Shadow of the Waxwing Slain, Ch. 16
A Fish called Remedy
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I’m back to Shadow of the Waxwing Slain, my Bladerunner RPG solo campaign.
Check out the Table of Contents for previous chapters and other stuff I’ve played and written.
Previously, on Shadow of the Waxwing Slain, Dee and Fletcher came back to the RDU to start on a case about illegal replicant death matches organized by a crime ring called The Golden Shards. Dee checked out a place where one of these events had been held and made contact with a potential source of information, named Levka. Fletcher found a connection who had information, a bodyguard named Enzo. They met at a synthetic fish store on Animoid Row, where Enzo told Fletcher his client had attended one of these events held at Happy Jacks Casino. Enzo also handed over a data stick, the contents of which are, at the moment, unknown.
Chapter 16: A Fish called Remedy
Location: Sector 1 → Red District → Paradise Evolution
Dee lay in bed, Levka’s arms around her.
The bedroom was small, shag carpeting, pale walls, a lone window showing the rain outside, door to a tiny bathroom in the corner. Generic, one of many in this brothel.
What are you doing, she asked herself. A question she’d expected from Rem but he’d been quiet in her mind lately. Maybe she’d spooked him by calling him out for the black-outs she’d been experiencing. He was hiding something.
“What are you doing?” Levka asked, softly, her lips close to Dee’s ears. “You feel tense, all of a sudden.”
Dee forced herself to relax. “I was just thinking.”
“I try not to.”
“Must be nice.”
“You can do it, too.” Levka gave Dee’s ear a gentle kiss. “Just stay in the moment.”
Dee tried, tried to focus on the soft skin pressed against hers, on the feeling of sheets over her body, but thoughts kept getting in the way. “I have to make a call.” She slipped out from Levka’s embrace and got dressed. *
Levka watched her, head on her hand, her arm in a v-shape against the pillow.
Dee left some chinyen on the dresser.
“Is that what I am to you?” Levka said, smiling.
Dee looked at Levka, finding it difficult not to smile back. “Consider it payment for information and a service."
“Is that what you call this, a service? Very impersonal.”
“The service is letting me know when the next fight is going to be.”
“I can do that. Call me in a few hours. Just make sure you got a backer.” Levka didn’t say ‘owner’ but Dee knew what she meant.
Dee hesitated before leaving, looking at Levka. “Is this your first time with…someone like me?”
Levka got out of bed, walked over and kissed Dee on the mouth. She looked into Dee’s eyes. “Is this your first time with someone like me?” Levka asked.
“Yes,” Dee said, without hesitation.
Levka smirked. “You never told me your name.”
“It’s Dee.”
“Dee, come back anytime.” Levka walked into the bathroom and started the shower.
“Dee, it’s Fletcher. You find anything?”
“I may have a lead on the next fight. And I’ve put it out there I want to participate.”
“That’s dangerous.”
“It worked. Thing is, I need a backer. They won’t let a replicant fight on their own. What’d you find?”
“I had a contact, bodyguard for a rich guy. He’s been to a couple of these, at Happy Jacks, handed me a drive.”
“So the fight locations rotate. What’s on the drive?”
“Don’t know yet.”
“Let’s meet at your place and talk next steps.”
“Why my place?”
“You got an Esper box, right?”
“Yeah and so do you? Why my place?”
“You’ll see.”
Shift 2: Evening
Location: Sector 5 → LAPD Housing → Dee’s Apartment
Fletcher parked on the street next to Dee’s apartment building.
It was dark out, a dusting of snow on the ground and more coming down.
He got out, pulled his trench coat collar up tight, and walked over to the building, a grid of grime-covered windows, only a few lit.
Inside, he headed up the stairs, past a couple drunkards or druggies, an old lady calling out in a language he didn’t recognize, anti-replicant graffiti scrawled along the wall and bits of trash on the ground.
At Dee’s apartment door, he saw the word “FUCK OFF AND DIE” spray-painted in black. He shook his head and knocked.
“Hey!” A slurring voice called out from below. “What the fffuck you goin’ there for! Don’t ya know what it is! We don’t want any robot-lovers here-”
Dee opened the door and stood there, looking at him. She wore a leather jacket over a black shirt and black jeans.
Fletcher waited a moment, ignoring the yelling from below. “Can I come in?” he asked, finally.
“Yes,” Dee said, standing to the side.
Fletcher walked in and she shut the door. He followed her in past the entryway. He smelled coffee.
“You’ve never had anyone over before, have you?” He asked.
Dee shrugged. “Lots of firsts today. How am I doing?”
The apartment was small, but clean. Sparse, even, nothing on the walls.
On the counter was a fresh pot of coffee and two mugs.
Dee filled the two mugs before bringing them over to the table by her window.
“You’re doing just fine,” Fletcher said, sitting down and sipping at the coffee. He let out a murmur of satisfaction. “Better than the precinct’s coffee.”
“That does not mean it is good,” Dee said, sipping at her own coffee.
“It’s good,” Fletcher said. “You have a nice place here.”
Dee shrugged, looking uncomfortable. “It’s where I sleep and eat. That’s about it.”
“Well, it could stand to have a few more…homey touches.”
She just looked at him, her face blank.
“Decoration. A poster or painting on the wall. Things you like.”
Dee drank her coffee and looked out the window. “Why would I look at a painting? I usually just look outside.”
“Speaking of homey touches…” Fletcher said, reaching into an inner pocket. “Do you have a big bowl? Glass?”
Dee set her cup down. “Why?”
Fletcher pulled a small plastic bag out of his pocket, filled with water, a little colorful fish inside. “I got you a fish.”
Dee looked at it. “You got me a fish.”
Fletcher nodded. “Yes. Isn’t it cute?”
Dee looked back at Fletcher. “Why did you get me a fish?”
Fletcher shrugged. “I thought you might like it.”
Dee studied the fish for a moment.
It had brightly colored rainbow scales. It swam in a tiny circle in the bag.
“Do you want something in return?” Dee asked, still watching the fish.
“No, no, it’s a gift, Dee. Friends get each other gifts. It’s a…small kindness. Something I thought might make you happy, from time to time.” Fletcher sipped at his coffee. “Maybe it was a stupid idea. If you hate it, I can give it to Lara.”
Dee stood. “No, I’ll keep it.” She went into the kitchen, into the cupboards, pulling out a medium-sized glass bowl, filling it with water and bringing it to the table. She picked up the bag with the fish, slowly opened it and carefully poured the fish into the bowl.
The fish started swimming in bigger loops.
Fletcher pulled out a small yellow box from another pocket, putting it next to the bowl.
Fish food.
Dee took the box, popped the top and sprinkled some red flecks into the bowl.
The fish greedily gobbled them up.
“Make sure you feed it once a day,” Fletcher said.
“Is it real?” Dee asked.
“Synthetic,” Fletcher said. “Any real animal…even a fish is way more than I can afford, unfortunately.”
“Of course,” Dee said, sitting back down. “Where did you get it?”
“The Fish Ladies,” Fletcher said. “Where I met my contact.”
Dee’s eyes widened. “That’s where I…” she stopped.
“You were looking at the fish tanks as a kid. You mentioned that before.” Fletcher leaned forward. “I’d like to hear more about it.”
“It’s not real.” Like the fish. “It never happened.”
“I’d still like to hear.”
Dee watched the fish as she talked. “I was young, maybe Lara’s age. I walked along animoid row, looking at all the animals. I enjoyed watching them. And then I came to the fish tanks, a wall of fish tanks, with glowing, shiny and bright organisms, swimming around. It was beautiful. I got as close as I could, hands on the glass, face pressed against it.” Dee set her cup of coffee down. “Then a hand grabbed my arm. Hard enough to hurt. Threw me down on the ground. It was a cop. He had his gun out, pointed at me, calling me a thief.” Dee let out a breath. “That’s all I remember.”
“Sticks with you, don’t it?” Fletcher asked.
Dee nodded.
“So that’s why you’ve got such a problem with authority,” Fletcher said, smirking.
She gave a hint of a smile in return. “It’s possible.”
Fletcher pulled out the drive. “You want to take a look at this thing, now?”
She nodded.
Dee sat in front of the Esper Box, which looked like a cross between a tv and radio put together, a videoscreen, some controls on the side, an input for data discs and drives.
Fletcher stood behind her as she only had the one chair behind the desk.
Dee fed the drive into the input.
The image on the screen was fuzzy and full of static, but slowly clarified.
Grainy video footage showed a large room filled with people, an octagonal ring set up in the center. Two people were fighting, those in the crowd were cheering.
Fletcher leaned forward and manipulated the controls with his fingers and voice as he tried to get better views.
Tech: d10 + d8 = 2, 8 → One Success
Clues Oracle A: Connection to a Location of Interest
“Well, my contact wasn’t lying. That’s Casino Jacks. One of the ballrooms, if I had to guess.”
“Could raid the place. This is proof.”
“We’d need to make sure it happened when its going on. Also, we want to take down the big wigs in charge. We don’t know enough about the operation yet. Who knows if they attend every fight or not.”
Dee set the Esper to upload to the LAPD mainframe. “You work on getting a cover. I’ll go talk to Quell.” She got up to follow Fletcher towards the door.
“You be careful. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of Wallace’s top clients are involved in something like this. Clients they’d want to protect.”
“I understand,” Dee said.
Fletcher stopped at the door, looking back at the fish. “You gonna give it a name?”
“It doesn’t have one?”
Fletcher smirked. “When you get a pet, you give it a name. Usually. Can be anything.”
Dee looked back at the fish for a moment.
“Remedy,” she said. “Her name is Remedy.”
Fletcher nodded, opening the door. “Good name.”
Shift 3: Night
It was dark outside Dee’s apartment, as Fletcher stepped outside. A cold, burning fog hung on the streets.
He waited for a large lumbering truck to pass by before walking over to a payphone.
The snow had stopped.
He dialed a friend.
Connection: d10 + d8 = 1,2 → No successes
Shit. Nothing for him. He hung up and went to his Spinner.
“Looks like I’m going to Hawker’s Circle and hoping for the best.”
You could get anything from Hawker’s Circle. Hopefully.
Location: Sector 4 “Industrial District” → Animoid Row → Hawker’s Circle
Fletcher wandered down the open-air market, full of tents, tables kiosks and other storefronts, an enormous flea market of scavengers, resellers and retrofitters. Artisans, pawn shops, crafters and techies all trying to sell, buy or trade their way into some chinyen.
He stopped into the Prawn shop and Aquatic Emporium.
“Mantis, you here?” Fletcher called out, looking at the gurgling animoid tanks in the front. “Should I come find you in the back?” He called out, louder.
A short, thin man wearing a headband and ripped sleeveless jean vest and shorts came walking out of the curtain hiding the doorway into the back. “Echo,” he said, walking towards the front. “You know I don’t like anybody goin’ back there.” He pointed to one of the fish tanks nearby. “See somethin’ you like?”
Fletcher shrugged. “I already bought one today, I’m fishing for something else.”
“And what’s that?”
Fletcher lowered his voice. “Cover identity. Need ID and papers that will hold up to scrutiny, understand?”
Mantis pinched his nose twice. “How much scrutiny?”
“Not sure. Can you help? Know a guy? Or should I check the back?”
Manipulation: 2d10 = 7,5 → One Success
“Alright, alright, listen. I know this chick who might be able to do what you want.”
donjon name generator: Fox Allejandro
“She goes by Fox. She’s got a spot just down the way. Look for the painting of a fox. It will cost you, though. She ain’t cheap but she’s solid.”
Fletcher shook Mantis’ hand and left, walking down the way, past a little old asian woman cooking and selling dumplings, a tall black man in a wide-brimmed hat, gesticulating to a table full of technological gadgets, and coming to a tent with a rough painting of a red fox on white canvas, hanging over the entrance.
Fletcher pushed the bead curtain aside and entered.
Within, a woman sat behind a folding table. She had long red hair pulled into a ponytail, a scar across her cheek and wore slick clothes.
“What do you want?” she asked.
“A new identity,” Fletcher said, taking a stool and looking down at the table.
Hand-woven bracelets and small bits of jewelry were laid out.
“What you see is what I got. Want a ring for a female friend?” The woman gestured to a ring with a red ruby set in it. “This one’s pretty.”
“Ms. Fox, a mutual friend informed me you might be able to help me. I need to be somebody else. Someone with means. I need papers, papers that will hold up, should someone check on them. Can you do that? I can pay well.”
Manipulation: 2d10 = 2,2 → No Successes
Push: 2d10 = 5,1 → No Successes
Fletcher takes 1 stress.
“I’m sorry, you must have incorrect information. I can’t help you. Please leave.”
Fletcher sighed, stood up and walked out.
Time to try the proper channels, I suppose, he thought to himself, shooting Holden a message over the KIA that he needed to speak to him.
He stopped at a food stand, some sweaty guy with a white apron was cooking an assortment of noodles and meat in a huge wok behind the table.
The chef pulled some noodles into a bowl and slid it in front of Fletcher.
Fletcher sat, dropping some chinyen on the table and grabbing some chopsticks from a mason jar. He slurped down the hot, spicy noodles, nearly burning his mouth.
They tasted delicious.
Location: Paradise Evolution
Dee stopped by the brothel before going to Wallace Corp. She sat at the bar and had a drink while she waited.
‘What are you doin’, Dee?’ Rem asked, in her head, finally speaking up.
Dee ignored him.
A few minutes later, Levka came down from upstairs and sat next to her.
“You come just to see me or for information?” Levka asked.
“Both,” Dee said.
Levka smiled. “Yeah, right.” she waited until the bartender moved down to take another order. “Fight’s tomorrow night. There’s another entrance, in the back. This will get you in,” Levka leaned in, kissing Dee’s neck while slipping her hand into Dee’s coat pocket, before withdrawing. “I don’t suppose you have time to stay.”
“No, sorry,” Dee said, standing up. “Thanks,” she said.
“Don’t be a stranger.”
Chapter notes
Not much dice rolling in this chapter. The more I play this game, the more I want to explore Dee and Fletcher as characters and their relationships towards others. Especially Dee. Fun fact, Remedy was Dee’s original randomly-generated name, before I realized I wanted a single letter sound, similar to “K” from 2049. That’s why the alter ego living in her head is named “Rem”, as well. Now she has a fish.
Something that holds me back when I’m playing/writing and knowing what I’m writing will be ‘published’ and go out into the world is getting things ‘wrong’. Things like what would obtaining a cover identity be like in this world? What would ‘going undercover’ as a blade runner be like? Would the LAPD-RDU provide that type of stuff, fake ID, fake bank account, etc? I’ve seen cop shows where it happens but I don’t know what that process is like. I go back and forth on things like this. In the end, I’m just making shit up as I go.
I finally concluded that Fletcher would try on his own. After he failed, I was thinking I guess he might just wing it? Just try to bluff his way through when they got to the fight? But then I went back to the idea of going through the proper legal channels. There must be a way. Then I just retcon it that, of course there’s the proper way to do things for something like this, but Fletcher wanted to do it on his own. Less paperwork, less oversight. Now, however, he’s got no choice. The dice forced me to adapt my idea from Fletcher buys a cover identity from a shady contact to Fletcher has to go through Holden and deal with the bureaucratic process to get a cover identity, which I like. There’s a reason I play instead of just writing a story. The dice force creativity and spark imagination.
Any questions or thoughts, let me know in the comments.
As always, thanks for reading.