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Feather Climber
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‘Bec stops digging, planting the shovel down and catching her breath.
‘Bec: “Ugh, switch. I need a minute.”
She sits down on a log, while you grab the shovel and start digging. It takes a fair bit of effort, but you’re not surprised. It isn’t your first time digging a hole.
…You run through several more questions to distract yourself.
Clive: “Do you know any good Hiding spots in town? Or Secret pathways?”
‘Bec: “The school and hospital are pretty good spots to hide. There are a lot of empty rooms in both. You just gotta keep an ear out for doctors or teachers.”
‘Bec: “If you need a place to hunker down for a few nights, try Riley’s house. His parents work late, and he owes me a bunch of favors that I won’t be around to call in.”
She gives you an address. He lives on the South side of town, apparently.
‘Bec: “I dunno about secret paths, our town isn’t some shitty comic villain’s lair.”
‘Bec: “I did work out this one route through the facilities West of town that makes it easy to go between the cheap houses and the better ones down South without bumping into anyone.”
She breaks down an elaborate path for you, which involves passing through several stores’ back/side entrances, weaving through a few alleyways, and just a few spots where you’d have to sprint between cover.
It’s too much to really keep track of, but you don’t have anything to write on (not that you could bust out a notepad anyways while it’s raining), so you memorize the steps as best as you can.
‘Bec: “It takes way longer than just walking it, but if you really don’t want to be seen, it’s worth it.”
‘Bec: “What else have you got?”
Clive: “We found a note about Daniel. Apparently, he’s been moody?”
She lets out a hum of thought, considering the statement before answering.
‘Bec: “Yeah, he has been.”
‘Bec: “Was wondering what crawled up his ass, but I figured he just got in a fight with his mom.”
‘Bec: “He used to hang around after class to talk to her, but he’s been the first out the door recently.”
‘Bec: “Was the note you found written by a kid, or a teacher?”
You give a brief explanation about Franklin and Lillian discovering it while searching the school, what exactly it said, and how it had been addressed to Principal Butler.
‘Bec: “See, that sounds like his mom wrote it, but the implication is that she doesn’t know why he’s been in a mood.”
Clive: “Which she would, if they had a fight.”
‘Bec: “I’d wager he found out something shitty about the school. He’d have more chances, since he lives with a teacher. It could be worth prodding him for info.”
‘Bec: “Do it carefully though. He’s no tattletale, but his mom is already suspicious. Telling him too much could be a mistake.”
You aren’t sure if it’s worth the risk, but you’ll bring it up to the others at least.
Clive: “What about Mrs. Chamberlane?”
‘Bec: “Don’t do anything suspicious in front of her, she’s a hardcore bitch of a snitch.”
‘Bec: “She acts nice, and loves to tell kids that they can confide in her, but she secretly keeps a notebook behind her desk where she logs everything.”
‘Bec: “When you break a rule, what scores you get on your tests, and a bunch of little things that our parents probably asked her to keep an eye out for.”
‘Bec: “She has notes for shit like if Roger spends all of recess drawing by himself, or how often John misses homework deadlines…
‘Bec: “She even tracks how often kids talk to Temmie during recess. Try not to be alone with her for too long, at least not when a teacher is looking.”
Clive: “...Did she track anything about me and Rodney?”
‘Bec: “Dunno. Wasn’t really looking for that the couple times I did peek through it.”
‘Bec: “I usually only look at her tattletale journal if I need to be sure I got away with something..”
Clive: “I see.”
Her mention of Roger reminds you of the wallet you stole the other day, and the card ‘Bec had pointed out for you and Albert.
Clive: “Do you know anything about the Recycling Center?”
‘Bec: “No.”
Clive: “...”
‘Bec: “...What? Were you expecting more? That place has good security, and I don’t have any reason to go there.”
‘Bec: “Yeah, after hearing about the Nuclear Plant, I’m willing to bet the Recycling Center is shady too. The timetables feel like they don’t add up.”
‘Bec: “The nuclear plant started operating in 1959. At some point, they started dumping shit in the water, and sometime later, the hospitals picked up on how it affected people.”
‘Bec: “Even if we assume they cut corners pretty early on, I feel like it’d take a while for the medical junk to be found.”
‘Bec: “We’re not talking about obvious life threatening ailments, like mega-cancer or huge pus-filled boils, just people’s ability to have kids.”
‘Bec: “That would take a while for anyone to notice, and probably even longer to connect to the plant.”
‘Bec: “In the wake of all that, we manage to rebuild and fully switch over to a new brand of energy so quickly that nobody even remembers the nuclear plant ever existed?”
‘Bec: “It doesn’t add up.”
You consider bringing up the uncertainty around the current year, but decide against it. ‘Bec doesn’t know the date. She would have put numbers to her point a moment ago if she did. Enid was the same before.
“I-I think it’s still the 1960s. Um... pretty late too?”
“...Do you remember when the last time you were sure about the year was?”
“I don’t know. I wasn’t thinking about it, and I just... Huh.”
“You said 1959 was less than 10 years ago, before.”
“I did?”
“So didn’t you know the date?”
“...”
‘Bec: “Whatever the case, I don’t know shit about the Recycling Center.”
‘Bec: “Trucks go in filled with junk, and they leave empty, so something has to be happening there.”
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