calloperators (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
calloperators) wrote2019-01-14 05:25 pm
calloperators) wrote2019-01-14 05:25 pm
TEST DRIVE
> Hello, you have reached the 1-800-HOTLINE Test Drive. We are currently unable to take your call. Whilst we put you on hold, feel free to play around for a while...
Waking up
Go downstairs, to the lobby. Meet the others. Don't get attached, and don't mention this call.
The AC is busted and in this hot summer, you probably won't want to stay in your room forever.
Of course, there's much more around here than just the motel. Stepping out and hitting the town will give you plenty to do. There's stores aplenty, but that's nothing to say of the good residents of the stores; your friendly neighborhood bodega cats. They're content to laze around the aisles, though the more playful sorts may swat at your wayward accessories as you pass by.
Don't mind that they seem to disappear - and reappear - with a blink. That's just something cats can do.
Of course you are! There's plenty of places to eat here, but why go to some no-name joint when you can go to McDonalds? They've got burgers, they've got fries, they've got McPizza, and they even have a playplace! ...Though you're probably too old for the ball pit.
Regardless of what you order, if you even order, the cashier presses a small toy into the palm of your hand. Don't you feel a pair of tiny eyes on you?
For fuck's sake, someone only went and killed a guy in the McDonald's parking lot. Maybe his head is smashed in under that chicken mask, or maybe you'll want to check? You could do the right thing and work out who did this, or you could make off with his baseball bat. The choice is yours.
What good's a city that goes to sleep? When the sun goes down, the lights go up. The city becomes aglow with every colour of the neon rainbow, with bowling alleys, nightclubs, karaoke bars, arcades and soon-to-be-extinct roller discos competing for your attention until the sun comes up. You're here, there's no curfew, it's time to make the most of it.
Have something else in mind? Go wild, and party like it's 1989.
juno steel ( the penumbra podcast )
[When they write the Great Tales of Juno Steel, Private Eye, the first volume will probably start with a morning exactly like this one.
"One day, Detective Steel woke up somewhere unfamiliar, nursing a hangover, and with a mysterious call from an unidentifiable stranger that almost definitely wished him harm."
He may not recognize the model of comms the call came in on—the wires seem really inconvenient—but the idea is familiar. He's been in enough situations like this in his life. He's got a long history with the Kanagawas, for crying out loud. If he didn't know any better, he'd assume he was kidnapped by Cecil himself.
But that doesn't line up with what he knows. A quick press of his palm against his right eyesocket confirms it. Just bandages. Beneath, just an eyelid. Empty space inside.
It's weird that, at this point, that's a comfort.
Juno definitely does shake down the entire room for any signs or traces left behind of whoever brought him here. If it were Jacket, he'd leave a more specific note. Juno doesn't know much about the guy, but he does know he's very, very precise.
But eventually, it's all dead ends. His pockets're empty. Room's spotless. Well, there's some dust, but nothing telling.
So, fine, alright. He'll go downstairs and meet whoever it is. At this point, what else is there?
So hey, there's a grumpy lady in a trenchcoat and bandages over his eye sulking in the corner of the lobby, arms folded. The second he notices someone else wander in, it's pretty obvious he's already on edge.]
Hey, I'm taking surveys. Just one question: kidnapper or kidnappee?
[It's probably a good thing he's never worked a call center.]
it's not unusual.
[Catch one one-eyed P.I. staring down a cat in a bodega like it's the most horrifying thing he's ever seen. He's keeping a safe distance, but every once in a while the cat notices he's staring at it and it starts to wander nearer to ask for pets. Sometimes it teleports, which doesn't surprise Juno as much as it maybe should, considering.
Juno reacts by gracelessly skipping to the side to dodge when it comes near.]
What. Is that. It almost looks like a cat but it's all...
[He makes a vague gesture around his face, looking absolutely grossed out by the whole thing. Where are its extra eyes!!! Its tentacles!!! The fuck!!!
Meanwhile, the shop owner is most certainly trying to pretend someone didn't just come in and start calling their cat ugly.]
mcmurder.
[Juno definitely isn't familiar with the great kingdom of McDonald's, but he is familiar with dead bodies. And yet, he'd still rather not happen upon one while he's basically still digesting french fries. Juno is the type who hates surprises, especially when they're bloody, dead, and left out to dry right in front of him.
At least it's fresh and hasn't started to smell yet. Though that doesn't stop Juno from quickly turning and dry heaving into his hand at the sight of the pooling blood.
Eugh. Still, he's... he's pretty much got to do something about it. At least ineffectually attempt to identify the body.
So he walks over, all business suddenly, and peels back the chicken mask...
Okay. Alright. Yeah, it was definitely the baseball bat that did it. Ugh. Juno is mostly averting his gaze, but he does try to take in more clues from the corner of his eye.]
wildcard.
[Do whatever. I'm not your dad.]
McMurder
I can't believe someone would wanna kill someone here. Do... do we have any leads on what happened besides what killed him?
[Is this how you solve murders?]
no subject
Nevermind that Juno is technically an onlooker in this situation too. He's definitely not... licensed to operate in this city. Old habits die hard, okay.]
I just got here, unless you've got a fingerprinting kit on you I know exactly as much as you do.
[But he is definitely gonna check out the bat next. Maybe if he's lucky, there'll be obvious, bloody prints left on it.]
Well. There's prints on the bat, but they're gloved. Or from printless fingers.
[If you have your fingerprints surgically removed, You. Are. Valid.]
wake me up inside (can't wake up)
She, obviously, has no idea what's going on like everyone else, except probably even less so than a great deal of people. She heard voice telling her what her situation was, but she had no idea where it was coming from or what half of the things were that were in the room.
But, hey. That's never stopped her before, has it? She's always been able to turn lemons into lemonade.
She traipses into the lobby, kind of disappointed that there wasn't much going on, other than Juno brooding in the corner.
Hmm. ]
Who, me?
[ Duh. She points to herself as she inches towards Juno, sizing him up a bit.
She giggles, flipping her hair back as she replies: ]
Kidnapper, of course! ♡
[ For once, she makes it clear that she's not serious. ]
save meeeeeee
He knows she's joking, but he's also not going to trust anyone at face value. But he'll operate on the assumption she's been kidnapped, too. For now. At the least, if she's behind anything, she definitely wouldn't be working alone.]
Oh, darn. And here I am without my cuffs on me. Well, looks like your reign of terror has come to a... decisive middle.
wakin up 2 ash and dust-ish
until he hits the railing and slides down it like a child. or a show girl — take your pick — swinging his legs around the end of the banister. there's a swell of relief in him that comes from seeing juno. moments prior he'd been behind an airlock after all, pounding on the damn thing just as the bomb had gone off. ]
There you are.
[ striding then from the railing over to him, hands finding purchase on his shoulders, looking him over, concern etched only faintly in his brow. he hisses now, delighted that juno is here, but still on edge from what he last remembers: a bomb, a monster, juno with his empty eye socket, gun in hand, his own knife hand bloodied to the elbow. ]
You complete and utter fool.
no subject
Then comes his voice. And that's unmistakable, isn't it? It's a voice he's heard in his dreams more than once since... all that. Sometimes in nightmares.
Juno's throat goes dry in record time, a familiar feeling considering he's been out in the radioactive Martian desert for way too long. Nureyev strolls up to Juno like no time at all has passed, like Juno didn't make what may have been one of the biggest mistakes of his life, and...
Sure, Juno expected an insult or two on the chance they'd ever meet again, but nothing so fond. It maybe strikes him harder than if Nureyev had given him a full cold shoulder treatment. Which would've been entirely fair.]
Uh. [One second. Juno.exe is rebooting.] So I've... heard. Among other things.
[...Yeah, Juno's got nothing. For someone who practices one-liners in the mirror, he's really not prepared for this.]