video; un: tin soldier & dollhouse

[hatejakku]

[ The feed clicks on to reveal Finn and The Doctor, probably an unlikely duo to find on the network at this hour. The former doesn’t give anyone time to speculate, though, and just jumps right into it. ]

Ma'am Mariol contacted a few of us. She said that Serthica is pumping some sort of gas into the Mouse House, something that makes people slow and tired. She's convinced it has to do with heating, but she also told us it happened before, right after the coal sickness.

After our conversation, I went down there to investigate the composition of the gas and its source. All that we know for now is that it contains many of the sedative and memory loss ingredients discovered recently by those in our group, Caitlyn and Vi.

Everyone's okay for the moment - well, I use that term loosely - but how long that lasts, we can't be sure.

[ He's also worried about his little buddy, Gavroche, who was unusually skittish and reluctant to explain why. He's put a pin in that for later. ]

Not the easiest, going back and forth there and getting through customs, but I'll plan to visit with them again in a day or two, make sure they're still well. [ Checking in over the pendants isn't satisfactory enough for him. He'd be going back and forth more frequently if he could, but he has to operate within the limitations of their present situation, which frustrates him, to say the least. ]

Some of us had spoken previously about organizing efforts to help their situation down there, but that was before we realized what they're doing to them. Everything's changed now.

[ Finn, who’s been watching and chewing on his bottom lip, jumps back in. ]

They need our help. For one, we have to find the source of this gas leak. Whether it’s intentional or not, whatever the gas is, it needs to be stopped.

Second-... Well, I’d like to get her and the kids out of there and bring them to Minaras but that’s going to take more money than the Doctor and I have. Hard to say it’s really safer up here, but I think pooling money together for this could be worth it, anyway, if for nothing else than to just improve their situation once we handle the gas.

If anyone has spare change or more ideas, we’d appreciate it.

[ ooc: Finn's red, The Doctor's blue ]

Comments

un: daozhang | audio;

[binghua]

I do not have much in terms of money, but you can have all of it. Even if the gas may not turn out to harm anyone long-term, they should not be exposed to it more than necessary.

[hatejakku]

Thank you. I know they'll appreciate it.

un: absterge

[downswing]

Perhaps the nest of Remembrance may be made habitable.

[hatejakku]

Wait, did they leave?

[ OOTL ]

[thedreamer]

Habitable, perhaps, yes. Though it wasn't a cheerful place last I recall. You believe it could be made safe?

video |⍓| un: tagged

[kahl_175]

Where pumps for gas? Kahl know how to break.

[hatejakku]

I like where your head's at, but we don't know where they are. And we should probably be a little discrete about it.

[ Sorry, Poe just had the same ideas, and he had a really unhealthy obsession with explosions. ]

un: ivory doll | video;

[spellsandcharms]

Nasty combination of herbs. Easy to get wrong.

[ As succinct and helpful as ever. ]

[hatejakku]

You think it was an accident?

un: song | voice;

[spoilers]

Depending on your sense of morals, money isn't that hard to come by, sweetie.

[ But then a pause, and while she doesn't address him specifically, the next is directed more toward her husband. ]

Are we sure this is what's best for them? Is it even what they want? You've talked to her?

[hatejakku]

I'm no good at stealing. I get anxious and my stealth is meh at best.

[ At least he's honest. ]

But when I mentioned this to Mariol, she sounded interested.

un : dappled peals of the parted seas (voice)

[beitangmoran]

If money is needed, I have a lot at my disposal.

[Well, his husband does but details.]

[hatejakku]

Thanks. I'm not sure how much we'll need yet, but the more the merrier.

[ And thanks to his husband, too. ]

un: manic marbles | text

[saintclaire]

It's kind of you to want to fund bringing people up, but how many people are we talking about? Who are you planning to buy off to bring them up here?

I've been talking to some former Mouse House residents who moved to or married into Serthica. I don't think it's something that can be pushed through on a time constraint, even with money.

[hatejakku]

The number of kids she has with her usually fluctuates, depending on things. I'm thinking about ten or fifteen, maybe, but only one adult.

The Doctor and I have some connections on both sides of the city. But if the legal way falls through, well, we were originally planning to smuggle you guys in through the ports before we got papers together. There are a couple of plans we can fall back on, like the train depots. They smuggle items and people regularly, from what I hear.

[ Even through text, he sounds too casual about it. ]

un: Black Prince; text

[blackscales]

Good to see both of you.

I'd been working with the Doctor previously to secure funding for the Mouse House, but that was long term. If we're now evacuating quickly I suppose a steady trickle must be swapped for a quicker bulk. Are any of them sick? I do wonder, if all of them are quite free of sickness, are they in danger of catching it up in the city? Which is the lesser evil?

[thedreamer]

And you, my friend! Well, your little words on the screen, I suppose. Not you. Technically you.

They're all perfectly healthy, though Gavroche was...not himself. We get on very well but he was skittish when I went down there this time. Suppose it could be effects of the gas, though the other children were acting normally.

[ Well - normally for them. Which generally involves a consistent amount of chaos and mayhem. ]

That is the question, though, and I've worried about it myself. In the short-term I was hoping we could at least disrupt the supply of gas, but that's proven to be challenging at best.

un: yiling laozu

[weifinder]

How is the air at the port, for the interim? Any interim.

Lan Zhan also speaks an idea worth investigating. I'm happy donating funds as I can, but creative reuse of space on top of the evacuation helps.

Though now we know we're leaving those lost souls deep in drug's bliss to their forgetful deaths even faster than they would be. What caused the shift, again? Or is it part of what allows people above to be so good at forgetting, trying to wash through the citadel again? Questions for later!

[thedreamer]

Middling, at best. Though, not a bad suggestion for a brief respite.

It seems to have coincided with our tower expedition.

[ Expedition is, perhaps, an optimistic turn of phrase for that rather nasty business in the tower, but what does he have left if not some light in the dark, still. ]

They've done it occasionally in the past, though Ma'am Mariol specifically noted it was last used with such a heavy hand right after the coal sickness swept through.

un: slothbaby

[cosplayqueen]

sooo this is all super disturbing. i can see we can't smash whatever is causing this stuff to happen. let me know if that ever comes back on the table because that's something i can do!!

or smash whoever did this. seriously going after people who survived a Really Bad Thing is extremely messed up.

[hatejakku]

There's no way we're getting out of this city without smashing a lot of things first. I'll definitely keep you in the know.

un: magic wand (video)

[faceblocker]

Seems pretty clear it's intentional, considering what those herbs were for.

[ So much 'what the fuck'. ]

This is their home, they shouldn't have to leave it. Besides, who's going to be able to fund that long-term?

[ Vi can already picture how people topside will treat the orphans. People up there aren't going to be happy about having a bunch of poor folks suddenly pour into the streets.

Temporarily, til they fix the leak, maybe. ]

We're better off finding the gas leak. Which means finding the people behind it.

[hatejakku]

We don't need to move them long-term. I mean, unless they want that. Then we can figure that out later. But right now, I just want them away from the gas by one way or another.

The leak is a high priority, but I have no idea where it could be. Mariol seemed to think it was something to do with heating, so maybe the engineers or people who accept the coal. They could be a place to start.

video; un: hopscotch

[clavesregni]

The box in which Vi and I found the herbs had the symbol of a Minaras medical facility on it, but when I questioned the staff, they insisted they had no idea where the herbs could have come from. They didn't seem to know what I was talking about at all.

[There are a lot of papers covered in scribbles on the floor around her. She's currently holding one that maybe says something like 'med fac interrogation notes' but her handwriting is so messy it's hard to parse.]

Has anyone spoken to the political leadership of Serthica about this? They may know how to stop it, or even have an idea who's responsible for releasing the gas into the Mouse House. [It does not occur to her that the political leadership might be responsible.]

I can provide some funds to aid with relocation, as well. We should get as many people as possible out of the Mouse House until the gas can be stopped.

[hatejakku]

Agreed. Thank you. But the Doctor and I spoke to some officials about moving them up or evacuating and we didn't get far with it.

Maybe-... Maybe the staff didn't know but that's where the source of the herbs were. Maybe someone stole or smuggled them out.