LogApocalypse World: Purgatoria After Dark-Jason-3

Game log for the 2016/01/24 session of Apocalypse World: Purgatoria After Dark, as taken by Jason

When we knew the world was ending, we tried banning the anti-gravity technology, but it was too late. In any case, the Chinese refused to stop using it.

Natalya begins fixing up Konstantine, but he's having some sort of negative reaction to one of the drugs. She needs thorazine to quiet him down, or else his periodic screaming interludes will make it impossible for the store to open. Semyon puts the word out and the Grandchildren also go looking for it.

The Grandchildren deliver it, but a few hours later, Demetri shows up with some too. When he hears that Semyon doesn't need it, Demetri grows agitated and says that he obtained the stuff based on Semyon's request, so Semyon needs to buy it. Demetri will ll take a samovar in trade, though. That puts Semyon in a bind. Russian coffee shops, ideally, do not trade away their samovars. Demetri knows that Semyon's most prized possession is a hand-written copy of the manifesto of the People's Party, and he wants it for his hoard, but Semyon seems unlikely to part with it. Demetri points out that he could always return the drugs himself, and tell his source who wanted them. Semyon craves and trades the samovar for the drugs. Demetri will not be well liked at Coffeemesto at this rate. Semyon makes sure he's left, then warns Lidiya that Demetri is bad news.

Anton, nursing a grudge against Pavel over Rada's death, goes after him with a knife. Natalya tries to stop him and gets there just in time- she interposes herself between Anton and Pavel, and Anton backs down. She then tries to treat him, accidentally knicks a blood vessel, and makes a judgement call to let Pavel bleed out. She could have saved him but her stock of medical supplies has grown too slim. Semyon gets some "friends" to make the body go away.

Two days later, Ruslan's up, the Major's still a couple days away from being mobile. The Inspector comes in, pulls out his pencil and notebook, and begins asking questions about Pavel, whose body was found not too far away. The Striyanka knows Pavel and Oksana were associates, so they naturally suspect some sort of criminal conspiracy between them. Semyon tries to point the Striyanka elsewhere, so they won't bother him too much. In this case, he suggests that some guy named Yavno might be a critical link in the conspiracy.

Lidiya tries to ask the dead how to help Konstantine. Lesya appears and tells her that "we survived, and it's OK." She also tells her that there's a photo of her and Konstantine's daughter, and it would give Konstantine joy to know that Lesya and the baby were taken care of after he went away. There'salso a letter.

Demetri's looking around the tunnels, trying to figure out how to get in to Coffeemesto and steal the manuscript, when the urchins spot him. They read him to see how to get the photo and the letter from him, and they realize that he's a trader only. If they want the photo, they'll have to help deliver the manuscript. What they don't realize is that Demetri's Hoard will not so casually part with its good stuff and will push Demetri to cross him. Since they're not sure what picture they're looking for, Demetri will let one kid- Lidiya - come with him to visit the hoard, but only one. If he sees anyone other than Lidiya, the deal is off and bad things happen to her.

Demetri's hoard is utterly nuts by Lidiya's standards - there's just stuff everywhere, as much stuff as she's ever seen in one place. It takes a while but they are able to find a photo of a woman who matches her vision holding a baby. She removes it from the album and sees that Demetri is drooling and behaving oddly. This makes her uncomfortable and she tries to slip away, only to be caught in a bear trap that Demetri had set to protect the hoard. Demetri can tell that she's not trying to steal it, but he suspects that she would have led the other children to the hoard. She must be silenced. She tries to protect herself with a pistol, but he swats it aside and runs her through with a sword. Her bullet does graze him and cause a bleeder of a wound, but he can take it.

Demetri returns to Coffeemesto with a photo and no kid. The others immediately ask where she is, and he tells them straight out that she tried to steal from him and she had to go. The urchins get pretty angry but Demetri points out that he's the only one who can get the letter for them. That sways them and they lead him in through the tunnels.

Oksana shows up in the basement, having arrived through the tunnels, asking Natalya if it's safe to be out. When she finds out that Pavel's dead, Oksana feels guilty, thinking that if there'd been someone there to help treat all the patients, someone could have saved Pavel. They're just finishing that discussion when Demetri and the kids arrive. She can tell that Ruslan's on the edge of violence, that Demetri barely has the situation under control, and that she might be able to get some of the kids out of the line of fire, but Ruslan's in it to win it. She asks what's going on, and Demetri explains that he's there to see the Major. That's when Ruslan tries to stick him with a knife. That's the signal for the other kids to play too, and they're armed, so the sound of gunfire fills Coffeemesto. Demetri drops the photo and falls to the floor.

Natalya and Konstantine arrive and both ask what the meaning of this is. Ruslan informs them that Demetri killed Lidiya. That's enough for the Major to sour on Demetri right away. they stop fighting and Inga brings Demetri over to Konstantine. When Ruslan shows Konstantine the photo, he recognizes his wife, and the resemblance to the baby. Demetri tells him that Lidiya broke their deal by trying to run. The Major thanks Demetri very sincerely, but cannot accept that it's OK to kill an eight year old girl for breaking a deal. He tries to kill Demetri, but misses. Demetri ducks and Inga gets shot. Now everyone's a child-killer! Oops! Demetri tries to get away but the outraged Major keeps firing, and this time, he shoots Demetri in the head. Konstantine says "child killer" and spits on the body. Konstantie asks Natalya to look at Inga but it's far too late for that. Nagant revolver rounds to the heads of small children do not result in survivable wounds.

Semyon arrives and reads Konstantine the riot act for killing someone. Konstantine buys it and asks how he can help. Everyone's going to be on body disposal duty, although the Major can only hobble around on crutches and keep watch. They're only a little ways into the tunnels when they encounter the Constabulary. Konstantine ducks to the back and sweeps his AK behind him, so he just looks like a guy with a satchel or something. Semyon blurts out the truth to them, and further says that Demetri is a known hoarder and might be responsible for all the recent thefts that the Striyanka are on about. They've heard about that situation (specifically, that Semyon has been helping the Striyanka with their investigation) and tell Semyon that if he leaves the bodies there, the Constabulary will see that the matter gets dealt with. Doing it that way will simplify their paperwork.

That removes the threat from the law, but Natalya's a little alarmed to hear that Semyon's working with the Striyanka. He reassures her. Konstantine, eager to make amends for the trouble he has caused and the child's life he took, leads everyone to Stasis.

Demetri wakes up to the unpleasant sensation of a Constable urinating on him. They notice he's still alive, so one kicks him for good measure. At this point Demetri has become an absolute physical wreck, kept alive by his desire for revenge.

In Stasis, Konstantine unlocks the medical lab in Stasis. Natalya loots the facility with the Major's consent. He also gives Semyon a tour. Semyon's blown away by the potential of the place. Konstantine fears that he hasn't really processed that this is the military apparatus of the old regime, not a revolutionary vanguard. Semyon seems suspiciously unconcerned. Meanwhile, Karin is introducing all the other kids to Major Blokov, the horrible looking corpse they re-froze. Karina promptly starts talking to Yvgeny in the psychic maelstrom. He went stark raving mad when he woke up, died, and now he's much happier. Being reuinited with his daughter in the afterlife beats hell out of being alive. Sadly, Blokov's wife won't speak to him. Blokov and Ryzhkov were advance scouts of a sort, set to be awakened by a failsafe system, and that's why the urchins were able to wake them up. Once Karina proves that she really has been able to communicate with Blokov, Konstantine faints dead away.

On their way back to the coffee shop, they notice that Demetri's body is missing.