CB's Grim Frequencies IC -- COMPLETE

[Rubberneck]

(OOC :: I planned to go back for our gear but this works.)

J.R. hops out of the car and asses the damage to the SHO.

"Someone aht tell Marks waht happened."

 

[CanadienneBacon]

T-dawg nodded. "I'll tell him. You going back to the store?" He got out of the car.

 

[Forged Fury]

Cyril was about to offer to speak to Marks when T-Dawg stepped up. Weighing the pros and cons, the former lawyer thought it might be a good idea to allow the earnest, but simple man to kick off the explanation.

"Thanks, T-Dawg. Tell Marks I'll give him all the details when we get back."

 

[CanadienneBacon]

The damage to the SHO was significant. The front fender was bashed in, and one headlight was crumpled and no longer working. The front grille appeared to be slightly warped. A piece of the fender hung down and had rubbed the tire. J.R. reached down and tugged the bent bit out of the wheel well. The tire already had a groove gouged from the rubber, and would need replacing. A mechanic could tell whether anything in the electrical and cooling systems was damaged.

While J.R. finished his visual inspection of the SHO, T-dawg headed inside the back door of the fellowship hall.

OOC: It sounds like everyone else intends to remain in the sedan and plans to head to BestBuy. I'll give you until the morning tomorrow to state otherwise before forwarding the thread.

 

[CanadienneBacon]

J.R. got back into the car. He slid behind the wheel, put the car into gear, and went around front down the church's driveway. A left turn onto Washington Street put the group back at the eastside BestBuy in a few minutes. The parking lot had filled a bit more, but from the look of it the store wasn't slammed busy.

 

[Rubberneck]

He parks and heads inside. If they ask why the group hastily left he'll shrug it off and give some dismissive answer and change the subject. He grabs the cart and heads for the checkout, handing over the paperwork to the cashier.

 

[Shayuri]

Death Otter got out of the car as well, but didn't go into the store. She had a lot of nervous energy to burn off.

It didn't make sense. Any of it. The timing had been off. If they'd just let that Humvee go by, the train would have missed it. They'd have gotten through just fine. So this wasn't about saving them, no matter what they thought. And now they'd be free to go wherever they were going originally...so it wasn't about stopping them from reaching a destination.

So why? And what was the deal with the other Hummer? Had IT been the one they'd been meant to stop? But hell, it hadn't stopped for an oncoming train! They'd have had to have rammed it off the road or something.

And how did that plug into the convenient failure of the railroad's safety features?

Any way you cut it, this looked deliberate, and it looked like it probably was about the occupants of the second Humvee, not the first. So was the first a decoy? Or was it just bad luck that two white humvees had been going down the same stretch of road ahead of that train?

Goddamn that had been real though. The car all shredded, the people too. Who'd drive into that?

Death Otter frowned a little as a crazy idea occurred to her.

"Huh."

She went back to the SHO and knocked on the driver's side window. When it was rolled down she asked, "How hard would it be to get a hold of that hummer the train wrecked?"

 

[Forged Fury]

Cyril took a deep breath and walked back into Best Buy. He who controls the conversation, controls the narrative... One of the man's law professors had taught him that... or he had heard it from a sales video. He couldn't remember. Either way it was good advice. Tapping the bluetooth earpiece in his ear, he made a beeline for the young, serious looking guy in the yellow shirt, Mr. Loss-Prevention Specialist.

"Oh my GOD! I am so embarrassed and so, so sorry. I don't know if I could live with being a shoplifter! My mother fell in her kitchen and she couldn't get up!" Re-emphasizing the phrase to stick it in the man's head, he continued, "Thank God for that commercial about the old people falling and not being able to get up, she had Life Alert. They called me while I was in line and I totally forgot that I had this bluetooth headphone in my ear, it's so comfortable, you know."

The Loss-Prevention Specialist looked like he wanted to say something, but Cyril kept going, "Anyway, I'm off to finish buying it, along with the rest of the thousands of dollars worth of electronics my friends and I are purchasing. We've got an upcoming mission trip, Praise Jesus! Thanks and toodles!"

OOC: Definitely a Bluff Check [roll0]

 

[CanadienneBacon]

The loss prevention specialist opened his mouth to object, a frown creasing his unibrow. A second security officer waddled over, his stomach pronounced in his brightly colored polo. When Cyril steamrolled the conversation, however, the first loss prevention specialist waved the second guy away. The specialist nodded at Cyril, and his frown disappeared. "I totally get that, man. Gotta look out for Grannie. It's only been an hour and a half, just go pay and it's all good. Warning you, though, Bertie ain't too pleased, so sweet talk her. She could use some sweet talking, if you catch my drift." He winked unctuously at Cyril, and bobbed his head to indicate a morbidly obese store clerk working the cash register.

OOC: Killer Bluff check! Follow it up with a Diplomacy check on the customer service cashier, please.

 

[Forged Fury]

Nodding his appreciation, Cyril headed toward the customer service aisle with the others in tow. Gathering himself, he plastered on a look that combined touches of shame, sadness, and hope all at once. Placing a hand on the shopping cart full of gear, he said, "Hello Mrs. Bertie. The yellow-shirted gentleman said I needed to speak with you about checking out."

Trailing his fingers along the boxes of the items they were planning to purchase, he continued, "I'm so sorry that we had to run out of here earlier, family emergency on my part. Thank you so much for keeping track of our purchases. Your attention is very appreciated. Again, I do apologize for keeping you, I'm sure you have things you would rather be doing instead. May we check out now?"

OOC: Diplomacy Roll [roll0]