Noting Peter's less-than-friendly demeanour, Klara's eyes narrowed but a smile remained on her face. "Let me see if he's available. Are you here for a tour? Or is there some kind of problem I can help you with?"

She pressed a button on her desk. A chime sounded somewhere in back.

"We were told that he was an expert and the person we should talk to. There was an...incident, and we would like to either verify or rule out possible Moorlock involvement." He glanced at his companions to see if they had anything to add, or any comments.

Smoker got a grip of himself.

"Yes. That's right. In particular we need to know if the Moorlocks ever venture out onto the surface, maybe at night?"

"I see. I used to work as a guide and driver myself but Buck probably knows more about the Moorlocks than anyone else."

Frowning at the Intercom, Klara pressed another button as she picked up the phone.

"Is Buck there? OK. Fine, no problem. Just some people looking for information. Thanks, bye." Click.

"Looks like he's busy but he's coming. Moorlocks are like everyone else, they prefer darkness for hiding and moving around aboveground. But they can come out in the daytime.

"Please save your questions. While you wait, help yourself to some purified water?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:30, Sun 27 July 2014.

There was some muffled conversation from behind one of the doors to the rear of the building.

Soon, a grizzled older man came out.

"Howdy folks, sorry for the wait. I'm Bob "Buck" Masterson. You can call me Buck. I hear you're lookin' for some information? All part of the tour. $200 in Widgets, part of the tour.

"I used to work as a city Engineer, spent thirty years in the Downbelow. I know every inch of that labyrinth."

He gestured to the map painted on the wall. The layout of Downbelow consisted of a main 6-lane throughfare, the Hellestrome Underground Bypass, with smaller side tunnels branching off for pedestrians, cars, even trucks. These connected to areas named "Junkyard Center Shopping Mall", "Hellestromme Swimming Pool and Rec Center", "Boutiques", "Multiplex Theater". As well, there were warehouse and industrial areas, aqueducts, an underground reservoir. Connections to the surface was mainly via the bypass and parking lots, but there were other entrances connecting to office and factory buildings aboveground.

"It's almost a city down there. Lots of commercial and industrial spaces. Not a lot of living space, though.

"Most entrances are sealed off. Mainly the big ones like the bypass and to the parkades and factory basements, the ones that can admit vehicles. But some are still intact and controlled by the Militia. Those are the entrances we use. If you know where to look you might find an overlooked or illegal pedestrian entrance as well."

In reply to Klara the Receptionist (msg # 212):

While they waited for Buck, Jane went over to the map on the wall and started to try and remember it in case they got separated (on purpose or by accident) if they went down.

 Rowan "is there a copy of the Map we can purchase"

Buck laughed at the suggestion.

"Naw. You do get a copy when you take the tour! Just kidding, who's got the paper these days to waste?"

In reply to Buck Masterson (msg # 216):

Rowan nods "well that's true, so no copies even to purchase"?

In reply to Rowan Dawson (msg # 217):

"Paper's valuable, they ain't makin' more. Even before the war most reading material was electronic.

"I take it ya'all don't want the tour? I can give you a group rate."

Rowan sighs, so much lost and the knowledge on how to do things lost as well.
"It may be we need to go down there, but what we really need is information about the Moorlock's.
"Who they are, what they are, where they are."
"Any thing that is known about them really"

In reply to Rowan Dawson (msg # 219):

"Sure you do. You find anyone who wants to tell ya all about it for free, why, ya'all let me know."

Buck winked at her.

There is not one bit of humour in rowans answer body or speech.
"Who said any thing about free"

In reply to Rowan Dawson (msg # 221):

Buck simply replied stare for stare as he lit a cigar.

"Well now! Ain't you a charmer, little lady.

Since I can't read minds, I'll make you an offer. Five hundred, you can ask everything you like and make a copy of the map.

"Just 'cause I like you."

Rowan shakes her head realising she is letting her frustration about all of this out on some one who is not responsible for this situation. "I am sorry I am tiered doing some thing that scares the hell out of me."

Rowan considers, then adds. "500 seems a little steep but I will leave that up to the rest"

Puffing on his cigar, Buck nodded, his expression softening.

"Ain't no nevermind. All right, suppose you tell me what's going on? Most folks come off the street, they want the tour, they don't want to pick my brains."

 Rowan looks at the others to see what they say. "Sir part of what we are doing comes under client confidence"
"There was an attack in the Ally way near where we were staying last night". "People we are responsible for have heard that the Moorlocks might be involved". "We have been asked to check out that information"

"Right. Heard about that. Doesn't seem like a Moorlock thing.  It's usually theft or revenge with them. And they would try and take the body if they killed anyone. Preserve the myth they're cannibals. You know anything about the victim? I don't know the name."

"He played that violent game, skullchuck or whatever it's called," said Smoker. "In fact we saw him in action yesterday evening."

Buck continued smoking.

"Oh, right. Bettern' dog-fighting, I guess. Can't help you with that, I'm afraid. Unless he had some dealings with the Moorlocks, then it doesn't sound like they did him."

In reply to Buck Masterson (msg # 228):

Jane listened for a bit and then spoke up.  "What do the Moorlocks do with the bodies when they take them?  And if it doesn't sound like them then who would you say it sounded like?  I figure you are the brains down here and know most everybody."

Peter, for some reason, had let Rowan take the lead as he got distracted by something.

He spoke up now to sum up and add a few bits of information. "The victim's name was Nico Flowers. He did indeed play the Skullchucker game. He was...ripped to shreds or cut into pieces. We were asked to investigate whether the Moorlocks had anything to do with it, and were told you were the person with the most knowledge. I do not think the Moorlocks were involved personally."

He then waited for the answer to Jane's questions.

He tapped ash from his cigar.

"I can't vouch some victims don't get back into the food chain at some point. Don't eat from the street vendors, know what I mean?

"There's rumour of a waste outflow that leads past the walls. I think that's where they stick the bodies. Or else find some dark hole or storage room to stick the bodies. That's one thing I know not to ask too much about!

"Nico Flowers? Yeah, heard the name. Could have made enemies among the other teams. You supposedly can't use powered weapons in Skullchucker but his occasionally get activated by accident and someone gets hurt. He pays his fine and sits out a few games, but keeps, er, kept playing.

"There's actually a couple factions or tribes within the Moorlocks. One is human, one is mutant, a couple are mixed. They mostly survive through theft and drug dealing on the surface. But there's rumour a cell of Combine saboteurs has a base there, as well as right-wing douchebags that want to overthrow the Junkyard government."

Peter nodded. "Thank you. We may need to set up a tour, but for now I do not think that the Moorlocks are responsible, which means looking at other avenues. But I thank you for your time, and if you would like I would be happy to buy you a cup of coffee or lunch for it."

Buck nodded.

"My pleasure. It'd be my pleasure to take you up on that some time. Leave your contact information with Klara?"