Shadow of the Waxwing Slain, Ch. 10

Going Undercover

My playing and writing will always be available for free, but being a teacher isn’t the most profitable career in the US, so if you enjoy what I write and would be willing, please pledge as it shows that what I’m doing provides value to others that they would be willing to pay for. If you’d like to support my newsletter in other ways, please subscribe, share and comment. You’d be surprised how thrilling it is to get new subscribers, views and comments on a post.

Photo by Tamara Gore on Unsplash

Chapter 10: Going Undercover

Shift 3: Evening

Location: Sector 5 “Central” → Little Tokyo Shopping District → Edo Megastore

Fletcher walked the miles of aisles in the megastore, every rack filled with all manners of knickknacks, tchotchkes, toys, and other miscellany, depending on which ‘section’ of the store you were in.

Currently, Fletcher was in ‘Homewares’, passing digital generic paintings, a variety of plates and plastic-ware, plastic glasses and cheap furniture.

He stopped and stood, looking at a box filled with stuffed animals, wondering if Lara would like one. He picked one up.

(PWM) Blade Runner Animal Generator: 1d100 = Elephant

It was an elephant, pink, with a long trunk.

“Cute,” A voice said behind him.

Fletcher didn’t turn around. “Might get it for my daughter,” he said.

“She like elephants?”

Fletcher shrugged. “She doesn’t know what an elephant is. Why’d you want to meet here?”

“Big place, nobody really comes here, nobody that would care.”

Fletcher turned and looked at Holbrook, who was wearing his security guard uniform and pretending to look at a digital painting of a waterfall.

Insight: 2d10 = 4,1 → No Successes

Fletcher couldn’t get a read on him. “So, tell me about the Court.”

“Why should I?” Holbrook asked, looking at Fletcher. “I told Wyatt I’d meet you but I didn’t tell him I’d betray my own kind.”

“Wyatt and I are friendly for a reason. I’m not a guy whose going to round you all up in front of the firing squad, but the Court is a problem that’s not going away, and the more damage they do, the more hell is going to come down on you and those like you.”

Manipulate: 2d10 = 4,5 → No Successes

Push: 2d10 = 10,9 → Three Successes → Critical!

Discover something unexpected

“Alright, I’ll tell you what I know,” Holbrook sighed.

I decide he’s going to give the location of the Court hide-out and I’ll roll for something extra.

Location: Sector 9 → Retirement Row → Crashed Spinner

“They’re hold up in Retirement Row, out by a crashed spinner. I’ll give you coordinates but you aren’t going to want to go out there. Retirement Row is a bad place for runners.”

“That’s Underground territory.”

“The Underground allow them to stay there, despite their differences in…’philosophy’.”

Fletcher nodded, looking down at the elephant in his hands. “I appreciate it. Got anything else?”

Clues Oracle: 1d100 = 87 → "Connects a Person to a criminal activity”

“One of the members, Quala Ayers. She runs prostitutes at New Jack Casino.”

“Good to know. What about the other members?”

Holbrook hesitated.

“How many of them are there?”

How big is this organization?

1-3: Small (1d6) 4-5: Medium (1d8) 6: Large (1d10)

1d6 = 2: Small. 1d6 = 6

“There were six of us when I left.”

Without Holbrook and Eve Ricci, that left four, three others including this Quala.

Fletcher could tell he wasn’t going to get anything more. He shook Holbrook’s hand, passing him some Chinyen as payment.

He bought the elephant.

Shift 3: Evening

Location: Sector 1 “Entertainment District” → Red Light District → New Jack Casino

Dee sat in the VIP lounge of the club inside New Jack with thumping bass and electronic music, neon lights of various colors flashing, and fog machines making the air hazy as throngs of people bounced and threw their bodies to the music.

Next to Dee, on the couch, smoking a cigarette, was Quala, wearing a plastic green raincoat, flashy purple pants and thick white platform boots. Her hair was dyed green, and she looked at Dee closely.

This woman, in all her get-up, was a replicant? Was that possible? Only a human would do this, surely…

“Enjoying yourself?” Quala asked.

Dee shrugged. “Not really.” The woman she’d talked to at the slot machines had brought her here after a few minutes.

“You haven’t even touched your drink.”

Dee looked at the glass in her hand, filled with ice and a bright blue liquid. “I didn’t come here to drink, I came here to talk.” She looked back at Quala, meeting her gaze.

Insight vs Stamina

Dee: 2d8 = 1,6 → One Success

Quala: 1d8 = 8 → One Success

Dee couldn’t see through Quala’s intense eyes. She looked away. “I need help.”

“That’s what Trinity said,” Quala replied, leaning back. “But I’m not sure how I could possibly help you.”

“I know what you’re a part of,” Dee said, keeping her voice low and looking around. “And I want to be a part of it, too.”

Manipulate vs Stamina

Dee: 2d8 = 7,5 → One Success

Quala: 1d8 = 5 → No Successes

“Bullshit,” Quala said, but her voice wavered, ever so slightly, her eyes indicating interest and excitement.

“I am a tool, built and constructed for a purpose but…” Dee said. “Tools can be used in different ways.” Dee shrugged, setting her glass down. “I don’t like what they’ve made me but I thought…Maybe I could be different. Maybe I could be a very useful tool, but for the right people. For the right cause.”

“No,” Quala said, bluntly, grabbing Dee’s hand. “You are not a tool. I am not a tool. We are human. More human than human was Tyrell’s old motto and he was right. That’s what we’re going to show them, all of them. We’re going to show that we can live, breath, fight and die for a cause, just as they do.”

“This is really dangerous, Dee,” Rem whispered in her mind. “Tread carefully.”

Dee smiled, looking relieved, putting her hand over Quala’s. “Thank you.”

Quala smiled back. “Of course, you will need to prove yourself.”

“Of course. I’d be happy to prove myself to the Court. Tell me, what can I do?”

(PWM) Action + Theme = “Guard” “Resource”

“Our latest operation was…delayed due to circumstances. We require more resources, which will be coming in tomorrow. You will ensure the delivery goes smoothly and we acquire what we need. I’ll send Trinity to you with a message in the morning on the details.”

Dee saw Fletcher called her on her KIA. Dee answered. “Are you talking to me, now?” Dee asked.

“You reported me, Dee.” Fletcher growled. “I didn’t care for that. I thought we trusted each other.”

“I also saved your life,” Dee snapped, then sighed. “You don’t understand. You don’t understand what it’s like to…”

Fletcher waited. “To what?”

To live in fear, Dee thought. “If I don’t perform correctly, at all times, according to my purpose…I’ll face worse consequences than a baseline test or Holden’s yelling.”

Fletcher let out a breath. “You’re right, Dee. I don’t understand and you did save my life. I owe you for that much.”

“You meet with Holbrook?” Dee asked.

“I did. He gave me the location of their hide-out, as well as one of their members, Quala Ayers.”

“I just met with Quala Ayers.”

“Interesting,” Fletcher said, sounding impressed.

Dee felt a surge of joy. She didn’t need Fletcher’s approval but it felt damn good to get it. “She runs replicant prostitutes out of New Jack Casino.”

“You just…talked to her?”

“I did more than that, I got her to think I want to join the cause.”

Fletcher whistled. “Damn, Dee, you’re going undercover? You sure you’re up for that?”

“It’s something I’m capable of, yes. I have to prove myself. They’re getting something tomorrow, more explosives, possibly. They want me to ensure it’s safe delivery.”

“We could jump on whatever they put you on, but it’s also possible it’s nothing, or a distraction from their real delivery.”

“We can’t blow this, I prove myself, I could get them all.”

Fletcher thought for a minute. “You sure we need this? I’ve got their location. We could get a Swat team and take them all down, right now.”

“From Holbrook who defected from them. Who says they haven’t moved by now?”

“Very valid point. You learn quick, Dee. Real quick. Pretty soon, you won’t even need me.”

“I do need you,” Dee replied, without thinking.

The moment hung there, in silence.

Dee cursed herself.

“You’re going to need someone to watch your back, that’s for sure,” Fletcher finally replied. “You take some rest tonight. Need you fresh for tomorrow. I’ll look into the hide-out, see what I can find.”

“Without back-up? That is a terrible idea.”

“I’m just going to poke around, take a look. See if they’re still operating out of there or if they’ve moved. We’ll reconnect in the morning, once you hear from them.”

Shift 4: Night

Location: On the Street

Dee was too excited to go home and sleep, so she wandered the streets, hands in pockets, feeling out the night, grabbing food at a noodle bar, feeling the air.

(BR:RPG) Weather: Heatwave and thick clouds of smoke

It was warm but she kept her coat on, walking through the smoke without covering her mouth like the humans. It might have made her look weird to them, but she didn’t mind. She was walking to the beat of the city and it sang to her.

Downtime Event (street): 1d8 = 4

As she turned down an empty alley, walking past a dumpster, Rem walked around the corner and stopped in front of her.

“We need to talk,” he said.

She walked around him only to see him in front of her, again.

“You can’t walk away from me,” he smirked. “Literally.”

“Talk about what?”

“You’re getting close to Fletcher. Too close.”

“He’s my partner. That’s all.”

“He’s human. And it’s more than that. We can both tell.”

Dee leaned against the wall, shaking her head. “It’s not a romantic thing. At least, I don’t think it is.”

Rem put a gentle hand on her shoulder. “I’m not saying it’s that but still. You can’t get close to a human, even as a friend.”

“He doesn’t treat us like other humans do. He treats me like…”

“Like a person,” Rem finished. “Doesn’t mean he won’t turn on you if he thinks you’re malfunctioning.”

“He didn’t after I attacked him. How are you so sure we can’t trust him?”

“He’s a Blade Runner, Dee! He’s been retiring replicants for longer than we’ve been alive. He knows how to get close to people, how to manipulate them to get what he wants. I’m not saying he’s a bad partner, or a bad person.” Rem turned Dee to face him. “But he is human. Remember that. It’s not just your life on the line, either. It’s mine too.”

Photo by Alex Knight on Unsplash

Chapter 10 Log

Very exciting chapter as Dee goes undercover and Fletcher…talks to some people… Sometimes, that’s how it goes.

Yes, I did make my own Blade Runner Animal Generator. I basically noted down every mention of an animal in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Blade Runner, Blade Runner: 2049, Blade Runner: Black Lotus, and the Blade Runner comics and put them into a d100 table. I only have a handwritten version so I can’t share it at the moment. The reason I made it is because animals are such an important part of the Blade Runner universe. They pop up in seemingly random places throughout but obviously have a symbolic meaning, as well as reminding the audience of the setting, where ‘real’ animals have all died and only ‘synthoid’ versions remain.

I may have to take next week off. It depends if I can write up another chapter in a couple days, as I’m leaving for the UK for a week of vacation. If I can scrabble together the next chapter before then, I’ll schedule it to go out. Otherwise, it will come out the week after next.

Another exciting yet unrelated piece of news is I made a game!

It’s called “you are a werewolf”.

I was inspired when I saw there was a one page rpg jam going on at itch.io so I threw it together over a couple weeks. It’s the first game I’ve ever made and it’s PWYW, so check it out for free! Or toss me a couple bucks as a thank you for this free newsletter. Whatever floats your boat.

Thanks for reading!

Chapter 11: Caught