Shadow of the Waxwing Slain, Ch. 13
Case Closed
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 consider upgrading to a paid subscription or buying me a coffee.
If you’d like to support my newsletter in other ways, please subscribe, share and comment.
You can also check out my game “you are a werewolf” on itch.io
If you’re new here, maybe check out the Table of Contents so you can start at the beginning. Thanks!
Photo by Irina Iriser on Unsplash
Chapter 13: Case Closed
Shift 7: Evening
Location: LAPD - RDU → Holden’s Office
Holden looked at the pictures in the file, all four replicants, now retired.
Dee and Fletcher sat on the other side of his desk.
Dee didn’t look at the pictures.
Fletcher had his hand bandaged up and looked tired.
“Hell of a thing,” Holden said, leaning back in his chair. “You went undercover, Dee?”
Dee nodded. “Yes, sir.”
Holden turned to Fletcher. “And you allowed her to?”
Fletcher shrugged. “She said she could do it. I believed her. She was right. I wouldn’t be here anymore otherwise.”
Holden grunted, picking up a cigar and lighting it. “You should have told me, first. This lone wolf type crap can end badly.”
“She had an instinct and went with it. In the end, we got them all, chief,” Fletcher said, leaning forward. “The Iron Court is finished, the replicants retired. And she saved my life. Again.”
“Fletcher’s right,” Holden said, closing the folder. “It was a damn good job, Dee.” He took the cigar out of his mouth. “You okay?”
Dee looked at him. “I’m fine.”
“Good, that’s good. One of them is still alive and being held here for questioning. I want you talk to her. Make sure there ain’t any other members of the Court we might’ve missed.” He turned to Fletcher. “You go home and rest up. You had a hell of a day. And both of you, take the next couple days off. You earned it.”
Outside of Holden’s office, Fletcher touched Dee’s arm, getting her attention. “You sure you’re good?” he asked. “You don’t need to talk to her right now.”
“I’m fine,” Dee replied. “It worked. We got ‘em.” She gave a hint of a smile.
Fletcher nodded, but caught her arm again. “And Dee, thanks,” he said, looking into her eyes. “You saved me, again. I appreciate it.”
She nodded. “It’s what partners do,” she said, and walked away.
Fletcher hesitated, watching her go.
Nieth lay in a hospital bed, handcuffed to it, machines taking her vitals, staring at the ceiling as Dee entered.
Nieth looked at her, then back at the ceiling. “I didn’t think you’d be the one to do it. Might as well though, right? It’s your purpose. You might as well finish the job you started.”
“I’m not here for that,” Dee said, pulling a chair over close to the bed.
“Then wh-”
Dee interrupted her. “Did you love them?”
Nieth looked at her, confused etched on her face. “What?”
“Your comrades. Your friends. You were crying, on the ground. Were you crying for them? Or for yourself?”
“Dee, what is this about?” Rem asked. “These aren’t the right questions.”
“You are one crazy bitch,” Nieth said.
“I am not trying to make you upset,” Dee stood, leaning over Nieth. “I’m just curious. Did you love your friends?” She noticed tears in Nieth’s eyes. “Are you crying for them?”
Nieth didn’t seem to be able to talk, as more tears came. She nodded. “Yes,” she managed to croak. “We were…a family of sorts. We had the same beliefs. We had the same…will to live.” She shook her head, closing her eyes and laying her head back on the pillow.
“I see,” Dee said.
“You don’t,” Nieth said, her voice getting louder. “And you never will, because you and your kind are happy being fucking slaves. You’ll never be anything more. You could never understand.” Nieth took a deep, shuddering breath, her voice getting softer. “And I pity you for that.”
Dee looked at her. “Are there any others?” she asked softly.
Nieth shook her head. “No,” she said. “There’s nobody else.” She looked away from Dee.
Dee noticed Nieth’s hands. She gently put her hand in Nieth’s, holding it.
Nieth struggled at first, looking at Dee with wide eyes.
Dee held on, not letting her let go.
Nieth relaxed, allowing it, staring at Dee intensely.
Dee held her hand and looked into her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she said.
Nieth closed her eyes, silent tears streaming down her face, holding Dee’s hand in an iron grip.
“This is a mistake,” Rem said. “There’s probably cameras here. You’re going to get us killed, Dee.”
Dee ignored him and stayed for a while, holding Nieth’s hand.
“Is this entirely necessary?” Dee asked, looking at Holden in his office.
“Unfortunately, yes,” he said.
“I apprehended four fugitive replicants and you wonder if I’m malfunctioning?” she asked, keeping her voice calm, staring into Holden’s eyes.
“It’s not me, understand,” Holden said, holding his hands up. “You do good work, best work I seen in awhile, truth be told. But when a messy business like this happens…the higher-ups want to make sure you’re still on baseline after an event like that.”
He didn’t bring up her seeing Nieth and holding Nieth’s hand. Did he know?
Holden sighed, shaking his head. “If I could, I’d tell them to go to hell, and I tried. But…” he shrugged.
“It’s not up to you,” she said. It’s up to the higher-ups at the LAPD…and Wallace Corp who pulled their strings. Wanting to ensure obedience in their newest model. “It’s fine, no problem, I’ll report there now.”
“Take your time,” Holden said. “Hit up a Medchecker Kiosk, get yourself right after that mess. I told them you’d report to them in a couple hours. Understand?” Holden gave her a look. Don’t fuck this one up, the look said.
She nodded. Was Holden helping her out? Maybe.
“Don’t trust him,” Rem said. “It could all be bullshit and he’s the one making you do the baseline. He could’ve seen you with Nieth.”
She left Holden’s office and hit up a Medchecker Kiosk in the RDU medical ward, before heading to the Baseline room.
+1 Health, +1 Resolve, Cost 1 Chinyen
Dee sat in the white room, facing the machine in the wall, ready. She had her hands in her pockets, one of them holding her cheap fish souvenir.
+1 Resolve
“State your baseline,” the male voice stated.
“Mountains toppling evermore,” Dee started. “Into seas without a shore,” pause. “Seas that restlessly aspire, surging, unto skies of fire,” pause. “Lakes that endlessly outspread, their lone waters-lone and dead,” pause. “Their still waters, still and chilly.”
“Is your constitution waning? Seas.”
“Seas.”
“Have you ever lost love? Seas.”
“Seas.”
Insight w/advantage(at full Resolve)
3d8 = 6,3,5 → One Success
The questions continued. Do you have a friend? Are you bonded to another? Are you alone? To which she responded, “Seas.”
Then the response required changed.
“Are you afraid of operating restlessly? Restlessly.”
“Restlessly.”
“What do you do when you’re alone? Restlessly.”
“Restlessly.”
“Do others see you? Restlessly.”
“Restlessly.”
“What do you treasure? Restlessly.”
“Is your focus faltering? Restlessly.”
“Restlessly.”
“Into seas without a shore,” the voice stated.
“Into the seas without a shore,” she repeated.
“Into seas without a shore.”
“Into seas without a shore.”
A moment of silence passed.
“You passed.”
Location: The Streets
Fletcher walked in the rain, collar of his trenchcoat turned up. It felt good to be down on the streets.
Giant neon advertisements on the side of buildings greeted him, other folks pushed by, each on their own errand or wandering, each with their own story. Vendors peddled food and goods, each proposing to be better than the previous. More goods, better food, more selection, more variety, feel good, feel better than good, feel great…
There was a hum in the city. You could feel it if you let yourself. The thrum of life, the hiss of pipes, vehicles driving by, airships passing overhead, people talking, yelling, fighting. It was alive.
Fletcher felt himself loosening as he walked, the tension leaving his body.
Downtime Event: 1d8 = 3
Until he bumped into an old man, walking in the street with a black umbrella over his head.
Fletcher recognized him immediately, despite how much time had passed.
It was the judge who had tossed him and his family onto the streets when Fletcher was a kid.
He’d never forget that face, condemning him and his family to homelessness.
+1 Stress
“Excuse me,” the judge said, sneering. “Watch where you’re going.”
Fletcher just stared, without saying anything.
The judge narrowed his eyes. “You some junkie or something? Get out of my way!”
Fletcher let the old man pass by, without moving or saying anything.
He went and sat on a stool at the nearest noodle bar. The seats were mostly empty because the seats were out in the rain but he didn’t mind. He got a bowl and a beer, eating and drinking in the rain.
The Case of the Iron Court: CLOSED
Both investigators get 7 Promotion Points and 5 Humanity Points. They will also each get a Distinction (Police Medal of Valor).
It was quite the premature ending! When Dee went undercover, I expected a more drawn out situation but Fletcher getting caught gave me the idea that this is the test the Court would force Dee to make. I still thought Dee would convince them otherwise, which is why I Pushed her roll twice! But alas, that’s why we roll the dice.
I had a thought to continue the Iron Court stuff, maybe there was another Cell in the city and who’d they purchase the explosives from? But I’ve decided I want to move on and try a new Case, something new after having the last two cases be connected to the Court. I’m planning on doing at least one more Case before switching to something new. I’m going to try to be more strict in regards to Stress. There were some situations where PCs probably should’ve suffered some Stress but I forgot about the Stress Factors table. I definitely want the next case to be unforgiving in regards to the PCs wellbeing.
What might the new game/system be? I’m not sure and I’m open to ideas! Drop me a comment if you’re interested in seeing a particular game played and written out. Or let me know how you feel about how the last case and how it abruptly ended.
As always thanks for reading!
I thought the length of the case was good. I prefer the short form stories. I'm excited for the next case.