LogThe City Never Sleeps-Jason-12

Game log for the 2024/03/17 session of AW:The City Never Sleeps, as taken by Jason

Twiggy and a couple Stoogies bring Apple into the Colosseum to see Augustus. The maestro'd very politely explains that why Apple is there, and his former employee responds with prevarication. Gus gives him one chance to come clean before the more aggressive means of persuasion come out, and Twiggy thoughtfully looms in a more imposing fashion. Apple says that "they" made him do it, on pain of hurting Marley. Of course the whole room seizes on the question of "them," which turns out to mean someone named Carstairs, who is apparently one of Shelley's goons. Carstairs was actually the shooter, so he's pretty well taken care of. Shelley wants Grandma dead. Gus decides that Grandma needs to hear this story, and that once that's done, Gus will extend protection.

Frost, alone in the Bakery with Grandma, tells her what he found out on the inside of the Spire: it's clean, it's freaky, and it's full of Joneses. He tells the story of what happened to MacWillard in the Spire. Grandma's puzzled by all this but doesn't think that Frost is lying. In fact, Frost seems to really want to get through to Grandma. That advice includes trying to find out everything she can about what goes on inside the Spire and what the Council is up to.

Grandma, in a haze of painkillers, opens her brain to see what the hell the Council is up too. Edification eludes her, but she finds lots of new notions to be afraid of. Twiggy arrives, sees her state, and asks if she's going to make it. Her response reveals her chemically adjusted state, as she veers from confusion to straightforward bloodlust. She asks for some coffee so she can try to sober up on the way to the Colosseum. She gets some guards to go with her. When they arrive, Marley makes a point of ensuring that Grandma and her guards give up their guns. Augustus explains that the hit originated with Shelley, and he figures she's a hardholder problem, not a maestro'd problem. Grandma asks if anyone knows where Shelley is, which they don't. Gus puts the word out that he'd like to have that information. He doesn't get a concrete location, because she's been playing nomad, but that means she'll have to turn up in markets to barter for supplies sooner or later. She may not come to Churchill, but she'll likely be in one of the neighboring settlements. He passes that info on to Twiggy and Grandma. Twiggy puts the Stooges on the lookout. Grandma wants her arrested, not assassinated. She's willing to have Apple protected at the Bakery, but Augustus is comfortable hosting him at the Colosseum. People then go their separate ways.

Grandma puts the word out that she wants to know where Shelley is and will pay for it. Word quickly comes back that she's actually in town, at Starbucks. She immediately sends someone to confirm that, and if it pans out, to do something about it. Nobody sees here there, but there's something odd going on, so maybe she's hiding out there. Grandma orders a watch put out on every way in or out. The walk-in coolers mean that going in there after her could be rough, but if they can catch her leaving.

Still in Elizabeth Winstead's apartment, Mac eventually finds a small leather-bound book, which turns out to be Ms Winstead's therapy journal. Several entries refer to seeing someone on the street, thinking she's being followed, etc. Eventually she's afraid to turn out the lights because she keeps thinking this person is in the room watching her. There's no description of the person, but the glimpses are always of someone predatory, who she sees as violence incarnate. Mac concludes that must be Jones, and since she hasn't been home in a many many many hours now, he opens his brain to see if he can "remember" where she is. He has a memory of someone making the bed every morning and putting a bottle of wine in the fridge. He's confused as hell about this situation but decides that there's nothing worth waiting for. He goes outside, looks around and thinks it's clear, and heads for the stairs. He hears the elevator ding, hurries up, and takes the stairs to the mezzanine, and pokes his head out. There's a Jones in the lobby, so he ducks around back, goes down, exits through a back door, and gets spotted. Now he has to hustle to survive. He's rushing home, running as much as his wind allows, absolutely certain he's being followed. He ends up back in the park where the cult was camped, but it's empty now... except for the Stooges, who are looking for Shelley. The Jones shoots at him, and loses his Angel pack as he tries to evade it. Twiggy and his buddies hear the gunfire and go to investigate. They can tell it's not the Jones they know because this one isn't all messed up from a Colosseum event, and they can hear MacWillard calling for help. The Jones hears the cry and moves aggressively toward the source.

The Jones hears them and no-look pops off three rounds in their direction, hitting Twiggy. He tries to get the Stooges to help him rescue Mac, but they won't. The Jones comes upon MacWillard, who is still trying to scramble away, and puts another bullet in him. Twiggy gets off some suppression rounds, which pin the Jones down while Mac scrambles. Mac manages to break contact and run for the Bakery. The Jones has a moment of uncertainty where he can't decide whether he wants to engage Twiggy or chase Mac, and that moment is long enough for Twiggy to get to his bike. He gives the angel a ride to the Bakery.

They find their old familiar Jones in the Bakery. First thing, Mac lays his hands on Twiggy and helps get his wounds under control. He then ensures that local Jones is resting comfortably, and notices that he has the same scar on his lip that every other Jones he saw had. Mac lays out a theory that Elizabeth Winstead is the Goddess and that their entire world is just a fucked up dream that some lawyer is having. Frost, Twiggy, and Mac decide to leave in search of Lollipop.

Jones wakes up a little later and remembers how Augustus once told him there'd be no combat in the adventure challenge race. He opens his brain in hopes of finding a way into the maestro's office where he can arrive unseen and armed.

Semmel tells Grandma that MacWillard came back but then left with Frost and Twiggy. She sends for Abnett.

Augustus is in his office, talking to Skint, when Jones steps out of his closet and says "Hi, Gus." Skint is a little taken aback and asks if she should leave. Then she leaves. Jones explains that he feels hard done by, what with being told there would be no combat and then being almost eaten. Augustus is willing to offer 1-barter in compensation, then offers him a drink. Jones does not want a drink and leaves through the closet.

Abnett comes to see Grandma and says he saw Mac, briefly, but that he hasn't seen him since. They decide to go look for Semmel first to see what he saw, and they find him in the storeroom. Semmel relates what he saw but seems kind of nervous describing what he's been up to. Also, she's pretty sure she saw him hide something when she walked in. She asks what it was, and he hands her some flowers, which he claims were for her birthday. When she pushes him, it becomes apparent that he was hiding some Cocoa Puffs. She tells him he has to make crispy bars out of them and share.

Twiggy, Frost, and MacWillard catch up with the Lollipop Guild. Frost gets there first and assures Lollipop that Apple is fine. She's not especially pleased to see him, but she is happy to talk to the angel, who she recognizes as a seeker after truth. MacWillard tells her about the Joneses, and realizes she's genuinely surprised, but more likely to trade information than to give it away. He sets about trying to draw her out. She elaborates a little and says that things have been more closed off. Mac ventures the idea that the world is something Elizabeth Winstead is making up, a dream she's having, and Lolli seems to agree. The question is, if someone's having a bad dream, do you wake them up, or do you let them work it out? Twiggy asks her what her plan was if nobody had come asking about the Spire, and she says that her plan is to keep people together and do good things, because when people are together and do good things, things change for the better. Mac suggests that if they tracked changes to the city, they could find out if the area around the cult really was changing for the better to a greater degree, and report the result. Lollipop isn't interested. She thinks things are moving faster, and wants to talk to the people in power, and convey her message to them. Lollipop would like them to talk to Grandma and see about getting her message to the Council.

Frost goes looking for Goggles in the market, and finds him buying used trashy romance novels. They're actual books with actual stories inside. He's heard that Frost is a femme fatale, and shows her a book he thinks she'd like, which turns out to be a very steamy romance instead. She buys him a bowl of gumbo at Joe's, and she asks him about the Joneses at the Spire. He wasn't aware of the issue, but takes some notes on it. The dangers he worries about near the Spire are more about changing streets, subway tunnels, etc. He thinks a hot air balloon would be the best way to get to the Spire. He really believes this would work. On his first visit, a long time ago, he used suction cups to climb the Spire, found it empty, and left. She tells him to let her know when the balloon is ready, and starts to take her leave. He stops her and says that the hidden doors throughout the city might be the best way to get where she's going. She leaves, buys some chalk, goes home, and tries to draw a door on her apartment wall that will take her to Gumball. When she opens the door, her apartment starts to stretch. She slams the door shut, and decides to head to the Colosseum.

Billings comes to Grandma and reports no movement at Starbucks, but that someone went in with a backpack full of stuff and came out without it. There's no clear explanation for this except that someone is hiding, so she decides to go down there and have a word with the owner, Annabelle. Grandma tells her there's going to be an inspection and she needs to finish serving and let these people out of there. Annabelle looks panicked and wonders why she needs to do this. She tries to talk her way out of it, and when Grandma won't budge, she calls out to everyone that this sort of inspection is highly irregular. Grandma gives the cue for her people to come in and start the search. Annabelle looks deflated. A couple armed guys in the shop keep their hands flat on the table and make no protest. The coolers turn out to be packed full of food, with a guy keeping watch on it. She asks who he works for, and he says Annabelle. Grandma goes to talk to her, and the owner is all cranky that Grandma is likely to take the food, which she was keeping purely as a bulwark against the next time people are going hungry. She claims to have no idea who the heck Shelley is. Grandma thinks she's telling the truth, so she raises the question of whether the food was acquired legally or ... otherwise. Annabelle isn't interested in pretending that there's a negotiation when she knows Grandma is just going to do whatever she wants. Grandma pushes for information on Shelley, and when she gets some sass back, the guard punches Annabelle in the mouth. As far as the owner will admit, this is all just to make sure she doesn't get hungry again and to give her trade goods, and the guards are there just to protect the inventory. Grandma tells her to use the food, not hoard it. Annabelle protests again, and gets punched again, and breaks down in tears, sobbing. Grandma orders the food inventoried and Annabelle brought to the Bakery. Once inventoried, she wants it moved to the Bakery.

Mac and Twiggy arrive, and the angel asks where Grandma is. Told she's in her office, they go to see her. She's in a bad mood and not interested in fresh criticism of her leadership. Grandma asks about the search for Shelley, which leads them to fill Mac in on recent events. Grandma starts complaining about her aches and pains, so MacWillard heals her with his mojo. After that, they talk. Grandma is clearly exhausted and doesn't want to deal with things.

Days pass and it's time for the next Council meeting. In the interim, word has gotten out that Grandma is seizing and hoarding food, and people are angry. Mac goes in Grandma's place, with a motorcade and a letter of introduction. He's taken to City Hall, where security is still quite serious. He then meets Sebastian, who is very surprised to see him, and taken a little aback when the doctor name-drops Elizabeth Winstead. It apparently works. In the meeting proper, one of the other holdings complains of raiders from Churchill, and Mac deflects the matter by saying it wasn't official policy to raid other settlements, but unruly citizens can't be ruled out. After hours of pointless wrangling, they wrap up the public business and go into closed session. The first thing that happens in closed session is Dr Blanchard giving a report on someone's vitals. The status seems to be quo, and the new medication does not seem to be helping. From there, it leads to discussion of the Vanishing, which seems to be impacting different areas differently. Close to the Spire, it's weirder; farther, there are just more effects. Weird effects include a building turning itself upside down, and Sarah reporting one of her staff was lost after stepping through a mirror in a room. They could see him but he couldn't walk back through. When MacWillard asks what the Council is doing about the situation, people find the question confusing, and he finally asks whether the Council is taking any steps to make the patient's dreams more pleasant.

As the meeting adjourns, a disshevelled gentleman named Abernathy takes the angel aside, very briefly, and says that he thinks they should wake the patient up, and then immediately moves to go to his car. Dr Blanchard stands waiting next to the Churchill motorcade, and asks MacWillard about a medication that the angel has never dealt with. MacWillard asks Dr Blanchard to bear witness as he takes the Hippocratic Oath, and then they part ways.