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Encounter Conditions
Once only, on October 4th, 2010?
Initial Text
(Protest cleared:)
A small temporary stage has been constructed along one side of the Quad. A well-dressed man, presumably an administrator, is talking to a large group of assembled students.(Protest active:)
The rioting has momentarily calmed around a small stage at one end of the Quad. A well-dressed man, presumably an administrator, is talking to a large group of assembled students.(and then, either way:)
As you approach, you can hear him wrapping up. "Well, I'll leave the rest to Emily. She's been instrumental in helping the school decide this year's Halloween plans, so it's only fair I let her explain them."He makes his way quickly off stage and towards the administration buildings, a few students boo or hiss him as he passes, but it might just be because he's an administrator.
Whatever you do, you've probably only got one shot. They probably won't replay this one every half-hour like the news.
Summary of Choices
- Stay for Emily - something happens
- Follow him - something happens
- Interview the crowd - something happens
- Pick some pockets - this section can just be copied from the location page
- Ignore them - something happens
Choice Text and Results
Stay for Emily
The student behind him steps up take the podium. Although she's easily twenty years his junior, she carries herself with a strange weight that quiets the crowd.
"Hello, I recognize a lot of faces in the crowd, but for everyone else I'm Emily Davers. I've just gotten back to school and, well, I'm more surprised than anyone else that I still have a student council seat."
She stops for a moment, glancing towards the dorms west of the Quad. "I'm sure everyone's aware of the tragedy last year at Halloween. Several…"
A punk in the crowd shouts "five hundred seventy-one!" but she continues, ignoring him, "…students died and many more, myself included, owe our lives to Midgard's expert doctors and surgeons."
"Investigators concluded that some outside group had tainted the punch and candy with hallucinogens, resulting in panic and eventually a fire." She pauses for a long while.
"Although they were considering canceling celebrations this year," a few boos snake up from the crowd, "the university has officially decided to present its own party… hopefully drawing everyone together in a safe environment." More boos cry out at the word "safe."
She laughs warmly. "Lame, I know, right? Well, we might have put a dent in the entertainment budget… of the University… for the entire year… but we're going to have the first live performance of the band called 'Emerald Gift!'"
A cheer rips through the crowd. You can hear her say something about "limited seats" and "more details as they become available," but it's mostly drowned out.
She leaves the stage to chants of "Em-i-ly! Em-i-ly!" so it's safe to say the student body is excited. It's a touch strange, because you've only heard the hipsters and artists really liking Emerald Gift's atonal music and whispered lyrics. Maybe everyone's just caught in the moment.
Follow him
You break off from the crowd to follow him as he slips away. He seems nervous, but possibly not about being trailed, because he doesn't respond to you following him at all.
As you exit the Quad you can hear cheering and chanting echoing from the crowd you left. You can faintly hear a generic ringtone over the sound of the crowd as he stops to pull out his comm.
Edging a little closer, you can make out his half of the conversation. "Speaking… it seems to have gone as planned."
He pauses, scowling, as he listens to the comm intently. "Yes, she's got them riled up, just like you said. She's quite gifted."
He glances back towards the dispersing crowd. "No, it went perfectly. As far as they're concerned, your only involvement is nursing their new hero back to health."
"Of course. Any time. Bye." He flips off his comm, mutters "jackass" loudly, then makes his way to one of the administrative buildings at the edge of campus.
Interview the crowd
You make your way through the crowd, ignoring the speaker but prying for their opinions. They're happy to share their thoughts in hushed tones, even as the speech continues.
The majority of them seem to be concerned. Some are concerned that there will be a repeat of last year's Halloween disaster, where a number of students died. The others seem equally concerned that the university will be preventing Halloween celebrations altogether.
Their strange priorities notwithstanding, the students seem to grow less tense as the speech continues. You're talking with a punk about how terrible it is that they're ignoring the "slaughter" that took place last Halloween.
His face goes slack for a moment and he cheers loudly, then begins chanting "Em-i-ly! Em-i-ly!" with the rest of the crowd.
Eventually the chant dies down, but everyone can't stop talking about how the Emerald Gift are going to be playing and how it's going to be the best party ever. Wow, whatever she said about the Emerald Gift really turned the crowd around!
Pick some pockets
You make your way through the crowd. They're distracted by the speech at first, which makes your job pretty easy.
By the time you're done working your way through, they're enraptured. It's easy pickings.
Eventually they start chanting "Em-i-ly! Em-i-ly!" for some reason you can't quite ascertain. You're easily able to slip away without anyone noticing your ill-gotten gains.
You found: pep pill
You found: 2 battered cred chips
You found: Metros Light
You found: 2 ancient candybars
You found: Eclipse
You found: unlabeled music
You found: 571 chip
Ignore them
Something happens, but mostly it's just
See Walk Away