Chester frowned at his current state. Actually, it seemed to be a more permanent state, thanks to the accident on that tragic job. Why was he here? Why should he attempt to succeed? He would always come short of the completion of what he was trying to accomplish. Then again, the others seemed to be confident. If a guy with a cockroach ally couldn't succeed, who could?

Chester followed his bloated companion. He concentrated on not twisting his ankle. That seemed to be inevitable.

"what's with the cockroach? Friend of yours?"

River smiled and nodded. “Yeah, you know it!  Everyone, this is Sticks, he’s been a close friend of mine for years, helped me through a lot of rough times back in prison.  We’ve been through a lot together, and I don’t know where I’d be without him.” Sticks raises his little body up a little, as if welcoming the others. Or maybe he’s just being a bug, it’s kind of hard to tell.

River paused for a second, a small silence filling the air,, before he remembered something and continued. “Oh yeah, I guess I should probably introduce myself, too! My name is River, it’s a pleasure to meet you all!” His eyes went from one of his newfound allies to the next. He wasn’t quite sure what to think of them yet, but hey, we have the greatest chemist ever in the group!  That’s... probably impressive, right?

In reply to River (msg # 8):

He holds hes hand out for a shake of hands "nice to meet you"

River reaches out and shakes Bio’s hand, perhaps for just a little bit too long.

A large black dog strolls into the middle of the group and sits down.

"Hello friends!"

His tail wags as he extends a paw.

"My name is Bernard!"

In reply to David (msg # 11):

"wow! A talking dog! I'mma gonna pet him!" And so he does.

Loomis kneels down and puts out his palm, "Heythere, boy!"

He allows himself to be petted as hi lips curl to a smile, and happily shakes Loomis' man-paw.

"I'm ready to go! I am supposed to us help catch the metal thing so I can eat sausages again!"

In reply to David (msg # 14):

"alright! Let's go!"

Inside the tunnel, metal walkways on either side overlook a long channel of sewage. There is a door near the entrance on the left, and one further down on the right. A the end of the tunnel there appears to be a large room.

"I dunno, guys" began the apprehensive Chester as he feels one of the pistols at his side. "Are we supposed to just rush in, regardless of the danger? Open that door as if some fanged whatever wasn't behind it?"

The metallurgist swallowed.

"I'm all for getting the machine and getting out of debt. But the last time that I was in on something like this, it didn't go well."

Loomis hmmms to himself as he looks about, "I think we should move into the room ahead before venturing down side passages. What do you guys think?"
This message was last edited by the player at 14:29, Thu 23 Apr 2020.

River looks towards Sticks for affirmation before he nods. "Yeah, makes sense to us, there could be anything behind those doors, may as well see what's right in front of us before we start meddling around.  I mean, we could try out this door right here so we don't have to loop back, but I have no idea which way leads where, so if we want to just keep moving forward for now that's fine, wherever the group wants to start works with us."

"i agree with Chester! Let's start with whats in front of us.

Bernard sniffs at the cracks to the side doors intently.

At the end of the tunnel is a room where the canal of sewer turns to the left. It seems to flow towards a floodgate, which is closed. There is a small elevated platform adjacent to the floodgate, with a large control panel consisting of three large levers. There is a door across from it that leads in the direction the canal flows. There is also a large metal door that continues past this room, in the same direction you've been moving so far, but it has no apparent handle. Lastly there is a small clear tube hanging down from the ceiling, above the canal.

River eyes the control panel next to the floodgate, the urge to pull on all of the levers in sequence growing within him.  He takes a couple of steps  towards the floodgate, looking back to make sure the group is still with him before moving forward, curious to explore but not daring to separate from the party to do so.

He stops as he counts the heads of his teammates, making sure they’re accounted for, when he spots Bernard smelling one of the side doors closer to the entrance, like the inquisitive, good boy he is.

“What is it boy? Do you smell something other than sewer?”  He wasn’t even sure if they could open those doors if they wanted to, but any information that the dog’s heightened senses could gather might just come in handy.

"What do you say we try some of those levers. They probably open some of these doors, if not the floodgate itself."

"From that door over there (points left with his paw) I smell old blood and a fireplace. From this other door here I smell FOOD and fresh paint."

He scratches at the door on the RIGHT.

"I think we should go where the food is! Maybe there are SAUSAGES!"

He drools.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:39, Sat 25 Apr 2020.

Chester scratched the back of his head at the dog's words.

"Ya know," he began, "I'm flexible. If a little food will make our friend happy, sure, let's go that way."

He glanced in other directions.

"I just hope we don't have to use our weapons. Bullets are expensive. I remember back in the day when... Well, never mind."

Chester took a woeful breath.

Loomis listens earnestly to the dog, "Is that the door with or without the handle?"

In reply to Chester (msg # 26):

"well if the dog wants it. I just hope there's no traps."

“Well, I like the sound of it more than the blood room, at least.  And don’t worry, Chester, I’m sure everything will be just fine.  It sounds like we’ve all seen some tough times, I’m sure we can handle anything this sewer has waiting for us!  I mean, there’s a lot of us, I doubt you’ll have to waste too many bullets when you’ve got backup like us with you!”

River smiled confidently, strutting over to the door that Bernard is scratching at.  He checked the handle, seeing if it was unlocked.

[I meant to say the room on the right had food and paint smells, I fixed it]