LogThe City Never Sleeps-Jason-14

Game log for the 2024/04/14 session of AW:The City Never Sleeps, as taken by Jason

Twiggy decides to rename the Colosseum to "Gus' Getaway" and rebrand it.

Frost finds Aurora to let her know about Shelley's need for a driver. She's interested in work, so that might be a fit. The two of them go to meet Shelley at Starbucks.

Shelley's adjudicating various issues when they arrive, questions about access to food and water. Once she makes her rulings, she takes a moment and meets with the two of them in the walk-in cooler, which seems to be her private office for the moment. Shelley's worried about the food situation, and has heard that Nordstrom's has food, a significant amount of food. They also have more pull with the Council than Churchill/Watervale does. She wants Frost and Aurora to go there, see if they have enough food that they could spare some, and come back with whatever they can without being detected, in exchange for 10% of the take. That strikes them as a fair deal. After they're outside, Frost asks Aurora if she knows where to find Twiggy, since he and the Stooges used to be reliable raiders. The driver asks the battlebabe if she's worried about Nordstrom's, and Frost says she's not scared, but she's not looking to pick a fight. They swing by the Crab Shack, where Joe tells them that they can find him at the Colosseum.

They arrive and see Apple changing the sign. He's taken down the Colosseum sign and has painted "Gus' Get". Apple explains to Frost and Aurora that Twiggy runs the place now. Frost cannot believe her ears and laughs out loud as she walks to the door. Just then, Skip Skeevy appears and asks "Miss Frost" for her comments on the new management. Frost says, "What the fuck did you just call me? I don't miss anything." She tells him just Frost is fine, and that she's amused and surprised by the change in management. Frost goes in and asks Marley if the boss is around. Hearing that he's in the office again, Frost laughs again, and walks in. As the two of them approach, they hear the sounds of guitar playing coming from the office. Knell introduces himself and immediately becomes unpopular. Frost's disbelief is further strained by the discovery that a bunch of ex-Stooges now have steady work at the Getaway.

Slip sleazes in and interviews Twiggy and Knell. Knell is not entirely the subject of interest but refuses to accept that. At the end of the interview, Skip says something about needing a shower, which Knell takes as a pass. They end up leaving together and getting their freak on.

Aurora and Frost make their way downtown. Frost plans to do recon first and make sure they have enough for her and Aurora to steal their food without displeasing Shelley. Nordstrom's is a giant mall, anchored by the eponymous department store. The doors to the mall are controlled access points, and it's not practical to sneak in without being noticed. After they park, Frost takes her time looking around that parking spot. The mall's south and north gates are open for business, and they have no trouble entering. Food on sale includes fried goldfish (the pet store having a perpetual supply of yon product). Frost searches the market and buys a scope for her pistol. Unfortunately, Aurora is trying a little too hard to be cagey, and that's attracting some attention from the guards. Three mall cops are taking an interest in her. Frost realizes that Aurora is making a great distraction and moves away from her without Aurora even noticing.

A mall cop who looks like Sam Elliot comes up to Aurora and asks if there's anything they can do for her. Her denial lacks all conviction, so they decide to escort her to the gate. Just to keep her safe and secure the whole way, you understand. Another guard, who looks like Linda Hamilton, asks where her friend went. She denies that Frost was her friend, claiming she was a guide who ditched her. The mall cops do not find this reassuring. Instead of leading her to the gate, they take her to the security office, and tell her to sit the fuck down. She doesn't like that idea so much and makes a move for the door, pursued by mall cops. I guess that's better than a bear.

Frost heads for Cluck's Corner to seek food. She catches a commotion in the distance and realizes that it's Aurora, making a very effective distraction. Frost tries to slip into the back rooms. The back room is pretty well stocked with food, and it seems to come from multiple places. This place here is full of frozen food that would go into a fryer. She decides to leave via chalk door, but when she opens the door, she's looking at herself, standing by the jeep. She decides to close the chalk door, as does her mirror image. She'll need to leave by conventional door. There's a back door to the room, but it's welded shut. There's also a side door that leads to the service corridors, which would almost have to lead to a loading dock. She grabs a rack full of food and just then, she gets interrupted by a store employee. She tries a little BS on him, but he isn't biting, so she kills him. She hides the body and dons his nametag. She makes some distance before she hears a scream from behind her.

Aurora, meanwhile, is just barely ahead of a super posse of mall cops. She vaults over a railing and while the fall messes up her ankle, it breaks contact completely. She's given the guards the slip. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, she loses her 9mm. She tries to find a place near the actual Nordstrom's to lie low and wait for Frost. Otherwise, she'll wait a while, then make her way to her jeep. Unfortunately, while she's waiting, one of the guards spots her. She can hear the guards talking into their radios and knows they're trying to encircle and trap her. This Nordstrom's is no longer an ordinary department store, it's become the residential area of a hold, so it's full of tents and other improvised dwellings. She's basically caught in someone else's neighborhood. She ducks up an escalator and finds that the second floor has been remodeled into a cubicle farm. She tries to elude the mall po-po but runs straight into someone's outstretched arm. The clothesline leaves her flat on her ass, but she wriggles loose, makes a couple fast cuts, and ends up out of sight in the cubicle farm.

When she finally makes it to the car, she finds Frost waiting there with a rack full of food. They hastily shove it into the Jeep and run for Churchill. Thomas and Garfield handle intake and pay them 3-barter each. They also set a portion aside and ask Frost to take that portion to Twiggy, in payment for his help. The two of them take the food over to Gus' Getaway. Kenworth accepts the food delivery.

Skip shoots video at the Getaway, talking up Knell and the new vibe at the place. It seems to have impact.

MacWillard's shopping for supplies in the market, and suddenly feels like he's being watched. He does a little applied countersurveillance and finds A Jones in the market. He tries to evade the Jones on his way back. He runs in the front door and just has time to tell the friendly Jones what's going on before there's a crash in the back room. PC Jones goes to investigate and gets immediately shot with a silenced 9mm. The Jones steps through and points his gun at MacWillard, who hurls himself backward and out the front door. He's running for his life as the friendly Frost comes out of the back room with his rifle in hand and blasts the other Jones, who gets blown out the door, tries to run away, and then dies after about four steps. Good Jones loots the body and finds a silenced pistol, a bigass knife, and a map case containing a picture of MacWillard. It looks like a really good security camera picture.

Jones opens his brain, trying to figure out how he could impersonate a different Jones. He has someone else's dream of being watched by Jones every place he goes. His hands are always hidden. He never says a word.

Mac comes back and tries to use his healing touch on Jones. They have a shared dream of being on an elevator headed to the fourteenth floor, and Jones interrupting the ascent to get on board. They look at their reflection in the doors and Mac realizes that they are both Elizabeth Winstead. They get off the elevator, alone, go to their apartment, and then everything goes black. It's possible that someone KO'd Elizabeth Winstead.

MacWillard explains to Jones his entire theory about Elizabeth Winstead's dreaming, and how the idea of a cool and reassuring

Knell is taking a nap, and wakes up to a clicking noise. It turns out to be Apple telling him to stay the hell away from Marley. Knell does some very fast talking and convinces Apple that while literally never talking to Marley again will make her know something's up,

Suplex tells Skip that Ten Cent Stamp sent him a new folder. The theory is that the city council had Grandma killed and are trying to do away with MacWillard because they know too much. After reading it, Skip goes to talk to the angel to get his opinions.

Mac denies having any such knowledge, but also points out that if he knew too much, the last thing he'd want to do would be to admit to knowing anything at all. As they're talking, Wild Bob comes through and immediately mentions the attempt on MacWillard's life.

Ferguson comes to get Twiggy and tells him that someone Official wearing a bowtie is here to see him. Ferguson's a little freaked out by this personage, and advises Twiggy to have some scotch ready. Twiggy tells him to send the visitor in. The visitor turns out to be Sebastian, and he refers to Twiggy as Mr Bentham. He wants to arrange the use of the Getaway. He's heard that the community is under new management, and the Mayor would like to make an official visit to establish that the new leadership is less erratic than the old guard. Twiggy points out that Shelley is at Starbuck's, but Sebastian explains that they already knew that. The Mayor wants to have a private viewing area where he and Shelley could take in the concert and have a private discussion. Twiggy explains that the gun check has to apply even to the Mayor's entourage, which is actually fine with Sebastian.

Twiggy grabs a guard and goes right over to Starbucks, telling the guards there is a time-sensitive matter that Shelley needs to hear about. He's sent in after a short wait, and finds her looking like she hasn't slept in three days. She's listlessly dunking a tea bag in a mug, and doesn't seem super excited to see him. He tells her that she needs a shower, and she isn't even a little amused by his presumption. She barks at him a bit and he explains about Sebastian's visit, and about how she's attending a concert with the Mayor tonight. She mutters that she needs something stronger than tea. Once she starts to pull it together, he asks what she plans for the holding, and she says that she feels like she owes it to the survivors of Churchill and Watervale to build something stronger. She also asks about Twiggy's relationship with Grandma and her relationship with the Council, and hears that she wasn't tight with the downtown crowd, nor did she seem to be taking advantage.

Knell explains to Twiggy that he's going to play so amazingly awesomely well tonight that nothing will ever be the same, and he should be ready to take advantage.

MacWillard and Jones decide they'll skip the show but head over toward the end of the night to help deal with the inevitable mass casualty event.

Frost and Aurora talk, Frost being on the hunt for both a ride and someone who can maintain a ride. Aurora's her own mechanic and doesn't know anyone else who does engine work. They decide to go to the concert tonight but with an escape plan firmly in mind.

Prior to the show, Knell is getting himself psyched up when Marley comes in to bring him some waffle fries. He friendzones her. She breaks down in tears and leaves to find a lot of people, to whom she will complain about how mean Knell was to her.

Opening night is here! Twiggy gets onstage to MC it, introducing the new venue. He asks for a moment of silence for Gus, which is interrupted when someone yells, "Fuck that asshole!" He then introduces Shelley and the Mayor. Skip immediately begins urging his viewers to come down so they can talk to the Mayor or Shelley about whatever is on their minds. Frost says "oh shit" and brings her getaway plan to the front of her mind. By the time he introduces Knell, the security folks are having trouble managing the people trying to talk to the Mayor and Shelley.

Knell goes on stage and tells everyone about this great conversation he had with a fan, about how sometimes, the things you need to make your life better are all around you, but you're so locked in to one way of thinking that you can't see them. He plays "Hidden In Plain Sight" to the audience and makes the noise that your lover’s breath and blood makes when they’re turned on. Gus' Getaway becomes shifting ground.

Aurora opens her brain during the show, hoping to get some insight into whether Churchill is someplace where she can make a home. In her dream, she's at a show with her sister, doing something they've been wanting to do for a long time, together, and it's wonderful. As she snaps out of the dream, Frost tells her they need to leave.

Suplex films for a while, then suddenly lowers his camera, looks at Skip for a beat, turns and runs. Skip looks around and thinks that if he needs to leave, following Suplex seems like the best way out. Normally Skip is faster than Suplex, but tonight, the distance between them seems to be increasing.

Twiggy's on the side of the stage, watching, and sees the stage changing shape. He's seen this once before, when he lost Clemens and Tart, and saw the building change. He begins to think very seriously about his escape passages.