starhuevalley | Action

[It’s morning. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and there are two new arrivals around town who seem convinced that something very suspicious is going on here. Dressed in what can only be described as tactical gear, they’re clearly some kind of military, and appear to be acting accordingly. In a situation like this, the best course of action is obviously to fall back on instinct in an attempt to get to the bottom of whatever this is supposed to be. For these two, that means proceeding with caution.

Clearly there’s nothing questionable about two men carrying big guns through farms and fields, speaking to each other quietly as if to keep from being overheard. Keeping together, never straying far from the other, or lingering too long in a single area. Not at all questionable, or scary, or yeah no what are these two idiots doing.

They’re doing recon, of course! And they’re fairly thorough about it, methodically searching, poking around, overturning anything that looks questionable and possibly pointing guns at it. Was that thing yours? Sorry, it’s being inspected now. Do you live in this house? No problem, they’re just going to check around back. See or experience anything strange during your stay? No? Are you sure?

Or maybe you just come across them while going about your business. They’re obviously friendly with each other, even if they’re regarding everything else with some degree of wariness. It seems like a great idea to approach, if only to ask what the heck they think they’re doing.]

(ooc: It’s a two for one deal with Jack

strikecommand and Gabriel

passedover. We’ll both be replying to all threads unless otherwise requested.)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Exactly.

[He offers an appreciative half-nod in Gabriel's direction. Good to know they're all on the same page. As a bonus, he doesn't have to wonder about whether or not these guys trust him at all. They probably all share the same wariness.]

She had them all over a table in that cafe by the bus station. Fell asleep right on them, or at least pretended to. Nobody's actually that stupid... [Actually... hm. Wait.] Nobody with the power to get us here in the first place, at least. [Better.]

That was a couple of weeks ago. Haven't been able to track her down since. [Well-timed meta happenings have only made his paranoia worse. FIGURES.]

[Oh good, Gabriel is making a friend. Jack might be very proud of him, honestly, watching the conversation with some amusement, despite the subject matter. He's quick to get serious again, however, as they reason through what's sure to become an incredibly in-depth conspiracy theory.]

She has to be around, right? I mean, the town's not that big.

[There were just way too many things that were all going to fall in to place and add up to one big conspiracy theory. Perfect, clearly.

There was going to be a conspiracy wall in Jack's farmhouse somewhere. Out of sight that not just anyone could walk in and see. Maybe.

Gabriel's scowl was definitely more than just resting with the more he heard, but at the very least it was at the situation. Being on the same page was, all the same, good.]

If she's more than what she's been putting on? Doubt we could say she's around, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't take a look around that cafe.

[The town's not that big, but the farmland... well. They can experience that hike for themselves, if they haven't already.]

She could be in town. Or she could have been the only one with access to a working bus.

[He's not sure what she'd have to gain by leaving entirely, but he's not going to rule out the possibility of her going back and forth between here and... wherever the hell.]

Don't let me stop you from finding out. ...But I am gonna have to if the sheriff's office gets any more calls about suspicious armed trespassers. [At least he sounds a lot less pissy about it than he did initially.]

Is that you who you work for? The sheriff's office?

[Jack is not at all intimidated by a local sheriff's office--he fact, he hopes they might be glad to have two military-trained individuals scoping out the perimeter. No, what has him a little on edge is the implication of said sheriff's office adopting transplants as law enforcement. Seems like it could be a recipe for disaster.]

Won't be 'waving' any guns around once actually closer to town.

[That was a recipe for disaster, but while out in fields further away from larger groups of people where it was mostly land? Yeah, no. Those were gonna remain at the ready.]

[He stares at Jack. He blinks very, very slowly. Like, three whole seconds kind of slow. And then:]

No. I just intercept their calls for shits and giggles.

[BUDDY. PLEASE.]

[Jack doesn't seem to find that very funny at all.]

Who's the sheriff?

[... That was a damned good question, wasn't it.]

A local, or no?

[... may as well add that on, right.]

What, you wanna to interrogate him, too? [It's not like there's any point in hiding the identity of someone whose position is known to most of the area by this point...] Then you'll want to look for man named Kyousuke Munakata.

[Adept ears will probably pick up the way his voice lifts at the name despite himself. Kyousuke's the only guy Mallory's happy to take orders from, because he's wise and ambitious and handsome and clever and exactly the kind of Hope this world needs, and-

--he knows better than to gush about all of that out loud. Especially to a couple of strangers.]

But you're right. He's from the same place as me. Nobody in that whole office is native to here.

I might.

[Jack is possibly joking. Possibly not, given the patrols he's been doing with Gabriel. Asking a few questions to the sheriff himself is exactly where this is going.]

[If it happens it happens and it may be more likely than not, really.

Still, it was definitely one thing for there not to be any locals in a sheriff's office.]

And people go along with that without trouble?

[Clear in his tone it was an honest question; usually people have some issue with things like that. Benefit of a doubt.]

So far. Not like any of them cared to fill the position before we started coming in.

[But it's not lost on him how weird that is.]

Still... They wouldn't have a lot of options if they took issue with it now.

Hopefully they don't, because then the situation would be dangerous for them.

[Worried about people he's never even seen or met? Yeah, because from the sounds of it thy had little to no choice in all of these circumstances and are caught in the middle of it all.]

Since it sounds like things were peaceful before all of this, and they didn't see a need.

[Worrying's smart. A little danger's never kept people from forming angry mobs. The last time Mallory saw a bunch of background npcs rise up, the whole world fell apart.

He snorts quietly and shifts his weight a little. Mr. Sassy Hips is at it again.]

I'm guessing it's easy to keep everyone in line where there's only a dozen or so people around.

[...15-man Killing Games aside. Christ.]

Seems a lot of people are coming in from places that weren't so nice. I'd hate to see what kind of trouble they're bringing in with them. [But hangs in the air, unspoken; it's only a matter of time before they all get to see anyway.]

This doesn't really inspire confidence.

[In fact, Jack anticipates a clash between locals and transplants sooner rather than later.]

It doesn't, no. Got a feeling you and them still doing what can be done to keep that peace.

[That but hanging in the air hadn't been missed at all, but it at least meant something for Gabriel Reyes. Some weight there that was going unspoken.

He had an eye for things like that.]

Could say we're familiar with that sort of shit.

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noooo my timing

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