Fight: 1 vote
Run: 4 votes
Bluff: 3 votes
Charleston realized that the thing he wanted most in the world right now was to be away from these people, and away from this place. He needed to run. If he wanted to run without them following him, though, he needed a distraction. He looked down at the prone form of Tim Aneric, and came up with one.
"Hey! Before I knocked him out, Aneric said he was going to buy drinks for everyone!" said Charleston, side-stepping towards the door, "But you have to stay in here to get them! No following or attacking me!"
Many of the patrons shrugged, and went back to what the were doing before Charleston had knocked out Aneric. A few shrugged and went to the bar. An old man was left where the crowd had been. Charleston looked at him, bewildered. The old man noticed, and smiled at him.
"I likes me my disco," he said, "You had probably better get going, though, before that tubby bastard wakes up."
Charleston nodded, and walked out the door. In deference to the fact that he wanted to get away, he walked quickly. As he exited, the bouncer stopped him.
"Well, what do you think of our Tim Aneric?" he said, smiling like a shark.
Charleston looked the man up and down, and decided to be frank with him because he was leaving anyway. "To be honest, I thought he was the worst comedian I've ever seen."
The man smiled some more, and said, "Got a good eye on you!"
Charleston nodded, and walked away from the club. The only thing he knew now that he hadn't known before was that a woman called the Mouth of the Prophet hired comedians for the club. Ah, and that the club was the most bizarre place he had ever been to. He hated it, and hoped he would never have to go back there. After all, he wasn't after the club, but was after his girlfriend. However, he suspected that the Mouth of the Prophet and his girlfriend were one and the same. He really wished he had someone to walk and talk with at this point.
"Tell me about her," said a voice from behind him, "But don't turn around."
Charleston wished that people would stop coming up behind him and talking to him. "About who?"
"The one you're looking for."
"I recognize your voice, you know."
There was silence.
"Was that you at the club?" said Charleston.
"I thought I was doing a decent job of disguising my voice."
"You just have a bandana in front of your mouth, don't you?"
"They said it would work!"
"It only really works on people you don't know."
Silence again.
"I'm guessing you have your reasons for this, so I'll let you have your fun. You want me to tell you about her, then?"
"Thank you. And yes."
"Her name was Lauren Peace. She was the sister of my third partner, Warren Peace."
"Are you serious?"
"Yes. Why?"
"Never mind. Tell me about Lauren."
"Not much to tell, really. We dated for a bit, I thought things were going well, and then wham. She gets bitten by a vampire and absorbed into his little cult. Then she disappeared."
"What do you mean you thought things were going well?"
"I mean they were. Everything was fine. I'm sure if I can just find her and free her from the vampire's curse, then she and I can go live happily ever after."
"Of course."
There was a rush of wind. Charleston turned, and saw that no one was there. Now he had to plan his next move. If the Mouth of the Prophet was seeking out comedians, than Charleston either had to make friends with some comedians, or become one himself.
Hold on one second, thought Charleston. He worked at an insurance and security company, and a man had just been assaulted at the club that very night. A club which had many supernatural patrons, at that. It was the very sort of place TYRIS had been founded to sell insurance and security services to. The only thing was, he couldn't go in there and sell anything as he was not only on vacation, but he had also been the one who had assaulted someone at the club. He was sure doing something like that was both unethical and illegal.
However, he could get someone else to sell insurance or security to the club. Doing this was probably also unethical and illegal, but far less risky. He could send a message to TYRIS tomorrow, in order to get an agent in there. The agent would hopefully talk with the Mouth of the Prophet, and Charleston would be able to find out if the Mouth was Lauren. Of course, he would have to find out some way to rendezvous with the agent, but that shouldn't be too hard. He just had to choose the proper way to phrase the message.
He could either write down in the message that it was a special sort of mission, which it was, and that Charleston was to be contacted before and after the initial meeting. Or, he could insinuate the esteemed talents of the Land Captain were needed, so that Land Captain would be driving the agent to and from the mission. Then he could set things up with Land Captain from there. He could also just wait and see if the club bought any insurance or security, and look at the completed application. All three options were doable, and gave Charleston something to think about as he walked home.
WHAT SHOULD CHARLESTON DO?
CHOICE A: Find some way to set up contact with the agent being put in charge of the case.
CHOICE B: Set it up so that Land Captain becomes involved, and go from there.
CHOICE C: Wait to see if the place buys insurance, and then just find out the address of the Mouth of the Prophet from there.
13 years ago
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