Wild Bill stands abruptly, sending his chair skittering across the bar floor.

"I will not sit here and listen to you heap abuse on me or my friend." he growls. "You're as nutty as she is," He points at Jackie, who sighs and moves her hand under the table, "and you are about to cross a line you can't go back over. You want me to put you back in your hole? Do you want to take this all the way? I'm obliged to you for puttin' me back in my right mind, but I am warning you now -- you come after Custer, you'll have to go through me first."

((OOC: Danger, Will Robinson, danger!))
This message was last edited by the player at 19:44, Thu 16 Mar 2017.

In reply to Wild Bill Hickok (msg # 252):

Zek stands, and looks like he is ready to see if tearing Bill's head off will end his invulnerability. However, he glances at Kills Iron Horse, and inhales, trying to get a hold of his anger.

"I already promised I would not. I just don't need your permission. Your friend's deeds speak for themselves. If you gotta defend someone like that-that's on you-not me. And killing me won't clean up the blood already on your hands Bill. Mine neither, if it gives any comfort." He picks up his chair, dusts it off, and sits down with his arms folded. Watching the other man carefully.

"Reckon my hands can't get no dirtier, neither." Bill glares at Zeke. "Just you remember that, next time you get the urge to mouth off." He leans against the wall instead of sitting back down.

Jackie, hand still under the table, spares a glance at Wild Bill. "He's got a point. What if he ain't the same man you knew? Sure, he says he survived his Last Stand...but did he? Did he really? What if he's like you were? What if Custer ain't in control o' his own mind anymore?"

"Yellow Hair was not a demon when he attacked our lodges in the dead of winter." Kills Iron Horse growls. "Nor when his long knives marched against the Lakota in the first place."

"Not. Helping." Jackie says through gritted teeth.

Bill, though, seems somewhat mollified. "If that's the case -- if -- then I reckon Coot's elixir might go a long way towards solvin' this thing." he looks at Von Steinhof. "But I like your idea, too. Hasslin' him might work in the short term."

Belle was done being quiet.  Oddly enough the plot to kill a government official wasn't what was bothering her most at the minute.  Though that was asinine, it was at least based on a real person.

But this object was impossible.

"Never mind all of that!  Barring the contigency I am having further insight into my own work in the midst of a hallucination, you have some explaining to do Wells.  Or rather you will when you're in a better way.

"This device consists of, among other things, a pneumatic array of micro-injectors for various pharamaceutical compounds.  To put it breifly, it shouldn't exist.  There are at least a hundred things about it which are plausible in theory, but represent engineering problems as yet unsolved, and some which I confess I can't even begin to unravel with such a short examination, and may not be able to unravel even given more time.

"I understand what it is.  What I do not understand are three things:  first, how anyone could innovate on this many fronts at once.  The machining of this device is beyond precise.  My auto-injector harness is state of the art and the parts took weeks to machine on the finest equipment available, yet it is not half so miniaturized or precise as this.  My ego aside, for these medicines to be effective in such small doses, they have to be compounded in a state more concentrated and pure than the most advanced pharmacy in any nation of the Earth could manage.  It is the mundane details which make it so incredible.  This is a piece of technology which doesn't and cannot exist and yet here it is.

"Second, how did you come to have such a device?  I fear given your current mental state any answer will be erroneous, however tracking your backtrail may be key to both unraveling this mystery and explaining why you all have lost your sanity.  My word the conversation in this room, as if any of you have sway over a General in the Union Army, at least not in your current diseased state. If any of you try you will be arrested, and rightly so might I add.

"But what is more mysterious still is the third question, what is the thought process here?  While I can't eliminate the possibility of parallel development..."  Belle held her own injector harness up beside it.  "...this works on the exact same principal of my own invention, as much as it hurts my ego to admit it is more advanced.  However, the fact you specifically brought it here, to me, implies that it's not a coincidence, and though you are suffering from delusions, it implies you wished to do so.  Who's been spying on me, Wells?  Smith and Robards have been after my prototypes for years now!  Why bring me the smoking gun?  Why admit it in this way?"

(LOL so Belle's next derangement should be a phobia of industrial espionage)

She shook her head at Coot.  "An elixir may very much help this situation sir, sadly I need to know what psychotropic substance we've been exposed to.  It's not unreasonable I could device and compound an antidote.  Perhaps I should take some blood samples to the doctor..."

Jackie Wells just bursts out laughing at Belle. "I also brought this," she tugs on the harness holding her raygun, "And this." She opens her shirt, revealing a tunic with odd circuitry designs. "And I got all o' them from the same source -- the little green men who live inside Devil's Tower." She holds her hand out. "Can I have it back, now?"

Leopold cocked an eyebrow.
"Interesting. Is there more of this what you found in that... tower?"

Jackie nods. "Yup. We didn't have the time nor inclination to grab a whole heap o' things."

Katy looked over at Bill during his argument about Custer. The idea that he might be walking dead did have some merit. "Mister Hicock, sir, if yer good friends with Custer, couldn't ya mebbe go find out what his situation is? If the Custer ya knew ain't what he is now, mebbe ya can do a lotta good by findin' out jus' what we're facin'?"

"Hmmm..." Bill nods. "I reckon that might work. Not sure how I'd do that without shootin' him first, though."

"Actually..." Coot says. "One o' my boys might be able to help us out there. His name's Danny, and he used to be a private in the Union army. He's also developed a knack for sniffin' out the Harrowed. Get him a fresh uniform, get him close enough, and Danny'd be able to spot if Custer's got a worm in him."

"That you have them does not imply anything beyond you have them, and whoever supplied them is aware of and has iterated impressively on emergent technologies.  Though I suspect something indeed must have happened to you there."  Belle responded simply, at this point her concerns going well beyond the immediate madness.  As bad as this was, an idea was taking shape in her mind that someone she could think of wouldn't like this.  Besides, she had other leads.

She gingerly closed the device and returned it as requested.  "Thank you for the loan of your apparatus."  Belle would want people to be polite to her if she were crazy after all.  Poor thing, even if she was working for Smith and Robards this was a debilitating dementia she had.

Well, there were perhaps two more things she could accomplish here.  One was probably a lost cause, and the other was a long shot, but she owed it to him to try.

"Now..."  She turned to Wild Bill.  "You sir, we were interrupted on my part.  I must set you straight on a matter of some import.  With science!"

Art nodded at Coot's offer. "I mebbe able ta help widda uniform. Where are all the places da soldiers be?" The question seemed to be asked of everyone, as Art's face scanned the gathered group.

"Well, then," Jackie says, and pulls out her gatling pistol. She sets it on the table. "What do you make o' this? This, I brought with me. It is, as you say, iterated on previous designs. this was cutting edge before I left...the end result o' 200 years of weapon design and manufacture."

Wild Bill raises an eyebrow. "You...still want me to set ya on fire?"

Coot shrugs. "I dunno. I ain't been in town long."

"The big wigs have taken over the Grand Central Hotel." Jackie says. "Most o' the grunts have been settin' up tents in the lots around town. There's a whole heap o' them buidlin' somethin' south o' town, in Lead. I think it's a barracks."

"I must convince you of your delusion sir."  Belle reminded him.

She looked back at Jackie Wells.  "The quantity does not change the circumstances, though it does mean something stranger still is afoot.  The truth of what's actually happened here is slowly coming to light however."

Matt strode across the room.

"Miss Ivers, please don't set any fires. Please. As a personal favor to me, and the US Marshal's Service. Please."

Logan quietly followed the conversation taking place in the room, which seemed to go in seven different directions all at once. He was surprised to hear that Hickok was apparently a good friend of Custer. That left him reticent to dispense any information or suggestions for handling Custer in his presence, especially if they were attempting to send him in to figure out whether Custer was Harrowed or not.

Mostly, though, he was concerned about how Marshal Broaddale had gotten to Deadwood being that the last thing he remembered was being in Houston.

Still, he was right about Ivers, who was much more unhinged than when he had last encountered her. Then again, those circumstances had been much more mundane.

"He's right, Miss Ivers. There'll be no arson in this building. If you need to start a fire, please take your business into the street. There've been enough burning buildings for the evening."

"Amen to that." Jackie nods.

Meanwhile, Little Crow, still in the embrace of Moses, scowls. [Language unknown: "Men ofekfo rile iesass petahala. Ver i our ndeis sa?"]

((OOC: So with Jackie's tale being mostly finished, I think we're all in general conversation mode as you guys figure out what it is you're going to do next. The main thrust seems to be determining if Custer is Harrowed or not? Then figuring out what to do from there?

Meanwhile, Belle is still convinced everyone's under some sort of hallucinogen.

Who has topics that they know about OOC but want their characters to learn about IC?

Who has things that they want/need to do? This can be mentioned in PM, if necessary.

What is the general plan now?))

Everyone looks bad when you tickle their goofy spot directly.

"A good suggestion gentlemen.  Though I assure you it's perfectly safe and there is a drastic difference between a controlled demonstration and arson, I can understand the psychic impact in light of recent events."  Belle nodded, finding that one of the few reasonable things anyone has said.

Moses nods. [Language unknown: "Trhi, Witdi Anyouspre Was Butnotestain Ith Ncevirpre wh olasce. An io esfi thimenonshat, Ekilic Hoas?"]
He slowly let go of the young Sioux and stood up.

"Thank you, Jackie Wells. The Lord has Moses shown all of what you speak, before Moses came from the desert.
Before Moses came to this place, the Almighty showed him more."

He paused, closed his eyes and looked down. When he opened them up again, his voice was more forceful.
"And behold, there was a white buffalo calf, beset by a raven, blacker than night. The raven carried murder in his heart, murder and fear, for it knew if the calf would grow, it would stomp the raven.
The white buffalo fled to a stand of dead wood, but the raven gave chase. It summoned locks of gold and chained it there among the dead trees.
And Moses turned and wept.
And as Moses turned, he saw the mountain that the white man calls Devil's Tower. And ghosts danced around its top, screaming in anguish, fear, and glee.
Then there was a great silence...
Storm clouds filled the sky with darkness. Rain came and the four winds blew with such anger. that the Lord's most humble servant was almost swept away. The storm carried great birds made of thunder and they swept across the land until the wind struck both raven and calf."

He paused again, as if to catch his breath.

"There the vision ended. But Moses knew where the Lord wanted him to be. Where the Lord needed him to be. And so Moses came."

The people in the Mint just...stare at Moses after this pronouncement.

Belle shook her head.  "That poor, dear man."

"So...Raven trapped the White Buffalo in Deadwood with Custer? And eventually the storms will blow away the White Buffalo and Raven. So what does that mean for us? Lay back, have a pint and wait for this all to blow over?"

Walks The Night Alone shakes his head. "The White Buffalo is a symbol of plenty, of hope. But do not think if nothing is done, all will end well. Black Kettle had a vision, too. In his vision, he saw blue coats falling upon the people like a swarm of locusts. The sky was darkened as ten thousand arrows rained from the sky. Thunder, like the drum of war, scattered the People like leaves, and a thousand knives stabbed the hearts of The People. The creek by the dead trees rose red and boiled with the blood of the innocent. The dead numbered many, and none could tell which had been red and which had been white before -- all were grey. Then the dead rose again, their clothes black with blood, to march against all that lived. And only the Raven was left, laughing and calling to his brothers."

Art tapped his staff on the ground once. "My way do be clear. It do be ta the Devil's Tower and ta the Huntin' Grounds beyond. I'll getcha wonna those uniforms fore goin', bu' tha's where I gotta go. Course I'd be appreciatin' any help any of ya folks can give."

"We still need the special guns, right?  So going to the Devils tower without them won't do any good.  Maybe some of us, who are good at finding stuff, need to go and get them?" Zek pointed out.

Art shook his head. "I do no tink dat searchin' fer tha' which I been told be there needs ta happen at the same time as we go wit The Six ta replace those guardians."