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St. Mary's School for Bad Ass Babes / Apocalypse World

"Well I can't exactly say no to my Knight in greased-up overalls. Call me and I'll be there, assuming I don't have someone up on the table." Alana gives the mechanic a saccharine smile as she leads Nadja into the back and listens to her explanations as she sets the machines up with the proffered drugs and Angelica's blood. Hearing that it's from Punk Jackson, the Angel nods.

"Sounds about right. We got a patient here that's just about as aggro. Thankfully she's tied down, so we don't have to do any repeats. Got Dee looking around for the guy what gave her the drugs, goes by Strider. I'm gonna see if this is a match, and prob'ly raise it on up to Adelaide since this is two incidents in a day. Well, after synthesizing something to counteract it, because otherwise we ain't got enough people to hold the users down if this Strider's a good seller."

She sighs as she watches the machine do its work, worried as to what might become of this inquiry. She generally knew when danger was brewing, and this seemed like the first sign. In most cases, she'd pick up and leave as quick as can be to not be swept up. A bit harder to do that now...
 
@Ironuyh @Inkybus

As the machine is still working, she notices that Angelica's movements are gradually slowing. It took a couple hours, but finally she fell asleep, all her vitals were now normal. The question is what will her state be when she wakes.

Dee comes back a little after she falls asleep. She nervously replies. "This strider guy left. Headed east, towards the Boston encampment. He was only here for a few hours, arriving from the North side of camp. He made a couple trades at the market and left on a motorcycle."
 
Killing time by making some small talk with Nadja, Alana looks to Dee as she returns, and listens to her report. "Alright, then. Well, this is gonna be a pain in the ass. Dee, you're gonna give the report of everything we know to Adelaide, but you're gonna do so after we confirm whether the drugs in Punk Jackson are the same ones in Angelica. If it's the case that it's the same, I'll be synthesizing a lot more of the antidote after giving some to Angelica, then I'm gonna talk around, see who this guy traded with, maybe cut this source off with a good word before more people end up in here."

The Angel sighs, standing up and pacing as she watches the machine. She wasn't happy with how today was going already, but now it looked like she was going to have to play detective. Maybe Adelaide would give her some good news and assign some people to this so she doesn't have to bother, but somehow she doubted it. Things were moving and shaking in the background, the doctor was sure of it.
 
I snickered at her jest and also relieved that she'd give me a chance after all!

But our potential date was going to have to be put off for a bit, since we had to deal with this dangerous new drug now: "What are we going to call this stuff, anyhow? Aggro sounds shitty enough for a drug, if you ask me." I gave my suggestion, since Alana had already used the word and if the boot fits...

Convincing people not to be dumb assholes is no easy task, that much I knew: I pondered how I could help Alana in this matter and then said: "Well, you are going to have a hard time convincing people not to take drugs like idiots and to not be dicks to themselves and others if they do take the drugs- so what's the best angle to play this? If you asked me, I'd say that the consequence of being a dick who used Aggro was that they'd have to pay double or triple if they need medical help. I'd join in on the consequences and keep a red list of people who will have to pay double or triple if you have had to treat them for Aggro before. United we stand, like."
 
@Silver Screen Fiend

It's not long after Valkyrie and Meat leave that one of the prostitute, Tiffany, bursts into the bar, looking frantic. She yells at Mack, "Mack, there you are! It's Penny, it's nothing serious, but she's in the infirmary. Angelica gave her a pretty nasty cut."
 
@Silverbird

The far side of the lake was densely wooded and isolated, a place no one would go to without a reason. The ideal spot to have a private conversation, but also, the best place to set up an ambush. Of course, Adelaide hardly needed to worry about staging an ambush, her gang could easily overwhelm anyone within the holding.

Does Valkyrie go there, does she arrive on time, and does she make any preparations for the meeting?
 
Valkyrie did go, and she even showed up a little early. She didn’t need the full hour to get out there, and her only real preparation was to do another couple of laps of the market. If anyone was watching her, she wanted to put some distance between her encounter with the cloaked woman and her trip out of the settlement. This sudden cloak-and-dagger turn of Adelaide’s had her intrigued.

Part of her couldn’t help but wonder if Adelaide had somehow found out about her involvement with her mother’s death, and this was all a pretense to lure her out of the hold. She even briefly considered leaving a note for Alana to find, in case she had to get out of there fast. She dismissed those concerns pretty fast, though. If Adelaide knew, then she wouldn’t be playing these games; she would’ve just had her goons kick in Valkyrie’s door while she slept.

Leaves and twigs crunched softly as Valkyrie walked through the woods, sharp eyes scanning the shadows of the trees as she went. Valkyrie didn’t fear the wild like many of the others in the hold, but it still paid to pay attention out here — and the quiet made her a little uncomfortable. Too much space to hear your own thoughts. She idly adjusted the weight of the sword on her back, and looked for any sign of Adelaide.
 
@Silverbird

Adelaide arrived right on the dot, with two women in toe. One was the same height as the women in the cloak earlier, holding a long rifle, the other shorter, but impressively muscular, in thick, bullet proof armor, holding a Machete. Adelaide stayed behind the others, holding her own pistol until they were close enough to see that Valkyrie was not brandishing a weapon. They lowered their weapons, but did not holster it.

Adelaide spoke directly, in a commanding tone. "Good afternoon Valkyrie. I trust that I need no introduction. I came to you based on the recommendation from Nadja. You see, I have the need of the services of someone new. Someone who does not have any friendships that might cloud their judgement. Someone who is strong, clever, and capable. Someone who demonstrated their loyalty by killing the rebels in the recent uprising. Someone will to get their hands dirty for some barter. Is that someone you?" Adelaide stares directly into Valkyrie's eyes, hardly blinking with her direct eye contact.
 
"I don't really know if it needed a name, but I guess 'Aggro' would be fine in the case it is named." As Nadja goes about explaining a plan to disincentivize use of the drug, Alana shrugs. "I don't really think it's gonna be that simple, to be true. There's no way to overlook people needin' your help unless you're forcing them to get a complimentary blood draw with mechanic services. I guess we could keep a ledger, but that would still require me draggin' people in here drawing blood like it's a thing to do. I guess if someone's up on the table, I can check and put their name down somewhere."

The doctor looked skeptical at her own idea. She thinks for a few moments, before speaking up again. "Way I see it, we pass this up the rung to Adelaide, hear what she thinks, and if she wants to throw down the gloves and get everyone checked, then sure. It's a security risk more now than it is a health risk if I can make stuff to counteract it. But then I guess it stops being a health risk more than it's gonna be a supplies risk." She scrunches her face up, annoyed as she thinks, "Yeah, lotta movin' parts, not my job to deal with how the hold interacts with the drug, but I'll be here for all the medical nonsense. Might as well wait by her door to see if we can pass along what we know, yeah? Not like we can do much with the machine still working."

She looks over to Angelica's sleeping form, then sighs. "Can't really leave her alone though. Guess the report'll have to wait, unless you wanna find her?"
 
@Motoharu

Valkyrie settled in to wait by one of the trees, leaning casually against it with her arms crossed over her chest. It wasn’t too surprising that the hardholder had brought muscle; in fact, it was probably a good sign. Meant she had a reasonable head on her shoulders, despite her age. Valkyrie had no intent of starting anything, but she couldn’t help evaluating them as they approached. The rifle’d be less of a problem if she got up close. The short one looked tough, but Valkyrie was willing to bet that armour wouldn’t hold up against one of her bullets. That meant the plan was to close the distance’ pop the one with the machete, get in the other’s face, hope the girl’s pistol was mostly for show…

Valkyrie smirked to herself. Of course it wasn’t. That’d be trouble, then. She shook her head slightly — and by that time they were close enough to speak, so she kept her mouth shut and listened to what Adelaide had to say. The battlebabe kept her face impassive throughout, cooly meeting Adelaide’s gaze even as the hardholder brought up loyalty and the uprising. She wouldn’t have stuck around as long as she had if she didn’t trust herself to do that. She only broke off eye contact when Adelaide finished, gesturing dismissively with one hand.

“You already know it is, Adelaide. Wouldn’t be wasting your time out here otherwise.” Valkyrie’s smirk returned, her eyes shifting over Adelaide’s muscle again for a moment before returning to the hardholder. She didn’t mind so much being described as strong and capable, even if Adelaide was just buttering her up. The assertion that she didn’t have any friends stung a little, but it was essentially accurate.

“You need an eye and a hand that people don’t know are yours, and you’re willing to go to a fair bit of effort to get it. So what’s the job?”
 
@Ironuyh @Inkybus

Dee speaks up, but softly. "Adelaide kind of already knows some of this. I ran into her at the brothel, looking for Strider. She asked me a few questions, so I told her what I knew. She said she'd be visiting the infirmary, once she took care of some business."
 
@Silverbird

Adelaide relaxed a little, but kept her pistol out. The two guards remained unflinching She smirked slightly, then responded, "First, a test mission. I am sure you understand I want to make sure I can trust you before you get the main mission. Tell me, have you ever worked as a bounty hunter?

We had a visitor to our holding today, a man who calls himself Strider. Tall, brown, long, messy hair, brown eyes, a tattoo of a sword on his neck. He came here from the north and left to the east on a motorcycle. While he was here, he bought a bunch of weapons, and sold a weird drug. People who take it seem to be going crazy. I want him brought to justice. It's two barter if you bring him back to me alive, one barter if you bring his head. Make sure the tattoo stays where it is if you want to collect. You can keep his belongings as well, besides the drug which will be destroyed. But a working motorcycle and weapons is not a bad bonus. Does that sound fair?" She did not offer a hand to shake on it, but eyed Valkyrie up as she waited for her reply.
 
I looked to Dee, when she chimed in with a quick update on the situation: I nodded in her direction and then looked back to Alana. "Sounds like we're not going to have to hunt her down to tell her about this, then. By the by, how long do you think we'll need to find a way to suppress the effects and take care of the withdrawal symptoms of Aggro? Is there anything I can do to help? I kind of like my workshop here and if I can do anything to fight this worthless brain-killer, I'm happy to get involved."
 
Valkyrie had worked as a bounty hunter before, but it seemed like a rhetorical question, so she only gave Adelaide a brief nod of her head as an answer. If she was the one in charge, she probably wouldn’t have bothered sending anyone after this Strider guy — either he’d be back some day, and they could nab him them, or he wouldn’t and good riddance — but hey; she wasn’t in charge, and that was no reason to turn down good money.

Besides, she’d always thought she’d look good on a motorcycle.

“Sounds fun,” Valkyrie replied, with a casual flick of her long hair. “I’ll need to borrow a car if I’m going to catch him. Maybe a driver.”

She paused for a moment, thinking the job through, then with a curious tilt of her head added, “How many weapons are we talking about, here? Is this guy buying for self-defense, or should I expect to run into a whole gang of ugly bastards out there?”
 
Adelaide thinks for a moment, then responds, "If I lend you one of my cars, it will be too obvious that I hired you. You can make arrangements with Mack. This should cover his fee." She tosses her a small stone from her pocket. Looked to be a ruby. Precious stones are not as valuable as they once were, but it was still worth a barter.

"Unfortunately, it was quite a bit of weapons. I would say enough to arm a small gang. No firearms though. Machetes, axes, hammers, a pickaxe, pitchforks, things that have other uses, but my gut tells me they will be used as weapons."
 
Valkyrie snatched the ruby out of the air and held it to eye level for a moment, before nodding approvingly. Yeah, that’d do. She already knew Mack had a prior engagement, but she was sure they could come to some kind of arrangement. Besides, if this Strider guy really was arming a gang, bringing someone like Meat along for the ride might not be a bad idea.

And if they couldn’t work something out… well, too bad for Meat, I guess.

“Sounds like I’ll have my work cut out for me,” Valkyrie replied confidently, as she pocketed the ruby. The news was unfortunate, but it didn’t shake her too much; just maybe made things a little more interesting. There didn’t seem to be much more to say, so she shifted one hand to her hip and added, “Guess I’d better go have a word with Mack, then. Unless there’s anything else…?”

She was already running a checklist of preparations before she could head out. Aside from tracking down Mack, she’d need to pick up some supplies; ammo, food, water. At least enough to get to the next hold over. She wanted to drop in on Alana before she left, too. It wasn’t unusual for her to vanish without a word, but she had a feeling Alana could help her out with this one.
 
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