course. Any questions?"

Arcus is not pleased to be working with a traitor... his opinion 'once a turn-coat... Always a turncoat'... but the young man keeps his opinions to himself, though the surly expression on his face is clear he is not happy to be dealing with this back-stabber again... and expects off-the-bat for there to be another betrayal in the plans and details 'Wilbur' is not revealing as yet.

But, that all aside... he does have a question...

"Aye, Ah have a question!  Now if'n I recall correctly we are supposed ta' be a salvage and exploration team, right? Well where does the idea of takin' what's not ours from peoples as already owns it, gots anything ta' do with 'salvage'?  Sounds more like banditry ta' meh~!  Ah mean~ beasties stalking a ruin thas' got valuables~ they don't got the sentience ta' claim or use or maybe even thugs hold up in a ruin~ using tech they have salvaged or more likely stolen ta threaten or harm peaceful livin' folks are true valid targets; but what have these Gren done ta be worthy o' having their people kilt and their possessions taken??  Is it the fuel-makin' plant or tha' bio-fuel.. yur interested in?  Ah'm a thinkin' if'n ya is decent and talk real nice-like maybe negotiatin' fur their fuel or gettin' a look-see at their fuel-makin' plant... say fur perhaps providing some added high-tech security as their Porker 'buddies' are kinda' scarce now... might be a less bloody and socially polite way ta' git what yur after!  Gren are sentient folks.. why not talk wit' em'??"
This message was last edited by the player at 13:17, Mon 16 Nov 2015.

Wilbur proves how good his stealth chassis is by dropping his jaw in surprise before gathering his wits. "Did you know Gren eat people? Yeah, I've seen the footage. Listen, we're trying to bring order to the Sprawl and that starts by taking the facility away from subhuman scum and putting it to good use. Now, before we go any further in this briefing, do the rest of you share your buddy's moral qualms?"

 She listened as the stranger compton man spoke about becoming vigilantes for this man. Frowning she glanced over to Bedlam and listened to Arcus and his speech.

 "I dont like this idea either." She was not a talker and she was part plant also. "While i may not like those Gren we have run into out there i find it hard that all of them deserve to be killed like the violent animals we run into out there."

Ophelia stepped out of the shadows,she'd been there for a while unseen and listening to the conversation.

" my young friend here has a point, they may not be nice but they haven't done anything to cause us to do a pre-emptive strike on them." she held her hand up before anyone could argue " BUT they do pose an unknown threat to our community. For that reason alone they need to be studied."

She was silent for a moment " I suggest that we do a recon of their base. see what they are up to and assess what can be done to mitigate the threat. I don't agree with going on hearsay and rumour but solid evidence that they are getting ready to be hostile against us needs to be gathered before we turn from survivors to murderers"

"Sorry Wilbur, whats your point?" Thunderbird asked "You dropped a grenade down ZE's pants. I do not trust you nor will I ever." he added looking around the room at the others.

"I remember one of the scientists talking about thugs in the past like Hitler and Zen Dau the Butcher that would call their enemies "Sub-human" in order to justify destroying them." he added "Now you want to use us to destroy the Gren, in order to take over a source of fuel? Sorry, no deal. If we were to deal with the Gren, the fuel would be better used by everyone in Compton than under your exclusive control." Thunderbird said, sweeping his arm around the area.

"I can see a future that Compton can become a center of knowledge in order to rebuild this region. If only a handful of beings have knowledge, then growth is stagnated since only the powerful will be able to read or use the technology. The more that can, the better to exchange ideas between each other and quicker to rebuild."
This message was last edited by the player at 17:54, Mon 23 Nov 2015.

Arcus breathes deeply... not in anger... but his heart swelling in overjoyed pride of his New Companions.

Thinking, {I guess.. I was wrong... these ARE good folk~ HEROES! Mah message of civilization is spreading...!}

He continues, "...sub-human eh?  Well, Ah'm a thinkin' its a foregone conclusion tha' Humans are no longer tha' dominant peoples on this world o' wastelands we've ALL inherited from tha' ancients!  As mah pa' use' ta say, 'Tha Ancient's left us all a big ole' shit-sandwich.. an we alls got ta' takes a bite!  We don't have ta like it.. but we do have ta' live with it!'  Ah think wha'  he was meaning is we all have ta live tagehter or we all are gonna die together.  Tha' world is full o' sub-humans, trans-humans, post & pre-humans, aliens, plants, robots, androids, and dimensional beings... Grens, Porkers, Hoops, Badders, you name it~ yes and humans... mutant an mundane.. but its tha' world we got an we are all gonna have ta learn - someday ta' live tagether somehow.. and hopefully make a betah tomorrow fur our youngin's an maybe not make tha' same mistakes of the Ancient tha' broke tha' world in tha' first place!"

"You say them Gren's eat humans.. well if'n I remember correctly Gren's is plant folks.. so maybe ta' them their just playing tit fur tat, cause humans eat plants?  But if we show them we can be civil an talk polite, negotiate with them as equals... maybe they might think differently?  I fur one nevah EVER consider eatin' someone I can have a conversation wit!"

"I think Miss Ophelia's idea is the best approach, maybe since Rose is a plant herself... she can be point on speakin' with them Grens~ properly protected o' course... ta try an open a dialogue with em before we resort ta' guns and violence?  I'd like ta' know if we got a good reason ta' be killin' before we start somethin' tha' may plunge tha' whole area inta a war tha' ain't needed!"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:11, Mon 23 Nov 2015.

Crinkles sits idly by. His fur rankled a bit at the subhuman comment, afterall the yeti had been accused of being similarly worthless himself on more than one occasion. The truth of the matter was, Crinkles never knew how to really join in a discussion where heated words were exchanged, he was good when things went beyond words and he was good when the words were cordial but nothing in between. The yeti figured it was a wash anyway, most people only needed Crinkles to lend an intimidating presence to the proceedings, never to speak.

To himself he thought, "~Crinkles doesn't recall encountering Gren, during his travels, but everyone needs to eat things even unusual things to survive. As long as the Gren have not harmed innocents Crinkles thinks talking to them is the best policy.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:12, Tue 24 Nov 2015.

Wilbur's expression gets grimmer and grimmer as everyone says their piece, then he turns to Bedlam. "Anything to add?" he asks menacingly.

Ophelia moved to one side and she felt the now familiar pressure behind her eyes as she gathered her new powers ready to strike.

She disliked the tone of the robots voice and was ready to protect her friend if needed

A...disturbing and nasty thought occurred to Arcus...

{..if Wilbur can 'transfer' to new... mechanical-like bodies on his destruction~ what's to keep him from just having a bomb installed in his body and not carry any weapons at all... to kill folks as turn out ta be 'inconvenient'; like were seeming ta' be to his plans right now, and suffer no consequences his-self?}

When Wilbur turns his attention to Bedlam, Arcus slips his hands to the edge of the table and hooks his thumbs over the edge to grab a hold of the table... shifting his legs slightly in his seat for better leverage... and readies himself to flip the table and bolster it with his Shimmering Shield to provide cover to his friends in the room... should he get the notion that Wilbur might explode...

...its thin.. but its just the kind of spoil-sport thing the traitorous robot might do if it thought it could get away with it.

Arcus watches Wilbur's reactions like a hawk...ready to act if his gut warns him of treachery...
This message was last edited by the player at 22:47, Tue 24 Nov 2015.

 The actions of the others made her look up from where the Wilbur was sitting and glance around before it dawned on her that they were acting nervous and seemed to be going to warplant mode.

 She looked back at wilbur and stood up and eyed the being in front of her wondering if maybe she should attack now, still she was not the team leader and had no desire to be a leader unless everyone was riding motorcycles like hers.

 Her eyes shifted slightly so that she could take in Bedlam's face and what he might do.

Bedlam nods and gives Wilbur a sheepish grin. "Not really," he shrugs.

"While I'm not sure I agree with the exact words which have been spoken," the giant throws a meaningful glance in Thunderbird's direction. "It does seem pretty clear we're not the best crew for this particular gig. You were with us on the last delve - stealth is not our strong point. Like the kid said, we really are better suited for exploration, salvage and barter."

Bedlam projects his thoughts to the crew ~Easy there lads and lasses. Let's not antagonize someone who can nuke us from orbit. I am going to play it a little dumb so he is happy we turned him down.~

"Now with regard to the Gren," Bedlam continues. "They've got their hands full with the badders, don't they? Give it a little time and your problem will go away on its own."

Wilbur switches off the anti-bugging device and stands up abruptly. "Looks like I made a big mistake coming to you. Rest assured it won't be repeated. Now let me make one thing very clear: if anything we have discussed goes any further, we will end you. END YOU! Just stay out of our business and you can continue grubbing for trinkets in the rubble"

Bedlam nods agreeably.

"Fair enough," the giant straightens up, avoiding the low ceiling. "We'll see you 'round the barter table."

"C'mon crew," he turns to leave. "They serve a decent stew here and we have a delve to plan."

~Ophelia, make sure Wilbur doesn't leave us any surprises. I trust you'll be subtle in your observations.~

Arcus rose from his seat his expression one of utter defiance... as if to punctuate his boiling temper.. his hair suddenly turning into a corona roiling flames...

But his scowl took in Bedlam... and instead following his lead~ he merely gave Wilbur a very dirty look and he turned to leave, though the actual temperature in the room did spike suddenly with his clearly barely contained rage!

No doubt in anyone's mind.. the young Ranger mutant~ 'living star' is NOT one to be threatened!  As he strode out, with the look of someone with a new mission already in mind... leaving scorch mark footsteps and suddenly floating dust motes & small debris in his wake...
This message was last edited by the player at 04:52, Fri 04 Dec 2015.

Ohphelia slipped back into the shadows and out the back of the building she gave Wilbur a few moments to leave and traced his steps making sure he'd not left a gift for them or that he contacted anyone else to surprise them as they left.

OOC:07:58, Today: Ophelia rolled 7 using 1d20+4.  perception roll.
07:57, Today: Ophelia rolled 12 using 1d20+11.  stealth roll.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:58, Fri 04 Dec 2015.

 She flicked an eyebrow at the Wilbur thing and snorted in amusement and stood up tall and straight before turning to take her shade for that beings presence.

Wilbur doesn't try any funny business and the rest of the day passes without incident. All too soon it will be the next morning and time to leave.

If you have any more Compton stuff to do go ahead in the thread, but here we will skip to the next morning. So where are you headed?

In the main room of the Last Chance, Bedlam hauls one of the extra sturdy chairs (a solid block of wood, actually) over to an unoccupied table with room for the rest of the crew. He orders a bowl of stew and a mug of the house beer while waiting for the crew to assemble.

To the other patrons the conversation at the crew's table flows in halting snippets. Among the crew, however, the telepathic discussion carries many more details.

Bedlam grins broadly at Thunderbird. "Thanks for sticking up for Zee, T-bird. Think you could teach me to read?"

Once the flames have cooled down a little Bedlam turns to Arcus. "Thanks for putting up with my moral ambivalence, Arcus. As I'm sure you've already realized, most of us common folk have our hands full just surviving. I, for one, am glad you are willing to pursue higher ideals. Even if they do complicate negotiations. So, how did your meeting go with the mayor?>"

[OOC: this space intentionally left blank for sidebar conversations.]

At some point the giant turns the conversation to their next delve.

"As usual, we have several options:

- We could follow up on the Red Guard invite. ~I don't have any intention of joining them, but the chance to cross the Sleeth bridge and scout some new salvage spots could make the trip worthwhile.~

- We could go see if anything is left to salvage from the Porker base."

~We could see about opening discussions with the Gren. If they'll talk to us after what we did to the Porkers.~

- We could check out the Badder market at Caiger Mall. ~See what we can learn about the operation. They're scattered all over. We'll want to keep them that way if we're going to survive long enough to disrupt their slave trade.~

"Personally, I would like to check in with our associates, ~the Dabbers ~ "and swing by the Restorationist outpost" ~to see if Wilbur's opponents have any use for us.~ "and continue developing our map to the Financial District." ~I know, the place is only a rumor, but imagine the swag!~