A basic kitchen. Stove, microwave, ect. It overlooks the main room.

Luke wandered into the kitchen, heading straight for the fridge to grab a cold bottle of water before the meeting in the main room. He glanced briefly over to Susie, noting her dyed hair and odd leather skull bag. He didn't say anything, just cracked open the bottle and took a long deep drink. He glanced briefly at the phone in his breast pocket, checking the time to see how much longer he had to kill.

On hearing some activity in the kitchen, Erica threw on her jacket and headed down there. She was in a new environment, and if she had learned anything in her short life, it was always good to be friendly with the natives.

Upon entry, she found a man and a woman. The man looked to be a bit too sophisticated to be hanging out at a community center. With dyed blue hair and a leather skull purse, the woman was more like what Erica would have expected. Blue hair wasn't unusual, but this woman pulled off making it look good. If these were people she would be interacting with regularly, it was a good idea to get to know them.

"Hi. Sorry to interrupt. I figured I'd come introduce myself. I'm Erica." She added a big wave in case the chick with the leather skull couldn't hear her over her music.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:54, Tue 03 Jan 2023.

"I'm Luke, " the man replied, greeting the young woman with a friendly smile. He offered her an unopened chilled bottle of water." I'd ask what you were in for, but I expect we'll be sharing that in group at some point."

He took a swig from his own bottle, glancing over at the blue haired woman who was currently engrossed in her own music.

"Thank you."Accepting the water bottle with a polite smile, Erica cracked it open and took a sip. She was actually thirsty, but with the whirlwind of getting settled she had become detached from the sensations of dry lips and an empty stomach.

"Yeah, let's see what this meeting is all about. I'd hate to spoil the suspense or anything. I will say though that this is much nicer than the disgusting jail. How many of us are there, do you know?"

Luke shrugged. "You two are the only others I've seen so far. I don't have a roommate and there aren't that many rooms upstairs, so I expect it's not that many of us."

He took another swig of his water before continuing. "It beats prison for sure. Hopefully we can do our time, show society that we're not irredeemable, and get on with our lives. By the way, have you seen if there is a computer anywhere that we can use? One connected to the Internet I mean." He looked to Erica with a hopeful expression on his face.

"Nope, sorry." Erica raised both hands palms up. "I've only just got here. I haven't had time to explore. I just came down because I heard you guys down here. Maybe they'll go over the amenities in the meeting."

Erica thought for a moment

"You have a phone, right? Why don't you just get internet on that?" She took hers out to check to make sure she had a connection. "I'm sure there's a computer somewhere." Looking back up, she added, "It's not like we can't get one when we go out, right?"
This message was last edited by the player at 04:33, Tue 03 Jan 2023.

Luke shook his head. "They are filtering our access via the wifi. It's like we're kids or something and we can't be trusted to behave. I mean granted that we had minor dust ups with the law, but still. How much trouble could we get into because of a Google search?"

He shook his head, taking another sip of water. "If they are limiting our 'net access, what makes you think they are going to let us go out unsupervised?"

"My name is Mr. Marko, Probation clerk. You are on probation and live by the rules. Do the work, and don't misbehave. Messing around on the phones when you should be working will mean the phones will be removed. All of them not just your own. Break any rules you will see is a cell. Do what you are told. You have time in the morning and at night, and whenever there is little to do. For now there is a lot. Like putting on your jumpsuits and starting the work in the main room that you were called to and I had to come looking for you. I am not impressed." Standing in the doorway is a big man, probably at least 6'-6" and not fat. Built but a older man probably in his fifties and holding a cup of coffee. "After that is set, you will have lunch then back to work outside cleaning up the grounds. Screw this up and say goodbye to freedom. And don't ask if I care-I don't. Any questions?" Obviously he expect some wise guy comment or question and he definatly doesn't seem amused.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:33, Tue 03 Jan 2023.

Erica shrugged at Luke's comment. "Well, I suppose we'll find out. Whatever they do, it's better than prison. I-" Her words were cut off by the booming voice of Mr.Marko. He was an imposing man with a loud deep voice and no patience. She lowered her gaze to the floor as chewed them out for not going to the meeting on time. She didn't even know they were late. When he was done, she hurried by him, avoiding eye contact at all costs and hurred back to get changed.

==To Main Room by way of Female Lockers==>
This message was last edited by the player at 22:24, Tue 03 Jan 2023.

Luke purposely remained exactly where he was, watching as Erica scurried past the big man. He laconically got up from his seat, draining his plastic water bottle out into the sink before tossing it lazily into the blue recycling bin.

He sauntered past Marko, maintaining eye contact with the man in an attempt to show that he was not intimidated by the man's speech. Luke didn't talk back, or do anything to give Marko reason to complain as he moved past on his way to the men's locker room.

===> To the Main Room (after changing in the men's locker room)

Almost rushing into the kitchen, Eric grabbed a water from the refrigerator and found a spot in a corner table. She just wanted to try and unknot her tensions over that last chewing out. To avoid another, she took not of the time so she could get back with at least a minute to spare. Who knew what Marko would have her do. He made such a big deal about the mopping not being done last, but she did do it last. Unless there was a different definition of the word last. As far as she was concerned it was Marko who screwed up, not her.

Tony Marko was the worst boss ever. What sucked was that Erica never even asked for this job. Marko would say she did when she committed a crime, but wow. Despite the name, the community center was really a halfway house. It was detention facility where the inmates were afforded more freedom in the community. Aside from having to keep their noses clean, they also were given responsibilities. It was a punishment, but with time off. Work assignments was not an unreasonable responsibility and Erica didn't mind doing it. The real punishment was Tony Marko.

==> From the Main Room

Luke sauntered into the kitchen, taking his time as if he had much more than a paltry 8 minutes for his break. He too grabbed a cold water from the fridge, cracking it open and taking a long swig before speaking to Erica. "Relax. Don't let that prick get to you. The key thing is to remember that he can't really do anything to us aside from enforce the little power he wields over our schedule. He just wants us to give him an excuse to escalate things. Try not to do that. If he lays a hand on us or pulls any abusive crap without some sort of excuse he'll have his butt fired. He's just trying to get in our heads. Don't let him."

He pulled up a chair next to Erica and took a seat, quietly sipping his water.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:17, Tue 24 Jan 2023.

"Yeah, I know." Erica's statement sounded more like an acknowledgement that Luke was right versus saying she didn't need his advice. She slid her fingers through her hair, clutching both sides of her head as she dropped her elbows onto the table in exasperation. "But that control over our schedule is a big thing. And I hate getting yelled at. It stresses me out."

"I mean," She blurted out after a few seconds of silence. "Like, I did mop last. I already dusted the room. How was I supposed to know that Dan was going to rush back in there to do it again?"

Luke nodded, taking another sip of water. "You couldn't know that. Marko doesn't care. He just wants to wield his power like he's swinging a club. You just can't let it get to you. He wants you to react, it's how he gets his jollies given his pathetic little life. The more you react, the more he gets off on it. Look, you do what you want, but I'm just giving you some friendly advice for your own health - mental and physical. Try and tough it out, deal with his unreasonable crap and don't take his bait."

Erica folded her hands on the table, leaning forward. "Okay, but doesn't it bother you you follow rules, and then you get accused of not following rules? I mean, not that I always follow the rules. If I did, I wouldn't be here. But I did what he said and then he yelled at me because someone else wasn't paying attention." She held up a hand. "Yes, I know. I shouldn't let it bother me."

"But it does."

Luke nodded, "Oh yeah, it bothers me. I hate it. But damned if I'm going to let Marko see that. I'm going to suck it up as long as he doesn't step over the line and even then I'll think twice before reacting. He's a small man with a small life. Tormenting us is probably the only thing he has to look forward to. It's hard not to react, so don't beat yourself up over it. We can all only take so much, you know? Just as long as you're aware that he wants to see that you're bothered. Me, I'm going to try hard not to give him the satisfaction."

Visible to the two, it starts to drizzle outside, just a little.

Erica's eyes flick to the clock. They had six minutes, minus one to walk back. So, five. Then her eyes shifted to the water beads flecking the window.
"So, what do you plan to do with your time off?" She fell back against the back of her chair, folding her arms. "I guess I don't even know what you did before you ended up in here. What's your story?"

"My story?" Luke chuckled quietly as if the question amused him. "You ever hear of the website Bargain Bin? It had an algorithm that searched for the cheapest prices online and brokered the sale for a minor transaction fee. I created that. The authorities had some complaints from Amazon and other big players so they shut me down. Well, they threatened to get the Feds involved given the international nature of my sales. They generously dropped all charges in return for me shutting the site down and doing some community service. So..here I am."

He drained the last of the water from the bottle, casually tossing it across the table and into the recycling bin.

"What about you?" he asked Erica with genuine interest. "What's your story?"

"So wait..." Erica had heard of the website. "You created Bargain Bin? I ordered stuff on that. They arrested you for competing with Amazon? What's illegal about that? Oh, my God."

When Erica asked Luke about his story, she should have expected him to ask about hers. She glanced at the clock. Three minutes. Darn it. "Well..." Strangely she had never thought about how to explain this to someone. Shame choked the words in her throat, though she would never have been ashamed to say to any of her friends. They lived in her world. Luke didn't. "I... um..." She looked away. No amount of stammering was going to save her. And the pregnant pause was making it worse. "I was busted at a party for drug possession and um... prostitution. But I wasn't a street walker, you know. It was just a part time thing for parties and stuff. I guess..." Two minutes. "So, yeah... maybe I wasn't so smart. It's just that I've been on my own since I was thirteen, and sooner or later, you have to do what you have to do to survive."

Luke nodded. ”So we’re both here because we were just trying to make money to survive.” His tone showed that he had no issues with the morality of Erica’s actions. “I don’t see the problem with letting adults make adult choices as long as everything is consensual and no one gets hurt.”

He shrugged and frowned, thinking briefly of his own arrest and forced plea bargain that caused him to lose his income and end up at the mercy of Marco’s power tripping abuse.

Okay, Luke took that in stride. That made Erica feel much better. "Well, thanks for not being weird about it." She checked the clock again. "We should really get back before Marko charges over here and makes us scrub the toilets with our toothbrushes." She stood, finishing her water.

"Are you ready?"

To Community Center: Main room

Luke nodded, following Erica back to the main room

==> To the Main Room

-->Female Locker Room

"Hello!  Anyone in here?" Jenessa called out as she walked into the kitchen, looking around for anyone who might be staff.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:25, Tue 04 Apr 2023.