IC: Down in the Barrens II, John Doe's search for his past Options

[Redjack]

He awakes to the feeling of rain drops hitting his face. Blinking his eyes, he realizes that his left cheek is lying on wet pavement. The cool pavement actually feels good compared to the pounding in his brain. Gently reaching up, he feels a lump on his head.

Pushing himself up in the darkness, he feels a sharp pain in his ribs and he stops - his breathing labored from that pain. The next thing he realizes is that its dark, even with his vision. His jacket feels heavy, both from the rain and from its composition. It must be armored, but why did he know that?

Sitting back against the brick wall behind him, he reaches into a pocket. A com link. I can call home- Wait where is home? Even more so, what the hell is my name? He pushes the button on the com and is greeted by a spark. Looking closer, the case is cracked and the rain is seeping inside. Great!

Looking up and down, what he now realizes is an alley, its still dark. He is sitting beside a metal trash dumpster. He hears voices nearby, "I think he went this way."

[Saytr]

Primal instinct takes over from fear or excitment he didnt know but he looks for any kind of weapon either on himself or laying around to defend himself. why cant i remember anything, probably because im suffering from a concushion from the bump on my head god i have a headache, i need time to cool off and rest i hope things become more clear in the morning. first things first he needed to get out of there. all these questions ran through his head in the instant it took him to figure out he needed to get out of the alley and away from anyone looking for him to find out who he is first and answer some important identity questions as well as why he is lying in a alley wet and cold. He looked for any way out of the alley that wouldn't put him in light where he could be seen he wanted to go home and get there fast where ever home would be. he would figure out the com link later right now he didn't like the fact anyone was looking for him.

[Redjack]

The cloud cover, falling rain and lack of artificial lighting frustrates his ability to better gauge his surroundings. His natural elven vision does amplify what precious little ambient illumination there is, but it merely dilutes the near pitch-black. Looking toward the end of the alley with the voices, the ambient light is still very low, but considerably brighter than in the alley. It appears as if somewhere down the street there is an artificial source of light.

The other direction, however, is a mystery shrouded in darkness; Perhaps there is a turn, an exit...or perhaps a dead end. It seems the choices are simple. Go to the voices or go to the darkness.

[Saytr]

struggling to get up he starts to stumbel towards the light they might be friends..... he stutters a moment and thinks to himself "they might not be my friends either" still even if they werent he stood a better chance in the light then in the dark. " hey chummers a little help " he shouts walking towards the light "get the tag of the truck that hit me?" laughting during the last word, cutting it short since laughing, talking or even breathing for that matter made the bump on his head that much worse. holding his hands up to block the light from hitting his eye he starts to walk towards the light withe his other had up out wide.

[Redjack]

His decision made, he moves toward the light calling out to unseen voices. The sound of running feet answers his call... followed by confirmation of a miscalculation, "Get the bastard!"

[Saytr]

not understanding why anyone would be mad at him he turns back towards the darkness and starts to run down the alley, wishing he could only see just a little more clearly down the alley to see exactly where he was going. surprisingly he takes off with out regard to the darkness wishing he had maybe went the down the dark alley in the first place. why would someone be after me....what did i do to make them so angry, why can't i remember anything. frustrated at his lose of memory hoping it was a momentary lose and nothing that would stay to permenant he dashed off into the darkness hoping to maybe get away from anyone wanting to hurt him and find maybe a friend in the darkness where he thought only danger would be.

[Redjack]

He turns and runs, adrenaline momentarily blocking out the pain from his head and ribs. With his elven sight, he is able to barely discern subtle differences in the alley like the "T" in the alleyway. A shot rings out from behind him just as he reaches it then another. He feels the sharp impact tug his jacket from the second shot as he cuts out of sight of his pursuers; At least for the moment.

Yelling voices behind him, more darkness around him and then he comes to a stop with thud as he runs into a padded wall. He realizes his mistake when the wall talks. "Who are you little man?" The darkness prevents his from discerning any details about the talking wall.

[Saytr]

he squints in a effort to make out any details from the darkness after he rams face first into the padded wall he blinks a few times thinking maybe he blinded himself. hearing a wall talk is something unusual he knows, far more unusual then not knowing his name at least. strangley it doesn't surprise him as much as it might have he is startled but not taken off his feet by a talking padded wall. in response to the question"i dont know who i am but, wait a minute are a talkig wall...anyways who are you please move there are men after me who want to cause me pain. i have no idea who they are. If you would be kind enough to let me pass or show me a way out of this alley other then the way i came i would be owe you one.....who or what ever you are." rather then wait for a response he starts looking for a way to slip through any gap in the padded wall or a door maybe next to it that to bust into. "i need help dammit and i dont know where to turn to or who to trust right now so if you going to help please do so quickly."

[Saytr]

suddenly he realizes he is talking to a talking wall and shaking his head he starts to think himself. Am I a little mad or crazy even but why? what is wrong with me why can't i remember who i am where i live or what happen to me. more importantly why are those men after him and he is about to get away when a "talking wall" stops him in his tracks and asks who he is. he just laughs a little and thinks this must be a horrible horrible dream. with that all thought out in his mind he looks up at the wall and just asks" my i pass."

[Redjack]

The wall chuckles, "You must be the rabbit. Shoo." And with that, a large, troll hand sweeps him around what can only be a massive troll's body. "I'm gonna teach them dogs to stay outa my yard."

[Saytr]

enveloped in darkness he tries to look around and only sees pitch black. where am i now, what the hell is going on. frag did i just get turned into a meat pop sickle. "help whats going on?" he tries to call out into the darkness and only hears himself echo into the night . " who are you?"

[Redjack]

The sounds of his pursuers are rapidly working their way down the from whence he came. Even in the darkness he can tell the troll turned to face him. "SHOO!" and then the first of his pursuers round the corner. Of course, he can see none of this, only surmise based upon what he hears. And he hears what sounds like the striking of several troll fists and several men yelling as the chaos unfolds in the darkness.

A gunshot momentarily illuminates the scene. The troll is indeed massive. He has a young man, ganger or the like, by the throat and off the ground. He has a second man, the one holding the gun, by the arm. The light is only momentary and the pitch black quickly swallows the scene.

[Saytr]

the shouting from the massive being in front of him scares him a step back, awaiting a fist to slam against his side or another hand to wrap around his head and crush his skull. when he hears the sound of the attackers come around the corner the sounds of men grunting and a deep growl from what he can only guess be the massive troll hitting the attackers then the sudden pop of a hand pistal. he senses something familiar about the sound but the flash of light and quick darkness again remind him he is still in great danger, his reflexes he feels suddenly go on edge and realizing the massive being is helping him, he takes the advice and starts to run agian down the alley with a renewed sense of urgency. " I owe you one." he says when he starts to take off

why didnt i help, could i have. realizing he was talking to himself he slaps himself in the side of the head. remember why cant you remember.

[Redjack]

Stumbling off, through the darkness, he is able to use the wall and his tactile senses to move forward; At this point, any progress is good progress. Behind him are more screams, yelling, gunshots and even the sound of the troll yelling out in pain and rage.

Time is immeasurable; He could have traveled five minutes or two hours through the maze of alleyways. In some places he finds rubble. In other places, the walls are solid. The rain increases to a steady drizzle blotting any possible natural light. If anyone lives around here, they appear not to risk drawing attention by using lights. His head is pounding and the pain in his ribs drive him to distraction.

Eventually he stops to sit in a doorway. It provides shelter from the rain and sitting lessens the various pains assaulting his nervous system. He closes his eyes and takes a deep, calming breath. Then another. Then-
---------
"He's dead Jimmy."

"Nah. The bums sleeping one off."

"What's he got?"

"He's breathing."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Dumb ass. Look! He's waking up."

He opens his eyes slowly. An early morning sun provides some hazy light through the moderate cloud cover. Three street urchins are standing, gawking. They appear elementary school age. All are dressed in well worn, probably hand-me-down, clothes.

[Saytr]

he slowly starts to stand up using the entry way to steadty himself and reaches into his coat "no Jimmy im not dead, far from it.and if you wondering what i have you would do well to tell your friend to run off and not find out." remembering the gun shots and screams assauting his memmory from the last night along with his aching ribs he starts away from the kids and looks for any measure of where he came from and where he is now, hunger also setting in because he couldn't remember when the last time he ate was so he started looking for any type of food joint. he also reaches into his pocket to get a better look at is LTG, seeing if it would maybe turn on long enough to give him a sense of where to go atleast maybe a number to call to get a ride of information about himself. he also needed to find out where home was and how the hell he was goin to get there.

he reaches into his jacket to see what he has on him and to see if he was also bleeding anywhere that might need medical attention. but why would i need medical attention what was i doing?

[Redjack]

The trio of street children back off to a distance learn safe after a number of years of living on the streets.

Searching his pockets, he finds a comlink; It appears he fell on it and it is not functional. His ribs still ache as does his head. The wound on his head appears to have dried, clotted blood around it. Looking up and down the street, he sees that it is a pretty poor neighborhood. There are several cars in various states of disrepair: One with a hood up, another on blocks, a third and fourth appear to have been in an accident and just abandoned there.

The street is not without signs of life. A pair of cars, each several decades old and in poor states of repair can be seen moving. Up and down the street a dozen people can be seen coming an going. The street itself is comprised of one and two story buildings. Many, many decades ago it was surely either the downtown or right off the downtown of a thriving community. Most building fronts now show no signs of commerce, much less any signs of prosperity.

Two buildings nearby do appear to have some sort of business operating within. The first bears the sign "Lucky Pawn" and the second "Thrift Shop".

[Saytr]

frustrated that he cant rememeber anything but his the pain in his head and the massive troll that helped him lastnight he makes his way to the Lucky Pawn, they might have a phone he could use to get a hold of someone he might know. the thrift shop would be his next stop. he takes a moment and searches all his pockets looking for any kind of money or anything to barter worth.

as he walks into the Lucky Pawn he scopes out the scene taking in anything of note. "hoi chummer, think you could help me with this?" he pulls out his LTG to show the worker behind the counter hoping they know how to either fix or help him with who he is on his com.

[Redjack]

Walking into the store, past the iron gate lifted high in the doorway, he sees a tidy store of mismatched shelving and a large counter shaped like an "L". The stocky, short armed man behind the counter watches him enter the store and walk up to the counter. The man behind the counter regarded the broken com for a moment, flipping it over removing the case and inspecting it for a moment before looking back up.

"This is a nice com." The store keeper looks him over. "Tell you what. I'll give you 50 nuyen and forget where I got it."

[Saytr]

"um how about i just need to fix it, not replace it you know anyone that could help me out or know anyone who could point me in the right direction?" he holds his hand out for the store keeper to give it back waiting for a positive response. he also looks around to see if the man replaces the parts that com holds details to his life that could tell him who he is along with why his head hurt.

[Redjack]

The store keeper sets the broekn com down. (( Hidden perception test. )) He is pretty sure that nothing was switched.

"Oh and how do you propose that you can pay for that?"

[Saytr]

"well i suppose if you fix my LTG i will have the ability to transfer the fund necesary to pay the fee plus what ever else you might have that would be of "Interest" he hold his hands up and uses the quote un quote sign with his hands "also i would be willing to maybe throw in a little extra for the urgency of the matter." he starts to fidgit around his pockets looking for anything to pay the shopkeeper weather it be a credstick or actual cash. he had no real way of paying for the fix once it was done but he was hoping the fixed com would open his identity if even for the sake of giving him his name and home address he was willing to take the chance even if it meant pissing off a shop keeper.

[Redjack]

The storekeeper looks at the com again and then back at him. "Ok. I'll move the sim card to a working com. If you know the system pass-phrase then we'll see what kind of nuyen you have." He turns towards some shelves behind him.

[Saytr]

he lets the man continue switching the sim cards and what not waiting for the com to come to life and tell him everything he didn't know about himself god he hoped the pass-phrase would jog something of his memory even if it just told him his name that would be a start. if not he would have to figure something else out.

[Redjack]

He watches the man gather parts together. He is suddenly struck by the realization the the entire platform behind the counter is raised and the store keeper is not a man, but rather a dwarf. His mind brings him back to the inevitable though... He has no idea what his pass-phrase is...

[Saytr]

"listen chummer, you want to make a deal on this?" he stands there wishing he had even clue as to what the phrase would be maybe he could sweetin the deal a little and talk the man into helping him out after all everyone needed money right. looking to make sure no one is walking in he leans in a little and talks only loud enough for the dwarf to hear " to tell you the truth i don't remember the phrase. I do how ever need the information on it, if you help me out i will give you half of what ever i have on it. i am desperate chummer please" with the last he hold up his hands praying to the little man trying to plead with the man." tell you what i will toss my jacket in to sweeten the deal. just help out would ya." he opens the jacket a little to show it off. he really needed the information on that com, plus the jacket saved him last night but he needed a new look until he found out why people were after him and who he was. he wanted to look as different as possibel until he figured out what the hell was going on.