Tharsis Nights: Part #1

>>762036
Whose messages do you read before you leave home?
[x] Take a look at Boss’ messages, you could you a good laugh now. Jenkins can take care of himself.
[x] See what Jenkins is up to, you’re not in the mood for Boss’s dumb jokes.

How will you get to work?
[x] Take your normal route the last Hydra crackdown didn’t stop you, a handful of gangers definitely won’t.
[x] Take a safer route, it might take longer, but at least you won’t have a bullet in you.
[x] Go out and do some shopping before you head to work.

[x] Write in

>>762042
>[x] See what Jenkins is up to, you’re not in the mood for Boss’s dumb jokes.

>[x] Take a safer route, it might take longer, but at least you won’t have a bullet in you.

>>762042
>[x] See what Jenkins is up to, you’re not in the mood for Boss’s dumb jokes.
>[x] Take a safer route, it might take longer, but at least you won’t have a bullet in you.

>>762042
[x] See what Jenkins is up to, you’re not in the mood for Boss’s dumb jokes.
[x] Take a safer route, it might take longer, but at least you won’t have a bullet in you.
Fwoosh!

>>762042
>[x] Skip work, get some sex change surgery.

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“Yes, please. And I’d get me Jenkin’s messages.” The hologram of your tablet’s Personal Life Assistant springs to luminescent blue light, nodding enthusiastically as it goes through with its orders. The little man pulls out a similarly glowing map, a red line slithering through the streets of Tharsis City. Huh, looks like he want you to go through the Olympus District. Figures, there’s no way that Hydra would let anything happen to anyone in a corptown like that. Sure, you’d have to deal with a whole ton of snobs and salarymen, but that’s leagues better than having to deal with some uppity gangsters. This whole incident is almost right on top of your place of work. You wonder how Boss is taking things. She mentioned that she was packing heat somewhere in the establishment, but hasn’t let you know anything aside from that.


The savory taste of pork instant noodles fills your mouth as you scroll through your tablet, tapping on the voice message Adam left you. His voice filters through the tinny speakers of your tablet.


“Uh, hey, Kelly. Was wondering if you could take over work for a bit. Two days maybe I have to, erhm, handle some stuff with my family. Yeah. I-I promise I’ll make it up for you, anything you want, drinks, food, clothing, all on me. A-anyways, I’ll seeya on Wednesday.”


Huh, that’s a bit suspicious. Adam usually isn’t that stuttery at work, and that sets off more than a few alarm bells in your head. You wonder if Boss knows about this. He probably should have talked to her instead. You’re about to type out a response to her before you remember the second message he sent.


“Hey, forget about that first message, alright? I’m fine, and I’ll be in tomorrow night. Promise. Oh, and forget that offer I said. Don’t got the cash for it.” You rub your temples as you listen to him. You tap angrily at your tablet, shooting a response at him. Why in the hell would he even think to say something like that. You should smack some sense into that boy.

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>>762478
The frosty, metallic scented air fills your nose as you leave your towering apartment complex. There’s something you like about this time. No swarms of crowds, or people pushing their way past you as they rush to their work. You stretch your arms out towards the sky as you walk your way to Olympus. The eye numbing lights of the stores and high end bars flash and blink energetically. You keep your face down as you keep going through the flashy district. Until you find your way back to the dingy streets of the ordinary parts of the town. It’s suspiciously quiet when you near the Graveyard Shift, and you feel your muscles tensing in response to your anxiety. There’s supposed to be gangsters here, but there’s nothing. Not even a dead body around, was your tablet screwing with you? Does it even have have the processing power to do that? You’d have to find out with Boss. As if you cue, you can hear Janet’s voice ring out through the air.

“KEEEEEELLLLYYYY!” You almost want to cover your ears. You step through the door of the Graveyard Shift, ready for whatever bullshit Janet’s prepared for you.


[x] Go see what was up with Boss. She doesn’t yell. Often.
[x] Nothing happened, get to work making this place presentable.
[x] Write in

>>762483
>[x] Go see what was up with Boss. She doesn’t yell. Often.

>>762493
Seconding this.

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The bell jingles as you step through into the door into the place that you’ve worked for for around three years now. It’s not the prettiest place, and may not serve filet mignon or bouillabaisse or whatever those snobs in Olympus eat while they discuss stock market fluctuations or market trends in real estate or whatever it is they do in those high rises. But it has passed every health inspection for as long as you’ve been here, which is more than most eateries here can say. It’s all thanks to your efforts, of course. Plus, Janet makes a mean cheeseburger, and you’re one of the only places here that uses real, live dead cow instead of synthmeat! Janet storms out of the kitchen, throwing the doors open loudly. She plants her hands onto your shoulders, staring you in the eyes deeply.


“Erh, Boss, you feelin’ alright? You’re not ordinarily this-


“I was so worried! I thought those filthy Ilya thugs woulda got you! I was ready to go out and shoot someone myself when you didn’t show up


“Boss I’m alright, I’m not even lat-” Her grip around your shoulders tightens, massive archaic looking cybernetic arms squishing your body uncomfortably tightly.


“Just let me be concerned for you for once, jeez. Someone has to be look out for you, cause you’re not doing it yourself.” You roll your eyes as she lets you go, leaving you with a pat on your back. Her arms are surprisingly delicate in their touches, not something you’d expected from those monstrous looking dinosaurs. She spins on the ball of her foot, winking as she does.


“Oh, and don’t forget my advice, ‘service with a smile!’ And, serve anyone, even if they look like they just killed someone with their barehands. We don’t discriminate here~!”


[x] “You got it, boss! Service with a smile!”
[x] “Erh, wouldn’t it be better to call Hydra in that case?”
[x] Write in

>>762747
[x] Cast a beaming smile your bosses way, then turn around and roll your eyes sarcastically as you begin to clean the grill.

>>762747
>In that case, how soon should I be dialing Hydra?

>>762747
>[x] “Erh, wouldn’t it be better to call Hydra in that case?”

[x] "Could I get a raise since you love me so much boss?" *winks*

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You arch an eyebrow at your employer, crossing your arms in apprehension. Sure, you might not discriminate between humans and ‘bots, but you’re pretty sure that that’s a case where you’d be perfectly justified in refusing a paying customer service. Boss is a little out there, especially when it comes to things like this. Janet skips her way back into the kitchen, humming a happy tune in a horribly off key. You sigh looking around the Shift, it’s as clean as can be. You hope it’ll stay that way when you’re down a hand here.

“I’m calling Hydra if that happens, I’m not putting my life on the line so you can make a quick M-Bill.” You can hear a crash as Janet slams something against a countertop


“You better hope that he’s a poor serial killer then! Because the money I lose from him is coming out of your paycheck!”

“Got it boss, don’t refuse serial killers service. Y’know, you’re awfully calm about this whole situation. Even I’d be losing my shit if my place of business was a few blocks away from a gang scuffle.” The sound of the kitchen’s appliance almost drowns out her voice.

“It’s not so weird when you think about it. Doesn’t even hold a candle to that Asimov who was convinced he was Paul McCartney in a robot body. Remember that? Besides, I’d thought you’d be used to this kind of stuff by now. You’re from Tharsis, no?” You shudder, wondering why Asimovs didn’t have some kind of filter on their vocal synthesizers. You’ll never be able to listen to a Beatles song without having flashbacks to that awful day.

“Tharsisian born and bred, will probably die here too.” You stack plates and cups in a neat pile, putting your hands on your hips as you proudly examine your work.


“Awww, that’s kinda depressing. No dreams of upwards mobility? About making some slick new app or revolutionary nanofacturing blueprint?”


[x] “Those kinds of situation are one in a billion, and I’m pretty sure I’m in the billion.”
[x] “Those are just dreams, I’d rather live a normal, plebian life.”
[x] “Yeah of course, who’s gonna take care of the Shift once you’re old and grey?”
[x] “Psh, what do you think I’m in school for?
[x] Write in

>>762980
>[x] “Psh, what do you think I’m in school for?

>>762980
>[x] “Psh, what do you think I’m in school for?

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Gonna end earlier than I usually do tonight, unfortunately.

How'd I do with this? I'm not all that used to writing something along these lines, and I heard writing a quest has little to no action is a bit hard.

>>763114
it's a fine enough beginning. Excluding the OP, there's only 3 story posts. Still eager to see where this is gonna go. And from your work on Victory, I see you still have a problem where you just have one thick paragraph that contains a lot of things, when they could be spread out among their own smaller paragraphs. My autism is acting up from the two line spacing. Can you please not do that?

>>763114
I originally had an autist-tier post typed out, but for the sake of sanity, I've trimmed it down to bullet points.

>Avoid excessive repetition. Half of the sentences in a large paragraph starting with "You" is excessive.
>Bigger paragraphs can be broken into smaller ones.
>Sometimes a period or other punctuation goes missing.
>Hitting enter thrice instead of twice drives me absolutely bananas.
>I have no idea which images are associated with which characters.
>You really like naming your quest characters Dawkins, don't you?
>ERIKA WHEN?

>>763148
>>763656
Noted, the two line spacing is thanks to my word processor not cooperating with me when i hit enter for some reason

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“Psh, what do you think I’m in school for, Boss. I don’t intend to work here forever y’know.” Janet groans loudly in response. You’re almost tempted to say that you’ll stick around after you graduate, but you’re not sure that your sanity can take another year working under Janet, much less another whole life time.

“I see how it is, too good for me and my little resturant, huh?” Gah, you figured that she’d respond like this. It’s hard to tell when Chief’s joking and when she’s not. Even with three years of experience under your belt, you’re not entirely sure whether or not she’s truly upset. It doesn’t help that she seems to be trying her best to hide her true emotions most of the time.

“Yup, that’s it. Can’t stand this place, or you.” A sponge makes impact with the back of your head as you finish your sentence, bouncing slightly against the ground. You fling it back at Janet in response, before taking a broom, and busying yourself with sweeping the dust off the ground. A few glances at the door tells you that it might be a long night. Maybe the recent gang violence is deterring people tonight? Eh, less work for you is always good, right?

“Hey, you know where Jenkins is? Should be here, unless he’s in trouble. It’s not like him to be late.” You freeze as she asks the question, wondering if you should tell her about the messages he left you over the night. There must be some reason why Jenkins messaged you alone instead of Boss, maybe you should respect his privacy. Or maybe he really is in trouble, in which case Boss really should know.

[x] “Dunno, he sent me a message saying that he wouldn’t be able to make it tonight, but then another that said he could.”
[x] “Dunno, should be here. Do I look like his babysitter?”
[x] Write in

>>767561
>[x] “Dunno, he sent me a message saying that he wouldn’t be able to make it tonight, but then another that said he could.”

>>767561
>[x] “Dunno, he sent me a message saying that he wouldn’t be able to make it tonight, but then another that said he could.”

Ah screw it, Jenkins is a little brat for promising you stuff he couldn’t provide. He should get what’s coming, and face the wrath of Boss like a man. Plus, those messages were really suspicious. People like you two have to look after each other. You lean against your broom after you’ve swept floor to spotlessness.

“Yeah dunno, he’s sent me a pair of voice messages, one that said that he’d buy me anything and treat me like a princess if I covered for him tonight, but then another one saying to forget about all that. Was looking forwards to not paying for things.” The tapping of Janet’s utensils in the kitchen slow as she thinks.

“How much do you know about Adam anyways.” You tilt your head as you stare at your employer through the window to the kitchen. Not a whole lot, and he’s pretty quiet about his personal life, and you wonder why. You’ve been pretty open about things, right? Well, open with Boss at least. Maybe Jenkins is just shy.

“Shouldn’t you know more than I do? He is your employee isn’t he?” She shrugs and goes back to work.

“Very true, but the thing is that I don’t know much about him. Just that he’s family and friends are all in the Outback outside Tharsis.” Rednecks, hillybillies, you have a whole slew of words to call people from Outside the place, but Adam doesn’t usually fit the sterotypes that those words carry. The door creaks open, and Boss slams her spatula against the grill.

“WELL WELL, SPEAK OF THE DEVIL AND HE SHALL APPEAR.” Jenkins tenderly closes the door, almost hopping into the air as she yells at him

“Get your butt in here, I’m about to beat you like a housewife from the 1950s!” Ouch. Not something you’d want to bear witness to.

[x] “Soooooo, about that first message. It’s not proper to flake on promises, y’know.”
[x] “Hey, what took you so long? I thought you had perfect attendance.”
[x] Write in

>>768025
>[x] “Soooooo, about that first message. It’s not proper to flake on promises, y’know.”

>>768025
>[x] “Hey, what took you so long? I thought you had perfect attendance.”

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Adam’s trying to creep his way into the restaurant, apparently completely aware that he’s done something wrong. Those people are the worst. You spin on your broom as Adam slinks his way further into the Shift, only to find himself stopped by the haft of your broom, almost running into it in his rush to get away from you. He chuckles as he turns to face you, a sheepish expression written across his face. You’re not so easily amused by his antics, however, and you shove him away from the door leading into the kitchen.

“Hey, is that anyway to greet your cooworker? C-c’mon, lighten up.” You tap your foot against the ground, in what you hope is an intimidating fashion, gripping the broom tightly. Janet peeks her head out from behind the kitchen, glaring daggers at Adam, before turning her attention towards you.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Send him in and we can punish him together.” Adam’s face goes a bit pale as Boss speaks, and you don’t blame him. She really knows how to use that spatula to quite literally whip people into shape.

“In a bit. I wanna talk to him first.” You block his path, placing your hands on your hips like an enraged mother.

“So, I was thinking of having a nice coq au vin with a red wine tonight. It’s on you right?” Adam arches an eyebrow at you in surprise.

“Really, you’re angry with me over that. I-it was just a joke, no big deal, right?” You really don’t care, but you’re gonna tease him about it regardless. Adam shrinks away from you cross your arms, wagging your finger at him disapprovingly.


“It might not be for me, but other people here won’t be so generous towards this kinda stuff. Just don’t make it a habit.” He nods quickly, you’re not sure how much of that he’s retained.

“Where the hell where you, anyways? This is your first time being late, even.” He shrugs.

“Had errands I needed to run first. You know how it is.” You’re not sure if you buy his cover story, but it might have to do for now as a figure approaches the door. She’s very sharply dressed, with hair that’s obviously colored the light grey that it is.

[x] Press him more about the subject
[x] “I’ll deal with you later.” Turn and greet the customer
[x] Write in

>>768518
>[x] “I’ll deal with you later.” Turn and greet the customer

>>768518
>[x] “I’ll deal with you later.” Turn and greet the customer

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The arrival of an actual paying customer means that you can’t exactly be seen shaking down another worker. Things like that don’t exactly paint a good picture for this establishment, and you quickly rush back to your post, placing your hands on the counter and tilting your head, putting your best diabetes inducing smile on your face as the woman shoves the door out of her way, the bell jingling energetically as she walks her way towards you. Her posture is ramrod straight, and she walks around like she’s got a purpose. She’s clad in the dark grey business suit, the Hydra logo emblazoned proudly on her breast pocket. Light bags are under her eyes as she glares right through you. You’re not going to let this hag scare you, however, she’s just like any other corp snob.

“Hi, welcome to the Graveyard Shift, how can I help you.” She shoves a handful of M-Bills onto the counter, before looking up at you.

“Uh, ma’am? Will you like to order something?” She seems aghast as she thinks, looking like you just slapped her across the face.

“Er, right. I’d like a Graveyard Burger, and two bottles of Sasebono.” That’s quite a bit of alcohol for someone of her stature. And shouldn’t she be getting into work, isn’t it a bit too early to be drinking? Ah, what’re you kidding, Boss has shown up drunk on more than a few occasions. You write her order down on your tablet, sending the order to Boss’s station.

“Right, will be on it’s way in a few, please have a seat.” She does so, sitting relatively close to your counter.


[x] “So, if I may, who’re you miss? And why’d you choose to come here? It doesn’t look like a place people like you’d come to eat.”
[x] Ignore the corp, leave her to her own devices.
[x] Write in

>>768824
>[x] “So, if I may, who’re you miss? And why’d you choose to come here? It doesn’t look like a place people like you’d come to eat.”

>>768824
>[x] “So, if I may, who’re you miss? And why’d you choose to come here? It doesn’t look like a place people like you’d come to eat.”

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The corporate lady sits as straight as she walked into the Shift, she’s already busy tapping away on her pocket tablet frantically as she drums her finger against the table agitatedly. You’re a bit scared of her, she’s really giving off a bitchy aura, one that immediately repulses you away from her. She might be a nice person under that ice queen persona, but it’s not going to do her much good if people can’t approach her. Ah well, what’s the worse that could happen if you try to talk to her. It’s not like she bites or anything, actually she’s a member of Hydra, so she might just be packing. And she looks rather on edge, you’d have to take this one cautiously. You step a few feet closer to the woman, before asking your question.

“Who’re you miss? And what’re you doing in this part of town? Wouldn’t you be more at home in Olypmus?” She directs her glare at you, before her face softens as she responds.
“Erika Hillenbrand, NetWar Consultant and Financial Securities Analyst. You want a business card? Because I have a lot of them. A. Lot.” She digs into her pocket, whipping out one of her cards into your face. Well, you definitely don’t see those kinds of people around here. This only makes her more interesting, and makes you more cautious in talking to her.

“And why’re you in our lovely little establishment instead of sipping wine coolers at an Olympus bar?” She scoffs in response, before turning her attention back to her work.

“Because the bartenders there are too good for a good old bottle of beer? You have to pay more because of their dignity or whatever, it’s fucking stupid. And they don’t serve food that’s more than thirty milligrams by mass. I could make cubes of synthmeat at home, y’know. And there’s also the incident here that the superiors want me to investigate”

“Right, that. Weird.” She nods in agreement

[x] “Suppose you can’t talk about that huh, why don’t you tell me more about yourself while we wait?”
[x] “Got any juicy details you’re willing to share with a cute waitress?”
[x] Write in

>>769214
>[x] “Got any juicy details you’re willing to share with a cute waitress?”

Gonna call it tonight, be back tomorrow with more!

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>>769214
>[x] “Suppose you can’t talk about that huh, why don’t you tell me more about yourself while we wait?”

>>769241
Whoops, forgot to say. See you tomorrow!

Rolled 2 (1d2)

Rolling tiebreaker
1: >>769237
2: >>769261